I said I'd update soon! This is short though and kind of a continuation of the previous chapter – but later that night
Dawn lay on her bed, still fully dressed and fully awake. With a sigh, she softly slipped on her shoes and slid out of the door. Pulling on her cloak as she left, she headed out of the Gryffindor Common Room and outside.
She'd been unable to sleep in a room that was so crowded with other people, strangers at that. Hoping for a bit of solitude she headed towards an old beech tree by the Black Lake. Casting a Warming Charm to protect herself from the cutting September wind, she leaned against it.
Feeling slightly foolish, but needing to do this all the same, she started to talk aloud, partly to herself and partly to her mom. After all, it had been just 18 months since Joyce's death and Dawn had always thought of her as her mother, no matter what monks had got in the way. In Sunnydale, there had at least been memories everywhere, not to mention others who had known her. Here, she felt split off from the other Scoobies, though she knew they were just across the school.
"So, I'm at this wizard school in England. Pretty freaky, huh? We'll all end up with British accents like Giles and magic powers like Willow. Buffy's teaching. Can you imagine that? I can't but I guess I'm gonna have to when she teaches one of my lessons."
She continued like this for nearly an hour, rambling on until she felt better. Standing up, she headed back towards the castle, only to crash into another figure in the pitch-black.
"Whoa!"
The figure caught Dawn as she was about to fall. The voice had identified them as male, but it was too dark to tell anything else.
"Sorry!" she gasped. "I was just..."
"It's okay. Why do you think I'm out here? It can get a bit claustrophobic in there, can't it?"
"Still, I was talking to myself."
"No you weren't."
Dawn turned to stare at him in shock. He couldn't see her, but he must have sensed the movement because he laughed.
"Don't worry! I didn't hear much, just enough to know you were talking to your mum. Well, either that or you think the lake is your mum."
"I'm surprised you don't think I'm crazy."
"I don't. Is she dead?"
"Yeah. 18 months and 11 days."
"I'm sorry."
Somehow, hearing that was better than any helpless platitude. She smiled at him, forgetting he couldn't see her. "Thanks."
They talked for ages, making Dawn feel even better than she had after her lakeside soliloquy. Suddenly, she shivered.
"You're cold."
"Yeah."
"Why don't you cast a Warming Charm, it's really easy. The incantation is-"
He was cut off by a gasp.
"I did! But it must have worn off. I've been out here more than 2 hours. I really should get some sleep and you should too."
"I guess. See you around then, Elelella."
"Huh?"
"Lovely Lake Loony. El, el, ella. Or Ella for short."
"How can you tell what I look like in the dark?"
"I can tell from your voice that you must be truly ravishing."
"Oh yeah? Well then, not if I see you first, Sasesi."
In response to the unspoken question, she said, "Sarcastic Sexy Smirker."
"Smirker?"
"I can tell from your voice. Don't you want to know about the sexy?"
"Nah. My sexiness just oozes out of me, even in the dark."
Laughing, Dawn headed to the castle.
Can you guess who Sasesi is?? Probably, because there's a limit to who it's likely to be and I'm not the best at writing subtle secrecy, as you can tell from how you all worked out my pairings.
Please lots of reviews!