Chapter Six - Propheticia

By nine o'clock, Dumbledore's office was filled to the brim with people. Giles and Tara were speaking quietly by the door. Angel and Buffy were sitting on the floor against the wall cuddling. Xander, Anya, and Willow were having a friendly argument about what was scarier - man-eating hyenas or fluffy bunnies, and, to everyone's surprise, Faith was having an intent conversation with Professor McGonagall. Dawn was standing alone by the door biting her nails.

"Good evening." Dumbledore said stepping into the room. Everyone fell silent as he sat down at his desk.

"I assume you are all wondering why we have called you here." He pulled a book off the bookshelf. It was a rather large, leather-bound book with a silver pentacle on the cover and the word Propheticia written in a faded gold.

"Professor Giles and I have been working on translating this for some time now." He opened the book to a marked page in the center.

"This is from an old scroll, written hundreds of years ago. The reason I have called you here tonight is that this certain scroll holds a prophecy, which worries me beyond all else. I am sure you will realize what some of it means. The rest of the blanks Professor McGonagall, Professor Giles, and I will fill in, as I hope you will for us. Professor, if you would."

Giles took the book. "Yes, of course." He fixed his glasses on the edge of his nose and began reading.

"There will be an apocalypse,
Brought by he who is a puzzle
With powers sent to him
By the key of glory
It is only he
Born unto the flower and the stag
Who will stop his plight
Aided by the daughter of Helen
The sixth son of seven
The chosen one of heaven
And the bringer of hell with a soul"

Dawn looked at the book as if it were about to explode. "Oh god..."

"OK, am I the only person in this room going 'huh'?" Faith asked, looking at Dawn questioningly.

"No. Even I don't understand it all. Some yes, but the rest is just a blur." Giles took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes.

Buffy picked up the book cautiously. "OK, let's just fill in the blanks. 'There will be an apocalypse.' Is that supposed to be threatening because it's not even remotely scary."

"Enough Buffy. Stick to scroll." Giles said sternly.

"Oh, right. 'Brought by her who is a puzzle.' What, is the guy confusing?"

"No." Dumbledore sighed grimly. "What few people know is that Voldemort's actual name is Tom Marvolo Riddle. It's an anagram, you see. Switch the letters around and you get 'I am Lord Voldemort.'" Professor McGonagall shivered.

"Alright then. We have that covered. Next is 'with power sent to him by the key...of...glory." Buffy's voice faltered as she re-read those last three words. She shot Dawn a glance. Her worry was mirrored on her face.

"Oh my god." Buffy shook her head.

"No, no, no. I am NOT doing this again. No way, no how."

"Dawnie - "

"No Buffy!" Dawn moved away from the wall. " I will not let you do this again! Do you hear me?"

"ENOUGH!" Dawn jumped at Giles' sudden outburst. Giles was not known for his anger, but everyone knew better then to get him upset. And right now, he seemed VERY upset. "We will cross that bridge when we come to it. Buffy, CONTINUE."

"Right." She glanced around the room, somewhat shaken. "Next is - 'It is only he born unto the flower and the stag who will stop his plight.' OK, lost yet again."

"Good lord."

"Oh that's not good."

Giles looked at Buffy questioningly. "What on earth do you mean?"

"Whenever you begin a sentence with 'good lord', it always means something bad."

"The scroll means Harry, Buffy. Harry's mother's name was Lily. His father was an animagus, which means he could change into an animal."

"No no! Let me guess - " Faith said enthusiastically. "Stag."

Giles nodded sighing.

"Perfect. Just great....'Aided by the daughter of Helen and the sixth son of seven.' I'm drawing a blank."

"Hermione and Ron. The daughter of Helen and Menelaos in Greek literature was Hermione and Ron is the sixth son of seven siblings."

"Excellent deduction, Willow." Dumbledore said with a twinkle in his eye. Willow blushed slightly.

"'The chosen one of heaven.' Well B., that one's pretty obvious. Looks like we have another apocalypse to stop. Just don't put me in a coma this time, alright?"

Buffy just stared, somewhat scared and very shocked, at the book and then at Angel.

"No Faith. You don't. Its just Buffy. Not both of you. Just her."

"But Angel, the book says - "

"The chosen ONE of heaven."

"But that can't be Buffy. She's not - " Buffy just looked at her with tears in her eyes.

"Oh my god."

"But Buffy," Willow stammered, "That - that can't be right, you said you were - "

"I lied." Buffy swiped at her eyes. Willow and Xander just stared while Angel came and put his arms around Buffy's shoulders.

"What about the last line?" Professor McGonagall asked quietly. "The bringer of hell with a soul. Bit of an oxymoron, isn't it?"

Buffy glanced at Angel who nodded minutely.

"It means Angel. In a nutshell, Angel was a vampire with a soul, and at one point, he lost his soul and he tried to open a gateway to hell and Buffy had to stop him and - "

"Ahn," Xander put his palm over her mouth. "Not helping." Anya pouted.

"I think that is enough for tonight. I believe you all have much to discuss. Minerva, come. I must speak with you about the Yule Ball."

Professor McGonagall rose with Professor Dumbledore.

"Sleep well. Goodnight." He shut the door behind them.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The room was silent for a good twenty minutes after the two professors left. Angel put his arms around Buffy's waist and she grabbed his hands and leaned into his chest. She was fighting back tears and the sob that threatened to escape her throat.

At length, Xander spoke. "You lied to us Buffy."

Buffy said nothing.

"You told us you were in hell. Here we are, glad that we pulled you out of some hell dimension, when in actuality, we yanked you out of paradise. But what bothers me more is that you lied."

"Xander - "

"No Anya. It has to be said. Maybe you lied because you didn't want to be brought back."

Buffy looked tearfully into Xander's eyes and glared maliciously. Xander didn't back down.

"If you think that I am going to and here and take this from you Alexander Harris, then you have another thing coming."

Buffy stormed out with Xander following close behind.

"Don't you walk away from me Buffy Summers!"

Buffy spun on her heels. "You think it's that simple? You think that it's all just hugs and kisses and 'I'm sorry I lied.' Well, news flash, you're wrong. You want the truth? No, I didn't want to come back. I was in paradise, fucking utopia Xander, and I was yanked out of there! Do you know what it's like to be in perfect serenity one minute and to wake up in a coffin the next? It's horrifying. It's worse then any demon or hell beast you could ever imagine. You want the truth? Yes, I was happy. But all I did the whole time was wish that you were there with me. Because it wasn't perfect without you." Buffy's voice broke after the last statement. Angel went to put his arms around her, but she just pulled away. "Don't. Please, just - don't touch me." She turned around and bolted down the hall.

Everyone stood frozen, stunned at Buffy's confession. The truth of her words began to sink in. Dawn sobbed silently in the corner and walked off back to the Gryffindor Common Room.

"Are you alright dear?" The portrait lady asked.

"Collegious."

"Alright then." The portrait swung open and Dawn stepped inside. She collapsed onto the floor in the corner and finally let all that she was feeling out of her system. She broke down and cried.

Ron, Harry, and Hermione stepped in minutes later.

"Umm, Ron?" Ginny looked somewhat confused.

"Yeh. What's the matter Gin?"

Ginny bit her lower lip. "It's Dawn. She walked in a few minutes ago and just started crying. I tried to find her sister, but the only person I came across was Professor O' Flaherty, who said he didn't know where she was, and was actually looking for her as well. What's going on here, Ron?"

Ron sighed. "I wish I knew."

Ron carefully walked up to Dawn and put his hand on her shoulder. He kneeled down in front of her.

"Dawn?"

Dawn looked up at him with a tear-stained face. He brushed a piece of hair out of her eyes and cupped her chin in his hands. "What's wrong?"

Dawn sagged and whispered something inaudibly.

"What?"

"I can't tell you."

Ron nodded. "Do you want me to sit with you for a while?"

"No questions asked?"

Ron smiled. "No questions asked." Dawn smiled gratefully. Ron pulled her into his arms. They sat together in an armchair, Dawn leaning back against his chest. She closed her eyes and Ron stroked her hair, and, before either if them knew it, she was asleep.

"Ron, what on earth - "

"Shh!" He cut Hermione off and gestured to Dawn.

"Is she alright?"

Ron shook his head. "No, and she wouldn't tell me why. I promised her I wouldn't ask questions and...well, here we are. She fell asleep almost immediately."

Hermione set her face with resolve. "We're going to find out what this whole key thing is and why it bothers her so much. We're GOING to help her." She glanced at Dawn. "I hope."

Little did Hermione know that her "key" was the same person fast asleep in Ron's arms.

 

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