Aug. 15th - Spilled Secrets
Title: Spilled Secrets
Author: 3am_moonlight
Crossover: BtVS / Harry Potter (J.K.R.)
Rating: Gen / Teen
Word Count: 1,924
Timeline: BtVS: Post-Chosen & HP: Prisoner of Azkaban
Disclaimer: The Buffyverse belongs to Joss Whedon and HP belongs to J.K.R.
Summary: In which Kreacher accidentally spills Buffy's beans.
Author's Note: Written for Day 15 of the 2019 August Fic-A-Day.
A/N: Follows ' Narrow Escape', ' Hiding Places', ' Fly Away With Me' and ' Talking'.
After getting a quick background on each other they began exploring the house a little. It was surprisingly free of any dust or decay despite having been left unattended for decades, but when she inquired about it the only answer she got was 'magic'. It was decorated with furniture made of heavy, dark wood and expensive fabrics. The color theme seemed to mostly rely on shades of brown, green, and silver. It was elegant if not very old-fashioned.
Sirius left her to her own devices with nothing more than a "You can look around but be very careful before you touch anything or attempt to enter a new room. My family is bloody dark and left traps and curses everywhere." Then he disappeared deeper into the house to do who-knows-what.
Buffy gave the entranceway a wary look but decided she couldn't stay there, and carefully walked over to the nearest door, opposite the one Sirius had left through. Once she was close enough she held her hand right above the door handle and tried to sense any magic, good or bad. The only result she got was the same as in the rest of the room; ambient magic with a dark evil-ish undertone. If the rest of the house was like this then it needed to be cleansed.
The door led to an equally darkly-furnished parlor. If it had been the house of a family with a normal income she would've said the living room, but the entire place just reeked of centuries gone by. As soon as she stepped over the sill all of the candles in the room lit up, illuminating everything. She definitely wasn't in Kansas anymore.
It took a good half-hour before the escaped prisoner came back carrying what could only be a wand. She had been looking around for a while, but while everything in the room looked expensive and highly valuable it wasn't her style. The empty picture frames were also strange and gave off a sense of something she couldn't place.
"All that for a piece of wood?" She couldn't help asking in a teasing tone.
"They took my wand when they placed me in Azkaban, so this one isn't a perfect fit but it will work well enough. It belonged to a great-great-uncle or something." He pointed it towards the fireplace and with a half-muttered "Incendio!" As soon as the orange-red light hit the old wood laying in there it lit up and flames began lighting up the room. He cast a second spell and the amount of wood in the fireplace doubled.
It was early summer but it wasn't really warm especially since it was in the middle of the night, so the fire was a welcome addition. "Did you make any plans before you decided to run away with me or was it a spur of the moment decision?"
She gave him a slightly guilty look. "No plans. Harry and Hermione wanted you far away from the demon things and the law enforcement so I decided to tag along. Especially since I couldn't explain why I was there or really how I got there. And as soon as I said I was going with you my senses approved so here we are."
He blinked and began scrutinizing her. "Your senses approved? Are you a magical creature or do you have any kind of special powers?"
Drat. If he didn't know she'd blow her secret identity, again. And even if he did know what a Slayer was, he wasn't supposed to know exactly who the Slayer was or where to find her.
"No, I'm not a magical creature. Yes, I have abilities. Don't ask. It's all very super-secret and very hush-hush."
If he got it, he got it, and if he didn't then it was even better.
Much to her relief he just looked confused. She was good with that so she elaborated a little bit. "Sometimes I can sense if people are bad or have evil intentions, or if someone is trustworthy. It doesn't always work, but when it does it's of the awesome."
That part of her repertoire was pretty much hit-and-miss, but it had really worked to her advantage at times. Not often enough, but yeah.
Buffy chose to change the subject. "I don't need much sleep, but we should get to bed. You look like you might fall over at any minute." He gave her a long look but accepted her diversion and got up to show her where the bedrooms where. He chose the master bedroom for himself and gave her a large guestroom. If it had been made up in more lively colors her inner child would've been overjoyed.
There was a large double bed with a four corner canopy made in shades of green and placed against the opposite wall on a slightly raised dais. Sirius waved his wand and the skeets and everything else on the bed was changed. He wished her a good night and left.
She gave the rest of the room a once-over. There was a vanity, a sofa, a table, and two chairs. There was also a desk with what looked like a feathered quill in an inkbottle. All in some kind of dark wood. On the left side was a wardrobe covering about half of the wall. On the right was a window.
Shrugging she stripped out of her clothes and put on the very old-fashioned nightgown Sirius had placed on top of the covers and climbed up the two steps and into the bed. It turned out to be really comfortable.
The next day caused them a few problems. Neither of them had money and there was no food in the house for obvious reasons. The wizard conjured water and while it helped it did nothing for their hunger.
She gave the parlor a look and then turned to Sirius, "Your family is clearly wealthy. I don't suppose they have money stashed away somewhere? Or a relative or a domestic servant or whatnot who can get us something to eat? I'd rather not stoop so low as having to steal to survive."
Maybe she should've stayed at the school after all. At least there was food there and the students could sneak something for her...
It turned out he did have relatives but none he thought would be able or willing to help him. All his former friends thought he was a murderer and a criminal. But when she explained what a domestic servant was he suddenly stood up straight and barked out "Kreacher!"
A moment later a small creature about 3 feet tall with spindly arms and legs, and an overlarge head and tennis-ball-sized eyes popped into the room. It also had pointed, bat-like ears and small tufts of white hair on the top of its head. It was nude except for a dirty tea towel wrapped around the waist.
"Bad master called for Kreacher?" It said in a high squeaky voice, then it added in what it clearly thought was a whisper. "Bad master is back, oh, what would my poor mistress think?"
"Kreacher!" Sirius repeated in an annoyed tone. "Get us some properly prepared breakfast and don't tell anyone where you have been or who you have been with. Understood?"
"Yes, master. Of course, master. Kreacher understands." Then the little creature turned around to see who his master was referring to, and its large blue eyes got even bigger and it screamed in terror. The only movement it made was as it shook in fear.
Buffy just looked at it in confusion while trying to not bring her hands up and over her oversensitive ears. Then it dawned on her, the thing was a magical creature of some kind and she was a Slayer. A Slayer was a predator who hunted and killed bad things.
Straightening herself up a little she decided to try and talk her way out of this unexpected situation. "Have you done something bad, Kreacher?"
The large, terrified eyes stared at her for a few moments before it began shaking its head from side to side, causing its ears to flap around madly. "N-no, Slayer. Kreacher is a g-god elf."
"Are you planning to do something bad, either to me or to Sirius?"
Kreacher swallowed and then shook its head again. "No, Slayer. Kreacher would never try to hurt a Slayer."
"But you would hurt Sirius or help someone else to hurt him?" She narrowed her eyes at him. Or at least she thought it was a male. Calling the creature it, even in her own head seemed weird.
Kreacher swallowed and shook even more but didn't reply. "I want you to give me your word or whatever your equivalent is, that you are not going to harm either me or Sirius or Sirius's godson Harry, or Harry's friends. And I want you to do it right now."
Behind Kreacher, Sirius' confusion turned to shock, but he remained silent. They made eye contact over Kreacher's head and she shook her head lightly.
Kreacher gave the House-Elf version of his word and then he popped away, presumably to fetch food and to prepare it in the kitchen. She stared at the spot where he had disappeared from for a few seconds before looking up and meeting Sirius' eyes again.
Beating him to asking anything, she said. "What was that creature and why did he call you master?" She didn't really like what that implied. The explanation wasn't something she wanted to hear, but if the creature needed to be bonded to someone to keep both his life and his sanity there wasn't much she could do about it.
Sirius didn't allow her to think about the information for long before he wanted answers to his own questions. "What's a Slayer and why was he so terrified of you?"
"Um..." She hedged and the man across from her crossed his arms over his chest attempting to look threatening. It would've been if she hadn't been able to literally break him in two if she was so inclined.
"Stop trying to look threatening, it won't work on me." He just deepened the glare and she sighed and sat down. He followed suit but made it clear he still wanted to know.
"A Slayer, or a Vampire Slayer, is a girl gifted with enhanced strength and senses, fighting ability, agility and so on. We're Chosen to fight and kill vampires, demons, and other evil things. I don't know what a House-Elf is but it didn't come off as evil on my senses, so I don't really know why it was so afraid of me."
"Wouldn't that make you a magical?"
"I do have some magical abilities but I'm not a witch. My abilities are physical and mystical, but not really traditionally magical. I take it your culture doesn't teach anything about us?"
It would be very bad if they did since the Slayers were supposed to remain hidden and work in secret. People did find out about them on occasion, and word could easily get around. If if any entire community went looking for the one girl in all the world...
"No. At least not at Hogwarts. My family never said anything either." She let out a sigh of relief, and right after Kreacher popped back in and announced that breakfast was ready to be served. She got a reprieve, but she was certain he would continue to ask questions as soon as his hunger had been alleviated.
Author: 3am_moonlight
Crossover: BtVS / Harry Potter (J.K.R.)
Rating: Gen / Teen
Word Count: 1,924
Timeline: BtVS: Post-Chosen & HP: Prisoner of Azkaban
Disclaimer: The Buffyverse belongs to Joss Whedon and HP belongs to J.K.R.
Summary: In which Kreacher accidentally spills Buffy's beans.
Author's Note: Written for Day 15 of the 2019 August Fic-A-Day.
A/N: Follows ' Narrow Escape', ' Hiding Places', ' Fly Away With Me' and ' Talking'.
After getting a quick background on each other they began exploring the house a little. It was surprisingly free of any dust or decay despite having been left unattended for decades, but when she inquired about it the only answer she got was 'magic'. It was decorated with furniture made of heavy, dark wood and expensive fabrics. The color theme seemed to mostly rely on shades of brown, green, and silver. It was elegant if not very old-fashioned.
Sirius left her to her own devices with nothing more than a "You can look around but be very careful before you touch anything or attempt to enter a new room. My family is bloody dark and left traps and curses everywhere." Then he disappeared deeper into the house to do who-knows-what.
Buffy gave the entranceway a wary look but decided she couldn't stay there, and carefully walked over to the nearest door, opposite the one Sirius had left through. Once she was close enough she held her hand right above the door handle and tried to sense any magic, good or bad. The only result she got was the same as in the rest of the room; ambient magic with a dark evil-ish undertone. If the rest of the house was like this then it needed to be cleansed.
The door led to an equally darkly-furnished parlor. If it had been the house of a family with a normal income she would've said the living room, but the entire place just reeked of centuries gone by. As soon as she stepped over the sill all of the candles in the room lit up, illuminating everything. She definitely wasn't in Kansas anymore.
It took a good half-hour before the escaped prisoner came back carrying what could only be a wand. She had been looking around for a while, but while everything in the room looked expensive and highly valuable it wasn't her style. The empty picture frames were also strange and gave off a sense of something she couldn't place.
"All that for a piece of wood?" She couldn't help asking in a teasing tone.
"They took my wand when they placed me in Azkaban, so this one isn't a perfect fit but it will work well enough. It belonged to a great-great-uncle or something." He pointed it towards the fireplace and with a half-muttered "Incendio!" As soon as the orange-red light hit the old wood laying in there it lit up and flames began lighting up the room. He cast a second spell and the amount of wood in the fireplace doubled.
It was early summer but it wasn't really warm especially since it was in the middle of the night, so the fire was a welcome addition. "Did you make any plans before you decided to run away with me or was it a spur of the moment decision?"
She gave him a slightly guilty look. "No plans. Harry and Hermione wanted you far away from the demon things and the law enforcement so I decided to tag along. Especially since I couldn't explain why I was there or really how I got there. And as soon as I said I was going with you my senses approved so here we are."
He blinked and began scrutinizing her. "Your senses approved? Are you a magical creature or do you have any kind of special powers?"
Drat. If he didn't know she'd blow her secret identity, again. And even if he did know what a Slayer was, he wasn't supposed to know exactly who the Slayer was or where to find her.
"No, I'm not a magical creature. Yes, I have abilities. Don't ask. It's all very super-secret and very hush-hush."
If he got it, he got it, and if he didn't then it was even better.
Much to her relief he just looked confused. She was good with that so she elaborated a little bit. "Sometimes I can sense if people are bad or have evil intentions, or if someone is trustworthy. It doesn't always work, but when it does it's of the awesome."
That part of her repertoire was pretty much hit-and-miss, but it had really worked to her advantage at times. Not often enough, but yeah.
Buffy chose to change the subject. "I don't need much sleep, but we should get to bed. You look like you might fall over at any minute." He gave her a long look but accepted her diversion and got up to show her where the bedrooms where. He chose the master bedroom for himself and gave her a large guestroom. If it had been made up in more lively colors her inner child would've been overjoyed.
There was a large double bed with a four corner canopy made in shades of green and placed against the opposite wall on a slightly raised dais. Sirius waved his wand and the skeets and everything else on the bed was changed. He wished her a good night and left.
She gave the rest of the room a once-over. There was a vanity, a sofa, a table, and two chairs. There was also a desk with what looked like a feathered quill in an inkbottle. All in some kind of dark wood. On the left side was a wardrobe covering about half of the wall. On the right was a window.
Shrugging she stripped out of her clothes and put on the very old-fashioned nightgown Sirius had placed on top of the covers and climbed up the two steps and into the bed. It turned out to be really comfortable.
The next day caused them a few problems. Neither of them had money and there was no food in the house for obvious reasons. The wizard conjured water and while it helped it did nothing for their hunger.
She gave the parlor a look and then turned to Sirius, "Your family is clearly wealthy. I don't suppose they have money stashed away somewhere? Or a relative or a domestic servant or whatnot who can get us something to eat? I'd rather not stoop so low as having to steal to survive."
Maybe she should've stayed at the school after all. At least there was food there and the students could sneak something for her...
It turned out he did have relatives but none he thought would be able or willing to help him. All his former friends thought he was a murderer and a criminal. But when she explained what a domestic servant was he suddenly stood up straight and barked out "Kreacher!"
A moment later a small creature about 3 feet tall with spindly arms and legs, and an overlarge head and tennis-ball-sized eyes popped into the room. It also had pointed, bat-like ears and small tufts of white hair on the top of its head. It was nude except for a dirty tea towel wrapped around the waist.
"Bad master called for Kreacher?" It said in a high squeaky voice, then it added in what it clearly thought was a whisper. "Bad master is back, oh, what would my poor mistress think?"
"Kreacher!" Sirius repeated in an annoyed tone. "Get us some properly prepared breakfast and don't tell anyone where you have been or who you have been with. Understood?"
"Yes, master. Of course, master. Kreacher understands." Then the little creature turned around to see who his master was referring to, and its large blue eyes got even bigger and it screamed in terror. The only movement it made was as it shook in fear.
Buffy just looked at it in confusion while trying to not bring her hands up and over her oversensitive ears. Then it dawned on her, the thing was a magical creature of some kind and she was a Slayer. A Slayer was a predator who hunted and killed bad things.
Straightening herself up a little she decided to try and talk her way out of this unexpected situation. "Have you done something bad, Kreacher?"
The large, terrified eyes stared at her for a few moments before it began shaking its head from side to side, causing its ears to flap around madly. "N-no, Slayer. Kreacher is a g-god elf."
"Are you planning to do something bad, either to me or to Sirius?"
Kreacher swallowed and then shook its head again. "No, Slayer. Kreacher would never try to hurt a Slayer."
"But you would hurt Sirius or help someone else to hurt him?" She narrowed her eyes at him. Or at least she thought it was a male. Calling the creature it, even in her own head seemed weird.
Kreacher swallowed and shook even more but didn't reply. "I want you to give me your word or whatever your equivalent is, that you are not going to harm either me or Sirius or Sirius's godson Harry, or Harry's friends. And I want you to do it right now."
Behind Kreacher, Sirius' confusion turned to shock, but he remained silent. They made eye contact over Kreacher's head and she shook her head lightly.
Kreacher gave the House-Elf version of his word and then he popped away, presumably to fetch food and to prepare it in the kitchen. She stared at the spot where he had disappeared from for a few seconds before looking up and meeting Sirius' eyes again.
Beating him to asking anything, she said. "What was that creature and why did he call you master?" She didn't really like what that implied. The explanation wasn't something she wanted to hear, but if the creature needed to be bonded to someone to keep both his life and his sanity there wasn't much she could do about it.
Sirius didn't allow her to think about the information for long before he wanted answers to his own questions. "What's a Slayer and why was he so terrified of you?"
"Um..." She hedged and the man across from her crossed his arms over his chest attempting to look threatening. It would've been if she hadn't been able to literally break him in two if she was so inclined.
"Stop trying to look threatening, it won't work on me." He just deepened the glare and she sighed and sat down. He followed suit but made it clear he still wanted to know.
"A Slayer, or a Vampire Slayer, is a girl gifted with enhanced strength and senses, fighting ability, agility and so on. We're Chosen to fight and kill vampires, demons, and other evil things. I don't know what a House-Elf is but it didn't come off as evil on my senses, so I don't really know why it was so afraid of me."
"Wouldn't that make you a magical?"
"I do have some magical abilities but I'm not a witch. My abilities are physical and mystical, but not really traditionally magical. I take it your culture doesn't teach anything about us?"
It would be very bad if they did since the Slayers were supposed to remain hidden and work in secret. People did find out about them on occasion, and word could easily get around. If if any entire community went looking for the one girl in all the world...
"No. At least not at Hogwarts. My family never said anything either." She let out a sigh of relief, and right after Kreacher popped back in and announced that breakfast was ready to be served. She got a reprieve, but she was certain he would continue to ask questions as soon as his hunger had been alleviated.