"Hey!" Harry ran into the library. "Have you seen Buffy? I can't-" He stopped short when he noticed the fact that Giles was not alone. "Sorry." He said to the woman. She was a pretty lady probably around Giles' age with dark hair. When Harry caught the look on Giles' face, he winced.
"Harry, this is Deborah Bell."
"Let me guess, Faith's watcher?"
"And you wouldn't happen to know where Faith is at the moment would you?" She asked. She was angry, but Harry could also see concern in her eyes. The woman really did care for Faith.
"Uh, no. Haven't seen her since last night, actually."
"Yes, well. As her guardian-"
"Wait. You're Faith's guardian? What happened with her mom?"
"Faith has told me that you two were friends growing up," Harry nodded, "do I really have to answer that question then?" Harry sighed, not really surprised that Faith's mom would ditch her so easily.
"Faith talked about me?" He asked suddenly, slightly surprised, especially with the way Faith had acted the night before and the fact that she obviously hadn't read any of the letters he had sent her.
"I don't think it's appropriate for me to discuss what Faith and I talked about, do you?" Harry shook his head. Still, it was good to know that maybe Faith really did miss him.
"Guess not." He chewed his lip. "If I find her, I'll tell you."
"Hello, ladies," Harry grinned, putting his arms around Faith and Buffy, after finding them in the school hallways, "how's it going?" Faith and Buffy both shoved his arms off them.
"I'm just showing her around." Buffy said.
"Yeah? We should really go to the library then."
"I've already seen the library," Faith said, rolling her eyes at him. He smiled.
"But you never know when something new will pop up."
"In the library." Buffy said, staring at him like he was crazy. Harry just grinned at the both and grabbed Faith's arm.
"Come on." He pushed her ahead of him into the library and Faith stopped short.
"Deb." She sent Harry a glare. "You could have warned me." She whispered. Harry shrugged.
"I could have, yes."
"Faith." Deborah walked over, her arms crossed. "Would you please explain to me why you decided to skip town without telling me." Faith shrugged, but Harry thought she actually looked a little bit ashamed.
"Well, you know. Boston was getting a little boring."
"Boring? So you decided to leave the state? Without telling me." Faith simply nodded, but she did look down.
"Faith, what were you thinking?"
"I'm sorry." She said, definitely ashamed now. "I just had to get out." Harry stared at Faith, and then looked over at Deborah. Faith never apologized, at least not when she had been living at her mother's.
"I am going to assume that you lied about your age to get a motel room. Go, get your things and meet me back here." Faith nodded, still not meeting her eyes and walked out of the room. Harry hesitated for a moment before leaving, catching up with Faith before she made it out of the school.
"Hey, you okay?" Faith shrugged.
"Of course."
"How long have you been living with her?"
"A little while." He didn't ask what happened with her mom.
"She cares about you." He said instead after a moment.
"Yeah." She turned to him. "Listen, I gotta go. Talk to you later?" She walked out the door without waiting for an answer. Harry sighed and turned back to go to classes.
"So, what's the deal with you and Faith anyways?" Buffy asked later that night. They were walking side by side through town. He shrugged, twirling his wand.
"We grew up together. We moved to Boston two years after Angel found me." Buffy frowned.
"Yeah, you never did say how that went down exactly. I mean, all you said was that you were a wizard and that Angel adopted you when you were six. Oh, and that you didn't want the wizarding world to find out where you were, because of the way you're parents died." Harry shrugged again, suddenly uncomfortable. He hadn't told her everything. Not because he didn't trust her, he just didn't really like talking about it.
"Angel found me when I was living with relatives of my mom. I mean, my birth mother, you know. Somebody dumped me there after my parents were killed when I was one." She knew about that already, though. She knew about the Boy Who Lived stuff. Buffy, Faith, and Giles were the only people he had ever talked about that stuff with, though, and he had only told Giles the whole story so he wouldn't go telling anyone else.
"Why did Angel take you away from your relatives?" Buffy stopped and turned to him. Harry shifted a little on his feet.
"Angel saved me from that place." He said after a moment. Buffy's eyes widened after a minute in understanding. She pulled him into a hug.
"I'm so sorry." She said. Harry, a little bit amused, patted her back.
"Uh, Buffy? I am okay, you know? It has been ten years."
"Right." She said. She gave him a squeeze before she started to pull back.
"Am I interrupting something?" Buffy and Harry sprang apart and turned to Faith, carrying her own stake.
"Nope." Buffy said. "Come on. Let's go kill things." She grabbed Harry's hand and pulled him towards the cemetery, Faith following.
"I'm fine." Harry said in exasperation, swinging his arm to prove his point even if it did hurt.
"Are you sure?" Buffy asked. "You know what Angel and Daphne will do if you get hurt when you're with me."
"They'll kill me for going out on patrol with you." He shrugged with one shoulder.
"I thought you were this badass wizard, anyways." She said, her voice turned teasing and she shook her head. "The great Harry Potter taken down by a lowly vampire."
"Hey, that guy came out of nowhere. And my last names Blackburn now." Buffy shook herself a little.
"You think the others are still at the Bronze? We could unwind a little."
"Maybe." He said, turning to Faith, who had been a little quiet the entire night. "You coming?"
"Naw. Deb's still a little mad at me. I better head back." Harry nodded.
"Alright, see you later?" She nodded and walked off. Buffy linked her arm in his, waving at Faith and pulling him back towards town.
"How did it go?" Deb asked as soon as Faith entered the hotel room. It was much better than the one that Faith had rented out when she had first got to town. Faith shrugged.
"Fine." She lied. Deb sighed. She had let Faith go out to find Harry because she knew that he was the real reason that Faith had come to Sunnydale, even if she would never admit it.
"Did you talk to him?" Faith looked up, startled.
"Buffy and Harry were out patrolling." She said, her eyes darkening for a second. Deb watched her. She recognized the look in Faith's eyes.
"You should still talk to him." She said after a moment. Faith stood up.
"I'm gonna go to bed." She walked out of the room without looking back. Deb sighed again. She was pretty sure that she had seen jealousy in Faith's eyes and that whatever had caused it was her jumping to conclusions.
She had talked to Rupert Giles about everything that had been going on in Sunnydale, and had to admit this place was…surprising. He had even admitted that his slayer was in love with a vampire. A vampire with a soul, but still a vampire.
She knew that Faith loved this boy, Harry. Coming here was the first time that she had met the boy, but she had seen the way that Faith acted after he had moved away from Boston.
She had also seen the way the boy had reacted when she had talked about Faith. She had seen the hopeful look in his eyes when he had asked her if Faith talked about him. She smiled slightly. She was pretty sure that Faith had nothing to worry about.
"Hey, you alright?" Buffy sat down across from him, bringing him out of his thoughts. He jumped a little, looking up at her.
"What? Yeah. Just thinking."
"About…Faith?" She grinned a little knowingly at him.
"Faith?" She rolled her eyes.
"Oh, come on. I know that look." He grinned as well.
"Why? Is it the one you get when you think about Angel?" She glared at him.
"No changing the subject." She said sternly, pointing at him. Her gaze softened a little. "You care about her."
"Course I do. We did grow up together." She shook her head.
"Not the way I meant. You should talk to her."
"Sure thing. As soon as you talk to Angel." She scowled at him.
"That's playing dirty." He shrugged, grinning wider at her. He was in a good mood, though and Buffy was right. He did care about Faith, more than he would a friend, too. He just didn't know if she felt the same way.