In the Phoenix's Eyes
Author's Note: Thanks for all the reviews! -grin- Amber of Hearts: You! Wow. You've reviewed a couple of my fics! Thanks! Sacred-Soul: Yeah, I'm planning on making this fic really really good. So stay tuned :-D Teri: I'm scared that if I give you pairing, you won't read anymore. Lol. Actually, I think I'll stick to Xander/Anya for right now, could change though. Also, you have to remember that the Scooby Gang is 20/21 in Season Six or I'm saying that Xan is 20 and all the Harry Potter folk are 15-ish. Except...Tonks! Hm...I'm intrigued. -grin- Bob: The reason why cousin works for me is because...it made no sense for the mto be brothers because why would Lily and James give him up fro adoption, ya know? Actually, stay tuned 'cos I have quite a bit of twists. Brutal2003: Thanks!
Also: I want to keep this in Xander point of view, since I wrote this fic to be Xander-centric. Though you'll see other perspectives because it makes sense with the flow of the story. So obviously we'll get the Xander side, but we'll also see the Tara side of things because she's pretty big in the story. Also, a couple of other characters (whom I love and have a whole group of ficlets for so that I can make them do whatever I want. -grin- Can you guess who?) I'll very rarely focus on Sunnydale because...well, Xander isn't in Sunnydale. It really *does* make sense!
Feel free to smack me if you feel that the characters are going a bit out of character. I'm trying to make this as Canon as possible, so being reminded every now and then not to go into a whole other world is greatly appreciated!
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"Where are we?" Anya demanded from under a bright orange umbrella, which greatly contrasted with their surroundings.
Anya, Xander and Giles stood in front of an extravagant mansion in Chelsea, England. The drive from Heathrow was not half an hour and to the surprise of no one, it was pouring.
The day looked quite dreary and dark and dank. It was one of those days where everyone was tired and didn't really feel like doing anything except for sleeping. Xander definetly agreed with the sleep thing. While Anya slept for the whole flight from Sunnydale to London, Xander either stared ahead or talked to Giles. Somewhere above the Atlantic though, Giles had also drifted off to sleep and Xander spent the rest of the trip watching movies.
"I thought this was supposed to be a condo..." Xander said suddenly looking over at Giles from under his own umbrella, this one a navy blue and much more similar to their backdrop than Anya's.
Giles took out a key and unlocked the door, then pushed it open, closing his unmbrella as he entered. Xander and Anya followed into the Entrance Hall. Anya squinted in the darkness and tilted her head in question at Giles, who ignored her. A second later, the lights went on throughout the hall and Xander slightly giggled.
Giles turned at the sound of Xander's strange little giggle. "Xander, are you okay?"
"I see we haven't even entered the 20th century in this place. I mean, candles are so-"
"I've been here before." Anya interrupted.
"Have you?" Giles asked casually as he mumbled something and, lead his guests up the stairs followed by their floating luggage, which had gone unnoticed.
Xander gave his fiancée a sideways glance. "When?"
"It was at the turn of the 19th century. The owners had a huge New Years Ball. It was one of the best parties I had ever gone to. I went with this one demon, his name was Alfred, he got drunk within the first five minutes. So I spent most of the night dancing with this one guy named Albus Dumbledore. That guy was a great dancer."
"Who?" Giles stopped abruptly and turned to Anya.
"Albus Dumbledore. He's probably dead by now. I mean, he was sixty at the time, but still. You just can't meet guys that dance as well as him-"
Giles interrupted again. "You know Albus Dumbledore?"
"Of course I knew Dumbledore. He was one of the greatest aurors of his time." Anya replied dismissing the question casually. "Anyone with the slightest bit of knowledge on magick knew who Dumbledore was."
Giles noticed Xander's look of complete and utter confusion, and started walking again. After going down a couple of hallways, he stopped at a door, opened it and motioned for the other two to walk in.
"These are your rooms." Giles motioned with his hand as the candles all lit up unnaturally bright.
The room that they had entered was somewhat another Entrance Hall with three doors leading from it. The Hall looked comfortable with a roaring fire that had started up by itself when they entered. There were soft plump chintz armchairs placed randomly around the room and three couches that matched the gold and red décor.
"The doors to the right and left of us are bedrooms. Although, I have a suspicion that you will only be needing one." Giles promptly wiped his glasses and continued. "The door up ahead leads to a pool, and a sauna. However, in the rooms there are Jacuzzis and showers."
Xander watched Giles put his glasses back on wit ha bit of amusement. "Wow. I guess we *are* in the 20th century. No hot tubs?"
Giles headed out the door. "On the back porch. Please do everything in your power not to break anything in this house."
"Where's the kitchen?" Xander asked plopping down onto an armchair.
"Downstairs. Now I have to go. So enjoy England and if you need anything just give me a call." Giles walked out and without looking back he said, "By the way Anya, Dumbledore isn't dead."
***
Tara looked slammed her car door and looked up at the looming mansion in front of her. She began her way up the winding trail to the font doors. She remembered Malfoy Manor well. She had lived there for nine years, her brother was two at the time and her grandmother had gotten sick.
So she had left with her mother to California, where she had been living for the past 12 years or so. They had not returned to England, and their name had been changed to Maclay, after her mother's family. Last time she had seen Lucius Malfoy was the summer before she started at UC Sunnydale. She had met the lady that her father had married. Her name was Narcissa or something along those lines. She was a pretty nice lady, and totally contrasted with her dad's personality.
They married two years after her mom's death. She was 12 and had gone to live with her godmother in Los Angeles. Tara knew that Lucius had tried to find her, to bring her back to her family, but unknown to everyone at that time, her mom had put a charm around her so that anyone who went looking for her, would never accomplish their goal until she became of legal age. And even then, it was up to her whether she wanted to be found.
A year later, when she turned 17, Lucius had shown up casual as ever. She recognized him and he looked the same as he had six years ago. They had gone out o dinner at Venus' Edge, the largest magickal shopping center in the northern hemisphere. He told her about what had gone on in England during her absence. He said that Draco was going to start Hogwarts that September and that he was very excited.
In turn, she had told him about life in America and how she was handling things. He had asked her to come back with him at that time, but she couldn't go. Tara knew that he had not understood her refusal, but he didn't press the matter and for that she was grateful. She could tell that her father was slightly disappointed with her choice to instead go to college, but also let that matter go.
"Then I will of course pay for any expenses." He had said with a smile.
"You don't have to." Tara replied, not being able to look up.
"Nonsense. This is what parents do for their children."
They had finished their conversation and after an uncomfortable pause, they embraced and Lucius had disapparated.
Tara now looked up at her ancestral home and contemplated on how she would knock. Before she even touched the door however, it opened and a house elf peeked out at the visitor.
"Ah...hello." Tara started awkwardly. "I- I'm, uh, is my Dad here?"
"Master Malfoy is not here right now." The elf apologized.
Tara looked behind the creature and saw that Narcissa had appeared from a room which Tara remembered to be the living room. The lady's face lit up with a smile and she came forward with her robe flowing behind her.
"Tara!" Narcissa ushered her in, and the elf scampered away. "It's lovely to see you again! You look wonderful"
Tara was led through the living room, and through what must have been half of the house into a girly room that had a purple and blue color scheme and comfortable looking chairs lying around with scattered tables along with random items here and there.
Narcissa beckoned for the girl to sit while she got herself busy in another room which she came back out of a minute later holding tea and two cups on a tray.
"I'm sorry that Lucius isn't here. He was looking forward to seeing you but the Minister had called him. Something about an emergency situation that had to be handled. He said he'd try to be back around noon." The woman poured the tea into the cups and handed one to Tara who accepted it with a thank you. "But you must be tired!"
Tara smiled. "A little. Apparating across a country and across the ocean is a bit draining."
"Draining? You didn't use your wand?"
"No, I put it in one of my suitcases and I didn't feel like trying to find it." Tara took a sip of the steaming drink.
"Well then, we could talk later. Apparating wandless alone is quite a feat, but covering so much then I do not doubt you're tired. So I will show you to your room, which is the same one as before. I only redecorated it last week because I had a suspicion you had grown out of dolls. But you can sleep, and I will get some house elves to bring up your luggage. We could all talk at dinner."
With that said, they once again stood up and Tara was led up three floors and into a room that she knew well. Before it had been pink but it now it was a pale blue with silver lining the corners. The four poster bed also was remade so that it was a royal blue. Narcissa smiled and left the room while Tara walked to the center and studied her surroundings. The closet was still half the size of the room and looked a bit too empty except for a small corner that held only six dresses Tara remembered from all those years back.
She smiled and sat down on her bed. After taking off her shoes, she closed up the curtains and the space became dark. Tara laid down and closed her eyes, but sleep didn't come. Instead she wondered what was going on in Sunnydale and how long she would be here.
She sighed and looked up at the canvas in front of her.