Legacy Of The Fathers

Chapter Five - Ladies

Notes: Apologies and the like for the delay in this particular chapter, but I was home over Christmas and when I go home, it means my computer access is cut from pretty much constant at uni to one hour a day in total at home and since that hour is usually spent saving my inboxes from spam, I don´t have much time for typing. And then, back to uni to start doing preparatory reading for my dissertation (first ch. due in the second week of Feb - I'm so organised, I really am).

But here we go, a new chapter.

And to the person who thought Giles was being harsh to Buffy - give the poor bloke a break - he´d just been stuck in a bathroom for half an hour with Draco and Xander. Its enough to make anyone a little...er...bitey ;)

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"Well, that was rather interesting."

"You have a weird concept of interesting."

Lying on his stomach on the couch, Draco opened his grey eyes and glanced down at Alexander, who was lying on the floor by the sofa. The dark-haired boy was staring at the ceiling, his fingers interlaced behind his head.

Draco´s face was washed an eerie silver by the moonlight dipping in through the window, the moon only a few days away from reaching its full face. Between the couch and coffee table, Alexander was plunged into the shadows, his eyes glinting in the darkness.

"I´m amazed that the silly girl bought the `we´ll tell you the whole story tomorrow, now run along and be a good girl´ excuse, Snake," he mumbled around a mouthful of tan-coloured pillow.

Alexander shifted slightly to look at the blond. "That´s because we are telling them the whole thing tomorrow. Everything. About you, me, my parents, the wizarding world. Everything."

"We are? Says who?"

Brown eyes redirected to the ceiling again. "Says me, Heir of the Snakeman."

"And do I have a choice in this?"

"Ferret, there will be four very good looking girls there for you to brag to about your noble conversion to the forces of good."

"Whoa!" Leaning up on his elbows, Draco glowered down at the dark-haired youth on the floor. "Hold on! Who said anything about me being converted to the forces of good? What do I look like? Some kind of magnificent poof who was suddenly cursed with a conscience?"

Alexander smiled serenely up at the ceiling. "We already have one of them. You´re just a blond bimbo with more eyes than brain cells who has ended up as the sidekick of the son of the Dark Lord."

"And I´m still not a 'good guy', all right? We are completely clear on this?"

"I guess I can force myself to believe that."

Draco sniffed. "Thank you."

"And if I ever did go evil, you would be my first choice of evil side kick, okay?"

"Now you´re just being patronising, you snotty bastard," Draco mumbled drowsily. "And you said something about good-looking girls..."

"Yeah, I did."

There was a long silence only broken by Giles´ quiet snores from the open balcony bedroom that loomed above them, where they were camped out in the Watcher´s living room.

"Well?"

"Well what?"

Draco groaned, reaching down to try and smack Alexander across the head. "You mention good-looking girls and then don´t tell me more. You really are an evil bastard in every possible way, Snakeboy."

"Thank you, Ferretboy, but I should warn you that they won´t be impressed if you don´t boast about being on the side of the forces of good," Alexander remarked with a half-grin towards the ceiling.

"Hmm..." Draco seemed to consider it for a long time, punching his pillow before laying his head back down on it with a yawn. "What about me telling them that I have a big knob?"

"To make up for being a bad guy?"

"Well, it would distract `em for a bit."

"How do you work that out?"

Draco´s smirk was unseen, his still-pale face concealed by the pillow, but it was practically palpable on the air. "That´s where the bloody amazing shagging comes into the equation, Snake."

***

"Giles knows him?"

"And Xander," Buffy nodded.

Willow Rosenberg and Buffy Summers were in the library earlier than usual, in anticipation of meeting the man whom Buffy had had the misfortune of accidentally staking the previous evening.

Morning sunlight was pouring in the high windows, glistening through the dust that hung in the air. The whole library almost seemed to be frozen in its own time, musty and quiet.

However, the weapons cabinet hidden in the book cage, where more valuable books were meant to be stored in case of theft, suggested the library wasn´t as quiet a place as it might have otherwise been.

After all, with two Slayers and two Watchers using it as a centre of operation and a werewolf using the bookcage as a...well, a cage during his transformations...

It went without saying that the room was no ordinary library.

Just as the two girls sitting in it were no ordinary girls.

Willow frowned. "But Xander...I know everyone he knows...or I thought I did..."

"Blond-guy is English," Buffy remarked, sitting up on the large table that stood in front of the landing of the library. Willow was sitting beside it, leaning on a book of demons. "Maybe they met each other when Xander went to England."

"I would say that was a fairly accurate assessment," a voice drawled lazily from the door of the library, both girls looking around sharply to find the aforementioned blond man standing there.

He was no longer wearing black, dark jeans and a white T-shirt that were obviously Alexander´s hanging on the blond´s leaner frame, his silver-blond hair gel-free and loose around his pale angular face.

He was also alone.

There was no sign of Giles or Alexander.

"Uh...hi..."

The blond straightened up and stepped across the threshhold of the library. "Good morning, Slayer," he said, looking up at the shelves beyond them then to the piles of demon-centric books on the table with amused interest. "Well, well, well... this is where the schemes to save the world are assembled. How very...quaint."

Pushing herself forwards on the table, Buffy slid onto her feet, crossing her arms over her chest, her eyes on the guy. His tone of voice was seriously giving her the wiggens. "I don´t think I got your name, buddy."

Trailing his fingertips along the library counter which stood to his right, blocking the door which lead to Giles´ office, he looked over at her. "Me? I thought I´d wait for Snake... that is, I thought I´d wait for Harris to arrive and do the introductions."

"And where is Xander?" Buffy demanded. "And Giles?"

"Slayer, I don´t know what they teach you about the Queen´s English in these bloody dumps that pass for schools, but the correct phrasing would be `Where are Alexander and Giles?´. Do you follow?"

Buffy gaped at him.

The man sighed. "Obviously not," he remarked. "Should never have expected quite so much from a bottle blonde."

"Hey!"

"Slayer, the day you are a natural blonde is the day I stand up and be counted among the ranks of angels."

"Ferret, quit it." Turning to look over his shoulder, the blond grinned at Alexander, who had just entered and was shaking his head.

Apparently, he was well aware that Buffy was sending Death Glares at him and, if looks had the ability to kill, he would have been laid out on the floor, with imaginary daggers, swords and a chainsaw or two stuck in his body for good measure.

"Hey Buff...Wills."

Willow stood up, warily looking at the blond man, then smiling nervously at her long-time friend, who had moved alongside the blond man. "Hey, Xander...and Xander´s friend."

"And just look what we have here," the blond murmured, as if he had just noticed her for the first time. "Snake, I applaud you. I didn´t think it possible, but you have yourself a Mini-Weasel. A mini-Ginny to be precise."

"A whatty-what-what?" Willow asked, puzzled.

"Far prettier than Weasley, of course," the blond gave her a dashing, flirtatious smile and Willow went scarlet, ducking her head.

Alexander sighed and slapped the blond sharply upside the head. The blond tried to look hurt, but only succeeded in looking...smirky. "Wills, Buffy, this is Draco Malfoy, a guy I met in England, when I was there."

"Draco? Dragon?" Willow asked timidly.

Draco made an ironic little bow. "That´s me," he replied.

"Kinda weird name," Buffy noted.

"Takes one to know one, I suppose."

"HEY!"

Another slap was applied to the back of Draco´s head. "What?" he demanded. "I said I would come and meet all your lady friends, but you never said anything about having to pretend to like them all!"

"Yes, you did!"

"And when might I have said that?"

"When I said `So you´ll behave and be nice to my friends?´ and you said `Of course! Scout´s honour!´"

Draco grinned. "Ah, that is where your argument slips, Snake," he drawled, grey eyes glinting with amusement. "You see, I was never a Scout, so Scout´s honour does not apply to me."

"You really are a freak," Alexander muttered.

"I try, Snake, but I think you have me beat."

"Can´t you two behave like adults for two minutes?" Giles demanded, as he entered the library. Draco snickered and Alexander shrugged. "I´m beginning to wonder if having you here is a mistake."

"A mistake? Me?" Draco strolled towards the table, sliding into the seat next to the blushing Willow and leaning back lazily, flashing a seductive grin at her. He, then, looked back at Giles innocently. "I´m on my best-behaviour, Giles!"

"I know," Giles noted dryly. "That´s what worries me."

Alexander looked around the library. "I guess Faith hasn´t checked in yet..."

"The dark-haired girl last night?"

"Oh dear God...Xander, you didn´t introduce him to Faith..."

Draco snickered. "Not likely, Giles," he replied, interlacing his hands behind his head and leaning back. "The lady decided to introduce herself to me and her hand to my nether regions." Giles visibly baulked. "I suppose your pensioner´s constitution found that to be a little too much information, eh, old man?"

The Watcher glared at the boy, who returned it with a merry grin.

"Why would you want her here anyway, Xander?" Buffy demanded.

A look flashed between Alexander and the blond at the table. "Trust me, Buff, there´s a good reason," he said, then looked towards the door. "And I´m gonna have to bring Cordy in as well. I want her to know this."

"Know what, Xan?"

"Let me get Cordy and then I´ll tell you, Wills," Alexander answered quietly. "Its a long story and I don´t wanna have to tell it more than once."

"Cordy being your bitch-queen and very good-looking ex-love-interest?" Alexander nodded once to Draco, who was on his feet instantly. "Point the way, Snake! I´m in the mood for meeting a kindred spirit."

Buffy snorted and rolled her eyes, while Giles smothered a chuckle.

"Excuse me...?"

Draco made a dismissive gesture with a hand. "Well, not including the love-interest bit of course..."

"Ferret, I don´t think..."

"Well, we all know that, Snake," Draco said cheerfully. "So, which way is the lovely Cordelia and how else would you be able to get her here, if I´m not the one to seduce her in here with my unnatural good looks?"

"Unnatural is right," Alexander glared at his friend, but still lead him towards the door and pointed through the round window, out into the courtyard. Draco followed the direction of the finger, arching an eyebrow. "What?"

Draco clapped him on the shoulder. "I never knew you had it in you, Snake," he remarked proudly. "How the hell did you get a gorgeous thing like that to look at you?" He held up a hand to silence the reply. "Wait! I´m sensing something...a series of life or death situations that culminated in rampant snogging sessions..."

Alexander looked at him in surprise. "I didn´t know you were psychic."

"I´m not," his friend replied with amusement. "But the only time a twit like you would ever have a chance with someone like her would be in a life or death situation and since you looked so surprised, it seems that I was right."

"You´re really trying to make me hit you, aren´t you?"

Draco grinned at him. "You know me," He smoothed the T-shirt he was wearing and pushed the door open. "So, Snake, any things that your lady likes that might win her over to my way of thinking?"

"Money, power and fashion," Alexander answered immediately. "But she isn´t as bad as she used to be."

"She used to be bad?" Draco´s eyes glittered gleefully, as he looked Cordelia up and down. "My, my...sounds like she needs some positive encouragement to go down that particular path again..."

"Ferret..." Draco had already slipped out of the library door, though, ignoring the warning tone in Alexander´s voice. Turning back around, Alexander found his two friends staring at him and Giles shaking his head. "What?"

"What have you started, Xander?" Giles sighed. "Cordelia alone is bad enough, but Cordelia and Draco...I do believe you are trying to do away with the tattered remnants of my sanity."

Buffy was studying Alexander closely. "Why´d´he call you Snake? And why´d you call him Ferret?"

"All part of the very long story I´m gonna have to tell you guys when Draco brings Cordy back in here and when Faith shows up."

"What if Cordelia doesn´t like him?" Willow volunteered.

Alexander´s lips rose in a genuine smile, as he glanced back over his shoulder, through the porthole in the swing door. "He´ll get her back here, Wills, trust me. I don´t think he´s going to let her say no."

***

"Good morning, ladies."

With her back to the library to avoid the pain of seeing her beloved ex-boyfriend entering, the leader of the small group of fashion-conscious teenagers didn´t see who was speaking to her.

However, the rest of her small posse did and were staring with apparent appreciation at the speaker.

"I´m looking for the lovely Cordelia," the voice said and Cordelia mentally arched an eyebrow. It was male, just deep enough and had the yummiest British accent. Kind of like Wesley´s, but without the stutter he always got when he was around her.

Turning, one hand on her hip, she started to say "And who are..."

The question kind of...trailed off, forgotten, as she saw just what her `friends´ were giggling over.

While he wasn´t the best looking guy - pale and pointed face that was too thin and angular, with frighteningly light coloured eyes and silver-blond hair - his posture, his poise and his expression spoke of out and out bad-boy.

Cordelia knew for a fact that there were very few girls who could resist the bad-boy vibe, especially if the bad boy was smirking in a very sexy little way as the one right in front of her was.

As a rule, she didn´t like blonds.

This guy was blond and probably a little older than she was, but she had never seen a guy that could pull it off without looking like a dumb jock.

The guy in front of her was definitely not of the dumb. In fact, despite the lazy look he had around his eyes, she would have bet her dad´s fortune that he was sneaky, smart and cunning.

"Would I be right in assuming that you are Cordelia?"

"Uh...yeah," she held out a hand to him and heard the group of girls behind her giggling as he lifted her hand to his lips and brushed a kiss over the knuckles, his eyes never leaving hers. "Who are you?"

He gave her a studious look, then glanced at her friends briefly before his eyes came back to hers. "I would rather not discuss my private...affairs in front of an audience, fair Cordelia."

"Meaning?"

"Perhaps I could speak with you privately?"

Pulling her hand back, Cordelia narrowed her eyes suspiciously. Having spent a lot of time on Slayerette duty, when she had been going out with...her now ex-hunny, she was instinctively wary of being isolated with a stranger.

Hell-beasts, after all, could come in all shapes and sizes.

"You wanna talk to me, buddy, you can do it right here and right now."

"Very well. I´m here," he replied. "On a little business for a friend. You might know a little of the trauma that he was forced to endure regarding his mother and he would sincerely appreciate it if you could put aside your aversion to him for perhaps an hour or two, to let him explain."

Xander, Cordelia realised vaguely, her heart pounding painfully. He was talking about Xander.

"Whatever that jerk has to say to me, I´m not interested," she said, her voice shaking a little. "He can make as many excuses as he likes about why he did it, but he´s still a jerk, especially if he thinks he can get his friends to make me listen to him."

The blond man gazed at her for a long moment. He looked like he was thinking over something, then leaned forward quickly and caught her elbow, drawing her towards him, his expression serious.

"Please," he said quietly, so quietly that her group couldn´t hear a word he was saying. His grey eyes had gone from playfully flirtatious to sincere, pleading. "Alex needs you there."

Cordelia stared at him. "What? Why?"

He exhaled a breath, then met her eyes again. "I shouldn´t be the one to tell you this, Cordelia. He wanted to be the one to tell all of you, to explain everything, but I have the feeling you need to know. Alex´s mother died several weeks ago."

A sharp gasp escaped her throat before she could stop it. "Oh my God...Xander..."

"He needs your support as much as he needs the support of his other friends, if not more so."

Cordelia´s eyes stung, but she forced down tears that filled her eyes at the thought of both Xander and Mrs Harris. She had only met Mrs Harris a few of times and the tiny, fragile blonde woman had been one of the sweetest ladies she had ever met.

"What happened?" she asked, her voice cracking.

The blond gave her a sad smile that was edged with guilt. "That´s part of Harris´ story, Cordelia. That´s what he needs you there for. He has a lot to tell the people who are closest to him and he...he hopes he can still consider you as one of them."

"Of course he can, you dork!" Cordelia exclaimed, grabbing his arm. "Where is he? I want to see him."

The man sighed. "I hoped you would say that." Inclining his head towards her oblivious flock of friends, he gave them a dashing smile, which set off another round of giggles. "Ladies," he intoned gravely. "It was a pleasure to meet you."

Leading Cordelia by the arm, he felt her curious eyes on him. "What is it?"

"Who are you?" she asked. "And how come you know Xander?"

"You´ll find out about me soon enough," he replied cryptically. "Harris is about to tell all about the mad little thing that is known as his life and I have a guest spot somewhere in there."

"Don´t I even get to know your name?"

He looked at her and then nodded with a slight weary smile that completely undercut the bad-boy vibe she had received from him earlier. "The name´s Malfoy," he answered. "Draco Malfoy."

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Big thanks yous to all the lovely people who have been reading and reviewing this! I would reply to all of you but I´m limited in my online time for checking all the name and everything (since I´m meant to be working and the like).

Just as advanced warning, this series looks like its going to go to 20 chapters at least (mainly because I´ve written 16/17 and a lot still has to happen after them). For people who have asked - Oz, Faith, Angel and Wesley are going to show face at some point because, yes, this is Season 3 of Buffy.

In my estimation (without having the list of episodes to do a crosscheck) its just a little while after Bad Girls, so Faith = bad, Buffy = emotionally confused & Willow has met her evil-vampy-self. Either way, that´s the timeline I´m sticking with.