Glamours

Visitors

"˜Christmas,' Willow thought, "˜had to be the most beautiful time of the year.' Especially now that she was at Hogwarts. Indeed, before she had come to England, she had never been able to have that fabled "˜white Christmas.' Now she got to. With a sigh of regret, wishing she were out playing in the snow right now ESPECIALLY with today being the last day of classes before the holidays, she turned back to the 7th year class she was teaching.

"Today, we will be studying the soul restoration," with a flick of her wrist, she levitated the Orb of Thesulah into her open hand. "Can anyone tell me what this is?"

Several hands shot up, most of them male. Indeed, since her arrival at the school, Willow had noticed (after Severus had amusedly pointed out to her) that many of the male students in the school that normally didn't have much to say in class, suddenly had all the answers. "˜Well,' Willow thought to herself, smirking at the raised hands, desperate to be called on by the attractive Lucy Emerson, "˜At least they're learning.'

She surveyed the room, taking the lone female hand that had shot up. "Yes. Emily." She called on her "˜cousin' Bill's only daughter, the product of an affair with another curse breaker he had met while in Egypt 17 years ago. Catherine had died in childbirth, leaving her parents alone with their granddaughter. Bill had only found out about Emily 7 years ago, when Voldemort had killed her grandparents in a tragic attack on their muggle home in London. Upon learning of her granddaughter's existence, and severely scolding Bill for his poor use of birth control, Molly had warmly welcomed the girl into the family. Emily and Bill both lived at the Burrow now, when Emily wasn't at Hogwarts and Bill wasn't on business trips.

"It's an Orb of Thesulah Professor. It's used for holding the soul being restored or taken away." The willowy redhead replied confidently. Emily and she were close, the girl reminding Willow of who she used to be, before the darkness of all the things she had seen and done had taken over. Indeed, Emily, taking after her father was extremely intelligent and had been made Head Girl this year.

"Very good Emily. Five points to Griffindor. Now, can anyone tell me when, where and by whom the last documented case of a soul restoration took place and, for bonus points, who was the recipient?

The hands shot up again.

"John." Willow pointed to the towheaded boy sitting beside Emily.

"Willow Rosenberg. Sunnydale, California. Um"¦" his brows furrowed in thought. "Oh! 1996"¦and"¦.the recipient was the vampire Angelus, part of the Scourge of Europe."

"Very good. Mr. Hamilton. 20 points to Hufflepuff." She went to her desk, hunting around for something before pulling out a bag of Santa shaped Muggle lollipops, choosing a cherry one and sticking it in her mouth before sitting on her desk and crossing her legs, one over the other. "OK, for 10 house points and a lollipop, who can tell me who Angelus was, besides the Scourge of Europe and the circumstances surrounding his re-ensoulment?"

Hands shot up for a third time that day, but a voice broke through from the back of the room.

"He was a vampire who drained a gypsy girl and was cursed with his soul, only losing it again when he fell in love with the slayer," the unnamed voice said confidently. Willow's jaw dropped before turning into a smile at who had come to visit her.

Another voice piped up from one of the two men who had just entered the classroom. "That's the romantic version pet. The way I remember it, he shagged her silly and that's how he lost it."

Willow did a double take. "Angel? Spike? What are you doing here?!" She cried, jumping up from her perch on the ledge of her desk and jumping into their arms, bestowing each with a hug and a kiss.

"Cor love! You look good enough to eat!" Spike said, stepping back and taking a good look at Willow.

Angel scowled, angry that he-and his demon-agreed with Spike, but knowing that there was no time for conversation. They were here in Scotland for a reason. "Enough flirting, we've business to take care of." He looked down at the floor before venturing to look at Willow, a serious look in his eyes. "There's trouble. After your class is done, you're to meet with Dumbledore and Giles."

The smile that had appeared on Willows face at seeing her two favourite vampires evaporated. This must be serious. She didn't have time to think about this now though. "We'll talk about this later. I have a class to teach." Suddenly, she had an idea and a wicked smile traversed her face. "But since you guys are here"¦..how about a personal lecture from the worlds only souled vampires?"

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"I cannot believe you talked us into doing that," Angel groaned.

"You two owe it to me as my friend, besides," Willow smiled another wicked grin, "They learned more today from you then they would have from me. I don't have personal experience with losing and regaining a soul. You two do. It was very educational." They stopped as they reached the statue to Dumbledores office. "OK. You two DO NOT know me as well as you knew Willow, so don't act like it up there. Well, only if its only Dumbledore, Minerva, Severus, Molly or Arthur. Or Giles"¦.well, obviously," she babbled nervously.

Spike grinned. This was the Willow they all knew and loved. "Or Harry?" He drawled, grinning even more broadly at the blush that spread across her face. He had heard about Harry Potter and the wandless magic lessons Willow had been teaching him, through Giles and the Council. He just hadn't thought they had actually developed a relationship together. The last he heard, they couldn't stand each other.

"N"¦no. Harry doesn't know. And besides, we hate each other," she lied, stammering, still blushing furiously.

"That's not what I smell"¦" Angel chuckled.

Willow's jaw dropped. "Angel!"

Spike rolled his eyes at her shriek. "We're vampires pet, but we're not stupid. Besides that, we met him earlier and you DO reek of him and certain"¦.activities?" He joined in Angel's laughter over Willow at the look that her sputtering face gave them.

"OK, so he does know. We can trust Harry though," she gave in grudgingly, knowing that it was no good trying to hide anything from her two friends; they knew her too well.

Spike nodded perceptively. He knew they could trust Harry, just from the feeling they got off him. Besides, Willow didn't just hop into bed with just anyone. Hell, she had even had sex with him and Angel once in L.A. when they had been incredibly drunk. OBVIOUSLY the girl had good taste. "How long has this been going on Red? Er, Lucy," he finished, catching her warning glance.

"Spike," she hissed. "We'll talk about this later. The walls have ears," she looked around cautiously, her eyebrows furrowing as she met his unrelenting stare. She knew she had to answer his question before they were going to get to go up to Dumbledore's study. "It's kind of like you and Buffy after she came back after Glory"¦"

The two vampires angered immediately. "That's not a healthy relationship ducks!" Spike spat out angrily. He was going to kill Harry Potter. He didn't care if his soul would make him regret it.

Willow looked downcast at the vampires' reaction. "I know but"¦I think"¦I think I'm falling in love with him."

Spike and Angel's jaw dropped. This was serious. "Just how long have you two been"¦?" Angel couldn't bring himself to finish his sentence. Sure, there had been that one evening in L.A. where the three of them had gotten so drunk that they had slept together, but the next morning they had agreed that it had been a huge mistake and they were better off as friends. Still, he couldn't help but feel a little"¦.perturbed he thought the word was"¦.at Willow's new relationship. He was her friend after all; almost siblings really.

"Been sleeping together? Shagging? Take your pick Angel," Willow said smugly, amused at the vampires' shock, a slow smile replacing her frown. "Almost three weeks now." She was quiet suddenly, and the frown returned. "But I've been falling for him since I met him, even when we were arguing." She took in the two long faces in front of her. Clearly, Angel and Spike did not like her current relationship"¦.or lack thereof. Really, her "˜relationship' with Harry consisted of three things: sex, sex, and more sex. Well, that wasn't entirely true, they knew each other, and they had even taken a tour of each other's heads. And there WAS conversation but"¦beyond the wandless magic practice"¦most of the talking took place either post-coital"¦.or during the act itself. Willow didn't consider this last verbal outlet real conversation though.

"Will er, Lucy"¦." Angel started weakly, not knowing what to say to his friend.

"Look," Willow interrupted abruptly. "I know this isn't going to work out but"¦. What with the lives both of us lead, well, I thought we'd give it a try. No strings. We're both going to die anyway when Voldemort gets a hold of us." This last statement Willow secretly thought was unlikely to happen. SHE would survive. She was strong and powerful. She just wasn't sure who she would be after Voldemort was done with her. Veiny, evil Willow probably.

"Willow, don't say that," Angel said quietly, forgetting to address her by her alias, so scared was he at how dark she had gotten in the past months she had been in England. He got a sharp, hard look in return for his concern.

"Willow Rosenberg is dead," she said in a tired voice. "My name is Lucy Emerson." And with this last comment still silently hanging in the corridor, she stepped in to the staircase and the two vampires followed her, exchanging worried glances. This was not the Willow Rosenberg they had known. This Willow- no, Lucy Emerson- was hard, unrelenting, dark, and undeniably sexy. Angel felt his demon chortle in amusement at this last thought.

The Willow Rosenberg they had known had never been able to pull off a no strings relationship. Lucy had initiated one. And what was she wearing? Angel had never seen a sexier teacher. When they had walked into her classroom, he and Spike had found Willow wearing black thigh-high leather boots, a black micro-mini skirt and a skin-tight black turtleneck. Apparently Professor Lucy Emerson didn't approve of teaching robes. The kicker had been the red lollipop she had been sucking on. Indeed, Angel was not the least bit surprised at the way the male population of the class was behaving when he entered. Hell, when he was 17, a woman like that"¦.well, he would have done anything to impress what he was sure was the object of every male at Hogwarts wet dreams and sexual fantasies.

Angel didn't have time to think about that though; not when Willow's world was about to fall apart. With a sigh of resignation, he stepped into the rotating stairwell, following Willow and Spike into a meeting that would change their lives yet again.