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Everything had finally caught up with the young blonde girl. She was curled up on a chair in Dumbledore’s office, her body trembling slightly. Everyone knew. Everyone knew! Giles kept casting worried glances towards the girl to see how she was handling all of this, but he didn’t say a word to her, letting her deal with this in semi-privacy.

Fudge was pacing the length of the floor.

“It’s not safe for her to be here!” Fudge said loudly, voicing his complaints.

“And where exactly would she be safe?” Giles asked, removing his glasses so he wouldn’t have to look at the self-centred man.

“I don’t particularly care as long as she’s far away from here!” Fudge yelled. He turned his anger to Dumbledore. “You never should have let her into this school. She’s been more trouble than she’s worth.”

Buffy was trying not to listen, was trying to not let his words get to her. She hated Fudge with a passion, had hated him since she’d first met him a few months ago, and she cared very little for his opinion, but the words coming from his mouth stung nonetheless. She sighed and rested her head against her knees which were curled up in front of her chest.

“I have no regrets in bringing Miss Summers to Hogwarts,” Dumbledore said softly.

“And if she truly were Miss Summers, then I’d have had no problems with you admitting her into the school. But she’s not Buffy Summers! She’s Elizabeth Riddle! When are you going to admit the truth to yourself Dumbledore?” Fudge asked angrily. “That girl is dangerous, and she’s putting those around her in danger as well.”

Buffy sighed. She was getting tired of the constant debates about whether or not she was evil. She forced herself to stand and she faced Dumbledore.

“I’ll leave if you want me to,” she offered.

Dumbledore shook his head kindly. “I want for you to stay here at Hogwarts, Miss Summers.”

Giles stood beside Buffy, a hand on her shoulder to show he supported anything that Buffy decided. She was incredibly grateful that he’d come with her to Hogwarts. She wouldn’t have been able to handle being at Hogwarts without one person who understood her, who knew her fears and her hesitation, who trusted her implicitly.

Fudge exhaled loudly, frustrated with the entire situation. He hadn’t wanted to admit to himself or to anyone else that Voldemort had risen again, and to have to deal with the reality of Voldemort’s return as well as dealing with Voldemort’s daughter was a little too much for him at the moment.

The door to the office burst open, the occupants of Dumbledore’s office jumping slightly at the unexpected sound of it. Buffy’s eyes widened as she recognised the black-haired boy that had raced into the office. Before she knew what was happening, Giles had taken a step back from her, and she was being engulfed in Harry’s warm embrace.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered so low that only Buffy could hear him. “I was an idiot, I shouldn’t have judged you like that.”

Buffy was completely flabbergasted by this strange turn of events. She returned the hug, clinging to him, grateful that she hadn’t completely lost Harry’s friendship.

“Mr Potter!” Fudge called out angrily, obviously horrified of the thought of Voldemort’s daughter being anywhere near the Boy-Who-Lived.

Harry reluctantly stepped back and turned to look at the Minister of Magic.

“Mr Fudge,” Harry said, his voice cool but in no way threatening. It was obvious to both Dumbledore and Giles that Harry wasn’t afraid to show his support of Buffy. Giles couldn’t have been happier.

“Don’t you know who she is?” Fudge hissed angrily.

Harry narrowed his eyes and pulled himself up to his full height.

“She’s one of my best friends. She’s my girlfriend. She’s the sweetest person I have ever known,” Harry said calmly. “She has the misfortune of having parents who most everyone fears, but that doesn’t change who she is. Or the way I feel about her.”

Buffy couldn’t believe what she was hearing. She closed her eyes and smiled as tears fell from her cheeks. She’d wanted to hear that from him and was extremely gratified that he’d said it, in front of the Minister of Magic no less.

“You’re making a mistake Potter,” Fudge said quietly, anger tinging his voice at being defied.

“No. I’m not. My mistake was not trusting her, not believing in her.” He turned to look at Buffy and took hold of her hand. “I offered you the world and on my first test of honour I betrayed your trust.”

She sniffled, unable to keep her tears to herself any longer. “It’s okay,” she whispered.

He gave her a gentle smile and squeezed her hand. He turned back to look at Fudge.

“You don’t know the first thing about Buffy,” Harry said angrily. “You don’t know who she really is. You judge her based on the evil her father did, and that’s not fair. So you either change your opinions of her very quickly, or you keep them to yourself.”

“Well said Harry,” Dumbledore said, standing and moving to stand beside Buffy’s protector. “I couldn’t have put it better myself.”

Fudge looked at the group, the elderly white-bearded wizard, the older British man with fiery green eyes, the black-haired boy and the blonde haired girl. A mismatched group that stood in defence of a girl who had more power than anyone knew. Fudge took an unwilling step back, startled by the power that radiated from the group. He sighed and seated himself in one of Dumbledore’s chairs. He knew when he’d been defeated.

“Perhaps we should all sit down,” Dumbledore suggested.

Buffy, Harry and Giles all moved to take seats, Buffy wiping the tears from her eyes as she took a seat between her mentor and her boyfriend.

“No doubt we have some very panicked students on our hands,” Giles said.

Buffy winced, having momentarily forgotten that the entire school now knew exactly who she was. Just when things couldn’t have become worse, she was proven wrong.

“I’ll speak to them at dinner this evening,” Dumbledore said. He turned to look at Buffy, a sympathetic smile on his face. “No doubt the next few days, maybe even weeks are going to be hard on you.”

Buffy tried to smile bravely. “I’ll be okay as long as there are still some people who trust me.”

Harry again squeezed her hand, offering her his silent support.

“If things get too difficult, then we can arrange for alternate sleeping arrangements for you,” Dumbledore informed her, hating that he had to bring it up, but knowing the reality of the situation. Children were often very cruel, especially when they were fifteen or sixteen years old.

“Thanks,” Buffy said quietly, hoping it didn’t come to that. She may not have known Lavender and Parvati as well as she knew Ginny and Hermione, but that didn’t mean that she wanted to move out of the room she had grown to love.

“I’ve had more barriers placed around the school,” Dumbledore informed the group. “Any non-staff or student who enters the premises will be detected, and I will be informed immediately.”

“Do you know who got in this morning?” Buffy asked.

Giles shook his head. “We think it might have been Pettigrew. He’s an animagus, capable of turning himself into a rat. It would be easy enough to get access to the Gryffindor Common Room in that form.”

“So will these barriers detect an animagus?” Buffy asked, looking at Dumbledore. “Cos I don’t particularly want to wake up in that room ever again. There’s dark magic everywhere there. It was making me nuts.”

Fudge scowled, obviously misinterpreting her statement. Buffy just glared at him and was quick to clarify her meaning.

“Nuts as in it was making my senses go haywire,” Buffy said. “Not nuts as in I wanna kill every muggle and half-blood. Whatever room I was being held in had a serious barrier on it. Stronger than the one on Hogwarts even. But it was just on my room and the chair I sat on at dinner.”

Fudge looked up, fury in his eyes. “You dined with him?”

“It was either pretend to actually respect him and manage to get away, or enforce the fact that I really hate him, and be stuck there for the rest of my life. Faced with those two choices, I’m pretty sure you would have forced yourself to eat dinner with him as well,” Buffy said.

Buffy turned to face the friendlier faces within the room. “So now what happens?”

Giles sighed, not particularly wanting to answer that question.

“He won’t stop coming after you,” Giles admitted.

Harry looked shocked that Giles had answered so bluntly, but Giles knew that Buffy deserved to know the absolute truth of the matter. There was no point in keeping things from her when she needed to know all the facts. He’d tried that before and it hadn’t worked.

Buffy nodded, having already previously worked that small fact out.

“I’m guessing he’s pretty pissed that I’ve got away from him not just once, but twice now,” Buffy said morosely.

Giles nodded.

“Joy,” Buffy commented sarcastically. “Don’t suppose you’ve got any plans to kill the son of a bitch.”

“Greater wizards than I have tried and failed,” Giles said.

Buffy turned to look at Dumbledore. He shook his head. He had tried and failed. And if Dumbledore, one of the most powerful wizards in the world had failed at taking out Voldemort, who would be able to defeat him? The answer came to her as a startlingly painful revelation.

“Then I guess it’s my turn to try,” Buffy said.

Harry’s eyes widened in fear. “Buffy no, that’s insane! You can’t!”

“Why not? I don’t want to spend the rest of my life running from him! I’ve just proved that something that was previously impossible is not only possible, but doable as well, then I have to give this a try.”

“Buffy, if he feels threatened, not even his affection for you will keep him from killing you,” Giles said.

Buffy nodded. “I know. Which is why I need to know everything you can tell me about protection spells. Not just wand-magic, but wicca as well.”

Giles hesitated but finally nodded his consent. As much as he hated the reality of the situation, he didn’t want to leave Buffy unprepared. At least if she had proper training and back up plans up her sleeve, she would be slightly more protected. And, like he’d already told her, Voldemort wouldn’t stop trying to get his hands on her.

“We’ll find whatever we can,” he assured her. “But you must swear that you will not go looking for him. If he attacks, then by all means, but you must not seek him out.”

Buffy sighed but nodded. “I swear.”

“Swear what?”

Buffy rolled her eyes. “I swear I won’t go looking for Voldemort.”

Giles nodded, satisfied that Buffy wouldn’t break her word. He stood, Buffy following as well as Harry. Buffy turned to look at Dumbledore before they walked out the door.

“You’ll explain everything to everyone, right?” she asked nervously, her voice wavering slightly.

Dumbledore smiled kindly and nodded. “I will assure them that they are perfectly safe.”

Fudge grumbled silently in the corner, sincerely doubting that anyone would be safe while Voldemort’s daughter still attended Hogwarts. Buffy just ignored the Minister of Magic and walked out the door, hoping against hope that things would just settle themselves down.

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