The next morning, Dawn awoke early and hurried to get down to the great hall before everyone else was up. She was praying that she might be able to see Draco before other people were around. As she entered the great hall, she fell her heart leapt at the sight of the single student: Draco. He looked up when she entered, and they both smiled,
"Hey." Dawn said, sitting the wrong way on the seat beside him.
"Hey." He grinned. She noticed his swift glance round the room before he kissed her.
"You're so paranoid." She laughed.
"Hey, you came down early too."
"Yeah, touché." She smiled sadly.
"You met the trio then?" Draco asked. Dawn breathed deeply,
"Uh-huh. They're really nice, Draco. But they did ask the question, like you said they would." They laughed together,
"Lemme guess, they can't get their heads round me being nice to you?"
"Oh yeah. 'Specially Ron… Weasley." Draco grinned again,
"It's ok Dawn. They're your housemates, and I'm sure they're great… to you. Don't screw it up on my account."
"I just…" Dawn sighed, touching his cheek, "I don't want this to be so hard! I shouldn't have to hide this from people I think could be really good friends… but I don't want you hurt."
"Don't you worry about me, doll." They smiled, and kissed again.
Back in Gryffindor tower, Hermione was the next of the girls to get up. She was just getting dressed when she noticed a piece of paper, not parchment, on the floor near her bed. Thinking that maybe it was one of the letters from her mum, she picked it up, wondering how it had got there. It was only when she'd started reading that she realised this wasn't hers. Her conscience wailed as she knew she should put it down right now, but sentences kept leaping out at her:
……..Draco was weird about it at first, but then I yelled at him some and he came around. He really is sweet y'know, underneath it all…….. really hard to deal with the way they all see him… they think he's so nasty, and from what he told me, I cant blame them……… I think I more than just like him, and please don't come and slay him or something, but we kissed this morning, and it was amazing……… I'm worried that I'll never be accepted if people know……
Hermione felt her breath catch in her throat. She hadn't realised that Dawn was that close to Malfoy. From this letter, she couldn't help feeling a pang of guilt at the difficulty they posed for the new girl. Looking over it again, she recognised that Buffy was the sister Dawn had told them about. She frowned at the 'don't come and slay him' bit, 'slay' was an odd word to use, she thought, and who is 'Spike'? Hermione shrugged it off and found her annoying goody goody side telling her she had to admit this to Dawn. She even consoled herself in the idea that someone knowing might take some strain off. Hermione finished getting ready quickly, and headed downstairs in the hope of getting a chance to talk alone with Dawn.
When she entered the great hall, she saw Dawn sitting with Malfoy, and quickly sat facing away. Over on the Slytherin table, Draco groaned,
"Granger alert- she looks edgy." Dawn twisted to look, and smiled when she saw that Hermione wasn't looking.
"I guess I'll see you in potions?" Dawn smiled. Draco nodded, and pulled her into a final kiss,
"See ya." Dawn gave him a little wave as she went to join Hermione.
"Heya." She said brightly, sitting beside her new friend.
"Hi." Hermione said far to quickly. Draco had been right; she was way edgy.
"You ok?" Dawn asked.
"Uh-huh." Dawn had the feeling there was something Hermione wanted to say.
"What is it?" Dawn asked with a sigh. Hermione looked at her sharply,
"You are annoyingly good at reading people, you know that?" Hermione smiled. Dawn tilted her head to one side,
"So…" she urged.
"I… please don't be mad… I found this on the floor, and thought it was mine…" she handed the paper to Dawn, whose eyes widened when she realised what it was.
"You read it?" it was more a statement than an accusation, and Hermione nodded, hoping this was a good sign. Dawn briefly closed her eyes, "And…?" Hermione frowned slightly,
"Well it's really none of my business." She said simply.
"But you think its crazy that I'm like that with him."
"See… it's annoying." Hermione was glad to see this had the desired effect in that Dawn laughed a little. "Look, Dawn… I don't know how much he told you, from the sounds of it, it was most everything…and I don't know what happened with his father… but I guess, if you've spent half the summer with him, and you really believe he's ok… then I wont get in your way. All I'm saying is… be careful." Dawn smiled, feeling her slight anger ebb away at Hermione's words.
"Thank you." Dawn said, smiling genuinely. "It means a lot that you care, and that you don't hate me because of…"
"What? Dawn, was that what you were afraid of? That would be stupid! Why would I hate you?"
"Some people would… Ron would." Hermione hesitated.
"Maybe he'd freak at first, but Ron freaks about everything, Dawn. That's just Ron. He'd get over it. It's not up to us anyway. If you like him, you like him, and I wont argue with that. Hell I'll help you hide it if you still want to." The two girls grinned at each other, and Dawn felt she'd made a long-term friend. They hugged quickly to close the deal, and finally gave in to the gorgeous smells coming from the various dishes on the table.
When the boys came down, they severely reprimanded the girls for leaving without them and strange as it was, Dawn felt a great warmth in the fact that she was included in this, meaning she was part of the group. She realised minutes later that the fact they knew she was friendly with Malfoy made this even more significant.
"Oh yeah, Dawn, who's the new Dark arts teacher?" Harry asked a little way in.
"No idea." Dawn shrugged, "The guy isn't supposed to turn up til today, so I've had Snape all summer." She grimaced. Ron smiled fondly,
"Hey, she's a quick learner, this one!" Harry laughed and scanned the teachers table,
"I guess that must be him coming in right now." He said. The others turned to look, and Dawn dropped her fork with a clash against the plate. Her jaw dropped.
"Oh, My, God!!" she gasped.
"What?" three voices asked in unison as Dawn totally cracked up laughing. When she'd sobered a little, she turned to her expectant friends.
"If he's the new Dark arts teacher, then… oh I can't wait to see Snape's face!!" she laughed again,
"What!?" Hermione exclaimed, "Do you know him? Who is he?"
"He's… he was my sisters…." Dawn caught her tongue in the nick of time. "He err, I knew him back in Sunnydale. His name is Wesley Windam-Price."