Lightdemondarkangel: I'm glad you read it too! Killing people off is just plain mean, they don't deserve it…mostly. Thanks for R&R
Wickedangel: I'm sooooo relieved- I'm always worried about how to make a fight scene entertaining. Thaniks for R&R.
NixiNox: Thanks for reviewing. Sirius and Dawn are just good friends.
Charmed-angel4: look! A quick update! Aren't you proud? I can never kill anyone off, at least, not anyone who I've been writing as a good guy.
Moonys Mate: Great name! Thanks for R&R
Tap Dancing Widow: Thanks for the info on the shanshu xx
Buffy- crazy about angel: Sorry, I'm going to have to end it sooner later! I've got a something planned to follow it though. Thanks for R&R
MaryAnn: Thank you- it's a relief to know I pulled off something I'm not really comfortable doing!
The lady Morgaine: Sorry you didn't like the Voldy-shanshu thing. I never heard the full prophecy so I didn't know it was supposed to be someone who deserves it- which an evil wizard definitely doesn't! Thanks for R&R.
Mae: Does the squealing mean you liked it? I hope so! Thanks for reviewing!
A/N: The last full length chapter! Only a little epilogue to come which will follow shortly! That's to everyone who's still reading!
CHAPTER 16: ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS…
Most of the slayers had no injuries, or ones so minor that they'd rather let their slayer healing deal with them. Madam Pomfrey, when she realised that they weren't going to let her heal them, quickly tossed them out of her hospital wing.
Most of the wizards were there though, getting their injuries seen to and so as were twenty or so students that had been injured despite Willow's shield. Buffy was off with Madam Pomfrey having some tests done to make sure there was no lasting damage done by the rings as a precaution.
Dumbledore surveyed the scene before him feeling satisfied. They had beaten back Voldemort again, and who knows, they might get another decade of peace. He had already done the clean-up spells on the great hall and he couldn't help but be pleasantly surprised.
Although there were several bodies on the floor, only eleven belonged to the side of good and only two of those were children. It was a great loss, but when he thought about how bad things could have been had it not been for Willow's shield… One further body belonged to a member of the Order- Dennis Finnegan and he wished he didn't have such distressing news to break to Janice and Semus, but again when he looked on the grand scale of things if could have been worse. That left eight slayers dead. He had already informed Buffy and Giles, the latter saying he would contact any families they may have.
He saw McGonagall beckoning him through the door and went over. "Yes, Minerva?"
"The minister is here and He's not happy he wasn't informed. Also, that Skeeter woman has already been on the floo trying to get her scoop."
"Ah. Well bad news travels fast, I best go speak to Cornelius." Dumbledore said, scrunching up his nose as a six year old would when forced to do something he didn't want to do.
Harry saw Dumbledore leave out the corner of his eye, but his gaze was focused on two figures talking in hushed tones across the wing. Ron, who was talking to him, had noticed his friend's lack of attention, but had gone on talking anyway.
Sirius smiled at Dawn and nodded his head. "I suggest we go now before your son actually manages to bore a hole in my back with his eyes alone."
Dawn giggled and accepted his hand to help her to her feet. She noticed Harry's scowl deepen and Ron stopped talking as she and Sirius approached.
"Heya Ron. Are you alright?" Dawn said conversationally.
"Yeah fine." Ron said, already moving away from the bed and over to where his brothers were talking.
"Harry-"
"What does he want?" Harry cut in.
Sirius stared at Harry. "He looks so much like him." He said hoarsely.
"I know." Dawn smiled.
"You knew my Dad?" Harry asked, forgetting he hated his man.
"Knew him? He was my best mate!"
"Harry, this is Sirius Black; your Godfather." Dawn introduced, feeling very nervous.
"Godfather? Then why didn't you…"
"Harry there's something you should know about Sirius…"
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Ron listened to his brothers' talk bored. Fred and George were teasing Percy again, but Bill and Charlie were the worst. They were all 'did you see that spell I cast' or 'I took on two at once'. Honestly the way they talked you'd think they were the ones who killed Voldemort or whatever Dawn had done to him.
The doors burst open and Molly Weasley burst through the doors, her husband not far behind her. She immediately spotted her six sons with their bright red hair and managed to engulf both Fred and George in a hug. Bill and Charlie dreaded what was about to come as she worked her way through Ron and Percy to hug them as well. As Bill was squeezed tightly by his mother, he noticed a girl sitting on Harry's bed about his age with reddish-brown hair grinning at the scene. When she'd noticed him looking back though, she turned back to Harry.
"Bill Weasley! How could you be so irresponsible! And you too Charles! Going off to fight without me or your father! I had to find out that you were in danger from the clock of all places!"
"But Mum…" Charlie started.
The girl was grinning again; he could see it out of the corner of his eye, but she stopped as a petite blond woman came out of Poppy's office. The brunette ran over to the blond.
"Is everything okay?" She asked, the worry evident in her voice.
Blondie smiled reassuringly. "Fine. But I still can't believe you would do something that would probably kill you! Honestly, Dawnie-"
"But it didn't kill me." 'Dawnie' pointed out. "Besides we didn't really have any other options Buffy."
"That's not the point!" 'Buffy' started. "You could have been killed…"
Now it was Bill's turn to grin as the embarrassed brunette girl got yelled at by the blond.
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"Ah, Cornelius; always a pleasure." Dumbledore said, smiling serenely.
"Albus, whatever happened here? Who are all those girls sitting outside?"
"I'm afraid we had a little problem." Dumbledore frowned. "Voldemort seemed to push up his plans and attacked the school last night."
"He attacked the school? Why wasn't I informed?"
"I'm informing you now…you will, of course, be glad to know that all but two of my students are alive." The headmaster informed him coolly.
Fudge gaped. "All alive? How on earth did you manage that?"
"Luckily we had a couple of hours advanced warning and managed to evacuate most of the students."
"Hours warning? Why wasn't the ministry informed of this?" Fudge fumed.
Dumbledore stayed calm and pretended to think over his actions. "You know, that thought never really occurred to me."
Fudge glared at the headmaster but didn't bother pushing the topic any further. "What happened?"
"The great hall was attacked whilst we were eating our evening meal." Dumbledore said evenly. "Those who were able fought the death eaters until Voldemort turned up. Then two members of my staff performed a spell, based on Wiccan magic if I assume correctly, and Voldemort was left severely weakened and departed."
Fudge nodded, suspecting that Dumbledore wasn't telling him the truth, but knowing that he didn't have the power to make him tell. "Very well, I wish to speak to those involved."
"You can speak to some of them on your way out. They're sitting on the entrance steps."
Fudge's eyes boggled out of his head. "Those teenage girls? Have you totally lost your mind? I can't believe you let them fight Voldemort; they'd be slaughtered within moments!"
"Yet they are standing outside my school three hours after the battle ended. Funny that."
"You allowed them to fight you-know-who? Are you mad!"
"I never said I wasn't! And they seemed to manage quite admirably!" Dumbledore said brightly, reaching for something on a shelf behind his desk. After a moment he pulled out a red tin triumphantly and offered it to the Minister. "Double-chocolate hobnob?"
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When Mrs. Weasley had stopped yelling and fussing over her sons', and it had taken a long time, she asked about Harry.
"He's over there, talking to his mum." Ron had answered.
"Ron; don't be silly. You-know-who killed Lily Potter ten years ago!" Molly Weasley had responded angrily.
"I know, but Dumbledore said these monks brought her back to life or something." Ron had tried to explain.
"Ronald; I will not tolerate this!" Mrs. Weasley had started, but her husband had hushed her.
"Wait, Molly. Look at her. After all the pictures we've seen of the Potters', I would know them anywhere…she's the spitting image."
"But Arthur, that girl isn't even twenty-five! And Lily Potter was killed ten years ago."
Mr. Weasley ignored his wife. "The hair's darker, and her face is a little different…but the eyes, look at the eyes Molly and how she is with Harry. If she isn't Lily Potter, then she's her twin."
Molly frowned, but looked at 'the girl' anyway. She had to admit that she did look uncannily like Lily Potter, and she ruffled Harry's hair (much to his disgust) just like the way she did with Ron.
"Mum, where are you going?" Ron asked panicked.
"Just to have a little chat." The mother-of-seven had said. "Hello, Harry. You're still standing, I see. I don't believe we've been introduced."
Dawn grinned at the woman's attempt at subtlety. "Dawn Summers. You're Ron's mother?"
"Yes, Molly Weasley. Dawn Summers, you say? Oh, so are you a relation of Harry's?" The woman pried a little further.
"She's my mum." Harry spoke up.
Both Dawn and Mrs. Weasley looked at him, Mrs. Weasley in surprise and Dawn in both surprise and pleasure. He had admitted to another person that they were mother and son. She never knew how good that would make her feel.
"M-Mother? But the curse! What-"
"I was brought back." Dawn said firmly. "Now I'm here to stay."
Mrs. Weasley nodded dumbly. "Of course. I'll just…go… away now."
She backed off slowly, her mind reeling. But her mind wasn't the only one; a ladybird flew down from the windowsill be Harry's bed, barely believing what she had just heard.
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Dumbledore looked around the people in his office. Professors Snape and McGonagall were there as were Buffy, Giles, Willow and Xander and Sirius Black, much to Snape's disgust. Faith and Andrew were recuperating by lazing about with the rest of the slayers. He cleared his throat to get everybody's attention. "Is everybody comfortable? Then I'll begin."
But he was interrupted by the door opening again.
"Did we miss anything?" Dawn said as she hurried through the door followed by Harry.
"Nope, not even stared." Buffy answered.
"Miss Summers, I'm not sure that it is the best idea for Harry to hear what it is we have to say." Dumbledore said.
"He wants to hear it and I don't have a problem with it. Scooch over." Dawn said to Xander who obliged so the duo could sit down.
Dumbledore cast a weary glance in Harry's direction before speaking again. "When I asked Miss Summers to come to Hogwarts, I had an ulterior motive. I knew of her being the key, and therefore knew a vessel had been used and I was able to limit the possibilities down to Lily Potter. However my research showed that there was a danger. There were, are, essentially two beings residing in one body. I would not be surprised to hear that you, Dawn, were having what felt like an inner conflict."
"I was." Dawn nodded. "Part of me felt like it was being trapped in a cage and couldn't get out."
"Yes, that would be it. But when this happens, there must be some sort of result, in other words, the human body is only built for one person, not two. I found that, well, the easiest way to explain it is for the personalities to internally combust which would be disastrous for the world."
"And you're telling us this now?" Buffy said angrily.
"Yes. I appreciate that you would have liked to be told sooner, but I wished to solve the problem."
"And have you?" Giles asked.
"I haven't no, but Miss Summers has, which explains her current appearance; she had become one with her inner vessel if you wish."
"How did I do that?"
"My only guess is that by some way willingly becoming the vessel for slayer and wizarding power, you accepted the vessel's soul into your life and into your body and that shows on the outside."
Dawn nodded, satisfied with this explanation. She would probably have some more questions for Dumbledore later, but that was enough for now. At least she knew why she looked different. She felt more at peace now. Before, even when she had accepted that Lily's body was her body she hadn't really thought about Lily's soul, she'd assumed that it was in heaven somewhere not locked deep inside of her waiting to get out. But now it was out it was like there was a huge burden off her shoulders.
She looked over to Harry who gave a half smiled back. He didn't seem to have any problems with this latest revelation and seemed to be taking it quite well, thank the goddess.
Dumbledore leaned back in his seat, pleased to see that everybody seemed to be happy with his explanation. "And now, may I ask what you know about Voldemort's rise? I have to admit that I do not know how it is possible, but you seem to have an idea."
Buffy looked over to Giles who nodded his encouragement. "There's a prophecy. We're a bit sketchy on the details; I only know what Angel told me. It's called the 'shanshu' and it says that the vampire with a soul will come back as a human."
"And you believe this shanshu happened to Voldemort?"
Buffy nodded. "I felt the soul on him when he came into the hall and he was definitely vampire and then human."
"We all thought the vampire was Angel." Giles revealed. "Or possibly Spike after he got his soul. But they've been gone for six years and no-one's heard anything from them. We can only assume that Voldemort was the creature referred to in the prophecy."
"It does seem that way." Dumbledore mused. "The transformation seems to have weakened him, much like ten years ago…"
"So what do we do now?" Harry spoke up.
"The Order of the Phoenix and the aurors will begin the search for Voldemort immediately. When he is found, we will do our best to capture him, but that may take many months or years. As for Hogwarts, it is only three weeks until Christmas. I have decided to move up the Christmas holidays as so many students are already home." Dumbledore smiled.
"What about me?" Harry asked in a small voice.
Dumbledore looked at Harry and Dawn's anxious faces. "I see no reason for you not going home with your mother, if that is what you both want."
Harry looked to Dawn hopefully for her answer. "You're welcome to stay with me, if you want. Can't he Giles?"
"Of course; as long as he doesn't mind sharing a house with twenty-five slayers."
"No, no, that's fine." Harry beamed.
Dawn squealed and clapped her hands together. Everything was coming together.
Snape growled something under his breath that was not meant to be heard by anyone, but he didn't account on standing just five metres from a slayer.
Buffy smiled sweetly at the potions master. "If I ever hear you talk about my sister that way again, and believe me I will hear it, I will rip out your heart and feed it to you piece by piece, got it?"
Harry's eyes opened wide in a mix of shock and fear. Xander saw and tried to reassure the boy.
"Buffy takes a bit of getting used to." Dawn's one eyed friend explained. "She's all hurt so-and-so and I'll beat you over the head to death with a shovel. And blah, blah, blah I'll rip out your ribcage and wear it as a hat. But she hasn't actually done it yet- the threat seems to be enough in most cases."
Harry failed to look reassured. "Oh. Right then."
"What about me?" Sirius asked. "I'm still a wanted man, where am I supposed to go?"
"Wherever you want my boy, the aurors discovered the body of Peter Pettigrew not long after the battle ended, you're a free man."
"I'm free? Really free! Wahoo!" He jumped up into the air and was promptly hugged by Dawn who he swung round in a circle.
Harry stiffened as his mother hugged Sirius, but quickly relaxed.
"You can stay with us as long as you want." Dawn promised.
"Thanks…I can't believe I'm free at last!"
Sirius growled. "Bloody mutt."
"Same to you Snivellus!" Nothing could bring his mood down.
"Pillock."
"Ponce." Sirius retorted brightly,
"Tosser."
"Greasy Git." He smiled nostalgically. "Oh, Snivellus; how I've missed this."
Dumbledore cleared his throat drawing the attention back to himself. "May I suggest that you…round up the young ladies? The house elves have prepared enough rooms for everyone to stay in and there are still a few hours until dawn so they may feel the benefit of some sleep."
"I think we all could." Buffy said looking around the room. She knew that Faith and herself would be okay, but everybody else was running on adrenaline and would regret it the next day if they didn't get a couple of hours rest; poor Harry was practically falling asleep where he sat!
Dumbledore nodded. "Very well. Then I shall bid you goodnight and head for my own quarters. An old man such as myself needs his beauty sleep. Sweet dreams."
"Not much chance of that." Xander muttered, the memory of what had happened just six hours ago still painfully fresh in his mind.
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The next morning, which was less than two hours away really, Dawn was taking a break, relishing the peace as she watched the sun rise higher over the Forbidden Forest. The slayers had stayed up until the early hours of the morning talking so they were taking a much needed lay-in. They weren't used to the standard apocalypse hours when you got by on ninety minutes sleep a night. That meant that it was just order members, Scoobies and some of the parents of students hanging about, all of whom knew some version of the truth and most of whom were staring at Dawn.
She heard the footsteps a mile off. That meant it wasn't Buffy, Faith or any other slayers. It couldn't be Willow either, the steps were too heavy. That left Giles and Xander- probably Xander.
When the footsteps were right up to her they stopped and someone spoke; someone who was definitely not Giles or Xander. "Taking a break?"
Dawn turned around in surprise to see a red haired man standing behind her. "Err yeah."
"Mind if I join you?" He smiled.
That's when she knew it was a Weasley- Ron and the twins had the same goofy grin. "Sure. Which one are you then?"
"Excuse me?"
"Bill or Charlie? I already know your not Ron, Fred, George or Percy and I'm ninety percent sure you're a Weasley."
"Oh, I'm Bill. What's it like teaching my brothers then? I don't envy you that job!"
Dawn laughed. "I've heard the twins can be a bit of a handful."
"But they're not for you?"
"Well, they know I can kick their identical asses from here to Japan."
Bill eyed the rather petite girl in front of him, half wary and half disbelievingly.. "Oh."
"So, what are you escaping from, Bill?"
"Huh?"
"Well I'm out here escaping from the looks and the whispers, what about you?"
Bill blushed. "My mother." He mumbled. "She's rather…agitated that Charlie and I joined in the fight and I have a rather short temper…"
"Ah say no more, I'm the same with my sister."
"And I expect you'll be the same with Harry in ten years." Bill grinned.
Dawn sighed. "Maybe. It might be a bit late for all that, eleven years too late."
"Nah. It's never too late."
"You reckon?"
"Course not. From what I hear, you didn't really have many options about before, but now you do and you're doing what's right."
Dawn grinned. "Oh yeah? Remind me of that when puberty kicks in and I've got a grumpy teenager in my house who hates my guts."
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By the afternoon, most people had gone. The parents had wanted their children safe at home with them, the Order members had wanted to get back to their families as soon as possible and Giles had taken the slayers back to the centre. Buffy, Xander, Willow, Faith and Andrew were heading back to Cleveland in the evening and Dawn was staying with Harry to see them off.
Some of the Weasley's were still at Hogwarts. Ron had wanted to speak to Harry, and Molly Weasley had wanted to speak to Dawn a bit more so didn't object. The twins, Percy, Charlie and Mr. Weasley had all returned to the burrow, but, surprisingly, Bill had wanted to stay.
Most of the teachers had left too. Snape had been the first to go; he couldn't wait to get away from the American muggles. Dumbledore and McGonagall were the only ones left and they would wait until last to leave.
Everyone was milling about in the staff common room. No-one had really wanted to have afternoon tea in the Great Hall; the carnage and bodies may have been cleared, but the memories of what had happened were still fresh in everyone's minds.
Buffy, Willow, Xander and Dawn were talking in one corner about Hogwarts, Professor Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall were talking to Molly Weasley and her oldest son and Harry and Ron were standing by the desert trolley. An owl flew in through the open window and dropped a rolled up bundle into Dumbledore's hands. When he saw what it was, he excused himself from the group and opened it.
It was a special edition of the Daily Prophet. He unrolled the paper and sighed when he saw the front page. There was a big headline that read 'Voldemort Defeated' and a picture of some aurors taking death eaters out of Hogwarts main entrance. He shook his head sadly. Once again the wizarding community were being given false hope. Voldemort was not defeated, just prevented and the aged headmaster was willing to bet that he would be back. He hoped that people would be a little more accepting of that fact than they were ten years ago when he'd claimed that Voldemort wasn't gone forever, but he doubted that very much.
He opened the paper. The first page was an article by Fudge about how the Ministry worked very hard for this day and other such codswallop. He turned the page again. He read the headline. He reread the headline. How had they known about that? He looked down to where the reporters name was written; Rita Skeeter, of course.
"Is something wrong, professor?" Dawn asked. She had seen him reading the paper and his downcast look so she had gone to investigate.
"In a way, yes." Dumbledore said, handing over the paper.
Dawn's eyes opened wide when she saw what was written, she seemed surprised but not upset. "So they know about me? At least they aren't denying it. I was expecting a battle for them to believe me, but they seem to accept it don't they? At least it's out in the open."
Truth be told, she was quite relieved that everyone would know. Sure some people wouldn't believe her, but the worst bit was over with without her even knowing it was happening, she hadn't had to tell anyone what had happened, they had just known.
"Do you want to tell Harry?" Dumbledore asked gently.
Dawn looked over to where he was laughing with Ron. "Not yet. I'll tell him later."
Dumbledore nodded. "Very well. Now I believe we have some celebrating to do!" He said as he disappeared over to where McGonagall was talking with Bill.
Dawn looked around, and grinned as she spotted a familiar face. "So that's where you've been, tarting yourself up!" She said taking in Sirius' neat appearance. He looked much better than when she last saw him, he was now wearing clean clothes, with a stylish haircut and completely stubble free.
The newly shaven Sirius flushed almost guiltily. "Err yes, that's exactly where I've been." He said before hurrying off. Dawn looked after him confused; he was acting even weirder than usual.
"D-Dawn?" A voice called hesitantly from behind her.
She turned around. "Yes Mrs. Weasley?"
"Molly; I was wondering if you'd like too have a little chat?" The older woman said only slightly more boldly.
"Curiosity got the better of you then." Dawn said, grinning at the woman's sheepish smile. "There's not much to tell really. A group of monk's were playing with some power they shouldn't be and I came back totally clueless about what had happened or who I was. They tried to cover up their actions by giving me fake memories and sending me to a new family." Dawn said, giving the cover story that had been agreed upon and which Dumbledore would give to the newspapers the next day. "I recently started remembering things about my old life, but it didn't make sense until I came to Hogwarts."
Mrs. Weasley nodded. "Muggles messing with power is always a bad sign," she said knowledgeably.
"I'll second that!" Faith agreed as she walked past them on her way into the room.
"Where've you been?" Dawn asked surprised and a little guilty, she hadn't even noticed the second-oldest-slayer wasn't there.
They were interrupted by Dumbledore clinking his glass. "Excuse me, but I believe we should take a moment to reflect on all those who can not be with us today. Wizards and witches that Voldemort has killed; not just in the final stage, but in the last thirty years. For the slayers who fell in yesterday's battle and for those who have been left behind. They will not be forgotten and their sacrifice will not be in vain;" he raised his glass in a toast. "For those we have lost."
Twelve glasses joined his in the air, each remembering the tremendous sacrifices made by their family, friends and even people they barely knew. "For those we have lost."
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"See ya soon, Dawnie." Buffy said hugging her sister. "And this time stay in contact; I don't want to hear when everything goes wrong from Giles."
"I will and I'm sorry. Love you."
"Love you too, don't be a stranger…" Buffy hugged Dawn again and ducked through the fireplace that Xander had just vacated.
Dawn waved as her sister disappeared and then turned back to the other occupants in the room. "Who's next?"
Mr. and Mrs. Weasley said their goodbyes, Mrs. Weasley hugging Dawn, Sirius and Harry while Mr. Weasley settled for a handshake. They thanked Professor Dumbledore and ducked through the flames, instructing Ron to follow them straight away and for Bill to follow.
Ron tossed a quick wave to Harry. "See you in January, Mate. Bye Professor." And then he too was gone.
Bill turned to Professor Dumbledore and shook his hand. "Nice seeing you again sir."
"You too my boy. Good luck in Egypt."
Bill moved over to Harry and clapped him on the shoulder. "Look after yourself Harry." He went to Dawn and planted a soft kiss on her cheek. "Nice meeting you."
"You too." Dawn said irritated by how breathy her voice had become. "Bye."
Bill grinned and stepped into the fire leaving the rest behind him.
"Bye, Billius, I looove you!" Sirius mimicked from behind Harry.
Harry sniggered, once he'd gotten to know Sirius he'd really liked him and Sirius had assured him that the feeling was mutual.
Dawn however wasn't as amused. "Do you want to stay with us?"
Sirius gave her his best puppy dog eyes. But she'd seen those eyes a million times before so they didn't have the desired effects. "I'm sorry, I'll be good."
"You better be Padfoot." Dawn muttered, but with a smile twitching at her lips.
"Of course."
Dumbledore smiled at the interaction. He'd seen similar routines between the two all those years ago and for an instant it seemed like nothing had changed. "Are you ready?"
Dawn nodded. "Sirius' going back first, me and Harry have something we need to do."
"We do?" Harry questioned. This was the first he'd heard about it.
"Yup." Dawn said.
"What?"
"You'll see…" She grinned mysteriously.
"Whatever, see you at home Tigerlily." Sirius said anxiously glancing at Dawn to see her reaction to her old nickname, but she didn't seem to mind.
"So where are we going?" Harry asked impatiently after Sirius flooed away.
"Diagon Alley." Dawn said. "Just step in and say Diagon Alley clearly and it'll whisk you away."
Harry nodded and stepped into the fireplace. He dropped his green power into the grate. "Diagon Alley."
The fire flashed green and Harry disappeared. Dawn made a move to follow him.
"Miss Summers, I trust you will be returning next term?"
"I, well, I suppose so."
"Marvellous. I'm sure I speak for all of the staff when I say we'd be delighted to have you. You've done so well this term, my dear."
"Thank you, sir." Dawn said taking the headmasters outstretched hand and then disappearing into the fire.
Dumbledore turned to Professor McGonagall. "I told you this would be an exciting term!"
McGonagall just smiled indulgently.
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Harry looked around Diagon Alley remembering Hagrid showing him around four months ago. Four months! It seemed like so much longer! Everything had been so new then, now he felt like he'd seen too much of the wizarding world. He'd seen more death and violence in the last week alone than he'd ever witnessed in the muggle world. But, he realised as he looked to the woman walking next to him, he wouldn't change it for anything.
"We're here." Dawn announced, climbing up some marble steps.
"Gringrotts? I've been here before."
"Trust me."
Harry followed his mother (he loved how that sounded) over to one of the clerks and watched her ask to be taken to a vault.
They hopped into one of the carts and took a strong grip. "I hate those things." Dawn muttered as the 'ride' came to an end.
The goblin opened the vault they had stopped by and Harry looked in interest, but it was fairly plain- furniture and boxes mainly.
Dawn looked around with tears in her eyes. "It's our old vault. When a witch or wizard dies all their belongings are transferred to their vault until a family member wants to collect them. Dumbledore gave me the key this morning." She explained.
Harry looked around the vault. There was no money as that had all been transferred to him as per his parents will, but many of their possessions were there.
Dawn was pottering about the vault looking at what was there. "Dumbledore said that most of it was blown up or damaged beyond repair." She gasped and ran across the other side. "Oh my God, your crib!"
Harry looked over at the slightly charred baby's cot. He'd known that his mother had put him in there to try and protect him. The whole situation was making him feel a little uncomfortable.
Dawn shook herself. She'd made arrangements to come back to the vault with Sirius in the holidays to clear it out; she didn't really want Harry to see what was left of his parents possessions, not like this.
"Where is it?" She muttered, searching through the piles of memories. A velvet bag caught her eye so she opened it. She felt the tears come to her eyes as she saw what was there. A thought came to her so she took one of the three objects out for Harry and quickly pocketed the other two. A few minutes later she held up a smallish wooden box triumphantly. "Aha!"
Harry watched curiously as Dawn picked her way through from the back of the vault so he was next to him. She handed the box to him.
Dawn watched him examine the design on the top. "James made it for you before he…" She trailed off, but forcefully pulled herself together. "He did it all himself, the muggle way."
Harry traced a finger over the carvings on the top. It was quite small, about eight inches at its longest, but his name was carved on and surrounded by a pattern of swirls. In one corner there was a flower- a lily and in the other a crest of some sort.
"That's the Potter family crest." Dawn said as if reading his mind. "Open it."
Harry did so. In a corner of the box was something sparkling. He lifted it out and in the dim light recognised it as a necklace of sorts. It was a long silver chain with a couple of pendants hanging from the bottom. One of them was obviously a wedding ring; the other was a smallish silver disc with the same crest as on the box.
"I just put that in." Dawn admitted. "He wore it all the time, he would have wanted you to have it…you can take the ring off if you want."
"Thank you." Harry chocked out. He'd never had anything of his parents before.
"No worries, think of it as an early Christmas present."
"I don't have anything for you."
Dawn smiled. "Yes you do." She wondered if it would ruin the moment to burst into a rousing chorus of Mariah Carey's 'All I want for Christmas', and decided it would be best for her to keep very quiet.
"Come on, let's go."
They left the vault behind and went up to the winter sunshine.
"What are you humming?" Harry asked suddenly.
Dawn stopped humming, she hadn't even realised she was doing it. Damn Christmas songs that get stuck in your head! "Nothing," she lied.
"Yes you were I heard you."
"Okay so maybe I was, but believe me when I say you don't want to know."
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Wow! Long chapter- my hand hurts!
'MISSING SCENE': If anyone is interested in reading an extra story set between Faith and Sirius during the party, then it can be found under the title 'Just Connect' (rated 'R' or whatever the equivalent is now, so please don't look if you're not old enough or don't like that sort of thing)
EPILOGUE (Happily Ever After?) TO FOLLOW SHORTLY
PLEASE REVIEW!