CHAPTER 5

Daphne Greengrass lived a boring life. It wasn't that her life was difficult in any way. Definitely not. She had a loving father who she'd wrapped around her little finger. She loved getting her hair braided by her mother who would sit and do it for hours. She had an annoying little sister who she loved but would never tell anyone about it. But most of all she had the world's greatest grandmother who would tell her countless tales about her life or about magic. She loved her family dearly but she wanted some excitement in life. She'd read the Harry Potter books. But unlike other girls her age who wanted to marry Harry Potter when they grew up, she wanted to be Harry Potter. She wanted to go on adventures with her friends to save the world and defeat dark lords. She wanted her tales to be told like the ones her grandma told her.

It is said that you need to be careful with what you wish for. Sometimes you'll never know if you really need something until you get it. It all started going wrong for her that day. She'd been playing with her sister as usual when suddenly her sister collapsed and blood started oozing out of her mouth. She'd been terrified out of her wits that day and had screamed so loud that her throat broke down. Her mother had rushed to them and checked up on Astoria and immediately decided to floo to St. Mungo's.

Astoria had spent a whole week at the hospital that time. And Daphne had been there every moment with her. While her parents secretively spoke with the healers and with her grandma, she'd been the one who lied beside Astoria hoping that she'd wake up, praying that she'd wake up. On the morning of the sixth day Astoria had woken up. Daphne greeted her sister with teary eyes and wanted to hug her with the tightest hug she'd ever given before she remembered the situation her sister was in and delicately patted her hand.

She'd later learnt that her family carried a curse of forgotten origins. The second born daughter usually ended up inheriting the curse. Her life had never been the same ever since and neither was her sister's. Every year since then Astoria was prone to two or three such incidents at the very least and would have to be admitted to St. Mungo's where they'd douse her with countless blood replenishing potions throughout the week. When her sister came home, she'd be weak for another ten days. And her heart broke seeing her sister like that. She'd sworn to herself that she'd make her sister fine again.

"I will promise to fight this Daffy. In turn you need to promise me that you'll take me along with you on those grand adventures that you wanted to go on.", Astoria had said. She'd have caused chaos for being called 'Daffy' but she could only give her a teary smile and nod that time.

Ever since then Daphne had taken to trying to find out about the curse as much as possible. She'd tried to read the few books they had in their family library but they weren't of any help. Her father had been trying to find out about the curse too but it seemed to be incredibly complex and nobody he knew could figure out the curse. It seemed like time had wiped away any information of such a curse existing.

But her enthusiasm hadn't been disrupted. Where once she wore a dazzling smile, she now maintained an intense stare. She'd do everything she could if her sister could be cured and she meant it. She'd been waiting for her Hogwarts letter ever since then because not only was Hogwarts one of the premier magic institutions but also boasted one of the biggest libraries in Britain. Even after three years of trying to find out about the curse, the Greengrass family was no way closer to finding out anything about it.

If all this wasn't enough, her dear grandma had passed away in her sleep due to old age. She'd not only been a sense of support but also had been a primary source of knowledge having seen her own aunt die due to the same curse. Her parents maintained a brave face in front of her but she'd seen her mother comfort her crying and helpless father at night sometimes.

She was mighty proud of her family. They'd set high standards for her and were her role models. Her father had never taken out his frustrations or helplessness on her or her mother. Her mother had been a constant support to her father regardless of highs or lows and they both still loved their daughters very very much.

She'd woken up early today. Today was the day her mother was finally going to take her shopping for her Hogwarts journey. She'd be getting her wand today. She'd start learning magic as good as she could and as fast as she could so that she could cure her sister and take her on the grand adventure she'd promised.

"Diagon Alley", she spoke into the floo clearly like her mother told her to as she stepped into the green flames to be whisked away into the Alley. Her mother followed her quickly and they set of together to get her the required uniforms first.

They were the first customers at Madam Malkin's. Once the robes were fitted and done they set of to get her potions instruments which consisted of a set of cauldron, crystal phials and brass scales. Then they set off to get her wand.

The man had given her quite a scare when he'd suddenly appeared in front of her. They'd gone through quite a few wands before settling for a wand that was ten and three quarter inches long, made out of wood from the Reed tree and had a dual core with a dittany stalk as the primary core and a unicorn tail feather as the secondary core. He'd told her that the wand was excellent for healing charms but could also hold its own in a fight. She'd never felt as whole as when she held the wand. It seemed to be so uniquely her.

Once the remaining things were bought they headed to their final shop, Flourish and Blotts. This was the thing she was looking forward to the most. It seemed that they were not the only people there. There was a woman in a dark green dress. Her mother seemed to recognise the woman and called out to her immediately "Professor McGonagall!"

The woman looked at her mother and seemed to piece things together before greeting back "Isobel! It has been quite a long time."

"It has been Professor. Life takes us through different paths but I am glad to meet you again. This is my daughter Daphne Greengrass. She's starting her first year at Hogwarts soon. Please take care of her"

"Oh! has it been so long. I still remember when you and Lily were competing for the top spot like it was yesterday. I'm not surprised you married Cygnus. We the teaching staff had a bet as to whether you'd marry Cygnus first or Lily would marry James first. Anyway, look who I have with me here today." she turned around to call Harry but saw him standing behind her a few feet away with one of those Harry Potter books in his hand. He looked disgusted. 'Told Dumbledore to stop them' she thought as she motioned to him to come to them.

AN: The ending of this chapter was tweaked slightly to allow for continuity.