Daphne Greengrass

Saturday November 26th 8:10am.

The hospital wing was silent this early in the morning, and Daphne was grateful for that. Yesterday had been a roller coaster ride for her emotions, even if she didn't show it.

The Slytherin had struggled through classes, with her mind focused on the meeting that evening. Then the meeting, the shock of Sirius Black, and becoming officially engaged had trampled all over her highly strung emotions. To top it all off had been the assault on her new fiancé, and the public announcement of their betrothal. While she understood the necessity in that situation to let it out, it want how she would have preferred to announce it. She would have loved to control how and when that information came out.

She had accompanied Harry and Madam Pomfrey to the nurses haunt. Harry had passed out as they got to the hospital wing, leading to a chaotic hour. The matron had tried to kick Daphne out, but finally accepted that as his fiancée she wouldn't be leaving until he did. She had appearances to keep up after all.

The hour was full of incantations, salves, and potions all made more difficult by the boy being unconscious. It also didn't help that Madam Pomfrey kept being interrupted to tell the annoying Gryffindor's that Harry was not taking visitors and to come back the next day, and the headmaster that Harry was in no condition to talk.

Daphne had made an asset of herself, rubbing several different ointments into the devastated arm, or staying out of the nurses way when she wasn't needed. And had eventually fallen asleep in the bed next to her new fiancé.

She had woken up only minutes ago, enjoying a small sleep in for the weekend, and was happy to have the quietness of a nearly empty room to think in. After all in a matter of minutes her entire world was shaken. She was not just promised, but now engaged. To Harry Potter.

Daphne had grown up knowing that her family had entered into a contract that may fall to her to fulfil, which hadn't been easy on her. It was made worse when she found out that the arrogant, annoying idiot Draco Malfoy would be her most likely future husband. Things had only gotten worse after she had started at Hogwarts.

The joy of being placed with her best friend was quickly wiped out when the idiot was also sorted into Slytherin. The last three and a bit years had been full of her trying to ward off any and all advances by the ponce. It had one advantage for her, being promised to the Black family, none of the other boys retired anything with her. After all the Black's could destroy just about anybody that they wanted to.

Life had been far from easy in the Slytherin dorms for her, despite the boy's not being willing to try anything, thanks to the girls. Most of the girls in her year, or the surrounding years, liked and followed Pansy Parkinson. Not just did Daphne stand up to her, she was hated for a very different reason. Parkinson was engaged to Draco through the Malfoy family, and really didn't like that Draco claimed he was also going to marry Daphne.

Miss Greengrass also knew that she was pretty, much prettier than Pansy, so was sure that didn't help. She had accepted that her life would be joyless, with a marriage devoid of love, where she was nothing more than a plaything. Now however, now she had hope.

She was pulled out of her reflection as two arguing students arrived at the hospital wing. Just what she needed, Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley, and their constant bickering when she wanted peace and quiet. It also meant she couldn't have the necessary conversation with Harry that she had been planning after he woke up.

"You two shouldn't be here, especially if you are making such a racket. Mr. Potter needs rest." This came from Madam Pomfrey as she was brought out of her office by their arrival.

"It's okay Poppy, I'm awake. Let them in." This drew everybody's attention to the boy who was now sitting up in the hospital bed. "I won't be able to get back to sleep now anyways."

Poppy returned to her office, muttering under her breath, as the two students crossed over to Harry's bed. "Are you okay Harry? We weren't allowed to check on you last night. We heard about what happened, is your arm healed? How could Malfoy use such a spell? Is he going to be expelled?" The questions all tumbled out of Hermione.

Harry couldn't help but laugh. "I'm fine, Mione, honestly. The arm is stiff and will be for the next few days as the new muscle sets in. Apart from that I don't know the answers to your questions. I'm hoping to get out of here for breakfast, we will wait and see."

"Well, mate, its good..." Ron trailed off as he saw Daphne in the next bed. "What's she doing here? Go on, get out of here!"

"No it's fine, Miss Greengrass. You can stay. Ron, don't be so rude." Harry interrupted before it could get any worse.

Ron was shocked, so shocked that he stood there with his mouth open for almost a minute before sputtering out a response. "Obviously your confused. It must be your medication Harry. You don't know what your saying. She's a snake, probably here to spy for Malfoy! Or to attack you when you aren't expecting it!"

"Given that she slept next to me all night, when I was vulnerable, and didn't attack me I doubt she will now. Spy for Malfoy? Have you ever seen her hanging around Malfoy? Or being friendly with him? Cause I haven't so I doubt she spying for him. And besides, she has a right to be here." Harry was hoping that it would get dropped now.

"She was there yesterday when you got attacked! Why would she be there if she wasn't part of it?" It was actually one of the more logical things Daphne had ever heard out of the redheads mouth.

"She was there last night, walking with me actually. She was not there with Malfoy. The reason she has a right to be here is because we are engaged Ron. She's my fiancée." If Harry had shocked him earlier it was nothing to that statement. Hermione however did not seemed surprised, but had a look of sadness that passed so quickly Daphne almost thought she imagined it. 'That is something to think about later' she made a mental note to herself.

"That can't be! She must have bewitched you! Madam Pomfrey! Come here! You need to check Harry for being bewitched! This evil snake has done something to him!" As Poppy came running to see what the ruckus was, Ron pulled out his wand and pointed it at Daphne running through the offensive spells he knew in his head.

Daphne fumbled as she reached for her wand, unable to get a grip on it in her haste. Fear filled her knowing that she was about to be hexed. Harry came to her rescue. "Ron! Lower your wand! She didn't bewitch me, we are engaged because of an old family contract. If it makes you feel better, I will allow Madam Pomfrey to run some diagnostic spells on me, but for the last time treat Daphne with respect or get out."

Poppy huffed the whole way over to Harry, unhappy with the excitement for her patient. She cast two standard detection spell, and one more complex one before turning to Ron. "He is clear, Mr. Weasley. Now the three of you have to leave, such unrest is not good for his recovery." She meant every word of it.

"Can I go with them Poppy? I'm healed, like always with you caring for me." Harry pleaded with the nurse.

"It's not advisable Mr. Potter, you need to rest and recover. That sort of trauma is taxing on the body and your magic, rest is essential for your health." Flattery did not work on her, she had heard it all from students over the years.

"Just for breakfast? You said that I need to eat extra over the next few days anyways, so I may as well eat it in the Hall." Harry hated being in the hospital wing and it only got worse when he was alone there.

Poppy looked at the young man intently, before nodding. "Okay, Harry, but only for breakfast. Come back right away afterwards, or I will track you down and drag you back myself." Daphne believed her.

/

Silence descended on the Great Hall as the four of them walked in. Daphne, who didn't like being the centre of attention in a classroom, found this to be her least favourite experience ever. As far as she could tell, everybody in the room was looking at them. She was only happy that it was a Saturday so half the staff and a large portion of the student body weren't up yet.

She went to go sit at the Slytherin table when Harry hesitantly reached out and took her elbow. "Sit with me. Please?" It took several seconds of looking him in the eye for her to decide that she was okay with the idea. She nodded at him, and followed his lead across the room and into a seat.

Daphne silently filled her plate and started breakfast, thankful that slowly conversation was picking up as everybody returned to what they had been doing. Her comfort didn't last long though, as she heard snippets of the conversations around her. Apart from the usual gossip about last night, the most common topic from the Gryffindor's was how she didn't belong and why was she there.

The arrival of the post owls granted her a reprieve, as it was a lot busier than usual for a Saturday. Most Saturdays it was only a couple of dozen owls bringing letters from home, today it seemed like almost everyone received an owl. Watching as a single owl descended in front of her Daphne was distracted from it by four owls landing in front of Harry. Absentmindedly she reached for the paper still clutched by the owl and gave it a piece of sausage.

'Harry Potter engaged, women everywhere weep.' It wasn't until after she put the paper down and took a bit of toast that the words registered. Snatching the Special Edition of the Daily Prophet off the table she read the article.

'After last nights edition with The-Boy-Who-Lived taking up his family seats in the Wizengamot, get his Godfather Sirius Black declared innocent of all crimes, yes you read that right, and his personal attack on Lucius Malfoy in the 'Mot if you were like me you believed that he was finished shocking us. We were wrong.' Daphne had to stop to run her temple before a headache kicked in.

'After an incident at Hogwarts last nights when Draco Malfoy, the son of aforementioned Lucius Malfoy, was baited into attacking the young Mr. Potter, he struck back. In his rant at the unlucky Slytherin student he revealed that he was recently engaged to Daphne Greengrass, a fourth year Slytherin student. Having researched the claim it has been verified. A old marriage contract between houses Black and Greengrass that hadn't been fulfilled was signed into completion yesterday evening by Raslint Greengrass and Sirius Black, the heads of their respective families. Given the well known rivalry between Gryffindor and Slytherin house it will be interesting to see how this plays out.' Daphne couldn't help but shake her head at the terrible reporting.

She slammed through the rest of the paper, mainly looking at the headlines of the other articles. 'Potter's tirade at Draco Malfoy', which was completely different to what really happened, 'The unfair treatment of Draco Malfoy', which pretty much said that any action taken against him would be favouritism to Harry and unjustified, 'Who is Daphne Greengrass', that one made her laugh, and 'Has power gone to Harry Potter's head already?' which was speculation plain and simple.

"Harry, look at this." She said simply, handing the paper of to him, pulling his attention away from one of the letters he had received. Giving him the paper she watched as a look of concentration, annoyance and then anger crossed his face. "What are you planning to do about this?"

He looked at her for a moment before coming to a decision. "My lawyers are working on a lawsuit, this will just get added to the list. Don't worry, it will all be handled. This however you should read. I think you should come with me."

Daphne received the letter he had been reading and scanned the page. It was the Black Family account goblin asking for him to go in and get his personal vault as heir sorted. "You sure you want me there?"

"Yeah. We can get you sorted at the same time." He tossed the Prophet on the table and opened up the next letter, quickly reading the message. A small smile crossed his face as he put it too the side and picked up the final note.

Daphne watched as he read the last one, a contemplative look on his face. He looked at her briefly and looked like he was going to ask her something, before returning his attention to the document. "Something you wanted to say Harry?"

"It can wait until we are more private setting. Besides there are other more important things that we will need to talk about first." She accepted his words, mainly helped by the distraction of the entire room looking at them again. They probably had been for a few minutes, after all reading the article, but she had been distracted at not noticed. Her shyness almost made her miss his next words. "I should be getting back to the hospital wing, Daphne accompany me please?"

Any chance she had do respond was cut off by Weasley. "We will go back with you Harry. We haven't had a chance to talk about the last Cannons game yet. You don't have to go anywhere with her." He really was an impolite ass.

"Thanks for the offer Ron, but me and Daphne have a lot we need to talk about. On top of that we need to start getting to know each other. Please remember too be polite to Daphne, she is going to be my wife." He stood up and made to leave before he was stopped by Hermione who whispered something to him. He whispered something back but they both were to quiet for Daphne to hear.

/

They sat on Harry's bed, Harry at the head with Daphne on the other end, not looking at each other and letting the awkward silence grow until the young Slytherin couldn't handle it. "You wanted to talk?"

"Yeah, I guess I just feel we need to get to know each other. So open and honest answers will be needed by both of us. You can go first." He looked her in the eye as he said this.

"Okay, what did you think about all this? The marriage contract. Me." She decided it was the best question to start with, as she thought it would show quickly if he meant the truth about being honest.

"Well it was hard. I grew up in the muggle world, where marriage contracts haven't existed in like 100 years. It took a lot of adjusting to accept the idea. I always imagined I would grow up, meet someone, fall in love and go from there, not have a contract tell me who I am going to marry." He genuinely looked sad at the lost opportunity.

"Then why accept the contract?" She had to know why he did this, if she was to have any chance of getting to understand him.

"Because Sirius wanted to adopt me. He's the only family I have left, I would do anything for him. There were several reasons I had to accept the contract. It solidifies my adoption and makes me his indisputable heir. It also gets the Black seat and fortune away from Malfoy and his father. It also protects you from Malfoy. I didn't even know about the Subservience Clause at the time, but knew he wouldn't care about you so had to stop that from happening." He looked down at his lap for most of the answer.

"But now you know about the clause... Is that what you want? A cum-slut? A toy for your own pleasure?" She was disgusted just saying the words, trying her best to not think about the fact that it could be her future.

"No! Never! I'm disgusted that such things even exist! No, I am going to help and support you, and you are going to be my wife. My proper wife!" Daphne didn't think it was possible, but Harry appeared more disgusted by the clauses than her. "I promise you that I will never take advantage of you, or the contract."

Daphne had to think long and hard about how else she wanted the conversation to go. "How about you ask a few questions now?"

Harry looked at her, chewing a few questions out in his mind before settling on the best start. "How do you feel about this?"

"My parents have always been honest with me, so I knew from quite young about the contract and how I probably wouldn't get to choose my husband. So I had an advantage over you. It did hurt growing up though, knowing that I wouldn't be able to meet my Prince Charming and fall in love, but instead a piece of paper would determine my future. It got worse when I learned that it would be Malfoy. He told me he was going to be the next Lord Black at a fancy party we both were at the year before we came to Hogwarts. I was destroyed! Even as a child he was a... He was an ass, and I hated him. It hasn't been easy in Slytherin with him there, and now... Now I'm scared to go back. But even without knowing you, I'm happy that it's you not him I am to marry." It was hard for her to be this honest, especially to a stranger, but it felt therapeutic to let it out.

"What do you want to do with your life?" Harry looked at her as he asked this question.

"What do you mean?" That confused Daphne.

"Surely you have dreams? To get a potions mastery, to be the head of the Department of Mysteries, to start a business? Why do you want to do with your life?" He honestly wanted to know.

"I don't know. After finding out that I was going to marry Malfoy I stopped thinking about that sort of thing. I knew that he would never allow me to do anything." That she had essentially given up hope pulled at the young boy's heart.

"Well we have time, but with O.W.L.s next year and the N.E.W.T.s not too far away, you should start thinking about what you want to do after Hogwarts. I will support you on just about anything, both as your husband and with my influence." From there they went into important, but much shallower questions such as favourite colour and the like, occupying the rest of the morning together.

A/N: Here is the 16th chapter, slightly different as you all can tell given that it's from Daphne's perspective. Hope you all enjoy it.