As Strong As We Are United
Chapter 3 – Happy Birthday, Harry
Now that all the teens were back in England, Shannon with the help of Dawn and Hermione decided to plan a surprise birthday party for Harry. Since Vernon and Petunia Dursley were away, the girls decided that they would get all of their friends together and surprise Harry at his house. In addition to the three girls, Draco, and Ron, they also invited Ginny, Neville, Andrew, and Luna.
On the evening of Harry's birthday, Neville, Luna, and Andrew traveled to the Burrow via the floo network. Ron, being the only one of age and able to use magic outside of school, called for the Night Bus. The four teens then took the Night Bus to pick up Hermione and travel to Little Whinging.
Shannon, Dawn, Buffy, Xander, and Anya traveled via the floo network to the Malfoy cottage in Hogsmeade. Narcissa had invited the Scooby adults to have dinner at her home, while the teens were having their party for Harry.
The Scoobies arrived to find Narcissa, Giles, Faith, and Robin talking over drinks in the living room. Shannon placed the cake she had made the muggle way for Harry on the dining room table, while she and Dawn waited for Draco to return from the Three Broomsticks, where he was picking up food and drinks for the party.
There was a knock at the door. Expecting it to be Draco laden with packages from the pub, Dawn bounded to the door to answer it. Standing outside was Millicent Bulstrode, a Slytherin in their year at Hogwarts, and a short, chubby dark-haired woman that Dawn assumed was her mother. However, the person who caught Dawn's attention was the man, who was standing behind Millicent and her mother. "Oh no, not you," commented Dawn scathingly.
"Afraid so," replied the man. "You're the Slayer's kid sister right?"
Dawn ignored the question, choosing instead to yell for Giles. "Giles, that scummy friend of yours who turned you into a demon is here."
Buffy, Giles, and Narcissa came charging into the entry hall. "Ethan?" questioned Giles.
"Oh no, not you," added Buffy.
"That's what I said," commented Dawn.
"Elena?" questioned Narcissa.
Millicent's mother shook her head. "He just turned up this evening. Claims that he has information that has to get to Dumbledore. I wasn't sure where else to go," Elena explained to her old friend.
"Can we come in?" asked Ethan. "I don't think it's a good idea for anyone to see me out here."
Narcissa stepped back from the door, allowing them entry. "Don't try anything," warned Buffy. "You still deserve a major ass-kicking from me." Ethan put his hands up in a sign of submission and entered the cottage, followed by his sister and niece. Narcissa led them into the living room.
"Hey, what's he doing here?" demanded Xander, when he recognized Ethan.
"Aren't you the guy with the cursed candy?" asked Faith.
Ethan looked at Faith appraisingly. "I thought you were working against these people," he commented, referring to Faith's time working with Mayor Wilkins before his ascension.
"I reformed," replied Faith dryly.
Before the conversation could progress further, Draco entered the cottage laden with food and drinks for the party. He put down the packages and noticed the adults staring at each other in a tense silence. "What's going on?" Draco asked.
"Ethan just showed up," replied Dawn.
"Ethan? As in the bloke who turned Giles into a demon?" asked Draco.
"As in the guy who cursed our Halloween costumes so that we would turn into whatever we were wearing," stated Xander.
"Now, you shouldn't be too upset about that," commented Ethan. "After all, from what Ripper told me the knowledge you acquired as a soldier was useful to some of your later adventures." Xander glared at him.
"Don't forget that he also cursed chocolate so that every adult in town acted like a teenager," Faith reminded the group.
"Yes, well, a lot of those adults needed a good time, especially Ripper here," commented Ethan.
"Giles did not need to screw my mother on top of a police car," moaned Buffy.
Dawn threw her hands over her ears. "I so never needed to know that," she whimpered.
"Come on, those things were all in good fun, and you lot always saved the day," commented Ethan.
"What about when you tattooed the mark of Eygon on Buffy and nearly got her killed?" growled Giles.
"You didn't," shrieked Elena. "Of all the low, disgusting things that you've done." The short, chubby woman began striking Ethan about the head. "Worshipping chaos is one thing, but purposely sacrificing someone else for your own mistakes is unacceptable." Ethan tried to move away from his sister, but she chased him around the room continuing to hit at him. Everyone else stood in shock, staring at the scene.
"That's enough," warned Narcissa. "Draco, don't you and your friends have a party to be getting to? I suggest you get going, and maybe you should take Millicent with you."
Elena stopped chasing her brother around the room. "That's a very good idea, Cissa. Millicent, go with Draco. You can Apparate home later tonight after the party."
"But, mother," Draco and Millicent whined in unison.
"Go," replied Narcissa and Elena, also in unison.
The four teens gathered the food, birthday cake, and their gifts. After explaining to Millicent where they were going (she was less than happy to say the least), they left the cottage with four loud cracks.
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Ron, Ginny, Neville, Luna, and Andrew stood outside the Burrow. Ron took his wand, raising and lowering it in front of him. The violent purple triple-decker bus appeared. Ron ushered the other teens on. They paid their fairs, and Ron gave the addresses of their destinations, explained that they needed to stop at Hermione's before heading to Harry's.
Ginny, Neville, Luna, and Andrew walked up the stairs to find seats on the second level. Ron sat in a squashy armchair on the first level nearest the door. With a violent jerk, the bus was off. Ron immediately felt sick to his stomach. He hated the Knight Bus. "I'm doing this for Hermione," he reminded himself even as his thoughts wandered to how easily he could have Apparated to Harry's.
After what seemed like hours, having been thrown from his seat more times than he could count, the conductor told Ron that they had arrived at Hermione's. Ron stood shakily, as Hermione bounded onto the bus, carrying a colorfully wrapped package. She quickly kissed her boyfriend, and they searched for seats together. They too wound up on the second level with the other two couples.
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Harry had been having the worst birthday. His day reminded him of all his birthdays before finding out that he was a wizard. Usually his friends would send him gifts via owl post early on the morning of his birthday. However, it was now near dinnertime, and Harry had yet to hear from anyone. In fact, the only person he had seen all day was his cousin Dudley, who happily spent the day reminding Harry that no one cared that it was his seventeenth birthday.
Harry was itching to hex Dudley. Now that Harry was officially of age, he could do magic outside of school, a fact of which Dudley was unaware. Unfortunately, Harry was so depressed about his friends forgetting his birthday, that even hexing Dudley had lost its appeal.
Harry was shaken from his thoughts by the sound of several loud cracks outside the back door. He quickly pulled his wand from his pocket and opened the door. He lowered his wand and smiled as Shannon threw herself into his arms. "Happy Birthday, Harry," she gushed before kissing him full on the mouth.
The kiss was interrupted by an annoyingly piercing voice. "Ew, I so did not want to see that."
Harry looked past Shannon to the three other people standing outside his door. He was not so happy to see Draco, but had become used to his presence when Dawn was around. Harry was shocked though by the sight of Millicent Bulstrode. The Slytherin girl looked thoroughly annoyed about being there.
"She turned up with her mother and uncle before we left," explained Shannon. "Mrs. Malfoy and Mrs. Bulstrode insisted that she come with us." Harry nodded, though he did not completely understand why they had agreed to bring her or why she had agreed to come. "Oh and Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Neville, Andrew, and Luna are on there way. Ron agreed to accompany our underage friends on the Night Bus."
"So, where can we put all this stuff?" asked Draco, who was still standing outside the door balancing several packages.
Harry stepped back and allowed Draco, Dawn, and Millicent to enter the kitchen. "What is all that?" he asked.
"Food, drinks, cake, some CD's, and of course presents for you," replied Dawn.
"Where's your loser cousin?" asked Shannon.
"Out with his gang," snorted Harry.
Further conversation was interrupted by a knock on the front door. Harry bounded through the house to answer it. The rest of his friends were standing on the front step. "Come on in," said Harry. "Shannon, Dawn, Malfoy, and Millicent Bulstrode are already here."
"Millicent Bulstrode?" questioned Hermione. She looked as if she had just eaten something completely disgusting. Harry figured that she was remembering when she and Millicent were paired in the dueling club during their second year.
"Don't ask," replied Harry.
Everyone made themselves comfortable in the living room, while Shannon laid out the food in the kitchen and Dawn put several CD's into the stereo. The music blared loudly.
"What if the neighbors hear?" asked Harry.
"No problem, mate," said Ron, getting to his feet and pulling his wand. "Quarters silencio. That will prevent anyone outside the room from hearing the music.
"Handy spell," said Harry.
"It works really well on the hangings around the beds at Hogwarts," commented Hermione. Everyone looked at her. "Or so I've heard from Lavender and Parvati."
Dawn walked over to Draco and extended her hand to him. "Dance with me?" she requested. He happily stood and took her in his arms. Ron and Hermione and Ginny and Neville soon joined in the dancing. Andrew and Luna opted for snogging on the sofa, and Harry wandered into the kitchen to help Shannon with the food. Millicent sat in a chair at the side of the room, arms crossed and staring at the couples with an air of disgust.
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The Scoobies were still glaring at Ethan Rayne. "Do you have any fire whisky, Cissa?" Ethan asked.
"You don't need to drink. You need to talk," said Elena, as she slapped her brother in the head yet again.
"Why are you here, Ethan?" asked Giles.
"I was approached by a couple of Death Eaters. Seems old Voldemort wants me to do a job for him."
"And why are you telling us?" Xander asked the question that was on all of their minds.
"Self preservation," stated Ethan simply. "I know full well that you lot will mess up whatever I do, and Voldemort isn't the forgiving type. I figured that I was better off letting you know what was coming and then going into hiding. Not really in the mood to be Avada Kedavraed."
"So your cowardice won out," stated Buffy.
"Yup," replied Ethan. "Are you sure you don't have any fire whisky?" he asked Narcissa again. She shook her head.
"Ah well, I better get on with it anyway. The sooner I can get a move on, the safer I'll be. So, as I was saying I was approached by a couple of Death Eaters. Seems they heard about my work with cursed objects. They were looking for something similar to the candy – something that will put the teachers and older students at Hogwarts out of commission. Specifically looking to get it done by the end of the school year."
"So, Voldemort is going to try to take the school," stated Robin.
"It makes sense. It was the one place he couldn't gain control of during his last rise," commented Giles.
"Not to mention that it's his best chance at getting to Harry," added Anya. "He's too well protected outside of school."
"Do you know exactly what they're planning to do?" Elena asked her brother.
Ethan shook his head. "They were going to leave it up to my discretion."
Elena spoke. "But since you aren't going to do it. . ."
Ethan shook his head again. "Doesn't matter, little sis. They'll just find someone else who will."
"But if you did do it, we would know what was coming," Narcissa thought aloud.
"Nope, sorry, self-preservation and all that," replied Ethan. Before anyone else could respond, Ethan pulled out his wand and Disapparated with a loud crack. The Scoobies and Elena sat in a stunned silence.
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Harry's surprise birthday party was turning out to be a complete success. The teens ate and danced. Draco even broke out a large bottle of fire whiskey that he had purchased at the Three Broomsticks. Harry, Shannon, Ron, Draco, and Millicent happily sat doing shots. The others abstained, knowing the kind of trouble they would be in if they came home drunk.
Dudley burst through the door to find the living room filled with people and music blaring. "What the bloody hell?" he yelled.
Harry stumbled drunkenly over to where his cousin stood. "Remember those friends you said I didn't have? They decided to throw me a party," he slurred.
"Get these freaks out of my house," bellowed Dudley. "Or I'm going to tell mum and dad."
"Ooh, you're gonna tell?" slurred Shannon.
"I don't think so," said Ron, pulling out his wand.
"You can't do magic outside of school," sneered Dudley.
Dawn, being one of the few sober people in the room, decided to set Dudley straight. "That isn't entirely true. Underage wizards can't do magic outside of school, but you see most of us are of age, including Harry as of today."
Dudley goggled at Dawn for a moment before regaining his composure. "Of course you all have to hide behind those things." He indicated Ron's wand. "None of you could take care of yourselves in a real fight."
"Hello," said Shannon. "Do you want another broken hand?"
"You're drunk," stated Dudley. "I could take you."
"You'd have to get through all of us," stated Draco snidely. "Those aren't very good odds."
"Not all of us," stated Millicent from her chair in the corner. "Personally, I wouldn't mind seeing him kicking your arses." She drunkenly smiled at Dudley.
"Look, you have two choices," stated Hermione matter-of-factly. "You can stay, have some food and try to enjoy yourself, or you can leave."
Dudley must have realized that he was beaten. "Fine, I'll stay." He walked over to Millicent, who seemed to be the only one of the group to share his hatred of his cousin. "What're you drinking?" Dudley asked. Millicent passed him the bottle of fire whiskey.
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"So what do we do now?" asked Faith.
"Someone has to get word to Dumbledore," replied Giles.
"I'll go," said Buffy. "I can floo to Hogwarts and have a talk with Dumbledore. Tell him everything we got from Ethan."
"Are you sure?" asked Giles.
"Yeah. Narcissa cooked a nice dinner. You guys stay and eat." Buffy stood and walked over the fireplace. She took a handful of powder from the canister on the mantelpiece. "I'll try to make it back for dessert," added Buffy, before throwing the powder into the flames and shouting, "Hogwarts."
"I should be going too," said Elena.
"About what was said here tonight," began Giles.
Elena waved his concerns away. "I only want Millicent to be safe at school. And though Ethan can be, well Ethan, he's still my brother. I don't want him killed by the Death Eaters, even if my husband is one of them. Besides, if anyone is going to kill Ethan, it'll be me."
Giles and Narcissa both gave Elena a hug before she departed. "It was good to see you again, Rupert," said Elena. "Cissa, we'll have lunch some day soon." Elena waved to the group then Disapparated.
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Harry was having so much fun with his friends that he had completely forgotten about Dudley. As Harry and Shannon were dancing, he first noticed that his cousin was missing. "Hey, where's Dudley?" he asked everyone.
"Who cares," replied Ron, who was annoyed at having his snogging session with Hermione interrupted.
"Hey, where's Millicent?" asked Ginny. "She was talking to Dudley earlier."
"I hope she didn't do anything to him," commented Dawn.
"Again, who cares," said Ron.
Luna started giggling. "What's wrong with you?" asked Ginny. "You didn't drink anything."
"I was just thinking," said Luna between giggles, "that maybe they snuck off somewhere together."
"That is one of the most ridiculous things you have ever said," said Hermione. "Millicent is a Slytherin. They are all about being pureblood. She wouldn't sneak off with a muggle."
Dawn walked over to the stereo to turn down the volume. Everyone shouting above the music was beginning to give her a headache. The room plunged into silence, and then they all heard it. "Oh, God, Milli, Oh, Yes."
"Aah," yelled Ginny. "Turn the music back on." Dawn did so.
"Well, that was disgusting," commented Ron. He looked at Hermione. "Talk about killing the mood." Hermione giggled.
"I think I'm scarred for life," said Harry, a shiver wracking his body.
"Oh, come on, this is great," said Draco. Everyone gave him strange looks. "Millicent Bulstrode, a Slytherin, is doing a muggle. This is prime blackmail material." Dawn swatted Draco's arm, but giggled as she did so.
Everyone went back to what they were doing before discovering the awful truth about Dudley and Millicent – everyone except Harry, who was beginning to look a little ill. Shannon put her arms around him. "Forget Dudley," she whispered into his ear. "Think about us." Shannon began nibbling on Harry's neck. Harry quickly forgot about his cousin.
"Harry should open his presents," yelled Andrew. Everyone agreed. They sat around the living room, taking turns to pass each of their gifts to Harry.
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Across the Atlantic in a private hospital room tucked away in the Wolfram and Hart, Los Angeles branch, a young dark-haired woman woke from a coma screaming.