Disclaimer: I own nothing. Buffy belongs to Joss Whedon and Co., Harry
belongs to J. K. Rowling.
Pairings: Shades of B/S, T/W, X/A, G/A, and T/Sev later on.
This takes place in season 6 Buffy and book 3 Harry. I've taken some liberties with age.Also, there's a reason this isn't in the Tara pairings section. I won't get to that for awhile, though.
Rating: PG-13 overall.
Chapter 1: Gaining an Ally
"Hey Anya." Tara said in greeting as she walked into the Magic Box.
Anya glanced up from the ledger she was poring over, obviously distracted.
Tara made her way over to the counter, her long blue skirt slightly swishing in her wake. She studied the woman behind the counter, who was mumbling to herself as well as, Tara noted, blonde this week.
"Is something wrong?" Tara asked quietly, concern etched on her face, "a store related problem?"
Anya finally closed the book, giving Tara her full attention. "No, the money is fine. This wedding is turning out to be a lot more work than I was planning for though. And, of course, I have to go out of town right in the middle of planning the decorations for the reception. If I leave Xander in charge, they'll end up being all wrong."
"Oh, of course," Tara replied, unsure of how she was expected to react to wedding related dilemmas.
Anya finally seemed to realize that Tara was actually at the counter, as her entire demeanor suddenly shifted.
"Can I sell you something expensive today?" she asked, pasting a large smile on her face and doing her best to look helpful.
Tara smiled back. "Um, no, actually I was looking for Dawn. She left me a message to meet her here."
Anya's smile dropped from her face as their conversation was interrupted by the shop door flying open. A billow of smoke poured into the room, surrounding what the two blondes assumed was a blanketed Spike. Their suspicions were quickly confirmed when said vampire dropped his blanket onto a nearby chair and tried to look like catching fire was a normal occurrence for him. Which, when they thought about it, it was.
"Demongirl, Glinda," Spike nodded in acknowledgment, pulling a pack of cigarettes out of his duster pocket and searching for a lighter.
Anya jumped out from behind the counter, grabbing the cigarette out of Spike's mouth and tossing it into a nearby trash can.
"There's no smoking in the store, Spike. It bothers the customers, and then they leave without giving me their money."
"Also, it's illegal in California," Tara added, amused at Spike's look of irritation. A few seconds later, it had turned into a full-on pout.
Anya just rolled her eyes.
Finally, Spike gave in, putting his cigarettes back into his pocket and dropping into the chair his blanket was resting on.
"Fine, but only 'cuz you're paying me."
"Paying you?" Tara asked.
"Spike is covering for me while I'm gone. It's only for a few days, and he has no reason to steal anything, since he doesn't do magic." Anya informed her.
"Oh." replied Tara with a questioning look.
"Hey," Spike said, a bit offended, "just 'cuz I'm evil doesn't mean I'm irresponsible. And since I'm being paid, I've got no reason to do anything to the customers 'sides maybe picking up a few birds. They like the responsible shopkeeper look sometimes, right?"
"Plus, Buffy's training in the back room every day." Tara added, smiling.
"Well, yeah." Spike mumbled, suddenly finding one of the books lying on the table extremely interesting.
"No funny business in the store," said Anya as she ducked behind the counter, searching for something. "If I'm not having orgasms in the back room, no one else is either."
Tara cringed, "And with that, I'll go look for Dawn in said room and try not to picture any of that imagery."
She heard Spike chuckle softly as she headed to the training room. As soon as she stepped through the door, she was deafened by Dawn's loud squeal. It was shrill enough to cause her to flinch and jump back a bit.
"Dawnie!" Buffy shouted as said teenager bounced up and down and continued to emit the almost inhuman noise of delight.
The small blonde slayer sighed loudly as her sister kept the bouncing up for another minute before realizing that someone had entered the room. Dawn turned her attention to Tara, and suddenly her joy faltered a bit, and was replaced with a slightly nervous smile.
"Er, hi," Tara finally said in greeting, after she was certain the squealing was finished for the moment.
Dawn waved in return, and then turned expectantly back to Buffy.
"Hey Dawnie, how about you give me a minute to talk to Tara alone," said Buffy, quelling her sister's excitement completely.
"Yeah, okay," Dawn mumbled as she trudged back into the main shop area.
As soon as the door closed, Buffy turned to a curious Tara. She motioned for them to sit on the nearby sofa, plopping down as Tara gathered her skirt and gracefully lowered herself onto the middle cushion.
Buffy hesitated a moment, gathering her thoughts, and then launched into an explanation.
"So, you know how you told me you were going on a vacation of sorts, right?"
She paused briefly, letting Tara wonder for a moment if this wasn't a rhetorical question, but then continued before she could answer.
"The thing is, it's been really hard for Dawn lately. I mean, she thinks I'm just ignoring her half the time, but I do notice. I think she needs something else for a while. Besides a hellmouth, that is."
Tara nodded in understanding. "So you want me to take her on vacation."
"Well yeah, I mean, only if it's not too much trouble, you know. I wouldn't- "
Tara cut the Slayer off with a touch on her shoulder. "I would love to, Buffy."
Buffy studied Tara for a moment, then, seemingly satisfied with the hint of excitement she found there, suddenly smiled a bit tiredly at her.
She turned to the door, shouting, "Dawn, you can come back in now!"
The door flew open, and the tall brunette was hugging Tara enthusiastically before they could even register her entrance.
Thank you thank you thank you!" Dawn squealed, beginning her bouncing again, "we're gonna have SO much fun!"
Just as quickly as she entered, Dawn ran back into the shop, to tell Spike the news, Tara presumed. A presumption that was confirmed by Dawn's excited words a moment later, punctuated by Spike's pained laugh.
"I don't envy him his advanced hearing," Tara said, turning to Buffy to work out the details.
Pairings: Shades of B/S, T/W, X/A, G/A, and T/Sev later on.
This takes place in season 6 Buffy and book 3 Harry. I've taken some liberties with age.Also, there's a reason this isn't in the Tara pairings section. I won't get to that for awhile, though.
Rating: PG-13 overall.
Chapter 1: Gaining an Ally
"Hey Anya." Tara said in greeting as she walked into the Magic Box.
Anya glanced up from the ledger she was poring over, obviously distracted.
Tara made her way over to the counter, her long blue skirt slightly swishing in her wake. She studied the woman behind the counter, who was mumbling to herself as well as, Tara noted, blonde this week.
"Is something wrong?" Tara asked quietly, concern etched on her face, "a store related problem?"
Anya finally closed the book, giving Tara her full attention. "No, the money is fine. This wedding is turning out to be a lot more work than I was planning for though. And, of course, I have to go out of town right in the middle of planning the decorations for the reception. If I leave Xander in charge, they'll end up being all wrong."
"Oh, of course," Tara replied, unsure of how she was expected to react to wedding related dilemmas.
Anya finally seemed to realize that Tara was actually at the counter, as her entire demeanor suddenly shifted.
"Can I sell you something expensive today?" she asked, pasting a large smile on her face and doing her best to look helpful.
Tara smiled back. "Um, no, actually I was looking for Dawn. She left me a message to meet her here."
Anya's smile dropped from her face as their conversation was interrupted by the shop door flying open. A billow of smoke poured into the room, surrounding what the two blondes assumed was a blanketed Spike. Their suspicions were quickly confirmed when said vampire dropped his blanket onto a nearby chair and tried to look like catching fire was a normal occurrence for him. Which, when they thought about it, it was.
"Demongirl, Glinda," Spike nodded in acknowledgment, pulling a pack of cigarettes out of his duster pocket and searching for a lighter.
Anya jumped out from behind the counter, grabbing the cigarette out of Spike's mouth and tossing it into a nearby trash can.
"There's no smoking in the store, Spike. It bothers the customers, and then they leave without giving me their money."
"Also, it's illegal in California," Tara added, amused at Spike's look of irritation. A few seconds later, it had turned into a full-on pout.
Anya just rolled her eyes.
Finally, Spike gave in, putting his cigarettes back into his pocket and dropping into the chair his blanket was resting on.
"Fine, but only 'cuz you're paying me."
"Paying you?" Tara asked.
"Spike is covering for me while I'm gone. It's only for a few days, and he has no reason to steal anything, since he doesn't do magic." Anya informed her.
"Oh." replied Tara with a questioning look.
"Hey," Spike said, a bit offended, "just 'cuz I'm evil doesn't mean I'm irresponsible. And since I'm being paid, I've got no reason to do anything to the customers 'sides maybe picking up a few birds. They like the responsible shopkeeper look sometimes, right?"
"Plus, Buffy's training in the back room every day." Tara added, smiling.
"Well, yeah." Spike mumbled, suddenly finding one of the books lying on the table extremely interesting.
"No funny business in the store," said Anya as she ducked behind the counter, searching for something. "If I'm not having orgasms in the back room, no one else is either."
Tara cringed, "And with that, I'll go look for Dawn in said room and try not to picture any of that imagery."
She heard Spike chuckle softly as she headed to the training room. As soon as she stepped through the door, she was deafened by Dawn's loud squeal. It was shrill enough to cause her to flinch and jump back a bit.
"Dawnie!" Buffy shouted as said teenager bounced up and down and continued to emit the almost inhuman noise of delight.
The small blonde slayer sighed loudly as her sister kept the bouncing up for another minute before realizing that someone had entered the room. Dawn turned her attention to Tara, and suddenly her joy faltered a bit, and was replaced with a slightly nervous smile.
"Er, hi," Tara finally said in greeting, after she was certain the squealing was finished for the moment.
Dawn waved in return, and then turned expectantly back to Buffy.
"Hey Dawnie, how about you give me a minute to talk to Tara alone," said Buffy, quelling her sister's excitement completely.
"Yeah, okay," Dawn mumbled as she trudged back into the main shop area.
As soon as the door closed, Buffy turned to a curious Tara. She motioned for them to sit on the nearby sofa, plopping down as Tara gathered her skirt and gracefully lowered herself onto the middle cushion.
Buffy hesitated a moment, gathering her thoughts, and then launched into an explanation.
"So, you know how you told me you were going on a vacation of sorts, right?"
She paused briefly, letting Tara wonder for a moment if this wasn't a rhetorical question, but then continued before she could answer.
"The thing is, it's been really hard for Dawn lately. I mean, she thinks I'm just ignoring her half the time, but I do notice. I think she needs something else for a while. Besides a hellmouth, that is."
Tara nodded in understanding. "So you want me to take her on vacation."
"Well yeah, I mean, only if it's not too much trouble, you know. I wouldn't- "
Tara cut the Slayer off with a touch on her shoulder. "I would love to, Buffy."
Buffy studied Tara for a moment, then, seemingly satisfied with the hint of excitement she found there, suddenly smiled a bit tiredly at her.
She turned to the door, shouting, "Dawn, you can come back in now!"
The door flew open, and the tall brunette was hugging Tara enthusiastically before they could even register her entrance.
Thank you thank you thank you!" Dawn squealed, beginning her bouncing again, "we're gonna have SO much fun!"
Just as quickly as she entered, Dawn ran back into the shop, to tell Spike the news, Tara presumed. A presumption that was confirmed by Dawn's excited words a moment later, punctuated by Spike's pained laugh.
"I don't envy him his advanced hearing," Tara said, turning to Buffy to work out the details.
