Beware the Ides…of February

Summary: Betrayal isn't an uncommon thing in Sunnydale, but nobody saw this one coming.

Challenge: # 8198 'Ides of March Challenge'.

Timeline: mid-season 3 of BtVS; post-series for HP. Takes place on the calendar date of February 13, 1999 (even though the airdate for the episode in question was February 9, 1999)

Warning: Well, there's a betrayal happening, of course. And some AU-ness happening. I suppose you could say there's some bashing, but if you're honest with yourself, it's not out of line for that time in the series.

A/N: Took me a while to come up with a story that fit most of the criteria…maybe. Then again, maybe I have a block that keeps me from getting what the challenge is all about.

unbeta'd

Disclaimer: BtVS/AtS characters belong to Joss Whedon/Mutant Enemy. HP characters belong to JK Rowling. I claim no rights to any copyrighted material. Please do not copy or take this story without my permission.

Alleyway

Buffy and Faith were fighting their way down the alley, trying desperately to fend off the warrior guys for the slug demon, Balthazar…or whatever that literal tub of yuck was. It felt like as soon as they got rid of one vamp, another would pop up in his place.

They turned a corner and a man came out of the shadow, startling Buffy. She grabbed him and threw him against a nearby dumpster. Faith strode over to stake him.

Buffy cried out, "Faith, no!" She hoped desperately that the other Slayer's reflexes were good enough to stop in time.

Mayor's office

Mayor Richard Wilkins (the 1st, 2nd and 3rd) kneeled within the ritual circle and prepared to start the chant that would make him invincible until he became a full demon. What an exciting moment! Everything he had done for the last 100 years led to this moment…sort of. He was a little disappointed that his deputy, Allan, wasn't there, but rituals wait for no man.

He finished and the earth shook. He didn't feel invincible – exactly – but he did feel...cheery? Even more than he normally did, so he was taking that as a positive sign. After a brief conversation with the vampire named Trick, he stood still and awaited the attack by the vampire in the cage.

As expected, the vampire lunged towards him with his sword in hand and attempted to bisect him. The bisection only made it to his neck, however, so it probably didn't count as a true bisection.

Trick watched in fascinated horror as his new boss was brutally murdered and his body fell to the floor. Guess the man's ritual wasn't a success after all.

Alleyway

Buffy's stomach lurched as the stake kept descending. At the last second, however, the man disappeared and Faith's stake broke apart against the dumpster.

"What the hell?" Faith cursed as she turned around, looking for her prey.

"Peace!" a man's voice called out from several feet away behind Buffy.

Both Slayers turned to stare at him. Only Buffy's question kept Faith from finishing the job she attempted seconds earlier. "Who or what are you? You aren't a vampire, right?" she asked for clarification.

"I'm a wizard, here to get rid of a dark wizard – although I guess I don't know if they're called wizards over here," he rambled a little. "Name's Harry Potter," he said, holding out his hand.

Buffy and Faith looked at his hand as if it were covered in something unpleasant, then glanced at each other, trying to have a non-verbal conversation about what they should do next. Since they didn't know each other that well, they had to resort to actual words.

"What do you think?" Buffy asked.

Faith shrugged. "Go ahead if you want to. If he doesn't kill you, then I'll shake his hand next. He kinda sounds like Wussley, though," she added as a bit of warning.

"Sorry, we've had a bit of bad luck with guys with your accent recently," Buffy apologized as she cautiously shook Harry's hand. "In my experience, your voice reminds me of like six or more people who have tried to kill or control me or both."

"They weren't wearing masks and black robes, were they?" Harry asked, wondering if some of the Death Eaters

"No, just regular tweedy clothes for most of them," Buffy replied with a bit of bemusement.

Faith snorted as she got the mental image of G and Wus in black silk or lace robes. "Baby doll or teddy?" she quipped.

Guessing who she was thinking about, Buffy made a disgusted noise, "Eww, bad mental pictures! Get rid of them!"

Gesturing in Harry's direction, Faith said with a lecherous smirk, "Him in black silk boxers and robe."

Harry felt his face heat up at what was obviously becoming a very sexual conversation. "If we could get back to the matter at hand, please," he pleaded. He was not reassured by the way both girls studied him – as if he was wearing something else.

"If you're here for a dark wizard, why are you in this alley? Do you need help finding him or something?" Buffy asked.

"No, my partner is taking care of that; it's more her area of expertise anyway. I'm here because our client mentioned another major player in the area that we should look at removing. He also mentioned something about a couple Slayers who could help me since that other player was a demon. I assume you are the Slayers?" Harry guessed.

"Is the other player name Bathazore or something?" Buffy asked.

"Gigantic demon who can't move and needs to be watered," Faith offered.

"Sounds revolting," Harry said with a grimace. "Not sure, but those vampire warriors you killed were his."

"We were just on our way there," Buffy told him.

"Good! I'd feel better if I could go and give my partner some back-up since the client said that the wizard we have to kill has vampires as bodyguards. Maybe we can meet up afterwards to talk?" Harry requested.

Buffy gave him the address to the warehouse, then asked, "Where is this dark wizard guy?"

"City Hall. Apparently he's been the mayor for the last 100 years or so," Harry explained.

"Let's meet at the high school library in say…30 minutes?" Buffy suggested.

"Your school is open at this time of night? Is it a boarding school?"

Buffy shuddered at the idea of living on top of the Hellmouth. "No. It's our training and research place, though. We might be a little late if there are more vamps than we expect."

"See you soon," Harry said before disappearing into thin air.

"Shoot! We should have asked for a ride," Faith said before continuing down the alley.

Mayor's office

Trick's self-preservation instincts kicked in and he staked the vampire warrior before his own unlife was in danger. "I wonder what went wrong," he murmured to himself.

Or at least he thought it was to himself.

He caught a hint of movement from the corner of the room but didn't see anyone when he looked over there. A few seconds passed before Allan Finch appeared out of nowhere with a small blonde girl/woman.

"I'm what went wrong," Finch confessed. "Or I'm responsible for getting the person who made it go wrong if you want to be accurate about it," he added, pointing the girl/woman, who waved cheerfully at Trick.

"Staging a palace coup?" Trick asked, wondering if he'd be able to switch allegiances to the new administration. He didn't mind betrayal, as long as he could work it to his advantage.

"Not really, although I suppose that could be nice bonus," Finch said after the situation fully hit him. As deputy mayor, he'd probably be expected to assume the position of mayor. Holy cow! "I just realized that letting him become a demon wasn't the best thing for Sunnydale or its people. I don't think that becoming his meal should be my goal in life."

"Very astute for a politician," Trick said in admiration. He thought most humans were too short-sighted to be of much use to demons. Then again, he knew a lot of vampires like that as well.

"Glad you approve," Finch said. "It's that trait that also tells me you can't be allowed to leave this room except as a pile of dust."

Trick chuckled. "You may be smarter than he gave you credit for, but you can't hope to overpower me."

"I don't have to do anything except distract you," Finch admitted. He pointed to the girl/woman again. "She'll be the one to kill you."

She held up a stick too small to be a stake and stated firmly, "Stipites Volant!"

Several small trees appeared and flew towards Trick. Fortunately for him, the first one that struck was a direct hit to the heart so he didn't suffer much.

"Huh," the girl/woman looked at her wand in bewilderment. "I'll have to practice that some more."

"What was the spell supposed to do?" Finch asked.

"I was expecting it to send stakes flying at him, but I must have translated it wrong," she answered.

Harry popped in at that moment, ready to assist in fighting if necessary. "Is everything okay here, Luna?"

"Yes, the wizard is dead; so is the vampire that killed him and the vampire that killed the vampire that killed him. Do you know the Latin word for stake?" she asked.

"Meat or wood?" Harry needed clarification before answering.

"Wood," Luna replied, grateful that her mistranslation wasn't worse. Pelting a vampire with a bunch of steaks wouldn't be useful unless the bone in some types could dust them…which she wasn't sure it would.

"Palos?" Harry guessed after a few seconds of thinking about it.

"Maybe," Luna said. "If we could find some vampires for me to test it out on, that would be useful to know for sure."

"We have plenty of those in Sunnydale," Finch told the pair.

"If we hurry, we might be able to help the Slayers with those warrior vampires working for Balthazar," Harry suggested.

"Just remember that there's a vampire working with the Slayers that goes by the name of Angel," Finch warned them. If he really was going to be the mayor, he'd like to get rid of as many of the evil demon/vampires as possible since he didn't have the reputation as Mayor Wilkins. Why not have the Slayers and these two do most, if not all, of the work for him?

"Before you go, can you do something about his body?" Finch requested. "Any of the normal contacts I'd use for this are all demons or evil in some other way and I'd be risking my life by calling them."

Luna walked over and dropped a portkey on the body. After it disappeared, she explained to Harry, "The Unspeakables like to do a magical autopsy on him and any other dark wizards we capture or kill."

"I assume they have their reasons," Harry remarked. Of all of the departments at the Ministry, he got along best with the Unspeakables.

Warehouse

Luna and Harry took a couple seconds to determine who all the players were in the battle before jumping into it. Harry pointed out Buffy and Faith. Luna looked at the two men fighting against the warrior vampires and said, "Suspenders is probably a Watcher. Not sure about the guy hiding near him. Civilian maybe? Leather coat is a vampire; probably that Angel Finch told us about."

"Do they even need our help?" Harry asked as they observed the deadly choreography below them.

"I doubt it, but I'd still like to try the flying stake spell with the right translation," Luna answered.

"Let's get behind the Watcher and wait until there's a clear shot at one. I'll protect the civilian," Harry offered.

Barely another minute later, the battle was over and Harry was facing a sword pointed at his throat.

Luckily for him, Faith came to his rescue. "Relax, G. He's on our side…I think."

"We fight evil," Luna announced proudly.

"Explanations should wait until we've gotten the civilian out of here," Harry said, pointing at Wesley.

Buffy started laughing loudly at that.

"I am most certainly not a civilian!" Wesley objected, glaring at Buffy and Harry equally. "I am the Watcher to these two Slayers!"

"Are you sure about that?" Harry asked in disbelief. "Why were you hiding then?"

"Because it is not my duty to fight; it's their duty," Wesley explained in his officious tone.

Luna's eyes widened as she walked over and got right in Wesley's personal space, poking him several times and pulling on his hair.

"What are you doing?" he demanded to know.

"Just checking to see if you're Percy in disguise," Luna answered. "Do you think it's possible they were twins separated at birth?" she asked Harry.

"I think he's a little older than Percy, Luna," Harry said, wondering almost the same thing. "So nobody's a civilian, then?"

"Nope," Buffy replied. "Before we get to introductions, though, can you tell me if the 'he' that tub guy mentioned was the wizard you came to take care of?"

"It probably was and he's gone," Harry said. "Our client explained that the wizard used Balthazar as a distraction for you Slayers so he could perform a ceremony that would make him invincible until he could become a full demon in a few months. They were apparently evil rivals a hundred years ago."

Buffy breathed a silent sigh of relief. She didn't like ominous warnings from bad guys. "As you know, Faith and I are the Slayers. My name is Buffy, by the by. Angel is a vampire, but he's still a good guy-"

"Most of the time," Giles muttered softly.

Ignoring the interruption, Buffy continued, "Giles is my Watcher, but the Council doesn't like that, so they sent Wesley there to take over for him. Faith and I are sharing the Watchers. Well, mostly she does her lone wolf thing, but checks in once in a while with me and Giles."

"I assume that you're the more experienced Slayer, Buffy?" Harry asked. When she nodded, he said, "Well, speaking for myself, I'd feel better if Faith had somebody training her so the next time she's in a fight, she doesn't accidentally stake the wrong person."

"Sorry about that, Wiz guy," Faith apologized, torn between being annoyed that he told everyone about her mistake and feeling guilty for almost killing somebody.

"How did you do that disappearing act, anyway?" Buffy asked, partially because her curiosity was driving her crazy and partially because she'd rather confront Faith with less people around so she didn't feel ganged up on.

"It's called Apparition, and it's a spell to jump mostly short distances. Because I couldn't turn to do it, I was only able to go several feet," Harry explained.

"What's she doing?" Giles asked as Luna went over to drop a portkey on Balthazar.

"Sending him to be autopsied by our colleagues," Harry said. "We need to learn the best ways to fight against various kinds of evil. The Unspeakables determine those ways by finding the weak spots on demons we might encounter – although our job is mostly dealing with evil wizards. We have to be prepared for demons because evil wizards tend to use them often. Voldemort did, anyway."

"Wilkins did, too," Luna reminded him.

Wesley gasped in horror, "Voldemort? You know about Voldemort?"

Harry snickered. "Know about and defeated him several months ago."

"How can that be? The Chosen One is prophesied to defeat him!" Wesley declared.

Luna giggled and teased Harry, "You're even the Chosen One in the non-magical community!"

"This is getting ridiculous," Buffy muttered. "Three Chosen Ones together? Maybe we should start a band or something."

"I must talk to the Council about this," Wesley said to himself as he walked towards the door.

Giles sighed, then called out against his better judgement, "Perhaps you should find out the whole story first?"

A/N: I'm not completely happy with this ending, but don't want to turn this into a full story either. Happier news, I think this matches the original Ides of March theme, if not the challenge it's based on.