Chapter 3: A small price for freedom

Disclaimer: The song and dance continues, I own neither Buffy nor Harry Potter. Each belong to their respective owners. I'm just playing in the sandpit.

Drusilla stroked his cheek; he resisted the urge to flinch away. It had almost become routine between the two of them over the last three months that he had been stuck with them. It was like she was constantly sizing him up, deciding whether or not she was bored of him and was just going to kill him. Spike had disappeared for the evening, no doubt trying to harass the Slayer some more, it had failed repeatedly but Harry had to give him props for being persistent. Surprisingly as well, their treatment of him had improved, at least they had not neglected the food. Though he was getting bored of the same four walls day after day. It was also quite impressive that the fast food places were willing to deliver the place every time even though nearly half of them had been killed. Spike had tried something on Halloween, it had backfired, and the result had also led to two more dusted vampires in the building. "Don't be scared Puppy, you've been so well behaved." She practically purred at him, leaning into him, sniffing his neck before licking him. He shuddered, flinching back away from her but he didn't have anywhere to move. "But our time together is coming to an end. At least for now." She whispered to him, resting her head on his shoulder, "will you miss me?" She asked, and Harry wanted to respond, he wanted to make a disparaging remark, but he couldn't think of something witty. "Will you remember me as you strike down the Dark One?"

Was this her seeing or was this her dismissal of Voldemort's strength? Harry genuinely didn't know, he also wasn't sure he wanted to know the truth. "Dru... love, either bite him or leave him alone." Spike said in restrained annoyance as he looked up from where he had been looking through the pages of a book before crying out in frustration "Seriously, why can't they ever write these books in bloody English, or hell just plain ordinary Latin, I at least know some of that." Spike said before slamming it shut. "Now I'm going to have to find someone who can translate this." The door to the room opened and all three looked at the door as a dark-haired teen walked in. "Wait... how did you get in here?" Spike asked in confused surprise, "there's a thing called a perimeter! Has no one heard of a thing called Security," Spike called out in frustration.

"This is kind of cool, just like I always thought it would be. You even have a hostage already, this is so cool." The teen said as he looked over at Drusilla and Harry.

"And already I'm getting bored of you, what do you want?"

"That's not what you're meant to say, you're meant to look at a watch and say, 'you've got thirty seconds to live.' it's tradition."

"I'm not one for tradition/he's not one for tradition." Spike and Harry said almost at the same time. "Shut up..." Spike growled in warning to Harry as Drusilla pressed a finger against Harry's lips.

"Be quiet puppy, or you lose your privileges." She warned, and Harry glared at the two.

"Moving on! I'm kind of busy, you're boring me and so I've decided I'm just going to kill you." Spike said with amusement as he walked over to the man.

"Wait... wait, I've come to bargain." He said politely, holding up his hands and stepping back from Spike.

"What could you possibly have to offer me?" Spike questioned in disbelief as he grabbed the guy by the throat.

"Spike... wait," Drusilla spoke up and Spike sighed, stopping, and letting the man go. "He sings of betrayal and lies, but not for you."

"Betrayal and lies? And now it becomes slightly more interesting. What do you want?" Spike asked, and the teen looked disappointed.

"C'mon you've got to say it, it's traditional."

"What? Oh, come on... fine... Tell me what I want, you've got thirty seconds." Spike said, crossing his arms, and tapping his foot impatiently.

"I can give you the slayer."

"I'm listening..." Spike said, taking a seat on the edge of the table.

"I went to school with her, I'm an old friend and I can lead her into a trap for you, but I want something in return."

"And that would be."

"I want to become a vampire." He requested, and Spike remained silent while Harry laughed.

"You're an even bigger idiot than I thought." Harry added getting control of his laughter. "Trust me, I've been stuck with these two for the last three months and..." He was silenced by Drusilla's hand against his throat. "I'm pushing my luck a bit too much aren't I?" he choked out as Drusilla smiled.

"You shall lose your rights to talk puppy." She whispered, her hand moving away and pressing his lips together. "Did you know my mummy taught me how to sew? it was so long ago and yet I still remember." She taunted, and Harry realised what she was hinting at. the look of recognition in his eyes was enough to make her smile turn predatory.

"Later Dru... we kind of need to make plans here." Spike said, and Drusilla pouted but let Harry go, walking over to Spike as they begun to plan with the teen.

HPMOHHPMOH

"How did the meeting with the Watchers Council go?" Snape asked as Dumbledore re-entered his office, it had been a long time coming but the two had finally managed to arrange a meeting. They had been more than happy to drag out the initial meet up, but Dumbledore had been nothing but persistent. Even more so after Fawkes was able to travel but wouldn't leave to find Harry, the song he sang was one of only regret that did nothing to put his mind at ease. Was it that Fawkes didn't know where Harry was, couldn't get to him or that he was already dead.

"Enlightening I think is the best word that I can think to describe it. The current head a Quentin Travers, was reluctant to give any information but after I explained that Harry was vital to the Wizarding World, revealing part of the prophecy convinced him to reveal the information we needed."

"And where is the boy?" Snape questioned.

"They don't know, Spike and Drusilla have been located but no one has apparently seen Harry." He sighed and sat back in his chair, feeling his age catching up with him. "This was not how I planned for the year to begin." He spoke, his tone carrying an exhaustion to it. "I do not believe he is dead though." Dumbledore admitted, "nor undead before you add that extra part. Drusilla and Spike are notorious for their grand gestures, if they know who he is, which I have no doubt they do then if they killed him, the world would have known about it." Dumbledore explained, and Snape had to concede the point, the evidence that had been put together did point to the same thing.

"Where were they located?" Snape asked curiously, though he had the feeling that Dumbledore would probably be sending him there.

"A town called Sunnydale in California to be exact. It's a dangerous place, according to Travers it's the location of a Hellmouth." Albus explained and Snape lost what little colour he had in his face.

"I thought they were only legend?" Snape practically whispered. "Centres of magic that draw the underworld to it. At least, that's what I've read." He explained, and Dumbledore nodded his head.

"It also explains why Fawkes would refuse to go there." Albus explained, looking over at his familiar. "A place that like that, it's no place for a creature of the light." He explained and then turned his attention back to Snape. "I must ask a favour of you Severus." Albus spoke and Snape nodded his head.

"You want me to go there, to search for him?" Snape asked and Albus nodded his head.

"Of all the people I could send, I trust you the most to get it done, your connections to various... need I say darker associates could prove invaluable." Albus said and Snape begrudgingly nodded.

"Time to save the Boy Who Lived." Snape said as he pushed himself out of his chair. "Part of me wonders how he will react." Snape said with dark amusement. The two had never got along and no doubt it wouldn't ease up with this, but it needed to be done, the fate of the Wizarding World depended on it.

"The watcher stationed there works in a Muggle High School, it may be worth meeting up with him before you start searching to see if they know anything about the current situation."

"And here I thought I'd be able to escape the students for a little bit." Snape sneered managing to get a small smile from Dumbledore.

"Alas, you live a horribly cursed life." He joked lightly, and Snape pushed himself out of his chair.

"Very well I'll be heading off then."

HPMOHHPMOH

The evening came up, Spike, Drusilla and several vampires were all planning on heading to the club that the teen was planning to lure the Slayer to, Harry watched calmly as they organised, Spike giving out orders as he threw his car keys at one of them. This could potentially be his chance to escape. With Spike taking Drusilla and the majority of his vampires to this location he'd be possibly overlooked and hopefully be able to slip away.

Though it wasn't going to be as easy as he hoped, as the others left, Spike leading the front of the group, Drusilla walked back over to him, pushing him down onto a chair. "Now puppy, stay here and wait for mommy." She purred at him, placing his hands onto the armrest. He didn't even realise what had happened until after the effect as pain shot up from both of his hands, two blades pinning his hands to the furniture. He cried out in pain, his instinct to yank his hands away stopped only because he knew he'd do more damage. "Be good for mommy now." She said as she ran her finger along the wound, bringing the bloody finger to her lips before she walked away, closing the door behind her.

Through gritted teeth and eyes watering, Harry struggled against the blades that pinned his hands, they'd manage to leave him in a better position than if they had left him locked in that cage. He shifted slightly, cursing under his breath as he tried to shift the blades, they gave slightly but he couldn't really shift them. He cursed, louder this time and cried out as he forcefully pulled his hands up, no doubt it'd do more damage, but he could get it fixed back at Hogwarts. the blades shifted, and he grimaced, looking at the blood-soaked blades. He pulled again, the back of his hands slamming into the hilts and causing them to pop out of the wood. he cried out, pulling his arms to him, his hands shaking as the metal dropped to the floor with a dull clatter. He whimpered and stood up, holding his arms close as he walked over to the desk, He had to see if Spike had kept his wand here. He pulled open the top draw and muttered in frustration, seeing random junk, coins, pens, papers, more daggers, and a folded-up piece of paper. "I almost dread knowing what he wrote on here." Harry muttered pulling the piece of paper out, blood dripping onto it as he did so. He unfolded it and stared at it, his look going from annoyance to a solid glare. "Did you really think I'd leave your wand in the same building that I'm holding you in?" He cried out in frustration, tearing up the note and slamming his hands down on to the desk. "God... that was a mistake." He whimpered clutching them against himself. He walked over to the door, gripping it, and turning the handle but it refused to budge. "And here I was hoping she was spaced out enough to forget to lock the door." He said as he looked around the room. He had been stuck in here long enough that he knew it pretty much all picture perfect, as a Vampire base and private room for Spike and Drusilla, there were no windows, the sewer access that Spike used to get around every now and again was in the next room and the door itself was sturdy and solid with little to no sign of budging.

It was at times like this that he wished he could do wandless magic. But that was meant to be covered this year from what Hermione had told him. Unfortunately, uncontrolled magic was exactly that, he couldn't call on it at will to blow open the door. So, he paced, trying to think on how to get out, how to deal with the pain in his hands, he walked over to the bed in the room and tore several strips of fabric from the sheets, wrapping them around his hands and tying them before pacing around again. There had to be a way out, he walked around tapping the walls, trying to see if there was a false panel or something, he doubted the two would have had a room with only one exit, it ran counterproductive to his apparent ability to survive constantly against his enemies. He had to have another way to get out of the building.

Tap, tap, tap, thud, tap.

"Hold up a minute..." Harry moved back to the wall, tapped it a couple more time where the sound was different, it sounded wooden compared to the solid brick of the rest of the room. "That's different." He muttered tapping it a couple more times. "There's the way out, I can always look for my wand later." Harry said with resignation. He kicked the panelling, it buckled slightly but not by much, repeatedly he kicked it and it started to break away. "Time to go." Harry muttered pushing his foot into the panel and it snapped away, opening into the next room of the building. He knelt, crawling through the hole he made wincing as he moved with each press of the hands on the grounds. On the other side he pushed himself to his feet, dusting off his clothes as he moved towards the door. Trying the handle, he knew it would be locked before he even got to it, but it had been worth a try. as expected, it clicked as he tried to open it and it didn't budge. "I guess I have to leave through the sewer." Harry groaned, turning to look at the sewer entrance and groaning quietly. "You've got to be kidding me... I don't want to go down there." Harry groaned as he walked over to it, pulling open the grate with a bit of difficulty before looking down into the darkness.

HPMOHHPMOH

Severus walked through the school hallways, looking around with mild disinterest, the Potions professor was dressed in casual but formal muggle clothing as he walked through the empty corridor towards what he assumed would be the library. He had to be honest, as much as he didn't care for Muggles, their schools were always interesting, if it wasn't for the students that was.

Turning to follow the sign he could hear voices ahead of him, a woman's voice and from the sound of it an older man as well. they were discussing something, but he couldn't clearly hear it. He slowed his walking speed and made himself slightly more obvious, if the tales of the Slayer was true, he didn't want to end up on the receiving end of an attack.

"A ticking clock makes people do stupid things," the male older voice spoke.

"I know Giles, he chose what happened to him. I just... I just wish he didn't betray me." She said sadly as Snape walked around the corner, the two instantly going quiet, the woman, a short blonde-haired teen stepping protectively in front of the older man. "Can we help you?"

"I'm looking for a Rupert Giles." Snape said, looking between the two.

"You've found him." Giles spoke up, looking at the man, trying to study Snape and see what kind of threat he could be.

"I have come to get your help in dealing with a... vampire problem." Snape explained and noticed the exhaustion that seemed to settle on the shoulders of the blonde girl.

"Vampire problem?" Giles asked, playing stupid for the moment.

"Yes, the Watchers Council mentioned that you were stationed here with the Slayer... which I assume must be her." He said with a nod to Buffy.

"She is," Giles conceded, "I'm sorry, you said the Watchers Council told you I was here?" Giles asked in confusion.

"What do the Tweed council want with us now?" The woman questioned glancing up at Giles. "Did you forget buy your annual quota of Tweed Jackets again? Cause I told you, they're gonna get angry about that." She mocked, and Giles frowned a little bit as he looked at the Slayer.

"Buffy, enough." Giles interrupted.

"Fine, I'll leave you and your new friend to talk, I need to get home and sleep. Speak to you tomorrow Giles?" She said.

"What? oh yes, yes I'll see you in the morning." Giles conceded as the Blonde walked off.

"You two have fun now." She said with a slight wave as she walked by Snape. The two stood in silence as Buffy walked away before Giles gestured to a set of double doors.

"Please, come in, take a seat." He said leading the man into a library. In the room, sat a table with several chairs around, a small set of steps led up to stacks with books. To the side there was a cage which had more books locked away and Snape walked over to the table seeing the books that sat open on the desk. he ran his hand across it, looking at some of the words that were written.

"I've seen some of these books before." Snape said with a glance up at Giles. "Some are quite hard to get hold of, I know our Restricted Section lacks this one." Snape complimented and closed the book. "But we can talk about this later."

"Yes, for starters, what is your name?"

"Severus Snape, I'm a Teacher at a School for magic."

"Hogwarts?" Giles questioned getting a nod from Snape.

"You've heard of it?"

"Only a little bit, the Watchers are kept in the loop to an extent, you said Vampires brought you here? Why, what do they want with your school?"

"We don't think they do, but shortly before Summer ended, they abducted one of the students from near their home." He explained.

"Good heavens! Is he all right?" Giles asked, and Snape shrugged.

"We don't know, we haven't seen any trace of him since then. But the vampires in question are currently in Sunnydale, at least that's what the Council said. Perhaps you or your Slayer have encountered them, Spike and Drusilla?" Snape asked, drawing a shocked look from Giles who took off his glasses and begun to clean them.

"Yes... not good company for anyone to be with. We have encountered them a few times, at least Spike but Buffy has never been able to get the final blow." Giles placed his glasses back on. "Can I get you a cup of tea or something?" He asked, getting a nod as he walked into the office where his kettle sat. "In fact," he continued speaking, louder as he talked from the other room, "she had another encounter with them today, a stalemate again due to hostages. A group of people who wanted to become Vampires, needless to say they had their eyes open to the true nature of the creatures." Giles explained as he stuck his head back through the doorway. "How do you have your tea?"

"White, no sugar." Snape responded politely. "Do you know if they have mentioned anything about the student?"

"Not that I'm aware of, though Spike is quite the egomaniac, he spends more time talking about himself than anyone else. You would have to ask Buffy if Drusilla said anything when they met this evening." He said, walking back out with two cups of tea, he offered on to Snape who took it quietly. "What can you tell me about the student?" He asked, drawing a sigh from Snape.

"The boy, a black-haired teen called Harry Potter, an average student with a habit of getting in to trouble and putting everyone else at risk. Just like his arrogant father." Snape started to explain but then stopped. "But he is important to the wizarding world, a child of prophecy." Snape explained getting another look of disbelief from Giles.

"There's a prophecy about him?" He asked getting a nod from Snape, "of course there is." He said with a sigh, "there's always a prophecy." He muttered as the two begun to talk into the night.

HPMOHHPMOH

Harry stumbled through the sewer, the darkness making it difficult to see as he tried to find his way, stumbling through the dirty water as he tried to find a way out, turning through the various tunnels. "Least he could have done was left a map." Harry muttered in frustration as he glanced down one passageway, before looking down another one. "I have no idea where I'm going or even if I'm just walking... in... circles..." He trailed off as he heard the sounds of people talking, pressing himself against the wall to hide himself, he stopped to listen.

"Can't believe the Slayer managed to get away again. I thought this Spike was meant to be a Slayer killer..." The first, a male voice spoke as they walked down the passageway, the voices getting louder as they came in his direction. "He can't handle it... I think he's past his prime."

"And yet, he could probably still kick your ass with ease, I doubt you could take on the Slayer." The second mocked, getting a growl from the first one.

"Maybe not, but he claims to have killed two of them. Were those legends real? Or is he just bragging?" The first questioned getting a laugh.

"If they weren't do you think he'd still be around now? The guy has got some skills... but this Slayer... she seems to be on a whole nother level." He kept pausing as he was speaking, and Harry held his breath, wondering nervously as to whether they could hear him breathing even with the constant sound of running water. "I'm more curious as to what they're going to do with that kid they're holding on to... What's the deal with him? Why can't we just eat him?" The second vampire asked as the two came to a stop.

"Spike has his obsession with Drusilla, what she wants, she gets. If it wasn't for her this evening, the Slayer would have been dead." The first explained as they stopped just before the corner, Harry backing away as slowly and as quietly as possible. "She wants him alive for some reason that she's not saying so Spike is giving her what she wants." He finished and then with a growl, lunged around the corner, grabbing Harry. "I thought I smelt fresh blood." He mocked, holding Harry up by the grip on his clothing. "Thought you could just leave with everyone else a bit distracted?"

"You'd be disappointed if I didn't try." Harry responded with a grimace, realising it wasn't his breathing that had tipped him off but the wounds that Drusilla had inflicted in his hands, "besides, do you know how boring it is being stuck in the same building with no chance to move around for three months?" Harry asked as the Vampire started pulling him back the way they came. "Cause I've got to tell you, you can only look at the same half rusted chains and tools for so long before you get bored." Harry tried to sound confident as he was saying it and he was hoping that it was working. After that they slipped into Silence, upon arriving back at the entrance that Harry had used to flee the second one climbed up first before reaching down, grabbing Harry by the collar and pulling him back into the room, the first following after a second.

"Well, I can't say I'm surprised by the attempt, I expected you to get a bit farther though. Dru, this is why I told you not to keep strays." He said as he turned his head to look at Drusilla. She walked over to Harry who tried to pull away from her, but the vampire still held onto him.

"You've been a bad puppy." She said, stepping close to him, "Leave us." She ordered looking at the two vampires let go of Harry, glancing at Spike who gestured for them to leave.

"He's already run away once, I think it may be time to have him put down." Spike said as they were the only three left in the room.

"That seems a bit unnecessary don't you think?" Harry spoke, working to keep himself calm and failing miserably.

"If you don't Dru, he's just going to keep trying to run," Spike reinforced as Dru stood in front of Harry, swaying gently as she did.

"Shh, shh." She hushed Spike, turning back to Harry. "He already knew this time was coming," She said with a dreamy smile. "He thought he could sneak away into the dark, but he's not ready to embrace it." She whispered, stroking his cheek.

"And I'm still not ready to embrace it... at all, so let's just say a mistake of youth and..." He was cut off again as Drusilla grabbed his throat.

"bye, bye Puppy." She said with a whisper, her face shifting into her vampiric state as she leant in, biting his neck.

Harry gasped, he tried to struggle but as he moved, she gripped his arm. He looked at Spike, seeing the look of satisfaction on his face as everything started to go dark for him. his breathing became shallow and just before he completely blacked out, she let go of him. He staggered back, confusion mixed with pain before he fell backwards, back down the hole he had been lifted out of moments before.

"How nice." Spike said as he walked over, taking Drusilla in his arms. "He took out the trash for us." He said before shutting the hatch.

Harry, clinging onto the last bit of consciousness was able to hear that before he shut his eyes, the world going dark.

TBC

Cliffhanger ending! Oh no!

Writing Drusilla is tricky, writing Spike is also tricky in it's own way, but Drusilla is a challenge to write and it's why I've kinda had her speaking but not speaking too much. Still, Harry is no longer their Prisoner, Snape is on the move to look for them. How will this all play out? Find out in the next chapter.