A Wizard's Slayer
SETTINGS: Sequel to 'A Witch's Family', which was the sequel to 'A Murderer's Daughter'. You really need to read those two before reading this one.
DISCLAIMER: Buffy and Harry Potter characters aren't mine. The two Slytherin characters Keeta Seffer and Claire McNair ARE mine, and I'd appreciate if you asked before using those names.
PAIRINGS: Buffy/Harry, Willow/Tara, Draco/Ginny, Ron/Hermione.
NOTES: Why oh why do I keep doing this to myself? This was just begging to be written, so…here it goes. Just a warning, this one's gonna be a little bit darker than the last two. Not sure why I feel the need to experiment a foray into the darker side of writing, so…here goes nothing I suppose.
REMINDER: This isn't the start of a new year for the gang. It's halfway through Sixth-Year for the Gryffindor Gang. Set two days before Christmas and then to the end of the school year.
ONWARDS:
CHAPTER ONE: THE CALLING
"I uh…my name's Dominic Wood."
Buffy waited for him to say more, but he paused. She looked at him expectantly. "And? What do you want with me?"
"You have to come with me," Dominic said seriously. "You're one of the few who can stop them."
"Stop them?" Buffy asked, feeling a strange sense of déjà vu.
"The Vampires," Dominic explained.
Buffy stood up, the swing flying wildly as she leapt to her feet.
"This isn't funny," she said quietly, her voice dropping to a low and threatening tone.
"It's not supposed to be," he replied. "You are the Chosen One. Miss Riddle…you are the Slayer."
Buffy's jaw dropped.
"You're shitting me," she whispered quietly.
"I assure you Miss Riddle, I'm not," Dominic replied. He hadn't been expecting this reaction. He'd been expecting flat out denial of the existence of vampires. He hadn't been prepared for her to know what he was talking about.
Buffy shook her head, her mind spinning with two many facts to comprehend properly. Harry stepped forward and put a hand on the small of Buffy's back, calming her slightly and lending her his strength.
"But…Faith," Buffy whispered.
"You know Faith Keller?" Dominic asked, now truly confused. He couldn't work out who this girl was that she would know what the Slayer was, as well as knowing the Slayer before her.
Buffy nodded, her world still spinning dangerously. "She's…she's dead?" Buffy asked.
Dominic winced a little. "Not exactly."
"Not exactly?" Buffy repeated. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"
"You're aware of Faith's recent hospital stay?" he asked.
Buffy nodded. "What about it?"
"She flat-lined during surgery. For all intents and purposes, she was dead. Momentarily of course. That period of time was long enough for a second Slayer to be Called," he explained. "The mages sensed you once when Faith was in the hospital, but you seemed to just disappear after that. They sensed you again three days ago, Miss Riddle."
"Summers," Buffy corrected him absently.
"Pardon?"
"My name. It's Summers, not Riddle. And it's Buffy, not Elizabeth," she said.
"But…you told me you were Elizabeth Riddle," Dominic said. He hated when he wasn't in control of a conversation, and this was rapidly spinning out of his control.
Buffy nodded. "Yeah, but I prefer to go by Buffy Summers," she said. "It's kind of a long story."
"Oh, uh…alright. Uh…you uh…you really do need to come with me. We need to begin your training," he explained.
"Been there, done that. Not a lot of fun," she replied.
"I'm sorry?" he asked.
Buffy rolled her eyes. Giles hadn't been kidding when he'd said that no one at the Council knew who she actually was. She could barely think past the sentence that Dominic had uttered earlier.
You are the Slayer.
"Look, I…I really need to think about this for a bit," she said, desperately trying to keep her breathing even. She couldn't help but feel completely overwhelmed by what she'd been told. It was sort of ironic. For the last four months, all she'd wanted was her Slayer strength back, and now that she had it, she wasn't sure if she wanted it or not.
Dominic frowned.
"Miss Rid…Summers. I don't think you quite understand-"
"I understand okay!" she yelled. "One girl in all the world, yadda yadda yadda. Strength and skill, blah blah blah. I get it. And…I just need to think," Buffy said.
Dominic was startled by Buffy's words, both by her tone, and the familiar prophecy that she'd butchered mercilessly. He took a step towards her, but stopped when he saw the sharp look in her eyes.
The Watcher went to explain himself further, but was interrupted by a soft British voice.
"What's going on here?" Sara questioned.
Buffy looked up at her mother and sighed with relief. There was no way a Watcher would dare to continue talking bout vampires and demons in front of her mother. She looked at Dominique, almost challenging him with her eyes. He stepped back and scowled. He reached into his pocket and retrieved a business card, handing it over to her.
"You obviously know what I'm talking about Miss Summers," he said quietly. "So you surely must understand how important it is that we speak again."
Buffy nodded absently. "Yeah. Sure."
"Meet me back here in two days time."
She stared at him for a long moment before nodding her agreement. Dominic turned and walked away, leaving Harry, Sara and an incredibly exhausted Buffy.
Sara looked at her daughter and saw how incredibly pale she'd become.
"Buffy?" Sara asked gently.
Buffy looked up and Sara was startled by the look in her daughter's eyes. There was pain, fear but also a fierce determination in them.
"Let's go home," Buffy pleaded softly.
Sara nodded and Harry took Buffy's arm, guiding her back to Sara's car.
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Buffy was pacing. She'd been doing it for the last hour, and still she hadn't been able to calm herself down.
You are the Slayer.
That was twice that she'd been told that same phrase. But this time was the real deal. It wasn't a spell. It wasn't because the Ministry wanted to ensure she understood right from wrong, light from dark. This was because she'd been Chosen. She'd been Called to fight the forces of darkness. What she couldn't understand was 'why'.
Why her? She'd asked herself that so many times back in LA and again in Sunnydale. But she'd been given her answer by Giles. It was because she needed to learn to control her darkness before she began controlling her magic.
But now, she was the Slayer. Or, more correctly, a Slayer. It was no longer the Chosen One, but the Chosen Two. She couldn't help but breath a little easier when she realised that Faith was still alive. The panic she'd felt when hearing those familiar words –You are the Slayer- had half been because she and Faith had been able to understand each other. They had both been given burdens they didn't want and been forced to carry them through life. The weight of the world had been on their shoulders. There was something in Faith that Buffy could see within herself.
Harry was sitting on Buffy's bed, silently watching his girlfriend pace. He knew that this was a lot for Buffy to take in. He hadn't really been able to think it through for himself either. The thought of Buffy being the Slayer made his mind completely freeze.
He could still remember the panic he'd felt in his first year of meeting Buffy. Two years ago when she'd sat he, Ron and Hermione down to explain about why she'd fought the vampires in the Forbidden Forest, he'd felt overwhelmingly protective of the small blonde girl. He hadn't really understood it, but he knew that he didn't want Buffy to die. He didn't want her to be killed.
Buffy stopped abruptly, surprising Harry. She turned to look at him, her eyes as serious as Harry had ever seen them.
"Buffy?"
"I gotta talk to Giles," Buffy said.
Harry looked slightly surprised. Buffy hadn't spoken a single word since the park, and to hear her now saying that she didn't want to confide in him hurt. He knew, however, that he shouldn't be taking it personally. After all, Giles was the closest thing Buffy had ever had to a father, and he was usually the man with the answers.
"I'll go with you," he offered.
Buffy shook her head. "No. No…I…I have to do this myself," she said, silently pleading with him to understand.
Harry sighed, hurt that she wasn't letting him support her. He reluctantly nodded, knowing that there was no way that she would relent after making up her mind.
"When will you be back?" he asked.
"Tonight. Late maybe, I don't know," Buffy said.
She was shifting from foot to foot, obviously eager to leave as soon as possible. Harry sighed again, ran a hand through his hair and nodded.
"Be careful," he said.
Buffy nodded. She began focusing herself, but shook it off. She stepped forward and bent down to kiss Harry, slow and tenderly. She pulled back and cupped his cheek.
"You know I love you," she whispered. "No matter what happens."
He smiled and nodded and stood up to engulf her in a hug. "Just like I love you. Slayer or not. Witch or not. As long as you're my Buffy…I'll always love you."
She smiled and exhaled, extremely relieved. That had been one of her worries. Would Harry want her now that she'd been shackled with a destiny she thought she'd been rid of.
"Go," he whispered, stepping back and smiling softly at her.
She nodded and took a step back as well. She focussed her energies and felt the world shift around her.
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Well, here it is, as promised (a day late, but…shhh…I don't think anyone noticed). Hope that's cleared up a few things about the whole Faith thing. Other stuff will be brought up in later chapters (a lot in chap two with explaining the whole Slayer thing). Hope you enjoy, and many, many, many thanks for all your feedback on the last chapter of AWF.
Toodles.
K.