Chapter Twelve - Counting Down with Miles to Go to See the Wizard

Ron and Hermione walked through the halls on their way to Professor Dumbledore's office. The castle was empty of anyone above second year because it was a Hogsmeade weekend. Hermione had thrown a robe over her pink camisole and matching pink shorts. Ron was still in his maroon tee shirt and flannel pants.

They both looked exhausted.

"Ow!" Ron bumped into something and fell to the floor in a heap.

"Will you watch - " Dawn cut herself off. She hadn't realized it was Ron that she bumped into. She got a little nervous when she saw him.

After watching the sunrise, Harry and Dawn spoke for a while about a couple of things. Their conversation ended with a friendly peck on the lips. No sparks. Just pure friendship.

There wasn't anything wrong with that, was there?

'Then why do I feel so guilty?' By the look on Harry's face, she knew he was thinking the same thing.

"And where were you two all morning?" Hermione said putting her hands on her hips.

Ron helped Dawn to her feet. "We were up in the tower. Not like that - don't get any ideas. We were just...talking. Seriously. And now, we're going to see Professor Dumbledore."

"Well, so are we, so we can go there together." Ron said, putting his arm around Dawn's shoulders a little tighter then usual.

'Great, now he's gone all possessive on me.' Dawn sighed inwardly.

As they started walking, Hermione grabbed Harry's hand and smiled. Harry smiled back.

"So, why are you guys going to see Professor Dumbledore?" Ron asked.

"Basically, Harry and I played 'let's swap dreams for the night'. I dreamt about Harry's parents and he dreamt about my sister's death." Dawn stopped for a second. 'Did I really just say that so nonchalantly? Oh boy.' She shook her head and continued walking. "It was odd, perfectly detailed. And the weirdest part was, we both ended with the same statement - 'You think you know who you are, what's to come - "

"But you've only just begun." Ron said with her, eyes wide.

Dawn looked at him, shocked. "Oh no, not you too."

Ron sighed. "Oh bother."

"You didn't - I mean, you weren't -"

Ron understood her worry. "No. Hermione and I had EXACTLY the same dream as each other. Kendra told us to 'give him your strength.'"

"Are you sure it was Kendra?" Harry asked.

"Positive. Absolutely." Hermione said nodding.

Dawn groaned. "Oh Christ, why me?"

"Why you what?" Buffy asked, coming up behind her.

"Multiple dreams syndrome with the same ending. That pretty much sums it up, wouldn't you say?" Dawn asked, turning to Harry.

"Definitely."

It was Buffy's turn to groan. "Did your dreams end with Tara saying her most famous line about not knowing and just beginning?"

"Yeah. Why? Oh shit, not you too?"

Buffy sighed. "Yup. Both of us."

Dawn slapped her forehead. "I'm getting a headache."

"Hitting yourself like that doesn't help babe." She turned to Angel. "Did I ever mention that I HATE prophecies?"

"Multiple times."

Buffy shook her head. "We're off to see the wizard. Again."

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

"So, all six of you, for the most part, had different dreams, but they all ended with the same phrase?" Giles asked, adjusting his glasses on the bridge of his nose.

"Yeah. You could say that." Buffy said, perching herself on the arm of the chair Dawn was sitting in.

"Well, this just about confirms what we were discussing about the prophecy. It most definitely concerns the six of you." Dumbledore said, leaning his chin on his hands.

"There's a prophecy? Concerning us?"

"Yes Mr. Weasly. There is."

Hermione leaned forward in her seat. "What exactly is it about?"

Dawn bit her lip and turned to Buffy. " I think we have some major explaining to do."

Buffy nodded. "They need to understand."

"Understand WHAT?" Harry asked, more then a bit annoyed that Buffy was keeping things from them again.

Dumbledore opened "Propheticia" and let the three of them read the prophecy. Harry practically dropped the book when he read the part about himself. Ron sucked in his breath at the mention of he and Hermione. Hermione just gaped, wide eyed. They all looked up at Professor Dumbledore at the same time.

"As I said - it concerns all SIX of you." Dumbledore's eyes gleamed.

"All - " Hermione's voice came out as a hoarse whisper so she cleared her throat. "All right, I - WE understand most of this. But the rest is sort of vague."

Faith chose that time to come into Dumbledore's office.

"Hi, sorry to interrupt. B, come out here for a sec? I need to talk to you."

Buffy just shrugged and followed Faith out.

"OK, Lemme guess - weird dream last night?"

"Oh yeah, big time. It - I've had it before."

"You have?"

"While I was in the coma. You had it too. Don't you remember?"

Buffy searched her mind. "No - Yes. We were making the bed in your apartment, and you said something about little Ms. Muffet and 7-3-0."

"And then - Tara."

"Yeah I know. I've only just begun. We dreamt it too."

"No, you don't get it. I had YOUR dream with Tara. You glanced at the clock and it said 7:30 and you said that you and I just made the bed. 7:30 Buffy!"

"7-3 - oh."

"And then she said to be back before Dawn. She wasn't talking about the time of day - she was talking about your sister - the key! Don't you see? It's all been connected, all this time, and we didn't notice."

"I - I don't understand."

Faith threw up her hands and grasped Buffy's upper arms. "Don't you get it? Everything foreshadows everything else. When this prophecy says apocalypse it means APOCALYPSE. If Voldemort goes through with this, if he kills Dawn and uses her blood to get power, everything you've ever done, anything you've ever defeated, will come back. Everything will be reversed Buffy! The master, the mayor, Glory! All of it."

She let go of Buffy who stood there, stunned.

"Oh my god."

"Now you get it." Faith sighed. "Bloodshed. It's always about the blood, isn't it?"

Buffy snapped back to a moment a year earlier, a moment between she and Spike - "Because it's always got to be about the blood."

"B? Hey B? You in there?"

"It's always about the blood." She whispered.

"Yeah, that's what I just said. You okay?"

Buffy shook her head. "This is all too much. I - we have to put all of this together, fit together the pieces of the puzzle. C'mon."

Buffy yanked Faith back into Dumbledore's office and slammed the door.

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

"I don't believe it. I - I just don't believe it." Faith said, shaking her head.

"It's all connected Faith, just like you said." Buffy said.

"I hate it when I'm right."

"Yeah. So do I."

Faith revealed her dream to Giles and Dumbledore, which sent all of them into a fit of analyzing. Lo and behold, everything fit together somewhere. Just like the pieces of a puzzle, all it took was a little thinking to figure it out.

What they came up with:

Something in Harry's blood stopped Voldemort from killing him. Dawn's blood opened Glory's portal. Buffy's blood stopped it. Death is Buffy's gift and the monks made the key out of her. Buffy first found out she and Dawn shared a blood tie that night in the hospital when their mom died. Tara's phrase first presented itself in the dream caused by the First Slayer's influence, and mentioned Dawn and 7-3-0, which was first mentioned in Faith's dream.

"But I still don't understand where my and Hermione's dream fits into all of this. 'Give him strength.' I don't understand."

"Neither do I Ron. Which is why we asked Willow to do some research for us."

"Are you sure she'll find it?"

Buffy looked at Ron, aghast. "Of COURSE I'm sure! She's WILLOW! Willow ALWAYS - "

"Found it!" Willow walked into Giles' office happily with a book in her hands.

"One Ritual of Endowment. It's used to transfer the strength of one person or persons into another. It begins with drawing blood from the palm of people with ties to that person. It's a soul spell, so it requires the Orb of Thesula, which I'm sure we can conveniently get our hands on, but I'm not sure about the weapon used to draw blood. It's called the Weapon of Athena. Does that ring a bell with any of you?"

Faith and Buffy glanced at the picture of the weapon, and then at each other.

"Is that what I think it is?" Buffy asked Faith.

"There's only one way to know - You still have it?"

"In my weapon's trunk."

"Go get it."

Buffy walked out and Faith was left to tend with the cryptic stares from everyone else in the room.

When Buffy returned, she was holding a knife, the same knife that was originally given to Faith by the mayor. She compared it to the picture of the Weapon of Athena.

"We have a match."

Faith shook her head. "It's all connected. The weapon you used to put me in a coma, which led to the 7-3-0 dream, which led to - "

"Everything else."

Buffy shook her head and turned to Harry, Ron, and Hermione. They were the only clueless ones in the room. Everyone else, for the most part, had figured it out.

"Guys, get comfortable." Buffy said grimly. "We're gonna be here a while. It's story time."

:: On To Chapter Thirteen ::

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