Disclaimer: I am not Joss Whedon, nor J.K. Rowling.. I am me.. I own nothing, but some of the plot and saying.. lol

Author's note: Thanks for all the positive response to this so far. I would like to say that I know I am spelling the spells wrong and I am sorry, but this is a fanfiction, please don't beat me up cause of that. Also, there is a reason that I have Buffy in the sixth year and it will all be revealed. I promise! Little hint.. timeturner and advanced aging.

Chapter 2

Buffy stood in the back yard of Grimmauld Place. She had been there a little over a week mulling over the information that she had been given and the options that had been laid out in front of her. Even though she was once again sixteen Giles treated her as though she was still eighteen and this did not sit well with some of the Order, namely Black.

Giles had left the decisions in her hand, telling her that he knew that she would make the correct one.

Flashback

"What do you want from me?" Buffy asked a little more forcefully this time. No one really had an answer for her. They weren't prepared for her to be so forceful, they were sort of hoping that she would be in shock and simply agree to help, without knowing what she was agreeing to. They were at the point that they needed all the help that they could get. They were waging a war that most people thought was over and there were heavy causalities for their side, because of this.

"The wizadaring world is under attack," Giles told her, ignoring the looks that he was receiving from the other's in the room. Buffy nodded, waiting for him to continue, for someone to fill in the missing pieces. "Most people do not believe that this war is still going on. They think that when Harry defeated Voldemort that that was it, the war had ended, but his group will do anything to resurrect him and they have done anything to do this."

"Whose the group?" Buffy asked, looking around the room for someone with the answers. Giles seemed to be avoiding this and she briefly wondered why.

"A group," Snape continued glaring at the old coot, who looked like he didn't want to say a thing to begin with, "known as the Deatheaters,"

"Same group as Giles?" Buffy questioned and Giles nodded as the others glared at him. They still did not understand what a slayer was. Sure they had all read about her, but not one of them knew what it was really like to have a slayer in the family to constantly watch her go out into battle knowing that this could be her last one.

"They are attempting to remove what they have deemed unworthy people in the wizarding community."

"Muggles." Buffy replied and she received a nod as an answer once again. Buffy was quickly tiring of this line of questioning, it was like pulling teeth she got better answers from the demons she interrogated.

"And half-breeds." Snape said, Buffy looked disgusted as he said this, she couldn't believe that she had essentially been created for this reason, to destroy. She snorted to herself wondering why she had to kill, to destroy anything at all. The powers used her to destroy evil and her "father" wanted to use her to destroy good. When was she going to make a choice as to what she did?

"Voldemort is leading this group," Giles said pulling Buffy out of her dark thoughts, she laughed slightly when everyone winced at the name. "And he has plans to get rid of everyone in his way, starting with the Order of the Phoenix."

"If you wince every time the name is said, how do you expect to win this war?" Buffy questioned looking around the room at the men and woman that were gathered in front of her. They shifted uncomfortably, they realized that they would need to overcome this fear, but they were embarrassed that a young girl had pointed it out. Buffy realized then that she knew that name, it was the one that Snape had had on the card in his pocket, "The name on the card?" Buffy asked, "The one that everyone was so surprised that I could read?"

"Yes that would be the one." Snape replied, "The card was made to be read only by those that are in the Order of the Phoenix. So when you were able to read it we were a little surprised, to say the least, as to why."

"Could it be because my biological mother was in the Order?" Buffy asked and the other's looked thoughtful.

"No." Snape replied quickly, Buffy wondered briefly if he had created the protective charm around the card, it would only seem logical since that he would be the one testing it when he went to meetings, "Harry was not able to read the same card and they share the same mother."

"That would be my fault…" Giles said and everyone turned to him wondering what else he could have done that would create Buffy's ability to see the card.

End Flashback

She was so lost in thought that she never heard the door open, but she did feel a caress of power as someone stepped inside the room, a dark power, feral in nature. Reacting quickly she tossed the person over her shoulder, her foot landing on the person's chest.

"I am so sorry." Buffy stuttered, a blush creeping its way across her cheeks as she stared at the person she knocked on the ground.

"It's quite alright, my dear." Remus Lupin said slowly getting to his feet and dusting himself off. He knew he should have knocked, but he kept forgetting that this tiny slip of a girl was a slayer.

"Hey!" Buffy said, looking at him, her silver eyes piercing and devoid of emotion, he shuddered at this look. The slayer was in control, for the most part, and the werewolf was not liking this, he wanted to crawl under a table and hid from her gaze, but he knew that Buffy would not hurt him, intentionally. "No need to go and insult my height."

"I said that last bit out loud?" Remus asked a red hue a lighting his features when Buffy nodded. Clearing his throat he got the matter at hand, "Dumbledore wanted to know if you had figured out if you were going to stay or leave." He wanted to ask her if she knew what she was doing, but didn't feel like his right. She looked like Lily, but she didn't act anything like her mother, she was more confident than Lily had ever been. She was also more adept at magic than her mother. Lily had been one of the most brilliant minds that the wizardering world had ever seen, but Buffy was able to grasp complex spells after only been studying for a week, she had caught up with the fifth years and would be able to attend as a sixth year if she so chose to. Giles was teaching her to control more of the slayer abilities and to do wandless magic. Everyone had been skeptical at first, but Buffy had been able to erect shields, without ever uttering a word, that shut everyone up.

"Where is he?" Buffy asked, she wanted a few assurances before she agreed to join their little group, even if Giles had ensured that she would join anyways. She wanted to be sure that her mom would really be safe from these Death Eaters and she wanted to meet Harry. She had heard so many things and if what they said was true then she might be able to get the Ministry to allow Giles guardianship over Harry as well, since they were brother and sister, but that was another battle to fight.

"He is at Hogwarts at the moment," Remus replied and Buffy nodded, making her way towards the door. "Where are you going?"

"To see the wizard." Buffy replied with a snicker in her voice, but Remus just gave her a blank stare. No one got her sense of humor.

"Do you need a heart?" a dry voice laden with sarcasm asked, "No, you did save me. Perhaps it is courage?" again the voice laughed slightly, "No, again, you rescued me. Maybe you just want to find your way home."

"Severus," Remus said softly when he noticed Buffy go pale, "now is not the time…"

"It's okay, Remus," Buffy said softly, "if he cannot overcome being saved by a girl, than he is nothing more than an overgrown boy," she sniffed the air slightly and amended her statement, "in need of a shower." Snape stiffened considerably and was about to retort when he noticed the look on Buffy's face, she looked like she was holding back tears. Buffy usually liked to banter back and forth with him, a contest of wits to keep each other on their toes, but she really didn't seem up to it today. He looked towards Remus to supply the answers, but there were none forthcoming.

"Buffy," Giles called, "it's time to go." He walked into the room and looked at his slayer, whom he had come to think of as a daughter. He assessed the situation quickly and turned to stare at the other man whom Buffy had taken a liking to despite his resolve that she would not. "What did you say to her?"

"I merely asked the child if she needed to find her way home." Snape replied and Giles couldn't understand how that would make Buffy upset, so he turned to look at her. She looked at everyone and wondered how she was going to survive in a place where no one really knew her. She loved to banter back and forth with Severus, but was that enough? Would Giles be able to keep her sane?

"It's her favorite movie." Buffy whispered, giving Giles a watery smile. His eyes widened slightly as recognition flared in them. Snape had made reference to 'The Wizard of Oz' which happened to be Joyce's favorite movie. "Will it hurt her?" her voice was so soft, that if Remus hadn't been a werewolf he wouldn't have caught what she said. Giles must have been used to her, seemed to anticipate her question, because he quickly enfolded her in a hug before answering.

"No." Giles replied, Snape wanted to rip Buffy out of his arms and hold her himself, but he restrained himself, barely. The Order had talked about it and it had been decided that Joyce would be safer if her memories were to be erased. Buffy wanted to go back to the Hellmouth to say goodbye to her mother, before Giles erased her memories. They then needed to repeat this with all of her friends, for their own safety. He hoped that his slayer was strong enough to do all of this and more, the Order wanted her to join the fight and if they took everything without returning any of it, she would only be a shell.

"Will what hurt her?" Snape asked impatiently, wanting to know what had caused the sadness in his slayer's eyes. He may be a bastard, but Buffy looked so fragile and he couldn't stand it. He wanted to put the fight back in her, to see her smiles. Snape shook his thoughts off, grimacing, because he realized that he was infatuated with a girl, a school girl. Snape focused his attention on Giles, when he looked at Buffy who nodded slightly, before turning to face the other two men.

"It was decided that it would be best if Buffy's foster mother and her friend's memories were erased." Giles replied and Snape felt about ready to kick himself. He was rarely cruel, despite the appearance at school and he looked to Buffy cursing himself for the lack of knowledge and understanding. She always seemed so strong and he wanted to be the one to hold her, to comfort her.

"When was this decided?" Remus asked a bit harshly, "By whom?" he was a werewolf, so he knew what it was to be on the outside and that's exactly what Buffy would be feeling when her friends were gone.

"The Order of the Phoenix and Buffy." Giles replied, "it was decided the other night, you and Severus were not present at this time." Remus and Snape could not figure out where they had been, why they hadn't been present at this meeting, until Remus realized that it had been a full moon. "It was done so that Buffy could meet the rest of the Order, so there wouldn't be any surprises when she arrived at school and Harry's long lost sister was found." Buffy snorted, she hadn't been lost, nor did anyone else know that Harry had a sister, so this was going to be an interesting year.

"And where are you going?" Snape asked although he did have a sneaking suspicion he might know where they were going. He wanted to take the attention off the fact that she was only a school girl, she seemed much older and in a way she was. She was faced with all of this responsibility and had been raised years older than she was, so it was only fitting that she seemed older. There was a darkness rooted in being the slayer that he found a kinship in, he knew there was more to it, but he couldn't express himself in anyway to her until she was out of school and by then he would be over her.

"Buffy and I are returning to Sunnydale, where she is going to say her goodbyes right before I erase their memories." Giles replied holding up the cloak for Buffy to step into. She slowly stepped into it, everyone could feel her withdrawing, it was like the sun was setting and the coldness was creeping into the room. Remus wanted to see her smile once again, to see the amazingly bright girl that she was.

"Absolutely not!" Snape replied jumping everyone with the concern that was in his voice, "Have you forgotten that HE is after her! He will find her in a matter of seconds and you will not be able to protect her from his wrath!" Snape yanked Buffy towards him, her small body colliding with his. Giles watched as Snape wrapped his arms possessively around the blonde slayer who looked slightly annoyed at being treated as some silly girl who didn't know what was going on. Grabbing one of Snape's arms, Buffy pulled him over her shoulder and sent him crashing to the floor.

"You are forgetting I have lived there the last four years without him ever finding me!" Buffy retorted, wondering briefly if she had overreacted, but getting a strange satisfaction for doing it, "Besides you have no say in what I do! I am the slayer! I could kick your ass in a heartbeat, if it weren't for the fact you are human," she watched the looks that crossed everyone's faces, as though everyone were saying 'Thank God!' before adding, "some of the time."

"Who is going with you?" Lupin asked trying to relieve the tension in the room. Giles looked at him and nodded his thanks, before going to answer.

"It will be just Buffy and I returning to Sunnydale."

"I've always wanted to visit the Hellmouth." Lupin replied with a small smile. He was willing to go out on a limb to try to get to know the slayer. He wanted to know what she was like, what type of child Lily could have raised. She had a sharp sense of humor, he could see that, but he wanted more. This was another small piece of Lily that had survived and although James hadn't been her father, he could see so much of the two in her that it almost made his heart break.

"Of course," Giles replied, "you are welcome to come and visit." Snape and Lupin nodded at once, like eager little boys. The slayer sighed slightly, she wasn't sure whether she wanted to kill Snape or kiss him. He was so frustrating, but at the same time he made her heart skip a beat, like Angel had. One of the only problems was she was about half of his age, and she was pretty sure that he would want nothing to do with a student-teacher relationship.

"You're not going dressed like that, are you?" Buffy asked the three wizards standing in front of her.

"What?" Snape asked looking down at his wizardering robes, before looking at the other two who were wearing similar things, "What's wrong with our state of dress?"

"Nothing," Buffy said as she looked over each of them critically, Giles flushing slightly as he realized exactly what was wrong with their dress, "If you're all cross-dressers." Giles pulled off his glasses and began to clean them thoroughly while glaring at Buffy, who was looking as innocent as possible.

"We may want to go dressed as muggles." Giles replied, "Despite being on the Hellmouth, our wizardering clothing will stick out. We need suitable attire."

"You're not going to dress them in tweed, are you?" Buffy asked and Giles shot her a look, "What? I'm just saying that it would be a waste of hunky men." She smiled wickedly when all the men flushed slightly. Giles hid back the smile, behind his handkerchief, this was the Buffy that he knew. Taking out his wand he did a simple spell that changed his clothes and those of his companions into jeans and sweaters.

"Wicked!" Buffy exclaimed as Giles did the spell, they hadn't taught her that one, mostly because any wand she used was kind of wonky, they had been hesitant to go to Hogsmeade until she had learned some wandless magic. So, Buffy had been stuck learning magic with someone else's wand, they told her it would be much easier with her own wand, "Maybe being a witch isn't so bad." Giles smiled at her reaction, she had caught on so quickly that it was hard to believe that she hadn't attended a school at some point. She would be far advanced than most sixth years, could probably take seventh year classes and would still be advanced in the self-protection spells and shields. He knew that she still thought of herself as eighteen and would needed to be treated as such, he trusted her judgment more than most of the men he was standing with at the moment.

"Right," Giles said clearing his throat and shaking off these other thoughts, "we need to get going if we are going to do this today." Giles looked at Buffy whose expression was unreadable, but he was not fooled, he knew that she was going through a horrible time and there was nothing that he could do about it. He never saw the black shadow slip into the room behind him, but he certainly heard the voice which made him jump and turn around.

"Wouldn't it be easier to obliviate her as well?" Black asked quietly to Giles, smirking slightly when Giles jumped. He was glad that he could get one over on Ripper, as far as he was concerned Ripper deserved to be put into prison from all of the crimes he committed. Dumbledore had told him what was going on and he had decided he wanted to see where she had lived all of these years. He wanted to thank the person that had raised her so wonderfully, even though she would never remember the conversation. "After all the goodbyes had been said," he replied when he received a glare from the slayer.

"No." Buffy replied glaring at Black, who was starting to fidget under all the attention from the slayer, startling Snape and Lupin who hadn't heard what Sirius had said to Giles, "it would not be easier to obliviate me. You raise your wand in my direction and I will hurt you." Snape looked ready to second the motion, when he was interrupted.

"I thought that slayers couldn't harm humans." Black said, Buffy just smirked at him. She just wanted to reach over and smack the man upside his head, he was treating Giles so badly and it was because he had made a few mistakes as a child, it wasn't like Black was perfect either.

"But you're not just human," she replied, "You're a dog." Snape laughed softly, while Giles looked a little confused before realizing what Buffy was alluding to. Lupin looked about ready to smack his friend as well, but settled for moving closer and talking with him.

"And what would you replace all of those memories with?" Lupin asked his friend as he pulled him to the side, out of the range of normal humans, but not Buffy. She smiled at the attempt that Lupin was making, she knew that he just wanted to get to know her, but he wasn't trying to take over her life or treat her like a child. He seemed to understand that her life had made her grow up too fast and she may be older than anyone in that room.

"Something happy." Sirius replied and Lupin scoffed at this idea, "A happy life where she wasn't killing things nightly, where she was safe."

"Think about this," he told Sirius, "those horrible memories that you are trying to replace play into what makes this woman so special. She knows more about demons then you could ever hope to know. The knowledge that she carries helps her survive from one night to the next. Those horrible memories keep her alive. Even if you take all of those memories away she would still be the slayer, she would still need to go out every night. Even if you did take those memories away and she got into a fight without knowing what she was or who she was, she would die all the more quickly." He waited for the words to sink into his friend's head and left him to think about these thoughts.

"What he said." Buffy said, smiling her thanks to the werewolf who smiled softly back, maybe this wouldn't be so bad afterall. "What do you say we get this show on the road?"

"Yes," Giles said, "let's."

"How are we getting there?" Snape asked he wanted to see the dog squirm some more, but they needed to get there before sun down, even if they had the slayer, he did not want to meet what went bump in the night.

"Portkey." Giles replied, "Keep one person with you at all times." With that said they all touched the portkey and the tugging sensation went through everyone's naval. All four men looked slightly green, but the slayer looked exuberant.

"Can we go again?" Buffy asked, laughing when all four men glared at her. "Spoilsports." She began to walk quickly up the drive and into the house that she had been raised in. She was assaulted by thousands of different memories and she felt the tears going down her cheeks. How could she erase her mother's memories? Who would raise her?

"Buffy?" she heard her mother asked, "What are you doing back so soon?" Joyce walked into the living room from the kitchen, "And with friends?" she wiped her hands on her apron before reaching her hand out. "Joyce, Buffy's mom."

"Severus Snape."

"Remus Lupin."

"Sirius Black." She shook each of their hands, nodding to Giles who smiled slightly.

"What are you all doing here?" she asked finally when everyone was seated some where in the living room. She noticed immediately that Buffy seated herself as close to herself as she could possibly get and that the man, Snape, seated himself beside Buffy. She wondered briefly if this man had gotten her into trouble and then shook her thoughts off. Buffy had gone over to England to heal.

"When were you going to tell me, Mom?" Buffy asked, pushing the adoptions papers towards her mother who looked slightly panicked at first, before sighing.

"There was never really an opportunity." She replied, reaching her hand to encompass Buffy's. Joyce pulled her daughter closer, they may not be related by blood, but Buffy was her daughter and she knew what was coming. She remembered what the man had said when she had gotten Buffy about if Buffy ever found out. She knew that this would be about the last time she held her daughter, that she would remember her daughter.

"Tell me now." Buffy murmured from her secure place in her mother's arms. She savored the safety that she felt there and wondered if she would ever feel this safe again. Her eyes caught that of the man she had saved earlier and she knew that she would always find comfort with him. She pushed this aside and focused on her mother, she would deal with this bond at another time, if there was anything to deal with.

"I was approached by this British man," Joyce began to tell her story, stroking her daughter's hair.

Flashback

"Joyce Summers?" a cool voice asked with a British accent.

"Yes?" she replied, turning around. The first thing she noticed was the baby that was being held by a young red headed woman.

"My name is Mr. Luther Giles," he said, his hand going out, which Joyce accepted.

"I remember." Joyce replied warmly.

"Have you given thought to what was said?"

"Yes," Joyce replied, "I have discussed this with my husband an we have decided that we would love to adopt a little girl." She watched the young girl hug the baby closer to her, tears sliding down her face.

"In that case," he replied and the girl moved forward, "this is Lily Evans."

End Flashback

"You met my real mom?" Buffy asked, interrupting Joyce's train of thought.

"Yea, honey," Joyce replied twirling one of Buffy's now dark strands tears filled her eyes, "you look just like her. So beautiful." Buffy hugged her mom closer, as the tears slid down her face. She got up and walked out of the room, but not out of hearing.

"Go ahead, Mr. Giles." Joyce said, "Your father told me that if she ever found her way back to England it would be safer for everyone involved if our memories were gone. I understand, just remind her that I loved her like my daughter and she will always have a place in my heart."

"Of course, Mrs. Summers." Giles replied, before taking his wand out and pointing it at Joyce, "Obliviate."