Dawn looked up and was surprised to see who the person who had walked into the hall was. It felt like it had been an eternity since she had last seen him. Professor Dumbledore had stood up and begun speaking before Dawn could recover from the surprise and say or do something to greet him more than raising herself up out of her seat.
"Identify yourself, stranger," Dumbledore's voice rang through the hall in a demanding tone.
"Now, now don't go getting you knickers in a twist. My name is Spike and I've just come to see my little bit, now where is she?" Spike said he looked around the room then he saw Dawn standing up staring at him and he stared back at her.
"Do you know this man Miss Summers?" Professor Snape asked her.
Dawn turned around to look up the hall to her Head of House. "Yes, sir. I do," Dawn said then she finally moved as she had wanted to since recognising Spike, she moved around the table and flung herself into his open arms in a bone crushing hug.
Dawn didn't care that everybody was watching them, that no one was chattering and no one was eating. No one saw Dumbledore sit down in his chair and smile at the reunion of the pair.
Spike let Dawn go and pulled back a step to inspect what damage the years away from home had done to his nibblet. She was actually wearing a uniform, her hair had grown even longer and she had grown both taller and slimmer. He pulled her to him again in a gentler hug, "Good to see you again, bit." He looked around the hall again, "Looks like we're the star attraction."
"Dawn I would like to see you and Spike in my office now, please," Snape said then got up from his seat and stalked past Spike and Dawn knowing that the two would follow him out of the room.
Draco watched the girl from earlier, Dawn, leave the hall with the man called Spike both going after Professor Snape. It was too irresistible to his natural curiosity which had already been piqued by the sudden appearance of the girl in Slytherin; he got up and trailed a short way behind them knowing that as a Prefect he had reason enough to be near Snape's office. He leaned into the door to listen to what they were saying.
"YOU CAN NOT JUST WALK INTO A SCHOOL FULL OF CHILDREN!" Snape was yelling.
Draco could just picture the livid expression on Snape's face and had a hard time suppressing a grin. From that outburst on all he could hear was just mumbling through the door. After a while he heard footsteps coming down the stairs to his right and decided that he wasn't able to hear enough to make having to give explanations that may not hold worth it so he left.
Dawn was trying not to giggle at Professor Snape's expression. He looked like he was slowly building up energy to yell all over again. It was another surprise to her when his expression suddenly softened. "I understand that you wanted to come and see Dawn, er... Spike wasn't it?" Snape started continuing after a brief nod from Spike "but we cannot just allow random vampires to walk in and demand to see their..." Snape was unsure of the next words; Spike didn't look like family and he looked too old to be a friend. He sighed, "What I'm saying is what if someone had mistaken you for a creature of the forest? You should have given us warning."
"She kind of grows on you, doesn't she?" Spike said leaning back in the chair he was sitting in, "She does that. You try not to like her but you can't help it, it's like she's going to be stuck in your mind forever-" Spike was interrupted by Professor Dumbledore walking into the office.
"Professor, Dawn. Spike, it is good to meet you at last, Dawn has told me many things about you and I have read a good deal more," Dumbledore said and shook Spike's hand while smiling at Dawn. "Now Severus, don't you think that there will be time to scold them later? Dawn, you may take Spike through to the Slytherin common room, no doubt you have a lot of catching up to do."
"Yes, sir," Dawn said getting up and pulling Spike along with her. They went to the common room and found it to be empty so they settled down onto one of the couches.
"So Bit how are they treating you here?" Spike asked but before she could answer she was cut off by a third person.
"Well, well, well, what do we have here?"
"What do you want?" Dawn hissed at the boy from earlier.
"Dawn, do you know this poof?" Spike asked and if Dawn hadn't still been feeling angry and hurt by her earlier confrontation with the blonde wizard she might have laughed at Spike's calling someone who closely resembled himself a poof.
"Hey!" Draco protested but was ignored as Dawn answered Spike.
"No, I don't, but he's mean," Dawn said, glaring at Draco.
"Do you want me to rough him up a bit? Even if it would hurt this here noggin," Spike said tapping his fingers gently against his platinum blonde hair.
"Hello, I'm standing right here," Draco said, glaring back at Dawn.
"Shut up!" Dawn and Spike yelled in tandem causing Draco's glare to deteriorate into a scowl.
"He's in my House, Slytherin, but since I've spent the last three years in a secluded part of the castle with no interaction with people other than teachers and the Headmaster, who happens to be a rather interesting old man with a candy obsession, and only just moved into the House area today I can't tell you much else about him. The Headmaster, however I can tell you has a real tasting for that candy Buffy..." Dawn fell silent at her sister's name.
Draco stood there, being ignored, but now he was content that they were talking around him and not to him since he figured that he would be able to learn a lot about the girl, Dawn, and her guest in this manner.
"Hey now, it's alright Nibblet, we all miss her. She loved you and she would have died many times over if it meant keeping you safe; you were the only thing that mattered to her, you little Bit were her one and only sister and that was special to her," Spike told Dawn with a sad smile.
"I just wish that it hadn't been three years since I saw her, I wish I had the chance to say goodbye, you know?" Dawn's voice was wavering as it filled with pent up emotion.
Draco stared at Dawn, wondering why she had been shut away, even when her sister was dying, only to be suddenly shoved into the main school.
"So, why did they lock you away Bit?" Spike asked causing Draco to smirk as the question he wanted answering was asked.
"Come on Spike, this is a school, there are children here! Can you imagine what would have happened if I had been in class with thirty-odd other students when Glory found me? They'd be dead or insane!" Dawn paused after her outburst wanting to dispel the unwelcome images it had brought to mind.
"Besides, it wasn't like I didn't get to go outside during the summer when the other students had gone home. It was just me and Professors Snape, Hagrid, and McGonagall with the Headmaster. It was fun, the summers, I learned to fly a broom, how to play quidditch and I took Care of Magical Creatures classes; they were so cool, I even got to touch a real, live unicorn!" Her enthusiasm seemed to calm Spike who had begun to frown as their conversations had gone on.
"Then once a year Professor Snape would take me to Diagon Alley to get the stuff I'd need for the next school year, we had to go when the Alley wouldn't be very busy, but it was the coolest! Snape may be a stiff coat but he's okay once you get to know him; like you, you're all 'Big Bad' until you get to know you then it's like you're a kitty cat." Dawn grinned then broke into laughter as Spike frowned, even Draco who didn't know Spike well could see what Dawn meant and was grinning.
"Hey! I am the Big Bad; I'm nothing like a cat. I eat cats, if you recall?" Spike told her and Dawn laughed. Draco looked a bit confused, wondering what the scrap of a girl was doing with something that ate cats.
"Ew, Spike! You know how much I hate it when you talk about your gambling for kittens; it's just wrong. Next time you could at least bring me one!" Dawn said.
"I'll do that," Spike said smiling, then whatever he had been about to say was lost as the common room door opening distracted him.
Professor Snape walked in, his eyes immediately fixing on Draco. "Mr. Malfoy, what are you doing here?" he snapped raising a single eyebrow in question.
"Umm... you see... I... was..." Draco stammered shuffling his feet slightly as he ordered himself to remember what it was he had been planning on using as his excuse.
"Been talking long?" Dawn asked sarcastically then looked at the Professor, "He was coming here to be mean and cruel, probably hoping for a repeat of earlier. You should rat him out to his parents and give him a detention," she suggested and felt pleased when Draco looked stricken at the prospect.
The Professor looked as though he was fighting amusement at Draco's reaction, almost like he was struggling to keep his glare in place, "I think, Miss Summers, that I will allow Mr. Malfoy to pass with just a warning this time. However," Snape's apparent amusement disappeared, "if I ever catch any of my students doing something out of line I do just that."
"Yes sir," Draco said embarrassed at being caught out.
"Now run along and stop trying my patience," The Professor ordered and after taking a final glance around at the girl and vampire Draco turned and left the room.
"Miss Summers, the Headmaster wishes to speak to you and your guest, please follow me and we'll go to his office," Snape said then turned to leave assuming correctly that Spike and Dawn would follow him.
When they reached the statue of the gargoyle that guarded Dumbledore's office Professor Snape gave the password, "Peanut Buttercups" and the gargoyle moved aside allowing the trio to walk up the stairs and into the office which was cluttered with a wide variety of trinkets and gadgets of magical and mundane origin, Dawn thought that she would be able to spend days in the office and still come across new items.
"Welcome in, do sit down," the Headmaster greeted them. "I think I have some rather pleasant news, Severus, I have found us a new Defense Against the Dark Arts instructor," he continued as the three guests in the office sat down.
"Really Albus? Who?" Snape asked feeling quite miffed that it was most probably going to be some random crackpot that Albus had once more dredged up rather than he, who had wanted the job for years and was so very well qualified to teach it.
The Headmaster smiled, his blue eyes performing the twinkle he knew infuriated the younger wizard at times like these. "It rather depends on whether I was correct in recognizing Dawn's friend, Spike here, as a wizard. You are, are you not, a wizard?" Albus asked Spike.
"Well I was before I died, when I was still human. I still have my wand though," Spike said making himself comfortable by sticking one leg out and leaning back in his chair.
"Indeed. And did you not teach here, at Hogwarts, while still human?" Albus said opening a large tome that sat on his desk and raising it so that everyone could see the picture on the page he had opened the book to.
The picture was of a man that closely resembled Spike, except that the man had long dark blond hair, and was wearing glasses and dark blue robes, teaching a group of uniform clad children.
"I was the Defense teacher right up until Drusilla bit me," Spike said, starting to sound a bit grouchy now that he was presented with evidence of what he once had been in the form of a photograph.
"And do you still remember the magics and spells you taught?" The ancient looking wizard asked him.
"Yes, I do," Spike said, only just refraining from snapping as he became more and more annoyed. "Look, would you stop with the questions about my past! What are they all in aid of anyway?"
"I have decided, William, to offer you your old job back as Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher," when Albus finished speaking he was met with silence due to Snape's disbelief that a Dark Creature would be appointed, Spike's wondering about the same thing and Dawn's amazement that Spike would be nearby. It was Dawn who broke the silence giving a squeal and launching into babble.
"Oh my god! Spike that would be great! You could stay here with me and I wouldn't be alone anymore, you should take it Spike, you would make a great teacher!"
Spike smiled at Dawn and after thinking it over briefly he turned to the Headmaster and spoke, "Alright, I'll take your job, but only for Bit, if it wasn't for her then I would tell you were to shove the offer." Albus laughed.
"Headmaster, I must protest! Spike is not a wizard anymore; he is a Dark Creature, a Vampire! He should not be allowed regular contact with the students," Severus said.
"But Professor, he can't hurt any humans, the US Government had a project called the Initiative for a while and they put this chip thing in his head and whenever he tries to harm a human being it causes him physical pain," Dawn explained and Albus' smile grew wider.
"See Severus, he is a perfect candidate, now please show Spike and Dawn the way to the vacant dungeon level classroom, as you pointed out, he is a vampire and we do want our newest member of staff to last longer than a day, don't we Severus," there was nothing Severus Snape could say in return so he just glared, before getting up and motioning for the other two guests of the Headmaster to follow him. When they left they could hear Albus chuckling away to himself.
Severus led the way back down to the dungeons, passing through a few corridors to get to the classroom that Spike would be using for his lessons.
The classroom was about the same size as the potions classroom, it had no windows, and although it had desks and chairs they were a trifle dusty and disordered, the chalkboard was decidedly worse for wear; half of it was missing completely, the only sign it should have been there was the jagged edge left on the other half.
"The house elves and a few spells will have this mess sorted out in no time at all," Snape said then moved to open a door in the wall the half-chalkboard hung on. "These will be your living quarters."
The door opened and revealed a furnished sitting room that was much better off than the classroom had been, there was little dust and all the furniture appeared to be in good repair.
"Bit this is even better than my crypt in Sunnydale," Spike said looking very pleased, and Dawn giggled.
Severus stayed by the door as his student and new colleague looked over the apartment, in all his years he had never heard of a young human girl and a vampire becoming friends, at least not for longer than it took the vampire to secure an invite into the girl's home, but here they were, right in front of him, he shook his head.
"Dawn, it is almost curfew, I suggest that you return to your dormitory. Good night, Mr. Spike," Severus said, watching as Dawn hugged Spike.
"'Night Spike," Dawn said.
"Sweet dreams, Bit," Spike returned then Dawn and Snape left him as they went back to Slytherin.
Dawn had a hard time getting to sleep as usual when she was tucked up in her bed, but this time it was because there were other people, her dorm-mates in the bedroom and not only her thoughts of Buffy keeping her awake. Eventually exhaustion won over and she sank into a deep and dreamless sleep.