Chapter 6 - The Sorting Ceremony

Silence fell over the Great Hall as the battered hat sat motionless on the stool. Buffy couldn’t understand what the big deal was, although, she wasn’t thrilled with the idea of putting the dirty, patched thing on her head.

Suddenly, near the brim of the hat, a rip that looked frighteningly like a mouth appeared. It opened wide, and began to sing:

Buffy, along with the rest of the first years, gawked in amazement as applause thundered through the hall. <The hat just sang.> Buffy thought in astonishment. <The. Hat. Just. Sang.> Her gaze flew up to Giles, who smiled reassuringly at her.

Professor McGonagall reappeared holding a roll of parchment.

"When your name is called, you will sit and put the hat on." she told the first years, as she unrolled the parchment. "The hat will announce your House, and you will go sit at that table."

Buffy looked nervously at Willow, who was quite pale. Buffy was pretty sure she was wondering the same thing as she was. Whether or not this was the last time they were together for the rest of the year.

"Abbey, Madeline."

A young red headed girl walked nervously to the stool. She sat down and put on the hat. After a moment, the hat cried out

"RAVENCLAW!"

The table to Buffy’s right burst out cheering. Clearly relieved, Holly walked over and sat among them.

Professor McGonagall read through the list, calling students forward as the hat determined their Houses. There wasn’t any set length of time that the hat had to be worn as far as Buffy could determine. Sometimes it took a few minutes before a House was called, sometimes it was almost instantaneous.

"Harris, Alexander."

Nervously, Xander stepped forward, feeling a little foolish about sitting on the small stool. It was built for smaller bodies than his. He slipped the hat onto his head.

"Well, well, well." said a voice in his ear, causing Xander to jump a bit. "Isn’t this interesting."

<What? What’s interesting?> Xander thought in a panic.

"Quite a bit older than my usual choices." the voice said again. "Hmm, a good mind when you put it to use, quite brave as well. Now, where to put you?"

<Somewhere that will make Giles proud.> Xander thought desperately.

"Ah, loyalty and a wish to please. Excellent. You’d best be off to… GRYFFINDOR!" The hat yelled out the final word. Taking off the hat, Xander replaced it on the stool with a sigh of relief.

The Gryffindor table was cheering loudly, the Weasley twins banging on the table. Clapping, Buffy watched Xander walk over to the table and get pounded on the back with congratulations.

Professor McGonagall called several more students up, including "Leonard, Christopher" who went to Hufflepuff, "Malin, Helen" another Ravenclaw and "Nimis, Kimberly" a rather haughty looking girl who joined the Slytherin table. Finally, the professor reached:

"Osborne, Daniel"

Oz walked very calmly up to the stool, sat down and set the sorting hat on his head.

"Interesting." said the voice in his ear.

<A talking hat.> Oz thought. <Obviously a thinking cap.>

"Quite a mind. Quite a history. Simple enough. GRYFFINDOR!" the hat called out, causing more cheering from the Gryffindors. Oz smiled reassuringly at the girls as he walked past them to the table.

More names, more Houses, until:

"Rosenburg, Willow"

Willow made the teeniest "eep" as her name was called. Slowly, she walked to the stool, sat down, and taking a deep breath, placed the hat on her head. It slid down a bit, covering her eyes.

"Ah, yet another one." the hat said. "And aren’t you the inventive one? Where to put you." the hat murmured. Willow closed her eyes.

<I want to go with Oz and Xander.> Willow thought, scrunching her eyes closed tight.

"Gryffindor?" the hat asked. "Are you sure? You might be better off in Slytherin." it told her.

<Absolutely not Slytherin.> Willow thought with force, thinking of Draco Malfoy.

"All right, then it’s GRYFFINDOR!"

Relieved, Willow hopped up from the stool and practically ran to the table. Buffy felt unbelievably alone now.

Up at the high table, Giles watched as each of the teenagers took their turn putting on the hat. As a teacher, he knew he was supposed to be impartial about what house each new student was sorted into. But Xander, Oz and Willow were his, and it filled him with pride that they were sorted into Gryffindor. Professor McGonagall was reading through the last part of the alphabet, and Giles leaned forward as she read:

"Summers, Buffy"

The entire hall grew silent as Buffy moved toward the stool. Giles could hear whispers of "The Slayer" as she moved forward. It had taken about 30 seconds for the news that the Vampire Slayer was at Hogwarts to travel throughout the school once everyone had filed into the Great Hall. Especially since Draco Malfoy and his cronies had appeared like they’d been in a war. The bloody nose of one of the boys had sported had definitely been Buffy’s handiwork. There was no doubt in Giles’ mind that there would be hell to pay for that.

Buffy sat on the stool nervously. <I wish I could see Giles> she thought, holding the hat tightly in her hands. Taking a deep breath, Buffy looked up at the Gryffindor table where Xander, Willow and Oz were all watching intently. Xander held up his hands, showing his crossed fingers. Willow was chewing on her lip nervously, and Oz nodded in solidarity. Buffy also noticed that every single Weasley was leaning forward, Harry also had his fingers crossed for her, and Hermione was wringing her hands nervously.

Closing her eyes, Buffy stuck the hat on her head. For a moment, the silence of the hall echoed in her ears.

"I’ve been expecting you." a voice murmured in her ear. Buffy flinched away from the sound.

<Who are you?> she thought.

"Me? Why I’m the Sorting Hat." came the reply. "You’re friends have very loud thoughts where you’re concerned. Quite impressive the amount of loyalty you’ve inspired."

<We’re friends.> Buffy thought defensively. <We take care of each other.>

"Yes. Yes you do." The hat was silent for a moment. "Yes, it’s quite obvious where you belong, no question about it. Loyalty, bravery, sheer nerve. Simple enough. You, too, will be in…

GRYFFINDOR!!"

The roar that filled the Great Hall was deafening. Stunned, Buffy took the hat off her head as she stood. The Gryffindors were standing, cheering and shouting. Fred and George were high fiving everyone as if they had arranged Buffy’s sorting themselves. Even the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw tables were cheering loudly.

The only table not clapping was the Slytherin table, it’s occupants looking sullen and angry. Draco Malfoy sat, arms crossed, looking rather put out. He hadn’t expected the Slayer to be sorted into Slytherin, she didn’t have what it took. But it irritated him that she was in Gryffindor, with Potter and the Muggle loving Weasley’s.

Buffy looked around at all the applauding people in amazement. She felt a little like she did at the prom. Unused to all this attention, Buffy turned and looked over her shoulder at Giles.

Giles clapped so hard that his hands hurt. His Buffy. Sorted into Gryffindor. He hadn’t been this proud since she’d been award the Class Protector award. Giles grinned as Buffy looked over her shoulder at him. He stopped clapping long enough to give her a thumbs up. "Well done." Giles mouthed at her. Buffy smiled at him, letting out a breath of relief.

Turning back, she placed the hat back onto the stool, gave Professor McGonagall a bright smile and skipped over to the Gryffindor table. Xander, Willow, and even Oz converged on her, hugging her tightly. They were soon surrounded by the other Gryffindors offering their congratulations.

After a few more minutes, the applause died down and Buffy was able to take a seat at the table. People still leaned over to shake her hand and pat her on the back. The Weasley twins had stood up and joined by their friend, Lee Jordan, were shouting "We got the Slayer!"

"Misters Weasley and Jordan" Professor McGonagall said sharply, peering at them over her glasses. "If you would kindly return to your seats, we could finish with the Sorting." The trio sat, grinning widely as Professor McGonagall finished calling the names of the remaining first years.

"I can’t believe we’re all together." Willow whispered to Buffy. Buffy nodded, looking over her head at the Giles. Giles beamed at her. Buffy’s heart stuttered for a moment, and her breath caught in her chest.

He was watching her, his green eyes shining with pride and a smile lighting up his face. With a bolt of lightening, Buffy suddenly understood. Giles had been in Gryffindor. Giles had been in Gryffindor, and now she, and the whole gang, had been placed in his former house. Buffy was overwhelmed with emotion and she looked away as tears filled her eyes. This was probably the closest thing Giles would have to having his own children sorted.

The hall grew silent as Professor Dumbledore stood. He raised his arms.

"Let the feasting begin." he announced.

With his words, plates of food magically appeared on the table. Buffy was too hungry to be surprised. Besides, after a talking hat, this hardly warranted the bat of an eye. She and the rest of the gang dug in to the food piled before them.

Buffy fielded questions throughout dinner about being the Slayer, which she answered around mouthfuls of food. She’d been so nervous that day, she’d hardly eaten anything. Seamus Finnegan, an Irish boy who was a fifth year, was asking Xander about his favorite quidditch team. Buffy shook her head as Xander admitted that he didn’t know what quidditch was. <Silly boy.> she thought, shaking her head as Seamus launched into a complicated explanation of the sport. <Should’ve known better.>

Finally, after desserts had been consumed and the dishes cleared just as magically as they’d been filled, Dumbledore stood. Silence immediately over the Great Hall, and everyone looked at him expectantly.

"Welcome back, one and all." he greeted, casting a warm smile at the students. "I have several beginning of the year announcements before you can toddle off to your warm beds."

"Mr. Filch, the caretaker, has asked me to inform you that the list of forbidden items inside the castle has grown to include Weasley’s Fake Wands and Ton-Tongue Toffees." he said, his eyes twinkling with amusement at the twins. All heads swiveled to look at Fred and George. Instead of looking disappointed that their creations were on the forbidden list, they actually looked quite proud.

"We’ll have to work on the Canary Creams to get them on for next year." George whispered to Fred.

"It is my distinct pleasure to announce that the Inter-House Quidditch Cup will be taking place once again this year." Dumbledore’s announcement was met with a rousing cheer. Hermione quickly explained to the gang that it’d been canceled last year for a tournament. Dumbledore held up his hands for silence.

"Finally, ladies and gentleman, I would like to introduce our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Giles. Professor Giles has spent many years in the field as a Watcher to an active Slayer." Dumbledore gestured to Giles, who stood a little self-consciously to the thundering applause that filled the room, the loudest coming from the Gryffindor table. Xander put his fingers in his mouth and whistled loudly. Giles gave him a grin before sitting down. When the applause had died down enough, Dumbledore spoke again.

"Many of you may have noticed that there were several older students sorted this year. They are special exchange students that Professor Giles has brought with him, including his Slayer." Dumbledore motioned for the gang to stand, which they did reluctantly. <Embarrassing much?> Buffy thought, a smile plastered on her face. She nodded at the room at large before sitting again.

"These four young people will be engaged in special classes and I’m sure will be helping Professor Giles with his class as they have all been fighting dark forces for several years now." Dumbledore said with great pride.

"And since I’m sure that you’re all eager to start off the new year, so it’s off to bed with you so that everyone’s rested and alert for tomorrow."

Chapter 7 – The First Day

Buffy poured milk over her cereal, oblivious to the noise going on around her. She’d gotten to used to pointing and staring while she was in high school to pay much attention to it here. And since all the Gryffindors had gotten their awe of the Slayer out of the way last night in the Gryffindor common room, it’s not like anyone at her table was gawking at her.

Besides, Buffy had gotten a good’s night sleep last night, and she was raring to go.

After Dumbledore had dismissed them from dinner, the gang had followed a blonde girl named Rowan, who told them she was a prefect, through the castle to the Gryffindor rooms. They’d all followed in a bit of a haze. Buffy had been so tired that she hadn’t even bothered to ask Willow what a prefect was. She’d just stumbled along, too tired to be amazed by the moving staircases or talking pictures.

When they’d reached Gryffindor tower, they’d been greeted by a portrait of a very fat lady in a hideous pink dress and with really bad hair, who’d asked "Password?" in a very haughty tone.

"Pumpkin pie." Rowan had answered. The portrait had swung open and they’d all clambered through the opening behind it. "This is the Gryffindor common room. This is where we meet and study." Rowan explained, gesturing around the round room, which was filled with comfortable chairs.

Rowan sent the first year boys through one door to their dorms, and the girls through another. The gang had started to follow, but Rowan had held them back, saying that Professor McGonagall had special instructions for them.

Just then the portrait hole had opened and the severe looking woman who’d greeted them in the front hall clambered through.

"So," she’d said, looking them up and down. "you’re Rupert’s group." Her eyes had rested on Buffy. Buffy was pretty sure that she was going to get tired of that sad gleam everyone’s eyes seemed to get when they looked at her. "You are entirely too old to stay with the other first years." she’d informed them. "Special accommodations have been arranged." She directed them through a third doorway, told the girls to take the right branch of stairs, the boys the left.

Exhausted, the teens had followed her instructions and trudged up the steps. Buffy was the first into their room, having left Willow behind to say goodnight to Oz.

It was a small room, large enough for two four-poster beds with a little space left over. Her and Willow’s belongings had been brought up and placed next to the beds, along with a yellow and red Gryffindor scarf and tie for each of them. Sighing, Buffy had fallen into her bed, pulled the red velvet curtains and had fallen asleep instantly.

"I got our schedules." Willow said, breaking into her thoughts. Buffy looked up from her breakfast as Willow scurried over. She took the piece of paper that Willow held out to her.

"Gee, Defense of the Dark Arts first." Buffy muttered. "Imagine my shock and amazement." Willow giggled.

"Training first thing in the morning. Almost like high school." Buffy glanced up at the teacher table where Giles was eating breakfast.

"He looks very cute in his robes though." she pointed out. Willow gave her a small smile, then turned her attention to Oz and Xander who sat down across from them. The three were soon engaged in a lively conversation about their rooms and how different it was from the world they were used to. Buffy continued to watch Giles.

He was so different around these people. More at ease and sure of himself. No, that wasn’t true. He’d been confident and sure of himself in Sunnydale, she just hadn’t noticed it before. It had taken a change of scenery to see it. In a way, she kind of missed the bumbling, stuttering librarian she’d once known.

Giles looked up from the conversation he was having with Minerva McGonagall about the different ways to kill a vampire and discovered Buffy staring at him. She blushed when he caught her.

She was wearing her Hogwarts uniform, and he fully expected to get an earful about it. Her long blonde hair was pulled back into a sleek ponytail. <Not her normal hairstyle of choice.> he thought. <No hair dryer.> he realized suddenly. Wizards don’t use electricity. She wouldn’t have had a place to plug in her hair dryer.

Smiling, he motioned her over to the teacher table.

"Be right back." Buffy muttered to the others as she rose from her seat. As expected, conversations ceased as she walked by. With the exception of the Gryffindor table. Some of them called out greetings, and the Weasley twins asked if she was going to beat up Malfoy again, and if so, could she make sure that they were around to see it this time. Buffy simply grinned, then waved at Harry, Hermione and Ron as she passed.

The teacher’s table was on a raised dais, and Buffy looked at Giles for permission before hopping up. She figured that she should at least pretend that he had some authority over her. Giles grinned knowingly and nodded.

Ignoring the stairs, Buffy jumped lithely onto the platform, causing some "ohs" and "ahs" from the watching crowd. She gave Giles a grin.

"Hey Watcher mine!" she greeted. She held out her schedule. "Seems I have you first thing in the morning. Am I student or subject?"

"Subject." Giles murmured as he took the piece of paper from her hands and studied it. "They gave you Divinations?" he asked incredulously. "Trelawney couldn’t predict that the sun will rise in the east tomorrow morning." Buffy grinned.

"Does that mean that you’re going to get me out of that class?" she asked. Giles nodded as he stood.

"It would be useless for you to go. She’d spend the entire time predicting your bloody, painful death." Buffy roiled her eyes.

"Please, no. That’s the last thing I need." Giles nodded.

"I’ll get that changed." Giles put his hand at the small of Buffy’s back and guided her down the stairs of the dais. "I need to talk to you about something." he said. "And I’d prefer not to do it here."

Buffy looked at Giles as she allowed him to lead her down the hallway. Something was up. He had an odd look on his face, as if he was afraid of her reaction to what ever it was he had to say. He guided her into an empty hallway, shutting the door behind them.

"Buffy," he began, pacing the front of the room. "I’m about to ask you something that, well, I wouldn’t dream of asking under normal circumstances." Buffy’s head swiveled back and forth as she watched him. "Just know that it’s perfectly ok for you to say no to my request." he assured her.

"Giles, just spit it out?" Buffy demanded. "You’re making me dizzy with all the pacing." Giles stopped in front of her and took a deep breath.

"I want you to fight a vampire for my classes." he said. Buffy stared at him in amazement. She couldn’t have possibly heard what she thought she’d heard. It was like her 18^th birthday all over again. Fighting a vampire on demand just to prove she could.

"You want me to WHAT?" she demanded.

"It wouldn’t be a real vampire." Giles rushed to assure her. "It would be a creature called a boggart. It’s a shape shifting creature that shifts into what you fear the most." Giles stepped closer and brushed the back of his hand over her cheek. "I swear you’ll be safe. One wave of my wand and it’ll be gone."

"How can you be so sure it’ll just shift into a vampire?" Buffy asked softly. "How do you know it won’t shift into something else? Like say, Angelus or something." Giles took off his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"I don’t. But, Buffy, you are the Vampire Slayer, first and foremost. You have an internal instinct that naturally fears vampires." Buffy looked at Giles carefully.

"So, I don’t have to kill it?" she asked. Giles shook his head. "And I’ll be safe?" Giles nodded. Buffy thought for a moment. "For how many classes?" she asked finally.

"Three." Buffy tapped her lip thoughtfully.

"On one condition." she told him. "I am not wearing this Catholic school uniform all the time." Giles grinned.

"I will arrange it so that you only have to wear the robes over your normal clothes." he promised. Buffy’s face brightened as she smiled.

"Deal." Impulsively, she stood on her tiptoes and brushed a kiss over his lips. "I’m gonna go change." Buffy bounded toward the door, and stopped abruptly. "Thanks, Giles." She treated him to a glowing smile. "I’ll see you in a bit."

Giles stood amazed as he watched her leave. First and foremost, because she’d willingly kissed him, but also because she’d agreed so readily to his request to fight the boggart. Giles shook himself out of his stupor. He had a class to prepare for.

Ron, Harry and Hermione entered the classroom eagerly. They were looking forward to Defense Against the Dark Arts. They had a feeling it would rival last years with Mad Eye Moody. Even though it hadn’t been the real Mad Eye Moody, they’d learned a lot.

Taking seats in the front row, the three got out their books and sharpened quills. Oz, Xander and Willow scurried in right after them, and sat behind them.

"Hey, do you know what Professor Giles is planning on doing today?" Hermione asked them eagerly. Willow shook her head, looking around as the room filled quickly around them.

"Not a clue." she told Hermione. "I haven’t had a chance to talk to him. It should be interesting." Willow said. "Buffy disappeared with him shortly after breakfast." At that moment, Giles strode into the room and stood to the front podium. He quickly took role, smiling at Xander, Willow and Oz as he called their names.

Willow looked around for Buffy who was nowhere to be seen.

"Ladies and Gentlemen," Giles began. "Welcome to the Defense Against the Dark Arts. For your first lesson, I will need everyone to move their desks back as far as possible."

There was a low murmuring as desks were moved to the back of the room. Giles waited until everyone had settled back into their seats.

"Professor Dumbledore tells me that all of you are familiar with a boggart." There was a sea of nodding heads. "Good. All of you need to have your wands out, however, I ask you not to interfere unless absolutely necessary." There was shuffling as the class got out their wands. Willow could hear a blonde boy behind her whispering "Riddikulus" over and over.

Buffy walked into the room as they were doing so. She sent a smile over to the gang and slid out of her robe. She had changed out of her school uniform into a pair of jeans and a crop top that had the eyes of every male in the room bugging out. Giles took one look at her and took a deep breath, forcing himself to focus on the task at hand.

"Buffy is going to demonstrate hand to hand combat with a vampire. Since it would be dangerous and frankly downright stupid to use a real vampire, we’re going to instead use the boggart." Giles explained to the class. Once again, there was much head nodding. Xander leaned close to Harry.

"What’s a boggart?" he whispered.

"A shape shifter that becomes your greatest fear." Harry whispered back. Xander swallowed hard. The thought of seeing Buffy’s greatest fear was terrifying.

Giles moved to the back of the room, and looked over at Buffy. Buffy straightened her shoulders and nodded once. Giles pointed his wand at the cupboard and it flew open with a bang.

The entire class recoiled at what stepped out. Even Giles. Behind him, he heard the collective gasps of Willow, Xander and Oz. <I never would have imagined.> Giles thought in a mixture of wonder and horror. <Never in a million years would I have guessed.>

The boggart wore his face, right down to his glasses. Buffy gave a quick glance to the back of the room to make sure that the real Giles was safe and sound, before moving stealthily toward it.

The face of the boggart-Giles morphed as she approached. It’s eyes turned yellow, canine teeth grew into fangs, and the skin became bumpy and furrowed. With a deep growl, it launched itself at her and she easily dodged it. Twirling, she gave it a roundhouse kick, sending boggart-Giles staggering backwards. Growling, it lunged, catching her arm, trying to pull it toward her.

Harry, Ron and Hermione watched the battle in a mixture of awe and terror as Buffy fought the boggart vampire. Deep down, they knew that it wasn’t real, that she was fighting a shape shifter that could be dispersed with a simple spell. But that didn’t change the fact that the Slayer seemed to be locked in a life or death struggle with a creature of pure evil. A creature with the face of their professor. Her Watcher.

Buffy fought with a passion, holding nothing back. She back flipped off the floor after the boggart vamp-Giles threw her down. She kicked, punched and moved as if her life depended on it. The boggart grabbed her and pulled her close, so that her back was to his front. It opened it’s mouth, teeth gleaming as he moved to bite her.

There were gasps of horror from the class, and the blonde boy who’d been chanting the charm over and over covered his eyes. Giles straightened suddenly, ready to perform the charm necessary to save her.

Buffy didn’t need his help.

Buffy threw her elbow up, slamming the boggart vampire in the face, causing it to howl in pain. It loosened it’s grip just enough to give Buffy enough leverage to throw boggart vamp-Giles over her shoulder. It landed on the floor with a thud, and Buffy quickly pulled out the wooden stake she had stuck in her back pocket. She dropped to the floor, one knee on the boggart’s chest and raised the stake.

Giles moved forward quickly.

"Riddikulus!" he called out sharply. Buffy dropped heavily to the floor as the boggart disappeared from beneath her in a wisp of smoke. Breathing hard, she stood slowly to face the class. She wasn’t a bit surprised that everyone was looking at her in shock.

Slowly, the applause started. Harry stood and clapped as hard as he could, and soon, the other students had done the same. Including, Oz, Willow and Xander. Buffy smiled wanly and gave a small curtsey.

Giles walked up and put a hand on her shoulder.

"Well done, Buffy." he said softly. "Thank you." Buffy turned to face him, eyes shining with unshed tears.

"Can I go, Giles?" she asked softly. "I’ll come back for the next class. I just need…" Giles cut off her words.

"It’s alright, Buffy." Buffy nodded once. Turning, she grabbed her robe and walked stiffly from the room. Once outside the room, she slipped her arms into the black material, clutching it around her like a lifeline. Inside, she could hear Giles begin his lecture on recognizing vampires and methods of killing them. Buffy was positive that the entire class was taking careful notes.

Suddenly feeling closed in, Buffy turned on her heel and ran through the halls, robes billowing behind her. She dodged students and teachers and even ran though a ghost. Finally she reached the front doors. Pulling them open, she sprinted outside, taking huge gulps of fresh air.

When the boggart had come out of the cupboard wearing Giles’ face, even she had been surprised. She’d expected the Master, the Mayor or even Angelus. Buffy had never allowed herself to entertain the thought of Giles being turned into a vampire. It was too horrifying. So when the boggart had come out as a vampire version of Giles, she’d been frozen for a moment.

Buffy had been afraid she wouldn’t be able to fight it. For one moment, she’d stared at the boggart and her whole world had crashed around her. Never mind the fact that she’d known full well that the real Giles was safe and sound. Buffy had been unable to kill the vampire version of Willow or Angelus. How could she fight the most important person in her life.

But then, Buffy had realized that Giles would rather be dust than a vampire. Everything he did was dedicated to destroying them. To become one would be Giles’ personal hell. It was that thought that had filled her with the rage that had enabled her to give the fight her all.

Buffy plopped down on the grass next to the lake. The crisp fall air cooled her heated skin. <I’m ok. It wasn’t real.> she thought over and over again. In front of her, something that looked an awful lot like the tentacle of a giant squid emerged from the water and waved in the air before laying on the water’s edge.

Buffy’s heartbeat slowed to normal, but the urge to run hadn’t faded. She needed to beat on something. Unfortunately, she had no idea where her training room was.

"Buffy." Buffy jumped at the sound of a voice behind her. She turned and found Professor Dumbledore standing over her. She quickly scrambled to her feet.

"Professor Dumbledore." she said anxiously as she brushed herself off. "Is there something I can help you with?" Dumbledore smiled and waved away her concern.

"I think it’s the other way around." he said gently. "I think it’s I that can help you." Buffy looked at him, confused.

"I’m sorry…" she began. Dumbledore gestured back toward the castle.

"I thought you might like to see your training room." he said. Buffy smiled was a bit watery.

"Yes, I’d like that."

The two began to walk together, silently. Buffy wondered why the headmaster hadn’t just sent someone else to show her to the room.

"I heard about your demonstration in Professor Giles’ class." Dumbledore said quietly. "It was quite effective. Neville Longbottom had to be sent to the infirmary." Buffy looked at Dumbledore in concern.

"Did he get hurt? Did I…?" Dumbledore shook his head.

"Evidently he fainted." he assured her. Buffy thought there was a glint of humor in his eyes, but she wasn’t sure. Dumbledore led her down a hall that looked vaguely familiar. "The Gryffindor common room is just down there." he told her, pointing. Buffy could just make out the picture of the fat lady in a pink dress.

Dumbledore stopped in front of a large picture of a knight in silver armor. He was a rather good looking dark haired man, his helmet under one arm, a sword in his other hand.

"Password?" the knight inquired.

"Sunnydale." Dumbledore said, much to Buffy’s surprise. "Might as well start with something you can remember." he murmured as the picture swung open to reveal a doorway.

The room behind the portrait was amazing. It was filled with training equipment, a training horse, a punching bag, swords, quarterstaffs… anything she could possibly need.

"Thank you." Buffy said to Dumbledore, smiling brightly. He shook his head.

"Don’t thank me." he said. "Thank Rupert. He put this together for you."

"I will." Buffy assured him. "Thank you for showing me to the room." Dumbledore inclined his head, smiling.

"I’ll leave you to pummel something to your heart’s delight." he said as he left the room. The portrait swung shut behind him, leaving her alone.

Buffy took off her robe, tossing it onto a pile of mats by the wall. She walked over to the punching bag, and taking a deep breath, began to hit it. Soon, the rage she’d felt at seeing Giles as a vampire filled her and she exorcised it on the bag.

Giles stood outside the portrait of the knight. He could hear Buffy inside, pounding on the bag.

He hadn’t wanted to let her leave the classroom after her fight with his vampire self, boggart or not. Giles could tell how shaken she’d been. Unfortunately, he had to teach his class, and he’d had to let her go.

The sound of flesh meeting leather grew faster and more furious. Giles took a deep breath.

"Sunnydale." he said.

The portrait swung open.

Chapter 8 – The Dream

When Giles entered the training room, he found Buffy beating the stuffing out of the punching bag. Literally. The seams had split under her assault and Giles could see the material that had once been inside now spilling out.

With a scream that came from deep within her soul, Buffy kicked the bag. Such was the force of her blow, the chain holding it to the ceiling broke and the bag went flying across the room. Giles was torn between amusement and worry.

"Obviously, I didn’t attach it firmly enough." he said softly, causing Buffy to whirl around. She stared at him, chest heaving from exertion. Giles pointed his wand at the punching bag.

"Fodio arca reparo"

Buffy watched in amazement as the cotton stuffing was sucked back into the leather punching bag and the seams sewed themselves back up.

"Capistro firmus" reattached the bag to the chain hanging from the ceiling. Giles smiled at Buffy. "Hopefully that’ll hold."

"Giles…"

"I’m sorry, Buffy." Giles interrupted. "I had no idea." Buffy launched herself at him, burying her face in his robes. Giles brought his arms around her, holding her close as she began to sob.

Giles knew there was nothing he could do to soothe his Buffy except to hold her.

"I’m so sorry." he whispered over and over against her hair. He pressed his lips to the top of her head. "I don’t want you to demonstrate for the other 2 classes." he told her. Buffy pulled away.

"What?" she asked in disbelief. She wiped the tears from her face with her hands. "Why not?" Giles looked at her incredulously even as he handed her a handkerchief from within his robes.

"Why not?" he asked. "Why not? Because you just had to fight a vampire version of me to the death. Because you practically obliterated the punching bag." Giles gestured toward the now repaired bag. "Because you’re standing here, in my arms, crying your eyes out." he told her, his voice rising in volume with every reason. "I’m not going to put you through that again."

"Damn it! It’s what you asked me to do!" Buffy yelled. "Face my fear. And I did it!" she pointed out. In frustration, she turned away from him. Giles moved closer and put his hand on her shoulder.

"I don’t want to have to watch you do that again." he admitted quietly.

"Because it wore your face?" Buffy asked. Giles stepped closer to Buffy, wrapping his arms around her and resting his chin on her head. Deep down, he knew that this was completely inappropriate for a Watcher/Slayer relationship. <To hell with appropriate> he thought. He needed the physical contact, and he was pretty sure Buffy did as well.

"No, because you were forced to fight something that wore my face." he said. "I’d say the same if it’d been any one of the others." he assured her. Buffy closed her eyes.

"I have to do it again, Giles." she insisted. "I have to, because the other classes will be expecting it." She turned in his arms. "If Dumbledore heard about it, everyone else has too. I refuse to look like a coward."

"Buffy…" Buffy reached up and placed her fingers on his lips.

"It’s decided, Giles." she told him. Giles nodded in defeat and placed his forehead against hers. Buffy looked up and saw the sadness in his green eyes. <Now or never girl> she thought briefly. With a slight tilt of her head, she covered his lips with hers.

Buffy felt Giles jolt in surprise and steeled herself for him to pull away. Instead, he pulled her closer, moving his lips against hers. The kiss lasted for several minutes, and just as Buffy was preparing to take it further, Giles raised his head.

"Buffy, we shouldn’t be doing this." he whispered. "You’re upset and just looking for comfort."

"True." Buffy whispered back. "But, I’ve wanted to kiss you for a long time, Giles." Giles was so stunned that he took a step backwards, out of her arms.

"You have?" he asked. Buffy nodded.

"How ‘bout you, Giles?" she asked. "’Cause it really seemed like you wanted to kiss me too." Giles shook his head.

"It’s not right, Buffy." he told her, moving away from her. "You need someone your own age."

Rather than arguing, Buffy smiled at him. The fact that he hadn’t answered her question hadn’t escaped her.

"We better get to class." she said, linking her arm with his.

<Nap.> Buffy thought. <I wonder if I can take a nap.> Buffy was tired. Physically and emotionally. After fighting a vampire Giles twice more, she just wanted to eat her lunch and crash.

"Hey Buffy!" Buffy looked up from the lunch she was pushing around on her plate, but not really eating.

"Hey Harry." she greeted, trying to infuse some enthusiasm into her voice. Harry smiled sympathetically. He sat down across from her at the table.

"Are you alright?" he asked her, his voice filled with concern. "I heard you fought the boggart for two more classes." Buffy snorted with laughter as she picked up her pumpkin juice.

"That didn’t take long." she muttered. "Class has only been out for 10 minutes." Harry grabbed a couple of rolls off a plate.

"Good news travels fast." he said, ladling soup into a bowl. Buffy looked up to find him grinning at her. "Amazing how that boggart just happened to land on Malfoy’s desk."

"I don’t know what you’re talking about." Buffy said in her best innocent voice. It was Harry’s turn to snort.

"Do you know how upset that Fred and George are that they missed Malfoy getting beat up again?" he asked.

"There was no beating up." Buffy clarified. "The boggart landed on his desk and there was a minor scuffle in it’s removal from the desk."

"It had nothing to do with the fact he’d voiced the opinion that it was too bad you couldn’t stake the professor for real, I’m sure." he said. Buffy’s face turned bright red with anger at the memory of Malfoy’s callous statement. She looked over at the Slytherin table where he was sitting with Crabbe and Goyle with narrowed eyes. Draco looked up and met her gaze. For about 10 seconds. Then he looked everywhere but at her.

"Nothing at all to do with it." she bit out. "That’s my story and I’m sticking to it." Harry and Buffy sat in silent solidarity.

"Still, it wouldn’t have been too awful if the boggart had bitten Malfoy." Harry told her. Buffy smiled at her plate.

"Wouldn’t have sucked." she agreed, giving Harry a grin. "Giles wouldn’t have liked it though."

Ron and Hermione walked dup and sat on either side of Harry. Ron’s eyes were shining with admiration.

"Buffy," he said breathlessly. "you were absolutely brilliant today in class." Buffy smiled a thank you at him.

"Did you know that the boggart would be Professor Giles?" Hermione asked as she filled her plate with food. Buffy gave a shake of her head, making it clear she didn’t want to talk about it.

"Buffy!"

<Oh no.> Buffy thought as Xander came running toward the table, Oz and Willow behind him. <I don’t want to rehash this again. I can’t.>

"Are you ok?" Xander asked in a breathless voice. Buffy nodded, pushing her plate away.

"I’m fine." she said, standing abruptly. "I’m wiped. I’m gonna crash for awhile." The gang watched in puzzlement as she rushed off.

"What was that all about?" Xander asked, piling food onto a plate. Willow stared at Buffy’s retreating back.

"Is she ok?" she asked Harry. Harry, who’d been watching Buffy run off as well, jerked his gaze to Willow.

"I don’t think so." he said, softly. "Buffy had to fight the boggart two more times."

"Both times it was Professor Giles." Hermione added. Willow was confused and just a little hurt.

"Why didn’t she want to talk about it then?" she wondered out loud. Harry looked at the door Buffy had left through, then at Ron and Hermione.

"Sometimes there are things too painful to discuss. Even with best friends."

Giles walked through the corridors to his room. He was so deep in thought that he didn’t notice several of the female portraits winking at him, trying to get his attention.

It had been painful to watch Buffy fight the boggart. Not because it had been himself. But because he knew how hard it must have been for her to do it. Over and over, he’d forced her to face that horror. <What kind of person am I?> he asked himself in disgust. <Force her to fight her greatest fear, and then take advantage of her by kissing her when she’s most vulnerable.>

Giles silently berated himself as he strode down the hallway. He hated the fact that he’d asked her to fight the boggart. He should have known better. Buffy’s fears made most people’s look like a walk in the park.

"Well, well, well." A slick, slightly slimy voice stopped Giles in his tracks. "You’ve made quite the impression with your little Slayer and her friends." Giles turned and found Severus Snape, the Potions teacher. He was a rather tall man with somewhat greasy black hair and a hooked nose. Giles brought himself up to his full height.

"Don’t let Buffy hear you calling her ‘little’." Giles warned, somewhat coldly. "She’s rather sensitive about her height."

"Tell your little Slayer to stop harassing one of my students." Snape said, eyes narrowed. "If it continues, I will notify the headmaster." Giles raised his eyebrows.

"Maybe you should tell Mr. Malfoy not to antagonize a Slayer." he suggested.

"That is not the point." Snape sneered. Crossing his arms, Giles feigned an interest in his fingernails.

"It’s exactly the point." he said calmly. "It’s pretty simple, Severus. Draco antagonizes, Buffy retaliates." Giles grinned at Snape. "And she’s extremely creative and physical in her retaliations."

Turning on his heel, Giles continued on his way, laughing silently as he went. He and Severus had never gotten along, and it didn’t look like that would change any time soon. Giles couldn’t say that it bothered him all that much.

Draco Malfoy had been antagonizing Buffy every opportunity he got. Not the wisest decision Draco had ever made. Buffy didn’t react well to people messing with her. Giles supposed that Lucius Malfoy would be contacting Dumbledore about it, but Giles wasn’t about to reign Buffy in.

Exhausted, Buffy made her way up to her room. A headache was blooming behind her eyes, and she just wanted to lay down. The common room had been empty, with everyone being at lunch. Something that Buffy had been eternally grateful for. She wasn’t sure how much more attention she could take that day.

She certainly didn’t want to discuss the fact her boggart had turned into Giles one more time. It had been hard enough to face it a second and third time, and Draco Malfoy and his snide little remarks hadn’t helped much. Buffy paused on the stairs, closed her eyes and imagined her fist in Malfoy’s face. Smiling at the image, she continued up to the room.

Sitting on the bed, Buffy slipped her shoes off and gave a sigh. Her head pounded, so she pulled the velvet curtains, enclosing her in darkness. Head on her pillow, Buffy curled up and fell asleep instantly.

Buffy found herself in a strange house she’d never seen before. It was shrouded in darkness, and she could just make out the outline of a hallway. She jumped at the sound of a snake slithering by her feet. It hissed as it passed, and, filled with dread, she slowly followed it.

As she walked, the house melted away, and Buffy found herself following it through a moonlit field. Looking into the sky, she saw the full moon hanging above her. It illuminated strange looking stones, set in a circle. It strongly reminded Buffy of the pictures of Stonehenge she’d seen.

Just within the circle of stone were hooded figures, each standing in front of one of the strange stones. They chanted something Buffy couldn’t understand. A chalice or cup of some sort was pasted from figure to figure as they chanted.

Buffy moved to the middle of the circle. She spun around, trying to figure out what was going on, and who these people were. As she completed the turn, a tied and bound figure had appeared in the center of the circle.

"Harry?" Buffy asked. Harry was gagged, but his eyes opened wide with fear as he looked over her shoulder. Whirling around, Buffy found herself face to face with a tall figure. It was white as bone, it’s face flat and snakelike with burning red eyes. There were slits where his nose should have been. It reached toward her with long, talon-like hands.

"Ah, the final ingredient has arrived." he hissed.

Chapter 9 – Potions

Breakfast was a rowdy affair. Everyone one was talking about the Defense against the Dark Arts classes. Seamus Finnigan had started writing a list of vampire related questions to ask during the next class. Buffy was pleased that she’d made Giles’ class so popular.

Hogwarts was so different from Sunnydale High School. No one was pretending that nothing strange ever happened. Here the strange was something to be celebrated. It was nice not to have to hide who and what she was. Buffy wasn’t ridiculed here, no one thought she was weird. It made for a nice change.

There was a flurry of activity in the air above her and Buffy was startled when she realized that the air was filled with owls. They began swooping down and dropping letters for their owners. Hedwig dropped two letters into Buffy’s lap, hooting softly as she landed on the table. Buffy looked at her, astonished.

"For me?" she asked the owl in surprise. Hedwig ruffled her feathers and scooped up a beakfull of Buffy’s pumpkin juice. She nipped at Harry’s finger, hooting thankfully when he fed her a piece of bacon.

"I asked Hedwig to stop by your house." Harry admitted sheepishly. "I figured that Hedwig would enjoy the trip." Hedwig hooted happily, as if ensuring him she had, before leaping from the table and flying from sight.

Buffy studied the envelopes. One was in her mother’s handwriting, and the other in an unfamiliar feminine scrawl. Curious, Buffy opened that one first.

Buffy smiled as she read the short missive. It had taken some doing, but Buffy had convinced the rogue Slayer to stay with her mom while she was in Sunnydale. Buffy thought her mom would be a calming influence on Faith. Buffy handed the letter to Willow for her to read as she opened the one from her mother.

Buffy snorted with laughter at that line. <Note to self: Don’t tell Mom about boggarts.>

Buffy could all be hear her mother’s voice, lamenting over the way kids were raised these days.

Buffy looked up from her letter and caught Harry watching her.

"A letter from your mum?" he asked, a hint of longing in his voice. Buffy nodded.

"She thinks I’m safer here than in Sunnydale." Harry laughed into his eggs.

"Your mom doesn’t know much about Hogwarts, does she?" he asked. Buffy folded up the letter and slipped it into her bag.

"My mom has this amazing ability to ignore any evil going on around her. I think it’s a Sunnydale thing." she told him. A movement at the front of the hall caught her eye, and Buffy turned to watch Giles enter the room. "I gotta go." she told Harry, as she slid out of her seat. "I’ll catch you in class."

Buffy jogged to the front of the hall, linking her arm with Giles’ before he knew she was there.

"Giles, I need to talk to you." she told him quietly. Giles looked down in surprise at Buffy’s sudden appearance on his arm. She was looking up at him with wide serious eyes. He nodded.

"Of course. Do I have time to eat breakfast?" he asked. Buffy nodded. "Then I will meet you in the training room in thirty minutes." he promised.

Thirty one minutes later, Giles strode into the training room where he found Buffy sitting on the vaulting horse, pouring over a book. Stunned by the sight, Giles stopped in his tracks.

"You’re studying?" he said in disbelief. Looking up, Buffy grinned. She held up the book so that he could see the cover. The Monster Book of Monsters.

"Just checking to see if I fought any of these." she told him. Smiling, Giles shook his head.

"Demons, Buffy." he reminded gently. "You’ve fought demons, not monsters." Buffy shrugged, tossing the book aside.

"It was still interesting." She hopped down from the horse. "I need to talk to you about a dream I had yesterday. " Giles immediately snapped to attention.

"Do you think it was prophetic?" he asked. Buffy nodded.

"Oh yeah." she told him. "Unless waking up in a cold sweat, with my heart pounding and gasping for breath has suddenly become a good thing."

Buffy leaned back in her chair, wrapping her cloak around her for warmth. <The dungeons were freezing.> she thought, rubbing her hands together. At least she was wearing pants, which was more than she could say for Hermione and Willow. Both were wearing the short skirt of the school uniform.

"What ever you do, don’t antagonize Snape." Harry whispered. "He loves to take points from Gryffindor." Buffy nodded. As much as it irritated her, she realized that this was one classroom where being the Slayer wasn’t going to get her anywhere. Snape was the head of Slytherin house, and since Draco Malfoy was looking positively smug, Buffy figured she should try and go as unnoticed as possible.

She pulled out a pen and quill, ready to take notes. Doodling absently on the parchment, she thought about her nightmare.

Giles had agreed with her when she’d told him about it. He’d said that the creepy red-eyed figure had sounded like Voldemort. Especially since the bound and gagged figure of Harry had been in the dream.

"Be on your guard, Buffy." he’d warned her. "Voldemort has powers we can’t even dream of."

Buffy had been unbelievably frustrated with Giles. The dream had scared the hell out her and she’d wanted nothing more than to curl up in Giles’ arms and have him soothe away her worries. Instead, he’d studiously avoided any physical contact. It had been damn annoying, and only made Buffy more determined. Especially now that she knew he was attracted to her.

Giles could deny all he wanted, but she knew the truth. He definitely saw her as a woman, not as a daughter. Buffy smiled. Now that she knew that, it was merely a matter of time.

Harry reached out and stilled her hand mid-scribble as a tall figure swooped dramatically into the room.

"Put it down." he mouthed at her. Buffy dropped the quill onto her desk and slid a clean piece of parchment over the doodles she’d drawn. Folding her hands, Buffy pasted an attentive look on her face.

<Ew! Has the man never heard of shampoo?> Buffy wondered. Professor Snape had greasy hair that fell into his face. It covered the majority of his features, with the exception of his very hooked nose. Snape stopped in front of Buffy’s desk.

"Once again, we find ourselves graced with the presence of a celebrity." he said snidely, staring down his nose at her. Years of practice from dealing with Principal Snyder had given Buffy the ability to bite her tongue. She met Snape’s gaze steadily, but remained silent. Snape began to pace the front of the room. "Let’s see if this celebrity knows any more than the last one." he said with a hard look at Harry. Draco snickered and gave Crabbe a smug smile.

Buffy continued to stare innocently at Snape. She knew that she was probably about to enter a no win situation, but she would be damned if she’d make a fool out of herself in front of Malfoy.

"Tell me, Miss Summers, what are the medicinal properties of Jimson Weed?" Snape asked, whirling towards Buffy.

"Well, actually…" Buffy began. Next to her, Willow’s hand shot up into the air. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Hermione raising her hand as well.

"Or perhaps you’d be able to tell us about Angel’s Trumpet?" Snape demanded, all but pouncing on Buffy.

Harry and Ron looked at each other in dismay. To Harry, it was like watching a repeat of his first class with Snape, when Snape had asked him questions he’d known Harry couldn’t possibly answer.

"They belong to the Nightshade family." Buffy said quietly. "They’re both hallucinogenic. When correctly brewed with Morning Glory and yellow Lady Slipper, it’ll create a potion that will enable the user to become invisible."

Snape narrowed his eyes.

"And if it’s brewed incorrectly?" he asked.

"It will cause hallucinations unless an antidote is administered." Buffy replied. Snape stared hard at her and then stalked away.

"Why aren’t you taking notes?" he yelled at Neville as he passed. Poor Neville. He was so startled by the sudden attention he knocked over his inkwell.

"Five points from Gryffindor for Longbottom’s clumsiness." Snape declared with relish. There were collective gasps of disbelief from the Gryffindors, but no one dared say anything. Malfoy grinned widely and Buffy gave him a nasty look behind Snape’s back before turning her attention to her notes.

"God, that sucked on so many levels." Buffy sighed as they climbed the stairs from the dungeon. "I’m pretty sure my toes are frozen."

"How can Snape get away with taking off so many points for no apparent reason?" Xander demanded. He had lost Gryffindor a point for writing too slowly. The injustice of it still stung. Here he was, working harder in school than he did when it actually mattered and he was penalized for something stupid.

"Everyone knows that Snape has it in for us." Ron said matter-of-factly. Seamus nodded his agreement as he passed.

"We’ve just gotten used to it." he said in an Irish lilt.

"It's not right." Xander declared angrily.

"At least he didn’t take off points for knowing the answers." Oz pointed out. Xander nodded.

"Speaking of knowing answers," he said. "I didn’t know you knew all about those plants, Buff."

"Impressed, were you?" she asked, looking around. Harry nodded.

"He did the same thing to me my first day." he said. "Although I didn’t know any of the answers." Harry added. Buffy grinned.

"Neither did I." she said softly. Everyone but Willow looked shocked.

"But you answered his questions." Hermione pointed out. "Obviously you knew the answers." Buffy shook her head.

"No. Willow knew the answers." she corrected softly. The gang looked at each other, puzzled. How could Willow have given Buffy the answers? Snape had been standing in front of her, there was no way Willow could’ve whispered the information or written it on a note.

"Hermione told me about Snape, and I figured that he’d pick on Buffy." Willow said. "So, I dug out a spell I’d been working on in Sunnydale. A telepathy spell." she added, before anyone could ask.

"Brilliant." Ron muttered to himself, as the gang continued to their next class. "Absolutely brilliant. We’re totally going to kick their asses in the House Cup competition."

"What’s the House Cup competition?" Xander asked. Ron quickly explained about the year long competition between the houses for the most points.

"We get the most points by winning the quidditch matches, and we have one of the best teams ever!" Ron boasted proudly. "Harry here is the youngest Seeker in Hogwarts history." Xander looked from Ron over to the rest of the gang.

"Ok, I’ve already made myself look stupid, it’s someone else’s turn to ask the obvious question." Willow smiled and took pity on him.

"It’s a game played on brooms, Xander." she explained. "It’s a wizarding sport."

"How do you know this stuff?" he asked in awe.

"It’s called studying." she told him, walking passed him.

"Oh." Xander said. "I’ve heard of that. Never tried it though."