I do not own Harry Potter or gain anything from writing this other than the opportunity of expanding on an already brilliant universe for my own entertainment, and hopefully yours.

Waves of Green

The routine that Dumbledore's Army developed with Daphne went incredibly smoothly. They didn't call on her every day, but even if they did, no one would have been the wiser. Daphne's routine became classes, a bit of homework, a quick dinner, hospital wing to either brew potions or sneak to the secret room, then finish the day with more homework. It became clear very quickly into this routine that McGonagall wasn't the only professor aware of the arrangement. Both Professor Sprout and Professor Flitwick had pulled Daphne aside at some point to express that they encouraged her to complete any homework assignments but would look the other way if she failed to hand something in. The omission of Slughorn told Daphne that the others didn't quite trust him. A good move in Daphne's opinion, the man seemed the type to hand out information eagerly if it meant getting himself out of trouble.

The homework arrangement was handy at times, but she would usually do her homework with Tracey, and didn't want to raise suspicion by not completing assignments they were both doing together. At least Tracey wasn't in Transfiguration, so that was the subject that usually took the fall if Daphne was short on time during the week.

The DA, as Daphne's learned to call it, continued their recruitment with some success. Every week there would be at least one new member, and every week Longbottom's face would get uglier and uglier. That is to say, he got into trouble more than anyone else, and he never allowed Daphne to heal his swollen, bloody and bruised face. It was before the holidays when a worried and frustrated Ginny took matters into her own hands, stunning the boy and telling Daphne to fix him up while he was out.

'I don't know how I feel about this,' Daphne said hesitantly, hovering her wand over the unconscious boy.

'I'll tell him I forced you at wand point,' Ginny claimed in a huff.

'He's definitely not gonna believe that,' Daphne murmured, but got to work anyway.

His face was quite the job, but that wasn't even the worst of him. He had marks on his back that almost looked like he'd been whipped that were wrapped up in too old bandages. It was definitely some form of Dark Magic, and it looked rather painful. There was a very small part of Daphne that wanted to appreciate Longbottom without a shirt on, but she was happy to say that fancy was definitely a thing of the past. The boy saw to that himself. It was impossible to like a boy who despises you on principle.

'He's taking on so much this year,' Ginny said sadly, running a hand over a healed line on his back that would leave a scar – he left them unhealed for too long.

'Why is that?' Daphne asked quietly. 'I mean, I know he wants to get ready to fight back, but every Dark Arts class he's always pushing it. It's like he wants to get punished.'

The secret room was relatively quiet today. There were about a dozen of them in total, a few of them people Daphne has already healed, most now doing homework. Luna was sitting on a cushioned chair across from where Longbottom was lying, watching Daphne's spellwork, and Ginny had his head on her lap. It was oddly intimate, and it made Daphne curious to ask a question she's been holding back about Ginny's relationship with a certain Chosen One, but she didn't want to pry.

'The way he says it,' Ginny said, letting out a sigh, 'he's doing it because that's the kind of thing Harry used to do. He wasn't the type to just sit back and let people walk all over him and his friends, he spoke out. So Neville's trying to fill that void, because he says we need someone strong like that or we'll all just … succumb to their attempts to beat us into submission.'

Daphne's certainly seen a piece of that kind of thing from Potter before. Snape was a right bastard to him, and while Potter usually seemed to try and ignore it, he'd occasionally snap back. It happened more frequently in sixth year when Snape was teaching Defence though. Probably because Potter was competent at Defence and he was only OK at Potions.

When Umbridge was a professor here she saw him stand up to her a few times, and heard about it a few more times. Like the time Pansy and Millicent caught Potter as part of their Inquisitorial Squad stupidity. They never had the full story of what happened, but one minute Potter was a prisoner, and the next Umbridge was in the hospital wing, twitchy and terrified of every little sound.

It was a bit different this year though. Potter wasn't dealing with Death Eaters back in his day (other than Snape, but it somehow doesn't count), and he certainly wasn't suffering from the Cruciatus for his transgressions. Things have changed. Though who knows what Potter would have done if he was still here in this school. Somehow Daphne had a feeling things would escalate far beyond where they already have. It was impossible to know for sure though, she didn't know Potter as well as others do.

'How do you think Potter would have dealt with things this year?' Daphne asked, since Ginny was one of those people who knew Potter better than others.

Ginny smiled a wistful smile. 'Probably pull a sword on the Carrows.'

Luna let out a dreamy giggle, but Daphne didn't get it.

'I imagine he would have fought back to the point Voldemort would have shown up to take back the school,' Luna said airily – Daphne couldn't stop the shudder at the name. 'I don't know what would have happened then.'

'Can't you just call him You-Know-Who?' Daphne whined.

'Harry used to say that fear of the name increases fear of the thing itself,' Ginny said stubbornly.

'You mean Dumbledore used to say that,' Luna mused.

'Well, yeah, but Harry said it to us.'

'But the name is jinxed now,' Daphne pointed out. 'I mean, it probably wouldn't work in Hogwarts, but it still –'

'Wait, what do you mean?' Ginny cut in.

'You don't know about the jinx?'

Daphne just assumed everyone knew. Everyone in Slytherin seemed to know anyway. But Ginny and Luna definitely didn't, so Daphne explained it. Then Ginny went into a bit of a panic while Luna woke a healed and transfigured Longbottom who didn't have time to yell at Daphne for healing him because he was dealing with a hysterical Ginny.

'What if they don't know?!' Ginny asked desperately, not able to stop her crying. 'He says the name all the time! What if they don't know?!'

Luna took the opportunity to relay the information to Longbottom while Daphne sat there nervously. Ginny was very obviously talking about Potter, and probably her brother and Granger, and Daphne could understand the worry. Potter was probably the reason the jinx was set up in the first place. Only people who opposed him would say the name, and when they did, the snatchers would go after them. It was a method of locating someone who was hiding, of destroying their protection and leaving them vulnerable to capture.

'Why didn't you tell us this sooner?!' Longbottom demanded.

Daphne furrowed her brow.

'I didn't know you were unaware,' she said calmly.

'What other secrets are you keeping?' he asked next, but Luna stood between them and put a hand on Daphne's shoulder.

'I'll take care of him,' she said easily. 'Thank you for your help again, Daphne.'

Daphne nodded, eyeing Ginny nervously who was currently crying into Longbottom's chest as he stroked her hair. Hopefully Potter figured out the jinx on his own, and hopefully he didn't figure it out the hard way.

When the holidays came not a single student stayed at Hogwarts. Parents were desperate to have their children home and students were desperate to escape what the school had become. Daphne had a feeling far fewer people would return after the break.

During the train ride she sat with Astoria and her friends, because Tracey was spending the time with her boyfriend. Astoria's friends were certainly more relaxed about the current state of things than most people Daphne's interacted with lately, but that was mainly because they were members of Slytherin. None of the girls seemed to enjoy the Dark Arts at least, talking about intentionally bombing their OWLs (assuming there was an OWL to be gained in the subject). They all started treating the class in similar ways to Daphne after she passed on the advice to her sister; with an indifference that Professor Carrow didn't care enough to try to motivate. But not all of them seemed against the Dark Lord. They seemed to look at it the same way as Daphne's father, a go with the flow kind of tact that wasn't worried too much about which way the war went. Even believing that He Who Must Not Be Named has already won. Which was hard to argue against.

The train ride couldn't remain peaceful. Much like the trip to Hogwarts, the Hogwarts Express was forced to stop. Daphne didn't see what happened, it must've been further down the line from the car she was in, but she heard about it before the end. Ever the gossip, Pansy came bursting into their compartment to tell them all how Death Eaters invaded the train again, but instead of looking for Potter, this time they were looking for Luna Lovegood. And this time they found their target.

Apparently Luna's father was making waves with his usual less than useful paper, The Quibbler, calling out to support Harry Potter and to fight back against You-Know-Who. Well the Death Eaters didn't like that, so they took the man's daughter as punishment. Apparently Longbottom tried to fight the Death Eaters to stop them from taking her. He did not succeed, and was nursing fresh wounds that Daphne wouldn't be able to heal without completely exposing herself. Not that he would let her do it anyway.

The story sobered their compartment quickly, the fifth year girls who were once nonchalant about the state of things suddenly looked shocked that just like that, a student was taken. If any of their families did something deemed treacherous, one of them could be taken next.

Daphne had to hide how she truly felt about what just happened. She wanted to cry, she wanted to scream, she wanted to Curse the nearest Death Eater in anger and frustration and grief. Luna was her friend. A new friend, but a very good one. At least on her part. And she suspected Luna felt similarly. There was nothing she could do though. Much as there was nothing Longbottom could do.

So Daphne had to save her tears until she was in the privacy of her room at home. But there was a distraction once they arrived home. Their father was in a rage, complaining loudly about how the Ministry had no right to do what they did. That they would ruin society itself under the rule of the Dark Lord, that the country was going to the dogs and it might be better to skip town and cut their losses after all instead of suffering through the biggoted idiots.

Daphne asked her mother what the rant was all about later.

'First of all, his Master of Quality was arrested by the Ministry because he couldn't provide proof of his magical heritage, even though your father helped him with forged documentation. He was the best, apparently, he could sniff out the good stuff from the bad stuff better than anyone else and was one of the biggest reasons your father's business is so successful today. Then on the same day the man was arrested, the Wizengamot passed a bill on new trading tariffs. Your father won't be able to conduct his business like he used to, it would all be taxed on both sides, so even if he was willing to pay up, the ones he is dealing with surely will not. At least not if he continues his business in Britain.'

The conversation didn't end there. On Christmas day when the whole family got together it was a far more dour atmosphere than the usual joyous yuletide event. The younger children were off playing obliviously while everyone else was in the sitting room discussing what the best and safest course of action would be. The "Lovegood girl" being taken had everyone spooked.

The Greengrass family are pure-bloods, though perhaps not as pure as some others who were obsessed with the status, and their safety seemed relatively assured. But the Lovegoods were also pure-bloods, and one of theirs was taken. Alone that might not have been enough to make them panic, but one of the factors that had them thinking twice was actually Tracey being put under the Cruciatus at school. Tracey was Daphne's second cousin, and was always present at these gatherings. If she could be targeted for snogging a boy then any one of them could be at risk.

Tracey was admittedly a bit of a different case though. She was a half-blood, her father being a Muggle-born, so that could've been a factor in the Carrows decision to punish, but it was just as likely they had no idea of her blood status. With Tracey's parents being on the run to protect her father, she was staying with her grandparents during the holidays, and they were seriously considering not letting Tracey return to school, to skip the country with her and find her parents. Tracey wanted to stick out the rest of the year though, and while her reason wasn't exactly the most legitimate, 'I can't leave Daphne and Astoria!' (which somewhat translated to, 'I can't leave Stephen!'), she was still an adult and could make her own decisions. Though her given reason brought up another point.

'Perhaps Daphne and Astoria shouldn't return either,' Daphne's father said, looking pointedly at Daphne.

At the beginning of the school year she argued against returning, argued as well against Astoria being allowed to return, but now she wanted to go back. To her surprise, she wasn't the only one who changed her tune. Astoria seemed more affected by their father's change of heart than Daphne originally thought. She agreed with little hesitation that it might be best if she did not return to Hogwarts after the break. With that declaration went Daphne's main excuse for wanting to return. Because she couldn't tell her family the truth. They would not betray Daphne, but they would betray the DA in a heartbeat when they heard about the risk Daphne was putting herself in.

'Well there you have it, Tracey,' Tracey's grandfather said firmly, 'with Astoria not attending and Daphne doing the same, you have no reason to –'

'Actually,' Daphne cut in, doing her damndest to sound like she was not hiding something, 'I plan on returning regardless of whether Astoria does or not.'

It seems silence was becoming the new normal to many of the things Daphne has been saying lately. She already knew why that was the case. It's because she's been acting out of character. The silence is usually one of surprise. The Daphne of five months ago fought tooth and nail to get Astoria and her parents to change their mind, now she was declaring that she would be going back, and that was that. She received similar silences with the DA. Those were of surprise and suspicion, both emotions relating directly to the fact that she's in Slytherin.

'And why have you changed your mind on this?' her father asked suspiciously.

Thankfully she managed to come up with a decent lie rather quickly. It wasn't even completely untruthful.

'Because one of the side effects of the Carrows being absolute lunatics is the amount of people needing to go to the hospital wing. I'm getting invaluable experience healing all kinds of Dark Magic that I would not normally be able to get without years of being a healer. It's too good an opportunity to pass up.'

It was a pragmatic and cold hearted reason. Very Slytherin actually. Though not exactly very Daphne. Which made it very suspicious.

'Come off it, Daphne,' her father said, 'your mother would be more than happy to tutor you on anything of the like, I'm sure.'

'In fact, if we do this and leave the country,' her mother added, 'it's likely that I would open my own practice with you as my apprentice. That would be a much better avenue for your ambitions.'

'Well … Madam Pomfrey needs my help with how much work there is this year.'

It was a weak argument, and one that both Astoria and Tracey could defunk if they decided to share what Daphne's already told them about the ban for those in Dumbledore's Army. Thankfully neither one of them voiced the thing they were obviously both thinking. Hopefully they didn't put too many of the pieces together though. Because the looks she was getting from both of them made it seem like they were putting too many of the pieces together. Thankfully her uncle managed to deflect attention away from Daphne's desire to return to school by pointing out they might not have time to organise the whole family out of the country by the time school returns anyway. So it was grudgingly agreed that things would have to wait for the summer and the question of what Daphne was playing at was dropped. At least it was until Tracey and Astoria got her alone.

'What's going on, Daphne?' Astoria demanded as soon as the door was closed to Daphne's room.

Judging by the arms crossed over her chest, Tracey was about to ask something similar.

'What do you mean?'

'Don't play dumb,' Astoria said. 'The hospital wing has not been as busy since the ban, you said so yourself, but you're still there every single day. Now you actually want to go back?'

'At first I figured you were just going there because I was neglecting you to be with Stephen,' Tracey added, 'but now it seems like there's something else going on. You're hiding something.'

Daphne kept her face passive as her mind raced through excuses. She could claim she has a boyfriend in secret, but that would raise more questions that she didn't have answers for. Maybe she could make up some lie about Madam Pomfrey being sick or something, but that didn't seem very believable. The one thing that was not an option was the truth. At least the full truth.

'And neither one of you will find out what I'm hiding,' she stated. 'So please don't try to find out.'

'Daphne,' Tracey groaned, 'we're supposed to keep a low profile! Please don't do anything stupid.'

'You're healing them in secret, aren't you?' Astoria demanded.

Daphne's face only twitched a little, but she pulled it off as nonchalant.

'I'm not gonna tell you, so stop trying.' She settled on her bed and pulled out the book Madam Pomfrey got her for Christmas on healing Dark Magic.

They didn't stop trying, at least they didn't that night, but never got closer than Astoria's initial guess. She felt bad that she couldn't tell them, and she could tell that both of them were a little hurt by it, but this was bigger than any of them. Against Daphne's better judgement she started climbing this mountain called resistance, and her resolve wouldn't allow her to turn her back on the climb. Either she reaches the peak or she falls before she gets the chance. Hopefully no one standing below was hurt as a consequence of her recklessness. That was one thing she couldn't forgive herself for. Despite her climb, she needed Tracey and Astoria to stay safe. It's just that they were no longer the only people important to her that attended Hogwarts. She needed to keep her new friends safe too. And even the idiots like Longbottom. She would never turn her back on them, especially not now that Luna was taken. Luna believed in her, and Daphne would do everything in her power to prove her right.

When they got back to school, Daphne didn't waste any time waiting for an invitation, she went to the secret room to find out if anyone knew where Luna was.

'We don't know,' Ginny said sadly. 'My dad says the Death Eaters threatened Xenophilius Lovegood to change his tune or he won't see his daughter again, so she's probably OK, but …'

Ginny trailed off, looking helpless and sad and more hopeless than Daphne had ever seen her. She wasn't the only one either, most of them looked the same. Luna's capture hit them hard. Who would they pick off next? It could be any of them, or any one of their friends.

'Hey … Greengrass.'

Daphne looked over in surprise at the soft tone of voice. Her surprise extended when she saw Longbottom not glaring at her, not looking at her stone-faced, but looking at her sheepishly, nervously, having a bit of trouble looking her in the eye. She wasn't surprised to see the usual injuries on his face, it was at dinner where Longbottom took out his frustration on Amycus Carrow for Luna's capture, then received the almost routine retaliation in turn. Plus his injuries from when Luna was taken haven't completely healed yet either.

'I was wondering if … you'd mind healing me?' he finally managed.

It was another one of those silences that was brought on by someone acting out of character. Only this one was a long time coming. That sentiment was echoed when some bloke in the room yelled, 'It's about damn time!'

That broke the spell of silence, making the room laugh as Daphne sat down in front of Neville and went to work. This would be the first time healing him (when he was conscious anyway) since before he was banned from the hospital wing. In fact, the last time she saw him he was yelling at her for not telling them about the jinx on You-Know-Who's name earlier.

'What brought you around?' she had to ask.

He gave an uncomfortable shrug, then let out a laugh. 'Luna told me if I didn't get my head out of my arse soon then she'd hurt me so badly I'd be begging you to heal me.'

Daphne laughed too, a tear in her eye.

'And really, she was right,' he continued. 'You're not the enemy, so I shouldn't waste my energy being stubborn about you. 'Cause we really do need you. We can't do what we'll need to do unless we're at our best, not half dead and barely able to move. I don't think we're gonna be able to go as we have been for much longer, we've exhausted our resources for who's going to join, and I'm pretty sure the Carrows are out of patience with me, next time it might be a different unforgivable, so I'm not gonna let them have their way much longer. I've already caught them trying to tail me to the Room, but they won't be able to get in, I've already figured out a few secrets about this place, and I might have to turn this into a permanent hiding place eventually. But that doesn't mean we're going to stop fighting. Once we're ready, we're going to need to take this school back, and then with the Order of the Phoenix and everyone else who wants to fight, and Harry, Ron and Hermione, we're gonna take this country back. And you better damn well believe the first thing we do after we take it back is save Luna!'

A cheer started building at his words, but he kept barreling on, a passion in his eyes that Daphne's never seen in anyone before, a fierceness and conviction in his voice that had her actually believing him.

'Because Luna doesn't belong to them – she belongs to us!'

An answering roar.

'Dumbledore's Army!' Neville cried.

And they answered with the same.

'Dumbledore's Army! Dumbledore's Army! Dumbledore's Army! Dumbledore's Army!'

The whole room chanted with Neville, and it took Daphne a few seconds to realise her voice was part of the cry. While she shouted along with the rest of Dumbledore's Army, she was brought back to the first time Neville asked her to join. Even though the idea was mad at the time, she was certain she would never take that leap, even with Luna saying she would be a good fit. Even when she started healing them in secret she wasn't a member, she simply helped their group as an outsider.

It was different all of a sudden. Whether it was because Neville finally accepted her or because Luna was taken or Neville's speech, she was one of them now. She was a member of Dumbledore's Army, just as much as the rest of them. She was fighting back against the Dark Lord Voldemort.

Then the surprised silence returned incredibly suddenly, the cheers trailing off when in the heat of the moment, Ginny Weasley seemed unable to contain her passion any longer. She locked her lips onto Neville Longbottom like her life depended on it, and after a stunned moment, he returned it just as desperately. They apparently got lost in their own world because it lasted far too long in the quiet room, until someone randomly cried in an incredulous voice, 'What about Potter?!'

They pulled apart, and both parties looked just as shocked. They were red-faced and frightened, and Ginny's eyes kept getting wider as she looked around at the number of people who just watched her do what she did.

'Shite,' Ginny gasped, bolting from the room, leaving another silence after the slamming door.

'I wonder if Harry's Cruciatus is worse than the Carrow's,' Finnegan yelled loudly, and everyone burst out laughing. Well, everyone but Neville anyway. His previous passion was gone, replaced by white faced terror at the thought that he just stole the Chosen One's girlfriend.