A/N: Last part people! Whoo hoo! Hope you've been enjoying this enough to review or hate it enough to flame me. Come on, I dare you! Mwahahahaha! Just to remind you that I'm more of a Potterhead than a buff buff so I apologise for any inaccuracies. Onwards!
Dis: I don't lay claim to Harry Potter (JKR's) or Buffy and her gang (Joss Whedon). But all I did was own the bits that nobody recognises as anybody elses, if that makes sense. Probably not. Just read the fic anyway!
Harry Potter and the Slayer
The Resolution
Ron sat up, dazed, and surveyed the scene. The vampire's entrance back to the hell they'd come from had taken the destruction of the Cornish pixies with them, the great hall now sparkling with all it's splendour in the new dawn. Even renewed. He struggled to sit up with the added weight of Hermione, who he'd dragged away from the scene at it's climactic moment out of harms way, who still had her eyes firmly shut and clutched his sleeve like a small, defenceless child.
'Hermione…' he whispered into her sweet smelling hair, 'It's OK… you're safe.'
She slowly opened her eyes and her gaze met Ron's, the breath catching in his throat for an instant. He hugged her tightly to his chest, feeling her breath against his own heart, now beating madly in his chest.
'We're gonna be all right.' He muttered. She looked at him again with those large brown eyes.
'I know.'
They were soon joined by the others, making their way across the room in awe, the daylight making everything sparkle with an added brilliance. They stood in silence for a while, unable to comment. Then something made Harry look at his muggle watch. He frowned.
'What's the matter?' said Willow as Harry glanced back at his watch, confused. 'Batteries run out?'
'No…' Harry began, watching the hands move round intently for a minute.
Harry's non-committal had begun to irritate Buffy, who grabbed his arm to examine the evidence. She gasped.
'Why, it's…'
'Midnight.' Harry finished finally. He looked up to meet his friend's puzzled glances as Buffy dropped his arm. 'Twelve midnight in the middle of winter. And the sun is up. I can't explain that one, but…'
'I think I can do that for you Harry.'
The voice made him spin round on his heel. A familiar shape was emerging into the light. He gasped.
'Dumbledore?'
The old man's eyes twinkled at the sound of his own name. He surveyed the room, almost satisfied, and sighed contentedly.
'You've done a good job cleaning up here, Rupert,' he said, addressing a now sheepish-looking Giles. 'Argus will be pleased. He's just been in my office for an hour, winging about the mischief those darn pixies cause. There's a good reason why they remain in the forest, Miss Granger.'
Now it was Hermione's turn to look sheepish. Ron squeezed her hand.
'And also a reason why we don't use locking charms very often. I was here only just in time.'
Harry just stared at the professor, still mystified.
'But Professor…' he began 'How did you…'
But Dumbledore wasn't listening. He had walked over to where Buffy was standing with Willow and Xander, and now took her hand, shaking it firmly. Buffy stood there, dumbfounded.
'The slayer, I presume?' he said, smiling, 'It's an honour to meet you at last. I must admit, I was sceptical when Professor Snape informed me of Malfoy's little tale, but now I can see his point. Now tell me your name, dear?'
'Buffy, Buffy Summers.' she muttered.
'Charmed to meet you. You and your friends are welcome back here anytime, especially in light of your bravery tonight. And Willow, I'm surprised the American bureau didn't pick up on you earlier. I'll have to send them an owl. You and your friend Xander did well.'
Willow didn't know what to look more surprised at: Dumbledore already knowing her name or what exactly he was implying. However, Harry still wanted answers.
'Professor…'
'Yes Harry, I will explain, I'm sorry.' Everyone looked at him expectantly. He commenced his version of events. 'I have had my suspicions for some time. As I told you all those years ago, I do not need a cloak to be invisible.' Harry blushed slightly, remembering his unexpected meeting with his headmaster in front of the mirror of the erised back in his first year. 'I knew of the cult. I thought, among many of my colleagues, that it was just a myth. This is Hogwart's first attack. It was something that happened in distant lands, in small village communities of wizards, isolated from the outside world. That is why you had so much trouble researching it. There are few records as few have survived. Nevertheless, as soon as I received the council's owl about Mr Giles' placement, my suspicions were aroused. I dismissed them as an old man's senile imagination.
'Anyway, it wasn't until you lot went sneaking round the corridors at night that I began to investigate. That is a telltale sign. You need to learn to cover your tracks more effectively if you're planning to be an Auror. And in combination to the wild rantings of the Potions professor, I put two and two together and came up with five. Something was certainly odd.
'But it was tonight that it came to me exactly what you were doing. The missing ingredients, the elves, your obvious absence in the Gryffindor tower. I didn't know how you'd cope, so I came to help. The problem with being surrounded by evil is that it can drain us magic folk without the use of fangs. You would need my help.'
'So it was you that…'
'Brought about the dawn. It was the last resort. I overrode the enchantment on the ceiling with great difficulty. I was almost too late. But we were lucky, this time. Now, I suggest we all get to bed. I'm very tired and I certainly don't want to miss the look on Mr Filch's face when he sees all this. He may always be moaning, but he is rather fond of his silver polish.'
They all laughed and made their way out of the hall.
*
The next day dawned clear and bright. It was one of those classic winter days that Harry loved with a passion. Although no snow, the grass on the lawns was covered with a thin layer of frozen dew, making it crackle underfoot as the light breeze ruffled his hair on the approach to the lake, where he joined Ron and Hermione in bidding Buffy goodbye. At breakfast, Professor Dumbledore had explained their adventures to the rest of the student body, causing many eruptions of cheers for wizards and muggles alike, even the most critical of Giles' Defence Against the Dark Arts lessons now in awe of the talented muggle. Giles would be leaving alongside Buffy, Willow and Xander. They had business at the hellmouth. Angel had already left the previous night, not wanting to be caught up in his own kind and his services needed in downtown LA, also avoiding Buffy any more heartache. He'd done his job. She seemed sure their paths would cross again.
Harry wasn't looking forward to them leaving. The experience over the past month had been more intense than anything else he'd experienced, although he did expect worse to come in the years that lay ahead. He still had the threat of Voldemort looming, but for a while at least he was able to lay his worries to rest.
Ron had his arm around Hermione's waist down by the lake, her head resting on his shoulder, the sparkle in his eyes brighter now than they'd ever been. Harry grinned. At last, he thought. He walked over to his friends and poked Ron playfully in the ribs.
'Anything you want to tell me, Ron?'
Ron went slightly pinked and gave Harry a bemused smile.
'Very funny, Potter…'
They were interrupted by Buffy emerging from the other side of the carriage that would take them back to Hogsmeade station and onward to London. She smiled at the three of them, flicking her blond hair over her shoulder in the golden sunlight.
'Well,' she said with a shrug, 'This is it.'
'Yep…' was all that Harry could manage. Giles came over and shook Harry's hand.
'It is a great honour to have worked with you Harry,' he said, his grip firm and professional. 'You are destined for great things. I expect you hear that a lot.'
Harry smiled slightly and glanced over at Buffy, who suddenly became fascinated by her shoes.
'You have a long road ahead of you, but I expect your next teacher will be able to prepare you adequately for the tasks to come. Good luck.'
Giles climbed into the carriage. After brief goodbye hugs from Xander and Willow, they too followed Giles inside. Buffy lingered outside for one last word with Harry.
'Harry, I'm really pleased to have met you.' She said, giving him an extra long hug. She broke away and rubbed his shoulders. 'And I want to say, well, erm, thanks. Thank you for understanding.' She fell silent, letting her guard down for just that second was obviously quite a feat for a girl who'd seen so much. 'Now don't go and do anything stupid, will you?' Harry laughed. She sounded like Ron' mother. 'I don't think life will be very nice otherwise. Keep in contact, will you?'
Harry nodded silently. Buffy hugged him one more time and climbed into her carriage.
'I'll send you a Kwikspell course!' yelled Hermione at Willow, waving frantically, 'That's if the American bureau doesn't come to its senses first!'
They all laughed. Waving goodbye, they yelled and called out their farewells and thank yous until the carriage disappeared out of the gates and out of their lives forever. Harry felt a little empty for a moment, unsure what to do next. Ron and Hermione took the hint and began to walk back towards the castle, arm in arm, and left Harry to his thoughts. He would miss them all. He sat down at the edge of the lake for quite a while, being a Sunday with no lessons to attend he was alone. He hoped Buffy would be safe, whatever she would end up doing with her life. He hoped they'd meet again. Somewhere deep down, he knew they would.
The passing of another carriage, which stopped up by the castle, suddenly interrupted his thoughts. The new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher. Harry wasn't interested. They were bound to be another freak of a wizard, out to get Harry for all he was worth. However, as Harry turned round to gaze out across the dark depths of the lake again, he failed to notice the figure get out of the carriage and wander over to his spot. A man in tattered robes began to approach, his grey flicked light brown hair bellowing out in the light breeze, and eventually stopped, a few metres away. He broke into a smile.
'Mind if I join you?'
Harry froze for a second, as if the sound of the voice was the most unexpected thing to hear on that cold winter morning. He could, however, barely conceal his delight.
'Lupin!"' Harry cried, recognising the voice of his father's friend instantly. He ran over and gave him a much-needed hug. Remus Lupin was back for Harry's last year. He would look after him. Everything was going to be all right.
*
Additional A/N: Whoo hoo! I'm finished. Sorry it's so long. I didn't mean to, I just got a little carried away! Reviews will be especially welcomed, but please, constructive criticism, no flames! Otherwise I'll cry. You should see the last person who made me cry. Ha ha ha ha ha ha! I didn't know what was gonna happen. I'm sorry to all those H/H people out there, I just love the H/R undertone and after my last load of ramblings I was much in need of such a thing. So there you go. Read and review and make me happy, folks!