Colliding Worlds Series

The tension in the hall was so thick it would have needed three slicing hexes to cut through it. Draco smirked at Harry who was glaring at Molly, who was glaring at Ron who was shooting daggers at Draco. Ginny, Remus, Sirius, Xander, Giles and Willow were all watching; breaths held as they waited for the explosion.

“What the hell is *he* doing here?” Harry pointed at Draco.

“I did try to call through the floo Harry dear, but you weren’t home.”

“I told you he wouldn’t like it mum,” Ron whined, looking at his mother pointedly as if to say ‘I told you so.’

“Sirius?” a voice broke over the trio of voices, putting a halt to any impending arguments. “Sirius Black, is that you?” A blond head revealed itself at the end of the hall.

“Narcissa,” Sirius’ brow furrowed as his youngest cousin flew down the hall and launched herself at him.

“Sirius, oh Merlin!” she sobbed into his shirt front, “I’m so glad you’re all right. They said you were dead! Bellatrix said you were dead. I didn’t want to believe her, first Regulus… not you as well.”

Sirius’ hands drifted up towards the blond woman’s shoulders, patting them hesitatingly. “Can’t keep a good dog down Narcissa, you know that.”

Remus eyed the pair sceptically, his eyebrows rising slightly as the younger woman wrapped her arms around Sirius’ waist. Reaching up, he tugged a lock of the black hair that reached just past the other man’s shoulders, grabbing his attention.

Stepping back, Sirius let the woman straighten herself up before speaking again. “I’m afraid Narcissa; you’ve… caught us at a bad time. This is no longer The Black household; you will need to seek permission from the new owner if you are to stay here.” He turned his head slightly and looked at Xander. “Xander?”

“Huh?” Xander looked from the blond woman to Sirius, to the trio of glaring teenage boys. “What’s what?”

Remus sighed, rolled his eyes and stepped up beside Sirius, “Hello Narcissa.”

“Remus,” she smiled and nodded at the slightly older man before turning to Sirius, “what do you mean this is no longer the Black house. Of course it’s the Black house, the tapestry is still hanging in the drawing room and this is twelve Grimmauld Place is it not?”

“What’s the matter Potter? Can’t think of something witty to say without your annoying mudblood by your side?”

“Avis – Oppugno!”

“Furnunculus!”

“Densaugeo!”

“Conjunctivitis!”

Four voices rang out in the hallway, two incredibly similar, followed by a warbled cry.

“We see -”

“You’ve been working on -”

“Your jinxes Xander,” Fred and George smirked as they came down the stairs, stepping over Draco’s whimpering form.

“Yep,” Xander smirked as the twins clapped him on the back. “Spent three days practicing that Furnunculus charm on Harry, ‘scuse me while I speak to this guy will ya?” He turned to Sirius and Remus, “Why don’t you all go wait in the kitchen?”

Narcissa stared wide eyed at the dark haired American boy, “How dare you! My son!” She managed to splutter before Remus and Sirius led her down the hall to the kitchen.

“Right then, if you used -”

“Furnunculus, then who used -”

“Avis?” Fred and George stared at the small group in the hallway.

“I did,” Tonks smirked up at the twins, in all the hub-bub; they hadn’t heard her apparate into the front parlour. “Wotcher Xander, Harry… Weasleys.”

The hall was filled with a chorus of ‘Hey Tonks’ before things got settled once again.

“Did you… Xander… Giles…” Willow’s eyes were practically bugging out of her head. “He… I mean… and wham!”

“I think this is our cue to head on to the kitchen. Come along Willow.” Giles nodded politely to the children and started dragging the red head down the corridor after Sirius and Remus.

“Wicked,” Ron smiled. “Bout time someone put the Ferret in his place.”

Harry and Ginny nodded in agreement.

“Yeah, well… You should probably all go and meet Giles and Willow and leave me to deal with this guy.” Xander smiled at his nephew. “As ‘man of the house’ it’s kinda my job. Besides, if this is the Draco guy I’ve been hearing so much about, then he and I are gonna have a little chat before I say whether or not he can stay in our house.”

Ron scowled, “You’re almost as bad as mum.”

Xander chuckled, “Next time I ream someone, you can watch. I promise.”

Ginny smiled at Xander and shook her head, “If he knows what’s good for him, he’ll be a good ferret from now on and you won’t have to ‘ream’ him ever again.” A muffled whimper-cum-growl-cum-scathing retort came from the stairs where Draco was huddled, scrubbing at his face and trying to fend off the attacking canaries while his teeth scrapped the stair he was sitting on.

Harry snickered and shot a final, threatening glare in Draco’s direction, “If he gets out of hand, just yell out. I’m sure one of the twins would be happy to help fix him.”

“Cousin or not, just call out and I’ll help as well.” Tonks smiled shyly at Xander before following the twins to the kitchen.

“I’m pretty sure I can handle this. You three go out and meet Willow and Giles and see what you can find out from Sirius and Remus. We’ll be there in a minute,” or twenty, Xander added silently.

Ron nodded and shot a glare at Draco that could have put Peeves in his place before leading his sister and best friend out to the kitchen, muttering all the while about ferrets and prats and how unfair it was that he was still limited by the law regarding underage wizardry.

Xander waited until the trio had finally left the hallway altogether before mounting the stairs to where Draco sat and hauling him up by the collar, batting at the birds as they flittered around his own head. It was funny, in a sick kind of way, to watch as Draco’s head lolled forward with the weight of his teeth. Tugging him into the first room he came across, he sat the boy down on an unmade bed and raised his wand, smirking slightly as the blond flinched, “Relax. I’m not going to do anything to you unless you ask for it.” It was a heady thing, Xander realized as he stood over the whimpering teenager – to have power over someone – and he now realized just why Buffy had been so adamant about sticking up for him that one time back in their junior year when Larry had threatened to beat the snot out of him. “Finite Incantantem,” the birds disappeared and Draco’s teeth stopped growing, for all they still looked like they might belong to a walrus.

Sliding his wand back into the pocket of his jeans, Xander looked down at the boil covered, bleary eyed, buck-toothed blond. “I guess now is as good a time as any…” He trailed off as Draco glared up at him. “My name is Alexander Potter, as in James Potter’s brother, which makes me Harry’s uncle. I’ve been here two weeks, and I’ve heard pretty much all Harry’s had to tell me about you and, I think it’s safe to say, I’ve fought bigger, tougher, meaner and scarier things then you.” He folded his arms over his chest before continuing on. “I don’t care if you’ve got issues, but, you won’t speak to my family the way you just did… EVER.

“Now, I don’t know why Professor Dumbledore sent you, at the moment I don’t really care. If you need help, you’ve come to the right place. But, this is my and Harry’s house, my and Harry’s rules. You don’t like it? There’s the door, don’t let it hit you on the ass on your way out.” Xander tilted his head to the side as Draco continued to glare at him, “While you’re in this house, you’ll be as courteous as your precious little rich boy manners allow, you’ll be nice to anyone and everyone that walks through that door and if I so much as hear you calling someone a ‘mudblood’ ever again… let’s just say, I know a Vampire Slayer, a werewolf, a vampire and someone who’s better at being a bitch then you will ever be. We clear on that?”

Draco’s eyes narrowed slightly at being threatened, but he nodded all the same before rubbing his eyes.

“Right, well… let’s go down to the kitchen; see if Mrs Weasley can’t fix you up a little.” Xander held out his hand to help Draco up, rolling his eyes in exasperation when the younger man stood up on his own, wobbling slightly due to the weight of his teeth.

The odd looking pair made their way back down to the kitchen, Draco marching in front of Harry as though he was being led to his own funeral.

“Mrs Weasley?” Xander smiled politely at the older woman, “I kinda… can’t get rid of the boils… or the teeth.” He shoved Draco in front of the older woman.

“It’s all right dear; Madam Pomfrey up at the school has already had to come out three times in the last two weeks.” She shot the Slytherin a glare, “Seems he doesn’t know how to hold his tongue or speak in civilized circles.”

An angry splutter came from the kitchen table, but was shushed by a look from Giles.

“I’ll just whip him back to the Burrow and we’ll call on Poppy there.” Molly moved to the fireplace and reached for the jar of floo powder.

“I’ll come with you Molly,” Remus stood up, patting Sirius on the shoulder and nodding at Giles. “Tonks, will you stay here until we return?”

“Sure, I’ve got the next two days off from the Ministry, so I’ve… uh…” the metamorphmagus blushed slightly, “I’ve come to see if there’s anything I can do to help around here.” She flashed a quick smile at Sirius, missing the smirk shared between Molly and Remus as they stepped into the floo, holding Draco up by the arms.

“We’ll be back faster then you can say Hinkypunk,” Remus smiled and nodded to Molly who cast the floo powder at the hearth, “The Burrow!” In a whirl of emerald flame, the trio were gone.

Xander smiled at Tonks, “How’s things at the Ministry?”

Tonks sighed and sat down, promptly missing her chair and landing on the floor. “Oomph!” Fred and George snickered and nudged each other as Xander and Sirius moved to help the young Auror up. “Boring,” she smiled as she sat back down, Xander nudging her chair closer. “Shacklebolt has had me doing paperwork because, apparently, I’ve got too much of a vested interest in finding the Lestrange’s.” She rolled her eyes, “The only interest I have is locking the pair of them away for a good, long time. Relative or not, I’m pretty sure they’d have mum, dad and me Avada’ed before we could even so much as blink. Mum’s a blood traitor and dad’s a mudblood, which makes me a half-blood mongrel.”

Sirius leaned across the table and grabbed Tonks’ hand, “It’ll be all right Tonks, this war will be over soon enough.”

Tonks smiled and nodded, “Mum says the same thing… or she would if she and dad hadn’t been forced to…” she shot Narcissa a furtive glance, “well, if I’d seen them lately at any rate.”

“Xander?” a harsh whisper drew the younger man’s attention from the purple-haired witch.

“Hmm?” Xander turned and looked at Willow, who was raising her eyebrows in a desperate attempt to get his attention. “Oh! Right… you guys have been introduced… haven't you?” He looked to Sirius once he’d cottoned on to what Willow was trying desperately to not say out loud.

“No, actually,” Sirius smirked, “Molly was in the process of chastising people before you came back downstairs.”

Xander grinned, “Okay then,” standing up he stood beside Harry, “well, you’ve already met Harry and Sirius. Willow, Giles, meet the Weasleys: Fred and George, Ron and Ginny.” He nodded towards the quartet of red-heads. “Weasleys, meet Rupert Giles and Willow Rosenberg, two of the Slayerettes.”

Ron’s eyes widened, “Blimey, you’re The Watcher who blew up an entire school.”

A breath of air expelled itself from Giles’ lungs in a long suffering sigh, “Drastic times call for drastic measures.” He shook his head after shooting Xander a half-hearted version of ‘The Hairy Eyeball’. “I take it you are one of the students that helped my cousin in the Department of Mysteries. Thank you.” He smiled at the gob smacked red-head.

“It wasn’t anything really,” Ron said after a moment of fumbling, grinning at Harry. “Harry’s my mate, s’only natural.”

Xander rolled his eyes, “Tonks, meet Giles and Willow. Giles, Willow, meet Tonks.”

Willow, who had up until now, been making small talk with Ginny, turned her head, “Tonks?”

“Wotcher,” the young witch held out her hand, “Xander’s spoken a lot about you, said you can be a dead ringer for Hermione if you had the hair and the eyes.”

“Her real name’s -”

“One word out of you – either of you – and you’ll be following Malfoy to see Madam Pomfrey.”

The twins snickered once more but sat down, resolutely leaving the Auror alone.

Willow’s brow deepened with confusion, “Uh, hi.” She cautiously shook the other woman’s hand. “I’m sorry but… I’m not sure I understand.”

“Oh for Merlin’s sake!” Sirius rolled his eyes, “Willow, this is my cousin Nymphadora Tonks, her mother, bless her, seems to have taken it upon herself to continue the line of horribly embarrassing names the Black family have a knack for producing, so, instead of shortening it to something like ‘Dora’ or ‘Nymph’, she prefers to be called Tonks.”

“Oh!” Understanding spread across the young woman’s face, “Kinda like how we call Oz, Oz instead of Daniel and Xander, Xander instead of Alexander or Alex.”

“Got it in one,” Tonks smiled. “Xander’s said you can do wandless magic, but you’ve never been taught or gone to a proper school of witchcraft and wizardry. I only know four other people who can do that, Mad-Eye, Dumbledore, Remus and Professor Snape.” She smiled, “You must be well chuffed at that.”

Willow blushed to the roots of her hair, “I… well… I practiced a lot. It’s all about emotional control. I… I haven’t really gotten all that much control yet, but… Giles says it’ll get better with time and experience.”

Narcissa had remained quiet for some time, until the conversation had dwindled down to nothing but handshakes and murmured introductions. “Your mother is Andromeda Black?” She looked at the young girl who was currently turning her hair the same shade of red as Willow’s in an attempt to show the other woman just what a metamorphmagus was.

Looking up, Tonks’ now green eyes flashed, “No. My mother is Andromeda Tonks, wife of Theodore Tonks.”

“But her maiden name is Black, is it not?” Narcissa’s hands gripped the edge of the rough-hewn table.

“Not that you have cared in the past Mrs Malfoy, but yes, it was Black; for all the good that did her.” Tonks’ eyes had become a shade of blue Sirius had only ever seen on one person before. A flick of her head and the short red locks became long waves of raven. She was the perfect image of her mother at the age of nearly twenty.

Fred, or George – he couldn’t be quite sure – let out a low whistle before speaking up. “Right, well, we’ll just… go and get Willow and Mr Giles settled.”

“Yeah, c’mon you lot.” George nudged Ginny, who nudged Ron who grabbed Harry’s elbow, pulling him out the door.

“Tonks?” Xander looked to the young witch, amazed at how much like Sirius she looked.

“I’ll be all right Xander.”

He looked to Sirius who nodded, silently watching the exchange between his cousins.

“Alrighty then, Willow, Giles, I’ll show you where you’re sleeping.” He stood up from the table and placed his hand on Tonks’ shoulder in silent support. In the two weeks since he’d arrived, she’d become an almost permanent fixture around the house and a valued friend. The fact that he had a budding crush on the young Auror, only added to the need to protect her from the blond woman.

Looking up, Tonks flashed him a warm smile, “I’ll teach you how to throw that Avis-Oppugno curse later.”

Nodding, Xander ushered Willow and Giles from the room once Tonks had gone back to glaring at her Aunt.

Once the troupe had made it to the first floor landing, Willow turned and looked at Xander, “Are they gonna be okay?”

He shrugged, “Not sure, Harry’d be the one to ask… or Remus or Sirius.”

“Okay.”

Xander beamed, “Okay, now…” He looked at Giles and Willow as he led them up to the second floor, “this isn’t exactly the Hilton, but it’s better then the Sunnydale Motor Inn and the company is a hell of a lot better then Paris and Nicole, but… don’t annoy the cat-thing, try not to worry about the scratching noises coming from upstairs and if you need your mirror charmed to shut up, let me know… I’ve gotten really good at that.” Xander grinned and held open a door, “this is your room Willow. Tonks is on your right – when she’s here, Hermione and Ginny are on your left, Ron and Harry are across the hall and to your left, I’m down the hall to the right and Fred and George are directly across from you.”

“Thanks… I…” her brow furrowed slightly. “My bags…”

“Remus still has them I believe,” Giles smiled softly.

“Right, well…” She looked around, their group had dwindled somewhat to just Harry, the twins, Giles and Xander.

“I’ll show you the library and drawing room and the rest of the house in just a moment,” Xander turned to Giles. “Alright G-Man, your room is next floor up with the rest of the grown-ups.” He smirked as Giles frowned at the ill begotten nickname.

“Thank you, Xander.”

“Don’t mention it.” Xander moved towards the back of the hall when he realized Fred and George were standing at the top of the first landing, bits of flesh-colored skin dangling from their ears. “Uh… Excuse me a minute.” He smiled at Giles and moved towards the pair. “Guys… give it a rest.” He tugged the string from their ears and pocketed them.

Fred’s eyes widened, “You didn’t!”

“He most certainly did Gred.” George’s face was a study in bewilderment.

“Sorry, but, I think Tonks needs some space to face that woman without us all listening in.” He smiled, “Besides, she’ll probably come out and tell us all about it anyway.” He smirked and turned back around, only to be faced with a very confused Willow. “Um… Extendable Ears, an invention from the brilliant minds of Weasley and Weasley,” he indicated the twins. “Actually, can you two show Willow the library? I’m pretty sure I’m going to be a while, I need to talk to Giles for a bit.”

“Sure -”

“No worries, right this way.” Fred and George stepped to either side of the hall and indicated Willow should follow.

When they had disappeared down the stairs, Xander made his way back to Giles, a sheepish smile pulling at the corners of his mouth. “Right, showing you to your room.” Leading the way up the stairs, and onto the next floor, Xander ushered Giles into his room. “I should probably leave you to rest or something but… I think we need to talk.”

Giles pinched the bridge of his nose and nodded slowly, “Yes, come in.”

Xander watched as Giles took his suitcases out of his pocket and his wand from the hidden sheath inside the wrist of his jacket. Looking closely, he studied the older man’s wand movements. Two weeks with Sirius and Remus and occasionally Isabella, had him focusing intently on the way they wielded their wands. It was fluid, almost in the same notion as the way Buffy wielded a sword, axe or her stake; as though the wand was a natural extension of the person it belonged to and not an object to focus your energies through.

“Xander, I wish to… to apologise,” Giles began. “I truly had no idea who you were when I first met you.” He looked at the younger man as the last of his belongings settled themselves in drawers and his trunk shrunk back to the size of a small jewellery box and tucked itself away with his socks.

Xander held up his hand, “Don’t,” he looked to the man who’d come to mean much more to him then librarian and friend over the last three years. “The stuff… before… that doesn’t matter. What made me… angry… was you wanting to keep it from me.” He looked at Giles, “I’m not the Slayer, Giles. You don’t get to control my life the way the council tries to control Buffy’s. We saw how that worked out for Kendra and Faith,” he smirked, and started to pace. “You know what it was like for me, being a Harris, living in that house, with those… with them.” He shook his head, “Towards the end of junior year, before all that stuff with Jenny and Angelus… you were helping to patch me up more often then Willow.” He closed his eyes and took a deep breath before stopping and looking at the other man, his cousin. “How could you want me to stay there, when you knew how much I wanted to get out?”

“Xander,” Giles started, then stopped. Taking off his glasses and pinching the bridge of his nose as he tried to calm his mind. “It’s not that I wanted you to stay,” he lifted his head, “far from it,” he sat down on the bed and looked at Xander, “when Isabella told Sirius and I who you were, I was… shocked to say the least. I finally had my younger cousin back, only to have Albus show up and explain that, whilst I had just had some rather good news, he was here to tell me and you that you would have no time to get used to such an adjustment, but that you were coming back here to fight a war that isn’t yours to fight.”

“I fight alongside Buffy and you and Willow and Oz every night. I fight vampires and demons and ex-boyfriends and friends and class mates and, I get turned into Military guy and break into army bases so we can blow up demons,” he looked to Giles, “I’ve led an army of students, none of them with Buffy’s strength or Willow’s genius or Oz’s ability to come up with a stoic quip at the right moment. All of them like me. Not even worthy of being a blip on the Scooby Gang radar, yet, they were there. I was there.

“This war is as much mine as the one in Sunnydale is.” He sat beside Giles; hand on the older man’s shoulders. “Here though? Here I get a chance to stand out and stand up. Harry’s my family… our family. I’d fight this if it were Buffy getting ready for the fight of her life, why can’t I fight for my nephew as well?”

“I just want you to be certain Xander,” Giles looked at the younger man, “This isn’t some Vampire you can dust by ramming a piece of wood into its chest, these are real wizards and witches, with real power and real spells. Some of them far more powerful then anything you’ve ever seen.”

“But Willow - ” Xander began before being cut off by the man in front of him.

“What Willow does will look like mere party tricks at a five-year-old’s birthday compared to what you will have to face in this war.” Giles snapped. It wasn’t that he didn’t want Xander to not have this chance, more that he wanted him to be sure. This wasn’t something one could just walk away from when they decided they’d had enough. Magic, once you’d learned how to wield it, became a part of your very soul. It was something he had learned after Randal had died, and something Willow was slowly coming to learn.

Xander looked down at his shoes, his hand coming up to rub the back of his neck as he took a moment to think this all through. Taking a deep breath, he looked up, demanding that he be taken seriously in this conversation with a flash of his eyes. “I want to do this Giles, I want to be a part of this. And whether or not you like it, I already am. That…thing calling himself Lord Voldemort killed my brother, your cousin, Harry’s dad. If nothing else, Harry deserves our help.”

Giles looked at Xander, his eyes widening slightly as he truly saw the young man before him. “Then you will go into this battle well prepared and with your family by your side.” He moved and pulled his cousin into a hug. Three weeks ago, Xander had still been the group clown, the one they all looked to for comic relief, he had still been a child, and now… Giles stepped back, “Just so you are clear on that one thing, we will start training two days from now, once Willow gets a wand.”

“I understand Giles,” Xander stood up to leave, “more then you know.” He smiled as he looked at Giles, “This… Helping my family… is what I do, the only difference now is that I do more then just get the donuts.” Turning, he made his way to the door. “Mrs Weasley will probably call when dinner’s ready, until then, feel free to explore or relax.” He started to pull the door closed before popping his head back inside the room “OH! And wait until you spend some time with Harry, he’s a pretty neat kid. We’ve got a lot in common, and it’s nice… having family outside of you, Buffy, Willow and Oz.”