In s7, Dawn was jealous of all the attention Buffy was giving to the potentials and wishing for something to do herself
For one episode. Before that she had issues with Buffy hiding Spike from her and stealing her 'boyfriend,' after that she had her own research gig with validation from Xander and it rapidly became clear that Buffy/Potentials was over. The balance has shifted.

"In plain sight" usually involves being seen, no?
I can see him with my brain :-)