DISCLAIMER:  The characters aren't mine.  I'm borrowing them from the esteemed Joss Whedon and J.K. Rawling.

      SPOILERS/BACKGROUND:  Everything from BtVS Season 1 to Season 6, AtS Seasons 1 to 3, and Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.

      MORE THANKS to everyone who reviewed, especially all new readers!  Good to have you all aboard!

      "unknown reviewer," thanks for the kudos on the broom action scenes; I've always been fond of those.  There may even just be a few more in the works … maybe … J

      tigerlily: the intent was for it to be something vaguely like "Mind of the Serpent," so you were probably as close as I was, considering the generally nonexistent state of my Greek grammar.

      sita: thanks for the note on Flamel; I've always wondered why no one else has bothered to include him, since he's an interesting character, a friend of Dumbledore's, and almost undescribed, so the imagination has a lot of room to work.

      On to the show!

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      CHAPTER 7:

      MAKING FRIENDS

      Buffy was already gone when Willow awoke, even though it was only five-thirty in the morning.  She stretched, got dressed the old-fashioned way, and drifted to the window.  The sun was already above the eastern horizon; Willow had forgotted how early the sun rose in the summer this far north.

      A speck darting around far away at the far end of the grounds caught her attention.  She had a feeling she already knew what it was, but she felt like checking anyway.  She lifted her wand off the nightstand, pointed it at her eyes, and chanted, "Binoculate."  Her vision suddenly streamed outward, and the forest at the edge of the school grounds suddenly looked much closer than it had been before.

      It took her a moment to locate Buffy again as her vision adjusted, but once she found her, she found it hard to take her eyes off her flying friend.  It was easy to be impressed by what Buffy was doing, even though the only people she had ever seen fly were Buffy and Harry, the way she streamed through the air, upside down, vertical, backwards, sideways, it didn't matter, she made it all look effortless.  She wasn't wearing her school robes, just a form-fitting athletic outfit; if it were cold in the English early morning air, she didn't seem to feel it.  But what touched Willow more than Buffy's aerial acrobatics was the expression of pure joy obvious on her friend's face whenever that face was turned toward Willow's window for even an instant.  Willow sighed sadly.  She wondered if she would ever be able to wear an expression like that again.

      She watched for almost twenty minutes before she remembered that she had her own business that morning.  She pointed her wand at her eyes again and whispered, "Finite."  Her vision snapped back to normal.  She took her bookbag, empty, and headed for the library.

      She had half-expected to be alone in the library at this hour, but she was not completely surprised to see someone else here.  There was one other girl in the library when she arrived, and as she approached, she saw that it was Hermione, Harry's friend from the train.

      "Hey," Willow said as she approached.

      Hermione looked up from an enormous volume she was studying.  "Hey, Willow," she said in a neutral tone.

      Willow had to think for a moment before she remembered why Hermione would probably be using such a guarded, emotionless tone with her.  "Hey, look, Hermione, I know you don't think much of Slytherins, but we can still be friends, can't we?"

      Hermione seemed to weigh it over in her mind, then smiled.  "I don't see why not," she admitted a moment later.

      "Good," Willow said, genuinely relieved.  It was funny; she still remembered all twenty-one years of her life, but she was feeling a lot like her sixteen-year-old self lately, always trying to make friends but too shy to have much success.

      "So what are you looking for here?" Hermione asked a moment later.

      "Ummm … a lot of stuff, actually.  I have a lot of catching up to do."  She handed Hermione a list of her classes for fall, and the required books for the classes preceding them.

      Hermione whistled.  "Wow, you're as bad as I am!" she said, casting a different look at Willow, as though seeing her for the first time.  "Well, if you're up to this, the Sorting Hat won't have been kidding."

      "Thanks," Willow answered with a meek shrug.  "So what are you looking for here?"

      Hermione laughed.  "Harry and I are getting an early start.  McGonagall promised to help him become an Auror, and has been asking me to give him some quick tips while he's here, especially with Potions and Transfiguration."

      "What's an Auror?" Willow asked.

      "Well, basically a special agent for the Ministry that tracks down and captures dark witches and wizards."

      Like me, Willow thought.  Wonderful.

      To cover her discomfort, she asked, just to say something, "What about Defense Against the Dark Arts?  That sounds more … Auror-ish."

      Hermione gave a halfhearted smile.  "That's right, you don't know Harry.  Yes, it's quite an important skill for Aurors.  But … let's just say I don't think he needs my help in that one."

      "Well, thanks for that, at least, Hermione," a voice said from behind Willow.

      "Any time," Hermione replied with a cheeky grin.

      Willow turned around.  Harry was standing there, holding a small stack of books under one arm.  Willow's heart skipped a beat.  Oh for gosh sakes, get a hold of yourself, Willow! she berated herself.  He's only sixteen.  Really sixteen, not just faking it.

      "'Morning, Willow," he said, tossing his books down wearily on the desk in front of Hermione.

      "Hey, Harry," she answered.

      "By the way, I never got a chance to say congratulations for yesterday."

      "Really?  Uh … what for?"

      Harry cocked his head at her.  "That was an awesome Levitation Charm," he explained.

      "Oh … really?  Well, not really … I mean, I couldn't hold it, or Buffy wouldn't have had to go flying down into the dungeons."

      "You bought her time," Harry answered.  "Torrence owes you as much as she does Buffy."

      "Plus, using a Charm on a moving, living target at that range isn't easy," Hermione added.

      "Well … eh … thanks," Willow answered meekly, hoping that her smile didn't look overly goofy.

      "So what are you doing up so bright and early?" Harry asked, taking a seat next to Hermione, facing Willow.

      "Willow here is taking a very ambitious schedule in the fall," Hermione said, actually sounding rather proud.  "You might learn a thing or two from her."

      "Uh-oh.  If Hermione calls your schedule tough, you probably scheduled too much," Harry laughed.  "Can I see?"

      Willow handed Harry her schedule.  He glanced over it, and his eyes widened.  "Defense Against the Dark Arts, Potions, Tranfiguration, Care of Magical Creatures, Divination, Herbology, Alchemy, History of Magic, and … Occlumency?  You're taking Occlumency?"  He pushed his hair back as though it were getting in his eyes and preventing him from reading straight.

      "Yeah, it supposed to be some kind of mystical mind defense or something," Willow agreed.

      "I know what it is," Harry said.  "I take it, too … in fact, I think I'm the only other student who takes it."

      "Really?" Willow asked.  For some reason, that brought a smile to her lips.  "Are you taking it in the fall?"

      "I think so, probably," Harry sighed.

      "You are taking it," Hermione corrected him sternly.

      "It is a bad class?" Willow asked.

      "Not really a bad class, just, well … a bad teacher.  Your Head of House and I have never really gotten along … to put it mildly."

      "Snape teaches it," Willow reminded herself aloud.  Snape had told her that last night, but it had slipped her mind.  "Yeah, I can see how he could be kind of scary.  I think I have him for something else, too."

      Harry grimaced.  "Three different classes, from the looks of things," he grated.  "Me too.  Occlumency, Potions, and Defense Against the Dark Arts.  I'm not exactly looking forward to it, though at least I'll be back at Hogwarts."

      "Back at Hogwarts?  Aren't you already there?" Willow asked pointedly.

      Harry sighed.  "I wish I were back to stay.  I'm only here for another day, then I have to go back home."  For some reason, he didn't sound too happy about that.  Willow suddenly remembered Hermione saying something about giving Harry help 'while he was here.'

      "You're leaving?" she asked, trying to sound just polite, not overly disappointed.

      "I have to," Harry explained.  "I have to spend the summers at home.  Not by choice.  I'll be back in the fall, and I might be able to make one more visit, though I'll probably be going to the Burrow—Ron and Ginny's house—if I'm allowed out again."

      "Well … that's a shame.  Are you leaving, too?" Willow asked Hermione.

      "Nope," Hermione said brightly.  "I'll be here all summer."

      "And when she says that," Harry added cheerfully, "she really does mean right here in the library."  Hermione gave him a playful shove on the shoulder.

      "Seriously, though, you two should get along really well," Harry continued.  "Hermione wasn't kidding—even without the Occlumency, that would be a heck of a schedule."  He brushed the hair out of his eyes again, and Willow caught a glimpse of something underneath his bangs that had looked like just a smudge of some kind earlier.

      "What's that?" she asked.

      "What's what?" Harry asked, puzzled.

      "On your forehead."

      "Oh, this?" he said, parting his hair and holding it to reveal a scar shaped like a short lightning bolt.  For some reason, he flinched again as he did so, as if the scar pained him somehow.  He gave her another questioning look.  "You don't know?"

      "I just arrived in England a few days ago," Willow reminded him.

      "I know, it's just …"

      "… he thought everyone knew," Hermione finished for him.

      "Well, yeah, kind of, I've kind of gotten used to people knowing, unless they're really young." 

      "So what is this that everyone else knows?"

      Harry's face was expressionless.  "I got this when I was just a baby.  Voldemort tried to kill me.  My mother had died protecting me moments earlier, though, which turned out to be just about the strongest counter-curse in history.  His spell rebounded … he ended up almost dead, and I ended up the world's most famous orphan."

      Willow's hands had flown to her mouth.  "Oh, Goddess, Harry, I'm so sorry," she said.  "I didn't mean to bring up memories like that.  Though I guess they're more than memories, if he's back now."

      "It's all right," Harry shrugged.  "I've had enough time to learn to deal with it by now.  Besides, I'm more worried about stopping him from finishing the job right now."

      "He's still after you?" Willow asked in a frightened whisper.  "Just a revenge thing?"

      Harry nodded at first, then shook his head.  "More than that," he said, "but there's certainly some revenge involved, I'm sure."

      Hermione had been looking curiously at Willow during this conversation, and suddenly seemed to come to a conclusion of some kind.

      "You're no exchange student," she said.

      Willow shrugged.  "Nope.  I only heard about Hogwarts and Voldemort and all of this less than two weeks ago.  Why?"

      "Even in America, they would know that Voldemort has still been after Harry.  There's no way you could have gone to any of the schools over there for five years and still not know about all this."

      Willow smiled.  "Nope.  Just starting."

      "Well, I'd say you're off to a good start," Hermione answered.  "So wait, that Levitation Charm was …"

      "The first time I ever used a wand," Willow confirmed.  She didn't feel like going into all the other things she had done with magic; she was here to put all that behind her.

      Harry suddenly looked awestruck, both impressed by that in itself and realizing the other half of the significance of what Hermione was saying.  "And your friend?"

      "Buffy?"

      Harry nodded, and swallowed.  "That was …?"

      "Oh, her first time on a broomstick?  Yeah."

      Hermione nodded, as though trying to take in a difficult concept, and Harry's eyes simply widened, and he shook his head in disbelief.  "You've got to be kidding."

      "Actually, I'm not, but she sure seems to want to make up for lost time," Willow answered, nodding out the window.  Buffy was barely visible in the distance, darting around at the far limits of the Hogwarts grounds, just shy of the Dark Forest.

      Harry squinted faintly.  "Is that her?" he asked.

      Hermione raised her wand.  "Binoculate," she whispered to herself.  Harry followed her lead a moment later.

      "Wow," Harry breathed a moment later, and Willow felt another involuntary pang of jealousy.  "How long has she been out there?"

      "Probably since about quarter after five," Willow admitted, casting a glance at her watch.  It was half past six.

      "More than an hour out there," Harry breathed.

      "Looks like she's about to wrap up," Hermione observed.  Buffy was darting back towards the castle now.  A moment later, she alighted atop Slytherin Tower and disappeared from view.

      "I think you've got some competition, Harry," Hermione said with a sidelong grin at the boy.  A moment later, she whispered, "Finite."

      "And not just from your old boyfriend, either," Harry agreed, following Hermione's lead and ending the charm a moment later.  Hermione grinned.

      "Your old boyfriend?"

      "Hermione was dating Viktor Krum, one of the best Quidditch players in the world, for a little while.  Didn't last long, but certainly made a lot of eleven- and twelve-year-olds jealous."

      "Oh come on, I think I even made McGonagall jealous," she said with a wicked smirk.

      "And now you two are …?" Willow trailed off.

      "We're what?  Oh … what?!" Harry's eyes widened.  "Oh, no, we're not," he clarified.  "No, just best friends … besides," Harry added with a mischievous twinkle in his eyes, "Ron's the one she fancies."

      "Do you want my help or not?" Hermione's face held all kinds of threats.

      "Aww, I'm sowwy," Harry said, giving Hermione a playful hug.

      "Want a stomachful of slugs?" Hermione warned.

      "Eww," Harry said as he withdrew.

      "Anyway, when do you leave?" Willow asked, not wanting to disrupt their studying any longer and worried things would get too awkward if she stayed too long.

      Harry sighed, feeling that his time to delay was up and that he was going to have to open the advanced potions book in front of him before long.  "Day after tomorrow, just after breakfast," he said.

      "All right … say goodbye before you leave?"

      "I will, I promise," he said, smiling at her as she walked out.  "And I'll see you at breakfast!"  Willow flashed a last smile his way as she disappeared towards the circulation desk with a stack of books.

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      "So what do you think of her?" Hermione asked as Willow left the room.

      "I'm not sure," Harry admitted.  "She seems like a really sweet girl."  He looked over and grinned mischievously.  "I'm actually kind of glad we missed the train."

      Hermione smiled and let that pass; there had been something else in what he had said.  "But you think she may not be such a really sweet girl?"

      "I don't know," Harry admitted.  "She seems more … genuine … than any Slytherin I've ever met."

      "You heard the Hat, you know she was moments from being a Ravenclaw."

      "Yeah, but there's more than that," Harry said, turning to look at Hermione.  "She's going to be taking Occlumency with me.  No other student is expected to take Occlumency.  Heck, no other students are even allowed to take Occlumency."

      Hermione suddenly understood what Harry was saying.  "And the only reason you're allowed … required …"

      "… is because Dumbledore thinks I need to learn it.  You know as well as anyone there's no Occlumency class.  It's going to be private with Snape again."

      "Which means, if she's taking it, then Dumbledore thinks she needs to learn it, too."

      "Exactly," Harry answered.

      "So she may be in some kind of trouble, too."

      "Maybe," Harry said.  For some reason, he kept to himself the other reason that the girl was attracting his attention.  Sometimes, just a few times, when she had looked at him, a dull ache, like a vague memory of what used to happen when Voldemort was thinking about him, shot through the scar on his forehead.  He shrugged himself out of his woolgathering a moment later, however.

      "Come on," he said.  "Let's get started."

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      SPECIAL NOTE: I actually signed up for ff.net's support services, so if I'm on your favorite authors list, you should be receiving automated e-mails when I upload new chapters.  I'm not shilling for new people to put me on favorites, but for those of you who already have me there, do let me know if you got the alert for this, since you are the main reason I signed up for it.

      COMING SOON: Chapter 8, "At Breakfast."  Buffy and Draco talk about Quidditch and a few other things; the ghosts provide some excitement at breakfast, and Willow finds that she still has a lot of self-control to learn.

      SNEAK PREVIEW:

      Willow's eyes had gone dark and she pulled out her wand and pointed it … a few of the professors at the head table had stood up, nervous or stern expressions on their faces.

      "This should be good," the Baron said behind them.