Chapter 5
Dumbledore looked
at them, slightly confused.
“You know him?”
“Yeah I know him.
He saved my life. What did they do to him?”
Dumbledore looked
to Giles. He was watching Oz. He swallowed.
“He was good
friends with my Slayer. He fell in love with one of Buffy’s best friends.”
Ginny’s eyes
widened. “I knew I knew you. You’re Giles!”
He smiled sadly. “That is what my children
call me.”
Dumbledore cleared
his throat. “Perhaps we should all move into by office. We can discuss
everything in full.”
They followed him
to the office, too shocked to argue.
******
After a long talk
in which Ginny told Dumbledore everything about what happened in Voldemort’s
cells, Giles spoke of Oz’s past and ‘condition’ and Dumbledore told them about
how they had found him.
Arthur and Molly
had been called but unfortunately they were out of Floo powder and couldn’t
come. Dumbledore doubted that they could have helped Ginny. She was torn with
being delighted that her friend was alive and distraught that he was in so much
pain, mentally and physically.
Harry came in at
about one o’ clock. He was more than shocked to see Ginny there. Dumbledore
gave him a brief explanation and he seemed to be content with it.
Ginny announced
that she wanted to stay with Oz and Dumbledore agreed. He brought her and Giles
back down to the room.
Giles had poured
himself a very large brandy. He walked over to Oz and looked straight into his
eyes.
“Oz? Do you know
who this is? It’s Giles. From Sunnydale. Home.” There was no sign of
recognition in Oz’s eyes except for what looked like a flash of green. Giles
decided to press on.
“Oz, I don’t know
if you can hear me or if you know who I am but I just want to tell you that I’m
very proud of you. You saved a young girl’s life twice. Once by stopping a man
from hurting her and another time for keeping her alive by sacrificing your
only food. She’s very thankful. She misses you, I think and she wants to see
you healthy and happy. Can you do that Oz? Can you make her happy again? I
think you can.”
Oz seemed to be
fighting himself. Another flash, and then another, brought out the slight green
in his eyes.
He blinked at Giles and his eyes were back to
normal. Giles let out a breath that he didn’t even know he had been holding in.
Oz looked at him for a few seconds and then blinked again.
His eyes were yellow again. Giles patted his
shoulder. “Good boy.”
******
Ginny and Giles
spent the next few days in that room. They ate, slept and cried there.
Giles had gone
once for a few hours to tell everyone in Sunnydale that he had known the demon
and that he would be staying there for a while. He didn’t tell them that it was
Oz. He couldn’t bring himself to do it.
Oz had begun to
break out more and more and although he couldn’t speak, he was partly aware of
them. Giles believed that he recognised them.
His werewolf
abilities meant that he was recovering faster than they had believed. He was
able to stand now, and walk up to 2 steps at a time, even though he chose not
to. The wounds all over his body were slowly beginning to heal and he seemed to
be recovering. Seemed.
The bit that
worried Giles was when Oz was asleep. He still couldn’t talk, but he made
noises. Groans, moans and sobs frequently interrupted Giles’ sleep. He couldn’t
help him then, and that was the bit he needed help most with. Giles knew that
only he himself could save him, and he knew that Oz was strong enough to do
that.
******
Two weeks later,
Oz could walk with a crutch. He was stronger and was eating. His eyes only
changed when he was scared, or when someone used magic in front of him. He
didn’t talk though. He didn’t communicate at all. He was still very much lost
in his own mind.
Ginny was sitting
by the chair and reading one of the many books that had been deposited by
Hermione a few days before. They were a mixture of muggle books and magic
books. She was currently buried in Lord of the Rings, which Hermione had
insisted she read. Ginny was improved too. She was less pale and pasty and
there was brightness in her eyes that had been missing over the past few years.
Giles was nervous.
He had talked to Dumbledore and Ginny about his idea. Dumbledore had agreed
that it was best but Ginny had fought against him, until he had offered it to
her as well and she had relented.
He walked over to
Oz and looked him straight in the eyes. Oz looked straight back. Giles took a
deep breath.
“Oz, we have been
talking and we think it would be best for you if Ginny and I brought you home,
to Sunnydale. Only if you want to, of course.”
Oz looked at him
for a minute, thinking deeply. Then he looked to Giles and spoke his first
words since he had been found. His voice was hoarse from not being used and it
shook slightly.
“Home,” he
whispered.
Giles sighed in
relief. “It won’t be easy you know. It might be harder. Being around all that
mystical energy and such. And, of course, you will have to face
Oz looked troubled
but after a minute he nodded. “Home,” he whispered again.
Ginny beamed and
couldn’t contain her excitement. “I’m going to
Giles shook his
head in amusement. “It was all just a clever trick to make us fuss over you,
wasn’t it Ginny.”
She giggled and
hugged Oz. “Would you expect anything less of me, Giles.”
“You’re a Weasley.
Of course I wouldn’t.”
She beamed again.
“Oh, that reminds
me. Could you do me a big favour?”
“Your wish is my
command.”
“Could you
possibly go up to the
She looked a bit
scared for a few minutes and then set her face. Giles was painfully reminded of
He looked back at
Oz. “Well, I guess I’d better pack then.”
Oz didn’t answer,
but he understood, and Giles was content with that.
******
Ginny bounded up
the corridor. She had no idea why she wsa so hyper. Maybe it’s ‘cos I’M GOING TO
She reached the
portrait door and the Fat Lady greeted her warmly. Violet had visited Ginny in
Oz’s room and expressed her and the Fat Lady’s regrets and well wishes. The Fat
Lady let her in without a password. Ginny found this pretty unsafe but didn’t
mention it.
The whole common
room fell silent when she entered. She felt herself going red.
“Um, hi,” she said
nervously. Her eyes fell on a wand on the table and immediately she stiffened.
Hermione came over to her. Ron and Harry followed her. She gave Ginny a hug.
Ginny smiled.
“I’m just here to
get one of Fred and George’s forms,” she told them.
“I’ll go get one,”
Harry offered.
He hurried over to
the table. Ron hugged her tightly.
“Nice to see you,
Gin. Mom wouldn’t let us visit you even though we were in the same castle.” He
shook his head, “Barking.”
She giggled and he
looked at her oddly. “You really are getting better, aren’t you?”
“Yep. I’m all
better now.”
“Thanks to Giles
and that other guy that everyone wants to meet so badly.”
She grinned slyly.
“Well you won’t get to see him.”
“Why not?”
“He’s going home.
Back to
“I thought you
friends with him. Why are you so happy.”
“Cos I’m going
too.”
“YOU’RE WHAT?”
“I’m going to
“That’s not fair!”
She looked at him
angrily.
“Okay well it is,
but still.”
She stuck out her
tongue at him.
Harry came back
with the form. She took it and began to scribble down her list of requirements.
She put the page on its special pad with 3 gold galleons. It disappeared and a
few seconds later a brown bag materialised, full of Fred and George’s
specialities.
She hugged the
three of them goodbye and told them she’d write everyday. Then she left the
common room and returned to her special room. It led off Oz’s room. Giles had
one too. She packed and got ready for the next day. She tried her hardest to
get some sleep but she was too excited. She felt like it was Christmas Eve.
She sighed and
after a few hours of counting hippogriffs, she finally got to sleep.
****
By four o’ clock
the next day, Giles was ready to kill somebody. He had spent the past few hours
trying to organise for going home. Oz obviously wasn’t much help and Ginny was
too busy being hyper. On top of that, ‘something’ from Fred and George’s shop
had exploded and Giles had got slime all over his face. It wasn’t a good day.
Giles would have been more than happy to go home to impending doom, but, even
then, Xander would crack some stupid jokes.
They had decided
that it would be best not to scare everyone by exploding from a fire in the
Magic Shop and had a portkey set up.
So there they
were, at
She looked around
in surprise. This didn’t look like the mouth of Hell that Oz had told her
about. It looked like a normal town. She stood up and dusted herself down. She
grabbed all the luggage and located Giles’ glasses on the ground. He put them
on and grabbed Oz’s walking stick. Oz looked completely dazed. He also looked
in pain. Ginny was worried but, then again, he had just flown across
continents.
She was dying to
meet the ‘Scoobies’. She wanted to know the people who Oz had told her so much
about. She was so glad that she had met Giles. She wanted to meet Buffy- the
most famous slayer ever, Xander-the funny guy, Anya-the loudmouth ex-demon,
Spike-the vampire, Tara-the witch, Dawn- the girl her own and Willow-the witch
and love of Oz’s life.
Giles helped Oz up
and they each took one of his arms, supporting him and helping him to walk.
They turned the corner and crossed the street to a place called the Magic Box.
Giles pulled open to door and smiled at Ginny. “By the way, welcome to the
Hellmouth.”
He opened the door
and they stepped inside. Everyone turned to them and stopped talking. They all
showed various versions of complete and utter shock.
Finally a blonde,
small girl took a step closer. “Giles? Oz?” she said weakly.
Giles nodded.
“It’s great to see you Buffy.”
Buffy. She’s the Slayer Buffy took a step closer. She looked at
Ginny looked at
them all. “Hi,” she said softly, nervously. Oz’s legs buckled. He looked at
Giles. “Home,” he whispered softly.
Giles and Ginny steered him over to the nearest chair. He curled up and
looked at them. His eyes were human. Ginny was thankful.
“So.” Buffy said.
“What’s been happening with you?”
******
Xander threw the
book down on the table. “This is boring!”
They were sitting
at the table of the Magic Box. Dawn was doing her homework; Anya was setting up
some things on the shelf with
The door opened
behind them and they turned around in unison. Buffy’s mouth dropped open.
Standing in front of her was Giles, Oz and a girl with flaming red hair. Giles
looked exhausted. His face was dirty and he looked stressed. The little girl
was pale and nervous.
She didn’t know it
was Oz at first. His face was scarred and his hair looked like it was its
natural colour. He was pale and weak looking and was being supported by the
other two. His eyes travelled the room, meeting with all of theirs. It was like
he was trying to place them. He looked straight at her and it was like he had
to force himself to remember her.
Everyone was
silent. Buffy took the first step forward. “Giles? Oz?” Giles smiled at her.
“It’s great to see you Buffy.” She looked at
The red headed
girl smiled nervously, “Hi.”
Oz’s legs buckled.
He looked at Giles. “Home,” he whispered softly. Giles beamed. He and the girl
led him to a chair. He curled up.
“So” Buffy said,
“What’s been happening with you?”
Giles sighed. “I
think you better sit down.” He looked at the girl.
“Everyone, this is
Ginny.” Ginny. The name seems familiar.
“The girl who…you know,” Dawn said awkwardly. Ginny nodded.
Giles looked at
Oz. “We’ll just be over here, alright?” Oz wasn’t looking at him. He was
looking at Dawn. He cocked his head to one side and frowned slightly.
Giles frowned.
“Oz? Are you okay?”
Oz pointed at Dawn.
“What?”
“Green,” Oz
whispered. Then he wrapped his arms around himself and started to shake.
Ginny’s eyes widened.
“Oz, no. Please,
don’t.” It was too late. Oz looked up again and his eyes were amber. Anya
gasped. Giles swore softly.
Dawn looked
confused. “How did he know? Only insane people can sense my keyness…” she
trailed off. “Oh God!”
“He lets the wolf
in when he’s frightened or around magic.”
“I don’t
understand.”
“Sit down and I’ll
explain it all.”
They sat down and
Giles began to explain. When he had finished talking, he looked back at Oz. His
eyes were green again. He looked at Giles.
“Giles,” he said
softly. “Gin-ny. Buff-y. Dawn. Xan-der. Will-ow. Anya.” He looked at each one of them when he said it.
Giles beamed happily.
“Fantastic Oz.
Bloody fantastic.”
Buffy nudged him.
“Stop saying ‘bloody’. It’s creepy!”
Giles sighed and
shook his head.