"We have to go back for her!" Dawn yelled at Hagrid, who was having to physically restrain her.
"Don't be ridiculous! She's a slayer, she can take care of herself." This raised an excited whisper in the class, and Dawn and the trio frowned at Hagrid for blurting this out.
"So what? There're loads of them in there!" Dawn retorted, "And the other night, Buffy and Faith had a hard time dealing, and she's on her own!!"
"Dawn… there wouldn't be anything you could do!" Draco said more calmly.
"But… What if she doesn't come out?" Dawn asked. As if in answer, a horrible, inhuman cry came from just inside the forest, and the sound of running hooves met their ears. Moments later, Faith burst forth on the back of a Thestral, a Polgara demon gripping the back of the creature, trying desperately to hold on. Unsheathing one skewer, he tried to stab Faith from behind, but she dodged, pulling his arm forward and snapping of the protruding bone. The class watched as the slayer and demon wrestled on the back of the still moving Thestral as it cantered around, trying to throw the demon off without unseating Faith. This was especially interesting as more than half the class couldn't even see the Thestral. With a final growl, the Polgara collapsed off the back, it's own weapon thrust upwards into its neck. The Thestral calmed enough for Faith to dismount, before bolting back into the forest, followed by its fellows, as the fifth years clambered down. Dawn ran to Faith,
"You ok?" She squealed.
"Five by five." Faith said with a grin. Dawn frowned at her, and she rolled her eyes, "I'm fine. Look… just a scratch." She looked down at her arm, and wished she hadn't said that. Sure, for her it was just a scratch… but most people aren't used to demon damage. Dawn gasped as she looked down to the huge gash in her arm, which was bleeding profusely.
"You should get ter the hospital wing righ' now." Hagrid said, rather pale.
"I'm fine." Faith insisted, "This is nothing. Now… is everyone else ok?" She looked around, and it seemed that the whole class had gotten away unscathed. "Ok… Hagrid, no more classes in the forest, aight? No one goes near the forest, ok?" She turned to the rest of the class, "No one goes near! And Hagrid… even you should be careful."
"I go in there all the time!" He retorted,
"So what? You think the nice demons will just go 'oh, he's a regular, lets not eat him'!? If it wasn't for those …Thestrals, we'd all be demon fodder right now, you got that? I'm going to see Dumbledore."
"Faith you really should go see Madame Pomfrey!" Dawn said.
"Dawnie… you're Buffy's sister, you know this is nothing. I can deal. I'll see you later." She hurried up the lawn, barely hindered by her recently added injuries.
Hagrid didn't look happy.
"Um… I suppose… that's it fer today then… enough excitement… off yeh go." He retreated back to his house before Harry could follow.
"You guys ok?" Dawn asked them all.
"Yeah… D'you think Faith is?" Hermione replied. "Her arm looked pretty bad."
"She's had worse." Dawn sighed, "I get the feeling she got way worse last night…"
"Why would Dumbledore allow Hagrid to take a class in there if he knew about those creatures?" Harry ventured.
"I don't know." Dawn said, "But they weren't just creatures, Harry, they were demons."
"Like your sister fights?" Ron said apprehensively. Dawn nodded.
"I'm slowly getting this." Hermione murmured, as they began to walk together. She was once again linked with Ron, and Dawn with Draco. "I mean… we've been through our fair share of shit… but… as Buffy's sister… all that…" She gestured to the forest, "That's just life for you? Demons, pain… I guess I never realised what being the slayer's sister actually meant." They were all quiet for a moment, and Dawn had the distinct feeling that Hermione wanted to talk to her alone.
"Hey, guys…" She began, "It's nearly lunch, an' I need to go to the bathroom. Why don't you guys go to the hall, and we'll meet you there?" She flashed Hermione a look, and she smiled gratefully. The boys muttered agreement, and headed up the lawn, knowing they weren't wanted. It wasn't hard to tell when the girls were getting rid of them.
"So what is it?" Dawn asked once they were alone.
"It's just… You could see the thestrals. So you've witnessed death."
"Yeah," Dawn shrugged, all too casual, "Demon death."
"But we all saw Faith kill that Polgara. Obviously demon death doesn't count."
"Oh." Dawn said, grimacing as she realised she'd been caught out.
"Yeah… I'm sorry, maybe I'm outta line…" Hermione began.
"No." Dawn said, but it took her a while to figure how to say it. "It was my sister."
"Oh god, Dawnie… you had another sister?"
"Er… no. Same one, actually."
"Huh?"
"Yeh, Willow resurrected her." Dawn said quietly.
"You can do that with Wicca!?" Hermione gasped.
"Well, err, no actually." Dawn said awkwardly. "Not anymore. The urn of Osiris got smushed, so no one can do it anymore. I mean… people can still do, like, zombie stuff, but not proper resurrection." Dawn cringed at the memory of her attempt at reviving her mother.
"Damn." Hermione muttered. "I… in ordinary magic, there is no spell that can reverse death. That's one thing we cannot do." They walked in silence for a minute. "So…Willow is really powerful then?" Dawn nodded,
"Really powerful." Dawn breathed a silent sigh of relief. Hermione was more interested in Willow's power than the circumstances of Buffy's death, and although right then she was prepared to tell Hermione everything if she'd asked, she still wasn't looking forward to it. But Hermione pursued the questions of Willows strength instead, and Dawn's fearful past remained undiscovered.
Meanwhile, Faith was storming into Dumbledore's office, glad to find him alone.
"Why!?" She demanded.
"Why what?" Dumbledore asked, startled.
"Why the hell did you allow Hagrid to take a loada FIFTH years into the forest when you know damn well that it's swarming with Polgaras!?" It was now that Dumbledore began to take in her ripped clothes, and the gash on her arm. He rose sharply from his seat,
"Dear lord, what happened?" he gasped.
"What the hell do you think happened!?" She cried, fit to explode. It took all the self-control she had not to throw every swear word she knew at him- there was always the reminder within her that one word from him, and she was outta here.
"Are they alright?" The Headmaster asked, considerably paler than usual.
"Yes. But only cos I happened to meet Hagrid just before the class, and he asked me to come along, and thank god for the thestrals, that's all I can say. I mean, what the f… hell were you thinking!?"
"I had no idea it was this bad." He replied, "I had extra charms put on the forest, and I thought with the centaurs, and Hagrid and Fang… oh lord how could I let this happen." Faith softened slightly as she saw his despair.
"No one got hurt. Voldemort is probably using some sorta magic enhancement to help the demons. You couldn't have known that." She sighed.
"Even so… no more lessons in the forest. Even Hagrid…"
"Already gave that order." Faith cut in. Dumbledore raised his eyebrows. "Look, I get that you're in charge, but where demons are concerned, lets face it, I'm the only one qualified to deal."
"No quite the only one." Said a voice from the door. Faith winced- she'd been avoiding this for days. She turned slowly, "Hello Faith." He greeted.
"Wes." She said, nodding to the ex-watcher standing in the doorway.
----
I know, I'm evil. Sorry.