Recruit (6/9)
Fandoms: Buffy/HP
Canon Compliancy: Set in 2004; through Buffy season 8, issue 4; post-HBP
Pairing: Giles/Snape
Rating: NC-17, slash
Genre: Drama/Humor/Romance
Word Count: ~22K
Status: Complete; will be posted over July 2nd and 3rd
Summary: Slayers abounded, and even with new innovations in training and technology, the Watcher’s Council struggled to cope with the decimation of its ranks wreaked by the Bringers. Willow’s sudden return offered Giles the chance to discover much-needed new recruits. Yet nothing quite prepared him for one Severus Snape.
Previous: Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5.
Disclaimer: Not mine; no money.
Thanks go to the wonderful
firefly_124, who betaed for me, and to the amazing
saracen77, who Brit-picked.
Chapter 6
“Uhh,” Willow moaned as she pushed her plate away and sat back in her seat to rub her stomach. “I ate too much.”
Buffy twirled her fork through the remains of mascarpone on her dish, looking as if considering how to get that last smidgeon into her mouth without resorting to licking. Glancing up, she said, “Dessert was really good!” Then she cast a quick glance at Giles. “It was all of the good - lots of goodness here. Yep, goodful all around.”
“It’s quite all right, Buffy.” Giles gave a small grin. “I’m well aware that I now have stiff competition in the kitchen. After all, it’s not exactly as if I have a Masters in Potions.”
“Yes, but your roast chicken and rosemary potatoes were most … adequate.” Snape smirked.
“And the rocket salad?”
“Beyond adequate.”
“Then I’m wondering how you’d classify your own tiramisu,” asked Giles, “which was admittedly better than anything from the previous courses?”
“It obviously exceeded expectations.” He cocked one dark eyebrow as his lips quirked. “Although you have no one other than yourself to blame - it was you, after all, who introduced me to Italian cuisine and the corresponding cookbooks.”
Buffy looked back and forth between them. “Well, I don’t care how you two divide up the cooking, just as long as I don’t have to do it.”
“Hear, hear,” echoed Willow, turning to face the other young woman. “Though I guess that means we’re on dish duty.” She leaned forward to begin stacking plates, Buffy mimicking her actions.
“Leave the washing up for a bit.” Giles gestured with his coffee cup. “We so rarely use the formal dining room that I’d like to relax awhile longer.”
Buffy settled back with a grin. “Fine by me, Giles. You know me - playing hooky is like an art form.”
“I highly doubt that missing chemistry to save the world could truly be considered ‘hooky.’ And I did have something somewhat serious in mind since we’re finally all together.” He looked at Willow but watched Snape peripherally. I hate to push, but we’re running out of time. “I wanted to discuss how Snape’s magical training is going.”
“Uh … well … it’s …” Willow’s right hand rose from the table and fluttered, trying to help her explanation but failing.
“What Ms. Rosenberg is attempting to say is that it is not going well.” Glacial temperatures could be cooled with that voice.
Not quite used to failure, is he? “Do either of you have any idea of why that is?”
Snape only scowled and crossed his arms over his chest, but Willow answered, “Well, I’ve never trained a wizard before … so this is conjecture … but it’s almost as if the fact that he’s already learned one way to do magic is making it harder to learn a different way. As if he’s going to have to unlearn things before we can even begin.” She glanced at Snape, a concerned look on her face. “In other people I’ve trained, there’s no resistance to laying down paths of energy - usually they’re all a muddle inside, and once you show them something, they readily grasp it as a way to direct their power. With Snape, every time he begins to direct his energy, it shoots off in a different direction than the one I’m showing him. I think … I think it tries to go through his wand, even if he’s not holding it.”
“Fascinating.” Giles removed his glasses, chewing on an earpiece for a few moments before turning to Snape. “And what do you think? Is there anything you can add to Willow’s assessment?”
Once all eyes were turned to him, the line between Snape’s brows grew even deeper. “I agree with her,” he said tersely. “It appears that even my previous attempts at so-called wandless magic still relied upon pathways created by wand use.”
“I see.” Replacing his eyewear, Giles continued. “And do either of you have any ideas as to how to get around this difficulty?”
“Oh, I have one,” Willow said brightly, too interested in the problem now to worry about Snape’s discomfort. “What if … what if we block the pathways you use with your wand? Then you’d have to find new ways to channel your power.”
If anything, the solution appeared to increase Snape’s discomfort. His back straightened, and his shoulders rose as the tops of his fingers grew white from the pressure he exerted on his upper arms.
Yes, but the idea of being completely without power is quite different than using one’s mind to simply keep from exercising power, Giles thought. “Would this be a permanent effect?”
“Oh, no - it would only be temporary.”
Snape’s expression eased somewhat, though he still looked disgruntled.
“How temporary could you make the spell to block his existing pathways?” Giles asked. “Is there any way to limit it to only the eight hours spent at Headquarters each day?”
“Hmm.” Her brow creased in concentration, and her lips pursed as she drummed fingers against the table top for a few moments. “I’ll have to see if I can adapt it. Usually those spells have to wear off naturally, and that takes about three days.”
“Well, three days is not as long as I’d feared, so there’s the possibility of setting up a temporary residence in Headquarters for three nights out of each week. My office, for one, is large enough to place a small camp bed in.” Giles turned towards the other man. “If that is amenable to you.”
Tipping his head affirmatively, Snape dropped his arms and allowed himself to relax into his chair.
Buffy looked confused. “But I thought you couldn’t use your magic outside of Headquarters anyway. Won’t the magic cops come and get you if you do?”
“That is accurate.” Snape’s scowl began to reappear.
“Then I don’t get why you couldn’t just -”
“Buffy,” Giles interjected. “It’s a bit like your Cruciamentum.”
“Huh?” She frowned for a moment before her face brightened. “Oh, I get it! I’m good. More of the goodful here. Well, then, whether you have to stay at Headquarters overnight or not, I think you should try it first thing Monday morning.”
“I agree, but what do the two people most involved think?” Giles looked around the room, noting Willow’s enthusiastic nod, and the single tip of head that meant Snape assented. “Very well, then. Monday it is.”
~~~
The next night, insomnia reared its ugly head, and Giles found himself wandering into the kitchen just past twelve.
Buffy sat at the table, staring into a cup of cocoa, watching the little marshmallows as they swirled from the gentle action of her wrist.
Interesting, Giles thought. I expected to find Snape or Willow awake because of tomorrow. “Buffy.”
Looking up, she offered a weak smile and said, “Hi, Giles.”
“Are you all right?”
Instead of answering, she jumped up to turn towards the cooker. “Cocoa? I try to make it like Mom, but …”
“And you do a lovely job of it. I’d love a cup.”
“I didn’t used to like marshmallows, but Mom kept them around, and …” She stopped stirring as her shoulders began to shake.
In three steps he stood behind her, hand on shoulder. “Buffy?”
Turning, she buried her face against his chest, hugging him to her, though thankfully remembering to moderate her Slayer strength.
So she’s upset, but not completely distraught. His hand patting her upper back, Giles tried one more time. “Buffy?”
“I never made him cocoa, Giles! He loved it, and I never …” Her crying morphed into audible yet soft gasps as her trembling grew greater.
Ah, daughter of my heart, Giles thought, I would take this burden from you. Yet I’m trying to be supportive while also letting you sort things for yourself. It’s a right bugger.
But then, the last time I tried to step in and run your life, I bollixed it royally.
Rocking her slightly until she quieted somewhat, Giles freed one arm to produce a handkerchief, which he flourished.
Her hiccuppy laugh was followed by a quiet honk as she blew her nose. “Thanks, Giles. I guess I just needed to get some of that out.” Shoving the abused piece of linen in a pocket, she quickly washed her hands and splashed her face before returning to the cooker.
“Buffy, I know we’ve talked about how sorry I am over the … situation with Spike. So I’m well aware that I’m not exactly an expert on how much he’d changed, but I will say that on some level I’m sure he knew you cared -”
“Yeah, I hope he did,” she replied, setting his cup on the table before taking her seat. “But not until the very end, if then.” She paused to pick up her cup, wrapping her hands around it. “And you know why that is?”
Giles sat, shaking his head.
Her look was piercing. “It’s because I never let him in Giles. I never really let myself be loved.” She took a sip of cocoa. “I told myself it was because I wasn’t ready and that it would never be him even if I was.” Another sip. “But I’ve thought about it - you don’t get ready for love and relationshipy things by hiding from them.”
“I’m not quite sure what -”
“Make him cocoa, Giles. Metaphorical cocoa, maybe, but whatever cocoa is for him and for you, make it.”
“Buffy, I -”
“Look, Giles. You’ve been alone for too long. It’s been, what, four years since Olivia? If I’m lonely, I can’t imagine what you feel like.”
Yet it’s not really Olivia I miss. “But Jenny -”
“Yes, Jenny died, and Spike died, and what we do is dangerous. But he’s a Watcher now, and you know there will eventually be another apocalypse that’ll require him to get into the fray - and more than one, the way things go for us. How will your being with Snape add any more danger to his life?”
Giles simply sputtered a bit before hiding behind taking a large drink of cocoa.
“It won’t - that’s how,” Buffy finished triumphantly before sobering. “I watched you two yesterday while you were making dinner. I sat right here in this chair and watched you dance around each other.”
“Well, it’s not a large kitchen.” He tried to hide his grin behind his cup.
She swatted him on his left arm. “Giles, I’m being serious here. It was the same at dinner. Covert looks, little smiles, and neither of you really doing anything about it. You’re going to have to do more if you want this thing to happen.” Reaching over, Buffy placed one hand on his forearm. “So think about it, all right? But don’t think for too long, you big-brained Watcher, you.” Her smile was soft, matching her lightly teasing tone.
Setting down his mug and staring into it for a bit, Giles thought, She has a point. He looked up to meet her gaze and smiled. “Light was showing from beneath his door a few minutes ago, so how about I start by taking him a spot of real cocoa?”
“I think that’s a great idea.” She flashed him an impish smile. “If nothing else, they say chocolate is an aphrodisiac.”
“What ever happened to love and relationships?”
“Hey, I never said there wasn’t sex involved.” She waggled her eyebrows at him for the second time in as many weeks. “So make with the kissage already!”
“Do stop doing that - it’s highly disturbing.” He made sure to impart a testy note to his voice, yet he could barely suppress a grin as her laugh rang out.
~~~
It was an irritated Snape that greeted him. An irritated Snape dressed only in thin cotton pajamas, that is.
Praise to the powers that we went shopping at Marks and Sparks yesterday. Wizarding clothes were far too concealing.
Giles felt almost riveted by the triangle of skin showing at the neck of the other’s man top.
“Yes?”
“Cocoa?” he asked, proffering the cup in his left hand.
Snape wrapped long fingers around the warm ceramic, brushing Giles’s as he did so.
There was the faintest hum of connection across the contact, yet even that was enough to keep Giles’s blood flowing south, and he found himself thankful that he’d thrown on a dressing gown because it certainly helped to hide his growing erection.
Dear Lord, chocolate must truly be an aphrodisiac.
If such were the case, however, it didn’t appear to be affecting Snape. While his expression after the first sip of warm chocolate improved somewhat, he didn’t move aside to allow Giles entrance into the room.
Trying again, Giles said, “I saw your light was still on, so I thought I’d bring you a cup.”
Raising said cup, Snape grunted what might be construed as thanks before taking a longer drink, neck muscles flexing.
“There are even still some of Willow’s chocolate-chip cookies downstairs if you get peckish.”
“If I feel that more sugar and caffeine is in order as a sleep aid, I will be sure to avail myself.” The dark eyes were intense with commingled contempt and amusement.
Bastard. “Right then. Good night.”
The click of the door closing behind him was his only answer.
I don’t care how anxious he is about tomorrow - he’s being a right bastard.
Giles leaned against the inside of his bedroom door. Yet an alluring bastard. Hand sliding under dressing gown to press to insistent cock, he rubbed from base to tip in languid strokes, thin cotton bottoms thankfully doing little to impede sensation. His hips gave an insistent jerk forward. That’s it - this time I’m wanking.
AN: On to Chapter 7.
Canon Compliancy: Set in 2004; through Buffy season 8, issue 4; post-HBP
Pairing: Giles/Snape
Rating: NC-17, slash
Genre: Drama/Humor/Romance
Word Count: ~22K
Status: Complete; will be posted over July 2nd and 3rd
Summary: Slayers abounded, and even with new innovations in training and technology, the Watcher’s Council struggled to cope with the decimation of its ranks wreaked by the Bringers. Willow’s sudden return offered Giles the chance to discover much-needed new recruits. Yet nothing quite prepared him for one Severus Snape.
Previous: Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5.
Disclaimer: Not mine; no money.
Thanks go to the wonderful
firefly_124, who betaed for me, and to the amazing
saracen77, who Brit-picked.
Chapter 6
“Uhh,” Willow moaned as she pushed her plate away and sat back in her seat to rub her stomach. “I ate too much.”
Buffy twirled her fork through the remains of mascarpone on her dish, looking as if considering how to get that last smidgeon into her mouth without resorting to licking. Glancing up, she said, “Dessert was really good!” Then she cast a quick glance at Giles. “It was all of the good - lots of goodness here. Yep, goodful all around.”
“It’s quite all right, Buffy.” Giles gave a small grin. “I’m well aware that I now have stiff competition in the kitchen. After all, it’s not exactly as if I have a Masters in Potions.”
“Yes, but your roast chicken and rosemary potatoes were most … adequate.” Snape smirked.
“And the rocket salad?”
“Beyond adequate.”
“Then I’m wondering how you’d classify your own tiramisu,” asked Giles, “which was admittedly better than anything from the previous courses?”
“It obviously exceeded expectations.” He cocked one dark eyebrow as his lips quirked. “Although you have no one other than yourself to blame - it was you, after all, who introduced me to Italian cuisine and the corresponding cookbooks.”
Buffy looked back and forth between them. “Well, I don’t care how you two divide up the cooking, just as long as I don’t have to do it.”
“Hear, hear,” echoed Willow, turning to face the other young woman. “Though I guess that means we’re on dish duty.” She leaned forward to begin stacking plates, Buffy mimicking her actions.
“Leave the washing up for a bit.” Giles gestured with his coffee cup. “We so rarely use the formal dining room that I’d like to relax awhile longer.”
Buffy settled back with a grin. “Fine by me, Giles. You know me - playing hooky is like an art form.”
“I highly doubt that missing chemistry to save the world could truly be considered ‘hooky.’ And I did have something somewhat serious in mind since we’re finally all together.” He looked at Willow but watched Snape peripherally. I hate to push, but we’re running out of time. “I wanted to discuss how Snape’s magical training is going.”
“Uh … well … it’s …” Willow’s right hand rose from the table and fluttered, trying to help her explanation but failing.
“What Ms. Rosenberg is attempting to say is that it is not going well.” Glacial temperatures could be cooled with that voice.
Not quite used to failure, is he? “Do either of you have any idea of why that is?”
Snape only scowled and crossed his arms over his chest, but Willow answered, “Well, I’ve never trained a wizard before … so this is conjecture … but it’s almost as if the fact that he’s already learned one way to do magic is making it harder to learn a different way. As if he’s going to have to unlearn things before we can even begin.” She glanced at Snape, a concerned look on her face. “In other people I’ve trained, there’s no resistance to laying down paths of energy - usually they’re all a muddle inside, and once you show them something, they readily grasp it as a way to direct their power. With Snape, every time he begins to direct his energy, it shoots off in a different direction than the one I’m showing him. I think … I think it tries to go through his wand, even if he’s not holding it.”
“Fascinating.” Giles removed his glasses, chewing on an earpiece for a few moments before turning to Snape. “And what do you think? Is there anything you can add to Willow’s assessment?”
Once all eyes were turned to him, the line between Snape’s brows grew even deeper. “I agree with her,” he said tersely. “It appears that even my previous attempts at so-called wandless magic still relied upon pathways created by wand use.”
“I see.” Replacing his eyewear, Giles continued. “And do either of you have any ideas as to how to get around this difficulty?”
“Oh, I have one,” Willow said brightly, too interested in the problem now to worry about Snape’s discomfort. “What if … what if we block the pathways you use with your wand? Then you’d have to find new ways to channel your power.”
If anything, the solution appeared to increase Snape’s discomfort. His back straightened, and his shoulders rose as the tops of his fingers grew white from the pressure he exerted on his upper arms.
Yes, but the idea of being completely without power is quite different than using one’s mind to simply keep from exercising power, Giles thought. “Would this be a permanent effect?”
“Oh, no - it would only be temporary.”
Snape’s expression eased somewhat, though he still looked disgruntled.
“How temporary could you make the spell to block his existing pathways?” Giles asked. “Is there any way to limit it to only the eight hours spent at Headquarters each day?”
“Hmm.” Her brow creased in concentration, and her lips pursed as she drummed fingers against the table top for a few moments. “I’ll have to see if I can adapt it. Usually those spells have to wear off naturally, and that takes about three days.”
“Well, three days is not as long as I’d feared, so there’s the possibility of setting up a temporary residence in Headquarters for three nights out of each week. My office, for one, is large enough to place a small camp bed in.” Giles turned towards the other man. “If that is amenable to you.”
Tipping his head affirmatively, Snape dropped his arms and allowed himself to relax into his chair.
Buffy looked confused. “But I thought you couldn’t use your magic outside of Headquarters anyway. Won’t the magic cops come and get you if you do?”
“That is accurate.” Snape’s scowl began to reappear.
“Then I don’t get why you couldn’t just -”
“Buffy,” Giles interjected. “It’s a bit like your Cruciamentum.”
“Huh?” She frowned for a moment before her face brightened. “Oh, I get it! I’m good. More of the goodful here. Well, then, whether you have to stay at Headquarters overnight or not, I think you should try it first thing Monday morning.”
“I agree, but what do the two people most involved think?” Giles looked around the room, noting Willow’s enthusiastic nod, and the single tip of head that meant Snape assented. “Very well, then. Monday it is.”
~~~
The next night, insomnia reared its ugly head, and Giles found himself wandering into the kitchen just past twelve.
Buffy sat at the table, staring into a cup of cocoa, watching the little marshmallows as they swirled from the gentle action of her wrist.
Interesting, Giles thought. I expected to find Snape or Willow awake because of tomorrow. “Buffy.”
Looking up, she offered a weak smile and said, “Hi, Giles.”
“Are you all right?”
Instead of answering, she jumped up to turn towards the cooker. “Cocoa? I try to make it like Mom, but …”
“And you do a lovely job of it. I’d love a cup.”
“I didn’t used to like marshmallows, but Mom kept them around, and …” She stopped stirring as her shoulders began to shake.
In three steps he stood behind her, hand on shoulder. “Buffy?”
Turning, she buried her face against his chest, hugging him to her, though thankfully remembering to moderate her Slayer strength.
So she’s upset, but not completely distraught. His hand patting her upper back, Giles tried one more time. “Buffy?”
“I never made him cocoa, Giles! He loved it, and I never …” Her crying morphed into audible yet soft gasps as her trembling grew greater.
Ah, daughter of my heart, Giles thought, I would take this burden from you. Yet I’m trying to be supportive while also letting you sort things for yourself. It’s a right bugger.
But then, the last time I tried to step in and run your life, I bollixed it royally.
Rocking her slightly until she quieted somewhat, Giles freed one arm to produce a handkerchief, which he flourished.
Her hiccuppy laugh was followed by a quiet honk as she blew her nose. “Thanks, Giles. I guess I just needed to get some of that out.” Shoving the abused piece of linen in a pocket, she quickly washed her hands and splashed her face before returning to the cooker.
“Buffy, I know we’ve talked about how sorry I am over the … situation with Spike. So I’m well aware that I’m not exactly an expert on how much he’d changed, but I will say that on some level I’m sure he knew you cared -”
“Yeah, I hope he did,” she replied, setting his cup on the table before taking her seat. “But not until the very end, if then.” She paused to pick up her cup, wrapping her hands around it. “And you know why that is?”
Giles sat, shaking his head.
Her look was piercing. “It’s because I never let him in Giles. I never really let myself be loved.” She took a sip of cocoa. “I told myself it was because I wasn’t ready and that it would never be him even if I was.” Another sip. “But I’ve thought about it - you don’t get ready for love and relationshipy things by hiding from them.”
“I’m not quite sure what -”
“Make him cocoa, Giles. Metaphorical cocoa, maybe, but whatever cocoa is for him and for you, make it.”
“Buffy, I -”
“Look, Giles. You’ve been alone for too long. It’s been, what, four years since Olivia? If I’m lonely, I can’t imagine what you feel like.”
Yet it’s not really Olivia I miss. “But Jenny -”
“Yes, Jenny died, and Spike died, and what we do is dangerous. But he’s a Watcher now, and you know there will eventually be another apocalypse that’ll require him to get into the fray - and more than one, the way things go for us. How will your being with Snape add any more danger to his life?”
Giles simply sputtered a bit before hiding behind taking a large drink of cocoa.
“It won’t - that’s how,” Buffy finished triumphantly before sobering. “I watched you two yesterday while you were making dinner. I sat right here in this chair and watched you dance around each other.”
“Well, it’s not a large kitchen.” He tried to hide his grin behind his cup.
She swatted him on his left arm. “Giles, I’m being serious here. It was the same at dinner. Covert looks, little smiles, and neither of you really doing anything about it. You’re going to have to do more if you want this thing to happen.” Reaching over, Buffy placed one hand on his forearm. “So think about it, all right? But don’t think for too long, you big-brained Watcher, you.” Her smile was soft, matching her lightly teasing tone.
Setting down his mug and staring into it for a bit, Giles thought, She has a point. He looked up to meet her gaze and smiled. “Light was showing from beneath his door a few minutes ago, so how about I start by taking him a spot of real cocoa?”
“I think that’s a great idea.” She flashed him an impish smile. “If nothing else, they say chocolate is an aphrodisiac.”
“What ever happened to love and relationships?”
“Hey, I never said there wasn’t sex involved.” She waggled her eyebrows at him for the second time in as many weeks. “So make with the kissage already!”
“Do stop doing that - it’s highly disturbing.” He made sure to impart a testy note to his voice, yet he could barely suppress a grin as her laugh rang out.
~~~
It was an irritated Snape that greeted him. An irritated Snape dressed only in thin cotton pajamas, that is.
Praise to the powers that we went shopping at Marks and Sparks yesterday. Wizarding clothes were far too concealing.
Giles felt almost riveted by the triangle of skin showing at the neck of the other’s man top.
“Yes?”
“Cocoa?” he asked, proffering the cup in his left hand.
Snape wrapped long fingers around the warm ceramic, brushing Giles’s as he did so.
There was the faintest hum of connection across the contact, yet even that was enough to keep Giles’s blood flowing south, and he found himself thankful that he’d thrown on a dressing gown because it certainly helped to hide his growing erection.
Dear Lord, chocolate must truly be an aphrodisiac.
If such were the case, however, it didn’t appear to be affecting Snape. While his expression after the first sip of warm chocolate improved somewhat, he didn’t move aside to allow Giles entrance into the room.
Trying again, Giles said, “I saw your light was still on, so I thought I’d bring you a cup.”
Raising said cup, Snape grunted what might be construed as thanks before taking a longer drink, neck muscles flexing.
“There are even still some of Willow’s chocolate-chip cookies downstairs if you get peckish.”
“If I feel that more sugar and caffeine is in order as a sleep aid, I will be sure to avail myself.” The dark eyes were intense with commingled contempt and amusement.
Bastard. “Right then. Good night.”
The click of the door closing behind him was his only answer.
I don’t care how anxious he is about tomorrow - he’s being a right bastard.
Giles leaned against the inside of his bedroom door. Yet an alluring bastard. Hand sliding under dressing gown to press to insistent cock, he rubbed from base to tip in languid strokes, thin cotton bottoms thankfully doing little to impede sensation. His hips gave an insistent jerk forward. That’s it - this time I’m wanking.
AN: On to Chapter 7.