Disclaimer: Everything belongs to J.K.R.

20 Depressed

Daphne woke up to delighted baby chuckles. She stretched and opened a bleary eye.

Harry sat on the bed beside her, still in his pyjama bottoms, his back leaned against the headboard and his knees propped up. He had Rory laid on his thighs, and by the look of it they enjoyed an in-depth father-daughter conversation. It was hard to tell who smiled brighter.

Warmth spread in her chest, and her sight became somewhat blurry. Damned hormones! She wiped her face with the duvet and cast another look at father and daughter. The happy smile on Harry's face warmed her heart. For once he looked like the carefree seventeen-year-old he should have been, instead of the Chosen One who carried the weight of the freedom of the magical world on his shoulders.

She shifted, and Harry turned his head towards her, the happy smile still on his lips. 'Good morning, sleepyhead. And happy birthday.' He bent down to give her a tender kiss.

'Mhmm, I could get used to waking up like that,' she said when he pulled back. 'I'm sorry I didn't wake up when Rory cried.'

'Don't worry about that.' He caressed her cheek with the tip of his finger. 'I was already awake, and when her highness piped up, I gave her dry diapers before she could wake you. You looked so contend in your sleep, and Merlin knows you still need to recover.'

'I'm not a porcelain doll.'

He gave her another kiss. 'You aren't, love, but you're not back to your full strength, either. Don't try to tell me otherwise, you know I have my means to know how you feel.'

She made a face at that, and he laughed and handed the baby to her. 'Well, there's still something I can't do. Her highness is all yours, or it'll be uncomfortably loud here in another minute.'

They laughed at that, and Daphne turned to the side and adjusted Rory at her breast.

Harry watched their greedy daughter with a shake of his head. 'She's worse than Ron.'

'That's impossible.'

'True.'

They shared another laugh, then Harry swung his legs over the edge of the bed and got up. He walked to the small dresser and took an envelope from it. The envelope in his hand, he returned to the bed and sat down on her side.

'What is that?' she asked with a small frown. That envelope hadn't been on the dresser last night.

'My birthday present,' he said and handed the envelope to her. 'I'm sorry I couldn't get you something more fancy. Right now it's difficult for me to go shopping in Diagon Alley.' He cleared his throat. 'It's something I thought you'd like to have, just in case, so I wrote it while you still were asleep.'

It was difficult to open the envelope with one hand while her other arm held a still sucking Rory. Somehow she managed and pulled out a sheet of parchment. It held only two lines, written in Harry's untidy scrawl, and his signature.

On November 18th 1996 we, Harry James Potter, and Daphne Isabella Greengrass, performed the Greengrass marriage ritual. We hereby request our marriage to be registered with the Ministry of Magic.

Harry J. Potter

She looked up at her husband. 'I thought -'

He put a finger on her lips. 'I know we've talked about writing this letter together after his downfall. However, what if I'm not around anymore, either? I think you ought to get this, just in case. You can sign it then and send it to the Ministry.'

For the second time that morning her sight blurred, and the next moment tears spilled down her cheeks. Damned hormones again! She wiped the tears away with the heel of her hand in a sharp, impatient gesture. 'Harry James Potter, don't you dare taking the easy way out!'

Harry almost jerked back, and his eyes widened. 'Di.. did I something wrong?'

She gave a watery sob. 'You did just the right thing.' Another wave of tears overwhelmed her.

'Shh, it's all right, love.' Harry put his arm around her and held her, their daughter between them, until her crying fit subsided.

'S… sorry.' She hiccupped when she finally quietened down. 'I have no idea what got into me.'

Her husband gave her his adorable lopsided grin. 'It's a good thing then that Isabella warned me that you might become a trifle emotional these days. Apparently many young mothers suffer from crying jags a couple of days after childbirth.'

'Ugh, I could have done without that.'

Harry leaned forward and gave her a butterfly kiss, mindful of the meanwhile sleeping baby. 'Don't worry about that, I love you anyway.' A wave of warmth that enveloped her like a blanket followed his words through their bond.

She snuggled up to him. 'Love you, too.'

Her family awaited her with warm hugs and a table full of presents at breakfast, and even Ron and Hermione gave her small hugs when they congratulated her on coming of age.

The elves had prepared a festive breakfast, and they all still lingered around the table when three owls turned up, carrying birthday cards and presents from Tracey, Blaise and Theodore.

Daphne's mouth curled into a broad smile, and a weight she hadn't known to be there until now fell off her chest.

Harry gave her a knowing look. 'You miss your friends, don't you?'

'Yeah, usually we write to each other at least once a week, and we also take turns visiting each other. This year, however, we agreed to keep a low profile. Owls can be intercepted, and a Legilimens can skim your surface thoughts. I have too much at stake to write about it in a letter, and it wouldn't do for anyone outside of the family to see Rory. So, we agreed on stopping all communication. I'm happy they made an exception for my birthday.'

She opened the letter from Tracey and lost herself in her sarcastic description of her summer. Tracey had sent a stack of romances as a birthday present, to give you an excuse to sigh when you think of your beloved, she wrote. Daphne gave the books a wry side glance. As a young mother the last thing she was interested in was reading steamy romances - and steamy they would be, Tracey had never been able to resist that kind of novels. Now, if Tracey had sent her a Time Turner to catch up on missed sleep… That would have been an awesome birthday gift.

Astoria and Hermione gave the novels interested side glances.

Daphne chuckled. 'You're welcomed to read them, too.'

The two young witches didn't have to be told twice. Soon they were deep in an animated talk about the books.

Blaise sent her a handmade alabaster lamp shade from Volterra in Italy, a town close to the place where his paternal family came from. For your future parlour, he wrote. 'That git,' Daphne said, yet had to laugh. It was so typical of him to mock her situation.

Harry laughed along with her. The laughter faded from his face, however, when she unwrapped Theodore's present. It was a beautiful bracelet with diamonds and sapphires from the Nott family vault. It belonged to my mother, Theodore wrote. I'm sure she agrees with me giving it to you.

Her throat constricted. Theodore had adored his mother and still wasn't over her sudden death in their first year. It didn't help that the whispers about his father's possible involvement in her unexpected demise hadn't died down yet. He cherished everything she had left him. And now he'd given one of his biggest treasures to her… Her eyes stung.

A wave of anger from Harry brought her back to the present. She turned her head towards her husband.

Harry glared at the pretty bracelet in her hand, his face flushed.

Uh-oh, that wasn't good. As gentle as her husband was, he also had a jealous streak a mile wide.

'Get a grip, Harry. In the eyes of the wizarding public Theodore is my betrothed. He is supposed to give me precious jewelry for my seventeenth birthday to emphasise his standing, anything else would have looked strange in the public eye. For the same reason I'm going to wear the bracelet when I return to Hogwarts. However, I didn't expect him to give me something from his mother. That's very sweet of him and also cunning, because nobody will doubt his feelings for me after that.'

Harry grumbled some more, but the heat faded from his cheeks, and he relaxed. He put an arm around her. 'I wish I could have got you something as pretty,' he whispered into her ears. 'I'll make up to you as soon as the war is over.'

She turned her head and looked at him with a broad grin. 'I'll hold you to that promise, love. You will probably rue the day you made it when you look at your vault statement afterwards.'

The day was sunny and warm, and they spent it in a quiet and shady corner of the huge garden, only Harry, Rory and she. They'd put a blanket on the ground and laid down on it. Harry had Rory on his chest, and Daphne snuggled to his side, safely wrapped in his arm.

'You know, I was just joking this morning, I don't need any fancy presents as long as I have you. That you are here with me and Rory today is more than I ever hoped for.'

Harry turned his head, gave her a warm smile, and kissed her forehead. 'I know, love.'

The next second, his face scrunched up. His eyes rolled back in his skull, and he screamed.

Daphne shot into a sitting position. Pain assaulted her through their bond, a pain she by now had learned to associate with another vision from Voldemort, Merlin damn the bastard.

Harry flailed, and Rory cried.

The pain coming from Harry almost paralysed her. 'Winky!' she cried, then bent forward and snatched the baby out of the reach of Harry's flailing arms.

Winky appeared beside her, and she thrust the baby into the elf's arms. 'Take care of her, I have to make sure Harry is all right.' She bent over her husband and took his face between her hands.

He had closed his eyes, the famous scar was flaming red and pulsated as if it was alive.

'Harry, can you hear me?' She gave his cheek a soft slap. 'Look at me, love.'

He groaned and opened his eyes.

She took a deep breath and entered his mind. A mental picture of Harry stood transfixed in front of the double shield she and Lily Potter had erected to protect him against whatever it was Voldemort had left in his mind that fateful Halloween night. The shield had become transparent, and her stomach gave a hard lurch. Were their protections about to fail? She drew her wand, ready to cast another shield, while her eyes checked her protections.

Her dolphin Patronus still swam up and down in front of the shield, up and down, as if getting ready to defend Harry from any attack that might come through the shield. If anything, it had become bigger and more solid. The rune stones she'd placed at both sides of the shield to strengthen the spell she'd cast also still were intact.

She scanned the shield itself with her eyes. It seemed to be as strong as ever, the only change to her last inspection was that it had become transparent. Weird. However, now was not the time to think of the implications. She was here to help Harry getting through this vision. She looked at the shield.

Voldemort was gliding along a twilit street. The buildings on either side of him had high, timbered gables; they looked like gingerbread houses.

He approached one of them, then raised his long-fingered, white hand to knock at the door. Mounting excitement emanated from his eerie form…

The door opened: a laughing woman stood there. Her face fell as she looked into Voldemort's face, humour gone, terror replacing it…

'Gregorovitch?'said a high, cold voice.

The woman shook her head: she was trying to close the door. A white hand held it steady, prevented her from shutting the monster out…

'I want Gregorovitch.'

'Er wohnt hier nicht mehr!' the woman cried, shaking her head. 'He no live here! He no live here! I know him not!'

Abandoning the attempt to close the door, she backed away down the dark hall, and Voldemort followed, gliding towards her, and his long-fingered hand had drawn his wand.

'Where is he?'

'Das weiss ich nicht! He move! I know not, I know not!'

He raised the wand. The woman screamed. Two young children came running into the hall. She tried to shield them with her arms. There was a flash of green light - *

Daphne awoke from her stupor. She ran towards the image of her husband and shook him. 'Harry! HARRY!'

The shield became opaque again while she did so, and she let out a deep breath. What would that monster do to those poor kids? Morgana give he'd make their death quick and easy… Bile rose in her throat, and she swallowed hard. Now was not the time to dwell on that, she had to help her husband.

Harry turned his head towards her. His eyes were unfocussed at first and glazed over with pain.

She shook him again. 'Harry! Can you hear me?'

Recognition returned in his eyes, and with that the wonderful warmth that was always there whenever he looked at her.

She inhaled, it sounded almost like a sob, withdrew from his mind, and sat back on her haunches.

Harry was as white as a sheet. The scar on his forehead had swollen to a flaming red welt that looked like a snake ready to strike; now and then it still gave an angry twitch as if it wanted to break free. His eyes stared up at her, two deep green pools full of pain and sorrow.

'He murdered her,' he whispered. 'By now he's probably killed her whole family. And he didn't need to. It was Cedric all over again, they were just there…'

'Shhh, love, don't blame yourself,' she whispered. 'There was nothing you could have done for them.' His face still cupped between her hands, she caressed his cheek with the pad of her thumb.

'I know. And yet -'

'Harry, was that another vision from him?' Hermione cried, interrupting them.

Daphne turned around. They had drawn quite the audience. Hermione was there, wringing her hands, and Ron next to her, as pale as a ghost. Her mother and grandfather Albion stood a little to the side. Mother had her hands pressed against her chest, her horrified eyes on Harry, and grandfather had put an arm around her shoulder as if to comfort her.

'Is there anything we can do, princess?' he asked.

She shook her head, not sure if her voice was already strong enough to answer him.

Grandfather Albion gave her and Harry a long, appraising look, then nodded. 'Well, it seems you have everything well in hand. Come on, Isabella, we're not needed here any longer.'

Mother opened her mouth as if to protest, but grandfather steered her away. She cast a last look over her shoulder at her daughter before she gave in and allowed grandfather to lead her back to the house.

Harry propped himself up on his elbows. 'What happened? Why are you all here?'

'You screamed your head off, mate,' Ron said.

Hermione plopped down into the grass next to Harry and glared at him. 'You know you aren't supposed to let that happen anymore! Why didn't you use your Occlumency shields? I thought they were strong!' Her accusing eyes glared at Daphne.

'They are. Whatever this thing is, they don't work against it,' Daphne said.

That didn't placate Hermione. 'You've got to do something against it, Harry! Dumbledore thought the connection was dangerous. Tom can use it, Harry! What good is it to watch him torture and kill? How can it help?'*

'Because it tells us what he's up to,' Daphne said before Harry could open his mouth. 'The vision wasn't just about him killing a family. He's after a man - Gregorovitch, whoever that is.'

'He's a foreign wandmaker,' Harry said, 'he made Krum's wand.'

A frown appeared on Ron's face. 'What does he need another wandmaker for? He's got Olivander already, doesn't he?'

'Yeah,' Harry said and scrambled into a sitting position. 'Maybe he thinks Olivander is not good enough. Maybe he wants a choice of different wands; take your pick, your guess is as good as mine.'

'You're digressing,' Hermione said. 'We need to find a way to block Harry from these awful visions.'

Harry put a hand on her arm. 'I appreciate your concern, but it isn't warranted, Hermione.'

She jerked back. 'Why?'

Harry's gaze flickered to Daphne. A sense of his determination reached her through their bond. All of a sudden she knew what he planned, and her stomach twisted itself into a painful knot. It was the obvious course of action, and yet it was the most dangerous one.

Harry turned back to Hermione, his mouth set in a grim line. 'Because next time I'm going to turn the tables on him. I'm going to enter his mind and find out his secrets.'

Harry let out a deep sigh when they entered their small flat that night after dinner and plopped down in the sofa. He rubbed his face with the palms of his hands, then raised his head and gave her a wry smile. 'You know, I love Hermione like a sister, but I swear she's the most tiring woman I ever met.'

Daphne put Rory's bassinet on a nearby chair, sat down beside him, and took his hand. She didn't blame Harry, the afternoon of never-ending discussions that had followed Harry's announcement had been tiring.

'She's terrified of what might happen if your idea backfires, so she wants to make sure you've thought of all possible outcomes of your plan instead of rushing in unprepared.'

Harry shook his head. 'No, love, that's not what's driving her. You were with me this afternoon and heard her main argument against my plan as often as I did: Dumbledore was afraid of the connection between Tom and me, he thought Tom would use me. He was right, too: the bastard used me when he lured me into the Department of Mysteries to get the prophecy. I hate to say it, and I never would've admitted that to Hermione: what if she's right? Do I have the right to stake everything on one card to maybe get an easy advantage in this war? The consequences if Tom turns the tables on me are disastrous, they'll endanger and probably kill everyone I love.'

'There are significant differences between your situation at the end of our fifth year and the man you are now, Harry.'

'What do you mean by that?'

'Back then, nobody told you what was going on between you and the Dork Lord. Dumbledore avoided you; had he taken the time to explain things to you a lot would have played out differently. I'll never understand why the supposedly greatest wizard of our time and master Occlumens only rivalled by the Dork Lord had such an irrational fear being near you. He should have been capable to fight back any attempt of the Dork Lord to get at him through you. But that's water under the bridge. The "Occlumency lessons"' - she drew air-quotes with her fingers around the last words - 'you got from Professor Snape didn't help at all. If anything, they left you more vulnerable. And don't get me started on what Umbitch did to you! No, Harry, you were abused, angry and left in the dark back then, an easy target for the Dork Lord, and nobody else is to blame for that than Albus Dumbledore, the same Albus Dumbledore Hermione quotes as a source of wisdom and main argument against your plan.'

Harry gave her a thoughtful look. 'So, you think Dumbledore was wrong?'

She shook her head. ' No, the danger was real. He handled the whole situation poorly. Hermione, on the other hand, puts too much stock on Dumbledore's reputation as the greatest wizard of our time.'

'She always had problems to go against authorities.'

Daphne snorted at that. 'It's about time she uses her brain. All that school knowledge she accumulated won't do her any good if she allows her awe to prevent her to look behind the curtains. In that case she'll be only a puppet of whoever has authority about her.'

'Ouch!' Harry made a face. 'I hope I won't have to be the one to tell her that.'

'Coward,' Daphne said and gave him a small kiss on the cheek. 'Don't worry, I'll feed her that potion in small doses over the next couple of weeks.'

They laughed; Harry put his arm around her shoulder and pulled her towards him. 'Tell me, love, what's different now so that you approve of my plan?'

'Isn't that obvious?' She made herself comfortable in his arm. 'You're two years older, married and a father. Do you have an idea what a maturity spurt that gave you, Harry? You've also mastered Occlumency. Most important, however, are a few facts Dumbledore knew nothing about.'

He looked at her with raised eyebrows.

'The shield that protects you from him, love. The protection your mother made, and that I reinforced with my own shield and my Patronus. You and the Dork Lord are still close enough that you'll notice whenever something is exciting him, but he's kept behind that shield as if he were in an aquarium.'

Harry snorted at that. 'Maybe we should feed him bread crumbs whenever he acts up.'

She gave him a small slap. 'Don't make bad jokes about him, love. No, the next time he acts up, as you so eloquently put it, you need to find a way to get behind the shield without letting him into your mind and without you getting trapped in his mind, either. Oh, and of course you oughtn't alert him to your presence.'

'Sounds like a piece of cake,' Harry said with a soft, wry laugh.

'Yeah, and because it will be such a joyride, you won't do it on your own, buster. I'll be with you, as your backup. Let's see how the Dork Lord will like it if he tries to get through and meets me.'

'You'll make mincemeat out of him, I'm sure. Poor Tom, I almost pity him, with "almost" being the operative word there.'

They both chuckled.

'If only it were as easy as that,' Daphne said and sighed.

Harry dropped a kiss on her head. 'I hear you there, love; that's why I promise not to try to get into Tom's mind without you as my backup, albeit that leaves us precious little opportunities, I'm afraid. After all, you'll be back at Hogwarts soon.'

'Then let's hope the Dork Lord limits his visits to the weekends.'

That got her another low chuckle from her husband that soon petered out. He stared out of the bow window into the dark patio with narrowed eyes, and a grim line appeared around his mouth.

Daphne extricate herself from his arm, sat upright, and gave him a scrutinising look while probing their bond. All she got from him was a feeling of ice cold calculation.

She shivered. 'What else, love?'

He turned his head, his expression didn't soften one bit. 'Why is Tom after Gregorovitch?'

'Well, you said it already, didn't you? Maybe he wasn't satisfied with Olivander's work, maybe he wants a backup wand from a different wandmaker…' She shrugged.

Harry shook his head. 'No, that's not the reason. Normal people would think like that. Not Tom, he loves to be complicated. I bet it has to do with what happened when we duelled in the graveyard.'

'You mean the Priori Incantatem effect that was caused by your wands having the same core?'

'Yeah, that's the explanation Dumbledore gave me, and that's also the explanation Olivander gave Tom. However, that doesn't explain why I could best him in that duel, doesn't it?'

'Why can't you accept it was your willpower that overcame his, love?' she said and put her hand on his.

Again, he shook his head. 'No, Daph, you look at it wrong.' There was a trace of impatience in his voice. 'Look at it from Tom's point of view. You are the most powerful and most feared wizard there ever was. Is it possible that a fourteen-year-old boy overcomes you? No, it isn't, and yet it happened, and not for the first time. Tom has to be out of his mind with fear that I'm stronger than him. What would you do if you were in his shoes, and your wand doesn't work against your enemy? Getting just another wand won't do, don't you think so? The enemy still might be stronger. No, he needs a strong weapon against me.'

A light went up in her head, and she gasped. 'Of course, he would want to get the most powerful wand possible.'

'Exactly. So, we have to find out if there is a wand like that out there. After all, he's already powerful enough. He doesn't need any other advantage over me.'

'That sounds logical. What are you going to do if there is?'

'Beat him to it.'

They were still sitting at the breakfast table the next morning when two owls pecked against the window pane. Isabella got up from the table and let the birds in; one flew to Daphne, the other one to Astoria.

Daphne took the letter from the leg of the barn owl in front of her and looked at the ornate seal. 'My Hogwarts letter,' she said, and offered the owl the remainder of her sausages. While the owl feasted on the treat, Daphne opened the letter and read.

Harry looked over her shoulder. 'You'd think the changes would show, but somehow it reads like a normal Hogwarts letter: the list of books, the reminder for first years, and the list of pets allowed.'

'Not quite,' Daphne said, her eyes scanning the book list. 'The book they assigned for Muggle Studies is a horrible piece of racist propaganda that before the war was sold under the counter in Knockturn Alley. And there's no book for Dark Arts assigned.'

'You don't need a textbook to teach the Unforgivables,' Astoria said across the table, her mouth set into a grim line. She folded her letter and book list and stashed them into the pocket of her robes. 'How about it, sis, are you up to go Hogwarts shopping this morning?'

Cyrus put down his newspaper. 'Give me one hour to finish a couple of things, and I'll escort you to Diagon Alley.'

Beside her, Harry let out a relieved breath. Daphne looked at him with a shake of her head. 'You know, I can take care of myself.'

'I don't doubt that, love.' He gave her a quick peck on the cheek. 'Still, I feel better if Cyrus is with you.'

She got up, picked up Rory's bassinet, and shoved it in his arms. 'Here, for that sexist remark you can keep an eye on your daughter this morning.'

That got her soft chuckles from Astoria, Hermione and her mother; Harry's eyes, however, lightened up. 'I'd love to,' he said, took the bassinet from her and peeked inside. His face became soft. 'You and I will have a great time, won't we, princess?'

She rolled her eyes at him and went to their flat to get ready for the outing.

About an hour later she followed her father into the Leaky Cauldron and almost stopped in her tracks when the door closed behind her. Never before she had seen the popular pub that empty. A couple of warlocks sat around a table in the back of the pub. They looked somehow shifty, not at all like the respectable wizards who usually frequented the bar for a pint of butterbeer on a day in town. This lot gave her and Astoria creepy glances that made her skin crawl, and Astoria huddled closer towards her.

Father stepped in front of them, put his hand on his wand-pocket, and gave the lot in the corner a haughty stare.

They averted their eyes, and Daphne let out a breath, mirrored by Astoria.

Father led the way through the pub. Tom, the stooped and toothless landlord, stopped polishing glasses behind the glass counter and bowed. 'Lord Greengrass, my ladies.'

'Good morning, Tom,' Father said, and Daphne and Astoria acknowledged the greeting with a small smile. While the Greengrasses were rich Purebloods, they were also known for being polite to everyone, no matter whether rich or poor, Pureblood or Muggleborn.

Father tapped the brick that opened the wall, and they followed him into the alley.

Like the pub, Diagon Alley was deserted. Florean Fortescue's ice cream parlour had been closed and boarded up in the summer before her sixth year. More shops had suffered the same fate. Olivander's was closed and boarded up, and so was the second-hand robes shop, the cauldron shop and the Magical Menagerie. Posters were plastered on the boards, each one captioned with the words Undesirable Number One, and Harry's face glared down at her. In some of the deserted businesses new establishments dedicated to the Dark Arts had been created, like in the shop that had once housed Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes. What had become of the twins? They'd been a pest to every Slytherin, but always good for a laugh.

A number of ragged people sat huddled in doorways; they moaned to the few passers-by. 'One Galleon, please. Have mercy, kind sir, I really am a wizard,' a man with a bloodied bandage over one eye pleaded.

Daphne exchanged a look with her father, and he gave her an imperceptible nod. The mas would have new residents soon.

They hurried to run their errands. The shops were deserted, too, and the clerks had nothing on their usual friendliness. Instead, they almost fell over themselves to carry out their orders as fast as possible, and gave them uneasy, almost frightened side glances while they did so. With no doubt they all knew that the Greengrasses belonged to the Pureblood elite which now ruled the roost - and it terrified them.

A shudder went down Daphne's spine. There was no doubt Harry would be victorious in the end, he had to be, any other thought was unbearable. And yet, would magical Britain ever recover from the wounds this senseless war had caused?

t.b.c.

*Quoted almost word by word from Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows