Chapter 25
"Daisy. Little One.""Mum?"
"Yes love."
"Mum! Am I dead?"
"You've seen your death. This isn't it, is it?"
"No, but?"
"You're between worlds right now. Magic is the conduit between worlds. With the exchange of magic you just went through, you've been shifted. Don't worry you're still alive, and you'll be fine. Harry's taking care of you back there."
"Poor Harry. Another thing for him to feel guilty about. I should really just leave him alone."
"You can't, Daisy. You need him. He practically held you up during our funeral."
"I don't really remember that week. Actually most things after your murder are pretty much a blur until a few weeks ago."
"And it was Harry who pulled you back. But you don't remember singing at the funeral, or Harry holding your face up and telling you that you could make it through?"
"I remember a little of the Saturday after and a few images of you and dad and the fire and..."
"Little One, stop. Don't do that to yourself."
"I should have stopped you from going. I knew. I should have stopped you."
"Daisy there are some things that need to happen. There are things you can't change. Your father and I, we weren't able to be perfect parents. I'm sorry for that. But we did teach you to survive, and we wanted to give you the best world possible to survive in. You couldn't have stopped us from doing what we know we could. Just as you can't stop someone from falling in love."
"No, but you can always change a situation, manipulate it. Some things are just not for the best."
"Love is always good."
"I love Belle still. Is that good?"
"Yes. It will keep you from turning bitter and filled with hate. And it gives Belle a chance. If there are people who love you, there's always hope."
"Hope."
"Your uncle's coming for you."
"Mom, where's dad?"
"He wanted to come but we didn't want to risk any damage by both coming. And I needed to tell you something."
"What."
"I'm proud of you. I am so proud of you. You are so much like me but so much better!"
"I could never be better than you."
"Your are with out trying to be. I always had to try. And when you do try, you could do any thing. Sev said you could make the sun rise at midnight. I don't doubt it."
"I miss you so much, mom. I love you and I need you."
"You'll always have me, Little One. I'll always watch over you, your dad too. And you can tell Harry his parents are watching over him too. They're so proud of him, especially the way his been there for you. You're both such good kids. I love you."
Harry ran to Daisy. She wasn't moving. Reminiscent of his Muggle upbringing he kept mumbling, "Oh, God. Oh, God!"
She was still bleeding. He didn't know any healing spells but Dudley had done enough damage to him over the years that he knew how to bind a wound. And he had enough herbology classes that he knew what plants were close at hand that could help. Basic first aid.
It was still early Spring but there was enough things at hand. He cleaned her cut, it was deeper than he thought. He quickly put a salve made of the saps of various plants that would help with clotting and keep out infection. Finally he tore the trim off his overly large tee-shirt and used as bandages. He had never been so grateful for growing up with Dudley, but it had helped Daisy.
Careful not to tie the cloth too tight, Harry had finished at laid Daisy flat on the ground putting her hands on her stomach. "Just be all right." He said and turned to get Hagrid.
He had only been stunned. Harry revived the half-giant just as he heard a raven caw. He took that as a good sign.
"What the-? Harry? What's goin' on?" Hagrid asked putting a hand to his head.
Before Harry could answer he heard the raven again, and this time with it, his name.
I'm craking up! he thought. But then he heard his name without the raven. It was Ron and he sounded panicked.
"Ron!" Harry called. "Over here, quick!"
A moment later Ron burst through the clearing, followed by Hermione, Professors Snape and Blanc.
"By the Light!" Guy said. "What happened?"
"Your sister," Harry said.
"What? Were is Daisy?" responded Guy.
"Over here," Harry said. "Belle, she used her blade on Daisy. I've bound the wound. I didn't want to chance healing it myself. I thought Madame Pomphery should. I didn't know the right spells. I couldn't stop them. God, I tried but I couldn't stop them."
Hermione had gone to Daisy. "This looks like a good job, Harry," Hermione said. "Professor Snape, what should we do?"
Snape had been watching Harry, who hadn't taken his eyes from Daisy as he spoke. "Potter did the right thing. You've been taking the medi-spell course, Miss Granger?" Hermione nodded. "Then I trust your evaluation of Potter's bandaging. Now Harry, this is very important, you said 'them.' Who else was here?"
"Mr. Malfoy, he's stunned over there." Harry pointed to the limp form of Lucius Malfoy partially hidden by some shrubbery. "And Wormtail, ah Peter Pettigrew and Vince Timoldi." Harry turned to where they were lying unconscious. Only Wormtial was there.
"Shit!" Harry said. "Where did that goddamned bastard go? Damn! He must of snuck off while I was tending to Daisy. Damn!"
"Harry language," Guy said absently.
"You wouldn't say that if you knew what he did to your little sister," Harry said. Guy's eyes narrowed at the thought.
Snape broke in. "We should get her back to the castle now."
Harry told the adults what happened as they walked back. He told them how Hagrid had turned into Wormtail just as the saw the real Hagrid. They had both been taken by surprise. When he got to the part about what Vince had done to Daisy, Harry was actually shaking he was so angry. Then on to Belle's attack on Daisy, and her fight back.
He pretty much dismissed what he had done. It hardly seemed important. But Daisy had been truly heroic. She took the brunt of the attack and she just keep getting back up, until the last time.
"She was amazing," he said with true awe. "I can't believe what they did to her and she still kept fighting, resisting..." Harry watched her floating body. Then a thought struck him. "How did you guys know we were in trouble?"
Ron held out his hand, on it was the dragon ring Daisy had given him for Christmas. "We charmed them to work in tandem. Not only do they glow when the bearer is in danger but when the other is too. Bloody thing lit up like a firework 'bout half an hour after you left. Then this bird comes swooping down with Professors Snape and Blanc right behind."
Harry looked up to see Midnight resting on Hagrid's shoulder.
"Smart bird," Guy said. "Daisy had told me about her and Professor Snape and I were talking when she showed up. We knew there was trouble and went looking for Daisy. We found your friends by the lake, Ron starting to panic about the ring. We came as fast as we could. I'm sorry we weren't in time to help you."
"I'm sorry I failed Daisy. And I let that prick get away," Harry said.
"Potter, despite what you my think, you are not the Second Coming. You can't save everyone," Snape said. "And you didn't fail Daisy. You did your best. You may not have seen that scum sneak away, but probably saved Daisy's life by putting her first."
Harry shook his head. "We don't know that yet."
"We will soon."
"But surely there's something we can do!"
"No, Guy there is not."
"It's been three days! How can you still not know anything?"
"Because I won't know anything until she wakes up!"
Daisy was vaguely aware that was Madame Pomphery shouting. She never shouted.
"I can't lose her too!" Guy said.
"Guy, maybe if we talk to her? Tell her we need her and that she's all we have left, you know?"
That was Allen! Daisy opened her eyes to see her brothers looking stressed and tired.
"Hey!" she croaked. "Keep it down, will ya? Yous don't have to shout. Some people are trying to sleep." She was realizing how American her accent sounded again, head trauma she decided, who would want to talk like that?
"Daisy!" Guy shouted.
"Loud mouth!" she shouted back in mock of his voice.
He laughed. "And I was worried about you why?"
She pulled herself help with a little help from Allen. "You love me. You just can't help it. Besides you've known me for over fifteen years now, you should know I'm cranky when woken up. Len has more sense than you."
"Survival instinct." Allen said. "I'm still smaller then you, though not by much now."
Daisy smiled, then her memory came back. Being woken up by her siblings shouting was like being ten years old again. Now she remembered the present.
"How long have I been out?" she asked.
"Three days," her older brother answered.
"Three days," she repeated. "Oh on! That's two Qudditch practices! Ginny Weasley had better not be enjoying her temporary spot on the team too much."
"That's not something you have to worry about."
Harry! He had obviously just come from practice. He was still in the ratty old sweets he usually practiced in. He sat down on the edge of her bed.
"We've been having light practices, and Gin can't wait for you to take your stop back. Good to see you up."
Suddenly Daisy couldn't look at him anymore. She was so ashamed. What must he think of her now?
"Hey!" He said quietly lowering his face so he could meet her eyes. "You're not going to get all mopey on me again, are you?"
She still didn't say anything. Her brothers looked at her nervously and Madam Pomphery looked like she dearly wanted to clear everyone out.
Harry looked at them all. "Could I talk to her alone for a moment?"
"Just a moment," Madame Pomphery said and shooed Guy and Allen out.
"Hey," Harry said. "Hey, Wild Flower, look at me." She did. "I'm sorry. I let him get away." Harry looked down now. "I should have killed him when I had the chance."
Daisy remembered something, some words of wisdom she had once heard when she still went to church. "Love takes no pleasure in other people's sins but delight in the truth; it is always ready to excuse, to trust, to hope, and to endure whatever comes.
"Love does not come to an end.'"
"So you forgive him?!" Harry said.
"No! Idiot, I meant you! You're my best friend, you don't think I love you?"
"Oh."
"'Oh!' Well we know that if you had a Muggle education Brain Surgeon would not be a career option." She smiled "And I meant that'll I'll be fine, because there is love. So are you alright?"
"I wasn't the one who passed out and spent three days unconscious. I was worried about you. Everyone was, especially the Headmaster." Daisy looked slightly guilty. "You never talked to him, did you?"
"Oh my head!" Daisy said putting her hand across her head and feigning faintness. Harry didn't buy it. "Well, maybe it slipped my mind. Harry, I though you should know, my mum's grateful to you for looking after me. And you parents are proud of you."
Before Harry could asked her about this odd statement, Albus Dumbledore walked in, quickly followed by Ron and Hermione and Professor Snape. Ginny and Neville soon came up, and then the rest of the Gryffindor Quidditch team, who had heard she was awake.
Daisy was finally alone. She had so much in her head, and without the benefit of a pensive, nothing to do with it all. She remembered when she was little her father had told her to keep a diary for times like this. Belle had told her to stop writing in it when she was eleven and she stated going with the older crowd to Haven. But she remembered vaguely how good it felt to exorcize her demons in such a tangible way.
She found a quill and some parchment in a desk on the far side of the ward, usually used by Madame Pomphery when she didn't want to leave the room. She began to write about the thoughts running through her mind.
It had always been drilled into her that you don't fink on another gypsies. It was a hold over from the days when they were hunted down and used as scapegoats by society. Now they were forgotten by society. Very few witches and wizards remembered her grandmother's people.
She was also always told that family came first. Her family had been ripped apart. Her brothers were jumping at shadows and afraid to leave her alone for fear she'd disappear too.
Her aunt was still in hospital, recovering. Everyone keep saying how hopeful things looked, but Daisy knew she would never fully recover. It would be an amazing testament to Rosmareta's fortitude if she were ever able to even leave St. Mungo's.
She had two uncles she never saw and two she was way too much. Well one was a great uncle, but that hardly seemed to matter. She had only met her mother's older brothers twice, once and her grandmother's funeral, then again at her parents.
Uncle Sev was always so careful around everybody, so guarded. Though in his way he probably clung to her more than anyone. She hated his classes. He always pushed so hard. Did he care that she was on the verge of tears? The simple answer was no. The full answer was that she was capable of more and he knew it. The annoying thing was he was right and got her to her do her best. She knew her Potions grade to be one of the highest in the class. She wasn't sure were she ranked but she knew she worked for it. Damn complicated man, that Severus Snape.
Then there was Albus Dumbledore. Her great uncle and only relative on her father's side, and simple called Uncle. He was the penultimate wizard in her mind. Her father was the ultimate, but didn't every little girl believe her daddy could save the world? And her daddy had tried, something he had gotten from his Uncle Albus, the man who had practically raised him.
Her grandmother Anne was a Muggle and Aberforth Dumbledore had been ostracized for marring her in the early thirties. Wild rumors flew about their family, none of which were true. The family pet, a goat, had even been featured in a few. Her father had only been a year old in 1944 when Grindelwald killed them. The murder of his brother had driven Albus to track down and destroy Grindelwald. And make no mistake, the sweet kindly man raising a two year old had torn the bastard apart. And he saved the world as a result. Young Alexander wanted so much to be like his uncle and save people.
That was how he had met Annabelle Snape Blanc. Trapped in a marriage to a man she feared and loathed, and Death Eater no less, she had thought there was no where to turn.
It was hard to write about her parents. She missed them so much. Alex had saved Anna and they built a life together, still trying to save the world. Her father should have quite while he was ahead. He should have been home with his family. He didn't notice his twelve-year-old stepdaughter spiral out for control, or when she began to pull her younger brother, then half- sister down too.
To be fair her mother had never noticed either. But then, mom was always sort of purposefully oblivious. It came from living with her psyco first husband. Daisy knew her mother's first husband was abusive. Was this kind of victimization genetic? Did it come from being so much like her mother? Were they just marked women?
Because Daisy knew what her mother had gone through. She had too, but at the age of twelve. Vince. There weren't words strong enough to describe how much she loathed him. It was why she was now willing to tell what he had done now.
He was fifteen at the time, just kid himself, the age she was now. He had forced himself on her. He used that to manipulate her. The things he said and did were, well there just aren't words to describe how bad.
And she had healed enough not to want to even try. Two years in a hospital with a staff of doctors, half of them therapists, had done that for her. That and the past year here. Hogwarts was a place of miracles.
It was Vince who had put her in the hospital. He and his friends were heavy into the drug scene, more so that the others she knew in Haven. They had all done some things, but what Vince knew at fifteen could keep a Columbian Cartel in more cash then even they could dream of. And she was his lab rat. He had made a particularly strong batch of Vericlearvoicium, (V-clear for short). But he didn't tell her how strong it was and just kept feeding it to her.
And at that point she didn't care. She had been using V-clear for over a year, but that was always with her older brother around, at least until few weeks prior. She usually broke away to hang with Vince and Vikt (aka Viktor Krum). They were the three youngest members of their group. Her brother Guy was always very protective of her, for as much as much as he encouraged her. But she felt safe with them and Guy stopped her from doing anything too extreme.
But Vince had been spending time with other young gypsies. He had wanted 'his girl' and his best friend to come with him. Daisy, as always, obeyed.
Vikt was reluctant. Daisy displaced her anger towards him. Vikt didn't know what Vince was doing to her, no one did. But Vikt left her alone with Vince. It was when they were alone that bad things happened.
He wasn't there that day, when Vince told her to keep taking the V-clear. Sometimes she would even still trip, thought it hadn't happened since the beginning of the school year now. She thought she was taking what she could handle. Actually she thought she had taken considerably less then her limit.
She owed her life to the fact the Vikt changed his mind and had come to find them. He found her seizing up on the ground of where they had been. The others had left her there. Sometimes she hated him for finding her. If she had died, the horrible things she saw wouldn't matter.
But it was her own sister, no half-sister who had encouraged it all. Belle had pushed her towards Vince. Belle knew what was going on and encouraged it.
And now Belle was very much her father's daughter. Belle was serving Voldemort. Her once beloved sister had just attacked her. And she had struck back. Do you know how much guilt a fifteen-year-old girl can fell after stabbing her sister? It's a lot.
She could have died again. She knew she wouldn't because Harry had been there. Harry was her best friend. He understood what it was to be abused, manipulated, parentless. They are both very damaged people who have amazingly become almost well adjusted. There was still a little work to be done. (Harry still had to civilize his hair.) But they were working on it.
She had other friends too. Draco Malfoy had taught her how to relate to boys again, although he's not the best person to teach anyone how to deal with people in general. Hermione had taught her that. Hermione helped her be a normal girl, well at least as normal as a neurotic school obsessed freak can be, but Herm was getting better too. And Ron had taught her how to have a relationship with someone. She could almost be someone's girlfriend now. She needed to just learn to be herself first. That was what clinging to Ron had taught her.
Because of those four people she had learned how to be a normal teenage girl. And she had the support of the family now. It was a little misshapen, perhaps odd, but it kept growing. Her brothers, Uncle Sev and Albus would always be there, the fact that she hadn't driven them screaming into the woods was proof of that. And her friends kept multiplying. Despite a few faults they were the best people in the world. She owed Viktor Krum a huge thank you for saving her. It had brought her to Hogwarts and she was finally ready to rebuild her life. Of course that had started without her knowing it, but what good could she do now that she was aware?
Harry came to visit Daisy in the hospital wing and found her asleep with her head on the desk. He took the parchment from under her head. Thankfully there was no drool. He read what she had written. He didn't really mean to but when he had seen some of the names on the paper he couldn't help himself.
He was just reading the part about her family being odd when her heard her voice. "You know that as bad a eavesdropping."
"I was just trying to stop something you were obviously working hard on from becoming a puddle." She wiped a little bit of drool from her lip.
"So?" she asked with raised eyebrows.
"So what? Oh, you mean this? Your life and the things you've still never told any of your friends?"
"I have intimacy issues," she said defensively.
"I've noticed. Daze, you know I think your right Hogwarts is a place of miracles. When we were sorted back in first year McGonagall told us our House would be something like our family. First family I really had. I'm glad your part of it."
"That was very nice Harry, but if you don't mind I'd like a work with my niece." Albus Dumbledore said from the door of the infirmary.
Harry nodded. "Yes, sir. See you, Wild Flower," he said as he left, handing Professor Dumbledore the parchment on the way out.
"Dad told me once keeping a diary was good for unburdening your thoughts. I didn't have a diary so I just used the parchment." Daisy said stretching in her seat.
Dumbledore didn't say anything as he read the parchment. Daisy watched him. The man was nearly a hundred and fifty. He had seen a remarkable number of things. She had Seen a lot of them but not nearly all. A look of extreme sadness crossed his face.
"Oh, Daisy," he said shaking her head.
He was only three quarters of the way through though, the part about Vince. "Keep reading." He did.
Finally he looked up and smiled at her. "Daisy, have I ever told you how proud I am of you?"
She looked at her hands. "No."
"I am so very proud of you, as I'm sure your parents are."
Daisy couldn't help smiling at him. "You have no idea." But her smile faded. "So I've been awake for two days now and no one has told me about what happened after. Pettigrew and Malfoy?"
"Peter is in a Ministry holding cell. Lucius is under house arrest. Unfortunately Narcissa refused to admit him. He is currently staying at the Leaky Cauldron, awaiting his trial."
"Sirius?"
"Sirius' case is under review. He has not been pardon yet, but as the man he was supposedly trying to kill showed up alive and with the Dark Mark, a pardon seems emanate."
"I'm glad for Harry. He can have a decent home life," Daisy said.
Dumbledore looked uncomfortable.
"Uncle, don't tell me now that he has Sirius your going to sent him back to those, those People!"
"We don't yet know if Sirius will be in a position to take in Harry this summer. And it is safer for him at his aunt's house."
"For ten years that boy was allowed to survive with his family," she spat out the word with contempt, "but he didn't thrive until he was in the wizarding world. You show a plant the sun and then take it away for months at a time, eventually the plant will die."
"If Sirius wants to take Harry for the summer I will not stop him, but I think it is best for him at his relative's home. He is not a plant. I'm only trying to protect him."
"You can stop fate." Daisy looked at the old wizard hard in those startling blue eyes.
"You should listen to your own advice. You have a good heart. It's amazing that after everything you've been through you're not bitter." Her great uncle said with his characteristic twinkle in his eyes.
"No, I'm just too defensive. But then again, I'm a natural Keeper," she smiled.
"You better get back to bed. Madame Pomphery will be back soon."
"I love you Uncle Albus," she said as she hugged him tightly.
"I love you too, my dear sweet girl. I only ever tried to do what's best for you. Keep you healthy and safe."
She smiled at him as she snuggled in her hospital bed. "I'd rather be happy than safe. And I'd rather be here than anywhere else."
"Good night Daisy." The headmaster said with a final smile.
"Good night Uncle," she answered with her own smile.
AN: Sorry for the long wait. The computer went haywire a few weeks back (right before I sat down to write my senior thesis.) It should be okay now, and until I find a job, I'll prolly work on my fics.