Hello everyone!  Thank you all for your reviews!  They are greatly appreciated!

Sam-453:  I had the idea first so bugger off.  :(

Chrisiana:  Hi!  I'm not laughing at your name…thank you so much for your review!  It was so nice!  And ramble-y.  But I like long reviews!  So feel free to drop by with a long review soon!

Kick a** warrior woman:  I think I'm doing everything you mentioned…hehe…chaos!

Holy trinity:  I wish.

DiscordantDragon:  I'm so sorry!  I forgot to answer it, but yes Buffy still has the ring.  It won't be mentioned till later.

Chapter 15.  Healing wounds.

It was late at night following Faith's arrival, and the two girls were upstairs in Buffy's room.  The guests had gone home, and most of the occupants of the house were asleep.  The two girls had been having a talk when Faith felt the need to eat something.  Again.  So the two women walked down the stairs quietly and carefully, the house feeling creepier at night.  Buffy and Faith were wearing their nightclothes, which consisted of shorts and a t-shirt, for both slayers.

Faith and Buffy crept into the kitchen and were greeted by four men, Bill, Charlie, Sirius and Lupin.  The four men looked agape at the lack of clothes the slayers were wearing and Faith and Buffy grinned at each other.  Until Faith actually saw the four men.  And the attractiveness of them.  Faith raised an eyebrow at the men, and Buffy rolled her eyes.  Here we go, Buffy thought.

"B, what d'ya think?  Good looking guys or what?" 

"Oh yeah."  Buffy agreed, and the four men looked slightly scared at the look of Faith.  Faith looked like a hunter, and to her, the men looked like prey.

"B, you interested?"

"Yeah, but you pick first."

"Maple syrup or dark chocolate?"

"Not the other two?"

"Nah, not my type.  Yours?"

"Hell no, one of them is like a brother."

The men surrounding the table looked confused.

"Have a preference?"

"No."  Buffy lied.

"You sure?"

"Positive Faith."

"Alright, I chose Maple Syrup."  Faith said, smiling seductively at Charlie, who blushed in return.

"Good, I wanted dark chocolate."  Buffy whispered so that only Faith could hear, glancing at Sirius, but he did not notice.

"You got yours, I got mine."  Faith said, grinning.

"Want.  Take.  Have."  Buffy remembered fondly.  Buffy grinned as she watched Faith walk up to Charlie, her hand on her hips.  She bent down, and kissed an astonished Charlie roughly on the lips.

"Don't stay up too late, B."  Faith said, giving a seductive wink to Charlie, before leaving the room.

Buffy smirked at the shocked faces, and sat on a chair next to Lupin.  There was silence for a while, and then Charlie uncomfortably cleared his throat.

"That's a…a…nice friend you got there, Buffy."  He said, and Buffy giggled.

"Yeah, that's Faith.  I pity you." 

Charlie raised an eyebrow.  "Why?"

"Well, two years ago, she was dating this guy.  And when I say dating, I mean having sex all the time.  They were together for about ten days, and then the poor guy just left the country.  Haven't seen him since."

Charlie looked shocked, and Bill grinned.  "Nice girl you got, Charlie."

***

Buffy woke up early the next morning.  She wanted to see Harry and his friends off to Hogwarts.  She was not going to be going herself, she was going to stay in the Order's headquarters', helping out the Order and, of course, keeping Sirius company. 

Buffy did not know how she felt about Sirius.  Of course, she had had a large crush on him when she was eleven, but that was ages ago!  But, when he had looked at her, Buffy had felt all those feelings rush back, she had felt more attracted to him then she had before.  But it was not right for her to be attracted to him, not now, not ever.  Buffy had come to England to fight Voldemort and find her family.  She had no time for relationships.  Besides, Buffy and relationships do not mix, her relationship with Angel was a disaster, and Buffy had loved him with all her heart.  So Buffy decided that she was not going to do anything about her feelings, even though she had admitted them to Faith in front of him.

Buffy sat up on her bed quietly, casting a glance at the snoring Faith on a mattress next to the bed.  Buffy dressed quickly in a beige skirt and a white shirt and hurried down the stairs, to the kitchen.  She was the first one in the kitchen, and she took an apple from the fruit bowl and helped herself to a glass of water from the tap.  She sat on a chair next to the table, eating her apple when a disheveled and tired looking Harry came in, his black hair standing on end and his glasses askew.  He was dressed in muggle jeans and a large t-shirt and he smiled half heartedly at Buffy when he entered.

"Nice hair."  Buffy grinned and Harry lazily ran a hair through the mess.

"It's always like this.  I can never get it to be neat."

"I think you look nice like that.  You look like James a lot when you're hair is like that."  Buffy said, and Harry sat lazily on a chair next to her.  "Tired?"  Buffy asked sarcastically when Harry leant his head on the table.

"It's bloody eight in the morning.  I'm knackered."  He muttered sleepily, and Buffy grinned.

"Looking forward to going back to Hogwarts?" 

"Yeah.  Don't want to leave Sirius though."

"Of course."

The pair sat in silence for a while, and Buffy finished her apple.

"Why aren't you coming to Hogwarts with us?"  Harry asked, turning his head to look at Buffy.

"I'm a bit old to be going to Hogwarts, Harry."  She smiled, and Harry grinned.

"You know what I mean.  Don't you want to develop your magic?  I'm sure Dumbledore could teach you."  Harry asked, and Buffy got a hopeful look on her face.

"Or Sirius could."  Harry made a face.

"You like him a lot, don't you?"  Buffy sighed, and looked Harry in the eye.

"It's complicated, Harry.  My relationships with guys aren't normally about the sunshine and roses.  More like the pain and apocalypse."  Buffy explained, and Harry nodded.

"Thanks."

Buffy raised an eyebrow.  "For what?"

"For bringing him back."  Harry said, and Buffy smiled.  Harry turned his head away from Buffy and she frowned.

"You don't like me do you?"  Buffy asked quietly, and Harry's body tensed slightly, but Buffy did not miss it.

"I do like you."  Harry said, but Buffy shook her head.

"Don't lie to me Harry."

Harry was silent and then he leant back in his chair, avoiding Buffy's gaze.  "It's complicated, Buffy."

"Why?"

Harry sighed, and ran a hand through his hair.  "Ever since Sirius came back, you've…"

"Been taking up too much of his time?"  Buffy finished, and Harry nodded.

"I guess I'm jealous."  He admitted, and Buffy shook her head.

"He loves you y'know.  Just because he has not been paying that much attention to you doesn't mean he does not love you."  Harry shrugged and Buffy sighed.  "That's not all, is it?"

Harry shrugged, and Buffy moved closer to him.  "I can't get to know you if you keep shutting me out Harry."

His eyes met hers, and he glared, his jaw set.  When he spoke, it sounded muffled because he was speaking through clenched teeth, but Buffy understood every word.  "I'm not the one doing the shutting out, Buffy."  Buffy was speechless as those green eyes so similar to hers stared at her in utter loathing.  Before Buffy could say anything in reply, Sirius entered the kitchen and started to smile at the pair, but frowned when he saw the position the two were in. 

"Harry?  Buffy?"  Sirius asked carefully, and Harry turned away.  Buffy sighed, and cast an apologetic look to Sirius, before standing up and making to leave the room.  As she passed Harry, he grabbed her hand and Buffy turned her head to look at him.

"You can't shut me out forever Buffy."  He whispered.

Buffy stared back at Harry, and she smiled a crooked smile.  "You don't know me Harry.  You don't know what I've been through.  I've been through more than you can't even fathom, and I'm not even twice your age.  If I open up, you won't like what you see.  Trust me."  And Buffy left the room, leaving an angry Harry and a confused Sirius behind.

***

Harry and Buffy remained angry at each other until they arrived at King's Cross Station.  Molly had come to see Harry, Ginny, Ron and Hermione off, and Buffy, Lupin and Snuffles accompanied Molly, for 'protection'.  It was a great shock when Lupin revealed he would be teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts this year, and everyone was tremendously excited, for last year they had had a useless teacher, Professor Umbridge.   Thankfully, now that the Ministry of Magic believed that Voldemort was back, they were not interfering with Hogwarts anymore, and had let Dumbledore hire whoever he wanted.  Hagrid was supposed to back also, but Hermione, Ron and Harry would not be taking that class.  Harry was to be taking Defence Against the Dark Arts, Charms, Transfiguration, Potions and History of Magic.  Ron was to be taking the same subjects as Harry and Hermione was doing all those subjects apart from History of Magic and in its place, Arithmancy.

Buffy went to the platform with everyone to see Harry and everyone off.  She hugged Ginny and Hermione tightly, who she had grown to like very much and vice versa.  Ron blushed as he said good-bye to her, and Harry muttered a quiet good-bye to Buffy.  Buffy rolled her eyes, and took Harry at the elbow and dragged him away from the group, dodging students and parents as she pulled him along.  Stopping near a wall, she turned to Harry.

"I don't want us to part on bad terms, ok Harry?" 

Harry's expression, which had been stone cold, softened, and he nodded in agreement.

"Me neither."

Buffy breathed a sigh of relief and she smiled.  "Look, I'm coming to Hogwarts in a week, why don't we talk properly then?"  Harry nodded, and he made to go, but Buffy stopped him.  Buffy looked with a curious gaze at something around Harry's neck and she fingered it carefully, a smile growing on her face.

"What are you doing?"  Harry asked in surprise as Buffy pushed aside the collar of Harry's shirt.  Buffy followed the gold chain and held the pendant in her hand. 

"I can't believe you still have this."  Buffy breathed softly, and Harry looked perplexed into her eyes.

"Aunt Petunia gave it to me for my birthday this year; she said my mum gave me this."  Harry explained, and Buffy shook her head negatively.

"No she didn't.  I gave this to you at your first Christmas.  I transfigured it in class.  I was so proud of it.  It was advanced Transfiguration for my age and McGonagall was so impressed.  I decided to give it you, 'cos I loved you so much."  Buffy remembered fondly, and Harry smiled.

"Thank you."  He said genuinely, and Buffy found that she had tears in her eyes.  She swept Harry in a hug, her head leaning on his shoulder.

"I thought about you so much, don't forget that.  I was so worried that my nephew would grow up without a proper aunt; I was so worried that you wouldn't remember me.  When you were born, you were the most special thing in the world.  I loved you so much, never forget that, ok?"  Buffy said, looking up at Harry.  Harry nodded, and smiled genuinely. 

"Harry!  Let's go!"  Ron shouted from the train, and Buffy let go of him.

"See you in a week?"  Harry asked, and Buffy nodded.  Harry ran up to the train and jumped onto the step as it started to move, grinning at Molly's yelp of surprise.  Harry gave one last smile to Buffy and he disappeared into the carriage of the train.

Ahh…cuteness.  So Harry and Buffy are on speaking terms…let's see how long that lasts eh?

Please review, comments greatly appreciated!