CHAPTER SEVEN: RELAXATION

Buffy could barely keep herself still as she took in the very familiar room that was her grandfather's office. Even from her first visit to the office, she'd always been extremely fascinated by everything that the room held. It was almost like a treasure trove, though some of the items inside, she would never understand why her grandfather needed, or wanted, such odd items. She held back a grin when her eyes lit upon a muggle baseball cap, sporting a Red Sox design. She stood and walked to the other side of the room, towards the gold pedestal where Fawkes the Phoenix usually stood, saddened that the bright red and gold bird wasn't in his usual spot.

She kept moving until she was up closer to some of the paintings of the old Headmasters. When she'd first moved to LA to live with her aunt, she'd been fascinated by the fact that the portraits hadn't moved, though now she knew that everything about the world she was in now would be considered odd by her two best friends. Her Watcher, on the other hand, would have been walking around the office in complete fascination.

The door opened, and Buffy spun, her eyes widening and a grin coming to her face. She ran towards the newcomer and practically jumped into his arms, hugging him tightly.

"I missed you," she whispered into his dark robes.

Her grandfather watched the display with amused eyes, chuckling as he watched the most sullen of the Hogwarts teachers return the hug. While Severus Snape didn't return the embrace so forcefully as it had been given, that didn't mean that the affection wasn't there. Dumbledore quietly turned and slipped out the door, giving them time to have a private reunion. He knew that very few people would ever understand Severus Snape, or even attempt to try to understand him. His granddaughter was one of the few, and he was always glad to see the two of them interact with each other. Buffy always seemed to be able to pull Severus out of his shell, and Severus seemed to ground Buffy in reality a little more.

Buffy pulled apart and looked up at her 'Uncle'. She'd always found him to be completely fascinating, and she'd latched on to him at the tender age of six. She'd only seen him a handful of times between their first meeting, and when she was accepted to Hogwarts, mainly because it would have alerted people to the truth about Severus Snape. He was no Death-Eater, and his loyalty lay with Dumbledore. If any of Voldemort's followers had discovered that elusive fact, Snape would have been a dead man.

"You haven't changed a bit," she commented, taking in the black robes, the untidy hair and the general doom-and-gloom look to him. Perhaps that was why she'd been so drawn to Angel. The brooding vampire had reminded her of her surrogate uncle, and she'd found him easy to talk to.

"You however, certainly have," Severus replied. "What happened to your accent?"

Buffy rolled her eyes. "Let's just say that the girls at my old school were crueller than you on your worst day. It was either change to be accepted, or stay as I was and be a complete loner."

"So, you changed to follow the crowd?" Severus asked disapprovingly. "I thought I'd taught you better than that, my dear girl."

"Oh please Uncle Sev, the brooding look doesn't suit me at all," she teased. "Believe me, I tried."

"You look better than the last time I saw you," Severus said quietly.

Buffy sighed, wishing that the light-hearted mood hadn't disappeared so quickly. She knew that her uncle couldn't keep it up for too long though.

"Seeing as the last time you saw me was when I was being humiliated by the Wizengamot, I'd kinda hope I look better," Buffy replied, her tone light, though Severus could see that her eyes shone with a hint of anger.

"You're alright though, aren't you?" the Potions Professor questioned. "I honestly can't imagine you trying to adapt to the muggle world. You were always very much a true witch."

"It was hard," Buffy answered honestly. "Really, really, really, really hard. Really."

"Really?" Severus jibed.

Buffy's lips quirked into a grin, and Severus responded with a smile so fleeting that only the well-trained eye could catch it.

"It got better though. As soon as I managed to imitate a Californian accent well enough, I was pretty much accepted. Plus with the whole Slayer thing, I wasn't a bad gymnast. I was on the cheer-leading squad for a while," Buffy said, grinning at the memory of her first experience in a muggle school.

"You, a cheerleader?" Severus asked with a smirk.

"What about you? How've you been?" Buffy asked,

Severus' smile vanished instantaneously, and the light in his eyes vanished. Buffy reached across and took hold of one of his hands, squeezing it gently.

"I know that Voldemort's back," she whispered softly. "Which means that Papa D probably wants you to play secret agent man again."

Severus nodded, looking down, completely ashamed of the fact that his actions at a younger age had basically ruined his entire life. He'd been lucky to renounce the way of the Death-Eaters before Voldemort's 'defeat', as it had meant he hadn't been locked in Azkaban for the rest of his miserable life.

"Isn't there any way that you can just not go back?" Buffy asked.

"If there is, I haven't thought of it," Severus admitted. "At the moment, I suppose I just have to play humble servant. Dumbledore's been giving me false information to feed to the Dark Lord, so that if he probes my mind, he will see Dumbledore giving me the information that I am then passing on to him."

Buffy nodded and tugged her uncle into another hug, gentler than the first, and trying to convey comfort. When they finally pulled apart, Severus placed a gentle kiss on his niece's forehead.

"You're wise beyond your years, Phoenix," Severus said with the barest of smiles.

"I had good role models," she replied pointedly, enjoying the slight pink tinge that came to her uncle's cheeks. She stood on her tiptoes to brush a kiss to his red cheek before moving to take a seat, hearing footsteps coming towards the room. Before Severus could ask her why's she'd sat herself down, the door opened, Professors Dumbledore and McGonagall entering the room.

McGonagall gasped in shock, a smile coming to her face. "Miss Summers. We thought never to see you here again."

"Good to see you again, Professor," Buffy replied with a slight grin.

"Perhaps we should all sit," Dumbledore suggested.

They quickly sat and waited for an explanation from the Headmaster as to why they were here.

"Buffy has been reinstated, both back into the wizarding world, and into Hogwarts as well," Dumbledore began. "One of Buffy's friends, a Miss Rosenberg, discovered a loophole in the contract and conditions of Buffy's exile. When we presented these new developments to the Wizengamot they had no choice but to…grudgingly…allow Buffy to return."

"A loophole?" Severus repeated. "There aren't loopholes in wizarding contracts Professor."

"Surely you remember that your surrogate niece always did have a penchant for breaking the rules," Professor McGonagall reminded him.

"And darn proud of it," Buffy added with a grin.

Dumbledore chuckled slightly before trying to steer the conversation towards more serious matters.

"Buffy and I were talking earlier, and she's agreed to join the Order of the Phoenix," Dumbledore continued.

Severus turned sharp eyes towards the Headmaster. "She isn't of age!" he cried, fiercely protective of the young girl who possibly the only child he'd ever been able to stand being near for more than an hour or so.

"I turn seventeen next month Uncle Sev," Buffy reminded him. "Plus I'm the Slayer. Not to blow my own horn, but I kinda think I'll make a pretty good member."

"Won't You-Know-Who be suspicious to see Miss Summers back in the wizarding world after being exiled?" McGonagall asked. "Surely he'd come after her, even if it was just to spite us."

"He's already come after me," Buffy replied. "Back in Sunnydale. He asked me to join him. He said I had a week to think about it. And he threatened mom and Frank."

"And I assure you that they are well protected," Dumbledore reminded her gently.

Buffy nodded, sighing in frustration.

"I've organised a meeting of the Order of the Phoenix to be held this weekend," Dumbledore continued. "If you are able to reorganise any plans you've already made, I'd be most appreciative."

"Of course Headmaster," McGonagall murmured.

"Barring being summoned by the Dark Lord, my weekend seems to be free," Severus replied, resigned to the idea of Buffy being part of the Order that had proved to be so dangerous for so many members, including Buffy's mother and stepfather.

"Then any remaining questions can be covered then," Dumbledore said. "Minerva, if you could escort Buffy up to the Gryffindor Tower. And if you could perhaps be somewhat lenient in their curfew this evening, as I believe there will be some very pleased students."

McGonagall tsked slightly at the thought of allowing rule breaking to occur, but she nodded her head and stood, waiting patiently for Buffy to follow her.

The Slayer stood and walked behind Severus's chair, ruffling his hair as she would a small child. The other two Professors bit back laughter at the scowl on the Potions Master's face as he smoothed down his hair.

"Buffy, if you would kindly refrain from doing that again, I'd be most appreciative," Snape said, the low tone he used with most of his students coming to the fore.

Buffy just turned to look at him with the pout she'd perfected at the age of six, her lower lip trembling, and her hazel green eyes wide and screaming 'pity-me'.

"Don't be mad Uncle Sev," Buffy said softly.

Severus scowled and rolled his eyes.

"That is bloody unfair," he replied, knowing that the girl was playing him like a finely tuned instrument. She flashed a smile in his direction and very nearly skipped to the door.

"I wonder when she'll ever grow up," Severus commented softly as the door closed behind Buffy and McGonagall.

"I'm afraid she already has Severus," Dumbledore replied softly. "She'll act as though she hasn't, trying to retain a modicum of her childhood, but…I'm afraid the moment she discovered Sebastian Fudge's death, and subsequent vampirism, she was no longer a child."

"Strange that I'd almost forgotten about that entirely," Severus said, a contemplative look on his face.

"Something that I'm afraid my granddaughter is unable to do," Dumbledore replied. "No, she is no child anymore. And as much as it pains me to see her in so dangerous a life, she is powerful in her own right. A strong ally to have in times such as these."

"You brought her back here to protect Potter, didn't you?" Severus asked, scowling at the thought of his least favourite student, though Neville Longbottom came in a close second. He didn't understand how Buffy and Neville could be so different, seeing as they had the same mother.

"She was one of his staunchest allies when all the fuss about the Heir of Slytherin came up," Dumbledore explained. "She would no doubt go to the ends of the earth and back again to protect him."

"But to risk her life to protect his," Severus said, feeling uncomfortable at the thought of what he was about to ask. "Are you willing to risk that?"

"No," Dumbledore replied honestly. "Buffy, however, is. I truly hope it does not come to that however. But she will protect him, I can assure you of that. And I am afraid that young Mr Potter no longer places his trust in me. And his trust in his friends is waning. I have a feeling that Buffy may be able to help him far more than the entire Order combined would ever be able to."

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Toodles.

DKG.