Author's note: This is set somewhere mid season 6 of "Buffy". It's post "Once more, with feeling" but Giles hasn't gone away. So, it's kind of AU. But only a little. I'll let you decide for yourselves when you want it to be set in Potterverse ;) That way you can form the story yourselves, i.e. I don't have to do all the work, mohahaha.
And this is PG-13. It was supposed to be R, but... heck, I don't write good smut. Sorry.

This is a birthday present for Minea (Minh) Michaelsdotter. Happy birthday, m'dear! Hope you'll enjoy this small token of appreciation from me to you. Keep writing those wonderful fanfictions, and be the lovely person that you are.

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Prologue

"You thought you could just take off without letting me know?!"

Dawn was furious. Anger management was really not her thing. Voice high-pitched as ever, it seemed like she was aiming at screaming everyone's ears off – and she was damned near succeeding, too.

"We thought that was the best thing we could do," said Giles uncomfortably. The old librarian wasn't one for the shrill sound of an upset teenager. "We thought you might go ballistic if you weren't allowed to come, and… well, apparently we were right."
"Oh, shut up Giles! I'm part of the gang now, you can't just ignore me and treat me like a kid again all of a sudden!"
"This isn't something you need to be a part of," said Buffy as calmly and decidedly as she could muster. She'd been making a cup of nice, hot tea for her little sister, something she'd foolishly enough thought would soothe her. After realising she'd been naïve to think such a thing, she'd decided to keep the cup to herself. "It's just a fieldtrip, Dawnie. Kind of like the ones you do at school – the ones I hear you complaining about all the time."
"Only this is far more interesting and has monsters you could slay and possibly mildly hot guys you could stare at," Anya added in her usual thoughtless manner. "It's clearly a grown-up thing."
"Err, Anya," said Giles apologetically. It was like he was dancing on the edge of a sharp knife, trying to prevent the inevitable fall from it. He took off his glasses to rub them clean – as if that had ever helped him solve anything for the better. "You're not coming either."
"WHAT?"
"Smart move, Giles," said Xander sarcastically. "Now she'll go along with your plan for sure. I thought you said you'd ease her into it, not throw it in her face like this."

Anya stared at Giles as though she was preparing to rip his head off – not such a bad analogy, considering her former line of work. "Wait a minute here! Beady eyes gets an invitation and I don't? Hello! Former vengeance demon here! I could do a hell of a lot more good than he could. He can't even use a sword properly! And besides, I've got a hundred plus more years of experience."
"Yes, yes, we're quite aware of that," Giles said carefully. "Meanwhile, someone has to take care of the Magic Box while we're away, and – dare I say it – yours are the only hands I want near my money. I wouldn't trust a substitute."
Anya's frown dissolved, and she smiled brightly towards him. Flatter always worked on her. "Well, I guess that's something to be put into consideration. All right, I'll do it! I'll take care of the Magic Box. But don't expect me to baby-sit Dawn."
"Baby-sit? I'm fifteen!"
"You still watch Cartoon Network at five AM, and I have to remind you to brush your teeth. Sorry, sis, that means you qualify as a kid," said Buffy matter-of-factly.
"Yeah, well, I'm coming with you guys anyway, so there's no need for a baby-sitter or anything of the sort!"
"I can baby-sit her. Don't have much else to do anyway."

Everyone turned around to face the kitchen door, and no one was surprised to see Spike standing in the doorway, his usual thick blanket over himself.

"Oh hi, Spike," Xander threw at him. "Have you come to join in on the discussion or is there someone here you'd like to sink your sharp predator teeth into?"
"Sod off, lapdog," Spike retorted in a perfectly normal tone of voice, indicating that he'd spent so much time insulting the Scoobies that it just came automatically. "So what do you say, Slayer? Trust me to take care of the little bit while you're away?"
"I don't need to be taken care of!" Dawn shouted.
"Sure, Spike. That'd be great," answered Buffy and smiled at him. "That solves a lot of trouble for us. I'll make sure there's fresh animal blood in the fridge before we leave."
"Thanks."
"Buffy, need I tell you what I think of this?" warned Giles.
"No. Actually, I know perfectly well what you think, oh stuffy one. I don't think there's going to be a problem. And if Spike tries anything… well, for one think, his chip will go off, and secondly, Dawn knows where I keep my weapons. You'll stake him if he tries anything, right Dawnie?"
"Thanks a bloody lot for the confidence," muttered Spike. But he was rather amused than hurt. As if the little bit could ever do anything to harm him…!
"I'm coming…" Dawn began.
"… no, you're not. You're staying here with Spike, doing nice things like… eating junk food and watching TV. And we're leaving tomorrow."

Anya was now getting mildly tired of not being a part of the conversation. "So where is it you're going, anyway? Don't think I've heard that yet."
Giles looked at her, a surprised look on his face. "Oh. Sorry, I assumed you'd know by now, seeing as you always find out about things one way or another. We're taking a fieldtrip to Great Britain."
"Yeah, yeah, but could you be a little more specific? I suppose you're not visiting the Queen." She gave Giles a distrustful look. "Are you? Because if you are, I'm coming, no matter what you say. I met her once when she was young. Damn, was she one vindictive girl! She'd wish for the most terrible things to punish her lovers…"
Giles held up a hand to silence her. "Thank you, that's quite alright, Anya. No, we're not visiting the Queen. We're going to a rather different place. Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry."