Title: Shadows Whisper Back
Author: eena_angel2001
Email: igrewal@sfu.ca or eena_angel@hotmail.com
Rating: Overall R
Content: Warning, there is some mention of rape in this fic.
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: Sorry that it took so long to get this out. I've been plagued with finals at school, but they're all over. Now I have ample time for fics and hope to get much work done on this one. Thanks to all the people who reviewed.
Okay, someone pointed out that with the changed ages, then the Angel and Buffy relationship would be kind of gross (her sleeping with him when she was like 14 or 15?). So, I'm going to change that. Angel did not lose his soul that way, he lost it another way. We'll say through something about the Judge and Druscilla. I'm working on it currently, but Buffy and Angel did not have sex.
Part Five
Harry waited patiently in line as students began filtering off the train. His eyes trailed to the side, peeking through the window of Willow's compartment. The redhead had changed into her robes and was sitting patiently on a bench as Hagrid pulled all her stuff together. The half giant looked up, seeing Harry in the hallway, and motioned him to move along. Harry nodded, figuring Hagrid would make sure she would be the last off the train.
Harry sighed, turning his eyes forward as he shuffled along with his fellow students. Ron and the other Weasleys were in front, still silent over the rather astonishing afternoon they had. In the span of a few hours, they learned they had an aunt, uncle, and cousin they had never heard of before, that their cousin was the daughter of the most evil wizard of all time, and that said wizard had raped their aunt to conceive that daughter. It was bound to put a damper on anyone's spirits.
Hermione stood right in front of him, stealing glances at Willow as well. She was deeply curious about the girl as well, and felt for her. He could see that his friend was planning all sorts of ways to befriend the girl, regardless of what house she was put in. Even though it was most likely she would be put in Slytherin.
Speaking of which, there was Draco at the front, craning his neck to see the back of the train. His eyes met Harry's and a triumphant sneer crossed his features. Draco certainly believed that Willow would be in Slytherin. And he seemed rather intent on befriending, or flirting with her, whatever the case. No doubt his father told him to make nice with the boss's daugther, no matter what. Of course, the fact that Willow was really pretty probably made things easier for the Malfoy heir.
Harry frowned at that thought. Did he just say Willow was pretty? Well, he guessed he did. He shot another glance at the window, seeing the redhead's profile. She was pretty, he decided, but horribly sad. Sad and ashamed, for reasons beyond her control. Poor girl, she would need all the friends she could get here. And he meant actual friends, not just Slytherins trying to suck up to the Dark Lord.
She didn't really look all that evil. In fact, she really didn't look all that intimdating. She looked positively fragile. Harry frowned, remembering Hagrid's claim about protecting her. She would need protection, no doubt everyone would hear about Voldemort's newfound daugther. And some with grudges against the wizard might be tempted to take vengeance on the easiest target they had . . .
Hard to think of the fine mess the poor girl had been thrown into. At least things weren't so bad now that the Ministry didn't just throw her into Azkaban without hearing her side of things. At least Dumbledore seemed willing to give her chance, but then again, the old wizard had always said he was a firm believer in second chances.
Harry took comfort in that, but he couldn't help but feel that maybe Willow should be given a first chance to begin with.
*****
All the other students were off the train. Hagrid, the giant man, turned to her and started to speak. She stood before he could get a sound out, making her way to the door. He shut his mouth, nodded to himself absently, and led her off the train.
She followed him, head down and silent. She already hated it here. She stepped off the train and onto the platform. Immediately she felt all eyes on her. The redhead bit her lip to keep from crying or yelling. Instead she just followed directly behind Hagrid, never raising her head to look at anyone.
The whispers began as she walked by her fellow schoolmates. It was horrible, like walking through Cordelia's crowd of sheep back at home. But then again, Cordelia wasn't like that anymore. No, the brunette had changed quite a bit, and was a good friend now. Willow almost laughed to herself. She never thought she would see the day that she would rather be in the company of Cordelia Chase.
She kept her thoughts going, reflecting on them instead of the people around her. But it was hard to ignore them, there were so many. Finally, she had enough. She had put up with enough of this in that damn Ministry place.
She raised her head rather defiantly, meeting the eyes of every student who looked her way. Several them started and turned away in fear. She snorted to herself in disgust, but kept her head up. Her eyes traveled over the whole crowd, meeting every glance that came her way. Her eyes met up with that Draco guy. He smiled at her, a smirk on his face that was almost approving of her hard gaze. She arched an eyebrow at the boy, to which he just bowed his head. He gave her a quick wink and she turned her head away, having enough of him for the moment.
Her eyes continued to travel, meeting up with a pair of green, not unlike her own. She frowned, staring hard at the boy she had been introduced to as Harry Potter. He didn't look afraid of her at all, instead, he just looked curious. And he looked almost concerned.
That just served to increase her confusion. He looked concerned for her? What was that about? Her eyes moved onto the scar on his forehead, the evidence of her "father's" evil. Shouldn't he hate her for just that? People seemed to hate her anyway, and for much less. She kept on thinking on Harry Potter. He was strange, but in a good way. Well, a better way than anyone else she had met in this place.
From there, she saw that Hermione girl, the smart girl. She had seemed so friendly when talking to Willow that the redhead wasn't too surprised to see her shooting the redhead a tentative smile. She returned it minimally, moving onto the next students. Her cousins. They still looked stunned and disbelieving. She turned away from them quickly. She didn't want to see their disgust or fear. She felt it would hurt more than the others.
Hagrid stopped walking suddenly. So suddenly she had to react quickly to stop herself from running into him. He seemed to be talking to someone in front of them.
"Here she is professors," the gigantic man was saying. The redhead felt her curiosity peak, and she leaned around the man to see who he was conversing with. She was greeted by the sight of two people, a woman and a man. The woman looked like a stern grandmother type, but who had a kind streak in her. The woman's eyes fell onto the redhead and held her eye for a moment. Something flickered over her eyes, and then a warm smile descended over her features. Willow felt a bit better at that.
The man was a completely different story. He was tall and a bit sour looking. She took him in with wide eyes, trying hard not to feel a bit of fear at the sight of him. Black, stringy hair that looked like it hadn't been washed in a good long while, framing a frightfully pale face. That same face was set in a bit of a glare, like he didn't know any other way to appear. He was dressed in all black, standing very straight, and with his arms held rigidly at his side. He looked her in the eye, and she had to fight to keep from cringing. But then his eyes flickered and she thought she saw something in there for a moment. Was it compassion?
"Miss Rosenburg," the woman was calling for her attention. Willow turned her head at the sound of her voice, coming to stand beside Hagrid now. The woman smiled reassuringly at her again.
"I am Professor McGonagall," she introduced herself. "And this is Professor Snape. Do you have all your things?"
She broke her gaze with the two professors, turning to Hagrid. Her eyes fell on her luggage and she did some mental counting. Then she nodded, still without uttering one word.
"Good," Professor McGonagall smiled. "Hagrid, the first years are waiting for you."
The giant man nodded, patting Willow on the shoulder before moving away to the first years. The redhead watched him go, eyes widening in shock when she saw him herding the students into boats. They were going to have to boat to the school?
"Come Miss Rosenburg," Professor McGonagall said, snapping Willow out of her thoughts. "We must get to the school. Professor Dumbledore would like a word with you before the Sorting starts."
Willow nodded, shooting a slightly wary look to Snape before following the other professor. Snape was right behind her, holding the door to a carriage open as the two females climbed in. He followed, seating himself next to Professor McGonagall, across from Willow, and continued to be silent.
Willow twitched nervously, her eyes going to outside the carriage window. Scenery passed by her and she saw a huge castle come into view. She sighed, settling back into her seat and returning her gaze to her hands. The professors were quiet, Snape still watching her steadily. Willow gave a mental groan, suppressing the urge to make a face.
It was going to be a long school year.
*****
Author: eena_angel2001
Email: igrewal@sfu.ca or eena_angel@hotmail.com
Rating: Overall R
Content: Warning, there is some mention of rape in this fic.
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: Sorry that it took so long to get this out. I've been plagued with finals at school, but they're all over. Now I have ample time for fics and hope to get much work done on this one. Thanks to all the people who reviewed.
Okay, someone pointed out that with the changed ages, then the Angel and Buffy relationship would be kind of gross (her sleeping with him when she was like 14 or 15?). So, I'm going to change that. Angel did not lose his soul that way, he lost it another way. We'll say through something about the Judge and Druscilla. I'm working on it currently, but Buffy and Angel did not have sex.
Part Five
Harry waited patiently in line as students began filtering off the train. His eyes trailed to the side, peeking through the window of Willow's compartment. The redhead had changed into her robes and was sitting patiently on a bench as Hagrid pulled all her stuff together. The half giant looked up, seeing Harry in the hallway, and motioned him to move along. Harry nodded, figuring Hagrid would make sure she would be the last off the train.
Harry sighed, turning his eyes forward as he shuffled along with his fellow students. Ron and the other Weasleys were in front, still silent over the rather astonishing afternoon they had. In the span of a few hours, they learned they had an aunt, uncle, and cousin they had never heard of before, that their cousin was the daughter of the most evil wizard of all time, and that said wizard had raped their aunt to conceive that daughter. It was bound to put a damper on anyone's spirits.
Hermione stood right in front of him, stealing glances at Willow as well. She was deeply curious about the girl as well, and felt for her. He could see that his friend was planning all sorts of ways to befriend the girl, regardless of what house she was put in. Even though it was most likely she would be put in Slytherin.
Speaking of which, there was Draco at the front, craning his neck to see the back of the train. His eyes met Harry's and a triumphant sneer crossed his features. Draco certainly believed that Willow would be in Slytherin. And he seemed rather intent on befriending, or flirting with her, whatever the case. No doubt his father told him to make nice with the boss's daugther, no matter what. Of course, the fact that Willow was really pretty probably made things easier for the Malfoy heir.
Harry frowned at that thought. Did he just say Willow was pretty? Well, he guessed he did. He shot another glance at the window, seeing the redhead's profile. She was pretty, he decided, but horribly sad. Sad and ashamed, for reasons beyond her control. Poor girl, she would need all the friends she could get here. And he meant actual friends, not just Slytherins trying to suck up to the Dark Lord.
She didn't really look all that evil. In fact, she really didn't look all that intimdating. She looked positively fragile. Harry frowned, remembering Hagrid's claim about protecting her. She would need protection, no doubt everyone would hear about Voldemort's newfound daugther. And some with grudges against the wizard might be tempted to take vengeance on the easiest target they had . . .
Hard to think of the fine mess the poor girl had been thrown into. At least things weren't so bad now that the Ministry didn't just throw her into Azkaban without hearing her side of things. At least Dumbledore seemed willing to give her chance, but then again, the old wizard had always said he was a firm believer in second chances.
Harry took comfort in that, but he couldn't help but feel that maybe Willow should be given a first chance to begin with.
*****
All the other students were off the train. Hagrid, the giant man, turned to her and started to speak. She stood before he could get a sound out, making her way to the door. He shut his mouth, nodded to himself absently, and led her off the train.
She followed him, head down and silent. She already hated it here. She stepped off the train and onto the platform. Immediately she felt all eyes on her. The redhead bit her lip to keep from crying or yelling. Instead she just followed directly behind Hagrid, never raising her head to look at anyone.
The whispers began as she walked by her fellow schoolmates. It was horrible, like walking through Cordelia's crowd of sheep back at home. But then again, Cordelia wasn't like that anymore. No, the brunette had changed quite a bit, and was a good friend now. Willow almost laughed to herself. She never thought she would see the day that she would rather be in the company of Cordelia Chase.
She kept her thoughts going, reflecting on them instead of the people around her. But it was hard to ignore them, there were so many. Finally, she had enough. She had put up with enough of this in that damn Ministry place.
She raised her head rather defiantly, meeting the eyes of every student who looked her way. Several them started and turned away in fear. She snorted to herself in disgust, but kept her head up. Her eyes traveled over the whole crowd, meeting every glance that came her way. Her eyes met up with that Draco guy. He smiled at her, a smirk on his face that was almost approving of her hard gaze. She arched an eyebrow at the boy, to which he just bowed his head. He gave her a quick wink and she turned her head away, having enough of him for the moment.
Her eyes continued to travel, meeting up with a pair of green, not unlike her own. She frowned, staring hard at the boy she had been introduced to as Harry Potter. He didn't look afraid of her at all, instead, he just looked curious. And he looked almost concerned.
That just served to increase her confusion. He looked concerned for her? What was that about? Her eyes moved onto the scar on his forehead, the evidence of her "father's" evil. Shouldn't he hate her for just that? People seemed to hate her anyway, and for much less. She kept on thinking on Harry Potter. He was strange, but in a good way. Well, a better way than anyone else she had met in this place.
From there, she saw that Hermione girl, the smart girl. She had seemed so friendly when talking to Willow that the redhead wasn't too surprised to see her shooting the redhead a tentative smile. She returned it minimally, moving onto the next students. Her cousins. They still looked stunned and disbelieving. She turned away from them quickly. She didn't want to see their disgust or fear. She felt it would hurt more than the others.
Hagrid stopped walking suddenly. So suddenly she had to react quickly to stop herself from running into him. He seemed to be talking to someone in front of them.
"Here she is professors," the gigantic man was saying. The redhead felt her curiosity peak, and she leaned around the man to see who he was conversing with. She was greeted by the sight of two people, a woman and a man. The woman looked like a stern grandmother type, but who had a kind streak in her. The woman's eyes fell onto the redhead and held her eye for a moment. Something flickered over her eyes, and then a warm smile descended over her features. Willow felt a bit better at that.
The man was a completely different story. He was tall and a bit sour looking. She took him in with wide eyes, trying hard not to feel a bit of fear at the sight of him. Black, stringy hair that looked like it hadn't been washed in a good long while, framing a frightfully pale face. That same face was set in a bit of a glare, like he didn't know any other way to appear. He was dressed in all black, standing very straight, and with his arms held rigidly at his side. He looked her in the eye, and she had to fight to keep from cringing. But then his eyes flickered and she thought she saw something in there for a moment. Was it compassion?
"Miss Rosenburg," the woman was calling for her attention. Willow turned her head at the sound of her voice, coming to stand beside Hagrid now. The woman smiled reassuringly at her again.
"I am Professor McGonagall," she introduced herself. "And this is Professor Snape. Do you have all your things?"
She broke her gaze with the two professors, turning to Hagrid. Her eyes fell on her luggage and she did some mental counting. Then she nodded, still without uttering one word.
"Good," Professor McGonagall smiled. "Hagrid, the first years are waiting for you."
The giant man nodded, patting Willow on the shoulder before moving away to the first years. The redhead watched him go, eyes widening in shock when she saw him herding the students into boats. They were going to have to boat to the school?
"Come Miss Rosenburg," Professor McGonagall said, snapping Willow out of her thoughts. "We must get to the school. Professor Dumbledore would like a word with you before the Sorting starts."
Willow nodded, shooting a slightly wary look to Snape before following the other professor. Snape was right behind her, holding the door to a carriage open as the two females climbed in. He followed, seating himself next to Professor McGonagall, across from Willow, and continued to be silent.
Willow twitched nervously, her eyes going to outside the carriage window. Scenery passed by her and she saw a huge castle come into view. She sighed, settling back into her seat and returning her gaze to her hands. The professors were quiet, Snape still watching her steadily. Willow gave a mental groan, suppressing the urge to make a face.
It was going to be a long school year.
*****