Disclaimer: I am not Joss, nor am I J.K. Rowlings or anything else, but me.
Author's Note: Sorry that it took so long to update!!!
Chapter 14
The following week Harry and Buffy returned to classes and everything was back to normal, or as normal as Buffy liked it. Every minute not in class or training was spent on finding out more information on Glorificus and what abilities were given to her through being the key. She was anxious for the first anti-dementor lesson to start and Harry and her chatted excitedly about the lessons and what they would be learning.
Thursday night rolled around, Harry and Buffy walked down the corridor to the History of Magic room together. Arriving they saw that it was dark, but Buffy could see fine. Professor Lupin showed up a few moments later, setting a large package case on the desk.
"What's that?" Buffy asked, she was always too curious for her own good and it usually wound up getting her into trouble.
"A boggart," Lupin replied, causing both Harry and Buffy to shudder, "I've been searching the castle for one since Tuesday and I found this one in the dungeons."
"Bet dad loved that." Buffy muttered under her breath and Lupin laughed, because Snape had indeed wanted to get rid of it, before Buffy accidently opened the cabinet or closet and found it herself.
"So," Lupin began, looking at the two students before him, "The spell that I am going to try and teach you requires highly advanced magic, well beyond the Ordinary Magic Spells. It is called the Patronus Charm."
"How does it work?" Harry asked nervously, Buffy leaned forward eagerly, wanting to learn anything that would help defend her against the dementors.
"When conjured correctly, it conjures a Patronus," Lupin said, "it is an anti-dementor, it creates a buffer between you and the dementor." he looked over his students, who seemed to be deep in thought, "The Patronus is a positive force, everything that the dementor feeds off of, but unlike a human it doesn't feel despair, so the dementor cannot feed off of it. But I must warn you, the spell may be too advanced for you guys, many great wizards have tried and failed."
"Eh!" Buffy snorted, "if I can defy a prophecy about my death, then I am sure I can do this." she hoped anyways, she was really feeling quite nervous about dealing with a boggart again, but after dealing with the dementor, she realized that it would probably turn into a dementor and she wasn't sure if she wanted it to change into a dementor or Angelus. "Right." Harry said, he was anxious about it as well, but he figured that if anyone in the school could do it, then it would be him and Buffy. Besides, Dumbledore wouldn't have sent him to learn it, if he couldn't learn to do it. "What does a Patronus look like?"
"It depends on the wizard who conjures it, it is unique to that person."
"And how do we conjure it?" Buffy asked, looking at Lupin curiously.
"With a incantation." he replied and laughed when Buffy and Harry shot him a look of no duh! "Which will only work if you are concentrating, with all your might, on a single, very happy memory." Lupin paused to give them a moment to think of their single happiest moment, before continuing. "The incantation is this, Expecto patronum!"
"Expecto partonum," Buffy muttered under her breath, trying to get the hang of it.
"Expecto partonum," Harry was muttering under his breath, trying his best to remember it.
"Concentrating hard on your happy memory?" Lupin asked and Buffy and Harry looked at him in shock, they hadn't realized they were supposed to be trying to conjure one.
"Expecto partonum!" Buffy and Harry cried together, focusing on their happy memory, small whisps of silver cloud puffed out of the end of their wands.
"Did you see that?" Buffy cried in happiness.
"Very good," Lupin said, "Harry, why don't you try it first?" Lupin was unsure of what the boggart would turn into when confronting the slayer, but he wasn't sure what to hope for either, because either way, Snape would kill him. Harry nodded slowly, stealing himself and his memory, as Lupin let the boggart out, which immediately shifted into a dementor.
"Expecto partonum!" Harry cried, but he could feel the classroom falling away, "Expecto partonum! Expecto partonum!" he tried again.
"Harry!" Lupin cried, Harry struggled to awarness, realizing that he was lying flat on his back on the floor. The classroom lamps were alight again. He didn't have to ask what had happened.
"Here." Lupin said, handing him a chocolate frog and then looking to Buffy, "Ready?" Buffy nodded and Harry stepped back and to the side, chewing on his frog, as Lupin raised the lid and waited with baited breath to see what it would turn into. A dementor stepped out of the bag and Buffy pushed aside the memories and instead focused on her one happy on!
"Expecto partonum!" she cried, but it did nothing, concentrating harder, like Giles had taught her, she tried again, "Expecto partonum!" this time a sleek, black leopard appeared, padding towards the dementor, before turning around and settling down at Buffy's feet, between Buffy and the dementor.
Lupin stood in shock as he witnessed Buffy preform a spell that she should not have been able to do. Realizing that as the slayer she had years of practicing concentration and the such, he realized that her training probably helped her. Repelling the boggart into the case again, he turned to appraise the slayer.
"Very good!" he said, handing her a chocolate frog.
"Bloody brilliant!" Harry said, all the more encouraged now that he had seen someone else preform it, he was willing to try with more zealous. Buffy shifted from foot to foot, a little uncomfortable with all the attention, but she was so damned proud that she wanted nothing more than to go running, screaming down the halls in joy, but she doubted that Dumbledore would appreciate that in any way.
"See," Buffy said flippantly, "never say never."
"Harry." Lupin said, before letting the boggart out, "Perhaps you should chose a different memory." Harry nodded thinking of learning that he would never have to go live with the Dursley's again. Lupin lifted the lid and the dementor sprung out.
"Expecto partonum!" Harry cried out, concentrating on holding onto his memory and not the voices of his father and mother, trying to save him from Voldemort. "EXPECTO PARTONUM!" he could still hear the voices, but they were fading and the room was still present. A silver cloud exploded from Harry's wand, standing between Harry and the dementor, Lupin immediately put the boggart back into the case.
"Very good!" he said, clearly impressed with his two students.
"Sir?" Harry asked, "Why did Buffy's come out looking like an animal, and my didn't?"
"Oh!" Buffy said, "I know this one," Lupin looked at her in amusement, nodding his head in her direction, "Well, it's like this. Since I'm the slayer, I have to learn all these concentration techniques to hone my slaying abilities." Lupin nodded his head and Harry smiled.
"Would you be willing to teach me some of these techniques?" Harry asked and Buffy nodded immediately, she didn't want Harry to have to live through listening to his parents screams as they were killed.
"Alright," Lupin said, drawing their attention to him, "That's it for tonight, why don't we do this again next Thursday?"
"Sure." Harry and Buffy replied, both walking towards Gryffindor tower.
"How's Sirius?" Buffy asked and Harry immediately brightened, she had heard that Harry was now living with him.
"Good!" he exclaimed, "Well, you know that my broom got shredded into pieces?" Buffy nodded, "He bought me a Nimbus 2000!" Buffy looked confused at this, she wasn't sure what the differences between the brooms where, she was only knew that they flew and had great speed. "The newest broom! It is so cool and it goes so fast." Buffy smiled at his enthusiasm over the new broom.
"That's good." she said, "Have you told Oliver?"
"No." Harry said and they both looked at each other, realizing that their captain would probably start doing cartwheels or run shouting, or some extreme thing, if he didn't faint that is.
"He's gonna flip." Buffy said and they started laughing at the image it produced of Oliver actually doing flips in his robes. By the time they reached the tower, they had finally calmed down enough to give the password to Sir Cadogan and step inside, both of them heading their separate ways to their dorm rooms.
Next Day:
"So," Willow said, as she woke up the next morning.
"So, what?"
"How did it go?"Willow was so excited that her friend would be learning how to deal with the dementors.
"It went well, I can conjure one." Buffy said, "It is so cute! It's a black leopard, not sure why, but hey! It's adorable." Willow nodded in fascination, she had heard about the charm and knew that it took a considerable amount of magic to actually make one appear, but Buffy seemed able to do it.
"Let's go to breakfast." Willow said quickly, Buffy looked at her suspiciously, but followed her out of the room.
Entering the common area, Buffy let out a gasp. The room had been redone to look like her living room and had been decorated with streamers and balloons and huge sign that read "Happy Birthday, Buffy!"
"Happy birthday, Buffy!" everyone shouted and the slayer blushed a bright shade of red. There was a cake and juice and presents, it seemed that everyone in Gryffindor had gotten her a present. "Thanks, guys." she said, she had forgotten it was her birthday and she also wanted to forget that it was her birthday, "you didn't have to."
"Of course we do." Oliver said, "It's not every day that our own resident slayer has a birthday." the others nodded their agreement, but before Buffy could comment there was a tapping at the door. Willow looked at Buffy and urged her to open it.
"It's for you." Willow said, dragging her friend to the door. Buffy opened the door caustiously, not sure what to be expecting on the other side of the door.
"Happy Birthday, Buffster." Xander said, opening his arms, which Buffy ran into immediately.
"How did you know?" Buffy asked, continuing to hug him.
"After I got your letter I was writing back to you, when Willow contacted me, so I just waited." Xander said, "I owe you an apology."
"It's okay." Buffy said, "I'm just glad to have my Xander shaped friend back." Dragging Xander into the common room, everyone silently observed the Scoobies, as they reminisced, before Hermione reminded them that they needed to get to class. Xander shifted uncomfortably at this.
"You can come to class with me." Buffy said, she really wanted to talk to Xander about the Hellmouth and everything else. With the help of Willow and Hermione, Buffy managed to get the presents into her room and with a whispered spell Willow got rid of all decorations and everything else.
Before the Scoobies made it to their first class, Dumbledore stopped them and asked Buffy and Xander to follow him to his office. Giving the password, Xander, Buffy, and Dumbledore stepped into his office, Buffy getting the second shock of the day.
"Mom!" Buffy exclaimed in surprise. Joyce turned around in surprise, she had recieved an owl from Dumbledore, wanting to talk to her.
"Buffy!" Joyce rushed to her daughter and pulled her into a hug. "I have missed you so much." she said, holding her daughter and then everything began to sink in. "How did you get to Hogwarts?" Buffy looked a little sheepish and unsure about how to answer that question.
"I missed you too, mom." Buffy said, hugging her mother.
"I didn't mean it when I said you couldn't come back," Joyce began and Xander let out a gasp of surprise, Buffy hadn't told them that, "you can come back any time you want to."
"Why didn't you tell me that you were a witch?" Buffy asked, ever since she had found out about Snape, she had, had that burning question.
"Your father," Joyce began, but was interrupted as Snape walked into the room.
"You wanted to see me, headmaster?" Snape asked, before hearing a gasp. Looking up, he caught a look at Buffy and then noticed the woman beside her. "Joyce?" they both looked at each other, Snape was the first to recover, "What are you doing here?"
"I'm here to see my daughter." Joyce said, hoping that he hadn't found out that Buffy was his.
"Too late mom." Buffy said, she had read her expression, "He knows and I know. He's been taking care of me." Snape looked from daughter to mother, unsure of what was going on.
"Oh." Joyce said, "I suppose I have a lot to explain." Both of them nodded and Dumbledore smiled.
"If you would like, Serverus has rooms that you could go to." Dumbledore suggested and they nodded, "Actually, Xander and Buffy if you could stay?" Buffy looked at her parents and then back at Dumbledore, she really wanted to go with them, her mom owed her an explanation and she wanted to hear it. "They have some catching up to do, without you." Dumbledore explained and Buffy nodded, watching her parents leaving.
"What's up?" Buffy asked, as Xander and her faced the headmaster.
"Well, I was hoping that Mr. Harrison had reconsidered his invitation to Hogwarts."
"I would be too far behind." Xander pointed out and Dumbledore smiled at him kindly.
"If you would like to stay, I am sure that Miss Snape would love to help you catch up, with the help of Miss Rosenberg and Mr. Osborne." Dumbledore said, Xander looked back from Dumbledore to his best friend.
"Are you kidding!" he burst out, "Of course I'll stay!" Buffy smiled happily, nearly jumping up and down, when Xander pulled her out of her chair and swung her around the room. Dumbledore smiled at the picture before him, this was what true friendship was all about, learning to forgive each other and growing from each mistake that each of them made.
"Put me down!" Buffy said, laughing, Xander finally complied and Buffy smiled at Dumbledore, before taking Xander out of his office and to the DADA class.
"Hi, Professor Lupin!" Buffy said, "this is Xander Harris and he will be joining us for the rest of the year." "Yes!" Willow yelled, drawing all attention to her, turning a bright shade of red and sitting back down. Stifling a laugh, Xander and Buffy made their way to the back of the class.
"Xander, don't feel bad if you don't understand, we'll catch you up. We are going to talk about Bezoar's. Can any one tell me what they are?" Lupin asked and Xander's hand shot up.
"They are a prehistoric parasites, that take over their victims motor functions." he said and Lupin looked at him in surprise.
"Ya, the mother lays eggs and the eggs hatch and attach to you on the back of your spine and they make you do things you don't want to do, like hit your best friend." Willow said, sending a glance to Xander, who grinned at her.
"And how do you kill one?" Lupin asked.
"Oh!" Buffy exclaimed, "You have it drag you down to eat you and then you use an ice pick and kill it from the inside out." everyone in the class seemed a bit grossed out, "I recommend wearing clothes you will never wear again, cause you get this black gunk all over and it is just so hard to get out." Lupin laughed at this, causing the young slayer to turn and glare at him.
"Well, for those of us that aren't the slayer." Lupin said, "you are going to write me a paragraph on how to kill a bezoar using magic and then another one not using magic. Class dismissed!" Everyone filed out of the class, eyeing the Scooby Gang with growing appreciation.
"So, you've fought a bezoar?" Lupin asked, as the Scooby Gang walked by.
"Yes." Buffy answered.
"What haven't we fought?" Xander asked, "Mutated Fish students."
"Hyena's."
"Snyder."
"Love Spells." Willow said, glaring at Xander, who looked sheepish.
"Indestructible beings." Oz added.
"Tortured Ghosts." Buffy said.
"Kidestod." Willow added, looking at Buffy.
"The child killer!" Lupin exclaimed. "You've faced it?"
"She not only faced, she slayed." Xander said proudly.
"I don't recommend it." Buffy said, "Cause you have to be sick in order to see it."
"The Master."
"Dru and Spike."
"Evil Robots." Oz said and everyone turned to look at Willow, who blushed.
"Evil Snake Demons." Willow said, turning the attention away from her and to Buffy.
"Incan Mummies." Buffy muttered and Xander looked down.
"Ethan Ryane."
"Puppets."
"And our nightmares."
"You've had to face a boggart, before?" Lupin asked.
"Nope." Xander replied, "A young boy had been place in a coma and he was making every nightmare anyone had, had come true, because he was trapped in his own nightmare." They all looked at each other, big smiles on their faces.
"Ahh. The Hellmouth!" they said together, before turning and leaving the room, leaving a very perplexed teacher behind.
That night
Buffy looked around the Great Hall and didn't see her dad or mom, so she went to Snape's room. Knowing the password, she gave it quickly and walked inside.
"I'm blind!" Buffy yelled, turning around and walking right back out.
"Buffy!" Joyce and Snape hollered together, both scrambling to get their clothes back on. They didn't catch up with their daughter though, they just sighed knowing that she had to work out what was going on in her life, without them.
Oliver found Buffy, sitting in the common room, staring into the fireplace.
"Anything you want to talk about?"
"My mom is here." Buffy said
"That's great!" he said and then noticed her expression, "Or not. What's wrong?"
"They're having sex." she said and she caught his look. "I don't care if they have sex, but they were having sex when I walked in. Can we say, something I don't recommend or ever want to see again." shuddering at the mere thought of it. Oliver caught himself before he started laughing.
"So, you're upset, because you walked in on you're parents having sex."
"Well, you'd be emotionally scarred too!" she retorted, already realizing that she should have stayed and listened to what they were going to say. Oliver just laughed at her retort, before offering advice.
"Why don't you just talk to them?" he asked, "I'm sure it emotionally scarred them too." Buffy looked at Oliver and nodded, before getting up and leaving, quickly finding her parents in the Great Hall.
"We need to talk." she said and they both nodded, following her back to Snape's sitting room. "Are you two back together?" she asked bluntly.
"Well," Joyce said, but Snape interrupted her.
"Yes." he replied, he had learned that Buffy would only respect the truth and he wasn't about lose the respect he had gained from her. "We talked and she told me what happened and.."
"You kissed and made up." Buffy replied, "Where does that leave me?"
"What?" Joyce asked, confused as to what her daughter was saying.
"Are you staying?" Buffy asked, "Or are you going to insist that I go back to Sunnydale?"
"I'm staying." Joyce said, "I have a family home not too far from here and I was going to live there."
"Why aren't you living with dad?" Buffy said, "It's obvious that you guys still like each other."
"We didn't want you to feel awkward."
"Story of my life." was Buffy's only reply, "If you want to live together, I say go for it." Joyce looked at her daughter and wondered where her little girl had gone to. "Alright, I'm going to bed." she said, "Thanks for coming, mom." hugging both of her parents she headed for the door.
"Happy Birthday, honey." Joyce said, handing her a card and a box, sending her on her way. Buffy looked at the box and wondered what was in it. Quicky making her way back to the common room, she stepped inside and noticed no one was around yet. Smiling, she took a seat and opened her mom's present. Inside was a photo album, on the front cover was a picture of Buffy, Willow, and Xander, laying on her bed. Opening it up, she went through each picture, crying when she reached the last one, because it was a picture of Angel and Buffy.
That's how Oliver found her, when he walked into the room and few minutes later.
"Are you okay?" he asked and noticed the photo album. Buffy shook her head and more tears fell from her eyes. Oliver's heart broke with each tear that fell from her eyes and without thinking, he leaned forward and placed a gentle kiss on her lips, a kiss meant to sooth the hurt away, rather than entice.
The sound of the picture opening, made them realize that people were entering the room. Oliver and Buffy quickly moved apart, both of them blushing slightly.
"Thank you." Buffy said, laughing when he raised his eyebrow, "For helping." she clarified for him. Oliver smiled at her laugh and nodded, settling back into a chair and simply enjoying her company.
"So, Buffster." Xander said, stepping into the room, "How was your birthday?"
"It just got better." she said, catching Oliver's eyes and giving him a wink. "I think I'm gonna hit the sack. Night guys."
"Want help being tucked in?" Xander said, a mischevious sparkle in his eyes.
"Nope, I'm a big girl." she replied, giving Oliver a reassuring smile about Xander.
Author's Note: Sorry that it took so long to update!!!
Chapter 14
The following week Harry and Buffy returned to classes and everything was back to normal, or as normal as Buffy liked it. Every minute not in class or training was spent on finding out more information on Glorificus and what abilities were given to her through being the key. She was anxious for the first anti-dementor lesson to start and Harry and her chatted excitedly about the lessons and what they would be learning.
Thursday night rolled around, Harry and Buffy walked down the corridor to the History of Magic room together. Arriving they saw that it was dark, but Buffy could see fine. Professor Lupin showed up a few moments later, setting a large package case on the desk.
"What's that?" Buffy asked, she was always too curious for her own good and it usually wound up getting her into trouble.
"A boggart," Lupin replied, causing both Harry and Buffy to shudder, "I've been searching the castle for one since Tuesday and I found this one in the dungeons."
"Bet dad loved that." Buffy muttered under her breath and Lupin laughed, because Snape had indeed wanted to get rid of it, before Buffy accidently opened the cabinet or closet and found it herself.
"So," Lupin began, looking at the two students before him, "The spell that I am going to try and teach you requires highly advanced magic, well beyond the Ordinary Magic Spells. It is called the Patronus Charm."
"How does it work?" Harry asked nervously, Buffy leaned forward eagerly, wanting to learn anything that would help defend her against the dementors.
"When conjured correctly, it conjures a Patronus," Lupin said, "it is an anti-dementor, it creates a buffer between you and the dementor." he looked over his students, who seemed to be deep in thought, "The Patronus is a positive force, everything that the dementor feeds off of, but unlike a human it doesn't feel despair, so the dementor cannot feed off of it. But I must warn you, the spell may be too advanced for you guys, many great wizards have tried and failed."
"Eh!" Buffy snorted, "if I can defy a prophecy about my death, then I am sure I can do this." she hoped anyways, she was really feeling quite nervous about dealing with a boggart again, but after dealing with the dementor, she realized that it would probably turn into a dementor and she wasn't sure if she wanted it to change into a dementor or Angelus. "Right." Harry said, he was anxious about it as well, but he figured that if anyone in the school could do it, then it would be him and Buffy. Besides, Dumbledore wouldn't have sent him to learn it, if he couldn't learn to do it. "What does a Patronus look like?"
"It depends on the wizard who conjures it, it is unique to that person."
"And how do we conjure it?" Buffy asked, looking at Lupin curiously.
"With a incantation." he replied and laughed when Buffy and Harry shot him a look of no duh! "Which will only work if you are concentrating, with all your might, on a single, very happy memory." Lupin paused to give them a moment to think of their single happiest moment, before continuing. "The incantation is this, Expecto patronum!"
"Expecto partonum," Buffy muttered under her breath, trying to get the hang of it.
"Expecto partonum," Harry was muttering under his breath, trying his best to remember it.
"Concentrating hard on your happy memory?" Lupin asked and Buffy and Harry looked at him in shock, they hadn't realized they were supposed to be trying to conjure one.
"Expecto partonum!" Buffy and Harry cried together, focusing on their happy memory, small whisps of silver cloud puffed out of the end of their wands.
"Did you see that?" Buffy cried in happiness.
"Very good," Lupin said, "Harry, why don't you try it first?" Lupin was unsure of what the boggart would turn into when confronting the slayer, but he wasn't sure what to hope for either, because either way, Snape would kill him. Harry nodded slowly, stealing himself and his memory, as Lupin let the boggart out, which immediately shifted into a dementor.
"Expecto partonum!" Harry cried, but he could feel the classroom falling away, "Expecto partonum! Expecto partonum!" he tried again.
"Harry!" Lupin cried, Harry struggled to awarness, realizing that he was lying flat on his back on the floor. The classroom lamps were alight again. He didn't have to ask what had happened.
"Here." Lupin said, handing him a chocolate frog and then looking to Buffy, "Ready?" Buffy nodded and Harry stepped back and to the side, chewing on his frog, as Lupin raised the lid and waited with baited breath to see what it would turn into. A dementor stepped out of the bag and Buffy pushed aside the memories and instead focused on her one happy on!
"Expecto partonum!" she cried, but it did nothing, concentrating harder, like Giles had taught her, she tried again, "Expecto partonum!" this time a sleek, black leopard appeared, padding towards the dementor, before turning around and settling down at Buffy's feet, between Buffy and the dementor.
Lupin stood in shock as he witnessed Buffy preform a spell that she should not have been able to do. Realizing that as the slayer she had years of practicing concentration and the such, he realized that her training probably helped her. Repelling the boggart into the case again, he turned to appraise the slayer.
"Very good!" he said, handing her a chocolate frog.
"Bloody brilliant!" Harry said, all the more encouraged now that he had seen someone else preform it, he was willing to try with more zealous. Buffy shifted from foot to foot, a little uncomfortable with all the attention, but she was so damned proud that she wanted nothing more than to go running, screaming down the halls in joy, but she doubted that Dumbledore would appreciate that in any way.
"See," Buffy said flippantly, "never say never."
"Harry." Lupin said, before letting the boggart out, "Perhaps you should chose a different memory." Harry nodded thinking of learning that he would never have to go live with the Dursley's again. Lupin lifted the lid and the dementor sprung out.
"Expecto partonum!" Harry cried out, concentrating on holding onto his memory and not the voices of his father and mother, trying to save him from Voldemort. "EXPECTO PARTONUM!" he could still hear the voices, but they were fading and the room was still present. A silver cloud exploded from Harry's wand, standing between Harry and the dementor, Lupin immediately put the boggart back into the case.
"Very good!" he said, clearly impressed with his two students.
"Sir?" Harry asked, "Why did Buffy's come out looking like an animal, and my didn't?"
"Oh!" Buffy said, "I know this one," Lupin looked at her in amusement, nodding his head in her direction, "Well, it's like this. Since I'm the slayer, I have to learn all these concentration techniques to hone my slaying abilities." Lupin nodded his head and Harry smiled.
"Would you be willing to teach me some of these techniques?" Harry asked and Buffy nodded immediately, she didn't want Harry to have to live through listening to his parents screams as they were killed.
"Alright," Lupin said, drawing their attention to him, "That's it for tonight, why don't we do this again next Thursday?"
"Sure." Harry and Buffy replied, both walking towards Gryffindor tower.
"How's Sirius?" Buffy asked and Harry immediately brightened, she had heard that Harry was now living with him.
"Good!" he exclaimed, "Well, you know that my broom got shredded into pieces?" Buffy nodded, "He bought me a Nimbus 2000!" Buffy looked confused at this, she wasn't sure what the differences between the brooms where, she was only knew that they flew and had great speed. "The newest broom! It is so cool and it goes so fast." Buffy smiled at his enthusiasm over the new broom.
"That's good." she said, "Have you told Oliver?"
"No." Harry said and they both looked at each other, realizing that their captain would probably start doing cartwheels or run shouting, or some extreme thing, if he didn't faint that is.
"He's gonna flip." Buffy said and they started laughing at the image it produced of Oliver actually doing flips in his robes. By the time they reached the tower, they had finally calmed down enough to give the password to Sir Cadogan and step inside, both of them heading their separate ways to their dorm rooms.
Next Day:
"So," Willow said, as she woke up the next morning.
"So, what?"
"How did it go?"Willow was so excited that her friend would be learning how to deal with the dementors.
"It went well, I can conjure one." Buffy said, "It is so cute! It's a black leopard, not sure why, but hey! It's adorable." Willow nodded in fascination, she had heard about the charm and knew that it took a considerable amount of magic to actually make one appear, but Buffy seemed able to do it.
"Let's go to breakfast." Willow said quickly, Buffy looked at her suspiciously, but followed her out of the room.
Entering the common area, Buffy let out a gasp. The room had been redone to look like her living room and had been decorated with streamers and balloons and huge sign that read "Happy Birthday, Buffy!"
"Happy birthday, Buffy!" everyone shouted and the slayer blushed a bright shade of red. There was a cake and juice and presents, it seemed that everyone in Gryffindor had gotten her a present. "Thanks, guys." she said, she had forgotten it was her birthday and she also wanted to forget that it was her birthday, "you didn't have to."
"Of course we do." Oliver said, "It's not every day that our own resident slayer has a birthday." the others nodded their agreement, but before Buffy could comment there was a tapping at the door. Willow looked at Buffy and urged her to open it.
"It's for you." Willow said, dragging her friend to the door. Buffy opened the door caustiously, not sure what to be expecting on the other side of the door.
"Happy Birthday, Buffster." Xander said, opening his arms, which Buffy ran into immediately.
"How did you know?" Buffy asked, continuing to hug him.
"After I got your letter I was writing back to you, when Willow contacted me, so I just waited." Xander said, "I owe you an apology."
"It's okay." Buffy said, "I'm just glad to have my Xander shaped friend back." Dragging Xander into the common room, everyone silently observed the Scoobies, as they reminisced, before Hermione reminded them that they needed to get to class. Xander shifted uncomfortably at this.
"You can come to class with me." Buffy said, she really wanted to talk to Xander about the Hellmouth and everything else. With the help of Willow and Hermione, Buffy managed to get the presents into her room and with a whispered spell Willow got rid of all decorations and everything else.
Before the Scoobies made it to their first class, Dumbledore stopped them and asked Buffy and Xander to follow him to his office. Giving the password, Xander, Buffy, and Dumbledore stepped into his office, Buffy getting the second shock of the day.
"Mom!" Buffy exclaimed in surprise. Joyce turned around in surprise, she had recieved an owl from Dumbledore, wanting to talk to her.
"Buffy!" Joyce rushed to her daughter and pulled her into a hug. "I have missed you so much." she said, holding her daughter and then everything began to sink in. "How did you get to Hogwarts?" Buffy looked a little sheepish and unsure about how to answer that question.
"I missed you too, mom." Buffy said, hugging her mother.
"I didn't mean it when I said you couldn't come back," Joyce began and Xander let out a gasp of surprise, Buffy hadn't told them that, "you can come back any time you want to."
"Why didn't you tell me that you were a witch?" Buffy asked, ever since she had found out about Snape, she had, had that burning question.
"Your father," Joyce began, but was interrupted as Snape walked into the room.
"You wanted to see me, headmaster?" Snape asked, before hearing a gasp. Looking up, he caught a look at Buffy and then noticed the woman beside her. "Joyce?" they both looked at each other, Snape was the first to recover, "What are you doing here?"
"I'm here to see my daughter." Joyce said, hoping that he hadn't found out that Buffy was his.
"Too late mom." Buffy said, she had read her expression, "He knows and I know. He's been taking care of me." Snape looked from daughter to mother, unsure of what was going on.
"Oh." Joyce said, "I suppose I have a lot to explain." Both of them nodded and Dumbledore smiled.
"If you would like, Serverus has rooms that you could go to." Dumbledore suggested and they nodded, "Actually, Xander and Buffy if you could stay?" Buffy looked at her parents and then back at Dumbledore, she really wanted to go with them, her mom owed her an explanation and she wanted to hear it. "They have some catching up to do, without you." Dumbledore explained and Buffy nodded, watching her parents leaving.
"What's up?" Buffy asked, as Xander and her faced the headmaster.
"Well, I was hoping that Mr. Harrison had reconsidered his invitation to Hogwarts."
"I would be too far behind." Xander pointed out and Dumbledore smiled at him kindly.
"If you would like to stay, I am sure that Miss Snape would love to help you catch up, with the help of Miss Rosenberg and Mr. Osborne." Dumbledore said, Xander looked back from Dumbledore to his best friend.
"Are you kidding!" he burst out, "Of course I'll stay!" Buffy smiled happily, nearly jumping up and down, when Xander pulled her out of her chair and swung her around the room. Dumbledore smiled at the picture before him, this was what true friendship was all about, learning to forgive each other and growing from each mistake that each of them made.
"Put me down!" Buffy said, laughing, Xander finally complied and Buffy smiled at Dumbledore, before taking Xander out of his office and to the DADA class.
"Hi, Professor Lupin!" Buffy said, "this is Xander Harris and he will be joining us for the rest of the year." "Yes!" Willow yelled, drawing all attention to her, turning a bright shade of red and sitting back down. Stifling a laugh, Xander and Buffy made their way to the back of the class.
"Xander, don't feel bad if you don't understand, we'll catch you up. We are going to talk about Bezoar's. Can any one tell me what they are?" Lupin asked and Xander's hand shot up.
"They are a prehistoric parasites, that take over their victims motor functions." he said and Lupin looked at him in surprise.
"Ya, the mother lays eggs and the eggs hatch and attach to you on the back of your spine and they make you do things you don't want to do, like hit your best friend." Willow said, sending a glance to Xander, who grinned at her.
"And how do you kill one?" Lupin asked.
"Oh!" Buffy exclaimed, "You have it drag you down to eat you and then you use an ice pick and kill it from the inside out." everyone in the class seemed a bit grossed out, "I recommend wearing clothes you will never wear again, cause you get this black gunk all over and it is just so hard to get out." Lupin laughed at this, causing the young slayer to turn and glare at him.
"Well, for those of us that aren't the slayer." Lupin said, "you are going to write me a paragraph on how to kill a bezoar using magic and then another one not using magic. Class dismissed!" Everyone filed out of the class, eyeing the Scooby Gang with growing appreciation.
"So, you've fought a bezoar?" Lupin asked, as the Scooby Gang walked by.
"Yes." Buffy answered.
"What haven't we fought?" Xander asked, "Mutated Fish students."
"Hyena's."
"Snyder."
"Love Spells." Willow said, glaring at Xander, who looked sheepish.
"Indestructible beings." Oz added.
"Tortured Ghosts." Buffy said.
"Kidestod." Willow added, looking at Buffy.
"The child killer!" Lupin exclaimed. "You've faced it?"
"She not only faced, she slayed." Xander said proudly.
"I don't recommend it." Buffy said, "Cause you have to be sick in order to see it."
"The Master."
"Dru and Spike."
"Evil Robots." Oz said and everyone turned to look at Willow, who blushed.
"Evil Snake Demons." Willow said, turning the attention away from her and to Buffy.
"Incan Mummies." Buffy muttered and Xander looked down.
"Ethan Ryane."
"Puppets."
"And our nightmares."
"You've had to face a boggart, before?" Lupin asked.
"Nope." Xander replied, "A young boy had been place in a coma and he was making every nightmare anyone had, had come true, because he was trapped in his own nightmare." They all looked at each other, big smiles on their faces.
"Ahh. The Hellmouth!" they said together, before turning and leaving the room, leaving a very perplexed teacher behind.
That night
Buffy looked around the Great Hall and didn't see her dad or mom, so she went to Snape's room. Knowing the password, she gave it quickly and walked inside.
"I'm blind!" Buffy yelled, turning around and walking right back out.
"Buffy!" Joyce and Snape hollered together, both scrambling to get their clothes back on. They didn't catch up with their daughter though, they just sighed knowing that she had to work out what was going on in her life, without them.
Oliver found Buffy, sitting in the common room, staring into the fireplace.
"Anything you want to talk about?"
"My mom is here." Buffy said
"That's great!" he said and then noticed her expression, "Or not. What's wrong?"
"They're having sex." she said and she caught his look. "I don't care if they have sex, but they were having sex when I walked in. Can we say, something I don't recommend or ever want to see again." shuddering at the mere thought of it. Oliver caught himself before he started laughing.
"So, you're upset, because you walked in on you're parents having sex."
"Well, you'd be emotionally scarred too!" she retorted, already realizing that she should have stayed and listened to what they were going to say. Oliver just laughed at her retort, before offering advice.
"Why don't you just talk to them?" he asked, "I'm sure it emotionally scarred them too." Buffy looked at Oliver and nodded, before getting up and leaving, quickly finding her parents in the Great Hall.
"We need to talk." she said and they both nodded, following her back to Snape's sitting room. "Are you two back together?" she asked bluntly.
"Well," Joyce said, but Snape interrupted her.
"Yes." he replied, he had learned that Buffy would only respect the truth and he wasn't about lose the respect he had gained from her. "We talked and she told me what happened and.."
"You kissed and made up." Buffy replied, "Where does that leave me?"
"What?" Joyce asked, confused as to what her daughter was saying.
"Are you staying?" Buffy asked, "Or are you going to insist that I go back to Sunnydale?"
"I'm staying." Joyce said, "I have a family home not too far from here and I was going to live there."
"Why aren't you living with dad?" Buffy said, "It's obvious that you guys still like each other."
"We didn't want you to feel awkward."
"Story of my life." was Buffy's only reply, "If you want to live together, I say go for it." Joyce looked at her daughter and wondered where her little girl had gone to. "Alright, I'm going to bed." she said, "Thanks for coming, mom." hugging both of her parents she headed for the door.
"Happy Birthday, honey." Joyce said, handing her a card and a box, sending her on her way. Buffy looked at the box and wondered what was in it. Quicky making her way back to the common room, she stepped inside and noticed no one was around yet. Smiling, she took a seat and opened her mom's present. Inside was a photo album, on the front cover was a picture of Buffy, Willow, and Xander, laying on her bed. Opening it up, she went through each picture, crying when she reached the last one, because it was a picture of Angel and Buffy.
That's how Oliver found her, when he walked into the room and few minutes later.
"Are you okay?" he asked and noticed the photo album. Buffy shook her head and more tears fell from her eyes. Oliver's heart broke with each tear that fell from her eyes and without thinking, he leaned forward and placed a gentle kiss on her lips, a kiss meant to sooth the hurt away, rather than entice.
The sound of the picture opening, made them realize that people were entering the room. Oliver and Buffy quickly moved apart, both of them blushing slightly.
"Thank you." Buffy said, laughing when he raised his eyebrow, "For helping." she clarified for him. Oliver smiled at her laugh and nodded, settling back into a chair and simply enjoying her company.
"So, Buffster." Xander said, stepping into the room, "How was your birthday?"
"It just got better." she said, catching Oliver's eyes and giving him a wink. "I think I'm gonna hit the sack. Night guys."
"Want help being tucked in?" Xander said, a mischevious sparkle in his eyes.
"Nope, I'm a big girl." she replied, giving Oliver a reassuring smile about Xander.