Thud.

Draco rolled his eyes.

Thud.

He frowned, then went back to reading his Charms text.

Thud.

Becoming slightly annoyed now, Draco turned an ancient page violently, nearly tearing it.

Thud.

His nose flared as he struggled to contain his temper.

Thud.

That was it! He slammed the book shut, and stood up in one fluid motion, ignoring his chair, which fell to the floor with a crash.

"Would you mind awfully doing that somewhere else?" Dawn looked up at him and smirked.

"What?"

Thud.

"That! Stop it!"

"Stop what?"

Thud.

"STOP BANGING YOUR FOOT AGAINST THE BLOODY TABLE!" Every single person in the library turned and stared at him in amazement. The former Prince of Darkness never lost his cool around anyone but Blaise Zabini. Never. Dawn smirked some more, and lifted her leg slowly, half the eyes in the library on it, the other half being on Draco and concerned with what his reaction was going to be.

Thud.

The leggy brunette bashed her foot against the underside of the table again. Furious now, and seemingly unaware of any audience, Draco took the one step that separated them, and hauled Dawn to her feet. Madam Pince bustled forward, intent on stopping this before it got too far.

"I said stop it." This time Draco's tone was lower, and sounded a hell of a lot more dangerous that his shouting had.

"Make me." Dawn hissed, angry about been pushed around, and she knocked his hands from the front of her robes. The room seemed to come to a standstill, even including Madam Pince, as Draco considered the pros and cons of getting into a physical fight with a very annoying girl of his own age who just happened to be the adopted childe of a vampire and the sister of a Slayer, as well as completely capable of holding her own in a fight.

Slowly, and very obviously deliberately, Dawn bashed her clenched fist down on the top of the table they had been seated at three times.

Thud...thud...thud.

The cons were instantly forgotten as the, usually calm, blond Slytherin let out a howl of rage and leapt at her, both young adults throwing punches and kicks at each other that were so well executed that made it almost beautiful to watch, if you ignored the fact that both were obviously out for blood.

Madam Pince screeched, and started forward again, only to be pulled back in time by Ron Weasley as Dawn's mary-jane-clad foot whipped through the space where her head had been moments before.

"Best leave them to it, Madam." The head-boy told her.

"Leave them to it?" She screeched, and Ron winced. "They'll ruin my library!" As if to prove her wrong, Draco, having landed a kick on a bookshelf instead of Dawn, righted it before it fell in the split-second he had to breathe before Dawn came whirling back, fists flying. A statuette was nearly knocked from its pedestal, but Dawn grabbed it, tossing it into the air to block a punch from Draco, and then she caught it again, setting it down quickly but carefully on the table before darting away to block a low kick from Draco.

"What the hell is going on?" Madam Pince, Ron and the head-girl, Hermione, turned to see Blaise Zabini arriving, one arm around his girlfriend. "Oh, dreadfully sorry Madam. I didn't see you there." He grinned at her. Like Draco Malfoy, Blaise could be completely charming when he wanted to. Dubbed the 'Manwhore of Slytherin', Blaise had been all for promiscuity until Dawn and her 'family' arrived in England, and specifically at Hogwarts. Then Blaise, previously so free with his affections, had, to his complete and utter confusion, fallen utterly head over heels for the quiet Winifred Burkle, his opposite in every way imaginable, save for her sharp mind.

"Malfoy and Dawn are fighting again." Hermione filled him in. In the two years since they had graduated, the 'Golden Trio' and the small group of Slytherins who had refused to mar their skin with the Dark Mark had become tentative allies. This had developed in turn, with the help of the group from America, into a friendship that seemed unbelievable to anyone outside of the little group that included Tracey Davis, Gregory Goyle, Padma and Luna from Hogwarts and Connor, Kit and Carlos from America.

"Again?" Blaise smirked, lifting one dark eyebrow in a gesture that was so completely Malfoy. Ron jerked his head, indicating the fighting couple.

"Take a look for yourself." The two young adults were still fighting, and it was becoming more, if that was possible, violent. Blaise grinned. His best friend was so obviously in lust, if not love, with the long-legged brunette, but Draco simply refused to accept that. And according to Fred, Dawn felt exactly the same way towards the Slytherin Prince.

"Can't you do something?" Madam Pince turned to him. He glanced at her, then pointedly directed her gaze to Draco and Dawn as she gripped him in a stranglehold while he pulled her hair as far back as he could.

"Really, really don't want to. However..." He turned, and grinned as he saw his older sister, Dawn's sister and Draco's surrogate big brother entering the library to see what was going on. "They might want to do something."

"Blaise, what's going on?" Faith asked her younger brother, stepping up beside him. He smirked, and let her see for herself at the same time Buffy and Spike did. With a screech, the petite blonde Slayer had shoved her way through the crowd of gossiping spectators.

"Dawn! What the hell are you doing?" Spike had pushed his way forward behind her, and suddenly dove to the floor, taking Buffy with him as Draco threw Dawn away from him. The Key crashed to the ground next to Buffy and Spike, but was up again before either of them had the presence of mind to grab her.

"Well, at least the little bit can take a beating." Spike shrugged, standing up and pulling the slayer to her feet. Faith moved through the crowd to join them.

"Ya wanna stop this?" She asked Buffy, wincing as Dawn kneed Draco just before he landed the mother of all kicks on her. Buffy didn't deign to answer, but moved forward, flanked by Spike and Faith, and ducking punches and kicks as she got closer.

From Blaise's point of view, it was amazing that his friend hadn't drawn his wand already, but he did now, and Dawn drew her's. Everyone, bar the three Sunnydalian's, backed up as hexes and charms began to fly while the physical fight continued. Putting Fred firmly behind him, Blaise shielded her from the worst of the spells, but one eventually hit him, and he crashed to the ground with a cry of pain. Immediately Ron and Hermione began to usher everyone out of the library as Tracey, Gregory and Harry came pelting in with Padma, Ginny and Connor behind them.

"What the hell's going on?" Tracey yelled. "We could hear this from the Entrance Hall!" Faith, Buffy and Spike had split up to have a better chance of separating the two young adults, but all three of them had been downed by at least two spells. Blaise was in complete agony on the ground. He knew that it wasn't the Cruciatus Charm, but it was damn near close, and he breathed a sigh of relief as Padma took the spell off and he was able to return the frantic grasp Fred had on his hand.

"Drake and Dawn had another fight." He groaned, easing himself up into a sitting position with the help of Gregory and Connor.

"Had? They're still in the middle of it!" Ginny yelped as Gregory pulled her out of the way of a hex just in time. Both she and Padma were shoved with Fred behind an upturned table, and then Blaise was pulled to his feet, flanked by Tracey on his right side and Gregory and Connor on his right. Hermione and Ron re-entered the library, and provided cover as the three wizards and the Destroyer rushed the fighters, Connor holding a sword ready, as he had no wand.

"Dawn! Stop this!" Connor yelled, blocking her punch and then returning it with one of his own, hoping to knock her to the ground and away from Draco. His mother had told him never to hit a girl, unless she was a vampire, or trying to hit him, but Dawn really didn't count in that category. The little sister of the Slayer was vicious when she got going, and Connor was one of the only people who could best her in a fight. She turned, saw him and tried to step away from the fight, but Draco, who had been pulled away by Blaise and Tracey, tugged his arms out of their grasp, and snatched Dawn back to him. Connor yelled, but Draco hadn't aimed another punch or spell at the Key, but had pulled her towards him for a kiss that left both of them breathless.

"What the hell?" Dawn asked, her fingers unconsciously wrapping themselves in Draco's robes.

"I...I think I'm falling in love with you." He had a trail of blood running down from a raised gash on his cheek that would need a hellebore compress to take it back to normal. His wrist was bent at an impossible angle, and she had a black eye and was leaning on him for support after he had kicked her ankle one too many times, but they were staring into each other's eyes like they were looking at the best piece of art ever accomplished.

"I think I love you too." Dawn murmured, and Connor, Tracey, Blaise and Gregory exchanged grins as they melted back into another kiss to the background soundtrack of Spike and Buffy.

"Oh HELL no!"