Disclaimer: I do not own the characters in this story or their world. All rights to Rowling of course.

For Jess (autumn midnights) for GGE2015. Jess, I'm so so sorry it's come so late. Time got away. I hope it was worth the wait, though! Thank you for letting me write characters I haven't before and explore a relationship that I think you might love.

A/N: So I'm so so so behind on GGE and now I have the first round of Little League to do but I'm using Jess's prompts because I love them and time got away and I feel awful but I'm quite proud of this fic. I think exploring their relationship was something good for me because I do siblings a lot but I'm going to be honest I totally hated Daphne until now :P So hopefully you'll like it! Please leave me some feedback if you've got the time! Also, I just want to say its good to be back and guess what its almost SUMMER :D

Written for: every letter title, v; angst v. fluff - angst, whisper; LL Ravenclaw Captain: write a familial friendship;

Villains and Whispers

It started young.

The secrets, the lies, and the words that were proclaimed loudly in pride and turned out to be secrets and lies anyway.

(They were whispers in the dark.)

Whispers between Mummy and Daddy and their friends outside the door, and whispers of legacies and strength for their bedtime stories.

Daphne basked in the light of her parents. Astoria basked in the light of her older sister.

But it was always in the dark. Because even if it was said in the light, Daphne and Astoria were unaware that they were kept in the dark. Their bubble was beautiful and bright and arrogant, a picturesque world of their parents ideals.

Hogwarts changed that.

The war changed that.

And the Greengrass sisters shared a few whispers of their own.

"Daph," Astoria said quietly one night when she was barely five, after she had finally decided she just couldn't sleep and followed her instincts, padding into her sister's room.

"Yeah, Tori?" Daphne replied, unsurprised to be shook awake. She rolled over and creaked her eyes open, adjusting to the dark and eventually finding her sister's eyes.

"I don't think I like Misters and Missus Notts too much." Astoria took a deep breath and closed her eyes. "They pretended to like us and then didn't. And the boy wasn't very nice."

"Theo wasn't too bad."

"He's a boy, and boys aren't very nice."

"Daddy's alright, isn't he?"

Astoria lightened slightly. "Of course."

"I'm sure you'll like Draco soon. He was a little quiet, wasn't he? But that's alright. You're loud enough for all of us." She cracked a smile, proud of her wit, a recent addition for the seven year old.

Astoria didn't seem to get it, unfortunately.

"Fine. I still don't like his Mum and Dad, though. Mummy's friends like to play with us. Misters Nott told us we were pretty, and that's all."

Daphne turned and sat up. "You're not going to fall asleep soon, are you?" Astoria shook her head vehemently. "Let's go get some tea, okay? But we have to be quiet," she suggested. Her younger sister's eyes opened in awareness – waking up Mummy and Daddy wasn't a good idea – and then nodded.

Daphne took her sister's hand and led her quietly down the stairs until they reached the kitchen. She moved to the small closet where their house elf slept and knocked softly.

"Seemy," she said, firmly but softly, "we want tea."

Slowly, the door pushed open and the young house elf stepped out. "Of course, Mistress Daphne," she said blearily, and began moving throughout the kitchen to prepare it.

"You'll get used to them," Daphne said blatantly. "They're not much fun, but they're the only friends we're going to have. Okay? Pansy's my best friend," she proclaimed.

Astoria was quiet, and then she replied simply, "Okay."

"I'm always here, okay?"

Astoria hugged her sister tightly in response.

Steaming cups were placed in front of them.

"Thank you, Seemy," said Astoria.

"You don't have to thank the elves, Tori," Daphne told her sister, rather confused by her behavior.

Astoria's small mouth turned down in a frown.

On Friday's after the Slytherin fourth years had potions, Daphne liked to part from her friends who would head to dinner and return to her common room to sit by the fire and glow in the fact that it was the weekend.

And on routine, her younger sister would turn up five minutes later; that's when Daphne had realized, when it first happened at the beginning of the year, that she and her sister were more alike than she thought.

It was a regular exchange:

"Hey, Daphne," Astoria said cheerfully.

"How were you classes, Astoria?"

"Fine, excited for the weekend."

"Me too," Daphne said with a smile.

That's where the conversation usually ended, but Daphne could practically feel Astoria bouncing in her seat.

"Okay, Tori, what's going on?"

The effect was instant.

"Why does the whole school hate us?" Astoria got out, as quick as she good. Daphne shook her head, puzzled, thought of something and opened her mouth to respond when her sister started again. "There were boys – Gryffindors – poking at me in the halls today. I caught things about dirty snakes before I walked away. And in the library – heard two Hufflepuff first years in the next row over talking about how those big guys in your year had been bullying them. Even McGonagall talked about the Quidditch game in Transfiguration today; she can't stand our team."

"You don't want to be a Slytherin? Mum and Dad were Slytherins. Our whole family is Slytherin. All your friends are here. It doesn't matter what other people think, Tori. We're not the bad guys here. The other students like to pick on us because we're pure. There is nothing wrong with pure, Astoria."

Astoria's next sentence came out in a whisper. "My friend Louise, in Ravenclaw…we were Herbology partners today. She said your friend Pansy called her a Mudblood in the lavatory."

"Why are you friends with a Muggleborn?"

"Because she's kind and funny and smart. Because she's not evil? What kind of question is that?"

"Astoria, we're better than that," Daphne said firmly.

Astoria looked at her older sister in disbelief. "No, we're better than that. She's not the villain. Are you?" Tears rushed to her eyes and before she shed them she walked briskly to her dorm.

A look came over Daphne and she looked toward her sister. "Tori," she whispered.

But Astoria was gone.

They didn't get over it in a day. But it happened. They were sisters, after all. Promises that were whispered in the night didn't go away. Daphne loved Astoria with all her heart, and she found it in her heart to apologize in the weeks that followed.

But Daphne was obedient, and Astoria was curious. Daphne was shy, Astoria was outgoing. Daphne lived quite comfortably in the bubble created by her parents, and Astoria popped it.

It was for this reason that Daphne and Astoria spoke to each other of school, of home, of Quidditch, and of boys. When it came down to it, Daphne was not tolerant of Astoria's exceeding tolerance, and so they both chose to pretend it wasn't there. The last thing either girl would do was put a rift between her and her sister, and it showed.

But in her fifth year, Daphne woke up in the middle of the night crying of a nightmare, and Pansy wasn't a great friend and Millicent had never been kind so Daphne went straight to her sister, but even if she had true friends that would have been the first place she had gone anyway.

And Astoria was the only person who could see her, really see her; in the dark, or not.

Astoria woke up with a gentle nudge, they had both always been such light sleepers – it came with living in a quiet house – and her vision came into focus on her sister's crying form. "Daph? What's wrong?"

Astoria felt her fingers twine with her sister's as Daphne found her hand. The words were quiet but her tears still ran. "Do you think he's back?"

Astoria's eyes instantly widened. "Come on, let's go somewhere. Anywhere outside." Quickly, she worked her way around to find her robe and slippers, and wrapped an arm around her sister as they walked from through the Slytherin residencies to the dungeons. Astoria dropped her arm but remained close as they shut the common room door behind them, and that's when Daphne asked where they were going. "The kitchens. Louise and her brother found it." Daphne said nothing.

When they arrived, a house elf was instantly by their side. "Nordy is ready to assist you both," he said with a smile.

"Just hot tea please, Nordy," Tori replied, equally as kind. Daphne sank to a stool, lost in thought, and Tori fell beside her. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Daphne took a deep breath and wiped her eyes. "I hate Umbridge. I can't stand her. And I don't think he's back. But I don't know Harry Potter. I've always hated him. But he could be telling the truth. And I had detention with Umbridge, and I'm not joining that squad with Draco so it's going to keep happening…it just slipped out, I swear." Another deep breath came. "I said something about wanting to practice the curse, even though I knew I would get in trouble, and she gave me this quill. It wrote in my blood, Tori. Look." Daphne held up her hand for her sister to look at and did not pause in her speech. "And I'm going to have to hide this from the girls now, and it made me think why would Umbridge go through all this trouble? Why would she be so cruel? And the only reason I could think is that the Ministry is trying to hid something and that would mean only one thing." She didn't say it.

Astoria didn't either, and she was quiet for a long time before she took her sister's hand and spoke quietly. "Umbridge is the villain here. You know that, don't you? It's not your fault and it's not our fault and it might be - his…fault, but you're okay. I don't know Harry and I don't know Draco but does it matter who's the good and bad guy in the end? We don't know right and wrong now, so let's just make it through, okay? We can do this."

Slowly, Daphne nodded.

"Thank you, Tori. I needed this."

Astoria squeezed her sister's hand. "Of course. I promised you the same as you promised me. I'd always be here." Daphne's smile gave Astoria hope.

"Thank you, Nordy," Daphne said in a whisper as the elf brought her tea.

The corner of Astoria's mouth quirked up in the slightest of smiles.

By 1997, everything was different.

There was Snape in Dumbledore's place and the Carrows with their punishments and the Dark Arts at Hogwarts and the Wizarding World was at War.

And in the middle of the year Astoria and Daphne met in the back of the library to talk in the quiet and get things off their chests and then they held each other close because it was a dog fight outside and they couldn't even predict what would happen tomorrow.

But Astoria knew one thing for sure, and told her sister so. "They're not the bad guys. The Muggleborns and Professors and other houses. But neither are we. It's not one or the other."

And for the first time, Daphne completely believed her. "I love you," she said simply. "You were right. Let's do this together, Tori."

Astoria looked at sister and smiled. That was all they needed.