Doctor Who / Harry Potter / Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Wolves in the Walls
Title: Wolves in the Walls
Author's Name: violet_quill
Recipient's Name: krabapple
Fandoms: Buffy/Harry Potter/Doctor Who
Characters: Rupert Giles, Remus Lupin, Nymphadora Tonks, The Doctor, Rose Tyler
Pairings: Doctor/Giles
Rating: PG
Summary: After Buffy's death, Giles returns to England where he meets with some old friends who happen to be researching lycanthropy. Legend of a cure in the walls of an old estate in Scotland lead them to the Doctor, who wasn't expecting to find another werewolf in Torchwood...
Spoilers: through DW "Tooth and Claw", Buffy Season 6 "Flooded", and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
Word Count: 4400
Notes: Your request was for a werewolf-centric Buffy crossover. Well, since one of your other prompts included HP, I couldn't help but throw my favorite werewolf into the mix. I hope that I managed to mesh these three canons together in a somewhat coherent fashion. Some dialogue at the end from the Buffy episode "Flooded."
You might think that there were more interesting perks to being the only man in a group full of powerful, beautiful women - but no, for Rupert Giles, the best part of the Devon Coven was the library. Honestly it could rival even that of the Watchers headquarters in London, and put the one he'd cultivated so lovingly in Sunnydale High School to shame.
He'd headed there after Buffy's death, because frankly he didn't know where else to go. He had friends there, more than he suspected he could count among the Council at this point (going there at all was bad enough; he certainly hadn't wanted to stay), and he needed some time to convalesce. To mourn. To cope with the fact that he had committed the ultimate sin of his profession, and let his Slayer die. And so while back in California unbeknownst to him her friends were plotting to bring her back, Giles had no greater plans than to coop himself up in a library in Bath, and read.
He was certainly not expecting to find an old friend waiting for him there. The librarian, Therese, a young woman with more magic in her little finger than Giles had encountered in most of his time in California with the possible exception of Willow's untapped potential, showed him into the atrium where they kept the recent acquisitions. When Giles spotted the man already thumbing through a hardback copy of Modern Alchemy, he blinked in surprise, and Therese lifted and eyebrow and inquired, "You two have met?"
The man turned at that, an equal measure of surprise evident on his face upon seeing Giles. But then he smile broadly. "Rupert!"
"Remus." Giles was, perhaps, just a bit too British to cross that short distance and embrace the other man, but he did look pleased to see him. "I ah, I wouldn't have expected to see you here, of all places. A coven?"
"It was my wife's idea," confided Remus. "Her mother's family is old blood; they still have ties to this sort of magic."
Giles looked surprised. "Your wife? Congratulations."
Vaguely sheepish, Remus said, "Well, this little project was her idea, though not for the obvious reasons. I get a great deal of 'I like you just as you are' and that sort of thing."
Giles looked to the stack of books and realized - "Oh! You're looking for new insight into lycanthropy."
Remus nodded. "My kind doesn't have a monopoly on werewolves, after all."
"Indeed," agreed Giles. "I've had experience with some myself who've never heard of wizards. There's a rather charming young man back in Sunnydale..."
"Well, I'm afraid I'm not having much luck," Remus added. "And I dare say there are other things of more importance we should be - "
"You only say that because you insist upon looking at it selfishly!" rang a sudden female voice through the quiet of the library.
Giles saw a head pop out from behind a nearby shelf, face framed by magenta hair sticking out at all angles. "Ah, Mrs. Lupin?" he guessed, as surprising at that was from her appearance.
"You can call me Tonks," she said cheerfully, emerging from behind the books and coming to stand beside Remus. "You must be Rupert. I've heard a great deal about you."
"Have you?" Giles lifted an eyebrow.
"Well, perhaps not so much," Tonks admitted with a light laugh. "Remus doesn't talk so much about that particular decade. But I was interested to hear about a Muggle with such close ties to the magical community."
"Not yours so much," Giles admitted. "Particularly in America, most amateur witches or even those in organized covens have never even heard of the Ministry of Magic."
"Things are terribly disorganized over there," Remus agreed, clucking his tongue. "What brings you back here anyway?"
"Ah... well, I'm afraid that my former post is no longer relevant."
Remus' face showed a slow dawning of understanding. "Oh, dear. I'm so sorry to hear that."
Tonks looked as if she desperately wanted to know what they were talking about, but had the tact not to ask for clarification. "Have you found anything of interest, darling?" she asked, putting a hand on Remus' back and peering around his arm at the book he was holding.
"Not so much, no."
Tonks looked back up at Giles. "He feels terribly selfish for researching such things when there's a war on, but really, information along these lines would be incredibly useful. There's a werewolf in particular who has taken up ranks with Death Eaters - "
"Fenrir," Remus clarified distastefully.
"Well," Tonks continued, "he's recruiting. Trying to convince even Muggle werewolves to join the cause."
"Like your friend back in Sunnydale," Remus said. "People who have no business being involved in this at all. But if they're given a choice between a society that doesn't even treat them like people, and a group who will supposedly allow them to gain power of their own..."
"So we're looking for a third option," Tonks said matter-of-factly. "If we can find anything to lessen the symptoms, maybe even a - "
"Don't say the C word," Remus sighed.
"Okay, fine, not a cure. But something. A more reliable brew of Wolfsbane, perhaps. But something to bargain with, something we have to offer them that Fenrir doesn't."
Giles nodded. "A noble effort, then. And you haven't had any luck?" His mind was already spinning, trying to latch onto something that was nagging at his memory...
"Unfortunately, no," Remus admitted. "And this was really our last stop. Not much of a honeymoon, I'm afraid."
"Wait," Giles blurted, and then pushed his glasses up on his nose and crossed the short distance to the card catalog. "I remember this book the last time I was here..."
Tonks lifted an eyebrow. "Usually Remus is a very thorough researcher."
Giles nodded. "No doubt. But the werewolf mention was extremely slight, and only jumped out at me because it seemed out of place." He flicked through the cards and then, "Aha!" and darted over to find the book on the shelves.
Remus and Tonks both trailed after him, and when Giles located the correct book, he head it up and revealed the title stamped on the spine: Early Scottish Architecture.
Remus blinked. "How... obscure."
Giles nodded. "I was skimming through it looking for information on a certain castle that had recently become the stomping ground of a clan of vampires, but as I said, this particular passage jumped out at me - " He finally found the right spot, and pointed.
In a section labeled "Other Myths and Legends," there was a single paragraph at the bottom of a page, captioned "Wolves in the Walls?"
The Torchwood Estate, owned by the McLeish family as far back as the seventh century, was most notable for having housed Queen Victoria sometime in the late 1900s. It was abandoned by the family under suspicious circumstances around that time, and now the land belongs the Crown, supposedly for sentimental reasons. Rumor has it, however, that something about the manor's architecture protects against... werewolves? Local lore is filled with tales of the creatures, and even today, stories persist that inside the Torchwood walls is the safest place from them. Perhaps Queen Victoria had a fear of the full moon herself?
"The walls?" Remus repeated aloud, curiously. "That doesn't make any sense. It's probably just an old wives tale..."
"So are werewolves," Giles pointed out.
Tonks shook Remus' shoulder excitedly. "But it's something, right? Come on, we should just check it out. One more stop before heading back to give our report. And it's in Scotland, it's practically on the way."
Remus quirked a smile. "We're wizards, everything is on the way."
Giles closed the book and cleared his throat. "I, ah, wouldn't mind - that is to say, if you'd like some company - " The truth was, he was itching to do something, anything, even if it was merely looking around an old estate and finding nothing.
"Well..." Remus shrugged. "I suppose it won't hurt to check it out. We'll lose a day at the most, and I'll chalk it up to catching up with an old friend. Are you sure you want to tag along, Rupert?"
"Love to," said Giles. "I could use the distraction."
*
Rose was used to things suddenly blinking and beeping on the TARDIS for no good reason, but this was an alarm that she didn't think she'd actually heard before.
They'd just pitched up from ancient Rome, supposedly back to present day, because of all things, Rose had been craving the pastries from the shop across the street from her old flat. But as soon as they materialized, there went a new clanging alarm.
"Hey, what's that?" she asked, looking over at the Doctor.
He looked surprised as well, and tilted his head to the side, squinting a little as if trying to remember. "That one's - wait, no, it's the - you know, they all start to sound the same after a while. Either someone's trying to start a land war in Asia, or we've got a werewolf."
Rose blinked. "A werewolf? What, like the one who tried to eat Queen Victoria?" Her eyes widened a little. "Oh my gawd, you don't think that the royal family really - "
"Yes, right," the Doctor said absently, "definitely a werewolf. But no, I highly doubt it's the royal family. In fact, I don't think it's that sort of werewolf. There's the other kind, you know, the proper kind. Not the alien body snatching sort."
Rose frowned. "What do you mean, the proper kind? I thought that - "
"Nah, that'd be too easy wouldn't it? Still, I'm not a big fan of coincidence, so I set this little alarm to go off if any werewolf sorts turn up at that old house."
"The Torchwood estate?"
"Right-o."
"And there's a werewolf there now?"
"Apparently."
"But you don't know if it's the alien body snatching sort or the... what, magical type?"
"Do you believe in magic, Rose Tyler?" the Doctor asked with a grin as he started to reset the coordinates on the TARDIS controls.
"Not as much as I believe in those pastries," she answered forlornly, but didn't complain further as they whisked off towards the Torchwood estate.
*
"It's kind of romantic, really," Tonks commented of the Torchwood Estate. At least, once they finally made it there. The place had been extraordinarily difficult to find, none of the locals seeming to remember it, let alone able to point them in the right direction. If they didn't know better, it would have seemed as if there were memory charms involved... but as far as any of them knew, the estate had no ties to magic whatsoever, beyond some vague reference to werewolves in an obscure little book.
"There may be more here than meets the eye," Giles cautioned them as they moved past several NO TRESPASSING signs. It did, at the very least, appear that the place had been abandoned for decades.
"Do we even know what we're looking for?" Tonks added as she ran a hand over a heavy wooden door, fingers coming back coated with dust.
"Maybe I'm supposed to eat the wood and see if it cures me?" Remus suggested dryly.
They really hadn't had much to go on, and their little adventure was beginning to seem like a waste of time.
"I'm sorry I can't be of more help," Giles added apologetically. "I imagine that the pair of you know more about - "
Suddenly, Remus snapped his head to the side. "Did you hear that?"
"What?" asked Giles, turning into the silence.
"That sound. Like a... whooshing sound."
"Did you hear that?" This was a new voice, loud, coming from the direction of an open doorway leading into the rest of the house. "A whooshing, Rose, that's us. Whoosh whoosh whoosh."
There was a muffled response, a girl's voice, and then the louder one added, "Super hearing! I think we found our wolf!"
Remus tensed, his hand going for his wand, and with even quicker reflexes, Tonks had hers out and pointed at the doorway.
Giles backed up behind them.
When a man and woman appeared in the doorway, the woman looked slightly startled, but the man simply chuckled and waved a hand. "Oh my, you can put those away. You're in luck, Rose. Even better than just werewolves. Wizards."
The girl, Rose, eyed the brandished wands warily. "I think the wizards want to hex us."
"Well now, there's no reason for that," the man said. He held up his hands. "See, I'm unarmed. Not even a wizard. You can really put those down now. I dare say your wrists are getting cramped."
Remus hesitated, then slowly lowered his wand, and Tonks followed not long after. "Who are you?" she demanded.
"I'm the Doctor and this is Rose Tyler. And you - " His eyes flicked over the three of them, then settled on Remus. "You are the wolf I thought I'd find. But you're rather harmless, aren't you?"
Remus actually looked rather annoyed at that assessment. "That depends on you."
Giles, who had been watching the entire affair with mostly detached curiosity, finally stepped forward. "Let's all calm down a bit, shall we? It seems as if we all have something in common, after all. I think that what Mr. Lupin would like to know is - "
"You're not a wizard," the Doctor said curiously, looking Giles over.
"Well, no, I'm not. Just a, ah, practitioner - "
"You don't strike me as occult either."
Giles bristled. "I'm a Watcher."
The Doctors eyes widened. "Well this is a treat! A Watcher? But not... oh, boy, the Watcher? How about - " Suddenly his face wrinkled a little as if thinking very hard. "Wait, what year - what month is it, Rose? And the day?" Rose flipped open her phone and told him and then the Doctor looked apologetically at Giles. "Oh, my condolenses. Don't worry, it all works out in the end."
Giles just stared at him, mouth agape.
"Who are you?" Tonks repeated, fingers twitching as if she really wanted to go for her wand again.
The Doctor sighed. "I'm not hunting werewolves if that's your concern. I'm merely a, ah, hobbyist."
"A hobbyist," Remus repeated.
The Doctor nodded. "Well, I can tell you, for example, that you are not the only werewolf on these grounds right now."
"What?" Remus looked startled. "What do you mean?"
"Showed up shortly after I did, so I dare say he's following you."
Tonks went slightly white. "I thought we lost him back in Bulgaria."
"We did," Remus insisted.
"What?" Giles blurted, almost grateful for the distraction from this stranger who somehow knew about Buffy. "Who?"
"Fenrir," Remus said, his voice low. "He was following us, along with a couple of Death Eater flunkies. As you can imagine, they'd be equally interested in anything we find..."
"But we lost them!" Tonks insisted. "I was so sure of it!"
"Apparently not good enough, love," Remus said, shaking his head. "Okay... Doctor, what else can you tell us?"
"Sorry, that's it," he said. "I just did a quick scan for wolves before heading over here to say hello. Barely had time to enjoy the scenery." He ran a finger through the dust on a nearby wall and clucked his tongue. "Just look what they've done to the place, Rose."
"But I thought you said that this place ended up being the headquarters for some government institute," she said, frowning.
"It was," said the Doctor. "But remember, we were here a hundred years ago. The Torchwood Institute was here for a long time, and then outgrew this place and moved on. And now it's just an old house with wolves in the walls."
Giles' ears perked up at that. "That. Where did you hear that? What's special about the walls here?"
Rose's eyes lit up a little, as if she were very pleased that she actually knew the answer to a question. "Oh, it's very clever, actually! You see, the walls are made with - "
She was suddenly interrupted by a very loud noise. Rather like someone tripping over a coat rack and then swearing loudly.
"Voldemort never does like to spare his cleverest Death Eaters as Fenrir's body guards," Tonks commented dryly.
"Come on," the Doctor said, starting off down the hallway. "I know of at least one room that's fairly secure. Put a few spells on it and we should be able to wait him out."
"Good," Remus agreed, looking back and forth between them. "Good."
They made their way into the library, where the Doctor and Remus went about barring the doors. Giles held back, his eyes sweeping over the rows of books, all covered in a thin layer of dust. At some point he marveled at Tonks and Rose chatting away in a corner, apparently having immediately set up a repore, as women tend to do.
Once the room seemed to be secure, Remus said, "All right, then. Well, everyone stay put, and I'll - "
"What do you mean, you'll?" Tonks interrupted. "I'm coming too!"
"Wait! Why are either of you going anywhere?" Giles blurted. "I thought we were safe in here!"
"Well you didn't think we were just going to let Fenrir go when we have an opportunity to capture him!" Then Remus looked back to his wife. "If you insist."
She rolled her eyes. "We'll talk about this later."
"We're not staying in here either," the Doctor said matter-of-factly. He looked at Rose and added, "See, I don't even bother to pretend you're not going to just follow me when it's dangerous."
"Thank you," she said, and Tonks looked impressed.
"What, so I'm the only one who has to stay behind? I'm not some invalid, you know." Giles bristled. "I've had plenty of danger in my day."
"Fine," said Remus. "We'll all go. At least Fenrir will think that we're in here so we should be able to get a jump on him. Let's leave through the window."
A few minutes later, Remus and Tonks were out on the lawn outside and the Doctor was boosting Rose up through the window. He was just about to go through himself when suddenly there was a bang on the far door.
The Doctor froze, looking back at Giles, who put his finger over his lips.
And then there was a muffled yell outside the door, and Giles felt a blanket of magic settle over the room. He stumbled backwards.
As did the Doctor. In fact, he stumbled back into Giles, and they both tumbled down onto the floor, a tangle of limbs.
"Oh my," said Giles, trying to sit up a little, pushing his glasses up onto the bridge of his nose.
"Doctor!" called Rose through the window. "Are you all - " But she was interrupted by the sudden sounds of an obvious battle on the lawn. Fenrir must have discovered the rest of them outside.
"We have to..." the Doctor began, looking at Giles, but made no move to actually disentangle himself. In fact, he didn't seem inclined to do anything at all.
"Oh my," Giles repeated. "I do believe we've... a spell." He licked his lips.
The Doctor's mouth opened a little.
"Not terribly... inventive," Giles continued, his mouth going dry. "And given the skill level of the caster, probably not very long-lasting, but probably... effective..."
"What sort of spell?" the Doctor asked, leaning closer to Giles.
"A, ah, well, a lust spell, I suppose. Meant as a distraction. To split us up. Or rather, split us from the others, not split us - "
"Oh," said the Doctor. "Must be strong stuff."
"It is."
"Explains why I'm not interested in going to help Rose."
"Exactly."
"Do you feel like if you don't touch me soon your entire body is going to burst into flames?"
"Something like that, yes."
Outside, the yelling continued, accompanied by the zings and whizzes of spells. And inside, Giles and the Doctor were on top of a pile of books, snogging like their lives depended on it.
*
Remus was the first one back through the window. This was probably more fortunate than he even realized. "Why don't you girls come 'round the front door?" he squeaked. "No need to come this way again."
Which gave him approximately a minute to deal with the trail of strewn clothes and what they led to. Luckily, Remus (having been a professor and around adolescents a great deal) was quite well versed in spells that sober up that sort of lust, and by the time Rose and Tonks arrived, Giles and the Doctor were fully clothed, albeit both blushing a rather alarming shade of pink.
"What was happening in here?" Rose demanded, hands on her hips. "There was a battle out there and you missed it!"
"Well, ah - "
"One of the Death Eaters threw a confounding charm in here," Remus interrupted.
Having no idea what that meant, Rose simply accepted it as explanation. "Well you missed a bloody great show," she offered. "These two are amazing."
Tonks grinned. "We did give them a run for their money."
Remus scowled. "That was a dirty trick, with the Portkey. We would have had them - "
"At least they'll probably know better than to follow us from now on. They won't get away so easily next time."
Remus looked at Giles. "You all right, Rupert? You're looking a little flushed."
He cleared his throat. "Oh, just, ah..."
Suddenly, Rose blurted, "Hey, wait! I just realized... so I guess the mistletoe doesn't have an effect on your sort of werewolf?"
Remus blinked. Then he looked over at the carving on the wall. "Mistletoe." He sighed. "So that's what's in the walls. How anti-climactic."
Tonks gave him an apologetic look and then explained to Rose, "It's already an ingredient in Wolfsbane. Not nearly potent enough on its own to do much at all, though."
The Doctor nodded. "Our werewolf was of a very different breed, Rose. And with that fairly ascertained, we'd best be on our way. Though... Mr. Giles? A word?"
Rose led the way to the TARDIS, chatting away with Remus and Tonks about wizards, and the Doctor and Giles lagged behind, speaking in soft voices.
"I'm incredibly embarrassed," Giles admitted.
"There's no need to be. These sorts of things happen. Well. Not often. But I've been around a long time, and they do happen." The Doctor paused, then offered, "And besides... I think I saw you smile. Once or twice. You needed a few moments to forget about her."
Giles hesitated. "How do you know about Buffy anyway? What are you?"
"I am something beyond your realm of expertise," the Doctor admitted. "And I'd rather not shake up that world of yours anymore. Suffice it to say that I don't think you'll be seeing me again... but I'm glad to have met you."
"Likewise." Giles shook the Doctor's hand, just as they stepped up to the police box. Curiouser and curiouser.
"Oh, and Mr. Giles?" the Doctor added, as he stepped in just behind Rose. "You might not want to get too comfortable just yet. Maybe wait a few days to start unpacking."
Whoosh whoosh whoosh.
"See," said Remus. "Whoosh."
"Well," said Tonks, "I suppose this trip was a bit of a wash. Remus and I will be heading back to report to the Order. Sorry to have dragged you along on a wild goose chase."
Giles looked over at the empty space that the police box had just occupied. "Oh," he said, "I think I got something out of it."
As they parted, Remus and Tonks promised that they would look him up the next summer, assuming that things had calmed down a little by then.
"Next summer," Giles promised, and wished them safe travels.
*
"So." Giles hit the punching bag lightly. Awkwardly. He'd taken the Doctor's advice. He hadn't unpacked. And now he was back in Sunnydale.
Trying not to think too hard about how strange it was to have Buffy here. In the flesh. Back from the dead.
"I can start," said Buffy. "How was England?" She sat down, looked up at him expectantly. "How was... life?"
"Uh, I'm not really sure how to answer that. Well, I arrived home. I met with the Council."
"Always a good time," Buffy commented dryly.
"Yes. Otherwise, there's, uh, nothing really to report. I, um, I keep a flat in Bath." Of course, all Giles could think about was that damn library in Scotland. He was babbling.
He hesitated. "I met with a few old friends. Almost made a new one, which I think is ... statistically impossible for a man of my age." There. Nothing about werewolves, or libraries, or men in brown suits with long fingers and warm skin…
He took off his jacket and laid it on the couch, thinking of the last time he'd worn it.
"And now you're back."
He looked at her. Wondered how on earth the Doctor had known this was going to happen. "Yes."
Outside his realm of expertise, perhaps. But somehow, he thought that there might be more to Torchwood than what was in the walls. Perhaps one day he'd do some research. Try to figure it out.
He looked up at Buffy.
One day. When things were a little less complicated.
Author's Name: violet_quill
Recipient's Name: krabapple
Fandoms: Buffy/Harry Potter/Doctor Who
Characters: Rupert Giles, Remus Lupin, Nymphadora Tonks, The Doctor, Rose Tyler
Pairings: Doctor/Giles
Rating: PG
Summary: After Buffy's death, Giles returns to England where he meets with some old friends who happen to be researching lycanthropy. Legend of a cure in the walls of an old estate in Scotland lead them to the Doctor, who wasn't expecting to find another werewolf in Torchwood...
Spoilers: through DW "Tooth and Claw", Buffy Season 6 "Flooded", and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
Word Count: 4400
Notes: Your request was for a werewolf-centric Buffy crossover. Well, since one of your other prompts included HP, I couldn't help but throw my favorite werewolf into the mix. I hope that I managed to mesh these three canons together in a somewhat coherent fashion. Some dialogue at the end from the Buffy episode "Flooded."
You might think that there were more interesting perks to being the only man in a group full of powerful, beautiful women - but no, for Rupert Giles, the best part of the Devon Coven was the library. Honestly it could rival even that of the Watchers headquarters in London, and put the one he'd cultivated so lovingly in Sunnydale High School to shame.
He'd headed there after Buffy's death, because frankly he didn't know where else to go. He had friends there, more than he suspected he could count among the Council at this point (going there at all was bad enough; he certainly hadn't wanted to stay), and he needed some time to convalesce. To mourn. To cope with the fact that he had committed the ultimate sin of his profession, and let his Slayer die. And so while back in California unbeknownst to him her friends were plotting to bring her back, Giles had no greater plans than to coop himself up in a library in Bath, and read.
He was certainly not expecting to find an old friend waiting for him there. The librarian, Therese, a young woman with more magic in her little finger than Giles had encountered in most of his time in California with the possible exception of Willow's untapped potential, showed him into the atrium where they kept the recent acquisitions. When Giles spotted the man already thumbing through a hardback copy of Modern Alchemy, he blinked in surprise, and Therese lifted and eyebrow and inquired, "You two have met?"
The man turned at that, an equal measure of surprise evident on his face upon seeing Giles. But then he smile broadly. "Rupert!"
"Remus." Giles was, perhaps, just a bit too British to cross that short distance and embrace the other man, but he did look pleased to see him. "I ah, I wouldn't have expected to see you here, of all places. A coven?"
"It was my wife's idea," confided Remus. "Her mother's family is old blood; they still have ties to this sort of magic."
Giles looked surprised. "Your wife? Congratulations."
Vaguely sheepish, Remus said, "Well, this little project was her idea, though not for the obvious reasons. I get a great deal of 'I like you just as you are' and that sort of thing."
Giles looked to the stack of books and realized - "Oh! You're looking for new insight into lycanthropy."
Remus nodded. "My kind doesn't have a monopoly on werewolves, after all."
"Indeed," agreed Giles. "I've had experience with some myself who've never heard of wizards. There's a rather charming young man back in Sunnydale..."
"Well, I'm afraid I'm not having much luck," Remus added. "And I dare say there are other things of more importance we should be - "
"You only say that because you insist upon looking at it selfishly!" rang a sudden female voice through the quiet of the library.
Giles saw a head pop out from behind a nearby shelf, face framed by magenta hair sticking out at all angles. "Ah, Mrs. Lupin?" he guessed, as surprising at that was from her appearance.
"You can call me Tonks," she said cheerfully, emerging from behind the books and coming to stand beside Remus. "You must be Rupert. I've heard a great deal about you."
"Have you?" Giles lifted an eyebrow.
"Well, perhaps not so much," Tonks admitted with a light laugh. "Remus doesn't talk so much about that particular decade. But I was interested to hear about a Muggle with such close ties to the magical community."
"Not yours so much," Giles admitted. "Particularly in America, most amateur witches or even those in organized covens have never even heard of the Ministry of Magic."
"Things are terribly disorganized over there," Remus agreed, clucking his tongue. "What brings you back here anyway?"
"Ah... well, I'm afraid that my former post is no longer relevant."
Remus' face showed a slow dawning of understanding. "Oh, dear. I'm so sorry to hear that."
Tonks looked as if she desperately wanted to know what they were talking about, but had the tact not to ask for clarification. "Have you found anything of interest, darling?" she asked, putting a hand on Remus' back and peering around his arm at the book he was holding.
"Not so much, no."
Tonks looked back up at Giles. "He feels terribly selfish for researching such things when there's a war on, but really, information along these lines would be incredibly useful. There's a werewolf in particular who has taken up ranks with Death Eaters - "
"Fenrir," Remus clarified distastefully.
"Well," Tonks continued, "he's recruiting. Trying to convince even Muggle werewolves to join the cause."
"Like your friend back in Sunnydale," Remus said. "People who have no business being involved in this at all. But if they're given a choice between a society that doesn't even treat them like people, and a group who will supposedly allow them to gain power of their own..."
"So we're looking for a third option," Tonks said matter-of-factly. "If we can find anything to lessen the symptoms, maybe even a - "
"Don't say the C word," Remus sighed.
"Okay, fine, not a cure. But something. A more reliable brew of Wolfsbane, perhaps. But something to bargain with, something we have to offer them that Fenrir doesn't."
Giles nodded. "A noble effort, then. And you haven't had any luck?" His mind was already spinning, trying to latch onto something that was nagging at his memory...
"Unfortunately, no," Remus admitted. "And this was really our last stop. Not much of a honeymoon, I'm afraid."
"Wait," Giles blurted, and then pushed his glasses up on his nose and crossed the short distance to the card catalog. "I remember this book the last time I was here..."
Tonks lifted an eyebrow. "Usually Remus is a very thorough researcher."
Giles nodded. "No doubt. But the werewolf mention was extremely slight, and only jumped out at me because it seemed out of place." He flicked through the cards and then, "Aha!" and darted over to find the book on the shelves.
Remus and Tonks both trailed after him, and when Giles located the correct book, he head it up and revealed the title stamped on the spine: Early Scottish Architecture.
Remus blinked. "How... obscure."
Giles nodded. "I was skimming through it looking for information on a certain castle that had recently become the stomping ground of a clan of vampires, but as I said, this particular passage jumped out at me - " He finally found the right spot, and pointed.
In a section labeled "Other Myths and Legends," there was a single paragraph at the bottom of a page, captioned "Wolves in the Walls?"
The Torchwood Estate, owned by the McLeish family as far back as the seventh century, was most notable for having housed Queen Victoria sometime in the late 1900s. It was abandoned by the family under suspicious circumstances around that time, and now the land belongs the Crown, supposedly for sentimental reasons. Rumor has it, however, that something about the manor's architecture protects against... werewolves? Local lore is filled with tales of the creatures, and even today, stories persist that inside the Torchwood walls is the safest place from them. Perhaps Queen Victoria had a fear of the full moon herself?
"The walls?" Remus repeated aloud, curiously. "That doesn't make any sense. It's probably just an old wives tale..."
"So are werewolves," Giles pointed out.
Tonks shook Remus' shoulder excitedly. "But it's something, right? Come on, we should just check it out. One more stop before heading back to give our report. And it's in Scotland, it's practically on the way."
Remus quirked a smile. "We're wizards, everything is on the way."
Giles closed the book and cleared his throat. "I, ah, wouldn't mind - that is to say, if you'd like some company - " The truth was, he was itching to do something, anything, even if it was merely looking around an old estate and finding nothing.
"Well..." Remus shrugged. "I suppose it won't hurt to check it out. We'll lose a day at the most, and I'll chalk it up to catching up with an old friend. Are you sure you want to tag along, Rupert?"
"Love to," said Giles. "I could use the distraction."
*
Rose was used to things suddenly blinking and beeping on the TARDIS for no good reason, but this was an alarm that she didn't think she'd actually heard before.
They'd just pitched up from ancient Rome, supposedly back to present day, because of all things, Rose had been craving the pastries from the shop across the street from her old flat. But as soon as they materialized, there went a new clanging alarm.
"Hey, what's that?" she asked, looking over at the Doctor.
He looked surprised as well, and tilted his head to the side, squinting a little as if trying to remember. "That one's - wait, no, it's the - you know, they all start to sound the same after a while. Either someone's trying to start a land war in Asia, or we've got a werewolf."
Rose blinked. "A werewolf? What, like the one who tried to eat Queen Victoria?" Her eyes widened a little. "Oh my gawd, you don't think that the royal family really - "
"Yes, right," the Doctor said absently, "definitely a werewolf. But no, I highly doubt it's the royal family. In fact, I don't think it's that sort of werewolf. There's the other kind, you know, the proper kind. Not the alien body snatching sort."
Rose frowned. "What do you mean, the proper kind? I thought that - "
"Nah, that'd be too easy wouldn't it? Still, I'm not a big fan of coincidence, so I set this little alarm to go off if any werewolf sorts turn up at that old house."
"The Torchwood estate?"
"Right-o."
"And there's a werewolf there now?"
"Apparently."
"But you don't know if it's the alien body snatching sort or the... what, magical type?"
"Do you believe in magic, Rose Tyler?" the Doctor asked with a grin as he started to reset the coordinates on the TARDIS controls.
"Not as much as I believe in those pastries," she answered forlornly, but didn't complain further as they whisked off towards the Torchwood estate.
*
"It's kind of romantic, really," Tonks commented of the Torchwood Estate. At least, once they finally made it there. The place had been extraordinarily difficult to find, none of the locals seeming to remember it, let alone able to point them in the right direction. If they didn't know better, it would have seemed as if there were memory charms involved... but as far as any of them knew, the estate had no ties to magic whatsoever, beyond some vague reference to werewolves in an obscure little book.
"There may be more here than meets the eye," Giles cautioned them as they moved past several NO TRESPASSING signs. It did, at the very least, appear that the place had been abandoned for decades.
"Do we even know what we're looking for?" Tonks added as she ran a hand over a heavy wooden door, fingers coming back coated with dust.
"Maybe I'm supposed to eat the wood and see if it cures me?" Remus suggested dryly.
They really hadn't had much to go on, and their little adventure was beginning to seem like a waste of time.
"I'm sorry I can't be of more help," Giles added apologetically. "I imagine that the pair of you know more about - "
Suddenly, Remus snapped his head to the side. "Did you hear that?"
"What?" asked Giles, turning into the silence.
"That sound. Like a... whooshing sound."
"Did you hear that?" This was a new voice, loud, coming from the direction of an open doorway leading into the rest of the house. "A whooshing, Rose, that's us. Whoosh whoosh whoosh."
There was a muffled response, a girl's voice, and then the louder one added, "Super hearing! I think we found our wolf!"
Remus tensed, his hand going for his wand, and with even quicker reflexes, Tonks had hers out and pointed at the doorway.
Giles backed up behind them.
When a man and woman appeared in the doorway, the woman looked slightly startled, but the man simply chuckled and waved a hand. "Oh my, you can put those away. You're in luck, Rose. Even better than just werewolves. Wizards."
The girl, Rose, eyed the brandished wands warily. "I think the wizards want to hex us."
"Well now, there's no reason for that," the man said. He held up his hands. "See, I'm unarmed. Not even a wizard. You can really put those down now. I dare say your wrists are getting cramped."
Remus hesitated, then slowly lowered his wand, and Tonks followed not long after. "Who are you?" she demanded.
"I'm the Doctor and this is Rose Tyler. And you - " His eyes flicked over the three of them, then settled on Remus. "You are the wolf I thought I'd find. But you're rather harmless, aren't you?"
Remus actually looked rather annoyed at that assessment. "That depends on you."
Giles, who had been watching the entire affair with mostly detached curiosity, finally stepped forward. "Let's all calm down a bit, shall we? It seems as if we all have something in common, after all. I think that what Mr. Lupin would like to know is - "
"You're not a wizard," the Doctor said curiously, looking Giles over.
"Well, no, I'm not. Just a, ah, practitioner - "
"You don't strike me as occult either."
Giles bristled. "I'm a Watcher."
The Doctors eyes widened. "Well this is a treat! A Watcher? But not... oh, boy, the Watcher? How about - " Suddenly his face wrinkled a little as if thinking very hard. "Wait, what year - what month is it, Rose? And the day?" Rose flipped open her phone and told him and then the Doctor looked apologetically at Giles. "Oh, my condolenses. Don't worry, it all works out in the end."
Giles just stared at him, mouth agape.
"Who are you?" Tonks repeated, fingers twitching as if she really wanted to go for her wand again.
The Doctor sighed. "I'm not hunting werewolves if that's your concern. I'm merely a, ah, hobbyist."
"A hobbyist," Remus repeated.
The Doctor nodded. "Well, I can tell you, for example, that you are not the only werewolf on these grounds right now."
"What?" Remus looked startled. "What do you mean?"
"Showed up shortly after I did, so I dare say he's following you."
Tonks went slightly white. "I thought we lost him back in Bulgaria."
"We did," Remus insisted.
"What?" Giles blurted, almost grateful for the distraction from this stranger who somehow knew about Buffy. "Who?"
"Fenrir," Remus said, his voice low. "He was following us, along with a couple of Death Eater flunkies. As you can imagine, they'd be equally interested in anything we find..."
"But we lost them!" Tonks insisted. "I was so sure of it!"
"Apparently not good enough, love," Remus said, shaking his head. "Okay... Doctor, what else can you tell us?"
"Sorry, that's it," he said. "I just did a quick scan for wolves before heading over here to say hello. Barely had time to enjoy the scenery." He ran a finger through the dust on a nearby wall and clucked his tongue. "Just look what they've done to the place, Rose."
"But I thought you said that this place ended up being the headquarters for some government institute," she said, frowning.
"It was," said the Doctor. "But remember, we were here a hundred years ago. The Torchwood Institute was here for a long time, and then outgrew this place and moved on. And now it's just an old house with wolves in the walls."
Giles' ears perked up at that. "That. Where did you hear that? What's special about the walls here?"
Rose's eyes lit up a little, as if she were very pleased that she actually knew the answer to a question. "Oh, it's very clever, actually! You see, the walls are made with - "
She was suddenly interrupted by a very loud noise. Rather like someone tripping over a coat rack and then swearing loudly.
"Voldemort never does like to spare his cleverest Death Eaters as Fenrir's body guards," Tonks commented dryly.
"Come on," the Doctor said, starting off down the hallway. "I know of at least one room that's fairly secure. Put a few spells on it and we should be able to wait him out."
"Good," Remus agreed, looking back and forth between them. "Good."
They made their way into the library, where the Doctor and Remus went about barring the doors. Giles held back, his eyes sweeping over the rows of books, all covered in a thin layer of dust. At some point he marveled at Tonks and Rose chatting away in a corner, apparently having immediately set up a repore, as women tend to do.
Once the room seemed to be secure, Remus said, "All right, then. Well, everyone stay put, and I'll - "
"What do you mean, you'll?" Tonks interrupted. "I'm coming too!"
"Wait! Why are either of you going anywhere?" Giles blurted. "I thought we were safe in here!"
"Well you didn't think we were just going to let Fenrir go when we have an opportunity to capture him!" Then Remus looked back to his wife. "If you insist."
She rolled her eyes. "We'll talk about this later."
"We're not staying in here either," the Doctor said matter-of-factly. He looked at Rose and added, "See, I don't even bother to pretend you're not going to just follow me when it's dangerous."
"Thank you," she said, and Tonks looked impressed.
"What, so I'm the only one who has to stay behind? I'm not some invalid, you know." Giles bristled. "I've had plenty of danger in my day."
"Fine," said Remus. "We'll all go. At least Fenrir will think that we're in here so we should be able to get a jump on him. Let's leave through the window."
A few minutes later, Remus and Tonks were out on the lawn outside and the Doctor was boosting Rose up through the window. He was just about to go through himself when suddenly there was a bang on the far door.
The Doctor froze, looking back at Giles, who put his finger over his lips.
And then there was a muffled yell outside the door, and Giles felt a blanket of magic settle over the room. He stumbled backwards.
As did the Doctor. In fact, he stumbled back into Giles, and they both tumbled down onto the floor, a tangle of limbs.
"Oh my," said Giles, trying to sit up a little, pushing his glasses up onto the bridge of his nose.
"Doctor!" called Rose through the window. "Are you all - " But she was interrupted by the sudden sounds of an obvious battle on the lawn. Fenrir must have discovered the rest of them outside.
"We have to..." the Doctor began, looking at Giles, but made no move to actually disentangle himself. In fact, he didn't seem inclined to do anything at all.
"Oh my," Giles repeated. "I do believe we've... a spell." He licked his lips.
The Doctor's mouth opened a little.
"Not terribly... inventive," Giles continued, his mouth going dry. "And given the skill level of the caster, probably not very long-lasting, but probably... effective..."
"What sort of spell?" the Doctor asked, leaning closer to Giles.
"A, ah, well, a lust spell, I suppose. Meant as a distraction. To split us up. Or rather, split us from the others, not split us - "
"Oh," said the Doctor. "Must be strong stuff."
"It is."
"Explains why I'm not interested in going to help Rose."
"Exactly."
"Do you feel like if you don't touch me soon your entire body is going to burst into flames?"
"Something like that, yes."
Outside, the yelling continued, accompanied by the zings and whizzes of spells. And inside, Giles and the Doctor were on top of a pile of books, snogging like their lives depended on it.
*
Remus was the first one back through the window. This was probably more fortunate than he even realized. "Why don't you girls come 'round the front door?" he squeaked. "No need to come this way again."
Which gave him approximately a minute to deal with the trail of strewn clothes and what they led to. Luckily, Remus (having been a professor and around adolescents a great deal) was quite well versed in spells that sober up that sort of lust, and by the time Rose and Tonks arrived, Giles and the Doctor were fully clothed, albeit both blushing a rather alarming shade of pink.
"What was happening in here?" Rose demanded, hands on her hips. "There was a battle out there and you missed it!"
"Well, ah - "
"One of the Death Eaters threw a confounding charm in here," Remus interrupted.
Having no idea what that meant, Rose simply accepted it as explanation. "Well you missed a bloody great show," she offered. "These two are amazing."
Tonks grinned. "We did give them a run for their money."
Remus scowled. "That was a dirty trick, with the Portkey. We would have had them - "
"At least they'll probably know better than to follow us from now on. They won't get away so easily next time."
Remus looked at Giles. "You all right, Rupert? You're looking a little flushed."
He cleared his throat. "Oh, just, ah..."
Suddenly, Rose blurted, "Hey, wait! I just realized... so I guess the mistletoe doesn't have an effect on your sort of werewolf?"
Remus blinked. Then he looked over at the carving on the wall. "Mistletoe." He sighed. "So that's what's in the walls. How anti-climactic."
Tonks gave him an apologetic look and then explained to Rose, "It's already an ingredient in Wolfsbane. Not nearly potent enough on its own to do much at all, though."
The Doctor nodded. "Our werewolf was of a very different breed, Rose. And with that fairly ascertained, we'd best be on our way. Though... Mr. Giles? A word?"
Rose led the way to the TARDIS, chatting away with Remus and Tonks about wizards, and the Doctor and Giles lagged behind, speaking in soft voices.
"I'm incredibly embarrassed," Giles admitted.
"There's no need to be. These sorts of things happen. Well. Not often. But I've been around a long time, and they do happen." The Doctor paused, then offered, "And besides... I think I saw you smile. Once or twice. You needed a few moments to forget about her."
Giles hesitated. "How do you know about Buffy anyway? What are you?"
"I am something beyond your realm of expertise," the Doctor admitted. "And I'd rather not shake up that world of yours anymore. Suffice it to say that I don't think you'll be seeing me again... but I'm glad to have met you."
"Likewise." Giles shook the Doctor's hand, just as they stepped up to the police box. Curiouser and curiouser.
"Oh, and Mr. Giles?" the Doctor added, as he stepped in just behind Rose. "You might not want to get too comfortable just yet. Maybe wait a few days to start unpacking."
Whoosh whoosh whoosh.
"See," said Remus. "Whoosh."
"Well," said Tonks, "I suppose this trip was a bit of a wash. Remus and I will be heading back to report to the Order. Sorry to have dragged you along on a wild goose chase."
Giles looked over at the empty space that the police box had just occupied. "Oh," he said, "I think I got something out of it."
As they parted, Remus and Tonks promised that they would look him up the next summer, assuming that things had calmed down a little by then.
"Next summer," Giles promised, and wished them safe travels.
*
"So." Giles hit the punching bag lightly. Awkwardly. He'd taken the Doctor's advice. He hadn't unpacked. And now he was back in Sunnydale.
Trying not to think too hard about how strange it was to have Buffy here. In the flesh. Back from the dead.
"I can start," said Buffy. "How was England?" She sat down, looked up at him expectantly. "How was... life?"
"Uh, I'm not really sure how to answer that. Well, I arrived home. I met with the Council."
"Always a good time," Buffy commented dryly.
"Yes. Otherwise, there's, uh, nothing really to report. I, um, I keep a flat in Bath." Of course, all Giles could think about was that damn library in Scotland. He was babbling.
He hesitated. "I met with a few old friends. Almost made a new one, which I think is ... statistically impossible for a man of my age." There. Nothing about werewolves, or libraries, or men in brown suits with long fingers and warm skin…
He took off his jacket and laid it on the couch, thinking of the last time he'd worn it.
"And now you're back."
He looked at her. Wondered how on earth the Doctor had known this was going to happen. "Yes."
Outside his realm of expertise, perhaps. But somehow, he thought that there might be more to Torchwood than what was in the walls. Perhaps one day he'd do some research. Try to figure it out.
He looked up at Buffy.
One day. When things were a little less complicated.