Blood Ties
Part 21
Rating, summary and such are same as before.
Note 1: Sorry it took so long. This is by far the hardest part to edit. I've to rewrite it couple of times trying to get the right tone and speed for the plot... and then my typing speed had reduce like half cos my left wrist's swelling like no tomorrow after the bike accident couple days ago... grr... elephant hand...
Note 2: Thanks again for everyone's reviews. This part (and later parts) of the story will have a bit more info on Buffy and Xander's background and about their relationship, and hopefully will clear up any question regarding the two of them.
Note 3: Last but not least, thank you JOAHN for beta-reading the story!
"What are you doing here!" Buffy shouted, drawing everyone's attentions towards her. "What is he doing here?" The young blond pointed at Hank as she turned towards her mother.
Joyce quickly moved towards the youngster, hoping to calm her down, only to be beaten as Hank Summers took a step towards his daughter, his eyes staring at the young blond with cold fury. "Is that how you greet your father?"
"You are not my father!" The blond witch growled.
"Miss Summers," Buffy narrowed her eyes and turned towards the three unknown men in the office. The one with a pair of spectacles and a look of solemn took a step forward towards Buffy. "My name is Rufus Scrimgeour, the head of the Auror Office of the Ministry of Magic." The youngster's eyes widened. "This is Auror Chester Dawlish," he nodded a well built wizard behind him before pointing at the younger man next to him. "And Joseph Tandy from the United State Department of Magical Affair. We are here to settle the issues regarding your custody."
"My custody? What are you talking about?"
"Your custody has been agreed upon to be given to Mrs. Giles when your parents' divorce-"
"He," Buffy growled again as she pointed at her birth father. "Is not my anything."
Mr. Scrimgeour never once flinched at the anger showing in Buffy's eyes as he continued. "Regardless, Mr. Summers, as your birth father, still retained his visiting rights." He turned a bit towards Mr. Tandy, getting a confirmation nod from the younger man before continued. "Mr. Summers had filed a report to the American Authorities regarding this issue. It is his claim that your mother had breached his visiting right when she re-married and moved to England."
"This is the reason why I was sent here to England, Miss Summers. While Mr. and Mrs. Giles had handed in a great deal of evidence during the last couple of months," the young blonde's eyes narrowed a bit when she heard 'last couple of months'. "We will still need your statement." He turned towards the other adults in the room. "Your parents are allowed to stay during the interview... or if you wish to be interviewed alone?"
Buffy eyed her mother and step-father for a moment, before turning back towards Mr. Tandy. "Alone."
"But Buffy-"
Mr. Tandy held up his hands, stopping Joyce from saying anything. "Of course." The American nodded at Mr. Dawlish, and the Auror stepped forward towards Giles, Joyce and Hank, gesturing them to step out of the room. Hank and Giles narrowed their eyes at each other as they moved towards the exit. Joyce turned around, about to hug her daughter, when Buffy took a step back, her eyes refused to meet her mother. Heart-broken, Joyce followed Giles and Hank and left the room.
"Stop that!" Ron shouted as he pulled the struggling Xander further and further away from Giles' office. The two Gryffindors had been eavesdropping outside in the corridor when Xander suddenly went ballistic and tried to kick the office door opened. Ron immediately pulled him away, just in time to stop the black haired boy from doing something stupid and got them expelled.
Finally, Xander shrugged away from Ron's restraint. "What are you doing! I need to go kick some asses-"
Xander was about to stormed back to Giles' office when Ron stopped him again. "What asses? Have you fallen off your trolley! That's Rufus Scrimgeour, the head of Auror office! He will hex you to Azkaban before you even know it!" Ron hissed. "And what's with you? So that's Buffy's birth-father-"
"He's a scumbag Ron! A useless, heartless, son of a bitch!"
"What are you rambling about?"
Xander took a deep breath, calming himself a bit as he explained. "You know how me and Buff met in the States? When Regulus Black was sent to Azkaban..." Ron nodded. "Me and my mum had just settled in LA when Joyce and Buffy were forced to live on the street. That bastard kicked them out because Buffy can do magic and he can't; he didn't even let them take their clothes when he threw them out."
"I knew he disowned Buffy because she could do magic, but letting his own daughter and wife live on the street?" Ron said, his face filled with horror and disgust.
"Joyce had moved to the States when she married that bastard. She had no friends, no money, no place to turn to. It was luck that mum recognized her as one of my father's schoolmates in Hogwarts and took them in." The black haired boy shook his head. "It was bad enough that bastard had kicked them out and filed for divorce, when Buffy went looking for him, that bastard hit her! If Joyce and mum hadn't arrived in time to stop him, I really don't know what would have happened to her."
"That wench!"
"You know why I need to kill him now?" Xander said as he drew out his wand and headed towards Giles' office, but Ron pulled him back once again.
"It's not worth, Xander."
Xander looked at Ron, his eyes filled with resolve as he stood high in front of the redhead Gryffindor. "It's worth it." He said calmly. "For Buffy, it's worth it."
Ron studied his friend for a moment, and finally nodded. Xander nodded back, turned around, and started matching towards Giles' office.
But before he took more than three steps, Professor Snape appeared, blocking his way. "Weasley. Harris." He hissed. Behind him stood Filch, an evil smirk on his face.
The resolve drained away from Xander's eyes with the same speed that the blood drained away from Ron's face. The two stood there, their minds echoed the same word: 'Crap'.
Giles, Joyce, Hank and Dawlish all turned towards the door to the Giles' office as the door finally opened. "Mr. Summers." Mr. Tandy stepped out along with Mr. Scrimgeour.
Hank took a step forward towards Mr. Tandy. "So?"
"It is my belief that Mrs. Giles has not breached any law at the time she had re-married and moved here." Giles smiled, and Joyce immediately sighed in relief. "Of course, as Miss Summers' birth father, you will still have your visiting right to your daughter."
"But... you can't do that! Joyce Skeeter and Rupert Giles are not fit to raise my child!"
Mr. Scrimgeour raised an eyebrow. "If you have any evidence to support your statement, Mr. Summers, I welcome you to report it to my department, or to the United State Department of Magical Affairs. If not, I strongly suggest you to restrain yourself. We do have child protection laws here in England."
Hank's face immediately flashed with anger. He turned towards Giles and Joyce. "It isn't over." He hissed and stormed away.
Mr. Tandy shook his head at Hank's retreated form before turned towards Joyce. "You will receive an official letter from my department in fourteen working days."
"Thank you."
Mr. Tandy smiled. "Just doing my job."
"We should go." Mr. Scrimgeour suggested. He nodded at Giles and Joyce, before leaving with Mr. Tandy and Mr. Dawlish.
Joyce and Giles watched the trio left, and turning towards each other and exchanged a hug. "It's over." Joyce whispered, and frowned when he saw Buffy standing at the doorway, her head dropped, her eyes staring at the floor. "Buffy?" She released Giles and moved closer to Buffy.
Buffy took a step back before her mother reached her. "Why?" She whispered. "Why didn't you tell me?"
"Buffy, I-"
"We just didn't want you to worry, Buffy." Giles said softly.
"We are family!" Buffy shouted, and Giles and Joyce took a step back at their daughter's outburst. "How could you! What if he did manage to get the custody? Huh? Have you thought about that!
"Buffy-"
"I don't-" Buffy shook her head. "You should have told me." She whispered, before quickly ran passed her parents and disappeared down the corridor, leaving the two adults standing there in desperation.
Harry stood in the middle of the office a deep frown on his face. He had met up with Ron and Xander during dinner, and found out that Buffy's birth father came by earlier with someone from the Ministry and American Magical Affairs Department, trying to take the blond witch back to America. Since then, no one had seen Buffy. Ron had reckoned that Buffy was still talking to Professor and Mrs. Giles, but none of them were sure what really had happened... well, except for the fact that Ron and Xander had earned themselves detention for a week for skipping class and wandering around the corridor.
"Harry?"
"Ah. Oh. Sorry, Professor." Harry said.
"Something's bothering you?" Professor Lupin asked. Harry had come by after dinner to practice the spell against Dementors, but it was clear that Harry was troubled by something.
"I... I was just worrying about Buffy."
"May be we should try again next week-"
"But professor! I've got to learn the spell!" Harry said, panicked. "What if the Dementors turn up at our match against Ravenclaw? I can't afford to fall off again! We need this game if we want to have a shot for the Quidditch Cup!"
"But you can't even focus, Harry."
"I am focused! Please, professor. There's only couple of weeks before the match!"
Professor Lupin studied Harry for a moment. "Alright. But you might want to select another memory. The one you used last week is not strong enough."
Harry scratched his head and thought hard, and finally decided on using his memory from his first year when Gryffindor had won the House Championship. He stood, and tightened his wand.
Lupin smiled when he saw the resolve in Harry's eyes. Slowly, he moved towards the trunk that he had stored the Boggart in. "Ready?"
"Ready."
"Go!" Lupin pulled off the lid, and the Boggart/Dementor appeared, slowly floating towards Harry.
"Expecto patronum!" Harry yelled as silver cloud appeared at the tip of the wand, even though it didn't seem to have any affect on the Boggart/Dementor. "Expecto patronum! Expecto Pat-" Just as last week, everything went black again.
"HARRY!"
"Lily! Take Harry and go!"
"NO!"
"Hide!" Willow quickly ordered her house-elf Buffy when she heard the portrait hole to her room slide opened. She looked up, and found a familiar figure entering her room. "Madam Pomfrey?"
"Oh good. You're awake." Madam Pomfrey smiled and stepped into her room. "How are you feeling?" She asked, putting the tray on the nightstand.
"Sore."
Madam Pomfrey nodded. "It is to be expected." She said as she checking on the wound. "It should heal in a day or two. In the mean time, get a lot of bed rest."
"But... school! We've got assignments to hand in, a-and school!"
Madam Pomfrey frowned. "Has no one told you yet?"
"Told me what?"
"The Ministry has ordered a house arrest. You are not to be allowed to have contact with any other student or leave this room until the attacker has been caught."
"Wha-" Willow blinked, her jaw dropped. "What!"