The game continued in a whirl of speeding bludgers and worried boys, all of them shocked at how forcefully (and well) the girls were playing. Harry wasn't sure whether to laugh or cry when he saw yet another bludger flying at Malfoy's head, Buffy grinning triumphantly and Faith laughing at Buffy. Fred raised his club to the other bludger, ready to pelt it towards Tara, who was racing up the pitch to score her fourth goal. At the very last second, Faith turned to him, and flew quickly to his side,
"You ain't gonna hit that at poor sweet little, st-stuttering Tara, are you?" She said with an innocent face and a scolding tone.
"Erm, I… well, cos… the game…" He managed. Faith felt a wrench, knowing it was way past wrong to use his crush against him, but a moment later she had whacked his bludger in the other direction, at Charlie, and the guilt was gone.
"Thanks Freddie boy." She said, leaning over to peck him on the cheek before flying off. Fred just starred after her until a sharp pain announced that his twin brother's club had just impacted the back of his head.
"Get in the game, Freddie Boy and stop ogling the opposition!!"
Tara scored again, and Ron, getting worried now, lobbed the quaffle as far as he could out to Malfoy as much as he hated to actually work with the Slytherin boy. Draco caught the red ball, and spun to head for the other goal. Only metres from it, Dawn suddenly appeared infront of him. Draco veered off course to avoid her, only to find a widely grinning Hermione in his way instead. Again he dodged, but Tara too was blocking him. He felt a hand low on his back, as Dawn leant over to him, shocking him with the touch and grabbing the ball at the same time,
"Thanks sweetie." She cooed, chucking it to Tara. Draco actually growled, grabbing Dawn's wrist as she turned away. Dawn shrieked, but grinned.
"You'll pay for that Summers!" He told her. Dawn just laughed. Draco pulled her closer, kissing her in mid air. Dawn almost forgot that she was floating high above the ground, just wanting to melt into Draco's embrace, but the sound of rushing air made them both pull back- just in time. A bludger flew past so fast that it ruffled Dawn's hair. Draco's eyes widened in shock, realising as they both saw a fuming Buffy glaring at them that the bludger had been very seriously intended for his head. Dawn giggle again, and flew away.
Right then, while watching all this, and feeling burning envy for Malfoy, Harry saw a flicker of gold and flew downwards, only to stop abruptly as he realised it was merely the reflection of Xander's watch- he, Giles, Wesley and a few others were watching from the stands. But Ginny was racing upwards. With a jolt of shock, Harry saw that she had nearly reached the snitch. He darted after her, gaining on her faster and faster. Both Faith and Buffy thumped a bludger each , and both flew straight at Harry.
"Harry!" Ron yelled. Harry dodged, without even looking round, but at the speed they were going, one bludger still winged him, sending the Gryffindor boy spinning off course. Dawn saw what was coming before it happened, and urged her broom into overdrive, moving as quick as she possibly could towards the bludger, and Ginny. Ginny didn't hear the warning yells, just took them for yells of irritation and/or encouragement. The snitch was feet away; she was grinning.
Dawn was right behind the bludger, going higher, higher, higher, until suddenly, as if she had hit a brick wall, all the air was pushed from her lungs, and bright white light consumed her as she screamed.
----
damn it! Not long enough yet for me to use that as a cliffie! Argh, that would be so much fun *grins* Oh well, today u appear to be lucky!
So on it goes…
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It was the strangest thing: Dawn couldn't tell where exactly she was, but she could see that Harry was above the quidditch pitch, right where she had been a second ago. Exactly where she had been a second ago. He was whooping and cheering, the snitch held tightly in his hand. The Gryffindor team were rushing up towards him, most of the school yelling below. Then there was the light. But this time, it was not white. Just green. Two green streaks seemed to appear from nowhere, and Dawn heard herself scream as they both hit Harry. He looked vaguely shocked, before tumbling off his broom. No one managed to catch him. Harry Potter, the boy who lived, fell nearly seventy feet to the ground, and lay sprawled on the grass below.
He was dead.
Now Dawn was seeing something else, many men and women, witches and wizards, shouting at each other, arguing. They didn't even listen to Dumbledore any more.
Hundreds of people dying. People she knew, people she didn't. Screams of pain. And then even Dumbledore. She saw his shocked, starring eyes as the light within them faded.
"I failed." He gasped with his last breath.
A sickly, cackling laugh spread through the teenager's mind.
"The boy who lived lives no more, and now no one can stand in my way." The coldest voice imaginable hissed.
"Nooooooo!!" Dawn screamed. It felt as if the world rushed back, hitting her in the chest. She jerked violently on the broom, still screaming, and toppled off. Somewhere between there and what happened next, she fainted.
"Dawn!" Several voices cried in unison. At the first scream, Ginny had turned, and dodged the bludger just in time. Harry got control of his broom, and in a split second was beneath Dawn, catching her limp form.
"Dawn?" He said desperately, shaking her slightly. "Dawn, god please answer me!" But she was silent. Then Draco was at Harry's side, his face paler than ever before, his eyes wide.
"Let me take her." He said.
"I got it." Harry snapped, beginning to descend.
"Potter! Please." Draco said. Harry looked up from Dawn, meeting the Slytherin boy's eyes, shocked by his desperate, terrified tone. His eyes were almost childlike. He was in total shock, utterly petrified. And he loved her. In that second, Harry knew it. The others approaching froze, as Harry carefully passed Dawn to her boyfriend, who cradled her against his chest. Every one of them, even those who didn't know the two boys all that well, saw the significance.
Harry, Draco and Ginny glided gently but swiftly down, Charlie already flying off across the grounds to fetch Madame Pomfrey. The whole group landed, Buffy and the others rushing to Draco's side.
"Oh my god… Dawnie? Dawnie, please!" Buffy gasped. She was about to take her sister from Draco, but seeing the protective fear in his eyes, thought the better of it. Instead, she, Faith, Harry and Hermione formed a guard around the Slytherin boy, escorting him and Dawn back up to the castle, where Madame Pomfrey met them.
---
"So what the hell happened!?" Buffy asked in hushed exclamation. They were just outside the hospital wing.
"I dunno- she just fell." Harry said, shrugging. But Ginny shook her head,
"No. After I first heard her scream, I turned around, an' then she screamed again, and the look on her face… she was terrified… she looked like… it was like she had seen something awful. She didn't just faint or something like that…in fact, I think she fainted after she fell."
"You guys didn't notice where she was?" Hermione said incredulously.
"Huh?" several of them said.
"She was right where you were Harry, before."
"Huh?"
"When you disappeared! When you nearly died!"
"She was? No… not exactly…" Harry said.
"No- Hermione's right." Faith said, thinking back. "Damn. Well that's wiggy."
"More than wiggy." Buffy said, "If you're right, that's no coincidence."
"So what do we think she saw?" Xander asked.
"There's no way we could know, not yet…" Willow began.
"She saw what would have happened." Tara said suddenly. They all looked at her strangely. "When you bought her down, there was something… off… about her aura. If she momentarily shifted to an alternate dimension, or saw part of it… ough, it's hard to explain… basically, that would explain it. I think she saw what would have happened if Harry hadn't been teleported away that day."
"Oh god…" Hermione gasped, glancing at Harry. Harry felt as if his stomach had dropped away. If Tara was right, then Dawn had fallen because she saw him die. Lord knows what else was different after that, but that one thing was enough to churn his inside. In that world, I'm dead. He thought.
"She saw her friend die!?" Buffy exclaimed, "God! I hate this place!"
"B…" Faith began.
"No! It's awful! Look at all the shit Dawn has been through since she came here! It like, attracts badness… even more than me an' that's sayin' something! I thought Hogwarts was meant to be safe!"
"It is!" Hermione insisted. Buffy ignored her, heading down the corridor in the direction of Dumbledore's office.
"B!" Faith called after her. Xander put a hand on her shoulder, holding her back. This shocked the slayer. Though Xander had not exactly been cold towards her since they'd come, she had always felt that he and Willow weren't very happy about her being there; but with his hand gentle but firm on her shoulder, and his eyes not avoiding her gaze, he said,
"Don't, let her get it out." And Faith felt herself warm to her old friend once more. But she still shook her head,
"Sorry, Xand, I can't." She said. Faith shrugged his hand away, and jogged after Buffy. "Buffy!" She cried.
"What, Faith? What do you want!?"
"I want you to calm down an' listen to me! Dawn is happy here. Yeah, screwy stuff happens, but it's not as if Dawn can't deal with screwy! Don't go wail on Dumbledore because Dawn is special."
"Special? Special how, Faith?" Buffy snapped,
"Erm, Duh! Key!? Ringing any bells?" Faith retorted, but lowering her voice so that the rest of the group, who were pretending not to listen, wouldn't hear. "She's got a fuck loada power inside of her, B! Dawn's been tapping into that recently, and it has repercussions, don't freak because of that- she can handle it."
For what seemed like a very long time, Buffy just gaped at the other slayer. Eventually, she sighed, looking away. Then, in a voice that was barely audible even to Faith, she said,
"I've known Dawnie all her life- so how come you know her better than I do?"
"I don't, B. I've just been here while this crap has been goin' on. It doesn't mean I know her better. You're a good sister, B."
"How would you know?"
"From the way she talks about you, Buffy!" Faith shook her head, almost despairingly, "Every time we talk, she mentions you in some way. Every time I think we're connecting, I see the way she thinks of you, and it kills me inside that no one will ever see me that way." It was out before Faith could stop it. She could no longer meet Buffy's eyes for fear of what she would see, not even knowing what would be worse, anger, or pity. "I'm meant to be helping Hagrid…" She murmured, before striding off.
Dawn lay in the hospital wing bed, her eyes closed so that no one would know she was awake. The images constantly flowing through her head, Dawn had to remind herself that she had heard Harry's voice only minutes ago to convince herself that he wasn't dead. As long as Harry was a live, none of the rest could be real, she decided. But tears came to her closed eyes. She had witnessed the deaths of so many people she knew. She had heard their last words, their last screams… could all this really have happened if that one variable was changed? If Harry had died, would it have triggered that reality? Dawn's eyes snapped open suddenly as comprehension spread through her. Ignoring Madame Pomfrey's shocked squeal, Dawn marched out of the hospital wing, and past the assembled group outside. She had nearly reached the corner before Draco cried,
"Dawn!?" on seeing her. Everyone spun to look, but Dawn did not stop. So they took chase. With the head start, and the advantage of knowing where she was going, Dawn had reached the entrance to Dumbledore's office before the group caught up with her.
"Dawnie!" Buffy said, reaching out, but Dawn held up a hand, without looking round, and Buffy hit a wall of energy, blocking their way. Dawn stepped up to the gargoyle, then realised that she didn't know the password. But the mood she was in took no prisoners.
"Get out of the way." She said in a low growl. Willow and Tara, looking on, gasped as they both felt the pure power flow from the girl. The gargoyle came to life, looking terrified, and hopped out of the way to reveal the spiral staircase. In moments, Dawn had disappeared, the Gargoyle returning to his position, but the force field stayed in place.
"Will- can you shift this?" Buffy asked.
"I can try… but the power Dawn is using… Buffy, that comes from a much more powerful place than either Tara or I have ever been. You know that. She didn't use her wand, so that magic… it's her magic, and in Dawn's case, its not just wicca, it's a magic noone else has. I don't think I realised that til just now."
"Willow is right." Tara said. "Did you feel it just now? That power comes from the centre of her being, not simply the earth magic being channelled. And you know how powerful her true being is."
"Yeah, I know." Buffy sighed. Harry, Hermione, Ron and Draco were all listening intently, but of course only Draco knew what they meant. Hermione knew that this was the big thing Dawn was terrified to tell them, while Harry and Ron were just plain confused.
Dawn stepped into Dumbledore's office without knocking, to find him sitting at his desk, looking towards the door. He looked like he'd been waiting for her, which unnerved her a little.
"Ah, Dawn." He said, "How are you feeling?"
"Ok." She replied, her voice still stony. "I need to see the letter."
"As I expected." Dumbledore said. He opened a desk drawer, and pulled out the letter Harry had given him on returning after his disappearance. He held it out to Dawn.
"But you said only you could read it." Dawn said, confused. She hadn't expected this to be that straight forward. Dumbledore smiled his knowing smile, and held it out further. Dawn took the letter, and opened it.
Dear Dumbledore,
I figured you would be the best person to tell about this because I know I can trust you to keep this to yourself, as you told me I must, plus, the letter I got was like this… that sounds weird… I know I broke rules, but I went back in time to save Harry, because if I don't, everyone dies. Harry has to survive the quidditch match. So really, I'm giving you this letter so that when the time comes, and I come to you and ask for it, you can give this to me, so that I will know what to do. I don't fully understand time loops, but I know that this letter needs to be exactly the same as before, and that it has to be me, and that no one else can know, at least not until I do it, or it could be different. Afterwards… who knows?
So please don't tell anyone what this says, and only give it to me when I come ask for it on the day we (me, Draco, Harry, Hermione, the Weasleys and the scoobies) all play quidditch together in the Christmas holidays, and I fall off, ending up in the hospital wing. (oh, and please lend me the cool 'T.T' y'know what I mean?)
-Dawn Summers
Dawn's suspicion was now verified. The mystery person who'd teleported Harry away? It was her.
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Dum dum duuuuum! As if you hadn't already guessed!
I can leave it there. Please review! More should come quite soon, as I actually have the whole of the next chapter written, yey for me! :D