All HP Characters belong to J K Rowling, All BTVS belong to Joss Whedon. Any you don't recognise belong to me.

Pairings : Buffy/Sirius, Xander/Willow ( I Always thought these two should get together, even though I love the characters Tara and Oz) Hope these pairings don't stop you from reading!

Chapter Two

When Buffy next opened her eyes, everything was dark. She was lying on the ground, which was different then it should be. Instead of the hard floor of the shop she felt…grass?

Struggling to understand what had happened to her, the slayer tried to stand, but a wave of dizziness swept over her and she sank back to her knees. Gradually she began to make out shapes in the darkness, thanks to the small shafts of moonlight through the canopy of leaves overhead. All around her where the sound of night noises…an owl in the distance, the sound of bats flying overhead. It couldn't be, but she was in a forest.

Trying not to panic she tried once more to stand, and this time succeeded. "Xander?" she whispered. "Willow!"

"It's ok Buffy, we're here," murmured Willow, who was sitting by her side.

Buffy shook her head. "It's so not ok. Where are we?"

Willow sighed. "We're not in Sunnydale," she gently broke the news to her friend and then waited for a reaction. She didn't have to wait long.

"What?" exclaimed Buffy. "How is that possible?"

"I think…correct me if I'm wrong….but I think the trouble started when we walked into a strange shop in a strange part of town and you started playing with things you didn't understand!" said Xander darkly.

"Xander," said Willow, laying a hand on his arm to calm him down. "You don't have to say I told you so".

He looked down at her hand on his arm and tried to fight the emotions that threatened to overwhelm him. It was wrong what had happened between them. It was so bad and could never happen again…ever. Like that's the thing to be thinking about now, he told himself. "But I'm gonna," he answered her. "I told you so". He shook her hand away and tried to ignore the hurt expression on her face.

"I just wanted to buy a damn necklace. Is there anything wrong with that?" snapped Buffy, brushing grass of her jeans.

"At this point I'm thinking yes," said Xander. Then he softened his tone …after all, they were supposed to be friends. "Lets just try to find out where we are and more importantly, how to get home".

"You are in the Forbidden Forest," said a new voice that made them all freeze.

"Who are you?" Buffy demanded. "Or what are you?" she added, taking in its appearance. She didn't sense that it was evil, but it was definitely far older and wiser then she could ever hope to be. Even more so then Angel.

"We do not willingly give our names to strangers," the creature answered. "State your business in the grounds of hogwarts".

The friends shared a look of confusion.

"How do we know we can trust you?" Xander asked.

The creature smiled a little at this. "A good answer," It told them. "It seems we will have to learn to trust each other. I will tell you only that I am a centaur and I will not harm you. Now it is your turn".

"Sure, why not. Not like we have a choice," said Buffy. "See.. There was a really big mistake…I picked up this necklace and then… I guess it was like a portal or something opened up, and now we're here. Wherever here is. So, can you help us?"

The centaur studied her for a moment. "You speak the truth. I shall take you to someone who can help you better then I can. It's not far from here…." he was cut off by a howl in the distance. Was that a wolf? Thought Buffy.

"Do I even want to know what that was?" muttered Xander.

"We must leave quickly," said the creature. "These woods are dangerous. Now, follow me".

………………………………...

When Buffy first saw the castle illuminated in the moonlight, her eyes widened in awe. "Wow," she whispered.

The centaur looked back into the shadows of the trees and hesitated. "I do not usually venture out of the forest," he told them. "But I have no choice. I have to explain who you are to Dumbledore. There are dark times approaching, and those inside do not trust easily".

The creature moved silently through the corridors, its hooves not even echoing. "Professor Dumbledore," it said, pushing open the office door.

Willow gasped when she saw the moving pictures on the walls and the golden phoenix asleep in the corner. "Sorry to disturb you. Strangers seek your guidance and wisdom".

"Its fine really…I was awake anyway…" the man paused, finally looking up. "Oh my…" his voice trailed off and he lowered the scrolls he had been holding.

When the slayer had finally taken in every weird detail of the room, her shock doubled at the sight of the man before her. Dark robes, a long beard. Add to that the room and the castle, he was a….

"Are you a ….wizard?" stammered Willow.

The man smiled warmly. "Thank you," he nodded to the centaur. "Yes my dears. And I sense no evil in you so I shall help you all that I can. My name is Albus Dumbledore, head master of hog warts school of wizardry. How can I help?"

"We're kind of lost…" Buffy started to explain her story, and as she did, she started to feel relaxed, even safe. She didn't know why, but being here made her feel like nothing bad would happen.

Dumbledore frowned when she finished her tale. "I don't think I've heard of this happening before," he murmured as if to himself.

Not what she'd been expecting. "Please, try to remember. We have to get home," she said, hating the desperate sound to her voice. "Can't you just go open sesame and make a portal? You're a wizard right?"

"What is the date today?" he asked suddenly.

Buffy blinked in surprise. "What's that got to do with it? Look, I know you're busy, but…" she waved at his paperwork. "But I was too. I have responsibilities. People I have to look after. You get that, don't you?"

"You're American also," he continued like he hadn't heard her. Was this guy crazy?

"Look," she finally snapped. "I was told you could help us…so help!"

"Buffy," warned Xander, with a polite smile on his face. "The year was 1999. Why?"

"Oh dear," sighed Dumbledore wearily.

"I hate it when people say that," muttered Buffy.

"I'm afraid that you have been sent back in time. I'm so sorry…..but I think that you are trapped here. "

Buffy stared at him in horror. "Excuse me?"

"The only known method of time travel is with a time turner. But it is only used in extreme emergencies and I've never heard of anyone being sent this far back before. It's mostly used to go back a month at the most. Do you have the necklace?"

"Buffy dropped it…" started Xander.

"Uh, actually," Buffy pulled it out of her jacket pocket. "I found it in the grass outside when we got here," she handed it to him. "Think you can figure it out?"

"I will certainly try. In the meantime I think I'd better enrol you as students in the seventh year. Your lucky…the school year hasn't begun yet, so you'll have at least a week to get used to our way of life".

"A week!" said Buffy. "I'm sorry but that's so long. We have family…"

"My dear girl," said Dumbledore seriously. "It may take even longer to sort this mess out and find out how and why it happened. No worrying though," he softened his tone. "When you're eventually sent back it will be like no time has past at all…hopefully, according to theory".

"Well, that makes it all better then!" she answered him sarcastically.

………………………………...

The next week seemed to fly past, and things began to get easier. It's going to be fine, buffy kept telling herself. It's fun, I can spend a week here and it'll be like nothing happened.

There was so much to explore and so much to remember. Especially when the end of the week came round and they found themselves in diagon Ally, choosing their wands.

The girls eventually found Xander outside a shop, staring at a nimbus broomstick. He looked up, and Buffy was glad to see the old Xander had returned, not the one who barely spoke that she'd been getting used to.

"So, I finally found out what Quidditch is," he told them.

TBC