Now on holiday :) means more updates Looking for Beta
Monday 6th October
As the fifth year students were walking to 'Double charms' all that was on their minds was Pansy and Draco's standoff. It was bizarre for Draco to be consistently congratulated by others about 'his' prank. Well, that was what everyone thought as they were too busy laughing to notice the whisper that Dawn Snape had mouthed to the 'Ice princess'.
Draco had been given a week of lunch time detentions for admitting to the prank, but it was worth while. The prank had to be done close by to the victim, meaning that the person responsible would be caught eventually and Draco knew that Dawn could not afford to get into anymore trouble.
Nearly everyone had accepted that Draco had performed the prank, except for Pansy, who's screaming and stomping was being ignored, Umbridge and Professor Snape.
When Draco entered the classroom the other students had already arrived and as he took his seat next to Dawn and Hermione the Gryffindors looked at him in confusion and shock. It was like they did not know whether to accept him or not anymore. The Slytherins of course knew now that Draco was no longer on their side and were glaring at him.
"Now you know how I feel," Dawn told Draco as she took in the emotions in the students' eyes.
"Thanks for doing…well you know," Dawn whispered into his ear.
"Well, I couldn't let her get away with it," Draco said as the lesson begun, causing Dawn to smile at him softly.
"You knew this would happen, didn't you?" Hermione said to Dawn at dinner, nodding her head towards the left when Dawn looked at her with questioning eyes.
Dawn followed Hermione's glance where Lee and the twins were talking to Draco about Dawn when she was younger with Harry and Ron listening on the side. It was the first civilised conversation they had had and, although there were awkward moments, it warmed Dawn's heart to see her best friends getting along with each other.
"I knew all they needed to do is see the real him and what he is willing to do for me. I didn't realise it would affect the entire school, I thought just the boys would change their opinion," Dawn explained to Hermione, who nodded in understanding.
Dawn was referring to the fact that by the end of the day most of the students had shifted their opinion to accepting Draco to some degree. There were still some students who were either on the fence or did not like Draco, but the rumours and thoughts about him were now more positive than negative.
"Hey, look," Dawn told Hermione, pointing to where Ginny was staring at Harry. "Oh, I can just feel the sexual tension. Like when Buffy and Angel first met. Or Spike. Or when I come face to face with a tuna-melt with spinach."
"What? I am still the bizarre Dawn you met a couple of months ago. No amount of force feeding me English terms can change me," Dawn said to Hermione's strange look.
"Does your family back home understand anything you say?" Hermione questioned, not comprehending a word of what Dawn had said.
"Yup, we have our own Scooby language," Dawn said to Hermione, who couldn't work out if she was joking or being sincere.
"What…" Hermione started to question, but promptly decided to give up. "Never mind. Back to Ginny."
"Specifically Ginny and Harry. Have they ever advanced to more than friends?" Dawn questioned, wanting to know more on the subject.
"No, never. Ginny has always fancied Harry, but he's oblivious to it," Hermione told Dawn.
"What do you say we help speed the process along?" Dawn asked with a mischievous smile on her face.
Tuesday 7th October
"What's Jell-O?"
"You don't know what Jell-O is? Where have you been living all your life? Disneyland?" Dawn asked shocked at Ron's question.
"Erm…No?" Ron commented back, unsure why this 'Jell-O' was such a big deal.
"Jell-O is good and wiggly. This girl told me that gelatine is made from ground-up cows' feet, and that if you eat Jell-O there are some cows out there limping with no feet."
"Really?" Ron gasped gullible, looking to Harry and Hermione for support.
"No," They mouthed, shaking their heads.
"Spoilsports," Dawn said, sticking her tongue out at her two friends as she caught them mouthing.
"What's Disneyland?" Draco asked, causing Hermione to suppress a groan.
Hermione wished that she could say that this was the weirdest conversation that Dawn had created, but she couldn't. She doesn't know how Dawn does it. Maybe if she met her family she would understand better.
"What's with the wizarding world? Do you ban real-life, useful information being taught?" Dawn asked as they enter the potions classroom.
Hermione was about to retaliate the fact that Disneyland and Jell-O wasn't actually useful information when Dawn paused in the entrance of the room.
"Well, this will be fun," Dawn said sarcastically as she moved forwards into the room.
Moments later the four followers understand Dawn's comment as they saw a flash of pink in the front of the classroom.
'Umbridge,' They all thought together.
'Great, Umbridge is inspecting the class. And naturally, it had to be the fifth year Gryffindor/Slytherin class. I'm sure it's just coincidental that I happen to be in this lesson,' Dawn thought as she took her normal seat.
"Ah, Miss Snape still tardy to lessons I see," Umbridge commented sweetly. "It's a shame that you're no longer in my class."
"Yes it is, but Dumbledore believed I needed a more qualified professor to teach me," Dawn innocently replied.
Umbridge's pleasant smile flicked as she heard the comment and look at Snape, who went from looking like he was in the presence of Voldemort to looking like someone had brought him a new potions set.
Halfway through the lesson Umbridge decided that it was time to question her Uncle for 'further' information. Or what Dawn liked to call payback.
"You applied first for the 'Defence Against the Dark Arts' post, is that correct?" Umbridge asked, her tone far too kind.
"Yes," Snape simply drawled out
"But you were unsuccessful?"
"Obviously," Severus replied, gritting his teeth as Ron suppressed a giggle.
Dawn and Draco both saw the shudder in Ron's shoulders as he tried to control his laughter and both thought 'Idiot' as they rolled their eyes.
At the end of the intense lesson Snape asked his niece to stay behind, which caused a few notions relating to Dawn's pregnancy and an argument.
"What's up?" Dawn asked her Uncle as everyone left, even though she had a feeling what he was going to talk about.
"While I can't condone your actions towards Pansy as professor, but as an Uncle I say 'Well done'," Snape said, surprising Dawn.
"What ever do you mean? It was all Draco's idea," Dawn said in such an innocent voice that if she wasn't smirking Snape would have believed her. "But if I did do it, I would say 'Thank you for the support.'".
"You're welcome," Snape replied, giving Dawn a rare smile.
"One more thing, Dawn," Snape said, making Dawn pause at the doorway. "Umbridge passing the law concerned with student organisations being banned wouldn't be because of that meeting held at 'Hog's head', would it?"
"How did you know….I mean, what meeting?" Dawn finished with a weak smile at the realisation of nearly being caught.
'Nearly caught? Nearly? I WAS caught. Bugger, must escape before I revert back to my teenage years and reveal everything,' Dawn thought.
"Oh, look is that the time…I better go before I miss…lunch," Dawn said lamely before rushing out of the room, leaving Snape to shake his head in amusement.
Tuesday 7th October (Evening)
"How could Snape have possible known about that meeting?" Harry asked as the group sat in the Gryffindor common room.
"Maybe he's psychic. What? Stranger things have happened," Dawn said, expanding her answer at the weird looks she was receiving.
"It would explain how he knew we were making comments about him," Ron added.
"Or that could be because of the fact that you don't notice when he is behind you," Hermione replied logically, looking at Ron and Dawn like they were idiots.
"Oh, stealth movements, maybe he's a vampire with special powers. Now that could happen," Dawn stated, smiling inwardly at the worried faces.
She could always scare, or annoy, people with such strange, but true facts. Like when she told Buffy about the fact that the Government listens into people's conversation. Or when she told her friend that science can clone animals and that we're just eating plastic.
'Okay, so maybe true facts is a bit strong, but there are close enough to the real truth,' Dawn thought.
"Oh no, I forgot I have an assignment due in two days time," Ginny suddenly commented as the mention of Snape brought the forgotten piece of coursework to the front of her mind.
"Well, if you bring it down here I could give you some help," Hermione told her friend.
"Thanks Hermione, I just go get it," Ginny said, quickly going up the girls' dormitory stairs.
"Hey! How come you will help her, but not us," Ron complained.
"Because it's a one off for Ginny, but with you two it's at least twice a week," Hermione informed Ron, whilst giving Dawn a subtle nod that went unobserved.
"You know Harry; I've noticed something about you. I wouldn't have realised it if someone hadn't told me," Dawn said randomly.
"Yeah, what's that?"
"You really do have amazingly green eyes. Ginny was right," Dawn replied, causing Ron to cough on air.
"Ginny? Ginny said that?" Harry asked, cheeks turning red at Dawn's nod.
Dawn had planned further manipulation, but unfortunately that had to be aborted when Ginny's voice floated into the room from the stairway.
"Right I found my notes and a few books I collected from the library," Ginny said as she bounced down the steps.
"What?" Ginny questioned as everyone, apart from Hermione and Dawn, stared at her in shock.
Any teasing response from Fred and George was lost in the sudden 'BANG' of the Gryffindor portrait being flung open. The group was surprised when their eyes' landed on the shy, and slightly sweating, Gryffindor student Neville Longbottom.
"Guys, you've got to come see this," Neville gasped between breaths as he held his sides.
"You've done it, Neville. You found the Room of Requirement," Hermione informed the other four as a wooden, medieval door materialized on the seventh floor wall.
"The what?" Harry asked confused.
"It's also known as the Come and Go Room. The Room of Requirement only appears when a person has real need of it. And it's always equipped for the seeker's needs," Hermione explained to the small group.
"Oh, I've heard of this. Fred and George once hid here to get away from Filch. Apparently it turned into a broom cupboard," Dawn said, looking at the door in amazement.
"So say you really needed the toilet…" Ron commented to Hermione.
"Charming, Ronald. But, yes, that is the general idea," Hermione replied.
"It's brilliant. It's like Hogwarts wants us to fight back," Harry said, a smile lighting up his face.
Wednesday 8th October (Evening)
"Come on Draco, we're late. It's defence class, your hair will be ruined in a matter of minutes anyway," Dawn shouted to Draco outside of his private room.
"Presentation never hurt anyone," Draco replied.
"Just you wait. If you take much longer my foot will be finding your butt," Dawn threatened.
"Okay, Okay I'm ready," Draco announced as he opened his bedroom door to reveal himself dressed in average gym clothes and, shockingly, no gel in his hair.
"THIS took you twenty minutes?" Dawn questioned, slightly angry at her pseudo brother.
"Well, it's the first time I've ever dressed casually. I wanted to get it right," Draco embarrassingly admitted.
"You're not trying to impress someone, are you?" Dawn asked, a picture of Luna flashing in her mind.
"No!" Draco quickly yelled, causing Dawn to raise an eyebrow.
"Didn't you say we're late?" Draco said, changing the subject.
When Dawn and Draco entered the room of requirement they could see that the lesson had already begun as Harry was teaching the students in pairs. The room itself was large with medieval windows, which illumination the space in a silver glow and contained bookcases full of 'Defence Against the Dark Arts' volumes, different kinds of Dark Detectors, and many floor cushions for practicing defensive spells.
Everyone paused as they entered. It wasn't a negative vibe though, the students were just curious. Especially with Draco and his new wardrobe; this new look made him seem a lot less frightening and more approachable.
Although, Dawn could tell by the looks at her small, but noticeable bump there was some concern about her baby. Dawn could also tell that there was some disgust about her being pregnant so young, which didn't surprise her as she had had thoughts similar about her classmates. But, what did surprise her was that they were trying to conceal it. Whether it was out of fear or not, she was just pleased they were keeping their opinions to themselves.
"Hello Draco," Harry greeted him warmly as he left Neville's side.
"Hello…Harry. Thank you for inviting me, I apologise for being late" Draco replied in a pleasant voice and shaking his hand, nearly causing Dawn to scream out in glee.
"That's okay; we only just started learning the spell. Why don't you go pair with Luna and then I will show you what we're practicing," Harry advised Draco.
As Draco walked towards Dawn's wistful friend Dawn couldn't help observe his walk. To anyone else it would look like he was still the confident Slytherin, just with an air of good instead of bad. But Dawn's training allowed her to notice that his steps were hesitant as a slight tremble climbed his legs.
Only when Luna greeted Draco upon his arrival did Dawn understand the hesitance.
"Hello Draco, I like your hair style. It makes the fairies want to dance," Luna dreamily commented, which turned Draco's cheeks a shade darker.
'Aw he has a crush,' Dawn thought.
"See he likes to pretend he's Slytherin, but he's pure Gryffindor at heart," Dawn told Harry as they watched the interaction.
A.N – I couldn't fit it in, but Draco has a private room because of his dad.
Next chapter development of the baby, Snape and Dawn, D.A lessons and fast track to December where the father arrives :)
I never meant for the story to be this long….Oops; it was only suppose to be 20 chapters, so I think this story will finish at 32 now.