Title: Where Do We Go From Here?

Disclaimer: I don't own anything you recognize.

Authors Note: Chapter 10 newly edited, pretty much the same, but it will start changing in the next few chapters.

Katherine Elizabeth

Chapter 10: Meetings, Greetings, and Plans

Buffy paced the living room, as she waited for Dawn to come home, she had to talk to her, and had seriously considered going back to the park to find her. After several minutes of fretting she decided to wait for her sister to get home, as Harry might get a little suspicious if she went back to the park now.

So Buffy waited, and waited, and waited. It seemed as if she had been waiting forever, but really it was only about 30 minutes. So she decided to make herself a cup of tea, because that's what Giles always did when he was nervous. Speaking of Giles, that's just who was sitting at the kitchen table, drinking tea, when she walked in.

"Giles, what are you doing up so late?" Buffy questioned.

"I was just having some tea." Giles replied, gesturing to the cup in his hands.

"Oh, that's why I came in here, is there any left?" Buffy asked.

"On the stove," Giles informed her. After pouring herself a cup of tea, and adding lots of sugar, Buffy sat down at the table next to her watcher.

"So what's up Giles? Something has to be wrong for you to be drinking tea in the middle of the night." Buffy pointed out, forgetting about her current problem.

"Yes, well, it's just something about Dumbledore." Giles told her.

"What about him?"

"He got this strange expression when he heard Dawn and you talking, and I think he knows something more then he is telling us, he may even know about the key." Giles said carefully.

"Oh yeah, about that," Buffy smiled guiltily, taking a sip of her tea. "I forgot to tell you, but he already knows."

"What!"

"It's ok though, he's a good guy, he offered Dawn a place at his magic school." Buffy explained.

"I know Dumbledore would not harm Dawn, but I would have liked to know he invited her to Hogwarts." Giles told her.

"I was gonna tell everyone tomorrow." Buffy defended. Giles ignored her.

"I had a feeling he would know, but I think there is something else he's not telling us, something he just found out today." Giles told her.

"Oh!" Buffy nearly screamed, and Giles shushed her. "It's Harry," Buffy said "He's Harry Potter, I mean Dawn's friends is, and Dumbledore knows!"

"What are you talking about?" Giles asked.

"You know that boy Dawn has been hanging out with?" at a nod from Giles she continued, "Well he is Harry Potter, as in the-boy-who-lived! I think Dumbledore realized that today when he heard Dawn and I talking, because he obviously knows where Harry lives."

"Ha," Giles said, "That's rather funny."

"Giles! It's not funny, why didn't Dumbledore tell us? He had better not be planning anything evil!" Buffy growled.

"Buffy calm down!" Giles ordered, "Dumbledore just found out about this today, while he was here, I don't think he is planning anything, and as for why he didn't tell us, you'll have to ask him, but I really do think this is all just a big coincidence."

"I guess your right," Buffy muttered, and then jumped to her feet, "Oh my god, what if Voldywarts attacks Harry while Dawn is with him; she could be in danger!"

"Buffy, she's always in danger, but I think if anyone can protect her from Voldemort it would be Harry. Plus he has people watching over him every minute he is away from school." Giles reassured her.

"Whatever, I really need to talk to Dawn about this, she is gonna freak!" Buffy said.

"Maybe you shouldn't tell Dawn right away."

"What? I can't not tell Dawn," Buffy almost screamed again.

"I'm not saying you shouldn't tell her, I'm just saying you should wait a few days, until you can talk to Dumbledore first, maybe there is a reason he didn't tell us in the first place." Giles pointed out. Buffy looked suspiciously at him, before sighing.

"Fine, I'll talk to Dumbledore tomorrow before I tell her, but he better have a good reason for not telling us." Buffy grumbled, before standing up.

"I'm going to bed, I'll see you in the morning." Buffy said as she put her cup in the sink, and walked out of the room.

"Night," Giles called after her, a small smile on his face.

Meanwhile, no more then a block away from the house, Harry laughing at a story Dawn was telling, as he held her hand, while he walked her home. They had stayed at the park for an hour or so, and Dawn had told Harry she would be leaving in a couple of weeks. He had been sad to hear she would be leaving, but had resolved to make sure they made the most of the time they did have together.

"This is me," Dawn said when they reached her house.

"Oh," Harry said sadly.

"Yeah, so I'll see you tomorrow?" Dawn asked hopefully.

"Count on it," Harry smiled. Dawn smiled back, and gave him a quick hug before letting go of his hand, and walking up to her front door. She turned around and saw Harry still standing at the sidewalk, smiling at her. She gave a little wave, before walking into the house.

Harry watched her go inside before turning around, and heading home. He was going to miss Dawn, and he had a hard time thinking about how it would be after she left.

The next morning Buffy and Dawn gathered all the Scooby's in the living room, to tell them Dawn would be going to Hogwarts. Willow, Faith and Giles were all happy for Dawn, although they would miss her; they knew she would be having a lot of fun at Hogwarts. Xander on the other hand, had taken on the role of big brother, and tried to talk Buffy out of letting Dawn go.

"Xander calm down she'll be perfectly safe at Hogwarts." Buffy told her friend.

"But Buffy, what about all those stories Dumbledore told us?" Xander reminded her. "Your sending Dawnie to a medieval castle full of three headed dogs, trolls, giant snakes, and not to mention the teachers that keep turning evil!"

"Xander," Dawn protested, "I can take care of myself!"

"But the evil teachers!" Xander frowned.

"Isn't Hogwarts one of the safest places in the world?" Willow asked.

"Yes, it is, and it will be safe as long as Dumbledore is headmaster," Giles informed them. "Dawn will probably be safer there then she is here."

"But..."

"Stop spazzing Xander, D will be fine," Faith cut him off.

"Fine," Xander sighed, "I guess you guys are right, sorry for spazzing, it's just I'm gonna miss ya Dawnie."

"I'm gonna miss you to Xander, I'm gonna miss all you guys." Dawn smiled sadly.

"Hey, and I forgot to tell you all that Dumbledore said we could visit whenever we want!" Buffy remembered her conversation with Dumbledore the night before.

The Scooby's were extra excited at that bit of news, and spent the next half hour talking about how much they would miss Dawn.

That afternoon, Dawn went out to lunch with Willow and Faith, while Buffy and Giles had a meeting with Dumbledore; She wasn't exactly sure what Xander was doing, but Willow mentioned something about Andrew feeling intimidated by the 13 year old slayers, and wanting to get away.

Dawn assumed that Andrew would be coming to visit soon, and Xander was either going to pick him up in a council plane, or arranging a flight for him at the airport. She wasn't really interested in that though, all she cared about was why Buffy had gotten her out of the house for her meeting with Dumbledore; she knew it had something to do with her.

When the three girls got home from lunch, standing on the front porch, they could hear Buffy laughing hysterically in the living room. They curiously crept closer to the door, but the laughing mellowed down, and they heard muffled voices. Dumbledore was questioning what was so funny, and Buffy replied amusedly.

"I'm sorry," She laughed, "It's just your face when you said that, it was so funny, you are so awesome."

"I do try Ms. Summers," Dawn could here the smile in his voice, "Now I have to go, I'll inform Molly that you will be by for dinner before the meeting, and I'll talk to you about the other thing then."

"Sounds good," Buffy said, "We'll see you then." Willow, Dawn, and Faith heard a faint pop, and knew that Dumbledore had apparated away. They exchanged confused glances, before Willow shrugged, and opened the front door. Just after they closed the front door the phone rang, and Willow jumped.

"It's Kennedy," She smiled brightly, before running into the kitchen to answer the phone.

"I didn't know she could do that," Dawn said, wide eyed.

"She's been working on that for the past few days," Faith grinned, "But you wouldn't know that, seeing as you were out with your boyfriend."

"Cool," Dawn, ignored that last comment.

Faith laughed, and went upstairs to her room, just then Buffy came into the front hall from the living room.

"Hey Dawnie, when did you get home?" Buffy asked, surprised that she hadn't heard them come in. "And where are the others?"

"Willow's on the phone with Kennedy, and Faith went to her room," Dawn replied, "We just got back like two seconds ago."

"Oh," Buffy smiled, "Well I was just talking with Dumbledore, and we're meeting all the members of The Order on Saturday,"

"Buffy today is Saturday," Dawn replied.

"No today is Friday, tomorrow is Saturday." Buffy said confusedly. Dawn grabbed her arm and pulled her into the kitchen, where Willow was still on the phone with Kennedy.

"Look at the calendar Buf, it's Saturday." Dawn pointed to the calendar on the wall. Buffy looked at the calendar, confused.

"Oops," Buffy frowned. Dawn rolled her eyes.

"Oops, what?" Faith asked from behind them, startling them both.

"Buffy thought today was Friday, but it's Saturday, and we're supposed to go to the Order headquarters tonight." Dawn explained.

"Oh yeah, you didn't know that?" Faith asked. "Dumbledore told us yesterday."

"I knew, I just thought it was Friday," Buffy explained.

"Smart, B," Faith smirked.

"Shut up, F" Buffy replied, before leaving to go find Giles.

At five minutes to five, Buffy, Willow, Faith, Dawn, and Giles were waiting for Xander to get ready to go to dinner, and then the meeting. Xander hadn't gotten home until 4:45, and they were supposed to take a portkey at exactly five. He had 15 minutes to take a shower and get dressed, and he just barely made it, with 1 second to spare. He ran down the stairs at the last second and grabbed hold of the old boot that was serving as their portkey.

"Hey guys," He said casually. Buffy was halfway through rolling her eyes when she felt a strong pull behind her navel, and suddenly she was lifted off her feet. The Scooby's landed in the middle of a quite London street, all of them had been knocked off their feet, except for Buffy and Faith, who were standing above the others smirking.

"Stupid slayers," Dawn groaned as she picked herself up from the ground, where she had fallen on top of Willow.

"It's not our fault we have super powers Dawnie," Buffy said innocently, before helping the others up.

"So what do we do now?" Xander asked.

"We read this," Giles said, as he took out a slip of paper, and passed it around the group. "But don't read it out loud."

After they had all read it the note burst into flames, startling Willow, who had been holding it. While they were distracted they did not notice how the space between houses 11 and 13 became larger, and another house seemed to appear out of nowhere between the two. They didn't notice the addition to the street until they heard the door open. The Scooby's whipped around to see a plump red headed women beckoning to them to follow her inside.

Once they had been rushed inside the women introduced herself as Molly Weasley, and asked them to be very quite, as she lead them through a door, and down a few stairs into the kitchen. Dumbledore greeted them as they came in, and began to introduce them to various members of the order.

"...and over here is Arthur Weasley, Molly's husband, and their children: Bill, Charlie, Fred, George, Ron, and Ginny, and their friend Hermione Granger. Next we have Alastor Moody, Remus Lupin, Severus Snape, Minerva McGonagal, Mundungus Fletcher, and you already know Nymphadora." Dumbledore pointed to each person in turn. Everyone smiled in greeting except for Severus Snape, who barely even acknowledged the scoobs.

"Everyone these are our newest Order members. First we have Buffy Summers, and Faith Wilkins, both of whom are Slayers. Then Rupert Giles, head of the Watchers Council. This is Xander Harris, and Willow Rosenberg, who is a very powerful Wicca. And of course we can't forget Dawn Summers, Buffy's little sister." Dawn scowled, she hated being introduced as Buffy's little sister. "Alright, now that everyone has been introduced, shall we eat?"

Everyone sat down at the large table and ate, Dawn had decided not to sit with Buffy and the others, because they were all sitting with the professors of Hogwarts, and she really didn't like the look of the tall dark and ugly one. Dawn found herself seated at the end of the table surrounded by people she didn't know.

"Hello," The girl next to her said, "I'm Hermione Granger, and this is Ron Weasley, your Dawn right?"

"Yup that's me," Dawn smiled.

"How old are you?" Ron asked immediately.

"Ron!" Hermione exclaimed, elbowing him.

"What I do?" Ron asked.

"That's rude." She told him.

"Sorry." He grumbled, Dawn laughed.

"That's ok, I'm 16, why'd you ask?"

"Because...Wait a minute your 16, and your going to be in the Order?" Ron exclaimed indignantly. "That's not fair, I'm 16, and mum won't let me be in the Order."

"Actually, I'm not going to be in the Order," Dawn told them.

"Your not?" Ron asked.

"No, Dumbledore said I wasn't allowed, I was kinda pissed, until he invited me to go to his magic school, which I think will be much more fun." Dawn told them.

"You're going to Hogwarts?" Ron asked, disbelievingly.

"Yeah," she answered.

"Are you a witch?" Ron asked stupidly.

"Ron, of course she's a witch, she's going to Hogwarts." Hermione exclaimed.

Dawn laughed, she spent the rest of dinner talking with Hermione and Ron, telling them how she would be going to Hogwarts early, to catch up, and how she had never done magic with a wand before, but was really excited to learn. When dinner was over all the non-members of the Order were kicked out of the kitchen. Dawn followed Ron and Hermione up the stairs to a sitting room on the second floor; Ron's sister Ginny soon joined them. They talked for several hours, about Hogwarts, and various other things, until Fred and George Weasley came in, to tell them that the meeting was over, and that Dawn's family was waiting for her.

Dawn said goodbye, and headed downstairs to where her sister, and the others were waiting. Dumbledore supplied them with a portkey back to their house.

"Hey Xander?" Dawn asked, when they got back, "You never told us why it took you so long to come home today."

"Yeah," Buffy put in, "I thought you were just going to arrange a flight for Andrew?"

"I was," Xander replied, "But when I was walking into the airport a security guard ran into me, and a stake and a pocket knife fell out of my pocket."

"Oh my god, you got arrested?" Willow asked, laughing.

"Yeah, the guy was a little suspicious, they held me there for 4 hours." Xander told them.

"So how did you get out?" Faith asked.

"I called Angel, Wolfram and Hart have a lot more influence then we thought, all he did is say that he was head of the L.A. branch, and they let me go." Xander said.

"Why didn't you call us, surely we could have done something?" Giles asked; he was worried about what the evil law firm could be planning, and didn't want to ask any favors of them.

"I tried to call here 8 times, but someone was on the phone all afternoon." Xander huffed.

"Oops," Willow blushed, "That was me."

"Do I even need to ask who you were talking to?" Xander smiled.

"Oh, that reminds me, I wanted to tell you guys, I've decided to head back to Cleveland, soon, I haven't seen Kennedy since I visited her station a month ago, so I was thinking I'll go back there for a month or two before going on my rounds." Willow had been planning on going around to all the Slayer centers later that year, to check up on there magical defense systems, and make sure everything was running smoothly; nobody was surprised at her decision to leave early and spend some time with Kennedy.

"Sounds like a plan," Faith said, "I've been thinking of going back to the states myself, I haven't seen Robin in forever."

Robin Wood, the ex-principal of Sunnydale high, and Faith's current fiancé, had decided to help the Scooby's after the first instead of taking a job he had been offered in a school in L.A. For the past few months he had been setting up school programs in each slayer center, recruiting teachers who were open to the idea of the supernatural, and making sure that the slayers would be able to officially graduate high school, and still have time to do their sacred duty.

After much discussion on the matter Faith and Willow decided to go with Xander to pick up Andrew the next weekend. They would take a small plane owned by the Council, and go to L.A. where Andrew was waiting. Faith would go to the Hyperion where Robin was stationed, and Willow would change flights, and head to Cleveland.

It seemed as if the Scooby's were breaking up again, Faith leaving to be with Robin, Willow leaving to be with Kennedy, Dawn going off to school, and it was only a matter of time before Xander and Andrew would head out to recruit more watchers, seeing as they were in great need of them. Buffy realized it would be just her and Giles in the house, until she left to check up on the Slayer centers, and then Giles would be all alone, guarding the watchers councils main offices. Once the year started they wouldn't see much of each other for a long time, but Buffy knew that they would be reunited eventually, and the Scooby's would be together in the end.

TBC...

Authors Note: Alright on to the next chapter,

Katherine Elizabeth