Part 6

Willow ran out of the classroom as quickly as she could without raising any
suspicion. Amy lost her as soon as she entered the hallway, but had an idea
of where her red headed friend was heading. Luckily they didn't have
another class right away so she knew that they wouldn't be readily missed.
Amy made her way up to the dorm room, not even bothering to acknowledge the
greetings that she received from a few of the Gryffindors that were in the
common room. She opened the door to the room that she shared with Willow
and a few of the other girls and saw the red head lying on her bed, her
picture of Angel in her hands and tears falling down her face.
"Willow."
"It hurts Amy," came the quiet response. "It hurts so much not to be near
him. I mean, I know some of that is probably from the bond that we have,
but…" Fresh tears began to stream down Willow's face as Amy went over and
took the crying girl in her arms.
"I know, sweetie, I know," she cooed, trying to comfort her friend. "I
feel the same way with Xander, although I know it isn't nearly as powerful
as what you and Angel have. You just have to believe that they will find a
way to get to us. Remember what Angel's last letter said. That Giles knew
of someone who might be able to give them information. It's only a matter
of time before Angel and Xander show up here, probably with Giles and Buffy
with them, to bring us back home."
"But what if Angel decides that he doesn't want me back," Willow sniffed.
Amy pulled back and looked at Willow in surprise.
"What in the world would make you even think that Angel wouldn't want you
back? You are his mate, remember?"
"But now Buffy has a clear path to him," she whispered. "I'm not there and
you know how she gets." Amy cursed the blonde slayer under her breath.
While Amy knew there was no way that Angel would even think of doing
anything with Buffy, she also knew that the girl would probably be taking
full advantage of Willow's disappearance to make inroads with the souled
vampire.
"Buffy doesn't stand a slurpee's chance in hell at stealing Angel from you
and you know it," Amy stated vehemently. "Angel loves you. You're the one
that makes him happy, not Buffy. Besides, that whole Slayer/Vampire thing
would never work out and you know it."
"So Angel was Angelus," a voice said from the entryway. Willow and Amy
turned, startled, and gasped when they saw Hermoine standing there. They
could tell by the expression on her face that she had been there for most of
their conversation and knew what they had been talking about. "I knew I had
seen Angel's picture before."
"Hermoine, you can't tell anyone about Angel, please," Willow begged of the
young girl whom she had been hoping to call a friend. Now she was sure that
any friendship possibility she had was gone.
"Why not?" Hermoine asked. "I mean, you're dating a member of the living
dead. And not just any member, but one of the most violent ever known."
Willow and Amy shook their heads.
"No, Angel would never hurt anyone if he could help it," Willow denied.
"He's different than other vampires," Amy added. Hermoine looked at both
girls in disbelief.
"Oh really. So he isn't a soulless bloodsucking demon?"
"No. He has his soul." Hermoine's jaw almost hit the floor when Willow
stated that Angel had his soul. She had never heard of a vampire with a
soul before and was doubtful as to what she was being told.
"What do you mean he has his soul?" Willow and Amy sighed as they realized
that they were about to tell Hermoine some of the things that they had been
keeping secret from everyone at Hogwarts.
"Sit down and let us tell you a story," Willow began. Once Hermoine joined
them on Willow's bed, all three girls making themselves comfortable, she
explained the history of the slayerettes. "You see, it all started not
quite a year ago when Buffy Summers came to Sunnydale. That's where we
lived. Her arrival basically introduced us to the nightlife that happened
in town, namely vampires, demons and other things that go bump in the night.
You see, Buffy's the Slayer.
"You remember those pictures and stories that Professor Lupin was talking
about?" Hermoine nodded her head. "Well, the Master was trying to free
himself from his prison. First it was through this one vamp named Luke, but
Buffy, with a little help from me, Xander and Giles, stopped him. We
started helping her, and included Amy in our little group since she and
Xander had started dating."
"And Angel?"
"I'm getting to him," Willow admonished. "You see, Angel knew of what was
going on and he had told Buffy about the Harvest, what the Master was
planning. He would help us out by giving her information or dropping clues.
Then one night, I was walking home from the Bronze. That's the local
nightclub, when I was attacked by a vampire. He saved me. When he helped
me up from the ground, it was like this electrical current just shot through
my arm. We've been together ever since."
"Much to Buffy's chagrin," Amy couldn't resist adding.
"Why because she didn't like the idea of Willow dating a vampire?"
"No, because she wanted said vampire for herself," Amy answered. "I mean,
you've seen him. He's gorgeous. If it wasn't for the fact that I was with
Xander and that Angel was completely head over heels in love with Willow, I
would probably make a play for him myself."
"Try it and die," Willow said playfully at her friend, tossing one of her
pillows at her. "Don't you even think about my mate that way."
"Your mate?" Hermoine asked, appalled at the idea of someone willingly
involving himself or herself with a vampire as dangerous as Angelus. "But
he's a killer."
"No, Angel doesn't kill anyone unless it is absolutely necessary, although
I think there have been times when Xander had tested that theory," Willow
answered, returning to the seriousness of the conversation but not able to
resist the barb against her best friend.
"You said he has a soul." Willow nodded her head.
"He was cursed by the Roms about eighty years ago after he had one of their
favorite daughters as an entrée," Willow explained. "They gave him his soul
back. He's been fighting for redemption ever since, although there have
been a few lapses here and there when the guilt of everything that he did as
Angelus became too much."
"At least he finally got revenge on Darla for giving him that gypsy girl in
the first place," Amy commented.
"Yup." At Hermoine's confused look, Willow continued. "Darla didn't like
the fact that Angel was helping the Slayer. She took it as a personal
betrayal against herself and the Master. So, she attacked Buffy's mom and
made it look like it was Angel that had done it, thus causing Buffy to go
after him. The two of them were fighting when Darla showed up. She went
after Buffy after it became obvious that Angel wasn't going to kill her.
Angel dusted her."
"With a pool stick no less," Amy added.
"So Angelus, I mean Angel, killed his own sire?" Hermoine shook her head
at the information that she was receiving from the two Americans. "How did
he feel about that? I mean, from everything I've ever read on vampires, the
bond between sire and childe is very intense."
"It is," Willow replied. "And it hurt him when he was forced to kill
Darla, but he also knew that he had no other choice. It was either Darla or
Buffy, so the decision was easy. Darla was evil and stood for everything
that Angel was fighting against, while he saw helping Buffy as a way towards
his redemption."
"Didn't hurt that she was also your friend and Angel was madly in love with
you," Amy pointed out. Willow looked down, a slight blush coming to her
cheeks. Amy turned her attention back to Hermoine. "Look, we'll understand
if you feel the need to tell Dumbledore or any of the others about what we
just told you. I mean, you have no reason to believe us. Heck, maybe
they'll just decide that having a vampire's mate at the school against her
will isn't of the good and they'll just pack us up and send us home."
Hermoine shook her head as she made a decision.
"No, they would probably send you somewhere else or use Willow to try and
capture him." The younger witch looked at the red head, placing her hand on
Willow's arm. "I promise not to tell anyone what you just told me."
Hermoine then took a deep breath. "And I'll do whatever I can to try and
help you find your way back home." Willow and Amy released the air that
they hadn't even realized they had been holding in as soon as Hermoine told
them that she would keep their secret.
"Thank you," Willow whispered. Hermoine shrugged her shoulders.
"No big. Besides if I had a man, or vampire, that handsome waiting for me,
I'd want to get back to him myself." At this, all three girls laughed as
they got up to head to the great hall for lunch, a bond between the three of
them formed.
 

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