Relativity

Chapter Two

Author: Lexandria

Summery: A distant cousin shows up to live with the Weasleys and gets a job offer from Hogwarts (not who you think)

Author's Notes: ha.. forgot my author's notes last time.. well, uh.. started the second chapter already just two days after posting the first. Except now, that I'm actually typing it, it's been a while. Been working on the story in study hall… I'm already working on chapter four!

additional note: I have re-edited and re-uploaded this chapter as well. Sorry it is not an update.

Timeline: Uh… wait, I know this one! –Wanders off to check the chapter maps- Uh.. Right after Season three of Buffy (I might play around a bit with timelines… if I do, I'll make a note of it –can't remember if she does or not in this fic-) and… hmmm… Year six for Harry Potter…

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Harry Potter, if I did, I'd have no reason to Wright fanfiction!

Key: word – memory/thought

Replies to Reviews:

Moony-Mione-Padfoot:Thank you…I think the chapters after this one should start to be longer, I realize it seems rather lame right now I'm sorry. I feel disappointed in myself, actually.

Arano Honou: Mew, thanks –ish tackle-hug-glomped- eep! But most of those details were going to be answered in this chapter, actually. Molly and Arthur and Oz didn't talk much, just went to bed. And if you noticed.. Oz did notice the dishes washing themselves, just said nothing about it anyway.. uh, I could have added a bit more, but.. mew, didn't seem like it at the time o.o it was a little hurried I suppose…

Susan (): Ha! Right you are, he did notice. I'm sure I put that in somewhere… mew, maybe I just thought it. Anyway, thanks! And I'm working on the update already, actually, so, I hope it'll be up soon, but I do have to postpone the work till after I finish my dialectical Journal for my English class (reading: Man's Search for Meaning) so.. mew. Thanks!

IsiwaruOfCkaloatia: mew, thanks! And for the maiden name too! I'm gonna go change that now! I'm working on this, I swear… and later I'm gonna come back and flesh out chapter two, and prolly this one too, seeing as how I have a feeling it's gonna be pathetically short as well…

"Bill! Charlie!" Molly cried as her two eldest returned home for their holidays from work, for once they managed to both get time off at the same time as both each other and their younger siblings. That is, with the exception of Percy and the now-banned twins. She enveloped them both in tight, loving hugs immediately.

"Hi Mum" coursed the two as their breath was squeezed out of them. Their mother might be shorter than they, but she was still very strong in the hug department. It was somewhat scary, really, if they stopped to really think how strong she was.

Tisking slightly at the sight of Bill's even longer hair, she sat them at the table and began piling their plates full of the breakfast foods she had already had waiting for them. Molly was nothing if not prepared when it came to her children. Grinning, the boys knew they were definitely home.

After a while Ginny wandered down the stairs, she had always been a fairly early riser compared to Ron and the twins, and all but jumped on her brothers with excitement "you're home!" as she, too, hugged them both tightly.

"Hey Gin" Bill sighed happily as he stood, returning his little sister's hug lovingly, "What have you been doing this summer? Anything fun?"

"Just the usual stuff" she stepped back and tilted her head to look at him "practicing quiditch with Ron, mostly. I was Harry's replacement for when Umbridge banned him as Seeker. This year I'm going to try out for Chaser. Ron's gonna go for Keeper again too."

"I was gonna ask if you were going to try for the team this year." Charlie winked at her.

"Of course! We'll be out three chasers and two beaters"

"Who's going to fill those other positions do ya think?"

"I dunno, but Harry's probably going to be captain this year..."

As quiditch was discussed in the kitchen, upstairs Oz was wide awake, if not fully rested, and staring at the trunks that had, quite suddenly, appeared and fallen with a loud, echoing thump onto the floor in the middle of the room.

Now, Oz, being an easygoing kind of guy, wasn't too freaked out by objects appearing out of nowhere. He lived on a Hellmouth, and was dating an amateur wicka, who was also best friends with the Slayer. He had seen some odd things, experienced odder, than a few trunks falling out of thin air onto the floor.

He was fairly certain that, considering the dishes washing themselves and, just now, the trunks appearing out of nowhere, that one of his relatives, probably Molly, was a fairly accomplished Wicka.

However though Daniel Ozborn was an easy-going guy, he was also rather sleep-deprived, an so finally just rolled over to return to sleep. Such mundane use of magic did not really set him on edge, especially since none of it seemed to be harmful or directed at him.

"Bill, dear, where did you and Charlie set your trunks?"

"In our room" the obvious answer Molly had been dreading. It hadn't even occurred to her before that she had neither warned Daniel nor her children about one another.

"Oh! But Daniel is up there!" Molly hurried herself up the stairs, leaving Bill, Charlie, and Ginny's simultaneous question 'who's Daniel?' unanswered. Of course they followed her in an attempt to gain an answer to their unanswered question.

Knocking softly on Bill and Charlie's door, Molly recieved a sort of sleepy mumble in reply, and so eased the door open to peer at Oz, who seemed to be mostly sleeping with one eye open just a crack to look at her "Just checking to see that you're all right" she whispered and closed the door before ushering her children back downstairs firmly.

"Who's Daniel, Mum?" Ginny beat her brothers to the punch as they were pushed all the way back into the kitchen, where they quickly sat down. There was no pushing their mother around when she was in this sort of mood, "When did he get here?"

"Have some breakfast Ginny dear" Molly replied calmly, setting a plate in front of her daughter as she had for her sons, filled to the brim with delicious breakfast foods.

"Mum!"

"Do be patient dear, I haven't forgotten your question"

Ginny huffed softly, she'd known that. But Mum always pushed subjects away by changing them when she didn't feel like talking about them. Or thought it wasn't the best time to talk about them. When she was younger, food could distract her from what information she was after, but not any more. Her mother seemed to have mixed her and Ron up, seeing as how he could still be adequately distracted by any edibles presented to him.

"Can't you three wait for Ron to get down?" Molly continued, glancing at her curious children. Bill and Charlie seemed content to let their youngest sibling fight the battle against their mother, who finally wavered and gave up. "You'll have to tell Ron, I don't want to have to repeat myself"

At Ginny's triumphant grin, Molly sighed softly, hoping Ron wouldn't be left in the dark for too long.

"Daniel is my cousin Stan's son, which makes him your second cousin. He's been traveling and I've invited him to stay a bit." Her children, of course, were stunned that that was all there was to it.

"Cousin Stan the squib? Isn't he an accountant and in the States?" Bill jumped in as it occurred to him.

"Yes, I believe Daniel was raised muggle and is probably a squib himself, so he doesn't know about our world yet. Be careful around him until I tell him, we don't want to scare him."

"He didn't notice our trunks?" Charlie sounded skeptical. How could anyone not notice the sudden appearance of two heavy trunks? At the very least, he must have been woken up by their drop.

"Dear, he's exhausted. He barely noticed me knock. He probably thinks we brought them in while he was asleep."

All three of her children remained unconvinced, but Molly ignored it as she went back to work.

Oz grumbled softly as he finally forced himself from bed and groggily wandered downstairs, waking up along the way. Upon finding and entering the kitchen, all he could see was red, literally.

Molly had her back to him, and seemed to be working on the stove; at the table were four others, two teenagers and two young men about his age, though the teenagers weren't that far behind in age.

The first was tall and lean, wide shoulders and long legs, encased in faded jeans and a black shirt to complete the outfit. Keeping his long, dark red hair tied loosely back suited the young man: that and the tooth earring were sure to draw lots of attention, particularly that of the female variety.

The one next to him, clearly a younger sibling, but not by much, was a shorter, stockier individual. Evidently very fit, he sat relaxed and yet seemed ready for anything all at once. Buffy had the same restless appearance when ever he was around her, making Oz wonder what it was this young man did for a living; dressed mostly in leather, excluding his shirt, and with hair cropped very short, even singed in places, it seemed most certainly to be a dangerous occupation.

With longer hair compared to the shorter brother, the youngest boy was taller by far than most of his family, the eldest being about half an inch taller. His hair, slightly orangey-er than his siblings', but matching Molly's perfectly, clashed horribly with a bright orange 'Chudly Cannons' shirt, which, itself, clashed with the worn light-blue jeans he wore upon that lanky, still-growing body of his.

As the youngest, the girl was obviously shorter than her brothers, and slenderer, but not skinny like her elder youngest brother, with deep red hair tied in braids that rested upon her shoulders. The dark green of her sundress complemented her hair and face while matching the black pants underneath.

It took but a moment for Oz to take in the scene of a happy family settling down for lunch, but in that moment, all eyes, except Molly's, whose back was to him, were on him.

"Hi" Oz was, of course, as unfazed as usual, raising his hand slightly in salute.

Whirling around, Molly exclaimed cheerfully "Oh! Daniel dear, have a seat!" waving a hand and a wooden spoon towards the empty chairs at the table.

Silently, Oz sat in one of the seats, across from the girl in green and next to the youngest boy. There was a bit of staring directed his way, and Oz could tell they were sizing him up. It didn't bother him, really; he'd gotten a lot of that in high school. Being short and a little on the skinny side, people wondered how he had ended up lead guitar in a band, with a steady girlfriend. The good grades didn't surprise others too much; no one noticed when he repeated his senior year. He was the non-threat, which suited Oz perfectly: he was content to do his own thing without scrutiny from others: Though that wouldn't have bothered him either.

Soon enough Molly appeared and served each of them a large bowl of soup before she, too, sat down with her own.

"How did you sleep Dear?" Molly inquired of Oz, breaking the silence that had grown uncomfortably thick, almost enough to cause Oz to squirm. Almost.

"Very well" carefully eating his soup, Oz glanced up at his distant cousin, "best sleep I've had'n weeks"

Smiling a little, Molly wondered (and worried) why he hadn't been sleeping well. "Oh, Daniel, let me introduce my children." Molly changed the subject rapidly, "This is Bill" the motioned to the eldest on her right, the chair next to her empty, "Charlie's the one next to him" the shorter of the two, "Ginny is across from you, and Ron is next to you"

"Hey"

"And this is Daniel, your second cousin"

"Everyone but Stan calls me Oz" he offered, then added "and Snyder" with what could almost be described as a smug look on his passive face.

"Where did you get a nickname like that?" Ron turned a bit to look at him.

"Last name's Ozborn"

"Oh"

After a somewhat awkward silence, everyone finished eating; Oz cleared his dishes with everyone else, who quickly returned to their activities, apparently a game or something outside.

"Dan—" Molly quickly corrected herself "Oz dear, can I speak with you for a moment?" she needed to take care of the magic talk before Arthur came home and ambushed the poor boy.

Nodding passively, Oz stood and followed his cousin into the sitting room, and with an invitation sat on the couch next to Molly. He expected this was the 'how long you can't stay' talk, and wasn't really too surprised by his situation.

'How to put this delicately?' Molly thought as Daniel sat down where she'd indicated, sighing softly, she opted for the simplest approach.

"Da—Oz Do you—"

"You can call me Daniel" Oz interjected, noticing her preference for his given name.

"Daniel…do you believe in Magic?"

Oz blinked; that was the last thing he expected to hear.

Molly continued "Magic is real, Daniel" coaxingly she added "I know it is a lot to take in Dear"

"Actually, it explains a lot" (1) he smiled a bit.

Rolling onto his back, Oz stared at the ceiling from the cot in Bill and Charlie's room. He'd refused one of the beds; he was the guest, not they.

According to Ron, the second youngest (and tallest), the twins (Fred and George apparently)'s room wasn't exactly safe for anyone to stay in. He didn't mind.

After Molly had, forcefully, gotten Oz to accept some spare cloths and had him change so she could wash his only set, Oz had had a chance to talk to his cousins a little bit. The teens (and young adults) came back in, looking tired, dirty, and happy. The girl chattering on about how she and Charlie had beaten Bill and Ron fairly well; face flushed and eyes bright. She clearly loved whatever game they had been playing.

During dinner, Molly's husband, Arthur, arrived and sat at the other head of the table, across from Molly and next to Oz, who took the same seat he had taken before.

Arthur, who had seemed protective the night before, was now positively bubbling with excitement, and asked Oz all sorts of odd questions, ranging from the purpose of rubber ducks (to keep you company while taking a bath) to how an airplane flies without magic (aerodynamics).

Everyone chatted happily about this and that, something called Quiditch, brooms, owls, letters, and a school.

Later that night, he'd spoken to Molly and Arthur regarding his stay, Oz never wanted to overstay his welcome. It was surprising when they both extended his welcome indefinitely.

Of course, Oz wouldn't stay forever; he couldn't. He needed to get back to Willow, but he also needed to be in complete control as well, The Weasleys, who surprisingly, all seemed to possess magic, could protect themselves if he lost control. But the loss of that control was rather unlikely, at this point he only needed to be absolutely sure he could protect Willow, for she was what caused him loss of control. He was finding that what the book said was very true: a mated werewolf such as he was very much less dangerous than an unmated one. Except if his mate was human. In that case his wolf was only interested in changing her, rather than harming or turning others. There was the urge to hunt, yes, but in his meditative state he could convince his wolf that they had enough food and enough to satisfy their hunger with whatever food he had managed to get at the time. Now that it was very clear that Molly would never let him go hungry, he was not a threat to them. But he had to wait until he was not a threat to Willow either, and that would only be when he did not need the potion to keep himself in control.

He would wait just a little longer.

(1) "Actually, it explains a lot" (1) - Oz says this in the birthday episode in season two of Buffy, when told that Vampires exist and stuff like that. I love that quote and think it fits well in here.

Author's Notes: HA! Chapter two is DONE! AND it's LONGER than chapter one, and the prolog WOOT! –does a happy dance- yeah.. I've got chapter three done too, and working on chapter four, study hall is such a wonderful thing… Shouldn't be too long for chapter three to be up!

I AM still working on Gateway, added a little bit today, still have writer's block though…

Additional Note (11/10/2010): Cleaned it up a little, added a few more details, and a bit of an explanation at the end as to why Oz does not feel he is a threat to the Weasleys, and thus why he has no need to tell them of his condition. Additionally, as a very private person, and the sort who does not betray his friends, Oz will most likely not bring up or mention the Slayer or the Hellmouth as he would see it as breaching the trust of his friends. This story is Oz-centric. He is my favorite character and was cut out of the show far too early in my opinion. I have not seen Season 4 of BtvS, but i have an understanding of the events up to the finale. However, I am taking my interpretation of his journey to control himself from the book that followed a portion of it called "Oz: into the Wild" and not season 4 of Buffy. This may clear up any inconsistencies you may or may not find regarding BtvS and my story.