Posted originally on the Archive_of_Our_Own at https://archiveofourown.org/
works/6927115.
  Rating:
      Explicit
  Archive Warning:
      Underage
  Category:
      F/F
  Fandom:
      Harry_Potter_-_J._K._Rowling, Buffy_the_Vampire_Slayer
  Relationship:
      Ginny_Weasley_/Willow_Rosenburg
  Character:
      Ginny_Weasley, Hermione_Granger, Willow_Rosenberg, Buffy_Summers, Joyce
      Summers, Rupert_Giles, Faith_Lehane, The_Weasleys, Harry_Potter
  Additional Tags:
      Marriage, Friendship, Crossover
  Stats:
      Published: 2016-05-22 Updated: 2017-03-05 Chapters: 5/? Words: 18173
****** Woke up on Vegas Lane ******
by btvscharmedgirl
Summary
     Willow and Ginny are in for quite a shock when they wake up in
     Wizarding Las Vegas
Notes
     Disclaimer: I do not own Buffy the Vampire Slayer, or Harry Potter. I
     am merely playing with these awesome characters.
     A/N: Hello to all my readers. I hope you enjoy this story. It starts
     out a bit rough and choppy, but everything will be explained as the
     story progresses. Reviews would be lovely.
     Timeline:
     Harry Potter is the summer after they defeat Voldemort
     Buffy is the summer after they Graduate (There are alterations to
     Buffy that will be explained over time.)
***** Waking Up *****
Ginny groaned in pain as she woke. Her head ached from the copious amount of
alcohol she had consumed to previous night. The blankets fell away from her
face as she rolled onto her back, allowing the sun streaming brightly into the
room to blind her. She threw her arm up around her face to block the offending
light. "Bloody hell," she grumbled. Her head felt like The Weird Sisters were
playing in her head. Of course that probably was because she saw them perform
last night with three of her brothers, Harry, and Hermione. She sighed heavily.
It was already after ten, and if she didn't get ready soon she would miss her
portkey home. Molly Weasley would be none too happy about that. As it stood the
older woman had been reluctant to allow Ginny to accompany her family and
friends across the world. She would have a fit if Ginny didn't come home with
them.
She threw the blankets off of her, and gasped audibly. She was naked except for
her socks. How had she not noticed that before? That is when she notice the bed
moving slightly. She looked over and immediately grab the blankets back. 'What
the bloody hell? How did I not notice that before?' The person sharing the bed
with her was facing away from her, but she could see shoulder length red hair
sticking out of the blankets.
Ginny sat up and shook her head, in hopes that it would clear away some of the
haze he still felt from the alcohol. Instead, it made her head feel much worse.
She growled to herself quietly, and scrabbled out of the bed, not caring if she
woke the other occupant up. She looked around the room and saw clothing from
two people scattered randomly. The first thing she noticed was the other
person's clothing were women's, so she knew she had slept with a girl. She
really wished she could remember what had happened.
Help. That's what she needed. Somebody who could help her remember what
happened the night before. She started to pick up her clothing when something
shiny caught her eye. Adorned on her left ring finger rested a shiny gold ring.
Ginny's heart skipped a beat when the implication of the ring hit her. There
was no way she had gotten married last night. "Oh bludgers. Mum's going to kill
me."
She quickly dressed and went to walk out the door, but stop when she realized
that she couldn't just leave her there alone. She turned around conjured a
quill and parchment. She dotted down that she was going to get breakfast and
that she would be back in a little while. Satisfied with the note, she slipped
quietly from the room.
Hermione and Ron's room was a few doors down from hers. She hesitantly knocked
on the door, hoping her brother wasn't in their so she could talk to Hermione
alone. The brunette answered the door almost immediately. "Morning," she said
to Ginny and then took in her disheveled look. "Is everything alright? You look
a mess."
"No. Is Ron here?"
"He went off with Harry a bit ago to get food," Hermione said. She opened the
door wider so Ginny could enter. "Come in Ginny, and tell me what is wrong."
Ginny went into the room and paced for a few seconds as she waited for Hermione
to close the door. "I think I made a mess of things Hermione. Mum's going to
kill me for this I'm sure. I don't blame her really. I'm an adult for a few
hours and I already messed things up. She's never going to trust me again."
Hermione watched her friend pace back and forth trying to make sense of her
ramblings. "Ginny. What are you talking about? I'm sure whatever happened will
be fine. Mrs. Weasley will understand."
"No she won't, Hermione," she sighed heavily, and sat down on the bed. "I don't
even remember what I did last night. All I know is I woke up with somebody in
my bed and a ring on my finger."
"I… You…Huh," Hermione sputtered, truly speechless.
"That's how I feel," Ginny stated.
"You got married last night?"
"I don't remember much. I was pretty sloshed last night. All I remember is
going into muggle Las Vegas last night and then waking up in bed next to the
person this morning."
"You were already pretty tipsy by the time we separated after the show,"
Hermione stated. "I have a bottle of hangover cure in my bag. Maybe you memory
will come back if you're not hung over."
As Hermione moved to get the vile out of her bottomless bag, Ginny asked, "Why
do you have a hangover cure in your purse?"
"Oh I have several bottles of it. I figured that somebody might need it this
week so I brewed a batch of it last week. It's a surprisingly simple potion to
make. It only took a few hours to brew, and I had everything that I needed for
it in my school kit."
"I don't know what we would do without you Hermione," Ginny said, eagerly
accepting the offered potion.
"Oh, I think you would get on just fine. You underestimate yourself far too
much Ginny."
"Sure Hermione. I turned seventeen yesterday and a few hours later I got
married to a complete stranger in a foreign country."
"Yes, well there is that, but I'm sure if you hadn't been sloshed you never
would have done that."
"No. My rational brain would have remembered what my mother is going to do to
me when I get home." Ginny groaned at the thought. She put her head in her
hands and sighed heavily. "The potion is working, but my memories are still
hazy."
"Okay. I think I might have a book in my bag about memories," Hermione said.
Ginny chuckled at her. Only Hermione would bring books on a holiday. "Yep, here
it is. I believe there is a chapter in here about lost memories due to
inebriation." She read quietly for a few minutes, before finally saying, "It
says that you can view the memories in a Penisive if you don't have time to
allow the memories to return on their own."
"Bloody hell," She groaned. "Where am I going to get a penisive? You wouldn't
happen to have one in that bag would you?"
"Not this time, but I may know where I can get one."
"Brilliant. Where?"
"The Inn keeper might have one. She did advertise that she had whatever we
might need. I will be back in a few minutes."
Ginny let herself fall backwards onto the bed with a heavy sigh. She brought
her left hand up to her face and examined the ring. It was a simple gold ring,
but she could tell it was made in the Wizarding world. She could feel the magic
coming from the ring, and there were tiny wands engraved on the outside. She
wondered where they had gotten them. Her memories were very slowly returning,
but in broken clips. She remembered weird stuff like dust, and water, and
kisses, but nothing that would actually tell her what had happened. She thought
about going back to her room and asking the woman what had happened, but that
would mean she was going to have to accept that she was married.
She sighed again. If she was married her life was going to change, and not just
because she got married, but because she married a girl. Nobody knew that she
was gay, not even Harry. After Harry defeated Voldemort he returned to the
Burrow with the rest of the Weasley family; Hermione included. With the danger
over, Harry wanted to get back together with her. She declined and gave him a
simple response of "I don't feel that way for you anymore," and he accepted it.
They actually became really close friends since. She had known for a while that
she just didn't feel right with the blokes she was with. She truly did care for
Harry, and had hoped that the reason why things felt off with the other blokes
was because they just were not the right person for her. She felt closer to
Harry then the others, but things still were not clicking. It wasn't until the
start of the school year that she realize why things with the boys weren't
clicking.
Even though she was sure she was gay, she wasn't ready to tell anybody yet.
After last night she was sure she had no choice. It wasn't like she could magic
her wife into a husband to keep everybody from knowing, and even if she could,
she was sure her wife would agree to that.
Wife. Even thinking the word made Ginny shiver. She wasn't ready to be a wife,
let alone have a wife. That's just too much to handle for a seventeen year old.
That was too adult for a seventeen to handle.
Hermione strolled back into the room holding a medium sized penisive in her
arms. "She had one. Lucky us."
"Yeah, lucky us. So how do I get the memories out of my head?"
"Point your wand at your head and think really hard about last night. The
memories should come out, and then you can put them into the penisive."
"Sounds easy enough," Ginny said, and the reached into her pocket to get her
wand. "Bullocks."
"What's wrong?" Hermione asked.
"I lost my wand."
I would ask you where you lost it, but you wouldn't be able to tell me. Here
use my. It should work for you."
Ginny took the offered wand and said thanks. She put the tip of the want to her
head and thought really hard about the previous night and what little she did
remember. After a few minutes of hard concentration, a silvery strip of fluid
was syphoned out of her head and fell into the penisive. Instantly a picture
began to form inside the bowl. "I've never used one of these before."
"Neither have I," Hermione said. "From what Harry told me you just touch the
liquid and you'll get sucked into the memory. Go ahead, I'll be waiting here
for you."
Ginny looked up at Hermione. "Will you come with?" She wanted a friend with as
she face what she had done, even if that meant that Hermione would know her
secret.
"Sure, Gin."
Together they touched the flowing memory, and were sucked into the bowl. They
landed outside a club off the main strip in Las Vegas. It wasn't nearly as
bright as the main strip, but still bright enough to see. It took them a moment
to spot the red head. She was being dragged into an ally way by a large man.
The two of them ran into the alley just in time to see another redhead float a
piece of wood into the man's chest. The man then burst into dust.
"That explains the dust I remembered," The real Ginny said.
Memory Ginny said thanks to the other redhead, and visibly take in her
appearance.
"It's no problem. I'm Willow."
Ginny stepped closer to Willow and offered her hand, "Ginny. It's nice to meet
you, or rather to be saved by you."
"It was nice to do the saving," Willow flirted.
"How did you do magic without a wand?" Ginny asked.
"Wand? Are you a wizard?" Willow asked.
"No. I'm a witch. Wizards are boys."
"Oh. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to offend you. I've only read about wizards in
books."
"It's okay. How did you do that spell without a wand?"
"I just did. I don't need a wand to channel my power," Willow said.
Ginny looked at Willow blankly. "Really? You must be really powerful then."
"I don't know about that," Willow said bashfully.
"Would you be willing to tell me more about your magic? Maybe over a few
drinks?"
Willow turned bright red, "Sure. I'd like that."
"Come on. I have a room not far from here. There is a pub down below that
serves decent food."
"Food sound great. Faith was right about getting hungry after slaying."
"Who's Faith?" Ginny asked sounding jealous.
"Just a friend," Willow said. "Well she used to be more then friends, but not
really my girlfriend. Faith didn't do commitment very well. She's with Buffy
now. And I'm here with you."
Hermione let the conversation from the memory fade as they walked toward the
inn. "Ginny? Do you have something to tell me?"
"Um…I'm gay." Ginny said meekly.
"Is that why you and Harry didn't get back together?"
"Yeah. I realized it when I went back to school last year. I'm sorry I didn't
tell you sooner."
"It's okay," Hermione said, just as the memory faded. They reappeared in the
Inn's pub."
Willow and Ginny were sitting at a table in the corner. Both had several empty
tankards in front of them along with a few empty plates. They both look 3
shades to the wind already, and were laughing heavily. "Come on," memory Ginny
said, holding her hand out for Willow to take. "I have something I want to show
you."
Memory Ginny lead Willow through the pub into a small deck area out back. She
tapped her wand on the wall and the entrance to Vegas Lane appeared. Similar to
Las Vegas, Vegas Lane was still alive with hundreds of witches and wizard
walking from shop to shop. Ginny took Willow from shop to shop. The memory kept
fading in and out: bouncing from the quidditch shop, to the robes shop, to
several different stops at the various pubs on the lane, before finally
stopping outside the wedding chapel.
Ginny gasped when she saw it, making Willow stop and wonder aloud if she was
alright.
"I fine," she responded, slurring her words heavily. "Better then fine, in
fact. I'm happy. I am so happy that I met you, and I don't ever want to be
without you. Not ever again."
Slurring her words just as heavily, Willow replied, "Me either. Although this
just might be the alcohol speaking."
"Does it really matter if it is the alcohol?" Ginny asked, almost sober like.
Willow giggled, "No, because I love you."
"I love you too, Willow, and I know a way for us to be together for the rest of
our lives."
Willow's face visibly brighten. "Really? How?"
"Let's get married," Ginny slurred excitedly. "There is a wedding chapel right
over there. I saw it earlier."
"That sounds like fun!" Willow exclaimed brightly.
The scene broke again, and the real Ginny and Hermione found themselves
standing in the back of the chapel watching as memory Ginny and Willow said
there vows.
Hermione watch the scene in confusion. It couldn't be that easy to get married,
especially since Willow was technically considered a muggle. There had to be
some kind of laws that prevented quick wizard/muggle weddings from happening.
Something felt off to her.
The scene changed again. Hermione was now staring at a fully naked Ginny, with
Willow's head between her legs. "Okay," She hastily said as she turned away
from the scene. "I think that we have seen enough for now." She grabbed the
real Ginny's shoulder and willed them out of the penisive. They landed back in
the room with a thud.
Ginny walked over to the bed and flopped down with a heavy sigh. "I can't
believe I'm really married, and that I'm the one who initiated it. What was I
thinking?"
"I don't know Ginny," Hermione sighed. "Something seems off about this. You are
usually so level headed, and I get that getting a bit sloshed does loosen one
inhabitations, but you got married. That's a bit more than just losing your
head. Plus the fact that you can't remember everything from last night. Even
the memories that we pulled are broken up. I don't think that they should be
like that."
"I don't know Hermione. I think I just got really drunk and did something
stupid. Sometimes there isn't any other reason than that. Just plain old
stupidity."
Hermione looked skeptical, but to placate her friend, she agreed with her. She
would look more into it when she returned home to England. "We should go see if
your wife is alright. She should have woken by now, and maybe she can fill in a
few of the blanks."
"Yeah," Ginny agreed pitifully. "I have to get food first. I left her a note
that I was going to get some."
"Okay. Let's go down to the pub and get something. We have to hurry though. The
portkey leaves in an hour. If we aren't with your brothers, your mum will kill
us."
"I'm dead already," Ginny mumbled as they left the room.
x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
Willow groggily opened one eye, and immediately regretted it. Her head was
pounding, her mouth and throat were dry, she felt incredibly nauseous, and that
sun was just too darn bright. She snuggled into the blankets, willing away the
pain and discomfort she was feeling to no avail. She tried to remember why she
felt like this, but her memories from the previous night were fuzzy. All she
remembered was drinking, a lot of drinking.
She groaned to herself, and then forced herself to get out of the bed. Water
and pills. That's what she needed. Just as Ginny has a little while before,
Willow discovered that she was naked. She squeaked, and scrambled around the
room picking up her clothing; two acts that she quickly regretted. The nausea
she had felt when she woke up, caught up to her panicking brain. She rushed to
the open door to her left, (which she assumed was the bathroom), and hurled
into the toilet. Once her stomach was satisfied that there was nothing left in
her to eject, Willow felt a little better. She moved back into the main room,
and picked up the clothing she had previously dropped. She moved slowly this
time, fearful that if she moved any faster she would have to visit the bathroom
again.
Once she was dressed, she examined the room looking for a clue as to where she
was and who she had been. The room was odd the her, there was no phone for her
to call for room service, there were no outlets, or light switches, or even
lights in general. There were old fashioned oil lanterns on the wall, but not
modern lights, or technology at all really. In the hotel she had been staying
in with Giles there had been a TV with cable in it. This room had nothing. She
wondered if they were in a themed hotel that featured a medieval room
She found the note Ginny left for her on the floor, half tucked under the bed.
She must have knocked it over in her hast to find her clothing. She felt a
little better about the situation, knowing that the person who she assumingly
had sex with, was a gentleman and was going to return. So she had a choice to
make. Leave the very weird room behind, or sit there and wait for her mystery
partner to return.
She began fidgeting with her fingers as she tried to decide, or more precisely
the ring that was resting in her left hand. After nearly five minutes of
twisting the ring on her finger, she realized that the ring she was playing
with had not been there the previous night. She knew she was hung over when she
realized it, after all, Willow was normally more astute to things like that.
Willow stared at the ring completely baffled by it. It had to be some kind of a
joke. She was only seventeen. It was illegal for seventeen year olds to get
married without parental consent, and she was sure Giles wasn't about to give
that to her. Even if he had given his permission or she somehow found a way
around that law, gay marriage was illegal. So that means that there was no way
for her to married. Unless she got married to a man. "Oh goddess", was all she
say.
As if on cue, the door to the room opened up and in walked two women. "Oh good,
you're awake," said the redhead.
"We were afraid that we were going to have to wake you," the brunette said.
"Ginny here wasn't sure what kind of a sleeper you are. She doesn't remember
much from last night. I'm Hermione."
Willow's happiness bubbled when Hermione said that Ginny didn't know what kind
of a sleeper she was, because that meant that she had been with a woman last
night and that there was no way she could be married.
"And I'm Ginny," the redhead said, and then added, "Your wife."
Willow stared at her baffled for a second and then passed out from the shock.
***** The Weasleys *****
"Bloody hell," Ginny exclaimed as she raced to catch her falling wife. Willow
hit the floor before Ginny could get to her, causing a loud thud. Thankfully,
her head missed the bedside table. "Oh god. What happened? Why'd she faint?"
Ginny asked frantically.
"Probably just from the shock of learning you were her wife," Hermione
explained rationally. "She must not remember anything from last night either."
"Well can you help her?"
"Yes. Just try and wake her up. I have a pepperup potion in my bag. I'll go get
it."
Harry and Ron were standing on the other side of the door when Hermione opened.
"No time," she said, as she pushed passed them, leaving the door opened behind
them. Ron and Harry watched Hermione walk away with concern and confusion,
which was amplified when they turned back to the room. Ginny had a strange
girl's head cradled in her lap, and she was gently tapping her face.
Concerned for his sister promted Ron to move first. "Are you alright. We heard
a thud and came to see what had happened. Who is this?"
"I'm fine Ronald," Ginny said irritably. She was touched by his concern, but
was annoyed by his presence. She was barely able to keep it together as it was,
having Ron knowing what was going on was going to complicate things. "She's a
friend. We drank too much last night and she's faint from exhaustion. Hermione
went to get a pepperup potion, so she'll be fine in a little while."
"You seem fine," Harry pointed out.
"I've been up for a while. Hermione's already given me a hangover potion,"
Ginny said. She started tapping her a little harder than before. "Come on
Willow, wake up."
Hermione rushed back into the room, holding several small bottles in her hands.
"I figured she would still be out, so I grabbed a bottle of my bath salts.
Muggle's use them to wake a person up if they've passed out. I hope lavender
will helped." She opened the bottle with little purple rocks in it and handed
it to Ginny. "I also checked to see if she could take the pepperup potion with
the hangover potion. It seems that should be fine."
Ginny looked at the bottle unsure if what she was supposed to do. It seem
illogical to feed these to the woman, but muggles were confusing to her.
Hermione one told her that when she was home, if she was sick or had a headache
her mother would force her to take medicine that was made from chemicals, and
that if you took too much of these chemicals then you could die. So muggles may
very well eat these bath salts.
Hermione realized that Ginny probably didn't know what to do with the bath
salts. "Sorry," She said. "Wave it under her nose. The smell is what arouses a
person when they've passed out.
"Oh. That makes more sense then what I was thinking," Ginny said. She wave the
salts under Willow's nose, and was pleasantly surprised to see it working.
Willow groaned. She peeked her eyes open, and then groaned again. She had hoped
it was a dream, or perhaps she was still in the dessert doing her spirit with
Giles. She closed her eyes, and opened them again. Nope definitely not a dream.
"What happened?"
"You fainted," Hermione answered, and handed Willow the remaining two bottles.
"Drink these. They will make you feel better."
Willow looked at the bottles and then looked up at Hermione. "I'm sorry if this
sounds rude, but we only just met. How do I know this isn't some kind of
poison?"
"If we wanted to kill you, you would already be dead," Harry said. "Hermione is
only trying to help you, but since it is smart not to trust strangers…" Harry
paused and took the bottle from Willow. "I'll give them a taste for you." He
uncorked the first bottle and took a small sip, and repeated the process with
the second bottle. "See, nothing to fear. Unless of course you want to keep
feeling like shite."
Willow looked skeptical for a moment before taking the bottles from Harry, and
gulping them down. "What are they?"
Ginny giggled. "You were supposed to ask that before you drank them, not
after."
"Mr. Short, Scrawny, and British made it very clear that they wouldn't hurt me.
I just want to know how they help me. I feel better already."
"It's a pepperup potion and a potion to cure a hangover," Hermione explained.
With Ginny's help, Willow stood up. "Thank you. I feel better. Do you have a
potion that will give me back my memories, because I seemed to have misplaced
the memory of me getting married last night? I'd really like that one back."
"It's not that spectacular," Ginny mumbled.
Harry and Ron were looking back and forth between Willow and Ginny curiously.
Harry noted the rings on each other's hands, but Ron seemed a bit clueless. "If
you got married last night then why aren't you with your husband instead of
being in my sister's room?"
"Ron, I think she is with the person she married," Harry said.
"What, you married her last night? Bloody hell mate. I thought we were best
friends. Why did you get married without me there?"
"I didn't marry her last night," Harry exclaimed. "Sometimes you are very daft.
Look at the rings mate."
Ron followed in the direction his friend was pointing at. Ginny, being a very
attentive person, had her left hand on Willow's shoulder with her right arm
wrapped around her back. She was ready to catch her new wife if she decided she
was going to faint again. Willow had her left hand resting on Ginny's left
wrist. The golden rings shown so brightly in the sun that even Ron couldn't
miss them this time. "Bloody hell," he said. His eyes shifted back and forth
between the two girls. "But…but," he sputtered before finally spitting out,
"But she's a girl."
"Wow, Ronald, great observation," Ginny said sarcastically.
"But you're not gay," Ron said in his defense.
Ginny sighed, "Yes Ronald, I am."
"But what about all those blokes you dated? Dean was going around telling
everybody you two shagged, bloody git. I gave him a right good one when I heard
that."
"Dean and I never shagged. Snogged a bit, but I never let him get that far,"
Ginny said.
"What about Harry? He's a gentleman. He would never have told me something like
that."
"We never did it mate," Harry said. "We weren't together long enough to get to
that point."
"So they were what. What the muggle term? Beards, that's it. They were your
beards?"
"No, I just didn't realize I was gay until last year. You all were off on your
horcrux search, and I got a little lonely. Half my year was kept home, and Luna
was really nice to me."
"Luna?" Ron yelled. "Looney? You had sex with Looney."
"Not that it is any of your business Ronald, no I did not have sex with LUNA,"
Ginny said calmly, but emphasized Luna's name for good measure. "I was a virgin
until last night."
"Awe really?" Willow ask quietly. Ginny nodded her head. "Dang, now I really
wish I remember last night."
"Me too."
"WHAT?" Ron yelled. "You got married last night, and you don't even remember
doing it." Ginny glared at Ron. He through is hand up in the air, and said,
"Whatever mate. Mum's going to kill you though." He paled visibly. "Mum's going
to kill me for letting this happen. Bloody hell woman. What did you get us
into?"
"Hey, I'm not to blame for mum's actions," Ginny said.
"Speaking of Mrs. Weasley," Hermione interrupted. "We need to go find George
and Charlie and get ready for the portkey. Otherwise Mrs. Weasley will kill us
all."
"Good point," Ron said. "Charlie was in his room the last I checked, and George
was down in the pub eating."
"Okay we have twenty minutes until the portkey leaves. Can you get them, and
bring them here. And get your stuff too."
Ron and Harry nodded, and went on their missions, both fearing the wrath of
Molly Weasley to argue with the brunette.
"What's a portkey?" Willow asked.
"It is something that has been magicked to teleport us at a specific time, to a
specific place. In this case it is potions book, and it's taking us to the
Burrow."
"So you are witches?" Willow asked.
"Yes. We are wand witches," Ginny said. "Speaking of wands, Hermione can you
accio mine please?"
"Hermione pulled her wand for of her pocket, and summoned it. A few second
later the wand zoomed out from underneath the bed and into Hermione's hand.
"Here you go. You better pack quickly.
"That was really cool," Willow said in awe.
"I suppose it is cool to somebody who has never seen wand magic before.
Personally I thing being able to use magic without a wand like you can is
cool."
"How did you know I can do magic?"
"We saw it in the pensieve," Ginny said. "We'll explain more to you when we get
back to England."
"I can't go to England," Willow said. "Giles is probably already freaking out.
He's probably already called Buffy to go on a demon hunt, because I went
missing. He won't be too happy if he finds out I disappeared to his home land."
"Um. I didn't understand half of what you said. Look we can't really separate.
We need to figure out what we are going to do, and that can only happen if we
are together, in England, with my family who knows Wizarding Laws."
"I can't just up and leave. I'm only seventeen," Willow said.
"Oh, no," Hermione said.
"What?" Ginny asked confused. "She the same age as me. Why does that matter."
"Because in the muggle world you don't become an adult until you turn eighteen.
If we take her to England, then we would be essentially kidnapping her."
"But she's my wife. Doesn't that make her a part of the Wizarding community
now?"
"I don't know all of the laws yet," Hermione said.
"Then what are we going to do? I can't leave her here by herself. I may not
know a lot of the laws by I do know that is considered abandonment. I don't
want to go to Azkaban."
"You wouldn't be abandoning me. The marriage probably isn't even legal. Gay
marriage is illegal in America," Willow said.
"But it is legal in the Wizarding world," Hermione said.
"Oh. Well that's nice. We've only been married for a few hours. We can just get
the marriage annulled and go on our non-married ways."
"We have to be married and live together as a married couple for at least three
years before we can get divorced," Ginny said. "If I leave you here, then I
will essentially be abandoning you. There are spells that detect that kind of
thing, or so I've been told."
"The spells exist. They also detect if you aren't full filling your wifely
duty. You have to give the marriage an honest go, or Azkaban it is."
"Wow. I though our laws were strict and controlling," Willow said.
"Most of our laws aren't too bad, and the one that are too controlling are
being changed. In the Wizarding world marriage is something that should be
taken lightly, and is most sacred. During King Henry the eighth's rein, Divorce
became popular in the Wizarding world. For many decades, if a witch didn't give
birth to a boy, then she was deemed unworthy, and the man would divorce her on
the spot. This trend continued until about a hundred years ago, when the law
was enacted. Basically to give the couple enough time to either fall in love or
give the opportunity to have a boy. Girls became more covenant in later years
for reasons unknown, but I think it's just because we're awesome. Spells and
wards are placed upon the couple when they get married to make sure they are
fulfilling their obligations as a married couple. If either of you were to
leave the other for anything other than a long business trip or war then a
signal will be sent to the Ministry, same as if one of you move out. It's all
very complicated and sure Mrs. Weasley can tell you more when we get to
England. Which you can't do at the moment."
Hermione looked at her watch. "We have ten minutes. As soon as the boys get
here we are going to get ready. I'll explain it to you parents when I get
there. They will know what to do. For now, Willow, I suggest going home. It
will be at least a day before they get the clearance for another portkey, and I
don't think you can go through a floo internationally. So it's either broom,
apparition, or waiting for the portkey. Where do you live?"
"Sunnydale, California," Willow said.
"Okay. I'll send them there then." Just as Hermione finished talking all four
of the boys walked in with their luggage in tow. Hermione pulled out her
potions book, and then shrunk everybody's bags. Everyone touched the book in a
few minutes later they were gone.
x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x
Molly Weasley sat anxiously next to her husband awaiting the return of her
children, Harry and Hermione included. She had been in a fret for days,
worrying about them being in American. She never should have let them go. It
was too soon to let them back into the world. They had just lost Fred, for
crying out loud. It was simply too soon. She had this gut feeling that
something was wrong.
The clock on the end table chime six. Molly stood up anxiously and waited for
her children to appear. A few seconds later, five figures appeared in her
living room. She quickly glanced over her kids, looking for a visible signs of
injury. When she got to the end of the line, her heart stopped. "Where's
Ginny?"
Three out of the five children looked guilty, and shifted amongst themselves.
"She stay behind," Harry said bravely.
"And why did she stay behind?"
Ron stuttered. "She kind of…um…"
"Oh for heaven's sakes. Ginny went and got married last night to an underage,
somewhat muggle last night," Hermione spit out.
Everybody was silent as they waited for Molly to react. The look on her face
was unreadable, which scared her children. Her reaction was not what they had
been expecting though. She threw her head back and let out a full belly laugh.
"That's a good one Hermione. I didn't realize you were such a comedian."
Hermione looked back and forth to the Weasley boys and Harry, silently asking
for help. Not receiving any, she said, "I'm not joking Mrs. Weasley. She really
did get married last night."
Molly sobered, and her laughter trailed of at the looks Harry and Ron were
giving her. "She did WHAT?"
Everybody (including Mr. Weasley) shrunk back at that. Mrs. Weasley started
turning bright red, and if they didn't know any better they would think she was
about to explode. She did explode, just not in the way they were expecting. A
blast of magical energy surged off of her knocking everybody off their feet.
"How could you let this happen?" She yelled, and then immediately started to
cry. "My baby's got married without me there, and now she's all alone in a
strange country with a muggle man. He could be an axe murderer, or a rapist, or
a…a…a… wizard hater who steals my baby away. She isn't even out of school yet.
He can't take my baby away…He can't…He…"
"Is a she," Ron said loudly, and without thinking.
"What?" Molly asked stunned.
"Ronald," Hermione scolded.
"What? She's going nutter thinking Ginny's with some nutter. Willow seemed
harmless."
"Willow?" Molly said through tears. "Ginny married a girl, and her name is
Willow?"
"Wait, that who that girl was?" Charlie asked. "That's why you forced us to
leave Ginny behind?"
Hermione nodded her head. "She had no choice but to stay. Willow isn't legally
an adult in the muggle world. I promise you, if we would have had more time
before the portkey left, we would have figured out a way."
"Of course my dear," Arthur said. "We know the laws regarding marriage, and I
understand the position you were in. Molly and I will go to American and meet
this girl's family, and explain to them our laws."
"Arthur. You must go to the Ministry, and acquire a portkey at once," Molly
said.
"Yes dear," Arthur said. "In a moment. Where will Ginny be?
"Sunnydale, California," Hermione answered.
"Very well. I will return in a little while," said Arthur, just before he
disappeared into the floo.
"Ginny can take care of herself Mrs. Weasley. She's allowed to use magic now.
So if somebody does try and do something to her, she can defend herself,"
Hermione said.
"I know dear. I just worry. I don't want anything to happen to any of you,"
Molly said, and then turned toward her children and began fussing over them.
All of them looked far too thin for her liking, and she had the over whelming
urge to fix that. She made a big dinner for them and force them all to stay and
eat. Though they had only been gone a week, it felt like a lifetime to her.
Loosing Fred had made her ever worrisome mind work on overdrive.
After the Battle at Hogwarts, all of the children had returned to the Burrow,
including Harry and Hermione. Everybody felt the need to be close to home and
be with their family. Harry, Ron, and Ginny had been the first to return back
to the Burrow. They returned home the day after the battle was over.
George had been the next to return home. He showed up in the living room a few
days after the battle. Drunk as a skunk, and bawling his eyes out. His grief
over losing his twin was too much for him to take alone. What do you do when
you lose the person who has been your best friend since birth?
Percy arrived home the night of Fred's funeral. Images of Fred dying, and the
guilt he felt for abandoning his family prompted his return. For days after he
returned home he cried, and repeatedly apologized to everyone.
Charlie, Bill, and Fleur arrived a few days after Fred's funeral. Each feigning
that they just wanted to be close to home, but in reality they knew their
parents needed them close. They were hurt by the loose of their brother, but
their grief was manageable.
Hermione was the last to arrive at the Burrow. She had skipped away to
Australia the day after the battle to get her parents. She returned sullen,
angry, and sad. Once they had their memories returned and learned what their
daughter did they wanted nothing to do with her. In truth, they had barely
supported her going to Hogwarts and being a witch. That was the reason Hermione
only went home to see her parents briefly on the holidays, and when she was
home, she spent most of her time with her Uncle and cousins. She loved her
parents dearly, and never wanted anything bad to happen to them. Which is why
she did what she did. To keep them safe. They just didn't see it that way. The
Weasley's opened their home and heart to Hermione readily. To them, she had
always been part of their family.
Bill and Fleur only stayed a few weeks before returning to Shell's Cottage.
They wanted to get back to their lives, and start their family together. Percy
follow a few weeks after they left. He told them it was because of his Ministry
duties, but really it was because being around his family only made his guilt
and anguish worse. Charlie actually decided that he was going to take a year
off from dragon training to work on his personal life. Mostly because he was
enjoying being home. George decided to stay at home because being around them
made the pain of missing Fred less. He reopened the joke shop, but it wasn't
the same without Fred. He couldn't be there all day, with reminders of him
everywhere and then go home to their empty flat as well. It was too
overwhelming to take.
It had taken George, Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny weeks to get Molly to
agree to let them go, and she only did when they asked Charlie is they would
accompany them. She couldn't stop, Ron, Harry, and Hermione from going but
Ginny had yet to turn seventeen. With Molly's overactive worrying, it took a
lot to convince her. Hermione, Ron, and Harry were wondering if Molly would
even let them get on the Hogwarts Express on September First, or if she was
going to stop them somehow. They did know that Ginny was going to get an ear
full when Molly got to American. They felt sorry for Ginny, right up until
Molly sat them all down and lectured them for two hours about responsibility.
***** The Scoobies *****
Awkward silence fell between Ginny and Willow after the Weasley clan departed.
Without the chaos of the morning there, they were unsure of where to begin. In
the span of two hours both of their lives changed drastically. After nearly
five minutes of silence, Ginny finally broke the silence. "I bet you have a lot
of questions."
For the first time in her life, Willow had no clue where to begin. Normally she
would have just started babbling incoherently, but she had so many questions,
thoughts, and feeling going on inside of her. Where was a person supposed to
start when you get married at seventeen, to another seventeen year old, in the
Wizarding world? Just the Wizarding world part brought a hundred questions to
mind, then you have the married at seventeen that throws a whole bunch of drama
into the mix. How did they get married? What were they going to do about it?
Where they going to live? How was Giles going to react? How were Buffy and
Xander going to react? What was she going to do about college? The questions
went on and on, all playing rapidly through Willow's mind.
"Or not," Ginny said sadly. She knew the laws regarding marriage. She had been
so stupid to suggest they do that, knowing full feel the consequences of it.
She was going to be with this woman for three years, before they could break it
off. If they decided to break it off. She knew full well there was a real
chance that she could fall deeply in love with Willow, but she also knew that
there was a chance she could end up hating the woman. What would she do if they
despised each other? She had no clue what the term 'wifely duties' actually
entailed. It could mean just the basic, I live with you, I support you, type of
thing, or it could mean a sex thing. She felt confident that she could handle
the whole live and support part if they didn't click, but how was she supposed
to have sex with Willow if they didn't like each other?
Then of course there was school. She was supposed to be going back to Hogwarts.
She still had two years to finish before she took her NEWT's. She needed that
test if she wanted to get into the Healer program at St. Mungo's. What if
Willow refused to move to England with her, and even if she did, how was she
supposed to finish her education with a wife? What if Willow had more schooling
to finish? She very well couldn't take her away until she finished.
All this was making Ginny's head hurt, and them not talking about it was only
making it worse. "Look. I know this isn't the most ideal of situations, but it
is what it is. We are married, and that can't be changed for three years. So we
either need to start talking to try and figure out what we are going to do, or
we will just stay here for the next three years."
Willow was silent for another moment, before distractedly saying, "We need to
go to Giles."
"Who is Giles?"
"My guardian for summer," Willow stated. "He's probably worried that I'm not at
the hotel room. I told him that I was just going out for a bite to eat. He
didn't really want me to go into the city alone, but I convinced him that I was
okay. That I could take care of myself now that I have better control over my
powers. I wouldn't be surprised if Buffy was already in the city hunting for
me."
"Who is Buffy?" Ginny asked.
"One of my best friends," Willow said. "We should really go. We have plenty of
time to think about all of this. Right now I just want my family to know that
I'm okay."
"Okay," Ginny said. She knew what it felt like not knowing if the people you
love are safe and sound, and wasn't about to stop Willow. They could talk about
this later on, before her parents arrived in Sunnydale. Ginny grabbed her
shrunken suitcase, and escorted her down to the pub where their bender had
begun the previous night.
Willow noticed that there no lights or switches along the way. The only thing
that lit the halls and pub were lanterns and candles. "Does this place not have
electricity? Is it some medieval themed hotel?"
Ginny stopped and looked confused for a second, "E-lec-tris-o-ty?" she sounded
out slowing, try hard to remember what that word meant. She was sure she had
heard the term used before. Realization dawned on her. "Oh. You mean that thing
that muggle used to make the lanterns work. Yes. This place doesn't use
electricity. Nobody uses electricity in the Wizarding world. We have magic to
light our lanterns."
Willow looked terrified for a moment. "Then how do you power you computers, and
TV's, and phones?"
Ginny looked baffled. She wasn't sure if Hermione had ever told her about these
thing or not.
"You don't know what a computer is?" Willow asked.
We don't use muggle technology," Ginny said. "I wish I had taken Muggle studies
now."
"What is a muggle?"
"Non-magical folk," Ginny explained. "You are technically considered a muggle
since you don't belong to the Wizarding world."
"But I'm a witch," Willow said.
"I know you are," Ginny said. "I honestly don't know what to call you because
I've never heard of any other magic besides my own. Well except for our magical
creatures like elves. Most have magic of their own, but aren't allowed to carry
a wand. So for the time being you fall under the muggle category."
"My hotel is just up the street," Willow said. "Giles is British like you, so
you should get along great. He knows a lot of things, but he's kind of a
prude." Willow giggled. "Giles broke his glasses when he found out Faith and I
had slept together. He does this thing where he pretends to clean them whenever
he hears something he don't want to know. He rubbed the so hard he snapped them
in half."
"Why would he care if you were sleeping together?" Ginny asked innocently.
Willow giggles again. "Slept together doesn't mean that we slept in the same
bed together. It means that we had sex with one another."
"Oh. You mean you shagged," Ginny said. "You have odd terminology."
"I'm sure our language differences will make our married life interesting,"
Willow stated.
"Yes I'm sure it will be interesting," Ginny said, as they arrived at the front
of the building. They walked up to the door and it swung open on its own. "Wow.
How'd that do that? I thought Muggles couldn't do magic."
"Most can't," Willow said. "The door is ran by electricity. There is a sensor
that indicates if a person is approaching the door, and that sensor tells the
door to open."
"How does it tell it to open, if there is no magic?" Ginny asked.
Willow smiled at Ginny. "It's the magic of modern technology, and the use of
computers."
"Hermione's told me about that one," Ginny said. "I'd very much like to learn
more about computers."
"Well I can teach you all about computers when we get home to Sunnydale,"
Willow said. They entered the elevator, and rode up to the sixth floor. "So
Giles might freak out a bit, and he will definitely ask you a billion
question."
"That's okay. I have quite a few myself," Ginny said.
Willow stepped into the main room of the suite and called for Giles. The older
man frantically stepped out of the door to her left, with his cellular phone in
his hand. "Oh dear. You're alright. I thought something happened to you." He
pulled Willow into a big hug, and nearly squashed her. He pulled back a
completely different man then the one who had entered the hug. That Giles had
been the relieve father figure Giles. This Giles was the stern father figure
Giles. "Where have you been? Do you know how worried I was about you? I called
Buffy in a fit. She and Joyce drove all night to get here, and are out
searching for you right now. We thought you were taken by a dea…" He paused
when he finally realized that there was another person in the room with them.
"Hello dear," He said kindly. "Who might you be?"
"Ginny Weasley, Sir." She extended her hand out to shake his hand.
"Ah manners," he said as he shook her hand. "Something you so rarely find in
American."
"I haven't been here long enough to see what American culture is like," Ginny
said.
"Oh. How long have you been in the States?"
"Only a week Sir, and I didn't venture out into the Muggle world very much,"
Ginny said.
"Muggle world? So you're a wizard then?"
"Witch, Sir," she corrected.
"Ah yes. I terribly sorry. I didn't mean to offend you."
"It's alright," Ginny replied. "How do you know about the Wizarding world?"
"I worked briefly with a wizard about twenty-two, twenty-three years ago. A
demon crossed through the barrier of a Wizarding school, and the wizard needed
help identifying it."
"I go to Hogwarts. Perhaps I know this wizard," Ginny said intrigued.
"Perhaps. His name was Dumbledore. Odd old man, he was. He was always offering
me lemon drops, and often spoke in riddles. Other than that, I quite like the
man. He broke up the stuffiness the Council often felt."
"I knew Dumbledore. He was our headmaster until last year. He was murdered by
other teacher name Snape, who apparently didn't murder him at all."
"Oh. I'm sorry to hear that. He seemed like such a good fellow, I wish I had
more time with him. He taught me quite a lot about the Wizarding world in our
brief time together. Very insightful."
"He was a nutter," Ginny said pointedly.
Giles laughed. "Yes, well. I guess he was a bit mad, wasn't he? Come in and
sit."
"Thank you," Ginny said.
"Excuse me while I go make a phone call. I must inform Buffy of your safe
return," Giles said, and then exited the room through the door he came through.
"He seems nice," Ginny commented.
"Yeah. Giles is pretty cool. He's a bit stuffy at times, but he is nowhere near
as stuffy as he once was."
"He doesn't seem stuffy to me."
"That's because you're British," Willow snorted.
Ginny glared at Willow playful. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"Nothing. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to offend you, or call you stuffy. Because
you're not. I just mean that since you're British and Giles is British, that
you seem to have formed an instant bond. That's all. I swear."
Ginny stared at Willow with a smirk on her face, not that Willow noticed. She
was too busy rambling on. Ginny leaned over and place her lips on Willow's,
effectively silencing the young woman. Willow wore a surprised look on her face
when Ginny pulled back. "Wow," she said.
Ginny sheepishly said, "I'm sorry. I probably shouldn't have done that. You
were just looking so adorable."
"It's okay," Willow said, bashfully. "I suppose it's something I should get
used. We are married after all."
A loud bang sounded behind them. They both jumped off the coach and whipped
around. Giles was standing in the door way, staring at them in shock. The phone
he had been holding was now on the floor giving them a good idea of what the
bang was.
"I'm sorry," Giles sputtered. "I could have sworn you said that you wore
married. Which simply is impossible as you are only seventeen, and I most
certainly did not give you permission to get married."
Willow looked unsure of how to proceed. It wasn't often that she was thrust in
the way of parental scrutiny, and when she was, it usually ended up badly.
Willow opened her mouth, to no doubt start babbling through an explanation.
Ginny saw this, and quickly stepped in.
"In my world, you come of age at seventeen. Since we were married in my world,
parental consent wasn't required."
The word babble that Ginny had been trying to stop bubbled to the surface.
Willow opened her mouth and the words flowed like a rapid river after a storm.
"I'm sorry Giles. I didn't mean to do it. I don't even remember doing it. I
know I worried you and did something really impulsive and stupid, and I will
accept any punishment you see fit. As long as you don't tie me to a stake and
try and burn me alive like my mother, because that is not a reasonable
punishment. My mother was not in her right mind when she tried to do that, but
other than that…"
"…Your mother did what?!" Ginny shouted shocked.
"She was under the influence of demons when she did it. I was accused of
witchcraft, so the parents burned us at the stake," Willow said, matter-of-
factly. "It was very terrifying. I'd rather not experience it again."
"Muggles are nutters," Ginny commented.
"Can we return to the married part please?" Giles clucked his tongue irritably.
"Can you please explain how you two became married?"
"We're not exactly sure," Ginny said hesitantly. "We had quite a bit to drink.
It seems to have led to some memory loss."
"Then how are you positive that you are indeed married?"
"My friend and I watch broken clips of my memory in a device called a pensieve.
We definitely got married last night."
"And you plan to stay married?"
Willow and Ginny shared a look. "We don't have a choice, Giles. The Wizarding
laws forces us to stay married for at least three years before we can
separate."
"Be that as it may, you are not a part of that world, Willow. Some
consideration to our laws must be taken into account."
"I don't know all of the laws," Ginny said. "My parents should be arriving in
Sunnydale tomorrow. I'm sure they will be able to explain it better."
"Right then," Giles said. He shuffled around the room doing random things;
keeping himself busy as he sorted through his thoughts. Anger was definitely
present, but fear was more prominent then his anger. He was angry with Willow
because she went off and did something incredibly foolish and irresponsible.
The fear he felt for Willow was overwhelming. She was his ward not only on
paper but by the love he felt for the young woman. He didn't want anything to
happen to her.
Giles had learned fairly quickly during his time with Dumbledore that wizards
were someone to be weary of. Born as neutral as any human is, they are neither
good nor evil. The way they are raised, and the people with whom they associate
have influence over the individual. Magic being the greatest influence of all.
That being said, you can never truly know if a person is good or evil until
you've gotten to know the person.
Dumbledore was a fascinating being to Giles, and Dumbledore revered in that. He
taught Giles a little bit about his world, and showed him a few thing that he
needed to watch out for. Essentially, he put the fear of wizards in him. Mostly
because during the time of their partnership, Lord Voldemort was on the rise,
and nobody, not even your family were to be trusted.
He wanted to be hopeful that the young woman, his daughter married was indeed a
good witch, but the warnings that Dumbledore had given him made him weary.
Especially considering the whispers he had heard over the last few years with
in the supernatural community.
Buffy barreled through the door suddenly, nearly breaking it in the process.
She made a beeline for Ginny, tackling the woman to the ground before she had a
chance to grab her wand. Ginny struggled to free herself from Buffy's strong
grip, but the slayer was too strong for her.
"Buffy, get off of her," Willow yelled, and moved to try and pull the slayer
off of her wife.
"She's a demon Willow," Buffy said, not budging from her position.
"No she isn't. Ginny is a witch, not a demon. Now get off of her," Willow said
calmly.
Buffy looked at Willow wearily. She knew what she felt, and she was feeling was
nothing like how Willow felt. There was no way this girl is a witch.
"Buffy Ann Summers," Willow sternly said. "Get off of my wife this second, or I
will float your ass off of her."
Buffy's grip loosened slightly in shock. She looked up at Willow with a shocked
look. "Wife? You said wife."
Ginny took the opportunity to flip Buffy off of her, and to pull her wand out.
She stood up and pointed it a Buffy (who was too shocked by the turn of events
to move,) and went to stand next to her wife.
Joyce chose that moment to run into the room, out of breath, and practically
threw herself into the nearest chair. She didn't remain in the chair for long
though. She looked up at the scene before her and jumped right back up again.
There was a strange woman pointing a stick at her daughter.
"What's going on here?" She asked.
"I have no clue," Buffy said, regaining her composure. She stood up and brushed
herself off. "Willow. Explain-y please."
Willow looked sheepishly at her best-friend. "This is Ginny Weasley. My wife."
Buffy blanched again. "Yeah. See there it was again. You said wife. As in you
got married."
"I did get married last night," Willow said. "We got married last night."
"Willow you married a demon," Buffy stated matter-of-factly.
"No I didn't. I married a witch. See the pointy stick being pointed in your
direction. That's a wand only used by wizards and witches."
"Oh. Okay," Buffy said. "Can you get her to put that thing away?"
"Sorry," Ginny said bashfully. She hadn't realized that she was still armed.
She put her wand back into her pocket, and extended the arm out again. "It's
nice to meet you."
Buffy looked at the offered hand suspiciously, but took the hand regardless.
"I'm Buffy Summers," she said as she gave Ginny an extra firm handshake.
Ginny knew right away what Buffy was doing and didn't disappoint. She summoned
up every ounce of strength she had and put it into the hand shake.
Willow just shook her head at her best friend and new wife's show strength, and
walked over to Joyce. She gave her a hug which was greatly received, and
whispered, "I'm sorry I worried you."
"I would say that it is okay, but it seems that you got into a bit of trouble
during you absence. Care to explain," Joyce said.
"I'd like to know the same thing Wills," Buffy said. She and Ginny had finally
dropped hands.
"I don't really remember what happened. All I remember is having a drink with
Ginny at a bar, and then I was waking up naked in Ginny's hotel room."
"And you're sure you got married last night?" Buffy asked.
"We are positive," Ginny said.
"Do you have proof?" Buffy asked suspiciously.
"I thought wizards were bad with trust issues as of late," Ginny said, but
pulled out her wand and her shrunken trunk regardless. She placed the trunk on
the floor and said the incantation. Joyce gasped as the trunk grew in size.
Willow smiled, and despite seeing her belonging shrunken earlier, was still
impressed by the magic Ginny possesses. "That's really nifty."
"It does come in handy. I don't know how you muggles survive without magic,"
Ginny said. She opened the trunk and pulled out the piece of paper proving that
she and Willow were indeed married. She handed it to Buffy, who stared at it
intently.
Willow giggled when Buffy flipped the paper and shook it. It almost looked as
though Buffy was looking to see if anything fell out of the paper. She huffed
and handed the certificate to her mother, so that Joyce could inspect it.
"I can't believe you got married," Buffy said.
"Neither can I," Willow said.
"How did you even manage to do it? You have to be eighteen to legally get
hitched," Buffy wondered.
Ginny stepped in to answer her wife's friend. "In the Wizarding world the legal
age is seventeen."
"Wizarding world?" Buffy asked confused.
"Yes. I live in a secret society filled with witches and wizards. We have our
own laws, and such," Ginny said.
Buffy looked confused, and looked to Giles for an explanation.
"They co-exist in our world. In our cities, but their impressive magic conceals
them from the non-magical world. If you aren't magically inclined, then you
cannot see their world, unless you know what to look for."
"We mostly live scattered across the world, but we have towns and places to
shop, and hospitals hidden among the non-magical world. For example, the
entrance way to Diagonal Alley is at a pub in England, but Muggle can't see the
pub. To muggles they just see a rundown building, where as we see the sign that
says, The Leaky Cauldron. Any muggle who can see it has to be told about it, or
brought into the pub by a witch or wizard."
"Muggle?" Buffy asked.
"Non-magical folk," Ginny answered. "Willow and I were married on Vegas Lane,
in a Wizarding Chapel. I'm not sure exactly how the laws work since Willow is a
muggle. My parents will be able to explain everything."
"Right," Buffy said, and then pulled Willow away from the small group. "Wills,
how did you end up married to this random chick? Gay marriage isn't even legal
yet."
"I guess it doesn't matter in Ginny's world," Willow shrugged. She looked over
at her new wife who was talking to Joyce and Giles. "It's really weird to think
about being somebody's wife. I'm only seventeen and we are about to start
collage in a few weeks."
"So get an annulment," Buffy said.
"Wizarding laws require us to stay married for three years before separating,"
Willow said.
"Well ain't that some bull," Buffy said. She looked at Ginny, and let her
slayer senses reach out to her. Now that she had proper time to analyzed
Ginny's energy, she realized the difference between hers and a demons. She had
sensed something near Willow as they were approaching the hotel, and she just
assumed that the energy was evil. Now she could feel the similarities in
Ginny's energy and Willow's energy. It had the same tingly feel to Willow's.
"I don't trust her Willow," Buffy said. While she had realized that the woman
wasn't a demon, but Buffy couldn't sense if Ginny was evil or not.
"You wouldn't be my best-friend if you didn't distrust my significate other,"
Willow chuckled. "She's not evil Buffy. You may not be able tell between good
energies or bad, but I can. I can see her aura, and it's not evil. She has a
good aura, and that's not something she can fake."
"I guess I can tone down the slayer with her," Buffy said. "But if she hurts
you, I will beat her with a shovel."
"Duly noted," Willow said. "Have you heard from Xander yet?"
"Nope. Not a word from him since he left after graduation. No calls, no
letters, not ever a measly postcard. I feel wounded."
"As you should," Willow said. "I'll be have a frank discussion with that boy
when he gets home. He gallivants off into the sunset, and doesn't bother
letting us know that he's still alive." A horrified look crossed Willow's face.
"Oh goddess. What if he's not alive? What if he's lying in a ditch somewhere
waiting for us to come rescue him? What if he's a vampire?"
"Breath Wills, I'm sure Xander is just fine. He probably is just having so much
fun that he can't find a phone," Buffy reasoned.
"Oh yeah. I sure that's it," Willow said, trying to make herself believe it.
"Girls," Joyce said, drawling their attention. "We should get going if we want
to get back to Sunnydale before the sunset."
"Whatevs," Buffy said shrugging her shoulders. "It's not like there are any
vamps left in town to kill. They all packed their bags and moved north after we
killed the Mayor." She looked to Willow and said, "It's been a very boring
summer, but I'm glad for the break. School starts back up again soon, and then
we will swimming in bad things trying to kill us."
"Are you a witch too?" Ginny asked.
"Who me?" Buffy asked pointing to herself. "No. I'm a slayer. We leave the
witchy stuff to Willow and Giles."
"Slayer? What's a Slayer?" Ginny asked confused.
"Come on sweetie," Willow said, and grabbed Ginny's hand. "We'll explain it to
you on the way home."
The drive to Sunnydale was a lot quicker than they had anticipated. The three
girls rode in the back of Joyce's jeep, talking the entire way. Buffy and
Willow explained to Ginny all about their magic and the hellmouth, and a bit
about the demons they face. They shared a few of their favorite stories, and a
few of the more serious ones as well.
Ginny in return told them about her world. Buffy was horrified to hear that
there was no electricity in the wizarding world, and that most of the adults
wore robes instead of pants.
"How do you survive?" she asked.
Ginny responded with a chuckle. "The same way you do without magic, I suppose."
During the trip, Buffy forced the slayer inside of her to relax, and get to
know the woman. Ginny's magical energy was making her natural instincts kick
into over drive. Buffy figured that she just had to get used to the new magical
signature, just like she did after Willow started playing with magic.
Ginny told them all about the war they had just won, and about the people she
lost. Namely her brother Fred. Buffy and Willow were appalled to hear Ginny's
story. Fighting vampires and demons was fairly straight forward. See bad guy,
kill bad guy. Don't think twice about it. To not even be able to trust that
your own family was good or evil or under the spell of somebody else, was
unfathomable. It reminded them that even humans could lay more destruction then
any demon.
They pulled into the driveway at Joyce's house, just as the sun was setting.
Giles pulled up behind them just a few seconds later. He wasn't going to tell
them, but he quite enjoyed the quiet ride home. He had been with a teenager
prone to babbling almost none stop for two months. The quiet was a welcomed
change.
Ginny looked around the neighborhood taking in her surroundings fully. While
she was here, she wanted to take in every aspect of muggle American. The only
Muggle places she had gone to was London, and the little village near the
Burrow. The only way she could describe Muggle America was boring. She could do
boring for a while after how hectic her life had been.
If she only knew how wrong that judgment was.
***** Sunnydale *****
Chapter Notes
     A/N: Hey guys. I want to thank everyone reviewed the last chapter.
     They mean a lot to me. Thank you to everybody else who is reading,
     following, and favorites. I'm glad you are taking a chance on my
     story.
     So there has been some confusion on how many years Ginny has left. In
     the Deathly Hallow Ginny was in her sixth year, however, Hogwarts was
     under the control of Snape and the death eaters. Plus the final
     battle took place two months before the end of the school year.
     So my backstory is this: After McGonagall became head Mistress, she
     decided to force all of the students to redo the previous year since
     half the student body was missing, either because of being kidnapped,
     muggle born and on the run for their lives, or hiding out in the room
     of requirements. Not to mention the warped teaching from their death
     Eater teachers.
     I hope that cleared it up a bit. It will be explained fully in a few
     chapters.
     Thanks again for reading.
"We better get inside," Joyce said. Her eyes were shifting from side to side,
looking for any monsters that may be lurking around. While she was slowly
coming to terms with Buffy's destiny, she still hated to see her baby fighting
one of those things. She still wished she didn't have to worry about the day
Giles showed up at her door to tell her that they lost her. On most days, she
was positive the fear of losing Buffy, Dawn, and now Faith would consume every
aspect of her life.
"Sure Mom," Buffy said, knowing her mother's fears. "I'm starving. Can we order
some food?"
Joyce unlocked the front door. "Sure honey," she said as she walked into the
house. "What do you want?"
"Mmmm, how about… Pizza," Buffy said as they filed into the living room. "We
haven't had pizza in forever."
"We had pizza last week," Joyce said.
"I know. I said it was forever ago," Buffy said dramatically as she rolled her
eyes. She flopped down on the couch and looked up at her mother expectantly.
"Pizza sounds heavenly," Willow said, as she sat down on the couch next to
Buffy. "Giles wouldn't allow me to have pizza after the first week we were in
Las Vegas."
Buffy's eyes widened comically as she exclaimed, "Giles. That's just mean!"
"No, my dear. What was mean was eating pizza every night for a week," Giles
said rubbing his stomach. He could still remember how badly his stomach churned
every night.
Willow shrugged her shoulders and smiled sheepishly. "It was really good
pizza."
"What's pizza?"
Four heads turned toward the entrance way in utter shock. Even Giles, with his
uptight British ways, knew what pizza was. Ginny stood by the door feeling
awkward as they stared at her.
"Pizza it is," Joyce said. "Come sit down sweetie."
Ginny looked shyly at the group. Willow patted her hand on the couch next to
her. Ginny smiled softly as she made her way across the room. "What is pizza
exactly?"
"You've really never had pizza before?" Willow asked.
"Nope. I grew up cut off from the Muggle world. I've been into Muggle London
before with my parent, but we weren't there long enough for us to explore. And
I've traveled down to the little village a few miles from my home a few times.
Mostly I stayed at home or school."
"What other foods have you never tried?" Buffy asked.
"I don't know," Ginny said. "The muggle world is still a mystery to me."
"Oooh, you know what this means right?" Buffy asked.
The group looked at her annoyingly waiting for her to answer. "Duh. Sleepover,"
she said as though it had been the most obvious thing in the world. "Not
tonight, though, because I need time to prepare."
Ginny looked at Buffy in confusion. Why would she need to prepare for a
sleepover? She was in the muggle world for less than a day, and she already
wanted to go running home. What if she was stuck in this confusing place
forever? Would she be able to adjust and acclimate into this strange society?
She didn't really have much of a choice. She didn't know all of the Wizarding
laws, but she knew that she couldn't leave Willow to go running home.
She had already decided that they would go where Willow wanted to go. It seemed
like it was only fair that she be the one to sacrifice everything to be with
Willow since she knew what she was getting herself into. Willow was a victim of
unfamiliar laws, from a world that she didn't belong to. She had a feeling that
Willow would thrive in the Wizarding world, but she wasn't going to push it.
She wasn't going to pull her wife away from her friends and family.
Willow gently shook her wife. They had been trying to get the girl's attention
for a couple of minutes. Ginny looked at her with a questioning glance. "Hi,"
Willow said. "Welcome back." She smiled widely at the other redhead.
"Sorry. Guess I got lost in my head. What's up?"
"We were just wondering if you wanted your pizza plain or with meats and
veggies," Willow said. She was smiling fondly at Ginny. She found it adorable
that Ginny didn't know what pizza was.
"Surprise me," Ginny said upbeat.
"A little bit of everything then," Joyce said. She moved to the phone and
pulled out the menu. "Honey. How many pizzas should I get for Faith?"
"Um… I think we are patrolling tonight so order her two. That way she has some
for after the patrol," Buffy said.
Okay dear," Joyce said.
"Faith is the one you shagged, right Willow?" Ginny asked.
"Yup," Willow said, pronouncing the P with a pop. "She lives here." She nodded
her head in. Giles' direction. The older man already had his glasses off and
was pulling out his handkerchief as they spoke. Willow bumped Ginny and
discreetly pointed toward Giles.
Buffy realized what Willow was doing, and played along. "It's too bad you got
married Will. Faith has been talking about having a threesome with you and her
new girl. Now that won't happen. Unless of course your new wife wants to have a
foursome."
A loud snap rang out through the room. Giles rubbed his lenses so hard he broke
the glass. "Bullocks," He said as he examined them. He sighed heavily and
returned the broken glasses to his face. He would just have to deal with the
cracks in then lens until he could get them repaired.
"Girls stop teasing Giles. He's running out of glasses to wear," Joyce
playfully scolded.
"But it's so much fun," Buffy whined.
"I can fix them," said Ginny suddenly. She pulled out her wand and pointed it
at the broken lens. She spoke the incantation, 'Reparo', and the lens in Giles'
glasses fused back together in front of their eyes.
"Woo," Buffy said in awe. She jumped up and pulled the now repaired glasses off
Giles' face to inspect them. "I think I'm going to like having you around. That
was way cool."
"I do not know what you muggles do without magic," Ginny said.
"We spend a lot of money to have somebody repair our broken things," Joyce
said.
"You have to pay somebody to fix something that can easily be taken care of
with a spell. A first year spell at that."
"Pretty much," Joyce said.
"That's rubbish," Ginny commented.
"That's our life," Joyce replied. "I'm going to head for the pizza and then go
pick up Dawn and Faith. Can you call Faith and let her know I'm on my way."
"Sure Mom, but go get them first, that way Faith can pay," Buffy said.
"I'm not letting her pay this time," Joyce stated.
"She is going to sulk around here then, and be all Ms. Moody McGrumperson. She
likes to feel like she is contributing now that she has a job. Besides, when
you don't let her pay she just hides the money around the house."
Joyce looked at Buffy in surprise. "She does not."
"Yup," Buffy said popping the P. She stood up and moved to her mother's
bookshelf. She opened the glass door and pulled out three books. All of Joyce's
favorites. She took them over to the desk and opened them one by one. Inside
each book, there was a twenty dollar bill that Faith had placed there. "These
are just from last week. There is also a hundred dollars hidden in the cookie
jar. Seventy in your pillow case, twenty-five in the front pocket of your
purse, and thirty hidden in the glove compartment of the jeep. There is more,
but these are the only ones I know about. Mostly because I saw her put them
there, and a few that I stumbled across."
"That girl. What am I going to do with her?" Joyce commented.
"Accept that you aren't going to win this battle, or you'll spend the rest of
your life finding random money," Buffy said.
Joyce just shook her head. She closed the books with the money still inside and
grabbed her purse. "I'm going to go get the girls and then we will pick up the
pizza."
"Good call Mom," Buffy said.
"I think I will come with you," Giles said, as he stood up. He missed Joyce
terrible during his trip. Two months was entirely too long to be away from his
beloved.
Ginny watched Buffy curiously as the blonde called Faith from the house phone.
She knew what the telephone was and how it worked, but she couldn't control the
curiosity surging through her veins at the sight of it being used. It was
amazing! She wondered if this was how her father felt all the time, and if that
was why he couldn't control his tinkering with muggle devices.
She stood up and started moving around the room taking in everything that she
saw. She found the house homey in a muggle sort of way. There were lights
everywhere, instead of lanterns; pictures that didn't move; weird writing
devices, and a weird box made of plastic and glass sitting on a stand. She
inspected the box more closely. Out of curiosity, she pushed a small button
that said 'power', and then jumped back in surprise when the screen lit up, and
colorful moving pictures appeared.
Willow watched her wife in amusement as Charmed appeared on the screen. Ginny's
face lit up in surprise and then furrowed in confusion. She turned to Willow
and asked, "What is this?"
"It's a television," Willow said, and then explained in depth how it worked.
Ginny listen avidly, trying to understand everything that Willow was telling
her. She grasped what her wife was saying, right up until Piper blew up a
watermelon on the screen. Which led Willow to explain that Piper wasn't
actually doing magic. That it was just fake, and they showed the magic via
computer manipulation.
Ginny was fascinated by this technology, and once she grasped the concept of
the show, she watched the screen avidly. It may not have been real magic, but
it was still magical to her. She sat in front of the TV on the floor watching,
while Buffy and Willow went into the kitchen to talk.
"So other than getting married, how was your summer?" Buffy asked.
"It's was great," Willow gushed. "The Coven Giles took me to was amazing. They
have a few acres of land, just south of Las Vegas. When you get to the compound
it looks just like the rest of the desert, sandy and dry, but when you cross
over the threshold, it's like stepping into a new world. There was green grass
growing everywhere, flowers blooming, and crops. All growing because of the
magic that the Coven casts. It flows through everything Buffy. Like a river of
magical energy, and all I have to do is concentrate and allow the magic to flow
through me."
"So when you threatened to float my ass across the room, you weren't bluffing?"
Willow smirked, and a few seconds later, Buffy was gracefully lifted off her
stool and was floated across the room. Buffy was looking at Willow in shock, as
she was floated back to her stool.
"Wow," Buffy said in shock.
"The Coven taught me so much. I'm kind of sad that I had to leave them. I was
having such a good time with them," Willow gushed. "Giles says that he will
take me to the Coven in England next summer. They were the ones who helped him
after he got messed up with Eyghon."
"So you had a great summer, got a promised trip to England, and got married,
while I was stuck in Sunnydale without my best friends, and with my sisters,
both of whom have been driving me crazy."
Willow's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "Sisters? Buffy, you only have one
sister."
"Not anymore. Apparently, my mother filed paperwork after Faith's accident to
adopt her. It went through a few weeks after you left with Giles, so Faith is
official a Summers, and my little sister."
"Faith Summers," Willow said, letting the name roll off her tongue. "Sounds
odd."
"Having her around in an official sisterly capacity is odd, especially after
what she did, but she is trying really hard to make up for betraying us."
"How is she doing with what happened. The last time we talked she seemed upset
about something."
"She's been okay. Most of the time she's the same old Faith. Brass, crude, and
oozing sex appeal, but there are times that she let the façade slip, and I can
see how much pain she's in. Killing Finch really messed with her head."
"The Mayor messed with it more," Willow said.
"The sick part of that is she really believed that he cared for her," Buffy
said.
"He got in her head and gave her the one thing that she wanted. Somebody to
love her. He played her."
"He broke her," Buffy said. "I'm glad you realized what was going on before it
was too late for her. It would suck not having her annoying ass in our lives."
"You sound like a big sister," Willow smiled.
"She's just as annoying as Dawn. The two of them have been ganging up on me all
summer," Buffy groaned and then smiled. "It's kind of been great. Things have
been so calm here, that we've been able to pretend that we are just a normal
family. Faith even has a girlfriend. That's where they are now. Tara has been
really good for her. Wait until you see Faith when Tara is around. She's not so
tortured."
"I can't wait to meet this woman."
"Tara's great. She's really shy, but she's sweet."
"So how are doing with Angel gone?"
x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
Ginny was in the living room watching the TV, unaware that her wife had left
the room. Since entering the muggle world, Ginny had repeatedly asked herself
how muggles survived without magic in their lives. As she became more
enthralled by the story playing on the television, she found herself wondering
why her people hadn't invented a version of this. It was amazing to her.
She snorted to herself when she realized that she was acting like a first year
muggle-born who was seeing the moving pictures for the first time. She suddenly
had a new appreciation for her muggle-born friends. Everything she had seen so
far was new and exciting. She was eager to see more.
The TV show she was watching ended, much to her disappointment. Her
disappointment was short lived when another episode of Charmed began playing.
She found it hard to believe that the magic being portrayed on the screen was
fake. It seemed so real, and she should know. She was a witch after all.
Ginny was so enthralled in the show that she didn't react fast enough to the
loud bang from behind. Before she knew it, she was being lifted into the air by
a powerful being and slammed back into the floor. She looked up into the hard
eyes of a beautiful brunette straddling her.
The first thought that came to her mind was, 'Not again.' She really getting
tired of being attacked by her new wife's friends. "I'm not evil," she told the
mysterious woman.
"That's what they all say, right before I slay their evil ass," Faith said
cockily.
Ginny opened her mouth to say something but was halted by Willow and Buffy
running into the room.
Willow's eyes widened at the sight that met them. In the center of the living
room, Ginny lying on her back, with Faith straddling her hips grasping the
redhead's hands above her head. The TV she had been watching was now lying on
the floor next to them with a broken screen. Ginny looked like she was angry
and annoyed all at once.
"Not again," Willow said irritated, and then yelled, "Faith. Get off of her."
Faith turned to look at Willow but didn't budge.
Willow glared at Faith. "Get off my wife. She is not a demon. What you are
sensing is her magic, because she is a wand witch."
Faith looked down at Ginny skeptically, and then back to Willow. "That don't
make her a good witch, Red. I'm sensing some badness."
"Get off of Ginny or I will float your ass off of her," Willow warned.
Unlike Buffy, Faith didn't heed the warning and remained on Ginny. Buffy
snorted at the challenging look on Faith's face and moved to the couch to watch
the scene play out. Giles, Joyce, and Dawn came barreling through the door just
as Faith began floating off of her captive. The shock from being magically
lifted off her feet was written all over her face. Willow gracefully floated
Faith several feet off the ground, and gently move her to sit on the couch next
to Buffy.
"Very nice form, Willow," Giles praised.
At the same time, Ginny climbed off the floor and darted to Willow's side.
"Your friends are all nutters," She said sounding accosted.
"You have no idea," Willow said. "Are you okay?"
"I'll be okay when your friends stop attacking me!" Ginny exclaimed.
"That sounds like a really great idea," Willow said, and then gave the slayers
a death glare. "Stop attacking my wife."
"Shit. Mrs. S wasn't messin' with us," Faith said, wide-eyed in shock.
"So Mrs. Summers tells you that I'm married, and you think it's a good idea to
attack her," Willow growled.
"No, but I did think that attacking the evil person in my home was a good
idea," Faith said cheekily.
"I'm not evil, but I will curse the next person who thinks that," Ginny said.
"Alright, that's enough girls," Joyce said and directed Giles to set down the
six pizza's he was still holding. "Faith kindly put the TV back on its stand."
Faith looked at the fallen TV, and then sheepishly looked back at Joyce. "It's
broken, Mrs. S."
"I am aware of that. Kindly do as I asked," Joyce said calmly. Faith got off
the couch and easily lifted the heavy TV off the floor.
"I'll fix it for you," Ginny offered, and pulled her wand out. She whispered
the spell, and the TV repaired itself.
"Holy shit!" Faith exclaimed as she jumped back from the TV, and then moved
towards it slowly to inspect the repaired device. She pushed the power button
and stare in amazement as the screen flicked on. She turned around and
excitedly said, "That is cool as shit. What else can you do with that pointy
stick?"
"Loads," Ginny said. "If you promise to stop attacking me, then I'll give you a
show."
"Done," Faith said eagerly.
"Really?" Buffy asked sarcastically. "All it takes for you like her is a
promised magic show?"
Faith shrugged her shoulders. "It beats getting my ass fried from their magic."
"Good point."
"I want to see the magic too," Dawn said eagerly.
"After dinner," Joyce said, and then ushered the girls into the dining room.
Giles placed two of the boxes of pizza in front of Faith and then passed around
plates with the appropriate slices to each of the Summers women. He then looked
at Ginny questioningly. "Which would you like to try dear? We've got plain
cheese, pepperoni, and triple meat, and all veggies."
Ginny stared at the other occupants plates unsure of which to try. She looked
to Willow, silently questioning which one Willow suggested she try.
With a mouth full of her own pizza, Faith said, "Give her one of each G. I'll
eat whatever she doesn't like."
Giles dished out a slice of each and handed the plate to Ginny. Willow showed
her how to hold the slice properly, and watched intently as she took the first
bite of the plain slice. Ginny's eyes widened as she took her first bite, and
then eagerly took a second. "That's amazing! That even better than the ham and
potato pie the house elves make."
"Ham and potato pie?" Faith asked, looking at Ginny weirdly. "That's odd."
Buffy snorted. "Says the woman eating an extra cheese, buffalo chicken,
pepperoni, red onion, broccoli, and pineapple pizza.
Faith shrugged her shoulders and gave Buffy a dimpled grin. She took a huge
bite of her pizza and happily chomped away.
"Muggle food is bloody brilliant," Ginny said in between bites. She watched as
Faith picked up the glass filled with yellowish liquid in front of her, and
down it in one go. Curious about the contents, she picked up her own glass and
took a tentative sip. She grimaced as the fizziness hit her tongue, but then
smiles at the sweet taste. "What is that?"
"It's a soda called Mountain Dew," Willow responded. "Do you like it?"
"Yes," Ginny said, and then took another gulp.
After dinner was over, they moved into the living room. Dawn, who had been
curiously eyeing Ginny since she got home, fired off several questions in rapid
secession. Thankfully she was used to Hermione's tendency to ask a million
questions. She answered the girl's questions and even asked a few of her own.
Dawn reminded her of a younger version of Hermione. Curious about everything.
She gave them a small show of her magic. Simple spells like Wingardium Leviosa,
Accio, and Aguamenti. Everybody was greatly amused by the show, which amused
her. The first lesson she was learning from being in the muggle world, was to
never take her magic for granted. She had always found that not being able to
use her magic outside of school an annoyance. Now that she was around people
who didn't use magic for everyday tasks, she could see the lesson behind the
restrictions.
She marveled at the luck of finding a woman who is magical. She surely wouldn't
be doing magic in front of them. In fact, she would have to live as a muggle if
Willow hadn't known about magic. It would make life much harder for them. She
wondered what kinds of things Willow could do with her magic. Could she do the
same spells without a wand that wizards could with wands? Are there spells that
Willow could do that wizards couldn't?
Giles, Willow, and Ginny left just after Faith and Buffy left to patrol. Ginny
had to hide her amusement as Giles fumbled through a good night when they
entered his home. He was clearly uncomfortable about the fact that they were
going to be sleeping in the same bed.
They walked into Willow's bedroom quietly, and awkwardly dressed for bed. Ginny
discreetly looked around the room and frowned at the lack of personality in it.
There were no posters on the walls, no trinkets sitting on the desk, a plain
gray duvet on the bed. There was nothing that screamed Willow in the room.
Willow saw Ginny looking around the room with a frown. She looked around and
realized how bland the room was. "I don't live here," she told Ginny, who
looked at her questioningly. "Giles is just my guardian for the summer. I
usually live at my parent's house."
"Why is he your guardian for the summer?" she asked.
Willow sat on the full sized bed and tapped the empty space next to her. Ginny
climbed on the bed and sat cross-legged facing the redhead.
"Giles took me to a coven in the dessert to help me learn control over my
magic. He was afraid that I would lose myself in the magic as I grew more
powerful. Since he was taking me out of the state for the whole summer, I had
to get permission from my parents."
"How does your magic work?" Ginny asked curiously.
"My magic comes from the Earth. I can pull the magic from the earth and channel
it through me. Then I can use it to perform spells."
"So it's sort of like you're the wand to the earth's magic," Ginny summed up.
"Yeah. I guess you can out it that way," Willow stated. "What is your world
like?"
Ginny smiled softly. "It's... My world. I don't really know how to explain it.
I find your world so strange, but amazing at the same time. I suppose that you
will find my world the same."
Willow smiled and then looked at Ginny shyly. "Do you think that we can make
this work?"
"I hope so, or the next three years are going to be miserable," Ginny said. "My
parents have been married forever. They love each other greatly. I always
dreamed that I would find somebody to love as dearly as they love each other."
"Maybe you have," Willow said softly.
"Maybe," Ginny agreed. "I suppose if there is no way for us to annul the
marriage, we will have to make the best of it."
"I'm good at doing that," Willow stated happily. She glanced at the clock on
the nightstand behind Ginny and gasped at the time. It was already after one.
"We should get some sleep."
Ginny agreed, and together they laid down and covered up. They laid there in an
awkward silence, unsure of what to say, and too afraid to move. After a few
minutes, Willow couldn't take the tension that was filling the room anymore.
She giggled awkwardly, and the rolled to face Ginny.
"This is weird," she stated.
Ginny rolled to face Willow, and the propped herself up on one arm. "You mean
sharing a bed with somebody you just met, or because that somebody is your
wife, and we should be more comfortable laying next to each other?"
"Both," Willow said.
Ginny smiled at Willow and then leans down to place a tender kiss on Willow's
lips. She didn't say anything when she pulled away. There was already a heavy
awkwardness between them, and talking about it would only increase it. Instead,
she smiled at Willow again and then laid back down. This time, she moved closer
to the center of the bed, and laid half on her stomach, half on her side. She
then reached across the bed and laid her hand on Willow's forearm.
Willow took the hint. She adjusted herself into a comfortable position and then
reached her arm up to rest her hand on Ginny's arm. They stared into each
other's eyes until they drifted off to sleep. Dreams of the days events heavy
on their minds.
***** Connecting *****
Chapter Notes
     Disclaimer: I do not own Buffy or Harry Potter.
     AN: Sorry for such a long delay. This chapter is much smaller than
     the previous, but I figured ya'll wouldn't mind too much as long as
     you got something. I am sorry for any mistakes I may have missed.
     Hopefully they don't make the chapter unreadable.
Ginny and Willow woke at nearly the same time the next morning. Partly because
Giles was standing over their bed with one hand covering his eyes, while the
other was holding his cellphone out toward them. "It's your mother, Willow. She
seemed quite agitated when I told her you were still sleeping, and insisted
that I wake you."
Willow rubbed her eyes sleepily, and then took the phone from him. "Thanks
Giles," she mumbled as he left the room, and then put the phone to her ear. Her
conversation with Shelia was short, but left a dreadful feeling in Willow's
stomach. She closed the flip phone and placed it on her bedside table. She
rolled over irritably, and screamed into her pillow.
Ginny, who had only caught Willow's side of the short conversation, watched her
wife in confusion. She reached over and picked up the cellphone and inspected
the device. "Willow," she said softly. "What is this?"
Willow looked up at Ginny, and despite the sour feelings left behind by her
mother, she smiled when she saw what her wife was doing. "It's called a
cellphone. It's like the phone you saw Buffy use last night, but it doesn't
need to be connected to cords to work."
"Then how does it work?"
"Um…" Willow thought about a simply way to explain it to Ginny. "Do you know
what a radio is?"
"Yeah. We have radio's in the wizarding world," Ginny stated.
"It works like that. A cellphone's signal connects through the radio waves to a
tower, and then travels to the other person's phone."
"Fascinating," Ginny said. "How do you power it without magic?"
Willow looked at Ginny in surprise. "With a rechargeable battery. You use magic
to power your radios?"
Ginny looked up at Willow. "Yes. What is a battery?"
"Um… It's like a portable box of electricity," Willow attempted to explain.
"Oh. I know what that is," Ginny said excitedly. "Hermione told me all about
that. It's what makes your lights work."
"That's right," Willow said. She rolled back over, and smashed her face back
into the pillow.
Ginny watched Willow uneasily. "Are you okay?" She was worried that maybe
Willow was upset with her questions. "Are you upset with my questions?"
Willow jerked her head up at the hesitance in Ginny's voice. "No. Not at all.
I'm just as curious about your world, as you are of mine. It's just my mother.
She was just calling to tell me that her and my dad won't be back for my
birthday."
A heavy feeling settled on Ginny's chest. "Do they do that a lot?"
"Yeah," Willow sighed. "I don't remember the last birthday we've celebrated
together."
Ginny laid her hand on Willow's shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze. "I'm
really sorry Willow."
Willow smiled softly as Ginny. "Thanks. So, when do you think your parents will
show up?"
Ginny shrugged her shoulders, and then turned onto her back. She stared up at
the ceiling as dread filled her chest. "It could be in an hour, or it could be
in a couple of days. It just depends on how quickly they can procure a portkey.
Personally, I'm hoping for a couple of days. Maybe by then, my mum will have
calmed down a bit."
Willow rolled onto her side, propping her head on her hand. "What's going to
happen when they get here?"
Ginny rolled to mirror her wife's position. "A lot of yelling. A lot! And then
maybe there will be a lot of crying, and hugging."
"Well that's good to know, but I was asking more about what is going to happen
with us when they get here- with us."
"I don't know," Ginny admitted. "I only know the very base of the marriage law.
Nobody I know has ever up and married an sorta-muggle from another country in
an overnight chapel. In fact, nobody I know has even filed for divorce. Mum
swears it's because of the law. It makes people think more about the decision
to marry."
"Is it unheard of to divorce?"
"No," Ginny replied. "A couple of my friend's parents are divorced. It happens,
but not very often. I think it's because of the wars. So many lives have been
lost. It makes you more appreciative of the ones you have left. Of course, the
same might not be said for Americans. They could do things entirely different
here."
"Except for the three-year law. Cause that's universal, right?"
"Yeah. That one is universal," Ginny sighed. "I'm really sorry about all this."
Willow smiled at Ginny softly, and grasped Ginny's free hand in hers. "You
weren't alone in this. I was there too, and it's not like I was resisting."
Ginny groaned, and flopped backwards. "What are we going to do if we can't
annul the marriage? I still have two years of school left, thanks to
McGonagall, and it's not like I can bring my wife to school with me."
Willow giggled. "It would make for some pretty juicy gossip."
Ginny snorted. "Well, something to look forward to then." She glanced at
Willow, and allowed herself a moment of quiet contemplation. Visions of Willow
sitting in the Gryffindor common room, surrendered by her friends filled her
mind. A soft smile adorning her lips, and brilliant green eyes shining with
excitement as she reads through Ginny's school books.
She could already tell that her wife was book smart like Hermione. Willow's
eyes light up with curiosity every time she says anything magic, and where she
comes from. She knew in her heart that Willow would fit in at Hogwarts quite
well.
There was little chance of her returning to Hogwarts to complete her schooling.
There were other options however. Ones that could potentially keep her in
Sunnydale, if that is what Willow wanted to do. She couldn't deny that she was
just as curious about the muggle world as Willow is about the magical world. It
would be an adjustment, but she was sure she could do it.
"What would we do if we stayed here in Sunnydale?" Ginny asked.
Willow looked at Ginny in surprise. "You would do that?"
Ginny turned on her side again. "It's the least I can do. You went into this
without all the information. It would be unfair of me to drag you away from
your life."
"I appreciate the thought, but it would be equally unfair if I forced you to
stay here when you still have schooling left."
"Then tell me what you would be doing if I wasn't here."
"I start college in a few weeks. I'll be moving into the dorms, doing the whole
college thing. Helping Buffy out when she needs me."
"And this is something you look forward too?"
"Yeah. It is. It's kind of my reward for surviving the last two and half years
at Sunnydale. We've been through so much. We've lost so many people. It's nice
to have the option for a future. You know?"
Ginny smiled softly. She knew exactly what Willow meant. "What do you wish to
study?"
"Computer science for sure, but I was also considering studying medicine. It
would be handy to have a doctor around for when the badness happens. Somebody
always ends up getting hurt."
"Healing is a good profession to be in," Ginny replied. "My father was bit by a
snake two years ago, and nothing our Healers were doing was closing the wound,
so they tried a muggle method called stiches. My mother was not happy when she
found out."
"Did they work?"
"Nope. The snake's venom caused the stiches to dissolve," Ginny said. She
chuckled, "My dad goes nutters for muggles. He collects anything he can find.
They may not have worked, but her had a jolly time watching them in action."
"I can't wait to meet him," Willow smiled.
"Under normal circumstances I would say he's going to love you, but you married
his only daughter. He might not like that too much."
"Well I'll just have to win him over with my charm." Willow smirked, and then
smiled shyly. "I suppose I should tell you that I was accepted to Oxford."
Ginny eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "I don't know what that is."
"It's a school in England. A highly prestigious school. So, if you wished to
return to England to finish out your schooling, I wouldn't be opposed."
"Then I suppose we have options," Ginny smiled. She studied Willow for a few
moments. The sun was peeking through the bedroom window, casting a heavenly
glow over her wife. It was a beautiful sight, one that Ginny didn't want to
waste. She leaned forward, and tentatively place her lips upon Willow's.
It was strange to think that the woman she was kissing was her wife. Ginny
wished that she could remember what it had been like to be with Willow the
night of their wedding. What she had felt emotionally, as well as physically.
She supposed it must have felt amazing, considering the simple kiss she was
sharing with Willow made her whole body and mind explode in pleasure.
Perhaps that is what it always felt like when you kissed somebody you actually
connect with, or perhaps it was a part of the marriage rituals they partook in.
Either way, she felt like she could kiss Willow every day, all day long and
never get tired of it.
Willow pulled away shyly, giving Ginny a soft smile as she did. "That was
nice," she said, and then leaned forward to recapture her wife's lips for a
more heated kiss. She rolled Ginny onto her back, and move her leg in between
Ginny's thighs. Ginny moved her hands down Willow's back, resting one on her
hip and the other on her butt.
Willow gently moved her hand down Ginny's body until her finger tips
encountered exposed skin. She smiled into the intense kiss, and gently slid her
fingers across Ginny's abdomen, earning a moan from the woman. Feeling bolder
then she had ever felt in her life, she slowly slid her figures beneath the hem
of Ginny's shirt; teasing her new wife, while simultaneously allowing the woman
time to stop her if she chose to.
Ginny pulled Willow closer (if that was even possible), spurring Willow's
advance north. Willow's finger tips advanced to the base of Ginny's breast,
when her breath hitched. She pulled back, and watched Ginny's face as she moved
her hand to cover the mound. Ginny whimper softly at the feeling and
unconsciously ground her hips forward against her wife's thigh. Willow was
surprised by her wife's movements, but was even more turned on my them. She
leaned down again to capture Ginny's lips.
It was at that moment that Giles decided to knock on the door, causing Willow
to spring away from Ginny. She had forgotten that they were not alone. She
looked at Ginny, who had turned bright red by the interruption.
"Yes?" Willow squeaked.
"I've prepared breakfast if you girls would like some," Giles said awkwardly.
"Okay. Thanks Giles. We'll be out in a few minutes," Willow said as calmly as
she could. She listened for Giles' footsteps to fade, and then let out a loud
giggle. "I guess that'll teach us to calm of teenage hormones."
Ginny looked at Willow as though she had gone completely nutter on her, and
then flopped backwards in relief. After a moment, she too began to laugh. All
the strangeness of the last two days caught up with her and it seemed to be
presenting itself with laughter.
Willow laid her head on Ginny's shoulder, and wrapped her arm around her waist.
"That was nice," she said quietly.
"Yeah. It was," Ginny said. She wrapped her arm around Willow's shoulders,
forcing Willow to move her head slightly. "At least we know we connect
sexually."
"That is a relief to know," Willow chuckled. "Let's home we connect just as
well in every other aspect of our lives, and being married for the next three
years will be a cake walk."
"Why would you walk a cake?"
Willow snorted. "I have no idea. It's just a phrase we say."
"Oh. That's a very strange analogy, but I like it. Cake walking the next three
years sounds like fun."
Willow snorted again. "Come on. Let's go get our breakfast before it gets
cold." She stood up, and offered her hand to Ginny, who accepted it with a soft
smile. Yeah, she could see herself connecting with Willow very well.
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