AN - As I mentioned in the last chapter, Dorothea Greengrass has been ridiculously dedicated and helpful to me with this idea. Without her input, thoughts, well crafted ideas and pointing out my stupid mistakes this story would be so much less than it is. So for a second time - Thank You Dorothea, You Rock and I love your story "A Marriage of Convenience" it's been a pleasure to work with you on both these stories - long may it continue.

A Pearl of Great Price

Part 2 – The Aftermath

He woke with a start. Warmth ran down his shoulder, and for a minute he was back in the middle of battle, blood trickling down his arm as they battled Death Eaters.

Blinking his eyes rapidly and giving his head a small shake to rid himself of the last vestiges of sleep, he took in his surroundings. Hogwarts, he was back at Hogwarts in his bed, there were no Death Eaters, and he and Daphne were safe.

Daphne! The thought shot through his head. He could still feel the warm liquid trailing down his shoulder, only it wasn't blood; it was warm wet tears cascading down from his beautiful girlfriend's ice blue eyes.

'Oh! Baby girl, I'm so sorry I didn't wake earlier!' He pulled her closer, running a soothing hand up and down her naked back and kissed her hair. 'You should have woken me, Honey.'

She shook her head, not answering, and burying her face into his shoulder, as usual not wanting him to see her cry over this. He knew exactly why she was crying, he had tried in vain to stay awake until she went to sleep.

He suspected that she had dosed him with a small amount of Sleeping Draught so that she wouldn't wake him whilst she re-lived that night over and over again. Christmas time, he thought as he tried to comfort the girl in his arms, could really suck, if you had the right motivation.

He could remember that night vividly. It had been the night when many small magical ripples washed out from the castle before they surged back in, ripping a hole in the fabric that was Magical Britain as he had come to know it.

He pulled her up his body, bringing her face to face with him. Her eyes were red rimmed and blood-shot, tear tracks streaked across her beautiful face. He laid kisses across her cheekbones, at the corners of her mouth, on her eyes and finally her forehead as his thoughts flickered to that first kiss he had given her.

He watched as her eyes closed, finally dropping off into a magically induced sleep. He sat still on her bed, he could feel where her lips had lingered on his cheek and he could taste the salt from her dried sweat on his lips, after he had kissed her forehead.

She looked peaceful now, although her brow still had a small furrow in it. For the first time since he had seen her bound lying on her back on that path in the winter garden, she was at rest and she looked beautiful, no makeup, face almost relaxed, and her blonde hair somewhat bedraggled, but still mostly swept up leaving her delicate neck bare with a couple of whisps framing her face.

He knew he should leave her to rest, but he couldn't bring himself to just yet; he felt …protective of her. He looked down at his hand that had been holding hers for the better part of forty or fifty minutes and noticed for the first time her dried blood on it.

His rage washed back over him and he clenched his fist, knuckles turning white as he looked down on them, even through the blood. It was the same rage that he had felt when he had first spotted her. She didn't deserve what had happened to her, no-one did.

Another wave flooded his body, a rage and anger like he had never felt before. He thought about what might have happened to her if he hadn't found them. The anger and rage was bubbling just below the surface, aching for an outlet.

He had managed to suppress the white hot rage that had fuel him in the garden, as soon as he had put the animal down who had been standing over her. One look at her frightened face had convinced him that he needed to be calm for her sake, getting angry and snapping would only make it worse for her, and none of it was her fault.

Sitting next to her, listening as she described the events of the evening, had been the hardest thing he had ever had to do in his short life. He knew abuse; he had lived with it for as far back as he could remember. At least his was mainly verbal, or the restriction of food, and not sexual in nature; he doubted that he'd have coped if it was.

He returned his gaze to her, hoping that it would cool the fires of his anger; they mellowed slightly, but he could still feel them fighting for oxygen, demanding that he let them burn the world. He couldn't stay, but he would keep his promise and be here when she woke.

He lent forward once more and gave her another soft kiss to the forehead. She sighed in her sleep, her brow no longer furrowed when he pulled back. Someone was going to pay for what had happened tonight, and he knew just the someone.

He wasn't even a metre outside the curtain when he heard it. 'Ah, Harry, my boy, I'm glad to see you at last.'

He wasn't in the mood for this; for the first time in his life his anger was controlled and focussed, his voice ice cold. 'Where are the Aurors?' Looking around he could see that only Dumbledore and Snape were left in the infirmary, sitting in two comfy dark red leather chairs obviously conjured by Dumbledore himself, off to the side of the curtained bed.

'Now Harry,' Dumbledore started, but he cut him off.

'I said; where are the Aurors? Surely they should be here by now?'

'Now, my boy, I am …'

Harry cut through Dumbledore's platitudes again. 'If you won't tell me where they are, then I'll find them myself!' He started moving towards the door, ignoring the words that he heard from Snape like the buzzing of an insect.

'Your arrogance knows no bounds Potter, just like your father's.' Snape sneered at him from the other seat on Dumbledore's right.

He stalked toward the door, his wand had somehow found its way into his hand and he could feel his magic swirling around him, still begging to be unleashed.

'I'm sorry, Harry, but I can't allow you to leave until we have a thorough understanding of what has happened tonight. And then we will call the Aurors, if I deem it necessary; after all, I am sure it's just a misunderstanding.'

He heard the locks on the infirmary doors click into place. His fingers popped as they clenched tighter around his wand replaying Dumbledore's last words in his head, 'If I deem them necessary!' He shook his head trying to comprehend what Dumbledore was saying. 'If I deem them necessary!' Who was he to determine if they were necessary in a case like this? Of course they were bloody necessary!

He swung back to face the Headmaster, 'You want to know what happened?' He snarled at them, biting off every word. 'A crime was committed, that's what happened, Professor; a girl was sexually assaulted and you want to know what happened? That's not your job, Headmaster.' Sarcasm laced the last word.

He turned and faced the doors, once more pointing his wand at them; his magic was biting, spitting and hissing, wanting to be used. 'Accio doors!' he whispered, wrenching his wand down towards his feet. The doors cracked out of their frames, pulling their hinges from the stone, and slid to a halt at his feet, still locked together.

Silence.

At least thirty sets of wide eyes stared at him through the settling dust of the now empty doorway.

Neither Dumbledore nor Snape said a word to him and neither did he look back as he stepped up onto one of the doors and continued his march out of the infirmary. He stopped in front of the gathered students, most of whom were Slytherin. None of them spoke to him; they just stared slack jawed between him and the doors, now resting three metres inside the infirmary.

He knew who he was looking for, and come hell or high water he would ensure that Aurors were on their way to the castle as soon as possible.

'Where is Susan Bones?' His voice was still tinged with ice. He was not in the mood to deal with the usual shit that Slytherins gave him.

'Ummm, I think she's still in the Great Hall, why?' He recognised the speaker as Adrian Vaisey, one of the chasers from the Slytherin Quidditch team. 'Is Daphne ok?' he asked, worry clearly evident in his voice.

Harry grimaced. 'She's as well as can be expected, I guess, she's sleeping now, though.'

Vaisey nodded. 'Why do you need Bones?'

'Aurors.'

'Right; well, I'll come with you then, one of my elder brother's is one; if Bones can't get hold of them quickly, I might be able to help come up with something.' His tone was clipped, and Harry could tell that he was angry, but not at him. Not bothering to wait for an answer he pivoted on his toes and they fell in step.

They were nearing the Great Hall when Vaisey grabbed his arm. 'You need to calm down Potter. You're not going to do Daphne any good by going off half-cocked and getting angry with everyone. She's my first cousin on her mother's side, and I know that whatever has happened must be pretty bad for you to be this pissed off, but you need to calm down. I can smell the fucking magic pouring off you from here.'

He stared at Vaisey's hand on his arm coldly, before lifting his eyes to the tall blonde Slytherin's. 'I am calm Vaisey, if I was about to crack it, trust me, you'd know.'

Vaisey just gulped and nodded, snatching his hand back and gesturing Harry onwards.

Vaisey stepped up alongside him once more as they moved through the doors. Harry's eyes roved over the crowds of students who continued to dance, having a good time to the music still being pumped out by the Weird Sisters, oblivious to the heinous act that had been perpetrated against one of them.

He felt his blood boil again at the thought, and struggled once more to bring his anger to heel. Whilst he had been scanning the dancers, Vaisey had obviously been looking over the tables pushed to the sides of the room, because he tapped his arm and pointed.

He looked to where Vaisey was indicating and through the occasional gaps in the dance floor could see four of the five Hufflepuff girls from his year sitting at one of the last tables in the back of the room. All of them had at least one of their feet propped up on other chairs and their shoes off.

Susan sat near Megan Jones, leaning closer to the Welsh girl so that she could be heard above the screaming guitar of the band, massaging one of her feet, as they watched some of their friends continue to dance in the crowd.

He strode across the dance floor; the crowds seemed to part for him as though he were Moses and this was the Red Sea. He heard a muttered 'Shit!' from Vaisey as the older boy followed in his wake, ensuring that he made it across the dance floor at the same time as Harry.

Megan elbowed Susan and pointed at them, a look of slight concern crossing her face as they drew near to the group of Hufflepuffs. Susan turned her head and watched as they approached, obviously made of sterner stuff than Jones as her only reaction was one of mild curiosity.

He pushed his anger down further as he drew nearer. This was not Susan's fault any more than it was Daphne's, and he needed her help. 'Susan.' He tried to use the same voice he had used when talking to Daphne, but knew that he had failed when Susan quirked an eyebrow.

'Harry?' Susan's rejoinder was measured and polite, but her face was still curious.

'I need your help.' He felt his arm being tapped again by Vaisey and turned a cold glare on the other boy once more.

This time Adrian didn't flinch. 'We! Potter,' he said pointing between them. 'We! That's my cousin lying in the infirmary!'

He locked a hard glare on the Slytherin boys eyes. Vaisey obviously cared for his cousin that much was evident. But he was a Slytherin and therefore couldn't be trusted!

He blinked at that thought. What a total load of bullshit! He'd trusted Daphne with his wand, and she was a Slytherin, she wasn't evil incarnate, just a girl the same as Hermione. His mind made up he gave a short nod to Vaisey, who relaxed a little, and then he turned back to Susan. 'We need your help, now how quickly can you get in contact with your Aunt?'

Daphne's crying had mostly abated, she had rolled away from him so that he couldn't see her tears anymore, but his arms were wrapped around her. She was snuggled tightly against his chest, and from time to time he would plant kisses on her short hair and the back of her neck.

She hated crying about this; he knew she felt weak and powerless about what had happened. He had tried to reason with her many times about it; she had been an inexperienced young girl, not even fifteen, for Merlin's sake! She was allowed to make mistakes, and trusting the wrong boy was one mistake most girls made at some point.

'Yeah, but usually girls who make that mistake don't end nearly raped!'

He didn't have an answer to that and he knew that she didn't want him to, but it hurt him to see her in this type of pain every year.

The magical world didn't have rape counselling; in point of fact it had very little in the way of mental health services, something that still pissed him off to this day. Susan had dropped this bombshell on him after they had figured out a way to get in contact with Susan's Aunt.

Between Susan and Adrian they didn't exactly have a fast way to contact their families. Both of them, like so many others from magical families, used owls as their major means of communication. Susan had an emergency portkey which would drop her in the Auror Bullpen, but her Aunt had drummed into her that her life had better be in danger when she used it.

'If I could call my elf, I'd get her to deliver the message, but I can't,' Adrian said, frustration colouring his voice.

'Me too.' Susan agreed.

'What are you two talking about?' Harry asked, irritated that calling Law Enforcement in the magical world was so bloody hard. They had already ruled out Flooing, as none of them had access to a connected Floo or Floo powder, and Owling would take too bloody long.

'My house elf, she cannot come to my call in Hogwarts, she's forbidden to do so by my father.' Adrian's face was still a mask of concentration.

'My Aunty did the same, it's kinda expected in magical houses that whilst in Hogwarts we learn to be independent,' Susan told him, still massaging her feet, Megan nodding her agreement behind Susan's shoulder.

'Pity we can't use one of the Hogwarts elves, but they won't respond to the students,' Adrian mused before falling silent.

'Maybe Dobby might …?' Harry thought aloud, but before he had finished, the elf in question had arrived.

'The great and powerful Harry Potter sir bes calling Dobby? Oh, Dobby bes so happy to be in the presence of the good and kind Harry Potter sir.' Dobby was wailing and hugging Harry's leg. 'Dobby had hoped that Harry Potter sir bes coming to visit him in the kitchens, but Dobby knows that he has been very busy in the tourneymenty.'

He suppressed a chuckle at the memory of Dobby's antics that night. At the time he hadn't been as amused. Dobby knew what he wanted him to do, but was frightened of running Harry's errands as he wasn't Harry's elf and therefore couldn't keep his secrets if somebody asked what he was doing.

Unfortunately Dobby speak made it difficult to determine what the problem actually was. Dobby kept hopping from foot to foot, saying it was his greatest wish to serve the wonderful and powerful great Harry Potter sir, but couldn't seem to articulate as to why he was so reluctant to do so.

It took a little time before Adrian had understood the issue and told him the solution.

'Take him as your elf; he's a free elf, he's only loosely bound to Hogwarts, and he wants to work for the great Harry Potter sir.' A smile twisted at his lips at this. 'I don't understand the problem.'

Dobby was nodding vigorously, his large bat like ears flopping over his eyes with every bounce of his head. 'Dobby would be so honoured, great master Harry Potter sir, to be his elf, Dobby wouldn't even want to be paid.' He shook his head, ears flying everywhere.

Harry frowned at Dobby before he glared at the Slytherin. 'The problem, Vaisey, is that it's enslavement!'

Dobby's ears drooped at this statement, and he shook his head again. ''Tis not, Harry Potter sir.'

'Dragon shit.' Vaisey countered, following on from Dobby's statement. 'Who told you that crap? It's a bloody symbiotic bond, you idiot! He gets your magic to live on and as an added bonus, not go crazy and die over time; you get a willing worker and someone who loves to do the mundane tasks of life. You're not planning to beat him, are you?'

'Of course not!' He glowered at the Slytherin. Dobby looked offended on Harry's behalf at the remark.

'Right, then what have you got to lose?' Adrian threw his hands in the air. 'Just do it, for Merlin's sake, bond with the little guy so he'll keep your secrets and so we can get on with delivering the message to Susan's aunt.'

'He's right Harry, it's all win, win, win here, I can't see a downside,' Susan added, and again Megan nodded her agreement to Susan's statement.

Harry massaged the bridge of his nose under his glasses; his anger was still burning a hole in his stomach and wanting a target to obliterate, and this delay wasn't helping. He knew that he was being quite short with both Vaisey and Susan. But for the most part they had been putting up with it, apart from delivering a few cutting remarks when he apparently went too far, and the occasional glare from Megan.

'Fine, but just so you all know,' - he looked at Vaisey, Susan and Megan in turn - 'Hermione is going to kill me for this!'

It had taken some time, but gradually he felt her breathing slow and the sobbing had ceased to shake her body. 'Do you want to talk about it, honey? I know that it doesn't always help, but it does sometimes.' She shook her head, but rolled back over so that she faced him once more, her eyes significantly red rimmed and blood-shot, shining with still more unshed tears.

Laying on his back, he pulled her closer to him, tucking her head into the crook of his neck. She wriggled herself even closer, a thigh stretched across his hips and an arm across his chest, as if trying to mould herself into his side forever. She was so close that he could feel the hair at the top of her sex resting against his leg, tickling him slightly as she breathed.

He started running patterns up and down her spine. There were a few things that he regretted from that evening: he had been a poor date to Pavarti; it had taken him months to realise exactly how poorly he had actually treated her that night. Daphne had dropped a thousand hints that he should apologise, before he finally understood what she was trying to get him to do without telling him to do it.

At least he had realised of his own that his behaviour to Susan that night left a lot to be desired, and apologised to her. Susan had laughed at him. "Harry, if you display that much determination to see justice done for a girl you hardly know, then I think I am a big enough girl not to worry about some small and meaningless snide comments made in frustration. I agreed with everything you were trying and are still trying to do, silly boy. That's why I helped you then, and if you need me now, I'll help you again.'

What he really regretted, though, was letting that mangy fucking animal out of his sight.

'How long does it take to portkey from one place to another, for Merlin's sake!' Harry complained bitterly with increasing heat in his voice, for the fourth time as he paced in front of the school gates.

'Harry! For Morgana's sake, sit down and shut up. Aunty said she was going to get here as soon as she could, but she needed to put the right team together first,' said Susan heatedly.

'Harry, we get it, you're angry and pissed off; you saw what happened to Daphne and Dumbledore's inaction, but we are trying to help here; don't keep biting our heads off,' Megan said from alongside Susan.

Harry frowned at her. He hadn't exactly invited Megan, but she had followed along with Susan and was beginning to add her two knuts worth the longer the four of them were together. He leaned against the wall, trying to turn his mind from thinking about the girl lying in the infirmary.

'I don't understand why Dumbledore wouldn't call the Aurors, he said finally. The other three looked at each other, silently debating who was going to answer Harry's unasked question.

Susan sighed, obviously losing the toss of the galleon. 'What you need to understand, Harry, is that in the Magical World, or at least in Magical Britain, these crimes are rarely investigated, as there is a perception out there that it has a detrimental effect on the House of the witch if nothing can be conclusively proved.'

She folded her arms across her chest, indignation evident on her face as she looked at the ground in disgust. 'They would rather sweep it under the rug and limit the potential political fallout. Many will see the fault lying with Daphne, saying that she shouldn't have allowed herself to be put in such a compromising position.'

Susan looked up at him. 'Dumbledore was probably trying to protect the reputation of Hogwarts. Daphne probably never even entered his considerations as he knows it's likely that the Lord of her House will attempt to sweep any and all investigations under the rug!'

Harry stared at her, disbelief written all over his face. 'You cannot be serious!' Rage flooded him once more. 'She …no …no this will not be allowed to stand!' He muttered to himself. 'Fuck no! This bullshit stops now; this was not Daphne's fault! She was trying to get away.'

His anger flowed out again and he turned, wand in hand, and focused on a section of wall fifteen metres away and roared, 'Bombarda!' The offending section of wall seemed to flex, bulge out and then disintegrate in a shower of rocks and mortar.

At that very moment a team of four Auror's and Madam Bones stepped through the Hogwarts gates, wands materialising in hands. They dropped into a battle formation, covering all angles of attack, positioning Madam Bones in the centre without thought or instruction.

Calls of clear rang around the group, and they relaxed slightly, Madam Bones staring curiously at Harry before turning her attention to her niece. 'Susan, is everything alright here?'

Susan looked at Harry, gave him a wry shake of her head, and turned back to her Aunt. 'Kind of, I just - ummm - gave Harry some home truths about the usual way that sexual assault is dealt with in the magical world, and he seemed to disagree with the sentiment.'

'Right, then. Well, now you know what we are up against, we'll need to get started asap; I have with me, Senior Auror Constance Hammer who will take point on the investigation whilst I run interference. Her team are Lead Auror Sara Jones, along with Aurors Zoe Blake and Cassandra Dormer. Who have we got here, Susan? Although I think I recognise all three of them.' Madam Bones was business like and formal, except for a slight up turning of the lips at the end of her statement.

'Right,' Susan said, looking around at them and indicated each as she said their names before pointing back to Harry. 'Harry was a witness to the end of the events; from what he has told us he rescued Daphne. So maybe he should take you through what he knows and bring you up to speed.'

He led them all towards the Castle and then out into the first section of the Winter Garden. The ball was winding down, and whilst a majority of students were still inside, enjoying the last songs, there were a few couples loitering around the entrance hall and the entry to the Winter Garden, who watched in confusion as the Aurors and the teens passed.

'Right, Hammer, in order of priority, secure the suspect; I want him in a secure cell asap, secure the crime scene, secure Pomfrey's medical report, and then start collecting evidence. I want Potter's witness statement before we leave tonight, not just on the scene he walked into, but also his recollections of everything right up until he blew a hole in the boundary wall. And then, if we have time, I want Poppy Pomfrey's statement and Minerva McGonagall's as well. Got it?'

'On it, boss,' Connie Hammer said, sketching a loose salute at Madam Bones. She swung her attention to the other teenagers, 'You three can come with us if you want, as it will mean that I can keep an eye on you, or you can go to your dorm rooms and wait until I release you. If you come, you stay where I direct you and do as you're told, do you understand?' She gave them a level stare and waited for their acknowledgement.

'I think I'm going to leave and head to bed,' Megan mused. 'I'm tired and my feet are killing me. If that's okay with you, Auror Hammer?'

Connie nodded.

'I think I'm on that broom, too. We'll be in Hufflepuff, Connie,' piped up Susan with a grin at Auror Hammer. 'Come find me tomorrow, you two, and bring me up to speed if you're allowed!' She gave both Harry and Vaisey a pointed look that was softened with a smile.

Connie nodded and turned her attention to Vaisey. 'I'm staying!' the Slytherin said emphatically.

Connie swung her attention back to Harry, 'Alright, Potter, show us where it happened and walk us through your memories again.'

Harry led the rest of them through the twists and turns of the Winter Garden. His anger was still seething within him as he contemplated what Susan had told him regarding Sexual Assault investigations. In addition to this, his scar was beginning to prickle and he could feel the first vestiges of a headache pulsing behind it as well.

As he rounded the last corner he froze in place. The son-of-a-bitch was nowhere to be seen. His scar prickled again. Snarling, he forced his magic at it and it stopped. That barely registered with him. Where was that prick who had hurt Daphne?

He screamed in rage, feeling his magic battering and clawing at his skin to be unleashed. Reason warred within him and he was torn between wiping the Winter Garden from the face of the earth and ensuring he did nothing to damage the case against Daphne's attacker.

Daphne! He couldn't harm her case. He would never forgive himself if the bastard got off because of something he did. He he stalked to a wall and leaned up against it, pushing his once more prickling scar against the cool rock. He gestured down the path. 'When I left him he was bound up and lying over there.'

Harry scowled as his memories flicked over the rest of the events of that night; the Auror team had quickly secured the area and set about following the rest of Madam Bones' instructions. He and Vaisey shadowed Hammer and Dormer as Jones and Blake left to find Madam Pomfrey.

Harry was bored, frustrated and his scar was prickling again as he watched the two Aurors meticulously process the scene. Vaisey, too, was agitated once it was determined that the scene where Harry had rescued Daphne was significantly compromised.

When Dormer found a painted toenail in the snow, Harry felt his anger spike once more. How frightened must she have been to keep running after losing her big toe nail? Vaisey had looked pale as Dormer photographed and then placed the nail in an evidence bag, obviously thinking along the same lines as Harry.

He wished he could just provide his formal statement now and be done with it so that he could go and vent, or sleep, or something other than just watching, waiting, and feeling beyond angry.

They moved through the garden, photographing the transient evidence and following Daphne's bloody footprints to what Hammer called the Origin Scene, as some of the narrow pathways wouldn't allow for a walk through without disturbing the evidence.

Harry saw a glint of silver in a hedge row as they passed. He stopped and blinked at the item: a silver necklace with a clasped single large pearl was hanging almost completely obscured in the hedge at his head height. Instinctively he reached out to grab it when he thought better of it. 'Auror Dormer, I think this is Daphne's necklace.'

'Yeah it's Daph's, it's her mæġdenhād gift,' Vaisey confirmed in a hollow voice. Harry frowned at the strange word, but was even more confused when Hammer told Dormer to log it, photograph it and then asked Vaisey if he wanted to return it to Daphne or whether they should.

Vaisey looked torn and uncertain.

'I could return it if you want.' Harry said obviously shocking the other boy with the offer so he clarified his reasoning, 'She asked me to be there in the morning so I could return it then, if you want me to?' Harry told Vaisey as the boy hesitated further.

Vaisey turned his attention to Harry, a look of consternation on his face which Harry couldn't comprehend, when a smirk slowly crawled it's way across his lips. 'That would be great, Potter!'

He had treated Adrian with hostility and anger on several occasions throughout the night, even though he didn't actually deserve it. Adrian had stuck with him from the time they left the infirmary until the Aurors had left in the very small hours of the morning. He had put up with a lot of crap from Harry that night, and yet he stuck by his side solving the problems they had with as much dogged determination as Hermione usually displayed.

Harry dragged his body through the halls of Hogwarts. It was 4am and the Aurors had just left, indicating that they would be back in the morning to interview Daphne. His scar was itchy and pulsing, giving him a constant headache, and he knew that he would be unable to sleep even if he tried.

His anger was still throbbing in his veins; his scar was burning now and had been for the better part of two hours. He had pressed more and more magic at it in an attempt to stop the irritation, and for the most part it seemed to be working, but now, no matter how much he was pushing, it didn't seem to be abating.

He shoved his hands in the pockets of his robes; the fingers of his left hand immediately felt the cool metal of Daphne's necklace. He took it out and studied it. The pearl was held in a single twist of metal which looked to be identical to the metal in the chain. It had what he assumed were very small diamonds running up opposite sides of each of the twist so that only one side showed at a time. He noticed the broken clasp and waved a Reparo over it, fixing it instantly.

What was so special about this necklace that it wasn't taken in as evidence, only photographed, catalogued and returned? His scar prickled venomously and he rubbed at it absently. Maybe he should just go and sit with Daphne until she woke.

He continued to trail his fingers along Daphne's back and she hummed in pleasure. He could still feel the occasional tear splash on his chest as she snuggled against him, but he didn't try to make her speak, she would talk to him when she was ready, she always did.

His mind flicked to the final event of that night. There were no witnesses and he had never really described what it was that pushed him to the edge and beyond, causing him to inadvertently save his own life.

She was still sleeping peacefully as he sat, but then again that was what Dreamless Sleep Potion was supposed to do. He sat close to her bed on the same chair that he had been in before he left her curtained area, what seemed a lifetime ago. Her hand was still above the blanket where he left it, as if waiting for him to hold it yet again.

He took the necklace out and studied it for a second time; it was simple, but elegantly beautiful, just like the girl who wore it. The thought startled him. When had he started thinking of her as beautiful? When had he looked past the green and silver and just seen the girl?

Pain rippled through his scar and he closed his eyes. Flashes of Voldemort talking to somebody flickered past his vision and he clutched his head. 'No,' he hissed through the pain, 'Not now.' He gritted his teeth and pushed his magic at his scar once more; the method seemed to have been working for most of the night to keep the pain and prickling at bay.

He opened his eyes and looked back at the girl, noticing that his left hand which was still holding her necklace had at some point taken hers once more. More pain flooded his scar, and he flinched, eyes closing again, feeling like the throbbing was going to split his head in two. For a second time he pushed with his magic, wincing as the pain flared back at him, before his magic asserted its own pressure and pushed the pain back yet again.

He was panting and twitching now. Not wanting to wake Daphne, he took his wand out and cast a silencing spell around himself just as another burst of pain rolled through his scar. His wand dropped, clattering to the floor; muted agony rolled across him. He closed his eyes, only to have a vision of Voldemort fill his mind yet again.

He could feel every beat of his heart through his scar. His vision flickered; Voldemort was talking to someone, 'Come Nagini, it's time for your dinner.' He watched in mute horror as Voldemort's eyes turned to a five or six year old boy. He was dressed like a Muggle. The boys stood still, terrified as the largest snake Harry had ever seen slid into view.

'No, no, no, no!' Harry screamed voicelessly. He couldn't watch, he wanted to look away, he needed to look away! This wasn't real! He slammed his magic at the scar, and the vision rippled, but cleared as the snake closed in on the boy.

Tears were streaming down his face, his breathing was ragged and sweat had blossomed on his brow. 'No!' Again, he shrieked silently, and he smashed more magic at his scar, over and over again. 'Get out! Get out! Get out! You snakefaced bastard, get the fuck out of my head!' he screamed. Nobody heard his agony: his screams were extinguished by the charm he had cast on himself.

The vision faded from view like a TV with bad reception becoming fuzzy for a moment, only to clear as the snake rose above the child who still stood there trembling, urine running down his left leg, tears rolling out of his blue eyes. 'Mummy,' he cried and that one word broke Harry's heart, adding more heat to already well stoked fires of rage at all the world's injustices.

He coiled his magic within him as the snake seemed to sway above the boy, pausing as if enjoying the fear that was pouring off him, tongue flicking out as if tasting it.

'I'm sorry,' He breathed out to the boy, knowing he couldn't hear him. Harry readied himself, and as the snake moved to strike, so did Harry. He drove a wedge of his magic at his scar, screaming in fury and pain. 'Get out of my head, you murdering snakefaced mother fucker! GET OUT AND DIE!'

Pain flooded his head; eclipsing any that he had felt before, his scar tore open and blood ran down his face. He didn't care. The vision of Voldemort and the snake, cracked like a mirror and fell away, just as the snake's mouth opened, changing to a roiling black mass that he could see in his mind's eye. He gritted his teeth, pouring every ounce of magical power that he possessed into this shapeless entity.

Something shifted inside him and he felt his magic twist around it, striking at the thing, disintegrating tiny pieces off it with each blow. Somebody screamed. Was it him or that... thing? Finally, when he felt like he had no more to give, the last tattered piece of the black mass dissolved into nothing and he felt a sense of weightlessness pass over him.

He collapsed against Daphne's bed, head resting in her lap, exhausted, but still holding her hand. He tried to blink back the tears which he felt forming for that poor boy, but lost the battle. Giving in he closed his eyes and wept.