Let It Snow

"Man, think about how popular chess woulda been in high school if it was like this…"

Willow snickered as she watched Ron slowly trounce the pants off of Xander at wizard’s chess. It hadn’t been an easy task getting Ron out of bed this early, but when Willow said the word chess, the tall red-head was up in a flash.

"Your move," Xander said, leaning back in his chair.

Ron didn’t blink. He didn’t lean forward, or look perplexed in any way. He moved one of his pieces, with one word. "Checkmate"

"No!" Xander cried. "No, no, no! How did you do that?!"

Ron smirked, and pointed out the fatal mistake Xander had made.

"Wow," Xander marveled. "You’re good… hey, are you related to Willow?"

"Yes, Xander. He’s my son"

Xander rolled his eyes. "Oh, you’re just a bucket of funny today"

"I’m excited about the Yule ball," Willow smiled, changing the subject completely around. "It’s gonna be great. Buffy and I have been planning for weeks, and it’s gonna kick some patoot"

Ron sighed and got to his feet. "I should head down to training"

"No need," said a voice from behind them.

Ron turned to see Buffy walk into the Gryffindor common room, followed by a very drowsy-looking Draco.

"Aw, is the poor ickle Malfoy still tired?" Ron mocked.

Draco gave Ron a one-fingered reply, and slumped down on the couch.

"What’s his problem?" Ron asked.

"I woke him up," Buffy replied. "We need to get Harry, and a bunch of your friends. You guys are on out-door duty today. I’m gonna teach you in a battle sitch"

Ron raised an eyebrow.

"Hey, guys"

Cordelia nearly jumped four feet in the air. She whirled around to face her smirking friend.

"Angel! Get it through your thick head! You’re not a creature of the night anymore! Stop sneaking up on people!"

Angel smirked as he began to walk with his friends. Gunn and Fred were arm in arm, Cordelia and Faith were huddled together for warmth. Wesley walked alongside of them at one end, and Angel at the other.

"It’s not like you to rise this early on a weekend," Wesley commented to Angel. "Buffy throw you out of bed?"

"Just saw you guys walking from my window," Angel replied. "Thought I’d join you"

"Gasp," Cordelia commented. "He pried himself away from his beloved blond!"

"There’s nothing wrong with having a blond," Faith commented. "I’ve had a few"

"Just not this latest one," Gunn smirked. "What’s his name?"

"Charlie Weasley," Faith replied, with a silly, uncharacteristic smile.

"Aw, Faith," Fred giggled.

Faith sighed, and felt redness creep up to her face.

"Is that a blush I see?" Gunn asked.

"Blow me," Faith snapped with a glare.

Her friends snickered and snorted a bit.

"So, how have things been back home?" Wesley asked finally.

"Quiet," Fred replied. "Gavin’s been running Wolfram and Hart because Lilah‘s… dropped off the face of the earth, apparently, and he’s not very good at it. Gunn keeps kicking his butt every time he steps anywhere near the hotel"

"Lilah’s here," Wesley informed them. "She’s been working with Volde-" he cleared his throat. "You know who"

Gunn blinked. "No. I don’t know who, English. What’s yer problem?"

Angel sighed. "Voldemort," he told them. "I wrote you about him"

"How come Wesley won’t say his name?" Cordelia asked. "We‘ve probably faced scarier back home. I mean, hello? Wolfram and Hart? Darla? The Scourge? The giant graduation day snake?"

Wesley said nothing. Angel sighed.

"This dude is apparently so damned scary that 9 and a half out of ten people won‘t say his name out loud," Faith told them. "Like Wes, here. Who almost did. Go, Wes!"

Cordelia blinked. "Oh. That is scary… I guess"

"I’ll fill you in more later," Angel promised. "How’s the client flow?" he asked, changing the subject.

"Not bad," Fred nodded. "We’ve been holding up pretty well"

"Good," Angel nodded.

"So…" Cordelia cleared her throat. "How are things going with Her Slayerness?"

Angel nodded. "Fine. Things are good"

"Now that the gypsy curse is gone, I bet things are great," Cordelia chided. "Oh, Angel," she mocked.

"Oh, Buffy," Wesley cut in sarcastically, playing along.

"Oh, not this again," Gunn moaned.

A snowball hit Wesley’s back, and he stopped dead in his tracks. He turned on his heels to see his niece standing by herself. He gave her a confused look, but she only grinned.

"Hermione, what?-"

And that was when all hell broke loose.

They were surrounded.

Faith raised an eyebrow as she turned around. "What the hell is this?"

"Just a little fun," Buffy replied, coming into view next to Xander. "Let’s get ‘em, guys"

The snow flew, and the Angel Investigations crew were surrounded.

"Right then," Wesley called to his friends. "Faith, you’re in charge of every red-head in the vicinity. Take them down" He glared at the Weasleys and Willow.

"I dig it," Faith replied.

"Angel, take the blonds," Wesley went on, glancing at Buffy, Torianna, Katie, Draco and Tara.

Angel rolled his eyes. "Are you ever going to let that go?"

"Fine, take down Oliver, as well," Wesley sighed.

Angel smirked as he saw Oliver falter a little.

Wesley looked to Angelina and Evelyn. "Fred? Cordelia? Take on the gothic-looking one and the athletic one that’s not blond"

The girls nodded.

"Gunn? Do you see the three boys grouped together??" Wesley asked his friend, glancing at Harry, Dean and Seamus.

"Yeah, I see ’em," Gunn replied.

"Take them," Wesley ordered. He glared at his young niece. "I’ve got the bushy-haired one"

The group sprang into action.

By the time it was all over, Faith was sitting next to Ginny, on top of both Ron (who was muttering darkly to himself) and Charlie, with both Fred and George in headlocks. Willow was sitting nearby, brushing snow off of herself.

Angel had Buffy thrown over his shoulder and was carrying Draco upside down by the legs. Torianna hadn’t given up. She was hanging off of her Dark Arts professor’s neck. Katie and Tara were sitting in the snow, left behind when they‘d fallen from the barrage of snowballs.

Angelina had Cordelia on the run, and Evelyn had overpowered Fred easily, leaving her to try and help Draco out of Angel’s grasp.

Seamus and Dean had fallen easily as well, but Harry was still holding his own in a snowball fight against Gunn.

And Hermione had fallen to Wesley’s snow, which he’d stopped trying to make into snowballs, and was just throwing it at her.

She laughed, and, out of reflex, put her hands up, and a large, bubble-like shield engulfed her, protecting her from her uncle’s attacks.

He dropped the snow and stared at her blankly.

She stared back through pitch black eyes, and he turned and walked away.

Faith blinked as her former watcher passed her. "Wes?"

He didn’t reply. He only kept walking.

Hermione sighed and got to her feet, chasing after him.

Harry watched her run, and was about to follow, but Gunn pelted him one last time, and he fell in the snow from the shock.

Ron tried to get out from underneath Charlie and Faith, but failed. "Bloody hell"

Dumbledore sighed and looked around at his teaching staff. Mind you many of them had opted to play in the snow rather than attend his meaning, and he didn’t really mind. The teachers in the snow were the ones who already knew what he had to say.

"Be extra wary tonight," he told them. "I’ve been given warnings from numerous sources that something may go terribly wrong at this ball"

"Any idea as to what?" Professor MacGonagal asked.

Dumbledore shook his head.

"I have seen nothing to suggest anything will go wrong," Professor Trelawny informed them. "I think things will be just fine"

Snape rolled his dark eyes, and Professor Sprout gave him a knowing smirk, and nodded ever so slightly to convey her agreement.

"Even so," Dumbledore went on. "Keep your eyes open. Let no student wander too far. Since the First, second and third year students are going home today, this should be slightly easier to do, but please be on alert at all times"

"Uncle Wesley!"

She chased after him through the halls, but he kept walking.

"Oh, honestly!" Hermione cried. "You’re acting like a first year!"

Wesley stopped, and turned to her. "You directly disobeyed me"

"Yes," she said quietly. "Yes, I did"

"Why?"

"Because this was something I had to do"

"Something you had to do?" Wesley asked. "You’re putting yourself, and everyone around you in danger!"

"So is Harry! You don’t see him getting scolded! Ron‘s a half demon! He‘s dangerous! Draco‘s a bloody slayer!"

"They don’t have any choice!" Wesley yelled. "You did! You chose to learn this magic, and all it can bring is trouble! You could get addicted! You could botch a spell, and who knows what could happen!"

"And maybe I’ll do things right!" Hermione yelled. "Maybe I’m not the screw-up you obviously seem to think I am!"

"It’s not a matter of screwing up!" Wesley said. "It’s a matter of getting in it too deep! It’s a matter of power addictions! No, Hermione, you’re as far from a screw-up as you can get. But you’re ignorant about what you’re doing"

Hermione fumed. "I am NOT!"

A new voice cleared her throat. "Okay. I’m only gonna say this once. SHUT UP!"

Both uncle and niece turned around to see Willow rushing towards them.

"Okay," she said. "Wesley. First of all, yes, what she’s doing is dangerous, and there are all sorts of icky risks. But Tara and I have been monitoring what she’s been reading and what she’s been learning, and she doing fine"

Hermione’s eyes widened. "What?!"

Willow sighed. "Where do you think all those witchcraft-y books came from? Mars? We put them there for you to find. What you’ve been learning is strictly white and gray magic. Protections, seeking spells, lessons in mind speak, moving spells. Yes, it’s powerful stuff, but since you’ve been soaked in a different kind of magic for five years, give or take, you’re can handle it"

Wesley began to speak, but Willow raised a hand.

"Wesley, I know she’s your niece. I know you care about her, but if she wants to learn this, you have to let her. If you keep yelling at her for it, she’s only gonna wanna learn more, and sooner or later, she’ll find the black stuff, and then we’ll have an uh-oh. Do you want an uh-oh?"

Wesley didn’t reply.

"I didn’t think so," Willow went on. She turned to the brunette girl. "Hermione, just know that addiction is a huge risk. It happened to me, and it was no fun… which is the understatement of the century. It led me to a not-so-happy place. Just be careful"

"I still-"

Willow lifted a finger to Wesley. "Do you see my face? This is what is widely known as my resolve face. Fear it. Now. I’m gonna go and attempt to beat the pants off of Faith for trouncing me with snow. You two hug and make up" With that, she walked away from them.

They turned to each other, not looking at each other.

Wesley sighed. "I’m… sorry I yelled at you. I know you want to help your friends. I’m just worried about you. I’m not used to you being so grown up"

Hermione shrugged. "Well… I’m sorry I went behind your back… I know I shouldn’t have"

Wesley smirked. "Am I forgiven?"

"Yes," Hermione replied. "Am I?"

Wesley nodded.

They were about to hug, when Hermione muttered something, and a rather hefty snowball formed in hand. She chucked it at her uncle, hitting him square in the chest. She grinned evilly.

Wesley glared, and chased her through the halls.

Back outside, the large group had begun to pile in the castle.

"Hi! Remember me?"

Ron turned and blinked at the tall brunette girl. "Oh! Yeah! You’re the one what ended up on the floor! Uhm… Dawn?"

"Yeah," Dawn nodded. "And you’re Ron"

Ron smirked, and gestured to the people walking alongside him. "This is Harry, and that’s my sister, Ginny, and you’ve met Torianna. The scary one is Evelyn, and the other equally scary one is Draco. Thass Seamus and Dean, and those are my brothers, Fred and George"

"We’ve met," Fred smiled. "Smashing to see you again"

"Corkingly smashing," George chimed in.

"Pay no mind to them," Harry rolled his eyes. "They do this to everyone. It’s in homage to their older brother, Percy"

Dawn blinked, and glanced at Ginny and Ron. "How many of you are there?"

"Seven," they replied in unison.

Dawn blinked. "Wow. That’s gotta get interesting"

"You have no idea," Harry snickered.

Angel grasped Buffy’s hand in his as they walked to the castle. "So… why the attack?"

Buffy shrugged. "The guys were getting bored," she told him. "They needed a change. Something to be excited about. And, y’know the Yule Ball is tonight. They need to save their energy for the stage and the dancing, and the fun"

Angel sighed. "Just… don’t go easy on them"

"Angel," Buffy snapped. "Their fifteen-year-old boys. Yeah, they need discipline, and all that good stuff, but they also need some normal"

"They live in the wizarding world, Buffy," Angel explained. "There’s no such thing as normal here. Anything can happen"

Buffy blinked. "You think something bad’s gonna go down tonight, don’t you?"

"There’s a good chance," Angel nodded. "I trust Lorne"

"Lorne could be wrong," Buffy said. "Nothing is gonna screw up tonight’s hootenanny. And if it does, I’ll kick its ass"

Angel smirked, and brought her glove-covered hand up to kiss it. "Let’s go inside"

"Definitely," Buffy snickered. "The snow was fun for a while, but now… not so much"

"Right, then. We go by the parchment"

The band gathered in the Great Hall in the afternoon for a brief meeting before they got ready for the Yule ball that night.

Ron sighed. "We start out with Katie and Angelina singing Raining Men, which is a pretty good opener. We take a quick break in music to introduce ourselves as… what was it?"

"Evil Candy," Evelyn informed him.

"Right," Ron nodded. "We go into Harry doing Underground, make a really quick instrument switch for Ginny, who’s doing Heartless, then go right on into Evelyn doing Bad Reputation. After that, Seamus goes into Strange Currencies, and then we take a quick break. Malfoy does The Unforgiven, and we go straight into my singing You May Be Right, and then we go to Oliver, who‘s singing Natalie Portman. After that, we drag Neville onstage for Swinging on a Star, and then we do a quick break before Torianna does A Change. After that, it’s onto Seamus singing Every Little Thing. Lee, Fred and George doing Eep Op Ork, and then we go out with Malfoy singing Rock the Casbah. Everyone got it?"

The group blinked at their piano player in confusion, and Draco flicked a guitar pick at him.

He nodded. "Right. Good. I‘ll call out songs as we go along"

"Wasn’t Pansy gonna sing something?" Seamus asked, scratching his light brown hair with a drum stick.

Ron nodded. "Yeah, but after I told her she was flat during practice, she called me a Mudblood-loving freak who wouldn’t recognize talent if it smacked him upside the head" He grinned deviously. "So I cut her song"

Draco laughed, and leaned over to tousled Ron’s hair. "Thata boy, Weasel, now you’re learning"

Tara smiled as she walked up to the snickering quartet. "Hey, guys, how’s everything coming?"

"Great," Ron nodded. "I think we’re ready"

Tara smiled wider. "Are you ready to kick some musical butt?"

"Yeah!" they chorused.

"Are you ready to have fun?" Tara asked.

"Yeah!"

"Are you ready to show that bitch Parkinson what real talent is?!" Draco cried.

"Yeah!"

Tara glanced at the blond with a raised eyebrow.

"I mean… uhm… Quick! Weasley! Tell me to shut up!"

"Shut up, Draco," Ron complied.

"Right, then"

"Arthur Weasley"

Arthur looked up from his spot in the great hall. He‘d been watching his youngest son speak with some other students about that night‘s entertainment. "Rupert Giles. It’s been a long time"

"That is has. How have you been?"

Arthur sighed. "As well as can be expected with all that’s been happening"

Giles nodded sympathetically. "What are you up to these days?"

"Head of the misuse of Muggle artifact department," Arthur replied.

"Ah, a Ministry man," Giles laughed.

Arthur shook his head. "Where did you wind up?"

Giles sighed. "Oh… you know. I had a band for a while… and that failed… and I played with some illegal magic for a while… and that was a horrible idea… so I broke down and became a Watcher"

"And now?"

"Now, I’m teaching, and trying my best to protect these children from what’s coming," Giles replied. "Though I must say I don’t think

we’re doing much good"

Arthur shook his head. "You’re doing the best you can. It’s all anyone could ask"

So… you’re chaperoning tonight?" Giles inquired, changing the subject.

Arthur nodded. "Dumbledore asked for Molly and I. And from what I understand, Sirius Black will be here as well, along with Remus and Sarah Lupin"

Giles smiled. "Good. At least I’ll have people to talk to"

Arthur sighed. "I’ve also heard that Narcissa Malfoy will be here, as well"

Giles sighed. "Blood hell"

:: On To Chapter Twenty-four ::

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