A Matter of Family

AN: This one is a bit short. My times seem a little off, so let me say that Dawn found the potion around 8am, California time. They left Sunnydale with Dumbledore around 10am, making it 6pm at Hogwarts. Xan and Willow arrive at the Dursleys around 8pm.

Chapter Four


Dawn sat in the chair, nervously picking at the hem of her shirt. Nobody had said anything for five minutes now, and the gaze of the old man was seriously starting to freak her out. Tara laid a calming hand on hers, while Spike put an arm around her shoulder. With that show of support, she drew up her courage and began to speak.

"Until earlier today I thought that I was Buffy's sister. I'm...I'm not supposed to be here. In fact, I didn't exist as a human at all until ten months ago."

"How is that possible?" Dumbledore asked,

"It is rather complicated I'm afraid. And we just know the basics of what happened. Perhaps we should do this differently. Two months ago we were fighting Glorificus, a Hell Goddess. She was wanting to return to her home dimension, but in order to do so she would need The Key, a mystical energy portal, to open The Door. However, if the The Door was ever opened, then the barriers of all the dimensions would disappear and earth would be overrun with creatures from all of these other dimensions, making earth a hell. An order of monks had been entrusted to protect The Key for centuries. Ten months ago Glorificus found them. Before she could obtain The Key the monks preformed a spell, gave The Key human form, and sent her to be protected by the Slayer. As part of the spell, the memories, photos, documents of everyone associated with the Slayer and her mother were altered, and a full history for the Slayer's little sister, Dawn, were placed," Giles explained.

"They said th..that Dawnie was made fr...from the Sl...Slayer," Tara supplied.

"What happened?"

Dawn squared her shoulders, "She found me, but not before making a quarter of the town crazy by brain-sucking them, including Tara. And she captured and tortured Spike because she thought he would tell her where The Key was. We tried to run, but we were attacked by a bunch of wacko Knights that decided I needed to die in order to keep Glory from getting me. Giles got hurt, so we called in someone we thought could help. Unfortunately, Ben was sharing a body with Glory, so when he got there....well, Glory got me. There was this whole ritual thing and I was tied up on this really tall tower that was ready to fall if someone sneezed on it. Buffy and the others tried to stop Glory from doing the ritual by keeping her on the ground fighting her. Willow did a spell that weakened her and got Tara's mind back, Buffy used a troll hammer on her, Xander even put her through a wall using a wrecking ball. But, Glory had this nasty little freak ready in case she couldn't start the ritual in time. He was able to cut me and make me bleed before Spike could get to me," she stopped there beginning to cry.

"Her blood was the key to open the portal. Once her blood started flowing, the portal started to open, and it wouldn't stop until the blood stopped. Buffy got to the Bit right after the portal started, and got her free. Then she said something about 'death being her gift'. She said something to Dawn, and then jumped off the tower into the portal. The portal collapsed, and Buffy.......She sacrificed herself so Dawn, so the world, could live," Spike finished, his voice thick with emotion. Dawn buried her face in his chest. "We figured since Dawn was made from Buffy, the Slayers death had the same effect as it would have been for the Bit."

"Oh you poor child. But I have to ask, what happened to Glory? Will she pose a threat again?"

"No, she's no longer a threat. Buffy and the others beat her badly enough that she returned to the human form she shared. She was as vulnerable as any human at that point...I made sure she would never be able to return again," Giles replied in a cracked voice.

"G...G...Giles....you?" Tara asked.

"Yes. We had all fought to hard, and to much had been lost to allow the threat to remain. Xander and I had discussed it at length and agreed that if the occasion ever arose, then the host would be eliminated. Regardless of whether he or she was innocent in this or not, the fact that Glory shared his body posed too much of a risk to allow him to remain alive. I was against it at first, but as Xander pointed out, by allowing him to live, we were putting his life, the life of one, above the lives of the rest of the world. It wasn't something that could be permitted," he answered, Ripper beginning to come to the surface.

"Not to sound rude, put didn't you put Dawn's life above that of everyone else by not destroying her?" Dumbledore asked cautiously.

Spike growled dangerously, Tara looked shocked at the idea, but Giles looked guilty. Much to Dumbledore's surprise Dawn answered him in a calm, level voice.

"Actually, Giles did want to destroy me when they first found out about me," she put a hand on Spike to quiet the growl that had gotten louder. "I over heard him and Buffy talking about it. You can't blame him for it Spike. It was a knee-jerk reaction. He just found out this thing that could destroy the world was put with them against their will. Dangerous, destroy, protect. I know that's what he was thinking. It hurt like hell at the time, but I understand it now. Buffy, of course, wouldn't have anything to do with the idea. You would have thought after the Angelus thing she would learn to take out a threat instead of trying to save it...anyway. Aside from Buffy defending me, she also pointed out that they didn't know what would happen if they just killed me. The energy could just be released, and Glory could get it anyway, or it could do a backlash thing with lots of damage, or by killing me, it just might open the door anyway."

"Ah, yes. Xander actually made the same argument without ever knowing about my conversation with Buffy on the matter."

Dumbledore was amazed at the strength the young girl was showing. For her to not only accept her creation, but to understand and defend the initial reactions of the people around her wanting to destroy her to protect the world, was amazing. She was showing a maturity far beyond her represented years. He watched as her eyes hardened and met his, a challenge forming in them.

"Do not worry, child. I have no desire to try to destroy you or cause any harm to you at all. And you were all quite right, the fewer people who know about this the safer everyone will be. I will do everything in my power to help protect you, Dawn. You have my word," he said, his eyes softening. "Apparently, the spell the monks used also effects the family tree spell, because it does show you as being fifteen years old right now."

Dawn smiled and nodded. "Yeah, I...we...noticed that. Even though no one said anything, I know they were all thinking about it. And it seems that the monks only told Buffy a half truth. I was made from her, but apparently I was made from you too."

"That does make quite a bit of sense, now that it has been pointed out. I..I mean, if they had only used Buffy to create you, then you would have merely been a clone of her," Giles said.

"Oi. The Bit, ain't no clone. She's her own person and don't no one forget it. And let us make one thing perfectly clear right now Alb. Dawn is HUMAN. She may have some little oomph to her, but she is human. And she will not be used for anything, she has plenty of people ready to die for her to make sure of that, including me," Spike said pointedly.

"I understand perfectly, William. You know, I remember visiting a monastery in Eastern Europe and getting a rather nasty injury while I was there. I do believe I was there about fifteen years ago. So, if they used my fifteen year old blood and combined that with the blood of the Slayer........."

"You get me!" Dawn said with a smile.

"Yes, I do believe we do. I must admit, you do look remarkably like my mother when she was young."

"So, what do we do now........Dad?"

Dumbledore chuckled merrily. "Well my dear, it would be in everyone's best interest for you to learn how to use your wizard abilities. So, I believe we will have Professors Snape and McGonagall begin tutoring you immediately and get you caught up to join with the other fifth year students when the school year begins. You can then finish the remaining three years here at Hogwarts."

"You mean you would let me go to school here?"

"Of course my dear. And we will arrange for young Mr. Harris to receive the training he needs as well. You have only been exposed to the Hellmouth for less than a year, but Mr. Harris has a great deal of energy that has been added to his magic by the Hellmouth. He will need training to be able to control it, especially since he is now away from its dampening influence. Left untrained he could do a great deal of unintentional damage."

"Oh wow. I think I would really like that. Thank you," she turned to Spike, "Will you stay with me?"

"Always Nibblet. I made a promise didn't I? Not gonna be gettin' rid of me."

"I...I...don't think an...any of us are go...going to be leaving, Dawnie," Tara said, squeezing her hand.

"I dare say, none of us will be leaving anytime soon. With the threat of Voldemort to you an Xander, and the world if he is not stopped....we are needed here. The Hellmouth is being taken care of, and unless Faith contacts us, we are not needed there," Giles assured her.

"Very well then. May I say welcome to Hogwarts Dawn. Now, you have all had a rather long day, I will show you to your rooms. Tomorrow we will make arrangements to obtain the supplies you will need."

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

"Ok, that floo thing was a little better than the portkey....*achoo*....but they really need to....*achoo*....clean the damn.....*ACHOO*....things," Xander grumbled as they left the Leaky Cauldron.

"Its not that bad Xan," Willow said as she dusted her clothes off.

"How hard could it be, Wills? You seen the old dude clean Spike's shoes. Why don't they do the same thing to the floo?"

Padfoot, that is what McGonagall had told them to call Sirius in canine form, snorted at the two and shook the floo dust from his fur. This, resulted in Xander succumbing to another sneezing attack.

"You did that on purpose!" Xander accused. Padfoot gave a "woof" and walked away.

"Come on, Xan. We gotta find a taxi. Little Whining isn't IN London, but its just on the outskirts. Shouldn't take us to long to get there," Willow said, pulling her friend along.

Ten minutes later found the three ensconced in the back of a taxi, on the way to Little Whining. "Wills, have you felt any different since we got here?"

"Well, I could feel...." she glanced at the driver, "umm....everything running through the school, if you know what I mean. But other than that not really why?"

"I don't know. Its like I've taken off a really heavy coat or something. Like some burden has been taken off."

"Well, we don't have to worry about stopping someone/thing from ending the world, maybe that's it," she suggested.

"No, because we're still worried about that, plus I'm worried about Faith. So that's not it. It just feels like something that shouldn't have been there disappeared."

"I don't know, Xan. We'll ask the others when we get back. Maybe they will know."

Xander just nodded and lapsed into silence. They spent the next twenty minutes in quiet contemplation. They would occasionally whisper something in a low voice about how they felt about the current situation, but for the most part the drive to Little Whinging was made in silence.

Padfoot sat on the seat between the two, and spent the ride contemplating all that had happened. He had to admit that the resilience of the group was incredible. Just the little they had been told in Dumbledore's office was amazing. Fighting with the Slayer on the Hellmouth. That was remarkable, doing it for five years was unbelievable and a testament to the cunning and determination of the group, and the way they rallied around each other showed their loyalty. When any of them had spoken of one of the others, there was a fondness in the voice that spoke of a deep love, even when they spoke of the vampire. That was interesting to watch. His nephew and the vampire seemed ready to go at each other at any moment, but at the same time defended each other with a passion. When Spike had explained the group fighting with the Slayer, there was pride in his voice, and when Xander had talked about how Spike had joined with them, there was a fondness there, maybe a bit reluctant, but fondness none the less. Sirius hadn't experienced that kind of bond since he was a student and the Marauders were together. Despite his initial determination not to trust these people, especially the one that was supposed to be his nephew, he found himself being drawn to them. By looking into their eyes, you knew they had experienced more than anyone their age ever should, and yet they all still retained an air of innocence about them. And then there was his nephew. The boy was threatening the lives of people one minute and then saying the most unexpected things the next, and he radiated a feeling of comfort and protection. Another surprise was he didn't let Dumbledore get by with any of his usual half-truth, subtle manipulations that he usually tried. Sirius had decided they had made themselves clear to each other, and Xander had offered his hand, so to speak. He would like to get to know his nephew, and he was sure the boy would give Dumbledore and the greasy git, Snape, heart attacks within a month, and have Minerva a permanent shade of red. Yes, getting to know his nephew could prove quite entertaining indeed, and if he and his group were going to protect Harry as well, that was all the better.

When they arrived at Number 4 Privet Drive, Xander handed the driver several bills and asked for him to wait at the curb for them. They made they way up the short walkway and through the fence. After only a few feet into the front yard of the residence, Padfoot took off, running to the back of the house. A quick glance between Willow and Xander and they followed at full speed.

When Xander rounded the corner he froze as fire began to run through his veins. In front of him some rotund oaf was leaning out of a window and had a meaty hand around the neck of a lanky teenager. He was shaking the boy violently, yelling something Xander couldn't hear through his rage. One of the shakes revealed a scar the shape of a thunderbolt on the youth's forehead, leaving no doubt that this was Harry...Xander's cousin. Xander's cousin, that was currently being treated like a rag doll. Padfoot was standing beside the boy growling threateningly, and Willow's eyes had begun to turn black. Xander let out a growl that would have made a master vampire proud.

"What in the fucking hell do you think you are doing to that kid?" he bit out.

"Who are you?" the man asked contemptuously, never letting go of Harry's neck.

"You're worst nightmare if you don't let him go right now."

"Is that so?" Mr. Dursley spat as he threw Harry to the ground.

"Pa...Padfoot?" Harry asked as the dog licked his face. He received an angry 'woof' in response.

"Harry, go get your things, you're coming with us," Willow said, never taking her eyes off the house in front of her.

"Who do you bloody Americans think you are?" Vernon demanded, storming outside, followed by a very overweight teen and a scrawny, haggard looking woman. "You can't just come in here and demand my nephew leave with you. We're his guardians."

"Not anymore you're not!" Xander growled. "Harry is coming with us where he will be protected by people who care about him. He's not spending another day in this house. Harry, go get your things."

A whimper and a nudge from Padfoot had Harry was on his feet and rushing into the house, the woman following quickly behind him.

"Willow, follow him, make sure she doesn't try anything."

"Now see here young lady, you will not be entering my house! This is my property and you will do as I say!" Vernon ranted as he began to reach for Willow.

"Thicken," she said with a wave of her hand. Vernon found himself behind an invisible wall, and Willow strolled by, on her mission to protect Harry.

"What's the problem Father? They are obviously freaks too, let them take him and good riddance," the teen said.

"You know nothing boy," he said coldly to his son, then turned his attention back to Xander. "You can not take him. We are his guardians. If he leaves with you, I'll report it as a kidnapping."

"Try it asshole. I'm Harry's cousin. I know all about what's going on with him, how you treat him, and what's after him. You try to go to the local police, and I'll let them know all about making him live in a cupboard under the stairs until her was eleven, how you use him as slave house labor, and how I witnessed you shaking him like a rag-doll while he hung from you're fist just now," Xander snarled, while Padfoot was growling beside him. "From this point on, I am his guardian. Go ahead and try to take him back. You think his connections to the wizarding world are freaks? They have NOTHING on the connections I have. Try to take him, I dare you. I don't think I'd even bother to go to court with it. I have two vampires who are close, personal friends. I'm sure I could convince one of them to turn you, then torture you for the next hundred years or so. Or maybe I would just have them turn your wife or son, then you could watch them be tortured by their new master," Xander said icily.

Both Vernon and Dudley wet themselves as Harry exited the house, with Willow following behind him. They had a large trunk suspended between the two, and Willow was carrying a cage with an owl. Harry had a red slap mark across his face.

"Willow?" Xander asked, as Petunia exited the house.

"She hit him before I got to his room. I put her behind a barrier until he was finished."

"Remember what I told you," Xander said as he turned around and headed towards the waiting taxi.

"You can't take him," Petunia screeched. "If he doesn't stay here we loose.........."

"Petunia, not another word," Vernon whimpered.

This time it was Willow that turned to the Dursleys. "If he doesn't stay with you what? Ahhhh....you've been getting paid to keep him haven't you? And I bet he hasn't seen a cent of that money in his entire life!"

Both Dursleys glanced at their son.

"Oh, that just figures. Bigots like you make me sick. I don't know what he told you would happen if you came after Harry, but let me tell you what I will do. You ever hurt Harry again, in any way, shape, or form, I will hunt you down and bludgeon you to death with a shovel. Do I make myself clear?" The Dursleys nodded furiously. "Good. Lets go."

"Don't say anything yet," Xander whispered into a shaking Harry's ear. "We'll explain everything in a minute, but right now we gotta get you outta here. Ask Padfoot there, he'll let you know."

Harry glanced down to the dog that had attached itself to his side. "Well?" he asked. He received a nod, 'woof', and nudge towards the waiting taxi in response. Harry accepted it, and headed out of the Dursleys yard, with Willow and Xander following behind.

The three silently placed Harry's trunk in the boot of the taxi, Willow held the cage with the owl as they sat themselves in the back seat. Padfoot sat at Harry's feet and rested his muzzle on the boy's knee. They had traveled for at least five minutes before Willow spoke.

"Xan, are you okay?"

A pale and shaken Xander turned his face to her. "Not at the moment, but I will be. I just bluffed my way through that by pretty much threatening to sic Angelus on them if they tried anything. I wouldn't bat an eye if those...those....ugh, I can't even call them people...anyway, I wouldn't bat an eye if they ended up in prison or even dead. But the thought of threatening torture by Angelus on them makes even me a bit sick. Just give me a few minutes to get myself together."

"Xan, it was only a threat. We both know you would never do anything like that to someone, or allow it to happen. You know as well as I do that with people like them you have to play 'who's got the bigger dick' and you just out dicked them."

Xander and Padfoot snorted, and Xan started a full out belly laugh. Harry's eyes grew as wide as saucers, and he turned a deep beet red. Finally he asked, "Who are you people?"

Willow grinned at him. "Well, you obviously know the lovely canine there. I'm Willow. And the guy there that just proved he had a bigger set of bullocks than you're uncle is Xander. Xan's your cousin. LONG story, and we'll tell you all about it when we get back to the school."

Harry looked questioningly down at Padfoot. Padfoot nodded, and hit Xander's knee with his nose. Xander looked down at the dog for a moment, and realized what he wanted said. "Oh, and Sirius is my uncle."

With that the occupants fell silent on their way back to the Leaky Cauldron.