Harry Potter and the Vampire Slayer - Chapter 3

Mar 27, 2006 22:55

Title: Harry Potter and The Vampire Slayer
Part III: The Leaky Cauldron
Rating: FRT (for minor language)
Summary: Dark forces are afoot. (Gee, that never happens!) Giles receives an unusual request and has to leave Sunnydale. This request has to do with the protection of a certain young boy with a lightning scar on his forehead. A BtVS/Harry Potter crossover story.
Disclaimer: I own nothing. Not even my car. BtVS belongs to Joss (all hail), Mutant Enemy (grrr argh), Fox, UPN, WB…. whoever. Basically, it belongs to someone who is not me, no matter how much I whine and beg.
Disclaimer 2: I so don’t own any of the Harry Potter stuff. If I did I’d be J.K. Rowling and well on my way to being the first billionaire writer ever. I lay no claims on any of the characters.
Spoilers: This takes place before Season 4 of Buffy, and after Goblet of Fire

Notes: [ ] means thoughts. Oh, and for the sake of argument and my sanity in writing this… Faith did not go bad, just to L.A. (granted, some would argue that it’s the same thing)



Normally, Buffy would’ve been all about the shopping. However, the shopping list she held in her hand was daunting, and just downright confusing.

They’d all flown to England a few days before. Giles had said that he wanted to give them time to get over jet lag and do some sight seeing before heading off to school.

Buffy was getting edgy about the thought of heading off to Hogwarts, especially since she’d found out that Giles wasn’t going on the train with them.

“Where the hell am I supposed to find this stuff?” she asked Giles. “I mean, come on, ok the cloaks. I suppose I could find them. But a wand and cauldrons?” Giles looked up from his writing. If possible, they’d been doing even more research than usual to help Giles prepare for his class.

Giles smiled and rose from his seat. Walking over, he stood behind her, looking over her shoulder at the list.

“Buffy, I swear, I know where to find everything.” he promised. Gently, he put his hands on her shoulders. “It’ll be ok, Buffy.” he said softly.

For a moment, and since he couldn’t see her face, Buffy closed her eyes and enjoyed the weight of his hands. She filed the sensation away to be used later in one of the highly inappropriate fantasies she’d been having about Giles lately.

“I’m just….”

“Scared?” Giles finished. Buffy shrugged. Giles turned her around by her shoulders until she was facing him. “It’s ok to be scared.” he told her softly. Giles lifted her chin so that Buffy was looking up at him. “You’re going to a strange place in a foreign country. I’d be worried if you weren’t scared.” Giles told her with a smile.

“What if they don’t like us?” she asked petulantly. Voicing it made her concern seem so silly, but there it was. Giles chuckled and cupped her face between his hands.

“You’ll make friends. Just like you found Willow and Xander, you’ll find people here.” With that, he placed a gentle kiss on her forehead.

“Now,” he said, placing her away from him. “go find Willow and the others, and we’ll take care of that pesky shopping problem.”

Stunned, Buffy nodded and left the room to find the others. In the hall, she stopped and placed her fingertips on her forehead where Giles had kissed it. Kissed it. [Wow. Well, this will feed the fantasies for awhile.] she thought.

Shortly before graduation, Buffy had found herself viewing Giles differently. Somewhere down the line, he’d stopped being just her Watcher and become more. Maybe it’d been at the prom, when he’d looked so yummy in his tux. To this day, Buffy wondered if he’d been about to ask her to dance when Angel arrived. Maybe it’d been the day that Wesley had shown up, and she’d sat next to Giles on the library table in silent unity against him.

Buffy wasn’t entirely sure when it had happened. She’d been caught up in all the drama that was Angel. But when she’d realized that she wasn’t all that sad about Angel leaving, Buffy had taken a rare introspective moment to discover why.

Giles.

Giles had helped her through those rough days. Buffy smiled at the memory. Those first days of the summer, he’d piled so much training on her, she’d barely had enough energy to drag herself into bed after patrol, let alone mope about Angel. She’d eventually figured this out, but found it hard to be mad at him. Willow listened and held her hand when Buffy had cried, Xander had ranted that “Dead boy” wasn’t good enough for her anyway, and Giles… Giles had been trying to help as best he could, the only way he knew how.

And so now, now Buffy found herself not only over Angel, but with a major crush on her Watcher.

[Oy! Let’s just make life just that much more complicated.] she thought, heading back to the room she and Willow were sharing.

“Willow, Giles said we’re going shopping!” Buffy called loudly before she started to open the door. She counted to three and pushed it open. As she expected, she found Willow and Oz looking rather ruffled.

“Giles said he knows where we can get all the wacky stuff on our list.” she told them, pretending she didn’t notice them straightening their clothing.

“Really?” Willow asked excitedly. “I can’t wait to get started.” She grabbed Buffy by the hands. “Buffy this is going to be a great year.” Willow assured. Buffy managed a small smile. Oz nodded and left the room. “He’s going to get Xander, and then we’ll go.”

Buffy began to randomly stuff things in her suitcase.

“He kissed me Will.” Willow was so caught up in her running commentary that it took her a moment to process what Buffy said.

“Wait?” What?” she asked, coming to a halt.

As embarrassing as it had been, Buffy had told Willow about her crush on Giles. She’d had to. Buffy had needed someone to share this with, and Xander had definitely been out. Much to Buffy’s amazement, instead of greeting her declaration with disgust, Willow had squealed with excitement and stated that Giles would be much better for her than Angel. And so, with Willow as her champion, Buffy had suffered through the pangs of the crush.

“He kissed you?” Willow asked slowly. “Giles… kissed… you?” Buffy nodded and laid a hand on her forehead.

“We were talking,” Buffy told her, slightly dazed. “and I admitted I was kinda nervous, and he kissed me on the forehead.” Willow gasped in delight.

“Oh my gosh, Buffy. That’s wonderful.” Buffy nodded. Taking a deep breath, she shook herself out of her daze.

“We need to get going. We’re supposed to meet him to go shopping.” Willow grabbed her arm.

“Buffy, guys don’t go around kissing girls on the forehead unless they’re interested, Watcher or not.” Buffy shrugged as they left the room. She was saved from replying by Oz and Xander’s appearance in the hallway.

The group knocked loudly on Giles’ door, which was opened almost immediately. Giles came out as he pulled on his jacket.

“Right. Let’s go.”

Giles stood staring at the Leaky Cauldron. It had been many years since he’d been to the pub. It seemed like a lifetime ago.

“So, big guy, where is this mysterious Diagon Alley?” Xander asked, looking up and down the street. Giles sighed.

“We have to go through the pub.” he said, gesturing. Buffy, Willow and Oz followed his movement and gave a start of surprise. They would’ve sworn it hadn’t been there a moment ago. Xander continued to look around blankly.

“Pub? What pub?” he asked. Giles sighed and grabbed Xander’s head and held it still, facing the pub.

“First magic lesson.” Giles told them. “Look.”

“Great googly-moogly!” Xander shouted. His whole body jumped in shock as the Leaky Cauldron practically appeared before his eyes. “Where the hell did that come from?” Giles tried to hide a smile.

“It’s been there.” he said, sliding a glance at Buffy, who was also trying not to laugh. “You just had to look at it right.” As Xander seemed unable to assimilate what he was seeing, Buffy and Oz each grabbed an arm and guided him across the street.

“That wasn’t there before.” he insisted to Buffy. Buffy patted him on the arm consolingly.

“I know, Xander. It’s ok.” she assured him. Xander turned to Oz.

“It wasn’t.” he maintained.

“It’s cool, man.” Oz said, as inscrutable as ever.

Giles led the gang through the door into the dark pub. Buffy took a quick look around and noticed how tiny and shabby looking it was. Her spider sense tingled as she noticed the creatures sitting at the table.

“Giles.” she murmured, sidling up to him. Giles put an hand on her arm.

“It’s ok.” he murmured back.

“Rupert Giles?” Behind the bar, the bartender put down the glass he’d been wiping. He slowly moved toward Giles. “Rupert?” Giles smiled.

“Tom!” he greeted, grasping the wizened man’s hand. “It’s been a long time.” Tom pumped Giles’ hand.

“What brings you to the Leaky Cauldron?” Tom asked, moving back to the bar. He began to pull a pint of Guinness for Giles. Giles settled himself on a stool at the bar. Buffy and Willow glanced at each other and then followed suit.

[Really] Buffy thought. [What other choice do we have?]

Giles was chatting with great enthusiasm to Tom, telling him all about his teaching position at Hogwarts. Tom placed drinks in front of the gang as Giles introduced him to them. Tom looked at Buffy in awe.

“Vampire slayer? That tiny thing?” he said, clearly impressed. “You’ve done quite a job, Rupert.” Buffy sipped hesitantly at her drink. It had been smoking slightly when it had been set in front of her. She was pleasantly surprised to find it tasted of butterscotch and warmed her insides as she drank it. She smile wryly at Tom.

“Yeah, it was all him.” she teased, sipping at her drink and nudging Giles with her elbow. She and Xander grinned at each other. The gang sat and sipped their drinks, listening to Tom and Giles chat.

Buffy couldn’t help but wonder at the change in Giles. He seemed so different here. So unlike the librarian she knew and loved. And well, loved. He seemed so much more in his element. Buffy shifted uncomfortably. There was so much she didn’t know about her Watcher. So much she wanted to know, but didn’t know how to ask.

Giles noticed her restless movement. Casually, he reached out and rubbed her shoulder. It was a reassuring gesture, and calmed her for the time being.

“Well, Tom” he said, setting his glass down. “We must be off.” Giles smiled at Buffy. “A bored Slayer is a cranky Slayer.”

“You got that right.” Buffy agreed, hopping off her stool. Giles said good-bye to Tom and led the Scoobies through the back of the bar and to a small courtyard. All they could see was a brick wall and some trashcans.

“Well, isn’t this nice.” Buffy said sarcastically. “Is this where we’ll find all our stuff?” Giles gave Buffy is patented “I’m-not-amused” glare and walked to the back wall.

The gang watched in fascination as Giles pulled a stick out of his coat pocket. Willow gasped as she recognized it.

“That’s a wand!” she exclaimed. Giles smiled and counted the bricks, finally tapping on the wall three times. Spreading out his arms, he pulled the gang away from the wall.

“Better stand back.”

hpatvs, fic

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