"Huh?" Willow said, waking up slightly.

"We're there. Dawn's already bounded off the bus and almost fainted at the sight of the school." He smiled. "Stan's put our luggage out already."

"Oh," Willow said, a fresh wave of nervousness washing over her. "I...Spike, I can't go out there."

"Of course you can, love. I'll be right behind you. But if we don't hurry, I won't make it to the castle in time to beat the sunrise."

"When you put it that way," Willow said, standing up. "Okay, let's get this over with."

The two of them stepped off the bus to be face to face with two new people. "Willow!" Dawn said excitedly. "Look who came to meet us!"

The older man came forward, hand extended. "I am Albus Dumbledore, and this is the Defense of the Dark Arts teacher, Harry Potter."

Harry smiled. He no longer wore glasses, but his hair was still unruly and the scar was still on his forehead. "Hello."

Willow grinned at him. "I'm Willow Rosenburg, and this is Spike."

Spike nodded. "Please, don't call me William. I shed the name when I stopped using...anyway, let's just say I wasn't the greatest of people. Or vampires."

"We had best get moving," Dumbledore said, "before the sun rises. Bill Weasley will take your things to your rooms."

"I thought he was off studying dragons," dawn said.

"I forget you've been exposed to the books," Dumbledore said, smiling and putting an arm around Dawn's shoulder. "Yes, Bill was studying dragons, but when Hagrid left Hogwarts to help the other giants, Bill came to take his place. He is an excellent teacher." Dumbledore turned to look at Willow and Spike.

"You'll be meeting all the teachers this evening. You may be familiar with some of them, like Professor McGonagall and Madame Pomfrey. Some others will be interesting additions."

Harry strode up to Spike. "Thanks for agreeing to do this."

"Not a problem. I always was a scholarly gent."

Willow smiled. "He's even a poet."

"Really?" Harry said. He looked at Dawn, who was talking animatedly with Professor Dumbledore. "Can you tell me about her?"

"I'm sure I can, mate," Spike said over Willow's chuckles.

***

"This is Professor Sprout, our Herbology teacher." Willow nodded to the woman, who smiled at her in return before turning back to conversation with Bill and Professor McGonagall. "And...where is she? She's usually never late."

"She?" Willow asked.

"Hermione Granger, our potions teacher."

The doors to the great hall burst open, and a young woman with sleek hair and a dazzling smile walked in at a brisk pace. "I'm so sorry, Professor Dumbledore."

The man smiled at her. "Hermione, how many times do I have to remind you that you are allowed to call me Albus?"

Hermione Granger smiled. "I'm sorry, Albus. It's habit, I suppose." She looked at Willow. "Willow Rosenburg, right? I've read about your friend, Buffy Summers." Willow lost her smile for an instant, but put it back on when Hermione added, "She was a very brave woman, wasn't she? I'm sorry she's gone."

"She was special," Spike agreed.

Hermione turned towards him. "And you must be the vampire, William the Bloody."

"Call me Spike." Hermione gave him a puzzled look. "It's a long story."

Dumbledore cleared his throat. There was one long table in the center of the hall where the teachers sat, looking at their golden plates expectedly. "Unlike the students, I trust we have enough manners to talk while eating without spraying each other with food." He smiled and looked down at his plate, which was suddenly filled with food. "Dig in."

The door opened once more and a younger version of Bill walked in. "'Ey! Sorry I'm late," he said, grinning and taking the seat next to Dawn. "Names Ronald Weasley," he said to her, stretching out his hand.

"Dawn Summers," she said, returning the smile in full force.

"You're the new assistant? I'm an assistant, too. I guess I'd be a counselor of some sort. I'm here if the students need to talk or anything." He looked at Dumbledore. "Wouldn't join the Ministry after, well, you know. So when Harry and Hermione stayed, I did too."

Dawn nodded, ignoring her food and giving Ron her full attention. Spike watched the scene then turned to Willow. "Want to lay bets on whether she'll hook up with Ron or Harry?" he asked in a low voice.

"Not really," she said, looking at the food in front of her. "I think it's nice, myself."

"Not disagreeing there," Spike said as a joke Ron told got the rest of the table to laugh. "Dawn needs something to go right for a change."

Willow nodded, looking around at the table of friendly faces. "I think we all do."