Disclaimer: Anything Harry Potter related is owned by J.K. Rowling while anything Buffy related is owned by Joss Whedon.

Authors Note: This is the rewrite of the original Chapter 2. Some things have been added and expanded upon, while other things have been changed and new scenes have been added.

Chapter 2:

Owls and Letters

A light wind whispered softly through the trees, unseasonably warm, even for a summer's night in California. The well-lit streets, though usually quite empty of life, were even more deserted than usual, as most people preferred the comfort of their air-conditioned houses as opposed to the heat of the night. Yet this town, in particular, had many people who would rather stay inside at night, rather then enjoying the night air. Maybe it was the high heat of the night. Maybe the television programming was better in this town than most. Or maybe because, while the residents chose to ignore it, they could not help but be put off by the extremely high death toll for such a small little town. Such was the inconvenience of a town built directly over a Hellmouth.

Yet, as some acknowledged, the death toll had decreased in the last five years; most touted the police force for that decrease though the number of officers and hours put in had not changed. Nor had their work load. The only thing that had changed was the arrival of a young teenage girl. A teenage girl that most parents had encouraged their own children to stay away from; they did not want their little babies associating themselves with a troubled teen who had been expelled for burning down her old school's gym. But there were a select few who chose to befriend her. They soon realized how different of a town Sunnydale really was and immediately began helping her fight against the things that went bump in the night. Someone in that small, tight-knit group could usually be found prowling the streets of Sunnydale late at night. After all, even a night's rest could allow the town's undead residents to cause chaos.

Tonight, though, was different.

While most other houses were dark, as families were tucked tight into their beds and fast asleep, the house found at 1630 Revello Drive was teaming with light. Tonight, for them, was a night of relaxation and rest. Something they had had very little of in the last few months, what with a Hell-goddess on their tails. And they were determined to have one night, at least, to celebrate their latest victory.

The main kitchen light clicked on suddenly, bathing the room in light. Other than a pile of dirty dishes tossed haphazardly into the sink, the kitchen was more or less spotless. The only thing out of place was a large bowl sitting on the counter, positioned right underneath the beeping microwave. With the heels of her stylish-yet-affordable boots clicking with every step, Buffy Summers practically bounced to the beeping microwave, beaming as she pulled a steaming bag out. With barely any effort, she tore the top of the bag open and inhaled the scent of freshly popped popcorn. The smile never leaving her face, she dumped the contents of the bag into the waiting bowl and, after glancing quickly at the doorway leading to the rest of the house, snuck a handful of the popcorn. As she wiped any incriminating evidence away from her lips, she discarded the now-empty bag.

"Popcorn's ready!" she announced as she sauntered to the living room, following the cheering that had accompanied her announcement.

Though the Summer's living room was a good sized room, it seemed small with the entire self-dubbed "Scooby Gang" sprawled over various pieces of furniture. Yet, even with the slightly crammed position, nobody was going to complain. Well, maybe except Anya. Both she and Xander were half-sitting, half-laying on one side of the couch, a bandage across Anya's forehead the only sign of the battle with Glory. Dawn sat on the other side, glancing through the pile of movies on her lap. In front of the couch, Willow and Tara seemed oblivious to the others as they cuddled gently, as if making up for the time they had lost. In a chair next to the couch sat Giles, who seemed to be lost in his own world – something that had become more common since the battle with Glory. And finally, sprawled out on the floor with a mug of blood next to him, lay Spike, his leg resting on a pillow in front of him. Even with the time that had passed, all of them showed signs of fighting in a battle above all others. But tonight was a night to put all worries and anxieties away.

As Buffy entered the living room, adding yet another person to squeeze onto the furniture, the bowl of popcorn was immediately stolen out of her hands and carefully inspected, as if it was spiked with poison. Buffy glared at the teenager who had sprung up off the couch and taken the popcorn, her hands immediately going to her hips. "It's popcorn, Dawn. I think I can manage popcorn."

"You never know," Dawn said, arching an eyebrow as a devious smile crossed her face. "After all, wasn't it you who managed to burn water cause ya left it too long on the stove?"

As the room broke out in incredulous laughter at her expense, Buffy tried to hide her embarrassment, or at least counter Dawn's statement, by saying, "That so wasn't my fault! There was a demon…"

"Always blaming the demons, huh Buff?" Xander said, reaching for the bowl of popcorn. Before he could continue, though, he was, unsurprisingly, distracted by the bowl now resting in his arms. Taking a handful of popcorn out, he stuffed it in his mouth and sighed. "Mmm…buttery goodness."

"Yes, this is true. Whenever someone is in an awkward situation, they always blame the demons. Blame the one that can't defend itself, since it was slayed by you. Why does everyone always have to blame demons on things, anyway. It's just…"

Before she could continue, Giles interrupted her as she took of his glasses and began cleaning them, a familiar routine. "Yes, Anya. We understand your feelings on this particular issue. You have told us all many times."

As Anya opened her mouth to reply, Dawn moved quickly to the front of the room and waved a handful of DVDs in an attempt to get everybody's attention. "Hey, guys? Remember why we're all here? To watch a movie? Not to discuss Buffy's ability to find a demon to blame for everything she messes up on."

Buffy's glare deepened as she eyed at her sister and she grabbed the bowl of popcorn out of Xander's unsuspecting hands. "Keep it up, Dawnie. Cause just for that, you're not getting any popcorn."

"No fair!" Dawn squealed, dropping the movies on the ground as she lunged for the bowl of popcorn. Having expected this, Buffy jumped out of Dawn's path and the teenager fell in a heap on the couch. As Buffy laughed at her sister's awkward landing, Dawn took advantage of her distraction and grabbed the bowl, knocking kernels of popcorn onto Willow and Tara.

As the two battled over the bowl of popcorn, Giles reached over and picked up the fallen DVDs.

"So what movies do ya got?" Willow asked as she managed to snag popcorn out of the bowl.

"An odd assortment," Giles said, his forehead wrinkling as he read over the titles. He picked the DVD from the top of the pile and began to read them off. "Blade – "

Willow shook her head vigorously, interrupting Giles, "Nu-uh. Too bloody and gory."

"Y-yeah, we get enough of that every day," Tara added, "Why don't we watch something t-that doesn't involve vampires. I kinda want a break from the supernatural."

Willow squeezed her girlfriend's hand, a frown crossing her face momentarily as Tara snuggled closer to her. Looking at her in worry, Willow pulled Tara tighter, as if trying to make her forget the damage that Glory had done to her. "Yeah, no vampires. And 'cause I have my resolved face, what I say goes. So there."

Giles nodded as he put the DVD aside and continued reading from the pile. He winced upon reading the title and attempted to hide the movie behind his back. His actions, unfortunately, did not go unnoticed. As Buffy noticed him attempting to hide the movie, her attention was distracted from her ongoing squabble and she called out, "Hey! What's that one there?"

"Top Gun," Giles sighed after a moment of silence, as he silently debated on whether or not tell his Slayer the name of the movie. Her eyes lit up immediately at the name of the movie, the popcorn momentarily forgotten.

"Ooo, I like that one!" Buffy said. "Young Tom Cruise AND Young Val Kilmer? Nummy!"

"No!" Came the loud reply from the vampire lying on the floor. "I refuse to watch the bleeding movie with the lot of you again."

He pushed himself up into a sitting position as he pulled a carton of cigarettes out from his jacket pocket. As he placed the cigarette in his mouth, he began searching his pockets for his lighter. Taking advantage of his distraction, Dawn reached forward and pulled the cigarette out of his mouth and threw it into the glass of water on the table in front of her. "Hey, Bit!"

"No smoking in the house," Dawn reminded him nonchalantly. "Besides, it stinks."

As Dawn sat back in the couch, Spike sighed as he silently berated himself for becoming so whipped by the women of the Scooby Gang. He laid back down on the floor, preparing himself for yet another night of watching Buffy oogle over the movie actors. Even with Buffy's protests, Giles continued reading off the names, each being rejected for one reason or another. They were so wrapped up in their arguments for and against the movies that all of them failed to notice a large owl swooping in from the darkness of the night to hover outside of large living room window.

The arguing over the movies continued on and, rolling her eyes at the rest of the Scooby Gang, Dawn turned to grab the popcorn bowl next to her. As she turned, a movement in the corner of her eye caught her attention. She turned towards the window -

And found herself face to face with the unblinking yellow eyes of an owl.

Dawn jumped in surprise, spilling popcorn all over herself, Buffy, Willow, and Tara. Buffy turned to her, mouth open in indignation as she quickly wiped the buttery popcorn off of her pants. She turned to Dawn, scowling at her. "Dawn! Look at what – "

Her voice died away as she followed Dawn's incredulous gaze and she too saw the owl. And as if having an owl staring at you through a window was not strange enough, Buffy noticed what looked like a piece of paper caught in the owl's talon. One by one, noticing the sisters' sudden silence, everybody turned towards the window and they too stared at the owl in shock. Silence filled the once noisy room, as each of them tried to convince themselves that they really were seeing an owl, that was now tapping on the window, with some sort of paper attached to it.

"I think it wants to be let it," she stated matter-of-factly. Slowly, everyone turned to stare at Anya, who just shrugged at their disbelieving expressions. "What? I think it's pretty self-explanatory. When an animal starts tapping on your window in the middle of the night and has a paper attached to it, it probably wants to be let it."

"Oh," was the only sound that Buffy could muster. Turning back towards the window, Buffy slowly reached forward and opened the window, allowing just enough room for the owl to fly in, if it really wanted to enter the house. It immediately soared into the room, dropping letters onto the laps of both Buffy and Willow before landing on the back of the wooden chair. For a moment, all any of them (with the exception of Anya) could do was look back and forth from the owl to the letters, still not able to comprehend and owl wanting to deliver letters to them.

"Maybe we s-should give it something to drink," Tara stammered, breaking the silence of the room. The other turned momentarily to her, nodding blankly, before turning their attention back to the owl. Slowly, she stood up and walked to the kitchen, her eyes never leaving the owl perched comfortably on the chair. The sound of running water seemed to break the others out of their shock. Taking her eyes off of the owl, Buffy slowly opened the yellow envelope that the owl had dropped.

HOGWARTS SCHOOL

of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY

Headmaster: ALBUS DUMBLEDORE

(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sor., Chf. Warlock,

Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. Of Wizards)

Dear Miss Summers,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been chosen as Co-Professor of Muggle Defense, a new class at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. You will be working with a one Willow Rosenberg, a woman whom you have known quite well. We believe your expertise in the field of defense against demons and other such creatures will prove very beneficial to the students of the school, which is why you have been chosen.

Term begins on September 1. We await your owl by no later than July 1, as equipment needs to be bought and lesson plans need to be worked out. If you do accept this teaching position, a guide will be waiting for you in the Heathrow Airport on July 31 to get you settled in.

Yours sincerely,

Albus Dumbledore

Buffy stared down at the letter in disbelief, rereading it many times over, as if to convince herself of the contents. She turned sharply to Willow, to see the same look of disbelief on the redhead's face. As if feeling Buffy's eyes on her, she looked up from the letter and met the Slayer's gaze.

"Does your letter talk about a job at a school…"

"Of witches and wizards?"

At that declaration, Tara, who had just stepped back into the room with a bowl of water in her hands, froze in her tracks. Water splashed over the edges of the bowl, though she paid no attention to the now-wet carpet. For a brief moment, her eyes were trained solely on Willow. Yet as quickly as it had happened, the moment passed; Tara's gaze turned towards the owl as she walked over and placed the bowl on the table in front of it. The owl hoots its thanks as it immediately drank great gulps of water. Willow, who had turned to look at Tara when she had re-entered the room, was still staring at her lover, confusion written all over her face. Before she could voice her concerns, the rest of the inhabitants of the room, who had finally gotten over their shock, all started speaking at the same time.

"What!" screeched Dawn as she snatched the letter out of Buffy's hands, her sister still in too much shock to respond. "But you don't know anything about magic!"

"How do we even know this letter is real?" Xander demanded, craning his neck to read the letter over Willow's shoulder. "What if it's just some evil plot to get them away from the Hellmouth?"

"There's a school for magic?" Tara asked, recovering from the shock. Though she received no response, she walked slowly over to Willow and sat down next to her. Willow touched her shoulder with a questioning gaze. Tara managed to give her a small smile, though said nothing else. Their small moment went unnoticed, for the rest of the room's occupants were still busy firing off questions, not waiting for any sort of answer. The room, once again, was shocked into silence by Anya's loud declaration,

"The letter's real. Hogwarts is a very well-renowned school in Scotland, though it has produced one of the Darkest wizards in wizarding history," she said nonchalantly.

"And you decided to tell us this now?" Buffy said, the letter forgotten.

Anya shrugged. "Nobody asked."

"She raises a fair point," Xander conceded as the rest of the Scoobies nodded reluctantly. Silence once again overtook the room, until Willow raised her hand slightly, saying,

"Um…guys? About these letters?"

"Well, I suppose," Giles said, taking off his glasses and cleaning them, "that both you and Buffy should decide whether to accept this position, supposing that this place exists. This could be an incredible learning experience for the both of you. In the meantime, I shall consult my books, to search for any reference to this 'Hogwarts.' Perhaps…"

"Okay, officially over shock now," Buffy said. "A dose of Giles is all it takes to bore me out of the shock."

Ignoring his reproachful look, she turned to Willow. "How about it, Will? Wanna get out of Sunnydale for a bit? Travel the world, go shopping, teach little kids all about…well, whatever we're teaching them about?"

Willow glanced over at Tara, silently asking her for her permission. At the barest of nods, Willow turned back to Buffy. "I'm in. The chance to go to a real magic school that I didn't even know existed. Think of all the magic I could learn! Think they have a library? Cause that would be nifty."

"What about me?" Dawn interrupted suddenly, her arms crossed over her chest as she stared at her sister. "When they find out that you went to England and left me here, what do you think will happen? They might make me go live with Dad in LA. And the last thing I want to do is live in Dad's empty house as he takes his secretary on vacations to Spain."

Buffy looked at Dawn briefly before turning back to Giles. "Could we bring Dawn with us? I can't leave her here."

"We could possibly work it out somehow…" Giles started before being interrupted by Willow.

"I could do a spell, to convince people that we have normal jobs in Britain," she said, barely able to contain her excitement. "Then there won't be any question of Dawn coming with us, because she could attend a school there. And then – "

"What, are you all going to plan my life out now? Gonna make decisions for me, instead of asking me what I want to do?"

Willow looked away, averting her eyes away from Dawn's piercing gaze. With all of the attention on the teenager, nobody noticed the look of concern that Tara gave the redheaded witch, nor the slight fear in her eyes at Willow's immediate thought of using magic to solve a problem. Her thoughts were diverted, though, as Buffy reached over to her sister.

"We're not trying to plan your life, Dawnie," Buffy said softly, thinking ruefully to herself how differently she would have reacted just a few short months ago, when her sister had changed from an annoying little brat to someone she would give her life for without a hesitation. She brushed a stray hair away from her sister's face as she continued. "We're just trying to figure out what options we have."

Dawn sighed, the anger draining out of her. "I know, but you act like I'm not even in the room. I want to go to Hogwarts with you. It would be more exciting then Sunnydale. And I wouldn't have to worry about dating another vampire, at least."

Chuckling slightly before reaching in to briefly hug her, Buffy said, "We'll figure it out. I know we will."

"Not wanting to interrupt, Buff, but what about Sunnydale?" Xander asked. "I know we all help out, but we're not the Slayer. And with Willow gone too, the vampires are going to be more fearless then before."

Buffy nodded in agreement and turned her attention away from Dawn. Slowly standing up, she walked a few steps over to where Spike lie, naked emotion showing in his eyes as she slowly sat down next to him. He smiled at her, thought it was a slight, unsure smile. "Gonna go to Britain, huh luv? Be a teacher in a bloody school of magic?"

"Yes, Spike," she said quietly. "But I need you here. I need you to stay in Sunnydale, and help everyone. You know everyone here can hold their own, but you've got the strength of a vampire. I may never love you as you wish, Spike, but I trust you. I trusted you once with the life of my sister, and you were able to protect her. I will never forget that. And I trust you with the life of my friends. Please stay and help them, Spike."

As she finished her request, she looked at Spike some-what nervously, hoping he would be willing to help. Her worries were alleviated, though, as Spike nodded.

"I've got nothing else to do. Stay around here 'til I got bored, at least."

Buffy rolled her eyes at him, though she smiled brightly. "Thank you, Spike."

As they continued talking, nobody noticed (or pretended not to notice) Tara and Willow both standing up and slowly walking up the stairs to their bedroom. Not a word was spoken between the two, and a rare uncomfortable silence wormed its way between them. The only sound was the slight creaking of the stairs as they ascended. Willow snuck a glance at Tara, trying to catch a glimpse of her face so as to read what Tara was thinking. Yet Tara kept her head down, trying to hide the conflicting emotions she knew were written on her face. It was not until they had shut the door to their bedroom that Tara finally turned to look at Willow, trying but failing to put a smile on her face.

"Baby," Willow started, but her voice trailed off as Tara shook her head. After taking a few deep breaths, as if to steady herself, Tara reached over and put her hand lovingly onto Willow's cheek.

"This is an incredible opportunity, Willow," Tara said, her voice so soft that Willow had to strain to hear her. "To teach magic at a real school of magic…you can't pass on something like that. And I would never want to hold you back from something so amazing. I love you, Willow. And I want you to go."

At those words, Willow stepped closer and pulled Tara into a crushing hug, holding onto her as if Tara would disappear when she let go. For a moment, each of them took great comfort in the feel of the other in their arms, the gentle breath that tickled their throats. Tara pulled away slightly, only to lean in and kiss Willow gently on the lips. Both savored that kiss, knowing it would be one of the last either would have in a while.

"What about…us? Scotland is a long way from here. And if you stay…oh!" Willow exclaimed, her eyes lighting up as a sudden thought came to her mind. "You can come with me! I'm sure the school won't mind if you come, since you're a witch too!"

Tara slowly shook her head, a sad smile on her face as the hopeful expression on Willow's face died. "I am needed here, Willow. In Sunnydale. Mr. Giles is going to need help with you and Buffy both gone. If I go to, that's one more person that Sunnydale will have to do without. And I can't do that, Willow. I have to help any way I can. And that means staying here."

"I'll write everyday?" Willow half-said, half-asked as tears welled up in her eyes. "Twice a day. As often as I can. I lost you once, Tara. I won't lose you again."

"I know," Tara said simply, her own eyes misty as she sat down on the bed next to Willow. Neither of them said a word as they sat next to each other, tears slowly streaming down both of their cheeks. Nothing more was said between them; nothing more needed to be said that night.

The waves crashed mightily onto the jagged rock that composed the small island, spraying everything nearby with droplets of ice-cold water. A cold wind swept over the island, chilling the inhabitants of the only building down to the bone. Those chosen to the guard the many imprisoned inside the tower swept their eyes carefully over the landscape, watching for any sign of movement. Many of the imprisoned were loyal to the Dark Lord; therefore, a rescue attempt would not be completely unexpected. Unlikely, yes, but not unexpected. Especially since the Dementors were no longer under the service of the Ministry and had long abandoned their posts. Therefore, a break-out would be much more difficult with the amount of wizards and Aurors working to watch over Azkaban.

Yet, for all of their careful planning and all of the trained wizards watching every entrance to the prison, they were not prepared for the events that were to occur. As the wizards at the main entrance of Azkaban looked on, a cloaked man appeared suddenly in front of them, causing them to start. Immediately, they pulled out their wands, but before they could utter a word, their wands flew out of their grasp at a wave of the cloaked man's hand. With another wave of his hand, the wizards froze in their spots and fell to the ground, immobilized.

"Good night, blokes," came his voice from under the cloak, surprisingly cheerful. Stooping down to the ground, he picked up one of the fallen wands from the ground and, straightening, pointed the foreign wand at the large wooden doors that composed the entrance. Waving it once, a jet of red light erupted from it and the doors exploded in a spray of wooden splinters. He tossed the wand to the wayside in disdain and walked through the now-destroyed doors, his pace steady but fast.

His heels clicked loudly in the silent hallway, the noise causing the prisoners to scurry to their locked doors. He ignored the shouts and curses that were thrown at him, rolling his eyes in at the pleads for help. Onward he continued down the darkened hallway, until at last he came to his destination. Stopping in front of a well-chained metal door, he waved his hands the chains flew off the door and the door itself opened with a loud clang that echoed up and down the hallway.

The man inside slowly got to his feet, his stained cloak and stringy hair not taking away from the air of regalness the man compelled. Having the audacity to look down his nose at his savior, he sneered as he demanded,

"Who are you?"

Throwing the hood of his cloak back, the man revealed his dark hair and long face to the imprisoned wizard. "Ethan Rayne, old chap. And you, Lucius, are needed by the Dark Lord. He is giving you one last chance to redeem yourself. Hopefully you don't screw it up this time."

Ignoring the glare that Lucius leveled at him, Ethan roughly grabbed him and as suddenly as he had appeared on the rocky island, Ethan disappeared; this time, with Lucius in tow.