"Oh, that's ok." Dawn said, still flustered. "I'm Dawn." She shook his hand.
"Yeah, Summers, right?" Dawn nodded, "I was told you were coming." He helped her to bring in her stuff and showed her up a staircase to a large room, which held five beds, but only one made. "This is the fifth year girls room. I'm up the other stairs. Oh, this trunk is for you. They left it earlier, figured it'd be easier than all these bags… most people have trunks." He seemed at a loss for anything else to say.
"Thanks." Dawn smiled, "I'll sort all this out later… can't be bothered right now."
"Yeah, I guess you must be tired…"
"No… I mean, I am, but I'm all excited too, so I… could you show me around?" The boy seemed to brighten,
"Yeah, sure." He led her back down stairs to the common room and out into the passage. "Down here is the potions dungeon, where Professor Snape teaches. He's the head of Slytherin too. The teachers will show you their classrooms tomorrow." They went up to the entrance hall, where he pointed out the big doors opposite the marble staircase. "That's the great hall. It's huge, and the ceiling is enchanted to look like the sky outside."
"Wow!" she gasped in genuine astonishment. Draco smiled at this, and continued outside.
"There's a giant squid in the lake." He told her, and she laughed. He frowned slightly, "I was serious, look." He pointed down the lawn to the lake where the enormous creature floated in the afternoon sun.
"Oh!" she cried, and laughed again. They walked down the lawn, and Draco pointed out Hagrid's house, and the forbidden forest. She laughed again at this, "Uh-huh, I hadn't noticed the forest." She said sarcastically. He nudged her, laughing too. After seeing the whomping willow and the Quidditch pitch, and when Draco had explained the complexities of Quidditch, Dawn found herself relaxing into this place. She'd been terrified all day until now, and as the sun began to set, and she walked the lawns with Draco, she began to feel that this could really be home after all.
That evening, they had dinner with the teachers in the great hall, and Dawn once again found herself with her eyes wide as the food appeared on the plates. Draco found this extremely amusing, but when she said in retort that she'd only just found out about being a witch, he became much quieter. Dawn felt like she'd said something wrong.
After dinner, Draco went straight to his room, so Dawn followed suit, still wondering what she'd done wrong. She packed all her new stuff neatly into the trunk, which seemed to be much bigger inside than it looked outside. She piled her clothes in too, and pushed the suitcase under the bed. For a few minutes, Dawn just sat by the window, stroking the feathers of her new owl, who she had not yet named. It took a little while for her to realise that the stairs from the common room had bought her up above ground again, hence the window. She laughed shortly at herself, and finally decided that she needed to know what had upset Draco. She found the entrance to the boys' staircase in the common room, and climbed until she found the door claiming to be the fifth year room. She knocked tentatively. Presuming he hadn't heard, she knocked louder. When Draco still did not answer, Dawn opened the door, her sister's short fuse showing in the younger Summers' sister.
"Look." She said, as Draco looked up, "If I said something, or did something to piss you off, just tell me, ok? It's not my fault I'm new in this, so what is your problem!?" Draco looked shocked.
"I… I didn't…" he sighed. "When you said you only just found out about all this… it confused me. You didn't seem like a mud… muggle-born. You just… sorry." Draco was having a hard time figuring out exactly what he should be feeling, let alone saying. Right from the start he'd felt the power in this girl and presumed she was pure blood. It hadn't really occurred to him that if she were, then she would have come long ago. It had shocked him when he'd realised this amazing girl was really that which he'd grown up hating. Amazing girl? He thought, where'd that come from?
"So what's wrong with not having magical parents?" Dawn said angrily. She intended to get a straight answer before informing him of the truth of her origin.
"Well… my family…" wow Dawn thought, he's ashamed. That had been the last thing she'd expected. She got the feeling from what he'd said that the idea of her being muggle born disgusted him, but now… "My whole life I've been told that pure-bloods are better. But when I met you today, I could feel the strength in you. I automatically presumed you were pureblood, otherwise how could it flow so strong in your veins? I've always trusted everything my father told me… until this year… but that isn't the point. I guess it freaked me out that … I like you, even though you'd never even heard of real magic 'til now." Dawn realised this was a moment of serious weakness for the boy, and that this was not something that happened very often. She sat beside him on the bed.
"That's not exactly true." She shrugged. "I knew magic was real, just not this kind." Draco frowned. "I knew about Wicca, and demons, vampires and alternate dimensions. But I didn't know there was a whole different world, all these people…" Dawn's excitement at her new life seeped through into her voice.
"Cool… I've only heard rumours about that stuff… nothing solid." Draco said. "So are you a Wiccan then?" Dawn snorted a laugh,
"No way! I can't do a damn thing! But I know a couple of witches, and an ex-demon… and a vampire actually… two vampires." Draco raised his eyebrows.
"Demons and Vampires?"
"Ex-demon." Dawn corrected. "And one of the vampires has a soul. The other has a chip which stops him hurting people, plus he's in love with… the slayer, so he doesn't try to hurt people… he's mostly a good guy."
"The Slayer? As in vampire Slayer?" Dawn nodded,
"You've heard of her?" It was Draco's turn to snort,
"Dawn, sorry to break it to you, but he was stringing you a tale. Vampire Slayers don't exist!" Dawn raised one eyebrow.
"Really." She said. Draco frowned,
"What?"
"He didn't tell me a story. I found out because the girl he was in love with happened to be my sister." Draco's jaw dropped,
"Your sister?"
"Yup. My sister is the slayer."
"Serious?"
"Seriously." Dawn laughed.
"Shit." Draco said.
"You can say that again."
"Well I guess… if there's slayer blood in your family…"
"Uh-uh, still not quite right…" Dawn winced
"What do you mean?"
"I… it's complicated." She conceded. Draco shrugged,
"Don't worry. I think I may be able to cope with you not being pure blood, as long as you don't tell anyone I hung out with you, cos that would totally wreck my reputation!" Dawn laughed.
"So how come you're here in the holidays?" Draco went a bit pale. "Sorry. That's none of my business." Dawn said quickly.
"No, it's ok." He said, shaking his head. "It's just… my father… did McGonogall tell you about Voldemort?"
"Briefly. Big evil guy, right?" Draco smiled grimly at Dawn easy acceptance of this fact.
"Yeah, big evil guy. Well, my dad was right in Voldemort's inner circle, and everyone knew it… so when Voldemort returned, when Fudge finally admitted it… my father fled… went to join Voldemort… my mother took ill, I guess she just couldn't take this stuff anymore." Draco's voice was dry and bitter, and he had the strangest feeling that he could tell this girl the truth, no matter her heritage. "All these years, I've listened to everything my father taught me about who is better, who is stronger… he told me Voldemort was the most amazing man… truth is I never really thought Voldemort would return! … I've said… and done some bad stuff in the past few years, Dawn, I wont deny it… but when it comes down to it, that's all just talk! Y'know? Killing people, torturing people… that's a whole different thing… I just never realised it would come to this…" his voice broke, and Dawn laid a comforting hand on his shoulder.
"It's ok, Draco… I understand. Obviously I don't know the things you've said or done, but I'm getting that it's probably all been to live up to your father, right?" Draco hesitated, but nodded. "Well, you don't have to do that any more… your dad is gone. Be who you want to be."
"You don't get it, Dawn… that is who I am! I always have been… I mean, look at today… I freaked out cos I realised you weren't pureblood!! I'm racist… I'm worst than that…"
"No." Dawn said. "You don't have to be. The past doesn't matter, Draco! It's what you feel now… what you do from now on that matters." Draco shook his head,
"No."
"Yes." Dawn smiled, "Hell, Draco, you remember the vampire I told you about?" Draco nodded, frowning. "Well, he has killed hundreds of people in the past. He killed two slayers. He was known as 'William the Bloody' and dubbed 'spike' because of what he liked to do with railroad spikes. But only months ago he risked his life plenty of times to save and protect me and the others back home. He fought along side us. He is still a demon. He is still the same person that did those awful things, but he has changed. If you don't like the shit Voldemort stands for, then stand against it. You don't have to be your father."
"But he's so powerful… I don't know what my father would do to me…."
"So you're just gonna give in?" She spat. After a long silence, Draco answered,
"I don't know what to do… everyone in the school, except Slytherins, hates me. I don't know if I can change, Dawn."
"You can, because you already have." He looked up at her, confused. "Would you have even considered this stuff last year?" Draco reluctantly smiled,
"No." he breathed. Dawn smiled.
"I should get to bed." She said.
"Yeah." Draco replied as she made her way to the door. "Dawn?" She turned. "Thanks." Dawn smiled again,
"S'ok. See ya tomorrow."
"See ya."