This updates for Becks89 – hope you have a great holiday!
This chapter gave me so much trouble, it's not very exciting but it needed to be done.
Thanks to:
Silver Warrior
WaterNaiad13
DeadRoseBlush – yeah I remember TigerTiger2
Lolly6 – yeah there's got to be something in Snape that made him leave the Death Eaters.
Lost angel92
Erak – thanks I was really proud of that part and I'd wanted to write it for ages!
Becks89 – hehe you really can't talk about Snape kissing. But hey, Buffy's pregnant and she's happy. She can kiss Snape if she wants. (Just not too much!)
Susan – I'd like for Buffy to kill Bellatrix too, I may try and work that in somewhere…
Dreamer Child
Charmedfanatic3000
Chapter 34 – Christmas and New Year
Another month passed peaceably, with no word from anyone on who might be hunting for their child, only a message from Dumbledore saying that Hagrid had spoken with Firenze and that he had told him that the prophecy had recently changed in the stars and that they now told of the child having this potency of blood for one year only. Buffy supposed it was down to the Powers that Be tossing her something good for once.
An icy December set in along with Buffy's
fourth month of pregnancy and the end of her sickness, much to her delight. Her
pregnancy was beginning to show properly and even she had given up any
delusions of slaying. She was looking forward to the baby kicking for the first
time. In the mean time they had been thoroughly researching, and had discovered
two demon clans who were in existence purely for this child and a variety of
others who might know of the prophecy and would be interested in the power it
held. Buffy hated seeing this but she had to know, she couldn't just sit and
wait to see what was coming, she wanted to be ready.
They were having breakfast three days into December, Buffy eating a huge pile
of toast for her and the baby, when a small popping sound made them all jump
and look towards the fire.
"Harry!" Sirius exclaimed, quickly standing up and going to the fireplace where Harry's head had just appeared. He kneeled on the hearth in front of it and Harry grinned up at him. Buffy quickly got off of her chair and with difficulty sat next to Sirius. They hadn't heard from Harry for a while, it was too dangerous to keep in regular contact but Buffy had told Dumbledore to tell him about the baby.
"Hi," Harry said, head floating in the crackling flames. "I'm in Dumbledore's office; he said I could use his fire since its safe. He told me about the prophecy." Sirius and Buffy exchanged glances.
"I'm really sorry," Harry continued, looking
up at them sadly. "I know what it feels like." Buffy nodded, forcing herself to
smile.
"It's good to see you anyway," she said
distractedly. "How's Hogwarts?"
"Good," Harry said comfortably. "Even Snape's
not being too horrible at the moment. I give it another week, Ron says another
day. And Quidditch is going good, our team was kind of empty after Fred,
George, Angelina and Katie left, but we've got a new captain, some new players
and we want to hang onto the cup for another year."
"Good," Sirius said perfunctorily.
"Listen, we were wondering what you were gonna do for Christmas because me and
Buffy are going back to Sunnydale to have the day there." Harry looked
disappointed.
"Oh, well I guess I'll stay here," he
said uncomfortably. Buffy's face fell too.
"I bet Hogwarts Christmas' are cool," she said
bracingly. "Better than anything we could've had in Sunnydale." Harry looked up
at her hopefully.
"You wanted me to come to Sunnydale
too?" he asked and Buffy shrugged.
"I can't cook too well so if you want to
stay at Hogwarts I understand, I mean you'll probably wanna stay with Hermione
and Ron and there's loads of cool stuff there and- "
"No, I want
to come to Sunnydale!" Harry cut in. "I just thought I wasn't invited." Buffy
rolled her eyes incredulously.
"Of course you are," she said lightly.
"We're like this weird, unrelated by blood, dysfunctional family unit thing
now. Mi Christmas es su Christmas and all that. Kingsley is coming too. It'll
be a whole load of funness. He said you guys can Floo together; he'll pick you
up at Hogwarts at the end of term. We're gonna go back in a few days, get stuff
ready." Harry grinned.
"This is the first Christmas I've not
stayed at Hogwarts," Harry said delightedly. "Unless you count last Christmas
which I don't. I can't wait!"
It was the 20th December before Kingsley and Harry made it to Sunnydale. Buffy had decorated the house with the help of her friends and that was the first thing Harry noticed when he was propelled out of the small fireplace in Revello (sp.?) Drive. A tall Christmas tree was adorned with tinsel and ornaments, and paper chains hung across the walls. Harry looked up and saw a small amount of mistletoe hanging from the ceiling.
He moved out of the way quickly as Kingsley flew out of the fire and clambered up to stand next to him. Harry was looking around interestedly. He'd never been to America before, hell he'd never left the UK before; the Dursleys hadn't been very generous with taking him on holiday. It was truly strange coming from grey skied, icy Britain at eight o clock to sunny Sunnydale at midday.
The house
was warmly decorated and not perfect like Aunt Petunias immaculately cleaned
home in Privet Drive. It looked lived in and it fitted what Harry knew of the
Scoobies. Before he could poke around more, Buffy came into the living room.
"Oh, I thought I heard something," she
said happily. She approached them and kissed each of their cheeks in turn.
"It's good to see you guys."
"It's good to see you too," Kingsley said warmly. "You look absolutely radiant."
Harry looked at Buffy and saw that Kingsley was right; Buffy was glowing in simple jeans and a pink top that slimmed her pregnant stomach.
"I feel fat," she said with a grin. "Here let me take those." She reached for their bags.
"NO!" a voice yelled and its owner came
skidding into the living room. Sirius glowered at Buffy. "You know you're not
supposed to lift heavy things." She scowled and Harry and Kingsley chuckled.
"Hello, slayer strength," she said
irritably. "I totally could've lifted them." Sirius moved her out of the way
gently and took the bags himself, carrying them upstairs.
"It's only us here at the moment," Buffy told them. "Oz and Wills are at theirs, Xander and Anya are at theirs and Faith is out picking up some stuff. They said they'd come over in like an hours time when you were here for sure. You won't see Giles until tomorrow; he's visiting an old friend tonight. C'mon I'll give you the grand tour."
She led
them through into the dining room and then into the kitchen where Harry could
see the signs of Christmas food. They then followed her upstairs where she
pointed out their respective bedrooms and the bathroom.
"I'm afraid you're in the
nursery-to-be," Buffy said apologetically to Harry. "Don't worry you don't have
to sleep in a cot, there's just a bunch of paint and baby stuff in there.
Xander has offered his building skills to fix up that room when we go back to
England." She smiled happily. "It's kind of early to be doing all that but we
couldn't resist. We couldn't fix up the nursery in London; the house needs
major overhaul before its baby proof. Something for Sirius to do when we get
back."
She chatted happily as they wandered back downstairs and into the living room.
"I remember coming here," Kingsley said musingly. "You looked like you were going to kill me." Buffy nodded, smiling amusedly.
"I was," she corrected. "But hey, we are in a centre of mystical convergence right now. It's kinda freaky, weird stuff happens a lot. That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it."
Sirius
returned and they sat in the living room while Harry told them about his time
at school.
Half an hour later the door opened and Faith, Willow, Oz, Xander and Anya
entered the house. "Hey, you're here," Willow exclaimed excitedly. Hugs were
exchanged before the important question of what to do that evening came up.
"We should totally Bronze it," Buffy said
animatedly. Xander pulled a face.
"And relive high school, no thanks," he
said. Willow shook her head.
"No, it'll be cool," she insisted. "A
little drink, a little dancing, all will be cool. And you are so far out of
high school, I can't believe you're still wigging about that. Xander sighed and
nodded reluctantly.
"It could be cool," Oz joined in. "Kind
of retro but not really."
"I've never been there," Sirius added. "I've heard the stories; I kind of want to see the place." Kingsley and Harry looked between them confusedly.
"What's 'Bronzing It'?" Harry asked
confusedly.
"The English people don't understand
English," Anya remarked. "And they call Americans dumb." Buffy shot her a dirty
look.
"There's a club we used to go to when
were in high school," she told them. "It's called the Bronze, and there's a New
Years Eve party thing there tonight. Sound cool?" They both nodded tentatively.
"Oh no!" Buffy moaned in realisation. "I'm
pregnant!" They all looked at her incredulously.
"Ummm I think I speak for all of us when
I say 'duh'," Xander said. Buffy frowned at him.
"No, I mean what am I gonna wear," she
said frantically. "I have this big…thing!" She gestured to her stomach. Sirius
began to laugh and the rest of them joined in.
"It's alright for you," she said
irritably. "You don't have a bus sticking out of your stomach. You try carrying
a baby; see how you like it when everything you wear makes you looks like a
house!" Sirius laughed harder and Buffy hit him on the arm.
"Ouch!" he yelped. "That really hurt."
Buffy winced apologetically.
"Sorry, I haven't killed anything for so
long," she said contritely. "Forget my own strength."
Much later that evening, after Buffy had found a chocolate coloured wrap around dress to wear, the group walked through darkened Sunnydale to the Bronze.
"It's not the same without Cordy," Willow
mused. Xander, Buffy and Oz stared at her and Willow shrugged. "I miss her too
sometimes. She had unique bitchy qualities."
They reached the Bronze and entered. It was full and a band was playing on
stage.
"We must be the oldest people here,"
Buffy said brightly.
They found
two tables, pushed them together and then all sat around.
"What's everyone drinking?" Sirius
asked, standing up.
"A smoothie," Buffy said regretfully. "I'm
finally old enough to drink and I can't."
"Tequila slammers all around," Xander
said cheerfully, causing Buffy to scowl.
"What do you want Harry?" Sirius asked.
"Oh, let him join in with the tequila,"
Xander cut in. "He's 16, it'll make him a man." Sirius shrugged and left to go
to the bar. He returned a few minutes later, gave Buffy her smoothie and handed
out the shots. Buffy eyed them mutinously as they all downed their drinks.
"Nothing like a good slammer to get the
juices flowing," Oz said. "You up for a dance love bug?" He took Willows hand
and they headed to the dance floor.
Faith
followed them with Kingsley.
"So how are you liking Sunnydale?" Buffy
asked Harry, taking a big gulp of her smoothie. He grinned.
"It's cool," he said comfortably. "Is
this what you guys used to do when you were in school?" Buffy nodded, looking
around.
"Pretty much," she said lightly. "On
account of all the darkness there's only one club in town. This was where we
hung out most nights. A lot of stuff went down here."
"Like what?" Harry asked eagerly. Buffy
considered for a moment.
"Umm, there was the Harvest, this big
daddy vampire locked everyone in here so he could drink enough life to free the
Master," she said thoughtfully. "Umm, I was nearly shot in here. Xander nearly
got eaten by a thousands of years old mummy."
"Don't forget the time you did that sexy
dance for me," Xander added helpfully.
"How could I?" Buffy answered dryly and
Sirius looked between them anxiously.
"You did a sexy dance for Xander?" he
asked, perturbed. "You've never done a sexy dance for me." Buffy rolled her
eyes.
"Isn't enough that I'm carrying your
child?" she asked wryly. "Come on, I'll dance for you now." She pulled him up
and they walked over to the dance floor.
The band slowed into a ballad and Buffy
clasped her hands round Sirius' neck so they could sway in time to the music.
"He looks happy," Buffy said simply,
looking over at Harry who was laughing at one of Xander's jokes. Sirius nodded.
"No one knows who he is, he can just be
a normal person," Sirius said reflectively. "Must be nice to have a break."
Buffy watched Harry over Sirius' shoulder.
"A normal person who just got asked to
dance," Buffy said, trying not to laugh. Sirius whirled Buffy around so he
could see Harry following a pretty brunette girl onto the dance floor looking
somewhat alarmed.
"American girls eh?" Sirius said
amusedly. Buffy smiled.
"Hey, you fell for it," she said,
resting her head against his chest. They danced in silence until the end of the
song when Xander and Anya came over from their spot on the dance floor.
"Mind if I cut in?" Xander asked and
Sirius grinned and handed Buffy over to him. He and Anya began to dance nearby.
"Everything okay with my favourite Buffy?"
Xander asked, his brown eyes clouding over in concern. Buffy smiled.
"I'm your only Buffy," she said
contentedly. "And everything is of the good."
"I just wanted to check because we haven't had
much of a chance to talk since you got back," he said lightly. Buffy nodded
pensively.
"I'm not letting all of that…stuff bring
me down right now," she explained. "The way I see it, it's Christmas, a time of
good will. Maybe I'll worry when we get to the other side, but right now I'm
happy to be with you guys again." Xander smiled and kissed her lightly on the
forehead.
"We worry about you so far away," he
said smiling. "Sunnydale just isn't the same without you."
"I miss you guys too," Buffy said. "But
I'm not gone forever. Me and Sirius decided that once the baby is born and
everything is blown over, we'll share our time between here and London. Aside
from the hellmouth, I kinda like Sunnydale. It's grown on me."
"Like a flesh eating fungus," Xander added and
Buffy nodded smiling. "Hey we fixed the date of the wedding." Buffy raised her
eyebrows eagerly.
"When?" she asked excitedly.
"Mid April we think," Xander informed
her. "We've picked a small church in Sunnydale and somewhere to have the
reception." Buffy's face fell.
"I'll still be all pregnant," she said
disappointedly. "I can't really be bridesmaid."
"You can," Xander insisted. "Anya said
you might not want to but you totally can." Buffy wrinkled her nose.
"I'll be like 8 months pregnant," she
said dispiritedly. "It's okay, I'll just watch."
Xander twirled her and she saw Harry going to
sit at their table.
"Hey, I'm gonna go sit with Harry. Tease
him a bit," she said happily. "Coming?"
"I'll stay here and see if I can pick up
some pretty young thing," Xander said brightly. "Or I'll just go steal Anya
back."
They left
the Bronze just past midnight and Sirius, Buffy, Faith, Kingsley and Harry went
back to Revello Drive. Faith and Kingsley went straight upstairs but the other
three stayed in the living room drinking hot chocolate that Buffy made.
"You had a good time tonight right?"
Buffy asked Harry and he nodded vehemently.
"I've never been to America before," he said
brightly. "It's strange but good." Buffy smiled and sipped her hot chocolate.
"So you wouldn't mind living here?"
Sirius asked anxiously. "When everything's finished and blown over, we're gonna
split our time between London and here."
"I wouldn't mind that at all," Harry said smiling. "The Dursleys always wanted a holiday home in Majorca but this is so much better."
"Except for the whole hell mouth thing," Buffy
said ruefully. "But Sunnydale's a pretty cool place to live. Just don't go out
alone at night. Other than that there aren't really any rules. Oh yeah and
don't get killed. That's not allowed in this house either. But you can come and
go when you want, you're grown now."
"There's just one condition," Sirius
said, exchanging an amused glance with Buffy. Harry raised an eyebrow.
"Babysitting," Buffy said promptly.
"Nappy changing, feeding, burping. All of that stuff." Harry wrinkled his nose.
"Could I not just clean the house or
something?" he said hopefully. Buffy laughed.
"I was kidding," she said lightly. "You don't have go near the baby if you don't want. I mean it's like your sort of cousin or something but babies scare me too."
"Isn't that
kind of strange since you're having one?"
"Not really," Buffy said thoughtfully.
"Since it's mine, if I break it that's my problem. Other people babies are the
scariest."
The next few days passed easily until Christmas when they were all up early to open presents. Giles, Willow, Oz, Xander and Anya came over early so they could all open them together.
Harry couldn't remember having a larger amount of presents than he did that morning. As well as presents from the Weasleys, Ron, Hermione and Hagrid as usual, he also had presents from a few of the Order members, Sirius and Buffy and the Scoobies had bought him presents too.
He too had bought for all of them, using the last Hogsmeade trip to buy magical gifts he thought they would like. It was easily the most exciting Christmas he'd had; he didn't know the Scoobies well, only Buffy properly so it was good to spend time with them. For the rest of the morning he hung out with Sirius, Oz, Xander, Kingsley, Faith and Anya who weren't helping with the cooking.
When lunchtime came, Willow, Buffy and Giles brought out the turkey and trimmings and they sat, a little squashed, around the dining table in the Summers home.
"Another Christmas," Giles said reflectively,
once they had all helped themselves and were about to eat. "Next Christmas
there'll be a baby here." He sat at the head of the table, the patriarch of
their group.
"A mini Scooby," Xander said helpfully.
"Continuing the Scooby line." Buffy and Sirius exchanged smiles, despite her
fear; Buffy knew she couldn't wait to have this baby.
"Let's make a toast," Oz put in. "To all of
us, everyone in England and the future." They all lifted their glasses.
"To the future," the chorused in union
and then everyone tucked into their meals.
Christmas
day passed quicker than they all would've liked, New Year passed just as
rapidly. It wasn't long before Harry, Sirius, Buffy, Faith, Kingsley and Giles
were back at Grimmauld Place. Once again Revello Drive was sitting empty but Buffy
wanted Faith and Giles with her, for protection and for support, plus the
research skills that Giles had.
January rolled on and Harry returned to Hogwarts, leaving them to wait out the
winter.
