DISCLAIMER: I do not own anything from Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Harry Potter.

Chapter Five

Nottinghamshire, England

Potter Manor

January 27th, 1976

Water cascaded down James body as he stood in the shower. It was seven o'clock in the morning, which he found far too early with the three o'clock bedtime they had last night. He wasn't complaining though, his sister was venturing out of Potter Manor today. They were going shopping. Something he had always found daunting, but his sister had always loved. He was willing to endure.

And she was getting her wand.

Just a few more steps in having her with him at Hogwarts.

He had been worried when he thought about the next term at Hogwarts. The mere prospect of separating from his sister made him nauseous. Buffy certainly made it easier on him, since his plans had gone as far as smuggling her into Hogwarts within his trunk. Learning five years of magic in eight months was far harder, but a better plan in the long run. He would put in all his effort in making sure she learned enough to get into sixth year.

Blindly grabbing the bottle of shampoo, he squirted a generous about into his hand before lathering up his hair. He began humming a song, but abruptly stopped when glowing pink lather started slithering down his arm. He's been a prankster long enough to know that was never a good sign. He rinsed real quick, and then jumped out of the shower to go to the mirror. After rubbing a thick strip of fog off the glass and getting a good look at himself even without his glasses, he cursed.

"Oh, bloody hell." His hair was neon pink with a horrendous amount of glitter sparkling throughout the strands. Even his eyebrows had fallen victim. He glanced down, dread filling him, and then closed his eyes with a groan when he found that it wasn't just the hair on the top of his head that was affected. There was only one person who dared to strike him in his own home. "BUFFY!"

In nothing but a towel he searched for his sister. When he rounded the entryway to the informal dining room a flash of a camera went off, blinding him momentarily. Once his vision cleared he saw Buffy with a camera in her hands and a smile that appeared to be struggling to keep laughter in. "Pink really suits you Jamie."

Harold, who had been sitting at the head of the table and reading the Daily Prophet, glanced up and spluttered on the sip of coffee he just drank. He coughed, which soon turned into laughter. "Rose!" he called, "You must come and see this!"

James rolled his eyes and crossed his arms over his chest, far less annoyed than he looked.

Rose came in and stopped upon seeing him, her eyes wide. She brought her hand up to cover a smile he knew she was trying to hide. "Oh my. . ." Her composure failed as giggles began to slip out.

"Yes, yes, laugh it up." He faced his sister. "When did you learn to do a potion like this?"

"I didn't." The side of her lip lifting into a sly smirk. "But you still stash your prank items in the place."

Shite. That meant he was like that for the next twenty-four hours. And he had to go to Diagon Alley. Then a thought hit him. "I don't have anything with glitter."

"I added it," she said with a bright smile. "I thought it gave it something special."

He wanted to cry – from mild shock or pride he wasn't sure. All he did know was that everything was settling back into how it was suppose to be. Him and Buffy against the big bad world.

"Why don't you go get dressed, dear," Rosalie said as she came close to him and ran her hand through his neon pink hair. She stifled another onset of giggles by pressing her lips tightly together.

Sighing, he dragged himself upstairs to get dressed for the day at Diagon Alley. He was not looking forward to parading himself around with his new look. It wasn't like this was the first time his hair or skin has been changed to a different color, it was actually his fourteenth or fifteenth, but most of those times were within the halls of Hogwarts. It was expected there.

The only exception was when Buffy turned his skin color purple as retaliation to a prank he had done to her. She had gotten the idea after she read the muggle book, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. And similar to today, he had to attend a social gathering for all to see.

He got dressed, and as he was pulling on his shirt he remembered he hadn't written to his friends at all since leaving Hogwarts. He went to his desk and pulled out a piece of parchment as he sat down. Dipping his quill in his ink pot he began to write a quick letter to ease their – or most likely just Sirius' – minds.

"Who are you writing?" Buffy asked, standing right behind him.

He didn't startle, already have felt her enter and get close to him silently. "My friends at Hogwarts – Sirius, Remus, and Peter. I met them my first year; Sirius on the train and Remus and Peter after sorting. You'll meet them soon. I think you'll like them." He said all that without a pause in his writing. He had little time, since he still had to eat breakfast before leaving.

The only time his writing did stop was when his quill was snatched right out of his hand by his own sister. She then leaned past him and began writing herself on the same parchment.

"What are you doing?"

"What does it look like I'm doing, I'm saying 'Hi' to your friends."

Suspicious, he said, "Why do I have a feeling that's not all you're writing?" He then leaned to the side in order to see around her arm at what she was writing. "That's not how you spell their names." He snatched the quill back and marked out the spelling she wrote before replacing it with the right spelling. The quill was gone again once he was done. He tried to see what else she was writing, but she moved so she was sitting on his lap, successfully obscuring his view. He stared at the back of her head, partly happy at the normalcy and partly annoyed.

"What was that event we attended that one time when we were seven? It was around Christmas. You saw it while we were in muggle London and wanted to go. Only you ended up crying once you were on the fat man's lap."

Buffy chuckled. "It was Santa Clause. And I'm not the only one who cried."

"Right. . ." Not willing to remember that part. "Well, do I look like Santa Clause to you?"

She looked over her shoulder at him. "Hmm. . . Gain a few more pounds and I believe you might be able to go for the job."

That's it. He went to tickle her, only for her to jump to her feet and out of his reach before he could get his hands on her waist. The parchment was gone from his desk. It was in her hands where she was folding it and putting it in an envelope.

"What did you put in that letter?"

She gave him an innocent look. One he would never fall for. "Nothing."

He went to snatch the letter out of her hand, but she jumped back. Then she bolted out of of the bedroom. He gave chase, unable to catch up to her before she handed the letter off to their family's hawk, Adonis. She's always been fast. He cursed her agility now.

"Fly, Adonis!" she said before he tackled her to the ground.

Crawling halfway up onto the windowsill he stared at the regal hawk in dismay. He had a sinking feeling that the letter contained information about his current discoloration. He wasn't going to hear the end of it, he was sure. He collapsed back to the floor, being mindful not land full force on his sister. He wasn't sure how much more strength she actually had being the Slayer, but he didn't want to take any chances in hurting her.

"So, what did you actually put in that letter?" he asked.

He felt her shrug next to him. "Nothing much. It's the picture I put with the letter that you should be more worried about."

"You didn't!" He jerked upright and stared down at her mischievous grin. She was not jesting. He groaned and fell back down on the floor, flinging his arm over his face.

She giggled at his dramatics. "You had this coming for five years."

He grinned, loving every second of his sister being back with him.

Somewhere in Scotland

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

January 27th, 1976

"He finally writes!" Sirius hollered for the whole Gryffindor table to hear while waving the letter around like a lunatic. He's been anxiously waiting for a letter for the past week just to hear that everything was going alright with James' sister. He knew Buffy's well being was a large factor in how James was doing. If she didn't recover, then who knew what would happened to his best friend.

"Yes Sirius, I don't think Hogsmeade heard you," Remus said with an eye roll.

He ignored Remus as he tore open the envelope and pulled out the letter. "To my fellow misfits," Sirius began reading out loud. "I had honestly forgotten about you," His mouth fell open and he looked up at Remus with an exaggerated look of sadness. "He forgot about us." The exaggerated look left and was replaced with understanding as he began reading again. "but I've been worried about my sister. So, maybe it's to be expected. If you were wondering, she is doing a lot better – Of course we were wondering."

"That's good, isn't it?" Peter said. "At least we know she's doing well."

Remus nodded, chewing on a piece of toast. He swallowed before saying, "What else does it say?"

"We're going – Hey! They're going to Diagon Alley today! And she's getting her wand! Isn't that fantastic!" No one had a chance to reply. "Oh – a change of handwriting. Who's this?" The handwriting was elegant like James – mark of a Pure-blood – but more swirly. "Dear Jamie's friends – Jamie? He hates being called Jamie."

"Maybe because that's what his sister had always called him," Remus reasoned.

"You think it's his sister writing?"

Remus eyed him like he was stupid. "Who else would it be?"

That was a good point, Sirius thought as he went back to reading. "She spelled all our names wrong except for Peter's." That had Peter smiling brilliantly, causing him to scowl a little. His and Remus' names had been crossed out and spelled correctly in James' handwriting. The original spelling showing 'Remos' and 'Serious'. "Let's see – Jamie says we'll formally meet one day, but I wanted to give my greetings and to give you a gift."

He looked up at his two friends. "A gift?" They both shrugged and he went back to reading. "Jamie has told me that you've become legendary pranksters at Hogwarts called the Marauders. With that knowledge I thought you three would appreciate this. Inside the envelope is a picture you should love. Yours truly, Buffy."

Remus was the one who grabbed the envelope and looked inside first before bringing out a single picture. Upon looking at it, a snort burst from Remus. Peter leaned over to get a look at the same time that Remus's composure fell and he laughed wholeheartedly. Similar results happened with Peter.

The picture was handed over to Sirius, who upon seeing a towel-clad James with sparkling, neon pink hair and eyebrows roared with laughter. Quite a few heads turned to him, but he didn't care. It was hilarious. "I like her already!" he proclaimed. "That's bloody brilliant!"

"It definitely seems like she's doing well," Remus said once he got himself under control. There was still a large smile on his face though.

Sirius leaned forward, having a brilliant idea. He kept his voice low, so others near them wouldn't hear. "Do you think we could sneak out and catch the Knight Bus to Diagon Alley?" Remus gave him a half exasperated and half amused look. "What?! You're wanting to meet her as much as I am."

"I don't think that's a good idea," Peter said in a meek voice.

He was ignored, since nothing was ever a good idea to him if it involved possibly getting in trouble, which happened to be almost everything they did.

"Will you take no for an answer?" Remus asked, like he had already settled to his fate. For a Prefect, he didn't fight hard. But he never really did. Sometimes he did put up a pathetic excuse for a fight, but he thought the brunette's heart wasn't really in it. No matter how reluctant Remus was to show it, he enjoyed being as much of a troublemaker as him and James.

"Of course not!"

Remus sighed before he grinned. "Then Padfoot, what are we waiting for?"

Charing Cross Road, London

The Leaky Cauldron

January 27th, 1976

Buffy hated flooing. It was smoky, and it was messy, and it was all around unpleasant. Those reasons were reinforced as she stumbled out of the fireplace in the Leaky Cauldron. Even her Slayer reflexes didn't keep her from falling on her behind. She didn't feel half as bad when Jamie landed in the same position as she. At least his extra five years of practice didn't make it where he landed on his feet. He would have definitely rubbed that one in.

She pulled herself to her feet first, then gave a helping hand to her brother. They were both sooty and dirty from the travel. She fixed her hair by pulling the long braid back over her shoulder and straightened out her clothes. Jamie was fixing his clothes also, and made an attempt at his hair, but stopped and grimaced when his hand came back covered in sparkles.

His grimace turned to her and morphed into a glare. She innocently faced the fireplace as their parents came next, landing perfectly. She pouted. It had to take a long time to learn that.

"Don't pout, dear," her mother said while taking out her wand and cleaning them up with a simple 'scourgify'. "Flooing will become easier with time."

She really doubted that. But as long as she landed on her feet one day, hopefully soon, then she guessed she could tolerate that form of transportation.

They all headed to the entrance to Diagon Alley, Buffy shrinking closer to her father when stares were directed at her as they past. She may have forced herself into regaining some normalcy at home, loosening further as the morning progressed, but the stares were uncomfortable and caused her to seek the protection her father's presence gave her. She just needed a little more time to feel secure in her life as Elizabeth Potter before she could stand on her own two feet again.

If the stares she received in the Leaking Cauldron were bad, then the ones she was receiving as they entered Diagon Alley and made their way towards Ollivander's Wand Shop were ten times worse. Apparently the Daily Prophet's lack of articles of the lost Potter returning didn't prevent the rest of the Wizarding World from finding out about her like her father had hoped. And her father showed his displeasure by glaring at everyone who had the gall to stare for longer than a moment. Jamie followed his example with a scowl accompanying the glare.

By the time they made it to Ollivander's she was sandwiched between her father and Jamie with their mother on the other side of Jamie. She took a deep breath to calm her nerves once they entered the wand shop. That had been the tensest walk she's ever done. She glanced down at her hands and found them shaking. Damn. . . she cursed as she slipped them in her robes.

"Oh! Lord and Lady Potter!" came an old man's voice, causing Buffy to jump and swirl around at his sudden appearance. She needed to calm down, she was being far too skittish for someone who's faced the worst creatures of darkness and survived. "I believe yours Lord Potter was oak and dragon heartstring. Thirteen inches. Slightly bendy. Good for defense. And yours Lady Potter was maple and unicorn hair. Ten inches. Springy. Perfect for Charm work. What do I owe the pleasure?"

Rose laid her hands on Buffy's shoulders. "Our daughter needs her first wand."

Recognition and amazement crossed the old man's face. "Elizabeth Potter. I expected to see you five years ago when your brother came and got his wand. Mahogany and dragon heartstring. Eleven inches. Pliable. A little more power and excellent for Transfiguration."

"Yes, well. . . problems came up."

"Ah. . . I believe that's to be expected with who you are." Buffy and her whole family tensed at the knowledge beneath those words. "But of course, your secret is safe with me. I'm just honored to have met one as yourself in my lifetime. Now to get your wand." A tape measure came soaring through the air to hover in front of her. "Hold your arms out and I'll get you measured."

She glanced over at her brother as she did what she was told. The tape measure zoomed around her, taking various measurements, even going as far as measuring her nose. Once it was done, the old man immediately went and grabbed multiple boxes off the shelves.

"Let's see if I'll get this on the first try," the old man said as he handed over a wand. "Ebony and phoenix feather. Nine inches. Supple. Go ahead, give it a wave."

She did just that, and the whole shelve behind the counter blew up. Eyes wide, she immediately placed the wand back on the counter. "Sorry."

"No worries, dear. It happens all the time." He grabbed the next wand and held it out to her. "Try this one. Birch and unicorn hair. Twelve inches. Reasonably pliant."

She was weary about grabbing the wand, but did and gave it a very small wave. A blaze ignited, catching the whole ceiling on fire.

"Bloody hell," Jamie murmured.

The shop keeper barely flinched, he merely waved his wand and the fire was distinguished. He snatched the wand away before replacing it with another.

The process continued for another forty-five minutes and going through at least twenty-five different wands. The shop was in shambles with all the negative outcomes each wave produced. The old man didn't seem at all bothered by the condition of his shop as he stared at her in contemplation. After a long a moment he disappeared behind another shelve and reappeared with yet another wand box.

She stared at the wand as it was taken out of the box and held out to her like all the previous ones with a large amount of skepticism. With a sigh, she grabbed the wand, wondering what sort of disaster she was going to cause this time. Instead of an explosion or hurricane winds, a wave of heat traveled up her arm and throughout the rest of her body while a pleasant glow came from the wand.

A satisfied smile settled on the man's face. "A match! That my dear is mahogany like your brother's, but with hair of a Grim as its core."

The smile she had at finally getting her first wand dropped at the mention of its core. A Grim was an omen of death, taking the shape of large, black dog as she remembered reading when she was ten.

Death is your gift.

She took a glance at her brother and saw a deep frown on his face also. She wondered if he was thinking the same thing – Was death all she was?

"Ten and a half inches." The man continued on, seemingly unaware of their reactions. "Quite pliable. Excellent for defense and Transfiguration. I have a feeling you're going to do great things Miss Potter. It was quite an honor in meeting you."

She offered a half-hearted smile as her father paid the man for her wand and a wand holster. She couldn't wait to get out of there. It was becoming suffocating with the implications behind her wand. And the old man was plain creepy. Those silvery, beady eyes just unnerved her.

When they left the shop she couldn't have been more grateful even if she was being stared at from all sides.

"Why don't we get your hair cut first and then we can go clothes shopping?" Rose said.

"Sure!" she said, her wide smile genuine at the prospect of clothes shopping with her mother while simultaneously annoying her brother and father.

She pushed her worries to the back of her mind as they headed to Magickal Cuts and Dye. She could worry about everything later. She was going to enjoy herself with her family no matter what. Everyone else be damned. Now if only she could build some immunity against those persistent stares.

They were passing an ally when a hand reached out from the shadows and went to grab Jamie's shoulder. Protective instincts had her grabbing the hand and twisting until the offender was flipped onto their back on the ground. A satisfying 'oof' reached her ears with the stranger's landing, causing her brother to twist around with his wand out and pointing it threatening at the stranger.

"SIRIUS!" Jamie yelled in outrage.

Sirius? One of Jamie's friends? Oh. . . that's not good.