A/N: it was brought to my attention on another site that Giles' house was in Bath and I placed it in Aberdeen pretty near to Hogsmeade for my own purposes...so all will be explained in a couple chapters
Dawn continued breathing heavily, though this time it was from a surge of adrenaline as she gripped her stake tightly, ready to go for the knife at her calf if need be, if anything, life on the Hellmouth had taught her to be prepared for anything.
"You're not a student," the man said matter-of-factly.
"Keen observances, Jessica Fletcher" Dawn snapped, a look of full mistrust directed at the man in front of her.
"So who are you?" he asked calmly and collectedly, though she could see the underlying strain and readiness to attack, should the need arise.
"You kinda assaulted me, who the hell are you?" she retorted.
The man seemed to contemplate his answer for a moment, searching her over with narrowed eyes "I am Professor Snape, I teach at the school" he answered.
"Yeah well if you teach at the school, then why aren't you there?" Dawn asked suspiciously.
"I don't think that's any of your business" Snape replied "what's your name?"
"Dawn Summers" she replied, not relaxing in the slightest.
"Do you live in Hogsmeade, Miss Summers?" Snape asked with a raised eyebrow. Dawn realized almost immediately what he was doing, Spike had done it to her years previous when he had kidnapped her to get to Buffy. He was interrogating her; well two could play at that game, she thought.
"No, do you?" she returned.
"I live at the school" he replied carefully "What are you doing in Hogsmeade so late at night?"
"Exploring" she lied, like she was really going to tell this man she was drawn to this place.
"Exploring…" he repeated slowly "Miss Summers, how exactly did you come to be in Hogsmeade?" he asked curiously.
"I was running from the group of vampires you so ungracefully dragged me into, thanks" She snapped back and narrowed her eyes, her straight brown hair swinging around her face and she flipped it over her shoulder irritably.
"Do you regularly fight vampires?" Snape asked, his eyebrows shooting up, looking faintly amused.
"Only when they attack me" Dawn returned without missing a beat.
"And why would a vampire attack you?" he continued on.
"Because I'm a tasty morsel" she retorted "are you done with the twenty questions?"
"DAWN!" she heard Faith yell and the dark haired slayer ran up and wrapped her arms around the younger girl. Dawn was surprised to find that Faith was shaking slightly and she hugged her tightly to calm her nerves "I thought you were dead somewhere, your phone just died!" Faith said, a wild look in her eyes.
"Muggles?" Snape asked himself "in Hogsmeade…?"
"Excuse me?" Dawn asked, turning her glare back to the man in black.
"Pardon me" Snape said politely and backed up a couple steps to give them their privacy, a thoughtful expression on his face.
Dawn cocked her head curiously and turned back to Faith who's jaw was shaking minutely. "I'm sorry, Faith, I have no idea what happened, really" Dawn began. She felt incredibly bad for making the Slayer worry.
"It's ok, really" Faith said "I thought it was kinda funny that you snuck out your window, without telling me, it reminded me of how I used to be" she smiled slightly. "But then I called and you were running and everything got a little less amusing, but still, I was ok with it. Once your phone died, however, I panicked, what happened?"
"I ran into this village and into one of the buildings, Grumpy McBritches over there, mistook me for a student at the local private school and gave me a detention, intent on dragging me back to the school. But he dragged me out into the group of vamps…I staked one!" Dawn said excitedly.
"What about the other two?" Faith asked, looking around warily.
"He set them on fire, he can do magic" Dawn said, pointing to Snape who looked shocked.
"Why is he holding a twig?" Faith cocked an eyebrow, taking in the dark robes and sallow skin of the man Dawn pointed to.
"It's a wand" Snape replied, looked offended.
"Oooh" Dawn said, her eyes lightening up "Wand magic! I've read about that!" a large smile broke out across her face "except I don't have one so I've only ever tried natural magic, which is less directional" Dawn frowned and turned to Faith. "See, a wand is used to channel your magical energy and force it in one direction" she explained quickly and Faith smiled tightly and placed a hand over Dawn's mouth.
"So you're witches?" Snape asked.
"No" Faith replied at the same time that Dawn replied "Kinda"
Snape blinked in confusion "You must be, there is no other way that you could get into Hogsmeade" he stated, clearly flustered and Faith smirked at him.
"Easy there, talk, dark and imposing" Faith said, holding her hands up with a small laugh "we don't live very far from here, it's kinda…that direction" Faith pointed vaguely behind her.
Snape stood there for a moment, unsure of how to proceed. A loud explosion in the not too far distance saved him, however. His eyes widened comically and he ran through the night, his robes billowing behind him. Dawn and Faith shared a look and as one, took off after him.
The scene that they both stumbled upon was one of general mayhem and chaos "Dawnie, these aren't vampires" Faith said, her eyes searching over the people expertly "they're not demons either, they're human…"
Dawn felt Faith tense beside her and automatically place a soothing hand on her arm. "What can we do?" Dawn asked, "we don't have the authority to fight humans"
Faith turned her head and grasped Dawn's hand, ready to just walk away, until a bright green light shot past her head, barely missing it because she had just turned. She heard a frenzied shout and saw the same man from before, wand raised, shouting Latin.
"Faith!" Dawn yelped and pulled the Slayer backward.
"I'm ok" Faith replied and glared at the chaos "Now, I'm pissed"
"Faith…no…" Dawn protested softly "we can't do anything"
"They're wand users right?" Faith asked, looking at her pointedly "Take away their wamds, Dawn, they're left with nothing, they'll have no choice but to stop."
"Smart…I like it" Dawn nodded.
"No…no" Faith said, looking at Dawn firmly "Buffy would kill me if I let you break up a magic fight"
"She doesn't have to know…" Dawn said coyly and before Faith could continue to protest, she leaped forward into the fight, ducking a spell.
Faith has no choice but to run after her, she had to protect the younger girl. She had actually started to like Dawn in the time that they had spent together and if anyone hurt her, they were in for a hell of a Slayer beating.
Dawn definitely inherited her sister fast reflexes, if not her ability to move gracefully when she was concentrating. If only she could have those other pesky Slayer traits such as quick healing and super strength, then she'd totally be good to go. As it was, all she had to work with was 16-½ year old strength and a year of Slayer training.
Dawn spun out of the way of a curse and kicked one of the masked men in the stomach in one fluid motion that she was extremely proud of. As she was mentally celebrating the accomplishment, however, she slumped to the floor, unconscious.
Faith saw Dawn go down, and the man that was standing over her with a wand, she also saw the fact that he was preparing to do another spell on the fallen girl. "DAWN!" Faith screamed and intuitively disarmed the man that she was grappling with before running full tilt towards the other one. She caught him around the waist and bared him to the ground, punching for all she was worth, slowly feeling what little self-control she had, slip.
Buffy had entrusted Dawn to Faith, to make sure nothing happened to her. That meant a lot to Faith seeing as how she hadn't done a lot in the past to inspire such trust and it wasn't even a day into English life and she had already gotten Dawn hurt.
A hand wrapped around her arm and yanked her up, away from the man, spinning her around. She came face to face with the dark robed man and pushed away from him with a twisted glare. After looking around and realizing that the fight was over, she rushed to Dawn and picked her up. "Come on, Dawnie, wake up…" Faith mumbled, shaking her lightly
"She's only been stunned" The man said, his voice velvety smooth, as opposed to his flustered state earlier.
Faith shot him a poisonous look, that probably would have withered away a demon, but the man seemed unfazed. "How.Do.I.Wake.Her.Up?" she asked, her voice clipped and deliberate.
"Enervate" he replied simply, pointing his wand at the teen.
Dawn began to stir and then groaned, sitting up slowly "Ow, my head" she groused "what happened?"
"Dawn!" Faith threw her arms around the girl's neck.
"Uh…Faith?" Dawn asked, her eyebrows shooting up.
Faith pulled away awkwardly, looking embarrassed "sorry…" she muttered.
"You two" Snape said pointing at the both of them and Dawn looked up at him curiously "I demand that you go willingly to the castle or you will be forced, you have been formally accused of being a spy, how do you plead?"
"What do mean, spies?" Faith spat.
"Well you didn't harm the Deatheaters, did you? You merely disarmed them, that's a little suspicious" Snape lifted an eyebrow and crossed his arms, glaring.
"We don't have the authority to harm a human being" Dawn replied, standing to her feet and in front of Faith protectively "So don't you get on our case about not harming them."
"How do you plead?" Snape asked icily.
"Not guilty" Faith answered, standing to her feet as well.
"Of course you do" he sneered in response "Nymphadora, take them to the castle and then call the Minister"
The woman, Nymphadora, had vibrant pink hair and was currently making a face at Snape's back. Dawn hid a giggle behind her hand as the woman walked towards them. "Technically he doesn't have the authority to order me around, but in times like these… it's best if you just come along and tell the truth" she said, grabbing both women by the arms and walking them forward.