Chapter 19

Buffy must have been giving off "go away" vibes, because as people passed through the common room they all seemed to act as if she wasn't' there. It wasn't until after classes were over and her friends were returning their books before dinner that anyone spoke to her.

"You know, if you don't have a pass to be out of class, I'm going to have to write you up, even if you are a friend of mine," Minerva said, only half joking. Mutely, and without meeting Minerva's eyes, Buffy handed over her note from Professor Dumbledore. "What's wrong, Buffy? You look like someone kicked your puppy or something."

"Not quite," Buffy replied sadly. She was quite melancholy now, able to pull off the whole "I just lost my parents" act with ease. "My parents died just before Christmas. House fire."

"That's horrible!" Minerva said, sitting on the arm of Buffy's chair and wrapping an arm around the smaller girl. "Is there anything I can do? Is Professor Dumbledore going to be taking you back to California for the funeral? Are you going to be leaving Hogwarts?"

"No, I'm okay, the funeral already happened and I have no other family, so I'm a ward of the school until they figure out what to do with me," Buffy replied with a sigh.

"Well, unless you get a better offer, you're spending the summer with me," Minerva said, squeezing Buffy's shoulders. "No complaints, missy. I've grown quite fond of you. I'm sure my parents won't mind."

"Thanks," Buffy replied, offering a weak smile up at Minerva. At that moment, Augusta and Terrence burst in, laughing about something. One look at Buffy and Minerva, though, and the laughter came to an abrupt halt.

"Who died?" Terrence asked, which earned him a smack on the back of the head from Augusta. "What? She looks like someone died. Insatiable curiosity had be asking after it!"

"You're so insensitive sometimes," Augusta said with a roll of her eyes before she turned to Buffy. "What's wrong, Buffy? You look really upset."

"I just got some bad news today," Buffy replied. She didn't want to burden her friends with her problems if she didn't have to. "I swear, though, I'm fine. Or I will be, eventually."

"You're not getting away that easily," Augusta said.

"Yeah, you got bad news. So share," Terrence said with a nod of his head. "Your pain is our pain is our pain. Make with the spillage already." He grimaced after he realized what he had said. "You're a horrid influence on me, you know that?"

"She's slowly and surely making other people mangle the English language, one poor impressionable sap at a time," Augusta remarked with a laugh. Buffy giggled, but quieted quickly. It didn't really right to laugh at a time like this.

"Seriously, though, you can tell us what's wrong," Terrence said. "If some stupid bloke went and broke your heart, I'll make him regret messing with you."

"No, it's nothing like that," Buffy replied with a shake of her head. "I just found out today that my parents died and I have to stay here. Well, not here, here because here is a school and closed during the summer, but here as in stay in the country because I have no other family to go to."

"Where are you going to go?" Augusta asked. Her eyes were filling with tears as she spoke, and it looked like she was going to burst into tears at any moment.

"Come on August, it's not that bad," Terrence said, wrapping an arm around Augusta's shoulder. "Well, okay, it is that bad. But we'll look after her, won't we?"

"But it's just so sad!" Augusta wailed, burying her face in Terrence's neck.

"It's not because of that stupid Muggle war, is it?" Terrence asked.

"No, my parents were supposed to be safe and sound back in California," Buffy replied. "And they were, until some stupid mouse decided the wires looked yummy. Burned the whole house down. Nothing left."

"Where are you going to go?" Augusta asked again, extracting herself from Terrence. Her face was still splotchy, but she had calmed down considerably.

"We didn't get that far," Buffy replied. "I think Dumbledore is going to see if he can find a family to take me in. It'll only be for one summer."

"You know what cheers me up?" Terrence asked.

"If it's something naughty I don't want to know," Buffy replied.

"Nothing like that. Although…" Terrence trailed off, a dreamy expression on his face. It was only when Augusta smacked him on the arm that he came back to the present. "Yes, right. Well, when I'm down I find that hopping on a broom and going for a ride. The wind in my hair, nothing but air around me. It's exhilarating!"

"Are you quite mad?" Minerva asked. "We're not taking her flying now, Terrence. It's the middle of bloody winter! And she's never flown before. How were you going to work around that?"

Buffy's gaze moved to the window. The sky was clear, and the colours of sunset were streaking through the blue. It looked almost inviting, but Buffy definitely wasn't fooled. She knew it was absolutely freezing outside; there was no way in hell they were going to get her to leave the castle unless it was a dire emergency.

"California girl here," Buffy said. "Buffy and the cold are non-mixy things. Besides, I still have to catch up on all of my work that I missed today. I hope Quentin got it all for me."

"You took the whole day off?" Terrence asked. "You've been up here all by yourself all day? You should have come and find one of us, we would've kept you company. Right, girls?" Both Minerva and Augusta nodded in agreement.

"I haven't been alone all day," Buffy replied. "Quentin came up during lunch trying to find me. And people have been coming and going, they just haven't been talking to me."

"Where is that twitchy little bugger, anyway?" Terrence asked, looking around the common room. "He's supposed to be your best fried, comforting you in your time of need and all that."

"We've got Care of Magical Creatures last thing today," Buffy replied. "Knowing my luck, Ramsay's probably interrogating him under a bright light, trying to find out if I'm skipping or legitimately absent."

"Wouldn't Dumbledore or Dippet have sent a note letting him know you wouldn't be in class?" Augusta asked. She was finally calmed completely down, although her cheeks were still a little rosy.

"Professor Ramsay hates me," Buffy replied glumly with a sigh. Just then, Quentin entered the common room and made a beeline towards Buffy, flopping down next to her on the chair that might as well be called a loveseat because it was so large.

"Blimey, I never realized how much Professor Ramsay hated you," he said. "If I ever doubted you before, I'm so sorry."

"What did he do?" Buffy asked, mildly curious.

"Gave me the third degree, he did," Quentin replied, rubbing a hand over his eyes. "He just wouldn't let up!" Where's Summers? Did you help her forge this note? Do you know anything about these obvious lies? Did you help her compose this ridiculous piece of tripe she's trying to pass off as an essay? The man was mad, I say. I almost thought he was going to give me a detention so he could ask me more questions."

"Didn't believe me about my wand core, did he?" Buffy asked, remembering the essay she had handed in just before the Christmas break. Quentin shook his head sadly. "Well, tough noogies. I don't think I'm going to be taking that class next year anyway. No point, if the teacher hates your guts."

"What's in your wand core?" Terrence asked, curiously.

"Not important," Buffy replied, waving it off. "If he doesn't believe me, he can go and ask Mr. Ollivander about it."

"Ramsay's probably going to say you paid him off or something," Quentin said with a snort.

"Yeah, sure, I'm just swimming in cash and can just pay off random old guys to say what I want them to say," Buffy said with a roll of her eyes.

"I'm sure if he thought about it, he'd realize how ridiculous his thinking is," Augusta said thoughtfully.

"Problem is, he's an adult with a stick shoved up his ass and thinks he can't be wrong," Buffy replied. Gasping, shocked laughs came from her friends and she realized that swearing was generally a no-no for woman. She generally didn't swear anyway, but Professor Ramsay had her so irritated it just slipped out.

Made her want to Slay something.

"This conversation is really bringing me down. You know, downer than I was before, which I didn't think was possible," Buffy said. "I think I'm just going to head up to bed."

"Do you want us to come with you?" Minerva asked, gesturing to herself and Augusta.

"No, that's fine," Buffy replied.

"What about dinner?" Quentin asked. "Do you want me to bring something up for you?"

"Not hungry," Buffy replied. She wasn't, really; Professor Giles had been right when she said that Slayers could go a day or two without food altogether, and really only needed a little bit of food each day. Much less than regular people.

"Well, feel better, then," Quentin said, sounding a little awkward. "Hope to see you in classes tomorrow."

"Yeah, see you guys later," Buffy said before turning and heading up to her dormitory. She flopped down onto her bed and stared at the ceiling. She was formulating a plan.

She was going to go slaying that night.

XoXoXo

Buffy had to wait until everyone had gone to bed before she left her room again. Using every bit of stealth she had, she crept out from her bed curtains and grabbed her cloak. It wasn't the best for slaying, but it was the only thing she had and it was too cold outside to go without. She'd just have to make due and hope that anything she met on the way was slower than her.

She tiptioed across the common room, glad that it appeared empty. The fewer witnesses around, the better. Getting out of the common room wasn't much of a challenge, though; she could claim that she was going for a walk or heading down to the kitchens, if she knew where they were. No, the real challenge was getting down seven floors of the school without getting caught by ghost, teacher, caretaker or prefect. She knew that they all patrolled the halls at night – Tom had mentioned more than once about patrolling after their tutoring sessions – and although she wasn't sure what routes or the patrol schedule was like, she was sure she'd be able to get out of the school relatively quickly and quietly.

The Fat Lady gave a soft snore as Buffy pushed the portrait open, but she did not wake as she listened carefully. No footsteps, a good sign, and she could see no signs of the ghosts that haunted the school. She got along quite well with Sir Nicholas, and she was far less disturbed by his head wobbling around, partially decapitated, than some of the other students. While she did not like to be touched by the ghost – no one did, really, they got along quite well.

Creeping down the hallway, Buffy kept to the shadows, particularly glad that her Mary Jane shoes were all but silent on the stone floors; her boots would have been clicking on the stores for sure and she would have been in deep trouble before she could get to the stairs. The quiet footwear made it possible for her to get all the way to the doors in the Entrance Hall. She glanced around – still, no one there – before she pushed the doors open. They soundlessly swung open, admitting Buffy to the still, snow-covered grounds.

There were several tracks of footsteps from the students, both to and from the greenhouses and to and from the Care of Magical Creatures paddock. Professor Ramsay must be having his classes outside again. Oh goody, just what I need, Buffy thought with a grimace as she made her way to the Forest. This was easy, too easy, and she almost wondered when the other shoe was going to drop.

As she reached the edge of the Forest, ready to go in, the first inklings of "this is a bad idea" came into her head. She was, after all, only armed with her wand, and while much better at using it she wasn't entirely sure if she'd be able to use it in a real world situation. Her charms were still abysmal, but she was getting pretty proficient with curses. However, she wasn't entirely sure if a Jelly-Legs Jinx would be particularly useful against a vampire.

"Well, here goes everything," Buffy said quietly, bending to pick up a piece of wood that would work as a stake. She could have used her wand, she supposed, like Dumbledore had said, but she didn't want to risk it turning to dust when she stuck it into a vampire. Explaining that to Dumbledore, Dippet and Mr. Ollivander was one conversation she never wanted to have.

The Forest was eerily quiet. Too quiet, in fact, because every forest had nocturnal creatures that scurried around at night. However, the only sounds that could be heard were Buffy's footsteps crunching in the leaves and frozen snow on the forest floor.

"Here, demon, demon, demon," she sang softly as she tried to go further into the forest as stealthily as she could.

"You know, I don't think a demon is going to come out and get you just because you asked it to," said a voice from behind her. Not expecting to see or hear anything, much less have someone answer her, Buffy jumped about a foot in the air before whirling around, wand in one hand and stake in the other. Not exactly the best situation, considering she was right handed, but she could stab a stake with her left if the situation called for it.

"Holy crap Tom, don't sneak up on a girl like that!" Buffy exclaimed, surprised. She turned fully and marched over to him, planting herself in front of him. "What do you think you're doing, sneaking out behind me? Do you have any idea how dangerous following me around is?"

"I think I can handle myself against anything that might be in this forest," Tom retorted with a snort. "And what about you? The Forest isn't a safe place for a girl like you."

"Hello? Did you hit your head and lose your memory or something? I'm the Slayer, she who hunts vampires and demons," Buffy replied. "You know, it's kind of my thing."

"The Forest is still off limits to students, Slayer or not," Tom replied. "I'm going to have to write you up for being out of bed and out of bounds after curfew. I hate to do it, but I can't make exceptions, even for you."

"And how are you going to explain being all stalker-y and following me in?" Buffy asked. "You're not allowed in here, either."

"I'll just say I was following a lead," Tom replied. "And that I didn't have time to get a teacher."

"Not like anyone's going to punish me anyway," Buffy scoffed, but she was far less sure of this statement than she sounded. "Dumbledore and Dippet both know about me and what I do."

She turned and began walking farther into the Forest, wary and alert to any noises and movements around her.

"What do you think you're doing, woman? Are you quite mad?" Tom asked, jogging to close the short distance between them.

"Well, if I'm going to get in trouble for this, I might as well have something to show for it," Buffy replied as she continued on into the forest. "If you're scared, you can go back and pretend you didn't see me."

"I'm not scared," Tom replied. If it had been anyone else, Buffy would have described his tone as petulant.

"Then are you coming with me, then?" Buffy asked, turning to face him. She arched an eyebrow expectantly.

"I guess I don't have much of a choice, do I?" Tom replied. "Someone has to keep you safe."

"If anything, I'm going to be saving your ass. Just like I did the last time we were here," Buffy retorted with a snort as she continued into the forest. Hearing something, she stopped and tilted her head, listening.

"What's going on?" Tom whispered.

"Shut up, I'm trying to listen," Buffy replied, waving at him to be quiet. "I thought I heard something."

"It's a forest, you're bound to hear noises," Tom said with a roll of his eyes. "Besides, we're both traipsing around in here and we're hardly being quiet. Maybe it was just our footsteps you heard?"

"Be quiet!" Buffy hissed, turning away from him. That turned out to be a mistake on her part, because while she was paying attention to the sounds around her, she wasn't paying attention to what was going on behind her. She was taken by surprise when Tom tackled her to the ground, digging his fingers into her ribs, tickling her.

"You jerk, get off of me!" Buffy exclaimed, fighting back and trying not to laugh. They were rolling around the underbrush, making a ton of noise and most likely alerting everyone in the castle that there were people in the Forest who weren't supposed to be there.

They stopped rolling around, Tom ending up on top. He nuzzled her throat, the side that didn't have the vampire scar, and breathed some hot air onto her chilled skin. It was then that they heard someone crashing through the bushes before they barrelled in on their little impromptu private party.

"You're dead, vampire scum!" Quentin exclaimed, pointing his wand at Tom. Both Buffy and Tom looked at him; Tom was smirking triumphantly and Buffy was blushing in embarrassment. "What the hell is going on, Buffy?"

"Um, oops?" Buffy offered.

She was so dead.

XoXoXo

Well, here's chapter nineteen. It's shorter than some of the other ones, for which I'm sorry. But hey, conflict ho!

As always, reviews are appreciated, constructive criticism is lovely and flames will be used to toast marshmallows. Hope you enjoyed it!