Disclaimer: I keep telling you I don't own it! The Harry Potter stuff belongs to JK Rowling and the Buffy stuff belongs to Joss Whedon. This we all know. No Second Prize is by Jimmy Barnes (and if anyone knocks my culture, I will hunt you down)

A.N: I'm sorry about the lack of personal responses AGAIN, but life is just in the way and I really didn't want to leave you all hanging. Love you all, please accept this chapter as my apologies for the lack of attention lately.

oOo

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

No Second Prize

No-one can tell you exactly what you have got to be

you got to stand your ground and fight to save your life

it may be hard, but ooh it's the only way

always remembering you ain't no second prize

you ain't no second prize


"Professor? Can I talk to you for a minute?"

McGonagall glanced up from the essay she was grading and waved at a chair with the feathered end of her quill. "Have a seat, Miss Summers. I'll be with you shortly."

Dawn settled in the indicated chair and watched while the Transfiguration teacher gave the third year essay a mark and scribbled a few helpful comments in red ink. Finally, she put the essay aside and turned her attention to the girl fidgeting across the desk.

"Well? What is it?" she asked briskly.

"It's about Lily," Dawn admitted. "I'm worried about her."

McGonagall nodded thoughtfully. "Of course. You know she's been dealt a very heavy blow these last couple of weeks. I appreciate your concern, but I'm afraid there's little more you can do but offer her friendship and support while she's grieving."

"That's what I wanted to talk to you about. Specifically, the support thing," Dawn countered. "She doesn't really want me to be her friend right now, but I still want to help support her. You see, there's this Muggle Studies project… Lily and Isabel were working on it together and now Lily's got no one to help her."

"I see. But Miss Summers, you don't take Muggle Studies," McGonagall frowned. "How do you propose to help?"

Dawn sat forward a little. "I know almost as much about it as Lily does from all the times they worked on it in the dorm or the Common Room. I thought maybe if I had your permission, I could help Lily with it. I don't want credit, I just want to help," she added quickly.

"Well that's… a very kind offer, Dawn. But it's really not my decision to make."

Dawn's face fell. "But if I ask Lily first, she'll just say no," she said mournfully.

"That's not who I meant," the Professor announced and Dawn looked up hopefully to hear her continue. "I meant it would be unprofessional of me to make such a decision concerning a colleague's class."

She wrote a quick note, sealed it magically, and handed it to Dawn. "Take this to the Muggle Studies room. it's near the entrance to the Divination tower. You shall have to confer with Professor Atwell on this matter."

Dawn smiled as she took the note. "Thanks Professor."

McGonagall shooed her away, already back to marking her pile of essays. Dawn walked briskly towards the Divination tower, hindered only by the moving staircase, which insisted on taking her to the wrong wing and adding ten minutes to her journey. She decided to start from the Divination tower and work her way along until she came to the right classroom.

It didn't take her long to find it.

The room with the giant 'Doors' poster covering the door was the most likely candidate. Dawn stepped up and knocked.

"Come in," a voice chirped.

Dawn opened the door and gaped at all the junk. It was even worse than the Summers' basement, which Dawn had always thought the epitome of useless junk. The walls and ceiling were adorned with posters of musicians and actors. Everything from the Monkees to 2pac and a 'Breakfast At Tiffany's' poster featuring Audrey Hepburn juxtaposed to the Johnny Depp 'Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas' poster. There were so many shelves and benches that the actually class desks were bunched up in the middle of the room practically on top of each other. There were broken computer parts and even a dissected rubber ducky (an old assignment still labelled with the name 'Arthur Weasley') littering the benches, and shelves and shelves of trashy romance novels bordering the room. Dawn shuddered.

"Welcome to the Muggle world," a voice from the front of the room cried.

Dawn turned to the speaker and tripped over a chair in her shock. A diminutive woman with long blond hair bound in chopsticks was sitting cross-legged on the teacher's desk, scratching her chin with the end of a pink fluffy pencil. She was dressed in a camouflage singlet that clashed shockingly with the fluoro parachute pants, completing the ensemble with navy blue socks beneath brown sandals.

"Um. Hi," Dawn squeaked.

The woman smiled. "If you're interesting in picking up Muggle Studies, you've come to the right place. Of course, it's a little late for you this year… as the muggles would say, your ship has sailed… I'm Professor Atwell, by the way," she said, fitting far too much into a single breath.

Dawn shook the outstretched hand, a little taken aback. She'd never met a Professor who babbled before. "Hi. Dawn Summers, fifth year Gryffindor," she said quickly, noticing the puzzled frown Professor Atwell was regarding her with.

"Well, hon? How can I help you? Fascinating people, Muggles are…"

"Actually, I don't want to join the class. But I would like to help," Dawn replied. Then she explained what she wanted to do and handed over the note McGonagall had written for her.

Atwell listened, then read the note intently before turning her curious grey eyes up to Dawn. "You think you're able to help Lily with her project?"

"I know I am."

"And you're willing to put the time in without credit, even in your OWL year?"

"Yes," Dawn said firmly.

Atwell's eyes narrowed for a second, then she blinked and an instant later her whole face had brightened with an enormous smile. "All right then. It's a done deal! You can help Lily and she won't be penalised."

Dawn smiled in relief. "Thanks Professor," she said and excused herself.

"Are you sure you don't want to join the class?" rang out after her.

Dawn moved quickly back down into the main body of the school, heading straight for the Common Room. She'd been moving like a woman on a mission for the last couple of days, and in a way that's just what she was. The fifth years' world had been torn apart by lies and deception, and Dawn wasn't going to rest until they'd all re-laid the foundations of their lives with honesty. Of course, that included spilling her own most guarded secrets, but with the Fidelius Charm, Dawn felt secure in revealing what she chose.

The Marauders weren't in the Common Room when Dawn stepped back in, but Frank, on his way to see Alice, mentioned they'd been horsing around in their dorm when he'd passed. Lily was curled in a corner with her nose buried in a book, but Dawn could see she wasn't reading it at all.

She walked over to stand before her. "Lily? Can we talk a minute?"

Lily glanced up. "If this is about Isabel, I think you've already had your say," she said quietly.

"No. This is about me," Dawn insisted. "Will you come up to the boys' dorm with me?"

"I'm trying to read here," Lily sighed.

"No you're not. You're sitting there staring at an upside-down page," Dawn countered cheekily. "Just come on, already."

Lily had to mask a small smile at being so easily caught out. She tossed the book aside. "Fine," she said, adding a put-out sigh for effect.

"By the way," Dawn said casually as the two girls looked about to be sure nobody was watching them head up the wrong staircase. "I got permission to help you finish your Muggle Studies project. At no extra credit to me, I might add."

Lily gaped. "What? I don't want your help," she said hotly.

Dawn just shrugged. "I know. But you might need it one day." She knocked loudly on the boys' door. "Guys? You still in there? It's Dawn and Lily, can we come in?"

It was Peter who answered the door. Dawn thought she saw him blush and look down in shame as she passed, but he looked fine a moment later so she brushed it off as paranoia. The boys had obviously been indulging in a bout of self-pity. They were wallowing in messed-up beds, more clothing scattered on the floor than usual, and even had so many discarded Honeydukes wrappers they were starting to make a tapestry.

"We reckon it'll cover a whole wall by the end of the year," Remus announced.

"Then we'll start on a throw rug," James chipped in, picking a stray feather from his hair.

There were a couple of busted pillows to add to the mess. Dawn and Lily shared a look of amusement. Wasn't it stereotypically the girls who got into pillow fights? They shook their heads and moved further in.

"Well?" Sirius drawled, lounging against his intact pillows. "What brings you ladies up the forbidden staircase?"

Lily shrugged. "I don't know, Black. Dawn here was just being dramatic and insisted I come along for the ride I think," she said dryly.

"Hey!" Dawn snapped playfully, secretly elated that Lily was making a joke. "Ok, um, could we all sit down here together or something?" she asked, nodding at the rug in the middle of the floor. The one not made from chocolate wrappers.

The boys and Lily all complied. Dawn took a deep breath and looked around at them, planning what she was going to say.

"What's the matter, Kitten? Cat got your tongue?" James quipped after a moment.

Dawn rolled her eyes. "Ok, smartypants. I have to tell you some things about me, and they might make you freak. It's something I told you boys a long time ago, but because of a protective spell, you've all been made to forget. But this is the first time Lily's hearing this," she began.

"Back up," Peter called. "I'm confused already."

"And I'd like to know why you're choosing to include me now if you didn't before," Lily put in, her face neutral.

Dawn looked her dead in the eye. "I know it might be too much to ask, but one day I hope to regain your trust. And if I'm really lucky, maybe even your friendship."

Lily nodded silently and Dawn reverted her attention to the group at large.

"I'm going to explain this from the very beginning, and hopefully it'll still make sense by the end. So, I guess it's common knowledge that Voldemort's after the Key, right?"

They all nodded, wondering why she was even bringing that up.

"Well… What if I told you I'm a little more different than you thought…?"


Remus was staring at Dawn as she set up their cauldron in the Potions dungeon. Everything she'd told the Marauders and Lily the night before was still swimming through his mind. The fact that she was the Key, all that power just bottled up in her blood, waiting for someone to exploit it. She'd been the cause of her own exile from her old world, creating the portal that only she could close, only to come here and find herself in mortal danger yet again.

Remus almost smirked. He knew better than to underestimate the dark side, but Dawn's going under the Fidelius Charm to hide the identity of the Key was a stroke of brilliance. It sounded very much like 'Check mate, Voldemort.'

And he couldn't deny that it made him feel a little better, knowing there was someone else in the world with a destructive force within to keep at bay. At least Dawn had the slightest idea of what it was like for him. It was that moment that Dawn turned and caught him staring.

"God, Rem, would you quit it?" she asked, shifting a little. "You guys weren't nearly so weird about it the first time I told you."

"Sorry," Remus muttered, swinging his eyes to their list of ingredients. "It's just…"

Dawn surprised him be squeezing his hand. "I get it," she whispered. "I know how you feel."

"Exactly," he said, looking relieved at the show of solidarity.

Dawn only gave him one of her broadest grins and went off to gather the ingredients herself. She joined Lily, Sirius and to her great distaste, Bellatrix over at the fifth year storage cupboard. The other three were almost finished with their collections, so Dawn moved up and began to measure a portion of worm bile. It was a disgusting, sticky product, like lumpy home-made paste in a vomit-brown colour with the smell to match.

Bellatrix completed her stock with three toad stones and turned away. She paused to sneer back at Lily with malicious contempt.

"So what really happened to Whitman, Evans?" she called with cruel glee over her shoulder. "Was it depression, or did the Mudblood stink in your dorm drive her to it?"

Lily dropped her supplies with a clatter, her hands, her whole body, really, was shaking so badly. Sirius growled and shifted his pickled fig leaves to one hand to grab her shoulder in support while Bellatrix cackled all the way back to her cauldron.

All Dawn's blood suddenly rushed to her ears. The pounding noise made everything else seem strangely quiet and serene. Very calmly, she turned and stared at the back of Bellatrix's head. She felt the tension inside her snap like a rubber band stretched beyond its limits. She pulled her arm back and let fly.

The worm bile sailed gracefully through the air, a tiny brown canon ball that found its mark with perfection. The pounding in Dawn's ears stopped abruptly and she was able to hear normally again as the worm bile exploded against the back of Bellatrix's head, splattering and smearing over the silky black strands.

There was a collective gasp of horror around the dungeon, but also a few looks of deep awe and admiration. James' palms were just itching to begin applauding. Bellatrix whipped about, looking ropable. She glared at Dawn, who only glared back as the Slytherin slowly brought a hand to the back of her head. When she saw, and smelt, her fingers covered in worm bile, she let out an enraged shriek.

"You stupid bitch! I'll kill you for that!"

Sirius released Lily's shoulder and they both pulled their wands out hastily. Bellatrix turned, grabbed blindly at the closest ingredient on her desk, and pelted it at Dawn.

Borrowing a Slayer's grace, she dodged, and the jar smashed into the cupboard behind her, shattering glass and newt eyes everywhere. Bellatrix followed the jar with a quick Jellylegs curse, but Dawn was able to dodge that too and send back a quick Leglocker of her own.

By now the whole class was gathering around the two girls who had begun to circle each other. Bellatrix looked cold and dangerous with fury, but if Dawn was still intimidated by her in the slightest, she wasn't showing it. They fired off a few more hexes each, and it soon became apparent that the more Dawn used skills inherit from her sister to evade attacks, the more frustrated Bellatrix became.

At first it was just to two of them, but it soon disintegrated into a Slytherin versus Gryffindor riot. It was triggered by the 'Furunculus' Bellatrix fired at Dawn, but ricocheted right into Severus Snape's face when Dawn swung an empty cauldron up to deflect it.

Frustrated, Bellatrix hurled a handful of half-mulched mushrooms at Dawn that rained down on her, forcing the Gryffindor to bring her hands up as a shield. While she was distracted, Rodolphus Lestrange took a few steps closer, wand drawn and already aimed.

"Impedementa!" Sirius bellowed, stopping him from blindsiding Dawn.

With that, curses, hexes and potions ingredients began to fly in every which way. There wasn't a student in the dungeon, save for those who had already fallen in the battle, who wasn't duelling or fighting in some way. In the fray, Dawn and Bellatrix shoved through the mess towards each other like rival warriors destined to fight to the death.

"You bitch!" Bellatrix roared again.

She surprised Dawn by diving at her, her thicker set body tackling Dawn's slender frame to the ground. She didn't hesitate a moment before beginning to slap repeatedly at the girl pinned beneath her, wild and vicious as a feral animal. Dawn felt a sharp fingernail slice her stinging cheek open and grimaced.

"Get off me," she grunted, bringing a hand up to deflect the blows. Bellatrix knocked her arm aside almost instantly, but Dawn had managed to take the split second she needed to regroup. She brought her leg up sharply, kneeing the Slytherin hard in the stomach. Before Bellatrix could react, Dawn used the swing in the momentum to roll them over so that she was on top. Red fury flooded her vision, daring Dawn to take all her frustrations in her life out on her arch tormenter.

So she did. Her fist came back and flew forwards, colliding with Bellatrix's face. Bellatrix struggled and writhed and hit back at her, but Dawn continued to punch and punch, not caring what her fist connected with as long as it was hurting Bellatrix Black.

"You- evil- skanky- hag," she shrieked, accentuating each word with a smack in the face. "How dare you speak about her!"

Blind to all the other activity in the dungeon, the two girls wrestled and fought, wands forgotten as they each struggled for the upper hand. Bellatrix managed to grab a fistful of hair and yank Dawn off her, and Dawn lashed out with her feet in retaliation, kicking at anything in reach.

Peter got hit with a body-binding curse and fell on top of them, but they simply pushed his prone form aside to get at each other again. They Slytherins had been known to duel dirty, so Remus and Sirius had taken to watching each other's backs while they duelled, and James was keeping an eye on both Lily and Dawn, although both girls seemed to be well and truly holding their own.

"What in the name of Merlin is going on here?"

Half the students paused in their tracks when the Professor appeared in the doorway. Not satisfied with the result, she shot out a shower of purple sparks from the tip of her wand, effectively gaining the rest of the class' attention. There were only two students still fighting.

"You think you can take me, Mudblood? You're nothing- you're trash," Bellatrix raged, tearing at Dawn.

With a new burst of furious energy, Dawn grabbed the Slytherin and began to slam her repeatedly into the stone floor with all her strength. "You don't know the first thing about me! And you're damn straight I can take you. Just go to hell!"

By now the whole class had returned to being spectators, and the Professor began clapping loudly in an attempt to restore order. "Bellatrix Black! Dawn Summers! Stop that this instant. I will body-bind the both of you."

They didn't even hear her. James looked at Sirius and they both nodded in decision. Dawn hadn't yet relinquished the upper hand, and as proud as they were of that, the Professor was reaching for her wand. It took the two of them to get her off Bellatrix, and then Remus had to step in and help them hold her back until she calmed down.

Snape and Rodolphus moved in to help Bellatrix stand, and the whole time the two girls were glowering darkly at each other. Their hair and clothing were all a mess and their faces battered and bloody. There was a gash on Dawn's face where she'd been scratched, and her cheeks were bright red and even a little numb from being slapped so hard. She felt a vicious thrill of satisfaction when she noticed that Bellatrix's left eye was sporting the beginnings of a bluish bruise already, and her lower lip has been split.

"How dare you destroy my classroom?" the Professor fumed. "Both Gryffindor and Slytherin will lose fifty points for this, and I've got half a mind to take fifty each from you girls alone," she shot at the main culprits.

"You two will have a week of detention as it is. in fact, I want every single one of you back here at five-thirty sharp. Now get this mess cleaned up before I report the whole situation!"

Finally, Bellatrix and Dawn broke their deadlock and walked back to their respective desks. Dawn spent a moment trying to straighten her clothing and smooth down her hair before calmly beginning to clean up as if nothing had happened.

The Marauders all worked close together. James checked to see that the Professor was out of earshot before leaning in to mutter to the other boys.

"Figures she'd pick today of all days to actually turn up to class."


"I can't believe she scratched you."

After Potions, Dawn had had to last the entire Care of Magical Creatures lesson with her face feeling like it was on fire. She'd dug an elastic out of the bottom of her bag to tie back her snarled and wild hair, but as part of their punishment neither she or Bellatrix had been permitted to go to Madam Pomfrey or even to the bathroom to wash their faces.

As soon as Kettleburn had dismissed the Gryffindors for lunch, Lily had ordered Dawn straight up to Myrtle's bathroom and sat her on a tiled ledge.

"I wonder where Myrtle is," Dawn frowned instead of replying to Lily's comment. "Myrtle? Myrtle?" she called, but the ghost didn't appear.

Lily conjured a washcloth and doused it in cold water. When she had it wrung out, she turned and began to dab at the slice in Dawn's cheek. Dawn hissed. The cold water was stinging.

"Sorry," Lily murmured. "But it's got to be cleaned up properly."

Dawn bit her lip and waited patiently for Lily to finish her work. She found the cold water soothing after a while, taking some of the fire out of her cheeks and making her whole body cool off a little. The spring of hot rage hadn't quite stopped bubbling away beneath the surface of her skin, it threatened to erupt and overflow every time she thought about Bellatrix's remark about Isabel.

She squeezed her eyes closed and forced herself to calm down with a series of deep breaths. By the time she was back to normal, Lily had finished with her face. Dawn was surprised to catch a glimpse of dried blood on the washcloth before Lily could vanish the soggy material. She felt at the scratch on her face, but her fingers came away clean.

"It's not that deep, it should be gone in a few days," Lily promised. "I still can't believe she scratched you."

Dawn just shook her head. "I still can't believe the whole thing even happened. I just snapped, I guess. I mean, how dare she say those things to you?"

The Prefect was suddenly engrossed in gathering up her things. "We won't get anything to eat if we don't hurry. Are you coming to lunch?"

"No, I'm not hungry," Dawn sighed, leaning her head back against the tile. "You go. I'm going it wait and see if Myrtle comes back."

"Ok then. See you in class," Lily shrugged.

She went to the door, but hesitated before going through. Everything that Dawn had done that morning, and everything that had happened to her in consequence all stemmed from Dawn's outrage that Lily had been hurt. She looked back at the diminutive frame curled on the ledge.

"Thanks, Dawn," she said, knowing the other girl would understand.

"Don't mention it," Dawn smiled without opening her eyes.

Lily left, and Dawn only had to wait for a few minutes before she felt the icy prickling on the back of her neck. She opened her eyes, smiling in welcome as Myrtle drifted through one of the stalls.

"There you are. I've been waiting for you," she greeted.

Myrtle screwed her face up beneath her thick glasses. "What happened to your face? It looks awful."

"What?" Dawn yelped, scrambling for a mirror. "Lily said it wasn't so bad!"

It took her several long moments of staring into a mirror to convince herself she wasn't going to be permanently disfigured. When she turned away, the ghost was staring at her morosely.

"I thought you'd forgotten about me," she pouted. "None of you have been down to visit in so long, and the last time you were here, nobody even talked to me. You all just had a big fight."

Dawn's eyes frosted over. "I'm sorry Myrtle. We've had… We had some horrible things happening then," she whispered.

Myrtle looked puzzled and Dawn realised with dread that she was going to have to fill her in on the whole sordid tale. Both the living and the dead girl were crying by the time Dawn had finished describing the funeral and the wake. Myrtle shook her head sadly.

"I never went to my funeral," she said, remembering. "I was still too scared to leave the bathroom at that stage. Peeves told me if I went too far from the place where I died, I would be sucked into hell. It was two months before the Fat Friar came and told me it was just a joke."

Dawn just gave her a pitying glance. They talked until the bell sounded, announcing that Dawn had missed any chance at lunch if she'd wanted it. she grinned at Myrtle and scooped up her bag.

"Will you come back and see me?" Myrtle asked, her voice more nasal and whining than usual.

Dawn nodded. "Sure thing."

"Soon?" the ghost pressed.

"As soon as I can. But you know, Myrtle, if I can't get down here, you could always come visit me," she hinted. "Bye now."

Having not had any lunch, Dawn was famished by the time the afternoon's classes were over. She had been so obsessed with food she'd accidentally substituted the word 'Cheeseburger' for 'Chimaera' in her Defence Against the Dark Arts notes. The moment she was free, she practically sprinted to the Great Hall to await the first of the dinner dishes appearing.

She found she wasn't alone. All the fifth year Gryffindors and Slytherins had rushed to dinner, eager to fill their stomachs before their detention. With the mood the Professor had been in, who knew how long it would last before they were dismissed?

For the first few minutes, Dawn concentrated on satisfying her rumbling tummy. When she no longer felt ravenous enough to consider stuffing multiple chicken nuggets into her mouth by the fistful, she slowed up to talk to her classmates.

"Guys? I'm really sorry you're all getting stuck on detention just because I wanted to lay the smackdown on Bella the skank. It should just be me and her getting punished."

James snorted so hard a piece of spaghetti flew out of his nose. Nobody seemed to notice that it landed on Peter's plate, and nobody realised what happened a moment later when Peter lifted his fork to his lips.

"Are you kidding?" James laughed. "This is one detention we all had a hand in somehow, Kitten. We were all fighting you know. And even though I've never seen anything in a duel that could top you slamming Bella's head into the ground like that, I'm not letting you hog all the glory for this one!"

Dawn looked around, pleased to note that none of her friends were looking mad at her in the least. "Really?"

James smiled and looped an arm about her neck. "Really. I've never been prouder to be able to call you my sister. And I think I speak for everyone here when I say I've never had so much fun in a Potions lesson."

The boys all burst out laughing and heartily agreed. Even the girls were giggling along with the comment. Satisfied, Dawn relaxed and reached for a platter of wedges with sour cream. When they were finished, they all went straight down to the dungeons, hoping to get things over with as quickly as possible.

Almost as soon as they'd taken their usual seats, the Slytherins stalked into the room and claimed their own. Dawn didn't allow herself to even glance in Bellatrix's direction. It was not only a battle of wills, but also due to the fact that Dawn suspected if she so much as looked at Bellatrix, she'd be overcome with the desire to start punching her again. The Professor stalked in, took her seat behind her desk, and glared at them.

"You wasted my lesson time today, and you're going to pay for it with your free time tonight. I want you all to start on today's Potion, and no-one is leaving this room until every single one of you has completed it to an 'Outstanding' level. Understood?"

Peter let out a little whimper. The only time he'd ever got an Outstanding for this class was the time James helped him to the point where he'd practically made the whole potion for him. He was considering drowning himself in his cauldron to save the rest of the class when a note appeared on the bottom of his instruction sheet.

'Don't look so worried, Peter. Remus and I will help you through this.'

He looked over to see Dawn grin at him and relaxed. Dawn was lovely like that, willing to do anything to help… He and Dawn went to the storage cupboard to collect their ingredients, but only after Bellatrix had long since returned to her own cauldron. Peter couldn't help but let out a tiny snigger when Dawn reached for the worm bile.

She sighed. "I'm never going to live that down, am I?"

"Why would you want to?" Peter countered as they made their way back to begin working on their potions.

"No talking," the Professor snapped at them.

Dawn was careful not to let anyone but Remus and Peter see the way she rolled her eyes as the three of them wordlessly set up and began to work. Dawn and Remus would complete a step, then pause to whisper the instructions to get Peter caught up with them. The whole class was working as quickly as possible, eager to bring the detention to an end.

By seven o'clock, Peter was finally capping a vial of his potion with a triumphant smile on his face. He didn't care that he was last; although Dawn and Remus had talked him through step by step, he'd successfully completed the potion with his own two hands.

The Professor made them all wait while she leisurely tested each potion and recoded the marks in her ledger. Finally, almost an hour after everyone had finished and cleaned up, she put her quill aside and looked up.

"I believe these are all of an 'Outstanding' quality," she admitted grudgingly. "You're all dismissed. Oh and Miss Summers, Miss Black, I'll see you both here at the same time tomorrow."

Bellatrix scowled. Dawn schooled her features to indifference.


During Dawn's second day of detention, the Marauders went down to see Hagrid. He wasn't in his hut, but they found him only a little ways into the Forbidden Forest, tending to an 'injured' Blast-Ended Skrewt.

"'Ello, you lot," Hagrid called when they stepped out from between the trees.

"Hey Hagrid."

They all wandered closer to look at the injured creature. It looked perfectly fine to them, blasting around the enclosure the half-giant had rigged up for it.

"Er, Hagrid?" Sirius frowned. "There's nothing wrong with this Skrewt."

"Well sure there is," Hagrid replied, looking at Sirius as if he'd suggested something ridiculous. "See here- he's got a fracture in his armour. Got to keep 'im quiet for a few days."

Remus leaned over to see where Hagrid was pointing. Sure enough, there was a tiny crack in the Blast-Ended Skrewt's protective shell, but the Skrewt didn't seem to mind in the least. Remus shrugged discreetly and shot Sirius a 'just humour him' look.

Fang burst out of a clump of bushes then, hot on the trail of a rabbit. The rabbit bounded off into another patch of undergrowth and Fang gave up his pursuit in order to circle the Marauders a few times, barking away until they'd all taken the time to pat him. Hagrid called the boarhound back and they all turned to head towards Hagrid's hut for tea.

Hagrid was looking at Remus out of the corner of his eye. "How are yeh, Remus? All righ'?"

Remus nodded, appreciating his friend's concern but still not wanting to talk about it. His grief was a very private thing to him, and all his friends had come to accept and respect that. Since the night of Isabel's funeral, when they'd all fallen asleep together in the Common Room, he hadn't let anyone see him cry. The others trusted him to come to them when he was ready.

"Really?" Hagrid pressed.

"Really. It's just going to take some time," he responded.

"Well ok," Hagrid said and changed the subject. "Haven't seen Dawn in a while. How is she?"

"She's in detention," Peter announced as they all went inside and took their seats at Hagrid's table.

"Dawn? What'd she go an' do to get herself a detention?" Hagrid asked in shock. He couldn't imagine her ever getting a detention for anything beyond involvement in a Marauder prank. And if that was the case, the boys should be right there in detention with her.

Remus bit back a playful groan and Peter and Sirius snickered. James had puffed his chest out self-importantly. "Well Hagrid, my dear sister finds herself unable to join us today because she's serving a week's worth of detention for beating the snot out of Bellatrix Black. And I really couldn't be prouder," he added.

Hagrid knocked his kettle over, he started so violently at the revelation. "Yeh're joking!"

He looked to Sirius, figuring he wouldn't be as quick as his friends to sing the praises of his ex-girlfriend. But Sirius only nodded to confirm James statement, not quite able to keep the awe from his face and voice.

"He's not kidding, Hagrid. Me and Prongs had a helluva time trying to get her off my dear old cousin, even Moony had to help hold her back. She was like a wild thing."

They all had little smirks on their faces just thinking about it. Hagrid took a moment to fix his kettle up and pour the tea for them all.

"Why'd she do it? Now you can't tell me Dawn'd go an' do something like tha' without being provoked," he said firmly.

"Bellatrix was being mean to Lily about… Isabel," Peter said with a nervous look at Remus, and James quickly jumped in to stop Remus dwelling on the name.

"The best part was when the Kitten was slamming Bella into the floor," he crowed, drawing laughter from the rest of the hut's inhabitants.

"No-no- the worm bile," Peter gasped out, clutching at his stomach as he shook with laughter.

"It all started when Dawn snapped and hurled her worm bile at the back of cousin dearest's head," Sirius explained when it became apparent Peter was not up to the task himself. "Even Flobberworms don't splatter like that."

Remus had retreated a little at the mention of Isabel, but finally he looked up sporting a small smile of his own. "I don't know- did you see that left hook she threw? That was impressive, she must've picked that one up from her sister somewhere along the lines."

Hagrid was grinning wryly. "Sweet lil' Dawn, eh? I'd never 'ave guessed."

They spent the rest of their visit filling Hagrid in on what they'd all been up to, aside from rioting in the potions dungeon and landing themselves in detention. Every few sips of tea, though, Hagrid had to pause and confirm that Dawn and Bellatrix Black of all people had been fighting like muggles.

"Like they were brawling in a pub," James quipped, his eyes still shining with pride. "It's a shame nobody had a camera handy. Anyway, Hagrid, we should really get going."

Once their tea was finished, they all said their goodbyes and headed up to the castle. Sirius split off from his friends, letting them head to the Great Hall without him. All the talk of Dawn recently, coupled with the increased contact between them since Isabel's death was stirring feelings within him that were better left alone.

Feelings of longing and loneliness that he thought he'd buried long ago. Feelings that cheapened any solace he might have been able to find in the arms of another girl. Sirius didn't even realise he'd emitted a tiny growl of frustration as he stormed through the halls. Even the thought of solace was mocking him now. With every girl, it was so close, but always just out of reach.

"Sirius," a voice purred, and a little blond materialised before him in the otherwise empty hallway.

"Hello Lacey," he grinned, not finding it too difficult to appreciate the bright red lips smirking at him and the strategically tousled hair settled seductively on her shoulders. "Fancy seeing you here."

"Well," Lacey glanced at a portrait of a warm, bubbly-looking witch, "this is my Common Room corridor."

"So it is."

He made small talk and flirted for a few more minutes, and then without really remembering how, he suddenly found he'd talked her into pressing him against the wall with her warm body. She'd loosened his tie and her lips were working at his neck, and the whole while Sirius just stared out at nothing, waiting for his feelings to kick in and tell him what to do.

He closed his eyes, but that didn't help to he opened them again, only to find himself staring directly into a set of ocean-blue orbs. Dawn, fresh from her detention, had stumbled upon the private moment and her legs had been unwilling to cooperate and take her as far from it as she wanted.

What intrigued Sirius the most was the look on her face. She wasn't looking at him with the heartbreak her eyes had held for him when they'd first broken up, or even the anger she'd later turned towards him. It was betrayal she was looking at him with now, like she'd caught him cheating on her.

With that thought, he suddenly felt the aching need to explain, to take away that look in her eyes and make it all better. He straightened up, but Lacey had taken the movement for enthusiasm and tightened her hold on the front of his robes.

Sirius moved to push her away, but Dawn had finally rediscovered movement for herself. She shook her head at him and walked away, leaving him with an even greater need to search for comfort than he'd started with.


"Four down, one to go," Dawn chanted as she made her way down to the potions dungeon for her final detention. She had no idea how she'd lasted the entire week without backhanding the self-righteous smirk from Bellatrix's face, but she quickly reminded herself that the week wasn't quite over yet.

For the three detentions after the first, they'd been put to task with such tedious chores as cleaning cauldrons, writing lines with disappearing ink, and cataloguing the first years' storage cupboard.

To make matters worse, Dawn was still smarting from having walked in on Sirius and his little girlfriend on Tuesday. She was distracted and short-tempered, and she knew she'd fallen so far behind in her homework that she just wasn't going to get a weekend.

With that unhappy thought, she arrived at her destination. She threw her bag down savagely and had just flopping into a chair when her now-most-hated Professor glanced up at her.

"Don't get too comfortable, Summers."

The smart-ass reply fighting venomously to get out of her was quelled by Bellatrix stalking in and glaring expectantly at the Professor, who stood and smartly indicated Dawn to follow suit.

"Leave your bags and your wands and follow me," she ordered.

They followed her all the way through the castle until they reached the trophy room. There were two buckets of warm water, two towels, two bottles of polish, and two rags. And shelves upon shelves of trophies and plaques.

"You've got two hours. Every single one of these trophies had better be sparkling by the time I return, or else."

The Professor turned on her heel and disappeared before either girl could foolishly dare her to name her 'or else', as they were both secretly dying to do. But they'd both been left alone with each other and their work. Dawn glanced at her watch and mentally started the timer to see how long she and Bellatrix would last without insulting each other. She began to work in silence, and the Slytherin soon followed suit.

With nobody around they would choose to talk to, and nothing but a burning desire to be far, far away from each other, they worked so efficiently that they were done with twenty minutes to spare. For the first five minutes they sat on opposite sides of the room, glaring pointedly in opposite directions. Then Bellatrix's black stare shifted slowly to the Gryffindor across from her.

"I'm going to get you back for this, Mudblood. You know that," she swore, her voice taking on a deeper edge that was fuelled by her hatred.

To her shock, Dawn gave a short laugh in response. "I'll believe that when I see it. I'm still waiting for payback from the last fifty times you promised to get me."

Before they knew it, they were both on their feet and prowling closer to each other. They stopped mere inches apart, each girl sizing the other up. Dawn had an inch or so in height on Bellatrix, but Bellatrix was slightly firmer and more formidable in her body. Either way, it was never going to be easy for one of them to gain the upper hand physically without their wands. Dawn arched an eyebrow, a petulant dare for her adversary to make a move.

"You still haven't figured out the way it works here, have you?" Bellatrix said icily.

"Oh I have," Dawn returned smoothly. "I just don't care."

A genuine laugh burst out of the Slytherin before she could reign it in. Despite her anger, she was actually starting to enjoy the game with Summers. It may be well hidden, wrapped in sickeningly soft cotton, but the little Mudblood had a spine in there. It was like adding to the fun of hatred and torment. Something worthy of her contempt at last. Dawn only smirked back, her usually weak and expressive eyes giving nothing away.

"Fine. But don't say I didn't warn you not to mess with me. You have no idea who you're really dealing with," she hissed.

Bellatrix's eyes had darkened so much more than usual that Dawn had to swallow the urge to run for an exorcist kit and a priest. She studied the other girl shrewdly, and a moment later it came to her. 'Who you're really dealing with…' Maybe Bella wasn't just talking about herself. Maybe she was talking about someone infinitely more intimidating. She narrowed her eyes to mask a more concerned reaction.

"I know exactly who you're talking about, Bella," she said, quiet and firm. "And somehow I doubt Voldemort is particularly interested in the cat-fights of a self-important fifth year."

"Why you little-" Bellatrix growled.

"And just while we're on the subject of threatening each other," Dawn pressed on, her voice low, even and uncompromising. "You might want to stay the hell away from me. I do know what I'm dealing with in you, but the only thing you seem to have grasped about me is that I'm a Mudblood. Right? You really don't know the first thing about me, and you don't know all the ways I can take you down if you don't back off."

"And if I don't back off?" Bellatrix challenged.

Dawn smiled, pleased that her half-bluff had rattled the other girl enough to make her want to force the issue.

"Trust me when I say you're gonna find out."

Before Bellatrix could respond to the thinly veiled threat, the door slammed open and the Professor arrived to inspect their work. Bellatrix and Dawn paid her no mind, staring at each other with complete loathing until the Professor ordered them to attention.

"Well, it seems you've performed all your detention tasks more or less adequately. I've left your bags in the doorway, but before you go I'd like a word with you both," she said sternly. "I am appalled at you girls, fighting like wild animals in the middle of a class. What were you thinking? No, wait, I don't really care what you were thinking, I just want to know what you've got to say for yourselves."

"Sorry Professor," both girls muttered.

"And?" she prompted, handing back their wands.

Bellatrix glared at Dawn, who returned the gesture whole-heartedly. "And we'll never fight in Potions again," she said through clenched teeth.

"Yeah," Dawn agreed venomously. "We'll just fight outside Potions from now on."


A.N: Better chapter coming! XX00