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Chapter Thirty
Muggle Life Buffy coughed as she walked through her living room in Sunnydale. “Okay, that’s just nasty. Not as nasty as being covered in demon blood, but still nasty.” She continued trying to clean floo powder from her lungs. “Forgot to warn you about that, luv. Sorry.” Before long the entire scooby gang, along with Harry and Draco, were gathered in the Summers’ living room. They were all covered with soot. “I need a shower,” Dawn said, as she saw her dirty face in the mirror. “I think the same could be said for all of us,” Willow added as she inspected her own dirty clothes. “Yes, I agree. I suggest that we return to our respective homes to unpack and wash up,” Giles said as he tried to clean his glasses on his dirty shirt. “Meet back here in say, two hours?” Buffy asked. “Oh! Can we order pizza?” Xander asked. “I’ve been dying for a slice.” “Sure thing,” Buffy said with a smile. The gang quickly gathered up their luggage and filed out the door, leaving those whom were staying at the Summers’ household. Harry was just soaking in the loving aura the place gave him. Like the Burrow, it felt like a family lived there. He was looking forward to spending the next several weeks there. Draco, on the other hand, was looking about in curiosity. The pictures that were everywhere were not moving, which seemed rather odd to him. There was a large box sitting on the floor that had a glass front, but he couldn’t see through it. On top of it sat thin rectangular boxes that had blinking lights and numbers on it. Continuing his inspection he noticed no candles or torches to light the room after dark. He wondered how they planned to illuminate the room later. “Earth to Draco,” Dawn called teasingly. “Huh?” “Buffy was getting ready to tell you where you were sleeping,” Dawn told him. “Oh,” he said dazedly. There was just so much for him to take in. He wondered, albeit briefly, if this was how muggle born wizards felt when they first arrived at Hogwarts. “Draco and Harry, you’ll be sharing my old room,” Buffy’s voice said, cutting in on his wonderings. “What?!” The two boys said in unison. “I’m sorry, but it’s the only option,” Buffy explained with a wicked grin. “We only have the one extra bedroom.” “Suck it up, you’ll live,” Spike said as he began shoving the two stunned boys upstairs. Dawn couldn’t help but giggle at their identical expressions. She had figured out early on what the arrangements were going to be, but she had kept her mouth shut so that it wouldn’t scare them off. She gathered up her own bags and hurried upstairs to her own room. While she enjoyed staying at Hogwarts, it couldn’t beat the comforts of home. Little over an hour later, Dawn sat on the couch in between newly cleaned Draco and Harry. Draco only had minor problems with his shower, such as figuring out how to turn the lights on. He was fine though once they had explained electricity and light switches. Dawn was pleased to see that Draco hadn’t slicked his hair back, but had left it loose and hanging around his eyes. She couldn’t seem to stop touching it and enjoying the softness of it. “Why don’t you turn the TV on Harry,” she said as she snuggled up to Draco. “Which remote?” Dawn pointed to one and he picked it up and pushed a button. Draco jumped in shock as a moving picture came up on the screen and sound came out of the box. “Merlin! What is that?” “It’s what we call television.” “How does it work?” “Well there’s....it uses electricity...and there’s this tube in it....and a signal....and... Honestly, I don’t know how it works, it just does.” Dawn said finally. Draco couldn’t help but stare in fascination as Harry flipped through the channels. He was beginning to rethink a couple of his opinions about muggles and their abilities. Harry turned to Dawn, “What do you want to watch? I didn’t get to watch a lot of TV at the Dursley’s so I don‘t know what’s good.” “Just flip. I’ll let you know when to stop.” Harry flipped until Dawn called out. “Oh stop! Draco will love this show.” “What is it?” “Currently muggles are obsessed with reality shows. That means there are no actors, just people placed into weird situations and the one who makes it through wins money. This one is called Fear Factor.” “Fear Factor?” “Yeah. They have to complete these weird challenges that have a definite fear or even gross factor. It can get pretty nasty.” “Wicked.” They watched as the competitors introduced themselves and explained why they would be the one to win. “This is dumb,” Draco said. “We haven’t got to the good part yet,” Dawn admonished him. Buffy and Spike came down the stairs during the first challenge. Buffy just rolled her eyes, but Spike gave the kids the thumbs up on their choice. The two went into the kitchen to pull plates and glasses for the others when they arrived. Dawn joined them in the kitchen after the first challenge. Draco had been complaining about how simple it was, but she wanted to get out of the room before the food challenge started. She was just pulling a diet coke out of the fridge when there came a yell from the living room. The three ran in there to see what the matter was. Harry and Draco sat on the couch with disgusted expressions on their faces. The other three turned to the screen in time to see a woman drink a glass full of blended worms. “Oh god,” Dawn said as she turned her head. “Gross,” Buffy said as she did the same. “Why is she drinking?” Spike asked. The boys couldn’t answer. They could only stare at the TV in morbid fascination. The two competitors on the screen tried to make another basket. When they failed to get the ball through the hoop, they both had to drink a glass of blended worms. When a commercial finally came on, Draco turned to Dawn with a strange look in his eyes. “That was bloody brilliant.” Buffy shuddered. “Yup. Definitely related to Spike.” Xander chose that moment to walk through the door. “Oh, what’s on TV?” “This amazing show called Fear Factor,” Draco said gleefully. “Have they eaten bugs yet?” Xander asked excitedly. Draco nodded his head. Buffy and Dawn just shook their own as Willow and Tara arrived. “What’s up?” Willow asked. “The boys are bonding,” Buffy explained as she ushered them into the kitchen. Before long, Anya and Giles arrived. They had decided on what pizzas to order, after a brief explanation to Draco. Buffy was just hanging up the phone when she heard Spike hollering. “Yes! He did it!” “Who did what?” “Clem! He taped Passions for me!” “Passions?” Draco asked Dawn. “It’s his favorite soap opera. He and mom used to talk about it all the time. Show’s kind of stupid if you ask me.” “It’s one of the best things about American television,” Spike argued. Dawn began giggling. “What?” “The big bad and his soaps,” she said, followed by another peal of giggles. “Hey now,” Spike said with a hurt look. “No need to get insulting.” “The big bad?” Harry asked. “It’s what he calls himself,” she answered between giggles. “I’ll have you know...” Spike began, but he was cut off by Buffy’s giggles. “Oh ha ha.” Luckily the door opened at that time revealing a flabby looking guy with floppy ears and red eyes. Harry’s eyes widened. “Demon! Demon in the house!” Everyone jumped to their feet and turned to where Harry was pointing. They all relaxed though as soon as they realized who it was. “Clem!” Buffy exclaimed as she gave him a big hug. “Why is Buffy hugging that demon?” Harry asked. “Clem is not an evil demon,” Giles explained. “Not unless you’re a kitten,” Dawn whispered. “Huh?” “Nothing,” she said with a wave of her hand as she went to give Clem a hug of her own. “Glad to see you guys back safe and sound,” Clem said. “And look, you brought home strays.” Spike couldn’t help but chuckle. “The dark haired one is Harry; the other is my great nephew many times removed, Draco. Boys, this is a good friend of mine Clem.” “Nephew huh?” “Yeah. Thanks for the tapes mate.” “No problem.” “And thank you for taking care of the house and the groceries. I was surprised to see them,” Buffy said with a smile. “It was no problem, Buffy. I figured you wouldn’t want to go shopping your first day back.” “We ordered pizza,” Willow said. “You gonna stay?” “Sure,” he said as he joined them in the living room. Harry and Draco couldn’t keep their stares away from Clem. His behavior wasn’t anything like what they would have thought would come from a demon. He was friendly and jovial. “Any demons I should worry about while we’re home?” Buffy asked. “Nah. Although a couple of vampires breezed into town a couple of days ago claiming to be Spike and Druscilla.” “What?” Spike sputtered. “Yeah. The guys at poker the other night mentioned it so I went to check it out. They don’t even look like you guys.” Spike vamped out and headed to the door saying, “I’m gonna kill them!” When he opened the door there stood the pizza guy holding several pizzas. He took one look at Spike’s face and dropped the pizzas and ran. “Way to go Spike,” Buffy said. “Hey! Free pizza!” Xander said excitedly as he grabbed the pizzas. “Spike. Eat first, slay later,” Buffy said firmly. Draco eyed the food that was placed before him. It didn’t look too appetizing, but he felt his stomach growl at the smell. He watched as the others picked slices up and started shoving them into their mouths. He reached out and picked up a slice and took a bite. It tasted as good as it smelled. He quickly ate it and grabbed another slice. He was definitely rethinking his opinions on muggles. Maybe the mudbloods had the best deal of all, both worlds. After everyone had eaten and cleaned up, Buffy asked, “Who’s up for patrolling?” Spike jumped to his feet and grabbed his duster in answer. The three Hogwarts’ students stood to show their decisions. “I don’t know,” Buffy said hesitantly. “Oh come on, Buffy. There’s enough of us. And Draco and I have been patrolling the dark forest with you for the past couple of months.” Dawn pointed out. “Fine,” she said resignedly. She pointed her finger menacingly at Harry and said, “But no heroics.” Everybody grabbed their coats and headed out the door. They decided to split up to cover more ground. Anya, Giles, Xander, Willow, and Tara went in one direction, while the rest went in the opposite direction. There had been no demons or vampires lurking about that evening. After two hours Buffy was about to suggest they head home when they heard a scream come from a nearby alley. They took off running towards it. When they got there, a platinum blond man was attacking a young woman. “Hey mate!” Spike called out. “I suggest you try pretending to be someone else next time.” The guys turned around and the girl took the opportunity to run off. “Who the hell are you?” He asked in a decidedly southern accent. “Spike.” “Can’t be. I’m Spike! I traveled with the Scourge of Europe, slayed two slayers!” Dawn let a small giggle escape, she couldn’t help it. Other than the platinum blond hair and the clothes, the guy looked nothing like Spike. He was several inches shorter and had an extra fifty pounds on him. “Bloody hell! That wasn’t you, that was me! You don’t even have the right accent!” Spike sputtered. He apparently pissed the pseudo Spike off because he swung at the real Spike, who easily ducked. The pseudo Spike kept clumsily attacking and Spike eventually got bored. He deftly kicked the pseudo Spike in the stomach, which knocked him to the back of the alley. “Stupid git can’t even fight, not worth the effort to stake him,” Spike grumbled. Dawn had a light bulb go off in her head, “Let Harry stake him.” Everyone turned to look at her in amazement. “What? You guys are here so he can’t get seriously injured. Plus, he needs some real practice.” Buffy narrowed her eyes for a moment then nodded her head. “Go ahead, Harry. Just remember that this isn’t practice, it’s for real. Aim for the heart.” Harry swallowed nervously and pulled his stake from his back pocket. The vampire was finally emerging from the shadows. When the vampire was fully in view, Harry attacked. His fist connected solidly with the vampire’s face, knocking him back a step. The blond threw a backhand punch of his own the Harry barely blocked. He kicked the vampire in the stomach and as he doubled over in pain, Harry staked him through the back. He stepped back and stared at the dust on his shoes in amazement. He had just killed his first vampire. “Way to go Harry! I knew you could do it,” Dawn said, jumping up and down. “Wonder where the fake Dru is,” Spike said to Buffy as he looked around. “I’m sure we’ll find out soon enough,” she said. Previous Chapter The Slayer... Menu Next Chapter |
