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Disclaimers, etc, see part one.
Chapter Seven

Harry pressed himself flat against the trunk of one of the trees at the edge of the Forbidden Forrest. He concentrated on keeping his breathing steady, lest it give his position away. He debated the wisdom of casting a diversionary spell, but decided against the risk of it failing and drawing their attention. His adversaries were, after all, renowned for their stealth and acute senses. The group of giggling girls passed his hiding spot and continued towards Hogsmeade. Harry let out a sigh of relief and continued on his way to Hagrid's Hut, where he was meeting Ron and Hermione. He continued to look over his shoulder, just in case there were other girls following him.

Ron and Hermione were waiting for him, keen to leave Hargid's idea of morning tea and join the others in Hogsmeade. Harry had found it much easier to write to Buffy about his inevitable battle with Voldemort than it had been to talk to her, and in the six weeks since their shopping trip, they had actually begun to discuss tactics. Hermione, of course, had felt a little left out of the planning stage, and Ron wanted a say in where he was going to stand in the battle, so they were going to hold a council.

Harry managed to wave off Hagrid's offer of tea with the excuse that they were running late, and promised to visit one evening soon. Hermione and Ron tailed after him as he headed along the path into the village.

"Where are going?" Ron asked.

"Just outside the school gates," Harry said. "Buffy wanted to meet outside the grounds,
because she's bringing some friends, or something. Have you seen Neville?"

"Is that him there?" Hermione asked, pointing.

It was Neville, down the hill in front of them, part of the line of students walking away from the school. They began to jog slightly to catch up with him, and reached the school gates just as Buffy appeared over the rise from Hogsmeade.

Buffy was leading a group of maybe five people, one of whom detached herself from the group and sprinted towards the school. Her long hair flowed behind her, and the sun glinted off her shiny red pants. Most of the students stopped to stare at her as she ran past, most of the boys ogling her, and the girls glaring. Neville froze.

She ran straight towards him, and the others stepped back to see what would happen. Harry, Ron and Hermione were in a perfect position to watch as she grabbed Neville and pushed him back against the school fence. Hermione immediately stepped forward to defend him, and Harry thrust an arm out to stop her.

"It's Melissa," he said.

The statement made much more sense when, instead of socking him, Melissa grabbed a hold of Neville and kissed him. There were catcalls from a few of the girls nearby, while others just stared in shock at the scene.

"Neville?" Harry heard one girl ask, in obvious disbelief, while her friend nodded, too overcome to actually speak. Harry grinned winningly at them.

They were too focused on the scene to notice him and the speechless one gasped. Harry turned back to see Neville push Melissa away far enough to dip her backwards. She came up grinning, but still blushed when she noticed the attention they were receiving. She wasn't blushing nearly as hard as Neville was by the time Harry, Ron and Hermione met up with the others. Hermione was watching the scene with academic satisfaction, like she had answered an obscure problem in Transfiguration.

"I always wondered what other talents Neville's clumsy exterior housed," she said smugly.
Harry turned to watch the show, as Ron, spluttering and turning purple in the face, rounded on her. Ron gapped for a couple of moments before he found his objection.

"And what talents have you been imagining Neville has?" he demanded.

"I wasn't specifically imagining things, Ron," Hermione said, rolling her eyes, "I said I had wondered."

"Wondered about Neville shagging people?"

"Really, Ron, must you be so crude? I was merely pointing out that Neville carried off a movie style kiss quite well. There are few people who can do that; it takes real sensitivity of timing and body. Thinking of sex, though, I wouldn't. I mean, Melissa's still a girl, really. A mature woman needs something more than that, someone like Buffy, for instant, must look for..."

She trailed off as Ron's expression became once again quite strangled. Harry had to admire the depth of skill Hermione was employing against Ron, but hoped for his friend's sake that she would make her intentions clear. Ron cast a desperate look Harry, who took another step back. He shook his head, refusing to get between Hermione and Ron in such arguments.

Ron was saved further assault by the arrival of Buffy and her followers. The group consisted of Melissa and two other young women in tight clothes. With them were two men, and older one in a suit and younger one in work clothes and an eye patch. The older man examined the three of them in a detached way, while the younger one offered them his hand.

"Xander Harris," he said.

Harry shook hands with him, grinning in reply.

There was a gasp from the girls behind and Harry turned.

"Xander?" one of the repeated. "Like, from that book?"

Xander grinned at them, and they giggled. He rolled his eye at them, and turned back to offer his hand to Hermione. She shook hands with him, blushing, and managed to mumble her name. Xander looked over his shoulder to Buffy.

"This is his Willow, yeah? Pre-Tara or post-Tara?"

Buffy laughed in affirmation. "Before Oz, actually, although not as timid," she said. "He's there, he just hasn't worked it out yet."

Hermione released Xander's hand and took a breath to speak up.

"As the topic of this conversation, would it be okay if I understood it?"

"You'll just have to read the other books," Buffy said.

"Buffy Summers, consummate author," Giles said. "Your years of book-shy high school student are long behind you."

"I used to read interesting books, they just happened to be completely different from the ones you think are interesting." Buffy insisted. She glanced around the group, "Harry, Hermione, Ron, Xander, Sarah, Carla, Giles," she said, pointing to each person in turn.

"Neville and Melissa will be joining us shortly, I hope," she added. "We can go up to the school, now, and get started."

"What exactly are we doing?" Ron asked.

"Well, I'd tell you, but then I'd have kill you," Buffy said.

Ron started at her, gulping noisily. Buffy just rolled her eyes.

"Plotting the downfall of the evil, and the inevitable heroics of the righteous," Giles said.
"It tends to lead to fewer problems, and a lesser chance of being knocked on the head."

"You were trying to get in the way of a prophecy," Buffy said.

"You'd quit," Giles replied defensively.

"Okay, then, school," Ron said, nodding.

He started walking, and others followed him across the grounds. Buffy stopped as though something had just occurred to her.

"Should I go get Severus?" Buffy asked. "We couldn't tell him what time we were going to arrive."

She dashed off toward the school before Xander could do as much as smirk at her. The others kept walking, not noticing the wink Buffy threw at Harry. Harry shivered, and Xander clapped him on the back in support. Hermione rolled her eyes at Harry.

"Really, Harry, you're imagining things," she insisted. "Buffy is an intelligent, rational, and attractive young woman."

She caught the smug look on Ron's face. "She'd never really appreciate the dark allure of a man like Severus Snape," she continued.

Ron turned slightly green. Xander looked admiringly at Hermione. He seemed about to say something, but Harry just shook his head and Xander grinned in understanding.

"That's the best piece of misdirection of its kind since Buffy distracted Giles by telling him Ms Calendar thought he was a babe."

"How did you hear that story?" Giles demanded.

"It's in the book," Xander said, with a shrug.

He turned away from Giles's resigned look and asked Hermione a question about the wood her wand was made from and they continued towards the school. Ron shot a couple of dirty looks at Harry and Hermione, and muttered that he was hardly that stupid.

The walk up to the Room of Requirement was calm and relatively quiet. Hermione, on learning that Rupert Giles was the R. E. Giles who had written a ground breaking essay on differential translation of dead mystical languages and their modern equivalents, had attached herself to him like a limpet. Harry overheard them discussing a Sumerian transition language used by high priests, and wondered if Mr Giles realised what he had gotten himself into. Now that Hermione had found an ostensibly affable expert in a field of interest, there was no way she was letting go.

The two Slayers, Sarah and Carla, found Harry and began asking him questions about the stresses of being the Chosen One. For the first time in his life, Harry really didn't mind the attention. Ron found himself in step with Xander and they struck up an eager conversation about the comparative merits of The Adventures of Martin Miggs, the Mad Muggle and X-Men, which broke off only when they reached the seventh floor corridor.
Harry looked around as he entered the room. Several key members of the Order were already there: Arthur Weasley, who waved to Ron; Kingsley Shacklebolt; Alastor Moody, his magical eye trained on the Slayers' movements; Remus Lupin, looking very well; and Tonks, with purple and green spiked hair. Dumbledore was seated at the end of the table with Fawkes perched on the back of his chair. Harry wondered if the bird anticipating bloodshed in this meeting, and if so, from whose.

Neville and Melissa arrived behind Harry, holding hands, and quietly took places at the table. There was suddenly yelling from the corridor, and Harry winced. He caught Neville's eye, and they both grimaced. The yelling meant either Snape was going to be in an absolutely filthy mood, and would most likely take it out on his two favourite sitting targets, namely Harry and Neville; or that Buffy and Snape were indulging in their bizarre foreplay and would likely be engaged in Activities soon. Harry wasn't sure which was worse, the verbal or the psychological abuse.

It took several minutes for them to make it to the room, enough time for several knowing and amused glances from the gathered company, or confused and worried ones from Hermione and Ron. Buffy stalked in and took a seat next to Remus. Snape glared indiscriminately around the room and he sat down opposite her.

"Right, so we can get started now," Xander said, half sigh, half smile.

They went around the table and introduced themselves. Giles gave a run down of the situation from the Scoobies' point of view, and Moody related what the Order knew.

"Let me get this straight," Buffy interrupted him, "You had a partially dead megalomaniac with an immortality obsession, a history of the dark arts, and a penchant for reanimating the dead, and nobody thought to cremate the remains of his blood relatives?"

Her question was met with silence. One by one the Order members looked sheepishly at their neighbours. Finally Dumbledore spoke.

"In our defence, my dear, it was not a thing we wished to contemplate. Necromancy is one of the greatest evils known to us, and Tom never got further than the creation of murderous inferii."

Buffy snorted, "I'll leave this one up to you and Giles, now, Xander."

Xander cleared his throat ponderously.

"Leaving bones lying around is like sending them an engraved invitation to resurrection.
You have to know how to the kill bad guys so they can't come back."

He scowled at them. "We knew better by the time we were 17," he added, sounding petulant. "And we didn't have anything like your organization,"

Giles started cleaning his glasses, an amused smile twitching at his lips at the outraged faces around the table.

"I think Xander was trying to convey the overall importance of limiting Voldemort's options. By leaving the graveyard in the state it was, he did not need to work particularly hard to create himself a habitable body. I think one of our first courses of action is to destroy what remains of the spell he used, burn the bones, et cetera."

"Destroy the artefacts would weaken the resulting objects?" Hermione asked. She looked excited, and as though she would have liked several books to cross-reference.

"There is very little precedent for making them stronger," Giles said slowly. He glanced Dumbledore for verification. Dumbledore nodded. "Never in resurrection or necromancy," he said. "The magic itself is so unstable, the results can't hold it all in themselves."

"That would just destroy the body, though, not whatever he had before?" Sarah asked, worriedly.

"Not even that," Giles admitted. "It will weaken the body itself, and the ties to this reality. But he'll still be as he is now. Just easier to kill."

"That's nice," Harry said, brightly.

"So we're agreed?" Xander asked. "We find these bones and grind them down to make our bread? Although not literally, because that would be gross."

Dumbledore looked like he wanted to grin. But he kept his composure as he said, "Yes. We will need to work on details. But that is the plan."

"And what about this rat guy?" Buffy asked.

There was an uncomfortable pause, while Harry, Ron and Hermione glanced worried at each other and then at Remus. Remus smiled, very grim, with narrowed eyes.

"I'll take care of that," Remus said, voice soft but certain.

Buffy turned to him, fanning herself. "I do like it when men take charge," she simpered, affecting a southern accent.

Remus blinked at her, trying not to grin. Tonks, sitting on his other side, did grin and wrapped her hands around his arm. She leant forward and whispered something his ear that made him blush. Harry risked a brief glance at Snape. He expected him to be glaring at Buffy, but Snape was smirking, obviously enjoying Remus's discomfort.

Hermione nudged Harry.

"I thought you said they were together?" Hermione said.

Harry just shrugged and rolled his eyes. He didn't want to consider what Snape might make of Buffy's comments, or what Tonks may have whispered to Remus. Instead he concentrated on all the boring details in the rest of the meeting as they worked out the specifics of their plan to go after Tom Riddle Senior's bones.

They made agreements to meet two weeks later, days before the full moon, in order to undertake their operation. Harry was to be there because he knew the cemetery; and Snape because he could tell if Voldemort was near; Buffy for protection; and Giles to perform the ritual itself. Hermione insisted on going as well for the experience, and Ron refused to be left behind.

"Okay, that's enough," Dumbledore said. "Does anyone else want to go?"
Remus raised his hand. "I can see, and smell," he said. "And if we know that Peter was there..."

Dumbledore nodded, understanding the implications of Remus's determination to go after his former friend. "Eight is more than enough if you keep your wits about you. Meet here, Friday in two weeks, 6 pm. You can eat here before you go. And that is all, I think."

When no one disagreed with him, Dumbledore stood, bowed to the gathered company and left the room. Slowly everyone else began to get up and find other things to talk about. Buffy and her friends were set to leave and began to say their goodbyes. Hermione made Giles promise to send her a couple of the books he had mentioned. Ron and Xander agreed to bring their comic books to next meeting to compare the different styles.


Harry sat silently at the table, glad to have been spared more traumatic evidence of Snape and Buffy's relationship, and beginning to psych himself up for a second trip to that graveyard.