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.

Snakes and Lions

The next time Daphne woke up from sleep was in the afternoon, having slept the morning away thanks to staying up most of the night talking to Harry Potter in the Great Hall. Not that it mattered, classes weren't in session so she had nothing to do all day. Her dorm room was empty, which is to say Tracey wasn't in it. Pansy went home to escape Tracey's wrath for pointing out Daphne to Death Eaters (Tracey has been in quite the rage lately, taking it out on those who are within her reach), and Millicent left too, though was planning to return when classes resumed. Daphne took her time getting ready for the day, humming to herself and adding a little extra to her appearance just for fun.

She had a usual routine of muted make-up charms that was rather subtle, but she went a bit bolder today. The human transfiguration practice she's been getting while healing the DA has improved her ability significantly. The look she settled on wasn't over the top though. A bit of a bolder eye and lip and some added wavy flair to her usually straight hair. Her robes were a little dressier than she'd ordinarily wear at school, but the form fitting powder blue brought out the colour of her eyes, and she simply wanted the colour of her eyes brought out. The unicorn horn brooch complimented the look nicely. Then again, that piece went nicely with everything.

When she entered the Great Hall most everyone in the castle was at lunch. Though the majority of people were currently crowded around the Gryffindor table. It didn't take a genius to guess why. A part of her wanted to take advantage of this new found freedom and say hello to her Gryffindor friends, but didn't want to just amalgamate herself with the crowd.

'Why, don't you look lovely today,' Astoria commented as Daphne approached her and Tracey. 'Potter's awake, in case you haven't noticed.'

Daphne smiled over at the crowd of people, giggling randomly.

Tracey briefly looked up from the message she was currently scrawling angrily on the red parchment in front of her. She has returned to her hatred of all things boy after Stephen Cornfoot's betrayal. That was after the tears and apologies. She felt guilty and heartbroken and all manner of negative emotions, but that passed after a few days and now all she felt was rage toward her ex. It was a good thing for him he hasn't returned to school, Daphne's witnessed first hand the rage of her best friend. As has Pansy Parkinson. Spending the rest of the year in detention was worth it in Tracey's mind, especially since detention was much more pleasant now that the Carrows and Snape were in prison.

Not every Death Eater made it to Azkaban. Draco Malfoy wasn't there quite yet, and he might not end up there at all, despite what he did that led to Dumbledore's death. Part of the reason is instead of telling Voldemort about Daphne's secret healing of Dumbledore's Army, he was trying to discredit the two Ravenclaw boys, which led to his torture. The truth of that was questionable from just the testimony of the boy's mother and father and Snape, but the evidence did corroborate with the story. It seemed Daphne might have been wrong about him. But he still made a great deal of mistakes before he realised the error of his ways. Hopefully he could fully repent. One day, maybe.

'How many howlers have you sent Cornfoot by now?' Astoria asked casually.

'Not enough,' Tracey grit out, scribbling angrily on a fresh piece of red parchment.

Daphne hummed contentedly as she gathered her lunch, smiling briefly at a frustrated shout from the middle of the crowd across the Hall. The sun shone through the high windows, a feature that usually goes overlooked due to the enchanted ceiling. It added a different kind of beauty to the room. Something new and subtle that made everything feel fresh. The world really was a wonderful place.

'What the bloody hell has gotten into you?' Astoria blurted.

Daphne paused in buttering a roll to scold her sister. 'Language, Sister,' she said cheerily. The girl was watching her through narrowed eyes, a drumstick frozen on the way to her mouth.

'You're humming,' Astoria accused. 'And you got dressed up. And you're wearing make-up.'

'I always wear make-up.' Daphne waved away, amused.

'No. No – something's weird.'

'Nothing's weird,' she claimed. 'Things are just better now, aren't they? Just listen to the lovely noise in the Great Hall! No one needs to hide anymore or worry about being tortured. It's normal and safe again.'

'OK …' Astoria said slowly, still watching suspiciously. 'Then why did you get all dolled up then? You've never done that when things were normal before.'

'I was just in a very good mood and decided to pamper myself.'

She rolled her eyes at her sister, though she didn't really blame the girl. Anything out of the ordinary would set her off these days. Her and Tracey have been extra protective of Daphne since that awful night. Tracey in particular. She felt guilty at first, because she did in fact confide in her ex-boyfriend some things that led him to the truth, which led him to snitch. At least her tears did eventually subside after a couple days, to be traded for an ever growing rage at anyone who has or may or probably won't do Daphne harm. Including her many admirers who were suddenly interested in her.

'Lookin' good there, Daph,' Blaise Zabini commented as he sat across from her at the Slytherin table, a roguish smirk adorning his handsome face.

Before Daphne had the chance to dismiss the boy who had absolutely no chance in hell, Tracey's wand was out.

'Keep moving down the line, Zabini,' she spat, red sparks leaving her wand when she said his name.

Blaise held his cocky smirk, rolling his eyes and trying to ignore his ex-girlfriend. The stinging hex had him yelping and scowling. The second one had him jumping up and doing as he was told.

Tracey held her glare on the boy as she pocketed her wand, then took another look at Daphne.

'Who's the bloke?' she demanded, then quickly added, 'I know you're not stupid enough to go for Zabini.'

'Bloke?' Daphne laughed. 'What are you on about?'

'Don't even try to deny it,' Tracey hissed. 'You come in here all done up, full of sighs and smiles and dreamy looks – humming, Daphne. Astoria's right, you do not hum.'

'You're seeing danger in my humming now?' Daphne giggled.

'You don't giggle either!' Tracey snapped.

A few of the surrounding students raised eyebrows at Tracey's outburst. Some of their attention shifted to Daphne as they took in her appearance.

'Hey, Greengrass. Ignore the grump and come sit with – Ow!'

Tracey didn't even turn to look at Harper before launching the stinging hex. No one else tried chatting Daphne up.

'I know there's a bloke, Daphne,' Tracey grit out. 'But there shouldn't be. Boys are trouble. All boys.'

'Tracey,' Astoria said in exasperation. 'Not all boys are –'

'ALL BOYS!'

'Er – uh, h-hey, Daphne?'

Daphne's head spun around at the sound of the familiar voice behind her, her amused smile turning to an O. She tried to force her features into something more casual at the sight of his face, but then realised the only thing of him she could see was his face, and then that disappeared a second later. Her mouth stayed firmly as an O.

'Sorry,' he said quickly. 'I'm trying to ditch –' A hand appeared from thin air, pointing across the Hall '– them.'

The crowd around the Gryffindor table was thinner now, most of them looking around, searching for something, though many were now crowded around Ron and Hermione. Ron seemed to be taking things in stride, a cocksure smile on his face and gesturing elaborately with his hands at his captive audience. Hermione seemed worried about something, her eyes searched the Hall until they landed on Daphne. She half rose from her seat, but then bit her lip and sat back down, though didn't take her eyes off Daphne.

'Can we … talk?' he said hesitantly.

'Yeah …' Daphne managed, rising to her feet.

Before she took more than a step from the Slytherin table, a hand closed tightly on her wrist. Daphne frowned at Tracey, who was eyeing the empty space suspiciously.

'Potter?' Tracey questioned quietly.

'Davis,' Harry returned evenly. 'Don't mind if I borrow her for a bit, do you?'

Daphne's frown turned into a grin. The grip on her wrist loosened, but Tracey also got to her feet and stood beside Daphne, making it obvious she was planning to come too.

'I …' Harry trailed off when Astoria also rose. 'OK … Meet me on the second floor, I guess.'

'Tracey,' Daphne hissed, unsure if she was just imagining the sound of his retreating footsteps. 'You don't have to –'

'I'm coming with you,' Tracey said firmly. 'If you think I'm leaving you alone with a Gryffindor then you're crazy!'

Tracey held her ground when Daphne stepped up close to her, her jaw set stubbornly.

'He is the one that saved me,' Daphne said severely. 'Or have you forgotten that?'

Much of the wind seemed to be taken out of Tracey's sails at that. Her anger disappeared from her face, but what remained was something just as stubborn. She glanced quickly at Astoria then back at Daphne, once more taking in her appearance.

'I thought he was with Ginny Weasley,' she said.

Daphne blinked, a heat rising in her face that she couldn't quite explain. Her hands smoothed her powder blue robes nervously, her eyes looking around frantically in case he was near, listening.

'I-it isn't about that,' Daphne stammered. 'I'm not – he's not.' She took a deep breath and attempted to say in a more even voice, 'It isn't about that,' but it came out as a nervous whisper.

Tracey held her eye for another long moment before turning abruptly and leaving the Hall. Daphne let out a relieved breath, glad she didn't need to have that conversation. Because Tracey was definitely reading into things that were not there.

It isn't like that, she thought to herself. Her thoughts were no less nervous than her whisper.

It wasn't, right? It's not as if Harry asked if he could borrow her because he …

She found herself looking across the Hall. Granger was still sitting there, watching, but looking like she wanted to do something. Ron had his hand on her shoulder as he spoke to other people, for some reason Daphne got the impression he was holding her back. A different redhead was a bit further away from Ron. The look she was giving Daphne felt reminiscent of how Neville looked at her for much of this year. Stone faced. Giving absolutely nothing away. And Daphne couldn't understand why that look made her so nervous. Neville was sitting beside Ginny, trying to hide a smile behind a cup.

'Just be careful,' Astoria murmured to Daphne, finding her friends at the end of the table and joining them.

Daphne left the Great Hall with a pounding heart. It isn't like that, she thought, her mind swimming. It's not as if I … She didn't really consciously walk to her destination, it was more that her feet carried her forward while she was stuck in her own head. Carried her to a vague place, somewhere on the second floor to talk to Harry. In private. We talked yesterday. Last night. About a lot of things. It's not like he … or I … fancy him.

Her feet froze partway up the stairwell, and she felt a sudden urge to run. In the other direction. She didn't know how to talk to boys! Especially not boys like … An image burst to life in her mind of her arriving on the second floor to be ambushed in a heated snog by the Boy Who Lived. By the Chosen One. Her feet were once more moving to the second floor on their own.

No! she screamed to herself. She forced her feet to be still. It can't be like that! I'm just in a good mood, and I wanted to look nice! And he just wants to talk to me more because last night we had fun and he wanted to keep spending time with me because he … liked to spend time with me.

'Merlin,' she muttered.

The rhythm of her heart was unlike anything she'd experienced before. An accelerated clock with each tick sending a nervous tremor through her body. It was so loud, surely anyone close could hear it. Her mind felt so clouded, so confused. He was not someone a girl like Daphne Greengrass could ever have. He was a hero, and she was a member of the house of snakes.

You're a hero too, a voice in her head said. Words from the Daily Prophet and words from people who've never spoken to her before. She shook her head rapidly to get rid of the words.

I am not a hero! All I did was heal some people and almost died for it!

You are, the voice taunted. You are the one who killed the Dark Lord – just the same as Harry Potter. Or have you forgotten that?

'I had nothing to do with that!' she shouted out loud. 'That was him! It was his …' Love …

Daphne didn't see the startled second years that were heading down the stairs, despite her wide eyes. Was it possible for her heart to get any louder?

'It wasn't that kind of love,' she mumbled. And it wasn't. He said as much himself. It wasn't for her that he sacrificed himself, it was for the whole school, perhaps the whole world. Because he loved the world. And the people in it. And he didn't want to see them get hurt.

Her rapidly beating heart accelerated at her racing thoughts, and she learned that it could get louder. An overwhelming feeling of fondness spread through her. What an amazing thing to do. What an amazing thing to desire the safety of everyone else over your own life. How many would make that walk from the secret room to the Great Hall just so they could stop others from hurting? And despite what he said, he did make sure he got there before Daphne was killed. He did put himself between that Killing Curse and her, and his mother and father and a man named Sirius did surround her. To keep her safe.

'I fancy Harry Potter,' she mumbled in a bit of awe. Her heart tried to deny even that, but not in a way she understood.

It was a good thing for Daphne that no one else was around to overhear her, because as she spoke the words she came out of her daze, looking around warrily, afraid of catching any snickering students. When she made it to the second floor another thought crashed into her mind. Does he fancy me back?

Was that actually why he asked to speak with her in private? He did seem rather nervous about it – and Tracey certainly jumped to that conclusion. But how could he? They really only spoke for the first time the night before. And while it was close to the entire night, it seemed too convenient that he would suddenly return those feelings. A few of the more intimate moments of that night flitted through her memory and she blushed.

But that path wasn't clear, was it? Unlike Daphne, Harry already had someone he fancied. And she fancied him too. But that situation was suitably complicated without Daphne adding any help. Would she risk her friendship with Ginny to … to what? Tell Harry how she suddenly felt? To rat on Ginny for what she did with Neville? She wouldn't do those things, certainly not the latter, and the former was something she didn't think she was capable of.

The sound of a girl sobbing had her stopping part way down the second floor corridor. Beside her was an open door that led to a classroom. Daphne stepped tentatively over, the thought that someone might be hurt distracting her from her pounding heart. The sight of her best friend wasn't something she expected to see. Moving automatically, Daphne rushed over to her, turning her to see what was the matter.

'Oh, Daph,' Tracey sobbed, pulling her into a crushing hug. 'You could have died!'

Daphne's eyes drifted over Tracey's shoulder to see Harry. He was sitting on the teacher's desk, his feet dangling, his hands resting on the wood. Strangely, a rather feminine beaded bag hung over his shoulder.

'I hope you don't mind,' he said. 'I told her some of what happened.' At Daphne's questioning look he added, 'With the Killing Curses.'

Tracey sobbed louder at the last words, holding Daphne even tighter. Realising Tracey was OK, just emotional about the frightening experience Daphne went through, Daphne found herself staring at Harry. He stared right back at her at first, but his eyes started shifting away from her gaze, starting to fiddle nervously with the Muggle clothes he was wearing.

'Sorry,' he said in a sheepish tone. 'I guess I shouldn't have said anything.'

'What?' Daphne questioned.

'I didn't mean to give it away if you didn't want people to know.' He stood up off the table and eyed the door to the room. 'Sorry,' he repeated, starting for the door. 'We can talk later if you –'

'Wait!' Daphne cried. 'I'm not mad or anything!'

He stopped as he was passing the two hugging girls. 'You're not?'

'I just haven't told her yet because … I didn't know how, I guess.'

Tracey pulled back enough to look at Daphne with wide, crying eyes.

'How could you not tell me?' she cried. 'The Cruciatus is bad enough – from You-Know-Who!'

Daphne shifted uncomfortably, looking at Harry for help. He spoke to Daphne instead, once he returned to his perch on the teachers desk.

'I heard about everything that's been going on,' he said. 'In the Prophet and everything. Once they find out I'm awake I'm sure they're gonna try to ask me what happened too. I get it; why you didn't want to tell people, I mean. Makes me want to go your route and just pretend I don't remember or don't understand. Avoids the stupid headlines at least.'

'You mean the one that'll say "The Boy and Girl Who Lived" ?' Daphne questioned dryly.

'That's the one,' Harry chuckled.

At her words, Tracey looked at Daphne in a bit of awe. She didn't blame her, it was pretty insane when she thought about it. Harry Potter is the only person to have ever survived a Killing Curse. That was no longer true.

'How?' Tracey asked in a hushed voice. She was talking to Harry. 'How did she survive it? How did you survive it?'

'It's … complicated,' he mumbled. 'I explained it to Daphne last night but … Yeah, it's complicated.'

'Last night?' Something in Tracey's facial expression changed. It became decidedly more suspicious. 'What happened last night?'

'I woke up,' Harry shrugged. 'Daphne and I talked.'

'Did you now …' Tracey said, stepping away from Daphne to eye her outfit. 'What did you talk about?'

'I'm not gonna tell you everything,' Harry said, looking away from Tracey. 'And I asked Daphne to keep some things a secret, so don't try asking her.'

Daphne nodded emphatically, though her voice didn't quite come out as she had a feeling she knew where Tracey was going with this.

'Potter,' Tracey said, 'why would you trust her over me, hmm?'

Harry opened his mouth to say something but then paused, looking thoughtful, as if realising he had no idea why he was trusting Daphne so much.

'Hermione might've mentioned,' he mumbled. He was silent for another moment but just as Tracey was about to say something else he perked up. 'Oh, right! That's actually why I called her here.' He reached into the beaded bag around his shoulder. It was obviously magically expanded, as his arm disappeared down to his elbow, searching through the bag. He seemed to find what he was looking for but paused, eyeing Tracey.

Daphne had a feeling she knew what he was holding. It was a golden cup. The Horcrux that Harry had that he couldn't destroy. A twinge of disappointment went through her. Not that she should have felt disappointed. There was no way that Harry invited her here just to snog her or something crazy. No matter how pleasant that thought suddenly became. She turned away from him, worried she was currently blushing.

'Daphne,' he said slowly, 'er, the horn. I don't know if …'

'Tracey knows about it,' she said, glancing nervously at Tracey. 'Her and Astoria and my mum are the only people who know about it. And you.'

Tracey's eyes had gone wide, looking at the brooch on Daphne's robes.

'You told him?' she gasped.

'I take it you didn't tell her about the … snake?' Harry queried.

Daphne sighed, shaking her head. It wasn't as if she was hiding anything from Tracey, it was more that she didn't like talking about herself. It felt like she was bragging, or something.

'Want me to do it?'

'Yeah,' Daphne said, smiling. 'I do.'

'Well, Daphne saved my life.'

She nearly choked on nothing at his decided wording. It wasn't as if she saved his life, she just acted on impulse and her unicorn horn happened to be the perfect thing for the job. She didn't perform any specifically marvellous skill, she was simply lucky. But after Harry told Tracey that part of the story, Tracey's expression indicated she found it incredibly impressive.

'So that's why you're trusting her?' Tracey asked. 'Because she saved you from the snake?'

'Yeah, exactly.' His sudden chipper tone made Daphne suspicious of his honesty. Seemed more like he was jumping on the convenient excuse.

'Sounds like you're lying,' Tracey pointed out, obviously reaching the same conclusion. Then she said something so blunt that Daphne thought she might die of embarrassment. Or perhaps just murder Tracey for causing her such embarassment. 'Do you fancy Daphne?'

'Tracey!' Daphne shrieked.

'Well it's very suspicious,' Tracey huffed. 'I know Daphne helped out a lot this year but why are you singling her out over everyone else? Just because she saved you? Or is this some … I don't know … Killing Curse survival club? Or do you fancy her?'

'Tracey,' Daphne groaned. The thought of hexing her best friend crossed her mind. As did the thought of just bailing on this conversation entirely and hiding in her bed until the year was over. What stopped her from doing any of it was her curiosity for what Harry had to say in response to Tracey's very forward questioning.

He looked a little taken aback himself, a slight pink tinge to his cheeks. He spared Daphne a quick glance but looked away when she saw her watching him.

'I … well – there's another girl I …' He cleared his throat unnecessarily. 'Daphne can do something that I need but … I guess I just trust her because of what we went through? I dunno. She tried to protect me. From Voldemort no less. So yeah, that makes me trust her.' His green eyes fell on her. 'Completely.'

The spike in her heart at his first mumbled sentence was forgotten by the time he was done talking. She already knew he fancied Ginny. It shouldn't come as a surprise. But any jealousy she might feel because of that was distracted by how earnest and grateful he sounded when talking about her. Her. A girl from Slytherin that he only spoke to for the first time when he stood between her and Voldemort, and told her to leave. Because he wanted her to be safe. She could understand why he trusted her. Because she trusted him too. Just as completely.

'I'd like you to leave, Tracey,' Daphne said firmly.

'Daphne I'm just trying to –'

'Leave.' She softened her harsh tone with a smile. 'You know you don't have to protect me from him.'

Tracey probably did know that already, but for some reason she still hesitated. Her frown was uncertain, and when she looked at Daphne there was something there in her expression that Daphne didn't quite understand.

'You're wrong, Daphne,' she said, shaking her head. 'But I guess it's not my place … in this case. Just … be careful.' One last wary look at Harry and she was stepping out the door. She paused to pass along one last nugget of truth. 'Boys are nothing but trouble.'

An awkward silence joined them when Tracey left. At least, Daphne thought it was awkward until Harry snorted a laugh.

'Sorry,' he chuckled. 'She might've mentioned the same thing when she first came in here.'

'She had a bad experience recently,' Daphne explained. 'Stephen Cornfoot was her boyfriend.'

The humour left his face so quickly it might've never been there, replaced by a dark look. She waved away his muttered apology. It wasn't his fault. Tracey would come out of her negative funk eventually. Hopefully the next boy she started to fancy wasn't a complete flop.

'I – I heard a bit about you this morning,' he said awkwardly. 'I mean, more than you told me last night. About the healing and stuff with the DA.'

Daphne shrugged shyly, sitting down on a desk like he was, swinging her feet the same way.

'You didn't really do yourself justice,' he said, smiling fondly. 'You really are something else you know. For what it's worth … thank you.'

'You don't have to thank me,' Daphne said quietly, blushing under his praise.

'You know what Luna said to me?' A full blown smile stretching his face. 'She said you're the bravest Slytherin she's ever known.'

'She might've told me that already.' His smile was rather infectious. 'I can't say I see it. I felt pretty terrified for most of that night.'

'And you still tried to protect me,' he pointed out. 'Still killed the snake. Luna comes up with some crazy ideas sometimes, but she's bang on a lot of the time too. You definitely earned the title.'

Thankfully he didn't wait for a response this time. Instead he reached back into the beaded bag around his shoulder and pulled out a shiny golden cup with two handles on the sides. As soon as it appeared the fun feeling in Daphne's heart turned to stone. There was something about the cup that she really didn't like. Knowing what she did, the feeling of foreboding wasn't at all surprising. It just made her question in her mind if she really is as brave as Harry and Luna seem to think she is.

'Want me to do it with you?' He asked as he set the cup down on the desk he just vacated.

'Huh?' she blurted. She shook her head to clear it of the mental image that appeared there, and he seemed to take that as a refusal. With a deep breath, she revealed the unicorn horn from out of her brooch. As soon as she did, she could have sworn the cup started to move a little, like it was trembling. Harry took a half step toward it but stopped short. That dark feeling that filled the room once he brought out the cup was gone. Or rather, it was almost gone. There was still a hint of it left, but it seemed to be concentrated around the cup itself.

She reached the unicorn horn closer, and she could visibly see the cups trembling subside. The pure white horn tapped the lip, a metallic ding sounding out. Then the cup began to glow a bright white, the same way the snake did. The white light spread along the gold like a flame would spread across dry parchment. Daphne thought she might've heard a vague scream, but wasn't sure if she imagined it. Seconds after the unicorn horn had touched the Horcrux, the light had consumed it, and it was gone from existence.

'Wicked,' Harry breathed.

'Yeah,' Daphne agreed.

That excited face-splitting smile was back on Harry's face when he looked at her.

'One left,' he said, shaking her shoulder as if trying to share in his excitement, laughing an infectious, exuberant laugh. 'One left.'

She thought she understood the implications of what destroying these Horcruxes were. And from a literal standpoint, she definitely did; Voldemort's destruction, and a world that was safe from that monster. But for Harry, it meant so much more than that. For him, it meant for the first time in his life, he could be free. That reason in itself was enough to take a page out of the book of Gryffindor, and be brave for just a little bit longer. Until it was over, at least.