Chapter Four - Curiosity and Satisfaction

Dawn came into the house, door slamming behind her.

"Buffy!"

Buffy was in the livingroom with Angel. She pulled away from him with a kiss, scowling.

"Damn her."

Angel chuckled.

Buffy stormed out into the hallway. "What?"

Dawn shoved the letter into Buffy's hand. "This. Is. What. Will you all just STOP trying? Everyone is trying to somehow set us back up. You are setting us up for a fall. WE will get things together in due time. Not you, not Sirius, not Willow, but US. So JUST STOP."

Dawn stormed up the stairs to her room and Buffy heard the door slam behind her. Buffy walked back into the livingroom.

"Did I do something wrong?"

Angel pulled her to him. "No. She's upset. I mean, can you blame the? After something like this, you would at least expect them to fight, but - nothing."

"You're right. No talking. No arguing. Just this mutual, self-imposed isolation from each other."

"And we all know how well those turn out." Angel said sarcastically.

"With a really big bang followed by a huge make-up session?"

"We're the experts."

"Yeah." Buffy turned around. "Let her cool down." She traced a finger down his chest. "Where were we?"

Angel put a finger to her lips. "Here I think."

Buffy giggled before resuming what Dawn had interrupted.

~*~*~*~*~*~*

"No. She's upset. I mean, can you blame them? After something like this, you would at least expect them to fight, but - nothing."

Dawn was standing near the top of the stairs, listening to Buffy and Angel's conversation.

"You're right. No talking. No arguing. Just this mutual, self-imposed isolation from each other."

Dawn moved to lean against the wall. She blinked back tears and closed her eyes. "That's what you think..." She whispered. Because they had fought. And the isolation wasn't mutual.

Dawn moved back into her room and laid down on the bed. She fell into a deep sleep.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"You have to accept it."

"Accept what?"

"Your destiny."

"But I already have - I can't."

"Then it's already too late."

"Late? Too late for what?"

"Accept it Dawn. Accept it."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Dawn awoke from the dream, sweating. The dream was becoming increasingly vivid each time she had it. She could finally see the room she and Lily were in - it was a dark room, lit only by a single candle in the middle of the floor. The flame was throwing shadows across the walls, though of who or what she still could not make out.

A loud knock at the door made Dawn's head spin.

"You can come in if you have aspirin."

Riley opened the door and poked his head in. "No asprin. Sorry."

Dawn scowled. "Come in anyway, but please, be quiet about it."

"Don't think you can get away from me that easily Riley Finn!"

Riley cringed at hearing Buffy's voice. Dawn laughed. "What did you do now?"

Riley shrugged. "I think she feels that I'm invading her territory, what with trying to kill her fiance the last time we were together and all. I think I pissed her off too."

"Sucks to be you. How did you manage that in less then a half hour?"

"It was five minutes, but who's counting?"

Dawn grinned. "So, what'd you do? And, speaking of doing, why are you back in Sunnydale anyway?"

"Why are you still at home? I thought you lived with Ron. And how did you meet him anyway?"

Dawn's face went a little pale. "A question for a question."

"Answer for an answer."

Dawn shrugged. "That's a long story. Do you have time?"

Riley sat down on the floor near the door. She had no escape, even if she wanted to. "Plenty. Fire away, kid."

"I'm not a kid, Riley."

"I'll be the judge of that."

Dawn glared. "Fine. I'll start. But sit tight, because this is going to take a while."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

After hours of explaining the previous year, Dawn leaned back against the headboard of her bed.

"Wow," was all Riley could say.

"Yeah."

"So - so, you have all that power now. And, you could just give it away like that?"

Dawn nodded. "I guess so. I mean, I haven't tried it since then, and I don't even know if it'll work anymore now that I have more control over it. Why do you ask?"

"No reason. Just curious."

Dawn didn't buy it. "Curiosity killed the cat."

"And satisfaction brought him back."

Dawn crossed her arms. "I didn't know I was telling this story to satisfy you. I mean, I wasn't telling it to kill you either, but...you know what, I'll just shut up now."

Riley grinned. There WAS a look of satisfaction on his face, although Dawn had know idea why.

"So, you never answered my second question. Sirius said you were living with Ron. Why are you here?"

Dawn got up and started pacing. "I'd really rather not talk about it right now."

"I'm going to find out somehow, anyway. I do have to work with the four of you. I'd rather find out from you then have to ask someone I barely know."

Dawn laid down on the bed and closed her eyes. "Okay. I'll tell you. Ron asked me to stay away for a while. He - he said he needed a break, some time to breathe. He needed to live his own life instead of both of ours. I didn't want to. But I agreed before the arguement got out of control."

"Why were you arguing in the first place?"

Dawn exhaled loudly. "Because I made the biggest mistake of my life."

~* August 17 *~

"Explain to me again why I'm doing this?"

Harry grinned as he turned on the lights in their training room with a wave of his wand. "Because there's a part of your test with physical fighting, and I want to make sure you're ready."

"Harry, I'm going to be siting at a desk. And besides that, my sister's the slayer. You know could kick your ass."

"Oh could you?" Harry said, tauntingly. "Prove it."

Dawn shrugged. "If you insist. Bring it on Potter."

Harry made a swing at her, and she barely missed it. She ducked and came back with a punch, which Harry effectively blocked.

"I think you're losing your touch Summers."

Dawn kicked her leg up and hit him in the shoulder. "Let me answer that with another kick."

Harry flipped himself back up and grabbed Dawn's foot mid-air, bringing her slamming to the ground. Dawn fell to the floor, but not before grabbing Harry's arm and pulling him down with her. He fell in a tangle of legs on top of her.

The two of them sat up laughing. Dawn turned her head and ended up staring him straight in the face. This wiped the smiled straight off her face, especially when he put his hand on her shoulder.

"Don't." She whispered as he leaned over and kissed her. Harry pulled away slowly, before looking into her eyes and kissing her again, this time with a great deal more fervor. Dawn was kissing back.

'This is Harry. Not Ron. Stop it Dawn, stop it.'

"Stop." She said, almost inaudibly. Dawn pushed him away and stood up. She turned around, facing the door, and her whole body went numb. Harry saw the color drain from her face.

'Oh gods, no..." Harry thought as he turned around -

And stared straight into the shocked and betrayed faces of Ron and Hermione.

~* Present *~

"Oh..." Was all Riley could manage to say.

"Yeah. Oh is right. God, how could I have been so stupid? I didn't even see it. I was in denial the whole time, even after Willow tried to warn me."

"Love is blind, Dawn. Sometimes, you can't control how you feel."

"Yeah. Don't I know it." Dawn shook her head. "Now, about MY question - why are you in Sunnydale?"

"Funny, I was going to ask the same thing." Buffy said walking in, Angel in tow.

"Angel. Good to see you again." Riley said sarcastically.

"Wish I could say the same."

"That's enough you two." Buffy scolded. "Why are you here Riley?"

Riley sighed. "There was some Initiative stuff I had to take care of. More cover-up for the government. Little did I know I was getting involved with a war I was never supposed to be involved in. Samantha was killed. Sirius sought me out when he found out that I was her husband. He remembered me from one of the WIL training classes he had run. Initiative required that we take one. I took a few. In fact, I took all of them, just so that I knew some sort of magic. Sam, however, never took any, and that's why she was killed."

"So, you're staying in Sunnydale to help the WIL now?" Angel asked.

"Pretty much."

Buffy sighed. Angel was just shaking his head when they heard the door slam downstairs.

"Dawn!"

Dawn recognized the voice as Hermione's and bolted for the stairs.

"What's wrong?"

Hermione's face was streaked with tears and - was that dirt?

"Hermione what happened?"

"There was a fire....at our apartment...the wiazrds couldn't put it out. Harry's ok, but Ron's been hurt pretty badly."

"Oh my god." Dawn glanced at Buffy. "Do you have the car?"

"I can apparate - "

"Not all of us, Hermione." Angel said. "Did they put out the fire?"

"No..."

"Where's Harry?"

"I don't know Dawn! I just don't know." Dawn pulled Hermione to her.

"It'll be okay, I promise." Buffy and Angel helped Hermione walk to the car. Dawn glanced back at Riley, who had a strange look on his face. It was a curious look.

'Curiousity killed the cat.'

But why was Riley satisfied?

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