Chapter 13:

The week went uneventfully. The students were getting back to normal after the incident with Lucius Malfoy. Some of the students were wary around Buffy, but quickly got over it after a friendly word or gesture from Buffy. By the time the next special class started everything was back to normal.

The class started when the rest of the students and teachers exited the Great Hall. The students were waiting in silence. Buffy was leaning again against the teacher's table. There was a stack of parchments next to her on the table.

"First I want to tell you guys, you did well on your assignment. Nobody got killed" Buffy smiled and the students laughed at her joke. "But seriously. You guys have done well. Both houses will get a 100 points"

There was clapping and cheering, but not from Malfoy. He was still pissed at her. Buffy ignored him. She took the stack of parchment and walked first to the Slytherin table. She passed them out while giving comments here and there about the papers. She stopped in front of Draco.

"This is a very interesting essay"

Draco grinned. "I thought so myself"

" 'Why are Wizards better than Muggles. Because I'm a Wizard and not a Muggle.' Very clever, Mr. Malfoy"

"I thought so" Draco answered back with a smirk.

Buffy smiled back. "You know what's also clever?"

Draco shook his head in confusion.

"You doing your essay over and every time I'm not satisfied that you did a good job, you'll lose 10 points" Draco wanted to protest, but Buffy cut him off. "I want the essay next Wednesday"

It quickly shut him up and Buffy ignored him while she went to the next Student. She gave Victoria a compliment about her essay and Victoria smiled back and thanked her. After she had finished with the last Slytherin essay, she went to the Gryffindor table.

"Mr. Ron Weasley and Mr. Harry Potter" Buffy took a dramatic pause. "If I ever want to know something about Quidditch, I know now who to ask" She gave them a bright smile.

"We are happy to answer any question you have" Ron had a silly grin on his face.

Hermione shook her head in agitation and the twins laughed. That got Buffy's attention.

" 'Wizard have better Pranks and Jokes.' nice title. Mr. Fred and George Weasley"

"We live to please" "Or joke" They grinned sheepishly.

Buffy smiled back and saw that her next essay was from Hermione.

"Miss. Ganger, excellent work"

Hermione blushed. Buffy's last paper was from Neville.

"Neville, I like your work"

Neville smiled brightly. Buffy walked back to the teacher's table.

"Okay, your next assignment is to write an essay about 'Why are Muggles better than Wizards'"

There went a rustle through the students, but nobody protested. Hermione just smiled a satisfied grin. She had expected something like this from Buffy.

"Because most of you don't have great knowledge of the Muggle world, you'll have time until Halloween. You may write this essay as an extension of your previous essay or it may stand alone" Buffy made a brief pause before continuing.

"Next week you will choose another person to be nice to"

"Another one" Ron was the first to complain.

"You want me to make it two for you Mr. Weasley?" Buffy's tone was clear enough that she didn't want to hear any complaining.

"No no no, one is enough, Professor" Ron was very quickly to respond. The other students laughed at him.

"That is all for today. You can leave"

They left while talking among themselves.

 

 

Buffy left the Great Hall and bumped into a redhead. They caught each other before either of them could fall. When Buffy saw the red hair she smiled at him.

"A Weasley I presume" Buffy was grinning at the young man.

"Professor Summers I presume" Charlie countered back.

"Buffy" Buffy gave him one of her ice-melting smiles. They were still holding each other. Buffy blushed and they let go of each other.

"Charlie" Charlie quickly introduced himself. "You don't look that scary. I expected a 10 foot giant the way my brothers and sister described you"

"I don't use my scary look on hot guys. Don't want to scare them off" Before Buffy knew it, it was already out of her mouth. She blushed even more.

Charlie grinned at her. He noticed her blushing and liked what he saw. "So you think I'm hot"

Buffy was quickly over her embarrassment. She didn't like the idea of letting this young man have the upper hand. "Must be the accent"

"Well, technically it you who has the accent" Charlie was correcting her.

"And you like my accent" She gave him her innocent girlie look. She was shamelessly flirting with him.

"I could listen to it all day" He returned her flirt.

Buffy just smiled at him. She wanted to go on, but was curious about why he was at Hogwarts and went back to business. "So why are you here? I have a feeling that you aren't here to visit your brothers or sister or try to charm the DADA Professor"

"That is just a bonus" He grinned at her. "I'm here to catalogue the dragon you and Hagrid encountered"

"Oh, you're the Dragon Weasley" Charlie nodded. "Did you see Hagrid?"

"No, I just arrived and I thought it would be polite to announce my present first with the Headmaster" Charlie explained it to her.

"If he doesn't know you're already here he is getting slow in his old age" Buffy put an arm through his and steered him away. "Why don't we go to Hagrid's cabin, that way you haven't have to ask the same question twice"

Charlie just smiled and was feeling very comfortable with Buffy at his arm. They walked out of the castle and talked some more.

"Two more Weasleys and I've a Full House"

"What?" Charlie was confused.

"I have only to meet your other brother Bill and your father and I have met the whole Weasley clan" Buffy explained it to him.

Charlie thought about it. "You met Percy? When did you meet him?" He was surprised.

"Oh, yeah" Buffy acted as if it was nothing. "I met him before I went to Hogwarts, when I was dealing briefly with the Ministry. May I ask you a question?"

"Sure" He had no idea what kind of question she would ask him.

"Is he adopted and he died his hair red?" Buffy looked at him seriously.

Charlie burst out laughing and bent over double, almost taking Buffy with him. His belly hurt. He had to sit down on the ground. Buffy let him go and smile at him. It took awhile before Charlie recovered from his laugh attack.

"Thank you. I haven't laughed like this since the twins pulled a prank on Percy. I don't remember the prank or when. I only remember the laughter. Oh man. That was fun"

"You finished?" Buffy offered him her hand to pull him up.

He took her hand. "Thanks"

As she pulled him up he noticed the ease with which she pulled him up. "You're welcome"

They didn't talk much and Charlie was still snickering while they were walking toward Hagrid. Buffy knocked on the door.

"Yo, Big Guy! You got company! Are you decent?"

They heard noises from inside and a barking dog. Somebody was shuffling around. "I'm comin'" Hagrid opened the door and saw Buffy. "Buffy, com' in"

"Look who I found roaming the castle" Buffy dragged Charlie in behind her while Fang was barking around them.

"Hello, Hagrid. How are you doing?" Charlie was glad to see Hagrid again. He petted Fang absent-mindedly.

"Charlie! I'm fine. Hav'n't seen yer for years. What ar' yer doin' 'ere?" Hagrid was surprised to see Charlie again.

"Your little dragon. I'm here to catalogue him"

That put a big smile on Hagrid face. He wouldn''t love anything more than to talk about dragons.

"Good, please sit down" Hagrid pointed to a chair. "Tea?"

"Yeah, thanks" Charlie sat down.

Hagrid went to get his kettle for his tea.

"Ehmm. Buffy, how about some tea? Well, thank you for asking. I would love some" Buffy was a little sarcastic. She didn't like to being overlooked.

Hagrid noticed his mistake. "Oh sorry Buffy. I'm make a cup for yer too"

"Hagrid, just for future reference. Women don't like it when you oversee or ignore them even if they are petite in posture" Buffy was still standing and gave him a disgruntled look.

"I'll remember" Hagrid turned his back to Buffy and smiled. He was getting used to Buffy's banter.

Charlie was very excited. "I can't believe we have a Fiora dragon here on the British Isles. For a desert dragon he wouldn't like the climate here. I wonder how he got here?"

"I hate to break the news to you, but it isn't a Fiora Dragon" Buffy gave him a serious look.

"It isn't?" Charlie looked surprised.

"No, it is dragon from another dimension" Buffy said as a mater of fact and plumped herself into a comfy chair.

"Wow" Charlie's mouth fell open

 

 

Dawn was in the library doing some homework. She was so transfixed on her work that she didn't notice somebody approaching her. The person tapped her on the shoulder. She startled and almost fell from her chair.

Dawn looked up and saw Victoria apologetically looking at her.

"Vicky. You scared the living daylight out of me" Dawn took a deep breath.

"Sorry" Victoria shrugged her shoulder.

Victoria sat next to Dawn. Dawn could see that she wanted to ask something. "Spill it Vicky"

"Eh" Victoria was twitching on her chair. "We have to write another essay for Professor Summers"

"That was a short class. Did she by any chance cut off Draco's hand this time?" Dawn was joking.

"No! She wouldn't, would she?" Victoria wasn't sure of her self.

"No, she wouldn't" Dawn was reassuring Victoria. "Deep down she is a softy. But don't spread it around, she has a reputation to uphold"

"Don't worry nobody would believe me anyway" The girls started to giggle.

"So what is the torturous essay you have to write?" Dawn was curious about it. Buffy didn't tell her about it.

"We have to write about why Muggles are better than Wizards" Victoria's tone told Dawn enough that Victoria didn't believe that Muggles had anything better than Wizards.

"So your superior Wizard ego couldn't come up with something and now you are asking a simple Muggle for help" Dawn was smiling at her victoriously.

"I wouldn't put in those words, because that would be insulting and it isn't a good idea to insult somebody if you're going to ask that person for help, but yeah. Are you going to help me?" Victoria's eyes were begging her.

Dawn couldn't take it anymore. "Okay, I'll help you. But stop that puppy eyes attack. That is my trade mark"

"Thank you" Victoria gave Dawn a quick hug.

"Professor Summers told us we could make it an extension of the previous essay" Victoria gave Dawn her essay.

Dawn took it and read it. After finishing it she looked up to Victoria. "I was right on the money with superior ego"

"Hey, your sister liked it" Victoria protested.

"Oh it is very elegant and well structured, plus it shows your big ego"

Victoria shrugged her shoulders. "I'm a Slytherin and we are known for our ambitions and big egos" Victoria grinned at Dawn.

"If you want to get a good grade for this essay you have to scale down you ego and you have to think out of the box and accept that there is someone superior of you" Dawn tried to be helpful.

Victoria didn't look convinced. Dawn saw it.

"Can you pretend not being the All Supreme Being?"

Victoria grinned at Dawn. "Oh, I can pretend"

Dawn liked her even with her superior attitude. She wasn't such a bad kid and she didn't always rub her superiority into your face like Draco always did. In some way she was superior, but it would be a cold day in hell before Dawn would admit it to her.

"Okay. Muggles have technology and electricity. The science packets" Dawn thought that it was a good point to start.

"We have magic" Victoria wasn't impressed at all.

Dawn thought about to look it from a different side. "How about muggle art?"

"I heard they've got pictures that don't move. What's so special about that?"

Dawn knew that this was going to be a tough cookie to break. She had to think about something that fits with Victoria. She took a good look at Victoria. The way she sat, the way she presented herself and the way she wore her school uniform. She does it with elegance and style.

"Fashion. We muggles have a better fashion sense" Dawn thought it was a good idea and had a bright smile.

"Oh yeah, I saw a Muggle boy with pink spiked hair. And you want to tell me Muggles have better fashion sense" Victoria didn't like that fashion statement at all.

Dawn was getting a little cranky. "Okay, that is a bad example. But in general they have better fashion sense than robes out of the 18th century"

Victoria thought about it. " 'Muggles have a better Fashion sense then robes.' That could work"

Dawn was pleased that they found something so quickly. "I have some magazines in my room with a lot of pictures of well dressed people. You can borrow them"

"Dawn" "Vicky"

They were interrupted by the Weasley twins before Victoria could thank her.

"Hi"

"Hi, boys. Is there something you guys want?" She could see it in their eyes that they wanted something.

"You know the thing you promised to get for us" "The thing we need for the other thing" The boys were very vague. But Dawn understood them. They needed something she was getting for them.

Victoria was a smart cookie. "You guys are planning a prank and you need an ingredient from Snape's supply"

"We are always planning a prank" "You have no proof" "Are you going to rat us out?" The twins didn't look that worried, even if they were a little concerned about the completion of their prank.

Victoria was thinking about it. "If you get caught, are they going to expel you?"

"No" "Minimum one week detention and losing points" "Nothing to worry about" Both twins shrugged.

"Is it solely directed to the Slytherins?" Victoria was looking at them to catch them on a lie.

"No, everybody is affected" "Even the Professors" They grinned evilly.

Victoria believed them. "Okay I won't rat you guys out under two conditions"

"And those are?" The twins were suspicious.

"I get another rose"

The twins put their heads together and turned away from the girls. They didn't whisper much, but they talked a lot with their eyes and gestures, and started to grin. Their grin disappeared when they turned back to Victoria, who didn't saw their grin.

"Deal and the other condition?"

Victoria put out her hand. "I'm in with the prank"

It shocked the twins, but they quickly recovered. "You want to get into bed with two Gryffindors and a Muggle?"

Victoria blushed about the innuendo of what one of the twins said. Dawn even punched him on the arm. "Better being a part of the prank than being the target of one" Victoria explained.

One of the twins took her hand and shook. "Deal"

Out of nowhere. "Miss Hallcock. I think you just made a deal with devil"

All four were shocked, and looked in the direction of the voice. They saw Buffy standing there with a knowing smile on her face.

"Buffy"

"O oh" "We're screwed"

"Professor Summers"

"Mr. Weasleys. I didn't hear anything" Buffy reassured the twins. "But if I'm a target like Miss. Hallcock put it, I might remember something later"

"No prank" "No target" The twins were very quick to respond.

"Good boys" Buffy was smiling at the twins. "It is good that I found you guys. I have good news"

"You chopped off Professor Snape's hand" "No Draco's" The twins looked a little too eager.

Buffy laughed. She got a stern look from Madame Pince. She went quiet quickly.

"No, it is you brother Charlie. He came for the dragon and will be staying for a few days"

"Charlie is here?" "Where is he?" They liked their older brother.

"He's in Headmaster's office now. But he'll be in the Gryffindor Common Room later" Buffy answered the question.

"Cool I'm going to meet another Weasley" Dawn was excited.

"Oh no, another Weasley" Victoria used her fake mockery tone with a little moan.

Buffy smiled and turned to the twin. "I also have a topic for your essay"

"Really?" "What's the topic?" The twins were planning to research for the topic tomorrow.

"Comic books"

"Comic books?" "What are comic books?" The twins were confused.

"I can't do all the work. Do some research or ask around" Buffy thought that she has helped them enough.

"Don't worry guys I'll tell you later and I think it's the perfect topic for you two" Dawn turned to Buffy. "Xander would have loved to write an essay about comic books. It would have been his first and only A+"

Buffy looked offended. "Dawn?"

Dawn looked guilty. "Sorry"

"It's okay. I'm going to see you later for our sister night"

"Yeah"

They said their goodbyes and Buffy left.

Victoria looked confused. "She isn't going to punish us or stop us?"

"Nah, she loves the twins. I think they can get away with murder" Dawn explained.

"Yes, but not with insulting her" "Which we try to avoid like the plague"

They laughed and after Dawn finished her homework they went to the Gryffindor Tower to get the magazines for Victoria and to meet another Weasley.

End Chapter 13.

 

:: Next Chapter ::

 

:: Back To WhiteWolf's Page::
:: Back to Author's Page ::
:: Slightly Over The Edge ::