A few days pass, finding both Faith and I bumming aimlessly around the house, mostly training, and at other times helping the kids 'de-Doxify' the house. Between the two of us, we managed to come up with a basic routine that would leave Giles proud of our skills. There's been a nagging feeling bothering both of us, a warning of things to come, so Faith and I have been preparing for whatever's thrown at us. I wanted to talk to Dumbledore about it, but I haven't seen him since the night of Faith's introduction.

Stretching my limbs in the training room, a smirk flits across my face as I remember the night the Order met Faith.

"I'd like you to meet Miss Faith. Like Miss Summers, she is a Slayer and will also be aiding the Order during her time here."

"Hey Dumble, drop the Miss. It's just Faith."

A small snicker escapes from me as I see the slightly indignant expression on her face, her brown-lined eyes flitting towards me in a smoky glare. Dumbledore has a bemused look on his face too. Casting my eyes away from her, I roam around and find Sirius in his usual corner, and despite the deep shadows he's standing in, a smitten look has graced his face. I hide another snicker.

"Of course," Dumbledore replies with a smile, "Faith will be joining Miss Summers on the dispatched patrols for the time being, until more evidence about the whereabouts of the Death Eaters is found."

"You can join my team any time," a voice across the table mutters, snickering to his partners.

My eyes narrow and I can hear a soft growl from Sirius up the back, but I smirk slowly when I realise that Faith heard it too. A wicked smile lifts her lips. Hips swaying seductively, she saunters down from Dumbledore's side and makes her way to the wizard. Her leather pants stretch tightly across her muscles, and I see a few male heads turn her way as she passes them.

Reaching the drooling wizard, who has a smug expression on his face, Faith straddles him, a mischievous glint in her eye. The growl from the back gets louder. Sniggering quietly, I can't help but settle myself in for a show. If Faith doesn't finish him, Sirius will.

I have no small amount of surprise at Dumbledore's acceptance of what Faith's doing. But then again, he did let me kick Snape's ass when I got here.

"What's that, hon?" Faith purrs as she rakes a finger down the wizard's robes, "You want a piece of this?"

The man doesn't reply, but his eyes are glazed over as he watches Faith with lust almost dripping off him. She shoots him a sexy smile as she adjusts her waist, grating slowly against his hips before leaning her head down to one ear. Only with Slayer hearing, am I able to hear what she whispers.

"Babe, I could ride you until your knees buckled," she murmurs, tracing his ear with her tongue and making him shiver, "but I've got better plans. Try that again, and I'll hit you where it hurts most."

And with that, she bites down on his ear. Hard.

"Kinky thoughts?"

I blink, the memory fading quickly as I quirk and eyebrow at Faith's comment. She's wearing a grey pair of training shorts and a yellow baby tee. Won't she feel cold in the rest of the house? Just the dark magic in the house makes me shiver. Though if things have been going the way I think, Faith has somebody keeping her warm...

"F to B, F to B," she calls, waving a hand in front of me, "wake up B."

"Sorry," I mutter, shaking my head, "just lost in thoughts."

"No, really?" she replies sarcastically before heading out.

After grabbing a quick drink of water from the kitchen, the loud chiming rings of the doorbell and sudden screams from the portrait in front alert Faith and I to visitors. Walking leisurely to the front, we see Mrs. Weasley just shutting the door after Snape. Giving a quick glance to the top of the stair railing, I can just see the bright red tips of spiky hair peeking over.

"Good morning, Sir Sneer-alot," Faith throws over her shoulder with a smirk, as she ascends the stairs, probably to see Sirius. I roll my eyes.

Snape doesn't answer, but a mean scowl forms on his lips.

"Is she always that trying?" he grits out, shrugging off a large black coat to reveal a striking set of...black robes.

"Yup, that's Faith in a nutshell," I answer with a grin, "and have you ever tried wearing any colour other than black?"

Suddenly the image of Snape dressed in bright pink robes and attempting ballet flits across and I double over with laughter. He's looking at me like I have a screw loose, but the thought is just...so...funny...

"Just what are you laughing at?"

I shake my head, wiping the hilarious tears from my eyes.

"Nothing, nothing," I say, trying to smother my giggles, "everything's peachy."

By the time my humour has died down, I'm climbing the stairs, Snape having left to do some Order business or something. The redheads have left their spot by the railing, probably running after they saw Faith coming up. At the top of the landing, I can see that the whole lot of them has crammed into one room just in front of where the railing starts.

"Hey, what's going on?" I say, leaning against the doorframe. It's only now that I've noticed how quiet they've been in the past day. No loud shrieks from Doxy attacks, less popping around by the twins, and even their laughter has been muted.

"Harry's gone to his trial today," Hermione says, her bushy hair quivering slightly, "we know he'll be alright, but..."

"What trial?"

"You don't know?" Ron asks, shock written all over his freckled face, "I thought you were part of the Guard. Harry said – "

"Yeah, I was part of the Guard. But no one mentioned anything about a trial," I reply with a frown, wondering what kind of trouble Harry could have possibly gotten into.

I spend the next hour and a half, squished next to the twins on one bed, being told everything, right from the beginning. Why Voldemort wants Harry in the first place, about that scar on his forehead that I try not to stare at, the evil relatives he has, and basically all their adventures leading up to his being at Number 12. Every kid in the room's lived the adventures, butting in here and there to add their opinion or other facts.

"So," Faith says from the doorway with a smile, "the Boy Who Lived and the Girl Who Died Twice, huh? Kinda catchy."

I don't know how long she's been standing there, dressed down in an old, and slightly ripped pair of jeans and a black singlet. Her hair's wet and slightly tangled from her shower. Ginny shifts over on the floor, and Faith plops down next to her, starting to finger-comb her hair. Then the petite redhead starts to run her fingers through Faith's hair too, like a sister. I smile when a shocked expression crosses the other Slayer's face. It's been a long time since Faith's received a simple gesture like that. A wistful sigh escapes my lips when I think of the times Dawn and I used to spend together, brushing each other's hair, painting our toenails...

"Who's Dawn?" a voice pipes up curiously, startling me.

"What?"

"Yeah, who's Dawn?" one of the twins repeat, an interested look on his face too. I think it's Fred; because his nose is bent at the tiniest angle. Probably from that game they play...Cabbage? No, why would they play a vegetable game?

"Buffy?"

"Huh? Oh, Dawn's my sister," I reply tonelessly, the pain of her being taken still fresh. If I could I would've brought her here, away from all that death, that loss, dad...

"She looks awfully different from you," Hermione says, peering at me closely. For a second, my eyes narrow, wondering how she knows what Dawn looks like, when I remember that Boggart thing. A small shiver raises goosebumps when I remember her limp form on the ground.

Should I tell them? Dawn's a million miles away, isn't she? And it's not like they'll really blab. Faith's looking at me peculiarly too, probably wondering how much I'm going to tell them. I shrug lightly.

"It's not really a secret any more, but I'd appreciate it if you guys don't spread it around," I say with a hint of a glare, "I don't want to place her in any trouble at all, especially if your Almighty Dark One decides to do a little dimension-hopping."

They look a bit confused at my statement, but I just start, launching into the story when I first found out Dawn wasn't real. Even Faith looks a bit rapt, obviously never having heard this part.

"My sister's a Key to other dimensions. Basically, if you say a few words and bleed her a little, you've got a big cosmic no-no," I say, amused when a few eyebrows shoot up in disbelief, "especially if you've got a banished Paris-Hilton-wannabe Hellgod bent on getting back to her dimension."

I have all of their attention as I tell the story, managing to end with my acrobatics off the tower just as my stomach grumbles with hunger. All the kids' eyes are glazed with awe, and the twins look like they're about to bow down to me any second. Hermione's eyes are a bit glassy, especially at the end with my second death.

"Wow," Ginny whispers, her hands long gone from Faith's tangle-free hair.

A grin creeps up, and I shrug.

"That's ancient history. Faith and I'll have to tell you 'bout the Potentials," I say with a fake shudder, "All those hormones..."

A chuckle goes round, when Hermione suddenly yells, "It's lunch! Harry should be back!"

Everyone jumps from their seat, except the twins, who Disapparate with a loud pop, not before shooting us grins, leaving Faith and I in the room. Standing slowly, she had an odd expression in her face.

"Is that what it's like? The death wish of a Slayer?" she asks softly, a spark in her eye that I can't quite identify.

Slightly surprised, I answer, "After everything, I thought you'd know."

Faith shakes her head, a sad air about her now as she gives a small, slightly bitter laugh, "No. Even after...no. Never death. I'm too stubborn to give in."

We're standing in front of each other now. I tilt my head up to look her in the eyes. Full of pain, guilt, but even now, innocence. It makes me realise how much death really affected me, even at 16 at the hands of the Master. My innocence was taken when I fell into that pool of water, and all these years...Angel, Dracula, even Spike...I've just been pining for it. Yearning for my peace. For that place I got ripped out of. Even at 16...I knew what I was missing. And I wanted it. Badly.

"Yeah. That's what it feels like."