Chapter Thirteen: Parties and Partings

Daphne felt as if she was surrounded by fluffy clouds. Slowly but surely, however, the clouds began to feel a bit heavier and more solid, and after a few more moments she realized that she was lying in a bed.

With that realization came the memories of what she'd been doing. The open door, the harp, the Devil's Snare, the flying keys and…the chessboard.

She opened her eyes and found herself staring in the faces of Ron and Hermione, who looked happy to see her awake but also still worried.

When Daphne realized who was missing, she became worried as well and sat up immediately.

"Where's Harry? What happened?" she asked immediately.

Ron gestured with his head to the next bed over, in which lay Harry. Daphne couldn't see any injuries on his body, but he looked so…frail, all the same. She wanted to get up to go to him, but Hermione stopped her.

"Harry will be okay," she said, sounding like she was trying to convince herself as much as Daphne. "He just needs to rest."

Daphne nodded slowly. "What happened?" she asked again. "Did you win the chess match?"

Ron nodded. "We did. We were terrified when you got taken by the queen; you didn't move at all when you fell. Hermione checked up on you and wanted to stay with you to make sure you were okay, but we figured we might need all of us to deal with You-Know-Who."

"So you abandoned me. Thanks," Daphne said sarcastically.

When she saw how guilty they looked, she said, "I'm kidding! You were going after Voldemort–"

Ron shuddered.

"–so of course you'd need all of you. What happened in the next room?"

At that, both Ron and Hermione grinned. "Well, your glowing recommendation of Ron's bravery apparently went to his head," Hermione said with an amused look. "There was another troll in the next room, much bigger than the one we fought on Halloween."

"It looked a bit bloodied already, but it was definitely angry and looking for a fight. I knew we wouldn't be a match for it, but since it was so big, it was also slow. I told Harry and Hermione to go on ahead while I distracted the troll," Ron took over. "It wasn't easy, and the entire time I was wondering I was doing this and cursing the fact I hadn't let myself get taken in the chess match, but I guess the troll was still injured because it never sped up or became more aggressive. Good thing, too, because it would've squashed me."

Daphne was impressed. She had to admit to herself that, in her fear, she'd maybe been a bit too cheesy, but it seemed like her words had had a positive effect after all.

"So Harry and I went on to the next room, where we had to solve a logic puzzle," Hermione said.

Daphne blinked. "A puzzle," she said flatly.

"If you got it wrong, you'd poison yourself," Hermione said.

"Ah, that was Snape's one, then?" Hermione nodded.

"Yes, only since someone had already gone through before, there was only enough potion left for one of us to go through," she said.

Daphne glanced over at Harry. "So Harry went on alone," she said.

Hermione nodded again. "Ron and I went back, took you with us, and brought you to the infirmary. Then I went to the owlery to send Hedwig to Dumbledore. Dumbledore arrived not much later — he'd already been on his way back — and went down to get Harry."

"You'll never guess who Harry ended up fighting," Ron said.

"Wasn't it Vol–"

"Not just You-Know-Who, no," Ron said pointedly.

"Who was it, then?" Daphne asked.

"Quirrell," Ron said.

Daphne was silent for a moment. The she said, "Quirrell?!"

That weak, stuttering, turban-wearing wimp had been–? She cut off her thoughts when she realized it. Of course. Snape had been a logical suspect because his actions appeared differently than what they were, but Quirrell had done the exact opposite. She'd never even considered that, and now that it had been pointed out to her, she wondered why she had never considered it.

What Hermione said next was even more surprising, however. "He was possessed by You-Know-Who. It was him you ran into in the Forbidden Forest, as well. Apparently You-Know-Who could take control of his body in order to drink unicorn blood to regain his strength, until he could get his hands on the Stone," she said.

"Possessed…wow. That's…yuck!"

Daphne shuddered. The thought alone was enough to give her goosebumps all over her body.

"So…what happened in the end?" she asked.

"Harry managed to get the Stone, and then You-Know-Who ordered Quirrell to kill him, only apparently, he couldn't touch Harry. Every time he tried it burned him," Ron said.

"But according to Dumbledore, it was also incredibly painful for Harry," Hermione said.

"His scar," Daphne said.

Hermione nodded. "Yes. Harry, being as reckless as he is, had apparently realized that Quirrell got hurt by touching him, so he'd pushed his hands in Quirrell's face and held onto him. Dumbledore was only just in time to pull Quirrell off him. He says Harry came really close to dying," she said.

Daphne felt a cold spike in her chest.

"Quirrell did die, though, and good riddance," Ron said angrily.

Daphne nodded slowly. She couldn't care less about Quirrell. It was far more important to her that Harry was alright.

"How long have I been here?" she asked.

"Only a couple of hours. You had a crack in your skull, but Madam Pomfrey fixed it up right away," Hermione said. "She did say you'd have to stay a day for observation, though."

A cracked skull? That was probably the worst injury Daphne had ever had, and she really hoped it would remain the worst one, at least for a long, long time.

"And she allowed you to stay here?" Daphne asked.

"Dumbledore's orders," Ron said with a smile. "He said that, since you would probably wake up pretty quickly, we should stay with you to tell you what happened."

He got up and stretched. "Now that you're awake, though…I would really like to go the common room and get some rest. I want to be here for Harry when he wakes up, but you're here too, and I'm no good to Harry if I can't keep my eyes open," he said.

Hermione nodded. "Me, too. I don't think I've ever had a night this long or stressful. I'm glad the exams were already over."

"You can go and get some sleep," Daphne said. "I've had a couple of hours, apparently, and since I need to stay here anyway, I'll keep an eye on Harry."

Ron and Hermione gave her grateful looks and shuffled out of the infirmary, leaving Daphne alone with Harry. She got out of her bed and walked over to Harry's bed. He seemed more exhausted than hurt, and from up close he didn't look nearly as frail anymore. Maybe it was just because he was small and skinny that Daphne had seen it that way.

She reached out with her hand, then pulled it back. What did she intend to do? Touch Harry's hand? His face? Why?

"You stupid, reckless, Gryffindor idiot," she said softly. "You'd better wake up quickly, you hear?"

Harry didn't respond, of course, and after a few more minutes Daphne got back into her own bed and lay down. She checked her watch, which lay on the nightstand, and saw that it was just past six in the morning. Well, she thought as she turned onto her side, I can afford to sleep in one day…

It took three days for Harry to wake up, by which time Daphne, Hermione, and Ron had seriously begun to worry about him, but he seemed okay, if very tired and with a massive headache.

He filled them in on the details Dumbledore hadn't told Hermione and Ron yet, such as the fact that the Stone had been hidden inside the magic mirror they had found during the holidays.

"How does that even work?" Daphne asked, frowning.

Harry chuckled. "Dumbledore called it 'one of his more clever tricks'. Apparently, only someone who wanted to find the Stone but not use it could get it out of the mirror," he said. "And I was looking into it, thinking that I desperately wanted to find it to keep it away from Quirrell-Voldemort, and then it suddenly appeared in my pocket. Almost caused him to get his hands on it, in the end."

"So…if we hadn't gone after Quirrell…he would never have gotten his hands on the Stone?" Daphne asked. "Then Dumbledore was telling the truth."

She groaned. "So we could've just listened to him after all."

"I'm not too sure," Harry said thoughtfully. "Voldemort couldn't have gotten the Stone if we hadn't gone, but it almost seems like Dumbledore wanted us, or me, at any rate, to go after him."

Daphne recalled the words of Firenze. The only one who may stand against him.

"That would have been highly irresponsible," Hermione said. "There's no way he would do something like that; you could have died!"

"He sent my father's Invisibility Cloak. He allowed me to find the mirror and explained to me how it worked. And that last line he said to us when we went to talk to him, 'work hard, and I'm sure you'll perform admirably when it's needed most'…I'm beginning to think he wasn't talking about our exams that time," Harry said.

"He's completely off his rocker," Ron said, but he was grinning widely. "Listen, you've got to be up for the end-of-year feast tomorrow. The points are all in and we won, of course — you missed the last Quidditch match, by the way, we were steamrollered by Ravenclaw without you — and the food'll be good." At that moment, Madam Pomfrey bustled over. "You've had nearly fifteen minutes, now OUT," she said firmly.

The Great Hall was decked out in the Gryffindor Colors of red and gold, a huge lion tapestry hung behind the main table, and there was an excited buzz in the air because Slytherin had finally been dethroned.

Daphne, who sat between the Gryffindors as usual, was heartily thanked by many of them, as her fifty point deduction had played a large part in Slytherin's loss.

"I'm not the only one to thank," she said. "Don't forget the contributions of Draco Malfoy! He'll write to his father if he doesn't get enough credit, so make sure you thank him in person!"

The Gryffindors laughed and Daphne basked in it. In a way, sabotaging her own House was a very Slytherin thing to do, and it made her happy to be able to use it to help her friends.

Despite that, she hadn't forgotten about her plan to make Slytherin a less-hated House, starting from next year. She'd have to do some homework over the summer for it, but she was pretty sure that wouldn't be much of a problem.

A sudden hush fell over the Hall, and Daphne looked up to see why. Harry had entered the Hall, and everyone was looking at him. The news of what had happened had, of course, spread throughout the school with various degrees of accuracy, but the only one who knew the full story aside from its participants was Neville, to whom they'd first profusely apologized, and then told every single detail of the story — all the while making him promise not to share those details with anyone else.

Harry seemed to be very uncomfortable that everyone was looking at him, and just like he'd done at Sorting Ceremony, he walked a bit hunched as he made his way over to the Gryffindor table and sat down between Daphne and Hermione.

Everyone was still staring at him, but fortunately for Harry, Dumbledore arrived moments later, and everyone turned to him instead. "Another year gone!" he said cheerfully.

"And I must trouble you with an old man's wheezing waffle before we sink our teeth into our delicious feast. What a year it has been! Hopefully your heads are all a little fuller than they were…you have the whole summer ahead to get them nice and empty before next year starts…

"Now, as I understand it, the House Cup Here needs awarding, and the points stand thus: In fourth place, Hufflepuff, with three hundred and fifty-two points. In third, Ravenclaw, with four hundred and twenty-six. Slytherin has four hundred and fourty-four and Gryffindor, five hundred and nine."

A storm of cheering and clapping broke out from three quarters of the hall.

"Yes, yes, well done, Gryffindor. But I don't think you're quite jubilant enough. You see, recent events must be taken into account," Dumbledore said.

The Hall quieted down, and Daphne exchanged curious glances with Harry and the others.

"I have a few last-minute points to dish out. Let's see… First, to Mr. Ronald Weasley…"

Ron went purple in the face; he looked like a radish with a bad sunburn.

"…for the best-played game of chess Hogwarts has seen in many years, I award Gryffindor fifty points."

A cheer went up from the Gryffindor table. Ron was patted on the back by many people in his vicinity.

Percy was gloating to the other Prefects. "My brother, you know! Got past McGonagall's giant chess set!"

The Hall fell silent again. "Second, to Miss Hermione Granger…for the use of cool logic in the face of fire, I award Gryffindor fifty points."

Hermione buried her face in her arms, and Daphne — and Harry, judging by the look he shot her — had the idea she'd burst into tears. Just like with Ron, many people in her vicinity gave her pats on the back and shoulders.

"Third, to Mr. Harry Potter…for pure nerve and outstanding courage, I award Gryffindor sixty points."

Gryffindor table went absolutely wild, and now Harry was the target of everyone's thanks and congratulations.

Dumbledore raised his hand. "There are all kinds of courage," Dumbledore said with a smile. "It takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to our enemies, but just as much to stand up to our friends. I therefore award ten points to Neville Longbottom."

Neville's eyes went wide, and everyone at Gryffindor table got up to give him a standing ovation, with Daphne, Harry, Hermione, and Ron, most of all. Neville looked both embarrassed by the attention, as well as incredibly proud and touched.

Gryffindor had just received one hundred and seventy points in the span of about a minute, meaning they now stood at six hundred and seventy-nine points.

While Daphne was glad that her friends had gotten mountains of points, she wished that Dumbledore had given her a few, as well. But she hadn't solved any puzzles, had she? She'd just been knocked out in a chess game after sneaking into a common room she wasn't allowed to be in to put a curse on a friend. Hardly worthy of praise.

But then, Dumbledore raised his hand one more time. "Gryffindor House is not the only House to have been instrumental in recent events, however. To Miss Daphne Greengrass…"

Daphne got goosebumps.

"…for overcoming House prejudices and being unfailingly willing to sacrifice herself for her friends, I award Slytherin one hundred points."

Daphne felt like she'd been struck by lightning. The entire Hall was deathly quiet and she felt everyone's eyes on her…and then the Great Hall erupted into massive cheering.

The points Dumbledore had given Daphne, though an outlandish amount, were at this point entirely symbolic. Slytherin had been in second place, and after Gryffindor's rain of points they had no chance whatsoever to get up higher than that…but by giving her those points, he'd done something everyone in the Hall could get behind.

Slytherin would be happy that they'd been acknowledged, even though they'd been soundly defeated. The Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs knew she'd been one of the initial reasons Slytherin had been bumped down to second, so they knew her and liked her, making them more than willing to support her now, especially since it had no real effects on anything. And the Gryffindors…the Gryffindors had been her friends already anyway, and they proved it now by cheering for the points of their rival House.

Harry, Hermione, Ron, and even Neville were all beaming at her, and much like Hermione, Daphne had to hide her face in her sleeves so no one would see her crying.

It was the best evening of Daphne's life. Somehow, she had ended the school year with only one enemy: Malfoy. During the feast, he had been the only person, even at the Slytherin table, to look unhappy, and when he'd spotted her looking at him, he'd sent her a murderous glare.

When she caught Snape's eye a moment later, he lightly inclined his head to her, and she smiled. It turned out that Snape, far from trying to kill Harry, had actually been performing the counter-curse to what Quirrell had been doing — and Hermione had knocked Quirrell into the stands on her way to set Snape on fire. The thought that Hermione had essentially shoulder-checked Voldemort was one that Daphne found way funnier than she should.

Snape had been keeping tabs on Quirrell because Dumbledore had already suspected him, and Quirrell had become increasingly unhinged during the year because Voldemort's influence had been getting stronger.

She wondered if Dumbledore's line about Snape not being guilty had been another hint; an implication that someone else in the staff was. Her parents would probably have picked up on that, but it seemed she still had a lot to learn about veiled hints.

Gemma had come to congratulate Daphne on the points she'd won, but asked if she could please not cost them so many points next year. The rest of her classmates had not been very vocal, but most of them had at least spared her an approving look, which Daphne accepted as high praise.

When she finally dropped into her bed late in the night, she felt better than she'd done in months.

With the end-of-year feast concluded and the school year wrapped up, all that was left was to wait for the exam results.

Daphne had done surprisingly well, considering the stress she'd been under during the exams. Her marks were nowhere near Hermione's, but as far as Daphne knew, no one had come close to her. She'd done just a little bit better than Harry and Ron, at least. In her own class, she was near the top, with only Malfoy and Parkinson having similar grades.

It was all too soon for her when she'd packed her trunk and it was time to go home for the summer. She spent the train ride back with her friends, at least, and it was odd to see them changing into Muggle clothing. Harry especially looked extremely uncomfortable in his baggy, faded gear.

"All of must come and stay this summer," Ron said, a couple of minutes before they pulled into the station.

He looked at Daphne. "And that includes you. I know we don't exactly live in a manor like you're used to, but–"

"I'd love to come," Daphne interrupted with a grin. Being invited at all was a treat, and it was made even sweeter because Ron had initially been troubled by the fact that she was a Slytherin.

"Great," Ron said. "I'll send everyone an owl, then."

"Thanks," Harry said. "I'll need something to look forward to."

Daphne looked at him. He really did seem very unhappy about needing to go back to the Muggles. She wanted to say something to encourage him, but for the life of her she didn't know what. The way Harry had described his relatives, it would be as if a Muggle would need to spend the summer in a pureblood's house. That wasn't really something a simple 'cheer up' would fix.

The Hogwarts Express came to a stop, and slowly everyone disembarked. Daphne looked across the platform, and saw her parents already waiting for her. She happily waved at them, then turned back to her friends to say goodbye.

"I hope you'll all have good summers," she said. "Especially you, Harry."

Harry nodded, and to her surprise he grinned. "I'll be fine. They don't know we're not allowed to do magic outside of school. I'm going to have a lot of fun with Dudley this summer…"

Daphne laughed. "Spoken like a true almost-Slytherin," she said.

Ron shuddered. "Please don't remind me. Being friends with one Slytherin is hard enough, let alone that my best mate would be one," he said.

"I'm going to miss you all," Hermione said. "But we'll all see each other's at Ron's, right?"

They all nodded.

"Well then, see you all later. My parents are taking me home through Side-Along Apparition, so I'm not going to the gate. Bye!"

With a last wave, Daphne turned around and walked towards her parents. She had a lot of work to do this summer…

And so we reach the final chapter of year one. I don't think I've ever written such a long story so quickly, although of course, this fic is far from over. I'll close the chapter with a few clarifications for why I did what I did. If that's not your thing, then I hope to see you in the next chapter. Please let me know what you think of the story so far, good or bad. Be as critical as you'd like. I can't promise I'll use everything, but I'll at least keep it in mind.

The points at the end of the year are based on the base scores in the book, modified by the things I've changed, so: Gryffindor had 312, +1 from Snape not deducting a second point in the first class, +1 for the point he gave Harry at Christmas, +45 from Harry, Ron, and Hermione each getting 15 from Dumbledore, +150 from the points not deducted over Norbert, gives 509 as a base score. Slytherin had 472, -50 from Daphne getting caught (Malfoy got caught in canon too, so he doesn't need to be counted), +1 from McGonagall for the duel, +5 for the troll, +1 at Christmas, +15 from Dumbledore, gives 444 as a base score. Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw remained unchanged. I know I mentioned Daphne getting a few House points in her early classes, but I'm choosing to pretend those happened in canon as well. I'm bad enough at arithmetic and keeping track of this stuff as it is.

Now, Dumbledore in canon seemed to blatantly favor the Gryffindors by heaping points on them to upstage Slytherin, which he really didn't need to do here. I chose to keep them anyway because…it didn't matter that Gryffindor got more points as they'd won anyway. Daphne getting 100 points might seem excessive, but, well, Dumbledore's the kind of guy who would do that, exactly for the reasons I already noted in the fic itself. I still wanted to address it because, well, stuff like this can skirt dangerously close to Mary Sue-like behavior, and I really want to avert that as much as I can.