StZ: Chapter 4
It was a long time before all the hubbub from Halloween blew over. Spike was seen from time to time wandering into the Great Hall (particularly just after lunch - he loved the magic sunshine without that nasty, dusty after-effect). He rarely brought Dru with him - she was shocked at the false stars that lied to her and whispered many naughty things.
Buffy and Giles had been set up with private rooms near to Graditude after the watcher had a lengthy conversation with Dumbledore. Theoretically, the owl that the council had supposedly sent, saying that the watcher and slayer were coming to Hogwarts, had been lost.
Buffy, Xander, Cordy and Willow sat on Xander’s bed one night. Somehow, Willow had managed to alter a TV so that it would work inside the castle. That being the case, an enthusiastic Scooby Group were currently enjoying 1950’s movie night with the sound muted and the cast of teenagers adding voices.
“No!” Xander said, rather melodramatically in a falsetto voice, “I can’t let you go, David dear! I need you too much!”
Cordy added a husk voice for the man on screen, “Then why, Olivia my love, are you currently fondling my telescope? If you need me so much, remove your hands from my star-gazing phallus and put them on my body.”
Buffy threw popcorn at the brunette, “Star-gazing phallus? You’ve been spending too much time in the future fog with Trelawney.” The credits started to roll.
“Stop hogging!” Willow grabbed a handful of popcorn from the bowl, “What movie next?”
Xander shrugged and ejected the current tape, “So…what’s the current status, Buffy? You and Giles staying for a while?”
The blonde nodded, “Yah. Lupin’s all excited that he’s got the living, breathing, slayer at his fingertips. God help me if Oz never shows up…” Buffy punched her fist into her hand in a threatening manner.
Xander chuckled, “Are you gonna help out with the defence class, then? I’d heard rumour you’d be running a few physical classes either in place of other classes or as extra credit.”
The blonde nodded, “He wants me to run a few…I think he just wants to watch me punch through marble.”
“Hey, that’s a pretty good trick!” Xander protested.
Cordy groaned, “Enough school talk! Time for more muted movie fun!!”
Willow agreed and they were soon embroiled in the lived of Jan and Sarah, the alien screwers, “Why does every movie we watch have the chick screwing either an alien or a monster on the sly?”
They all laughed.
Charlie came to visit Xander about a week into the month. He made the excuse that he was there to visit Ron, but it seemed he had something else on his agenda.
“Xander…I heard through the grapevine that you were intending to stay here for the Holiday season.”
Xander nodded noncommittally, “Somethin’ like that. Don’t really feel like goin’ home just now.”
“Well, Mum said I could invite you to The Burrow for the holidays. You’re welcome to come whenever classes let out. Mum even said you could bring a friend, if you like.” Charlie smiled at him.
“Why?”
“Mum’s a softie. She doesn’t think anyone should be alone at Christmastime.”
“Okay. Sounds like fun.”
Charlie had reached his objective. Pig-headed fool that Bill was, he would finally meet Xander, and if Charlie was right, they’d hit it right off.
With that good news under his belt, Xander began to figure out who it was he wanted to take with him, Well, go through the list, Harris.
Buffy? Can’t, she’s embroiled in planning for her world tour. Gonna take off with Giles to see the world and enjoy something other than hunting.
Willow? Can’t, she’s a teacher and has to stay here for the holidays.
Cordy? Possible, but she seems to prefer staying in the castle so that she doesn’t have to explain her sudden passing out and the inevitable horrific migrane which follows…
Who to take……
What Xander hadn’t realized was that as he mentally went over the list of possible victims (whilst sitting at the grad table at breakfast, spoon of oatmeal hovering over its bowl for nearly five minutes) a young woman had snuck up behind him, placed her hands over his eyes, and in a husky voice said, “Guess who.” Followed by a gentle nip at his ear.
“Faith?!” Well, that settled the question of who he was taking with him to the Weasley’s. Now, what to do about the oatmeal on his robes? A quick wandless-wordless spell took care of it.
She chuckled, removed her hands, and slid into the seat next to him, “Just got in. Giles wanted to know I was somewhere safe before he and B too off.”
Xander flashed her a bright grin, “Glad you came. Too bad you had to leave the latest boy toy in SunnyD.”
Faith shrugged, “You know me. Use ‘em and lose ‘em.”
Xander nodded, a wicked smile parting his lips, “Have I got something for you to see. Oh, and you’re coming with me to a friend’s house for the Holidays, and there’s nothing you can do about it.” He finished off his breakfast, stood, and looked expectantly at his friend, “Coming?”
Faith smirked, “I wish.”
Xander rolled his eyes and watched her grab some toast before following him out of the Great Hall, “Come on, we’ll go see the Fang Gang before I have to start classes. Good thing it’s a Friday and tomorrow’s Quidditch.”
Faith looked properly confused as she got dropped off with the three vamps in the dungeons, “I’ll be back for lunch.”
This was going to take some work, but, if fate was with him, he wouldn’t actually have to do anything. For the first time he really didn’t pay much attention to class and the notes he took had nothing to do with Arithmancy and Charms.
Xander woke up and looked out his window, perfect, “Faith! Wake up!” Since her appearance that day in the castle had been a bit of a surprise, there weren’t rooms that could be set in order for her until Monday, so she was sleeping on Xander’s sofa.
It was one of the few non-magical things he’d insisted on - a full pullout sofa for his apartments. Of course, the mattress was magical and conformed perfectly for the comfort of the sleeper, but the sofa itself was good old fashioned, 100% Muggle!
Faith rolled over and tried to smack whoever it was that was trying to get her to become vertical, “It’s Saturday, go away.”
“Of course it’s Saturday, and it’s perfect Quidditch weather! Get up!” He raised his wand level at her, “Or I’ll get you up.”
She groaned and began the arduous task of opening her eyes, then smirked. “Shouldn’t I be the one getting you up?”
Half an hour later they were working on breakfast in the great hall, and fifteen minutes after that they were headed towards the pitch, on the walk towards the pitch, Xander was mentally vowing never to take a tired slayer to breakfast again, at least not when he wasn’t up to not so subtle innuendos and verbal sparring.
“So, why exactly did I need to get up early for this…whatever this is?” She was fingering the binoculars around her neck absently.
“Because, I have a feeling you’re going to become quite the Quidditch fan.” He smirked and they managed to find seats around the middle of the newly erected Grad stands.
Faith sat and looked bored, “Okay. So what do I do?”
“Watch the players…watch anyone who rides their broom onto that field.” He smirked and let his eyes sweep towards the Gryffindor locker room where a young man was leaning on the door jamb. Perfect, he had come back for the game.
Oliver Wood had been accepted to the Beauxbatons grad program and these days was living in France. However, before leaving, he’d managed to get his apparition license and came back to Hogwarts for every Quidditch game as Gryffindor team coach. He was young, hot, and right up Faith’s alley.
Faith grinned as she finally spied the piece of gorgeous, “Xand…?” she nodded towards the Scotsman and Xander grinned, this was going to be a fun game. He leaned back and watched at Gryffindor spectacularly flattened the Ravenclaw team. Faith, however, didn’t seem to be much of a sports fan, oh well, at least she’s enjoying the view. Xander smirked at the practically drooling brunette beside him.
Faith, it seemed, was rather liking the idea of having a new puppy to play with. use and lose, huh? Xander smirked, “Listen. We’re going to Chez Weasley for Christmas and from what I’ve gathered, if you wanna create some kind of havoc, you can plan it then. The twins are still in school, but rather busy with preparing for finals. I’ll intro you now and you three can plan the downfall of Oliver Wood all you like. They’re even on the team, not that you would have noticed because you were rather distracted this morning.” He grinned again and steered Faith towards the Gryffindor table.
“There!” Xander pointed towards twin carrot tops, “Them. They can help you get him.”
“Oh. The twin boys?”
“Fred, George,” he said, doing a very good job not to indicate either when introducing them, quite sure he’d get it wrong, “This is Faith…and she has a scheme for you.”
“Really?”
“A new scheme?”
“How exciting!”
“Who’s the victim??”
Xander laughed, “Oliver Wood.”
“Fantastic!”
“Brilliant!”
“Smashing!”
“Fab!”
With a smirk he left her with the Dynamic Duo to plot the romantic downfall of Quidditch Coach Olive Wood and headed towards the high table to talk to Dumbledore, it was already three weeks into November, after all.
Bang. Crash. “Oh fuck!” This was going to be fun, a grouchy, weary, and tired, Professor Snape decided. All students ought to be in bed at this time of night. He tickled a pear and the portrait swung open.
That bloody American was standing in the middle of the kitchen. Obviously a bag of flour had just exploded and Harris was sitting in the middle of a white floor trying to help some giggling house elves to clean it up.
“Well, well, well. What have we here? Wandering the castle at night? Sneaking food from the kitchen?”
Xander looked up, realized who it was, and smirked slightly. There was something about that smirk that disconcerted Snape - it was all too familiar. He might have recognized it, perhaps, if he looked in the mirror a little more often.
“Welcome to Xader’s house of Ritual Gourd Slaughter! All cans of pumpkin beware for you are tinned and taste good in pastry!” He watched Snape be rather nonplussed, “Sorry, Professor,” Xander said, “I have a note.” He stood up and handed Snape the slip of parchment he’d procured at breakfast the other day.
The professor read it: “I, Albus Dumbledore, give Alexander Harris full right to use the school kitchens on Wednesday evening for cultural reasons.” Snape looked incredulous, “Cultural reasons, Mr. Harris?”
Xander rolled his eyes, “I’m a Yankee? Remember? And Tomorrow’s Thanksgiving!!” Xander turned back to his flour mess muttering, “Uncouth barbarian.”
“I see.”
“No, you don’t!” Xander began to build up a good rant, “It’s a cultural practice. I am compelled to make as big as mess as possible whilst attempting to create pumpkin pie! Ask Giles! He’d tell you…at least about the mess thing. We did Thanksgiving at his place last year. Of course… I don’t think he’s forgiven me yet.”
“I see.”
“If you wait long enough Willow will be heading down to save me from making the pastry! She’s really good at it, ya know.”
“No. I didn’t-“
“Xander? You in here?” Instead of the one head that he expected to see peeking in the kitchen door, he saw two.
“Cordy! Willow! Please come save me! You know I can’t make pastry worth crap. Where’s Faith?”
Cordy grinned, “I thought you’d be here. Always were a sucker for a good, healthy pie.” Cordy shot a glare at Professor Snape, keeping him from saying anything, “And Faith’s living it up with the Gruesome Twosome, something about suddenly becoming an avid fan of Quidditch?”
The two girls entered the room, forcing professor Snape to fully enter the room and take part in the sniffing of scents running rampant throughout the room. Oh, drat. Willow began pulling out bowls, handing them one by one to Severus, “You don’t mind, do you?” She smiled dazzlingly and he decided there was no way he was getting out of this one. He would have to stay. They’d probably even make him eat pie. Drat.
The next hour was a haze - literally. Xander managed to knock over one of the dustpans of flour, leaving a thin, white mist in the air.
Severus watched the three out of the corner of his eye. Apart from the fact that Willow barely knew Cordelia, and Xander had not had much time with either lately, they moved like a well oiled machine. Laughing, making a rather large mess, and teasing the house elves. Xander also kept pinching bits of pastry and sharing it with the three elves who worked in the kitchens late at night. If he wasn’t so against the American, he would almost say that he enjoyed spending time with the three of them.
Two hours later there were three pumpkin pies, one apple, and one chocolate pecan pie cooling on the sideboard. “Who wants what?” Willow looked around. “Dumbledore gets the apple because he asked for it specifically. However, the four of use need to figure out who’s getting pumpkin and who gets the pecan?”
Although he wouldn’t admit it, Severus, when hard pressed, would say that the pecan looked more than mouth-watering.
Willow looked around again and nodded, “That’s that. We’re playing cards for it. Winner gets the pecan. Mipsy?” She looked at one of the house elves, “Can you get me another bag of pecans? We need them for betting.”
Mipsy gave a wobbly bow and ran off, coming back in a flash with a large bag of candied pecans and two decks of cards. She smiled.
Willow beamed, took the card and pecans and said, “Thank you!” whilst giving the little elf a hug (who ran off and hid before bursting into tears of joy). “All right. Xander, you, Cordelia, and Severus divide up the pecans. I’m going to shuffle up the deck and deal.”
The three began to divide the pecans, Severus tried to sneak a few extra and was caught, which led to a verbal brawl before Xander nipped the three extra that Snape had and ate them.
Willow smiled, “Alright, enough squabbling. Deal Time! Spades is Trumps.”
Cordy pulled a couple of pieces of paper out of her satchel and drew up score charts and the games commenced.
Fifteen minutes later Xander was nibbling candied pecans and staring at a hand of shit because he couldn’t play, “You know, Willow, I didn’t actually know that you could play Whist for money….pecans.” He quirked an eyebrow.
Willow smiled serenely.
The girls drove a hard game, and several times Xander worried he would run out of pecans (the fact that he kept eating them didn’t help). However, in the end, he came out victorious and had the pile of pecans to prove it.
Severus also was sitting on a large pile of pecans (larger than Xander’s because he didn’t munch them…as much). “So, Harris. That chocolate pecan pie will either be yours…or mine.” A wicked smile appeared on his lips.
Xander mirrored it.
Cordy winked at Willow and dealt the card, “Play nicely, boys.”
Snape would’ve been fazed - it had been years since he’d been a) included and b) one of the “boys” - but he was more interested with the three aces and run of small trumps that were forming in his hand.
Xander watched Snape’s face, ignoring his card. They weren’t gonna change between now and the dealing finish.
Xander looked at his hand and smirked. There would be no betting this round (which meant that Xander would up his ingestion of candied pecans) - whoever won got the pie…and pie was important.
Cordy walked through the portrait hole with Willow, “Is that actually possible?”
Willow nodded, “Merely highly improbable - and in Hogwarts, anything is possible.” Willow winked.
Xander sat alone in the kitchen (Snape had stormed out after seeing that Xander was dealt with an arc of the high trumps) enjoying his Thanksgiving chocolate pecan pie, “Life is sweet, eh Mipsy?” He handed the happy elf a slice of pie and she nodded.
Two hours later Mipsy tiptoed downstairs into the dungeons with a covered bowl and knocked on one of the doors. A (faux) irate Snape answered the door, “Yes?”
The frightened elf extended the bowl towards the professor, “Sir, Master Harris has sent this for you, sir.”
Severus took the bowl, “Thank you.” He turned and re-entered his rooms, slamming the door behind him. There was a note atop the tea towel that covered the bowl; You’re a sore loser, Snape. Cheer up.
Inside was a slice of his chocolate pecan pie - alamode, with whipped cream.
The next morning there was a slice of the same pie sitting on the Headmaster’s desk, “Thank you, Mipsy.” Albus smiled at the house elf as she bowed her way out of the office. “How nice of Professor Snape.”
Xander had seen the house elf make its way through the Great Hall with the slice of pie on a plate. It was obviously the slice he had sent to Professor Snape the evening before and the professor was making a rather large show of not accepting it. Interestingly enough, however, it seemed only half as wide as it had last evening. Grouch. Thinks he’s getting away with it. No Such Luck, Pops.
“Bill, I swear, if you continue in the bent you’re going to end up an Old Man.”
Bill chuckled lightly and looked around their room, enjoying being hope for the start of the holidays. Ron, the Twins, and Ginny would be home soon and Molly was doing everything she could to make home feel Christmasy for them, “Listen, Charlie, just ‘cause I’m not dating anyone seriously doesn’t mean I’m unhappy…”
Charlie shook his head, “Bill, not dating seriously? Not dating at all! Listen, I have a friend coming from Hogwarts for the holidays for you to meet since you didn’t actually ever manage to go spend some time with your younger siblings this semester.”
Bill sighed, “Don’t fix me up, Charlie, I don’t need you shoving me at some pretty piece of Azkaban-bait with a cute ass.”
Charlie just chuckled, “Promise me you’ll keep an open mind?”
“Anything to get you off my back!”
Xander wandered down towards the dungeons, intent on telling Spike and Dru his plans for the Holidays when he heard the faint sound of moaning coming from one of the potions labs. Sneaking up to the door, that a minor oversight had left partially open, he peered in and saw his Snape and Angelus going at it again, this time against a wall instead of over the professor’s desk.
“What’s up, Whelp?” Spike noticed Xander to be slightly subdued as he walked into the dungeons.
“Do you have any idea how traumatic it is for a mortal to find his parents snogging….twice?!”
Spike chuckled, “Angelus is just havin’ a good time. He hasn’t seen old grouchy pants in a long time and they missed each other…kinda romantic in a talk, dark, and broody kind of way.
Xander shook his head and gave his siblings hugs and kisses before he left, “I’ll be back early in the New Year, so don’t spend yourselves completely on partying.” He smiled and left, making sure to give large berth around the potions classroom.
The red and blue clad teams walked out onto the pitch with Madam Hooch. Faith had taken a liking to the sport and she had insisted that she and Xander sit in on the last match of the term.
The voice of Lee Jordan broke into the stand, “Madam Hooch releases the bludgers and snitch and throws the quaffle and the game is on! The quaffle is immediately taken by Angelina Johnson who passes to Alicia Spinnet. Those two lovely ladies have obviously been practicing together in the off season!”
“I think I rather like quidditch.” The slayer said to Xander as they left the stadium.
“Or at least the coach.” He grinned and they laughed as their breath rose in white clouds in front of the castle’s front doors.
A few hours later, Faith was seated (in rather skimpy, black satin jammies) at the foot of Xander’s bed. “So…any ideas that I haven’t already heard from Fred and George?”
“For?” Xander was leafing through a set of drawings that Angelus had recently completed and given to him as an end of semester present.
“Oliver!” She seemed rather exasperated.
“Oh.” He put down the pictures, “Well, I really can’t help you there, old girl.” He smiled, “Get dressed. It’s time we got out of here anyway.”
Faith shrugged, “We goin’ somewhere fancy?”
“No. We’re going to The Burrow to catch the end of the quidditch celebration party.”
Faith smiled and hopped off the bed, quickly slipping into jeans and a halter top, “Okay. Ready to go.”
Xander dressed too (tight black jeans and a button up blue silk top). He then grabbed a small leather bag from a hook and opened it, throwing some of the green powder into his bedroom fire, “Follow me, Faith-y. We’re crashing a victory party!”
He stepped in and clearly shouted, “The Burrow!”
Faith followed and moments later they each fell out of the fire at the Weasley’s home. There was partying coming from the front yard where there were a few long tables set up and hovering, large, unpopable bubbles in varying partying colours that gave off enough light to make the entire yard glow, “This is fantastic!”
“No shit!” Xander grinned around the group, picking out at least five flaming red heads. It felt like a real home, something which he had not been to in a long time.
Faith’s eyes locked on the dark head of Oliver Wood, “Mmmm…yummy.”
Xander left Faith to enjoy the view and circulated for about thirty minutes before being grabbed by yet another redhead. This one was Charlie Weasley, “Xander! You made it! And even in time for the party!”
Xander nodded mutely.
“Xan, I’ve got someone for you to meet.” He grabbed the younger man’s arm and dragged him to a slightly quieter part of the party.
“Bill Weasley, Xander Harris. Xander, this is my brother, Bill.”
Continue to Chapter 5: Potions, Faith, and Bill