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Giles was about to go into an all-out panic. Buffy had been missing since early morning. She’d been gone at least fourteen hours, if not more, and Giles could only imagine what horrible things could have been done to her in that short amount of time.

The Ministry had been notified, and there were searches going throughout London. The problem was, no one knew where Voldemort had been hiding. Giles had gone through contact after contact, only to come up with nothing. There had been no leads on the whereabouts of the blonde girl, and it didn’t look like anyone would be saying anything anytime soon.

Giles groaned tiredly and ran a hand over his face.

“Anything Rupert?” Dumbledore asked as he entered Giles’ private study.

“Nothing. No one has a single bloody clue,” Giles said angrily. He scrunched up another response from one of the many people he had contacted and threw the parchment at the wall, wishing it had have been something heavier so that it would have done some more damage.

“Calm yourself Rupert,” Dumbledore said. “Anger will do no good here.”

“And sitting around waiting for her to show up isn’t doing any good either,” Giles snapped.

He got control of himself, realising he’d just gone a little overboard. He breathed in deeply to calm himself down.

“I’m sorry Albus,” Giles said quietly. “I’m just…worried.”

“Scared to death would be more the phrase I would have used,” Dumbledore said gently. “But worried will do in a pinch.”

Giles sighed and moved to stand by the window, looking out into the evening sky.

“Who knows what he’s doing to her,” Giles said, tears coming to his eyes. “He could be hurting her or…anything really. Imperius or…or Cruciatus.”

Dumbledore walked towards the DADA professor and laid a fatherly hand on Giles’ shoulder. Giles pulled away and wiped his tears, composing himself completely.

“I take it you had less luck than I did?” Giles asked.

Dumbledore nodded. “No one has seen her at all.”

Giles swore softly and looked towards the doorway, a soft knock interrupting his thoughts. Draco Malfoy poked his head around the doorway.

“Anything?”

Giles shook his head. “Nothing yet.”

Draco sighed. He couldn’t help but think that he could have prevented all of this. He didn’t know how he could have done it, but he just thought that if he’d done something a little differently, this wouldn’t have been happening.

“She’ll be alright,” Draco said, as much for his own sake as for Giles’. “She’s strong, Professor Giles. She’s stubborn as anything that girl.”

Giles nodded. Buffy was stubborn and strong. And that was exactly why he was so worried. Those character traits would likely get you killed if you associated with Voldemort and his followers.

Angel led Buffy to a quiet spot in Diagon Alley, a small area surrounded by trees and grass. He handed her a small potion vial.

“This will restore you to your normal strength,” Angel said. “If you really can disapparate, then…I think you should go.”

Buffy took the vial with shaking hands. She wanted to be in Hogwarts where she would be safe, but at the same time she didn’t want to leave the safety of Angel’s arms. She’d only just got him back, how was she meant to say goodbye to him again?

“Thanks,” she whispered.

He smiled and cupped her hands with his larger ones, unscrewing the cap of the small bottle. He let go of her hands and looked at her expectantly. Buffy knew Angel wasn’t about to let her do anything besides drink every last drop of the potion. She sighed and brought the small glass bottle to her lips, the liquid travelling down her throat, warming every inch of her.

She felt every muscle in her body being rejuvenated, felt her tiredness completely deplete, felt her strength fully return to her. She felt a hundred times better than she had only moments ago.

“Do we have to say goodbye?” she asked tearfully.

Angel gave her a sad smile and pressed his lips to hers one final time.

“It doesn’t matter how we say it,” Angel replied. “It means the same thing in the end.”

Buffy nodded. “You’ll take care of my friends right?”

“With everything I have. I’ll make sure they’re okay,” he replied. “And I know how to contact you if I have to.”

“They don’t know I’m here…”

“I won’t say a word.”

“Thank you.”

He kissed her one final time and Buffy took a step back, closing her eyes. Angel just watched as Buffy disappeared from in front of him. It was only then that his tears began to fall.

Magic surrounded the air, and Giles looked up, worry passing through him. It was only when he saw a small blonde figure appear magically in his chamber that he managed to get himself to speak.

“Buffy!”

He raced towards her, gripping her tightly as though to make certain that she was truly there in front of him and not just an apparition of some sort. She was there, solid and warm in front of him. He hugged her tightly, and she clung to him, feeling tears come to her eyes.

Giles pulled back and held her at arms length as he had done the day he had found her in LA after she had run away.

“Are you alright? Did he hurt you?” he asked.

In response, Buffy pulled up the sleeve of her sweater. Giles gasped and grabbed her arm gently, looking closely at the mark in the inside of her elbow. He closed his eyes as though he was praying silently.

“I’m so sorry Buffy,” he whispered, feeling as though all of this was somehow his fault. If he had have kept her in Sunnydale…he sighed knowing that Voldemort would probably have found her more easily if they’d stayed in California. No, coming to Hogwarts was the only viable solution.

“I’m okay Giles,” she replied quietly. “And it wasn’t your fault.”

He sighed, unable to accept her forgiveness for it so readily, but he drew her into another tight embrace, just holding her to his chest, thankful that she was back on the grounds.

The door opened and they jumped apart, both of them startled. Draco Malfoy entered the chamber, his eyes lighting up when he saw Buffy.

“You’re alright!” he cried, racing towards her.

She was swept up into a tight, bone-crushing hug. She hugged him back, slightly startled by such an overt display of affection. He daringly ducked his head down, his lips meeting hers for an instant.

“I take it you were worried.”

He couldn’t help but give her a sheepish smile. “Just a little,” he admitted.

Giles scoffed. “A little? You were in here every hour asking if we’d found her yet. And that was only after I told you to stop pestering me every five minutes.”

Buffy smiled and felt her heart lift for some reason. She was grateful for the concern, though she didn’t like the fact that they had been so worried about her. It was good of him though.

“We should inform Dumbledore,” Giles said.

Buffy shook her head. “He once told me that he knew everything that went on in his school,” Buffy said. “I’d be surprised if he didn’t know I was here already.”

Draco didn’t look overly impressed however. “If he’s supposed to know about everything on school grounds, how the hell were you taken?”

Giles too looked curious about that particular detail. Buffy turned to Giles and said one simple word.

“Spike.”

Giles’ eyes widened. “Spike?”

Buffy nodded. “Yup. William the Bloody working for Voldemort.”

“Dear lord. How did he get in?” Giles asked.

Buffy rolled her eyes. She hated the loopholes that vampiric invitations could hold.

“He was a student here once. He apparently carved ‘William lives here’ into one of the floorboards. It gave him a standing invitation into the castle.”

“But what about the password?” Draco asked. “How would he have got that?”

Buffy shrugged. “I suppose it would be easy enough to just listen to someone as they went in. And as passwords went, ours weren’t stunningly original.”

Giles’ brow furrowed. “We’ll have to get Albus to have all the passwords changed.”

“Yeah, that’s what An-”

Buffy stopped. Angel. How had she forgotten, even for a moment?

Giles and Draco both looked at the girl curiously. She had stopped mid-word and she looked as though she was in pain.

“That’s what what?” Draco asked.

“That’s what Angel said,” Buffy finally admitted, though she didn’t direct her comment at Draco. Her eyes were locked with Giles’.

She hated the fact that Giles had flinched when she’d said Angel’s name. She really hated the fact that his eyes clouded over, as though he was lost in memories that shouldn’t have to be lived through, let alone remembered at all.

“How?” Giles whispered.

“Voldemort brought him back. He thought it was Angelus, but…it wasn’t. He was Angel,” Buffy explained.

Giles nodded, thankful for that small amount of comfort. The problem was, his mind could no longer distinguish the two of them. In his nightmares that happened only sporadically now, it was Angel’s face that he was tormenting him. It was Angel’s voice that spoke to him, whispering Giles’ own self-doubts to him in the dead of the night. It was Angel that Giles remembered breaking three of his fingers.

“Where is he now?” Giles asked, a little nervously.

“He said he was gonna go back to Sunnydale,” Buffy replied. “Now that I’m not there, they probably still need someone watching it.”

Giles nodded. Somehow he was thankful that the dark and brooding vampire was on the other side of the world. Giles didn’t know that he would ever truly be comfortable hearing Angel’s name ever again.

Draco looked between the two of them, knowing he was missing something very big here. But he knew better than to pry. As curious as he was, he saw that there was pain in both Buffy’s and Giles’ eyes.

“And Spike?” Giles asked.

“Dust. Angel killed him.”

“Good,” Giles replied. “That blonde maniac should have been killed long ago.”

“I don’t know what happened to Drusilla though. She wasn’t there, and…well, Spike mentioned something about wanting her back still,” Buffy said.

“I suppose he is…or was, as Xander once said, thorough and goal-oriented. Thankfully he’s gone now. I’ll have Albus place more protection spells on the barriers of Hogwarts. The passwords will be changed immediately. And I would rather you stay bunk in either my office or in Dumbledore’s just until the passwords are changed. It isn’t safe just yet.”

Buffy nodded. She didn’t particularly feel up to sleeping in the dorms anyway. That would have led to too many questions from Hermione and the others. A sudden thought that had been bothering her for most of the day hit her at full force.

“Do…the others don’t know, do they?” she asked.

Giles sighed and took off his glasses, beginning to polish them against the edge of his robe. Buffy’s heart sank. She knew what that particular quirk of Giles’ meant.

“They do,” Buffy said, not needing for Giles to articulate it.

“Not everyone,” Draco interjected, glad that he was finally able to speak. “Just Potter and his two friends.”

Buffy nodded. “And no doubt there are six million rumours spreading around the castle as to where I actually was today.”

“Well, the poll was closer to seven million, but…yeah,” Draco said, trying to lighten the moment but failing miserably.

Buffy sighed and slumped down into the chair in Giles’ office.

“Great. That’s just what I need.”

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