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Chapter Six: Crossing Paths.

'Let's see what we can find out here,' Harry thought to himself.

Harry thought he would be forever doing these tests. Before merging with the Hallows and ridding himself of the soul fragment inside him, his capabilities to perform magic were slightly average. Many people would be content with average, but Harry Potter was the furthest thing from many people. The Horcrux combined with the fact his magic was protecting his useless and abrasive relatives, Harry thought it was a good mark of his magical ability where he hadn't gone all squibs.

The Boy-Who-Lived responded with a frown when he moved through the latest tests. He had been scanning himself every single time after sexual intercourse. His abilities did increase as such where he could project himself into the minds of those women who he encountered, but only if sexual attraction had been there in the first place.

In his own opinion, Harry thought about eight times out of ten, sexual attraction would be formed. It really should have been much easier back in his world.

'Then again, it might have been easier if it wasn't for circumstances,' Harry said. He smiled when he ran his fingers down the latest results. 'It's just as I thought….I'm getting stronger, but not as strong as I should be. It's safe to say I've gotten much stronger than my entire seven years at Hogwarts"

Harry chuckled at his own high standards. He held a phone in his head. The Master of Death had been curious about more branches of his family. One of the reasons why he came to the United States was to explore a couple other questions regarding his bloodline.

"Yes, thank you for talking with me," Harry said. "I understand you've been tracing the Potter family tree, but you've run into a snag. "Have you found out there were no real records for this particular portion of the Potter family tree?"

Harry thought this particular statement would entice the person on the other end of the phone. He had been right. This grabbed her interest.

"Yes," the girl over the phone responded. "And it's frustrating, to be honest…..I swear, I've searched the Internet high and low, searched local libraries, made dozens of phone calls. I've even discussed things with a friend who is used to finding information which she shouldn't be able to find. But so far nothing, I'm at a loss."

Harry almost cracked a smile at the exasperation of his contact at the other end of the phone. He had made a couple of calls, sending some feelers. There was also the Evans family business interests which he needed to take a closer look at.

'So much to do, so little time,' Harry thought. 'Once I'm powerful enough to duplicate myself safely, my life will be so much easier.'

Harry chuckled once again. An advanced form of magic and people had been able to make holographic duplicates of themselves, but they were not tangible and flamed out in an hour. Harry was interested in using them for more scientific purposes.

"I might have information you could use," Harry said.

Harry heard a gasp from the other end of the line. He caught the interest of the woman he talked to

"Oh, you do?" the girl on the other end of the phone asked. Her tone brightened up a little bit, and Harry almost laughed, even though it was not at her. "Please, anything….anything, I swear, I've been driving myself completely nuts trying to dig up this information."

Harry paused and pulled out the albums he removed from the Potter Family Vault back home. It was amazing he never noticed these record books when he was in the vaults all of the times previous. Then again, he had been so distracted by the mountains and mountains of gold, so anything else in the vault had been overlooked.

Then again, Harry supposed there were other reasons why he didn't really notice those textbooks in the vault.

'Maybe they wouldn't have presented themselves until I became of age, and ready to move forward,' Harry thought. 'But, damn would these things have saved so much grief.'

"Yeah," Harry said. "And there's a perfectly good reason why you're not able to find the information you need. Although you'll never believe it in a million years."

The girl responded with one of those of those chuckles as if she was more amused than anything by Harry's words.

"Trust me, I live in Smallville, and there's a very high ceiling on what I believe," she said. "I'm not sure if you've heard the rumors, but there're some really weird things going on here."

Harry heard the rumors about Smallville and had been more than curious. He knew from experience the truth skewed as more complicated than the most outlandish rumors.

"So I've heard," Harry said. He allowed his amusement to clear for a few seconds before he pushed himself forward. "So, I have information you might have use of, and I think you might have something for me...I don't have much on my Potter relatives in the States…..it pretty much runs dry before the Great War."

"Oh," she said. "Well, I think I can help you with that."

Harry figured the two of them could help each other. The mysteries of his past was slowly beginning to come together, at least it was his hope.

"Great!" Harry said in an excited voice. He cleared his throat. "We're going to have to do lunch….I'm actually going to be in Smallville next week if you're not too busy."

"How about Monday?" she asked. "Will you be there on Monday?"

Harry made a mental check of his schedule. He had nothing too pressing to do, and he would be there on Sunday for a week in Kansas.

"Yes, I'll be there," Harry said. "Talk to you real soon, Lana. Thank you."

"No, thank you, you don't know how long I've been trying to dig this up," Lana said. "And I'm looking forward to meeting you…..can't wait until Monday!"

'Well, she's passionate about her work. Can't deny it.'

Buffy found herself at the hangout of many teenage girls the world over, a shopping mall. She looked like she was a million miles off, a fact which would not be lost upon the observant who caught a look at her. She tried to keep her head above the water.

There was more than enough running through her mind. The distraction wouldn't stop hitting her.

Three nights, three dreams involving Harry Potter, each of them becoming more vivid, more intense ever. It was to the point where every time Buffy closed her eyes, it was almost there.

'You better act on your impulses and jump him the next time you see him,' a voice thought in her head. It sounded a lot like Buffy's, although it was dripping with a lot more sexual mischief and was almost egging her on to do something, something pretty scandalous, something pretty naughty.

"Buffy!"

Buffy turned towards her friend, Willow Rosenberg. The cute redhead stared at her for a while, and Buffy shook her head.

"So, you met someone the other night?" Willow asked. "And not your usual….night crowd?"

"How did you know….I…"

"Well, you have that vapid dreamy look in your eyes," Willow said. "And you were looking at the water fountain, and it's not that interesting."

Buffy would have liked to respond with a snappy retort about how water fountains could be more interesting than you thought. She couldn't bring the right retort from her mind.

"Well, his name is Harry Potter, and he's…well he's certainly something," Buffy said.

"On a scale of one to ten, how you would rank him?" Willow asked.

"An eleven," Buffy said. Willow raised her eyebrow. "But there's room for improvement."

Willow made her way around the corner and almost ran headlong into a girl. She jumped halfway into the air and almost landed down with a solid "eep." The girl she ran headlong into grabbed Willow's head and prevented her from landing down on the ground.

"Oh, sorry, sorry, I'm so sorry!" she started. She looked at the girl, who was wearing a black leather jacket, a tank top, and tight leather pants. Very tight leather pants which distracted Willow just a little bit.

As in distracted her more than the mysterious and enchanting Mr. Potter did to Buffy earlier, but she mentally distanced herself.

"No, it's fine, you were distracted," the girl responded with a smile. Her dark hair framed her face in an exotic and very alluring manner. "My name is Melody Drake."

Buffy frowned. Someone this intriguing, she would remember, she was sure.

"I haven't seen you around before," Buffy said.

"Well, I'm new in town," Melody said. She smiled when looking at the other girl. "I'm afraid I didn't have the pleasure of an introduction, Ms….."

"Buffy, Buffy Summers," she said a moment later.

Buffy spent a moment looking at the girl. She had been almost enchanted by the girl like she had been by Harry, and the Slayer doubted very much she was the only one. There was something musical about her voice, almost like a melody.

'Very fitting when you think about it,' Buffy thought. She took a second to clear her thoughts.

"Willow Rosenberg," she said. "And you could have been hurt…and I wasn't watching where I was going."

"If you really want to be fair, I was just about as distracted," she said. The two girls locked their eyes onto Melody. "There seems to be a lot of that going on here….but when you're in the presence of two lovely ladies, I think you can excuse me for being scatter brained."

Both of the girls smiled.

"Oh, yeah, I guess that's a good enough reason," Willow said. She stood up with a bit more confidence and poise in her voice. "So, you're new around here….must have been why we haven't seen you, like ever."

"Yes, and I'll be starting school tomorrow," she said.

"I can't believe they're making us start on a Friday this year," Willow said.

"Yeah, that seems a bit off," Melody said. "I have a feeling I'm going to like it around here….first time in a public school."

"Where did you go before now?" Buffy asked.

She stopped asking a question which pretty much amounted to asking the new girl why the hell she thought transferring into a school in Sunnydale was any kind of good idea. She didn't want to scare off the newbie at her first day.

"Oh, an all girl's private school," Melody said.

"What was that like?" Willow asked.

"Lots of Lesbian orgies," Melody responded completely deadpan. Willow looked a bit red around the ears. Buffy, to her credit, despite being thrown, seemed to take it about as much in stride. Melody looked towards Willow with a smile. "Interested in a transfer?"

"Um…..well…..I think I…..very good where I am," Willow stammered.

"Good, I'm glad things are good enough where you're satisfied," Melody said with a smile. "There isn't any lack of attractive girls in Sunnydale….I think I'll enjoy it here. A nice change of scenery…."

Buffy questioned why someone would come to Sunnydale these days.

"Why would you leave it the first place?" Buffy asked.

"Just wanted a change of pace," Melody said. "And the fact I got kicked out because they found me and a classmate on a teacher's desk….and the classmate was the daughter of the Headmistress."

Willow looked about ready to find a hole to hide in. Buffy placed her hand on her friend's shoulder and gave her a reassuring smile.

"Hope I'll see a lot more of your girls soon," Melody said. "I'll get out of your hair."

Melody Drake, or Sara Lance as she was known in a past life, smiled. She had made contact with one of the Slayers and her cute friend.

'Now I'll have to do is wait for the League's target to make their move,' Sara thought. 'At least I'll have no lack of amusement when I wait for Nyssa to give me the go-ahead to proceed.'

Sara stole one last look at the two girls before walking off.

'Yeah, things are going to be very interesting.'

Harry performed the last battery of tests. He moved around, topless, dripping wet with sweat. This fact, Faith appreciated when viewing Harry working. Her eyes traced every bit of his muscles and she smiled, licking her lips in hunger.

'I've seen him with much less, but this is still a treat,' Faith thought to him.

"Don't forget what today is," Harry said to her.

Faith, with regret, tore her eyes away from Harry. She had been brought back down to Earth a few seconds later.

"Been trying to, thank you," Faith said. "School…..I don't think I missed it, and I think I'll miss it even less when I get back today."

Harry could feel her pain and was pretty glad he was done with school himself. He managed to get all of his qualifications he missed at Hogwarts, and it wasn't easy catching up on seven years of lost education. Especially given educational standards changed since the last time he stepped in a proper school.

"So, how far is your upper limit?" Faith asked.

Harry stretched out a little bit. Faith tried not to get wound up too much before school. It would be hard enough to get through today without remembering what was waiting for her when she got home.

'Focus, you can do this,' Faith thought to herself.

He tested a few more things before turning around and looking towards Faith with a long gaze.

"I'm not sure if there is any kind of upper limit," Harry said. "After our workouts, I always run some tests to see, and it keeps rising."

Faith held out the obvious retort about Harry's limits not being the only thing that's rising.

"But, that's just with one woman," Faith said. "And granted, I can be pretty amazing…"

"And so very modest," Harry said.

Faith walked across the room and leaned towards Harry. She gave her master a long kiss on the lips. She tried not to stick around for too long. Otherwise, she might not be able to leave.

"Well, you can't accuse me of not being confident," Faith said. She sat down on the table and bent forward to give Harry a nice look at her cleavage. After all, if she was going to get wound up, it was fairer to be wound up. "But, seriously, though, just think about how fast you're going to regain your powers if you have two women….or more."

Harry smiled and rested a hand on her bare thigh. Faith blinked and tried to give him a glaring look, to warn him not to wind her up before school. The look only caused Harry to slip his hand up her thigh and stop close from reaching underneath her skirt.

"Believe me, I've thought about it," Harry said.

"Good, I'm glad you have an imagination," Faith said. "I would seriously question my tastes if you didn't."

The best thing about going to school was being able to scout new pieces of fresh meat to bring home to her master.

'So maybe this will work out for the best.'

"Just keep your head down, and don't get into too much trouble," Harry said. Faith snorted when looking at Harry. "I know, I'm the last person to give this lecture."

Faith laughed. At least he admitted it, which worked out pretty well for her.

"Yes, you are," Faith said. She slid her skirt back a little bit and Harry caught a flash on her panties. She grinned. "But, your heart is in the right place. I'll try to be a good little girl."

Faith leaned towards him and added in a sultry voice.

"But, if I'm bad, that just means you can spank me."

Self-control prevented Harry from taking her over the table and giving her something to be sore for during the entire school day.

"Buffy's wet dreams are also adding into my power levels being fueled," Harry added. "Unfortunately, though, my entire life can't just be sex and working in my lab."

"Oh, I don't know," Faith said. "That sounds like a pretty good life for me."

Faith slid off the table and wrapped her arms around Harry. She gave him one of the most sultry kisses ever and cupped his ass, pinching it. Harry squeezed it in response.

"Well, at least I have something to look forward to after school," Faith said. Her heart started to beat in anticipation. "I don't suppose there isn't a spell which can fast forward the day until the end, is there?"

Harry frowned towards her and cast her a stern gaze. Faith smiled and stole one last quick kiss from him.

"Wishful thinking, I know."

"Very wishful thinking," Harry said.

There were, in fact, spells which could speed up time, but they also created severe distortions to the fabric of time and space, along with magically created natural disasters.

"Well, wish me luck," Faith said.

"Good luck," Harry said. "I hope you survive the experience."

She considered a quickie with Harry after breakfast. But, as Faith well knew, there was absolutely nothing quick about Harry.

Faith wondered who had the bright idea to do this. Who thought it was a good idea to start school on a Friday, but she was pretty sure they got on her bad side right away. The dark haired girl double checked her schedule. She was supposed to be in orientation in about twenty minutes and she was pretty early.

'Damn you, Harry, you're being a bad influence on me, making me be on time.'

Faith almost chuckled in response. Almost as if cue, Faith almost ran into Buffy. Buffy took a half of a step back.

"Oh, hey, Faith," Buffy said. "How are you doing?"

Faith tried not to grin at the very sight of her fellow Slayer.

"Pretty good," Faith said. "You know, I've been sleeping pretty soundly after Harry helped us take care of the ancient Greek Bastard."

"Oh yeah," Buffy said for a second later. "It must be a relief to get the monkey off of your back."

"Or the goat," Faith said. She looked at Buffy, and she could not resist planting more seeds in her mind. "Harry's amazing, he keeps me pretty busy."

The suggestion planted in Buffy's mind had the desired effect.

"Does he?" Buffy asked, trying not to sound too curious. Unfortunately for her, she didn't do a very good job at it.

"Yes, and I would get in a lot more trouble if he wasn't there to keep me in line," Faith said. "Just goes to show you, it takes a pretty firm hand to put someone back in line, and someone who is able to take charge. And Harry takes charge, and I'm a lot better off for it."

Buffy recalled her dreams, and how Harry started to take charge of her. Granted, they had been tastes of the forbidden fruit which had been pulled away.

"So, been doing well?" Faith asked. "You haven't been working too hard slaying the forces of evil, have you? You've been sleeping well, haven't you?"

Buffy could not help but notice the look on Faith's face, almost knowing, almost smug.

'There's no way she knows….there isn't some Slayer Force Sense thing which gives you the ability to know stuff,' Buffy thought to herself. 'At least, I don't have it.'

"Very well," Buffy said.

"Good," Faith said. "If we ever team up, I don't want you slacking off on the job again."

Buffy was about to protest for a second. She realized Faith had wound her up and she responded with one of those more obvious glares. Her hands flew to her hips and looked Faith in the eyes.

"So, do you want to come over to my place after school?" Faith asked. Buffy raised an eyebrow. "Well, it's not my place, as much as Harry's, but still,…remember his modest beach house?"

Buffy cracked a slight smile at Faith's terminology. She wasn't going to let this go.

"Harry won't be there, he's got some business to deal with," Faith said. "His mother's side of the family owned a lot of business, and now he's in the States, I guess he wants to take a bit closer control of them."

Buffy found herself disappointed Harry wouldn't be there, but she guessed it made a fair bit of sense he would have other responsibilities.

'Well, there goes your chance to make your move,' that voice said again.

Buffy's thoughts drew to a rather abrupt thought when she noticed another girl walk around the corner. She smiled and turned her attention towards Faith.

"Faith, I'd like you to meet Melody Drake," Buffy said. "Melody, this is Faith Lehane."

Faith smiled, something about this girl was familiar. Actually, Harry mentioned he ran into a girl named Melody Drake when he had been arriving in the United States. And Faith pretty much figured out this girl and that girl was one and the same.

'Can't be a coincidence she's here,' Faith thought.

"Well, it's a pleasure to meet you," Faith said with a smile. She most certainly felt her master's imprint when shaking Melody's hand.

She was just a little bit better in controlling her impulses in public, and not looking lost in herself like Buffy was.

"Likewise, and….guess we're going to have to brave this new adventure," Melody said. "But, I think you'll do great."

"Really," Faith said. "Same to you."

Buffy smiled at both of them. "Welcome to Sunnydale High School, hope you survive the experience."

To an outsider, Buffy's statement might have sounded a bit facetious. However, to someone who was in the know, they understood how honest her hopes they would survive the experience would be.

"How bad can it be?" Melody asked.

Faith almost responded with a snort but held herself back. Perhaps she should be a bit more positive.

"So, did you have a nice day at school?"

Sara Lance tried to ignore the rather chipper statement coming from her beloved. It was almost like she was testing Sara. Actually, there was no almost about it. She was testing Sara. Making sure she was able to hold herself together.

She formulated the Melody Drake identity to be able to blend in and blended in rather too well.

"Well, this mission is reminding me why I was glad to see the back of high school in the first place," Sara said. "Glad enough I got on a ship with my sister's ex-boyfriend…..although I guess it all worked out in the end."

To her credit, Nyssa took these comments in stride.

"You are the best person for the job, and you're able to blend into a crowd," Nyssa said. "Even when you've been reborn, you're still adapt better to a life on the outside, more so than many members of the League."

And Nyssa never really knew a life outside of the League of Assassins, her entire life had been training, trying to be the heiress to the throne of the demon. With Ra's Al Ghul out of commission for the foreseeable future, she really had to step up. Keeping the various factions in check was difficult, as all of the key members of the League had their own agendas.

"Just keep your head up," Nyssa said. "I swear I'll make this worth your while in the future."

"Good, I'll hold you to that."

Sara knew Nyssa would make it up to her, but it didn't annoy her any less to be in this particular position. She made her way around high school, watching people standing in their cliques, losing all sense of individuality.

'On the other hand, being an assassin and being a high school student isn't too different,' Sara thought. 'Both involve deception and both require the ability to be something you're not to adapt.'

"Any luck finding him?" Sara asked.

"I've been trailing him all morning, I will make my presence known once we're alone," she said. "And then I'll test his worthiness."

Sara almost smiled at her beloved's high standards. It really made her confident in her own abilities if Nyssa allowed her to share a bed, there must have been something in Sara.

"Well, best of luck," Sara said. "If he's the one….."

"If he's the one, then we'll move forward," Nyssa said. "Just keep your eye on the Slayers…..they could be a prime target. And make sure to stay out of the detection of the Watchers."

"Right, keep an eye on the Slayer, and watch for the Watchers," Sara said. "No problem."

"Don't be so flippant, it could mean the difference between success and failure," Nyssa warned her.

Sara almost rolled her eyes. Nyssa acted like this was her first infiltration mission. She was always good at keeping her head down and avoiding the type of people who got her into trouble.

Harry left a meeting. Much to his relief, the company ran itself, and his first indications saw the Board of Directors was on the level, which was a relief. His grandparents made sure to set up a good staff, many of them who were still in place.

'Still, they were glad to hear any ideas I have, and not discourage them,' Harry thought. 'So at least they're more forward thinking than some.'

Actually having some people older than him except his input and feedback was very strange for Harry.

Harry walked into the darkened parking garage. He stepped a bit closer and noticed something. Someone had been right behind him for the past three minutes. They laid in wait in the parking garage.

"You know, you can come out properly so we can properly speak to each other."

A whoosh brought Harry's attention to the right and an energy pulse caught the security camera. The lights dimmed slightly and left Harry standing in the semi-darkness. His arms folded over each other, with a frown crossing over his face.

A figure cloaked in the familiar attire of the League of Assassins took a step towards Harry. Her entire body had been covered, with a mask pulled over her face. Haunting green eyes flashed towards Harry. Harry waited for her to move forward.

The lights went out and seconds passed before the cloaked figure turned around. Harry ended up behind her in the blink of an eye, a firm grip on her arm. She twisted out of the attack and sent him a few steps back.

"I'm here to test you," she said. "To see if you're worthy."

She stabbed the air at the spot where Harry had been standing just a blink of an eye ago. The woman turned around and noticed Harry standing at the opposite end of the parking garage. A predatory smile etched over his features.

"Well, here I am," Harry said. He motioned for her. "You've been following me all day, let's see what you're made of."

The two figures closed in on each other, ready to go head to head.

To Be Continued on August 25th, 2016.

So, Buffy is getting closer to being ensnared by Harry. Obviously, he could take her at any time, but the anticipation being built up in her mind is going to make things more glorious. And she isn't the only one.

And Melody is Sara Lance, so there you go. The worst kept secret in this story is officially revealed. Well, one of them anyway.

Harry is researching his family tree, which could lead to some….interesting revelations.

We end with the preparation for a battle. And that's where we leave you until seven days from now.