Title: Shadows Whipser Back
Author: eena_angel2001
Email: igrewal@sfu.ca or eena_angel@hotmail.com
Rating: Overall R
Disclaimer: J.K. Rowling owns Harry Potter and Joss Whedon gets all the credit for BTVS.
Category: BTVS/HP crossover
Pairing: Willow/Harry (cause I want to try it).
Spoilers: Season Two for BTVS and Goblet of Fire for HP.
Summary: Willow's mother has been keeping things from her . . .
Notes: AU, for sure. In BTVS, every up to the end of Season Two holds, except:
1) No Oz/Willow relationship in this fic.
2) Willow and her friends are fifteen.
Notes: I started another one. I'm real bad, too many stories at once and only a handful finished. Hopefully I'll be updating more since school is almost completely over.
Part Two
Ronald Weasley was worried.
No, scratch that. Worried was too strong of a word. He was curious and slightly concerned. The curiosity came from the mysterious news his father had given her mother in the beginning of July. The concern came from his mother's apparent reaction to that news.
Whatever Arthur Weasley had told his wife unnerved her quite a bit. His normally cheery and playful mother was on edge all the time. She snapped frequently at his older brothers, Fred and George the twins. Molly Weasley had never been so quick to yell or punish before. Ron was surprised the twins even came out of their room in the mornings. Their mother's switch to a tyrannical reign frightened them, he knew it. It frightened him a bit as well.
He could have ignored it, chalking it up to the fact that his mother had finally had enough of the twins' exploits, but it wasn't limited to his brothers. Ginny, the only girl of the family, had burst into tears on several occasions after Molly had torn into her. Ron
himself kept himself perpetually busy with chores so his mother wouldn't have anything to yell at him about. When Bill came home for a visit, there was no polite asking him to cut his hair.
"Get rid of that ponytail or get out of my sight!"
He had never heard his mother speak to any of her children like that before. Bill, who refused to cut his hair, left the next day, concern on his face as well. Percy barely noticed the change in their mother, being far too busy at the Ministry to notice much of anything else. Charlie came home for a week when Molly suddenly had hysterics over his well being for no apparent reason. The second child had to come home from his entirely too dangerous job (Molly's words) to help calm his mother.
Ron wondered if his mother had lost her mind. This kind of behaviour was entirely out of character for Molly Weasley. When Harry came in the start of August to stay with them, she barely noticed. She spent all her time either scrubbing the house clean, yelling at her
children, or crying.
Arthur refused to tell his children what was going on with their mother. It was her secret, whether or not she wanted to tell them remained to be seen. Though Arthur had a feeling they would all know before they left for Hogwarts at the end of summer.
So in the meantime, the Weasley children and their friend Harry, tiptoed around Molly as much as they could. They spent all day out of the house, doing yardwork or other things, leaving Molly to herself. Ginny took over making dinner in mid August when Molly
became too exhausted to do it herself.
And so, Ron was concerned and curious about what was going on with his mother. He got no answer from either parent, though he and Harry tried several times to pry it out of them. In what seemed like no time at all, they were buying school supplies in Diagon Alley. The trip only served to increase his curiosity about his mother. The entire time there, witches and wizards of all kinds would stop his mother and offer her their sympathy. None of them would tell why they were doing this, only that they felt they should. Molly would
shed a few tears and then move on, thankful for the support she seemed to be getting.
But again, no answers were given to the children. Ron and Harry had met up with their friend Hermione Granger at the bookstore, asking her if she had heard anything while shopping. Hermione knew as much as they did. People were concerned and sympathetic to Molly Weasley for reasons never discussed. It made for the most frustrating
mystery.
They received no answers from anyone until the day had come to depart for school once more. The Weasleys plus Harry made their way to King's Cross, slipping through the barrier to arrive at platform 9 and 3/4. And that was where they all learned the truth.
*****
Passing through the barrier separating the Muggle World from the Hogwarts' Express, Ron and Harry were both puzzled to find Hermione waiting patiently next to Hagrid on the platform.
"Hagrid?" Harry called out, approaching the two with his trolley pushing in front of him. "What are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be waiting by the boats for the first years?"
"Not this year Harry," Hagrid admitted, his tone far less jovial than Harry had ever heard. "No, this year I have to travel on the Express with you."
"Why?" Ron asked curiously. Hagrid didn't answer, only turned a stony face to the other side of the platform. All three students turned their heads, following his gaze. Ron was surprised to see his mother standing at the far end of the platform, hugging another woman
quite fiercely. Arthur Weasley and his other children stood a bit off from them, waiting for the women to finish.
Exchanging confused looks with his friends, Ron made his way over to his family. Harry and Hermione followed, both surprised to find Hagrid right on their heels.
Ron stopped next to his father, peering closely at the woman his mother was hugging. The woman had red hair, just like his mother's, and pale skin like her as well. In fact, the woman bore a remarkable resemblence to Molly Weasley. He looked to his father for an
explanation, but Arthur just hushed him. Turning back to the women, he found they were both crying, his mother wailing heartbreakingly.
"Why didn't you tell me?" Molly was asking the other woman. She pulled back, staring hard at the strange woman, brushing tears from her eyes. "How could you not tell me?"
"I wanted to keep her safe," the woman explained in a tired sort of voice. "And I knew the only way for that to happen was if she was kept secret. I wanted to tell you Molly, I did. But Ira and I knew what we had to do. For her."
Molly's eyes drifted to some point behind the woman, Ron following her gaze as well. There, at the very edge of the platform, waited two people. One was a man, looking about the same age as his father, and a young girl, sitting calmly on a bench. The man was tall, with
dark hair and glasses covering his dark eyes. He was tanned, dressed conservatively in a suit, and stood standing next to the seated girl. The girl was a different story. She could have been another Weasley child at first glance. Long red hair and bright green eyes with pale skin. Her eyes were red, looking as though she had been crying for a while. She turned her head whenever the man tried to catch her eye, her expression one of anger. Finally the man gave up, sinking to sit on the bench with her.
Ron looked next to her, noting the trunks and other luggage. She must have been a new student, maybe transferred because she was too old to be a first year.
"I tried so hard to keep her secret," the other woman's voice brought his attention back to his mother. "I tried so hard, but she found magic anyway. And I couldn't stop her in time. He knows she exists now-"
"You don't know there if he's still alive," Molly countered. The woman gave a bitter laugh at that.
"He's not dead," she muttered darkly. "The bastard will never die. But he won't have her either. I won't allow it."
"She looks a lot like Mum," Molly offered, eyes again on the girl. The girl had stiffened at that, shooting his mother a questioning look.
"The eyes . . ." Molly trailed off.
"I like to think she got them from Mom," the woman shrugged. "I guess its possible either way. I just don't want him to have any part of her."
"He won't," Molly assured the woman. "Now that I know, I promise you he won't get her. I'll fight him myself if I have to little sister."
Little sister? Ron felt his eyes bug, shooting a disbelieving look up at his father. Arthur only nodded, turning himself to look at the girl and the man waiting on the bench. The girl had seemed surprised at the news, looking at Molly in more curiosity now. Ron assumed
that this was the woman's daughter, which would make her his cousin.
Well, it explained her looks at least. But was his mother and his aunt prattling on about? Who's this man they seemed to hate so much? And why was he never told he had an aunt? The questions flooded his mind, making him hungry for answers.
But then the train blew its whistle, signifying that it was time to start boarding. The girl went wide-eyed, turning to face the man at her side finally.
"Please don't make me go Daddy," she pleaded, clutching at his suit jacket. "I won't ever do it again. I promise. I want to go home, I don't want to go there. I'll never do it again!"
But the man, her father, simply pried her hands off his jacket. He leaned over, whispering in her ear. Her eyes flooded with tears and she jumped off the bench and away from him. Her mother tried to embrace her, but the girl pushed off her advance. She turned,
looking sulkily off into the distance.
Ron waited patiently with everyone else for what came next. His aunt seemed at a lost at what to do. Molly patted her arm before turning to everyone behind her.
"Pack your things on the train," she instructed. "And someone help Ira with Willow's things. On the train, I'll be along in a moment."
Ron watched as his mother walked off to Willow, putting an arm around the girl's shoulders. His father jostled him out of his observance, instructing him to help his Uncle Ira. Ron obediently helped the man, tossing his friends astonished looks. Harry came forward to
help, all of them making for the train.
Once on board, Ron turned back to look at his mother. She was steering the girl Willow towards the train, drying the girl's tears with a handkerchief. Willow still refused to look at her parents, let alone say goodbye. His aunt and uncle just looked helplessly at
her as she passed them, his aunt bursting into a fresh batch of tears. Ron was more than shocked to see his mother steer Willow right to Hagrid. He watched the groundskeeper put his hand on the slight girl's shoulder, ushering her onto the train. She walked up past him, not looking up to face any of her newfound cousins.
Instead she allowed Hagrid to lead her to a compartment, disappearing from sight within seconds.The train was pulling away now. Ron, his siblings, and his friends
piled up into one compartment, noting how quiet the whole train seemed to be. Everyone had their eyes focused on Willow's compartment.
Fred finally broke the silence, letting out a brief whistle.
"That was weird."
Ron grunted his agreement, eyes going to across the hall at the closed compartment door. He could see Hagrid, seated across from where he assumed Willow was sitting. Hagrid wasn't saying anything, just looking out the window as the scenery flew by. It was strange
to see Hagrid so quiet when the giant was usually so cheerful and friendly. But he was making no attempts to even talk to this girl, his cousin.
Ron sat back in his seat, thoughts in a turmoil.
What was going on?
*****
Author: eena_angel2001
Email: igrewal@sfu.ca or eena_angel@hotmail.com
Rating: Overall R
Disclaimer: J.K. Rowling owns Harry Potter and Joss Whedon gets all the credit for BTVS.
Category: BTVS/HP crossover
Pairing: Willow/Harry (cause I want to try it).
Spoilers: Season Two for BTVS and Goblet of Fire for HP.
Summary: Willow's mother has been keeping things from her . . .
Notes: AU, for sure. In BTVS, every up to the end of Season Two holds, except:
1) No Oz/Willow relationship in this fic.
2) Willow and her friends are fifteen.
Notes: I started another one. I'm real bad, too many stories at once and only a handful finished. Hopefully I'll be updating more since school is almost completely over.
Part Two
Ronald Weasley was worried.
No, scratch that. Worried was too strong of a word. He was curious and slightly concerned. The curiosity came from the mysterious news his father had given her mother in the beginning of July. The concern came from his mother's apparent reaction to that news.
Whatever Arthur Weasley had told his wife unnerved her quite a bit. His normally cheery and playful mother was on edge all the time. She snapped frequently at his older brothers, Fred and George the twins. Molly Weasley had never been so quick to yell or punish before. Ron was surprised the twins even came out of their room in the mornings. Their mother's switch to a tyrannical reign frightened them, he knew it. It frightened him a bit as well.
He could have ignored it, chalking it up to the fact that his mother had finally had enough of the twins' exploits, but it wasn't limited to his brothers. Ginny, the only girl of the family, had burst into tears on several occasions after Molly had torn into her. Ron
himself kept himself perpetually busy with chores so his mother wouldn't have anything to yell at him about. When Bill came home for a visit, there was no polite asking him to cut his hair.
"Get rid of that ponytail or get out of my sight!"
He had never heard his mother speak to any of her children like that before. Bill, who refused to cut his hair, left the next day, concern on his face as well. Percy barely noticed the change in their mother, being far too busy at the Ministry to notice much of anything else. Charlie came home for a week when Molly suddenly had hysterics over his well being for no apparent reason. The second child had to come home from his entirely too dangerous job (Molly's words) to help calm his mother.
Ron wondered if his mother had lost her mind. This kind of behaviour was entirely out of character for Molly Weasley. When Harry came in the start of August to stay with them, she barely noticed. She spent all her time either scrubbing the house clean, yelling at her
children, or crying.
Arthur refused to tell his children what was going on with their mother. It was her secret, whether or not she wanted to tell them remained to be seen. Though Arthur had a feeling they would all know before they left for Hogwarts at the end of summer.
So in the meantime, the Weasley children and their friend Harry, tiptoed around Molly as much as they could. They spent all day out of the house, doing yardwork or other things, leaving Molly to herself. Ginny took over making dinner in mid August when Molly
became too exhausted to do it herself.
And so, Ron was concerned and curious about what was going on with his mother. He got no answer from either parent, though he and Harry tried several times to pry it out of them. In what seemed like no time at all, they were buying school supplies in Diagon Alley. The trip only served to increase his curiosity about his mother. The entire time there, witches and wizards of all kinds would stop his mother and offer her their sympathy. None of them would tell why they were doing this, only that they felt they should. Molly would
shed a few tears and then move on, thankful for the support she seemed to be getting.
But again, no answers were given to the children. Ron and Harry had met up with their friend Hermione Granger at the bookstore, asking her if she had heard anything while shopping. Hermione knew as much as they did. People were concerned and sympathetic to Molly Weasley for reasons never discussed. It made for the most frustrating
mystery.
They received no answers from anyone until the day had come to depart for school once more. The Weasleys plus Harry made their way to King's Cross, slipping through the barrier to arrive at platform 9 and 3/4. And that was where they all learned the truth.
*****
Passing through the barrier separating the Muggle World from the Hogwarts' Express, Ron and Harry were both puzzled to find Hermione waiting patiently next to Hagrid on the platform.
"Hagrid?" Harry called out, approaching the two with his trolley pushing in front of him. "What are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be waiting by the boats for the first years?"
"Not this year Harry," Hagrid admitted, his tone far less jovial than Harry had ever heard. "No, this year I have to travel on the Express with you."
"Why?" Ron asked curiously. Hagrid didn't answer, only turned a stony face to the other side of the platform. All three students turned their heads, following his gaze. Ron was surprised to see his mother standing at the far end of the platform, hugging another woman
quite fiercely. Arthur Weasley and his other children stood a bit off from them, waiting for the women to finish.
Exchanging confused looks with his friends, Ron made his way over to his family. Harry and Hermione followed, both surprised to find Hagrid right on their heels.
Ron stopped next to his father, peering closely at the woman his mother was hugging. The woman had red hair, just like his mother's, and pale skin like her as well. In fact, the woman bore a remarkable resemblence to Molly Weasley. He looked to his father for an
explanation, but Arthur just hushed him. Turning back to the women, he found they were both crying, his mother wailing heartbreakingly.
"Why didn't you tell me?" Molly was asking the other woman. She pulled back, staring hard at the strange woman, brushing tears from her eyes. "How could you not tell me?"
"I wanted to keep her safe," the woman explained in a tired sort of voice. "And I knew the only way for that to happen was if she was kept secret. I wanted to tell you Molly, I did. But Ira and I knew what we had to do. For her."
Molly's eyes drifted to some point behind the woman, Ron following her gaze as well. There, at the very edge of the platform, waited two people. One was a man, looking about the same age as his father, and a young girl, sitting calmly on a bench. The man was tall, with
dark hair and glasses covering his dark eyes. He was tanned, dressed conservatively in a suit, and stood standing next to the seated girl. The girl was a different story. She could have been another Weasley child at first glance. Long red hair and bright green eyes with pale skin. Her eyes were red, looking as though she had been crying for a while. She turned her head whenever the man tried to catch her eye, her expression one of anger. Finally the man gave up, sinking to sit on the bench with her.
Ron looked next to her, noting the trunks and other luggage. She must have been a new student, maybe transferred because she was too old to be a first year.
"I tried so hard to keep her secret," the other woman's voice brought his attention back to his mother. "I tried so hard, but she found magic anyway. And I couldn't stop her in time. He knows she exists now-"
"You don't know there if he's still alive," Molly countered. The woman gave a bitter laugh at that.
"He's not dead," she muttered darkly. "The bastard will never die. But he won't have her either. I won't allow it."
"She looks a lot like Mum," Molly offered, eyes again on the girl. The girl had stiffened at that, shooting his mother a questioning look.
"The eyes . . ." Molly trailed off.
"I like to think she got them from Mom," the woman shrugged. "I guess its possible either way. I just don't want him to have any part of her."
"He won't," Molly assured the woman. "Now that I know, I promise you he won't get her. I'll fight him myself if I have to little sister."
Little sister? Ron felt his eyes bug, shooting a disbelieving look up at his father. Arthur only nodded, turning himself to look at the girl and the man waiting on the bench. The girl had seemed surprised at the news, looking at Molly in more curiosity now. Ron assumed
that this was the woman's daughter, which would make her his cousin.
Well, it explained her looks at least. But was his mother and his aunt prattling on about? Who's this man they seemed to hate so much? And why was he never told he had an aunt? The questions flooded his mind, making him hungry for answers.
But then the train blew its whistle, signifying that it was time to start boarding. The girl went wide-eyed, turning to face the man at her side finally.
"Please don't make me go Daddy," she pleaded, clutching at his suit jacket. "I won't ever do it again. I promise. I want to go home, I don't want to go there. I'll never do it again!"
But the man, her father, simply pried her hands off his jacket. He leaned over, whispering in her ear. Her eyes flooded with tears and she jumped off the bench and away from him. Her mother tried to embrace her, but the girl pushed off her advance. She turned,
looking sulkily off into the distance.
Ron waited patiently with everyone else for what came next. His aunt seemed at a lost at what to do. Molly patted her arm before turning to everyone behind her.
"Pack your things on the train," she instructed. "And someone help Ira with Willow's things. On the train, I'll be along in a moment."
Ron watched as his mother walked off to Willow, putting an arm around the girl's shoulders. His father jostled him out of his observance, instructing him to help his Uncle Ira. Ron obediently helped the man, tossing his friends astonished looks. Harry came forward to
help, all of them making for the train.
Once on board, Ron turned back to look at his mother. She was steering the girl Willow towards the train, drying the girl's tears with a handkerchief. Willow still refused to look at her parents, let alone say goodbye. His aunt and uncle just looked helplessly at
her as she passed them, his aunt bursting into a fresh batch of tears. Ron was more than shocked to see his mother steer Willow right to Hagrid. He watched the groundskeeper put his hand on the slight girl's shoulder, ushering her onto the train. She walked up past him, not looking up to face any of her newfound cousins.
Instead she allowed Hagrid to lead her to a compartment, disappearing from sight within seconds.The train was pulling away now. Ron, his siblings, and his friends
piled up into one compartment, noting how quiet the whole train seemed to be. Everyone had their eyes focused on Willow's compartment.
Fred finally broke the silence, letting out a brief whistle.
"That was weird."
Ron grunted his agreement, eyes going to across the hall at the closed compartment door. He could see Hagrid, seated across from where he assumed Willow was sitting. Hagrid wasn't saying anything, just looking out the window as the scenery flew by. It was strange
to see Hagrid so quiet when the giant was usually so cheerful and friendly. But he was making no attempts to even talk to this girl, his cousin.
Ron sat back in his seat, thoughts in a turmoil.
What was going on?
*****