Disclaimer: Really really not mine. All JK Rowling and Joss Whedon's.
Setting: Straight after Order of the Phoenix and starts at the Buffy episode 'No Place Like Home
when Buffy finds out that Dawn's the key and Joyce is ill.
Pairings: Really not sure yet.
Summary: One is special, Two are chosen but 3 are destiny.
Sixteen years ago Lord Voldemort killed James Potter, only James Potter. Is it time Lily returned
to the wizarding world?
Thanks to Sam 453 for all the help with this-but I swear it was still my idea but she helped loads.
Hope it turns out like it did in our heads!
Hi ok this is a slightly different kind of chapter because it's pretty much an edited version
of the transcript for 'No Place Like Home' which is why it's not quite my style of
writing and why it's a lot more dialoguey. Also it's long!!!
Hopefully the formatting is better now!
Ooh also notes to people who asked questions-
Anne-Marie:Anyone can know where the Potters are if the secret keeper tells them. So if
Pettigrew told Sirius then Sirius could know.
WW: There is a reason 'The rat' did it but it wont be revealed for a long time!!!!
Tanydwr and Thriodien:Ok lots of questions. Buffy and Joyce are Hope and Lily but not
really in disguise. You'll see about the memories. You will also see why Lily didn't die.
Harry did rebound the curse by himself but it will all be explained gradually.
So please read and enjoy.
Chapter 2: Real life?It was dark at the abandoned warehouse. A huge, burley Hell's Angel biker-type vampire loomed
menacingly over Buffy's tiny frame.
"I've always wanted to kill the Slayer." He jeered showing his fangs but Buffy, unafraid,
quipped
"And I've always wanted piano lessons. So really, who's surprised we have all this
unexpressed rage?" punctuating her words with blow after blow, knocking the hulking
vampire back several feet. He tried to retaliate with a brutal punch to her face and grinned at his momentary success as she reeled backwards but Buffy blocked a second blow and soon
the vampire was flattened against the chain link fence, his arm wrenched behind his back. Buffy
continued talking as if nothing had interrupted her.
"But honestly? I think I'm expressing mine better. Tell you what... you find yourself a good
anger management class..." Gathering his strength the vampire threw Buffy off him but her slayer
reflexes were too strong and she slamed him back into the fence again and whipped out a stake.
"…And I'll jam this pokey wood stick through your heart." Before the vampire could react, Buffy
staked him and slipped the stake back into her coat as he turned to dust. As she walked away Buffy muttered to herself "I think that sets the world speed record for closure."
A bright light shone in Buffy's eyes and she turned to see the factory night watchman approaching.
"Miss, if you're looking for one of those rave parties, I'm afraid you're late. Chased a
bunch of kids out of here last night."
Thinking quickly Buffy replied "Oh, right. Yeah. Darn. My fellow ravers will be so
disappointed. It was my turn to bring the Bundt cake."
Seemingly oblivious to her lame cover the night watchman continued.
"You know, if it was my call, I'd let you do whatever you want. It's not like anybody's
using this place or nothin'. But they just don't pay me enough to argue with the boss so..."
Keen to get away Buffy interrupted the watchman. "Already gone!"She turned to leave but the guard stopped her.
"Oh, hey! Hold it, miss. Take your... whatever this is with you." He bent over, picked
up a glowing yellow orb and handed it to Buffy who looked at it curiously.
"Thank you."
"Glow balls, huh?" the watchman laughed. "I swear, I don't get your generation. What
is that thing?" Distracted Buffy replied vaguely
"I'll let you know as soon as I find out" and turned and walked off into the night.
The next morning Buffy was in the kitchen preparing a breakfast tray for her mother
when Dawn entered smiling.
"Dawn, touch nothing." Buffy snapped and annoyed Dawn responded
"Who died and made you the Iron Chef?"
"Look, Mom's sick and I made her a nice non-instant breakfast for once. And I don't
need you…" Dawn knocked over the rose vase on the tray. "...doing that."
At that moment Joyce entered the kitchen in her bathrobe, also smiling.
"Oh! Check out the "Pamper Mom" platter. You two do all this?" she asked Dawn.
"Oh, Buffy helped." Dawn said knowing this would irritate her older sister.
Indignantly Buffy cried "I didn't "help"... but Joyce misunderstood and said
"I'm sure you did. So neither of you is pregnant, failingor under indictment?…Just
checking." She added after seeing their faces.
"We knew you were feeling less-than-great so..." Buffy started.
"Yeah, the headaches they said would go away came back and
brought some friends along with" Joyce said making light of the pain in her head.
"Well, what did the doctor say?" Buffy asked anxiously.
"Oh, take four of some-pills a day and come back for tests."
"So they don't know what's wrong?"
"Not yet."
"Well, that's unacceptable. I think we should get a second opinion."
"Well, we need a first opinion first, honey."
"okay, we'll go right now." Buffy said, keen to find the root of the problem but Joyce
smiled annoyingly and said.
"Buffy, I know you're concerned, okay? But don't be. I'm still the mom.
Which means I get to worry about you two. Which is a good thing because you're a Vampire Slayer." She pulled Dawn onto her lap "And you... you are my little punkin' belly!"
"Oh, Mom! That's like my kid name." Dawn whined, embarrassed.
"So I can't be retro?" Joyce joked. Buffy noted Joyce and Dawn's easy camaraderie
and felt a little excluded from the scene.
"Did you ever have any names for me?" she asked trying to remind them of her presence.
"No... I think you were always just Hope."
"Excuse me?" Buffy asked thinking she must have mis-heard.
"What honey? We just never gave you another name." Joyce said confusedly. "You're
just Buffy."
"I got some names for ya..." Dawn said teasingly not realising that Buffy was trying to
cover a sore feeling inside. Suddenly Joyce remembered something and turned to Buffy.
"What are you doing hanging around here? Isn't this Giles' big day?"
"Oh!" Buffy said suddenly remembering. "Bigger than big. It's his grand opening".
"So go. Bring me back a... I don't know... a flying broomstick or something." Joyce
joked but Dawn missed the joke and said.
"Those never really work."
"Whatever. Book club tonight?" Joyce asked her younger daughter.
"Uh-huh."
"You guys have a book club?" Buffy asked half incredulous, half insanely jealous. Off
their looks she added. " Okay, I'm gonna go. I will be back later. What time is your
doctor's appointment?" At Joyce's exasperated look she continued again. "I just want
to know... take it easy. I want you to relax all day, keep your feet up, plenty of Oprah."
Completely oblivious to Buffy's intentions Dawn added
"Plus you can check my rain forest report and you know there's like eighty bazillion old
board games-"
Buffy grabbed Dawn by the arm and dragged her out of the house.
"Hey! You said I couldn't come." Dawn squealed.
"Changed my mind."
THE MAGIC BOX
Buffy pushed open the shop door and glanced up at the quaint bell that rang. She
strolled into the store, taking in the curios and knickknacks lining the shelves. The store was quiet
and empty. She looked up to find Giles standing serenely in the centre of the store, dressed in a
spangled purple robe and pointed purple warlock's cap. Giles smiles at Buffy cheerily who merely
stared him down. Finally, he dropped the facade and shrugged out of the costume just as Dawn
burst through the door behind Buffy, gasping for breath.
"I told you you couldn't ditch me!" she gasped to Buffy then "Whoa... Mr. Giles! This
place is so... wow. I mean, check out all the magic junk."
"Our new slogan..." Giles said dryly but Dawn interrupted him.
"So when's it open? You know, for customers?"
"Since nine this morning, actually."
"Dawn. Go. Browse. And-"
"You break it, you bought it." Heard you the first sixty times." Dawn wandered into the
recesses of the store to check the place out.
Giles continued talking to Buffy from where he left off. "Still, not to worry. No, I've got
feelings about this place. Magick's a small niche market but... well, think about it.
Sunnydale... monsters... supply and demand. They'll be lining up around the block in no
time."
"Yeah. You'll be making money hand over fist." Suddenly puzzled, she held her hand
over her fist. "Which I guess is a good thing."
"You all right? You seem a little distracted."
Buffy sighed. "It's just my mom's still sick and we have no idea what the deal is."
"She is getting medical attention?" Giles asked anxiously.
"Yeah. We have a highly trained medical staff working 'round the clock to tell us
diddly."
"I'm sorry. Still, you know, time and patience... both great comforts"
The bell jingled as ran in, excitedly.
"Giles! Where's your hat and cloak?" she asked but Dawn interrupted.
"Willow! You gotta see this. They have the coolest talismens... mans... talisguys. I-"
"Actually, I have a little Scooby-centric deal to deal with first." Buffy said cutting Dawn
off. She reached into her bag and removed the glowing yellow globe. "I put this before
the group. "What the hell is it?"
As usual it was Giles who had the first shot. "It appears to be paranormal in origin."
"How can you tell?" Willow asked interestedly but to her surprise Giles replied.
"Well, it's so shiny."
"Found it on patrol." Buffy said handing the object to Giles. Dawn leaned over to look
at the globe, knocking over a fragile china lantern in the process.
"Oops"
"Oops?" Buffy repeated irritated as Giles handed Willow the sphere and wordlessly
headed into the back to get a broom. "Dawn, we're going."
Dawn knew she was in trouble and headed out, dejected. Willow stopped Buffy on her
way to the door.
"Buffy, wait. Go easy on her."
"Why?" Buffy asked incredulously.
"I can't help it. I just have all this involuntary empathy for Dawn. 'Cause she's, you
know, a big spaz."
All of Buffy's pent-up frustrations suddenly welled up inside her and spilled out. "She's
so annoying. Especially now that Mom's sick. She's all over her while I have to be the
grown-up and the two of them are like the Giggle Twins and why can't I ever be L'il
Punkin' Belly?"
Willow started speaking in her well used comforting voice. "While I don't feel qualified
to address the last part, I can tell you that Dawn's not just the youngest, she's the baby and maybe
your mom needs that right now."
"Dawn doesn't care what my mom..." Buffy paused just for a second, trying to express
what she was feeling. "You just have no idea how much I wish I were an only child
these days." She headed out to meet Dawn, a steely look on her face.
Buffy's houseBuffy and Dawn walked through the door still bickering. Dawn was still going on about
the incident at the shop saying "We can't all be born with big, fancy, Chosen One reflexes, you
know." But for about the 20th time that day Buffy interrupted her.
"Shh! Mom?" A soft moan was coming from the living room and Buffy and Dawn
rushed to their mother who was lying on the couch in obvious distress."Mom!" Buffy
cried and, panicked, Dawn asked
"What's wrong?"
Weakly Joyce replied "It's just my head."
"I'm taking you to the doctor."
"No, sweetheart. I'm fine." Joyce protested. "where's James?"
"James?" Buffy asked confused.
"Come on Hope where is he?"
"Huh?"
"Hope where is he what's happened?"
"Mom what's wrong?"
"What honey I'm fine."
Ignoring her mother's strange comments Buffy replied. "We don't know that. We don't
know anything. We're going."
"I just need my prescription. Please?" Joyce asked weakly.
Buffy picked up the slip and stood up. "Hospital pharmacy open?" she asked and Joyce
nodded. "Ten minutes." Buffy said and headed out.
SUNNYDALE HOSPITAL- PHARMACY COUNTER
The technician handed Buffy a bottle of pills and she turned to leave, examining the
bottle as she went. As she walked down the corridor BEN, the nurse,called out to
Buffy, stopping her.
"Hey! It's Buffy, isn't it?" She looked at him, confused. "Ben... but you can call me
man-nurse. Everybody else here does." Suddenly the patient Ben was wheeling in a chair sat up,
struggling to get off the gurney. Buffy looked at the man and recognised him as the factory night
watchman from the night before.
"I don't belong here." He cried. "I have important instructions. Fascists!"
Ben pushed him back down while the orderlies accompanying them fastened his
restraints. "Now you're hurting the nice orderly who's here to help you." Ben said soothingly to the
watchman then to the nurse. "I need nine cc's of Phenobarbital in this guy n-" but he stopped
speaking when Buffy stepped up and slammed the man down onto the gurney with one arm and
effortlessly held him there. "Or not." Ben recovered. "Now let's strap him." He said to the nurse.
"For your own good, I promise." Then he turned to Buffy saying "You know, not to be rampantly
sexist in the workplace, but you've got some serious muscles for a girl."
"I... um..." Buffy stuttered hesitantly.
"Radioactive spider bite?" Ben joked and Buffy played along.
"How'd you guess?"
"I'm a doctor- well, almost."
The night watchman seized Buffy's arm and looked at the medicine bottle she was holding.
"Doesn't even help. Doesn't make a damn bit of difference!" he said shaking his head wildly.
"I've met this guy." Buffy said to Ben. " He's a security guard. He's not crazy."
"If you say so..." Ben began looking at Buffy as if she was crazy herself but the watchman interrupted him.
"They're coming at you. Don't think you're above it, missy. They come through the
family! They get to your family!" Something clicked inside Buffy's head and she ran out
of the hospital clutching Joyce's pills tightly.
THE MAGIC BOX
Giles handed a couple their purchase with a smile. "Thank you for choosing to shop at
The Magic Box and please do come again." Willow was standing at the counter, perusing an ancient
tome. Giles waited until the couple left the store, then bounded over to her, giddy. "Did you see
that? Customers! Real, live customers! They came in and I gave them things and they gave me
money and then they left! It's brilliant!" He jumped back to the cash register to deposit the cash.
"Congratulations. You're an official capitalist running dog. But I gotta tell ya...on the
orbular front? We're batting zeroes."
"Well, we'll just have to keep trying." Giles said still grinning from his success. A group
of customers entered and began browsing. Giles called out to them. "If there's anything you need
help with, let me know." Anya was among the customers. She stopped at the main display table,
examining the items. She picked up a small bag of dust and carried it over to Giles.
"Your conjuring powder is grotesquely over-priced."
"Anya..."
"I'm sorry. I'm nearly out of money. I've never had to afford things before and it's
making me bitter."
"The change is palpable." Giles said dryly. " That stuff doesn't come cheap."
"Well, you're getting ripped off. I could hook you up with the troll that sheds it." Buffy
ran into the shop a moment later, flustered.
"Giles, I have an idea what's making my mom sick."
"Have you spoken with her doctors?"
"They won't find anything. What's hurting her- it's supernatural. (picks up the orb) The
night watchman who found this thing? He went crazy- like overnight." Willow, Giles and
Anya backed away cautiously on hearing this but Buffy reassures them. "It won't hurt
us. I had it on me all night. But this guy, he saw things... he said things."
"Such as?" Giles asked curiously.
"They'll come at me through my family."
"Who will?"
"I don't know... yet. But whatever touched this guy, it made him see through what the
rest of us are seeing. He knew someone's hurting my mom and they're trying to get to
me."
"It's possible" Giles said doubtfully "but still... the ramblings of a madman aren't much
to go on."
"Yeah, but it's a start. We need to find out who's making my mom sick and how."
"Then what?" Willow asked.
"Then I hunt them... find them... and kill them." Buffy said simply.
Later that day things began to pick up in the Magic Box. Anya was working the
register. Whilst Buffy and Willow were at the counter, busily researching. A customer
approached Willow with an antique hourglass and asked
"Do you gift wrap?"
"Do we!" Willow said scornfully then quickly to Anya "Do we?" On Anya's nod
Willow continued. "Oh! We do. Little help..."
Giles was desperately trying to manage the customers and answer a flurry of questions
when Xander entered and walked over to Buffy.
"Did you ever think in a million years you'd miss the high school library?"
Buffy distracted by her problems didn't answer Xander directly. Instead she told him
"Someone put a spell on my mom. Something to make it seem like she's sick."
Trying to keep the situation light Xander said. "That's a new kind of nasty. Any
suspects?"
"Well, I've got the list narrowed down to just under infinity." Buffy sighed.
Willow carried the hourglass over to Anya, the wrapping paper hanging off it. "Does
this look right to you?" she asked and typically bluntly Anya replied.
"Sure, if you wrapped it with your feet." She took the hourglass and started wrapping it
herself. Willow frowned but turned away leaving Anya with the wrappings. Anya
turned to Buffy to
offer some help. "You know, Buffy, there used to be this French sorcerer back in the
16th I-don't-know-what named"
"Cloutier?" Giles asked and Anya continued,
"So cute in his little knickers. But he had this one spell demons just hated called tirer la
couture."
"Rotate many foodstuffs?" Buffy asked confused but Willow translated more accurately
"Pull the curtain back."
"A spell to see spells... well, a trance to see spells, actually, but you get the idea. Try
that." Anya suggested, or more accurately instructed.
"What do you mean "see" spells?" Buffy asked.
"Well, all spells leave a trace signature. It's just not perceptible to the human eye. In this
case, it could be the image of a hand choking your mother." Giles answered and Anya
picked up his thread.
"Or a cloud of mist around her."
"Or maybe the shape of the demon that's performing the spell?" Willow asked hopefully
and Giles nodded. Anya held up the perfectly-wrapped hourglass, beaming. At having
solved two problems at once.
"Okay, so I'll do what Monsieur Silk Knickers did. I'll go home, I'll get trancey and I'll
see what's affecting my mom." Buffy decided but Willow expressed her doubts.
"I don't know, Buffy. Trances?"
Giles backed Willow up, worried about Buffy performing such magic. "Yes, Buffy, the
Sorcerer Cloutier was legendary. His skills at achieving higher states of consciousness
were"
"Better than mine?" Buffy finished then turning to Willow "I knew he was gonna say
that. But I've been practicing concentration skills. I know I'm close." She reassured
them both.
"Are you ready?" Giles asked Buffy seriously.
"It's my mom." Buffy replied equally seriously. " I'll get ready. What do I need?"
A short while later Buffy was sitting on the floor in the middle of her bedroom preparing
for her trance. She pulled out from her bag a small bag of incense, powders and other
magickal talismans. She lit the incence and poured the conjuring powder in a circle on
the carpet. She sat down, cross-legged in the centre of the circle and placed her hands
on her knees ready for meditation. She closed her eyes and began. Buffy stayed in the
lotus position in deep meditation until nightfall. Her trance deepened with each passing
moment until suddenly her eyes snapped open. She stood up and left her room. It
seemed to Buffy as if she was looking through a thinck cloud of mist, as if nothing was
quite real. Her mother's voice came to Buffy as if from a great distance. Buffy walked
slowly down the stairs, careful not to trip. She saw through the mist that Joyce was
dressed and putting on her overcoat.
"Mom? Are you going out?" she asked studying her mother carefully. As she watched
it seemed as though her mother was flickering but Buffy couldn't be sure. She thought
she saw a flash of red hair but the white mist was too thick to see clearly through.
"Well, either modern medicine's working or I just took the world's best placebo. Either
way, I'm going out for a couple of hours." Joyce's voice echoed. "Are you sure you're
feeling okay? You seem a little out of it. Hey... Buffy?"
"Yeah. I'm fine. Long day's all. You go, have a good time." Buffy covered.
Joyce smiled wistfully her face suddenly youthful and Buffy was more sure that she saw
piercing green eyes shining from her mom's face. "You're so grown up." Joyce said but
Buffy suddenly realised she didn't feel so grown up. Infact she felt really young, young
enough to want to cry about her mom leaving the house. Joyce headed out and Buffy
took a step backwards. In front of her was a small figure, shadowy but Buffy could see
that it looked like her, a lot like her in fact.
But the figure did not stay long. In fact it seemed to be enveloped by the white mist and
disappeared. In the living room Buffy found a family portrait from when she was
younger. Dawn wouldn't have been born yet but there was a baby in the picture, and
those weren't her parents Buffy was sure. There was a young woman with red hair and
green eyes holding the baby and a black haired man with glasses and a cheeky smile.
Buffy peered closely at the picture but it flickered like a bad quality TV show between
what Buffy knew it should show and this bizarre picture. The only thing that was the
same was young Buffy. In another picture which Buffy knew had Dawn in it as well the
flashing was more violent. Dawn faded in and out of existence as did the dark haired
man and Buffy herself. Joyce was alternately herself and the strange young woman
whilst a teenage boy randomly appeared.
Buffy continued exploring her house finding that everything was shifting. At times it
seemed the whole house was disappearing, at times she felt as if it was her that did so.
She was brought back to reality by the phone ringing. It was Giles.
"Buffy? Oh, I'm glad I've caught you. I think we may have underestimated what we're
dealing with."
"Go on."
"We've uncovered more than expected about this orb. It's called the Dagon Sphere
and it has a history going back many centuries."
"What's it do?"
"It's a protective device, used to ward off a great evil."
"Any word on what this evil looks like?"
"Unfortunately, no. This is where accounts get vague. All we've managed to uncover
so far is the Dagon Sphere was created to repel 'That Which Must not Be Named.'"
Buffy felt a tingle pass down her spine, a tingle of fear which surprised her.
"I'm going to go back to the factory where I found it. Then I'll come back to you."
"Buffy, you've heard me say this before but do be careful. Anything that goes unnamed
is usually an object of deep worship or great fear-maybe both. Have you completed the
trance? Seen what's harming your mother?"
"That's the thing... I just saw- well I don't really know what I saw. It was like my life
didn't exist. My mom was someone else, I was a little kid and Dawn was…somewhere
that's not here. I don't understand it."
"I do" Joyce's voice said from the doorway. Buffy turned around startled, she hadn't
heard her mother come in.
"What do you understand mom?" Buffy asked worried.
"This isn't our life. I need to go find him."
"Find who?"
"I have to find James." Joyce suddenly started crying. Giles was talking on the other
end of the phone but Buffy ignored him. "I have to find him. And Harry oh g-d what if
he's got Harry."
"Who's got Harry?"
"He who must not be named."
Ok I know it doesn't quite fit but how cool that the Dagon sphere was made to repel
'That which cannot be named'-close to he who must not be named huh? Anyways reviews
please!!!!