Oh God, Buffy thought. All I wanted was to ponder my life in silence. How did I end up agreeing to take care of Junior Brit?
Meet the Parents
They walked to Buffy's house in silence, and ten minutes seemed to stretch into an eternity. Where is the evil dead when you need them? Buffy wondered. A little ass kicking might be able to break the awkward silence.
Harry glanced nervously at Buffy several times on the way home. Her face alternated between thoughtfulness and scowling. Harry wondered if the scowling part had anything to do with him. He gulped, remembering the bruise forming on his neck. If Ron could see Harry now, he'd be rolling on the floor laughing. Harry Potter, defeater of Lord Voldemort, scared of a little girl? No, not a little girl, Harry reminded himself. He could sense power coming off of her, dark but not evil, and incredibly strong. He began wondering about this "slayer." Her description of her calling had not been that enlightening.
Harry had been so wrapped up in his thoughts that he hadn't even realized that he was now standing in front of a house, 1630 Revello Drive to be exact. He wasn't sure why, but the sight of the solid, friendly house comforted him. No, he thought, this isn't just a house, it's a home.
Buffy stuck her key in the lock, only to find that the door was already opened. "God forbid we ever lock a door" Buffy grumbled. "But I guess that would make it too hard for every demon in Sunnydale to sneak in and attempt to kill us all." Harry found himself laughing at the slayer's playful grousing. Buffy turned around and smiled. That was the first time she had heard a genuine laugh since she'd been resurrected. Everyone had been so concerned on getting everything back to normal that it had been anything but normal.
Buffy opened the door with a flourish. "Ta-da!" she said dryly. "And just so that we're clear, the first rule of the slayerettes club is- you do not talk about the slayerettes club." Buffy smiled, but Harry just looked confused.
"Erm, alright" Harry responded, the pop culture reference lost on him.
Buffy led him through the foyer, where he found a site not unlike that of the Gryffindor common room. Of course, the Gryffindor common room didn't have quite so much weaponry he added.
Four pairs of eyes were suddenly focusing on Harry, sending silent questions to Buffy. It wasn't often that the tight knit group met new people worthy enough of being brought to Buffy's house. Was he an actual good guy or a baddie that Buffy had brought in for questioning?
Buffy didn't keep them waiting for answers. She cleared her throat. "Guys, I'd like you to meet Harry Potter. He's the member of some weird Ministry of Magic thingy in England and I offered to let him stay with us for a little while." The four others nodded to Harry politely. "This is Willow Rosenburg, she's a witch too!" Buffy said, motioning towards a pretty redheaded woman who waved in response. A witch, Harry thought, cataloguing the information in his mind. "Xander Harris." Harry leaned in to shake hands with a solid, dark haired man who eyed him a little bit suspiciously. "Anya" Buffy jerked her thumb at a blonde woman, who gave a bright, fake smile and stuck out her hand. "And finally, Dawn, my little sister."
A girl with long brown hair flashed Buffy a sour look before saying to Harry, "Hi! I'm Dawn. I hope my sister isn't bossing you around, or like trying to kill you or something. 'Cause that'd be unfortunate." Dawn flicked her hair and went back to whittling a stake.
"Yep" said Buffy. "The gang's all here" she finished lamely. Several of the people on the couch shifted uncomfortably. Buffy groaned inwardly, realizing her mistake. "The Gang" had never been more fractured, and everyone was definitely not here. Tara had broken up with Willow and moved out only a couple of days ago and Giles had moved back to England the same night. The old Buffy would have wanted to kick herself for making such a slipup. But this new Buffy actually found a sort of malicious pleasure in making Willow uncomfortable. Maybe now that Tara dumped your sorry ass, you might feel a tenth of the pain you've caused me. Nobody talked about it, but everybody knew what had happened. Willow had tried to make Buffy forget about Heaven, rape her memory like she did Tara's. It hurt so much, Buffy thought. At least when she resurrected me, she had been trying to do the right thing. But trying to make me forget what she had stolen…how could my best friend ever do that to me, be that selfish? Whoops, there she went again. She had to remind herself not to lapse into so many all-about-Buffy pity parties. When you're the only guest at your own party, it gets kind of lonely.
Anya was the only one who didn't appear uncomfortable. "Oh don't worry about them" she told Harry. "Everyone's feeling all abandoned, especially Willow, since her girlfriend dumped her. I recommended that we all try some group therapy, but nobody ever listens to me. I've heard that sharing your experiences does wonders for your wellbeing."
"Anya!" Xander cried. "How could you say something that insensitive?" Willow looked as if she'd been slapped. She stood up abruptly and left the room. "I think you should go apologize to her" Xander told Anya, who stalked off muttering something about tightwads, vengeance and a prescription for Zoloft.
"Welcome to our happy little family," Dawn sniffed ironically. Buffy just sighed dismissively.
Harry said nothing. He had never felt so persistently uncomfortable and awkward as he had in the short time he had known Buffy. He suddenly wished that he was doing something fun with Ron and Hermione, rather than hanging out with these odd, distant people.
"Wait," Xander said. "Did you say that Giles Jr. is sleeping here?" he asked, making an expansive gesture.
"I believe I did." Buffy responded.
"Don't you think that it's a little crowded?" Xander shot Harry another slightly suspicious look. Xander leaned in, disregarding Harry and asked "I mean, how can you be so sure that he isn't evil? Or a watcher" he added darkly.
"Hello. Standing right here" Harry added.
"Well, I found out the hard way that he wasn't a watcher. And I can't be sure about that first part" she replied. "I barely know him. But I don't think Harry's evil and I do think that an ally, especially one with connections in high places is a good thing." Harry shot her a grateful look. It was strange though. In the wizarding world, he had grown so used to being fawned over as the famous Harry Potter. But here, he was just a bureaucrat. No, an ally he thought, his face splitting into a grin.
