Chapter Forty-Four: Letters and Gifts

As usual, the end of the year was weird. Many people had been sad about Lupin's resignation and Daphne heard many of them lamenting they'd probably have a horrible teacher again the year after.

When the exam results arrived, Daphne was surprised to see she had good marks on all of them, even Divination, where she'd refused to say anything at all. Perhaps her utter rejection of what she'd seen had convinced Trelawney of her honesty.

Gryffindor, of course, had won the House Cup for the third year running, mostly due to their staggering Quidditch victories.

Later that night, in the common room, Daphne had met up with her S.I.N. friends. Gemma, Isaac, and Freddie had all passed their N.E.W.T.s with good results and were officially graduates, meaning S.I.N. had lost some of its founding members, but fortunately three new people had chosen to join in over the course of the year: Lucy Walker, a second-year half-blood, her friend and classmate Amber Green, and Hudson Orpington, a first-year pureblood from a lesser-known family.

Daphne was happy to see that people were interested in getting involved. Surely, bit by bit, they'd be able to chip away at the prejudices surrounding Slytherin.

"Keep this up, Daphne, even with the three of us graduated. I know I'll be telling people about this with pride," Gemma said.

"Don't worry, I will. Hopefully, we'll find more ways we'll be able to help in the future," Daphne replied.

Freddie shrugged. "I don't know how much more we can do, really. Just helping others out and stopping bullying where we can see it is a massive step in the right direction. I wouldn't risk that progress by going overboard and driving people away instead," he said.

"I'm sure Daphne will think of something," Isaac said with a smile. "Although she might get a bit too…Gryffindor with it."

Daphne grinned at him. "By the way, Isaac…"

She trailed off, not really wanting to mention his curse in front of the others, but Isaac seemed to guess what she wanted to say.

"Don't worry. These people aren't the ones I'm trying to keep secrets from," he said.

Gemma and Freddie looked intrigued, clearly surprised to hear a secret on their very last day at Hogwarts.

"Ron's brother Bill is a curse breaker, and he said he'd get in touch with someone who might be able to help you," Daphne said. "I haven't heard from him yet, but I'll let you know as soon as I do."

Isaac smiled. "Thanks, Daphne. You'll understand I'm not going to get my hopes up, just yet, but I appreciate that you're trying," he said.

"So…all those accidents…" Gemma said.

Isaac nodded ruefully. "Yep. Cursed with misfortune. It's a good thing it seems to be fairly mild, or I'd probably have died by now," he said.

"I hope you'll be able to get it broken," Gemma said.

"We'll see," Isaac replied neutrally.

"In any case, Daphne, don't think you're rid of us entirely just because we graduated. I'm fairly sure we'll see each other again," Gemma said in an attempt to prevent further awkwardness.

Daphne grinned. "I hope so. For now, though…goodbye, and thanks for all the help," she said.

After her talk with Harry, Daphne decided to tell Hermione and Ron about her visions in the crystal ball on the train home the next day, leaving out the part where she saw Harry dying.

Hermione was intrigued and admitted she'd never thought that Divination would turn out be a legitimate branch of magic. Even so, she would officially be dropping the subject the next year, just like Muggle Studies, so she'd be able to follow a normal schedule again.

She explained that she'd been using a Time Turner to get to all her classes, and that she'd been getting increasingly stressed by it as the year went on. She said she'd been told to keep it a secret, but since she'd already handed it in again, she felt comfortable enough to tell the others.

"Wait…" Daphne said. "Our first Divination class with the tea leaves…didn't I predict you running out of time and being under a lot of pressure?"

Hermione thought for a moment and then nodded slowly. "I think you did," she said. "Does that mean that tea leaves really can predict the future?"

She looked uneasily at Harry, who shrugged.

"I don't think Trelawney's predictions were all that great aside from that prophecy about Pettigrew," he said. "The 'Grim' I kept seeing was just Sirius, and given my life in general, I'm pretty sure I'll end up in mortal peril several more times in my life. Just like you said in your last Divination class, Hermione, everyone knows about me and Voldemort. Though I admit I'd be happier if she predicted me to live to a hundred and fifty."

He shot a small glance at Daphne, who kept her expression carefully neutral.

"By the way," Ron said. "You really need to stay with us again this summer, Harry. It's the Quidditch World Cup! We can go and see it; Dad can probably get tickets from work."

"D'you think he could get a ticket for Sirius, too? I mean, I'd like to get to know him a bit and I'll need to stay at the Dursleys' at least a few weeks…" Harry said.

Ron nodded. "Shouldn't be a problem, now that his name's been cleared. Blimey, I still can't imagine being locked up for twelve years for something you didn't even do." He shuddered.

"I still can't believe Snape, of all people, cleared him," Harry said. "They hate each other to the bone."

"Well, you heard him, didn't you?" Hermione asked. "He said that 'any and all debts were now settled', right? I think he felt he needed to do this so he can go back to hating both Sirius and your dad in peace again."

Harry chuckled. "That's what Dumbledore told me in my first year," he said. "He said Snape mainly saved me to settle the debt with my father for saving him, but apparently Snape didn't think it did. Well, I won't pretend I understand Snape's way of thinking, anyway. I think only Daphne has a clue."

Daphne shook her head. "Not really. Sometimes I think I get him a bit, but there's much more that I just don't understand, and I doubt he'll ever tell me, anyway. But anyway, I think I'll ask Mum if she wants to go to the Quidditch World Cup too…it'll be fun to see you guys there."

She made the mistake of looking at Harry a second too long, and Hermione immediately gave her a sly grin. Harry, for his part, seemed very interested in the landscape blowing past — and saw something small and gray bobbing in and out of sight beyond the glass, which now began to attract everyone else's attention as well.

It seemed like the thing fluttering alongside the train was a tiny owl, carrying a letter that was much too big for it.

Harry quickly opened the window and pulled the owl into the compartment, where it dropped its letter onto Harry's seat and then began zooming around.

Hedwig didn't seem impressed, while Crookshanks followed the owl with his big, yellow eyes.

Ron noticed it, and quickly grabbed the owl to keep it safe.

Harry opened the letter. "It's from Sirius!" he said. He began to read the letter aloud.

"Dear Harry,

I hope this finds you before you reach your aunt and uncle. I don't know whether they're used to owl post. It was good to finally meet you in person. You're really a lot like your parents — both of them — and I think they'd be very proud of you. I'm happy you also seem to have found good friends. Nothing like getting in trouble with people close to you. I'll tell you all about the things we got up to in school when I see you. For the time being, I'm enclosing something that will hopefully make your next year at Hogwarts more enjoyable than this one. If you need me, send word. Your owl will find me. I'd tell you the address of my house right now, but it's…a bigger mess than I anticipated. I'll let you know when it's no longer a health hazard. I'll write again soon.

Sirius

P.S. I thought your friend Ron might want to keep this owl, as it's my fault he no longer has a rat."

Harry eagerly looked in the envelope and pulled out a signed Hogsmeade form, while Ron curiously looked at the owl in his hand, who was still hooting excitedly.

"Keep him?" he said uncertainly.

Then, to everyone's surprise, he held the owl out to Crookshanks. "What d'you reckon?" Ron asked. "Definitely an owl?"

Crookshanks purred.

"That's good enough for me," Ron said happily. "He's mine."

The rest of the train ride went by way too quickly for Daphne's liking. It wasn't like she didn't want to see her parents again, but she'd have to spend several weeks away from her friends again, now. She glanced at Harry, and tried to push away her own thoughts about missing one friend in particular.

"I'll see you guys at the World Cup?" Daphne asked hopefully.

"Of course! If you want to stay with us, just let me know, and we'll all go to the Cup together," Ron said.

Daphne smiled. "Great! Well…see you in a few weeks, then."

She waved and walked over to her parents, who themselves were giving the Weasleys, further down the platform, friendly waves in greeting.

"You've had a busy year again, haven't you?" Mum said when Daphne was in earshot.

"You haven't even heard half of it yet," Daphne said with a grin.

She'd only told her parents the bare minimum in her letters, in case someone read them for whatever reason, and because for most of the year, she simply hadn't been entirely sure what was going on.

"Well, before you tell us everything, there's a surprise for you at home," Mum said with a mysterious smile.

Intrigued, Daphne followed her parents to the Apparition area of the platform and took both of their hands. An unpleasant moment later, they were in the dining room of the manor…and they weren't alone.

A black, cat-like creature with yellow-green eyes came walking toward them, curiously sniffing Daphne.

"A Kneazle?!" Daphne said excitedly.

She squatted down and allowed the Kneazle, who still looked to be quite young, to sniff her hand.

"Hello, beautiful," she said softly, stroking the soft fur. "That's definitely a surprise…I never thought we'd get a pet, especially a Kneazle."

"We didn't get a pet," Dad said with a smile. "You did."

He grabbed an envelope from the table and handed it to Daphne. She quickly opened it and the second she saw the letter, she recognized Harry's handwriting.

Dear Daphne,

You're not the only one who's a bit late with birthday presents. I couldn't really think of anything, so I asked your Mum. She said you'd always wanted a pet and I suggested a Kneazle, after Hagrid's lesson on them and seeing how useful they can be. Your Mum thought it was a good idea, so I asked Hagrid and, well, if you're reading this letter I can only presume everything went alright. This particular Kneazle seemed very friendly, so I think you'll like her. I hope so, anyway. In any case, Happy Birthday! Hope you didn't really think that bag of candy would be your only present. I hope we'll have a reason to hang out over the summer!

Harry

Daphne looked up at her parents with wide eyes. "Harry gave me a pet?" she asked, despite the fact she'd just read Harry's letter telling her exactly that.

Mum grinned. "He did," she said. "He's been keeping in touch with me over his Quidditch results, so it was a bit of a surprise when he mentioned he wanted to give you a good birthday present but didn't know what."

Mum fondly looked at the Kneazle, who enjoyed being petted by Daphne. "I think it was a good choice; she's been a sweetheart since the moment she got here."

"Does she have a name yet?" Daphne asked.

"We were thinking of calling her Nyx," Dad said. "But of course, she's your pet, so you should get to choose the name."

"I think Nyx suits her just fine," Daphne said with a smile.

"If you hang around the Slytherin dorm you're going to see a lot of untrustworthy people, little Nyx," she added softly. "Maybe I should ask if you could stay in the Gryffindor dorm instead…"

For some reason, Daphne suddenly felt incredibly happy. Even though Harry had hinted on her birthday he had another present for her aside from the bag of Honeydukes candy, everything that happened afterwards had made her forget about it. But she certainly hadn't expected anything like this.

She gently picked up Nyx, who seemed very comfortable in her arms.

"The only moments she hasn't been too friendly is when people from work came around," Dad said with a smirk. "So we should probably keep her out of the dining room when they're here. I'm sure none of my…esteemed colleagues will appreciate being perceived as untrustworthy because Nyx doesn't like them."

Daphne laughed. "I'll keep her with me. She didn't try and eat any of the owls, yet?"

Dad shook his head. "Not that we know of. They seem to get along just fine."

Daphne put Nyx down again. "Do you mind if I write Harry a thank-you letter first before I tell you about my year?" she asked.

"Of course not!" Mum said. "He's probably anxiously waiting to hear from you. Go on, we'll be here waiting for you."

Daphne quickly made her way up to her room, followed by Nyx, who seemed to have understood that Daphne was her new owner.

Daphne took out parchment and a quill, then tapped her desk with her hand, inviting Nyx to jump up.

Nyx seemed pleased to have been invited onto this lofty perch, and she looked out of the window across the garden. Daphne smiled, and then began to write.

Dear Harry,

Thank you so much for Nyx! She's adorable and I'm sure she'll get on with Crookshanks just fine once we're back at Hogwarts. I can't believe you managed to keep this a secret from me all that time. Must be your Slytherin side. I'll see you for the World Cup, I can't wait!

Love,

Daphne

It was a bit short, but she was sure Harry would appreciate the quick note. Then she had an idea.

"Hey, Nyx, want to dip your paw in ink and sign the note as well?" she asked, holding out a spare bit of parchment on which she'd blotted some ink.

Nyx looked at her curiously for a moment, and then dipped her paw in the ink and batted it next to Daphne's name on the letter to Harry.

Daphne smiled at her and cleaned the rest of the ink off Nyx's paw with a small rag, but of course, that didn't really work.

Nyx gave Daphne a decidedly unimpressed look.

Daphne grimaced.

"Sorry. I'll ask Mum to clean your paw in a moment. I'll even carry you down the stairs, okay?"

Nyx gave one meow, which Daphne took for approval. She shook her head in amusement. "I haven't even known you for five minutes and you've already got me carrying you around. You're clever, Nyx. I think you and I will be good friends…"

It's a wrap-up chapter, but again, not every chapter is pivotal. Nyx will have her own role to play yet, anyway, so it's not like it was entirely pointless.

Closing statements for the year…I don't have that many. I obviously skipped the time travel aspect because I didn't see any reason for it to really feature in my version of events. Though a lot of canon things will still be happening, others will be fairly heavily changed.

On a side note, every time I write about Sirius and Snape interacting in some way, I have the lyrics to the Wicked song 'What Is This Feeling' in my head. I mean, at face value, since I ship Elphie and Glinda but definitely not Sirius and Snape. Even so 'unadulterated loathing' is definitely something I do see between those two…

So next, we'll be heading into year four. Finally, the year in which I can begin moving some ships forward. It'll still be fairly slow, but at least I'll be making progress. I doubt the whole triad will take shape before late in fifth year, though. It's also, of course, a pivotal year plot-wise, and there are a few things I have in mind for it. See you then!