Disclaimers: I do not own Buffy or Harry Potter. I can not even claim any original characters for this story.

This has not had a beta check, however, I did use the very nifty so my punctuation is not the worst possible.

This is purely written for fun and not for profit. Just my take on a what if. This Fic is much different from my other ones. It has a ton of Adult material in it. Pairings will be at least Buffy, Xander, Willow as Lesbians. So if that offends you please do not read. We're talking gender bending here people. I actually had this plot bunny attacking me after a friend announced they were transitioning. And this is actually the cleaned up version. The original was much too explicit. The plot bunny didn't let me go until I had over 40k words.

Also Please leave a review if you like the story. It really is encouraging, at least to me.

Chapter 1

If anyone had really bothered to ask Xander about the Hyena possession, had really sat down with him to talk about what had happened Xander would have thought about admitting several things. A part of him had welcomed the possession. The Hyena Alpha had given him power and confidence. He had welcomed the feeling of no longer being afraid. He gave into the passion of the spirit right up until it tried to rape Buffy.

It was the things he didn't know about the possession that would really come back to haunt him. The Alpha had been less than pleased with her host. The physical body was young and still malleable. The mind thought the host's mind was ready to accept everything she had to offer. Because of this, she had started making the necessary changes to the host's body as soon as she took up residence. Things like the sense of smell, sight, taste, hearing, and even physical strength and reaction times, these were enhanced by both physical and mystical changes. It was the smart thing to do, physical changes, although they would take longer to develop, were better over time. And the greatest changes to her body would take at least a year before she could see real results.

But the Alpha was not aware of two very important facts. One the shaman who had enacted the ritual was not even a talented amateur and this causes the possession to have side effects. Her more savage side became dominant. And the host helped to fight her off. After the host thought she had been expelled the mystical side of the possession, stopped. But the changes she had made to the host's physical body continued to develop. Alpha decided to wait and see what would happen. After all, human life was short, and truth be told she was bored.

The rest of the year had been spent in some ways trying to make up for what he had almost done while possessed. And even though he knew Giles had said that the spirit was gone. Xander also knew that it had not left without leaving behind some changes. Changes that he couldn't explain and certainly hadn't ever thought possible.

Before the possession, he would have described himself as a normal, average teenage boy. Awkward at times, still finding out what the hell was going on with his body, scared, nervous and excited all at once.

Then came the possession. The power of the Alpha, the way it made him stronger and better than who he had been. Smells and taste were so much more intense. Even his sense of touch had improved, not as much as the other five senses but they had changed.

Then everything went to Hell, he had tried to Rape Buffy, the rest of the pack had eaten Principal Flutie and Giles had gotten the possession removed. Or so everyone thought. The thing is he had finally figured out it that the Watchers don't deal with a lot of possession cases. If they did maybe Giles would have realized his problem before it was too late. Possession is too intimate not to leave changes behind. Two souls or two spirits sharing one body? That's going to leave a mark.

Xander hadn't even realized what was being left until later. Much later, it started with dreams and odd physical sensations. Dreams that his rational mind said made no sense. His emotional mind, that was a traitor. He loved the dreams even while hating them. They made him feel good. The physical side was even harder. Because he noticed things, what little beard he had been growing, the body hair that came with becoming a man. Almost two months after the possession they were gone. And his chest had started to ache and swell just a little. His nipples were too sensitive. He was also to scared to say anything, to anyone.

The physical had been going on for several weeks, along with the dreams he knew he needed help. So he finally approached Giles. He waited to be alone in the library with Giles. "Giles," Xander said. "I think I need your help."

Giles looked up from his current book, "Oh, ah, yes Xander how can I be of assistance?"

"Well," Xander began, deciding to start with the easy part. After all, if Giles could help him with the dreams, then maybe he could tell him about the physical parts... "I've been having these reoccurring dreams. And I was wondering if you knew of any way to either control your dreams of stop them from happening?"

"Dreams, you say?" Giles said. "For the most part, unless you are Seer those aren't anything to worry about. What exactly have you been dreaming about, Xander?" As Xander started to stammer and blush, Giles realized that the dreams probably had something to do with sex. And it in some way embarrassed the fifteen-year-old boy. "Ah, yes, never mind," Giles said. "In general it is a bad idea to suppress your dreams. For Humans and some demons, they are a vital outlet to our subconscious. However, when we have problems with our dreams there are several things that can help."

Giles was walking through his shelves, stopping he pulled out a fairly modern volume. "I found this in my office when I took over here in Sunnydale," Giles said. "Most of it looks to be utter hogwash. But it did have some very good information on meditation and fortifying your own mind. Since it was left here, and as I said much of it is useless, you may have it."

"Meditation?" Xander asked, "How is that going to help me?"

"Xander," Giles said, holding his glasses in one hand. "Dreams come from the subconscious, by learning to meditate and to know your own mind, it will affect your dreams. The most likely outcome is that whatever is bothering you will cease to be a problem. And as a side benefit, several of the memory exercises that are described in the book should aid you in your life. Both as a student and as a future adult."

Xander read the title of the book, iOcclumency, the Basis of the Mind/i. "OK, Thanks, Giles," Xander said. "I really hope this does the trick." Xander hid the book, he didn't want Willow or Buffy asking him about it. Once he was able to get home he quickly shut himself into his room and started reading.

Willow would have been proud of how Xander was studying. He had to grab a dictionary to try and understand some of the words. And even that didn't really help. In the book, it had several words which he knew had to be made up. And it seemed like some bastardized form of latin. Seriously, iLegilimency/i? What kind of a made up word was that? Still, Giles had said the information on meditation was good. And Xander trusted Giles. But more than that he was desperate. The dreams kept coming and he had noticed other, more ominous changes. When he was looking at a hot girl, it wasn't just because she was hot. There was more to it, and that was disturbing. He was evaluating and judging them. And the other thoughts and feelings did not help at all.

And physically he had kept changing, Xander hid it, as best he could. But he could see the start of boobs. And he could see a waist trying to develop that did not belong on the X-man. His eyesight was improving as well, every sense seemed to be getting better. Xander started wearing closes designed to hide his physical changes. He tried using an ace bandage to make sure no one could guess he was developing boobs. Xander loved boobs, they were awesome, to look at. And because of the dreams, Xander was constantly feeling guilty about looking at or touching his own boobs.

So every non-emergency day, Xander would find himself, locked in his room for at least an hour. Then he would get ready to help Buffy in any way he could. He also started researching, specifically Hyenas and possession. That was when he found out that Giles did not have anything in the library that really dealt with possession.

Hyenas were an easier subject. He learned about their biology and social structure. The most shocking things were that they were matriarchal. And with Spotted Hyenas the female was bigger and almost had a fake penis. They were also hunters, they lived mostly by hunting, their primary rival was lions. In a lot of ways they female hyenas, were male humans. A part of him wondered if that was what was happening to him. Was he being changed into a hermaphrodite? Willow would be amazed that he knew that word, but he had had to look it up during his Hyena research.

The dreams still came every night. He almost gave up meditation because they became even more vivid. Still, Xander couldn't find anything else that had any promise of helping him. So Xander stuck it out. And after a month he had his first breakthrough.

Xander was meditating, trying to organize his thoughts, to reach his center. He had been getting so close, and every time, just when he thought he had done it, something would happen that stopped him from reaching the goal. Today was different, today he had been meditating, going over everything he knew. He reached for the glowing center of his core. The book had described the core as the center of his magic, which made it sound even more new age than not. But he tried to adapt the words so that he could understand them.

He had been feeling his core, for the past two weeks. It felt off at first like something was wrong with it. The iOcclumency/i book had talked about strengthening your core. Xander tried to make it feel better. But couldn't understand many of the concepts that the book talked about, The pseudo-latin was just too weird. Tonight through he finally saw his core, it was bright, it was fluctuating, changing colors as he watched it.

Inside of it, he could see memories, some seemed fractured, when he looked closer, he saw they showed many of the times he had been hurt, physically or mentally. His parents weren't physically abusive but they were neglectful. He didn't know why but, he never received praise. He was more likely to get put down than he was to be told "Good Job" by either of his parents. Looking at his disjointed memories Xander realized he really needed to organize them.

"What I need is shelves," Xander said. "Like in the library." Mist formed around him and Xander saw the shelves he was thinking of form. "Wow," Xander said. "How about a twinkie?" He was mildly disappointed that the mist didn't give him a twinkie. Xander then started sorting.

Sorting his memories took him another two weeks. He had had to restart the shelving several times. Because he would learn things about himself that made him have to start over. When little Billy had made everyone's nightmares come to life, he had found that the walls around his core that needed to be repaired. Xander was just very glad that Buffy and Willow both thought his nightmare was being a naked boy in class. He hated to think what they would do if they knew the truth, or even worse if they saw how his body was changing.

After repairing the damage Billy had caused, Xander had resorted his memories. He had noticed that he was doing better in school. His math grades had jumped from a 'C' average to a low 'A'. In every class, he was seeing results like that.

The one place he was not getting the desired results was his dreams. They were much cleared now. And he could recall each of them perfectly. How he felt, how he moved, how right it seemed. Then he would wake up and look down at his body and it would either all crash back down on him or he would find himself pleased with the changes he could see.

Xander had started to build his mind, what was once just his core, then some shelves, then a few walls, had grown. Parts of it seemed to come out of nowhere, he found a copy of Buffy's house, complete with her room, and all of her clothes. He had spent a long time in that room. After some minor changes, it was now one of his favorite places to just relax in. Willow could be seen in the area closest to his memories, she was always close to those helping him study. She was very understanding and at the same time demanding in his mind.

One of the biggest shocks was when the book cage showed up. One day while meditating it was just there. And while he could see the door, he couldn't see anything inside of it. But he knew something was in there. Something powerful, and not necessarily nice. It wasn't evil, at least he thought it wasn't evil, but it wasn't something that was nice. To be honest it scared the shit out of Xander.

Buffy had died. Buffy had died and Xander had almost not been able to save her. The Master had drowned her, and the over gelled vampire who claimed to love her had just stood around. In order to even find him, Xander had been forced to access memories of the time he was possessed. On how to track, how to use his senses. It worked, Xander had found Angel and convinced him to take him to the Master's cave. Seeing Buffy, her face wet and, and she hadn't been breathing. He had been able to bring her back with CPR. Then Buffy called out 'Angel" that had hurt. Luckily by now he was used to hurting. Everyday hurt, every time he looked in a mirror it hurt. Xander didn't know what he was going to do.

But tonight had been worth it. Buffy was alive and the Master was dead. After relaxing at the Bronze Xander headed home to meditate. Entering into his mindscape Xander looked around. It had become a standard ritual for him. Look to make sure nothing needed to be fixed before working on other things. Xander noticed what was different almost immediately, the book cage was open. The door had been securely locked, now it was open just a little. Like someone had neglected to close a door all the way.

Walking closer Xander pushed the door, it refused to close. Xander tried to look inside the door, but everything was dark. "OK ignore the ominous door," Xander said. "Or open it and face my fears?" The book had been fairly clear that nothing in his head should be able to hurt him, aside from the pain that happens from confronting unpleasant aspects of his own personality.

"What would Buffy do?" Xander mused. Then when he thought about her rushing headlong into danger. "Yeah maybe not the best example," Xander said. "Still the choice is, leave it be or find out what has been hiding out in here. Choices, so many choices." Xander drew himself up, he might not be everything he wanted to be, but he knew he wasn't a coward.

Xander opened the cage, inside it was black. He could see nothing, just a solid wall of black. Xander started humming, iPaint it Black/i. Xander walked into the darkness.

For a second that seemed to last forever, the black engulfed him. Xander felt himself twisting and turning, he knew something was happening to him. Then there was light. Something was different. The first thing Xander noticed was he wasn't a he. He was her, the girl he was every night in the dreams, the girl he thought his body was trying to become. Taller than Cordelia, with a bust that could easily give her a run for whose was best, looking over herself Xander saw every part of her was female. She was wearing something out of Sheena, Queen of the Jungle. A fur number that emphasized her assets. Sensuous lips that begged to be kissed and a feminine oval face. Her muscles were toned, not bulky, the muscles of a huntress.

In front of her, Xander saw a table, it was laden with food, meats of all kinds, surprisingly there were no vegetables of any kind on the table. And sitting at the head of the table was a WOMAN. She was a woman in her prime, she was also wearing something similar to what he was wearing. She looked at him with glowing green eyes, she smiled at him. He could see her teeth, her canines were definitely not human. She was a carnivore. Xander just hoped he wasn't on the menu tonight.

"Sit," She said, pointing to a spot next to her. Xander walked over to the seat and sat down. "Eat," She commanded. Xander started to eat, it tasted so good. He had tried to avoid meet after Herbert, at least pork. But honestly, it wasn't living if you couldn't eat bacon. Xander ate until she couldn't eat anymore. "Good," the Woman said.

"Who are you," Xander asked. The woman looked at her and said nothing. The silence dragged on. Xander didn't know what she wanted from her, she was looking at everything, trying to not make this woman upset with her. It was worse than if Joyce had been disappointed with her. Suddenly it clicked, "You, you're that Alpha," Xander said.

Alpha smiled, "Good," she leaned into Xander, sniffing her. Xander smelled her back. Her senses were assaulted by information. It was a sensory overload. She could tell so many things from the scents. Alpha liked her, she really liked her, and Xander could feel her body responding. At the same time Alpha, was amused? And concerned, she didn't know why.

Alpha grabbed Xander by the back of her head and kissed her, forcefully. She dominated Xander. Xander thought she could have fought it, but she felt if she did she would lose something she needed.

After Alpha broke the kiss, she looked at Xander and said, "You passed the tests."

"Tests," Xander's startled voice said. "What tests?"

"Would you come in on your own?" Alpha said. "Would you eat as pack? Would you submit to me, when you didn't have to?"

Xander nodded her head, "Why, why are you here and why are you testing me," she asked.

"Because," Alpha said. "You were forced to be a vessel, and you were my vessel. I could feel so much of you, but neither of us chose to be joined. The fool forced, what should have only ever been petitioned. And you were the only one to seek to understand."

Xander listened, she hoped she was understanding everything, "Why me?" she asked. She had to know why she was chosen as the Alpha, especially with how it had changed her. Before being possessed, Xander had been happy being a teenage boy. Now every night in her dreams she was herself. When she looked at another woman, she saw their beauty and desirability, and she still wanted them. But she was also judging them on how they looked, their clothes and attitude. Xander was only thankful that she had absolutely no interest in men. They still did nothing for her. Her fantasies in her dreams had become very Sapphic in nature. In the waking world, she hadn't been able to bring herself to masturbate since the week after the possession, so her dreams were her only sexual outlet.

Physically Xander had been tracking the changes, all of the physical senses had improved. And his body was looking more like it was going to be her body. And the part of Xander that was her. That every night relished being her, was growing, and looking forwards to the day when the male Xander was gone.

"Humans," Alpha said. "You were Alpha, so you were meant for me," Xander remembered the day at the Zoo. He had been dominating the other four, forcing them to let Lance go. He had been the Alpha.

"But I was a boy," Xander protested.

"You were Alpha," Alpha said. "It was only later, that I understood. After we ate the human, who had summoned us. I wanted to see, see what you would do, with the changes I had started if you would be Alpha still."

"And," Xander asked.

"You opened the door," Alpha said. "I knew you were there, but you opened the door."

"Do you know what you did to me," Xander was starting to cry. "I was happy as a boy, I didn't have any of these feelings until you came. And my body was male, I was supposed to be a boy!"

"Really," Alpha asked, getting up she started to walk to a stream that was flowing nearby, pointing at the water she said, "Truth."

Xander looked, he saw Buffy, his hero. Buffy who was strong and could take out anything. He saw Joyce her mother, she was also a strong woman. He saw himself comparing himself to Willow, who was so much smarter than him. He saw Cordelia, in control and dominating those around her.

"What because I like and admire strong Women," Xander said. "That somehow makes this happen?"

"No," Alpha said. "Because you knew here," Alpha touched Xander's chest. "You knew Women were the strongest. That women were the smartest, that women controlled the pack. That only women can love and be loved by their cubs."

Xander shook her head, Alpha really didn't understand, the difference between admiring someone like the women in his life, except maybe Cordelia. And wanting, feeling like he was a woman trapped in his male body.

"I choose you," Alpha said. "You chose me, now I teach. Follow," she commanded. Alpha walked into the water, her clothes just vanished. She looked back at Xander, "Come," she commanded again.

Xander followed Alpha into the water. "Together, you will learn," Alpha told her. "You will become a strong daughter. One day you will lead your pack."

"Humans, don't have packs," Xander told her. Alpha smiled like she was looking at a little child, saying something that they just didn't understand. Xander felt her face heat up as she blushed. The cool water of the stream was deeper than she had thought. She swam with Alpha, she saw her watching her. Xander wanted to ask her for her name, but she knew Alpha wouldn't like that. Alpha was Alpha, and any other name Xander would have to figure out on her own.

Xander opened her eyes. Sunlight was streaming through the window. Looking down he saw he was mostly male again, he could still hide the changes for now. It was wrong, but Alpha had been with her all night. She had ran and hunted with her. At times Alpha was a human woman and at others a large spotted hyena. Xander had had problems keeping up with Alpha, Alpha just looked at her and she knew she was expected to learn.

Xander didn't know what he was going to do. Xander knew in his mind he was no longer a 'He' since shortly after the original possession Xander had felt it, but she had been too afraid to admit it. But Alpha called Xander, her daughter. Xander curled up on her bed and wept. She just didn't see how anything could ever work out.

Xander's nights began to have a pattern, every night she was learning from Alpha, she would hunt with her, eat with her. She had learned how to summon claws in her mind. Alpha kept expecting more. Xander thought she expected her to eventually become a Hyena, like her. Xander hoped she wouldn't disappoint her Alpha.

Summer days in Sunnydale were long, it was California after all. Xander had spent as much time outside as possible. The smells from the house were overwhelming. In fact, all of her senses had become so much sharper. She could tell so much from the smells people had. Her eyes had become sharper. And her reflexes were probably just beyond the top of the chart for a human.

She had also noticed that her Male body was continuing to disappear. Xander was lean and toned, and she had breasts, small ones but they were there, an A cup at best. It still didn't feel right, but if she was stuck pretending to be a male for every waking moment, better to be one who was in good shape. She had also decided to grow her hair out. By now Xander really didn't care what anyone else was thinking about her having long hair.

Today had been fun, she had gone into LA, surprisingly her Mother had needed to be in LA and had let Xander come with her. Since Jessica would be busy most of the day, Xander had permission to wander around for several hours.

Xander had been wandering around several streets that had second and third-hand stores. She didn't have a lot of money to spend but wanted to find something interesting. In one of the stores, she was looking through piles of old, books. Not old like Giles books, but old discarded ones. One caught her eye, iLibatius Borage's - Potions Most Potenta/i the lettering looked very similar to his Occlumency book.

Opening the book Xander saw many of the same spellings as her other book, but it was obviously something that was, even more, fake than the first book. Just one of the potions called for things she knew couldn't exist. Still, Xander thought, the first book did have some useful information along with all the useless crap. Calling the clerk over she asked. "Do you have any more books like this?"

The clerk looked at her, "You mean torn up? Yeah tons of them just look around."

iThanks Asshole/i," Xander thought. "No I mean with the same type of spelling. I think they might have originally been part of a joke occult series, but a friend of mine really enjoyed the first one we found. So since you have this one I was hoping that you may have more like it."

"Oh," the Clerk looked at the book again. "Ah maybe, just give me a few minutes and I'll see what I can find." Xander nodded and went up to the front to wait. Almost twenty minutes later the clerk returned with a stack of books."This was everything I could find," he said.

Xander decided to look them over. They definitely had some interesting titles,

iWands and Staves the creation and Use from Merlin to Dumbledore, by Magnus Drumdell Arithmancy for the New World, by Nigellus Godrich Fellumps Runes most Potent, by Atria Necrus Black Famous Schools of Witchcraft and Wizardry, by Totalicus Demetre Alvendor Families of the Blood, Light, Dark and Gray, by Orthin Hexor Bones Common and Uncommon Charms and Transfigurations, by Lucinda Morgana Melviux/i

None of the books looked to be in great shape, but Xander wasn't sure that they would actually have anything worthwhile in them. "So how much for all of them," She asked. None of the books had a price tag on them and while they might be old, they were certainly in disrepair.

The clerk looked at the small pile of seven books and sighed, he had also looked at the teenager and didn't think the kid would have much cash. "Ten bucks," he said. "Ten bucks and you can have them all."

Xander shook her head, "I've only got five I can spare for these. And really for a joke ten is too much. So can I get three for five?"

The clerk really wanted ten; but he had never even noticed these books before, he had had to hunt for them in one of the older back rooms that the weird stuff was always put in. And if he didn't sell them they would just keep taking up space. "Fine give me five and you can take them all," the Clerk said.

Xander smiled and handed the man five bucks. She still wasn't sure that this was a good idea but it couldn't hurt. Leaving the store she went to get something to eat and to start reading. She still had a few hours until her Mom would be ready to go.

The books actually almost got Xander in trouble, Willow snuck up on him one day reading. Xander hadn't realized that Willow had come back to Sunnydale, so she hadn't been watching for her Willow and that meant Willow walked into Xander's backyard to see her reading.

Willow was shocked, her Xander, he was reading an actual book. And not a comic book or something like it. The book almost looked like one of Mr. Giles books. Except it wasn't in very good condition. Also, something was different about Xander, he looked good to her. If anything she thought that whatever Xander had done to change himself only made him hotter. The long hair looked good on him. Willow licked her lips, and called out, "Xander! You're reading!"

Xander looked up from her book on charms and transfigurations. "Ah, Willow," she said. "Yes, I do know how to read. I have been able to for many years."

Willow blushed, "I meant you're reading a real book. Not a comic book. Oh, is there a problem? Did Mr. Giles ask you to research something? Is Buffy OK? Are you OK?"

Xander laughed, "Everything's cool Willow," she said. "Last year G-man gave me a book to help me. I found some like it in LA a few weeks ago. And I've been reading them. A lot of the stuff is way too out there to be true. But I thought there may be a good idea or two in them."

"What did you need help with Xander," Willow asked. "And why didn't you come to me I would have helped. You know you can ask me anything." Willow was trying not to stare, Xander really looked good. She thought for a minute about just tackling him and starting to kiss him. But she quickly stomped on that thought.

Xander realized she shouldn't have said the first part, now she was trapped, sort of. "Look, Willow," Xander said. "I really didn't feel good about talking to anyone else. After what happened with the Hyenas I just wanted to forget everything I had heard about what I had done. But I was having really strange dreams that were freaking me out." Xander could see that Willow was getting worried. "So I asked Giles for help. He said if I started meditating that it would help me get a handle on the dreams. He had a book that he had found in his office when he started as Librarian. It was called iOcclumency, the Basis of the Mind/i, I started reading it. And practicing the meditation techniques and they really helped."

"So no more bad dreams," Willow asked.

"No," Xander assured her. "I really love my dreams now. Just another reason that sleep is so great. Plus I think that the meditation was part of the reason why I started doing so well in school."

"What was the other part," Willow asked.

Xander smiled at her, "You of course," she said with a hug. "So when did you get back?"

Willow spent the rest of the afternoon with Xander talking to each other. She thought it was a definite change in how Xander would have normally acted. But it was nice, she also made Xander loan her the meditation book. If it worked so well for him she wanted to see what it could do for her. Xander had warned her that it took him several weeks to over a month before he really saw any success. Willow was positive that she could do better. After a week of trying she ended up asking Xander for help. Once they started working together Willow started seeing some of the same results that Xander had talked about.

Xander ended up loaning all the books to Willow. Luckily she could now recall them all. Her Occlumency allowed her to recall all of the things she had experienced. She still hunted every night with Alpha and she had noticed another change in those hunts. She could now become a half woman half hyena. The first time it had happened it had scared her senseless. When she had finally noticed it. Then she accepted it, in part because it was almost if Alpha was expecting her to do it. Alpha's laugh had run through her making her shiver with joy. It had also almost seemed to say iAbout Time!/i.

Surprisingly the book on Charms and transfigurations had talked about something called an iAnimagus/ where a witch or wizard would use parts of Occlumency to get in touch with their inner animal. It was supposed to be very difficult to do but in the end, the witch would be able to transform into their animal.

Another Surprise was Willow, she had gone to San Francisco with her parents for a three-day conference. When she came back she was excited about this kooky book shop she had found. It was filled with people who were really into role playing. Most of them were wearing funky robes and some had wands. In fact, they had looked at her like she was crazy because she was dressed normally. It wasn't until she explained she was traveling with her parents for the weekend and mentioned the hotel and conference that they seemed to calm down. A few muttered iMuggles/i and one woman said, iMudblood/i when she turned away from her. Still, Willow had found some really cool books. She had bought one on famous wizard schools. And another that talked about the 'Dark Lords' of the last two-hundred years. How they came to power and who defeated them.

That book had been funny, the Grindelwald had obviously been patterned off of the Nazis. And the most recent guy Voldemort, he was supposedly taken out by a baby. Not the greatest Big Bads. Still, it was fun reading everything. She also got books on spells. The supposed classroom work for Wizards and Witches. Depending on which school the kids went to they had different spells they would learn. But usually, it was a six to eight-year program.

"Wow," Xander said. "Someone must really be into all this stuff. I mean this is more background stuff than you get for any game."

Willow looked at Xander, "You don't think it could be real? Do you?"

"Right," Xander said. "Because a baby killing a bad ass Dark Lord is really going to happen? And the killing curse is basically Abra Kadabra. Just said a little funky."

"I guess," Willow said. "But some of the stuff seems to work."

"Well," Xander admitted, "Occlumency sort of works. But what else?"

Willow looked down for a minute, "I tried the iwingardium leviosa/i charm," she admitted.

"How," Xander asked. "You don't have a wand. And all of the books say you have to have a wand."

"Not all of them," Willow said. "They all talk about how wands and staves are used as a focus so I used a crystal." Willow smiled, "It was hard, but it worked. And I also had grabbed that book on common potion substitutes, I was able to make a cleaning potion. It really worked on the dirty dishes."

"Wow," Xander said. "Ah, I don't know I still think it's got to be made up. I mean maybe they just stumbled on some old spell books and mixed that in with the books. It would make more sense if they proved some of the spells were real that people would buy into it."

"And Vampires aren't real either," Willow said. Crossing her arms under her breasts.

Xander sighed she knew Willow had a point, "Ok sure, bring that up. But shouldn't Giles know about this stuff? I mean the watchers are all about magic, and demons. So wouldn't he have told us about it?"

"Maybe, maybe not," Willow said. "I mean how often do we have to research the newest demon. There's just too much to know. And from some of the books, it's like they go out of their way to not be seen."

"OK," Xander finally admitted, "Maybe there is something to all of this. But what do you want to do about it?"

Willow was happy she had won her point. Then she realized she had no idea. "I don't know," she admitted. "Maybe we just keep practicing the things we can do and see what happens. We could even try and make our own wands or staves."

"Using what," Xander asked. "They all talk about unicorn hair or dragon heartstrings. We don't have anything like that. We've got demon parts and vampire dust. And I don't think those would be good for anything that was good. I mean they talk about dark magic, I bet demon and vampire would be good for that."

Willow pouted, "Well I think we should try. I mean who knows we could find something. And that crystal worked for me."

"Yeah but you're Willow," Xander said.

"Hey," Willow complained. "Don't you talk down about yourself. You got Occlumency before I could. I'd still be going crazy with trying to do it if you hadn't helped me." Willow paused. "Hey, we should try the legilimency parts with each other. I bet that would work."

Xander felt a chill go up her spine. "Willow I don't know if it would be a good idea for us to go into each other's heads," Xander said. "If it could even work."

"Don't be silly," Willow said. "We would practice it so we know someone else can't get into our heads. And besides, I trust you no matter what."

"Yeah but what if you don't like what you see in my head," Xander asked.

"Now that's dumb," Willow said. "We've been best friends forever. There is nothing in your head that would change that." Willow wasn't sure why Xander was so nervous. Unless he had sex thoughts he didn't want her to know about. Still, it would be sort of nice to know what he thought of her. And maybe she could make him accidently on purpose see that she really liked him.

"Let me think about it," Xander said. "iPlease let her forget about this/i," Xander prayed.

Xander's prayers weren't answered. Willow brought it up again, and Xander had to make up an excuse for why not to. That night when she was with Alpha, she asked for help. What should she do?

"Is she Pack or not," Alpha asked. Her questions had always been like talking with someone who was not used to speaking English. But over time it was getting easier to communicate. Not that it had ever really been hard.

"Well," Xander began.

"Pack or Not," Alpha insisted. She wouldn't have her daughter being indecisive.

"Pack," Xander admitted.

"If she's Pack," Alpha stressed. "Then she's pack."

Xander knew what Alpha was saying. Pack was always there and they supported each other. Even when it came to dominance fights. Inside the pack might be jostling for position. But to everyone else they were one.

Xander stood up her shoulders thrust back, her chest forward. "She's Pack," she said. "And if she can't handle the truth then I guess I was wrong about her being Pack."

Alpha cuffed her on the head, "Good daughter."

The next day Xander told Willow they should do it. Willow was so excited, she hugged Xander hard. Xander was surprised and returned the hug, he could feel Willow's boobs pressing against her own... iPlease, please don't let her notice/i, Xander prayed.

Thankfully Willow just said, "I can't wait this will be so great. We'll be able to do so much if this works. Can you imagine Snyder, if we could use Legilimency on him?"

Xander laughed at that and felt relieved. "OK," Xander said. "When do you want to try,?"

Willow had a schedule just waiting. She hoped they would be able to figure this out faster than Occlumency. The next three days had both of them trying to perform legilimency. Willow had found a couple of crystals that seemed to work for minor spells. She could actually cast Lumos, Nox and the Wingardium spells using them. Xander was able to get the Luminos spell to work.

They had also been able to get some of the potions to work. The simple ones that they could find substitutes for. Because most of the ingredients they just didn't have.

Each day both of them could feel it was getting closer and closer. Xander had actually been better at Legilimency than Willow. That had surprised them both. She had managed to breach Willow's defenses, it was surprising. Willow's mind was a lot different that Xander would have thought. In the few seconds that Xander was in there, she thought she saw some bondage gear. But it passed by so quickly that Xander wasn't sure.

Willow had been really impressed that Xander had done it. She had felt him enter her mind. She had also not been able to send him where she wanted him to go. She knew after several months of Occlumency that she had a kinky side. And that while she did like Xander, he was one of the few boys she was actually really attracted to. That had been a shock to her. But part of Occlumency was learning your own mind, and Willow had learned the truth, she was mostly a lesbian. She was scared to death of telling anyone. But she didn't think that Xander would reject her. If she had to think of one thing that Xander was more than anything else, it was loyal. At least she really hoped so.

Willow had also put her hacker skills to use. She had hacked multiple lesbian porn sites. She would spend her evenings in her bedroom masturbating as she watched lesbian porn. She loved seeing two young girls together. And Willow also loved the movies were a mature lesbian would teach a young girl the joys of lesbian sex. In many of her fantasies, Joyce Summers was the woman who taught Willow how to make love. She honestly did not know what she would do if Xander or Buffy ever found out about her secret desires.

The fact that Xander seemed to be doing so much better at the mind arts, was probably why what happened next surprised them so much.

Willow had come over to Xander's house early. She knew they still had a few hours until they were supposed to meet, but she was bored. After so many years of being Xander's best friend she knew she could just go into the Harris house. And really it wasn't a big deal. She went upstairs to Xander's room and found him sitting on his bed meditating.

iPerfect/i, Willow thought. iI can try legilimency when he's not expecting it/i Willow grabbed her crystal and softly said, "Legilimency," activating the spell. They had already discovered that you didn't actually have to look into someone's eyes to perform the spell. Willow was very surprised when she found herself in Xander's mind.

Willow was even more surprised at the room she was in, it looked like Buffy's room but it wasn't. Things were different. The closet was filled with girl's clothes. And it was definitely a girl's room. But she couldn't figure out what was the difference. Part of her wondered if this was part of Xander's defenses. She started looking around. Willow saw the pictures on the wall. She knew these pictures. Except she didn't a picture that should have been Xander, Jessie, and Willow had Willow, Jessie, and another girl. The girl was pretty, in fact, Willow could admit she was very hot. And she looked familiar, but Willow couldn't place her. Willow looked for other clues. More pictures. Some of Buffy, some of her. And some of the girl, sometimes with them and a few alone. There was even one of the girl in a Jungle bikini with a definite MILF, the looked related

Opening a drawer Willow saw that this girl definitely had good taste in sexy underwear. She might have felt bad except she was sure that this had to be part of Xander's defenses. Underneath some of the racy underwear, Willow found a locked diary. It had the initials ALH inscribed on it. Willow knew that those were Xanders initials. "Ha," she said. "Finally a clue!" Willow tried to open the diary but it would not budge. "OK, I just need to find the key. I just need to keep looking."

The closet showed outfits that either Buffy or Cordelia would wear. And enough shoes to satisfy even Buffy. Although she was willing to bet that the most utilitarian shoes Buffy would pass on.
Willow had finally given up on finding the key to the Diary. She had also given up on finding a door. Xander's trap was impressive, she couldn't figure it out.

Xander had been with Alpha, she loved spending time with her. Alpha really cared about her she could tell. Even when punishing her for doing something wrong Xander could feel the love, the Hyena Matriarch had for her. This morning they had run down a gazelle, taking it in mid-leap Xander had killed it. Alpha had been very proud of her. It was the first time Xander had ever made the kill before Alpha.

Xander knew she had a little time before Willow should arrive, so she decided to have a bath and then get ready. She was still dreading the day Willow learned the truth. She hoped she didn't lose her best friend. She had drawn a hot luxurious bath, with a honeysuckle fragrance, and just relaxed. iThis relaxation was the reason Willow had been able to enter her mind./i

After climbing out of her bath and patting herself dry, Xander wrapped a towel around herself and headed to her room. Opening the door, humming iI Feel Like a Woman/i Xander was shocked to see someone in her room. "Willow," Xander yelled out in shock. "How? How did you get in here?"

Willow looked at the gorgeous girl in front of her. She was wishing that the towel would fall to the ground. Then she replayed what the girl had said. The girl knew her. And from the tone of voice, she knew her very well. But she had never met this girl before. Then the pictures seemed to be staring her in the face. "Xander," Willow asked.

Xander blushed. From the top of her breasts to her face she was beet red. "Ah, Ah," she knew she needed to respond but the words wouldn't come out.

Willow watched the girl, she was now more convinced this was Xander. She stalked over to her. Looking her in the eyes, she said, "This is you? Isn't it Xander?"

Xander paused for a moment, this was it the moment of truth. She looked Willow straight in the eyes and said, "Yes, Willow this is me. The real me, what I am becoming out there." Xander waved her hand indicating she meant the real world.

"But how " Willow asked. "Why didn't you ever tell me?"

"Xander sat down on her bed. Her towel hanging loosely, "Like that's a conversation I'd want to start. 'Hey Willow how's it going, oh nothing much just I'm really a girl, and my body is becoming female more and more every day.' I could see that going over really well."

Xander had started to cry. Soft tears were falling down her face. She was so convinced that this was it. Willow would never want to talk to her again.

Willow completely understood what Xander said. She thought about how something had seemed different about Xander. And how she had been getting even hotter for the last while. The last few weeks had forced Willow to come to terms with the fact that she was a lesbian. And Willow had worried that Xander wouldn't accept her because of it. While he, no definitely not he, she was going through something very similar.

Willow looked at her best friend since kindergarten. "I guess that would have been as easy for you as it would be for me telling you I'm a lesbian," Willow said. "I mean I was really worried that when I told you you'd hate me. Or not want anything to do with me."

Xander looked up, "What," Xander said. "But Willow I love you, I'd never do that to you."

Willow sat down beside her. "And I love you too. I don't care if it's male Xander or extremely hot girl Xander. I love you."

Both girls were crying as they hugged each other. Both were feeling relieved, that their oldest friend was not going to abandon them. Xander grabbed some tissues. Handing one to Willow they both laughed, as they cleaned up.

"So," Xander said, "Extremely hot?" She sat up straighter than she had been as she asked the question. This caused her towel to slip off, exposing her breasts to Willow.

Willow licked her lips, "Oh yeah, extremely, undeniably, indubitably hot!" Willow said while looking at Xander's nude breasts.

Xander blushed again as she pulled her towel back up. "Thanks, I'm glad to hear it."

Willow nodded, "So, when did this happen?"

Xander sighed, "I'm going to get dressed first. Then we can talk." Willow nodded and went to get up. "You can stay," Xander said with a coy smile.

Willow gulped and sat back down as she watched Xander change. Xander's clothes were definitely feminine, but not girly. She did have very lacy underwear. A bra and panties that looked like black lace. She followed it up with capri pants and a shirt that left her belly bare. Willow liked the view in front of her, she liked it a lot. Shaking her head once Xander was dressed she said, "OK, little Miss Hottie, spill!"

"Well," Xander said. "All of this started a few days after the Hyena possession." Willow drew in a sharp breath. "It really freaked me out at first. I was having these dreams where I was a beautiful girl, and I loved it. And then the physical changes started, I mean when I figured out I was getting boobs,"

Willow interrupted, "Breasts, Xander. Boobs just sounds so crass."

Xander shook her head, "Fine, When my breasts started to grow, I kept trying to convince myself that all of this was some left over from the possession and asked Giles for help."

"Wait you told Giles about this," Willow asked in a disbelieving voice.

"Well not exactly," Xander said. "I just told him I was having some really disturbing dreams. I mean could you see him if I told him I was constantly dreaming I was a girl? Oh, and showing him how I was growing breasts?"

Willow giggled, "He'd probably break his glasses."

Xander found herself laughing as well. "Yeah, but then I started Occlumency and couldn't keep denying it. And when Buffy went against the Master. Well, that's when I met Alpha. And she wouldn't let me deny it any longer."

"Alpha," Willow asked.

"Yeah," Xander said. "Remember the possession?"

"Sort of hard to forget," Willow admitted. "I mean you're really lucky you didn't remember everything." Xander flinched. "Wait you do remember everything don't you? When did you start remembering? After you started Occlumency?"

"I never forgot," Xander admitted. "I just was too ashamed to admit it to you guys." Xander was not going to tell her that Giles had known. "Anyway did you know that for Hyena's the Alpha of the Pack is alway female? In fact, female hyena's are bigger, stronger and meaner than the males could ever be."

"What," Willow said. "But that doesn't make any sense. Why would you have been the Alpha instead of Heidi or Rhonda?"

"Yeah, Um, because I was the Alpha making the others back down," Xander explained. "Also the crazy zoo guy was doing the ritual wrong. So Alpha ended up in me. And two spirits or souls sharing one body are going to have an effect on one another."

"What kind of effects?" Willow asked.

"Well," Xander admitted. "She sort of imprinted on my soul. And she made physical changes to me. She was planning long term for what our body should look like. But because I had admired strong smart and beautiful woman, my spirit or soul really didn't fight it. When I accepted her power; I accepted that I would be a woman as well. Although I really didn't know any of this at the time."

"Then how do you know now?" Willow asked.

"Because Alpha is still connected to me," Xander admitted.

"You're still possessed?" Willow screamed, standing up in a panic.

Xander jumped up and hugged Willow. "No, no possession," Xander assured Willow. "But she was still connected to me. And I guess subconsciously I called on her to help me find Angel so I could find Buffy."

"What," Willow asked again. "But Buffy said Angel found you, that he brought you with him to save her."

Xander snorted, "As if! No, if you want; I bet I could show you the memory. I mean we are in my head after all. But when I called on Alpha for help I opened the door I had been keeping closed. And when I was brave enough to go through it, well she was there waiting for me." Xander grabbed the picture of herself and the MILF Willow had seen earlier. "This is Alpha when she looks human."

"Wow," Willow said.

"Stop drooling Willow," Xander teased.

"Hey," Willow complained, "You have to admit she's totally hot." Willow paused, "Ah, I mean if you still like girls. I mean do you like boys now?"

Xander shook her head, "Nope sorry, boys and men really do nothing for me. From some of the things, I researched at the library. And from talking with Alpha, the whole gender thing really has nothing to do with sexual orientation."

"So basically," Willow said after a moment. "You're a Lesbian girl trapped in a boy's body? A body that is becoming female?"

"Yeah," Xander admitted. "I still only find myself getting excited about the female form. Although from in here, I definitely have to say women have it so much better than men when it comes to orgasms."

"Oh really, Ms. Harris," Willow said. "I take it you've tested out the equipment?" Willow stopped it was easy to forget that they were just in a construct of Xander's brain. "But how can you be sure it's the same?"

"Alpha," Xander said. "She knows and she assured me that this is now my real body, sort of. My real physical body I am not quite this developed yet."

"Wow," Willow said. "This is just, Wow. So my best guy friend since forever is actually now my best girlfriend, and we're both lesbians?" iYou are so naughty/i, Willow thought to herself.

Xander gulped, she was suddenly very aware of where they were. And Willow was looking very pretty, very, very pretty. "Ah, yeah," Xander said with a blush. "I guess that's true."

"You know I think I want a little proof," Willow demanded. She had actually had several similar fantasies involving Buffy, but Buffy wasn't here right now and Xander, oh Xander, she definitely was.

"Proof," Xander asked. "What kind of Proof?"

Willow leaned into Xander, and decided to be bold, she wasn't going to pass this up. "This kind," Willow said as she kissed Xander. She threw her arms around Xander, pulling her closer. Xander didn't respond for a moment but then she was kissing her back. They kissed for over a minute, tongues dancing in each other's mouths. Hands were roaming across each other's backs and necks. When they finally separated, Willow leaned back, "Wow, OK, I think I'm convinced."

Xander was flushed, her nipples felt like they were going to cut through her bra, she had never been this turned on before. "Yeah, I think ah, I'm glad you believe me. Wow is it hot in here?"

Willow laughed, "Well we could always take something off," she said with a smile. "You know so that we could get more comfortable." Willow started unbuttoning her blouse as she spoke. Xander had her eyes glued to Willow's breasts. As she opened her shirt revealing her bra. "Don't you think you'd be much cooler without those clothes on Xander?" Willow asked.

Xander nodded, 'Are you sure about this Willow?" she asked. "I mean out there I'm not a girl, yet. And I don't want this to ever harm our friendship."

Willow stood up, she took off her pants. Standing in only her bra and panties, she looked at Xander. "Xander," she said. "I've been in love with you for years. I knew you were one of the only men I've ever been attracted to. Although with what you just told me it now makes sense why I have been so much more attracted to you since the start of summer. But here, now, you're a beautiful woman. And neither of us have to worry about getting hurt physically. Plus I know you would never hurt me on purpose." Willow leaned down to Xander, "Now stop trying to stall and take off your clothes. I want my first real time having sex to be with my best friend, who also happens to be a beautiful lesbian, too."

Xander nodded her head, she gave up trying to argue Willow out of this. To be honest, she couldn't believe this was happening. Never in her wildest fantasies, well maybe in a few where Willow, Buffy, Cordelia, Mrs. Summers, and Ms. Calendar starred, maybe in them this could have happened.

Both women had a very enjoyable time. For their first time, neither of them complained.

Afterward, they talked. Willow was flushed from everything they had done, Xander found herself more relaxed and at the same time energized than ever before. They both reluctantly dressed after sharing a shower, which took more time than needed but both agreed it was well worth it.

Xander had been showing Willow around his head. Willow had been surprised that Xander had a mental construct of her in his library. But she was also flattered, as so far that was the only one Xander had created. She was impressed by how solid Xander's constructs were. It was almost impossible to remember that they weren't in the real world.

They sat together at one of the library tables and talked. Willow wanted to help Xander be who she was in the real world, but neither of them knew how to achieve that. They were both worried about hiding the changes until Xander was done changing."Well, what we need is some kind of somebody else's problem field," Willow said. "That was most people wouldn't bother you, and then you could be who you are no matter what."

"Yeah, After we talked about how some of those books seemed to have real information I thought about that too," Xander admitted. "It's a temporary fix, but that way I could survive at home until after graduation."

"Well if the worse happens you're going to come live with me," Willow said. "Plus I think Buffy will still accept you. And Mrs. Summers to, neither of them ever struck me as bigots. We just need a focus that would work and the right spell. Like if we could modify one of those Muggle-Repelling Wards or Charms"

"But where could we find the right type of focus," Xander asked. Xander already knew that Willow had picked up books on her trip, so she hoped Willow had an idea of a spell that would work.

"We need to experiment," Willow said. "I know there has to be a way. And once we find it, we can fix everything for you."

"So," Xander said. "What do you want to do out there?"

"Same thing we have already been doing," Willow said. "We're best friends. And we keep being best friends. But you are definitely showing me the physical changes!"

Xander looked at Willow, "Only if you're willing to be dressed in as much or as little as I am."

Willow thought for a second, "Deal, But we're going back to my house. My parents are gone again. So we'll have privacy."

"What about Buffy," Xander asked. "Should we tell her, about everything?"

Willow paused, that was a big step. "Not right away," Willow said. "I'd like her to at least learn Occlumency first. That way she'll be more herself. And anything she decides to say or do, won't be from fear or anything."

Xander nodded, she could understand what Willow meant. "So how hard do you think it would be to get her to start?"

Willow laughed, "Oh God, that's going to be so hard. Maybe we can find a way to guilt her into it?"

Xander nodded again, then she smiled, "I bet that's the only way we can get her to do it. So we've been in my head all this time are you going to show me yours?"

"Why Ms. Harris," Willow said. "You know very well I showed you mine multiple times today! And when we get to my house I'm going to show you it all over again." Both girls laughed, "Yeah if you want, you can come over to my head. But I'm telling you right now it's not as good as what you have done here."

Later at Willows house, Willow was shocked, Xander was a large A cup right now, and she had hips and the start of a fine ass. Willow had passed several bras to Xander that they saw fit her. But she had also told Xander, "We're going to have to get you some real clothes. Maybe once we get the spell working right, we can go shopping together?"

"Willow," Xander said. "Just because I'm physically becoming female doesn't mean I suddenly want to go clothes shopping."

"So you don't want to go to Victoria's Secret with me," Willow asked. "We could try on sexy outfits together. And maybe get something pretty to wear?"

"Dammit," Xander said. "Yes, alright I admit I do want to do that. But no eight hours of straight, ah continuous shopping."

Definitely not, I don't think either of us can handle 'Straight' shopping," Willow giggled.

When Buffy finally came back two weeks before school started again, both of the girls had managed to do a lot more with their Occlumency. They had also been trying to find a better focus than the crystals they had been using. Although their experiments showed that some crystals worked better for some kinds of magic than others.

Willow had managed to create a ward stone, it had taken over a full day and a night to create. Using both Xanders and her own blood. It seemed to work. Willow had made sure she bought Xander an outfit very similar to the capri pants and top she had worn in her head. The fact that Xander was wearing it when Buffy came over when she got back from visiting her Dad, and Buffy never even noticed, indicated it was a complete success.

Buffy wasn't sure what had happened over the summer. Both Xander and Willow were different. They seemed closer than ever but didn't have the boyfriend-girlfriend vibe. Xander had been growing his hair out and it was now past his shoulders. It actually looked really good on him. He also seemed to be in much better shape than he had been before she left. Willow also looked really good. Like they had been working out all summer.

Buffy was trying to be happy. All summer long she had avoided thinking about that last night. How the Master had killed her and Angel had saved her. She wasn't looking forward to going to school. In fact, she was having nightmares about it. She would wake up seeing his face, as he started to drain her in the caves. Then she would see Angel's face as he saved her.

Surprisingly it was Xander who brought up the problem, Buffy, Willow, and Xander while sitting in the Summers living room. It was early in the morning for Buffy, just past ten in the morning.

"Hey Buffy," Xander said.

"Yeah," Buffy responded.

"We're all good friends right?" Xander asked.

"Of course we are," Buffy said. "Why would you even ask that?"

"Because," Xander said. "I want to know what's wrong? You've been a wreck every morning for the last four days. I can tell something is really upsetting you. And as your friends Willow and I want to help you. But we can't if you won't let us."

"Nothing's wrong," Buffy insisted. "I just haven't been sleeping well. That's all."

Xander shook her head, "Buffy, I have to tell you something. And please listen and don't go all Slayer on me. Willow already knows so you know it can't be that bad."

Willow nodded Xander had said he would tell Buffy about her heightened senses and other physical changes if she wouldn't open up. "It'll be ok," Willow assured Buffy.

"Last year after I was possessed, I started changing. Physically, by the end of the school year, I couldn't keep denying the changes." Xander began. "When you disappeared and I couldn't find you. I knew you were in danger so I used the changes to track down Angel. I knew he could lead me to where the Master was."

Buffy looked confused, what was Xander talking about? Buffy watched as Xander took off a necklace that she hadn't even noticed Xander was working. Suddenly Buffy's brain froze. Xander wasn't Xander, He Xander was definitely looking very female, she was dressed in a nice casual outfit. And Xander had breasts, in fact, part of her brain said Xander might be bigger than she was.

"I didn't realize it at the time," Xander said, putting the crystal down. "But in order to track down Angel, I opened up a part of my mind and fully accepted the physical changes that I had been fighting." Xander paused. "It was the parts of me that the Hyena had changed when she had taken over."

"What," Buffy yelled. "Did you get possessed again? Is that why you look like a girl now?"

"Buffy," Willow cried, "Does Xander act possessed? No Xander is just Xander, so please listen. Even if physically she's not a he anymore it's still Xander."

Buffy was surprised at Willow's defense of Xander. But she had to admit Willow had made good points. "Alright," Buffy said. "Sorry, Xander."

"It's OK, Buffy," Xander said. "Anyway like I was saying I accepted parts of myself that I had denied. And it changed me, I, my senses are much better than normal now. I, all five of my senses are 'bienhanced/b/i' I guess you could say. And as you can see, except for a slight left over I really don't look like the old Xander anymore."

"What does that mean," Buffy asked. "Did? Are you? Are you all girl now?"

"It means that Xander can tell what scent of body wash you used from where Xander is sitting right now," Willow said. "And yes she's all girl where it counts, in her head. The physical changes haven't stopped yet."

Buffy looked startled, "OK, I think I get what you're saying. But what does Xander being able to smell my body wash have to do with anything?"

"It also means I can smell other things too, Buffy," Xander said. "Like fear, and Buffy we, Willow and I, we both love you and care about you. You're are friend, and something has been terrifying you. Every morning I can smell it. Please, Buffy, let us help?"

Buffy didn't know how to react, first, she was shocked, then she felt herself getting angry. "You've been smelling me?"

"Buffy," Willow said. "Xander hasn't been smelling you any more than I have. It's just Xander's senses are better than normal now. If you walked into a room and you could tell I had been crying should I accuse you of stalking me?"

Buffy wanted to stay angry. Angry was a safe emotion, but Willow standing up to her had shocked her out of her anger. "No," Buffy admitted. "I'm sorry Xander."

Xander smiled, "Nothing to be sorry for Buffy. As long as you let us help."

Buffy was torn, she didn't want to admit she was afraid. And if this had happened somewhere else at some other time she could have probably blown it off. But here, now, at home with Willow and Xander. Here she broke down, Buffy started crying, as she talked about her nightmares. And how she would wake up with Angel bringing her back to life, just like he did in the Master's cave.

"But Buffy," Willow interrupted. "Angel didn't bring you back, Xander did."

"What," Buffy said. "No, I remember Angel was looking down at me when I woke up. He had been kissing me."

"Buffy," Willow said. "Xander gave you CPR. Not Angel, it was Xander who was leaning over you."

"But I saw Angel," Buffy insisted.

"He was there," Xander said. "Once I convinced him to lead me to where the Master's cave was. When we found you, you weren't breathing. He said he couldn't do CPR because he was a vampire. So I did it."

"But, but I saw him," Buffy said.

"Buffy," Willow said gently, "You had just stopped breathing after losing a lot of blood. Maybe you weren't really awake yet?" Buffy nodded not sure what to say, Willow could be right.

"What do you mean, 'After you convinced him to lead you to the Master's cave?' That doesn't make any sense," Buffy said.

Xander looked down, "Uhm when I heard about the prophecy, and how you had gone off. I wasn't going to let you go. I tracked Angel and found him at his apartment. He," Xander paused. "Are you sure you want to hear this?"

"Tell me," Buffy demanded.

"He was just sitting there, reading a book when I asked him to help me. He said it was hopeless that the Master would have already killed you and that we couldn't save you. I, I pulled a cross on him and made him help me."

"No," Buffy said. "He, he couldn't have. He would have tried to save me."

"Why," Willow asked. "Why would he have done that? I mean think about last year, he only helped out once in awhile, what with the Mr. Cryptic act. I mean he helped sometimes, but was he someone you could always count on?"

Buffy didn't know what was going on, Willow was usually the first one to be saying how great Angel was. Now she sounded really different. "I thought you liked Angel?" Buffy said.

"I thought I did too," Willow said. "And I'm willing to like him. But after everything else I've learned. I know we have to look at what's really there not what we wish was there."

"And you Xander," Buffy asked. "What do you think about Angel?"

"I think he's a vampire," Xander said. "I don't like him. I don't trust him. And I probably never will. But if he's going to be more than a walking corpse he needs to step up and start doing things to actually help."

Buffy couldn't believe what she was hearing. What was going on? "What has happened with you guys? I mean you're so different."

"Occlumency," Willow said. Buffy looked confused. "Remember how last year Xander started doing really well in school?" Buffy nodded. "It's because of Occlumency, it basically helps you to organize your brain."

"And how does that do all of this," Buffy asked.

"Buffy," Xander said. "Giles gave me the book to help with some problems I was having with my dreams, after the Hyena possession." Buffy drew in a sharp breath, she hadn't known that Xander had problems after being possessed. She hadn't even noticed as Xander went from 'a he' to 'a she'. Although in hindsight it kinda made sense. "It took awhile but it worked. I don't have problems anymore."

"OK,' Buffy said. "That sounds good. But how does that explain all of this?"

"When you do it right," Willow said. "You really get to know yourself. And it changes you, you can't hide from yourself. Every day we tell ourselves little lies. When you get really good you have to confront those lies. So things that you hid from yourself come out, and you have to really look at yourself and your choices."

"I'm not sure if I want to do that," Buffy admitted.

"Well," Xander said. "I think it would be better than your nightmares."

"And it also makes school a lot easier," Willow said with a smile.

"Ah what do I have to do," Buffy finally said.

Both Xander and Willow smiled as they started explaining the basics of Occlumency to Buffy. Unfortunately, a few days of Occlumency was not enough to prevent everything that happened with the Anointed One. Xander still ended up threatening Buffy when everyone was taken. But Willow and Xander did show up at the Summers house afterward with ice cream. Joyce couldn't quite understand what was going on. But she knew her little girl had been having nightmares, and Willow and Xander were helping to cheer her up. She watched as the three of them ate ice cream and laughed. When all three of them fell asleep in the living room she took a picture., covered them with blankets and went upstairs to bed.

Buffy didn't get off scot-free, both Willow and Xander insisted that she keep studying Occlumency with them. Willow also explained about Legilimency, and how she and Xander were able to get into each other's heads. Buffy thought she almost saw a blush on Willow's cheeks when she said that. She knew she would have to ask about that later.

The next week Cordelia was almost killed by the mad Dr. Frankenstein wannabe. Cordelia had been tied to a gurney and Xander had saved her. When Cordelia came over to Thank Xander, he listened as she gave a heartfelt apology, then he told Cordelia. "Cordy, We've known each other forever. And sure we may snap and taunt each other. But never think I wouldn't try to help you if you were in trouble." Cordelia didn't know how to respond. Xander smiled at her, "Besides if something were to happen to you, well it would be a crime for someone as beautiful as you to be taken from us." Cordelia blushed at the genuine compliment Xander gave her. In the following days, she was actually nicer to those around her. Even to the point that she didn't seek out people to torment. She would still cut anyone down who dared to think they could approach her with impunity. But overall she was becoming much better.

The following week brought Parent teacher, conference. Buffy had already seen some positive results from starting Occlumency, she was remembering things much better. Studying was so much easier too. When Snyder threatened her, forcing her to help with the decorations, she actually did the smart thing. She went to her Mom. The next day Principal Snyder was not a happy man, well really he never seemed to be happy, but today it was worse. Joyce Summers had torn him a new asshole. She was in his office for over an hour. The screaming and threats could be heard in the office. And somehow Giles and most of the rest of the teaching staff, they managed to find a reason to pass by the office and just happened to hear it all.

Buffy was still being assigned to help with the decorations, but now Xander, Willow, and the Cheerleaders were also helping. Harmony and most of the Cordettes bitched about it but Cordelia cut them off. She explained in small words that if they were the leaders of the school then they did have some obligations. And making sure that their parents were impressed was one of those obligations.

Xander had actually asked Giles, "What's to keep vampires from attacking the conference? I mean you have this whole night of St. Vigeous thing coming up. If they are planning a whole massacre, why not start it early?"

Giles had been about to tell the boy he was being too paranoid. But Xander's reasoning stopped him cold, "Ah, well really there is nothing to stop them," Giles admitted.

"OK, so what can we do to make sure everyone is safe," Buffy asked.

"Well, a school does not usually have thresholds like a home. Most times a vampire can ignore anything that is there since it is essentially a public building," Giles said.

"So what can we do to make it harder for them to enter," Xander asked. "I mean should we put up crosses at the entrance? Or sunlamps?"

"I do not believe a sunlamp would be enough to stop a vampire," Giles asked. "And crosses may help it they are on the doors and windows. But that is a lot of doors and windows to cover."

"Cordelia could get it done," Willow said. "But we would need a good reason for it."

"What if we did a whole slew of holy symbols?" Xander asked. "Not just crosses but Stars of David, and any other symbols. We could say how we are celebrating diversity or something like that."

"OK," Buffy said. "That could stop them from getting in, but what stops them from waiting outside?"

No one had a good answer for that, so they all agreed to think about it. Maybe they could come up with something. And if the worst happened they could just keep everyone inside until sunrise.

That night on patrol it was very chilly, at least for California. Buffy, Xander, and Willow were all together. Buffy was doing most of the fighting. But Xander kept her eyes peeled. She could actually smell Angel before she saw him, his hair gel had a distinct aroma. "Buffy," Xander softly called out. "Angels at three o'clock," Xander said, pointing in the direction Angel was coming from.

Buffy had been wary of Angel, ever since learning the truth of what had happened last year. She knew she had been falling for him. But to hear that he hadn't even cared enough to try and save her had damaged those feelings.

"Angel," Buffy called out, just before she could have seen him.

Angel was surprised, normally Buffy had no idea of where he was. But tonight she had somehow known he was there. "Buffy," Angel said with a smile. "I just wanted to make sure you're alright."

"Yup," Buffy said. "I'm doing great. Anything else you needed?"

Now Angel was really confused. Buffy was being very cold to him. And he didn't know why. "Ah, not really," Angel said. Everything was off script, and Angel was not good at improvisation.

"OK," Buffy said, "See you next time then."

Angel watched them walk away wondering what the hell had just happened. Once they reached Buffy's house and were safely inside, Buffy actually laughed. She still liked Angel, but she knew that sometimes you had to put boys in their place. "Ah, I hate nights like tonight," Buffy complained as she got ready to go upstairs."

"Why's that Buffy," Willow asked.

"Because the foggy air always soaks into my clothes," Buffy complained. "Sure it's not much but it's annoying!"

"Too bad we can't bless the fog and have Holy Water fog," Xander said with a smile.

Buffy laughed again, "That would be so cool. All the vampires would have to run away from the fog."

Willow's eyes got very big, "That's it," she said.

"What's it, Willow," Buffy asked.

"And is it a good it?" Xander added.

"No that's how we can keep the vampires away from the school," Willow said in an excited voice. "We get a fog machine and use Holy Water in it!"

"Will that even work," Buffy asked.

"Maybe Giles would know," Xander said.

The three of them decided to ask Giles the next day. Since Parent teacher conference was only two nights away, Joyce had gone on her buying trip early. All three of them stayed at Buffy's house, most of the night was spent practicing Occlumency and Legilimency. Buffy actually managed to touch her core and stay with it. She was really excited about that, especially after seeing how much it had helped Xander and Willow.

Willow was reading one of the books that Xander had found, it was really sort of interesting and dull at the same time. The dull part was the family lines, it read like Genesis with all the begats. The interesting part was the description of all the families. The various things they were known for. It also talked about which family were traditional, good, bad or neutral when it came to various Big Bads.

"I still think we should have Giles try to find out more about these books," Willow said.

"Sure whenever we're not facing the next Big Bad," Buffy said.

"So I'll put that down for the twelfth of never," Xander asked.

"Sounds about right," Buffy said. "So I was thinking, Halloween is next month."

"What," Xander said. "How come I wasn't told? I haven't got a thing to wear. " Buffy and Willow both threw pillows at Xander as they laughed.

"I thought we could have a movie night for Halloween. Giles said that most vampires and demons stay in that night."

"Really," Willow asked. "I would think they would take advantage of it."

"Those crazy vampires," Xander said. "Always leaving you guessing."

"Anyway how about you guys come over after school and we can have a girls night?" Buffy suddenly realized what she had said. Buffy had been accepting the changes Xander had been going through, but it was the first time she had referred to her as one of the girls.

"That sounds like fun, but I have to warn you," Xander said with a grin. "As a girl, I am a Lesbian. So please don't ever try to set me up with a guy."

Buffy was sort of shocked by the joke. Willow laughed and said, "Well I think you are a wonderful lesbian and any girl who got you is lucky to have you."

Buffy's brain had just overloaded, Willow was making with the sexual type jokes. "I'm going to go get changed," Buffy said as she ran up the room.

Willow looked at Xander, "Too much?"

"Nah," Xander said, "Just enough." Both girls smiled at each other. They had a good relationship, true any sex they had was only in their heads, but neither of them were ready for anything more physical yet.

Buffy came back down in her Yummy Sushi pajamas. And smiled at them both, Willow went upstairs to change and Xander used the bathroom downstairs to change into pajamas as well. The rest of the night was very relaxing for Buffy, she was really glad that she had two such great girlfriends.

The night of Parent Teacher conference came, everyone involved thought it would be great. The rooms all had various holy symbols shown all around them. And Willow had managed to get the fog machine from the drama department. They had also gotten a bunch of dry ice to create fog, because even if it didn't work the vampires wouldn't know any better.

Spike was really looking forward to tonight, he had a large group of minions and a school filled with happy meals on legs. He was almost whistling as he headed out. Reaching the school he assigned minions to guard the various sides of the building. He didn't want anyone to get away.

Next, he sent a group to head in from the back of the building. The would herd the humans together then feast on their blood. Once he felt he had left enough time for everyone to be in place Spike headed for the front door. The first minion to try and open the door yelled in pain. His hand was smoking. "What the Bloody hell," Spike said. "Can't even open a bloody door ya wanker?"

"Sorry,' the minion said. "It's just it burned as soon as I touched it."

"Oh really," Spike said. He walked up to the door. And looked at it. Someone had painted crosses and other symbols on the door. Underneath them was a scripture. "Well don't that beat all," Spike said. "Someone's been paying attention to what's really going on. Still, that don't have to stop us." Spike called over a few minions and sent them to get some petrol. When they finally came back Spike smiled.

Spike started yelling, "Oi, Slayer, come out now and I promise I won't burn you and everyone in the building alive."

Spike was happy when a few minutes later, after repeating his call multiple times, the front door of the school opened. The Slayer was there with her two minions, the boy, and the girl. White hats Spike thought you've got to love how predictable they are. "Come on Slayer," Spike called out. "I want to kill you and get on with it. Come out now or I have my men burn you out."

"Yeah, because evil Billy Idol wannabes always keep their word," Buffy called out. "I'll tell you what. You leave now and we'll just kill all of your minions."

Spike couldn't believe what he was hearing. Who the hell did this Slayer think she was. "Oi, for that I'm going to kill all of you.' Spike paused, "Well really I was going to do that anyway. But now you'll know it before you die." Turning to his minions Spike ordered them to light the gas on fire. All of Spike's minions obeyed. They lit their homemade Molotov cocktails and moved toward the building.

While everyone had been waiting; fog had started gathering around the building. As the minions moved into it, they didn't pay any attention to why the fog was there, after all, it was only about a foot off the ground. As the first Minions pant leg was soaked by the mist, the minion started screaming. He also dropped his lit molotov cocktail. It didn't break but the gas did spill back out the top and the flaming gasoline hit the minion. One moment later the minion was dust in the wind. He was soon joined by the other minions.

Spike was impressed, this Slayer was thinking outside the box. As he was watching his minions die he almost missed the crossbow bolt heading right towards him. Still, he was quick enough to pull another minion into its path. Spike saw more of his minions being dusted as arrows and crossbow bolts headed towards them. Spike didn't know how many people the Slayer had inside, but she had enough who could shoot that he wasn't going to win tonight.

"We'll meet again Slayer," Spike called out. "And next time you'll be dead." As Spike turned to walk away he heard an angry woman yelling. Because of that, he missed hearing the crossbow bolt that hit him in the shoulder. Turning around he saw the Slayer's Mum. She had shot him, and the only reason she wasn't running after him was because the Slayer was holding her back. "Bloody Hell, what's it coming to when the Slayer works with other people?" Spike pulled the bolt out of his shoulder, upset that it had damaged his coat and left, "No sense waiting around for more trouble," He said as he walked away.

Inside the school, Joyce Summers was both frightened and angry. She didn't know who that man had been but he had threatened her daughter. After she had shot him, he just walked away, like it was nothing. When she had asked her daughter to explain what was going on and why someone wanted to kill her, the troll Principal Snyder had laughed and said, "Oh, I can think of several people who would want her dead. And I'll throw a party once she's gone."

Students at Sunnydale High who witnessed what happened next spoke of it in reverent tones. Joyce Summers still had the crossbow in her hands, she used it like a club on Principle Snyder. He hit the ground with a thud, then Joyce started kicking him. Buffy had to pull her Mom off of Snyder. Xander said she should just let her go. No one was willing to help Snyder, and the Sunnydale PD wouldn't even come to the school. When everyone had left Snyder was still lying in the hall his jaw was swollen and in the morning when he woke up he had to spend the day in the hospital. He couldn't remember what had happened, but he knew Summers was responsible for someone breaking his jaw. He wouldn't put it past her for it to have been her either. Unfortunately, there was no proof to support his claim and everyone had said he was fine when they left the school.

Joyce was actually beside herself, she had laid out Buffy's Principal. What was she thinking? True with what that man had said he deserved it, but still this wasn't like her. Buffy had actually been praising her Mom the entire night. It was only after seeing how upset her Mom was that Buffy stopped. She even said, that if she wanted to, maybe she should start meditating with her daughter. After all, Buffy said it had really helped her to be more centered and in control. Joyce thought about it and decided it might help. So Joyce ended up starting Occlumency lessons with Buffy, Xander, and Willow.

The next week brought the school field trip to the Sunnydale museum, which was loads of not fun. And Xander's old standby of 'Hey we're not in school' didn't work anymore. Since practicing Occlumency school was becoming really easy. So even when they were all in school it wasn't a problem.

That night Buffy and her Mom went to pick up Ampata. Buffy had been practicing her Legilimency with Willow and Xander. She knew she still had to work on it. But she was getting better. When they picked up the girl, Joyce was surprised, they thought Ampata was a boy. As they were going back to the car, Buffy realized it was a bad thing in Sunnydale when you were surprised.

Buffy looked at Ampata and whispered, "Legilimency." Suddenly the Slayer saw who this really was, she saw the mummy killing one of her fellow students. And killing the real Ampata just a few minutes before they had arrived. She also saw how close the mummy was to her Mom. Buffy ran towards Ampata when Buffy reached the mummy, she pulled back her fist and slammed it into the back of Ampata's neck.

Ampata's neck snapped with a loud crack. The girl fell to the ground. Joyce had turned at the noise to see what was going on and she saw Buffy murder this young exchange student. Ampata's head was almost resting on her back.

"Buffy,' Joyce screamed. "What did you do?"

Even as Joyce called out Ampata started getting up. Joyce started screaming for another reason at that point. Ampata tried to stand, but the fact that Buffy had just destroyed most of her neck made it an almost impossible task for the Mummy.

Buffy looked around, she needed something to use as a weapon. The closest thing that might help was a metal trash can. Grabbing the lid, Buffy kept an eye on Ampata, while rolling up the lid, like it was a newspaper. Once she had the best weapon she could manage she moved towards the undead girl.

Ampata was having a problem, she needed to feed in order to heal herself. But when Buffy had attacked her from behind, the blow had shattered every bone in her neck. That didn't kill her since she was already dead. But it meant she was trying to walk and move with her head upside down and resting on her back. Ampata grabbed her head with both hands and held it in place. That was much better, she could actually see things right side up again. The only real problem was this also meant that she had to keep her hands on her head. Ampata saw Joyce screaming near her. She moved towards her since the woman didn't seem smart enough to run, Ampata hoped she would have enough life energy to heal her.

Buffy saw the mummy moving towards her Mom. She ran at it again, this time with a better weapon that just her fist. She brought the rolled up trash can lid down on Ampata's head with every bit of strength she possessed, that was more than enough to split Ampata's skull in two. This time, when the mummy's body fell to the ground, it stayed down. Ampata quickly lost her youthful appearance and in less than a minute was the dried up corpse she really was.

Buffy was glad her Mom was safe, but she was still screaming. Buffy walked over to her Mom, "Mom," Buffy yelled. "Mom, stop it! It's over you need to calm down."

Joyce stopped screaming, she looked at what had just happened, the mummy's decayed corpse, then she looked at Buffy. "That's nice dear," Joyce said and then she fainted. Buffy caught her Mom before she could hit the ground. She moved her into the passenger's seat of the car. Buffy smiled as she realized she would have to drive them home. It was probably a good thing that Joyce was passed out for the ride home, Buffy wasn't a terrible driver. Thanks to what she was learning about herself and being in control, but Buffy was still not a good driver yet. It was also a stroke of good luck that Sunnydale at night had very little traffic.

Once Buffy parked the car, she picked up her Mom and brought her inside. "iI need some help/i," Buffy thought. Buffy walked over to the phone and called Willow, and Xander. She really didn't want to call Giles yet. Once she had talked with Willow, Buffy volunteered to come pick them up. It was already dark outside and Buffy didn't want either of them getting hurt or killed. Once Buffy had returned to her house with both Xander and Willow, the three teens went inside. Joyce was still passed out on the couch.

"So I was thinking," Willow said.

"Uh, Oh," Xander teased. "We better run for it, Buffy."

Buffy laughed, as Willow stuck her tongue out at Xander. "Buffy," Willow continued. "I think Xander should try to use Legilimency to go into your Mom's head and help her understand what's really happened."

"What you mean like make her forget," Buffy asked.

"No," Willow said. "That wouldn't help anything. If your Mom knew the truth, then it would be safer for her. And she would support you, instead of having to always sneak around you would have her knowing about it."

"I don't think that's a good idea, Willow," Buffy said. "I tried to tell her about it once, in the beginning, and, well she put me in a mental hospital."

Willow walked over to Buffy, "But this time you're not alone. And if the worst happened, I bet Xander could alter her memories." Xander looked a little panicked at that, but Willow sent her a look that said iJust go with it/i!

Xander came up beside Buffy, "Hey Buffy," she said. "How about just letting me try? I can go into your Mom's head and try and tell her there. That way if things don't work out, when she wakes up she'd think it was all a dream."

Buffy nodded that sounded like a much better plan. "OK," she said. "If you can do that, then Thank You."

Xander walked over to Joyce, who was lying down on the couch, she knelt down beside her, holding her crystal she didn't even bother to say 'Legilimency' she simply thought it and she was inside Joyce's head.

Willow knew that what she had just asked Xander to do was risky. Whenever they met in their minds Xander was always herself. So Joyce, if she became aware of it, would be talking to the real Xander. Meanwhile, Willow had some other ideas, very naughty ideas.

"Buffy," Willow said. "I think you should try practicing legilimency on me while Xander is trying to help your Mom." Willow had designed a new trap in her mind, she based it on Xander's bedroom. When she first went in there she had been convinced it was a trap. Using that as a basis, Willow had several of her fantasies, that she wanted to try and trap Buffy in. And who knows, maybe Buffy would even like it? "I'm going to warn you now," Willow added. "I've thought up some really good defenses and I don't think you'll be able to get out of them."

Buffy heard Willow's words and looked at her, "Really, you don't think I could fight my way out?"

Willow shook her head, "No way, see I planned for that. None of them will let you fight. You have to figure out other ways to get out."

That surprised Buffy, "Other ways," Buffy asked. "What kind of other ways?"

Willow grinned at her, "That would be telling," she said.

"Come on Willow," Buffy pleaded, "Please?"

"OK," Willow said, "One hint." Buffy nodded her head, enthusiastically. "To get out of some of the traps you have to do the opposite of fighting."

Buffy took the challenge she would show Willow who was the boss around here. Grasping her crystal she looked into Willow's eyes and said "Legilimency". Buffy found herself in a palace. The rooms had gold filigree over the walls. There were paintings on the walls that showed beautiful women in various states of undress. Buffy searched the first room she was in, she found a small door off to the side. "This is too easy, Willow," Buffy said.

Buffy opened the door and saw she was in a hallway, the lights were dim, and as she walked forward she could hear noise up ahead. She paused and listened. "Oh, God," A familiar voice said. "Right there, yes right there." Buffy started to blush as it sounded like whoever was up ahead was having sex. Buffy looked behind her, she saw that the door she had entered into had disappeared. The only way she could go was forward. Buffy moved forward, slowly, as she came closer to the sounds of a woman, having sex, Buffy was surprised to see what was in front of her.

Cordelia was backed up against a door. She was in her cheerleading outfit, sort of. Her top had been pulled up, her breasts were exposed. And kneeling in front of her was another girl. As Buffy got closer she could see it was Harmony. Buffy felt her mouth become dry. She was shocked by what she was seeing. Cordelia was moaning as Harmony worked her over.

Buffy tried to look around, but could only see a way forward, she would have to get by Cordelia and Harmony. And the way they were positioned she could not just slip by them. Buffy tried to edge by but Cordelia reached out and grabbed her wrist gently. "Leaving so soon, Buffy?"

"Ah, yeah," Buffy said trying not to look at Cordelia's body.

"But why " Cordelia asked. She gently pulled Buffy's hand towards her mouth. "Don't you like what you see?" Cordelia sucked one of Buffy's fingers to her mouth and gently kissed her palm as she asked Buffy if she liked what she saw.

"Ah," Buffy felt flushed. "Yeah, it looks really nice." Buffy had no idea what she was supposed to say. She felt herself getting aroused, but was pretty sure that was just because what she was viewing was hot.

Cordelia smiled at Buffy, "Would you like to join us?" Cordelia licked her lips as she looked Buffy over. Buffy could feel the heat from Cordelia's gaze.

Buffy blushed, "Sorry Cordelia," she said. "But I really have to go." Buffy tried to pull her hand back. But Cordelia wasn't letting her go. "Cordy," Buffy said. "Please let go."

Cordelia shook her head, and moaned, "Oh, oh, not yet," she smiled at Buffy. "If you want to go you need to at least give me a kiss."

Buffy was torn, she would normally fight her way out, but Willow had warned her not to try that this time. "OK," she finally said. Buffy leaned forward to give Cordelia a kiss on the cheek. Cordelia turned her head and pulled Buffy to her lips. Her other hand released the back of Harmony's head and grabbed Buffy's back. She assaulted Buffy's mouth with her own. Cordelia's tongue pressed against Buffy's mouth. Buffy opened her mouth not even thinking about what she was doing and Buffy started kissing her back.

Buffy felt Cordelia's hand caressing her back, then she felt Harmony's hands on her thighs. Buffy moaned into Cordelia's mouth. iGod this feels so good/i Buffy thought. Abruptly the kiss ended. Cordelia let Buffy go. Smiling at her, Cordelia said, "Maybe you'll have more time next time." Buffy stumbled past Cordelia and Harmony. She watched for a moment as Harmony stood up and Cordelia started kissing her. She couldn't turn away as Cordelia kissed her way down Harmony's body. She stood mesmerized by the sight as Cordelia started making love to Harmony. Buffy was feeling wet herself, and that brought her up short. She needed to keep moving.

Buffy turned away and walked down the hall to the next door. Opening the door, she saw she was in Ms. Calendar's classroom. Jenny was sitting at her desk, in a very sexy outfit. It was definitely not something she would ever wear to work in real life. "Ah Buffy you're here for your tutoring good," Jenny said. "Well come in." Buffy walked into the classroom and sat down at her desk. "Now Buffy," Jenny said. "I've been reviewing your work. And I must say I'm very disappointed. When I checked your computer's internet history I found out that you have been a very naughty girl." Jenny was unbuttoning the top button of her blouse as she talked to Buffy. "What do you have to say for yourself, young lady?" Jenny asked.

"Ah," Buffy was confused. "I'm sorry?"

Jenny laughed, "Oh you're sorry? You can imagine how shocked I was to find out that you were going to all those lesbian sites, Buffy."

"What?" Buffy exclaimed. "But I didn't."

"Oh really," Jenney leaned over and turned Buffy around so that she was facing her computer. Reaching over and around her, she started typing. Buffy could feel the warmth coming off of her teacher. She could smell her perfume. After the scene in the hallway, Buffy found herself getting excited again. Jenny pulled up a site called iLesbian Voyeur/i "So Buffy," Jenny said softly into her ear. "You like watching lesbians make love?"

Buffy could see on the screen there were two women kissing each other and stripping off their clothes. "It's alright Buffy," Jenny said. "Aren't they beautiful? Don't you wish you could touch them, that they could touch you?" Jenny trailed her hand up Buffy's arm. "Don't you want them?" Buffy didn't know which was more distracting. The movie in front of her or Jenny caressing her. She turned to look at Jenny who smiled at her. Jenny slowly closed the distance and kissed Buffy softly on the lips. Buffy closed her eyes and moaned, opening her mouth and sending her tongue into Jenny's mouth. Buffy still had her eyes closed as she felt Jenny's hands caressing her breasts. She moaned again as one of Jenny's hands slipped under her shirt and softly kneaded her breast.

"Look, Buffy," Jenny said. Buffy opened her eyes and saw somehow Jenny had taken off her clothes. She was now standing in a corset with stocking held up by garters. "Do you like what you see Buffy," Jenny asked teasingly. "Do you want to touch me? To kiss my breasts? Don't you want to cover my body in kisses?"

Buffy didn't know what to say or do. She just stared at Jenny. Her mouth suddenly felt very dry. Before Buffy could answer the bell rang, "Alright Buffy," Jenny said to her with a smile, she was now fully clothed. "I think we're done for now. Just make sure you keep studying. And if you need more one on one tutoring just let me know." Buffy walked out of the door and found herself back in her living room.

Buffy noticed that her panties were damp and her nipples were hard. Willow slowly opened her eyes and then grinned. "I told you my new defenses would stop you."

Buffy paused, "You mean you set those up with me in mind?"

"Well yeah," Willow said. "Although I think they would work on Xander too."

Buffy thought for a moment, "Yeah, I'm pretty sure she wouldn't have gotten past the hallway."

Willow smiled, Buffy wasn't freaking out, and based on her very hard nipples Buffy had actually enjoyed the experience. "Oh, I don't know I think Xander might surprise you," Willow said with a smile.

Buffy felt her face heat up, "Willow you haven't let Xander see those have you?"

"Oh Xander's been able to get much farther than you did," Willow confided. "In fact, she's been all the way."

Buffy couldn't believe that Willow, sweet innocent Willow would have used the defense that she did. Another part of Buffy was wondering how she was supposed to get by Ms. Calendar. And what would be the next challenge after her?

Xander had appeared in Joyce's mind. She started looking around. She could see that most of the place was disorganized by her new standards. She tried to ignore any memories that passed by. She wanted to find Joyce's center. It didn't take long to find Joyce sitting at the kitchen table drinking a cup of coffee.

Joyce looked up as the pretty young girl approached her. "Can I help you," Joyce asked. She was fairly sure she was having a dream. She'd had a nightmare about Buffy killing a girl who turned into a mummy, it was ridiculous and at least now things were normal again.

Xander nodded to Joyce, "Hi Mrs. Summers," She said. "May I sit with you?"

Joyce smiled at the girl."Please," she indicated the chair next to her. "I'm sorry but do I know you? You look familiar but I really can't recall from where."

Xander smiled, "Oh we've met before, but I'm not surprised you don't recognize me. I looked a lot different the last time you saw me."

Joyce smiled at her, "You're not going to give me a hint?"

Xander smiled back, "Not right now. I'm here to help you with something else. Something that you need to do, to help Buffy."

Joyce looked alarmed, "Is Buffy alright? I had a horrible nightmare about Buffy fighting a mummy."

Xander shook her head, "That's what I am talking about. Mrs. Summers, that wasn't a nightmare. That really happened."

Joyce shook her head, "No you're lying. Things like that don't happen in real life!"

Xander smiled at her, this was going to be hard. "Mrs. Summers, you need to remember. Otherwise, you're going to hurt Buffy."

"I would never hurt Buffy," Joyce protested. "She's my daughter and I love her."

"I know you do," Xander assured the older woman. "I wish my own mother had half the love you have for Buffy, for me. But you've been hiding the truth from yourself. And you can't hide it anymore. I promise this isn't a trick or a dream. Would you be willing to look at some memories with me?"

Joyce wasn't sure what to say. She felt her heart go out to this beautiful young woman when she talked about her own mother. But she wasn't sure about her saying that she had been hiding the truth from herself. After a few moments, Joyce said, "OK, what did you want me to look at."

Xander smiled at Joyce, she knew she was a strong woman. "Let's go over to the living room." Taking Joyce by the hand, she led her over to the couch. "Now I want you to look at the TV and think about the time that Darla came over. Remember when she knocked on the door and you saw her standing there."

Joyce nodded as she tried to remember what the young woman was talking about. The TV turned itself on and Joyce saw Darla standing in front of her. She could hear the entire conversation. Joyce heard herself inviting Darla into the house. Then she watched in shock as the memory changed from what Joyce thought she remembered. She saw Darla's face deform and the thing attacked her. She felt the pain of the woman sinking her teeth into her neck.

"It's OK Mrs. Summers," Xander said hugging the woman. "It's just a memory, it can't hurt you again."

"But how? " Joyce asked looking at this familiar young woman.

"Darla was a vampire," Xander said. "She attacked you because she wanted Buffy to suffer."

"Why would she want that," Joyce asked.

"I'll show you some of my memories," Xander said. Xander hoped Joyce would be preoccupied with what she was seeing to make any other connections. But truthfully she wasn't too worried about what would happen when Joyce found out the truth.

The TV switched channels, and Joyce saw Buffy in the tunnels under Sunnydale, trying to send the others away as the vampires came closer. She saw and heard Mr. Giles giving the Slayer speech. She saw Buffy explaining to this girl that she was the Slayer.

"How much danger is Buffy in," Joyce asked.

Xander shook her head, "Too much, but she's the Slayer. If she didn't fight, they'd still come after her, like Darla came after you. And if she stops fighting they'll kill her." Xander had a tear in her eye as she remembered finding Buffy in the Master's cave. Joyce gasped as the scene replayed itself. "I'm sorry about that," Xander said. "I didn't mean to show you that."

"No," Joyce said, "Show me everything. Not just that little part. Please," Joyce pleaded.

"Ok, but you have to remember she's fine now," Xander said. The TV switched channels again showing an apartment door and the young girl seemed to be knocking.

The door opened and Joyce saw it was Angel, Buffy's history tutor. "Oh. Look who's here."

"Mind if I come in?" Joyce feels a little confused. The voice doesn't sound like this girls at all.

"Make yourself at home," Angel says sarcastically.

"She's gone," Joyce knows she should recognize that voice.

"Whaddaya mean?" Angel asked

"Buffy, she's gone to fight the Master." Joyce is almost sure that she knows who is talking.

"He'll kill her," Angel declares.

"Rumor has it. Only we're not gonna let it happen," Joyce knows, that's it it's Xander's voice. It just sounded different somehow.

"Well, what do you propose we do about it?" Angel asked, still with the sarcasm.

"Look, I know you can find this Master guy. He's underground, right? Take me to him," Xander said. Joyce smiled she knew Xander was a good young man.

"You're way outta your league, kid. The Master'll kill you before you can even breathe. If you're lucky," Angel declared.

"How can I say this clearly?" Xander asks. Joyce see's her holding up a cross. Angel growls. Xander seems to advances toward him, Angel backs off until he falls onto the couch. "I don't like you. At the end of the day, I pretty much think you're a vampire. But Buffy's got this big old yen for you. She thinks you're a real person. And right now I need you to prove her right."

"You're in love with her," Angel said, Joyce drew in a sharp breath.

Xander's response of "Aren't you?" confirms it for Joyce. Joyce then watches everything else Xander following Angel into the tunnels. Finding Buffy Face down in the water. Giving her CPR, and when she opens her eyes, Buffy calling out for Angel.

"Stop," Joyce says, "Stop for right now." Turning to the young woman she asked. "You're Xander aren't you?"

Xander nodded her head. "Yeah, Surprise."

Joyce wants to ask how, what, how, it's so confusing. But she knows that's not important. Reaching over she pulls Xander into a hug. "Thank you for saving Buffy. Thank you for doing what no one else was willing to do."

Xander was surprised, she had thought Joyce would comment more on her being a girl. "Anytime Mrs. Summers," Xander said returning her hug.

"Joyce, you will call me Joyce from now on," Joyce insisted. "Mrs. Summers is much too formal for someone who saved my daughter's life. If I thought you would do it, I would even have you call me Mom."

Xander smiled, "Thank you, Joyce," she said. "So do you want to see the rest of it?"

Joyce nodded. "But how much time do we have I want to know everything."

Xander grinned, "We're in your mind right now," she said. "So we have as much time as we want."

"Then you're going to show me everything I missed," Joyce said. "Including how you're a very beautiful young woman." Joyce sat back and watched the TV as Joyce watched Xander's memories. It didn't seem long before Joyce was caught up on what had been happening with her daughter. She turned to Xander and said, "Well I now understand a lot more about what it going on, but you still haven't explained this," Joyce gestured at Xander's female form.

"Alright," Xander said while blushing, "But please understand, when this started, it wasn't everything that happened. I have to show you some things that happened later. Then if you have any questions, I'll answer them."

Joyce turned and watched the entire memory of the possession, she gasped as Xander tried to rape Buffy. She could tell that this wasn't the Xander she knew. His cruelty to Willow made that obvious. Then she saw his meeting Alpha. She heard Alpha talking to Xander, as she explained why she was female now.

"So," Joyce said. "You became female because of the possession? And your body has been changing? But how come I've never noticed anything different about you?"

Xander nodded, "Hyena Alpha's are always female. And sharing my body, and soul with Alpha, well it changed me. She said if I had really been against it, it wouldn't have happened but since aside from Giles, I really don't have any strong male figures in my life. Well, it made it easier to accept. And I have a crystal Willow and I made, it makes anyone who doesn't know the truth see me a boy."

"And you're alright with this," Joyce asked.

"At first I was freaked out," Xander admitted. "I kept wanting to deny it. But after studying Occlumency and really getting to know myself, well I realized I'm happier now." Xander had a beautiful smile on her face as she finished speaking.

Joyce nodded, "As long as you're happy, that's all that really matters. But what about out there?"

"Well," Xander admitted. "I'm not as happy out there because I'm hiding for now. But I figured I would only need to hide until after graduation."

"So you're becoming fully female," Joyce asked. "How is that possible?"

"Magic," Xander said. "We've already gotten several potions and spells to work. So we are trying to find a way for the real me to become 'the Xander' that everyone accepts."

Joyce nodded, "If you need anything, anything at all you let me know." Joyce smiled, "So are you still in love with Buffy?"

Xander blushed beet red, "Joyce," she strangled out.

Joyce laughed, "It's alright Xander," she said. "If for some reason Buffy smartens up and get's rid of the vampire, which I swear to God, I am going to do everything in my power to make sure happens. But if Buffy decided she liked the real you I wouldn't have any objections. You, Xander Harris, are a wonderful person, and it doesn't matter whether you are a boy or a girl." Joyce smirked, "Besides while you were a handsome young man, you're gorgeous as you are."

Xander didn't think she could get any redder, but Joyce proved her wrong. "So Buffy doesn't know the truth yet, does she?" Joyce asked. Joyce was sure after watching Xander's memories; that Buffy would be trying to fix Xander.

Xander shook her head, "Yeah, she does, I admitted it all to her before school started back up."

Joyce nodded, surprised but pleased. "I'm glad that she accepted everything," Joyce said. "Now two things, one, you will be teaching me this iOcclumency/i, and two, I think it's time to talk to my other daughter." Joyce had already decided, Xander and Willow were now her daughters. And she would treat them as such.

Xander nodded, "Yes Mom, I mean Ma'am," She said.

Joyce smiled, "I told you, I would love it if you called me Mom. From now on you are another one of my Daughters. You and Willow both."

Xander could feel the love and conviction in Joyce's words. "Thank you, Mom," she said as she hugged her.

Joyce held her as she trembled, "It will all work out sweetheart," She assured her newest daughter. "Now let's go see your other sisters."

Buffy had come back down from getting a very cold shower. She knew Willow was watching over Xander and her Mom. Plus after seeing what she had seen in Willow's head she needed a release. The only thing that annoyed her was she tried to think of some sexy guy, but it just didn't work. She ended up thinking about what Cordelia had invited her to join in and that did the trick. She was almost surprised that Willow hadn't knocked on the door, to find out what the screaming had been about. Buffy knew she had never cum that hard before in her life.

Walking down the stairs, Buffy missed Willow's smile. She had heard Buffy. And she was pretty sure that Buffy had been thinking about Willow's little traps. Which meant, Buffy had enjoyed them. "Everything OK, Buffy?" Willow asked.

"Ah, Yeah, of course, it is, why wouldn't it be," Buffy asked in a panic.

"No reason," Willow said. "I just thought I had heard you fall, or something."

"Nope," Buffy quickly said. "Everything's good. Are Mom and Xander up yet," Buffy asked hoping to change the subject.

Willow let her get away with it, she had time. "No, they're still out. We should practice Occlumency while waiting. It really helps after a uhard/u day. Getting your thoughts in order, making sense of everything."

"Easy for you to say," Buffy said. "I still can't see a library like you and Xander talk about."

"Buffy," Willow said, "We've told you, the library is just how we see things. And even then they're different. You need to make your center something that represents you." Willow paused and smiled, "I know think about it as a giant walk in closet. Then try hanging everything up, and organizing all of your shoes."

Buffy nodded, "That actually sounds a lot better than a library." Buffy hugged Willow, thanking her for the suggestion. Buffy didn't even notice that her hug was just a little too long. But Willow certainly noticed it. Buffy sat down and tried to focus inwards, she reached for her core and the mess that seemed to be her head.

Buffy was honestly surprised. She was in a huge walk-in closet. And all around her were clothes. Some were gorgeous, others a bit frumpy. She started hanging things up. Trying to get things in order. As she would grab one of the garments, she could feel what memory was associated with it. It took Buffy a few tries to learn how to not get lost in the memory. Surprisingly her favorite memories were associated with the shoes. All of the shoes were to die for.

To Buffy, it seemed like she had been in her closet for most of the day. But it was almost completely organized. She knew from talking to Willow and Xander that she would have to reorganize it because you couldn't get it perfect the first time. But for now, it was wonderful. She went to pick up the last dress, it was her prom dress, from last year. She could see the stains on it from fighting the Master. Buffy almost left it where it was, but she knew this was important. Buffy gingerly picked it up and gasped as she was back in the memory. For some reason, the memory was clear this time. Buffy saw Xander in front of her, where before she had thought it was Angel. Buffy could see the relief in his eyes as she came back to life. And the hurt when she called out Angel's name.

Pulling herself out of the memory Buffy looked at the dress, it was cleaner than it had been. Still not as clean and beautiful as when she first saw it, but there was a definite improvement. "I need to ask Xander and Willow about that," Buffy said.

Buffy felt an intrusion as the door to the closet opened. Willow was standing there smiling. "It worked," Willow asked.

Buffy nodded, "Yeah, thank you so much, Willow," Buffy said hugging her friend. Once again the hug lasted a little too long, but Buffy didn't pull away.

"So are you ready to ucum/u out of the closet," Willow asked with a saucy grin.

"Willow!" Buffy said. "I, you,"

As Buffy tried to speak, Willow laughed, "I'm teasing you, Buffy," she said. "Besides, I would still love you doesn't matter whether you're straight or a lesbian."

Buffy blushed, "Really?" You know I feel the same right, Willow?"

Willow smiled, "So you wouldn't care if I told you I'm a Lesbian?"

Buffy could still hear a teasing tone in Willow's voice. "Nope," She assured her friend. "Although would that mean you're still interested in Xander?"

Willow smiled, "I'll always love Xander, she's my best friend since forever."

"Are you sure you want Xander to find that out," Buffy warned.

"Oh," Willow said. "I don't think she'd mind. In fact, I bet she'd be very happy to be involved with either of us if we both were lesbians."

"Willow," Buffy said in shock. "When did you get so naughty?"

Willow looked at Buffy and realized that she meant it. "I promise I'll explain later," she said. "But you should know I think Xander isn't the only one who would be interested."

"Alright," Buffy agreed, "But you had better be telling the truth." Buffy smiled wickedly, "So how about you, Willow? Are you ready to come out of the closet?"

Willow knew Buffy was trying to joke but now seemed like a good time. "Yes, I think I am," she said. As Buffy started moving to the door, Willow grabbed her hand. "Buffy, I'm a lesbian."

Buffy stopped. She could see Willow was being sincere honest. "Really," Buffy asked.

Willow nodded, she couldn't tell how Buffy was taking it yet. "Really, really," Willow said.

Buffy was silent, she was thinking about the traps in Willow's mind. What if they were fantasies because she sort of doubted that Ms. Calendar had come onto Willow like that. But she could certainly see the appeal.

"Are we OK," Willow asked.

Buffy turned into her best friend, Willow was still holding her arm. Buffy pulled her arm free and pulled Willow into a hug, "Of course we are," she said. "So I have one question for you? Well two actually."

"OK," Willow said.

"First, does Xander know?" Buffy asked.

"Yup," Willow said. "She was the first one besides myself to find out."

"OK, good," Buffy said. "Second question, do you have dreams like that about me too?"

Willow blushed, then leaned close to Buffy and whispered in her ear, "You mean you dream about me, being with you, just like I dream about ravishing you?"

Buffy felt her brain freeze and her panties get moist, "Ah, well, ah that's not exactly what I meant," Buffy said.

Willow laughed, "Well that's not a no. So, Buffy, would you like to see what I dream about with you? I promise no judgment."

Buffy didn't know what to do, part of her really wanted to see what Willow was offering. Another part thought she should run because good girls didn't do what Willow was talking about.

Willow could tell Buffy was in the middle of a brain freeze. "How about we take a rain check?" Willow offered. "When you decide you want to see them let me know. OK?"

Buffy nodded, her head. Thank God Willow had offered her an out, "That sounds great," Buffy said automatically.

Willow almost laughed, she was very sure Buffy hadn't meant to say that. At least not consciously. But she had, which might mean Buffy was closer to what Willow wanted than she had thought. Ever since Willow had started Occlumency, she was more self-assured. She knew who she was and now she was comfortable with that. Leaning forward Willow kissed Buffy, "I'll look forward to it," Willow purred.

Willow walked out of Buffy's mind, leaving a disturbed Slayer behind, "That sounds great," Buffy whispered.

Buffy opened her eyes and saw, Willow, Xander, and her Mom all talking in the kitchen. Buffy could see that her Mom must have been awake for a while, she had several plates of food prepared. "Mom," Buffy yelled, running to her. "You're alright," she said hugging her.

"I love you too, Buffy," Joyce said as she hugged her daughter back. "Now why don't you sit down and eat?" Joyce pushed Buffy towards a chair. Buffy smiled and did as her Mom asked.

During the meal, Buffy kept glancing between Willow, Xander, and her Mom. Xander seemed really relaxed and happy. Anytime Willow caught her looking, she would lick her lips, teasing Buffy. Her Mom seemed really normal which made everything so much stranger.

As the meal was finished and the plates had been put in the dishwasher, Joyce pulled all of the children into the living room. "Buffy," Joyce began. "I want to say how sorry I am that I didn't believe you when you told me about the vampires in the gym. Please forgive me?"

Buffy gulped, "You know now?"

Joyce nodded, "Xander showed me everything that had happened since we moved to Sunnydale." Buffy started to cry. Joyce got up and hugged her daughter. "It's going to be alright," Joyce assured Buffy. "We'll figure out how to keep you safe, while you're saving the world."

That night marked a big change in the Summers household. Joyce started studying magic, with Willow, Xander, and Buffy. She also cleared out the spare room, she said that with as neglected as Xander and Willow were they needed a safe place to stay. And she confronted Buffy about Angel.

That conversation was actually much easier than Joyce had thought it would be. Buffy was already having doubts about Angel. He never spoke up and said that Xander was the one to save her. He just led her on. Xander had also shown Buffy, her own memories of that night. Nothing else was as big of a let down as seeing that Angel had been reading and brooding while she had been dying. That night was a three-gallon night. Three gallons of Rocky Road, Cookies, and Cream, and Fudge Ripple. It was also the night that Buffy decided she didn't want anything to do with Angel on a more personal level.

The first week after Ampata, Joyce had talked to Giles. She set down several rules which, basically came down to, "You will tell me when Buffy is in danger."

Unfortunately for the girls, Snyder was back in school, and he was pissed. He actually called everyone who had been present and those who had helped prepare the school for parent teachers night. When he couldn't get anyone to admit that they had seen Summers assault him, he told all of them, including the teachers, that they would be required to help out with escorting children Halloween night.

When Buffy, told Joyce about it, she agreed the man was a troll, however, she didn't see why they couldn't turn it on him. When Buffy asked how Joyce explained.

"Buffy, Snyder is hoping that everyone will complain,' Joyce said. "If instead, we turn it into a Halloween party, for after the little kids are done. Well, he loses."

Buffy thought that was a great idea, she insisted that her Mom had to come by the library, And talk to not only Xander, and Willow but Cordelia, and the teachers too. She was sure everyone would be behind the idea.

The next afternoon had everyone gathered in the Library. All of the Scoobies, Giles and Ms. Calendar, Cordelia and Larry, plus a few other teachers and some miscellaneous students. Buffy had begged her Mom to explain her idea to everyone. She had pointed out how everyone loved her for putting Snyder in the hospital.

"Thank you all for coming," Joyce said. "Buffy told me last night how Mr. Snyder, is forcing all of you to volunteer to help escort the younger children on Halloween." There was a slight bit of grumbling as Joyce mentioned that. "I know his goal is to make everyone miserable, but I think we should turn it around."

Everyone had to admit that sounded like a good idea. "How," Cordelia asked.

Joyce smiled, "Simple, you'll be escorting the children from six to eight pm. I think that once we're done we should have a Halloween party right here. We can use the gym, and everyone who helped will be allowed to come."

"Snyder will never allow it," one of the teachers said.

"He won't have a choice," Joyce said. "I called the Mayor's office this morning and managed to get it approved. The Mayor himself called me back to Thank me for being so civic minded. And he said that he would make sure, the school was open for the party. But he did want to emphasize that the costumes should be modest."

Cordelia, who had been thinking about the catsuit she had seen in Party Town, realized that it wouldn't pass the modesty test. "So we're stuck looking bad?" she complained.

"No," Joyce said. "Just nothing spandex or skintight. And nothing too revealing."

"So what does that leave us," Larry asked. "I mean I sorta wanted to go as a pirate."

"Pirates should be fine," Joyce assured the boy. "I think we should come up with several group ideas that we can use, then we could even decorate the school with the theme. That way it would really be in Mr. Snyder's face the whole time."

Everyone loved the idea, they would really be able to stick it to Snyder. People broke into groups to try and find some good themes. Joyce tried to circulate to help anyone having problems. She had to veto a few suggestions like naughty nurses, doctors, and policemen. But most of the people were getting into the idea.

Once everyone had talked, they got back together, Larry had suggested they could be famous athletes. Only after his idea for pirates, it had to be pointed out that lusty bar wenches would probably upset the Mayor. That sort of stopped the idea.

Cordelia had suggested Disney heroes and villains. That one everyone could agree, was a good idea. Ms. Calendar added they could even just make it heroes and villains, adding science fiction characters too.

When it came around to Buffy and the Scoobies, Willow spoke up. "We were thinking Witches and Wizards," she said enthusiastically. "Mr. Giles gave Xander this really funky book that we found was part of a series. And people actually roll play it. All witches and wizards use wands. And they usually dress in robes. It should be easy to make a robe and get a stick for anyone who is needing to save money. Plus they have really silly names. So we could make it even more fun for the kids by having silly name tags."

The English teacher, Mrs. Cranston, said, "And I could even give extra credit if people wanted to write a paper about their character. After all, some people could use the help so they can pass my class." She was looking right at Larry as she said that.

"Would that only be if we do Willow's idea," Cordelia asked.

"Well, I'd expect something original." Mrs. Cranston said. "If you're writing about Sleeping Beauty I would expect an original story to explain who she was, not the Disney plot."

"Oh one of the books we found," Willow said. "It talks about Wizard families, and which families are really good, or really bad. It even has families that are neutral. We could bring that into the library and if people wanted to look at it, then write who they are from that family, it would be easier for them."

"OK," Cordelia didn't want to admit that several of her cheerleaders could use the extra credit. "But how do we make the school part of it? I mean with Disney we could have made the school be the castle."

Xander said, "The books also talked about famous Wizard schools. They had some funky names like Hogwarts, Beauxbatons, there was a Miskatonic school here in the US. So we could rename the school for the day. I think we should have a banner saying Welcome to Sunnyhell high school of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Since it's Halloween we should be able to get away with it."

The more the Scoobies talked about the fiction books they had found the more people thought it might be fun to do, Willow volunteered to write a short paper about the town's history so that people could make better stories. Buffy and Xander said they would help her, and Mrs. Cranston thought it would be a great idea.