Rise and . . . Shine?

***S7 Finale Spoilers***


Notes: Future fic for HP, no Willow/Kennedy relationship.
Notes2: I'm fudging the timelines just a bit, so the Slayers and Scoobies come to Hogwarts in the start of Harry's 7th year.

Part Two-Rise and . . . Shine?

She still felt sore.

Willow Rosenburg groaned slightly, turning over to bury her head in her pillow. The fabric was nice and cool on her face, bringing a small smile to her lips. She was still deep within dream-land, which was currently somewhere in Italy. She was sitting in a small little cafe, overlooking a beautiful sunset while nursing a cup of coffee. As she brought the cup to her lips she felt an arm wrap around her frame.

"Willow," the person called softly. The redhead smiled wider than before, turning around to face . . .

Buffy?

"Get up Willow!" the blonde Slayer commanded, yanking the covers off the immobile redhead and dropping them onto the floor with great flair. Willow gave a bit of a shocked squeal, hugging her pillow possessively as she struggled into a sitting position. She levelled a harsh glare Buffy's way, a pout forming on her lips where a blissful smile had been only seconds before.

"You're not John Cusack," she accused her best friend. Buffy arched an eyebrow at that, hands falling onto her hips as she regarded her friend curiously.

"You were dreaming about John Cusack?" Buffy repeated. "I thought you gave that up."

"Well, I was dreaming of Charlize Theron before if it makes you feel better," Willow muttered, stifling a yawn as she pushed some of her hair out of her face. "Besides, guy or girl, what does it matter in the end? Especially if they're hot."

"Got a point there Wills," Buffy conceded, her gaze switching from the redhead to the bed next to hers. Willow followed her gaze, noticing a small stirring lump that might or might not be Dawn. She had vague memories of stumbling into one bedroom with the Summers sisters on her heels, but she couldn't be sure. Things were a blur after they managed to escape from Sunnydale . . .

"Holy shit!" the redhead gasped. "We defeated the First!"

Buffy gave her best friend an odd look.

"Over a week ago Willow," the blonde nodded. "Don't you remember? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Willow retorted, her mind still elsewhere. "And I do remember. I've only begun processing it now, that's all. Um, do you remember where we are?"

Buffy shrugged, stomping her way over to her little sister and calmly dragging the protesting brunette from under her covers.

"I think it's a school," the blonde finally answered, dropping Dawn unceremoniously on the floor. Dawn gave an outraged shriek, scrambling to her feet and glaring hotly at her sister. Wordlessly Dawn kicked Buffy in the shin, knowing that the Slayer probably hadn't felt that all that much, but still feeling better for having done it.

"You're mean," was all Dawn had to say. Buffy just shrugged again, walking over to the window in the corner of the room and pulling the curtains aside to let her companions have a look outside. Willow blinked as the bright sunlight filtered into the room suddenly, raising a hand to fend off the glare. Her eyes were still adjusting, unable to handle the light. Once she got used to it however, she saw a green landscape just outside. Very nicely kept lawns and sturdy buildings met her eye. These things looked vaguely familiar, but Willow still couldn't get a firm handle on her memories. She remembered being in the bus, trying to calm Faith down while the brunette Slayer worried about Robin. They had been travelling along just fine, Giles mentioning once or twice where he was taking them. Something about warts?

The redhead made to get out of bed, gasping at the stiffness she felt in her body. Wincing, she rubbed the back of her neck, looking uncertainly around her.

"Goddess!" she exclaimed, stumbling about as she tried to get feeling back into her legs. "How long were we sleeping?"

"I'd say about a week," Buffy replied, nodding her head back in the directions of the beds. "There's a calendar."

Willow followed her gaze, eyes landing on a nighttable beside what had been Buffy's bed. And sure enough, there was a day calendar there, reading the date September 23 2003.

"Wow, we were sleeping for a long time," Willow murmured.

"I'm hungry," Dawn added from her spot sitting on her bed.

"I remember some jerk trying to wake us up," Buffy threw in her two cents. "I think I did something bad to him. Maybe a Slayer wedgie."

"Well, we could find out for sure if we head out," Willow suggested, pointing her finger in the direction of the door. "I mean, we can't stay in here forever. I'm pretty sure there are people waiting on us."

"And they could have food for us," Dawn jumped to her feet with a wide grin. "I'm so hungry that I could eat a horse."

Buffy snorted, stepping into a pair of slippers and leading the way out the door.

"I wonder where the others are."

*****

"Wow, he can eat."

Hermione only nodded mutely, watching in shock as the dark-haired man who introduced himself as Xander to the entire population of Hogwarts just half an hour ago devoured heaps of food. She could only shake her head at the sight, noting that the man barely even paused to chew his food.

Hermione looked up from the man seated at the Gryffindor table to look towards the other scattered new arrivals. Several of the young Slayers were up and about, disbursed among the House Tables as they inhaled some breakfast. Amazing creatures these people were turning out to be.

"You should slow down," she advised Xander nervously. "You might get sick."

"Can't slow down," he managed to convey through a mouth full of food. "Still hungry."

"The lot of them will end up back in the infirmary at the rate they're going," Ginny whispered to Hermione. The brunette agreed but shrugged her shoulders helplessly. She certainly couldn't do a thing. It's not like these people were listening to anyone, not even the staff when they were told to take it easy. Hermione swore that one Slayer even growled at Madame Sprout when the Herbology Professor tried to get her to slow down.

"Well, they're superhuman right?" Ron interjected from beside his sister. "Maybe they'll be all right anyway."

"What about him?" Ginny asked, gesturing to Xander. Ron shrugged, a small grin on his face.

"We'll just have to hope he has an Iron Stomach."

"I do," the man replied suddenly, pausing long enough in his food consumption to give the gathered Gryffindors around him a wink. "I'm the Scooby garbage disposal. Ain't no pile of food too high for this carpenter."

And then he delved back into his food. Hermione shook her head, turning in her seat to send a desperate look up to where Professor Dumbledore sat watching over the happenings in the Great Hall in great amusement. The Headmaster caught her gaze and gave her a reassuring smile. He signalled for the arrivals to be left alone and Hermione couldn't help but adhere to his signal. After all, more and more of them were arriving by the second. And they all seemed to be starving.

"Weren't they brought food during their sleep?" Harry asked curiously, watching in interest as three new girls appeared at the doorway. Xander caught sight of them as well, waving his hand at them wildly until they started to head in his direction.

"They were," Hermione replied, watching as the three girls picked their way over to Xander, pausing to pick food off the plates of the other Slayers seated all around. "But I don't think they ate that much. They really just wanted to sleep."

"Paying for it now, either way," Ron mused, turning his attention back to his own food. Hermione rolled her eyes at him. Only Ron could eat when such excitement was going on around him. She watched in open curiosity as Xander jumped from his seat, giving the three new girls hugs before pulling them down beside him. The youngest of the three immediately pulled up a plate while the other two went about it more slowly, looking around and taking in everything with awe. The redhead especially regarded everything carefully, turning her head this way and that before looking upwards. A gasp escaped her before she grabbed at the blonde who she had arrived with.

"Buffy! There's no ceiling!"

Buffy? So this was the veteran Slayer. Funny, she looked a lot smaller than before. And kind of tired and dishevelled. In fact, she didn't look all that impressive at all this moment, clad in a pair of pale blue pyjamas as she followed her friend's gaze to the Great Hall's ceiling. Hermione wrinkled her nose, unsure about what to do or say right now.

Luckily Ron was always ready to break the silence.

"You're Buffy? Aren't you a bit small?"

*****