Harry Potter and the Vampire Slayer

Harry Potter and the Vampire Slayer
A crossover story by Charlie
challenged by Rose!


Disclaimer: Buffy The Vampire Slayer and Angel: The Series are the property of Mutant Enemy Inc. in association with Kuzui Enterprises, Inc /Sandollar Television, Inc, Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment Inc, and/or their related entities or assignees. The author of this fic is not affiliated with any of the above mentioned companies. The Harry Potter series is property of Joanne K. Rowling, the WB (film rights), Bloomsbury and their related entities or assignees.
This is a non-profit unofficial fanfic. No copyright infringement intended.

Characters: Buffy, Spike, Willow; and the usual suspects from Hogwarts!
Synopsis: Buffy and Willow are asked to protect a well-known student of the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry - now in his final year - from being assassinated before his graduation. However, they are not the only ones of the Scoobies to be there.
Pairings probably Spike/Buffy, Spike/Hermione, Buffy/Harry, maybe Ron/Hermione or Harry/Hermione.
Spoilers: Buffy S7, Angel S 5, HP up to OoP. The story begins after NFA.
Author's Note: A special thanks to the wonderful Cile for kindly agreeing to beta this for me, and to Rose! for providing such an interesting challenge.

PROLOGUE

Buffy Summers was basking in the sun, the warm rays soothing her skin. She deserved a break. Her best friend Willow Rosenberg was sitting next to her at their favourite gelateria in Rome, meditating upon ordering a second coppa grande with lots of whipped cream for them.
"Isn't this the perfect day?" Buffy asked, putting on her sunglasses and turning her head towards the clear azure sky. Willow agreed and ordered another cappuccino along with a glass of water. She was glad to see Buffy that relaxed after all the trouble she had been through in the past year, culminating in the ugly scene when Buffy had broken up with her new boyfriend, a charming but unsteady fellow who was known in the underworld by the name of The Immortal. He and Buffy had been fighting side by side and sharing a bed for almost a year, and Willow had hoped Buffy was over the chaos that had been her love life, but then everything changed. Things were said, furniture and china were broken, The Immortal had gone. Not that Willow blamed him. A year of perpetual harmony was a new record for Buffy and her relationships with men.
"Life is good," Buffy said, leaning back in her chair, with her eyes closed. "Summer in the city, end of term, no demons to destroy, no one needs my help, no one's in mortal danger..."
All this, while an all too familiar forty-something ex-librarian in a tweed suit was risking his life crossing the street to get to them.
"Uh-oh," Willow said when she spotted him, a look of panic on his face which had little to do with the cars speeding past him, the drivers calling him names and almost overrunning him. "Giles is coming over. And what's that on his shoulder?"
Buffy's eyes flew open. She rubbed her eyes, not quite believing what she saw and immediately realizing that her lazy day was over.
"Those Italian drivers are a nightmare!" Rupert Giles had finally reached them, panting from his run. "Sorry to bother you, Buffy, but I need your help. Someone is in mortal danger!"
Buffy blinked, blinded by the sunlight, not seeing her watcher properly. "Is that an owl on your shoulder?"
"What?" Giles looked at the brown barn owl perched on his shoulder absently, "Oh, er, yes."
Willow grabbed a chair from a nearby table and offered him her water.
Giles sat down and gratefully accepted the glass of water, pouring a little of it into the unused ash tray on the table. The owl jumped from his shoulder and nipped at the water.
Buffy's eyes widened. "Giles, I'm a vampire slayer, I've seen a lot, but... is that an owl drinking Willow's water?"
"A messenger owl, to be precise," Giles explained.
"I've seen that owl before," Willow realized, "When I was staying with the witch circle in Cornwall." A shadow fell over her face when she remembered the reason why she had been there. "Witches and wizards sometimes use owls for communication."
"Of course," Buffy said ironically, "Why email when you can have owls?"
Giles began to clean his glasses. "Buffy, this is serious. I wouldn't have disturbed you and Willow if it was not important, I know how busy the two of you have been this year, finding and training new slayers. The thing is, I don't know who else to ask. I got this owl this morning from my old friend Albus Dumbledore."
Buffy blinked. "What kind of a name is that?"
"You haven't heard of Albus Dumbledore?" Willow asked in a shock. "He's probably the most famous living wizard! He's running a school for young witches and wizards, in a secret place only accessible to those who know some magic."
"I know, Dawn's got all those bestselling children's books, what are they called again, Barry Trotter?"
"Fortunately, no one believes they are more than a good story. Truth be told, they are pretty accurate," Giles added.
Buffy studied his expression. "You must be kidding me." She soon realized he was not.
"Albus has received some unsettling news recently," Giles explained, unfolding a scroll of paper which had been tied to the owl's leg. "One of his students is supposed to be assassinated. There is a prediction foretelling that this student and his mortal enemy are to fight each other to the death. Albus fears the boy's life is in danger. The authorities in the wizarding world have refused to help or even acknowledge the threat. It is the boy's final year in school, he has loads of schoolwork to do to prepare for graduation, plus he is still an adolescent, so Albus is afraid his student might not be as vigilant as he ought to be. He has asked us for help. The boy has faced his nemesis before and barely escaped with his life. I can't think of anyone more fit to protect the child than the most experienced vampire slayer alive and the most powerful witch ever trained outside of Hogwarts's walls."
Willow arched an eyebrow. "Thanks for the flowers, Giles, but I'm a witch, not a bodyguard," she said doubtfully.
"But don't you realize the possibilities?" Giles tried to make the job sound more attractive, "It is an excellent opportunity to exchange ideas with the most renowned instructors of magic in the world."
Willow beamed. "I never thought of that."
Buffy sighed. "Why me? Why do you need a slayer?"
Giles cleared his voice. "I forgot to mention... Dumbledore suspects that a vampire has been charged with the assassination. They have little experience with vampires at Hogwarts, that is why they requested an expert, a team of three experts, actually. Dumbledore especially requested the two of you, and truth be told, I don't have anyone else I can trust on this sensitive matter. So, will you do it?"
Buffy smiled at her watcher. "To serve and protect," she said dramatically. "That boy needs our help, we'll go."
Willow nodded. "Count me in."
Giles looked relieved. "You're leaving for London tomorrow. There you'll get on the Hogwarts Express at King's Cross station, which will take you to the school. No one must know you're a vampire slayer. You will be an integral part of school life, incognito, of course. This way, you can watch over the student discreetly and effectively."
"Back to school, yay," Buffy commented. "But aren't we a little old to be students?"
"Don't be silly, Buffy," Giles chided her. "Of course you are not going there as students! You have officially been appointed as the new guest professors. Hogwarts currently has a vacancy for a teaching post, what was it again..." He scanned the letter from Dumbledore. "...ah, here. Defence Against The Dark Arts."
Buffy grinned. "That's what we're really good at."
Giles looked satisfied. "So that is settled. If you will excuse me now, I have to get back to Albus immediately."
"Giles, one more thing," Willow said. "You said they requested three experts. Who's coming with us?"
Giles shrugged. "I have no idea, but Dumbledore said he has a candidate with a lot of expertise in the field of vampire fighting. I'm sure you'll get along."
*
Spike frowned at the owl perched on his window sill, waiting eagerly for an answer. "Sod off," Spike said harshly. But the owl remained where it was, eyeing him reproachfully.
Spike sighed. "All right, all right, you can tell the old man I'll do it!"
The owl stretched out her leg. Annoyed, Spike scribbled a brief note on a piece of paper and attached it firmly to the owl's leg. "But if those two vampire experts I'm supposed to be working with turn out to be ugly old hags getting on my nerves, he can go looking for another Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher!"

Chapter 1 - Back to School
Harry Potter was bored. Nothing had happened during the long summer after his sixth year at Hogwarts. In a way, this was good because it meant a rest from all the action of his latest adventure, in which he had solved the mystery of the half-blood prince. In another way, it unsettled him. There was still a threat hanging over his head like a dark cloud, next to which the dark prophecy about him and Lord Voldemort - "Neither shall live while the other survives" - seemed the tiniest of problems. His seventh and last year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry was approaching, and with it, his NEWTs, the final examinations leading either to the career as an auror like he’d been dreaming of since he’d taken his OWLs two years ago, or to a future he could not even fathom. He remembered Professor McGonnagall's words in his career advice appointment, when she had told him she would help him become an auror, even if it was the last thing she did. Above all, he did not want to fail her.
Thus were Harry's thoughts on his eighteenth birthday. As every year, the Dursleys had refused to give him a present. All he got from Uncle Vernon was a bar of soap and a box of dog biscuits, special offer at the local supermarket. His cousin Dudley had murmured something that sounded only remotely like "Happy birthday!" and more like "I hate you, freak!" Harry had buried any hopes of having a proper party with all his friends from Hogwarts and lots of cake, but he was determined to have one as soon as he got back to school.
The faint knock at his door startled him. Nobody bothered to knock in this house. "Yeah?" Harry reluctantly opened the door.
Aunt Petunia looked around carefully, making sure no one saw her, then she came in.
"What is it, Aunt Petunia?" Harry asked, puzzled.
"I don't have time for explanations. If you breathe a word to your Uncle Vernon or Dudley, you can pack your bags and stay away," she said without explanation. Then she handed him a small cardboard box. "It's your eighteenth birthday, Harry. This was your mother's. She wanted you to have it as soon as you were of age. Said she wanted you to have it when you were old enough... If Vernon finds out I kept this waste of space over all these years... so keep your big mouth shut, Harry Potter!" She left as abruptly as she had come.
Harry looked at the box for a long moment, his heart pounding in his chest. He could virtually feel the power emanating from the box. His hands were shaking with excitement when he opened it.
"What the hell...?!"
The box contained nothing but a twelve inch long, sharpened piece of crude wood. Harry did not understand the purpose of it all until he retrieved a small envelope from the bottom of the box, addressed to Lily Potter. With fleeting fingers, he opened the envelope and had a look at the bleached card in it. He frowned. It contained a personal message to his mother, but he did not understand the words, nor the strange gift in the box. The card read:
Sorry I can't make it to the wedding, but here's something borrowed for you. It's my lucky stake, so I'm gonna need it back. Congratulations to you both! Your friend Nikki Wood. New York, May 1976.
*
"It must be here," Willow said, pointing at the barrier separating platforms nine and ten. "This is where the gateway should be. Take my hand."
Buffy hesitated. "We're just running against that barrier?"
"Nope," Willow corrected, "Not against it, but through it."
Buffy looked doubtful. "What if it doesn't work?"
Willow shrugged. " Then I guess we're gonna hit our heads really hard."
Buffy clutched her suitcase in one hand and squeezed Willow's hand with the other.
"On three." Willow took a deep breath. "One, two, three."
Together, they broke into a run and passed through the secret entrance to platform nine and three quarters.
The impressive Hogwarts Express was still puffing smoke over the platform—red, green and gold—with the Hogwarts crest shimmering in the bright sunshine. Parents were seeing their kids onto the school train everywhere, hectically, giving a last bit of well-meant advice.
"Don't forget your warm scarf!"
"I'm eighteen, gran, I know how to look after myself!"
"Right, this is why I have to send you a howler every first week of term along with all the things you forgot to pack!"
"Don't go near the magical creatures, Ginny dear."
"I'm taking Care of Magical Creatures, mum, I'm supposed to be near them!"
"Well, then, take care, all right?"
"No running on the platform! What is your name?"
"Hermione, we're over here!"
"Ron, have you had a good holiday? I hope you haven't forgotten about Harry's surprise party?!"
"Christ, not so loud, Hermione! You might as well advertise it in the Daily Prophet!"
"Draco, I was beginning to think you were late!"
"Crabbe should have saved us some seats, let's move."
Buffy watched in fascination how the students were getting on the train.
"Hurry, Buffy," Willow said, "We don't want to miss our train! We're teachers, after all, we have to be good role models."
With a smile, Buffy followed her best friend. Just like old times.
They were indeed late. By the time they got on the train, most compartments were crowded with students.
"Can't we go somewhere more quiet?" Buffy asked. She followed her friend through virtually the whole train, hearing the curious whispers of the students along with open speculation about who they might be, meeting many nervous eyes.
Finally, they reached a compartment which seemed unoccupied. There was no noise from within, and when they opened the door, they stood in darkness because the curtains had been drawn.
"This one looks empty," Willow commented. She made to open the curtains to let some sunshine in when suddenly a shadow moved and caught her wrist.
"Well, it isn't, and I would appreciate if you left the curtains alone. There is a light switch next to the door," a male voice said. He could see them without any light. Part of the advantage of being a vampire. He could see Willow's new haircut, and he could see how beautiful Buffy looked. Relaxed, at ease, happy. It cut him like a knife to see her like that, unprepared. He had felt her presence before she had even opened the door to the compartment, but the only way to avoid meeting her would have been out of the window into the sunlight. He cursed himself for not thinking of this. Of course - who else would Albus Dumbledore consult when it came to vampires?
Buffy shuddered. She knew that voice all too well. Almost panicking, she flicked on the light. Her suspicion was confirmed. "Spike."
Willow looked surprised. "Spike!" She turned to Buffy. "Look, it's Spike!"
Spike glared at the women. "What the bloody hell are you doing here?"
"I could ask you the same question," Buffy said coldly.
"I was invited," Spike said. "How about you?"
"Albus Dumbledore asked me for help, so I came," Buffy replied.
Spike cast her a bitter glance. "You didn't when Angel called you. You didn't help us when we were fighting the armies of hell."
"Thought they were your new buddies at Wolfram & Hart," Buffy said sarcastically.
"Angel's plan was to infiltrate Wolfram & Hart!" Spike disagreed. "But you were too busy with your new lover to realize the difference, of course!" All the rage and frustration he had felt from the moment Angel had told the team they were alone in the fight and shouldn’t expect any help from Giles or Buffy swept over him now. Buffy had abandoned them, left them to their fates. It hurt him more than he could stand.
"Intentionally or not, the senior partners were playing you all," Buffy yelled at him, "So don't you dare to judge me!"
"Guys, please, let's not fight," Willow pleaded.
"Yeah, that's what we told the dragon as well," Spike retorted. "Strangely enough, it did not give a damn. If Faith and her crew from Cleveland hadn't shown at the very last moment, all of us would be dust."
"Faith had instructions not to intervene. She and the Cleveland slayers' behaviour is considered insubordination," Buffy replied.
"Call it what you want, I have a more appropriate word for it: trust. She trusted Angel to do the right thing. She never gave up on us - unlike you. If you hadn't been so damn self-righteous, if you'd helped us when we needed you, Fred, Wes and Gunn could still be alive. Their blood is on your hands, Buffy. Not on mine. You're gonna have to live with this." Spike grabbed his bag and leather duster and made to leave the compartment. "I'm not working with you. Goodbye."
"Guys..." Willow began, but Buffy cut her off.
"Oh, no, you're not going anywhere, we are! I'm not staying near you for another minute!" Buffy protested. "I'm disgusted with you."
"Guys..." Willow tried to intervene, but Spike ignored her.
"Why, because I'm not dead? You didn't seem too surprised to see me, though."
"That's none of your business, but Andrew told me everything about your and Angel's so-called rescue mission. That was definitely a record as stupid schemes go, even for you!" Buffy tried to pull her bag past him out of the compartment, but it got stuck in the door frame. She pulled, but the only result was that the handle was torn off.
"Guys," Willow said for the third time, but again found herself thoroughly ignored.
"Can I help you?" Spike asked automatically, immediately biting his tongue for asking.
"No, thanks, I don't need your help," Buffy snapped.
"GUYS!" Willow yelled resolutely, "SIT DOWN! None of us is going anywhere! The train has already left King's Cross, and we're on our way to Hogwarts!"
With shocked expressions, Buffy and Spike realized she was correct. The train had started to move and was picking up speed. Willow looked at them, sounding upset. "You're forgetting about one thing: we're here on a mission, we are to protect an innocent school boy and prevent him from dying. If anything happens to the kid because the two of you have to dig up what's past, if he gets killed because you are being so stubborn, I'm gonna haunt you day and night!" Her face was so serious it almost scared Spike. "We're all on the same side," she continued more gently, "Albus Dumbledore wouldn't have requested us if it were any different. You may not trust each other, fine with me. But let's trust Dumbledore on this. Okay?"
Buffy nodded reluctantly. Willow had a fair point.
Spike swore under his breath, but he nodded slowly.
"Good. That's a start." Without another word, Willow sat down and unpacked a book. Hogwarts: A History.
Buffy set her luggage down. She avoided looking at Spike. "Wesley's... dead?" she asked in a small voice.
"Yeah," Spike said quietly and sat down in the seat opposite of Willow.
Buffy took a seat next to the witch. "How?" she asked.
It caused Spike obvious difficulty to talk about the details of that day. He reached into his duster and retrieved a cigarette and a lighter. He rose. "Later. I need a smoke." He closed the door to the compartment behind him.
Willow looked up from her book. "Why didn't you tell him?" she asked.
Buffy frowned. "Tell him what?"
"C'mon, Buffy, I know you called Faith behind Giles's back and asked her to get her ass down to Los Angeles when it counted! You might as well admit it."
Buffy blushed deeply. "I don't know where you got that idea," she said evasively and turned her attention to the landscape.
*
Spike walked a few steps down the corridor before he lit the cigarette and inhaled the smoke. It helped him to calm down a little. The slayer had come back into his life like a hurricane, and the experience of seeing her was overwhelming. His conflicting emotions were driving him insane.
"Smoking is not permitted on the Hogwarts Express," a slightly amused, yet clearly accusatory female voice said behind him.
Spike turned around to see a young lady dressed in black robes. A shining badge attached to these robes showed the Hogwarts crest and read "Head Girl". Her hair was curly, the kind of hair that could not be tamed. She was about eighteen years of age and was carrying a heavy load of books.
When he smiled at her, her cheeks reddened adorably. "Then let this be our little secret," he told her in a low voice.
"S... Sorry," the girl stumbled, "Thought you were a student."
Spike's face lit up considerably. "Thanks for the compliment, luv. Sorry to disappoint you, Head Girl, can't give me detention for smoking in the corridor, I'm afraid."
"I'm really sorry," the girl repeated, blushing deeper. "You must be the new Defence teacher?"
"Spike," he told her, extending his hand.
The girl took his hand reluctantly. "Hermione Granger," she introduced herself. "Nice to meet you, Professor Spike."
Spike frowned at her for a moment. Professor Spike. He looked at the cigarette in his hand. Then he swore under his breath, opened the window, threw the cigarette out and closed the window.
"You didn't have to do that," Hermione hurried to say.
Spike nodded. "Oh but I do, I'm supposed to be a role model."
Not sure if he was being sarcastic, Hermione just smiled faintly.
Spike gestured at her books. "Research?"
"NEWTs," Hermione informed him. "My final examinations at Hogwarts. You didn't set any books for your class, did you?"
Spike shrugged. "No, it was... sort of a last minute arrangement. I didn't know I was going to teach at Hogwarts until two days ago."
"Oh," Hermione said. She cast her eyes down, not really knowing what to say.
Spike felt a little uncomfortable as well. The wicked part of himself tried to think of an excuse to put Hermione Granger into detention as soon as they got to Hogwarts, but he dismissed the thought immediately. "See you in class, then," he said.
Hermione clutched her books tightly. "Yes." She walked back to her compartment as fast as possible, slamming the door shut behind her, panting.
"Have you seen a ghost?" Ginny Weasley asked her, puzzled.
"I just ran into the new Defence teacher," Hermione told the younger student. "And I used to think Gilderoy Lockhart was gorgeous!"
The disgusted and slightly annoyed look her friend Ron Weasley gave her was completely lost on Hermione.
For a change of subject, Ron addressed Harry. "So, what did you get for your birthday?"
Harry snorted. "Bar of soap and dog biscuits."
"We have more presents for you," Hermione said compassionately, "Just couldn't send them to you, would have been too much for the poor owls. Eighteen, that's special." She winked at Ron, hoping desperately he had not forgotten anything for the surprise party.
"I got your card, though," Harry said. "And the jumper with matching scarf and gloves in Gryffindor colours from your mum, Ron. Thanks."
Ron and Hermione beamed at each other.
Harry hesitated. There was something else he needed to talk to them about.
"What is it, Harry?" Hermione asked.
"It's probably nothing," Harry replied reluctantly, "Just... Aunt Petunia has been acting off lately."
"How?" Ron asked.
"She almost said Happy Birthday. And she gave me this." He reached into his trunk and produced the cardboard box. "It was my mother's, to be given to me on my eighteenth birthday. But it doesn't make any sense."
Hermione took a look into the box and glanced at him in confusion. "That is a stake, Harry. It's used to slay a vampire."
"I know what a stake is good for," Harry said harshly. "But why would my mum want me to have it? I thought we learned that vampires cannot enter a house uninvited, so what danger could there be? Even if I was threatened by a vampire, he could not get into Hogwarts uninvited, could he?"
"Maybe a vampire sorcerer," Ron suggested, "Maybe he could Apparate in the Common Room."
Hermione cast him a mortifying look. "How often do I have to tell you people? YOU CAN'T APPARATE IN HOGWARTS' GROUNDS!"
Ron smiled sheepishly. She fell for it every single time.
"What about the card?" Harry insisted. "Nikki Wood. No one ever mentioned her to me."
"You should ask Dumbledore about this," Hermione told him.
"Yeah, he'll be thrilled if I come to him about a rotten piece of wood which is thirty years old." He sighed. "Maybe I'll ask Lupin or Moody next time I see them."
That moment, the witch with the food trolley appeared at the door, and Ron and Hermione were too busy purchasing Bertie Bott's All Flavour Beans and Chocolate Frogs to think about the mysterious stake any longer.
*
When after endless hours the train jerked to a halt at Hogsmeade Station, Buffy, Willow and Spike gathered their belongings and got off the train, moving out through the station along with a crowd of students. To their surprise, the students were now all wearing black robes and pointed hats. The three teachers from Sunnydale felt strangely out of place among them.
"Smells of pine trees and lake water," Spike remarked. It was a clear night with starry skies above them. Buffy indeed spotted the pine trees, they were lining the path down to a lake.
Someone was calling for the first-years to line up. As Willow had read in Hogwarts: A History, first-year students traditionally went to school by boat over the lake, while carriages were provided for the older students.
"Wow," Willow gasped when she saw the creatures pulling those carriages. Reptilian, skeletal horses of shiny black colour, with vast black leathery wings. So far, she had only seen those creatures in Giles's books. Willow walked forward and stroked one of horses gently. "Hi," she said softly, "So you're taking us to Hogwarts, aren't you? Good girl."
"Talking to empty air," a voice drawled next to her.
Willow frowned at the student. He was not very tall, yet probably a graduate student, his long blond, almost white hair tied to a ponytail, his black robes adorned with the silver and green colours of Slytherin house. "I'm not talking to empty air, I was talking to the Thestral," she explained. "Can't you see it?"
"Only the losers can see Thestrals." There was something unsettling and cold in the student's smirk. "Let's see, red hair, shabby clothes, must be one of the Weasley clan! Pretty old for a new student. Failed your OWLs for the, let me guess, sixth time?"
Willow turned away from the Thestral to face him. "It's rude to judge people by appearance," she said, sounding a little irritated. "And I'm not old, I'm..."
"... about thirty, I guess." He looked her up and down. "Y'know what? I like experience in a woman, though I don't normally get my hands dirty on Weasley folk. But if you're really nice to me..."
Willow stared at the student with disgust.
She was relieved to see Spike appearing next to the young man. "Is there a problem?" he asked, towering over the Slytherin. He side-glanced at Willow. "Everything alright, Professor Rosenberg?"
Willow's eyes widened at the sound of that.
The Slytherin murmured a swear word.
"What's your name?" Spike asked in a strict voice.
"D-Draco Malfoy," the Slytherin replied reluctantly, and, was suddenly very pale and quiet.
"Draco Malfoy, Sir," Spike corrected him. "I'll be watching you, Malfoy."
With a dirty look at Willow, Draco Malfoy withdrew.
"Did that git bother you?" Spike asked Willow with concern.
"Nah." Willow shook her head. "I'm ok. But if he's in my class, he's gonna have the worst year of his life!"
Spike grinned. "That's the spirit." He took Willow's luggage and stored it carefully. Together, they followed Buffy into the interior of the carriage, which took off towards Hogwarts Castle.
TBC...