A/N: I hope that you are all still reading this. I'm feeling very inspired on this fic lately, and hope that I'll get inspired to work on the others.

I'm sorry to keep you waiting, but it seems as if RL keeps getting in the way.

I want to thank each and every person that reviewed this story so far. I'm glad that you all like it, and I appreciate the feedback. I wish I had the time to answer you all personally, but I'm trying to use all my spare time to work on my stories.

Please keep reading and reviewing. It keeps me inspired.

(a little nod to FaceInTheCrowd for pointing out the Ron-Xander thing. I used it in this chapter. I hope you don't mind.)

Chapter Nine
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Dawn couldn't tear her eyes away from the sight before her. She'd seen some amazing things in her short but remarkable life. The boy who had given her her first kiss had been a vampire who tried to turn her. A hospital intern who shared a body with a hell goddess. Her entire town collapsing on itself. Her sister coming back from the dead. But none of them could compare to the surrealism of the sight she was now witnessing.

Well . . . there was one thing. Xander. She just never thought that she would ever meet someone with and appetite that could compete with the one belonging to her surrogate big brother. But she'd had yet to meet Ron Weasley, and he was currently proving that she was wrong in that thinking.

It could have been that his parents never fed him, but had that been the case, Ginny would have been showing signs of the same kind of hunger. But she wasn't. The redhead was currently finishing her one and only Quarter Pounder, and watching Dawn's reaction to her brother's eating habits. He was, after all, polishing off his second hamburger, after having already eaten all of his fries. A slice of pepperoni pizza sat in front of him, waiting to be consumed next. Ginny laughed out loud at the expression on Dawn's face, and decided to take some pity on the American.

"I know, we're used to it, but it's a pretty amazing sight, isn't it? He eats more than my twin brothers combined. People never believe it the first time."

Dawn shook her head, trying to focus on what Ginny was saying rather than on what Ron was eating, as he had now moved on to the pizza. "Oh, it's really not that unimaginable . . ." She trailed off, unsure of how to say it.

J.J. looked at his best friend, amused at the struggle she was having to find the words to compare Ron to Xander.

He put down the container of ginger chicken that he was eating, one chopstick skewered into the meat like a stake. The other he kept in his hand, twirling it with his nimble fingers.

The others were looking at Dawn, puzzled by the unfinished statement. Dawn, for her part, looked as if she was unable to find the polite words to say that the sight was far too familiar for them, just not from this person. J.J. hadn't really thought about it before, never having really eaten meals anywhere near Ron. But the Gryffindor's eating habits had been legendary, and, had he given it much thought, he supposed he would have compared Ron to Xander much sooner than now. But he had never given Ron all that much thought after leaving Hogwarts, other than to imagine the keeper tearing his head off for the inappropriate thoughts of Ginny that J.J. had from time to time.

Now that he thought about it, thought, J.J. could see more similarities between the two then just their eating habits. And they shared more traits then J.J. would have liked to admit. Instead of dwelling on that train of thought, because he didn't want to admit that the weasel was in any way similar to a person that he admired, J.J. decided to say what Dawn was having so much trouble expressing.

"What sunshine here is trying to say is that Ron's not the only one that she's ever seen eat like that. She just never thought she'd see anyone who had the appetite of Jack. I mentioned him in the store, remember?"

The other boys shook their heads, making J.J. roll his eyes. They had probably been taxing their brain trying to decipher the phrase food court.

Dawn had been slowly turning her head away from Ron while J.J. had been speaking, but the use of the name Jack caused her to snap her head around and focus her full attention on the former Slytherin.

"Jack?" she asked, puzzlement evident on her face.

"Yeah, you're right, nowhere near ugly enough. How about Barbosa?" When he received nothing more from the girl than another confused look, he continued. "Not Barbosa? How about Bluebeard? Blackbeard? Yellowbeard?" At this, J.J. could see the comprehension beginning to come into her eyes. "No? How about Morgan Adams?"

Dawn could not hold back any longer, and laughed out loud at her best friend. "Pirates? It's just unfair of you to make fun of him that way!" But she was still laughing, regardless.

"Pirates?" Ginny whispered to Hermione. "What does Ron's pigishness have to do with pirates?"

J.J. overheard her, though, given that Dawn had arranged it so that he was sitting between her and Ginny. Of course, Ron couldn't be separated from Hermione, who was sitting on the young girl's other side. Although, J.J. could tell, he still hadn't managed to tell her his feelings, the stupid git. This left Harry sitting on the other side of Dawn, something that irritated the former blonde. He'd have to talk to her about Potter later. But, for now, it allowed him to lean over and stage whisper to Ginny, "Not all pirates, just Pirate Chubs."

Of course, as he had intended, Dawn heard him. And it earned him a smack to the back of the head from her. But it was worth it, because she was laughing, and she needed that today. They both did. They'd had too many reminders of the hard things today.

But after straightening, running a hand through his unusual hair, and trying to regain his dignity, he found another reason to be glad. There was a soft giggling to his right. Looking towards her, he noticed that Ginny was giggling at him and her eyes were twinkling with amusement. Sure, she seemed to be giggling at his expense, as her next words would confirm, but she was giggling. And, more importantly, she was looking at him and the look in her eyes was not one of looking at a hated enemy, as he had expected. Instead, she was looking at him as if she was someone she'd just met, and more amazingly, as if he was someone she wanted to get to know.

Ginny broke the eye contact she was sharing with the boy and leaned around him to look at Dawn. "I'm impressed," she told the girl, her giggling having died off as she had been looking at J.J. "Nobody at Hogwarts would have dared to hit the mighty Draco Malfoy. Especially not across the back of the head like that."

"Well," Dawn started, grabbing the chopstick with the piece of chicken on it and popping the food into her mouth. "J.J. Summers seems to shoot off his mouth a lot. Resulting in him getting smacked upside the head on a regular basis. Especially by Xander, who he was just insulting, by the way."

Ron took a swig of his drink, having finished his piece of pizza. "Who is Xander, and what does he have to do with me? Or pirates, for that matter, whatever those are?"


Hermione, being the book lover that she was, answered his second question. "Pirates, Ron, like the book I gave you to read, Treasure Island. Ginny remembered." The redheaded girl nodded at her friend's statement.

"I didn't forget," Ron protested, his ears turning red. "I just didn't realize that that was how the word was pronounced." He looked down at his now empty tray, his cheeks stained with embarrassment at the girls' laughter. "Still don't see what they have to do with the way that I eat, though."

"Like I told your sister, Weasley, not all pirates. Just Pirate Chubs." The statement earned him another smack to the head, and more giggling from the girls.

"Xander is Alexander Harris, Xander for short." Dawn clarified for the recently arrived teens. "He's a really good friend of my sister's, and part of the team. What I was trying to say, before Junior here felt the need to rudely interrupt with the insults, was that it wasn't that unimaginable to see someone eat like Ron. You see, Xander does it all the time."

"How he earned the nickname Chubs," J.J. muttered, but still loud enough for the table to hear, earning him an elbow in the gut.

"Quit living up to the name, J.J." Dawn hissed at him, and turned back to the others. "I was just amazed because I never thought I'd see anyone else eat like Xander."

"But what about the pirate part?" asked Ginny, still curious.

J.J. opened his mouth to speak, but Dawn had stabbed another piece of food onto her chopstick, and shoved it into his mouth to stop him from speaking. He closed his mouth around the morsel, glaring at his best friend. She just smiled deviously at him, making him wonder what the younger Summers' girl had up her sleeve.

"You guys all know what pirates are?" She looked around the table, getting nods from everyone. Even from Ron, who was still pink with embarrassment. "Then I think the joke would pay off better if you just waited to see for yourselves when you meet Xander." She twirled the chopstick in her hand, much the same way that J.J. had been continually twirling his since he had set down his food. She stabbed the utensil back into the container of Chinese food and looked at her watch, frowning. Her face turned towards the skylight, as if trying to see something in the dark night that was outside.

"If you're still interested in any of the food, pack it up. We need to get going. Buffy'll have kittens at the time" Dawn stood from the table, preparing to leave.

"Can use them for poker with Clem if she does." J.J. pointed out.

Dawn laughed as she fumbled around on the tray that had held the Chinese food, grabbing the extra set of chopsticks. She broke them apart, putting them in her mouth to hold. She then grabbed her colourful hair in her hands, twisting it until it was up in a bun at the back of her head. Taking the chopsticks from her teeth, she used them to secure her hair, pinning it up.

"Bare neck," J.J. pointed out, getting up from his own seat, tossing down the chopstick he still held, and beginning to clear the table of the remains of their dinner.

"Wooden chopsticks," she replied, picking up some of the shopping bags.

J.J. threw the remains of their meals into the trash, but not before retrieving his own chopsticks and putting them into his back pocket. He caught up with Dawn, relieving her of some of the bags, so that her right hand was now free.

Dawn turned back to look at the four other teens. "Guys, when I say move, you should learn to respond immediately. It just might save your life someday. Now let's go." Dawn turned away from them, knowing that they would follow, if only out of fear of being left behind in the muggle world.

J.J., for his part, didn't look back to make sure that they were with them. He just followed Dawn, knowing that her tone had been one that not even Potter would think about disobeying.