Disclaimer:The Harry Potter stuff used is JK Rowling's. The Buffy stuff used is Joss Whedon's. Leave is Matchbox Twenty's (yes, another bloody Matchbox Twenty song, I love them!)

A.N:Slightly shorter chap, but hey wasn't it up quick? Happy holidays, everyone. Love my reviewers. Please don't kill me.

Reviewers:

Little Red Rabbit:Everyone loves a dash of the sweet teen angst, I think. How else would you get 'Buffy' fans, LOL. Yeah, Dawn and Sirius are using contraceptives- I've made reference to it before I think, the 'Infertilus Protectus' Charm.

Botticelli'sVenus:Glad you're seeing things from my point of view! Thanks.

Mademoiselle Morte:Yay. Sweet, sweet support. How I love thee. Thanks.

Chicklepea:I was naughty- I went to the bathroom. But it balanced out, I didn't take the tea break! But you gotta admit, this is one of the quickest updates I've given in a while.

Kat:You get a super shiny gold star for a correct answer. Go you!

Eyexcandy:Hehe- we don't have expressways in Australia, so I can't go throw myself in front of traffic on one! Hehe. But you're really gonna hate me now (I'm expecting the flame, so don't hold back). Have faith.

Saxifrage:I think there's absolutely nothing wrong with you for enjoying the bumps in the relationship- it's what makes an interesting story. Interesting parallels to the Buffy/Spike & Buffy/Riley relationships, and I hope I can do justice to the way you think it oughta go between them (coz I 100 agree with you). Love the theory on the 'Dawn never gets to die, she just gets shuffled around between dimensions', but you gotta wonder if the poor girl would get tired doing that. And if she just kept ageing in her regular way… ick! And feel free to spazz away in your reviews, I love hearning anything serious or far out, so long as it's what my reviewers are really thinking just after they've read one of my chapters. Also, I sent you a huge email making myself look like a pompous ass with writing advice, but I got one of those 'delivery failure notification' thingies the next day, so I don't think you got it. I'll try again, okies? Big hugs & kisses, may the muses be with you. XX00


CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

Leave

Dawn and Isabel shared a look. "This is interesting," Dawn commented.

"She's really coming along with this 'acting like a teenage girl' thing," Isabel agreed.

Lily was squealing and bouncing around the girls' dorm like a jackhammer on speed. The rest of the girls were getting dizzy just watching her.

Candice was shaking her head as she and Michelle plopped next to Dawn and Isabel, already sitting on Isabel's bed. "She's not normally this hyped up after a Prefects' Meeting, is she?"

"Maybe McGonagall told her she could take some of her OWLs early or something," Michelle suggested.

Lily bounced around the dorm like a caged firecracker for a good five minutes longer before Isabel started to get motion sickness trying to keep track of her. The blond reigned Lily in with some difficulty.

"Get a grip, Evans! Do I have to slap you?" Isabel hollered at last, and Lily seemed to calm down just enough to form coherent speech.

Lily leapt onto Isabel's bed, bouncing the other girls up and down a couple of times with the force. A huge smile was lighting up her whole face. "You'll never guess what happened to me after the Prefects' Meeting today!"

"No," Candice laughed. "Because you won't calm down long enough to bloody tell us."

"I can't help it, I'm just so excited. Chase Jones asked me out!" she practically screamed.

"Chase Jones?" Michelle squealed.

"Oh Lils," Isabel breathed. She hugged her best friend tight, knowing the redhead's crush on the Ravenclaw sixth year had existed for longer than people would guess. "I'm so happy for you."

"That's really great, Lily," Dawn parroted. She'd fixed a wide smile to her face, but it was purely superficial. Inside she was feeling completely wretched, and one thought was echoing through her head like a broken record. 'Poor James.'

Just as the girls hadn't really known how long Lily had been secretly crushing on Chase Jones, Dawn suspected they didn't have a clue just how deeply James Potter felt for Lily Evans. It was a long standing Gryffindor joke that James would never get Lily to go out with him, but in all the laughs not many people saw the way James died for just a moment every time Lily rejected him.

"Well?" Isabel prompted. Lily had flopped back against the pillows on Isabel's bed, and was staring dreamily at the ceiling. "We need details here, Lil."

Lost in deliberations over what baby names would go nicely with 'Jones' already, Lily's head turned towards the other girls in a daze. "What?"

Candice rapped lightly on her forehead. "Hello? Is anyone in there? Details, please."

Lily frowned slightly and sat up. "What details?"

"How did he ask you? When is the date? Where are you going? Have you thought about what you're wearing? And how you're going to do your hair? Do you want to borrow my new pair of heels?" Michelle rattled offhandedly.

Lily grinned, flushing prettily. "He just made up some silly excuse to keep me back a bit after the meeting, then offered to walk me back up to the tower."

'How unoriginal,' Dawn thought, still smiling emptily.

"Yeah?" Isabel prodded, nodding eagerly.

"We're going to have coffee, next Hogsmeade weekend." Lily emitted another little squeal of anticipation.

"Hogsmeade?" Dawn asked, trying to keep her nose from wrinkling. She could think of several much better places to go on a date. Sirius had taken her to all of them at one time or another. "But that's, like, two weeks away."

"I know. I don't know how I'm supposed to survive until then," Lily groaned. But half a second later, she was bouncing away again. "But he said he wants to spend time with me before then, too, so we can get to know each other a bit better."

Four jealous sighs responded. Two from single girls and two from girls in relationships that had lost that brand-new sparkle. It was what like driving a new car for the first time must feel like, Dawn mused.

The new car smell is intoxicating from the second you slide behind the wheel, and the first few trips are so full of adrenaline it should be outlawed. There's that horrible fear of getting the car scratched or dented, of making it not perfect anymore just by driving it. And then there was the feeling of power and seduction of owning something that had never been touched by another person. And once the new car smell fades, it's only a matter of time before complications set in. The bumps in the road begin to take their toll and the tings once in perfect condition become costly and painful to keep running smoothly.

A derisive mental snort interrupted Dawn's inner monologue. No wonder so many people just traded their cars in for newer models.

Isabel took one last look at Lily's unshakeable grin and jumped up, inspired. "I'm going to find Remus."

Dawn giggled along with the others as Isabel marched out of the dorm and down the stairs with a hint of lust brightening her eyes. She was a woman on a mission, scanning the Common Room for the dirty blond head she most liked to see.

She found it buried in a book. Remus was reading a textbook, doing a bit of catching up after his latest absence. A shapely shadow fell across his page, a moment later the book was pulled from his hands and put aside.

"Hey you," he said, grinning up at his girlfriend.

"Hello," Isabel said softly. She leaned over the seat and kissed Remus slowly, and he got the hint at once.

A few minutes later, Isabel was being backed into a deserted classroom. Remus was kissing her soundly the whole time he was settling himself against a desk and pulling her up close against him. Isabel's hands started roaming, Remus groaned as one slid to his side and the other pushed inside the open collar at his throat.

Remus let his own hands start to wander wherever the moment took them. He'd never imagined he'd find himself in a position such as this. He'd never dared believe someone could want to touch, or be touched by a monster like him. Somewhere deep inside, Remus was petrified that there was something vile and disgusting in his very skin, and one day Isabel would suddenly become aware of it. It was the one thought he was always sure to bury before it ever fully reached the surface.

He was sharply reminded that this was no time for thinking a moment later when Isabel began to tug on his shirt, trying to organize them into a more comfortable position. She pushed him down into the closest chair and settled herself in his lap. Remus closed his eyes and immersed himself with the bliss of another human being's touch.

Some time later, they were left together in a pile of limbs and unfastened buttons. Isabel looked up from her fascinated game of playing with the light smattering of hair sprouting from Remus' chest. She met his worshipping amber gaze with her own serious brown stare.

"Why do you always go away?" she asked.

Remus just looked sadly back down at her. "You know why. I get called home a lot… My family gets sick so easy… I don't like going away all the time. You know that, don't you?"

"I know," Isabel said unhappily. "It just feels wrong when you're away. And it's so often- I can practically count the days until you'll suddenly have to disappear again. It's like clockwork."

"It feels wrong to me too. I'm sorry," Remus apologised.

Isabel nodded. She slipped away from him, standing up to begin the process of returning all her clothing to where it rightfully belonged and trying to smooth some of the wrinkles out. Remus just watched her for a moment.

"I wouldn't go if I didn't have to, Isabel."

She finished refastening her bra and smoothed her skirt back into place before she would make eye contact.

"I know, Remus."


Dawn's spoon was chasing the last few globs of porridge around her bowl. She watched her breakfast with detachment, not really seeing the game of cat and mouse between the food and the spoon playing out right before her eyes.

"Morning, beautiful," Sirius said, appearing in the seat next to her out of nowhere.

"Huh?" Dawn mumbled, looking up blankly. "What was that?"

Sirius arched an eyebrow. "That was me saying good morning and calling you beautiful," he recapped.

"Oh… Thanks."

Sirius frowned a little. That was a strange thing to say, even for Dawn. "Do I get a kiss, then?"

Dawn cocked her head to the side. "Since when do you ask for permission?"

"Good point, baby." Ignoring the absurdity of the conversation they'd just had, Sirius swept Dawn up in a good morning kiss that never failed to make the start of his day feel so much brighter.

He broke off when he sensed the radiation of McGonagall's stare on the back of his head and inhaled the last few bites of Dawn's abandoned breakfast before reaching for the bacon to begin his own breakfast. Dawn fiddled with her half-full goblet of pumpkin juice and watched in silence as Sirius created a feast of all the fattiest foods Hogwarts had to offer. She grimaced as he tore into a sausage, devouring it with one bite.

"Ugh, how can you put so much of that stuff into your body?"

Sirius swallowed with some difficulty. "What? It's good food!"

"It's greasy and fatty," Dawn countered. "You'll kill yourself on that stuff."

Sirius laughed. "I'm sixteen, Kitten, not sixty. The worst that could happen is that by some fluke I'd hit a bad one and get sick for a day. Which I wouldn't mind at all, considering I've got you to play nurse-maid for me," he said with a wink.

Dawn swatted his backside. "Eat your grease, you'll be late for class."

"Yes dear."

Dawn made a face. Dear? Old married couple much?

Sirius began to wolf down his food, pausing every now and then to say something to Dawn after swallowing. Within a week of knowing them, she'd somehow educated the previously tameless Marauders that sentences accompanied by bits of half chewed food were not the most effective means of communication.

"I missed you last night," he said, running a finger across one of her hands. "I thought you might come."

Dawn glanced at him, then looked away. "I was going to, really I was. But then I got talking to Lily, and she kept me back so late that I got too tired so I ended up just going to bed."

"You've been tired a bit lately," Sirius commented. "Are you alright?"

"Fine," Dawn promised, looking up at him. It was kind of true. Physically there wasn't a thing wrong with her. "I've just gone into catch-up mode with my sleep, I think. You don't have to worry about me."

"What if I want to?"

dawn smiled vaguely in Sirius' direction then looked away quickly. She glanced at her empty bowl and paused a moment. There was a letter sitting in front of it. She looked around, but couldn't think of any other means for it to have arrived but with the flurry of the Owl Post. Sirius, still working through his breakfast feast, didn't notice as she picked up the envelope and checked the address.

Dawn Summers,

Gryffindor Table, Great Hall

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

With a little frown, she opened it up and pulled out a small leaf of parchment. She hesitated a second, then unfolded the message.

'I'm watching you. I'm waiting for you.'

Without hesitation, Dawn's gaze flew straight to the Slytherin table. She expected to be challenged by the smirk of Lucius Malfoy, but he was deep in conversation with Narcissa Black and wasn't the slightest bit interested in his own letters, let alone hers. She surveyed the rest of the Slytherins, but nobody seemed to be shooting threatening glances at her any more than usual.

She thought to herself a moment. Those words were stirring something within her memory. Then it clicked. The unsettling dream she'd had a few weeks ago. Menacing, and red eyes in the dark.

"I've got to go. I'll see you in class, ok?"

Dawn stuffed the note in her bag and jumped up. She was already out of the Great Hall by the time Sirius had swallowed enough of his hash browns to ask her where she was going. Five minutes later, she was stepping into Professor Dumbledore's office as casually as the next Marauder.

"Um, I just got this at breakfast. I thought you should take a look at it," she said, handing the note to the Headmaster and taking a seat.

"You didn't see the owl that left it, I presume?" Dumbledore asked.

Dawn shook her head. "No. I looked around, but I couldn't see any likely suspects. It was just there when I looked down."

The old man nodded sagely. "When we allow ourselves too many distractions, we often fail to see what is right before our eyes."

Dawn looked down, properly chastised. "There's something else," she said, wanting to move the conversation along as quickly as possible. "Those words, I've heard them before. In a dream, Professor, I saw red eyes and I heard a voice saying exactly that."

Dumbledore's eyes widened behind his half-moon spectacles, but before Dawn could be sure of the movement his face was neutral again, if not a little graver. "You must be very careful now, Dawn. I'll be keeping an extra sharp watch over you, but please do not do anything to place yourself in unnecessary danger."

"Of course not," Dawn said, mentally rolling her eyes. Dumbledore wasn't saying anything Buffy hadn't already told her a hundred times. If he put his hands on his hips, it'd be the perfect impression of the Slayer.

Sensing that he was losing his audience, Dumbledore held out a dish. "Lemon drop?"

Dawn plucked one from the bowl. "Thanks."

"You'll be late for class," he replied, taking his own lemon drop before putting the dish down. He inclined his head to indicate her dismissal.

Dawn picked up her pace, rushing towards the Transfiguration room and entering the corridor from the opposite end to usual. She glanced up and stopped dead in her tracks. She smiled.

Lily was standing just outside the door to Transfiguration, blushing up at a tall, handsome boy Dawn recognised from Quidditch matches as being Chase Jones, the Ravenclaw Seeker. Oblivious to their audience, Chase grinned at Lily and cupped her cheek. In slow motion, their lips came together. After a few long moments, Chase and Lily broke their kiss and pulled apart. Dawn's smile flickered and died.

As the two teens separated, a new face became visible from the opposite end of the corridor to Dawn. James stood rooted to the spot, his whole face turning grey and going slack. Dawn's heart clenched for her surrogate brother, she could see his own heart breaking right before her.

Seeing nothing but the handsome boy before her, Lily smiled prettily. "Bye, Chase."

"See you later, Lily," Chase promised in return.

The Gryffindor reluctantly went into her classroom. Chase turned away and hurried to get to his own lesson. He brushed by James without pausing to acknowledge his existence.

"James…" Dawn took a few steps forwards.

He just shook his head and held up a forestalling hand. "Tell me that didn't just happen."

Dawn bit her lip and closed the distance between them. "I'm sorry."

"Not what I wanted to hear, Kitten. But thanks," James said glumly. He was studying his shoes, blinking rapidly and fighting off a major emotional explosion.

Dawn checked her watch, then glanced between James and the door of the classroom. They were about twenty seconds away from lateness, but somehow she knew James wouldn't survive the lesson. The grin on Lily's face would send him over the edge within two minutes. She reached out and seized his hand.

"Come on," she whispered, pulling him quietly away from the classroom. "Let's go get some ice-cream."

For the entire first lesson, Dawn and James hid in the Kitchens and drowned their sorrows in tubs of ice-cream. Dawn's only voiced complaint as they ate was that the House-Elves didn't stock her favourite combination; tomato sauce and chutney with mayonnaise. She'd had to settle for triple choc with raspberry, James' usual.

James idly wondered could possibly be looking so heartbroken over, but was too upset to ask so he just brushed the dullness in her eyes off as sympathy blues. Transfiguration passed by without them, and only because Lily wasn't in the class was Dawn able to convince James to accompany her to Divination. They handed Locky back the spoons, dumped the two empty ice-cream cartons in the bin, and melted into the crowds of students on their way to the second class of the day.

They arrived at the base of the Divination tower barely five minutes after the rest of the class had gone up. James held Dawn back by grabbing her elbow, and she turned to face him.

"You're pretty good at this sister stuff, you know," he said by way of thanks.

"As far as brothers go, you're the best I've ever adopted," Dawn returned with all sincerity. Spike and Xander had both been good protectors, and even friends, but there was just something that much more involved about her relationship with James.

She stretched up and kissed his cheek, and was surprised when James grabbed her and held her close for a bit longer. Then they broke apart wordlessly and headed up into Divination at last. When they climbed into the tower, Professor Damus glanced at them, put out by their tardiness.

They slipped into the spare chairs at Sirius' table, and he too looked put out by their conspicuous absences. He'd even started drumming his fingers against the rickety little table. The moment Damus had passed out their Palmistry guides, he rounded on the pair of them.

"Where the bloody hell have you been?" he demanded.

James looked away, embarrassed to admit he'd skipped a class over girl troubles. Especially when he didn't even have a girl, technically speaking. Dawn picked up on his feelings at once. She shook her head at Sirius.

"Just forget about it, Sirius," she urged in an undertone. "Call it a sibling thing, or something, ok?"

Sirius scrunched his nose up. What was that supposed to mean? "Whatever," he said eventually. "But you guys owe me big time, I had to cover for you with McGonagall with no warning. You try keeping a straight face while you're telling her our friends can't make it to class because Garden Gnomes got into Gryffindor tower and started nicking their stuff!"

Dawn and James both stared at Sirius, trying to assure themselves that he was only joking. Dawn would've given anything to be certain he was just messing around with them, but Sirius' expression was so completely affronted that they just knew he wasn't kidding. James started to snicker.

"Thanks for covering, Padfoot," he laughed.

Dawn just grinned and shook her head. No use worrying too much now. "So what did we miss?" she asked.

"Nothing exciting," Sirius promised. "We were just turning our pincushions back into porcupines. Simple stuff, Kitten, it'll take you guys all of ten minutes to catch up."

"Cool," Dawn said.

James propped up his Palmistry chart to hide what he was really up to as he began to scribble furiously on a scrap of parchment. Dawn glanced over, saw a list of products that could only be used for pranking purposes, and promptly looked away. If this was what he needed to do to vent, then that's what he'd do.

Instead she began scanning the information on Palmistry. She'd never tried it before, but it looked interesting. Knowing what was coming, Sirius just held his hand out to Dawn, laying his palm facing up. Dawn stared at the hand, a hot stab of guilt slicing through her stomach. It wasn't fair of him to be so wonderful to her when she was … what?

Dawn began running her fingers along all the little lines on his hand, trying to learn what it all meant. Sirius watched the way she concentrated with a smile. She frowned to herself and kept glancing between Sirius' hand and the chart as if she was looking for a different answer to the one she was actually reading. After a while, Sirius scooted over closer so he could watch her work properly.

"What do you see?"

Dawn glanced up, sombre-faced, then smiled and looked back down. "I see … A callus over here," she pointed out.

He arched an eyebrow, but Dawn was quick to follow up her discovery by lifting his hand to her lips and giving the callus she'd found a little peck. James gagged loudly. Dawn poked her tongue out at him.

"Come up with any good pranks yet?" she asked, successfully changing the subject and diverting Sirius' attention away from her.

Sirius perked up at once. "Pranks? Who are we pranking? Why? No wait, that's not important. When? What do you have in mind?"

With an evasive shrug, James slid his list over so his best friend could look at it. "I just feel we've been a nit quiet on the pranking front lately, Padfoot. It's time to come out of hibernation."

Both boys began to collaborate enthusiastically on prank ideas, Dawn left them to it and tried to work out the problem she'd had reading Sirius' palm. She re-read the section on life lines more closely, then decided to try again. she grabbed James' hand, he didn't skip a beat in his conversation as she began to canvass the lines of his palm in great detail. After a few minutes, she sighed and let James have his hand back. She'd somehow done even worse with James than she had with Sirius. Try as she might, she just couldn't get the life lines right for either boy.

After Divination, they went back to the Great Hall for lunch. Dawn wasn't hungry at all, but she took a very small portion of the steak and kidney pie just to avoid a lecture from Remus about making herself sick. Dawn rolled her eyes to herself. As if dumping a load of pie over all that ice-cream was going to be good for her.

James didn't seem too troubled by that prospect, he was shovelling large forkfuls of pie into his mouth and barely coming up for air. Dawn was left to field Remus and Peter's questions about where she and James had got to that morning. Dawn just smiled and shrugged, told them something had come up and not to worry about it.

Within a few minutes, James had begun to look a little more human again. He was even breathing in between mouthfuls and his scowl had dropped a couple of notches. Then Lily floated in and sat down almost directly across from James without even realising it.

She looked up, right through James and smiled at something, or someone beyond him. James flushed red, then went completely white. Lily's grin deepened significantly, she waved at the Ravenclaw table and turned obliviously to begin serving herself lunch. Remus and Sirius shared a look of sudden understanding.

After that, nobody was safe. The halls of Hogwarts became a war zone for the officially unknown, but highly suspected pranksters who barely let an hour of the day pass by without unleashing some vile new horror on the student body. There were more dungbombs than stones on the floor surrounding the Divination tower. Students had to swim through the corridor to get to the Charms room, and fight through a nest of Blast-Ended Skrewts that seemed to be invisibly and unbreakably tethered to the hall outside Potions.

James convinced the rest of his team to spend one of their practices redecorating a few of the Quidditch change rooms for the other houses. The Slytherins had their change rooms coated with thick molasses, while the Ravenclaws were treated to a special of concealed stinksap pods that nobody knew were there until they were touched. Then they exploded. After that, James spent two hours searching the castle for Peeves the Poltergeist, then casually dropped into the conversation that he'd always wondered what the Ravenclaw table would look like upended in the middle of dinner. James had laughed riotously as a dish of pudding landed all over Chase Jones, the spoon hitting him in the face and the chocolate globs sliding down him. After that evening the other ghosts had got together and banned Peeves from the Great Hall during meal times.

"But it was worth it, Peevesy," James muttered in consolation as he passed.


Five shadows slunk down through the castle. It was a couple of hours after the 9PM curfew, and the Marauders were creeping up to the Ravenclaw portrait. The old, intellectual wizard with a scraggly black beard was snoozing with his head resting against the frame. He let out a particularly loud, snorting snore as they approached. Dawn snickered quietly.

"Shh," Remus cautioned.

Dawn rolled her eyes, but quietened down.

Quickly, they all took their positions. James and Sirius performed a spell to release the hinges, and the weight of the portrait fell on Dawn and Remus on one side, and Sirius and James on the other. They pulled it free of the opening as quietly as they could, and Peter stepped in to coat the opening with super-strength, magic resistant super glue.

When Peter was clear of the gaping hole they'd made of the Ravenclaw Common Room's opening, the other four manoeuvred the portrait around so it was actually facing into the Common Room. they then glued it firmly in place, trapping the Ravenclaws firmly in their dorms.

Trying not to laugh with wicked glee the whole time, the Marauders sprinted away. It was barely 11.30 by the time they were slipping back into their own Common Room. Half way between the portrait and the boys' stairs, Dawn pulled her hand out of Sirius'. He turned to look at her in surprise.

"You're not coming up?"

Dawn shook her head slowly, not sure what to say. The other three boys had already gone upstairs, but Sirius came back to stand before her.

"Why not? What's wrong?"

She looked down. "I just don't feel so great, ok? Maybe I'm coming down with something," she said lamely.

"Oh," Sirius said, trying not to look too disappointed. "Is there anything I can do?" he asked, reaching up to massage her shoulders.

Dawn shook her head and pushed him gently away. "No. I just want to get to bed. 'Night."

She smacked a light kiss to the side of his mouth and flitted away up the girls' stairs. Sirius was left frowning, standing alone in the middle of the fire lit Common Room.

"'Night," he echoed after her shadow.

The next morning, the Ravenclaw table was suspiciously empty. The Marauders blended into all the speculative chatter and focused on their breakfast. Lily was chewing her bottom lip and staring at the empty table.

"Something the matter, Tigerlily?" Sirius asked, buttering his toast and barely concealing a grin.

Lily glanced at the Marauder sharply, but did not rise to the bait. She shook her head and had another mouthful of cereal, but her eyes kept darting towards the empty Ravenclaw section of the Great Hall. She didn't see James' wickedly self-satisfied grin.

Dumbledore called Filch over to him and discreetly suggested he take a walk up to the Ravenclaw corridor to see if there was any sign of the missing house. The Marauders sneakily lifted their goblets in salutation to each other as Filch slouched and snarled his way out of the Great Hall.

Ten minutes later, the Caretaker wheezed back into the Great Hall. "Headmaster, you've got to come quick. It's the Ravenclaw portrait!"

Practically the whole school stood to follow Dumbledore but he turned back and fixed them all with a stern look.

"Unless you have been mysteriously trapped within your own Common Room, I see no excuse for you to all be late for your classes. Now off you all go."

The student body groaned as one, but obeyed the order nonetheless. All the Marauders tried not to smirk too obviously as the theories on the mysterious disappearance of Ravenclaw swirled around them. They took their usual seats in Charms and waited for Flitwick to arrive and begin their lesson.

"You know," James said, loud enough for Lily to overhear. "If those Ravenclaws were so bloody smart, they'd be able to sort their own problems out."

Sirius laughed loudly and clapped his best friend on the back. He tilted his chair back on two legs, lounging at his ease. Lily whipped around to glare at them.

"It's not funny! Something really bad could've happened to all those Ravenclaws, and here you prats are laughing your arrogant heads off about it!"

Dawn widened her eyes innocently and turned to diffuse the situation. "Lily," she said in her most naïve, soothing voice. "You might be overreacting just a bit, you know. It's just a portrait problem- you heard Filch say that. Besides, how much danger can they really be in while they're all still inside Hogwarts?"

Lily raised an eyebrow. "Need I remind you what almost happened to you while you were in the supposed safety of Hogwarts?"

Dawn blanched. Lily's words had hit her like a slap to the face, for a moment she was trapped in the memory of hard shackles and hurtful hands. The tilted legs of Sirius' chair hit the floor with a dead thud. His eyes frosted over and he glared at the redheaded Prefect.

"Oh God," Lily blurted, realising what she'd just said. "Oh Dawn, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to bring that up on you, really. I know that sounded horrible, I really didn't intend it to be hurtful."

Dawn nodded, though she wasn't looking at Lily. "I know. It's ok, Lily. I guess you weren't exactly wrong."

"I still shouldn't have said that," Lily said, shifting uncomfortably.

Before the situation could either be resolved or get even more awkward, Professor Flitwick climbed up on his stack of books to begin his lesson. Dawn was grateful for the challenge Charms always presented her; if she concentrated properly it left no room for all those unpleasant thoughts.

Dawn was quiet throughout the whole morning's classes, but the others put it down to lingering upset from Lily's remarks. Nobody seemed to notice that her wounded gaze often encompassed Sirius more than Lily. On the way to Care of Magical Creatures, James took it upon himself to return the favour and try to cheer her up. He slung an arm about her and walked her ahead of the others.

"Remember the time we sent Snape and exploding stinksap package for his birthday?" he said conversationally. "And then the shampoo and conditioner for Christmas?"

Dawn cracked a tiny smile. It had been mildly amusing. And she had managed to talk them out of sending the Bubotuber pus.

"Atta girl," James encouraged. "And what about the look on all those pompous Ravenclaw's faces when Peeves upended the table all over their nice starched robes?"

The smile on Dawn's face was still distracted and miniscule. James gave her a little squeeze.

"Come on, Kitten. Don't make me resort to a Cheering Charm."

Dawn squeezed him back. "Thanks, James. But really, I'm ok."

The others caught up to them then, the whole class gathered in one of the fields and Professor Kettleburn brought out their day's lesson. Dawn's face broke into a true smile at last as Kettleburn led a pure, almost ethereal white Unicorn over to the class.

"Are you telling me that all I had to do to make you smile was get you a unicorn?" James muttered in her ear.

Dawn, still smiling, just glanced playfully back at him.

James shrugged. "Least now I know what to get you for your birthday."

They spent the next hour sketching the Unicorn and learning about their social and dietary habits and their powers of healing. When Kettleburn asked if anyone would like a closer look at the Unicorn before he released it back into the Forbidden Forest, Dawn stepped up immediately.

"Careful," Kettleburn warned as she approached. "They don't much like to be touched before they've got used to a person's presence."

Dawn didn't mind, she was content just to look at the creature of pure beauty. She caught the deep, dark eye and stared into the Unicorn's gaze. After several seconds under the animal's scrutiny, the entire class was surprised to see the Unicorn incline his head, almost nodding at Dawn.

Dawn glanced at Professor Kettleburn, who gestured to indicate that she could touch the Unicorn if she wanted to now. Without hesitation, Dawn reached out and ran a hand down the nose, before moving around to stroke his flank a couple of times. Slowly, a few other people crept up to join her, but Dawn made them work around her, refusing to leave the lovely creature.

When lunch rolled around, Dawn reluctantly gave the Unicorn a final pat before returning to the Great Hall with her friends. When all the students (including a table full of disgruntled Ravenclaws) had gathered, Dumbledore rose to address the assembly.

"While you are all enjoying another excellent Hogwarts lunch, I have a rather serious matter to discuss with you all," he announced, his gaze lingering on the Marauders for a tad longer than any other group of students. "Last night, someone, or more likely several someones, entered the Ravenclaw corridor after curfew and tampered with the portrait. As a result, the students from Ravenclaw were trapped within their dorms and it took a considerable part of my morning to release them."

Most of the Slytherins were sniggering snidely, even a few Hufflepuffs and Gryffindors had got the giggles. Dawn and the boys took the opportunity to release some of their own pent-up mirth without looking too suspicious. Dumbledore held up a hand to restore quiet before he continued.

"Amusing as this may seem now, I must ask that anyone with any information that may lead us to the culprits please come forward at the first opportunity."

The Marauders just grinned and reached for seconds.


Dawn loved the Common Room when it was empty. It was a bustle of activity during the day, but in the later evening, with the rest of the house either in the dorms, or the Library, or at Quidditch practice, the Common Room could be the most peaceful place in the world. Dawn closed her eyes and sank back into her favourite plushy armchair. She just needed a few minutes of not dealing with whatever mess she'd created and then called her life.

The portrait creaked open and Dawn almost groaned. She opened her eyes to identify the intruder and almost burst into tears. Suddenly she knew she couldn't go on like this anymore.

"Hey baby," Sirius swooped in to kiss her.

Dawn froze. Then blind instinct took over and she pulled away, feeling disgusted with herself for the way she suddenly hated the way Sirius kissed her. Sirius straightened up, shocked by her reaction to her.

"What the…? Dawn, why did you just do that?"

"I don't know," Dawn said, curling her whole body away. "I just… I don't know."

"Yes you do," Sirius blurted. Dawn looked at him. "You've been acting funny for ages, making up some bull about being tired, or not feeling well. I kept trying to let it go, wait for you to sort yourself out. But I'm sick of it, Dawn. I want to know what the hell is going on with you, and I want to know now!"

The question he got in reply completely baffled him. "What am I?"

"What?" Sirius almost laughed. "You're my girlfriend… Or at least you look like her…"

A single tear slid down Dawn's face. "What else?"

Sirius froze a moment. Then he took a step back. He wasn't sure what exactly was going on here, but his gut was telling him he really didn't like it. "What do you mean, what else?"

Dawn blinked rapidly a couple of times. "Exactly that, Sirius. What am I in the world besides your girlfriend? Did you know there are people around here who can't even recognise me without me hanging off your arm?" Her tone had turned a shade accusing, Dawn stood up and faced Sirius properly.

"And you're saying that's my fault?" Sirius rallied.

Dawn shook her head. "I never said that! I'm just trying to figure out who I am… and you're not helping."

Sirius was breathing heavily, feeling as if he'd been swept up in a hurricane he didn't even see coming. "And how exactly am I 'not helping'?"

"Well for starters all you ever want me for now is sex."

The words burst bitterly from Dawn before the thought had even fully formed in her mind. There was a beat of stillness, in which she and Sirius stood staring at each other, equally shocked by the revelation. He was almost visibly counting to ten to try and compose himself before even attempting to reply.

"I don't know what you mean," he said, forcing it out and beginning to shake under the strain of holding Dawn's gaze.

She exhaled loudly. "Oh come on, Sirius. When was the last time we did anything as a couple that wasn't either sex or foreplay? When was the last time we just hung out together? Or had a real conversation? Or went on a date?" She counted the things they used to do before their relationship had become consumed by physical intimacy on her fingers.

Sirius couldn't come up with an answer to her accusing questions. He looked down. "I thought you were happy. Why didn't you say any of this before?" he mumbled.

"I thought it would get better," Dawn whispered. "I thought it was just me, that I'd get used to it… But it's not getting better, Sirius. I don't feel like this is right anymore."

Sirius' hand went to his stomach as if he'd been punched. He spent a few moments catching his breath, trying to mentally catch up with the situation. Then he looked back at Dawn and just shook his head as if he could make the whole scene just disappear.

"Come on, baby," he almost pleaded. "This is ridiculous. You say you don't know who you are- you're kidding, right? You're Dawn," he said, hoping to give her some clarity, make her see reason.

Dawn's eyes narrowed into icy slits. "Don't patronise me," she hissed dangerously. Then her eyes widened and welled up. "I can't stand this anymore. Face it- this whole thing only happened by default. Tell me, Sirius, if you guys hadn't just so happened to be the ones who found me on the steps that day, would you have ever even looked at me twice?"

"Yes," Sirius said quietly. Dawn was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen, how could she have even questioned that he'd have wanted her anyway.

"I don't believe you," Dawn said, just as quiet.

"So what?" Sirius snapped, becoming slightly aggressive in his confusion. "You want us to break up?"

"I never said that. Never," Dawn said, but the tears had already begun to fall. "I didn't say I wanted us to b-break up."

"Then what the hell do you want?" Sirius shouted back, his anger gaining momentum.

Dawn sniffled. "I- I don't know."

"Bullshit!"

Dawn looked affronted by the curse. She opened her mouth to chastise him, but snapped it closed again. Somehow the swearing lecture just seemed so completely out of place.

"Bullshit," he said more quietly, repeating it just to annoy her. Suddenly is seemed like wonderfully perverse fun to do all the things she didn't like, just for the sake of it.

"Can't we talk about this?"

All of a sudden, Dawn's energy bled out of her and she was left limp and powerless. She didn't know what she wanted, but this was not what she imagined when she prayed for something to change. Not wanting her to see the wetness in his eyes and know how close he was to tears himself, Sirius looked away. He stopped yelling, but the coldness in his voice was more terrible than anything volume could manage.

"What's there to talk about?" he asked bitterly. "I think you've made yourself pretty clear. You think I'm just using you for sex and it's my fault you can't stand on your own two feet. I understand perfectly."

"No…" Dawn protested, but her voice was weak and Sirius overrode it without hearing her at all.

He leaned close into Dawn's face. "So that's how you're gonna leave? Straight out from underneath, huh?" he snarled. "Well, we'll see who's sorry now little girl." He kissed her roughly, hurtfully goodbye.

Dawn was left standing in the middle of the Common Room, alone and crying. Sirius, still trying not to cry himself, turned and stormed for the portrait. It swung open as he reached it, and James was just stepping through.

"Padfoot?"

But Sirius didn't stop. He slammed out past his best friend and off into the castle without a backward glance. Frowning, James watched his retreating form, then came fully into the Common Room. He looked up.

"Dawn…?"


It's amazing,

how you make your face just like a wall

how you take your heart and turn it off

how I turn my head and lose it all.

It's unnerving,

how just one move puts me by myself

there you go just trusting someone else

now I know I put us both through hell.

I'm not saying there wasn't nothing wrong,

I just didn't think you'd ever get tired of me.

And I'm not saying we ever had the right to hold on,

I just didn't wanna let it get away from me.

But if that's how it's gonna leave,

Straight out from underneath

Then we'll see who's sorry now.

If that's how it's gonna stand, when

You know you've been depending on

The one you're leaving now

The one you're leaving out.

It's aggravating,

How you threw me on and you tore me out,

How your good intentions turned to doubt,

The way you needed time to sort it out.

And I'm not saying there wasn't nothing wrong,

I just didn't think you'd ever get tired of me.

And I'm not saying we ever had the right to hold on,

I just couldn't ever let you get away from me.

But if that's how you're gonna leave,

Straight out from underneath

Then we'll see who's sorry now.

If that's how it's gonna stand, when

You know you've been depending on

The one you're leaving now

The one you're leaving out.

The one you're leaving now

Now, no, no

The one you're leaving out.

I'm not saying there was nothing wrong,

Didn't think you'd ever get tired of me.

But if that's how you're gonna leave,

Straight out from underneath

Then we'll see who's sorry now.

If that's how it's gonna stand, when

You know you've been depending on

The one you're leaving out, now

Yeah well tell me is that how it's gonna end

When you know you've been depending on

The one you're leaving now

And the one you're leaving out

I'm the one you're leaving now,

Now the one you're leaving out.