allyndra | Articulation 6/15

In this chapter, Xander takes Harry to the Scooby reunion.

Xander usually managed to get out of driving by appealing to his lack of depth perception and his nasty habit of driving on the right side of the road. Since Harry had never learned how to drive, however, Xander was stuck driving them to the reunion himself. His hands were tight on the steering wheel as he maneuvered through the London streets. A quick glance at Harry when they were stopped at a light showed Xander that his companion was just as tense.

He reached out and laid a hand on Harry's arm. "Don't worry. They're going to love you."

"Maybe. Don't jinx it by saying things like that, though. Talk about something else, would you? How did they react to other people you've dated?"

"I'm not exactly the Don Juan of the Sunnydale set, y'know. Let's see...There was a lot of antagonism toward Cordelia, but it was pretty much justified. She could kill with her tongue. Metaphorically! It took a really long time for them to accept Anya, but she *had* been a demon. And - " Oh god! It was fortunate that they were stopped again, or Xander would have put them in great danger when he slammed his head down against the steering wheel.

"What? What is it?"

"Harry? Could you maybe not mention to my friends that our first conversation was about the similarities between our boyfriends?"

"What? Why would - They don't know about Spike, do they?" Harry sounded accusing. 'And who knew an English accent emphasized accusation so well?' Xander thought.

"No." He answered, voice quiet, making him sound small. "The reasons why are mostly really selfish, too. See, I was a major ass about Spike sleeping with Buffy and Anya. I was hurt, but that doesn't excuse the things I said." The look on Anya's face that afternoon still haunted him sometimes. "I was, like, King Ass of Asstonia. It was really bad. So when I got involved with Spike, I was ashamed of how I had acted." He'd just gotten over being ashamed of the not-wedding at that point; he wasn't ready for another round of public humiliation. He prayed that Spike had known Xander was ashamed of himself, and not of Spike. "I've had a less than stellar dating history, and I didn't want to bring that relationship out for everyone to scrutinize, with them remembering my hissy fits and being all judge-y."

"Alright." It didn't sound like it was alright, but Xander was willing to take the statement at face value, especially since they were pulling into the parking lot. "What about me?" Uncertain green eyes stared out of a pale, tense face.

Xander pulled the key out of the ignition and turned to look the younger man full in the face. He brushed Harry's shaggy black hair away from his eyes and leaned over to kiss him. The past few days had taught him that he absolutely loved kissing Harry. The wizard just seemed to completely open up, kissing with his heart and soul. Soft, strong lips and a talented tongue helped, too. Now Xander tried to do the same thing, tried to show Harry how important he was and how strongly Xander felt about him through the kiss. When he pulled away, they were both breathing hard.

"I'm not going to ever try to hide you or deny how I feel about you." With a final caress, he pulled back.

"Ready?"

"As ready as I'm likely to be." Both men opened their doors and stepped out. They twined their fingers together as they walked across the park toward the picnic area where they were supposed to meet the Scoobies.

***

Harry was glad Xander was holding his right hand, because it meant he couldn't panic and grab his wand to apparate away. He took deep breaths to try and ground himself as they approached a group of about a half a dozen people. 'A half dozen of Xander's best friends, who believe he's completely straight.' Harry armored himself with the memory of that last kiss in the car. And then had to stop, as reliving that kiss had physical consequences that could be embarrassing when meeting new people.

He really didn't have time to think anything else, because right then a screaming torpedo with long brown hair came rushing at them and slammed into Xander. Xander let got of Harry's hand to swing the torpedo (who appeared to be a teenaged girl) around in a hug. When the two finally let go, both were dizzy. Harry steadied Xander with a hand on his elbow and couldn't stop a grin at the carpenter's happy, flushed expression.

"Oh my god!" The girl shrieked. "I've missed you so much, Xander! You have to come and visit us and maybe you'll be able to convince Buffy that I am *not* a child and not everyone that I date is going to be a vampire or a jerk with an enchanted jacket. And you can take me to clubs and it'll so totally rock." The girl stopped before she turned blue from lack of breath.

Harry had been fascinated by the stream of words and the rolling variation in pitch, up to nearly a screech, down to a pleasant alto, all accompanied by bouncing hair and waving hands. He had been so caught up in the performance, in fact, that he hadn't noticed the more sedate approach of several other young women. They couldn't compare to the sheer energy of the first greeting, but the short blonde and taller ginger haired woman both hugged Xander enthusiastically in greeting. Once he had separated, the one-eyed man turned to make sure that Harry was okay. Harry smiled reassuringly and tried to think of

something to say.

"So, Xander, are all of your friends pretty?"

Xander settled his face into a solemn expression. "No. All of my friends are stunningly beautiful." He let the serious look go and flashed a smile at the girls standing in a semicircle in front of them. A noise from behind made them turn.

"Honestly, Xander," an older man said, sounding disapproving. "You know I prefer the term 'ruggedly handsome.'"

"Don't worry, Giles. I don't hate you because you're beautiful." Harry loved the goofy, crooked grin on Xander's face. He silently pledged to keep his new boyfriend - 'Gulp. Boyfriend!' - this happy as much as humanly possible. "Hey, I want to introduce you all to Harry. This is Buffy, Willow, Dawn, and Giles." He pointed to each in turn. "Guys, this is Harry." He gestured at Harry dramatically, like a game show hostess presenting a lovely dinette set. Harry resisted smacking him on the back of the head, not wanting to make a violent first impression. "And over yonder looks like Andrew and Kennedy," Xander concluded. He looked around expectantly, and Harry wondered if he was supposed to make some display of instant friendship for these people.

Willow gave a little wave and a confused smile. "Hi, Harry. It's nice to meet you." She shot Xander a sharp look. "We weren't expecting Xander to bring a friend."

Xander took Harry's hand, and the wizard thought, amusedly, that the taller man was trying to protect him. "Yeah, well, you brought Kennedy, so I figured it would be fine."

"But Willow and Kennedy are -" Buffy cut herself off, staring at their joined hands with her mouth open in surprise.

"Yeah, about that. Remember that 'Gay me up' speech. Turns out I didn't need any help there."

It was amazing how much noise three girls clamoring for information could make. Fortunately, Giles didn't seem inclined to shout along with the rest of them. After a few moments of collective babbling, Xander held up his hands. "Stop! I get that you have questions and stuff, but chill. I for one, would be much happier discussing my love life over some cool, refreshing potato salad." To Harry's relief, everyone agreed to calm down and move to the picnic area. He held back when they moved off, and Xander stayed with him.

"Are you okay?"

Harry summoned a weak smile. "Remind me why I thought this was a good idea."

"Because I used my manly wiles to cloud your judgment." Harry tried not to give in, but he couldn't stop a small smile from escaping. "No? How 'bout my Jedi mind tricks? I hear those work great." Now Harry was grinning up into the tanned face. Xander looked relieved. The young Englishman leaned up and kissed the other man on the cheek.

"Come along. Let's go brave the pack of wild girls you've dragged me into." They set off across the grass.

***

Xander knew he was in for it when Willow pointedly moved the cookies out of his reach. That was an act of pretty extreme passive aggression. He decided he'd better nip this in the bud. He made sure Harry had a plate full of food and settled him beside Kennedy, as the picnicker least likely to actually care who Xander was dating.

He draped an arm around the redhead's stiff shoulders and said, "Willow, old buddy, old pal. Walk with me, talk with me." He led her away from the group and into the shade of a nearby tree. "Okay, let me have it," he said.

"Fine." She smacked him in the arm. "Why didn't you tell me you had a boyfriend? Why didn't you tell me you like boys? I know I wasn't all upfront woman when I started going out with Tara, but you know you can always talk to me. Especially now, 'cause, hey, been there, done that, got the big gay t-shirt."

"I know, Wills. I know I can talk to you. It's just...when I realized that I might be slightly less than totally straight, it was in the middle of the whole First thing, and we had all those potentials coming out of the woodwork. Well, figuratively. Literally they were just smashing the woodwork. The point is, it didn't seem like the time for the lifestyle discussion." He didn't mention that he'd been sleeping with Spike at that time, and had been so focused on keeping that hidden that he hadn't even thought about discussing bisexuality with Willow.

"I guess I can handle that. I mean, it's a little late to change it, now. But why didn't you tell me you had a boyfriend?"

"Up till a couple of nights ago, I just knew for sure I had a friend. We've been an official couple for" Xander checked his watch "2 days and 20 hours. I think this is pretty prompt, if you ask me."

"You just started going out and you dragged him to a family reunion?! Are you evil? Wait you're not, right? Never mind. Go rescue your boyfriend." Willow giggled. "Xander's got a boyfriend. Xander's got a boyfriend," she sing-songed as they walked back. "Don't think you're getting off this easy, though. You got some 'splaining to do, mister."

***

Harry had been trying to be unobtrusive. This was an impossible goal in a gathering this small, but he still tried. When Giles sat down across from him, he gave up on unobtrusive and decided to try for harmless.

"Hullo, Mr. Giles," he said. That seemed quite safe.

"Hello, Harry. From your accent I hear that you're a fellow countryman. Where are you from."

They made small talk for a bit, and Harry blessed British courtesy. He managed to talk about Surrey as though he didn't loathe the place and to keep his discussion of his education fairly general. He thought he was doing splendidly until he ran a hand through his hair. He saw Giles' eyes widen and knew he'd spotted the scar. Moreover, he knew what the scar meant.

"Good Lord! You're Harry Potter, aren't you?" He pulled of his glasses to polish them and accidentally dropped them. Both men winced when they heard the tinkle of breaking glasses.

"Hand them here," Harry instructed. Once he had the glasses in his hand, he told Giles, "Cover me." He shielded what he was doing as best he could and cast a Reparo charm.

Giles looked a bit dazed as he took the repaired glasses back from Harry and donned them. "I thought you weren't supposed to work magic around muggles." He said it calmly, but there was a hint of suspicion.

"From what Xander said, you aren't exactly a muggle." Harry felt a hand on the back of his neck as he finished this sentence and looked up to smile his welcome at Xander.

"Y'know, Giles, I never heard the word muggle till I met Harry."

Harry flashed a sudden grin. "I don't know why. It's a perfectly cromulent word," he quoted. Xander had been aghast that Harry had never seen The Simpsons, and had set out to rectify the matter.

Giles cleared his throat, "Yes, well. Xander, do you realize that you're dating The Boy Who Lived." If he had intended it as a shocking announcement, he must have been disappointed. Xander only smiled.

"You know me, G-man. I only hang out with superheroes." Before Giles could ask any other questions, he extracted Harry and took him off to play Frisbee with Buffy and Dawn.

***

It was hours later when Xander and Harry finally headed back to the car. They had talked about differences in magic use with Willow, comic books with Andrew, fighting with Buffy and Kennedy, the Ministry of Magic and the Watcher's Council with Giles, and school with Dawn. They had had a water fight and played hide and seek, and had eaten a week's worth of food. On the whole, it had been an entirely successful reunion. They had almost made it into the car when Willow appeared.

"Almost forgot." She stared Harry straight in the eyes. "If you hurt him I will break your wand and shove the jagged pieces down your throat. Then I will beat you to death with a shovel. Just so you know." She turned and gave Xander a little hug. "See, I modified it a little because he's a wizard," she said happily. "I love you. Call me."

Harry stared after her as she returned to Kennedy, who was waiting nearby. "Just for that I'm making you meet my friends next week," he said. Xander gave him a terrified look, but Harry just smiled innocently and got in the car.