Being Jane
By: chamomile chick
Rating: G
Fandom: BtVS, with heavy HP overtones, but not a crossover.
Summary: Inspired by J.
K. Rowling's interview revelation that Hermione has a muggle
younger sister.
Dawn POV.
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Hermione Granger has a
younger sister. A muggle younger sister. Named,
appropriately
enough, Jane. The name coroners give to unidentified
female bodies, signifying their insignificance
to the world.
Dawn always wondered
about Jane, ever since being told of her identity by Andrew. (Harry
Potter was as mainstream pop culture as his nerd obsessions went, and
therefore one of the
few topics of conversation she can share with
him while the rest of the Scooby
Gang (2.0©) patrol without
them.)
Was Jane aware of
Hermione's abilities? Did she know that Hermione faced down some
of
the most evil forces on the planet? Did she cover if she saw
Hermione sneaking in late at night,
bruised and sore from conspiring
against the forces of darkness?
Or was all she knew of
her sister what the rest of the Muggle world saw? Did Hermione
pretend
during the summer that there was no Voldemort? Did Jane and
Hermione go to movies together,
during which Hermione merely sat and
fingered her wooden stick, explaining it as something
innocuous?
Like anyone would fall for the "miniature picket fence line."
Ahem. More than twice, that is.
Did Jane run into
Hermione's room when she woke up screaming to wake her and cuddle
until
the sun rose?
feats that no ordinary human could. She never had to be the invisible child, the one who was
ignored because her sister was failing school or burdened by a sacred duty. Jane was even, for
all intents and purposes, an only child ten months out of the year.
Jane probably didn't even have to worry about cavities.
But Jane didn't have
to witness her family fall apart, bit by bit. She didn't have to
look behind
her and never walk alone at night. Jane didn't have to
worry about whether her sister was going
to come home every night.
Jane had the luxury of a stable family and the bliss of ignorance.
Dawn wants to be Jane again.
But then Buffy comes
home from patrol, and Dawn pretends that she wasn't worried.
They
sit on the sofa, making fun of the opera singers on public broadcast
and throwing
popcorn at the TV. Xander comes in and messes up her
hair, while Willow offers to go
over her homework. The newest Big
Bad is lurking just around the corner, and has
already tried to
kidnap her. ("Now the Slayer will have no choice but to face me
and
die if she wants you to live! Mwah ha ha ha ha.") Dawn
actually freed herself this time, but it
didn't matter. She knows
that if she hadn't, Buffy would have been there in another couple
of
minutes to break her out and upset the Big Bad's newest plans
with a few well-timed
and scathing remarks.
This is what Dawn's world is. She lives in Buffy's world. And she wouldn't give it up in a second.
Jane didn't have a Buffy. Dawn doesn't envy Jane in the least.
-
Thanks for reading!