Twitch

He was in Godric’s Hollow again, this he knew. The candy dish was still there, filled with Every Flavor Beans. In front of him sat a heavy photo album. He absently reached out to touch it when someone cleared their throat in front of him.

Harry looked up from his spot on the couch into big, blue eyes. Dumbledore’s blue eyes… except different.

She was a thin woman who possessed those blue eyes. Her hair was a medium brown that fell straight just to her shoulders. She gave him a smirk that would send all three Marauders running for the hills.

“Emily?” he asked.

Her smirked turned into a full smile and she sat down next to him. “Hi, Jam- no, no, sorry. Harry. I’ll get it right, I promise.”

He smiled. “That’s alright. Where are my parents?”

“Having a hay-day with Sirius’ subconscious,” Emily replied softly. “They wanted me to meet you.”

“Oh.”

She sighed, and stared at him. “You are… you’re like a little green-eyed Jamie.”

“You call him Jamie?” Harry asked, intrigued.

She snickered. “It always made him angry.” She sighed, and looked down at the photo album. “This old thing? Lily!”

“What is it?” Harry asked.

“Besides a photo album?” Emily asked. “It was a gift Sirius and I compiled for your parents on their first wedding anniversary. It’s a compilation of Our Hogwarts years and a little after that.” She opened it to the first page, to reveal a set of seven people standing on a street corner in dress robes. Emily smiled down at the waving people. “The blond with an arm around a shy-looking boy-”

“Sarah and Remus,” Harry stated.

Emily nodded. “If ever a couple fit the description of opposites attract, it was them. Next to them are Sirius and I. You can tell not just because he looks like Sirius, but because his tongue is hanging out. He loved ruining pictures. It was a favorite pastime. Next are your parents, looking like the perfect couple. And then there’s Peter. He always went stag.”

“What was this for?” Harry asked.

“The Seventh-Year Ball.” She flipped the page over, and on the back were the same people, in the same clothes, but looking much crazier.

Sarah had a leg wrapped around an obviously blushing Remus, while Sirius and Lily were playing tug of war with James as their rope. Emily had an arm around Peter, who looked more than pleased.

“We always took two shots,” Emily informed him. “Just to make sure we didn’t forget we were all insane…” She glared down at her younger self, almost looking as if she could wrench the girl’s arm from around Peter with her mind. She sighed. “We should have known about him. We never saw it coming.”

“It’s over,” Harry told her. “Peter’s been put away and Sirius is free.”

Emily’s eyes closed. “He’s free. But that long in Azkaban changed him forever.” She got up. “I’m so angry, and there’s nothing I can do about it because- well, I’m dead.”

Harry sighed. “Is there something I can do?”

Emily shook her head. “No. You just keep at what you’ve been doing.”

“Emily?”

“Hm?”

“Do you ever visit Evelyn or Torianna?” Harry asked.

She sighed. “I would if they ever thought about me… Harry, your parents, and what happened to them, are nearly always at the front of your mind. You think about it constantly. We’re in your thoughts, and therefore, we’re able to become tangible to your subconscious. Evelyn and Torianna don’t like to think about it… They push it away. Sarah does it, too. She doesn’t like to remember that she lost fourteen years of her life.”

Harry stayed silent.

“Bloody Merlin, I remember when you were just a baby…all round and bouncy with big green eyes and a giggle that made the neighbors complain.”

Harry turned red.

She smiled at him, and put a hand through his hair. “Be good.”


Faith walked into the great hall that morning and sat in-between Buffy and Angel, who were obviously not speaking to each other. They sat, eating breakfast in silence.

“Still fighting?”

Neither replied.

“Okay,” Faith sighed. “You two aren’t going to talk, so I will. Angel. A few years back, you went crazy because Darla came back human and then died and came back again as a vampire. She teamed up with Dru and drove you crazy. You got so damned frustrated that you screwed her right into the mattress and then told her to get out. She did, but came back a few months later pregnant with your kid. Darla killed herself so Connor could live, and then Holtz came back, his demon buddy made Wes believe you were out to kill Connor, and the rest is history.”

Buffy was staring at Angel blankly, but she said nothing.

“B. You died, and then go ripped outta heaven by Willow. You were a walking basket case for about eight months. You didn’t give a shit what happened to you, and you couldn’t figure out how to be human again. You nailed Spike multiple times before getting your head back together. End of story. Now stop acting like a couple of first-year girls.”

With that, she got up and walked off.

Angel blinked. “How did she know all that?”


“Can… can I stop now?!”

“NO!” Torianna cried across the Quidditch Pitch. “Keep running, Dudley! You’ve got ten more laps!”

“He doesn’t look so good, Tori,” Seamus commented. “Maybe you should give him a break.”

“Not a chance,” Torianna smirked. “I am not doing a week of Divination.”

Seamus smirked back, but just stared at her.

Torianna blinked, and glanced at Seamus. “Whataya looking at?”

Seamus’ eyes narrowed. “Huh?”

“Never mind, Emperor of La La land,” she joked. “Go back and sit on your royal throne of insanity.”

He smiled at her.

She’d never noticed it before, but Seamus was quite attractive. Wavy light brown hair and pleasant light green eyes. And his smile was so cute.

“Hey,” he said.

“What?” she asked.

“You goin’ to Hogsmeade this afternoon?”

Torianna blinked. “Well… yeah, I guess. Why?”

“D-do you maybe wanna go with me?” he asked nervously.

A slow smirk spread across her face. “You’re asking me out?”

Seamus went redder than Weasley hair. “Well…”

“I’d love to,” Torianna snickered.

“G-great!”


“Okay, the point of this exercise is not to kill each other. So… no killing each other.”

Harry and Draco circled each other, barefoot, and shirtless on the training mats laid out for them. Buffy and Giles stood a few feet away, observing thing.

“You’re gonna get it, Potter.”

“I don’t bloody think so, Malfoy.”

Ron pouted. “When do I get to fight?”

Faith sighed. “We all know you can kick some ass, Ron. You need to learn how not to. Gotta wait for Angel to get down here so he can start you on whatever Chi he wants you on.”

“Chi?” Ron asked. “I have to do Chi? Bloody hell.”

“It’s not so bad,” Faith snickered. “Besides, it’ll keep you five by five.”

Ron raised an eyebrow.

Faith shook her head. “Just relax.”

“NO! NO STRANGLING!” Buffy rushed in and ripped the two boys apart. “Don’t do that! Fair fighting!” She sighed and stepped back. “Try it again.”

Giles shook his head. “Perhaps we should let Harry spar with Ron.”

“They’re best friends,“ Buffy replied. “They’ll go easy on each other. Guaranteed.”

“Don’t suppose there’s room for one more boy?”

Wesley stepped in, dragging Connor behind him.

Ron’s eyes began to glow instantly. He got to his feet.

“Down,” Faith ordered, taking hold of Ron’s arm.

Connor glared at Ron. “What’s the monster doing here?”

Harry turned his attention from Draco to Connor, and walked forward. “Shut your hole.”

“Make me.”

“If you talk about my best friend that way again, I might,” Harry threatened.

“And I might just help,” Draco snapped. “This the prat what tried to slice Granger open?”

Harry nodded.

“Oh, then we don’t need to step in. Ronnie, he’s all yours,” Draco said.

Ron let loose a low, loud rumble in response.

Giles blinked. “Connor, you’ll be sparring with Harry. Shoes off. Shirt if you wish. Ron, you’ll spar with Draco.”

Ron shook his head out, making his eyes go back to normal. “I’m sparring?”

“Until Professor O’Brien gets here.”

Ron set to work in stripping his shoes and shirt off.

A few minutes into the sparring, Willow came barreling into the dungeon. “Buffy?”

She turned. “Will. What’s up?”

“We have company. Angel found him.”

Buffy blinked. “Willow, what-?”

“Buffy?!”

Her attention turned to the stairs, where Riley Finn came rushing in, Angel following him, looking bitter. Riley looked fairly beat up.

Buffy blinked again, and shook her head. “Oh, isn’t this nice… You picked a fight with Angel?”

“Buffy. I’ve got some really serious things I need to talk to you about,” Riley said, walking up to her. He carried a rather large gun, and wore his army fatigues with a large pair of combat boots.

“This is a school, Riley,” Buffy scolded. “Put the gun down.”

Riley sighed, and set the gun down. “What are you doing here?”

“Teaching,” Buffy replied. She gestured toward the boys behind her. “See? Students.”

“And… what are you teaching them?” Riley asked, bewildered.

“Fighting,” Buffy replied. “We’ve got Champion Harry, Seer Demon Ron, Draco the Vampire Slayer, and… Connor.”

“HARRY! BEHIND YOU!”

Connor had been just about ready to grab Harry from behind, but the green-eyed boy twirled around, swinging a fist that connected with Connor’s jaw. Connor went down fast.

“Damn,” Faith muttered. “Nice swing, kid.”

Connor slowly got to his feet, wiping blood from his lip.

“Buffy, I really need to talk to you,” Riley said, still looking bewildered.

Buffy shrugged and looked around. “Go ahead, Riley.”

“Around students?” Riley asked.

“Yep,” Buffy replied. “Spit it out.”

“Spike and Drusilla are here,” Riley announced.

Buffy blinked. She heard a snort from Draco, and a sigh from Ron. She caught Angel shaking his head.

“We know, Riley,” she told him.

“Well… why haven’t you done anything about it?” Riley asked.

“We have more important things to deal with,” Buffy replied. “It was nice to see you again, Riley.”

“Wait!” he cried. “There’s something else…”

“What?”

“There’s been dark energy rising in this area for the past week,” Riley told her. “I think something’s gonna happen.”

Buffy sighed.


“I wonder why all of these military people are about,” Hermione wondered as she walked down Hogsmeade with Ginny and Cho.

It wasn’t easy to spend time with the two girls. They honestly didn’t like each other, and Hermione had the sneaking suspicion that the reason for this was named Harry Potter. She sighed. She was really glad that there wasn’t another girl crawling all over Ron.

Evelyn caught up to them and sighed. “Tori’s having alone time with Seamus. Mind if I tag?”

Hermione smiled thankfully. “Sure. Where’s Draco?”

“Training with Ron and Harry,” Evelyn replied. “I hope no one kills each other down there.”

Hermione sighed and glanced at Cho and Ginny’s bitter looks. “Quite frankly, I’m more worried about that up here.”


Ron had Draco pinned in seconds.

“Are we sure he’s the slayer?” Faith asked.

And then Draco had turned the tables. Ron hit the mats hard.

“Never mind,” Faith said, putting her hands up. “Forget I doubted.”

It went on like that for a while. They kept pinning each other, but it never lasted.

“Alright,” Giles called. “I think that’s enough. Harry and Connor, you’re up.”

Ron and Draco nodded to each other and got off the mat. Faith tossed each of them a bottle of water, and they sat on the floor.

“You got a lucky cheap-shot in last time,” Connor told Harry as he got ready to fight. “You won’t be so lucky.”

“Please,” Harry said. “Just stop speaking.”

Angel walked down to the dungeon. “I escorted Riley off the grounds.”

“Yeah?” Buffy asked. “You hit him?”

“Buffy…”

“I have nothing to say to you.”

Ron blinked. “You’re fighting?”

Draco got to his feet. “You can’t fight.”

“Oh, yes they can,” Giles told them. “And they do. Often.”

Buffy sighed. “This isn’t any of your business, you guys.”

Ron looked slightly hurt. “Don’t fight. Please?”

Buffy stared at the red-head oddly. He’d sounded very child-like. As if she and Angel had become a pair of parents away from home. She had to admit that she really liked Ron and Harry, and Draco was growing on her like weeds. She sighed. “Listen, things are just… weird right now, guys. Don’t worry about it.”

Angel’s attention was directed elsewhere. “Uhm… Buffy?”

Buffy turned to the mat to see Giles trying to pry Connor off of Harry. “Oh, boy.” She rushed over and threw Connor off. “What did I say about the not-killing?! This is training!”

Connor rolled his eyes. “Told him he’d pay.”

Angel sighed. “Damn. Connor, come here.”

He didn’t.

Angel sighed, and snagged Connor by the arm, dragging him up the stairs.

Harry coughed a little as Giles helped him to his feet.

“Are you alright?” Giles asked.

Harry nodded. “Yeah. Yeah.”

“Okay,” Faith called. “Break time, kiddies. Take ten.”

The three boys exited out of the Dungeon.


“What the hell is the matter with you?!”

“They told me to fight!”

“Fight! Not kill! Never kill!”

“I don’t have to take this from you, you god-damned hypocrite!” Connor yelled. He got up and knocked over his chair. He rushed from the office, and made his way to the front entrance. Angel made attempt to follow. He’d lost hope.

“Leaving so soon?” asked a kind voice.

Connor turned to see a man with white hair, wearing long wizarding robes. “Leave me alone, old man.”

Dumbledore sighed. “Why such anger?”

“You wouldn’t understand,” Connor spat. “No one ever does.”

With that, he left.


The Three Broomsticks was quite crowded that night. This forced the quartet of girls to sit at the bar.

Ginny sat at one end, Cho at the other. The man next to Ginny was hooded very well, covering his face. She paid no attention to him and ordered a butterbeer.


Spike was awfully drunk. He always got himself wasted after Drusilla dumped him. It was just a thing he did. She’d done it again. He was evil, and she still dumped him.

He stared at the little red-headed girl from behind his hood, taking her in, marveling at how much she looked like another red-head.

Actually this red-head really looked nothing like the witch he knew. The only resemblance was the hair.

Close enough.

He grabbed her arm, and began to pull her to her feet and out of the pub.

“Hey! Let go!” she cried loudly.

The three girls who were sitting next to her got to their feet as well, looking shocked.

The one with poofy brown hair grabbed the red-head’s arm, but it was no use. Spike pulled her out. He didn’t pay attention to the girls following, or the three boys he’d shoved aside drunkenly. He just rushed off, the girl yelling out the whole time.


“Gin?”

“RON! HELP!”

Ron fumed, trying to hold back the demon within. He stalked after his kid sister, Draco and Harry, along with Evelyn, Hermione and Cho followed.


“Are you certain?”

Snape nodded. “They’re planning something for Halloween… They may be catching onto me. They wouldn’t tell me what was going to happen.”

Dumbledore sighed. “We must make certain security is tight for the next week.”

Snape nodded. “I agree.”

Dumbledore sighed. “It’s beginning again.”


“Why? Why do I always attract the weird ones? First Riddle, and Neville likes me for some reason, and now you! Why can‘t I attract the nice ones? Why?”

He’d dragged her to an old, abandoned warehouse just outside of Hogsmeade. Ginny was now tied to a pole inside, her wand lying on a table.

The bleach-blond was leaning on the table, staring at her, looking as if he might cry. He took a swig from a bottle, and sighed. “I bloody hate fire whiskey.”

“So stop drinking it, and untie me,” Ginny replied. “I didn’t do anything to you! Why are you doing this?!”

“Because, Pet. I’m evil,” the man replied. “Really, bloody-fucking evil. And I do things like this.” He sniffed. “And Dru left me. Again.”

Ginny shook her head. “Bloody hell. I have my own love-life issues! Specifically the lack-there-of. I don’t need to hear yours as well.”

“You’ll listen, Red,” Spike said. “Or I’ll kill you.”

That got her attention. She shut her mouth immediately.

“Do you know what she left me for?! She left me for a Dementor! And I thought the Chaos demon was embarrassing! A Dementor! What the hell is she thinking?!”

“That you’re a right loud one, and that Dementors don’t speak at all?” Ginny offered.

Spike snarled, and kicked a chair in two.

As he did this, the door busted open, and Draco stalked in, followed closely by Harry, Ron, and the girls.

Ron wasn’t looking like the happiest camper ever.

In fact, his eyes were white again.

Harry noted that this was not a good sign.

“Let her go,” Ron snarled.

“Oh,” Spike drawled. “Scary. The little boy is gonna get me.”

Draco’s stomach gave a small twinge as he stared at Spike. “Vampire.”

Spike groaned. “Another blond slayer?! What happened, you get a sex-change?”

Draco growled, and stalked up to Spike, slamming his fist into the other blonde’s face.

“Shit,” Evelyn muttered. “How can you tell who’s who?”

Harry rushed over to Ginny, and flipped out his wand, muttered a heat charm to burn the ropes down.

Draco and Spike kept fighting, now dodging each other’s blows. Spike got one good clip in, and Draco went reeling back, blood flying from his lip.

“PETRIFICUS TOTALUS!”

At that moment, Spike dropped, still growling.

Hermione gave a satisfied smirk as she put her wand away. “There,” she said. “That’s better.”

Harry helped Ginny over to the group.

“Are you alright?” Ron asked, his eyes going back to normal.

Ginny nodded. “Yeah, I think so.”

“What do we do with him?” Cho asked, motioning towards Spike’s rigid form.

“I say we leave him,” Evelyn replied.

“Good thought,” Harry nodded.

Draco got to his feet and joined the group.

Evelyn gave him a worried look, dabbing a finger on his busted lip.

“I’m fine,” he reassured her softly. “Let’s just leave.”


Buffy snorted. “You put Spike under the Petrificus Totalus? That’s… Why didn’t I think of that?”

Willow snickered. “Because you didn’t know what it was until you got here?”

“Good point,” Buffy replied. “Is everyone okay?”

The kids nodded. Draco had a wet cloth on his lip.

Willow snickered. “I can’t believe he kidnapped Ginny.”

“Must have thought she was you,” Buffy pointed out. “And he said Dru broke up with him?”

Ginny nodded. “Said she left him for a Dementor… ugh.”

“If I knew what a Dementor was, I’m sure I’d be grossed out, too,” Buffy said. “Dru doesn’t exactly have stellar taste in men. I mean, Spike’s hot, but… man he was psycho… way psycho.”

Harry raised an eyebrow. He wondered why Buffy had such a guilty look on her face.


“So… how was the date?”

“Fine.”

“Fine?! Just Fine?! No fair, no fair! I want details!”

Torianna rolled her eyes from her position sitting on-top of Dudley, who was on his way to doing two hundred push-ups. “We walked around. We browsed the stores. He bought me a butterbeer. We talked. We came back.”

“Did he kiss you?!” Evelyn asked. “Don’t hold out on me here! I told you everything about Draco!”

“Yeah, you mean everything I didn’t want to know?” Torianna snorted. “Yeah. He kissed me right before we walked back into the
castle. Happy?”

“Was it good?”

“Shut up!”

Dudley groaned. “If I have to do this, at least stop having girl-talk!”

“Hey!” Torianna snapped. “Get back t’ work, ya bum!”

Dudley grumbled something, and Evelyn snickered. “Tori’s gotta boyfriend,” She chanted.

Torianna fumed, got up, and chased after the raven-haired girl.

Dudley sighed, and thought about stopping, but decided this was better than invoking the wrath of the skinny blond.


Fire. Death. Blood. Skull. Snake. Stench.

And one name.

Voldemort.

Faith shot up in bed, and glanced around in the darkness.

Only a dream.

Only a scary-as-hell slayer-dream.

Buffy was also sitting up. She looked miserable. “You saw?”

Faith nodded. She was about to get up, when there was a light tap on the door.

Buffy slowly got to her feet, and opened the door to find three figures standing there.

She knew what had happened.

Another slayer dream.

A vision.

A hurting, glowing scar.

She wordlessly let the three boys in.

“What is going on here?” snapped a voice from the doorway.

Buffy looked up to find Snape standing in front of her in his night clothes. He looked positively irked.

“Slayer business,” Buffy replied. “Bad dreams. Voldemort dreams.”

Ron cringed at the name, while staying silent with Draco and Harry.

Snape sighed. “Perhaps it would be best if we discussed this someplace other than your bedroom?”

Buffy nodded slowly, and motioned for Faith to follow.

The group congregated in the Potions dungeon.

“Now,” Snape said. “Tell me exactly what each of you saw.”

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