Never the Same

Chapter 10 – For all eternity.

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, possible mild sexual interactions, etc. If you can watch BTVS/AtS and read HP, I doubt you'll have any problem with this story.

TIMELINE: Sequel to "Out of the Blue" and "Red Horizon" (Part 3 in the series), and begin where we left in "Red Horizon" chapter 39, and a bit before BTVS season 7, though it's almost completely AU, with many changes from the real plot.

SUMMARY: BTVS/HP crossover. Sequel to RH. "You can run but you can't hide, evil finds you everywhere. Peace and quiet can no one provide, who said life was ever fair?" Starting over is something that definitely falls into the 'easier said than done'-category. Buffy and Remus are doing their best to move on, and get used to the changes and the new turn their life has taken, but it's not easy...especially not when living on a Hellmouth.

CENTRAL PAIRING: Buffy/Remus

OTHER PAIRINGS: Willow/Tara, Xander/Anya

Special Thanks to: My Beta – CharmedChick

About a year later

Sunnydale, June 22, 2004

"How do I look?" Buffy spun around, showing her wedding dress off for her (girl)friends. Several weeks after the whole episode with the First, after the Potentials-gone-Slayers had been relocated to other cities, the Scoobies, Buffy and Remus had slowly started to begin their friendship anew, piece by piece. It was hard work, and things were stilltense between them sometimes, but it was getting better. Even though they all knew their friendship could never go back to the way it once had been, and that the closeness they once had would never be found, they had found a common ground. And today, everything was perfect. Everyone was present for what was probably the most important day for Buffy to date; Scoobies, Potentials-turned-Slayers, the Angel-investigation-now-working-in-Wolfram-and-Heart-team...you name it.

Tara smiled at her. "You look fabulous," she said, giving her a careful hug, as to not wrinkle the dress.

"I still can't believe you're getting married," Joyce said with a soft smile.

"And I still can't believe you accepted his proposal - I mean, please! We were in the middle of an apocalypse." Faith grinned.

Buffy shrugged, grinning, as she lifted a hand to her hair, which fell in soft curls around her shoulders. "Oh, well. You know me- never liked the good ol' traditional."

"Well, this looks pretty traditional to me," Willow said, looking around the living room on Revello Drive, currently dressed in flowers and white silk. On a glass table by the corner a three tiered wedding cake was standing, and all along the floor, presents in all forms and colors were wrapped up. "Garden wedding...friends and family...the nervous bride..."

"I just want everything to be perfect..." Buffy jumped up and down, trying desperately to peek out through the closed curtains. "Are Angel and Spike out there?"

"Yes," Anya stepped inside. "Spike looks ridiculous in a suit." She looked over at Illyria who was inspecting the two plastic figures on the cake. "And I won't even mention the blue-bird in her dress."

Illyria looked up, and cocked her head to the side. "This is meaningless. I do not understand the beauty of this stupid tradition."

"That's great," Faith said, clapping Illyria on the shoulder. "You will soon." She pulled up a handkerchief from her pocket and stretched it out towards the blue-haired, pink-dressed former demon-king who just stared at the wrinkled object with her large ice-blue eyes. "Hankie?"

Willow snickered.

Suddenly, before anyone had time to react, demons and vamps crashed through their windows. Joyce let out a shriek and Willow immediately launched an energy ball into her hand. Buffy looked around desperately in search for her wand, without any luck.

"Oh, crap," she muttered, and proceeded to land a kick towards one of the vampires...only to land flat on her back. "Stupid dress," she moaned, and quickly ripped the dress' skirt apart, and forced herself up. Several minutes later, they'd all been defeated...and Buffy broke down.

"WHY CAN'T I JUST HAVE ONE SINGLE NORMAL DAY IN MY ABNORMAL STUPID EXISTENCE!" She yelled, looking up at the ceiling which was dripping in green demonic slime. "CAN YOU ANSWER THAT? HUH! WHOEVER'S UP THERE AND IS SUPPOSED TO BE ALMIGHTY, WHY CAN'T YOU JUST...just..." she sank down to the floor. "Stupid Powers That Be..."

That's when the cavalry came rushing in.

"Is everyone a-alright?" Giles asked, looking around in the demolished living room. "Dear God..."

Buffy stared helplessly around the living-room. From the smashed cake and presents, to her ripped and dirty dress...and to her soon-to-be-legally-wedded-husband who'd just stepped inside. "Buffy, are you okay?"

Buffy looked up, and for several seconds, she just stared at him, seemingly defeated...until her eyes widened and she jumped up. "YOU SAW MY DRESS! YOU SAW MY DRESS! IT MEANS BAD LUCK! YOU. SAW. MY. DRESS!"

"Eh...don't kick me for saying this, B, but...it's not much of a dress anymore," Faith said with a pointed look at her not-so-beautiful-white-dress.

Buffy buried her head in her hands.

"It's okay, Buffy," Remus said, kneeling down beside her. "We can fix this with magic. It will just take a sec - "

" -NO!" Buffy looked up. "No magic! I just want to be normal just for once in my life! It's my wedding damnit! I can't handle this!" She stood up and started to pace around the room, ranting. "This entire wedding is a bad idea...I should have known it wouldn't ever work...I should have known it was too much to ask...it's stupid...it's ridiculous...I'm ridiculous."

She looked up at the wide-eyed Scoobies. "The wedding. Is. Off!" She said through gritted teeth, and then stormed out of the door, which fell off its hinges as she tried to slam it closed.

Spike placed a hand on a gawking Remus' shoulder. "I think she dumped you, mate."

Angel grinned widely.

Buffy was roaming the streets of Sunnydale, tears streaming down her face.

'Why can't I just be normal...? My life sucks...'

Suddenly a vamp jumped out, and as Buffy turned her attention towards it, she felt something inside her snap, and she launched herself upon the vamp, lashing out all her anger at the creature of the night.

"This. Is. All. Your. Fault!" She yelled, between the punches. "I. Hate. You. And. Your. Friends. You. Make. My. Life. A. Living. Hell!" She gave the vamp a last punch, before breaking its neck, effectively dusting the vamp. She turned around, breathing heavily, already feeling much better...and froze in her step as she regarded the many demons and vamp which were surrounding her.

"So do you," another vampire sneered, and Buffy found herself backing up, looking for means to escape. She knew it would be idiotic to take on the entire group by herself.

"We don't like how complicated you've made our lives, Slayer," a demon growled.

Buffy gulped.

"She didn't mean it!" Willow fretted, wringing her hands as she gave Remus a desperate look. "I'm sure she'll be back."

Remus just stared straight a head of him, face pale, not even noticing Willow's input. Buffy's word were echoing in his head: The wedding is off! The wedding is off!

"Remus?"

"Huh?" Remus finally looked up, eyes glazed over, and met the concerned looks of Joyce and the Scoobies, minus Spike who was smirking, Illyria who looked indifferent, and Angel who looked smug.

"Go after her," Joyce probed him. "We'll get everything fixed right back up so the wedding can proceed. She didn't mean it- she wasn't serious."

Angel snorted. "She sounded pretty serious to me," he said with a large grin. Remus buried his head in his hands. Tara gave the ensouled vampire a glare, before turning a soft look to Remus' slumped form. "Joyce is right. She didn't mean it. Go after her."

"Yeah," Faith nodded. "We all know you're meant to be- I mean, you've both stuck around each other this far, and that's a miracle in itself. It must mean something, right?"

Xander gave Faith a glare. "Not helping."

Faith stuck out her tongue as Remus looked up and took a deep breath. "You're right. I'm overreacting. She was overreacting. I'll go after her," he got up from his chair and started to walk towards the door, new determination shining in his eyes.

"You go wolf-boy!" Faith hollered after him. The door slammed shut.

"Our lives were just fine before," a vampire snarled, at Buffy, who was slowly backing up. "But now the world isfull ofSlayers who make our lives a living. Hell."

"And how is that my fault?" Buffy said, trying to buy time. "And you're not technically living you know. And I was under the impression you guys liked hell anyway."

Some demons growled menacingly low down their throats.

"Funny," the vampire who had spoken first spat. "This is all your fault. If you hadn't come back to our world, the First evil wouldn't have found it necessary to settle, and then all these Slayers wouldn't have been made, and we could all have just kept going on like before, with one slayer, and several of our kind."

"Well, I found that a little bit unfair," Buffy shrugged. "We were just evening the odds out a bit."

The vampire kept talking, ignoring Buffy's input. "But you came and turned the balance up and down. Turned around the natural order of things. And we don't like that. Do we, boys?" he asked the rest of the group, who all let out several different sounds in agreement. Buffy found herself backed up against a wall. The first kick was thrown. And another. Buffy found herself clearly outnumbered, and she swore. She'd taken out several already, but too many remained...and if it was one thing that was bad with the whole 'the-world-is-now-full-of-Slayer-gig', it was that she'd been slacking down in her training, as there were so many others who could help her along with the job. Now she was paying the price for that neglect. Silently, she swore to herself that if she got out of this mess alive, she'd never let that happen again. That was the last thought she had before everything went black.

Remus knew he was coming closer to Buffy- he could sense it. He turned around the corner- and his eyes widened in shock as he got sight of Buffy falling to the ground, unconscious, surrounded by demons and vampires.

His eyes flashing amber, he pulled out his wand and yelled a spell that filled the alley in a bright light, and he closed his eyes against the flash. As he opened them again, he saw several piles of ashes were the vampires had been, and the demons were staring dumbly, back and forth between Buffy's slumped form, the smoking ash-piles and himself. Remus held out his palm and a large ball of flames started to form into it, which he hurled at the nearest demon who was flayed to death, going up in flames with an anguished scream. The rest of the demons seemed to wake up from their various states of shock and scattered, running for their lives. Remus barely noticed this- neither did he pay any attention or mind to how easy it had been to use his wandless- seemingly rather deadly- magic, even though it used to drain all his resources when used in the past- he only had eyes for his hopefully, soonto be wife.

"Buffy?" He quickly rushed forwards and put Buffy in his lap, pulling out his wand again as he looked over the damage that had been made. He quickly mumbled a basic healing charm that fixed the worst of the damage made, and Buffy's eyes fluttered open. Remus smiled, relieved.

"Hey you," Buffy said weakly, trying to sit up. "Ouch."

"Hey yourself. Don't ever scare me like that."

Buffy tried to grin, but it came out more like a grimace. "I'll try, but no promises." Suddenly, she got sight of the still smoking pile of ashes around them and she raised her eyebrows. "And what happened to the vamps?" She got sight of the smoking- and very badly smelling- demon corpse. "And the demons?"

Remus flushed, scratching his neck in a mixture of embarrassment and confusion. "Well...eh...I got kind of mad?" He shrugged. "And I guess the werewolf side of me took over? You know, instincts? Protect the ones you love and what not?" Then he frowned. "And I think my powers have grown. Somehow. Someway. Which is cool. And odd. But not entirely unwelcome."

Buffy grinned. "You're my hero." Her smile faded, as she accepted her own wand from Remus' who'd summoned it from one of the alley's more dark corners, and started to heal herself, fixing what hadn't been fixed with Remus' spell. "And I'm so sorry I canceled our wedding. I totally didn't mean it! You know that! Right?"

"Right," Remus agreed, even though he'd been far from certain.

"I was just so tired of things never going our way," Buffy continued slowly. "Evil undead attacking from every direction. And now it seems as if they'll come even more often as they hold quite a grudge because of the whole-making-all-the-potentials-into-Slayers-deal. I knew that would come back and bite us in the ass. I knew it was too good to be true. Of course evil will retaliate by becoming even more evil so the very tired and occasionally very crankySlayer won't ever get the break she wants and needs."

Remus chuckled as Buffy kept ranting on and on about how it was never fair and how she was so going to kick evil's ass to hell and back for ruining her wedding day.

"- And now the wedding will have to be postponed because I see no joy in going back to a trashed home and cake and presents and a priest that must be freaking out... God, I hate this. Planning the wedding was a lot of work- and now I have to do it all over again. Not that I can understand why." She pouted. "I hate being all planned and organized. It never works anyway."

Remus grinned and then suddenly got a weird gleam in his eyes, and he gave a highly confused Buffy a conspiratorial grin, before leaning over and whispering something in her ear. Buffy's eyes widened and she stared at him in a mixture of disbelief, shock and delight.

"We can't possibly do that...can we?"

Remus just grinned in answer, and slowly, a grin started to form on Buffy's face too.

"Always a marauder, huh?" She said, chuckling at Remus who stood up and gave her a mock-bow, before pulling her to her feet and apparating away together with a slight 'POP'.

"So...cake repaired," Willow said brightly and gestured at the wedding cake which was now standing up again, albeit unsteadily- only to have her shoulders slump as the cake seemed to collapse upon itself and fall to the floor with a smack. "Crap."

Xander took up a notebook from his pocket and put an 'x' on it with a pencil. "Cake lost- check. Forty-five out of fifty presents ruined beyond repair- check. A priest that is currently cowering in fear in the bathroom and is praying by the toilet seat - check."

Joyce gave him a disapproving glance. "That is unfortunately not helping. Any sign of them yet?"

"No," Tara said, moving away from her place by the window where she had been on the look.out for a returning Buffy and Remus.

"Stupid dress," Illyria grumbled, where she was standing by the wall, angrily pulling the bow she had in her hair, desperately trying to get rid of it- or better yet- rip it to shreds. "Stupid tradition. Although I did enjoy the part where the demons came in. It reminded me of the ceremonies at home."

"Uhh...that's great, Illyria," Giles said, rubbing his face tiredly "Although no one else did. Enjoy it, I mean."

"Except me," Spike spoke up. "And me," Angel added.

Anya spoke up. "I don't think they're coming," she said bluntly.

"Anya!" Xander hissed.

"What?" Anya whined. "You're all thinking it! They're not coming. They blew off their own wedding." She frowned and turned to Xander. "If you even think about doing that to me when we tie the knot, just know I will make sure your little Xander can never come out and play again."

The room's occupants turned a sickly shade of green, while Xander looked like he was ready to puke, and he nodded, swallowing. "I'll remember that," he said shakily.

Anya grinned. "Great!" She clapped their hands together. "Now, since the wedding is apparently off, let's go and have lots and lots of orgasms!" She grabbed Xander by the hand and dragged him out of the door, waving meekly to the remaining Scoobies, who, if possible, had turned even greener.

"Too much information," Tara stuttered.

"I second that notion," Willow said.

"Uhh..." A short Potential-turned-Slayer around the age of nine gave them all confused looks. "What are orgasms?"

Silence.

Finally, Kennedy broke it by patting the girl on the head and speaking up. "We'll tell you when you're older."

Las Vegas, specific location unknown

Far away, completely unaware of the dilemma of having to give a girl 'the talk', Buffy and Remus were getting ready to say their final vows to each other, things suchas demons and evil and anything remotely abnormal even further away from their minds. They only had eyes for each other.

"I, Buffy Anne Summers, take thee, Remus John Lupin, to be my lawfully wedded husband, secure in the knowledge that you will be my constant friend, my partner, and my one true love and soul mate. On this special day, I give to you in the presence of God and all those in attendance, both in spirit and body, my sacred promise to stay by your side as your faithful wife, in sickness and in health, in joy and in sorrow, through the good times and the bad. I promise to love you without reservation, comfort you in times of distress, encourage you and support you, laugh with you and cry with you, grow with you in mind and spirit, always be open and honest with you, and cherish you for as long as we both shall live and beyond, in this world and the next," Buffy said softly, never once breaking eye contact with Remus, afraid that if she did, the moment would somehow be broken- this was what she'd been waiting for- dreaming of- ever since his proposal and long before that. They were taking the first steps to becoming a family.

"I, Remus John Lupin, take thee, Buffy Anne Summers, to be my lawfully wedded wife, secure in the knowledge that you will be my constant friend, my partner, and my one true love and soul mate. On this special day, I give to you in the presence of God and all those in attendance, both in spirit and body, my sacred promise to stay by your side as your faithful husband, in sickness and in health, in joy and in sorrow, through the good times and the bad. I promise to love you without reservation, comfort you in times of distress, encourage you and support you, laugh with you and cry with you, grow with you in mind and spirit, always be open and honest with you, and cherish you for as long as we both shall live and beyond, in this world and the next," Remus repeated, not daring to believe that he was actuallygoing to marry- no- wasmarrying -Buffy. They had both thought about making their own vows, but in the end decided to go with the traditional stuff- with some small adds and changes- nothing they could possibly have come up with would have been even close to being able to describe their feelings for each other.

He'd never even dared to dream about it, knowing all too well how whenever life seemed perfect or close to perfect, bad things tended to happen. But now it was coming to pass. It was almost too good to be true, and Remus swore silently to himself that he would never let anything come between them. She was the love of his life. And he was hers. They were meant to be. For all eternity. He barely even registered the celebrant talking, and as he put the ring on Buffy's finger, the words he was to say came out mechanically, so focused on his own thoughts and love for Buffy.

"With this ring I thee wed. Wear it as a symbol of our love and commitment."

The celebrant's words were buzzing in Buffy's ears as she stared lovingly into Remus' shining, amber eyes.

"May this ring be blessed so that she who gives it and he who wears it may abide in peace, and continue in love until life's end."

Buffy placed the ring on Remus' finger without once looking down, and she repeated the vow, knowing that this was it. She was soon married. Within a few seconds, she would be Remus' wife. It was a scary. Overwhelming. And yet so. Bloody. Right. Oops...maybe she shouldn't even think bad words at the moment...ah, what the hell! Scratch that! The Powers That Be or God or whoever or whatever ruled up there owed her some leeway. No. A lot of leeway. They owed her. Big time. And she already knew she and Remus were meant to be. She didn't need a ring on her finger to know that. Even though it was a very nice, and very welcomed added bonus to that whole destined-to-be-soul mates-stuff.

"With this ring I thee wed. Wear it as a symbol of our love and commitment."

The Celebrant grinned widely as he clapped his hands together.

"May you be prepared to continue to give, be able to forgive and experience more and more joy with each passing day, with each passing year. Remus and Buffy, you are now beginning your married life together, and I - we - hope that you may have loving assistance from your family, the constant support of friends, and a long life with good health and everlasting love. In so much as you have consented to live forever together in wedlock, and have witnessed the same before this company, having given and pledged their troth, each to the other, and having declared same by the giving and receiving of a ring, I pronounce that they are husband and wife. You may now seal the promises you have made with each other with a kiss."

Remus and Buffy's lips met, and all their feelings for each other were passed down in that kiss, and in their mind's eye, they could almost see the other's soul and heart.

"I love you," Buffy whispered, teary eyed. "And I you," Remus said hoarsely, kissing her again. And again. And again.

A/N: Awww! They eloped! They're married! One chapter and one epiloge to go until next story...

/Ida