I don't own Buffy the Vampire Slayer or anything associated with it. It belongs to its creator Joss Whedon and whoever else owns it. This piece of literature is simply the work of a humble fan. I don't own Harry Potter neither. It belongs to J.K. Rowling.
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:::Author Notes:::
This takes place during Season Four of Buffy. It's after the episode Restless (Where the First Slayer killed all of them in their dreams). For Harry Potter it takes place after the events of book five: Order of the Phoenix.
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Some of you had questions in your reviews. I don't like people being confused so here our your answers.
Q&A
Will this be a Snape/ Buffy fic? – Never ever. I actually shudder thinking about them being together. It just wouldn't work.
What's up with a blue cat? – I researched it and the wizarding world does have animals that come in wide variety of different colors. Remember in PoA Harry saw rats that came in every color in Magical Menagerie.
Will you make this a Harry/Hermione? – I haven't thought about it. I'm just interested in telling the story for now.
Sorry that it's been awhile since I've last updated. School just came back with a vengeance. I've been trying to find time to sit aside that's strictly for writing. But it's hard because my friends always want to go out and do something. Today's a holiday and I have the whole day free to type this up. So here it is. The next part.
Stars Not in Heaven
Chapter Nine: Raise Your Hand if Your Surprised Harry made it to sixteen
By: Water Mage
"Buffy."
"Buffy."
"Buffy!"
Buffy snapped her eyes open and met the sparkling green eyes of Harry. She groaned loudly and buried her head under her pillow. "Why are you not still sleeping? Its too early to be up yet," said Buffy her voice muffled by the pillow covering her face.
"Guess what?" asked Harry, smiling widely.
"What?" wondered Buffy her voice still coming out muffled.
Harry snatched the pillow away causing her to glare at him. "Today's my birthday."
Buffy paused and then sat up, actually smiling. "Well, so it is then. Happy Birthday, Har-bear."
"I told you not to call me that. I actually was trying to be a good brother by letting you know that the Weasley's and Hermione would be arriving in a few hours. If you want to greet them by looking like the monster from black lagoon…"
Buffy ran a hand through her knotted bed hair. "I look that bad."
Harry nodded solemnly. "Worse."
Buffy laughed loudly then stopped abruptly. "It sounded funny then I thought it over and I realized it wasn't."
Harry snorted and mumbled something about someone losing brain cells. He got off Buffy's bed and left her room, giving her privacy to get ready. Buffy stretched for a few moments before getting up. She took her time getting ready. She wanted to make sure she looked good when she met the Weasley's and Hermione. First impressions always made lasting ones. She emerged from her bedroom an hour later.
She walked into the living room and struck a sultry pose for Harry, who sat on the couch. "I'm ready for my close-up, Mr. Potter."
Harry looked at her with mock sympathy. "To think you wake up every morning wasting your mind."
"I guess someone doesn't want a present," replied Buffy, offhandedly.
Harry stood up quickly, giving Buffy a reassuring smile. "Now, sis. Let's not be hasty," he said, following her out of the room.
Together they walked down to the Great Hall for breakfast. Most of the teachers were still on vacation so the staff table was only half full. Hagrid was one of the teachers who was away from the castle for the summer. Harry hadn't seen the half giant, since returning to the castle. Dumbledore mentioned once that Hagrid was in France visiting Madame Maxime.
"Happy Birthday, Harry," greeted Dumbledore as Buffy and Harry sat down beside him.
Harry smiled. "Thanks, sir."
The rest of the staff followed, offering their own good tidings. Buffy looked down the table at Snape. The Potions Master looked like he rather be any other place but here. It was like all the happiness in the room was making him more sullen and moody. Buffy knew that Snape didn't like her or Harry because of their father but she hoped that for today that they all could get along for Harry's sake. From what she heard, her brother hadn't had too many joyful birthdays in his life. Since this was the first time she would be there for his birthday, she wanted the whole party to go off smoothly.
After they finished eating their breakfast, Buffy glanced down at her watch. "I think its about time that we start setting up for Harry's party," she announced, aloud.
The adults nodded and they went to work. Harry watched as they moved without even being told what each person was doing what. That was when he realized that they must have been meeting and planning on what to do for awhile. At that moment he felt immensely grateful for all their efforts and sincerity. Buffy looked around at the bustling teachers and realized that Snape had slipped out without being noticed. She wished that he would let down his walls and at least be friendly, but she knew that the grudge he held was far too deep.
Smiling, Buffy turned to Harry, who stood looking around wide-eyed. "Hey, kid. How's about you go outside to the pitch and go flying till we finish up here. Okay?"
"Okay," nodded Harry, dazed.
He left the room with a huge smile on his face. Buffy watched him leave the room before turning back to her task of arranging gifts on the table. Buffy was amazed at what the professors were doing. They used their wands to magically hang streamers from the ceiling and made multicolor balloons float twelve feet above their heads. Buffy didn't want to set fire to anything, so she stuck to just blowing up the balloons and letting the professors charm them to float.
Two hours later, Buffy had to admit that the room looked incredible. The primary colors of the decorations were done in blue and silver. Dumbledore suggested the colors red and gold, Gryffindor colors. During their catch up talk, Harry had confessed to her that the colors blue and silver were his favorite. A glittering silver banner hung from wall to wall with the words Happy Birthday Harry written in big blue letters. It finished off the look of the room and made the decorations look overall even more fantastic.
"Beautiful," commented McGonagall, standing with Buffy and the Professors near the entrance doors of the Great Hall.
"We certainly did a good job," replied Flitwick, nodding.
Buffy turned to the older adults her eyes wet. "I just want to thank all of you for doing this. I know it means a lot to Harry that you all would do this for him. It shows you all really care about him. For that thank you."
Dumbledore placed a hand on her shoulder, smiling kindly. "It was of no bother for us to do this for young Harry."
Buffy blinked her eyes hard to hold back tears. "I'll go and get Harry. He's going to die when he sees this," she said, leaving the room.
She walked across the grounds down to the Quidditch pitch. Harry could be seen flying through the air on his Firebolt, doing wild dives at a breakneck speed. With her enhanced Slayer vision, Buffy could see the expression on Harry's face from her position below him. Her younger brother's face showed all of his varied emotions. She could see happiness, excitement, and anxiousness
"My brother the daredevil," muttered Buffy. She fixed her hands around her mouth and yelled up. "Hey, daredevil!"
He came to a halt and looked down from his eighty-foot position above the ground. Buffy waved at him to come down. "Is everything done?" asked Harry, as he touched ground and landed in front of Buffy.
"Sure is. You're going to freak when you see what we did," she answered, smiling wickedly. Harry followed her quickly back up to the school His excitement was shown clear in his eyes. The anxious bounce in his step as he walked made her laugh. Buffy opened the doors to the Great Hall and turned to Harry awaiting his reaction to the decorations.
"Holy extravagant decorations, Batman!" exclaimed Harry, surprised.
The Professors, who stood in front of them and Buffy laughed at Harry's response. Buffy slung an arm around Harry's shoulders. "Its official. You have been spending way too much time around me. You've absorbed some of my pop culture references."
Three house tables had been moved against the wall, leaving only one remaining table in the middle of the room. It was filled with party favors and had plates and goblets set on top. No doubt the food was already prepared and would magically appear as soon as the party started. At the end of the table was a small mound of presents from the Professors.
Harry blushed under all the attention that was focused on him. With flushed cheeks he looked around the room at all the smiling faces. "This is all too much," said Harry. A bit shyly he looked down at the ground. "Thank you for all of this. It means a lot, honestly."
As the Professors gathered around Harry, Buffy slipped from the room. She didn't want to leave like she had, but Buffy had to get Harry's present from Hogsmeade. Since it was a surprise, she had to pick it up today. If she had picked it up sooner Harry would have surely found it by now. Harry could find or do anything if he put his mind to it. Lady Luck was always with Harry. He had survived the most powerful dark wizard in history five times and lived to tell about it. That was a miracle in itself. Buffy believed that if he could do that then finding a birthday present would be cake for him. She walked down the cobbled streets of Hogsmeade to They're All Magical, the pet store, she visited two days ago.
"Hi, there," Buffy said in greeting as she entered the shop.
"Hello," replied the witch behind the counter. "I assume your here to pick up the kitten you reserved a few days ago then?"
Buffy nodded watching as the witch went into a back room behind the counter and came back out with the small blue kitten and a medium sized box. The cat yawned softly and fell asleep as he was set on the counter. The box had sets of large holes poked all around the rim. The witch placed the sleeping kitten in the box and closed the lid.
"There you are, miss. That will be two Galleons, please."
Buffy handed her the money and took the offered box. "Thank you."
Carefully, Buffy walked back up the castle with the box in her arms. She made sure to walk very slowly as to not jostle the box and awake the animal. An agitated kitten trapped in a box would for sure make quite a racked. Buffy stopped as she came near the Great Hall. Inside she could hear voices that she didn't recognize. She stepped into the large doorway and her eyes widened to the size of dinner saucers.
The only time that Buffy had seen so many redheads was when Willow showed her a picture of the entire Rosenberg clan at a family reunion that was taken when she was little. Buffy knew that these people had to be the Weasley's that Harry had talked so much about. She felt that she could identify all of the new arrivals from the descriptions that Harry had gave her.
'Those are the twins,' she thought, watching as a plump woman scolded two identical older teens. 'That has to be Mrs. Weasley. The man beside her is Mr. Weasley. Charlie is built like the twins so that's him. The wannabe be rocker has to be Bill.' Buffy snorted to herself. Harry's term to define Bill was cool. She personally didn't see it. The long hair and fang earring was just not working for her. 'The tall Boy Meets World looking boy has to be Ron and the girl beside him can be nobody other than Hermione. That leaves mini Willow as being Ginny.'
Buffy decided to introduce herself instead of standing in the doorway like a fool. She hoped that Harry had explained things to them while she was gone. But knowing her brother she knew that he hadn't. He was looking for the chance to surprise them.
"Ummm. Hi," Buffy half smiled.
Attention shifted her and she immediately realized what Harry must have felt like earlier when he was being stared at. Harry stepped forward, smiling wickedly. "Guys, this is my sister, Buffy."
If Buffy weren't holding the box she would have smacked her hand against her forehead. If Harry was going for a wide shock factor then he got it. With those six words Harry caused an instant uproar. The room that was quiet had suddenly erupted into chaos. Both Professor Dumbledore and McGonagall had to magically shoot spark's into the air to get the room to return once more to its semi quiet state.
Dumbledore pocketed his wand and looked around the room slowly. His face was serious, but his eyes were twinkling gleam of amusement. Buffy had to resist the urge to throw something at him. Dumbledore was clearly finding the moment hilarious. "Now lets try this again," he said, looking at Harry.
Harry nodded, biting the inside of his cheek to keep himself from bursting into loud laughter. "Like I said before. This is my sister, Buffy Potter."
"What?"
"How?"
"I'm confused."
"Impossible!"
"I don't get it?"
"But she's blonde!"
Buffy rolled her eyes at that last remark. Bill pulled out his wand, training it on Buffy. He glared at her then turned to Harry. "Harry everyone knows you don't have a sister. She has to be some kind of Deatheater sent by You Know Who."
Buffy raised her eyebrow. "Unless you want that wand up your ass. I suggest you point it somewhere else, Axel Foley."
Harry snorted, causing Hermione and the Weasley's to stare at him incredulously. They had never heard Harry snort before. They even thought that after the year Harry had last year he wouldn't be laughing for a long time. Yet, here he was actually snorting and wearing a full happy smile. Harry took pity on his friends and explained the whole thing to them. He left out everything about Buffy living on the Hellmouth and about her being the Slayer. Buffy had told him that the fewer people that knew she was the Chosen One the better it was for them and her. His story was received with doubt, then skepticism, and then finally wary acceptance. They didn't trust her by a long shot. Buffy could see it in their eyes, but they were giving her a chance for Harry.
Buffy sat her present next to the others and joined Harry at his side. She glared at the scrutinizing looks that the Weasley's shot her. She didn't like to be stared at. 'Oh, yeah. This is going to be fun,' she thought.
They gathered around the table where sat a gleaming chocolate fudge cake with sixteen candles stuck in the top. Buffy almost drooled at the sight of the cake. This was her first time laying eyes on the creation. She knew that this cake couldn't have been made by hand. Magic had to have helped somehow. It was just too perfect.
"I see the house-elves went all out on that," remarked Ron.
Hermione glared at him and clucked disapprovingly with her tongue. Buffy was immediately hit with a wave of homesickness. Giles made the same noise when he was irritated. She shook of the feeling and put a smile on her face as she watched Harry blow out the candles on his cake. Harry blew them out in one breath. Everyone clapped and wished him well.
"Presents time!" exclaimed Fred, grinning from ear to ear.
They sat down at the table and let Harry walk to the mound that were piled at the edge. His eyes got big as they swept over the gifts. "Wow! These are a lot of gifts."
"Harry we're glad you know how to count, mate. So, let's get on with the opening. You got us all curious to know what you got," commented George, anxiously.
Harry went through the gifts like a man on a mission. Buffy was reminded of herself on Christmas. Her mother was always surprised with how fast she always managed to open all of her presents. It was nice to see that her and Harry shared the same trait of being over curious. She laughed with everyone else as Harry opened the gag gifts that George and Fred gave him. Just as she had guessed most of the gifts he got were something Quidditch related. Buffy didn't see the big deal over the sport, but Harry and Ron were infatuated with all the gifts that related to the sport.
Last, Harry picked up Buffy's present with a raised eyebrow in her direction. She shrugged her shoulders innocently and gave him a look that said 'hurry up and open it already'. Harry complied and quickly tore the lid off the box top. He looked inside and gasped at the contents. Instinctively, the others around the table tried to lean in closer to get a look at the contents of the box. Harry took the kitten out of the box and held it in his arms and expression of surprise, wonderment, and care on his face. Harry looked up at Buffy hopeful.
"Is this mine?" he asked, softly.
Buffy nodded. "Yeah, he's all yours. He doesn't have a name or anything so you can pick any you want. He's empathic too. That means he can sense your feelings when you're around him."
The kitten awoke and looked up at Harry with its light blue eyes, which were the very color of a fork of lightning that flashes across the sky during a storm. Harry looked up at Buffy gratefully. "Thank you, Buffy."
"So, what are you going to name him?" asked Ginny, reaching out to pet the kitten.
Harry looked down at the small animal in his arms. The color of his coat and eyes reminded him of lightning. He knew the perfect name for his new kitten. "His name is Raiden."
"Isn't that the Chinese God of lightning?" wondered Professor Flitwick, impressed with Harry's knowledge of another culture's ancient mythology.
Harry shrugged his shoulders. "I was naming him after the video game character."
Buffy, Hermione, Dumbledore and a few of the teachers busted out laughing at that comment. The others who didn't understand were left looking at them, blinking in bewilderment. Ron looked around at the laughing people then to Harry who was petting Raiden with an amused smile on his face.
"Harry, what's a vidio ghame?"
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I would write more, but my eyes are killing me. I really need to go find my glasses. I know they're around somewhere. I'm really sorry about the lateness of this chapter. I've never gone so long without updating this story before(See above not for details). I'll try my best to get the next part up like Saturday or Sunday at the latest. If there is a lot of typos in this, I'm sorry. I really have no idea where my glasses are at the moment. ^_^
If the next chapter isn't out by Sunday, feel free to email me and tell me to get a move on. Some people have done that : ) Thanks for the motivation guys who emailed to tell me that they liked the story and wished I would hurry up and update already.