Timeline: BtVS: Post-Chosen & Harry Potter - J.K. Rowling
Disclaimer: Anything copyrighted belongs to its legal owners.
Author's Note: Written for Day 31 of the 2023 August Fic-A-Day.
A/N 2: I was still on vacation when I wrote this and thus was still on my phone, but I survived typing fic on my phone.
Also, yay! I made it through all 31 days. Now I'm going to sleep and not write anything for a while. LOL.
The important, but unofficial meeting between the Sineya Council and her boyfriend's secret military project ended up unexpectedly taking nine days instead of the expected few hours or three days at the most that they had assumed it would take. As a consequence, they missed their second meeting with the Potters, and they were also unable to contact them to inform them of anything.
What followed after that was four months of phone tag and text messages before they finally managed to meet up again, this time in Scotland since that was where SC's headquarters were located. As it was within the UK, the Potters just apparated to the agreed-upon location.
They were all in good spirits when they met at an SC-owned flat to continue their previous discussion. A few minor, non-classified things had been cleared up in text messages, but all things magic and Slayer-related had been left for the face-to-face meeting.
"I don't suppose you can tell us what caused both of you to vanish off the face of the planet for nine days without being able to even send a text?"
Both of the Summers sisters laughed a little involuntarily at his phrasing but chose to ignore it. "The meeting was about something else highly classified, so no, we can't."
"If we had been allowed to share we would, because it's pretty amazing! Unfortunately, we had to sign NDAs before we even sat down." Dawn added.
"Did you share your secrets with them?" Hermione asked curiously.
"No, but given what we were asked to do, we did have them sign NDAs as well. They didn't take it well, especially since we didn't actually tell them anything."
Harry gave Buffy a look at that comment, "Why not? Isn't that the whole point of signing?"
"It was more about what they might see, as in Buffy being a lot stronger than she is supposed to be given her size, but also a warning in advance in case we end up having a working relationship with them."
"Right then, let's move on to something we can talk about. You said you got in contact with MACUSA, what did they tell you?" Harry gave the two sisters an inquiring look.
"They were helpful until we mentioned our father's name, and then they got really squirrel-ly."
"It was weird and so incredibly obvious they were hiding something. Still, it took them a while to start spilling."
Buffy took over again, "Dad is not a wizard or magical, but it turns out he's been working for MACUSA since shortly after our parents divorced. He's a lawyer and they paid for him to get his education expanded to include magical laws, and he's been traveling around the world since then to help with legal issues between US magical citizens and any problems they encounter in other countries."
"That would certainly explain his presence in London, and why he vanished without us being able to find him again. Someone magical he's working with probably noticed and placed an anti-tracking spell on him." Hermione explained it more or less on autopilot, as her thoughts were clearly elsewhere.
Coming to a decision, she asked, "Is your father aware of your status as a Slayer?"
Buffy grimaced slightly. "Kind of. Back in the day, I did tell my parents about my Calling, but they didn't believe me and they refused to let me prove it. Choosing instead to believe that I was desperately trying to get their attention while they were in the middle of an ugly divorce."
That was a polite way of putting it, but they didn't need the details. It was in the past where it belonged, and Buffy did not want to dredge it up again.
"This might be quite wrong, but perhaps your status was confirmed by MACUSA, and he deliberately decided to push you away. It would make your sister collateral damage, if so."
Both Buffy and Dawn shook their heads at the very idea. "The rejection was gradual, not abrupt. It took three maybe four years before he stopped contacting us altogether. Before that, in the beginning, he insisted on seeing us regularly."
Buffy gave it more thought. Her father hadn't featured in her life for many, many years, and over time he had become a non-entity.
"We have just assumed it was the slow slide of indifference, and when he failed to even call when our mother died we gave up on him."
"It might be," Harry pondered, "But there is also a chance someone cast a spell on him or stopped your attempts to contact him because they saw you as an unnecessary distraction. Tracking him down and talking to him while someone discreetly checks him over for magic tampering might be the best solution."
Dawn was beginning to look upset, as was Buffy. "The tampering could've been done by the old Watcher's Council. They had a policy in place to isolate the Slayer as much as possible to keep her focus on her Calling. They couldn't get me away from mom, but putting a wedge between my father and me would be a lot easier..."
"Nevertheless, we will not know unless we manage to find him," Hermine stated reasonably. "Do you have a way to magically find him since it doesn't seem like it's possible to find him without it?"
Buffy quickly explained that Willow had already volunteered to do it if they wanted, so they were good on that front. Especially since she could remove whatever it was if it became necessary.
After that, they dropped the subject of Hank Summers and moved on to aunts, uncles, and first cousins. It was a semi-safe topic, at least on the Summers side of the equation.
Truthfully, neither of them believed that their father had been bewitched. It was much more likely he had realized how much more freedom and money he had without them. Or possibly he had been paid off by the Council. If that was the case then he would remain out of their lives, but if someone had messed with him...
Whatever had happened it was long overdue to get closure. But that was later, now they had family who actively wanted to get to know them and spend time with them despite the danger that came with knowing them. Of course, the Potters had enemies of their own who were likely to target the Summers sisters at some point. It was a fair deal Buffy supposed. Kinda.
