Here's the
sequel to Redemption, so if you haven't read my other fic, Redemption, then I
suggest you go and check it out before starting this! I hope everyone enjoys
this, read and review please! The first few chapters are extremely angsty, but
bear with me!
Disclaimer: I don't own characters or settings in this story. They belong to either JK Rowling or Joss Whedon
Timeline: after season three of Buffy, after book 5 of HP eventually. See the prequel 'Redemption' for a full idea of the timeline.
Premise: After what happened the previous year, Buffy and Sirius return to Sunnydale. However, after a short time Sirius is forced to leave Sunnydale and Buffy.
Two years on Buffy receives a letter that takes her back to England and back into a world that she had left behind her….
Chapter 1 – Prologue
Buffy fell hard onto her back and rolled sideways to avoid the mass of hair and teeth that flew at her. She flipped up and grabbed the creature, tumbling across the ground with it. When they stopped rolling, she pinned its legs and dodged its furious attempts to bite her.
"Now!" she yelled and Sirius Black, standing a
short way off, fired the silver tranquiliser gun, hitting the werewolf with a
dart that made it howl and then droop into a deep slumber.
Buffy Summers disentangled herself from the sleeping werewolf and with the help
of Sirius' extended hand, got up.
"That was close," she said with a
relieved smile. "I wonder what happened to Faith."
As if by magic, the brunette slayer appeared from the forest and joined them in
the clearing.
"Hey B," she said breezily. "Nice work
with Oz."
"Yeah, nice of you to help out," Buffy
remarked and Faith shrugged and grinned.
"Had a starbucks craving, what can I
say?" she replied and Buffy couldn't help but smile. "Besides B, you had Siri
helping you out, you didn't need me."
Faith gathered up the werewolf in her arms and slung it over her shoulders. The three of them began to walk through the forest.
It had been
six weeks since Buffy and Sirius had left England behind them. They had arrived
in Sunnydale upon the back of a hippogriff called Buckbeak, and saying her
friends were surprised was an understatement.
Buffy had settled back into her life in Sunnydale seamlessly. She was living at
home still, now with Sirius, and attending Sunnydale University, which passed
the time though she wasn't sure how far she would take it. She was as much in
love as ever and her life as a slayer was made all the more bearable by the
presence of Sirius in her life.
Faith was another factor in this. She was living with Buffy, Sirius and Joyce.
While Buffy had been away in England, she had lived with Joyce and had come to
regard her as a mother. She had even begun to call her 'mom,' something Buffy
thought she would never live to see. The change in Faith wasn't noticeable on
the surface. She was the same girl in that instance, her choice of clothes was
the same, the love of partying, the wild girl attitude all remained, but she
had softened around the edges. With the help of Buffy, the Scoobies and Joyce,
Faith had changed from and angry girl who blamed everyone around her for her
own mistakes, to a well adjusted woman who was in control of her power.
So all in all, life was rosy for Buffy at that time but, in the true pattern of her life, things did not remain that way.
"A letter from Harry," Sirius remarked when he
and Buffy reached home. Faith had gone to Giles', taking the werewolf with her
so he could be properly restrained.
Sirius opened the piece of parchment
that Harry's owl, Hedwig had brought and began to read it.
Buffy watched him and saw the frown that crossed his brow as he finished the
letter.
"What is it?" she said and Sirius looked up at
her.
"His scar was hurting him a few nights
ago," Sirius said, biting his lip worriedly. "Means that Voldemort's got strong
enough feelings to be affecting Harry. And with what I've heard lately…" He
trailed off and Buffy looked at him carefully.
"You're going to have to go aren't you,"
she said bluntly and he looked up at her in surprise.
"I didn't say that," he protested.
"But you should be saying that," Buffy
said, sitting down at one of the kitchen stools. "He needs you. You said
there's been a lot of rumours going around, some stuff you got from Willy?"
"Yeah," Sirius said reluctantly. "Rumours, a ministry worker going missing where Voldemort was rumoured to be, Mad Eye Moody coming out of retirement, death eaters amassing again…it all points to bad news."
"Then you need to go," Buffy said forcefully.
"You need to be there for Harry, you're all he's got in the way of family."
Sirius looked at her for a long time.
"Come with me," he said finally. Buffy
looked back at him and finally shook her head.
"You know I can't," she said
reluctantly. "Mom's not been well again, and what with school and stuff, I need
to be in Sunnydale right now."
"I can't leave you," Sirius argued.
"I'm not giving you any choice," Buffy
said firmly. "If I don't get you to do this, then Harry could be in trouble. I
need you, but he needs you more. Please." Sirius sighed.
"You're right," he said reluctantly. "I
know you're right." He walked over to her and put his arms around her, resting
his chin on the top of her head.
"God I'm gonna miss you," he said softly
and Buffy felt her eyes tearing up.
"I'm gonna miss you too," she replied
and her voice broke as tears began to fall. He kissed the top of her head.
"I'll have to go tomorrow," he said
gently. "I'll go on Buckbeak. But I'll write as much as I can, I promise."
Buffy nodded, and wiped her eyes. Sirius held onto her for a moment longer
before her began to compose a hurried reply to Harry.
The next
day, all the Scoobies amassed to say goodbye to Sirius. In the short time they
had been in his company, they had come to regard him highly and all understood
why he had to go to his Godson.
Before he went to Buckbeak, Sirius took
Buffy into their room so they could be alone together.
"I got you something," he said softly,
feeling in his pocket. He pulled out a small box and opened it. Buffy gasped,
the box contained a beautiful silver ring made up of two hands, a male and a
female, holding onto one another.
"This is a promise ring," he explained
as he picked it out of the box and slid it on Buffy's finger. "It's promising
that I'll write to you, promising that I'll be with you again sometime soon, promising
that I will never forget you, promising that I'll always be here for you,
promising that someday we'll get married, promising that someday we'll have
kids and promising that we'll grow old together." Buffy was truly touched and
tears rolled down her cheeks.
"Thank you," she said sincerely. "It's
beautiful God, I'm going to miss you. I love you so much."
"I love you too," Sirius replied and his
eyes began to water too. "But we'll be together again soon." They shared a
kiss, dampened by Buffy's tears and then hand in hand went downstairs so Sirius
could mount Buckbeak and fly away.
****TWO YEARS LATER*****
Buffy sighed a heavy sigh as she pushed open the front door after a long nights patrolling. Faith was out somewhere, Buffy didn't know where and she wasn't bothered. She wandered upstairs and pushed her door open to her room. Entering, she flipped on the light switch and a loud hoot startled her from her stupor. An unfamiliar brown owl glared at her from her windowsill and eagerly she moved forward to receive the letter it brought her.
Two years
had taken their toll on Buffy. She had been without Sirius for longer than
either of them had expected, only having seen him twice since he had left so long
ago.
A year after he had left, he had returned for two glorious weeks in the summer
where they spent every moment in each others company. It had been heaven for
both of them, and hell when leaving time came.
The only other time she had seen him was at Joyce's funeral a few months after that.
He had showed up to be with her and Buffy felt truly grateful. She had stood stiffly at the graveside, watching them place her mother's body in the ground and covering her coffin in earth.
'Ashes to ashes, dust to dust.'
Sirius had stood by
her side, wearing a black suit, hair combed neatly back, and Buffy had held
onto his hand as if it were a life belt, stopping her from slipping off the
precipice. Xander and Anya had stood silently side by side, Willow taking comfort
in Oz, Giles standing at the back, and Faith clutching Buffy's other hand, the
tears pouring down her face showing her just how much Joyce had meant to her.
Buffy had not cried at the funeral, she had not wanted to let her mother down;
she had wanted to keep a brave face on. But later, when it was just her and
Sirius alone together, she had cried. Cried as if she would never stop, as if
her heart was literally breaking. And Sirius had held her close, murmuring
reassuring words in her ears until the sobs had subsided and all she was left
with were memories.
But he had had to leave after that, Voldemort had returned and the cause needed
him. He had begged Buffy to go with him again, and despite the fact she felt
there was nothing left for her in Sunnydale, she couldn't bring herself to
leave. Leaving was like accepting that her life in Sunnydale was finished and
she wasn't sure she could handle that. So she had stayed and sometimes she
wondered if she had made the wrong decision. Life was difficult without Joyce;
the bills didn't just take care of themselves as Buffy had always thought they
did. But she and Faith, and Willow and Oz who moved in, got by. Giles had been
generous, stepping up to his role as a father figure in the hard times and
Sirius had helped her out. She always tired to refuse but he wouldn't hear of
it, the large amount of money left to him by his family not mattering to him
much.
Buffy
missed him so much it hurt; a physical pain that hit her most at night. But she
coped, she had Faith, she had Giles, Willow, Oz, Xander and even Anya. And she
had Sirius. Even though he wasn't with her, she had his words the letters they
sent to one another keeping their love alive.
Eagerly Buffy opened the letter and was startled to see a different handwriting
to that of Sirius'. She began to read:
Dear Miss Summers,
I don't know if you remember me, my name is Remus Lupin. I am the man you met
just over two years ago and the werewolf you knocked out in the Forbidden
Forest. You may not remember me but I feel as if I know you very well, Sirius
often talked of you to me.
I'm sorry I have to write to you in these circumstances but Sirius always said
I was to make sure you were okay if anything happened to him.
Just over a week ago Sirius was killed in a battle that took place between
members of the Order of the Phoenix and a group of death eaters. He fought
valiantly, and died protecting his godson in battle which is the way he always
hoped to go.
I'm sorry to be the one telling you this but I didn't know what else to do.
Please accept my deepest regrets; I know what Sirius meant to you and you to
him.
Your friend,
Remus Lupin
Buffy's
hands were shaking madly by the time she finished the letter and she looked
away from it with eyes unseeing and clogged with tears. She took a tentative
step forwards and then fell to the floor with an anguished cry which caught in
her throat. The words burned in her head, 'Sirius
was killed', etched there in pain and longing.
She was numb, her body an empty shell, emptied of all that made it human and
able to love. She was finished, it was over. There was nothing left for her,
nothing to clutch onto to stop her falling. She was alone; Sirius was gone and
would never return to her. The promise ring on her finger caught her eye, her
tears splitting the silver shine into a thousand rays. She looked at it for a
moment and then slipped it off her finger. She gazed at the interlocking hands
that were supposed to be hers and Sirius', 'It's
promising that I'll write to you, promising that I'll be with you again
sometime soon, promising that I will never forget you, promising that I'll
always be here for you, promising that someday we'll get married, promising
that someday we'll have kids and promising that we'll grow old together.'
Furiously she hurled it from her, and it smashed into her mirror, shattering it into thousands of shining pieces.
Like my life, she thought.