Title: An American Slayer in Northern England
Author: SCWLC
Disclaimer: Buffy and Angel and all the rest belong to the almighty Joss Whedon, while the Hogwarts gang belong to JK Rowling.
Summary: Buffy's actually a witch and it's about time the Wizarding world caught on to muggle magics.
Timeline: Set primarily in HP book six and BtVS AU season three.
Notes: Sorry to all you Harry/Buffy fans out there, she's going to be with Angel. I'm just too much a B/A 'shipper to do anything else. Also, this is a test. I'm seeing if anyone really wants any more of this story, has any complaints about it etc. Finally, I'll post the whole thing eventually and the title, notes, and other things may change between now and then. So on to the prologue.
Feedback: Leave a review of course, but if you'd rather email me directly the address is scwlc@yahoo.ca
***********************
Los Angeles - Summer 1991
"Joyce look!" Hank Summers said excitedly to his wife. "My old boarding school has accepted Buffy as a student. I can't wait to take her to England and get her school supplies-"
Joyce's eyes widened as she heard her happy husband. "Give me that! You weren't going to even consult me on sending our daughter to a school in a foreign country?" she interrupted him.
Frowning slightly the man replied, "Joyce, I just want Buffy to have the very best education that's possible."
"So there isn't a school in the US that could possibly educate her well enough? A school in LA say?" Joyce asked, annoyed. There was also something wrong with this letter of acceptance. She couldn't quite put her finger on it.
There was a moment of silence, then Hank said to her, "So you don't see . . . I mean, it's not . . ." He trailed off helplessly while Joyce brandished the letter.
"No," she told him flatly.
A small blonde child came thumping down the stairs, dragging a stuffed pig after her. "Mom? Daddy? What's going on?"
"Nothing Pumpkin," Hank said to his girl. "Listen sweetie, Daddy wants to talk to you about something-"
Joyce shot a glare at him. "Hank, we're not going to . . ." she jerked a significant head at the letter in her hand. He shook his head and led his ten-year-old daughter out to the porch.
"You're unbelievable Joyce, a muggle through and through," he muttered under his breath before he began to tell his daughter about a wonderful world she was a part of.
Staring after her daughter and husband for a moment, Joyce shook her head and dropped the letter in the trash. The letterhead, "Hogwarts School of . . ." the rest was obscured by the trash. She slammed the lid back down and went back to making dinner.
***
Los Angeles - Spring 1995
"Daddy I can't keep this up. I know you want me to be good at this stuff, but I can't take this split tutoring in being a witch and going to high school!" Buffy cried to her father.
Hank sighed and ran a hand through his hair. The separation was rapidly escalating into a divorce fight, and even though he wanted to stay with his daughter Joyce's unbelievable muggleness was pulling them apart. She was simply unable to believe even the most blatant displays of magic and every year, when the letter from Hogwarts arrived it was as though she couldn't even see the words "Witchcraft and Wizardry." He pulled his attention back to his daughter. "Honey, you never minded before." He tried to be reasonable.
Her eyes filling with tears she pressed her lips together and looked away. "I just can't take the stress. Even if I'm never licensed to do magic on my own I just can't do this. And since I'm not going to get to go to a real magic school I might as well hang up my wand." Buffy hated to do this. The fact was that being the Slayer and being normal and being a witch all at the same time weren't compatible. Worse, even though her father was a respected wizard businessman in the magical community he, and apparently the entire wizarding community, couldn't accept the world of demons and vampires the she lived in as the Slayer. They believed in it as little as most normal people believed in magic of any kind.
There was a moment of silence, the man remembering his daughter locked away in a muggle mental institution because of a nervous breakdown. His lips tightened as he considered the thought that he might have caused it. The girl looking at her father and wishing there was a way to prove to him that there was more to the non-muggle world than his magic. Finally he let out a heavy sigh. "Alright. I'll stop giving you the magic home schooling. You need to remember though-"
"I know. No magic without a licensed witch or wizard or I'll never be able to do magic again." Buffy blinked away tears. It was the one thing other than slaying that she felt really herself when doing it. But she couldn't do all three lives and this was the least problem to drop. Father and daughter shared a moment before Hank stood and said, "Why don't we go for some ice cream?"
Buffy smiled and hugged him before skipping into the house and telling her mother. Hank stayed on the front porch a moment longer wondering if he was doing the right thing, especially given Voldemort's return in England. Then he shook off his melancholy and followed his daughter.
************
Sunnydale - Winter 1998
Buffy and Angel made their way to the ship, Angel carrying the box on his shoulder as they walked arm in arm. When they reached the gangplank Angel set the box down. "I should go the rest of the way alone." He tried not to look as depressed as he felt. It would be easier if they parted ways here. She was masterfully holding back tears, and Angel was not going to cry in front of her. Buffy was strong, she would still be there when he got back.
"Okay." Buffy said. She could see Angel was busy being strong so that she could be strong too. *Dammit! I hate doing the right thing!*
"But I'll be back. I will." Angel swore to himself he would be back. And he would be there for her even if she had found someone else. His heart twisted inside of him at the thought.
Her voice reflected every bit of the heartbreak she felt as she asked, "When? Six months, a year? You don't know how long it's gonna take or if we'll even..." Buffy just couldn't say it. He had to survive to come back to her. He had to. She looked at the ground with the unshed tears pricking her eyes.
"Hey. . ." Angel reached forward to get her to meet his eyes. "If we'll even what?" Angel thought he had a pretty good idea of what she was going to say. Her answer surprised him.
"Well, if you haven't noticed, someone pretty much always wants us dead." Buffy was not going to cry. He had always said he was proud of her for being strong, and she was not going to let him see her break down.
His denial was immediate. "Don't say that. We'll be fine." Just the thought that she would be here with no one to protect her back made him feel sick.
Buffy tried to find a way to make him see reason, to stay, even though she knew it wasn't reasonable, "We don't know that."
"We can't know, Buffy. Nobody can. That's just the deal." He paused for a moment. Drinking in the sight and scent of her. "I have something for you. For your birthday. I. . . I was gonna give it to you earlier, but . . . " he trailed off and simply held out the ring. If she agreed to wear it they would be promised to one another. If she refused . . . Angel held his figurative breath.
"It's beautiful." Buffy said. She had seen that design somewhere before. Where?
"My people -- before I was changed -- they exchanged this as a sign of devotion. It's a claddagh ring. The hands represent friendship, the crown represents loyalty . . . and the heart . . . Well, you know . . ." the moment was bittersweet. She was promising herself to him just as he was about to leave for God only knew how long. He wanted to tell her it was a betrothal ring, but it was a little unfair right before he left. "Wear it with the heart pointing towards you. It means you belong to somebody. Like this." He showed her his own ring on his finger. She touched his hand, leaned over and kissed the ring. "Put it on." He took the ring from her and slipped it onto her finger.
"I don't wanna do this," Buffy said with a sob. She felt like someone was reaching into her chest pulling out her heart and stomping on it. Okay, not so poetic, but it was accurate.
Angel understood her pain and was resisting the urge to break down in tears himself. He settled for trying to let his voice and touch let her know how much he wanted to stay. "Me either."
"So don't go," she pleaded. He just looked at her as they leaned closer together, and let his eyes close as they kissed. For a moment the world fell away and he relaxed into the feelings her closeness inspired, the scent of her rising arousal and the way she fit so perfectly against him.
"Buffy . . . I . . ." Angel forced the words past his lips. "I love you." He was rewarded with a brilliant smile.
"I love you too," she whispered, struggling to hold in a sob. "You'd better get on that ship before I drag you home." He nodded, kissed her briefly once more than strode toward the ship. "Good-" she started to say.
He turned back. "I won't say goodbye because it'll sound final. I am coming back to you. I promise." Then he turned and vanished into the shadows on the boat. Buffy waited while the men finished loading the ship up, stayed as they cast off and watched until it had vanished from view in the dawn light. Then she slowly turned and made her way back to the car where Jenny Calendar had patiently waited until she was ready to leave.
Buffy looked at the ring on her finger and whispered, "You promised."
***
Sunnydale - Spring 1998
"Buffy Anne Summers!" Joyce shouted, staring in a fury at the Polaroid in her hand.
The blonde teenager came running down the stairs. "What is it Mom?"
One eyebrow raised in a position that would make Mr. Spock proud, Joyce held the photo out and said, "Can you tell me why I found this picture on the floor of your room?"
"Huh?" said Buffy before she saw its contents. "Mom I can explain-"
Amused in spite of her anger, she replied, "I can't wait to hear this."
"Well you see I was on the beach and these guys attacked me," Buffy said hurriedly her eyes flickering back and forth as she concentrated on her narrative. "So I fell into this really slimy bunch of seaweed and stuff and I just couldn't wear my shirt home. Angel came along and rescued me from those guys and lent me his shirt so I'd have something to wear until I changed." Buffy looked at her mother with wide, innocent eyes and waited for a verdict.
"So why is there a picture that looks like you're wearing nothing but that shirt, an older man wearing no shirt, and the two of you kissing?" Her voice and expression hardened. "Kissing, of course, being the best I can do at the moment since what you two actually seem to be doing in this picture is not something a mother wants to see her daughter doing with an older, handsome experienced man." Joyce's eyebrow was back up again and Buffy winced, knowing that it was a very bad sign when the eyebrow couldn't come back down.
She still tried to wriggle out. "Well I'm gonna kill Willow, 'cause it's all her fault," Buffy told her mother. Joyce did not look convinced. "You see, she had this new camera and wanted to try it out and stuff. So when she yelled 'Cheese!' Angel turned around and tripped and stuff and that's how we wound up on the bed." Buffy was proud that she had even managed to tell some of the truth. Angel *had* tripped and fallen on top of her.
The female parental unit was less impressed. "So he tripped and his lips landed on top of yours, one hand landed under your behind and the other on your breasts? Am I right?" Joyce inquired. Buffy flushed but said nothing. "I'm going to ask your father if that school he was so eager to send you to will still accept you." Joyce watched with some satisfaction as Buffy's mouth dropped open and stayed that way. "Yes, the boarding school in England."
"But . . . Angel isn't even here anymore. He had to leave and he hasn't come back yet!" Buffy said, frantically.
Snorting, her mother replied, "And if you think that's going to convince me to let you stay here where you're involved with a man who is far too old for you, you are sadly mistaken." She turned away and said, "You'd better start packing because even if you aren't accepted into that school I'm still going to send you to the farthest boarding school I can manage to keep you away from Angel." Then Joyce marched up the stairs.
Author: SCWLC
Disclaimer: Buffy and Angel and all the rest belong to the almighty Joss Whedon, while the Hogwarts gang belong to JK Rowling.
Summary: Buffy's actually a witch and it's about time the Wizarding world caught on to muggle magics.
Timeline: Set primarily in HP book six and BtVS AU season three.
Notes: Sorry to all you Harry/Buffy fans out there, she's going to be with Angel. I'm just too much a B/A 'shipper to do anything else. Also, this is a test. I'm seeing if anyone really wants any more of this story, has any complaints about it etc. Finally, I'll post the whole thing eventually and the title, notes, and other things may change between now and then. So on to the prologue.
Feedback: Leave a review of course, but if you'd rather email me directly the address is scwlc@yahoo.ca
***********************
Los Angeles - Summer 1991
"Joyce look!" Hank Summers said excitedly to his wife. "My old boarding school has accepted Buffy as a student. I can't wait to take her to England and get her school supplies-"
Joyce's eyes widened as she heard her happy husband. "Give me that! You weren't going to even consult me on sending our daughter to a school in a foreign country?" she interrupted him.
Frowning slightly the man replied, "Joyce, I just want Buffy to have the very best education that's possible."
"So there isn't a school in the US that could possibly educate her well enough? A school in LA say?" Joyce asked, annoyed. There was also something wrong with this letter of acceptance. She couldn't quite put her finger on it.
There was a moment of silence, then Hank said to her, "So you don't see . . . I mean, it's not . . ." He trailed off helplessly while Joyce brandished the letter.
"No," she told him flatly.
A small blonde child came thumping down the stairs, dragging a stuffed pig after her. "Mom? Daddy? What's going on?"
"Nothing Pumpkin," Hank said to his girl. "Listen sweetie, Daddy wants to talk to you about something-"
Joyce shot a glare at him. "Hank, we're not going to . . ." she jerked a significant head at the letter in her hand. He shook his head and led his ten-year-old daughter out to the porch.
"You're unbelievable Joyce, a muggle through and through," he muttered under his breath before he began to tell his daughter about a wonderful world she was a part of.
Staring after her daughter and husband for a moment, Joyce shook her head and dropped the letter in the trash. The letterhead, "Hogwarts School of . . ." the rest was obscured by the trash. She slammed the lid back down and went back to making dinner.
***
Los Angeles - Spring 1995
"Daddy I can't keep this up. I know you want me to be good at this stuff, but I can't take this split tutoring in being a witch and going to high school!" Buffy cried to her father.
Hank sighed and ran a hand through his hair. The separation was rapidly escalating into a divorce fight, and even though he wanted to stay with his daughter Joyce's unbelievable muggleness was pulling them apart. She was simply unable to believe even the most blatant displays of magic and every year, when the letter from Hogwarts arrived it was as though she couldn't even see the words "Witchcraft and Wizardry." He pulled his attention back to his daughter. "Honey, you never minded before." He tried to be reasonable.
Her eyes filling with tears she pressed her lips together and looked away. "I just can't take the stress. Even if I'm never licensed to do magic on my own I just can't do this. And since I'm not going to get to go to a real magic school I might as well hang up my wand." Buffy hated to do this. The fact was that being the Slayer and being normal and being a witch all at the same time weren't compatible. Worse, even though her father was a respected wizard businessman in the magical community he, and apparently the entire wizarding community, couldn't accept the world of demons and vampires the she lived in as the Slayer. They believed in it as little as most normal people believed in magic of any kind.
There was a moment of silence, the man remembering his daughter locked away in a muggle mental institution because of a nervous breakdown. His lips tightened as he considered the thought that he might have caused it. The girl looking at her father and wishing there was a way to prove to him that there was more to the non-muggle world than his magic. Finally he let out a heavy sigh. "Alright. I'll stop giving you the magic home schooling. You need to remember though-"
"I know. No magic without a licensed witch or wizard or I'll never be able to do magic again." Buffy blinked away tears. It was the one thing other than slaying that she felt really herself when doing it. But she couldn't do all three lives and this was the least problem to drop. Father and daughter shared a moment before Hank stood and said, "Why don't we go for some ice cream?"
Buffy smiled and hugged him before skipping into the house and telling her mother. Hank stayed on the front porch a moment longer wondering if he was doing the right thing, especially given Voldemort's return in England. Then he shook off his melancholy and followed his daughter.
************
Sunnydale - Winter 1998
Buffy and Angel made their way to the ship, Angel carrying the box on his shoulder as they walked arm in arm. When they reached the gangplank Angel set the box down. "I should go the rest of the way alone." He tried not to look as depressed as he felt. It would be easier if they parted ways here. She was masterfully holding back tears, and Angel was not going to cry in front of her. Buffy was strong, she would still be there when he got back.
"Okay." Buffy said. She could see Angel was busy being strong so that she could be strong too. *Dammit! I hate doing the right thing!*
"But I'll be back. I will." Angel swore to himself he would be back. And he would be there for her even if she had found someone else. His heart twisted inside of him at the thought.
Her voice reflected every bit of the heartbreak she felt as she asked, "When? Six months, a year? You don't know how long it's gonna take or if we'll even..." Buffy just couldn't say it. He had to survive to come back to her. He had to. She looked at the ground with the unshed tears pricking her eyes.
"Hey. . ." Angel reached forward to get her to meet his eyes. "If we'll even what?" Angel thought he had a pretty good idea of what she was going to say. Her answer surprised him.
"Well, if you haven't noticed, someone pretty much always wants us dead." Buffy was not going to cry. He had always said he was proud of her for being strong, and she was not going to let him see her break down.
His denial was immediate. "Don't say that. We'll be fine." Just the thought that she would be here with no one to protect her back made him feel sick.
Buffy tried to find a way to make him see reason, to stay, even though she knew it wasn't reasonable, "We don't know that."
"We can't know, Buffy. Nobody can. That's just the deal." He paused for a moment. Drinking in the sight and scent of her. "I have something for you. For your birthday. I. . . I was gonna give it to you earlier, but . . . " he trailed off and simply held out the ring. If she agreed to wear it they would be promised to one another. If she refused . . . Angel held his figurative breath.
"It's beautiful." Buffy said. She had seen that design somewhere before. Where?
"My people -- before I was changed -- they exchanged this as a sign of devotion. It's a claddagh ring. The hands represent friendship, the crown represents loyalty . . . and the heart . . . Well, you know . . ." the moment was bittersweet. She was promising herself to him just as he was about to leave for God only knew how long. He wanted to tell her it was a betrothal ring, but it was a little unfair right before he left. "Wear it with the heart pointing towards you. It means you belong to somebody. Like this." He showed her his own ring on his finger. She touched his hand, leaned over and kissed the ring. "Put it on." He took the ring from her and slipped it onto her finger.
"I don't wanna do this," Buffy said with a sob. She felt like someone was reaching into her chest pulling out her heart and stomping on it. Okay, not so poetic, but it was accurate.
Angel understood her pain and was resisting the urge to break down in tears himself. He settled for trying to let his voice and touch let her know how much he wanted to stay. "Me either."
"So don't go," she pleaded. He just looked at her as they leaned closer together, and let his eyes close as they kissed. For a moment the world fell away and he relaxed into the feelings her closeness inspired, the scent of her rising arousal and the way she fit so perfectly against him.
"Buffy . . . I . . ." Angel forced the words past his lips. "I love you." He was rewarded with a brilliant smile.
"I love you too," she whispered, struggling to hold in a sob. "You'd better get on that ship before I drag you home." He nodded, kissed her briefly once more than strode toward the ship. "Good-" she started to say.
He turned back. "I won't say goodbye because it'll sound final. I am coming back to you. I promise." Then he turned and vanished into the shadows on the boat. Buffy waited while the men finished loading the ship up, stayed as they cast off and watched until it had vanished from view in the dawn light. Then she slowly turned and made her way back to the car where Jenny Calendar had patiently waited until she was ready to leave.
Buffy looked at the ring on her finger and whispered, "You promised."
***
Sunnydale - Spring 1998
"Buffy Anne Summers!" Joyce shouted, staring in a fury at the Polaroid in her hand.
The blonde teenager came running down the stairs. "What is it Mom?"
One eyebrow raised in a position that would make Mr. Spock proud, Joyce held the photo out and said, "Can you tell me why I found this picture on the floor of your room?"
"Huh?" said Buffy before she saw its contents. "Mom I can explain-"
Amused in spite of her anger, she replied, "I can't wait to hear this."
"Well you see I was on the beach and these guys attacked me," Buffy said hurriedly her eyes flickering back and forth as she concentrated on her narrative. "So I fell into this really slimy bunch of seaweed and stuff and I just couldn't wear my shirt home. Angel came along and rescued me from those guys and lent me his shirt so I'd have something to wear until I changed." Buffy looked at her mother with wide, innocent eyes and waited for a verdict.
"So why is there a picture that looks like you're wearing nothing but that shirt, an older man wearing no shirt, and the two of you kissing?" Her voice and expression hardened. "Kissing, of course, being the best I can do at the moment since what you two actually seem to be doing in this picture is not something a mother wants to see her daughter doing with an older, handsome experienced man." Joyce's eyebrow was back up again and Buffy winced, knowing that it was a very bad sign when the eyebrow couldn't come back down.
She still tried to wriggle out. "Well I'm gonna kill Willow, 'cause it's all her fault," Buffy told her mother. Joyce did not look convinced. "You see, she had this new camera and wanted to try it out and stuff. So when she yelled 'Cheese!' Angel turned around and tripped and stuff and that's how we wound up on the bed." Buffy was proud that she had even managed to tell some of the truth. Angel *had* tripped and fallen on top of her.
The female parental unit was less impressed. "So he tripped and his lips landed on top of yours, one hand landed under your behind and the other on your breasts? Am I right?" Joyce inquired. Buffy flushed but said nothing. "I'm going to ask your father if that school he was so eager to send you to will still accept you." Joyce watched with some satisfaction as Buffy's mouth dropped open and stayed that way. "Yes, the boarding school in England."
"But . . . Angel isn't even here anymore. He had to leave and he hasn't come back yet!" Buffy said, frantically.
Snorting, her mother replied, "And if you think that's going to convince me to let you stay here where you're involved with a man who is far too old for you, you are sadly mistaken." She turned away and said, "You'd better start packing because even if you aren't accepted into that school I'm still going to send you to the farthest boarding school I can manage to keep you away from Angel." Then Joyce marched up the stairs.