Chapter 18

Sirius Black left his room early on Boxing Day, already dressed for the day. He was all alone in the house, as Remus had departed for family business the previous day, shortly after they'd had Christmas lunch with the Tonks family. Not wanting to be stuck inside Grimmauld Place all day by himself, Sirius had decided to call on his only remaining family besides Harry, which happened to be the Malfoys. Unsurprisingly, he received a chilly welcome from his dear cousin Narcissa and her spawn Draco, but still, they had begrudgingly invited him in for tea.

After a rather unpleasant breakfast tea with the Malfoys and much deliberation on his part, Sirius decided he would need to visit one more family member that day. He wasn't looking forward to it, since it would require him to visit Azkaban, but family had come to mean much to him lately. It would have to wait until later though, as his verbal jousting with Narcissa had left him feeling peckish.

Sirius apparated back to Number Twelve and started making his way towards the kitchen, where he and Remus usually had their breakfast. He knew Kreacher was already preparing his morning meal, so Sirius took his time, knowing the old elf would also be taking his.

Kreacher, that was a strange one.

The old elf hated him - both for breaking the heart of his mistress and for being a shame to the Black name. That's at least what the elf had claimed in their last meeting before his incarceration. However, ever since he'd returned to Grimmauld, Kreacher had been mostly polite to him and his guest. It struck Sirius as odd, but he certainly wasn't going to complain. Once he had finally claimed the Black lordship, Kreacher had become even more submissive, and Sirius wasn't sure that he cared for their new dynamic. True, Sirius had always hated the crazy old elf that his mother and brother had loved so much, but he was starting to become concerned. What was driving this change in behaviour? Was the old elf finally dying?

As Sirius passed through the entrance hall, he caught a glimpse of the ornate frame out of the corner of his eye. He wasn't sure what possessed him to approach it, but there he was, standing in front his mother's portrait. Walburga Black's eyes opened and stared in disdain at her wayward son.

"What do you want, boy?" she asked him spitefully. "Is it not enough that I have to endure the shame of birthing you? Is it not enough that I have to watch as you disgrace the house of my ancestors? Must I also have to endure the sight of you this early in morning?"

"Eloquent as ever, mother dear," Sirius sighed, the grin vanishing from his lips.

"How else do you plan on further shaming me and your house?" she demanded. "Do you ended to abandon our ancestral home to go live amongst the muggles? Or perhaps the Lord of House Black is going to sully his reputation further by continuing to service his filthy werewolf lover?"

"My what?" Sirius choked.

"A werewolf of all things?" the former Lady Black demanded haughtily. "Does your deviance know no bounds?"

"MY WHAT?" Sirius shouted again, obviously shocked by his mother's words.

"At least I can rest assured that my line will end with you, boy," Walburga continued. "Narcissa's son will succeed you and bring the noble House of Black back to the pinnacle of wizarding society, where it belongs."

"Now that's enough," Sirius commanded authoritatively, his demeanour now cold and angry.

"First of all, good morning, you damn hag, or have you forgotten the so-called manners you forced me to learn?"

Walburga glared at her son, but he defiantly met her gaze and continued on his rant.

"Second of all, Remus is absolutely not my lover. He is my closest friend, a brother, even – regardless of his furry little problem. He's been more of a brother to me than my own flesh and blood ever was, and yes, I'm referring to your precious Death Eater son."

Sirius was on a roll now, the years of abuse and neglect at the hands of his mother stoking his anger.

"So, you can spare me your talk of deviance, not that it's any of your business anyway. Third of all, your precious Narcissa's whelp will never inherit anything from me, not even a single knut. For you see, unlike you, I have the power to dictate what happens with this family, and I intend to use it. You should feel lucky that I haven't already cast them out of my family."

"Oh, that reminds me. Do you remember Andromeda, your niece, who was disowned simply for marrying a muggleborn wizard?"

Walburga eyes narrowed dangerously, but Sirius cut her off before she could speak.

"Her daughter is a Metamorphmagus, the likes of which has not been seen in our family in over three hundred years."

That was a surprise to the former Lady Black, though she would never show it.

"Impressive as that may be, I really only mentioned Andromeda's family because I thought you should know that I officially brought all three of them back into my family."

Sirius grinned, taking delight in his mother's scandalised expression.

"As I was saying, I, unlike you, have the power to make that happen. You will soon see for yourself, when they walk through these very halls and pass by your frame. I look forward to seeing your face when you witness your blood traitor son hosting his blood traitor cousin, her mudblood husband, and their half-blood Metamorphmagus daughter. And the best part is, there is absolutely nothing you can do about it. You can scream and rage about mudbloods and blood traitors all you want, but it will change nothing. Let's see how long it will take for you to learn that you have no power over this house or this family, and that you never did."

"YOUR FATHER CAST YOU OUT!"

"If that was the case, then how is it that I'm the lord of this family?" he asked mockingly.

"Now, you'll have to excuse me, I have better things to do today. Despite how much how I enjoy our..."

Sirius hesitated.

"…banter...I think I'd prefer to go have breakfast and start thinking about who I should court. Heirs don't grow on trees after all, so I should probably start by finding a girlfriend. My godson will be my heir for now, but he's already the Lord Potter, and he'll probably curse me if I make him be head of two houses. No, I'm thinking I'll find a nice mudblood witch to fraternise with, what do you think?"

Sirius laughed heartily as his mother's face purpled with rage.

"Cheer up, mother. I'll leave you alone for now, but while I'm gone, I want you to think hard about something."

He stepped closer to the portrait.

"All that I am, everything about me that you hate... It's all thanks to you. I am what you made me," he said with a chuckle. "And I will always love you for it," he added in a whisper, while Walburga fumed.

With his final parting shot, Lord Sirius Orion Black left the hall and strolled to the kitchen, his hearty laughs blocking out his mother's rage-filled screams. Sirius sat down at the end of the empty table, and a nice meal of cereal, eggs, bacon, and tea appeared before him at once.

"Kreacher," he summoned, and the aged elf appeared before him. He had been doing a much better job of keeping himself clean, as evidenced by his fresher appearance and the unsoiled white towel that he wore.

"Has the newspaper arrived yet?"

"Yes, Master," the elf replied, snapping his fingers and making the paper appear at the table.

"Thank you, Kreacher. You may go."

The elf popped away and Sirius opened the paper, only to have his eyes nearly pop out after seeing the picture on the front page. Staring him in the face was his godson, who had his wand out and looked absolutely furious. He was standing slightly in front of his beautiful girlfriend, and circled protectively around them both was an enormous snake, which was rearing up with its fangs bared, as if readying itself to strike. Sirius glanced upwards to read the headline.

————————————

Violent Night

Vicious Attack at Hogwarts Yule Ball

by Rita Skeeter

————————————

Sirius read the whole article twice, just to be sure. He knew that Rita Skeeter had a penchant for writing sensationalist tabloid stories instead of reporting the facts, but she had been on her best behaviour ever since Harry had sent his letter to the paper. According to Ms. Skeeter, Ginny Weasley attacked Ms. Daphne Greengrass during the ball, but Lord Potter's gift to his girlfriend summoned the giant snake, which protected her and ripped off her attacker's arm. After that, the festivities ended with Lord Potter sending the rest of Weasley family members present to the hospital. She went on to explain how the Aurors were subsequently summoned, only to have most of the attendees defend Lord Potter and Ms. Greengrass.

Sirius didn't bother trying to hide his laugh. Reading between the lines, he could almost feel Skeeter's frustration. She was almost desperate to imply that Harry used dark magic, or even revert back to calling him a Dark Lord in training, but she knew she couldn't after Harry's previous warning. Since he came back into his life, Harry Potter kept turning out one big surprise after another, and Sirius had to admit, he was really starting to enjoy it.

"Damn pup, you're good. Very good," he snickered as he watched the picture.

"What do you think of your son now, James and Lily? He's nothing like I ever imagined, that's true, and yet..." Sirius chuckled. "Well, I'd better finish my breakfast before I head off to Hogwarts. No need to rush. Besides, it's only nine; the kid's probably still sleeping."

With a grin, Sirius tossed the paper aside and started munching on a piece of bacon.

"How the hell am I supposed to act like a concerned parent and scold Harry, when all I want to do is laugh my ass off?"

~BREAK~

Daphne rolled over in the bed and opened her eyes to unfamiliar surroundings. She sat up with a start, then relaxed as she remembered she had spent the night with Harry in the Chamber of Secrets. She stretched leisurely, as the memories of everything that had happened the previous night flashed through her mind.

Harry must have been up for a while, because he was nowhere to be seen. Daphne noticed she was covered by an extra blanket, which Harry must have done before he left. She hummed in disappointment as she looked around the empty room. She had thoroughly enjoyed sharing his bed with him, but she would have preferred it if she didn't have to wake up alone.

"Harry?" she called, but there was no answer.

She had no idea what time it was, but she definitely felt like she could've slept a bit longer. She picked up her wand from the nightstand to check the time and found that it was only a quarter until ten. With a yawn, Daphne plopped back down on the bed, thinking back to everything Harry had shown her the previous night. There was Daphy, his war against Oberon and Titania, Daphy, the artefact of Rhassel'Thoth and the Meharjhai, Daphy...

Daphne hid a small smile.

Just thinking about her daughter and the adorable way she interacted with Harry filled her with joy. She wanted that, so badly. Of course, remembering what happened to her made Daphne feel like her heart was being ripped out, but she didn't want to think about that at the moment. No, she'd rather focus her thoughts on the smiling little girl who shared her face, along with Harry's brilliant green eyes. She wondered if Harry would mind sharing some other happy memories of their daughter with her.

She grinned happily at the thought.

Who could have predicted that she would fall in love with Harry Potter? If anyone had suggested it to her even a few months ago, she would have laughed in their face. Or more likely, she would have acted cold and aloof at the sheer stupidity of the statement and looked down on whoever had suggested it, but that was then. Now, she would probably just smirk at them and roll her eyes, or maybe even giggle...

She felt somewhat abashed at that, and even little irritated with Harry for so easily breaking through her icy exterior. She had an image to uphold, after all; she was not supposed to giggle. She decided to get up and look for the boy in question. Daphne doubted he would've just left her there by herself, so she figured he must be doing something in the cavernous outer chamber.

She wondered what they would do next, knowing now what the future held. Harry was actively searching for Voldemort's Horcruxes, which was something she could at least help with. Oberon and Titania needed to be dealt with as well. She had no idea if Harry had anything planned for them, but she would make sure they suffered, and she would have her revenge for the daughter she had never met.

Lost in thought, Daphne made it to the doorway of the main Chamber of Secrets and stopped short. Inside, Harry was naked from the waist up and casting rapid fire spells at half a dozen training dummies. He was constantly on the move, never staying in the same place for more than a second. Every time he destroyed a dummy, it would quickly repair itself, only for Harry to blast it apart again a short time later.

She passed through the door and was immediately assaulted by the sound of explosions and spellfire. Harry had apparently cast a silencing ward over the door, probably so he wouldn't wake her up with his training. The craters and gashes in the stonework gave testament to the destructive power of Harry's spells, not to mention the decapitated snake heads that once adorned the Chamber's serpentine statues.

Not wanting to interrupt him, Daphne stood just inside the door and watched him in silent awe. His spellwork was impeccable. He was casting silently and with little to no wand movements, and not one of his spells had failed to hit its mark, which was doubly impressive considering the furious pace at which he was casting.

"ENOUGH!" Harry shouted, and he cast a single blue spell so powerful that it blew up all of the training dummies in one go. The dummies reformed themselves again, but this time they remained motionless. Harry just turned away from them and conjured a towel to wipe the sweat from his body.

"Good morning," he said, noticing that Daphne had been watching him. "How did you sleep?"

"Great, actually, but I feel like I could've stayed in bed longer."

"You woke up and missed me, didn't you?" he grinned.

"How did you know?" she asked, with a look of surprise. Harry chuckled.

"In our first year together, you know, before... You missed me in bed if I got up earlier than you, and you really didn't like it."

"I think you might know more about me than I know about myself," she mumbled, blushing slightly. "I have a couple of questions for you, and a request. I'll start with the request. Get a shirt."

Harry chuckled and conjured a simple dark robe for himself.

"Thank you. Now, first question. What were those spells you were casting silently and with no movements whatsoever?"

"With enough practice, you can do that with almost any spell," Harry answered. "It all comes down to power, control, and intent, no different from how you cast nonverbally back in Charms class. We'll work on it together."

Daphne nodded her understanding and flashed him a smile.

"Okay, second question, what do we do now? Not just with the squib and the beaver, I'm also talking about Voldemort and Rhassel'Thoth."

Harry certainly wasn't expecting that first thing in the morning. Daphne had clearly woken up highly motivated.

"The plan for Voldemort is to collect his Horcruxes and kill him in June, the night of the third task. We have plenty of time to deal with the beaver and the squib, but I don't have a specific plan in mind. As for the Thoth...I hired Gringotts to track down his cult, but I imagine it be some time before they're found. Honestly, I'm not overly concerned with him for the moment."

"I suppose it's unlikely that Granger and Longbottom will be making the trip to Egypt in this timeline anyway," Daphne offered.

"My thoughts exactly."

"Maybe we should start planning for Voldemort then? I believe you mentioned the remaining Horcruxes are the ring, the cup, and the snake. How are you planning on getting them?"

"I'm not sure exactly where the snake is, but I think it's safe to assume it's with him. The ring is easy. I can take care of that in less than an hour, I just haven't had the chance. The cup is going to be a little trickier, but I have a plan."

"Oh? Would you care to share your plan for the cup?" Daphne inquired, crossing her arms and looking at him suspiciously. "From what I've seen, you have a tendency to downplay the dangers of your plans. Also, I'm going to need to hear a lot more about why you want to wait for the third task to fight Voldemort."

"That's fine. I get that you want to be more involved and I'm completely behind you, but are you sure you want to do this right now?"

Daphne raised an eyebrow.

"We're going to have to deal with the fallout from what happened last night, and we should probably make sure we're prepared."

"What did... oh, Weaselette," she drawled, feeling a headache coming on already.

"The paper already arrived," Harry informed her. "As usual, I'm painted in darkish tones, but it could've been a lot worse. You being who you are, plus the support of all those witnesses definitely helped. They made no mention of any follow-up investigations or your challenge to Weaselette."

"I suppose that's not all bad," she replied, massaging her temples. "What should we do, then?"

"Outwardly, we just go about our lives as normal," Harry shrugged. "We were in the right, and there's no need for us to pretend otherwise. Privately, we keep training you to fight and defend, and we take extra precautions against surprise attacks whenever we go out. Personally, I think it'd be easier to just wipe the Weasleys from existence."

"You probably should've thought of that earlier," Daphne smirked. "After yesterday, you'd definitely be the prime suspect, and we can't have that."

Harry snorted and rolled his eyes.

"Speaking of the redheaded shit, that reminds me - I never got a chance to explain how to use Kael," he said, and Daphne reflexively reached up to touch her necklace.

"What about it?"

"There's not much to it," Harry replied. "As you saw yesterday, Kael will automatically be summoned if you're in danger. If you want to summon it proactively, all you need to do is focus your magic on the necklace and call him forth by name."

"What about controlling him?" asked Daphne. "I'm not a Parselmouth, you know."

"I keyed the array to your magical signature. Kael will obey you and only you, no matter what language you choose to speak. Besides, I only use Parseltongue with Zael for show."

Daphne looked intrigued.

"Sometimes, all that's needed to hide the truth is a properly weaved illusion. If I want people to believe these are real snakes instead of golems..."

"…You act as if they were," Daphne finished, suddenly understanding. "Very good, and also very Slytherin."

"I said it once and I'll say it as many times as necessary, I was taught by the very best I ever met," he replied, pulling her to him and leaning in for a kiss. Before his lips could make contact, however, Dobby popped in right beside them.

"Mast...Oh..."

Realising what he had just interrupted, Dobby winced and averted his eyes.

"Dobby, I swear, sometimes you have the worst timing," Harry complained. "I hope this is important."

"Sirius Black and Remus Lupin just entered Hogwarts, requesting to speak with you. Not only that, but Jonathan and Persephone Greengrass arrived fifteen minutes ago and have been in a meeting with Snape and Dumbledore ever since."

Daphne's eyes widened at the mention of her parents, while Harry rolled his. He was having such a good morning, too.

"Let's get ready, then," he said to Daphne, sounding slightly defeated. "Would you like Dobby to pop you into your dorm?"

"That would probably be best," she replied disappointedly. "Meet me in the common room in twenty minutes."

"Sure," he replied, and gave her a soft peck on her lips. "See you soon."

Daphne felt Dobby's magic surround her as she took his hand, and with a pop, she was back in her own dorm. Her dormmates were already up and moving about. They all shrieked loudly when Daphne suddenly materialised in the middle of the room, and then immediately started bombarding her with questions.

"Daphne!" shouted Tracey.

"Where have you been?" Millie demanded.

"You slept with Harry, didn't you?" Pansy asked with a wide grin, making Daphne blush furiously. That was all the confirmation the other girls needed, leaving Millie and Tracey gaping.

"Did...did you...you know?" she asked, and Daphne shook her head.

"We talked for a long time, and I didn't want to be alone after everything that happened. We slept in the same bed, but that's all."

"Oh..." Millie replied. She sounded mostly relieved, but Daphne thought she also detected a slight touch of disappointment.

"We were just getting ready for the day, when Dobby appeared and told us that his uncles and my parents are in Hogwarts. I'm sure they all want to speak with both of us, which is just what I needed…"

Daphne rolled her eyes and turned to head towards the bathroom to take her shower.

The other girls just laughed, and then they too went about getting ready for the day. Twenty minutes later, the four of them went down to the common room together to meet Harry and the rest of the boys. It turned out they wouldn't have to wait for long, because the boys were already there, having a conversation with Alistair Pince while they waited for the girls to arrive. The older boy noticed the girls before the others did, alerting them with a nod before taking his leave.

"Beautiful as always," Harry whispered to Daphne, offering her his arm. "Sirius and Remus are killing time in the Great Hall, and your parents are with them. Snape sent Alistair to summon us, but he was smart – he called Dobby first, so we'd be here by the time he got back to the common room."

"I'll have to thank him later," Daphne said, and the nine fourth years left for the Great Hall together.

They met no one on their way, but the moment they entered the Great Hall, conversations stopped and all eyes turned towards their group. Having expected this, they kept their cool and made their way to the Slytherin table, where they were greeted by their housemates and the handful of Durmstrang students sitting there. Harry acknowledged Viktor Krum with a nod, but his and Daphne's attention were mainly on Sirius, Remus, and the Greengrasses, who were watching them from their place seated near the staff table.

Sirius seemed the same as always, but Harry thought Remus looked a bit preoccupied. Out of his two uncles, Remus was definitely the bigger worrier, so it might take a little more effort to placate him.

Harry wasn't concerned about the Greengrasses, as long as they didn't give Daphne a hard time. They may be Daphne and Astoria's parents, but he knew the type of people they were - selfish and cowardly. The betrayals they had enacted towards both him and their daughters were still fresh in his mind, even all these years later.

"I miss Astoria and Jason…" Harry thought, recalling how the couple often stopped him from cursing his in-laws. "I need to talk to Daphne about them. They're still young, but maybe they can become friends...and one day, who knows?"

"Daphne!" a voice called from behind them, and he turned to see Astoria hugging her sister tightly.

"Speak of the devil..."

"Tori, what are you doing here?" the elder sister asked, moving aside to give Astoria a place to sit.

"What do you mean, what am I doing here? Father, Mother, and I came to check on you," she replied with a huff, then turned to speak to Harry.

"Thank you for saving my sister, Lord Potter."

"I did nothing more than my duty as a devoted boyfriend, Ms. Greengrass," Harry replied with a grin. "Besides, her Christmas gift did most of the work."

"Can I see it?" Astoria asked her sister, who raised an eyebrow. "I meant the necklace, although I am curious. What kind of snake was it? Was it like...what was its name...Zael?"

"Yes, that one was Zael's younger brother, Kael," Harry replied automatically, triggering a few inquisitive looks from his friends.

"I'm not even going to ask," Theo said after a moment. "I haven't seen the paper yet, but I imagine you're nothing short of a Dark Lord now."

"It actually wasn't as bad as I expected, but yeah, pretty much," Harry laughed, then engaged Blaise and Theo in conversation and left the sisters to catch up with one another.

"Are you really alright?" Astoria asked quietly, and Daphne nodded reassuringly.

"I am, I promise. Harry wouldn't let anything happen to me, and I'm more than capable of defending myself."

"I know," Astoria sighed. "Even I can tell you've gotten better since you've been with Harry. You seem really happy, too."

"I am, Tori, more than I've ever been. If anything, last night just brought us closer together. Have Mother and Father said anything about me dating Harry?"

"Not much. They don't seem thrilled, but I don't think they're completely set against it either. The fact that he's a lord probably helps his case, but I think they're worried he might be dangerous to be around."

Daphne sighed.

"It's true that I was attacked because of my relationship with Harry, but it was also him who kept me safe," she replied. "Trust me, Tori, I know things seem to happen around Harry an awful lot, but we can handle it."

Astoria squeezed Daphne's hand and gave her an encouraging smile, and then turned to join in the conversation with the rest of the older girls. All of her friends had left for holidays, so she might as well spend the morning with the fourth years.

Once everyone had finished eating, Sirius, Remus, and the Greengrasses approached Harry and Daphne, wanting to speak with the two of them alone. They led them to one of the abandoned rooms on the first floor, Remus out in front. Harry was sure that his earlier assessment was correct; Remus was very alarmed by the situation, and it was going to take some effort to calm him down.

"What were you thinking?" Remus demanded, rounding on Harry the moment the wards went up in the room.

"Merry Christmas to you too, Uncle," Harry replied, crossing his arms and looking unimpressed.

"Harry, this is serious," Remus countered.

"Yes, we've met," Harry deadpanned. The room was silent for a tense moment, until Sirius started guffawing. Remus deflated and started massaging his temples, while the Greengrasses looked somewhat perplexed.

"Good one, pup," Sirius replied heartily.

"Easy, Moony, first things first," he said, putting a hand on Remus's shoulder to encourage him to settle down. "Ms. Greengrass, a pleasure as always. Would you do the honours?"

"Lord Black, Mr. Lupin," Daphne said, greeting them with a small curtsy. "Harry, these are my parents, Lord Jonathan Greengrass and Lady Persephone Greengrass."

Harry did his part and observed all the niceties, comporting himself as the lord he was. He wanted to make sure the Greengrasses had as few reasons to complain about him as possible.

"My Lord Potter, it is a pleasure to finally make your acquaintance," Jonathan said amicably, shaking Harry's hand and smiling at the way the young lord had subtly taken control of the situation – with the help of his own daughter, of course.

"We've heard much about your exploits."

"I'm sure you've only heard the embellished versions," he replied cheerfully, and the two shared laugh.

"Now, just to ease Moony's heart, would you mind explaining exactly what happened last night?" Sirius requested. Harry was relieved to see the amusement dancing in his godfather's eyes; at least he didn't have to worry about there being problems with him.

Harry and Daphne recounted the entire evening, beginning with their entrance to the ball. Daphne summoned Kael while Harry summoned Zael, so the adults could see the two snakes for themselves. Daphne went on to explain how the two Gryffindors accosted her, and then how Kael saved her by intercepting the Weaselette's spell. She got to the part where Kael bit the bint's arm off, and Remus couldn't help himself.

"And you see nothing wrong with that?" he asked accusingly, but Harry was having none of it.

"What, am I supposed to feel guilty? Why should I care what happens to a jealous little bitch that tried to curse the woman I love?"

Both of the elder Greengrasses' eyes grew wide at Harry's declaration, then took on a calculating look.

"She crossed a line and she paid for it," Harry added frostily.

"You maimed a child!" Remus exclaimed.

"I did nothing, apart from offering my girlfriend a magical necklace."

"A necklace that summons a bleeding snake that rips people's arms off!"

"Only if you attack Daphne, which the bitch did. There were dozens of witnesses, and the DMLE came and took statements from everyone."

"Which leads us to the other attack on the Weasleys," Remus continued heatedly.

"They attacked first; all I did was defend myself," Harry scoffed.

"You sent three of them to the hospital with serious injuries!"

"ENOUGH!" shouted Daphne, shocking everyone by loudly intervening in the conversation. "Mr. Lupin, as Harry explained, the Weasleys directly attacked him while he was making sure I was okay. All Harry did was make sure they wouldn't be able to assault us again. If anything, he showed restraint with his retaliation. I'm positive he could've done far worse, had he wanted to."

"The Weasleys are no friends of mine," Harry added, folding his arms in front of him.

"The Weasleys are good people," Remus attempted, and Harry again scoffed.

"I once counted four of their number as my friends, but they all turned against me, while the rest stood by and let it happen. I don't care about any of them."

"But Harry…what is happening to you?" Remus pleaded.

"I was forced to grow up, Uncle. There are many who would do me harm, and I can't afford to let people walk all over me anymore. Part of that includes protecting the people I love. I did it for Daphne, I did it for Sirius, and I would do it for you without hesitation."

"When did you protect me?" Sirius asked curiously.

"Who got you a trial?"

"Point taken."

"Anything else, Uncle?"

With a sigh, Remus closed his eyes and shook his head in defeat. Sirius stepped forward, patting Remus on the shoulder as he passed. He still seemed somewhat amused by the situation, even if he was trying to hide it. He stopped in front of Harry and addressed him directly, ignoring everyone else in the room.

"As you know, two of the more important figures in my life were my grandfather Arcturus, and your grandfather Charlus. One of the lessons they tried to instil in me was the importance of family. That's one of the reasons I fled from my own, because unlike them, I refused to put the Dark Bastard above my family. It's a shame that the rest of my family didn't see it that way..."

Sirius paused for a moment, looking pensive.

"So, I got myself a new family – the Potters. We defended each other from our enemies countless times, and I wouldn't have hesitated to do so against my former family. That's why I don't have a problem with what you've done."

Harry nodded his understanding. Whether he needed it or not, Harry found himself feeling grateful for his godfather's approval.

"There may be problems, of course," Sirius added, now speaking to both of them. "It's a good sign that the DMLE let you go last night, but you should be prepared just in case they decide to come back and question you further. The Weasleys may also come looking for retribution, and you should always count on Dumbledore trying to stick his crooked nose where it doesn't belong."

"We know," Daphne replied, intertwining her arm with Harry's.

"Good," replied Sirius, his expression shifting to a grin.

"So, how was the ball? Any…developments in your relationship?" he asked suggestively. Daphne's face immediately started turning red while Harry shot a panicked glance at the Greengrasses.

"Are you trying to get me killed?" Harry whispered, inclining his head towards Daphne's parents.

Sirius just laughed.

"Lord Greengrass, do you feel the sudden urge to grill my godson concerning the nature of his relationship with your daughter?"

"Indeed, I do," he replied sternly.

"Consider it payback for all the worry you've put me through since I saw the paper this morning," Sirius grinned.

"I hate you," Harry grumbled, but Sirius only laughed and slapped his godson on the back.

~BREAK~

Harry and Daphne said their farewells to their families around noon and returned to the common room. Daphne declined her parents' offer to spend the rest of the holidays at home with them, as did Astoria. Harry did the same with Sirius and Remus, owing to his impending examinations to join his peers' Ancient Runes and Arithmancy classes.

Daphne wanted to spend the day training and talking about Harry's plans for the future, but their friends had other ideas. They were obviously concerned about the couple after the previous night's ordeal, and they wanted to make sure they were really okay. Harry and Daphne decided this was the perfect opportunity to introduce their friends to the Room of Requirement. This way, they could spend some time with their friends and get some practice in at the same time.

The other fourth years were blown away by the Room of Requirement, especially when Harry explained how it could change into anything they needed. Theo's eyes lit up when Daphne informed them that the room was where Harry had been teaching her.

"So, we can use this room to practice? Could we learn any spell we want?" he asked eagerly.

"I wouldn't recommend trying Fiendfyre in here, but otherwise, sure, why not?" Harry confirmed.

"Are you thinking about forming a study group?" Tracey asked Theo.

"Not really," he answered, shaking his head. "But think beyond schoolwork. In here, we'd have the freedom to practice any spell we want without teachers or anyone else interfering."

He turned to Harry.

"And you could help us."

"Me?" asked Harry.

"Yeah, let's face it, you're the best in Defence in our year - probably the entire school. You put on a show against the dragon, and you took down Malfoy and the dorks like they were nothing. You also know a lot more magic than you let on. We can tell."

The others started muttering in agreement.

"You're already teaching Daphne, so why couldn't you give us some pointers as well?"

"You know, that's not such a bad idea," Millie quietly chimed in.

"True," added Pansy, "Moody is a good teacher, but I don't know…something about him makes me uncomfortable. I think he hates us snakes."

"It's more like he hates the children of the Death Eaters he thinks betrayed Voldemort," Harry thought to himself.

He turned to Daphne, seeking her opinion, and she just shrugged as if to say, "It's up to you."

"If you guys really want to do this, I'm game. This room is open to all of us, and if you need help, I'll do what I can."

Theo and the others traded satisfied looks.

"That being said, I think we should keep this to ourselves," Harry added. "For one, we don't want too many people finding out about the room. Also, we might one day want to work on things that not everyone may approve of."

"So what are we now, a secret club?" Blaise asked sarcastically. "I feel like a kid again."

Leaning into the idea, Tracey asked, "Should we come up with a name for our club, then?"

"Hold on, is that really necessary?" Harry attempted. "I mean, we're just a couple of friends doing some independent study..."

"But with a name, it sounds more official," Tracey replied confidently. "It should be something strong and mysterious, not something dull like Defence Club or anything like that. And nothing with our house name in it either, it's too cliché."

Daphne was starting to find this eerily reminiscent of what Harry shared with her about the formation of the DA in his fifth year. That line of thought led her to remembering another group of dedicated friends from Harry's past.

"Black Wands," Daphne spoke, almost without thinking. Her eyes connected with Harry's, whose own eyes widened in response to her suggestion.

"I say that if we really do want to give our little study group a name, we call it the Black Wands."

"Why?" Pansy asked curiously. "What does it mean?"

"Black, because it's mysterious, and Wands, because that's what we use in here. Plus, if someone overheard us talking about it, they'd have no idea what it meant. It could be the name of our gobstones team, as far anyone knows."

While the other Slytherins were debating the merits of the suggestion, Harry stepped closer to Daphne and murmured in her ear.

"Black Wands, you say?"

"I thought it was a suitable name..." she answered demurely.

"Thank you," he whispered, and she leaned into his shoulder as a reply.

After another minute of deliberation, they realised no one was going to come up with a better suggestion. The only argument against the name was a vague similarity between the terms Black Wands and Dark Wizards, but since people called them that anyway, they decided not to let it bother them. Daphne's proposal was accepted by the group, and their 'secret club' officially had a name.

That the afternoon, the new Black Wands had their first practice session. A few of them took the time to finish up any unfinished homework, but they all eagerly started practical spell work. To Harry's relief, not one of them complained when he suggested starting with the most basic duelling spells. Before they went any further, he wanted them all to be able to cast the Disarming and Shield Charms with as little effort as possible, but that would be only the beginning. One of the hallmarks of their group would be the way they each shared knowledge of their own specialties for everyone's benefit, in contrast to how the DA mostly relied on Harry to teach them everything. Daphne would even solicit healing tips from Ursula Corwin and Madam Pomfrey, so she'd be able to properly heal their minor training injuries.

In addition to their work with the new Black Wands, Daphne and Harry continued training together in the Chamber of Secrets. Daphne had redoubled her focus since the night of the Yule Ball, and she was rapidly becoming a fearsome opponent.

It was on one of those nights together that Harry laid out his plan for collecting the ring Horcrux. Knowing Daphne would want to go with him, he insisted she put in extra training so that she'd be ready to go by the first week of the new term. The announcement of Harry's plan had taken her by surprise, but not as much as when Dobby showed up later carrying three full sets of basilisk hide armour.

"Three?" she asked.

"Of course. I had ordered one each for Dobby and myself, but once you made it clear that you wanted to be a part of it, I ordered a third set for you."

"And how did you get my measurements?" Daphne questioned, crossing her arms.

"Really?" he sighed. "I had Dobby take your measurements from one of your school robes."

Daphne chuckled and started examining her armour, running her fingers over the greenish-black scales.

"Thank you," she said sincerely.

"What, for the armour? Think nothing of it."

"Not just for that. For wanting me to be safe, for giving me a chance to be a part of it... For everything," she said, wrapping her arms around him.

"Anyway," she said, changing the subject. "What was it you were going to tell me before Dobby arrived?"

"Oh, right. Remember what you saw in the memory, about Jason and Astoria?"

"Yes…" she said warily.

"Well, I can't help thinking about how happy they were. I'd like to give them a chance to be together again someday. I know they're still young for that now, but I thought that maybe we could introduce them or something, and then one day, who knows..."

"I'm not opposed to it, but why now?" she asked. She was mostly just curious. If Harry vouched for the Hallys boy, then she had no problem with him.

Harry just shrugged.

"Maybe reliving all those memories with you stirred something. Astoria was my sister, Jason was my brother, and...their son was my godson."

That got Daphne's attention.

"Son?"

Harry smiled back at her and confirmed with a nod.

"He was a good kid, cunning too. You would've like him," he added with a chuckle.

"I'm sure. Alright then, we can introduce them, but we won't force them. No spells or potions."

"Never," Harry replied firmly.

~BREAK~

The rest of the holidays passed quietly, and soon the first day of the new term was upon them. The rest of the students would arrive in a few hours, so the group decided to have a walk outside in the snow, despite Blaise's complaints.

Harry was trying to enjoy himself, but he was distracted by the fact that Daphne seemed anxious about something. She hadn't been herself for the last few days, but anytime he'd asked her about it, she'd insisted she was fine. Deciding it had gone on long enough, Harry resolved to get to the bottom of it that day.

"He's coming back," Pansy sighed, breaking Harry's train of thought.

"Draco. He's coming back, and... I don't know how long this peace will last, or what to do with him."

"What do you mean?" Harry asked.

"Have you ever wondered why me, Greg, and Vinnie are always around him?" she asked awkwardly, almost as if she was embarrassed.

"Well… If you'd asked me a few months ago, I would've said it was because of your shared belief in pureblood supremacy, but now..."

"By now, you've spent enough time among the snakes to know that we're all bigots to a point," Pansy replied with a hint of amusement. "Yourself included."

"True enough," Tracey added, earning a quizzical look from Harry. "Hey, I know I'm a half-blood and my mum is a muggleborn, but I like the magical world more."

"Hey, I didn't say anything," Harry countered.

"The truth is, by being raised in a traditional family, we're taught that wizards are simply better than muggles and other magical races," Theo sighed. "We're told that muggleborns are inferior, and because they come from outside and don't respect our culture, they don't deserve to be a part of our world. "Half-bloods aren't necessarily better, because they're tainted by their parent's blood and often show a preference towards the muggle world. You and Tracey are good examples of acceptable half-bloods."

"Thanks, I guess," joked Harry.

"But then you have the more radical fanatics," Pansy continued. "I'm talking about those who think that all mudbloods should be eliminated. They believe that magic should be owned only by the purebloods, and that the most ancient families should rule our world."

"Yes, I'm familiar with all that, but what does any of this have to do with Malfoy?" Harry asked.

"Well, you know how our parents were all part of that same…group?" Pansy asked hesitantly, gesturing at herself, Vince, Greg, and Theo.

"Of course, but you know I don't hold their affiliations against you."

"Thank you, but that's just it. Even though we don't personally buy into the extremism, our parents did, and it's not an easy alliance to walk away from. After the Dark Lord fell, Malfoy senior was the one responsible for keeping our parents out of Azkaban. They may have been able to do it themselves, but the Malfoys had so much more money and influence that they gladly accepted the help."

Harry finally understood where they were going with this.

"Ah, I get it. Because of that, your parents ordered you stick close to the ponce and kiss his arse?" he asked, and the others nodded in the affirmative. "But if that's the case, then why aren't you as close to him, Theo?"

"We were closer before, I just found a good reason to stay away from the git," he replied, glancing at Tracey. "I couldn't care less about what my father wants; we're not that close."

Pansy sighed.

"So, now you know. Because of our parents, we have no choice but to support him, pamper him and…ugh. How he was sorted into Slytherin, I'll never know."

"His father would probably hear about it if he wasn't..." Harry joked, receiving a few laughs in reply, although Daphne's were clearly half-hearted. Harry didn't want to press her on what was wrong in front of the others, but the way she was becoming more and more irritable as the evening approached was starting to worry him.

Before long, it was time for the feast, and the Slytherin fourth years had gathered at their usual spot at their house table. Greg and Vince were supposed to go down and wait for Malfoy, but Pansy convinced them not to. Seeing Draco Malfoy storm into the Great Hall by himself and on the verge of a temper tantrum was quite a sight, and the group didn't bother trying to hide how entertaining they found the display.

"Why the hell weren't you two waiting for me outside?" Malfoy demanded, glaring at Greg and Vince.

"Because by now, you should be able to find the Great Hall without getting lost," Tracey said dryly.

"You'd better watch it, Davis," he retorted spitefully. "I will soon be the Lord Malfoy, and then you'll grovel at my feet where you belong."

"Care to repeat that, you blonde..." Theo threatened, rising from his seat.

"Sit down, Theo," Harry ordered. Theo reluctantly sat down, still staring daggers at Malfoy while Harry turned his gaze to the irritating boy.

"Malfoy, you seem to have forgotten a few things over the holidays. Greg and Vince are not your slaves, and they are free to do as they will. Now, sit down and shut up before you annoy me. I don't need to remind you what would happen then, do I?"

Malfoy paled at the reminder of the oath Harry forced him to give. With a scowl, he sat down next to Blaise, who simply ignored him and his grumbling.

"Stupid git..." Theo mumbled, while his smiling girlfriend worked on calming him down.

Harry shifted his focus and started searching the Great Hall for familiar faces. He saw Jason conversing with some of his year mates at the Gryffindor table, and over at the Ravenclaw table, Justin Smith and Hannah Callen were sitting with the third and fifth years, respectively. Francis Talbot was the only one of the original Black Wands not in attendance. He had once been a Hufflepuff, but being several years older, he was no longer in school.

He wanted to suggest inviting them and perhaps a few others to join the new Black Wands, but it was probably too soon for that. Come to think of it, that might be the perfect way to introduce Astoria and Jason. He would never tell Daphne this, but he was eager to introduce them partially for the never-ending source of entertainment they were sure to provide. In his prior timeline, the way they had bickered and argued over the tiniest things had been hilarious, at least until they finally admitted their feelings for one another.

Smiling to himself over the fond memories, Harry turned to Daphne and was surprised by what he saw. Her expression was stony, but he recognised the look of utmost loathing in her eyes. He followed the direction of her gaze and realised she was staring directly at Neville Longbottom, who had just entered the hall, accompanied by the pig and the beaver. Whispers erupted in the Great Hall when Weaselette entered a few minutes later with a stump where her arm should be, but even that wasn't enough to drag Daphne's glare away from Longbottom.

"Daphne..." Harry called, but his girlfriend didn't seem to hear him.

"Daphne…"

No response.

"Daphne!"

"What?!" she hissed, turning to him sharply, and then scoffed and looked away when he seemed confused by her attitude.

"What is wrong with you?" he asked her, but she kept pointedly looking away.

"Damn it, Daph, look at me!"

"You know damn well what's wrong," she hissed quietly.

He tried to speak again, but she waved him off dismissively.

Harry hoped he would have better luck with her after she cooled off a bit, but as the feast went on, Daphne's mood seemed to only get worse. As the students stood up to leave at the end of the feast, Daphne immediately got up and drew her wand. Harry saw her moving towards the Gryffindors and jogged to quickly catch up with her. He took hold of her wand arm and dragged her away, making sure Longbottom disappeared from view before she could do anything stupid.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Daphne spat, as they moved through the corridors heading towards the dungeons.

"Preventing you from doing something Gryffindorish," he replied, as she pulled away to free her arm from his.

"I don't need your help," she retorted, then started walking away from him.

Frustrated, Harry caught up with her and steered her into an abandoned classroom. She grudgingly went with him, stomping into the room while Harry turned around to put up privacy wards.

Harry turned around, but before he could say anything, Daphne slapped him.

"Why did you stop me?" she yelled. "He was right there! I could have cursed him into oblivion, and no one would have known it was me!"

"Why?" he asked her, rubbing his stinging cheek.

"You know why!" Daphne shouted, tears starting to run down her face. "For days, I haven't been able to think about anything but our daughter dying because of that bastard! I can't endure being in the same room with him, knowing he's yet to pay for it. I won't!"

"Will you please try to calm down?" Harry implored, only for Daphne to push him away again.

"I will not let him strut around the castle as if he's done nothing wrong. He will pay for what he did to my daughter!"

"He will, but you can't just go around and curse him in the middle of the Great Hall."

"Why not, because I'm not you? I'm not the all-powerful Harry Fucking Potter?"

"We have a plan, Daph," Harry replied, his eyes narrowing. "You can't just throw it all away just because you're angry. There's nothing to gain from it, and I don't want you getting in trouble because you acted rashly."

"There is everything to gain from it. Longbottom would have suffered for what he did to my daughter!"

"Our daughter," Harry returned hotly, his own temper starting to flare.

"Really?" Daphne questioned defiantly. "You claim you cared for Daphy, but if you truly did, you would've already killed that son of a bitch! Or was she not that important to you?"

Harry's expression hardened, and Daphne blanched. He had never looked at her like that before. His green eyes, which were usually so warm and loving when he looked at her, were now cold and piercing. He didn't say a single word to her, he just walked right past her and exited the room.

Replaying their conversation in her head, Daphne gasped and covered her mouth with her hands. She hadn't meant what she said at all, but in her anger, she had lashed out like a spoilt child and hurt the one person who could understand her own pain. When she fully realised what she had done, she ran after him, but Harry was long gone.

"Dobby!"

She called for the elf to take her to Harry, but for the first time ever, Dobby failed to appear. She waited for a few moments and tried again, but after several attempts he still wouldn't come, and Daphne knew it could only be because Harry had ordered him not to.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, as she dropped to her knees and broke into tears as she sat all alone in the empty corridor.

It took almost ten minutes for Daphne to regain control of her emotions. She was angry and disappointed with herself, and she knew she had to apologise to Harry as soon as possible. Deciding to start with the common room, she walked through the door and was immediately bombarded with questions from her friends. They insisted on knowing where she had been, and what had happened to make Harry so angry.

"I was stupid," was all she could say, now back in the safety of her dorm. "I almost did something stupid. He rightly stopped me, and I snapped at him. I said some really awful things, and...yeah."

"Was it because of Weaselette?" Millie asked. "I saw you glaring at the dorks all throughout the feast."

"Yes," Daphne sighed. She obviously couldn't tell her friends it was because Neville Longbottom had killed her daughter, so she took the opening offered by Millie.

"Do you need to talk?" Tracey asked, trying to be supportive.

"No," Daphne answered, shaking her head. "I just need to apologise to him. I was so unfair."

"Considering how angry Harry was, I'd have to agree," Pansy offered. "He burst into the room with his magic flaring, then went straight to his dorm. Vinny said he grabbed something from his trunk and faded out of sight, and nobody's seen him since."

Daphne wrapped her arms around herself, and the girls could see how much she regretted whatever happened between her and Harry.

"Malfoy brought a pet snake with him," said Tracey, trying to change the subject. The other girls just rolled their eyes.

"I thought snakes were forbidden by the charter," Daphne replied, wiping her eyes.

"He got special permission from his godfather," Millie drawled. "He was blabbing about it when Harry came in. Apparently, he's keeping it in an aquarium in his dorm."

"Great..." mumbled Daphne. "With our luck, it'll escape and bite someone. Hopefully it's not venomous."

"Probably...but Harry's a Parselmouth, so he could control it, couldn't he?" asked Pansy, who wasn't a big fan of snakes, despite her sorting.

"He might..." Daphne replied, feeling another pang of regret at the mention of her boyfriend.

"I'm really tired, girls, I think I'm going to bed."

They all understood her reasons, so they didn't say anything when Daphne went to the bathroom and dressed herself for sleep. It was only after she was under her covers and within the safety of her wards that Daphne allowed herself to break down again. For the first time since she was a small child, she cried herself to sleep, shedding tears for herself, for the daughter she had never known, and for Harry.

~BREAK~

Daphne was the first to wake up the following morning. Knowing what she needed to do, she took a quick shower and put on her school robes. She intended to get to the Great Hall as soon as possible, hoping Harry would show up for breakfast give her a chance to apologise.

Considering it wasn't yet seven in the morning, the castle was quite deserted. She got to the Great Hall and was disappointed to see that Harry wasn't there. Trying not to get discouraged, Daphne sat down at the table and added some food to her plate, though she didn't have much of an appetite. Her eyes rarely left the doorway, only taking the occasional bite and thinking through what she was going to say.

Her perseverance paid off around half past seven, when Harry finally entered the hall and made his way towards their table. He hesitated for a moment when he saw her, but he continued on and ended up sitting down next to her, his face impassive.

"Good morning," she started, after raising privacy wards around them.

"Good morning."

"What I said to you last night was unfair," she said contritely, looking down at the table. "I'm more sorry than I can even begin to explain."

"Yes, it was," he replied bluntly, adding some bacon to his plate.

"I... I know you loved her, of course you did. You loved her very much, and I know she loved you," Daphne continued, her eyes tearing up again. "I..."

"No, you don't," Harry responded, turning to look at her. Even now, Daphne could see how much her words had hurt him.

"You have no idea how much I loved our daughter. You have no idea what it was like to find out I had a daughter with you, to learn that you weren't completely lost to me, that there was this beautiful piece of you left for me to love and cherish..."

Harry closed his eyes and took a deep, calming breath.

"You have no idea how proud she made me. Proud of how smart she was, of how she was able to cast spells with your wand at such a young age, or even how stubborn she was, and how easily she drove your sister mad..."

Harry chuckled to himself and dropped his gaze.

"There aren't words in the English language to describe what I lost that night, Daphne. That night, I lost everything I had left in this world. I lost the one thing that truly kept me going. After that night… No matter what I did, how strong I became, or how much I pretended otherwise, what I wanted more than anything was to die, just so I could once again be with the two women I loved more than my own life..."

He turned to her, and she flinched.

"So, don't you dare ever accuse me of not caring for our child, because you didn't live it. You saw my memories, but that was only a sliver of what I went through. You saw what happened and how I responded, and that alone should be enough to know how important you both were to me."

Harry picked up his glass and took a sip.

"So, you should thank Merlin, Morgana, and any deity you can think of that I will never allow you to go through the same feelings of helplessness and loss that I did."

"Does this mean you forgive me for being a stupid bitch?" she asked hopefully, and he sighed.

"No, this means I forgive you for being a bitch. I won't forgive you for wanting to do such a stupid thing."

Daphne leaned into his shoulder.

"I'm really sorry," she said, holding back tears. "I swear I didn't mean it. I was just mad, and..."

"It doesn't matter anymore," Harry replied, wrapping his arm her around her shoulder and kissing the top of her head.

"You wanted to do something stupid, almost worthy of my former self. I stopped you, you got mad at me and said some hurtful things, and I got mad at you. I can tell you truly regret it, and that's enough for me."

"Something worthy of your former self?" she asked, feigning outrage, though the relief and amusement in her eyes betrayed her.

"Hmm, you may be right, even my old Gryffindor self wouldn't have done something that foolish," he teased, receiving a playful slap on his shoulder. They laughed together, both of them feeling as if a weight had lifted.

"I'm sorry. I really am," Daphne said again.

"Me too," Harry replied, breaking the privacy wards with a wave of his wand.

"You two made up?" asked Tracey, who was at that moment leading Theo, Blaise, and Millie to their table.

"Good morning to you too, Tracey," Daphne quipped, making Harry snort. The fourth years sat around them, satisfied with their friends' reconciliation and falling into their usual banter.

"Where are Pansy, Greg, Vince, and Malfoy?" Harry asked.

"Malfoy was still getting ready, and Pansy decided to wait for him," Blaise said, rolling his eyes. "Greg and Vince are with her."

"What the..." mumbled Millie, looking up and seeing the unusual sight of Draco Malfoy being dragged into the Great Hall by Greg and Vince, while Pansy was following behind them and giving out orders.

"If I say you need to hurry up, then you do it, are we clear Draco?" Pansy instructed forcefully, and the slightly rumpled and red-faced Malfoy nodded, but didn't reply.

"Good, now sit down and eat your breakfast," she told him, taking her seat with the rest of the fourth years, who were now staring at her with their mouths agape.

"What, do I have something in my hair?"

"Who are you, and what did you do with Pansy Parkinson?" Tracey asked with a giggle.

"I thought about what Harry said yesterday, and I found myself agreeing. Draco needs to learn a few facts of life."

Malfoy mumbled something under his breath, ignoring the laughs of his year mates. He blamed Potter for this. Ever since the git had joined Slytherin, his life had taken a turn for the worse. He was no longer the leader he perceived himself to be, he no longer felt respected, and with his father incapacitated, no one seemed to fear the Malfoy name any longer. He swore he would get revenge on Potter someday…blasted oath.

As she was laughing at Draco's plight, Daphne caught sight of Longbottom, Granger, and Weasley entering the Great Hall. This time, she did her best to quash her anger and ignore them. Harry noticed, and he turned to her with a smouldering look.

"What?" she smiled, a little shyly in the face of her boyfriend's intense gaze. The corner of Harry's mouth tugged upward for a moment, and then he gently leaned into her space. She tilted her head to accept his kiss, only to feel slight twinge of disappointment when his lips bypassed hers, then brushed past her cheek so that he could whisper in her ear.

"They are not important enough for you to risk yourself for vengeance," he whispered, and Daphne's breath hitched a little.

"I will not lose you again because of them."

Her heart started pounding, and she reached up with one hand to touch his cheek.

"Wow, Daphne, what did he just say to you?" Tracey teased, who was enjoying watching the interplay between the couple.

"Leave them be, Tracey, it's obviously personal," Millie drawled, and the two girls shared a laugh.

"IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT, LONGBOTTOM, YOU SON OF A BITCH! REDUCTO!"

Every head in the Great Hall turned to the Gryffindor table the moment they heard Ron Weasley start shouting at Longbottom, just in time to see the shy, pudgy boy's head explode into a cloud of blood and gore. Screams rang out across the hall, only to intensify when Weasley inserted his own wand into his mouth and cast another Reductor Curse, suffering a similar fate to the one he had just inflicted upon Neville Longbottom.

It was absolute pandemonium. The blood and gore spattered Gryffindors ran away from the table, screaming in horror, leaving Granger frozen in shock next to the headless bodies of her two best friends. Some people began vomiting, while others fled the Great Hall. The only two teachers present at breakfast were Professors Babbling and Sprout, and both of them were too horror-struck to act.

For once, Malfoy had nothing to say. Millie buried her face in Blaise's chest while Tracey threw up on the floor in front of her. Pansy nearly fainted, and probably would have collapsed if Vince hadn't caught her. Harry put on his best shocked expression as he looked on at the chaos, clutching Daphne tightly to his chest.

To an outside observer, it might have looked like Daphne was crying into her boyfriend's shoulder at sight of the senseless violence, but that was far from the truth. If her face weren't hidden, one might have seen the light of satisfaction in her eyes as they glittered in happiness.

"For our Daphy?" she whispered.

She felt him nod against her, and she shut her eyes tightly.

"I love you."