Disclaimer: This the last time i shall put Joss Whedon in disclaimer because alas, the Buffy the Vampire Slayer characters shall be leaving in this chapter. Try not to weep, for i will continue to give all rights to J.K Rowling for her ingenius characters.

AN: As i said before Buffy and her friends shall be leaving in this chapter but i do have another character comingto replace them. i'm not sure how he'll be greeted so please give me your opinion. i hope i did justice to the BTVS characters. i'm sorry if i did not. now on with the show.

Chapter 6: Henry meets the Americans

At noon, the Americans and Hermione walked into the heart of London. They stopped in front of a pub called The One and Many. People milled about, going here and there, completely ignoring the pub, as though it didn't exist.

"So, umm…where are we?" Everyone seemed in agreement with Xander.

"Oh well. This is a place where slayers and their Watchers can meet with you and not bring attention to you all. Come on." She led them all into the pub. It was dark and dingy, yet warm. The tables all had the look of being well-used. The man behind the counter eyed the newcomers wearily until he saw Hermione.

"Ahh…miss. It's so good to see you again. This place has been dead for ages, ever since Dumbledore moved his base of operations." The man slowly walked over to Hermione. He was old but, looking in his eyes, a person saw he had a lot of inner strength. His hair was white and straggly, and he was thin but not overly so. While everyone else in the wizarding world wore robes, he wore muggle clothes, outdated but still muggle. "Who are these people?"

"Oh Henry. Sorry I forgot to floo you before we came. I know that this place hasn't been very active and now would be a good time to change that. Dumbledore told me before he died that if I ever needed a place to hide, to come here. Well, this is Buffy, the slayer, and her friends." Henry's eyes widened at this. "As you know the Watcher's Council was blown up and well, they need a place to call headquarters again. I know Dumbledore placed as many protection charms on this place as he did at our current establishment, so it should work well, don't ya think?" Hermione gauged everyone's expression, and they all looked dubious.

"Well, as long as my shop doesn't get demolished, I'll agree to it." There was uproar at this. "We're slayers, we fight demons. What do you expect?" "Do you think we would purposely do something like that?" "Who are you to make conditions? You should be so lucky to work with us?"

Hermione smiled to herself. Lifting her hands in the air, she let a shrill whistle pierce the air. "Listen. Henry is a trickster. He knows the type the work you do, and he is willing to help."

"Come on. I'll show you the back." The group followed Henry behind the bar, and a door marked with an X. "Only those that you want to enter can enter. No magical, demonic or humanly ways can get through this door unless you bid them welcome." He opened the door and walked into an immense waiting area. It had a tall ceiling, nearly two stories. Everything was covered in wood; there were several sets of coal grey couches and chairs for visitors. The secretarial desk was huge with plenty of room for files and computers. Off the main waiting area, there were two conference rooms. Down the hall were several offices, each with a plague for the occupant's names.

Beside the entrance door was a set of stairs that led into the basement. Faith just came up from downstairs. "Wow. Y'all gotta come see this." She was so excited, like she had just slayed her first vamp again. The group all ran for the door. When they got downstairs, they saw why Faith was so happy.

"There's gotta be enough room down here for twenty sparing areas. This room has to be enchanted, or something. This isn't the same amount of space as upstairs."

Dawn suddenly emerged from a hall off the room they were in. "There are so many rooms down there. And not just like dormrooms, but nice, with fourposter beds and bathrooms between every two rooms. This place is amazing."

"Well, Henry, I guess we're here to stay." Buffy said as she saw that they could start a school here for slayers and watchers, and have enough room to run the Watcher's Council.

"Then my work here is done. If you ever need anything, I leave you with this." She pulled a pouch from within her pocket. "It's floo powder. You throw it into the fire and say the name of the person you want to speak to." She placed it on the mantle of a fireplace the other occupants hadn't noticed before. It already had a fire roaring, and in the weeks that followed, they found that it couldn't be put out.

"It's been nice knowing you, and thanks." Hermione left the group and went into the busy London street. She started to head back in the direction of headquarters but decided against it. She walked in the direction of her favorite teashop. It was where she went when times were tough during the years before Voldemort's defeat, and needed to get away from it all.

Sweet Leaf came into view, and it brought a smile to her face. Upon entering, the sweet aroma of tea filled her nose. It was a little mom-and-pop shop that had lasted for years. It had a homey quality that was comforting to those in need of a pick-me-up.

After ordering her tea and going to an empty table, a familiar face caught her eye. A young man sitting at a table in the corner was hunched over his tea reading a paper. He was the same age or a little older than Hermione, but hadn't seen the harshness she had. He wore a simple pair of jeans, and a white t-shirt. He had with him a tanned jacket. It wasn't his clothes that drew her attention. It was his hair; it was the color of oranges. Though it was not nearly as red as the Weasleys but it was still shocking.

"Cooper?" Hermione asked, incredulously. He raised his head in the direction of the voice and smiled when he saw who it was.

"Hermione? Is that really you? I haven't seen you in ages. Here, sit, sit. So how have you been?"

"Well, I'm no longer working in at the Beacon as you can see. I'm here for personal reasons."

"Of the 'special' variety?" Cooper held a special twinkle in his blue eyes. He had grown up on Hermione's street, and had been best friends with her until she left for Hogwarts. She had told him the day before leaving for her fifth year, that she was a witch. She had wanted him to know in case she was hurt in the fight.

"Yes, of the 'special' variety. We have a new threat. Have you ever heard of a group called the Keepers?" Cooper was an expert in anything mysterious, ever since learning Hermione was a witch. Even though he couldn't help her magically, he could help her academically. He knew the same, if not more, than her about magic.

"Only bits and pieces. It's an occultist group that have popped up here and there throughout the centuries. They try to plunder weakened societies, and oppose their will on the people. They've been weakened, but nobody ever seemed to have enough power to defeat them. One of them always slipped away and bided their time until their group was big enough in numbers to try again. There's something else but it keeps slipping away. I don't think I could provide any more information than your revered text books." He added with a smirk. Hermione body tightened at the mention of her beloved but untouched books.

"Yes, well. That's all I've been told thus far. I haven't had time to research." She looked into her cup when she said this. He noticed this but decided to say nothing. "Listen I really should be getting back. Hey, we need someone with your knowledge and research skills. Why don't you come with me? Unless you have other things to do."

"Actually, no. I just finished my last year at school and don't have a job yet. I never thought of getting one in the magical community. Are you sure I would be allowed?"

"I'm sure we could use a muggle liaison. And even if the ministry doesn't want you, I'm sure the Order could find a place for you." Cooper seemed amused with the idea and said so. He said that he wanted to have a trial run because he had never interacted with wizards other than Hermione and didn't know how they would react to him.

"Don't worry. They'll love you, at least most of them will." They gathered their things and left the tearoom. They discussed their lives for the past five years during their walk to Headquarters. Hermione could sense that as they drew closer to their destination, Cooper grew more and more apprehensive. While he believed in his own ability to understand their culture, he doubted they would understand his.

So what do you think? You'll learn more about cooper asthe story progresses, but he has an interesting backstory that i can't give away now. That would ruin the fun for me. By the way i know that i didn't go into the whole more than one slayer thing but i thought that it would be a story Buffy would need to explain to Henry herself. If you want me to continue with Buffy's story in England, tell me and i'll see what i can do.