Chapter five

A/N: Thank you for all your lovely reviews!

Chapter Five

"Mr. Potter, at last."

Harry looked up to see Tom once the bus had stopped and the doors had opened. Tom took Harry's bag and Harry followed him into the Leaky Cauldron. "I've already got a room set up for you." Tom explained as they went upstairs and entered one of the rooms.

Harry immediately saw Hedwig in her cage and rushed over to his owl. "Hedwig!"

"Right smart bird you've got there, Mr. Potter. Arrived only minutes before yourself." Tom replied with a smile before they both heard someone clear their throat. Harry turned to see a man standing at
the window.

"I should tell you, Mr. Potter, earlier this evening your uncle's sister was located just south of Sheffield, circling a chimney stack. The Accidental Magic Reversal Department was dispatched and she's been properly punctured and her memory modified. She has no recollection of the incident whatsoever." The man said before turning to look at Harry. "So that's that, and no harm done. Pea soup?" He said gesturing to a bowl on the table.

Harry looked at the bowl but shook his head, "No thank you, Minister... But I don't understand. I broke the law. Underage wizards aren't allowed to use magic at home..." He said.

"Oh, come now, Harry. The Ministry doesn't send people to Azkaban for blowing up their aunts! On the other hand, running away like that given the state of things, very, very irresponsible." The minister replied, while pouring himself some of the soup.

"Er, 'The state of things' sir?"

"We have a killer on the loose." The minister said seriously, "Sirius Black has escaped from Azkaban."

"What's that got to do with me?" Harry asked, puzzled.

"Hmm? Oh, nothing. You're safe, that's what matters. Now, I have a letter here to give to you, and these are your new school books. I took the liberty of having them brought here for you." He said while handing over a small envelope. Harry looked over to the side of the room where there was a stack of books. "Oh and by the way, Harry. Whilst you're here it would be best if you didn't wander."

Harry nodded as both the Minister and Tom left him in the room with Hedwig. Harry looked down at the letter in his hand, it was another from Dumbledore and exactly what he had been waiting for. It was news about his cousin.

Opening the letter Harry skimmed through the words before smiling. Finally something was going right. Dumbledore wanted him to stay at The Leaky Cauldron. He said that his cousin would come to visit him the next day.

Harry couldn't wait.


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The tour had gone to plan and Buffy was beginning to feel a little better about being at the school. At least now she knew the way around, even if she might not remember all of it. The important things to remember were the way to her common room, the Great Hall, Dumbledore's office and the Room of Requirement where she would be holding her little meetings.

Just like she had promised, she had written to her mother and the gang just after she had arrived and Dumbledore had allowed her to use his own owl to send it.

Buffy knew that she would miss everyone while she was away, but everything at Hogwarts was so exciting. The paintings moved, the stairs moved, there was a talking hat, there were ghosts and the ceiling of the Great Hall changed by itself apparently.

After having another nightmare about the Master, Buffy was eager to get to the Great Hall and have some breakfast. She stumbled out of bed, got changed and ready for the day and then left her common room. Some thirty minutes later she got to the Great Hall, having got lost on the way and having to ask one of the friendlier ghosts for directions.

"Ah, Miss Summers." Dumbledore greeted her when she entered. He stood from his seat and walked towards her. "I felt that today would be a great day for you to meet young Harry, so I have arranged for you to go to The Leaky Cauldron with Hagrid, where he is staying. I also thought that you might like to look around Diagon Alley. You can buy resources and equipment there that you will need for your stay."

"Oh, er okay." Buffy said. She hadn't expected to meet Harry for a few days yet, but then again, the sooner she met him the better right?

Hagrid then appeared from outside, "O, there you are, Buffy. I thought we'd best be getting on our way soon."

"Now? You mean no breakfast?" Buffy asked, "'That sucks."

Hagrid chuckled as Dumbledore walked forward, "If you would follow me up to my office, you will be traveling by Floo powder."

"Floo powder?" Buffy said with a frown. No one answered so she shrugged and followed them.



When they arrived, Dumbledore held out a pot of green powder to Hagrid. "Now, you just copy Hagrid, here." He explained and she watched as Hagrid took a handful of the green stuff and walked into the fireplace.

"The Leaky Cauldron." Hagrid said before throwing the powder down at his feet. Bright green flames erupted from beneath him and quickly consumed his whole body before dying down again. Buffy's mouth hung down because Hagrid had disappeared with the flames.

"Does it hurt? 'Cause I don't want to be fried to a crisp!" She said as she took a handful of the powder.

"No, of course not." Dumbledore said with a chuckle. He gestured to the fireplace when she hesitated. Buffy slowly stepped up and into it before taking a deep breath.

"The leaky Cauldron." She said and threw down the powder just as Hagrid had done. She saw the flames surrounding her but couldn't feel them. And within seconds she was in a new room. Hagrid smiled as he helped her up.

Buffy groaned when she saw that she was covered in soot. "Man, these are my favourite boots!" She complained.

Hagrid pulled out his wand and muttered something that she didn't quite register and hey presto! her clothes were back to normal. She grinned up at the giant. "Thank you!"

He smiled back and put his wand away again, "Well you are meeting Harry for the first time, you gotta be looking your best."

Buffy smiled and followed as he led the way up to Harry's room.


xxxxxxx


Harry kept reading the letter over and over again. He had hardly slept at all because of his excitement. He just kept thinking about his cousin, what they would be like and how much things were going to change now that they were there.

He was so distracted he nearly missed the knock at his door. Suddenly he felt nervous, but took a deep breath and steadied himself as he called out. "It's open."

The door opened and Hagrid walked in. Harry smiled at seeing his friend, it would definitely help having him there as well. And then Hagrid stepped to the side and Harry looked towards the door where a petite blonde teenager was standing with a small smile on her lips.

As she entered the room, Hagrid softly closed the door behind them and then introduced the two of them. "Harry, this here is your cousin, she's from America."

Harry looked over at her, sure he had been expecting someone older, after all Dumbledore had said that they were going to be there to look out for him, but he was still amazed that she was really there. He did have family, and 'if she lives in America,' he thought, 'then she must really care about me to come all this way.'

"Hi," She said with a small wave as she came further into the room, "I'm Buffy. I'm from America although my mom was born here... Well not here here, 'cause I don't think she knew about this place but still-"

Harry laughed at her rant, she was obviously as nervous as he was.

"I also babble a lot so you might have to stop me at some point..." She said.

Harry smiled, probably the most genuine smile he'd had since leaving Hogwarts at the end of the last school year. He stood from the bed and hugged his cousin, surprising her at first before she hugged him back.

When they pulled apart Harry noticed that Hagrid was grinning, before he stepped forward. "I think I'll leave so that the two of you can get to know each other. I'll be back soon." They watched as he left, closing the door behind him before Buffy took Harry's arm and led him over to the bed where they sat down.

"Harry... I'm so sorry."

He frowned in confusion, "For what?"

"For everything. For what happened to your parents, for not coming here sooner." Buffy said seriously.

"It's not really your fault though." Harry replied, looking her in the eyes. "I mean what happened to my parents, you couldn't have done anything. And anyway, judging by your age I'd say that you were only a kid yourself when it happened."

She nodded, "Yeah, I'm just three years older than you."

"And Dumbledore said that you were a long lost relative, and I don't blame you for not coming. I'm just glad that you have now."

Buffy smiled, "Well long lost could describe it, I suppose." At Harry's frown she elaborated. "My mom never told me that I had a cousin. Or two for that matter, Dudley someone is also my cousin..." She chuckled at Harry's expression, he looked like he had eaten something sour, "She only told me a few weeks ago, and that was after Professor D talked with me."

"See, none of it was your fault." Harry said with a victorious smile. "So... I have an another aunt, too?"

Buffy nodded, "Yeah, my mom, Joyce was your mom's sister." She explained, it looked like they had a lot to talk about.


xxxxxx


Hagrid went back up to Harry's room a few hours later to find the two cousins deep in conversation about magic. Harry was telling Buffy all about quidditch and flying, and Buffy looked as if she was enjoying the conversation too.

They both looked up when he walked in, and then smiled. "I thought you might like to look around Diagon Alley, Buffy. Dumbledore suggested getting you a wand-"

Buffy squealed suddenly making both Hagrid and Harry jump. "Wow! Me getting a wand? Are you so sure? I mean I might end up blowing everything up."

Harry laughed, "I doubt that you will." She had explained to him that she hadn't used magic before but that she had some magical abilities like what Dumbledore had said. Although she had yet to tell about her slayerness.

"I thought that maybe Harry would show ya round since I've got something that I gotta do here." Hagrid explained, "Then you come back here so that we can get back to Hogwarts, okay?"

Buffy nodded and Harry took her arm and pulled her out the room. They went down into the bar where they passed a notice about Sirius Black. Buffy watched it as they went past, the picture of the man was moving and it still felt a little weird to her.

She shook her head to clear her thoughts as Harry took her out to the back of the building where there was a brick wall. "Well, this is all very nice. I mean it's a great brick wall but really, what are we doing here?" She asked.

Harry grinned at her question and pulled out his wand. He tapped on the bricks and together they watched as the wall seemed to fold in on itself, creating an archway. He pulled her through as it seemed she was too shocked to do anything, and they began walking down Diagon Alley.

"So this is like a little town where you can buy things?" She asked after a minute, "Like a mall only outdoors."

He nodded, pulling her towards the shops. "So, where'd you wanna go?"

She looked around, "Umm... I don't know. Wait I don't have any money, I only have American dollars and I doubt they use those here. Is there anywhere I can change it up?"

Harry thought about it for a minute, surely Gringotts must change currency. "I think there might, actually." He said before leading her towards the Wizarding bank.

"Don't be alarmed," He said just before they walked inside, "but the creatures that work in the bank are goblins. But they won't hurt you. They might be a little grumpy but they are good." He warned and Buffy was glad for it when they did go inside.

Her slayer senses were buzzing but for some reason she didn't feel like attacking the goblins. Although she knew that without the warning she very well might have.

"How can I help?" The goblin at the counter asked them as they walked up.

"Can you change Dollars?" Harry asked and the goblin nodded. Buffy fished down her pockets and pulled out some bills before handing them over. The goblin counted them and then disappeared, reappearing a few seconds later with a small bag. He handed it over and went to the next customer.

As they walked back out, Buffy looked into the bag and noticed that the coins looked like gold, however she didn't have much time to think about it as Harry pulled her over to the quidditch shop window to show her the newest brooms.


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After Harry had picked up some things for school, and Buffy had bought a few books about basic magic spells, the two of them headed into Ollivander's to get Buffy a wand just as Hagrid had said.

"Ah, Mr. Potter." Ollivander said from behind the desk, and then he noticed Buffy and looked towards her. "And who's this with you."

"This is my cousin." Harry said with a smile, he liked saying that. Telling people that he wasn't all alone, not anymore.

"Buffy, Buffy Summers." She said, introducing herself with a small wave.

"Well it seems you're after a wand, is that right Miss. Summers?"

She nodded, "Yup, that's right."

"Well then, let me see what I've got in here." Ollivander said as he disappeared behind the counter, coming back a few moments later Buffy saw that he was holding two long boxes in his hands.

"I see that you have a lot of potential, so try this." He said, opening up the first box and holding it out for her.

Buffy gently took the wooden stick from the case and looked at it, it suddenly occurred to her that she would have to be careful with her wand. Otherwise she might accidentally snap it in half with her slayer strength.

Ollivander looked to her and Harry nudged her slightly, "Wave it around."

Buffy looked at him with one eyebrow arched. 'Wave it around'? Okay. She gave the wand a flick and watched as a ball of fire shot out the end and set the counter alight. Eyes wide, she looked down at the wand in surprise while Ollivander quickly patted out the small fire.

"No worries, that wand is obviously not meant for you." He said, quickly snatching it from her hand and replacing it with another.

Again she flicked it but only managed to make a glass vase smash into pieces.

"It's no good, I don't think I should get a wand." Buffy told Harry.

Harry shook his head, "Don't worry, this happened to me too. And besides, every witch or wizard has a wand."

Buffy sighed, she wasn't sure if she even was a witch yet. Dumbledore hadn't said anything about it and the whole situation just made her feel sad that her mom had lied about her father.

Ollivander took the wand from her again and then went back to his collection, returning some five minutes later.


"Here, I think this is it!" He cried as he held out the box to her. She reached in and pulled out the wand, immediately sensing the power that it held. Unlike the others, which she hadn't felt anything from, this wand felt like it belonged to her, like it gave her strength by just holding it in her hand.

She gave it a wave and smiled as black and white sparks shot out like fireworks and sprinkled them with glitter. She turned to Harry who was trying to shake off all the glitter and laughed when he mouthed 'Told you so'.

She just stuck out her tongue before paying Ollivander and putting the wand in the same bag as her new books.





The two of them walked out the shop laughing together before they both bumped into someone.

"Harry!" A brunette girl cried as Buffy helped to steady them both.

"Hermione." Harry said, and then turned to the boy which he had walked into, "Ron."

Buffy recognized the names, and thought back to when she had heard them. Then it hit her, Dumbledore had said that they were Harry's friends from Hogwarts.

"What are you doing here?" Hermione asked, shocked but pleased to see her friend at Diagon Alley. "I thought the Dursleys didn't let you come here?"

"They don't, but I kinda ran away." Harry said, and then looked at Buffy who was staring at him. He hadn't told her about Marge yet.

"Huh? You ran away?" She asked, "I know you said they didn't treat you well, but why?"

Hermione and Ron seemed only then to notice that Harry had company and turned to Buffy.

"Err..." Harry looked at his friends, "Guys this is my cousin, Buffy." And then he turned to said cousin, ignoring the astonished looks on his friends' faces. "And I ran away because I accidentally made Vernon's sister blow up like a balloon and fly away..."

"Brilliant!" Ron cried with a laugh.

"You what?" Buffy said, he was expecting her to tell him how stupid he was for doing something like that but instead she surprised him. "You made her blow up like a balloon? Cool, I wish I could do that. There's definitely a few people who I wouldn't miss, say Principle Snyder the next time you want something..." She trailed off after noticing that all three of the younger teens were staring at her. Ron and Harry looking amused and Hermione looking shocked. "You know I really shouldn't be encouraging you." She said finally.