A/N: Thanks to potter-man; BlackDragon: It won't be, I promise that. And,
he will keep in touch; TatraMegami; CR: I actually missed the last episode!
I had practice and I haven't gotten to see a good chunk of the last season
yet. I'll have to wait for the reruns; AtieJen: Some pairing ideas, but
you'll have to wait and see. And, as I told someone who asked before, it
won't be slash. I'm terrible at writing slash, it always comes out sounding
forced; Ran; ficfan; Lukaret; pheonixrising: Yup; LoonyLoopyLisa; Trixi
Hellfire; anon; and athenakitty!
CH7: Owls
Sunnydale, California, January 14, 1996
"Giles, are you here?" Buffy called out as she entered the Magic Shop.
"I'll be out in a bit," he hollered from the back room.
Buffy threw her bag down on the table and sighed. She was worried about her Watcher these days. Ever since his long trip in England - doing God Knows What, he still hadn't told anyone -, he had been spending an excessive amount of time reading. Not the normal 'I'm Giles, the Book Freak' reading, but really getting absorbed in research. And he wouldn't divulge why.
"How was work toda-," Giles began when he emerged from his makeshift office, but he was cut off. That very second, a large, amber owl soared through the open window. It landed on Buffy's bag and looked up expectantly.
"That's an owl," Buffy said.
"Thank you for clarifying that." Giles went over to the bird and pulled something of his leg. A small roll of parchment. Parchment?!? Who wrote on parchment in - I don't know - this century?
"What's it doing?" she asked quietly as Giles skimmed the note. His forehead crinkled in thought before turning to Buffy.
"Get everyone here," he said shortly. "There is something we need to discuss."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
An hour later found the Scoobie gang - Buffy, Giles, Dawn, Willow, Xander, Anya, and Spike - in varying degrees of shock.
"An owl?" Xander asked for what had to be the hundreth time this discussion.
"Yes, an owl. It's quite common in their world," responded Giles exasperated.
'Their world,' Buffy thought. 'They have a whole other world. How could we not have known that?'
Willow on the other hand, was taking this in stride. After all, she was a witch herself, even if it was a different kind. "This will be great! Think of how cool it will be, all the things they can tell us."
Xander was still not coping. "Could you repeat everything again? In smaller words?"
Giles sighed. "Magic is real. There are witches and wizards. They have a whole world. They use wands. They deliver mail by owls. Is that clear enough for you?"
"I get the whole, magic is real part. I mean, Will's a witch. What's the difference?"
"Willow is a Wiccan," Giles explained. "Wizards and Witches use wands - it's basically something that channels power."
"This is weird."
"Anyway," Anya said. "What I don't get is what the letter is all about. I'm going to assume the Council is the one writing to you."
"What, you knew about all this?" Xander asked.
"Of course. I've lived along time. There was this one Tasmanian Wizard who tried to put a balding hex on me. He didn't know what hit him."
"Alright," Buffy cut in. "What does she mean 'the Council'."
"The Watchers' Council, Buffy," Giles said. "It's a branch of the Ministry of Magic, although they do have quite a few Muggles - non magical people - working for them." He pulled the letter out of his pocket. "And it seems they are sending reinforcements."
"Huh?"
"The Council is sending three of their best vampire hunters here because, I assume, of the strange increase of mystical activity going on lately."
"What's a vampire hunter?" Dawn asked. "I mean, I thought that there was just one Slayer?"
"A vampire hunter is, most usually, a witch or wizard who dedicates their life to the fight against demons. There is no way that one person can do this job by themselves - they have to protect the whole world. Hunters help."
"So who are they sending," asked Spike.
"Flamma, Immolo, and Denicalias. I met them a few months ago, they seemed nice enough, considering."
"Considering? Considering wha - " Dawn started, but Spike cut her off.
"You're joking! I've heard about them, bloody scary the stories."
"You've got to put it in their perspective. You know what is happening in the Magical world right now," Giles replied.
"Again, what?" questioned Dawn.
"Well, the is a war going on." Everyone looked at him expectantly and Giles sighed. "I suppose it starts with a man named Lord Voldemort...."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Harry, Draco, and Flame (whose, they found out, real name was Alexandra) carried their bags through Sunnydale airport. Draco was still marveling over what Muggles could come up with and Alex was chuckling behind him. As she stepped out to the curb to hail a taxi, Harry looked around at their surroundings.
'So this is Sunnydale,' he thought. 'Our new home. I hope it turns out better than the last one.'
It was a new start for everyone. And it may be just what they needed.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------
Sorry for such a short chapter, but I thought it should end there. More soon.
CH7: Owls
Sunnydale, California, January 14, 1996
"Giles, are you here?" Buffy called out as she entered the Magic Shop.
"I'll be out in a bit," he hollered from the back room.
Buffy threw her bag down on the table and sighed. She was worried about her Watcher these days. Ever since his long trip in England - doing God Knows What, he still hadn't told anyone -, he had been spending an excessive amount of time reading. Not the normal 'I'm Giles, the Book Freak' reading, but really getting absorbed in research. And he wouldn't divulge why.
"How was work toda-," Giles began when he emerged from his makeshift office, but he was cut off. That very second, a large, amber owl soared through the open window. It landed on Buffy's bag and looked up expectantly.
"That's an owl," Buffy said.
"Thank you for clarifying that." Giles went over to the bird and pulled something of his leg. A small roll of parchment. Parchment?!? Who wrote on parchment in - I don't know - this century?
"What's it doing?" she asked quietly as Giles skimmed the note. His forehead crinkled in thought before turning to Buffy.
"Get everyone here," he said shortly. "There is something we need to discuss."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
An hour later found the Scoobie gang - Buffy, Giles, Dawn, Willow, Xander, Anya, and Spike - in varying degrees of shock.
"An owl?" Xander asked for what had to be the hundreth time this discussion.
"Yes, an owl. It's quite common in their world," responded Giles exasperated.
'Their world,' Buffy thought. 'They have a whole other world. How could we not have known that?'
Willow on the other hand, was taking this in stride. After all, she was a witch herself, even if it was a different kind. "This will be great! Think of how cool it will be, all the things they can tell us."
Xander was still not coping. "Could you repeat everything again? In smaller words?"
Giles sighed. "Magic is real. There are witches and wizards. They have a whole world. They use wands. They deliver mail by owls. Is that clear enough for you?"
"I get the whole, magic is real part. I mean, Will's a witch. What's the difference?"
"Willow is a Wiccan," Giles explained. "Wizards and Witches use wands - it's basically something that channels power."
"This is weird."
"Anyway," Anya said. "What I don't get is what the letter is all about. I'm going to assume the Council is the one writing to you."
"What, you knew about all this?" Xander asked.
"Of course. I've lived along time. There was this one Tasmanian Wizard who tried to put a balding hex on me. He didn't know what hit him."
"Alright," Buffy cut in. "What does she mean 'the Council'."
"The Watchers' Council, Buffy," Giles said. "It's a branch of the Ministry of Magic, although they do have quite a few Muggles - non magical people - working for them." He pulled the letter out of his pocket. "And it seems they are sending reinforcements."
"Huh?"
"The Council is sending three of their best vampire hunters here because, I assume, of the strange increase of mystical activity going on lately."
"What's a vampire hunter?" Dawn asked. "I mean, I thought that there was just one Slayer?"
"A vampire hunter is, most usually, a witch or wizard who dedicates their life to the fight against demons. There is no way that one person can do this job by themselves - they have to protect the whole world. Hunters help."
"So who are they sending," asked Spike.
"Flamma, Immolo, and Denicalias. I met them a few months ago, they seemed nice enough, considering."
"Considering? Considering wha - " Dawn started, but Spike cut her off.
"You're joking! I've heard about them, bloody scary the stories."
"You've got to put it in their perspective. You know what is happening in the Magical world right now," Giles replied.
"Again, what?" questioned Dawn.
"Well, the is a war going on." Everyone looked at him expectantly and Giles sighed. "I suppose it starts with a man named Lord Voldemort...."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Harry, Draco, and Flame (whose, they found out, real name was Alexandra) carried their bags through Sunnydale airport. Draco was still marveling over what Muggles could come up with and Alex was chuckling behind him. As she stepped out to the curb to hail a taxi, Harry looked around at their surroundings.
'So this is Sunnydale,' he thought. 'Our new home. I hope it turns out better than the last one.'
It was a new start for everyone. And it may be just what they needed.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------
Sorry for such a short chapter, but I thought it should end there. More soon.