I do not own Harry Potter or any of any of its world or characters
Based on a prompt from Reddit
—-
Year 6
The Greengrass family magics had kept their family at the top of the European business world for centuries and was a heavily guarded secret. Daphne Greengrass was therefore in a state of complete shock as she read the headlines of the Quibbler. Not only had they learned of her family's natural connection to magical owls, but they somehow also learned of the decade-long operation to plant Daphne as Harry Potter's personal owl. She smiled weakly as Malfoy made a stupid flapping gesture are her. She had to track down Luna Lovegood as soon as possible or her father was going to kill her.
She was running down the stairs towards the Great Hall when she rounded a corner blind and ran into someone.
"Shit, sorry." Daphne blushed heavily, having never done anything so unbecoming of a lady of a house.
"It's ok.. uhh I was actually looking for you"
Merlin's beard, she had run straight into Harry Potter. Ok, what the hell was she going to do now?
"Oh, really. What did you want Har... Potter?". How did she almost slip like that? Daphne was internally groaning but Harry didn't seem to notice or care. Merlin, he was cute when he smiled like that.
"Right. Well, I know we haven't really talked much but Hermione says you're nice enough to her during Runes and I know it's never fun to have rumours spread about you so I thought…. I'll talk to Luna about the article but she can be a little... Err.. What's another word for loony?"
Daphne giggled. Shit. She was supposed to stay away from him and now she was laughing at his jokes and getting flustered. She quickly retook her expressionless mask. "Thanks Potter, I appreciate it.". He smiled.
"Any time." He then put his hand on her shoulder and she gave an involuntary coo-ing sound. Harry's eyes widened in shock and Daphne froze. Shit. His eyes narrowed.
"Uh… I guess I'll be going now…" Daphne tried to walk around him but he was pushing her into an empty classroom now. She tried to protest but he was stronger than he seemed and with a firm shove, she had been moved inside.
"What the hell, Potter. This is no way to treat a lady." She turned around only to see his wand pointed at her.
"I don't care," He replied with a cold tone "I know that sound you just made. Hedwig makes it when I pet her. What the hell is going on? Are… are you…" He seemed at a loss for words and Daphne's mind was sprinting, looking for a reasonable explanation.
"Don't.. Don't be daft, Potter. You just surprised me is all. I don't make the same noises as your stupid owl. That's insane."
He seemed less sure now, but Daphne knew she had to keep this up and she mulled over her options. Should she pull out her wand now as well or would that just piss him off even more? Should she keep talking and try to convince him he misheard? Her hand was edging towards her wand holster when the worst possible situation happened.
Astoria burst through the door with a panicked look on her face. "Daphne, the Quibbler found out about Hedwig. What are we going to… eeep!" She had finally noticed Harry who's wand was now pointed at her. Daphne panicked.
"Wait! I'm the one you should be mad at! Point your wand at me." Harry obliged and he looked really angry now.
"Will someone tell me what the bloody hell is going on!" Daphne was shaking hard. Harry was never supposed to find out and now her biggest secret was crumbling around her. Harry started walking towards her.
"You have three seconds before I start…"
Astoria chose that moment to stun him and he toppled over. The two sisters looked at each other.
"What are we going to do now?"
—-
"The Greengrass family has used our owl connection to spy on our enemies and allies alike for generations. It's the secret to our success and must remain a secret forevermore else we risk the wrath of every family we've ever crossed. Do you understand Daphne?"
Daphne was holding her father's hands as they strolled through the gardens of the family estate. She was nine now and had just completed her first transformation into a beautiful snow-white owl. Growing up, she had been trained and tutored to best serve the family and ,as the eldest of the main branch, to someday lead it. She nodded.
"Of course Father. I look forward to serving as our family's eyes and ears."
They paused to inspect some sneezewort flowers that had freshly bloomed. They were currently in their most beautiful state…. And the most fragile. The delicate milky petals danced in the light breeze that swept through the clean morning air.
"Your mission will be different Daphne. It will be difficult, but the insight we could potentially gain may be the most important our family has ever collected. Are you ready to prove that you can someday lead this family?"
Daphne turned her gaze from the sneezewort flowers to her father. He was solemnly gazing at her, his mouth thinned, his expression conveying the seriousness of his request.
"I am Father. Who is the target?"
—-
Harry Potter's head was throbbing and his mind was in a greyish orange haze. Out of focus sounds were vibrating in his ears. They were voices. Arguing. Harry could barely make out the words as his head was still spinning in circles.
"..can't possibly tell him… Father… secret…."
"...right to know… long enough… not fair…."
"...you like him? Daffy…."
"...not that… deserves…."
Harry groaned and forced his eyes open. The light nearly blinded him. Astoria Greengrass had her hands on her hips and she looked peeved. Daphne Greengrass on the other hand, looked pensive and unsure. A vastly different look from her usual self superiority that she normally displayed. She had been hugging herself but returned to a more stoic pose when she realised that Harry was now awake. Daphne turned to her sister.
"I'm telling him. He deserves to know. I will accept whatever consequences there are."
Astoria's eyes narrowed. "Fine, but Father will be hearing about this." She turned to leave in a huff. Only now did Harry realise that he was sitting in a chair with his hands tied behind his back. Well that was a bad sign.
Daphne started pacing and was rubbing her hands and seemed to be avoiding his gaze. He had never seen her this nervous before. That was an even worse sign.
"So I guess you want to know what's going on… maybe it's best if I just showed you." She looked into his eyes and gave a hesitant smile. Hedwig proceeded to fly through an open window and land on her shoulder.
"You see… I have a magical bond with Hedwig who's your owl familiar and because of that, I've kind of been able to see everything you've experienced over the last six years." Hedwig hooted.
Harry felt like fainting all over again.
—-
Daphne was being carried in a cage by Hagrid the Hogwarts gamekeeper towards her new "owner." Her father had laid all the groundwork to get Daphne into position. Most of it was finding out where Harry Potter had been hiding all this time. It had taken years to get the right owls into the right places to learn that Hagrid would be taking a ten year old Harry to Diagon Alley for the first time. Having a friend suggest that owls made for great gifts while drinking with Hagrid at the Leaky Cauldron and then confounding Hagrid to choose Daphne at Eeylops Owl Emporium was all it took to plant Daphne into the perfect position.
She had heard that Harry was living with Muggles and was decidedly not looking forward to that, but still, being on Harry Potter's inside circle would certainly be a wealth of useful information. Harry Potter was smiling brightly as he looked upon her for the first time and she felt confident that she would be giving important intel to her Father in no time at all.
It turned out that Harry Potter barely knew anything about anything. She had been angered seeing how Harry's Aunt and Uncle treated Harry and further angered being confined to her cage. She watched as Ron Weasley explained the most basic of Wizarding things to Harry on the Hogwarts Express. Being Harry's owl had not provided much useful information yet but still, there were worse targets. She saw how brave he was saving a girl he barely knew from a rampaging troll and there was something seriously infectious about his joy when opening his first Christmas presents. He was opening his last present when an invisibility cloak fell out.
Finally, after months of espionage, something useful.
Thus began years of Daphne delivering first hand accounts of Harry Potter's exploits to her Father. The Philosopher's Stone, You-Know-Who's survival as a spirit, the Chamber of Secrets, Sirius Black's innocence, You-Know-Who's return, the founding and running of Dumbledore's Army, Harry's connection with Voldemort and his subsequent fight at the Ministry of Magic. Daphne's Father had been very pleased by all the intel that she had provided over the years. Still, she never expected that she would have to save Harry Potter's arse so many times either.
During their first year, she had found Dumbledore as Hedwig during his flight back to Hogwarts and urged him to find Harry by pecking him until he followed her to the third floor corridor. She dropped books on basilisks onto Hermione's lap during their second year and had sent Fawkes after Harry when he went into the Chamber of Secrets. She distracted Fudge and McNair from noticing Harry and Hermione during their time turner escapades (boy had that been doubly weird on Daphne's psychic connections) and kept Harry conscious long enough from the Dementors so that he could save himself. Merlin's beard, time turners were weird. She had pecked at Dumbledore until he eventually followed her to the fake Moody's office. She had sent the Order after Harry by pecking Snape until he finally realised that Harry was no longer at Hogwarts.
She had learned to admire his bravery, his laughter, his recklessness, and his selflessness. She knew deeply of his highest triumphs and lowest defeats. She knew what she was doing was wrong and the guilt had been slowly chewing itself deep into her soul until it had firmly lodged itself there, growing day after day.
So in an unused classroom during what was supposed to be their joint Potions class, Daphne confessed everything. It all came pouring out in a frenzy of wild emotions and twisted feelings and Daphne was shaking hard by the end of it. The pair sat in silence for an eternity before Harry finally spoke.
"You spied on me. Practically since I came to Hogwarts. What's to stop me from telling Dumbledore and getting you expelled or sent to Azkaban. This is all really fucked up Daphne. It's really… I feel so fucking violated. Even more than with Voldemort. At least with him it's two ways, but this… what the fuck."
Daphne's eyes squeezed tight and she could feel the tears coming.
"If you tell anyone, I'll die." Harry, who had been staring at the floor, looked up at her. "That's why it's such a big secret. If you tell anyone about me, I'll die and the same is true for the rest of my family."
Daphne was fully crying now, although she was desperately trying to wipe away her tears. "I know you must be so angry with me and my Father, but please leave my sister out of this. She hasn't done anything. She's never spied on anybody and … I'm just so sorry Harry. You're such a good person, so brave and selfless and I've been… oh.. I'm sorry."
Daphne was overwhelmed by everything she was feeling. Relief from finally telling Harry the truth. Sorrow from Harry's resentful gaze. Fear for her and her family's life. What had she done? Had she doomed everyone in her family? Were they all going to die now?
"I won't tell anyone." Daphne looked up into his emerald eyes and gave a shaky smile.
"Thank you Harry. It's more than I deserve."
"But Hedwig is no longer my owl or my familiar. I'm cutting off my connection with you. I don't trust you and I never want to see you again." Daphne felt her connection to him snap into the void as he turned to storm out of the room and she felt a new wave of despair wash over her.
—-
The months that followed had been the hardest Daphne had ever been through. True to his word, Harry was now deliberately ignoring her. Not that they had ever really been friends. But the loss of her connection had left an empty space in her heart. She had become accustomed to being able to feel and see Harry that she was at a loss without it.
Her Father had been furious with her when he learned of what she had done and had threatened to expel her from the family. It seemed her Mother had stayed his hand, but Daphne doubted she would be spying for the family again. Daphne doubted she would want to. There was always a backlash when a family owl ended its relationship with its "owner" but Daphne doubted anyone had ever developed the deep connection she had had with Harry.
Still, it was probably for the best. Her best friend Tracy Davis didn't know what was troubling Daphne but she tried her best to cheer Daphne up. Astoria had come around and apologised and said that it had been the right thing to do for everyone and their Father could stick his head up his arse for forcing Daphne to spy for an unprecedented six years. Her life was beginning to return to a new normality. She was about to prepare for bed when she felt the smallest tingle of her owl senses.
Harry Potter was in danger.
—-
In a dark cave off the coast of England, a sea of undead was slowly climbing onto shore like a demonic wave from hell. Harry had been using Incendio to blast them back but he was exhausted and trying to keep a hallucinating Dumbledore from killing himself. He had sobered up long enough to remind Harry that Inferi were weak to fire before loudly proclaiming that he had been stealing gold from Harry for years and that Harry could never know about his vault key or the Goblins' many very useful services. Dumbledore would then alternate between crying about someone named Gelly or Ariana or attempt to throw himself at the mercy of the Inferi. Harry was about to give up when he saw an angel radiating light overhead and blast the Inferi with white hot flames. The angel proceeded to swoop down and land in front of Harry.
"Daphne? What in Merlin's Beard are you doing here? And where did you get those wings?"
"Maybe we can play twenty questions later. Let's get the hell out of here first." Daphne grabbed the both of them and pushed off the ground and into the air just as another wave of Inferi began climbing onto the island. They began speeding towards the entrance but Harry could feel them descending faster than they should and looked at Daphne's face which was scrunched in pain and concentration. They crash landed and rolled in separate directions but they had made it. Harry looked up to see Daphne briefly glow in a blinding light before revealing Daphne and Hedwig lying side by side. Harry rushed towards them. Daphne and Hedwig were both unconscious and breathing deeply, coughing and trembling.
"An old family magic." Harry turned to see Dumbledore had finally regained his senses. "Extremely dangerous for the user, Miss Greengrass's magic will undoubtedly be unstable for the next few days but they should recover." Harry nodded and brushed the hair out of Daphne's face as she opened her eyes.
"Harry?" she coughed again. "Sorry, I know you don't want to see me, but I… I sensed you were in danger and I couldn't stop myself… I…"
"Shhh… It's ok. I would've been toast without you." Daphne's eyes closed again and Dumbledore spoke.
"We should leave this place. It's not safe. I didn't… ahh.. Say anything about goblins, did I?"
—-
Daphne's consciousness took hold slowly. There were voices speaking in the distance and everything hurt. She touched her head which had a splintering headache.
"We've got a problem, Snape. The boy doesn't seem able…"
"Severus…"
She finally opened her eyes and saw she was under an invisibility cloak. And Harry was lying still as a statue beside her and she looked up and froze. A half dozen Death Eaters, Draco Malfoy and Professor Snape had surrounded Dumbledore who looked unnaturally defenceless.
"Severus… please…"
Snape had moved forward, pushing Malfoy out of the way, and pointed his wand at Dumbledore.
"Avada Kedavra!"
Harry and Daphne watched in horror as the green light hit Dumbledore directly in the chest and sent him flying over the ledge and out of sight. Daphne couldn't believe what she had just seen. The Death Eaters were scrambling now and rushing to leave. She sensed Harry get up and hit the last Death Eater with a Petrificus Totalus before tearing after the rest of the Death Eaters. Shit.
Daphne ran after him. She was rushing down the stairs when she saw a Death Eater flying towards Harry. No! She sent a blasting curse at the Death Eater who crashed into the side of the stairwell and down some steps. Daphne followed it up with a stunner as Harry jumped over him and Daphne followed. She tripped at the bottom of the stairs and narrowly avoided a purple curse of some kind.
It was pandemonium in the hallway. Spells were being fired in every direction and ricocheting off walls. She saw Harry turn a corner ahead and knew she had to follow. She ducked behind some rubble from a partially collapsed ceiling and stunned the Death Eater who was distracted duelling with the female Weasley and tore after Harry. She turned the same corner and saw Harry desperately chasing after Malfoy and Snape when a Death Eater appeared from a hallway Harry had just passed. She hit him with a stunner from behind as well. She was heaving and sweating and dizzy but she had to keep going. Harry was still out there.
She sensed a spell coming from behind, ducked to avoid it, and turned around. Another Death Eater was striding towards her but Daphne was alone now and she was not the best duelist.
"My.. my… what's a little Slytherin doing fighting against us? Don't you know who we serve?" She sent Daphne a series of curses which Daphne either deflected or shielded against, but eventually a blasting curse got through and Daphne was sent careening backwards. She looked up to see a wand pointed at her.
"Such a shame." Daphne closed her eyes when she felt a body land beside her. She opened her eyes to see the Death Eater had been struck by the bat bogey hex and then stunned. Ginny Weasley was looking down at her suspiciously and there was a pause. Would Ginny not trust her because she was a Slytherin?
Ginny extended her arm and Daphne sighed in relief. She took the proffered hand and got up. They nodded at each other before running towards the front doors. They found Harry outside the foot of the tallest tower where Daphne knew he would be. Ginny gasped and stopped at the sight of Dumbledore's dead body but Daphne kept moving forward. She knelt down next to Harry and pulled him into a hug and held him. She could feel him shaking and she rubbed his back reassuringly.
They sat there holding each other until the sun rose in the distance and the dark night sky gave way a new morning.
—-
They were sitting together at Dumbledore's funeral. The speech that was ongoing had been long and nobody really seemed to be paying attention. Daphne certainly wasn't. They were holding hands, desperately trying to comfort each other.
"I guess you know me pretty well huh?" Daphne looked at him curiously.
"I don't know… in some ways I guess I do, but in some ways, not at all… My connection with you, it was like a dream, I had visions of what you saw and could get a sense of your emotions, but it… it wasn't real… it's a fake of the real deal… it could never be…. And it was so wrong to peek into your life like that and I think I knew it but I… I just wanted to do what was best for my family…. And you're such a good person… It felt so good and I thought I was getting to know you, but it was just a distorted perception… My emotions got all tangled up in it and I was blind, but I don't know… I still care about you even if it's only one way." Harry looked thoughtfully at her as the speaker droned on about the twelve uses of dragon blood.
"Well.. It was pretty messed up to spy on me like that. But I guess I get it. I would probably do anything for my family, especially if I was a kid. And I know you've saved my arse more times than I can count over the years so…. I guess.. I'd like to get to know you too. For real this time."
Daphne smiled.
"Me too."
—-
Daphne was sitting at the Burrow which she had been to before as Hedwig, but never in her actual body. She and Harry were dating and her parents were secretly funding the Order so she had been allowed to stay here and wait for Harry to arrive. She looked through Hedwig's eyes on the other side and was flabbergasted at the insane plan the Order had come up with. But there was nothing she could do as an owl so she watched six people polyjuice into her boyfriend and take off straight into an aerial ambush.
Flying in a sidecar of a motorbike had seemed like the worst option to Daphne but Hagrid had a whole slew of tricks up his sleeve. It seemed like Harry might make it after all when she saw it. A Death Eater with an unnaturally lucky blast of the killing curse was making its way towards Harry in slow motion. She pushed herself out of her cage and flew herself straight into the curse. She saw Harry yelling "Nooo!" in slow motion before a blinding green light overtook her vision.
Many miles away, Daphne Greengrass was convulsing on the floor.
—-
Daphne woke with a start and found herself lying on the ground of a dark forest. She slowly got up and looked around. She had never been here before, but it felt incredibly familiar for some reason. She started walking and she didn't know why, but she knew this was the right direction. The trees were getting denser and she was fighting through branches and bushes and thorns but she kept pushing forward. Her robes and clothes were tearing and she was bleeding as her arms and legs and face were getting scratched and torn until abruptly, she was in a clearing with a massive temple. The temple of Ragana, the Owl Goddess. She stepped inside and the doors closed behind her.
Daphne found herself in a massive atrium with hundreds of stairways connecting a maze of floating platforms. She looked up at the ornately gilded ceiling featuring an enormous painting of a huge golden owl spreading its massive wingspan and radiating light across the sky. Twelve regal looking owls flew in a circle around their leader and many dozens of smaller owls sat perched looking up towards Ragana, the Golden One.
"Your family was blessed with our magic, yet you have wasted it on enriching only yourselves."
Daphne turned around with a jump. She had been so focused on the painting that she hadn't noticed the twenty foot owl staring down at her from behind.
"I have seen how you and your family have abused our gift. And now you return? So you can take more of our magic? No! We will no longer bless those who are tainted with greed. We will take back what was ours!"
Daphne winced. The memories of what she had done to Harry returned. She had abused her powers to spy, to cheat, to gain favour with others. But being with Harry the last few months, and watching him from afar for all these years, she knew what she had to do. She threw herself on the floor and earnestly begged.
"You're right. We have abused the powers Ragana had blessed us with. For generations, we used it to spy and to steal secrets. But no more! I have learned the wrongness of our ways. We will use our blessed gifts to help mankind as was intended. To bring peace across the land. I promise on my life and the life of my children."
The owl's eyes narrowed and it craned its head down to peer into Daphne's soul.
"Very well. But if you stray. We will retake our magic. And your punishment will be severe."
—-
Daphne achingly opened her eyes. She was lying in someone's bed and Harry was staring worryingly at her. She smiled weakly.
"Hey, you."
"Thank Merlin you're alright Daphne. When I saw Hedwig die and I got here and they said you were sick and they couldn't figure out why… I…"
"It's ok, Harry. I've got a lot to make up for, but I'm ok. We're going to win this war and we're going to live our best lives and it's all going to be good. Is…is that alright?"
Harry smiled at her.
"Yeah… that sounds brilliant."
