Disclaimer: See chapter 1 for full disclaimer and notes.

Thanks to my reviewers from ff.net and Twisting the Hellmouth. The next chapter should be up next weekend.

Chapter 9: Revelations and Explanations

"This place is so freakin' cool!" Dawn said as they waited for the staircase to reach them.

Tara couldn't help but grin at her enthusiasm. Once she became resigned to the idea that she couldn't do anything but wait for the Scoobies to take care of the Doc problem, she finally seemed to realize that she would be living in a real live castle with wizards and ghosts. She had woken up early on their first morning in their new rooms and dragged Tara off to explore their surroundings. Tara hadn't minded, but now she was beginning to regret missing breakfast.

*At least we're not lost. Yet.* Tara thought to herself, *Next time remember the trail of breadcrumbs.*

"I feel like we should be running into Dracula any minute now," Tara said, glancing around suspiciously.

"Well, there's always that Snape guy," Dawn replied, "although, I think Buffy killed Dracula. Maybe. She said something about a mist and cheating. She could have been talking about Spike. Who knows with her."

The two girls climbed down the stairs once they had finally settled in front of them, and made their way into the lower recesses of the castle.

"Um, I don't know if we should be down here, Dawnie," Tara said, beginning to get nervous as the hallway grew dim and the portraits began to take on a foreboding theme.

"Dumbledore said we could go anywhere but the forest," Dawn replied, stopping to inspect a suit of armor, which nodded to her in greeting.

She grinned and nodded back, dragging Tara reluctantly behind her. As they rounded a corner, a figure appeared, exiting from a door down the hall.

"Good morning, Professor Lupin," Tara said in greeting, plastering a smile to her face.

Lupin looked up and smiled back, surprised. "Good morning Miss Maclay. Miss Summers."

Dawn waved her hello in return.

"Are you o-okay?" Tara asked as she looked at his tired face, hating that he made her nervous enough to stutter.

"I'm fine, thank you. I should be getting back to my office to finish up my work. Students will be back before you know it." Lupin said, nodding to them as he walked past them and down the hall.

Tara watched him leave, before turning back to Dawn, who was giving her an assessing look.

"Why did you stutter?" Dawn finally asked.

"I don't know," Tara replied with a shrug of her shoulders, "he makes me nervous for some reason."

"I like him," Dawn said, beginning to lead them down the hall again, "he's so laid back and mellow. He kinda reminds me of Oz, but with more emotions. And, you know, less style."

Tara stopped suddenly, causing Dawn to turn and look at her apologetically.

"Oh god, I'm sorry!" she said. "You and Oz had that whole thing. I didn't mean-"

"That's not it," Tara interrupted her," it's just, I think I figured out what was bothering me about him."

"What?" Dawn asked, looking slightly relieved that she hadn't put her foot in her mouth this time.

"I think Professor Lupin is a werewolf."

Both girls jumped as the door next to them flew open and a very imposing figure in billowing black robes stormed out.

"What do you know of werewolves?" Professor Snape demanded, causing Dawn to take a step back.

Tara tried to calm herself enough to answer without stuttering through half the words.

"E-enough. I've only met one, but I know that while a lot of demons are purely evil, werewolves can't be judged in that way. They're human most of the time."

Snape just held her gaze, his expression unreadable.

"Tara was attacked by one once," Dawn supplied, after she too had regained her ability to speak, "my sister's friend Oz is a werewolf. He was Willow's boyfriend before." Dawn trailed off, assuming that Snape wasn't even listening to her, since his eyes hadn't left Tara's face for a second.

There was an uncomfortable silence as the Potions Master seemed to be debating something to himself. Finally he came to an internal decision.

"No obliviate then, I suppose. You must not tell anyone of your suspicions about Lupin," he said in a low but firm voice, "It could cause trouble for him. Some people do not look kindly upon certain.differences."

"Of course. It's nobody's business," Dawn agreed as Tara simply nodded.

She was beginning to feel uncomfortable under Snape's gaze, that hadn't yet faltered. She finally looked away, effectively breaking his attention.

He ran a hand through his disheveled hair and looked at Tara almost with - was that pity or understanding?

"I too have had some past issues with werewolves," he said, confirming to Tara that it was understanding. "I assure you, you have nothing to fear from Remus."

Tara was struck by how much she believed him just because he used Professor Lupin's first name. He didn't seem to her to be the sort of person who was that familiar with a person he didn't consider worthy of his time. Otherwise he would have said "Lupin", or at least sneered his way through "Remus".

"It was a long time ago. It was scary, but I've learned that there are scarier things in the world than even death," Tara said, not sure why she felt it necessary to explain herself to him.

"Indeed," was his reply.

He stared at her a moment longer, finally turning his attention to Dawn, who was watching the conversation with one eyebrow quirked up.

"I trust that this will not be a problem. Also, I would recommend keeping to the upper levels of the castle when the students return. I don't need you lurking about in my dungeons." With that, he returned to the room from which he came, the door slamming shut behind him, the noise echoing down the nearly empty hallway.

"He's one to talk about lurking," Dawn grumbled.

Tara just shook her head, a ghost of a smile on her face. "Come on Dawn, let's go grab some breakfast."

~-~-

They reached the Great Hall so late that only three other people were present. Tara noted with some interest that they were Harry Potter and the two other students in his year.

"Good morning," she greeted them, sitting with Dawn on the opposite side of the table.

They greeted her back, giving her curious looks. She almost laughed out loud at how obvious they were being.

"Ron and Hermione, right?" Tara said, hoping to stop their staring.

Hermione had the decency to look embarrassed as they nodded their confirmation, while Ron just stuffed another bite of food into his mouth.

"So what's there to do around here besides the class thing?" Dawn asked, digging into her now full plate.

Tara cringed as Ron took it upon himself to answer through his mouthful of half chewed food, "there's exploding snap and chess and, of course, quidditch."

"What's-"

"Don't' ask him what quidditch is, I beg you," Hermione interrupted.

Harry and Ron shot her withering looks.

She ignored them as she rose, gathering her books together. "I have to get to the library and then go see Hagrid about, er, something," she said, casting a furtive glance at Tara and Dawn, "I'll see you two later."

She nodded her goodbye to the two girls as she quickly left the room.

"Isn't this vacation time?" Dawn asked.

Ron rolled his eyes and Harry smiled, "I don't think Hermione believes in vacation time."

The group fell into a comfortable silence as they finished their meal. As Ron was shoveling down his second dessert, Harry nudged him with an elbow and tilted his head toward the girls. After a second of confusion, Ron finally got the hint.

"So," he said, getting their attention, "do you want to come back to our common room with us and play a game of chess? I promise to go easy on you the first time."

Dawn looked to Tara, who nodded her okay.

"Sure," she answered, shrugging, "it's either that or go lurk in the dungeons some more to annoy the hell out of that Snape guy."

Harry and Ron grinned.

"I like them already," Ron said as the group gathered up their belongings and left.

"Oddsbodikins," Harry said to the figure in the portrait who was trying desperately to get his helmet off of his foot, where it appeared to be stuck.

The portrait guarding Gryffindor Tower swung open and Ron and Harry led the two girls inside. The fire was roaring and the couches sitting by it were too appealing to ignore after the walk there through the cold corridors of the castle. The two students pulled off their robes, which were serving as buffers against the cold rather than uniforms over the holiday, and Tara passed out the four mugs of hot chocolate that were sitting on a nearby table.

"You guys have it so good," Dawn said, cringing as the chocolate burned her tongue, then proceeding to drink it anyway.

Harry smiled, "Yeah, as long as I'm not being hexed or having my death predicted, life here isn't bad."

"If you can avoid Snape," added Ron.

Tara frowned, "he doesn't seem too bad."

Ron and Harry both choked on their drinks. Ron snorted a bit through his nose, but quickly recovered with the aid of Dawn hitting him on his back hard enough to bruise.

"Yeah, he's fine if you're a Slytherin," Harry said, bitterness in his voice, "but if you're me, he's a pain in the arse."

"Well, he definitely has the lurky broody thing down," said Dawn, wiping her chocolate moustache off with the back of her hand, "he reminds me of my sister's ex."

Tara gave her a confused look.

"Angel, not Riley," Dawn clarified.

"What kind of a name is Angel? It was a boy, right?" Ron asked as he finished his cocoa, taking the cue from Dawn and wiping his face with the back of his hand.

"What kind of a name is Albus?" Dawn retorted.

As Ron opened his mouth to respond, Tara added, "or Hermione or Remus or Hagrid?"

Ron shrugged, "they seem perfectly normal to me."

"Yes, but chocolate that hops around seems normal to you. It's different in the muggle world," said Harry, glad that he could consider himself no longer a part of that world.

"Well, we're not exactly typical muggles," said Tara.

Ron rolled his eyes, "well you are here, aren't you? Obviously you're not just regular muggles."

Tara put her empty mug down, "yes, I'm a wiccan, but out world is separate from the muggle world just as much as your is. Ours is just smaller."

"And not as well funded," Dawn added.

"So tell us about your world," Harry said.

Tara cast a dubious look at Dawn.

"It's only fair," Ron spoke up, seeing the silent communication, "you get to see our world."

"We won't tell anyone, except maybe Hermione, if you want to keep it a secret," Harry added, his curiosity piqued by their reluctance to talk about it.

Dawn shrugged, "I don't see the big. I mean, Buffy tried the secrecy route, and we all know how that went."

Tara sighed. "Okay, but this would be better if Mr. Giles were here to tell it." She resituated herself and took a deep breath.

"Into every generation is born a chosen one."