Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Harry Potter OR Charmed
Author's note: I would like to thank my best friend, LMiC for her suggestions and comments. She helped shape this one's better bits. It's unbeta'd so please point out any mistakes I probably made and I'll try to get to them as quick as possible. Thanks and I hope you all enjoy it.
Author's note 2: Yes, most of you guessed it. The title was thought of by my brother Tjin, thanks big guy!
"A Harry Situation"
Xander was tired of this crap.
He walked over to the very UNcat-like cat that had been lurking around the compound all day, watching the girls in their exercise routines and doing their chores around the grounds. He stopped about six feet in front of it and said, "Okay, fur face, here's the deal. If you're harmless as what you appear to be, fine and dandy, but if you're here to hurt anyone either directly OR indirectly you WILL die. Quickly, but painfully, I swear. Do we understand each other?"
To say the "cat" looked surprised was an understatement. It nodded its head in obvious agreement, backed up a little bit and morphed into an older woman in very strange looking clothes, and robes?
"My name is Minerva McGonagal and I promise you lad, I mean no harm to you and yours. It's just that young Harry is going to be brought to you later on tonight and I was asked to look the situation over. I must admit, I'm impressed with things here and believe you'll be a good guardian for the boy."
Xander is puzzled, "Xander Harris, but you already knew that, didn't you? Nice to meet you; now, um, who is Harry and why would someone bring him to me?"
It's Minerva's turn to look puzzled, "Harry is your Aunt Lily's son, just barely over a year old now. Lily and her husband James Potter were murdered by You-Know-Who last night. Now the boy must be placed with someone and we, of the Order, thought family would be best."
Raising his hand to stop her saying anything more, "Wait a minute there, please. No, I don't know who, so would you care to fill me in? We can discuss this over tea in my office if you like."
Smiling now, Minerva tells her host, "Thank you, that's quite civilized of you. I must admit, some were worried about how an American would raise young Harry, but my fears have been laid to rest already."
= = =
When Dumbledore arrives after midnight local time, he's quite surprised to find himself at the center of a large assortment of weapons, all pointing at him. He idly notes how young some of the females look and the fact that both medieval and modern weaponry were in sight, though it was usually men holding the guns.
"That's the Headmaster!"
Dumbledore is relieved when Minerva's shout causes the weapons to be lowered, but is dismayed at the fact they aren't put away. He's also more than a little perturbed at that his arrival wasn't as secretive as it was supposed to be. When his Transfiguration Professor hurries to his side he asks, "Just who are all these people and why are they so strangely armed?"
At this moment, Xander comes hurrying up, "Hi, you must be Dumbledore. I'm Xander, Xander Harris." He pumped the man's hand briefly before turning slightly away, "Welcome to the Compound," he says with a wave and a chuckle. "Minerva here has told me all about the situation with Harry and I'm happy to take him in. I've already got his other cousin here and my daughter Laibah is excited about getting yet another baby brother. Our wards are already pretty good, just got 'em updated by my best bud, Will and my sisters a few months ago when we got our other new addition, but anything you want to try to make them better is of the good. Just, would you mind conferencing with Willow and Phoebe about it first? We want to avoid clashing with what's already in place and avoid negating something vital, right? They're on standby in the computer room, so, thanks a lot. Now, where's Harry? The sooner we get him inside and settled with Jesse the better."
Albus didn't quite know how it happened, but he found himself shuffled off by a small party of three young women and led indoors to a room full of computer terminals, the largest screen of which was split in two with a lovely young redhead on one side and a brunette on the other. They both smiled at him when he walked into the room. A cup of hot tea was served with alacrity on fine china along with some freshly made biscotti and both women began asking about the requirements of the spell for the wards.
Dumbledore completely missed Hagrid and Harry's arrival on Sirius Black's motorcycle.
= = =
Hagrid was amazed to be met by the very muggle they were leaving Harry with, but was gratified to be welcomed so openly and in such a friendly manner. He was a little surprised, however, after handing the baby over to be asked for the boy's personal belongings.
Placing a large hand on his face, he exclaimed, "I didna think o' that. I'll go back and get whatever is salvageable, but the place is a mess. I was glad to find little Harry there in as much of one piece as he was. I may not be able to bring what I find right back, but I'll be along as soon as I can with it. Can you make do in the meantime?" he asked, worried.
The muggle man- no, Xander, waved that aside, "No problem, I just wanted him to have pictures of his folks at the very least. Some of his own things to make strange surroundings more welcoming, know what I mean?" At Hagrid's nod, he continued, "You come back for a visit any time you like, Hagrid. We'll be glad to have you."
The two shook hands again, then the half giant got back on the motorcycle and took off.
= = =
Xander was upset at Harry's condition when he arrived, "Didn't anyone see to this wound on his head?"
Minerva clucked sadly, "It's amazing he survived the killing curse, we're not quite sure how that happened as no one has ever survived it before."
Taking the boy inside and going straight toward the infirmary, Xander asked her, "How do you know it was this, 'killing curse' and not something else?"
"Albus, I mean, Professor Dumbledore performed a spell to see what had happened. He saw You-Know-Who come into the house, kill James and then Lily before casting the same curse on baby Harry, but it somehow rebounded back to him. It obliterated the evil man right out of his clothes and the house collapsed in on itself. All Harry suffered was this terrible scar." She leaned closer to the sleeping baby and gently ran a finger over his hair.
Frowning now, "If that's the case, why did it take so long to bring Harry here? Why didn't one of you bring him with you in that 'popping' around thing you do?"
"Our mediwitch recommended against it, what with the recent trauma and all. Harry seemed to get on best with Hagrid, so he was tasked with getting him here and his best mode of transportation was to borrow Sirius Black's illegal, flying motorcycle." She tsked at that, obviously displeased.
"Well, while he's asleep, I'll see about cleaning it a bit more. Why don't you go help the Headmaster? The sooner he's done, the sooner you can go home and get some sleep, you've been up all day and more than half the night. You should look after yourself better," Xander suggested as he dabbed at the lightning bolt shaped wound on the baby's head with no real reaction other than a hitch of breath and a sigh.
"That does sound appealing, all this tragedy and uproar. Thank you, Xander." McGonagal excused herself and went to find the Headmaster.
As soon as the woman was gone, Xander dialed his cell phone, "Paige, I need you here, can you come?"
A showering sparkle of lights coalesced into a young brunette woman who smiled and said, "Sure thing, Xander." Slipping her cell phone into her pocket, she walked over. "What have we got?"
"Another orphaned cousin, this one is going to be a wizard and a dark wizard just tried to kill him. Got both his parents first and then went after him with the same killing curse, the avada kedavra, I think they said."
"What kind of monster goes after a baby with a killing curse? Why him?" Paige asked.
"An excellent question, one that I'll get the answer to soon enough, but right now," he trailed off, indicating the sleeping baby, moving the blanket out of the way. "Harry's got a head wound I want gone, if you can handle it. He's sleeping way too well for a kid that got here on a loud motorcycle and just got a cut dabbed with an antiseptic."
Moving to stand closer to the sleeping child, she answered, "That doesn't sound good at all. Aw, he's so cute!" She quietly gushed as she placed a hand over the lightning bolt shaped wound and it started to glow. Sparks flew and she got thrown backward.
"Paige!" Xander hurried to her side, "Are you okay?" He helped her to her feet.
"Yeah, nothing bruised but my pride." She made a face, as if reluctant to admit what she had to say next, "Something is seriously wrong with that baby though, I can't heal him. It's like there's something evil there and White Lighters aren't allowed to heal evil."
Stifling a string of cuss words, Xander told her, "They said the bad guy cast the curse at the baby and it rebounded, obliterating the dickhead except for his clothes. Are you thinking the same thing I am?"
"If you're thinking possession of some kind, yeah, so am I." Paige answered.
Calling for the slayer on standby outside the computer room, Xander asked her to go get his second in command among the Watchers in the Compound.
It wasn't long before the man came in, "Is something wrong with the boy?"
"You guessed it. Whitney, I need you to take over for me here and please ask a couple of the girls to watch over Laibah and Jesse for me? Paige has agreed to give us a ride. Our sisters and maybe more of the family can help us figure out what's wrong and fix it, we hope."
"Of course, Xander, no problem. We'll look after things while you're away, but I don't guarantee Laibah won't find a way to follow you. She's resourceful, that one," The Watcher laughed at the face his boss made at that comment.
Xander nods, "Guess we'll have to hurry then. Oh, are the wizards gone yet?" He asked.
Whitney answered, "No, do you want to see them again before you go?"
Looking torn, but then making a decision, Xander said, "Yes, but this is more important, so it will have to wait. See if you can you get some contact information out of them, would you? There are some very important questions I'd like answers to and I'm pretty sure that Dumbledore guy has them."
The other man nodded, "Consider it done, now go look after your new boy and if you can, PLEASE come home before Laibah wakes up? You know that you, as her beloved Papa, are the only male on this continent that she'll obey."
Xander laughed as he, baby Harry and Paige vanished from sight in a sparkle of blue/white lights.