Okay guys! And here is the First Chapter!
Enjoy!
Chapter One: Where Do I Go From Here? (Prototype)
Harry Potter had been in Sunnydale long enough to know that for some reason the police officers seemed to turn their eyes away from everything. In what Harry perceived as 'normal', someone would have asked him for some sort of identification or something but nothing of the sort had happened.
Harry spent his first few days in Sunnydale trying to find a way back home, wondering if there even was a way back home, and trying to first find out what had brought him here. He could already feel the beginnings of a headache.
Harry sighed, wandering up the stairs to the cheap apartment building he was staying in on what he was sure was the 'bad' side of town. The first thing he'd had to do when he came here was find a place to work but no such luck so far. Right now he was living off the money he'd earned in a pawn shop when he'd sold the wizarding money in his pockets. Apparently the gold, silver and bronze had gotten him a good bit of muggle American money but he wasn't one for waste.
Things were definitely wierd in Sunnydale, CA. The Dursleys would have been having epileptic fits. This caused Harry no end to laughter. Everyone seemed constantly oblivious of anything strange going on. Not that he was complaining, it would actually be a good thing if he could use his wand. But he'd noticed a lot of people dressed wierd...almost wierder than Muggle-wanna-be Wizards. Yeah, it made him shudder to think about too. He just shrugged it off to American oddness.
He remembered his first night here, the sights and sounds and screams that had suddenly all disappeared like they had never happened. The ground wasn't split open to emit screaming hell demons from the bottoms of the Earth and the buildings hadn't been turned into dragon nests.
He'd felt a strange wave of light overtake him and then it was gone. But he was still there, where everything else had disappeared. All he had was the bag he'd always carried on his back since he'd turned seventeen. The knapsack given to him by Hermione that carried everything he owned.
Unfortunately during the battle with Voldemort his wand had broken, so he was only able to do what little wandless magic he had trained himself to do. He was trying to teach himself more, but the powers of this new place seemed to get in the way.
Harry dropped his groceries on the small, scrubbed wooden table he'd managed to get at Sunnydale Thrift Mart, along with his overstuffed mismatched couch and lounge chair, lamp and an alarm clock with a futon lying on the floor near the back of the studio apartment. Thankfully the previous owner had left a hotplate on the mini-kitchen counter and he had managed to find an ancient-looking toaster in the bathroom cupboard. He didn't even want to think of why that was there. But hey, beggars couldn't be choosers.
He looked around with large green eyes, taking in his living quarters and deciding he could have done far worse. It was his, at least. His landlord, an elderly lady who had the kindest face he'd ever seen but the eyes seriously reminded him of McGonnagol, didn't mind him coming and going as he pleased, as he had paid for a few months rent in advance. She had even given him a plate of brownies when he'd first moved in, even though he hadn't touched them after he'd heard what had happened to the last tenant to eat her brownies from the lady next door, Mrs. McGyver.
The walls, he was hoping he could paint over from the current off-shade eggshell they were now. Maybe something warmer....
After quite a while in Sunnydale and little showing of his magic, Harry had little hope of returning home.
Harry pulled a box of Pop Tarts out of the paper bag, popping them into the Toaster before taking one of the two chairs at his table and flipping open the Classifieds in the Sunnydale Daily Times. If he wanted to be able to stay here in Sunnydale, which he didn't know where else he could go...He didn't even know where he really was other than that he was in Sunnydale, California in the United States in the year 2001.
Harry continued to flip through the pages of the Classifieds, eyes finally landing on a rather promising looking ad.
The Magic Box-- Your One Stop Shop for All Your Occult Needs --
It said something about applying in person and an address that wasn't too far from where Harry lived. Harry smiled. Maybe a magic place would be right up his alley. If he worked there maybe he could learn about the magic of this new place and try to see what it did to his own.
Hermione had once told him while they were hunting Horcruxes that there were different kinds of magic, some which could cancel each other out. So maybe, Harry thought, he could be in one of those other kinds of magic that blocked his own. Well there was only one way to find out.
Hearing his Pop Tarts finish Harry stood and grabbed them, tossing the hot pastries onto a napkin and grabbing his windbreaker before dashing out the front door with a Pop Tart in his mouth and locking the door behind him, bidding good day to old Mrs. McGyver who was out walking her Pomeranian. For reasons unknown, Mr. Custard seemed to extremely dislike Harry.
Not twenty minutes later Harry finally found The Magic Box, seeing the Open sign in front.
Harry smiled, walking inside to the inviting smell of incense and old books.
A fond smile lit his face. Hermione would have loved this place.
All around the place felt warm and welcoming, full of the light tingle of magic and the unknown.
Harry looked around for a moment, noticing that the place was nearly empty except for an extremely bored-looking blonde woman at the front counter.
She looked up and forced a smile on her pretty face, brushing some of her blonde hair out of her face. "Hello! How may I take your money today?" Her nametag read "Anya".
Harry blinked, slightly confused at her odd wording but shook it off. Some people were just wierd. "Um...Hi. My name's Harry. I saw the ad in the paper--"
"Oh! Great! I didn't expect anyone to apply quite yet." She grinned, clapping her hands excitedly. "So..." She tried to look professional as she straightened her back and Harry had to hold back a snicker. "What do you know about magic?"
"Um..." Harry was at a loss of what to say. He couldn't very well say all he knew about it. "Um, well, I guess it isn't something you take lightly and don't be stupid about."
Anya smiled. "I like that answer. You know what, I like you. You've got the job."
Harry blinked. "Just like that?"
Anya nodded. "Yep. Unless you have a problem with that? Am I missing anything?"
Harry shook his head, not understanding this lady but deciding to go with it. It might just be safer to do what he did with Hermione and Ginny, just smile and nod. "Uh, no, that's fine. Just...slightly confused. So, uh...what do I do?"
Anya slipped out from behind the counter, smoothing out her black peasant dress with the low-heel black strappy sandals that Harry was almost certain were painful. "You keep an eye on the customers and make sure they buy things so we can get their money. But if they want something from up there--" she pointed up a ladder that held what looked to be old books and bottles. "Ask me. Try and memorize as much as you can so you know what everything is." She smiled and bustled around like a black and blonde little force of nature in heels, fixing things up.
Harry blinked, glancing at a picture behind the counter.
The simple wood frame held a picture of another blonde girl, laughing with a dark-haired man and a red-headed woman.
He turned to Anya, curious. "Hey Miss Anya, who's in the picture?" He asked, pointing it out.
Anya turned slowly, seeing the picture. "Oh. Um, that's Xander, my husband. And the redhead is Willow. She's an old friend of Xander's. And the blonde...." She seemed to falter for a moment and sadness filled her eyes. "Um...that's Buffy." She didn't offer any other explanation as she turned back to a group of books she was dusting.
Harry took that as his cue to shut up and wandered through the store, looking at the labels on everything and trying to not believe half of what he was seeing. This place was like an apothecary and a bookstore all mixed into one. There were what appeared to be eye of newt, dragon's liver and salamander tails, all of which were commonly used in potions. Lacewing flies, monkshood and wolfsbane. Harry smiled, finally starting to feel in his element. He could do this. Yes, he could do this....he hoped.
"Oh, employee-type person." Anya turned to face Harry, who was randomly picking up books at random and looking at their titles, trying to find one he recognized from all of the ones he'd seen at Hogwarts and in the House of Black. "Don't break anything or else you have to pay for it."
Harry nodded, putting a book back on the shelf.
The bell above the door jingled and Anya clapped lightly. "Ooh, customers!" She ushered off to help the customers, leaving Harry to wander.
He may be able to do this...if his crazy boss didn't kill him first...
Alright guys. There goes the first chapter.
The offer is still standing for a beta, as I do not have one.
Thank you so much to those of you who reviewed and gave me advice, as this is my first-ever Buffy-related story.