Chapter 348: The Emerald Pond

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I would like to thank my beta, Awdyr, for his help in this chapter.

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28 March 1995, Greengrass Manor

It took Daphne embarrassingly long to realize that she wasn't dreaming. It was a pretty recurrent one, where she imagined that Harry was still there, that he would just appear from thin air, twirl her around, and kiss her. It was too good to be true, but she always felt mournful when she woke up and faced reality once more.

However, there were a few imperfections that didn't occur in her dream. For one, Harry looked exhausted, definitely not his usual pristine self. He was slouching slightly and was practically covered in sweat, the usual sharpness in his movements being strangely absent. He didn't look like one of those conquering heroes. Instead of a conquering hero, he reminded her of Tracy after an intense Quidditch match—dishevelled and worn out. It was all too real. The way her heart raced, the heat of his breath against her skin.

What she was feeling was too real.

As he leaned in, everything around her faded into the background, like one of those cheesy novels she'd read embarrassingly too many times. His breath was warm, and it sent butterflies fluttering in her stomach. When their lips finally met, it was soft at first—awkward and clumsy, just like she'd imagined it would be, but also thrilling in a way that made her heart race.

This was real. Harry Potter was kissing her and all it took was almost four years of pining.

If she was being honest with herself, she had her doubts over the years. She had been in love with Harry ever since she was eleven, and it definitely was a rocky road. There were countless dangers. She was petrified by a Basilisk, saved Hogsmeade from an attack from the Azkaban escapees, escaped a small army of vampires during the Quidditch World Cup, and that's not to mention what happened in the European School Tournament.

He was probably more comfortable with her than anyone else, but he never showed any romantic interest towards her. He never showed any romantic interest in anyone, really.

She waited for years, hoping he would return her feelings. Everyone knew that she fancied him, even students in other houses and if Harry wasn't a bit of a social moron, he would have known as well. But she knew exactly what she was signing up for.

It took four long years, but it was worth the wait. It was even worth his disappearance for a few months, which she was definitely going to yell at him for. He better have a good explanation, because if he didn't, she would make him pay for the grief he caused her. Hell, she might even do it even if he had a good explanation.

She hadn't known if he was even alive. Hell, Lily had told her that he had died, that he had sacrificed himself to buy them time to escape, and just apparated them into the middle of the wilderness, before slumping down, shaking and shivering, and falling unconscious. It was weird because they weren't exactly on speaking terms with the woman because of her alliance with Dumbledore. Nevertheless, Daphne knew that the redhead looked visibly troubled and miserable, and she, herself, was in complete shock about Harry dying to really do anything.

Daphne Greengrass found herself alone in the wilderness, while just being told that her best friend, the person she was the closest to in her life, was dead, just like that. He died for her, to give her time to escape. What she was escaping, she had no idea but by the time Lily woke up, hours later, she looked surprised to see Durmstrang still standing for some reason. Longbottom proclaiming that Lord Voldemort was back, didn't help matters.

Daphne spent weeks trying to find any traces of Harry, any sliver of hope. The only thing she found in Grindelwald's secret room was rubble since the ceiling collapsed. There was no sign of what happened to Harry and Lily wouldn't tell her anything, having disappeared the day after Harry's presumed death, probably to prepare for her fight with Voldemort.

And yet, Harry was still alive. She had lost hope after months, but she wasn't the same. The world felt greyer, and her magic mirrored her feelings. The sheer realization that she was holding him, in her arms, so very real, returned the colour back to the world.

After what felt like an eternity, their lips parted and both were gasping in exhilaration. Daphne found herself getting lost in his green eyes. She always liked them. They reminded her of the trees outside her home, where she used to play with Astoria, before she got sick, of course.

Harry's lips turned into a roguish smile, "I don't suppose that makes up for the date we never got to have."

Daphne hugged him tighter. "For the date, yes. For making me think you were dead for months, not so much. Where the hell were you? And don't you dare say something as ridiculous as you were doing it to keep me safe? A letter would have been all I needed. Instead, I mourned you. Do you have any idea what that was like?"

As she spoke, everything she had been holding back—the misery, the pain, the suffering—came spilling out. It was no secret that she was angry. No, she was furious. If he had done something as asinine as keep her away for her own protection, like some self-sacrificing idiot, then he wouldn't get off lightly. She still clung to the possibility that it hadn't been his decision, as unlikely as it was. Because if he abandoned her, left her to grieve for months by choice, she didn't know if she could forgive him.

Harry shook his head. "No. But to be fair, I wasn't exactly in a position to send anything. Believe me, I would have if I could."

"Oh, really? You, the great Harry Potter, the magical prodigy, couldn't find a way to let me know you were still alive?" Daphne asked, incredulity dripping from her voice, though a flicker of hope sparked within her.

"Do you know what happened that day?"

Daphne shook her head. "Not really. Lily just grabbed me from the corridor and apparated me to the middle of the mountains, saying something about you sacrificing yourself for us. Then she started trembling and passed out. She wouldn't say anything afterwards."

"I suppose I would be ashamed as well if I were in her place. She's the reason I had to do it in the first place, and she wouldn't even own up to it. She destroyed the sword, and the magical release from the broken prophecy was contaminated with one of my spells. It would have killed everyone in Durmstrang. I managed to ask Lily to get you to safety. I ended up doing something reckless, but it was the best I could do given the situation. It caused a breach, and I found myself somewhere else. I didn't even know if Durmstrang still stood until I was able to come back."

"Where were you?" Daphne asked, curiosity creeping in, making it hard to stay angry.

He grinned mischievously. "Believe it or not, an entirely alternate universe."

She released a disbelieving snort. "You seriously expect me to believe that?"

"Hey, it wasn't exactly the same. For once, my counterpart was the Boy Who Lived, not Longbottom. He had a bit of a martyr complex too. There weren't any Light or Dark Champions. It was calmer, in a way. I spent months trying to recreate the event that brought me there. I couldn't exactly contact you. Hell, I just came back today. You're probably the second person I've talked to."

"Who was the first?"

Harry looked sheepish. "Neville Longbottom."

Daphne couldn't help but giggle. "The Boy Who Lived Himself? Oh, should I be jealous?"

"Come on, I just went to Hogwarts to speak to Tracy and Blaise since I assumed they would be there. The first person who noticed me was Neville. I'm surprised he broke my privacy charms so easily. I guess I wasn't really trying very hard, and he must have gotten better somehow. He told me he heard rumours you were in your family home, and here I am. I have to say, I was surprised by the state of affairs in Britain. I never expected a war to break out because I was just gone for a few months."

Daphne huffed. "I'm still not convinced you're not bullshitting me about the whole other universe thing."

Harry puffed up, handing her an old wand. "Hey, I even got a souvenir. This was the wand that their version of Dumbledore was using. It's pretty old, a nifty artefact. I kind of understand why so many people were killed for it. And if you're not convinced, I don't mind projecting a few of my memories."

The blonde rolled her eyes. "Fine, maybe later. You'd have probably come up with a better lie than 'confirming the theory of the multiverse.' It honestly sounds like one of those weird novels you like to read."

"Hey, don't diss my books," he protested.

"Now that I think about it, I must have had a counterpart there too. What was she like?"

"Different. Very different. I didn't talk to her, not really. But she wasn't as open as you—a bit cold to everyone—and didn't really socialize much, at least as far as I could tell. She wanted to be a healer, though. That much I know for sure."

Daphne's face became thoughtful. "Huh, what about her Astoria?"

"I'm guessing she's cursed too, but I'm not sure. It felt weird to pry into your counterpart's affairs, to be honest. How has Astoria been, by the way?"

"Better. Lily came a few times every week to continue teaching me blood magic. She said it's what you would have wanted. I didn't know about what happened in Durmstrang, and she was my last connection to you."

Harry's jaw tightened, but he took a deep breath. "Did it help Astoria?"

A smile spread across Daphne's face. She had been worried about him being angry over her lessons with Lily. Now she understood—Lily must have felt guilty, thinking she had killed Harry. "I found a way to halt the progress of her curse slightly. It's a temporary measure, but it should last a few years, enough for me to study the curse properly. I've gotten a lot better at it."

"I'm glad," he smiled. "And if you want to continue your lessons with Lily, I won't be opposed…"

Daphne interrupted him. "Continue my lessons? She almost got you killed! Do you think so little of me that I'd accept being taught by someone who did that? Who caused you so much pain? No, I have the foundations and can figure the rest out myself."

"What about Astoria?"

"I bought myself enough time for some proper research, and I can work on extending it as well. I don't need her around. My parents were already hesitant about her coming here, especially with the war going on. It would have made me a target."

Harry glanced at the sky for a second. "Wouldn't it be nice to just leave this mess? We could go to a deserted island somewhere, build a small home, just the two of us."

"Isn't that moving a little too fast?" she answered with a sly grin.

"I think we've moved slowly for too long."

"Well, unfortunately for us, we can't run from our problems. I still have Astoria to heal, and I still have to compete in one of the tournament's tasks by contract."

Harry furrowed his brow. "Seriously?"

"Yeah. It's part of being a delegate. There are two tasks left: one happening in a few weeks in Greece, and another here at Hogwarts, although I have no idea if that will remain the case with the war going on."

"What about after the tournament? You'd compete in just one task, hopefully, the next one. I have a feeling the last one will be the one where Dumbledore's plans come to fruition, and I'd rather we be as far away as possible from this mess."

"What, you're not planning on stopping him?" Daphne asked, shocked.

"There's more to life than worrying about Albus Dumbledore and his plans. When I was away, I realized it wasn't my responsibility to stop him. Lily or Voldemort can deal with him if they want to, but I'm done chasing after him. No more heroics, at least not for me."

Daphne smiled softly. "I'm glad to hear that, but trouble seems to find you anyway. Still, it's a nice dream—us alone somewhere far away from these messes. I don't know about building a home, but I wouldn't say no to a vacation somewhere warm."

She barely finished her sentence before a blonde missile zoomed toward him. "Harry!"

Harry gave Astoria a tight hug and turned to Daphne. "You weren't kidding about her getting better."

Whatever she was going to say next caught in her throat as she saw a familiar redhead standing at the garden's entrance. "Harry?"

Harry's face blanked completely, and he spoke in a neutral tone. "Hello, Lily. It's been a while."

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AN: I don't know if this is good or not, but I'm really sick. Have been since last night. I pushed myself to write this, but I'll be honest, I'm mostly tired out of my mind. I hope the reunion between the two came out as I imagined it. For some reason, I didn't think that their getting angry at each other for things beyond their control was fitting with their personalities. Anyway, I'll probably re-read the whole thing and do a few rewrites when I get better, hopefully tomorrow. So, as usual, please let me know what you think and if you have any suggestions.

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If you want to support me check out my patréon at https://www.patréon.com/athassprkr

I tend to upload drafts of early chapters on there to get people's opinions of them so you can read up to 20 chapters ahead as a bonus.

Thank you guys for your support in these hard times.