Disclaimer: Don't own it! If I did, I would be making money. /opens wallet and moths fly out/ No money. No ownie.

Chapter 3

The Ministry of Magic

London, England

December 10, 1997

"Name?"

Xander automatically replied, "Xander Harris."

The Ministry witch was silent for a moment then said, "Full name please."

The teenager sighed, cursing the stupid regulations he had to go through to see his uncle and that were holding up the line of people behind him trying to get into the Ministry, and said, "Alexander LaVelle Harris."

The witch went silent again then nodded and said, "Move on."

Xander moved past her into the building and immediately was confronted by one of the Auror's that guarded his uncle. The burly auburn haired man eyed him with disdain and grunted, "You again? Haven't seen enough of your murdering uncle, huh, Harris?"

His statement, spoken loud enough to reverberate through the room, made everything go quiet. Xander could feel every eye on his back and pressed back a snarl of annoyance that threatened to rise from his throat. He narrowed his eyes at the man that towered above him as his mouth twisted into a sneer that would have made his uncle proud.

"Look, buddy," he said, "I don't want any trouble. I just want to have a chat with my uncle for the measly hour you Watchdog's allow then go back to my room at the Cauldron. You don't need to be in my way and I don't need to be in yours so we technically shouldn't be having this conversation."

He went to move around the Auror but the wizard grabbed his shoulder with a growled, "Don't you walk away from me you little…agh!"

Xander snarled wordlessly, eyes flashing, before he leashed the hyena and focused on the arm he was steadily pulling further down behind the Auror's back. Thanks to the soldier's memories, he knew just how much pressure he could put the arm under before bones or cartilage started to snap.

"Do we have a problem?" he growled. "'Cause, you really oughta know that I could snap your arm like a toothpick right now."

The Auror grunted with pain and mumbled something Xander couldn't hear.

"What was that?"

"He said 'You wouldn't dare,' Mister Harris," piped a voice from Xander's left. He turned and saw a woman who didn't look too much older than him standing a few feet away. She looked a lot more comfortable in her robes than he did and carried a stack of books in her arms, her bushy brown hair bound at the base of her neck by a hastily tied black ribbon.

"Oh, I dare. But I'm not gonna. Y'know, show of good faith and all."

"What…good…faith?" growled out the Auror.

Xander grinned cheekily and replied, "Show of my good faith that you're gonna be a good boy and not try that hard-handed cop shit with me again." He released the man's arm then and took a step back, holding his hands up at the level of his eyes as he did so, palms facing the Auror. The man turned towards him and glared before storming off, clutching his arm to his chest as he shoved past a pair of muttering old witches who snarled curses at his back.

Feeling conspicuous now and not quite sure he wasn't about to get arrested himself for assaulting an Auror, he quickly slinked off towards the lift. As he got in and started to go down, the woman from earlier jumped in with him. He looked at her for a moment then shrugged and the doors closed.

As they moved downward, Xander felt her eyes on him. After a few floors of this he fixed her with a slight glower and snapped, "Y'know, I'm really tired of being stared at so just go ahead and say something."

She seemed unnerved by his response for a moment then coughed before she spoke.

"Was what he said true?"

"About what?" growled Xander even though he had a good guess about what she was referring to.

"Your uncle," replied the woman. "Is he a murderer?"

"I dunno. Personally I think there was a reason behind it that nobody knows about. But I wasn't here when it happened so I've really got nothing to say about the matter."

"Yet you're here to see him."

"Yeah." He held out a hand then and said, "The name's Xander by the way."

The woman looked at his outstretched hand for a moment then up at him, her mud brown eyes searching his face. Apparently she found something acceptable there because she shifted her books to one arm and took his hand gingerly.

"Hermione Granger."

"Well, it's a pleasure…waitaminute. I know that name somewhere. Granger, Granger, Granger…" Xander frowned for a moment then snapped his fingers. "Ah! You're a friend of Harry Potter's!"

Hermione's eyes narrowed at that. "How do you know that?" she asked.

Xander smiled bitterly and replied, "My murdering uncle."

Her eyes widened in surprise then and she gasped, "You…you're…you're a relation to that bastard!"

"Be careful what words you use to describe my family," growled Xander in a near replica of his uncle's voice. "I take offense to them, even if they're applied to murderers."

Hermione flinched at his voice and pressed herself back against the side of the lift. It was hard to believe that the young man she thought was handsome and quite nice was the nephew to the bastard that had betrayed and killed Albus Dumbledore.

"I can't believe you," she hissed after a moment. "He murdered Albus Dumbledore! Harry stood there and watched him do it, so there's no denying it!"

"Who said I was denying it?" he responded archly. "I never denied anything. I simply said that perhaps not all of the facts are straight – though I doubt that even if my theories correct you would listen to my uncle about it. You'd think he was lying and that Dumbledore – who I only know through my uncle, thank you very much – would never ever conspire with a Death Eater over his death."

He shook his head and added, "And I bet no one ever even considered Uncle Sev did it to save his godson from doing the deed. Y'know, trying to keep the brat from dying a horrible death at old Moldywart's feet."

"Malfoy doesn't deserve it," spat Hermione.

"Why, because he was an ass to you in school? That doesn't mean he's bad and you know it. I can see it in your eyes. Hell, maybe you even think Unc and Dumbledore planned this."

Her mouth dropped open and she stared at him in shock before she stammered, "How…how did you…"

"I'm observant," replied Xander. He then looked at her sharply and added, "I suspect the same thing, too. I know you probably don't think too much of my uncle but he's not really the bastard he pretends to be. It's just a mask."

They stood in silence for a moment, the only sound the humming of the lift around them, before either spoke again.

"How do I know I can trust you?" asked Hermione softly.

Xander turned and fixed her with a sharp gaze as he replied, "Do you really think that if I thought he'd done this without a reason, I would be standing by him?"

"No. You…you don't seem like the type to follow people blindly. Or stand by them when they've done something wrong without reason. I don't know why I think that but I do."

"I try not to. And I fight tooth and nail when I can to protect what I care about." He looked at her for a long moment then asked, "Your friend Harry does that according to Uncle Sev."

Hermione blinked.

"He…he told you good things about Harry?"

"Like I said, what you know of my uncle is mostly a mask. And here's your floor."

"How did you know that?"

He smirked and replied, "Cells are bottom floor. This is two above. If you didn't get off before now, then this is bound to be it as the next one is where I have to check in to get down to the cells."

The lift doors opened and Hermione stared at Xander before she started to step out. As she did, a hand closed around her wrist and she turned to find his face inches from hers. Her breath caught in half fear, half surprise and she felt her cheeks grow hot in reaction to his close proximity.

He tucked a scrap of notebook paper under the cover of the topmost book in her arms and said, "That's got the number for my room at the Leaky Cauldron on it. Since this conversation doesn't seem that finished, maybe you can drop by sometime and we'll finish discussing this. I'll be here till after the trial's over."

Hermione nodded then watched him until the lift doors slid shut and it started downward again. She shook herself then and walked on towards her destination, mentally debating over whether she should go and meet him.

She knew in the back of her mind already that she would. And it wouldn't be hard at all getting to the Cauldron being as she had convinced McGonagall to let her intern under the top-most Auror research specialist in the Ministry.

Author's Note

Buffyverse time: after Ted, before Bad Eggs

Also, Xander/Hermione pairing? It's a possibility. Opinions?