The Burrow - Pt. 2

TITLE:	The Burrow (2/?)
AUTHOR:	-Andy- ( see2go4me@yahoo.com )
RATING:	PG
STATUS:	Rough Draft
DISCLAIMER:	This is a derivative work. All characters belong to Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, Fox Television, J.K. Rowling, her publishers, and others. I don't own any of this, just the words gluing my story together.
SUMMARY:	Buffy never thought she'd be going there. And what's this squid thing they keep calling her?
SPOILERS:	All seasons of BtVS. HP: OotP
DISTRIBUTION:	tth, and my blog fanfic pages. Anyone else, e-mail me please.

Following Ginny's directions, Buffy pulled into a barely visible driveway on the edge of the small village. It was passable in their small car, but it was close, the tires digging into the rough gravel surface.

"You realize, if we scratch the paint Giles is going to make us walk the rest of the trip," Buffy told her, visibly wincing at the sound of branches brushing against the sides of the car. "And if we're lucky he'll let us have a head start before Haruka finds out what we did to one of her precious babies."

Ginny grimaced at the comment, she hadn't given this part of their trip much thought. She normally apparated right to the front door. "I'll take care of it before we head back," she told her, ignoring the look Buffy gave her. "No one will ever know."

"Your funeral," Buffy muttered, shaking her head as she parked in the open space in front of the back door.

Delaying their exit from the car for a moment, Ginny reached for Buffy's hand, squeezing it hard to keep Buffy focused on her and not the impending meeting with her mother. She could almost taste her agitation in the close quarters.

"Don't worry," she said.

"I'm not," Buffy said, taking a deep breath before visibly pulling herself together, becoming outwardly calm, like the consummate politician she'd become, putting on the face she showed to the world. Nodding at Ginny, Buffy swung open the door and climbed out of the car.

Ginny watched her for a moment, impressed at how she seemed to be a dainty force of nature even here in such a foreign place. Shaking her head, Ginny took a deep breath to calm her nerves before opening her own door. Brushing crumbs from a muffin she'd eaten earlier in their trip from her clothes, she looked around at the familiar sight. Nothing seemed to have changed in the months she'd been gone and she suspected that ten years from now it would still look the same. In the muggle world change was a constant thing. Here, only the people changed.

Molly was putting the finishing touches on the kitchen when she heard a car pull up to the house. Looking around quickly, she put the pot on for tea and headed for the door. For once she wasn't going to wait for her daughter's knock. She had a feeling that this was too important to indulge her youngest in one of her quirks.

Throwing open the door, she stepped out into the morning sun. The car didn't look like anything special. As far as she could tell it was just another bland muggle vehicle. She stood still for a moment while they extracted themselves from it.

Molly's first impression was that Ginny's friend was a tiny thing, not thinking about her own diminutive height. She was small and fragile looking, especially with Ginny towering over her on her right. Until now she'd never really thought of her daughter as tall, but standing next to someone just barely taller than herself it was hard to ignore. Not that they looked odd together. In fact, Molly thought, there was something striking about the two women standing next to each other, their red and blonde hair blowing together in the slight breeze.

Unable to contain her excitement for a second longer, Molly rushed over and pulled Ginny into a quick hug. This had been the longest she'd gone without seeing her youngest since Auror training and as much as she loved Hermione and enjoyed her presence she wasn't a substitute for her own little girl.

"Look at you!" Molly whispered into her ear before stepping back. Molly could only stare in wonder. She'd heard Hermione and Harry discussing on more than one occasion why it was so easy for them to tell muggles from wizards dressed as muggles. She wondered what they would think of Ginny right at this moment. She wasn't wearing the same kinds of strangely colored clothes she'd been wearing when she'd returned from that Wiccan coven's training. From her earrings to the sandals on her feet, Ginny looked very comfortable in what she was wearing. She wore her muggle clothes as if she'd been dressing that way all her life.

"Mum, this is Buffy," Ginny said, resting a hand on the other woman's shoulder. Molly detected a distinct sparkle in her eyes as she introduced her companion.

Ignoring the hand Buffy politely held out, Molly leaned forward and pulled the surprised woman into a hug. Releasing her, Molly took a closer look at the two of them. From the startled look on Buffy's face, she suspected that Ginny's hand was more than a friendly gesture. "Tea should be ready in a minute. Ginny, I've put you in the twin's old room and Buffy next door in Percy's room." she said. "Why don't you show Buffy up. I'm sure you both need to freshen up after traveling in that contraption."

"I'll get our things," Buffy said gruffly. Turning around, she reached into the car and grabbed two small handbags. Handing them to Ginny, she stepped to the back of the car, the trunk opening as she reached it, causing Molly to jump. Pulling out two small suitcases, Buffy took one of the handbags from Ginny before handing her a suitcase.

Raising an eyebrow at her abruptness, Molly looked at her daughter, who shrugged. Nodding, Molly ushered them into the kitchen.

Stepping into the small house, Buffy felt an echo of a familiar tingle. There seemed to be an extra brightness, almost a sparkle to the room they entered. Trying not to stare, she followed Ginny through the kitchen, down a narrow hallway, and up a flight of stairs that creaked with each step. She would have to ask Ginny about it later.

"Here we are," Ginny said, dropping her suitcase in front of one door and gesturing to the other.

Buffy cautiously opened the door and stepped into the bedroom. In the dim light from the window, the room seemed ordinary, with a bed, the ever present wardrobe, bookshelves, and a desk. Even empty, there was a distinct 'maleness' to the room, though she couldn't say what gave her that impression. She assumed it was one of those slayer intuition things she'd given up figuring out years ago.

"Ginny?" she asked, raising her voice slightly as she looked around.

"Yes?" came the muffled voice from down the hall.

"Light switch?" Buffy asked, not seeing one anywhere. She didn't need the extra light but certain habits were ingrained and trying to appear normal around people who didn't know about slayers was one of them.

"Oh." Ginny said, walking in. Waving a hand she spoke a quick Latin phrase. "Just say 'Lights On' or 'Lights Off'."

"The whole house is like this, isn't it. Everything runs by magic," Buffy said, sighing as the reality of what Ginny had told her earlier sunk in. "I've landed in Oz."

"Yes," Ginny said, a small grin appearing briefly on her face. "Sorry, but I did warn you."

"You did." Buffy said. "It just didn't occur to me until just now what that meant. I'm not going to be able to use my hair dryer, am I."

"No." Ginny said, agreeing with her. "We'll work something out."

"Okay." Buffy said. She would worry about the potential for dressing embarrassment later.

"Let me show you my old room," Ginny said, stepping out of the room.

Closing the door behind her, Buffy followed Ginny up another two flights of stairs.

"I had this floor to myself," Ginny told her. "One of the benefits of being the youngest."

"It seems like a large house on the inside," Buffy said.

"It isn't, not really. Especially with Ron and the twins running around," Ginny said. "The stairs have 5 landings and the attic but it's really only three stories." She pushed open the only door on the floor, revealing a small bedroom. "This seemed a lot larger when I was growing up."

Buffy looked around, taking in the cluttered room. In one corner was a large bed, covered in a gold and maroon trimmed comforter, decorated with a field's worth of flowers. Against another wall was a small pink desk.

"It isn't much." Ginny said, gingerly sitting on the bed. "All of my things were moved out ages ago."

"So, no embarrassing evidence of childhood crushes on favorite celebrities?" Buffy asked, leaning against the door.

"No." Ginny said, shrugging. "When you have six older brothers you learn to hide that kind of thing away or you don't keep it."

"I had to have a separate diary, hidden away where even Dawn couldn't find it." Buffy said, laughing. "And even then I had Giles put a spell on it so only I could open it, though I never tested that."

"That wouldn't have kept Fred or George out," Ginny said. "They would have considered it a challenge."

"Dawn and I have an understanding, now. As long as I don't catch her reading it, I pretend that she doesn't." Buffy shrugged. "When I die she's going to get them all anyway."

"Even your private ones?" Ginny asked, leaning back against the wall.

"No such thing when you're a slayer," Buffy murmured. "The old Council did it to control their slayers. Hard to think for yourself when you know someone can read your private thoughts at any time. Giles claims we're better than that. Some days I'm not so sure."

"Tea's ready!" floated up to them from the kitchen.

"How could I forget that." Buffy mock grumbled. "No coffee until we get back to London."

"You'll survive." Ginny said, holding the door open for her.

"Maybe you could magic some up for me?" Buffy looked at her companion hopefully, wondering if a small pout might help.

"Maybe. If you're good."

"Me?" Deciding that a pout would be overkill, Buffy gave her an innocent look and stepped past her into the hall. "I'm always good," she threw over her shoulder, not stopping when she reached the stairs.

Things had been going well so far, Ginny thought, watching her mother setting the table with a quick swish of her wand. They'd spent the rest of the afternoon catching up on all of the family gossip with her mother while her father was visiting old friends. Buffy had managed to appear interested even though Ginny knew she must have been very lost if not outright bored. Now they just had to make it through dinner and the inevitable evening interrogation.

"Have a seat, girls," her mother ordered while she fussed with several pots on the stove. "Ginny, if you could pour the wine?"

"Yes, Mum," she said, gently pushing Buffy away from the cupboard the wine was stored in.

[Arthur comes home, Percy joins them, they all sit down for dinner]

"Buffy, this is Percy," Ginny said, as another red head joined them. Buffy smiled politely across the table at her third male Weasley. Where Ginny's father had that raggedy retired bourgeois look, and Bill had looked like he'd be more at home outside, Percy almost dripped with the faux sincerity of the consumate politician.

Ginny refilled Buffy's plate, ignoring her glare. She'd noticed that Buffy ate less than a quarter of the amount of food when they were out in public than she did when they were at home.

[After dinner they end up in the living room before the gang show up]

"That's an interesting clock," Buffy murmured to Ginny before approaching it for a closer look. There were a large number of hands with names painted on them. She recognized most of them as Ginny's brothers, whose names she'd memorized on their trip down. Around the face of the clock were different activities such as 'Home', 'Mortal Peril', 'School', and 'Shopping'. Bill's pointed at "Traveling". Charlie's hand pointed at "Work". Ginny's pointed at 'Home'.

"Yes," Ginny said. "Unless you're a teenager."

"It would make it hard to sneak out at night, wouldn't it." Buffy said. "I think we could use one in the office."

"Think they'll notice?" Ginny asked, a slight waver in her voice giving her away.

"Notice what?"

"That I don't really want to be here?" Ginny rubbed her forehead with her free hand. "Who's idea was this?"

"Visiting your parents? Or me joining you for the festivities?" Buffy said, unable to stop a small giggle from escaping at Ginny's expression.

"You didn't have to agree to it," Ginny mumbled.

Buffy decided that reminding Ginny of her own reluctance to undergo a Weasley family interrogation would be an astronomically bad idea.

"If we can make it through lunch and dinner with your parents, we can survive anything your brothers might throw at us." Buffy said.

"That wasn't normal," Ginny told her.

"They seemed fine to me," Buffy said.

"My father didn't ask about anything muggle. Not once." Ginny said.

"What do you mean?"

"He's fascinated by ordinary machines and anything else that doesn't run by magic. But he didn't ask to see your phone, not even once."

"So?"

"He likes taking non-magical things apart, but he hasn't even tried today." /* "Is that why you had me bring a field phone instead of my regular one? So mine wouldn't get destroyed?" Buffy asked in surprise. "You do realize that the first phone Willow tried her invulnerability spell on was mine. Right?"

"Oops?" Ginny shook her head, a small smile replacing her earlier frown. "No, I wasnt aware of that." */ Buffy shook her head. "Who do you think is going to show up tonight?"

"Just family," Ginny said reassuringly. Mum said everyone is curious about what I've been doing in Cleveland."

"And family is?" Buffy prompted.

"I don't expect Percy to show up. He met you at dinner."

"He didn't say much," Buffy said.

"If he really wants to talk seriously he'll do it privately somewhere." Ginny said. "Hermione'll be here tonight. And Ron will be with her. They spend more time together than people who've been married for years."

"How about your friend Harry Potter?" Buffy asked. She briefly wondered if the faintly nauseous feeling in the pit of her stomach was jealousy but just as quickly dismissed it. She and Ginny didn't have the close kind of relationship that would cause that, she thought.

"If he's not busy." Ginny said. "The easiest way to get him to show up somewhere is to make sure Hermione and Ron are there. It's hard to explain."

"Hmm.." Buffy wondered if Hermione, Ron, and Harry Potter were like she, Willow, and Xander used to be. She'd shared a closeness with her two best friends that she'd reveled in at one point. Where one of them would be, the others would follow. Something else she'd lost after her resurrection. She was starting to get that kind of closeness with Willow again, years later and she suspected she and Ginny had the potential for something beyond that. "I've seen that kind of thing in the past." she told her. "Anyone else?"

"I have four other brothers. Any one of them might show up," Ginny told her. "If Fred and George show up you'll need to watch out." she added.

"Why?"

"They own a joke shop."

Buffy gave her a puzzled look.

"They own a joke shop. They use magic a lot," Ginny said. "And they like to test their new jokes on family."

"Oh." Buffy mumbled.

[Hermione, Ron, Harry and Padma Patil show up]

[Hermione and Ron arrive together as predicted]

Buffy looked up at the tall redhead. He wasn't a giant but she suspected he was at least a foot taller than she was.

"I'm sensing a trend here," she said, giving Ginny an amused glance. "Everyone in your family is tall."

"No," Ginny said. "The twins are my height."

"Hi Buffy," Hermione said, joining them.

"Hey Hermione. Decided to join us in the land of the giants?" she asked with a wink and a nod in Ron's direction.

"Land of the giants?" Hermione looked puzzled for a moment. "Oh. Right."

While Ron and Hermione were making themselves comfortable, Buffy heard an unfamiliar male voice.

"Good evening, Molly." the male voice said.

"More?" She asked Ginny in a low voice.

"That's just Harry," Ginny whispered.

"Good evening Mrs. Weasley," a second voice said. "You don't mind that I came with Harry? I heard Ginny was going to be here."

"And that's not," Buffy said, trying to place the additional voice. She'd heard it somewhere before.

"Ginny and her friend are visiting for several days." they heard Molly say.

"Oh, I don't mean to intrude. I can see her some other time."

"No, that's fine. Come along both of you. Ron and Hermione are already here."

"Ginny, Harry's here." Molly announced, entering the living room.

Buffy noticed that Ron and Hermione seemed to be watching Ginny closely as this Harry person entered the room.

Buffy frowned as the third person to enter the room stopped, staring at her with wide eyes.

"Miss Summers?"

"Padma." Buffy nodded in greeting.

"You know each other?" Ginny blurted out in surprise. Even through the shock she could feel the faint stirring of jealousy.

"Padma's younger sister is associated with our London office." Buffy said. "Padma's her guardian."

"Oh!" Hermione said.

[la,la,la]

After Ron, Harry Potter, and Padma left, Buffy, Ginny, and Hermione joined Ginny's parents for their evening walk, a slow, rambling affair down scenic country lanes. Buffy stayed close to Ginny, occasionally brushing up against her, the brief moments of contact causing warm tingles. Mostly she listened as the two friends caught up on their lives, more interested in being in Ginny's presence.

They'd been walking for a while when Buffy's phone began chirping for her attention, interrupting their conversation.

"Sorry," she said. Stopping, she pulled it out of her pocket and silenced it. Looking at its display she motioned for them to continue without her. Once she was alone, Buffy returned the call.

"Giles? No, you didn't interrupt anything. What's the sitch?" Buffy asked. "Sure, we can do that. Anything special we should know? Okay, send me what you have and I'll take a look before we head over there." Closing the call she stuffed her phone back into her pocket. Looking down the lane, Buffy quickly walked over to Ginny and Hermione who'd stopped several hundred feet away to wait for her.

"Business," she said in response to Ginny's raised eyebrow when she'd rejoined them. "I'll tell you later," she told her in a low voice, ignoring Hermione's curious expression as they hurried to catch up to Ginny's parents.

Relieved to finally have Buffy to herself for the first time since dinner, Ginny flopped onto Buffy's bed and leaned back against the wall. She watched Buffy pace in the small space for several minutes before saying anything. "What did Giles want?"

"Something strange happened at Stonehenge this afternoon," Buffy said. "He wants us to check it out in the morning."

"Okay." Ginny nodded, barely containing her excitement at the idea of finally getting out into the field instead of keeping Willow's seat warm.

"It's probably just a false alarm," Buffy warned her, leaning against the window. "We can give it the official Council non-apocalypse seal of approval and be back here for lunch with your mother before we have to go back to London."

"But if it isn't?" Ginny asked hopefully.

"Yup. You can do the Willow thing." Buffy shook her head, grinning slightly. "I'll just be the muscle."

Ginny gave her a disbelieving look. "Modesty? Are slayers allowed such a thing? Has the country air gotten to you?"

"Well, I do have a keen fashion sense and I am a black belt shopper," Buffy said, winking at her. "What more do I need?"

Standing up, Ginny sauntered over to her, stopping a foot away. Looking down at the smaller woman, she raked her eyes up and down her body. Giving Buffy a small smile, Ginny returned the wink before turning around and heading for the door.

She managed to keep her cool until she was alone. Closing her own bedroom door, Ginny shakily sat down on her bed. She'd been so close to crossing that line she'd set for herself before this trip. A playful Buffy was almost irresistible. If they weren't in her parents house she wasn't sure if she would have been able to stop.

A low moaning sound woke her up. Looking around in confusion, she tried to figure out where it was coming from. It was too loud to be the ghoul in the attic. It took Ginny a minute to realize it was coming from the listening charm in the door.

It had been the summer before Ginny's last year at Hogwarts that she'd discovered the charmed spot on her bedroom door that allowed her mother to listen in on her at night. Looking carefully, she'd discovered similar charmed spots in her brother's room. It had taken her the rest of the summer to figure out how to connect her door charm to the other charms, though with all of her brothers having moved away there didn't seem to be much point.

Grabbing her robe, Ginny slipped out of her room and rushed down the hall. Knocking quietly on Buffy's door, she waited a minute for an answer. When none came she entered anyway.

Buffy was lying with her back to the wall, curled up around her pillow, the blanket shoved down to the foot of the bed. Listening carefully, Ginny could hear the same sound she'd heard earlier coming from the other woman.

"Buffy?" she whispered. Cautiously leaning over she gently brushed the hair away from Buffy's face. Before she could finish pulling her hand away, Buffy rolled onto her back and opened her eyes, capturing Ginny in their anguished depths.

"Ginny?" Buffy stared up at her, obviously puzzled by her presence.

"Are you okay?" Ginny asked, sitting on the bed next to her. "You were moaning."

With obvious effort, even in the dim light, Buffy took a long, shaky breath before answering. "Just a dream."

"Do you want to talk about it?" Ginny asked.

"Not now." she murmured. "Why don't you go back to bed? It's still a couple hours until daylight."

Ginny stood up, hiding her disappointment at the answer. From the sounds, and the look on Buffy's face, it hadn't been 'just a dream'. She suspected that if Buffy wasn't willing to say anything now, that she might never say anything. "Are we still going for a run?" she asked hopefully as she reached the door.

"Wouldn't miss it." Buffy told her. Ginny could feel her eyes burning into her as she closed the door behind her.

Turning back towards her room, Ginny was startled by her mother standing there, watching her with a curious expression on her face. "Mum! Don't do that."

"Ginny?" Her mother asked quietly. "Is everything alright?"

"Just a nightmare." she whispered. She could tell from her mother's expression that she would have to explain later. Hopefully much later. She didn't have to ask how her mother had even known something was going on. Her mother was like Dumbledore, when it came to the Burrow. Even without the listening charms she knew when something was happening, even if she didn't know exactly what.

"Arthur?" Molly asked.

"Yes dear?" He asked, coming into the kitchen.

"What are they doing?"

"It must be a muggle thing," he told her, looking over her head at Ginny and Buffy out in the garden. "Ginny said they were going running this morning but this must be something else."

"Running?" Molly turned and gave him a puzzled look. "Why would they do that?"

"According to Hermione it's a favorite muggle activity," Arthur said. "Instead of a potion they exercise. She started doing it when she moved to Cleveland. She told Hermione that it gives her the energy she needs for the different things she does for them."

"Oh! They'll be hungry then," Molly whispered, as if afraid they would hear her.

"I suspect so," He said.

[breakfast]

They sat at the top of the hill, overlooking the small village.

"This was one of my favorite places," Ginny told her. "I could sit up here and pretend."

"What kinds of things did you pretend?" Buffy asked curiously.

"That this was my kingdom," Ginny said. "And they were my subjects. Or this was a tower and I was waiting for my knight to come rescue me."

"And did your knight ever show up," Buffy asked, giving her a small grin.

"Not for years and years," Ginny said. Standing up she reached down for Buffy. "Let's go have lunch."

"It seems like such a small village," Buffy told her, looking around at the quaint looking houses and shops as they walked though it on their way back to the house. She couldn't imagine her bold, sophisticated Ginny coming from such a place. "Did you really grow up here?"

"Yes, but not the way you are thinking." Ginny told her. "It was a place I visited but I never really had friends here."

"Because of the magic thing?" Buffy asked, remembering her early years in Sunnydale when it had seemed impossible to have friends who weren't aware of her life as the slayer. It was just easier to not become close with anyone, even the neighbors.

"Partly. It wasn't possible to bring any friends home to play." She shrugged. "I made all of my real friends while I was away at school."

"You must have made some friends here." Buffy said, nodding her head slightly in the direction of a woman who could have been their age, though she was dressed in a rather eccentric fashion, who was peering intently at them from across the street as if she might recognize them.

"Oh." Ginny said. "That's Luna. Her family home is nearby but we never really met until Hogwarts."

"Your school?" Buffy asked.

"Yes."

"Ginny!" Luna said, approaching them. "You're visiting your parents?"

"Hi Luna." Ginny smiled at her. "Yes, we're here for several days. Would you like to join us for lunch at the Burrow?" she asked.

"I sent it to them yesterday." Luna told them.

Puzzled, Ginny looked at Buffy.

"Them?"

"Your sister and her slayer friend," Luna said to Buffy.

"Where'd you run into them?" Buffy asked nervously, hoping Faith and Dawn had been behaving themselves at the time.

"The Leaky Caldron."

[Luna tells them about the scroll and the interview]

[lunch with Luna]

• Might need to split this up or move part of it into the next part. It's a bit long.

© Copyright 2009 Andy Stoffel. Last update: 7/19/09; 10:52:17 PM. This theme is based on the SoundWaves (blue) Manila theme.