Title: Story of a Girl

Disclaimer: I don't own anything. At all. If I did, I'd have more money then God and would never have canceled BtVS and Angel.

Summary: A teenage girl is given an impossible destiny. She's taken away from everything she knows and everyone thinks she's dead. Eight years later, she's back, and in for one hell of a fight.

Distribution: Just ask if you want to use this.

Spoilers: All of Buffy and Angel. Through GoF, and some minor ones from OotP.

Once upon a time there was a happy teenage girl. She had everything she could possibly want- a loving family, great friends, good grades, and a place at one of the best schools in Europe- even if her life wasn't exactly normal. Because this girl also happened to be a witch, and went to a school to be taught magic. Her two best friends were wizards, and had a knack for attracting trouble, but she wouldn't have traded her life for anything.

But nothing lasts forever, and changes are a natural part of life. For Hermione Granger, this change occurred in the form of a move to California, and a change of identity that would be a key factor in the years to come.

It all started on a hot summer day, no too long ago. Everything in the Granger household was normal. Joyce and Hank, Hermione's parents, were at work (they were dentists), Dawn was out riding her bike with some friends, and Hermione was studying. Someone knocked on the door, and Hermione went downstairs to answer it.

A middle-aged man in a tweed suit stood on the doorstep. He seemed to exude a certain rigid air that Hermione felt a certain kinship to. After all, part of the infamous Gryffindor Trio or not, Hermione Granger still held the word of an authority figure as law, and would always adhere to any rules they set down. The man introduced himself as Ian Travers and asked if her parents were home. When he was told they were not, he said that he would be back tomorrow to speak to them.

Hermione thought nothing of it, as she couldn't picture a Death Eater disguised as a Muggle. True to his word, Ian came back the next day and spoke to Hermione and her parents. He told them that she was in great danger, and had the potential to become a Slayer, whatever that was. He also said that there were evil things in the world that tried to kill Potential Slayers before they were called, and so eliminate a prospective threat. Ian said that the only reason she wasn't in danger before was because of the timing. The magic in Hermione's blood hid her from the tracking spells, and that, combined with her young age, would have stopped her from being located, as the spells the Watcher's Council-another thing Hermione was clueless about- employed tracked Potentials with the greatest probability of being a Slayer first, and would have skipped her.

Then, as Hermione got older, she was at school most of the time, and the Council had long known that the magical interference at Hogwarts prevented Potentials from being located. Ian told the three oldest Grangers that they would have to move away, change their names, and go into hiding, as now Hermione's name was at the top of the list for becoming a Slayer, and demons would be coming after her. They agreed, figuring that he meant for them to move to a different part of the country, nothing too drastic.

Everyone was surprised when Ian arranged for them to move to Los Angeles. Hermione protested, and Ian threatened to take her away from her family to train in isolation, something the young girl really didn't want to happen. He told her to change her appearance and tell no one where she was going. Still with a general belief in the good of all things authoritarian, Hermione complied, fear adding to her already determined personality. With the unwavering resolve apparent in her schoolwork, Hermione worked hard at distancing herself from the person she had been, and into the person the Council wanted her to be- Buffy Anne Summers.

But gone was her unending belief in respecting authority. From the day she set foot on American soil, the girl who had been the brightest witch of her year swore that she would make her own decisions, and they would be the ones that were right for her. That decision was only strengthened as she saw what the Council's actions did to her family.

Hank Granger- now Summers- had been a loving father, devoted husband, good friend, and a superb dentist. But the move to Los Angeles had detrimental effects on his life. In London, he'd had a fairly well-known dental practice, which he ran along with his wife. But in LA, he had to start out again, and the strain of trying to make do got to him. Especially, after Joyce quit the practice to pursue a career in art, something that she'd wanted to do for years. The move was the subject of many arguments, and Hermione was often the blame. In late June, almost a year after they left England, and less then a month after Hermione had been called as the Slayer, he divorced his wife.

Hermione never told her parents that she'd been called, fearing blame from her mother as well. When they three Summers women moved to Sunnydale, she saw no reason to. It would only dredge up bad memories and her mom and sister were having enough trouble as it was. Two years later, the hurt Joyce felt would explode, and wound an already shattered Slayer. Luckily, the wounds healed.

Years passed, life went on, and that unending thing called change continued to weave its way through time. Until one hot summer day, so similar to one eight years ago, Buffy Summers walked into her bedroom in Rome to find an astonishing sight.

"Hello, I'm your new liaison to the Powers That Be. I don't get paid to do this, so feel free to offer me copious amounts of monetary compensation to make up for my loss of an afterlife." A perky blonde said.

Buffy's eyes nearly popped out of her head. It really was impossible for a Scooby to get a happy ending.