Chapter 1

April 2003

It was a quiet night in the Janus Thickney Ward at St. Mungos for Magical Maladies and Injuries. A young healer was sitting at the reception counter quietly reading a magazine about a possible cure for lycanthropy on the horizon in Witch Weekly. The study was being led by Damocles Belby, a man who had originally invented the Wolfsbane potion. It was fascinating to learn how much one man had affected the field of healing in the past decade. She herself had worked on several werewolves throughout her short duration of being a fully trained healer, and they were almost always the worst cases. She had been told that in comparison to the days when Fenrir Greyback was amongst the living it was far worse, and that children came in infected often, but thankfully the man was put in the ground by Hermione Granger during the Battle of Hogwarts.

A sigh from the receptionist made her eyebrows raise, "Bored Tracey?"

Tracey Davis, a brunette thin girl, who had bangs that ended just above her brown eyes, had been the young healers best friend in their Hogwarts years. She was currently sitting quietly reading paperwork for hours on end attempting to look busy, before she broke the silence with her sigh. Tracey had never been the best student in Hogwarts, and didn't have the NEWT grades to get into an exciting career with the Ministry, but her connection with the young healer allowed her to work the graveyard shift with her best friend at the hospital for decent wages. Stretching her legs she stood up, "It's just quiet. All our patients are asleep, and we should be doing the same thing. You want to take turns keeping lookout?"

The idea was tempting. Tonight was supposed to be her night off, but Gretchen Bullstrode, her supervisor, was out with a sick child, so Daphne stepped in to fill the space to hopefully score points with her boss, but that meant she was close to pulling a 70 hours this week, and she was exhausted, "I would love too, but we would both be fired if I was the one caught sleeping on the job."

Tracey opened her mouth to protest this then thought better of it taking another deep sigh, "Daphne you always were the more sensible one. Shall I make us another cup of coffee?"

Daphne Greengrass, the young healer in question merely nodded her head, "Yes, but let me step off to the loo first. Keep an eye on things."

Tracey nodded her consent as Daphne stood and began walking down the hall to the closest restroom. When she stepped inside and closed the door she took a look at herself and realized that she looked awful. This was a far cry from how things were back in her school days. Her makeup was always applied to perfection, and would never have allowed herself to step outside of the Girls Slytherin Dorm room without looking her absolute best. Today however the bags under her light hazel eyes were much heavier than usual. Her blonde hair was pulled back in a ponytail, but even in its current style an average onlooker could tell she hadn't brushed it properly in a few days. Her face, which was always smooth and clean, looked a little paler than usual, and she could tell the lack of sleep and stress was making her face lightly breakout. In her Hogwarts years this would've stressed her out greatly, but as a single young healer that works most hours of the day she could hardly care.

Daphne never slept well this time of year. The anniversary for the battle of Hogwarts was coming up, and the day was likely her least favorite of the year. She still had nightmares about the battle. She had been among the few Slytherins who decided to take up arms against the Death Eaters in the final battle. After the Carrow's had used the cruciatus on her sister she wanted blood, and she was determined to make sure no Death Eater would ever hurt her again. Of course having married a former Death Eater Astoria took the chance of always being hurt by the same that had once tortured her, but her lips twitched towards a smile at the thought of the threat she left Draco Malfoy on the day of their wedding. She made it very clear of what she thought of his past decisions, and that he would not survive the day if he ever laid a finger on her little sister that wasn't gentle in every intention. Luckily for Draco and Astoria the Malfoy money spoiled the youngest Greengrass child, and Daphne seriously doubted the girl would want for anything in her life.

Walking back into the hallway of the long corridor she gave Tracey the go ahead to make the coffee as she manned the front desk. She sighed realizing she should've brought something more interesting to read tonight when suddenly her eyes shot up at the sound of an elevator arriving. Knowing they didn't often get visitors this time of night she braced herself for what was most likely an inspection of Hippocrates Smethwyck the healer in the charge of the hospital for the evening.

She was quickly proven correct that Healer Smethwyck was the man in the elevator, but the half a dozen people that followed indicated that this was no routine inspection. Distantly familiar faces instantly entered her vision, as all seemed to be clearly panicked over a young dark haired man who was lying deathly still on a stretcher. Smethwyck barked out at the frozen young woman, "Greengrass where is Healer Bulstrode? We need her and an empty room now!"

Daphne immediately spurred forward to help take control of the stretcher from the aurors that had come in with healer Smethwyck, and her breath nearly caught in her throat when she realized she was rolling a very deathly pale Harry Potter towards the nearest empty room, "She is out for the evening with a sick child sir. I am the only one on staff tonight in the spell damage ward. Room 413 is available. We have to move fast."

A woman's voice confirmed her words urgently, "Healer we are losing him!"

It took only a second for Daphne to recognize the voice of her old school rival, Hermione Granger. Their rivalry was nothing but purely academic in nature. The two had never traded vicious words or done anything to the other. In fact the only words they had ever exchanged were in Ancient Runes, where they were the best two in the class and were often partnered together.

Recognizing the urgency in her voice she looked at the chosen one who seemed completely fine other than a few deep cuts on his face and arms, and the unnatural paleness in his face. She quickly figured that something wasn't right though as she began inspecting the rest of his face and noticed his eyes were open, but rolled back into his head in an obvious show of trauma. His body was also ice cold to the touch. Daphne had to stop herself from pushing the cart into a run as she directed the group towards room 413, "I need to know everything about what happened, and how long it has been since it happened."

A man's voice shot into the conversation, "Healer Smethwyck is there no one else available to help? We need the most experienced healers you have, or he isn't going to make it.."

Daphne wanted to be offended, but knew people said things they didn't understand or mean when they were hurting so said nothing as Smethwyck barked back, "We don't have time to question this. Healer Greengrass is exceptional, and if you want to save your friend's life you need to tell us everything and fast."

Another female voice immediately began talking, "He saved us. He threw up the ward so fast none of us had anytime to even move. We were so outnumbered...he had to have been hit by five curses or more, before he began fighting back."

Daphne jumped at this, "What curses could you identify any of them?"

As they pushed into the room Daphne began flinging her wand at nearby equipment. IV's from nearby came to life, and began making their way into Harry Potter, and basic medical equipment began reading his vitals. Usually she would do most of this by hand, but by the looks of the Potter Lord he didn't have time for such delicacy.

The girl who had flaming red hair she identified as Susan Bones after a second glance and she sobbed out, "He was hit with the Glacius spell for sure, but either it failed or it was modified, because all it did was make his complexity turn blue, and when I first touched him I could tell his temperature had drop dangerously low. I also recognized the Piercing hex for sure, and a purple hex I didn't recognize."

A tall red headed man who was so close he seemed attached to the stretcher said, "Two bouts of the cruciatus for sure. Harry isn't immune but he fights it off better than anyone the auror department has ever seen."

The voice and the face took a second to place and she realized it was Ron Weasley. Harry Potter's best friend. The whole golden trio was here tonight, and clearly something had gone horribly wrong.

Daphne saw his body and felt for a pulse and immediately concurred with Bones that his temperature was in the severe hypothermia range, so the ice curse made sense, and like Bones guessed it was probably modified in some way. Dark family magic was her current prognosis. She could reverse a hypothermic body temperature with some careful work, and the piercing charm she was easily able to find as Smethwyck ripped open his vest, and with the help of the other male aurors ripped apart his dragonhide armor to see a deep whole in his side that immediately began gushing blood at the release of his armor. Daphne swore, "It hit an artery we are going to have to work fast."

She turned to the tallest of the males who she was surprised to see was Neville Longbottom. She had heard he was teaching Herbology after Sprout retired. What was he doing here?

"Longbottom I need you to go out to the Lobby and tell the receptionist to bring us the cart of potions. We need it now!"

The man didn't even question the recognition and turned and ran out of the room at once. Daphne took her wand and made it light up like a flashlight as she held it up to his eyes as Smethwyck continued to take other vitals. She could tell by the way they were dilated that he was in immense pain, "How long has he been unconscious."

Hermione Granger answered, "Probably about eight to nine minutes. He went under the moment the last man dropped."

"Magical exhaustion. It explains why his body isn't fighting the hypothermic temperatures." Smethwyck said quietly to her.

Daphne nodded coming to the same conclusion, "He is in immense pain pupil dilation is off the charts, and with his eyes open and rolled back like that he is going to lose his sanity if we can't figure out a way to reverse whatever the purple unknown spell was."

Hermione who was holding one of Harry's hands immediately said, "I have seen the spell before. I was hit with it by Antonin Dolohov in my fifth year. I think we mitigated it however when someone silenced him mid curse. It was supposed to cause internal damage its what made me black out."

Daphne was suddenly starting to think the curses he was hit with were completely intentional, and the order had something to do with it. If his body wasn't fighting the hypothermia, and he had internal damage, along with magical exhaustion they were going to lose him, "We need a drought of living death."

Smethwyck immediately stopped working and looked up sharply, "What?"

"His core is immense, and even though he is in magical exhaustion his magic is trying to form to a strength that he can fight the pain and stabilize his own temperature. If we don't get his magic to stop fighting the curses we are going to lose him to overexertion. We need his body and magic to completely stop everything if we are going to have a chance at reversing this. His body is trying to process it, and if by some miracle we reverse all of it his mind is going to be scrambled like a cruciatus victim." Daphne explained sharply as she jumped to the cart that Neville had brought in.

Smethwyck stared at her in shock as she flipped through vials and pulled one vial that was a sickly purple color. She quickly went over to him and he stopped her, "We have to think this through Greengrass this could kill him in his weakened state."

Daphne looked at him sharply as all the aurors present took a step back from the chosen one realizing they were going to lose their friend, mentor, and family. It was these looks that hardened her resolve, "He is already dead. This is our only chance."

Smethwyck looked almost as stricken as the aurors that were surrounding them. Susan Bones was sitting on the floor with her face buried in her knees. Hermione was crying into Ron's shoulder. Ron looked blankly at his best friend, and Neville Longbottom was doing the same. She had to try. Uncapping the vial she gently tucked it into his lips and tilted his head back as the potion went down his throat. The only good sign she saw was his eyes rolling back down into a normal position and the emerald green light that Witch Weekly was always talking about looked exterminated, but she could tell the pain was gone, and that was a start.

She quickly went to work waving her wand intricately over the piercing wound, and began patching up his internal organs with practiced ease. This was not how she expected her night to go.

The blood flow slowed down to a manageable amount as healer Smethwyck began patching him up with bandages, and kept blood replenishers and pain relief on standby for when they administered the antidote.

The only auror who had yet to speak spoke in a thick Irish accent, "Won't the mixture of potions kill him even if you can bring him back?"

Smethwyck shook his head to answer that as Daphne began chanting quietly waving her wand looking for signs of any lingering spell that shouldn't be there, "No. These are hand made by the best potion masters in Britain. They are smooth and perfect. There would only be imbalance if the slightest thing was off in any potion. What may pass as an acceptable potion in a classroom would certainly kill Mr. Potter at this point. All these potions had to have been made perfectly, or we are going to know soon enough if they weren't."

That silenced the Irish man she recognized as Seamus Finnegan by voice. It was like having a Hogwarts reunion of people she never spoke with, but all these people were war heroes, and all were either currently staffed aurors or retired veterans of the department. Daphne tried not to let her mind slip as she attempted to reverse the dark arts freezing spell.

"Granger." Daphne said quietly.

She didn't hear a verbal response, but she could tell she was now standing on the opposite side of the hospital bed, "You were the best in our year at charms, I need you to cast the blue bell flames charm, and hold it over his body. We need natural heat while I figure out a way to reverse the curse. I think the curse is still going, and if his temperature drops much more his organs will give out, and we will have much bigger fight ahead of us.:

No verbal response came, but she noticed another person came beside her who she assumed was Susan and she heard two feminine voices begin to chant a few spells. Soon enough she glanced up as she felt the heat, and a torch now stuck out from the wall lit up brightly with the bluebell flames charm hovering in place.

An agonizing hour passed, before the two healers figured out a way to counter the Dark Arts freezing spell, and when that was accomplished they immediately administered the wiggenweld potion and with bated breath watched to see if they would get any sign of a pulse. It was several long moments, and Daphne was holding his wrist gently. Her heart sank when she realized she had most likely just killed Harry Potter. She was beginning to call a time of death when she felt the slightest beat of a heart. The fact that he hadn't flat lined meant everything.

Both healers took a sigh of relief and Susan immediately asked, "Is he going to be okay?"

Smethwyck gave the girl a sad smile as Daphne sat down exhausted, "He certainly isn't out of the woods completely. He still needs to recover from the magical exhaustion, and the amount of pain he was in could have affected his nervous system or his brain, but I am optimistic about his survival. Thanks to Healer Greengrasses brilliance he certainly has a chance." Turning to Daphne he spoke kindly, "In all my years of being in this hospital I have never seen someone act on such instinct and persevere. Aurors if Mister Potter survives the night it will be because of Healer Greengrass. Now let Mr. Potter have his rest. One can remain with him, but I am sure there is a mountain of paperwork waiting on someone, and explanations of what happened to Mr. Potter will be due as well. Healer Greengrass you must keep an eye on Mr. Potter, and I will see the rest of your patients taken care of for the night."

Daphne had felt her cheeks warm at the compliment from the head healer, and nodded her head at his instructions. The aurors all rose to their feet each touching a part of Harry and saying quiet wishes for his strength to return as they began filing out to the waiting room.

Susan Bones was clearly the unquestioned person who would stay behind with him as she held onto his hand as the last of Gryffindor Aurors exited the room.

Daphne conjured up a more comfortable chair for herself, and did the same for Susan as she stared at Harry remaining on her feet. Daphne wasn't sure what to say, but finally managed some words to the redhead girl, "I hadn't heard you two were together. That sounds like something that would've made the front page of Witches Weekly."

Susan's eyes never left him as she said, "We aren't together."

The silence that followed was uncomfortable, and Daphne was unsure of what else to say, but thankfully she continued after a few moments, "He is my partner in the Auror Corps though. He has become family to me since the Battle of Hogwarts. We bonded in the academy together, and are the only two out of our group that has stayed in the field as street aurors. We have spent the last five years cleaning up the streets, and trying to make our country a safe place again, but one night of bad information almost cost us everything."

The silence continued again, but this time Daphne had words, "Can I ask what happened?"

Susan looked at her for the first time, and Daphne could tell the girl had cried silent tears a lot tonight, but she sighed, "You have a right to know. You saved his life. Just please healer confidentiality and all that?"

Daphne nodded her head in consent, and Susan began her tale.

Apparently the information had been coming in for six months. All good leads, and crime stopping reports that were taking them to old Death Eater safe houses. They weren't sure where the information was coming from, and whether it could be trusted so the first raid conducted Harry had called upon some of his old friends to help out. He needed a small team of people he could trust to have his back. So naturally his partner, Susan herself was the first choice, and Seamus Finnegan fought beside him in the Battle of Hogwarts and shared a dorm with him for 6 years so as a fellow auror he was another easy choice. The next few were harder. The recent recruits weren't promising, and there weren't many he trusted implicitly so he started recruiting some of his old friends.

Ron was the first apparently. He had only left the auror corps two years ago, and had gone to help run his brother's old joke shop in Diagon Alley. Apparently the two did some dueling together from time to time, so Harry knew his skills were still sharp, and when Ron's best mate found out Harry was putting together a team of trusted individuals he was in without question.

Neville was next. He had only stepped out of the department a year ago, and was teaching Herbology at Hogwarts part time as he apprenticed under Professor Sprout for his mastery. Considering most of the raids were conducted at night, and he knew he was still one of the best duelists in England he was happy to help his old Auror Captain again.

Hermione was apparently the last they recruited. She was just transferred to the Department of International Cooperation nine months prior, and had been a part of the DMLE as second in command for over two years as she worked besides Minister of Magic Kingsley Shacklebolt to pass legislation that would allow aurors to use lethal force on confirmed Death Eaters. Once that was passed Hermione apparently said no several times to Harry until Ron was injured one night, and said that obviously the two could do no right without her and stepped into the team to help.

Six months together, and only minor injuries and tons of success. They were an all star team of powerful witches and wizards that were hoping to bring the final end to what was left of the Death Eaters movement. The tips kept coming in and they were all good until tonight.

"I think they wanted to lull us into a false sense of security. We had the drop on every low level scumbag we had captured until tonight. Tonight they were waiting for us. An ambush. We walked right into it." she took a deep breath and sighed, "If not for Harry we all certainly would've been killed. The first thing they all did was throw fiendfyre at us. It was over a dozen men in Death Eater Robes. That alone should've been the end of us, but Harry is the most powerful Wizard in Britain for a reason, and he stopped the cursed flames. It was amazing. I have never seen anyone control it, but he did it with ease. When the curses started raining down on us after they recovered he threw us all backwards and created a massive ward between us and our attackers. That was how he got hit. When he started returning fire he was like an animal that had been backed into a corner. Some of the dozen or so men fled as soon as he reversed the flames. I think they knew they were going to lose. I had never seen him duel so viciously in our five years of training together. It was clear to me in that moment just how he defeated you-know...Voldemort."

Daphne flinched slightly at the name, and Susan looked apologetic, "Sorry. Harry doesn't like when we call him you-know-who."

Daphne was floored by the story, "So you think it was all a setup from the beginning? All six months of it?"

Susan looked thoughtful, but nodded her head, "Hermione is the more analytical one, but yes I think so. I think they coordinated for us to take down a bunch of pawns that they could afford to lose to draw us into that ambush. They knew they would never take us easily, but could you imagine if all of us had died. The blow to the auror department alone would've been catastrophic, not even including losing the four biggest heroes from the last war. It would've been a masterful stroke of offense by the Death Eaters. Enough to spread fear amongst the people again."

The silence that followed was more thoughtful than the previous. Daphne hadn't realized it when Harry Potter was rolled into her ward that evening, but she realized it now. The war may have left the streets, but it never left the country. The battles were still being fought by Harry Potter and his friends. The thought made her slightly angry. Hadn't they all sacrificed enough at the Battle of Hogwarts to end things once and for all. Why are the Death Eaters still fighting without their master? According to Susan at least Harry Potter was the most powerful wizard in Britain, who would dare oppose him in open battle?

Susan startled Daphne out of her thoughts with a question that she didn't hear, "I'm sorry what was that?"

Susan didn't look bothered as she repeated herself, "I don't mean to be rude, but how are you a healer? I know we weren't friends at Hogwarts, but I also know you weren't in advanced potion making with Professor Slughorn, which means you shouldn't have the NEWT to be a healer."

Daphne wanted to laugh at the question, but merely shook her head, "I am actually really good at potions. Modestly speaking I was brewing seventh year potions in my third year. I was one of Professor Snape's favorite students, but I chose not to continue with the Hogwarts version of potions, because I found it to be incredibly boring. I chose to self study with my Head of House's help and sat the NEWT after the Battle of Hogwarts."

Susan stared at Daphne for several long moments before saying, "You were there. You fought beside us in the battle didn't you."

Daphne didn't meet her eyes, but she nodded her head looking at Harry, "I did."

The redhead girl looked puzzled, "Why? Your family was in the neutral faction. It would've been safer to run with the rest of the Slytherin's. You had to have been only one in five or six that decided to stay and fight."

A few moments of silence passed, and Susan shook her head, "I'm sorry. These must be very personal questions, and I have no right after you saved Harry's life."

Daphne held a hand up to the girl, "It's fine. Talking will probably make both of our nights go faster. Besides it was a long time ago."

Taking a deep breath she launched into the half explanation she had told people for years, "Do you remember when the Carrows were making the Slytherin students practice the cruciatus curse on first years?"

Susan's face darkened immediately, but she nodded her head, and Daphne continued, "Well my sister was two years below us. She was only a fifth year when the Carrows taught that lesson to her class. When her turn came up however she refused. My sister may have been a Slytherin, but she is very gentle at heart, and would not hurt anyone that did not deserve it, so once she refused the Carrow's decided to practice the curse on her instead. She was inches from insanity when her friends brought her to me. They knew I was a potions prodigy, and thought I could save her, and I did. Though I did not ever forgive the Carrows for what they did, and when we heard Professor McGonagal took them out when Harry arrived I knew I couldn't let the castle fall back in the hands of Death Eaters. Not at the risk of my sister being tortured again. So when the Slytherins were taken to the dungeons I pleaded with Professor Slughorn to let me fight, and while he was hesitant at first a few of my other friends stepped up as well and insisted that we be given the chance to defend our school."

Susan looked deeply impressed but said nothing at first, but then she smiled, "Harry is going to like you when he wakes up."

The thought made Daphne warm on the inside. Harry Potter was an icon to everyone, and having the handsome man in front of her approval would make any young woman smile, "Well I can't wait to make his acquaintance when he does wake up. 6 years together in school, and I am certain we never exchanged words."

Susan chuckled, "I was in his defense group, and we still only exchanged a few. He was a private person back in school, and it has taken a lot to get him to open up to anyone that isn't Ron, Hermione, or Neville."

The door opened and in peaked Tracey, "Healer Greengrass I have the paperwork for Mr. Potter. Ms. Granger is filling out all his information, but I'll need the usual from you."

Daphne nodded as she stood and began casting some alert, and diagnostic charms around Harry. She gave Susan a polite smile, "If you will excuse me it seems I have more work to do. Please call for me if there is anything I can do for you or him. I will be back by in a bit to check on you both."

"Thank you Healer Greengrass." Susan said, returning her smile.

"Please Auror Bones call me Daphne. We were classmates once were we not?"

Susan grinned, "Like I said Harry is going to like you. Don't forget to call me Susan then. After all it may be me in this chair one day, and I'd like to be on a first name basis with the witch that is going to save my life."

Daphne gave the girl a nod, and another more forced smile as she exited the room to help Tracey with paperwork.

Tracey looked a little shaken by the night's turn of events and said, "Healer Smethwyk said you did amazingly. Congratulations it looks like you saved the chosen one."

Daphne who was looking at the paperwork with careful scrutinization merely said, "Yes well it seems the Wizarding World might still need him, so it's a good thing I did."

(A/N) Hello everyone it has been sometime since I started an official new project. I have attempted about five and never made it past chapter 5. I have written the first ten chapters to this story, so over the next few months I will dedicate one day to update, and hopefully by the time I catch up I will have written another ten chapters. This story will be AU five years after the Battle of Hogwarts. Daphne Greengrass will be our main character, and Harry will be the love interest of the story. Slow development, but nothing too slow. Stay tuned, and please tell me what you think :).