Chapter 5: Spells, Knowledge and Relocation

Severus sighed as Potter and Weasley snickered at Xander’s words. Draco smirked at his Godfather, while Lucius chuckled warmly. “I need merely a vial of your blood. I have several ancient potions that I can create using your blood. With them I will be able to protect Potter from the Dark Lord and give him more of a chance of defeating the psychopath,” Severus told him calmly.

Xander looked at Dru, who nodded. “Very well, let’s get this over with.”

Severus nodded and removed his wand from his robe. With a carefully worded spell, he began to fill a conjured vial. Dru hummed softly to herself and looked into the flames of the fire. “We must leave here, my Kitten. This place will hold nothing but pain and betrayal. We must go to the Doggie named for a cold and the gentle howling ones. They will hide us from the pretender man and the nasty liar. The Doggie will growl and stomp, but he will hide all of us from them. The stars sing to me of a great battle, but we must not be around when it happens. If we are, everyone will die, but if we’re with the Doggie the liar will go away,” Dru told him with solemn sanity. They were all unnerved by the sudden lucidity in Dru’s eyes.

“Gather your things now, we have to go,” Harry said, jumping to his feet. Whatever was going to happen, he had no intention of being there to see it. Harry had only known Drusilla for a few months, but the vampiress had saved his life on many occasions. They had met in Diagon Alley after he was attacked by Deatheaters. Dru had eaten the two before they could do what they had planned to him before turning him over to Voldemort.

From that moment on he had formed an unlikely friendship with the immortal seer and had even taken steps to rid himself of stupid grudges that were making it harder for him to defeat Voldemort. Harry was sure that he would have defeated Voldrmort before now if it weren’t for the fact that the Order spent more time fighting each other than they did the enemy.

Harry wanted to tell Professor McGonagall where they were going, but knew that it would cause more problems in the end, so he said nothing. It took an hour to gather everything that was needed and to make a port key to Sirius. Harry knew that there was going to be a fight when they arrived at Sirius’ hideout, but there was no other way to get away from the coming problem.

Harry looked over to where Xander was listening to Dru speak; the muggle was an interesting and complex man. Though he had only been in the other man’s company for a few hours, Harry could sense something about the other man, something that made the Slytherin in Harry wake up and take notice.

Xander was a strange combination of danger and gentleness that was hard to define. From all of the stories that Dru had told him about her Kitten, he had expected someone older and maybe a bit harder. Harry certainly hadn’t expected such an attractive man or his own reaction to the American. The only time he had ever felt so attracted to someone had been with Seamus Finnegan, but Seamus was dead. He had died at the hands of Deatheaters two years ago. Since that time Harry hadn’t let himself feel for anyone else. Xander turned and Harry gasped as their eyes connected. He was unaware of the sudden light that entered his eyes, or the soft green glow that surrounded him. Xander, however, was and a slow smile crossed his face. Dru giggled beside him, “Oh Kitten, you are going to be so naughty.”

Xander merely laughed, while everyone else tried to figure out why Harry was glowing and Xander looked as though he were going to eat their friend alive.

________________________________________

When they reached Sirius’ house it was Remus that met them and calmed his lover down. Severus smirked at Sirius and mouthed, “Whipped.” Sirius merely sneered at his former rival. The two would never be the closest of friends, they had too much fun antagonizing one another, but they were able to be in the same room without killing one another.

Sirius watched as the Hellmouth child led the vampiress over to the nearest chair and sat her in it. He was about to say something when their other house guest came running out of the back bedroom where he had been sleeping. Xander and Dru both looked over to the young man and Xander let out a laugh, before rushing across the room and lifting the smaller man into his arms. “Wolfie!” Dru cried happily.

She bounced out of her chair and hugged both young men, easily lifting them off the floor. Both men laughed at her and turned to hug her after she set them back onto their feet. “Oz-man, it’s good to see you. What are you doing here?” Xander asked happily.

“Remus was traveling through a town not far from here and found me locking myself up in a cage. Instead of attacking me like I thought he would, he told me about a potion that would give me control when I was in my wolf form. I came back with him and I’ve been here ever since. What are you doing here?” Oz asked as he pulled away.

Xander grinned, if only his friends could see them now. Oz had said more in the last few minutes than he was known for saying in a week back at Sunnyhell. Xander sat them back down and told him everything, including the spells that Anya had preformed and about the strange magic that had been attacking everything around him when he got upset.

Mione, who had been listening, scowled as she heard what the former demoness had done to the young man and she also began to formulate a theory about just what was causing the magic around the young man. Harry, who noticed the look on his best friend's face, elbowed Ron. Ron raised an eyebrow and looked over at his wife, before chuckling and poking Draco in the side. The blond turned to insult him and also saw the look on his friend's face. All three young men started laughing. “What the bloody hell is so funny?” Sirius asked.

“Mione,” Harry said as though that explained everything. The wizards all turned to look at the distracted young witch and joined the three younger men in their laughter.

“You said that your friend Willow is a nature Witch?” Mione asked.

Xander looked at her for a moment and had to blink. For a moment the look on her face reminded him strongly of Willow. “Uh, yeah.”

“And you both grew up in Sunnydale?”

“Yeah,” Xander replied, confused.

“It could be that you were under a spell masking your natural magic. It is possible that you too are a nature witch,” Mione told him.

“Very good, you’re right. He is a nature witch,” Hallie told the young woman as she appeared in the middle of the room.

Dru shot to her feet and the two demonesses glared at one another for several moments, before backing away.

“I won’t destroy you, bitch. However, that is only as long as Alexander lives. The day he dies you and I will have a reckoning,” Hallie told Dru coldly.

“You created Spike, I merely turned him. It was your cruelty that drove him into my arms. If you had let him down gently he would not have slaughtered those you considered better than him. If anyone deserves a reckoning it is you, whore,” Dru hissed back at her, her human guise falling away with the depth of her loathing for the Justice demon. Hallie flinched at her words, but turned her attention to Xander.

“Anyanka manipulated me into going back in time and placing spells on you to hide the magic that lives in you. I can cast a spell that will give you back the control you should have had since you first came into your magic,” Hallie told him calmly, though inside she was still furious. She had harbored a hatred for the female vampire who had taken what was once a gentle man and turned him into the creature that slaughtered everyone she loved and left her alive to mourn them.

Xander looked between the two demonesses and nodded his consent for the spell. Whatever was between them was thankfully not going to spill over onto the rest of them. Hallie quickly cast the spell and disappeared. She had a lot to think about and a ex-demon to check on.