Daphne groaned as she opened her eyes to the soft light of fire. She distantly heard a gasp from beside her and footsteps running out of the room, and turned her head to see her best friend sitting beside her.
"Daphne! You're awake!" Tracey exclaimed.
"What happened?" Daphne asked, her mind still foggy. "Where am I?"
"You're in Potter Manor. Harry brought you here last night… or this morning? I dunno, time zones are confusing. But he had to get back to Hogwarts so he sent Tipsy to bring me here to be with you."
Daphne felt a wave of shame crash through her as she remembered her forcing Harry to bring her with him on his mission. The ring had indicated that it wouldn't be his usual sojourn into an active warzone, and she had used the pretense of him not being able to bring Zephyr or Kyddris with him to coerce him into letting her go. She thought that she would finally be able to do something other than sitting around Hogwarts patching him up whenever he came back from Merlin knew where. In the end, all she ended up doing was getting let behind after Harry had angrily thrown his Invisibility Cloak at her. Her shame grew as she remembered how close she had been to death and how she had been unable to do a thing until Harry came and rescued her. It was only matched by her anger at the way Harry had acted before coming back for her.
The sound of footsteps approaching drew Daphne from her thoughts and she looked up to see her mother and little sister rushing through the door.
"Daphne, sweetheart, it's so good to see you awake already," her mother exclaimed as she hurried over to start inspecting Daphne for any injuries.
"How long have I been out?" Daphne asked.
"Couple hours," Astoria replied.
Penelope finished inspecting her and stood up, hands on her hips and a glare that froze Daphne in place.
"What the hell were you thinking?!" She shouted. "Running off with Harry on one of his missions like that? You, of all people, should know how dangerous they are! You're going to tell me exactly what happened, right now."
Daphne looked down at her lap and started from the beginning. She could feel the three disapproving glares being leveled at her as she recounted how she had coerced Harry into bringing her with him only to lose him because she couldn't keep up. Her mother stiffened as she described the murder she had witnessed while Tracey and Astoria held her hands comfortingly. By the time she was explaining what they had been theorizing and the subsequent attack by the pair of vampires, Penelope's face had become white as a sheet and her hands shook slightly in her lap.
"Why would they think you were a vampire?" Astoria asked.
Daphne shrugged, but looked at her mother with narrowed eyes. "Do you know why, Mum?"
"Daphne, sweetheart, before I explain everything, you have to remember the kind of man Cyrus is, and the kind of company he keeps," Penelope begged, tears already welling in her warm, hazel eyes. Daphne didn't say anything, but nodded nonetheless, a sense of dread creeping up her spine. Penelope sighed and took a seat on the corner of her bed. "When I told you that I had no idea who your birth father was… I lied."
"But… why?" Daphne asked as Tracey and Astoria gasped at the revelation that Cyrus Temple was not Daphne's biological father.
"Because if the truth got out, I, and more importantly, you, would have been killed."
"What do you mean?" Tracey asked quietly. "I know pureblood society is rough, but…"
"You're absolutely right, Tracey," Penelope replied. "The society I and my daughters grew up within was not the best place to raise a child. My husband's taking up and desecration of the name my family has carried for generations since we came to Britain with the Potters is evidence of this."
"Mum, maybe you should start from the beginning," Astoria said softly.
Penelope took a deep breath and pulled out a little handkerchief to wipe her eyes. "Soon after graduating from Hogwarts, I decided to go traveling. My parents were rather supportive, as they thought that taking some time to see the world would provide me with a unique perspective before I came back to help my father lead House Greengrass. We didn't have much money, so I generally worked various jobs to fund my travels. One night, while traveling through Romania, I was ambushed by several wizards who made it clear that they planned to have their way with me before obliviating me so that I couldn't report them. Our family has a history of struggling with more combat-oriented magic, and I was no exception. I fought as hard as I could, but they outnumbered me four-to-one and it didn't take long for them to disarm and trap me. Just as I was about to accept my fate, there was a flash of light as one of the men was hit with a massive ball of fire, while a figure shot out of the darkness and ripped the other three to shreds in a matter of moments.
"I watched as the figure turned out to be a man, and kept my mouth shut as he hungrily drank the blood of his victims. I quickly figured out that I was in the company of a vampire, and prepared for the worst when he stood up walked towards me, only to free me and ask if I was alright. He introduced himself as Gabriel Albescu, and offered to shelter me for the night, as the nearest town was too far on foot, and I didn't want to apparate all the way back to the one I had come from."
"And you just went with him?" Tracey asked in astonishment.
Penelope smiled and shook her head. "I did. Something told me that I could trust him, so I grabbed my wand and followed him back to the most gorgeous cottage I had ever seen. When we arrived, I explained why I was traveling, and Gabriel offered me a job running errands for him, as he was unable to leave during the day." Another fond smile found its way on to her mother's face, and Daphne watched as she stared into space, lost in happier memories while her own dread increased. "I agreed. Eventually, he and I fell in love and I ended up spending the next three years with him. We were even going to get married. That all fell apart when Gabriel's enclave summoned him. He had told me that he would only be able to stay with me until the day that his enclave summoned him back. He explained how he was the equivalent of the lord of a Noble House within his enclave and said that it could happen at any time. He would be summoned back to return to his duties, and his enemies would kill me if I came with him, so we resolved to enjoy our time together while it lasted."
"Is that when he turned you?" Daphne asked cautiously. The heartbreak in her mother's voice was raw and sincere, and Daphne was pretty sure she had never seen Penelope Greengrass express so much emotion once in their entire time living with her husband.
Penelope chuckled wetly and shook her head. "No, sweetie, Gabriel never turned me. Gabriel was your father."
Daphne gasped as she tried to understand what she had been told. "My father is…"
"A vampire," Penelope finished.
"Then that means that Daphne is a half-vampire, right?" Tracey asked. When Penelope nodded, Tracey got a mischievous grin on her face as she wrapped her arms around Daphne's shoulders. "Would you look at that? Now we're both half-bloods!"
The tension shattered, and all four of them burst out into laughter. Daphne was still reeling from the realization that her father wasn't some monster who had violated her mother and wiped her memory.
Too bad no one else in the Wizarding World will believe that, she thought bitterly.
"Is that why those vampires called me a Day Walker?" She asked once they had all calmed down.
Penelope nodded with a smile on her face. "Half-vampires, or dhampir, are referred to as Day Walkers by vampires because you don't have the same vulnerability to sunlight that they do. You also benefit from still being able to use a wand, as opposed to the special magic that vampires possess, which is fairly limited."
"Why have I never noticed?" Daphne asked. "I mean, it's not like I've ever had cravings for a nice pint of blood or anything."
"Before you were born, I had an incredibly powerful concealment charm placed on you. It disguised your vampire nature, even from yourself."
"Who placed the charm?"
"I did, with the help of a good friend who agreed to be obliviated afterwards. Everyone else was simply told that those men your father had saved me from had managed to go through with their intentions for me."
"You really loved him, didn't you?" Daphne turned her head to where Astoria was looking sadly down at her lap, her bottom lip trembling. While she couldn't figure out what had suddenly put her sister in such a mood, her mother had no trouble, and immediately stood to wrap Astoria in a big hug.
"Yes, Tori, I did. But that part of my life is over now. You and your sister are the only things that matter to me, regardless of who your fathers are."
Astoria nodded and Daphne joined her mother in wrapping her arms around her little sister. When they finally pulled apart, Daphne looked back down at her lap.
"I think I need to get back to Hogwarts," she mumbled sheepishly. "I need some time to think about all this."
"And apologize to Harry," Astoria added, her earlier happiness gone in an instant.
"Not until he apologizes for being such an arse in the first place," Daphne muttered petulantly. She didn't even hear her mother admonishing her swearing as her head suddenly snapped to the side, her ears ringing and cheek stinging from where Tracey slapped you.
"Tracey!" Penelope exclaimed.
"Sorry, Aunt Penelope, but Daphne needs some sense knocked into her, and as her best friend, it's my job to do it. Do you think you two could give us the room, please?"
Penelope looked hesitant, but she eventually stood up and dragged Astoria – who looked like she wanted to join Tracey in the slapping – out the door and closed it behind them.
"What the fuck was that for?!" Daphne yelled as she shot to her feet.
"For acting like your usual bitchy self towards the one man who you know is dedicated to you above everything else!" Tracey retorted.
"So I'm just supposed to let him treat me like some precious child to be protected?" Daphne demanded. "The same way he was treated by Dumbledore and everyone else?"
"Merlin's balls, you're an idiot!" Tracey exclaimed. "Of course he would treat you like that, you are a child!"
"So is he!" Daphne yelled. "Everyone seems to keep forgetting that he's fifteen too! Even with the extra time he spent with the goblins, he'd only be seventeen. That's barely of age!"
"It has nothing to do with age, and you know it! Harry has experience! For fuck's sake, he had already faced off against Riddle, killed a man, and slayed a bloody basilisk before we met him! More than that, he survived eleven years with those monsters. You're just a school girl who wanted to go on an adventure and manipulated the man who cares for you the most in this world to do it!"
"That's not true, and you know it!" Daphne screamed.
"Yes it is!" Tracey countered. "You got tired of your safe little life inside the school, where your biggest concerns are passing your OWLs and dealing with people like Malfoy, so you decided to turn the hell that is Harry's life into your own personal playground, and force him to take along with you as if it was some sort of field trip and not a war."
"I can defend myself!"
"Yeah, your tale of cowering under Harry's Invisibility Cloak while a man murdered someone right in front of you is a thrilling example of your performance in battle!"
Daphne reeled back as if slapped for a second time, but Tracey was on a warpath. "Tell me, what would you have done if you managed to keep up with Harry, and were ambushed with the rest of them? You would have gotten Harry killed is what! You'd get yourself in a bind, and Harry would throw away his life just to keep you safe. Is that what you want?!"
At this point, there were tears flowing down Daphne's cheeks as she imagined a never-ending series of circumstances involving Harry getting killed defending her. Each more graphic than the last.
"I just wanted to help him," she muttered.
"You do already," Tracey said softly, stepping closer and wrapping her in a hug. "None of us are capable of being there for him the way you are. Your connection aside, you are the only one who can understand what it's like to have your childhood taken from you. Not to mention all that time in the Hospital Wing helping Madam Pomfrey has made you even better than he is at Healing, and God knows that boy needs someone who knows what they're doing there."
Daphne giggled softly into her best friend's shoulder. It was true that Harry, for all of his talent, struggled with healing anything more complicated than shallow cuts and cracked bones without the help of his emotions and intent fueling some powerful wild magic. He substituted his apparent lack of skill with being well versed in muggle first aid – as well as having a ridiculously high pain threshold – but after Daphne had woken up to him grunting as he sewed together a gash in his side one night after a mission, she had insisted that she handle his injuries, lest she unleash Madam Pomfrey on him.
When they separated, Daphne felt grateful knowing that her best friend would always be around when she needed some sense knocked into her.
"Thanks, Trace," she whispered. "I dunno what I'd do without you."
Tracey smirked and shrugged her shoulders noncommittally. "Probably die. But then again, we just learned your half-vampire, so killing you might be harder than I previously thought."
"Very funny," Daphne drawled. "Now let's get back to Hogwarts so I can get on my knees and beg for forgiveness."
"I bet that's not the only thing you'd like to do with him while on your knees," Tracey quipped, making Daphne's face burn as she smacked her on the arm and chased her down the halls when Tracey started cackling like a madwoman at her lack of denial.
They met with her mother and sister in sitting room, where she was chatting with Lily and Remus. Daphne took notice of the way Harry's mother and surrogate uncle were sitting particularly close to each other, and the somewhat guilty looks they kept shooting when the other wasn't looking, and made a note to stay far away from whatever was going on there until Harry figured something out and came to her (though, given his stunted emotional intelligence, that could be a while).
They said goodbye to the three adults, and Tipsy brought them back to Hogwarts, apparating them just outside the Slytherin common room. Tracey gave her a reassuring nod before going off in search of Susan, while Astoria glared at her and returned to her dorm to catch a couple more hours of sleep before breakfast, leaving Daphne to quietly make her way up to the seventh floor.
Quietly entering Harry's office, she was greeted by the smell of bacon and the sound of chopping as she found Harry had completely changed his office. It no longer resembled the cross between an office and a lounge that he normally kept it in, nor the training ground room he used for his classes. The room had replaced Harry's desk with a simple wooden table placed in front of the fireplace with two chairs on the ends. There was a partial wall separating the room from where she heard the chopping, and when she followed the sound, she found Harry in a small kitchen, expertly navigating it as he diced various vegetables and threw them in a pan. Zephyr was riding around on his shoulder, and they were talking quietly while Kyddris slept nearby with Bella splayed tiredly along his snout.
The office had shrunk somewhat, offering Kyddris just enough room to curl around the edge of the room while making the entire room feel somewhat more intimate. Daphne stood there and watched as Harry poured some eggs on another pan with one hand while the other flipped the strips of bacon. She soon found herself envisioning a future after Hogwarts, where there was no war, and she would be able to wake up and see this every day. Where she and Harry and Bella could live together in peace, and sit around a table, eating breakfast as they talked about Bella's classes, or Harry's students, or Daphne's work turning the Wizarding World into something she could be proud to say she was a part of.
She had no idea when she started to imagine the three of them as a little family, but somewhere between finally getting together with Harry and enjoying Bella's frequent visits, the idea had become firmly planted in her head and she couldn't convince herself to get it out. With those fantasies in mind, she mustered what little courage she had and walked over to Harry, wrapping her arms around his waist from behind.
"I'm sorry," she murmured as he stiffened before relaxing and continuing to man the frying pans. She opened the floodgates on their connection, and allowed her sincerity to rush forward so he could tell how bad she felt. Taking the pans off the burners, Harry silently moved from her grasp and started to serve the food onto two dinner plates before placing them in a sink where they immediately vanished and turning around to stare at her, reminding her with a single look why she had fallen in love with those shining green eyes in the first place.
"I am too," he croaked. His emotions flooded their connection, but Daphne remained silent as he struggled to put his thoughts into words. "I know how it feels to be shunted off to the side while everyone else is fighting, and I should have taken the time to properly explain why I didn't want you coming with me."
"I shouldn't have forced you to take me in the first place," Daphne replied. "I knew how dangerous the missions the Circle gives you are, and I insisted on coming anyway, even though I knew I wouldn't be anything more than a liability. I was insecure, and believed I needed to be on the front lines in some foreign country to be contributed to the war. More than that, I wanted to be closer to the action, like you are."
"And now?"
"I still want to stand beside you, and will go wherever you go," Daphne stated resolutely. "But I'm willing to properly accept that the battlefield might not be where I'm most useful – especially when I haven't even finished my schooling."
Harry smiled softly and walked over to place a soft kiss on her lips. Daphne responded in kind, thrusting as much emotion and passion into that one simple act, hoping that it would convey what she was still not ready to say, and Harry was even less ready to understand. When they parted, Harry gave her another quick peck before leading her over to the table and pulling out one of the two seats for her. Once she was seated, he rushed back to the kitchen, placing a soft kiss on Bella's forehead and grabbing the two plates he had prepared.
Daphne thanked him, and moaned softly as she tucked into one of the most delicious omelettes she had ever eaten, while Harry watched her with a smile on his face.
Once they were finished, Harry placed the plates in the sink, and joined her on the couch in front of the fire, while the walls and ceiling around them suddenly became transparent so that they could watch the sky slowly grow brighter over the Forbidden Forest. The only part of the room that was unaffected was the corner where Bella and Kyddris were sleeping, as it was still late at night for her.
"I think there's more going on with the war than we think," Harry said.
"What do you mean?"
"It's just… I've been thinking about the missions I've been sent on lately, and something hasn't been adding up. Before Riddle stepped out of the shadows, we already suspected he had taken over the Ministry of Magic in Bulgaria. That means that we can define most of Eastern Europe as under his control, since the Bulgarian Ministry covers several of those countries. Why, then, am I being sent to places like Japan? What are Death Eaters doing there, and why do we not hear reports of them before or after my mission?"
"Don't to forget to ask where Riddle keeps getting all of his troops from," Daphne added. "There are only about twenty or thirty thousand people in all of Magical Britain. Sure, the Wizarding World is fundamentally flawed and broken, but I can't imagine people lining up to join the Death Eaters."
"I think, until we learn more, we should hold off on working for the Circle," Harry suggested. "We'll lose access to their resources, but between my various family libraries, and Nicolas, I don't think we'll need them."
"That's fine by me," Daphne said, sliding the diamond ring off her finger. "I'm not a fan of you answering to anyone but me anyways."
Harry chuckled and gave her a quick kiss as he took the ring from her and placed it in a lockbox the room provided for him before they both vanished again.
"You know that this means you're going to be fighting alongside the Order now, right?" Daphne asked.
"Probably," Harry replied. "But I think it's probably best if I avoid them and just focus on this fake werewolf case of ours."
"About that," Daphne said haltingly. "After you brought me back to Potter Manor, I spoke with my mother about why those vampires kept saying I was one too."
"Really?" Harry asked, grabbing her hand in support. "What did she say?"
Daphne took a deep breath and started to explain everything to Harry. From Cyrus Temple not being her real father, to the revelation that Gabriel Albescu was, and that he was a vampire.
"They called me Day Walker, because, as a dhampir, I don't share their weakness to the sun," Daphne finished, not able to meet Harry's eyes for fear of what she would find. Relief coursed through her as Harry put his fingers under her chin and lifted her face so he could passionately kiss her. When they finally separated, he pulled her into his arms and started to stroke her hair.
"A not-quite-werewolf professor dating a not-quite-vampire student," he mused. "When did our lives become a bad Muggle romance novel?"