CHAPTER THREE
Never in his life had Ron been in the same room with so many teenage girls. Discounting those many meals in the Great Hall, anyway, but those were different. For one, most of the witches at Hogwarts didn't pay him any mind. For another, these girls were.
He couldn't believe he'd been jealous of the attention Harry received for so long. Sure, it was brilliant having at least a hundred girls' attention, but after being asked for his autograph he didn't know how many times, his arm was getting tired. Still, it was great, and although he didn't think he could live with it twenty-four/seven, he did think it was good for a few hours at least.
Many of his new fans volunteered to help research, although many were saddened to hear that he wouldn't be staying for very long. Some of them, he noted, wanted to get Xander back, and others hoped that they'd get to meet the Boy Who Lived himself.
Ron was grinning when Dawn came to his rescue. She smirked at him as she pulled him out of the gym where the crowd of fan girls had gathered and led him back up the stairs. "Come on, Willow wants to talk to you."
"That's fine," Ron said, smiling smugly. He was full of confidence now. Being a celebrity felt good.
She rolled her eyes at him. "So how many of them asked for autographs."
"Thirty-three," Ron answered, dreamily. He turned to her with a grin. "I'd be more than happy to give you one, too."
She looked at him for a minute as she tried to fight the smile from forming. "Thanks, that's-" She couldn't take it anymore and just let it all out. "Great! Oh, you have no idea how much I love the Harry Potter books! They are like my all-time favorite." Her eyes widened in embarrassment. "Not that I absolutely have to have your autograph or anything. I mean, if you'd feel uncomfortable…or something."
Ron's smile fell a little as her words sunk in. He'd forgotten that little detail: his and his friends' lives were nothing but some unknown women's creation here. Those girls had been his fans only because his life was some big-screen box-office sell-out.
He sighed. He'd been spending way too much time with Hermione and Harry. Just when things got good, he was already looking for the catch.
Willow and Buffy were waiting for them in the office. "One of the Slayers found this location spell," Willow said, "That should work across dimensional boundaries. But it only works if we have a portal open, or if we have someone or something that's been in contact with a portal recently."
"In other words, me," Ron guessed. "Are you going to try to find Harry and your friend, Xander?"
"That's what we're hoping," Buffy confirmed. "From what you told us, it sounds like a look-a-like spell caster from both sides cast the same spell at the same time. When two people are working either end, the portal is just that much more powerful. That means that Xander and Harry could be anywhere."
Dawn bit her lip. "I hope Xander's all right." She glanced at Ron. "And Harry."
"They are," Buffy said, giving her sister a reassuring smile even though it was obvious she was also worried.
"Yeah," Ron said with confidence. "If I know Harry, he can get himself out of trouble just as much as he gets in trouble."
"Xander's the same way," Buffy said, nodding. "They'll be fine."
"Right," Willow agreed, nodding her head decisively. She wouldn't let herself believe anything else.
They got to business. "Take out your wand and do a spell," Willow said. "Something simple."
"Like wingardium leviosa or something," Dawn said, happy to remember one of the correct spells.
Ron shrugged and glanced around. He spotted a coffee cup resting on the desk. Pointing his wand at it, he did the 'swish and flick' motion Hermione had drilled into his skull back in first year. "Wingardium leviosa."
The cup rose into the air. Ron controlled its motion with his wand and set the cup back down in a different spot. He glanced at Willow. Her eyes were closed and her arms were extended, palms facing forward.
Her eyes flew open and she gasped before taking a jerky step to the right, almost falling if Buffy hadn't steadied her. "Woah," she said as a big, amazed grin spread across her face.
"What happened?" Ron asked.
Willow steadied herself. Still looking amazed, she met Ron's eyes. "Um, the spell that sent you here, it's unlike anything I've ever felt. It was completely unlike your own magic, too, that's why I asked you to perform a spell so I could compare them. The portal spell - that used a completely different kind of magic altogether from both Wiccan magic and your own wizard magic." She looked at Buffy. "I'm completely out of my element here. If there's any information we can get on this thing, I'm thinking that only that spell caster would know it."
"So we look for the spell caster," Buffy said.
She headed for the door. "I'll tell the researchers to stand down and get a few teams together to go on a hunt. Willow, think you could locate this guy?"
"I could try. He should have remnants of the spell left on him, too, so it should be easier than usual."
Buffy nodded. "Good. Thanks, Will." She turned to her sister. "Dawn, maybe you could show Ron to one of the guest quarters? It's getting late and we probably shouldn't start the search until tomorrow."
"Sure," Dawn said. She turned to Ron and motioned toward the door. "Come on. Let's get you a room." At that statement, her eyes widened a little. "For yourself, I mean. It'll be a private one. Unless you want to room with someone else? Not in a sexy way…"
"A private room's fine," Ron said, smiling. She was cute when she babbled.
Where did that thought come from? He hadn't even known Dawn Summers for longer than two hours and already he was…what?
Dawn smile, embarrassed. "Right."
She turned and led the way out the room and back down the stairs. Ron trailed behind her, trying to sort out his thoughts. Did he have feelings for Dawn? But what about Hermione?
That thought almost made him choke. Now where the bloody hell had that come from? He didn't have any feelings for Hermione. No, way.
Dawn led him across the front hall of the gym and through another door near the entrance. They exited into the front lobby of what had to be a hotel. They walked past the reception desk and entered an elevator. Ron glanced around it in puzzlement. "What's this box room for?"
Dawn tried not to start laughing. "It's an elevator," she replied. "It'll help us get to the fifth floor faster. That's the floor for guest and permanent residents such as myself."
The elevator rose. When they got off on the fifth floor, Ron glanced around in amazement. "Hogwarts could use a few of those," he said. "That's better than the bleeding moving staircases any day."
Dawn was studying the hallway. "Let's see, which one isn't being used yet…a-ha!"
She showed him into one of the rooms. "#513, the room right next to mine."
"Great," Ron said. "When's dinner? I'm starving."
"It's pretty much an eat-whenever-you-like kind of deal. Food's always downstairs. Just ask someone."
For a long moment, they just stood there, smiling at each other. Then Dawn took an unconscious step forward.
Ron took a hasty step back. "I think I'll go grab some dinner in a few minutes, then," he said loudly.
Her eyes widened. "Oh, right! Um, I'll meet you down there." She turned and hastily beat it to the door "I'll, uh, just go now."
"Yeah," Ron agreed.
"Yeah," Dawn said, then she shut the door behind her, leaving Ron alone.
Ron collapsed on one of the twin beds, buried his face in his hands and groaned. Had they been about to kiss? If they had, why the hell had he been so panicked?
"My love life's not complicated, not at all," he muttered to himself.
He sighed before standing, heading for the bathroom. He stood in front of the sink and splashed water on his face. It had been a long and weird day. He wondered if Hermione had told his dad and the Order about him and Harry disappearing. He smiled. Knowing her, she probably had, first thing.
His eyes widened. "My Mum is going to kill me," he told his reflection.
Pain shot through him. He reflexively grabbed the edge of the sink as his body spasmed. He cried out and stared, shocked to his core, at his reflection.
Something was happening to him. The best word he could use to describe it was…rippling. His body was rippling like it was the surface of a lake, only it wasn't, and this hurt like hell.
It stopped as suddenly as it began. Unable to hold himself up any longer, Ron gasped as he collapsed to the floor.
It was an hour or so later when the door to the holding cell opened. Major Carter and Daniel Jackson were the only ones to enter. "You guys hungry?" Carter asked.
"Are we ever," Xander said, jumping up. He smiled at her. "Thanks for asking."
Carter smiled back. Even though he might be a little young, there was something about him that she liked.
"We're headed for the Commissary for lunch," Daniel said. "The general's given permission to you to wonder about the base as long as you're with someone."
"Lead the way, then," Xander said.
"Um, Major Carter, is there any chance of me getting my wand back?" Harry asked.
Carter and Daniel exchanged a glance. "We'll have to ask the general. Come on. We should get moving before it gets too crowded."
They traveled up two levels to the Commissary. The room was indeed crowded, but there were still a few tables free. After they'd loaded their trays, the four were waved to a table by Teal'c and Colonel O'Neill. Teal'c, Jack, Daniel took one side while Harry, Xander, and Carter took the other.
"So, um, what's it like in your realities?" Daniel asked just to get the conversation going.
"Yeah, what's the actor who plays me like?" Jack asked, curious. "He any good?"
Xander shrugged. "He's got you down pat, and he's your identical twin to boot."
Harry nodded. "I've seen only a handful of episodes, but from what I can remember, he does look like you. Same goes for the rest of you, too."
"From where in your reality do you hail, HarryPotter?" Teal'c asked. "Your accent is unlike any I have heard from the Tau'ri."
Harry looked puzzled. "The Tau'ri? Who are they?"
Xander answered before Daniel could. "It's Goa'uld for 'Earthling'."
"Oh. Well, um, I'm from England. Surrey, actually."
"Where in Surrey?" Daniel asked.
Harry frowned as he considered a question he'd never thought to ask. Where was he born? "Um, I don't really know. My parents died when I was a baby." It felt strange explaining that, especially since everyone he'd ever met had known about that beforehand.
"I am sorry to hear that, HarryPotter," Teal'c said.
"Thanks." Harry cleared his throat before going on. "We've been comparing notes." He pointed between himself and Xander. "We've been trying to come up with as many parallels and differences between our two realities as we can. Xander said something about a mirror or something that we might be able to use if we can't track down the sorcerer."
"Know about that, huh?" Jack asked. "What else is on that TV show?"
"A lot of things," Xander said, shrugging.
Harry continued, "The biggest difference between our two realities that we can see is that our lives are fictional in each other's realities, while here, they aren't."
Xander took up the explanation, "We got to thinking that we may just have doubles here. If that's true, then I know some people who could help us. Harry does, too, but they would be a tad harder for him to get in touch with. The people I know could track down our wizard or warlock or whoever he is a lot better than you could, no offense."
"Give us some names and addresses and we'll look them up," Carter said. "With the general's permission, of course."
One thing had been bugging Harry for quite some time. "Colonel O'Neill? How exactly did the wizard break into this place?"
SG-1 exchanged glances again. "Well," O'Neill began, "we're not exactly sure about that ourselves."
"Meaning?" Xander questioned.
Jack waved helplessly to the archeologist. "Daniel?"
Daniel launched into an explanation about the intruders and their weird ability to make time seem to flow out of sequence.
"Ooh, ooh! I know this one!" Xander said, snapping his fingers as he tried to remember. "Rwasundi demons! They cause temporal disturbances in their general vicinity." He smiled, pleased that he remembered what he'd heard about them. Anya had been the one to share the info with the gang that time.
"How can you be certain they are demons, XanderHarris?" questioned Teal'c.
"Something tells me that we do have doubles here, which means that demons and vampires also exist here, too," Xander said.
California, the SGC's universe
It was a solemn group that stared at the crater that had been Sunnydale only a few minutes before.
"Looks like the Hellmouth is officially closed for business," Faith deadpanned.
Giles remarked, "There is another one in Cleveland."
Everyone turned and looked at him, glaring.
"Not to spoil the moment." Giles continued, a little sheepishly.
"You're telling me there's another one of those things?" Gunn asked. "Ah, man. Don't tell me the First is going to try to raise another army over there, too! We've only got one souled vamp left and the talisman is somewhere down there!"
Everyone paled. "Um, I'm certain it won't come to that," Wesley said, although he sounded less than certain. "The First will undoubtedly need time to strengthen its numbers, too, and considering the amount of time it took for it to built up an army in the first place…it's unlikely it will come up again in our lifetimes."
"Oh, thank God," Cordelia said, extremely relieved.
Faith, Cordelia, Gunn, Wesley, Giles, Xander, Willow, Dawn, and Buffy contemplated the crater for a few moments in silence. Behind them was the school bus they'd used to escape. Anya, Andrew, Robyn Wood, and a group of newly-called Slayers gathered just outside of the bus' door. Angel was huddled under a seat inside the bus, protected by a blanket from the sun's rays.
"We saved the world," Xander stated.
Willow shook here head. She corrected, "We changed the world."
She walked over to Buffy, who stood a few feet in front of them, contemplating the crater from just beyond its edge.
"I can feel them, Buffy," Willow told her. "All over. Slayers are awakening everywhere."
"We'll have to find them," Dawn said, thinking of all the places they'd have to go to locate the Slayers.
Willow nodded decisively. "We will."
Giles raised an eyebrow. "Yes, because the mall was actually in Sunnydale, so there's no hope of going there tomorrow."
Dawn's own eyebrow raised. "We destroyed the mall?" She shook her head ruefully. "I fought on the wrong side."
"Don't worry, there are much better malls in LA," Cordelia assured her.
Xander quipped, "All those shops gone. The Gap, Starbucks, Toys "R" Us. Who will remember all those landmarks unless we tell the world about them?"
"We have a lot of work ahead of us," Giles remarked.
Faith glared at him before turning to Willow. "Can I push him in?" she asked eagerly.
"You've got my vote," Willow said.
"Mine, too," Cordelia said.
"Me, three," Gunn remarked.
Faith turned to Giles. "I just want to sleep for like a week!"
"I guess we all could, if we wanted to," Dawn said, smiling at the prospect.
Willow smiled. "Yeah. The First is scrunched, so... what do you think we should do, Buffy?
Faith turned to Buffy, smirking. "Yeah, you're not the one and only chosen anymore. Just gotta live like a person. How's that feel?"
"Yeah, Buffy. What are we gonna do now?" Dawn asked.
"I've thinking it has something to do with the Vision I'm having right now," Cordelia said.
Everyone turned to her. "Vision?" Dawn repeated tentatively, dreading the answer. She'd so looked forward to a good, weeklong nap.
"What do you see?" Wesley asked her.
Cordelia's eyes were unfocused as she watched whatever the Powers That Be were showing her. Her eyes widened. "Well, that's new," she said, blinking. Her eyes focused on them. She turned to Xander. "We need to get Harriet over here. This involves her and you, Xander."
Faith jogged over to the bus and returned a moment later with one of the newly-called Slayers. "What's up, guys?" Harriet asked, her accent obviously very British even after spending many months in California.
"I had a Vision," Cordelia explained. "I saw Xander's and your doubles in a military base. It's under Cheyenne Mountain in Colorado Springs. I think they're in trouble. They need our help."
"So we'll suit up," Xander said. "When do we need to be there?"
"As soon as possible. We don't have a lot of time before both of them end up dead."
Giles asked, "Um, Cordelia, when you say doubles, do you mean that they're from another dimension?"
Cordelia nodded. "There's another thing you guys should know. Especially you, Harriet."
"What is it, Cordy?" Harriet Potter asked.
Cordelia laughed nervously. "Well, um, your double? Not exactly a girl."
The Girl Who Lived glanced at the others, who all looked equally confused. "What do you mean?"
