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Title: Reflection of Love
Author: Pattyanne
snapkik@yahoo.com
Disclaimer: None of the BtVS
characters belong to me.
Feedback: Very appreciated.
Summary: AU. Buffy Summers has
inherited a house with an antique mirror
in the attic, a mirror that was once owned
by William Cathcart over 100 years ago.




Part two.....


She was sitting in the middle of the attic floor, sorting
through a box of old photographs when she heard the
music start.

It sounded almost like a piano, but not a
modern one. More like the old fashioned kind she'd
heard played in so many movies.

"What were they called?" she murmured absently,
having recently fallen into the habit of talking to herself
to banish the quiet. "Spinets or something?"

More to the point though....where the heck was the
music coming from? Lovely though it was, it wasn't
originating from the house. There was no musical
instrument of any kind on the premises, and she knew
that she hadn't left a radio playing.

Although it sounded close, she trotted downstairs
anyway and looked outside. The neighbors houses
didn't have the kind of proximity that would allow you to
hear music being played inside, and there were no
cars parked on the street with their radios blasting.

By the time she went back up to the attic, the music
had stopped.

"Huh. Weird."

Actually, it was kind of disappointing. The music
had really been beautiful. Something classical, she
was quite certain of it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Lilybelle was whimpering at the door.

Buffy looked up and smiled, patting the floor next
to her. "Come on in, baby. Keep me company for
a while."

The little white terrier trotted over to her side and
settled for a nice long belly scratch. She gazed up
at Buffy with melting brown eyes, wanting to give
all the love and loyalty to her that she had given to
Nana.

"I know...I miss her, too," Buffy said, fondling the
dogs floppy ears. "But, don't you worry. We'll stick
together. I'm not leaving you alone here."

Lilybelle rolled onto her tummy and snuggled
against Buffy's thigh.

They passed a few moments in companionable
silence. Buffy began sorting the photographs into
piles by date, while Lilybelle drifted off into an
afternoon nap.

The peace in the attic was broken when the dog
suddenly lifted her head and growled softly.

Buffy had never heard a sound like that come out
of her grandmother's friendly little terrier. "What's
the matter?" she asked.

Thinking she'd scented a rat, Buffy watched
as Lilybelle jumped to her feet and started nosing around
the boxes stacked by the antique mirror.

"Come here, baby," she said, snapping her fingers. "I
don't want you to get bitten. I'll get some traps at the...stop
that!" The dog placed her front paws on the mirror, pulling
the blanket off, and yelping when it covered her with a soft
"thwump".

Buffy's laughter at the animal's predicament was cut
off abruptly at the sound of a voice calling out someone's
name.

"William? Are you home, dear?" It was a woman's
voice, soft in timber, with a definite English accent.

And....it was emanating from the mirror!

"Coming, Mother." Another unseen voice answered the
first one, and when Buffy heard it, she felt a strange shiver
of awareness chase up and down her spine. Goose-
bumps prickled her skin.

The second voice was male, clearly young, with the
same cultured English accent.

Buffy rose to her feet and slowly approached the mirror.

Lilybelle was wriggling her way out from under the blanket,
and Buffy picked it up and tossed it to one side. The dog
looked into the mirror and yipped.

"Did you hear it, too?" Buffy asked, staring at the reflection
they made in the glass. Raising one hand, she lightly touched
the cold surface....then jumped in surprise when the music
she had heard before began to play once again.

Logically, she knew she should be terrified. She'd seen
enough horror movies to know that having inanimate objects
speak and play music was not a good thing.

She considered herself to be a sensible person. Had the
voice whispered "Get out", she'd have taken it's advice and
would have already been out the door and down the
stairs.

But the young man's voice was quiet and gentle, and
there was nothing either frightening or threatening in
his tone.

"That's lovely, William," she heard the woman's voice
say. "You play so beautifully. I could listen to you for
hours."

"Me, too," Buffy added, examining every inch of the
mirror, both glass and frame.

She noticed it looked a little cloudy around the very
edges. Yesterday, she had attributed this to the
mirror's obvious age.

Now, of course, things were different.

As she ran her fingers along the top of the frame, the
music began to fade.

"No," she said urgently, tapping the glass sharply. "Come
back."

Nothing happened, and she felt a little foolish. This
wasn't a television set that you could bang on for better
reception.

The music slowly dissipated completely. Buffy slapped
her hand against the wall. "Damn it!" she swore
softly.

Disappointed, she sighed and turned to leave. She hadn't
gotten more than a couple of feet when she heard the
young man speak again.

"Is there someone in here?"

Buffy whipped around and stared at the mirror, her
eyes growing huge when she saw that it was no longer
just an auditory conduit.

Gradually...a picture was beginning to form in the
center of the glass.

Oh, my. This had to be William.

And, judging from the look of the furnishings she
could pick out....his bedroom.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Buffy smiled as she watched the young man glance
around his room, a puzzled expression on his face.

He was adorable. A bit over average height, and slenderly
built, he had a mop of light brown hair that looked as though
it wanted badly to curl if he didn't tame it with some pretty
vigorous brushing.

Wire rimmed spectacles were perched on his well
formed nose. They obscured the color of his eyes, but
she was getting a fairly clear look at his face, and was
completely fascinated by it.

He had features that could almost be referred to as
pretty, with bone structure that a super model would
kill for. His lips were full and sensual looking, making her
wonder what it would feel like to kiss them.

His manner of dress was decidely odd. He was
wearing some sort of suit that consisted of more pieces
than she'd ever seen before. The shirt had a high
starched collar, and there was a ascot tie knotted
around his neck. His jacket was short waisted
in the front, with a slightly longer back. A low cut,
double breasted vest with four buttons at the
bottom completed his ensemble.

His clothing looked like something out of a Merchant-
Ivory film production.

Something really....old.

"What the hell....?"




TBC.....





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