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Capt40
Chapter Two: Higher Learning
The Hogwart’s Express made a special run to pick them up. As they stepped through the wall and onto Platform Nine and Three Quarters, Willow marveled at the beauty of the old-fashioned locomotive and passenger cars. She also realized that anyone who had not grown up on Hellmouth would have found walking through a wall extremely disturbing. As it was, she merely flashed back to a long removed Halloween and smiled.
“Hey, Giles, look, somebody else! Hey, over here, hey …” Her enthusiasm trailed off as the black clad figure came closer.
“Red. Nice to see you. Rupert,” the blonde man nodded.
“Spike.” Giles said to the vampire. “I guess that explains the night run. What are you doing here?” The vampire lit a cigarette and savored the smoke leaking out of his nostrils before answering.
“Albus and I go way back. He asked me to come, look after things a bit.”
“You know Professor Dumbledore?” Willow asked, surprised.
“Yup. We’ve been on the same side o’ some nasty tussles over the years. Plus, I needed out of Sunnydale for awhile after things ended with Buffy.” Willow and Giles both knew of the affair, and while neither approved, they traded a look of agreement that Spike’s departure was for the best.
“Perhaps we should finish this on the train?” Giles suggested. The three of them grabbed their bags, with Spike surprisingly taking Willow’s heaviest bag as well, and climbed aboard. Giles settled in to a cabin alone to grab some sleep rather than converse further with the vampire. Willow, tired but wound up, sat awake and staring out the window. Spike silently smoked in the seat across from her, watching the red-headed witch. She seemed sad; that surprised him not at all. Unable to reconcile with Tara, constantly afraid of giving in to her addiction, riddled with guilt over Buffy’s pain, she certainly had enough to be upset about. As the English countryside slipped past, he realized she must be very much alone on this trip. Just like him.
“Red?” Startled from her reverie, she turned and looked at him warily.
“Yeah, Spike?”
“Do you … want to talk about it all?” He asked tentatively, knowing it wasn’t really his place. The Big Bad should not be asking something like that, his demon thought. But the demon had lost control sometime over the past two years, and what was left of William remembered Willow’s endless kindness and patience with his chipped self.
“With you?” She responded in a less than friendly tone.
“Sorry, pet. I just thought … you look so sad.” His voice actually sounded sympathetic. Is he serious? Her mind found that reasonably easy to accept, once she considered it at all. He had changed.
“I just miss home, you know?” All of a sudden, it came out in a rush. “And the way it used to be. Me, Buffy, Xander, Giles, save the world and watch bad Indian t.v. and all that and doing research in the library and even hacking the coroner’s office, thinking a single vampire was serious danger and avoiding Cordelia at the Bronze a-and …” She cut herself off, her face flushed from the speech. “I’m sorry, I’m rambling.”
“I know what you mean, Red. The last few years have been more complicated than the whole century before them. I miss … not the killing and rampaging and feeding so much as the simplicity of it. Now I think about everything. It makes it harder, you know?” He realized as he said it that it was the truth. He didn’t mind being the white hat; he hated the complexity of it, but not the role itself.
“You don’t miss the killing and feeding?”
“It’s been so long … want to hear something odd?” He said suddenly. Probably shouldn’t tell her this, he knew. What the hell, though, might as well. He was what he was.
“S-sure.”
“Remember when Dru came back last year?” She nodded, also remembering that Spike had chained Buffy up ‘for love.’ “We went out, to the Bronze. She killed two lovebirds that night, gave me one to eat. I knew then that we could be together then, that everything could actually be how it was if I wanted it to.”
“Boy, that’s romantic, Spike. Thanks for sharing.” She turned away, disgusted.
“No, you aren’t listening.” He grabbed her shoulder and gently turned her around. “I didn’t want it. Didn’t want her. Thought at the time, a’course, that it was because of Buffy. Maybe it was. But it wouldn’t be now. Now, I just don’t want to. When Dru handed the girl’s body to me, I wondered what she had been like, wondered if she liked the bloody Ramones, would you believe? Now, I look at humans and see … people, not food.”
“It makes sense, I guess,” the redhead said. “You’ve had no choice, living with us for so long.”
“I know, but it’s a bloody enormous change for a vampire, luv.”
“Yeah, I guess so.” He could see she didn’t understand his point. Well, they had plenty of time. At least she had listened to him. Maybe he could help her, eventually. He lit a cigarette and joined her in staring out the window.
Spike and Giles knew the enormous bearded man that met them at the train station was part giant. Nothing else could explain his size. Giles seemed a bit taken aback, but Spike, who had known more than a few giants, remained unfazed. Willow was simply overwhelmed.
“Rubeus Hagrid’s tha name, folks. Keeper o’ the Keys and Grounds and whatnot here at Hogwarts. Professor Dumbledore sent me down to get you. Don’t worry ‘bout yer bags, we’ll have ‘em sent up to yer quarters special. You must Professors Giles and Rosenberg, eh?” He looked first at Giles and Willow, who each nodded. “Right then, that makes you the vampire,” he said to Spike. “Been awhile since I seen one, and he wasn’t too friendly. ‘Course, Dumbledore trusts you. Good enough for me. Great man, Dumbledore.”
“I’ll agree with you there, mate,” Spike said. “Call me Spike.”
“Mos’ people here jus’ call me Hagrid. All’a you might as well.” They nodded. “This way, then.” He led them to a set of boats without oars, motioning them to get in. Willow stumbled and nearly fell in the lake, but Hagrid picked her up with one hand and deposited her in a seat. She smiled her thanks, then let out an ‘eep’ when the boat began to move on its own.
“That is … wow,” Willow said. The enormous silhouette of Hogwart’s came into view, dark against the night sky except for the lights of individual rooms.
“Indeed,” said Giles. He had never seen its like either. Spike and Hagrid, having been here before, merely watched as the outline grew and details began to emerge. The sight left them speechless as they landed and made their way to the school’s entrance.
“Dumbledore’s waitin’ for ya in his office. I s’pect he’ll have someone show ya to yer rooms and whatall.” Hagrid pointed out the directions to Dumbledore’s office. As the three newest staff members turned to go, Willow patted Hagrid on the arm and thanked him sweetly. Embarrassed, the half-giant stuttered out a ‘Yer Welcome’ and headed off to his home. Spike knew the way, and they headed out to meet their new boss.