Dreams of Something Different

by jessebelle

Disclaimer: I don't own anything but the idea

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Chapter Six: Spike Was A Hufflepuff?!!!!!!!!!!!

They followed Wesley back through the halls of Hogwarts. Tara was silent, pondering her new position as DADA professor, with Spike. She still was in a bit of shock from up and leaving Sunnydale like she did and jet lag was starting to make it's presence known. Spike was also silent. He was thinking of all the situations where he could scare the kiddies by showing his gameface, letting them know that one of their new teachers was a vampire.

Anya and Wesley, meanwhile, chatted comfortably as they led the others to their new rooms. The staff rooms were located all around the castle, mainly by the different common room entrances and near the occupant's classroom. Most of the rooms would magically change to fit it's owner and usually were located by the house they were in when they were at Hogwarts, or what house would suit them.

It was a wonder that Wesley knew where to go, but he had been told beforehand what rooms would be made available. The first stop was Tara's room, the poor girl looked like she was going to drop. It had been decided that Tara was to be an honorary Gryffindor until she was sorted, that way they would have a new teacher in every house. They passed the Fat Lady and came to a stop in front of a portrait of a young lady that looked remarkably like Tara herself. When the girl saw it, her breath hitched and she grabbed Spike's arm again. When the vampire saw the color drain from Tara's face, he decided not to say anything. He had a pretty good guess of why she was reacting like this.

Wesley stopped and looked from the portrait to Tara, and back again. Knowledge of who the woman was explained Tara's reaction. But there was still Anya, and tact was not even a word in her vocabulary.

"Oh my god Tara, this women looks just like you. Do you know who it is?"

Tara, still staring at the picture, nodded. "Y-yeah. Sh-she's my m-m-mother."

"Miss Maclay, I'm terribly sorry, I don't think Dumbledore knew how much the picture would affect you. I'm sure he can change it, but you'll have to keep it for at least a day or so."

"N-no, I like it, I don't have many pictures of her, especially when she was younger. It was just a shock." She kept her hold on Spike, but loosened it a bit.

"Alright, the password is Livinia."

Once Wesley said the password, Tara's mother's name, the portrait opened and a brightly lit common room was revealed. The color scheme of the room was soft, with pale pinks, blues, purples, yellows, and greens. Candles were on many of the surfaces. The walls were white marble. On the right wall, French doors led to a balcony that overlooked the grounds. A fire was already burning in the pink, granite fireplace. There were freshly cut flowers on the end tables and on the desk which was against the left wall. There were bookshelves on either side of the desk, filled with books. In a half circle around the fireplace were two high-backed chairs and a comfortable looking couch. A staircase leading to the bathroom, guest room, and Tara's bedroom was across from the entrance. It was a very girly room and was also perfect for Tara.

The witch stared in awe at her new room. It was gorgeous and definitely matched her tastes. "This is really for me?"

Wesley smiled. "Yes, it's yours. How about we show you where Spike and Anya's rooms are tomorrow. I can imagine the jet lag must be getting to you."

Gratefully Tara nodded and let go of Spike's arm. She smiled at him apologetically when he rose an eyebrow. "Sorry Spike. Wesley, pleasure meeting you and thank you for everything. I hope we'll get a chance to get to know each other more. Anya, I'm glad you're here. Don't give any thought to you-know-who and if you need anything I'm here." She gave the former demon, now witch, a hug and smiled at the group as the portrait shut. When they were all gone she made it to the couch before falling into a comforting, restful sleep.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* The next stop was Spike's room near the Hufflepuff common room. They arrived to a picture of a young boy in a Hufflepuff uniform, working on something with the utmost concentration. He had sandy blonde hair and wire-rimmed glasses falling down his nose. The boy was working by candle light and by the looks of the background of the painting and the style of clothes the boy was wearing, the portrait was done sometime in the 1800's.

Spike saw the painting and gave an audible groan. He turned to a smiling Wesley. "Hey mate, can I change my painting too?" He looked a little bit hopeful.

"Sorry Spike, but this painting was brought here on Dumbledore's orders. Filch had to find it in storage and everything." Wesley was clearly enjoying the look that was on Spike's features. He knew exactly why Spike didn't like the picture.

Anya was carefully studying the portrait in wonder. Why would a little Hufflepuff be guarding a vampire's rooms? The boy looked familiar and it took her a moment before her eyes widened and she turned to Spike. "Oh my God, that's you!"

Spike turned away in embarrassment. The boy in the picture, Spike's younger, human self, choose that moment to look up and acknowledge the guests. "Oh, hello, I'm William. Do any of you happen to know another word for splendor or radiating light? I'm working on a poem of mine." The boy's voice was high and prepubescent, his accent was crisp, more refined, and a lot different from Spike's. William looked at Spike wearily then turned to Wesley and Anya for an answer.

However it was Spike who came up with the answer automatically. "Effulgent." William nodded his thanks, then went back to his poem. Anya looked at Spike and tried to hold in the giggles, but they put up a mean fight and escaped. Spike looked at her and glared. "What?"

She took a deep breath. "Hufflepuff? Effulgent?" Then she started laughing again.

Spike would have blushed if he had been able, but instead ignored the laughing Anya and turned to Wesley. "What's the password?"

Wesley looked to Anya, who was gradually calming down, to Spike before answering. "It's bloodlust. Feel free to change it after we're gone."

Spike nodded and turned to, himself. "Ey, mate, drop the quill and open up."

William looked up again. "Password?"

"Bloodlust."

The portrait swung open and Spike stepped into his rooms. Like Tara he had much of the same layout. Stairs leading to the bedrooms and bathroom, fireplace burning, couches and a few chairs all about. A desk, the same one from the portrait actually, was along the left wall and there was only one bookshelf. The colors were dark, reds and blacks.

There were no French doors, but instead a wall that had weapons of all kinds arranged on it. A mat was on the floor and in one corner was a dummy, the other a punching bag that hung from the ceiling. He had his own little training space. The walls and floor were stone, and wouldn't look out of place in the dungeons. Lighted candles were the only light source, but they were just enough for a vampire. All in all, Spike thought the room was great. When he had entered, the portrait had closed and he assumed that Demon girl and Watcher Jr. had left. It still being night and him being a vampire, he wasn't ready for bed quite yet. He made sure there were a few stakes in his duster and he grabbed a wicked looking axe from his new collection. Then he left silently to patrol the forbidden forest. A spot of violence was exactly what he needed before going to sleep.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* After the portrait closed in Anya and Wesley's faces, they started to walk to the dungeons. Anya really didn't need Wesley to show her there, but the ex watcher found himself enjoying the former demon's company. Also, he wanted to see where her rooms were located, but only for an emergency of course, or at least that's what he kept telling himself.

Anya didn't mind her escort and kept up a conversation on how Hogwarts changed from her days. When they were finally down in the dungeons, Anya led Wesley passed the potions classroom and the Slytherin common room entrance. Wesley found himself getting colder and a little more nervous as they went deeper and deeper into the heart of the dungeons. It seemed like forever, but in reality was only a little while, when they came to a portrait that looked out of place on the barren walls.

It was of a little girl. Her hair was almost black and was hanging loosely over her shoulders. She wore a witch's robe that was Slytherin green. She was sitting on the lap of a smiling Salazar Slytherin and she was laughing. Wesley guessed that the young girl was Anya.

The picture didn't ask for a password, or move at all for that matter. Anya saw the confusion that marred Wesley's features and explained. "That's me when I was four or five. That picture was taken the day they opened Hogwarts. At the time I was a little frightened of the moving portraits so Sal got me a muggle one. It was before he started hating muggleborns."

Wesley nodded at the new information. Anya walked right up to the portrait, smiled at the sight of her brother, then walked right through it. Wesley paused for a moment before coming to the conclusion that it was a portal, like platform nine and three quarters, and followed. He ran into the portrait and bounced back on his butt, the portrait was solid. He quickly jumped up and dusted himself off when Anya's head came back through the portrait, replacing the head of her younger self.

"Oh, Wesley, I hope you didn't try to come after me. Sal didn't like the idea of boys in my rooms besides himself, so he put up a blocking spell. I tried to take it off, but it's permanent. Rowena helped me out and added a different entranceway for guys, though. It's right by the entrance to the Slytherin common room."

Oh. "Um, no, I was just about to though. Well, good evening Anya, I'll see you in the morning." He nodded his head and left for his own rooms on the other side of the castle.

Anya had seen his fall and grinned at the knowledge that he was trying to hide it from her. She ducked back into her rooms and looked around at her childhood home.

The walls were stone, as was the floor and most rooms in the dungeons. Torches lined the walls giving the room a warm glow. The fireplace had magically lit and was taking the cold out of the room. The color scheme was different shades of green, ranging from hunter green to mint. Muggle pictures adorned the walls. Most of them were portraits of Anya, showing herself from birth to the age of eighteen. Others showed her and her brother, her younger siblings, their parents, pictures of her friends, and a few of her with the other three founders. One she especially liked was a portrait of her and Godric.

Sal had hated the fact that she and Godric had gotten along. Gryffindors and Slytherins weren't meant to be friends, but Anya and Godric had hung out when Sal was busy or when Anya wanted an adventure. That's why Sal had also warded her room against Gryffindors. Rowena had invented the other entrance for that reason more than the anti-guy charm. Anya had gotten along with Helga and Rowena also. They'd been like her older sisters. Yeah, she'd gotten along with all of the founders famously. She wondered whether they'd discovered all of their hidden passageways or secret chambers yet. She'd have to ask Dumbledore tomorrow when she discussed her new position as head of Slytherin and her new duties. Hopefully taking on all this responsibility was worth the humiliation that that cranky bat, Snape had felt. Man that guy needed to get laid. Too bad he wasn't her type, she could have helped him out.