Chapter Text
Severus Snape was in a foul mood. The school year had ended, which was pleasing to most of the teachers, certainly to most of the students. Unfortunately, the school year had ended on a very drastic note. Voldemort had caused an attack. Technically, the attack had been caused by a group of reassembled Death Eaters, who were the followers of the Dark Lord, but they wouldn't have attacked Hogwarts unless their master had commanded it of them. He was gaining in power, reassembling his followers from the years before, and gaining new ones as well. Things were not encouraging.
Most would have been glad to have the summer to plan what to do unencumbered by classes. He wasn't, but then, he had more complications than most people. He'd once belonged to the Death Eaters, although that had ended up becoming a means of spying for the Ministry of Magic. The mark on his arm had burned from the attack, reminding him that he would always be marked by his dark past. Most of his students despised or feared him, and he wasn't particularly close to any of the faculty.
There was the further complication that he visited his sister every summer. His sister Sheila, the squib of the family. She had been something of an embarrassment before, and when she had grown to adulthood, she had moved away to America, vowing never to look back. She had even gotten married to a muggle, and had become a psychiatrist. If it weren’t for the fact that his grandfather, the patriarch of the family had decreed that someone would stay in touch, she would have been easily forgotten. Severus had drawn the short straw, and was the one relative that still visited Sheila. It also meant that he was the only Snape that had actually met Sheila's daughter, Willow.
Sheila had absolutely forbidden him to speak of anything related to the wizarding world to her daughter, insisting that as her husband was a muggle, and she had 'no magical talent what-so-ever' that there would never be a reason for her daughter to need to know of the wizarding world. Her daughter was a bright girl, and amazing with computers, and as far as he knew, she hadn't been approached by any of the American wizarding schools, which meant that Sheila could have been right about things. However he'd promised his grandfather, so he visited every summer, regardless of the magic or non-magic of the family.
He worried about Willow, there was something that wasn't right about the town they lived in. Things felt slightly off, definitely leaning towards the dark side of things. Although, the weather in Sunnydale was usually sunny, and overall typically southern California. Most places that had a feel of the Dark to them tended to have weather that reflected this, frequent storms, lots of mists and fog, many overcast days, that sort of thing. He felt glad for once, that Willow didn't know what was out there in the world, that she only had muggle concerns. That she didn't know about Voldemort rising to power again, that she didn't have to worry about curses, vampires, rampaging trolls and monsters in the basement.
He had just returned from the owl post, sending a letter to his sister that he would be visiting, just as usual this summer. He knew it drove her crazy that he sent her letters by owl, that he didn't use the muggle mail system. He found a letter, saying that Dumbledore wanted to see him, immediately, about a matter of great concern. He was to meet him at Hogwarts, where they would not be overheard. Something told him that this would only be more disturbing news.
His meeting with Dumbledore... well, while it wasn't quite what he'd expected, it was still bad news. Apparently, one of the Death Eater that had attacked Hogwarts had been Lucius Malfoy, and Dumbledore feared that if Draco went home, he would be in danger. Tactfully, Dumbledore didn't speculate on exactly who Draco would be in danger from, but Severus could imagine plenty of possibilities on his own. Draco could be in danger from other Death Eaters, trying to unbalance Lucius. He could be in danger from Lucius as some sort of dark action or ritual. He could be in danger from Voldemort, or some nasty thing working for the Dark Lord.
Which was why Albus Dumbledore had asked him to take Draco Malfoy with him on his summer visit. Take the boy to America, far from England where the Malfoy family had their power base, far from the dark corners of Europe where the Dark Lord was hiding. Severus had argued against the plan, but it hadn't worked. Dumbledore had possessed more arguments about how it would be safer for Draco than Severus had arguments on how miserable the trip would be.
Which was why he now needed to change his travel plans to include a teenage boy. He would be going across the world to visit his non-magical sister, and taking with him the talented son of one of England's oldest wizard families. He couldn't imagine how the trip could possibly get worse.
end part 1.
Willow was frustrated and bored. Xander had left to take a summer road trip. Oz had gone on tour with the Dingos, they were opening for another band, and hoped that the exposure would be good for them. She and Oz had never got back together after the dreadful incident at the factory, but they had managed to rebuild their friendship. Buffy had gone on a cruise that her father had bought her as a graduation present. Obviously, he'd given it to her before they'd blown up the school.
Blown up the school...Willow could barely believe that she had actually helped to blow up her school. Granted, the only reason that she would have ever considered it was that they couldn't come up with a better way to get rid of the mayor that had turned into a giant snake-demon. She still felt incredibly guilty.
All her friends had left, going ... somewhere that wasn't Sunnydale for the summer. The school that had come to feel like a home to her, or at least a safe place in an unsafe world was gone. She had been spending many hours wandering around town, and at the public library or Joyce's art gallery. It was incredibly boring.
Normally, her uncle Sev would visit at some point in the summer. He was her mother's brother, and the only one that had stayed in touch. She'd asked once why her mother had left her family, but the only answer she'd gotten was something about needing to go on her own... needing to stand on her own feet in her adult life. She had been quite certain that her mother didn't want to tell her the real reason why she'd left her family. Willow had always thought it had to be something big, after all, normal people didn't just move out of the country, across an ocean, and to the other side of the world from their family, cutting off almost all communication without some sort of reason.
But, her parents had gone on some sort of tour to promote her mother's latest book, and they didn't plan to be back until sometime in November. They'd left back in May, and had consequently missed the whole mess that was graduation. Willow had wondered if they'd even realized that she had graduated that year. Surely they'd be home if Uncle Sev was planning to visit, right? Even her parents wouldn't just let him come all the way from England and not show, right? Well, her mother HAD tried to burn her at the stake... HAD not realized that Jesse had died several months ago... still called her friend Buffy 'that Bunny girl'.
Willow walked down the sidewalk, kicking at the small stones that had found their way out of the flowerbeds. She was doomed to a summer of complete loneliness and boredom. Her friends all had somewhere else to be, except for Amy, who had turned herself into a rat. Her school was gone.... there were two people on her front step.
Willow stopped, trying to figure out why there would be people on her step. It was a bright, sunny afternoon, so they couldn't be vampires. They had a small pile of luggage, so they weren't travelling salespersons... There was a blond boy perhaps a few years younger than she was, and he was glaring at the door as if it had somehow offended him. The other person was... her uncle Sev.
"Uncle Sev! You're here... oh, this is wonderful!" Willow was delighted. She bounded up to the porch, and gave her uncle a big hug, absolutely delighted to see him. He was her favorite relative, the only one that didn't try to make her 'be more normal'.
After a few moments of hugging, Willow let go of her uncle. "I didn't think you were coming this summer. Mom and Dad didn't say anything. Here, let me get the door. You might as well come in, no reason to stay out in the sun..."
Her uncle Sev frowned, and that expression was particularly effective on him. His dark hair and dark eyes, paired with his tendency to wear dark clothing had always made Willow think he looked like he should be cast as the villain in some theatrical production. He pulled of the brooding and mysterious as well as Angel did, although her uncle was clearly alive.
Sev and the boy followed Willow into the house, bringing the luggage with them. It was obvious that there would have to be some explanations. Willow hadn't expected her uncle, and surely hadn't been expecting him to bring a guest, which could only mean that she hadn't known.
end part 2.
"You didn't think I was going to visit this summer? Why not?" Severus couldn't understand. He'd tried to make certain that Willow knew he thought well of her. Surely his sister hadn't forgotten to mention that he would be coming.
"Mom and Dad left in May to go on a promotional tour for her new book. I haven't seen them since then, and they've only left a few messages for me, none of which mentioned you or... umm who is your guest anyhow?" Willow's voice was filled with emotion, loneliness and something else that he hated to hear from her, a sense of resignation. As if her parents had abandoned her and she had concluded that there was nothing that could be done about it.
"His name is Draco Malfoy, he's on of my students. There was some concern for his safety over the summer, and it was decided that he should stay with me over the break." Absently, Severus answered, sweeping his gaze over the front room, looking for some sign that his sister hadn't completely abandoned her daughter. Upon hearing an odd noise from Draco, he hoped that his niece wouldn't misinterpret Draco staying with him. Glancing at her, he thought that it didn't look like she was taking it wrongly. "You're certain she didn't say anything about the change of plans? I sent her a letter explaining some of the details."
"Quite. There was weed the flowerbeds, make certain that the bills were paid... Umm if Samuel Draven calls give him mom's cell phone number... nothing about your visit or company. Umm are you sure the letter got to her? I know nothing came here from you..." Willow was clearly thinking, and only part of her attention was on the issue of her mother's non-communication. "I guess we'll put Draco in the guest room, you can stay in my parent's room. They took most of their stuff with them this time, so it's pretty empty. Here, follow me, I'll help you get your stuff to the rooms."
As they moved the luggage, Severus noticed just how empty the room was. It looked as if they had left hardly anything at home. He frowned again, trying to think why that would be. If they had left in may, shouldn't they be almost ready to return? "Willow, how long are your parents away for? Why did they feel the need to pack almost every item of clothing they own?" As he considered the idea of his sister and her husband leaving their daughter alone for the summer, another thought occurred to him. "Didn't you graduate this year?"
Willow was just pulling in his last item, a big trunk. She looked thoughtful for a moment before she answered. "Actually, I graduated as valedictorian of my class. They missed it, and they're supposed to be back sometime in the middle of November. Apparently, her career as a psychologist and author is much more important than seeing me graduate. It's debatable if they realized that I'm graduating this year or not, that might require them to pay attention to something about me for longer than five minutes."
Severus was appalled that his sister could do this. She had been one of the most vocal protesting about their father spending so much time with his career, insisting that she felt like he didn't pay any attention to her or the rest of them because he was to busy with his job. Now, he learns that she had just gone off to do a promotional tour over the summer... "Has she gone away for a long period before?"
"It's not really a new thing for her. This one's a bit longer than most, but she's been away for a long time before. She's been doing this since I was twelve and she decided I was capable of taking care of myself. I'm used to it. She probably wouldn't have been happy with graduation anyhow." Willow's words were resigned, as if she had long ago concluded that her life wasn't a high priority to her parents, and she had given up on trying to catch their attention.
"Why wouldn't Sheila have liked your graduation ceremony? From what I've seen of them, and I've seen many parents at their children's graduations, it isn't normally the sort of thing that people get upset over." He was feeling angrier with his sister with every answer. There were only so many ways a graduation ceremony could be done, how much of a problem could there have been?
Willow looked as if she were trying to choose her words very carefully. "There was a problem at the ceremony. Umm... well... there was an eclipse, which wasn't a problem but it did cause some... chaos, yes, I think chaos is the best way to describe that, and then umm the school sort of...well... it blew up. The fire department said it was some sort of major gas leak, and a stray spark...possibly a bad boiler system."
He could only stare in shock for a few moments. The school had blown up? Major gas leak and a bad boiler... that had to be one of the most pathetic excuses he'd ever heard. Something had to have happened at that school, and he had a sinking feeling that it was Dark. There had been an impression of... something that he'd sensed when he'd arrived in this town, but he'd dismissed it as his dislike of the area, a figment of his imagination. Perhaps he'd best be more alert in this town.
end part 3.
Severus was most unhappy.
Severus was still brooding over his sister's parenting skills – or rather, her apparent lack of them when he heard Draco moving around downstairs. The boy was stomping, and probably complaining to nobody – or possibly his owl about how miserable he expected his summer to be. He caught something about having no friends here... to much sunlight... Obviously, Draco was in a foul mood.
He would just have to get over it.
He would just unpack his things and brood over his sister. While it had been something of a disappointment to the family that Sheila hadn't had any magic, that hadn't meant that she had to leave. She had felt out of place among them, hadn't wanted to be the only non-magical person in a family of wizards. He hadn't been disappointed that she'd moved away, or that she'd married a muggle. Surprised, yes, and he still didn't understand what she'd seen in Ira, but it was her life, those were her choices. He'd actually been happy for her when she became a psychiatrist, it had meant that she had a career, she was doing something that made her happy. But she was abandoning her daughter. How could she... he would never understand his sister.
Meanwhile, Draco Malfoy was downstairs, looking for the best places for some of his things... well, actually, he was just poking around being nosy. He wanted to find out what sort of magic books his teacher's sister had in her house, what magical appliances or trinkets. So far, he'd found entirely non-magical furnishings, and no books on magic whatsoever. In fact, everything was pointing to the nasty idea that this... could it be possible? Could this actually be a muggle household?
"Hey, you with the red hair. Where the magical stuff? Where do your parents keep their spellbooks and potion recipes?" He might as well ask the young woman, what had her name been again? Some sort of tree...
"My parents don't have spellbooks or potion recipes. What sort of school did you go to anyhow?" She was giving him this odd look, as if he'd said something crazy.
"What do you mean no spellbooks? How would they work magic without spellbooks? I mean, I'd guess they'd be a bit on the second rate side, considering.." He looked around the house with a sniff of disdain. " surely they must have them somewhere. Even Weasley's have books on magic." Draco's voice had taken on this slightly petulant, sneering tone.
Willow looked at him, clearly annoyed now. "Look, my parents do NOT have spellbooks. I don't know who these Weasley people are, but I don't think they have anything to do with my family. No spellbooks for my parents. No magic for my parents. Stop snooping."
Draco's eyes grew wide as she spoke, and the words practically exploded out of him after she had ordered him to stop snooping. "No magic? I'm Draco Malfoy! I am not going to stay in the house of some bossy mud-blood muggle! I'm not going to stay in this miserable little house with some helpless ignorant mud.."
His words were cut off when Willow's hand connected sharply to his face. She was glaring at him, her eyes furious. Her words were practically hissed. "You are one of the rudest, most obnoxious spoiled brats that I have ever had the misfortune of meeting in my whole life."
Draco was staring at her in stunned disbelief. She'd hit him... she'd actually slapped him. He'd been insulted before, but this was different. His cheek stung from where her hand had connected. This wasn't supposed to happen to him! Draco turned and bolted out the door, his mind a turmoil of to many thoughts, both what had happened just now and the events that had caused him to be in America to begin with.
Willow watched him leave the house, her own metal state in turmoil. She'd slapped him. Oh, dear, she'd actually slapped the boy. She knew that it had been very rude of her to do that, and then she'd yelled at him, although it was quite true, he WAS rude and obnoxious, and probably quite spoiled as well.
Draco had just run off to sulk outside in Sunnydale. Willow realized that with a sinking sense of dismay. He probably had no idea what dangers were out there at night, well it wasn't quite nighttime yet, but if they didn't get him back inside where it was safe before dark... He probably had no idea about the nasties of Sunnydale. She'd better go tell her uncle.
end part 4.
Willow went up to talk to her uncle Sev. She had to tell him about Draco running out, and that meant she'd probably have to tell him about the argument. Maybe he could explain to her exactly what 'mud-blood' meant, beyond the fact that it was clearly an insult. They would have to find the blonde before anything bad happened to him.
"Umm Uncle Sev? There's been a bit of a problem." Willow spoke hesitantly, reluctant to admit the way she'd lost her temper.
He made a gesture for her to come in and explain, so she shuffled in, clearly embarrassed. "Draco and I... we... sort of had a bit of an argument. Umm what exactly is a mud-blood anyhow? Because I thought it sounded very rude and he's definitely a bit on the spoiled side, and Oh! he ran out of the house and we need to go find him, he has to be back inside before dark because it just isn't safe outside after dark, and I'm babbling again."
Her uncle looked very unhappy about the argument, and the fact that Draco had called her a mud-blood, although he didn't actually explain the term. They left the house, separating at her uncle's insistence to search more area faster. Willow urged him to be very careful, especially if it got dark.
Severus started searching the town, occasionally stopping and trying to sense the presence of another trained - or at least partly trained wizard. Unfortunately, the energies of this area made any sort of aura tracking incredibly difficult. The place was filled with this energy that acted much like static...evil static. He wasn't surprised to see numerous churches in the small town, or to see several cemeteries. He was also getting the strong feeling that this was the sort of place where the dangers after dark included a great deal more than rat infested allies or human gangs. He started walking a bit faster, hoping to find Draco before something terrible could happen to the boy.
Willow was searching for Draco as well. She felt terrible, certain that it was at least partly her fault that he had run out like that. She had made certain to pick up a jacket before she left, not for the warmth, but because it made it so much easier to hide a wooden stake and a squirt gun filled with holy water. How would he know to defend himself from the dangers out there? What if some demon or vampire found him? He'd been at the bronze, a pale skinned blond guy, about sixteenish, and dressed a bit oddly, but he'd left already.
She continued her search, hoping that nothing tried to eat him. That nothing had already eaten him. Especially since the sun had just set, freeing the nighttime hunters to stalk the streets. She turned in at one of the parks, having the idea that maybe he had gone somewhere quiet to think - or sulk, as the case might be. Looking around, she saw someone with pale blond hair sitting on a bench. Hopefully, it was Draco, so she started going closer. Unfortunately, there was another figure moving towards him, what looked like a big guy in dark pants and a lighter colored shirt. A vampire, and probably hungry. Willow started to run.
The vampire seized the figure on the bench, sinking fangs into the unfortunate, who screamed. The scream was partly fearful, but also angry. It had to be Draco. Willow pulled her stake, and plunged it into the back of the vampire, who promptly disintegrated into gritty dust which fell to the ground, as did the now bleeding Draco Malfoy.
Willow pulled a scrap of cloth from her pocket, and pressed it over the bleeding bite wound on Draco's neck, right at the place where the neck meets the shoulder. She pressed, trying to slow the bleeding, and looked at his color, trying to judge how badly he'd been injured.
"Best get you back to the house now. I've got real bandages there. It's okay, you're safe...well, safer now. Let's go." Willow spoke quietly, trying to sooth Draco. She could tell he'd been very afraid.
They made their way back to the house, moving quickly. They met up with her uncle Sev on the way, and all three of them went into the house. She could tell that her uncle was trying to figure out what had happened to Draco's neck.
"Here, Uncle Sev, you keep the pressure on right here. I'm going to go get the first aid kit, and we can get him bandaged up. Questions can come after bandages, that's the proper order of things." Willow spoke, hoping to buy a little time to try to think of a way to explain all of this.
end part 5.