I was going to the Hellmouth.
It was a scary thought, one that I try not to dwell on too much. I'm
afraid I'll lose my nerve you see, and that would be bad. The boys
in Gryffindor would tease me forever, and as for the Slytherins,
forget it. They would never give up on the idea of the old
Gryffindor courage failing in Harry Potter.
No, I was going to the Hellmouth, and there was no one to stop me.
Mrs. Weasley might try though. She doesn't want me going, forbade
Ron from going, and was damn near to kidnapping Willow to stop her
from returning home during the winter break. But the slight redhead
would not be deterred. Rather calmly Willow had informed Molly that
her friend was the Slayer and that no harm would come to her while
she was visiting.
Molly didn't buy it. Arthur wanted Buffy's autograph. And the two
of them fought. It wasn't pretty. I'm just glad the lot of us were
safely at Hogwarts.
I'm actually very excited about going, though I have my
reservations. After all, a place doesn't get the name of the
Hellmouth idly. And I knew from all of Willow's stories, Sunnydale
had earned that name in full. I wasn't sure at the time if I ever
wanted to step foot in that place. Demons, vampires, lycanthropes-
well, Hagrid would feel right at home there. The half-giant might
actually die of pleasure if he was able to go there. I on the other
hand, wasn't so sure about it.
But when she invited me to come along, I jumped at the chance before
really giving it much thought. On one hand, it was a horrible place,
a land of nightmares that no human should have to endure.
And on the other hand, there was the Slayer.
She's the real reason I was going. Willow knew it too, smirking at
me and telling me how much the two of us would have in common. I
didn't doubt it. Someone destined to be all that stood between the
world and destruction, and me-the boy who everyone thought would be
the end of Voldemort. I personally didn't think it would happen, but
popular opinion remained what it was.
I didn't have much trouble in getting permission to go. Mrs.
Summers, Buffy's mother, was more than willing to sign all the
necessary forms to allow me to spend the vacation at her house. And
as for Uncle Vernon, he was just glad that I wouldn't coming home
until the summer time. Well, the feeling was definitely mutual.
Sunnydale, despite being the mouth of Hell, was still more appealing
than Christmas at Privet Drive.
Hermione was also invited to go along, and I could see how badly she
wanted to go. Willow had told her all about the library at her
former high school, the one the Watcher Giles kept stock full of
magical books and demon texts. If Hermione ever got the chance, I
doubt she would ever leave that place. The way that girl gets about
books . . . it boggles the mind.
But alas, she had to go home to her parents. The Granger family was
off to Paris yet again, visiting some more family during the holiday
season. She was a bit put off, but Willow had promised to take her
some other time. That held Hermione over for the time being.
Ron, as I mentioned, was forbidden from going. He wasn't too happy
about that, quite annoyed with his mother for a few weeks. I can
understand how it was embarrassing on some levels, and downright
frustrating in the next. If he wasn't going to the Hellmouth, than
Willow shouldn't be going either. However, that logic didn't look
quite as well as Ron had hoped.
Willow had insisted on going home, citing that she wanted to see all
her friends again. The little redhead had put her foot down with
Ron, telling him in no uncertain terms, that she was going home and
he couldn't stop her. It had led to a bit of a tiff between the
couple, but then again, when those two were fighting, it wasn't
really fighting. After all, they still snogged like there was no
tomorrow, sometimes even more so than normal. It was kind of sweet,
in a sickening sort of way.
Not that I minded the relationship between the two. How could I? It
wasn't like Willow had taken over Ron's life or anything. Ron was
still my best friend. We still played wizard's chess, went running
about Hogsmeade together, and all the stuff we used to do. Of
course, there were times when the two of them ran off to be together,
but I wasn't going to begrudge him that. Hell, if I was dating
Willow, I'd spend the whole day locked in the Astronomy Tower with
her!
The only real thing that was kind of off was how I knew this was
going to be permanent. It was weird watching them be with each other
and know that they were destined to be together. And have a child
together. I mean, I really could have lived without knowing that Ron
and Willow were going to sneak off to have sex during Christmas
dinner some year down the road. I really, really could have.
But I was happy for them. Because I could see that Ron and Willow
were in love. I doubt that even they knew how much they were in
love, but it was there. It was sweet.
But sometimes a bit over the top. I wasn't quite sure about this
prophecy thingy, the one where they would have a wonder child
together. I kind of wondered how much it affected them. I mean,
they weren't always together, but there were times when the
separation was longer than others. I remember that one time Willow
and a couple of the other students had come down with the flu and
were quarantined up in the Infirmary for a whole weekend. Madame
Pompfrey would not let any other student in there, so Ron wasn't able
to go check on his girlfriend.
The effect was awful. Ron snapped at everything that moved, twitched
almost constantly, and couldn't sleep on the last night of Willow's
detainment. And when she did get out, he whisked her away for a good
two hours of snogging before coming back out to join the rest of the
school. And still, for the rest of the day, he wouldn't let her
leave his side. He kept a hand on her, as if he needed to keep
touching her after being so long without.
It was strange, but Willow hadn't minded all that much. In fact, the
redhead seemed to return the feeling, not budging from Ron's side
until night had fallen.
And that was only one weekend apart. As in two days and two nights.
For this winter break, they were going to be apart for two weeks
before they could meet up again. I was beginning to wonder how they
would survive such a long time without one another. It couldn't be
good for them . . .
But I guess we'll just have to wait and see. Nothing to be done
about it. Willow was going home to the Hellmouth and I was going
along with her while Ron was stuck at the Burrow. I'm not sure my
best friend would make the wait for Willow to rejoin him at his
home. Molly Weasley was going to be in for a hell of a lot of cold
shoulder from her youngest son that's for sure.
But I'm not going to think about that right now. No, there were
better things to focus on. Like meeting the honest-to-God Vampire
Slayer. I could hardly wait. Willow even promised that I could go
patrolling with them, stake an actual vampire by myself. It was
going to be a blast.
Of course, and there were other things to enjoy there. I've never
been to America, never when much of anywhere outside of England. It
would be an experience to say the least. Willow assured me that I
would get the full scope of the Sunnydale/Californian experience.
Winter was going to be a blast.