fic- Brotherhoods and Sisterhoods part 4
Sep. 25th, 2006 10:39 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
spankerellatitle: Brotherhoods and Sisterhoods
part: 4
author: echo
rating: 18
disclaimer: I do not own anything here. The BtVS characters belong to Joss Whedon. The HP characters belong to JK Rowling. The Craft characters belong to Peter Filardi and Andrew Fleming. The Covenant characters belong to JS Cardone. The versions here of the Practical Magic characters belong to Alice Hoffman, Robin Swicord, Akiva Goldsman, and Adam Brooks. The Witches of Eastwick characters belong to John Updike and Michael Cristofer. That one certain Anita Blake character belongs to Laurel K Hamilton.
summary: Witchcraft-apalooza. After the war with Voldemort, the Salem Witches' Institute is host to an interesting array of teachers, students, and visitors. Slight spoilers for The Covenant.
Part 1 ][ Part 2 ][ Part 3
Several people, and not just the professor, were looking a bit tired in Spell Writing class today. School had only been in session for a couple of weeks, and folks were already pushing themselves too hard. Or just plain not getting enough rest. Reid and Janice were nodding off because after their adventure in falling off of brooms and being caught by people's heads, instead of resting, Janice had kept awake with Reid in the infirmary. Reid would have been awake anyhow. They didn't let those with head wounds sleep right off. He sort of appreciated the company. They'd stayed awake playing cards. Poker to be exact... for help with homework and stuff. They had written their bets and dares and such on little slips of paper.
Reid had to buy her dinner in town one night. Janice had to do a load of his laundry. He didn't think he'd come out too shabby on this. Having to buy her dinner was great. He would have done that anyway. And for the first time in his life, there was a girl that Reid Garwin saw as a person and not just a girl. Janice was his friend.
His friend that was currently nudging him. Janice was forever wanting him to pay attention in class. If he didn't like her, it would piss him off. But Reid knew she did it because they were friends. In fact, she had invited him to her big movie night this weekend. She'd even booked the common room in the dorms. They'd have the big TV. She'd promised snacks and a viewing of Boondock Saints. Janice was fun. She made everything sound like it would be fun. She planned and did the little extras that made seemingly normal events special.
Janice nudged him again. Reid looked at her.
"Pay attention." She whispered.
Normally Professor Owens would notice this and comment on it, but she seemed a bit tired herself today. Reid found himself being a little distracted wondering what the redheaded teacher had been doing the night before that had her looking tired. His thoughts weren't exactly rated G either. Professor Owens was very hot. A redhead was almost always hot. It's like the fire of their hair just transferred everywhere else.
Then again, Reid thought several blondes and brunettes were hot too. Hell, Reid just liked females. He could find something worth something in every woman he met. It was a gift and a curse.
*~*~*
"Ug! I need a nap after last night." Janice said as she tucked a stray strand of blue hair behind her ear.
"I wore you out, huh?"
Janice barreled into his side none too gently, hitting his arm with her shoulder. "You wish."
She was a girl with girl parts and all, but Janice could be such a brute that it was like hanging with the guys sometimes. She dressed so much like him that it was scary. Today it was jeans, a tee shirt that had 'I Leave Bite Marks' printed across the front, a blue fuzzy scarf and a jean jacket with her ratty converse. While he was wearing jeans, his own ratty black combat boots, his favorite dark gray hoodie, with his favorite Korn tee underneath and his black knit gloves with the fingers cut out on his hands.
"What are you doing tonight, Janice?"
"Studying. Homework. The usual. Why?"
"Why don't we go into town and grab a pizza or something?"
She glared at him.
"I'll pay."
She glared even more.
"What?" Reid asked.
"Don't think this counts as you buying me dinner. That marker means a REAL dinner at a sit down place where they have real napkins, and you eat with silverware. Pizza does not count. That's strictly a handheld food."
"Whatever. Do you want the pizza or not?"
"You still paying?"
"Yeah."
"Then I'm in." She grinned at him. "We can take our books and study."
Reid glared at her.
"What?"
"You and the studying. I think you need a break. You try too hard."
"There's nothing wrong with trying hard."
"I'm not saying that."
"Then what ARE you saying, Reid?"
"What I meant to say was that you, you in particular, work too hard. That you need to have more fun."
"I do have fun, I'll have you know." She snapped as she hefted her messenger bag of textbooks higher on her shoulder. "I have plenty of fun."
Reid snatched her book bag off of her shoulder and put it on his own. "You could be a little less serious though, Janice. I know it."
She snatched her bag back. "The last time I was a little less serious, I nearly got myself and Dawn eaten by vampires."
That said, she stormed off. Reid just blinked. What? No, seriously, what the fuck? Vampires? Eaten? He knew Caleb had read up on Watcher's Council and that dealt with Dawn. Maybe he needed to do a little research himself. He'd never been one for school work of any mind or any sort of research, but suddenly he found a need for it. In the past, he might have just used his powers to walk her, but if he did such a thing, Janice would not only know what he had done, she'd likely hex him for it.
He noticed a flyer on a nearby bulletin board. For some reason, it caught his eye. In that way that makes you feel like fate nudged you or something. An evening program dealing with wands. A lot of American wizards were different in that respect. They did not use wands. Some felt it made Americans' magic a but unfocused to not use them, but Reid thought they did just fine. Still, this might be something Janice might be interested in. She was interested in knowing how varied the craft could be. Reid knew Professors Krum and Malfoy had wands, and Janice respected and liked both professors. It just might be interesting to try to use a wand. See about it, you know? Maybe Janice would want to as well. Perhaps it could be something they could do together. Reid plucked the flyer off and hurried to the dorm. He needed to get his homework together, order a pizza, and see if Kylie would make herself scarce tonight.
He was entering the dorm when he smacked right into the very person he'd been about to ask a favor of. He made her drop all her books.
"Aw shit, Kylie. I'm sorry." He dropped to one knee to help her gather her fallen belongings.
When she looked up at him, Reid swore her blue eyes were black voids instead. Just for a second, but she blinked, and they were bright blue again. He had to have imagined it.
"It's ok, Reid."
"Look, I know this will sound jerky, but can you duck out of your room for a few hours tonight? I pissed Janice off, so I'm making a peace offering of pizza and homework later."
"Janice?"
Reid gave her a look. "Your roommate?"
"Oh right." She giggled. "Sorry."
"Are you ok?"
"I'm fine. You know, between my mom, my dad, and my sister, calling, and Aunt Gillian stopping by late at night to check on me, I should be fine. I am fine."
"Ok." Reid wasn't so sure, but he was probably imagining things. Kylie seemed a bit off today to him, but currently he was more worried about Janice being pissed at him than her roomie having an off day. Still, she never called her step-dad her dad. She called him Gary or her stepfather, and she usually called Professor Owens Aunt Gilly. Plus, for a second, he would have swore she didn't know who he had been talking about when he'd said Janice. It was just odd. It struck him as off, but he was still more concerned about Janice.
"I'll duck out tonight. Don't worry. How's around six sound? I have a make-up lab with Malfoy anyhow."
"Thanks, Kylie."
"No problem, Garwin." With that she was up from her crouch, books in her arms.
Reid watched her walk away. He still had an odd feeling about her though. Like she was lying or hiding something. He shook it off, but not completely. He filed it away for later. It might be important, and if he wasn't so distracted by Janice possibly being mad at him, Reid might have thought on his odd feeling concerning Kylie then.
Instead he concentrated on finding Dawn and asking her about vampires and what sort of pizza Janice liked to eat.
*~*~*
Most of the rest of their little group was in the dining hall. Caleb and Dawn were doing some sort of dance where they carefully avoided one another. Pogue and Kit were touching one another under the table, and Tyler was bored. Reid wasn't here. Neither was Janice. Kylie had left for a lab she needed to retake for Malfoy's class, and she had said she wanted to do a bit of studying alone in the library first. Tyler had offered to walk her, but in a very un-Kylie-like fashion she had snapped at him that she was a big girl and could walk herself. Tyler had immediately backed off. He wondered what was up with her. Everyone else was so busy being involved in other stuff that they had not noticed Kylie's slightly off behavior. He wondered if they'd even notice if he just left. Well, Reid would, but Reid wasn't here.
Then he was. Tyler was about to say hello, but Reid sat down next to Dawn instead. He didn't even acknowledge Tyler. Or Caleb, Pogue, or Kit, for that matter, but Tyler was a bit miffed that Reid hadn't said anything at all to him. They were best friends... and roommates to boot.
"Hey Dawn, can I talk to you about something in private?"
She looked confused. "Sure Reid." Dawn grabbed her tray and left the table with the blonde.
Caleb watched her go. With longing. No, make that extra longing. There was a rift between Caleb and Dawn somehow. Tyler didn't know what had happened, but it made him ill at ease. He didn't like when there was tension. He couldn't imagine what Caleb could have done to a girl to make her be upset with him. Reid or Pogue were usually the ones who had the ladies irritated. Reid because he was sort of a dummy when it came to girls, and Pogue because he got so crazy jealous.
Though currently Pogue didn't look like he was having any problems holding Kit's attention. Tyler liked Kit. She was quiet like him. She also seemed to be making Pogue happier. Hopefully she wouldn't turn out to be a lesbian. Tyler didn't think he'd survive Pogue going all EMO over a girl again. Even if it had been Kate, and Kate was fabulous. Tyler understood it, but dealing with it again? Hell no.
*~*~*
Janice practically growled when someone tapped on her door. She was right in the middle of conjugating some Latin verbs. She rolled off of her bed and stormed to the door, throwing it open. She practically had to jump out of the way because Reid entered the room.
"I have pizza. I have diet soda. I have Dots because Dawn said you liked to stick them on your teeth. I have no chocolate, but I can remedy that if I need to. I have books, papers, pens, and homework."
He was laden with grocery bags, his book bag, and a pizza box that was smelling just delicious.
Janice was in a state of shock. "What are you..."
"Pizza and home work, right?"
"But..."
"Look, Janice, I'm sorry."
"You talked to Dawn."
"About pizza and stuff." He knew what she was getting at.
"She didn't... about... she didn't tell you..."
"I didn't ask about that."
"But after the way I... how I left it..."
"Look." He shifted a bit. "Can I set some of this stuff down?"
"Oh. Right. Sorry." She said as she started grabbing things out of his arms and setting them down.
"You can tell me about that stuff when you're ready. I don't need to know every little thing about you right away. I mean, you're probably better off not knowing every little thing about me right off. You can tell me about the vampire stuff when you're comfortable with telling me, k?"
Janice just grinned at him.
"What?"
"Why do I get the feeling you're making great strides here, Reid?"
He mumbled something and looked at the floor.
"What?"
"I've never been friends with a girl before who wasn't one of the guyses girlfriends."
"We're friends?"
"Yeah." He seemed to get uncertain. "Aren't we?"
Janice punched him in the arm. "Yeah. Of course."
Reid's arm hurt. He couldn't believe she'd punched him. Quite hard too. She was so rough sometimes.
"So what kind of pizza did you get?" She asked as she opened the box. Janice paused as her eyes widened a bit. "Is this.."
"Beef, onion, and green pepper? With thin crust? Yeah."
"That's my fave!"
"I know."
She turned around and squealed while doing this little weird hopping dance and flailing her hands a bit. "You are so the best right now."
Reid grinned. Being friends with a girl was turning out to be cool so far. They got really excited about things that guys just took in passing. Pizza was just pizza.
Wasn't it?
*~*~*
Dawn was by herself tonight. Kit was off doing who knew what with Pogue. And good for Kit. Caleb had tried to talk to her after she'd spoken to Reid earlier, but she wasn't ready for that. She knew she was just being a chicken, but she couldn't help it. She was freaked. Scratch that, she was uber freaked. His eyes had done that thing Willow's eyes tended to do. Next came black hair and creepy veins. Then came trying to unmake the key and end the world. She couldn't deal with that. Not yet. She definitely couldn't deal with dating that. Dawn still had nightmares about when Willow had gone all evil. She could still hear her mocking voice telling her that it was time for Dawn to go back to being a little energy ball.
Suddenly, she felt a bit weird. Like the air pressure shifted in the room. Her ears popped a bit, and all the hair on her arms stood on end. Her skin went goose flesh. She swore the temperature in the room had just dropped several degrees.
"Wasn't Kylie acting a little funny today?"
"Yeah, she was." Dawn answered before she even thought about it.
Then she went perfectly still. She'd just answered a voice that had spoken, and she was in the room alone. This was bad. Hearing voices was usually a bad sign. Dawn turned slowly.
She would have screamed, but she was too surprised. "Cassie?"
"Hey."
Cassie. Cassie Newton. And she was sitting on Kit's bed like she was really here. Only the Cassie Dawn had known and had called her friend had never worn white. This Cassie was dressed all in white. Though, she was still dressed very Cassie. White tee shit, white skirt that hit her about the knee, and white converse without socks. The hair was still unruly and blonde with those pink chunks in it.
Dawn cleared her throat a bit before speaking. "Are you... you... or are you the First?"
Cassie made a face at her. "If I was the First, which you all defeated, remember? But let's say I was... would I tell you I was?"
"Tell me something real, Cassie."
"We're still friends, and I still like to read. It's still not your fault, and I'm still not as dumb as I look. And neither are you."
Dawn suddenly sobbed a little out loud and started crying.
"Hey, don't. Your sister tried so hard to help me, so I'm here for you. And, um, I won't be the only one. There'll be others who'll come to you. Sorry I waited so long. I guess it wasn't time for me before, but you're ready now. There will be more, but we gotta go now. It's after Draco."
Dawn's stomach dropped. "Wh-what?"
"Your sister tried to help me once. Now I'm here to help you. He had Kylie. She was acting off, right? He had her. Now he's out and after Draco."
"He who?"
"That I can't tell you, but you have to go, Dawn. It's what you're supposed to do." With that she vanished in a puff of white mist-looking stuff.
Dawn concentrated on breathing for two whole seconds before she jumped to her feet and started throwing on clothes. It was what she was supposed to do? The building where the Potions classes were taught was on the other side of the campus. Perhaps she should not have laughed so hard about Janice taking flying.
*~*~*
Caleb was drifting in and out of sleep when he saw it.
A darkling. In the form of his dead father.
His heart could have stopped. For a moment, Caleb thought it had with the way it had just seized up in his chest upon the sight of that thing.
"Dawn." Was all it said before it vanished.
Caleb was up in a flash. He didn't even bother getting dressed. Dawn, it had said. He had to find her. He did not much consider what would happen if he found her being dressed in only a pair of sweat pants. All he knew was something was wrong, and a girl he was coming care for a great deal was deep in it. All the cold shoulder she had been giving him lately flew right out the window. If she needed him, he was going to be there whether she liked it or not.
*~*~*
He knew the instant she entered the classroom. The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end. Draco tried to keep his breathing even. He wished he didn't have the gift he had sometimes. He knew evil. He could sense it. He wished he couldn't. Draco turned with his smirk firmly in place. He was not about to go down easy. Never that.
"Good evening, Miss Owens." He tilted his head to the side and folded his arms across his chest and he leaned back a bit against the desk at where he was standing. "Or is it?"
"Or is it a good evening?" She questioned.
Draco actually laughed as he slid his wand out of his sleeve. "No. I meant, or is it really Miss Owens? You stink of wickedness, my girl, and not the good kind. I know wickedness. It gave birth to me. Now, what on earth have you done to Kylie Owens?"
One moment of shock registered on her face before his hex hit her.
"Petrificus Totalus!"
A shadow escaped her as she locked up.
"Fuckit!" Draco hissed as she started thinking intricate hexes and swishing.
He also tried to get at it with Occlumency, but it being a shadow made things difficult. he was also trying to do too much at once. It was making his aim be off. He was leaving scorch marks on the wall as Kylie Owens' body hit the floor.
"Think you can just take one of my students, do you!?" He shouted as he crouched next to Kylie to check that she was all right. "Come at me, you puke! I'm more of a match for you! I'm not some little girl!"
Sarah Bailey skidded in the door. "Draco!"
He held his left hand up to stop her. His right still had his wand pointed. He was scanning the room looking for that shadow. Sarah walked in slowly. She was scanning the upper areas of the classroom too. She moved to Draco's side and put a hand on his shoulder. Like she needed him to anchor her in the surreality of the moment.
"Kylie Owens. Oh my Goddess. Is she..."
"She's just knocked out. Something had her. Something dark. I think I forced its hand. If it even really has hands, that is."
"Oh well, that's just great. Haven't we had enough darkness?"
He stopped looking for it and looked at her. "True warriors for the light never stop fighting the darkness. As there is always light, there must also always be dark. Balance."
Sarah rolled her eyes. "Thank you for quoting Harry Potter."
Draco snorted. "Please. Granger fed him that. He's not smart enough to be quotable and have it be that beautifully intelligent."
Sarah would have said something in response to that, but she spotted a dark shape over his shoulder. "Draco!"
He turned and went to hexing, but it spilt. And at that precise moment, Dawn Summers burst through the door screaming Draco's name. He nearly hexed her too, but Draco reigned himself in. It shocked him. How had she known he was here? In danger? In this particular room? At this time? And she had come for him?
But as much as it shocked Draco Malfoy, it warmed him a bit. It was nice to have people care about you. To really care. Sarah was still clutching his shoulder, and Dawn looked as if she would have broken into a million tiny pieces if he'd been hurt.
Then Caleb Danvers skidded in behind Dawn looking half dressed.
The shadow reconnected and headed for them. Caleb grabbed Dawn and pulled her to the floor and out of the way as the black shadow escaped out of the door.
"Get off of me."
Caleb got up and pulled her to her feet. "Sorry. I just didn't think that thing should be anywhere near you."
And her response when she really got a good look at him was a very dazed... "You're only wearing pants. Your man-chest is all naked and stuff."
Draco Malfoy laughed loudly at that. Dawn Summers was so awkward that she was absolutely lovely, and if this Danvers boy harmed one highlighted hair on her head, Draco would make him beg for mercy. Girls like Dawn were rare and often overlooked because of the intensity of their siblings. It had always been that wanker Percy Weasley's problem. He wasn't a bad sort of fellow. It was just his brothers and sister were so intense.
Yeah, Draco was going to have to hurt that Danvers kid if he didn't properly worship the Dawn, but from the way the boy had molded his body around her as he took her to floor, Draco was thinking that it would never be an issue.
He looked at the prone form of Kylie Owens and just knew that Dawn might need protecting before too long because Draco had a feeling the bad was just getting started here, and it had not even really been as bad as it could be.
*~*~*
end part 4
part: 4
author: echo
rating: 18
disclaimer: I do not own anything here. The BtVS characters belong to Joss Whedon. The HP characters belong to JK Rowling. The Craft characters belong to Peter Filardi and Andrew Fleming. The Covenant characters belong to JS Cardone. The versions here of the Practical Magic characters belong to Alice Hoffman, Robin Swicord, Akiva Goldsman, and Adam Brooks. The Witches of Eastwick characters belong to John Updike and Michael Cristofer. That one certain Anita Blake character belongs to Laurel K Hamilton.
summary: Witchcraft-apalooza. After the war with Voldemort, the Salem Witches' Institute is host to an interesting array of teachers, students, and visitors. Slight spoilers for The Covenant.
Part 1 ][ Part 2 ][ Part 3
Several people, and not just the professor, were looking a bit tired in Spell Writing class today. School had only been in session for a couple of weeks, and folks were already pushing themselves too hard. Or just plain not getting enough rest. Reid and Janice were nodding off because after their adventure in falling off of brooms and being caught by people's heads, instead of resting, Janice had kept awake with Reid in the infirmary. Reid would have been awake anyhow. They didn't let those with head wounds sleep right off. He sort of appreciated the company. They'd stayed awake playing cards. Poker to be exact... for help with homework and stuff. They had written their bets and dares and such on little slips of paper.
Reid had to buy her dinner in town one night. Janice had to do a load of his laundry. He didn't think he'd come out too shabby on this. Having to buy her dinner was great. He would have done that anyway. And for the first time in his life, there was a girl that Reid Garwin saw as a person and not just a girl. Janice was his friend.
His friend that was currently nudging him. Janice was forever wanting him to pay attention in class. If he didn't like her, it would piss him off. But Reid knew she did it because they were friends. In fact, she had invited him to her big movie night this weekend. She'd even booked the common room in the dorms. They'd have the big TV. She'd promised snacks and a viewing of Boondock Saints. Janice was fun. She made everything sound like it would be fun. She planned and did the little extras that made seemingly normal events special.
Janice nudged him again. Reid looked at her.
"Pay attention." She whispered.
Normally Professor Owens would notice this and comment on it, but she seemed a bit tired herself today. Reid found himself being a little distracted wondering what the redheaded teacher had been doing the night before that had her looking tired. His thoughts weren't exactly rated G either. Professor Owens was very hot. A redhead was almost always hot. It's like the fire of their hair just transferred everywhere else.
Then again, Reid thought several blondes and brunettes were hot too. Hell, Reid just liked females. He could find something worth something in every woman he met. It was a gift and a curse.
*~*~*
"Ug! I need a nap after last night." Janice said as she tucked a stray strand of blue hair behind her ear.
"I wore you out, huh?"
Janice barreled into his side none too gently, hitting his arm with her shoulder. "You wish."
She was a girl with girl parts and all, but Janice could be such a brute that it was like hanging with the guys sometimes. She dressed so much like him that it was scary. Today it was jeans, a tee shirt that had 'I Leave Bite Marks' printed across the front, a blue fuzzy scarf and a jean jacket with her ratty converse. While he was wearing jeans, his own ratty black combat boots, his favorite dark gray hoodie, with his favorite Korn tee underneath and his black knit gloves with the fingers cut out on his hands.
"What are you doing tonight, Janice?"
"Studying. Homework. The usual. Why?"
"Why don't we go into town and grab a pizza or something?"
She glared at him.
"I'll pay."
She glared even more.
"What?" Reid asked.
"Don't think this counts as you buying me dinner. That marker means a REAL dinner at a sit down place where they have real napkins, and you eat with silverware. Pizza does not count. That's strictly a handheld food."
"Whatever. Do you want the pizza or not?"
"You still paying?"
"Yeah."
"Then I'm in." She grinned at him. "We can take our books and study."
Reid glared at her.
"What?"
"You and the studying. I think you need a break. You try too hard."
"There's nothing wrong with trying hard."
"I'm not saying that."
"Then what ARE you saying, Reid?"
"What I meant to say was that you, you in particular, work too hard. That you need to have more fun."
"I do have fun, I'll have you know." She snapped as she hefted her messenger bag of textbooks higher on her shoulder. "I have plenty of fun."
Reid snatched her book bag off of her shoulder and put it on his own. "You could be a little less serious though, Janice. I know it."
She snatched her bag back. "The last time I was a little less serious, I nearly got myself and Dawn eaten by vampires."
That said, she stormed off. Reid just blinked. What? No, seriously, what the fuck? Vampires? Eaten? He knew Caleb had read up on Watcher's Council and that dealt with Dawn. Maybe he needed to do a little research himself. He'd never been one for school work of any mind or any sort of research, but suddenly he found a need for it. In the past, he might have just used his powers to walk her, but if he did such a thing, Janice would not only know what he had done, she'd likely hex him for it.
He noticed a flyer on a nearby bulletin board. For some reason, it caught his eye. In that way that makes you feel like fate nudged you or something. An evening program dealing with wands. A lot of American wizards were different in that respect. They did not use wands. Some felt it made Americans' magic a but unfocused to not use them, but Reid thought they did just fine. Still, this might be something Janice might be interested in. She was interested in knowing how varied the craft could be. Reid knew Professors Krum and Malfoy had wands, and Janice respected and liked both professors. It just might be interesting to try to use a wand. See about it, you know? Maybe Janice would want to as well. Perhaps it could be something they could do together. Reid plucked the flyer off and hurried to the dorm. He needed to get his homework together, order a pizza, and see if Kylie would make herself scarce tonight.
He was entering the dorm when he smacked right into the very person he'd been about to ask a favor of. He made her drop all her books.
"Aw shit, Kylie. I'm sorry." He dropped to one knee to help her gather her fallen belongings.
When she looked up at him, Reid swore her blue eyes were black voids instead. Just for a second, but she blinked, and they were bright blue again. He had to have imagined it.
"It's ok, Reid."
"Look, I know this will sound jerky, but can you duck out of your room for a few hours tonight? I pissed Janice off, so I'm making a peace offering of pizza and homework later."
"Janice?"
Reid gave her a look. "Your roommate?"
"Oh right." She giggled. "Sorry."
"Are you ok?"
"I'm fine. You know, between my mom, my dad, and my sister, calling, and Aunt Gillian stopping by late at night to check on me, I should be fine. I am fine."
"Ok." Reid wasn't so sure, but he was probably imagining things. Kylie seemed a bit off today to him, but currently he was more worried about Janice being pissed at him than her roomie having an off day. Still, she never called her step-dad her dad. She called him Gary or her stepfather, and she usually called Professor Owens Aunt Gilly. Plus, for a second, he would have swore she didn't know who he had been talking about when he'd said Janice. It was just odd. It struck him as off, but he was still more concerned about Janice.
"I'll duck out tonight. Don't worry. How's around six sound? I have a make-up lab with Malfoy anyhow."
"Thanks, Kylie."
"No problem, Garwin." With that she was up from her crouch, books in her arms.
Reid watched her walk away. He still had an odd feeling about her though. Like she was lying or hiding something. He shook it off, but not completely. He filed it away for later. It might be important, and if he wasn't so distracted by Janice possibly being mad at him, Reid might have thought on his odd feeling concerning Kylie then.
Instead he concentrated on finding Dawn and asking her about vampires and what sort of pizza Janice liked to eat.
*~*~*
Most of the rest of their little group was in the dining hall. Caleb and Dawn were doing some sort of dance where they carefully avoided one another. Pogue and Kit were touching one another under the table, and Tyler was bored. Reid wasn't here. Neither was Janice. Kylie had left for a lab she needed to retake for Malfoy's class, and she had said she wanted to do a bit of studying alone in the library first. Tyler had offered to walk her, but in a very un-Kylie-like fashion she had snapped at him that she was a big girl and could walk herself. Tyler had immediately backed off. He wondered what was up with her. Everyone else was so busy being involved in other stuff that they had not noticed Kylie's slightly off behavior. He wondered if they'd even notice if he just left. Well, Reid would, but Reid wasn't here.
Then he was. Tyler was about to say hello, but Reid sat down next to Dawn instead. He didn't even acknowledge Tyler. Or Caleb, Pogue, or Kit, for that matter, but Tyler was a bit miffed that Reid hadn't said anything at all to him. They were best friends... and roommates to boot.
"Hey Dawn, can I talk to you about something in private?"
She looked confused. "Sure Reid." Dawn grabbed her tray and left the table with the blonde.
Caleb watched her go. With longing. No, make that extra longing. There was a rift between Caleb and Dawn somehow. Tyler didn't know what had happened, but it made him ill at ease. He didn't like when there was tension. He couldn't imagine what Caleb could have done to a girl to make her be upset with him. Reid or Pogue were usually the ones who had the ladies irritated. Reid because he was sort of a dummy when it came to girls, and Pogue because he got so crazy jealous.
Though currently Pogue didn't look like he was having any problems holding Kit's attention. Tyler liked Kit. She was quiet like him. She also seemed to be making Pogue happier. Hopefully she wouldn't turn out to be a lesbian. Tyler didn't think he'd survive Pogue going all EMO over a girl again. Even if it had been Kate, and Kate was fabulous. Tyler understood it, but dealing with it again? Hell no.
*~*~*
Janice practically growled when someone tapped on her door. She was right in the middle of conjugating some Latin verbs. She rolled off of her bed and stormed to the door, throwing it open. She practically had to jump out of the way because Reid entered the room.
"I have pizza. I have diet soda. I have Dots because Dawn said you liked to stick them on your teeth. I have no chocolate, but I can remedy that if I need to. I have books, papers, pens, and homework."
He was laden with grocery bags, his book bag, and a pizza box that was smelling just delicious.
Janice was in a state of shock. "What are you..."
"Pizza and home work, right?"
"But..."
"Look, Janice, I'm sorry."
"You talked to Dawn."
"About pizza and stuff." He knew what she was getting at.
"She didn't... about... she didn't tell you..."
"I didn't ask about that."
"But after the way I... how I left it..."
"Look." He shifted a bit. "Can I set some of this stuff down?"
"Oh. Right. Sorry." She said as she started grabbing things out of his arms and setting them down.
"You can tell me about that stuff when you're ready. I don't need to know every little thing about you right away. I mean, you're probably better off not knowing every little thing about me right off. You can tell me about the vampire stuff when you're comfortable with telling me, k?"
Janice just grinned at him.
"What?"
"Why do I get the feeling you're making great strides here, Reid?"
He mumbled something and looked at the floor.
"What?"
"I've never been friends with a girl before who wasn't one of the guyses girlfriends."
"We're friends?"
"Yeah." He seemed to get uncertain. "Aren't we?"
Janice punched him in the arm. "Yeah. Of course."
Reid's arm hurt. He couldn't believe she'd punched him. Quite hard too. She was so rough sometimes.
"So what kind of pizza did you get?" She asked as she opened the box. Janice paused as her eyes widened a bit. "Is this.."
"Beef, onion, and green pepper? With thin crust? Yeah."
"That's my fave!"
"I know."
She turned around and squealed while doing this little weird hopping dance and flailing her hands a bit. "You are so the best right now."
Reid grinned. Being friends with a girl was turning out to be cool so far. They got really excited about things that guys just took in passing. Pizza was just pizza.
Wasn't it?
*~*~*
Dawn was by herself tonight. Kit was off doing who knew what with Pogue. And good for Kit. Caleb had tried to talk to her after she'd spoken to Reid earlier, but she wasn't ready for that. She knew she was just being a chicken, but she couldn't help it. She was freaked. Scratch that, she was uber freaked. His eyes had done that thing Willow's eyes tended to do. Next came black hair and creepy veins. Then came trying to unmake the key and end the world. She couldn't deal with that. Not yet. She definitely couldn't deal with dating that. Dawn still had nightmares about when Willow had gone all evil. She could still hear her mocking voice telling her that it was time for Dawn to go back to being a little energy ball.
Suddenly, she felt a bit weird. Like the air pressure shifted in the room. Her ears popped a bit, and all the hair on her arms stood on end. Her skin went goose flesh. She swore the temperature in the room had just dropped several degrees.
"Wasn't Kylie acting a little funny today?"
"Yeah, she was." Dawn answered before she even thought about it.
Then she went perfectly still. She'd just answered a voice that had spoken, and she was in the room alone. This was bad. Hearing voices was usually a bad sign. Dawn turned slowly.
She would have screamed, but she was too surprised. "Cassie?"
"Hey."
Cassie. Cassie Newton. And she was sitting on Kit's bed like she was really here. Only the Cassie Dawn had known and had called her friend had never worn white. This Cassie was dressed all in white. Though, she was still dressed very Cassie. White tee shit, white skirt that hit her about the knee, and white converse without socks. The hair was still unruly and blonde with those pink chunks in it.
Dawn cleared her throat a bit before speaking. "Are you... you... or are you the First?"
Cassie made a face at her. "If I was the First, which you all defeated, remember? But let's say I was... would I tell you I was?"
"Tell me something real, Cassie."
"We're still friends, and I still like to read. It's still not your fault, and I'm still not as dumb as I look. And neither are you."
Dawn suddenly sobbed a little out loud and started crying.
"Hey, don't. Your sister tried so hard to help me, so I'm here for you. And, um, I won't be the only one. There'll be others who'll come to you. Sorry I waited so long. I guess it wasn't time for me before, but you're ready now. There will be more, but we gotta go now. It's after Draco."
Dawn's stomach dropped. "Wh-what?"
"Your sister tried to help me once. Now I'm here to help you. He had Kylie. She was acting off, right? He had her. Now he's out and after Draco."
"He who?"
"That I can't tell you, but you have to go, Dawn. It's what you're supposed to do." With that she vanished in a puff of white mist-looking stuff.
Dawn concentrated on breathing for two whole seconds before she jumped to her feet and started throwing on clothes. It was what she was supposed to do? The building where the Potions classes were taught was on the other side of the campus. Perhaps she should not have laughed so hard about Janice taking flying.
*~*~*
Caleb was drifting in and out of sleep when he saw it.
A darkling. In the form of his dead father.
His heart could have stopped. For a moment, Caleb thought it had with the way it had just seized up in his chest upon the sight of that thing.
"Dawn." Was all it said before it vanished.
Caleb was up in a flash. He didn't even bother getting dressed. Dawn, it had said. He had to find her. He did not much consider what would happen if he found her being dressed in only a pair of sweat pants. All he knew was something was wrong, and a girl he was coming care for a great deal was deep in it. All the cold shoulder she had been giving him lately flew right out the window. If she needed him, he was going to be there whether she liked it or not.
*~*~*
He knew the instant she entered the classroom. The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end. Draco tried to keep his breathing even. He wished he didn't have the gift he had sometimes. He knew evil. He could sense it. He wished he couldn't. Draco turned with his smirk firmly in place. He was not about to go down easy. Never that.
"Good evening, Miss Owens." He tilted his head to the side and folded his arms across his chest and he leaned back a bit against the desk at where he was standing. "Or is it?"
"Or is it a good evening?" She questioned.
Draco actually laughed as he slid his wand out of his sleeve. "No. I meant, or is it really Miss Owens? You stink of wickedness, my girl, and not the good kind. I know wickedness. It gave birth to me. Now, what on earth have you done to Kylie Owens?"
One moment of shock registered on her face before his hex hit her.
"Petrificus Totalus!"
A shadow escaped her as she locked up.
"Fuckit!" Draco hissed as she started thinking intricate hexes and swishing.
He also tried to get at it with Occlumency, but it being a shadow made things difficult. he was also trying to do too much at once. It was making his aim be off. He was leaving scorch marks on the wall as Kylie Owens' body hit the floor.
"Think you can just take one of my students, do you!?" He shouted as he crouched next to Kylie to check that she was all right. "Come at me, you puke! I'm more of a match for you! I'm not some little girl!"
Sarah Bailey skidded in the door. "Draco!"
He held his left hand up to stop her. His right still had his wand pointed. He was scanning the room looking for that shadow. Sarah walked in slowly. She was scanning the upper areas of the classroom too. She moved to Draco's side and put a hand on his shoulder. Like she needed him to anchor her in the surreality of the moment.
"Kylie Owens. Oh my Goddess. Is she..."
"She's just knocked out. Something had her. Something dark. I think I forced its hand. If it even really has hands, that is."
"Oh well, that's just great. Haven't we had enough darkness?"
He stopped looking for it and looked at her. "True warriors for the light never stop fighting the darkness. As there is always light, there must also always be dark. Balance."
Sarah rolled her eyes. "Thank you for quoting Harry Potter."
Draco snorted. "Please. Granger fed him that. He's not smart enough to be quotable and have it be that beautifully intelligent."
Sarah would have said something in response to that, but she spotted a dark shape over his shoulder. "Draco!"
He turned and went to hexing, but it spilt. And at that precise moment, Dawn Summers burst through the door screaming Draco's name. He nearly hexed her too, but Draco reigned himself in. It shocked him. How had she known he was here? In danger? In this particular room? At this time? And she had come for him?
But as much as it shocked Draco Malfoy, it warmed him a bit. It was nice to have people care about you. To really care. Sarah was still clutching his shoulder, and Dawn looked as if she would have broken into a million tiny pieces if he'd been hurt.
Then Caleb Danvers skidded in behind Dawn looking half dressed.
The shadow reconnected and headed for them. Caleb grabbed Dawn and pulled her to the floor and out of the way as the black shadow escaped out of the door.
"Get off of me."
Caleb got up and pulled her to her feet. "Sorry. I just didn't think that thing should be anywhere near you."
And her response when she really got a good look at him was a very dazed... "You're only wearing pants. Your man-chest is all naked and stuff."
Draco Malfoy laughed loudly at that. Dawn Summers was so awkward that she was absolutely lovely, and if this Danvers boy harmed one highlighted hair on her head, Draco would make him beg for mercy. Girls like Dawn were rare and often overlooked because of the intensity of their siblings. It had always been that wanker Percy Weasley's problem. He wasn't a bad sort of fellow. It was just his brothers and sister were so intense.
Yeah, Draco was going to have to hurt that Danvers kid if he didn't properly worship the Dawn, but from the way the boy had molded his body around her as he took her to floor, Draco was thinking that it would never be an issue.
He looked at the prone form of Kylie Owens and just knew that Dawn might need protecting before too long because Draco had a feeling the bad was just getting started here, and it had not even really been as bad as it could be.
*~*~*
end part 4
