Fic: Unexpected Guest (2/7)
Title: Unexpected Guest: Ch. 02: Late Night Conversation.
Author: Mirrored Illusions aka 3am_moonlight.
Fandoms: Buffy the Vampire Slayer / Harry Potter (JKR)
Rating: Gen / Teen.
Word Count: 1,187 (chapter) / 10,237 (complete).
Timeline: BtVS: S05's The Gift and book 5 (the Order of the Phoenix) of HP.
Disclaimer: The Buffyverse belongs to Joss and the Harry Potter 'verse belongs to JKR.
Summary: Harry and Hermione sneak into the hospital wing to get a better look at the unexpected arrival.
Author's Note: Written for the August FaD, Day 17.
Buffy was fading in and out of consciousness and as she did she heard voices around her, talking in low tones. After a number of times, she managed to hear snippets of the conversations, but they made little sense to her in her current foggy state.
"It's impossible, no one can shield against..." and the unfamiliar voice of an older woman faded out.
Later on, Bumblebore's voice drifted toward her, "quite remarkable! And your scans can't tell you..." and then everything went black again.
Other people's words came and went, as did the two earlier ones. At one point she was woken by a female voice she was reasonably certain was the toads, judging by the fake girly tone and the arrogance. Much later, her mind had become clearer and she managed to stay awake for longer periods of time without falling asleep again. she'd been dozing when her enhanced hearing picked up two sets of footsteps coming towards the door of the room she was in, which was presumably either a hospital or the school's nurse's station.
"Shh," a teenage girl whispered as a door closed, presumably behind them, and was almost immediately followed by a teenage boy apologizing. Careful footsteps followed and moved closer to her bed. The entire room had that easily recognizable hospital smell those places always seemed to have, but at the same time it reminded her of Tara's potions.
Buffy opened her eyes to slits and was surprised to see there was no one in the room with her, except she could still hear both sets of footsteps moving toward her. She could also hear them breathing in the quiet room. Yes, all the lights were off and the only thing giving light was the moon shining through the uncovered windows across from her bed, but she was a Slayer and Slayers had excellent night vision. They also had excellent hearing, and right now those two senses were in conflict.
While she'd been exercising her supernatural senses, the teenagers had managed to get right up to her bed and Buffy could feel them staring at her. Her lids were barely open and as the two of them presumably had a normal vision they were unable to notice the difference.
The teenage girl spoke again in a very low whisper, "She doesn't look dangerous and she seems even smaller lying there in bed than she did standing in the Great Hall."
"Umbridge said she's probably a spy from the American Ministry of Magic and has contacted Fudge." The boy said, before adding after presumably getting a look from his friend. Or maybe his girlfriend? "I overheard Malfoy bragging to Parkinson about it."
"Malfoy will say anything to get people to believe he knows something they don't."
"I wonder what's got Dumbledore and the other professors whispering about her. They appeared to be confused and worried."
Rather than keep laying there and listening to their guesses Buffy decided to get some answers of her own and spoke up. "Show yourselves. It isn't fair you can see me but I can't see you."
Beside the bed, the two teenagers managed to startle but not make much noise while doing it. "Bloody hell!" the boy said softly, but right after she heard soft rustling and a blanket, or maybe it was a cloak, slid off and a black haired teenage boy with bright green eyes behind round glasses came into view. Right next to him stood a girl with brown bushy hair and cognac colored eyes.
"Um, hello," the girl said politely. "I'm Hermione Granger and this is Harry Potter. We're fifth-year students here at Hogwarts.
"Buffy Summers," Buffy replied. When someone introduced themselves you were supposed to give your name, even if the people in question already knew it. "How long was I out?"
"A little over a day." The boy, Harry Potter, replied. "Are you a spy?" He added, seemingly because he couldn't help himself.
Buffy's lips twitched as his friend elbowed him in the side. "No. I really don't know how or why I ended up here." She carefully sat up a little as her entire body kind of ached. "Where exactly is 'here'?"
"Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, specifically the hospital wing." Buffy just looked at the bushy-haired brunette and she kept talking. "We're in the Scottish Highlands, far away from the non-magical population."
"Oh," she replied, "but there are cars or a bus or something that can get me to an airport, right?" The looks on their faces were not promising at all.
"Sorry, miss." The boy answered, "There are no cars or buses here. There's no electricity, so no telephones either." Buffy just stared at him for a minute before she replied to the easiest part of his response.
"It's 'Buffy', not 'miss'. And what do you mean there's no electricity? Is the power out?"
"No," Hermione replied. "The magical world doesn't use electricity, most of them can't even pronounce the word correctly, and it's unlikely they know what it's used for." Buffy just stared incomprehensibly at the girl.
"The magical world has deliberately segregated itself from the rest of the world and minimizes all contact with the outside world. Mostly only those with non-magical families or relatives venture outside the magical enclaves. We, they, user magic for almost everything. If you can't wave a wand to do what you wish, then it isn't worth doing to most."
That was just... Buffy didn't have words for it. How could anyone live like that? What if their wand got broken? They'd be helpless until they got a new one. Then another thought occurred to her, "Do you need a wand to perform magic?"
Both of them blinked at the question, but the boy answered first. "Of course. Only really powerful witches and wizards, like Dumbledore, can do wandless magic."
The girl added, "Even then it's mostly for show and not very useful. Why do you ask?"
Their answer added credence to this being another dimension, but it was possible it was simply another type of magic. Tara had mentioned a family in San Francisco who had magic similar to hers, but different. There were only three very powerful sisters now, who fought demons and warlocks.
"I have a couple of friends who are witches, but they do all of their magic without a wand." She was about to say something else when she heard footsteps coming from the adjoining room. "You better go if you don't want to get caught."
They looked confused for a moment, then Harry threw the cloak over them again and she heard Hermione say something in Latin and suddenly she couldn't hear them as well as she had before. It was like they had been partially muted.
She lay back down in her bed and closed her eyes as she heard the door on the other side of the room open and then close. The doctor or nurse entered the room, came over and fussed a little, and then she left. The conversation had tired Buffy and soon after she was asleep once more.
Author: Mirrored Illusions aka 3am_moonlight.
Fandoms: Buffy the Vampire Slayer / Harry Potter (JKR)
Rating: Gen / Teen.
Word Count: 1,187 (chapter) / 10,237 (complete).
Timeline: BtVS: S05's The Gift and book 5 (the Order of the Phoenix) of HP.
Disclaimer: The Buffyverse belongs to Joss and the Harry Potter 'verse belongs to JKR.
Summary: Harry and Hermione sneak into the hospital wing to get a better look at the unexpected arrival.
Author's Note: Written for the August FaD, Day 17.
Buffy was fading in and out of consciousness and as she did she heard voices around her, talking in low tones. After a number of times, she managed to hear snippets of the conversations, but they made little sense to her in her current foggy state.
"It's impossible, no one can shield against..." and the unfamiliar voice of an older woman faded out.
Later on, Bumblebore's voice drifted toward her, "quite remarkable! And your scans can't tell you..." and then everything went black again.
Other people's words came and went, as did the two earlier ones. At one point she was woken by a female voice she was reasonably certain was the toads, judging by the fake girly tone and the arrogance. Much later, her mind had become clearer and she managed to stay awake for longer periods of time without falling asleep again. she'd been dozing when her enhanced hearing picked up two sets of footsteps coming towards the door of the room she was in, which was presumably either a hospital or the school's nurse's station.
"Shh," a teenage girl whispered as a door closed, presumably behind them, and was almost immediately followed by a teenage boy apologizing. Careful footsteps followed and moved closer to her bed. The entire room had that easily recognizable hospital smell those places always seemed to have, but at the same time it reminded her of Tara's potions.
Buffy opened her eyes to slits and was surprised to see there was no one in the room with her, except she could still hear both sets of footsteps moving toward her. She could also hear them breathing in the quiet room. Yes, all the lights were off and the only thing giving light was the moon shining through the uncovered windows across from her bed, but she was a Slayer and Slayers had excellent night vision. They also had excellent hearing, and right now those two senses were in conflict.
While she'd been exercising her supernatural senses, the teenagers had managed to get right up to her bed and Buffy could feel them staring at her. Her lids were barely open and as the two of them presumably had a normal vision they were unable to notice the difference.
The teenage girl spoke again in a very low whisper, "She doesn't look dangerous and she seems even smaller lying there in bed than she did standing in the Great Hall."
"Umbridge said she's probably a spy from the American Ministry of Magic and has contacted Fudge." The boy said, before adding after presumably getting a look from his friend. Or maybe his girlfriend? "I overheard Malfoy bragging to Parkinson about it."
"Malfoy will say anything to get people to believe he knows something they don't."
"I wonder what's got Dumbledore and the other professors whispering about her. They appeared to be confused and worried."
Rather than keep laying there and listening to their guesses Buffy decided to get some answers of her own and spoke up. "Show yourselves. It isn't fair you can see me but I can't see you."
Beside the bed, the two teenagers managed to startle but not make much noise while doing it. "Bloody hell!" the boy said softly, but right after she heard soft rustling and a blanket, or maybe it was a cloak, slid off and a black haired teenage boy with bright green eyes behind round glasses came into view. Right next to him stood a girl with brown bushy hair and cognac colored eyes.
"Um, hello," the girl said politely. "I'm Hermione Granger and this is Harry Potter. We're fifth-year students here at Hogwarts.
"Buffy Summers," Buffy replied. When someone introduced themselves you were supposed to give your name, even if the people in question already knew it. "How long was I out?"
"A little over a day." The boy, Harry Potter, replied. "Are you a spy?" He added, seemingly because he couldn't help himself.
Buffy's lips twitched as his friend elbowed him in the side. "No. I really don't know how or why I ended up here." She carefully sat up a little as her entire body kind of ached. "Where exactly is 'here'?"
"Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, specifically the hospital wing." Buffy just looked at the bushy-haired brunette and she kept talking. "We're in the Scottish Highlands, far away from the non-magical population."
"Oh," she replied, "but there are cars or a bus or something that can get me to an airport, right?" The looks on their faces were not promising at all.
"Sorry, miss." The boy answered, "There are no cars or buses here. There's no electricity, so no telephones either." Buffy just stared at him for a minute before she replied to the easiest part of his response.
"It's 'Buffy', not 'miss'. And what do you mean there's no electricity? Is the power out?"
"No," Hermione replied. "The magical world doesn't use electricity, most of them can't even pronounce the word correctly, and it's unlikely they know what it's used for." Buffy just stared incomprehensibly at the girl.
"The magical world has deliberately segregated itself from the rest of the world and minimizes all contact with the outside world. Mostly only those with non-magical families or relatives venture outside the magical enclaves. We, they, user magic for almost everything. If you can't wave a wand to do what you wish, then it isn't worth doing to most."
That was just... Buffy didn't have words for it. How could anyone live like that? What if their wand got broken? They'd be helpless until they got a new one. Then another thought occurred to her, "Do you need a wand to perform magic?"
Both of them blinked at the question, but the boy answered first. "Of course. Only really powerful witches and wizards, like Dumbledore, can do wandless magic."
The girl added, "Even then it's mostly for show and not very useful. Why do you ask?"
Their answer added credence to this being another dimension, but it was possible it was simply another type of magic. Tara had mentioned a family in San Francisco who had magic similar to hers, but different. There were only three very powerful sisters now, who fought demons and warlocks.
"I have a couple of friends who are witches, but they do all of their magic without a wand." She was about to say something else when she heard footsteps coming from the adjoining room. "You better go if you don't want to get caught."
They looked confused for a moment, then Harry threw the cloak over them again and she heard Hermione say something in Latin and suddenly she couldn't hear them as well as she had before. It was like they had been partially muted.
She lay back down in her bed and closed her eyes as she heard the door on the other side of the room open and then close. The doctor or nurse entered the room, came over and fussed a little, and then she left. The conversation had tired Buffy and soon after she was asleep once more.