Epilogue
When Giles and the others reached home, their friends greeted them in a cheerful manner. Everyone had gathered at the Summers' house, rented a couple of movies, and there was even cake (which Dawn and Spike had apparently put together), which even if it didn't taste so good at least had been a nice thought.
Xander's meeting with Anya went smoothly. Xander didn't tell her about his unfaithfulness, of course, and Anya didn't give him much space to, anyway; she went on and on about how wonderfully she'd taken care of the Magic Box while they'd been away, mostly because she wanted Giles to hear it, but also just to brag about it.
When he left her at the altar later on, it had as much to do with nerves as with the new insecurity about his sexual preference. Of course, he never told her that either.
Giles didn't talk much about Minerva, and the others felt it was better not to ask. He tried not to brood too much, and being needed in the daily struggle against the vampires, demons and God-knew-what, he didn't have time to think things over a lot, which was probably for the best. He was too busy a man to dwell on things that had past, and quite frankly, he still nurtured the small hope that Minerva McGonagall, Hogwarts professor and animagus, would some day appear on his doorstep.
Not long after their return to home, Buffy broke things off with Spike. She didn't hear from Harry again, but she supposed he was still going at it with Draco. After all, hope is the last thing that dies, as would be proven by Spike's tireless attempts to win her back.
And time would tell if the Scoobies would ever encounter Harry and his friends again…