Disclaimer:  I don't own Harry Potter or Buffy: The Vampire Slayer

Important:  Okay, I feel very embarrassed.  Although I do plan out the story in advance, at least, most of the way through.  I don't have every chapter blocked out.  This caused me to make an error in the last chapter.  I forgot that season 7 doesn't happen in this universe.  I have edited the chapter accordingly, but I thought I should get that cleared now.

The reason for the delay in this chapter is that I will be incorporating some elements of OOTP in here, but that will only really be characters.  Harry's fifth year will be quite different than what happened in the book.

I want to thank everyone for reviewing and answer some questions people had.

Many of the questions will be answered through the course of this fic.  Have patience.  The explanations for Snape, Malfoy, Dawn, and Willow will all be dealt with.  Unfortunately, Willow will not play a large role.  This is somewhat of a bias on my part as I have seen so many Willow fics of late that, even though I like her character, I want to regulate her to a minor role.  As for Buffy's pairing, I know what it is and have thought it should be from almost the very beginning.

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Ron looked at the burger in disgust.  He had only been living in Sunnydale for a week and he already couldn't stand the sight of them.  After the first night watching movies, the two had settled into a comfortable routine.  Buffy would take the night shift at the Doublemeat Palace and sleep until the afternoon.  The she would watch some TV with Ron before getting ready for work.  Unfortunately, this left little time for cooking.  Breakfast was cereal and lunch and dinner tended to be burgers and fries from the fast food place that Buffy worked at.

"Actually, I'm not feeling that hungry at the moment."  Ron returned his burger, looking slightly green.

Buffy truly couldn't blame him, if she didn't need the energy she wouldn't eat the food either.  Unfortunately, with her patrol after her shift, she rarely had time to go shopping.  She and Ron had both been eating Fruit Loops and burgers for the past week.  She supposed the Weasleys wouldn't be too happy with the fact that she was feeding their son junk food.

"Um…" Ron looked like he wanted to ask something, but he wasn't sure how he should say it.

"What?"  Buffy asked, biting into her burger and trying to control the bile that rose to her throat.

"Well, you said I couldn't go out at night, but what about the day?"  The television had lost its entertainment value after the first few days and Ron had found himself doing homework to keep himself occupied.

"Name three muggle sports."

"What?"  Ron was confused by the non-sequidor.

"Just what I said, name three muggle sports."  Buffy repeated.

"I heard Dean mention football once."  Ron answered, feeling like he was taking a test.

"All right.  Soccer.  How many players on a team?"

"I don't know!"  The young wizard was exasperated.  "What does that have to do with anything, the only sport I know about it Quidditch."

"How many nickels in a quarter.  Actually, tell me conversion from pounds to dollars."  Buffy didn't like making Ron feel stupid, but he had to see her point.

He yelled.  "How am I supposed to know that?!  It's muggle stuff."

"Exactly."  The Slayer elaborated.  "Ron, you're here to be hidden.  That normally means staying below the radar and not standing out.  How long do you think you're going to do that if you can't carry on a normal conversation with the people around you."

Ron hadn't thought about it that way.  He was trying to hide, but if it meant being bored out of his mind, the Death Eaters were becoming very tempting.  "I can't just sit around here all summer!"

"I know so many parents who would die for a kid like you."  Why can't Ron be a normal teenager and watch TV all day?  Buffy asked herself.  It probably has something to do with having six siblings.  "Sorry, but those are the rules.  Don't even think about breaking them."  She warned.

"I won't."  The child grumbled, before trudging upstairs. 

Buffy really was sorry, but Ron's parents had entrusted her to keep their son safe, and that meant keeping a low profile.  It wouldn't hurt to go grocery shopping once in a while, though.  The Slayer sighed at her thoughts; she just didn't have the time or money.

Cleaning up the hamburger wrappers from the counter, she started getting ready to leave.  Truthfully, she realized it wouldn't cause too much damage if she didn't patrol for one night.  The Hellmouth had been dormant for a while and Giles had confirmed that it wasn't going to open again anytime within the next century.

A smile came across her face at the thought of her watcher.  It had been a stroke of luck encountering him at Sunnydale High when she was younger.  After parting with the Council over professional differences, the man had traveled to the Hellmouth in order to watch over it.  Buffy ran into him in a cemetery and, after a fight with a couple of vampires, the two agreed to work together.

When Giles was offered a job working with the council again, after being given sufficient time to grieve and distance himself from the death of the potential slayer he had been watching over before moving to Sunnydale of course, he took it.  This new position, given to him because of his extensive knowledge of the Hellmouth, put him in the ideal place to quell any rumors started about a Slayer in Sunnydale.  He and Buffy both agreed that the council was better off not knowing that she existed.

The ringing of the phone interrupted Buffy's thoughts.  She frowned, who would be calling her now?  Dawn always called on Wednesday evenings, so it couldn't be her.  Realizing that the only way to answer her question would be to answer the phone, Buffy picked it up just before the fourth ring.  "Hello?"

"H-Hello?  Is this Buffy Summers?"  A voice asked hesitantly.

"Yes…Who is this?"  The Slayer said suspiciously.

"My name is Hermione Granger.  I'm a friend of Ron's.  I'm calling because we don't think that they can track us this way."

That made sense, Buffy conceded.  From what she knew about Death Eaters, and she knew more than most, they would never even try to use any muggle device.  "Do you want to talk to Ron?"

"Actually.  I'm with Professor Snape.  My home isn't safe and it seems the best location that is available is-"

"Done."

"Excuse me, what?"  Hermione seemed surprised.

"It's all right.  Tell the Professor that you can stay at my house."  She may not have been willing to fight, but Buffy knew that her mother would have wanted her to offer her home to whoever needed it.

"Thank you very-"  Her voice cut off, leaving only a dial tone.

"Hermione?"  Buffy asked worriedly.  Suddenly, she felt something was wrong in the room.  Turning around, she came face to face with two people.  One was Professor Snape, and the other was a teenage girl about Ron's age with the frizziest hair she had ever seen.  Buffy guessed that this was Hermione.

"Well."  Buffy stated, hanging up the phone.  "That was fast.  How did you do that anyway?"

"Portkey."  Answered Snape curtly.

"Port-a-what?"

An incomprehensible look passed over his face.  "A portkey.  An object that allows transport to a pre-specified location by touch.  Dumbledore set one up to and from your house, we've taken you off the Floo network, as it was too risky."

"Oh, okay."  It was awkward, talking about things that she should have known about, especially with Snape.

"Since I will rarely leave any area that is not well protected, I will be carrying the key on me at all times."  Now that he was no longer able to spy on Voldemort, he almost never left Hogwarts, which was very well protected.  "For your information, only the Weasleys, Professor Dumbledore, and I know where Mister Weasley and Ms. Granger are staying."

"Good."  Buffy nodded.  "Less is better."

Snape stepped away from Hermione, intent on leaving.  He paused and struggled with whether to tell her what Dumbledore had told him.  Finally he said.  "I should warn you that the Headmaster seemed quite taken with the Weasleys' idea of using your home as a safe house, he seemed to thing it was quite ingenious."

"I think I only have room for one more."  Buffy replied.  She was neither offering her home to the cause, thereby committing herself to it in any way, nor was she refusing to harbor anyone else.

Snape nodded and disappeared.  Hermione, who had been watching the whole exchange with great interest, stepped forward.  "Hello, I'm Hermione Granger."

"I figured."  The Slayer glanced at the clock.  "I have to get to work.  You're room is upstairs, the second door on the left.  Sorry I can't give you a better welcome."

"It's all right."  Hermione was looking around at her surroundings, searching for any sign that a witched lived in the house.

Buffy smiled and yelled.  "Ron!  I'm going to work!  Help Hermione settle in!"

As she opened the door, she heard a loud.  "Okay!…What?!"  Buffy giggled, she had far too much fun doing that to him.