Title: Chamomile
Part: 4/10 She's A Butterfly
Author: JMaria
Rating: Pg-13
Disclaimers: Not mine, never will be. I do own Edgar and Chamomile, however.
Spoilers: 5 and 5
Summary: Meets some new people, learns about magic and snakes.

A/N: Edgar was very persistent today. Of course he would be, seeing as I'm internet less (sure, I could walk down the four flights of stairs again today. In flip-flops no less.) So far in this series, we've had a towel wearing Charlie and a shirt-draped-like-a-loincloth Bill. Maybe I just want to get those Weasleys naked all the time? We're also going to get the CA side of life during this time period, and during this chapter we're moving on time-wise. There are going to be people coming and going and stuff like that. . . I thought that I wrote this in an A/N but, apparently I didn't (I commented on a review at twisting the hellmouth) This storyline isn't assuming that season six never happened. It's just changing everything a bit. So, please, please no more demands about bringing Buffy back to life! I have an outline, people, and I'm not afraid to use it! Huge thanks to the reviews (you people spur Edgar into hot flashes and I get bit and squeaked at for it)

Sidenote on rampant mongooses (I wanna call 'em mongeese!): I didn't know until today what a mongoose looks like. I found out when I was reading my Bio book before class today. But it was a bad pic, so I researched them on the web after class. Some are very ugly and evil looking. So My Edgar (my muse mongoose and the one prominently featured here, in Chamomile) is of the Yellow Mongoose variety because it's the prettiest and it lives up to twelve years (I think) And it kinda looks like a smaller bodied, shorter eared, longer legged fox.

Onward Edgar!

Part 4: She's A Butterfly

Dawn pushed herself away from the table, a hand wrapped securely around Edgar and an eye fixed on little Cammi. Five people now crowded into the already crowded room. She put a big fake grin on her face when they all stopped just inside the doorway.

There was a bushy brown haired girl, the petite green haired woman, and a boy with black unruly hair and glasses. The other two members of the group Dawn immediately filed under 'Weasley kids' in her head. The girl was just a few inches shorter than her, with a light spray of freckles over the bridge of her nose and deep brown eyes. The boy was taller than her, wearing a lopsided grin as he smiled at his brothers.

"Attack of the Weasleys. How's business?" The woman asked the twins.

She wore a large grin on her face . . . but only Dawn saw the grin falter a bit when her gaze landed on Bill and the blonde French witch. Uh-oh. This reminded her all too much of the way Willow looked after Xander had told them he was dating Cordelia.

"Business is booming, Tonks. We've got three new guinea pigs to test our products on," George grinned, linking an arm around Dawn and bringing her to the forefront. Fred wrapped an arm around her waist, placing her dead center in the middle of a Weasley sandwich.

"She's a bit young for you two crazy gits." Tonks smiled at her. "Tonks, and you are?"

"Dawn Summers. And DT, you had better not slip anything in Edgar or Cammi's food!" She smiled at the boy she assumed was Ron and continued, "'Sides, Edgar's of the good. He eats rats. All shapes and sizes. He does not discriminate. He really likes fat-balding-betrayer rats."

Charlie groaned. Leave it to those three to make a spectacular first impression on the rest of the family. What exactly had they been telling her? He scooped up the baby and tickled her little belly as Ron's jaw dropped, and the twins pressed on.

"That means we can test our experiments on you?" George asked curiously.

"Sure, I'm game. Hey, I ate my sister's cooking. I'm just lucky to be alive." she nodded her head solemnly.

"Great! We've got that new line of Dragon snaps. . . and other quality products to test on our lovely assistant." Fred said wickedly

"Cor, we can't let you lot be privy to such information." George directed this comment to the rest of the room.

"Strictly hush hush, you know." Fred said solemnly.

"Make me a silent partner, and I'll do it for free." Dawn beamed up at them.

"We don't have to pay you?" They both turned, shocked at this. They'd had to pay everyone else.

"Silent partner. And as such I get ten percent of the profits." She grinned. Hey, at least she'd learned something else from Anya.

"That leaves us with ninety, and as a partner you'll have to put a percentage of your earnings back into the business."

"Of course." She said, shrugging her shoulders as Edgar focused his eyes on the black haired boy.

Cammi lifted up her arms and waved suddenly at Ginny, making a little grunting noise. Edgar got to be introduced, but she didn't? Cammi didn't think that was very fair. She looked up at the big man Charlie/Daddy. She reached again for the Red/Not Aunt Willow girl.

Shh. He'll let her hold you.

A voice broke into the baby's mind, and her little eyes danced over to Furry/Voice. She gave him a baby smile and reached for the girl again.

"What's going on here, you two?" Ron finally found his voice.

"Oh, Mum had an affair on Da, this here's our baby sister." George joked.

"Quit it Fred." Ron said impatiently.

"That's George. Honestly, you guys really can't tell the difference?" Dawn said disbelieving.

"And you can?" The Weasley girl asked curiously.

"Yeah. Fred's half an inch taller, and has a prominent freckle on his left earlobe. George's half an inch shorter and has a prominent freckle under his right eye with a little spray of freckles circling it." Dawn shrugged.

And then her mongoose did the oddest thing. He nodded as if to say 'That is that'. Harry stared at the creature in her arms. Then his eyes went to the girl was blushing a little at the amount of attention suddenly heaped on her. Even Fred and George were looking at her oddly. Apparently they hadn't known she could tell them apart.

"Who is she?" Ron demanded.

Dawn backed up a little. Fred and George noticed that she tensed up, and both held her firm. They gave him a warning look, and Ron seemed shocked to see it directed at him.

"I already told you!" She cried, exasperated. And happily noting that the twins were protecting her, she got her confidence back. "I'm Dawn Summers."

"Summers . . ." Tonks eyes went wide as they shot to the baby in Charlie's arms. "Buffy - she'd be your sister then?"

"You knew her?"

"Knew - " Her gaze went back to Charlie's face and saw the raw emotions there. "Yes, met her back in Sunnydale, with Charlie and Bill."

"You met a girl in America? Weren't you on assignment?" Hermione asked pointedly. But then understanding washed through her as she locked her gaze on the child. "Oh."

Ginny stepped forward to the baby, and traced a finger over the little girl's knuckles. She wasn't the only girl in the Weasley family anymore. Thank Merlin for that! The baby seemed to smile at her, and she looked back at Dawn.

"What's our little niece's name?" She asked.

"Chamomile. Call her Cammi, though. Her mother suffered a brain stupidity thing and named the kid after tea," Dawn snorted.

"Her mother's name was Buffy." Charlie said, shifting little Cammi in his arms. "Besides, I like her name. It suits her."

"Overprotective Daddy types annoy me." Dawn quipped.

"I'm Ginny. Though, you probably knew that already." She said, shoving Fred and George off of Dawn to give the girl a hug. The girl'd lost her sister, and she seemed like she was there to stay. "It'll be great to have another girl in the house. Too many bloody obnoxious males hanging about."

"Right about that. All I heard was Quidditch this and Quidditch that, and guy crap. I'm ready to go back to talking about girly things. Like boys and clothes."

"I'm Hermione Granger." The other girl extended a hand to her. Dawn shook it, "And I for one, am completely fed up with all that Quidditch nonsense as well."

"I'm Harry Potter, and I'm not sure if I should be offended for that last comment or not." He gave her a quick smile as he shook her hand.

"Ah, the arsonist." She said, earning a few more chuckles from the twins. "Oh, no. Never be offended that you're a guy."

"I'm Ron."

"Ickle Ronnikins?" Dawn burst into a fit of laughter. Too many stories from Fred and George, and she'd been waiting so long to say that.

The sunlight trickled over his fingers, but he didn't feel it. At first.

He did when his hand burst into flame, though.

Spike rolled back away from the sunlight. He rolled right into the leg of Buffy's bed. He'd been there for the last thirteen days. He'd been sleeping at the foot of her bed since he'd failed her. Since she died. Since Red took the Bit and Tea-Bit to the great flouncing Poof. Since the world was ready to give in. Since he decided he could find the answer to it all in the bottom of a bottle of Jack Daniels. Followed promptly by a dozen more bottles a day.

His head pounded when he heard a voice coming from downstairs. He crawled to the door.

"Giles can't know. . . He'll only try to stop us."

"Wills - "

"Neither can Spike, or Dawn."

"Willow -"

"Xander. I can't leave it so uncertain. But it'll take a little while to get it all ready."

Spike let the pounding in his head pounding lead him back into unconsciousness.

Tonks was walking the kids back to school. They'd left the rest of them back at the flat. Ginny and Hermione were talking on and on about the baby. Harry and Ron were in quiet discussion about Dawn. And Tonks, she was hiding her face as she made her way behind them. In her hand she clutched the letter from Charlie to Dumbledore. They'd be back tomorrow to see the rest of the Weasley family. But right now, Tonks was too busy letting the silent tears wash over her cheeks as she cried over stupid Bill Weasley and the too beautiful Fleur.

A/N 2: Ok, so that was a little bittersweet at the end. Coming up in the next installment: Cammi, Dumbledore, Tonks being angry and not sad, Edgar, and Dawn visiting Hogwarts. Feedback, pretty please? *sing-song* I can offer naked-but-scrambling-for-clothes Weasley men!