Replies to reviews:

Just me: Glad you like

Siren of evil: Ditto and I hope this makes up for the cliffie

LaRoseMinuit: Ditto and cool pen name

Tanydwr: Not so long this time! Didn't mean anything by the tweed comment, I'm british too! Just kept the joke 'cos it's a pretty standard one in buffy about England and Giles.

Paladin 3030: Sorry I disagree I think Ron and Hermione all the way! Its kust about the only thing I have strong opinions about.

Anyways, I expect lots of reviews for this!!!!!!!!

Here it is people.

Brother and Sister

There was a knock on Harry's door.

"Come in" Harry called listlessly and the pretty blonde girl from downstairs did so.

"You know you shouldn't say that when you don't know who is on the other side. You never know who or what could accept the invite." Harry noted her American accent with surprise and raised an eyebrow at her words.

"In that case who or what are you?"

"My name's Buffy" The girl replied with a smile that would have had Ron drooling.

"Well what do you want?" Harry asked roughly but Buffy didn't seem the least put out.

"To talk to you, help you maybe."

"I don't need your help." Harry retorted.

"We all need help from our friends Harry." Buffy said softly, truthfully.

"You're not my friend. I don't even know you." Harry scoffed thinking how strange this girl was, how clueless she must be about what was going on. "You wouldn't be able to help me even if I needed it from you, you have no idea-"

"Oh really?" Buffy interrupted. "I have no idea what it feels like to be going through what you are. Stop me if I'm wrong. You're feeling guilty. Guilty for the death of someone you loved beyond anyone else. You feel resentful, betrayed by the person you trusted, the person who was almost a father to you and you feel isolated from your friends because you feel you hurt them, put them in danger."

"I did hurt them. I led them into the fight and they got hurt, all of them because of me."

"Let me tell you something Harry, you can't lead friends. Friends come of their own free will no matter how hard you try to stop them they follow you into battle and they get hurt but they do it themselves. When they choose not to take your warnings they take responsibility for themselves."

"I suppose you're going to say now that I shouldn't get into battles in the first place." Harry grumbled and Buffy was saddened to hear the bitterness in her brother's voice.

"If I said that I'd be a real hypocrite. Most people shouldn't enter fights, they don't have a reason to and they don't know what it involves. Some people are different, you and me included."

"How can I believe you, I can't see you in a battle." Harry almost let out a snort of disbelief.

"To be honest I can't see you in one either but I know you've been in a few and we'd be here all year if I told you about mine. If I could explain to you how difficult it is to accept that, how guilty I feel every time my friends get hurt, every time one of them ends up in hospital or unconscious, but that's part of a sla- part of having friends and a destiny. Harry we're two of very few people who have both. I know you don't know me but believe me we have quite a bit in common."

"You and me? We're nothing alike. You're a girl, American and blonde." Harry spat out, irritated by the way this strange girl had of exactly understanding what he couldn't even make sense of to himself.

"You need me to say more? Ok, let's deal with problem number two. You're mad at Dumbledore."

"How did you know that?" Harry asked quickly. It was something he hadn't told anyone, something which was private, related to the prophecy which was still a secret, still forming a barrier separating him from anyone else.

"It's obvious Harry. When you know why."

"Why what?"

"He kept something from you, something you thought you had a right to know something you think made him play a part in Sirius' death." Harry, breathed a deep breath, she didn't necessarily know about the prophecy. He chose not to find out exactly how much she did know, rather to first deal with how she thought she could come level with Dumbledore's atrocities.

"Wouldn't you be mad?"

"I was. When it happened to me?"

"What happened to you?" Harry didn't understand. There was no way the same things that had happened to him could have happened to Buffy.

"The man I trusted so much it was more than trust, faith maybe, somewhere in the realms of love, family kind of love anyway betrayed me. He kept something from me. On my 18th birthday he was made to perform a test on me and without me knowing he injected me with a potion which took away my strength. Whilst I got more and more worried my mother was in danger because I had been unable to protect her."

"You could have protected her?" Harry interrupted sceptically.

"So not the point of the story but yes I could have and I was lucky I got her home in one piece but also not the point. See the thing is he let me believe I was sick, that there was something wrong with me and that I'd never be strong again. He kept the truth from me too long and it hurt. He had helped me through so much, shared some of the best and worst moments of my life and suddenly everything changed. It hurts Harry but it's the way things go. You have to move on, build trust again or you're gonna sink. Going it alone isn't much fun but you'll be worse than alone if you don't trust the people you fight with.

"Ok then, if you're so clever tell me how I can. Tell me how I can trust someone who is nearly as responsible for Sirius-for Sirius being dead as me. If you've got all the answers explain it to me because I don't see it." Buffy almost smiled. The similarities were so striking. Harry too wore his heart on his sleeve, open for all to see as Angel had once told her she did. Angel. Buffy swallowed. That story could wait, that one she would share only if necessary, only if she reached desperation.

"You trust them because you did once before, because Dumbledore made a mistake, a bad judgement but we all do." Harry roughly cut her off.

"We can't afford to. Not when someone's life is at stake. Not when bad judgement means being responsible for someone's death."

"You don't know what it's like to be responsible for someone's death Harry." Buffy said softly.

"Excuse me." Harry started with surprise.

"You loved Sirius right? He was you're godfather."

"He was more than that." Anger had been bubbling in Harry's heart but now it effervesced, ready to over boil. "He was like a father and now he's gone, he's dead." Harry slammed his fist against the wall. "And it's all my fault."

"Harry you don't know what it means to be responsible for someone's death." Buffy repeated and this time Harry was angry enough to respond.

"I don't? What do you think Sirius was doing at the ministry? He came because of me and he died because of me." Harry was shouting but Buffy remained sitting calmly. She was feeling more and more sympathy, more and more of an affinity for Harry and she wanted desperately for him to trust her yet at the same time she barely knew him and was desperately searching for the resolve to reveal one of her most painful memories.

"I already told you friends enter battles by choice. I've lead people to battle, not all of them survived. I made them fight when they had no idea what they were fighting and I had to clean up the mess afterwards."

"That's not your story."

"Excuse me?" Buffy's eyes widened as she realised the similarity between their intonations of the phrase she just uttered.

"That doesn't come close to Sirius' death. You came here prepared, one story for one statement. You haven't told me the real one. Spill it." Buffy sighed. Perceptiveness was good but not for her at that moment.

"You're right but you're responsibility for Sirius' death doesn't come close to mine for the person I loved. You haven't killed someone until you've actually done the deed. Until you've run a sword through them and sent them to hell."

"You believe in hell?" Harry asked quietly.

"I've been to hell and that's where I sent him, my Angel in hell." Buffy's eyes were moist, Harry could tell how much this was taking out of her but she remained sitting straight, strong as steel.

"Why?" Harry asked even more softly.

"To save the world. Harry you and me, that's our destiny. To save the world and there are many sacrifices to make along the way. You can make any sacrifice except yourself because when you've nothing left, no weapons, no friends, no hope there's still you and sometimes, just sometimes that's enough. You lost Sirius and I'm sorry but I killed Angel and that's the difference between us. I loved him more than I could ever tell you, he was part of my soul but I had to make a sacrifice. So I kissed him, and told him I loved him and I killed him. That's being responsible for someone's death. So I'm very sorry you lost your godfather but you lost him, you didn't kill him and don't ever believe you did because that's the path that leads to hell Harry." There was silence in the room for a moment. Harry didn't understand exactly what Buffy was talking about but he understood what she was driving at. For a moment he considered her speech, thought about what she had revealed to him and wondered who she was. He knew that to be in the house she must have been invited by Dumbledore but he wondered how the headmaster had managed to find someone who seemingly had stories to rival any of his. 'Any' Harry repeated bitterly in his head. 'There's no way she can match the prophecy, there's just no way.' A strange urge had taken hold of him, a need to prove that his situation was worse, to justify his right to stay moodily silent, to retain his bitter feelings.

"You don't have a prophecy about your destiny though do you." As the words came out his mouth Harry was aware of the petulancy of this response and hurried quickly to make an argument out of it. "You said we're both destined to save the world, you don't have to kill Lord Voldemort to do so though do you."

Harry was shocked to say the least by Buffy's response. He had expected at least a shudder, possibly a gasp or even a squeal when hi said Lord Voldemort's name but there was none. He had expected that she would be confused, surprised, maybe curious about this prophecy, the prophecy no one knew about. He did not expect her to laugh.

"Sorry." Buffy said wiping her eyes. "You just make it sound so final, like there's nothing left except killing Lord Voldemort."

"There's being killed by Lord Voldemort." Harry muttered angrily, resenting the fact that he didn't understand what was happening.

"Harry I know the prophecy and no don't get even madder at Dumbledore there are incredibly good reasons I know. Just let me tell you, I've dealt with prophecies before. I've cheated prophecies before. I don't know how many have been defied but it's more than you could dream up."

"This is real though. This isn't just something made up in an occlumency lesson, it's fate. It's real and unalterable. Murderer or victim, one way or another there's no way around it."

"There's always a way around it Harry. Did you ever hear of the Master?"

"The Vampire?" Harry asked.

"Yeah.."
"What about him?"

"You ever heard of the Codex."

"No."

"It's a book. Got a lot of prophecies in it. They all ring pretty true, some way or another. Said I was going to face the master and he was going to kill me. Same way you're gonna face Lord V." Buffy smiled at the stunned look on Harry's face. He just hadn't seen it coming, had no idea what she was about, but he would learn. They would have plenty of time to learn about each other.

"But you're still alive."

"Yeah. Funny that. See prophecies don't always tell the whole story. There's always a way around them."

"How did you get around it?"

"CPR." Buffy said with a smile. "Drowning's not really the most efficient way to kill me."

"So the prophecy did come true?"

"Like I said, Codex's prophecy's all ring pretty much true. Doesn't mean you have to play it by their rules."

"Who-who are you? How do you know about all this stuff? Why were you going to face the master anyway? Why are you here?" Harry asked, stunned.

"Family matter." Buffy answered.

"Huh?"

"My mom needed to see Dumbledore pretty urgently and she gave me something to give to you for your birthday, I'm just playing delivery girl right now."

"Do I even know you're mum?"

"You wouldn't recognise her." Buffy answered truthfully. "You know her though." She handed him a wrapped parcel. "Happy birthday." Then she headed to the door.

Harry quickly tore off the paper and frowned in confusion. "Wait. I don't understand. Why have you given me this?"

"Thought you might like a family portrait." Buffy said.

"What?"

"It's a long story. Why don't you come down to the party? It can all be explained there."

"No. no. no. Tell me now. You've just suddenly appeared here, you know things about my life that I've never told anyone and now you give me a picture of you and two other people and tell me it's a family portrait. I don't understand and I'm not going anywhere until you explain."

"Harry." Buffy took a deep breath. "The woman in the picture, that's my mom. The other girl is my sister Dawn. See the thing is, they're your mom and sister too."

Harry paled and took a step backwards. "You're crazy. I don't have any family. My mum's dead and I never had a sister."

"I never knew I had a brother." Buffy said softly. "Turns out my life just gets stranger and stranger. Look I don't fully understand it, I don't know the whole story but I know that my mom, who I always thought was Joyce Summers is Lily Potter, I always thought I was Buffy, turns out I'm called Hope. I thought I always had a sister, turns out my sister appeared just a few months ago and I've had a brother for years. Things aren't always what they seem Harry but there's only a few people who get to see what's real."

"So my mum's alive? I have two sisters." Harry laughed hollowly. "That's a really good one. I don't know who the hell you are but you couldn't have come up with a more ridiculous story, it's so crazy it almost worked but its impossible. You'd better get out of here real fast or…"

"Or what?" Buffy asked. "Harry is it really so unbelievable? You've seen a mass murderer turn out to be the good guy, you've discovered a world full of magic, seen a rat turn into a man you believed dead. Is there any reason you can't believe me?"

"People would remember. If I had a sister. Someone would have told me."

"No one remembers Harry. I don't even remember. Hope Potter doesn't exist in living memory, and wont until we find the person who erased her. The same person who changed Lily, you're mum, into mine."

"So what proof so you have? How am I supposed to believe you?"

"You might not believe me but there's someone downstairs you'll believe."

"Who?"

"Your mom."

"She's downstairs? Right now? How does she remember and you don't?"

"Brain tumour. Messed up the memory spell on her." There wassilence for a moment, until Buffy voiced the question which had been stuck in her throat for too long.

"So, do you want to come meet your family?"

Hope that was worth the wait, sorry it took so long.

xxx