The Eighth Weasley

The Eighth Weasley - Chapter Four

Teacher O' Mine

"I'm still not sure I believe this is happening."

Buffy cast a sidelong look at her friend, smothering a grin. "We're walking through the campus with an invisible Wizard from a kid's story walking beside us," she remarked. "What's unbelievable about that, Will?"

"Does nothing surprise you?" the red head mumbled, directing her next words at the wizard on her other side. "I feel really stupid talking to you when you're invisible."

"You don't need to look in my direction, you know, Willow," Dumbledore's softly-spoken voice came out of the air on Willow's left. "I can hear you perfectly well if you pretend you're talking to Miss Summers."

The red head shot an agonised look in his direction, or at least what she assumed was his direction. "But I can't...it feels stupid," she repeated adamantly. "Why don't you take off the cloak? We could say you...uh...you're here for a convention or something."

"I'm afraid I have visited this Hellmouth once before..." The Wizard's voice was as calm and unruffled as it had been when he had told them that the Harry Potter books were, in fact, real. "I had a rather unfortunate run in with some demons and I think a few of them might still be about."

Willow's eyes widened. "Oh! You might have met the Mayor!" She motioned with her hands to the Slayer. "He was like...what? A hundred years old?" She looked in Dumbledore's supposed direction again. "He turned into a big demon-snake-thing at Graduation and we blew him up. And the School."

"So you help Miss Summers fighting demons?"

"Ever since she saved me from a vampire when we were fifteen," Willow shot an affectionate grin in her friend's direction. "There was The Master...he was oogy...the three...the bezoar... hyena demons...Spike, another vampire, but he can't bite anymore...Angelus...Richard Wilkens, that's the Mayor and lots more," She shrugged. "Buffy beat 'em all."

"With help from you guys," Buffy was trying not to look embarrassed.

Dumbledore remained silent.

"Uh...Mister Dumbledore? Are you still there?"

"Yes, I am," there was an odd tone in his voice. It almost sounded like pride. "I never imagined that you would have been involved so extensively in keeping the muggle-world safe from the dark side."

"Uh...I'm guessing not many witches do it, then?"

"Not many are willing to," he admitted. "It's a very dangerous field."

Willow regarded the blank spot where he was meant to be standing. "That's what its like living on a Hellmouth," she replied quietly. "Not many people would say that something weird was going on. They'd go around with their eyes closed. After I saw what Buffy was fighting on her own, I wanted to help."

"Highly commendable of you," Dumbledore said warmly. "You are remarkably brave to aid a Slayer of all people."

"I wasn't the only one," the red head added hastily. "We're...kinda a gang. The Scoobies. We all help...me, Xander, Oz...Cordelia used to be...but she left. Now, Anya is kind of...there."

"And Giles," Buffy added. "He's my Watcher."

"I heard that he'd been assigned that most unfortunate employment by his father..." the wizard sighed. "He was such a commendable young Wizard, until that Muggle father of his had him signed up for that Watcher Institution."

Willow tilted her head. "Giles' father wasn't a wizard?"

"Not all wizards are pure-bloods...you recall Hermione?" The red-haired Witch nodded. "Young Giles was in the same situation as she was. Unfortunately, his family had ties to the Watcher's service and he was signed up without being given a choice. He was forced to leave Hogwarts in the middle of his final year, which is when he went through a very bad patch..."

"Demon worshipping and stuff?" Willow offered.

"So he mentioned that?"

Buffy shook her head. "He wouldn't have told us, if the demony guy hadn't come and tried to kill him. He was really...I dunno...ashamed that he'd done something like that."

Dumbledore exhaled a sigh. "He was terribly unhappy at being forced to leave his friends at our school and using magic was the easiest way to rebel against his father's wishes. He never wanted to be a Watcher."

The Slayer nodded. "He told me something about that, years ago. He wanted to be a jet fighter pilot or a green grocer...or something..."

"That sounds like the young Rupert I remember," There was a wistful tone in the Wizard's voice. "Had he been left to pursue his own choice of career, I'm sure he could have been high in the Ministry of Magic by now."

"What was he like?" the Slayer asked.

"Rupert? An amusing young man, there was no doubt of that," She could visualise the wizard's smile and twinkling eyes. "He was very adept at potions, while Ethan - his partner in crime, I suppose you could call him - had an expertise at transfiguration. It drove Minerva... Professor McGonagall near insane when he transfigured his classmates into pieces of furniture before she arrived in the classroom," A reminiscent chuckle escaped him. "Such a trio of mischief makers..."

"Trio?"

"I mean duo, of course. Numbers...such fickle things, aren't they? Always change when you least expect it," The girls exchanged bemused glances and, beneath his cloak, Dumbledore smiled to himself.

***

Opening his front door, Giles blinked at the two girls in surprise. "What are you two doing here? I-I-I thought you had classes."

"Something important came up...can we come in?"

"O-of course!" Stepping back, the Englishman allowed both the red head and the blonde to pass him and started to close the door when it collided with something unseen but solid that released a grunt of surprise. "What on Earth...?"

"Oh! Yeah! Invisibility cloak!" Buffy winced sympathetically.

Giles spun to face her. "What did you say?" he asked warily. Behind him, the front door closed with a loud click and there was a swish of material.

"I believe she said that there was an invisibility cloak, young Giles," a merry voice spoke from behind him. The former Librarian's face rapidly went through a series of expressions and he slowly turned. "Good to see you again, young man."

"Bloody hell!" A wide smile broke on the former Watcher's face and he quickly crossed the floor, extending a hand to grasp Dumbledore's own, shaking it vigourously. "What on Earth are you doing here, Professor? It's been an age since I've seen you!"

"At least twenty years, isn't it?"

"If not more!" Running a hand through his unruly hair, he rubbed the back of his neck, shaking his head. "Christ...do you want to sit down, Professor?" He motioned to his couch. "What are you doing over here?"

Dumbledore accepted the offer of a seat, settling on the green couch and smiled. "If I reveal all that I know, what could I possibly use to surprise you, dear boy?" he asked with a small suggestion of a smile. A look of understanding crossed the younger man's face. "You know, a cup of tea is a terrible thing to waste."

"I'm assuming that means you would like a cuppa?" Giles was already in the kitchen, reaching for the kettle. "One Ripper's Special Brew coming right up."

"So you really did go to Hogwarts, Giles?" Willow was looking from the Wizard on the couch to the apparent-one making tea in the kitchen.

Shooting a curious glance over at the silver-haired wizard, who simply smiled serenely back at him, his hands folded peacefully in his lap, Giles raised a brow. "I'm guessing that Professor Dumbledore told you about that?"

"And that you met Ethan there."

Giles came out of the kitchen, crossing to the living room area. "Yes," He wasn't looking at either of the girls as he spoke, gazing curiously down at Dumbledore. "It's all true. Hogwarts exists and I did study there for six and a half years."

"What I want to know," Willow walked over to the window, glancing out, then back at the two men. "Is why you contacted me, Professor Dumbledore. I mean, I know I've done witchy stuff, but if I'm right, I'm too old to go to Hogwarts or anything like that."

Dumbledore nodded, his fractional smile widening a little. "I wondered when you would start to ask questions, Willow," he said softly. "But now, I am parched and conversation is always so much better over a cup of Ripper's Brew."

"Do we want to know what's in that, Giles?" the Slayer asked, peering at a spice rack the Watcher had withdrawn from a shelf in the living room.

"Oh, just some eye of newt and toe of frog." Green eyes gleamed wickedly. "It does wonders for the digestive system."

"I so hope you're joking."

"And what would be the fun in that?"

"Giles, you give us anything with bits of newt or frog in it and I'll introduce you to Mister Pointy's point myself."

***

Admittedly, Ripper's Brew hadn't been as bad as the Watcher had made out. A carefully mixed blend of dried herbs and spices, it was a sweeter, better tasting and more potent version of coffee.

Reluctantly, both girls had to admit that it wasn't bad.

"So, Professor, are you going to tell us why you're here, yet?"

Two hours had passed since the old Wizard's arrival at Giles' house and he was looking through some of the texts that were lining the walls. Giles didn't seem impatient, but both Buffy and Willow were looking curious.

"Patience is a virtue often forgotten," the bearded wizard finally sighed, turning and laying down one of the books. He settled back on the couch, raising shoeless feet to rest on the coffee table, revealing vivid yellow socks. "So, what were you saying?"

Taking the arm of the couch, Willow and Buffy both rounding the couch to sit on his coffee table, Giles looked down at his former teacher and mentor. "What are you doing in Sunnydale? You always said you would never come back here."

"Business, of course..." Reaching inside his robes, he withdrew a sheaf of parchment bound with a scarlet ribbon. "You know how much trouble centres of mystical convergence are for the Ministry to keep tags on. Any wizard or witch here is practically invisible."

"Why?"

Dumbledore glanced at Willow. "You remember that you sometimes have trouble centering your power?" She nodded. "There is so much power, particularly dark power, centred here that it makes identifying a single thread near impossible."

"So when someone thinks they've found a Wizard or something on a Hellmouth, they might have picked up a demon?"

"Exactly. That is why you went undetected for so long. And, no doubt, your friend Amy or any other magic practitioners."

"Wait a moment...she went undetected?" Giles leaned forward on his knees. "You're telling me that Willow should have attended Hogwarts?"

"That is exactly what I'm telling you, Rupert." Dumbledore's blue eyes met Giles'. "You've seen how powerful this young lady can be and you doubted that she could have attended Hogwarts or any of the other magical institutions?"

"But I'm not that powerful," Willow protested faintly. "Neither of my parents are witches or wizards or anything...or at least I don't think they are," She shrugged. "I hardly saw them enough to know."

"You mean your adoptive parents, I assume."

"Wh-what?"

The younger of the two men started. "Wait a moment...surely you're not saying..."

"What do you mean adopted?" Willow demanded, looking from one to the other, panicked. "I-I don't think I'm adopted."

Dumbledore shook his head. "I really could have done this better...your parents believe you to be theirs, as you believe them to be your parents. They were under a mind spell when you were delivered to them."

"Delivered?" the witch whispered. Buffy wrapped her arms around her friend, staring at Dumbledore in suspicion and anger.

"What's going on here?" the Slayer demanded, her eyes flashing. "Explain."

The wizard sat back with a nod. "Willow, you are the youngest daughter of a family of wizards and witches, who come from a long line of the same. Shortly after you were born, when you were barely months old, you were snatched by...well, he could only be called a Death Eater of the most cowardly variety."

"Death Eater?"

"The followers of Voldemort," Giles explained tersely.

"Only a few days after you were taken, Voldemort was defeated and this Death Eater - incapable of killing infants, his weakness that his Master despised - was aware that if he either kept or returned you, he could be tracked and convicted of his allegiance to the Dark Lord."

Buffy raised a hand. "Who was this Dark Lord guy and can I kick his ass?"

"I'm afraid not, Miss Summers," Dumbledore managed to find a faint smile for her. "He was defeated less than a year ago and this time, we hope for good," He turned back to the shell-shocked witch. "As for you, Willow, he knew if he handed you on to his sister, who was in hiding here, you would never be found until it was too late to capture him. They went to a lot of effort and, after a lot of dark magic was pulled off by the sister, you were claimed as the child of Ira and Sheila Rosenberg, both of them believing you to be their, in spite of the fact that they were both infertile and that your 'mother' had never been pregnant."

Willow shook her head. "But my parents...they...I don't understand." She looked up at him, tears in her eyes. "If they're not my parents, who are?"

"Perhaps you have read about them," he said softly, reaching over to take her hands between his. "You're the youngest of eight children, all of whom have red hair...Bill, Charlie, Percy, Fred, George, Ron, Ginny and you," She stared at him in disbelief. "Your parents are called Arthur and Molly Weasley."

"Bloody hell!" Giles exploded, half-laughing, half-shouting, slapping a hand against his thigh. "I should have known! Arthur and Molly!" He saw the look of confusion and worry on the red head's face. "Wonderful people, Willow. Wonderful."

"Are...you're serious? I-I'm related to the Weasleys?"

"Absolutely serious, Willow," Dumbledore replied.

"And you couldn't wish for a better set of parents, Willow!" Giles exclaimed, a broad smile on his face. He got to his feet, hurrying over to a dusty pile of books and picking one up. He withdrew a picture from the cover and returned to the table, handing the picture to the red-haired girl.

Her hand shaking, Willow took the picture with the attitude of someone picking up a poisonous snake, looking at Buffy for comfort. Both of them looked down at the picture, in which three youths in their late-teens bobbed on broomsticks.

"Oh my God!" Buffy squeaked. "He waved! One of them waved!"

"And they wonder why I hate muggle cameras," Dumbledore murmured.

Willow was staring at the picture, hardly daring to believe what she was seeing. One of the laughing teens was clearly Giles, his hair curly and wind-tossed. The one to his right, she could see resembled Ethan.

The third one was the one that made her come up short.

Shoulder-length, silky red hair flew loose around his face. He had a broad grin on his face and his features looked strangely familiar to her. Her fingers rose to touch her own distinct nose and mouth, her brow wrinkling.

"Is...is this him?" She asked.

"Art?"

"Don't tell me you knew him too," Buffy groaned.

Giles half-smiled in reminiscence. "Knew him? That poncy little git stole Molly from me when we were in third year," He sat down on the edge of the coffee table next to Willow, squeezing her knee reassuringly. "If this is right, Willow, you've just been given possibly the best parents in the World."

"You would say that," Dumbledore chuckled.

"Well, I can't exactly besmirch the name of the Third Musketeer."

"Can I say huh?"

"Ethan, Art and I...we were the equivalent of the Scoobies in our year at School. We were called the three Musketeers by the staff who liked us and the Three Wise Monkeys by the ones who were at the receiving end of the tricks," Giles shook his head, taking the picture from Willow and looking at it with a sad smile. "Those were the happy days...before the whole mess with Voldemort...and before my dad stepped in..."

"You mean...I'm the daughter of a friend that you went to school with, who stole your girlfriend, who is my mom or something and that you have a moving picture of, flying on a broomstick with?" Willow managed to force the sentence out.

"HOI! When do I get some bloody blood!"

Giles nodded in response to Willow's question. "And its actually a decent picture of us. Those are rare things to have," He got to his feet. "And I also have a chained-up vampire in my bath, which is also a very rare thing to have. Very in, this season, or so I've heard."

"And I thought there were no more surprises in store for today," Dumbledore remarked with amusement. "Living on a Hellmouth with a Slayer and missing Witch and a vampire in the bath... that is certainly something to have posted on the bulletin board at the Ministry, as your current circumstances."

"Professor," Giles called from the kitchen. "You're in the presence of Buffy Summers and no doubt, the rest of the group affectionately known as the Scoobies soon enough...you'll find that there aren't enough hours in the day for all the surprises you'll receive."