UnExpected

Chapter 41

"Brooms?"

"Awesome for play and for travel."

"Black pointy hats?"

"Only for special occasions."

"Cauldrons?"

"Very sturdy for potion making."

"Wands?"

"Excellent way to channel magic."

"Bangers and mash?"

"Sausage and potatoes. Varied on tasty."

Buffy Summers, Vampire Slayer, was a witch. A witch, witch. With actual powers and everything. Something in which her two friends were still trying to wrap their minds around.

"So, you can make stuff happen just by waving that little stick of yours?" Xander asked, waving his hand around to make his point.

"It's a little more complicated than that," Buffy replied, smiling at the picture he made.

"Can you show us something? Oh, can you turn Xander into a goat?" asked a giddy Willow.

"Hey!" he exclaimed in protest.

"I can try," Buffy said with a shrug, pointing her wand to the frightened-eyed boy.

"Buffy," Giles warned, before she had a chance to demonstrate her transfiguration skills.

"Spoil sport," she mumbled, and pouted as she lowered her wand, much to the relief of one Xander Harris.

"Why don't you show them something a little less drastic?" Giles suggested.

"All right, fine. But it won't be as much fun."

Raising her wand again, Buffy pointed it at the stack of books on Giles's coffee table, and on the edge of their seats, Xander and Willow watched as the books disappeared with a swish and a flick.

"Those...those were first editions," Giles stuttered, nearing a panic attack.

"Chill, Giles," Buffy said calmly, and with another flick, the books reappeared. "See no harm, no foul."

Quickly moving past the sofa, he lowered himself down to the table and picked up the volumes. Checking each one for so much as a scratch. And much to his great relief, his beloved books remained unharmed.

"Thank, goodness," he grinned happily. Carefully and gently rechecking every book again.

"Uh, Giles?" Buffy asked, and with a raised eyebrow waited for the Watcher to turn around. "Do we need to leave you and the books alone?"

Giles moved his embarrassed eyes to all three teenagers. And seeing a large grin on each of their faces, he felt his cheeks begin to warm.

"Er, uh, well, th-they are first editions," he stuttered, suddenly feeling ridiculous about his behavior. Lowering the books to the table once again, he straightened himself up and tried to regain whatever self-respect he had left. "Completely irreplaceable you know. One of, uh, one of a kind."

And Buffy's grin widened even more. Same old Giles.

"That wasn't a British thing, was it?" Xander asked.

"Uh..." Buffy stumbled when the sudden face of Hermione Granger popped into her mind. "Depends on the British person."

"It's so weird thinking of you as British. I mean, British people equals Giles, and you are so not Giles," Willow commented, and at Giles's questioning look, she soon babbled her backtrack. "N-not that that's a bad thing. Being Giles, 'cause you know, that would be great. I mean, you'd know all this stuff about demons and vampires, and you'd drink tea and eat scones. Scones are good. D-do you eat scones, Buffy?"