When in England...

Summary: Buffy/CCS/HP crossover. Four have been invited. And they are about to get their fill of magic. But as they say, when in England...

Spoilers: Harry Potter through Order of the Phoenix; Buffy the Vampire Slayer through the show's finale; Card Captor Sakura through the end of manga book 12.

Chapter 1: An Offer You Can't Refuse

Li Syaoran glared at the English teacup placed before him. The brown tea's snake of stream was evidence that the tea was ready to be drunk, but he refused to accept it. After all, why on earth would he ever accept anything from Hiiragizawa Eriol. Shifting his eyes over to his companion, he let out an aggravated growl. Kinomoto Sakura had happily accepted the tea from Eriol's servant, and was smiling as she sipped from the delicate cup-- her pinkie up and everything.

And then there was Eriol. He was wearing an odd sort of robe that Syaoran hadn't been accustomed to seeing him wear. All black, and such-- it reminded him a bit of the days when Eriol was "evil" and had been "testing" Sakura. But whom was he kidding? Eriol was evil and always would be evil, plain and simple. No matter how much he smiled, or how gentle he acted, he was a calculating bastard underneath, and that was why Syaoran hated him.

The fact that Eriol never failed to flirt with Sakura didn't help his situation either.

"So how about it?" Eriol asked as he placed his teacup on the glass table between them. The three of them were sitting in his hotel room. Five star, of course, and very European. He wasn't one for Japanese rustics.

Crossing his arms against his chest, Syaoran grunted. "Let me get this straight: You want us to come with you to a foreign country--where we don't even speak the language--and go to school in some mysterious castle that teaches wizards and witches to use magic?"

Smiling as he nodded, Eriol replied, "Yes, that's correct."

"You are out of your mind," Syaoran retorted.

"So often you have told me that, Li-san." Eriol let out a soft chuckle as he remembered the days of Tomoeda Elementary and his, shall we say, fun way of getting to know his descendants. "But what I'm offering to you is no lie. Just think about it: spending the next two years of your schooling in a place that not only will teach you history and such-- but a place that will teach you how to use and control your magic."

Sakura picked up a biscuit from the basket in the middle of the glass table. "But Eriol-kun... we already know how to use and control our magic."

At that moment, Syaoran could have kissed her. Of course, he always wanted to kiss his cherry blossom, but this time he really wanted to. It was moments like these, where Sakura showed that she was not the complete airhead that she pretended to be that he really loved her. Motioning in agreement with Sakura, Syaoran offered, "See, Hiiragizawa? Spoken from the Card Captor's mouth."

"You know to some degree a type of magic, yes, Sakura-san," the wizard said, nodding. "But there are things the both of you have no knowledge whatsoever. Sakura-san, you are very emerged in the magic of my creation-- the fusion of Chinese and English magic, this is true. However, to have a true understanding of your power, wouldn't it be more efficient to learn it's roots?

"And you, Li-san: you know as well as I that you are completely reliant on Chinese magic and incantations. Wouldn't it be nice to expand your knowledge to include Western techniques as well?"

Nodding, Sakura closed her eyes in thought. "That is a tempting offer, Eriol-kun." To be able to master her magic... to make sure that the SAKURA cards could never become unlocked... to make sure no one would ever have to go through what she did. It was very tempting. Going to a school that specialized in magic. She was never for learning more magic, but if it would mean she could protect everything she loved...

Syaoran's mouth gaped. "You-- you can't be serious, Sakura!" he spat.

"But what about the language barrier?" Sakura asked, completely ignoring Syaoran. "I mean, I doubt that anyone there speaks Japanese, and my English is mediocre at best... and well, Syaoran's isn't the strongest either."

"Once again, Sakura-san, you forget--" Eriol waved his forefinger cutely as he suavely explained, "I am a wizard. I have spoken to the Headmaster of the school and he and I have researched a spell that would blast the language barrier to shambles."

"You're both insane!"

"Li-kun!" Sakura reprimanded him as the little wolf stood up, his eyes narrowed.

Pointing to the English wizard, Syaoran continued to rave, "Don't you get it? He's got something up his sleeve, Sakura! And he wants us to play as his little pawns again. Well thank you, but no. That's the last thing that I want to do."

"There is no hidden plot, Li-san," Eriol offered, opening his arms out as if offering everything to his adversary. "Ask anything and I'll tell you the answer."

There was but only one question that Syaoran wanted answered. "Why?"

"Ah." Eriol's smile vanished. No hidden plots, huh? A fox grin formed on Syaoran's face. He had him now. The stone was beginning to crack. "Well, to tell you the truth... it was Dumbledore's idea."

"Who?" Sakura blinked. She couldn't even pronounce that name if she tried.

"A-ru-ba-su Da-n-bu-ru-do-a," Eriol pronounced phonetically for his Japanese friends. Being in England so long had made him forget about the rules of Japanese. And Dumbledore's name wasn't even easy to say in English.

"Who's that?" Syaoran rudely asked.

Eriol sighed, "The Headmaster of the school. He and Clow were friends a long time ago. In fact, Clow even attended Hogwarts back when he was younger. Once word got out in the magical world that I had actually been successful in the reincarnation process, it was only a matter of time before Dumbledore contacted me. Of course, this was after you had split my magic, Sakura-san. I told him of the both of you and explained what had happened-- and I have been attending Hogwarts ever since." He took a sip of his tea, calmly as ever.

"You've been going to school there?" Sakura asked. "Is that why you left for England?"

Nodding, Eriol said, "Well that and the fact that I missed my home. No offense, I just like England loads better than Japan. Perhaps it's because I grew up there. You know home and all that."

"That still doesn't explain why this Danburudoa person wants us to go to his school," Syaoran retorted, trying to shoot down this idea for good. The only thing he wanted to do was leave the hotel and go somewhere far from the reaches of Hiiragizawa Eriol.

"I thought it would be obvious," Eriol smiled. "He wants you to come show the school the magic that you two are so good at. See, unlike you two, the school has been trained in the Western magics. Dumbledore wants you to show them the Eastern."

"How?"

A smile crept up on Eriol's face. "Oh, it's quite simple, really. You will be the aids in the new class that I will be teaching. When you are not helping me, you will be attending classes with the rest of the students."

This time there was no shouting. Syaoran was already at the door, fuming. And Sakura was right behind him, trying to stop him from doing anything rash. "Syaoran-kun! Where are you going?!"

"Where does it look like? I'm getting the hell out of here," he said between his clenched teeth. "Don't you see what he's trying to do, Sakura? Don't you want to go to a normal High School with everyone else?"

"But this is a great opportunity, Syaoran-kun!"

"What about Daidouji? What are you going to tell her?"

Only then did Sakura think about the others that she would be leaving behind. Her father, her brother, Yukito-san, Kero-chan, Tomoyo-chan... they were all very important to her. But... Sakura shook her head, "Tomoyo-chan would understand what this means. Why don't you?"

Pointing to Eriol with a crazed look on his face, Syaoran roared, "I am not going to serve under that stupid git! There's just no way in hell I could live with myself taking orders from him! I am NOT going!"

"Well I am," Sakura crossed her arms against her chest.

"That's wonderful, Sakura-san!" Eriol beamed from across the room. One was better then none. But he knew, like most others, that Syaoran wouldn't allow Sakura to travel to a "dangerous place" alone. Especially with himself. It was only a matter of...

"Don't do this to me," Syaoran harshly whispered.

...time.

Sakura turned around, her voice more quiet now, but just as cute as ever. "You don't have to come along, Syaoran-kun. After all, this is a big decision. You do what you think is best." Guilt always worked, Eriol thought to himself as he watched Sakura work. Sakura was either very smart for using this tactic, or completely clueless over the power she had over Syaoran. But Eriol was leaning more to the first. It seemed to him that she had quite a lot of experience convincing Syaoran to do things that he normally wouldn't do. Interesting. That might come in handy later...

"I'm not going anywhere without you," he replied, turning his head to the side.

Eriol's smile grew larger. Ah yes, the drama had finally kicked in. He knew that if he could at least convince one, the other would fall in line. After all, they had finally been reunited only a year ago, and he highly doubted that they wanted to separate again so soon. Especially for two years.

"Let us not forget the fact that I will be in contact with your mother if you refuse to come, Li-san," Eriol added slick-ly. "And I am very sure that she will not be pleased that you a: left the Card Captor alone in my charge and b: refused such a graceful offer."

Hanging his head in defeat, Syaoran let out a loud sigh and then said, "Okay. I'll go."

Clapping his hands as he stood up, Eriol sounded giddier than a school boy, "Well splendid, splendid. We leave immediately via portkey."

"By what?" Sakura asked.

Syaoran put his hand up, "Woah, woah, woah, slow down Hiiragizawa. We still need to pack our things and say our good-byes."

Shaking his head, Eriol retorted, "No time, we'll miss the portkey. You can notify Tomoyo-san and the others once we get to Hogwarts. As for clothes and such, we will take care of that once we get to England."

"You had this planned all along, didn't you?" Syaoran growled.

"I didn't expect you to whine for so long," Eriol chortled. Even Sakura let out a small giggle. "However, if we do not leave now, we will have to find some other means to get to England... and believe me, you don't want to do that."

"I need my sword and robes if you want me to be of any use, Hiiragizawa," Syaoran retorted. "So your pot-key thing will have to wait."

"It's a portkey Syaoran. And if you must get your sword and ceremonial robes, then perhaps you should join Sakura and myself later?" A smile crept up on Eriol's face. "After all, I'm sure I can arrange another portkey next month or so... but dear me, you would miss a lot of training."

"Training?" Sakura blinked.

Eriol nodded. "You need to catch up to the other sixth years. It won't be expected of you to know everything that they know, but you're going to have to catch up a great deal. At least master the basics."

Her smile growing larger, Sakura cheered, "Sounds like it might be fun." But then lowered her voice, "There isn't going to be anything creepy, is there?" She hadn't even thought about that sort of thing before she agreed to this trip. Who knew what would be up at that school.

Not being able to hold back a hardy laugh, Eriol wrapped his arm around Sakura's shoulders, "No Sakura-san... nothing we won't be able to handle. I promise not to let anything harm you."

Syaoran visibly twitched. "How long do I have before we have to be at the pot-key?"

Looking down at his watch, Eriol said, "You've got thirty minutes. Think you can make it?"

But when he looked up, the little wolf had already left. Smirking, Eriol nodded, "I think he's looking forward to this trip now, Sakura-san. I promise you, you are both going to love it." Sakura nodded, but her face suddenly went very sad. Thinking about all the people she'd be leaving behind was starting to take its toll on her. Blinking, Eriol asked. "Sakura-san? What's wrong?"

She sniffed, "I'm just thinking about Father and Touya... and Tomoyo-chan and Yukito-san and--"

Eriol put up a hand to silence her, "I understand. You're going to miss them. I promise you that we will be back before the school year starts to settle your affairs and pick up a few... belongings." Namely, Cerberus and Yue, but it wasn't time for them quite yet. "However, since it would be unfair to both you and them to just whisk you away like I am, perhaps we can arrange something."

Walking back into the room, Eriol pulled out scrolls of paper. Sakura blinked at this, but quickly understood as he brought over a quill and ink. "Please, write letters to your loved ones, explaining. I'm afraid there are no phones where we are going, so this will be the only way you can communicate with them. Explain as much as you like, but at least tell your family that you will return in two weeks so we can gather the rest of our things. Quickly now, write the letters. I wasn't joking that we only have thirty minutes, make that twenty five, before we have to catch the portkey."

"Why didn't you tell Syaoran-kun that we'd be coming back in two weeks?" Sakura asked, already scribbling out her letters feverously.

Eriol snickered, "And miss the look on his face when he finds out?"

To Be Continued...