Disclaimer: I own nothing, i am simply an amateur playing around in the universes created by J.K Rowling and Joss Whedon

A/N This is my first attempt at writing fiction in a long time. I plan on keeping a steady release schedule, with one or two chapters per week. This novel is AU starting after the Battle of Hogwarts, there were some tweaks to the battle but it mostly happened as in cannon with harry defeating Voldemort because of determination, sacrifice, and the elder wand. It will likely be Harry/Buffy but nothing is set in stone yet. Please review and critique, just try not to troll the shit out it.

May 23, 1998:

Three long weeks had past since the battle for Hogwarts and Harry Potter found himself tossing and turning in bed yet again. Sleep had been a commodity long denied to him. For years he had been plagued by nightmares of the horrors he gleamed from his cursed connection with Voldemort. He had foolishly thought he would find some peace after the war, that when Voldemort finally fell he would feel some degree of solace in the wake of the many loved ones he had lost.

In truth, there was no glory to be found in Voldemort's death, and no comfort to be found now that the cursed connection with the dark wizard had been permanently severed. No, the cruel reality was he had traded one set of nightmares for another more personal set. He didn't find peace in avenging the deaths of his parents, only more loss. The battle for Hogwarts had been a brutal one. So many good people cut down far too young. So many children who had once called Hogwarts home would now find it to be their final resting place.

'Remus, Tonks, Fred, Ginny, Snape, Collin Creevey...Lavender Brown.' Harry laid there a near endless string of names coming to mind. Friends, family, schoolmates...all killed in the brutal, bloody battle that marked the end of the second blood war. Ginny had been cut down by Bellatrix Lestrange in the great hall. Tonks was killed by Fenrir Greyback, followed shortly by Remus who avenged her before succumbing to his own wounds. Harry couldn't help but feel a sharp stab of anger when he thought of Remus and Tonks. They had no business in that battle, having just giving birth to a son. Harry had begged them to leave but they were proud and stubborn, claiming that if they died their son would know they died doing what was right. Harry, an orphan himself, knew better than anyone that his godson would find little comfort in this fact.

Life had taken a sombre turn in the weeks after the battle. Harry's days were filled with funerals, and his nights marked by insomnia and endless nightmares when he did manage to fall asleep. At first he had stayed at the Burrow, as the Weasleys had been the closest to a real family he had ever gotten. He had hoped that being among family would help him heal but it was simply too depressing to stay there long. Losing Fred and Ginny had changed the family irreparably. George, who's eyes used to be constantly alight with mischief and mirth would never be the same without his other half. He meandered about the house aimlessly with a lost look in his eyes. Molly had taken to drinking, it an odd an disturbing sight to see the stern and oft overbearing mother passed out at the kitchen table with her hands maintaining a vice grip on an empty bottle firewiskey. The rest of the family was coping no better. Ron spent much of his time hiding behind a copy of quiddich weekly, though if his dim an unfocused eyes were any indication he was not really reading.

After a few days staying with the broken family Harry could cope no longer and politely excused himself. He had no idea what to do now that the war was over and felt more than a little bit lost. Despite the fact that the castle was in a real shoddy state Hogwarts would be quickly repaired and would reopen for the new year. It had to after all, there were no other magic schools in England and the children needed their magical education. Harry couldn't picture returning to finish his last year. Though Hogwarts had been a home to him he doubted he could spend a single night after the battle.

He apparated outside the leaky cauldron intending to get a room for a few weeks and sort out his thoughts. Pulling open the sturdy bar door harry was greeted by the sound of laughter and celebration. He discreetly stepped into the bar and quickly slipped on his invisibility cloak. Harry desperately wanted to avoid the people at the moment. He knew he shouldn't feel so bothered by it, they had lived in fear of the Dark Lord for decades now and to know Voldemort was gone it was understandable that the public was relieved. Still, when he thought of the Wesley's and the other families torn apart by the war he couldn't help but feel nauseous watching the festivities. He also knew if he had been seen he would have been swamped by congratulations and thanks. The Daily Prophet had been flooded with pictures and articles of him, praising him as a hero for vanquishing the dark lord for the second and final time. The new nickname they were running away with was the chosen one. Harry rolled his eyes at the thought, the masses loved their ridiculous nicknames. Harry carefully made his way over to the bar under his cloak, and slipped a letter into Tom's hand explaining who he was, asking for a room and begging him for discretion.

Thus found Harry in bed roughly three weeks later. He had spent most of his time alone with his thoughts, only occasionally going out to get food or to attend one of the many funerals. After a lot of thought he came to the conclusion that there was one decidedly good thing that came out of the war, he was finally free. The first seventeen years of his life he had no real choice, stuck between a prophecy and a dark lord, with a manipulative old headmaster dictating his options to him. Eventually he reached a decision. He had to get away from England for a while. He made a trip to Gringotts were he found out that he was quite a bit wealthier than he originally though. The Potter family was one of the oldest in Wizarding Britain and had amassed a considerable amount of wealth over its history, and now that he was of age he had full access to the family vaults. Of far more interest to him however were the properties he now owned. Apparently the Potter family rather enjoyed traveling because he owned property in major cities all over the world. New York, Paris, Cairo,and Rome were only a few on a rather extensive list. For the first time in weeks Harry's lips twitched in what resembled a smile and he felt a spark of excitement for what the future might hold. He withdrew a good chunk of gold and had some converted into muggle currency. With a loud crack harry disappeared and reappeared at an apparition point near Heathrow Airport.

He had no idea where he was going, and knew no small number of people would be upset by his sudden disappearance but Harry had never been good with goodbyes and he couldn't stay another night in England. Leaving just felt so right.

Roughly Two Years Later

August 27, 2000:

Buffy Summers liked to think she leads a relatively normal life. She has normal hobbies, hanging with her friends, shopping at the mall, beating back the forces of evil with her bare hands. She has normal problems, she didn't get the best grades school, her mother could be a bit overbearing, her dad was a bit of a deadbeat, her boyfriend split for L.A, and she was saddled with the prophetic destiny to protect the world from demons and vampires. Okay so maybe not the most normal life, but her best friend was a witch and was dating a werewolf, so Buffy didn't think her life was too strange. Everyone was a little bit off in Sunnydale. Some people would say the sun fries their brains a bit, others might think the hellmouth is be to blame.

Still she had to admit that as of late her life had taken a bit more of a hectic turn. Her boyfriend lost his soul and tried to end the world. That same boyfriend came back from hell with his soul again, only to leave again for L.A apparently never to return. Their mayor turned out to be a giant snake demon and she had to lead her graduating high school class into combat with it. She had found another slayer only to have her end up as some dark slayer. 'Maybe I should face it she thought my life is completely fucked, no one else is fighting giant snakes'...Still she found it best not to dwell. She had a lot going for her too. She was currently on her way to her first day of college with her two best friends, and this is after she blew up her high school. I mean how many people could claim that they blew up their high school, and still went to the local community college.

"Buffy hurry up! We cant be late for orientation" The redhead chided her friend for falling behind the group. Willow had always been clever and loved learning. She was abuzz with excitement in the weeks leading up to their first day of school and was upset to be running late on her first day

"Coming, coming" Buffy was pulled out of her thoughts and gave a forced smile. She was happy to see her best friend so happy, but Buffy herself was more than a little worried about starting at the new school. Change had always been a touchy subject for her, change usually meant more danger, new enemies. Still she picked up her pace not wanting to make the redhead anxious.

As the group of three got closer to campus something really strange caught Buffy's eyes. Tucked off in the woods was a huge Victorian mansion... or tower? It was like nothing she had ever seen, The house was tall with four peaked roofs and what seemed to be a massive bell tower stretching high above the treeline. It was slightly decrepit showing decades of wear. The grounds around it stretched on for acres and were overgrown with tall grass, weeds, and some really strange plants she had never seen before. Behind the house was nothing but woods. Clearly no one had been around to maintain the property in a long time. The house had an eerie and almost haunted feel to it. Her instincts told her there was something wrong with it, an ineffable quality to the very air around it that seemed alive.

She stood eyes transfixed on it. She had lived in Sunnydale for years now and with her nightly patrols she was certain she had seen every inch of the town, but she was absolutely certain she had never seen this house, and its not a sight one could easily overlook.

"Buffster what are you doing? Wil is going to flip" the tall scrappy looking boy grabbed her shoulder to drag her along. Xander wouldn't actually be attending the local college. He was leaving the next morning on a road trip across the country, a bit of a post high school pilgrimage. In truth he felt a little left behind with his friends going on to higher education. Still, he figured with his two best friends attending he would be bumming around campus a lot when he got back. He wanted to check out the new digs.

"Do you guys see that?"

"What are you talking about Buffy? Come on we have been there 5 minutes ago!" The anxious girl was looking right at it but didn't her eyes didn't show any curiosity or surprise at the sight.

"But..." Buffy shook her head and pushed the mystery to the back of her mind. Not wanting to make her friend any more anxious she hurried along. Her slayer instinct was sending her a clear message 'This is NOT going to be a normal year..."

A few hours ago:

Nearby at Los Angeles International Airport a handsome young wizard with bright emerald green eyes and perpetually messy raven hair sat in an arriving Boeing 747 with a small note clutched in his hand. The past couple years had been a refreshing experience for him. He had traveled aimlessly around the globe, never staying in one place more than a couple of months. He moved from house to house, met a lot of new people, visited prominent magical districts, and just generally tried to keep himself busy.

He was looking more relaxed and healthier both physically and mentally than he ever had before. He was taller and more muscularly defined, sporting a mild tan from the past couple months he spent in Egypt. He wore a relaxed smile as he departed the plane into the bright sun. Yes the last couple years had been good for Harry but he had a major growing problem. He was running out of ways to justify staying away from England. He still wasn't ready to face everything that waited back home, or more importantly everyone who wouldn't be waiting.

Lucky for him he had at least one more good excuse, a little mystery that had been digging at the back of his mind for a while now. All the moving around caused him to spend a spent a lot of time in various branches of Gringotts across the world and he had learned a lot about the globins. Among other things was that they kept meticulous records of their clients' properties and possessions. Whenever Harry was looking to move on to a new area he would go to Gringotts and look over a file of the property he owned in the area. It included blueprints and photos of the land, documentation of books, artifacts, the ward scheme, and just about everything else of value known to be there. The goblins liked to be aware of every single knut of value to their clients' name. It was honestly unsettling to learn how just how much they knew. The goblins were quite eager to show their clients just how much they knew, goblins liked keeping their clients unsettled. There was no real competition for banking in the wizarding world.

Harry could find out every detail of every piece of property he owned except for one. One that showed up only on the list of property values. There was no address, just the name Potter Tower and the highest property value on the entire list. When he asked the goblins they gave a slip of paper that was to be passed on only to the head of family.

Harry disembarked from his flight and read the paper again, his eyes alight and promise of adventure. 'Potter Tower is located at 142 Brainard Rd, Sunnydale CA'

'The Fidelius charm' he mused to himself. He had learned a lot about his ancestors recently, meeting a lot of their paintings in different houses throughout the years. He embraced any connection to his family he could find. The Potters were a secretive, and often eccentric bunch. He had done a little research on Sunnydale before boarding the plane. It was a small town, nothing noteworthy that he could find, the closest magical district was in LA. That in itself stood out to him. The Potter's had property in both muggle and magical neighborhoods, but they were always in the cultural centers of the world, and they already had a flat in LA. 'Such a normal town, what could they possibly have been doing in sunnydale?'.

A/N: Future chapters will feature far more dialogue, i realize this one was basically pure exposition.