1. Thrill of a Fight

_Author Notes: This story will follow Harry through a first person view, but will occasionally shift to another In third person. This story takes place in may 1999. So a year after Harry's defeat of Voldemort, and near the end of Buffy's senior year._

**Chapter One: Thrill of the Fight**

When I pictured myself in this position only a year back, I couldn't see myself sitting at a desk filing paperwork on the third school yard brawl of the day that was being called a Death Eater attack by the gossiping public. Yet, there I was, explaining in detail to my boss of my arrival onto a scene of a death eater attack and why I came to the conclusion that it was in reality only two seventeen year old boys in a rival duel.

It was May 2nd, but to everyone else it was the time to remember me, The Boy Who Lived and his victory over the menace, You Know Who. To be fair, there were far more people involved in the final battle during his second death than his first, and the result was many more wizards and witches with the ability to say his name without trembling; this however, didn't stop the majority from being unable to even hear it without a small shriek in response.

After Voldemorts death, I took only a couple weeks off before realizing that the greatest moments of my life was when I was in life or death situations. For years I had wished that Voldemort would find someone else to harass, but when it was all over, I was itching to find myself in another battle for my life. Even when I was young, I'd go out of my way to provoke my cousin into a confrontation. I would complain about my treatment by the Dursleys, but I couldn't imagine what I'd get myself into if I didn't have the everyday skirmishes with my relatives. At Hogwarts, I'd always find a way to somehow worm my way into trouble. If it wasn't agreeing to a late night duel, it was agreeing to baby sit a baby dragon.

When I decided that a life as an Auror was for me, for it was rated one of the easiest, and most dangerous jobs to get into, the Ministry supported me to the fullest. Even now, I'm not sure if that was a good or bad thing. The Ministry still had a lot of bad press going for it after Voldemort was able to grab a hold onto them in only a short time. Every move was questioned by the public, every move except one, and that was promoting me to a full Auror the day my application went in.

However, it has been nearly a year since I started here and disappointingly, it has been even less dangerous than just a month at the Dursleys. The Dursleys brought me dangers such as starvation, kidnapping, stabbing, kidnap, abandonment and abuse. As an Auror, I had one psycho death eater confrontation that technically wasn't even tied to my job in anyway.

As I finished my dull tale of a Gryffindor and Slytherins noon time duel my boss gave me a short nod of dismissal, "Very well Auror Potter, I think that will do it for today; please go out and celebrate; or at least sleep your double shift off" I nodded politely before making my way out of his office. Kingsley Shacklebolt was quickly promoted to head of the Auror Department after knowledge of his achievements during the second war came to light. There were rumors of the public demanding Kingsley to be named as Minister of Magic. I figured that eventually they would be getting what they wanted, if the Ministries recent actions to quell the public followed in the same path.

As I walked out of Shacklebolt's office I can't help but notice how empty the Auror division is. With nearly everyone out celebrating the one year anniversary of Voldemorts defeat, tonight would be a perfect time to attack some high populated areas. I volunteered to take the double shift because of that. It was just my luck however that the prime time for an attack was just as dull as any other time in the country. While England's ministry was going through the lowest criminal rate in decades, other countries were spiking, almost tempting me to move elsewhere.

I received a couple nods in my direction as I made my way slowly out of the ministry building. No one was really surprised when I entered the ministry as an Auror only weeks after defeating Voldemort, since most assumed that It was my dream job. Since then, I hadn't really socialized much, simple greetings to my fellow workers were about as deep as it got in my social life.

My two best friends, Hermione and Ron Weasley had done a little adventuring themselves. Hermione wasn't comfortable limiting herself to elementary schooling and six years of Wizard training. Upon completing her newts, she immediately went to some college outside the country, one of which I couldn't be assed into remembering the name of; with Ron following along. From what I could tell, the only college Hermione could get into without years of school transcripts to prove her worth was a school that even Ron was admitted into. I never took Ron for extra schooling, but it was apparent that Hermione's influence extended into far reaches of his mind.

Without the need of a place close to the headquarters of the Ministry, I was able to attain the home my parents were both killed in. I received a few odd looks when it became known that I had purchased the place, but it was my first home, and even though I can't remember ever living there before this year, it still made me feel like I belonged there. It almost had the same feeling that The Burrow had when I first arrived there.

I had plenty of wards against muggles, wizards, and witches of all kinds, so it came as a surprise when I walked in only minutes after leaving the ministry to find a rather short man leaning back on my rather shabby living room chair. My shock made me a little slower on the wand draw than I would admit to another, but it was still pointed at the man faster than most wizards my age would be capable of. He was shorter than he first appeared, his hat making him appear taller; he also didn't appear too worried that my wand was pointing at his torso.

"How did you.." I began, adrenaline running through my veins. I was almost glad the man had the balls to trespass, for I had thought my night would be as dull as the day. He only smiled before slowly getting up from his relaxed position.

"Right right, how rude of me; call me Whistler, I'm here to solve your problem." He said cheerfully, tilting his hat down in a show of greeting. I'd like to think I was more intelligent than a rat, but the blank stare that I responded with didn't do anything to help my cause. It took a little while, but I was finally able to gather a few words.

"What are you…" My question though basic and rude in retrospect, didn't do anything to change the mans cheerful demeanor.

"Well what do you know. Top notch wards, but any other wizard would question his wards, not the trespassers species. I had my doubts, I did; but maybe they did indeed choose correctly." I didn't know quite how to respond, so I reverted back to my blank stare approach that was working well for me earlier. "You'd think cross dimensional traveling would make me the least able in this conversation." Whistler commented offhandedly, my blank stare getting the best of his crazy behavior. "To answer your question, I'd be a demon. Now before you attack like most of you hero types tend to do, I'd like to add that I'm one of the good guys." Having quite enough of his jolly attitude I decided that attacking was indeed my best option.

"Leglimens!" Whistlers eyes widened before he tried to duck the white whispery spell from reaching him. He was too slow however, and it connected without problem. It however, did absolutely nothing. I looked down at my wand in confusion and watched as the self called demon, Whistler padded himself down, as if making sure he was still hole.

"Demon, remember? Whatever mumbo jumbo you decided to release just won't cut it." I nodded in thanks before readying my wand for another go, maybe something more damaging this time. He however held up his hands in surrender. "Alright look, to make a long story short, I've been sent by The Powers That Be; a godlike force in another dimension to bring you through in order to help the fight against evil." A small smile slipped through my fierce gaze as I worked out what he was trying to tell me. The smile remained plastered onto my face for a while before I couldn't stop myself and released a healthy weary chuckle, my wand arm slipping from its steady aim at the Demon. It took me a couple moments to collect myself and noticed that Whistler didn't appear as amused.

"The Powers job is to balance good and evil in my own universe, and I'm the demon that does their dirty work." He paused before continuing, ignoring my amused smile that I couldn't seem to wipe off my face. "I do not have long before the power shifts in the other direction and your opportunity is up." Whistler finished, explaining the seriousness of the issue.

"Opportunity?" I asked, curiosity outshining the ridiculous of the situation. The idea of a whole wizarding world kept secret from the world was pretty ridiculous, I thought to myself. Until it was true.

"You don't think that a godlike power wouldn't be able to sense your potential, or even your need to be involved in a fight? The Powers senses your restlessness even now, stuck in the small petty conflicts of your job. We are offering something better."

"Would I be able to come back?" I asked carefully, making sure that the skepticism I felt still showed on my face. Whistler just shrugged,

"Maybe. I can't tell you for sure either way. In a universe where the dead don't stay dead, we can't tell you for sure either way, but I'd say its unlikely. Not that it matters however, I doubt you cared deeply about the answer to that question." I couldn't argue. It felt like the appropriate question to ask, but as it left my mouth, I realized I didn't truly care either way.

"Don't stay dead?" I asked, flashbacks of my parents coming into my mind quickly before fading. Just access baggage from being an orphan I told myself.

"That's the jist of it. Another power came into play recently, one made of pure evil. It took someone out of hell that the Powers believe will be a power of good. The Powers are all paranoid of course that this force of evil knows something that we don't, and decided that they now have the rights to do the same. You were chosen." My shock was wearing off apparently, because I was finally able to process a couple things said earlier in the conversation.

"If you balance good and evil, how can I trust that you're not currently working on the side of evil, and bringing me to another dimension is a bad thing?" Whistler opened his mouth in an effort to dispute my argument but closed it again before thinking. He responded after a moment.

"I've really got to remember to edit the evil part out of my introductions." He began jokingly. "Does it really matter to you? You'll be there to stop it; like you want to be. Normal side effects of such advanced magic won't apply in this case, since we are already the side effect of whatever the first evil did. I do what they say, but I can admit that I prefer to help the good much more than the evil, and I've got to tell you; there isn't anything involved in this with evil intentions." I thought for a moment, but it wasn't really required. Whistler could be manipulating the hell out of me and trying to cause the end of the world, but I figured it would be much more exciting than sitting at a desk all day. If the demon was telling the truth however, I could do some good.

"How long do I have?" Whistler coughed a little, embarrassment displayed on his features.

"Yeah, about that. I'm sorry to say that I got lost a little in this dimension. You'll have to decide before the days over. The sooner, the better." I looked at the clock and noticed that it was ten minutes until midnight. I quickly shot Whistler a look of contempt at the situation.

"Bloody hell, can I at least grab a few things?" I asked, already listing a few things that were a must. Whistler however shook his head regretfully.

"Your wand is enough for the side of good, anything else and The Powers might be accused of rigging the game. I have strict orders. The clothes on your back and your wand. I was even told to empty your pockets." I gave him another dirty look before emptying my pockets myself, daring him to touch me. "You also might want to drop that robe of yours, not even the most evil would be caught in those things." I nodded, understanding his point, before shedding them quickly, leaving me in slightly baggy black jeans and a shirtsleeve green shirt.

"Alright." I said after a moment of standing there awkwardly. Whistler checked his pocket watch nervously before glancing around.

"I hope The Powers didn't forget about…" I wasn't able to catch his last words for a whirling sound drowned out my ears of anything else; shortly after the familiar, sickly feel of a portkey took affect of my body, spinning it out of control. Blackness colored my vision, but it only lasted a moment before I landed roughly on my stomach. I smiled in relief; apparently cross dimensional traveling was quicker than a portkey. I could only imagine the power that these fabled Powers had at their finger tips. There was complete silence around me, but I was able to sense that I wasn't alone.

"Bloody…" I mumbled to myself, putting pressure on my ribs with my left hand. The powers must have decided that landing hard on concrete was the best place to start in a new dimension, I thought to myself, making my way to a standing position. It was dark and it took awhile for my eyes to adjust, but when they did, I found myself surrounded by people. "Hell." I mumbled out, staring into the shocked faces of about ten people in a dark room of what appeared to be a public kitchen of some sort.

"Well this is exciting, isn't it?" A gleeful voice asked. I took in his appearance. He was dressed nicely, with no tie, and about fifty. He was clearly the one in power; made more clear by the two woman behind him. Both attractive, but one holding a knife to the others throat; clearly a hostage situation. The other side of the room held five men and one woman. The woman, surprisingly enough seemed to be the one in charge, even while three men clearly older than her were there.

"Right." I said after realizing whatever was going on was on hold while they waited to hear whatever I had to say. "Clearly I fell into the wrong place at the wrong time." I finished, trying to dismiss myself from the room and secretly checking my forearm for my wand, which remained in place. While the man with the hostage appeared amused, the other side only appeared shocked at my appearance. Although I could disagree that the Powers dropped me into the best place, I couldn't say that they didn't deliver on what they offered. "I'll just get out of your way while you go about your hostage situation." I said calmly. Normally, I'd come out guns a blazing, but since I was literally in a strange world, I figured it would be best to remain a little conservative on this one. That plus the knife at the woman's throat kept my wand up my sleeve.

The nicely dressed man made a gesture and his two body guards seem to come alive, focusing on me. I could tell that It wasn't likely that I would be leaving the room anytime soon. I held up my hands and retreated calmly to the side of the blonde woman who seemed like the good guys in this situation. She glanced at me briefly before focusing again on the mayor as the redheaded hostage made a struggling sound. "Let her go." The blonde demanded beside me. It sounded corny to my ears, but I suppose her stance showed that she was ready for a fight, and if I read her correctly; would welcome one. I watched as the situation progressed, everyone in the room forgetting my presence for the time being.

"No," The man responded matter of factly, "not until the box is in my hands." I glanced behind my shoulder to see a large box, about a foot and a half in width guarded by a tall pale man with dark hair and dark clothes. The well dressed man continued, "So you're the little girl that's been causing me all this trouble. She's pretty, Angel. A little skinny." The man said, looking at the man guarding the box. I cheered a little on the inside, one name down. Now I just needed to figure out if Angel was a name or a taunt. "Still don't understand why it couldn't work out with you and my Faith. Guess you kind of just have strange taste in woman." I sighed to myself, but the others seemed to have heard me, there attention turned to me again, letting me know that I could speak again. I tried to hold my tongue in order to not get maimed in any way, but the adrenaline pumping through my veins couldn't seem to tell my brain to not speak.

"Angel? Faith? Are those names, or are you people just really religious?" I asked, and watched at the dark haired girl tightened her grip on her hostage, apparently angered. I corrected myself quickly. "Right, names. Gotcha." I finished lamely, taking a small step back and allowing the situation to progress. I received glares from both sides now; apparently I wasn't making any friends in this dimension either.

The elder man continued as if I had never spoken, "Well, I wish you kids the best, I really do. But if you don't mind a bit of fatherly advice, I, uh, I just don't see much of a future for you two. I don't sense a lasting relationship. And not just because I plan to kill you; you two have a bumpy road ahead." The man's calm and strange behavior during such a situation didn't seem to surprise the blonde leader. In fact, she just appeared annoyed.

"I don't think we need to talk about this." She gritted out slowly. I looked around confused for a moment, wondering just why these people were acting so strangely. However nothing in the room gave me any clues, and I didn't come to any conclusions. My observation lasted throughout the mayors long winded speech about why Angel and the blonde shouldn't be together. The only things useful that I could gather was that apparently Angel and the man were immortals of some kind. I briefly wondered if this was Voldemorts dream reality; an immortal one of every five people.

I watch intently as Angel and Faith traded the old jagged looking box for the redhead girl, surprised that Faith actually gave the girl up. I kind of expected a backstab with all this drama.

"Nobody moves!" I looked up in excitement as a small bald man comes marching in with two police looking men guarding him. I clapped my hands in applause, and received many confused looks in the process. The bald man looked at me for a moment before turning his attention to the blond, "I knew you kids were up to something." I coughed to hide my laugh but it was only ignored.

"Snyder, get out of here." The blond commands sharply, but by the look on Snyder's face, it would appear that he didn't like her very much.

"You're not giving orders, young lady. I suppose you're going to tell me I won't find drugs in this box." I looked at the box and back at Snyder in disbelief as he takes it from the Faith girl. Faith doesn't hold back however, and draws out her knife as Snyder's back is turned. My wand is drawn instantly, but it goes unnoticed.

"Wait!" The blonde yells out as the older man steps from the shadows; where he seemingly retreated to without notice when Snyder entered.

"Principal Snyder. I think we have a problem." Snyder turned back around as the man speaks, most likely recognizing the voice. Snyder, after spotting the knife, seemed to realize that he didn't just walk into a normal schoolyard drug deal and was now clearly nervous.

"Mr. Mayor, I had no idea… I'm terribly sorry." Snyder squeaks out in fear. Mayor? I mouthed to myself. As one government starts repairing itself, I get thrown into another.

The Mayor however remained calm as Faith slowly lowered her knife. "No, it is I who should apologize. Coming down here at night. What must you be thinking? But you see, I just needed to…" His voice faded away as he noticed one of the policemen who came with the Principal start to open the box. Logically, I readied my wand; not under the assumption that drugs were in the box. "No! Don't do that!" He shouted in warning. It was too late however; for whatever was in the box was able to wiggle its way out and without missing a beat attached itself onto the mans face. The man attempted to grab it off, but it apparently had super spider strength. It looked like a spider anyhow, but my knowledge of this world just wasn't deep enough to even begin to guess what it truly was. Spells ran through my head, but I decided to go with one of the simplest,

I cast the stunning spell silently to make sure no one heard an incantation. In a place without wizards and witches, shouting nonsense words could land you into a couple of bad places; or so I heard. Thankfully, the policeman didn't do much moving and the spell connected with the spider dead center, causing it to release its hold and fall to the floor. I don't dwell on the shocked and fearful glances sent my way, as the fallen spider came back to life in only a moments notice, confirming my original idea that it wasn't just a normal spider; for it should have been out for hours with my stunner. I readied my wand again, but before I could do anything; the heel of Faith's boot came down on it hard; squishing it against the floor. The Mayor smiled at Faith in praise before making his way over to the box and closing the lid calmly as another tried to worm it's way out. The Mayor then glanced over at me and seemed to be debating with himself on whether or not to take me as well. He seemed to think better of it however and made his way out of the room without another word.

Although I had saved at least one mans life today, the rest were looking at me suspiciously. I smiled, "Well, alright then, time for me to leave. It was nice to be involved in a hostage situation with you and all. The deadly demon spiders were a blast as well, but I got places to be and all." It was a lie of course, but as I didn't really feel like explaining magic to them, I figured a hasty retreat would be best. Taking a quick glance around I noticed that although most who were looking at me appeared hostile, the redhead was looking at me sort of lustfully. It kind of freaked me out.

As I wasn't sure whether or not they'd let me go, I backed up slowly until I was out of the door. As I made my way outside, I apparated as far as I could see a few times, to make sure I wouldn't be followed.

* * *

Meanwhile back at the school, Buffy and the gang were finally able to recover from their strange encounter. "Why'd we let him go?" Willow asked, whining a little; her fascination at what she saw the man do not going unnoticed. Giles looked at the girl with fondness before responding.

"We know nothing about the boy or what he's capable of. He might even be an ally." Giles answered soothingly, placing a hand on the redhead's shoulder. Buffy sighed, knowing what her night would be filled with.

"Research?" She asked, cringing at the answer.

"Research." Giles answer, nodding, seemingly pleased with the outcome.

* * *

I had hoped that Whistler or someone involved in this mess would find me after I escaped from the whacky situation within the school, but after camping out on a deserted park bench for thirty minutes, it became clear that I would receive no such help. I came to the conclusion that maybe the balance of good or evil, or whatever crap they believed in shifted just enough on my arrival that there interference couldn't last. Which would mean that their only help would have been exactly where I ended up after my travels. I didn't think that landing painfully on cement in the middle of a school was much help, but maybe they decided that the blond woman and her group were the ones to go to. It disappointed me a little to believe this. So far, from what he could tell her group consisted of an Immortal named Angel, and redheaded girl with some naughty thoughts involving me. Lastly, a blonde teenager as the leader. Even then, they couldn't have meant for me to team up with the morally corrupt mayor and his lackeys.

Of course, I shouldn't be so critical when only a year ago I was leading a hunt to rid my world of the worlds darkest wizard of the century. Not only that, but I was an average wizard at best and quite the under achiever. "Tempus." I muttered, not bothering with the wand movements.

_May 4__th__, 1999, 10:45pm._

Apparently dimensional traveling took some time. If I knew I was going to lose two days just to be involved in this mess, I may have reconsidered my answer. Laughing quietly to myself, I shook my head. Who was I kidding? If I knew it was going to be this chaotic, I would have answered sooner.

_Author Notes: Please let me know what you think, good or bad. I really would like to improve my writing, and need your help._


	2. Meeting the Gang

_Author Notes: I got a lot of helpful reviews and would appreciate anything more you readers have to say in about this chapter or the story. I even added a part in that has to deal a little bit of what one of my reviewers was worrying about. Just to say. Harry may be a little out of character, but remember, this is a year after canon. A lot can change in a person after a year. But yes, he's ooc, because frankly, I find no enjoyment writing an in character Harry Potter, or even reading one for that matter._

**Chapter Two**

**Meeting the Gang**

Not only had Whistler abandoned me in a foreign world as well as a foreign country, but he had also left me no means to take care of myself. Like Whistler demanded, I brought nothing with me but a pair of clothes and a wand. I didn't even have a pound to my name; and I couldn't imagine that the Powers would go through all this trouble just for me to become a homeless bum on the sidewalk, begging for cash. My only real option was to go back, find someone from that school in order find out why the Powers sent me there. The only problem being that because of there abandonment, I didn't really want to do what they had set me out to do. I snickered to myself amusingly; I'd rather be homeless, begging for cash on the street than be manipulated into a situation that I couldn't control.

The only upside I could think of was the fact that so far, when doing what these Power guys wanted from me, I'd had a blast. Not only was I involved in a dramatic hostage situation today, but just moments in a new world and I was able to witness a demonic spider's death. All that in only a few minutes. While sitting here on a random park bench, doing nothing but thinking got me nowhere but into a state of angst sulking. Sulking at a situation that I volunteered myself into, ironically enough.

My musings were interrupted by the delightful sound of a woman's scream piercing the night air. Not delightful as if I liked hearing women scream, I told myself quickly. I just liked what a woman's scream usually meant to me; action. I nodded to myself, satisfied with my reasoning; and convinced that I wasn't turning into a psychopath. Instead of running in the direction of the scream, I used my favorite means of travel and apparated as far as I could see. As soon as I got good at it, I did it for the most trivial means possible, I was even surprised I hadn't gotten fat with all the short distant apparating I did. Not knowing the town at all, I couldn't apparate to a specific spot that I had never been to. I could apparate as fast as any other wizard, but any wizard that tells you he can apparate to a spot he's never been to in one piece is full of dragon dung. In magic that visualization was the key, it made no sense being able to use it without the main component

It was just my luck to see that I wasn't the first one on the scene. The blonde teenager who I had encountered earlier was with Angel, who from the Mayor's ramblings I figured was involved with her to some extent. They were both in hand to hand combat with three others. All male.

From a distance, I watched as the blonde stabbed one of the men in the chest with some sort of debris on the floor next to her. My eyes shot up in surprise at her strength and her casual murder and raised even further as I watched whatever it was turn to dust in only moments after the contact to his chest. Nothing was able to surprise me for long however, because as I recovered from my shock, I noticed an older brunette woman huddled into a corner. I sighed to myself; I wasn't the best at handling the victims of an attack, that was usually better left to someone with a much better emotional range than I. Not having much choice in the matter seeing as Angel and the woman were clearly dominating the last two. Even then, I wasn't quite sure who to help in the situation, for all I knew the dusted guys were the good guys. I calmly walked over to the woman with my hands in the air, and what I hoped was a pleasant smile on my face.

First rule when dealing with a victim was to appear as friendly as possible, I thought to myself; the necessary rules of any new Auror. In the midst of battles, where more often than not I get covered in blood and various wounds, that rule was sometimes difficult for me to follow. My short descent to the girl was interrupted however, as I was tackled to the ground by a force greater than anything I'd ever experienced. My legs collided with the hard ground and I could almost feel my right leg's bone crack. I let out a cry, but recovered quickly, trying to ignore the pain.

My vision cleared about the same time as my ability to breath came back to me. The blonde was sitting on top of me, a broken piece of wood in her hands as a weapon. Not sure what side I was actually on, I grabbed at her fist with both hands, latching on tightly, and making sure that my hands missed the sharp point. My leg shifted in the process, causing another wave of pain to run through me. With my pain came adrenaline and I could feel a small magical burst in my magic. I smiled to myself at the comfortable, soothing feeling that rushed through me at that moment and before she could remove my grip, I shot it through my arms in the form of a banishing charm, flinging her off of me. I watched tiredly as she collided into Angel, who had seemed to be making his way over to check on his partner.

Although wandless magic was useless for me in everyday situations, I was usually able to channel the small amount I had in fights for my life; which was more than most wizards could do. The feeling of magic flowing through me was just another reason why these fights exhilarated me so much.

By the time I made my way to my feet, my right leg was throbbing and the girl was already to her feet, making her way towards me. I held up my hands in a show of peace, but kept my wand in a ready position, in case she really was the bad guy in this town that I was suppose to be fighting. She stopped in mid step as she noticed my stance of surrender and seemed to finally recognize me from earlier. She sighed "You again." I frowned, she seemed disappointed.

Not much had changed for them from only an hour earlier; their stance showed much distrust. I knew that one wrong move on my end and I'd be facing them both. They were fast, that much I was able to gather. I, on the other hand was seriously crippled, a hit to my leg would probably take me out long enough for them to take my wand and I'd then be useless; I wasn't the most battle ready Auror in the ministry. I turned my back on them both again and made my way over to the woman as I had attempted to do earlier. The blonde didn't let me leave her presence however, trailing me, as if to make sure I wasn't planning on harming the woman.

I squatted at her side and notice her hand clutching the side of her neck. Whatever wound she had, it was bleeding quite heavily. Through her panic and shock she still seemed to know to put pressure on it. "Hey" I whispered softly, trying to get her attention. She looked at me faintly, weak and pale from the loss of so much blood. I motioned to her wound slightly and continued my whisper. "May I?" I asked, my hand extended a little, my wand back up my sleeve in order to not frighten her. She nodded trustingly, slowly removing her hand from her neck. I briefly notice how hard her hand was shaking before I examined the wounds. I put my hand past her face, drawing out my wand in the process; making sure it was out of view. I noticed two deep puncture marks on her neck, almost like a bite. I didn't let me confusion show on my face however. Making a small circular motion with my wand, I let my intent guide my magic. I'd probably be able to close the wound and only leave a small scar in the process if I could speak the incantation of the healing spell. But as I didn't feel like letting everyone in the world know of my magic; this was good enough for the situation. I watched as her wound got small in width and much more shallow. The two puncture marks were still bleeding, but it was now about as severe as a scrap to her health.

I got up and held out my hand, bringing her to her feet. She put her hand back at her neck and looked at me in awe, noticing the difference in the wound. I smiled at her calmly, "It wasn't as bad as it felt. Just had to stop the bleeding." I said, reassuring her. She nodded at me in acceptance, though I knew a small part of her doubted my explanation. I offered her my hand politely, "Harry Potter." She went to accept my handshake, but realized that both her hands were covered in blood and settled for just smiling wearily at me. I nodded at her in understanding. "Can I take you home?" She shook her head.

"I live right here. They attacked me right outside my home. Who were they?" She said, denying my offer while asking a very good question. I was about to respond that I had no bloody clue who they were when I was interrupted by the blonde girl next to me.

"Part of a gang." She answered unconvincingly, "They must've been on drugs." The older woman looked at me to confirm what she heard. I didn't let my disbelief show on my face and just shrugged at her, letting her come to her own conclusions. She nodded and started backing up towards the home she had pointed at only a minute earlier.

"Thank you Mr. Potter." She said, smiling gratefully, "If there's anything I can do for you…" She continued, leaving the offer open to me. I smiled at her in thanks and watched as she walked away, thinking about the no money in my pockets and the no bed to sleep on for the night. I might have to take her up on the offer. I turned around to face my earlier attacker.

"So… a gang on drugs." I asked in disbelief. The girl seemed ready to defend her answer, but remembering my strange abilities probably realized that the truth wouldn't hurt.

"Vampire's." she answered, glancing at Angel. I frowned at her response. Vampires in my own world had their own civilization outside of humans. Although there were a few crazed one's, it would not have been common to find three of them attacking a woman in a random town. This was my first real confirmation that I was in a different universe, and wasn't just transported to another town. So far, it seemed that this world really did need some help. If there were vampires attacking women at random.

"And what are you guys?" I asked her, blunt again in my question; a similar one to what I asked the demon just hours ago in my own timeline.

"What are you?" she rebutted, folding her arms across her chest in a show of defiance. I smiled at her secretly.

"Touché." I paused for a moment, but decided that I was calling her 'the blonde girl' for far too long inside my head. "You know my name, its only fair you told me yours." She seemed ready to argue, but let up after Angel placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"Buffy" she responded, covering Angel's hand with her own in a show of affection. I rolled my eyes at yet another strange name. I wondered if there were any James' or Justin's in this universe.

"And Angel?" I asked, looking at the man behind Buffy. He nodded briefly. After a moment of awkward silence, I decided to just allow the Powers manipulation through in the most blunt way possible. "Have you guys ever heard of something called, The Powers That Be?" They both frowned at me, and I could clearly see them trying to figure out whether or not I was crazy. "No? Hmm. What about this guy called Whistler?" I smiled as they both became alert, but surprisingly more cautious of me. I instantly became uncomfortable, "He isn't like a, umm, bad guy, is he?" I asked, a sheepish smile on my face. Buffy looked from me and towards Angel,

"We need to get the gang together." She looked back at me. "You're coming." I shrugged in response. I didn't have much of a choice in the matter. It was either get a couple of answers about this world, or rebel for the sake of rebelling and get into another fight with Buffy, this time with Angel at her side. I held up my hand to get them to wait for a second as I took out my wand. I watched as they both changed there stance, ready for combat. Looking down at my leg I noticed that my knee was bent at an odd angle. I felt my knee cap for a little bit to make sure that the injury wasn't severe enough that my magic would do any long term harm before replacing my hand with my wand.

"_Torpeo_" I said forcefully; the pain in my leg overshadowing the need to be discreet. I sighed as I felt my leg lockup in movement and my knee become numb, the pain fading until it barely throbbed. I'd be walking funny until I could get it healed, but I didn't know any healing spells to repair bone. Even if I did, I wouldn't trust myself to repair my good leg without any lasting damage. I put my wand by up my sleeve.

"Lead the way." I said, walking closer to them, limping a little because of the one stiff leg. Buffy frowned at me, regret on her face.

"Sorry." I shrugged off her apology.

"From what I've seen, being cautious will only kill you here." She nodded at me in agreement. Angel walked up beside me

"Want me to carry you?" he asked. I let my murderous glare answer for me. He smiled in response, clearly not threatened by the cripple.

"Are all Vampire's evil here?" I asked, watching the glass window of a shop we were walking by. Angel paused at the way I phrased it, but answered anyway.

"When they're turned from human, the soul dies and a demon takes place. Only their memories remain. So yes, all Vampires are evil by definition." I nodded in understanding, drawing out my wand a little.

"Even you?" I asked cautiously. He looked at me in surprise before glancing at the shop window, the reflection only showing Buffy and I.

"I was." He responded, sorrow evident in his voice.

"What changed?" I asked, my wand still clutched in my hand.

"I was cursed with a soul." I glanced at Buffy for a second, who was slightly out of range, walking faster than us. She seemed desperate to get someplace, and she was walking in the direction of the school. I wondered if it was their headquarters. Angel noticed where I was looking, "She knows about it. Though it did give her a scare." He looked at me intently for a moment before commenting, "You're not backing away." Giving a short laugh that attracted Buffy's attention and I shook my head.

"I've meet people far more sinister than you." Angel frowned, his fragile ego bruised.

"I could kill you." He said matter of factly, but there was no threat in his voice. Taking my chances that most things that could kill a vampire stayed the same, I raised my wand and watched as his eyes focused on it.

"I can produce fire and cut through bone with just a word." I answered him, placing my wand back down. Buffy came over, seemingly catching the end of the conversation.

"Are you guys done measuring up? We're here" I looked over at her in surprise. Sure enough, we were standing in front of a large building. From the looks of it, it appeared to be the back of the school. She glanced at me.

"I think they're still researching about you, plus other things." I smiled, strangely amused. I didn't think they'd have much luck finding anything on me.

"Researching?" I asked with a smile, "About me?" I batted my eyelashes innocently. She rolled her eyes before entering the building through a door that Angel had opened for her. I sighed before walking in and following after her. Time for some more strange behavior from the strange group.

As we gathered into the school, I noticed a group of people sitting around a table. A table which was covered in dozens of books. Each person had a tome in front of them. A dark haired boy, one which was in the school lunch room but didn't say anything looked up from his book and looked at what appeared to be the oldest, "How about this." He began excitingly. "Apparently these monk dudes like a thousand years ago developed this telekinesis power. Maybe he's one of them." The oldest appeared thoughtful but the red haired hostage next to him shook her head.

"I don't think so Xander. What that boy did was more magic than any use for telekinesis." Willow said, going back to her book. The oldest frowned.

"Willows right, what that boy did is no way telekinetic." I smiled walking forward, past Angel and Buffy who seemed hesitant to join the group of researches.

"I'd have to agree as well." They all nodded together, going back to there books. But, realizing that they didn't recognize who spoke, raised there heads as one to look at me in shock. There were six of them. Two adult men, and four teenagers. Two boys and two girls. The redhead hostage was the first one to stand, she appeared excited for some reason. The redheaded boy next to him grabbed her arm however and pulled her back down before giving me a sympathizing smile.

Buffy finally stepped forward to breakup our ongoing staring match. "Guys, this is Harry. Harry these people are Cordelia, Oz, Willow, Xander, Wesley, and Giles." She said, pointing to each of them as she said there names. She gestured at me then, "He appears to be one of the good guy" she told them, putting much more emphasis on appears than I thought was needed. I looked at Giles, smiling.

"You English?" I asked, recognizing his slight accent from earlier. Giles appeared amused,

"Why yes, I am. I can only assume that you are as well?" I nodded in confirmation.

"It's good to know that there's an England here" I said in relief, sitting down in one of the extra chairs. Again, the way I phrased it got me some odd looks. Especially from Angel who had heard my earlier comment.

"I'm English!" Everyone turned to Wesley who was looking sheepishly at the floor, rethinking his outburst.. I grinned at him in amusement while Angel stepped out of the background.

"Why wouldn't there be an England here? You said that about vampire's as well." Angel asked. I frowned as everyone's attention turned to me.

"From what I've been told, I'm from what's called an Alternative Universe. I didn't really believe it until I saw the vampires." I explained and watched as they all nodded to each other in understanding. I turned to my left and raised an eyebrow at Buffy. She shrugged,

"There was kind of a, uh, evil Willow a while back" I nodded pretending that I understood; as if that explained anything.

"What you hit that spider with… Was that your world's magic? How does it work? Could I learn?" I looked over at Willow as her eyes were intently focused on me, waiting for an answer. I looked over at Giles for help

"How late is it? She couldn't have had than many cups of tea." I asked him. Giles just rolled his eyes at me while Buffy snorted and Willow pouted. I looked back at Willow, "Yes, that was my magic, good guess. I have a wand, I say things, stuff happens; and no, it's impossible to learn unless you have the ability; and I doubt anyone in this world has the ability." I said quickly with pause, identical to the way the questions were asked. She was clearly unhappy with my reply, because she reopened her mouth to continue. I held up my hand to stop her, "Before we play twenty questions, is there a chance I can get out a couple myself?" Willow closed her mouth and seemed to be sulking, but Giles was the one to answer me.

"I think that's only fair. From what you've said, you're new to this world, so it makes sense that you'd have just as many questions as us."

"We could take turns." The Cordelia, the brunette girl at the end offered, "You ask one, we ask one." We all nodded, accepting the random terms. I thought for a moment, before repeating the question I was going to ask minutes ago outside,

"When I mentioned Whistler, Buffy and Angel did not appear happy. He's not one of those evil guys, pretending to be good, is he?" They all looked toward Buffy for her to reply, who apparently was more knowledgeable on the subject. She appeared thoughtful,

"We aren't sure who Whistler is. I've only seen him once, but he came to confirm what I had been fearing, and told me to do something." I looked at her with a raised eyebrow before looking back at the group,

"Are we going to be vague with our answers? Because I've learned from the best when it comes to giving those." Buffy looked ready to hit me, but Giles interrupted her outburst before she could start.

"He's right Buffy. If we want answers, we are going to have to give answers." Buffy didn't appear too happy about it, and glanced at Angel before responding.

"Angel lost his soul last year. As Angelus, he opened a portal to hell that would have consumed the world. Whistler told me the only way to close it was to kill him." I nodded before turning back toward the group. She answered my question, but brought up about a dozen more. Willow seemed to be the most eager with a question, but Angel interrupted her.

"Whistler also came to me, three years ago. I had gained my soul and wasn't living the most comfortably." I wondered what uncomfortable living was for him, but let him continue anyway, "He told me that I could help out the world instead of sitting around doing nothing. That I could be forgiven for my past crimes. He sent me here to do it." I watched as Angel and Buffy smiled at each other.

"It seems that you should be thanking him then. He brought you guys Angel, and stopped your world from becoming a living hell." I noticed a few frowned at the idea of Angel being here a good thing and I could only assume that Angelus had done some naughty stuff when he was soulless; however that came to be.

"Why did you want to know about Whistler?" Giles asked, interrupting Willow before she could ask another question, this one presumably about magic as well. I took a moment to find an explanation that I could put into words.

"Whistler came to me offering a better world. For most of my life, I'd been involved in a war in my world, but after the war ended, I kind of missed it a little. Missed the feeling of the fight, being the victor, and doing good." I paused watching as only Angel nodded to my explanation, probably the only one getting it. "He offered me a chance to go somewhere where I could help. I took the offer." As I finished, I noticed a couple of them were looking at me, seemingly impressed that I took the offer to go into a war after finishing one, I looked at them seriously for the first time. "I went, knowing that the chance of Whistler being one of the bad guys and screwing you all over with my arrival was just as likely as him being in it for the good. I came without notifying my boss and friends that I was leaving. I came with pure selfish reasons, so don't look at me like I'm a saint." I said harshly, watching their gazes drop.

Although I felt a little guilty leaving my friends without any note or anything to let them know that they'd likely never see me again; I knew they'd understand. We hadn't spoken to each other in four months; since Christmas. Outside of school, there was really nothing we had in common anymore. Sure Ron and I liked quidditch, but he was a college boy now, and many of the things he had to talk about, I was clueless to or didn't care a bit for. I'm sure if I had liked talking about my position as an Auror, we would have found something to talk about, but the job wasn't as fulfilling as I thought it would be, and they seemed to pick up on that. Hermione and I really never had anything in common to begin with. While she was all theory and knowledge, I was all practical. Where she thirsted for knowledge, I thirsted for violence. In school it brought up together into a scene of mystery. In the real world, it just kept us a apart. We were nearly the opposite of each other, and it surprised me a little that Hermione and I weren't the ones arguing all the time while at school. Of course, we didn't have the sexual tension to help move us along either, like Ron and she had. All we all did when we got together now was reminisce; we were no longer creating any new memories.

Realizing it was my turn to ask a question, I turned to Buffy. "You guys all know I'm a magic user, but what are you? No human could have taken me down that hard." I said, watching her as she frowned at me.

"I'm human." She said, pouting. Giles took the lead however, seeing that Buffy was uncomfortable talking about herself like that.

"Buffy is a Slayer. A vampire slayer to be precise. A girl teenager, around fifteen or so is selected to be a slayer when the previous one dies. Their duty it to lead the fight against vampires, demons, or anything else that's meant to be in a hell dimension instead of here, on earth.." I winced at the reminder of my own life. At sixteen, I too was told that I would be leading the fight against evil. Magic seemed to be cruel in that regard. I was truly under the belief that all prophecies were self fulfilling. There was no way I, a random boy would have taken down Voldemort without the careful guidance of an 150 year old man.

"What can she do?" I asked. I heard Buffy puff out a sigh.

"I" Buffy said, pointing at herself, "am as strong as a demon, as quick as a demon, and have a strange aptitude for combat and acrobatics. I'm also a pretty fast healer, and quite durable." I frowned at her. If she was only as strong as a demon, I'd think any demon older than her would have no trouble taking her down.

"So there's only one slayer in the whole world?" I asked, my multiple questions coming from the main one.

"Well, there's two now. Faith is also one." Buffy said. An image of the crazed dark haired girl with the Mayor popped into my head. I looked at her confused, sure that Giles had meant there was only one. "I died for a little while." Buffy said, explaining the existence of Faith. I nodded at her, something we else we had in common.

"I know how that feels." I said, smiling at her shocked face. The small silence was filled up quickly by Willow, who was happy to finally get her question out.

"What can you do with your magic?" She asked, curious. I paused thinking,

"Almost anything." I said, pausing again, "Given enough time. Except for bringing back the dead." I watched as Giles and Willow sat up in their chairs. Giles in fear, Willow in excitement.

"Can you kill?" Giles asked, seemingly scared of the answer. I nodded solemnly.

"Two words is all that's needed." I said, remaining truthful.

"Have you ever…" He asked, trailing off. I gave him a pointed look.

"I was in a war." I said in answer. Willow seemed to be ready to ask more exciting questions, but deflated as she realized the somber mood everyone was in because of my admittance.

"It's getting late." Giles said, cleaning his glasses. "It think it's time to get some sleep for school in the morning.

"If I sleep tonight, what will I do during class?" Xander asked, though his eyes showed his tiredness. I got uncomfortable.

"Yeah, about that. Whistler didn't let me bring any currency or even an ID of some sort. Is there anywhere I could sleep tonight." I watched as the room attempted to avoid my gaze. Apparently the fact I could kill them with only two words turned them off from sleeping in the same house as me.

"You can sleep with me." Willow said excitingly, before her face flushed red. "I mean, my house. You can sleep in my house. My mom applied for foreign exchange awhile back." She explained, looking at Xander. "You remember the mummy." I watched as Xander's whole body shook at the reminder of what was probably a traumatic experience. "Anyway, there wasn't anyone left for us to take, but I could just tell her that you arrived late." Oz looked at her and frowned, but didn't say anything. I wondered if they were involved for a moment before I too frowned at her,

"I'd have to go to school." I said, whining a little. Willow shrugged at me.

"There's only a month left, it wouldn't be that bad." I nodded, looking for more holes in the situation in order to skip out at going to school, and even worse, staying with Willow who seemed fond of learning anything that she could about my magic.

"The school wouldn't know who I was." I said, finding the final hole in her logic. Buffy laughed beside me.

"That's the least of your problems with Willow here. She can create your eighteen year history in just one day and people will believe it." I nodded, slouching a little as I realized I didn't really have any choice. Not only would I be living with Willow, who, if given the chance might decide to dissect me, but I'd be going to school as a eighteen year old in my final year with only the knowledge of an eleven year old boy.

As the group was discussing the final details of what my life would be consisted of in the last eighteen years, Xander came up to me. "I don't why they're trusting a stranger we just met today with Willow. But if something happens to her, I'll kill you." He said looking at me intensely. I smiled at him pleasantly,

"How?" I asked, wondering if he had any hidden talents. He just smiled at me menacingly. It looked strange on his face, which was only just joking about sleeping in class minutes earlier.

"The old fashioned way." I smiled at him, but inside I felt a little chill. I almost believed him.


	3. A Plan

_Author Notes: I leave unsigned reviews enabled because I don't mind the occasional helpful flamer that wants to remain anonymous, and anyone flaming for the sack of flaming can be deleted. However, when I receive a well thought out review from someone who's unsigned, and I can't reply back, I think about disabling it. Since I don't want to have an Author note the same size as my chapter, I'll answer a few things brought up by him and others._

_1) Xander is just as human as he was during the series, and Harry is just a wizard. He isn't immortal, and he knows that it doesn't take a wizard of great power to kill him. If Xander wanted to, he could kill Harry. He'd have to do it in a very Slytherin way, but it isn't out of the question. Harry wasn't terrified of Xander, but he knew Xander could be a threat if he wanted to._

_2) Harry's vampire's do not turn to dust when killed. In fact, I don't think many vampire's in myth do. Harry doesn't work with vampire's every day, and he isn't omniscient and the writing is from his point of view. He didn't connect the guys being dusted with vampires, because vampire's don't get dusted in his world, nor do they gang up on women in the streets. His thinking process is also not instant. If he had more time he may have come to the conclusion, but he did not._

_Another thing I want to mention is that my biggest pet peeve in Harry Crossovers is one character dominating the others. In other Harry Crossovers, I see Harry being able to kill a dozen vampires with one spell, leaving Buffy and everyone else virtually useless in a battle of greater scales. Demons will be resistant to Harry's magic here, some more than others, and some with different strengths against Harry's magic. It creates a challenge for Harry in battle. It also means he can't go out whenever a threat appears and wipe them out in a minute._

_Harry will be battle ready, smart, and powerful in this story. He can also make mistakes, be at a disadvantage, and be stupid in certain situations. _

_Well, this author note was already way longer than I wanted it to be, and I'm sorry if I bored anyone with it. I hate leaving review questions on answered._

_On with the chapter!_

**Chapter Three**

A Plan

After the teenagers had all the left the library, the two watchers sat in silence for a while. The silence however, was shortly interrupted by the younger watcher. "We must tell the council immediately. From what the boy's told us, he could become a terrible power. The council must know of him." Wesley said, getting up from his chair and making his way to the phone. Although Giles wanted to stop him, there was really nothing he could do. He was on strict orders from the council to let Wesley take the lead. Any argument from him would end up with him being sent to England. He settled for reasoning with Wesley.

"Wesley." Giles said shortly and was glad to see Wesley stop in mid step to listen. "We both know the dangers of this Mayor situation. If the council knew about Harry, there's no telling if there'll kill him in fear, kidnap him, or any other one of the infinite possible actions." Giles paused, watching as the truth of the situation became clear to the young watcher. "I do agree that the council needs to know" Giles lied smoothly, to keep Wesley calm. "but can we wait until after the mayor is taken care of? What's one powerful wizard going to do if we have a real, full sized demon to worry about? If anything he could help." Giles watched as Wesley made his way back to his seat, sitting down tiredly. Giles was glad to see this small improvement in Wesley's thinking. Only weeks earlier, Wesley wouldn't have hesitated to use the phone to call the Council, even with Giles' argument.

"As soon as we defeat the Mayor, I'll call them." Wesley said. Giles smiled, proudly; the first time he himself had conveniently forgotten to mention something to the council was the hardest as well. Giles thought he might actually be able to make a good Watcher out of the man. His smile diminished as realized what Wesley had said.

"If we defeat the Mayor." Giles corrected, looking down at the ancient parchment in front of him. The pages that Willow was able to tear from the books were still being deciphered. Although useful, Giles still couldn't help but cringe every time he thought of the priceless book; pages hastily and crudely being ripped from its bindings. From what he could gather about this transformation that the Mayor would be going through, not many of them had a chance of living through it.

* * *

It had been nearly a week since I had started reliving my school days, and it was just as bad as I thought it would be. Starting day one, I had begun skipping most of my classes, but taking advice from Willow, I went to a few; enough where they wouldn't try to send me back to England because of my failing grades.

I was surprised when Willow's mother barely batted an eyelash at my sudden appearance. She seemed to be excited to have a foreign exchange student in her home, even if we hadn't spoken more than two sentences to each other.

I had picked the worst time in the school year to appear as an exchange student, and that was prom. Prom was only a week away when I first started at the school, and it appeared that the teenage girls couldn't get enough of my accent. If I was my father, I may have taken advantage of it; but as it was, I knew I'd barely be able to stand spending the night with any of them. I was surprisingly able to politely decline the many offers without making any of them cry. Though I was sure one of them got pretty close.

It was the day of the prom and as school already ended for the day, I was able to avoid getting myself a date. Although I spoke with Willow in the morning and night and even answered many of her questions to thank her for allowing me to stay at her house, I hadn't done much more talking with Buffy or anyone else I had met when arriving here. I spent most of my time in the library, researching the history of demons. Almost everything about my worlds history that I could recall was the same in this world, except for the underground world of demons. To a normal Muggle or someone who wasn't aware of demons, our two worlds would probably appear identical. It seemed the only difference between the two worlds was magical or paranormal in nature.

When I wasn't in the library researching, I was patrolling solo. Buffy usually patrolled with Angel, but there were multiple cemeteries in the town, and all of them were just as dangerous as each other due to the hellmouth. Willow had explained to me what the hellmouth was when I asked if this world was as dangerous as it appeared. From what I knew, most towns were relatively safe, and it was only Sunnydale, and some towns around it that housed the many demons of the world. I had a lot of practice battling wizards and witches, but battling demons was a whole knew experience. They were stronger and faster than anyone I had dueled with before. Not only that, but distance was a big thing. In a duel, distance was never a problem, for anyone I dueled with would keep their distance from me, knowing that I was very fast in a duel and decent at hand to hand combat. If I wasn't careful against demons however, I could easily get surrounded, lose my wand, and be helpless. My competence in combat could not match up with their strength and speed. There were only a few spells in my arsenal with much of an effect against Vampires as well, and I was always experimenting each night for some more useful spells that I could remember. Without any place where I could learn more magic, I was either going to have to get creative, or use my limited knowledge of spell creation to try to create some unique spells.

As I made my way into the Library for my self scheduled research before patrol period I noticed that the group was gathered together. I walked in just as Buffy was preparing to leave. "What going on?" I asked, following her out, curious to what was making her look so determined.

"Hellhound's attacking prom." She replied. I started to walk a little faster in enthusiasm along side her.

"Can I come?" I asked in excitement. Although her and I hadn't talked much since she broke of my leg, which I was able to mend back together with a magical potion; I figured we could bond over a little demon slayer. She shook her head in dismissal,

"No. Go to the prom with the others." I laughed at her harshly. She glared at me from the corner of her eye as we made our way outside of the school.

"I'm not you Buffy." I said seriously, watching as she raised her eyebrow at the obvious statement. I explained further, "You may think you're doing me a favor, keeping me out of the fight. But I belong in the fight, just like you." I said. She stopped outside the school and turned to me with her arms crossed. I didn't stop talking however, "Unlike you however, I admit that to myself. You may have convinced yourself that as a teenage girl prom would make you happy; but I think life gave you a lemon with this hellhound. You can kill this thing, save prom, and never have to admit to yourself that it's what you'd rather be doing anyway."

"You're wrong." She said angrily. I suddenly realized I was a minute away from having another broken leg.

"Maybe" I replied, trying to keep my leg intact, "But I don't think so." I knew I just talked myself out of accompanying her, but her constant whining at being in danger was tiresome. I had only been here a week with limited contact with her and I spotted that she was very similar to me in that way. I knew that if she ever won her fight against evil like I did, she would be in the exact same position as me a year after. I could only imagine how annoying I was during my school years if I resembled her in anyway.

"You're not coming." She commanded with no room for me to argue as she tried to ignore what I just said. "But, you can stay at the school. If I don't find them in time, it'll be up to you." I sighed in disappointment but nodded in agreement. Just the possibility of getting into a fight with a hellhound just wasn't as thrilling as knowing I'd be able to. Having a last line of defense wasn't bad thinking however, so I grudgingly allowed her to lead.

Unfortunately this meant that I was going to have to do the unthinkable and get a tux in order to not look out of place at the school tonight.

* * *

It was hours later and I was pacing in front of the school for what felt like at least an hour in restlessness. I had transformed my clothes into a shabby looking tux since I didn't really feel like spending the small allowance money Willow's mum had given me when she found out I was broke for something as pointless as a tux just to appear like I belonged there. I had taken a liking to summoning demons wallets and purses before killing them. I figured the money would just disappear into dust if I didn't steal them. I was able to rationalize that I was just doing the economy a favor, keeping the money from being destroyed needlessly.

I already had a couple run ins with a few people that I had told I wasn't coming to the prom earlier in the week as I waited in front of the school. They all gave me dirty looks at seeing me as well; I was just glad that I'd only be staying at the school for a month at the most before everyone would leave for the summer.

I was just about ready to call it quits, not knowing if Buffy would even care to let me know that it was all taken care of when I heard a loud growling sound in the distance, causing a bright and cheerful smile to appear on my face. An hour of boredom and angry scowls from girls I had rejected would be worth it; at least I hoped so. I had a dozen or so spells filed into my mind to be used during this confrontation. I drew my wand as I saw two shadows make their way out of the darkness, running in my direction at what looked like full speed. They definitely looked demonic. With hard grey and black skin and a vampiric looking face, there was no doubt in my mind that they needed killing. They were running on four legs, which made sense, as Buffy had called them hounds earlier. However, their was two of them, and I was only one wizard. I looked up from their approach and noticed Buffy running as fast as she could behind them, but not fast enough. I readied my wand and took aim. "_Depulso_" I said calmly, watching as a burst of bright white light nailed the hellhound on the left, who just watched it come at him; too stupid to dodge. The hound was flung up in the air, and I watched as Buffy had to swerve out of the way of the flying beast. She gave me a dirty look in response.

"You're welcome." I said quietly to myself as I watched Buffy go after the landed beast before facing the last one. This one didn't seem to be nearly as stupid. It looked at my wand in confusion, but it seemed to already know that my wand was a danger to its life. It began its approach again, more hesitant than before "_Duno_" I said, giving my wand a slight jab. A dark grey beam flashed across the room, but the beast dodged out of its way clumsy, landing on its side. Seeing as the creature was fast enough to dodge my spells, and was slowly lessoning the distance between us, I settled for slowing it down. I moved my wand in a small circle multiple times, releasing my intent at the end of the movement each time. The spell's name was long enough that if I wanted to cast it multiple times vocally, it wouldn't be nearly as effective or quick. The Impediment Curse was good in a one on one fight. If connected, the opponent would be virtually useless. Unfortunately, the counter was easy enough and most wizards could cast it on themselves after only a moment of being hit. In a duel of multiple opponents, they'd just counter each other.

The Hellhound, aware of my tricks, dodged the first cleanly, but fell on his face dodging the second, and the third nailed him in the leg. I watched as his attempt to get up was slowed down. However, the Hellhound seemed to have some talent in limiting the effects of magic, for it wasn't nearly slow enough. I was in a slightly rough spot. Most of the destructive spells I knew to use in this situation were just what the name described them as; destructive. If I wanted everyone in the prom to hear, come out and see man sized holes in the ground, I'd use them, but for now I needed to find something quiet yet deadly. It immediately clicked in my head. It was one of my favorite spells, even if I was never able to use it as an Auror due to it technically being dark magic. "_Sectumsempra_" I whispered, watching as the slowed Hound tried to doge. It wasn't yet used to it's slowed down movements and failed to movement out of the way in time. A much shallower than usual cut appeared on the top of the beasts Beast's skull from where the spell connected, but it seemed to be deep enough, for the Hellhound fell to the ground, dead.

I looked up as a dirty Buffy walked into view. She looked down at the beast. "You made a mess." she complained, watching the blood from the demons head puddle itself on to the ground. She lowered herself over it to start dragging it away from view.

"Wait" I said, waving my wand down at the beast, watching it disappear from few. She looked at me in shock.

"Next time I have to hide a body, I'm calling you." She said tiredly. I waved my wand at her next and watched the dirt, grime, and blood disappear from her. She looked down at herself, and back up at me with a smile, before frowning.

"Why?" She asked. I shrugged back at her.

"Enjoy the normal life while you can." I said, gesturing to the school before walking away, the adrenaline running through me telling my body and brain that another confrontation was what I needed. I turned around as I heard something behind me. Buffy was trailing me. I raised my eyebrow in question and she just shrugged.

"I didn't have a date anyway." She explained.

"Angel?" I asked. It had been a week since I saw them together, but they had seemed cozy enough. She looked at me in surprise before realizing something.

"Oh right, you weren't there when I told everyone. Angel and I agreed that it wouldn't work out." From the sad look in her expression, I wondered if that was the full truth or not, but I shrugged.

"There's nothing like beating up a few vampire's as emotional release." I commented, my way of asking her to join in.

"Alright, but if you hit me with your stick, they'll be nothing left of you." Buffy said. I couldn't help myself but to respond.

"I won't touch you with my stick if you don't want me to." I said jokingly. Buffy however must have seen my innuendo coming a mile away because she just huffed to herself before walking past me, into the direction of the first graveyard of the night. I jogged for awhile to catch up with her. "So what's with the mayor?" I asked. I had asked Willow earlier and received a couple answers, but she had gone off topic almost immediately and we somehow found ourselves talking about my magic again. Buffy shrugged.

"He plans on turning himself in a demon during our graduation." Buffy explained. I nodded, already knowing this.

"Why don't we just kill him now?" I asked. When I asked Willow this question, she seemed to remember that my magic could kill and it brought a torrent of questions out of her. By the time I had answered them all, I had forgotten what we were talking about.

"He's indestructible until he ascends into whatever he's looking to become." Buffy said, looking to her left and right for any sign of movement in the eerily quiet graveyard.

"Is he immune to magic?" I asked, trying to think of ways to trap him for good. She stopped her patrolling to look at me, seeing that I was serious with trying to help.

"I don't think you can kill him with magic either." I shook my head at her.

"Not kill" I said, "Trap. That potion I made to heal my leg isn't the only one I can make. There's one potion, a lot more complicated that puts someone into such a deep sleep that most will believe him dead." Buffy looked at my questionable, wondering why I wanted to put him to sleep. I explained. "It's a permanent sleep until an antidote can be made." I said, watching as understanding lit up her eyes.

"You are the only one who knows the recipes and has the magic to use them." Buffy said, coming to my way of thinking. Willow had asked me to help her create a potion, so I instructed her step by step to create a Calming Draught. She performed it perfectly, but the potion wasn't anything but a gooey mess upon completion. I just shrugged at her, saying that magic was probably involved in the process without the brewer's knowledge. She pouted that whole night about it, but still must have told everyone else what she'd learned.

"The only problem would be finding a way to give it to him." I said, thinking. Buffy leaned up against the mausoleum next to me in thought as well.

"The Mayor is indestructible, but he isn't strong or powerful except in magic's." Buffy observed

"And if he's indestructible due to magic, there's no telling if the potion will even do anything." I said in thought, "If we force it on him, but it doesn't do anything, we'll just have one pissed off mayor with a police force and deadly magic."

"We'd have to have him take it without realizing it." Buffy concluded. My body sagged against the mausoleum as a plan reached my head.

"I know how to do it." I said solemnly, "But it isn't very ethical."

"How?" Buffy asked, coming to alert.

"The potion looks, smells, and tastes exactly like water if done properly. All we need to do is have someone slip the potion into his drink at work. If it doesn't do anything, he'll never know." I said, trying to be convincing.

"How would we get someone to slip him the potion? The only one who would him something to drink would be his secretary. Anyone else and he'd be suspicious." Buffy asked. I gave a sad smile.

"That's where the ethical part comes in." I said, thinking about another unforgivable that I was going to have to cast.

* * *

It was the next day that I was finally able to convince Buffy that putting one person under mind control was a needed evil in the situation and promised that the spell wouldn't have any lasting effects. I didn't mention the memory charm that I'd have to hit with her afterwards. I made the potion the night before. It was a surprisingly quick potion to make for such powerful results. We were both standing outside of the Mayor's building disillusioned. Buffy didn't like the feeling of it and seemed to jump every time someone came close to her, as if expecting a fight.

"Relax." I said, putting a hand on her shoulder. "The only people who will see us are people who believe in magic and are alert to their surroundings. We only have to worry about the Mayor, his Slayer, and any vampire body guards." I understood her nerves, the first magic used on me didn't leave me calm and collective either. "Remember," I continued, "You're just my bodyguard incase we're spotted. It won't be good if you start hitting anything that gets close to us." Buffy nodded to me, but I could feel her need to become violent because of the situation; it was rolling off of her in waves.

Walking into the building, we did our best to put as much distance between us and anyone visible as possible. In such a busy place, it was difficult. I hit a few people on their sleeves, causing confused looks to appear. It seemed Buffy was doing much better. Since she was quicker and much more agile and flexible than I, her attempts of avoidance were much easier.

The further we got into the building, the less crowded it became. As we stopped near the secretary's small desk, Buffy and I looked at each other, making sure we were still on the same page. We agreed earlier that I would wait to cast the Imperius Curse on the secretary until she was minutes away from giving the mayor something to drink. Buffy still wasn't comfortable with me using the spell, so I agreed.

Buffy was still standing straight nearly an hour later where my legs were cramping and felt like they were about to fall off. Thankfully, the mayor's distinctively pleasant voice appeared on her phone. "Sally, would you get me some water? My meeting has left me surprisingly parched. Thank you." As I took out my wand, I wondered if the Mayor always talked like that, and if he knew the too pleasant and too nice manner came off as very creepy.

"_Imperio_." I whispered, jabbing my wand in a violent manner at the woman after she finished replying to the Mayor. I felt her mind succumb to me in only a moment, putting up no resistance to the spell. She looked at me blankly, through my illusion of invisiblity. I spoke to her in my mind. "You will take this." I said, handing her the small vial. "You will slip it into the Mayor's drink." I said next, watching as she made her way over to a small refrigerator and took out a small, sealed water bottle. "Wait." I said in surprise, taking the bottle and the vial from her. The water bottle was still sealed, opening it to put the potion in would only tip off the Mayor and possibly get the girl fired. I knew what spell needed to be cast, but it worried me slightly. I wasn't an expert at the switching spell and barely used it at all in since learning it, but I hoped I was able to do it. I long forgot the incantation to the spell. Using mostly intent when performing it in the past. This was slightly more difficult than anything I'd done before. Switching part of an item with another was easy, but switching out only a portion of the water in the bottle with all of the potion was slightly more difficult. Not only that, but since the potion and water looked the same, there was no way of knowing if I succeeded without testing one or the other.

"What are you doing?" Buffy whispered at me, trying to keep her presence unknown to the blank faced secretary. I held up my hand to keep her from talking while concentrating intently on both bottles. I pictured both of the bottled in my mind, as well as the liquid inside the potion and only a portion of the water, I also pictured them switching places before waving my wand at the bottles. The switch would be instant, but with both bottles still looking the same, I had no way of knowing if it worked. I looked up at Buffy.

"Do you trust me?" I said, raising the potion for her to take. She looked at me in confusion before realization must have come to her.

"Why can't you try?" She asked before realizing the obvious. She looked over the secretary. "What about her?" I frowned at her. My question of her trusting me answered clearly with her own questions.

"If my spell failed, she'll go into a coma like state. We'd have to take her with us or leave her here. If we take her, we'll have a lot of questions to answer. But if you go into a coma, I'll take you back and get you awake in just a night." I explained. She looked a the potion and back to the water bottle; probably thinking about just how much she trusted me. The mayor's voice came over the intercom.

"Sally," the Mayor said pleasantly. "How's my drink coming?" I quickly told Sally to answer him normally.

"Sorry Sir, it will be just a minute." Sally said, stepping away from the desk again, a blank look appearing once again. I looked back at Buffy to see that she had swallowed the potion as the Mayor's voice came on.

"Still awake?" I asked. She nodded. I turned back to Sally, "_Obliviate_" I said, casting a quick memory charm to forget my earlier commands and the scene of me switching out the water with the potion. I commanded Sally again,

"Take the bottle to the Mayor." I said calmly. She nodded, took the bottle from the desk and walked across the hall and into the Mayor's office. Although I commanded her once more after my obliviation, I knew my command would most likely just be remembered as herself telling her what she needed to do next. As she made her way towards the Mayor, I concentrated on my link to her, and willed her to act normally again; to act as if she wasn't even under the curse. I felt her emotions as the Mayor took the bottle from her, examined it, and took a long drink from it immediately. I also felt Sally's worry as the Mayor collapsed onto his desk.

"Success." I said smiling, releasing Sally from her Imperius.

"Sir? Are you alright? Sir!" I heard Sally's panicked voice come from the Mayor's office. I grabbed Buffy's shoulder, preparing to apparate when I heard more shuffling inside the office, before the distinct voice of the Mayor was heard.

"Yes, I'm fine. I must not have gotten enough sleep last night." The Mayor however did not seem to be convinced that he was merrily tired, for the next thing Buffy and I heard was worrisome. "Faith." the Mayor said with force, most likely addressing her by phone, "Get over here. I need you to check the building. I'm locking it down." Buffy and I looked around us as security seemed to come out of nowhere, making their way to the exits for an apparant lockdown. I frowned as I latched on to Buffy's arm again. I saw Buffy's look of confusion at my touch before I whisked us both away, into the school library and behind a shelf of books.

"Well that was a waste of time." I said upon arrival. I looked over and noticed that Buffy wasn't doing so well with the instant change of location. She appeared ready to topple over. I grabbed her shoulders to steady her.

"Thanks." She said after keeping her nausea down. I let her go and nodded.

"What was a waste of time?" A voice appeared to the side of us. We both jumped in guilt a tour secrecy before turning, noticing Giles with an open book in front of him. It was just my luck that I picked the only dark corner of the library with someone else there. Giles, seemingly realizing that we were together in a nearly unused part of the library became suspicious. "What did you do?" He demanded at me, pulling Buffy away from me in protection. I frowned at my fellow countryman's instant accusation.

"What?" I asked, surprised at the look of anger on the man's face.

"Calm down Giles." Buffy said at the same time, taking Giles arm off her. Giles turned away from me and looked at Buffy.

"What were you doing with him?" Giles asked. Out of everyone in their little group, Giles appeared the most hostile to me after I admitted that I had killed before. Xander, though suspicious at the start, became more relaxed around me when it appeared that I hadn't hurt Willow in anyway after a few days. Willow was the most friendly, and everyone else didn't seem to care about me one way or the other, though the other Watcher, Wesley, seemed to look at me more than usual when I was in the same room as him. I thought about asking what his sexual orientation was, but realized I didn't want to know the answer.

"We tried to put the Mayor in a comma." Buffy admitted to him. Giles anger faded into curiosity. "It failed." Buffy explained, watching the little hope from Giles fade away. Giles put down his book, and guided Buffy away from me and towards the large table in the center of the library.,

"Explain." He said. I sighed and stood there for a moment before disapparating and appearing in my room at Willow's. I had no loyalty to Giles or the rest of the gang, so I was hardly going to sit there and watch as Buffy explained herself to him and I definitely wasn't going to sit there and be questioned myself. I did however owe a little to Willow and figured I'd better explain how it turned out. Willow had helped me in the early morning to gather supplies for the potion and even helped me prepare some of the ingredients. She was, besides Giles the only one who knew where to get most of the items required. She was also the only one who hadn't judged me so far. When I mentioned using the Imperius curse, Willow didn't appear outraged, only curious to the limitations of the curse. Although her enthusiasm for some of the darker curses was a relief after having to explain myself to everyone else, I wondered if it was a good thing that Willow didn't question my intent to use it.

After checking the house for a few minutes, it appeared that she was out. Shrugging, I made my way to my room and collapsed into my bed. I had been up most of the night making the potion and was dead on my feet. The side Apparition with Buffy hadn't helped anything either. Normally, I'd be able to do it without a problem, but the longer I remained without sleep, the more fatigued my magic and in connected, I became.

I was asleep only a moment later.


	4. Angel and Faith

**Chapter Four**

**Angel and Faith**

I was woken up later by Willow, who must have arrived shortly after I went to sleep. Coherent thoughts had only just returned to me when I heard Willow speak. "Did you do it? Is the Mayor in a coma?" She questioned me enthusiastically. Groaning, I made my way to a sitting position to see that Willow was still fully dressed. I looked towards the clock on the wall and saw that it was about ten at night. I knew I'd be awake most of the night now, after resting most of the day.

"We were able to give him the potion, and he went to sleep." I watched as Willow's face lit up in happiness. "Yeah, he went to sleep for about five seconds before his body was able to resist the potion." I continued, a sad humorless smile on my face, with hers mirroring mine a second later. Willow recovered quickly, her chipper mood back as she continued speaking.

"Buffy called, I'm wanted down at the school. Something big must have happened. Wanna come?" I got up from my bed shirtless and made my way across the room to a dresser, sorting through the clothes that were there. I pretended not to notice Willows blush as I searched for a shirt I was willing to wear. Willows mother had bought me a wardrobe of clothes. I didn't want to be rude and tell her that there was no way I was wearing a majority of the clothes in there. There were however, a couple shirts and pants that were acceptable. I had been constantly cleaning them with magic so her mother didn't notice that I was just wearing the same few pairs of clothes. I knew that they'd wear quicker over time cleaning with magic, but I figured eventually, with the money I was collecting from dead vampires, I'd be able to afford a place of my own after school ended. I might even have to get a job somewhere.

"Not really." I answered Willow, slipping the shirt on. "But I probably should. I came here to help, and I doubt there'll be too happy if I avoid that just because of one overprotective Watcher." Willow appeared surprised.

"Giles? He like's you." Willow said insistently. I shook my head at her for what felt like the hundredth time. Since my arrival here Willow had been trying to insist that the Librarian liked me just fine, yet every encounter with him seemed to say otherwise.

"Is everyone going?" I asked, patting my arms and pockets to make sure both my wallet and wand were in there proper places.

"Yeah." Willow answered, her eyes following my quick, precise movement of checking for my wand. It was routine for me by now, but it must have looked odd on someone who had no use for a wand their selves.

"Alright then, lets go." I said, grabbing on to her arm. I smiled as her eyes lit up. For the past week, she'd wait for me to go to school and other places because she enjoyed apparating so much. I knew every time we apparated she'd try to remember what the feeling was in order to try to put it to practical use. If she was capable of it, I'd worry that she'd hurt herself. As it stood now, I was just worried that she'd waste all her energy trying to do something that was impossible for her. I suspected that the only reason she invited me along was the ability to get me to apparate her. As it was late at night and the only inhabitant that would be in the library knew about me, I didn't even bother to apparate myself into a corner. Instead I apparated into Oz's cage. It was out of the way enough that I wasn't likely to land on someone, but not enough that the noise I made from apparating would alarm anyone. Angel, Buffy, Giles and Wesley were already there. Their attention seemed to be focused on Angel, who was sitting down, gasping for breath. His face was pale and he was sweating; there was no doubt in my mind that he was hurt. Probably badly if it meant calling everyone here. I followed Willow out as she made a dash to Buffy.

"Is everything okay? You should have mentioned that Angel was hurt, I would have came faster." Buffy looked at her as if she was crazy.

"Faster? We called you a couple minutes ago." Buffy said, astounded, before her gaze drifted up and spotted me, "Oh. Right."

"What happened?" I asked, kneeling next to Angel, who's teeth were clenched. A tactic I used quite often when trying to prevent myself from yelling out in pain.

"Faith shot him with an arrow." Buffy said, kneeling down next to me to touch Angel gently. "It was poisoned." She finished sadly. I came to alert.

"Magical?" I asked. Angel responded, shaking between every word.

"Must be. Vampire's are immune to most poisons." I stood up and thought.

"Bezoar." I said quietly to myself. The only problem with that was I didn't know if the bezoars themselves were only magical in my world, or if any bezoar in this world would work just as well.

"Did you just say Bezoar?" Wesley asked in interest. I gave him a curious look before nodding. "How interesting. There was a legend that a Bezoar stone could cure all poisons in the world. It was tested many times; unfortunately it failed. The testing caused many deaths if I remember my history correctly" I looked at Wesley intently, my stare seemed to unnerve him, for he would not meet my eyes.

"Was it tested against magical poisons?" Wesley shook his head.

"Not from what I've heard of, no. Ordinary poisons are so deadly that magical poisons aren't sought after very often." Wesley said. I realized just then that everyone was staring at me, even Angel who seemed to have trouble keeping his eyes open consistently. Taking out my wand, I waved it before me, watching as a small brown stone appeared in the space before me. I grabbed it out of the air with my other hand. I handed the small stone to Angel, hoping that what I expected to be true was.

"Swallow it." I said. His pain seemed to increase because as he went to take the bezoar, his whole body shook, dropping the bezoar with it. Buffy snatched it out of the air as swiftly as I did only seconds earlier. She paused and looked at it for a second, before putting it at Angel's mouth, hand feeding it to him. It took awhile for Angel to swallow the massive ball, but as soon as he did, his face got some of its color back. Already pale, it wasn't much of a difference.

"Did it work?" Buffy asked, hopeful. Angel nodded before making his way to his feet, his legs shaking underneath him. I smiled at him, glad I could help. If this had failed, coupled with my other failure earlier today, I'd have to wonder if I could even be of any help in this strange place.

"Thank you." Angel said, nodding at me. I put on my serious face and nodded back in the classic Angel style.

"Fascinating." Giles said, examining Angel, seemingly to make sure I didn't just fool them into thinking I cured him. "How did you know it would work?" Giles asked, peering down his glasses at me. I shrugged.

"In my world, a bezoar is used for almost all magical poisons, but I had never heard of it being used for other poisons. With Wesley's story I just figured in your world, it was never tested for magical properties. Otherwise, you'd all know that a bezoar could cure most magical poisons as well." I explained, before waving my wand at Angel, casting a silent Scouring Charm. He seemed to stand up straighter as the sweat and blood disappeared from him, making him look much more presentable.

"Thanks." He said again. I nodded distractedly, my attention focused on the two watchers. Wesley and Giles seemed to be arguing about something. I concentrated in order to hear what they were saying. Next to me, Buffy and Angel did the same, though they didn't seem to need to concentrate as hard to hear the conversation.

"I don't think they'll believe that a watcher whom they saw fit to fire would somehow find a cure to magical poisons. I, however, am I prodigy." Wesley said.

"Don't be ridiculous." Giles scoffed. "They would not have assigned me to a Slayer if they weren't confident in my abilities. You, however, I have to wonder about."

"Excuse me" I said, waving me arms to get their attention. "Are you both bickering about who gets credit for something that neither of you did?" I said incredulously. Giles looked embarrassed, but Wesley didn't have any trouble defending his actions.

"The council is not aware of your presence. As someone needs to tell them about the bezoars, it only makes sense that the leader gets the credit." I briefly wondered why he had chosen not to tell his boss in England about me, but I left it alone in order to remain in the conversation.

"Why tell them at all?" I asked plainly, as if it was the clearest answer in the world.

"Not tell them?" Wesley said outrageously. "Knowledge that could save hundreds of people? How could I possibly not tell them?" I shrugged, not really caring either way.

"Do what you want. Its not like I was the one to discover it to begin with." I said carelessly, not really sure why I got in the middle of the argument to begin with. "So, what's going on with the Mayor?" I asked, throwing myself into a chair. Giles was about to respond when Xander, Cordelia, and Oz came rushing into the library all at the same time.

"What's wrong?" Xander asked, looking at each of us, as if trying to discover who had the problem.

"Angel was dying." I explained calmly, "I fixed his scratch though. Big baby." I could see Angel glaring at me from the corner of my eye as Xander laughed before sitting down on the opposite side of me. Cordelia appeared annoyed at being called for a situation that had long passed

"Well, we're all here now. Anything you guys have to say before I go out and do something a little more important with my life?" Xander looked up at her.

"More important than an apocalypse?" Xander asked, rolling his eyes. Cordelia crossed her arms and looked away, not bothering to argue with him.

"We confirmed what we expected today." Giles said, addressing me. Since it seemed this wasn't new knowledge to anyone else, I figured the group was here when they first discovered this. "The Mayor can not be harmed, however, after his ascension, he can be hurt and killed; as much as any giant demon can be anyway." I sighed at the declaration of doom.

"So it seems we can't do anything to prevent him, just try to stop him from killing too many people when he succeeds in his goal." I said with a sigh, tapping the table in thought, trying to think of a way around his invulnerability.

"What if I apparated him to the moon?" I asked after coming up with nothing better.

"You can do that?" Willow asked excitedly, leaning forward in her chair.

"Nope." I answered, shaking my head. Willow seemed disappointed. Knowing her, she probably wanted me to apparate her to the moon in some crazy Willow fantasy. I finally came to an unwanted conclusion. "There's nothing I can think of that would work. There's plenty of stuff I could try, but with his near immunity to magic, I can't see any of them working."

"Then we'll just have to have a plan for when he ascends at graduation." Buffy rationalized.

"Graduation?" I asked in surprise. "What a wanker." Taking one of the best days of a teenager's life and ruining it by killing them all is an action best reserved for the wankiest. Buffy seemed to do her best in ignoring me, addressing the rest of the group

"We have to take care of Faith first. If she's at the graduation, she alone cancels me out, and I can't help take care of the Mayor" I nodded my head in agreement

"What's your plan?" I questioned seriously, "Kill, maim, or kidnap?" Buffy looked down at her hands in thought, while I continue. "Is she redeemable?" I asked, looking around the group.

"She's killed working for the Mayor and is part of a plan to kill us all, I won't be losing any sleep if we kill her." Xander said harshly. I shook my head at him.

"She may deserve to die, but that wasn't my question. She's a slayer, is there even a chance of her changing sides?" I looked around the table at a crowd of negative faces. All except for Angel. I raised my eyebrow at him.

"It's possible, but I think anyone with a soul has the potential to do good. She's still got her soul, she just doesn't care anymore." It seemed Angel and Faith had some history.

"If we can capture her, I'd be able to enter her mind and see just how warped it is. We could also possibly, find out more about what the Mayor has planned." I offered, not really wanting to have to kill a teenage girl who hadn't done me any harm without the absolute need.

"It won't be easy for me to capture her without injuring her severely." Buffy reasoned.

"You won't be going alone." She looked ready to argue, so I interrupted her. "You and Angel may be the best close ranged fighters, but I think I'd be better in a capture mission." I said insistently. Buffy looked doubtful.

"Yeah? Why's that?" I couldn't help but roll my eyes in annoyance before flicking my wand at her direction. Before Buffy could react, ropes sprung out. Buffy's reaction time was quick, but the ropes were able to tangle themselves around her before she could get out of the way in time.

"Alright." Buffy said, sighing, "You can come." I gave her a look that seemed to tell her that she'd have to stop me from coming before turning back to the group.

"So do any of you know where this Slayer is?" I asked, a small smile forming on my face.

"Eh, Harry?" Willow spoke up timidly. I looked over at her, a curious expression on my face. "Aren't you going to…" She paused for a moment before gesturing to Buffy. I looked over in a obviously faked surprise and saw that Buffy was still struggling to get out of her ropes, not willing to ask for my help. I rolled my eyes at her stubbornness before waving my wand, her ropes disappearing. Willow spoke again after Buffy collected herself.

"Oz and I could probably find out where the Mayor is keeping her." Willow offered before dragging Oz away from the group and towards a computer without waiting for a response. Buffy rejoined the conversation.

"Can you teleport us there? We can surprise her and capture her before she knows what happened." I shook my head in disappointment.

"I can't apparate to a place I've never been to or at least seen in detail." I said, explaining. "I can disapparate out though. We do need to think of a better plan than me getting lucky with a rope spell though."

"It worked fine against Buffy." Xander quipped with a smile. His smile widened as Buffy glared.

"We found it!" Willow yelled from the corner of the room where her and Oz sat in front of the computer. I turned towards the group once again, a plan already forming in my mind.

* * *

As soon as my plan was formed and explained thoroughly to all members of the group, we headed out to hopefully capture Faith. We didn't waste time to think about the plan for long, or the holes that could materialize. Angel, Buffy and I were already heading towards the apartment; an eerily calm silence had descended among us. We all felt something different in regards to what we were going to do. I could see clearly that Buffy disliked Faith greatly. As the prime suspect of the poisoning of Angel; the small time Buffy had Faith as a friend was greatly outweighed by her recent actions. Angel seemed to have a soft spot for Faith for reasons unknown to me, and it seemed that only made Buffy dislike her even more. As for myself, I didn't really care either way. She had held a blade to Willows throat, and though I considered her a friend now, I didn't have the same emotions at the time about it, and I still only looked at the hostage situation as an outsider. "You still got it?" I asked, as our intended streets sign came into view.

"Yup." Buffy answered, showing me the object.

"Remember the words?" I questioned once again. She didn't bother to answer this time.

"Nervous?" Angel asked as we got nearer to Faith's apartment.

"I'd be crazy not to be." I said, not mentioning that my nervousness was just another part of the thrill, "I may be powerful with magic, but I'm just not as durable as you two, and from what I hear, she will have no qualms about killing me if I let her get close. In my world, a wound could be healed instantly. However, here, I'm the only wizard."

"Hopefully our plan works and then we won't have to worry about her getting close to you." Angel said.

"I don't know why you're coming anyway Angel, you won't be able to enter." Buffy said distractingly since she was busy scanning the area around us.

"I'm here as backup. If she gets past you somehow, Harry will get out of the apartment for her to face me." Angel explained, defending his presence.

"Right." She said before coming to a halt in front of a fancy looking establishment. "That's it." She commented, looking down at the piece of paper with the address to verify.

Our way towards her door was quick and silent. Through the walls we could make out loud music, meaning that Buffy's entrance into Faith's apartment was hopefully going to be unnoticed.. I nodded at Angel and Buffy before disillusioning myself. I was particularly good at the charm. In fact, after a year of it being my most used spell as an Auror, I felt I could rival even Dumbledore in it's efficiency if given a chance, who's spell made you nearly invisible to the naked eye. I was usually the one assigned to cast it at the start of the very few Auror raids I've been on as well. Buffy nodded at us both before entering the apartment slowly. Since she knew I was there, she had an easier time spotting me. I followed Buffy in, and was surprised to see Faith laying on her bed, looking almost carefree. Her earlier attempted murder apparently long forgotten. Faith's redemption didn't look good. I looked back for a second, making sure that Angel was out of sight. Buffy reached and shut off the Slayers stereo, attracting the younger girls attention.

"Thought I'd stop by." Buffy said calmly. Faith got up from her bed with enthusiasm.

"Is he dead yet?" Faith asked, a child like giddiness on her features.

"He's fine." Buffy said with a smile, watching Faith's smile dim, "Nothing but a quick discomfort really. Was that your plan or the Mayors?" Buffy asked, turning the tables quite efficiently. Buffy examined her fingernails, acting nonchalant. "I've got to say, from an immortal who wants to take over the world, his planning could use some work." It was part of the plan, goading Faith into attacking. I just didn't expect Buffy to enjoy it so much.

"It wasn't his plan." Faith gritted out, her stance shifting into one that told me she was ready for combat.

"Of course not." Buffy agreed, "We both know you are the one who can't think things through."

"So why are you here? Come to gloat? The big bad Buffy pulled one over on poor little Faith?" Faith asked, sarcasm oozing from her pores. "Its getting old Buffy. Next time, it won't be poison." She continued, putting a finger to her heart. "Next time, I won't miss." I sighed as I noticed Buffy's stance shift with Faith's. It went from a simple taunt until she was attacked to something personal.

They were circling each other now, it seemed words were no longer important; just the impending violence. This wasn't part of the plan, but I always knew, deep down, Buffy wanted to get a little revenge on Faith; and she had this planned all along. Buffy was the first one to strike with a swift yet powerful blow to Faith's head. A blow that probably would have knocked me unconscious didn't seem to affect Faith however, for she traded the punch with one of her own before kicking Buffy low, a kick which was blocked without a problem. I watched as Buffy grabbed unto Faiths jacket in a firm hold, although what I was expecting did not happen, for instead of saying the words to the Portkey currently inside of Buffy's jacket, she swung Faith around, launching her into the far wall. Faith got up slowly while reaching into her own jacket, taking out a long knife that looked quite dangerous in her hands; It's jagged blade and jewel encrusted handle glinting in the dark. Buffy sent me a quick glance and I rolled my eyes. If she had followed the plan, this wouldn't be happening. I waved me wand, using my magic to summon the knife. Faith, not expecting the interruption let the knife get pulled out of her hand. Her gaze swiveled to mine, able to focus on my form now that she knew of my presence.

"You" she yelled forcefully, taking a step closer to me. I didn't have to worry however, because a swift blow from Buffy refocused Faith's attention. "You didn't come alone." Faith said, "How unlike you." Faith observed, once again back to trading blows with Buffy. I sighed in frustration.

"Just do it Buffy!" I commanded in my frustration. Faith's attention turned back to me, giving Buffy enough time to grab a hold of Faith's jacket firmly. Buffy grinned at Faith knowingly

"Voldemort" Buffy said in victory. Faith's look of confusion amused me for a second before they both vanished. I hastily went back outside the apartment. Angel was waiting for me. Grabbing his shoulder, I apparated us both to the library. We arrived to see Faith slowly slip from Buffy's grasp, into what appeared to be a deep sleep. They were both inside the library cage, though Buffy was now the only one standing. She looked at us in excitement. "It worked." I buffed my nails against my shirt.

"Of course it worked. It was my plan after all." The rest of the room scoffed at me. I blushed a little, my failed Comatose Mayor's plan still in my mind. "Were you able to get a good shot?" I asked Giles; his arms held a large tranquilizer gun. Giles nodded before putting the gun down.

"Only because Buffy was able to recover quickly after her arrival. Faith was very confused." I reached in between the cages book slot, and grabbed Buffy's arm, apparating us both only a few feet away. Buffy looked a little queasy from her two magical trips in less than a minute.

"Did you have to do that?" I gave her a small smile.

"We can't take any chances in opening that door. At any time." I said warningly.

"What's the plan now?" Xander asked from his chair, his legs prompt up on the table. He seemed to be enjoying the show of Faith helpless in a cage.

"We need to move her." I said immediately. The others looked at me in annoyance, Buffy especially.

"Why didn't you set a portkey for somewhere else, if you were just going to move her?" I shrugged in reply.

"This was the easiest place to work with, plus you guys were already here. The Mayor's going to notice Faith's disappearance, and none of us know their relationship. He may not even go out of his way to find her, but he also might go to the end of the earth. We'd be his first suspects; and the school will be the first place he looks." I explained logically. Giles seemed to agree with me.

"Harry's right, we can't leave her in the first place the Mayor will suspect." Angel stepped forward.

"She can stay with me. I already have the chains." I quieted my snicker at his words. Buffy looked ready to disagree, but I beat her to it.

"No, the Mayor most likely knows where we all live from his plan involving Angel and Faith's involvement." I said, saving Buffy the breath. They had given me a short version of Faith's history earlier, and they had included the tale of her trying to steal Angel's soul. "It would have to be someplace new." The silence seemed to last forever, before I interrupted. "We can use Angel's." I finally concluded. Buffy appeared outraged.

"What? But you just said.." I interrupted her quickly.

"I know, but of all our places, Angel's is the most private. I can ward it and make it so no one even thinks about stopping in." I said reasonably. I addressed Angel after I concluded that Buffy wasn't going to continue to argue with me. She too realized that we would have to move fast. The Mayor could become aware of Faith's disappearance at anytime. "The only problem would be that, besides us, its unlikely that anyone would stop by your place, even if they were looking for you specifically. My magic will make them turn away." Angel just smiled.

"I think that would be every vampires dream. You won't hear any complaints from me." I nodded. Angel wouldn't be doing any complaining, but I had a feeling that Angel was going to hear a lot of complaining from Buffy. Buffy had said that they were no longer together, but neither feelings for the other looked changed.

* * *

It was an hour later when I finally finished my wards. The group had been waiting around for a half an hour or so after I portkeyed them all to Angels. I had to take a quick trip to Angel's place first with a combination of apparition and walking in order to be able to make a Portkey since I had never been to his place before, but its wasn't long before everyone was there. It was important that everyone who would be in contact with Angel or Faith frequently was there, because the spells I had finished setting up would have the same effect on Xander or Giles as it would have on the Mayor. I needed them there to key there signature into each spell.

I thought about using the Fidelius Charm. Although I had no experience casting it, I knew I'd be able to if I tried. The only problem was, the spell was only for the most severe cases. If I had an army of wizards after Faith, I'd cast it. As it was now, however, there was no one in this world who could dispel my simple Muggle Repelling Charm or the Notice-Me-Not Charm that I had already set up. The Muggle Repelling Charm was cast on most of the entrances into the building and it had such a large radius that there was no place in the building that a muggle could enter without an incredibly strong urge to flee the area.

As for the Notice Me Not spell; I cast it on Faith and nearly everything around where Faith was being held. Faith's small chained room wouldn't even be acknowledged by anyone passing by. I cast a silencing charm on her walls as well, in case she decided to make any noise when someone was walking by. I followed all of this up with a simple trip wire jinx on the door to Faith's chamber. It wouldn't do anything to anyone who walked past it, but it would let Angel and myself know that someone entered Faith's room. I let Angel get used to the feeling of it being tripped before moving on.

I could have been more creative with my spell casting and more dangerous, but, as I was casting these spells around people not yet out of high school, I decided to remain safe yet secure. This logic was made more clear with Willow's fascination. She had followed me around when casting, asking me what I did after each wand movement I made. She kept a small notebook about me too. As I noticed the notebook, I took it away from her before casting a secure privacy charm on it making it so only she was able to read it now. It could be potentially dangerous if the notebook fell into the wrong hands. Now however, it just appeared blank to everyone but her. Of everyone in this world, Willow knew the most about me and my magic.

The second I finished, I heard a low muffled pounding, almost as if it was coming from next door. I looked up from where I was examining the trip wire hex, to make sure it was as strong as it could, and would last indefinitely. "Faith's up." I said with a grin.


	5. Snakes

_(A/N) - This chapter was nearly the death of me. I still can't believe that it took my six months to get out. I'm not as busy as I should have been to release a chapter six months late, but there is good news with it. I've never updated a story after a six month hiatus. I usually abandon it by then. I am fully committed to this story, no matter how long it may take to write the next chapter._

Chapter Five

Snakes

As we gathered into Faith's small prison, we noticed the small dent in the wall from the constant pounding. Faith didn't seem to notice our entering, for her pounding did not cease. I cringed at each banging sound as her head impacted with the wall, her eyes closed in concentration. "Well, this looks like a waste." Xander spoke from the back of the group, "She's insane." Faith's eyes snapped open, and her body seemed to relax at the sight of them all. How she relaxed while she was being surveyed by a group of people, I wouldn't know.

"Kidnapping B? If I knew you were into the kinky stuff, we could have been buds." Faith spat out, the calm playful banter she was hiding herself behind was being suppressed by her anger at being chained to a wall. Buffy, who had once seemed worried about Faith's health gave her a small amused smile in response.

"We're here to help you." Buffy responded; speaking half truths as well anyone I knew. Faith just snorted in response.

"I don't know how they do it on the west coast, but where I'm from, we don't get helped by being chained to a wall." Faith fumed, tugging roughly on her chains. They made a lot of noise, but didn't move an inch, my previous unbreakable charms helping greatly against the slayers inhuman strength. Willow interrupted their spat, her excitement had been bubbling up inside her for over an hour and it seemed she could no longer hold it.

"So, are you going to do it?" She asked me excitingly. Faith grew rigid

"Do what!" She demanded in anger, her arms once again pulling at her chains. I glared at Willow who looked down at the ground, ashamed at her excited outburst. I moved my gaze at the group for a second to make sure that there wasn't anyone who's mind had changed about what I was going to do before taking out my wand in preparation.

Angel and Wesley both disliked what I was going to do once I explained it to them, but neither of them could dispute the need for it. Upon noticing my wand, Faith grew angrier as she did not know what I was about to do. Although if she knew, I doubt her anger would have faded in anyway. At that second I knew that if she broke free from her restraints, I wouldn't even be able to bring my wand up before she'd put me down. Her struggles increased as I aimed my wand at her head. I closed my eyes in concentration, trying to block out her crazy, rabid screaming.

"_Leglimens," _I whispered with a croak. As my eyes were closed, I could not see her reaction; though I wasn't sure if I wanted to with the way she screamed as she heard my muttered spell. The first thing I noticed upon connecting with her mind was the strength her mind pushed back at me. It was like nothing I've felt before. Where a normal wizard experienced in Occlumens would struggle to keep me out, Faith mind seemed to try to do it on its own in some sort of natural protection. Where an Occlumens would do all it could do keep my from finding his secrets, Faith's mind didn't only defend but it attacked back viciously. Fortunately for me, and not so much for Faith, I was far too experienced in mind magic for her natural barriers to keep me out and I was able to get through without causing her too much pain.

The memories that appeared the moment I was allowed entry clued me into the fact that Faith must have realized what I was doing. She knew I was going into her mind, and all the memories that flashed across my vision were those that she did not want me to see. Her becoming an orphan, getting into fights as a teenager, and eventually finding out that she was a Slayer. Failing at protecting her watcher, meeting Buffy, and killing her first human; a memory that was more clear than the rest, indicating that she was trying to hide it from me, but only failing at letting me see if clearer. I nearly staggered at the force her mind pushed me away from the memory, but her horror at killing the man swept through me instantly before it was replaced by another vision. A couple more recent memories flashed through my eyes, mostly of what she did for the mayor in the past couple months. I quickly broke my connection with her after a few of her heinous crimes passed through my vision. As the world came back into view, I felt incredibly weak. I leaned up against the rooms wall for moment with my eyes closed before exiting the prison cell, I didn't have to look behind to know that the group was following me with curiosity. I sat on Angel's couch for a few moments, trying to put together what I had seen into something that I could explain to the teenagers.

"What was it like?" Willow asked after a moment. Buffy put a hand on her shoulder, a nice way of telling her to shut up and let me collect myself. Willow took the advice and grew quiet as the moment dragged on. I shook my head once more to clear the remaining webs before opening my eyes.

"She's convinced herself that she's one of the bad guys." I said plainly, watching the groups eyebrows narrow in confusion; all except for Angel. "She felt horror when she killed her first human, that much I know. Afterwards, she wouldn't forgive herself. She saw herself as a murderer, and what do murderers do, except for join in with the bad guys?" I continued, trying to explain myself. Angel nodded,

"Each kill will get easier for her until she starts to enjoy it." Angel said with a look of sad understanding on his face.

"She still feels horrible when taking a life, so she's redeemable. I just don't know if she'll want it or believe she deserves it." I continued my thoughts.

"We can't let Faith distract us." Giles spoke, entering the conversation for the first time. "What happens to Faith isn't our problem until we take care of the Mayor. Faith isn't part of the equation anymore, but we still have a demon that will be entering our world in only a manner of weeks." I silently agreed with the older man; our primary goal was to take Faith out of the fight anyway that we could and now that that was complete, we needed to focus on the Mayor; Faith could be dealt with later.

"You all want to just leave her here with Angel? What if she escapes, or the Mayor finds her?" Buffy asked, outraged at the idea, though I knew she just wasn't open to the idea of Angel hanging around with Faith for longer than he needed to. Faith had a strange attraction to Angel. I was sure if she liked him, or just wanted something that Buffy had.

"She won't escape without Angel and I knowing, so he won't be in danger." I approached Buffy's argument carefully to not set her off. I thought for a moment before nodding to Angel. "I'll give you a portkey. If the Mayor finds you, you can just escape with Faith to someplace safe, and we can find another place to hold her." I turned back to Buffy with a weary expression, my lack of sleep starting to catch up to me again. "Is that good enough for you?" Buffy just crossed her arms and grunted at me unhappily.

"You should all get a couple hours of sleep, you have school in the morning." Giles advised, "Graduation is in a week, we have plenty of time to figure out a plan to kill the Mayor."

"You all can stay here for the night." Angel offered pleasantly. Since all of the teenagers parents believed they were at one of the others house for the night, we all agreed. I conjured enough sleeping bags for the teenagers, while Angel, Wesley, and Giles took the three beds in the house. I was asleep as soon as I climbed into my make shift bed, and I had no doubts that the others fell asleep just as quickly after the long day even with the dull banging of Faith bashing her head into the wall repeatedly on the other side of the house.

* * *

It was nearly a week later and I was alone with Angel at his place. I woke up to my trip charm being hit and came over immediately to find that it was just Angel giving Faith something to eat, forgetting to avoid my spell. Faith hadn't been cooperative, even going out of her way to make as much noise as possible when someone was in the house. Although my silencing charms helped the situation, Faith had a strange gift of being able to make as much noise as possible, enough to put strain on my silencing charms.

"I'm taking Faith with me to LA." Angel said suddenly as we departed from Faith's holding cell. I only just learned that LA meant Los Angeles, a large city nearby. Angel had told the group that if he lived past graduation day, he was going to be taking off and going to Los Angeles. I raised an eyebrow at Angel's sudden admission.

"Do you plan on telling anyone else?" I asked, not quite sure where he was going with this. He shook his head.

"If I told anyone, they'd try to stop me. I figured you'd be my best chance at having someone who could explain when I left." Angel explained.

"You think you can handle her?" I asked again, motioning to the far wall where a light pounding started up once again. Angel smiled in amusement.

"She's calmer when it's just us. I don't think she sees me as the good guy, or better than her. She'd be better with me than with the group, or the Watcher's Council." I nodded silently to myself, agreeing with his analysis. Except for Angel, I was the only other one she was remotely civil to. Although I had helped kidnap her, she seemed to be trying to figure me out. I wasn't yet sure if it was because of curiosity or she wanted to know as much as she could about me for when she was free and could take me down. Even with her being civil, whenever she remembered my intrusion into her mind, she'd get violent, and I'd have to leave or risk a migraine.

"I won't say anything." I offered, "Just let me know if there's anything I could do for her. I've seen inside her mind, I know that there's good there." Angel nodded his thanks at my offer.

* * *

I watched the graduation ceremony silently, glad that I wasn't in my own graduation gown and cap. The week had been rough and somber; most of the group believing that they were doomed and that they'd be dead by the end of the week. Strangely, I didn't feel the same way. The only way I could describe my own feelings was that of a strange kind of thrill, kind of looking forward to the end of the ceremony. Every single time Xander, Willow or another mentioned something about their likely deaths, I got excited; I could almost feel the small amount of adrenaline running through my body at the simple prospect of an apocalypse. I never mentioned this to anyone of course, they didn't need another Faith on their hands.

No matter how much convincing I tried, the school principal wouldn't let me be part of the graduation. A months attendance didn't earn a diploma in his eyes. I probably could have made him allow me in with just some magic. I probably would have as well regardless of my worlds rules against using magic on Muggles if I couldn't fulfill the job assigned to me by the others while watching with the parents and other family members from the sidelines. Buffy and the others figured out a way to kill the Mayor, or at least a way that seemed most likely to succeed. Since no one knew how effective my magic would be on the giant demon, and that there was going to be teenagers in the way of my most destructive magic, the group decided that I would play a supporting role in protecting the teenagers and parents to the best of my abilities. Not the role I was hoping to have in the apocalypse, but I could hardly deny their logic when assigning me the role.

I was still the only one who knew that after the Mayor was killed, Angel would not be leaving Sunnydale alone. As planned, we hadn't talked much about our plans for Faith; in fact, besides Angel, Giles and I were the only two who went to visit her. I went because I was curious, and Giles went to try to get any information he could out of her. We didn't get much from her, and after a week, she just wasn't as rabid towards everyone as she usually was. If anything, I'd describe her as someone who felt utterly defeated in her situation. I just hoped Angel knew what he was doing, taking her away from Sunnydale.

I called the Mayor a wanker earlier that week, but now as he was standing up in front of the Sunnydale seniors with the full intention of killing them all, and yet still feeling the need to make a long winded speech; I underestimated just how evil the man was. The plan was simple enough. Buffy would distract the Mayor anyway she could. From images within Faith's head I could tell that the Mayor really did feel something for Faith, and using her against him would probably be the best bet. In the mean time I would protect students and parents from anything that showed up, for we believed the Mayor would not be alone in his attack against the 'future generation'.

I didn't like the fact that I was planning on using magic, as well as my wand and spell incantations out in public with at least a hundred witnesses, but the group told me to suck it up. There would a giant demon killing as many people as it could, and they doubted during mid panic that anyone would remember a word I said in protecting them. It wasn't that I was afraid of a secret ministry coming to arrest me for performing magic in front of Muggles; I just didn't want knowledge of what I could do getting around. As long as my full potential was a secret, I could potentially defeat a much stronger opponent. I even went as far as to only performing simple spells that would deal with the enemy in the past. When patrolling the Buffy, I usually let her do most of it, unless she was outnumbered, and then I'd take them out with a simple spell or two. Nothing to attract attention.

My inner monologue was distracted by the darkening sky. In mere moments it went from daylight to darkness. I looked up with the rest of the crowed, groaning as a large dark shape covered the sun. Anything powerful enough to do that, was powerful enough to take me on. I just wished Buffy luck. If she could pull it off, I would never doubt her abilities as a slayer or a fighter.

I already had my wand in my hand by the time I looked away from the eclipsing sun and back at the podium where the mayor seemed to be cringing in pain. Looking around I noticed the parents and most of the senior students looking around in confusion. My grip tightened visibly on my wand. Looking back up, the Mayor tried to continue his speech. He was only able to get a few sentences out before the pain seemed to overwhelm him. He only had time to give a sinister looking smile to the graduating seniors before his body seemed to slowly expand before exploding outward. From the explosion emerged a demonic looking snake, longer but not as think as a similar looking serpent from my past. I smiled to myself, second year flashbacks coming back to me. I didn't have long to reminiscence about my wonderful second year, for the students came to their feet, each and every one of them wielding a weapon of some kind. I wasn't sure just how Buffy was able to get the students to agree to come to the graduation heavily armed, but I was glad that she had been able to.

As the students stood to fight, the parents began to flee. They had no where to go however, as Vampires who were obviously working for the Mayor to prevent that sort of thing began to make their way to cover all the exists. The students immediate assault had both bolts and arrows flying at the demon, but neither seemed to do much damage to the ancient old creature except to piss it off, for it immediately snapped its jaws at the closest student. I waved my wand and the student was pulled out of harms way. The unexpected pull caused the student to fall to the floor, but at least he wasn't snake food. Some of the students began to flee and ran headfirst into the vampires who were guarding the exits.

It was chaos within moments. No matter how much the teenagers had seen in this town, there were still some who began to panic at the gigantic man eating reptilian demon. Go figure. Half the students that previously stood to fight, began to flee, scattering in all directions, right into the waiting vampires. I watched as Angel and Giles tried to flank the vampires to distract them but there were too many. I swore underneath my breath in frustration, knowing the outcome without my help would be countless students death. As practiced, I glanced around myself making sure no one was watching me. Realizing that most were running for their lives and didn't have the time to discover my secret I waved my wand, concentrating hard. Even while being here for more than a month, I had yet to perform any difficult magic. Even now, this spell wasn't that difficult but It still required concentration to make it efficient.

In my studying I came to learn that a lot of spells had Parsel magic equivalents. Where the incantation Lumos, would cause a flashlight effect to appear on my wand, the incantation in Paseltongue would cause a small glowing snake to appear for me to command. Most variations were quite useless; for example, the Parselmouth incantation for Protego didn't do anything at all except ward off all snakes, and even then, magical snakes didn't seem effected by it at all. However there was one spell that I found incredibly useful, and that was the Serpensortia; a spell originally created to have a large poisonous snake appear from ones wand.

"Serpensortia!" I said clearly in parseltongue as I pointed my wand a good few feet in front of me. Six large magical serpents came slithering out of my wand immediately. However, they began to attack each other in confusion. "Stop!" I hissed out angrily. I had done this before and wasn't surprised to see them all stop and wait for more instructions. Most snakes did not listen to me. In fact, most snakes were quite moody and didn't enjoy being told what to do. However, the spell was designed so the snake would listen to the original caster, something Malfoy was never aware of in their second year dueling club. I waved my wand over the six magical serpents, watching them grow until they could easily swallow a man alive. I pointed my wand at the growing battle of humans vs. vampires, noticing a couple students were already on the ground motionless.

"Kill the soulless." I yelled in English, knowing that the snakes would understand and hoping that some of the students would realize that the man eating snakes were on their side. As the snakes made their way over to the battle, I weaved my wand in front of me and hissed a short incantation. Moment later an invisible dome flashed around my minions. They would be protected from physical damage for a short time. Hopefully long enough to cause havoc among the vampire army. After that was done I turned my back on my serpents, returning my attention back onto the large demon that was our biggest worry. Buffy seemed ready to move onto part two of the plan, as she took out a large knife, one that I knew belonged to Faith before we captured her. The knife that the Mayor gave to Faith as a present. Buffy turned to Xander, who was commanding the students.

"Go!" She yelled out over the roaring battle. Xander gave her a nod before commanding all the students to retreat, running as one into the vampire army, who were already starting to retreat from the man sized snakes. I looked at the bellies of the snakes and noticed that each one of them was fatter than when I left them. I smiled to myself, knowing that at least six of the soulless undead had not come expecting to be snake food.

The snake demon paused in confusion after snapping at a couple of the fleeing students. It refocused it's attention on Buffy however as it noticed the knife she was holding, "You like it?" Buffy asked, waving the knife in front of herself, making sure the demon knew what she was holding. "Me too." Buffy said after the demon didn't respond with anything but a low hiss. "I bet it's eating at you." Buffy taunted with a slow smile, "not knowing if Faith is alive or not."

The demon hissed angrily before striking at the spot where Buffy stood. However, she wasn't a slayer for nothing and dodged swiftly. She looked once more at the demon, as it began another attack and finished her taunt. "Once I'm done with you, I'll finish off your beloved psycho!" Buffy yelled with a grin, before sprinting into the school that I knew was lined with explosives. I watched only for the second as the large serpentine demon chased after her, slowly gaining on her as they both disappeared into the school. I grimaced, not knowing if their plan would work or not before turning back towards the fight that was still going on. Or at least, I thought it was going on. Only two of my snakes were left, but they were coiled next to a large group of vampire dust. There seems to be no vampires left, or the ones that survived ran away once they saw that they were losing. I waved my wand, casting a completely silent vanishing spell at my snake minions, watching them disappear in satisfaction. The teenagers who were still standing around collecting themselves seemed to relax even more once my vanishing spell was complete and the man eating snakes were no more.

The few of us that knew what Buffy was doing in the school turned back toward the building and starting watching with a small amount of dread and in my case, a more than usual amount of anticipation for the upcoming explosion. We didn't have to wait long, for as soon as the anticipation started becoming too much for me to hide from my expression, the school was shaken by a large explosion, followed shortly after by a large ball of flame that rose from the back of the school up into the air. I noticed small debris and red chunks fly into the air in all directions, I quickly raised a weak shield to stop the incoming objects, and watched as they bounced off of my shield in midair, landing only a short distance away. Although there were some small objects and pieces of brick, wood and metal from the school among the debris, most of it contained some amount of demon blood or demon body parts.

The explosion however was not what most of us were waiting for. There was no sign of Buffy or that she made it out alive. That soon changed however, because through the heavy smoke came two shadows, two figures that were quickly identified as Giles and Buffy. Giles had previously gone into the back as planned to set off the explosion. Buffy was leaning on the older man in support, for it seemed her ankle had become bruised or sprained in the explosion.

We collected together for a moment, none of us really knowing what to say. Cordelia broke the silence after a minute however, "I knew that this school wouldn't be standing by the time Buffy graduated." she said quietly, trying to lighten the mood. We were interrupted from our musing by a dark black van racing up the street and parking only feet away from us. A bunch of middle aged men in grey cloaks climbed out of the van in an strange orderly fashion. Giles stiffened beside us. My confusion grew when I noticed that Wesley, Buffy's younger watcher was with the group. I subtly drew out my wand, sensing some danger. As the men grew closer I heard Giles whisper something under his breath that I couldn't quite make out.

The oldest of the men seemed to lead the pack as he was standing the closest to our group, while keeping his eyes on me. He had graying hair, and an old worn out hat which seemed to be losing any of the color it once had. It matched great with the rest of his colorless outfit. He didn't waste time with introductions and began to address us as one, but never seemed to take his eyes off me, "The Watcher's Council appreciates the work you have done in Sunnydale, but we have pressing matters to attend to in regards to Mr. Potter here." I instantly knew what was going on. Wesley had let his Council know about me, and just as my help was no longer needed, they planned on using me for some purpose that suited their own agenda. I rolled my eyes, not falling for the pleasantries.

"I may be one of the good guys, but I don't see how that makes me inclined to listen to any of you. I already know that you don't want to take me by force, or you would have." I said, declining his invitation as directly as possible.

"I thought you said he'd be cooperative." The man responded with an annoyed glance at Wesley, who was now involved in the Watcher's posse behind him. Wesley cringed slightly before standing up straight and pompously walking forward.

"The watchers council governs the supernatural of this world, and you fall under that jurisdiction." Wesley said, trying to convince me. I merely snorted as he continued, trying not to lose his confidence at the sight of my wand twitching in irritation. "You came to this world to fight. To use your magic for good; this is the best way to do it." He was pretty convincing, I had to admit to myself, but as he finished his speech, I couldn't help but roll my eyes.

"You fail to understand that I am not a follower, or a minion in the wars that I participate in. I may be in the front lines, but only where I choose to show up. It may be arrogant of me, but I won't have anyone commanding me to do anything, especially a couple of old men who couldn't put up a fight of their own when the fight eventually makes it to their front door." I finished, before preparing to apparate as a final move to convince the men that my alliance is only with myself.

I missed the gesture that the leader must have given to his men, but I did not miss the weaponry that each one removed from their waist. I was already whispering the shield charm and making the wand movements at my thigh when they aimed their guns and pulled the triggers. I watched in boredom as the projectiles all hit my barrier and reflected harmlessly away. At least most of them did, one found its way into Wesley's neck. The young watcher wasted no time in collapsing to the ground. The other men didn't seem to mind and I noticed that it seemed to only be a gun to put the target to sleep, not to kill. I guess that made me feel a little better, knowing now that I wasn't going to be killed for my refusal, just imprisoned.

"Well, that was uncalled for." Xander said from behind me in surprise. The others voiced their agreements. Giles remained silent, and I couldn't help but give him a small betrayed glance.

Cordelia couldn't help but voice her agreement. "He helps to stop the apocalypse and then you go and shoot him? I wouldn't join you either." Cordelia told the men off with a snort.

I was glad that the group was sticking up for me even in my short time here, but I knew that the men wouldn't give up so easily and it only took a minute of downtime for the council to find a way to shoot me with one of those sleep darts; and I didn't know or want to know where I'd wake up afterwards. So I did what I always do when I'm in a situation that I did not want to be in and I did not want to deal with; I apparated away from it. I knew where I was going in mid apparition, and I was glad for it. Because if I tried to apparate without a clear picture in mind of my destination, I doubt I would have come back whole, and that was a mistake I couldn't make in a world that didn't know what splinching was or how to fix it.

I appeared in the small courtyard of Angels place that he called home. I looked around, hoping that they had not left yet. It was only minutes after the battle at the school that I knew Angel had stayed for. I may have been the only one of the group that saw him lurking in the shadows until it was clear the Buffy was alright. I walked quickly to the room I knew that Faith was chained up at. Angel had wanted to set her free days ago, convinced that she wouldn't leave but I made it clear that if he let her go before the Mayor was dead and she intervened in anyway, Buffy couldn't stop be from seeking vengeance. It seemingly convinced the souled vampire, for he didn't bring it up again.

Faith's chamber was empty as I made my way in. Her chains were not broken, so Angel must have already released her. I swore underneath my breath before apparating to where he kept his car. There was no garage at the large ruin of a building that Angel lived at, so he parked his car in the middle of the tree lined backyard.

In hindsight, I probably shouldn't have apparated in front of the car, for the first thing that I saw as I appeared was a flash of headlights and the roar of an engine. I considered myself manly, but even I couldn't help the high pitched shriek that came from my traitorous mouth at the thought that I was about to meet my end by getting flattened under a car. Thankfully, Angel had plenty of experience driving and wasted no time in stopping his car with inches to spare. Angel was the first to get out of his car, but Faith followed quickly, appearing out of the passenger side with an annoyed and angry expression on her face. I took a few breaths to stop my beating heart.

"Harry, what are you doing?" Angel asked calmly. Apparently nearly running me over didn't affect him nearly as much as it affected me. As my heartbeat slowed to a non death threatening rate, I responded.

"Make room; I'm coming with you."

_(A/N) - I'm still not happy with this chapter. The scene with the mayor gave me too much trouble. I didn't want to rehash a Buffy episode, but seemed to do just that anyway. Sorry if it disappoints._


	6. Pay the Piper

**Chapter Six**

**Pay the Piper**

The breath of relief I let out as we swept past the leaving Sunnydale sign attracted both Angel's and Faiths focus onto me. Although I expected many questions after I interrupted their departure, they seemed to realize that for some reason I was wound tight and they had given me enough silence to calm myself down. Although Faith seemed to be more inclined to just ignore me than giving me silence out of pleasantries. As I watched Angel glance at me for the twelfth time in the mirror, I rolled my eyes in exasperation. Although I thought about counting just how many times he'd glance at me before we reached Los Angeles, I didn't think I could stand sitting in a silent car all the way there without starting to fidget on my own.

Minutes later when Sunnydale was long behind us, I relaxed enough to collect my bearings. Realistically, I was not sure just why I ran. I wouldn't have had a problem putting the council in their place, or even influencing them enough to be left alone through less than conventional means, but I knew just one moment of downtime or one successful trick pulled by them that I wasn't expecting was enough to put me down. Magically, I was powerful enough but I was still human and a tranquilizer dart would put me to sleep just as quickly as anyone else. Without a wand, which I was sure they'd get away from me as soon as they could, I have very little in terms of magical ability, and I didn't like my chances against a group of old men who knew this world better than I without my wand to even it out.

"Well Faith," I said after what was probably an hour of silence, "It looks like you are no longer number one on the Watcher's capture dead or alive list." I smiled with amusement as the car jerked suddenly from Angel surprise, even though his face remained expressionless. Faith raised an eyebrow at me, though she didn't seem all that surprised.

"What did you do?" she asked in interest, obviously not surprised that someone who had the ability to go into her mind and read her thoughts was on the radar of The Council, who had ruled her life since she was a teenager.

"This and that" I said jokingly, relaxing even more from the nonchalant expression I was falling into. I grew serious afterwards, realizing that going with Faith probably didn't help my cause in avoiding The Council, "They didn't like my choice of being a mercenary over being a soldier." They both nodded in understanding, each having their own history with The Council, though from what I understand Angel's history was a little longer. We all grew silent for a moment, but unlike the uncomfortable silence minute before, this was just one of thought, each one wondering what the hell they were going to do in Los Angeles. Angel eventually joined the conversation after thinking, or maybe broody about Buffy for a few more minutes.

"So." He said slowly, making sure he had my attention, "Are you here just for the ride, or…" He left it hanging, knowing that I knew where he was going while also having the trouble thinking of the proper words. I thought about it for a moment before shrugging.

"I can teleport instantly." I reminded him, "I'm not sure were I'll be staying, or if I'll just go back and forth and stick to wherever the adventure is." I said, liking the idea immediately. I was sure that if there was ever another huge demon apocalypse going on in Sunnydale, The Council would leave me alone just long enough to solve it before coming to attain me again, and by the time that happened I'd be long gone and involved with whatever Angel was up to. A two hundred and fifty year old vampire had to lead an interesting life aside from the daily brooding. Or at least I hoped so.

Angel frowned, seemingly not liking the idea that I could go back and forth and visit his Buffy and he could not. I opened my mouth in order to offer to bring him with me but shut it quickly, thinking better of it. If they thought it was best to go their separate ways, it would be best that I didn't make it that much harder for them. I shrugged before laying down in the back seat to the best of my ability as it was kind of cramped, relaxing completely with my eyes closed. Now that I thought about it, I was just too confident in my abilities to be worked up about a bunch of old men. Of course I knew that they had a small chance of catching me off guard, but I figured as long as I had someone watching my back. Be it Angel, Buffy or even the Faith who might just dislike the Watchers council more than me, I was safe enough knowing I wouldn't at least be taken away without a fight.

I fell asleep surprisingly quick even though there were two trained killers in the car with me and I could be dead before waking up. Before I knew it I felt my head get pushed roughly to the side. I sat up quickly, my wand in my hand before realizing that it was just Faith waking me up as she climbed out of her car. I rubbed my head with a pout and Faith only grinned in pleasure.

"Where are we?" I asked as I climbed out of the car without any grace at all, nearly falling to the ground while rubbing my sleepy eyes. Damn convertibles. Faith chose to ignore me as she walked into the large building we were parked in front of. A large sign said it was a hotel. I rushed to catch up before realizing I had exactly no money to my name. I would have to solve that soon. There were plenty of things that I could do that no one else in this whole universe was capable of. I just had to sit down and think about what I could do that wouldn't cause too much attention to myself and as least amount of harm on the population as possible. I slowed to a walk as I entered the building, not wanting to attract any attention. I saw that Angel was talking to a guy at a counter, obviously looking for a room for all of us. Faith was off to the side glancing at a rake of magazines while letting out a snort every once in awhile. Just as I got close to hearing distance, the man gave Angel a set of electronic keys. Angel turned around and tossed one to me, which I grabbed swiftly.

"How do 'you' have money?" I asked, slightly insulted that a vampire who only came out at night had more money that me. He tossed one to Faith before turning to me with a frown.

"I still have a bit left over from my pillaging days." I nodded, not bothering to ask how guilty he felt spending the cash that he most likely stole after killing a family. We all climbed into the elevator, going up to our room. Faith looked exhausted and seemed to be enjoying the thought of sleeping on a mattress again, and Angel just looked bored.

"Do you know of any real magic shops or communities in Los Angeles?" I asked, planning on finding a way to make some cash. Angel shook his head, though looked at me thoughtfully first seemingly trying to figure out why I asked.

"I usually try to stay away from magic. Very dangerous for vampires. Giles would know much more." I sighed, Giles would have probably been the second person I would have asked, but his lack of even trying to defend me against the council didn't leave me with very much left over trust for the aging Watcher.

We eventually made our way to our room, where Faith immediately claimed the largest bed and Angel claimed the room with the least amount of sunlight coming through. They both collapsed into sleep. Angel, being nocturnal and Faith, having been chained to a wall for a week with little sleep. I didn't even bother looking at my bed, and instead sat down and tried to think of what I was going to do. No matter whether you're a wizard, a vampire, or a muggle; money was necessary. My first option was finding a job where I didn't need any experience or a High School diploma. So the most amount of work for the least amount of pay. Other options were using magic to break the law and try to forge cash, or fashion myself some things to sell. Transfiguration was something I was alright at, and I could make some things permanently that I could sell. However, permanent transfiguration or conjuring was very tiring and I would most likely become exhausted for a day just to make a few bucks since transfiguring any type of valuable metal or jewel was impossible. Since I didn't come to this world to work, I threw that out the window. That left me with one option; potions. I didn't think anyone would believe me if I told them that I might be making a living off of selling potions, and I could only imagine the look on Snape's face. If he wasn't dead anyway.

I quickly listed the potions I knew by heart that could be useful and the potions I could probably figure out after a few failed attempts. Blood-Replenishing Potion, which was used quite often after injuries in order to prevent quick death from blood loss. Calming Draught, which was given to both the magic folk and muggles when they were needed to be questioned either because they committed a crime or were a witness. Forgetfulness Potion, which was used in less serious muggle witness accounts instead of obliviation. Memory Potions, which I used whenever I decided to learn something. Going through an eight hour learning session and not remembering much of it the next day caused me to learn that potion quite quickly, and Pepper-Up Potion, which just about every Auror is expected to carry. Dreamless-Sleep Potion I used for quite awhile after the war as well, though I no longer used them now.

Blood-Replenishing, Calming Draught, Dreamless-Sleep, Forgetfulness, Memory, and Pepper-Up potion. I quickly scratched out the Forgetfulness potion, since the potion would probably be used in more bad ways than good for a normal person. I did the same to the Dreamless-Sleep, which was severely addicting when it was taken too often. That left me with four potions that I could potentially market. None of which I thought could be used for too much harm. Of course, they all could potentially be harmful. Blood-Replenishing to prolong torture, Pepper-Up to refuse sleep, which used too often can lead to a lengthy coma. That was just a start, but I figured the good these four potions could bring was worth more than the bad.

There was no real law in this world limiting the secret of magic to a select few, so I could potentially market them to the Muggle world as well, as long as the magic in the potion wasn't complex enough. A potion to help with replenishing blood or one that calms you down would just seem like advanced science compared to one that could regrow your bones. Another potion that I knew by heart, but wasn't quite comfortable putting out there. It was pretty advanced and probably would create a lot of interest at me, even though it could help a lot of people. That left me with four potions that I could realistically make quite a bit off of if I was driven to. The only problem was I was the only one who could brew the potion and unless I wanted to spend a lot of time making potions, I'd have to sell these potions at quite a profit in order to not cut into my fighting evil time. My precious fighting evil time.

I probably couldn't expect an apocalypse every week, even in this world and I didn't mind brewing potions, even though it was a little mundane. I figured I'd brew enough to keep a few magical stores in stock and I'd be all set in terms of money. The only problem now was finding the best and biggest stores in this universe to pick and make the biggest profit, and unless I found a random person who knew the hidden magic scene, I 'was' going to have to go back to Giles and ask for a favor.

Mind made up, I quickly scratched a note and left it on the table. I was a little worried that Faith was going to get up while Angel couldn't go out into the sunlight and just end up running away where no one could find her. The only reason Angel was able to drive here was the light ward I was able to fashion for Angel's car. It took quite a bit of time yesterday, and wouldn't last much longer. Angel had spent the first half hour on the drive preparing for my ward to fall down, causing him to burst into flames. I had only done it because Angel didn't think he'd be able to wait until nightfall to run away with Faith before a Watcher or the gang came looking for her. I shrugged to myself as I glanced at Faith's bedroom door, wondering if she had already snuck out the window or not. I hadn't originally planned on coming, so Faith was not my responsibility. Her actions all laid on Angel.

Rereading the note to make sure it made sense, I took out my wand and an instant later was down the street from Giles house miles and miles away from Los Angeles. Both Giles and Buffy had a strange keen sense of hearing. Even the barely audible pop I make when appearing caused me to be met with crossbow and stake alike when visiting any place with Giles or Buffy. I quickly learned that apparating a greater distance away was great for my life expectancy. I wasn't sure anyone would even be here, for I figured they were mostly all together still, recuperating from the graduation and probably the injuries they had to deal with after I had left. I did figure Giles' house was the most likely place for them all to recover together though.

As I walked down the sidewalk and up the walkway to Giles' door, I wasn't surprised to see the door open even before I got there. Buffy was standing in the doorway looking suspicious for a moment before she saw me. She smiled grim. Either happy to see me, but still remembering that they just blew up a school, or she just wasn't very pleased to see me at all. Buffy wasn't very easy to read, so I couldn't tell which on it was. She left the door open as she walked back into the house. I heard my name but nothing much else as I walked in and saw the gang sitting in a circle around Giles' furniture. They still didn't look like their old cheerful selves, but it was an improvement over how I left them. I turned to Buffy first, remember how she limped out of the explosion.

"How's your ankle?" I asked, gesturing to the white bandage that was almost covered by her sock. I didn't really bother to let her answer, for I knew that she was going to answer that it was fine. An answer that I used more times than I could count. I waved my wand and cast a basic healing spell that every Auror needed to know as she begin to open her mouth. Twisted ankles weren't very serious, but they happened quite easily and a wizard or witch was nearly useless in a duel with one. It was no surprise that a spell was created and perfected until it was easy to use in mid battle and simple enough that even a blundering fool in terms of healing abilities like myself could heal one. The heat from my spell seemed to surprise her, for she closed her mouth quickly. A second later she was putting pressure on it to test it out before giving me a nod in thanks.

"So what's up?" I asked, taking the only seat remaining, the seat that Buffy had most likely left in order to answer the door. I smiled up at her as she crossed her arms, pretending that she didn't care. Giles sighed on the other side of the room.

"I'm sorry about Wesley." He apologized, surprising me. Willow sent me a told you so smile, as she had been insistent that Giles didn't dislike me, and I had disagreed. "I had briefly discussed with him about letting the council know about you after the apocalypse. If we survived, but that was when we just met, and I had no way of trusting you." I nodded in understanding

"I'm guessing this was right after I told you I had a spell that would kill anything it touched insistently?" I asked, trying to forget that the man had helped to betray me. He grew uncomfortable at my questioning.

"I've had… a bad history when it comes to the darker side of magic. I'm afraid I will be forever mistrustful of anyone who admits to using it." He replied in an excellently British manner while sipping his tea.

"Me too." I replied knowing, "I said I knew and could cast the spell, and I can't lie and say that I haven't used it. Against an opponent that you know you will have to fight to the death with; instant death is about the most humane way to go. I wish it was the only spell I had to worry about." Giles looked ready to argue with me, but I continued, trying to get my point across. "Buffy uses stakes, and crossbows to kill because it's the only way to win the battle. It's the same thing, only I've had to use my magic."

"Buffy kills demons with no souls, you've killed people." Giles argued, which seemed to be the heart of his disagreement. I licked my lips in order to think of a response and noticed the whole group was watching me intently. Although, they had appeared alright with me helping their fight I could see that this topic wasn't far from the minds of most of them.

"When you are facing people who've corrupted their soul with dark magic so much that basic human emotions like love and trust are only replaced with hate and distrust than I could argue that the people I was fighting were just as soulless as your own." The gang grew silent for a moment, and after a few minutes of thinking, Giles nodded at me.

"I've seen just how much a small amount of dark magic can change someone, and if your war was against an army of people who used it constantly for years, I have no way of knowing just what evil you were fighting." He paused, seemingly considering something. "I will… trust that you were doing what was right." I relaxed against the small wooden chair and noticed that the rest relaxed as well. It amazed me just how much these teenagers valued Giles' opinion, and I knew that if Giles and I weren't able to trust each other, I wouldn't be able to earn the full trust of anyone in this room either.

"Like I was saying," Giles interrupted my musings, "After how much you've helped out in the last few weeks, I was not going to inform the Council about you, but Wesley didn't have similar thoughts." I nodded, trusting the man at his word for now. That didn't mean I wasn't going to be extra careful whenever Giles was in the room though.

"Where is he now?" I was hoping to give the guy a punch or two. Xander shook his head in amusement.

"After you left they had to carry him away from the tranq dart they got him with. The way we were all looking at him, I don't think he'll be back anytime soon." I shook my head amused at everyone's half smile. Just picturing the old gentlemen having to carry a fellow member away from getting hit with his own gun was nearly enough to make me regret fleeing so soon.

"Angel took Faith him with." Buffy informed me tightly. She was angry, but seems to be trying to hide it. I looked away quickly, trying to hide my guilt.

"You knew." Oz said as a matter of fact. Although he was silent, Willow's werewolf boyfriend was quite observant. Buffy whipped her head from Oz to me and glared. I held up my hands to give me a minute to explain myself.

"I agreed with his decision when he told me." I offered in way of explanation, which only seems to make Giles frown and Buffy think of violence. "Faith is at her best when it's just her and Angel, and none of us really want anything to do with her. Our only other option was giving her to The Council, and right now, I can't really trust them with anything." Buffy's frown remained, but Giles seemed to agree with me.

"I hope she didn't do anything to him." Buffy said in worry while Xander rolled his eyes.

"Last I saw them they were both sleeping the day away." I whispered, hoping that what I had said would get lost in the wind.

"That's where you went? You teleported all the way here from Los Angeles?" Willow said in excitement. I edged slightly to the other side of my chair away from the excited witch and I had a feeling that Oz's arms were the only thing keeping her from moving forward.

"Apparated." I corrected her quickly.

"You know where he is?" Buffy asked in interest. I nodded towards her sharply and had a feeling that I'd soon be requested to take her to him, something I was probably going to have to refuse unless there was something urgent. She dropped the subject for now as everyone was watching her reaction, but I knew that it wasn't the end of it. I turned back to Giles, who was still slowly sipping the same tea he had from the start.

"I actually came here to talk to you." He looked at me in surprise for a moment before he set his tea down. "I realized in order to not leech off you guys for cash that I really needed to find a way to earn some money, and I was wondering if you knew a few of the popular magic shops in the world that would be interested in some of my products." Giles worry at my statement appeared on his face, but following his word, he didn't show any distrust. Giles thought carefully for a moment before answering.

"There is probably a major shop in most countries and major cities, but not many are very reliable in terms of always carrying valuable things and spells that work. There are only a few that I'd even consider purchasing ingredients or artifacts from. We have one here in Sunnydale, one in London, and a small shop in Cleveland Ohio where demon activity is starting to pick up." Giles said thoughtfully. I wondered briefly if three shops stocked would be enough to keep me decently paid. I shrugged to myself. It was better than nothing, and I could always expand if I needed to. Giles and the rest were looking at me for an explanation. I shrugged and didn't see any harm in telling the truth,

"I have a few potions that I could make from ingredients found in this world that I know by heart and that won't be misused. I figured I could manufacture them and sell them in some magic shops for some income." Giles looked interested at the thought.

"What potions are you thinking of, and what do they do?" Giles asked, taking out a piece of paper. I quickly explained the potions, what they did, and the ingredients needed to make them. Giles was silent for a moment after writing what I had said down.

"I like the idea. These four potions could help a lot, and it would even be nice to have some of these in stock during another war." I nodded in agreement, expecting Giles to drop the matter.

"As you know, I'm out of a job. I was wondering if you'd be interested in a partner in this?" Giles asked before cleaning his glasses while waiting for a response. I was shocked for a moment but quickly recovered. It wasn't really much of a surprise that Giles would look for something to do after having his Library blown up and being fired from The Council.

"I'd be the only one who could brew." I explained, which I thought was a lot of the work. Willow frowned, still upset that we found that aspect of brewing out after she completely ruined a few of the potions I had tried to walk her through. Giles nodded in agreement,

"You'll probably have to brew these potions in something bigger than a cauldron for a single batch to be worth our time, and there would be a lot of work going into prepping, shipping, taking order, and everything else that would go into doing this." Giles explained. I shrugged, not really thinking that far and simply nodded indicating that I'd give it some thought.

Cordelia, Oz, Willow, and Xander soon left, explaining that they needed to get home and try to explain to their parents what happened. Since Buffy's mom was out of town, that just left us three left. Buffy quickly to the seat that Cordelia just left on my right. We spent a few minutes just relaxing and thinking back on the day.

"So, any news of a new big bad guy in town?" I asked after a few minutes of silence. Giles and Buffy both gave me incredulous stares but in my defense, I didn't really do that much fighting that day, and mainly acted in defense. It was Buffy who had all the fun. Giles got up to take care of all the dishes while Buffy answered.

"The summer is usually pretty quiet for the bad guys. We get a lot of vampires, so patrolling is still necessary, but nothing too exciting." Buffy explained while lowering her sock and unwrapping the white bandage that was useless after healing her. I stared at her toned calf for a moment before glancing elsewhere. Buffy sat back up moments later, attracting my attention back onto her.

"Do you think Faith will be a problem?" She asked, her mind obviously still on the Faith and Angel situation. I shrugged, not really having any idea.

"I don't think Faith will try to harm Angel." I said truthfully, watching her shoulders relax, "Faith may be dangerous, but she isn't going to harm someone who's shown that they care, and I have a feeling Faith knows as much from Angel." I said in explanation, watching Buffy's lips pucker at the thought of Angel caring for Faith. "That's not to say that Faith won't just run away at the first chance she gets." I added in, hoping to cheer Buffy up a little.

'You thinking about going to college?" Buffy asked as we watched Giles come back into the room to take in another handful of dishes. I thought about helping, I really did. I may still have some leftover spite from him planning to tell the Council. Just maybe.

I snorted at the thought. College and I wouldn't mix unless every class held some sort of danger. Learning about Science, English, or other mundane things I didn't care for wasn't very exciting, and I had a feeling that I'd never be one to settle down into a job that would use any of those things. I shook my head as an answer, knowing that Buffy was still trying to settle for normalcy and was going to be going to college in a few months with Willow. I wasn't going to get in her way of trying to chase that dream as long as possible.

It wasn't long before Buffy brought Angel back into the conversation, "About Angel. Do you think you might be able to.." I interrupted her quickly with a shake of my head and when she tried to argue explained why.

"Being two hours away isn't going to solve anything if I'm bringing you and him back and forth at a whim." I said gently. "If you want to say bugger it and give it another shot, then okay, but I'd be doing more harm than good if I let you guys pretend." No matter how gently I tried to appear, she still got up in anger and stormed out in a huff. I sighed to myself before getting up, trying to straighten the furniture to the best of my ability.

"I appreciate that Harry." I jumped and turned around, noticing Giles appearing wearily at the doorway. I was confused for a moment thinking he was talking about the furniture but nodded in understanding when I understood he was talking about Buffy.

"You don't really like Angel." I realized. Giles shook his head.

"That's not it. I'd have him fighting at my side before many others, I just don't like what he does to Buffy." I nodded with a smile.

"You also worry that one of these day's he'll find himself blissfully happy again and be somewhere near us when that happens." Giles frowned.

"Yes, that too."

(A/N) Well, not quite as long as last time, but still longer than I was hoping for. A couple recent reviews got me off my ass to write this story, and I appreciate it. I could say I've been busy, but it's been far too long since I sat down and wrote a word of this chapter until those reviews that pushed me, so I appreciate that.

I do want to reply to an unsigned review that I had a problem with awhile ago. I'll leave it up though, because I think everyone should have their word.

The thing of Harry being stupid for not bringing anything with him to this universe. Well, I did do this so he didn't have an easy time of course, but it also makes complete sense. The demon that sent Harry is not working for good. He's working for the balance of good and evil, and Harry appearing in that universe with all kinds of material, gold and books of knowledge wouldn't have balanced anything out. Harry had to make a decision of an adventure where he could possibly die or his boring life as an Auror, he chose the dangerous side without much of a problem. Is Harry reckless? Of course. Daredevil? Yeah. Stupid? I disagree.

You've tried to show plot holes as well that do not exist. Harry is an Auror with time on his hands; he is going to study, and he is going to have a few potions memorized. A lot of Potion ingredients don't have anything to do with magic at all. Newts eyes, Belladona leaves, etc. Sure, a few potions he'll be unable to make that require ingredients from magical animals that do not exist, but a majority that he knows by heart are simple and the ingredients will be found throughout this world as well, and even in this universes magic shop. He knows healing spells as I have shown here. Twisted ankle or a scratch, he can heal it. A broken bone? He's going to need a potion. If Harry gets injured severely, which is bound to happen eventually, he won't be walking cheerfully the next day. Most people use two month comas that no one can cure to make Harry's injuries more serious, I'm lowering his ability to heal all wounds.

I believed I solved the too powerful Harry's that infests all Buffy crossovers, but if you think I'm wrong that's okay, I hope you enjoy the story anyhow.

Wow, that was a long one.


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