I thought I'd get this posted before I FORGET. I'm so forgetful these days. This new job is frying my brain with all the new things I have to learn. Yesterday I had to take a Notary Public class and exam...which I'm certain I didn't pass and won't know for sure for about a month! It was filled with legal stuff and, let's face it, I'm just not that smart! Lol. Anyway, after cramming all that new material into my head, I left there pretty much in tears of frustration and exhaustion. I'm not used to not knowing material for a test. Boo me! So, I came home and poured some wine and listened to music and did a little reading! I've been rereading an old story of mine (from 2003) and enjoying it all over again.

So, I'm off today and I realized that I have been neglecting this story (and you guys). Thank you all so much for continuing to read and comment even though I'm SUPER slow with the posting!

And Sharie, thank you for the nudge to get this posted...this chapter AND for putting it in my head that I should start writing this! Haha.

Special thanks to Dance in the Dark, nerdalertwarning, and chao-hellsing for posting comments on C36!

Anyway...here you go! Make sure you show me the love when you're done reading! Lol.

Chapter Thirty-seven
"Somebody's Watching Me"

"So. Where to?" Buffy asked when the boy noticed her appearance.

She'd like to have been able to sneak away without his seeing, but he'd positioned himself just so—he stood, arms folded, just ten feet from the entrance to Ollivanders—and saw her almost immediately. It was as if he knew she might try to ditch him, Buffy thought with an amused smile to herself. It was her fault, really, for having told him he could buy her a butterbeer after her stop at the wandshop. She should have made excuses and sent him on his way. If that were possible, she didn't know, but now she was stuck.

"There are a few places that offer butterbeer, as well as other tasty drinks," he said, using her word.

Buffy shrugged. "Okay. Lead the way, mister. I might like something to eat too," she told him, mentally kicking herself for having such a loose tongue. She wanted to get rid of him...not spend the afternoon with him! But she kept talking. "All I had before leaving the house was some toast and tea and..." She shook her head, her golden hair swishing, "bread and water does not a breakfast make. In my world, that is."

Abraxas glanced down at the girl, thinking her a slight thing and wondered if she ate anything at all. He also wondered at her strangeness. He'd never met an American girl before. Was it possible they were all this odd?

"We could go back to the Leaky Cauldron," he suggested—then frowned because that would give her a quicker escape when they were finished and he wasn't quite ready to let her go. She was an odd one, but he was curious and wanted to find out more about the girl who'd somehow befriended Tom Riddle when it seemed that no one else could. Not even him. They were acquaintances, certainly...but definitely not friends.

"Oh. Um. Actually, I as hoping to do a little window shopping here before leaving for the day and...you know, maybe buy something if it catches my eye. I saw all sorts of neato shops the other day and I'm just dying to poke around inside some of them."

"Neat oh?" Abraxas repeated questioningly.

Buffy nodded. "Yeah. And Vin and Sophie found a few secondhand stores that they said were interesting. Good stuff, you know?"

"Secondhand?" Abraxas said with disgust, arching a brow at her questioningly. "There are plenty of shops that offer new items, Miss Summers. No need to purchase secondhand."

Buffy shrugged. "There's nothing wrong with used items," she said, seeing his obvious disdain. "Sometimes you find treasures." Like my wands, she added silently—the boy didn't need to know she had four of them in her bag.

Abraxas hmm'd, knowing his mother would have a heart attack if she knew he was even discussing secondhand items. And his sister...Honorine would die of embarrassment if their parents ever purchased her anything from a secondhand shop. And his father...well, he'd definitely have something to say about buying someone's everyday castoffs versus the antiques found in an establishment like Borgin and Burkes—and none of it would be very nice.

"What would you like for your lunch, Miss Summers?" he asked instead.

Buffy rolled her eyes. "Must we continue to use last names? It's so...unfriendly. Not that we're friends, mind," she added, smirking at the blond boy. "I mean, I don't even really know you."

Abraxas frowned. "You can't seem to remember my name anyway, so what difference does it make if I address you by your surname or your given name?"

"Touché!" Buffy said with a laugh. "And I'll probably keep doing it, so...you should probably get used to it," she said, winking at him.

Abraxas huffed. "Is your memory truly that poor?" he asked, wondering how she was going to perform at Hogwarts. There was no possible way she could be in Ravenclaw, he noted to himself.

Buffy smirked at him. "Not at all. It just...amuses me, so..." She shrugged.

"So, you are doing it intentionally," he said, obviously annoyed.

Still grinning, Buffy shrugged again. "That's for me to know and for you to figure out on your own."

"You are extremely odd...Miss Summers," he said, using her surname—because he thought it would irritate her—then smirking when her smile faded, because he knew he'd succeeded.

"Lunch?" Abraxas prompted when she didn't say anything.

Buffy brightened again. "Yeah. Sure. I don't know what's offered here," she admitted. "I'm so hungry, I'd give one of my stakes for a double cheeseburger from the Doublemeat Palace, but..."

Abraxas frowned at her again. She was so confusing. She'd give a steak for a what? He understood cheese, but what was a burger? And who would trade a steak for anything? What sort of plebeian was she?!

"Oh. Hey! What about that Red Griffin place you mentioned last time? Do they have food?" Buffy asked.

Abraxas smirked. "I believe you mean The White Wyren," he corrected—then it occurred to him that she might be purposefully misnaming the establishment.

Buffy nodded. "Yeah, that place," she said.

"Hmm. They have some food, but not... burgers," he said. "But it's on Knockturn Alley."

Buffy shrugged. "Been there, as you know," she said. "Not much of a biggie. Let's go there...unless you have another suggestion."

Abraxas shook his head.

From a few shops down, the two fifteen year olds were being watched by others...

In one direction—in the shadows at the entrance to Knockturn Alley—stood the vampire who'd given the Slayer a few strands of his hair the night before. After jumping up and away from the Slayer and her clearly frustrated Watcher—making a show of leaving Highgate Cemetery—he had hid in the foliage and watched the two ladies go about their business. They'd staked several other vampires—not without first taking some hair from each—all without much of a struggle. He'd been impressed by the pair of them and, extremely curious, followed them home.

Interestingly, after killing the other vampires, they took their time exiting the cemetery, bickering the entire time. The Watcher—Edna, he'd learned—was furious that the Slayer had let him go. He wasn't surprised that the Watcher was angry, but he was surprised that he'd been allowed to leave—unharmed, if not undead!

After leaving the cemetery they had to walk a few blocks before catching a cab and at that point he had to follow them at a slower pace. He was just glad that he'd overheard them telling the cabbie where they were going, so he could follow on foot.

By the time he arrived at their home, they were already inside, but he was able to listen to some of the conversation going on. There were at least two others in the house—and the Slayer wasn't speaking at all, so he assumed she'd excused herself. It was very late.

He'd stayed there only a short time, leaving once he realized he'd gain no information lurking outside their residence.

Now though, he watched the Slayer as she spoke to the boy with extremely blond hair and wondered at their connection. He could hear some of their conversation—he was, after all, a vampire and had excellent hearing. The girl seemed to be intentionally provoking the boy and he was not hiding his displeasure—which she was ignoring. She was unusual, to say the least.

Quickly though, he moved out of the entrance to Knockturn Alley when it became evident that the two were heading his way.

In the other direction—also keeping to the shadows—was Tom Riddle.

Tom had been wandering around London, contemplating whether or not he should go back to the Vin and Sophie's house to see Buffy, but he was unsure if it was too soon. It had, after all, only been three days since he'd left their house, but the ache in his chest told him that he missed his friend.

He'd frowned at the thought—because he'd never had a friend before—but when he'd found himself standing under the covered alley across from number 13 D'Arblay Street, he couldn't really deny it. Either that or he was Buffy's stalker!

Sighing, he leaned up against the building and watched the front door across the street—and the gate that went down to Buffy's basement bedroom. It felt like he stood there for hours until there was some activity. First, he'd watched as Vin and Sophie left the house and wondered if Buffy was even there. Why would they even leave in the middle of the day? Usually they slept most of the day, because they stayed up all night. Was Buffy already out? Were they going to meet her somewhere else? Perhaps she'd gone over to visit Edmund. The thought of that caused a pain in his chest. He wanted to go pound on the door to see if she was there, but part of him didn't want to know—just in case she was out visiting the other boy.

And then later he watched as Buffy emerged from the house—and felt instant relief. He considered going to her, but knew she would tease him for standing outside and not just knocking on the door. He couldn't bear the thought of her laughing at him—but craved her laughter at the same time. He'd almost worked up the courage to come out of the shadows across the street when she turned and started down the street determinedly, going in the opposite direction from him. It didn't take him long to figure out where she was going—Diagon Alley was on Charing Cross Road, which was quite close!

He'd given her a minute to enter the Leaky Cauldron, then he too went inside.

Unfortunately though, someone else had noticed her entrance to the pub before he was able to catch up to her, so Tom followed them—watching to see what they were doing and where they were going. It crossed his mind that the meeting was planned—the thought infuriated him—but he decided after further scrutinization that it was not the case. Relieved, he continued to trail them, pleased that he would not have to hex his housemate.

When Buffy disappeared into Ollivanders, Tom studied Malfoy. The other boy stood off to the side of the building, close enough that there was no way Tom could sneak by him to join Buffy inside. He was pleased that Buffy hadn't taken him inside with her though—that her dealings inside the wandshop were something she'd not shared with the blond boy.

For several minutes, Abraxas Malfoy busied himself by examining his fingernails. Then he brushed at his lavish robes, picking off imagined lint. Tom scoffed to himself, thinking there was likely nothing on them, but that the other boy had nothing else to do.

Eyes narrowed, Tom waited patiently—more like impatiently—to see what would happen next. He was standing ramrod straight, arms stiff at his sides, with his fingernails digging into the palms of his fisted hands—and glaring down the alley without realizing it. As he watched and waited, he shook in his barely contained fury, wishing he'd not allowed his housemate to get to Buffy before he could. He would have to be more vigilant in future, he told himself.

From his position, Tom looked from Malfoy to the door to Ollivanders. Even though he had a good idea as to why Buffy was at the wandshop, it seemed like she took an inordinate amount of time inside. Had she found the perfect magical substance for the wand they would craft for her? he wondered, irritated that he had not been there with her when she'd discovered it—and infuriated that he was not inside the shop with her right now. All around, he was just not pleased at all!

When Buffy finally reappeared, Tom sighed and moved from the edge of the building he was standing beside and crept forward to the next. He wasn't really very far away from them, so he reminded himself to be careful—so that he'd not be seen. In the end, however, Buffy and Malfoy weren't paying any mind to their surroundings.

As the two turned and continued down the street, Tom followed as if they were prey. He was so annoyed that they were together that his fingers were itching to pull out his wand and hex the pair of them. Obviously he wouldn't do that—not to her, at least. But Malfoy was another story.

As he followed them, their destination became clear—they intended on going to Knockturn Alley.

Buffy was sitting across from Abraxas Malfoy laughing at something he'd said—and the laughter hadn't pleased the blond boy much at all. And then the boy's eyes suddenly focused on something behind the girl, causing his features to change from displeasure to...something else.

Cocking her head, Buffy said, "Don't tell me, there's a pack of wild werewolves hovering directly behind me?"

Abraxas looked back at her. "Er. What?"

"Your look. Behind me. You look like we're in trouble or something," she said, still not looking. "So I'm thinking creatures. If it's werewolves, then we're safe though. Relatively, since, you know, the moon's in a waning crescent, at the moment."

Abraxas stared at her. "You have quite the awareness about werewolves."

Buffy shrugged. "So, what is it?"

Abraxas didn't answer her. Instead, he looked behind her again—causing Buffy to sigh and turn to see for herself.

Frowning, Buffy stared at Tom—who'd apparently just walked in the door. He looked tousled and...a bit angry, but Buffy knew how to throw him off his spiky mood. Grinning, she jumped up from her seat and went to him.

"Hey," she burst. Then, giving him no warning that she planned to hug him, she wrapped her arms around him and squeezed. "How are you? I've missed you. What are you doing here?"

For the briefest of moments, Tom stiffened in her arms—which only caused the girl to tighter her hold on him.

"In a moment I will need to ask you to let me breathe," he commented, his eyes going uncomfortably to his housemate, who was watching them with rapt attention.

Releasing him, Buffy looked up at his usually pale face—he was a bit red—and smiled sheepishly. "Sorry. I forget my slayer strength at times," she whispered, so no one could hear her—not that anyone would, because there weren't very many people in the pub at the moment. "When I'm not getting the slayage on, that is. Cuz, you know, just a girl." She bobbed her head to the side and smiled up at him.

Tom hmm'd—and glanced over at Abraxas Malfoy again. The blond boy was smirking at him.

So, what are you doing here?" Buffy asked him, then quirked a brow up at him. "Were you following me?"

"Of course not!" Tom answered—a bit too quickly. "I mean. No, not really."

Buffy just smirked. "Okay."

Tom sighed. "I was going to come over," he said, "but...I wasn't sure if it would be all right."

Buffy gave his chest a tempered slap—which still caused him to wince a little. "Of course it's okay, silly!" she said, looking up at him—then frowning. "Are you okay? Did something happen over at..." She let her words trail off. She didn't wish to completely embarrass him by bringing up his living situation in public.

"I'm fine," he said flatly—then went on quickly, because it looked like she was going to hug him again, and while he did thoroughly enjoy contact with her, it was a strange feeling—uncomfortable and yet soothing—but...there were people watching!

And not just Abraxas Malfoy—though that was the worst of it. Across the room, the bartender had turned eyes on them and Tom could sense someone else watching from the shadowy back corner. There was also a trio of creepy-looking men at a table in the center of the room who were watching their exchange and an old hag sitting at the bar who was eyeing them as she sipped a murky-looking drink. They had the room's attention, for sure, and Tom didn't like it!

"I just needed some air," he said quietly. "Mrs Cole was being rather...Mrs Cole. And Billy..." He stopped talking—and Buffy grimaced.

"I do not like that boy," she said—causing Tom to chuckle.

"As you know, neither do I," he said. "It's becoming more difficult not to hex him."

Buffy grinned, then put on a serious face and wagged her finger at him scoldingly. "But you won't," she said. "You'll be a good boy and mind the Ministry's underage rules."

He smirked a little. "And what about you? Have you been minding the rules?"

Buffy shrugged. "Well I don't have a wand with that trace thingy yet, so...some of us can do whatever we want," she said, grinning.

He scoffed.

"So it was bad, huh...over there?" she pushed.

In the very recent past, he probably would have just sequestered himself up in his tiny six-by-nine foot room and buried his nose in his books—because there was always studying to do—but now though, he was easily distracted by thoughts of the girl standing much too close to him.

Sighing, he didn't answer her question—he didn't need to respond, because obviously it was bad there. It always was. "I see that you've found your way back here," he said instead, still not acknowledging his housemate.

Buffy nodded. "I had something to bring to Ollivanders," she said with a wry smile.

Tom nodded, knowing she would need to come back and why, but finding her not alone irked him. He'd have liked to be the one who'd come with her—not that Malfoy had actually come with her, he told himself. And he'd like to know what she'd found and brought to Ollivanders. She would tell him later, he was sure.

"And now you're having lunch with Malfoy," he stated plainly, forcing the jealousy he felt bubbling up away, because he did not want Buffy to know it bothered him that she was at lunch with another boy—even though it very much did!

Buffy looked behind her, then took Tom's hand and pulled on it. "Come sit with us," she said, her tone almost begging as she put some force behind the tug.

Us, he repeated silently, gnashing his teeth as he allowed her to drag him to the table. At the table, Tom gestured at her chair, then pushed it in as she sat down—then took another and greeted Abraxas.

"Malfoy," he said

Abraxas nodded. "Riddle."

Buffy huffed. "Gawd! What is it with you guys and the last names?! It's like you two don't even know each other or like...like you dislike one another. It's weird."

"Miss Summers has been angling for an invitation to become less formal," said Abraxas.

Tom's eyes narrowed at his housemate's wording.

"Not less formal in that way," Buffy corrected, realizing the way it sounded. "Mr Malarkey was just giving me another tour of these bendy alleys here and we decided to have lunch," Buffy told Tom. "You know how I'm always hungry."

"Was he now?" Tom ground out, his dark eyes turning on his housemate—his near explosive anger instantly melting when he saw Abraxas Malfoy struggling with what Buffy had called him. Not wishing to antagonize the blond boy, Tom hid a smirk and nodded, ignoring Buffy's successful attempt to annoy the other boy.

Buffy nodded. "Yep! Absinthe here helped me get into Diagon when I was poking the wrong bricks and then insisted on accompanying me around," she explained.

Tom heard Malfoy growl under his breath and nearly burst out laughing. Buffy was good at keeping a straight face while intentionally provoking another.

"Must you continue to call me everything under the sun except my name?" the blond Slytherin boy ground out, obviously outraged by the girl's words.

Buffy smirked. "Well, I've not been given permission to use your name, now have I?" Buffy said sharply to the blond—while still looking sweetly at her dark-haired friend. "He's a stubborn one, isn't he?"

"And is Malfoy simply too difficult for you?" Abraxas asked.

Buffy shrugged. "No, but I told you, I think it's weird. Teenagers should be able to call each other by their first names. We're not old people, you know."

Tom couldn't help the smirk that touched his lips, his dark eyes going to Abraxas Malfoy. "It's not much to ask, Malfoy," he said.

Abraxas stared at his housemate for a moment, then gave him a stiff nod—then looked at Buffy and said, "Won't you please address me by my first name, Miss Summers?"

Buffy's eyes lit up. "Oh. Um. Sure...if you'll use mine too, Brax," she said—causing the boy to groan with frustration and roll his eyes.

Tom though, grinned widely, thoroughly enjoying Abraxas Malfoy's discomfiture and annoyance—and Buffy just pretended that she didn't notice any of it at all.