Business As Usual

Part Twenty-Nine: Business As Usual

Willow wasn't sure how she felt about her father being a dog.

And she didn't mean that in the 'he's such a dog' kind of way. She meant it in the 'my dad can shapeshift into a large black dog' sort of way. And it was majorly weird. Sure, the whole idea of an Animagus intrigued her, but watching it in practice was an entirely different thing. Looking on as her father went from human to dog, Willow couldn't help but be reminded of the time Amy had changed herself into a rat, and remained a rat because Willow couldn't figure out how to put her back. She had asked Uncle Remmy when she had initially brought Amy to Grimmauld Place, and he swore he was looking into it.

He just wasn't getting very far.

But back to her father, and the fact that he was currently a dog. Willow felt very uncomfortable holding the leash to her father's collar, but there wasn't much she could do about it. Willow had always thought that her Resolve Face was something she got from her mother. Turns out her father had one that could beat Sheila's any day. And he employed it on the day they all went to go see the kids off to Hogwarts.

Willow gripped the leather leash tightly in one hand, feeling a bit awkward as she tried to rein her obviously excited father in. She remembered that it had been quite a while since her dad had been let out of the house, but his excitement was just a bit over the top. In dog form, he was half her size and way stronger. If she wasn't careful, he was going to end up dragging her halfway down the street.

And wouldn't the reporters love that?

Harry growled when another not-so-hidden photographer snapped their picture as they made their way across Platform 9 & 3/4, which by the way had freaked Willow out immensely. Especially since no one had given her any warning about the hidden barrier and her father had plowed right through it with her in tow. She had emerged on the other side to find a small media circus waiting for her. Her father's associate Mad-Eye Moody, very accurately named if she might say, had sent most of the reporters scattering initially, but some remained, hiding quite obviously around her.

"Bloody hell," Oliver swore as another flashbulb went off. "Can't they give it a rest already?"

"I'll assume that's a rhetorical question," Willow mumbled darkly, giving her father's leash a sharp tug as he tried to run off again. Her father turned around and instead of yelping in a proper dog fashion, he gave her a very grave look. She rolled her eyes and hoped that no one realized that her 'dog' was trying to reprimand her. "You suck at acting like a dog," she whispered to her father. She got a sharp bark and an overly enthusiastic lick on her face in response.

"Eww," Ron commented as he moved to where his mother stood, doing a last minute inspection of the children's supplies.

"Tell me about it," Willow grumbled. She wiped at her chin while glaring darkly at her father. "You wait until we get home, mister."

"You know, it's the parent who usually says things like that," Oliver said in amusement. "Not the child."

"I'm not a child," Willow retorted quickly. "I'm eighteen, and that is so not child-status anymore."

"You know what I meant," Oliver grinned. "And stop being so huffy. The press is watching us very closely. One misplaced glare and the news of our rocky relationship will be all over the papers tomorrow. And I don't know about you Willow, and I'm not sure the Wizarding public could stand it if the two of us broke up. I mean, we're just too important to them."

Willow bit back a laugh at Oliver's words. She sent her bodyguard a wry grin and decided to go with his plan. Sure she felt crappy and all she wanted to do was to read that book Kreacher got her and find a way to save her mom, but what was the use of letting the world know that? Willow was pretty sure that if her father or her uncle got even the slightest suspicion about what she was doing, it would all be over. Best to keep up appearances to throw off suspicion. Willow wasn't all that great at hiding stuff, but she liked to think that she was getting better at it.

Besides, the kids were running off for an entire school year. Who knows when she would see them next. And while she was pretty sure she could do without the twins trying to turn her hair green, she was also pretty sure that she was going to miss the whole lot of them. Xander was right, the kids did grow on you after a while. And she figured that it would be better for them if she feigned cheerfulness until they got on their train and were on their way.

"Miss Black!"

Willow automatically spun around at the sound of her name. A flash went off right in front of her face and blinded her. Sirius took offence to the incident and was growling menacingly at the unknown photographer while she tried to blink the spots out of her vision.

"Er . . . nice doggy?"

That sounded like a very young voice. Willow frowned and turned to find a very nervous blonde boy standing not three feet away from her. The boy's eyes were trained on Sirius, and her father advanced on him slowly until Willow gave him a quick tug on the leash.

"Creevy," Oliver said from beside her. "Don't you ever put that thing away?"

"Oh, hello Oliver," the boy, Creevy, greeted him happily. "How've you been?"

"Brilliant," Oliver replied grimly. "But stop avoiding the issue, why you accosting Miss Black?"

"Oh, that hardly qualified as accosting," Willow said with a snort.

"I just wanted a picture of Harry's new friend, for my scrapbook," Creevy said happily. "She's quite famous, you know."

"Really?" Oliver shot Willow an amused look. "Well Colin, it's usually more polite to ask for a picture than to shove your camera into someone's face. Try to work on that this year, eh?"

"Yessir!" Colin agreed cheerfully. "Well, bye!"

Willow watched the young boy scamper off and join a younger boy who looked a lot like him. Brothers, she decided before being yanked back into the present by a tug on the leash by Sirius.

"What?" she asked in annoyance. Her father just pointed to the kids and Willow saw that Molly had finished her quick inspection and last minute inventory. Guess that meant they were ready to go.

"Shall we?" Oliver whispered in her ear. She turned to face him and saw that he was offering her his elbow. She rolled her eyes but accepted the gesture, linking her arm through his and pointedly ignoring the sharp increase in flashes at her actions and the growl from her father. Oliver steered her over to the group, Sirius trotting along beside them, trying to nip at Oliver's heels.

"You know, they're going to have a field day with that," Harry said as they joined them.

"Well, might as well give them something to write about," Willow said with an easy shrug. "They've been grasping at straws lately, and if they make one more trip down to the Hellmouth to dig up scoop on Buffy, she just might start slaying them."

"If Marcus doesn't beat them to it," Oliver added quickly. "He certainly dislikes the limelight nowadays."

"I'm not sure if it's the limelight he despises, or the way he's getting attention that he hates," Willow mused. "I mean, he's all for being recognized as a hardworking Auror. But he's never too happy to see all that crap about him being Buffy's secret lover all over the papers."

"Yeah, Flint's crazy like that," Ron interjected sarcastically. "And while I always enjoy talking about Slytherin gits, past and present, we do have to get on the train."

"Right," Willow nodded nervously before turning to Harry. "Well, you take care. And stay out of trouble."

"Why does everyone keep saying that to me?" Harry asked woundedly.

"Because even though Hogwarts is the safest place in the Wizarding World, you still manage to endanger your safety at least three times before the hols?" Hermione suggested as she came over to say goodbye.

"Oh sure, if you think about it like that . . . " Harry grumbled, though Willow could see a smile lurking on the corners of his mouth. She grinned and leaned over to give him a quick hug, again ignoring the explosion of flashes her actions ignited.

"Have fun," she whispered to him. "And I'll see you when I see you."

"Same to you," Harry whispered back as they both pulled away from the hug. The boy looked down at the dog waiting expectantly at her side. Sirius nudged Harry's arm with his nose and Harry went down onto his knees to give him a quick hug. "Bye Snuffles, see you soon."

And with that they started to get on the train. Willow hugged Ron, Hermione, and Ginny goodbye, opting against hugging either twin when Fred shot her the most devious look she had ever seen. George pouted theatrically at the quick handshake she offered, but wished her a good farewell anyway. Molly paced in front of the train, still shouting instructions to the kids even well after they had disappeared from sight. Moody hung back, talking to Uncle Remmy in low tones while Willow tried to step away from the huge crowd milling in front of the train. Parents and family members of all sorts shouted frantic goodbyes and reminders to their kids right up until the train blew its whistle. With a groan and a sudden lurch, the Hogwarts Express began to move forward.

She felt a slight tug on her hand before she remembered that she was holding her father's leash. That gave her all of three seconds to prepare before her father shot off towards the edge of the platform, dragging her right along with him.

"No! Stop! Bad Snuffles!"

~*~

"You know you want to."

Giles rolled his eyes and turned back to his book. "It's not going to happen," was all he said.

"But Giles!" Cordelia's voice went ear-shatteringly high for a brief second before coming back down to normal. "You know that this is a good idea!"

"No, I don't know that," Giles retorted easily.

"Look, I've done a ton of research and organizing since I joined up with you guys," Cordelia reminded him. "I'm very a fast typer, I know my way around the Internet, and I can time-manage like no-one's business. Plus, I'm from the Hellmouth! I can usually spot a demon faster than most people."

"Cordelia-"

"Deny it!" she challenged him. "I dare you to deny it!"

"I'm not going to deny it," Giles told her. "But I am going to deny that I need a secretary at all."

"But this isn't for you!" Cordelia growled. "It's for Willow. Think about it. Buffy can't leave here for more than a few hours at a time. Xander's stuck at his house until his mom gets over her sudden bout of motherly paranoia, and you're too busy with Watcher and Ministry stuff to be with her all the time. I can go, help you out, and spend time with her! But my parents won't let me go until they see actual proof of this internship I told them about. So, come on!"

Giles pursed his lips, unhappy to acknowledge that Cordelia was actually making sense. Willow could benefit from having one of her friends around more often. The whole thing with Ira had left her confused and saddened, and feeling more alone than ever. Buffy couldn't leave the Hellmouth for long periods of time, and Xander was currently suffering from the overdose of maternal affection that Cordelia had alluded to. Cordelia was the best option right now. But did he actually want to spend that much time with Cordelia Chase himself?

"Giles!"

He winced and glared at her. "I'll think about it," he offered her. "And I'll have a word with Quentin. If there's something for you to do, then I'll consider taking you up on your offer. But until then, all of you are to stay put."

"Fine," Cordelia assented, a huge smile on her face. "So, I don't have you call you 'boss' or anything, do I? Because I so won't."

Giles grimaced and went back to his book.

~*~

"George?"

"Yes Fred?"

"Have you noticed something a bit . . . off about our little Willow?"

"As a matter of fact, I have. She's been acting very dodgy as of late."

"Yes, quite dodgy. One would think that she was up to something."

"Yes, one might think that. After all, when we're up to something, we act just as dodgy."

"But with a bit more cheer."

"Yes, infinitely more cheer."

"But back to Willow. She is up to something."

"Obviously so. Question is, what is she up to?"

"And the second question being, what should we do about it?"

"Well, it might be a harmless something."

"Right, it could be harmless."

"But it's not."

"Oh no, definitely not. Suppose we should have told Mum?"

"Nah, she'd only overreact. I'd look elsewhere. But not her father. Old Snuffles would around the bend if he knew she was up to something harmful."

"Perhaps her Mr. Giles? He seems right responsible."

"Yes, of course! What a brilliant idea Fred!"

"Thank you, George. We'll get right on it when we get to the castle."

"Fred? If we've noticed, don't you think the others have noticed?"

"Oh no George, quite thick the lot of them. Horribly dense."

"Hey! I'm sitting right here!"

"Yes, yes you are Ron . . . You're right Fred, horribly dense."

"It's a shame."

"Awful shame."

"Oh, shut it already, you damned fools."

"Ron! Prefects shouldn't swear!"

"Whatever, Hermione."

"Oh, Harry, tell him!"

"What's that now?"

" . . ."

"Hermione! Don't swear!"

"Don't mock her Ron."

"I agree with Ginny. Why don't we all calm down and think about Fred and George have said about Willow . . ."

"My! You weren't joking when you said they were quite thick!"

"I never lie about stuff like that."

"Would you two quit it?"

Luna Lovegood lowered her copy of 'The Quibbler' just enough to cast a quick look at the group of people who had flooded her compartment. A few seconds later, the magazine was back up and she was already turning her attention back to the article of Blibbering Humdingers. The argument continued on despite her presence, and she clucked her tongue in disapproval.

"Gryffindors."

~*~