Articulation 11/15

[allyndra]

Willow and Hermione make with the genius girl magic.

Author's note: I hadn't realized until just now that my catastrophe bears a startling resemblance to the one described in Mercedes Lackey's 'Mage Storms' series. So, to give credit where credit is due, I probably subconsciously ripped it off.

 

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Xander fought the urge to just grab Harry and run far away. Surely there were places in the world that weren't inhabited by demons and weren't ruled by prophecies, right? Truthfully, Xander knew there really weren't, but a childhood spent ignorant of the supernatural still occassionally reared its head and insisted that the *real* world wasn't like this. An adolescence and adulthood spent fighting the things that go bump in the night, however, struck back; he couldn't escape this prophecy without endangering others. So he walked sedately back into Giles' office instead of running away.

 

Looking at Willow and Giles, Xander could tell that things had been going well. He knew the mussed hair of a Giles who had run his hands over his head in frustration too many times and the pinched look of a Willow who had been gritting her teeth to keep from throwing books or smacking her laptop. Both had made appearances at research parties and pre-apocalyptc cramming sessions in the past, and Xander was pleased to note their absence today. Giles' hair was un-mussed and he wasn't even polishing his glasses, and Willow had the flushed cheeks and sparkly eyes of a satisfied intellectual. Xander allowed himself to be comforted by their appearance as he took his seat at the paper covered table. He relaxed a little more as the comforting smell of old books and the familiar sounds of Willow-babble and esoteric British explanations flowed over him. He smiled and nodded at the notes they had been working on.

 

"So, super geniuses, hit me with your explanations. I'm prepared to be awed and edified."

 

***

 

It was not uncommon for Harry to look back on his time at Hogwarts and regret having meekly followed Ron's lead in class selection. As he listened to Hermione explain how they had combined her Arithmancy knowledge with Willow's maths knowledge to create a predictive logarithm for the power flood, however, he felt grateful to have escaped a class that led to such complicated equations. He silently resolved to take Ron out for a butterbeer by way of thanks. While he thought this, Hermione had stopped talking and was giving Harry a glare. With a mental slap, Harry pulled his mind back to the current discussion as Willow took up the thread of their report.

 

"It looks like we've been really lucky so far that the waves have stayed itty bitty, 'cause after Sunnydale went kablooey, we were in no shape to deal with this, and it sounds like you guys weren't much better off. Well, summer vacation is over, and it's going to get really hairy, really fast." Despite her flippant tone, the ginger haired Wicca looked serious. "Now that they have built to a substantial size, the waves are growing nearly exponentially. They'll be causing problems in less than a week, and a few days after that, they'll be a major danger to not only everyone with magical power, but also everyone who lives near a magical artifact or portal." Which encompassed virtually everyone any of them cared about.

 

Hermione spoke again. "We aren't certain exactly how much the amount of magic present will affect the results of the flood, but it seems likely that places and people with large concentrations of power will be in the most danger. If our solution doesn't work, we'll need to owl Headmistress McGonagall about closing Hogwarts." Hermione knew how severe the threat would have to be in order for McGonagall to agree to that. The very fact that she suggested it conveyed the enormity of the situation to Harry better than anything else could have done.

 

"But I really think our solution will work," Willow said, with a little toss of her hair. "We're going to try combining our magics into a shield, and then set it up as a barrier to the waves. Then we'll shunt the power back into the dimension it's originating from. If we do it right, we'll set the shunt up to be self-sustaining, so this won't happen again." Her eyes sparkled in anticipation of that accomplishment.

 

"How will this shield work?" Harry asked. It wasn't unheard of for a witch or wizard to combine powers with another, but their magic and the kind used by Willow and Giles were fundamentally different.

 

"It'll be like this." Hermione grabbed a sheet of paper and began to sketch a rough visualization as Willow clarified. "Most shields are smooth, so nothing can latch on to break through. We're going to make ours bumpy, so they can hook together. That way we can layer them, and the shield will have both kinds of power in it, Wands and Will." She looked over at Xander and flashed him a smile. "It'll be like Legos."

 

***

 

Xander grinned back at Willow, recalling hours spent together, building Lego castles on the floor of Willows room. He thought the idea of their shield sounded reasonable. It certainly sounded easier than trying to completely merge two different types of magic for the barrier. He did have one question, though.

 

"What about me and Harry? We're the foundation. How does that work?"

 

Willow looked sheepish, and Xander braced himself. She knew he didn't like dealing with spells, and from the look on her face, she was about to involve him in a spellcasting. "You guys are really important to this. When we make the shunt for the power, we're going to need to be grounded. You'll be our anchor, tying us to this dimension when we make a connection to a different one. It has to be someone with a strong connection to the earth, and whom the participants trust implicitly."

 

"But why us? I mean, I get that Harry was Mr. Destiny, but now he's just a wizard and I'm Johnny Normal." Xander didn't really have any hope of wriggling out of this, but he was honor bound to try.

 

"We're fairly confident that it has to do with the ways in which you are perceived by the people who will be doing the spells. Harry has been famous in the wizarding world since before he could talk. Most wizards are afraid to even say the man's name, but Harry survived encounter after encounter with Voldemort and his minions, and he finally killed him. Even those who don't like Harry respect him and feel some connection to him. He should be able ground any wizard," Hermione explained with an affectionate look at her friend.

 

Xander looked over at his boyfriend. He'd known about the prophecy and the war, but Harry didn't like to talk about his fame. It was kind of cool to find out that he was dating the wizarding answer to Luke Skywalker. "That still doesn't explain me. I'm nothing special. Nobody even knows who I am."

 

Giles took off his glasses, looking uncomfortable. "I'm afraid that's not quite true. Stories about what you young people have accomplished in Sunnydale have been circulating for years. At first I tried to keep it quiet, but eventually I decided it was preferable to the Council's propaganda. Then, Willow became extremely powerful, and she began to attract even more attention." He cast an apologetic look at Willow as he continued. "When she tried to end the world, you were the one who stopped her. One man who simply refused to stop loving his friend saved us all. And the Wiccan community was aware of it. You are quite the celebrity in some circles. Those participating in our part of the barrier spell will know you and respect you." His hazel eyes were soft as he saw the impact his words had had on Xander.

 

Xander was flabbergasted. People knew about him! He'd had to insist upon being included in the fight from the very beginning. That had taken a toll on his already shaky self-esteem, but he'd been sure that he was contributing and had comforted himself that he was making a difference. It was something completely different to find out that complete strangers thought he'd been contributing and that they respected him for it. It took a few minutes of hard blinking before Xander could rejoin the discussion around the table.

 

***

 

Harry watched his lover's stunned expression with an indulgent little smile. He still remembered the first time he'd entered the wizarding world and discovered that he was known there. On the one hand, he wanted to crow that Xander's accomplishments had garnered him notice. On the other hand, he wanted to snicker that someone else would be the focus of attention. He wondered if anyone would ask Xander for an autograph. Maybe he should bribe someone to do so, just so he could see Xander's face when it happened. He was startled back to attention by the sound of Hermione clapping her hands together.

 

"Right then. We need to test this before we gather the others for the final spellcasting. Harry, Xander, we'll need to perform a minor binding on you. The prophecy refers to a bond, and we mustn't assume that it is referring only to the emotional or...physical bond that may exist between you," Hermione said, flushing. She motioned the two young men to a clear patch of floor and instructed them to hold hands. She drew her wand and smiled at them reasurringly. "This shouldn't hurt a bit."

 

There was a murmured incantation, and then a zing went through both of them. Harry involuntarily tightened his grip on Xander's hand as he felt his mind rearranging. The American man squeezed his hand back, and ran a comforting thumb over his knuckles. Harry jumped. He'd felt both the sensation of stroking a hand and of being stroked. He sensed Xander's surprise as well as his own. It wasn't at all like being probed with legilimency, but it was distinctly odd to feel another presence in his mind. He looked over at Xander.

 

"This is -"

 

"- weird -"

 

"- but -"

 

"- fun." The two men spoke together. Harry turned back to Hermione, who was looking a bit smug. "Are there any effects of this bond that we should know about?"

 

"You should experience increased empathy, some shared sensation, and possibly telepathy. It can be removed at any time, but you'll need to have me do it. It's a rare spell, and there aren't many witches who know how to cast it." Hermione smiled proudly. "Oh and, officially, you're married."

 

Harry was staring at his friend in shock when he was roused by a feeling of blankness in his mind and loud thump beside him. He turned to see that Xander had fainted. Willow dissolved into giggles and Hermione joined her. Giles looked as though he were fighting not to snicker, himself. Gasping for breath, Willow panted out, "Don't worry, she's only kidding." She looked at the laughing, bushy haired witch opposite her. "You owe me five pounds. I told you he'd faint." The Wicca got herself under control enough to help bring her friend around and to assure him that he hadn't just been married in a sneaky, magical way.

 

Once the girls had calmed down, they drew a circle on the floor. Placing Harry and Xander in the center of the circle, they each began their spellcasting. Willow's hair began to glow a soft white as she chanted, and Hermione's wand fairly danced in the air as she incanted. Harry and Xander felt the girls connect to them, using their joined mind to stablize the wall they were building. Carefully balanced, they waited for Giles to simulate a power wave and test their barrier.