Colliding Worlds Series

Colliding Worlds Series by Bek Allen

Chapter: Chapter 7 - New Arrivals
Feedback: Is always appreciated. Flames will be printed off and given to my insane cat to play with.
Disclaimer: I do not own Buffy the Vampire Slayer or any of the characters from that series, they belong to the God of Gods, Joss Whedon, nor do I own Harry Potter or any of the characters contained within that Universe. They belong to J.K Rowling. Don\'t Sue... you won\'t get all that much anyway. A couple of snoopy figurines and that\'s about it.
Notes: This is chapter seven of my Colliding Worlds Series, chapters one through to six can be found on the Read Only Archive. And will be moved when they are moved. Till then, new chapters shall be posted here as they are completed.
Notes 2: Thank you to everyone who has reviewed this so far. I\'m glad you\'re all enjoying reading this as much as I am enjoying writing it. Once again, if you\'d like to be added to the update email list, contact me via email or leave your email addy in the reviews section.

~*~*~*~


Xander stood in the centre of the drawing room, his wand extended in front of him. “Wingardium Leviosa,” he gave a small flick of his wrist and watched, wide-eyed as the cushion in front of him began to rise.

“See? Nothing to it,” Sirius beamed at Harry who nodded.

“We’ll have you casting all kinds of jinxes in no time.”

Xander looked at the two standing slightly off to his right, “And you’re sure about this? I mean, how do I know you two aren’t doing it for me?”

Harry rolled his eyes and rubbed his forehead, “Because you saw us leave our wands with Missus Weasley?”

Xander gave him a sheepish smile as the cushion dropped to the floor with a soft ‘thwap’.

“Your concentration could still use a bit of work though,” Sirius smirked and moved to pick up the pillow.

“Yeah, well, Giles and Willow are arriving today; I haven’t seen them in two weeks and believe me, that’s almost like a life time for us.” Xander took a deep breath and pointed his wand at Harry, “Rictusempra!” He beamed as the younger boy doubled up with laughter.

Sirius shook his head, “They did send an owl ahead, telling us that their flight had to be moved back. Otherwise Rupert would have been here by now.”

“I’m just glad they’re coming at all,” he pointed his wand at Harry who was shooting him murderous glances between bouts of laughter, “Finite Incantantem. I’m not sure I’d be able to face this without them.”

“Have you not used the mirror?” Harry looked up, wiping the tears from his face.

Xander shook his head, “Buffy told Giles that it was for emergencies only, and well, it’s summer, so, we’ve got at least another six months before all hell breaks loose on the Hellmouth.”

“What do you mean ‘at least another six months’?” Harry stretched out on the settee, as an underage wizard, he had been made the unofficial lab rat for Xander to practice any and all jinxes, charms, curses and hexes along with their counters whilst Sirius and Remus took it in turns to teach.

“Vampire activity kinda slows down in the summer time,” Xander gave a flick of his wrist and muttered Wingardium Leviosa once again towards the cushion. As it started to rise from the floor, he cast a quick glance at Harry and Sirius who both nodded before continuing. “People in Sunnydale, by general consensus, don’t tend to stay out too late after ten p.m. Not that they know about the Hellmouth and Vampires and demons and stuff, just… they know it’s not safe and anyone caught outside, alone, in the dark where anything can just make a snack out of you…” He shrugged; no one deserved the fate of becoming a vampire’s next meal or a demon’s next sacrifice or play thing. “We normally get about three months of minimal activity before things start building up again, then, come fall – we’re looking into prophecies, checking mug shots, Giles is cross referencing like a mad man, Buffy’s training and Willow, Oz, Cordelia and I are pulling Round Robins in the library to make sure we’ve got the right research so Giles can check the right books, so Buffy can live.”

Harry watched as the pillow lazily did a circuit of the room, “Have you ever had any close calls?”

“More then any of us would like to admit,” Xander let the pillow drop with a thump on the other side of the room, another flick of his wand and a muttered Accio and the pillow moved a scant inch closer to him. Letting his wand fall to his side, he looked at Harry. “Buffy’s died once,” he smiled slightly at the younger boy, “The first year we met, there was a prophecy saying that she would die and the Master would rise and the world would end.” His smile turned into a smirk, “The writer of the book hadn’t counted on Buffy having friends.” He shrugged, “The Master bit Buffy and left her to drown instead of killing her outright. She drowned, but… I followed her and I gave her CPR, she came to, she kicked his ass and four months later she ground his dusty, manky bones into talcum powder.”

“But she wasn’t really dead.” Harry’s brow furrowed in confusion.

“She was dead for maybe a minute before she came back, but… that’s all it takes,” Xander shrugged once again and his eyes narrowed as he focused on the cushion. “Accio cushion!” It lifted and moved a foot and a half before falling to the ground again. “Another Slayer was called – not that we knew – and we met her maybe six months later when we were fighting off the Order of Taraka.”

Sirius stopped from where he was ratting through the display case they’d cleaned out only last summer. “You fought the Order of Taraka?”

Xander nodded, “And if I never see another worm again it will be far too soon.” Sighing, Xander raised his wand and summoned the pillow once more, grinning as it flew to his outstretched hand, “Six months after that, Kendra – the second Slayer – died while we were trying to stop the world from ending. Another Slayer was called – Faith – she was okay for a while, then something happened, I’m not sure about the whole story, but she became a loose canon,” he shrugged, “she’s in a coma now.”

“You mentioned her last night,” Harry said softly, his green gaze piercing the back of Xander’s skull.

“Yup, she tried to kill me, Willow, Buffy and Angel. Angel, I wouldn’t have minded so much, but Buffy whooped her ass and then, we saved the world. Since that day, there’s been no change, although I know Buffy, Giles and Missus Summers check on her regularly.”

“A-ha!” Sirius straightened up and waved a fist in the air, turning he gave a sheepish smile as Xander and Harry both gave him that same inscrutable look that James had given him on many an occasion back at school. “Sorry lads, I knew something was out of place last summer when we were cleaning this room.” He quickly tucked whatever it was into a pocket of his trousers, while Xander flicked his wand, reasserting pillows and chairs. “Sorry to end today’s lesson Xander, but I’ve got a few floo calls to make. We’ll be leaving in a couple of hours to meet Rupert and Willow at the apparation point in the air port.”

Nodding, Xander tucked his wand into his back pocket, “I’ll go get their rooms ready then.”

“I’ll come help,” Harry offered, standing up and running a hand through his unruly hair. “You can tell me more about this Faith and *then* I want to hear all about you using a rocket launcher.” The gleam in his eyes was unmistakeable, making Xander smirk.

Sirius smiled as he left the room, in the week since Madam Black’s portrait had been removed and carted off to the attic, the occupants of twelve Grimmauld Place had taken to making as much noise as possible while going down the stairs; Sirius was no exception. Bounding into the kitchen, he reached for the pot of floo powder above the mantle and crouched down before flinging a handful on the hearth and stating, “Headmaster, Albus Dumbledore’s Office.”

With his eyes closed, Sirius waited until the world came to an abrupt stand still, “Albus?” His voice rang out in the empty study.

“Shouldn’t you be training the newest Potter?” A snide voice drew Sirius’ attention to the wall just beyond the desk.

“Grandfather.” Sirius acknowledged with a curt nod of his head, “I need to speak with Albus.”

“I’ve noticed you’ve removed the old bat from the entrance hall,” the painting smirked, “Also noticed you’ve fixed the tapestry to include Andromeda’s lot and yourself.” He raised an eyebrow, “Not going to remove it are you?”

“I’ve repaired it as best I can. Now, where is Albus?”

Phineas folded his arms over his chest and harrumphed, “He’ll be with you momentarily, seems there was a problem with some of the thestrals.”

Sirius sighed and looked up at his great-great grandfather, “Can you please ask him to come see me as soon as he gets in? I’ve something he’s been looking for.”

“Very well,” Phineas nodded and let his arms drop to his side, looking at the last of the Blacks. “For what it’s worth, I’m glad you’re not dead as Dumbledore said originally.”

“So am I.” With a tight lipped smile, Sirius sat back on his haunches and disconnected the floo before standing up. A quick glance around the kitchen as he dusted himself off and he realized that there was still work to be done before Rupert and young Willow arrived. With a quick flick of his wand, the kitchen started to right itself; pots and pans began a lazy dance with a sponge and the mop and broom began to clean the floor. With Molly’s return to the Burrow a week ago, Xander, Harry and Sirius had gotten incredibly lax when it came to house work… much to Remus’ dismay.

“I’m home!”

‘Speak of the devil,’ Sirius thought to himself before moving quickly to greet the werewolf. “Where’d you end up going this time?” He asked as he wrapped his arms around his paramour.

“Durmstrang believe it or not,” Remus inhaled deeply, burying his nose in Sirius’ throat. “Dumbledore wanted to see if there was a chance that Karkaroff had turned the school into a refuge for Death Eaters.”

“And?”

“And nothing,” he shrugged. “Seems that Karkaroff has been missing since just after the Tri-Wizard cup, the new Headmaster Klarov believes that he met with an untimely demise at the hands of the Dark Lord and has been expelling students he finds preparing to take the Dark Mark.”

Pulling back, Sirius eyed his lover warily, “What aren’t you telling me?”

Remus shook his head and motioned towards the stairs before heading towards the kitchen. Once there, he turned and Sirius noticed for the first time just how old his friend looked, “You sit,” Sirius ordered, directing Remus toward a chair. “I’ll get you some tea.” He pointed his wand at the tea kettle and muttered both the water and heating charms while he gathered their cups. Sitting back down, across from him, Sirius held out a steaming cup of tea and waited until Remus had taken the first sip, “Speak.”

“Do you remember the trouble between Hermione and Ron during the Tri-Wizard tournament?” At Sirius’ nod, he continued, “Well, it seems Viktor Krum has, since then, taken the Dark Mark. We found his body yesterday at the gates of the school… He was dead, but it was Krum all the same.”

The colour drained from Sirius’ face and he had to set his teacup down as his hands began shaking, “Does Hermione… does she know?”

Remus shook his head, “No one does save for myself and Headmaster Klarov.”

“Bloody hell,” Sirius gave a low whistle. “Should we owl her? I’m not entirely sure her parents have the floo connected.”

“No. I’ll tell her when she arrives… she’s due next week.” Sirius watched as Remus folded in on himself. “I’m not even sure what I’m going to tell Harry and Albus. Viktor was our main concern; under Karkaroff’s tutelage, the boy could have been used as a figure-head to entice others still in school. Albus was hoping we’d get there in time…” He trailed off, not needing to repeat himself.

Slowly, Sirius rose from his chair and walked around to Remus, his arms wrapping around the smaller man’s shoulders. “We’ll think of something, try not to worry so much about it. I’m sure Hermione will be all right.” He pressed his cheek to Remus’, letting his body speak volumes of the comfort he couldn’t offer with words.

“It seems I have come at just the precise moment,” a gentle voice came from behind them, but, whereas anyone else would have startled them, Dumbledore’s presence only seemed to strengthen the tranquillity of the moment.

“The teacups are in the cupboard above the sink Headmaster.” Sirius said his voice whisper soft.

“Thank you my dear boy,” Dumbledore moved silently across the kitchen and sat down. “But I believe we are in need of something a little stronger if Remus’ countenance is anything to go by.” He produced his wand from his sleeve and conjured a bottle of firewhiskey and some glasses. “I take it all is not well in Bulgaria.” It was a statement.

“No Albus, Krum is lost to us… has been lost to us for some time.” Remus gladly accepted the glass and downed its contents.

“Miss Granger will be most distressed, though I am sure Harry and Ron will help her through this sad time.”

Sirius and Remus nodded before pulling apart so Sirius could sit down.

“Was there something else Albus?” Remus looked from Sirius to the Headmaster, the mid-afternoon sun making his eyes glow.

“There was,” Sirius dug into his pocket and produced the locket, holding it out to the old wizard. “I believe you were hoping to stumble along this somewhere in your travels.”

The twinkle - having disappeared when news of Viktor Krum’s demise - reappeared with the appearance of the locket, “Splendid, splendid!” his hand reached out and closed around the silver shield. “Wherever did you find it?”

“The sideboard in the drawing room,” Sirius stated softly. “We found it last summer, and I commissioned Molly and the others to throw it out. However, Kreacher stole it back from the rubbish bags. I searched high and low for it this past week and only today wondered if he may have returned it to its original place.”

“Marvellous,” Dumbledore beamed and tapped the front of the locket with his wand, “I do believe the curse has been disarmed, your brother had the makings of a fine Gringott’s curse breaker Sirius, but the soul is still intact.”

Sirius nodded a solemn expression on his face.

“How many are left Albus?” Remus looked up from the bottom of his glass.

“Three. I do believe Harry destroyed the first one with the destruction of Tom’s diary, Bill Weasley is currently disarming any and all curses on the Marvolo ring as we speak and Severus is working with Isabella on finding a potion to counteract the spell binding the soul to both ring and locket.”

A loud thudding echoed through the kitchen and Sirius watched as Dumbledore’s beard twitched while surreptitiously slipping the locket into his robes.

“Professor Dumbledore!” Harry’s face broke into a grin at the sight of the old man as Xander came up behind him.

“Hey Remus, Professor,” Xander lifted his hand as he shoved Harry out of the way and slid into a seat opposite Remus. “The rooms for Giles and Willow are clean… or at least as clean as we can get them. Harry was just explaining to me about apparation.”

“Hello Alexander, Harry.” Dumbledore said softly, smiling as Harry walked past Xander and shoved his shoulder. “It is wonderful to see the two of you getting along. I trust that the spell you performed at the start of the week is still in effect?”

The four men nodded, although Sirius could see a hint of a scowl on Remus’ face.

“And the lessons? I trust you are coming along Alexander?” Dumbledore’s blue gaze bored into Xander with a fierce intensity that he had only ever assumed Giles and Buffy could do.

“I can float cushions, call cushions, tickle Harry, make him do a funky dance, glue his legs together, attempt to stick things up his nose and disarm him.”

“Very good, and your other lessons?” Dumbledore eyed Sirius and Remus carefully.

“Xander’s become a bit of a dab hand at Arithmancy, Herbology, Care of Magical Creatures, Transfiguration, Astronomy and History of Magic; I’m afraid Potions, Divination and Ancient Runes just aren’t his speciality.” Sirius smirked. “Yesterday we covered the Goblin Rebellion.”

“Wonderful, well, see that you keep up your studies Alexander, Harry, you make sure you help wherever you can. I’m sure you can both help each other learn. Now, I must be off, there seems to be some unrest in the Forest between the Centaurs and the Thestrals. Give my regards to Rupert and young Miss Rosenberg when they arrive.”

Standing up, he gripped the bottle of firewhiskey and was portkeyed away.

“Thestrals?” Xander’s brow furrowed in confusion, “They’re the things you can’t see because they’re invisible… right?”

“Right,” Harry said, “And they only become visible if you’ve seen someone die.”

“Well then,” Xander’s smile brightened, “I’ve got no problems, I’ve seen enough people die, not to mention all my time around the undead.”

“The graduation thing?” asked Harry as he got up and started opening cupboard doors.

“Yep, and the time at the Bronze and pretty much every apocalypse we’ve ever faced.”

“Sounds like you’ve seen your fair share and then some Xander,” said Remus as he swallowed the contents of his glass.

Xander nodded and caught the jelly slug Harry threw in his direction. “It hasn’t all been bad, I mean, I met Buffy and Giles and Cordelia and Oz, I got to see Principle Snyder eaten by a giant snake and there was the time when we blew up the Judge with a rocket launcher I got to steal from the local military base…” He trailed off, lifting his shoulders in a half shrug.

“So, what’s on the agenda for the rest of the day?”

“We should be leaving in a couple of hours to go and meet Rupert and Willow at the apparation point at Heathrow, from there, we’ll come back here by which time, Molly, Arthur and the rest of the Weasley’s should be arriving and from then on, we’ll resume your lessons, including Willow.” Sirius took the cups and glasses over to the sink and with a tap of his wand, set about the cloth to cleaning them. Lifting his head, he looked at Xander, brow furrowed slightly, “Principal Snyder eaten by a giant snake?”

Xander nodded, “Yeah, just before Giles blew up the school Snyder was standing there ranting and raving *at* the giant snake, and Dick took one look at him and chomp!” Xander slashed his hand through the air in an imitation of a snake striking its prey. “All in one fell swoop.” He shrugged sheepishly, “He wasn’t the first principal to be eaten alive and I doubt he’ll be the last.”

Harry frowned, “Was it a basilisk? Because, they are nasty.”

“Nope, just some super, demon thingy - Olvikan. He was going to totally annihilate Sunnydale, and from then on… who knows.”

“Bloody hell,” Sirius whistled, “you’ve definitely seen more then your fair share Xander.”

“I like to think so,” Xander flashed the older man a quick grin. “But, I wouldn’t change it for the world… okay, there are some things I might change, but other then that, not a thing. I mean… how many people can say that they blew up their high school on graduation day?”

“I wish we had a big snake to eat up Umbridge,” Harry said, propping his chin on his hand as a wistful look came over his face.

“Hermione did a good job, thinking on her feet the way she did.” Remus smiled over at their young charge. “She’s a brilliant young witch.”

“Don’t even get me started on that toad of a woman; I still haven’t managed to put in a complaint about the way she treats students.” Sirius groused as he came over to the table.

Harry rolled his eyes, “My hand is fine Sirius, besides, I think she got just what she deserved in the end.”

“Yeah… we don’t get a lot of centaurs out Sunnydale way.” Xander smiled. This was good… this was… family, or at least how families were supposed to be. There was no yelling, no one screaming about money or him, no having to sneak out the window just to get out and away and breathe. “How will we be getting to the airport?”

“Portkey,” Remus answered, tapping his robe pocket. “Scheduled to leave in…” he glanced over at the small alarm clock sitting on the hutch, “twenty minutes. So, I suggest you do anything else that needs to be done and get ready to go.”

Xander and Harry both jumped up from their chairs and hurried out of the kitchen, causing Sirius to roll his eyes.

“You’d think we kept them under house arrest the last two weeks.” He shook his head and smirked.

“In all honesty Sirius, they’ve been to Diagon Alley twice in the last two weeks but have spent the rest of the time under your ever-watchful eye.” Remus gave him a pointed look.

“Yes, well… there is a madman on the loose, not to mention my very deranged, three sickles short of a galleon cousin still on the run as well as Peter. I’m not letting either one of them out of my sight until they are safely on the train to Hogwarts in September.”

Remus chuckled and stood up, “You’ll end up with grey hair if you worry too much Sirius, not to mention you’ll put me out of a job.”

Sirius managed to look affronted at the thought of going grey, “that my dear Moony is why I got an Outstanding on my Charms N.E.W.T.”

Rolling his eyes, Remus moved to Sirius’ side, bending down and pressing a kiss to the other man’s lips, “You should go and get cleaned up Sirius; we’ll have to go to the Muggle section of Heathrow.”

“Yes sir,” Sirius mumbled as his hand tangled in Remus’ short, cropped hair and pulled him down for another kiss.

~*~

Xander’s backside connected with the cold, stoned floor of the Wizarding section of Heathrow, “Owww.” He stood up, gingerly rubbing his rear end, looking around as Harry nearly collided with a small family.

“It gets easier once you get used to it,” Remus said as his feet touched the floor gently.

“Sure it does,” Xander grumbled as Sirius landed gracefully beside him. “So…” he began, looking around at the rough-hewn walls. “Where are we?”

“The Wizarding section of Heathrow,” Sirius flashed a grin as a young woman gasped and gripped the arm of the small child she was herding towards the doors saying ‘Departures’, increasing her pace. “well, what would equate to the cabbie zone.”

“Right…” Xander looked around, it was very reminiscent of Diagon Alley, save for the large glass doors in front of them. “So, how do we get to where we’re supposed to meet Giles and Willow?”

“Follow me,” Remus smiled and nudged Sirius along, “and stop scaring the people Sirius.”

“I’m hardly scaring anyone Remus, just enjoying the fact that I’m a free man and that all charges have been dropped.” He said this last bit rather loudly and in the direction of an elderly witch who was glaring at him balefully.

“Harry…” Remus spun around, breathing a sigh of relief as Harry looked up from a small crowd of people, offering a tiny wave.

“Well, you have fun Luna,” he smiled at the young blond with bright blue eyes, “It was nice meeting you Mister Lovegood.”

“The pleasure was all mine young Potter,” the portly man slapped him on the shoulder and nodded in Remus’ direction, “I think your friends are waiting.”

“Right, bye Luna.”

“Bye Harry, I’ll make sure to send you a picture of any Crumple Horned Snorkacks.”

Harry nodded and rushed over to Sirius, Remus and Xander. “Sorry, Luna’s father is taking her to Egypt or Romania or someplace.”

“That’s alright Harry… she’s the girl that went with you to the Ministry isn’t she?”

Harry nodded, blushing slightly.

“Right, well, Rupert and Willow are probably waiting for us at the apparation point by now, come along you three.” Remus led the way inside, steering them towards a wrought iron arbour that read ‘Heathrow Airport – Muggle Sector’. “Now, just step through here, and we’ll go and find Rupert and Willow.”

Xander warily eyed the brick wall, but shrugged once before following Remus through, Harry hot on his heels, followed by Sirius. In the two weeks, and only two trips to Diagon Alley, he still wasn’t quiet sure about passing through seemingly solid walls.

“We’re in the bathroom…” Xander trailed off, looking around the pristine, tiled room.

“You didn’t honestly think we’d be able to get away with just waltzing into the middle of a crowded airport did you?” Sirius smiled, “No, there are too many muggle gadgets, cameras and security guards and dogs these days.”

“Oh.” Xander looked sheepishly to the others, “so, where do we go now?”

“Through this door, and over to the arrivals lounge, from there, we’ll meet Rupert and Willow and then we’ll find a nice, quiet spot to apparate back home, you, Harry and Willow will all side-a-long apparate with one of us.”

Xander nodded, pushing the door open, “Gotcha.”

~*~

Xander bounced on the balls of his feet, his hand drifting to the left front pocket of his jeans; he could feel the thin length of oak resting against his thigh. He couldn’t wait to show Willow just how much he’d learnt in the last two weeks, couldn’t wait to show her and Buffy and Oz and Giles just how well he was starting off in his new life.

Harry smiled up at the older boy, “are you excited?” he asked, pushing his glasses back up on his nose.

“Can’t ya tell?” Xander replied, giving a nervous chuckle, “I can’t wait for Willow to meet you, or you to meet Willow, she’s really good with the magic, floating pencils, re-ensouling vampires… there she is!” Xander pointed through a couple of brightly dressed tourists to the red head weaving her way through the crowd. “Willow!” Xander lifted his arms above his head and waved enthusiastically.

“Xander!” her voice floated to him and she lifted a hand to wave, turning her head slightly, she smiled at someone beside her and nodded, handing her carry-on to the man beside her before pushing through the crowd and flinging herself into Xander’s arms.

He swept her up into a bear hug, spinning her around. They might have had their ‘Clothes Fluke Fling’ but since then, she’d become the sister he’d never had; her friendship meaning far more to him then anything else in the entire world.

“I’ve missed you! And Buffy and Missus Summers send their love and Missus Summers says that if you’ve got any rich relatives that are single, good looking and as nicely mannered as Giles, to send them her way and mom and dad said they hope you’re having fun and to make sure you check out the Thames and the Tower and Westminster Abbey and if you can, can you get a picture of me standing next to those guards with the hats for Buffy… or a hat, she wasn’t really specific when she asked and she said to tell you that Anya was looking for you, and then she said don’t start the fun without her and she’ll see you as soon as she can and that you have to be careful. Hi Sirius!”

Xander laughed and stepped back, “Hey Giles.”

“Hello Xander,” the older man’s gaze travelled over the young man he’d come to see as his son in the last three years. He’d definitely changed since coming to England; his normally sad brown eyes seemed less sad and more alive. No doubt his life out from under the roof of Jessica and Anthony Harris was much more harmonious and caring. “Sirius, Remus,” he nodded towards the other two men before turning his eyes to the youngest of the quartet.

Giles’ heart leapt into his throat at the sight before him, the same messy dark hair, same glasses, same nose, same mouth, same build, same oval face… with the exception of the bright green eyes staring back at him from behind round glasses, the young man could have been James nearly twenty-five years ago. “Harry…” the name was no more then an exhalation of breath.

“You must be Harry,” Willow stepped up and extended her hand, “I’m Willow, one of Xander’s friends from Sunnydale, pleasure to meet you.”

Xander looked at Giles over the top of Willow’s head; his eyebrow rose slightly, “Please tell me that you didn’t give her coffee on the plane.”

“Unfortunately, I was in the coffin they call a lavatory when it came around, by the time I’d managed to navigate the locking system and the stewards and get back to my chair, she’d already started her second cup.”

“And you did nothing to stop her?” Xander eyed Giles askance, arms folded over his chest.

“We were sixty thousand feet in the air Xander! What did you want me to do – wrestle her for the bloody cup?” Giles’ voice crept up an octave.

“You could have warned the air hostesses. Threatened her with frogs…” Xander sighed and turned to Harry. “Harry, this is Willow-Hopped-Up-On-Caffeine, Willow-Hopped-Up-On-Caffeine, this is my nephew, Harry Potter.”

Remus slapped Sirius in the back of the head as he choked on a laugh before turning to the new arrivals, “right, well, c’mon you lot, we need to be getting home. Hermione and the Weasleys will be there soon and I want to make sure there are plenty of bedrooms available for everyone.”

“Okay!” Willow bounced slightly, accepting the carry-on bag from Giles, who was already laden down with a trolley containing their suitcases. She looped her arm through Xander’s and began babbling away, pointing things out to him and exclaiming over the cabs she could see through the glass windows lining the front of the airport.

Harry watched her with great interest, she was… actually, he wasn’t sure there were words to describe the ball of energy that Xander had spent the last two weeks as describing as shy, quiet, reliable, brainy to the nth degree, Willow. He could, however, feel the magic radiating off of her in waves, it was kinda like being with Hermione, she was clever, but also powerful for a witch so young; the same could be said for Willow.

“Remus,” Giles reached out and tapped the other man on the shoulder, “How, exactly are we getting to… wherever it is we’re going?”

“Just follow me.” Remus said, voice soft, “once we get to a less crowded, less public section of the airport, I’ll shrink your suitcases and we’ll apparate back to Headquarters.”

“Yes, but where exactly is Headquarters?” Giles reached up and pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to drown out, not just Willow’s incessant prattling, but the noise of the crowded airport as well.

“Got that covered Rupert, don’t you worry about that,” Sirius patted the front of his muggle jacket.

“Right, well… let’s keep moving shall we?” Giles forged on, Remus and Sirius to one side of the trolley, Harry, Willow and Xander to the other.

Harry smiled at Xander who was looking paler as they made their way to the apparation point, moving closer, he looked up at Giles, “Hello.”

Giles looked down, his breath catching in his throat once again, “Hello, Harry.”

Running a hand through his hair as they rounded a corner, the young wizard smiled, “It was a… bit of a… shock… finding out I had more family then just… Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon.”

Giles managed a small smile, “I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you, but…”

“It’s all right, Xander’s explained as much as he can, about the Council, about Buffy and Sunnydale…” He shrugged, “Perhaps… if you’re not too tired… we can talk later… at home?”

“I’d very much like that,” Giles grinned, “You look so much like your father… and Xander… it’s uncanny really.”

“Except for my eyes, I’ve my mother’s eyes.” Harry’s grin was cheeky as he looked up at Giles.

“Yes, well… I take it you’ve heard it all a thousand times before.”

“I don’t mind, not really.” Harry said softly, “if it means hearing things about them, stories and things. I don’t mind.”

“Right, I think this will do.” Sirius called the group to a halt once they’d reached a quiet, hidden corner of the airport. Reaching inside his jacket, he extracted two, small slips of parchment and handed one each to Giles and Willow. “Now, you need to read these, and memorize that address, quickly.”

Giles looked down at the piece of paper in his hands, his eyes widening at the address before him. He knew that address, had been there often enough as a small child. Without thinking, he tapped the parchment with his wrist and muttered a quick Incendio.


Willow’s brow furrowed as she looked at the piece of paper, reciting the address and name over in her head a few times until she was sure she’d gotten it locked away. Handing her piece of paper back to Sirius, she watched as he held it out to Xander, a smirk playing at the corners of his mouth.

“Xander?” Sirius smiled brightly as Xander slipped his wand from his pocket and focused on the piece of paper. Magic was simple enough if you knew the secret and had the proper tools.

“Incendio,” Xander muttered, tapping the tip of his wand to the paper. It went up in a quick burst of flames before it sputtered out, leaving a fine dusting of ash coating the floor.

“Everyone ready now?” Remus asked, pushing the trolley out of the way.

“Our bags!” Willow’s eyes widened with worry.

“In Remus’ pocket, don’t worry Willow, it’s all under control.” Xander said, patting her hand.

“Now… Xander, why don’t you side-along with Rupert,” Sirius started, “Harry can side-along with me and Willow can side-along with Remus,” he looked up at Rupert, “I trust you remember ‘Determination, Deliberation and Destination’ Rupert?”

“Yes, thank you Sirius, I managed to successfully pass my test with nary a hair out of place… or a leg for that matter.” Giles rolled his eyes and hooked his elbow through Xander’s.

“Well, come along everyone, Molly will be furious if we arrive after them.” Remus placed Willow’s hand in the crook of his elbow, “Now, hold on tight, and picture home, or what you’ve just read, very, very clearly in your mind.”

Three simultaneous shouts of surprise and loud bangs echoed off the wall and drew the attention of a wandering security guard, placing his hand on the handle of his baton, he approached possibly the only quiet corner of the airport. Shifting aside the branches of a potted palm, he grunted and walked away, nothing was there. Looking over his shoulder one last time, he relaxed his grip on his baton, “bloody kids.”

~*~


Three loud bangs and four muffled ‘oomph’s’ echoed through the front hall of Grimmauld Place. Xander shook his head to clear it and Harry took in a deep wavering breath.

“Oh God,” Willow’s face had turned green and she slumped against Remus.

“Deep breaths Will,” Xander smiled. “That’ll teach you for drinking the coffee.”

She shot her oldest friend a glare that could have made even Cordelia quail. “I’ll… be… all right.” Taking a deep, calming breath, she straightened up, “Thank you, Remus.”

“Don’t mention it, first time apparation is hard on everyone.”

“Harry! Xander!” Ginny came flying down the hall from the kitchen, long red hair streaming out behind her, “Harry, you’ll never guess…” She shot Ron a glare as he came storming down the stairs.

“You’ll never guess what they’ve gone and bloody done now.” Ron scowled and shot Sirius a glare.

“Ronald Billius Weasley! If I hear you using that sort of language, I’ll hex your mouth shut.” The voice came from the direction of the sitting room. “Sirius, Remus,” she smiled politely and held her hands out to Giles, “and Rupert Giles, it’s been far too long, I’m dreadfully sorry to hear about your mother dear, she was a fine woman.”

“Molly Weasley,” he flashed the small woman one of his most charming grins, causing Remus and Sirius to roll their eyes. “Thank you, and thank you for taking such good care of my family.”

“Oh pish-tosh,” Molly flustered, “You just make sure you come home more often in future.”

“Now, Alexander, I did try calling you via floo earlier to ask if it was okay by you, Dumbledore has ordered them to stay here until the start of the school year…”

“Well, if it isn’t Scar-head, and here I thought you lived with muggles.”

Everyone in the hall froze and turned as one to face the stairs.