Paid In Blood - REVISED (Originally by Zaterra02)

by FrostyTheDopeMan

An aged Dark Lord Harry Potter sends his soul and that of his most loyal friend back in time to prevent multiple tragedies. 4th Year AU. Zaterra02's fanfic, rewritten to correct grammar & language issues.

11. Chapter 11

Chapter Eleven

"What exactly do you mean, 'Voldemort made his move'?" asked Daphne. Harry sighed.

"Dumbledore died while we were aboard the Express. We only heard about it the day after, in the Prophet." Daphne was appalled, comprehending the implications of what Harry had told her.

"How?" she asked, and Harry snorted.

"It was announced as natural causes, but we knew it was because of the Rotting Curse and the potion. What we didn't know was that he had some help from Snape, all because of Malfoy."

"What do you mean?" asked Daphne, noticing the anger in his voice, her own also starting to show.

"Did you ever wonder why Malfoy wanted to bring Death Eaters into Hogwarts?" he asked her, and she raised an eyebrow. "To help him kill Dumbledore. That was Malfoy's mission."

Daphne gaped.

"You're joking," she replied. It was too farfetched.

"Oh, no, the idiot actually confessed later on," Harry replied with a snort. "His mummy and auntie dearest managed to convince Snape…who was also a Death Eater, although he spied for our side…to make an Unbreakable Vow to help Malfoy kill Dumbledore. Dumbledore knew, and actually begged Snape to kill him so he could maintain his place as a spy. Dumbledore knew he wouldn't live much longer anyway. Of course, the old bastard never said anything to anyone, instead hoping he could save Malfoy from himself," replied Harry.

"If you hate Malfoy so much, why do you even tolerate him?" asked Daphne with a raised eyebrow, to which Harry chuckled.

"Malfoy fancies himself a leader, when he's really nothing but a follower. He is a spineless coward that hides behind his daddy's money and power, and will quickly change his allegiances if it suits him. He is a little shit that doesn't even deserve respect. I assure you I was very tempted to make him break the oath he gave on my first night as a Slytherin and make him die for all he did. Why I didn't do it...is beyond me. I guess I want him to actually see how worthless of a wizard and a person he really is without daddy dearest, before I crush him once and for all."

Daphne considered his words carefully.

"You wouldn't know anything about what happened to Lucius Malfoy, would you?" she asked with a raised eyebrow. Harry actually considered his words.

"Well, you know, Dobby and I needed equipment to start collecting the Horcruxes, so we decided to visit an armourer in Knockturn Alley. Surprisingly, we came across dear old Lucy, who was kind of drunk."

"Go on," Daphne glared at him, although she was smirking, very amused.

"Well, Dobby beat the crap out of him, a payback for the sweet ministrations he received while he served the Malfoys, and I may have, hypothetically, damaged his magical core?" he said, sounding more like a question, a bit uncertain of her reaction. She was surprised, and completely baffled by his statement.

"You can do that?" she asked.

"You can, but it takes time and power. We actually raided the armourer for what we needed first, then brought Lucius here. I completed the ritual to damage his core, and Dobby took him back to the alley. If I did everything right, he will wake up when his magic is fully drained and will have to live as a squib with no memory of what happened. If not, he won't wake up at all. I kind of did it rashly and didn't take proper precautions...oops," Harry said in mock concern.

Daphne was wide eyed. Then she chuckled.

"Fitting," she said.

"Nothing that he or his worthless son don't deserve," Harry snorted, "I actually despise Malfoy Jr. I had to tolerate him but that didn't mean I liked him."

"There has to be more to it than that," she said, looking defiantly at him. Harry just looked at her.

"No, really. Lucius died in the war. Narcissa and Draco turned their backs on Tom, got a pardon thanks to their gold, as well as a little bit of a reputation boost, and all that. He actually got married to a nice girl and I for one HAD to be civil to him," Harry replied with a sigh of frustration, much to Daphne's amusement.

"His wife had a complicated pregnancy with their second child, a daughter. They discovered that the baby had a damaged core, which would make her either a squib or a very weak witch. The sod actually got drunk one night and killed the baby point blank with an AK. His wife, who loved him dearly, or so she always said although I doubted it, actually ended up killing him for what he had done and got sent to Azkaban. Their first born, a boy, was a copy of his father and hated his mother for killing his father. He ended up dying young, never wanting to speak to his mother after she got out of Azkaban."

Daphne was horrified. "Do I want to know more?" she asked, and Harry actually looked at her.

"The marriage was a lie, and she had been dosed with potions," Harry replied, looking at Daphne and seeing her disbelief. "She discovered that while she was in Azkaban and never regretted killing the bastard, although she did, of course, regret being ensnared by the love potions."

Daphne felt a pang in her heart, remembering the memory of their wedding.

"Tori?!" she asked, with uncertainty and disbelief in her voice. Harry nodded and held her close.

"I don't know much apart from what Tori told me years after, but she made him suffer. He..."

"Don't," she said, burying herself into his hug. "I'd rather not know for now," she almost begged him.

"That's fine, Daph."

As she processed what Harry told her, she suddenly became angry. "He used potions on my sister? I'm going to kill him!"

"No, you won't," Harry said, regaining her attention. "I'm not saying I'll let him live, but for now I need the bastard to see his power wane and make sure he understands that he's nothing. Then I'll kill him, not you. I promised it to Tori, and I intend to keep my promise."

"Thank you," she said with a small smile, only then realizing their words. "Wait, you don't mind killing?" she asked again, somewhat fearful.

"I learned my lessons fighting the wars," Harry said, her attention focused on him. "The DOM was the turning point of a sorts, forcing me to realize that in order to survive I either had to kill or be killed." Harry looked into Daphne's eyes. "Wouldn't you, if you had to?"

Daphne looked at Harry and actually nodded with a look of steely resolve. Harry caressed her face and smiled.

"I know you would. You insisted on drilling that lesson into me during our fifth year. That's also why I wasn't that injured at the DOM. I didn't hesitate, although back then I still held back from killing, and most importantly, I wanted to go back to you. I needed to go back to you." Harry chuckled, "Dumbledore was right all along, love was the power he knew not."

Daphne frowned at Harry's monologue, not really understanding what he meant.

"Wait, did you say wars? As in more than one?" asked Daphne, breaking the moment, much to Harry's amusement.

"Yeah, I said it," he replied with a low voice and a sigh. "The second Wizarding War, also known as the Second Blood War, the third Wizarding War, which later became known as the Magic-Traitors War, and the last one, the Culling or Witching Wars," he said as Daphne stared at him with wide eyes.

"What... What does that mean?" she asked, and he shook his head.

"I'll tell you, naturally, because it's all part of the story," he said with a sigh of exasperation. "Let's go back to the original topic, all right?" Daphne nodded her agreement but didn't forget what he said. "Off topic because of Malfoy, this is priceless," he mumbled sarcastically, playing with her hair and making her chuckle.

"Go on, then. What happened after Dumbledore's death?"

"I was at Durzkaban, as usual. I knew something had happened when I got letters from you, Longbottom and Granger, the Order of the Phoenix, and the Weasleys. I had an emergency portkey that would take me to the Longbottom's, at your insistence. I packed everything I needed and took the portkey into Longbottom Hall, where you already were with Longbottom."

It was a blow for everyone, especially for us. We didn't attend the funeral for safety reasons, but I did get one last package from Dumbledore with some items he had bequeathed to me, Granger, and Weasley. Mine was the first snitch I ever caught, Granger got a copy of The Tales of Beedle the Bard, and Weasley got the old man's Deluminator. He also gifted us his notes on the Horcruxes with clues about the locations."

Noticing her look he shrugged, "I don't know what the old man was thinking." Daphne just scowled. "By then we were missing Hufflepuff's cup, Ravenclaw's diadem, his snake familiar, and myself," Harry said, ignoring Daphne's flinch and inviting her to follow him. He opened the sealed container with a wave of his wand and some Parseltongue, revealing the contents. A diadem, a locket, and a sock were inside. As she looked into the container and beheld the items, Daphne was overcome with feelings of sorrow and revulsion.

"Are those...?"

"Yeah, three of the bastard's Horcruxes," replied Harry, who smirked. "I think the diadem would look good on you, but I won't allow you to try it for now."

Daphne half blushed, half glared at him, and he closed the container again, chuckling. They went back to their chairs, and Harry just sat there for a while, quietly thinking.

"Sorry, just thinking how best to tell you everything. We laid low for the next several weeks. I stayed at Longbottom Hall for the remainder of the summer, but you and Granger would visit often. A few of the Order knew where we were, as did Weasley, and we had several meetings among those of us who knew about the Horcruxes, trying to pinpoint their locations. We knew for sure the location of the snake, as it would be at Riddle's side, but knew nothing of the cup or the diadem."

"Voldemort and his Death Eaters attacked in the beginning of July and conquered the Ministry in a blink. I became public enemy number one with a large bounty on my head and couldn't show my face in public. Those were really dark times. Then, around half July you wanted to bring some of your friends into our group. Initially everyone rejected the idea because they were Slytherins, but I trusted you above everyone else. You set up a meeting with Tracey, Theo, and Millie, who were the friends most displeased with what was happening."

"What about Blaise?" asked Daphne with a frown, "He isn't one to be a bigot."

"He went away to Italy, I believe," Harry replied, and she nodded. "I went with you, so I could watch your back under my Invisibility Cloak, and we met them at the Leaky Cauldron to try and convince them to join us," Harry said, looking at her. "I can tell you that by the end of that day I had nothing but the utmost respect for Theo."

"What did he do?" asked Daphne, and Harry smiled sadly. He brought his wand to his temple and removed a memory, placing it in the Pensieve and extending Daphne his hand. Without a word, she took it and the two went into the Pensieve.

Daphne saw the memory swirl, and then saw her older self in a room, along with Theo, who looked sullen, Tracey, who looked distracted, and Millie.

"We all know what is happening out there," older Daphne said to the three of them, and Millie sighed.

"What do you propose, then?" asked Millie, "You know me, I'm not a supremacist but I know what will happen this year. There are rumours that Death Eaters will take teaching positions at the school, and you know what that means to the muggleborns.

"If they are even accepted at Hogwarts," supplied Tracey, who looked at Theo, who was sitting with his arms crossed.

"Look, you know I don't believe in pureblood supremacy, and I know none of you do either. What I'm suggesting won't be easy, but change has to start somewhere," supplied older Daphne with a sigh.

"And so, you want to propose we put our lives on the line against the Dark Lord and the Death Eaters? Against those animals that don't respect anyone who they consider beneath him?" asked Theo in a cold tone that made real Daphne shiver. She had never heard anything like that from Theo, who she had known for years. "Do you even realize what they will do to you if they find out?"

"Theo, I know your father is a Death Eater..." started Daphne, but was quickly cut off by Theo.

"Don't you dare mention that bastard in my presence again!" he shouted at her, rising from his chair. Tracey stood after him and put a hand on his shoulder, which he avoided, moving to the window looking out into Diagon Alley. Tracey just looked hurt and went to him, hugging him from behind, crying softly. Theo turned and hugged her softly, and the both of them stayed there in silence for a few moments, while Daphne and Millie exchanged looks with each other.

"Tracey, Theo, what happened?" asked Millie, and Tracey sobbed.

"Two days ago, Tracey was at my house... and my father came home from a meeting, drunk." Theo hesitated, holding his girlfriend more tightly. "He tried to rape her while I was using the toilet," admitted Theo in a cold tone, while Tracey was shivering.

"I heard her screams and ran back to her, only to find the fucker already on top of her, trying to push her skirt up. I got him away from her but... He started to go on a rant about me, how I was an embarrassment to him for being around half-blood whores instead of decent people, how he was mocked by his friends and constantly asked when I was to take my place among Them," Theo spat the last word in anger, making it clear about whom he was speaking. Older Daphne gulped, as did real Daphne.

Theo just trembled in anger, holding Tracey tighter. "He ordered me to rape Tracey. He said either I would or he would, and that she was useful for nothing more than pleasing those better than her." He scoffed in disgust while Tracey buried herself into his hug. "I Crucio-ed him," Theo admitted, making everyone gulp in shock. "I don't know what happened, I just snapped and couldn't take it anymore. I hated him, always calling me a bastard, an embarrassment, a failure, beating me for..." Theo hesitated and looked softly at Tracey.

"All that I could handle, but having him do that, to Tracey..." Theo hesitated again. "I had him under the Cruciatus Curse for over thirty seconds, and the bastard actually laughed at me. He called me a failure and a disappointment, again, because my Crucio had nothing on the Dark Lord's. He actually got up and ordered me to move away, saying that he would take care of the half-blood bitch by himself if I wouldn't, and that he and I would be having a proper discussion later about me being a man and doing my duty by taking the Mark."

Theo scoffed again, still trembling in anger. "I cast Reductos against his knees, vanished the bones in his wand arm, and cast another Cruciatus. He was still laughing at me. He was bleeding, spitting blood, and calling me a failure and blood traitor. I couldn't take it anymore. I couldn't take anymore of him and I... I didn't cast the Avada, I... I cast a Diffindo to his neck and then I laughed, seeing his precious blood flowing from his throat. Then, I vanished him," Theo revealed, starting to break down while being held tightly by Tracey.

"Merlin, Trace, I'm sorry," he begged in a whisper.

"It wasn't your fault," she sobbed, "You saved me; you have nothing to be sorry for."

"I don't regret killing him," Theo revealed again to all in the room, looking directly at memory Daphne. "Do you understand? They respect you if you're on their side. If not you're nothing to them, nothing but sources of amusement. You are a blood traitor, and they believe it's their Merlin-given mission to put you in your place," he spat in anger.

Memory Daphne nodded.

"I know very well what I am getting myself into, Theo," Daphne replied with a cold glare. "I don't want to live in a world like this," she replied, "Do you?"

"No, but I have my own priorities," Theo snapped, glaring at the blonde. "I have to keep away until September and I have to protect Tracey from them, and that means I'll go to Hogwarts and keep her around me at all times. I don't have time to protect people who are meaningless to me."

"Theo, please," Tracey whispered and Theo looked at her.

"No, I've had it. I don't give a fuck anymore. About the old bastard I called a father, about this country or its people, about the Dark Lord, or Potter. All I care about is you, and I can care about you far away from here. I'm not taking the fucking Mark, no matter what, and after this seventh year is done, I'm taking you away for good and we can be free and safe, away from all this shit." The three girls gasped at the revelation and real Daphne was stunned. She looked at Harry and saw him looking at the other boy in the room with no small amount of respect.

"Theo, I..." Tracey started slowly, with tears in her eyes, "I don't want to run away."

"What? Why?" he asked, although he knew very well why.

"I don't want to run," she admitted, "This is my home, and I don't want to be forced to leave because of some assholes. I want to help in whatever way I can." Theo sighed, and memory Daphne smiled softly. Millie also sighed.

"Yeah, I'm not really fond of the idea of living in a society like the one rising in our country," Millie said, glancing at Daphne and nodding at the blonde. Millie didn't say anything further, but she was angered by Theo and Tracey's story. She knew she wouldn't have anyone to save her if she ever got into such a situation, and despite her self-preservation instincts telling her to stay put, she decided to actually do something about it.

Theo sighed, looking down.

"Theo, I love you, I really do, and I wouldn't say no to being with you forever, but I... I need to do this. I need to help. I want you to stay with me, but I won't ask you to do this," Tracey said, looking down as her tears fell to the ground.

"I'm not a hero," Theo replied, looking at Tracey.

"You're MY hero," she whispered hopefully, and he sighed again.

"I don't give a fuck about those cowards who can't help themselves and allow THEM to just round them up for slaughter," he said again with a sneer and Tracey nodded, saddened by his words. She kissed him softly on his lips and left his embrace, turning her back to him.

"I understand, Theo," she said again and walked away from him.

"I don't care about them...but I care about you," he said, and she turned back to him, surprised by his words, and ignoring the looks on the faces of the other two girls. "If you really think I'm letting you do this without me you're sadly mistaken. You mean more to me than you think." Tracey jumped him and kissed him fully while Daphne smiled, and Millie blushed. "And I'll kill anyone that tries to hurt you, no matter what."

"I can honestly tell you that I won't object to that," a disembodied voice sounded, one that real Daphne recognized as being Harry's. He materialized next to memory Daphne, coming out from under a cloak, mostly likely the Cloak he mentioned before.

"Potter?" Millie gasped, and Theo drew his wand, pointing it at Harry, who drew his own and pointed it back at Theo.

"Daphne, what the hell?" asked Tracey, looking back and forth from Harry to Daphne.

"Harry Potter, meet Millicent Bulstrode, Tracey Davis, and Theodore Nott Jr. Everyone, this, as you know, is Harry Potter, who happens to be my boyfriend since the end of fifth year." The girls gaped, and Theo glared at Harry, both of them pointing their wands at the other.

"Boys, put your wands away," sighed Daphne, using her hand to lower Harry's arm as Tracey did the same with Theo's. "We are supposed to be allies."

"Allies who spy on each other?" asked Theo with a glare, to which Harry shrugged.

"How else was I to ensure the safety of my girlfriend?" asked Harry, and Theo looked at him suspiciously, but at the same time seemed to understand. The two looked at each other. "I can't promise you that she'll be safe. Chances are that she won't be. Hell, I can't even ensure that Daphne will be safe, let alone the others, but what I can promise is that we will stand together and watch each other's backs."

"And if you need to kill?" asked Theo in a cold voice. Harry looked at him.

"They offer no mercy. Why should I?" asked Harry in an equally cold tone, making the other boy and the two girls raise her eyebrows in surprise. Real Daphne looked to both memory Harry and real Harry, seeing the intensity in their eyes.

"You're not what I expected, Potter." Theo said with a nod.

"You know nothing about me, Nott," Harry replied, accepting the nod. "Tom has been after me since I was born, intent on killing me. I want to live, have a family of my own, preferably with the hot blonde here with me... damn woman, that hurts," Harry complained after being hit in the ribs by Daphne's elbow, who smirked while the other two girls snorted. Harry looked into Daphne's blue eyes, "To do that, I have to win, and to win, I have to be willing to do whatever it takes to succeed." He turned to Theo again and their eyes met, and in that moment an alliance was made. "Can I count on you?"

Theo looked to Millie, and then to Daphne. They were both looking back at him expectantly. Theo felt Tracey's hand intertwine with his and he knew his answer.

"This better be worth it, Potter," Theo replied with a glare.

The memory ended, and Daphne again found herself in the room. She looked at Harry with a raised eyebrow.

"I knew Theo's father was abusive, but I never expected..." she mumbled, and Harry nodded.

"Turns out Theo and I have a lot in common," Harry replied, looking at Daphne who looked back at him, awaiting further explanation. "I won't tell you anything more. It's his tale to tell, if he wants to. I won't betray my brother's trust."

Daphne raised an eyebrow.

"Your brother?" she asked in surprise, and Harry nodded.

"Theo and I became good friends, and he stood by me until the end," supplied Harry with a smile. "We forged a bond, and in time I came to see him as family."

"I see," Daphne replied, sitting in her chair and thinking about what she had seen. "What about Blaise?"

Harry smirked.

"Well, first he came back to Britain, and finally asked Millie out the moment he saw her. He said something about getting his courage together or something like that. Mind you, when he did ask her, he was spluttering so incoherently that he had to repeat everything five times before she could even understand him properly. After they started dating, she decided to ask him to join your group, and he agreed."

"What do you mean my group?" asked Daphne.

"Theo, Tracey, and Millie gave an oath to keep the meeting secret unless they had your permission, and after that you all started to plan what to do in Slytherin that year. We dorks were kept out of the loop, and only you went to our meetings on the Horcruxes."

"Why? You didn't trust the snakes?" she asked with a glare.

"No, Daph, I trusted you above all else and I already respected Theo by then. It had nothing to do with that," replied Harry with a sigh, "You know damn well that Slytherin was a focal point at Hogwarts. If Slytherin was under control, it would only be necessary to pay attention to the teachers and the students." Daphne thought about Harry's words and actually found no fault in them.

"Fine, then, what else then?" at that, Harry shrugged.

"Well, there was a wedding, Fleur's wedding, actually," Harry said, which that got Daphne's attention "You didn't attend, and I was there under Polyjuice. The party was crashed by Death Eaters, and I had to go back to Longbottom Hall. Nothing really happened, the Death Eaters just appeared and demanded Harry Potter be handed over to them, because they knew I must be there since I was close to the groom and the bride."

"Who did she marry, then?" asked Daphne, already thinking about what he had told her earlier about his fallout with the French champion after her husband's death. She didn't need to be a genius to realize that Harry Potter's future self was involved in some way, and that the fact he didn't say it outright was because he wanted to hide it a bit longer, which meant that it was a personal matter for Harry.

"Bill Weasley," Harry replied, continuing his story, not noticing his blonde companion's eyes widening.

"Weasley…Weaselette?" she wondered, looking at Harry, who was saying something about the Horcruxes. So, the Veela's husband died avenging Weaselette, who was an accomplice to a murder?

"Daph, are you alright?" Harry asked, and Daphne looked at him.

"It was you, wasn't it?" asked Daphne, and Harry looked back at her, not understanding what she meant. "It was you that killed Weaselette and her brother, and that explains why Delacour became less than polite to you, as you put it," she stated, crossing her arms looking at him defiantly.

Harry sighed.

"Daph, I..."

"Look, Harry, I like you," she said, resisting a blush, "I like you, and I'm liking you more and more as you're telling me these stories... and I realize that sounded exactly like what a fangirl might say," she mumbled in embarrassment, and Harry smirked. "The story you're telling me is truly unbelievable, but I do believe you. I am also getting hopeful that I can one day turn into the woman you showed me I became, and I am sure that you want that as well, or else you wouldn't waste your time on me."

"Daph, I..." he tried again, only to be interrupted again.

"I'm grateful, I really am. Grateful that you trusted me in your past and that you spent your time helping me. Grateful that we fell in love, and..." she said, her eyes suddenly watering, prompting Harry to get up and walk to her side and take her hand. "Grateful that you are doing it all again, that you came back to be with me, how you said I was your main reason for coming back. I-I want to trust you, Harry," she said, a tear falling from her eye, "but you can't hide things from me, please. You said it yourself, you told me everything in our future."

"I am telling you everything, Daph," he insisted, and she nodded.

"Then why did you hide the fact that you were the one that killed Delacour's husband, that killed his sister, who had been an accomplice to a murder?"

Harry looked at her calmly.

"Does it make a difference, that I was the one that killed her?" She shook her head.

"No, and I believe you know that, and that's the reason you're being so open about it," she admitted. "I am a pureblood. I was raised among the laws of blood rights and honour duels. I understand that people die, and that people have to protect themselves from other maniacs."

"Your grandfather and your grandmother," he said, and she nodded.

"Yes, my grandfather who died of a Gouging Curse that caught him unaware during an attack, and my grandmother who died taking as many bastards as she could with her," she nodded, looking at him. "I never met them, but I learned from their deaths. I learned how I should stand up for what I believe and protect the ones I love," she replied.

"You told me. And I agreed with you, trust me," replied Harry and she smiled. He gave her a soft smile in return.

"Why haven't you told me?"

"I didn't want to scare you," he admitted, kissing her hand. She sighed.

"I don't see the point, if you are going to end up telling me how she killed me in your past," she replied defiantly.

He looked back at her in astonishment. "I should have suspected that you had already made the connection," he mumbled, shaking his head.

"It wasn't that difficult," she replied, "I want to know."

"I can tell you now, or you can wait a little longer. It's your choice," Harry replied, brushing a strand of blonde hair away from her face. "Either way, I am going to prevent it. I told you that I wanted you to fall in love with me, marry me, and live happy together, and to have that I need you to trust me and accept me as I am." Blue met green, and Daphne sighed.

I'm starting to want that too.

"I was happy, wasn't I?" she asked, and he nodded.

"I like to think so. At least you never told me you weren't," he replied with a sad look, and she smiled back at him, caressing his face.

"I want it," she whispered to him. "I'd accept you for what you've told me already without a second thought." She kissed him softly, momentarily feeling how right it seemed and smiled. "Keep on with your story and tell me everything," she whispered to him, and he nodded.

"We made our plans and had a huge fight. I couldn't go to Hogwarts, and you wanted to stay with me. We managed to reach an agreement. You, Longbottom, Theo, Tracey, Millie, and Blaise would go to Hogwarts and work from the inside, while me, Granger, and Weasley stayed outside, working to find the other Horcruxes. We had our bracelets and would be in contact every day. I also gave you the Marauder's Map but kept the Cloak with me."

"That's the Hogwarts map you showed me a couple of weeks ago? The one that was a relic from your father and uncles?" she asked, and he nodded approvingly.

"Yeah, that's the one. We had to travel light, and I had no use for it. I even released Hedwig to the wilds, and she seemed to have stayed around Longbottom Hall for a long time."

"You released Hedwig? Why?" asked Daphne, curious.

"Snowy owl. Too flashy," Harry replied and Daphne nodded, understanding his reasoning. "She hated it, of course, but after we gave her some bacon, she forgave us." Daphne smirked and Harry continued, "I can't tell you how much it sucked to be away from you. What I can tell you is that you and your group paid attention to everything and managed to gain power in the house. You managed to coordinate a resistance of sorts to the Death Eaters, and even helped the other resistance group the DA had formed, although they didn't know it. Surprisingly, at least for me, even Pansy, Greg, and Vince joined you at the time of the final battle." Daphne flinched.

"When you say it like that, it gives me a bad feeling," she admitted, and he looked back at her, sadly. He gave her a soft smile, opting to move forward in the story, telling how he, Granger, and Weasley kept hidden in the country and how they had no clue where to find the remaining Horcruxes. The diadem had disappeared along with Rowena's Ravenclaw daughter over a thousand years before, and the last known location of the cup was with Hepzibah Smith, but it disappeared after her death.

Then, around November, Weasley threw a tantrum and deserted them, leaving them in the middle of nowhere. Granger stayed, and that led to long talks and even to some bonding between them, healing some old wounds. Granger apologized for their fourth year, which she realized had left a big hole in their friendship.

Daphne listened to this apprehensively, fearing some kind of reconnection between the two, but actually felt comforted when she sensed the anger and the hate directed towards Granger as Harry spoke of it.

"No, nothing happened, Daph. I loved you too much to do anything that would put my relationship with you on the line. I can swear it if you want." Daphne shook her head. "Besides, we had our bracelets and we spoke every night. I told you everything. In fact, Granger had her own way of communicating with Longbottom as well."

"Then, something amazing happened," said Harry, looking at Daphne with a huge smile, who waved him to continue. "You sent me a message."

"And how amazing could that message be?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.

"How about 'Spoke with the Grey Lady. She's Ravenclaw's daughter and she helped me retrieve the diadem from the ROR where Tom left it. Diadem destroyed with venom.' Or something like that, at least..."

Daphne's eyebrows shot up and her mouth dropped wide open, while Harry just smiled at her. "You did it, all by yourself."

"But... How?"

Harry shrugged. "You were smart and cunning, as usual. You started doing your research and asked the Grey Lady, because she was a contemporary of Ravenclaw. And she told you she was actually Rowena's daughter Helena, and that she had stolen the diadem and fled with it to Albania, where she was murdered accidentally by the Bloody Baron. The diadem stayed there hidden until Riddle deceived her into trusting him and telling him the location. He then brought the diadem back the school after defiling it and hid it in the Room of Requirement."

"I... see," Daphne replied, in awe of herself and smiling softly at the praise he had given her.

Daphne kept listening as Harry told her about how Weasley came back thanks to the Deluminator, wanting forgiveness, and about finding the sword of Gryffindor, which was Goblin made and had absorbed basilisk venom, making it a deadly weapon and useful to kill Horcruxes.

She heard how they were captured by Voldemort's minions after breaking the taboo of the Dark Lord's name. She hid her concern and kept listening as he told her they were taken to Malfoy Manor, where Granger was tortured by Bellatrix Lestrange. That was also where Draco Malfoy had told them about his mission to kill Dumbledore the previous year, and how Snape had killed the old man because Snape had made an Unbreakable Vow with his mother and his aunt to help Draco.

Harry went on to describe how they were placed with in the dungeon with the other prisoners, including Ollivander, Luna Lovegood and her father, a goblin named Griphook, and few others. She listened as he told her how they all escaped with the help of none other than Dobby, the Malfoy's former house-elf, who was spying on the house attempting to help Harry under orders from 'Old Headmaster Whiskers's brother', who happened to be Aberforth Dumbledore, the owner of the Hog's Head. He told her how Dobby had helped all of them and was critically injured by a curse from Bellatrix Lestrange before apparating them all away from Malfoy Manor.

Daphne looked to the elf, who popped in and stood by his master like a valet. Harry actually placed his hand on the elf's shoulder.

"I was dying, Mistress," the elf said with a low voice, looking at Daphne. "Master Harry snapped and remembered some lessons you had given him about my kind, and he pushed his magic into me to try to help me. He succeeded in feeding my magic enough to save me. What also happened, however, was that our magics bound us together, and at that moment I became a Potter house-elf. I didn't say anything then because I didn't want the bitch to start raving about house elf-slavery."

"Was it then, when you became...?" asked Daphne, waving over Dobby and he shook his head. "It may have started there but my real change happened many years later, after an oath of loyalty and friendship was made. We made a pact, and my magic fed from my master's, changing me into what you see now, wiser, and more powerful."

"We will also cover that later on," replied Harry with a dark chuckle and Dobby stood firm, losing his smile.

"I was loyal to the family, and master Harry saw me more as a friend than a servant. So did you, actually," the elf said, and Daphne nodded.

"Then, what happened after?

"Granger told us that she believed there was something in the Lestrange vault, because of some of the things Bellatrix said while we were at Malfoy Manor. We suspected it might be a Horcrux and made a plan to break in Gringotts." Daphne paled, and not only because of the sheer stupidity of what he said.

"Say again?" she demanded, raising slowly from her chair with an intimidating look.

"We made a deal with the goblin we rescued to allow us to enter Lestrange vault," he said quickly, trying to avoid the anger that usually came with that look. It worked, and Daphne's look became one of curiosity instead of anger.

"How?" she asked, sitting again, at which Harry sighed in relief. Dobby failed to contain his amusement, actually laughing at him.

"What do you know of goblin law?" he asked her, and she replied, "Nothing."

"As it turns out, Gryffindor's sword, being goblin made and allegedly stolen from a goblin king, was considered an heirloom of the Goblin Nation. Remembering your lessons about how goblins are very literal, I made a deal with Griphook. In exchange for the sword, a significant quantity of galleons, and a promise to keep it secret and not rat us out to the other goblins, he'd help us destroy the Horcrux in Lestrange's vault."

"How many galleons?" asked Daphne.

"Ten thousand," replied Harry.

"TEN THOUSAND GALLEONS?!" she shouted, and he just nodded and shrugged.

"I got those back with a couple of investments. Besides, after retrieving the sword, Griphook became a hero to the Goblin Nation and was actually grateful to me, and even provided us with some information to help increase my revenues. It was a win-win situation for the both of us."

Daphne was still appalled, and Harry chuckled.

"Granger used Polyjuice to look like Lestrange, transfigured Weasley to look like a foreign wizard, and I went under my Invisibility Cloak. We met Griphook at the atrium and he took us down to the Lestrange vault and opened the door. I located the Horcrux and dropped a vial of basilisk venom on it. We saw the Horcrux die and came back up, where I gave Griphook the sword and the money. We never spoke about it again."

"That simple?" asked Daphne, and Harry nodded.

"I know, it seems hard to believe but it's true. Of course, I did promise not to steal anything, and we didn't. All we did was drop basilisk venom on the cup. No one ever knew, apart from the four of us. There was no spell fire, no epic battle, and no dragon stealing... only a successful stealth mission."

Daphne frowned.

"You infiltrated Gringotts, entered a vault that wasn't yours with a goblin's help…after bribing him with a huge sum, by the way…and say that like it was nothing?" she replied, shaking her head in partial amusement.

"Nothing compared to what happened later," Harry thought.

"Then what? With both Horcruxes destroyed, only you and the snake remained. What then? How did you even discover the one in your scar, by the way?" asked Daphne, her excitement and apprehension showing in her voice.

"We decided to come to Hogwarts after the cup. We needed to lure Tom into a trap to get him and the snake, and we had allies in the school. All we needed to do was get rid of the Death Eaters teaching and those amongst the students, and then Voldemort would come."

"Very bold plan," Daphne admonished, and he nodded.

"It was the only one," Harry replied, looking at her. "I coordinated everything with you. We arrived at Hogsmeade the evening of April twenty-ninth and met Aberforth Dumbledore at the Hog's Head. We spent the night at his house, and he helped us infiltrate Hogwarts the following afternoon, just before dinner. He had a secret passage between his pub and the dock house, and Longbottom was there waiting for us.

After Longbottom and Granger's moment he took us to the Room of Requirement, where we met up with the DA. Of course, the one I wanted to see wasn't there at all," Harry said, smiling softly at Daphne, who was getting more nervous as the story went along. "Aside from Snape, the Carrow twins, and Filch, there were only the junior Death Eaters to contend with, and they were mostly controlled thanks to you and your group."

"What did you do?" asked Daphne.

"The DA put itself under my command, and the first objective was neutralizing the Carrows. Of course, I wanted to see you first. I sent you a message and met you at the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets. All I'll tell you about it is that we were both very happy to see each other, alive and well," he said with a grin and Daphne almost blushed, smirking.

"You started to tell me everything that had happened, but Myrtle showed up and started screaming. We went both under the Cloak and waited while her screams attracted both Carrows. Lucky us," chuckled Harry, "They didn't survive point blank Reductos to the face." Daphne gulped but nodded approvingly.

"With it done, you explained to me that you had configured your bracelet to work with Longbottom's galleons, and we sent the DA a message about the Carrows, calling everyone to the Great Hall doors in fifteen minutes. After a quick kiss you left to rally the Slytherins and I followed you after a bit, under the Cloak."

"What was the plan, then?" asked Daphne again.

"Storm the Great Hall and capture Snape, who was the only Death Eater left on the staff, while you and the others would deal with the junior Death Eaters in your house." Daphne nodded, her nervousness starting to show.

"It worked almost perfectly," scowled Harry, rubbing his forehead to calm down his growing anger.

"What happened?" she asked softly, rising from her seat and walking to him, concerned.

"As soon as we entered the Great Hall, you, Tracey, Theo, Millie, Blaise, and a few others, including Pansy, surprisingly, stunned all the junior Death Eaters."

"Pansy is not that bad," admonished Daphne, and Harry nodded.

"I didn't know that then, did I?" he asked, and she nodded. Harry sighed.

"Snape surrendered when he realized what was happening," he replied, looking at Daphne. "But before we could do anything, McGonagall and the other heads of house came to his aid."

"What?" asked a shocked Daphne, not knowing what to say.

"As we came to discover, it was all Dumbledore's plan. His own murder at the hands of Snape to help Malfoy and secure Snape's place as a spy, knowing he would be the one to be placed as a headmaster. That way, he could control the damage done by the Death Eaters and protect the students, all the while working with Aberforth to help me with my own quest."

Daphne sat in silence for a while.

"What kind of an idiotic plan is that?" she snapped, anger taking ahold of her. Harry shook his head and rose from his chair.

"Apparently, he had told McGonagall, Sprout, and Flitwick at the beginning of the year. Imagine our surprise when McGonagall told us that she knew about everything and that she was very proud of our actions," scoffed Harry, his anger clear in his eyes.

"Oh, I got really angry and wanted nothing more than put the bastard down, but then McGonagall gave one hundred points to every house for house unity and called me, Granger, and Weasley to a meeting. We went, but I took you with me and Longbottom joined us after relaying my orders to call Aberforth and summon everyone from the Order of the Phoenix to come to Hogwarts."

Harry chuckled, "Can you imagine the shock when I kissed you in public that first time?"

"Would you show me?" Daphne asked with a soft tone and a small smile. He returned her smile and nodded, pulling a memory from his temple with his wand. The both of them went into the Pensieve, and Daphne saw herself in the Great Hall between the staff table and Harry, who was surrounded by several students from the DA.

"Fine, you'll have your meeting, but I want answers," snarled Harry, and McGonagall gulped. Memory Harry turned his back on the staff and spoke to the DA, "Nev, send word to Aberforth to call all the remaining members of the Order of the Phoenix. We will need all the help we can get to defend the castle. This is for all of you as well. If you have friends or family that can and wish to join us, please, call them. We will need every able wand against the Dark Lord when he comes for us."

"What makes you think we would help you, Potter?" asked a voice from Ravenclaw.

"Leave, if you want," replied Harry coldly, leaving no room for arguments. No one else said a thing. "Madam Pomfrey can coordinate the departure of the younger students with Abe."

"Why do you think you are entitled to order anyone, Potter?" sneered Snape, clearly ready to speak more of his mind.

"Your predecessor's training, Death Eater. The man you killed at the tower, remember him?" sneered Harry, making people gasp and others nod in agreement. "Now, Hermione, Ron, Neville, come on," Memory Harry said, walking to the Slytherin table.

"Potter, where are you going?" asked McGonagall, seeing him going the wrong way.

"Hey guys, great job," Harry said with nod to the whole house while ignoring McGonagall, surprising all of them with his words. Then he kissed Daphne in front of everyone, who gasped in shock at the sight.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" shrieked Ginny Weasley, being ignored by Harry and Daphne, who had embraced him by the neck.

"You foolish Gryffindor. If that wasn't a flashy move to show your superiority and leadership, I have no idea what is," Daphne said with a smile and both of them chuckled, "But I forgive you."

"Come along, I'll need your help with that," Harry pointed to the professors and Daphne nodded, losing the smile. Harry looked to the Slytherins, almost all looking astonished at the two of them. Astoria Greengrass was imitating a fish, as were her friends. Nott, Davis, Bulstrode, and Zabini were snickering.

"Ladies, gents... It's a pleasure to see you again. Great job, by the way," Harry said to the group.

"Glad to have you back, Potter," replied Nott with a nod, smirking. "Your girlfriend had been almost unbearable since you told her you were coming back."

The six laughed, the only sound heard until a very excited Astoria Greengrass shouted a very loud 'WHAT?!' that made Daphne flinch. She would no doubt demand all the juicy details. Not only that, but many others became vocal, demanding answers, especially a certain redheaded female Weasley.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOUR GIRLFRIEND?"

With a wink to Daphne, Harry climbed on the table and offered Daphne his hand, which she took with a mocking sigh. In fact, she knew what he wanted to do and was amused by it.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, allow me to explain..." Harry said, holding Daphne at his side, who was smiling. "This lovely woman that every single one of you know and fear is Daphne Greengrass. What you don't know is that she has been my girlfriend since the end of our fifth year, as well as my partner in all things and the one I trust above all else," he revealed, and many shouted in either anger or joy.

"HOW COULD YOU? SHE'S NOTHING BUT A SLIMY SNAKE!" shouted Ginny Weasley, attracting the attention of everyone, especially Harry and Daphne, who glared at the redhead.

"For your information, Weasley, snakes aren't slimy at all," answered Harry with a cold glare, making Daphne snort. "And yes, she's a proud snake, if not one of the greatest in her house, who managed to inspire her housemates to stand with us today," replied Harry as he looked around at those dressed in Slytherin robes, noticing their appreciation of his recognition, as well as their awe of him and Daphne.

Harry couldn't help but feel surprised as he noticed Pansy Parkinson among the awake Slytherins, looking at the both of them in disbelief. "And you know what? I love her with all that I am," he admitted in public, and Daphne rolled her eyes while smiling, kissing Harry softly and leaving people gaping.

"Enough with the speeches, there's a meeting to go to," she admonished, and both of them climbed down from the table, holding hands while walking to the professors, who were also flabbergasted.

Real Daphne could only smile as she watched everything that had happened, holding real Harry's hand. She looked to the Slytherin table and saw Tracey leaning into Theo and Millie leaning into Blaise. She also saw her sister almost jumping in her chair talking to her friends, certainly about her. She looked around at the others in the hall, ignoring the several students lying unconscious on the floor, and saw the shock and disgust on the face of Weaselette, who was glaring at both Harry and Daphne. Her brother was also disgusted but was keeping it hidden slightly better.

Some other dorks girls were also glaring at them, but most in the hall were just surprised and stunned, talking among themselves about the revelation, forgetting for a moment that they were in the middle of a war…

The memory ended and Harry and Daphne saw themselves back in the rooms in the Chamber.

"Well, that was fun," she said with a soft smile and Harry actually laughed.

"Yeah..." he said, smiling softly at her.

"What's wrong?" she asked, having noticed his vacant expression.

"I'm thinking how to tell you of the next part," Harry said, sitting back in his chair with a pensive look. Daphne's amusement quickly faded and she sat next to him, looking at him closely.

"Promise you won't curse me? Badly, at least?" he asked, without any smile though. She could tell it was very serious.

"No," she replied, and he rolled his eyes with a snort.

"Fine," he said, holding her hand, caressing the back with his thumb.

"According to Snape, Riddle was looking for the Elder Wand and already knew that Dumbledore had been its previous master, suspecting that he had hidden it somewhere in Hogwarts after his death."

"But you had it, didn't you?" she asked, and he shook his head.

"No, I didn't. You did," he confessed, and Daphne's eyes widened in surprise. "I told you about it and we decided that you should keep it safe. Who knew what would happen if someone took it from me?" he wondered, shaking his head again. "You had it in your trunk, and only you and I knew about it. Of course, we said nothing about it to Snape, and told him we had no idea what he was talking about. He tried to use Legilimency on me, and to be honest I actually felt really great after punching him in his nose. You approved as well." Daphne, who was still in shock with the revelation, actually gaped.

"You punched him?" she asked, and he nodded.

"Broke his nose, too," he replied with a smile. "After we all calmed down and I got an earful from McGonagall and Granger, we discussed what should be done, and it was decided that we would attract Voldemort to Hogwarts. Snape used his Dark Mark and summoned him, telling him I was at Hogwarts inciting a student rebellion and he needed backup. To maintain his disguise, he went to Voldemort side."

"So?" asked Daphne, spurring him to continue.

"Reinforcements arrived for our side, mostly the Order of the Phoenix and some true Aurors. The juniors were put in the dungeons, and we waited until around nine, when the wards reported arrivals," Harry explained. "Death Eaters and Snatchers attacked, but we managed to repel them. We lost several people, though, among them my uncle Moony, you know, our Defence teacher from last year, who threw himself in front of a Killing Curse to save his wife. She took it badly, very badly, and ended up dead the same night, leaving behind a small child only a couple months old, Teddy," Daphne nodded, seeing the pain on Harry's eyes.

"When the battle was won, Voldemort sent us all a message for me to surrender before midnight or he would kill us all. The message was ignored, and we kept preparing and mourning our dead. Seeing my uncle and his wife dead was hard for me, but you helped. And then McGonagall gave me a vial of Snape's memories with very important information from Dumbledore that I needed to see as soon as possible," Harry said with a snarl and Daphne narrowed her eyebrows, waiting for more.

"Believing it was important, we rallied the group and went to the headmaster's office, McGonagall, Flitwick, Sprout, me, you, Theo and Tracey, Blaise and Millie, and Granger and Longbottom. Weasley was too occupied doing something," Harry explained with a sigh. "Basically, it was a memory of Dumbledore and Snape talking. Among several things, I discovered that Snape had been the one who told Voldemort about the prophecy that set him on my family. Apparently, he had loved my mother and begged his master for her life, but he didn't trust him and went to Dumbledore to protect all of us, and he still loved her all those years after her death."

Harry snorted, not looking at Daphne. "His Patronus was a doe, after my mother, I believe...but that wasn't all. The kicker was when Dumbledore said that I was a Horcrux, having a piece of Voldemort's soul attached to my scar. So in order to kill Voldemort permanently, it was essential that he killed me by his own hand, to make sure that the piece of soul was destroyed," Harry revealed, playing with Daphne's hand. He felt her flinch and looked up at her. She was appalled and terrified, but the only thing she was able to say was, "Why?" Harry shrugged, "Dumbledore spoke in riddles...it was a sort of a plan for my survival, but I don't think he was sure it would work."

"But...but...how?" she asked fearfully. Harry smiled, drawing his wand, and taking a memory from his head, placing it in the Pensieve.

"I was mad. Very angry," Harry said, ignoring her question and looking at the Pensieve. "McGonagall knew...the bitch knew everything and actually tried to make me understand that it was necessary, that my sacrifice was necessary." Daphne squeezed his hand in anger. Only then did he look at her, seeing how distressed she was. "It's better if I show you."

"No," she replied, tears forming in her eyes, hugging him and almost sobbing.

"Daph, please, I need you to see it," Harry replied softly while holding her in his arms.

"Why?" she asked in a whisper.

"Because that was the first time I spat on the Light side," confessed Harry. Daphne withdrew from him and looked at him in surprised, her sapphire eyes still wet.

"You what?" she asked again, apprehension in her voice.

"Don't be afraid, Daph, please. Let me show you what happened." Daphne nodded slowly, looking at him. He caressed her lips and kissed her softly.

When the kiss ended, he took her hand and went to the Pensieve.

"Daph, this memory will be long and emotional, at least for me. Please, don't think any less of me," he asked her, and she only nodded.

The two teens went into the Pensieve, and Daphne saw herself in a nice office, filled with books, paintings, and other items on the walls. Certainly, the headmaster's office. It should be a nice place if a very angry Harry Potter hadn't been there, shouting at McGonagall while an appalled memory Daphne stood by the Pensieve, crying. As for the other occupants, the students stood away from the angry teen, with only Granger attempting to calm him down and help her teacher. Professor Flitwick was leaning against the wall, and Professor Sprout seemed appalled by Harry's reaction.

"THIS WAS YOUR PLAN?" shouted Harry, "LETTING ME HAVE A SHITTY LIFE FOR THIS MOMENT? BREAK ME SO THAT I WOULD ACCEPT IT WITH NO SECOND GUESSES?"

"Mr. Potter, please..." tried McGonagall, while Flitwick shook his head in disappointment. Sprout was just pale.

"Harry, watch your language!" tried Granger, being ignored.

"FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU AND THE FUCKING DEATH EATER AND THE FUCKING MEDDLING OLD BASTARD! YOU HAD NO RIGHT TO DO THIS TO ME!"

"I GAVE ALL I HAD, BLOOD, SWEAT AND TEARS. I HAD TO DO YOUR FUCKING JOB IN FIRST YEAR AND SAVE THE FUCKING STONE BECAUSE YOU WERE SITTING ON YOUR ASS, DOING SHIT, AND NOT BELIEVING ME. IN SECOND YEAR, EVERYONE ACCUSED ME OF BEING THE FUCKING HEIR OF SLYTHERIN AND GET THIS, I AM, THROUGH MY MOTHER'S SIDE!" he shouted, and everyone's jaw dropped. Real Daphne looked at real Harry in surprise. He nodded and leaned toward the memory.

"YOU ALLOWED THEM TO MAKE ME A PARIAH AND MADE ME GO ALONE AGAIN TO THE CHAMBER BECAUSE NONE OF YOU COULD BE BOTHERED TO DO YOUR FUCKING JOB AGAIN! IN THIRD YEAR, INSTEAD OF EXPLAINING EVERYTHING, YOU KEPT ME IN THE DARK AND GUESS WHAT, MY PARENT'S BETRAYER HAD BEEN LIVING AT MY SIDE AS A RAT ANIMAGUS. SIRIUS WAS INNOCENT AND WAS PUT IN AZKABAN FOR TWELVE FUCKING YEARS FOR FUCKING NOTHING BECAUSE NO ONE COULD DO THEIR FUCKING JOBS PROPERLY!

IN FOURTH YEAR, AGAIN, YOU ALLOWED EVERYONE TO MOCK ME AND FORCED ME TO COMPETE IN THE FUCKING TOURNAMENT THAT BROUGHT FUCKING RIDDLE BACK! LET'S NOT FORGET YOUR BRILLIANT ADVICE TO KEEP MY HEAD LOW IN MY FIFTH YEAR AND THE STUPID LESSONS WITH SNAPE WHO DID EVERYTHING BUT FUCKING TEACH ME! NOT TO MENTION LAST YEAR, INSTEAD OF TEACHING ME, THE OLD FART MADE ME SEE MEMORIES FOR HALF THE YEAR INSTEAD OF TEACHING ME, BUT NOW I KNOW WHY, DON'T I? MY LIFE SUCKED BECAUSE YOU WANTED ME TO DIE AND WERE ALL TOO COWARDLY TO DO IT YOURSELVES, WEREN'T YOU?" asked memory Harry, not showing any sign of calming down. Memory Daphne whimpered in Tracey's arms, who was looking at Harry in shock, as was everyone else in the room. "GIVE ME A FUCKING REASON WHY I WASN'T TOLD. GIVE ME A REASON WHY YOU DRAGGED THIS FOR SEVENTEEN YEARS! TELL ME!"

"I... I didn't know," replied McGonagall, herself already in tears.

"I just want to say that I discovered Dumbledore's plan only at the beginning of the year and I found it abhorrent. I know it means little, but I agree with your reaction, Mr. Potter," Flitwick said with his arms crossed. Sprout said nothing, lowering her eyes to the floor.

"Harry, calm down and behave yourself!" admonished Granger, stepping forward. "What is wrong enough for you to be shouting?"

"Before Riddle can be killed, it's not only the snake that needs to be destroyed. So do I," snarled memory Harry. Real Daphne flinched at the tone and saw the Slytherins look at each other doubtfully. Longbottom didn't seem to understand but Granger did, gasping and bringing her hands to her mouth in shock.

"No... No, it can't be," Granger said in fear, and memory Harry actually nodded.

"It makes sense and explains the link between us. Even it was accidental and purely a case of bad luck, I am a Horcrux. AND DUMBLEDORE KNEW AND DID NOTHING!"

Granger started to cry against Longbottom's chest, who was appalled.

"What's a Horcrux?" asked Blaise, drawing the attention of everyone.

"Riddle's little secret. To be immortal, he tore his soul in pieces and bound them inside items. While the items remain, he can't be killed. That's what we have been doing for the past year, finding his Horcruxes and destroying them. All but one and himself, we believed... but apparently, I am one too. I have been living with a piece of him on my scar for seventeen years, and now that I did my job, or at least most of it, I am once again expendable, like always. Only this time, I won't go back to the muggle filth I live with, I actually am expected to allow Riddle to kill me.

No one made a sound. Everyone was in shock with the revelation.

"I hope you're proud of yourself, Albus Dumbledore, you idiotic old fart," mumbled an angry Flitwick, slowly glancing at the previous headmaster's painting, which was hidden in a corner, yet to activate.

"Now it makes sense, doesn't it? Why my life sucked so much, why I was always the scapegoat and the punching bag. It was necessary for me to accept this moment. Because life would suck so much that I would want the embrace of death. ALL THIS TIME I HAVE BEING RAISED AS A PIG FOR THE SLAUGHTER!"

"STOP. No more," begged memory Daphne between sobs. Memory Harry stopped shouting and looked back at her. She was still in Tracey's arms but was looking at him in a mix of anger, desperation, and fear. Harry's anger disappeared in a flash, and he ran to her, embracing her tightly and possessively. Daphne buried her face in his neck, and he felt the tears running down while her body trembled with sobs. For his part, Harry allowed the tears to fall, holding her tighter, which made her cry even more.

"It's not fair," mumbled Harry.

Daphne sobbed a 'No'.

Neither of them proposed fleeing. It just wasn't like them. They remained there in each other's embrace, crying and sobbing, watched by all, who were also sullen and crying.

"I hate them," confessed Harry, "Tom, Dumbledore...He had seventeen years..." Daphne hugged him tighter, a clear message that she didn't want to hear about them. Harry shut up that instant.

"I love you, Daph," Harry said after some moments, the tears flowing. "I wanted nothing more than to marry you, for you to be the mother of my children, grow old together and be all we could be together. Partners, as always. I'll always love you. Forever."

"No. You are not going," she sobbed, attempting to be strong.

"You know I have to," he whispered to her in a broken voice. It was clear he didn't want to go.

"I love you," she sobbed to him and the two kissed for several minutes. No one had the courage to stop them, even if they wanted to. "You helped me become who I am..." Daphne said in a whisper, leaning her forehead against his.

"Had it not been for you, I wouldn't be who I am today either."

"Lord Potter-Black, heir of Slytherin," she joked and attempted a small chuckle, which was immediately drowned by a sob. "I love you so much, my Harry."

"If I could, I'd stay with you, forever," he mumbled.

"I know," she said, looking into his eyes and seeing the decision there, along with the anger he was repressing at that moment, and all the love he felt for her.

"I'm going with you," memory Daphne said, alarming everyone in the room, who all looked at her at the same time.

"But...but Daph..." tried a shocked Tracey, who was in Theo's arms, who was himself looking at Harry with a lot of respect. Daphne ignored her friend and looked to Harry again.

"I am going with you and that's final," Daphne said again.

"I wouldn't have it any other way, my love," Harry replied with a small and sad, teary smile. Daphne leaned in and kissed him again before they looked at each other again, their eyes showing their resolve. "Always remember, my Daphne, I love you and I always will," he said. Daphne looked at him and felt a poke on her ribs.

"Stupefy." A flash of red surrounded memory Daphne. She didn't fall on the ground because memory Harry held her softly in his arms, bridal style. He ignored the confusion and the questions that rose at once and glared at McGonagall.

"Make yourself useful and transfigure a bed for me," he ordered in a cold and hateful tone. McGonagall did it at once.

"Why?" asked Flitwick, approaching the young man.

"Because she doesn't need to die tonight," replied Harry to the short professor, placing Daphne on the bed before sitting with her for a moment and caressing her face. He kissed her one last time in the lips, and again on the forehead.

Harry took something from his pocket and placed it into Daphne's hand. "Make sure she gets this," he asked, looking to the Slytherins. Blaise and Theo nodded to each other while Millie and Tracey nodded to him.

"She loves you," said Tracey, "She would go with you to the end."

"I know," he replied with a soft smile. "And that's why I need her here, to make sure someone goes to the end and kills the bastard. That, and I don't want her to see me dying," he sighed.

"Tell her I love her," he said, looking at the other teens in the room. None of them bothered trying to hold back their tears. "I guess this is it. Oh, please don't wake her before you see the sign. I don't want her to go after me."

"What sign?" asked Theo.

"You'll see," said Harry with a most ominous and vicious smile, getting up and walking to the door.

"Potter…Harry, wait," asked McGonagall and Harry stopped, not looking at her.

"I'm sorry," the elder witch said, not able to say anything else.

"I'll walk with you to the doors," said Theo after saying something to Tracey, who nodded. Harry nodded.

"I'm going too," replied Flitwick.

The three left the room in silence.

"It may not mean a lot, Mr. Potter, but I am very proud of you. Your parents would be too," said Flitwick, and Harry nodded.

"Do your best to kill the son of a bitch, Professor," said Harry, and the diminutive professor actually chuckled.

"I will, Mr. Potter."

"I won't promise you that she'll be safe, but I promise you we'll have each other's backs," said Theo, mirroring the same oath Harry had given several months before.

"I wouldn't ask any less of you, my friend," replied Harry with a smirk.

"Thanks for the chance to actually clean my family's name, Potter... Harry."

"Tell that to Daphne. She proposed bringing you into our group, and I trust her with all that I am."

"You're whipped," Theo joked.

"Very much so, yes," replied Harry with a smile.

They reached the castle doors, which were closed. Professor Flitwick opened them with a wave of his wand.

"You have a plan, don't you?" asked Theo, looking at Harry, who just nodded. "Give them hell."

"I intend to," replied Harry. Theo nodded and extended his hand. The two teens shook hands and the memory started to change.

"Why did you stun me?" asked a tearful Daphne, looking at Harry. "I would have gone with you."

"I know," replied Harry, seeing the image changing into the Forbidden Forest.

"Then why?" she asked again, focusing on the memory again.

Harry stood at the entrance of the forest, holding the snitch in his hand.

"This is it, you old bastard. All your fucking plans brought me into this moment. The moment of my own death," he snorted. "But I'm ready. No thanks to you, though." He heard a metallic sound and saw the snitch opening to reveal a black stone hidden in its interior. No matter how much he despised the old man, Harry knew that he didn't do anything without a reason. Harry picked up the stone and held it in his hand, focusing his magic on it. When he looked up from the stone, his eyes widened as he noticed that he wasn't alone anymore. Around him he saw his mother, his father, Remus, and Sirius, all looking proudly at him.

"Wha..." he mumbled, looking around.

"You've been so brave, my son," Lily Potter said with a smile.

"Mum? Dad? Padfoot? Moony?" mumbled Harry.

"That's us, son," replied James Potter with a smile.

"Is this real? Are you real?" asked Harry, and Remus smiled.

"You're holding the Resurrection Stone, Harry," the werewolf replied, and Harry understood, as did real Daphne, who was astounded by what she was seeing.

"I never wanted this to happen. Remus, you and Tonks...your son, he..."

"He'll be fine," Remus said with a smile, "We knew we could die but we came, nonetheless. One day, hopefully, he'll understand." Harry nodded.

"Your death was kind of anti-climactic, wasn't it?" Harry asked Sirius, who smiled. "I'm sorry I..."

"Your heart was in the right place. Had I fought more 'me-ly', I would have survived." Harry smiled at the horrible pun, as did Sirius. Harry turned to his parents.

"Thank you for a chance at living," he said, and his parents smiled at him. "It wasn't long but...It was...thank you," he said, thinking of Daphne. "Although, why didn't you have the Cloak with you? Why didn't you have a plan B or C? Why Godric's Hollow instead of Potter Manor?" Lily and James looked sullen.

"We never considered the Cloak, actually," revealed James. "We went to a smaller cottage because it was more well-hidden, and Dumbledore actually added extra wards to the house. Your mother put the Fidelius on top and we never thought we would need more."

Harry sighed.

"Daphne was right, as usual. We Gryffindors always charge ahead with the least planning possible," he said, and the four apparitions smiled.

"I'm sorry you won't be able to be with her, honey," his mother said. He nodded, looking up to the sky.

"So am I," he replied, looking down again with teary eyes. "Are you fine with it? That she's a Slytherin?" Harry asked.

"She is?" asked a surprised James, earning both a glare from his son and a nudge from his wife. "Of course, son. All that matters if that you're happy. I hope you have been respectful with her?" his father asked, although it seemed forced by his wife.

Harry smiled and nodded. His mother seemed to like that reply.

"Does it hurt?" Harry asked, and Sirius shook his head.

"Faster than falling asleep."

"Then I guess we'll meet again in a bit," Harry said with a smile, receiving another in return from the apparitions.

"Good luck darling/son/pup/cub," they all said before vanishing into the air. Harry smiled and considered throwing away the Stone, making sure it would be lost. Instead, with a spell, he stuck the Stone to one root of a tree and left it there.

Harry could almost facepalmed himself when he remembered he hadn't said anything to Dobby.

"Dobby!" he called, and the hyperactive house-elf appeared before him, with teary eyes.

"Master Harry Potter sir called?" the elf sobbed, and Harry put a hand on his shoulder.

"Hey, Dobby. I've never really thanked you for all you did for me, have I, my friend?" Dobby shed more tears, babbling because 'The great Harry Potter sir wanted to thank Dobby and called him a friend'. Harry looked at the elf "Can I ask one last favour from you, Dobby?"

Dobby nodded.

"When I fall, take my body and my wand to a safe location in Hogwarts. Then, tell Daphne where my body is and bond with her, all right?" Dobby nodded and Harry hugged him, making him bawl even more.

"Kreacher!" Harry called, and the ancient elf appeared before him.

"Master called?" the old elf asked, clearly distraught.

"We didn't actually see eye to eye for some time, Kreacher, but I want you to go to Andromeda Tonks, née Black and help her to take care of her grandson, who I name my heir."

"Kreacher will, Master," the old elf said, his ears low.

"Remember that I may still need you. Wait for my call but remain hidden. In case I don't call you, then go, my friends, and goodbye." The two elves disappeared and Harry sighed, drawing his wand.

The memory changed again, and Daphne saw Harry walking into a clearing. She gasped when she saw the several Death Eaters there, along with the Dark Lord himself.

"Harry Potter," the Dark Lord said in a solemn tone.

"No, Harry, what are you doing here?" shouted Hagrid, who apparently was a prisoner of the Death Eaters.

"Shit..." mumbled Harry after hearing the half-giant.

"The Boy-Who-Lived...Comes to die." Voldemort raised his wand and Daphne looked from real Harry to Memory Harry. Hisses were heard among the Death Eaters.

"Take Hagrid away, Dobby, Kreacher," whispered memory Harry and at once, two pops were heard. There was confusion among the Death Eaters and even Voldemort looked back, trying to see what was happening. The moment Harry saw Hagrid disappear and had confirmation that both Dobby and Kreacher were fine, he held his wand aloft towards the place where he heard the hisses.

At once, his wand spewed flames, but not normal flames. These grew too fast and took the shapes of flaming serpents, chimaeras, and dragons, setting ablaze the area they hit. A huge hiss was heard near the demonic fire, followed by a green cloud that was engulfed by the flames, leaving behind no traces of anything. There were also screams of terror from several Death Eaters as they were set ablaze by the demonic fire, having no chance of survival. The fires spread too fast, and of all those there only three knew how to control that curse. Two of them were already dueling, and the last one was Bellatrix Lestrange, who was watching the duel wide-eyed instead of dealing with the Fiendfyre, which had already done its job, destroying the snake-Horcrux. The flames burned high, and although none realized it at the time, real Harry knew that the flames were seen from Hogwarts.

Daphne looked on in astonishment as the flames erupted from Harry's wand and burned all in its path. She recognized the spell, although she wasn't able to cast it, and was amazed by its power. She understood Harry's plan at once, especially when she saw several Death Eaters falling dead on the ground, burned alive and consumed by the flames. With the snake dead, only Harry and Voldemort remained. Daphne looked at real Harry and couldn't help but feel very proud, watching once again a great duel between the two mortal enemies, inside a ring of Fiendfyre.

Harry dodged a chain of spells and cast a Reducto and a Confringo, while the Dark Lord retaliated with a Crucio, a Blood Boiler, and a Flaying Curse. Several more spells were traded until Voldemort ordered Bellatrix to put out the fires.

"Curse you, Potter!" shouted the Dark Lord, and Harry smirked.

"Less servants for you means less problems for my friends in the castle," Harry replied.

"Ah, you realized my deception. Of course, I am going to Hogwarts to catch your meddlesome friends and make an example of them."

"We'll see about that. I'm still here. All that bravado from you, and the Boy-Who-Lived is still alive," Harry provoked him.

"You insolent boy! Avada Kedavra!" the Dark Lord shouted. It was time.

"I love you, my Daphne." Harry was hit by the green light, falling immediately. The memory started to change from the orange of the demonic flames to a blinding white.

Daphne was crying again, only this time her fear and her curiosity were overwhelmed by her pride for the green-eyed wizard, who had just inflicted a massive blow against the Dark Lord, even if he paid with his life.

Harry woke up in a white hall that much resembled King's Cross Station. His head was throbbing, but he rose from the floor and looked around. There was nothing but white all around him. There were no trains either. He looked around and thought he saw something under a bench. Curious, he walked over, only to be taken aback when he saw what appeared to be a naked child, mutilated and weak, which looked very much like Voldemort.

"What the..." he asked himself.

"You can't help him, Harry," he heard a voice say. Harry froze, not looking to the source of the voice. "You wonderful, brave boy."

"Dumbledore," sneered Harry, rising slowly and looking towards the source of his anger. Dumbledore was shocked at Harry's reaction. "You bastard, why? Why did you do this to me? Why did you condemn me to a miserable life? Why did you allow me to live with that thing on my forehead? You knew all along, didn't you? ANSWER ME!"

"Harry, I didn't..."

"DON'T LIE TO ME!" Harry shouted, walking to the older wizard and grabbing him by his robes. "YOU COULD HAVE TOLD ME! YOU KNEW BEFORE YOU DIED!" he shouted, and to his shock, Dumbledore shed a tear.

"Yes, I knew but what was I supposed to say, Harry? I didn't lie to you when I said I didn't know of any other way to destroy a Horcrux."

"Didn't you perform tests on me when I was a baby?" asked Harry, slightly calmer.

"We did, but we made the mistake of believing it was only a trace of the curse. I only started to suspect Horcruxes during your fifth year, Harry, despite even the incident with the diary in your second year. I confirmed my suspicions only when you told me about the visions."

"And you said nothing," he snarled, and Dumbledore dropped his head.

"To my shame, it is true. Besides, I was terrified about the knowledge I had just gained."

"Why should I believe you?" Harry asked with a glare, just before letting go of Dumbledore's robes. "Bah, it's too late, now. I don't really hate you, but you sure screwed up a lot of things with me. You could have trained me better, you could have realized that the blood wards that protected me from magicals did nothing to muggles that wanted to hurt me and placed me with Sirius, at least after better investigating what had happened..." Harry looked away from the old man, failing to notice his smile.

"Tell me, Harry, are you happy?

"No," he replied.

"And why is that?" asked Dumbledore.

"Because I died, and instead of meeting my family while I wait for Daphne, which I hope is several decades away, I am in Limbo talking to you," replied a sarcastic Harry, making Dumbledore smile.

"Ah, yes, the lovely Ms. Greengrass. How was she?"

"Beautiful. She's a leader, since she recruited Slytherin house to our cause during the year. Brave, because she went against Voldemort and the Death Eaters under Snape and the Carrows' noses. Crushed, because I stunned her and sacrificed myself alone when she wanted to die at my side," Harry replied, and Dumbledore nodded with his maddening smile.

"Why did you go to meet Voldemort alone?" asked Dumbledore again, and Harry sighed.

"I had a plan. Torch the area where the snake was with Fiendfyre, wish the for the best and get hit by a Killing Curse. If I managed to cripple Voldemort, all the better, but... She would die a meaningless death if she had come. She can do more at Hogwarts, she can survive, live a long life, and..." Harry didn't notice the tears in his own eyes until they started to fall. "I didn't want her to die. I wasn't afraid to die, and I know she wasn't either...but I didn't want her to die. She is amazing, smart, and kind. She wants to be a healer and she actually learned from Poppy. She can still do a lot for the world. I didn't want her to give up on herself because of me."

Daphne shed a tear and felt her heart race as memory Harry confessed what he thought of her.

"You foolish idiot," she whispered, holding real Harry's hand.

"You foolish idiot in love, please," replied Harry with a smile, holding her closely with one arm. Daphne leaned her head onto him and kept watching.

Dumbledore beamed even more.

"Love truly is an amazing power, is it not? Maybe it was your love that motivated your actions?" the headmaster said, before looking around. "Tell me, Harry where are we?"

"I don't know, Limbo?" the young man replied, taking Dumbledore aback.

"Well, yes, but I was asking about the manifestation of Limbo." Harry looked at Dumbledore as if he was mad. "You see, this is, as they say it, your party. Why did your Limbo manifest itself as such?"

"How would I know? And it seems to be King's Cross Station," the teen replied, not really amused by the old man's antics.

"What happens in a train station, Harry?" asked Dumbledore, making the teen sigh.

"It's a hub for trains and people," Harry replied, noticing the amused look on Dumbledore's face, wanting him to go on. "Trains arrive and depart to their destinations?"

"So, hypothetically, should you want to go on, would you hop a train?" asked the old man.

Harry became stiff. Dumbledore always had a reason.

"I suppose so. Should I, hypothetically, want to go back..."

"I suppose you could hop a train..." the old man said.

"I'm dead," was Harry's reply.

"Ah, you see, only one soul needs to die, Harry, and luckily we have a piece of a soul to make the journey," replied Dumbledore, pointing to the mutilated childlike thing under the bench.

"So, I could go back and..."

"Be with your lovely girlfriend? I don't see why not," replied an amused Dumbledore as Harry picked up the piece of soul by a leg and willed a train to "go on," as Dumbledore had put it. When the train arrived, white as everything else, the carriage doors opened and Harry threw the piece of soul inside, closing the door again.

"I want a train to go back to the world of the living, I want a train to go back to the world of the living, I want a train to go back to the world of the living..." Harry willed and while the other departed another arrived from the opposite direction.

"I guess this is it," said Dumbledore, losing the smile and looking at Harry.

"Yes," replied Harry, looking at Dumbledore. "Can you tell me if all the Horcruxes are gone?"

"Only Tom remains now, Harry," replied Dumbledore, and Harry nodded.

"I don't know if I will ever be able to forgive you for all the manipulations in my life, for everything that might have been if you had tried harder, and all that was lost because of your negligence." Dumbledore looked down and accepted Harry's words. He, in fact, wasn't amused with Harry's life at all, but he believed it to be necessary. He was wrong. Very wrong. "But I am grateful for all your help. It wasn't ideal, but sometimes, you actually helped me. Thank you," Harry said, extending his hand to the older man, who was shocked. The shock disappeared and was replaced with a smile as he shook the teen's hand.

"I wish you a long and happy life, Harry Potter," the former headmaster said.

"May you find the peace you desire," replied Harry, turning back to his train, not noticing the proud look on the older man's face. The train left, and the memory started to change again, to a darker setting.

He recognized the bed in the Chamber of Secrets and got up. His hands were crossed over his chest, with his wand between them. Of course, what caught his attention immediately was the shriek Kreacher let go when Harry rose from the bed, proceeding to gawk at him with large eyes.

"Ma...Mas...Ma…Master?" the ancient elf asked before fainting on the floor. Harry held back a chuckle and got up, feeling dizzy, and walked a few steps before picking up the elf and placing it in the bed. Then, he heard a new sound, the sound of popping from behind him, and an even worse shriek and something about Master Harry Potter sir being a nasty dead who walks...or something. Despite Dobby's vocal tirade, Harry's eyes were immediately drawn to Daphne, her eyes red and swollen, her makeup smudged, tears falling from her eyes. However, her eyes were wide, gazing at him as her mouth was opened in an 'O'.

"Harry?" she asked, uncertain.

"Your name is Daphne Persephone Greengrass, after your mother, whom you're not that fond of. Your heroes are your grandparents, who died together. You want to be a healer. We met in our fifth year, when you asked for my help. We started dating at the end of that year, on the night my godfather died. I love you. We lost our virginities to each other in this bed on Halloween of our sixth year…"

Daphne didn't allow him to speak anymore, jumping him and kissing him passionately. The two fell on the bed at the same time that Kreacher woke up, falling from the bed and getting up with Dobby's help, who looked as shocked as he was.

"We don't really need to see everything," said Harry in a hurry, drawing his wand and forcing a passage to the next segment of the memory. Daphne looked down, not really embarrassed but thinking on what she had just learned, and how well Harry knew her. That, and seeing herself ripping older Harry's clothes off had made her warm, far more than she ever got when she played with herself.

"I don't mind," she mumbled with a tiny blush, earning a naughty smirk from her boyfriend.

"I know you don't," he said, and she blushed, making him chuckle. "If you want, you can watch it later."

"Would you watch it with me?" she asked, hopefully, not knowing where she got the courage to ask that…

"If you want me to," he replied, tilting up her chin and looking into her eyes. "But you'll have to keep me in line to make sure nothing unwanted happens."

Daphne only nodded, receiving a kiss that did no good whatsoever to her condition.

The next memory started with the two of them dressed in basilisk hide battle armour, hidden under the Invisibility Cloak behind the Hogwarts residents awaiting the approaching Dark Lord. They could feel the low morale. According to all they had heard, Hagrid had returned and announced that Harry was killed in the forest by Voldemort. That, and no one had heard from Daphne Greengrass.

"Are you ready?" whispered Harry, and she kissed him softly.

"I'll be waiting for the marriage proposal," she replied with a grin, hiding her nervousness.

"I love you, Daph."

"I love you too, Harry."

The Dark Lord entered Hogwarts and started to make his victory speech, claiming to have killed Harry Potter and burned his body with the Fiendfyre. It was then that they removed the Cloak and gave it to Dobby to keep it safe. With a nod, Harry cast the Sonorus Charm on himself.

"FUNNY, WHAT AM I, THEN?" The Hogwarts crowd parted for Harry and Daphne, looking at them in awe, especially Longbottom and Granger at the front.

"IMPOSSIBLE! I KILLED YOU!" shouted Voldemort, ignoring the agitation of his own Death Eaters.

"Clearly you didn't do a good job," replied Harry with a serious look, ignoring everyone else. "I'm curious though, how many of your own died in the Fiendfyre?"

Voldemort roared, and started to cast against Harry, who dodged the spells. Bellatrix decided to focus on Daphne, who had just given the order to retreat into the castle. Behind them, some of the Death Eaters had fled to the field. The defenders provided support to Daphne and started launching curses at the remaining Death Eaters. Seeing that Harry was dueling the Dark Lord and knowing that he would draw Voldemort into another area of the castle, Daphne continued her duel with Bellatrix.

This memory doesn't show your duel with Bellatrix, but I may show it to you later. Let us just say that it was impressive, and that you hit her in the knee with a Reducto and cast a Confringo to her face. After that, you were able to focus on taking down others, and many of them fled.

"Did…did you face him alone?" Daphne asked, and Harry nodded. She closed her eyes. "Just give me the overview, please." Harry nodded once more and waived his wand, breaking the memory and forcing them out of the Pensieve. Back in the Chamber, Harry breathed in, thinking about what to say.

"We fought along the east wing and came back out to the courtyard. We traded more spells, got tired, and were both actually bleeding. We managed to get into Priori Incantatem again, and I drew the Elder Wand and cursed him with a Light Spear. He wasn't expecting it, and couldn't manage a shield in time, nor one strong enough to stop the Elder Wand. He died then, permanently this time, and the battle ended. Some reinforcements arrived, late as usual, and the Death Eaters that hadn't already fled or died surrendered."

"I got back to you, all while ignoring everyone around me, knelt down before even kissing you and proposed in front of everyone. There was no ring to give because you already had it with you. I gave it to you after I stunned you, that's what I put in your hand. You said yes, pretty much all the Slytherin girls squealed, especially Tori, the dorks groaned, and the duffers and the claws were just happy. We rested a while before starting the repairs on the castle. Your parents showed up later in the afternoon; they already knew about us from Tori. They were very supportive of us and accepted me immediately."

"I can imagine…social climbers…" spat Daphne. Harry smirked.

"Snape died in the fighting, defending some students against Death Eaters. Malfoy Sr. died in the Fiendfyre. Our friends were fine, only a little bruised. Theo shot to kill, and Tracey was his shield. They made a heavy team. Blaise and Millie fought together and fought well. Neither is a fighter, but together they were a good team. Millie helped with the brewing of potions later." Daphne nodded approvingly.

"Eventually everything was fixed, and the Ministry decided to start giving away awards. I got an Order of Merlin, First Class, you got a Second Class, and everyone else who fought got a Third Class. We were together every day until September, in Potter Manor, in Greengrass Hall, or out and about. We had a hard time going out on dates in the Wizarding World and decided to go explore the muggle world. You loved it." Daphne was very surprised but didn't interrupt him.

"We came together for our last year at Hogwarts because everyone had to repeat it, and we were content. Somehow, I got to be Head Boy…" Daphne rolled her eyes, Sure, somehow. "…Granger got Head Girl, why I don't know, when you proved to be better than her. You did kill Bellatrix Lestrange, after all. Anyway, we had picnics every Sunday at the place I showed you yesterday. We graduated as the best students, and you were very happy. It was around that time that Malfoy started courting your sister. He and his family had fallen into disgrace, but he still had money.

"After graduation we took a trip around the world, and I decided to take a mastery in DADA while you studied to be a healer. They just handed me the masters after reading my name, so you suggested I take another. I studied Light, Grey, and Dark Arts as an associate student at the Munich Academy of Sorcery, and you went on to earn your Healing degree at St. Mungo's."

"Your parents nagged us about the wedding, so we married on the summer solstice in the year two thousand; you already know about that, and nothing really changed after. You still worked as a healer, and I can tell you that people loved you. 'Lady Potter-Black, our Lady Healer', they called you."

Daphne smiled, very interested in what she was hearing. "I studied and worked as an Auror as well. We were happy, and we had each other. We only considered children about five years later…" Daphne noticed how Harry hesitated to continue.

"Theo and Tracey married before our eighth year, Millie and Blaise married shortly after we did, and Granger and Longbottom married the year after us. Blaise ran an import/export company, Millie became a Potions Mistress, Theo became an Auror, and Tracey became a prosecutor. We were happy, and at peace."

Daphne nodded, amused with the information. She knew, however, that bad things were coming, certainly.

"I think we should stop here for today," said Harry, looking at Daphne. She nodded with a smile, and kissed Harry with the passion that had built up from all she had seen and heard.

"That's for all you did, amazing and stupid," she said, and he smiled.

"You know, I think I may have some more to tell if it earns me more of that," he said, as she smirked.

"Not today," she replied, forcing him to get up. "Tell me, how different is the training you're putting me through from the training you did in your past?"

"Well, I'm focusing more on your control, although we did focus on the repetitions regularly. I'd say we just added your magic control to the regular program."

"Do you think I'll become as powerful as…"

"Even more," Harry replied, and Daphne smiled. "Do you want to do some training, or do you want to take a walk? We skipped lunch and it's nearly four o'clock.

"Let's go outside," said Daphne, and with a wave of Harry's wand she was cloaked. Harry did the same to himself.

"Why are your sleeves shorter?" she asked, looking at his robe sleeves, which cut off halfway down his forearm.

Harry looked at his sleeves and smiled.

"Well, there was a stupid fashion trend for a while with bigger sleeves. Wearing them this short is a countertrend that begun because of a little girl who hated to get her sleeves in her food." Daphne smiled, shaking her head in amusement.

"Must be an important little girl, then," she said in amusement, and Harry gave her a sad smile.

"Yeah, she was. Besides, these are quite handy for combat. Believe me, I would know," he said. Daphne was curious, remembering what he had said earlier about the three wars. With Voldemort gone, only two wars remained, and Harry had fought in both. She hadn't.

"Let's go," she said, her amusement evaporating.

"What's wrong?" Harry asked, noticing her change in demeanour.

"I was just thinking about what you said. You said you lost me… The way you spoke just now, about how happy we were. I wonder if I really want to know whatever happened to me…why and how I…" Daphne hesitated, and Harry hugged her softly. Daphne smiled and looked into Harry's eyes, noticing their haunted look.

"It's up to you," he replied, and she nodded with a small smile, feeling comfortable in his arms.

"Let's go," she said with a smile. Calling for Dobby and being transported to the lake shore took all of five seconds. The two started walking side by side by the shore.

"What do you want to do?" Harry asked, feeling the cold wind in his face.

"You can start by explaining how you are the Heir of Slytherin," she said, and he smirked.

"As it turns out, my mother was a descendant of the main Slytherin line, unlike Tom and the Gaunts, who were only related to Slytherin by marriage to one of the daughters of the house. The main line died out a long time ago, but the magical bloodline remained alive among the muggles because of squibs. When my mother was born a witch, she became an heir of Slytherin."

"An heir, not THE heir?" asked Daphne, curious about the distinction. Harry shook his head.

"There is a test to earn the Slytherin lordship. Like many others before me, I have no idea what it is or how to learn of it. Apparently, it is a show of cunning, but no one knows anything about it, not even the goblins. Whatever it is, old Salazar's real descendants hid the secret very well. Even in my past I wasn't able to claim anything.

"Interesting," she said, glancing over at him, smiling. "Two years ago, while everyone was calling you the Heir of Slytherin, they were actually right."

"Yes," he smirked looking back at her. "There is no such thing as being normal for me, I suppose."

Daphne laughed, and the two continued to speak for a while about a variety of topics, their homework, the upcoming ball, Harry's tests for Arithmancy and Runes…

Eventually they became tired and hungry, so they walked back to the Great Hall for dinner. The moment they passed through the doors, all eyes were upon them.

"WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN, YOUNG MAN?"