A/N: Could it actually be…? Yes! It is the answers to the many asked questions!…I'm crap at exposition though…so…enjoy!

Special thanks to: Allen Pitt, for putting so much thought in his reviews!
-----

Dawn finally managed to make her way out slowly into the sitting area and collapsed on the nearest couch, a distinctly uncomfortable look on her face. Both Faith and Tonks were already sitting there and there was a large stack of pancakes on a plate in the middle of the coffee table. Dawn blinked at it for a moment, wondering how it got there and then shook her head; she really didn't care to know.

"Um…Tonks…" Dawn said hesitantly. "I need to contact my sister…" she told the woman when her head shot up to look at her.

Tonks did her best to not regard the girl suspiciously but she couldn't help the words that escaped "What for?" she asked with narrowed eyes.

"Well, for one because she sent me to England to keep me out of danger and I really don't think it worked, secondly, she's a Slayer and a very protective one at that, if I don't tell her what's happened and where I am, she'll get worried and she's in the middle of a battle right now she doesn't need to be anymore worried!" her voice went shrill at the end of this statement and she took a huge breath upon realizing that she hadn't through the entire tirade.

Tonks looked a little taken aback and Faith had the decency to at least try and hide her amusement. "I'm sorry," Tonks said after a moment, shaking her head "I can't allow you to make contact with anyone outside of Hogwarts walls."

"What's a Hogwarts?" Faith asked, furrowing her brow and lifting a pancake off the stack.

"It's a lily" Dawn said absently, her mind racing. If she couldn't get a hold of Buffy…well…Buffy probably wouldn't notice right away, she had her plate pretty full back in Sunnydale.

"It's the name of the school" Tonks clarified "Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry"

Faith nearly choked on her pancake "They have schools for that?" she asked.

"That doesn't surprise me" Dawn sighed and off Faith's look she continued on "that this school is one of them, I mean, if you hadn't noticed, talking paintings aren't exactly normal and that old man did say this was the 'Wizarding World'." She pointed out.

"Yeah, I remember that part" Faith said, clearly annoyed. "I just figured this was a regular school with added magical perks"

"Well, to the kids that go here, this is normal" Tonks shrugged, "if you'll excuse me for a moment, I need to write the head of my department a letter, help yourself to the pancakes and do NOT leave this room." She ordered firmly before excusing herself to her room.

Dawn and Faith looked at each other helplessly for a moment before Dawn curled up on the end of her couch and Faith grabbed another pancake. "So…" Faith said, trying to break the awkward silence between them, her and Dawn had never done well with the silence thing.

"You know, I find it kinda weird that Giles always said he had a house in Bath and we ended up in Aberdeen…" Dawn said suddenly.

"He told me about it before we left, actually" Faith replied thoughtfully "He said that while his house in Bath was a wonderful place to be, it didn't have wards on it like his house in Aberdeen, he said he knew you'd be safe here."

"Well he was obviously mistaken" Dawn grumbled.

"I don't think he accounted for the fact that he lived next door to the Wizarding World…" Faith laughed slightly and grabbed another pancake. "You should try one of these, they're really good" she said around a mouthful.

Dawn stared at the plate and then shook her head "I'm not hungry" she replied.

"You've got to eat something, you can't just starve yourself until they let us go" Faith pointed out.

"I don't eat well when I'm worried about being in danger" Dawn told her, looking around the room for something to put her attention on.

"No wonder you're so skinny" Faith muttered.

Everything fell to silence again as Faith continued eating and Dawn let her gaze wander. There was a portrait in the room, and it was staring back at her just as curiously. It wasn't talking like the others had been, but maybe it had nothing to say, it must be very boring to be a picture. She eyed the bookcase in the room and then turned her head away from it to gaze at Faith who looked lost in thought, curled up in a chair.

"I have a question" Dawn said, startling Faith out of her reverie.

"Shoot" Faith said, after making eye contact with the younger girl.

"How were you able to get on the plane?" Dawn frowned in confusion "I mean, I know you were helping us in Sunnydale, but you did break out of prison to do it."

"Yeah" Faith nodded and took a breath "after I came to Sunnydale, I had a long talk with Willow, I was planning on going back to jail after the whole battle was over. But then Buffy asked me to take care of you and Willow told me that there was a way that she could hack into the FBI files and clear my record."

Dawn gapped at her "Willow cleared your record?" she asked incredulously.

Faith nodded silently "I don't know how she did it, personally I think there was a little more than old school hacking going on" she said.

"Yeah…" Dawn replied slowly, she wasn't sure how she felt about this new development. Sure, her and Faith were getting along fine, but the knowledge that Faith had a clear record, after everything she'd done, nothing to weigh on her conscience…it just didn't set with Dawn.

"Willow said she could put everything back the way it was once we're back in Sunnydale if that's what I wanted" Faith said quietly "and I think I might just go finish doing my time."

Dawn nodded quietly and stood up to grab a book from the bookcase she'd seen earlier, maybe reading was a better option than questioning Faith. She let out a hiss as the muscles in her legs tightened as her full weight was placed on them, she'd almost forgotten that her legs hurt, but there they were, to remind her. She hobbled over to the case and searched the titles for something interesting. 'Charms and spells any witch should know.', 'Care of Magical Creatures, volume 1', 'Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.', 'The true, the fake and the truly weird: a book of prophecies.', 'History of magic: the Goblin Rebellion.", 'Everything you ever wanted to know about the Dark Arts (and some you didn't).', 'Practical defensive magic and it's uses against the Dark Arts.'

All sorts of topics on the shelf and not a single book had she already read; though it was nice to find a book in simple English. She grabbed one of them and limped back over to the couch, dropping down roughly and opening the book.

What seemed like only minutes, but in reality was quite longer; Dawn looked up from her book. She was nearing the end of it and her eyes had gone beyond fuzzy. She blinked to readjust her vision and noticed that Faith was asleep, curled up in the chair, her face tilted towards the fire. Tonks was pacing, as though waiting for something and Dawn watched her go back and forth.

Dawn set her book down and stretched, her legs were still sore, but not as painful as they had been this morning, she knew it was going to be a couple days before the stiffness went away entirely, but she'd have stronger legs for it.

Tonks sighed softly and leaned against the windowsill on her elbows, staring out into the sunlight. Dawn could tell that she was restless so she decided to talk to the woman. "So…what do you do?" Dawn asked casually.

Tonks jumped, as though she hadn't realized that Dawn was still there; and then turned to face her. "What do you mean?".

"What's your profession? Why were -you- there at the fight last night?" Dawn asked.

"I'm a dark wizard catcher," Tonks said, moving to sit beside Dawn on the couch and Dawn moved her legs to allow it.

"That's interesting" Dawn nodded "I'd be a student, but my school was evacuated" she smiled slightly "good for me though, I suppose."

"Why was your school evacuated?" Tonks frowned.

"Oh same old stuff…" Dawn sighed, not wanting to delve to deep into her life back home.

"You don't trust me" Tonks said, it was a mere statement, not even a question.

"I don't know you, and you -are- holding me captive" Dawn pointed out "in my experience, things that hold me captive aren't really good things."

"Get held captive a lot?" Tonks asked curiously "I heard Faith make a mention of you having a tendency to get kidnapped."

"Yeah, my sister's a slayer, so all the big bad's captured me in hopes of getting to her, but she'd just beat them up and take me back" Dawn laughed fondly "it was mostly Spike that kidnapped me, anyway, I think he kinda enjoyed my company."

"Spike? You mean William the Bloody?" Tonks asked, sounding shocked and appalled.

"Yeah, you know him?" Dawn asked excitedly.

"I know of him," Tonks said "we did this whole study on the Scourge of Europe in my training" she explained.

Dawn smiled at the thought "Darla, Angelus, Drusilla and Spike" she said, her face holding a nostalgic quality to it. "Spike used to tell me stories, Buffy would kill him if she ever found out."

"Wait…you actually talk to him?" Tonks asked, her eyebrows raised so high that they nearly got lost in her hairline.

"Yeah, me and him are really close" Dawn nodded as though it weren't out of the ordinary. At Tonks horrified look, she quickly realized her mistake "oh, no!" she protested "he's good now, he helps Buffy fight demons, though…that's because he's in love with her…but…" she realized she had started to babble and quickly closed her mouth tightly.

"Curious" Tonks replied, though she still looked wary "can you come over to the window for a moment?" she asked.

"What?" Dawn asked and looked over to the window, where there was sunlight pouring in. "Oh…" she chuckled and Tonks looked at her like she was mad. "You think I'm a vampire" she smiled again and stood up, walking over to the window and standing directly in the middle of the sunbeam. "Not a vampire, I just know a couple."

Tonks blinked at her "You don't lead a normal life do you?" she finally asked.

"And you do?" Dawn countered.

"Touché" Tonks nodded.

Dawn's face grew somber as she moved back to her seat and stared at Tonks "this is bad, isn't it?" she asked quietly "the whole being accused thing."

"Well, you weren't taken to Azkaban, so it's not as bad as it could have been" Tonks replied, suddenly feeling a bit maternal, the young girl before her looked so fragile and upset that it was hard not to feel bad for her.

Dawn thought it over for a moment and then bit her lip "would…we need a lawyer?" she asked.

"A what?" Tonks frowned.

"Someone to defend us legally" she clarified.

"You might, do you know any of them that deal in magical business?" Tonks raised an eyebrow.

"Yes" Dawn nodded, hanging her head slightly and looking down at her hands. "Before Buffy caught the second Harbinger, Angel had come to give Buffy a medallion, she mentioned something about 'Scrubbing Bubbles' I have no idea, but he also told her that he had taken over Wolfram and Hart, a legal agency that deals specifically with otherworldly things."

"Harbinger?" Tonks asked.

"It doesn't matter" Dawn sighed "that's not the point, the point is that I have legal representation if I need it, and Angel can be very convincing when he needs to be."

Tonks nodded "very well, though I don't suppose you'll need it if you remain out of trouble while you're under observation."

"How likely is that?" Dawn scoffed, mostly to herself, as Faith began to wake up.