Okay, finally updating this. Sorry it took so long!
Chapter 4
The next morning dawned brightly. It was a golden day, the sun shining and the heat wave continuing. Harry Potter woke up, wondering why he felt so happy. Then he recalled the previous night's events.
He had two sisters. And he had Hermione.
Swiftly he dressed, pulling on jeans, a white vest t-shirt and a light shirt. He headed downstairs to the kitchen, aching for something to eat.
He was not the first one up.
"Good morning." Harry greeted the redheaded Willow.
She was wearing her clothes of the previous day, but looked very bleary- eyed. "S'nothing good about it."
"Why?" Harry frowned.
"It's morning." Willow explained logically.
Harry just laughed and opened the magical fridge, pulling out jugs of orange juice and milk and setting them on the table. He then proceeded to cook breakfast – eggs, bacon, sausages, toast, mushrooms (though he hated them, he knew Hermione loved them), tomatoes and baked beans.
Willow stared as he did so. "What are you doing?"
"Making breakfast?"
"You make breakfast?"
Harry nodded. "Yep. Been making it since I was old enough to use a frying pan. For my uncle, aunt and cousin." His face darkened. "But it turns out I'm a fair cook anyway and I enjoy it. I also like eating what I cook." He grinned.
"And you always cook for hundreds?"
Harry eyed the filling plates, complete with charms to keep the food freshly cooked. "Well, I guess it's a habit I picked up from Molly." He grinned. (A/N: Hooray! He's finally stopped calling them Mr and Mrs Weasley! Sorry. Couldn't help that one!)
"What is it that calls me from my swinish slumber?" Remus asked as he entered.
"Your nose and stomach, Moony. Have some breakfast." Harry grinned.
Remus grinned back and began eating. He nodded at something he was thinking. "You definitely have your mother's culinary gifts."
Harry grinned. "Aren't I glad of it? I know one of the categories Hermione placed on her boyfriend was 'good cook'."
Hermione entered to hear the last words. Bleary-eyed, she smiled wickedly. "I know. I choose so perfectly, don't I? He can iron too, you know."
Harry groaned. "And I despise that. And I have a problem."
"What's that?" Hermione asked, giving him a peck on the cheek.
"How do I explain that I have three house-elves?"
"WHAT?"
Remus grinned. "You just did, and I don't think it worked."
Harry grinned. "Yeah, but she didn't hear the rest." He knew Hermione had given up S.P.E.W., but that didn't mean she thought it was okay to have house-elves. "You see, Mione, one of them's only a baby. The other two... Well, the unlikeliest couple you'd ever have thought."
"Who?" Hermione now looked suspicious.
"Dobby and Winky."
"Oh Harry!" Hermione flung her arms around his neck, hugging him tight and kissing him.
"Eew, it's too early in the morning to see my brother necking with his girlfriend." Buffy complained as she walked in.
Harry broke away from Hermione. "We are not 'necking' as you so delicately put it. Kissing maybe. Nothing so far as necking."
Remus eyed Buffy, who was yawning. "I can't seem to stop making comparisons to your parents. You seem less and less like James in the little things everyday, Harry. You're actually awake in the mornings, which was Lily. James never was. Mind you, Lily seemed able to function on about three hours sleep too..."
"God, don't I love that habit." Harry commented. "I swear, not needing a lot of sleep is what got me through the NEWTs, or I'd never have had enough time, what with schoolwork, Quidditch, the DA, the Duelling Club, extra lessons, sneaking out for random reasons..."
"Usually to look in the Restricted Section." Hermione put in.
"Well, yeah." Harry grinned.
Buffy suddenly seemed to notice the piles of food on the table. "Mmm, breakfast!" She dove in.
Willow and Hermione joined her.
"You lot act like you've never had an English breakfast before." Harry frowned.
"Nope, nice though." Buffy said as soon as her mouth was empty.
"Me either." Willow concurred.
"I just love your cooking." Hermione grinned.
"Flirt." Buffy grumbled, then looked at Harry. "You cooked this?"
"Yeah. I like it. I think that's enough. And before you say anything, people often do seem to turn up at odd times, especially breakfast. So that's why I make a lot."
"My brother is a good cook. I'm pathetic. Dawn is great. Anyone else think I got the wrong end of the straw?" Buffy asked.
Hermione grinned. "Yep, but I got the right one."
"That's just scary." Buffy informed her.
"Hey, can we go shopping today?" Dawn asked as she bounded in.
Buffy groaned. "Another person who is sickeningly awake in the morning. Spare me!"
Dawn grinned. "Food!"
Harry sat down at the table and helped himself to everything except mushrooms. "Food is good."
Hermione nodded. "You make it good."
Dawn rolled her eyes. "Yeah right."
"Hey, I cooked this, I'll have you know, Li'l Sis." Harry informed her.
"You seem to have accepted the fact that you are brother and sisters very well." Willow frowned.
"We're in a world of magic. When you're told at the age of fifteen that the reason Riddle tried to kill you was because of a prophecy foretelling that you were the only one with the power to kill him and then that his trying to kill you marked you as his equal and that neither of you could survive while the other lived, you kind of lose your disbelief." Harry explained. "Plus Minerva never gets anything wrong. She's like the epitome of truth."
Buffy grinned. "Yeah, that's sort of what sold it for me. Plus I wasn't like my dad at all. Actually, that would explain some things..." She frowned.
"Such as?" Dawn asked.
"The divorce. Mom and Dad were always arguing, and then Dad said something about my being a freak... different, unnatural."
Harry's fist clenched. "He didn't."
Buffy nodded. "I never understood what he meant. I mean, I was the Slayer by that point, but he couldn't have found out. He must have known about Lily... I mean, my real Mom and Dad."
"Buffy, in Britain we say Mum. M-U-M. Mum." Harry informed her.
"Yeah, well I've spent nearly my entire life in California. First LA, then Sunnydale."
"Sunnydale? As in what used to be the Hellmouth?" Hermione asked.
"Yeah, why?" Dawn asked.
"Well, I've read about it and..." She stopped as she found Harry's hand over her mouth.
"If she ever starts a sentence with 'I've read about it' either run or shut her up." Harry explained.
"Harry!" Hermione protested, pushing his hand away.
"What?" He asked innocently.
Hermione rolled her eyes. "Idiot."
"Egghead."
"Prat."
"Know-it-all."
"Louse."
"Goddess."
Hermione blinked.
"See, you just need to confuse her. And it can be difficult." Harry grinned.
Hermione rolled her eyes. "Why do I put up with you?"
"Because you love me."
"And you've only had to put up with him for... oh, nine hours?" Buffy grinned.
Harry's face darkened. "Yeah, Mione, they want to see you at the Ministry. Because of... you know."
"Darren." Hermione spat the name out like a swear word.
"Yeah. I got the message this morning from Kingsley. Ten o'clock. Hopefully it won't take too long. They just need your evidence. Then the trial is this afternoon. They'll make a recording so you don't have to go into the courtroom and see him again."
Hermione nodded. "Thank God. Do you need to be there?"
"No. They're making a recording for me too. We just need to make our statements. We've got things to do this afternoon."
"Such as?"
"Such as visiting Buffy and her friends. There's something important you have to see. You all have to see." Harry explained.
Hermione nodded as Ginny and Neville appeared in the room and sat down to breakfast.
"Harry, you have spent way too much time with my mother." Ginny informed him as she piled food on her plate.
"Why is everyone suggesting there's something wrong with being able to cook well?" Harry demanded.
"Not everyone." Hermione smiled gloriously.
At that moment, Albus and Minerva appeared.
"Ah, breakfast." Albus Dumbledore smiled.
Harry nodded. "Yes, and make any comments about being surprised I can cook or cooking for thousands and I'll hex you into next week."
"Harry!" Hermione looked shocked.
"Hey, he's not my headmaster anymore, I can't get detention." Harry grinned.
"Now that's a James comment." Remus stated.
Buffy shot him a look. "Why do you keep comparing us to our parents?"
Remus shrugged. "It's interesting. Plus, since I'm the only Marauder left, I feel it's my duty to annoy you."
Harry rolled his eyes. "He's taken the role of uncle. In fact, if our parents were still alive, we'd probably have been calling him 'Uncle Remus' since we were so high." He made a height with his hand below the table. "And you'll find out about the Marauders. There was Dad, Sirius, Remus... and Peter." He spat out the name hatefully.
"What did he do?" Buffy asked.
"Oh, he only betrayed our parents to Riddle, posed as Ron's rat for twelve years, resurrected Riddle, killed and tortured tons of people and killed Snape." Harry looked angry.
"Snape?"
"Potions teacher. We hated him through school. He was unfair, bigoted and totally biased to his own house. But he turned out to be one of the good guys. He was a spy for the Order of the Phoenix. Peter eventually betrayed him to Riddle, having used his animagus form again. And then Peter killed him. Yeah, we all disliked Snape, but we didn't want him dead." Harry shook his head.
"And now Peter is dead?"
"Yeah. When I killed Riddle... it started a chain reaction. His most trusted Death Eaters died as well, linked by the Dark Mark on their arms. The newer ones didn't. Most of them are now in Azkaban." Harry revealed.
"What a cheerful subject for first thing in the morning." Minerva commented.
"Yeah, Buffy, I asked you a question before. Can we go shopping?" Dawn wanted to know.
"Uh, sure, why not?" Buffy asked. "We've got some money, in fact all the Slayers have." She grinned at Harry. "The Council of Watchers had more money than I knew existed. We used it to buy that house, and we're going to give all the Slayers salaries, as well as work on refilling our collections of information. I don't suppose any of you can give me an address for a bookstore involved in typical demonic texts, could you?"
Hermione nodded. "There's one at the corner between Knockturn and Diagon Alleys. It's not commonly frequented, I only went in there one time because of the rain. It might have what you are looking for."
"Great." Buffy grinned. "What about Wizard money? We've only got Muggle money, in pounds!" She groaned. "I have enough trouble trying to convert the prices into dollars."
"It's about two and a half dollars to a pound." Harry told her helpfully. Everyone stared at him. "What? I had that trip to America last year when I was tailing Simmons."
"Tailing? Simmons?" Buffy asked.
"Dark wizard. Not in Riddle's league, of course. He was caught selling Dark potions on the Black Market. And I mean Dark. Those that relate to what are known as the Unforgivable Curses, control, torture and death. I was tailing him because that's what I do. I'm an Auror, we're the wizarding equivalent of the police force, only a lot more elite, especially after the war. We're only just rebuilding our numbers. Anyway, that's that. And Buffy, don't worry about Wizard money. Turns out our parents were loaded. I had a trust fund and I still haven't finished it. I'm willing to bet you did too, for whenever you came back. There's also the family vault in the belly of Gringotts, only I can't get into it. It's charmed so only both of us can get into it the first time." Harry shrugged. "We'd best visit Gringotts after the Ministry. Did you want to come to Ministry? You might want to explain to the Minister about everything."
Buffy frowned.
Dawn's eyes widened. "Oh my God, does that mean our surname's Potter? Because we didn't have any on the doors?"
Harry nodded. "Could be."
"Umm, we'd best call them if we're going to see the wizarding world." Buffy explained.
Harry handed her what appeared to be a mobile phone. Hermione frowned. "Harry, those won't work here..."
"It will. All the Aurors have them now. They aren't Muggle, they're Magical. Same sort of format and everything, but they run off magic. You can contact Muggle lines with them as well though. Good things come from a Minister who appreciates Muggle devices." Harry grinned.
Buffy smiled. "Thanks."
She punched in the number for the line to the Conference Room of the house (it had several lines to avoid confusion). After a few seconds, someone picked up.
"Hello?"
"Xander, hi!" Buffy grinned.
"Hey, Buff. So, you stay at whatever place it was overnight then?" Xander asked.
"Yeah we did. Look, Xand, we're going to be a bit longer. There's some stuff to sort out this end. Harry and Hermione have to got to..."
"Hermione? Granger, right?" Xander asked suddenly.
"Yeah, why?"
"Well, her name disappeared from her door. It's on the same one as Harry's now. And someone called Minerva McGonagall took place of her name."
"WHAT?" Buffy yelled.
"Buffy, what's wrong?" Harry asked.
Buffy began laughing. "Oh, Xander that's great. Pure blackmail."
"Blackmail? Why would you be interested in blackmailing them?" Xander sounded confused.
"You'll find out when I bring them all this afternoon, evening, whatever. Get Faith to start organising the girls. I dunno, get some working on refilling the libraries with what we've got, setting up work-out rooms, training, that sort of stuff. Okay?"
"Yeah, that's great. Oh, and Buffy?" Xander now sounded a little concerned.
"What?"
"Any idea why the surname on yours and Dawnie's doors has appeared as Potter?"
Buffy laughed and Xander could hear her smile in her voice. "Ah, wouldn't you like to know? You'll find out this evening. We'll see you soon, 'k?"
"Yeah. Bye, Buff."
"Bye Xander." She hung up.
"Blackmail?" Harry demanded.
Buffy grinned. "Those doors have habits of changing names around." She informed him. "And now Minerva's got Hermione's room."
"What? You don't mean..." Harry blushed.
Hermione frowned. "Doors? Names?"
"You'll find out later, love. We've only got half an hour until we need to be at the Ministry. Lucky I have this week off, isn't it?" Harry grinned.
"Just as well really." Hermione agreed.
Breakfast soon finished and it wasn't long before Harry, Hermione, Buffy, Dawn, Neville and Ginny were trooping off to the Ministry. Willow and Giles had stayed to discuss things further with Albus and Minerva, both giving a more thorough grounding of their worlds and what overlapped (and what didn't).
However, Buffy looked sceptical when Harry stopped them outside of a phone box.
"What?" She asked.
Harry grinned. "Trust me. Since you two can't Apparate, we need to use the Visitor's Entrance. Go in, it's bigger than it looks."
They were incredibly squished, in spite of Harry's words. "Okay, whoever's closest type in the number 62442!" He ordered.
"Welcome to the Ministry of Magic. Please state your name and business." A cool female voice ordered.
"Harry Potter and Neville Longbottom, Aurors, Ginny Weasley, Accidental Magic Reversal Squad, escorting Hermione Granger to Auror Headquarters to give evidence and Buffy and Dawn..." He paused and looked at Buffy, she nodded. "Potter to a meeting with the Minister."
"Thank you, visitors, please take a badge and affix it to your robes." The female voice commanded.
There was a click and three badges appeared. Harry handed them to Buffy, Dawn and Hermione.
"Visitors to the Ministry, you are required to submit to a search and present your wand at the security desk, which is located at the far end of the Atrium."
At that moment, the floor gave a shudder and suddenly they sunk into the ground. It was a lot like a lift, except darker, there was no light. Moments later, a golden light illuminated them and they were inside the Atrium, which was full of busy looking wizards and witches.
A golden statue and fountain sat in the middle, not of the Magical Brethren as it once was. It showed a man on his knees beside a memorial. From the back, he looked sorrowful, crying upset. A woman stood beside him, she appeared to be comforting him. The back of the memorial said, 'We must never forget them'. From the front it was different. The man looked determined. He held the woman's hand, she showed sorrow and insecurity. He revealed hope to her. This side of the memorial said, 'We must never let another cause so much pain'. A pool of water surrounded the statue like a moat.
Beside it there was a plaque. It said:
THE FOUNTAIN OF MEMORIAL, ALL PROCEEDS FROM THIS GO TO ST. MUNGO'S HOSPITAL AND THE REBUILDING OUR WORLD FOUNDATION.
Buffy stared at it, frowning. "Harry, did they use you and Hermione on that?"
"What?" Harry asked. "No, they can't have..." He had to admit, he had never really looked at it. But something seemed awfully familiar about that position...
"Harry, that's us!" Hermione gasped. "How did we not see it? At Ron's grave. That's exactly how we were stood..."
Harry shrugged. "Let them use it. At least it's real." He didn't care any more about such things. This message was far more important than the last one.
They registered Hermione's wand, and caused the man some confusion pertaining to Buffy and Dawn.
"No wands? You can't bring Muggles in here!" He informed them.
Harry looked at him. "Steve, they are not Muggles. It's confusing to say the least, but we have to meet with the Minister in an official capacity today. Now, if you don't let us through, Hermione and I are also going to be late for giving statements, and we do not want that, now, do we?"
Steve looked up. "No, Mr Potter. Sorry, Mr Potter. Go on ahead."
As they walked away, Hermione whacked Harry lightly. "Harry, you're not supposed to do that."
"That's the first time this year, besides, if we're late, we risk Shore being released or something else awful. And Buffy and Dawn have to see Arthur." He replied.
They entered the lift and went through the floors.
"This is us." Harry stated when they got to Level 2, Department of Magical Law.
"What're we supposed to do while you're in there?" Buffy wanted to know.
"Ginny's got the day off, she's staying with you. Hermione, Neville and I'll be giving our evidence. Won't take more than an hour, I hope." Harry replied.
He, Hermione and Neville disappeared into a room inside Auror Headquarters, while Buffy, Dawn and Ginny waited.
"How long is it going to be?" Buffy asked.
"Like he said, probably an hour. You want a tour of this level? I don't know it so well, but I do do some work down here." Ginny grinned.
"Sure, why not?" Dawn grinned.
# # #
Buffy, Dawn and Ginny reappeared outside the Auror Headquarters just as Harry, Hermione and Neville were leaving. Hermione looked distraught, Harry pale and angry. Neville's face showed a complete mask.
"What happened?" Buffy asked, concerned.
"Shore's going to Azkaban, life sentence." Neville answered.
"But then why..." Buffy began.
"They had Hermione put the memories into a pensieve. It was worse than we thought. She couldn't actively remember all that he did. But the pensieve showed them." Harry's face was harsh. "They're lucky the bastard was in another room."
"Harry, please." Hermione murmured.
He took her in his arms. "I will never let that happen to you again, Mione. I promise."
"Uh, Harry, the meeting with Arthur." Neville reminded him.
Harry nodded. They headed for the Minister's office, preparing for what could be a tricky meeting.
# # #
A/N: Okay, I hope that chapter was alright! I really meant to post it up much earlier. Sorry about that.
I've had a whole load of reviews for that, so thanks everyone!
Individually:
meenyrocks: You really write long reviews, huh? Thanks. Harry said little sister because he was assuming. When he asked Minerva, he was checking. I'll get round to adding in the fact that he was checking at some point. I'm pretty sure I reviewed, as well!
Kandice: Yeah, great word and Darren, well, I'm throwing him into Azkaban for life. Dunno whether the Dementors are still there or if there's a spell with the same effects, in any case, he's gonna spend the rest of his life suffering...
ba4everloves: Nah, Angel's not in it. Sorry. I love the pairing, but it just wouldn't work in this. I might leave her single for a while, or just casually dating. Or summat like that.
dragonbrat: Wow, worthy of a review is cool. Yeah, with anything that's been done before, I try and put an original twist onto it. If I'm gonna take a cliché, I'm gonna make it new!
Angus Hardie: I'm glad you liked that comment. I really appreciate specifics in reviews, so I'm glad you've said what it is you like. As for dramatic, well, drama's my middle name. Well, actually it isn't, but there you go!
Aynot: I am trying not to put in A/Ns. I just can't help myself sometimes! Sorry it took so long to update!
Chrios: Thanks. I don't remember if you said torture or whatever. Ignore me, I'm mad. Just read the story!
CodeName Targeter: Sorry, yep, Ron's dead. Thanks!
Amy: Nope, none of those are for the blank door. You're gonna have to think outside the box. And remember that I am evil and I have a habit for the dramatic, unexpected and seriously weird.
The Keymaker: I know it's cheesy! I like cheese! Especially double Gloucester. Yum. Anyway, thanks. Knowing the Buffy characters and storylines do tend to help, but it's up to you if you see it! Now update your fic!
Collectively, thanks to: Ivy Tearen, LRGator, Zekintha, Blue Skywalker, elvengoddess696, and TBK.
Thank you all. You're wonderful, marvellous people and I'm sorry it took me so long to update.
Happy holidays!
Lol, Tanydwr
Chapter 4
The next morning dawned brightly. It was a golden day, the sun shining and the heat wave continuing. Harry Potter woke up, wondering why he felt so happy. Then he recalled the previous night's events.
He had two sisters. And he had Hermione.
Swiftly he dressed, pulling on jeans, a white vest t-shirt and a light shirt. He headed downstairs to the kitchen, aching for something to eat.
He was not the first one up.
"Good morning." Harry greeted the redheaded Willow.
She was wearing her clothes of the previous day, but looked very bleary- eyed. "S'nothing good about it."
"Why?" Harry frowned.
"It's morning." Willow explained logically.
Harry just laughed and opened the magical fridge, pulling out jugs of orange juice and milk and setting them on the table. He then proceeded to cook breakfast – eggs, bacon, sausages, toast, mushrooms (though he hated them, he knew Hermione loved them), tomatoes and baked beans.
Willow stared as he did so. "What are you doing?"
"Making breakfast?"
"You make breakfast?"
Harry nodded. "Yep. Been making it since I was old enough to use a frying pan. For my uncle, aunt and cousin." His face darkened. "But it turns out I'm a fair cook anyway and I enjoy it. I also like eating what I cook." He grinned.
"And you always cook for hundreds?"
Harry eyed the filling plates, complete with charms to keep the food freshly cooked. "Well, I guess it's a habit I picked up from Molly." He grinned. (A/N: Hooray! He's finally stopped calling them Mr and Mrs Weasley! Sorry. Couldn't help that one!)
"What is it that calls me from my swinish slumber?" Remus asked as he entered.
"Your nose and stomach, Moony. Have some breakfast." Harry grinned.
Remus grinned back and began eating. He nodded at something he was thinking. "You definitely have your mother's culinary gifts."
Harry grinned. "Aren't I glad of it? I know one of the categories Hermione placed on her boyfriend was 'good cook'."
Hermione entered to hear the last words. Bleary-eyed, she smiled wickedly. "I know. I choose so perfectly, don't I? He can iron too, you know."
Harry groaned. "And I despise that. And I have a problem."
"What's that?" Hermione asked, giving him a peck on the cheek.
"How do I explain that I have three house-elves?"
"WHAT?"
Remus grinned. "You just did, and I don't think it worked."
Harry grinned. "Yeah, but she didn't hear the rest." He knew Hermione had given up S.P.E.W., but that didn't mean she thought it was okay to have house-elves. "You see, Mione, one of them's only a baby. The other two... Well, the unlikeliest couple you'd ever have thought."
"Who?" Hermione now looked suspicious.
"Dobby and Winky."
"Oh Harry!" Hermione flung her arms around his neck, hugging him tight and kissing him.
"Eew, it's too early in the morning to see my brother necking with his girlfriend." Buffy complained as she walked in.
Harry broke away from Hermione. "We are not 'necking' as you so delicately put it. Kissing maybe. Nothing so far as necking."
Remus eyed Buffy, who was yawning. "I can't seem to stop making comparisons to your parents. You seem less and less like James in the little things everyday, Harry. You're actually awake in the mornings, which was Lily. James never was. Mind you, Lily seemed able to function on about three hours sleep too..."
"God, don't I love that habit." Harry commented. "I swear, not needing a lot of sleep is what got me through the NEWTs, or I'd never have had enough time, what with schoolwork, Quidditch, the DA, the Duelling Club, extra lessons, sneaking out for random reasons..."
"Usually to look in the Restricted Section." Hermione put in.
"Well, yeah." Harry grinned.
Buffy suddenly seemed to notice the piles of food on the table. "Mmm, breakfast!" She dove in.
Willow and Hermione joined her.
"You lot act like you've never had an English breakfast before." Harry frowned.
"Nope, nice though." Buffy said as soon as her mouth was empty.
"Me either." Willow concurred.
"I just love your cooking." Hermione grinned.
"Flirt." Buffy grumbled, then looked at Harry. "You cooked this?"
"Yeah. I like it. I think that's enough. And before you say anything, people often do seem to turn up at odd times, especially breakfast. So that's why I make a lot."
"My brother is a good cook. I'm pathetic. Dawn is great. Anyone else think I got the wrong end of the straw?" Buffy asked.
Hermione grinned. "Yep, but I got the right one."
"That's just scary." Buffy informed her.
"Hey, can we go shopping today?" Dawn asked as she bounded in.
Buffy groaned. "Another person who is sickeningly awake in the morning. Spare me!"
Dawn grinned. "Food!"
Harry sat down at the table and helped himself to everything except mushrooms. "Food is good."
Hermione nodded. "You make it good."
Dawn rolled her eyes. "Yeah right."
"Hey, I cooked this, I'll have you know, Li'l Sis." Harry informed her.
"You seem to have accepted the fact that you are brother and sisters very well." Willow frowned.
"We're in a world of magic. When you're told at the age of fifteen that the reason Riddle tried to kill you was because of a prophecy foretelling that you were the only one with the power to kill him and then that his trying to kill you marked you as his equal and that neither of you could survive while the other lived, you kind of lose your disbelief." Harry explained. "Plus Minerva never gets anything wrong. She's like the epitome of truth."
Buffy grinned. "Yeah, that's sort of what sold it for me. Plus I wasn't like my dad at all. Actually, that would explain some things..." She frowned.
"Such as?" Dawn asked.
"The divorce. Mom and Dad were always arguing, and then Dad said something about my being a freak... different, unnatural."
Harry's fist clenched. "He didn't."
Buffy nodded. "I never understood what he meant. I mean, I was the Slayer by that point, but he couldn't have found out. He must have known about Lily... I mean, my real Mom and Dad."
"Buffy, in Britain we say Mum. M-U-M. Mum." Harry informed her.
"Yeah, well I've spent nearly my entire life in California. First LA, then Sunnydale."
"Sunnydale? As in what used to be the Hellmouth?" Hermione asked.
"Yeah, why?" Dawn asked.
"Well, I've read about it and..." She stopped as she found Harry's hand over her mouth.
"If she ever starts a sentence with 'I've read about it' either run or shut her up." Harry explained.
"Harry!" Hermione protested, pushing his hand away.
"What?" He asked innocently.
Hermione rolled her eyes. "Idiot."
"Egghead."
"Prat."
"Know-it-all."
"Louse."
"Goddess."
Hermione blinked.
"See, you just need to confuse her. And it can be difficult." Harry grinned.
Hermione rolled her eyes. "Why do I put up with you?"
"Because you love me."
"And you've only had to put up with him for... oh, nine hours?" Buffy grinned.
Harry's face darkened. "Yeah, Mione, they want to see you at the Ministry. Because of... you know."
"Darren." Hermione spat the name out like a swear word.
"Yeah. I got the message this morning from Kingsley. Ten o'clock. Hopefully it won't take too long. They just need your evidence. Then the trial is this afternoon. They'll make a recording so you don't have to go into the courtroom and see him again."
Hermione nodded. "Thank God. Do you need to be there?"
"No. They're making a recording for me too. We just need to make our statements. We've got things to do this afternoon."
"Such as?"
"Such as visiting Buffy and her friends. There's something important you have to see. You all have to see." Harry explained.
Hermione nodded as Ginny and Neville appeared in the room and sat down to breakfast.
"Harry, you have spent way too much time with my mother." Ginny informed him as she piled food on her plate.
"Why is everyone suggesting there's something wrong with being able to cook well?" Harry demanded.
"Not everyone." Hermione smiled gloriously.
At that moment, Albus and Minerva appeared.
"Ah, breakfast." Albus Dumbledore smiled.
Harry nodded. "Yes, and make any comments about being surprised I can cook or cooking for thousands and I'll hex you into next week."
"Harry!" Hermione looked shocked.
"Hey, he's not my headmaster anymore, I can't get detention." Harry grinned.
"Now that's a James comment." Remus stated.
Buffy shot him a look. "Why do you keep comparing us to our parents?"
Remus shrugged. "It's interesting. Plus, since I'm the only Marauder left, I feel it's my duty to annoy you."
Harry rolled his eyes. "He's taken the role of uncle. In fact, if our parents were still alive, we'd probably have been calling him 'Uncle Remus' since we were so high." He made a height with his hand below the table. "And you'll find out about the Marauders. There was Dad, Sirius, Remus... and Peter." He spat out the name hatefully.
"What did he do?" Buffy asked.
"Oh, he only betrayed our parents to Riddle, posed as Ron's rat for twelve years, resurrected Riddle, killed and tortured tons of people and killed Snape." Harry looked angry.
"Snape?"
"Potions teacher. We hated him through school. He was unfair, bigoted and totally biased to his own house. But he turned out to be one of the good guys. He was a spy for the Order of the Phoenix. Peter eventually betrayed him to Riddle, having used his animagus form again. And then Peter killed him. Yeah, we all disliked Snape, but we didn't want him dead." Harry shook his head.
"And now Peter is dead?"
"Yeah. When I killed Riddle... it started a chain reaction. His most trusted Death Eaters died as well, linked by the Dark Mark on their arms. The newer ones didn't. Most of them are now in Azkaban." Harry revealed.
"What a cheerful subject for first thing in the morning." Minerva commented.
"Yeah, Buffy, I asked you a question before. Can we go shopping?" Dawn wanted to know.
"Uh, sure, why not?" Buffy asked. "We've got some money, in fact all the Slayers have." She grinned at Harry. "The Council of Watchers had more money than I knew existed. We used it to buy that house, and we're going to give all the Slayers salaries, as well as work on refilling our collections of information. I don't suppose any of you can give me an address for a bookstore involved in typical demonic texts, could you?"
Hermione nodded. "There's one at the corner between Knockturn and Diagon Alleys. It's not commonly frequented, I only went in there one time because of the rain. It might have what you are looking for."
"Great." Buffy grinned. "What about Wizard money? We've only got Muggle money, in pounds!" She groaned. "I have enough trouble trying to convert the prices into dollars."
"It's about two and a half dollars to a pound." Harry told her helpfully. Everyone stared at him. "What? I had that trip to America last year when I was tailing Simmons."
"Tailing? Simmons?" Buffy asked.
"Dark wizard. Not in Riddle's league, of course. He was caught selling Dark potions on the Black Market. And I mean Dark. Those that relate to what are known as the Unforgivable Curses, control, torture and death. I was tailing him because that's what I do. I'm an Auror, we're the wizarding equivalent of the police force, only a lot more elite, especially after the war. We're only just rebuilding our numbers. Anyway, that's that. And Buffy, don't worry about Wizard money. Turns out our parents were loaded. I had a trust fund and I still haven't finished it. I'm willing to bet you did too, for whenever you came back. There's also the family vault in the belly of Gringotts, only I can't get into it. It's charmed so only both of us can get into it the first time." Harry shrugged. "We'd best visit Gringotts after the Ministry. Did you want to come to Ministry? You might want to explain to the Minister about everything."
Buffy frowned.
Dawn's eyes widened. "Oh my God, does that mean our surname's Potter? Because we didn't have any on the doors?"
Harry nodded. "Could be."
"Umm, we'd best call them if we're going to see the wizarding world." Buffy explained.
Harry handed her what appeared to be a mobile phone. Hermione frowned. "Harry, those won't work here..."
"It will. All the Aurors have them now. They aren't Muggle, they're Magical. Same sort of format and everything, but they run off magic. You can contact Muggle lines with them as well though. Good things come from a Minister who appreciates Muggle devices." Harry grinned.
Buffy smiled. "Thanks."
She punched in the number for the line to the Conference Room of the house (it had several lines to avoid confusion). After a few seconds, someone picked up.
"Hello?"
"Xander, hi!" Buffy grinned.
"Hey, Buff. So, you stay at whatever place it was overnight then?" Xander asked.
"Yeah we did. Look, Xand, we're going to be a bit longer. There's some stuff to sort out this end. Harry and Hermione have to got to..."
"Hermione? Granger, right?" Xander asked suddenly.
"Yeah, why?"
"Well, her name disappeared from her door. It's on the same one as Harry's now. And someone called Minerva McGonagall took place of her name."
"WHAT?" Buffy yelled.
"Buffy, what's wrong?" Harry asked.
Buffy began laughing. "Oh, Xander that's great. Pure blackmail."
"Blackmail? Why would you be interested in blackmailing them?" Xander sounded confused.
"You'll find out when I bring them all this afternoon, evening, whatever. Get Faith to start organising the girls. I dunno, get some working on refilling the libraries with what we've got, setting up work-out rooms, training, that sort of stuff. Okay?"
"Yeah, that's great. Oh, and Buffy?" Xander now sounded a little concerned.
"What?"
"Any idea why the surname on yours and Dawnie's doors has appeared as Potter?"
Buffy laughed and Xander could hear her smile in her voice. "Ah, wouldn't you like to know? You'll find out this evening. We'll see you soon, 'k?"
"Yeah. Bye, Buff."
"Bye Xander." She hung up.
"Blackmail?" Harry demanded.
Buffy grinned. "Those doors have habits of changing names around." She informed him. "And now Minerva's got Hermione's room."
"What? You don't mean..." Harry blushed.
Hermione frowned. "Doors? Names?"
"You'll find out later, love. We've only got half an hour until we need to be at the Ministry. Lucky I have this week off, isn't it?" Harry grinned.
"Just as well really." Hermione agreed.
Breakfast soon finished and it wasn't long before Harry, Hermione, Buffy, Dawn, Neville and Ginny were trooping off to the Ministry. Willow and Giles had stayed to discuss things further with Albus and Minerva, both giving a more thorough grounding of their worlds and what overlapped (and what didn't).
However, Buffy looked sceptical when Harry stopped them outside of a phone box.
"What?" She asked.
Harry grinned. "Trust me. Since you two can't Apparate, we need to use the Visitor's Entrance. Go in, it's bigger than it looks."
They were incredibly squished, in spite of Harry's words. "Okay, whoever's closest type in the number 62442!" He ordered.
"Welcome to the Ministry of Magic. Please state your name and business." A cool female voice ordered.
"Harry Potter and Neville Longbottom, Aurors, Ginny Weasley, Accidental Magic Reversal Squad, escorting Hermione Granger to Auror Headquarters to give evidence and Buffy and Dawn..." He paused and looked at Buffy, she nodded. "Potter to a meeting with the Minister."
"Thank you, visitors, please take a badge and affix it to your robes." The female voice commanded.
There was a click and three badges appeared. Harry handed them to Buffy, Dawn and Hermione.
"Visitors to the Ministry, you are required to submit to a search and present your wand at the security desk, which is located at the far end of the Atrium."
At that moment, the floor gave a shudder and suddenly they sunk into the ground. It was a lot like a lift, except darker, there was no light. Moments later, a golden light illuminated them and they were inside the Atrium, which was full of busy looking wizards and witches.
A golden statue and fountain sat in the middle, not of the Magical Brethren as it once was. It showed a man on his knees beside a memorial. From the back, he looked sorrowful, crying upset. A woman stood beside him, she appeared to be comforting him. The back of the memorial said, 'We must never forget them'. From the front it was different. The man looked determined. He held the woman's hand, she showed sorrow and insecurity. He revealed hope to her. This side of the memorial said, 'We must never let another cause so much pain'. A pool of water surrounded the statue like a moat.
Beside it there was a plaque. It said:
THE FOUNTAIN OF MEMORIAL, ALL PROCEEDS FROM THIS GO TO ST. MUNGO'S HOSPITAL AND THE REBUILDING OUR WORLD FOUNDATION.
Buffy stared at it, frowning. "Harry, did they use you and Hermione on that?"
"What?" Harry asked. "No, they can't have..." He had to admit, he had never really looked at it. But something seemed awfully familiar about that position...
"Harry, that's us!" Hermione gasped. "How did we not see it? At Ron's grave. That's exactly how we were stood..."
Harry shrugged. "Let them use it. At least it's real." He didn't care any more about such things. This message was far more important than the last one.
They registered Hermione's wand, and caused the man some confusion pertaining to Buffy and Dawn.
"No wands? You can't bring Muggles in here!" He informed them.
Harry looked at him. "Steve, they are not Muggles. It's confusing to say the least, but we have to meet with the Minister in an official capacity today. Now, if you don't let us through, Hermione and I are also going to be late for giving statements, and we do not want that, now, do we?"
Steve looked up. "No, Mr Potter. Sorry, Mr Potter. Go on ahead."
As they walked away, Hermione whacked Harry lightly. "Harry, you're not supposed to do that."
"That's the first time this year, besides, if we're late, we risk Shore being released or something else awful. And Buffy and Dawn have to see Arthur." He replied.
They entered the lift and went through the floors.
"This is us." Harry stated when they got to Level 2, Department of Magical Law.
"What're we supposed to do while you're in there?" Buffy wanted to know.
"Ginny's got the day off, she's staying with you. Hermione, Neville and I'll be giving our evidence. Won't take more than an hour, I hope." Harry replied.
He, Hermione and Neville disappeared into a room inside Auror Headquarters, while Buffy, Dawn and Ginny waited.
"How long is it going to be?" Buffy asked.
"Like he said, probably an hour. You want a tour of this level? I don't know it so well, but I do do some work down here." Ginny grinned.
"Sure, why not?" Dawn grinned.
# # #
Buffy, Dawn and Ginny reappeared outside the Auror Headquarters just as Harry, Hermione and Neville were leaving. Hermione looked distraught, Harry pale and angry. Neville's face showed a complete mask.
"What happened?" Buffy asked, concerned.
"Shore's going to Azkaban, life sentence." Neville answered.
"But then why..." Buffy began.
"They had Hermione put the memories into a pensieve. It was worse than we thought. She couldn't actively remember all that he did. But the pensieve showed them." Harry's face was harsh. "They're lucky the bastard was in another room."
"Harry, please." Hermione murmured.
He took her in his arms. "I will never let that happen to you again, Mione. I promise."
"Uh, Harry, the meeting with Arthur." Neville reminded him.
Harry nodded. They headed for the Minister's office, preparing for what could be a tricky meeting.
# # #
A/N: Okay, I hope that chapter was alright! I really meant to post it up much earlier. Sorry about that.
I've had a whole load of reviews for that, so thanks everyone!
Individually:
meenyrocks: You really write long reviews, huh? Thanks. Harry said little sister because he was assuming. When he asked Minerva, he was checking. I'll get round to adding in the fact that he was checking at some point. I'm pretty sure I reviewed, as well!
Kandice: Yeah, great word and Darren, well, I'm throwing him into Azkaban for life. Dunno whether the Dementors are still there or if there's a spell with the same effects, in any case, he's gonna spend the rest of his life suffering...
ba4everloves: Nah, Angel's not in it. Sorry. I love the pairing, but it just wouldn't work in this. I might leave her single for a while, or just casually dating. Or summat like that.
dragonbrat: Wow, worthy of a review is cool. Yeah, with anything that's been done before, I try and put an original twist onto it. If I'm gonna take a cliché, I'm gonna make it new!
Angus Hardie: I'm glad you liked that comment. I really appreciate specifics in reviews, so I'm glad you've said what it is you like. As for dramatic, well, drama's my middle name. Well, actually it isn't, but there you go!
Aynot: I am trying not to put in A/Ns. I just can't help myself sometimes! Sorry it took so long to update!
Chrios: Thanks. I don't remember if you said torture or whatever. Ignore me, I'm mad. Just read the story!
CodeName Targeter: Sorry, yep, Ron's dead. Thanks!
Amy: Nope, none of those are for the blank door. You're gonna have to think outside the box. And remember that I am evil and I have a habit for the dramatic, unexpected and seriously weird.
The Keymaker: I know it's cheesy! I like cheese! Especially double Gloucester. Yum. Anyway, thanks. Knowing the Buffy characters and storylines do tend to help, but it's up to you if you see it! Now update your fic!
Collectively, thanks to: Ivy Tearen, LRGator, Zekintha, Blue Skywalker, elvengoddess696, and TBK.
Thank you all. You're wonderful, marvellous people and I'm sorry it took me so long to update.
Happy holidays!
Lol, Tanydwr