"What exactly do you mean by 'Voldemort made his move'?" asked Daphne.
With a sigh, Harry explained, "Dumbledore died while we were aboard the Express. We didn't even hear about it until the day after, when it was reported by Daily Prophet." Daphne's head was swirling as she considered the implications.
"How?" she asked, and Harry snorted.
"It was announced as natural causes, but we knew it was because of the Rotting Curse and the potion. What we didn't know was that he had some help from Snape, and all because of Malfoy."
"What do you mean?" asked Daphne.
"I mentioned that Malfoy was attempting to bring Death Eaters into Hogwarts, but did you even wonder why?" he asked her, and she raised an eyebrow. "It was to help him kill Dumbledore. That was Malfoy's mission."
Daphne gaped at him for a moment, then replied, "You're joking." The whole idea seemed so farfetched.
"Oh, no, the idiot actually confessed later on," Harry replied with a snort. "His mummy and auntie dearest managed to convince Snape - who was also a Death Eater, by the way, although he spied for our side - to make an Unbreakable Vow that he would help Malfoy kill Dumbledore. It turned out that Dumbledore knew all along, and he actually begged Snape to kill him. The old bastard knew he wasn't going to live much longer anyway, so he figured Snape could help save Malfoy from himself while also solidifying his position as a spy," explained Harry.
"We didn't learn those details until much later, though," he added.
While Harry was speaking, Daphne couldn't help but notice the disgruntled look on his face whenever he mentioned Malfoy. "If you hate Malfoy so much, why do you even tolerate him?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Malfoy fancies himself a leader, but in reality, he's a spineless coward that hides behind his daddy's money and power," Harry snorted. "He's a little shit that doesn't even deserve my attention, let alone my respect."
"It's hard for me to disagree with you there," Daphne allowed.
"I've been tempted to make him cause his own death by breaking the oath from my first night as a Slytherin," Harry responded. "Why I haven't yet is beyond me. My only excuse is that I want to break him first. I'll make him see what a pathetic wizard and a person he really is, and then I'll crush him once and for all," he said, his eyes glinting.
"However, I do have more important things to deal with at the moment, so he'll have to wait his turn," he added, as an afterthought.
Daphne gave him a slight smirk and considered his words carefully.
"You wouldn't happen to know anything about what happened to Lucius Malfoy, would you?" she asked, again raising her eyebrow. Harry sat back and examined his fingernails, considering his next words.
"The thing about that is, Dobby and I needed some equipment to start collecting the Horcruxes. One night, we decided to pay a visit an armour shop in Knockturn Alley, and who should we come across but dear old Lucy? He was rather inebriated at the time, so Dobby and I decided to help sober him up."
"Go on," Daphne said. She tried to give him a stern look, which was undermined by the obvious amusement in her voice.
"Dobby beat the crap out of him first, as payback for the horrific treatment he received when he served the Malfoys. After that, I may have…hypothetically…damaged his magical core?" he said, saying it more like a question, since he was a bit uncertain of how she would react.
Harry didn't have to worry though, because it didn't seem to bother Daphne at all. If anything, she was curious about what he did and how he did it.
"You can do that?" she asked.
"You can, but it takes time and power," he said. "We brought Lucius here, and I completed the ritual to damage his core, then Dobby took him back to the alley. Assuming I did everything right, he'll eventually wake up when his magic is fully drained, then he'll have to live as a squib with no memory of what happened to him."
"Of course, if I made a mistake with the ritual, then he might not wake up at all. I may have been in a hurry and forgotten to take all the proper precautions...oops," Harry added in mock concern.
Daphne was speechless for a few moments, before a few snickers escaped her.
"Fitting," she said.
"Nothing that he or his worthless son don't deserve," Harry snorted. "I completely despise Draco. I had to tolerate him for a time, but I never stopped hating him."
"I agree that both Malfoys are terrible, but for you it feels like there's something extra there, just like with Longbottom and Granger. There has to be more to it than that, so tell me what it is," Daphne demanded, her expression leaving no room for argument. Harry just looked at her in wonder, once again impressed by her perceptiveness.
"You're right, as always," he said with a small smile. "I never needed a reason to detest Malfoy, but he did end up doing things that made him irredeemable in my eye." Daphne just waved at him to continue.
"Lucius died in the war. As soon as Tom's victory was in doubt, Narcissa and Draco turned their backs on him. Between their 'change of heart' and a lot of gold, they managed to secure pardons for themselves and even help rehabilitate their image. He actually got married to a nice girl, and I was forced to be civil to him," Harry said, with a sigh of frustration.
"His wife had a complicated pregnancy with their second child, a daughter. They discovered that the baby had a damaged core, which meant she would in all likelihood be a squib, or at best a very weak witch. The bastard got drunk one night and killed their baby point blank with a Killing Curse. His wife actually ended up killing him for it and got herself sent to Azkaban. Their firstborn, a boy, was a total copy of Draco, and he hated his mother for killing his father. He ended up dying young, and he refused to speak to his mother even after she got out of Azkaban."
Daphne was horrified. "Do I even want to know more?" she asked, and Harry actually looked at her as if he was deciding whether or not to tell her.
"The marriage was a lie. She only got together with him because she'd been dosed with potions," Harry replied, looking at Daphne and seeing her disbelief. "The only reason she ever discovered it was because they wore off while she was in Azkaban. Once they did, she never once regretted killing the bastard, although she did, of course, regret being ensnared by the love potions."
Daphne suddenly felt a pang in her heart as she recalled the memory of their wedding.
"Tori?!" she exclaimed, not wanting to believe it. Harry nodded and held her close.
"I don't know much apart from what Tori told me years later, but she made him suffer. He..."
"Don't," she said, burying herself into his hug. "I'd rather not know for now," she said, almost begging him.
"That's fine, Daph."
She stayed in Harry's arms, processing everything he'd told her, when she suddenly became angry and pulled away from him. "Wait, he used potions on my sister? I'm going to kill him!"
"No, you won't," Harry said, regaining her attention. "I'm not saying we should let him live, but first he needs to suffer, and nothing will hurt him worse than to let him watch his power dwindle until he finally understands that he's nothing. When the time comes, I'll be the one to kill him. I owe it to Tori."
"Thank you," she said with a small smile, and then froze when she realized what he had said. "Wait, you don't mind killing?" she asked uneasily. Regardless of what she had just said, she wasn't sure that she could ever actually kill someone.
"I learned my lesson fighting the wars," Harry stated. "The Battle of the DOM was the turning point for me, after a fashion. Fighting the Death Eaters and watching them revive each other forced me to realise that in order to survive the war, I'd either have to kill or be killed." Harry looked into Daphne's eyes and asked her, "Wouldn't you, if you knew it was either you or them?"
A look of steely resolve slowly appeared on Daphne's face, and she looked back at Harry and gave him a determined nod. Harry smiled at her and reached up to caress her face.
"I know you would. You insisted on drilling that lesson into me during our fifth year. That's one of the reasons why I wasn't that injured at the DOM - I didn't hesitate. I still held back from killing back then, but like I said, I learned my lesson," he told her.
"What was the other reason?"
"That's easy, I wanted to get back to you. I needed to get back to you," he said sincerely, making her heart flutter. With a chuckle he added, "Dumbledore was right all along, love was the power he knew not," but more to himself than to her.
Daphne frowned slightly at the last part, not really understanding what he meant.
"Wait, did you say wars?" she asked, breaking the moment. "As in more than one?"
"Yeah, that's what I said," he sighed quietly. "There was the Second Wizarding War, also known as the Second Blood War, which is what they called Voldemort's second rise. Then there was the Third Wizarding War, which later became known as the Magic-Traitors War, and then the last one, the Culling, or Witching Wars," he listed, and Daphne stared at him with wide eyes.
"What... What does that all mean?" she asked, and he shook his head.
"I'll tell you, naturally, because it's all part of the story," he sighed, sounding slightly exasperated. "Let's get back to the original topic, all right?" Daphne agreed, but she wouldn't forget what he said. "Taken off topic because of Malfoy, this is priceless," he mumbled sarcastically, playing with her hair and making her giggle.
"Go on, then. What happened after Dumbledore's death?"
"I was at Durzkaban, as usual. I knew something was wrong when I suddenly got letters from you, Longbottom and Granger, the Order of the Phoenix, and the Weasleys all within minutes of each other. At your insistence, I had an emergency portkey with me that would take me to the Longbottom's. I packed everything I needed and took the portkey to Longbottom Hall, where you were already there waiting."
It was a harsh blow for everyone, but especially for our little group. We didn't attend the funeral for safety reasons, but I did get one last package from Dumbledore with some items he had bequeathed to me, Granger, and Weasley. Mine was the first snitch I ever caught, Granger got an original copy of The Tales of Beedle the Bard, and Weasley got the old man's Deluminator. He also gifted us his notes on the Horcruxes, along with clues about possible locations."
Noticing her puzzled look, he just shrugged. "I don't know what the old man was thinking," he said resignedly, and Daphne just scowled. "By then we were missing Hufflepuff's cup, Ravenclaw's diadem, his snake, and myself," Harry said, standing up and inviting Daphne to follow him. With a hiss of Parseltongue and a wave of his wand, he opened the sealed container, revealing its contents: a diadem, a locket, and an old sock. As she looked into the container, Daphne was overcome by the feelings of revulsion, of wrongness radiating from the box.
"Are those...?"
"Yeah, three of the bastard's Horcruxes," Harry replied. "I think the diadem would look good on you, but I don't think I'll let you try it on yet," he joked.
Daphne gave him a look, and with a grin he closed the box and they both went back to their chairs. After they sat back down, Harry didn't say anything for a while, seemingly lost in thought. Daphne waited patiently for a few minutes before deciding to get his attention.
"Harry?"
"Sorry, I just thinking about how best to tell you everything," he murmured.
"We laid low for the next several weeks. I stayed at Longbottom Hall for the remainder of the summer, but you and Granger visited often. The only other people who knew our location were Weasley and a few Order members. We spent most of our time planning out the best way to track down the remaining Horcruxes. We still needed to find the cup and the diadem, knowing that the snake would be with him."
"Voldemort and his Death Eaters conquered the Ministry in July. They didn't even have to do much; their people had been infiltrating it for years, and many of them had been in place since the first war. With Voldemort's supporters already entrenched in the Ministry and the Wizengamot, all it took to take over the entire country were a few key 'disappearances' and liberal use of the Imperious Curse."
Daphne couldn't believe it. "That's unbelievable!" she exclaimed, shaking her head in disbelief. "You make it sound like nobody even put up a fight!"
"It's scary when you realise how fragile our way of life really is," Harry lamented. "The coup was virtually silent. Those who would resist were swiftly dealt with, and the rest just kept their heads down and tried to go about their lives."
"I was declared Undesirable Number One by the new regime and had a large bounty on my head, so I couldn't show my face in public. Those were really dark times. Then, around half July you told us you wanted to bring some of your friends into our group. The others initially rejected the idea because they were Slytherins, but I trusted your judgment more than anyone's. You set up a meeting with Tracey, Theo, and Millie, who were the friends most opposed to what was happening."
"What about Blaise?" asked Daphne with a frown. "He isn't one to be a bigot."
"He went away to Italy, I believe," Harry replied, and she nodded. "The plan was to meet them at the Leaky Cauldron and convince them to join us. I went with you so I could watch your back, but I stayed under my Invisibility Cloak at first," he recalled. "The meeting went well, and I can tell you that Theo earned my utmost respect that day."
"What did he do?" Daphne asked, and Harry smiled sadly and brought his wand to his temple. He removed a memory and placed it in the Pensieve, then extended his hand to Daphne.
They entered the Pensieve together, and Daphne saw her older self sitting in a room along with Millie, a sullen-looking Theo, and Tracey, who seemed to be distracted.
————————————-
"We all know what is happening out there," memory Daphne said to the other three.
"What do you propose we do, then?" sighed Millie. "You know me, I'm not a blood supremacist, but we all know what will happen this year. There are rumours that Death Eaters will take over teaching positions at the school, and you know what that means for the muggleborns."
"If they're even allowed back at Hogwarts," supplied Tracey, who glanced over at Theo, who was sitting with his arms crossed.
With a sigh, memory Daphne tried again, "Look, you know I don't believe in pureblood supremacy, and I know none of you do either. What I'm suggesting won't be easy, but change has to start somewhere."
"So what, then? Are you suggesting we put our lives on the line against the Dark Lord and the Death Eaters?" Theo spat. "The four of us against a bunch of animals that show nothing but contempt for those they consider beneath him?"
Theo's tone was so cold and vicious that it made real Daphne shiver. She had known Theo for years, and she had never heard anything like that from him.
"Do you have any idea what they will do to you if they find out?" Theo added ominously. "What they will do to us, or to our families?"
"Theo, I know your father is a Death Eater..." Daphne started, but she was quickly cut off by Theo.
"Don't you dare mention that bastard in my presence again!" he shouted, leaping out of his chair. Tracey stood up and tried to put a hand on his shoulder, but he shrugged it off and moved over to the window overlooking Diagon Alley. Tracey's face took on a pained expression, and she went to him and hugged him from behind, crying softly. Theo turned around and embraced her, and they both held each other in silence while Daphne and Millie exchanged looks.
"Tracey, Theo… What happened?" asked Millie, and Tracey just sobbed and buried her face more deeply into Theo's chest.
"Two days ago, Tracey was at my house... and my father came home from a meeting, drunk." Theo hesitated, then held his girlfriend a little tighter before continuing. "He tried to rape her while I was using the toilet," he grimly revealed, and Tracey started shivering.
"I heard her screaming and ran back to her, only to find the fucker already on top of her, trying to push her skirt up. I pulled him off of her, but... He started ranting about me. How I embarrassed him by 'cavorting around' with half-blood whores instead of proper purebloods, and how his friends mocked him and constantly asked when I was to take my place among Them," Theo spat the last word in anger, making it clear about whom he was speaking.
Theo was trembling with anger and holding on to Tracey for support. "He ordered me to rape Tracey in front of him. He said if I didn't, then he would, and that she was useful for nothing more than pleasing her betters." He scoffed in disgust while Tracey buried herself further into his hug.
"I Crucio'd him," Theo admitted, making the others gasp in shock. "I don't know what happened, I just snapped and couldn't take it anymore. I hated him. Always calling me a bastard, an embarrassment, a failure, beating me for..." Theo hesitated and looked softly at Tracey.
"All that I could deal with, but having him do that, to Tracey..." Theo hesitated again. "I had him under the Cruciatus Curse for over thirty seconds, and the bastard actually laughed at me. He called me a failure and a disappointment, again, because my Crucio had nothing on the Dark Lord's. He actually got up and ordered me to move away, saying that he would take care of the half-blood bitch by himself if I wouldn't, and that he and I would be having a proper discussion later about me being a man and doing my duty by taking the Mark."
Theo scoffed again, still trembling in anger. "I hit him with a Reducto in both knees, vanished the bones in his wand arm, cast another Cruciatus, and the fucker was still laughing at me. He kept calling me a failure and a blood traitor, all while he was on the ground bleeding and spitting blood. I couldn't take it anymore. I couldn't take anymore of him, and I... I didn't cast the Avada, I... I cast a Diffindo across his neck, and then it was my turn to laugh as his precious pure blood poured from his throat."
Memory Daphne and Millie just stared at him in stunned silence.
"Once he was done bleeding out, I vanished his body, and it was all over," Theo revealed, starting to break down. "Merlin, Trace, I'm so sorry," he begged in a whisper.
"It wasn't your fault," she sobbed. "You saved me! You have nothing to be sorry for!"
"I don't regret killing him," Theo declared to the room, looking directly at memory Daphne. "Do you understand? They only respect you if you're on their side. If not, you're nothing to them. To them you're nothing but a blood traitor, and they believe it's their Merlin-given mission to put you in your place, and they will rape, torture, or kill you just for their amusement," he spat in anger.
Memory Daphne nodded.
"I'm fully aware of what I am getting myself into, Theo," Daphne replied with a glare. "I don't want to live in a world like this," she stated. "Do you?"
"No, but I have my own priorities," Theo snapped, glaring at the blonde. "I have to lay low until September, and then I have to protect Tracey from them. The only way for me to do that is to go to Hogwarts and stay with her at all times. I don't have time to protect people who are meaningless to me."
"Theo, please," Tracey whispered, and Theo looked at her.
"No, I've had it! I don't give a fuck anymore. Not about the old bastard who called himself my father, not about this country or its people, the Dark Lord, or Potter. All I care about is you, and I can do that far away from here. I'd leave now if we could, but that would only make us targets. After this seventh year is done, I'm taking you away for good. We'll find somewhere we can be free and safe, away from all this shite."
The three girls gasped at Theo's declaration, and real Daphne was stunned. She'd never seen this side of him before. She looked over at Harry, intending to say something about it, but he was still focused on the memory and looking at Theo with no small amount of respect, so she chose to remain silent and turned back to the conversation.
"Theo, I..." Tracey started slowly, with tears in her eyes. "I don't want to run away."
"What? Why?" he asked, although he already knew the answer.
"This is my home," she cried, "and I don't want to be forced to leave it by a bunch of arseholes. I want to stay and help in whatever way I can." Theo sighed and ran his hand through his hair in frustration, but memory Daphne smiled softly at her friend's devotion to her home.
"Yeah, I'm not too fond of the idea of living in a society like the one rising in our country," Millie agreed, glancing at Daphne and giving her a nod. Millie wasn't one for making speeches, but she was outraged by Theo and Tracey's story. She knew she wouldn't have anyone to save her if she ever got into a similar situation, and she decided to actually do something about it, even if it meant ignoring her own self-preservation instincts.
Theo sighed and looked down at the floor.
"Theo, I love you, I really do, and I wouldn't say no to being with you forever, but I... I need to do this. I need to help. I want you to stay with me, but I won't ask you to do this," Tracey said, looking down as her tears fell to the ground.
"I'm not a hero," Theo replied, looking up at Tracey.
"You're MY hero," she whispered hopefully, and he sighed again.
"I don't give a fuck about cowards who can't help themselves and allow THEM to just round them up for slaughter," he said again with a sneer. Tracey nodded sadly, and a tear ran down each of her cheeks. She kissed him softly on his lips and left his embrace, turning her back to him.
"I understand, Theo," she said again, and walked away from him.
"I don't care about them...but I care about you," he said, and she turned back to him expectantly. "If you really think I'm letting you do this without me, you're sadly mistaken. You mean more to me than you even realise." Tracey jumped into his arms and kissed him passionately, while Daphne smiled, and Millie blushed.
Once they separated, he rested his forehead against hers and added, "And I'll kill anyone that tries to hurt you, no matter what."
"I can honestly say I have no objections to that," a disembodied voice announced, one that real Daphne recognised as Harry's. He emerged from under his Invisibility Cloak and materialised next to memory Daphne.
"Potter?" Millie gasped, and Theo drew his wand and pointed it at Harry, who responded in kind.
"Daphne, what the hell?" asked Tracey, looking back and forth from Harry to Daphne.
"Harry Potter, meet Millicent Bulstrode, Tracey Davis, and Theodore Nott, Jr.," she said, gesturing to each one in turn. "Everyone, this, as you know, is Harry Potter, who also happens to be my boyfriend since the end of fifth year." The girls' jaws dropped, but Theo never took his eyes off Harry, both of them still pointing their wands at the other.
"Boys, put your wands away," sighed Daphne, lowering Harry's arm with her hand while Tracey did the same with Theo's. "We're supposed to be allies."
"Allies who spy on each other?" Theo asked with a glare.
"How else was I to ensure my girlfriend's safety?" Harry responded with a shrug. Theo looked at him suspiciously, but at the same time seemed to understand. The two continued to stare each other down, when Harry spoke again.
"I can't promise you that she'll be safe. Our world isn't a very safe place at the moment. As much as it pains me to admit it, I can't even guarantee Daphne's safety, but what I can promise is that we will stand together. We will watch each other's backs, and we will do whatever it takes to protect one another."
"And if you need to kill?" Theo asked in a cold voice. Harry looked at him appraisingly.
"They offer no mercy. Why should I?" Harry responded in an equally cold tone, which seemed to surprise everyone but memory Daphne.
"You're not what I expected, Potter," Theo said with a nod.
"You know nothing about me, Nott," Harry replied. "Tom has been intent on killing me since before I was born. I want to live and have a family of my own, preferably with the hot blonde next to me... damn woman, that hurts," Harry complained after an elbow to the ribs from a smirking Daphne, while the other girls snorted.
Memory Harry turned and looked into Daphne's blue eyes. "If I'm ever going to live the life I want, I have to win, and in order to win, I have to be willing to do whatever it takes to succeed." He turned to Theo again and their eyes met, and in that moment an alliance was made. "Can I count on you?"
Theo looked first to Millie, then to Daphne, who were both looking back at him expectantly. Theo felt Tracey's hand intertwine with his, and he knew his answer.
"This better be worth it, Potter," Theo replied.
————————————-
The memory ended, and the pair found themselves back in the Chamber. Daphne was still trying to process everything she'd seen in the Pensieve.
"I knew Theo's father was abusive, but I never expected that..." she mumbled, and Harry nodded.
"Turns out Theo and I have a lot in common," he replied. Daphne looked back at him expectantly, but all Harry would say was, "I'm sorry, but I can't tell you anything more than that. It's his tale to tell, not mine, and I won't betray my brother's trust."
Daphne raised an eyebrow.
"Your brother?" she asked in surprise, and Harry nodded.
"Theo and I became good friends in my past life, and he stood by me until the end," Harry supplied with a smile. "Everything we went through forged a bond between us, and in time I came to see him as family."
"I see," Daphne replied, sitting down in her chair and thinking about what she had seen. "What about Blaise?"
Harry smirked.
"Well, Blaise ended up coming back to Britain, and he finally asked Millie out the moment he saw her. He said something about getting his courage together, or something like that. Mind you, he was spluttering so incoherently that he had to repeat everything five times before she even understood what he was asking her. Once they started dating, she asked him to join your group, and he agreed."
"What do you mean my group?" asked Daphne.
"Theo, Tracey, and Millie gave an oath not to talk about our meeting with anyone else, unless they had your permission. After that, the four of you all started planning what to do in Slytherin that year. We dorks were kept out of the loop, and you were the only one who went to our meetings about the Horcruxes."
"Why? You didn't trust the snakes?" she asked with a glare.
"No, Daph, I trusted you above anyone, and by then I already respected Theo. It had nothing to do with that," replied Harry with a sigh. "It's called compartmentalisation. Having multiple people with knowledge of the Horcruxes living in the castle with a known Legilimens was too dangerous, and your mission in Slytherin was too important to risk. You know damn well that Slytherin is a focal point at Hogwarts, and keeping the house under control was the best way to protect the students." Daphne thought about Harry's words and couldn't find any fault with them.
"Fine, what else then?" she said, moving on.
"Well, there was a wedding. Fleur's wedding, actually," Harry said, which got Daphne's attention. "You didn't attend, and I was there under Polyjuice. Death Eaters crashed the reception, and I had to make a quick getaway back to Longbottom Hall. Nothing really serious happened, the Death Eaters just made a mess of the place and questioned some of the guests. They assumed I must be there since I was close to the bride and groom, so they just appeared and demanded Harry Potter be handed over to them."
"Who did she marry, then?" Daphne asked casually, remembering what he told her earlier about his fallout with Delacour after her husband's death. It didn't take a genius to figure out that Harry Potter's future self was somehow involved, and the fact that he tried to hide it from her meant it was personal to Harry.
"Bill Weasley," Harry replied, continuing on with his story. He didn't notice his blonde companion's eyes grow wide at the name, or the fact that she was no longer listening.
"Weasley…Weaselette?" she wondered to herself, while Harry was saying something about the Horcruxes. "So, the Veela's husband died avenging Weaselette, who was an accomplice to a murder?"
"Daph, are you alright?" Harry asked, and Daphne snapped out of her reverie and looked at him.
"It was you, wasn't it?" she asked, and Harry looked back at her quizzically, not understanding the question. "It was you who killed Weaselette and her brothers, which explains why Delacour became 'less than polite' to you, as you so put it," she stated, crossing her arms defiantly and staring intently at him.
Harry sighed.
"Daph, I..."
"Look, Harry, I like you," she said, resisting a blush. "I like you a lot, and as you're telling me these stories, I find myself liking you more and more... and I just realised I sounded exactly like a fangirl," she mumbled in embarrassment, making Harry smirk as she recentred herself. "The story you're telling me is truly incredible, but I do believe you. I'm also starting to hope that I can one day become the woman I saw in your memories, and I'm sure that you want that too, or else you wouldn't be wasting your time on me."
"Daph, I..." he tried, only to be interrupted again.
"I'm grateful, Harry, I really am. Grateful that you trusted me so much in your past, and for all the time you spent helping me. I'm grateful that we fell in love, and..." she said, her eyes suddenly watering, prompting Harry to get up and take her hand. "Grateful that you're doing it all again, that you came back just to be with me again. I-I want to trust you, Harry," she said, a tear falling from her eye, "But you can't hide things from me, please. You said it yourself; you told me everything in our future."
"I am telling you everything, Daph," he insisted, and she slowly nodded.
"Then why did you hide that you were the one who killed Delacour's husband? That you were the one who killed his sister, who was an accomplice to a murder?"
Harry looked at her calmly and asked, "Does it make a difference if I was the one who killed her?"
"No," she answered, shaking her head. "And I believe you already know that. I am a pureblood, and I was raised to understand the laws regarding bloodrights and honour duels. I understand that people have to protect themselves and their families, and sometimes that means other people have to die."
"Your grandfather and your grandmother," he said.
"Yes, my grandfather, who died from a Death Eater's Gouging Curse during an attack, and my grandmother, who died trying to take as many of the bastards as she could with her," she confirmed. "I never met them, but I learned from their deaths. I learned to stand up for what I believe in and protect the ones I love."
"You told me about them," Harry replied. "And trust me, I agreed with you," he added, and she gave him a soft smile, which he returned.
"So why didn't you tell me?"
"I didn't want to scare you," he admitted, kissing her hand. She sighed.
"I don't see the point, seeing as how you're going to end up telling me about how she killed me anyway," she replied defiantly.
He looked up in astonishment. "I should have suspected that you'd already made the connection," he grumbled, shaking his head.
"It wasn't that difficult," she replied. "I want to know."
"I can tell you now, or you can wait a little longer and hear where it fits with the rest of the story. It's your choice," Harry replied, brushing a strand of blonde hair away from her face. "It doesn't matter either way, because I am going to prevent it from happening. I told you that I wanted you to fall in love with me, marry me, and live happily ever after. In order to have that, I need you to trust me and accept me for who I am, so I won't hold anything back."
"I'm starting to want that too," she thought to herself, sighing.
"I was happy, wasn't I?" she asked, and he nodded.
"I like to think so, at least you never gave me any reason to think that you weren't," he replied with a sad look, and she smiled back at him and caressed his face.
"I want it," she whispered to him. "I'd accept you after what you've told me without a second thought." She kissed him softly, smiling at how right it felt. "Keep going with your story, and tell me everything," she told him softly, and he nodded.
"We were making plans for what we were going to do once the summer was over, and we had a huge fight about it. There was no way I could go to Hogwarts, and you wanted to stay with me. I thought it would be safer if you went back to school, where you would be protected by your blood status, plus I wanted someone I could trust on the inside."
"We eventually managed to reach an agreement, though you weren't thrilled with it. You would go back to Hogwarts, along with Longbottom, Theo, Tracey, Millie, and Blaise, and work from the inside. Granger and Weasley would stay with me and work on finding the other Horcruxes. We had our bracelets so we could stay in contact, and I also gave you the Marauder's Map."
"That's the map of Hogwarts you showed me a couple of weeks ago, right? The one that was a relic from your father and uncles?" she asked, and he nodded fondly.
"Yeah, that's the one. We had to travel light, and I had no use for it outside of school. I even released Hedwig to the wilds, but she seemed to have stick around Longbottom Hall for a long time."
"You released Hedwig? Why?" asked Daphne, curious.
"Snowy owl. Too flashy, and too many people associated her with me," Harry replied, and Daphne understood his reasoning. "She hated it, of course, but she forgave us after we gave her some bacon," he added with a smirk.
"I can't tell you how much it sucked to be away from you," he continued. "I don't know everything that went on, but what I can tell you is that your plan worked, and your group held most of the power in Slytherin. You managed to coordinate a resistance of sorts to the Death Eaters, and even aided the other resistance group the DA had formed, although they didn't know it. What surprised me the most was that even Pansy, Greg, and Vince joined you for the final battle." Daphne flinched.
"That all sounds rather ominous," she admitted, and he looked back at her sadly for a moment before resuming the story. He went on to tell her how they stayed hidden in the country, but had no luck finding the remaining Horcruxes. They knew Hufflepuff's cup was last seen with Hepzibah Smith, but it had disappeared after her death, and the only other known founder's artefact was Ravenclaw's diadem, which had been lost for over a thousand years. Aside from Dumbledore's sparse notes, they had very little to go on.
Harry told her how Weasley had thrown a tantrum and deserted them, leaving them alone in the middle of nowhere. Granger stayed with him, which led to some bonding between them and the healing of some old wounds. Daphne listened to this apprehensively, fearing some kind of reconnection between the two, but she needn't have worried.
"No, nothing happened, Daph. I loved you too much to do anything that would jeopardise my relationship with you. I can even swear it if you want," he said, but Daphne shook her head. "Besides, we spoke every night through our bracelets, and I told you everything. In fact, Granger also had her own way of communicating with Longbottom."
"Then, something amazing happened," said Harry, pausing to smile at Daphne, who impatiently waved for him to continue.
"You sent me a message."
"And how amazing could a message possibly be?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.
"How about 'Spoke with the Grey Lady. She's Ravenclaw's daughter and she helped me retrieve the diadem from the ROR, where Tom left it. Diadem destroyed with venom', or something like that, at least..."
Daphne's eyebrows shot up and her mouth dropped wide open, while Harry just sat there smiling at her. "You did it, all by yourself."
"But... How?"
Harry shrugged. "You were smart and cunning, as usual. You were researching the diadem and approached the Grey Lady for help, since she was the ghost of Ravenclaw tower. You somehow got her to admit that she was actually Rowena's daughter, Helena, and that she had stolen the diadem and fled with it to Albania, where she was murdered by the Bloody Baron. The diadem remained hidden for centuries, until Riddle manipulated her into trusting him and giving him the location. After defiling it, he brought the diadem back the school and hid it in the Room of Requirement."
"I... I see," Daphne replied, somewhat in awe of herself and beaming at the praise he had given her.
Daphne kept listening as Harry told her about how Weasley used Dumbledore's Deluminator to come back to them and ask their forgiveness, and how that led to them finding the sword of Gryffindor. She was fascinated to learn that Goblin-made blades absorbed substances that strengthened them, meaning Harry had accidentally imbued Gryffindor's sword with basilisk venom in his second year, making it capable of destroying Horcruxes.
She heard how they were captured by Voldemort's minions after breaking the taboo of the Dark Lord's name and taken to Malfoy Manor, where Granger was tortured by Bellatrix Lestrange. That was when Draco Malfoy had told them about his mission to kill Dumbledore, and how Snape had killed the old man because he had made an Unbreakable Vow to help Draco.
"Up until then, we had assumed Dumbledore had succumbed to the curse on his hand. I was absolutely furious at Snape's betrayal, and I vowed to kill him myself," Harry said angrily. "We learned later on that it was all part of Dumbledore's plan, but that didn't make me any less angry. Old git and his bloody secrets," he muttered, before picking up the story again.
Harry described being tossed into the dungeon with the other prisoners, which included Mr. Ollivander, a goblin named Griphook, Luna Lovegood and her father, along with a few others, and how they were all rescued by none other than Dobby himself. Being the Malfoy's former house-elf, he was tasked to spy on the house by 'Old Headmaster Whiskers's Brother', who happened to be Aberforth Dumbledore, the owner of the Hog's Head. Dobby had helped them all escape, but he was critically injured by Bellatrix Lestrange while apparating them all to safety.
Daphne looked over at the elf, who popped in and was standing by his master like a valet. When he got to that part of the story, Harry placed his hand on the elf's shoulder.
"I was dying, Mistress," Dobby said in a low voice. "Master Harry remembered some of the lessons you had given him about my kind, and he pushed his magic into me to try to help me. He succeeded in feeding my magic enough to save my life, but that caused our magics to bind us together, and from that moment on I became a Potter house-elf. I didn't say anything at the time, because I didn't want the bushy-haired bitch to start raving about house-elf slavery."
"Was it then, when you became...?" asked Daphne, gesturing to his changed body, but Dobby shook his head. "That may have been the beginning, my real change occurred many years later, after we made an oath of loyalty and friendship. We made a pact, and my magic fed from my master's, changing me into what you see now - a wiser, more powerful Dobby."
"We will also cover that later on," Harry commented with a dark chuckle, and Dobby stood up straighter, losing his smile.
"I was loyal to the family, and Master Harry saw me as more of a friend than a servant. So did you, actually," the elf said, and Daphne nodded.
"What happened next?"
"Granger suspected there was a Horcrux in the Lestrange vault, based on some of the things Bellatrix said while we were at Malfoy Manor. We needed to move fast, and with no other options we decided to break into Gringotts." Daphne paled. Not only was that incredibly dangerous, but it was also incredibly stupid.
"Come again?" she demanded, rising slowly from her chair with a fierce look.
"We made a deal with the goblin we rescued to let us to enter Lestrange vault," he said quickly, trying to head off the anger that usually came with that look.
"How?" she asked, sitting back down, her expression changing to one of curiosity. Harry sighed in relief and exchanged looks with Dobby, who actually started laughing at him.
"What do you know of goblin law?" he asked her.
"Nothing," she replied.
"As it turns out, Gryffindor's sword was considered an heirloom of the Goblin Nation. We knew the sword was goblin-made, of course, but they alleged that the sword was stolen from a goblin king, and they wanted it back. I made a deal promising Griphook the sword and a significant quantity of galleons in exchange for his help destroying the Horcrux in Lestrange's vault. That, and an oath to keep our deal secret."
"How many galleons?" asked Daphne.
"Ten thousand," replied Harry.
"TEN THOUSAND GALLEONS?!" she shouted, and he just nodded and shrugged.
"I made that back with a couple of investments. As an added bonus, Griphook was declared a hero to the Goblin Nation for obtaining the sword, and was grateful enough that he provided us with some inside information to help increase my revenue. It was a win-win situation for both of us."
Daphne was still appalled, but Harry just chuckled and continued on.
"Granger used Polyjuice to look like Bellatrix, we transfigured Weasley to look like some foreign wizard, and I went under my Invisibility Cloak. We met Griphook in the atrium, and he brought us down to the Lestrange vault and opened the door. I identified the Horcrux and dropped a vial of basilisk venom on it, then we came back up to the surface. I handed Griphook the sword and a sackful of galleons, and we never spoke about it again."
"It was that simple?" asked Daphne, and Harry nodded.
"I know it seems hard to believe, but it's true. I did have to promise not to steal anything, of course, and we didn't. Aside from us, no one ever knew. There was no spell fire, no epic battle, and no stealing of dragons... only a successful stealth mission."
Daphne frowned.
"You infiltrated Gringotts, entered a vault that wasn't yours with a goblin's help - after bribing him with a huge sum, by the way – and you say that like it was nothing?" she replied, shaking her head in partial amusement.
"Nothing compared to what happened later," Harry thought.
"Then what? With the diadem and the cup destroyed, only you and the snake remained. What then? How did you even discover the one in your scar, by the way?" asked Daphne, her voice a mix of excitement and apprehension.
"After we destroyed the cup, we decided to come to Hogwarts. We figured our best chance to take out both the snake and Tom was to lure him into a trap, and we knew we had allies in the school. The plan was to get inside the school and take out all the Death Eaters, and then Voldemort would have no choice but to show up to quell the rebellion."
"Bold plan," Daphne pronounced, and he nodded.
"It was the only one we had," Harry replied, looking at her gravely. "I coordinated everything with you. We arrived at Hogsmeade the evening of April twenty-ninth and met up with Aberforth Dumbledore at the Hog's Head. We spent the night at his house, and he helped us infiltrate Hogwarts the following afternoon, using a secret passage between his pub and the dock house. We came out of the passageway and Longbottom was there waiting for us."
Him and Granger had a moment, and then he brought us to the Room of Requirement to meet up with the rest of the DA. Of course, the only person I wanted to see wasn't there," Harry said, smiling softly at Daphne. "You and your group had the junior Death Eaters mostly under control, which really only left Snape and the Carrow twins to contend with. I was really looking forward to getting my hands on Snape."
"What did you do?" asked Daphne, getting more anxious the longer the story went on.
"The DA put itself under my command, and our first objective was to neutralise the Carrows. I wanted to see you first, so while the others were preparing I sent you a message, and we met at the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets. All I'll say is that we were both very happy to see each other alive and well," he said with a grin, which Daphne returned while fighting a blush.
"You were updating me on everything that was going on, but then Myrtle showed up and started wailing. We hid under the Cloak and waited, and as luck would have it, both Carrows showed up to deal with the racket," Harry chuckled darkly. "They didn't survive point blank Reductos to the face." Daphne gulped but nodded in approval.
"We got a message to the DA about the Carrows, and told everyone meet us at the Great Hall doors in fifteen minutes. After a quick kiss you left to go rally the Slytherins, and I made my way to the Great Hall under the Cloak."
"What was the plan, then?" asked Daphne again.
"It was right around dinner time, so we figured everyone would be together in the Great Hall. You and your group would deal with the junior Death Eaters, and we'd storm the Great Hall and capture Snape, who was the only adult Death Eater left." Daphne nodded, starting to fidget.
"It worked almost perfectly," Harry scowled, rubbing his forehead.
"What happened?" she asked softly, getting up from her seat and walking over to him.
"As soon as we entered the Great Hall, you and the others - including Pansy, surprisingly - stunned all the junior Death Eaters."
"Pansy is not that bad," Daphne admonished, and Harry held his hands up and nodded.
"I know that now," he defended, "But the last time I saw her she was still on Team Draco, so it threw me for a loop."
"We were closing in on Snape, and he immediately surrendered when he realised what was happening," he continued. "It was my chance to pay him back for killing Dumbledore, but before we could do anything, McGonagall and the other heads of house came to his aid."
"What?" asked a shocked Daphne, not knowing what else to say.
"That was when we learned it was all Dumbledore's plan. He orchestrated his own murder to help Malfoy and secure Snape's place as a spy. He'd also predicted that Snape would be named headmaster, which would allow him to mitigate the damage done by the Death Eaters and protect the students. Snape also relayed information to Aberforth to help me with my quest and played a part in us finding the sword of Gryffindor."
"Wow," was all Daphne could say, and then they sat in silence for a while.
"Yeah… Apparently, he had told McGonagall, Sprout, and Flitwick all about it at the beginning of the year. Imagine our surprise when McGonagall revealed she knew about everything, told us she was very proud of us, and then gave everyone house points," scoffed Harry.
"I was livid. I was tired of being jerked around. I was angry at Dumbledore for withholding critical information, again. I was angry at Snape for going along with it, and I was angry with the other professors for their inaction, and for patronising us with their platitudes and their house points. McGonagall was thrown off by my reaction, but still called me, Granger, and Weasley into a meeting. We went, but I took you with me, and Longbottom came along too."
Harry chuckled, "Can you imagine the looks on everyone's faces when I kissed you in public that first time?"
"Would you show me?" Daphne asked softly. He shot her a smile and nodded, extracting a memory with his wand. They dropped into the Pensieve, and suddenly they were in the Great Hall, standing between the staff table and memory Harry, who was surrounded by several students from the DA.
———————————-
"Fine, you'll have your meeting, but I want answers," Harry snarled, and McGonagall gulped. Memory Harry turned his back on the staff and spoke directly to the DA, "Nev, send word to Aberforth to call all the remaining members of the Order of the Phoenix. We will need all the help we can get to defend the castle. This is for all of you as well. If you have friends or family that can and wish to join us, please, contact them in whatever way you can. We will need every able wand against the Dark Lord when he comes for us."
"What makes you think we would help you, Potter?" called a voice from the Ravenclaw table.
"Leave, if you want," Harry replied coldly, leaving no room for argument. No one else said a thing. "Madam Pomfrey can coordinate the evacuation of the younger students with Abe."
"And what makes you think you are entitled to order anyone around, Potter?" Snape sneered, clearly intent on berating him.
"Your predecessor's training, Death Eater. The man you killed, remember him?" Harry growled, making several people gasp and others nod in agreement. "Now, Hermione, Ron, Neville, come with me," memory Harry said, turning and walking to the Slytherin table.
"Potter, where are you going?" asked McGonagall, seeing him going the wrong direction.
"Hey guys, great job," Harry said, ignoring McGonagall and acknowledging the whole house, surprising the Slytherins with his appreciative words and attitude. He walked straight to memory Daphne, pulled her to him, and kissed her soundly, right in front of everyone.
Gasps rang out around the hall, while Ginny Weasley shrieked, "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" Memory Harry and Daphne ignored them all, the latter now with her arms around Harry's neck and enthusiastically returning his kiss.
———————————-
"You foolish Gryffindor. If that wasn't a move to demonstrate your superiority and leadership, then I don't know what is," real Daphne said with a smile, and they both chuckled. "But I forgive you," she added with a wink.
———————————-
"Come along, I'll need your help dealing with that," Harry said, pointing to the professors. Daphne lost the smile and nodded to Harry. Harry looked back to the Slytherins and saw that Nott, Davis, Bulstrode, and Zabini were all snickering, but almost all the others were blankly staring at him and Daphne. Astoria Greengrass was doing her best impression of a fish, wanting to say something, but completely lost for words.
"Ladies, gents... It's a pleasure to see you again," Harry said, approaching his Slytherin allies. "Great job, by the way."
"Glad to have you back, Potter," replied Nott. "Your girlfriend had been almost unbearable since you told her you were coming back," he added with a smirk.
The six laughed together, which was the only sound in the room until a very excited Astoria Greengrass shouted 'WHAT?!' so loudly that Daphne flinched. Her sister would no doubt be clamouring for all the juicy details. She wasn't the only one demanding answers either, the most vocal being a certain redheaded Gryffindor girl.
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOUR GIRLFRIEND?"
With a wink, Harry climbed on the table and reached for Daphne's hand, which she gave him with an exaggerated sigh. In actuality, she knew exactly what he was planning to do and found it amusing, so she played along.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, allow me to explain..." Harry said, holding a smiling Daphne at his side. "This lovely woman, who you all know and fear, is Daphne Greengrass. What you didn't know is that she has been my girlfriend for almost two years. She is my partner in all things, and I trust her above all others," he declared, eliciting shouts of either anger, joy, disbelief, or some combination of the three.
"HOW COULD YOU? SHE'S NOTHING BUT A SLIMY SNAKE!" shouted Ginny Weasley, making everyone in the hall turn to look at her. Some of her fellow Gryffindors seemed to mirror her opinion, but most of the others found her outburst rather pitiful. Harry and Daphne just glared icily at the redhead, a look of distaste on both of their faces.
"For your information, Weasley, snakes aren't slimy at all," Harry answered with a cold look, making Daphne snort. "And yes, she's a proud snake, one of the greatest in her house. She's the one who inspired her housemates to stand with us today," Harry proclaimed. He looked around at those dressed in Slytherin robes, and he could see how much they appreciated him recognising their contribution. Many of them seemed to be completely in awe of him and Daphne, particularly the younger students.
Harry did a double take when he noticed Pansy Parkinson standing among the conscious Slytherins, looking at the two of them in total disbelief.
"And you know what?" he continued, "I love her with all that I am." Daphne rolled her eyes at his public declaration, but she didn't even try to hide the huge smile on her face. She tilted her head up and kissed Harry softly on the lips, caressing his cheek with her thumb.
"Enough with the speeches, there's a meeting to go to," she reminded him, and they climbed down from the table and walked towards the professors hand in hand.
———————————-
Real Daphne couldn't keep the smile off her face during the memory, especially when Harry stood up and declared his love for her in front of everyone. She took a glance at the Slytherin table and saw Tracey cuddling into Theo's side and Millie leaning on Blaise. Her sister was practically bouncing up and down in her seat, talking animatedly to her friends. Daphne had no doubt that she and Harry were the topic of Tori's conversation. She looked around the hall and saw Weaselette fuming. She hadn't taken her eyes off of memory Harry and Daphne, she just kept glowering at them with a look of complete disgust on her face. Her brother also looked disgruntled, but he was hiding it slightly better than his sister was.
Some of the other dork girls were glaring at them too, but most of the others in the hall seemed just surprised or confused, talking amongst themselves about the revelation. Daphne found it amusing that she and Harry had delivered such a shock, that nearly everyone seemed to momentarily forget that they were in the middle of a war.
The memory ended and Harry and Daphne found themselves back in the Chamber's living quarters.
"Well, that was fun," she said with a soft smile, and Harry actually laughed.
"Yeah..." he said, giving her a soft smile that didn't reach his eyes.
"What's wrong?" she asked, having noticed his faraway expression.
"I'm thinking about how to tell you the next part," Harry said, sitting back in his chair with a pensive look. Daphne's amusement quickly faded, and she sat down next to him, looking at him intently.
"Promise me you won't curse me? At least not badly?" he requested. His face still held a stony expression, and she could tell that whatever was she was about to learn was going to be very serious.
"No," she replied, and he rolled his eyes.
"Fine," he said with a snort, and he took hold of her hand and started absentmindedly caressing the back with his thumb.
"According to Snape, Riddle was looking for the Elder Wand. He already knew that Dumbledore had been its previous master, and he suspected that he had hidden it somewhere in Hogwarts."
"But you had it, didn't you?" she asked, and he shook his head.
"No, I didn't have it. You did," he confessed, and Daphne's eyes widened in surprise. "We talked about it, and we decided that you should keep it safe. We were mostly afraid of what could happen if someone took it from me while I was on the Horcrux hunt," he explained, shaking his head. "You kept it in your trunk, and we were the only two who knew about it. Even if someone was searching for it, like Voldemort, who would think to look for it there?"
"Of course, we denied all knowledge of the Elder Wand to Snape, who didn't believe us one bit. He tried to use Legilimency on me, and I have to admit I took extreme pleasure in punching him in his greasy, hooked nose," Harry gloated.
"You approved, as well," he added with a wink. Daphne vaguely nodded, still trying to wrap her head around the fact that she kept the most legendary wand in history in her school trunk.
"You punched him?" she asked, catching up with the conversation.
"Broke his nose, too," Harry replied with a smile. "After I got an earful from McGonagall and Granger, we all calmed down and discussed our next steps. We decided to lure Voldemort to Hogwarts while we held what little advantage we had. Snape summoned him with his Dark Mark and requested backup, telling him I was at Hogwarts inciting a student rebellion. He then left and went to join Voldemort so he could keep up his disguise a little longer."
"So?" asked Daphne, spurring him to continue.
"Reinforcements for our side arrived, mostly the Order of the Phoenix and some trustworthy Aurors. The students that supported Riddle were locked in the dungeons, and we waited around making our final preparations. It was around nine o'clock when the wards reported the first arrivals," Harry explained.
"Death Eaters and Snatchers engaged in a frontal assault, but there was no sign of Voldemort yet. We managed to repel them, but we lost several people, including my uncle Moony. He threw himself in front of a Killing Curse to save his wife. She took Remus's death badly…very badly. She completely lost herself in her despair and threw herself into the battle, and she ended up dead the same night. They left behind a small child, Teddy, who at that point was only a couple months old." Daphne saw the pain in Harry's eyes and tried to comfort him as best she could.
"When the first battle was over, Voldemort sent us all a message saying he would enter the fray and kill us all, unless I surrendered myself to him before midnight. The message was ignored, and we kept preparing for the next skirmish and tending to our dead. Seeing my uncle and his wife lying dead side-by-side was hard for me, but you helped."
That's when McGonagall approached me with a vial of Snape's memories, which she said had very important information from Dumbledore, and that I needed to view them as soon as possible," Harry snarled, making Daphne narrow her eyebrows suspiciously.
"Believing it was something important that would help us win, we rallied the group and went to the headmaster's office," Harry explained with a sigh. "The delegation included us, McGonagall, Flitwick, Sprout, Theo and Tracey, Blaise and Millie, and Granger and Longbottom. Weasley was off doing something else, I'm not sure what."
"I brought you into the Pensieve with me, but no one else. Basically, it was a memory of Dumbledore and Snape talking. I discovered several things by watching that memory, the first being that Snape was the one who told Voldemort about the prophecy that set him on my family. Apparently, he had been in love with my mother since they were children. Once Snape found out who his master believed the prophecy referred to, he begged him to spare my mother's life. I guess he didn't trust Riddle, so he went to Dumbledore and asked him to protect all of us."
Harry snorted to himself, staring at the ground. "His Patronus was even a doe, which was supposed to represent my mother, I suppose. My father was a stag, after all. That wasn't the important part, though…"
"The kicker was when Dumbledore revealed that I was a Horcrux, that a piece of Voldemort's soul had attached itself to my scar. He was very clear that in order to kill Voldemort permanently, it was essential that Tom killed me by his own hand, as that was the only way to ensure that the piece of soul inside my scar was destroyed," Harry divulged, still playing with Daphne's hand.
Daphne froze. She was terrified for a moment, and she had to remind herself that this Harry had already safely removed the Horcrux from his scar. She was still horrified that he had been put into that situation at all. "Why?" was all she could say.
"As usual, Dumbledore spoke in riddles..." Harry said, shrugging. "It was sort of a plan for my survival, but I don't think he was really sure it would work."
"But...but...how?" she questioned. Harry gave her a half smile and drew his wand, pulling a memory from his head and dropping it into the Pensieve.
"I was absolutely furious," Harry said, ignoring her question and gazing into the Pensieve. "McGonagall already knew...the bitch knew everything, and actually tried to reassure me that it was necessary, that my sacrifice was necessary." Daphne was so angry for Harry that she was shaking, and she squeezed his hand tightly. It was this that caused him to finally look up at her and see how distressed she was. "It's better if I show you," he said remorsefully.
"No," she cried, and threw her arms around his neck, close to tears.
"Daph, please, I need you to see it," Harry pleaded softly, wrapping his arms around her.
"Why?" she asked in a whisper.
"Because that was the first time I spat on the Light side," confessed Harry. Daphne pulled back from him and looked at him in surprise, her sapphire eyes still glistening.
"You what?" she asked again, apprehensively.
"Don't be afraid, Daph, please. Let me show you what happened." Daphne looked into his eyes and saw how important it was to him, and she reluctantly agreed. He caressed her lips and kissed her gratefully.
When the kiss ended, he took her hand and walked back to the Pensieve.
"Daph, this memory will be long and emotional. Please, don't think any less of me," he implored her, and she nodded and squeezed his hand.
———————————-
The two teens went into the Pensieve, and Daphne saw herself in what must have been the headmaster's office. There were several shelves filled with books and trinkets, and the magical portraits of dozens of former headmasters and headmistresses lined the walls. In other circumstances it would be a very nice office - cosy, even.
However, there was nothing pleasant about the head's office at this particular moment. McGonagall was currently on the receiving end of a tirade by an irate Harry Potter, and Daphne's slightly older self was looking completely inconsolable, standing by the Pensieve and crying. As for the rest of the room's occupants, the other students stood as far away from the angry teen as they could get, with the exception of Granger, who was attempting help her teacher by calming Harry down. Professor Flitwick was leaning against the wall with a neutral expression, and Professor Sprout seemed like she was appalled by Harry's behaviour.
"THIS WAS YOUR PLAN?" Harry bellowed, "LETTING ME HAVE A SHITTY LIFE ALL FOR THIS MOMENT? BREAK ME, SO THAT I WOULD ACCEPT IT WITHOUT A SECOND THOUGHT?"
"Mr. Potter, please..." tried McGonagall, while Flitwick shook his head in disappointment.
"Harry, watch your language!" tried Granger, not making any headway.
"FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU, AND THE FUCKING DEATH EATER, AND THE FUCKING MEDDLING OLD BASTARD! YOU HAD NO RIGHT TO DO THIS TO ME!"
"I GAVE ALL I HAD - BLOOD, SWEAT, AND TEARS. IN FIRST YEAR, I HAD TO DO YOUR FUCKING JOB AND SAVE THE FUCKING STONE, ALL BECAUSE YOU WERE SITTING ON YOUR ASS AND REFUSED TO BELIEVE ME. IN SECOND YEAR, EVERYONE ACCUSED ME OF BEING THE FUCKING HEIR OF SLYTHERIN, AND GET THIS, I AM! THROUGH MY MOTHER'S SIDE!" he shouted, and everyone's jaw dropped. Real Daphne looked at real Harry inquisitively, and he nodded in confirmation and turned back to the memory.
"YOU LET THEM MAKE ME A PARIAH, AND MADE ME GO ALONE AGAIN TO THE CHAMBER, BECAUSE NONE OF YOU COULD BE BOTHERED TO DO YOUR FUCKING JOBS - AGAIN! IN THIRD YEAR, INSTEAD OF EXPLAINING EVERYTHING ABOUT SIRIUS, YOU KEPT ME IN THE DARK, AND GUESS WHAT? MY PARENTS' BETRAYER WAS A RAT ANIMAGUS AND HAD BEEN SLEEPING IN MY DORM FOR ALMOST THREE YEARS! SIRIUS WAS INNOCENT AND WAS LOCKED IN AZKABAN FOR TWELVE FUCKING YEARS FOR FUCKING NOTHING, ALL BECAUSE NO ONE COULD DO THEIR FUCKING JOBS PROPERLY!"
"IN FOURTH YEAR, AGAIN, YOU ALLOWED THE ENTIRE SCHOOL TO MOCK ME AND FORCED ME TO COMPETE IN THE FUCKING TOURNAMENT. WHAT ELSE HAPPENED? OH, I REMEMBER, I GOT KIDNAPPED DURING THE THIRD DASK AND USED FOR A RITUAL TO BRING FUCKING RIDDLE BACK! LET'S NOT FORGET YOUR BRILLIANT ADVICE TO KEEP MY HEAD DOWN IN MY FIFTH YEAR, AND THE STUPID LESSONS WITH SNAPE WHO DID EVERYTHING TO ME BUT FUCKING TEACH ME!"
"AND LET'S NOT FORGET LAST YEAR, WHERE INSTEAD OF TEACHING ME HOW TO SURVIVE, THE OLD FART MADE ME WATCH MEMORIES FOR HALF THE YEAR. BUT NOW I KNOW WHY, DON'T I? IT ALL FINALLY MAKES SENSE! MY LIFE SUCKED BECAUSE YOU WANTED ME TO DIE, BUT YOU WERE ALL TOO COWARDLY TO DO IT YOURSELVES, WEREN'T YOU?" raged memory Harry, not showing any sign of calming down. Memory Daphne was whimpering and being held up by Tracey, and the rest were all staring at Harry in varying degrees of shock or distress. "GIVE ME REASON. GIVE ME ONE FUCKING REASON WHY I WASN'T TOLD. TELL ME WHY YOU DRAGGED THIS OUT FOR SEVENTEEN YEARS! TELL ME!"
"I... I didn't know," replied McGonagall, herself already in tears.
"I just want to say that I only discovered Dumbledore's plan at the beginning of this year, and I found it abhorrent," Flitwick said with his arms crossed. "I know it means little to you at this point, Mr. Potter, but I fully understand and agree with your reaction." Sprout lowered her eyes to the floor in shame, saying nothing.
"Harry, calm yourself down and behave!" Granger admonished, stepping forward. "What is so wrong that would justify all this shouting?"
"It's not only the snake that needs to be destroyed before Riddle can be killed. So do I," memory Harry spat. The Slytherins were looking at each other doubtfully. Longbottom didn't seem to understand what was happening, but Granger gasped and covered her mouth with her hands.
"No... No, it can't be," she said fearfully, and memory Harry actually nodded.
"It makes sense when you think about it, and it explains the link between us. It may have been done accidentally, but like it or not, I am a Horcrux. AND DUMBLEDORE KNEW, AND HE DID NOTHING!"
Granger turned around to embrace Longbottom and cried into chest.
"What's a Horcrux?" asked Blaise, drawing everyone's attention.
"Riddle's little secret. In an attempt to become immortal, he tore his soul into pieces and bound them inside items. While these items remain intact, he can't be killed. That's what we've been doing for the past year, locating his Horcruxes and destroying them. We believed we had destroyed all of them except one, his snake, but apparently, I am one too. I have been living with a piece of him in my scar for seventeen years, and never knew it. Now that I've done my job, or at least most of it, I am once again expendable - just like always. Only this time, I'm not getting sent back to the muggle filth I live with, instead I'm actually expected to allow Riddle to kill me."
Harry's revelation left everyone floored. No one dared make a sound, until Professor Flitwick spoke up.
"I hope you're proud of yourself, Albus Dumbledore, you idiotic old fart," he grumbled, glancing over at the previous headmaster's painting, which was hidden in a corner, apparently still asleep.
"It finally all makes sense, doesn't it? Harry said. "Why my life sucked so much, why I was always made the scapegoat and a punching bag. It was necessary for me to accept this moment, because this way, my life would be so hard that I would welcome the release of death. ALL THIS TIME I HAVE BEEN RAISED AS A PIG FOR THE SLAUGHTER!"
"STOP! No more," memory Daphne begged between sobs, and memory Harry stopped shouting and turned to her. She was still being supported by Tracey, looking at him with a mix of desperation and fear. Harry's anger disappeared in a flash, and he ran to her and pulled her into his arms, holding her possessively. Daphne buried her face in his neck and broke into sobs, and he felt her tears running down while her body trembled. There was nothing Harry could say at that moment, so he just held her tighter.
"It's not fair," Harry mumbled after a while, and all Daphne could manage in response was a choked, "No…"
Neither of them suggested they flee; it just wasn't in their character. They remained in that spot holding each other for several minutes, with no shortage of tears on either side. The others felt like they were intruding on something private, but they couldn't bring themselves to look away either.
"I hate them," Harry confessed. "Both of them, Tom and Dumbledore...He had seventeen years..." Daphne hugged him tighter and shook her head, clearly not wanting to talk about the two old men who had ruined Harry's life. Harry refrained from saying anything further and refocused on Daphne.
"I love you, Daph," Harry said after some time. "I wanted nothing more than to marry you, for you to be the mother of my children and grow old together. I wanted to us to be all we could be and find out how far we could go together. Partners, as always. I'll always love you, Daphne. Forever."
"No. You are not going," she sobbed, attempting to sound forceful.
"You know I have to," he whispered in a broken voice. It was obvious that he didn't want to go, and that he was holding on to his resolve by a thread.
"I love you," she bawled, and the two kissed for several minutes. "You helped me become who I am..." Daphne said in a whisper, leaning her forehead against his.
"Had it not been for you, I wouldn't be who I am today either."
"Lord Potter-Black, heir of Slytherin," she joked, attempting a small chuckle, which was immediately drowned by a sob. "I love you so much, my Harry."
"If I could, I'd stay with you forever," he mumbled.
"I know," memory Daphne said, looking into his eyes and seeing the decision there. "I'm going with you," she declared, shocking the others in the room out of their stupor.
"But...but Daph..." attempted a panicked Tracey, who now being held in Theo's arms. Daphne ignored her friend and looked Harry in his eyes again.
"I am going with you, and that's final," Daphne stated again.
"I wouldn't have it any other way, my love," Harry replied with a small, teary smile. Daphne leaned in and kissed him again, then they pulled back and regarded one another again, each of them seeing the resolve on the other's faces.
"Always remember, my Daphne, I love you and I always will," he said. Daphne looked slightly puzzled, then her eyes widened slightly as she felt something poking her in her ribs.
"Stupefy."
A flash of red surrounded memory Daphne, and she collapsed into Harry's arms. He lifted her up, bridal style, and glared at McGonagall while ignoring the confused shouts and questions coming from the others.
"Make yourself useful and transfigure a bed for me," he ordered spitefully, and McGonagall complied at once.
"Why?" asked Flitwick, approaching the young man.
"Because she doesn't need to die tonight," replied Harry to the diminutive professor, placing Daphne gently down on the bed. He sat with her for a moment, caressing her face, then kissed her one last time in the lips, and again on the forehead.
Harry took something from his pocket and placed it into Daphne's hand, curling her fingers around it. "Make sure she gets this," he asked, looking to the Slytherins. Blaise and Theo nodded to each other, and Millie and Tracey nodded to Harry.
"She loves you," said Tracey. "She would have gone with you to the end."
"I know," he replied with a soft smile. "And that's why I need her here, to make sure someone sees this through to the end and kills the bastard. That, and I don't want her to have to watch me die," he sighed.
"Tell her I love her, and I'm sorry," he requested the other teens in the room. The girls were all openly weeping, and the boys were trying to keep it together but didn't bother hiding their tears. "I guess this is it. Oh, and please don't wake her before you see the sign. I don't want her coming after me."
"What sign?" asked Theo.
"Don't worry, you'll see," Harry said ominously, getting up and walking to the door.
"Potter…Harry, wait," McGonagall pleaded, and Harry stopped without turning around to face her.
"I'm sorry," the elder witch said, unable to come up with anything else.
"I'll walk with you to the doors," Theo said, after whispering something to Tracey.
"I'm going too," replied Flitwick.
Harry nodded to the others, and the three left the room in silence.
"It may not mean much, Mr. Potter, but I am incredibly proud of you and grateful for everything you've done for us. Your parents would feel the same way," Flitwick said.
"Do your best to kill the son of a bitch, Professor," Harry responded, and the professor actually chuckled.
"I will, Mr. Potter."
"I can't promise you that she'll be safe, but I promise you we'll have each other's backs," Theo told him, echoing the same oath Harry had given them several months before.
"I wouldn't expect any less from you, my friend," Harry replied with a smirk.
"Thanks for giving me the chance to actually redeem my family's name, Potter... Harry."
"Tell that to Daphne. She was the one who proposed bringing you into our group, and I trust her with all that I am."
"You're so whipped," Theo joked.
"Very much so, yes," replied Harry with a smile. The trio reached the castle doors, and Professor Flitwick opened them with a wave of his wand.
"You have a plan, don't you?" Theo asked Harry, who simply nodded. "Give them hell."
"I intend to," Harry replied. Theo extended his hand, and the two teens shook hands as the memory started to shift.
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