Disclaimer:All things Harry Potter belong to the fabulous JK Rowling and all things Buffy the Vampire Slayer belong to the equally fabulous Joss Whedon. I do not describe myself as fabulous and am neither of these people, therefore I own nothing. 'Uninvited' is by Alanis Morissette. 'She Hates Me' is by Puddle of Mudd.

A.N:I miss you guys, and I'm sorry RL is such a pain. I love you all for sticking with me and wish I could give back the support you bring to me with each review. Thanks and big love! Hope you continue to enjoy. XX


CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

Uninvited

The Common Room was completely quiet. Nobody was moving, none of them seemed sure of what to do. It was as if they were all waiting for the aftershock to hit. James was standing in a daze, while Peter began to fumble at his nose with a handkerchief and nobody else seemed to have realised that he was still bleeding.

Buffy glared at Spike. "I want to know."

Spike glared back. "After all this, do you really think I'd just open my mouth and blurt it out? You let Dawn tell you if and when she wants to."

With that, Spike stalked out. Buffy's eyes narrowed angrily at his retreating form and a moment later she was following him. She wasn't giving up that easily. Sirius was mournfully fiddling with the bracelet Dawn had given back to him when Remus sidled up next to his friend.

"I should go find her," Sirius said, moving as if to make for the portrait hole.

"No," Remus said, holding him back by the sleeve. "She asked us to leave her alone, and it would be better for Dawn if someone more neutral went. In a while I'll use the Map to track her down and see how she is, ok? In the meantime there's other things to worry about too."

Sirius scowled. Dawn was the most important on his list of concerns, to hell with all else. "Like what?"

"Like getting James to the Hospital Wing, for one thing. And for another, do you think McGonagall's going to be pleased with Dawn when she sees that broken window?"

"McGonagall will never need to know," Sirius decided. "I'll fix it."

He pulled his wand out and went over to the shards of glass still left in the frame. Satisfied to have something constructive in motion, Remus turned to James, planning to escort him to Madam Pomfrey. To his surprise, he had been beaten to the task.

"You're doing it wrong," Lily said snappily, marching over and pulling the bloody cloth from Peter's hands. "You need to put more pressure on it to stop the bleeding. Like this."

She covered James' nose with the handkerchief and pinched his nostrils together. James couldn't help but wince slightly, but still no sound of pain escaped him.

"Don't you wince at me, Potter," Lily said in a dangerous impression of McGonagall at her most furious. "And tilt your head back you stupid clown, or you'll bleed to death. Not that you don't deserve it, this is a new low even for you."

Not taking care in the least to be gentle, she began to walk him out of the Common Room and down to the Hospital Wing. Lily berated him the entire way there, but James found he couldn't argue even if he wanted to. His throat was tightening with every new word of blame Lily heaped onto him.

"Honestly, Potter, I always knew you were arrogant and selfish but how you could be so cruel and heartless to Dawn is beyond me. Some brother you make."

James felt the backs of his eyes prickling and blinked furiously against it. At long last they reached the Hospital Wing and Lily called out for Madam Pomfrey as she pushed James down to sit on a bed. The Matron came out, took one look at the red-soaked handkerchief, and gasped.

"Miss Evans! What did you do?"

If James wasn't feeling wretched to the core he would have laughed at the way Lily's jaw dropped. She had the most indignant gleam in her eye.

"I didn't do it!"

"Then who did?"

Lily faltered. How could she turn Dawn in for doing something she herself had yearned to do for years, and with such good cause? James quickly coughed to test his throat's capabilities.

"Nobody did it," he said as quickly as his blood-thickened voice would allow. "I ran into a door."

"Really?" quipped Madam Pomfrey, as if she hadn't heard the terrible excuse a hundred and one times during her tenure at Hogwarts. "Don't move, Potter, I'll be back in a moment."

Madam Pomfrey bustled off to her supplies room, leaving the two teens alone again.

"I suppose you think covering for Dawn like that makes everything ok," Lily hissed after a few moments. "Like you should just be automatically forgiven."

James suddenly found it all too much to take anymore. He had thought he couldn't possibly feel any lower than when did knowing what he'd done to Dawn, but he'd been wrong. Hearing in very specific detail all the new levels of disgust Lily had acquired for him in the past half an hour was rubbing salt in his wounds like he'd never felt before. The tears welled in his eyes, and he knew Lily saw them before he turned his face away.

"Potter," Lily gasped, suddenly unsure of herself. "I'm not… I didn't mean…"

Past humiliation, James whipped his head around to glare at Lily with watery eyes. He pulled the handkerchief away from his face and tossed it aside.

"You didn't mean what, Evans? To make me feel like the lowest form of dirt you've ever walked all over? Yes, you did. And you really needn't have bothered, you know," he croaked. "I already know Dawn will probably never forgive me. And if you think I've got a chance in hell of ever forgiving myself then you're out of your mind."

Lily suddenly became aware of two new emotions she'd never felt before in relation to James Potter: guilt and sympathy.

"James…"

"Don't," he said shortly, though his spine had tingled at the sound of her voice saying his name. "You don't want to be here anyway, I bet. You should just go."

To her surprise and confusion, Lily found herself hesitating. "You shouldn't have to be alone for this."

He shrugged, no longer bold enough to meet her gaze but staring at the floor instead. "Madam Pomfrey can mend bones in a heartbeat. I bet a broken nose is nothing for her to fix."

"Well," Lily said, shifting her weight between her feet. "Someone really should go and fetch Dawn's book bag before Filch comes across it."

"Can you imagine trying to explain that one to him?" James murmured.

Lily felt a smile tug at her lips. "I just hope it hasn't landed all the way out in the lake. That was quite a throw."

James tried a tiny smile of his own. "With an arm like that, maybe I can convince her to go out for one of the Beater positions next year. Go on then, go see about that bag."

Lily bit her lip, a little confused at the way she no longer felt mad at the boy sitting on the bed, dangling his legs over the edge and looking suddenly childlike. An idea formed in her mind, and before reason could talk her out of it she acted.

She kissed James' cheek and then ran away in the hopes that she wouldn't have to face up to what she'd just done. James brought a hand up to touch his cheek, just to make sure it was really his.

Madam Pomfrey came rushing back in with a canister of orange paste. "Knew I had it in my store room somewhere. Alright Potter… Why are you grinning like some kind of idiot?"


Buffy caught up with Spike in the Common Room they shared. She grabbed his sleeve and pulled him around to face her.

"I want to know," she repeated. "I want to know what he told you to get Dawn so upset."

"No," Spike said flatly.

"Dawn's my sister, I have a right to know!"

"No, you don't!" Spike bellowed, losing his patience. "Don't you get it, Slayer? This isn't about you, pet. This is about a fifteen year-old hormone bomb that's run off somewhere in this place, crying her eyes out because the people she's supposed to be able to trust are just taking what they want from her. Leavin' her to feel cheated and used."

Buffy clenched her fists, fighting to keep her temper in check in the face of Spike's outburst. "How am I supposed to take care of her if I don't know what's wrong?"

"You're not, pet," Spike explained. "You're supposed to let her figure out what she does and doesn't need your help with. Judging from the life she's put together here, I'd say there's not much she does need from you anymore. But then that's the problem, isn't it?" he spat out snidely.

Buffy punched him. "How dare you?" she growled in a shaking, teary voice. "Who the hell do you think you are?"

She hit him again. Spike stumbled back, rubbing at his cheek. His cold eyes lifted to bore into hers.

"I won't always be around to blame, Slayer," he hissed. "Who will you pin all your faults on then?"

Before Buffy could swing again, he'd stalked out of their quarters, ignoring the cheery farewell Marcella the portrait had called after him. His face stinging and fuming inwardly at the whole situation, Spike took to roaming the castle restlessly. He was looking for a fight, a bit of fun… Anything to let off steam. He wondered where the nearest demon hotspot was – maybe he could get in a few good kills before the night was out.

Someone stumbled into him. "Watch where you're going," he snapped without looking up.

"Ssssssssssssorry, Spikey."

Spike looked up. "James, mate, don't ever call me that again. and how did you get your nose fixed and then sloshed so damn quick, anyway?"

James, his eyes more than just a little glazed over, smiled blandly. "Madam Pomfrey fixded me up all as good assss new. And who saided anything about me being sloshied? I'm not sloshied, Ssspike, honest."

"How could I have been so mistaken?" Spike muttered dryly. "You're way past sloshed and well on the way to completely trashed."

James nodded vigorously, looking extremely pleased that Spike had figured it out so easily. He brought a half-drunk bottle of Firewhiskey out from the folds of his robes, displaying it proudly to Spike before taking another generous swig. Spike raised an eyebrow, weighing up his options.

"I'm guessing you'll be in a world of trouble if you're caught with that?"

James nodded again. grinning. "Evans kissed me, you know. But she still hates me. Dawn hates me too now. Everyone but the Firewhiskey hates me. The Firewhiskey is my friend."

"I doubt it's going to be such a good friend in the morning, kid. How about you share it with me, ay? Let's get you back where you belong before you come across someone else to hate you, too."

James thought it over, decided he liked Spike and would share with him, and realised that going back to Gryffindor tower before Filch caught him like this was probably a good idea, and offered the bottle to the vampire. Spike took a swig.

"Not bad. Can you get any more of this?"

"I'm a Marauderer-er!" James boasted. "I can get anything I want."

Spike snorted. "Except the girl."

He helped James stumble back to Gryffindor tower, where the Common Room had been conspicuously abandoned. While James shamelessly raided the sixth year boys' not-so-secret alcohol stash until he'd unearthed another couple of bottles, Spike wandered over to inspect the newly repaired window. It looked much the same as it had before, but a strange insignia had appeared in the top right hand corner. It was an intricate little silhouette involving a pair of antlers, a paw print, a crescent moon, a little rat's tail and a pair of cat ears.

James handed him a full bottle of Firewhiskey and Spike twisted the lid off, downing a large portion of the liquid in one mouthful. It wasn't long before the vampire was almost as heavily intoxicated as the teenager.


"There, there," Myrtle soothed awkwardly as Dawn sobbed into her folded up arms. "It'll all work out, I'm sure."

"How?" Dawn wailed.

"Erm… I don't know," Myrtle said, frowning as a new wave of hysteria threatened to break over Dawn. Who knew comforting people was so nerve-wracking? "There, there."

She tried to lay a hand on Dawn's shoulder, but it sank right into the Gryffindor's body. Feeling as if an icepack had been slapped right onto her skin without warning, Dawn squealed and bolted upright.

"Sorry!" Myrtle squealed in response. "I didn't think."

Dawn gave one last giant sniff and rubbed her fists over her eyes. "It's ok, Myrtle. I should get a grip, anyway, stop being such a cry-baby."

"I don't know," Myrtle said thoughtfully. "I think being a cry-baby is seriously underrated."

"Yeah," Dawn smiled. "Nobody seems to appreciate a good whiner anymore. But I shouldn't be whingeing really, I mean how many people in the world can say their biggest problem is too many people love them?"

"Not nearly enough," the ghost admitted mournfully.

Not really hearing the other voice in the room, Dawn continued on and worked herself into a strong ramble. "It's just… How am I supposed to choose? Things here are as perfect as I'd ever hoped for, with Sirius, my friends… my family. I know I'm only fifteen, but I thought I'd found the love of my life and I can't imagine ever loving anybody the way I love Sirius. But how can I turn my back on Buffy now, after everything? She's my sister. She's more than my sister… She's the reason I'm alive."

Myrtle cocked her head to the side, listening intently as Dawn continued.

"I know things were never quite right for me in Sunnydale, I never really fit in but I'm different now. I'm not the same little girl I was when I jumped from that tower. Maybe things there will be different for me now that I'm different. It could happen… Or my wand could end up getting left in a drawer to gather dust while I slowly revert to a useless, pain in the ass tagalong. I don't know," she moaned.

"Maybe you should flip a galleon then," Myrtle tried. "At least you won't have so much trouble deciding – the coin can do it for you."

Dawn snorted. "After the tantrum I just chucked over making my own decisions, I can't just let it boil down to something as light as flipping a coin. That's not fair, I can't pretend there's an easy option. No matter what I do, people will be hurt," she whispered.

"And hurting yourself even more isn't going to change that," someone told her.

Dawn and Myrtle looked around to the doorway, where Remus stood gazing back at them. "We should put a bell on that door," Dawn sighed.

Myrtle zoomed up to hover in between Remus and Dawn like a transparent barrier. "Dawn doesn't want to see anyone right now!" the ghost declared, but two seconds later she'd softened.

"Is James with you?"

"No, Myrtle, James isn't here," Remus said quietly. "But I really would like to see Dawn, if that's alright."

"Come on over," Dawn said, smiling tiredly at her best friend. "It's ok."

Remus sat next to Dawn on her step and squeezed her hand. "Some night you're having, Kitten. I haven't seen someone scream like that since Romulus didn't get the Bludger set he wanted for Christmas."

Dawn giggled faintly, then closed her eyes. "I'm so confused, Rem."

"I know, Dawn," he soothed. "But you were right: this is your decision. You have to make up your own mind."

"But how can I choose between-"

Remus' hand clamping over her mouth cut Dawn's sentence short.

"Yes, you have to make a decision that will hurt people no matter which way you go. This we know. Don't focus on that. Focus on what you want."

He dropped his hand from her mouth when he was sure he had her attention. His voice dropped to a whisper when he went on.

"Think about your future, Dawn. One year from now, where are you? Five, ten, twenty, fifty years from now, what does your life look like? If it's here, then stay with us. If it's there… go. If you think of Sunnydale when you think of 'home' then go home."

Dawn's eyes watered as she tried to come to terms with this new perspective. It made things seem clearer to her, but still did not make her decision any easier to reach. Remus smiled gently.

"Hey, you don't have to decide right this second. Take your time and don't let anybody rush you."

"Why are you so good to me?" Dawn sniffled.

"Because you've always wanted the best for me unconditionally," Remus said, quiet and serious as he stared into Dawn's eyes. "I'm not going to lie Dawn, I don't want you to go for completely selfish reasons. I don't want to lose my best friend. But if leaving is the best thing for you, then I swear to Merlin I'll do everything in my power to help you."

Myrtle sighed appreciatively, and Dawn threw herself into Remus for a bone-crushing hug. They separated after a while and got to their feet, silently agreeing to head back to the Common Room. Dawn grinned over at Myrtle.

"Thanks for the sympathy."

"Anytime," Myrtle said enthusiastically. "I'm always here. I'd try to visit you again, but I'd hate for what happened last time to happen again," the ghost said, her eyes glazing over a little at the memory of James in the shower.

"Sure you would," Remus snickered. "Bye."

He and Dawn walked slowly through the castle together, Dawn in truth a little afraid of what she would have to face when she returned to Gryffindor tower. It had been a long time since she had yelled so much, and at so many people. As they approached the stairwell, they met Lily, who was coming up from the direction of the Entrance Hall. Dawn's book bag was slung over one shoulder.

"You dropped this," Lily murmured, causing both Dawn and Remus to chuckle.

"Thanks," Dawn returned as Lily handed her the bag.

The three went on, Remus promising that Sirius had fixed the window and Lily admitting she had left James –er, Potter- in the Hospital Wing. Dawn noticed a new colour in Lily's cheeks when she said this, but did not have the energy to begin an interrogation.

"We forgot to take down the Silencing Charms over the stairs to the dorms," Remus realised out of the blue.

Then they arrived in the hallway containing the entrance to their Common Room to the muffled sounds of blaring rock music and loud voices.

"Maybe that's not such a bad thing," Dawn commented to Remus.

The trio stood before the portrait of the Fat Lady, who was looking extremely angry.

"Ought to inform the Headmaster," she was muttering to herself.

"What's going on in there?" Lily called over the noise.

"The pair of them, blaring that rubbish and drunk out of their minds! I popped in to give them what for, and they just told me to sod off!" the Fat Lady huffed.

"We'll see about that," Lily said, looking indignant as a Prefect that such a thing could happen in her Common Room of all places. "You let us in there and we'll sort it out. Lion's den."

Looking somewhat abated, the portrait swung open and the three students clambered through. Their mouths dropped open simultaneously as they took in the sight.

Firewhiskey each in hand and slopping all over the place, James and Spike were thrashing erratically about and bellowing off-key to the song thundering through the room.

"she fuckin' hates me

trust

she fuckin' hates me

La La La love

I tried too hard

and she tore my feelings like I had none

and ripped them away…"

"Merlin," Remus breathed in awe. "I didn't even know vampires could get drunk."

Dawn just arched an eyebrow, not taking her eyes from the scene for even a second. A part of her wanted to scream at them, an even more vindictive part of her would find savage pleasure in fetching McGonagall, but she couldn't ignore the part of her that was tempted to just laugh. Lily, however, showed no traces of amusement at all. She angrily jabbed her wand and the music disappeared.

Realising their accompaniment had vanished, Spike and James staggered around to see what was going on. Spike burped and took a swig from the bottle in his hand. James just waved. Dawn bit her lip and avoided his gaze. She wasn't quite sure she could handle talking to him just yet. Glaring, Lily stalked up and snatched away their alcohol, grimacing at the smell.

"Hey!" Spike protested, swiping his hand out to claim his bottle back, but Lily had smartly fastened the lids and put them out of sight. She put her hands on her hips, took a deep breath, and laid into them.

"Just what do the two of you think you're doing? This is completely unacceptable, drinking right out here in the middle of the Common Room like this. Any of the younger students could've seen you. What if they'd got their hands on this stuff and given themselves alcohol poisoning, hmm? How would you have felt then? As it is you're lucky not to have been caught by a Professor – the poor Fat Lady was quite ready to report you to Dumbledore when we arrived. I've still got half a mind to do so myself!"

Dawn and Remus were placidly watching the scene. While Lily ranted, working herself up more and more as she went on, her words were falling on deaf ears. Spike's nostrils were twitching suspiciously like he was trying to hunt down more alcohol, while James was staring dumbstruck at the redhead before him. He was swaying slightly on his feet and it was clear he wasn't taking in a word Lily was saying, even as she turned her attention squarely on him.

"I don't believe you sometimes, Potter. Why do you do it? how is it that you can be human one moment, and then turn back into such a git so quickly? Is it just a game? What's wrong with you, is it just that you like playing with me?"

It didn't take long to realise that Lily was angry about more than just the drinking, and Dawn decided she'd bet the farm it had something to do with the colour in Lily's cheeks when she'd mentioned James earlier. She stepped up and laid a hand on Lily's arm.

"Lil, I don't think this is doing any good. They're too drunk to take it all in, I think we should save the lectures for tomorrow," she suggested gently.

Lily exhaled loudly. "You're right."

"Could you two take Spike back to his room please? The password is 'dude'. I've got to deal with my brother," Dawn said grimly.

Lily and Remus rounded Spike up and herded him out of the Common Room. Dawn turned to find James blinking sadly at her.

"I'm sorry," he said.

"I know, and it's a start," Dawn sighed. "Come on, let's get you to bed before you pass out where the whole House can see you."

She looped an arm about his waist and guided him up to the boys' dorm. The curtains were already drawn around both Sirius and Peter's beds, Dawn cast a longing glance at Sirius' bed before depositing James gently on his own.

"I didn't mean to tell," he mumbled as Dawn began to take his shoes and socks off. "But we saw Malfoy and I got so angry just thinking about what he did to you… I didn't even realise I was saying anything out loud until Spike baled me up against the wall and demanded the whole story."

Dawn was blinking back tears as she stood up and began to pull at his jumper and shirt. "But it was careless, and it hurt me," she whispered. "You don't know what it's like, James, living with what he did. I know we don't talk about it anymore, but it's like… it's like Isabel. It softens with time but it never goes away. Having it thrown in my face like that just brought it all back to the surface."

She went into the bathroom and filled a goblet of water to give herself a moment to calm down. By the time she returned to the main part of the dorm, James had shed his pants and pulled his pyjama bottoms on. He caught Dawn's free hand as she put the water goblet on his bedside table.

"Dawn… I probably don't deserve it, but will you ever forgive me? You're my sister, I couldn't live with myself if I'd made you hate me forever," he said, his eyes pleading with her.

Dawn thought a moment. Then she smoothed James' sweaty hair down and planted a kiss on the top of his head. "Yes, you're forgiven James. What's the point of us being siblings if we can't learn to forgive each other when we make a mistake?"

James smiled. Then he hiccoughed. "I don't feel so good," he moaned.

"I'm not surprised," Dawn muttered. "Get into bed and lay on your side. I don't want you puking in your sleep and choking."

"Lovely," James yawned, but did as he was told while Dawn went back into the bathroom and wet a washcloth. She put his glasses next to the water goblet and cooled his face down with the washcloth.

"There's water here if you need it, and I'll conjure a bucket just in case, ok? Try not to need it. Get some sleep, I'm sure Remus will keep an eye on you. Goodnight, James," she whispered, kissing his forehead.

"Night, Kitten," he yawned in return.

Dawn conjured the bucket as promised, then turned away from James' bed, leaving the hangings open. On her way out the door, she paused by Sirius' bed, cracking the hangings to look in on him as he slept. She smiled to herself. He always looked so much younger asleep.

She conjured a single red rose and left it on the spare pillow for him to wake up to in the morning.


"So, unless Wormtail's recently shifted his priorities, I'm assuming I've got you to thank for the flower," a voice behind Dawn piped up as she crossed the Common Room quite late in the morning.

She stopped and turned to face Sirius, dropping her bag on the nearest table in the process. "After all the horrible things I said last night, I just didn't want you to forget I could be nice too," she said.

He smiled, stepping up close and running his finger along her nose. "You were upset and under a lot of pressure. I'm sorry for my part in that."

"No!" Dawn shook her head quickly. "You're not supposed to be sorry, I am. I'm sorry I said that about… about the bracelet. It was a great gift, I don't for a second believe you'd try to bribe me like that. It was a horrible thing for me to say."

"You're forgiven," Sirius grinned. "And hey, maybe I'll surprise you with it again one day."

"I'd like that. So, is James alive, or is he bed-bound for the day?" Dawn giggled.

Sirius shuddered. "Messes like the one James produced are the kind that haunt you forever. Sometimes there just aren't enough cleaning charms. Prongs is already at breakfast though, Moony forced him down to get some grease into him. Moony said Lily's threatened to go to McGonagall if he misses so much as a second of class today."

"Poor James," Dawn murmured.

Sirius winked. "Let's not dwell on it. I think it'd be much better if you showed me just how nice you can be… I'm even willing to skip breakfast to give you a chance."

Dawn grinned and pushed him down on the nearest couch. "Well with a sales pitch like that, how could I possibly refuse?"

In response, Sirius pulled her down on top of him. She kissed his forehead, then his nose before working her way down to his lips while he let his hands rum up and down her back. Dawn sighed, content.

"Lily didn't mention anything against us skipping class, did she? I could stay here all day."

Sirius was too intent on more kisses to respond. Neither was in any position to be taking much notice when a bright white light sparked into existence several metres from the couch they were laying on. Gradually, the spark grew until it looked like a small tear in the fabric of the air. Finally, a much stronger wave of energy pulsated through the room, too great to escape Sirius and Dawn's notice any longer.

They stopped, lips still pressed together. Then, slowly, their heads turned towards where the flash of light had come from. They stared.

The four people who had just magically appeared in the room stared back.

Though she looked drained from the use of magic, the roots of her hair were tinged black but her eyes still quite green, the redhead managed a shy smile and a wave. "Sorry – is this a bad time?"

It was only when the middle-aged man whipped his glasses from his face and began to clean them that Dawn realised Sirius still had his hands on her backside. She discreetly pushed them away, blushing slightly. Then Anya spoke, and Dawn's blush deepened a thousandfold.

"Don't feel bad, Willow. We only interrupted foreplay, it doesn't look like they've got to the actual sex part yet."

Dawn squeaked. She and Sirius leapt to their feet. Willow and the dark-haired guy next to her looked as if they could've been knocked over by a feather after that last comment, while Sirius could've sworn he heard the man cleaning his glasses mutter, "Oh dear Lord."

"You'd think by this stage in my life I'd be used to all the humiliation," Dawn sighed.

"Take it from an expert – you never get used to it."

"Thanks, Xander," Dawn giggled and hugged him.

Next she reached for Willow, and held onto the Wicca for extra long. "I'm so sorry," she whispered.

She felt Willow nod into her shoulder and give her an extra squeeze. When they finally broke apart, Dawn found herself standing before Anya, who had her eyebrows raised.

"We don't have to hug again, do we?"

"We don't have to," Dawn told her.

Anya pouted.

"But we can if you want."

A huge smile broke out on the Vengeance Demon's face and she and Dawn hugged before Dawn turned and grinned cheekily at Giles. She arched an eyebrow and gestured to the glasses he was just slipping back onto the bridge of his nose.

"Four seconds. That's got to be some kind of record."

"Perhaps," Giles agreed softly. "Hello Dawn."

"Hi Giles," Dawn said, smiling as the normally affection-shy Watcher held her close for a moment.

She turned to introduce Sirius to the rest of the Scooby gang, but found she had no need. He and Xander had introduced themselves, taking a liking to each other the instant they'd shaken hands. Even Willow and Anya were smiling and being drawn into the conversation.

"Friend of yours?" Giles enquired sardonically, and Dawn had to fight off another blush as she recalled the position she and Sirius had been discovered in.

"You might say that. Sirius," she called over to him, "Come and meet Giles. Giles, this is my boyfriend, Sirius Black."

"Nice to meet you, sir," Sirius said as he shook the older man's hand, his conscious effort to get along with these Scoobies pleasing Dawn.

"Hello," Giles returned, before looking back to Dawn. "Shall we go and find Buffy?"

"We'd better take you to Dumbledore's office first," Dawn countered. "Let him know there's a few more for the House-Elves to cater for. Then we can find Buffy and Spike."

Sirius and Dawn took the others through the castle to meet Dumbledore, the Headmaster quickly sending the students off to the class they were very close to being late for. Then he reunited the Scoobies with Buffy and Spike. The group stood around and shuffled their feet, awkward after the nature of Buffy and Spike's departure.

"So…" Xander finally said. "Cavalry's here."

Buffy smiled. "Is it a frightened guy with a rock?"

Then she noticed the way Willow was studiously gazing at her feet. The Slayer bit her lip, torn between concern for her friend, and relief that she was no longer trying to end the world, and apprehension. This was the woman who had casually flung her into a whole new world just to get her out of the way. But it was still Willow.

"Willow? Will, look at me."

Shaking slightly from fear, and from exhaustion after using so much of her power to open the portal, the redhead slowly looked up. Her eyes met Buffy's and they stared at each other for a long time. Then Buffy pulled her close, holding her best friend as tight as she could without her Slayer strength causing any damage.

"I was so worried about you," Buffy choked out.

Willow began to cry. "I'm sorry."

"I know. It's ok. It's ok, Will," Buffy soothed.

They took Willow up to the rooms Dumbledore had organised next to Buffy and Spike's quarters to rest. The others spent the rest of the morning talking, catching up on all that had happened and making plans for the return to Sunnydale. Giles was insistent that in Willow's frail state, she have plenty of time to rest and recuperate before attempting to use such a large store of her magic again.

Though she was anxious to return to the Hellmouth, Buffy nodded in agreement as they headed towards a slightly elongated Gryffindor table for lunch. Nothing could make her want to risk losing Willow again. Students began to crowd into the Hall, throwing curious glances at yet more newcomers but for the most part leaving them alone. When the fifth year Gryffindors herded noisily in, they claimed the seats near the Scoobies and Dawn introduced anyone who hadn't already met. When she was done, she smiled tentatively at her sister to let her know she was feeling better after her outburst the night before.

Buffy smiled back and squeezed her hand briefly. Dawn then frowned and looked around at the depleted Scoobies.

"Willow's resting," Buffy said before she could ask. "She used a lot of energy getting here."

A shout of surprise, followed by a burst of laughter pulled their attention elsewhere. Peter had offered Xander a chocolate frog; Xander had not been prepared for it to leap at him when he opened the packet and the Marauders were all laughing hysterically as he scrambled to retrieve it. he recovered the chocolate, stared at it for several fascinated moments, then grinned.

"How cool is this?"

He ate it happily, and the boys abandoned their half-eaten lunches to show him a few simple spells. Peter used a Levitation charm to get his fork to feed him, while Remus transfigured his goblet into a little pink piglet that immediately began challenging Peter for his lunch. Sirius and James, who looked much better due to the Hangover-Cure potion Remus had brewed on the sly for him, decided to show off by staging a swordfight with their knives.

Moments later, Xander, Remus and Peter (having lost his lunch after a fierce battle with the piglet) were loudly cheering the duel on. Giles opened his mouth to call order to the group, but Dawn waved a hand to indicate he shouldn't bother.

"Just let it run it's course," she advised. "It's easier for all of us that way."

Eventually, the Marauders and Xander all got bored enough with the game for Remus to call it a draw without either James or Sirius starting a food fight in protest. The boys fell into restless silence, as if simply waiting for the next amusement to spring up. Then Sirius' face slid into the wicked grin that Dawn was always so thrilled, yet so frightened to see.

"We have to throw a party this Friday," he announced. "It would be bad hospitality for us not to honour the arrival of Dawn's family."

"Hey, a Welcome Wagon. Just what I like to see," Xander enthused, slapping Sirius on the back.

James' eyes had a new gleam in them. "We'll make it our wildest bash yet…"

A boy a few seats along the table cleared his throat pointedly.

"Head Boy who really doesn't want to have to ruin anyone's fun in earshot," Frank said in a sing-song voice.

Dawn smiled winningly at him. "We can invite Alice."

"Well I'm sure that as Head Boy, my supervision should be sufficient. No need to even bother the Professors with it, I think. They have so much on their plates already," Frank countered smoothly.

The Marauders let out a cheer for Frank. Frank winked slyly at them.


Dawn frowned, spinning around on the spot as she tried to figure out where she was. It was the lower regions of the castle, she was sure, but where exactly she couldn't figure out.

Red eyes were gleaming, leering at her from the darkness.

A rat scuttled in front of her.

"They're coming, sweetheart."

At the sound of Joyce's voice behind her, Dawn whipped about.

Nothing.

"From beneath you it devours," came Tara's voice, but when Dawn spun again, she was alone in the hall.

Then both women's voices fused together.

"They're here!"

The world slipped away. Dawn was falling… Falling.


"Oomph!"

Dawn grunted as she hit the floor, waking with a jolt. She'd fallen out of bed from too much tossing and turning with her dream. She tensed as she remembered the jumbled words and images. Red eyes. Voldemort. Here!

She was scrambling to her feet as Lily's tousled head poked out from between her hangings.

"All right, Dawn?" she yawned. "What on earth are you doing out of bed at this hour?"

"Voldemort," Dawn gasped, already pulling a jumper and jeans over her night-clothes. "Lily, I had a dream. He's here, at Hogwarts!"

There was another thunk as Lily fell out of bed in shock. She clumsily clambered to her feet. "No… It can't be. What do we do?"

While the Prefect was throwing on her bathrobe, Dawn thought about what she was supposed to do. Usually her role was to be afraid and then be rescued, but that involved a lot of doing nothing and this was definitely a time when something needed to be done. She nodded decisively.

"I know what to do."

She woke the boys as quickly as she could and started explaining her dream, and what she wanted to do. They grouped in the Common Room, looking tired and frightened, but grim and resolved.

"Ok, Lily, I think you should stay here," Dawn began right away. "We can't risk anyone else leaving this tower and getting hurt and you've got the most authority to stop them. Hex them and seal the portrait if you have to."

Lily clutched at her wand, as if hordes of first years were expected to stage an escape at any given moment. She nodded solemnly. Dawn turned to the boys and bit her lip.

"We need to split up. James, did you bring the Cloak?"

James held the silvery material up for all to see, but Remus interrupted before Dawn could explain the next phase of her plan.

"Hang on, Dawn. I don't like the idea of splitting up. We can't protect all of us with the Cloak if were going off in different directions."

Dawn held up a hand, then turned to Peter and grabbed his thick arms. "Peter, do you think you can go by yourself to Dumbledore's office? If you transform, you can go as a rat safely."

Fear, and something quite foreign welled in Peter as he stared into Dawn's pleading, beautiful eyes. It was pride. Dawn needed him to do something important, something none of the others would be able to do. Not even Sirius. He nodded. Dawn smiled.

"Great. The password is 'Oreo Cookies'. Tell Dumbledore to get the Aurors and alert the Professors NOW."

Sirius squeezed Dawn's hand, not noticing that Peter scowled as he lost the limelight. "What about us?"

"We've got to get the Scoobies. Buffy and Spike would never forgive me if I kept them in the dark about a fight. C'mon, let's move."

"Be careful," Lily called nervously as they covered themselves up and left the refuge of the Common Room.

As soon as they were out into the halls, James clapped Peter supportively on the back. He stared at them all for a moment with his small, colourless eyes, then transformed and Wormtail scurried towards the Headmaster's office as quickly as he could. The others shuffled briskly towards the Scoobies' quarters.

"Dude," Dawn hissed at Marcella, then moved quickly to the next portrait, marking the entrance to the rest of the gang's quarters. "Sweet."

She waved Sirius and Remus in to wake Giles and the others, while she and James went to alert Buffy and Spike. Dawn wasn't surprised to find both Slayer and vampire awake and prowling restlessly about their rooms. They came into their Common Room as soon as Dawn and James called out, senses on high alert.

"What's going on?" Buffy demanded, seeing the unnerved look in her younger sister's eyes.

"You remember how I told you all about the big bad here, Voldemort? He's here, in the castle! I had a dream, a vision, his infiltrating the dungeons right now!" she said all in one breath.

Right then, Giles barged into the room, Willow, Anya, Xander, Sirius and Remus right on his heels. A darkly significant look passed between the Slayer and her Watcher. Buffy nodded firmly, in full General mode.

"You guys stay in here. We'll take care of this."

"No way," Sirius blurted. James, Remus and Dawn nodded in grim agreement with the outburst.

"You don't even know where the action is, how to get there," Dawn argued. "We have our wands, we're better protected than you think, Buffy."

"I don't like it," Buffy said, shaking her head.

"You don't have to," Dawn snapped impatiently. "We don't have time to argue."

James looked at the Invisibility Cloak still in his hands and, making a quick decision, dropped it on the coffee table. There was no need for secrecy now; they had the troops. As soon as they were back in the hall, Buffy pushed all the teenagers to the middle of the pack where she could more easily protect them. They gave their directions in whispers, otherwise moving silently towards the dungeons until Dawn called them to a halt. Buffy took several deep breaths and tried to focus the warning tingles in her system to pinpoint the threat while Spike sniffed the air experimentally. His nose screwed up with distaste and he nodded. They were close.

"Students to my office at once," whispered a new voice, far more authoritative than Buffy's despite the lack of volume. Dumbledore had arrived on the scene. Behind him stood McGonagall, Flitwick and a handful of other deadly serious looking Professors with their wands already drawn.

"And have them miss all the fun? Dumbledore, I'm surprised at you."

A collective shudder ran through the group at the slinky, ominous voice of Lord Voldemort. The black-robed figure seemed to be melting in from the shadows at the end of the corridor, a dozen Death Eaters at his command. Dumbledore alone seemed completely calm.

"Let the children go, Tom," he said clearly. "There is no need to keep innocent students here for this."

Voldemort glided forwards a few paces. A calculating smile spread over his lips as he stared hard at each of the present Marauders in turn. Dawn felt as though someone was sliding ice cubes along her spine as she found herself wrapped up in the glare of red eyes she had seen so many times in her dreams. Around her she felt James, Sirius and Remus tensing and Dawn sensed rather than saw Buffy and Spike shifting, poised for an attack.

"No," Voldemort said at last, his voice menacing in its softness. "Let them stay. I will give them more of an education in one night than this pathetic hovel offers in seven years."

Dumbledore's voice softened in resignation and the old wizard thought quickly, hoping to stall Voldemort's attack by keeping him talking. "You learned much in your time here, you simply took the wrong lessons to heart."

"Fool," Voldemort laughed. "If you truly believe that, then you are even more the dotard than I believed, old man. I will succeed, and the world will be purified of all the Muggle and Mudblood garbage you cherish so. You say to me 'let them go'. But where will your precious students go when then world is at my feet and their options are but to submit to me or die?"

"Do you truly believe you can achieve that, Tom? The world is not made for the kingdom of one man."

"I will have my world, one way or another," Voldemort muttered, but his attention had shifted from Dumbledore to the people behind him. He took in each of the Scoobies in turn, for a long time staring at Buffy as if he was taking the measure of her power. But the Slayer stood firm against him, her glare challenging his through every heartbeat until finally Voldemort turned his attention to Willow. He smirked. Again he felt the power, but the redhead was not as firm as the miniscule blonde had been. He could practically see her shaking with fear, but it was not fear of him. It was fear of herself. She was corruptible. All she needed was a little push.

He flicked his wrist, sending a bolt of darkness right into Willow's heart. The Wicca screamed; black was bleeding through her veins, eyes and hair.

Instantly, all the attention turned in on her. Giles was trying to whisper in her ear and keep her grounded, while Buffy and Spike stepped up to hold her steady and Xander and Anya milled nervously behind them. The Death Eaters were watching with a sick, hungry sort of amusement as the black seeped deeper and darker into Willow. She was slipping.

Dumbledore had not moved his glare from Voldemort's anticipating sneer. But then Willow gave a violent screech that threw the Scoobies back against the wall with its force, and the Headmaster was forced to make a split-second decision.

He spun around, robes billowing, and raised his hands towards Willow. Black eyes glared at him, an angry snarl escaped her lips as she was encased in something flowing and eternal, like warm water. Everyone seemed to pause and watch him with fascination as the blackness slowly seeped from Willow into her protective covering, and nobody seemed had noticed that with Dumbledore's energies focused behind him, there was now nobody standing between the Marauders and Voldemort.

The Dark Wizard appeared to have quite forgotten Willow even existed, he was smiling broadly as Daw and the boys stared up at him in silent terror. He took them all in, his eyes lingering longest on Sirius and James. It took every ounce of their Gryffindor willpower to stand and take it.

"James Potter… Sirius Black… we meet at last," Voldemort said in his most cultured tones, as if a casual acquaintance had just introduced them at a gathering. "I've heard many things about the both of you."

"I'm sure you have," James replied as bravely as he could.

"Hmm," Voldemort said coolly. "It's not too late for you, you know, Potter. The rest of your worthless blood-traitor family have made their fatal errors in standing against me, and so shall pay the price in due time. But you can rise above them all, James. Rise to greatness by my side."

James narrowed his eyes and refused to dignify Voldemort's request with an answer. Voldemort, meanwhile, was now focusing all his attention on Sirius. They could hear him clucking his tongue softly as he kept the younger Wizard hypnotized in his stare.

"Sirius, Sirius, do you not know your own surname, and all that comes with it? You are better than this rabble… this riff-raff… you should not fear your rightful place in the world."

Sirius raised his chin a notch in defiance at the notion, and Voldemort let out a hiss of amusement.

"The things you should know, Sirius my boy," he lamented. "You do not know how close acceptance is to you. That's all you want, isn't it? Acceptance… Family. I will show you that, they will love you again if you follow me. You will even have Potter by your side still, and together I will teach you the most amazing things, even more amazing than you can imagine. It's time to put away boyhood pranks and games, embrace what you truly are."

James' eyes had remained narrowed and his face hard, although his heart was pounding and he was praying deep down that Dumbledore would hurry up and help Willow so he could intervene for them. He hated to think what would happen to him and Sirius when they told Voldemort exactly where he could stick his offer.

"What do you want from us?" he tried implementing Dumbledore's stall tactic from earlier.

"Astute, Potter. Very astute," Voldemort nodded in approval. "Of course I would not offer a two Gryffindor brats such a gift of opportunity without wanting a token of your loyalty… just a little thing… I don't even know why you would value it in the first place…"

Both boys being addressed stood a little more stiffly, dread churning in their stomachs as Voldemort named his prize. The red eyes had locked hungrily on the one thing neither would give up without a fight to the death and then some.

"I want the Mudblood… I don't have a pet, but I would like one. I think she'll do."

He reached a hand out to pluck Dawn away, but lightning fast Remus had pulled her a step backwards, out of his reach. Sirius and James stepped up together to bravely create a human shield between Dawn and Voldemort. The other Professors were moving in, and the Scoobies and Dumbledore had realised what was happening, but none were in a position to block the students from harm's way. James was shaking his head wordlessly. Sirius was more vocal.

"Get stuffed," he snapped, for a heartbeat not caring to whom he was addressing himself.

Voldemort cocked his head to the side for a moment, as if he did not quite understand Sirius' comeback. Then his lip curled into a sneer. "Rudeness to your superiors should not be tolerated, boy. If Dumbledore has not taught you this lesson, I shall do so myself. Crucio!"

Dawn screamed. She shoved Sirius aside, out of the line of fire. It was sheer luck that the violent jet of light missed her by a mere centimetre as well, and behind her McGonagall was spared the pain only by her feline reflexes. Sirius stumbled, gained his feet, and stared defiantly back at Voldemort, who was still regarding him as if he was no more than a cheeky schoolboy.

Dumbledore's eyes blazed with a fury few had ever seen in them. "I will not stand by and allow you to harm my students, Tom!"

Voldemort chuckled. "There are pitifully few of you to try and stop me," he remarked.

"Those guys look pissed enough to help out," Buffy commented, looking beyond the Death Eaters, to where several Aurors had just Port-Keyed in. Their wands were already raised.

Dawn didn't even know who had fired off the first curse. All she knew was that there were jets of light in every colour rocketing off in every direction, Buffy had yelled, "Down!" at them, and McGonagall had taken all four students to the floor in one move.

"Take cover any way you can," the Deputy Headmistress ordered, and a heartbeat later she was back on her feet and duelling like a champion.

Dawn and Remus had scrambled to a shallow alcove set in one of the walls, but James and Sirius had flattened themselves against the other wall, barely covered by a suit of armour. The Marauders stared helplessly at each other across the gulf of fighting, but then they heard a cry of surprised pain; Anya had taken a hex to the back and crumpled to the floor. It occurred to the Marauders one by one that the Scoobies were hampered in their physical style of attack by a lack of magical cover, as Willow was still firmly enclosed in her protective casing and was unable to either affect or be affected by the outside world.

Soon enough, all four of them had their wands out and were firing off defensive spells to cover the Scoobies' backs, although James was also keeping a close watch on the tall, sturdy form of his father as he fended off two Death Eaters at once.

Voldemort and Dumbledore had moved ahead of the rabble. Jets of light, fire, water, knives, ropes and serpents were flying back and forth so fast it was a blur between them as they duelled; Voldemort hissing in anger while Dumbledore merely looked as though he'd come out for a spot of exercise. Buffy and Spike were eyeing off the Dark Lord wistfully, but both had figured out early on that they just didn't have the weapons to get close enough to inflict the damage they so dearly wanted to. Instead they were making a competition of knocking down the most Death Eaters for the Aurors and Professors to more easily bind.

Buffy smiled with pleasure as they largest Death Eater stepped within range. "The bigger they are…" she murmured.

It looked as if the Death Eater was sneering at her size beneath his mask. Buffy cracked her knuckles.

"Well my guess is this will take about four seconds."

The Death Eater raised his wand, but Buffy batted his hand away as easily as she would swat a fly.

"Oh please. How about next time, I give you a head start to make it fair?" she taunted.

The Death Eater growled and stepped in. Buffy punching him in the stomach so he doubled over, then stepped back to kick him squarely in the face. The mask and hood flew off, revealing the battered face of Rabastan Lestrange.

Dawn gasped. Memories of being captured, taunted and tortured flooded her mind as she looked into the Death Eater's face. Details that had previously been locked deep in her mind broke free and rushed to the surface. The effect was like multiple flashes of a series of rapid-fire photographs behind Dawn's eyes.

Lost

Estranged

Stung

Tangled

Ripped

Alone

Nothing

Gone

Empty

LESTRANGE!

Dawn threw her head back and screamed. All those still standing turned to look at her as she pointed a shaking hand at Lestrange and screamed again. Buffy paused, torn between hitting the bad guy again and moving to comfort her sister, but when Dawn managed to speak she ended up doing neither.

"Daddy!" Dawn yelled. "Dad, it's him! I remember now, it was him who hurt me."

Harold pushed roughly forwards towards Dawn. "Dawn, are you sure?"

Dawn was nodding hysterically, tears in her eyes. "Yes! It's him, I swear."

The Aurors immediately closed in on Lestrange, but Voldemort waved his wand and everybody in the hall not bearing the Dark Mark was thrown flat on their faces. Buffy looked up just in time to see the Death Eaters all touch something around their necks and disappear. By the time everyone was back on their feet, there was no trace of them.

"Damn it!" yelled Mad-Eye Moody, his electric blue eye swivelling in all directions in the vain hope of catching a lead.

"Well, at least we've got a positive I.D. on one of them now," Harold salvaged over the top of Dawn and James' heads. "We can get to work on bringing the bastard in."

"Ho can we be sure he's our guy from the abduction, though?" Moody asked, looking suspiciously at the back of Dawn's head as it laid against Harold's chest. "She was given the Identity Masking Agent."

"We still don't know all that much about it. There may be an expiration on its effectiveness, or it might be susceptible to memory triggers like the one Dawn's just had," Harold argued. He looked down at Dawn and smoothed a hand over her hair. "Dawn, honey?"

Dawn pulled back just far enough for her big blue eyes to peer up at Harold.

"We need to make sure this is right. Do you think we could let Madam Pomfrey do some tests on you, to see if the Identity Masking Agent is gone from your system? You won't have to do anything you don't want, sweetheart, I promise."

Dawn bit her lip, but nodded trustingly. Behind her, the Scoobies had gathered awkwardly, a decontaminated Willow having been released by Dumbledore and Anya having been revived by Flitwick. They were all watching the moment of tenderness. Buffy was looking at Dawn with her 'father' with a mix of sadness and jealousy. Xander shifted nervously from foot to foot.

"So, what else do you do for fun around here?"


A.N: 25 pages typed, I think that's the longest chapter I've ever written! R&R!