Huge thank you to my reviewers. Seriously, you guys are the reason I'm still writing this story. It's nice to get follows/favs, but I'd rather get one review from follz or SlytherinPotter over a 100 favorites. Very grateful for your feedback!

"Daffy!"

Rooted to the floor, Daphne felt like her limbs were made of stone. She could hardly breathe, lungs frozen, body vibrating like she was about to burst, explode into a million pieces.

The click-clack tap of wooden braces sounded on the floor, a stuttering staccato that her whole world centered on in that moment.

"Astoria?" she gasped, finally managing a breath. "Astoria?!"

Droplets of sweat plastered her brown hair to her forehead, breathing heavily herself from the exertion, her little sister came to a halt in front of Daphne. "You kept your promise."

"I can't- you-" She sobbed, back bowing as she hunched over, crying as her hands fluttered over her sister's face, scarcely able to believe this was happening.

Her father's strong arms steadied her, keeping her upright, but Daphne couldn't tear her eyes away from Astoria. "Easy now."

"Are you sure you don't want to rest?" Ava asked, hovering close behind Astoria. "You're still weak, it might be better if…"

Astoria laughed, slowly rotating to face their mother. "I don't ever want to lie down again! I've had enough of beds to last a lifetime!"

Cecil guided Daphne to the chaise lounge. "You're- you're cured? But how?"

The click-clack followed her and her father, and Astoria awkwardly settled into a chair across from them, Ava helping her down into her seat and detaching the arm braces. "The malediction has disappeared, but you're still weak. Please, darling, don't push yourself!"

"Mum…" Astoria looked ready to protest, but seeing her mother wiping her eyes, and Daphne still crying silently on the couch, seemed to think better of it. "Okay. I'll be careful."

"Daphne," her father said, taking a seat next to her. "What happened today? The castle looked like a warzone, and you were in the infirmary. The aurors said the Dark Lord himself attacked."

"Yes," she whispered, remembering the feel of his cold, bony fingers on her skin, the terrifying power he effortlessly wielded, the way he killed Filch and tortured Draco without the slightest hint of remorse. "Yes, he did."

Cecil waited, but when it was apparent she wasn't going to continue he prompted, "And the Headmaster drove him off?"

'Not again! No! Not Again!'

"No, but I'm not really sure what happened," she said honestly, turning her hands palms-up to stare at her fingers for a moment, then her eyes flicked up to meet her sister's. "Harry fought him. He was hurt… protecting me…"

Daphne trailed off, her mind whirring as she ran through the events in Hogwarts' courtyard. A goblet's blood, freely given, she recalled, seeing in her mind's eye Harry lying on the ground before her, blood flowing from his wounds. A Potter, giving blood for a Greengrass. Not to, as he'd done in the Room of Requirement on that horrible night, but for.

Professor Snape's musing sprang into her mind. Dark magic changes, evolves. Imprecise and unpredictable, he'd said.

All of this flashed through her thoughts in a blink, the sight of Astoria in front of her - smiling, laughing, living - chasing away any feeling other than pure, unbridled happiness.

"He saved me," she eventually said. "Saved us."

The Greengrasses ate dinner as a family, for the first time in nearly two years.

Daphne ate slowly, sitting quietly while Astoria exuberantly chattered throughout the meal. It was all too surreal; she expected any moment to wake in her bed at Hogwarts, or in the Hospital Wing, victim of a fantastical dream.

But she didn't, and as she processed her sister's incomprehensible survival, an increasingly urgent need to see the person responsible rose within her.

"You're not wearing your gift," Cecil remarked quietly.

"What?"

"The locket I got you for your birthday. Was it not to your liking?"

"No, I loved it!" she hurriedly replied. "It's just I got this one from…"

Daphne reached to touch the pendant she'd received from Harry, fingers finding only the collar of her robes. 'Where is it?' She felt all around her neckline, then searched her pockets, hoping perhaps Madam Pomfrey placed it there after she was brought to the infirmary. No such luck.

It had to be back at Hogwarts.

"Alright, young lady, time for you to get some rest."

"Mum…" Astoria whined, but it was obviously half-hearted. She was drooping in her seat, eyes half-lidded.

"No 'buts'. It's going to be some time before you get your strength back."

"Alright," she said, and rather than go through reattaching her arm braces, Cecil slid his chair out and lifted her up like she weighed no more than a feather, pausing when she murmured, "Upstairs. I want to sleep in my old room."

Daphne watched her go with an absent smile, though it faded once Astoria was gone and she turned to mother. "I need-"

"-to go back to Hogwarts. I know." She was caught off-guard at Ava's sedate response, expecting an argument, and her mother chuckled. "You weren't expecting me to say that, were you?"

"Honestly? No, I wasn't."

Ava summoned Teensy, ordering the elf to begin clearing the table. "I don't need to tell you what a gift this is, to have Astoria back. I'm not going to fight with you. If you really need to go back, I won't stop you."

"Thank you, Mother," Daphne said. After everything that happened today, she, too, wasn't eager for a fight.

"However," Ava continued softly. "It would mean a lot to me if I could have both my daughters safe and healthy at home. At least for one night."

It was tempting. Daphne sat in her dirty, ripped school uniform, awash in the stink of fear and battle, only a few hours removed from watching her Head of House bleed out in the school courtyard. A hot bath and a warm bed sounded heavenly.

But she couldn't shake the image of Harry, his face a foot away from her, features twisted in pain after he threw himself in front of that curse. She'd seen her little sister's recovery with her own eyes, assured Astoria was cured and on the mend.

Now it was time to do the same for the man she loved.

"I'm sorry," she said as she rose from the table. "I have to go."

Her mother nodded, and the two of them walked back to the parlour. Daphne had just reached for the powder when the Floo activated, chiming with the alert of an incoming call. Ava crouched down, sticking her head in the fireplace.

"Lady Greengrass?"

"Horace, hello. I heard you'd taken up your old position."

The portly Potions professor chuckled. "Alas, none of my current students are quite as brilliant as your husband, although your daughter certainly inherited the talent of both of you." Daphne rolled her eyes - didn't he ever turn it off? "It's actually young Daphne that led me to make this call. Would it be possible to come through?"

"Of course." Ava tapped the rune on the hearth that unlocked access before stepping back.

Slughorn stepped through the flames, clearing the ash away with a minute twitch of his wand. "Hello, Miss Greengrass. You're looking much better than when we last met."

"Why are you here, Professor?" Daphne wasn't in the mood for small talk.

"The Headmaster has urgently requested your presence. He asked me-"

"Okay, let's go," she interrupted, eager to get moving. "Mother, I'll come back soon, I promise."

Ava gave her light hug, whispering into her ear while she held her close, "When you do, bring Potter with you."

They stepped out of the Floo into Slughorn's office. "Let's be off," he said, waving for her to follow. "He's in his office."

"Professor, wait. Would it be possible to stop by my dormitory, just for a second?"

He glanced her over, seeming to come to the same conclusion about her appearance she had only moments before. "Of course, but please, be brief."

The dungeons were a short walk away. The common room was deserted as she entered, and the Sixth Years' room just as empty. Daphne rifled through her belongings, desperately searching out Harry's pendant, even going so far as to pull the sheets off her mattress.

It wasn't there.

Somewhat dejected, she pulled on a set of school robes and returned to where Slughorn waited. "Okay, I'm ready."

The walk to the Headmaster's office was silent, their entire journey uninterrupted by students or faculty. It wasn't that late. "Where is everyone?"

"The castle was evacuated while Mr. Potter and the Headmaster confronted the Dark Lord. The entire school was sent first to the Ministry, then their homes."

"Oh." She supposed that made sense. It was hard to imagine everyone heading to dinner, or studying in the library while Lord Voldemort was marauding just outside the doors.

They approached the stone gargoyle standing guard in front of the entrance to the Headmaster's office. "Here we are. Fudge Flies," Slughorn said, and the gargoyle slid to the right. "Go ahead, my dear."

"You aren't coming?"

"Much as I remain curious as to what exactly transpired here today, there is brewing the Headmaster requires that I must attend to. Good evening, Miss Greengrass."

He left her to walk alone up the darkened, narrow staircase. As she approached the top, muffled but familiar voices filtered through the doorway.

"-then I'll just give it back."

"I'm afraid that's not an option. No, you won its allegiance, and it is yours now. I'm sorry, truly; I never intended this."

"There's nothing to apologise for. I need every advantage I can get."

"Believe me when I say I understand your sense of desperation. Nonetheless, that is yet one more burden I've placed on you. Should it ever become known that you wield-" The Headmaster abruptly cut off a second before the door to his office opened. "Come in, Miss Greengrass."

Her face was hot, flushed at being caught eavesdropping. Inside, Harry used her entrance to continue gulping down a neat line of more than a dozen potions, half of which were already empty. He wore a set of plain, unmarked school robes, hiding his injuries from her view, but his paleness and trembling hands spoke to his condition.

Dumbledore was at his desk, looking stronger than she'd last seen him, but with a wan smile as he gestured her forward with a gloved hand. "Welcome, thank you for coming. Please, be seated."

Pulling the other chair closer to Harry's, she sat down. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm alright," he said, finishing the last potion, his gaze lingering on the empty vials for several seconds before flickering over her. "And you? They didn't… hurt you, did they?"

"I'm okay." She'd never wanted to touch someone so badly as she did at that moment. There were so many things she should tell him, thank-yous and apologies for so many things she hardly knew where to start. "Harry, I-"

"Miss Greengrass," Dumbledore interrupted. "I summoned you here to help us unravel the mystery behind today's events. Much as I wish it weren't so, you're the only one survivor able to do so."

A flash of Professor Snape, blood pooling around him in the courtyard flashed in front of her eyes, and she swallowed heavily. "Of course."

Dumbledore steepled his fingers under his chin, leaning forward onto his desk. "Take us through what happened. How did Voldemort enter the castle? The wards should have informed me of his arrival."

The window behind his desk showed the pitch-black night sky, signalling the approaching end of the most impactful day of her life. "I received a letter from my father at breakfast. About my sister, she- her time was nearing an end." She could feel Harry's attention on her, seeing in her peripheral vision the way he shifted in his seat to face her. "I asked Ron to help arrange a meeting with you, after your training, to ask for your help. I was to wait in the Room of Requirement and he'd bring you-"

"He agreed to help you?" Harry broke in here, surprise evident in his voice.

"Harry," Dumbledore said quietly, admonishing his interruption. "Please, go on."

"Granger had given me the vial of Liquid Luck she won from Slughorn, after what happened in Hogsmeade, so I downed it and went to the Room. I hadn't been able to access it all term, but this time, the right words just came to me." Daphne stared down at her hands, remembering the false confidence, the assuredness granted by the potion. "It wasn't empty. I encountered Draco inside. He'd been there for months, since the winter hols, I guess… I don't know what he was doing, but somehow he engineered a way into the castle from there.

"He confronted me, and then You-Know-Who arrived, followed by Professor Snape. You-Know-Who took Draco's wand and used the Cruciatus on him, and then-" she gasped. "He took the prophecy! I didn't- he was in my mind! I'm sorry, Harry!"

"It's alright," Dumbledore said. "Everyone in this room has experienced Voldemort's terrible prowess with the Mind Arts. No one's blaming you, Miss Greengrass."

It wasn't so easy to forgive herself, though, not after she'd pushed Harry to reveal the prophecy in full to her. She'd discounted his worries she'd give it up to the Dark Lord, too determined to get at Harry's secrets to consider the information might simply be ripped from her mind. "The Mind Arts… that's what that was? It felt like- like he was tearing my mind apart."

"Legilimency is the act of penetrating another's consciousness. Occlumency is the opposite side, used in defence of a mental attack."

"If I hadn't forced you to tell me-"

"It's okay." Daphne's apologies faded away as Harry's hand came to rest on her knee. She grabbed hold of it before he could snatch it away, clutching his fingers between her own. "Go on."

"After that, he- You-Know-Who, he ordered Professor Snape to help us up and follow him out of the Room. Once we were all in the corridor, he turned back and reopened the Room. It was a different configuration, like a large tunnel. It let out into the Entrance Hall. You know what happened from there."

"He knew how to access the Room of Requirement?" Dumbledore asked.

"Yes. The three turns and everything."

"And the Room bypassed six floors of Hogwarts and led you right out to the grounds?"

"Er, like I said, just inside the doors, but yes."

The Headmaster turned to regard Harry, both of them wearing equally concerned looks. "I believe it's time for us to see exactly how Mr. Malfoy managed to bypass the castle's protections. Shall we adjourn to the seventh floor?"

"Just a minute," Harry said. "Why'd Voldemort bring you along with him? He obviously didn't intend to use you as a hostage, and he'd already taken the prophecy. Our… involvement over the last year was hardly a secret. Why let you live?"

"Harry-" Dumbledore started, pausing when she shook her head at him.

"It's okay." Better to get this out now, she decided. "Professor Snape told him that, um, you and I got together on his orders. To find out what was in the prophecy. But it wasn't true, he just made it up!" she hurriedly added.

"I'm afraid I must insist we take this to the Room of Requirement," Dumbledore said, rising to his feet. "A security breach of this magnitude cannot go unaddressed."

She released Harry's hand and stood, matching his stride as the two of them followed the Headmaster at a sedate distance. "You believe me, don't you?"

He snorted. "About you not working for Snape? Yea. Not even Voldemort believed that."

"Do you think you and I could talk? Alone?" He didn't answer, and soon they approached their destination.

"If you would do the honours, Miss Greengrass."

She repeated the mantra that came to her under the Liquid Luck's influence, opening the door when it appeared. With wands out, Harry and Dumbledore entered first.

"Remarkable," Dumbledore breathed. "I never imagined all of this… it's immense."

Harry pulled a splintered and broken broomstick off a nearby shelf. "Looks like most of it's little more than garbage, though."

Daphne walked towards the section Draco and the Dark Lord both emerged from. "It was over here. Where You-Know-Who came from, I mean."

While they searched the area, Daphne returned to the 'front' of the room, replaying the events she experienced earlier that day. There was where Draco took her wand, over here was where the Dark Lord placed his wand under chin. That pile of debris was where she fell after his legilimency attack…

And there, amidst the refuse and junk, lay the pendant Harry gave her. Daphne lifted it up, cradling it to her breast in grateful relief when the others returned.

Harry levitated a large, wooden cupboard. "I'll take it to him, although I still think we should just destroy it now."

"First, we'll let Professor Flitwick examine it. We don't know if Voldemort has realised we know about it."

"Alright. We'll do it your way."

Daphne rose to her feet. "Wait, I'll go with you!"

"Actually, there's one more thing I'd like to go over with you," Dumbledore said. "Go ahead, Harry." He nodded and left the Room.

"Can't it wait?" she asked, annoyed at being held back. "I really need to speak with Harry."

"It cannot." The certainty of his tone kept her from hurrying to catch up to Harry. "We need to discuss how you drove off Lord Voldemort."

"What are you talking about? I didn't do anything. I don't even have my wand!"

"You didn't need one. Neither did Lily Potter."

Daphne squinted at him, unable to see the relevance. "I don't understand."

"It's what I tried to tell you by the lake. Magic of this sort is beyond Voldemort's understanding. The power of Harry's love for you, specifically."

"Not this again…" she muttered, but Dumbledore stepped forward, desperation transparent on his face.

"Yes! I saw it with my own eyes. The transference of the protection granted to Harry all those years ago. I watched it spread across your body, from your fingertips to your heart. It was this that forced Voldemort to flee from you, lest he be reduced to a wraith once more!"

"'No, not again'," she quoted, and he nodded fervently, his beard bobbing.

"Exactly! He recognised sacrificial magic at play, just as I did!" The Headmaster swayed on his feet. Daphne steadied him, holding onto his elbow to guide him to lean against a shelf. "Miss Greengrass, you must see this through to the end at his side. The gift Harry bestowed upon you is our last hope, our only chance-"

"Headmaster, stop," she said. "It's not- you didn't see what you thought you did."

"But-"

"Just listen. You know about my plan to save my sister. Professor Snape told you, yes?"

Dumbledore hacked into his hand, a dry, rattling cough. "He did."

"Did he tell you the details of the malediction Harry's ancestor placed on my family?"

"Only that you needed to earn Harry's affection in order to cure it."

"And his blood," she said steadily. "Blood freely given. What you saw really was sacrificial magic, Headmaster. But it wasn't of the sort you anticipated."

Dumbledore went pale. "You mean…"

She nodded. "Astoria apparently awoke not long after Harry leapt in front of that curse for me. The malediction's been dispelled; not only in her, but every woman with Greengrass blood in her veins."

He sagged against the shelf, all of his strength leaving his body. "Dobby!" Daphne called out, hurriedly requesting a chair for the Headmaster when he appeared with a pop! "Can I get you anything? Should I go find Madam Pomfrey?"

"No, I- I need only a moment, please." For several seconds, he stared through her with unfocused eyes. Eventually, he spoke again, starting slowly and haltingly, but gaining greater confidence as he went on. "Even if what happened in the courtyard was nothing more than the malediction dispelling, Voldemort doesn't know that. His perception of the events mirrors my own."

"So? It's not actually true."

"Who knows about your original plan? About your family, and the cure?"

"My parents. Harry, Luna, Granger. Ron and his sister. I don't know who all they told." She was quiet for several seconds, then mutely added, "Professor Snape."

"All of those are individuals fiercely loyal to Harry. I will impress upon them the importance of this remaining a secret."

"But why? If it's not real, what's the point?"

"Because fear can drive even the most cautious to make mistakes." Dumbledore was quiet for a moment, then he went on. "During his first rise Voldemort believed himself to be unstoppable, invulnerable. 1981 proved differently, and it took him more than a decade to recover. In 1992, Harry's touch incinerated the body Voldemort possessed so thoroughly only an ashy smudge remained. He has felt the power of sacrificial protection. He most certainly is not eager to repeat that mistake."

Daphne stared at him like he'd lost his mind. "But at some point, he'll test this so-called 'protection'. And what then?"

"We will simply delay that moment for as long as possible."

She was spared coming up with a reply to that, as Harry re-entered the Room just then. "Professor Flitwick's got the Vanishing Cabinet under lock and key, he promised to report any findings as they're made." Picking up on the tense atmosphere, he looked between the two of them. "What'd I miss?"

"Nothing to concern yourself over," Dumbledore smoothly replied.

"Right," Harry said slowly. "Listen, I was thinking… Voldemort must have spent a great deal of time in the Room of Requirement at some point, right? I mean, he knew it could create exits at different parts of the castle. We didn't even know it could do that!"

"What are you saying?" Dumbledore asked.

"Well, we know Hogwarts was a special place for him. Maybe he left something behind. Something important."

The Headmaster's jaw dropped, and Daphne got the sense if he were stronger he would have leapt out of his seat. "Very perceptive, Harry!"

Starting to feel a bit forgotten and left out, Daphne spoke up. "Do you need any help? What are you looking for?"

"It's a secret-" "Harry will tell you later-" Harry and the Headmaster said simultaneously, before Harry sharply looked at the old man with a gobsmacked expression.

"What? You can't mean to tell her!"

"Not just yet, no. But I suspect you'll need Miss Greengrass' help sooner, rather than later."

Harry's face reddened, colour splashing across his cheeks. He took a deep breath, and Daphne reached out and touched his elbow, forestalling whatever response he was preparing. "I'm not pressuring you one way or the other. We can discuss… whatever this is once school's back in session."

Dumbledore cleared his throat. "A letter will be going out to every student's family next week, but I suppose there's no harm in telling you now. Hogwarts will not be reopening this term."

"What?!" Harry and Daphne exclaimed.

"To be blunt, my strength acted as a deterrent against Voldemort, dissuading him from moving directly against the school. Unfortunately, today served to thoroughly disabuse him of that notion. The Ministry cannot prosecute the war and devote the requisite resources to protect Hogwarts."

"What does that mean? Where am I going to go?"

"For the foreseeable future, nowhere. We'll discuss the future at a later date. For now, why don't you walk Miss Greengrass to the Floo in my office?"

'He's really taking the "see this through by his side" literally' Daphne mused, not missing the irony of this attitude from the same Headmaster warning her away from Harry only a few months back.

"I don't think I should leave you in here alone," Harry protested. "I mean, look what happened the last time you tried this on your own."

"Dobby," the Headmaster called out, and the elf appeared straight away. "Please relay a message to Professor Slughorn, ask him to meet me in the corridor outside."

"Yes sir!"

"I'll need the pass-phrase to re-enter the Room, Miss Greengrass."

Daphne gave him the instructions on accessing this particular configuration, then followed Harry back out towards the staircase. For more than a minute, they walked side-by-side in silence while she tried to think of what to say first.

"I'm glad you're alright."

He gave a slow nod. "I'm glad you're alright, too."

She wished he'd give her something, anything was better than this casual disinterest! "I never got the chance to say thank you for what you did."

"I didn't really have time to think about it. If I had, I probably would've tried something less painful."

"It wasn't just that - I mean, you saved my life, taking that curse for me."

Now, far away from the adrenaline-fueled terror and life-threatening danger of that moment, Daphne imagined it must have been a terribly romantic scene. Harry throwing himself in front of her, willing to accept any pain if it meant protecting her… A shiver of excitement ran down her spine.

They came to a stop in front of the gargoyle outside the Headmaster's office, and she took a step closer to him while they waited for the guardian to slide to the side.

"You didn't just save me, though. When you were hurt- your injuries… what I'm trying to say is, you did it. You saved us." They were only a few inches apart by now. "She's cured, Harry. My sister, she's cured!"

"I'm glad." Harry met her gaze for a split-second, then took a step back so he could slip past her up the stairs. Daphne hurried after him.

"I'd really like you to meet her," she said while they were on the stairs. "My mother asked me to bring you home with me-"

"I'm not going to your house."

"But- why not? My family owes you everything, we-"

"I'm not going to your house." They emerged into Dumbledore's office and Harry strode over to the fireplace, holding out the dish of Floo powder for her. "You need to go. I have to get back to the Headmaster, we have pressing business to attend to."

Daphne hesitated, staring between him and the Floo powder. "Okay, I understand. I know there are things you have to do, things that are bigger than you and me." She took a deep breath, swallowing her earlier fantasies and focusing on the here and now. "When will I see you again?"

"I don't know, Daphne." Harry let out a heavy sigh. "Look, I'm exhausted, and my back feels like I slept on a mattress made out of razor blades. Can you just say goodnight and let it be?"

How could he pretend like nothing changed, after everything that just happened? "If that's what you want," she said in a small voice, taking a pinch of powder and tossing it into the flames, calling out her address. Before she stepped through, Daphne looked over her shoulder, to see him one last time.

He'd already left the office.

Her first thought, returning home, was how strange it was so many lamps were still lit at this hour. And then, the back of her head exploded in pain.

Daphne fell flat on her face, hands instinctively flying to cradle her injury, feeling hot, sticky blood begin to well up between her fingers.

"See? I told you!" a familiar voice drawled. "Whatever trick she pulled was just that - a trick!"

Pushing herself onto her knees, Daphne was greeted with the sight of her father, hogtied, gagged, and bleeding on the floor of their parlour. Her mother stood protectively over Astoria, who was huddled on one corner of the sofa.

"Get up!" The remains of the lamp shattered over her head crashed into her back, nearly knocking her over for a second time. "Get on your feet!"

"Remember our lord's command. The girl is not to be touched," an older, foreign voice said.

Hauling herself to her feet, Daphne slowly turned around, seeing two men in black robes, the older in a skull-like mask made of silver, the younger in a white one. A short glance at the very familiar wand in his hands confirmed her fears. "What are you doing here, Malfoy?"

"Why do you think I'm here, you bitch? You ruined what should have been our greatest victory, humiliated me in front of the Dark Lord!" He stripped off his mask, revealing hideous wounds, a missing eye, and bald splotches on his scalp. "My plan was perfect, I should have taken my place among my lord's most faithful! Instead, I was punished for your trickery!"

"Draco…" the older man said in warning, but his words did little to restrain the rabid teen.

"For every indignity I suffered, every injury and agonising moment, you're going to pay, Greengrass," he hissed, turning the wand he'd stolen from her on her mother.

"No!" she cried, sidestepping to obstruct his path. The older man grabbed hold of Draco's wrist and turned it away from Daphne.

"You can't let this happen, Rabastan," Ava said from behind her. "What would my father say?"

"Probably how disappointed he is to have a blood traitor for a grandchild," the man said, removing his mask to reveal the disgusting visage of Rabastan Lestrange. "Just think, if you'd given in to me back in our sixth year, none of this would have happened."

While they spoke, Draco extinguished the fire and stepped closer to Daphne. "You're going to beg me to kill you, but the Dark Lord has ordered you not to be touched. So everything I want to do to you, I'll just do to your family, instead."

No! She couldn't let this happen, not now, when they finally had Astoria back! She grasped for something, anything to halt this madness. "You heard Professor Snape! I'm not a traitor!"

"Even if I believed you, Snape's dead. It doesn't matter what stupid scheme he came up with. Incarcerous!" Ropes sprang from his wand, passing over Daphne's shoulder, and she heard her mother cry out in surprise, followed by a thump as she fell to the floor. Astoria cried out in fear.

Daphne tried to block Draco's path to her sister, but Rabastan took hold of a poker from the fireplace and struck her in the back of her knees, driving her to the ground and freeing Draco to step past her without making contact.

"Look at you! Just as bony and weak as your sister!" he said, grabbing Astoria by the upper arm and throwing her down on the floor. "Your blood is pathetic! All those years squatting with foreigners has reduced the Greengrasses to this?!"

"Can hardly see anything of the Rosiers in them," Rabastan agreed, jabbing Daphne with the poker to keep from rising to defend her sister. "Ava was always too good for you, Cecil. Maybe we'll let you live long enough to see her with a real man."

There was a cry of pain when Draco stomped down on Astoria's leg. "STOP IT!" Daphne screamed, to no avail.

"Rabastan," her mother said, voice trembling with fear. "If that's what you want, I'll go with you. Just leave my daughters alone. Please, I'm begging you!"

Through her panic, Daphne's mind desperately tried to work out an escape, a diversion, anything to save her family. 'So much for this bloody sacrificial protection!' she thought furiously. For all that the Death Eaters seemed to believe in its myth as the Headmaster predicted, all it earned her was a front-row seat to her the torture and murder of her loved ones.

If only she actually had the power they thought she did! If only there was-

"Malfoy," she said, pushing herself off the ground and wincing as the poker pressed her down once more. "If you really want to earn the Dark Lord's favour, I know a way to do it."

"Fuck you, Greengrass." He aimed another kick at Astoria.

"Please stop, she's not well!" Ava shouted.

"Listen to me! I spent the last year and a half learning everything there is to know about Harry!"

"Shut UP!"

"Wait a moment, Draco." Rabastan squatted down next to her. "What do you have to say, girl?"

"Uncle-" Draco started to protest, but fell silent at Rabastan's glare.

"Well?"

"Hogwarts is closing for the rest of the term. Harry's going to be returning to his muggle relatives tomorrow," she lied. "I know where they live, I've been there, I can take you to them!"

"You think I give a shit about some muggles?" Draco asked incredulously, grinding his heel into Astoria's palm.

Daphne closed her eyes, trying to shut out her sister's agonised sobs. 'Just hold on, baby,' she silently begged. "He won't be expecting you to be waiting there. Dumbledore's hidden their location, it's the perfect ambush!"

"Fine. Tell us where it is," Rabastan ordered.

"I can't, but I can take you there."

"If it's so hidden, how do you know about it?"

"Harry showed me last summer. He brought me there so we could spend time alone together."

"You filthy slag," Draco muttered, but Rabastan just laughed.

"Done in by his own hormones. When we bring him Potter, our lord will surely appreciate the humour!" The poker eased up, and Daphne got to her feet. "Draco, go with her."

Her old Housemate warily eyed the hand she extended towards him. "We're not supposed to touch her, though."

"I thought you said it was just a trick?" Rabastan asked, clearly amused. "I'm sure you're willing to take the risk." Still, Draco hesitated. "It was your idea to come here! Go!"

Daphne stepped forward and extended her arm. "Come on. Leave her alone, and I'll take you there."

Draco clenched his teeth, giving Astoria another savage kick before approaching her. "I'll be back soon."

"Don't worry," Rabastan said. "I'll find some way to entertain myself in the meantime."

Daphne grasped his arm, his muscles tensed and taut at first beneath her grip, then relaxing once he realised nothing happened. "Hurry up, Greengrass."

Forcing herself to focus on the street in front of Number 4, Privet Drive, she silently repeated the three D's before spinning in place and vanishing with an ear-splitting crack!

The street was silent. She had no idea what time it was, but it was certainly later than the last time she'd shown up here unannounced. Not only was Number 4 dark and completely still, there were no lights on in any of the houses on the block.

She hoped this would work. "It's that one, right there."

A twisted grin on his face, Draco raised her wand over his head, incanting "Morsmodre!" Above them, a green skull formed in the sky, the hinges on its jaw opening for the head of a snake to emerge.

"Let's go," she said, nodding her head to usher him forward.

"What's your hurry? You that eager to see Uncle Rabastan keeping your mother company?" He laughed, and Daphne forced down her rage, breathing in through her nose and letting her cold determination force down the emotion.

"Maybe you're intimidated by muggles, but I'm not." And with that, she strode purposefully to the front garden of the Dursley home, walking steadily until she reached the front stoop. "See? Nothing to it."

Draco followed, sick excitement written all over his face. When he passed the property line and nothing happened, Daphne wanted to scream in helplessness and frustration, but when he made it five feet from where she stood, he stopped, expression shifting to confusion.

"Wha-" he started to say, unable to even get a single word out as light began shining out of every pore of his body, letting out an ear-splitting scream that cut out just as quickly as it began. First his skin, then muscle, then bones all dissolved into dust, and Draco Malfoy was no more.

His robes fell to the ground in a heap, and Daphne dashed over to his remains, digging around until she found her wand. Lights flicked on over the stoop she'd stood on, and the door cracked open.

"What's all this? My wife's ringing the authorities as we speak!"

"Stay inside!" she shouted at him. "Just stay inside and you'll be safe!"

The door opened all the way, the obese muggle staring out at her. Recognition slowly dawned on his face. "You!"

Wand squeezed tightly in her hand, Daphne ran back to the street, trying to steady her shaking hands. She'd only have one shot.

Picturing her family's parlour in her mind, she spun in place and apparated.

"Back already? Was she lying or-" Rabastan was standing over her mother, his back to where she appeared. Daphne's wand snapped up and without hesitation she fired.

"Sectumsempra!"

Long, deep slashes gouged into the Death Eater, but he did not fall, instead stumbling forward. Daphne was already incanting again, then again, and still again. Surprised and wounded, Rabastan never managed to block or deflect her onslaught, and by the time she lowered her wand, he was nothing more than an unrecognisable pile of meat.

"Mum? Are you okay?"

"Daphne?"

She Vanished the restraints on her parents, hurrying to Astoria's side to help her to her feet. "What happened to Teensy?"

"She's dead," Astoria whispered. "They killed her."

Daphne squeezed her wand. "We can't stay here. It's not safe."

Cecil, his hand pressed against a serious looking wound on his side, grimaced as Ava helped him to his feet. "Calm down, sweetheart. Let's not be rash-"

"No! We have to go somewhere the Dark Lord and his followers can't get to us. And that body has to be burned."

Ava wiped away her tears with her free hand. "Where would we go? There's nowhere safe from the Dark Lord! And- what are you talking about? Burn the body? We killed one of the Dark Lord's chief lieutenants! There's no hiding this!"

"Mum, you- just listen to me! I know somewhere we can go, but we have to burn the body! Just trust me!"

"Incendio," her father incanted, and they all held their sleeves over their mouths to try and block out the disgusting smell of burning flesh. Daphne added her own magical flames to the conflagration, and once the fire was extinguished and Rabastan was nothing more than a pile of ashes on the floor, he regarded her intently. "Where is this safe house you're talking about?"

"Just outside of London," she replied.

As she explained the location and directed her parents to their destination, Daphne held onto Astoria's arm and prepared her second side-along apparition.

She just hoped the Dursleys hadn't actually followed through on their threat to call the muggle aurors.

A/N: Unedited, bc I am rushing to get to work on time!

I opened up my discord channel again. Link's in my profile.

Since the last update of AMR, I've also published -

- multiple chapters of The Discordant Pattern (sooooo good)

- the next chapter of A Straight Flush

Up next is one of my rare pairs, either the Katie Bell or Mandy Brocklehurst fic. Then more Discordant Pattern. I'm pumped to write more of Durmstrang!

Til then,

Stay safe, healthy, and happy! ~Frickles