by Lisette: Lisette_an@hotmail.com

Legalese: The television series, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and all related characters and material belong to Joss Whedon and UPN.  All things Harry Potter belong to JK Rowling.  I claim ownership solely of the story idea - no profit will be made by this.

Author's Note: Thanks for the reviews!  You guys rock!

"It isn't the blood you share with each other that makes you family, rather it's the blood you shed for one another that makes you family."
-Anthony Folino-

    At the mere mention of Ron's message, Buffy felt as though the world had turned upside down.  She could only think of one American man that would be asking for her at the gates, and that was Xander - and if Xander was at Hogwarts, that meant that something was wrong in Sunnydale.  Nothing else would bring her goofy friend all the way from the Hellmouth - nothing else could bring him all that way.  And the fear of what could have happened while she was away was enough to almost break her where she stood.  Ron had said one American man.  And while she would hardly classify Xander as a man, the sole fact that it was only he that was waiting for her made her feel as though her blood had run cold.  Where were the others?  What had happened to warrant sending Xander for her?  Wide eyes growing even wider, Buffy slowly shook her head as she turned to look at Harry - and one look was all it took to convey every fear that now plagued her mind.

    "Ron, find Giles and bring him to the gates," Harry snapped, his eyes never leaving Buffy's pale face as his friend turned and ran from the room.  "Come on, we better-"

    "Harry, do it again," Buffy broke in, her voice sounding so unnatural to her own ears even as she began to feel her muscles tighten in anticipation of what was to come.  "I need to be there now.  Do it again," she repeated even as her green eyes locked with his.

    It didn't take a genius, nor even Hermione, to figure out what she was asking.  And while it would take them ten minutes at most to reach the gates if they left now, Harry understood why she asked this of him.  If their positions were reversed, Harry couldn't imagine trying to endure those ten minutes of not knowing either.  Nodding once, Harry focused his thoughts and schooled his emotions until he could think of only one thing: the desire to bring Buffy to where she needed to be.  But as before, this was something that the school's wards would never permit of his magic.  So instead, he once more reached out to Buffy in a way that he couldn't quite explain, and this time, he didn't even have to form the unvoiced question as he found the way into her core unbarred and lying open to him.  As Harry gathered the strange magicks from her, he could feel Buffy's muscles tense even more, her breath hitching in her throat as her eyes widened imperceptibly - and then they were gone.

    As the warm spring air encompassed them and cast their forms into dark shadows, Harry exhaled loudly and then quickly reached out a steadying hand to Buffy's small frame.  "Are you alright?" he asked, puzzled by the fact that she looked slightly pale in the wan moonlight - pale and unsteady on her feet, which as far as he knew, was something of an oddity for a slayer.

    "Fine," Buffy murmured even as the dizziness passed, her eyes sweeping past Harry's taller frame and into the night.  As always, the Gryffindor seeker had been thinking as he worked his mojo on them, for instead of apparating them straight to the gates of Hogwarts, which no doubt would have caused a bit of a stir and certainly would have let the cat out of the bag about his wandless magic lessons, Harry had instead brought them into the shadows just off the path.  Pushing past him, she stepped onto the familiar rutted lane, her eyes locking on the unmistakable forms of Sirius Black and Professor Snape - both standing just within the gates to Hogwarts and blocking her view of her long-time friend.  "Xand-" she began to call out, finishing the distance between herself and the others and freezing as the two men stepped aside, allowing her an uninterrupted view of her 'American' guest.  "Angel?" she whispered, stilling between Sirius and Snape even as her eyes tracked over the person that awaited her.

    He looked exactly as he had the day that he had left her after the Mayor's failed ascension - well, she supposed that was to be expected, being a vampire and all.  His brown hair was a bit shorter and the black leather duster that he wore was a bit different than the one that he had worn in Sunnydale, but his face... his strong chin, pale features, and glittering brown eyes that locked on her small frame were the exact same.  Those eyes had carried her through many a hard night when she was a captive of the Centre, as had the memory of his strong arms holding her and protecting her from the injustices of their world.  The brown eyes that had widened in pain and confusion as she had run him through with her sword and sent him to Hell to suffer for Angelus' sins.

    "Buffy," he murmured, his words so soft and fanning across her like a familiar lover's caress as his eyes never left hers.

    Shaken, Buffy moved to step towards him, only to stop in confusion as both Sirius and Professor Snape lay a restraining hand on each shoulder.  "It's okay, he's an... old friend," she murmured, her eyes never leaving his.

    "But he wasn't able to cross the barrier," Sirius murmured, refusing to release the small girl.

    Sighing, Buffy tore her eyes away long enough to glare at the tall man beside her.  "Neither was I the first time, remember?" she asked before pointedly removing his hand from her shoulder, a sharp glare at Snape having a similar effect, before stepping across the invisible barrier and stilling just before Angel.  "What are you doing here?" she asked, her neck arched back and her eyes locked with his own.  "Where have you been?" she continued, unable to prevent the hurt from creeping into her voice.

    "I - I came as soon as I heard," Angel returned, his eyes filled with so much emotion that she couldn't decipher it all.  His face was so unreadable - so Angel that she felt her heart stir even as it rebelled against the image of the man that stood before her.  So much time had passed.

    "How did you find me?" she continued, her mind trying desperately to process the fact that Angel was really standing before her.

    "Faith, the others... they told me where to find you," he murmured before suddenly crushing her against him in an embrace that would have hurt had it been anyone else but the Slayer.

    At first Buffy found her body stiff and unyielding against his chest.  Everything was just happening far too fast for her brain to process.  Here was Angel, standing before her and burying his face against her neck, just like no time had passed and... and her senses were spinning but something was wrong.  Something was really wrong.  Something was-  "Angel, I-" she began, trying to pull away even as his cold hands cupped her face and pulled her towards him, his cold lips claiming her own as he practically tried to devour her.  Stunned, Buffy could do nothing but sit there and allow his lips to ravage her own, her mind spinning.  Angel was here.  Kissing her.  And his lips were so cold and so hard... so different from... so different from Harry!  Gasping, Buffy used her slayer strength to pull her lips free of Angel's bruising caress even as her eyes narrowed.  Her slayer sense were going wild and quickly overruling her confused and overwhelmed emotions and thoughts.  Her slayer sense was warning her.  Warning her about-

    With a series of soft pops the clearing surrounding her and Angel was suddenly filled with Death Eaters, their wands raised and pointed not at her, but at the others who were gathered just past the safety of the Hogwarts barrier.  Eyes growing wide, Buffy turned her wild eyes away from the humans that surrounded her and towards Angel - only to find the face of Angelus staring back at her, full game face on and yellow eyes burning through the darkness.  With everything happening too fast, Buffy didn't even have time to react as Angel snarled and then lunged towards her, his fangs sinking into her neck deeper than he had gone when he had been on his deathbed and he had drank of her to save his life.

    "Buffy!" Harry cried out, his wand appearing in one hand even as he tried to rush past the barrier, only to be held back and restrained by both Sirius and Snape as the Death Eaters waved their raised wands at them.  They were at an impasse, for while within the Hogwarts barrier, not even their magic could penetrate the shield protecting them - but that also meant that their magic couldn't escape to help Buffy.

    Then, a soft whoosh of displaced air preceded the arrival by portkey of two more people: one a tall, middle-aged man dressed in a muggle suit and brandishing a wand while the other... while the other was an exact replica of the creature that continued to drink from the slayer.  As confusion seemed to spread through the Death Eater ranks, the muggle-dressed man began stunning as many Death Eaters as he could, his face tight in concentration while giving the double a chance to recuperate from the travel by portkey.  When properly situated, though, the human guise that he wore was quickly replaced by the face of a demon as his glowing yellow eyes locked on Buffy and his double.

    "Get your hands off of her!" he growled, his muscles tightening before he quickly tackled the monster that was drinking from Buffy, causing the slayer to fall to the ground, obviously stunned and bleeding heavily even as the two doubles began going at it.

    "Buffy!"

    His mind spinning, Harry felt himself being shouldered to the side as Ron and Giles arrived, the watcher shoving through the stunned mass and crossing the barrier to his slayer's side.  And even as the older man began dragging Buffy back across the barrier and to safety, Sirius and Snape were already stepping past the barrier and joining the muggle-dressed man in his one army fight against the hordes of Death Eaters that plagued the grounds before them.  Stunned, the dark-haired teen could only stare stupidly at the fight that was waged before him before finally taking note of the small slayer that was sprawled on the hard ground at his feet, Giles frantically trying to talk to her and pulling her to her feet.  "Buffy?" he asked, his voice shaking as her green eyes seemed to look at him and then drift past him towards the scene that was lit by the deadly light of flying curses.

    Shaking his head, Harry followed her eyes and watched as his godfather and Professor Snape provided enough cover for the muggle-man and the double to make it back to safety, following them past the barrier until their group stood divided from the Death Eaters and the double that Buffy had called Angel.  The double that had kissed her as though the rest of the world didn't matter.  And the double that had then drank from her veins.  Eyes narrowing, Harry moved until he was standing to Buffy's right, feeling Giles stand tall behind her, and turned away from the Death Eaters long enough to lock eyes with the double that stood protectively to her left.  And then his eyes were drifting back to the outside world as a hush fell over the crowd, the monster that had attacked Buffy stepping free of his cloaked companions to stand just opposite the barrier from them.  And from the look in the monster's eyes, Harry knew what was to come next - knew it with every fiber of his being.  It didn't matter this his scar hadn't even twinged in discomfort, because as the rest of the world disappeared and as the glamour fell away, Harry found himself face to face with Voldemort himself.

    Vaguely, Harry heard as the rest of those gathered recoiled in shock and horror at the creature that stood before them, with only a few scant feet separating the Dark Lord and the Boy Who Lived.  He felt Sirius tighten his hand on his shoulder until it was almost painful.  But none of that mattered, for Voldemort wasn't looking at Harry Potter, nor even Professor Snape, his ally-turned-traitor.  Instead, the Dark Lord had eyes only for the small creature that stood before him - the petite girl whose red blood stained his lips.

    With slow, measured movements Voldemort lifted his fingers and wiped at the blood that dripped from his mouth, his white, snake-like fangs glinting in the moonlight.  Gleaming red eyes locked on Dumbledore's entourage, he then placed his glistening finger before his mouth and allowed a smooth, flat tongue to slither out and lick the blood clean.  "Little, little slayer," he murmured, his voice a soft hiss that caused the girl in question to straighten, her pale form unmoving even as her eyes locked on his - eyes as hard as flint.  "Consider this your warning," he continued, a slow, cold smile lifting his lips.  "This is not your war - not your battle.  If you don't leave Hogwarts and go back to where you belong, I won't be so kind the next time I visit the Hellmouth," he stated, nodding as the girl recoiled as though physically struck.  "Turn your back on this and you'll never have to see another wizard again," he added, his red, burning eyes turning away from hers for the first time to lock with the green eyes of the boy who had been a pin-prick in his side for the past sixteen years - the boy who had grown much since their last meeting and stood now as a man.  The boy whose blood he desired even more than the old fool, Dumbledore himself.  The blood on which he would soon be feasting.  "This isn't your battle," he stated, one final time before disappearing with a soft pop that was echoed by his many followers as they apparated away from the wizarding world's stronghold.

    For a moment more the group stood in stunned silence, their eyes locked on the darkness beyond Hogwarts' gates.  A silence that was only broken by the surprised grunts of three men as the slayer that they all loved more than life itself collapsed between them.

    With a soft sigh Buffy felt awareness slowly return to her limbs - an awareness that came with a jumble of far too many physical pains and emotional turmoil.  In seconds she was assaulted with memories that battered her senses for attention.  She and Harry sharing their first kiss and so much more - Harry somehow manipulating the magic that made her the slayer and using it to do the impossible - the sudden and completely unexpected arrival of Angel and his subsequent kiss that threatened to suffocate her - the Death Eaters and the pain from being drank from unlike she had ever experienced at the hands of another vampire - Voldemort taking Angel's place and warning her about... Sunnydale.  With a gasp, Buffy's eyes flew open as she quickly tried to sit up, an effort that was thwarted by the weakness in her own body as well as by the restraining hands of the two people who sat on opposite sides of the bed she was occupying.  Confused, Buffy turned bleary eyes from Harry's concerned green eyes to those of Angel and would have laughed out loud at the fierce glare that the two were aiming at each other had everything else not been so dizzy and their situation so serious.  That confusion would have to wait for another time.

    Allowing herself to be pushed back onto the soft mattress, Buffy's eyes quickly swept around the room.  Infirmary - she was in the school's hospital wing.  Aside from that, her eyes quickly took in the rest of the room's occupants: Dumbledore, Giles, Professor Snape, Professor Lupin, Sirius and... Samuel Fellows?  That's right - she did remember seeing him down at the gates.  Along with the two Angels.  Confused, Buffy turned back to the vampire that stood protectively beside her bed, her eyes meeting his briefly before turning back to the assembled mass and then jumping back to him.  From the love and concern that shone in his brown eyes, she had no doubt in her mind that this was the real Angel.  "Why are you here?  What's happened?" she asked, getting right to the point and skipping all of her earlier questions that suddenly didn't seem to matter quite so much.

    For a moment, Angel allowed his eyes to skip past Buffy and meet once more with the dark-haired boy that had refused to leave her side.  The demon in him wanted to tear the kid apart for daring to look at his girl that way - for smelling like her - while the human side of him argued that this was the reason that he had left Buffy in the first place - so that she could find someone to look at her like this.  Shaking away his thoughts, he quickly turned his eyes down until he met Buffy's direct gaze.  "After leaving Sunnydale I went to LA where I met up with a half-demon named Doyle, Cordelia, and later, Wesley," he stated, trying to bury the pain that mentioning his friend still managed to bring behind a small smile at the later names.  After all, you pretty much had to see Cordelia and Wesley in action to see how much they both had changed and grown since Sunnydale.  "Doyle received visions from the Power That Be of people who needed help, and when Doyle was killed, he passed his powers to Cordelia," he continued, making his year away from Buffy the shortest back story he could manage.  "A few days ago Cordelia received a vision of people dressed in black robes-"

    "Death Eaters," Samuel supplied with a tight frown.

    "-and the creature at the gates-"

    "You-Know-Who."

    "-attacking Faith and another woman," Angel continued without pause, watching as Buffy's face began to tighten even more.  "We couldn't reach you or Giles and it took us a few days to track down where Faith was staying, but we came to Sunnydale as soon as we could.... but we were too late to help.  We arrived just as the creature and his people were leaving."

    Feeling as though her earlier dizziness and weakness were being compounded by Angel's words, Buffy quickly closed her eyes against the images that plagued her. 

    Faith. 

    Against Voldemort. 

    On the Hellmouth with no slayer-magic immunity.

    "Is everyone alright?" Giles finally asked, voicing the question that he knew his slayer couldn't.  And even as Samuel's eyes locked with his old friend, eyes that were filled with such grave sadness, Giles knew that he had his answer.  And so did Buffy as her breath hitched in her small body, wild and terrified eyes begging for the head of the Council to deny the cold knot that she felt in the pit of her stomach.

    "Faith's watcher, Elizabeth Hamsley," he began, noting as the gathered adults all stiffened at the familiar name, "was held under the cruciatus curse for too long.  She was killed," he murmured, watching as his own sadness was echoed in the eyes of the men that gathered there.  After all, Elizabeth had been a very bright and promising young witch in her Hogwarts days - days that were beneath the tutelage of the headmaster and which had to of corresponded with Snape and Black.  And even though the girl had been a Ravenclaw, and a muggle-born at that, it would have been impossible for either of the men to not know of her.

    For Buffy, though, the proclamation was of little consequence.  While she felt for the watcher that had died at Voldemort's hands, she knew nothing of her beside what she had learned in the woman's letters.  And as cruel as it sounded, her death held no personal meaning for her and was of little thought when the fates of her friends were still unknown.  Faith...  "And the others?" Buffy asked, forcing the question past her throat.  "Faith?"

    "You-Know-Who... he used the cruciatus curse on Faith as well and then after he performed the killing-"

    "No," Buffy quickly murmured, interrupting the watcher's words as she denied what he was saying with everything in her body.  She and Faith shared a connection now - a bond that went beyond being sister slayers and the Chosen Two.  While she may not have felt Kendra's death when Drusilla cruelly took the young girl away from the good fight, Buffy knew that she would feel something if the same had happened to Faith.  She had to.

    "She's alive," Samuel quickly assured, watching as varying expressions of shock seemed to ripple around the room.  "I'm not quite sure how, but even though she was struck with the killing curse, Angel and his friends were somehow able to bring her back," he explained, watching as Buffy's green eyes quickly looked to the vampire for a nod of confirmation.  "And while she was only dead for a moment, the Council has already been notified that a new slayer has been called."

    "Three Slayers?" Lupin broke in, obviously quite intrigued by the idea.

    Sharing in the DADA professor's intrigue but quickly pushing it aside, Giles turned dark eyes to his old friend, a puzzled frown pulling at his lips.  "And how do you fit into all of this?" he asked, watching as a grim smile lifted the man's lips.

    "Elizabeth prepared the children for an eventuality such as this," he explained, a note of pride entering his voice.  Hamsley had been a good witch, and an even better watcher.  She would be greatly missed - however, her quick thinking managed to prevent this tragedy from becoming even graver.  "She had placed several different portkeys throughout her house as well as the houses of the others.  Xander, Oz and Willow were able to reach one when the attack began and were brought to safety in the wood outside of Sunnydale," he explained, watching how the slayer's eyes shot to him in the instant that he mentioned her friends.  "They contacted me immediately after the attack.  After assuring that the others would be safe, I came here as soon as I was able - and Angel insisted that he wasn't to be left behind," he added, nodding shortly to the ensouled vampire.

    "But how did you cross the barrier?" Harry asked, not quite realizing that he had voiced his question aloud until the vampire's brown eyes shifted to his own.

    For a moment, silence reigned as the two locked eyes, an unspoken message being passed between the two before Angel finally looked away, his eyes drifting back to the head of the Watcher's Council.  "Fellows warned me about it before we arrived," he said, shrugging his shoulders lightly before casting a curious glance at the old man that had watched the proceedings with crinkled and intelligent blue eyes.  It went without saying that the aged wizard must be the headmaster that the Brit had spoken so highly of.  "I knew that if Buffy could trust Dumbledore, then so could I."

    And even though the conversations, explanations, and debates continued on around her, Buffy remained quiet.  For once she knew that her friends were alright, her mind immediately turned back to one of the last things that Voldemort had spoken.  The thing that she couldn't quite wrap her mind around nor get past.  "It was a warning," she murmured, her words spoken more to herself than anyone else even as a hush fell on the room.  Shaking her head, Buffy tried once more to push from the bed, making it to her feet this time before she began to sway.  Immediately, both Harry and Angel were at her side once again as both ignored her protests and forced her to sit back on the bed's high edge.

    "So what will you do now?"

    Not even quite sure who had at last voiced the unspoken question, Buffy felt the indecision tear at her.  Shaking her head slowly, ignoring the dizziness that still plagued her, the small slayer felt her eyes drift until they locked with the wizened eyes of her watcher.  But he needn't have said anything at all as his eyes told her that it was her decision to make.  Sighing, Buffy turned past her watcher and allowed her eyes to drift past everyone - even Angel - until they finally locked with the green eyes that she was coming to love so much.  While his gaze spoke so much and despite how much the two teens were coming to care for one another, not nearly enough time had passed for them to have completely mastered the art of unspoken communication.  Instead, she allowed her eyes to carry the most basic of questions - a plea for help in this decision that was being forced upon her.  With a single gaze she tried to show much how this decision tore at her - how the thought of leaving him alone in this fight was nearly enough to undo her - yet how much the safety of her friends called her towards Sunnydale.

   And despite the fact that not a word had been spoken, Harry understood what Buffy was trying to tell him and so much more.  So very much more.  And he also knew that she wasn't really asking him to make the decision for her, but merely to support the decision that he knew she had already made - the only decision that she could have made.  "You need to go back to Sunnydale," he whispered, smiling softly as he gently reached a hand out and tucked an errant strand of hair from her messy bun - now even messier from the busy night's activities.

   "But I can't-"

   "Voldemort was right," he cut in, his voice soft as the rest of the room fell away, his eyes only having room for the small slayer that sat on the hospital bed before him.  Even as pale and worn as she was, a square gauze bandage taped to her neck, he still found her the most beautiful creature he had ever laid eyes upon - even more captivating than a veela.  "This isn't your fight," he continued, forcing his voice to remain strong.  "Besides... your friends need you."

   "You need me," Buffy corrected, even as she heard the truth behind his softly spoken words.

   Smiling wryly, Harry slowly nodded her head.  "Yes, I think that I always will need you... but they need you more.  And besides," he added, knowing that she was about to argue once more, "you would want me to do the same were it Ron or Hermione that needed me.  And I would go to them....  You need to go home."

   Taking in a ragged breath, Buffy felt the tears burn even as she tore her gaze away from his piercing green eyes.  She knew he was right - knew that he was right even before he had spoken his first word.  But that didn't make this decision any easier... it didn't make its conclusion any easier to accept.  It had been one of the hardest things Buffy had ever had to do when she left Sunnydale for the first time, blindly putting her faith in Giles and allowing him to take her to a new world with the sole thought that they needed her... and that she unwittingly needed them.  She had come to Hogwarts a broken slayer, barely being held together by false bravado and a stubborn need to never give in.  In this strange world she had found a purpose once more and an evil that allowed her to stay focused and to burn the energy that had been building within her for months... and more importantly, she had found another place where she felt that she could belong.  She found wonderful people, new friends and... and she found Harry.  Thanks to Hogwarts, Buffy knew that she would be leaving the school as a different slayer than when she had arrived.  Thanks to Harry.

   "I have a portkey ready to take us back to Sunnydale," Samuel stated quietly, understanding that while the moment could last forever, forever was something that they certainly didn't have.  If Voldemort had his way, they may not even have tomorrow.  "It's best to go now," he added, voicing his troubled thoughts aloud as he shot his old friend a worried glance.

    "Poppy," Dumbledore stated, beckoning the mediwitch forward, "if you could please find a few potions to send with the others - something to ease general aches and pains - perhaps some Pepper Up potion as well?  And Severus, perhaps a post-cruciatus curse potion?" he asked, nodding towards the potions professor before turning wizened eyes back towards the others.  "We will see to your belongings and will have them sent along soon enough."

   Sighing raggedly, Buffy slowly nodded her acceptance of the headmaster's words as she pushed herself to her feet once more.  Even as her strength threatened to leave her, Buffy found a reserve deep down inside and forced herself to straighten before Harry, his warm hands gripping each shoulder and giving her his support.  And then, before she even knew what was happening she found herself crushed against him, her arms instinctively wrapping around his waist and her head burrowing against his chest as she felt his cheek rest against her soft golden crown.  This time Buffy couldn't stop the tears from falling as she clung to Harry with all the strength that she dared.  Harry's future, his destiny, was so unknown that it mirrored her own in a way that made her cling to him all the tighter.  They both knew at least one part of his future: in the coming battle it would come down to both Harry and Voldemort.  It was the outcome that was so uncertain.  And it was the outcome that she feared most.  She had promised him that he wouldn't face that moment alone, and that together they would make it through somehow... and now Voldemort was making her break that promise.

   Sighing, Buffy allowed herself to revel in Harry's warmth before slowly pulling back, feeling his hold loosen until she was leaning back against his arms, her neck arching back until she could see his beautiful green eyes.  "Please be careful," she murmured, slowly lifting one hand and cupping it against his cheek.

   "Ron and Hermione will keep me out of trouble," he returned, a ghost of a smile tugging at his lips.

   "And who will keep them out of trouble?" Buffy quipped, her voice strangled as yet another tear broke loose.  And then, unmindful of the various adults and ex-boyfriends that filled the room around them, Buffy allowed her other hand to drift up to his other cheek, cupping his face in between her small hands and pulling him down towards her so that her lips could claim his own.  The kiss was quick, sweet and chaste... and filled with so much longing that Buffy had to pull away before she truly lost control.  She was the slayer, and as such, she was pretty sure that emotional breakdowns were probably listed in the forbidden section of the slayer handbook that she had never been given.

   Forcing the tears back from whence they came and promising herself that they wouldn't come again until she was able to shed them in private, Buffy found herself imprinting Harry's face into her mind before forcing herself to turn away.  With reddened eyes she took one, and then two steps away before she felt Angel come up beside her, one strong arm wrapping around her waist and supporting her against him as they moved towards the others, Giles falling into step beside them and stilling before the door.

   "Professor Dumbledore, I am truly sorry for having to leave you now," the watcher murmured, his heart feeling so heavy within his chest.  Whether it was from the knowledge of what Voldemort had done to Faith and her watcher or what treachery the Dark Lord had pushed upon his slayer... or the fear of what this heartache would do to Buffy's amazing progress from the shell that she had slowly emerged from, Giles didn't know.  Nor did he really care at the moment.  All that mattered in the world to him was the small girl that was supported by the vampire that would always love her - even when she could no longer love him back.  "I had hoped that we would have been able-"

   "You've already done so much," Dumbledore broke in, his bright blue eyes just a bit dimmer that night as he wrapped one soft, gnarled hand around Giles and clasped it within his own.  "Thank you for coming," he added, his eyes moving with the trio as Samuel led them from the room.  Sighing, the headmaster slowly turned and watched Harry even as the teen watched them leave with shadowed eyes, silent and so very still.  Dumbledore knew that the boy was strong - perhaps stronger than them all.  He was the Boy Who Lived and the one hope for their world in a fight against a darkness that they had never seen the likes of before, and of which the old wizard desperately hoped would never again fall upon their world.  But more importantly, he was a boy who was now standing alone before his destiny - never an easy fate, especially for one so young.  Oh, his friends and family would always support him, and it would take a strong force indeed to pry Sirius away from his godson's side.... but sometimes, such support couldn't be drawn upon.  For in the end, sometimes it took something even stronger to get one through the hell that was forced upon them - and in Harry's case, it seemed that Fate was showing her fickle hand in forcing him to move alone.  For when it came down to it, didn't the hero always face their fate alone?

To be continued...