Chapter One Hundred and Five: Games and Parties

Daphne and Harry acted completely normal at breakfast the next morning, which is why it was obvious that Hermione had given them a shocked look, and was now determinedly focusing on her food, blushing fiercely, and shooting furtive glances at Ron, who looked from Harry, to Daphne, to Harry again, and said, "You two are suspiciously cheerful considering what happened yesterday."

Ginny, who, like Hermione, had caught on immediately, said, "Ron, to protect your own innocence you should probably not think too hard about why they might be so cheerful."

Ron gave her a confused look. "Why shouldn't I think too hard about– Wait, you mean they– Oh…OH!" Ron's eyes were now as wide as saucers, and he finally seemed to realize Hermione was just about giving off steam with how red she was.

"And there's the realization. You're welcome," Ginny said cheerfully, grinning at Harry and Daphne, both of whom grinned back sheepishly.

Daphne felt a bit guilty, looking at Ginny now, but almost as if Ginny saw what Daphne was thinking about, she shot her a warning look.

"So I guess we know another use for the Room of Requirement now," she said. "I'm eager to try it out for myself sometime…"

Ron nearly choked on his sip of pumpkin juice and Ginny gave him a disdainful glance.

"Anyway, Harry, you've got another lesson with Dumbledore tomorrow, haven't you?" she asked. Harry nodded. "Are you going to ask about Malfoy?"

Harry nodded again. "Of course. I want to know Dumbledore's thoughts, since he seems to have been the target. And I want to know if he plans on doing anything about it."

It turned out that Dumbledore, though concerned and willing to believe Harry's theory, wasn't going to act against Malfoy, for the same reason no one else had, either: there wasn't any proof tying him to the attempt. Dumbledore had asked Snape to keep an eye on Malfoy, but that clearly hadn't been enough — though Snape couldn't have known about Madam Rosmerta unless he'd used Legilimency on Malfoy, which might have given him away.

Harry, therefore, decided to make the next Order meeting all about avoiding sneak attacks, knowing that Daphne, despite all her friends' reassurances, still blamed herself for having been cursed, however briefly. Smith didn't seem to think it was a very useful thing to spend a lesson on, but everyone else was more than willing to go along with it, and it turned into a very interesting session, in which everyone was Stunned and revived many times, including Harry himself, and it had been an eye-opener to all of them just how difficult it could be to avoid an attack you couldn't see coming.

There wasn't much time for Order meetings after that, though, as the first Quidditch match of the season was approaching, Gryffindor vs Slytherin, and the Gryffindor team was training harder than ever, as all of them wanted to utterly destroy Malfoy.

Only a couple of days before the match, however, Nott came up to Daphne in the common room and said, "Malfoy's not playing in the match."

"What? Why not?"

"His mysterious assignment seems to be causing him some distress, especially after his first attempt failed so spectacularly."

"So it was him," Daphne said darkly.

"Of course it was," Nott said dismissively. "Everyone knows it, and Malfoy knows everyone knows it. Why do you think he's so nervous? He's afraid the Dark Lord is going to kill him before he gets another chance. And with Dumbledore on alert now, he has no idea what to try next. He's still unwilling to tell me what he intends to do, but clearly he believes that skipping the Quidditch game is going to help him come up with something. Harper is going to be replacing him."

"Right. Well, keep me informed…"

Malfoy, more than usual, became the target of the Gryffindors' scorn over the next couple of days for pulling out of the match, to a point where Daphne might've felt sorry for him if she didn't hate his guts and felt he thoroughly deserved everything he got.

It came as something of a surprise when, one night in the dorm, Pansy came up to Daphne and said, "I think Draco's losing his mind. I…Look, I can't deny that I don't much care for Dumbledore, but…I'm sorry for what Draco's done. To you, I mean. I…I don't know what to do." She sounded panicked, and Daphne had the impression that Pansy was feeling just as stressed as Malfoy.

"You can tell him to step up his game, at least, because even if that Imperius had controlled me, that package of his would never have reached Dumbledore," Daphne said. She sighed. "I'm not going to pretend that I agree with your viewpoints on blood supremacy, and I certainly don't agree with your views on Malfoy as anything other than the scum of the Earth…but I do feel bad for you. Just…I know you love him, but be careful. He clearly doesn't care about collateral damage in his stupid plans."

"I know. I've tried talking to him about it, but he doesn't want to listen. He just says he'll be richly rewarded for serving the Dark Lord well."

Daphne scoffed. "Well, getting to keep your life is pretty rich by Voldemort's standards," she said, and Pansy yelped at the name.

"I don't want him to die…" she whispered.

"I couldn't care less about him, to be honest, but I understand why you don't want him to die…I just…don't think I can help you. Dumbledore knows Malfoy's trying to kill him, and I'm sure Dumbledore isn't the type of person who would kill a student, even in response to a murder attempt. It's even possible that he might know Malfoy's acting on Voldemort's orders and trying to save him somehow, but can you put your faith in Dumbledore? After just admitting you don't care much about him?" Daphne asked.

Pansy shrugged helplessly. "I don't know," she said softly.

She put her hands over her face. "I just want this stupid war to end…" she said, her voice cracking.

"Yeah," Daphne muttered. "Me too…"


The day of the match had arrived, and Hermione and Daphne made their way over to the stands together to cheer on Harry, Ginny, and Ron.

Terence actually sat with them in the Gryffindor section. He still hadn't forgiven Malfoy for forcing him off the team, and even now he still wasn't allowed to play, so he'd be cheering against Slytherin.

Adrian and Tracey, though would still be supporting Slytherin, and Daphne guessed the rest of S.I.N. would, as well, though they would probably be a bit nicer about it than the other Slytherins.

"How's Ron?" Daphne asked as they took their seats.

"Well…we were in the Room of Requirement last night…he's quite relaxed," Hermione said, determinedly not meeting Daphne's eyes.

"How was his broomstick handling?" Daphne asked innocently.

"Do we really need to talk about this now?!" Hermione asked, and Daphne laughed. "But, er, it could still use some work…" Hermione muttered, and Daphne laughed even harder.

The players took to the air and the match began. It was clear quite quickly that Gryffindor outclassed Slytherin by a very wide margin.

Daphne was surprised to see that Demelza, the least experienced of the three Chasers, played very well with both Katie and Ginny and that her passing ability gave both Ginny and Katie ample opportunity to score while Harry disrupted the activities of the Slytherin Chasers and Beaters while he searched for the Snitch. Daphne grinned when she saw him cut off Harper several times as well to keep him distracted.

"I'm almost glad I'm not up there," Terence said. "This is just a butchery."

It was hard to disagree. The Gryffindor team was so confident in each and every play that the few attacks that did come through for Slytherin were all easily blocked by Ron, who was clearly bolstered both by his team's stellar performance and Hermione's efforts in the Room of Requirement.

It was therefore with the spectacular score of four hundred and thirty to zero that Gryffindor took the opening match of the season.

"This is just not fair," Terence said. "I mean, I was supporting Gryffindor, but come on, there are professional players who don't work this well together."

"Ever heard of Amaranth Pyrites?" Daphne asked.

"Yeah, she was pretty good, wasn't she? Went on to coach a team that nearly took the title immediately after, right?"

"The Suffolk Scourges, yeah. Well, she's my mum, and she's been coaching Harry for a couple of years, and Ginny and Ron for a few months," Daphne said with a grin. Terence looked shocked.


It didn't surprise Daphne in the slightest that Harry and Ginny mysteriously ended up in the Room of Requirement that night, and now it was Daphne's turn to grin widely at breakfast at the way Harry and Ginny were acting completely normal. Now all that was left was for her and Ginny to have some…dueling practice…again.

There wasn't really much of a chance over the next few weeks, though, as despite the fact the holidays were approaching, homework was piling up rapidly.

To make matters worse — for Harry, anyway — Slughorn had managed to convince Hermione to convince Harry to attend one of his parties. Out of solidarity, Ginny and Daphne both decided to go with him, while Ron, as he'd done the previous time, would accompany Hermione.

Harry clearly wasn't looking forward to it and it became almost comical how sullen he was about it.

"I'll be glad when we're at the Burrow for Christmas," he groused.

"You've never really been over for Christmas, though," Ginny said, "and after Mum inflicts Celestina bloody Warbeck on us all night long you'll be longing for another of Slughorn's parties."

"Is it really that bad?" Harry asked.

"Yep. Mum's cooking is always great, though," Ron said. "Too bad you can't be there, Hermione."

"I'm sure I'll spend plenty of Christmases with you yet, Ron," Hermione said, before remembering she wasn't alone with him and turning bright red. Ron as well seemed to have caught fire.

"Well, I guess we know who's using the Room tonight…" Ginny said.

"Shut up," Ron and Hermione said at the same time. Ginny, Harry, and Daphne merely laughed.

Hermione grew serious again and said, "By the way, Harry, you'd better be careful. Romilda Vane and some of her friends seem to have come to the conclusion that if you can have two girlfriends, a few more wouldn't hurt either…they're coming up with ways of slipping you a love potion; I heard them talking about it in the bathroom."

"I will murder them today," Daphne said, and the edge in her voice was so clear that no one laughed. Especially after the Imperius incident, they were all well aware how Daphne felt about such mind-altering magic.

"They didn't have the potions on them, or I would have confiscated them," Hermione said.

"How're they getting them into the school anyway? Isn't everything being searched?" Harry asked.

"Yes, but Fred and George are disguising them as things like cough syrup; it's part of their service," Ginny said. "They showed us back in their shop."

"And because love potions don't count as Dark, Filch's tools can't find them, and because he's a tool, he can't spot them either," Daphne guessed sourly.

Ginny nodded.

"Not Dark?" Harry asked. "Bloody Voldemort is the result of a love potion. I'd say that's enough grounds to get them declared illegal right away."

"Yeah, the only problem with that is that's kind of a secret, mate, you said that yourself," Ron said.

Harry groaned. "I should start drinking from a hip flask, like Moody…I'm seriously beginning to understand why that man's as paranoid as he is…"

Daphne grinned. "I'm sure he'd be proud of you if you did," she said.


On the evening of the party, the five of them headed over to Slughorn's office together, Daphne and Ginny constantly teasing Harry, who bore it with all the dignity and grace he could muster, which was to say, he was scowling so fiercely that even Hermione had a tough job not bursting out laughing.

They entered the office, which seemed to have been magically enlarged for the occasion, and almost immediately Slughorn bore down on them.

"Harry, m'boy!" he boomed exuberantly. "Fantastic that you've finally been able to make it to one of my little gatherings. Come, there are so many people I'd like you to meet!" And without giving Harry a chance to respond, Slughorn dragged him away.

"I'm…going to keep an eye on him," Daphne said, feeling a little bad for Harry despite the huge grin she had on her face at that moment. "You guys…have fun, I suppose?"

She quickly followed Harry and Slughorn through the crowd, and decided it would be fine to keep an eye on him from a distance. He'd have to learn to navigate annoying people wanting stuff from him at some point, so it might as well be at an insignificant party.

She went to get a drink and ran into two identical-looking girls she'd seen in the common room a couple of times, but with whom she'd never spoken.

"Hey," she said. "I don't think we've officially met, have we? I'm Daphne Greengrass."

She held out her hand, and for a moment the girls both just stared at it.

"We know who you are," the girl on the left said. Then she slowly shook Daphne's hand. "Flora Carrow."

The other girl now also shook Daphne's hand. "Hestia Carrow."

"Ah, I know the name," Daphne said, which was the diplomatic way of saying she knew that at least some people named Carrow had avoided Azkaban after Voldemort fell the first time.

"Yes, our aunt and uncle are fairly well-known. Not that anything was ever proven," Flora said flatly.

"Otherwise Professor Slughorn wouldn't have invited us, would he?" Hestia added, equally flatly.

"Er, no, I suppose not," Daphne said, feeling more uncomfortable by the second.

She glanced around to see how Harry was doing, and was surprised to see Snape standing next to him, as well as Malfoy and Filch.

"Was Malfoy invited?" she asked the Carrow sisters.

"Probably not, seeing how Filch is with him," Flora said.

Daphne frowned. What could Malfoy possibly want at the party? Did he expect Dumbledore to be there, or something? Snape then took Malfoy aside, and Harry, the second Slughorn was hailed by some acquaintance, quickly slipped away to follow them.

Daphne felt that the Carrow sisters were still looking at her, and she turned back to them.

"So, er, have you heard about S.I.N., by any chance?" she asked, for lack of something else to talk about.

"We have," Flora said.

"But we're not currently interested in joining," Hestia added.

"Right."

Even for someone who was used to gatherings like this, like Daphne, the silence was getting uncomfortable, and she quickly made her way over to Ginny, who was talking to a dark-skinned, tough-looking woman.

"Oh, hey Daphne," Ginny said when Daphne came to stand next to them. "This is Gwenog Jones. Miss Jones, Daphne Greengrass, my girlfriend."

Daphne shook hands with Jones, who said, "Greengrass? Wait…you're Pyrites's daughter!"

"Yep…" Daphne said, already half-wishing she was still standing with the Carrow twins.

"Are you–" Jones began, but Ginny said, "Daphne doesn't play."

Jones blinked. "You…don't? How can you have someone like Amaranth Pyrites for a mother and not play Quidditch? I mean, I can't stand the woman, but I thought she'd at least impart her love of the game on her daughter…"

"She tried," Daphne said. "Many, many times. That's why she's so happy I'm dating two Quidditch players."

"Two?"

"Long story."

"Who's the second?" Jones asked Ginny.

"Harry Potter, he's here too," Ginny said brightly.

Jones nodded appreciatively. "I heard he flew really well at the Triwizard Tournament…too bad he's a man or I'd try to get him signed…that'd piss Pyrites right off, I bet…"

"She said Harry should join whatever team he wants to," Daphne said. "Although in fairness, she would probably murder him if he chose your team."

Jones laughed. "Good. I'm glad to hear she still hates me," she said.

"You like that someone hates you," Daphne said flatly.

"It means I've made a strong impression on them. Quite like a Bludger to the face, which, incidentally, is my job as a Beater," Jones said.

"Hey, didn't Mum say you'd wasted any chance of getting Gwenog Jones to like you if you got involved with me?" Daphne asked Ginny. Actually that wasn't quite what Mum had said, in fact it had been 'if Jones knew Mum was training her', but Daphne didn't want to say that in case Jones hadn't heard about that yet.

"Oh, I won't," Jones said dismissively before Ginny could answer. "If I had to hate everyone who'd ever had anything to do with Amaranth Pyrites I might as well pack it in, and the same goes the other way around. I'll settle for hating her and leave it at that. I'm always glad to meet a fan, even if they are dating Amaranth Pyrites's heathen, non-Quidditch-playing daughter."

"I'll tell Mum you called me a heathen, she'll enjoy having another reason to hate you," Daphne said.

"Please don't. She might end up agreeing with me and I don't think either of us could bear that," Jones said.

Daphne grinned. Jones grinned back. Oh no, if Daphne wasn't careful Mum might end up murdering her for having the gall to not hate Gwenog Jones on sight.

Then, Snape suddenly came striding up to them. "Miss Greengrass, a word, please?" he said.

"Uh, okay…see you later, Ginny. Nice to meet you, Miss Jones," Daphne said, raising her hand in greeting.

Ginny waved uncertainly, apprehensively looking at Snape.

Jones also raised her hand and said, "Tell your mum I said hi. I look forward to her Howler."


Daphne followed Snape to an abandoned corridor nearby. He waved his wand once.

"So no one will overhear us," he explained.

If he'd done that while talking to Malfoy just now, Harry would've been out of luck. But for some reason, she doubted that he had, and that he'd only done it now because whatever he wanted to talk about was a secret that concerned him.

"I will keep this short. What I am about to tell you must, like your other secret, remain hidden to everyone. I will tell you this only because I…want someone to know the truth."

Daphne instantly understood that she wasn't the person Snape was talking about, Lily was. She nodded once to show she'd understood.

Snape's face was expressionless. "It was planned," he said, and Daphne waited for some kind of explanation, but none came.

Seeing her confusion, Snape said, "You will understand in due time. It was planned. Remember what you have learned and realize that not everything is obvious."

"Er, okay, sir…" Daphne said uncertainly.

"Not a word about this to anyone, ever," Snape said.

"I promise, sir," Daphne said, and she had every intention of keeping her word. After all, she had no idea what he'd meant, or why he'd felt the need to tell her, or, well, Lily's memory, at all.

But she did know that whatever the reason was, Snape's timing probably had something to do with Malfoy's plans, and that thought chilled her more than the drafty corridor she now stood in.

This year being filled with shipping even in canon makes things a lot of fun for me.

I gave the Carrows a cameo because GreengrassRebel mentioned them in a review, so I hope I didn't butcher their personalities too badly. If I did…oops? It was fun to write, anyway, as was the rest of the party and the chapter.

As for Snape saying what he says here…I think it's defensible, given how screwed up he is and how he's already been acting throughout the story. Will it become relevant? It will, yes.