Title: Bound by Loyalty
Rating: PG-13
Spoilers: Harry Potter- Pretty much books 1-4.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer- Seasons 1-5 and some of season 6.
Pairings: Buffy/Sirius Black, Harry/Ginny, Ron/Hermione
Summary: Buffy gets a letter inviting her to help teach at Hogwarts. Dumbledore tells her about the fight with Voldemort, and she agrees to help protect Harry Potter. While there, she learns things about herself that she never knew, and she finds a way to live. Meanwhile, Sirius Black can't stop thinking about the blonde Slayer that has suddenly invaded his life.
Disclaimer: I don't own any of them. Buffy goes to Whedon, and Harry and everybody in the Potter-verse go to Rowling. If you don't recognize anyone, they're probably mine. I do own the plot, though. Don't sue. Please.
Authors Note: Thank you to Erro, CharmedChick, Sabia, Renna, and Evie for reviewing.
CharmedChick: Thanks for your support.
Sabia: LOL. In 'Understanding and a Fascination' Snape picked Buffy up when she refused to go to the Medi-Wing.
Renna- The dream is important. You'll have to keep reading to find out how! It won't be for a while, though.
Evie: Thanks. I was kind of in a bitchy mood, and Raven didn't help.
Thanks to those who took the time to review. It was greatly appreciated. Hint, hint.
On with the story….
Chapter Six: Lateness and Feelings
'My life now, looks
Like a shadowA gray substitute forThe future I'd pictured.'-Sue Q "My World- Cracked"
"Crap, crap, crap, crap, crap. I'm gonna be late. And on my first day! What a good impression to make on the students. First, I wake up late and miss breakfast, and now I can't find anything to wear. Um, skirt. Blue. No, red. No, green. No, no, no! Pink! Yeah, my light pink skirt to go with my white v-neck shirt. And my white flip-flops. Get dressed, get dressed, get dressed. There, I'm dressed! Hair. Oh, god. What about my hair? Something fast. A ponytail! There. Now, pink lip gloss and eye shadow. Great!" Buffy sighed.
That morning, she had woken up at 10:08. She had quickly jumped out of bed and ran to the bathroom, chanting "crap, crap, crap" the whole time she was in there. She missed breakfast, which was over an hour and 45 minutes ago, and she was hungry. Then she couldn't find anything to wear.
Buffy ran out of her room and down the nearest stairs. At the bottom, she stopped and groaned. Repeating her 'crap' mantra, she looked left and right. Confused, she went to the left. Going down two hall ways, she went to the right and came upon a painting.
Feeling slightly silly for talking to a painting, she politely got the attention of the young man reading a book in a library. "Excuse me? Could you tell me the way to Professor Blacks room, please?"
"Why, sure. You go down that hallway to the right, then hang a left. Two halls after that, go left again. Then go right two times. It's the second door on the left." He replied, smiling.
"Thank you," Buffy hurriedly said, glancing at her watch. 10:28. No wonder no students were out and about. Class was about to start. Following the paintings directions, she took off running. 5 minutes later, she arrived exactly where she started. Rounding on the painting, she looked at in disbelief. "You lied. I'm where I started," she practically growled.
"Precisely!" He beamed.
"Why you little-" She was about to grab the painting and tear it to pieces when it spoke again.
"Professor Black's room," he paused while Buffy tapped her foot impatiently, "is the second door on the left, just like I said." He pointed to the door he was talking about.
"If you're lying to me, I'll rip you to pieces and burn you in the nice fireplace that is in my room," Buffy threatened menacingly, not really meaning it, but hoping to scare the guy. The painting gulped and nodded meekly.
Turning to the left, she went to the second door, then held out a hand to the knob. 'Here goes nothing' she thought .
Earlier that morning (8:30)
Sirius entered the Great Hall and immediately spotted his godson with his friends at the Gryffindor table. He smiled at them, and Harry smiled back. Sirius made his way to the teachers table. That's when he noticed that Miss Summers wasn't there yet. He sighed in disappointment.
'Maybe she's just late,' he thought, cheering up.
Same time (Gryffindor table)
Harry smiled back at Sirius and watched as he sat at the teachers table. He turned his attention back to his two best friends, Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley.
Finally deciding to ask the question that had been plaguing him ever since he had entered the Great Hall that morning, he said "Where do you suppose Professor Summers is?"
"I don't know. I would have thought she would be here by now," Hermione replied. Strangely, Ron didn't say anything. The two friends looked at him and shook their heads in amusement. Ron's head was on his plate of pancakes and syrup, his fork and knife still in his hands.
Hermione and Harry both felt like they could do the exact same thing. They had been up all night in their Common room, discussing the new Assistant for the DADA class. They had asked Harry to explain in detail what he saw in Buffy Summers head.
Hermione thought it was tragic, and Ron just had more questions. The one most prominent: Who, exactly, was Buffy Summers? They had eventually gone to bed at a quarter past two, and woke up five hours later. They were beat.
Harry sighed. It was going to be a long day. At least he had DADA first. Then he groaned when her remembered who he shared that class with. Slytherins! He glanced over at Draco Malfoy with a grimace. Oh, great! It was definitely going to be a long day.
Same time (Slytherin table)
Draco Malfoy looked around the Great Hall as he sat between his two goons, Crabbe and Goyle. He saw Saint Harry Potter and his two friends, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. He looked at the High Table and saw that all the Professors were present. Except Buffy Summers, Draco noticed interestingly.
Last night, when Draco had seen Professor summers, he felt… something. He couldn't explain it. All he knew was that the feeling was big. Like his life was never going to be the same. And he liked that feeling. He was okay with it.
"It's about time something bloody good happened around here," Draco muttered to himself.
"What?" Millicent Bulstrode, who was sitting across from him, asked.
"Nothing," he replied giving her one of his trade-mark smirks. She smiled back and continued eating her breakfast.
(10:35: DADA room)
Sirius glanced at the door one again. Miss Summers was currently five minutes late. His class of Gryffindor and Slytherin were still settling in, and talking to their neighbors. Sirius had told them to sit wherever they wanted for the first day, so he could get a seating chart made out.
He opened his mouth to begin class when the door swung open. Everyone stopped talking and looked at the door. Miss Summers walked in. Sirius felt his jaw drop. She looked…frazzled.
"Um… Sorry I'm late?" She said, only to be met with silence.
(10:30: DADA room)
Class had just officially begun. Everyone was present. Except for the Assistant Professor. Where she was, no one knew. Harry looked at Sirius quizzically. He shrugged.
"All right, everybody. Sit down wherever you like for today. I don't have the seating arrangement yet, so this should do. Go on. Sit down and get settled in." Sirius told them.
Harry sat down next to Ron, while Hermione sat in front of them, next to Neville Longbottom.
"Where do you think Professor Summers is?" Hermione asked over her shoulder.
"I don't know. Maybe she won't show up." Ron answered.
"Maybe she's talking to the Headmaster." Neville offered. Nobody replied. Five minutes after class started, the door opened. In walked Professor Buffy Summers, looking angry and frustrated. Everyone stopped talking and stared.
"Um… Sorry I'm late?" She said, only to be met with silence.
Sirius finally got his vocal chords working. "That's okay Miss Summers. It is your first day here. Class only started about 6 minutes ago, so we haven't really go to anything. Why don't you come in and sit down, then we'll begin?" He said.
"Sure thing," Buffy replied, glancing around the room. Seeing no empty desk, and not wanting to intrude, she opted to sit on the desk. Walking over to it, she hopped up on it, swinging her legs back and forth. She looked at the class and Sirius, who were looking at her. They quickly looked away.
Except for one kid. Buffy's forehead scrunched up in confusion. He looked familiar. Where had she seen him from? Who did he remind her of? Spike! Even though the only thing they physically had in common was the bleach blonde hair and smirk, which was now plastered on the boys face. But he also reminded Buffy of Spike because of the look in his eyes. The tortured soul look. And because of that smirk, he looked like a jack-ass.
But Buffy knew appearances could be deceiving, especially since she could see the hidden intelligence in his eyes, which she doubted anyone else could see, except Albert Bumblebore, and his smirk, while usually intimidating to teachers and students alike, looked somehow… fake.
Buffy had a feeling she was going to like him.
Draco smirked at Professor Summers when she got a slightly confused expression on her face when she saw him. He had no clue why she was so taken back when they looked at each other, nor did he know why she got a glimmer of recognition in her eyes and a smile on her lips. He didn't mind, though. Draco Malfoy kind of liked the feeling of not knowing. Which was very unusual, because he liked to pride himself on knowing everything that was happening at Hogwarts. Oh, well.
The first day of classes was over. The hour for each class period was spent making sure that students had the right books and supplies, and explaining what they would cover in the first chapter. Buffy was thankful that each DADA class was shared by two houses, and that she only had years 5-7 on the first day, and 1-4 on the second day. On the first day, it was the 5th years first, with Gryffindor and Slytherin for an hour, then Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw for an hour.
After that was lunch break, with Buffy eating in the privacy of her room, food courtesy of Dobby, then the last 4 hours of class with the sixth and seventh years, ending shortly after 5:00. That gave the students and teachers three hours of free time before dinner, which ends at 9:00, and then lights our at 11:00. All in all, not too bad of a schedule. That gave Buffy two hours to train and exercise, an hour to meditate, eat, then after dinner she had a meeting with the teachers and the Headmaster so she could get briefed about this bad guy, Holdy Cork, or something like that. She had never been real good with names.
At 7:15, Buffy decided to get to dinner early, so she wouldn't be late or get lost again. So, skipping the meditation, she got out of her room and took a right. This time, she was able to get to the stair case in about 3 minutes. She got to the Great Hall doors at 7:19. They were wide open and Buffy could see a few students were already there, as were some teachers. 'Sirius isn't,' she noted, slightly disappointed. Quickly shaking it off, she noticed Hagrid. Walking towards the teachers table (she took the stairs this time), she sat next to him and he smiled.
"Hey, Hagrid," she said.
" 'ello Buffy. How are ye?" He asked, smiling down at the little blonde.
"Just peachy," she answered cheerfully. "Where were you last night? I missed ya."
"I was at me hut, feedin' Fang. I 'eard there was a bit o' trouble las' nigh'. Somethin' about you and Harry goin' ter the Medi-Wing."
Buffy shuddered, remembering the hospital room very well. All that cleanliness and white, not to mention she was afraid of hospitals. "Oh, it was nothing. Just your average Buffy fun. Elvis will explain everything tonight, at the meeting."
"Elvis?" Hagrid asked, confused at her words.
"Dumbledore," she explained, motioning towards the grandfatherly looking man.
"Oh."
(Later that evening: 7:50)
Sirius arrived ten minutes until 8:00. He looked around expectedly, glad when he saw Miss Summers talking to the big giant, Hagrid. He made a detour to the Professors table, and stopped to talk to Harry. Putting a hand on his godsons shoulder, he smiled at him in concern.
"How are you feeling, Harry?" He asked.
"I'm fine, Sirius. A little tired, but fine." Harry answered, glancing at him.
"Okay, if you're sure," Sirius leaned closer. "You, Ron, and Hermione meet me here at 11:30, okay?" He whispered. Harry nodded.
Sirius smiled at the Gryffindor table and went to the Professors table. Spying an empty seat next to Miss Summers, he casually walked up to it and sat down.
Buffy heard someone settle down into the seat next to her and looked over. Her heart skipped a beat when she saw who it was. He smiled softly at her, and Buffy almost melted into a gooey mess of Slayer. Wow!
"Hello, Miss Summers," Sirius said to her.
"Buffy," she replied distractedly, still thinking about the gooey her.
"Pardon?"
"Call me Buffy."
"Buffy," he tested it out. He liked the sound of her name, unusual or not.
Buffy liked the way her said it. She just stared at him, and he at her. Buffy loved his eyes, the dark green with the halo of lighter green around the dark. They were gorgeous, and looked great with his hair, which looked kind of like Xander's in High School, except messier and more… sophisticated. Sexier. Wow.
Sirius pulled his eyes away from Miss Sum- Buffy's as Minerva included him in the conversation between her and Albus. His attention wasn't entirely on the topic of choice, though. He kept having to resist the temptation of turning back to Buffy and carrying on a discussion with her, or just to look at her would have been great. There was just something about her that tugged at his senses, and made his heart beat faster just thinking about her. Sirius knew it was crazy, he didn't know anything about her! But he didn't care. All he wanted to do was hold her, comfort her, and kiss away the pain he saw lurking in her eyes. It was insane, he knew, but he wanted to learn every thing there was to know about Buffy Summers.
It was 8:30, and Buffy scanned the Great Hall when Hagrid got distracted by the tiny Professor Flitwick, who had asked him what he was teaching in Care of Magical Creatures this year. She spotted Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger at one table, and when they suddenly looked at her, she smiled crookedly at them, and they quickly looked away. She looked over the other students, and when she spotted him, she stopped. The blonde haired, silver eyed, smirking boy, whose name she learned was Draco Malfoy. Fitting. Buffy could feel something in him, kind of like what she felt in Harry, except better hidden, and what she knew she felt in Sirius Black, except not as better hidden. It was pain and sadness. Buffy could relate to that. Maybe that's why she took an instant liking to all three of them.
Buffy could suddenly feel something else, somewhere in the Great Hall. It was so strong she was swept away in the current of it. Despair and fear and self-loathing consumed her. The feeling was so deep that she had to close her eyes so she wouldn't start crying. She knew that she couldn't live with that feeling, so she reached deep inside herself and used her Slayer powers to keep the other person's feelings at bay. When they were to a minimum, she finally opened her eyes with a gasp, breathing heavily.
She quickly looked around to see if anyone had noticed. None of the students did. But two professors did. One was Dumbledore, who was looking at her with a weird expression on his face, and Sirius, who looked concerned.
"Are you okay?" He asked, facing her.
"Yeah," was all she said. Luckily he knew not to push. Buffy looked to see if any students had jus arrived. She didn't feel it coming from the kids, though. So she looked at the Professors table and saw him. Professor Severus Snape. The feelings were coming from him.
'Oh, great,' she thought. She sighed.
(9:06 P.M.: Staff Room)
It was 9:06, and all of the Professors were in the staff room. Professor Snape was sitting in an armchair next to the roaring fire, Professor McGonagall was sitting in the other armchair close by, Professor Dumbledore was sitting in another armchair at the front of the room, Hagrid was standing next to Buffy, who was sitting on the sofa with Sirius and Professor Flitwick. Madame Hooch, whom Buffy had just met, was sitting across from those three on another sofa, next to Madame Pomfrey and Professor Sprout. Professor Binns, the history teacher (who was also a ghost), had even come to the staff meeting. Professor Vector and Professor Sinistra were sharing a couch next to Madame Hooch, Madam Pomfrey, and Professor Sprout. The only one missing was Trelawny. Buffy heard she was Divinations teacher. She shifted impatiently, anxious to get the meeting started and done with. Dumbledore had asked her if it was alright if she told everyone that she was the Slayer and the real reason she was there. She had agreed, albeit reluctantly.
Albus stood up. Everyone went silent.
Thanks for reading, and don't forget to review!!!
DevilsTears