Harry Potter and The Key, Chapter 6
By: PepperjackCandy
Disclaimer: All things Buffy are owned by Joss Whedon, Alien Enemy, 20th Century Fox, etc. The Harry Potter universe is owned by J.K. Rowling. I'm just putting them in the same bowl and mixing them up a bit. 8-)
Once again, SPOILER WARNING for those who haven't seen Season 5 of Buffy or read Book 4 of Harry Potter.
=========
When they returned from the funeral parlor, Willow went immediately to the answering machine. "Damn! No messages!" She swore as she picked up the phone and dialed.
"It's Willow again. Is anyone there? Hello? Please call us at Buffy's house as soon as possible. It's important. Thank you."
Sighing, she hung up the phone and sat down in one of the kitchen chairs. Tara came up behind her and as she began to rub her shoulders gently, Willow slumped forward onto the table. "Oh, that feels good." She moaned under her lover's massage.
Eventually, Willow lifted her head up. "Where could they be?" She asked.
"Will, you know the demon-fighting business isn't exactly nine-to-five." Tara reminded her gently, sitting in another chair.
Harry and Dawn walked into the kitchen, holding hands. "Is this a good time?" He asked.
Willow sat up straighter. "Sure. As good as any."
Harry sat at a third chair and Dawn took the fourth.
"What about me?" Tara asked. "Should I leave?"
Harry shook his head. "Actually, you're a witch, so this sort of concerns you, too."
The three women looked at Harry. He sighed.
"All right. I'm going to assume that the two of you have been pretty much cut off from the wizarding world for your entire lives." He said to Willow and Tara. "How much has Giles told you about why he doesn't want me associating with Dawn?"
All three shook their heads and shrugged.
"That's what I thought. You see, back when the two of you were children, probably until you were about six or so, the wizarding world was being held under the thrall of a Dark wizard named Voldemort. Most witches and wizards today don't like to say his name," he rolled his eyes, "so they refer to him as He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, or, more often, just You-Know-Who."
He said a short prayer that he wasn't about to make a huge mistake telling them this. "When I was one year old, Voldemort came after my parents. He killed them, but somehow I survived. It's where I got this." He pointed at the scar on his forehead. "Voldemort was . . . diminished somehow, in the process. Not killed exactly, but from what I can tell, not left alive, either. I'm rather famous for this. It's why Giles repeatedly asked Dawn if she was certain that Harry Potter was the boy who'd given her the tour of Hogwarts.
"And since I somehow harmed Voldemort, his followers have been trying to kill me. And that's what Giles wants to protect Dawn from. He's afraid that she'll get caught up in all of this and get hurt on top of, you know, losing her mom and Buffy and everything."
The three women were silent then, and Harry wrung his hands under the table. Then, Willow stood and wrapped her arms around him in a hug.
"*That's* what Giles is so worried about?" She asked when she'd let Harry go. She snorted and rolled her eyes. "We've fought, and defeated, Master vampires, demons by the score, including one who used to be our mayor, and a god. And that's just for starters. If your Dark wizard has nothing better to do in the U.K. and he wants to come on out to Sunnydale, I say bring it on." She twinkled her eyes at him.
Harry, disbelieving, looked from Dawn, to Tara, to Willow and back to Dawn again. "Really?"
They all nodded and smiled encouragingly at him.
He let out a breath that he didn't even know he'd been holding. "Thank you." He said to them all, as he pulled Dawn to him for a big hug. "Thank you so much," he repeated into Dawn's hair.
Just then, Anya and Xander returned, freshly changed into clean clothes. Xander carried a garment bag over his arm. "Hey! What's up?" He asked the teary-eyed quartet as he walked into the kitchen.
"Oh. You know. Dark wizards. Ultimate evil. The usual." Willow said chipperly as she went to get things out to start making lunch.
"Oh. I was afraid something was wrong." Xander replied, shrugging as he snagged a slice of bread and took a bite.
After they ate lunch, Xander and Anya went back to her apartment and Tara and Willow went up to Joyce's room rest up before the funeral.
"Why don't you go upstairs and get some rest, too?" Harry suggested to Dawn.
She shook her head. "I'm not tired."
"You really should . . ."
"*I'm* *not* *tired.*" She insisted.
He sighed. "All right then. Let's watch the telly. I'll go in the kitchen and get some crisps."
"Some what?"
He gestured futilely with his hands. "Fried potato slices? Like we had with lunch."
"Oh. Potato chips."
Harry nodded and heard Dawn turn the television on as he walked into the kitchen. As he was looking through the cabinets, the phone rang. He answered it. "Hello?"
"Who is this?" A woman's voice asked.
"Harry . . ." He responded uncertainly.
"Do I have the wrong number?" She asked. "Is Willow there?"
"Oh! You want to talk to Willow! Just a minute."
Harry walked through the living room and said to Dawn, "The phone's for Willow's. I'm going to go up and get her."
Harry took the steps two at a time so that he could get to Joyce's room, where Willow and Tara were asleep, as quickly as possible. The two women were spooned together, Willow in front.
Harry walked over and tapped her on the shoulder gently. "Willow." He whispered.
"Huh?" She jumped as she came awake.
"The telephone. It's for you." He whispered. "I thought it might have been whoever it was you rung up earlier."
Willow nodded, clearly not fully awake, but comprehending him nonetheless.
She gently lifted Tara's arm from her waist and sat up, standing and following Harry out into the hall.
They walked back downstairs, and Willow went into the kitchen to pick up the phone, while Harry joined Dawn on the sofa.
A few minutes later, Willow came out of the kitchen. "That was Cordy." She said to Dawn. "She, Angel and Wesley will be coming in for the funeral."
Dawn gave Willow a half-smile. "Thanks, Will."
"You're welcome." Willow yawned. "Well, I'm going to go lie down again. Don't do anything I wouldn't do." She grinned and winked as she mounted the stairs.
A Muggle soap opera was on television, and Harry wrapped his arm around her shoulders as he got caught up in the ongoing tale of the husband who had just discovered that the woman who was pregnant with his baby was in fact his wife's identical twin sister, and not his wife at all.
By the time the program changed, Dawn was asleep. Harry kissed her lightly on the top of her head and kept watching.
As the sun began to sink in the west, Giles arrived to wake everyone up to get ready for the funeral.
Harry realized that he hadn't thought to bring a suit, but he was saved in the nick of time by one of the Hogwarts school owls, who came carrying a box that contained a simple black suit from Seamus -- the only one of Harry's roommates who was raised Muggle and was near enough to Harry's size.
"How did Seamus know I needed a suit?" He asked no one in particular.
Giles cleared his throat self-consciously. "Um. I might have had something to do with that." He admitted sheepishly.
When everyone in the room looked at him, he said, "I called Dumbledore yesterday morning to tell him that you'd be staying through the funeral. He must have taken it upon himself to arrange for a suit to be sent to you."
Once the bathroom was free, Harry went upstairs and changed. Soon it was full dark outside, and everyone, including Spike, who'd arisen from his bier in the basement, was assembled and ready to head to the funeral parlor.
When they arrived, they were the only people there, but soon graduates of Sunnydale High School's class of 1999, and classmates from college, and some of Dawn's classmates from school started filing in.
Harry stuck to Dawn's side, and Dawn stayed close to Willow and Tara, so the quartet mixed through the crowd together, sharing condolences with people who had known Buffy since she moved to Sunnydale five years earlier.
Suddenly, Willow gasped, followed closely by Tara.
Harry saw a young man, as redheaded as a Weasley, walking towards them.
Now Dawn gasped.
Harry began to wonder if he should gasp, too, just to keep up with the others.
"Oz!" Willow said when he arrived at their side. "What are you doing here?"
The redheaded man shrugged. "I heard about Buffy, so I thought I should come." He said simply.
"But how can you -- ?"
Oz took a small bottle from his right-hand pocket. "Valium. Not something I want to do regularly, but it'll get me through for now."
He looked at Tara. "Tara." He said without inflection, nodding his head.
"Oz." She said in a similarly flat tone.
Then he saw Dawn. "There you are!" He pulled Dawn into a hug. "How're you holding up?"
Dawn nodded a little bemusedly as she hugged him back. "I'm keeping it together. With Harry's help." She released Oz and took Harry's hand.
"Harry, this is Daniel Osborne. Oz, for short. Oz, this is Harry Potter."
The color drained from Oz's face. "Harry Potter? *The* Harry Potter?"
Harry sighed and rolled his eyes. "No. Just *a* Harry Potter." He lied.
Harry could practically feel the redhaired man looking at his scar. "Fair enough."
"Well, I've got to go. I think I saw Giles here?" Oz asked, his eyes caressing Willow's face.
"He's somewhere over there." Willow indicated the other side of the room.
As Oz walked away, Willow closed her eyes and hugged Tara to her, clinging desperately. "Why didn't I know he would show up?" She asked in a broken tone.
"You couldn't have known." Tara responded rubbing her lover's back comfortingly.
Dawn pulled Harry aside to allow Willow and Tara to have some privacy. "By the way, that's what I meant about everyone's memories being modified." She said to Harry.
"What?"
"Willow and Oz. They went together during high school. They broke up and he's been on the run since before I," she searched around for a word, "was born. We've never met. But he knows me."
"And do you know him?"
Dawn nodded. "I remember when he and Willow started dating, and how cute they were together. Not like Willow and Tara aren't cute together, but she and Oz had something special, too."
Dawn's face fell. "I also remember when they broke up. I don't know all of the details, of course, just the things that Buffy would have told her 13 year old sister, but I do remember that Willow was completely crushed."
Dawn looked at Harry. "And this is just one person. Just wait until I meet Cordy and Wesley again for the first time."
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A/N: Well, I didn't get as far into the funeral as I'd hoped to, but at least I was able to cover Oz's return and foreshadow the return of Angel, Cordy and Wesley.
Also, yes, I 'ship both Willow/Oz and Willow/Tara. Does it show? ;-)
By: PepperjackCandy
Disclaimer: All things Buffy are owned by Joss Whedon, Alien Enemy, 20th Century Fox, etc. The Harry Potter universe is owned by J.K. Rowling. I'm just putting them in the same bowl and mixing them up a bit. 8-)
Once again, SPOILER WARNING for those who haven't seen Season 5 of Buffy or read Book 4 of Harry Potter.
=========
When they returned from the funeral parlor, Willow went immediately to the answering machine. "Damn! No messages!" She swore as she picked up the phone and dialed.
"It's Willow again. Is anyone there? Hello? Please call us at Buffy's house as soon as possible. It's important. Thank you."
Sighing, she hung up the phone and sat down in one of the kitchen chairs. Tara came up behind her and as she began to rub her shoulders gently, Willow slumped forward onto the table. "Oh, that feels good." She moaned under her lover's massage.
Eventually, Willow lifted her head up. "Where could they be?" She asked.
"Will, you know the demon-fighting business isn't exactly nine-to-five." Tara reminded her gently, sitting in another chair.
Harry and Dawn walked into the kitchen, holding hands. "Is this a good time?" He asked.
Willow sat up straighter. "Sure. As good as any."
Harry sat at a third chair and Dawn took the fourth.
"What about me?" Tara asked. "Should I leave?"
Harry shook his head. "Actually, you're a witch, so this sort of concerns you, too."
The three women looked at Harry. He sighed.
"All right. I'm going to assume that the two of you have been pretty much cut off from the wizarding world for your entire lives." He said to Willow and Tara. "How much has Giles told you about why he doesn't want me associating with Dawn?"
All three shook their heads and shrugged.
"That's what I thought. You see, back when the two of you were children, probably until you were about six or so, the wizarding world was being held under the thrall of a Dark wizard named Voldemort. Most witches and wizards today don't like to say his name," he rolled his eyes, "so they refer to him as He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, or, more often, just You-Know-Who."
He said a short prayer that he wasn't about to make a huge mistake telling them this. "When I was one year old, Voldemort came after my parents. He killed them, but somehow I survived. It's where I got this." He pointed at the scar on his forehead. "Voldemort was . . . diminished somehow, in the process. Not killed exactly, but from what I can tell, not left alive, either. I'm rather famous for this. It's why Giles repeatedly asked Dawn if she was certain that Harry Potter was the boy who'd given her the tour of Hogwarts.
"And since I somehow harmed Voldemort, his followers have been trying to kill me. And that's what Giles wants to protect Dawn from. He's afraid that she'll get caught up in all of this and get hurt on top of, you know, losing her mom and Buffy and everything."
The three women were silent then, and Harry wrung his hands under the table. Then, Willow stood and wrapped her arms around him in a hug.
"*That's* what Giles is so worried about?" She asked when she'd let Harry go. She snorted and rolled her eyes. "We've fought, and defeated, Master vampires, demons by the score, including one who used to be our mayor, and a god. And that's just for starters. If your Dark wizard has nothing better to do in the U.K. and he wants to come on out to Sunnydale, I say bring it on." She twinkled her eyes at him.
Harry, disbelieving, looked from Dawn, to Tara, to Willow and back to Dawn again. "Really?"
They all nodded and smiled encouragingly at him.
He let out a breath that he didn't even know he'd been holding. "Thank you." He said to them all, as he pulled Dawn to him for a big hug. "Thank you so much," he repeated into Dawn's hair.
Just then, Anya and Xander returned, freshly changed into clean clothes. Xander carried a garment bag over his arm. "Hey! What's up?" He asked the teary-eyed quartet as he walked into the kitchen.
"Oh. You know. Dark wizards. Ultimate evil. The usual." Willow said chipperly as she went to get things out to start making lunch.
"Oh. I was afraid something was wrong." Xander replied, shrugging as he snagged a slice of bread and took a bite.
After they ate lunch, Xander and Anya went back to her apartment and Tara and Willow went up to Joyce's room rest up before the funeral.
"Why don't you go upstairs and get some rest, too?" Harry suggested to Dawn.
She shook her head. "I'm not tired."
"You really should . . ."
"*I'm* *not* *tired.*" She insisted.
He sighed. "All right then. Let's watch the telly. I'll go in the kitchen and get some crisps."
"Some what?"
He gestured futilely with his hands. "Fried potato slices? Like we had with lunch."
"Oh. Potato chips."
Harry nodded and heard Dawn turn the television on as he walked into the kitchen. As he was looking through the cabinets, the phone rang. He answered it. "Hello?"
"Who is this?" A woman's voice asked.
"Harry . . ." He responded uncertainly.
"Do I have the wrong number?" She asked. "Is Willow there?"
"Oh! You want to talk to Willow! Just a minute."
Harry walked through the living room and said to Dawn, "The phone's for Willow's. I'm going to go up and get her."
Harry took the steps two at a time so that he could get to Joyce's room, where Willow and Tara were asleep, as quickly as possible. The two women were spooned together, Willow in front.
Harry walked over and tapped her on the shoulder gently. "Willow." He whispered.
"Huh?" She jumped as she came awake.
"The telephone. It's for you." He whispered. "I thought it might have been whoever it was you rung up earlier."
Willow nodded, clearly not fully awake, but comprehending him nonetheless.
She gently lifted Tara's arm from her waist and sat up, standing and following Harry out into the hall.
They walked back downstairs, and Willow went into the kitchen to pick up the phone, while Harry joined Dawn on the sofa.
A few minutes later, Willow came out of the kitchen. "That was Cordy." She said to Dawn. "She, Angel and Wesley will be coming in for the funeral."
Dawn gave Willow a half-smile. "Thanks, Will."
"You're welcome." Willow yawned. "Well, I'm going to go lie down again. Don't do anything I wouldn't do." She grinned and winked as she mounted the stairs.
A Muggle soap opera was on television, and Harry wrapped his arm around her shoulders as he got caught up in the ongoing tale of the husband who had just discovered that the woman who was pregnant with his baby was in fact his wife's identical twin sister, and not his wife at all.
By the time the program changed, Dawn was asleep. Harry kissed her lightly on the top of her head and kept watching.
As the sun began to sink in the west, Giles arrived to wake everyone up to get ready for the funeral.
Harry realized that he hadn't thought to bring a suit, but he was saved in the nick of time by one of the Hogwarts school owls, who came carrying a box that contained a simple black suit from Seamus -- the only one of Harry's roommates who was raised Muggle and was near enough to Harry's size.
"How did Seamus know I needed a suit?" He asked no one in particular.
Giles cleared his throat self-consciously. "Um. I might have had something to do with that." He admitted sheepishly.
When everyone in the room looked at him, he said, "I called Dumbledore yesterday morning to tell him that you'd be staying through the funeral. He must have taken it upon himself to arrange for a suit to be sent to you."
Once the bathroom was free, Harry went upstairs and changed. Soon it was full dark outside, and everyone, including Spike, who'd arisen from his bier in the basement, was assembled and ready to head to the funeral parlor.
When they arrived, they were the only people there, but soon graduates of Sunnydale High School's class of 1999, and classmates from college, and some of Dawn's classmates from school started filing in.
Harry stuck to Dawn's side, and Dawn stayed close to Willow and Tara, so the quartet mixed through the crowd together, sharing condolences with people who had known Buffy since she moved to Sunnydale five years earlier.
Suddenly, Willow gasped, followed closely by Tara.
Harry saw a young man, as redheaded as a Weasley, walking towards them.
Now Dawn gasped.
Harry began to wonder if he should gasp, too, just to keep up with the others.
"Oz!" Willow said when he arrived at their side. "What are you doing here?"
The redheaded man shrugged. "I heard about Buffy, so I thought I should come." He said simply.
"But how can you -- ?"
Oz took a small bottle from his right-hand pocket. "Valium. Not something I want to do regularly, but it'll get me through for now."
He looked at Tara. "Tara." He said without inflection, nodding his head.
"Oz." She said in a similarly flat tone.
Then he saw Dawn. "There you are!" He pulled Dawn into a hug. "How're you holding up?"
Dawn nodded a little bemusedly as she hugged him back. "I'm keeping it together. With Harry's help." She released Oz and took Harry's hand.
"Harry, this is Daniel Osborne. Oz, for short. Oz, this is Harry Potter."
The color drained from Oz's face. "Harry Potter? *The* Harry Potter?"
Harry sighed and rolled his eyes. "No. Just *a* Harry Potter." He lied.
Harry could practically feel the redhaired man looking at his scar. "Fair enough."
"Well, I've got to go. I think I saw Giles here?" Oz asked, his eyes caressing Willow's face.
"He's somewhere over there." Willow indicated the other side of the room.
As Oz walked away, Willow closed her eyes and hugged Tara to her, clinging desperately. "Why didn't I know he would show up?" She asked in a broken tone.
"You couldn't have known." Tara responded rubbing her lover's back comfortingly.
Dawn pulled Harry aside to allow Willow and Tara to have some privacy. "By the way, that's what I meant about everyone's memories being modified." She said to Harry.
"What?"
"Willow and Oz. They went together during high school. They broke up and he's been on the run since before I," she searched around for a word, "was born. We've never met. But he knows me."
"And do you know him?"
Dawn nodded. "I remember when he and Willow started dating, and how cute they were together. Not like Willow and Tara aren't cute together, but she and Oz had something special, too."
Dawn's face fell. "I also remember when they broke up. I don't know all of the details, of course, just the things that Buffy would have told her 13 year old sister, but I do remember that Willow was completely crushed."
Dawn looked at Harry. "And this is just one person. Just wait until I meet Cordy and Wesley again for the first time."
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A/N: Well, I didn't get as far into the funeral as I'd hoped to, but at least I was able to cover Oz's return and foreshadow the return of Angel, Cordy and Wesley.
Also, yes, I 'ship both Willow/Oz and Willow/Tara. Does it show? ;-)