Right up top, just because you deserve to come first for all your wonderful reviews, I'd like to thank my faithful reviewers:

Sonofgloin (honey, when is it ever good news?)

The Ceej

Kat (who else would it be!)

Eleclyalll

Kiara-Zzyopen (I know, I'm bad!)

Botticelli's Venus wink, wait and see!)

Mademoiselle Morte (a gold star for you, I really don't like him either.)

RoseWill

alunderman

EllandrahSylver

Jillian (and doesn't James need all the help he can get!)

Disclaimer: Do I have to? Sigh. I own neither Harry Potter, Buffy the Vampire Slayer or anything within the two worlds. I also make no money, and certainly not from writing this. Happy?

A/N: I really hope you guys enjoy this chapter, I had a lot of fun writing it. There are some answers given, some questions raised, some tension, a prank or two and some chocolate cake for good measure. Also delves just a little more deeply into the world of Hogwarts, and a few things strike our Lil' Dawnie as surprisingly close to home. I'm very proud of myself, it's another nice, long chapter (definitely by my standards, anyway) and as usual I'd love all questions, comments and suggestions to come rolling in through that cute little review button right down there! Cheers, Anoron

CHAPTER FOUR

"Is there anything you wish to tell me, Dawn?" Dumbledore asked, gesturing the girl into a seat. He couldn't help but note that she looked more than just a little disturbed.

"N-no," Dawn shook her head vigorously, trying to dispel the image of the intimidating blond she'd just encountered outside the Great Hall. Dumbledore's eyes bored into hers, and Dawn wondered if he was reading her very soul.

"Very well," the Headmaster said, briskly changing the subject. "I have. . . some difficult news for you, dear. But I think it best you not be left to live in false hope any longer," he said gently.

Tears sprang to Dawn's eyes; she knew at once what was coming. Didn't make the news any easier to bear though.

"I am sorry. There is no way that myself, or any of the other Professors can see for you to return to your home dimension. You are with us here for good."

Dawn nodded, wiping hastily at her eyes. So there it was: no Buffy, no Scoobies, no Spike, never again. She'd never again feel that comforting touch of the one being bound to her eternally. Bound by blood ties stronger than those who shared a regular sibling bond. The one to whom she had truly belonged.

"But-" she began, a new thought occurring to her. She had no way back. Was there a way forwards for her, in that case?

"Yes, Miss Summers?" Dumbledore encouraged.

"I didn't die. I should've died, but instead I just came here. Why is that? And will I ever die, or will I just keep on going forever?" she wondered. It was all too confusing, too complicated.

"As for that, only time can tell. When Madam Pomfrey examined you, she found you to be a perfectly natural fifteen year-old mortal girl. It is my belief, then, that you shall live out a mortal life accordingly. Barring any more expeditions through opened portals, of course," he smiled gently.

Dawn nodded again, but could not muster a smile. "Thank you, Professor."

"You're welcome, Dawn. Now, I am sure you would like to return to your Common Room? Good night," Dumbledore urged the girl softly, sending her back to her friends. He had a feeling they would be of much greater comfort to her than he at this time.

"Good night, Professor," Dawn returned wearily, making her way back to the Common Room. Once there, her friends pounced on her.

"What did he say?" Sirius demanded, pushing her onto a couch by the fire.

Dawn's face scrunched up against the howl of pain threatening to escape her and she merely shook her head, unable to communicate more effectively for the moment. The boys all shifted uncomfortably around her, and Dawn buried her face in her hands, frustrated tears leaking out between her fingers.

"C-can't go home," she choked out. "He said there's n-no way back- I'll never see my family again!"

"Oh Dawnie," Remus sighed sympathetically, sharing a sombre look with James. Peter stared solemnly at his feet, not wanting to imagine how lonely he'd be without his family, and Sirius gave Dawn an awkward hug. It was hard to imagine the pain of losing a family when your own family was not one you'd exactly regret leaving behind.

His mouth was next to her ear, and he started to murmur words the others couldn't hear, soothing her. "Shh, Kitten. It's ok. We'll be here for you, we'll be your family. Y'know, my family isn't exactly the greatest, but I don't mind because I have these guys to make up for it. And now you do too. Got it?"

Eyes dried, Dawn looked up at him and nodded. She pulled away from Sirius and smiled softly at the others. "I'm ok," she assured them.

They began chattering away about nothing in particular, James trying in vain to keep from glancing across the Common Room every five seconds, to where Lily was chatting with a group of fifth and sixth year girls. Suddenly, something occurred to Dawn. Her mind had wandered back to the scene just after she'd left the Great Hall, where that boy had slapped her cheek and called her a – what?

"Um, can I ask you something?" Dawn asked, looking around to see all the boys nod. "What's a Mudblood?" she asked quietly, not wanting the rest of the Common Room to overhear, in case it was something she should already know.

"What?" James hissed, his eyes narrowing dangerously. Dawn looked around her and noticed the other three boys were all wearing similar expressions of anger or disgust.

"I'm sorry," Dawn said quickly. "I didn't mean to upset anybody-"

"It's not that," Peter squeaked out, cutting her apology off.

"No, where did you hear that, Dawnie? Did someone call you that?" Remus asked, an unusually hard glint in the werewolf's amber eyes.

Slowly, Dawn nodded. "What does it mean?"

"It means 'dirty blood'," Sirius told her, his jaw ticking angrily. "It's a disgusting word, used mostly by Slytherins and other prejudiced pure-blood animals, to describe muggle-borns."

Again, Dawn gave a nod, this one to show her understanding. "So I would be a Mudbl-"

"No you're not!" James barked harshly, halting Dawn's sentence in its tracks. "Never use that word Kitten, you hear me? And if I ever hear someone call you that, I'll hex them clear into next week!" the young Gryffindor swore, his cheeks tinged red with anger. If there was one thing he hated, it was the prejudiced gits that gave pure-bloods like himself and his friends a bad name.

"Ok," Dawn whispered, suddenly very confused by the 'racial' stigma she'd just inherited.

"Who called you that, anyway?" Sirius asked, with a significant look at James. If Dawn could give a decent description, and they could figure out the culprit, then they could have a whole lot of fun making this jerk pay.

Dawn shrugged. "I dunno. A boy, outside the Great Hall. He was bigger, standing over me, and. . ." her hand went to her cheek as she trailed off, remembering the slap he'd given her, just enough to let her know how subservient he considered her.

"And?" James prompted, a little impatiently. He was ready to make with the payback, already.

"Um, he was blond, and pale. He had a green and silver tie on. His eyes were grey," she said, telling them everything she could remember about the boy's features.

"Lucius Malfoy, the git," Sirius growled. The four boys exchanged a look that clearly said one thing: prank war.

-----

Bloodshed, pain and horror surrounded Dawn, thick red liquid engulfing her senses. Buffy was there, and her Mom, but they were screaming, being torn apart by unseen forces. Dawn tried desperately to reach them, to save them, but she slipped in the blood and it spilled around her, gushing out of the bodies of her mother and sister until she was drowning in it.

"No," she gasped, her eyes snapping open. In the pitch black, it took her a moment to recognise her surroundings: her Hogwarts bed, the sweat-drenched covers bunched around her. She lay still a moment, hoping she'd drift back into blissful sleep and her nightmare would fade into oblivion. But it was hopeless. She didn't want to wake the other girls up, but she was alone and afraid and there was no-one here to make it better. Sleep was most definitely not an option.

Shoving the covers back, she stood and tip-toed out of the dorm and down to the Common Room. She curled up in the chair she'd sat in earlier that evening, staring into the fire and willing the lonely night to pass quickly. Her eyes glazed over, and Dawn was so spaced out that she failed to notice the portrait swing open, then shut, and the lone figure of a fifteen year-old boy appearing from under an Invisibility Cloak.

He juggled the Cloak in one hand and a large plate piled high with chocolate cake in the other. He was about to sneak up the stairs and back into his own dorm when he caught sight of the wispy figure curled up by the fire, completely oblivious to his presence.

And Sirius took full advantage of that fact, his eyes roving over Dawn's body at their leisure. Those long, shapely legs visible beneath the long t-shirt that served as her nightie, her slightly curvy figure, the creamy complexion of her skin, that mass of shimmering hair that framed soft lips and otherworldly blue eyes. Yes, Dawn was his friend, she was vulnerable and she needed all the support the Marauders could offer right now. She was sweet, and refreshingly pure and naïve and Sirius knew he would do anything to protect her. But it sure as hell didn't hurt that she was so damn easy on the eyes!

Sirius smirked at his last thought, then walked over to stand in front of his newest friend. Her staring contest with the fire broken by a pair of black satin boxers and slightly hairy legs, Dawn blinked owlishly and refocused her gaze. When she realized exactly what she was refocusing on, she blushed and her gaze flew upwards to Sirius' grinning face.

"Hey Kitten," he said brightly, dumping James' Cloak on the chair beside her. "Cake?"

Dawn's mouth opened, but any reply was about to make was stifled by the large hunk of chocolate cake Sirius shoved into her mouth. Dawn's eyes bugged in alarm, before they fixed on Sirius in a glare. There was icing smeared all over her face, and with the amount of cake he'd just force-fed her, Dawn was surprised she wasn't choking on it. It took her several moments to swallow a significant amount, and Sirius grinned playfully at her.

"You look good in chocolate. Here, let me help you with that," he leaned in, as if to begin sucking the icing off her nose, but Dawn squealed and shoved him back.

"Only trying to help," he chuckled, and to his astonishment, Dawn actually nodded and beckoned him closer.

"Ok then. Come here."

He nearly dropped the plate in shock, but managed to step closer, preparing to lower his face to Dawn's. But he didn't get the chance. The second he was in range, Dawn seized hold of his white shirt and wiped her face clean on it. Sirius gaped at the chocolate stains now covering his pyjamas, then at Dawn's now-clean face.

"Thanks, very helpful Sirius," she giggled, blushing lightly. The lack of sleep coupled with all her recent stresses must be affecting her sanity.

"That," Sirius announced, scooping a generous amount of icing onto his finger, "Was childish." As he concluded his statement, he drew his finger down the centre of Dawn's face, leaving a trail of icing between her eyes, along her nose, and over her lips to her chin.

Dawn arched an eyebrow. "You wanna talk childish? Fine!" Before he could stop her, Dawn had lifted the plate from Sirius' hand and planted it squarely in his face. When she pulled it away, Sirius was staring incredulously at her through the clumps of chocolate covering his face. She giggled.

"You asked for it, Summers," Sirius growled playfully, and dived at her.

"No!" Dawn squealed as she was tackled to the floor, Sirius' face pressed against her neck, smearing the cake he was wearing onto her. He reached for the crumbled remains of the cake, but Dawn had the same idea, and in moments a full-scale cake war had broken out.

Squealing and laughing, Dawn rolled out of Sirius' reach, all her crumbly ammunition spent. Pelting the last of his at her half-heartedly, Sirius rolled onto his back, trying to wipe as much of the cake from himself as possible. The House-Elves were going to have one helluva mess to clean up tomorrow. When he looked over at Dawn, she was just smoothing her bunched up nightie over her legs.

"Hey, are those the stripy knickers?" he called, reaching over to flick her skirt up a little.

Dawn shot into a sitting position, her jaw dropped open as far as it could've possibly been, her hands hastily yanking her hem down over the stripy knickers.

"Oh hey, it's alright," Sirius joked, sitting up too. "I'm not even wearing anything under these boxers, see?" he moved to open the button of his boxers.

"Sirius!" Dawn shrieked, slapping his shoulder hard as her face heated up. The things that boy came out with- literally, if he could get away with it.

"Ok, sorry," he laughed, and the pair leaned back against the chair, their toes stretched out in front of the crackling fire. "What were you doing down here anyway. Kitten? Girls in your dorm snore too loud or something? I know how that goes, Wormtail is like a buzz-saw after a good meal."

Dawn smiled half-heartedly. "No, no buzz-saws. I just had a nightmare."

"What was it about?" Sirius urged, slipping a comforting arm about Dawn's shoulders.

"About Mom and Buffy. They were in so much pain, Sirius, I could see it but I couldn't help them at all. It was so bad, so much blood everywhere. I could smell it," she whispered, the horrors returning to her mind once more.

"It was just a dream," Sirius soothed. "And it's over now. I'd, uh, offer to share my chocolate cake with you to make you feel better, but I already did that. Also, I think we're wearing most of it. . ." he trailed off, apparently searching his body for edible crumbs. A moment later, she reached over and plucked a chunk of squashed cake from behind Dawn's knee, offering it to her.

"No thanks," Dawn scrunched up her nose and shook her head.

"Suit yourself," Sirius shrugged, and ate it himself. "Not bad."

Dawn giggled.

-----

The Marauders were acting way too innocently. In the whole five days she'd known them now, Dawn had already come to recognise that as a definite danger sign. The way they were sitting so quietly, enjoying their breakfast (or shovelling it down their throats, more accurately) was unnerving Dawn, who was on edge waiting for the chaos to begin. And all of a sudden, there it was. A loud cry erupted from the Slytherin table, where Lucius Malfoy had just arrived.

"Hey! Malfoy's wet his pants!"

For about two seconds after the words rang out, the entire Great Hall was perfectly silent, and all eyes fixed squarely on Lucius Malfoy's damp crotch. Then the chain reaction of laughter set in, starting naturally with the Gryffindor table, quickly spreading through the Hufflepuffs to infect the Ravenclaws. Even the Slytherin table wasn't totally immune, and the teachers were surveying the scene with worry and disgust and... amusement. McGonagall's lips were pressed into a tight, thin line, but the corners of her mouth were twitching, itching desperately to let out a smile, and Dumbledore, his shoulders shaking just a little, had hidden his face carefully behind his goblet of pumpkin juice.

Dawn looked over at her friends, grinning broadly. It was sort of nice to see the individual who'd treated her so coldly being made to feel as dirty as she had when he'd laid his hands on her. "Ok, so what happened to Malfoy?"

James blinked innocently. "Dunno, Kitten. Looks like someone's gone and put a self-watering charm on old Luci's pants."

Peter was sniggering uncontrollably. "But wait- there's more!"

Sure enough, brown stains were fast spreading over the back of Malfoy's robes. Several students gasped in horror. Dawn arched an eyebrow. Sirius shrugged.

"Looks like they remembered the self-fertilization charm, too."

"It's good to be thorough," Remus commented. Usually he wasn't a fan of such humiliating pranks, much preferring the harmless fun variety. But this one? Absolutely justified. Dawn was almost a fifth Marauder to them already. And the Marauders always looked after their own.

Dark, angry red splotches stood out on Malfoy's face and he glared over at the Gryffindor table, specifically at the four boys who were fluttering their fingers cheekily at him. Without a word, Malfoy turned and stalked out of the Great Hall, small brown pellets dropping out of his pants in his wake.

Dumbledore was staring knowingly at his four most troublesome, yet amusing students, who suddenly became very busy collecting their belongings for their first class.

"C'mon, we've got to get to Defence," Remus urged, pulling Dawn hastily along with them.

Once they had cleared the doors to the Great Hall, effectively escaping any immediate rebuke from Dumbledore, their pace slowed. It was still much to early for rushing up to the Defence Against the Dark Arts room at full speed.

"S'pose Lucius has gone to try and change his pants," Sirius mused, snickering.

"Hmm. Think he'll have any trouble getting into the Slytherin Common Room?" James wondered aloud.

"Well, considering we put a barrier spell on the opening," Peter blurted, causing the other three boys to roll their eyes.

"Subtlety, Peter. Look into it," Remus advised.

The group wandered into the Defence room at their leisure and took their seats, waiting for the other students to trudge in and the lesson to begin.

"Settle down," the Professor called at length, bringing the class to attention. "Now, today's lesson will be theory- don't groan at me- we will be discussing vampires."

Dawn almost rolled her eyes, how very fitting that her first Defence Against the Dark Arts lesson be about the one dark creature she couldn't really learn much more about.

Lily raised her hand. "But Professor, didn't we already cover vampires in third year?"

"Very good, Miss Evans. But today we will be going into greater detail than the general information provided at third-year level. We shall be learning about the single most evil vampires known to wizard and muggle worlds alike: the Order of Aurelius."

Dawn jolted, accidentally snapping her quill. No... It couldn't be...

"Now, take these notes down..."

For a moment, Dawn wondered how she was supposed to do that when she'd just gone and snapped her quill, but the ever-prepared Remus handed her one of his many spares. She smiled as he did so, but Dawn could see in his eyes the puzzlement as to why she'd felt the need to murder her first one. He had no time to ask, as a moment later they were all copying notes while the Professor spoke.

Intriguing, Dawn found, that the founding history of this world's Order of Aurelius had run much the same course as it had in her world. To an extent, of course. The Master, one of the oldest and most powerful of vampires on record, had founded the Order. He had sired Darla, his 'Dear One', who would remain his favourite for over four centuries. Darla had the found herself a young Irishman with a deceptively angelic face, and in him she had seen Angelus, a killer with unrivalled sadism in his heart.

Dawn had to bite back a vehement agreement to that. She'd met Angelus on a number of occasions back when Buffy had unwittingly boinked him out of his cage, and some of the things she'd seen him do, and heard him say, still sent shivers down her spine. In fact, Angelus terrified her more than Glory.

After suffering months of torture at his hands, which eventually drove her insane, Drusilla became the next vampire of note, sired into the Order of Aurelius by Angelus. And Drusilla sired herself a mate by the name of William the Bloody, who earned himself the most intriguing of nicknames-

"Spike," Dawn breathed, her heart feeling a pang at the memory of her very own vampish big brother. Unfortunately for Dawn, there had been a moment of total silence as she spoke, so most of the class had heard her. After a minute, she looked up to see why the Professor had not continued only to find herself the centre of attention.

"What did you just say, Miss Summers?" the Professor asked, clearly shocked. With the knowledge all Professors had been given by Dumbledore regarding the girl's sudden arrival, he had not expected her to show any real potential in the classroom for months.

"Um, Spike? Spike was his nickname," Dawn offered meekly.

"And how did William the Bloody earn this nickname?"

"By torturing his victims with railroad spikes," Dawn answered, more confidently this time. When you spent as much time as she had being watched by Spike over the last year, you tend to have heard a lot of interesting stories. The Marauders exchanged a look. This was interesting. Remus was even taking notes.

"Well done, Miss Summers. Ten points for Gryffindor. Perhaps you could share your thoughts on whatever became of the Order of Aurelius?"

Dawn opened her mouth, ready to answer. It was so easy, far as she knew. Buffy had ground the Master's bones into dust years ago, and Angel had staked Darla to save Buffy even before that. Angel was still broody in LA, playing vamp-detective-hero. Dru was off somewhere in the wide world with Miss Edith, batty as ever and Spike of course was on the Hellmouth, fighting side by side with Buffy, right?

Quickly as it opened, Dawn's mouth closed and she shook her head. That was her world. This world, however, had no Slayer, no Hellmouth, no Buffy. No way for any of those things she knew to have happened here.

Slowly, the Professor nodded. Dawn had already gone way above and beyond expectation. "Very well, I shall tell you. In 1898, the vampire Angelus fed of a Romany gypsy girl, a favourite daughter of her clan-"

Dawn stopped listening, thinking she knew it all by now. She quickly scribbled down 'Angel- 1898' on her parchment and left it at that. After all, she'd heard that story how many times before? Her ears perked up again a few minutes later, when she heard that Angel had eventually overcome both Darla and the Master, staking them before allowing the sun to rise on himself one morning just prior to the outbreak of World War One.

A couple of fat tears splattered down onto the parchment, mixing with the ink, causing it to spider out in all directions. It could have been so different for Angel, there had been so much potential there. Instead there was nothing but a pile of ashes in the place of a lost champion, a lost love.

James frowned, wondering what on earth could have upset Dawn this time. Wasn't all that sad, really, the most depraved vampire ever one day cursed with his own soul. Said vampire then decides to do some good for a change and take out the top ranks of the Order of Aurelius, putting himself and the world along with him out of its misery in the process. Frankly, James could see an upside to it all. Several of them, in fact.

Finally, the Professor told of the fate of Spike and Drusilla. When she was attacked by an angry mob in Prague, in the 1950s, Drusilla was weakened beyond repair. Despite Spike's efforts to restore her to health, she eventually wasted away. After her death, Spike took to travelling the world alone, causing as much mayhem as vampirically possible. Though several wizarding governments worldwide had authorized his immediate capture and execution on sight, Spike had never been close to being caught. Dawn felt a tiny thrill of satisfaction when she heard that. Good for Spike.

The lesson ended there, and they all packed up and set off for Potions in the dungeons. Dawn could sense her friends' burning curiosity to ask about the Order of Aurelius, but every time they tried she somehow managed to evade the subject. She needed a break from explaining things, and having things be explained to her. She was on something of an explanation overload.

By the time she scurried off to meet Lily in the Library that afternoon, Dawn still hadn't answered any of the Marauders' questions. Little did she know, that while she was studying up on Charms (which, it turned out, she sucked at) the boys were up in their dorm room, discussing her.

"There's something definitely up with her, man," Sirius sighed, throwing himself onto his bed.

"How?" asked Peter, perplexed.

"She knew that William the Bloody's nickname was Spike, for one," Sirius pointed out.

"And she cried," James added. "When she found out Angelus was dust, she was crying. And look at her Defence notes," he said, whipping the notes he'd swiped from the girl in question from his pocket and passing them around.

Sirius' eyebrows rose of their own accord as he scanned the sparse notes Dawn had made. No details, only names, dates (most more specific than the Professor had actually provided) and a few places. "Its like she actually knows these vampires," he realised. "Listen- Dru, Spike, Angel, and she's written 'Galway- 1753' beside Angel. I don't even remember hearing anything about Galway. Moony?"

Remus, who always listened most attentively and took the most thorough notes, shook his head. "No," he said distractedly, his thoughts somewhere else. "Hey! D'you lot remember what happened last night?" he asked out of the blue.

"Yeah," Sirius grinned, his mind full of chocolate cake and little stripy knickers.

"When Dumbledore came to the Gryff table and asked her to go to his office," Remus began, but was interrupted by a loud "Oh! That!" of sudden comprehension from Sirius.

James arched an eyebrow at his best friend. "What were you thinking of?"

"Never you mind, Prongs," replied Sirius airily, and James shrugged. Sometimes, 'never you mind' was the safest answer to accept from Sirius.

"Then would you two mind if I got back to the point?" interjected an impatient young werewolf. "Which is that Dawn told us she jumped through the portal fully expecting to die. She as good as told us she killed herself and not one of us thought to ask why!"

"Well Dumbledore told us not to pressure her," Peter offered the lame excuse. "It was the same with those cuts, remember? The ones she made Madam Pomfrey heal the muggle way."

James shook his head, as if to clear it from the jumble of thoughts within. "This just keeps getting weirder and weirder."

When they met with Dawn at dinner, the boys were all itching to demand answers of her right then and there, but Remus, who knew what it was like to have to keep secrets, made them all swear to broach the subject tactfully.

"What do you mean by that, Remus?" Peter had asked.

Before Remus could reply, Sirius had sighed dramatically. "It means we've got to keep quiet and let him do it," he explained.

But Remus did not find a suitable opening to introduce the topic that night, or for the rest of Dawn's first week as a Hogwarts student. It was Saturday morning when Sirius, too impatient to wait any longer, took matters into his own hands.

He located Dawn in a secluded little sunny patch on the grounds, sitting on the soft grass and reading some of the Charms texts Lily had recommended. An idea popped into Sirius' mind and, with a quick look around to make sure no-one could see, he transformed into Padfoot and trotted silently towards Dawn.

A long, hairy black snout poked itself under Dawn's book, flipping the cover closed. She looked up to see the huge, shaggy dog tilting his head at her, daring her to protest. Dawn locked gazes with the dog and smiled, not noticing the way Padfoot suddenly froze as he studied her.

"Hey, Padfoot," she said softly, reaching out to scratch him behind the ears. To her confusion and horror, the massive dog who was supposed to be her friend growled menacingly at her, his hackles raised.

The black dog slunk out of reach of the delicate fingers, still growling. There was something not right about Dawn- something completely out of place. He could feel it, but couldn't pinpoint the difference through the haze of bright green energy that was shrouding her.

"Sirius?" Dawn whimpered fearfully.

He changed back into his usual form, but his lips were still curled into an animalistic snarl. "What are you?" he demanded in a quietly dangerous voice.

Dawn closed her eyes. No, this was not happening. Not now. Not yet, when she thought she'd just made the four most fantastic friends she'd likely ever make.

"What are you?" Sirius repeated, his voice slow and deadly.

Dawn forced herself to open her eyes and meet his accusing stare. "I- I can't tell you, Sirius. I'm sorry, I just can't."

It was rule number two with Buffy: NEVER tell ANYONE about the Key. Of course, rule number one had been don't invite undead people into the house. Especially not Harmony.

"So you're not human then?" Sirius demanded harshly, glaring at Dawn as if she was some sort of alien creature. A freak.

"Yes! No- I mean-" Dawn stammered, her eyes wide and fearful. Fearful of the way Sirius was looking at her right now. "It's just complicated, I'm not supposed to say-"

"Well I'm so very bloody glad I bothered letting you in on my secret, then," Sirius snapped sarcastically, jumping to his feet and shoving his longish hair out of his eyes. "So glad I didn't waste my time keeping quiet just cause 'I'm not supposed to say'!" After mimicking her voice cruelly, Sirius turned his back on Dawn and stalked away.

"Sirius! Please!" Dawn called futilely to his retreating form.

-----
(A/N. Well, that's it for another chapter, I'll be really busy so I won't be updating for at least three months. Sorry to leave you hanging...

Actually, I'm just teasing. I'm not THAT evil, I wouldn't leave you hanging off the edge of this cliff, it'd be too painful! For me- cause people would hunt me down and torture me, I know. After all this I really hope you enjoy the next scene... Anoron)

-----

Sirius stormed into the dorm he shared with his three best friends, angry and confused. He threw himself down on Peter's bed with such force that the podgy boy actually squeaked in alarm.

"Padfoot?"

"She's lying to us," Sirius seethed. "She's not even human!"

"What? Sear, what're you on about?" James called, looking up from researching their next big Malfoy prank.

"Dawn!" Sirius burst out, exasperated. He launched himself off Peter's bed and began stalking almost comically about the room. "I went to find out what's up with her, and-"

"Padfoot, I thought we agreed I would be the one to talk to Dawn" Remus frowned, his tone somewhat disapproving.

"Yeah, well, you were taking too long. Anyway, she's... wrong. I can't explain it, but when I looked at her in my Animagus form, I could sense it."

"You feelin' all right, mate?" James snorted. "Haven't gone and got yourself snarkered on fire-whiskey without letting us in on it, have you?"

"No I bloody haven't!" Sirius yelled. "I'm telling you, there is something seriously off about Dawn Summers. She's not some helpless little girl, she's- green," he finished lamely.

"Green?" Remus repeated, scepticism radiating from his entire being.

"Yeah. There's all this green energy coming off her, bright as anything. But for some reason, I could only sense it when I was Padfoot," Sirius concluded, still not feeling any clearer on the whole thing after confiding in his friends. He heaved a massive sigh, still pacing moodily.

Remus shared a look with the other two boys. For once, James looked almost as bewildered as Peter and Remus had to hide a smirk. "Well," he said slowly. "I don't think there's much we can do about it all, ourselves. The best we can do is hope Dawn trusts us enough in time to open up by her own choice."

"Not good enough," Sirius said savagely. "She lied to us all. She's not even a normal person."

"Neither am I," countered Remus, and the room was suddenly silent.

"You're different, Moony," Sirius explained.

"We don't know that. We've just got to give Dawn a chance," said Remus firmly. None of the others argued with him.

They saved her a seat at dinner, but she never showed up to eat. When he was patrolling the halls with Lily as part of his Prefect duties, Remus kept an eye out for Dawn, but found no sign of her. Finally, after sitting up til midnight in the Common Room, the boys gave up on Dawn and went to bed.

They'd just finished changing into their pyjamas when a timid knock sounded at their door. James went to open it.

"Hi. Can I come in for a minute?" a subdued voice asked.

James smirked. "Girls and boys aren't allowed in each others' dorms. C'mon in," he stepped aside and allowed Dawn to enter. She stood just inside the room, looking extremely uncomfortable.

As James clicked the door closed, the other boys all turned to stare at Dawn. She was wearing only a pair of jeans and a sweater, her hair was hanging loose about her shoulders and looked a little windswept. Her face was ashen, her eyes rimmed red and her voice was just a little croaky when she finally spoke.

"It's been brought to my attention that I haven't exactly been honest with you guys," she began with a significant glance at Sirius, who kept his face entirely neutral. "And I'm sorry, I didn't mean to offend or betray any of you, since you've all been so nice to me. It's just, if I had told anyone in my world what I really am, it could mean my death, and a whole lot worse. I guess I just got a little used to all the secrecy." She paused for breath, taking a look around to gauge how they were taking her confession thus far. Their expressions were still somewhat confused, but even Sirius' had softened towards her considerably.

"I'm the Key."

"Huh?" Peter vocalised the thought for the lot of them.

Dawn bit her lip. How could she best explain this? "Ok, the Key is energy, if channelled in a certain way it has the power to alter the fabric between realities. Is everyone with me so far?"

James, Remus and Sirius nodded. A half a moment later, Peter gave a small, uncertain nod, his forehead creased in confusion.

"The portal," James realised. "It was you!"

Dawn nodded, rubbing absently at her now-healed cuts. "Not intentionally, but yeah, it was me. It was my blood. See for centuries the Key was kept by the monks of the Order of Dagon, but then an exiled Hell-Goddess took to coveting the power of the Key. She planned to use it –use me- to open a portal to her home dimension so she could return there. The monks couldn't protect the Key themselves any longer, so they sent it to that world's strongest warrior- the Slayer."

"Buffy?" Remus guessed, and again Dawn nodded.

"But they had to be certain the Slayer would protect it with her life, so they sent the Key to her in human form. In the form of a sister."

"Whoa," Peter breathed, after almost a full minute of stunned silence, in which Dawn fidgeted nervously and edged closer to the door. "So, you're really not human after all?"

Dawn smiled sadly at the floor, not able to raise her gaze any higher. "No, no I am," she assured it softly. "I just wasn't always. In fact, the first fourteen years or so of my life were completely fabricated. Those monks made me out of Buffy's blood and kinda just slotted me into her world, bending everyone's memories to their will."

For the first time since she'd walked into the room, Sirius spoke, his gaze never wavering from Dawn. "Why did I see the Key in you today? Why not before now? Why can't everyone?"

"There are certain beings predisposed to sensing my 'condition'. For starters, there are those outside reality, which means if you have the second sight, or even just regular crazy people-"

"Wonder why Damus never noticed then, on both counts," James joked, trying to lighten the mood before Dawn continued, now staring directly back at Sirius.

"The Key is also susceptible to necromanced animal detection, specifically those of canine or serpent construct. I don't know why I didn't expect you to see it sooner, now I think about it. I guess maybe you didn't spot it back in the Leaky Cauldron because you weren't concentrating hard enough or something?"

Sirius nodded slowly. That would explain it all too well. In fact, that explained just about everything, or enough for one night.

"I guess I've said all I can, I'll get out of your space now," Dawn said quickly, and was out the door before they could stop her.

Half a second later, Sirius was giving chase. "Dawn, wait!"

One foot had made it onto the stairwell when Dawn froze, half on the landing and half on the stairs. Slowly, almost fearfully, she stepped back up and turned to look at Sirius. "Yes?"

All of a sudden he was lost for words, and Dawn was wondering if that had ever happened before. All Sirius could think was that he had never felt like such an ass before, and he wanted to make it better. Behind him, Remus, James and Peter were crowding around to see. The Padfoot apology special was a rare performance.

"Look, I'm sorry I didn't trust you," he finally said, feeling even as he spoke that it was an inadequate apology, but Dawn shook her head at him.

"No, it's fine. Really."

"Nah, I really shouldn't have said those things, they were pretty low. So, friends?" Sirius held out a hand to Dawn, pale blue eyes twinkling irresistibly.

Dawn grinned and nodded furiously. "Of course!" she latched onto the outstretched hand, expecting to shake on it.

Instead, she was hauled practically off her feet and into a smothering embrace. She gave a small grunt of surprise and barely managed to return the hug before she was drowning in a sea of boyish limbs.

"Group hug!" James had yelled before he, Remus and Peter had crushed in on Dawn from all sides.

A moment later, a door on a landing above opened, and the shadow of a seventh year boy edged closer. "What's all the racket down there?" an irritated voice called.

"Frank Longbottom! Quick!" James hissed, and they smuggled Dawn out of sight into their dorm room once again.

"Nothing, Frank. Sorry 'bout that," Remus called back before shutting the door hastily.

They listened a moment to make sure Frank wasn't going to come down himself and check up on them before deciding the coast was clear. As if there was absolutely nothing out of the ordinary, as if they had a girl in their room at 1AM on every Sunday morning, the four boys threw themselves on their beds. Dawn stood awkwardly by and watched as Remus and James picked up a book each. Remus' was the fifth year Potions text. James', well, nobody could be sure until he spoke.

"Hey Kitten, come over here and help me look up our next big Malfoy prank," he ordered, shifting to make room for her.

"More Malfoy pranks?" Dawn asked, incredulous. How could they possibly top what they'd pulled earlier in the week?

"Yep," James replied happily, hauling her up next to him. "We'll make him rue the damn day he ever called you that word."

Dawn read over his shoulder as James flicked through the pages, looking for something nice and humiliating. The other boys busied themselves with whatever they liked, until Remus closed his textbook with a snap and set it aside.

"Kitten? Can I ask you something?" he asked gently.

Dawn, who had been on the verge of dropping off to sleep on James' shoulder, blinked at him. "What? Oh, sure Remus. What did you want to ask about?"

He smiled, just a bit apologetically, and walked over to hand her back her Defence Against the Dark Arts notes that James had stolen. "How did you know so much about the Order of Aurelius, that day in Defence?"

Dawn spent a moment frowning to herself. They'd actually stolen her notes? She made a mental note to make sure her diary was well hidden. Well, she wasn't happy about it, but she guessed she could see why they'd felt the need to stoop so low, given her complete lack of sharing.

"We have the Order in my world too. I met all five of the most powerful members at one stage or another. Their beginnings were all the same as we learned them here, but their ends will be very, very different." She quickly filled them in on exactly how different things had gone between the two realities.

"No wonder you cried when Angelus croaked," James remarked, patting Dawn roughly on the head.

"And you know powerful vampires personally," Peter breathed, awestruck, and Dawn couldn't help but grin. Oh yeah, she knew the vamps.

James all of a sudden shoved his book under her nose. "This is it," he announced.

"What's that, Prongs?" Sirius called lazily from his position, sprawled on his bed and staring up at the ceiling.

"Big flashing branding across the git's forehead: muggle lover. That'd really send him off his nut."

"Hmm," Sirius deliberated, sitting up a little. "It's good..."

"But not great," Remus finished for him.

"Nah, I s'pose not," James muttered, chucking the book aside in disgust. "It needs something to top it off, that special Marauder touch."

Dawn sat up a little straighter, an idea rapidly forming in the back of her mind, something that would complement James' prank to perfection. "How about..." she leaned over and whispered her idea in James' ear, then leaned back to anxiously await his reaction.

He took all of half a second to process what Dawn had said, then burst into laughter so violently that the others were worried for his sanity.

"Brilliant, Kitten," he gasped, and Dawn beamed at him.

The next time Lucius Malfoy was spotted in the halls, he had a great, sparkling sign magically fixed to his back: MUGGLE LOVER- ZERO TO PEAK IN 1.5 SECONDS.

-----

Five teens came barrelling down a corridor, their shoes sliding along the floor as they skidded, changed direction suddenly, and burst through a door.

"Whew, made it," Sirius huffed, dropping into a seat.

Remus took a seat and checked his watch. He turned to the girl sitting next to him, both still panting with the exertion of their late- morning run through the castle. "See, thirty seconds to spare, Kitten. Told you it could be done," he grinned.

Dawn groaned in response. "Yeah, but what's the point of getting to the Great Hall ten minutes before first period, and insisting you still have time for a full breakfast if you just feel like you're gonna yak it up anyway?"

"Passes the time," James offered.

"Only ten minutes," Dawn countered with a laugh. She did not miss the exasperated look Lily had aimed squarely at the messy-haired boy, and again wondered what on earth Lily Evans could have against James Potter. Before she could ponder the subject further, though, the Potions Professor swooped in and commanded the attention of all.

Dawn carefully copied the instructions from the board while Remus went to fetch the ingredients for their Confusion Potion. The pair worked steadily together, Dawn content to follow Remus' lead. Although she discovered she did have a knack for the potions, she was far more trustful of Remus' experience than her own talent, at this early stage. She was currently pouring a careful dose of ground Burba weed into the cauldron, under Remus' watchful eye. The Professor had moved into the Potions Store to fetch more supplies and had yet to return.

Suddenly, something slammed into Dawn, hard, and she stumbled against the desk and the cauldron. It was only the quick werewolf hands of Remus that prevented Dawn from spilling the entire jar of Burba weed into their potion. As it was, their potion was saved but the jar had smashed, spilling its contents all over the floor.

Dawn turned slowly to find herself staring into the dark eyes of a skinny, weed-like boy with a hook-shaped nose and greasy black hair. "Clumsy little Mudblood," he muttered, moving to push past her.

"What was that, Snivellus?" a voice growled over Dawn's shoulder. James, hazel eyes snapping with hatred and fury, already had his wand levelled at the slightly shorter boy's chest. A moment later, Sirius had materialised beside his best friend, wand also raised, his face easily as thunderous as James'.

Peter was still in his seat, but he had a strange gleam of anticipation in his eyes, Dawn thought he'd be sure to lick his lips at any moment. She chanced a look at Remus, but his expression was quite the opposite to Peter's. Remus was frowning in a way that told Dawn something very ugly was about to go down.

"I believe James here asked you a question, Snivellus," Sirius prodded coldly. Dawn almost shuddered at his tone of voice. Even when he'd been furious about her not telling the truth about the Key, he'd never spoken in such an awful manner to her. By now, the entire class had stopped to watch the show.

The greasy-haired boy scowled and threw a venomous look to Dawn before he backed down and attempted to turn and stalk away. He found his way barred by two fuming Gryffindors intent on revenge. James was a heartbeat away from muttering a good, strong hex when a smooth, heavy voice slid through the tense silence.

"So much for that ridiculous Gryffindor honour, duelling Snape two on one."

Dawn turned to the speaker, who had stepped into the foreground. She was a formidable, yet handsome girl, dark eyes glaring out from under heavy lids, a mane of glossy black hair tumbling to her waist. There was a presence about her that immediately set Dawn's nerves on edge. This girl was trouble.

"Care to even the odds, Bellatrix?" Sirius challenged, glaring over at her with a hateful sneer twisting his handsome face.

Bellatrix tutted at him. "Now, now, cousin," she mocked. "I thought the men in our family were taught better than to raise a wand to a Lady."

"You don't qualify," Sirius retorted with a humourless laugh.

Dawn stared between the two cousins in silent shock. Sure, now she looked, she could make out the resemblance between Sirius and Bellatrix, but she could scarcely believe they were related. There was an innate warmth to Sirius, he was sweet and loyal and charming usually, but Bellatrix only filled Dawn with cold dread.

Bellatrix's heavy lidded eyes narrowed at the insult Sirius had flung at her. She moved to strike, but Snape's snide voice halted her . "Why waste your energy, Bella, on a lowly little piece of filth so determined to be a blood-traitor and a Mudblood lover?" he hissed.

Out of nowhere, James' had seized a handful of Snape's robes, yanking him off balance. "I'll hex your greasy self stupid for that til there's nothing left of you but an oil slick on the floor, Snivellus!"

Several people laughed at that, and looking around her Dawn could see that most of the students were egging James on, hoping to see him do his worst to the other boy. Dawn frowned to herself, this whole situation was giving her the uneasy belly rumblin's. She caught the flash of fiery red hair as Lily stormed over to James and Snape, green eyes venomous with anger.

"Stop it this instant the both of you!" she demanded. Neither moved, though Snape looked torn between refusing to take orders from a Mudblood like Evans and wanting to slink back into the shadows, away from the fight he knew he was never going to win. Either way, James still clutched the front of his robes, making escape impossible.

"Potter," Lily said dangerously. "Let him go."

Finding the redhead far more interesting than Snape, James threw the greasy teen away from him. Snape fell to the floor, but no-one moved to help him stand.

"What's the matter, Evans?" James grinned. "It was only Snivellus."

Dawn blinked. Where had THAT come from? She'd certainly never expected James would be capable of such callousness, but she had no time to dwell on the thought as Snape struggled to his feet, swearing under his breath.

"One day, I swear it," he snarled at James, his voice waspish and full of malice.

"Swear what?" Sirius snorted. "Swear you'll wash your hair? Well, we're all waiting for that day!"

Again, laughter bubbled throughout the room, Lily, Dawn and Remus among the very few who didn't even crack a smile.

"What's going on here?" an authoritative voice boomed. Most of the students, Dawn included, jumped in shock at the sudden reappearance of the Professor, but James turned to her and delivered his story at once, without so much as batting an eyelid.

"Well Professor, Sniv- I mean, Severus- knocked over Remus and Dawn's powdered Burba weed. He was just about to apologise and help them clean it up."

Dawn's eyebrows hit her hairline. James had just given her a new textbook definition of the term 'smooth talker'. Hell, she almost believed him herself!

"And the entire class felt the need to watch him?" the Professor shot back, clearly not quite convinced. She had, after all, known James Potter for going on five years now.

"It was the potion," James explained, one corner of his mouth dangerously close to twitching into a smirk. "I guess we all just got a little confused."

-----

Dawn shot curious looks towards Sirius throughout the entire Care of Magical Creatures lesson, but she couldn't find a spare moment in Professor Kettleburn's lecture on Blast-Ended Skrewts to speak to him.

She just couldn't wrap her mind around it all: Sirius had a cousin here at Hogwarts, Bellatrix Black. And she was awful, Sirius clearly didn't get along with her at all. But then again, James and Sirius had behaved pretty badly towards Severus Snape, themselves. Sure, Dawn reasoned, Snape had started it by crashing into her and calling her a Mudblood, but James and Sirius had really pushed their retaliation a little far...

Before Dawn knew it, she'd missed the end of the class and they were making their way back up to the castle for lunch in the Great Hall. Remus, noticing the looks Dawn had been constantly directing at Sirius since the conclusion of their Potions class that morning, settled into step beside her.

"Don't think too much on that nonsense in Potions, Kitten. The rivalry between Gryffindor and Slytherin just gets a bit out of hand- you should see it during Quidditch season!"

"It's not just that," Dawn murmured back as they climbed the stone steps leading to the Entrance Hall. "Why doesn't Sirius like his cousin?"

"Ah well," Sirius said with a humourless smile. "Sirius' family is a bit of a sore spot for him, I think it best I let him tell you about it when he's good and ready."

Dawn's eyes widened slightly as Remus' words sank in. His entire family was a sore spot? She suddenly had the impression the scene back in Potions had a much longer back-story than she'd thought. She sat down at the Gryffindor table, thoroughly perplexed.

"Think about it Kitten- I'm the only member of the Black family for generations to be sorted into Gryffindor. All the rest have been Slytherin," their topic of discussion spoke up, glaring over at the Slytherin table as he threw himself into a seat.

Dawn's face heated up. She hadn't realised he'd been listening in on their conversation. How tactful of her. A second later, though, another question popped into her mind and she blurted it out without a second thought. "All of them? How many are there?"

Ignoring James' snort at the age-old question: just how many Blacks are there running around the world, Sirius started scanning the Slytherin crowd. "Well you've already met Bella. Lucky you," he muttered sarcastically.

He pointed to a blond seventh-year with a somewhat pinched expression. "There's her second oldest sister, Narcissa. She's actually dating Malfoy and I think the arrogant gits deserve each other."

Ignoring the uneasy rumble in her stomach at the mention of Lucius Malfoy, Dawn arched an eyebrow. "Narcissa?" Interesting name, to put it politely. From the snicker James let out she guessed he shared her sentiments, but they remained quiet in order for Sirius to continue his explanation of the Black family tree.

"Their eldest sister, Andromeda, graduated a couple of years ago. She was Slytherin, too, but she's alright really. She's working for the Ministry of Magic, dating a muggle named Ted Tonks. Good bloke, but my family is threatening to disown Andi if she continues to see him," Sirius told Dawn, his eyes alight with a strange mix of emotion. There was sadness for his family's stance, but obvious love and pride as he thought of his favourite 'Cousin Andi'.

James and Remus shared a look. Usually Sirius wasn't one to open up so easily, there were things about his family he didn't even feel comfortable discussing with his fellow Marauders. But there was something about Dawn that was just trust-inspiring. Perhaps it was that she herself was so trusting, or that she was such an innocent in their world.

"Oh. So, is there anyone else from your family here at Hogwarts?" Dawn prodded.

Instantly, a closed expression settled over Sirius' face. His eyes were fixed squarely on a boy at the Slytherin table. Dawn nearly gasped: she found herself looking at a little version of Sirius, in physical traits at least. Though from watching him for only a few moments, Dawn could tell that the boy was nothing like Sirius inside, and it showed. He simply could not make his limbs move in the smooth, confident way that came so naturally to Sirius.

"My brother Regulus. Third year. Apple of his father's eye and Mother's pride and joy, a true Black in their eyes. Pure-blood and proud of it," Sirius explained, his voice a near whisper, as if he did not want his brother to overhear.

Feeling the stares of three older Gryffindors trained on him, Regulus looked up at that moment. His gaze found Sirius' and the two brothers simply stared at one another across the crowded room. James and Peter had long since started in on their lunches, but Dawn and Remus were watching the staring contest with great interest. The corners of both brothers' mouths were twitching, as if a part of them wanted nothing more than to grin at each other, to laugh and tease and muck around and do all those things they knew they were supposed to feel they could do with each other.

Regulus broke first. He couldn't control the slight smile he'd cracked, but he did manage to turn it into scowl almost before anyone caught it. A moment later, he was back to eating his lunch as if nothing had happened and pointedly ignoring Sirius' existence. Sirius watched his brother a moment longer, then tuned back to the others.

"So!" he said, in a voice ringing with false cheer. "What's happening?"

James looked at him as if he'd gone insane. Or maybe just stupid. "It's called lunch, Padfoot. We eat it every day."

"You don't say?" Sirius returned blandly as he looked to his own plate for the first time.

-----

end chapter.

Oooh don't ya just love Snivellus? There will be more of him sometime later I promise, but my main Slytherin to work with early on will be Lucius. Loved it? Hated it? Hiring a hit man to take me out so I can never post again? Well, that funky little review button right down there and let me know! Anoron