II: Leavings and Arrivals
Disclaimer: Buffy the Vampire Slayer belongs to Whedon and Harry Potter belongs to J.K Rowling.
Timeline: Set during “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix” and after season seven of Buffy. Let me clear up when exactly this takes place: The first chapter would have taken place right after the students left Hogwarts after year four, so before July. This chapter is a direct continuation of chapter one.
Pairing(s): I haven’t decided yet, there might not be any.
A/N: I’d like to thank everyone who took the time to review, it’s greatly appreciated. I love hearing what people think, even if they don’t like what I’m writing. There’s a smack down in this chapter. A lot of people may truly enjoy it, I know I enjoyed writing it. Now onto the story!
Happy Reading!
Los Angeles / Hyperion Hotel “I can’t believe that you’re letting
her drag you into a dangerous situation again,” Kennedy snapped the newly-minted slayer was furious at Buffy.
Willow ignored her girlfriend and continued to pack all of her recently bought clothes and other personal items. Kennedy had been raging for almost an hour about how Buffy was dragging her and the others around like they were her personal soldiers.
Kennedy just didn’t understand what the Scooby Gang meant to each other. She hadn’t been there, she didn’t know all of the stories, and she didn’t know the history. Goddess, none of the newbies, not even Faith, knew what she had to done to Buffy.
“She’s a selfish and righteous bitch. I don’t see why you and the others are so willing to be blind to her faults and to follow her.” Kennedy snapped. “Are you listening to me?”
Shutting, her last suitcase, Willow turned to face Kennedy. “I’m listening. And you know what, stop it Kennedy, just stop it. You have no idea what we’ve gone through together and you’ll never know or understand. Buffy isn’t forcing me or anyone else to go with her. We all made a choice to follow her into this because we don’t want to be without her. Goddess – Buffy didn’t want any of us to come, didn’t want any of us in that kind of danger again. But none of us are going to let Buffy face that kind of danger alone. Not any more. We’re family.”
“You’re not family. All you are, are a group of people who have gone through a lot of really nasty times. All that your precious Scooby Gang is, is a bunch of close people, who are too afraid to let anyone else in because you might lose one another.”
“We are family,” Willow said firmly and turned back to her packing, “I need to finish. Whistler said that he’d be here today. If you’re going to argue with me, go away.”
Willow didn’t bother to respond to Kennedy shocked to gasp, she simply kept folding clothes and placing them in the rather large suitcase she had. However, Willow froze in her actions when the door to the room slammed shut, alerting her to Kennedy’s departure.
Sighing, Willow dropped down heavily onto the bed. While she loved Kennedy, Willow couldn’t and wouldn’t let her speak like that about Buffy, especially when Kennedy was wrong. Willow and the rest were most definitely doing the right thing.
*******
The two former lovers stared at each other, both silently pleading with one another – one pleading for her to stay here with him and the other pleading for him to let her go.
“I can’t stay,” Buffy whispered sadly, “I just can’t. The world has Faith, the longest living Slayer after me and a whole lot of newly activated Slayers. Everything will be fine. I’m not needed here anymore. Some other world needs me.”
Shaking his head in denial, Angel broke eye contact with Buffy. “Faith isn’t ready.”
“Faith may not be ready, but she’ll step up to the responsibility. I know she can do this. I believe in her. She’s not the same person she was all those years ago, Angel she’s grown up. None of us are the same people. The Scoobies and I have made our choice. We’re going.” Buffy said.
“Choice, Whistler said you have a choice in this, Buffy, you don’t have to go,” Angel said, his desperation clear, in the tone of his voice.
A twisted and unhappy smile darkened Buffy’s face. “I don’t have a choice. I have to go. Only the others have a real choice. I won’t argue about this with you or anyone else. Can’t we spend whatever time we have left not fighting with each other?” pleaded Buffy.
In return, Angel gave Buffy a smile that was as twisted and unhappy as the one she had gifted him with, only a few moments before. Angel opened his mouth to say something, but was cut off when the door to his bedroom crashed open and Kennedy came into the room.
At the same time that Buffy gave Angel a questioning look, Kennedy slammed her fist into Buffy, throwing her into a wall with a sickening thud and crunch.
Angel jumped into the fray, but was quickly thrown to the side by Kennedy, who was intent on beating up Buffy, to a bloody pulp.
Slowly, Buffy pulled herself up from the ground. Damn she hadn’t been suspecting that and shit Kennedy was strong for a newbie Slayer. As she stood, Buffy locked gazes with Kennedy, who gave her a cocky and arrogant smile.
Buffy didn’t bother to return it, merely rolled her neck to get the kinks out and winched slightly at the gross cracking-crunching noise it made.
“What the hell?” Buffy demanded then suddenly it dawned on her, “Oh, you’re upset with me because Willow’s leaving. I didn’t force her, you know. And I really don’t want to fight you.”
“Too bad ‘cause I’m gonna fight you and I’m gonna kick your ass,” Kennedy said.
Angel pulled himself up and leaned against the wall; while he knew that Buffy was going to want to do this herself, he couldn’t help but put his two cents in. “Sorry Kennedy, but you don’t stand a chance against her.”
Kennedy tossed him a scornful look, but quickly focused her attention back on Buffy. She was going to enjoy this.
“I don’t want to fight you,” Buffy said falling into a defensive fighting stance, all of her Slayer instincts coming to life.
“I don’t care. You had to know this was coming.” Kennedy spat and charged at her.
Easily side-stepping Kennedy, Buffy casually reached out a hand and grabbed Kennedy by the throat and spun them, so that Kennedy was slammed up against the wall so hard that it cracked.
“Is this you kicking my ass?” Buffy asked, arching a dark gold eyebrow at Kennedy. Applying more pressure against Kennedy’s throat, Buffy gave her a little shake.
*******
Faith glanced up from the magazine she was idly flipping through towards the ceiling. That was twice, she had heard thuds, the second one louder than the first, as if there was more power behind it.
“Have you seen Kennedy? She stormed out of our room and I can’t find her.” Willow said, “Maybe Buffy’s seen her, I hope not ‘cause Kennedy’s blaming her for my choice like I can’t think for myself and Buffy’s forcing me and the rest of us to come with her, but were not ‘cause Buffy’s not like that…”
Faith had tuned out the beginnings of Willow babble, to focus her entire being on the noise coming from upstairs. A fight, there was a fight going on.
“I think, I know where Kennedy is,” Faith said, rising from her chair and hurrying to the staircase.
Willow was confused, but followed the dark haired Slayer up the stairs, anyways.
Hogwarts “Albus, what is going on?” Minerva McGonagall, professor of Transfigurations and Deputy Headmistress of Hogwarts asked.
“I did what needed to be done, to ensure the Order’s victory over Lord Voldemort and his Death Eaters,” Albus responded, ignoring Minerva’s flinch at his name. “I begged for the help of a warrior from another universe and I received it. She will arrive at Hogwarts in two days. I need to prepare a room for her; she will not be able to go directly to the Order’s headquarters.”
Eyes widening, Minerva could only stare at the headmaster in complete and utter shock. How could he do such at thing? It was incredibly dangerous to contact a higher power, especially a higher power from another universe, but to bring someone in…
“Albus, you could have been seriously injured or worse killed,” Minerva said, still trying to get over her shock. “What makes you think that this girl will be able to defeat Voldemort?”
“I have no plans for the Slayer to defeat Voldemort. She is here to thin out the ranks of his Death Eaters and to work for the Order. I’m sorry Minerva, but right now, I have things to do.” Albus said, smiling gently at her.
Nodding, Minerva left the headmaster to his task. What had he done, bringing an unknown into this war? But if Dumbledore thought it was for the best than maybe it was.
Los Angeles / Hyperion Hotel Willow and Faith stood in the doorway of Angel’s room, watching the not-so-surprising scene of Buffy and Kennedy beating the stuffing out of each other. Willow flinched when Buffy brutally hit her girlfriend in the face and sent a spray of blood across the room.
At first, Willow had run to break them up, but Faith and Angel had grabbed her both quietly saying that this needed to happen.
“Shit, I thought for sure that B would hold back,” Faith said, watching the smackdown with growing amusement.
It always pleased her, when Buffy let go and lost herself in the fight so she could just beat the crap out of her opponent. Faith was extremely happy that it was Kennedy getting the smackdown. The girl needed to learn some respect and the fact that there are far better slayers than her. That there were people who had more wisdom and knowledge than her.
“Um, shouldn’t you stop them Faith? I mean . . .” Willow trailed off and cringed as Kennedy broke a bedside table over Buffy’s back.
Buffy shook it off and retaliated by kicking out Kennedy’s kneecap. Kennedy yelped and hit the ground.
“Oh, don’t worry Red, B ain’t gonna do too much damage to Kennedy. Once that knee’s popped back into place it’ll heal in no time flat,” Faith said, “Anyways, the fight is pretty much over.” Faith said with a nod.
Willow turned her attention back to the fight just in time to see Buffy knock Kennedy out with a powerful punch to the head. Kennedy slumped to the ground and Willow ran to her.
“Was that really necessary?” Willow snapped at Buffy.
“She burst in here and came at me first,” Buffy said, her voice taking on a cool tone, “I didn’t want to fight her, but I wasn’t about to let her smack me around.”
Willow continued to glare, but the hardness that her eyes had taken on moments before, softened in understanding.
“I’m sorry. I got carried away. I probably shouldn’t have knocked her out,” Buffy said in a placating way.
Willow nodded and turned to Angel, “Will you help me carry her to my room?” To Buffy she said, “We’ll discuss this more later.”
“Sure,” Angel said and turned to Buffy, “I guess we’re done speaking about it?”
At Buffy’s nod, Angel picked up the knocked-out slayer and carried her out of the room, Willow close on his heels.
*******
“So, I bet that felt pretty good,” Faith said smirking at Buffy, “Beating the hell out of Kennedy. Don’t lie to me or try to deny it; you’ve been just waiting for the opportunity.”
Buffy ignored her and went back to packing. She and Faith had left the room a few minutes after Willow, Angel and the unconscious Kennedy had.
“Fine, don’t say anything, but I know you B. Don’t ever forget that. You can pretend to be upstanding and righteous, but you love the feeling a fight, a win or, fuck – a kill gives you,” Faith said.
“Where’s the real Faith and what did you do with her?” Buffy snarked, at Faith’s glare, Buffy sighed and continued on. “Alright, I enjoy the hunt and the fight, I’ll admit that. And while beating Kennedy up gave me a certain thrill and tingly feeling only a few things have ever given me, I didn’t want to fight her. Now stop being all deep. It scares me.”
Faith grinned, “Listen, I was talking with Giles and Robin. We want you to take Big Red with ya. You pulled it out of the stone and now somehow you’re connected to it. Hey, maybe the magical-types there can figure out what Willow did to Big Red and you.”
“What if you guys need it here,” Buffy said, trying to hide the fact that she was really quite pleased about the idea of taking the scythe with her. She loved that lovely, lovely weapon, maybe she should be worried.
“Take it B, what if we separate from you and something horrible happens. I doubt even Red has enough power to open a portal that might span multiple universes,” Faith responded.
“I’ll take the scythe with me. Dawn better get back soon, I don’t want Whistler to show up and have her not here.” Buffy said closing her last suitcase.
“Come on, you’ve got five suitcases and three trunks of weapons we better start hauling,” Faith said, picking up two of the suitcases, “Are you sure that you can take this stuff?”
“Just because I’m going to help fight a big bad doesn’t mean I can’t look fashionable doing it. Anyways, none of knows when we’re coming back. What are we going to do about money, are we going to have to get jobs? Whistler better have all of this figured out for us.” Buffy said, picking up two suitcases, leaving one suitcase and three trunks filled with weapons.
Hogwarts Earlier a man representing the Powers that Be of the Slayer’s universe had come to him, and told him that the Slayer would be arriving today around four in the afternoon. Albus couldn’t help, but frown at his warning.
“This one, she’s had it tough, real tough. Things have gone down that should have never happened. Treat her right. Lots of people love her and will hurt you, if you don’t.”
It was fifteen minutes to four she would be here soon. Albus wondered what she would be like. He supposed that she would be on the large side, considering her line of work.
Los Angeles / Hyperion Hotel The Scooby Gang was gathered in the foyer of Angel’s hotel with their suitcases and trunks surrounding them. Faith stood close to Buffy, her sister-slayer realizing this might be the last time she saw her.
The baby-slayers formed a loose circle around the Scooby Gang and Angel’s group stood outside of the circle watching the silent good-byes with fascination. Even though Buffy and her crew had been at the hotel for a month, they hadn’t really gotten to know any of them, especially the Scooby Gang, who liked to keep to each other. They were quite an insular little group. Only Angel was inside the circle and he stood on the other side of Buffy.
“Nice outfit,” Angel said, smiling at Buffy, who returned the smile.
“Like you said, blacks my color, well it’s really a shade isn’t it? I’m not entirely sure but thanks.” Buffy responded.
They had already had their private good-byes. She and Faith, as well as Robin, had already said good-bye to each other.
“You and yours’ about ready to go kid?” Whistler asked, appearing beside Buffy.
Buffy glanced at her friends, who all nodded. Dawn hurried over to her sister’s side and latched onto her hand. Faith and Angel walked out of the inner circle and ushered the baby-slayers away from them too.
“Did you guys pack enough?” Whistler asked in disbelief. He hated transporting luggage to other universes.
“Yes,” Buffy said and crossed her arms. “What no good-bye gift? I mean after all, you won’t be able to bring me gloom and doom messages anymore. Maybe you’d left me rip off one of your arms and then I could beat you to death with it.”
Glaring at Buffy and pointedly not responding to anything, especially the absolute glee that she had about her, when speaking about beating him to death, Whistler focused his attention on the entire group.
“Listen, in a few minutes a portal with form directly underneath you and your inhumanly amount of luggage. Don’t worry about having to find the person who asked for your help, the Powers are relocating you there directly. Oh, universe traveling can be a bit rough, prepare to feel sick for a few days.” Whistler said.
The Scooby Gang nodded their understanding and remained oddly silent. Suddenly, the room was filled with a blinding blue-white light. The light faded just as quickly as it came and the Scooby Gang was gone.
Whistler turned to Faith, “You are the Chosen One now. I’ll be seeing you around.”
“Wait what do you mean I’m the Chosen One?” Faith called out, but it was too late he was already gone.
Hogwarts Albus Dumbledore worriedly stared down at the unconscious figures that were lying on the floor of his office. Why were five people sent? He thought the Powers that Be were only sending the Slayer.
They had landed in his office, with a surprising amount of luggage, about thirty minutes ago and they hadn’t moved or made a sound. The delicate looking blonde near his feet moaned and her eyes fluttered open; once she began to move about, so did her companions.
Albus backed away from the group and let them pull themselves up and get their bearings in order. Finally, the group of five was looking at him with a bit of astonishment, as if they had never seen anything like him in their lifetime.
“I am Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts: School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, I admit that I am confused, I assumed that only the Slayer would be coming, which one of you young ladies is the Slayer?” Albus asked.
As the delicate looking blonde stepped forward, Albus could not stop the next words that came out of his mouth. “You’re the Slayer. You’re so…tiny.”
