DISCLAIMER: I own nothing. I'll probably never own anything. The Buffy stuff is all Joss Whedon's, the Harry Potter stuff is all J.K. Rolwing's and 'Deliver Me' is by Sarah Brightman.

A.N: MASSIVE apologies for the lateness of this. This last month has been murder, I'm hoping to make it up to you all in this next month because I have a break from uni. Have the next chapter like ¾ written already! And this is a little longer than usual- almost 10 000 words. Please forgive me, I value all your support and love my wonderful reviewers. Love Anoron! XX


CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

Deliver Me

"I'm still not completely sure about how this works."

"Well, at some point you could take your clothes off."

Slap

"Ouch, baby," Sirius said, but he was laughing as he rubbed at his arm. "I was only joking, no need to get your knickers in a knot."

"I know," Dawn said, pulling back a little to fix her eyes on him. "But thinking of being naked might lead to me actually being naked, and then soon you would be naked too, which makes acts of nakedness far too tempting to pass up. And I still think we should be playing this out slowly," she explained.

Sirius nodded, his face full of sincerity. "I know, Dawn. I do agree with you on this, you know that right? I'm only playing with you, I'm sorry if it comes off like I'm pressuring you."

Dawn snuggled back into Sirius' chest, pleased with the way they were agreeing on the new direction of their relationship. But that didn't mean she still didn't have some concerns. "It's just that I do remember what it was like between us and I've never really stopped craving that kind of electricity. It's just too easy to lose control too soon, and I'm afraid if I start something, I won't be able to stop."

"We can keep this together baby," Sirius insisted. "Look, I'll prove it to you."

He pushed her down against the blanket spread beneath them and began to kiss her. It went on for several more minutes, and just as they were broaching the point where just kissing was likely to become a whole lot more, Dawn and Sirius instinctively pulled apart at the same moment.

"See? Not even a problem."

They laid back, staring up at the stars. It was such a clear Spring night that after the curfew had hit, they'd borrowed James' Invisibility Cloak and brought a blanket out to the little gully by the lake. There was still a bite of cold in the air and they were rugged up in woolly jumpers- Easter additions from Mom Potter- but neither Dawn or Sirius minded in the least that they still had to snuggle up together for warmth.

They watched the skies for a long while, not really noticing the time that was passing them by. There were a few wisps of cloud rolling in over the stars and Dawn let out a little shiver.

"Getting cold?" Sirius asked, rubbing her arms a bit to warm them up.

"Yeah."

"You want to go back inside?"

"Not yet. It's so peaceful out here- even the Giant Squid is quiet tonight."

"Mmm."

Dawn arched her neck so she could kiss Sirius' chin. "You sound a little tired. You want to bail?"

His eyes were closed, but Sirius shook his head. "Nah. I'm relaxed. I could stay forever."

"I might be in on that."

Just then, the coulds neither had noticed sweeping in with increased vehemence broke into their plans with a loud clap of thunder.

They bolted into a sitting position.

"You gotta be kidding me!"

Before Sirius had even finished his groaning statement, pellets of rain were bombarding them. Dawn squealed, drenched within moments, and the pair began scrambling to get the blanket, the Cloak and themselves out of the downpour.

The grass was so slick that they couldn't run, they had to shuffle their feet carefully along and hope for the best. Dawn slipped. Sirius tried to grab her but with no firm footing of his own, he fell too and they both ended up in the mud.

Sirius quickly looked to Dawn. "Are you ok?" he bellowed over the roar of the raindrops.

But she was laughing. Little giggles at first, but even as Sirius watched it became out and out hysterical laughter. She couldn't help it. The rain, the mud, the fact that her butt was just a little sore and very dirty where she'd hit the ground, the dollop of mud on Sirius' cheek from where he'd tried to wipe his face... it was all just too funny.

Sirius just shook his head, chuckling, and when Dawn had settled down enough, he guided her to her feet again. They set off towards the castle once more, strolling along as if it was not a stormy Spring night, but a clear Summer's day.

When they reached the heavy front doors of the castle, they paused and turned to look back out at the night. The stars had been swallowed up in the cloud cover, but the water made the blades of grass below glisten just as brightly as starlight could make them. Dawn smiled at Sirius, shivering, and he gave her a quick kiss and shoved the door open. They stole inside, and a couple of quick Drying Charms later they were under the Invisibility Cloak and fleeing the scene before Filch could arrive. Sirius hastily dried their muddy footprints behind them until they were safely back in the Gryffindor Common Room.

Dawn giggled. Behaving like a perfect gentleman at the end of a date, Sirius took her arm and walked her over to the base of the girls' stairs.

"Well, I had a great time tonight," he announced, as if he wasn't swimming in mud and damp clothing.

"Me too. We should do that again sometime," Dawn agreed.

Then the couple looked at each other and burst out laughing at the ridiculousness of their own behaviour. They hadn't behaved like nervous kids reading from a script the first time they'd started this dating thing, so why did it seem like they were doing that now?

"We're so ridiculous," Dawn snorted. "Ok, I'm going to have a shower and get to bed. We have classes tomorrow. Goodnight."

"'Night, baby."

After a slow-burning goodnight kiss, Sirius cocked his head to the side and studied Dawn.

"It's a little bit scary, isn't it?" he mused.

"What?" Dawn said with a smile of confusion.

"I love you."

She just gave him one of her secret smiles, kissed his cheek (the one not smeared with mud), and disappeared upstairs, leaving Sirius only the Invisibility Cloak and a wet blanket for company.

When Dawn reached her dorm, the curtains were already drawn around Michelle and Candice's beds, but Lily was just coming out of the bathroom, towelling off her hair. It was clear from the pile of books on the bedside table that the Prefect had been studying late. Again.

When Lily looked up and saw Dawn just sneaking in, she stopped to stare. Dawn was muddy and wet all over, her hands were filthy and her hair had gone all ratty and stringy from rainwater. There was wet grass and mud all over her bum, too.

Dawn just smiled blandly. "It's a little bit wet out tonight."


First thing on Monday morning when they filed in for their first class after the Easter break, Professor McGonagall launched into a long lecture about the closer-than-ever OWLs.

"By now we've finished covering everything that is required knowledge to achieve the Ordinary Wizarding Level, but by no stretch of the imagination is that an invitation for you to slack off," she said sharply.

A couple of the Hufflepuffs in the front row had started to look a little guilty. The majority of students, however, looked either supremely uncomfortable or just a little self-satisfied. McGonagall's gaze swept around the room, guaging each of her students' reactions as she continued.

"The next six weeks, in all your classes I expect, will be devoted entirely to revision and the time you would normally be spending on homework you should now be using to study. Just how many of you have actually begun your exam preparation?"

Lily's hand leapt high into the air. Dawn and Remus glanced at each other, shrugged, and then lazily raised their hands just a little, too. Among the rest of the Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs, however, a little wave of sniggers was sweeping through the Transfiguration room. Remus and Dawn quickly dropped their hands back into their laps.

"You think it funny, do you?"

The whip-like snap of McGonagall's voice silenced the room at once.

"You may lower your hand now, Miss Evans," she said, her voice much clamer but as stern as ever. "I do not spend my time and effort trying to teach students only to have them make a mockery of their own education. Is that clear? Now today we are beginning our revision with a quiz."

The class didn't even dare groan as the formidable Professor began to place the test papers upside-down on each student's desk. When she was finished, she returned to her position at the head of the class.

"I expect every effort to be made in this test, however inconsequential it may seem. The papers will be handed back to you on Thursday so you may see where improvement is needed. You will then re-sit this test bext Monday, and you will continue to do so every Monday until you are capable of answering all questions correctly. Turn your parchment over and begin."

The students began the quiz with varying levels of enthusiasm. Lily was the first with a quill in her hand; she was ripping through the questions as if she'd been waiting her whole life for this one chance to prove her academic prowess. Peter, on the other hand, turned his quiz paper over with trembling fingers, as of the parchment had venemous fangs laying in wait for the moment he got too close. James and Sirius were taking their sweet time getting started, identical looks on their faces proclaiming that if they knew this was what they were in for, they would have made other plans for their Monday morning.

Remus was shewing his lip in concentration as he scribbled away, but there was no real concern evident on his face. He knew what he was doing. Sirius slid his gaze across to see how Dawn was faring and just rolled his eyes. She was actually smiling as she filled in her answers. Not her broad 'I'm-having-so-much-fun-right-now' grin, but the softer, smaller smile of empowerment she wore when she first realised she could handle the task set out before her.

A few minutes before the end of the lesson, McGonagall stopped them to collect all the papers. Most people were finished the quiz anyway and the Professor wryly wondered if Dawn, Sirius, Remus and James really believed she hadn't noticed them magically passing notes for the last fifteen minutes. Not that Lily Evans neurotically checking and re-checking her answers to the point where she was correcting the grammar was more desirable behaviour. It would really be more ideal if those five could find something in the middle ground for their post-test ettiquette. And by some miracle drag Pettigrew up to par while they were at it.

With that thought, the bell rang and McGonagall was shooing her students off into the halls. Peter couldn't get out of there quick enough; he took off for his Ancient Runes class so quickly that he even forgot to say goodbye to his friends.

"Peter's a bit more odd than usual these days," Remus mused with a shrug. "See you."

He and Lily took a different direction, heading off to Arithmancy while Dawn and the two remaining boys started the journey up to Divination.

"Can't we just skive it off?" James whined. "I'm hungry, and I hate being told I'm going to die."

"You had breakfast an hour ago and you've had the last two weeks off," Dawn replied firmly. "Get your skinny butt up to that Divination tower or I'm owling Dad on you!"

Sirius snickered. His two favourite people in the world were getting way too good at this sibling thing. The indignant look on James' face was priceless.

"Daddy's girl," he sniped back. "Like you're one to talk about skinny backsides."

"I'll take that as a compliment," Dawn smirked as the trio arrived at the Divination tower and took the table closest to the back of the room, and hopefully furthest away from the Professor.

Professor Damus didn't look her usual vague self as she cleared her throat to gain the class' attention. Her arms were crossed tightly over her chest, making it seem as if she'd tangled herself up in her own shawls and her long, straggly red hair had been swept haphazardly up in a silk scarf. There was a pouty, sulky look on her face.

"Well, as I've been informed," she began in clipped tones, "a part of your eductational requirement includes exam preparation. Of course I hace tried to explain that the wondrous study of Divination transcends all forms of assessment, but sometimes there is just no reasoning with the Mundane."

Her dark eyes shifted to Dawn and brightened a notch. "You are either Gifted..." her eyes moved to Sirius and she barely disguised a scowl, "... or not. But I am bound to spending time reinforcing the theories behind each tool of the Sight we have encountered this year. Therefore take out your quills and parchment."

James glared at Dawn. "When you least expect it, Kitten..." he said threateningly.

Dawn immediately shifted into 'who me?' mode. "Make it up to you? I'll do your Dream Journal for you all week," she offered, and James grinned.

All day, the fifth years encountered the same thing in every class they attended. Professors lecturing them about OWLs and deciding quizzes would be the best form of revision. By the end of the day, only Lily wasn't thoroughly sick of hearing about exams. Even Dawn and Remus had secretly begun to think that if they knew it was going to be shoved down their throats so forcefully, they wouldn't have bothered beginning revision early.

None of them could wait to get back to Gryffindor twoer and unload their bags as soon as the final bell had rung. Their robes, grey sweaters and ties came off too until they were clad in the bare minimum of the Hogwarts uniform; white shirts with grey pants for the boys, skirts for the girls.

As Dawn and Lily came back into the Common Room after shedding their excess gear, Sirius caught Dawn's hand and pulled her off to one side. He winked.

"So Miss Summers, any plans for Friday night?" he enquired with complete politeness.

Dawn fought to keep her giggles back. "No, Mr Black, no plans to speak of."

"Excellent. Will you join me for dinner? There's a great little place on the seventh floor I know of," he said smoothly.

"I'd love to," Dawn smiled as Sirius lifted her hand and kissed the back of it.

"Are you two done being tiresomely romantic yet?" James broke in, popping up between the two of them. "The rest of us would like to get to dinner some time this evening."

Lily tutted loudly. Trust Potter to so rudely interrupt a lovely, private moment with one of his boorish remarks. Of course Lily knew the 'privacy' part of the moment was debateable, what with the whole Common Room listening in, but at least nobody else had been rude enough to interrupt.

"Yeah, yeah. We're coming," Dawn said, rolling her eyes.

They strolled back through the castle in peace and sat down at their House table, taking in the spread before them. Dawn started pouring out the pupmkin juice for the group, and while she was busy, Remus fixed her plate for her.

"Gravy, Kitten?" he asked, holding the silver gravy boat at the ready.

"Yes please."

"Say when."

"Just pour until the peas are swimming in it," Dawn replied, passing out filled goblets.

"Got it."

"Thanks."

Soon enough, everyone was eating at their leisure, taking the time to talk and laugh in between bites. The whole Great Hall was abuzz with the usual clamour of activity, and Dawn was trying her best to look stern and unamused as James used two baby carrots to re-enact his latest duel with Severus Snape. He was even doing the voices.

"'I'll drown you in the grease from my nose, Potter'," he mimicked in a high-pitched voice. Then he deepened his voice much more than usual for his own reply.

"'Never! Any Snape who dares attack a Potter will get his panst hexed off'... Say, that ain't such a bad idea, Carrot-Prongs."

Dawn glanced at Lily, who caught her eye and then quickly looked away. Neither girl could quite hide her amusement. Remus was smiling, Sirius had been sniggering into his mashed potato the whole time, and Peter was giggling so uncontrollably that he was starting to squeak and hiccough in his attempts to breathe.

Dawn picked up her fork, hoping another mouthful of roast lamb would keep the traitorous smile away.

CRACK.

The sound of gunshots tore through her mind, but it was in her chest that Dawn felt the bullet. She gasped in pain, her fork clattering back to her plate. Something was wrong. Very, very wrong.

She was looking at Sirius and her stomach plummeted somewhere around her ankles in horror. She could see a fine spray of red blood across the chest of his white shirt. He didn't look in pain, though, just concerned. He was looking down at her clothing.

"Your shirt..."

The moment he spoke, the red was gone from his shirt. Frowning, Dawn looked down at herself. When she'd dropped her fork, gravy had splattered all over her. For some strange reason, though, Sirius' words were swirling around and around in her head, but it wasn't his voice she was hearing.

It was Tara's.

'Your shirt. Your shirt. Your shirt. Your shirt...'

"Oh." It felt as if an endless well of despair, loss and confusion was being drilled right through her; the pain in her chest had begun to burn and her head had acquired a dull, pounding ache.

The Marauders and Lily were all in an uproar. James had already sprung to his feet, ready to scoop Dawn up in his arms and take her right to the Hospital Wing. Sirius was pushing her hair back, derperately trying to see her face.

"Dawn? Baby, what is it? Where does it hurt?"

Dawn shook her head, breathing as if she'd been doing laps of the Quidditch pitch. "No- I'm not... I just-" she looked at him with confusion-hazed eyes. "My head hurts. I think I need to lay down for a while."

Lily offered to take her up to the dorm at once, but Sirius was already helping Dawn to her feet and shook his head.

"It's ok, Tigerlily. I got her," he assured the redhead.

With an arm about her, Sirius steered Dawn back through the castle and into Gryffindor tower. With dinner in full swing, there was nobody in the Common Room to see the illegal Animagus take on his alternate form and trot straight up the girls' stairs. In the safety of the girls' dorm, Sirius reverted to his two-legged state and helped Dawn over to sit on the edge of her bed. Faint lines of discomfort had appeared on her face and her hand was pressing against her chest, unwittinglt smearing the gravy stains further.

"Baby?" he prompted in a whisper, starting to pull her shoes and socks off.

"Something's wrong," Dawn said brokenly. "Not here, not us, I don't know how I know, I can just feel it. Whatever's happening, it's bad."

He was still kneeling in front of her. "Do you want me to stay with you?"

She shook her head, feeling the pain pound a little more sharply in protest. "No thanks. The last thing we need is for you to get sprung by Candice and Michelle. I just want to go to sleep until this feeling goes away."

He nodded, moving up to kiss her forehead. "All right. You ok to get changed?"

"Yeah," she whispered, knowing that if she hadn't been able to, she was with the one male in the world she knew she could both trust and feel comfortable with in such a situation.

"Ok. I'll ask Lily to come check up on you in a little while. You just sleep, love, and feel better."

"'Night, Siri..." Dawn mumbled tiredly, sounding more like a five year-old being kept up way past her bedtime than a fifteen year-old turning in at seven-thirty.

"'Night, Dawnie."

He hesitated for only a second at the door, then left Dawn alone to rest. he took a few minutes, moving as gingerly as possible as she shed her clothing down to her underwear. She couldn't even spare the energy to pick her things up from the floor.

Instead, she pulled something long and white out from under her pillow, all wispy cotton, satin and lace. While summoning the energy to slip it over her head, Dawn studied the nightgown, pondering the memories it brought up.

Touched as she was that Mom Potter had bought it for her over Christmas, Dawn had to admit it was the most horrible article of clothing she'd ever worn, and back in January she'd had no qualms in donating it to Isabel's short-lived interest in Muggle sweing and design.

As a result, it was no longer a 'Granny nightie', but something she quite enjoyed wearing. Isabel had made the frightful ruffles on the sleeves disappear, instead creating two thick, lacy straps over the shoulders. Then she'd tailored the seams to skim Dawn's waistline and shortened the skirt until it was much slinkier, sliding just past her knees.

Even through her pain Dawn managed a small smile at the material reminder of Isabel. She pulled the nightie on and climbed right into bed, immediately reaching to turn her lamp off.

Within moments, she'd descended into a dream-plagued sleep.


Dawn tossed and turned, and fought with her sheets, but could not get rid of the nightmares. What made them all the more frightening, though, was that deep in the recesses of her sunconscious, Dawn knew it was no nightmare: it was all real.

Snippets of scenes and snatches of voices wormed through her mind, weaving together the sickening story of her Sunnydale family.

The main bedroom of the Summers home. A tiny little red hole in Tara's chest, the honey-sweet witch stone cold on the ground. As Dawn watched, the body turned to stone and Willow whispered the secret venemously in her ear.

"Warren."

"I don't understand."

A hospital room. A monitor beeping. The ever-assuring pulse of Buffy faltering... fading.

"No," Dawn sobbed. "Not her. Not Buffy, too. You can't have her!" she screamed at the ceiling, wondering if there was a higher power even listening, even considering heeding her words.

A moment later, everything flickered and Willow was there. Dawn looked closer. Black hair, darkened eyes, dead voice... Willow might be buried somewhere deep in there, but that really wasn't Willow.

Dawn didn't have a chance to ponder it further though, as Willow used her magic to pull the bullet out of Buffy's body and heal her.

The sudden changes of scenery were starting to make Dawn nauseous. She was in the woods, and Willow had finally caught up with Warren. She had him tied up in the vines and was toying with him, torturing him. Dawn could hear the footsteps and voices coming: Buffy, Xander, Anya and Spike, but she knew they wouldn't make it in time.

That same dead voice was talking through Willow's mouth, deaf to Warren's whimpers.

"Wanna know what a bullet feels like, Warren? A real one?"

"...one tiny piece of metal... destroys everything..."

Warrne's babbling was drowned out in Dawn's ears, the breaking of twigs and branches, the rustling of leaves as the four pursuers neared the clearing filling her awareness. The next thing she knew, Willow had murmured something, then flicked her wrist casually.

Warrne's skin was torn from his body. Dawn dropped to the ground, retching.

While she was still on her hands and knees in the dirt, she began to feel a rush of visions banking up in her head. Willow attacking the jail in an attempt to get to Warren's flunkies, Andrew and Jonathan. Between Buffy, Spike, Xander and Anya, though, they managed to safely get the two boys back to the Magic Box. Willow, in the meantime, had gone and taken a power boost from the dark magic dealer Rack. She was so full of negative energy that she was covered in blackened veins and the darkness within her would most likely rival Voldemort on an angry day. It made Dawn want to be sick again.

She was focused on her breathing, trying to keep herself from losing it completely and barely registered that at some point the dirt beneath her had become slate, the woods had become the walls of the Magic Box. There were so many voices and so many different people that Dawn caught only bits and pieces.

"The only thing I had going for me were the moments... just moments where Tara would look at me and I was wonderful. And that will never happen again."

"So, here we are."

"Are we really gonna do this?"

Dawn's vision was clearing, she lifted her head and watched Buffy and Willow trading blows. Out of the corner of her eye, though, she caught Spike and Xander herding Andrew and Jonathan out the back door. It didn't take long for Willow to knock Buffy down. She was standing over the Slayer gloating over her unrivalled power when she was blindsided by a spell.

"I'd like to test that theory."

Dawn frowned. Giles?

She scrambled to her feet, but found herself standing at the edge of the cemetary. Four male figures were heading towards her, all squabbling. It might've been amusing if Dawn had the energy to think about it. Things couldn't possibly get any worse, and still Xander and Spike would only work together if they could argue the whole time.

She caught sight of something in the sky and gulped. Did she just think things couldn't get any worse? Well, the giant fireball hurtling towards the group would probably blow that theory. But there was also a Slayer hurtling towards them at full speed. Buffy scattered the group with the fireball right on top of them.

KABOOM!


Dawn bolted upright.

There was sweat all over her, making her whole body feel slick and chilled, her hair was damp with it and her sheets were wound around her limbs like the vines Willow had used to detain Warren. There was darkness all around her, it had to be the middle of the night. But beyond that there was a sliver of sunlight, and it took Dawn a few minutes of confusion to figure out that she was still 'Seeing' Sunnydale.

The fireball had created a huge crator in the ground, Buffy and Spike had fallen into the cavern and were trying unsuccessfully to claw their way out. There was no sign of Xander, or Jonathan and... Dawn frowned... that other guy.

Dawn, not really knowing what she was doing, crawled out of bed and began to walk blindly through the dorm, the the Common Room, and into the halls. She could see everything around her, but was more interested in the hazy screen that had dropped over everything, showing her things nit right before her eyes.

The Magic Box had been all but demolished, Giles lay in the wreckage struggling to breathe. There was an ugly gash on his forehead and Anya was by his side, nervously insisting that he not die. On a clifftop overlooking Sunnydale, Willow was raising a demonic temple. One look told Dawn that could only lead to Apocalyptic badness. She could sense Xander's energy drawing nearer, but he was still a ways off.

The heavy double doors before Dawn moved with the gentlest of pushes, and a few seconds later Dawn was at the bottom of the stone steps with no recollection of having walked there. She could hear Willow's voice talking to Buffy, and gave a little shiver with the realisation that she wasn't just hearing Willow in her head anymore. Her voice was on the wind.

"Always the Slayer. Right to the last. And it is the last, you know. For all your fighting, thinking you're saving the world. And in the end, I'm the only one that can save it.

It's the only way to stop the pain. I can't take it anymore. But I know you Buffy, you're a warrior. You won't go out without a fight. I don't really have time for one... and I remember a time not so long ago when you thought you were done with the fighting yourself.

C'mon, you forgot about that already? 'If Dawn dies, I'm done with it. I'm quitting.' Didn't last long, did you? But be honest, Buffy. You hate it here as much as I do, you're just going through the motions. All you really want to do is disappear to wherever that energy ball you keep deluding was your sister went. Well, it's your lucky day, Buffy. You and your little lap-vamp are going on a holiday. A really long one. Bon voyage."

Buffy and Dawn's simultaneous screams were swallowed up in crackles of electric blue energy. By the time it was all over, Dawn had been thrown heavily back against the stone steps. She looked up, enormous blue orbs fixed on the two bodies heaped at the base of the stairs.

"Buffy..."


Buffy groaned and shoved Spike off her. He growled in response and the Slayer and the vampire pulled themselves to their feet.

"This ain't Kansas," Spike commented, taking in the lush grounds in the early pre-dawn greyness.

A dry sob from behind had both the blonds whipping about, instinctively on guard in the strange new place. The enormous castle they were suddenly faced with was awe-inspiring, but that wasn't what grabbed the immediate attention of both Buffy and Spike. It was the slim teenager standing on the steps in the slinky white nightie that captivated them.

"Dawnie? Is it really you?" Buffy whispered, her eyes already watering.

Dawn seemed to be in shock. "I'm really me if you're really you..."

They flew at each other then, fighting in a mess of limbs to wind their arms around each other and squeeze for all they were worth. The tears had brimmed over and were spilling down Buffy's cheeks, Dawn could feel them splashing onto her shoulder but still her own eyes were too dazed to leave room for tears.

"How did this happen? I never thought I'd see you again," Buffy said, pulling back to look Dawn over and then pulling her close once more.

Dawn gently disengaged herself from her sister so she could reply. She opened her mouth, but before she could begin forming words she was set upon by another blond. Leather, cigarette smoke, and that similar yet always unique scent of male came rushing back to her.

"Hey, Spike."

He let her go, mock-glaring. "That's it, Nibblet? 'Hey Spike'? That's all I get?"

She smirked.

"Where are we?" Buffy broke in, rubbing a hand down her sister's arm.

"Hogwarts," Dawn shrugged.

"Heavenly dimension, or bad place where I need to start kicking asses for anything that's happened to you here?"

Dawn smiled. "We're not dead, Buffy. This is a living dimension, they even have Alternate World Buffy and Alternate World Spike here. I even met Alternate you. It's a good place here."

"We must all try our best to make it so, mustn't we?"

Albus Dumbledore was standing in the doorway to the castle, looking down on the reunion with deep interest. Dawn thought she saw him sliding his wand back into his robes before taking a couple of steps forward. Spike and Buffy both shifted, feeling the power rolling off him in waves.

"It's a little early in the day to be entertaining guests, Miss Summers," Dumbledore commented. "Would you care to introduce us?"

"Of course, Professor Dumbledore. This is Buffy Summers, my sister, and this is... oh, erm..." Dawn trailed off, realising the implications of casually introducing William the Bloody to a WIzard of this world.

Spike arched his scarred eyebrow, not understandinf and clearly not liking the apparent slight. "Name's Spike, mate," he said boldly.

"William the Bloody?" Dumbledore asked, voice sharp and wand drawn.

"Yeah. What of it?"

Before Spike could say anything more, or Dumbledore could decapitate him with a neat little spell, Dawn pounced in between them.

"No! Professor, please. He's not like the Spike in the history books we have here. He's different. He wouldn't hurt anyone, I swear on Marauder's honour," she pleaded.

"He's reformed," Buffy said quietly, casting a guarded gaze in the direction of the vampire in question.

Dumbledore stared directly into Spike's eyes for several long seconds, but Spike didn't waver. Finally, the Headmaster nodded his assent, having seen enough to know both Miss Summers' faith in the vampire was not misplaced.

"Well now, I have not introduced myself. I am Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of this fine establishment here, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Why don't we all go inside? Sunrise is not too far away, and I believe there is ample space on the third floor to settle the two of you for the time being," Dumbledore said and extended an arm, inviting the three to cross the threshold ahead of him.

Buffy raised and eyebrow. "Settle? We're settling here?"

Dawn shot her a quick, guaging look. She knew Dumbledore tended to rush things like this, but it usually boiled down to him not wasting time coming to the most logical solution for a problem.

"I am sorry, my dear," Dumbledore said amiably, not phased by Buffy's resistance in the least. "I assumed you would stay at the castle on the grounds that your sister is a student here. We can easily make alternative arrangements, if you like."

"No, no," Buffy said, rubbing her forehead. That did make sense. "It's just been a long day... days... Thinking is just a little bit much to handle right now and there's so much to worry about before I can think of settling-"

"Of course," the Headmaster said sagely. "But you may just find a clear head more effective in tackling your concerns. Please, take the day to rest. You can sleep, explore the castle, visit with Dawn while she is not in class. And after dinner, Dawn may bring you to my office where we can address your concerns together."

Buffy nodded in agreement and they went inside at last. Dumbledore led them to the third floor and stopped in front of the portrait of a little girl who curtsied prettily at them.

"Dude," Buffy said in awe.

"Hello, Marcella. This is Buffy and Spike, who will be staying here for a while. They'll give you a password," Dumbledore said, looking to the blonds in a silent invitation to choose a password.

"Dude," was all Buffy could say still.

Dawn and Spike snorted as Marcella locked in the password and the portrait swung open. Dumbledore left them, then, and the trio explored the makeshift quarters after first drawing the curtains to save Spike the trouble worrying over the rising sun. There was a small Common Room with a fire, a desk, and a few couches. The two bedrooms coming off each side of the Common Room had ensuites and stocked wardrobes. Buffy wrinkled her nose. Wasn't there anything to wear beyond white blouses and grey skirts? She was just a little old for the schoolgirl look. Spike was more vocal in his distaste for white shirts and grey trousers.

"What the bloody hell is all this poncy gear for?" he roared. "I'm not walking around in that!"

"Well you can't walk around naked," Dawn deadpanned. "You're too pale."

Both Buffy and Spike stopped and stared. Since when did little Dawnie make jokes that were... well, funny? Dawn was just smirking at them both.

"The House-Elves will have your other stuff washed in no time anyway. You won't have to suffer for too long."

Slightly appeased, Buffy and Spike showered quickly and reluctantly dressed in the provided clothing. Spike refused to part with his leather duster, though. They settled on one of the couches, Dawn in the middle, and talked and talked until they had caught up.

Dawn admitted that with her Seer tendencies she knew a lot of what had happened to the rest of the Scoobies. But the others were interested in hearing about Dawn's arrival at Hogwarts, her magical abilities, and her friends. Somewhere along the way, though, she decided it would be easiest not to mention a few things right away. Being kidnapped, Lucius Malfoy, the intimate details of her relationship with Sirius, fir example.

"This serious bloke?" Spike said, not willing to let it slide at all. "He alright to you, or am I soon to be ripping his throat out?"

Dawn giggled. "Sirius, Spike. As in the Dogstar. And he's a great guy, really he is. You'll love him, I swear."

Spike's eyes narrowed in a way that said he wasn't about to go liking any boyfriend of Dawn's purely on principle. Dawn sighed, thought about looking to Buffy for help, realised that an overprotective Slayer was no better than an overprotective vampire, and glanced at her watch instead.

"Oh crap! I'm so running late! Ok, do you guys want to hang here and sleep while I shower and get ready and I'll swing by to take you to breakfast?" she asked, jumping up.

"We'll go with you," Buffy said, also standing. "I want to see where you stay."

Dawn nodded and led the way to Gryffindor tower. Spike looked at her out of the corner of his eye. "Nibblet, what did you mean by me not being like the history books here tell it?"

Dawn groaned. "Long story, Spike. I'll fill you in later, but suffice it to say almost every Wizarding Government in the world has a price on your head. A high one."

"Well that's just... neat."

They rounded a corner, heading into the hall with the Fat Lady, and came face to face with a group of students on their way to breakfast. There were a few moments of silent staring before one of the students standing in front of Dawn smirked.

"I just have three things to say. One: what are you doing walking around the school in your sexy nightie? Two: when did your sexy nightie actually get sexy, and why wasn't I informed? And three: good morning baby."

"Morning," Dawn smiled and let Sirius kiss her.

The sound of two throats being pointedly cleared broke up the greeting. Dawn grinned brightly at her friends and shrugged her shoulders a tiny bit.

"You'll never guess what happened."

James opened his mouth to try, but Dawn shot him her best 'don't you dare' look. He grinned and ran a hand through his hair instead.

"Guys, this is Buffy and Spike. And this is Sirius, James, and Remus, and that's Peter over there."

Almost out of shock, the Marauders all muttered quiet hellos. Buffy and Spike both replied in turn, but Buffy was staring at Remus curiously and Spike's attention was disconcertingly fixed on Sirius. Dawn grimaced as Spike's nostrils flared suddenly and knew that he'd just recognised Sirius' scent, and how deeply interwoven it must be with hers. Sirius didn't allow himself to waver under the attention, without breaking eye contact with Spike he casually took a hold of Dawn's hand to drive his unspoken point home. Spike was either about to growl or smirk, but to Dawn's relief a bossy voice interrupted the moment.

"What's the hold-up here?"

Lily was pushing her way through the Marauders, careful to keep as much distance between herself and James as possible. The Prefect stopped when she reached Dawn and realised she had guests.

"Oh. I'm sorry," she said sheepishly.

"It's ok," Dawn grinned. "Really. This is my sister Buffy, and this is Spike. This is Lily Evans, one of my other closest friends. We're in the same dorm."

Lily, being naturally polite in a much girlier way than the boys, managed a far more cordial first imperssion. She beamed a huge smile at Buffy the moment she'd been introduced.

"So you two get to be reunited after all? I didn't think that would ever happen, what with Dawn saying even Dumbledore couldn't track you down. We're all so used to thinking that if Dumbledore couldn't do something, it couldn't be done. But this is wonderful, I'm so pleased to meet you!"

Then the redhead turned to Spike and hesitated. "I'm sorry, Spike, is it? Have we met? You seem just a tad familiar..."

The way those pretty emerald eyes were so shrewedly studying him made Spike shift a little. He couldn't help but remember Dawn's vague warnings, and the way Dumbledore initially reacted to him.

"Er, no ma'am," he said, for some unknown reason adopting a thick, unconvincing American accent. "I'm just an old friend of Buffy's, here."

A few moments of uncomfortable silence ensued. Then Peter piped up, dashing Buffy's secret conclusion that the little fat one didn't have a voice at all.

"We're missing breakfast."


"Dawn, can you add the eye of Newt please? Dawn? Dawn...? Candice is giving Sirius a lap dance."

"What?"

Dawn finally looked up. Her head whipped around, but Candice was on the other side of the room collecting a dove's beak and Sirius was safely working on his potion with James. He noticed her attention and waved, Dawn smiled back and then looked over at Remus with an unamused experssion.

Remus, having added the eye of Newt himself and begun a five-minute block of stirring anti-clockwise, just held her gaze placidly. "Well I had to find something that would get your attention, seeing how the potion you're supposed to be helping me with just isn't doing it for you today."

"I'm sorry, Rem," Dawn groaned. "I'm just so tired, and..."

"Overwhelmed?" the werewolf suggested.

"What's the next step up from overwhelmed?"

"Er, really overwhelmed?"

"That's about a third of it then. I just can't believe there really here."

Remus shifted his eyes back to the timer, even though he knew his five minutes were nowhere near up. The way Dawn's sister had looked at him, it was like she could sense the darkness lurking within his surfaces. It frightened him.

"They seemed nice," he offered.

Dawn was picking absently at the skin near her thumbnail. "I hope you guys will get along," she mumbled as her thumb started to bleed.

"We will. We just all need a little time to digest everything that's gone on. Pour that fish oil in, will you?"

Dawn added the ingredient and with his partner's help at his disposal at last, Remus finished up the potion and capped a vial full of it. Dawn's slight distraction did not disappear though, it lingered with her all the way through Care of Magical creatures.

She neglected her notes, drew little stakes all over her parchment and spent more time staring out at the trees than faking an interest in the migration and mating habits of strange animals she'd never need to know about anyway. On the way back up to the castle for lunch, she almost trod squarely in a stray pile of manticore dung Hagrid was using for fretiliser; only Remus' lightning Vanishing Spell saved her shoes from certain death. Only in the Great Hall, seated next to Buffy and staring straight across Gryffindor table at Spike did she perk up again. Spike was basking in the simulated sunlight of the enchanted ceiling, the boys all felt a little stab of annoyance when Dawn started to laugh. She could barely spare two words for them all morning after putting them through all that worrying the night before, but give her thirty seconds with a vampire and an incredibly tiny woman and she's back to giggling?

"So have you freckled yet?"

"Not yet," Spike murmured, turning his face to Dawn to offer a wicked little grin. "I'm sure it won't take long though, Bit."

"You haven't been sitting here all morning have you just to find out?" Dawn asked, looking to Buffy for the answer.

"Nah," Buffy said, smiling at her sister but sparing a glare for Spike. "We got to hang out in the dungeons for a while too, joy of joys. I got to say, Dawnie, not that living in a castle isn't uber-cool and all, but the creature comforts in some areas sure are lacking."

"You just haven't seen the best parts of it yet," Sirius broke in, slapping lasagne onto his plate a little more forcefully than usual.

Dawn pounced on a platter of warm dinner rolls and offered them around. "Roll, anyone?"

Spike, who seemed to be itching for an opportunity to pick on Sirius, glared at the younger boy. "I don't know about that, mate. Dungeons seemed alright to me. Found chains and all manner of nasty things to play with. I bet nobody could hear you scream down there... Dark and dank,too, though not too dank like the Whelp's old basement back in Sunnyhell."

Both Dawn and Buffy snorted at the mention of Xander and Dawn deliberately blocked from her mind the memories Spike had unknowingly dredged up when he mentioned nobody being able to hear a person scream in the dungeons. One horrible day before Christmas, those screams had been hers.

She didn't realise she still had the platter of rolls resting in front of her and certainly hadn't noticed James' attempts at getting one without having to dig out his wand. Finally fed up with listening to his stomach growl, he reached around behind Sirius and tugged Dawn's braid.

"Ouch! What the-?" her head snapped around. "James!"

"Now that I finally have your attention, can I have a roll please?" James asked, smiling and holding his hand out expectantly.

Dawn pelted one at him. "Choke on it, butthole."

He caught it without even trying. Dawn vaguely wondered if he'd been a Seeker in a past life, then remembered Mom Potter once telling her that her Dad had been a Seeker when he was at Hogwarts. It wasn't long before she caught sight of the cheeky little grin on James' face though.

"Such language, Kitten. I think I should owl Dad and have him come Scourgify your mouth out for that one."

"Daddy would never believe you," Dawn shot back in her most petulant voice.

Buffy's eyes widened a fraction. She'd never heard Dawn take that tone of voice with anyone apart from her before, and she certainly hadn't said 'Daddy' since she was about seven.

"And while we're on the subject of owling Dad, what would happen if someone let slip who was really behind all those Worm Bile Surprises being sent anonymously to certain Pureblood fanatical families, hmm? Including the Blacks, I believe."

Sirius snorted. Buffy's eyebrow arched. Dawn had always followed up her self-defence with the threat of a counter-attack in all their sibling squabbles. Watching Dawn with James was like watching Dawn with herself... only Buffy wasn't included anymore.

James leaned back, coolly appraising his sister. "You wouldn't dare."

"Well, no," Dawn snorted. "We were all in on that criminal act together, Daddy and Mom Potter would kill us both if we were caught."

"What's with the 'Daddy'?" Buffy finally asked, her gut instinct disliking the easy banter between the pair. "It sounds like the two of you are sharing a set of parents or something."

"Well we are," James shrugged, his eyes locked openly on Buffy's so that he missed the slight tensing of Dawn's frame. "My parents are Dawn's guardians too now, she's my legal sister."

Furious for not having been more appropriately informed, Buffy turned straight to Dawn, who was trying her best to smile and act as though there was no awkwardness in the group. Sirius had begun to rub her leg under the table and she drew deeply from the comfort he offered.

"I was going to tell you. It's just been so weird having you here all of a sudden that I haven't had a chance to tell you everything yet. Really, it just hadn't come up yet,"

"Can't wait to find out what else just hasn't come up yet."

"I've got one right now," Spike said, mercifully ending the prolonged beat of silence. "How come nobody saw fit to tell me that there's a Spike-alike running round here with long hair and quite possibly a railroad spike shoved fair up his ass?"

When they'd stopped sniggering, the Marauders all twisted in their seats to follow Spike's line of vision. Sirius' grip on Dawn's leg was suddenly so tight he was going to leave marks.

"Lucius Malfoy," he spat.

"And we hate him because...?" Spike tried to prod.

Remus, who had remained silent and observant throughout lunch, saw the look of horror flash through Dawn's eyes as she contemplated telling the two people who meant to much to her that they were currently looking at her almost-rapist. Although he was still uncertain of Spike, and particularly of Buffy, he leapt right into the conversation for Dawn's benefit.

"Never mind that. Come on, you lot. Lunch is nearly over and if you don't eat a decent meal you'll never be able to get to sleep in History of Magic."

"I don't think that will be too much of a problem," Buffy commented, watching Peter polish off his second serving of lasagne and reach for thirds.

Everyone let out a short laugh at that, while Peter paused, then simply shrugged and smiled before he continued eating. After an afternoon of classes spent dozing or daydreaming through History of Magic, Dawn invited Spike and Buffy to hang out in Gryffindor's Common Room until dinner. It didn't take her long to start regretting the decision for the effect it was having on her nerves.

Lily of course was the very picture of politeness and hospitality to Buffy, even sacrificing an afternoon of good study time in order to get to know Dawn's older sister. But her attitude to Spike was a little more unsettling. The emerald eyes glittered with interest as she quizzed the vampire on anything that could cross her mind, her curiosity having been roused by overhearing his lunchtime reference to railroad spikes. Spike was having a hard time keeping the cracks from showing too obviously in his dodgy American accent, and finally Dawn took pity and distracted Lily with a book.

The rest of them, however, were straining to keep a level of civility in the conversation. After the revelation that they both laid claim to a sibling bond with Dawn, James and Buffy had begun some subtle sort of competition to see who knew Dawn best. Peter was right behind James, always on his side but too timid to even glare at Buffy; he'd heard too many of Dawn's stories of Slayer strenght to risk drawing the blond's attention.

Remus was sitting back a little from the group, eyeing the newcomers off almost warily. Dawn knew Buffy had sensed something supernatural about the young lycanthrope from the way her eyes had fixed on his when they'd been introduced and resloved to discreetly let Remus know it was ok, Dawn's tolerance of werewolves had come directly from Buffy's positive influence. But before she could worry about that, Dawn found herself faced with the more pressing possibility that Spike and Sirius would turn the Common Room into a macho war zone.

Like clockwork, every other minute Spike would drop a byline into the conversation about what he would do to any guy who put his filthy paws on his Lil' Bit, but Sirius refused to be intimidated. Even as the descriptions of torturous acts became increasingly detailed and bloody, the bland smile never left the young Animagus' face. At first Dawn had been grateful for Sirius' refusal to get drawn in to the game, but soon enough Sirius himself had begun to respond with pointed passive aggression.

"How thrilling," Sirius said drolly as Spike finished recounting exactly how long it took to snap every single bone in a teenage boy's body. "Tell me, Spike, have you ever considered getting yourself a girlfriend?"

Ice blue eyes glazed yellow, and only Dawn leaping from her seat (with some difficulty due to the arm Sirius had clamped about her waist) to get in between them and announce it was dinner time stopped Spike from breaking into a full vamp-face in the middle of the Common Room. Lily was staring intently at him though, Dawn's heart sank as she realised the smartest witch in her year had probably seen Spike's eyes change colour, and would figure out the 'mystery' in no time at all.

Dinner was a fairly quiet affair. Dumbledore introduced Spike and Buffy to the rest of the school simply as guests of Gryffindor and the left them all to it. A couple of the younger students were staring, but an intimidating glare or two from Buffy later, they were left alone. As soon as they'd eaten, Dawn moved to take Buffy and Spike up to Dumbledore's office but the Marauders had no intention of leaving her alone with them.

Dumbledore looked mildly amused to see the seven of them crowding into his office, but said nothing of it and calmly conjured extra chairs. He was almost tempted to raise a long, bushy eyebrow when Dawn claimed a single armchair for herself instead of opting for her usual place on the couch, next to Sirius. Or her sister. Or her psuedo-brother. Or her legal brother. Or her best friend. Well, the more Dumbledore thought about it, the more he understood Dawn's choice, he was just so accustomed to seeing Peter take the lone chair by now.

"Well then, if we're all comdortable, have you planned your next move yet Ms Summers?" Dumbledore asked, leaning back in his chair and steepling his long fingers. Both Dawn and Buffy were half-tempted to request that he say 'excellent' in an evil voice.

"We need to get back to Sunnydale," Buffy said at once. "Who knows what's happening there?"

"Er, I hate to interrupt you when you're just getting into your bossy voice, luv, but how do you know there's even a Sunnyhell to get back to?" Spike threw in lazily, as if he really didn't care one way or the other. "You heard what Darth Rosenberg was on about, do you really think the Whelp, the Watcher and Demon Girl have got the stones to stop her?"

Buffy shook her head in denial. "No. No she wouldn't end the world. She just... It's Willow. Willow. I won't believe it."

Remus sat up a little straighter and turned to Dawn. "Maybe we can find out. Dawn, did you See any further? Can you tell in any way what happened back there?"

Dawn was chewing her lip, her head tilted to the side in concentration as she searched her mind. "No... I don't think so. I can't remember Seeing anything after this morning, but it's strange. I just have this funny feeling in my tummy, you know, like it's going to be ok there."

Spike let out a semi-annoyed sigh. "Well that's two votes in the 'I just know' category. Must be something about you bloody Summers women."

"We still have to get back there. I'm sworn to protect my world," Buffy argued, the turned to Dumbledore. "This morning you said you'd help us with anything we needed. Can you help us get home?"

"I'm afraid I can't," Dumbledore said, looking at the little blond apologetically. "When Dawn first came here, myself, a handful of the more knowledgeable Professors and I have my reasons to believe event eh students in this office right now all seached for a way to return someone to your dimension. I'm sorry to say we exhausted all our avenues without finding any results."

Spike and Buffy exchanged uneasy glances. They were quite possibly stuck here? Neither wanted to think of the implications for both worlds. They spent a few moments mentally regrouping.

"You can't have... That can't be it. You just weren't looking in the right places, that's all," Buffy decided, though there was a hint of a tremor in her voice. "We'll figure it out one way or another, I mean, we all got here in the first place didn't we? We'll find a spell or whatever, and then the three of us can go home."

"Three?" Sirius repeated, his Animagus form clearly reflected in his voice and demeanour.

"Yeah, the three of us," Dawn followed up. "Dawn will come home now."

James was on his feet in a flash. "Hey, she's already home. Let's get that straight right this bleeding second."

"Enough!" Dumbledore called. There were too many people in the room just itching for an argument. The object of debate was sitting far more stiffly in her chair than he'd known was possible for anyone other than Minerva McGonagall, and Dumbledore took pity on the girl. All year long now, no sooner had she proven herself in one challenge than another would come to take it's place.

"All needs not be decided right away," he lectured softly. "Those decisions we make so hastily are often those we come to regret. Buffy and Spike, you are welcome to all research and resources at my disposal and may find sanctuary at Hogwarts for as long as you wish. If your search takes you further afield, I am more than willing to facilitate that. Your first concern before all else can be decided is to find out if it really is possible to travel back to your own dimnesion."

"And then?" Spike prodded after a few moments of tense, undercutting silence.

Dumbledore glanced at the vampire, but then his attention went exclusively to Dawn. "And then, I'm afraid, Dawn may be facing some very difficult decisions."

Dawn could feel all eyes on her, but did not dare return any of the gazes. How could she face them? How would she choose? Where would she go from here?


A.N: Hope that at least starts to make up for my absence! XX