Out of the Blue

Chapter 27 – Defending what's mine.

DISCLAIMER: Buffy the Vampire Slayer belongs to Joss Whedon, and Harry Potter to J.K. Rowling. I don't own anything…

RATING: PG-13 (T) to R (M) - violence, language, angst, horror, mild sexual interactions, etc. If you can watch BTVS/AtS and read HP, I doubt you'll have any problem with this story.

TIMELINE: Takes place after season two in BTVS, and during the marauders last year at Hogwarts.

SUMMARY: BTVS/HP crossover. Life sucked for Buffy Summers. After taking her refuge to LA, she had hoped she would finally have some of that peace the Hellmouth couldn't provide. She should have known she was hoping for the impossible. When she gets propelled into another dimension, her life changes forever - but is it for the better or for worse?

CENTRAL PAIRING: Buffy/Remus

OTHER PAIRINGS: James/Lily, Sirius/Eliza

Special Thanks to: My Beta - CharmedChick


Before they knew it, the holiday was over, and a new year had begun. The marauders all met up at the Hogwarts express, which would take them back to Hogwarts. They sat there, chatting about anything and everything, although Lily tried to move the subject to the upcoming NEWT's. James, however, refused to discuss school or anything along the lines of education on their last chance to have some peace before they got caught up in real life again.

Peter was oddly quiet during most of the trip, only joining the conversation when absolutely necessary, with the occasional 'yes', 'no' or 'I don't know.' He was starring at Buffy from his seat. If possible, she'd grown even more beautiful during the holiday, which she had spent with Remus. Peter felt a pang of jealousy entering him, as he watched Buffy laughing at a joke James or Sirius had told, lending into Remus embrace. Her hair had grown longer, and was now falling down her back. Her eyes sparkled with happiness. Peter wanted to hold her...touch her...kiss her...

"Peter?"

"Huh?" Peter looked up, and saw Lily watching him worriedly.

"Are you alright? You seemed to doze of for a moment there."

"Oh, I'm fine," Peter said, with a false smile.

'What does James see in her?' Peter thought. 'She's a mudbl- no! What am I thinking? They're my friends!' He was horrified at his own thoughts, and shuddered, silently promising himself not to think that ever again. He wasn't aware of Remus watching him silently, eyes narrowed.


At the end of January, it was Buffy's birthday, but Buffy herself was toobusy with schoolwork to care. The end of Hogwarts drew nearer, and she was expected to pass at leastsome of the NEWT's before graduation, and therefore, she sat up late every night, studying, pouring herself into text after text with information about Charms, Transfiguration, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Potions, Care of Magical Creatures, Herbology and History of Magic, anything that would help her pass her NEWT's - the Nastily Exhausting Wizarding Tests. Sometimes, Lily would join her, and sometimes Remus or someone else, but no one studied as much as Buffy.

It had just become clear to her just how behind she actually was compared to her other classmates, and on top of all normal studying, they had also started to learn the theory behind apparition. They were all expected to learn, and then go to the Ministry of Magic to get an apparition license, unless they failed - and Buffy didn't want to fail.

"Buffy?"

"Huh?" Buffy sat up with a jerk, finding Remus watching her worriedly.

"You fell asleep again," Remus murmured. Buffy looked horrified.

"No! I can't have!" She exclaimed. "What did I miss? Anything important?"

"Buffy, Binns never says anything remotely important. He's just repeating what it says in the textbook. Relax."

Buffy bit her lip.

"Still..."

Remus sighed.

"Buffy, you can't go on like this."

"Go onlike what?"

"You never sleep, you barely eat - you're always studying! You need a break!"

"I'm the Slayer, I know what I can take!" Buffy snapped. "I'm used to being up late."

"Not this much! Don't you see? It's killing you!" Remus exclaimed. "You've only been learning magic for a half year!"

"And extra lessons," Buffy reminded him.

"Buffy, that is not the point. No one is expecting you to excel in your NEWT's - no one can catch up on seven years of training in less than a year."

"I still want to pass with a decent grade - no, good grades!" Buffy hissed, growing more and more irritated. The lack of sleep was starting to take its toll on her, affecting her mood and appearance.

"And you will! Have you even looked yourself in the mirror lately? You look like a ghost!" Remus said.

"Oh, jeez, thanks, Rem," Buffy said ironically. "Look, I know what I'm doing, so drop it, okay? I want to learn - that's my choice! I don't know how long I'm stuck here, and I want an education!"

"I'm not the only one worried," Remus said.

"You don't need to play my protector, Lupin. I can take it," Buffy said, eyes blazing. Remus looked hurt. Buffy had never called him by his last name before - not one of his friends did - only his enemies, and that Buffy did...

Buffy seemed to realize her mistake, however, and she sighed.

"I'm sorry, okay? Just...back off. I don't need you to watch over me like a hawk. I can take care of myself..."


Later that evening, the marauders sat in the common room, playing exploding snap. Remus eyes would occasionally look over to where Buffy was sitting, in the corner furthest from everyone, reading book after book, scribbling furiously in a notebook, seemingly unaware of everyone else. Lily caught his eye, and she gave him a worried look.

"Are you alright?"

Remus sighed.

"Yes, I'm fine. I'm worried about Buffy though. She needs a break."

Lily nodded. "I agree. She's pushing herself too hard. She can't seriously expect to catch up on everything in less than a half year...it's madness."

"Tell that to her," Remus mumbled. "She's already angry with me for putting my nose where it doesn't belong," he said bitterly.

"You had a fight?" Lily asked. "I heard you hissing at each other in History of Magic."

"Sort of. I'm just afraid she'll turn her back on me."

"She won't," Lily promised. "She'll come around."

Remus didn't answer only gave Buffy another miserable look from afar. Suddenly, Lily got an idea.

"Wait, Buffy's birthday isn't far off, right?"

"Right..." Remus said, frowning.

"So what about a surprise party? She can't escape that. Then she'll have some fun, and relax, and hopefully, things will be back to normal - well, as normal as it can be in a magical castle anyway."

Remus lit up, and smiled, the first smile in weeks, Lily realized. Buffy being distanced must have affected him more than any of them thought. She just hoped Buffy would realize it too, and stop her study-spree.


Buffy was making her way back from the library after another evening of intense studying. Why would it close so damn early? Now she had to go to the loud common room to study, or her own dorm, where her every move was watched with concerned looks from Eliza and Lily. Really, what was the big deal? It was just studying, it's not like she was killing herself. She felt a little guilty over the way she'd acted towards her friends, mostly Remus, whom, she knew she'd neglected quite badly, but she figured he would forgive her. It wasn't like she was doing it because she wanted to, right?

Buffy tiredly said the password (eye of newt - how fitting), and climbed inside, only to be met by total darkness.

"What the...?" She had just prepared herself to take up a fighting stance (somewhere in the back of her mind the disturbing thought that her reflexes had failed her - if someone had wanted to attack, she would have been dead by now because of her lack of caution - but she brushed it away.)

"SURPRISE!"

The light flicked on, and Buffy blinked towards the light. In the middle of the floor, her friends, and several other Gryffindors stood, wearing party-hats. On the wall was a big banner in the red and gold Gryffindor colors, saying 'HAPPY BIRTHDAY BUFFY, 18 YEARS TODAY!', and on a table a giant cake was displayed. Buffy couldn't help but feel a little bit annoyed - there went that night of studying, but because of some reason, she also felt happier than she had since school started up again after Christmas, and she couldn't help but grin.

'I had forgotten it was my birthday...' Buffy thought.

"You did this for me? That is so sweet," she said, and gladly accepted a party-hat and a drink from Remus.

"This is your night, Buffy," he said, and gave her a kiss on the cheek. "Enjoy it and relax."

Buffy looked up at his face and saw something flick past - hope? Hope for what? Buffy frowned inwardly. What was wrong? Then it hit her how horrible she'd been to everyone of her friends - she'd practically ignored them, snapped at them...

"Oh, God, Remus, I am so sorry!" She exclaimed, and threw herself around his neck, making his party-hat fall off, and her drink spill out all over the floor.

"I have been an idiot! Can you ever forgive me? I've just been so stupid with all my studying, and - well - studying, that I forgot what's really important! I am so sorry!"

She was barely aware of everyone else smirking at her babbling, and suddenly Remus coughed.

"Buffy, you're...choking me...I can't...breathe!" Remus got out. Buffy hastily let go.

"Oh, I am so sorry!"

Remus grinned. "You're forgiven. But try not to study fully so hard - or hold me quite so hard - next time."

Buffy nodded seriously.

"Promise. No more strangling - check. No more studying - check."

"I didn't say that," Remus said, throwing an arm around her shoulders, leading her towards a pile of presents, laughing as Buffy's eyes lit up like a little kid's at the sight of them.

"I kind of like the academic side of you as well, but try not to become fully so wrapped up in it next time, alright?"

"Right," Buffy said. "I promise."

Ironically enough, most of her presents contained books, since everyone had seen how obsessed she'd been with them lately, and Buffy felt even more stupid. She hated books! Well...maybe hate was a strong word, but disliked, definitely. And especially now.

If the books had been about subjects she'd wanted to read, then maybe it wouldn't have been so bad, but these were only for educational purposes, and Buffy was quite put out.

Her mood rose however, when she got to the presents from the marauders, which did not contain any books at all.

"I'm hungry," Peter suddenly piped up.

The others gave him incredulous looks. "You just ate cake, Wormtail," Sirius said. "How can you possibly be hungry?"

"Well, I am!" Peter said, a little defensively. "Anyone coming with me to the kitchens?" He gave Buffy a hopeful look, but she was busy talking to Remus - again, a pang of jealousy hit him - so he went alone. As soon as he got outside the common room and away out of sight from the portraits, he transformed into his rat-form, before scurrying away across the corridors.

The party continued after Peter left, and Buffy felt happier and more relaxed than she had in a long time. No one mentioned anything about studying or NEWT's, and Buffy even managed to forget they existed. Someone put on a slow song, and Remus and Buffy danced to the music. Buffy saw from the corner of her eye Eliza and Sirius and Lily and James following their example.

The hours went by, and the common room emptied quickly on people. Soon, only the marauders were there, waiting for Peter. Remus had just convinced Buffy to go to her dorm to actually sleep, when the rat in question stumbled into the portrait hole, landing in a heap on the floor, panting heavily.

"Pete? Wormtail? Are you alright?" James asked, kneeling by his friend, giving him a concerned look. Peter's eyes seemed to flicker everywhere and anywhere not being able to focus on anything or anyone.

"Hey, Pete!" Sirius said, snapping with his finger in front of Peter's eyes, trying to get him to focus. "Snap out of it, mate!"

Finally, Peter seemed to come to his senses, and he stood up shakily.

"Whazzup?" Buffy asked, frowning at Peter. She didn't really like him, but he looked like he'd been having a rough time with something.

"I-I..."

"You what?" Eliza asked.

"Mrs. Norris," Peter mumbled.

James blinked stupidly. "Yeah..." he said slowly. "What about her?"

"She chased me," Peter whispered.

Sirius joined James in his blinking. "So? She's a cat!"

"A-and I'm a-a..."

Buffy started to grin as she realized what he was talking about.

"A RAT!" She exclaimed, and then broke down laughing. "Mrs. Norris chased you in your rat-form?"

Finally the others realized what Peter meant, and they started to laugh too. Peter glared.

"It wasn't funny, guys! I thought I was going to die! I thought I was going to be eaten!"

The others weren't listening. It took quite awhile before they calmed down.

"Why didn't you transform back?" Lily asked, as she wiped the tears of laughter from her eyes.

"Well, Filch was with her, egging her on!" Peter exclaimed. The others started to laugh again.

"Oh, God, I wish we had had a camera...!" Buffy said, steadying herself at Remus' shoulders. Peter gave them another glare.

"I'm going to bed."

"Check the covers," Sirius called after him. "I'm pretty sure Lily left her cat in our dorm before!"

They heard Peter squeak in fright, and the others broke down laughing again.


January passed by, and a few days into February, Buffy felt she was slowly feeling better. She now chose her time carefully to make her life feel pretty normal again. During days, she'd go to class, eat, and do her homework, and during the evenings, she'd study with Lily and Eliza or with Remus in the library before going to the Room of Requirement and train up her Slayer senses and physique again.

They'd also stopped studying the theory behind becoming an animagi in Transfiguration, and McGonagall had put up a sheet to sign if you wanted to become one. Buffy had signed, and so had Lily and Eliza. Since the others already knew how to do it, and Remus couldn't become one, because of his lycanthropy, they didn't. McGonagall had been really surprised that James and Sirius hadn't signed up - she'd been sure they'd be ecstatic at the chance of learning to become an animagi - but then, she didn't know they already were one.

She was sitting in the library waiting for Remus to show up from his Astronomy class, so they could study together, and wasn't aware of the rat in a corner, watching her every movement.

Peter had followed Buffy in his rat-form ever since the party (but he was very careful so as not to get noticed by Mrs. Norris again). She was the forbidden fruit, and if Peter couldn't have her, then he could at least watch her, right? But every time he spied on her, he became more desperate to have her. The temptation was so big...he wanted to hold her, kiss her, feel her lips against his, just once.

He transformed back, as Buffy went up to a shelf and took out a book. He must have made some kind of noise, because she quickly turned around, eyes widening in surprise as she saw him.

"Peter! I didn't realize you were there!" She said, trying to keep her voice down, as not to draw attention from Madame Pince.

'No, you never notice me,' Peter thought bitterly. 'You only have eyes for the werewolf...' Again, Peter was horrified by his thoughts, but this time, he brushed them away. Why would Remus get to have her? He didn't deserve her! Just once...couldn't he just once get the chance to taste her? Feel her...? Only once...

Peter stepped closer up to Buffy, with a smile that creeped her out, backing her up against the bookcase.

"Wormtail..." Buffy said, eyes narrowing. "What are you doing?"

"What I want," he said, and then pressed his lips against hers.

Buffy's eyes widened in shock, and she felt herself frozen, unable to move. She started to wriggle free, and hard just raised a hand to slap him, when suddenly someone let out a yell, and Peter practically flew off of her, landing in another bookcase, sending books flying across the floor.

Buffy gasped, and turned around.

"Remus! It isn't what you thi - " Remus wasn't listening. His eyes were blazing dangerously, and Buffy could see the wolf behind them - it was the full moon tonight, and the wolf wanted to be let out.

"What is going on here!" Madame Pince exclaimed coming from a corner. Remus paid her no attention, but stepped up to where Peter was laying, lifting him up from the floor by his robes, hitting his fist square in his nose. Buffy was sure she'd heard Peter's nose bone crack.

"MR. LUPIN!" Madame Pince exclaimed. "What do you think you're doing! And from a Prefect! Fifty points from Gryffindor and detention! A fellow Gryffindor, really!"

"Remus, I - " Buffy said, but Remus just took her by the hand and led her out of the library, leaving Peter to fend for himself. She distantly heard Madame Pince say Remus was banned from the library.

Remus didn't stop until they were standing in the Room of Requirement, where he grabbed her roughly and kissed her deeply.

"R-remus."

Remus let her go, and looked her deep in the eyes, all signs of violence gone.

"You're not hurt? He didn't try anything did he?"

Buffy was surprised, to say the least. She'd expected to be yelled at, or worse.

"Y-you're not mad?"

Remus blinked.

"Mad? At you? Why would I? It's not like you wanted him to kiss you!" His eyes narrowed. "Unless I missed something?"

"No!" Buffy exclaimed. "No, really, no. I just thought that you thought..."

"Well, at first I did. But when I got over my shock, I saw you were just as shocked as I was. And you were trying to fend him off. I wouldn't take that as a sign to say you were enjoying yourself." He smirked, and Buffy laughed, relieved.

"Good."

Remus frowned.

"What was he doing, really? I mean, what happened? Why did he kiss you?"

Buffy shrugged. "I don't know. I'd gotten up to get a book from the shelf, and then he was just standing there, and then the next thing I know is that he walks up to me, and then I asked him what he was doing, and he said 'what I want', and then he kissed me."

Remus growled low in his throat. "I always knew he had a thing for you...but I really thought he would respect us. Maybe I should have that talk with him we talked about before Christmas..."

Buffy laughed. "I think you made yourself quite clear when you sent him sprawling across the floor - or in this case - into a bookcase."

Remus looked at her seriously, embracing her tightly.

"I was just defending what's mine."

Buffy closed her eyes, enjoying Remus body against hers. She realized she'd just seen the first sign of them being mated - the wolf marked his territory. She was his to have, no one else's. And Peter better remember that.

She kissed Remus deeply, and out of nowhere, a bed appeared. They sank down on it, and Buffy got ready for what would undoubtedly be the best night of her life, when she froze. He deserved to know.

"Remus...?"

"Mhmm..." Remus mumbled, leaving trails of kisses along her body.

"I have...something...I need to...tell you."

"Can it wait?" Remus mumbled.

"Sorry," Buffy said. "We're mated."

Silence. Remus stopped kissing her.

"What?" He said huskily, sitting up.

"That night in the woods...when I met Moony for the first time...you didn't hurt me. The only reason you didn't is because I'm your mate," Buffy said, refusing to meet Remus eyes. "We're meant to be. I just thought you should know...before we...you know. So...are we okay?"

A thousand thoughts passed trough Remus brain. Of all the times she could have told him...but still...he guessed it was better she told him now before...so...was he okay with it? Remus didn't know. He didn't want the wolf control another part of his life, his heart, but was he really sure it did? He was a part of the wolf, after all...so if the wolf loved Buffy...then he did too. But if he hadn't been a werewolf...would he still have loved her? Remus saw the answer as clear as the sun on a warm summer-day. Yes. He would have. He smiled, and kissed Buffy softly on the lips.

"We're okay," he said, and Buffy smiled relieved.

"Good...I was worried..."

"You don't have to be. If anyone, I should. I mean..." he looked uncomfortable. "I've never...you know..."

Buffy smiled at him.

"...I know," she murmured. "It doesn't matter."She kissed him deeply, as they sank down towards the bed once again...



A/N:
And that was the perfect way to end the chap, right? I want LOTS of reviews, so just push the little button and send me one, 'kay?

/Ida