Chapter 26

OWLs and NEWTs were bearing down on the students of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. There were panic attacks galore; more than once Buffy had seen either a fifth year or seventh year rush out of the common room in hysterics, heading for the hospital wing for a Calming Draught. While Buffy was nervous as well – she had every right to be, considering her circumstances – there was another thing prying at her mind that made her more anxious that OWLs.

Where would she be going once the school year was over?

It hadn't been mentioned since just after the holidays, and Buffy was beginning to get quite worried. What if the school year ended and Dumbledore hadn't told her where she was going to be going? What then? Would she have to live in a hut on the school grounds, like Hagrid? Or would they toss her out in the street and make her fend for herself for two and a half months, until September started up again? It was the pressing desire to know the answers to these questions that distracted Buffy from her studying, and if she didn't know soon it might be detrimental to her grades.

If only her friends from Sunnydale could see her now. Buffy Summers, worried about her grades.

One Saturday morning, as if he had been reading her mind over the last few days, an owl fluttered down from the rafters with a letter tied to its leg. Grabbing the letter, Buffy broke the wax seal and extracted the piece of creamy parchment from the envelope.

Dear Miss Summers,

Please meet me in my office after breakfast. I have much to discuss with you about your current situation.

Yours truly,

Professor A. Dumbledore

"But we were going to go over cross-species switching this morning," Minerva said, after she had glanced at the note. "I still don't think you can do it at Exceeds Expectations level."

"We'll have lots of time to do it," Buffy said as she folded up the letter and stuffed it into her pocket. "This meeting with Professor Dumbledore shouldn't take long at all."

Buffy glanced up at the Head Table; Professor Dumbledore was still seated there, speaking with Professor Giles as he munched on his toast. Good, Buffy thought. That'll give me time to enjoy my Saturday breakfast.

"What do you need to see Dumbledore for?" Quentin asked. He had also seen the note and he was looking at Buffy with concern in his eyes.

"Probably something to do with this summer," Buffy replied with a sigh, feeling sad. With how busy she'd been in recent weeks, between her classes, her friends and Tom, she didn't have a whole lot of time to dwell on the fact that she didn't have a place to go once school let out. At least, not until recently.

"Do you want me to come with you?" Quentin asked. "You know, for moral support."

"I think I'll be okay, but thank you for offering," Buffy replied with a smile. "You're a good friend."

Quentin smiled back as Buffy glanced up at the Head Table again. This time, Dumbledore was rising from his chair, having finished his breakfast. "Looks like that's my cue to go," Buffy said, grabbing an apple from the bowl before getting up from her own seat. "I'll see you guys in the common room later."

She left to her friends calling out good luck wishes, making her smile as she bit into her apple and headed up to the seventh floor. She met no one, not even Peeves or Mr. Pringle, on her way.

"You wanted to see me, Professor?" Buffy asked, poking her head into Professor Dumbledore's office. The door was ajar, otherwise she would have knocked.

"Yes, of course Miss Summers. Please, close the door and take a seat," Dumbledore said, gesturing to the chair in front of his desk. Closing the door softly behind her, Buffy flopped down onto the squishy, comfortable chair. "How are your studies going?"

"I feel like my brain is leaking from my ears," Buffy replied with a groan.

"Well, I have some news that might make your studying worthwhile," Dumbledore replied, patting the stack of paper on his desk.

"I'm guessing that's not my one-way ticket back to 1998," Buffy said, glancing at the parchment.

"I'm afraid not," Dumbledore said with a sad smile. "However, I have guaranteed you a place in the Wizarding World, should you wish to take it. I had owled a few couples who had I thought would be excellent caregivers, and the response was astounding. I even received some unsolicited offers once it got around that I was looking for an adoptive family for you. It has taken me this long to weed through the applications and these four are the ones I thought would be the most suitable."

"Do I get any say in who gets to take me?" Buffy asked, curious.

"What I am proposing is a trial run with each of the families," Dumbledore said. "Two weeks at each house, and then at the end of it we'll all sit down and decide who will officially adopt you, although I daresay all of the parents in these families will want to be a part of your life, if you wish to let them."

"What families have you picked out for me?" Buffy asked, although she was pretty sure she knew who they were. With a mischievous twinkle in his eye, Dumbledore handed over four letters, each addressed to her, in varying styles of handwriting.

Although the information was varied, all of the letters conveyed the same type – how they had heard about her through their children so much that they felt like they knew her, and when Dumbledore contacted them they couldn't turn him down. They told her about where they lived, how many other children were in the house and if there were any pets. The signatures at the bottom of the letters made her smile – Camille and Thomas Trimble, Roland and Bernice Longbottom, Elizabeth and Phoebus Smith and Hestia and Macall McGonagall.

"I didn't know Minnie had a younger sister," Buffy remarked, looking over the letters.

"Well, you'll have a chance to meet little Madeline when you stay with her family," Dumbledore said with a sad smile. "I am truly sorry we can't send you back to your own time, my dear. The best thing I can do is help you build a home here where, I hope, you can be happy."

"You tried," Buffy said with a sad sigh. "Was there anything else you wanted to talk to me about?"

"Nothing urgent," Dumbledore replied. "Good luck on your exams."

"Thanks," Buffy said with a watery smile as she got up from her seat. "For everything."

"I am merely doing what any other head of house would do for a student in need," Dumbledore replied, although Buffy was quite certain he was going above and beyond what any head of house would do for their students.

If what Dumbledore was doing was typical, how did that explain Tom? Slughorn must have known that Tom was an orphan. They didn't speak about his past all that often – he preferred to listen about her life, because it was so much happier than his – but Buffy got the gist of it. Mother died in childbirth, father wanted nothing to do with him so he had to grow up in a destitute Muggle orphanage. He figured out early on that he was different from the rest of the children there, and didn't really know what was happening until Dumbledore visited him on his eleventh birthday, to explain everything.

With a lot on her mind, Buffy left Dumbledore's office, clutching the letters to her chest. About three feet outside of the door, Buffy crashed into something solid, warm and a fair amount taller than her.

She had crashed right into Abraxas Malfoy, and because she wasn't on her guard Buffy ended up on the floor.

"Miss Summers, what a pleasant surprise," he said as he reached to help Buffy to her feet. She waved his hand off; he made her uneasy, and there was no way she was going to let him touch her. She gathered up the pieces of parchment that had flown from her grasp when she had taken her tumble before getting up under her own power.

"What's going on here?"

Both Buffy and Malfoy turned, only to find, surprise, surprise, Tom Riddle standing a short distance away, not looking to happy as he glared at Malfoy.

"I was only out for a stroll and your friend here crashed into me," Malfoy replied, brushing an imperceptible piece of lint from his jacket.

"Well, be on your way," Tom said, moving closer so that he could wrap an arm around Buffy's waist, drawing her to his side.

"I'm going, I'm going," Malfoy said. "You might want to keep your little friend on a tighter leash or you might find that she's running out of time."

The blond boy turned and headed down the hallway towards the stairs. Buffy and Tom watched him go until they couldn't see him.

"Okay, because that was vague and didn't make sense," Buffy said, wrinkling her nose in the direction that Malfoy had gone before turning her attention back to Tom. "So, were you following me, or were you following Malfoy?"

"What makes you think I was doing any following?" Tom asked innocently.

"I know you, that's why," Buffy replied. "You're like, master of the stalkers. Remember, you followed me around for ages?"

"It was hardly ages," Tom replied with a scoff.

"It is to me," Buffy replied. "Remember, short life span?"

"Oh. Right," Tom said, lowering his gaze. His attention was drawn to the sheaf of papers in her hand. "What's that?"

"Just some letters, addressed to me," Buffy replied with a shrug. Part of her wanted to share in her good news, but another didn't want to make a big deal about it because Tom didn't get adopted, and he still lived at the orphanage. "You didn't answer my question, though. Were you following me, or were you following Malfoy?"

"I was following Malfoy, who was following you," Tom replied. "He's become rather fascinated with you lately. It's making me worried."

"You're worried about me?" Buffy asked, before rising on her tiptoes to kiss him on the cheek. "That's so sweet."

"Yes, I've noticed him following you around a lot as of late," Tom replied, his arms tightening around her. "I don't like it."

"He's been following me around? For how long? And why didn't I even notice it?" Buffy asked, growing concerned. She was worried; was she losing her senses? Normally she could tell someone was following her, either by her extra sense or her hearing.

"Yes, a couple of weeks and us Slytherins have a talent for being particularly sneaky," Tom replied. "So, are you free this afternoon?"

"No," Buffy replied with a groan, burying her face in Tom's chest. "Can it be June already?"

"They're really riding you hard, aren't they?" Tom asked, and Buffy whimpered. "Is it really that bad?"

"No, you said they were riding me hard. Do you have any idea how naughty that sounds?" Buffy asked, looking up at him. Tom's expression was blank. "I guess not."

"Maybe you could explain it to me?" Tom asked with a devilish smirk.

"Not today," Buffy said with another groan. "Walk me to my common room?"

"You never even have to ask," Tom replied, taking her hand so that she could lead him to the portrait of the Fat Lady. It was a short walk, but it was one of the few times outside of classes where they could spend time together. They still had their tutoring sessions, of course, but with exams bearing down on them they were spent actually working on potions and not snuggling on the transfigured couch in their little room.

"I seriously can't wait until exams are over," Buffy said with a sigh when they reached the portrait hole.

"Then we'll have a few days all to ourselves before we have to go home for the summer," Tom remarked, sounding a little sad. "You'll write to me, right?"

"Every day," Buffy replied, rising onto her tiptoes to kiss him. Tom wrapped his arms around her and they kissed until she was breathless, still on her tiptoes when they broke away. "But I don't want to talk about that. We still have some time before we have to split and I want to make the most of it."

"Sounds like a good plan to me," Tom replied as Buffy kissed the tip of his nose before lowering herself back down to the floor.

"We'll do something this week, I promise," Buffy said as she turned to the portrait.

"I'm going to hold you on that," Tom said, turning and heading down the corridor.

Taking a deep breath, Buffy waited until Tom was out of earshot before she gave the password. She wondered if her friends knew that one of their families would end up with another member by the end of the summer. Probably, Buffy thought. It would be just mean to spring this onto them spur of the moment. The grins that greeted her answered her question.

"So, I guess you heard?" Buffy asked.

"By the end of the summer, one of us is going to end up with a sister," Terrence said with a grin. "Or, in some cases, another one."

"So, all of you are okay with the possibility of having me as a sister?" Buffy asked.

"Our parents wouldn't have written you those letters if we weren't," Augusta replied. "Thank goodness for them we already think of you as one of our own, anyway."

"Oh, you guys!" Buffy exclaimed, tears springing her eyes. For the very first time since she had arrived at Hogwarts, she felt like she belonged, like she was home. It might not be her original home, but it was where her heart was.

"We'll have lots of time to be happy about this… after exams," Minerva said, bringing them all back to the here and now. "Now, we need to go through switching spells again, Buffy."

XOXOXO

"So, are you worried about exams?" Tom asked. They were on their sofa, in their room, and Tom had insisted that they take the night off from studying despite Buffy's protests.

"Yeah. Weren't you?" Buffy replied. "And if someone hadn't hidden my books I'd be doing the whole bookworm thing."

"Of course not," Tom replied. "My marks prior to my OWLs gave me an indication as to how I was going to perform on my exam."

"If that's the case, then I'll be lucky to pass," Buffy said with a moan, burying her face in Tom's shoulder. "And I see you didn't deny taking my books away."

"You will do fine. You're passing everything, and with the help from your friends I'm sure you'll get enough OWLs to do whatever you want to do," Tom said with a reassuring kiss to Buffy's forehead. "And I can neither confirm or deny it was me who stole your books. It might have been a younger student."

"A younger student you probably hired to steal my books," Buffy retorted.

"No comment," Tom said with a smirk.

"So, what are your plans for the summer?" Buffy asked. She was curious what he was going to be up to; maybe they could meet during the holidays, if her potential adoptive parents allowed her. Idly, she wondered what their feelings towards Slytherins were, but shelved that thought for the moment and concentrated on Tom.

"Going back to the orphanage," Tom replied. "I started working at a shop in Knockturn Alley last summer and my position is there, waiting for me, when I get out for the summer. I've been saving up a bit. I want out of that orphanage as soon as I can. Or when they kick me out, whichever comes first."

"I can't blame you," Buffy replied with a slight shiver. Tom wrapped his arm around her, tighter, and pressed another kiss to her forehead.

"And you?" Tom asked. "Where are you going once the holidays start?"

"Well," Buffy began, chewing on her bottom lip. This wasn't something she particularly wanted to speak to Tom about. She had four families wanting to take her in, and she'd only been an orphan for six months. Tom had been an orphan his entire life, and as far as Buffy knew no one had wanted to take him in. It wasn't something they talked about often – Buffy could tell it hurt for him to speak about it.

"Come on, you can tell me," Tom said, reassuringly.

"Well, my friends' parents offered to put me up for a couple of weeks each," Buffy replied. "Because, you know, I don't have any family."

"That's nice," Tom said. "Sounds like you'll be busy."

"I'll find time to write to you every day. Promise," Buffy said with a smile. "Now, will you let me study? I'm still worried about my Charms exam. I don't want to deal with Augusta's wrath if I end up failing it."

"I think I'm going to go with 'no' here," Tom said with a wolfish grin. "I think I can find something a little more worthwhile for you to study."

"Oh yeah, like what?" Buffy asked, quirking an eyebrow at him as she returned his grin with a smirk of her own.

"Me," Tom replied, grabbing her around the waist and pulling her on top of him. Giggling, she went with it, definitely agreeing that this particular topic was a worthwhile one.

XOXOXO

So yeah, it's short. I'm sorry… but hey, it's early! That has to count for something, right? Next chapter should be up next week, earlier if I don't have to work this weekend. Stay tuned!