The silence seemed to drag on between the five standing in the center of the cemetery.

The only interruption was Buffy pushing her lips together, making a smooching noise before finally breaking the silence that she found awkward and tense. "So..." She dragged out, tucking her hands into her leather jacket pockets, bouncing back and forth on the balls of her feet feeling a little edgy, "Whatcha want with little ol' me?" No one answered right away, "You aren't like the European mafia, are you?" She was met with crickets, and a head tilt from the one who had first spoken – Father Christmas as she was going to refer to him as for now on, "No?" tilting her head, "A lost traveling theater group, maybe?"

"– Buffy!" Giles groaned at her.

"What?" She raised her hands in defense, her hands still tucked into her leather jacket as she did, giving her more of an ungraceful flapping of the arms-bird look instead. "They just popped out of nowhere, and they look like they could be part of a theater group – otherwise, I have to say, dressing like Merlin is a huge no-no…like fifteen hundred years ago big no-no… live with the now, get into this decade – or this century at least! Otherwise, people here in Sunnydale might think you're up to no good, ya know?"

"No, no." Father Christmas finally answered back, a weird twinkle in his blue eyes appearing. "We are not a part of the European mafia or a traveling theater group for that matter – and I'll have you know, I was told by the sales lady who sold me these robes that they make my eyes pop."

"When, in 1472?"

"Buffy!" Giles hissed under his breath, his face beginning to look a bit purple now.

"Remember to breathe Giles, in-out, in-out… fundamental human functions you are forgetting right now, but very much need."

"Good Lord…" Giles never dreamt of this scenario before – his former life now colliding with his current, and Buffy was being – well, Buffy!

Buffy nodded, deciding to spare Giles anymore torment and get to the point at hand, her senses still not quite knowing what to think of the strangers before her. "So, you know Giles here?"

"Indeed, I was his Headmaster while he was attending my school in his youth – and this is my younger brother, Aberforth." The other old guy had yet to take his eyes off her since saying they were here for her, and she wasn't sure how to handle it just yet. "And this – " Father Christmas turned, gesturing to the younger man behind them, "Is a former classmate of Mr. Giles, Remus Lupin."

"Right…." She dragged out. "So, you all clearly know Giles, so why with the 'being here' for me part?"

"Actually, may I?" The younger man in the back spoke up, stepping forward, now standing one step ahead of the other two. "How exactly do you know him?" He nodded his head towards Giles, his eyes narrowing slightly as he did – leaving no guessing for Buffy to put two and two together – this man and Giles weren't the best of buds during their school years with one another, that was quite clear with that look. That took away any brownie points this guy may have gotten with her... she had her eyes on this man now.

"Giles?" Buffy asked, feeling almost a laugh escape her as the other man stared at Giles as if he were a vampire and dangerous to her. "He's the Liberian at my school…"

"And it's normal for a young girl to hang out with her teacher at night in the middle of a – " he paused, taking in his settings for the first time since arriving there apparently – "cemetery…?"

"I don't think I like what you are insinuating here, Lupin," Giles spoke up, his voice taking a little bit more edge to it.

Buffy nodded, "Yea, me neither! Who are you exactly to question my relationship with Giles when you are no one to me?"

This Lupin fellow staggered back as if he had been laid a blow to the chest, "No one?" he mumbled under his breath, staring as if Buffy had run over his puppy with a lawnmower. "I'm your godfather!"

Giles' face suddenly turned gray, starting to connect the dots as his mind raced. Or at least get an idea of what may be going on here... The adoption Buffy had just found out about. Her birth certificate that he had seen for himself and carefully examined, half of it burnt to a crisp – suspiciously similar to that of parchment that he had made a note about but didn't take into consideration or go digging into when it crossed his mind. Buffy's original birthplace being London before somehow winding up in Los Angeles, and the first name having been Lyra – a lesser-known star constellation, but a star constellation regardless. Buffy's piercing gray eyes that he had always only associated with one family until meeting her... And lastly, the arrival of the two Dumbledores and one Remus Lupin...

On the other hand, Buffy couldn't help but lean over, grabbing her stomach as she bellowed out a loud belly-aching laugh, "My-my g-godfather?" She kept giggling, not being able to help it, "Good one there." Slapping her knee, she slowly began to gather herself. "But I don't have a godfather – or godmother for that matter, and if I did, trust me, I would know… I'd have a whole lot more shoes if I had any godparent to bribe it out of them to get me more…but I don't, and that sadly means no extra shoes for me."

"Are you saying…?" Giles started stepping forward a small step, not fully believing what he was now thinking and considering. All the correct information seemed to be there, but what were the chances that his charge was the missing and assumed dead, Black child...? Giles was stunned silent, looking over at Buffy, his mouth opening and closing with no sound coming out.

Buffy pulled her eyebrows together, whipping her head back to Giles, frowning at him. Was Giles taking this guy seriously... clearly, he was the one who drank something odd at dinner, and not her if he thought her 'long-lost' godfather somehow magically tracked her down only a month after finding out she was even adopted in the first place! How convenient for her to be 'found' weeks after being told she was adopted. It sounded like a plot right out of a soap opera, or more like a plot to get the slayer's trust and then attack when her back is turned!

"Yes, we are."

"But how?"

"We believe she may have had a cloak placed over her."

"A cloak that would override her blood and the trace itself?"

"It is possible, Rupert."

"One would have to have a good deal of power and great control to do something to that extreme to hide her for sixteen years!"

"Or one could have familiar blood to her to make the cloak just as strong for protection…"

"But who would – " Giles paused, his face scrunched up as he replayed memories from sixteen years ago on the night of Halloween when the news of the Potter's demise and Sirius Black's crime reached him and the two friends he was visiting with that night. "Regulus…" he whispered loud enough for the four around him to hear.

"Regulus?" Lupin mumbled, "But why would he..." he trailed off, not knowing what to say.

"Um?" Buffy raised her hand, waving it around wildly in the air to gather everyone's attention, breaking up the tension that was building between all the men as she did, "Anybody want to fill in the clueless blonde over here? All this gibberish is a lot, and she ain't keeping up!"

"Blimey, I still can't wrap around my head that Sirius has a daughter that no one's ever talked about before!"

"Getting anything around that dense head of yours isn't too hard there Ronniekins!"

"Shut up, Fred!"

Hermione shot them all a look to shut it, "Harry?" She questioned, sitting down next to her best friend. Harry had been uncharacteristically silent as they made their way upstairs, after the uproar of Dumbledore leaving with Remus, without Sirus. Telling Sirius, it would be best for him to stay behind after Snape performed the blood potion ritual to help with a location spell to put on a Portkey that was supposed to take them directly to Lyra. Sirius, understandable, wanted to be the one to find his daughter. However, it had been decided by the Headmaster and Aberforth that he was still emotionally unstable to keep a calm head once meeting Lyra.

Also, Hermione had thought too, it would be best for Sirius to stay behind for now as well too, in case it did not go well with the three informing Lyra that she was the missing Black child everyone had thought was long dead, for those who had known of her, that is. "Are you okay?"

He was silent before slowly lifting his head to meet her eyes, "I can't believe after all this time, no one had ever mentioned that someone else was in that crib with me…what if she was hit with the same killing curse as me?" He ran a hand through his messy hair. "What if she has a similar scar, and it's cursed like mine? What if she is somehow linked to him too, and never knew, and has been having the same nightmares I've been having? What if Voldermort finds out about her and goes after her?"

"Harry…" Hermione sighed, "It's not healthy to start with the 'what ifs' right now, and the chances of her being hit with the same killing curse are extremely low."

"Yea, mate," Ron added, taking a seat on the sofa chair across from Harry and Hermione. "Try not to think too negatively about all this… think of it in a good light – not only has Sirius found out his daughter is still alive, but now you've two added another person to your family."

"Do you reckon she will be brought back here and come to Hogwarts with us for the upcoming term?" Ginny asked, sitting on the other side of Harry as the twins remained standing, leaning against the wall near them all. "Would she be in the three of your's year or possibly mine, I wonder?"

"Why wouldn't she?" Ron asked, pulling his eyebrows together, frowning, "She was wrongfully taken away from Sirius and Aberforth, and Sirius is a legally free man now. I can't see any Wizarding court denying him that right, especially after it's been proven that the legal system here had denied him a fair trial sixteen years ago, costing him and Harry so much because of that."

"Ron, it's not that simple." Hermione signed.

"How not?"

"We don't know where she's been all these years. For all we know, she was legally adopted by another family and could be extremely happy in her life where she is at. Sirius and everyone else will have to tread lightly and understand that even though she is his daughter biologically... legally – even if it wasn't done legally by the Wizarding standards within Britain territory – legally, whatever country she is living in now, she is someone else's daughter. Also, she is sixteen – almost seventeen-years-old and could want nothing to do with any of us. She already has a life and family, and no one should hold that against her if she is happy and safe there and wishes to keep her life as it already is."

"But Sirius and the Dumbledore's are her blood?"

"Yes." Hermione nodded in agreement, "And I hope that she does open up to them and allow them into her life," Hermione paused, glancing over at Harry again, "But as we all know, blood doesn't always mean family."

Harry snorted, thinking of the Dursleys. "Although I agree with you 'Mione. I hope she wants to bring Sirius into her life in some way – even if it does mean he and me traveling back and forth all this coming summer to visit her, or possibly her traveling here for a bit… but I'd understand if she doesn't want to know this part of her life. I wouldn't blame her; after all, we are on the brink of war…"

"Wait, wait, wait…." Buffy held her hand to her head, feeling a bit overwhelmed, "You're telling me that you – " She pointed to the younger Santa guy, "Are my grandfather?"

"Great-grandfather, actually."

"Muhh…" Buffy shook her head as if that made it any different... "And you all know Giles from when he was younger...?" Buffy whipped around to Giles, staring at him in accusation, "Did you know?"

Giles felt his heartbreak with the look of betrayal spread out on Buffy's face, "No, I did not, Buffy. And if I had, I would not have kept something of this magnitude from you, I assure you."

"Is this the Council's doing then?"

"No, no." Giles answered back, ignoring Lupin's question of 'council?' "The Council had no idea about you until you were called; if they had, they would have taken you from your parents' and trained you as a potential. You were a shock to them when you were called, so with that; I think it's certain to say they did not know either."

"What do you mean with Council and being called and potential?" Remus growled, getting impatient – this was his goddaughter and, in Moony's eyes, his pup. Rupert Giles was a former classmate he never got on with well, and to know that he had some sort of bond with Lyra, or 'Buffy' as she goes by now, made Moony agitated – that should be him! His goddaughter should be looking to him with those eyes so identical to her father – filled with trust... he should be the one reassuring her – not Rupert Giles!

Aberforth frowned, "You wouldn't by any chance be talking about the Watcher's Council, would ya there, boy?"

Giles heaved a deep sigh, taking his glasses off and dragging a hand down his face. It had been nearly twenty years since he last sat in Aberforth's pub, and the old wizard was still calling him boy – Giles wasn't sure to take it as a sign of trust coming from the gruff wizard or an insult, "Yes, I regret to inform you, we are."

Aberforth nodded and scoffed in annoyance at the confirmation, "So, that would mean the girl here, is the slayer then?" Giles nodded in confirmation, "Oh, cobbswoth!"

Buffy frowned, wondering if that was meant to be a curse word where he's from, "Well, if it helps, Giles and I don't like them too much either… bunch of dicks, if you ask me."

"Buffy!"

"What, I've heard you say worse about Trevor's when you thought I was out of earshot!"

"Well, isn't this a surprise!" Albus cheered with a curious smile, "A Slayer and her Watcher… certainly makes much more sense to the location we have come across you both in!" Nodding to the headstones that surrounded them.

Remus scoffed, "The Slayer is a myth, Headmaster…"

"On the contrary, Lupin," Giles hissed to his former classmate, hating the 'know it all' tone he was using regarding his profession and duty, "The Slayer is very real, and the trials she faces very dire and very dangerous."

As if waiting for an introduction, three vampires emerged from the far end of the cemetery – they weren't newborns but weren't old either – most likely a group coming back from fleeing when the Hellmouth almost opened five weeks ago. Their small group was near the mausoleum entrance, the main entrance to the underground tunnels that ran beneath the town and hosted a good amount of nest – or more like vampire apartments from what Buffy had gathered during her time in Sunnydale. It had been her's and Giles's game-plan from the beginning of the night to station themselves near the entrance in hopes to catch any strays wandering back into town.

Buffy grinned, slipping out the stake from her jacket sleeve – Giles slipping out his own as well, along with his trusty wooden cross that he always kept with him, "And you're about to get your front-row seat to the visual!"