Daphne couldn't keep the smile off her face as she stared at the spot where Harry had just vanished. She didn't regret a single thing that had happened between them, and she decided she was going to embrace whatever would come. She liked Harry, Harry liked her; he wanted a partner, she wanted to be his. So why not?
She walked into the Three Broomsticks and saw that every table was filled with Hogwarts students. She stood up on her tip toes trying to spot someone familiar, thinking that her year mates should still be there finishing up their meals. As luck would have it, she saw Tracey, Millie, and Pansy sitting together at a table towards the back, and moved to join them. There was no sign of the other fourth year boys.
"Where have you been?" asked an indignant Tracey, rising from her seat when she saw Daphne.
"Having lunch," replied Daphne, raising an eyebrow at her friend. "Why?"
"We looked for you two forever; we were going to ask you to join the rest of us for lunch," Millie replied, taking a sip of her butterbeer. "Where did you have lunch?"
"Did he plan something romantic?" asked Pansy with a smirk, and a little touch of envy. Daphne couldn't help but crack a small smile when she responded.
"Harry took me to the lakeshore, and we had a picnic in a beautiful clearing," she said, the other girls paying rapt attention. "He charmed the area so that it would be warm for us too, it was very pleasant," she added.
"And?" asked Tracey, impatiently. Daphne smirked at her friend, and decided to have a little fun with them. They could wait a while longer to learn that she and Harry were now dating.
"We talked a bit…well, a lot, actually, and then he had to leave to take care of some other business," she said, and almost cracked up at the look of disbelief on Tracey's face.
"You talked? You only talked?" she spluttered. After being subjected to her teasing for weeks, Daphne was really enjoying torturing her friend like this.
"And he just left you?" asked Pansy, raising her eyebrow.
"No, he didn't just up and leave me," Daphne replied. "He really did have some important business to take care of, and I knew all along that he'd have to leave as soon as we'd finished eating."
"I don't understand, what sort of business could Potter possibly have?"
"Pansy, trust me on this, we know next to nothing about Harry Potter. Whatever Malfoy or Professor Snape have told us, Harry is nothing like that," she countered, taking on a serious tone. "He told me a bit about the last three years here, and believe me, it's nothing to take lightly."
The three girls looked at Daphne, a little surprised by the turn the conversation had taken.
"I know," Pansy confessed in a whisper. Now Pansy was the focus of the other girls' staring, who couldn't believe what they were hearing. The was Pansy Parkinson – second only to Draco in anti-Potter behaviour over the years, and easily the most outwardly bigoted girl in their year, although to be fair it wasn't entirely by choice.
"I saw what he did to the dragon, Daph, we all saw it. I saw him dismantle Draco as if he were nothing. Harry's proven he's a true Slytherin. Trust me, I know what kind of things I've said about him, but even I know he deserves our respect. He is powerful, Daphne, and he's our age. What will he be like a few years from now?"
Pansy shifted in her seat while the girls silently looked at each other. They had never seen Pansy like this, but then she had this to add, "That's the other thing. He doesn't seem to be looking for followers like some wannabe Dark Lord, or even like Draco. He's looking for allies, and I think it would be prudent to consider it. There are even rumours that Alistair Pince, Brian Carrick, and Eliza Culberth are interested in having him join them."
The girls gasped. The Slytherin Triumvirate were the real power in Slytherin house, and among the most respected. If they were interested in Harry now, it could only mean that they intended to groom him for a position in the Triumvirate. That would make him an official leader of their house as a fifth year, which was highly unusual. As far as anyone could remember, members of the Triumvirate were almost always seventh years, with the occasional sixth.
"I had no idea, are you sure?" asked Millie in a whisper, and Pansy nodded.
Daphne was really proud of Harry, but also a little baffled.
"Add that to today's show, when he came in talking with Viktor Krum like they were best friends..." Millie added with a smirk, which made Daphne chuckle.
"Sometimes I really hate Draco," Pansy sighed, looking up at the ceiling for a moment before noticing the other three smirking back at her. "Oh fine, most of the time," she admitted. "Blasted alliances… But can you imagine how different things would be if Harry had been in our house all along?"
"In any case, he's with us now," said Daphne, crossing her arms. "Let's just make sure we support him properly this time, and make sure he wins the Triwizard Tournament."
"This is personal to you, isn't it?" asked Pansy with a smirk.
"I want him to win for several reasons," admitted Daphne. "For one, I really think he can do it, so why shouldn't our house support him? We're not honourless fools like the dorks, are we?"
"The house stands with him, Daphne, you know that," Millie replied matter-of-factly. "There's no one left in the house that doesn't respect him after what we've seen. Hell, even Malfoy's piped down with his filth."
"That's not what I mean, Millie," started Daphne, looking at the girls. "The dorks still want him back, you saw them. And they accuse us of using dark magic and love potions to ensnare him…"
"They accuse you," Tracey chimed in, making Pansy and Millie snicker.
Daphne ignored her and continued trying to make her point, "The duffers want him to go down because of Diggory, of course. Chang has half of the 'claws rallying for Diggory too, and the rest are either neutral or uninterested. I believe there's more on the line for Slytherin house than you might think."
"Like what?" asked Tracey.
"Remember what he told us? He has been studying in the Chamber of Secrets, in Slytherin's own private sanctum," Daphne said, making sure her dormmates understood. "In a sense, he has been learning from Salazar Slytherin himself."
"Are you talking about the diaries?" Tracey asked, and Millie and Pansy looked at Daphne, wide eyed, making the same connection.
"Yes, Tracey, the diaries. The journals written by Salazar Slytherin himself, which he's been using to train. A victory for Harry would be a victory for Slytherin's modern-day apprentice, and a victory for our house," Daphne declared.
"I like your way of thinking," Millie replied, and Pansy agreed.
"Things have been changing over the past few weeks," Daphne said, filled with an optimistic feeling as she looked around at her friends. "Personally, I think things are changing for the best."
"Says the girl who has Potter wrapped around her finger," teased Pansy, making Tracey and Millie laugh. Even Daphne had to chuckle.
"Yeah..." Daphne whispered to herself. She was just as smitten, and she knew it. "Speaking of boys, where are yours?"
"Around," replied Tracey, while Pansy shrugged. "We all had lunch together, then Malfoy wanted to leave but Pansy didn't. Theo and Blaise went to the toilet and are loitering over by the counter. I think they realised we were having a girls-only moment." Daphne turned back and saw the two boys at the counter, engaged in conversation.
"Draco wanted to buy a couple of things and took Vinnie and Greggie with him," sighed Pansy. The girls hid their chuckles. Vinnie and Greggie were Pansy's nicknames for Crabbe and Goyle. She had always very supportive of those two. In fact, they were much more loyal to Pansy than they were to Malfoy.
Malfoy fancied himself a leader because of his father's influence, but in truth he wielded very little power. Pansy, Greg, and Vince had to be around him because of certain alliances (everyone knew which ones), but that didn't make him their leader - even though Pansy allowed him to believe he was. They had known each other since they were little, so she did actually care about the git, but not as much as people thought she did.
Draco had been in a downward spiral ever since Harry had joined the snakes. Realizing that his father's influence had limits, combined with Harry putting him in his place seemed to have thrown him into a sort of existential crisis.
"Who are you going to the ball with, Pansy?" Millie asked, and an uncharacteristic blush crept into the girl in question's cheeks. "I'm going with both of my boys," she answered with a small smirk, then attempted to redirect the conversation. "Thank Merlin Draco isn't going, though. Can imagine what I'd suffer through if I had to be his date?"
The girls shared a commiserating laugh, and then Tracey beckoned Theo and Blaise to come back to the table.
"Where's your boy?" Blaise asked Daphne as he approached the table.
"In a personal meeting," she replied. "Listen," she said, looking at the two boys seriously, "I want to know your honest opinions of Harry."
"Well, he's definitely powerful and obviously pretty smart. Overall, he seems like a pretty great guy," Theo replied, shrugging his shoulders.
"Don't tell me you have a crush on him," Tracey pouted, sending him a playful glare.
"No, he's definitely lacking something for me," Theo replied, slipping his arm around her.
"Oh yeah, and what's that?" she teased.
"He's not you," Theo said with a wink, and leaned over kiss his girlfriend, earning an appreciative "Aww…" from the other girls.
"Great, raise the bar, why don't you?" mumbled Blaise. Millie was the only one who heard him, and she softly elbowed his side and shook her head at him with a small smile, which he returned. Millie didn't like all that 'lovey-dovey' stuff anyway. She happened to be a practical girl, and Blaise was more than fine with that.
"What about you, Blaise?" asked Daphne.
"He scares me a little," confessed Blaise, earning a few raised eyebrows. "There's something about him that feels dangerous. He's also smart and resourceful enough to make things happen. If it comes down to it, I'd rather be on his side than oppose him. I've seen how much he struggles to stop himself from cursing some of the idiots, and I don't want to be in the way if he does finally snap."
The table remained quiet once Blaise finished speaking, but then he added, "That being said, I do owe him one for helping me find my backbone, and he's been nothing but decent to me since he joined us. All in all, he's alright by me."
"Do you think he can win the tournament?" asked Daphne again.
"If you'd asked me before the first task, I'd think you were joking. But now, I definitely think he could win, but the judges don't seem too fond of him," Blaise replied, Theo nodding along in agreement.
"How is he doing with the next task?" asked Millie.
"The riddle of the egg has been solved and he's made his preparations, but I won't speak about it in here. Too many listening ears," replied Daphne.
"What about the ball?" asked Pansy with a smirk.
"I'm looking forward to it," Daphne replied, with a shrug. "I wanted to make sure he could actually dance, so we practiced a bit. He's a surprisingly decent dancer, and I think we'll have a good time."
"Now, can we talk about the fact that Harry's house-elf calls you mistress?" Theo inquired, who had been wanting a proper answer to that question all day.
With a sigh, Daphne told them that Dobby hadn't even given her a proper explanation for that, beyond a simple "just because." Knowing his and Harry's relationship, it's possible he'd done it just to wind Harry up. In any case, since neither she nor Harry actually told him to stop, he just kept doing it. Her friends all found the story very amusing, though Daphne left out the part where she actually loved it when Dobby called her his mistress, and that she felt little butterflies in her stomach every time she heard it.
After another thirty minutes or so of light conversation, the group got up from their table and went to leave the Three Broomsticks. The others still had some shopping to do, but Daphne already had everything she needed and was getting bored. With nothing better to do, she decided to go back to Hogwarts and visit the Chamber of Secrets. She figured she could occupy herself while waiting for Harry by perusing Slytherin's library, reading one of the journals, or maybe even starting her homework. She said her farewells to her housemates and ducked into an alley so she could summon Dobby without being seen.
Dobby appeared a moment after she called him. According to him, Harry had just arrived at Gringotts with his godfather and uncle. Daphne smirked. She wondered what would happen once people find out that Harry had claimed his lordship.
Dobby popped her into the living area of the Chamber, then said to her, "Should you need anything, please don't hesitate to call."
"Actually, I am curious about one thing. What is it you do all day when you're not helping Harry?" she asked.
"At first, I spent a lot of time cleaning the Chamber and making it suitable for living. I also cook Harry's meals when he doesn't want Hogwarts food, and sometimes that requires shopping. I run his errands to buy equipment and ingredients, I spy on certain individuals in the school, and I believe that soon I'll have Potter Manor to clean up." The expression he wore while listing off his duties told her that he really did enjoy his work, and she told him so.
"I may be much more than a mere house-elf," he replied, "but I still am one. I still like to serve my master."
"Your master is lucky to have you at his side, isn't he?" she asked, smiling at the elf, and was surprised by Dobby's response.
"I think we are both lucky to have each other," Dobby replied in a solemn tone. "Had it not been for Harry, I'd still be a slave, or maybe even dead. Ever since then I've helped him in any way I could, and his gave me this," Dobby said, indicating his evolved form, "just through the strength of our bond." Dobby wished he could tell the full truth, but he couldn't without revealing his master's secrets. He couldn't tell her how he had helped Harry with the second task of the tournament, an event that hadn't yet happened in this timeline. He couldn't tell her about the battles they fought together, or how he had saved Harry from his purgatory. All he could do was his best to convey to her the deep bond between him and his master.
"I think I know what you mean, thank you, Dobby," replied Daphne. "I'll call you when I need you."
"Of course, Mistress," smirked Dobby, and popped away. Daphne smiled to herself, thinking about how the title might actually be befitting of her now. She looked around the room and noticed a cauldron simmering in the laboratory area. She walked over to examine it, and was able to identify it as a dreamless sleep potion. "His nightmares must be really bad, if he took it upon himself to brew this potion," she thought to herself, wondering if he'd be willing to share them with her.
She came across a sealed container tucked away in a corner, but left it alone, remembering Harry's earlier warning. Looking across the room, her eyes settled on the large canopy bed, which was ornately carved from some sort of dark wood, and trimmed with green hangings suitable for their house's founder. She sat down on the edge and took note of how soft and comfortable it felt. She briefly pictured herself spending the night there, then tried to distract herself with other thoughts as she felt her face burning.
Daphne turned her attention to the bedside table, which had a modern lamp crystal on it similar to the one she had in her room at Greengrass Manor. The only other item on the table was a notebook, which Daphne flipped open, recognizing Harry's handwriting. It seemed to be some sort of diary or journal going back to the start of the school year. She knew it was wrong to read someone else's diary without permission, as she had reminded her sister time and time again, but her curiosity got the better of her and she started reading the first entry, telling herself that Harry wouldn't mind.
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"It's just past midnight on September 1st. In a couple of hours, we'll be going back to Hogwarts. I can't wait. Not that I dislike the Weasleys, but they can be a bit loud and overbearing. Mr. Weasley is a typical muggle-loving fanatic. He has a lot of muggle garbage. He doesn't know what it's for nor how it works, but he's still amazed by it. Mrs. Weasley is an overbearing, overprotective mother hen. Need I say more? Bill is kinda cool and so is Charlie. Bill works for Gringotts as a curse breaker and Charlie works in a dragon reserve in Romania. Percy is a pompous git that's always kissing his superiors' arses in the Ministry. The sad part is that this seems to be the way things work in the Wizarding World. A shame. Fred and George can be funny, but they take it so far that it gets annoying, especially with their twin speech and all the pranking. Not everyone enjoys it that much, guys, you could hold it for a moment... Ron is always eating or complaining, but I don't see him doing anything. Most of the time he's just lazy. But he's also my first friend and can be a nice guy. Then there's Ginny. What the hell is wrong with that girl? It looks like she has a crush on me but doesn't talk to me and can't seem to be in the same room as me without blushing or babbling.
But I enjoyed myself in their home, especially when I helped Hermione explain what some muggle items were for. I'll never underestimate a wizard's inability to understand the muggle world again, that's for sure."
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Daphne snickered at Harry's thoughts on the Weasley family. He wasn't one for telling jokes, but she always found his observations amusing. She really wanted to keep reading, but she restrained herself and closed the notebook, placing it back on the bedside table. She gazed around the room again and looked to the desk, where she had left the frame for the diaries.
As she was reaching for the frame, the soft glow coming from the Pensieve caught her attention. Curious, she stepped towards it and realised there was still a memory in the basin.
"Why would Harry leave a memory in the Pensieve?" she wondered. It was probably something important if he had left it there, which he might have done so he could watch it again later.
She knew she shouldn't watch it and was about to walk away, but then she saw a piece of parchment on the desk with her name scribbled on it, and again her curiosity won out. "Maybe he meant for me to see it," she thought.
It couldn't be anything bad, right? Daphne took a deep breath and plunged her head into the basin.
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She saw herself inside a great tent, seemingly in the middle of a lively party filled with music and laughter. The tent was open around the sides, and she could tell it had been set up in the middle of a large, grassy field. She scanned the crowd, not recognising any of the party attendees, until suddenly she gasped at the sight of an older Blaise Zabini, who was sitting next to a very happy, yet older version of Millie.
At the same table were the older counterparts of Theo and Tracey, who were laughing at something an older version of Pansy was saying. Pansy was sitting between Greg and Vince, who both seemed to be enjoying themselves. But what astonished Daphne the most was the sight of her own sister sitting next to the one and only Draco Malfoy. What was worse, she actually looked like she was enjoying herself, fully engaged her conversation with Malfoy and wearing an amused expression.
Her eyes moved to another table and found another shock. At that table were Granger and Longbottom, smiling and laughing together. They had both changed so much that she almost didn't recognize them. Longbottom was taller and had lost most of his chubbiness, but he had also put on some bulk. Granger somehow looked prettier. Her teeth had been fixed, and she'd even managed to tame her hair. Not only that, but she was fashionably dressed and looked well put-together, like a proper lady. What was going on here? Daphne recognised several other Gryffindors at the same table, including the Weasley twins and their Chasers, Johnson, Spinnet, and Bell. Even their former Quidditch captain Oliver Wood was there. She searched out the other redheads with her eyes, and found both Ronald and the Weaselette in attendance. The former seemed to be sitting by himself, stewing over something, and the latter was standing off to the side with her arms crossed, glaring.
Moving on, she recognised several other faces, including Professors McGonagall, Flitwick, Sprout, and Hagrid, but still couldn't figure out exactly what was happening here. If she didn't know better, she'd think she'd landed in the middle of someone's wedding. Suddenly, just loud enough to get everyone's attention, a soft 'tink-tink' sound rang out, reminiscent of something metal tapping against a crystal glass. At the sound, many of the attendees smiled and turned towards the front of the tent. Daphne turned to follow their gaze, and her breath caught in her chest.
At the centre of the front table was an older version of herself, dressed in white wedding robes, leaning over to kiss the man who was obviously her new husband. Her older self pulled back, revealing that the man in question was none other than Harry Potter, who was also clad in formal wedding robes. He was sitting down so it was hard to be sure, but he seemed taller, and had a more athletic build than before. Two things that hadn't changed about Harry were his semi-messy black hair and piercing green eyes.
Sitting next to her older self were her parents, Jonathan and Persephone Greengrass. Both were smiling, and actually seemed proud - probably of themselves, as usual. She didn't pay them much attention, and instead turned her attention to the older woman on the other side of Harry. She was holding a young boy, whose hair was rapidly cycling through different colours, while maintaining a style much like Harry's. She didn't recognize either of them, though something about the older woman reminded her somewhat of Narcissa Malfoy.
Daphne approached her older self, and easily recognised her fake smile and the fact that she was only pretending to enjoy herself. Daphne turned to Harry and saw the same looks mirrored there, which were magnified when the couple shared a look with one another.
"I think I need some air," memory Daphne told memory Harry, and he nodded back to her.
"But you're supposed to be making a speech," Daphne's mother admonished, and she saw memory Daphne hide a sigh.
"We'll be right back," replied memory Harry, rising from his seat and extending his hand to memory Daphne. "If my wife needs something, it's my job now to make sure she has it, right?"
Daphne saw her father laugh and her mother smile, temporarily mollified.
"Of course, Harry dear, but don't delay."
"Of course not, mother," replied memory Daphne, holding memory Harry's arm and flashing her false smile. "Shall we, my husband?"
"Of course, my dear wife," replied memory Harry, kissing her softly on the lips. The two left the tent, and Daphne ran after them.
They walked in silence away from the tent, and when memory Harry seemed to think they had gone far enough, he took out his wand and cast a spell Daphne didn't recognize. As soon as the spell was cast, memory Daphne let out a noise that was half sigh and half growl.
"I hate it," she said, looking away from memory Harry, who was holding her hands in support. "It's my wedding, and I bloody hate it."
"I know," memory Harry whispered, caressing her hands.
"It's a bloody circus. There's nothing of us in there," memory Daphne continued her rant. "All I wanted was a simple ceremony with our friends, not the whole bloody country. The entire Wizengamot is there, as is half of the bloody Ministry, and let's not forget to mention all the reporters." Memory Harry didn't say a word, he just let her vent.
"Oh, I'm so proud of my daughter," memory Daphne mocked, "She snagged 'The-Man-Who-Conquered', and now the Greengrass family will be even more influential...bloody harpy," she spat, obviously referring to her mother.
"This was supposed to be my wedding to the man I love, not a bloody circus for her to show off how important she is now, or parade around her powerful new son-in-law."
"Daph, love..." memory Harry tried, only to stop short at the sound of his wife's sobs.
"I'm sorry, it's just that..." she didn't finish, as Harry had pulled her to him and was holding her tightly. Daphne watched the couple closely, and felt her eyes moisten too. Her mind was trying to come to grips with what exactly she was witnessing. Was it possible that she was really seeing a memory from her own future?! Her wedding? To Harry?
"I love you, Daph, you know that, right?" he asked, and she nodded into his chest, still crying. Memory Harry drew a pocket watch and checked the time. "Daphne, I'm going to ask you to play along with me, all right?" memory Harry asked, and both the real Daphne and her older self shot him an inquisitive look.
"Seriously, Daphne, just trust me and play along. I have something for you." Memory Harry took her hand and started them walking back to the tent. Memory Daphne sighed and went along with him.
"Great, a surprise," she muttered.
They went back to the tent and memory Harry cast a Concussion Charm in the air, the boom loud enough to pull everyone's attention to him.
"I believe it's customary for the groom to give a speech?" memory Harry said, and the crowd of wedding guests cheered. "I hope everyone enjoyed themselves today, and in the name of House Potter we thank you for your presence on this special day." Daphne saw memory Daphne smirking, as if she caught something nobody else did.
"However, we believe it's time to retire and get to work on expanding our newly formed family."
Cheers and wolf whistles rang out around the tent. Daphne blushed at the implication, but memory Daphne just rolled her eyes and smirked at her husband. Daphne saw her mother spluttering, but nobody was paying attention to her, while older Daphne was now standing with Harry, who had one arm around her and what looked like a bottle of firewhisky in the other.
"See you all in a couple of weeks," memory Harry said, before both he and her older counterpart disappeared, apparently by taking a portkey. The memory shifted, and Daphne suddenly found herself in the middle of a dark field with memory Harry and Daphne, who snagged the bottle from her husband and punched him in the shoulder.
"Well, if the idea was to run away, then at least you made a good show out of it," she laughed, taking a drink straight from the bottle. "My mother looked scandalised, surrounded by commoners with their bawdry behaviour. Oh, the indignity!" Memory Daphne cackled, and memory Harry laughed right along with her.
"Yes, it was really funny, but that's not why we came here."
"And where is here, dear husband of mine?" memory Daphne asked coyly, as memory Harry wrapped his arms around her and kissed her softly. She enthusiastically returned his kiss, and for a while nothing else happened. When they finally let go of each other, memory Harry spoke again.
"You know I love you more than anything, right?"
"You may have mentioned it on occasion," she replied cheekily, "but I may need some more convincing."
"In that case..." older Harry said, indicating that she should turn around. Curious, she turned around as he waved his wand. In an instant, the evening was illuminated by the soft light of several lamp crystals set along the branches of the massive tree standing before them.
A rowan tree.
A man with a long beard stood before the trunk, holding a carved wooden staff in his hand. He was dressed in druidic robes, and was flanked on each side by slightly younger, similarly dressed men.
Memory Daphne turned to look at her Harry, a look of complete shock on her face.
"Harry, is this...?"
"I knew you wouldn't enjoy our wedding. I knew it wouldn't be what you wanted. To be honest, I didn't want that either, so I thought I could set this up and give you the wedding you always wanted." Memory Daphne threw herself into her husband's arms, knocking them both to the ground, and proceeded to snog him senseless.
Daphne was frozen in place. She'd always loved the tales her great aunt had always told her about the old ways - the ancient rites and customs practiced by generations of their ancestors. To Daphne, the way she described everything just seemed more…magical, in a way. Ever since she was nine years old, she had dreamt of having a traditional wedding - simple, magical, and honouring the old traditions she had always loved. She looked at her older counterpart and felt a pang of jealousy, but also a feeling of hope that she might one day have the same thing.
Memory Daphne let go of her husband and stood back up. She looked slightly embarrassed by her behaviour, though Harry didn't seem to mind, judging by his huge grin. Memory Harry got up and brushed himself off, then took his wife by the hand.
"Shall we?" he asked her. She nodded to him, and they both stepped forward, the magic of the sacred grove filling the air around them. As they drew near to the rowan tree they were stopped in their tracks, as the old man called to them in a booming voice.
"Who goes there?"
"Harry of House Potter."
"What is it you seek in this sacred ground?" the man called again.
"To celebrate my bonding in the magical grounds, under the ancient tree, honouring the ancient traditions of our ancestors."
Memory Daphne turned sharply back to her husband, clearly surprised by his response. Not only had he set all this up, but he had also taken the time to actually learn the traditions. Memory Daphne was overwhelmed by her emotions and had to fight the tears from coming. He had done this all for her.
"Who walks with you?" he asked, in the same booming voice. With an encouraging nod from the old druid, memory Daphne replied.
"I am the bride, Daphne of House Greengrass."
"Step forward, Harry of House Potter and Daphne of House Greengrass," the man instructed, and they did. Daphne walked behind them, as if in a dream.
"Blessed be this union with the gifts of the East.
Communication of the heart, mind, and body.
Fresh beginnings with the rising of each Sun.
The knowledge of the growth found in the sharing of silences.
Blessed be this union with the gifts of the South.
Warmth of hearth and home.
The heat of the heart's passion.
The light created by both, to illuminate the darkest of times.
Blessed be this union with the gifts of the West.
The deep commitments of the lake.
The swift excitement of the river.
The refreshing cleansing of the rain.
The all-encompassing passion of the sea.
Blessed be this union with the gifts of the North.
Firm foundation on which to build.
Fertility of the fields to enrich your lives.
A stable home to which you may always return.
Each of these blessings emphasizes those things which will help you build a happy and successful union.
Yet they are only tools.
Tools which you must use together in order to create what you seek in this union."
The druid nodded to Harry, who took a silver ribbon from his pocket and handed it to the older man. Memory Daphne looked at the ribbon and smiled lovingly at memory Harry, who smiled back at her. Daphne stood behind them, watching with tears in her eyes.
The bride and the groom held hands, standing face to face, while the druidic priest placed the ribbon on top of their hands.
"You may say your vows, Harry of House Potter," the priest said.
"I pledge my love to you, and everything that I own.
From this day forward, all that is mine is also your own. It shall be only your name I cry out in the night and into your eyes that I smile each morning.
I shall be a shield for your back, as you are for mine.
Above and beyond this, I will cherish and honour you throughout this life and into the next.
Our love is never-ending, and we will remain, forevermore, equals in our marriage.
This is my wedding vow to you," older Harry recited, from both memory and his heart.
A tear fell from memory Daphne's eyes, but the smile never left her lips.
"You may say your vows, Daphne of House Greengrass," the priest said.
"I pledge my love to you, and everything that I own.
From this day forward, all that is mine is also your own. It shall be only your name I cry out in the night and into your eyes that I smile each morning.
I shall be a shield for your back, as you are for mine.
Above and beyond this, I will cherish and honour you throughout this life and into the next.
Our love is never-ending, and we will remain, forevermore, equals in our marriage.
This is my wedding vow to you," recited memory Daphne, and Daphne wondered if they had taken the same vows earlier that day.
The priest started to speak again.
"Do you, Harry of House Potter, take Daphne of House Greengrass to be your wife,
To be her constant friend,
her partner in life, and her true love?
To love her without reservation,
honour and respect her,
protect her from harm,
comfort her in times of distress,
and to grow with her in mind and spirit?"
"I do, with all that I am," replied older Harry.
"Do you Daphne of House Greengrass, take Harry of House Potter..."
"I do, with all that I am," replied memory Daphne, not giving him a chance to finish his lines. The two witnesses who stood near the old druid barely contained their laughter, and the old priest looked at the couple with an amused smile. Harry grinned at his wife, and memory Daphne actually looked slightly embarrassed and mumbled an apology. Daphne had to chuckle at her own enthusiasm.
The priest waved his staff, and the ribbon tied itself around Harry and Daphne's hands and wrists.
"Now you are bound one to the other,
With a tie not easy to break.
Take the time of binding,
Before the final vows are made,
To learn what you need to know,
To grow in wisdom and love.
That your marriage will be strong,
That your love will last,
In this life and beyond.
I name thee Harry and Daphne of House Potter," the priest concluded, waving his permission with a smile. Memory Harry leaned in towards memory Daphne.
"I love you, my wife," he whispered before kissing her. Daphne saw the ribbon glow and burn to ashes, as their magics surged between them and entangled with one another, completing the initial steps of the bond.
"Just when I thought I couldn't love you any more, you do this..." memory Daphne whispered, looking at her husband with moistened eyes. "I love you so much, my husband, now and forever."
————————————
Daphne saw them kiss one more time, before the memory ended and she was ejected from the Pensieve. She couldn't believe what she had just experienced. There was no doubt that she had seen a memory of herself and Harry from the future, but how was that even possible?
It was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen, and the most loving. But how? How could it be? How was it possible that Harry could have a memory of something from the future? Was he a seer?
Then Daphne started to connect some dots.
"His power...his knowledge...his insane improvement, almost overnight... Everything he's done, all the help he gave me, seemingly for no reason..."
He had more than enough reason.
Daphne gasped, and tears started streaming down her cheeks. In her mind, the memory she just experienced combined with her recollections of the things Harry had said and done over the past weeks, and now a fledgling theory about Harry Potter had started to form - one so farfetched that she didn't dare give voice to it.
"You lied to me," she sobbed, falling on her knees and hiding her face in her hands. "Why?"
After what felt like an eternity, Daphne stopped crying and stood back up. She freshened herself up, then called Dobby, taking care to make sure the elf didn't suspect anything was wrong. She asked Dobby to confirm where Harry was at that moment, which turned out to be in the Room of Requirement, having already started his duel with Krum. Dobby popped her back to her dorm room, and she politely dismissed him and threw herself down on the bed.
Daphne sat up for a moment to draw the curtains around her bed and cast some privacy charms, so she'd be left undisturbed. She was absolutely crushed by the thought that Harry had lied to her, especially since he had seemed so open with her up until now. She really didn't want to believe it, but the evidence was undeniable.
She wanted…no, she needed to know the truth. She needed to know who, or what, he really was. She needed him to explain how and why he had that memory, and if her outlandish theory proved to be correct, then why was he here now? Why?
She thought back to memory the bonding she witnessed - her bonding. It was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen, and Harry had arranged it all just because he loved her, but how? When?
She really needed to know.
She liked him a lot, she really did. Her heart swelled just thinking about him and what she had seen him do for her in the Pensieve. She begged to Merlin, Morgana, and Maeve for the strength to confront him, because the thought of him intentionally deceiving her was almost too much for her to endure.
As she laid in bed, curled up on her side, Daphne's swirling thoughts finally started to come together. She realised that she wanted him more than she even knew. She wanted what she had seen in the Pensieve - not just the wonderful bonding ceremony, but the obvious love and care she had seen between the memory versions of herself and Harry. What she had seen was the kind of relationship she had always dreamt of, but wouldn't allow herself to believe she could ever truly have. A large part of her hoped that future was still open to her, but she wouldn't even look at him until he told her the entire truth.
She fell asleep thinking about their bonding.
~BREAK~
When Daphne awoke, she could hear her dormmates discussing their plans for dinner. She didn't feel like talking to anyone, so she waited until they had left before getting out of bed and getting cleaned up for dinner.
She peeked into the common room and saw that her friends had already left. She left the common room and started making her way through the dungeons and towards the Great Hall, her mind so occupied with thoughts of Harry and the memory that she barely paid attention to where she was going. As she walked unsteadily through the corridors, she actually made a wrong turn three times before finally arriving at the Great Hall. She took her usual seat with her friends at the house table, but she said nothing to anyone and ignored their greetings, while distractedly filling her plate.
"Hello, Daphne? We're talking to you," called Tracey, not amused that she was being ignored.
Daphne was shaken from her thoughts by her friend's voice, noticing she had only been picking at the food on her plate.
"What is wrong with you?" asked Millie, starting to get a little worried.
"Nothing," replied Daphne quietly and took a bite of potato, hoping her friends would lose interest.
"We asked you how your afternoon had been," Pansy informed her. Daphne shrugged and looked back down at her plate.
"I read some books," she replied absently. Her friends all looked around at each other in concern.
"Good evening."
Still in a daze, she heard his voice and felt a warm kiss on her cheek. "Harry?" she mumbled inaudibly.
"What's wrong?" he asked.
"Nothing," she replied, avoid his gaze and fighting the urge to start demanding answers in front of everybody.
"She's been like that since she came to dinner half an hour ago," replied Millie. "What did you do to her?"
"I didn't do anything to her," replied Harry. She felt him staring at her, and realised he was trying to hold her hand.
"No!" she thought. He lied to her, and he wouldn't be allowed near her again without first telling her the truth. She jerked her hand away from his.
"Don't," she hissed, her control starting to slip.
"Daphne, please, what's wrong..."
"How dare you to even ask me that?" she seethed to herself. "As if you didn't know!"
She finally lost her composure and slapped him, hard.
"Do you even need to ask?" she asked, fighting to keep the tears from falling. "You said you wanted a partner. You said you would never lie to me, yet you've done nothing but lie, haven't you?" she hissed. "How can I ever trust you when you've been lying to me from the very beginning?"
She focused on his green eyes and couldn't help but picture the memory of Harry lovingly holding her older self during their bonding.
"What are you talking about?" he asked, again insulting her intelligence. She slapped him even harder this time, his betrayal feeling like a stab to the heart.
"I saw the memory you left in the Pensieve, you bastard," she said, no longer able to fight the tears. Unable to look at him any longer, she pushed him away and got up from the table. He had hurt her, and his denial made it even worse. "Don't you even dare speak to me again unless it's to tell me the truth."
She walked towards the exit, ignoring the looks everyone was giving her and Harry.
"What the hell did you do, Potter?" she heard Tracey ask. She didn't care, she had to leave the Great Hall before she either broke down crying, or just gave up and ran back to him.
"None of your business," she heard him say. She felt an odd ripple of magic, and looked up to see an emotional Harry Potter looking at her. It wasn't anger she saw in his face, but more like...desperation?
"But...how?" she mumbled.
Instead of replying, he wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her to him, and they both faded away from the hall.