A Year Abroad

Chapter 3 – Doubts – part 2

Author's Note: Okay, I know these chapters are a bit on the short side, and I apologize for that. One of the downsides of a full-time job and numerous side projects, I'm afraid. I will definitely be updating on the weekends, and I will try to update during the week as much as I can.

I don't think I am going to insert Harry into every episode of Season 3, if I skip episodes, assume they happened pretty much exactly the way they did on the show, unless mention is made of them otherwise.

Also, thanks to the few who have made comments and reviews, those are always appreciated.

August 21, 1998. Los Angeles

"Okay, Potter, let's think about this. Teenaged girl gets hit by a car. Teenaged girl brushes it off, and runs out in the night. She must be strong… like Hagrid. Maybe she's part giant?"

Harry watched the blonde waitress move around the tables through the Diner's front window.

"But, she's so tiny! She's even shorter than me."

Harry closed the bus schedule he's pretended to read for the last twenty minutes. When he started his trip, he wanted to stay as far away from the Wizarding world, as much as possible; barring the occasional trip to a Wizard bank or bar to send his letters back to everyone at the Burrow.

So much of his young life had been spent investigating weird things, trying to solve various puzzles. He just wanted one year of his life to pass without any puzzles gnawing at him. He didn't know whether to chalk this up to what Hermione called his 'saving-people-thing' or as some fallout of all of Dumbledore's meddling.

Any average wizard would have ignored the girl's quick recovery. The average wizard thinks nothing of falling dozens of feet off a speeding broom with only leathers to protect them, and walking away with a few scrapes. Mostly because the average wizard is so accustomed to Cushioning Charms and other safety spells that they assume they're always there. But Harry is no average wizard. He checked the car for such safety spells; there were none. He also did not see a wand in her hand last night. There was something peculiar about this Anne.

"Guess I'll just have to go talk to her." Harry took advantage of the brake in traffic to cross the road, and enter the diner. He took a seat at the counter and waited for Anne.

"Ah, crap, he's here."

Buffy had gotten used to what the Scoobies had dubbed 'Sunnydale Syndrome,' where people would ignore the paranormal events around them. She had depended on it as a camouflage for years, and it had worked—until that night. The night the police stopped ignoring her presence around dead bodies. The night her mom had finally reached her limit of denial. She recognized the look on Harry's face last night; it was the same look on her mom's face when she walked out the door that night.

Her attempts to ignore Harry were thwarted when she had to drop off her order.

"Anne," he said softly. "Are you okay?"

"I'm walking around, aren't I?" Buffy thought Harry sounded very sincere in his concern, and he didn't give off any kind of creepy vibe like that Ken guy she ran into last night.

"Doesn't exactly answer my question. I must say, you answered it quite Diagon Alley."

"Some people would say I'm acute that way." Buffy was literally saved by the bell as the next order came up. She'd leave Harry in his befuddled state and hope the pause allows her a chance to think of an excuse. "I'm just glad Willow always used those geometry puns around us."

Buffy delivered the food and checked if any of her tables needed refills… then all the tables that weren't hers between herself and Harry. Finally, with all the customers apparently "good for now," Buffy returned to the counter, still unsure how to best brush off Harry's questions.

"Anne, after what I saw, I already know you're not average." Harry paused as a dour looking man passed him on his way out. "Truth is, I'm not average either."

"Great. Wonder if I'll have to slay him," Buffy thought to herself dismally.

"I'm only curious," continued Harry, "if you're 'not average' the way I'm 'not average'."

"Depends on what you mean by 'not average.' If you're talking about the car last night, well, cheerleading can toughen a girl up, quite a bit."

There was a small feeling of satisfaction in Buffy when Harry rubbed his forehead, right on the distinctive scar on his forehead. She did make a note that he didn't clean his glasses. "Guess that's a Giles thing, and not a Brit thing."

"Alright," Harry sighed, "I can tell this is something you don't want me to push about. And I've gotten into enough messes by pushing before. Consider it dropped."

Buffy couldn't help but to ask. "So how are you 'not average'?"

Harry gave Buffy a smirk worthy of a Marauder. "I'll tell you mine, if you tell me yours."

Buffy just nodded hear and busied herself wiping down the counter. Their moment of truce was soon interrupted when a panicked Lily rushed in through the door.

"Anne," blurted Lily, "Harry, did either of you guys see Rickie last night?"

"No," answered Harry, "not since I went site seeing." Buffy just shook her head.

"He was supposed to meet me, but he never showed. Could you guys help me find him?"

Harry and Buffy shared a thought at this moment: "Here we go, again."

Blood Bank

Harry never liked hospitals. Technically, this was just a blood bank, but Harry still felt the dreaded hospital vibe. All the times he had to go to the hospital wing at school, the only bright side he felt was that Madame Pomfrey's bedside manner let you know that even though she was stern with you, it was only because she cared. Harry did not feel that from the doctor behind the counter.

"I'm sorry," the slightly haggard doctor said. "We haven't seen your friend in some time."

Lily's face fell at this news. She had brought them here as a place she thought Rickie might to earn a little cash. Slim odds considering his less than a month old tattoo with Lily's name in the middle. The doctor turned back to the other patients, leaving Harry and Buffy to console the upset Lily.

"How about this," Harry piped up as they reached the sidewalk. "You go by all the places you and Rickie have stayed, or hung out; Anne and I will look around the neighborhood? We can all meet up at the Diner in a few hours."

Lily nodded her head, a bit of resolve returning to her features. "Okay. I can do that. Thanks you two. This means a lot." Lily quickly hugged each of them and headed off. Harry and Buffy glanced at each other.

"This way," Harry asked, point to his right.

"Sure," Buffy replied, walking along side him.

They made it half the block in silence before Harry spoke up. "So, how do you know Lily? The two of you seem to have a history."

Harry barely caught the brief grimace on her face before she answered. "She fell in with a bad crowd back home. I helped get her out of a bad situation."

"Oh, so I'm not the only one?"

"The only one, what?"

"The only one with a 'saving people thing.'" Harry couldn't help but smile at the thought of Hermione rolling her eyes at the situation. "At least it's just finding a missing person. Not like I'm charging into some dark wizard's trap."

Buffy shook her head at Harry's comment. "Well, I'm trying to get away from that habit. With Lily, I feel like I've already saved her once, so I might as well do it again." She looked Harry up and down before asking her own question. "What about you? You're awfully quick to help out for a tourist. Why aren't you suppressing your 'saving people thing'?"

"Lily's a very nice girl," Harry replied. "I also have a soft spot because my mum's name was Lily."

"Was," Buffy asked, not entirely certain why she was.

"She died when I was a year old. Her and my dad." Harry's expression went pretty neutral at this point.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have asked."

Harry waved it off. "It's okay. Natural curiosity." They stopped briefly at the entrance of an alleyway. Harry caught sight of what looked like the tip of a shoe just past a dumpster. He headed down the alley with Buffy a step behind him.

As they neared the dumpster, Harry confirmed it was a shoe… and it wasn't empty. When they reached the other side of the dumpster, what they saw made both the wizard and the slayer pause.

"Isn't that…?" Harry asked.

"The man from last night," Buffy finished.

There, slumped against the wall, clutching an empty bottle of drain cleaner was the same elderly man Buffy had rushed out to save. Buffy knelt down to look for a pulse, but knew she wouldn't find one.

Harry's eyes took in the corpse of the poor man who just the night before was in such clear need of help. Before Harry could get too far into blaming himself, he spotted a blotch of color just below the man's sleeve. "Anne. Could you check his upper arm real quick?"

Buffy slowly lifted up the stained and torn sleeve, revealing a faded tattoo of a half-heart with a single word written in it: Lily.

"So much for that 'not a dark wizard' theory," Harry thought bitterly to himself.

The Burrow

Hermione and Ginny were once again sitting together on the couch in the living room, talking amicably and looking through some of the pictures Harry had sent back. Hermione would take the opportunity to go in depth about the significance of the various sites, although once Harry reached the States, she found herself having to learn about the monuments, too. The two upcoming Hogwarts seventh-years would also contemplate the kind of experiences he was having. There was also a pool going on amongst all the Weasleys as to when Harry would get himself into some kind of danger. George had lost when Harry managed a full week without incident.

The floo roared to life with green flames, followed closely by the appearance of a familiar looking head with black hair and green eyes. "Ron? Hermione? Ginny? Is anyone there," Harry called out.

Hermione and Ginny were quick to reach the floo. "Hey, Harry. Where are you calling from," Ginny asked.

"I'm in Los Angeles. I just sent a few more cameras by courier owl. Something's…come up."

Hermione refrained from any more small talk when she the look in Harry's eyes. "Damn," thought Hermione. "I had Halloween." "What's wrong, Harry?"

"I think I may have stumbled across a dark wizard."

Hermione was much more willing to give Harry the benefit of the doubt after Malfoy in sixth year, and the Hallows a few months ago. "What have you found," she asks.

"The corpse of someone who was twenty yesterday, and looks eighty today," Harry said. "Hermione, do you know of any spells that can steal youth?"

Hermione wracked her brain. All of the research hunting Horcruxes focused on magic related to manipulating the soul. There hadn't been any mention made of youth, and the only experience any of them had with draining life force didn't physically age the victim. Hermione guiltily glanced at Ginny with this thought.

"I can't think of any spells or rituals that would do that," Hermione muttered.

"Hate to rush you, Hermione, but I don't have a lot of time."

Ginny sat up straight as she thought of the image of a baby's head on the body of a man. "Time!"

Harry's head whipped around to face Ginny. "Pardon?"

Ginny leaned closer to the floo, her eyes wide in excitement. "The Department of Mysteries. They had a whole room dedicated to Time Magics."

Hermione thought on what Ginny was saying. "It's possible. It would fit if someone had made some sort of time bubble. This bloke could have stumbled upon it and gotten trapped."

"Or he was captured," countered Harry.

To Hermione's surprise, it was Ginny who spoke next. "Harry James Potter," she exclaimed. "You will contact the local magical authorities, and let them handle this. Do you understand me?"

Harry and Hermione were both shocked at Ginny's reaction. It was at least thirty seconds before Harry continued. "I-I-I'll contact them. The only problem is… I'm not the only one looking into this…"

Ginny's and Hermione's eyes narrowed in matching glares that threatened to set Harry's head aflame. "Who else is there," asked Ginny sternly.

Blood Bank

Buffy lowered herself down from the skylight into the waiting room of the blood bank. She had to hurry; letting Lily storm out to blow off some steam was fine, but she couldn't leave her to her own devices for log. Considering when they met, she had decided to lock herself in a room with vampires; Buffy figured Lily's self-preservation instincts were minimal, at best.

"What kind of girl just runs off when they learn their boyfriend is—okay, bad example." Buffy figured since Rickie had been aged, and was muttering the same words as an elderly woman she had seen earlier that same night, that there was a pattern. No one would notice another crazy homeless person the street, and one sure way to earn extra cash was donating blood. "There has to be something here."

Buffy had forced open a cabinet and was going through files when she heard the door squeak open. She turned, ready to face the imminent threat of… "Harry?!"

"Anne. Come on, we've got to go."

Buffy looked around in confusion. "How did you get in?"

"The back door was open. I thought that was how you got in?" It was actually an Alohamora, but he wasn't going to tell her that. "There's someone here, we've got to go."

"How did you know I was here? Are you following me?"

It was a tracking spell, but, again, not going to mention that. "You wouldn't believe how many problems in my life link back to blood."

"I think I would," Buffy thinks to herself. She lifts up a few open folders. "I think I found something. There's a bunch of donor files here stamped 'candidate.'"

Harry crossed the room to Buffy, keeping an eye on the side door his Homenum Revelio had indicated to him in hall. When he was next to her, he looked at the files. Sure enough, in bold red ink on Rickie's file, the word CANDIDATE.

"Okay. Now we just need to –"

"Who's there?"

In the time it took Harry to lay his hand on his wand, Buffy had grabbed the doctor from earlier and was forcing her over to the files.

"What does 'candidate' mean," demanded Buffy.

"I-I don't know. He just pays me to send him the healthy ones."

"What healthy ones?" Harry did not like where this was going.

"Runaways. People no one would miss." Harry was certain of two things now. One, these agings were not an accident. And two, this woman was no Madame Pomfrey.

Teen Shelter

Harry had to quicken his pace to keep up with Buffy, even then, he was a few paces behind. "Any thoughts on getting in?"

"Just follow my lead," said Buffy, climbing the stairs.

"Oh," thought Harry. "One of those plans."

Buffy knocked on the door. It was opened by a taller man that, very much, reminded Harry of Krum.

"I'm sorry," said the man in a stern voice. "We're all full, tonight."

"Please," began Buffy, in an overly dramatic tone. "We need to get away from all the sin. All the music, and drinking, and… adult situations."

Harry was not certain whose face expressed the most disbelief at Buffy's ploy, his or the faux-Krum.

"And—Oh, forget it." With that, Buffy forced the door into the man's face and charged in. Harry was just a second behind her. Harry didn't notice until passing the threshold, that faux-Krum was out like a light.

"Nice hit, Anne." Any further praise was cut off by a scream from a side room. "That sounded like—"

"Lily!" Buffy stormed the door the scream came from. When she threw the door open, Harry saw some dark-haired man force Lily into what looked like a very dirty wading pool. In no time, Lily sank beneath the surface, silencing her shrieks.

"No," hollered Harry as Buffy grabbed the dark-haired man, pulling the two of them into the pool as well. Harry ran up to the edge of the pool, and could finally see the surface. It was a shiny black, and even though there were three people who just fell through, there was not a single ripple.

"It's a portal," Harry gasped aloud. A man clearing his throat drew Harry's attention back to the foyer. Two more intimidating men had come and revived faux-Krum. They were all glaring at Harry.

"I'm guessing you lot knew about this?" The only response Harry received was faux-Krum cracking his knuckles. "Well, since you lot are familiar with magical portals, I guess there's no harm in this…" Harry pulls his wand from the hidden holster on his side. With adrenaline-fueled speed, he hits each of the men with a silent Stupefy, throwing them all back into the hall.

Harry wastes no time in binding the men in an Incarcerous, and checking them for hidden weapons.

"Strange," he thought, "none of them have wands." He rises, ready to rush into the portal. "I've got to help—" He turns and freezes at the site before him.

"Anne?" Harry's eyes roamed over the waitress gripping an axe, stained in what he imagined to be blood. Behind her, several teens wearing burlap coveralls pause in shock. "Um… nice battle axe," Harry states nervously.

"Nice wand," Buffy replies, never taking her gaze off Harry.

Harry looks between Buffy, his wand, and the bound, unconscious men. "Crap. Any chance we could continue this in private?"

Buffy looks over her shoulder to Lily and nods toward the door. Lily leads the teens out the door.

"What kept you?"

Harry gulps at the ferocity in her gaze. "You were gone less than a minute." He gestures to the still bound men. "I was busy."

Buffy glances down at Harry's wand. "I take it this has something to do with how 'not average' you are?"

Harry nods. "Probably as much as all that," he says, gesturing at the ax.

"How long are those guys going to be out?" Buffy's gaze shifted to the bound men as she stepped closer to Harry.

Harry examined the men briefly. "A few minutes, probably. These guys don't seem like any magic users I know of. They weren't carrying wands."

"They're probably demons," Buffy observed dismissively.

Harry nodded before his eyes went wide. "What?"

"They were abducting kids, making them work in some alternate dimension. One day here is like, a hundred years there." Buffy continued.

"Oh." Harry paused. "You said demons? Shouldn't we uh—seal the portal, or call a priest?" Harry quickly approached panicking.

"Nah. They already sealed it on their end. And these guys…" Buffy rested the axe across her should as she headed for the front door. "Let them see what it's like rotting in some foreign dimension."

Harry gaped at the presumed Demons a while longer before finally hurrying to catch Buffy.

"Does this sort of thing happen often, Anne?"

Buffy halted, and turned toward Harry. She extended her right hand. "Buffy Summers, vampire slayer."

Harry shook her hand. "Harry Potter, wizard."

August 24, 1998. The Burrow.

Hermione reviewed the list of school supplies she and Ginny would have to purchase at Diagon Alley today. There wasn't much to get beyond the standard supplies, but Hermione also wanted to grab whatever N.E.W.T. study materials she didn't already have.

Hermione had just finished the last of her orange juice when a dark colored barn owl flew in and landed in front of her. Molly, Ginny and Ron's eyes gained a hint of excitement about whom the letter was likely from.

They did receive the package with the two disposable cameras last night, and after the floo call, they had been waiting with baited breath for something about Harry to appear in the Prophet. However, with no stories in the paper, a sadly familiar sense of foreboding had fallen over the Burrow. With this in mind, Hermione spared the gathered Weasleys too much anxiety when she gently relieved the owl of the envelope and read the front.

"It's from Harry." She unfolded the letter on the table so everyone could read it at once.

Dear Weasleys and Hermione,

I just wanted to let you know that all was well, and I am currently on my way out of Los Angeles.

Don't worry, Hermione, I did contact the American aurors, like I promised. However, in trying to keep my partner-in-snooping out of trouble, we wound up finding the source of the bizarre aging and managed to shut it down. No hospital trips were needed, and no dark wizards had to be fought.

My next stop is Buffy's (Anne's real name) hometown, Sunnydale, CA. From what I've gotten Buffy to tell me, she's had to face about as many dangers as we have, and I thought I could at least see her home. I'll send you guys the address you can reach me at when I'm settled.

Missing you all,

Harry

p.s. Did you guys know demons are real?

Hermione was the first to finish the letter, and had enough to time to re-read the ending before anyone else. For a solitary moment, everyone at the table stared blankly ahead before they all asked in unison, "WHAT!?"

End Chapter 03.

A/N: Okay. Again, I apologize for the slow start, but I do have a few ideas for how Harry can help out in later 'episodes', and there is a reveal I have planned that will act as an over-all explanation as to why magic is allowed to run rampant in Sunnydale. And no, I am not going to use "ambient magic from the Hellmouth acts as interference to monitoring charms," or "The Mayor made the town unplottable." Those are good plot points, but they've been done before.

I can also say, without a doubt, Harry will not be appearing in the Dopplegangland episode. (If Buffy never came to Sunnydale, she never would run off to LA, met Harry, etc. etc.) So I am not even going to bother doing a version of it in A Year Abroad.

Let me know your thoughts. Love getting feedback. I apologize ahead of time for shifting in between 3rd-person-present tense and 3rd-person-past tense. As I said earlier, I have spent a long time writing scripts, so at times it is very easy to fall back into those habits.