 |
|
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Working Together Ron had his eyes closed in concentration. He was in the middle of one of his wicca sessions with Willow and Tara. He was finding the evening’s lesson a little strenuous. He was currently exploring his center of magic. Tara had taught him how to look inside himself and find it. Today, he was delving into the depths of it and how his emotions and thoughts affected it. “Very good, Ron,” Willow said encouragingly. “Now think of a happy memory,” Tara instructed quietly. Ron began sorting through his memories. “But don’t lose your focus on your center,” the brunette reminded him. The redhead let out a puff of air to knock the stray lock of hair on his forehead to the side. He refocused on his center, then began searching again. He stopped on a random moment in his life. It was when Hermione had spent a week at the Burrow over the summer. She was giggling over a game they were playing with the twins. He felt his heart swell as he remembered that this was the first moment he realized that he loved her. Her hair was fairly glowing in the sunlight and she seemed like a heavenly creature to him. An unbidden smile appeared on his lips. ~I’d say he found one.~ Willow said. ~You think?~ Tara asked with a smirk. Turning her attention back to Ron she said, “Now see how your magic feels now, but keep that emotion firmly in place.” Ron did as she asked and was astounded by what he found. He could almost see the warm depths of power that he could access. “How does it feel?” “It’s warm....and almost loving. I feel as if I reached out that I would be able to sense almost anything. As if it’s all connected.” “Very good,” Tara said sincerely. “Before you cast any spell, your magicks should always feel like that. That way you know you are accessing white magic.” “What does black magic feel like?” Ron asked as he opened his eyes. “Dark, tempting. Like you are all-powerful and no one can oppose you,” Willow said softly. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have...” “No. It’s ok,” she assured him with a quick smile. “It’s important that you know the difference between the two.” Tara reached out and gave her hand a reassuring squeeze. “As long as love and not anger or pain feeds your intent, you won’t be corrupted.” Ron nodded his head. “Is everything connected like I sensed?” “Yes. Wiccas pull from the world around them. Everything depends upon something else. For example, we breathe oxygen, which is produced by plants. Plants in turn require carbon dioxide to survive, which is what we exhale,” Tara explained. “And kind of like the sun causes water in a stream to evaporate, which turns into clouds, which then turns into rain, which falls back into the stream?” Ron asked hesitantly. “Exactly,” Willow said proudly. “Wicked. So if I tried really hard I could find someone on the other side of the world?” “In theory. But I don’t suggest trying something so complex just yet,” Tara said with a smile. “I think that’s enough for tonight,” Willow said. “You can go back to the Tower.” “Thanks. You two are great!” Ron called out as he headed out the door. ********** The next night, all but Dawn were in the Muggle Defense room. They were eagerly waiting for Buffy and Spike to show up. The two of them were continually changing the routine to make sure that they didn’t get bored. “Wonder what they have planned for tonight,” Ginny mused. “I rather liked the hide-n-seek in the dark game we played last night,” Neville said cheerfully. “That’s only cause you won,” Ginny said sullenly. “How about you guys attack Spike and me while we’re blindfolded?” Buffy asked cheerfully as she and Spike entered the room. “Wicked,” Ron said. “Do we attack as a group or individually?” “Group,” said Spike with a smirk. “We’d like a challenge.” “Ha, bloody, ha,” Draco said with a smirk of his own. As always, he felt a little awkward being in the same room with the Gryffindors without Dawn. When she was present, he didn’t feel out of place. At least Ginny supported him. He was excited about the prospect of fighting his uncle. So far, Spike hadn’t sparred with anybody. The only time he had witnessed Spike’s ability was when he had sparred with Buffy the first day of class and when they went of patrol every Friday. The slayer and vampire readied themselves by removing their shoes and firmly tying strips of fabric over their eyes. They stood together, back to back, in the center of the room. “Whenever you guys are ready,” Buffy said with a smile. Harry motioned for the group to surround the duo and then they attacked as one. Despite the fact that they couldn’t see, Buffy and Spike were able to fend off most of the attacks. Soon they were all laughing as they tried to see who could actually land a punch without being hit themselves. Harry dove in to try and tackle Buffy, but found himself flying over the top of her and landing on Ginny. His face was just inches from the redhead beauty below him. He could only stare into her brown eyes in wonder. She licked her lips and he had the sudden urge to kiss her. His brain suddenly caught up to what his heart had been trying to tell him since the school year had started. He wanted Ginny Weasley. As he leaned down to close the distance between them he heard Draco yell, “Potter! You stupid git! We’re fighting here, not having a snogging session!” Harry jumped up quickly and his face turned red as he realized what he had almost done. He didn’t want Ginny to find out he liked her by kissing her in front of Malfoy. He wanted the moment to be just right. As soon as he turned around, Ginny shot a glare to Draco that promised pain if he ever did that again. The blond just smirked in response. “This isn’t working!” Ron called out as he narrowly blocked a kick from Buffy. “Regroup!” Draco yelled, motioning everyone over to a corner of the room. “What makes you think we’re going to follow you, Malfoy?” “Because, Potter, you’re plan obviously isn’t working.” “Fine!” “Fine!” The students huddled in a corner while Buffy and Spike tried not to listen in. “Think they’ll ever be able to work together as a group, luv?” “Sooner or later. I mean look at us. We eventually got over our differences to be able to work together.” “But luv, that took years. These kids may not have that long to get to that point.” “I know, but that’s the point of these exercises, to make them learn to rely on each other.” Over in the huddle, all the Gryffindors were glaring at Draco. Ginny was because she was still upset with him from interrupting her near kiss with Harry, and the others were because they didn’t want to follow him. “Why do you think we can’t beat them?” Draco asked. “Gee, I don’t know, Malfoy,” Ron said sarcastically. “Maybe because they’re stronger and faster than us?” “But they’re not using their full strength on us. Plus, they’ve handicapped themselves,” Ginny pointed out. “Still doesn’t explain why we’re not winning,” Neville said. “They’re protecting each other’s backs,” Draco said with exasperation. He couldn’t understand why they didn’t see. It would be the first thing he would do if he were defending himself with another person. “They don’t have to worry about being completely surrounded cause there is always a defender behind them.” “If we separate them, we could take them down,” Harry said, catching on. “But how do we do that?” Hermione asked. Draco really couldn’t believe he was about to say this, “Potter and I can distract Buffy, while the rest of you tackle Spike and get him away from her.” Harry could only stare at Malfoy in amazement. His worst rival was willing to work with him. He looked over at Ginny who nodded her head in encouragement. “Fine, Malfoy. What do we do?” After quickly outlining the plan, the six students, once again, circled the blindfolded duo. At Draco’s nod, he and Harry attacked Buffy while the other four went after Spike. Before long, the slayer and vampire were on opposite sides of the room and had to defend themselves. Spike was suddenly knocked to the floor by Ginny and then he felt something pressed against his chest. “You’re dead,” whispered Hermione in his ear. He took his blindfold off the see Hermione, Neville, and the two Weasleys grinning down at him. He looked across the room to see Harry and Draco working in tandem against Buffy. A satisfied smile appeared on his lips as he asked, “You guys gonna help those two?” “The four took off in a rush and tackled Buffy to the floor. “Gotcha!” Neville cried. The slayer just laughed as she removed her blindfold. She could see Spike grinning like a fool on the other side of the room. They just shared a knowing look. ********** On their way back to the Tower, Harry walked nervously beside Ginny. He knew he wanted to tell her, but he wasn’t sure how. As Hermione, Ron, and Neville stepped through the portrait, Harry tugged on Ginny’s arm. She looked at him curiously, but waved the others on ahead. “Yes, Harry?” “Ginny....I....” “Yes?” She asked with a raised eyebrow. “I was wondering if....” Merlin, this was harder than asking Dawn out for Halloween. “If what, Harry?” “If you would accompany me to the Observatory Tower tomorrow night.” “Sure.” His green eyes widened in surprise, “Really?” “Yeah, just let me know what time,” she said as she kissed him lightly on the cheek and then headed inside. He couldn’t stop the goofy grin that appeared on his face. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to. ********** Ginny was anxiously awaiting Dawn’s arrival in the Great Hall the next morning. She couldn’t wait to tell her that she had a date with Harry that night. “Looks like Draco is having problems with Pansy,” Ron said curiously. She looked over, and sure enough, the two seemed to be having some sort of argument. He was gesturing wildly and had his back to the door. The redhead caught movement in the corner of her eye and turned to see Dawn enter the room. The brunette smiled and waved at her friend who was pointing to the other side of the room. Dawn turned her head in time to see Draco kissing Pansy in front of everyone. ~No!~ Draco pulled himself away from Pansy and turned to see his angel staring at him in horror. ~Dawn, wait!~ She turned and ran from the Hall without looking back. Previous Chapter The Slayer... Menu Next Chapter |
