Chapter 6

The Plan

Xander, Buffy and Willow, still quite bleary eyed, headed on downstairs to join the rest of the house. It was late afternoon, and the trio had woken up at last, dressed quickly and met on the hallway of the second floor. Buffy and Willow were sharing a room, as was Xander and Andrew, and they had yet to meet the occupants of the remaining rooms. Dawn and Andrew were yet to be seen, so the three meandered into the basement kitchen to fill their ravenous stomachs.

"Good Afternoon," came the cheery greeting of Remus as he sat at the large centre table reading a newspaper titled, 'The Daily Prophet', "How are you feeling?"

Xander grunted in reply and sat at the table, placing his head in his makeshift hands/pillow, quite ready to fall asleep again. A slightly rotund woman with hair that matched the Weasley twins placed a large mug of coffee down in front of each of them and smiled.

"This is Molly Weasley," said Remus gesturing, "Molly that's Xander Harris, Buffy Summers…Dawn's older sister and Willow Rosenberg."

Mrs. Weasley beamed at them all and sat down at the table herself.

"Remus has been telling us all about you, it's wonderful to finally meet you." She pulled a wand out of her breast pocket of her flowery dress and pointed it at a plate of biscuits situated on the kitchen counter, which promptly floated and landed a little to Xander's right. Willow's eyes widened in amazement. Xander snatched a custard cream. Buffy smiled widely.

"It's nice to meet you too…we've hardly heard anything…Giles just said you needed our help with…Harry? And his godfather?"

Mrs. Weasley nodded solemnly.

"Yes…well-"

But she was interrupted as Xander suddenly sprouted feathers all over his body. Buffy and Willow gasped, their mouths falling open in shock. Remus stared for a moment, and put his head in his hands muttering something exasperatedly.

A beat.

Mrs. Weasley exploded.

"FRED AND GEORGE WEASLEY!!!! WHEN I FIND YOU TWO YOU BOTH ARE IN A GREAT DEAL OF TROUBLE!!!"

"Sorry Xander, they'll fall off in a few moments. That's one of Fred and George's hilarious inventions, the Canary Cream…" said Remus with a sigh.

Xander shrugged and spoke something, which was very muffled, his eyes on Willow and Buffy who now, understanding the state of affairs, were in hysterics. At this point, a young and pretty woman walked into the kitchen, her hair quite short, funky and a very bright shade of purple. She looked at the scene and followed Buffy and Willow's example. Xander felt his face go hot.

"Ah…Hello Tonks," greeted Remus, "These are our American comrades. That's Buffy, Willow and over there covered in feathers is Xander."

Tonks, now wiping tears from her eyes, sat down next to Xander and waved to them.

"Fred and George still at it Molly?" she said to Mrs. Weasley, as she grabbed a biscuit from the plate and inspected it suspiciously. Mrs Weasley did not reply, but merely sucked her teeth, provoking a chuckle from Tonks. The feathers fell deftly to the floor and Xander and Tonks made eye contact seeing each other featherless for the first time. A hush fell over the kitchen.

"So Tonks?" asked Xander, nervously taking another biscuit, "Is that a British name I've just never heard before?"

Tonks gave a slight shudder. "It's Nymphadora Tonks actually" she said with a slight smile, "but please…call me Tonks."

Xander smiled back.

"Well please call me Xander. If you call me Harris I get all these bad memories of my coach in high school…" and he shuddered slightly as well, causing Tonks to spray biscuit as she laughed.

Willow and Buffy glanced at each other, their eyes glittering in a shared thought. After Anya had died Xander had been quiet for a short period of time. It was his way of grieving. He never spoke of her much, but his two friends could tell that he loved her and missed her, despite knowing that she had died for their cause…

The group chattered away in the kitchen for a while, Remus, Mrs. Weasley and Tonks doing their best to explain to the three Scoobies about the magical world, and what had happened since Voldemort's return in Harry's fourth year at Hogwarts. They told them of Harry's initial victory against Voldemort when Harry was only a baby, how he got his scar, how he'd come up against the Dark Lord again in the past, the events that took place a few months previously in the Department of Mysteries, and what they faced now in the future. The conversation spun around to the reason they had been called.

"So Harry will need as much support as he can get," said Mrs. Weasley finally, finishing off her own cup of coffee, "and without Sirius…"

Tonks sighed. "Sirius didn't deserve to die…" she murmured quietly. The room was silent for a moment.

"We'll do our best," Buffy spoke solemnly and turned to Remus, "But how are we going to do it? Willow said earlier he fell through a…a veil?"

Remus nodded and started to explain.

"Yes, we believe it's a sort of division between two dimensions. We know that you…er…yourself Buffy, have been to different places…"

The Scoobies looked down at the floor avoiding each others gazes. Remus continued.

"Well, we have some idea as to how we can get through there, and Willow you'll be the one doing that actual spell, yes?"

Willow nodded but her face was dark in thought.

"The thing is Remus," she began, "when I brought Buffy back I used the Urn of Osiris, which was kinda…one of a kind, and it kinda smashed…" She trailed off sheepishly.

Remus didn't look bothered at all by this information. In fact he just nodded in understanding, sensing that the subject was kind of touchy.

"We have a plan…it's a little…weird but we think it might work. It should work." He stopped and nodded once again in confirmation more to himself, than to the others, "It will work…"

The group fell silent again and Buffy clasped her mug, trying to stop the heat seeping out of it. She only hoped Remus knew what he was doing.

Severus Snape hated number twelve Grimmauld Place with a passion. Not only did it remind him of his foe Black, but also now he knew from Dumbledore that it was "Resurrection Headquarters" he was seriously not amused. How could they even think that bringing him back was a fathomable idea?! And to bring muggles over from America to help!?

"They're not muggles Severus, they're people with gifts. You've met Rupert Giles before, you know he's different…one girl is a slayer, the other is a witch…"

He hated it when Albus Dumbledore was so reasonable. Severus' job today was to go over and ask for Miss…he glanced at the piece of parchment he held in his hand as he walked along towards the grimy square where Grimmauld Place was situated…Willow Rosenberg. She was to meet with Dumbledore the next day so they could "talk." He had to admit he was quite curious about this young witch. He'd heard a bit about her from Dumbledore, information that Remus 'werewolf' Lupin had passed on to the headmaster. She rather reminded him of himself actually. She too had struggled with a dark past, and passed through both sides of the magic rainbow. He wondered if she'd be like he imagined at all... Still, Miss Rosenberg didn't play on his mind for long. He was still trying to come to terms with the idea that Sirius Black would soon return from the dead.

"Harry will need him by his side with what he has to face Severus…you know that. I myself know that in my heart of hearts…and so we cannot miss this opportunity. Harry has already lost so much. We must do what we can in this war…it will soon be upon us all…"

God, how he hated it when Dumbledore was right.

AN: Just a little note for someone special. Yes Mummy Weasley, the teeth sucking was based on you!