Questions

DISCLAIMER: This is a derivative work using characters and intellectual property belonging to Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, Fox Television, J.K. Rowling and her publishing company.
SPOILERS: All seasons of BtVS. HP: Order of the Phoenix

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Monday

Ginny had learned the hard way that there were disadvantages to living with one of her brother's best friends that the advantages didn't often outweigh. Not having her family worry about her living in London by herself could be considered one of the advantages. Having one of her brothers liable to be there in the evening, ready to question her about any new acquaintances was up there as one of the major disadvantages. And avoiding a brotherly interrogation about her friends or acquaintances often required skill, determination, and fancy verbal maneuvering that she often wasn't ready for after getting home from a pleasant evening with said acquaintances.

Walking into the shared flat, Ginny was only slightly surprised to hear the sound of Ron's voice. She knew he'd just gotten back from a long trip out of the country on Ministry business so his appearance there was inevitable. He seemed to spend every free moment when he was in London with Hermione. Why they didn't just live together was a mystery she'd given up trying to solve.

From the surreptitious way both of them glanced at her and then the clock as she walked into the living room it was clear that he'd been there for a while. And, although she hadn't noticed anyone watching her companion walking away, she could tell he was just dying to ask who it was. Having her brother ruin her good mood by grilling her about her new friend was not something she wanted to deal with this evening.

Ginny had discovered years ago that the best way to deflect her overprotective brother away from her personal life was to keep him off balance. Taking the initiative and overwhelming him with enthusiasm before he could start questioning her seemed to do the job, most of the time.

While her other brothers usually didn't interfere in her relationships with non-family and usually left her alone unless she went to them for advice, Ron still treated her like she was ten and never quite understood her desire to not discuss her personal life with him.

Giving Ron a huge hug and a smile, Ginny defused any questions he might have before he could get started. "Ron, Hermione! Would both of you like to go dancing tomorrow evening ? I just met this interesting American after work and she's invited me to go dancing with her and some friends. It could be lots of fun."

Hermione, who'd seen Ginny's Ron distracting tactics in action on previous occasions and sympathized, jumped in before he could say anything -- "I would love to go with you tomorrow but your brother is expected for dinner with your parents at the Burrow so it'll be just the two of us; if your friend doesn't mind?"

"No, that would be great. Ron, you'll have to come with us some other time." And with another hug for Ron and a wink for Hermione, Ginny escaped into the kitchen without her sputtering brother being able to get in a single word.

Before heading to bed, Ginny left Hermione a note asking to talk with her before she left for work in the morning. Hermione took her job in the Ministry of Magic just as seriously as she had her schoolwork while at Hogwarts and Ginny knew she wouldn't see her until the end of the day if they didn't agree to meet for lunch.

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Tuesday

Hermione was sitting at the kitchen table sipping a cup of tea when Ginny walked in to fix herself something light for breakfast. "You had something you wanted to ask me ? I'm assuming it was something you didn't want Ron to know about," she smiled.

Ginny grimaced. "Yes. You know how he worries."

"He can be a bit protective, yes. Is this about your blonde friend from last night?"

"Oh... Hadn't realized you'd seen her." said a slightly startled Ginny. "Yes, I was wondering if you could answer a few questions. I know you can't talk about specific cases but you work a lot closer with muggles and magic than I do in my office and might be able to help."

"Yes, as long as we don't talk about any specific case. What's your question?"

"Is it possible for a muggle to wander into some place like the Leaky Cauldron? Isn't that supposed to be hidden from them?"

"Not an ordinary muggle. It's specifically charmed to hide it from most non-wizards. A muggle would have to almost run into it before they would notice it."

"Oh... So... Buffy wandering into the Leaky Caldron yesterday means... ?"

"Buffy ? That was your friend from last night? And you're sure she's a muggle? And that she didn't just bump into it?"

"Yes, very sure. She seemed very ordinary, very muggle-like."

"Ordinary? I didn't get a good look at her but from what I did see I don't think anyone would call her ordinary." Hermione smiled at Ginny's slight blush.

"Ahhhh..." Ginny stammered.

"If you would like me to, I can check for other reasons she could have seen it. But most of the muggles my department works with are very private and the things they do are usually confidential. Even if I do find something I might not be able to tell you much. Also, it would probably help if I can actually meet her at some point."

"Okay, that can be arranged. If she still wants to go dancing I'll set it up for tonight. I'll let you know when and where we'll be meeting before the end of the day. And Hermione..."

"Yes."

"She's nice, and funny and an interesting person and I would like to be able to get to know her better. And if Ron finds this out and there isn't a good explanation... it won't lead to happiness. He doesn't handle any friends I make very well if he doesn't know them first. So... thanks for not involving Ron in this."

Hermione gave her a concerned look. "You're welcome. This will be just between us."

"Thanks." And with a sigh, Ginny went off to get ready for her day.

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Her morning hadn't gone too badly. Following an early morning sparing session with Izzy intended to burn off any excessive energy she might have, Buffy was able to avoid offending the Council's contacts in the Wiccan community too badly. With the help of a little remote coaching from Willow before the meeting she'd even managed to avoid any major faux pas.

Sure, they hadn't agreed to the Council's biggest request -- having a Wiccan available to assist each of the vampire slayers the Council was planning on placing in critical spots around the world. Which, given the Council's approach to solving demon and vampire problems with violence, wasn't entirely unexpected.

However, the Wiccans had agreed to assist in extreme cases of impending doom and apocalypse if needed or to find them some other help if they didn't have someone who could directly assist a slayer. So it wasn't a total loss. And there were other meetings planned for later in the month with several other groups who might be able to provide some magical assistance in an emergency. So they weren't completely helpless.

And avoiding a major Willow confrontation about her previous nights' activities was also a plus. From hints thrown out by Willow before the meeting it was obvious that Dawn had talked to her about their abrupt conversation the night before. Hopefully Willow would forget about it and it wouldn't come up when she got back to Cleveland at the end of the week. Not that there was much hope that she would forget but a slim chance at avoiding that conversation before she was ready was better than none.

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Buffy had been visibly distracted following the morning Wiccan meeting. At lunch in the Council cafeteria even a very busy Giles had noticed when he found himself talking with the two London slayers, the shy Izzy and outspoken Fred, about the extra training they had been doing with Buffy and she appeared to be oblivious to everything that was said.

That she was in her own little world became very clear to her lunch companions when her phone rang and she answered it immediately without apology and a quick "Buffy speaking..." to the person on the other end.

"Good afternoon!" a cheerful sounding Buffy answered, relaxing almost imperceptibly and grinning widely. "Yes, I enjoyed last night immensely!"

Giles pursed his lips at this rarely seen side of his usually somber slayer and looked at Buffy with an obvious question on his face but she ignored him. The younger slayers both gave him mystified looks and shrugged when he silently asked them if they knew who Buffy was talking to.

"Dancing tonight anyone?" Buffy looked at her companions with a questioning look, suddenly including them in her conversation.

Giles gave her one of his surely patented 'you have got to be kidding' looks and shook his head in a clear negative at the idea. Izzy looked frightened at just the thought of dancing while Fred grinned and all but jumped up and down to indicate her willingness to join in.

"Where do you want to meet ? Your place or somewhere near where we're going ? Notting Hill ? I'm sure we can find it." Continuing her conversation with the person on the other end, Buffy cocked an eyebrow at Fred who nodded and silently mouthed an excited 'Yes!'.

"Yes, it'll just be two of us, me and a friend and she's familiar with the area. Any specific place once we get there ? After dinner ? Great! We'll see you there around eight."

"That was Ginny. She and her roommate will meet us there. Sure you don't want to come along Giles ? We'll probably finish off the night with a quick patrol."

"No, as enticing as it sounds, I have enough work to keep me busy until late tonight. Just don't forget we have another early morning meeting with several people from the local government. Please try to get back from patrolling early enough that you are awake for it."

"How about you Izzy?" Buffy asked her. "A little non-slaying related exercise will do you good. And you're bound to run into at least one cute guy who isn't a demon."

Fred giggled at this and the raven haired slayer blushed a deep red. To a greater degree than most of the other new generation of slayers, Izzy seemed to attract more than her share of vampires and demons while patrolling London. It was very embarrassing for the shy girl. While vampires were fairly easy to deal with the demons were another problem altogether. Over the past year Fred and Izzy had managed to clean up London to the extent that the only demons remaining, with the exception of the stray vampire, were either neutral or non-evil.

And a lot of them had become slayer groupies after meeting her and liked to follow Izzy around when she went out patrolling by herself. She was too nice to threaten them and she couldn't kill them just because they liked her. While the old council would have expected a slayer to kill any and all demons encountered, good or bad, on sight; such behavior was frowned upon both by the new Council and the local Wiccan covens.

"No. I think I'll stay in this evening and join you both on patrol later tonight after you're done clubbing. Just give me a call when you are ready to go patrolling."

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It had been a slower than normal morning for Ginny. Before heading into the City after breakfast, Hermione had agreed to check into why someone who seemed to be a muggle could find the Leaky Caldron but had made no promises. They were meeting for lunch in a park near the Ministry and she hoped Hermione had found something that would help alleviate her concerns about spending more time with Buffy while she was in London.

She didn't like being paranoid about someone she had just met and hoped to get to know much better. But, given her circle of famous friends, she would rather know if there was anything to be concerned with before things went any further and she invested herself in a new relationship.

Ginny gave Hermione a few minutes to start on her lunch before bombarding her with questions. It was a rare sunny autumn day as she sat back on the park bench and waited for Hermione to begin.

"Yes, there are muggles who could possible see past the charms on the Leaky Caldron but most of those would know some sort of magic, though not necessarily the kind you and I are used to."

"I did overhear a phone conversation she had with her sister. Something about a Wiccan friend."

"A Wiccan friend ? A true Wiccan would have no problem seeing the Leaky Caldron but you would have noticed that kind of magic. It's different, but still magic of a sort. It leaves a sort of aura a wizard can feel. But she doesn't sound like a Wicca herself. Their magic involves nature and elemental spirits and they couldn't tolerate being in a city like London for very long. It would be too painful for them and you said she's been exploring London for a few days.

"So what could she be ? She didn't feel evil but there was something about her. And she still seemed to be a muggle. What could it be?"

"Hormones ?" said Hermione with a wide grin. At Ginny's negative gesture Hermione hid her grin and continued - "Okay, if I can meet her it might help me with researching this."

"I was going to call her in a few minutes about going dancing tonight. Did you still want to come along ?"

"Are you sure you want someone tagging along on a date ? It's hard to get cozy in a crowd."

"A date ? What gave you that idea ? This is just a crowd going dancing," Ginny protested with a smile. "We can invite Ron along if it'll make you feel better. Besides which, she isn't a guy!"

"And this has stopped you before how ?" Hermione grinned. Unlike Ginny's oblivious family, Hermione had been observing Ginny's dating patterns for years and found her lack of gender preference endlessly fascinating. "Are you sure you don't want to bring one of your brothers along on this little non-dating adventure ?"

"No... it probably wouldn't be a good idea just yet. Percy might not have any problems with me spending time with her but Ron? No. He still thinks I'm ten years old. And the rest of them have better things to do than play chaperone."

"Percy?" Hermione squeaked in surprise.

"Yes, Percy." Ginny giggled. "Hadn't you noticed? He never talks about girlfriends or anything to do with his personal life, like who he spends his free time with. And he tries too hard to be boring and conservative. He's obviously hiding something. And what else could it be?"

"You are making that up!" Hermione sputtered.

"Maybe, maybe not." And Ginny refused to further discuss the idea and just grinned at Hermione's attempts to steer the discussion back to Percy.

"So, Herm, are you in or not ? A nice, safe, magic neutral club ? You can check her out all you want without other magic interfering. Just don't scare her away, okay?"

"Okay. But nothing too outlandish or late. I've got an early morning meeting I need to be ready for."

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Before heading back to the Ministry after lunch, Ginny called Buffy to confirm their plans for the evening. From their brief conversation it looked like it was going to be a 'girls night out' and Ginny really hoped the connection she'd felt to Buffy the night before would still be there when they met at the club. Unlike the morning, buoyed by the memory of the sound of Buffy's voice, the afternoon flew by. Ginny wasn't quite sure where the time went but before she realized it she was on her way home.

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Hermione and Ginny ate a light supper while scrambling to get ready in time to meet Buffy and her friend at the club. They'd both agreed to use as little magic as possible getting ready. Without so much background magic it would be easier to sense any around Buffy and the friend she was bringing.

Of the two, Hermione had it the easiest. She could wear almost anything appropriate to the club they were going to. She was really just going along to check out Ginny's new friend. She planned to enjoy a pleasant evening out and wasn't expecting to impress anyone. Comfortable but stylish clothes, not so flashy that it would draw attention to her, would get her through the evening.

Ginny, on the other hand, went through a dozen different outfits searching for just the right one to make the impression she wanted to get across, eventually settling on a look that wouldn't cause a riot where they were going but which Hermione felt showed just enough of her long legs and other arresting features while de-emphasizing her height. It was sure to induce heart attacks in all who saw her.

Fortunately, she knew just the right charms to find a color that complemented both her look and her red hair and brown eyes. Hermione had been rendered speechless at the overall effect of her clothing and coloring choices and Ginny was anxious to see what effect this would have on Buffy.

The four women managed to meet at the designated club entrance right on time. Ginny found it hard to not stare at Buffy, who returned the favor, while Hermione was amazed at the contrasting effect similar outfits had on the two women she was just meeting. They were dressed in leather pants and silk blouses. Both women gave off an aura of an almost primal and sexual power. Which in Buffy's case was distinctly at odds with the way she was dressed.

Her look was utterly feminine from her red leather pants complemented by a soft violet blouse, to her dainty looking leather shoes and a red scarf set off by the light makeup highlighting her face and blonde hair. The other, introduced as Fred, was a younger woman who, while also a blonde, was dressed rather aggressively in black leather pants, a deep red silk blouse, and a black leather vest. Matching soft leather boots and a jade scarf completed her outfit. Her unsubtle makeup matched the rest of her look. She was not someone who would get lost in a crowd.

They breezed through the entrance with little resistance. It was still early in the evening and the small dance club was not overly crowded. Most of the space was taken up by the dance floor with small tables, a few couches and chairs scattered around the edges of the room not taken up by the bar and assorted doors leading elsewhere.

Fred, Buffy, and Ginny headed for the bar while Hermione scouted for a table for those moments they wouldn't be dancing. Within shouting distance of the DJ she found a small table just big enough for the four of them if they sat close together.

Making their way to her from the bar, all four of them sat for a few minutes absorbing the club's atmosphere before the energetic music dragged them out onto the dance floor.

Taking a break to catch her breath, Hermione watched her slim friend and the petite blonde dancing as if in their own private world, apparently unable to take their eyes off of each other. Lost in thought, she was startled when Fred plopped down onto the chair next to her.

"They're cute together, aren't they." Fred commented after taking a sip of her drink. "Does she have a boyfriend ?"

"Huh?" Hermione wondered where that question had come from. "No... she has six overprotective brothers who scare them away before they can become boyfriends. Does she?" Hermione gestured at Buffy, not really expecting an answer.

Fred looked at her for a moment before replying. "You'll have to ask her. If she does she's keeping it a secret from the rest of us."

"Have you known her for long?"

"A little while. We all get to spend a couple months in Cleveland when we're just starting out and she drops in on us at the London office whenever she's in the neighborhood."

Fred got up from their table and grabbing Hermione's hand, "I think we've left them alone enough, don't you?" and dragged her back out onto the dance floor.

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During a break, while the DJ played a slow song, Buffy could see that Hermione was visibly wilting. Ginny and Fred seemed to have as much energy as when they'd arrived three hours ago and she knew she could go for a while longer, but it was getting late . If she and Fred were going to meet Izzy and their watcher for their planned late night patrol they would need to get Ginny and Hermione headed home.

"Ginny, I hate to stop while we're having such a wonderful time but Fred and I really need to get home." she said, giving Ginny her most innocent 'I'm sorry' look. "I have an early morning meeting I probably shouldn't sleep through, which I'll do if we stay here much longer."

"That's okay. Hermione and I both have to work tomorrow and should probably head home also."

"Great! Fred and I'll walk you both back to your flat."

--- --- ---

For the second consecutive night, Buffy stood in front of a row of flats saying goodnight to Ginny. "Interested in lunch tomorrow? Just the two of us? We can grab some sandwiches and find a nice park to eat in."

Ginny smiled in delight, "Sure, it's a date." and hugged her before following Hermione inside, leaving Buffy standing there in shock for a moment before moving off.

Fred had just finished calling Izzy when she commented, "She's cute, in a sexy redhead kind of way." as Buffy caught up to her further down the street. "And her friend was asking if you had a boyfriend."

Ignoring the 'cute' comment, Buffy asked the slyly grinning Fred "And do I?"

"I told her she would have to ask you. But Ginny doesn't. She's unattached if you can get past her brothers."

"Get past her brothers? Why would I want to do that?" Buffy stared at Fred, who just shrugged.

"If I have to tell you, I guess it doesn't matter, does it. Come on. We're almost there. Don't want to let Izzy have them all." and she sped up, leaving a slightly confused Buffy trailing in her wake.

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Continued in A'meetin We Will Go