The Rider was Lost

The Rider was Lost

That night, Draco lay awake for hours staring at the ceiling. He was thinking about Buffy.

She was pretty, but she was haunting. She looked like she had been to hell and heaven and everything in-between. And the way her eyes looked when she remembered whoever he looked like, it nearly killed him.

So he did like her. He liked her as a person.

That was for sure.

He liked her as a friend. That was probable. But did he like her any more than that?

He fell asleep listening to his own heart beat…

And opened his eyes to find himself floating above this giant pool of water. He looked around when he heard footsteps and voices. The people rushed to the pool and Draco saw something. He saw a girl with her head in the water. He saw Buffy. He gasped and tried to go to her, but he couldn’t. He saw her get up and he felt so relieved it scared him.

“Death is your gift.”

He tuned to face the voice. Buffy was sitting on a log in front of a fire and a woman.

“What?”

“Death is your gift.”

He held his breath when a gust of wind blew the fire out. He turned in every direction. It was dark.

"Buffy ... no!"
He turned to the voice. Buffy and another girl were standing atop a giant tower above a giant portal. He suddenly understood why she hated them.

"Dawnie, I have to."

"No!"

"Listen to me. Please, there's not a lot of time, listen. Dawn, listen to me. Listen. I love you. I will always love you. But this is the work that I have to do.
Tell Giles ... tell Giles I figured it out. And, and I'm okay. And give my love to my friends. You have to take care of them now. You have to take care of each other. You have to be strong. Dawn, the hardest thing in this world ... is to live in it. Be brave. Live. For me."

And then Buffy jumped. She did a perfect dive off the edge of the tower and straight into the portal. It closed immediately. Draco bit his lip. Malfoys didn’t cry.
He heard a scream and he saw a girl sitting by a grave. He could feel the magic swarming around him and he knew what she was trying to do. And he knew, even before he saw Buffy claw her way out of the coffin, that it had worked.
And then he saw it. And his heart twisted.
He saw her run up to him.

“I love you.”

“No you don’t. But thanks for saying it.”

He saw her face. There was a scream. He turned towards it. The girl grabbed Buffy just as the man exploded into light. And he saw her. Standing over the edge looking.
And he understood. He understood why there were times Buffy couldn’t stand to look at him. And he hated it. He hated that circumstances that he couldn’t control were the reasons that Buffy could not talk to him.

__

Draco Malfoy jolted up in bed. He knew what both Dumbledore and Harry had known all along. He liked her. He genuinely liked her. He…loved her?