Part 1
"No Angel tonight?" Amy asked of
Willow as she saw the red-head sitting by
her computer, alone in the room.
"He's helping Buffy patrol tonight,"
the sixteen year old hacker explained.
"Ever since the Master was defeated, the local vamps have
been completely
disorganized and there have been a lot of random attacks.
And we made a
list of five possible newcomers tonight. He figured that
she might need his
help."
"Are you okay with that?" Amy inquired.
She knew how hard it had been for
Willow to watch Buffy fall for the souled vampire. It had
nearly destroyed
the girls' friendship when Angel and Willow had begun dating, Buffy
unable
to accept that she had lost to the shy girl. Eventually,
the Slayer gave up
on her attempts to win Angel's affections away from the hacker,
glad that
her friend was finally happy, but that didn't mean that Willow
was anymore
comfortable with Angel and Buffy being alone together.
"Believe it or not, I am," Willow
answered, surprising Amy. "Buffy and I
had a lot talk the other day and we cleared the air of a lot of
things that
hadn't been said. It worked wonders. She knows that
Angel and I are
together, no matter what she might try, and she's accepted it and
moved on.
She even went out on a date the other night with that guy Brad
from our
History class and had a really good time. They even made
another date for
Saturday for the movies." Amy smiled at the news that the
Slayer had truly
moved on.
"That's great. I'm so happy
for you," the blonde told her. "So what are
the plans for this evening since it appears that both of us are
going the
solo route? More research for Giles?"
"I thought that maybe we could look
for more information on that Hogwart's
School we found in Giles' book," Willow suggested. "IT sounds
really
interesting. Do you think there's a chance that it really
exists?" Amy and
Willow had both become excited about the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft
and
Wizardry when they had discovered a chapter about it. Amy
had grown up
knowing that she had inherited her mother's power of magick, while
Willow
had grown increasingly interested in magick, since becoming involved
with
Buffy and Giles. In fact, both girls had found that they
had a talent for
the black arts, often practicing little spells that they found
interesting.
Just the possibility that there was a secret society of witches
and wizards
in the world excited the two teenagers and they wanted to find
out as much
as they could, which hadn't been easy. Other that a short
chapter in one of
Giles' many books, they hadn't been able to find out anything else.
They
had begun to think that the school was really a fictional place,
as were the
people that supposedly went there.
"I don't know if its real or not,
but how cool would it be if it was. I
mean, can you imagine going to a school that taught you the right
way to do
spells and stuff like that, instead of boring old Mr. Higgins English
class." Willow and Amy giggled at just the mention of the
notoriously
boring English teacher and the class that students tried to avoid
as much as
possible, including the smart ones. "Just think of all the
interesting
things that just have to happen there. Not to mention, being
surrounded by
people that don't think you were a freak because you practice magick."
"I know," Willow agreed, remembering
the taunts that the other kids often
threw her friend's way because she was different. "But I
don't know what I
would do if I had to go to school away from Sunnydale. As
bad as it is,
what with the demons and all, this is still my home. And,
according to what
little we were able to find out, the take students in when they're
eleven.
Just think what it would have meant if I had been taken to the
that school."
"What do you mean?" Amy was
confused by what Willow meant. She would have
been thrilled to leave Sunnydale, and the people there, far behind
her. She
hated the people in town that loved to persecute her for her mother's
actions.
"Well, think about it for a minute,"
Willow explained. "First, that means
I would have had to have left Xander behind and he's been my best
friend for
like, ever. He's the closest think I have to a family, including
my mom and
dad. And I would never have met Buffy or Giles, and yet I
would have still
known about the things that go bump in the night because I'm sure
they would
teach about them at that school. And, if I never met Buffy
or Giles, then I
would have never have met Angel and we wouldn't have gotten together.
That, in itself, is the best reason I can think of for staying
in
Sunnydale." Amy smiled as Willow explained her reasons for
being glad she
was in Sunnydale and had to agree with her. Amy's smile grew
even larger
when Willow finished her explanation. "And you and Xander
would never have
hooked up and think of what a loss that would have been to you."
"Point taken. I wouldn't give
up on being with Xander for anything,
including a school for witchcraft." Willow grinned at her
friend, glad to
see her so happy. She had been surprised when Xander and
Amy had first
started dating, but she had to admit that the two of them were
good for each
other. Xander didn't judge Amy for her mother's crimes, which
was something
that the teenage girl needed. And Amy brought out a side
of Xander that
most people, other than Willow, never saw. Everyone just
assumed that
Xander didn't take anything seriously, always making some kind
of joke or
wisecrack, but the two girls knew that those jokes were his way
of dealing
with the things he dealt with and that he did take things very
seriously.
"Okay, so tonight is research night, but we are still on for tomorrow
right?"
"Yup. Angel already made reservations
for us at the restaurant and he and
Xander are going to pick us up at eight. I told him to just
meet us here."
Amy, Xander, Willow and Angel had all planned a double date for
the
following evening. Ever since the two couples had gotten
together, they
often tried to hang out at least once a week and they had all formed
a close
friendship, with Xander and Angel finally resolving the animosity
that had
been brewing between the two males since they had first met.
Angel had
become the only male friend that Xander had had since the night
that Jesse
had been killed.
"Great. Can't wait to see
what the two of them have planned," Amy said.
"By the way, I meant to ask if you had found out any more about
where Spike
and Drusilla might have gone." Willow shook her head sadly
at the mention
of her boyfriend's missing childre. Angel had told all three
of them
stories of his time with the vampire couple and the humans had
taken it upon
themselves to try and locate the missing pair and reunite them
with their
sire.
"No luck so far," she replied.
"The last thing that I could find on them
had them in Prague, attacked by some mob. According to reports,
they
escaped, but they've been underground ever since."
"Have you told Angel yet?"
"I didn't want to get his hopes
up," Willow answered. "I know how much
he misses them and I want to have something more concrete to give
him before
I say anything to him." Amy nodded her head, agreeing with
her friend's
logic.
"Okay, so tonight we go for the
two pronged research attack," Amy stated.
"Find out all we can about Hogwart's and try and locate Spike and
Drusilla."
"Piece of cake," Willow grinned.
"Why don't you start with those books,
while I try and look for more things online." Willow started
typing into
her computer as Amy began to pour through the books that had been
resting on
the red-head's bed. They stayed like this for two hours,
the only sounds
being heard where the pages being turned and Willow's clicking
on the
keyboard, when suddenly a loud crash came from outside the french
doors of
Willow's room. The two girls jumped at the sound.
"What was that?" Amy whispered.
Willow shrugged her shoulders.
"Don't know. Do you think
we should go look?"
"What if it's a vampire or something?"
Amy asked, a slight bit of terror in
her voice.
"Then he picked the wrong house
to hassle," Willow said. Willow slowly
walked over to the doors, Amy at her heels. She shakily reached
for the
door. "On the count of three. One.... Two....Three.."
Willow flung open
the door, a stake in her hand, but she dropped it as soon as she
saw the
figure that was standing there. He was tall. Impossibly tall.
And huge.
He looked like he weighed as much as Willow, Amy, Xander and Angel
all put
together. He wore a ratty trench coat that appeared to have
seen better
days. He had a scraggly beard that needed combing.
His hair was disheveled
and he had a wildness about him.
"Willow Rosenberg and Amy Madison,"
he said in a deep voice that carried an
unmistakable English accent. "I'm Hagrid and I'm ere ta take
ya ta
Hogwarts."