A/N: This chapter is kind of short because it was such a bitch to get out lol.

Allen Pitt: you sure do ask a lot of question huh? LOL All will be answered in due time. As for the evil slayer bit. The Slayer's power is rooted in both Darkness and Light they are aware of this and therefore know that the Slayer can be either very good or very evil.

Silent Me: Thanks for all your postiveness!

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Everything fell silent in the room after Dawn's declaration; no one could think of anything to say as the she composed herself, looking sheepish at her outburst. Then, finally, one of the portraits spoke "You know, in my day, the Ministry didn't go accusing young women all willy nilly, we had a basis and we had evidence, you've scared the poor girl senseless, you should apologize."

The Minister looked taken aback for a moment and shot the portrait a firm look. "I'll have you know, Madame, that these are dangerous times and no one can be trusted."

"If you please, Minister, The Slayer and her kin aren't a part of the Wizarding world" another portrait spoke up. Dawn furrowed her brow and looked around at all the portraits that were nodding in agreement and giving her and Faith encouraging looks, then she turned to look at Dumbledore, whose eyes were sparkling madly and he was attempting to hide a smile.

"Yeah, the girl said so herself that she didn't know the name 'Voldemort', and that was a genuine look of confusion!" another portrait added.

"You would know" another sneered.

"Shut up, Phineas"

Dawn felt a swell of amusement that she quickly squashed as she watched the portraits argue with the Minister and the Minister grow more flustered each second.

"Fine!" the Minister growled "But I want an eye kept on them!"

"As you wish, Rufus" Albus nodded "I'm sure we can make arrangement to have them looked after."

Dawn's attention was elsewhere at the moment, however, the mention of the name Voldemort had brought out her inner language geek and she recognized the different Latin words used to make the name. "Flight away from death" she said to herself curiously.

"What did you just say?" the Minister asked, looking at her sharply.

"I…" Dawn blinked at him for a moment "I said, 'Flight away from Death', it's what Voldemort means, translated from Latin…"

"Aw man!" Faith groused and flopped backward against the back of her chair "is he immortal? He's not a vampire is he?"

"That'd be too easy and you know it" Dawn admonished with a small smile at Faith's petulant behavior.

"I can still hope" Faith grumbled.

"He is human, for the most part" Dumbledore answered.

"Great!" Faith grinned "then we have no business getting involved, I knew we came to England for a reason, they don't need us here" she told Dawn.

"Yes, well…I still want an eye on them, Nymphadora, if you'd be so kind" the Minister looked over to the pink haired woman and then nodded to the two brunettes.

"Yes, sir" she nodded.

"Professor, if you have a place here where you could keep them? I very much doubt they would like to spend their time in Azkaban," he said, giving Dumbledore a look that suggested he didn't really have a choice.

"Yes, I suppose they could stay here" Dumbledore said thoughtfully and Dawn could have sworn she saw the cogs turning in his head "I'll arrange a room for them, and for Nymphadora, as well."

The Minister nodded firmly and turned swiftly, tossing powder into the fire and disappearing. Dawn blinked owlishly for a moment before turning to look at the aging man that was smiling jovially at them.

"Now then, you two don't appear to be completely out of the clear as of yet, you will remain in the castle until further notice and you will be under strict watch from both Nymphadora and myself. Please do keep in mind that there is nothing that goes on inside this castle that I do not know about…You may enter, Severus." He called to his closed door.

The door opened and the same black haired man from the village strode into the room, pausing with a sneer when he saw the two women. "What are they doing here?" he asked sourly.

"The Minister has insisted that they be kept here for observance" Dumbledore responded.

"Oh, what an intelligent Minister we have" Snape sneered "to keep two accused spies in a castle filled with students." Dawn glared at him with her arms folded but said nothing as he turned to look at her "She looks like nothing more than a student herself, how old are you, girl?" he demanded.

"Old enough to know better than to answer inane questions" she retorted.

The scowl on the man's face deepened "You do well to hold your tongue" he snapped at her "one wrong move…" he trailed off in a threatening manner.

"And what will happen?" she raised an eyebrow "I'll get scolded? I'm shaking" her lips pursed tightly and she stared at him challengingly.

"Drop it, Dawnie" Faith sighed "the sooner we can convince these people we're not spying, the sooner we can just get out of here and go home."

"I think I'd much rather be bled dry by Evil incarnate" Dawn groused sullenly and everything fell silent. It never occurred to Dawn that her statement was out of the ordinary, it seemed perfectly normal to her, having just come from a Hellmouth.

Suddenly, Snape let out a sharp gasp and turned to Dumbledore "If you'll excuse me, Professor Dumbledore, there is somewhere that I need to be" he sent the older professor a significant look and turned on his heel, striding out of the room with his cloak billowing behind him.

Faith muttered something unintelligible to Dawn, but the look on her face was enough to cause Dawn to snort in response. Faith sent her a smile and they both turned to Dumbledore when he cleared he throat rather pointedly.

"Yes, well, seeing as how it's late, Nymphadora, would you mind showing these ladies to your rooms?" he asked "I'm sure you remember the way"

"Yes, Professor" Nymphadora responded, pushing herself off the wall and motioning for the two girls to stand. She had a thoughtful expression on her face as they left the office and then she paused and looked at both brunette firmly. "I don't think you are spies" she told them "but if you prove me wrong, there will be repercussions" her eyes held a sort of danger to them that Dawn couldn't help but nod her head. "Please call me Tonks, I really do hate the name Nymphadora" she wrinkled her nose and motioned for the two girls to follow her.

"I really didn't know that all this would happen by running into the village" Dawn said, hanging her head in sorrow.

"It wasn't so much the fact that you were in the village, as that you got involved in the Deatheater fight" Tonks told her gently. Looking at the girl right now, Tonks had little doubt that she had just been in the wrong place at the wrong time and she was as confused as ever, but these were dangerous times and everyone needed to on their guard.

Dawn didn't realize how truly tired she was, after the events of the night had unfolded, it had left her both emotionally and physically drained, she was sure her legs were going to be beyond sore in the morning. As Tonks led them through a hall after going up a flight of stairs, that didn't move this time, Dawn's mind began to wander. She needed to get a message to Buffy to let her know what had happened, but this place didn't exactly seem like it would have a phone stored someone and her phone had died completely, it wouldn't even turn on, let alone get a signal.

She heaved a sigh and frowned, Buffy would flip her lid once she found out, but there was so much going on back in Sunnydale, Dawn almost didn't want to worry her, yet she knew that she had to contact Buffy either way, because they were expecting it.

"We're here" Tonks said, stopping in front of a portrait of a girl with a loose outfit on, she was giving a forest behind her a shifty look as though no one would notice if she sneaked into it.

"Password" the girl asked, not taking her eyes off the forest.

"Dog Star" Tonks replied in nary a whisper, her face suddenly drawn and tight.

Much to Dawn's surprise, the portrait swung open to reveal a large living room type space. The surprise disappeared quickly, however, as both she and Faith were ushered through the opening and into the room. There were two couches, a fireplace, a crimson rug a couple tables and chairs and four doors leading to somewhere else entirely.

"I don't think I got your names…" Tonks said, looking between the two girls.

"I'm Dawn Summers" Dawn said quietly, it seemed she had done nothing but give her name out that day.

"Faith" the dark haired Slayer replied "just Faith"

Tonks nodded in response and pointed to the nearest door. "Bathroom's right there" she told them and then went around pointing to each room "that's my room, Dawn you can have the room next to it and Faith you can take the room across the hall."

Dawn could only nod in response, to tired to really do anything else. She entered the room designated to her, took note of the bed and fell on it, not bothering to strip out of her clothes or even her shoes for that matter. Her last thought, before falling asleep, was that she really wished she could get a hold of Buffy in the morning, half wishing that her sister would storm the castle and demand her immediate release.

When she woke up the next morning, she hadn't been wrong, her legs hurt like hell. Forget about protesting her every movement, they simply refused to move. Dawn groaned and rolled over, stretching her legs out and rubbing at the muscles in her calves.

There was a slight tap on her door and then it opened, allowing Faith's head to poke around the corner of it "You ok in there, D?" Faith asked eyebrow raised.

"Peachy with a side of keen" Dawn replied through gritted teeth as she attempted to work out a particularly stubborn knot.

Faith smirked knowingly at her and let herself into the room, dropping down on the end of Dawn's bed. "Bet you wish that you hadn't run so much last night" Faith said in an almost sing-song voice.

"Damn you and your Slayer-ness" Dawn narrowed her eyes, not really angry and she was sure Faith knew that.

Faith tutted and shook her head playfully "such language, what would Buffy say?"

"Buffy's not here" Dawn said waspishly. Yes, she was just a tad bit bitter that her sister had sent her off to Europe where she was later accused of treason and held against her will, it kind of irked her.

"Ok…" Faith said slowly, holding up her hands in surrender "you planning on getting out of bed?"

"No" Dawn said sullenly and attempted to shift her legs without too much pain.

"It'll help work out the kinks, trust me" Faith told her and pulled the younger girl out of bed with the help of her Slayer strength. She set Dawn on her feet and Dawn let out a whimper of protest and started hobbling about the room.

"I really wish I had different clothes" Dawn sighed after a moment's lull in conversation. Faith just snorted in response and passed Dawn on her way out of the room.