SERIES: Beyond the Veil

TITLE: 5 – Keeping the Faith

AUTHOR: Scorpio

FANDOM: Harry Potter/Buffy the Vampire Slayer (Multi)

RATING: PG (Varies)

SUMMARY: Sirius Black finds that hope springs eternal… and in some unlikely places.

Beyond the Veil 5 – Keeping the Faith

Sirius sat at a table in the dinning hall of the Reformed Watcher's Council eating a lunch served up by the strangest blonde nancy-boy he'd ever had the misfortune to be flirted at by, Andrew something-or-other. He was wearing his brand new second-hand muggle clothes bought for him by his neighbor across the hall. But mostly he was simply being overwhelmed and confused by his circumstances.

His new neighbor, Xander, had spent the majority of yesterday afternoon trying to explain all about the world Sirius had found himself in while simultaneously learning about everything that Sirius had experienced in his own world. While a great listener, Xander's explanations weren't quite as easy to understand. The younger man's grasp of the English language was tenuous and filled with unrecognizable slang. Xander had blamed that on growing up in Southern California, whatever that meant. It didn't help that despite seeming to be the same in many ways, their worlds were different in the details.

Back in his own world, despite the rampant attempts of men such as Slytherin, Grindelwald and Voldemort, Light magic was the rule and the norm. Apparently, it was just the opposite here. According to Xander, sometime in the ancient past, Dark magic ruled over all in such a way as to actually damage the barriers between dimensions. This world became overrun with demons, monsters, and horrors of every kind while Dark magic swirled unheeded through all the lands.

Finally, the single remaining bastion of Light, pushed into near extinction and driven with desperation did the one thing that would save the world and, consequently damn their own souls. They bonded the power of a demon to the soul of an innocent child to create a being with the power and strength of both the Dark and the Light. They used this child as a tool and a weapon to push the Darkness and the monsters out of their world and seal it behind portals called Hellmouths.

Only remnants of the Dark remained, but there was also the legacy of their sins against the child and so this world was host and home to the Slayers, a legion of teenage girls with the power of a demon trapped within them. Sirius was too shocked still to be properly horrified by it all.

The sound of a tray full of dishes and silverware dropping onto the table across from him pulled him out of his thoughts and his head whipped up only for him to end up staring into a pair of lovely dark eyes. Soft full lips the color of ripe cherries quirked a lopsided smile at him and the beautiful woman with the most amazing curves plopped gracefully into the chair in front of the tray.

"Hey. You that Sirius guy that fell through the portal thing?"

Sirius nodded. The woman frowned and nodded back.

"Man, sucks to be you, huh?"

Sirius blinked in surprise. He wasn't quite sure how to answer that, even if he did agree.

"Anyway, my names' Faith."

Sirius nodded and tried to smile even if he didn't feel all that cheerful. "It's nice to meet you. I'm Sirius Black."

Faith just shrugged and waved away the niceties as if she couldn't be bothered with politeness and stabbed a piece of chicken with her fork.

"Look, I know that the Scoobies can be a bit much and getting dropped in their laps is not something that any sane person wants. They're pushy, self-righteous and arrogant. There've been times I've wanted to smack each and everyone of them upside the head, but all that crap aside… they're good people and they are damn good at what they do."

Sirius vaguely recognized the term 'Scoobies' from his long talk with Xander yesterday, but he couldn't quite pull the exact memory out of his mind. Faith took his silence for agreement and kept on chattering.

"Still, if there's a way to get you home again, they'll find it. Might take a while, but if there's an answer to some mystery then either Red & the Squirt will figure it out or B will stumble upon it accidentally." Then she shrugged and grinned wickedly, "Of course, you might not end up going home alone. I don't know what you told X-man yesterday about your world, but he is in an almighty snit on your behalf stomping around and muttering about evil-idiots of doom and incompetent government stooges that need a good ass kickin'."

Sirius didn't know who Red, Squirt or B was, but he could easily deduce that X-man must be Xander. It was nice to know that his new neighbor agreed with his assessment of the Death Eaters and the Ministry. It made him feel not so alone here.

Looking up into Faith's beautiful dark eyes, Sirius smiled. "Thanks."

[END: Keeping the Faith