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Part 13

 Night had fallen upon Hogwarts and, like it had been for almost the entire
semester, the student’s were safely tucked away in their houses.  The only
people moving about the school grounds were either the professors, Hagrid,
Finch and the group that were going into the woods to try and rescue their
friend.  Professor Dumbledore stood with the group, making sure that they
had everything that they would need.
 “Remember, once you go into the woods, you will run into creatures of
legend,” he reminded everyone.
 “Mate, we are creatures of legends,” Spike quipped, breaking some of the
tension that threatened to wash over them.  Dumbledore smiled kindly upon
the blonde vampire.
 “That you are, my young friend,” he said.  “In this case though I am
talking about things such as centaurs and unicorns.  Not to mention some
trolls and various other nasties.  After all, there is a reason that it is
forbidden for our students to go into.”
 “We’ll be careful, Sir,” Willow promised.  The headmaster nodded at his
charge, realizing that no matter what he said, there would never be enough
time to properly prepare them for the battle they were about to do.
 “Then I believe it is time for you all to go and save your friends.”
Spike, Dru, Xander, Amy, and Angel all turned, already heading into the
woods.  Only Willow remained.  “Is there something else, young Willow?”
 “Sir, just in case something happens, can you do me a favor?”  Dumbledore
nodded his head.  “Can you tell Hermoine that there’s a note for her in my
trunk.  It tells her where I want my stuff taken if..”
 “I’ll pass along your message, although I have every faith that she won’t
be reading the note,” he smiled. “Now, hurry.  You only have so much time
for the rescue.”  Willow smiled at the man that she had grown to care for,
albeit reluctantly and ran to catch up with the others.  Dumbledore sensed
as another presence passed by him and headed towards the group.  Although he
knew he should do something about it, he didn’t.  “Be safe, little ones.
All of you.”
 “Okay, so once we get to we find this Voldemort guy, we try and take him
out without hurting Buffy,” Xander wanted to clarify.  “And you’re going to
try to use those spells that your teachers gave you.”
 “Right,” Willow agreed.  “I just hope they work. I mean, we still aren’t
all the experienced yet with our magick, let alone using the wands.  This is
one time when I wouldn’t mind Giles being here to tell us not to do
anything.”
 “Well, he’s not but if everything goes the way we think it will, he’ll be
able to yell at you all you want in a little while,” Angel stated, putting
his arm around Willow’s waist, holding her close.  He hated that he had just
gotten her back and already they were going into danger.  He wished there
had been a way to leave her behind at the school but he knew that she would
never hear of that.
 “And I know mommy and her friends will have no problem with their magick.”
Willow and Amy looked sharply at Drusilla.
 “What do you mean, friends?’  Willow asked, already dreading the answer.
 “Your friends from the school,” came the expected reply and both Amy and
Willow moaned.
 “Dru, pet, Willow’s friends are back at the school, remember,” Spike gently
told the insane vampiress.  “They can’t get out.”
 “Yes they can,” Willow stated, already trying to see if she could sense the
presence that she knew would be around.  “You might as well show yourselves.
  We know you’re there.”
 “You know, its impossible to surprise you anymore, Willow,” Hermoine teased
as Ron, Harry and Hermoine appeared.  “You have your own little seer with
you.”
 “Wait a minute, where’d you come from?”  Xander squeaked.  “You weren’t
there a minute ago.”
 “Yes we were,” Ron grinned.  “We’ve been with you since you left the
school.”
 “And we are so going to talk about that letter you said you left for me,”
Hermoine told Willow sternly.  “That is once we get your friends out from
You Know Who.”
 “You Know Who?”  Angel queried.
 “Voldemort,”  Harry exclaimed, saying the wizard’s name much to the dismay
of his friends.  “They don’t like saying his name.”  Angel nodded his head
in understanding.  He remembered a time when people felt the same way about
saying his own name.
 “Guys, I know you want to help, but we’ve already gotten you into trouble,”
Willow began, not wanting to waste time.  “Now I want you to put that cloak
back on and get back to the school.”
 “No can do,” Harry explained.  “You’re gonna need help and I’ve already
dealt with Voldemort before.  Besides, we want to help you.  That’s what
friends do.”
 “Might as well let them come, luv,” Spike commented.  “We don’t have the
time to waste convincing them to go back and I have a feeling that they
wouldn’t’ listen to us anyway.”
 “He’s right, kitten,” Angel whispered into his mate’s ear.  “Besides,
between us, we can make sure that nothing happens to them.”
 “Fine,” Willow sighed, knowing that the other’s were right. “Come on.  The
quicker we get this done, the better.”
 The group started off again, heading deeper into the woods.  Harry and
Hermoine remembered the last time the were in these woods.  It was during
their first year at Hogwart’s at it was part of their detention for being
out of their house after curfew.  They had been with Hagrid then, searching
for an injured unicorn.  Harry remembered the centaur that he had run into
and wondered if he would see any of those creatures again.
 Occasionally something would be said, whether it be a comment about what
they had to do to save Buffy and Giles, or a bad joke by Xander to break the
tension.  Usually, though, the group traveled in silence.  Along the way
they saw strange things that were sometimes beautiful and sometimes deadly.
One such creature was a huge snake that had attacked them, almost killing
poor Ron before Spike and Angel had torn it off of the red headed boy.  They
killed it quickly and they were on their way again.
 “How much further do you think?”  Amy asked.  Angel and the others who had
escaped from the wizard looked around, trying to get their bearings.”
 “Not much,” Xander said, recognizing the area they were in.  “I’d say only
a little while longer.”
 “Thank the Gods,” Willow muttered.  “I don’t know how much more longer I
can go on.”
 “You’ll be fine, sweetling,” Angel assured his love. “Don’t worry.”
 “Thanks,” she said, starting off again in the direction that they pointed
to.  Soon enough they heard voices talking.  One was a clear British voice
that they all recognized and they breathed a sigh of relief that the
librarian was still alive.  They hadn’t been sure of whether or not
Voldemort would kill Giles.  Then they heard the other person and Willow
couldn’t believe it.  It sounded like her friend, but there was something
much more menacing than she was used to.  They reached a clearing, pushing
away some of the bushed so that they could see what was going on.
 Giles was there, tied to a tree.  His face held numerous cuts and bruises,
and they were sure that the rest of his body wasn’t in any better shape.
But the sight that shocked them was Buffy.  It looked like the easy going
blonde Slayer that Willow and Amy remembered, but they could see that there
was something different about her.
 “It seems like your friends have abandoned you, Ripper,” Buffy/Voldemort
taunted the Watcher.  “Left you to die.”
 “They’ll be back,” Giles firmly stated, his voice still strong, attesting
to the strength that he had.  He refused to allow the creature in front of
him to break him.  It might look like his Slayer but he knew it wasn’t and
that whatever it was, it had no power over him.
 “Oh I’m counting on it,” Buffy/Voldemort replied.  “If I know Dumbledore,
he’ll lead the rescue party himself.”
 “Well, I’m not Dumbledore, but will I do?”  Willow said, announcing hers
and the other’s presence.  Buffy/Voldemort turned and smiled when he saw the
group of people, especially when he spied Harry among them.
 “Well, now, this is an unexpected surprise,” the blonde stated.  “Harry
Potter, we meet again.”  harry didn’t say anything.  He felt his two friends
tremble at the sight of the wizard and tried to offer them some kind of
strength but noticed that Drusilla and Spike were already doing that.  “Let
me guess, you’re here hoping to rescue your friends.”
 “That was the plan,” Xander quipped.  “So if you don’t mind just leaving
Buffy’s body, and letting Giles go, we’ll be off then.”
 “Oh I don’t think so.”  Then, before anyone of them even had a chance to
blink a wand appeared in the hand of their opponent and was pointed straight
at them.
 “Break,” Angel ordered just as a bolt of lightening came shooting towards
them, barely missing some of the party.  And that was when all hell broke
loose.  Spike pulled Hermoine down to the ground, covering her body with
his, Drusilla doing the same with Ron.  Both vampires taking their pledge to
protect the two student very seriously.  Amy, Xander and Harry  dived one
way, Angel and Willow the other.  Once the lightening subsided, they all got
up and separated, going separate ways to try and keep the wizard distracted.
  Xander went over to try and get Giles loose but found that the bindings
were tighter than expected.
 “She did something to them,” the Watcher told the teenager.  “Some kind of
magick.”  Xander looked around and saw that Hermoine was the closest to him.
He called her over.
 “Voldemort did something,”  he explained.  “Need a little of your special
kind of help.”  Hermoine smiled as she picked up on Xander’s meaning.  She
pointed her wand towards the ropes.
 “Releasus,” she ordered.  The ropes quickly unwrapped and Giles began to
get circulation back into the limbs.
 “Thanks you, ummmm…”
 “Hermoine,” she volunteered.  “And it was no problem.”
 “Hermoine,” Harry called.  “We could use your help here.”  The young witch
raced back over to where the other students were.  Voldemort was facing
them, having forgotten about everyone else.  He knew that they wouldn’t risk
any physical harm against him while he was inhabiting their friend’s body.
 “What do you children,” he sneered, “think you can do against me?  Anything
you do against me will hurt your friend.”
 “Buffy would understand,” Amy declared.
 “She’s the Slayer,” Willow added.  “This is what she lives for.”  Voldemort
saw Willow nod to someone off to his left and he turned just as Angel threw
something in his face.  At the same time, Willow, Amy, Hermoine, Ron and
Harry all screamed “Serperatus.”  Pointing their wands at the blonde figure.
 Voldemort screamed as if he was in agony.  “No, I refuse to let this
happen.  You can’t beat me.”  Then the forest was silent except for the
sounds of nature and the harsh breathing of a Slayer that had passed out.

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