Dawn tapped her fingers against the formica table in the food court, drumming out the beat to a tune that only she could hear.

J.J. was constantly telling her she took forever when she was clothes shopping, but here they were waiting for the guys.

She just hoped that didn’t mean a fist fight had broken out.

Harry and J.J. reminded her heavily of Angel and Spike. Harry was the dark, brooding hero, out to save the world. J.J. was the bad boy, thrust into the good fight in the interest of self preservation.

Yet they were both fighting towards the same goal, both firmly entrenched on the side of good. She hoped it wouldn’t take the boys long to realize it.

Dawn cast a sideways glance at Ginny, the youngest Weasley. “Rosenberg,” Dawn corrected herself in her mind, training herself to say it the way it needed to be said at school. Hermione was keeping the younger girl occupied, allowing Dawn a chance to gather her thoughts. Hermione, having muggle parents, and spending the summers at home, was currently pointing out things to the younger girl, describing their use or significance. Dawn had been rather surprised at Ginny. The girl bore more than a little resemblance to Willow. Although, Dawn had to admit, it was mostly the shade of their hair and the aura of power around them.

Of course, Willow’s was far, far stronger than Ginny’s. But if Dawn remembered correctly, if you could call it remembering at all, Willow hadn’t had any power to speak of at 16 years of age.

Given that, Dawn figured that it really was too early to tell how powerful Ginny might become.

It really was no longer a mystery why J.J. had been found more often than not following Willow around like an eager puppy.

Dawn had, at first, chalked it up as a crush on a powerful, older witch.

But late one night, after they had struck up their friendship, the wizard had admitted to Dawn that he didn’t really have a crush on Willow, it was just that she felt like home to him.

Dawn had thought, at the time, that it was because she was the residing witch. But the second she saw the students from Hogwarts, Dawn had seen the truth.

Willow didn’t remind J.J. of home. Willow reminded J.J. of Ginny Weasley.

The instant that she saw J.J.’s expression at his first glimpse of Ginny in a year, several things had been made clear for Dawn.

The reason Draco had gravitated towards Willow, the reason that Draco flirted with all the potentials but never dated any of them. The reason that Dawn was the closest person to J.J., but it had never turned romantic.

J.J. was hung up on Ginny.

But that, in itself, simply brought up a whole lot more questions.

Like, how it was that Ginny Weasley had caught his attention in the first place? What it was the girl had done to keep it for over a year from a continent away. How J.J. had overcome the fact that she was a “Weasel” and related to Ron, one of his arch rivals. Why he had never mentioned the girl, not even to Dawn, who, in his own words, was the best friend that he had ever had.

Dawn also wondered if the young redhead had any idea that she has an admirer in J.J., and wondered how the girl would feel about that admiration.

Dawn found herself refocusing on the conversation just as Hermione was telling Ginny how hot dogs were not merely a muggle thing, but an American muggle thing, much like baseball.

“What’s baseball?” Ginny asked her friend. Hermione shrugged, searching for an explanation.

“It kind of resembles cricket . . .” Hermione started, trailing off at the look of further confusion on the younger girl’s face.

“I’ll tell you what,” Dawn broke in, leaning closer so that her next words would not be overheard. “I’ll tell you about baseball, if you’ll tell me about Quidditch, when we have more privacy. J.J. tries, but I just don’t get it.”

Ginny’s eyes lit up at the mention of the sport J.J. adored, and Dawn began to understand what her best friend found attractive in the girl, especially when she next spoke. “I play on the Gryffindor team. Chaser and reserve seeker. Won some games for our house my fourth year when Harry was banned from playing. I’ll explain everything I can.”

Dawn would hold her to that, but the food court at the neighbourhood mall really wasn’t the place for an in depth discussion about a wizarding sport. Baseball, on the other hand, would occupy them until the guys showed up.

The American girl grabbed four salt packets from a nearby abandoned table and mapped out a baseball diamond on the table in front of her.

“So, in baseball, each team has nine players in the line-up at any given time . . . “