One No Longer

Chapter 5- Detention, Vamps Optional

Perhaps it was not as long as she would've thought. Night fell quickly. She dropped her things in her room and left for her outdoors potions detention. Grumbling as she made her way out the door, June quickly found Professor Snape, complete with a makeshift desk and fire, out a little to the left of the grounds. She approached him and smiled bitterly at him. He did not return the favor. Instead, he produced a cauldron from behind him and set it off to the side of the fire.

"I should like you to begin to brew a Polyjuice Potion," he said.

"But that takes a bit over a month to brew! This is only one detention!" she said, outraged.

"Yes, but with attitudes like that I'm sure we'll be able to complete it," he said. "Here are the ingredients. Begin."

Using a large rock as a chair, he sat down behind his desk and began to write something. June grumbled a bit more but immediately started work on the potion. Every so often, Snape would look up to check June's progress. She was about ready to heat her potion when she heard the professor scoff.

"Yes, sir?" she said, not without a hint of sarcasm.

"She thinks, just because she's the best of her class, that she can be out after dark. I shall go have a word with her, I think," he muttered to himself, standing.

He walked off in the direction of the lake. June turned to see why. The reason was clear. Hermione was back at her spot by the lake.

This could mean trouble, June thought. She got hastily to her feet and followed, just shy a yard or so of Professor Snape. She was close enough, however, to hear what he said to the girl.

"Miss Granger, just because you are a prefect does not mean that you have the right to disobey the rules!" he began. Hermione whirled, apparently startled a bit by the sudden appearance of the dreaded professor.

"Professor!" she began, "I'm...sorry, but I..."

"I'll have none of it, you stupid little girl. You will return to the castle at once. And you, Miss Potter," he said, turning suddenly on June, "you will go back to your detention."

Hermione was fighting tears with all her might. June hated to see anyone cry.

"I will go back after I have comforted this poor girl that you have bullied into tears, you imbecile," she said.

That's another detention, she thought dryly. It was true. She didn't care.

Professor Snape didn't even bothering stating anything for the moment. Nostrils flaring, he whirled and took a few steps away.

"I will wait here until you are finished so that I may accompany both Miss Granger, and you, Miss Potter, to the headmaster's office," he said, crossing his arms.

June shook her head at him and went to stand beside Hermione. They were silent for a moment, in which June stole the opportunity to look at Snape--who was determinately looking away from them. Finally, she ventured to speak.

"You know, I was named after the month in which I was born," June began weakly.

Well, that was stupid, she thought. However, it brought the smallest of smiles to Hermione's face.

"Really?" she said, wiping a tear away.

"Yeah. I'm told that Mom and Dad couldn't agree on a name, so when I was born, they just called me June...and it stuck since they could never come up with anything else."

"Does Harry know that?"

June thought about it for a moment. It was odd that she had shared this little fun fact with a total stranger, rather than her brother.

"No. But, enough of that. Tell me, why are you out here? I saw you out here last night when I..."

"I know, your claustrophobia thing," Hermione said.

"Oh, yeah...right."

Hermione sighed. She looked out over the darkened lake. Her eyes seemed to well up with tears again.

"It's hard, you know? Sirius, Harry's godfather, died last year...or was killed, rather."

"I was told," June said simply.

"Well, now the three of us are even more involved with the Order of the Phoenix and with destroying Voldemort. Harry has made a silent vow, I believe, that he will not die by his hand."

"Good vow," June muttered, but Hermione didn't seem to catch it.

"I never, in my entire life, believed that I would be involved with something so...big. I mean, I knew that one day I'd get a job and that people would depend on me, but not in the way that Harry and Ron depend on me. It's really overwhelming."

Now this was something June could definitely relate to. After all, it had been overwhelming to her to find out that she was suddenly a Slayer, with the whole world depending on how her nightly escapades turned out, and it was overwhelming when her Watcher had died. And all of this was not including the added responsibility of Harry...

"Life is like that, Hermione. Trust me on this one. But all we can do is go with the flow and try our best to keep our head above the water when everyone else is drowning. It's a harsh lesson, but it holds true," June said. Her Watcher had used the water metaphor on her once. She thought that it fit the situation now.

Hermione turned to reply, but something cut her off. She had a distant, panicked look in her eye. Before June could ask what the matter was, a deep, guttural growling sounded from a bit behind her. She heard Professor Snape utter, "What--?!"

June turned. Her worst fears were confirmed. Ubervamps. Vampires who were three times as strong as your common vampire, and a hundred times as lethal. However, there was something different from these--two to be precise, coming toward Snape--ubervamps from what Buffy had described the ubervamps in the Hellmouth. They seemed...older, which was something going on the fact that vampires couldn't age. But there was no time to dwell on this. Snape was in danger, as was Hermione. It was time for her to do what she had been brought here to do.

Glancing quickly to see that no ubervamps were coming up from behind Hermione, June turned to the girl and said, "Stay here!"

Hermione's mouth tried to form questions of confusion, but the words never made it. June had no time to wait. She ran quickly and put her open palm into the first ubervamp's chest. It only knocked him back about six inches, but that was good enough to land a kick into the other ubervamp's chest, driving him back just as far.

"Slayer," they hissed.

June had but moments to assess what her weapons were. She knew, from Willow's--Buffy's wandless, nerdy witch friend--studies on the ubervamps, that the heart of an ubervamp was so old that it had built up a resistance to stakes and such. The only way to kill an ubervamp was to slice off its head. But with only her wand and a small wooden stake with her, how the hell was she going to do that?

As they began to come at her, however slowly, it hit her. It was risky, but it was the only way. She had to use Snape and Hermione as bait. She had to make them run toward where her potion things were, so the ubervamps would chase them. That way, she would have access to items useful for cutting things up.

Lucky, Snape gave her the perfect excuse for her to yell at them to run.

"Potter! What the hell do you think you are doing?" he yelled, an angry, panicked frenzy in his eyes. Hermione had come beside him.

"I'll explain later. The Headmaster knows! Quick! Run to the potion stuff! Get a weapon!" she yelled.

There were no arguments. Snape and Hermione flew by her on a dead run to the potion things. June landed double kicks to the ubervamps' head, to give them a head start. Then she started after them. The ubervamps took the bait. They followed.

Snape and Hermione reached the desk quickly, but they didn't reach for anything. They had their wands out, trying desperately to think of a spell. Vampires were immune to wand magic, so that was useless. However, June saw her weapon. A knife she used to commonly chop up roots was laying on the ground beside her cauldron. She got to it well before the ubervamps got to her. She whirled on them. The ancient vampires didn't know what had hit them. There were two slices...and then they were dust.

June thought about dropping the knife but found herself only clinging tighter to it. When she turned to look at Snape and Hermione, their expressions were laughable. They were both wide-eyed, with their jaws hanging down to their knees. June sighed.

"How about we go to Dumbledore? Then I'll explain everything. That sound good?" she said, rather carelessly.

"My thoughts exactly, Miss Potter," Snape said.

The three of them turned and trudged their way up to the school and to the Headmaster's office, all the while keeping an eye out over their shoulders.