Harry Potter & the Hellmouth
Chapter One : Regrets
Four long months had passed since the Battle of Hogwarts. Four months since the second Wizarding war had come to an end. Four months since Lord Voldemort had finally been defeated once and for all and now September 1st had come and it was time to go back to Hogwarts, Harry, Ron and Hermione were going to complete their seventh year along with Ginny, which they had to skip due to being on the run for the last year. The four laughed as they approached the barrier to platform 9 ¾ pulling their trunks behind them.
Ron and Ginny went first disappearing through the barrier, as soon as they were out of sight Harry and Hermione's demeanor changed dramatically, they stopped smiling and became very serious, they turned to each other and nodded in understanding.
Gripping their trunks tightly they turned away from the barrier and quickly walked back the way they came.
"Are you sure you want to do this Hermione? It's not too late to get on the express" Harry asked in a concerned tone.
"I'm sure Harry" Hermione answered without hesitation.
Without another word they left kings cross station and kept walking, they soon came to an entrance to the London Underground. They bought their tickets and got on the train. They sat in silence for a while until Harry noticed tears on Hermione's face as she silently cried. Harry wrapped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her close, she gave into the embrace and cried silently into his shoulder, as she did Harry thought back to how they ended up in this situation.
Over the past four months things had changed, but not for the better. After the fall of Voldemort, Harry had gotten back together with Ginny and Hermione started dating Ron. Everywhere Harry turned people were praising him, calling him the boy-who-lived & the man-who-won as well as many other names with too many hyphenations. He attended a few events to celebrate the fall of Voldemort with Ginny as his date. When Harry overheard Ginny talking to other women about how she was dating the man-who-won he understood how she really thought of him, during the whole conversation she never once referred to him by name, only titles. To top off the night Harry had almost bumped into the Malfoys who once again had managed to worm their way out of prison.
The conversation went a little like this…
"Ah Mister Potter… I cannot express my gratitude towards you for releasing me and my family from the Dark Lord's control and finally putting an end to his evil" Lucius drawled in a condescending tone with a smirk on his face. Having just heard how Ginny really saw him Harry was in no mood for Malfoy's games, with a wave of his arm Harry raised a sound ward around them, this unnerved Malfoy seeing as Harry didn't use a wand.
"Malfoy, you know that wand your master was looking for this past year?" Harry asked and received a hesitant nod in return.
"Well, it's mine now, keep that in mind because despite what the ministry officials you've paid off say… I know the truth about what you did and if you decide to go back to your old ways again then I swear, the hell I send you too will seem like heaven after what I do to you" Harry snarled with his eyes glowing with power making Malfoy unconsciously take a step back. "… and that goes for every other Death Eater who managed to escape prison, including your son" With that said Harry dropped the ward and pushed past Malfoy on his way out.
Hermione and Ron had also become famous thanks to their role in the fight. While Hermione tried to ignore it and get on with her life, Ron had bathed in it, signing autographs flirting with fan girls whenever he thought Hermione wasn't looking.
As for their relationship Ron had become extremely possessive, always finding a reason to be in the room when she was left alone with Harry, not to mention he hadn't wanted her to come to Hogwarts this year and Mrs. Weasley didn't want her to get a job or have a career after school, instead being a housewife.
Harry and Hermione talked about their problems many times but never came up with anyway to fix it. The final straw for her came when Ron suggested to Hermione that she should cut her parents out of her life, Saying… quote : "They're only Muggles"
Three weeks ago having had enough of everything… the attention, the stress, the bad relationships and the still corruption filled government, Harry concocted a plan to escape. Harry told Hermione about it, she immediately begged him to include her so she could get away from everything, including the bigotry because of her Muggleborn status.
Their plan cold be summed up in it's simplest form with one word, College. Harry and Hermione had decided to leave the Magical world behind and live their life's in in Muggle world, so they studied hard in Muggle subjects, Math, English, Science, Art, History, ect. Then they took their exams, got their GCSE's, A-Levels and enrolled in several colleges in America, they decided early in the plan that they couldn't stay in England, it would be far too easy for people to find them.
The plan culminated in today, Ron and Ginny walked through the barrier at which point Harry and Hermione would 'disappear'. The plan was simple, use the underground to get to Paddington and stay at the hotel they booked until tomorrow morning when they would go to Heathrow Airport and catch their flight to Los Angeles at which point they would go their separate ways to their respective colleges, Hermione was going to UCLA while Harry was going to UC Sunnydale, a small town a few hours drive from LA.
Harry was brought out of his thoughts as the train came to a stop at Paddington station. He and Hermione got off the train and hurried to the hotel, after arriving, checking in and getting to their room they quickly put up wards to stop people from finding them, it didn't take long, Hermione had gotten plenty of practice with these spells over the last year, they were the same spells they used on their camp sites while hiding from Voldemort.
They settled at the table and got comfortable.
"… do you think they've noticed yet?" Hermione asked softly
"… Yeah, they would have been at the Prefect meeting on the train, seeing as we're Head boy and girl I think it's safe to say they've noticed our absence… they won't be at the castle until dark so nobody'll be searching for us until then" Harry answered
"I feel kinda bad for Professor McGonagall, losing both head boy and girl is going to cause her some problems" Hermione said with a grimace
"No regrets about leaving everything behind?" He asked
"No… it's actually a relief to finally be free of everything, the bigotry, the corruption, the spotlight which by the way I don't understand how you could bare all these years… not to mention Ron's jealousy and Molly's insistence that my purpose in life should be to cook Ron's food, clean Ron's house, have and raise Ron's children, which Molly wants at least five of…" Hermione stopped and took a breath "… do I regret leaving all that behind? Not a chance"
They stayed like that for most of the day talking until it started to get dark and they ordered a pizza. After eating Harry produced a small bottle of Jack Daniels and two glasses from his trunk.
"Alcohol?" Hermione asked with a furrowed brow
"Just one drink…" Harry said as he poured two glasses "… after all, we're 18 now, legal. However when we get to the states the age limit will be 21, so this is our only chance" Harry explained as he shifted a glass over.
"Honestly Harry… fine" Hermione said with a smile and picked up the glass
"A toast, to our new life's" Harry said as he held the glass up
"To our new life's" Hermione agreed and clinked her glass to his before taking a sip.
Shortly after they finished their drink they both got changed and got into their beds. For an hour Hermione laid there awake as she thought about thing, her past, her potential future and what Harry said about regrets.
Hermione pulled her covers back and slipped out of bed walking over to where Harry rested.
"Harry? Are you asleep?" Hermione asked quietly not wanting to wake him if he was asleep
"No" came an immediate reply as he turned over to see Hermione standing next to his bed "After spending a year on the run I was hoping not to have to go through it again, yet here we are, I can't help but be skittish… only this time we're running from Ron and Ginny instead of Voldemort" Harry joked
Hermione chuckled as she sat on the edge of his bed "I'm beginning to wonder which was worse, I'm finding myself preferring to be tortured by Lestrange again than to be yelled at by Molly if she finds me" Hermione joked back
"A howler from her should be classified as the fourth unforgivable" Harry added.
After they were finished joking Harry spoke. "So, what's up?"
"Harry, you and Ginny, did you ever… you know… did you ever have s-sex?" Hermione asked hesitantly with a red face. Harry was stunned, he hadn't expected that.
"… no, we never did" Harry answered
"Me too… I mean, me neither, me and Ron I mean… or with anybody else" Hermione stumbled as she spoke.
"Me neither, with anybody" Harry said awkwardly
This was followed with a 30 second before Hermione spoke again.
"Well… would you l-like too?… with me?…" Hermione looked down so her hair would cover her blush
If Harry was stunned before he was positively floored now, Hermione was here asking him to have sex with her.
"Hermione… what brought this up?" Harry asked in honest concern.
"Well… it's just what we spoke about earlier, about regrets… I'm 18 now and going to college, I know that somewhere along the line I'll have a boyfriend and I'll most likely have sex… I don't want to have any regrets about that, I don't want to lose my V-Virginity to somebody I just met. I want to give it to somebody I care about… and I know that I'd never regret giving it to you… if you don't mind letting me take yours too I mean" Hermione added hastily after realizing what Harry said about him never doing it either.
Harry thought hard about what Hermione said. He realized that he was in the same boat as her, he'd likely meet a girl in college, until recently he knew he could never know if the girl he lost his virginity to would like him for him or his fame & fortune. Hermione however he knew cared for him and he was touched that she wanted him to be her first and now that he thought about it he couldn't think of anybody he'd rather share his first time with.
Harry reached over and cupped Hermione's chin, raising her head to he was looking into her eyes.
"Hermione, are you absolutely sure this is what you want… it's not something you can take back once given" Harry said softly
"I'm sure" Hermione answered as confidently as she could
Harry slowly leaned forward and pressed his lips to her in a soft kiss. After a few moments Hermione's tongue brushed his lips seeking entrance which he granted. Hermione wrapped her arms around his head and deepened the kiss and Harry held her waist pulling her onto his lap. As the kiss intensified Harry fell back onto the bad pulling Hermione down with him.
V W V W V W V W V W V W V W V W V W V W V W V W V W V W V W V W V W
In the early dawn hours Harry's eyes flickered open and he felt a warmth on his side, he looked down to see his naked best friend cuddled up beside him with her head on his chest and arm draped over him and her eyes looking into his.
"Morning" Hermione greeted
"Good morning…" Harry answered as he brushed a loose strand of hair out of her eyes. "… any regrets?"
Hermione smiled and leaned closer to him pressing her soft lips to his in a short but sweet kiss.
"None" Hermione answered "I've been awake for a while, four owls have passed the window in the last hour" she said
"They're looking for us… they're probably all over the country" Harry answered
"Tonks will keep the Aurors as far away from the airport as she can, but we'd better not push our luck, odds are all of wizarding Britain knows we're missing by now"
Hermione nodded and smiled as she thought of their friend. After the fall of Voldemort Kingsley Shacklebot had become the minister of magic and appointed Tonks as the head of the DMLE to her horror. She was the youngest head of department in history. She was also the one who helped Harry and Hermione organize their escape and take their GCSE tests as she'd done the same thing to her Muggle dad's insistence that she have something too fall back on.
After losing Remus in the battle of Hogwarts she was close to taking her son Teddy and retreating into the Muggle world herself.
Harry and Hermione got out of bed and shyly smiles as they caught one last glimpse of each other naked before getting dressed and gathering their things. Ten minutes later they were out of the door and on their way to the Airport.
Dozen's of owls flew around the sky causing Muggles to stop and gape, Muggles can go their entire life's without seeing a single owl and now dozens filled the sky. All of them were ignoring Harry and Hermione, all but one. As they approached the airport a black owl with a tuft of pink on it's head flew down to them.
"It's from Tonks" Harry said as he untied the package and let the owl go. Inside were three magazines. The Daily Prophet, Teen Witch Weekly and the Quibbler. Along with a small note in Tonks' handwriting saying 'Good luck'. Harry passed the Daily Prophet and TWW to Hermione while he opened the Quibbler. They'd asked Tonks to send copies of any papers that had news of their disappearance.
After five minutes they spoke. "Well, according to the Daily Prophet you and I have been kidnapped by evil sages who need us for a dark ritual which requires the sacrifice of two virgins… a little late for that" she added with a smirk "… and according to TWW, we've eloped to France where I've agreed to share you with a colony of Veela who want you to impregnate them with their future generation of offspring in return for asylum in their community" Hermione said as she showed Harry the front with a picture of them in each other's arms wearing wedding robes.
"Heh, Ron, Ginny and Molly are gonna be pissed at that picture" Harry said while trying to contain his laughter
"How about the quibbler?" Hermione asked
"According to this… you've gone to the city of Angel's where you've accepted a job working for a Vampire in a detective agency… and I've gone to fight evil at the mouth of hell" Harry said as he read from the page.
"Heh, the Quibbler and Luna never change huh?" Hermione said with a smile
"Yeah, but notice that she mentioned the city of Angels, like she knew we were going to Los Angeles… never can keep anything from that girl"
Two hours later Harry and Hermione were sat side by side in First Class as their plane sped up and left the ground, leaving behind their old homes, their old life's and their old troubles.
V W V W V W V W V W V W V W V W V W V W V W V W V W V W V W V W
Almost twelve hours later the plane touched down at LAX and they caught a taxi to UCLA where Hermione invited Harry to spend the night in her new dorm room, they were both tired thanks to jet lag so they simply laid down and fell asleep in each other's arms, they didn't have sex this time, they just laid there holding each other. In the morning Hermione went with Harry to the bus station where they said their goodbyes.
"Stay in touch" Hermione said with tears in her eyes as they hugged and Harry got on the bus.
Still suffering from jetlag Harry fell asleep on the bus for almost the entire trip, he was woken at around 2pm by the driver saying they'd arrived, Harry gathered his things and got off, following the map he had beforehand he walked in the direction of his new home. After an hour of walking and getting lost twice along the way he finally arrived at the campus, people were rushing around moving from one place to another, he hadn't expected it to be so busy especially seeing as it was the weekend, it was a little overwhelming.
Following his map carefully he found his dorm house and a few minutes later his room. He knocked the door once.
"It's open" a voice came from inside. Harry opened the door and walked in, a teenager with short spiky blond hair was sitting next to a cute red-haired girl with their books open and looking at him.
"Hi, I'm Harry, your new roommate" Harry said politely
"Ooh, you're British" the girl said with a smile "But of course you know that seeing as you're the one who's… you know, British" the girl finished in an embarrassed tone
Seeing an awkward silence coming on the boy spoke for the first time.
"Hey. I'm Oz, this is Willow" Oz introduced himself in a flat tone that seemed to suit him
"Nice to meet you" Harry said as he placed his trunk at the base of his bed and laid down.
"So how do you like the campus?" Willow asked trying to start a dialog
"A little overwhelming, I got lost twice trying to find it. I only arrived in the states yesterday so I'm still adjusting" Harry explained
"Well we can show you around if you like, help you get settled in, right Oz?" Willow said with a smile.
"Sure, we've got some spare time until tonight, plus we're supposed to meet Buffy soon" Oz answered
"Oz's in a band, dingo's ate my baby" Willow said proudly which made Harry frown.
"It's the name of the band, Dingo's Ate My Baby" Oz clarified when he noticed that the way Willow had said it was a little off.
"Thank god for that because I honestly had no idea how I going respond" Harry said with a smile.
V W V W V W V W V W V W V W V W V W V W V W V W V W V W V W V W
Not too long later Harry, Willow and Oz walked around the campus as his two new friends pointed out various places of interest, soon they came to a coffee place called the Espresso Pump where they approached a blond girl sitting at a table alone.
"Hey guys what's…" the girls stopped when she saw the boy walking with them. "… gorgeous eyes" she finished quietly enough so that only Willow was able to hear. Willow smiled as she heard him, Buffy had been down in the dumps every since Angel left.
"Buffy, this is Harry, Oz's new roommate. Harry this is Buffy" Willow introduced with a sly smile.
"Hi… Buffy, that's me…" Buffy stuttered as she held out her hand to the boy with windswept raven hair, gorgeous green eyes, dashing smile…
"Nice to meet you Buffy" Harry said as he took her hand.
… and British accent.
"Harry just moved here from England, he's a freshman too" Willow continued with a knowing smile as they sat down and ordered drinks.
"So, how do you like America so far?" Buffy asked
"Ok so far…" Harry said as he took a sip of his tea and winced "… although thus far I've found it rather impossible to find a good cup of tea" he said as he put the cup down.
Willow, Buffy and Oz all smirked at that.
"We still on for the Bronze tonight?" Buffy asked
"Yeah… hey Harry why don't you come?" Willow added quickly
"The Bronze?" Harry asked with a raised eyebrow.
"A club, it like the only place to go for fun" Buffy answered
"Sure, I can be there… in the meantime I'd better get back to the dorm get some rest, I'm still suffering some jetlag" Harry said before bidding his new friends goodbye and leaving.
"So… what do you think?" Willow asked with a grin, Buffy returned with a glare while smiling
"Think of what?" Buffy asked innocently
"Of the cute British boy you were making eyes at" Willow answered
"I was not making eyes at him, he's not even that good looking with his, hair… and eyes and that smile…" Buffy trailed off dreamily which Willow smirked at her for. Buffy saw the smirk and let out a sigh.
"Ok, so he's gorgeous…" Buffy admitted "… but knowing my luck with men there'll be a catch, he'll be a demon or gay or married…" Buffy argued
"Who's a demon, gay or married?" A new voice entered the conversation, the three turned to see another of their friends, Xander.
"Buffy's new crush" Willow chirped
"Ahh I see, well it's understandable you'd be worried about that, after all your last boyfriend was two out of three" Xander quipped as he took Harry's vacant seat.
"Angel wasn't gay or married and he was only temporarily evil" Buffy argued
"Buffy anybody who uses that much hair gel isn't completely straight" Xander continued
"Despite that, you're not the only one who's had sucky relationships, or have you forgotten my relationship with Malcolm the demon robot" Willow reminded her
"… and my relationship with Mrs French, the evil Preying Mantis lady" Xander reminded
"… and the ex-vengeance demon you took to prom" Oz reminded Xander
"… and the rogue slayer who tried to strangle you" Buffy reminded him.
"… and the bitch who tried to suck all the life out of you and leave you a withered lifeless husk…" Willow added "… what was her name again?"
"Ampata" Buffy remembered
"No that's not it… oh yeah, I remember her name now, Cordelia" Willow said with a grin.
This got a round of laughs from them all.
"… but yeah, there was Ampata too"
"OK, can we get off my relationships now please?" Xander said with a pained grin.
"Anyway, the point is. Strange relationships are something we can deal with, I mean hello, I'm a witch dating a Werewolf… not exactly normal" Willow said with a smile while giving Oz's hand a squeeze.
"Sigh… ok, I'll talk to him at the Bronze, get to know him better and we'll see how it goes" Buffy submitted.
V W V W V W V W V W V W V W V W V W V W V W V W V W V W V W V W V W
Later that night as Harry got ready he found himself thinking about the blond girl he'd met earlier. He'd seen plenty of beautiful women over the past few years but Buffy topped them all hands down.
When he reached the Bronze Harry immediately noticed Oz playing guitar with the band on stage, after a few minutes he noticed Willow waving him down from her seat next to Buffy. He got himself a drink and sat down at the table next to Buffy.
"So, Harry, why'd you decide to come to Sunnydale?" Buffy asked suddenly
Harry thought for a moment before answering
"It's seems like a peaceful place… and I figured I could use some peace nowadays" Harry said carefully
Buffy snorted when he said Sunnydale was a peaceful town. Over the next hour the three talked about life in Sunnydale while Buffy and Harry kept exchanging glances when they thought the other wasn't looking. Willow smiled at the interaction, it was obvious that they were into each other. A little later Buffy grabbed her bag saying that she was going to head back to her dorm and Willow saw this as an opportunity.
"You know it's not safe to walk home alone at night, maybe Harry could walk you back?" Willow suggested innocently while trying to suppress a smirk. Buffy glared at her friend.
"Umm, yeah, sure. I have to head back myself" Harry said
The two exited the Bronze in silence and started walking back to the campus. After a while Harry was the one who broke the silence when he noticed a mark on Buffy's neck.
"Where'd you get the scar?" Harry asked cautiously
"Huh?… oh, umm… Angry puppy" Buffy answered lamely making Harry get a little worried, he'd seen marks like that before on Vampire victims who survived.
"So, tell me about yourself" Buffy said changing the subject.
"… what do you want to know?" Harry asked
"You know, friends, family, school?" Buffy offered
"Well…" Harry said with a deep breath "… I lost my parents when I was very young, in a terrorist attack, that's where I got this scar on my forehead" Harry started pointing at a faded lightning bolt shaped scar on his forehead, after the final battle with Voldemort the scar had faded so much that it was almost invisible.
"Oh… sorry, I didn't mean to…" Buffy said sadly
"Don't be, I was only a year old when it happened. I got over it a long time ago… anyway when they died I was sent to my aunt and uncle to raise, not the smartest decision ever made" Harry added angrily
"You didn't like them?" Buffy asked
"They didn't like me… they had a grudge against my parents and they took it out on me. They told me that they died in a car crash because my dad was drunk, they gave me the cupboard under the stairs as my bedroom until I was 11 and I didn't even know my name until I started school, up until then I was 'Boy' or 'Freak'…" Harry continued not noticing that Buffy's fists were clenched. "… then on my 11th birthday I got my saving grace, it turns out that my parents had enrolled me in a private school in Scotland before they died and they left me a trust fund. I spent the next seven years there and only had to return to my aunt and uncle for the summers… I also met my best friend, Hermione" Harry finished
"Wow… way better than my story, I used to go to school in LA, but them I got kicked out of school and moved here three years ago. Met Willow, Xander, Giles and Angel…" Buffy cut herself off abruptly at the mention of Angel.
"Well I've met Willow. Who's Xander, Giles and Angel?" Harry asked as they arrived at Buffy's dorm building.
"Xander is Willow's best friend, I met him the same day I met Willow. I'm sure you'll meet him soon. Giles was the librarian at the High School, he's kinda a mentor to us, and Angel… we were together, it didn't end well…" Buffy finished as they arrived at room 214.
"Well this is me" Buffy said at the door.
"Yes well… goodnight" Harry said with a smile as he turned and started walking away and Buffy slipped her key into the door. Harry suddenly remembered one of the fliers he'd been handed that morning and decided to take a chance.
"Hey Buffy…" Harry turned and said gaining her attention "… there's a party tomorrow at the Gamma-Alpha-Pi house. I was wondering if you'd like to go?" Harry asked
Buffy smiled in a cute way. "Sure, I'd like that" she answered.
Harry was about to say something else when he heard rushed footsteps behind him, Willow and Oz came running up looking worried and Willow was holding a bloody tissue to the side of her neck which got Harry worried.
"Buffy we have to talk to you, remember Harmony? She's back from summer vacation and she's different… paler…" Willow said quickly.
"Is your neck ok?" Harry asked concerned, this made Buffy notice Willow's tissue.
"Neck… paler… p-puppy, the angry puppy…" Buffy made up on the spot for Harry's benefit.
Buffy quickly ushered Willow and Oz into her room and said goodnight to Harry.
When they were inside Harry frowned, first Buffy's scar and now Willow's neck.
"Vampires…" Harry muttered as he walked away from the door.
To Be Continued…