Disclaimer: I (unfortunately) own none of the characters from either Buffy the Vampire Slayer or the Harry Potter series. They belong to the geniuses, Joss Whedon and J.K. Rowling. I am not trying to take credit for their works, I am just a poor college student amusing herself by writing some fan fiction! For the timeline and changes I made to both the Buffy and HP fandoms, see Chapter 1!

Thanks to PrInCeSsFBi, Dax, moo, cRiMsOnGoDdEsS01, Aria DeLoncray, Anne 79 , moniteur (wow, totally did NOT catch that at all... thanks for that!), and stasa (in order... maybe, maybe, most definitely! Hehe sorry I'm being vague, but gotta leave it a surprise, don't I?) for your lovely reviews! Thanks for taking the time to drop me one! I'm glad you're all still enjoying it! Oh, and for those who suggested that brining Sirius back was too easy, don't worry. I still have a few tricks up my sleeve on that one... He's not out of the woods yet (unfortunately)!

--------------------------

"Buffy?"

Buffy looked up to see Giles standing above her, looking down at her with a concerned look marring his features. The stack of papers on her lap shifted; she had arrived at the infirmary with the intention of grading her seventh year's essays on the Slayer, but within seconds of sitting down and taking out her work, her eyes had drifted to the man occupying the hospital bed in front of her, laying motionless and silent among the crisp, white sheets. It had been a month since she had returned him from the Department of Mysteries, and there had been virtually no progress in regards to his condition. Madame Pomfrey had deduced that although his condition was stable, she had idea when, or if, he would ever wake up. Buffy had taken to spending almost every moment when she was not in class at his bedside, wanting to be there when he woke up. Other than Angel, who didn't really count since he came back as a vampire, Buffy was the only one who had died and come back. Knowing that it could be extremely disorienting to be brought back, she knew that it would be worse for him because he had been dead for a year in comparison to her three or four minutes and wanted to be there for him.

"Oh, hey, Giles. What's up?" she asked with a smile. She could tell that her Watcher was worried about her, but ignored it, knowing that what she was doing was the right thing.

"I just wanted to make sure that you were alright," he answered, and she nodded, indicating that she was fine. "And to come get you for dinner. It's almost seven." Buffy glanced at the clock on the wall behind her, sighing when she realized that she had been sitting there for almost two and a half hours.

"I'm fine, I'm not-..." she started, but was immediately interrupted.

"You have to eat something," he urged gently, bending down to collect the papers spread across her lap, placing them on the small nightstand at the head of the bed before returning his attention to his Slayer. "You have to get out of this room." Buffy sighed once again, knowing that he was right. She had been spending too much time waiting for Sirius to wake up, and both Giles and her friends were getting worried about her. Although various Order members and the trio often came to visit, they had their own jobs, and in the case of the three Gryffindors, their own classes and homework to attend to. Buffy had seen Harry the most, as he had been visiting the infirmary almost every day for any word on his godfather.

"Yeah, alright." Buffy accepted the hand up and the two made their way out of the small room, out of the infirmary, and into the corridor that led to the rest of the castle. However, the second that they stepped off of the staircase to the entrance hall, they were met by Snape.

"Miss Summers," he greeted and gave Giles a curt nod.

"Hey, Snapey!" He ignored her and continued.

"Voldemort requests that you join him for dinner." Buffy made a face that he took to mean 'ew, do I have to?' and he nodded. "We will leave as soon as you are ready. She looked over at Giles, and he gave her arm a small squeeze and told her to be careful before entering the Great Hall and leaving Buffy and Snape at stare at each other.

"kay, I'm ready," she said, breaking the silence. "Let's go." Without another word, she led him out the large front doors of the castle, over the small, grass-covered hills, and past the lake, stopping once she had exited the gate to Hogwarts, immediately feeling the protective enchantments she had used to lift once she crossed the line. She took Snape's outstretched hand and a second later, they were standing in the front hall of the Malfoy Manor. Buffy briefly wondered why there weren't any protection spells cast on the Manor, but shrugged it off, allowing Snape to guide her down the hall to the room where she had first met Voldemort and his Death Eaters.

"Ah, Buffy, Severus," came a cool, high-pitched voice the second they stepped into the room. Buffy looked up to see that Voldemort was seated at the long, beautifully decorated table and gave a slight bow of her head. She moved immediately to the seat that he mentioned to, the seat between him and Angel, and sat down, feeling Angel give her hand a small squeeze under the table. "So good of you to join us." Snape took a seat on Voldemort's other side, directly across the table from Buffy.

"Thanks for having us, my lord," replied Buffy, watching as he signaled for everyone to start eating. She looked over at Angel, who had a large mug of blood in front of him, silently asking if it was a good idea to eat the food, and he nodded slightly. Turning back to Voldemort, she helped herself to a large piece of roast pig before continuing. "You didn't have to wait for us to eat."

"Of course we did, my dear." A ghost of a smile played over his pale features, and Buffy inwardly shuddered. It was literally one of the most frightening things she'd ever seen, and she'd seen quite a bit in her 5 years as a Slayer. "I take it you are doing well at Hogwarts?" Buffy raised an eyebrow at this question, but quickly schooled her features into a mask of cool indifference. She was officially wigged. This was less of a "you're doing what I ordered you to do, right?" type question and more of a "hey, honey, how was your day?" one.

"Nothing has changed. Things are going according to plan." It seemed that he didn't know about Sirius' return, and Buffy wasn't about to tell him. She wanted to keep that a secret from him as long as possible. Who knew what he would do with that information once he found out.

"Excellent," he replied. Turning his attention to Snape, Buffy took this opportunity to glance down the table, committing each and every one of Voldemort's guests to memory. There were only six other people seated at the table, filling only about half, in contrast to the first night where every seat had been filled. It appeared that only those of importance had been invited to dinner. Two of them she did not recognize, a large blond man and an equally large woman who appeared to be his sister, but knew the other four, if not personally, by reputation. Draco sat between his mother and father, not looking at her, staring down at his plate so that he would not have to converse with anybody. Across from him sat the same brunette woman that had caught her eye at the first meeting. She had been gazing at Buffy with a sour expression marring her beautiful face, but as soon as she realized she had been caught, she quickly looked away, turning toward Draco's mother. Wormtail was missing, probably off doing one of Voldemort's "errands."

"Hey," whispered Buffy so quietly that no one would have been able hear her if they didn't have enhanced hearing, nudging Angel's knee softly with her own, causing him to turning away from his conversation with Lucius Malfoy. He hadn't touched the blood in the ornately carved goblet in front of him; he had always had an aversion to drinking when Buffy was around. "What's up with that lady?"

"Who?" he whispered back just as quietly, looking away and down the table before returning his gaze to her once again. "The one sitting across from Draco... Pretty. Weird hair. Pale. Kinda vamp-looking actually." Angel smiled slightly at her description.

"Belletrix Lestrange," he answered, elaborating when he got a blank look from his former lover. "Draco's aunt. She's the one that killed Sirius." Buffy tensed slightly, wanting nothing more than to lunge across the table and kill the bitch that had taken Harry's godfather away, but forced herself to calm down when Angel placed his hand gently on her knee. She forced her emotions from the surface, not wanting Voldemort to know what she was thinking or that she knew more about Sirius Black than she had let on. The rest of dinner passed quite uneventfully, well, as uneventfully as sharing a meal with the Dark Lord and his followers could be, and before she knew it, Buffy was staring at an ornately carved table, a series of house elves having just finished clearing away the empty plates and goblets.

"You may all be excused," said Voldemort in that commanding voice of his, and everyone took this as their cue to leave. However, Buffy was only half way out of her seat before she was told to sit back down. "Buffy, if I could have a word?" She nodded and sat back down, giving Angel a reassuring smile when she saw that he had halted, not sure if he wanted to leave her alone with Voldemort. "Severus, Angelus, wait outside." Snape gave a small bow and ushered a reluctant Angel out of the room, closing the door behind him with a small click. He turned back to Buffy, and she had to force herself not to look away when his blood-red eyes met her green ones. "I trust you have been keeping an eye on both Draco and Severus?" She nodded.

"Yes, my lord," she responded with a slight bow of her head. "Neither of them have done anything against your orders."

"Good." There was a long pause where he continued to look at her. Finally, he continued. "I want you to join me after Dumbledore and all of his followers are destroyed." This caught Buffy's attention, and she sat up a little straighter, wanting to know what he was talking about.

"What?"

"The others are dispensable." He waved a hand in the direction of the doors that his Death Eaters had exited out of. "You are, and would, be a great asset to me. Together we could rule both the wizarding and muggle worlds." Buffy continued to stare at him, not believing what she had just heard.

"Uhhhh..." she answered eloquently. Voldemort seemed to sense her discomfort, but merely ignored it.

"You, of course, do not have to make that decision right now. You may choose not to join me." He looked at her seriously. "However, it will be in your best interest to do so." She felt him begin to probe at the surface of her mind, and quickly closed off her mind, forcing a lie to the surface.

"I would be honored, my lord," she responded with a slight bow of her head. Apparently, he found what he wanted, and she felt him withdraw, sighing inwardly in relief. He seemed pleased.

"I also extend an invitation for you to dine with us whenever possible." Buffy saw a gaping hole in this plan, but wisely kept her mouth shut. "I know I have not called for you in quite a while, but that is about to change." He paused, waiting for her response, and she nodded quickly.

"I will try to attend as often as possible, but it might be a bit hard to come every night without Dumbledore noticing."

"Of course," he responded, giving her a nod of his own. "You may go." She took this as a cue to leave and quickly stood up, giving Voldemort one last bow of her head before making her way to the door and exiting, closing it with a soft click before letting out a long breath that she didn't know she had been holding.

Spotting Angel and Snape in the front hall, standing several feet apart and glaring at each other like they were trying to out-brood the other, she hurried over to them, shaking her head quickly at Angel's curious look. Grabbing one of Snape's arms and motioning for Angel to do the same, which he did extremely reluctantly, she felt the room disappear around her and after the darkness and feeling of suffocation cleared, found herself at the end of the road leading to Hogwarts, panting slightly at the familiar lung-compressing feeling. Sending Angel to find Giles once they reached the castle, Buffy and Snape made their way to the entrance of the Headmaster's office, entering once he called out to them. They waited until Giles and Snape arrived, Buffy not wanting to have to explain things twice, before she quickly told them what had happened and left to resume her nightly vigil at Sirius bedside.

--------------------------

Okay, I realize that this is HIDEOUSLY short and ends very briefly and not a lot happens, but I finished it like a week ago and haven't gotten around to doing anything else with it or coming anywhere near close to continuing it. I figured I'd post this little snippet so that y'all can read it while I continue to be distracted by college life... -- Short is better than nothing, yeah? Hope to continue this story soon, I just didn't like having this document in my folder not doing anything! Drop me a review anyways!