Author's Note: Finally got aroung to seeing Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. I'm inspired to write lot's more now! Just want to point out, that even though it's Harry's third year, Voldemort has already returned (weird timeline again). This is another chapter that didn't wow me, but that's probably just because there's explaining in here, which is dull to write. Hopefully you don't hate it. Sorry if there are any spelling or grammer mistakes. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: All rights belong to Joss Whedon and J.K. Rowling.

"Oliver!" Harry whispered. He gently prodded the older boy trying to wake him up, without disturbing the rest of the sleeping students. "Oliver, wake up."

"Go away. It's too early for Quidditch," he mumbled.

Harry chuckled. He never thought he'd hear the day when the captain would admit it's too early for Quidditch. "Not Quidditch, Buffy."

Oliver shot up in bed. "Buffy? Is she okay? She's not hurt is she?"

"She's waiting for you. We're going to see Professor Giles."

Oliver was already out of bed pulling on his cloak and shoes. "But she's not hurt right?"

Harry hesitated. He had watched as Buffy took a few good hits from those vampires. He'd just assumed she was okay. "I'm sure she's fine," he responded. "But let's hurry. We've got to go meet Ron and Hermione as well."

The two boys slipped from the room quietly and went down the stairs. Buffy was perched on the back of a chair, waiting. Harry noticed she was rubbing the side of her jaw absentmindedly.

Oliver rushed to Buffy's side. "You're not hurt are you?" He carefully looked her over, checking for any cuts or bruises.

Buffy laughed, pulling his hands down to stop his inspection. "I'm fine. Let's go find Giles though before he has a meltdown."

Buffy led the two boys through the halls down towards Giles' room. "Buffy, what's going on?" Oliver asked her.

"Giles and I are going to give you an extra bonus lesson in Defence Against the Dark Arts."

Oliver looked to Harry who just smiled.

The stopped in front of the portrait guarding Giles' room. "Watcher's Council," Buffy stated, and the portrait opened.

Inside Ron and Hermione were seated in two leather arm chairs while Giles was making tea. At the sight Buffy just shook her head and rolled her eyes. She turned to Giles, "Did you tell them anything yet?"

"Not yet. I thought everyone should be here," he responded, coming over with tea for everyone. Buffy just waved the cup away and settled into Oliver's lap after he sat down. His eyes widened in shock at first, but he quickly grinned and wrapped an arm around her waist. He wasn't about to complain.

"You wanna do the whole prophecy spiel?" Buffy asked Giles. "I know how much you love it," she teased.

"Sorry, to interrupt," Oliver said quickly, "but what's going on?"

"Oops! I forgot you weren't one of the ones spying on me." Buffy glared at the three teens, who shrunk back a little.

"Spying?" Oliver looked terribly confused.

"Well, long story short, these three," Buffy pointed to Harry, Ron and Hermione, "decided it would be follow Buffy into the Forbidden Forest night. They saw enough proof to know I'm not a regular witch so now it's truth time."

"And I'm here because?"

"Because I was going to tell you anyway and I don't like keeping secrets from the important people in my life." Oliver smiled to himself, at being considered an important person in Buffy's life.

Giles began his explanation. "You see-"

"Here he goes," Buffy sighed.

"Do you want me to explain or not?" Giles asked impatiently.

"Sorry, you do your thing. I'll just sit here and be a good girl."

Giles gave her a look that said 'I'll believe it when I see it' and moved on to his explanation. "Into every generation a Slayer is born. One girl in all the world, a Chosen One. She alone will stand against the vampires, the demons and the forces of darkness; to stop the spread of their evil and the swell of their numbers."

"And that girl is me. I'm also known by some as she who hangs around a lot in cemeteries. That's a bit of a motuthful though." Buffy added.

_____________________________

Oliver sat in shock for what felt like forever, going over what had apparently happened earlier that night. The tiny girl in his arms was the Slayer and she had staked a hoard of vampires before he'd even fallen asleep. She fought vampires nightly, and who knows what else. He wanted nothing more than to hold her tightly to prevent her from ever getting hurt.

"Oliver?" she asked, trying to get his attention. "You alright?" The concern showed clearly in her eyes.

"Just a little shocked, I guess."

"It can be a lot to take in. Easier for you guys I guess, since you know about the whole magic thing. I'm amazed Willow and Xander took it as well as they did."

"So you slay vampires?" Harry asked her.

"Vampires mostly," she admitted. "But anything else that pops up I'll kill. I've taken down a couple trolls in the forest so far. If it's evil, I'll kill it. Unless it's human. I don't kill humans."

Oliver noticed that Hermione was awfully quiet. He would have expected her to be asking the most questions. Apparently Buffy noticed it too.

"Hermione, are you alright?" Buffy asked.

"I feel horrible, after how I've treated you. I knew you were hiding something, I just thought it was something more..."

"Evil?" Buffy supplied.

Hermione nodded sheepishly.

"Don't even worry about it. I've been accused of murder before. You being a little protective of your friends is understandable."

Hermione nodded, glad that Buffy understood. She still felt guilty but it was slightly better. "Wait," she said catching on. "You've been accused of murder?"

"Drusilla, the vampire you saw tonight, killed the other Slayer, Kendra. I found the body and got blamed for it. Eventually I was cleared of the charges. I'm just glad Dru's dead. I've wanted to do that for a long time."

Oliver frowned at her explanation. "Didn't Giles say that there is only one girl in all the world? How can there be another Slayer?"

"When a Slayer dies, another is called," Giles informed them.

Ron turned to Buffy, shocked. "You've died!" he cried, catching on.

"Only for a few minutes," she said defensively. "This vampire called the Master drank my blood and then threw me in a pool of water. I was so weak I drowned. Xander gave me CPR and I was brought back though. But I was dead long enough for a new Slayer to be called. When she died, Faith was called. She went evil for a while, but now she's watching the Hellmouth for me, while I'm here."

"You mentioned putting Faith into a coma in the letter I found. What was that about?"

"Faith was corrupted. She poisoned Angel, my lover," Buffy paused to squeeze Oliver's hand reassuringly, "and the only cure was Slayer blood. I tried to bring her down to save Angel. I'd stabbed her but she got away. In the end I gave Angel my blood. When I woke up in the hospital Faith was there too, in a coma from her injuries."

Something clicked in Oliver's mind. "You said Angel needed Slayer blood. Is he a vampire?"

Buffy's eyes clouded over slightly. She nodded sadly. "He wasa vampire. But he had a soul. He'd angered a tribe of gypsies and so to punish him they gave him a soul. This way he'd have to live with all the terrible things he'd done. What they didn't mention was that if he ever experienced true happiness, the soul would be taken from him. He turned back to Angelus, the Scourge of Europe. He killed a lot of people before I finally went to stop him.

"He was planning on using this demon Acathla to basically swallow up the world and send us all to a Hell dimension. I went to the mansion where he was planning his little scheme. Unfortunately Willow didn't tell me she was attempting a spell to restore his soul. When I went to drive the sword through Angelus, he turned back into my Angel. It was too late though. The portal was open. So I kissed, him told him I loved him, and killed him."

Hermione's own eyes began to tear up. "That is so tragic. It was a forbidden love."

A part of Oliver knew that he should probably be jealous of what Buffy had shared with Angel but he found it impossible. He just pulled the Slayer closer, silently letting her know that he was okay with her past. He could have sworn he heard her sigh in relief.

"Why is the Slayer at Hogwarts? Shouldn't you be out fighting evil?" Harry asked, changing the topic.

"I am here to fight evil. Dumbledore asked me to come to Hogwarts to protect the students. Voldemort is now gathering vampires, demons and werewolves to join him. It's my specialty. Also, I just really want him dead."

"Voldemort killed Buffy's mother," Giles said softly.

The four students turned to face him. Almost not believing what he'd just said. "He knew Buffy would be powerful when she was born. He had plans to take her away," Giles explained, leaving out certain details, like why Voldemort really wanted Buffy. "I wanted to protect Joyce and her daughter, so we fled to America. I never thought he'd want Buffy badly enough to come after us."

"But he did," Buffy continued. "I was six months old when Voldemort came looking for me. I was out with Giles that day, when Voldemort came looking for me. My mother refused to tell him where I was, so he killed her."

"I faked Buffy's death, so we could disappear unnoticed. I raised Buffy as a muggle but taught her magic on the side. We were shocked when she was called as the Slayer."

"Mostly, we were just relieved that it meant Voldemort wouldn't have a Slayer at his disposal," Buffy added. "When Dumbledore told me Voldemort had returned, I knew the wizarding world needed me. As far as Voldemort knows, I'm dead. I'm going to try and end this. Though judging by what Drusilla said, Voldemort realizes that a Slayer is here at Hogwarts. Thankfully it looks like he doesn't realize that the Slayer is the same girl that escaped him as a baby."

"So you're here to stop Voldemort," Harry clarified.

Buffy shook her head. "I'm here to help you stop him. This is your prophecy, Harry. Just remember, prophecies are tricky. Remember how I died?" Harry nodded. "Well I went down to face the Master even though this prophecy said I would die, because I didn't want him to be able to rise and walk the earth. Turns out if I hadn't gone down there, he wouldn't have been able to rise, because he needed my blood. I really hate prophecies," she huffed.

"That's bloody amazing," Ron said.

Buffy yawned. "Thanks. I like to think so. Listen, I'm really tired. I'll answer any Slayer related questions you can come up with in the morning. Right now, I need sleep."

Giles nodded his head in agreement. "Yes, I think it would be best if you all went to bed. Buffy, you can stay here tonight if you want," Giles offered.

"No thanks. I want my own bed tonight. Let's go guys. Oliver and I will walk you kids back," she teased. "Night Giles," she called as she left.

______________________

Oliver stood with Buffy in front of the door to the girl's dormitories.

"Are you sure you weren't hurt," he asked again.

"Positive. I've been doing this for years. You don't need to worry."

"I know," he sighed. "But I do. You're all I can think about. I worry if you're happy, I'm always wondering if you're safe. I can't stand to see you sad." He tilted her chin so she looked into his eyes. "I think I love you Buffy Summers," he admitted.

Very hesitantly he pressed his lips to hers. At first Buffy was still, but soon she responded to the kiss, bringing her arms up to rest around his neck. He pulled back first, afraid of overwhelming her. He blushed. "I'm sorry, should I not have done that?"

Buffy just grinned and rolled her eyes. She pulled him down for another kiss, tangling her hands in his short hair. He pulled her closer to him and his hands wrapped around her waist, slipping under her cloak.

"I think I might just love you too, Oliver Wood."

He grinned. "So are we...?" he trailed off.

"If you want. I'd hope so, after you said you love me."

"I definitely want us to be together." He pulled her in for another, much more passionate, kiss.

"I really don't want to go now, but I'm about to fall asleep in your arms here," she told him.

His kissed her forehead. "Alright. I'll see you in the morning."

A very happy Buffy, and a very happy Oliver, made their way to bed.

_________________

The next morning Buffy came down to find Oliver, Hermione, Ron and Harry waiting for her. Oliver approached her first, giving her a quick kiss. Buffy looked to the others who were smiling at the display. "I take it you've come up with questions?"

"A few," they admitted.

"Well, ask away. We might as well do this now before breakfast." Her stomach grumbled. "As you can see you don't have that much time," she laughed.

"In the woods, that vampire, Drusilla, called Professor Giles your watcher. What is that?" Hermione asked first.

"A watcher is the Slayer's guardian or mentor. They train and often raise a Slayer. They handle research and work for the Watcher's Council. Only certain girls have the potential to ever be a Slayer so watchers are usually assigned to these girls, so that when they're called, they're already trained."

Hermione smiled in understanding. She already had plans to go to library and research the more factual elements of the Slayer.

Harry asked his question next. "Your friends, Willow and Xander, do they help you slay things?"

"They try. They help mostly with the research, because I don't like having to worry about them while I'm fighting. They do keep me company some nights though. It's a lonely job," she sighed. "But that doesn't mean you three will be coming with me into the forest. Last night was a onetime deal."

A rather excited Ron, who was even more smitten with the blond, now that she was practically a superhero to him, asked his question. "What is the coolest thing you've ever faced?"

Buffy smiled. "I personally like the Judge. He would burn the humanity right out of you, with just a touch. He couldn't be hurt by any weapon forged. So I blasted him with a rocket launcher we stole from the military. He didn't die but by separating the pieces he couldn't hurt anyone."

"That is so cool," Ron exclaimed.

The group began to make their way down to the Great Hall for breakfast. Buffy whispered in Oliver's ear and he smiled and walked on ahead, joining Ron and Harry. Buffy grabbed hold of Hermione.

"You're not still mad are you?" she asked, afraid that Buffy wanted to yell at her.

"Nah, I told you I understand. You were protecting your friends; you didn't like me moving in on your territory. I went through the same thing with Faith. What I wanted was to tell you that you should really make a move on Ron soon."

Hermione blushed, turning a bright red. "What do you mean?" she stuttered.

"Not everyone is as blind as Ron. I can tell you like him. Unfortunately I think growing up in a nearly all male household has made him inept at dealing with females. He's only interested in me because I'm new and shiny. Let him know how you feel and he'll forget all about me."

Hermione looked at Buffy doubtfully. "Are you sure?"

"Trust me. Before I was a Slayer, I was a cheerleader. We, like, know these things," she said in her best valley girl accent.

Hermione laughed. "Maybe you're right. Thanks Buffy."

Buffy beamed at the younger girl. "Well, now that we're past that whole Buffy is evil thing; I think you and I will be great friends. Or at least we won't be trying to kill each other."

"Maybe. I think I could take you."

"You could try," Buffy corrected.

________________-

Another chapter finished. I know Hermione made a quick turnaround in how she feels about Buffy but I'm leaving it like this, because I wanted Buffy and her to have a bonding moment and like I said, I hate bitchy Hermione. And it also sets it up for a Ron/Hermione relationship should I choose to do one. Not as much Oliver-ness as I'd planned but hey, they're together now. Well, I'm off to write the next chapter. Oh yeah, and review it makes me really really happy!