Wordcount:- 77,636

A/N:- So it's been a while huh? I seem to be good at having bright ideas that'll be fun to write... without a clue how to get myself out of them. ah well. my job finally slowed down so I'm no longer working 8-7 and actually have time to spend on my hobbies. so... here's the next chapter. I dont think it's my best and I'm not entirely certain it flows. but its the best I've gotten it to, and at least now I can move on... hopefully. Let me know if the characterisation is okay.

Serrafina - it didnt happen quite like this in the books. I'm glad you like it =D

hermit hideaway - thanks for your lovelly comments. sorry about the wait.

Getuie - I'm kinda curious to see how they mesh too... it'll take a while but I'm looking forward to the journey!

Rebecca Pierson - Firenze is hired (and Trelawny fired) just before the easter holidays so that's a while away yet.

crazybibliophile - thanks so much, I dont know if angel will be in it (I still have to decide), if so they wont be a couple.

invisible-gurl, enchantedlight, difficultone92, WHYBENORMAL93, Inveigler, JR, The Lady of the Land - thank you for your reviews and sorry for the wait :(

Where We Belong

The students were sent off in groups to the bathrooms so that they could prepare for the day ahead, and as each group left the Great Hall that morning the bedding which they had used, lying upon the floor transfigured into tables and chairs ready for the coming meal. By 7am two thirds of the room had been transformed in this way and most of the students not yet washed and changed were preparing to leave.

Buffy's dormitory group started to make their way out of the hall, following a group of Slytherin fifth years and lead by the senior Ravenclaw Prefect, but as they were about to leave the Great Hall they were blocked by the lack of movement ahead.

She could see the open front doors, and hear the whispers of her peers, but Buffy could not make see over or through the tight crowd ahead to make out the people entering Hogwarts.

"Who are they?"

"Governors..."

"This must really be serious..."

"I wonder what..."

The constant low noise made it hard to make out any conversation in particular. Students whispering and guessing overlaid by the sound of movement ahead as those entering made their way towards the main staircase.

"Father!"

The word had come out as a startled, strangled gasp and the speaker's dismay at the volume of his exclamation was evident in his groan that followed. The sharp, purposeful footsteps which had been leading the group stopped sharply, causing those coming behind to clatter to a stop.

"Son." It was something between a statement, a warning and a demand, though it wasn't evident to most in the hall what was being demanded. Above the quiet rustling of students and murmurs of those who had been forced to stop in his wake, Buffy made out the sound of someone shuffling forwards and then the loud crack of wood on stone before... silence.

Or, well, silent to the degree that it could be in a large echoing space filled with teenagers. She could almost feel it, the spell encasing father and son so that their conversation could remain private. Similar to the one Hermione had used on Anthony in the library but stronger, composed of interweaved spells layered upon one another to prevent anyone making a gap in the weave without its creator knowing.

When the bubble broke with a hollow sound of the echo's that should have followed the initial impact of wood on stone, she felt a rush of energy as the remains of the broken spell flowed out from the pair, dissipating into the cool air of the entrance hall.

"-but you..." Draco cut off halfway through a heated response as he realised that his voice was once again echoing in the vast stairwell, no longer safely contained; masked within his father's magic. Not that it mattered. Mr Malfoy, having decided that the conversation was complete, had already resumed his path towards the stairs.

The students watched as he marched up the stairs, no doubt heading for Dumbledore's office followed by ten witches and wizards of assorted ages and, from the states of their robes, affluence. This was what Hermione had aimed for when she caused the houses to disband; the wizarding world taking note of what was happening at Hogwarts.

When Buffy entered the Great Hall for lunch, she was unsurprised to find that there was still no change to the seating. When faced with the ire of some of the most influential members of the British wizarding world, there was no chance that Umbridge would be able to do anything but defend her Decree. The woman's arrogant sense of purpose would prevent her from believing that her actions were anything but necessary and justified and, despite her attempts to prevent the current situation, she would no doubt stand by her actions before her peers. Buffy suspected the seating wouldn't change until there was some compromise reached where Umbridge felt she had still triumphed.

What was odd was the division of the students throughout the hall. Despite the lack of any definitive divide in the seating, they were arranged into groups not just of their friends but also surrounded by their housemates. The previous night had been a novelty, with students dotting themselves about in a muddle as they arrived, breakfast had been a bizarre staggered affair; some eating as others were sent to make themselves ready or to retrieve their work. Now was the first time the students had been given a chance to sit in the new arrangement as they liked, knowing what the arrangement was, and they had opted to sit in a pattern that mirrored where their house tables should have been.

Thinking back to her lessons, even then the separation of the houses had been more defined than usual. It had only usually been clearly split when the classes involved Slytherin and Gryffindor, otherwise the pupils tended to arrange themselves at random within their groups of friends but not apart from the house they were sharing lessons with. Without the usual certainty of their connection, the students seemed to be enforcing a physical unity to create the illusion that nothing had changed.

It's strange how easy something is to discount, to ignore until it's suddenly not there. The previous evening the hall had been thrumming with intrigue and excitement of change, of feeling that they were standing up to the Professor every student loathed. But now… now there was only the reality of their sudden lack of connection to one another.

The group mindset, feeling of togetherness which had been promoted by the House system had mainly been reflected by student's support of their Quiddich team or pride at a housemate's achievements winning points, but it was more than that. It was the people you knew better than they knew themselves, even if they weren't liked. It was eating together, sleeping together, and spending free time crammed within the same space. Shared jokes, triumphs and defeats. It was family.

Perhaps that was why, with this odd breakdown of the fragile connections between housemates, Buffy felt her distance from her peers so keenly, and more importance her disconnection with her family, her friends at home even stronger than usual. It wasn't something she had really integrated herself in, but the support network had been there… people to go to when in trouble, a shared purpose. She could see others grasping more forcefully onto friendships even as they surrounded themselves with the familiarity of their housemates.

Buffy hadn't thought about what being a Ravenclaw had meant to her since the school year had resumed and she'd been able to see how the house system really worked. At first it had been something she didn't feel she deserved, an assumption that she had been placed here by default. How could she be counted amongst those singled out for their intelligence? By the time she met her peers, they were just the people invading her space. The idea of house loyalty, of being a part of something came later.

Her initial image of the house had been a group of people with the same intense intelligence as Willow or Oz. She'd thought that a sense of a shared desire for learning would fill the common room with debate and discussion. But, although she hadn't integrated herself with them, she found that they were just teenagers. Perhaps with some added drive to succeed at their studies given by the assumption that they would excel, but nevertheless with all the predisposition to gossip and put off work that could be found in any group of school goers.

She'd never really thought about the oddity of the, generally accepted, smartest girl in their year being in Gryffindor not Ravenclaw. You would have thought she would have ended up where her brains would have been expected not leave her slightly apart. And on the other hand, within Ravenclaw there were some students who weren't academically brilliant; Anthony, with his fierce loyalty to anyone he decided to call a friend could have easily been a Hufflepuff.

But both seemed to have gained something from where they were placed. She had seen for herself how the work orientated attitude of some Ravenclaws spread out to the others, giving those who would have wasted away their time the urge to study and she had heard how the bravery of her fellow Gryffindors had changed Hermione's attitude.

More than just seeing it, she knew she had been affected by it. It was like when she arrived in Sunnydale where the change from being surrounded by cheerleaders to befriending Willow had meant she concentrated harder on her work. It had been impossible for her friend's work ethic to not affect her.

Perhaps it was like Cassandra had said, they were placed where they could best fulfil their potential, where they could feel accepted and be challenged. Either way the house units quickly became so fiercely bonded that it seemed even this couldn't destroy them.

Somehow she had been included in this, the outsider in her house due to the deliberate distance she put between herself and her peers and the age difference of her classmates, but still the Ravenclaw section waved her over when she stood too long thinking in the doorway. Without even realising it she had become a part of something, connected to these people and their world by more than shared abilities; by fragile ties of friendship and familiarity.

"Hi Buffy!"

She was disturbed from her food by the greeting and, looking back towards the Gryffindor section, she found the smiling face of a friend. She looked about for the rest of the Gryffindors that Neville usually spent his time with, but it seemed that they were at the other end of the hall, closer to the teachers and completely surrounded by other pupils. There didn't look like there were any seats left near Harry, Ron and Hermione.

Buffy smiled back at Neville, being second choice was enough. "How're you Neville?"

"I'm all right, looking forward to Herbology later – we're supposed to be studying Flaming Chervil today!" he was bobbing in his seat, unable to sit still with so much excitement bubbling within him.

Buffy smiled having already had the lesson on the plant the day before whose leaves were, as the name would suggest, a deep orange with flickers of yellow about the tip and an ingredient of, among other things, floo powder. The roots on the other hand were a pale creamy blue and, if harvested right, used in some potent cures for burns. It was an interesting plant to harvest, seemingly part of Professor Sprout's desire to confuse them with the complex plants they would be tested on in order to force the fifth years to work.

For once Neville seemed to have noticed that his excitement over his beloved subject wasn't entirely mirrored by her and didn't continue to speak about Herbology. Instead he looked about the room, pausing to glance wistfully at the end of the hall where his friends were seated.

"Isn't it amazing?"

"Huh?" Buffy asked around a mouthful, having gone back to her meal.

Neville gestured at the hall "This."

She followed his movements, once more observing how desperately the fractured houses were trying to be whole.

"Hermione made them all pay attention!" his voice filled with pride at the achievements of his friend. "She made sure they see what's actually happening, not what they're told is... it was even in the Prophet!"

"The Prophet?"

"The Daily Prophet, it's the newspaper... My Gran says the Minister's got them under his thumb, there's hardly been a word in it against the Ministry for months, since..." Neville looked about and lowered his voice "since You-Know-Who came back in the summer."

It was odd to hear someone talk about that like a fact. Whenever the story of the evil wizard's return to life had been mentioned to her it was usually as a joke or in disbelief, not mentioned as if it was a certainty.

"I mean... if the Prophet's saying the Decree was wrong then everyone'll pay attention. Maybe stop the Ministry interfering at Hogwarts. Maybe even sack her!" The last part was punctuated with a nod towards the teacher's table where Professor Umbridge, the High Inquisitor was sitting with a bitter smile firmly etched upon her face. Evidently determined not to give any indication that anything was wrong.

"How are we meant to pass DADA if she won't teach us any of the spells? If it wasn't for..." He stopped abruptly and turned back towards the Gryffindors seated behind him, his body angled so that she couldn't follow his line of vision, but she knew where he was looking; at the group at the far end of the hall.

When he returned to facing forwards in his seat his expression was more closed off than any she had seen, Buffy had become so used to Neville's open friendly manner that she had almost come to believe that he wouldn't know what it was to be secretive. He was silent for a while, pondering something in the locked off corners of his mind before finally a decision was made and his face transformed into one of resolve.

This was the reason he had been placed in a house that prized bravery; she could see fear and guilt flickering at the back of his eyes, but mostly they were filled with a fiery determination to follow through on the conclusion he had reached.

"You must be even further behind on DADA than us." He was carefully choosing his words.

Buffy shrugged, having already accepted that she was unlikely to pass a subject which most of her peers thought they were doomed to fail. Her knowledge of the theory behind the subject wasn't bad, having been forced to produce essays on many of the creatures they were required to know about for Professor Snape over the summer and she was slowly gaining some knowledge of the laws from her current lessons. That at least was something that Slinkhard couldn't alter to fit his bizarre world view, even if she did have to ignore the man's opinions about the legislation.

It was the practical aspect that she expected to fall down on. She could probably use her physical skills and strength to subdue any creatures but that might expose her unusual abilities, and she would have a problem with any spells they asked her to perform. Perhaps now she was beginning to get the hang of most of the charms and transfigurations she had learnt so far, but that had required allot of practice that she was unlikely to get for the defensive spells.

"That doesn't look likely to change while she's here... I doubt she even knows how to cast the spells" Buffy smirked "perhaps that's why she refuses to teach them."

Neville snorted at her comment then gestured her closer, a serious expression on his face. "I might be able to help... if you like?" the hope in his eyes was too endearingly innocent to refuse, his desire to give her something back in return for her saving him, for her friendship evident. He didn't seem to realise how much help he had already been to her in Herbology. That just having a friend was more than enough without the academic help he already provided.

She felt a pang of loss. It was oddly similar to Willow at the start of their friendship; the girl hadn't been able to comprehend that someone like Buffy might want her company for something other than just assistance with work. The shy girl had been constantly offering help; doing everything she could to aid Buffy due to the mistaken belief that without a reason to continue the acquaintance, she would ignore her newfound friend. In so many ways Neville was similar, so unsure of his own self-worth that he doubted anyone's desire to socialise with him.

"I'll have to ask..." he paused and twitched, resisting the urge to turn as that would give more away than he should. Despite how eager he was to aid his newfound friend, he was still bound by his loyalty to his classmates. "I'll let you know if it's okay. You still have Herbology after dinner on Friday right?"

Buffy smiled and nodded. "Thanks."

He smiled uncomfortably "I haven't done anything yet."

"Well, thanks for thinking of me even if it doesn't work out." This had something to do with the three Gryffindors around whom everything at the school seemed to orbit, and she had an inkling that it might be connected to whatever Anthony had tried to tell her. Before Hermione had stopped him. She sighed, knowing it was unlikely they would include her in this plan of theirs, even at Neville's request.

The clock sounded, its low toll echoing through the hall to indicate the end of their break for lunch, and everyone began to clear up their belongings and move towards the exit. Buffy shouldered her bag and waited for Neville to do the same before joining the queue at the doorway.

"Will you be coming by the greenhouses anyway on Friday? It would be nice to see you... either way."

That got her the largest, most carefree smile she had seen on the boy.

A/N:- sorry if I mangled any of the characterisations... please let me know if so and I'll try to change it. I've done about 1/3 of the next chapter... but the earliest it might be posted is next week... if my crazy weekend doesnt keep me from writing. if it does... maybe longer. I'd also kinda like to re-read and repost some older chapters... which might take time.

oh and question... now that has these crossover categories should I change this to one of them... or would that just be confusing?