Ancestry 29 - Plainly Sighted Banes by Voracity2

Ancestry 29 - Plainly Sighted Banes

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Ancestry 29 - Plainly Sighted Banes

Pansy looked at Draco. "If he calls are you going to comply?" she asked him.

Draco looked at her. "You mean the Dark Lord?" She nodded, sitting next to him. "No. Why would any of us follow him?"

"He's powerful. He's the leader of the purebloods."

"He's not one himself." She flinched, looking horrified. He nodded. "He's not. Look him up in the academy roll books, Pansy. You know his true name."

"True," she said quietly, going to do that. She found the books by asking Madam Pince and settled down to go over them. She had to go back a few years further than she thought but she found Tom Riddle. She looked into that being and what she found disturbed her.

She wrote her mother to make sure she knew they were following a half-blood from a nearly squibbed mother and a muggle father. She copied the information for her. She looked up and found Granger up the aisle, going to talk to her since they were being polite at least. "You knew about him?"

"Who?" She put down her quill, rubbing her hand. "I know about many people."

"Riddle."

"Yes. I found out who he was after our second year and what Harry said the diary's spirit told him." She crossed her arms on the table, staring at the other girl. "I have no idea why anyone would follow someone who hates himself so much he takes it out on others."

"What?"

"Think about it, Pansy. Who is he hating enough to kill? Muggles, half-bloods, squibs. He's killing himself over and over because he hates who he is."

She considered that, then nodded once. "I can see that point. Still, he's powerful."

She shrugged. "So is Alexander Dumass, Harry's cousin Xander. He works with a slayer. He's had to ride the dark and the light sides to do that. He's led battles, saved people, and had to pick who went where in a battle so he's lost people. For that matter, we're all powerful. We all can use our wands to do horrible things or great things. Whatever we choose to do with it."

She grimaced a bit. "Hate is a choice you make. Even if it's forced on you, nothing says you have to keep it going. To follow along blindly. If you still want to follow him because you think it'll benefit you, then that's the choice you'll make for yourself. The same as I made a choice not to become hateful to all the ones who picked on me for being a book nerd and liking to learn. I could have easily turned it toward learning harmful things and didn't."

"Muggles have that?"

"Muggles have a ton of weapons we don't even talk about," she said with a grin. "Yeah, there's bombs and guns. There's also missiles. There's weapons that can be launched from miles away in a plane. They're still hiding all the weapons we've made. Is he more powerful than blowing up the house with him in it?"

Pansy considered that. "Perhaps not. They could have wards up to prevent an explosion."

"So you explode around the house? Or you do something that doesn't exactly explode but radiates. Or you get it from underneath the ground because blowing up a sewer system will take out a house. Or a gas line. It's taken out many neighborhoods when accidents happen."

"I did not think about that."

"No man or woman is powerful enough to fully cheat death. Even immortal ones can die sometime and somehow. You just have to find out how. And he's not immortal anymore. That rite removed it."

"Oh." She considered that. "But not backing him up will look bad to the people we'll need to marry to keep our lines going."

"Pansy, is there going to be enough purebloods left after this war to carry on any lines?" she asked. "He's gotten half of your kind killed already. Most of your families were rendered infertile after one child, and if that child was injured they're screwed on that. How many of you are going to have kids who have magic?"

"Squibbing is growing," she agreed with a slight nod. "How do we stop that?"

"Quit being so pure. Half bloods aren't having that problem. Muggle borns don't often have squibs. Sometimes there's just one born in any family line but generations later it can pop up again. A lot of them might go for other forms of magic too. Xander said that sometimes they're not squibs, they're just born with a different form of gift."

"So like that wicca stuff?"

"Yes. And that power leaking earlier? Was one of those witches." Pansy winced at that. "Harry knew about her. Told us a bit. She's been helping the slayer and Xander out in Sunnydale. Very powerful. But has problems."

"Oh." She considered it. "Do they do bloodlines?"

"Sometimes. He said sometimes it does flow down family lines, often the maternal lines. Sometimes they just pop up, like we do." She shrugged.

"If things had been different would you have followed him?"

"No, I don't like seeing people in pain, especially for something they can't control. You don't control how you're born or who your parents are."

"I didn't consider that. We're punishing people for their parents giving birth to them."

Hermione nodded, picking up her pen again. "For parents getting together and not being the sort he likes, who're just like him." She cleared her throat. "The real question is why anyone follows him? Why anyone's willing to punish people for being born? Willing to make them suffer and die horribly for the sin of existing. Why would anyone want to join in that sort of crusade." Pansy looked pensive so she went on.

"Some people are easily led because you tell them what they want to hear. He's going 'purebloods are better' and you all agree to that because that's how you've been raised. Then he moves from there to 'all not pure are bad and deserve to have horrible things happen' and you all slowly get used to that. Then you got moved to 'kill them all to clean the earth' and a lot of you have agreed with that because it's a slope you're sledding down."

"I get that." She grimaced. "It's expected some of us will go over."

"Then start a true pureblood's movement to improve the bloodlines by mixing in other purebloods from other countries. That way the squibbing stops or at least slows down. If you look at animal breeding, you'd never let them intermix the way you guys have. You'd get in blood from other pure lines in other places that have never mixed."

"I...." She considered that. "Wow. Yeah, that would...."

"If you guys really want a pureblood movement, create a pureblood movement that'll improve the purebloods. There's eight muggle borns to every pureblood in this school. There's probably a reason for that."

"I can see that. Then in a few years we move to get our purity on top."

"Or you learn that others have ideals that aren't quite the same. If it's equal for everyone then you can prove your superiority. Or not. We do a lot of school before we get here, and some of you do some school. Some of you were home schooled so you have spotty educational backgrounds. How many of you could do the homework when you got here?"

"About half of us," she admitted. "You did primary school?"

"Yeah." She nodded. "It's mandatory we do primary schooling somehow. Even if we do private tutoring at home. Then we have tests we have to take to make sure we're learning things. Do yours?"

"I have no idea. I went to a primary school. It wasn't bad. Pretty small."

"Mine had about twenty-one kids in my year. Most of us are very good because we were pushed to be educationally sound. Our headmaster there would expel a child who wasn't doing homework. We had one that was getting high grades without it and still got expelled for it. He didn't need the homework but the teachers demanded." She grinned a bit. "I was told that story repeatedly to make sure I didn't follow that example. Even if I could have."

"How can you learn without doing the homework?"

"He got it from the books themselves, or the lectures. He didn't need to reinforce it." She grinned. "We do a lot of our education on our own here."

"We do," she agreed. She sighed. "How would you start that sort of thing?"

"It's like politics, Pansy. How do you run for an office?"

"I have no idea."

"I'd think you'd start by talking to others about your ideas."

"Yeah, I can do that." She went to gather her things then go talk to her housemates. She added onto her letter to her mother. That was important information and a good idea. If someone was going to lead a pureblood movement they should be a pureblood. Draco agreed with that and noted he had planned on marrying outside the country to a pureblood somewhere else as well.

***

Bellatrix found Pansy over the holiday break, kidnaping her to sneer at her. "So, you think you're better than our Lord and Master?"

"He's not a pureblood," Pansy snorted. She was scared of this one, she knew who she was and what she had done. Bellatrix would kill her if she blinked wrong.

"He is so!" she sneered, slapping her. "He has to be!"

"No, he's not. His father was a muggle. Tom Marvello Riddle. Mother with a bloodline but nearly a squib. Father was a muggle she drugged then she left the baby on his step so he sent him to an orphanage. If there's going to be a pureblood movement to put ourselves on top, we need a pureblood to run it!" She stared at her. "I will bow before no mudblood, Madam LeStrange.

"Also, Granger came up with a way to make the blood stronger again so we quit having so many squibs. She suggested we breed with other purebloods in other places. Ones we haven't bred with before. Too many of my generation are weak because our parents married their cousins at the pushing of their own parents."

Bellatrix grimaced, twiddling with her wand while she thought. "That's not a bad plan," she said. "Mine's a third cousin once removed." She nodded once. "He's still powerful and angry that your generation is turning on him."

Pansy grimaced. "I hate that for him but he lied to us all. Why would we, any of us purebloods, follow a mudblood like him? I'd sooner follow Granger! She's a no-blood but has ideas."

Bellatrix laughed. "She does have many too many ideas. That's why they're trying to shut her up."

"They're trying to shut her up to take her from Potter's side," Pansy corrected then smiled. "She's a book nerd researcher sort, Madam LeStrange. She found shields for others to learn. She found ancient defense texts for him to study in. She makes Weasley calm down. She makes Potter focus on things other than You-Know-Who. I'm actually a bit scared of her mind because she's the sort to run for office and change the world."

Bellatrix grimaced, slapping Pansy again. "He's your Lord, you call him such in my presence."

"He's your lord," she corrected, staring at her. "Even if you kill me, I'll bow to no mudblood. Even one that could torture me. Or would enjoy torturing me for knowing his secret. Most of us are going to try to marry out-country for better pure blood to join with ours. Then we'll get strong enough to have an actual pureblood movement done by purebloods."

She grabbed Pansy by the hair, making her yell as she yanked it backwards. "He's powerful enough to remake the world himself, young girl." She let it go and gave it a shove.

Pansy panted, staring at her. "He's killed most of our bloodlines," she sneered. "Yours. Mine, Goyle's, Malfoy's. Almost none of us are going to have more than one kid, and half of us are so weak we'll have squibs. There won't be any more purebloods if we keep going that way. He's *wasted* dozens of purebloods just for his fun and games!

"He killed Lucius Malfoy for no reason! He could have fathered another child on someone not Narcissa. My father was rendered infertile due to his crucio'ing him for no reason other than he was two minutes early for a meeting." She sneered at her.

"The Parkinson family will bow to no mudblood, even a powerful one. We are pure and we are staying pure. We will help and promote pureblood superiority. We'll make sure we're on top again. But until we're having kids to match up against the eight muggle born to one pureblood kids born, we're going to die out. And he's making sure of it by taking us out. Your only male relative died due to him."

"He turned on Voldemort."

"Probably because he realized that he wasn't a pureblood. No Black would ever bow to a non-pureblood! Would Arcturus and your bloodline allow that?"

Bellatrix thought about that while hitting Pansy again. "My mother and aunt didn't know." She hit her again. "Be more respectful."

Pansy spit her blood at her feet. "I respect those who earn it. Purity doesn't equal virtue." She stared at her. "I got better grades and negated my mother's reach into my life already. You went along with yours." She got slapped again and yelled. "Well, that proves nothing." She sneered. "The Parkinson family will not bow to any mudblood. Or any no-blood."

"I can kill you," Bellatrix offered smugly.

Pansy shrugged. "Then do that and take out another family. You've helped him kill off half of us. I guess that's one way to make sure there's no purebloods ever again. Or at least for generations until today's mudbloods breed pure for long enough."

Bellatrix huffed. "That's not good, child."

"I'm fine with who I am. So are the other students in Hogwarts. We all know who he really is. We have the rolls of former students we can look through if we're curious. I looked up my mother and she only took two OWLs and three NEWTs." She grimaced. "I've already surpassed her. I'm going to marry a pureblood from the Middle East probably."

Bellatrix stared at her. Then nodded. "If you live that's not a bad plan. If you live."

She smiled. "If you kill me, you're wasting another pureblood family. Is that what the Black family stands for?"

"No," she admitted. "But we're on top."

"Are we? The top students in the school are mudbloods and Draco."

She grimaced. "He's a bit weird."

"The spirit in the Malfoy family ring hated himself over mating with a veela consort."

"Oh, that reason." She nodded. "I remember Narci's problem." She huffed. "That figures."

"Everyone wants him to mate with Dumass. Who never cared about purity in mates, but they're scary powerful. There's a witch up at the school who's in detox. She went to black magic to get the hellmouth taint out of her." Bellatrix looked confused. "She's helping a slayer in California with the Dumass heir.

"That witch is powerful. She was leaking magic all over the school. We had to put up shields against her leaking as they detoxed her. And she doesn't use a wand. She's one of those wicca ones that we think are so much weaker. She plays with elemental powers and we think they're weaker? Dumass knows about that. He's been out there for years."

"We went to gather an artifact. The area had a problem against magic."

"That's the hellmouth," Pansy said with a smile. "It's a hole that leaks energy from the center of the universe. It opens into a portal to other realms, some hell realms. There's all sorts of demons from other realms hiding out there. He's studied all that. And they want him to align Malfoy to him."

"And Granger," she said smugly.

"And Potter, who's his grandson from the darker gossip chains. Because that's not Xander Harris. It's Alexander Dumass and Dumbledore was the one who cursed him to deage him and link him out there." Bellatrix stared at her oddly. She nodded. "It's not well known but we lifted Potter's journal to read a few weeks back to see what he was planning to make sure the younger students in the house could go home safely."

"Why would you care?"

"Because Slytherins look out for each other and ourselves. Because if too many of us fall, there's no more purebloods and all that we've accomplished and fought for is gone. All that you've fought for is gone."

Bellatrix stared at her then nodded once. "That's wise but not smart."

Pansy grinned. "True but I'm seventeen. I should be smart but not wise. Wisdom comes with age."

LeStrange laughed but nodded. "True. Life teaches you much wisdom if you live it." She stared at her. "You'll marry and create purebloods?"

"If I can carry more than one, gladly. There's a whole lot of families that are dying off and have titles. We can donate an heir if one needs one." She smiled. "I heard about your plot. One of them will be adopted by the Crosswinds."

Bellatrix looked satisfied. "They were a good family."

"They still are. One of the cousins is still around and infertile. An older lady. She'll raise an heir."

"Good. I appreciate that." She moved closer. "You could do much for us."

"Then give us a pureblood leader we can follow. One who wants us to become stronger by enhancing our bloodlines and skills. One who wants us to study hard and rewards us for doing the things we have to do to prove we're better than someone like Granger. Granger took twelve NEWTs when she took hers early. All she tried."

Bellatrix looked disgusted. Pansy nodded with a grin. "I took the three I tried early to make myself a legal adult. She took twelve. I'll take more when I take the rest this year. She'll probably try a few more at the normal time. Then she's off to muggle college and probably won't be coming back to us. Her children may but she's stated a few times she doesn't want them at Hogwarts."

"She probably has some hidden squib in her past."

"Could be," Pansy agreed. "I haven't checked. She's not wanting to date one of us."

"Not Weasley?"

"No. They get along well enough but no. He's got a temper. She likes books. He doesn't like to study anything, even his homework. He's nothing like his older brothers."

Bellatrix nodded. "Sometimes boys grow up."

"He's looking to possibly follow Bill into cursebreaking but Bill got great grades. He's going to marry sometime in the next year from rumors. There was a warning about his wedding."

Bellatrix frowned. "Seers? Like my great-aunt?"

"And Dumass."

"Eww."

"He's a cursebreaker and he's studied what he found in the tombs. He's a lot like Granger but he's a pureblood as far as I know. Though his family doesn't pay much attention to that."

"No, they didn't." She grimaced. "And they have unicorns."

She smiled. "He got Ginny Weasley to escort two mares and a foal up to the school to mate with our male unicorn to make him quit pouncing the students." Bellatrix laughed at that, swatting her gently on the cheek. "He was a bit warped and kept picking on the second year boys too. The foal got killed during an attack a few months back but one mare's pregnant and the other's been in heat and trying the centaurs."

"Interesting." She smiled at her. "The Master will be pleased about that news. He does so like unicorns."

"That's gross," she told her. "Magic has a balance. We need pure to balance out the dark. And it's a nasty death when you die of the poisoning it gives you according to the novels."

"He'll survive long enough."

"Will the rest of us?"

"I haven't decided yet," she admitted, staring at her. "You're amusing, Pansy Parkinson."

"I do try," she admitted dryly. Then she smiled. "You're scary, you're slightly evil, and you like to torture people. I can look up to that in some ways but I won't ever do anything to hurt the few purebloods we have left. Like unicorns, there's not enough of us left to fully breed easily to keep us going without going overseas."

"You could take my spot some year."

"I will bow to no mudblood. Even if forced. May my line die if I bow to a mudblood." She stared at her. "Which I'm sure you can do," she admitted at the curious look. "I wish you wouldn't. I have plans and things I have to do. I'm going to offer my womb to Graveson. They have no sons and the only daughter is weak thanks to a blood cancer."

"They could use carried on." She stared at her. "The other students?"

"We share information that's important. Especially since your master turned on one of the top blooded families by taking out Lucius Malfoy. He proved he wasn't loyal to us. Why should we be loyal to him?"

Bellatrix hummed. "You're brave and stupid. I don't know which is worse."

"I'm cunning as all Slytherins are," she corrected smugly. "I know myself and my place in this universe. I know what I must do to prove that my blood is superior and my heirs have even better chances at that. I won't let us die off on my watch. But you can't keep killing purebloods. We're too rare as is. There's only seventeen pure families left. Yours is in the hands of a three-quarters blood."

"Potter's half."

"His maternal grandfather is Dumass," she said dryly. "He's three-quarters."

"Oh, I didn't think about that." She studied the young one. Clearly still scared of her, which thrilled her. "You could have carried one of my children."

"That would mean I'd never make a good marriage contract. Ask me when I've had at least two heirs." She smirked. "Then we'll see if I can carry one for you and the Black family."

Bellatrix nodded. "That could help a lot. My great-aunt would be pleased."

"I heard about her from the Gryffindor boys. Who were very upset and creeped out by her."

"She is a bit wild. Then again, she's a vampire." She smirked.

"That gives her powers that we don't have. It's too bad she can't pass those into the bloodlines again."

"True. It would be nice. I wonder if I can steal them from her to do that." She considered it long enough that an auror burst in on her. "Damn it!" She fired on her then fled.

Pansy got set free. "Thank you," she said quietly. "I need to go be in private for a moment."

"There's a bathroom you can lock yourself in to shake and cry or whatnot back at the office," the female auror told her. "Do we need to get you to a healer?"

"No, she hit me but didn't curse me. We talked about pureblood politics. How they're the reason there's so few of us left." She got led off, going to the bathroom to shake, cry, and pee first, then gave a statement. Then she went home to recuperate and hide. Her mother sneered but oh well. She was Voldemort's mistress. She let her mother have the check she had on her lover as she went up to her suite to lock herself inside.

"Excuse me?" her mother demanded. "Where did you find this drivel?" she demanded, stomping up the stairs.

"Ministry records, Mother." She opened her door. "I just had a talk about pureblood politics with a LeStrange. I need to rest." She shut the door and went to hide in her closet for a bit with her cat.

Her mother stomped off to go look that up herself; if so something had to be done.

***

Philip Callahan looked at the two morons who had captured him for daring to pray during confession. He had stood up to make them quit trying to kill the other priest, which had pissed the man off. Oh well. Now he was tied to a chair staring at a few idiot purebloods in masks and robes.

"Do you think I'm scared of your sort?" he asked them. "Last war, I helped take out a few of you." They cursed him and he breathed through it then nodded. "Figures. Proves a weak soul," he said. "I can suffer just as much as Jesus did, and for better reasons."

"Our Master wants to know where the well is," the one on the right sneered, leaning closer.

Philip headbutted him. "He may be your master but the one I serve said that no one needs such things for a good life," he said simply, staring at him. The other tried to curse him and missed somehow. At point blank range. He noticed who had walked in and then at the idiot. "It's not here. It was moved. The Church had it moved."

"They said it's not when we asked in London's high priests," the one trying to curse him sneered.

"Pity they're out of the loop then," Philip said blandly. The other one cursed him and that one took but he could live through it. Of course, the one who came in zapped them both and eased the curse on him. He panted as he came down. "Thanks, Greg."

"Welcome, Philip." He got him free and helped him to a pew. "Lay there for a minute. Take the painkiller." Philip winced. "I don't give a damn if it does break your vows. Regular meds won't cure that." He made him drink the potion then went to search them and see who they were. "Huh." He grinned and waved.

"So, you wanted me back in the UK so hard?" he asked with a smirk. One tried to raise his wand but his hand fell off thanks to Greg's prior spell. "Yeah, some of us studied a lot better than you did, Harvic." He smirked, walking over to check the other priest, who was tied up and gagged. He undid the gag first. "Hey, are you all right?"

"Who're you?" he demanded.

"I went to school with Philip." He grinned. "I came to get advice but I have really great timing today apparently." He got him out of the ropes. "Are you okay? Can I call you an ambulance?"

"No, son, I'll be fine. Philip was right, I can withstand it. They didn't do half of what they did to him. Go minister to your friends."

"Let me have someone come get these two morons." He changed them into mice and created a cage out of a hymnal then put it into his pocket. He helped Philip sit up, staring at him. "So, I'm confused."

"Go talk to Emilia, Greg," he said bluntly, staring at him. "Quit dancing, have the big boy panties talk and all that, and bring her back to Vegas with you. I'm sure Grissom will learn to put up with her being bouncy and happy." Greg grinned at that, shaking his head. "Not her?"

"Nosy friends."

"There's no Ministry in the US."

"I know but we do have uptight purity groups roaming around."

Philip nodded. "They're not judicial. If they try stuff, point out you were attacked at work and have to tell something." He rubbed his head. "Someone's coming in. I can feel the magic."

"That's probably Emilia." She walked in looking pissed off. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, Pookie. What happened?"

"Harvic and Todd were here talking to Philip about the well. Tied up the other priest. Tried to make Philip suffer or break his vows."

"If he had, they would've died. Horribly probably." She looked at Philip then did a healing spell. He huffed. "Suck it up," she told him, cracking up the other priest. "Even super priests need help sometimes. If that's a healing spell it is. Oh fucking well, Philip." She kissed him on the cheek. "Don't make me bring out the pictures of you in third year in the smurf pajamas you got sent by someone." He blushed, ducking his head. She smiled at the other priest. "We'll make sure to tell them you don't remember any of this."

"Thank you, lass. Take Philip with you? He should be safer."

Philip scowled. "I'm plenty safe enough here but I need to protect the others."

"You can't do that if you're not using the gifts God gave you."

"The Church said I can't. Made me vow."

The priest nodded. "We've all noted that sometimes the Church has an agenda that's not God's, Philip. Usually that's against women but in your case, God gifted you with that magic stuff. He wanted you to use it to protect others. He doesn't hand out gifts to make you give them up for His service and mourn the loss. You've already lost enough to mourn.

"Now, go fix all that. If they ask, you confessed that you had anger at those sort. Which, I honestly do too. They're not living up to God's will by any means." He stared at the younger priest. "If any bother you about it, you can confess and give it up again later, after you guys are all safer again. Now, scoot! Before I tell the Widows!"

He pointed. Philip snorted but did let his buddies take him with them. The priest went to pray for the health and safety of his fellow priest and his friends. The world didn't need another world war.

***

Greg smiled as he walked into the auror office. "Hi, I'm CSI Sanders, out of the LVPD in the US. I ran into a few morons." He handed over the cage with a grin. "The hymnal came from Father Philip Callahan's church but he's safely with us at the moment."

The junior auror looked at the cage then at him. "What's an LVPD?"

"Las Vegas PD, kid." He stared at him. "I'm like an investigative auror."

"Oh." He nodded. "Let me tell the higher ups so they can see if there's any questions." He went to do that with the cage.

Tonks came back with him. "CSI?"

"It's like being the auror who does the investigative testing." He grinned. "I'm a DNA and now a field tech."

"Oh, cool," she said with a nod. "Who were they?"

"Father Philip named one Todd and one Harvic. If they're who they were when we were in school, they're idiots and were wearing robes." He changed them back with a smirk. "Sorry about the missing appendages but I wasn't going to let them hit helpless people again." He winked and left them with her.

She looked at those two, nodding. "Wow, he was nice to you two. No wand hands." She took them to book them in. "CSI Sanders out of Las Vegas' police handed them over. Said they had bothered Father Philip Callahan?"

Bones choked. "Greg Sanders? The Wizard of Blood?" she asked. Tonks shuddered. "He's a potions person, Tonks."

"Oh, dear. Well, no wonder they lost their hands." She looked at them. They shrank away from her. "What's a CSI?"

"From what I understand, the ones under Marquess in Mysteries. The ones who tell you who was the one who cast the spell or hex."

"Oh!" She nodded. "That makes sense then." She walked off, leaving it with her. She looked that guy up in the Ministry records. A potions master of good record and skills. Reported having left England and the school to get away from Voldemort wanting him for potential alchemy skills. "Oh, shit," she muttered. She looked up Philip Callahan because she had heard that name before. "Huh. Why did he need the help?"

One of the older aurors looked over her shoulder. "Priests have to snap their wands and give it all up as part of their vows," he said.

"Oh." She nodded at that. "I didn't know that."

"It's part of the Church's hatred of us as far as we know." He patted her on the arm. "What's going on?"

"A CSI Sanders," she said, letting him see that name. "Showed up with two mice he changed back to death eaters. Said they attacked Callahan."

"That figures. There was an attack up there a few weeks back. They had a special artifact that held souls stuffed into the church up there by their people."

"That makes sense. Now it's gone?"

"Yeah. We were told they had it moved somehow by someone who'd understand why."

"Great of 'em." She went to talk to them about what they had been planning on doing. The name they complained about she knew something about. She was not the veela to mess with. That made it very interesting.

***

Philip walked into a diocese in Washington State, up by Blair in Cascade. "Is Father Michaels in please?" he asked politely. "I need some counseling."

"I'll see," the receptionist said, calling back there. He came to get him to bring him back to the office. "Father."

"Father," he said with a nod. "Which one are you?"

"Callahan," he said. He sat down, staring at him. "You and I share a gift."

The older father winced. "That's a problem in many ways, my son."

"Like you, I had to vow to give it up." The older father sat down. "But the war's restarted, Father. Where I'm stationed has been raided twice."

"Are the villagers all right?"

"Yes, so far. The first got fought off by some school friends of mine. Who volunteered before I could ask. The other they tried me to get the same artifact. Which I went around the Church to have moved when the dioceses said it was safe up there and it's not." He stared at him. "But they also tried to torture the other priest I serve with."

"That's a hard thing, Father Callahan." He stared at him. "God does ask the non-impossible of us."

"When is it okay to break our vows to protect others? I wouldn't for myself but I couldn't let them try to kill him if they had started to. A punch in the nose only does so much."

The other priest considered it. "It's never right to break a vow to God, Father. You and I both know that. It's also not right to let people suffer unjustly for daring to exist." Philip nodded. "I had to break a few vows myself over the years to help the homeless I've worked with. Including a law once.

"That one went bad later on but I had gotten him the help he needed so he was more stable and not apt to go flash women in a mall." He grimaced. "The police agreed he needed the help and he should stay there, and warned me. I pointed out if was something worse I wouldn't have helped him. But I can see that quandary. Do you have the skills to revive your wand?"

"Mine's in my heritage box." He cleared his throat. "I could do something without it. Which would still break the vows."

"It would." He grinned with a nod. "God would hate you letting others suffer and die more than breaking the vow if that's what you're asking." Philip nodded, staring at him. "Though I can't absolve you for that if you wanted to confess."

"No. Not yet. With the war coming it'll become pertinent probably."

"You could ask to be reassigned."

"And let my family possibly be attacked?" He stared at him. "Even if not, it'd let others be attacked in my place."

"True. God doesn't like it when we become a martyr. But he knows it's better we do it than others suffer in our places. Like Jesus, we suffer in the place of others suffering sometimes. Wars often cause such." He stared at him. Then nodded once. "You should do what you have to do, what your conscience and God tells you to do, Father.

"God had his moments of hating others and wars himself. Jesus was all about loving those around you for being themselves before him. God, being wiser and older, knew that sometimes people aren't good and wars happen. He laid out how to handle a war. We can only follow their words as guidance. The Holy Trinity would never want you to let others suffer in your place nor would they want you to let them be tortured."

"That's what I was thinking but I wanted guidance." He stared at him. "Must I wait? Can I help those stopping things?"

"That's a more tricky question," he said with a grin. "I'm glad there are others stopping it this time. Not just one schoolboy."

"He's got friends and some from the last war have come out of the woodwork ta help. As I was drawn out ta help him." He grimaced. "It seems wrong to go start a fight."

"It is. But if you find one you can protect people and help finish it and them to find themselves a place where they can find God. He's often found in jails."

Philip smiled. "I've noticed he seems to visit them frequently." He stood up. "Thank you."

"Welcome, Father. I wish you much fun with a shopping trip."

"I know just the guy." He bowed and left to go find a wand shop in Diagon Alley. He found someone threatening the old man and kicked them in the butt, knocking them over. "Quit harassing the elderly," he sneered. "God would hate that if I let it go on." The man ran away. He looked at Olivander.

"Father," he said smugly. "Back?"

"I don't want to be but sometimes humanity has to be preserved and ministered to, Mr. Olivander." He stepped forward. "I can't let others suffer in my place."

"It's a hard decision to make."

Philip shook his head. "No, 'tis not. God would hate me for letting others be killed when I could stop some of it."

"I can see that, though it's not my religion. Was yours snapped?"

"In a box with my last street clothes. They wait on me to retire or die off to be sent to my family."

"Very well then, I can find you something to take her place." He got what he wanted and came back. "The rumors about what you've done without your wand are fantastic," he said gently, smiling at him. Philip grinned back. "Try the second first. It's a tree from the Dead Sea area and veela core like your last one."

Philip tried it and it still worked. He paid and went to find a few books to refresh himself. Then he went to find Nick to note he was going to help. He found them in the office talking about the current war when he appeared. Derek Rayne moaned, staring at him. He nodded, looking at Nick. "God would hate it more if I let people suffer when I could solve it."

Nick patted him on the arm. "Open your shields to us again, Philip." Philip let down the protections on his Bane tattoo. Nick grinned. "Welcome home."

"For now," he warned. "I'm still vowed ta God."

"You are," Nick agreed. "We understand that." He patted him again. "Want to go help the kids? Their languages teacher is going to go traveling for a few weeks before the final war."

He blinked. "I could protect the school," he agreed with a nod. "Thank ya."

"Welcome. Go for it. The new headmaster's patiently normal."

"I've met." He nodded at Derek. "Derek."

"How long?"

"I went ta school with the lug," he said with a head nod at Nick. "Used ta prank him often." He grinned. "God called after schooling." He disappeared, going to offer his assistance through Methos. Methos sent up word that he had a world class languages person who could fill in if the teacher wanted to go traveling for a bit. The headmaster met Philip that night. He could be a teacher and go back to his parish on sundays to minister.

***

Hermione came back from her first language lesson confused. "Why am I attracted to men I can't possibly touch?" she asked the other girls, who looked at her oddly. "Father Philip, the languages substitute?"

One sighed. "He is cute." Hermione nodded, flopping down on her bed. "Lockhart?"

"Yeah, I thought it was just being in the middle of puberty." She grimaced. "I know I can't even tempt him. But he is adorable." The others nodded they agreed.

The new teacher was young, pretty, and untouchable. He was polite, enforced manners in the classroom and the halls, had gotten onto a few bullies about how their actions were looking horrible on their families, and promised if a kid needed to talk about family problems he'd been teaching for years so he'd probably heard it all before. He was like the most perfect teacher and pretty to stare at.

***

McGonagall looked at Philip after dinner that night. "The girls are very amused."

"Seen it before," he said dryly with a grin. "My vows are solid to God, Minerva."

"Good. Don't let them test them either."

"I won't. Haven't yet." He shrugged, walking off grinning at her. "It could be worse."

"True, you could have them already hitting on you."

"I've had the girls and their parents doing it in the past. I warned mine if they tried I'd give essay tests."

"Poor lad." She sighed, going to her own classroom to work on some grading.

They'd handle whatever they had to handle with him and the others helping.

Though if she saw more Banes she might start having flashbacks to all the pranks that had gone sideways. Including a few where she had ended up naked.

***

Ron looked at the helper for herbology the next day, giving him a odd look. "You're..."

"Blair Sandburg, Weasley." He grinned. "I went here too and I loved herbology. Even if a few people hated that I loved herbology." He smirked a bit. "I see she finally got rid of Mortimer."

"Mortimer?" Neville asked, looking around Ron's shoulder at him then making Ron move out of the way. "Blocking the doorway, Ron. What was Mortimer, sir?"

"I'm Blair Sandburg." He shook his hand then pulled out a photo album to show him. "That was Mortimer. It was Emilia's sixth year project plant. Which she gave some super grow to by accident. Mixed pretty strong too. Greg nagged her for weeks for not asking him to brew it for her.

"So Mortimer went from a small, gentle little flowering vine plant from Italy to Mortimer." He grinned at the student's shocked and horrified look. "Yes, it really loved Professor McGonagall. It loved to pet her and suck on her neck for her, and a few times tried to flirt by picking her up. So if she sees me she might cry." He winked, putting the photo album away.

Ron blinked at him. "You were in the same group as Father Philip and the one helping the twins above me?" he asked.

"I certainly was and I helped Tipsy refine her sense of humor." He smirked at him. "Why do you ask?"

"Harry would love to hear stories about his family."

"His mom got pranked once by accident and whipped. Tipsy's. Ass," Blair said fondly with a grin. "Totally street brawled her until Tipsy promised to never do it again and only hit James and the boys." Ron burst out laughing. "Seriously. Tipsy apologized but Lily was not happy with the living unicorn plant that made her mount it and ride it around semi-naked for an hour before the spells wore out."

"We can't even get near that level of spells," Neville complained.

Blair grinned. "Sorry we ruined it for you, Neville."

Neville pouted, looking at Ron. "It would've made your brothers worse."

"They probably hid all the books once they realized they liked pranks," he agreed with a nod. "Hey, Harry!" he called. Harry came wandering in, half asleep. "This is Blair. He went to school with your parents."

Harry beamed at him. "Do you have any stories?"

"Yeah, a few, and pictures." He waved the kids over to see them. Even if they were in Slytherin they could learn something from the stories. Harry giggled through most of them. It was good for people to see him relaxed again. He hadn't been that happy since his first year.

***

Tipsy showed up that night, staring at the boys. "It was mean of him to tell you about that unicorn plant," she said with a grin. "But your mom was a bit of a nose-in-the-air about pranks girl that year. Your dad had pissed her off completely a few times. They all learned that Lily Evans had a temper. Which she could use." She smirked. "We adored your mom and nearly stole her from James a few times. A few of the girls wanted her to be their wife instead." She winked at Hermione. "You, young lady, are very special."

"Of course I am." She smiled. "But why am I special to others than my parents?"

"Because you could break Philip's records on NEWTs. You did his OWL one."

Hermione smiled. "I'm nearly there now. I only need three more to break his record or two to tie. I'm trying five."

"Good girl." She patted her on the head. "Philip would be proud that someone finally did, and complain it took another twenty years." She winked and went up to the head table, making Snape moan. "We're looking at a few things, like castle defense, this week. That's why Blair's helping out there. Though he did promise on his magic not to regrow Mortimer." McGonagall moaned at that, holding her head. She grinned. "You're so lucky those twins didn't find our books hidden in the library."

"I had Irma move them," she said. "To the Restricted Section."

"I found them," Hermione called with a grin and a wave. "I gave them a copy of one idea so they'd use it on themselves and quit bothering me while I studied."

Tipsy giggled at that, smiling at her. "We did that many times. Didn't we, Severus?"

"Yes, so I could make Greg study other things," he said dryly. "How many of you despicable beings are around right now?"

"Most of us are here and there." She waved a hand in the air with a grin. "Greg's still in Vegas tonight. He'll be back up here this weekend. But who do we turn the *box* of pixie lust potion we found dried out there?" She held up the box she made visible and grow in her hand.

Snape's eyes went wide as he started at it until it was full size. "Where?"

"Greenhouse two. Under the back sticker plants. Blair's planting those around the barn this week," she told the herbology teacher, who smiled and nodded. "And some of his other babies." She looked at Severus. "I've only touched it a few places so someone can find out who else touched it."

"I touched it last week to throw it out," Hermione called. "Found it in the hidden room beside Defense. In that room's closet. I heard noise so went to look. Found that and a mouse that was having at it with a bunny for some reason." She sighed. "I told them if they were animagus to disappear before I figured out who they were and tossed the box out without looking inside it. It was that stupid potion?"

"It sure is, and it's dried down to the dust form." She grinned at her. "If they're animagus they're probably okay by now." She looked around then at Severus, who carefully took it to look inside and moaned. "Exactly. There's a few other plants out there we don't think Madam Sprout planted. Like the weed."

"What weed?" she demanded. "Of which family?"

"The smoking family," Tipsy told her, earning a scowl. "Seriously. Half grown. Greenhouse one, behind it in the strawberries and sunflowers. Found a few."

"I'll be burning that tonight," she ordered. "Have Sandburg pull them for me."

"Of course." She looked at the headmaster with a grin. "I'm a Bane."

"I've heard of your group and from what I've heard you named yourselves well," he said dryly. Tipsy smirked and winked then looked at Severus. "So...."

"I will figure that out and solve it," Snape assured her. "Before we're all dosed with the dratted thing."

"Okay. Have fun. I'll tell you if I find any more out there." She skipped off. "Ron, tell Bill about the vision? He's ignored it we think."

"I can do that later." He ate a bite, smiling to himself. Yeah, she fit in well with the twins.

"Who is that?" one of the fourth year girls asked quietly.

"Tipsy Ramvette. She owns a joke shop and is working with the twins on a few things."

"Oh." She nodded. "She went here?"

"Yup. Around Harry's parents' time." The girl nodded at that, sitting back up to get back to eating.

Harry grinned. "They told us stories about our parents earlier."

Neville looked up. "Madam Sprout, can I go help them?"

"Of course, Neville. My advanced students can all volunteer to help Sandburg and the others. Just don't learn from them before we have more like Mortimer." McGonagall smothered a big sound by stuffing her mouth. Madam Sprout patted her on the hand.

"What was Mortimer?" Luna asked.

"Do *NOT* ask, Miss Lovegood," McGonagall ordered.

"Sure." She grinned and dug in again. She'd go interview the helpful ones later for her father's paper. She was sure he could use the interviews. Plus she'd learn some neat things.

***

Draco looked at his cousin that night, shaking his head. "Your friends are a bit nutty."

She grinned and nodded. "It kept me sane for years, Draco." She patted him on the cheek. "You gotta accept some people are just like that and that can make them fun."

"I suppose. I hope we never have that unicorn incident."

"No, I'm pretty sure Dumbledore took out all the books that we used for that afterward, just to make sure." She grinned at him. "None of you learn how to animate things."

"We heard it was because of some movie with a mouse who was a sorcerer," Pansy quipped. "Or so said my mother."

"Like the Sorcerer's Apprentice?" Emilia guessed. Pansy shrugged. "Yeah, I can maybe see that." She nodded. "Where did they store that book they confiscated?"

"Flitwick has it somewhere. Is Madam Ramvette looking for it?"

"Yup. Her and the twins. They're just like that." She grinned and nodded. "They can probably turn most pranks into something to help during a battle too."

"How would you do that?" he asked. "So I can avoid it?"

"Are you going to be at the battle?"

"I hope not but if they come here...." He shrugged. "Again."

"Point." She smirked. "Let's see. Last time Ethan Rayne made us little fetishes that let out demonic smoke that ate people. That was a distance weapon you threw near them. We had some smoke canisters. We had a few that created holes in the ground under people....." She smirked at him.

"The twins made a portable swamp when they left," Pansy said, coming over to look at her. "A lot of us in the house have decided that if there's going to be a pureblood movement, there should be a pureblood leading it. We'll breed for the next one." She walked off.

"She told Bellatrix LeStrange that," Draco said quietly. "When she captured her for a few minutes."

"I hope Pansy's okay."

"Apparently the aunt only hit her a few times before an auror broke in."

"That's good. Your aunt's nutty."

"Yes she is," he sighed with a nod. "And rather evil. And that vampire great-great-aunt thought she'd make a great one to follow her."

"People like Bellatrix do make good vampires. They're already monsters."

"Aren't you related?" one of the first years trying to listen in asked.

Draco looked at him. "She's a cousin on my mother's maternal side, but she's not like the Black side of the family."

"I rejected all that bullshit," Emilia said with a smirk. "It's not life affirming and it won't make me happy. Our mother wasn't into that pureblood stuff either. Only Narcissa's mother was of that part of the family. We learned that being too pure of blood means that you have inbred people who're weak or problematic. I had a brother that didn't survive his birth due to the birth defects inbreeding gave him." The first year winced. "It happens a lot when there's too pure of a line."

"I've never even heard of a birth defect."

"That's because we don't talk about it as a community," Emilia told him. "We don't talk about kids so deformed that they'll never be able to grow up. Or able to eat on their own. Or the ones born with brain defects. They just mysteriously don't survive the birth." He slumped. "If the blood's too pure, you get a whole lotta that, kid.

"Including jaws that won't close right, missing parts or extra parts. Funny growth things. Bleeding disorders. Brain damage from the inbreeding. For the sake of the wizarding world, marry someone you're not related to. Even if they're a pureblood from somewhere else. The ones in the UK are so inbred there's no hope of it straightening out without that. You need at least four or five generations since your bloods mixed and the longer the better."

"I'll have to talk to my mother about that if she wants me to marry someone particular." She nodded. "Did he actually survive?"

"No, she went into early labor because he had died. I have a sister who's okay but she's off doing things because the gifts never manifested in her."

"Wow." He tipped his head down to think about that. "Is she magical?"

"Yeah." She nodded with a grin. "She went to a day school in Albania because we were living near there then due to Dad's work. I went here because we were back here for work things."

"Oh, I didn't know that you could do that."

"Yeah, if you're working somewhere else, you decide if your kids go to school there or here, and here may not be an option since you're living there. She really loved Albania's system. She learned a lot, got an MBA from a muggle college. Now she works in a big company doing something paperworkish." She shrugged. "She's happy with that. Gave me a niece who's fascinated by birds right now but she's four."

"Magical too?" Draco asked.

"Yeah. Fully. She got some animal speech gifts somehow from her father's side apparently. We don't have it, that's for certain." She grinned at him. "She charms the birds to come down to be petted."

Draco shook his head with a sigh. "Does she have an owl yet?"

"No, she doesn't like owls. She fusses each time there's mail. We think because they eat other birds."

"Huh." He nodded. "Kids are weird."

"We were once weird kids too," she quipped with a grin for him. "Including your very uptight mother. By the way, ran into her the other day and sneered for you."

"Thank you. I'll probably get to do it again myself soon."

"Probably. She was talking about heading back this way."

"Well, she'll have to find a house for herself then. I'll let Potter know. He said he'd lock her from the Black properties if she gave him hell. Or me hell I suppose."

She patted him on the arm. "You can always be better than your parents, Draco. You don't have to live in their shadows. You're not Lucius' magical clone, for all that you look like one." Draco smirked at that. "Seriously. People asked your mother if she conceived in ritual." Draco shuddered and shook his head. "Yeah. You do look a lot like your father."

"So does Potter."

"He does. That's a family trait as far as we can tell. Most of his relatives, even the ones with lighter colored hair, had that same messy hair."

"Interesting. Trait or imposed?"

"That I don't know," she admitted with a grin. "Never studied it. That's something to ask someone like Dumass."

"Others have said I should consider him, ones who're not Ministry and are powerful."

"Armwrench?" she guessed. He nodded, staring at her. "Why?" He leaned over to hiss in her ear. She nodded. "Yeah, you could be. He's right. He's very correct you could if you were interested in him. He's a good fit for you all the way around. If the Ministry hadn't pushed you towards him, would you have thought about him?"

He considered that. "Perhaps. He seems...hurt."

"He is. By all that shit that went on, all that out in Sunnydale, everything. It's built and sometime it'll have to snap. At that time, if he's got someone who's willing to help him hold through it and work through it, he'll come out okay. If not, we're not sure. He'll probably die in the field instead. Some wrong move that can get any cursebreaker."

"I hadn't thought of that. They really do want me with him. Or Granger."

"Or both. He could use both according to Anya's stories."

"Yes, I talked to her at length about their relationship." He winced. "For over an hour."

She giggled, giving him a quick hug. "She's just like that. That's part of who she was since she's over eleven hundred years old." She sat back up with a grin. "To her, that's important."

"She's very ...blunt."

"Yeah, she is." She smiled and nodded. "She's pissed she didn't get her job back too." She shrugged. "She'll date some shitback and have him dump her for a bad reason. That'll make her scorned again and she'll probably go back to her former job."

"What did she do?" the first year asked.

"She was a vengeance demon. The one that hurt women called upon to punish their lovers and husbands." Emilia grinned. "For over a thousand years. Then she got fired for losing her power center."

"So she was human? And what's a power center?"

"It's the thing that marks you in your job. It holds your powers and seal of office."

"Oh." He nodded, looking disturbed. "So just any fight can call her?"

"The woman calls out to her with a wish. And no, not just any fight. A woman beaten by her spouse. A woman whose husband cheated. A woman hurt by her marital partner can call out to her with a wish. She'll show up, prompt them to wish it to her, and if she wants to she can grant it. Anya's a fierce asshole over some of her wishes.

"She's real creative. The one in the UK a few decades back, she turned him into a corset. His wife hated that he was so clingy and accidentally wished he'd have to only be around her once a week because he was driving her nuts with his clinging. So he became the corset she has to put on once a week.

"She did nicely put an out on that one so once he's had therapy and realizes it he can change back." She grinned. "Her last year of duty, she had one that she turned into a fish. Pretty fish. He's living in a fish bowl I'm told or a family pond." Draco shuddered.

"There's rumors that she turned one into the only flushing toilet in a small village in Central America because the man beat his wife for not putting the toilet seat back up for him. Not sure if she was on duty or not then. She could've just freelanced it for the woman she felt for."

The first year stared at her, eyes wide. "She did what?"

"He beat his wife. She wished him gone, and made the wish for that since he was so weak that he couldn't lift a toilet seat for himself." She stared at him. "Ones like Anyanka were the only justice some women could get in life. There's ones that help victims in war zones too."

"Can just anyone call on them?"

"Yes. She answers for muggles usually. They can't cast their own curses."

"Oh," he said quietly. "Are you one?"

"No." She grinned and shook her head. "I'll never have one called on me either because I'm not mean to my partner. I'd never hurt them intentionally."

"I don't think it's right anyone does that," the first year said quietly, staring around then at her. "Though it's happened."

"I know. I beat the living shit out of a few of the Slytherins in my year because Greg didn't want to beat them himself. Or was stopped from beating them himself. You'd better believe they never did it again." She smirked a bit. "You too can help young women and men with bad boyfriends and girlfriends. All you have to do is care enough to want to help."

"I didn't think about that." He nodded, going up to write his father about that. He came down. "Like a counselor?"

"Yeah, if you want to be. There's not enough in the wizarding world over here. That'll mean a muggle university unless you go internationally. All the way to a doctorate probably. But it's a good career that could be used around here." He nodded, going to add that to his letter. It was an idea for a future career he hadn't looked at before.

Draco looked at her. "We've had a few that someone talked to. Not sure who it was. I thought for sure it was the Weasley twins a few times."

"Probably. They seem the like the defending the damsel sort."

He nodded. "I'd probably say something and get them away from them but I'm not cut out to brawl."

She shrugged. "You can hit some people with books. A few of the females in the Banes can't throw a punch at all but they can sure hurt someone with a book, a bat, a stick, or anything they pick up. Julia, who's the wife of an ambassador, has the cutest daughters that're about Harry's age. I'm hoping they introduce them to him. She took a glove off a suit of armor on the second floor and just whipped one of the Ravenclaws for being a bitch to the first years.

"They were both fifth years. She lost her Prefect pin for it but the kid did report what the idiot had been doing to her and others so that one also lost her Prefect pin and nearly got held back because she got suspended to her house for a month and a half without any access to classes or books outside her schoolbooks." She smirked a bit. "Her housemates weren't pleased she lost them four hundred points." Draco winced at that. "Jules was mad at her."

"I can tell. Did your friend get suspended as well?"

"Detention for a month. The teachers all agreed she was in the right once they saw the statements. Which the kid demanded truth serum for."

"That would prove it." He blinked a few times. "Wow."

"Yeah." She smiled and nodded. "A lot of wow. Some people turn into the house's mother sort or father sort. Some try to and go wrong."

"Granger?" he snorted.

"No, she's doing the right things. That's what mothers should do, Draco. They should encourage, have and give ideas, give help, nag about grades." She smirked at him. "That's what my mother did. Tipsy did a lot of it with us and so did I. Tipsy's twin is a prig and avoided all human contact when she could. Still does."

"She's a twin too?"

"Fraternal. They do not get along."

"Wow." He nodded at that. "People are...interesting."

She grinned and nodded. "Yes they are. That's what makes my job both fun, fascinating, and really hard." He laughed but nodded he understood that. "Let's go over your shielding lessons, kiddo. Just in case we have to see someone shedding magic."

"We did that with that witch from the hellmouth."

"Willow?" she demanded.

"They were detoxing her. The whole school got shields put around things. You could feel her in town according to the gossip."

"Oh, crap. What happened now?"

"You'd have to ask Snape. He has control of her."

"I'll see if I can help Severus later. Let's go over shielding." He nodded, leading her to a quiet area they could work privately in.

***

Emilia ran into the Rosenburgs at a conference. She was there to attend and to speak on the peaceful negotiation process. She was dressed down in jeans and a decent enough t-shirt, and sneakers. The Rosenburgs were in business suits and looked sour. So Emilia could vent on them a bit to prove they were idiots. "Oh, you're Willow's parents," she said with a smile for them. Totally fake but they wouldn't realize. The mother flinched. "I met her recently, helped her with a few issues that were making her detox."

"Detox?" the father demanded. "Why?"

"Well, she got a bit...lost in there. It led to girlfriend abuse." He flinched, shaking his head. "So she's getting help. It's not nice help and he'll never put up with her whining, but she's getting help at least. I had a few talks with her about things."

"Hold on, girlfriend?" her mother demanded. "She's *gay*?"

"Actually I believe Bi. She had a boyfriend first but he left to go study in Tibet after a tragedy. Which led to Willow spending a few weeks drunk and then other things spiraled when she got sober and the stress piled on and it led to girlfriend abuse." She stared at her. "She is getting help."

"Why would she do that? She knows not to be abusive," the father said, glancing around. "We taught her that."

"According to her, she never saw it in person." They both flinched. "You can only learn things that're shown to you that way when you're immersed in them. She said you hadn't seen her since the middle of her senior year. You missed her prom and graduation. Which was good since her graduation had a huge problem."

"We heard about the gas explosion. Was she injured?" the mother demanded.

"No, she and her friends helped remove a lot of civilians when it was attacked. It wasn't a gas explosion. The PD out there covered it up." She went pale, shaking her head. "Xander was really involved in getting people out of the way and Willow helped by making sure the way out wasn't clogged so it was a stampede with injuries from it."

"Oh," the mother said, looking at her husband. "Is she still in Sunnydale?"

"England. Working with a coven in England now and then. Mr. Giles got her to some who were his aunts and the like." She smiled a bit. "They're a bit annoying overall but not bad. The one she's officially under the care of is named Severus Snape. He's not nice."

"Like that book series?" she demanded.

"Based on him actually. He hates those books." She grinned. "Really hates that book series. He wants to find the author to sue her." The parents both slumped. "If you ask Mr. Giles he'll send on letters for you. He used to be the librarian but since they haven't rebuilt the high school he's taken over running the pagan shop in town so he has time to read and things.

She shifted her weight to the side because someone was walking behind her. "The Magic Box is pretty friendly." She walked around them. "I told her if I ran into you I'd tell you she was okay and doing better. She's gotten a hell of a wake up from Severus."

The parents shared a look, going to look up their daughter online. What they knew how to do. And that Mr. Giles. It was weird a non-relative adult would step in to help their daughter that way. Especially a pagan one. They looked up Xander too to see if they could contact him.

He was a bad influence on their daughter but at least he had stuck by her apparently. His parents had no house listed now. He had a phone though so they called and left a message for him to call them later. It was long distance for him but he'd pay for it to talk about Willow they were sure.

***

Xander listened to the message again, then looked at Buffy and Giles, who were shaking their heads. "Yeah, they were always like that," he sighed. "I'll call them later. I'll conveniently forget the time zone thing since they think I'm stupid." He grinned. "After I call to check on how she's doing." He walked off shaking his head. That warned them the Rosenburgs might call them as well. Emilia was coldly snide when she wanted to be apparently. It was nice she had talked to the parents of the witch for him.

Giles cleaned his glasses and shook his head. "She was like that in school as well."

Buffy looked at him. "You went to school with whoever Emilia is?"

"I was a few years ahead of her and her friends group." He smiled a bit. "They were clearly strong together." She nodded, going to workout and not worry about Willow or Tara. She'd ask Xander about Tara later.

***

Tara showed up that night, shaking her head at Angel since she walked into the Hyperion. "The coven really does only pay attention to one aspect of the Goddess," she told Cordelia, who smirked at her. She grinned back. "Letter from Willow?"

She took it. "You're Tara."

"I am Tara." She smiled. "Xander told me to come here to pass over messages. Wesley here?" She held up his. He walked over to take it. She held onto it, staring at him. "The Council is very mad that the coven can't take out Willow," she warned. "They're all complaining. Even with a few different visions showing them dying in a few years." She handed it over.

"Oh, dear. Of course they're not paying attention to that, Tara. They're full of themselves."

She nodded. "I've noticed that. One tried to come onto Dumass property and nearly died from the protections." She smiled. "And then the unicorn I was brushing ran over to stab him in the leg. I had to catch him and make him behave since I didn't need protected."

He blinked a few times. "Unicorns?" he demanded. "Hold on. Where were you?"

"Dumass Glen." She grinned. "You went to the same school Giles went to, didn't you?" He nodded slowly. "Then you should've heard of the Clan Dumass."

"Oh, dear Lord Below," he moaned. "There's some left!"

"Xander."

He blinked then had to sit down. "Xander? Buffy's Xander?" She smiled and nodded. "Oh, no."

"He's the head of the family. The unicorns are starting to come back to safety there." She shrugged. "They're good to cuddle and brush."

"I'm sure they are. They were when I ran into one as a lad." He stared at her. "Why were you there?"

"Being protected from Willow." The ghosts had really worked on her self esteem and trauma. She wasn't as shy anymore. No one stayed so shy when a unicorn stared at them like they were special.

He squeezed his eyes shut. "Does Rupert know?" He stood up again.

"Yeah. And Dru. She came over to visit once. Nearly got staked by Harry but that would've been against the law."

"Yes, it would be as she's a seer." He slumped. "Are you going to Sunnydale?"

"I'm going to visit Joyce." She smiled. "She needs a happy visit." She strolled off. "Have a better night."

"You as well," he called after her, looking at Cordelia, who was studiously reading her own letter. "You knew?" he asked.

She looked up and smiled, nodding. "Yeah, I knew." She went back to the letter. "Xander's got pretty strong magic too. Pretty annoying magic but strong." She smirked at him. "Rupert knew."

He slumped, going to call Rupert while he read the letter. It was a letter of apology from Willow. That was sweet of her. "Rupert, how did I not know that boy was a wizard?" Rupert told him how he didn't realize it, and how he himself didn't realize it until Xander's secret came out. Then he told him. Wesley slumped but heard the words.

"Tara mentioned prophecies about the Council falling in?" Giles read them to him. "Oh, no," he muttered. "That would take seven slayers, Rupert. How on earth can we do that?" He listened to the idea. "Yes, perhaps we can bypass it. There's a what soon afterwards?" He blinked a few times. "Why would they....oh, Merlin," he swore.

"All right. I'll let Angel know. Please do send them down. We do have a fax line here for Cordelia to gather from. Thank you, Rupert." He hung up and went to take something for his headache before writing back to the young witch. She could probably use some friendly notes from people with how she was with the Coven and Severus Snape.

He ran into Angel. "There's two bad prophecies coming up. One's the First Evil taking out the Council and most of the potentials we'll need for the fight against her and the second one, which is an invasion in town thanks to Wolfram and Hart. Rupert will send copies down." He found the bottle of painkiller and took two then went to write to Willow.

"They're going to invade?" Angel demanded.

"Yup," Cordelia called. "Open portal and vomit as one of them noted in the post vision headache report. Dru mentioned it too."

Angel went to talk to her about that. She was still tied to his wall.

***

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