by Lisette: Lisette_an@hotmail.com

Legalese: The television series, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and all related characters and material belong to Joss Whedon and UPN.  All things Harry Potter belong to JK Rowling.  I claim ownership solely of the story idea - no profit will be made by this.

Author's Note: For some reason, I think that quite a few of you are going to be enjoying this chapter.  I certainly know that it was so much fun writing it - something that I've been waiting to write for quite a while.  In any case, you guys have asked and now you all are getting your rewards - and in advance, yes, I am VERY evil. ;p As always, a huge thanks goes out to Rob, WhiteWolf 3, Harry, Rosie, poppie, Catlimere, Jo, Kiwi, KaylsDaeAlMon, angelic-devil, and Shirlyn.  Thanks for the reviews!  You guys rock!

X-Lander: Nah, I don't really see Harry getting a lot of studying time in for his impending NEWTs.  I think he has too many other things on his mind that the NEWTs suddenly don't seem so scary - such as a battle with Moldy Wart himself! ;p

Mountain William: Glare from Arkansas dutifully noted!  And even though I promised less cliff hangers in this story... well, these last few chapters are unavoidably littered with them! :p

c.s.: I'm glad that you're enjoying the story so far and thank you for your vote!  In addition, good nitpick on the injuries from Chapter 19 - but have more faith in Buffy!  She lied to her mother about being a Slayer for how long without her mom ever learning the truth?  She's had years of lying experience, not to mention that with the help of the Hogwarts Trio, I'm sure that they were able to come up with SOME creative excuse for the injuries.  Dang flying broomsticks! ;p In any case, on with the show!

"Death is my gift.  It's what I breathe; it's what I live; it's what I cause; it's what I cheat.  *  I am full of love and love causes pain.  Pain is what I live off of - it's what feeds me.  *  Pain makes me stronger - makes the weak realize they're weak and makes the strong even stronger.  *  To defeat evil, I have to know what evil thinks, the way it kills, and what it feeds off of.  *  Nothing happens after I attack because I never stop attacking.  *  Everyone has a Death wish – sometimes they just don't realize it.  *  Revenge is nothing but danger because once you attack and drive them down, they just come back stronger then before.  *  Death is my gift.  Life is my curse."
-adapted from basketball-slayer-

    With practiced ease she moved around the mat, her punches never faltering and her aim always true.  Someone had once described it as a dance - the most primal and basic of dances and one that she was born for.  After all, this dance was the one thing that she did better than anyone else in the world - better than... well, maybe Buffy could still kick her ass, but that certainly wasn't a fact that Faith was ever going to willingly admit. 

    "So, how goes the book quest?" the dark-haired slayer called out as she landed a well-placed kick on the bag that swung on its metal chain before her.  Grunting, she ducked out of the way of the bag's back swing and then launched out with a back-handed punch that nearly broke the chain it was swinging from.  Grinning, Faith paused for a moment and wiped the sweat from her brow, her brown eyes skipping across the training room half of the basement and finding the contingent of Scoobies that were scattered around the large table in the booky-side of the large room.

    "Oh, you know - tedious," Xander returned without looking up, yawning loudly as he absently turned another page.

    "Yet a process that is done with the precision of perfect concentration."

    Rolling his eyes, Xander finally looked up long enough to glare at the woman that sat opposite of him, her short honeyed hair pushed back from her forehead and a look of intense disapproval on her face.  "Yeah, what she said," he added, earning a small chuckle and a snort from Willow and Oz.

    It was a glorious Saturday in June, just after the noon hour and Xander could think of many things that he'd rather be doing.  It had been a long few weeks filled with a lot of stress and even more uncertainty as the Scoobies had faced off against a demon that was more man-made - albeit with demon parts - than supernattural.  In the end, the group had only managed to defeat it the night before, and that was only done with a super-powerful spell that Willow and her new Wicca-friend, Tara, had cast that had somehow combined Willow, Elizabeth, and he into Faith's body - giving her the power necessary to defeat Adam.  Xander had desperately hoped that the end of the Initiative meant that they could relax, if even for a little while, but last night had been anything but pleasant as the primal first slayer gave them all a nice little visit - and oh, you know - tried to kill them.  Thus earning the group a Saturday filled with books and research.  "Stuffy British slave drivers," Xander grumbled beneath his breath, but just loud enough to earn himself a pointed glare from the watcher who sat opposite of him.

    It had taken the group a while to warm up to the new watcher, an Elizabeth Hamsley out of London, England.  A.k.a. - yet another Brit.  However, what didn't take long was the realization that Elizabeth Hamsley was nothing like the Giles that had been sent to them.  Oh, there was no doubt in anyone's mind that she was a watcher - and a dang smart one, too - but not the kind of watcher that they had come to expect after both Giles and Wesley Windham-Pryce.  For one thing, she was rather young - probably mid thirties.  For another, she wasn't as straight laced as either of the previous watchers had been.  If anything, her methods were probably considered quite unorthodox for a watcher.  Not to mention the fact that she was a witch.

    And so it was that within a matter of weeks of her arrival, Scooby central had officially been moved from any old graveyard to Elizabeth's decked out basement.  Soon enough the group had fallen into a comfortable routine where Faith would fight the bad stuff and the others would help out where they could - an idea that Elizabeth had accepted with relative ease.  And while Elizabeth would never be a Giles, she certainly did come with plenty of unique talents - plenty of unique witchy talents.  Through her the group finally had a glimpse of the wizarding world and began to learn a bit of what Buffy was most likely encountering.  In addition, while two very separate and different types of magic, Elizabeth had also taken to instructing Willow and Tara in the art of magic - expanding their wiccan prowess in less time than it would have taken them through self-discovery.  Even Xander had to admit that his best friend's natural wiccan abilities were quite impressive - especially when joined with Tara's.

    "Xander," Elizabeth's clipped voice called out, cutting in on his daydreams and yanking him back to the present.  "You haven't turned a page in the last five minutes.  Does that mean that you've found something pertaining to the dreams?"

    "Uh, still working on that," Xander returned, suitably abashed and turning his eyes back to the texts.  "Although I doubt that this book will have anything on the cheese guy," he murmured, cocking his head to the side and trying to puzzle out that thought.

    "Cheese guy," Oz echoed, lifting his eyes from his own dusty text and nodding slowly at the teen beside him.  "Very big evil," he stated, his expression so serious that Xander couldn't decide if the bassist was humoring him or really being serious.

    Rolling her eyes at the two, Willow stretched her arms above her head and arched her back, trying to work out the kinks that were plaguing her tired muscles.  Sighing, she allowed her eyes to drift to Faith's slim form as the slayer ducked and weaved and altogether kicked the punching bag's bottom.  It was at times like these that she really missed Buffy.  For the petite slayer, despite her many complaints, would always take a seat and sit through the endless research with the rest of them.  Faith, on the other hand, had made it quite clear form the get-go that she didn't do that research stuff and that she'd stick to the fighting while she left the books to the brainy people.  Xander, of course, had tried to use that as his excuse to get out of said book work, but all to no avail.  "Well," the redheaded wiccan began, taking the guys' banter as the go-ahead to take a much needed break, "even though the army guys were helpful, I'm just glad that they're gone."

    "Although I'm sure that we shall come to regret not having their presence here on the Hellmouth," Elizabeth countered, lifting her eyes from the text long enough to send a pointed glare at the three teens.  "In addition, if it were not for Agent Finn and his realization that they needed our assistance when they lost-" she began, her voice dying away as she stiffened in her chair, her eyes going wide.

    "Yeah, if it weren't for them we wouldn't have even had Adam to deal with," Xander quickly retorted, oblivious to the watcher's evident distress - a distress that couldn't be ignored when the watcher suddenly shoved back from the table, her chair clattering noisily against the cement floor behind her.

    "Someone has breached the wards," she murmured, her face going pale as she dove for her wand, her long fingers wrapping around the reassuring wooden shaft even as she began turning towards her slayer.  "Faith-" was as far as she got before a series of soft pops echoed in the room, its occupants stunned into silence as ten individuals draped head to toe in black robes suddenly appeared in their midst when seconds before there had been no one.

    "What the-" Xander began, speaking for everyone as they quickly scrambled form their seats, freezing only when the intruders lifted their wands and pointed them around the room.

    "Death Eaters," Elizabeth murmured, her voice echoing in the room and doing nothing to cover her evident disdain.  "What business have you here?" she demanded, drawing the enemies' attention away from the children and towards herself.

    "I'm sending a message."

    Confused, Xander turned with his friends and watched with wide eyes as a demon strolled casually down the basement steps - a demon with pale, almost white skin, a flat, snake-like nose, and hideous red eyes that seemed to stare at each of them in turn before finally locking on the watcher.  Following the creature's gaze, Xander felt a cold chill enter his blood as the color seemed to drain from Elizabeth's face, her hand holding her wand beginning to shake slightly.

    "Lord Voldemort," she whispered, the name catching in her throat and chilling her even as his dark eyes turned towards her.  The dark power that radiated from his form was so strong that she was sure even the muggle children beside her must have felt it... the children.  Gasping, the watcher allowed her eyes to drift to the trio for the briefest of moments before turning her eyes to her slayer.  She knew the moment that You-Know-Who arrived that her life was as good as forfeit, but if the children could only be given enough time...  And as Faith's dark eyes met her own, she knew that her slayer understood.  After all, it was her sacred duty, and one that she wouldn't forget - especially when her friends were in danger.

    In one fluid movement Faith dove forward and tucked into a tight roll, effectively drawing the attention of the Death Eaters as numerous dangerous and deadly curses flew after her form - all too late for the speed of the slayer.  And even as Faith was snatching a knife and sending it flying into the shoulder of a nearby Death Eater, Elizabeth was already turning back towards the children, her eyes locking with Xander's wide eyes.  "Go!  Get to Mr. Fellows - send word!" she hissed before quickly turning back and joining the fray, desperately calling upon her Hogwarts education and casting every spell that she could think of.  She may have only been Faith's watcher for a few months, but Elizabeth had a slayer to protect and she would do so until her dying breath.

    Heeding the watcher's words, Xander quickly grabbed Oz and shoved Willow back towards the bookcase that stood behind them.  While it had seemed more than a little paranoid and slightly ridiculous at the time, Xander was grateful beyond words that Elizabeth had prepped them for a moment such as this - a moment that he had never thought would come.  But the watcher had been insistent and had placed several normal objects around the house and around the houses of the Scoobies - all normal, everyday objects that she called portkeys, like the one that had taken Giles and Buffy to England.  Only instead of bringing them to England, these portkeys were created to bring whoever reached them to a place in the middle of the wood that lay east of Sunnydale - a point from which the teens would be able to move to either safety or the nearest phone - whatever the situation warranted.

    As Willow and Oz silently followed his lead, Xander thanked whatever had to be watching out for them - grateful that they were being ignored for the moment.  Then again, it wasn't as though there was anything they could do to help, and apparently, the attackers knew that.  Forcing his grim thoughts away, Xander reached for a single book that sat on the shelf at the same time as the others, pausing just long enough to cast his eyes once more to the fight that was taking place behind them.  Faith was moving so fast around the room that the Death Eaters were having trouble landing a hit on her even as she continued to take out their numbers in any non-lethal way that she could find.  And Elizabeth seemed to be holding her own while-

    As a single curse struck the witch, screams telling of an agony that Xander could only imagine ripping through the basement and echoing off of the cement walls.  Staggering back against his friends, Xander watched as Elizabeth collapsed on the ground, her back arching and her muscles seizing as she continued to scream unabated, her eyes wide and nearly popping from her skull as madness seemed to seize her.  Forcing his eyes away, Xander shouted to make his words heard over the watcher's screams and as one, the three teens seized the portkey and disappeared with a whoosh of displaced air.

    Seeing this, Faith quickly sprung in a high kick and then dodged another curse even as her eyes slipped to her downed watcher.  She had to stop this.  She had to help-

    "Petrificus totalus!"

    This time Faith couldn't move fast enough and as the spell struck true, the slayer found her muscles and bones locking until she was lying completely immobile upon the floor, her eyes the only part that were free on a body that felt as though it was carved from stone.  Wildly, brown eyes swept around the room and finally locked on the tall, snake-like creature that slowly made its way through its parted minions until it was standing above her, red eyes locking with her own.

    "So this is a Slayer," Voldemort murmured, his voice so dark and cold that Faith would have shivered had she been able to.  "Pitiful," he added as he lifted his wand, the girl's eyes following his every move.  And then, with a feral grin he cast his power into the slim shaft of wood.  "Crucio!" he ordered, his hissing voice flat as the magic encompassed the girl and overrode the prior spell, her muscles tightening and her back arching from the ground as another scream split the air.  Smiling, Voldemort reveled in the twin screams of watcher and slayer that seemed like a symphony to his ears - a beautiful symphony of unencumbered torture and agony.  An agony that was unlike anything Faith had ever experienced before.

    As pain coursed through her body, the slayer lost contact with any part of the world - losing the ability to focus on her surroundings or on fighting back or... or on anything.  The only thing she was able to focus on was the pain and slowly she realized that it was driving her mad.  It felt as though her nerves were frying while her body tried to pull apart around her, muscles tightening and ripping as the magic tore through her limbs.  For a brief moment Faith was able to focus past the pain as she realized that this must have been what Buffy had felt when Lyle had used Jarod's drug on her for no other reason than to punish her.  While they shared a body for a time, and almost as though they shared a mind as well, Faith had been privy to such memories - memories that she tried not to look back upon in order to keep her own sanity.  Now.. now she imagined that she knew what Buffy had felt.  But soon, even that thought was lost as the agony blocked out everything else.

    In the end, Faith had no idea how long the torture lasted - whether it was minutes or hours.  When the fire finally did dissipate, awareness was slow to return.  She heard her own ragged breathing as the air forced its way down her raw throat - raw from her screams.  She could feel her muscles continue to twitch as her body seemed to jerk in remembered pain, the nerves continuing to react as a deep ache seemed to settle in her bones.  

    It was agony - absolute agony and Faith didn't know why she wasn't dead yet.  Why she was still sane.  How anyone could stay sane when faced with such agony was beyond her.  And then she felt the warmth that seemed to be trailing from the corner of her mouth, whether it was from a severed tongue or something that the torture did to her on the inside, she didn't know - nor did she really care at the moment.  All that mattered was the pain... and the silence.  

    While her and Elizabeth's screams still echoed in her ears, there was only a heavy silence now.  Panting weakly, Faith forced her muscles to respond and allowed her head to roll to the side, her brown eyes sweeping past the hem of many dark robes until they landed on the glassy, unseeing brown eyes of her watcher.  

    Unseeing brown eyes.  

    Dead.  

    Elizabeth was dead.

    As a coldness seemed to invade her limbs and fight the heat that still burned through her system, Faith forced her aching body to roll over until she was lying on her stomach.  And then, with her muscles screaming their protest she used her shaking arms to push her weight up and forced herself to her feet.  Lifting her head slowly, the dark-haired slayer swayed as she allowed her eyes to move past the various Death Eaters that filled the room until they rest upon the monster that she knew was behind this senseless act.  She didn't know these people - didn't know this creature.  She had no fight with him and yet he brought a fight into Elizabeth's home - into their sanctuary.  And he killed her watcher.  Eyes narrowing, Faith turned her head to the side and spit out a mouthful of blood before raising her eyes defiantly to the monster that stood before her - her will alone keeping her standing.

    "Remarkable," Voldemort murmured, watching as the girl continued to defy him even as her body trembled.  Her limbs seemed ready to give out beneath her, and yet she refused to relent to the pain - refused to relent to his tortures.  Eyes narrowing, Voldemort waved a pale hand dismissively at his followers and within seconds he was alone with the slayer.  Moving forward, his black robes trailing around his gaunt figure, the Dark Lord finished the distance between them and then slowly lifted one pale hand.  With a hideous smile he gently ran a cold finger down the side of the girl's face, both understanding that she was too weak to do anything but recoil away from his touch.  She was finished and they both knew it.  "Remarkable, but not enough," he said, his eyes dismissing her as he turned and strode across the basement, his robes trailing after his steps.

    Then, just shy of the first step he paused and slowly turned, his red eyes locking with her brown.  "Avada kedavra," he murmured, his words so casual as the green light flew from his wand and illuminated the girl's world for the smallest of moments before oblivion called her home, her body falling lifelessly to the ground.  "And so it begins," he murmured, even as the front door crashed open in the house above.

    Time passed and Buffy was vaguely aware of it.  Actually, the only thing she was aware of was the feeling of Harry's lips on hers, his arms pulling her close, and most importantly, the heat that was radiating off of his body and warming her own.  To say that Angel had been around the block would have been an understatement seeing as how he had about 230 years on her - but while Angel had passion, it had always been cold passion.  This... this heat that burned from Harry's body and blazed in her own was a fiery passion that was altogether new to her - and something that she wondered how she ever could have done without.

    As their tongues dueled one another in a dance that was older than time itself, Buffy felt their innocent kiss ignite into something more - months of camaraderie expand into something that neither had fully realized they were missing.  Before Buffy knew it she was bent back and lying on a bed, Harry's lean frame bending over top as his arm supported most of his weight.  She hadn't even realized they were moving and now couldn't be bothered with the details.  The only thing that seemed to matter was Harry's lips pressed against hers and his hands-

    "Harry?  Have you-"

    Unable to stop the shriek from escaping her lips, Buffy pushed Harry off of her so hard that he flew back and bounced on the bed beside the one they were on.  Gasping, Buffy quickly sat up and felt her face go crimson as she locked eyes with one very red-faced Ron Weasley.

    "Oi - ah... s-sorry about that," the teen quickly mumbled as Buffy frantically ran her fingers through her mussed hair, trying to put it back into place even as Harry shot his friend a very flustered glare.

    "Thanks for knocking," he muttered crossly as he straightened his shirt, sending a scowl at his friend whose expression was turning indignant.

    "Hey, how was I supposed to know that you and Buffy were thoroughly snogging each other on my bed!" he added, his eyes narrowing as Buffy bolted from the mattress as though burned, her eyes trying to look anywhere but at him.  Surprising himself, Ron was able to maintain his indignant glare for a full thirty seconds before he couldn't hold it any longer, his laughter making them both turn even more red as he fell against the door, holding his sides.

    Sighing, Harry rolled his eyes at his friend's antics before turning to Buffy, smiling gently at her and taking her hand in his.  "Payback for all the times I walked in and he and 'mione," he murmured, squeezing her hand gently as he pulled her away from the beds.  "And if you're quite finished-"

    "Not nearly!  Wait till Hermione hears about-"

    "Ronald Weasley, don't you dare!" Buffy quickly broke in as she jabbed a finger against his chest just hard enough to make him wince.  "I don't need your big trap spreading this to the whole school," she added before smiling sweetly up at the taller boy.  "You wouldn't want to make me angry, would you?"

    "Not bloody likely," Ron agreed, smiling despite himself as he ran a playful hand over Harry's head, messing up his hair even further.  "Although it would be worth it to see-"

    "Ron, did you even have a reason for looking for me?" Harry interrupted, reminding his friend of his impromptu and all too successful search for him.

    "Oi, I almost forgot!  Buffy," he said, turning towards the small slayer.  "Snape sent me to fetch you," he explained, unable to prevent his grimace at the mere mention of the potion professor's name.  It didn't matter that he now knew that Snape was one of the good guys, nor the fact that his education at Hogwarts was almost completed - nor even the fact that Hogwarts wasn't even technically in session.  Despite all of this, the potions master still managed to take control of his small class and lay on the homework and deduct points from Gryffindor as if making up for lost time.  And there wasn't even a house cup to compete for this year!

    "Why is Snape looking for me?" Buffy asked, voicing Harry's same question.

    "He said that there's a man down at the gates asking for you - an American."

To be continued...

And before I get a litany of reviews asking about this - just a reminder that while yes, Faith is a slayer, she's also a slayer on the Hellmouth - the one place in all of the world where wizarding magic can make an impact.  Remember that as mentioned in the first few chapters that the forces on the Hellmouth interfere with the slayer's natural magic making her just as susceptible as anyone else.  Okay, end lesson recap - and please don't forget to review!