Hey there I'm back! I am hoping to squeeze in a couple more chapters before next year. Hope you all had a nice break off of school, work, or whatever. I'm stuck at home with my annoying sisters and brother that don't seem to want to get off the computer, but I manage to sneak in my writing time.
becks89: I don't know if I am going to have her learn to apparate a bit early. I figured I'd just make her and Aidan have birthdays like in January so they can get their licenses then. Oh and apparating accidents with Jordan galore! That will be fun to write. And Jordan won't be Harry's only protector; after training Hermione will be too. I figured since they are both going to be in school with him it would be easier for them to protect him than Buffy or Faith. I'm glad you liked the floo excitement and floo sickness and Giles going around examining the Wizarding stuff. And no Dawn didn't know anything about the Wizarding World prior to all this in my story. Willow will probably recognize some stuff being a Wicca and all, but she is mostly clueless too.
Imp17: Considering that Hogwarts has tons more house elves and Springer hasn't been mistreated in anyway she should get over it. Thanks for reviewing.
Silver Warrior: I'm glad you like the story. And like I said above, she should let it slide.
Black Rose9: Thanks for reviewing I will try to update as quickly as possible.
Chrios: Hey new-comers are always welcome. Yeah this definitely will not be a rushed story because there are so many things to cover. And the Will and Kennedy thing had to be covered. I hated her, she just had to go. Happy you agreed with the decision.
Incepte: I'm leaning towards a Dawn/Harry pairing.
Jillian Ryn: Don't fall off the edge of your seat waiting. It will most likely be next chapter that they all finally meet up. If not then it will be the one after it. I thought the fight over the house elf would be interesting too. Apparently I was right.
Steph: Being the selfish bitch that she is, she really only wanted the power of the slayer to use in her own way. And fighting for her life against evil isn't too appealing to her. Hope that explains it for you.
Thanks you guys!
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Hermione splashed cool water over her face to let it wash away her tension. After her humiliating display in Jordan's room she had stomped off into the bathroom. She was disgusted with herself, but she couldn't seem to get a grip on her emotions lately. All this new knowledge about herself and the upcoming conflict with Voldemort was almost more than she could handle and she was experiencing emotional overload.
I should apologize to her. It's not like Springer is being mistreated and Hogwarts has many more house elves. She finally stepped out of her white tiled sanctuary and slowly trudged to back to Jordan's room. The door was open and she could see Buffy, Aidan, Jordan, and Dawn in there conversing about Quidditch and the different types of broomsticks again. Jordan had in her hands a broom that looked like a Firebolt, which it probably was.
"This thing is kinda neat looking. I still can't get over that you guys actually fly on brooms." Buffy commented as she held the Firebolt and inspected it.
"Yeah you would think that would be like something insulting to you guys." Dawn said as Buffy handed her the broom.
"Maybe tomorrow Jordan and I can show you guys how to ride the brooms. We still have our Nimbuses left." Aidan offered.
"Really? Oh that would be so cool!" Dawn squealed.
"Gee Dawn if I didn't know better I would say you were on something right about now." Buffy quipped, then she stared at her sister suspiciously, "You're not are you?"
"But this world is so amazing! And we're actually going to be apart of it! How can I not get all hyped up about that?" Dawn replied.
"Hope I'm not interrupting." came Hermione's quiet voice from the doorway.
"You're not still pissed off are you?" Jordan asked.
"No. I'm sorry for my behavior. It was rather foolish of me." Hermione apologized.
"Hey that's okay. You've had to deal with a lot lately. Finding out you're a slayer and about everything else." Buffy said.
"Yeah that can make people crack." Jordan agreed.
"You didn't." Hermione pointed out.
"Well I've known about my potential slayerness since I was eight. Really didn't understand much about it then and I had a lot of time to cope." Jordan said then she clapped Aidan on the back, "And I got my own personal ventee for which to vent on right here."
"Hermione I think it's safe to say that everything you're feeling is completely normal and we are all here if you wanna talk. At least you're not the only slayer. I had that dumped on me when I was fifteen and I freaked." Buffy grasped Hermione's shoulder supportively as she spoke.
Hermione blinked back tears.
"Thank you for understanding." she choked.
"Aww someone needs a hug." Dawn said and Hermione let the girl wrap her arms around her.
After Hermione finally rid herself of the need to cry the group went downstairs. They found the rest of the Scoobies sitting in the living room discussing Voldemort with Jordan and Aidan's parents.
"Ah I was just about to come find you Buffy. Mr. and Mrs. Firewell were telling us more about our new foe." Giles scooted over to let his charge sit beside him on the couch.
"Oh goody. Dishing about the big bad. Always good fun." Buffy sighed.
"Yeah and they have cookies." Xander picked up a plate of chocolate chip cookies and offered some to Buffy.
"Oh oh give me some." Jordan held out her hand.
"Didn't we just have some?" Dawn inquired.
"Hey we're talking about taking on Voldemort. This merits serious cookie treatment." Jordan said defensively.
"Good point." Buffy said and she snatched the plate out of Xander's hand.
"Well I guess it's better than drowning your problems in booze." Dawn remarked.
"Damn straight." Jordan said.
"Jordan!" Mrs. Firewell scolded.
"Sorry Mom." Jordan replied sheepishly.
"Hermione, if it isn't too much trouble, would you mind giving us a first-hand account of your dealings with Voldemort over the years?" Mr. Firewell asked hesitantly.
Hermione briefly flinched at the mention of his name, but got over it quickly. She then told them about all the times she and her friends had come up against Voldemort in one form or another. There were some things that she had felt Harry or Ron would rather tell that she had left out. Because there were Muggles in the room, extra explanations were required. Especially the parts about the creatures Hermione and her friends had faced.
"The Sorcerer's Stone was at Hogwarts?" Aidan asked incredulously.
"Yes. Dumbledore was keeping it there to keep it out of the wrong hands. It was eventually destroyed though." Hermione said.
"How did you escape from all those Dementors?" Jordan's skin got cold and clammy just thinking about the creatures. She countered it by cramming three whole cookies into her mouth.
"I'm not real sure on that one. Harry could tell you better than I." Hermione stammered not wanting to get into the story of going back in time and Harry performing the Patronus charm just yet.
"And I thought our lives were dangerous." Dawn said.
"What about you Jordan? How many dangerous things did you and your brother get into?" Willow asked.
Jordan lowered her gaze. Compared to Hermione's and the Scoobies' lives, hers sounded downright boring. Up until four months ago.
"Well our life will probably sound dull, for lack of a better word, compared to yours. Never had that many attempts on my life until about four months ago when the Bringers showed up and killed my watcher and tried to kill me. What really sucked was that they had to do it right in front of me. And then my life got ummm even more exciting I should say when I came to Sunnydale." Jordan said.
"They killed your watcher right in front of you?" Hermione's voice was lowered to a whisper and her face portrayed the familiar look of horror.
"Yeah. That was not among my favorite experiences. Didn't have too much time to dwell on it when it happened on account of they were trying to gut me. Luckily I am pretty good at defensive magic as well as non-magical defense." Jordan said softly as she tried to blot out the memory of the Bringer's blade slicing through her mentor's chest.
"Where did this happen?" Buffy asked. She had known that Jordan's watcher had been killed by Bringers, but anything beyond that no one spoke of.
"At school on a weekend. No one else saw it. We were by the forest by our school and most everyone else was down by the Quidditch field or on the other side of the school. Mandy, my watcher, had come to talk to me. She was probably gonna tell me what Giles told me two days later, only she didn't get that far. A Bringer hurled its knife at her from behind and it went all the way through her. She fell on top of me and I only then my mind figured out what was happening and switched into survival mode. I managed to stupefy the bastards and then, well, my memory is a bit scattered after that. I do remember trying to wake Mandy up and then I remember running back to the school to get help" she said her voice growing softer with every word.
Aidan remembered what had happened after that. She had come into the school covered in her watcher's blood and looking paler than the ghosts that dwelled in their school. Jordan had grabbed onto her brother's robes with her bloody hands and started screaming about things with slashes over their eyes killing Mandy and trying to kill her. He had never seen her in such a state. It had scared the hell out of him the way his sister was. She had been shaking uncontrollably, sobbing, and babbling incoherently after some of the staff went to investigate. All he could do was hold her and rock her. That was all he could think of to do because he was nearing breakdown himself. He knew that image would forever be burned into his mind, as well as in the minds of the students who had been there at the time when Jordan came in.
The teachers had sent her for her parents immediately and she had gone home that day. Aidan had gone home as well to make sure she would be alright. As soon as they had gotten home she had thrown up on the carpet. Something Jordan hated to do. Two days later, Rupert Giles showed up at their door. And Jordan amazingly agreed to go with him to Sunnydale.
"Why did you go with him? You never told me why." Aidan asked.
Jordan sighed and looked at him meaningfully, "I knew that Mandy was killed because of what I was, and no I don't blame myself, you know I'm not like that. I thought that my being here would endanger you and Mom and Dad and Grandma and Springer. I figured you guys would be safer if I went to Sunnydale to help fight. And besides, I had to find some form of therapy after that. Who woulda thought that beating the crap out of vampires could make you feel so much better?"
"Yeah. Kicking ass is comfort food as Buffy likes to say." Dawn grasped Jordan's hand as she said that.
"I know how you feel Jordan. My girlfriend Tara was killed right in front of me too." Willow empathized.
Jordan's eyes welled in sympathy for Willow. Gee and the next girlfriend turns out to be a bitch. Poor girl. Can't she get a break?
Buffy didn't say anything, but she put her hand on Jordan's shoulder. She could definitely relate to what Jordan had been going through. When she had to kill Angel, she hadn't exactly handled it well herself. She realized how lucky Jordan had been and still was to have a brother like Aidan. Aidan reminded her of her mother in his solid demeanor. Her mother had been her rock, the strong one, the one who had been able to hold things together (most of the time). Aidan was the same thing for Jordan. She smiled appreciatively at the boy and he smiled back although he had no idea what she smiled at him for to begin with.
"That must've been terrible." Hermione said.
"Yeah. But it's in the past. Can't really change it. All that matters is the here and now and of course what's to come." Jordan said.
"That's the spirit." Giles said.
Jordan smiled gratefully at him. She had wanted to ask Buffy about the second time she died and she wanted to ask Dawn about her uniqueness, but she felt that those were pretty touchy subjects. She made a mental note to ask Dawn later that night.
"Oh I forgot. Mom, Dad can Dawn and Hermione spend the night? I mean if they want to." Jordan asked quickly expelling the somber mood that had descended upon the group.
"Oh Buffy can I?" Dawn asked her sister while latching onto her arm.
"If they say it's okay." Buffy replied.
"Sure." Mrs. Firewell said.
"Hermione? You wanna stay the night?" Jordan asked cautiously remembering the girl's anger about the house elf issue.
"Oh yes I would like that. I just have to get home and get a few things first. My parents already know I will probably be late, but I should check in." Hermione answered.
"Well you'd better get going cuz it's seven-thirty here and you're like seven hours ahead. Hope they don't mind being woken up in the middle of the night." Aidan reminded her.
"I'll just leave a note then." she said.
"Cool we can come and help you pack up." Dawn chimed. "I love flooing."
"Well I'm glad you like it cuz I hate it." Jordan grumbled as she stood up and stretched.
"You shouldn't go alone." Giles said.
"I'll go with them. You, Willow, and Xander can head back to LA and I'll catch up to you." Buffy told them.
Willow, Xander, and Giles said their thanks to the Firewell family and their goodbyes before flooing back to the Hyperion. Aidan handed Xander a vial with the potion for floo-sickness before he left.
"Thanks my man. I'm gonna need this." Xander said appreciatively.
"No problem." Aidan shook his hand.
After that group left Hermione gave them the directions to her house and Buffy left first for precautionary reasons she said.
"Hermione you wanna know what's weird? You live in England, the Watcher's Council is, erm was, headquartered in England. Yet they didn't send someone to tell you about your potential slayerness beforehand. You were right there under their noses. Look at me, I'm like over 3000 miles away and they told me when I was eight." Jordan said thoughtfully.
"I've never thought about it like that. Hmm, guess they just missed me." she shrugged and flooed out of there.
Dawn went next and Jordan sighed and said "stupid apparating law" before following.
Hermione rolled out of her fireplace and was pulled up by Buffy.
"Is everything secure?" Hermione said sarcastically.
"Yep. So far." Buffy whispered, not wanting to wake the girl's parents.
After Dawn and Jordan (who managed not to run into anything) came they tiptoed up the stairs to Hermione's room.
"Nice place. If it wasn't so dark I'd say it was awesome." Dawn whispered.
Hermione didn't answer, she was staring at her surroundings and she realized that she could actually see in the very dark house. She couldn't see all that well, but better than she could remember. Must be another slayer aspect; absorbing whatever light there is like a cat's eyes.
She flipped the lights on in her room and began to put things together for her stay at the Firewells. Jordan did more exploring of Muggle paraphernalia than helping.
"I don't know why you're so fascinated, you spent four months at our house." Buffy said.
"Yeah but you're American. I have to see what English Muggles are like." Jordan said.
The other three rolled their eyes.
Jordan picked up a picture of Hermione with her arms around two boys. One was a tall, gangly redhead with freckles all over his face. The other was a skinny boy with unruly black hair and glasses. She knew that the black haired was Harry Potter because she had seen his picture in the newspapers before. The three were laughing and waving in the picture. When Dawn looked at the picture Harry winked at her making her blush furiously even though it was just a photograph.
"These your pals?" Jordan asked.
"Yeah. This was taken in our third year at Hogwarts I believe. The redhead is Ron Weasley and well I'm sure you know who the other one is." Hermione replied.
"Harry Potter." Jordan said.
After she finished packing all her things Buffy picked up her bag and they quietly descended the steps. Hermione scrawled a note for her parents and left it on the kitchen table and then she lit a fire in her fireplace. Jordan handed her the floo powder.
"Let's get this over with." she muttered.
After they flooed back to Jordan's house Buffy said her goodbyes to them and went back to the Hyperion. Dawn didn't have any other clothes since all hers went down with the hellmouth so Jordan let her borrow a pair of pajamas and some clothes for tomorrow. It was an odd coincidence that they were the exact same size.
"So what will Aidan be doing while we're having our pillow fights and stuff?" Dawn asked mischievously.
"I don't know. He usually just does his own thing when I have friends over. Same thing I do when he has friends over, only my dad charms my room so no boys can enter unless they're him or Aidan without my permission. Sorta like the vampire deal only it's more temporary. Really funny when they try to get in though." Jordan said.
"Is your dad over-protective?" Hermione asked.
"Only when it comes to adolescent, hormone raging boys who might steal his little girl's virtue as if I would ever let that happen." Jordan replied.
Springer brought in extra blankets and pillows for the girls and they spread them all over the floor in Jordan's room. The girls stayed up half the night talking about the normal teenage girl stuff of scary demons, evil wizards, hot guys, funny pranks, hot guys, cool music, Quidditch, and hot guys.
"So Dawn, what is the deal with Buffy dying a second time? I didn't know about that one." Jordan asked her.
"She died while jumping into a portal that would have destroyed the world had she not jumped into it." Dawn said uneasily while trying to talk around the fact that it had been her blood that opened the portal.
"She sacrificed herself?" Hermione asked.
"Yeah. It was awful. She was dead for three months when Willow did a spell and brought her back." Dawn said.
Jordan nodded and then her head snapped up as she just realized what Dawn said.
"Whoa whoa whoa! Back up there. Willow brought Buffy back?" she said.
Dawn nodded.
"From the dead?" Jordan asked.
Dawn nodded again.
"How on earth did she do that? I didn't think that was possible." Hermione asked.
"It is if you die by mystical forces, which Buffy had. I don't know about the spell because they neglected to tell me, Spike or Giles what they were planning to do. But it worked." Dawn replied.
"They? I thought it was just Willow." Jordan said.
"Willow and Xander and their girlfriends, Anya and Tara, were there too." Dawn answered and her eyes glazed over with sadness at the memory of the two women who were now dead.
"Oh." Jordan said.
"But that is very dangerous. Why would Willow do something like that?" Hermione asked.
"Yeah messing with the forces of life and death, that's tricky territory. What if she came back a zombie?" Jordan added.
"Willow and the others thought, they thought that Buffy was in hell." Dawn's voice was threatening to break.
"Was she?" Jordan asked.
Dawn didn't answer her friend. She didn't think Buffy would like her telling all about her past to people she had known less than a year or two days in Hermione's case. If Buffy wanted them to know then she would tell them. It wasn't really her story to tell anyway.
"You know what guys, I'm really tired. Can we go to sleep now?" Dawn yawned and snuggled under her covers.
Jordan bit her tongue to keep from bothering Dawn with more questions and she and Hermione laid their heads down on their pillows. The girls were snoozing and cruising in dreamland in fifteen minutes.