Chapter 44: I Declare War

Well, it's been a while since I wrote on this story. I had to reread it to catch up on where I left off. If I got something wrong feel free to point it out. I have a terrible memory.

You know, a lot of things have happened since I last wrote on this one. I ruined my hands. I can't type, so this is being dictated. If you've read any of my other stories, you know that. I can't say I ruined my hands. I don't know what's wrong with them. I just know I can't type.

Because this is being dictated and doesn't have a beta, you might find some errors such as capital letters and commas that don't belong. The punctuation/grammar might not be correct either. Please, forgive that. I do go over it, listen to it and go over it again, but I don't catch everything.

I also got a job, so I'm only writing when I find the time or remember that I'm actually a writer. Which I haven't really found the time or gumption to do. My creative juices have not been flowing since I started working, or even before that. So, there's that. Also, this is a hobby. Not a job. I had dedicated it as a job for a while and found that it was squashing my muse. Now that I've turned it into a hobby again, I find that my muse is slowly, but surely, coming back. I hope.

Anyway, on with the story.

HP-BTVS-HP-BTVS

Xander stood in front of the Goblin nation and shouted, "I declare war!"

"My king, you cannot do that," Ragnuk slapping his face to his palm. He shook his head in a slow, deliberate manner as if speaking to somebody who was a complete moron. He loved his king, but the man was bullheaded and hot-tempered. He rushed into things without thinking sometimes, and it was up to him to curb these fits of insanity.

"Why the hell not?" Xander asked, completely affronted as to why he could not do this.

"We have treaties," the former king said with a sigh. He waved to the side of the room, where there was an abundance of parchmentwork sitting there on high tables. Showing that there were indeed many treaties that needed to be read before any such declaration could be made.

"I'm breaking those treaties and declaring war," the new king said as if that solved everything.

"Who are you declaring war against, my king?" Ragnuk asked, hoping that would cast some light onto what the hell was going on. He knew it had something to do with Harry's kidnapping, but he wasn't sure who Xander was accusing of it.

"Voldemort," was the succinct answer.

"Then you're not declaring war, you're declaring a police action," the head goblin said with a note of relief. That they could do with no repercussions. It was a simple matter of just arresting somebody who had committed a crime against the Goblin Nation. They did that all the time. That was within the treaty's premises.

"Then I'm declaring a police action," Xander said, beaming brilliantly.

"Very well then, how are we going to go about arresting this individual?" Ragnuk asked, taking out an inked quill and parchment, jotting down that they were going to go into war formation at the bank. Even if they weren't going to war, they were going to be prepared for retaliation from the Dark Lord.

"Does he have a vault with us?" the yellow-eyed man asked, wondering if they could catch him that way. They had already gotten most of his followers that way. He didn't know why he hadn't thought of it sooner. It seems so simple now.

"Do you know his real name?"

"Yeah, it's Tom Riddle," Xander said, pleased with himself that he knew the answer.

"I will have to look it up, but I do not believe so," was the answer. Ragnuk looked to the side at one of his subordinates and had him go run off to see if there was a vault in that name.

"Damn. Well, we've already taken care of this Death Eaters. They no longer have vaults with us and those that do have been frozen," the King of the Goblins stated. He paced back and forth upon the platform he had erected so that he could address his nation. "If we see this individual Tom Riddle, AKA Voldemort, then we are to arrest him on site." He turned once more to address his people.

The goblins cheered.

"Very well, my king," Ragnuk said from his side.

The rest of the goblins cheered again. The entire bank went into war status. Meaning that the goblins were armed and alert. The windows were fortified. And the wards were beefed up. Security was also put on alert. Many people found it much more difficult to get into their vaults as they had to pass through more security efforts just to get to their money. The Thief's Downfall was put into utilization more often than not.

Hpbtvshpbtvs

Meanwhile, Harry and his friends were sitting in the house in Harry and Neville's room, going over what was going to happen in the Third Task. Not that they knew what it was, but they had an inkling of what it could be because of the former Triwizard Tournaments. Hermione had studied it and Xander had also given them clues.

"Do you know what it's supposed to be?" asked Hermione as she and Luna settled on Neville's bed, while Harry sat on a desk chair, and Neville took Harry's bed.

"No, only that it's supposed to test their daring," Harry said, glad that he wasn't in this blasted tournament.

"Didn't they say that about the first task?" asked Neville, scratching his head.

"Yes," said Harry. "But this time they're supposed to be extra cunning, too."

"Have you been training up the contestants still?" asked Luna in that vague way of hers.

Yes, and they've been coming along really well," said Harry. "Cedric has been doing wonderfully. He's even surpassed that Veela chit, Fleur." exerting himself a little further than he normally does. He was still uncomfortable around people in public, but he was getting better around his friends.

"Don't call her a chit," said Hermione in a chastising manner. She was glad that Harry was able to be more like a teenager around his friends, but she was not going to put up with his bad manners.

"Whatever," said Harry. "She's still doing really well as well, though Krum is doing spectacular. As to be expected from a quidditch star." Harry beamed at the progress that the other students were making with their studies and the magic that he and Xander could do. It wasn't easy for other people to do it, especially when they were as old as the other contestants.

"I suppose you're right", said Neville, glad to see his friends so exuberant.

"Of course I am," said Harry. "He's been training since he was seven years old."

"How do you know that?" asked Luna with a twinkle in her eye. She already knew the answer. She just was excited to see Harry excited.

"We talk when we're training," Harry huffed. He was quite proud of the fact that he was able to open up to these three strangers. He told them stories and they told him stories, and he was able to teach them with more camaraderie that way.

"Do you know what Spikes been doing? He's been awful shady lately," asked Neville, looking around the room as if the vampire would appear any minute now, like he normally does whenever they started talking about him. That was one very sneaky vampire.

"Oh, he's been doing some extra mean things to the Death Eaters," said Harry, also glancing around the room to make sure Spike wasn't there. The last thing he needed was for the vampire to come in and catch them talking about his business. He can be downright mean if he thought they were talking about him.

"What kind of mean things?" inquired Hermione, leaning forward a bit as if to catch the news quicker.

"Well, I can't really tell you," said Harry, rubbing the back of his head.

"Whyever not?" asked Hermione, sighing with disappointment.

"Well, Xander wouldn't like it for one," said Harry, ticking one finger in the air. "And it's not exactly legal for another," Lifting another finger in the air.

"Oh," said the group.

"Well, it's not like we've always done legal things," said Neville, nodding his head sagely.

"When have I ever done illegal things," asked Hermione, looking completely affronted at the very idea that she would ever do anything illegal.

"Well, there was this time that we um," Harry said, turning his head to look at Neville.

"And there was that time that we uh," Neville said, turning his head to look at Luna.

"I mean, wasn't there that time that we, uh?" Luna said, turning her head to look at Harry.

"OK, we've never really done anything illegal, but we haven't exactly stuck to the rules," Harry finally conceded, throwing his hands in the air. He could have sworn some of the things they did breaking the rules had been illegal, but he guessed not.

Not that they had been exactly breaking the rules, with Xander being around. but they had done some sneaky things that they hadn't told Xander about. Like sneaking down to the kitchen. Or going out and visiting Slinky and Norberta in the middle of the night. And other things that normal teenagers do.

"I rest my case," said Hermione, folding her arms smugly.

"Have we got the lightsaber going?" asked Luna, changing the subject to something lighter.

"I finished that ages ago," Harry said, waving his hands.

"Why haven't you given it to Xander then?" she asked, wondering why he hadn't given it to his father.

"I'm afraid he'll chop his arm off," the black-haired boy said with a sigh. He had nightmares about it, to be honest.

"Well, you can grow an arm back now," the little blonde-haired girl said with a smug smile.

"Only a metal one," Harry said, sighing deeply. "I'm going to wait until they grow back a fresh and blood one before I give it to him." It had been something that had been on his mind for some time now. Ever since his hand got chopped off after the second task, he had been wondering if he could grow the flesh and blood kind. He had been studying it intensely since.

"How far have you gotten on that?" asked Neville, with a great deal of hope in his voice.

"Not as far as I'd like," said Harry, sighing for a third time. "I've studied basic anatomy, but it's the nerve endings that's got me stumped." There were just too many of them and it was hard to map out.

"I think you're thinking too much on it," said Luna, reaching over and patting his hand, trying to offer him some comfort.

"I'm not sure I am," said Harry, patting her hand back in a reassuring manner. "I really want to grow back flesh and blood. I really have to know what's going into it."

"Perhaps you're right," she said, tapping her finger on her chin. There was a lot to the human anatomy that she didn't know about.

"I'll just study the books a bit more. Maybe I just need to know the basics. You could be right too," Harry said, leaning forward and giving her forehead a kiss. She meant well.

With that, the friends got to talk about basic Anatomy and what they knew of it. Which wasn't much for the magicals because they didn't study it in Hogwarts. But Harry and Hermione studied some of it in primary and it had stuck. They taught what they knew to Neville and Luna.

Hpbtvshpbtvs

That afternoon, Xander and Amelia decided to go on a date. It had been many weeks since they had been out, so they figured it was about time they went. They went to a small cafe and had tea, since it was the middle of the afternoon, which was the only time either of them had time for one another.

"So how are things going on your end?" Xander asked Amelia as he poured her some tea. The afternoon was nice. A bit brisk, but nice, so they decided to take their tea outside at one of the tables set aside for the purpose. This way they also didn't have to set up wards as to not be overheard. The general background noise would keep people from overhearing. That and they really weren't going to be talking magic anyway.

"Busy," she said, stretching her arms above her head, giving Xander a nice view of her upper body. "Things are going frightfully busy. There's been so many disappearances that Fudge is up in arms, and he has not given me a moment's peace." She had a sneaking suspicion he knew something was up with the purebloods disappearing. But she didn't want to call him on it because then she'd have to arrest her boyfriend. It was better to be ignorant. If she didn't ask him, he wouldn't tell. Plausible deniability and all that.

"Oh," Xander said, not looking shifty at all. "How come we've not heard about this in the papers?" he asked. He was quite shocked that none of it was in the papers. He thought by now that it would be screaming the headlines. The purebloods had been missing for weeks. That and their money had been too. Ever since he froze their accounts, and they had taken their money from the bank, Spike had been really robbing them blind.

"We've been keeping a tight lid on it," she said, lifting her cup and taking a sip. "The minister doesn't want anybody knowing about it until he wants them to know about it." The minister had been paying a lot of hush money to keep that story from hitting the papers.

"Does the Prime Minister know about this?" Was Xander's next question. He really wanted to know how much the muggle Prime Minister knew about the magical world.

"If he does, he hasn't informed me. Then again, I don't have anything to do with the Prime Minister unless it has something to do with a case," she said nonchalantly. She rarely interacted with the muggle government. She had only met the Queen once, and that was on the pursuit of a criminal.

"So, Fudge is keeping a lid on the fact that his cohorts are um… friends are missing. Doesn't he want these people to be found? I would think that he would be screaming from the top of his lungs for all the public to know," the one-eyed man said, He kept his yellow eyes only in the magical world, so he had to wear his eye patch in the muggle world. He hated doing it, but needs must. Amelia didn't seem to mind. She thought it made him look roguish.

"That's just it. He's afraid that if he lets everybody know, then he would be admitting that the Dark Lord is back. And he doesn't want anybody thinking that You Know Who is back," she stated, picking up a biscuit and taking a nibble. She just loved the bakery of this cafe. They made the best chocolate chip cookies. They just seem to melt in her mouth. She would have to get the recipe, though she didn't think they'd give it to her.

"I guess that makes a bit of sense, but I still think he's a moron. So, what else is going on with you?" he asked, gently taking her free hand and giving it a kiss. He would be more affectionate, but he wasn't up for public displays of affection unless they were behind a shield of magic. Anya had gotten him more into the daring side of showing PDA. Yet he still felt better on discretion's side. Magic was a wonderful shield.

"Well, I've missed seeing you, that's for sure," she said coyly. She gave him a wink, that indicated she very, very, very much missed him.

"And I've missed seeing you, too. We've really got to find more time for one another," he said, giving her a sultry look that indicated that he very much missed her, too.

"I could come and live at the castle," she said boldly. She wasn't one to beat around the bush, and she had been thinking about it for some time now. It would be easier for her to go there than it would for him to come to her home. "I would see more of Susan, and I wouldn't have to bang around in that lonely old mansion."

"I have absolutely no issue with that whatsoever. Let me talk it over with Harry and the kids," Xander said, getting excited over the idea. He would love to have a live-in girlfriend again. She couldn't be any worse than Anya. As a matter of fact, nobody could be worse than Anya.

"Brilliant," Amelia said, giving him a megawatt smile.

"I'd feel safer with you living there anyway. I have a feeling that this Dark Lord would be coming after you," he said, grimly. "You would be next in running for minister if anything ever happened to Fudge." He had been thinking on that too. He knew if anything happened to Fudge, she would be the next person that they would put in office.

"Oh, I don't think I'm all that significant," she said, waving her hand away as if it weren't that important.

"I think you are very significant," he said, giving her hand a squeeze and kissing it again.

"Go on with you," Amelia said, blushing full force.

"No, I'm serious," Xander insisted. "You're one of the most honest people in the ministry. And. you're very fair and scrupulous," he said, praising her with words that he knew would mean something to her.

"Oh, look at you, using big words," she said, teasing him to take some of the seriousness out of the conversation.

"I've been hanging out with Hermione. That girl swallowed a dictionary, I swear," the one-eyed man said, letting the conversation degrade into something not quite so severe.

"That or Spike," Amelia said, hedgingly. She knew Spike was a sore subject with Xander.

"Please don't mention him," Xander grown, putting his hand on his face.

"I don't understand why you don't like him. I think he's a fine, upstanding young man," Amelia said. "For a guttersnipe, he's very well educated. I find him quite refreshing."

"Everybody likes Spike… except me," he stated, still holding his face in his hands.

"Doesn't that tell you something?" she said a bit exasperated.

"Yeah, that everybody's blind except me," he said, finally removing his hand from his face and pointing it at her accusingly.

"Yes, dear, that's exactly what that means," she said, rolling her eyes.

"Never mind, we'll just say that me and Spike clash and leave it at that," he stated, ending that conversation.

"Let's not waste our date discussing you and Spike," she said, reaching over and grabbing his hand and giving it a squeeze.

"You're the one that brought him up," he said accusingly. Though he did smile at her to take the bite out of the words.

"And I regret every second of it," she said, smiling at him.

"As do I. Let's talk about something else. I know. I'll let you know that I've declared a police action with the goblins. That if we see Tom Riddle, AKA You Know Who, we're going to arrest him," he stated with great triumph. As if he were declaring some wonderful news.

"I'm not sure how I feel about that," said Amelia, her brow furrowed in concentration. On the one hand, it would solve a problem for her. On the other hand, it put her boyfriend in danger. Then again, he was quite the powerful man.

"We'll be doing half your job for you. We'll put him in the goblin mines and keep him there until the war is over," he pointed out as if it were the obvious thing.

"Won't that be violating the treaties?" she asked, not wanting him to get in trouble with the government.

"Nope. I looked into it. We could make a police arrest as long as they are an enemy of the nation and Tom Riddle is an enemy of the nation. He kidnapped my son, who is the prince of the nation, and that violated the treaty and therefore is a criminal of the nation," Xander said, confusing himself with his terminology. But knowing he was right.

"Very well then. You do your little police action and if you by any chance do catch him, let me know," she said, trying not to be condescending. She didn't think it would work, but she wished him all the luck anyway.

"I will," He stated. Glad that she was on board with it. "Hey, what say you and I go take a walk in that park over there and see if we can do a little something, something in the gazebo." He wiggled his eyebrows at her in a suggestive manner.

"Xander, it's the middle of the afternoon," she said, looking around to see if anybody had heard what he said.

"Yeah, that just makes it all the more fun," Xander said, leaning forward, as if to whisper sweet nothings in her ear. "You can do your little voodoo, and I'll do a little of my voodoo and we'll have a little bit of fun," he said softly and seductively.

"Alright then," she said with a huge grin.

And with that, the two of them went for a little walk and then had a little bit of fun in the gazebo. And if strange lights came from it, nobody really said anything.