Title: Alex the Man
Author: Sarahsilverdream
Rating: M (possibly for later chapters)
Fandom: BTVS/HP
Pairing: Xander Harris/Severus Snape. slash
Summary: Xander meets Bill Weasley while travelling in Africa; he is taken to the wizarding world.
Spoilers: I am putting a standard disclaimer here. I don't know where this story is going and I haven't read HP book 6 but if I accidentally put something that spoils something I can say you have been warned.
Disclaimer: All copyrighted characters and their respective universes are the property of their creators, authors, writers, production companies, publishers etc. No money is made from this fiction it is purely for entertainment.
Authors Notes: This is totally AU and in no way follows cannon. Things that happened in the book/TV show may appear in this fic but will probably be in the wrong order or out of sequence totally. This is my first attempt at writing so constructive criticism is appreciated. I haven't read a story like this before but have not been reading in the fandom for long if anyone has please let me know. I am Australian so the spelling will be Australian eg color is colour.
Lastly I am looking for a Beta reader too if anyone reading this would like to help me edit and/or listen to my sometimes insane plot ideas (I often need a reality check) etc please email me or I can be found on yahoo messenger under sarahsilverdream.
Part One – Alex the Man
Xander Harris sighed as he walked down the lonely dusty road in Africa. It really was a beautiful country with its wide open spaces and serious lack of demonic activity. /Damn/ he thought /who the hell thought that the job of tracking down beautiful slay girls would become something he hated./ But Africa was a big place and so very lonely since he started this journey.
After the defeat of the first it had become his job to track down all the African slayers that Willows spell activated. At first Xander had relished this job a chance to get away from the awkwardness that had become his life. After the battle with Caleb and the damage that was done to Xander's eye the pitying glances began, the death of Anya made them worse. The damage that Buffy inflicted in the scar across his face when she found out about the LIE just made it worse. Not long after the final battle they had been sitting around reminiscing about life and Xander had suddenly thought that it might be a good idea to confess to Buffy about the LIE. He really had thought that after all they had been through since then and all that he had done to help in the fight for good that she might have been a little more understanding. Unfortunately for him he didn't get understanding Buffy but rather kick you across the room into Giles brand new bookcase Buffy. Thinking back he realised that he really should have given those shelves rounded edges, sharp corners didn't make for a pleasant landing when you hit them with great force.
As Xander walked along the road he gave a full body shudder. /Damn this place is as bad as the friggen Hell Mouth./ The shudders had become common place in the last few days as he travelled closer to the next town on the list in his long journey. All the weird magical vibes he had been feeling in the last few days were giving him the creeps, and he was sure he had seen these strange little men roaming the country side. It was just disturbing and as soon as he got to a phone he was ringing Giles and demanding a mental health day.
He could just picture the conversation now. "Giles I am getting these weird vibes and I keep seeing all these creepy little guys with lots of ear hair, and I'm sure I have seen people disappearing right in front of me accompanied by loud pops." He could hear Giles response and had already thought out a reply. "No Giles I have not been drinking the water," "no Giles I did not smoke or eat anything weird witch doctor guys offered me." "Yes Giles I have booked an appointment to have my eye checked."
As he walked along he shivered, again feeling that strange magical vibe which seemed to be growing stronger with every step he took. He hated the mojo and yes he told himself it has something to do with unresolved issues. He was damn sure that he had a million repressed magical fears stored in his mind. These feelings began with the insane love spell and continued right through to Willow's attempted destruction of the world. Although he could see the good that magic could do in the right hands he was still seriously creeped out by it.
Between the occasional vamp, some odd looking animals and the weird magical vibe he was determined to get to a phone and have himself removed from this weird country with all its oddness. As he walked he fantasised about the good old days hanging out in the magic box with all his friends sure there were apocalypses and vampires and demons and demon ladies trying to mate with him. /At least then he had had his friends, his family close by, and here come the abandonment issues/ he thought. It was so hard now, Buffy looking at him with that look, the look that betrayed a deep resentment at his part in sending Angel to hell and soul destroying sadness at being the cause of his latest disfigurement. Willow looking at him with a mix of sadness for the loss of their closeness, betrayal at not only his lie to Buffy but also his admittance that he was still uncomfortable with her magic even after all the hard work she had put in to make herself better and guilt that she wasn't quite as sorry as she should be.
He knew a lot of his hatred of Africa was really loneliness and the lack of people to discuss the latest weirdness occurring within him. But damn he thought he missed the good old days where his friends weren't so busy with their own lives that they actually had time to and wanted to talk to him.
As Xander continued down the road he refused to let his mind dwell on this and quickened his pace. Let's get to the next town he told himself, find a phone and call Giles. Get this new weirdness labelled and find a way to get rid of the creepy little men. As he focused on the men he tried to analyse the odd feeling they gave him.
They didn't feel evil just creepy. They didn't feel like dark Willow they felt like Tara as she performed some good witchiness. These guys were actually pretty soothing really it was just the strangeness of the situation that wigged him out. While Willow felt dark and seductive and all things bad these strange little creatures felt light and natural a force of nature rather than heavy and rough and forceful.
That was another thing this journey into the wilds of Africa alone had given him time. Time to think, time to analyse his thoughts and feelings about his life. Time to put into perspective all that had happened to him in the last few years.
There was another thing he was hiding from the scoobies since he sure as hell didn't need a new label. He had far too many of those. He was the Zeppo the useless member of the group no fighting or magic skills only his sheer determination and bravery to back him up in a fight. He was the White Knight the one who had faced down Angelus armed only with his desperate need to protect those he loved and considered his family. The Demon Magnet and wasn't that always fun, the lets sit around and laugh at the latest incident in his desire to find that one person in the world that could truly love and want him. /Yep pity party for one, no further people needed he was quite capable of feeling sorry enough for himself for everyone./
But the newest label he had acquired was the one given to him by the insane preacher Caleb. The One Who Sees, when he had first heard it he was too busy screaming in pain to think about it. Later as he thought back over the event he had briefly wondered what he had meant. He had come to the conclusion that maybe Caleb had mixed him up with someone else in the height of battle cause if he was the one who saw he didn't quite know what it was that he had seen.
Those words had begun coming back to him with increasing frequency as he seemed to develop some strange new abilities. It wasn't something that he had felt inclined to share with the rest of the group, he didn't need to be labelled as the one who knows peoples souls and magic. When Caleb pronounced him as The One Who Sees just before poking out his eye his perception of the world seemed to change. Now when he looked at people he could see something I guess their soul lingering just on the outside of their body, would be semi accurate. He could see their fights, their struggles sense their pain and determine their evilness and wasn't that a nifty new skill for him. No more dates with demon ladies who wanted to eat him. YAY me!
Along with this new skill come some startlingly reflective moments as he had, had to rapidly change his perceptions on some of his closest friends. It had started with him seeing some weird fuzzy light surrounding people. At first he had panicked thinking that there was something wrong with his remaining eye. Not wanting to worry anyone he hadn't said anything. A few days after the fuzziness had appeared he began to get images of people when he looked into their eyes. It was strange like he could tell from just that one glance if a person was good or evil.
This strange new insight into the world around him had been good for him and he knew that he had grown into a stronger person for it. He was no longer the Zeppo or the comedic relief. He was sure of his abilities and knew his worth in the world. This journey to Africa had been as much about self discovery as it had been about finding the slayers. Without apocalypses and everyday life on the hell mouth distractions he had had time to think. Time to analyse the people around him and to finally understand himself and what had driven him to confront the world of darkness and to fight for the light.
/Though the new and sharper understanding he now had of Spike and Deadboy was the most surprising part of this new skill./ They were the only people he had spoken to of this. Spike after he came back to torment his beloved sire and Angel when he had gone to confess the LIE and his reasons behind it. Xander no matter how reluctant to share this new found ability had not been able to squelch the desire to discuss this with the vampires. During the meeting he had been surprised to see that both men were surrounded be the same grey glow that surrounded most people. They were not the evil black that typically defined vampires and the grey surrounding them was shot through with a brilliant white light that showed him exactly how hard they fought to overcome their pasts and find the redemption he could see that the men craved. Though he vowed firmly he would stake first and ask questions later if the two souls the vampires now had ever went a wandering Surprisingly from this meeting had developed a firm friendship as Xander could now see the pain the vampires endured in order to keep up the good fight.
He could now see that they were not evil but rather shades of grey something that he had also had to accept about himself. He had the Hyena and the Soldier living in his head, he had killed. Sure they were demons but still he was a killer and that was something that he had had to come to terms with. Part of his evolution from the Zeppo into the well rounded young man that he was today. He no longer saw the world as good and evil but rather as shades of grey.
Sure there were some people who he looked at who were blindingly white: the young, the innocent, and the children. The new slayers were so white they glowed. Most people were a solid grey. They had lived their life, made decisions both good and bad and had ended up as a mass of solid grey. Some, those who fought on the side of goodness and tried to live their life as well they could were light grey. Those who had been touched by darkness, those who had made a bad decision, who had been drawn into the darkness and were now clawing their way out, they were still grey although a darker shade of grey. It was rare to see someone as black, someone who was so immersed in evilness, someone who had given up their humanity and chosen to dwell in the pits of evilness and dark. There were many demons of this colour but so very few humans.
When he looked at himself in the mirror he was a shade of light grey. He had made some bad decisions and had clawed his way out of the darkness to become a champion for the world of light. He no longer drew his self worth from how other people saw him but rather from how he saw himself. He was a fighter a warrior for the good. A man. Just that a man that tried to do the best that he could to make the world a better place for the innocents, the children that shined that beautiful white, so that they would never by tainted by the dark.
Well a voice mockingly called in his head haven't we become all deep and philosophical. /Yep that's me Alex the man, no longer Xander the Zeppo. Now I am a man who lives his life trying to make a small difference in the world trying to carve out a small area of light in the darkness.
Alex was drawn from his thoughts by another shudder at the feeling of magic. This one was so strong, almost a palpable vibration in the air as suddenly he was knocked over by a large weight his breath leaving him as something large, warm and solid landed with shocking red hair landed on top of him.
Alex moaned as he felt the weight slam into him knocking him down to the ground. His breath leaving him as a warm solid body followed him to the ground. He looked up almost blinded by the combination of red hair and grey shadows shot through with white and a startling blue which reminded him of Spikes eyes.
"Well" he stated "as much as I like being tackled by handsome strangers, care to tell me a few things? Like how who the hell are you and why you appeared out of nowhere?" As he asked this question a strange feeling went thorough him. He felt his eye glazing over as he looked into the strangers eyes. His brain exploded as he suddenly saw. He saw images of a battle hard fought; Of people this man loved dying. Of a small child pitted against men of the darkest black wearing strange dresses and masks. As these images overwhelmed his mind his consciousness faded, darkness creeping in as his mind was overwhelmed.
End Part One