Aug. 19 - Laying Down the Law
Title: Laying Down the Law
Author: 3am_moonlight
Crossover: BtVS / Harry Potter (J.K.R.)
Rating: Gen / Teen
Word Count: 2,082
Timeline: BtVS: Post-the Gift & HP: Prisoner of Azkaban
Disclaimer: The Buffyverse belongs to Joss Whedon and HP belongs to J.K.R.
Summary: Sirius and Buffy have a long overdue talk with the Dursley's.
Author's Note: Written for Day 19 of the 2019 August Fic-A-Day.
A/N: Follows ' Narrow Escape', ' Hiding Places', ' Fly Away With Me', ' Talking', ' Spilled Secrets', ' Charades', and ' Fun at the Beach'.
Arriving outside Number Four, Sirius once again gave the door two authoritative knocks and then waited for someone to open it. This time the footsteps coming toward them were much heavier and the door was opened by an extremely obese man with a walrus mustache and small, pig-like eyes.
"Yes?" His eyes narrowed and he inhaled deeply, clearly gearing up to start yelling at them as soon as he saw the obviously magical outfits, but Sirius managed to beat him to it.
"Good evening, Mr. Dursley." Sirius greeted politely. "We're here to return your nephew. May we come in? There are a few things we need to discuss and I don't believe you'd want your neighbors to listen in on our conversation."
The large man opened and closed his mouth a few times but quickly considered his options and barked at them to get in. The elder wizard went first and headed straight for the living room where Petunia was sitting with her son. Harry followed right after and Buffy brought up the rear.
Once everyone had gotten comfortable Sirius began speaking. "As I told your wife this morning, my name is Sirius Black, and I am Harry's magically sworn godfather." He looked carefully at the other man for a reaction and noted him flinching both when he said 'magic' and when he said 'godfather'.
"If you're his godfather, then why didn't you take the boy when his parents got themselves killed?"
Giving a cold, ghost of a smile Sirius answered, "I was arrested for their murder three days after they were killed. I was incarcerated in Azkaban, the wizarding prison, until about a year ago when I escaped." His lips turned slightly upward, "As I understand it my mugshot was shown on muggle national television for several weeks after my escape."
All three of the Dursley's looked gratifyingly horrified at that announcement. It was all true, he just left out the part where he had been arrested and thrown into the prison without a trial. If there had been one, he would've been found innocent in no time.
"I should warn you, however, if you should become tempted to contact the muggle law enforcement. If you do, then I will not hesitate to inform them of your treatment of Harry. The physical abuse, the mental and verbal abuse, the long periods of starvation while locked in a small boot cupboard, and, of course, the money you have received for young Harry's upkeep but never used on him."
Petunia's expression had slid straight from horrified to terrified as he listed the more serious crimes they had committed against a small child in their care. Her husband was becoming increasingly purple in the face and clearly getting ready to tell him exactly what he thought of Sirius' threats.
"I don't know how much Lily or James ever told you about the Potter family, but they are quite wealthy and Harry is the only heir. I also know for a fact that you are given a large amount of money every month for Harry's upkeep. Yet when we arrived here this morning, he was wearing much too large hand-me-downs. Given the size of the clothing and the size of your son, it's quite obvious where they came from.
"You, your husband, and your son are all wearing clothing which is clearly rather new and of good quality, so why isn't my godson wearing the same kind of clothing? Why wasn't he given breakfast?"
Sirius narrowed his eyes dangerously and first stared Petunia right in the eyes and then Vernon. "Why is Harry malnourished and his growth stunted? Why does he have bruises on his back the same size as a man's boot?"
Petunia's eyes were large and darted anywhere but at Sirius and Buffy. Buffy, while a small and harmless looking young woman, was able to give off an aura of menace and danger befitting her apex predator status.
The financial part of this was something Sirius and Gringotts had worked out. At first, Kreacher had gone back and forth as a middleman or middle-elf, but it hadn't taken long for the Gringotts' goblins to demand he make a personal appearance at the bank. Having nothing better to do with her time, she had tagged along.
The goblins, like the Kreacher, had looked terrified, but to be fair to the goblins' they had masked their fear much better and treated her with the utmost respect and honor as she hadn't shown them any hostility. Her presence had ensured their business was done quickly and efficiently. Unsurprisingly, Sirius had insisted she come along to all of the meetings from that point.
"We will be taking Harry to a Healer tomorrow to ascertain what kind of damage you have done to him and if it is possible to restore him to full health, or if the damage you've done to him is permanent. You will fit the bill, no questions asked as it is your fault."
The look he gave them promised pain and suffering if they didn't comply. "You will also pay him back all the money you have stolen from him since you began receiving benefits for him back in November 1981. In addition, you will also pay back the money you have received in child's benefits from the muggle government for the same reason."
It escalated straight into a screaming match from there, but rather than get involved Buffy decided to observe the two teenage boys instead. Harry was sitting quietly beside her on the couch paying rapt attention to the adults, while Dudley was in a chair more or less directly in front of the TV. He had turned it around when the conversation became more interesting to him, but despite looking like he wanted to say something he kept glancing toward the visible handle of Sirius' wand. It was kept in a holster on his forearm and he had very deliberately hiked up the hems just enough for the piece of wood to be visible.
Buffy had used another one of the Black family wands to hold up part of her hair, so the boy hadn't noticed it. His mother had seen it though but wisely hadn't commented before they had all sat down. The wand didn't exactly work for her, but it wasn't entirely useless either. They were still experimenting.
The yelling stopped abruptly and Buffy looked away from the boys and toward the three 30-something people on her other side. She rewound the last part of their conversation and realized Sirius had just elaborated on his threat of taking their crimes to the police.
It wasn't surprising that they were protesting, as from what she'd gotten from the meetings at Gringgotts the monthly sum they had received from his Trust Vault equaled 1,000 pounds or about 1,300 USD from he was left there and until he turned five. When he began school it was raised to 2,000 pounds. It had been raised again twice after that, the last time was when he turned eleven and should've prepared to go to Hogwarts.
Math wasn't her thing, but she was pretty certain they owed the child several hundred thousand pounds at this point. Even if they had put half of it in a savings account they would be spending years paying back the amount they had already used. Plus whatever they had gotten from the government, plus the hospital bills, and quite a few other things she knew Sirius would be forcing them to pay for.
Somehow, she was certain that Dudley Dursley's pampered lifestyle would get a very abrupt end today. If his parents didn't do as they were told, then they would have to face the consequences.
"I have for obvious reasons stopped all payments from Harry's Trust Vault and to your bank account, as it is painfully obvious they have not been used on the correct recipient. From now on you will be paying all of his expenses; food, clothing, hygiene products, school material, and so on. You will use the same amount of money on Harry as you do on your son. You will also procure proper furniture for his bedroom and a full set of muggle clothing for the next school year. I will be supplying pocket money."
"You will provide a step-by-step account of what you have been spending Harry's money on. I expect to have it in two weeks' time. Once I get it and have reviewed it, we will be talking about how you're going to repay your debt." That part had been Buffy's idea, as Sirius hadn't known how meticulous these things could be in the normal world. Apparently, most people in the magical world blindly trusted the goblins to do their accounting for them and didn't double-check.
The 'meeting', if you could call it that, went on for another hour and a half before they left. Sirius, with the occasional input from Buffy, lay down the new law regarding how they could and couldn't treat their nephew.
Albus Dumbledore had placed Harry in this household, but either he had never been back to check on him or this is how the old man wanted the child hero to be treated. Neither option spoke well of the wizard.
They departed with a warning of what would happen if any of them abused Harry in any way. With Buffy adding a special warning to the youngest Dursley, "Dudley, this applies to you, too. If you bully Harry, hit him, beat him, or allow anyone else to do it. Then I will be the one choosing your punishment and overseeing that it gets done. Do you understand?"
She allowed some of her Slayer aura to bleed through, not enough to completely terrify him but enough for him to understand she was serious and that the consequences would be unpleasant. The two elder Dursley's shivered as the power flowed around them and Sirius got goosebumps.
He agreed, more out of fear than actual agreement but she'd take it. If he behaved then nothing bad would happen to him. It was that simple.
***
Buffy went straight to change when they returned to the Black Summer Home. Reemerging in sweatpants and a tank top she simply told the man she needed to burn off some excess energy. She walked out of the door, but as soon as it was closed she began what was to her an easy jog but a sprint to anyone else. As soon as she had warmed up her muscles she sped up and went for a very long and very fast run.
The better option would've been to go on a patrol and fight vampires until she felt better, but they were pretty much in the middle of nowhere and nothing popped on her Slaydar so that left her with running. She wasn't at the point yet where she would be willing to ask her host to Apparate her to a cemetery somewhere, but it was only a matter of time.
It was times like these when she could practically hear Faith's voice in her head talking about fighting and sex, and how it was all five by five. With no vampires and with Sirius as the only male company, there just weren't any viable options. Not that Faith would've had her reservation about the wizard, but they had very different outlooks.
The time running was spent thinking and just going over everything. The Gringotts situation wasn't entirely solved yet but it would be soon, Sirius needed a trial so they could get Harry away from his relatives for good without getting the magical government after them. She needed to figure out if her stay in the past was temporary, if there was something she needed to do so she could get back, or if she had to take the scenic route home. If it was the latter then she needed a fake identity and a job, if she was going home soon she could just stay with Sirius who had told her she could live with him as long as she wanted.
When she returned to the property several hours later she was sweaty, comfortably exhausted, but feeling much better about herself. As she cooled down she stretched her sore muscles to ensure nothing would cramp or display any displeasure with her later. She also did a few Tai Chi katas before she went inside to shower and crawl into bed.
Author: 3am_moonlight
Crossover: BtVS / Harry Potter (J.K.R.)
Rating: Gen / Teen
Word Count: 2,082
Timeline: BtVS: Post-the Gift & HP: Prisoner of Azkaban
Disclaimer: The Buffyverse belongs to Joss Whedon and HP belongs to J.K.R.
Summary: Sirius and Buffy have a long overdue talk with the Dursley's.
Author's Note: Written for Day 19 of the 2019 August Fic-A-Day.
A/N: Follows ' Narrow Escape', ' Hiding Places', ' Fly Away With Me', ' Talking', ' Spilled Secrets', ' Charades', and ' Fun at the Beach'.
Arriving outside Number Four, Sirius once again gave the door two authoritative knocks and then waited for someone to open it. This time the footsteps coming toward them were much heavier and the door was opened by an extremely obese man with a walrus mustache and small, pig-like eyes.
"Yes?" His eyes narrowed and he inhaled deeply, clearly gearing up to start yelling at them as soon as he saw the obviously magical outfits, but Sirius managed to beat him to it.
"Good evening, Mr. Dursley." Sirius greeted politely. "We're here to return your nephew. May we come in? There are a few things we need to discuss and I don't believe you'd want your neighbors to listen in on our conversation."
The large man opened and closed his mouth a few times but quickly considered his options and barked at them to get in. The elder wizard went first and headed straight for the living room where Petunia was sitting with her son. Harry followed right after and Buffy brought up the rear.
Once everyone had gotten comfortable Sirius began speaking. "As I told your wife this morning, my name is Sirius Black, and I am Harry's magically sworn godfather." He looked carefully at the other man for a reaction and noted him flinching both when he said 'magic' and when he said 'godfather'.
"If you're his godfather, then why didn't you take the boy when his parents got themselves killed?"
Giving a cold, ghost of a smile Sirius answered, "I was arrested for their murder three days after they were killed. I was incarcerated in Azkaban, the wizarding prison, until about a year ago when I escaped." His lips turned slightly upward, "As I understand it my mugshot was shown on muggle national television for several weeks after my escape."
All three of the Dursley's looked gratifyingly horrified at that announcement. It was all true, he just left out the part where he had been arrested and thrown into the prison without a trial. If there had been one, he would've been found innocent in no time.
"I should warn you, however, if you should become tempted to contact the muggle law enforcement. If you do, then I will not hesitate to inform them of your treatment of Harry. The physical abuse, the mental and verbal abuse, the long periods of starvation while locked in a small boot cupboard, and, of course, the money you have received for young Harry's upkeep but never used on him."
Petunia's expression had slid straight from horrified to terrified as he listed the more serious crimes they had committed against a small child in their care. Her husband was becoming increasingly purple in the face and clearly getting ready to tell him exactly what he thought of Sirius' threats.
"I don't know how much Lily or James ever told you about the Potter family, but they are quite wealthy and Harry is the only heir. I also know for a fact that you are given a large amount of money every month for Harry's upkeep. Yet when we arrived here this morning, he was wearing much too large hand-me-downs. Given the size of the clothing and the size of your son, it's quite obvious where they came from.
"You, your husband, and your son are all wearing clothing which is clearly rather new and of good quality, so why isn't my godson wearing the same kind of clothing? Why wasn't he given breakfast?"
Sirius narrowed his eyes dangerously and first stared Petunia right in the eyes and then Vernon. "Why is Harry malnourished and his growth stunted? Why does he have bruises on his back the same size as a man's boot?"
Petunia's eyes were large and darted anywhere but at Sirius and Buffy. Buffy, while a small and harmless looking young woman, was able to give off an aura of menace and danger befitting her apex predator status.
The financial part of this was something Sirius and Gringotts had worked out. At first, Kreacher had gone back and forth as a middleman or middle-elf, but it hadn't taken long for the Gringotts' goblins to demand he make a personal appearance at the bank. Having nothing better to do with her time, she had tagged along.
The goblins, like the Kreacher, had looked terrified, but to be fair to the goblins' they had masked their fear much better and treated her with the utmost respect and honor as she hadn't shown them any hostility. Her presence had ensured their business was done quickly and efficiently. Unsurprisingly, Sirius had insisted she come along to all of the meetings from that point.
"We will be taking Harry to a Healer tomorrow to ascertain what kind of damage you have done to him and if it is possible to restore him to full health, or if the damage you've done to him is permanent. You will fit the bill, no questions asked as it is your fault."
The look he gave them promised pain and suffering if they didn't comply. "You will also pay him back all the money you have stolen from him since you began receiving benefits for him back in November 1981. In addition, you will also pay back the money you have received in child's benefits from the muggle government for the same reason."
It escalated straight into a screaming match from there, but rather than get involved Buffy decided to observe the two teenage boys instead. Harry was sitting quietly beside her on the couch paying rapt attention to the adults, while Dudley was in a chair more or less directly in front of the TV. He had turned it around when the conversation became more interesting to him, but despite looking like he wanted to say something he kept glancing toward the visible handle of Sirius' wand. It was kept in a holster on his forearm and he had very deliberately hiked up the hems just enough for the piece of wood to be visible.
Buffy had used another one of the Black family wands to hold up part of her hair, so the boy hadn't noticed it. His mother had seen it though but wisely hadn't commented before they had all sat down. The wand didn't exactly work for her, but it wasn't entirely useless either. They were still experimenting.
The yelling stopped abruptly and Buffy looked away from the boys and toward the three 30-something people on her other side. She rewound the last part of their conversation and realized Sirius had just elaborated on his threat of taking their crimes to the police.
It wasn't surprising that they were protesting, as from what she'd gotten from the meetings at Gringgotts the monthly sum they had received from his Trust Vault equaled 1,000 pounds or about 1,300 USD from he was left there and until he turned five. When he began school it was raised to 2,000 pounds. It had been raised again twice after that, the last time was when he turned eleven and should've prepared to go to Hogwarts.
Math wasn't her thing, but she was pretty certain they owed the child several hundred thousand pounds at this point. Even if they had put half of it in a savings account they would be spending years paying back the amount they had already used. Plus whatever they had gotten from the government, plus the hospital bills, and quite a few other things she knew Sirius would be forcing them to pay for.
Somehow, she was certain that Dudley Dursley's pampered lifestyle would get a very abrupt end today. If his parents didn't do as they were told, then they would have to face the consequences.
"I have for obvious reasons stopped all payments from Harry's Trust Vault and to your bank account, as it is painfully obvious they have not been used on the correct recipient. From now on you will be paying all of his expenses; food, clothing, hygiene products, school material, and so on. You will use the same amount of money on Harry as you do on your son. You will also procure proper furniture for his bedroom and a full set of muggle clothing for the next school year. I will be supplying pocket money."
"You will provide a step-by-step account of what you have been spending Harry's money on. I expect to have it in two weeks' time. Once I get it and have reviewed it, we will be talking about how you're going to repay your debt." That part had been Buffy's idea, as Sirius hadn't known how meticulous these things could be in the normal world. Apparently, most people in the magical world blindly trusted the goblins to do their accounting for them and didn't double-check.
The 'meeting', if you could call it that, went on for another hour and a half before they left. Sirius, with the occasional input from Buffy, lay down the new law regarding how they could and couldn't treat their nephew.
Albus Dumbledore had placed Harry in this household, but either he had never been back to check on him or this is how the old man wanted the child hero to be treated. Neither option spoke well of the wizard.
They departed with a warning of what would happen if any of them abused Harry in any way. With Buffy adding a special warning to the youngest Dursley, "Dudley, this applies to you, too. If you bully Harry, hit him, beat him, or allow anyone else to do it. Then I will be the one choosing your punishment and overseeing that it gets done. Do you understand?"
She allowed some of her Slayer aura to bleed through, not enough to completely terrify him but enough for him to understand she was serious and that the consequences would be unpleasant. The two elder Dursley's shivered as the power flowed around them and Sirius got goosebumps.
He agreed, more out of fear than actual agreement but she'd take it. If he behaved then nothing bad would happen to him. It was that simple.
***
Buffy went straight to change when they returned to the Black Summer Home. Reemerging in sweatpants and a tank top she simply told the man she needed to burn off some excess energy. She walked out of the door, but as soon as it was closed she began what was to her an easy jog but a sprint to anyone else. As soon as she had warmed up her muscles she sped up and went for a very long and very fast run.
The better option would've been to go on a patrol and fight vampires until she felt better, but they were pretty much in the middle of nowhere and nothing popped on her Slaydar so that left her with running. She wasn't at the point yet where she would be willing to ask her host to Apparate her to a cemetery somewhere, but it was only a matter of time.
It was times like these when she could practically hear Faith's voice in her head talking about fighting and sex, and how it was all five by five. With no vampires and with Sirius as the only male company, there just weren't any viable options. Not that Faith would've had her reservation about the wizard, but they had very different outlooks.
The time running was spent thinking and just going over everything. The Gringotts situation wasn't entirely solved yet but it would be soon, Sirius needed a trial so they could get Harry away from his relatives for good without getting the magical government after them. She needed to figure out if her stay in the past was temporary, if there was something she needed to do so she could get back, or if she had to take the scenic route home. If it was the latter then she needed a fake identity and a job, if she was going home soon she could just stay with Sirius who had told her she could live with him as long as she wanted.
When she returned to the property several hours later she was sweaty, comfortably exhausted, but feeling much better about herself. As she cooled down she stretched her sore muscles to ensure nothing would cramp or display any displeasure with her later. She also did a few Tai Chi katas before she went inside to shower and crawl into bed.