Disclaimers, etc see part one.

… … …

Dawn joined Harry, Ron and Hermione in Transfiguration. Hermione immediately saved a seat next to her for Dawn. Ron automatically sat on the other side, and Harry slid into the seat next to him with a sigh.

"Dawn, where are the others?" Hermione asked, before Ron could say anything.

Harry didn't think that Ron was really thinking straight enough to actually say anything to Dawn.

"Willow and Tara are staying with Professor Flitwick to sit with the First years. I'm just following my age group around. I think Spike took Buffy to see Hagrid's creatures."

"Do you think she'll like them?" Ron asked.

Dawn smiled at him. "Oh yeah, she'll like non-evil magical things. And Spike likes being outside."

"Are they together?" Hermione asked, she sounded intensely curious.

"They really should be," Dawn said. "But Buffy thinks he's not good enough for her, but she trusts him now."

"What about Giles?" Harry asked.

He wished he hadn't when Dawn looked at him. She wasn't pleased, but Harry couldn't tell if it was because she liked him or didn't. He didn't get to ask because McGonagall started the class. Dawn insisted on taking notes and Ron tried to keep up with her.

McGonagall smiled. Hermione grimaced a couple of times, and immediately felt very annoyed with herself. 'You do not like Ron, you do not like Ron,' she tried to tell herself, 'you never liked him; for one thing, he's too tall.'

The match she was supposed to be half turning into a worm suddenly bent itself in half until it snapped. McGonagall frowned slightly.

"You don't need to try it so fast," she said. "You can't simply put the characteristics of the worm into the match, as you can see, they clash. But not many people could manage to actually do that to a match."

Hermione didn't seem to appreciate the comment. She flinched as Dawn giggled. Ron's match was successfully wiggling across the desk. McGonagall ran a speculative eye over Dawn.

"Okay," McGonagall said, as the class reach the end. "Try practicing making your matchsticks go in a particular direction. Dawn if you could stay for a moment after class?"

The class finished and Hermione dragged Ron away so Dawn to talk to Professor McGonagall.

The stern witch waited only until Neville started to close the door. "That is Rupert Giles who came with you?" she asked.

"Yes," Dawn said.

"He's still the man he was when he left here?"

"I don't know," Dawn said. "Was he worshipping demons when he left here?"

McGonagall almost collapsed against the desk with relief.

"Sweet Merlin's beard," she breathed.

"You don't want him to be evil, do you?" Dawn asked. She'd liked McGonagall, and Giles had spoken highly of her. And given that Giles's plan was that most of the school thought that he part of the Ministry, it would have been nice to have a grown up adult to talk to.

McGonagall looked at Dawn again. "If he told you that, he trusts you, and he's trying to bluff he's way past Fudge."

"Everyone's going to hate him for it, aren't they?" Dawn asked.

"Except the Slytherins," McGonagall agreed. There was a faint twist in her voice, like she was unsure about that now. Dawn had seen the Slytherins at breakfast and Padma, who had sat next to her in Charms, had described them as not quite as nice as weasels.

McGonagall shook herself out of her thoughts. She gestured for Dawn to lead the way out of the classroom. Harry, Ron and Hermione were waiting outside to escort Dawn down to lunch.

They had had a whispered argument about how much trouble Dawn could possibly be in. Hermione had assured Ron that it much more likely that they were discussing Dawn's schedule. Harry had had to drag them both down the corridor before they began arguing loudly.

"Look, we'll just wait till they come out. We can offer Dawn a place to sit with at lunch."

Ron had immediately agreed. Hermione had rolled her eyes at his enthusiasm. But her curiosity had eventually won.

"Dawn, we were wondering if you would mind sitting with us at lunch," Harry said.

"Sounds good," Dawn said.

She was pleased to have someone to talk to who was her own age. And Hermione was able to answer any of the questions she had about the castle. Padma had also told her that in the few minutes they had had before Flitwick had arrived.

"The ceiling's enchanted," Hermione said, as Dawn stared up again.

"I had wondered about that," Dawn said. "I haven't seen much long term charm work. Certainly nothing so grand."

Willow and Tara, in their green and silver robes, arrived behind Dawn and the others, and trailing several first year Hufflepuffs.

"How was your class, Dawn?" Willow asked.

"Oh, you'll love transfiguration," Dawn said. "There's all this physics stuff involved. I didn't understand much but you should talk to Professor McGonagall."

Dawn put a little bit of emphasis on the last clause. Willow was staring at the ceiling again, too, but Tara nodded her understanding at Dawn.

"Would you like to sit with us, too?" Hermione asked.

"Thanks, but we're eating lunch with Mark and Christopher."

Tara smiled down at the two little boys who nodded happily. Mark took Tara's hand to lead over to the Hufflepuff table.

"Will Xander and the others be back for lunch?" Dawn asked.

She'd just noticed Buffy and Spike sitting with Hagrid at the teacher's table, but couldn't remember about the others.

"I'm not sure about Xander and Anya," Tara answered. "But Giles definitely won't be."

She grabbed Willow with her spare hand allowed herself to be lead away. Dawn followed Hermione, Harry and Ron. They sat together with the other fifth years.

"What did you think of McGonagall?" the boy opposite Dawn asked. Seamus, she remembered his name was, to be distinguished from Dean, who was sitting beside him.

"I like her," Dawn said decisively. "She seems like she knows what's she's doing. Does she have a sense of humour?"

"A little bit, I think," Dean said.

"She hasn't killed Fred and George," Ron added.

Dawn giggled.

"Oh, once you meet them, you'll want to kill them too," Ron said. "Everyone does at some stage, even mum."

Dawn nodded. It sounded like they would get on with Xander.

"Hey, where's Umbridge," Harry said suddenly. "She's always on time to lunch."

Everyone looked at the teacher's table.

"What's she up to?" Hermione wondered out loud.

"I don't know," Dawn sighed. "The only one of us she liked was Giles."

Hermione and Harry both looked suspicious. Ron didn't want to think about it.

"Have you ever seen a game of Quidditch?" he asked.

When Dawn shook her head, he, Seamus and Dean proceeded to explain the games and the tactics to her with great enthusiasm. Harry was drawn in too, because he was also on the team. Hermione took a book out to read, ignoring how much Dawn seemed to like Ron back.