Author's Note: Hello all, this is just a little Harry Potter / Buffy the Vampire Slayer crossover, mostly because it is my favourite crossover genre in fan-fiction and I believe there are too few of these types of stories available, and even fewer of any quality. On the subject of quality this work has not been beta read and has only been edited by my very fallible self so far, so if anyone would feel interested in beta reading/editing this work feel free to message me. This particular fan-fiction starts in season five as Joyce Summers is getting diagnosed and Glory is starting to ramp up her big-badness. Lastly I have written some fan-fiction in both the Buffy and Harry Potter worlds, however everything I've posted either sucked or was abandoned (usually both) so with this piece I have decided to commit myself to doing much better and to keep with it so in turn reviews are greatly appreciated.

Disclaimer: Both Harry Potter and Buffy the Vampire Slayer belong to J. K. Rowling and Joss Whedon respectively, I'm merely playing in their sandbox with the amazing and distinct world and characters they have imagined.

The Bigger They Are The Faster They Stomp You Into Nothing

I was in another lifetime one of toil and blood

When blackness was a virtue and the road was full of mud

I came in from the wilderness a creature void of form

"Come in" she said "I'll give you shelter from the storm"

-Bob Dylan

Chapter 1: Slithering Past

It was an unseasonably hot and dry fall afternoon in southern Nevada. The highway cut a straight line through the desert hardly anything in sight but rock and sand and a shadow of the mountains in the distance ahead. By the side of the highway was a big and usually busy truck stop, there being no other major cities for tens of miles. However at this moment in the afternoon there was a bit of a lull and no one was seen outside of the truck stop.

Perfect, thought Harry. He had been looking for somewhere to pull over and re-fuel for the last twenty miles or so. Harry had considered filling up a while before now but considering the destination that he was headed to and his reasons for travelling there he thought it best to keep a low profile.

The '59 Triumph Bonneville T-120 motorcycle revved high as Harry geared down while breaking as he pulled up to the farthest pump at the truck stop. Climbing off of the motorbike leather jacket creaking, Harry peeled his helmet off long black hair slick with sweat sticking to his forehead and neck.

God, I should have rented a car. Harry unzipped his jacket and tossed it onto the bike with the helmet and began rummaging through his saddle bags for his wallet. A car would've had air conditioning, music, and cup holders... cup holders filled with many icy cold and refreshing beverages. In spite of these thoughts Harry Potter knew that he never could've have parted with Sirius', and now his, Triumph motorbike. He took the bike with him when he left England for the east coast of the US and Salem Institute for Higher Magics, and had truly fallen in love with the bike during his magical university days. Getting the bike across the Atlantic several months after the fall of Voldemort had been difficult, the bike's magical enchantments preventing shrinking spells from working on it, forcing Harry to have it shipped over via boat and at the cost of too long a wait time and a few too many pounds sterling. But other than his holly-wood and phoenix core wand, his parents photo album and few other odds and ends Harry Potter had little else to remember his family and friends by. So after all that effort and the following years of growing attachment to his bike, there was no way that heading to the west coast and the Hellmouth would separate him from his bike.

Harry headed inside to settle up his petrol bill and grab something quick to drink before hitting the road again. It was just shy of two p.m. and given that he had about two hundred maybe two hundred and fifty miles to go before he reached Sunnydale he figured that he would at least make it there before sundown, probably closer to supper time. Harry was in and out of the truck stop quickly taking only a few minutes to quickly finish his drink and study his California road map again, memorizing the highway numbers that would get him around L.A. instead of taking him through the heart of it. Traffic, ugh. Harry thought; one of the few if only impediments to the freedom and speed of a motorbike was traffic and Los Angeles was world renowned for bad traffic.

The highway stretched out again in front of Harry as the Triumph rumbled loudly beneath him and the speedometer gauge's needle rose sharply. As the desert terrain sped by Harry's thoughts drifted to Sunnydale and the Hellmouth's worth of demon and magical activity and adventure to look forward to. Thinking on the subject of adventure Harry's memory blinked suddenly back to the words of his once former mentor, Albus Dumbledore "and now Harry, let us step out into the night and pursue that flighty temptress, adventure". Muttering quietly to himself Harry responded to his own internal Dumbledore dialogue. "Well it's not night but the desert sun and my bike blazing towards the Hellmouth sounds ominous enough to me." With a wry half grin and a chuckle Harry snapped his visor down and buried the throttle en route to the mouth of Hell.

Giles was just finishing up with a customer when to his right the phone rang. Pivoting from behind the counter over to the phone with the ease of habit he answered, "Magic box you're one stop spot to shop for-."

"Giles it's me." Buffy interrupted.

"Buffy, are you all right?" Giles asked pulling the phone cradle off the wall.

"No I'm really not." Sigh. "I couldn't stop her I couldn't even slow her down."

"Where are you?"

"Sunnydale Memorial." Buffy answered while gently pressing an ice pack to her shoulder in the hospital hallway. Glory had really done a number on her, again, but there were more important things to worry about just then. Buffy continued to do her best to keep the pain out of her voice while talking to Giles.

"Are you badly hurt? I'll come right over."

"No, no I just wanted to warn you that that thing she conjured it's loose. It's a big snake thing, not mayor big but it is pretty lethal looking."

"Do you know why she raised it?"

"I don't know yet."

"I'll warn the others, we'll get weapons we'll fan out-."

"Wait, wait a second what time is it?"

Giles glanced quickly at his watch. "Half past four, why?"

"School's out, Dawn's on her way over to you, Giles..."

"Understood. We'll keep her safe here until you arrive."

"Thanks, and Giles..."

"Yes?"

"Dawn's kind of fragile right now, about mom. She doesn't know how bad it is."

"We'll not say a word."

Buffy sighed. "Uh well my mom's going to wake up soon and I should be there when the doctors tell her."

Buffy's voice while relating the situation with her mother's illness had gone apathetic and tired as it often did when discussing the subject. Giles in turn tried inflecting his voice with a little care and concern letting her know that he and the rest of the Scoobies were there for her and Dawn. "She's in good hands Buffy, there's really nothing else you can do."

"Okay, Bye."

"Bye."

A tingle raised the hairs on the back of Harry's neck as he sped by the "Welcome to Sunnydale" sign. Wards eh, I'll need to look into those later. Harry had booked a small and relatively inexpensive hotel for two weeks while he planned on getting more permanently set up in Sunnydale. The hotel was pretty much what Harry had expected, a bed, television, a couple dressers, bathroom and the usual mini-fridge with overpriced drinks. The hours on the road with only snacking and the odd light meal to keep him going left Harry's stomach growling at him in desire of sustenance. So he showered quickly and un-shrunk his luggage, putting on fresh clothes that he hadn't spent the last fourteen hours driving cross country in. The cramping and aches in his legs from biking on his Triumph for so long forced Harry's decision to walk somewhere to eat in order to stretch out his legs.

But before leaving the hotel room Harry quickly went up to each windowsill and the doorframe tracing his wand along each and muttering under his breath a few short Latin phrases. These proximity alert wards are quick and dirty, but they'll have to do until I find a more permanent place. Down at the front desk Harry asked the concierge where he could find a few halfway decent restaurants within walking distance and then set out into the dusk looking forward to sating his hunger.

Buffy walked to the Magic Shop after being with her mother when the doctors confirmed the news of Joyce's brain tumor. Upon entering the shop Buffy's shoulders slumped forward and her hands were nervously toying with each other, wondering what if anything she should tell Dawn. Dawn seeing Buffy enter rushed out of her seat towards her pausing only to quickly look into her eyes and seeing immediately that the news wasn't good. The two sisters then wrapped their arms around one another in a hug, each drawing strength from the other.

"Is she awake yet?" Dawn asked, her head on Buffy's shoulder.

"Yeah, she's waiting for us" Buffy whispered in Dawn's ear, rubbing her back as a show of comfort. The Summers sisters withdrew from the hug but kept within reach, each looking into the others eyes.

"Can we take her home now?"

"We'll see" answered Buffy, tucking a few strands of Dawn's hair behind her ears. "Go get your stuff."

Dawn went to the table to gather her things, Buffy turned to Giles and Willow behind the counter with a sigh. "So, any monster reptile sightings?"

"None" Giles whispered, taking a sip of tea afterwards. Willow continued after Giles.

"Tara and I did a mini patrol earlier but the biggie snake was nowhere to be-"

CRASH.

The Sobekian Cobra came hurtling through the front window of the Magic Box knocking over the front display table. The demon snake raised itself up a few feet within the store, rearing up like a Cobra does before striking, swiftly observing and taking in his prey.

SMASH.

With a deft punch the giant Cobra knocked down a display shelf pinning Buffy and advancing further into the store. The Scoobies backed away, Anya up onto the back stairs, Dawn rose from the main table paralyzed standing and screaming unendingly as only a fourteen year old girl can. The Sobekian Cobra raised up to an even greater height directly in front of Dawn roaring in response to the girls scream. The Cobra's eyes flashed violet. The Key, at last.

Buffy watched, trapped under the shelf, as the giant snake's body posture stiffened suddenly. As if intimidated by Dawn's ongoing girlish scream the snake about faced and withdrew with speed from the Magic Box. Buffy's eyes widened at the implications. Shit, it knows.

Xander rushed to Dawn's side. "Dawn are you okay?"

Willow rising up from her hiding place behind the counter next to Tara, scrunched her eyebrows in confusion. "Why was the big snake afraid of Dawn?"

Giles rushed to Buffy's side as she extricated herself from the overturned shelf. Buffy looked up into Giles' eyes panic setting into her tone of voice, eyes wide. "It knows!"

Buffy dashed out of the Magic Box in pursuit of the snake, Giles was only a few paces behind her after sparing the rest of the Scoobies a quick glance to make sure they were alright. Tearing after the snake on foot was a rather simple task for Buffy, all she had to do was follow the screams and destruction that the giant Cobra left in its wake. Desperation fueled her veins and her slayer strength and speed came to her aid as she sprinted down the street. Giles after seeing Buffy take off after the snake on foot quickly jumped into his convertible BMW hoping to catch up with Buffy and aid her in the chase after the Sobekian snake demon.

The tires of Giles' car screeched as he pulled up alongside Buffy, and the car roared to life again after Buffy jumped in, the duo in hot pursuit of the giant snake. The snake dodged in and around the alley way twisting and slithering along swiftly as the whine of the car's engine signaled that it was gaining on the reptile. In order for the serpent to delay its pursuers it used its tail to pull a dumpster directly into the path of the car. At the last moment Giles swerved out of the way of the dumpster inadvertently running into a pile of garbage bags. Buffy watched with growing anxiousness as the giant Cobra slithered away.

"I've got to stop this monster before it gets back to Glory"

"Glory?" asked Giles as he shifted the car into reverse.

"That's what he called her. Giles she's going to know that Dawn's the key if we don't-"

"We will." Interrupted Giles as they took off again after the serpent. The snake slithered its way down a few residential streets, the car following closely, before cutting to the right sharply and bursting through a chain link fence and into a park. The rubber tires squealed as Giles pulled the hand brake stopping suddenly at the curb where the snake tore through the fence. Buffy jumped out over the passenger door as soon as the car was stopped hitting the ground with her feet running and gaining on the giant Cobra quickly.

Night had settled in as Harry sat out on the restaurant patio, sated, with an empty plate and a half pint of beer left on the table in front of him. Leaning back in his chair and relaxing he began reading through a few real estate adverts he'd brought with him to dinner as a start into looking for an apartment or flat that he could rent. As he sat outside finishing off his beer and enjoying the balmy (at least in comparison to England and Massachusetts) fall evening Harry settled a little deeper into his chair, tension and stress from the move leaving his body posture in waves as the food, drink and evening warmth worked their magic on him. Harry was only a few nods from having his chin fall to his chest and napping right there at the patio table before a scream from down the street jumped him out of his seat.

As Harry quickly threw down a few bills on the table and began to walk out the screams down the street were multiplying into the sounds of mass panic: screeching tires, more screams, people and things falling over but the most terrifying sound was that of a snake-like roar. With that roar Harry had a shiver run up his spine, it was eerily reminiscent of a Basilisk's roar. As Harry reached the side of the road he saw three things dash by at a great speed, first was a giant snake that looked like an oversized Cobra with arms, followed closely by a blond girl running by and red convertible catching up quickly to the other two. While the giant snake slithered by Harry managed to catch an uttered phrase continually repeating in parseltongue: key found, must inform mistress; key found, must inform mistress. Blinking owlishly to Harry thought to himself for a moment, well, so much for taking time to get settled in. With Harry's hotel being only a few blocks away he ran there as fast as his legs could carry him and he mounted his motorbike and revved the engine taking off after the snake-beast-thing and company.

At the side of the road Giles watched as Buffy took off out of the car after the snake into the park. Looking at the curb and coming to a swift decision Giles threw the car into reverse planning on backing up and taking a run at the curb to get up across the sidewalk and into the park. Checking his rear-view mirror before backing up Giles was shocked when a classic Triumph motorbike and its rider swooped from behind him and jumped the curb taking off after Buffy and the Cobra demon into the park. Giles' mind instantly jumped to the worst possible conclusion and that the rider could be another agent of Glory's. Given the circumstances Giles had no choice, so he turned sharply mounting the curb and drove into the park his tires gouging the lawn in pursuit of his slayer and the one if not possibly two foes.

Buffy swooped down while running to pick up the discarded chain from another smaller fence that the snake demon had thrashed through. Guessing how fast the snake was moving there was no chance, no matter how fast she ran, for her to catch up to it on foot. However the rocky path to her left gave her the opportunity to jump down onto the snake from above. Taking the path to the left Buffy took a running leap off a boulder and onto the snake from behind rapidly she used the chain that she had picked up to choke the snake around the neck from behind. At first the giant serpent struggled shaking from left to right trying to throw the slayer from its back. In order to fight the snake's struggling Buffy propped both of her knees up into the spine of the snake and pulled back on the chain with all of her effort and body weight. Slowly the Sobekian Cobra struggled less and less its eyes blinking shut as it drooped forward apparently passing out. Buffy waited a few short moments before deciding to drop the chain and get off the snake's back. With the clinking sound of the chain hitting the ground the snake demon's slit pupil eyes popped open and with a sharp elbow knocked Buffy off its back and onto the ground a few feet away. After the moment it took for Buffy to get to her feet she saw the snake turned to face her, arms wide and its stance ready for a fight as it let out that high pitched snake-ish roar again. But before Buffy could take a step forward to engage the snake demon in combat the loud low rumble of a motorbike came from behind her, turning Buffy saw someone on a motorbike barreling towards her and the snake at full speed. With slayer agility Buffy dodged into a barrel roll to the side as the bike zoomed past her.

SMASH.

ROAR.

The bike had crashed into the snake at full speed. The giant serpent was part roaring part hissing as it rolled about on the ground. Its arm was at an odd angle and its torso covered in large gashes that bled out onto the grass, the blood looking black in the moonlight. The bike was dented in spots, headlamp smashed out and laying on its side a few feet away from the writhing serpent. The bike's rider was a few feet further still from the snake, helmet still on the rider was shakily getting to his feet.

Buffy came closer and looked down at the snake demon as its twitching and writhing slowed. Given its earlier feign Buffy jumped down onto the snake with a thump and began to pound its head down further into the grass and dirt of the park floor. The serpents tail stopped twitching and then it stopped moving in general, Buffy rocking back away from the demon onto her heels knew it was dead this time.

Hearing footsteps approaching Buffy glanced up at the rider who was now carrying his helmet at his side. He was a skinny young adult, maybe a few years older than herself and only several inches taller putting him at about five foot nine, with long black wavy hair, a day or two's stubble growth and bright green eyes behind a pair of stylish looking wire rimmed glasses.

"Hi, you looked like you could use a little help." Harry offered his hand to Buffy to help her up and after a moment she took his hand as he pulled her to her feet. Buffy instantly recognized his accent as British, but it was noticeably a little less posh and refined sounding than her watchers, that or Giles was just old.

"Yeah, thanks. I guess..." Buffy trailed off as she saw Giles in his car pulling up from a ways off. "Is your bike going to be okay?" asked Buffy as she gestured to Harry's Triumph lying on its side a ways away.

"It should be. I'm sure most of the damage is only superficial." Harry distractedly scratched the back of his neck and looked towards the ground, a nervous tick when meeting new people or being embarrassed from his Hogwarts days. "I'm Harry, by the way. And you are?" Harry offered his hand once again, this time for a shake.

"Buffy Summers" she responded gently shaking his hand. Giles' car pulled up beside Buffy and Harry, sliding while trying to stop on the grass.

"Buffy are you alright?" Giles asked getting out of the car and rushing to Buffy's side, grabbing her hand and glancing down at the noticeable amount of snake blood on them.

"Yeah I'm fine. Harry here..." Buffy pointed to Harry. "Drove his bike into the snake thingy and did most of the damage to it." Buffy then gestured to her bloody hand. "I just went to make sure it stayed down."

Giles at hearing this story was giving Harry a piercing glance, looking him up and down before glancing off to the side at the half-wrecked classic motorbike. Returning his glance to Harry, his piercing glance less pointed, Giles addressed Harry.

"Do you make a habit of chasing after large reptiles Mr... I'm sorry I didn't catch your last name. And for that matter you don't seem perturbed in the least over the size and appearance of this reptile."

Buffy, who thought Giles was being a tad harsh with her rescuing stranger gave him a waspish sideways glance. But she returned her gaze to Harry quickly, just as curious at her watchers questions, particularly with everything involving Glory these days being so new and unknown.

"Well the name's Potter sir, Harry Potter. And I'm not really all that surprised at the size or appearance of this snake because this is the Hellmouth after all, isn't it?"

At Harry's declaration of his knowledge of the Hellmouth both the watcher and slayer were stunned and each of their wide eyed open mouthed stares matched the others, a rare occurrence here on the Hellmouth.