Thank you for everyone with their comments and helpful little things…I'm glad to know you all like it!

Hinomi:  Action will be coming…just not yet, wait for a while, ok?

Miz:  No spike/buffy…it's just that there will be an amusing (depends how you look at it) situation involving Spike…that's all I'm saying!

For all of those who are confused about Malfoy…good…that's exactly how I want you!

This chapter is dedicated to Elsawriter, who has done a fantastic job with her story 'Redemption'.  Congratulations…and good luck with the sequel…I'll be reading!

Chapter 18.  Back at Hogwarts: receiving letters.

Dear Buffy.  And Faith.

How are things in London?  I hope you're having fun!  I received your last letter, I'm so happy you made up with Harry!  Good for you Buffy!  And don't worry about Sirius; I'm sure you'll figure out your feelings soon.  When I gave Tara the letter to read, she said that she's still fixed on getting you and Angel together, but I'm sure she'll grow out of it.

We miss you.  Things are really different here.  And different in a not good different way.  There are more demons now, more vampires and more people being sired.  It's not of the good Buffy.  Angel, Spike and Gunn went and checked it out, and lots of demons were all sent here.  By a 'rising power', I'm guessing Voldemort, right?  Well, it seems to me, Voldemort's rounding up an army.  I remember Dumbledore saying that he had a lot of dark creatures on his side last time Voldemort was in power.  I'm presuming hellish dark creatures.   Things aren't looking so good Buffy.  We're trying to do research, but there is not much.  I'm thinking that you'll have a better chance researching from England, because that's where Voldemort's reign was strongest.  Spike says that many of vampires were into Voldemort's ideas, you know, the killing aspect of it, and he says that the vampires who are not too proud to be lead by someone will join Voldemort.  They are making there way into England in packs, or so Angel says, so be careful.  Buffy, I'm worried.  This isn't like anything we've seen.  Things are going to get bad, and it's going to get bad real fast.

Anyway, on a lighter note, Giles is leaving for England in three weeks.  He says that you have to visit him; otherwise he'll get all lonely.  He's threatening actually.  We all miss you, (and Faith obviously).  Spike is taking it a bit badly, he wants to come to England and see you, but I've told him to wait a while.  Anya is getting bigger everyday, and Xander is getting more annoyed everyday.  He'll be glad when the baby is out, I'll tell you that. The baby is due in November, so a while to go now, but we're all helping her.  Angel's been broody a lot more.  He misses you.  And as for Tara and I, well, we've hit a rough patch.  Tara thinks I'm using too much magic, so she gets all huffy and puffy whenever I do a spell.  Things will be sorted out soon, I promise.  Tara's a keeper.

I'll see you soon, hopefully.  Be good, and don't get hurt.

Love you.

Willow.

Buffy sighed as she finished Willow's letter.  The letter carried bad news, and Buffy was not in a mood to receive it.  It dismayed her to think that Willow and Tara were hitting a rough patch, because they seemed so right for each other.  And it was also terrible that demons and vampires were getting together.  The last time they did that…Buffy did not know the last time they did that.  Voldemort had demons and vampires joining forces, and that worried Buffy.  Buffy had shown the letter to Dumbledore, and he was equally worried about it.  He had asked Snape, who a spy for the good side, to keep an ear out for any information on this subject.

"Things will be ok, B."  Faith had said, but Buffy was not sure.  Buffy had a very bad feeling in the pit of her stomach that seemed to never go away.  She could ignore it, yes, but it would still be there, every time she would lay her head to go to sleep, when she sat down, when she was walking, even when she was patrolling.  Something was going down, and it was bad.

There was not much for her to do on the Order side of things.  There had been some murders, but by the time the Ministry and the Order had arrived there, there were no Death Eaters in sight.  Dumbledore had instructed Buffy and Faith to keep on the demon side of things, but despite what Willow had said, things were quiet.  Buffy was glad she was going to Hogwarts.  She had not seen it for many years, and she loved the castle.  She had talked Dumbledore into letting Sirius come with her.  Dumbledore had learnt his lesson; Sirius could not be cooped up for too long.  Harry would have a shock when he would see Sirius though, for Harry had no idea Sirius was coming to Hogwarts with Buffy.  Faith was going with Buffy also, and Charlie was going to be stopping by regularly.  It seemed that Charlie was taken with Faith, but Faith, being Faith, was not quite sure where it was going.  When Buffy had asked about it, Faith had just shrugged and said 'we'll see'.  Buffy had a sneaking suspicion though, that Faith liked Charlie more than she would admit, and Buffy was glad. It was about time Faith settled down with a guy.

Buffy, Faith and Sirius were leaving for Hogwarts tomorrow, and once again, Molly had prepared a special dinner for them.  Lupin had come over from Hogwarts, including the twins, Moody, Tonks, Diggle and Fletcher.  Bill had gone back to work in Egypt and Charlie was going back to work tomorrow in Romania.  Buffy was extremely tired, her elbow was on the table and she was leaning her head on it, her eyes closed shut every couple of minutes and she was finding it hard to eat.  Faith it seemed, had the same problem.

"Are you alright?"  Tonks had asked, and Buffy yawned.

"Tired."

"Me too."  Faith said, her head leaning on Charlie's shoulder.  "Slayer dreams come back in full, B?"

Buffy nodded. "You too?"

"Yep."

"What do you see?"

"You dying."

Buffy was wide awake now. "You see me dying?"  Buffy asked and Faith nodded for confirmation.  "How…"

"How do you die?"  Faith finished, and Buffy nodded.  "It's in some big room, and there are kids all around us.  We're all there, Scoobies, Angel I think as well.  And these guys are trying to get Harry.  And you protect him, and die in the process."  Buffy was silent.  "It's not a prophecy B.  I don't think so anyway."  Faith added for reassurance, but Buffy was not convinced.  It could have been just a dream, nothing more, but to slayers, dreams could mean everything.  "What do you see B?"  Asked Faith, snapping Buffy out of her thoughts.

"The past, the future.  My sister and mom."

"Real mom or Joyce?"

"Joyce.  My sister and mom warns me about things, but when I wake up, I can't remember them."  Faith nodded understandingly.

"I get the Mayor sometimes.  He says things, tells me things, says I have to keep my head down, and tells me I have to be careful.  Tells me something big is going down, and he doesn't want me to get hurt."  Buffy felt guilty.  She knew that the Mayor Wilkins was the closest thing Faith ever got for a proper father, besides Giles, and while Buffy knew it was right to kill him because he was evil, she still felt guilty for taking him away from Faith.

"Faith, I'm sorry."

Faith shrugged and closed her eyes.  "Don't worry B.  It's not your fault you killed him." The occupants of the table snapped their eyes to Buffy.

"Still, I-"

"Drop it B."  Faith said loudly and angrily, and Buffy stopped.

***

"What was that earlier, with you and Buffy?" 

Faith closed her eyes and she sighed.  "It's complicated Charlie."

Charlie shrugged and took her hand.  "You can tell me."

"B and I have history.  Bad history." Faith explained and Charlie nodded, quietly asking for her to go on.  It was almost the middle of the night, and everyone was asleep, save Faith and Charlie who were in the kitchen, alone.

"You can tell me, Faith."  Charlie repeated, when Faith did not say anything.  Faith winced.

"Look, I can't alright.  You won't like what you hear, I promise you."  Faith said angrily, and Charlie let go of her hand.  Faith sighed again and looked at Charlie.  "My past is dark, and you won't like it Charlie."  Charlie only shrugged in response.  "I can't tell you.  Not yet."

Charlie raised an eyebrow.  "Not yet?  You mean…"  Faith nodded and grinned.  She pulled Charlie closer to her and kissed him.

***

It was mid-afternoon when it was time to go.  Buffy had packed almost everything, including weapons.  Faith had not brought much with her in the first place, so she was taking everything she had.  They did not know when they would be back at the Order to stay, but Buffy and Sirius would be coming back for meetings. 

Sirius was to posing as their dog at Hogwarts, as Sirius was still charged with murder and an escapee from Azkaban he still could not go out in public human.  Faith, Sirius and Buffy were going to be staying near the Gryffindor common room, so they could be close to Harry.  Dumbledore had said that there was a lot of space in the school, and if Buffy wanted some of her friends to visit, they would be more than welcome.  But for now, Faith was enough.

Since the three were the only ones in the house, there was no one to say good bye to.  Molly and Arthur had gone back to the Burrow, and all the other Order members were at work.

"Are you two ready?"  Sirius asked, and Buffy and Faith nodded.

"Don't you love these things, B?" 

Buffy grimaced. "Call me old fashioned, but I prefer it when we don't disappear into thin air."

"Only ten more seconds to go."  Sirius said, and he placed a finger on a mangy old boot.

"Where are we arriving?"  Buffy asked Buffy and Faith mirroring his actions.

"Dumbledore's office."  He replied.  "Two…one…"

***

"Do you know the answer, Mr Potter?"  Harry shook his head, and Snape looked as if he had been expecting that answer all along.

"Of course not."  Snape walked to the front of the room, his black cloak billowing behind him.  "For homework, I would like everyone to write up what we have done in class.  I expect no less than three feet of parchment.  That will be all."  Harry quickly packed away his books and glared at a smirking Draco from across the room.

"Remind me why I am taking Potions?"  Harry asked to his friends.

"Because you want to become an Auror."  Hermione answered and Harry nodded.

"You're going to have to remind me every lesson, Hermione." 

"Harry, it wasn't that bad."  Hermione scolded, and Harry made an objective sound.

"For you, who have all the books memorized off by heart, it's not that bad."

"Well if you just study, you'll be fine."  Hermione chastised, as they made there way back to Gryffindor common room.  It was the end of the day and they needed a rest.

"I can't study all the time; I've got too many things to think about.  I'm the Gryffindor Quidditch captain; I've got to think about that, everyone is coming up to me and asking if we're going to start Dumbledore's Army again, and Voldemort's back, so I've got a lot of things on my plate!" 

Hermione and Ron looked annoyed as they entered the common room.  "We know all this Harry, don't shout at us."  Ron said, and Harry smiled apologetically.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to."

"It's alright, come on, let's put our books away and go to dinner.  Buffy and Faith should be here."  Hermione advised and Ron and Harry went up to their room while Hermione went to hers.

By the time they actually arrived downstairs for dinner, it was later than they had expected.  The trio had run into Filch, who had given them a warning about whips, Peeves, who had tried to attack them with brooms and socks, and Colin Creevey, who had spent ten minutes talking to Harry about his holiday. 

The trio hurried into the Great Hall and looked for Buffy and Faith on the teacher's table.  Seeing them next to Lupin, Harry had waved and Buffy and Faith had gotten down from their places and walked quickly to Harry and his friends, with:

"Snuffles!"  Harry said happily, and the great big black dog ran to Harry and was embraced tightly.  "What's he doing here?"  He asked Buffy when they had finally caught up.

"I persuaded Dumble-d to let him come."  Buffy said, grinning at Harry's reaction.

"Is it safe?"  Hermione whispered to Buffy, ever the worrier.

"As long as he stays as a dog, he'll be fine."  Buffy said, ruffling the hair on Snuffles head.  Snuffles barked, and the students around them looked over worryingly at the large dog.  Buffy hugged Harry quickly and grinned at his school uniform.  "You look so smart."  She said, ruffling his hair, and Harry scowled.  He patted his hair, trying to make it flat.

"You're fighting a losing battle kid."  Faith joked, and Harry stopped.

"I'm not a kid.  Aunt Faith."  Harry added, laughing at Faith's annoyed expression.

"Hey!  What's the deal?"

"Buffy said to call you that, said it would piss you off."  Harry explained, the trio laughing at the glare Faith gave Buffy.  Buffy grinned slyly.

"Why don't you call her Aunt Buffy?  She is your aunt after all."  Faith suggested, and Buffy's face dropped.

"Harry, don't you dare."

"Sorry, Aunt Buffy."  Harry laughed, as Buffy poked Faith in the ribs. 

"I feel so old when you say that!"  Buffy said, shuddering.

"What you would give to be twenty five."  Faith teased, and Buffy scowled.

"Shut up you."  Taking Faith by the hand, Buffy waved to Harry.  "See you later kid."  She said, leading Faith back to the table.

"Bye Aunt Buffy."  The three chorused, and Buffy shrieked.

"Don't call me that!"  She yelled before taking her place at the table, Snuffles following her.  The three sat down at the table next to their fellow 6th years, who had been watching the five greet each other. 

"Who was that?"  Dean asked, eyeing the three closely.

"Buffy, Faith, and their dog."  Harry answered them.

"Why were you calling her your aunt?"  Lavender asked, leaning past Seamus to hear Harry's answer. But Harry did not answer because Dumbledore stood up to make an announcement.

"We have two visitors today, and they shall be staying for quite a while.  Miss Buffy Summers and Miss Faith…"

"Just Faith Big D."  Faith said, and the Great Hall erupted in laughter at Faith's name for their Headmaster.

"Miss Buffy Summers and Miss Faith have come here from the US, and are personal friends of mine.  Miss Summers lived on the active Hellmouth for many years and is a slayer," Gasps erupted in the Hall, and Buffy blushed, "and I am sure Miss Summers would be glad to answer any questions you have.  Miss Faith is also in the same position as Miss Summers and will also answer you're questions.  They are to be treated as teachers, and I am sure you will show them the utmost respect."

Next chapter…Snape and Buffy stuck in a classroom together…

Please review!