Disclaimer: Still owning nothing. Dawn is Joss Whedon's & the Hogwarts gang are JK Rowling's. Careless Whisper is George Michael's (don't laugh- the man is entitled to one half-decent song!)

A.N. I'm well aware that everyone may hate me now. You get that on big jobs. Please have faith (and hey- a flame is still a review). Action next 2 chapters, I promise!

Reviewers:

Sonofgloin:I always knew you wouldn't hate me for inflicting pain & horror on my little creative world. Missed your reviews while you were gone, but since I know where you were you're forgiven. XX00

Saxifrage:Sorry about the cliffie- it had to be done. Will be looking at your poems now (and picking a couple of my own for you to laugh at!) Hope you're working on 'Something to Ponder', too! XX

Eyexcandy:I am evil Homer, I am evil Homer You're my favourite reviewer to tease, coz you're so good at doing it back! Please keep flaming until you get your own way! XX

Lucky Shamrock:I'm sorry to have made you cry so much at Christmas, and I'm really sorry this took so long to get up- life stands in my way sometimes.

Pomegranate Queen:I totally hear what you're saying about the badness befalling someone wallowing in heartbreak & self pity- look for that to come up in chapter 25 (hehe I'm a tease)

Elle Blessingway:I'm sorry I've been keeping you hanging on Cruel & Unusual!!! I didn't think anybody was really reading it there anymore! It's in my mind that I have to update there, so I will try to backdate and get it caught up as soon as possible! Thanks for letting me know about it though- I'm occasionally a bit sporadic & forgetful. Sorry to keep you on the edge of your seat for too long.

Crazy-VampireSlayer:Well sometimes it takes time for things to get better, you know? All I can say is please be patient. On the other hand, the Remus/Isabel & lycanthropy issue, I'm estimating, will come to a head within about 5 chapters… stay tuned for that one.

Leeci Aliez:I'm glad you like this.

Sloan:Sorry I couldn't make it a Christmas pressie- think of this update as a belated 'Happy New Year'! And as for Dawn & James doing something damaging to the relationship to comfort each other, I had considered that. It would be interesting to see, wouldn't it?

Bluegummiebear7:What you think just happened really did just happen at the end of that chapter. Sorry, but it's not just a bad dream LOL

Ashibabi:I'm glad you're thinking this is cool.

Unforgiven Mistress:I had you in tears? Yay! Not that I'm glad you're crying, just glad that I'm doing my job as an author… I guess. I've had a lot of requests on the Spike front, and let's just say I've got something up my sleeve for him. It's not 100 guaranteed he will appear, but if I decide to do it, I will easily be able to.

Catgirl Elf Princess:Thanks for being so supportive about this story twist. It's really helpful to know I've got reviewers who'll stick with it even if I do make things a bit painful.

T.S.:Here it is at last…

The Lady Morgaine:I hope you're still reading this by now. Thank you for the compliment.


CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

Careless Whisper

"Dawn…?"

James stepped further into the Common Room. Dawn's only response was to start sobbing in earnest. She covered her face with her hands, her whole body shaking uncontrollably. She felt James' arms lock around her and clutched at his shoulder for dear life.

"Shh," he murmured, surprisingly soothing. "Shh. It's ok, Kitten. Settle down, now. It's all right." Dawn drenched James' shirt with her tears. He just rocked her back and forth on the spot and waited for her to be able to speak for herself again.

"What happened?" he asked once she showed the first signs of potential calmness.

"W-we had a-a-a f-fight," Dawn blubbered. "I said I-I couldn't h-handle things anym-m-more and then he got m-mad and we b-broke up!"

James' blood ran cold. Remus, long ago, had vaguely mentioned that if a relationship between Dawn and Sirius turned sour, it wouldn't just be the two of them affected. The Marauders as a whole would be changed forever. But none of them had ever truly believed it would come to that. He stiffened a little as Dawn clung to him. How was he supposed to choose between his best mate, and his surrogate sister?

Dawn noticed the change in James' posture and pulled back a bit to look into his face. "Do you h-hate me now?" she asked, sniffling.

"No," James said. He shook his head glumly and kissed her forehead. "I just don't know what to say right now, Kitten," he admitted.

Dawn swiped at her face with the back of her hand. There was nothing he could say. She closed her eyes and tried to let the hand rubbing her back soothe her. James was always good at taking care of her, but nothing could take away the ache inside. She felt as if someone had put her heart through a mincer and then microwaved the remains.

No more Sirius. No more searing kisses, or warn arms in the night, or comforting songs when she was sad. A new wave of tears rolled down her cheeks and James pulled her close again.

"Come on, Kitten," he said lamely.

Dawn nodded and made a valiant attempt at pulling herself together. She wiped her face again and tried to straighten her shoulders. "O-ok."

"Good," he encouraged as her shaking diminished. He laid a hand against her hot forehead. "You'll make yourself sick if you don't settle down, how about you go and get some rest?"

Dawn sniffed. "I'll never be able to sleep."

"I know. But just lay down, try to rest for me please."

Dawn nodded and hugged James for a moment longer before turning and going slowly up the girls' stairs. She moved slowly, her muscles strained, her limbs looking wobbly like overcooked spaghetti. The moment she was out of sight, James tore up to his own dorm and pulled Remus' top drawer open. He grabbed the Marauders' Map and spread it over the floor.

"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."

With one touch of his wand, ink spidered out all over the parchment. He scanned the castle for the little red paw print, wiping the map once he'd spotted it and stuffing it carelessly back in Remus' drawer. He flew nimbly back into the Common Room and back into the halls. Thanking Merlin that his Quidditch obsession kept him so fit, James sprinted through the castle and up an endless flight of stairs. He shoved through a wooden door and emerged into the cool night air.

"Padfoot…"

He was sitting on the wide stone border surrounding the open roof of the castle, dangling his legs over the edge. He gave no sign of registering his presence, but James could tell Sirius knew he was there. He wandered over and leaned his back against the stones, facing the opposite way to his best friend.

"Need anything?" he asked a little uncomfortably. Serious discussions were usually Remus' department.

Sirius shrugged. When James looked over he could see him fiddling with a small square of parchment. It was old and creased, but still much cherished.

"I should've known better," Sirius muttered as one corner of the parchment in his hands began to tear. "Nothing but trouble, the bloody lot of them. Should never have got myself in this crap."

James said nothing, letting Sirius vent with whatever would make him feel better.

"Wasn't my fault she doesn't know whether she's coming or going," Sirius continued, half to himself. "Not a bloody mind reader, and she was more than willing. Just what I get for looking for more in a girl than a shag."

"Do you really mean all that, mate?" James asked quietly. He was, after all, talking about James' sister.

"Yes!" Sirius burst out.

James looked sharply at him but Sirius didn't notice the attention. He was reading the scrap of parchment one last time. Then he was laughing cruelly.

"What a load of bull."

He scrunched the parchment up and tossed it from the roof of the castle. James whipped around, drawing his wand and leaning over the edge.

" Accio parchment!"

It flew back up and he snatched it from the air. Sirius shot him a filthy look but James ignored it. He flattened the crumpled parchment and smoothed it against the stones. He'd seen the note before, but he paused a moment to let his eyes skip sadly over the swirling letters.

Doubt thou the stars are fire.

Doubt that the sun doth move.

Doubt truth to be a liar.

But never doubt I love.

He folded it carefully and slid it into the pocket of his robes.

"You might want that one day," was all he would say.

"Don't hold your breath, Prongs," Sirius replied, but there was no more harshness in his voice. There was only overpowering sadness.

"All the same, I'll hang onto it. I'm real sorry about all this, Padfoot," James muttered, half embarrassed. "None of us ever wanted to see this happen."

"Except probably Wormtail," Sirius joked humourlessly.

"Nah," James shook his head. "I think Peter will always have a bit of a crush on Dawn, but he knows it's pointless. He'd never want to see either of you hurt."

"I know mate, I'm just…" Sirius shrugged. How could he explain the feeling of having your whole world pulled out from beneath your feet, flipped upside down, turned backwards and inside out and just being wrong?

"Yeah," James said.

"Tell you one thing, though," Sirius said, turning to catch his best friend's eye at last. "No more of this relationship junk. It's pretty obvious I'm not cut out for the mushy junk… thank Merlin. It's back to getting what I want and getting the hell out before it gets messy!"

James sighed. Things with the Marauders were about to get very messy. "I hope you know what you're doing, mate."


"Come on, Dawn," Isabel said, shaking her shoulder. "You've got to get up."

"No," Dawn mumbled, burrowing deeper into her pillows. "I don't care if there's no cable, I'm staying up here til I die!"

Isabel looked at Dawn's red, puffy face with sympathy. When she and Lily had stepped into the dorm last night, Dawn was already there, buried in her bedding and wailing like a banshee. They'd barely understood a word she'd said, but somewhere amongst the shuddering and hiccoughing they'd gleaned that Dawn and Sirius had broken up. For good. He hated her, even. Isabel sighed.

"Come on, sweetie," she encouraged, smoothing Dawn's damp hair off her sweaty forehead. "You'll feel a bit better once you get moving."

Dawn sniffed loudly, then took the tissue Isabel was ready to offer. "How can I go down there?" she demanded, her voice cracking. "How can I face him- face everyone?"

Just then, Lily came walking briskly out from the bathroom. She marched over to Dawn and tore her covers away. "Your bath is ready, get moving or you'll be late," she said, all business.

Dawn glared up at her through murky and bloodshot eyes. Lily gave her a soft look, but didn't waver. "I can't let you just hibernate up here, Dawn. You'll have to face the world eventually, and it'll make it easier if you get it over with sooner rather than later."

Lily tugged Dawn's hand, but Dawn refused to budge. After about five minutes, Lily tired of trying to be supportively firm and Isabel was sick of getting nowhere with Dawn by being gentle and encouraging.

"You've had your chances," Lily said and she whipped out her wand. "Mobillicorpus!"

"Hey!" Dawn protested as Lily used magic to float her out of bed and into the bathroom. The Prefect stopped just short of dropping Dawn fully clothed into the tub, leaving her on the edge.

"If you're not back out in half an hour, we're coming in to get you," Lily warned before walking out of the bathroom and shutting the door behind her.

Dawn sighed, swiped at the couple of tears leaking onto her red cheeks, and began to pull her nightclothes off. She stepped back into the dorm twenty-nine minutes and forty-seven seconds later, much to Isabel's relief. Lily, her eyes on her watch, was standing at the bathroom door poised with her wand at the ready. Dawn just stood still and let Lily fasten her tie properly while Isabel fixed her hair into a clip.

When the girls were satisfied she was at least semi-presentable, Lily wordlessly handed Dawn her packed schoolbag and steered her towards the Great Hall. The whispers followed Dawn the entire way. She was no longer the only girl who'd ever managed to land Sirius Black and keep him grounded. She was just the latest girl who'd tried and failed to hold him down.

Breakfast was pure torture for Dawn. Remus was the only Marauder in the Great Hall when they arrived, and Isabel insisted they sit with him. Dawn's stomach clenched, but Remus held out his hand to her and pulled her into the seat next to him on the opposite side to Isabel.

"I'll always be here for you Dawn," he reminded her quietly, pouring the whole group's pumpkin juice like he always had. "I told you, you can talk to me about anything and I meant it."

Dawn nodded and almost smiled. Between Lily, Remus and Isabel they almost had her convinced that she should eat something when Sirius stomped into the Great Hall with James and Peter flanking him. The spoon half raised to Dawn's lips dropped at once. The rest of the Hall seemed to be watching avidly.

He looked at her once, she could feel his eyes burning all over her. But other than that, he gave no sign that he'd ever even known her. A stranger would think they'd never been friends, let alone lovers. Sirius stalked to the furthest end of the table and sat down, pointedly situating himself where he wouldn't have to see Dawn.

James and Peter both glanced at Dawn, but went and sat with Sirius. Almost instantly the other students began to speculate about a division in the Marauders. Lily glared at a group of Hufflepuffs ridiculously suggesting that the group has split because Dawn had become involved in a torrid affair with both Remus and Isabel, and the others had felt excluded.

"Oh really!" Lily thundered at them. "Just grow up, will you!?"

"I never knew you felt that way, Dawn," Isabel grinned, eliciting the tiniest crease in Dawn's lips in response. Remus glowered at the Hufflepuffs along with Lily, though there was slight colour in his cheeks as he turned around and finished his breakfast.

They left for Potions early, knowing that James, Sirius and Peter wouldn't be on their way until the last minute before class began. Sirius loaded one more serving of eggs onto his plate, appearing to either not notice or not care as his latest ex-girlfriend left the Great Hall. A few minutes before class, the remaining Marauders finally made a move.

One girl was waiting for them as they took to the halls. She was leaning against the cool stones of the wall and pushed off fluidly as the three boys approached. She fell in beside Sirius, bumping Peter out of the way in the process.

"Bugger off," Sirius said, his eyes fixed on the path ahead. "I'm not in the mood."

"Tsk, tsk cousin," Narcissa smiled coldly. "You haven't heard me out yet."

"I don't plan on it either," Sirius retorted. He quickened his pace, but Narcissa's legs were easily long enough to match him.

"You should. You're not playing your cards right," she said. "If I were you, I'd be writing to my mother and apologising for my disgraceful behaviour. If you beg for forgiveness now, you just might salvage a scrap of honour in the family."

Sirius snorted mirthlessly. "I know you're blond, Cissa, but you couldn't really be stupid enough to expect me to do that."

"You sure about that?" James quipped.

Narcissa bristled, but did not rise to James' bait. "Use the brain in that blood-traitor head of yours. I'm telling you, Sirius, write to your mother and tell her you're sorry. Tell her you were wrong to consort with the Mudblood and you've come to your senses and discarded her like the piece of garbage she is."

James' face flooded with fury, but it was the look on Sirius' that Narcissa was interested in. She faltered a moment at the uncontrollable pained look on his face and then grinned wickedly.

"She didn't dump you now, did she? Oh tell me the great Sirius Black wasn't used and discarded by a pathetic little American Mudblood," she crowed. "Who would've thought it would take someone so low to beat you at your own game?"

James shared a look with Peter. Sirius had gone white and it was a few moments before he could bring himself under control enough to answer.

"Technically," he said, his voice shaking slightly, "I broke up with her."

Narcissa smiled coldly. "As she was pushing you out the door, I'm sure. Don't mention that to the rest of the family if you ever want to be able to hold your head up again. Think about it for once, cousin," she said by way of farewell. She stalked away without a backward glance.

"Forget her," James said, clapping Sirius on the shoulder. "Let's get to Potions."

They were only just on time for their class, sliding through the doorway just as the Professor was flicking her wand to make the instructions appear on the board. Remus waved as they took their seats nearby, Dawn gripped her quill far too tightly and made a mess while trying to copy the instructions with a shaking hand.

Remus waved his wand discreetly, tidying Dawn's parchment up. While he went to collect their ingredients, Dawn's eyes sought Sirius out on reflex. His movements were rough and defensive like a wounded animal's, Dawn's eyes stung as she realised that had been her doing. He noticed her attention and as he turned to stare back Dawn quickly glanced away. Her lower lip trembled ominously, but Remus' reappearance with the supplies was enough of a distraction to stave off another crying fit for the present. She lit the fire beneath their cauldron and sighed, feeling the stormy blue gaze still burning her.


By the end of the morning's classes, Dawn decided she couldn't stomach it anymore and fled to the Common Room instead of lunch. Sirius was busy chatting to a couple of pretty Ravenclaws, while he was distracted James disappeared, taking a different route to the rest of his friends.

He turned down a new hallway and his heart plummeted somewhere around his kneecaps. Strolling along, hand in hand and completely oblivious to the rest of the world, were Lily and Chase. Red fury took over James and like a bull, he charged. He stomped deliberately in between them, forcing their hands to separate.

"Oi- watch it," Chase snapped.

James pretended not to hear him and ignored Lily yelling after him as he rounded a corner and then broke into a run to put as much distance between himself and the scene as possible. He jogged to the Kitchens, had Locky prepare a basket for him, and walked it quickly up to the Gryffindor Common Room.

Dawn was huddled on a couch, her eyes closed. She seemed to be blocking everything out, trying to mentally prepare herself for the rest of the day. James looked at her sadly as he put his basket on the closest table.

"Kitten? Sit up, I've got something for you," he said and shook her elbow slightly.

Dawn didn't look remotely interested, but she sat up anyway. James pulled two enormous, Hagrid-sized bowls of ice-cream from the basket. One was his triple choc with raspberry, while the other was just plain vanilla. Next James extracted spoons from the basket, and lastly took out some tomato sauce, some chutney and some mayonnaise.

"They still don't stock your favourite, Kitten, so I thought we could improvise."

Dawn stared at James for a long time, her eyes watering and her lip trembling. But just as he thought she was about to start crying, Dawn's lip steadied, she blinked away the wetness gathering in her eyes and gave him a tremulous smile.

"Thanks, James."

He only grinned and held the bowl of vanilla ice-cream for her while she poured as much of each topping on as she liked and began to much it all together with the rounded side of her spoon. Then she experimentally tasted a bit.

"As good as the store bought stuff?" James asked, reaching for his own bowl at last.

"Better," Dawn said, adding an extra dollop of chutney. "I get to mix it to my own proportions this way."

James chuckled. They'd only had a few more bites each when the Common Room was invaded by a livid redhead.

"Potter you arrogant toe-rag, I've had it with you!" Lily bellowed, standing over James. "I don't care what you say, this time I'm going to McGonagall and you can have a detention. Who do you think you are, shoving through people in the halls like you own the castle?"

James slowly finished his spoonful of ice-cream and refused to divert his gaze from watching Dawn to be sure she was still eating. "Evans, I'm bonding here. I don't particularly care what you do right now, but you can either sit down and have some ice-cream, or you can bugger off. Ok?"

Lily balked. She'd expected James to try to flirt with her and weasel out of punishment like he always did, but he hadn't even looked at her. Confused, she just sat down in the last remaining place on the couch. Without a word, James handed her the extra spoon Locky had packed and offered her his dish.

"You don't want Dawn's, trust me."

Dawn poked her tongue out. Lily gingerly took a spoonful from the dish of her sworn enemy and tasted it. Triple choc with raspberry. Her favourite.

"Thank you, Potter."

Still refusing her the courtesy of eye contact, James nodded and continued to share with her. Dawn just watched, silent and curious, with an upset little frown on her face. She finished her own bowl off not long after James and Lily's was gone, much to James' delight. Dawn usually had such a healthy appetite unless she was upset, he hated to think of her wasting away to nothing. Even if she did end up living entirely on ice-cream.

The bell rang for the end of lunch. James put the dishes back into the basket for the House-Elves to pick up later. "Come on, Kitten," he said. "Let's go and get this Divination rubbish over with for another day."

"Just a minute, Potter," Lily interrupted. "As Prefect, I need a word with you."

Dawn waved glumly and departed for Divination alone. James ran his hand through his hair and looked out the window. Lily folded her arms across her chest and glared at the side of his head.

"I'm still reporting you for what you did just before, in the halls," she said.

James shrugged and crumpled his hair again. "I don't care, Evans."

"Well, you should," Lily huffed. "Don't you ever care about anything besides yourself? The way you pushed between Chase and I today was really rude."

At the mention of Chase, James' head whipped around and he looked at Lily at last through guarded hazel eyes. Lily glared back, and a cruel smirk twisted his lips.

"I didn't hurt poor Chasey-diddums, did I? I guess those Ravenclaws are pretty poncy," he snickered.

Red flooded Lily's cheeks. "Don't you call him that!"

"The truth hurts, Evans darling," he retorted.

The red got deeper. "Don't call me darling! In fact, don't talk to me at all, ever. I'm sick of you, you big-headed prat. I hate you!"

James' hands clenched convulsively. "Yeah well, I think you've already proven that you've got shocking taste when it comes to blokes."

"What's wrong with you, Potter?" Lily demanded, throwing her hands up in frustration. "What do you have against Chase? You've been acting like a complete child ever since I started going out with him!"

"Well you shouldn't be with him," James blurted before he could stop himself. "You deserve better."

A cruel laugh burst from deep within Lily. "I hope you don't mean yourself."

James didn't say anything. Lily's eyes narrowed and she went on the attack, stalking up to James and poking him in the chest.

"Get it through that fat skull of yours- I'm dating Chase Jones. I'm not yours. I'll never, ever be yours. I can't stand the sight of you. Am I making myself clear? Is it sinking into that self-absorbed head yet?"

"Yeah," James said quietly. "I understand perfectly, Evans."

He lurched forwards, for a moment some feral impulse urging him, despite everything, to try to kiss Lily at that moment. But then an image of the anguish in Dawn's eyes, and the bolt of rage he'd felt when Peter had done it flashed over his mind. He just brushed by her and snatched his bag up to head to Divination, late as usual.

His face was aflame as he climbed all the way up to the seventh floor tower. Before he pushed into class, he paused to spend a few minutes by himself. When he thought he'd brought himself under control, he squared his shoulders and entered the Divination tower at last.

He stopped in the doorway and stared around the room, giving the appearance for all the world like he owned the place. Dawn was sitting in one corner of the room, only the pile of palmistry books keeping her company. Sirius was her polar opposite. He was sitting as far away from Dawn as possible and had plenty of company in the form of a couple of giggling Hufflepuffs.

After a minute of Damus glaring expectantly at him, James took a deep breath and went and sat down. Dawn glanced across at him, then buried her nose even deeper in her book. James dropped his bag under his chosen table.

"Hey Padfoot."

"Hey Prongsie. Come to join the fun?" Sirius asked in a forced happy voice.

"Yeah," James said heavily, reaching for a crystal ball.

Sirius raised his voice to be sure it would carry across the room. "How anyone could take this class seriously is beyond me."

The Hufflepuffs giggled again. James smiled half-heartedly, siphoning even more of his attention into the crystal ball he was playing with. Dawn's hands clutching her book were all that was left visible of her. James started to spin the crystal ball on his finger, almost daring Damus to burst in on the awkward scene to reproach him.

"So, what're you two lovely ladies doing later tonight?" Sirius asked, predatory grin firmly in place, but the sparkle not quite reaching his eyes.

Thud.

Smash.

A split second after Dawn lost her grip on her book, James' second crystal ball of the year shattered against the unforgiving stone floor.

"Oops," he said. "Better add that one to my bill."


James grabbed Isabel's elbow and led her to a quiet section of the hall as the Gryffindors were clearing out of Flitwick's Charms classroom. Isabel raised her eyebrows at him.

"If you want me to put in a good word with Lily for you, forget it Potter," she said at once. "I don't know what happened between you two at lunch, but she was turning purple by the time she got to Arithmancy after."

James scowled. "Thanks for the reminder, Whitman," he said, his hand jumping to his hair. "But actually it was Dawn I wanted to talk about."

Isabel softened instantly. "Yeah? Ok, shoot."

James glanced ahead to where Lily and Dawn were walking together. "Make sure she eats something at dinner, ok? I don't want to see her getting sick."

"If you're that concerned about it, why won't you be sitting there and making sure she gets some food into her system?"

James flicked his gaze almost guiltily towards Sirius. "I just…"

"I get it," Isabel sighed. "You fellas are always sticking together and bugger to everyone else."

"Hey!" James snapped. "That's not fair, Whitman. You know I love Dawn like family, but I'm stuck in the middle here. I don't know what to do, ok?"

"Ok," Isabel relented. She had to admit she understood James' predicament, Remus had expressed exactly the same dilemma to her over lunch. "I'll take care of her, James. You go, do the blokey thing. And tell Remus I'll see him later."

"Sure. Thanks, Isabel," James said with a faint smile.

Isabel nodded, then rushed off to catch up with Dawn and Lily. The girls went to the dorms before dinner to organise their homework for the night. While Lily and Isabel carefully set out all their nights' assignments and planned the order in which they would tackle them after they had eaten, Dawn flopped on her bed and worked on her impersonation of a corpse.

After a while, Candice and Michelle came into the dorm. They were whispering animatedly between each other but when they looked up and saw Dawn, they piped down at once. As they put their bags down, they were giggling silently and Lily turned a full blast glare in their direction. Dawn, however, didn't see why she should even care what everyone thought of Hogwarts' most famous break-up. The whole school had been whispering as if she couldn't hear them all day, so what if her own dorm-mates wanted to join the fun?

"Come on Dawn, Is," Lily said pointedly. "It's time for dinner."

Dawn opened her mouth to announce she wasn't hungry. Lily arched an eyebrow and pulled out her wand. Dawn got up and moved obediently towards the door. Lily smiled sweetly. Dawn managed to eat a decent amount of baked chicken and without too much trouble they soon found themselves back in the Common Room with their books spread over one of the tables.

At first, Isabel had been impressed with Dawn's level of concentration. Her quill had barely stopped moving since she had sat down. Then she looked over the brunette's shoulder to see what essay she was working on only to see the parchment covered in two initials scribbled over and over.

SB SB SB SB SB SB SB SB SB SB SB SB SB SB SB SB SB SB SB SB...

"No." Isabel snatched the parchment from beneath Dawn's quill, leaving messy streaks all over it. "I know you're upset and it's gonna take some time for you to be ok with everything, but I refuse to let you wallow like this!"

The parchment was crumpled up and tossed straight into the fire. The quiet study continued, Dawn actually studying this time, until four raucously loud boys claimed the table next to them and set up a game of Exploding Snap.

Dawn lasted about five minutes under the strain of Sirius' loud laughter, forced-sounding even to her ears. James was trying to grin along with his best friend without letting Dawn see, while Remus just cast pitying glances around at all of them. Peter kept looking back and forth between Dawn and Sirius, torn between emotions. He did hate to see two of the very short list of people who'd ever given him the time of day hurting, but every now and then satisfaction swelled within him before he could squash it away. Dawn was single, free again, and it wasn't his fault. A part of him knew it was wrong, but an even greater part of him felt validated that Sirius, too, could be rejected. It wasn't just him, Dawn hadn't wanted Sirius, either. Sirius didn't always just automatically get whatever girl he wanted.

It was when Sirius began debating aloud which of the Hufflepuffs he'd been flirting with that day was prettier that Dawn finally broke. She gathered her things and stood abruptly.

"I just remembered… book… Library," she muttered wildly.

"We'll come with," Isabel offered, shooting a disappointed glance at the table beside them.

"No! No, I'm fine. I just need to…" she left without finishing her sentence.

"Padfoot," Remus chided quietly.

Sirius glowered at him. "Whose side are you on?"

"Just… show a little class, mate."

Dawn spent the night sitting in the Library with a book propped open in front of her. Sirius' horrible laughter rang through her ears and his wicked grin teased her everywhere she looked.

"Well, we'll see who's sorry now little girl."

Dawn blinked. "Huh?"

"I said it's ten to nine, dear," Madam Pince said kindly. She wished she had more students who could be so quiet in her Library. "You'd best be off or Mr Filch will catch you out after curfew. No, no, I'll put the book back for you."

"Thanks," Dawn murmured, and drifted from the Library as listlessly as a ghost.

She wandered along through the castle in a daze, brushing by objects and people without even seeing them. She carried on until she brushed by something that didn't appreciate the lack of notice.

"We're watching you," a voice hissed.

Dawn whipped about, suddenly alert. "Oh. It's you."

Lucius Malfoy just smirked at her. "Alone again, little Mudblood? Well, you know a man can only roll in the dirt for so long."

"Can't you come up with any new insults, at least?" Dawn snapped. "Yeah, I'm a Mudblood, so what? You're all so wrapped up in telling me what a disgusting piece of trash I am and not one of you inbred purebloods can come up with a single good reason to explain what's so wrong with my blood."

"Inferiority never does seem to recognise itself," Malfoy sneered.

Dawn arched an eyebrow and looked the Slytherin up and down. "No kidding."

"Why you little…" Malfoy raised a hand, but Dawn jumped back and pulled out her wand and he remembered himself. "You're playing a dangerous game, Summers."

"So they keep telling me," Dawn snorted, beyond caring. Malfoy knew as well as she did that Dumbledore had his eye on them both. Sometimes, if Dawn concentrated hard enough, she could almost feel it. As long as she was at Hogwarts, she couldn't be touched. It was the second safest place after a Slayer's arms. She turned and stomped away without another word.


"What is it with you snakes?" Dawn huffed.

After Lucius had tried (and failed) to put her in her place for daring to do what they'd all wanted in the first place and breaking up with Sirius, all the rest had had a go at some point. Narcissa had hissed a few choice words at her, but Dawn had brushed her off. Regulus and Rodolphus Lestrange had tried to corner her in a deserted hallway. Dawn had yelled back, and just as Regulus looked on the verge of forgetting himself and slapping her (or attempting to), Dawn had found an ally in the form of Peeves drifting by. Having never seen a more delightfully mischievous group pass through the secret passages of Hogwarts than the Marauders, Peeves was more than willing to lend Dawn a hand.

The poltergeist had slammed two helmets from the suits of armour lining the halls over Regulus and Rodolphus' heads, pulled the visors down, and clanged their heads together. The Slytherins fell over, Dawn burst out laughing for the first time in days, thanked Peeves, and then fled the scene.

The other Slytherin to try and rough her up so far had been Severus Snape. He'd knocked into her outside the Great Hall, but being whispered about constantly while going through one of the most painful experiences of her life (after losing her mother) had taken its toll on Dawn's patience levels. Snape was never really sure what had happened, but one moment he'd been barging into Dawn's shoulder, and the next he'd been on his butt on the floor with a lot of people laughing at him. Now the moment Dawn had been dreading most had arrived; it was Bellatrix's turn to have a go at her.

Bellatrix glared at her through heavy-lidded eyes as she answered Dawn's sarcastic question. "It's something vermin like you wouldn't understand. It's called pride."

"And here I was mistaking it for arrogance," Dawn retorted. She moved to continue on her path, but Bellatrix blocked her.

She grabbed Dawn's arms and threw her back a couple of steps. Shocked, Dawn fell silent. That was the first time Sirius' cousin had done more than insult or threaten to hex her, she was usually above the baseness of physical contact. Dawn hadn't known there was so much force behind the other girl, for the first time she recognised that she truly was a threat.

"Who do you think you're speaking to?" Bellatrix said waspishly. "You're the arrogant one, daring to ally yourself with someone from such a respectable family."

Bellatrix paused, savouring the taste of her torment. Dawn glared stonily and silently told herself that she knew better than to take anything a Slytherin hissed at her to heart. While the two girls were in their deadlock, another couple of figures came into the hallway.

Sirius and Remus, Honeydukes chocolate bars in hand, stopped short as their eyes fell on the scene. With a gleeful smile, Bellatrix decided it was time to take another verbal swing.

"I don't know why you even tried. You're just a simpering little Mudblood and you were never good enough for him."

The words cut Dawn deeper than she's suspected, but she tried not to let it show. She tossed her hair back over her shoulder, buying herself some time and hoping the gesture looked careless.

"Ok, so are you a hypocrite or just not real bright?" she wondered aloud. "Last I heard, according to you he was nothing but a worthless blood-traitor and the sooner he was disinherited and dismembered, the better."

A truly witch-like cackle burst from Bellatrix. "That's all still true, you stupid little whore. And yet he's still a thousand times too good for you. I can see it in your eyes, Summers, you know you'd never e good enough for him."

"You're wrong," Dawn said, but she was wavering.

Remus shot Sirius a look. They still hadn't been noticed. "We've got to put a stop to this," he muttered.

Sirius looked at Remus, then back at Dawn and Bellatrix. Dawn had been holding her own against the much more intimidating witch, but Sirius could see that she was losing ground. His gut instinct was still to swoop in and rescue her. To banish his foul cousin with a hex and hold Dawn close to tell her not to listen to a word the hag had said. But Dawn had been the one to put a right stop to all that emotional nonsense. It was her own doing, so she could deal with the fallout herself.

Sirius caught Remus' eye, but his own gaze gave nothing away. "Not my place anymore, Moony. Not my problem."

He walked away.

Remus let out a gruff, frustrated noise.

"You know I'm not wrong," Bellatrix snapped. "If you were good enough, you would've been able to handle him. That's right, little Mudblood- it's no secret. Everybody knows you climbed into his bed, and then realised you had no business being there so you slipped back out of there and ran."

"Shut up," Dawn said weakly. Remus watched, aching, as the dignified resolve with which Dawn had met the challenge each new Slytherin had thrown at her crumbled once and for all. She began to tremble as Bellatrix moved in for the kill.

"If you were good enough, he wouldn't be out right now looking for a new shag toy."

"Enough," a growling voice interceded. Remus had materialised at Dawn's shoulder, his wand levelled at Bellatrix's chest. "Leave, or I'll have points taken."

"You can't do that!" the Slytherin boomed. "Prefects don't have the power to take points!"

"All it takes is one word to McGonagall about you attacking students in the halls," Remus boomed back, the animal edge in his voice making it much more unsettling than Bellatrix's. "So I suggest you get out of here right now, you skanky hag!"

With a scowl, Bellatrix left at last and Remus turned his focus onto Dawn. Her shoulders were shaking and deep, hiccoughing sobs were now bubbling from her throat. He reached out to rub her arms.

"Come on, Kitten. You know better than to listen to any of the drivel coming from her mouth. I think the generations of intermarriage are finally catching up with people like her."

Dawn coughed.

"You've been doing so well, don't give them the satisfaction of making you cry now," Remus continued.

"I can't help it," Dawn wheezed, trying but not yet succeeding in pulling herself together. "I don't know why, but something about her just keeps getting to me no matter what I do. It's like, whatever my Achilles heel is, she knows exactly how to find it every time."

"I know, Dawn. It's what she does best," Remus said and hugged her briefly. "Just try to remember you've got friends who care about you, and we think she's full of crap and you should care more about our opinions than hers."

Dawn looked up, wiped her face, and smiled. "Is it my imagination, or did you just call Bellatrix Black a skanky hag?"

Remus opened him mouth, then paused. "I believe I did."

"Good insult," Dawn said with a little giggle.

"You liked it? It was my first," Remus responded with a shy, sheepish smile.

Dawn looked him over. "Hey, is that a Honeydukes candy bar I see?" she asked, pointing at his pocket.

Rolling his eyes, Remus pulled it out and handed it to her.

"Thanks," Dawn said, tearing into it without hesitation.

"What is it with women and chocolate?" he asked, checking his other pocket to be sure he had reserves for Isabel.

Dawn shrugged, taking another large bite and speaking around her mouthful. "There is no problem that can't be solved by chocolate."

"Oh."


Sirius leaned his head back against the wall and closed his eyes. He didn't know what he was doing, but he felt wrong, waiting outside the Hufflepuff portrait for a girl who wasn't Dawn. A sort of numbness, a trance had befallen him since that night in the Common Room, and he just couldn't find anything to make himself feel real again.

He'd snuck out to the Hog's Head, and had been thankful the morning after that James had come and dragged him back to the castle before things had got too out of hand. If he'd really said half the things he remembered saying to the pub's questionable patrons, then it was sheer blind luck that all he'd ended up with the next day was a splitting headache and a hangover. He did remember Mundungus Fletcher teaching him a thing or two about some shot called a Cowboy, though.

After that night, Sirius had tried a hundred more quieter, but equally ineffective remedies to fix the heart he refused to admit was broken. Now he was down to his last resort, a return to the theory he'd lived by before Dawn had come along and unravelled his world piece by piece: Girls were a sickle a dozen, why waste his energy with the same one all the time?

With that thought, Sirius straightened up as if he was ready for his date. Then he thought of Dawn, and how innocently lovely she had been on their first date, and he almost ran away. Almost wanted to escape to be spared the torture of an experience he already knew was never going to compare.

Before he could decide whether he was going to stay or go, the Hufflepuff portrait was opened and a pretty little blond was stepping out to meet him. She looked up and smiled, and the player in Sirius grinned right back.

"Hello Sirius," she blushed.

"Hello Lacey. Shall we?" he asked, holding out a hand.

She giggled and grabbed a hold of the outstretched hand and Sirius began to lead her through the castle without any fixed direction in mind.

"Where are we going?" Lacey asked after a few minutes had passed.

Sirius shrugged. "I just thought we might take a walk. You know, talk and get to know each other a bit better," he said.

"Ok," she replied enthusiastically.

She began to chatter away while Sirius vaguely listened and replied only sporadically. Lacey didn't seem to mind, most of her conversation rarely required a response anyway. Their wanderings took them down to the second floor after a while, to where the castle was all but deserted. Sirius stopped them and waited patiently for Lacey to finish her sentence.

"I just wanted to say that you look really great tonight," he said, his voice turning a shade husky.

Lacey was pleased into silence by the compliment. She smiled, reminding Sirius that there were other pretty girls in the world. He took a deep breath, willed himself not to listen to his protesting heart, and kissed her without letting himself thing about it.

It felt strange and foreign and not completely right. But it was the closest Sirius had come to comfort since he could remember so he just kept doing it. Lacey was an eager little thing, too. She was responsive and challenging, not as gentle as he had become accustomed to and Sirius didn't feel the need to be too gentle himself as her arms locked about his neck, drawing him closer. As the kiss progressed, Sirius began to lose track of the outside world. He didn't hear the footsteps rounding the corner, or the horrified gasp, or the echoing thud of a dropped schoolbag against the floor.

Dawn's hand hastily covered her mouth and she dry-reached in disgust. Still, Sirius was so busy backing the little Hufflepuff up against the wall he didn't even register that his ex-girlfriend's heart was shattering only a few paces away. Dawn was burning with humiliation. She didn't know what was worse; seeing the boy who'd looked almost sick when they broke up back to playing the field within a week, or the fact that he neither noticed nor cared that she was seeing it first-hand.

Numbly, Dawn bent down to pick up her bag. Then she was running for her life. By the time she burst into the second floor girls' bathroom, the tears were raining down her face once again. she slid down the cool tiles to the floor and cried until she thought she'd run out of tears.

"Why are you crying?"

Dawn looked up and jumped in fright. Then she relaxed. It was only Moaning Myrtle, the whining ghost she'd met by accident once when she'd wandered into this bathroom. Dawn had forgotten she was even here. Myrtle was looking at her messy face with deep curiosity. Dawn knew it was weird to confide in a ghost, but she had to talk to someone and Remus had taken Isabel to a private dinner in the Kitchens.

"I b-broke up with my boyf-friend last week and I j-just saw him k-k-kissing another girl," she wailed.

Myrtle pouted in sympathy, but her ghostly eyes gleamed with interest. "Was she a Hufflepuff?"

Dawn abandoned her search for a tissue and wiped at her nose with the back of her hand. She nodded. "How did you know?"

"It's always a Hufflepuff."

"Oh. Great," Dawn muttered sarcastically.

Myrtle hovered a little closer, as if she wanted to sit by Dawn but couldn't. "Was he your first boyfriend? How long had you been going out?"

"Yeah, he was," Dawn admitted, leaning her head back against the tiled wall and staring out the high window opposite them. "And we'd been together since November. November the eighteenth, to be exact."

Myrtle blinked. One thing she'd learned from both her life and her afterlife was that if a girl had an exact date for a relationship, she was heavily serious about it. "Oh."

"Yeah," Dawn said.

"I see girls come in her crying a bit you know," the ghost said suddenly. "But they never usually talk to me. They just wash their faces and run out again when I pop out of the U-bend," she pouted.

"Well, I'm talking to you," Dawn said. then realisation dawned over her features. "Oh. U-bend. Eew."

A strange squealing sound, like a mewing feral cat escaped Myrtle. "You don't like me now, do you?" she asked, shiny, pearly tears falling down her greyish cheeks.

"I never said that! Don't cry," Dawn said, holding her hands up in a peace gesture. "I don't not like you. You've been real great to talk to tonight."

Myrtle pulled her hands away from her face. "Really?"

"Yeah, sure," Dawn shrugged.

"Will you come and talk to me again?" she asked, watching Dawn shrewdly for her response.

"Uh, sure. Why not?"

Myrtle beamed and Dawn got to her feet. "Well I'd better be going now. See you later."

"Bye!" Myrtle waved enthusiastically, not realising that Dawn was getting away without even letting the ghost know her name.

The Gryffindor shouldered her bag and stepped out of the bathroom. And ran right into Filch, out prowling the halls for unsuspecting students to prey on.

"Ah!" the caretaker snapped, though he looked rather pleased with himself. "Out after curfew, eh? Detention!"

Dawn closed her eyes and exhaled loudly through her nose.


End Chapter… something interesting will happen now, I swear! XX00