After quickly dialing her mother on her new trendy little cell phone she had received as a non-magical way to keep in touch, Hermione had followed Buffy to the library of the high school.. She was now sitting at one of the tables behind tall bookcases, while he tried to summarize huge tomes of slayer history into one conversation.
"Okay...let me see if I get this...Buffy is a vampire slayer..." Hermione said slowly.
"Well, in a nutshell, but the term 'vampire slayer' usually encompasses a broader scale of creatures," Giles elaborated.
"...and you...watch her?" Hermione asked questioningly, eyebrows raised.
"Close. I'm her watcher," Giles emphasized.
"...and what all does that entail?"
This time it was Buffy who answered, "Oh...basic training, teaching me slayer lore, stuff like that."
"It's actually more intricate than that," Giles began, "A watcher is a member of a secret organization, the Watcher's Council, devoted to tracking and combatting malevolent supernatural entities, vampires especially. This is done primarily by locating individuals with the talents required to fight these beings and win, known as the Vampire Slayers, such as Buffy. We are actually trained in a special academy. I was Head Boy in my day. We are trained to be experts in the dark arts, and have a mild proficiency in magic."
"Wow," Hermione said softly.
"'Wow' is right!" Buffy interjected, "I didn't even know all that!"
"I've become well acquainted with the magical world over the last six years; how is it that I've never come across this in all of my studies?" Hermione asked.
"Well, much like your magical world, many are oblivious to the world of slayers and vampires until they come in direct contact with it. Even the biggest incidents caused by these creatures are kept quiet to the media and the like. And even if they aren't, they are generally regarded as insubstantial by the general public."
"Speaking of magic, Giles, Hermione can do some! Watch!"
Giles had known it must have been something of this sort for Buffy to actually drag the brunette Brit down to the library.
"Yes, Hermione let's see," Giles prodded.
"Well, what do you want me to do?" Hermione asked nervously.
"Anything," Buffy cried excitedly.
Remembering an incident that had occurred on a particular red train quite awhile back, Hermione pulled out her wand from where it was concealed in a holster on her right leg and pointed it at Giles's glasses. More particularly at a section of the frame that was cracked slightly. (This was, unbeknownst to her, actually due to an incident that had occurred when Xander decided to try out Oz's skateboard in the library and landed right in the arms of Giles.)
"Occulus Reparo!" Hermione commanded.
Buffy gasped at the sight of Giles's glasses repairing themselves. Giles looked slightly relieved now that the stick of wood was not pointed at his head anymore.
"Extraordinary. This wand...may I?" Giles asked, holding out his hands tentatively.
"Oh! Sure." Hermione said, handing it over.
Giles ran his fingers over it, examining it from every angle.
"I'm sure Willow will be very interested in this," he remarked to Buffy, before returning the wand to Hermione.
"Definitely," she replied.
"Oh, does she do magic, too?" Hermione asked.
"Well...she dabbles. The last big thing she did was the Soul-Binding..."
Buffy let the sentence die away. Giles seemed to see no reason to elaborate to Hermione about this particularly touchy subject, so Hermione didn't ask.
Giles searched for a subject to change to. He found one after only a moment.
"So Hermione...what is this Buffy tells me about a war?"
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"...and Voldemort and his followers are now gathering various minions, everything from trolls, to werewolves, and Inferi," Buffy continued breathlessly.
"Inferi, did you say?" Giles asked intently.
"Ooh, wait! Inferi, Inferi! I know this one! Nobody tell me!" Buffy chattered excitedly, "Ummm...Zombies!! Right?"
She looked toward her Watcher for verification.
"...that's one term for it," Giles contended.
Hermione continued, "And now with Professor Dumbledore gone, I don't know how long the Order's going to last. And I'm worried about Harry."
"Well, I assure you, Hermione, that we'll try to help in any way we can. Buffy," he addressed, "don't you think the rest of the 'Scoobies', as you prefer to call them, would be interested in meeting Hermione?"
"Of course! Especially Willow. I'm sure you'll find lots and lots of stuff to talk about. I think Xander will be happy to meet her, too," she said amusedly, speaking to Giles rather than Hermione.
"I'm sure. Have you, er, spoken to Angel lately?" he asked softly.
Buffy's eyes dropped before coming back up. Both Hermione and Giles noticed it, but neither addressed it.
"He's actually supposed to be meeting me here. We're going to do some patrolling."
Hermione sensed that there was some history between this mysterious Angel character and her new found friend and ally, but she contented herself in knowing she would probably find out eventually. Glancing at her watch suddenly, then toward the windows, she realized how late it was actually getting.
"Er...I've better get going," she announced, "My mum's probably wondering where I am."
She stood up from the table and pushed in her chair.
"Oh, yes, of course," Giles replied.
"It was nice meeting you, Mr. Giles," said Hermione, politely.
"Yes, you too, Hermione," he returned, shaking her proffered hand, "And you can drop the "mister;" most just call me simply Giles."
"Or G-Man; whichever works," Buffy piped, grinning impishly. Growing serious, she turned to Hermione.
"Do you want me to walk you home?"
"Erm...I think I have it handled," Hermione said, slightly unsure of herself, "Besides, you have to wait for Angel."
"Okay. Well, I'll call you tomorrow."
Hermione bade them both goodbye as she walked toward the door of the library.
Remembering which way they had entered, she turned to walk down the long hall. Coming towards her was a darkly handsome man who looked to be in his early twenties.
He was well built with luxuriously dark hair, and eyes that were so deep she imagined you could drown in them. He was also dressed rather darkly; the most outstanding article being the black coat that fell to his ankles. He looked at her slightly quizzically, as if wondering at her presence in the library, but just smiled politely before continuing into the library.
Falling out of the trance she seemed to have been lured into, Hermione breathed, "...wow."
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