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calic0catFinally came up with a title for both the series and the fic. No major changes here, just a few minor edits for punctuation and wording. I'm reposting it for the sake of convenience in tagging and so that those avoiding it because it was posted as a random scribble will be aware that it's now officially one of a series.
Title: Visit
Series: (Dark and Evil Are) Not Synonymous
Author: Calic0cat
Genre: Crossover, Drama, Angst
Story Pairings: Xander/Spike, Giles/Ethan/Anyanka, Tara/Willow/Oz, Drusilla/Cordelia, Buffy/Riley, Angel(us)/Wes
Series Pairings: Above plus Harry/Draco, possibly others
Rating: FRT (Fan Rated for Teens)
Warnings: Swearing, Mention of Threesomes, Slash
Disclaimer: Neither the Hogwarts crew nor the Scoobies belong to me.
Website: http://www.calic0cat.net/
Author's Note: The "Not Synonymous" series is majorly AU for BtVS (events took a right turn at Albuquerque beginning sometime around "School Hard" in Season Two) & for HP (for reasons which will become obvious in a hurry). HP's timeline is shifted so that its Book One/Year One begins a year after BtVS Season Seven. Stories in the series are *not* being written in chronological order, nor do they necessarily need to be read in any particular order (though this story actually does make a good starting point).
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The Knight Bus screeched to a halt and opened its doors with a crash. Stan Shunpike opened his mouth to speak but, in response to a glare from his sole waiting passenger, closed it meekly without a sound.
Severus Snape strode irritably onto the bus, his cape snapping sharply in his wake. He did *not* appreciate being given the task of visiting the homes of Muggleborn potential first years. McGonagall and Sprout were far better suited to the job and usually took it upon themselves to accomplish it. Unfortunately, Severus had had several days of business to conduct in Diagon Alley and its darker counterpart and Dumbledore had cheerfully decided that he might as well make the current London region visits while he was in the general area. Fortunately, there were only two this month, so it should take him no more than a day, at most.
However, making nice with the Muggles was most definitely not the way Severus had intended to spend any portion of his week. Particularly since the odds of any Muggleborn child being sorted into his House were slim, though there had been a magical descendant of successive generations of Squib ancestors from time to time. At any rate, the chances of the visit benefiting Slytherin House were so slight as to be nonexistent. With less than two weeks remaining before the new term, his time would have been far more profitably spent preparing his potions laboratory and classroom at Hogwarts.
On the other hand, at least being away from the castle longer meant that he had escaped yet another day of weeping, wailing, and gnashing of teeth over the fact that the Potter boy's admission letter had been undeliverable. His name remained gray and faded on the admission rolls rather than being struck out as it should have had he been dead, but the crucial delivery information remained stubbornly blank when a letter was addressed to him. Even the Headmaster's phoenix could not deliver a letter with *no* associated address. Whatever had happened to cause the Boy-Who-Lived to vanish six years ago, he had been extremely well-hidden ever since.
With an impressive bang, the Knight Bus arrived at Snape's destination. Severus glared fiercely at Shunpike, who closed his mouth with a snap instead of loudly announcing the stop.
Charming his robes to appear as Muggle clothing, Severus exited the bus. Surveying the area, he raised an eyebrow, reluctantly impressed by the destination he'd arrived at. Rather than a simple house or council flat, the address belonged to an old estate, a rather large one judging by the stone fence which stretched as far as the eye could see in either direction. At least the lack of a house or flat number now made sense.
Severus knew that this student's name had only recently been added to Hogwarts's rolls; Minerva had been rather taken aback by its discovery mere days ago, since the letter should have gone out a month previous, along with those for the rest of the July birthdays. Since the names of potential students were automatically added to the Book of the nearest wizarding school at the time of birth, a late addition only occurred when a student moved into the enrollment area of a different school. Obviously, the student's family had either just returned from abroad to their ancestral estate in England, or had immigrated and taken over the property. Although rather rundown, the property bore signs of recent improvements, such as the piles of ivy and other debris along the foot of the newly-cleared stone wall. One rusted iron front gate lay on the grass beside the drive, a pile of tools and can of paint waiting next to it. The other gate, rust-free and freshly painted dark green, leaned against its post, waiting to be re-hung. An elaborately carved wooden sign mounted on the gate bore the words 'Aurelian Court', confirming that this was indeed the correct destination.
As Severus passed through the gateway, his step faltered as, for an instant, something that felt almost like intent-based magical wards seemed to delicately brush over him. The sensation was gone as quickly as it was noted, however, and he dismissed the very idea that there could be wards around the property. After all, a wizarding family would have arranged the child's school admission list transfer well in advance of their move.
Passing the groundskeeper's cottage, Severus noted more signs of repairs and renovations. The shrubbery was neatly trimmed and the house's door and shutters bore a fresh coat of paint. Seeing no signs of current activity around the building, however, he continued up the sweeping drive towards the main house.
There was no lack of activity around the manor itself. As he climbed the front steps, Severus counted no less than a dozen teenage girls hard at work on the grounds and the building's facade. A petite, scantily-dressed blonde, who he estimated as in her early 20s, appeared to be supervising them. She broke away at his approach and met him at the front door.
"Can I help you?" she inquired coolly, blocking his path as she crossed her arms and eyed him a bit suspiciously.
Drawing himself up to his full height, Severus sneered down at her. Muggles and their inappropriate clothing and boorish manners. Pah. "*Can* you help me? I have *no* idea. However, perhaps you *may* be of assistance."
The blonde rolled her eyes. "Oh great, another anal-retentive teacher-type. What is it with you Brits? Get real, buster; you know darn well what I meant, so just spit it out. Why are you here?"
Severus glared at the brash young woman. She quirked an eyebrow and stared right back, completely unabashed and totally unintimidated. Tapping one foot impatiently, she demanded, "Well? You gonna tell me who you are and why you're here, or should I just send you on your way?"
Wonderful. Not only was he dealing with Muggles but, judging by the accent, he was dealing with *American* Muggles. Highly tempted to hex the annoying chit, Severus reminded himself that Dumbledore would not be pleased if he were to alienate the student's family before so much as introducing himself. "I am Severus Snape and I am here to speak with the parent or guardian of Evander James Harris regarding his admission for the coming term at Hogwarts School. I believe that I should be expected." The owl scheduling the appointment had returned without a reply requesting that it be rescheduled, after all.
"Oh, yeah, you're from that witchy school. Xan did mention something about someone coming today, come to think of it. Come on in; I'll see if I can track him down for you." Uncrossing her arms, she waved him towards the front door. "Oh, I'm Buffy Summers, by the way. Xan - uh, Alexander Harris, that is - is Evander's big brother. He's Van's legal guardian, so he's the one you're looking for, but I think the rest of the family's planning to sit in on the info session too."
Severus entered the house, wondering exactly what kind of situation Dumbledore had gotten him into *this* time, as the Summers woman babbled on.
Standing at the foot of the main staircase, the blonde cupped her hands around her mouth and bellowed, "Yo, Bleachboy! Tell Xan to get his butt down here; that witchy-guy's here to see him! *Now*, Spike!"
"Keep yer bloody shirt on, Slayer; we're comin', we're comin'!" drifted down from above in response.
The woman - Summers - snorted and muttered, "That's what I'm afraid of."
Severus decided that he wasn't going to ask about *any* of that exchange. Somehow, he doubted that he really wanted to know.
A different male voice echoed down the stairs. "Stick him in the dining room, then grab the G-man and Ethan, would ya, Buff? Ri too, if you want. I'll get Van and Spike's roundin' up the rest."
"Gotcha, Xan!" Turning away from the stairs, the blonde gestured for Severus to follow her. "Excuse the mess; we've just started fixing the place up. A lot of the rooms aren't usable yet but the dining room's okay."
Severus made a noncommittal sound and followed her down a hallway to the right of the stairs, noting the rather large number of replacement windows leaning against the walls, obviously waiting for installation in various rooms. Noticing his momentary interest, Summers explained, "We're in the middle of replacing all the windows. The new ones are a special kind of glass to protect, uh, antique-y stuff - y’know, like old books and paintings - from the sun."
"Fascinating," Severus drawled dryly. He made a mental note to make further inquiries into such glass via his own contacts; it might be useful for potions work, as many ingredients and potions were highly sensitive to light. Darkly coloured bottles would preserve their contents but unfortunately made identification difficult since the contents were not visible; glued-on labels tended to fall off due to lingering fumes in the lab environment and residual magic from sticking charms had the potential to alter the bottles’ contents.
The blonde muttered something under her breath, then waved Severus towards an open door. "And on that note, here's the dining room. Have a seat, stare out the window, take a nap, whatever floats your boat. Somebody should be here in a few." She continued down the hallway, leaving Severus to enter the room alone.
The spacious dining room contained naught but a very long table - a near match in size to the House tables in the Great Hall - lined with chairs. Bright sunlight streamed in through windows that faced out onto a stone terrace and an overgrown rose garden that was finally receiving some long-overdue tending by another horde of teenage girls. Frowning, Severus observed their work and pondered the very odd situation that he'd been thrust into. Nothing about this household made sense. There were so many teenage girls around that he would almost think that this was a girls' school, save for the fact that they were all hard at work at decidedly non-academic pursuits. And they were of such a wide range of ancestral heritages... Casting his mind back to his initial confrontation with the mysterious Ms. Summers, he was fairly certain that much of the background chatter hadn't even been in English.
Ms. Summers and the voice that she'd addressed as 'Xan' both seemed to be American. Yet, the man she'd called 'Spike' had a definite British accent, though it was more mockney than cockney. Nothing about the situation seemed to quite add up.
There was a vague niggling impression at the back of his mind that he was overlooking an important clue, but Severus could not seem to pin it down. Perhaps it would come to him later, when he would have the leisure to review his memories of the visit in a pensieve.
"Might as well have a seat 'n' make yerself comfortable, mate."
Severus started and spun abruptly, wondering how the speaker had gotten so close without him noticing. Casually perched on the edge of the table, a sharp-faced blond smirked, clearly entertained by catching him off-guard. He glared irritably and the blond's smirk broadened. Fingers twitching, Severus reminded himself again that it would not be wise to start throwing hexes. Dumbledore would be most displeased if he gave in to the temptation.
The sudden influx of people into the room was perhaps for the best, though Severus was hard pressed to control his surprise at just how many people were apparently intending to sit in on the meeting. It was highly unusual to have more than the student's immediate family present. Severus wasn't quite sure what Ministry secrecy policies would have to say about revealing Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry to no less than - he stopped and counted heads again, stunned at the total - *fourteen* Muggle adults! By Salazar, Fudge would be positively apoplectic if he ever found out.
Taking the seat at the head of the table in an attempt to regain *some* semblance of control over the situation, Severus employed one of his favourite classroom tactics and began speaking before everyone else was seated. "I am Professor Severus Snape, one of the teachers at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, the school that sent young Mr. Harris a letter of admission a few days ago. I am here to answer any questions that you may have regarding the letter or the school itself."
A dark-haired man with a patch over one eye spoke up. "I'm Xander Harris, Van's brother and legal guardian." Leaning across the table, he offered his hand. Severus grudgingly - and briefly - shook it. Ruffling the dark, unruly hair of the boy seated between the blond and himself, the elder Harris continued, "And this, of course, is Evander, better known as Van. Next is my partner, Spike." The sharp-faced blond gave him a lazy, cocky salute. Severus gritted his teeth and inclined his head slightly in acknowledgement. "As for the rest of the gang..."
Severus scowled darkly and interrupted, "These others should not be present; there are strict secrecy regulations regarding the revealing of magic to those who are not part of the wizarding world. Only the boy and his legal guardian should be here."
The one-eyed man raised his eyebrow and directed an inquiring look towards the far end of the table. "Well?"
"The wards accepted him," the red-headed woman said thoughtfully.
The woman beside her added softly, "His aura has been t-touched by darkness but not t-tainted by evil."
Severus stiffened in shock.
One of the two dark-haired women twirled her hair around a finger, leaned her head against the other dark-haired woman's shoulder, and uttered dreamily, "The stars like him; they sing of promises and secrets kept, of dancing in the pretty shadows between darkness and light. A dark, wounded guardian-kitten with sharp claws and teeth." She hissed and spat like a cat.
Severus shivered involuntarily; the woman's singsong tone had the odd resonance of a true Seer mixed with the eeriness of madness. What in the seven hells had that old fool Dumbledore gotten him into?!
"Uh, yeah. O-o-kay... Cordy, translation please?" Harris requested.
The woman gave a very put-upon sigh. "The short version? He's got a nasty disposition but he can be trusted. Right, Dru?"
Dru nodded, rubbing her face against Cordy's shoulder in an oddly catlike manner and making a noise that sounded suspiciously like a purr.
"Anybody have anything to add?" Harris paused for a moment before turning back to Severus.
Severus barely suppressed the urge to shiver again as the gaze of Harris's single eye seemed to pierce through him; he had the strange impression that his soul was laid bare to the man. Whoever these people were, they were quite definitely *not* ordinary Muggles.
Apparently satisfied by whatever he'd seen, Harris nodded. "Okay, let's start the introductions over again. I am Alexander LaVelle Harris, Consort of the Master Vampire Spike of the Order of Aurelius.
"Evander James Harris is my distant cousin by blood, my ward and brother in Soul and Blood and Magic, by Choice and by Law and by Ritual. He is ward and Claimed Kin of the Master Vampire Spike of the Order of Aurelius.
"Spike, also known as William the Bloody and Slayer of Slayers, is Turned Childe of Drusilla and Sired Childe of Angelus."
Only Snape's long experience as a spy for the Light against the Dark Lord allowed him to maintain any outward semblance of composure as Spike's eyes glowed golden and his face shifted to its vampire form. The bright sunlight spilling throughout the entire room sent Severus into denial, until he abruptly remembered the Summers woman's remarks about the windows. Merlin's beard, glass that protected vampires from sunlight?!
"Next to Spike are Ethan Rayne, Chaos Mage, and Rupert Giles, Chaos Mage and Head Watcher of the new International Slayers Association, the organization replacing the old Council of Watchers. Then comes Anyanka. An's a vengeance demon, currently semi-retired."
Severus lost his struggle to maintain an expression of cool detachment as the attractive young woman briefly became an ugly demon before his very eyes.
"Next to her is Drusilla of the Order of Aurelius, True Seer and Childe of Angelus, and her Consort, Cordelia Chase. Cordy's got a bit of the Seer's Gift, too, but it's mainly useful for figuring out Dru's more cryptic conversations."
Drusilla changed to vampire guise and lunged slightly towards Severus. Startled, he sent his chair crashing over backwards as he jumped to his feet. She giggled gleefully as a chorus of rebukes rang out around the table. "Kitten doesn't want to play," she pouted, shifting back to human appearance.
Harris sighed and shook his head. "Ignore Dru. She knows she's not allowed to actually hurt invited guests; she just likes to mess with people's heads."
Reluctantly, Severus righted his chair and sat back down. He decided that it would be best not to think about the implications of that statement's wording. He also decided that he would make very, very certain not to ever come here uninvited.
"Now, on the *other* side of the table, starting at the far end, we have Willow Rosenberg and Tara Maclay, both Wiccans, and their triad-mate Daniel Osborne, more commonly known as Oz.
"Next is Angelus, also known as Angel, Master Vampire and Head of the Order of Aurelius, and his Consort, Wesley Wyndham-Pryce. Wes is a Watcher and Mage; he follows the Research and Warrior Paths of Magecraft.
"Then there's Riley Finn, the U.S. Army's official liaison to the International Slayers Association. And, of course, you've already met Buffy Summers, the Senior Slayer.
"Err, you have heard of the Slayer, right? You know, 'Into each generation a Slayer is born, one girl in all the world, a Chosen One, one born with the strength and skill to stand against the vampires, the demons, and the forces of darkness, yadda yadda...' Except, of course, it's more like forces of *evil* than darkness, 'cause they're not, like, synonymous, and it's not all vamps and demons, just the baddies, and it's not exactly 'one girl' anymore, either, 'cause Wills and Tara kinda changed all that last year..."
The blond vampire snickered and interrupted, "Xan, luv, you're babblin'. Focus."
"Uh, right. Okay, so the point of all that is..." Harris paused and cocked his head thoughtfully. "Err... Van, remind me what the point is, would you?"
The boy held both hands over the table, palms up, and murmured something inaudible to Severus. A sphere of swirling darkness materialized over one cupped hand while a brilliant ball of pure witchlight glowed above the other. As soon as both were visible, Evander stated simply, "The point is that he's not 'revealing' magic to any of us."
No amount of warning could have prevented Snape's eyes from widening in shock. The child was quite casually using two diametrically-opposed forms of magic at the same time.
"Right. What he said." The elder Harris jerked his thumb to indicate the younger. "In other words, we're already *very* familiar with mojo - just not necessarily your particular variety of it. You don't have to convince us that magic exists; only that your school has something worthwhile to offer Van that he can't learn right here at home. So, Professor Snape - start convincing." He leaned back in his chair, folded his arms, and raised an eyebrow in clear challenge.
Severus swept an unnerved look around the table while he struggled for composure. The Slayer. Wiccans. Mages. A vengeance demon. Vampires - specifically, three-quarters of the infamous Scourge of Europe - and their consorts. Merlin's beard! The estate wasn't merely named 'Aurelian Court', it bloody well was the Court of the Vampiric Order of Aurelius!
And the Vampiric Order was apparently sharing housing with The Slayer. Snape's mind boggled at the very notion.
Despite feeling distinctly overwhelmed, Severus latched onto an important point. Harris had said that 'darkness' and 'evil' were not synonymous; this group's very existence was evidence of its belief in that fact.
Salazar's secrets. Mages *and* Wiccans. Vampires and The Slayer. Ties with the American Armed Forces. This boy had more potential power, both magical and political, at his disposal than even Dumbledore himself. Along with the added bonus of not being bound by Ministry laws.
While the Ministry of Magic claimed to represent the entire magical community of the United Kingdom, it did not, in fact, even represent the entire *human* magical community of the UK. The Wiccan Covens and World Council of Mages were completely independent of it; they didn't recognize its authority, choosing to deal directly with Muggle government or international equivalents to the Ministry instead when issues extended beyond their own jurisdiction. Under a thousand-year-old treaty, Ministry of Magic laws didn't even *apply* to members of either group and their families. If the Consort of the Head of the Order of Aurelius was a Mage, then the entire Order of Aurelius was also exempt from Ministry law. Including the boy, since he was Claimed Kin. And, by all appearances, already well-started on the paths of both Wicca and Magecraft.
Regardless of whether or not Hogwarts had anything unique to offer Evander Harris, the boy potentially had a great deal to offer the school. Particularly Slytherin House, *his* House, whose members were subjected to the unjust prejudices of the other Houses. Given proof that Dark did not necessarily equate to evil, that darkness and light could co-exist, that the magical world offered possibilities beyond the restrictive prejudices and policies of the Ministry of Magic... Many opportunities could open up for his Slytherins. Bearing in mind Dumbledore's concerns regarding the permanency of the Dark Lord's defeat, along with the fact that the bloody Boy-Who-Lived was missing without a trace, having viable options available could be critical to their futures.
Thank Salazar that McGonagall or Sprout hadn't been sent on this particular visit. This was definitely a task for a Slytherin. Severus folded his hands on the table before him, gathered his composure and his wits, took a deep breath, and started convincing.
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no subject
Date: 2006-07-09 01:40 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-07-09 04:28 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-07-09 03:16 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-07-09 04:28 pm (UTC)Great Story!
Date: 2006-07-10 12:02 am (UTC)Severus' thoughts on the ‘specialized' glass windows was especially Slytherin – even when annoyed and in an unfamiliar situation, his mind is always working on how to turn anything to his advantage. I adore him! And I really enjoy the way you've written him.
Lastly, thank you sooo much for writing a confident and well respected Xander. When this ‘verse is done, I'm going to be begging you for Spike and Xander's background story of how they first got together, and how they acquired ‘Evander'.
Re: Great Story!
Date: 2006-07-10 01:21 am (UTC)I was really surprised when I started writing this particular story and it came out in Snape's POV. I hadn't expected that; I'd kind of figured that I'd probably write the visit from Xander's POV, or maybe Harry/Van's. I'd kind of expected to have difficulty writing from Snape's POV - but I didn't. I'm glad that the bit about the glass worked; I'd hoped that it was an appropriately Slytherin touch for his character.
I'm glad that you liked Xander, too. He had *so* much potential in BtVS, but there was always something there to keep him from really fulfilling it. Having a younger sibling to look out for would, I think, give him that extra bit of incentive to get past 'The Zeppo' and take a little more control of his own life. He's always at his best when someone else is counting on him - and that's canon.
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Date: 2007-08-01 08:33 pm (UTC)And Van is so very much Harry, Right?
no subject
Date: 2007-08-02 12:53 am (UTC)I've got plot notes and story fragments for quite a few other stories in the series and, hopefully, now that my two-years-plus of writer's block is easing up a bit again, I'll actually manage to get some of the other stories written out in full.
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Date: 2007-08-02 11:52 am (UTC)All very delicious ones though, and read about four to five times already, :). And the one with Severus even a few times more, because of y'know Severus and his take on Slytherin. And the tantalising background that came from introducing the group. And the prospect of a SLytherin Harry or Van that doesn't need the Wizarding world, yet could be a great help to them (and especially SLytherin House, which he so needs to be!)
*puppydog eyes*