Serpentine Virtues Chapter 5

A/N: I'm back! It's been an awesome vacation, and now it's back to work! School and writing. We'll see how I can balance those two. Updates will probably not be daily like they used to be after school starts (September 2).

Anywho, enjoy Chapter 5.

WARNING: Mentions of rape. Do not read if easily offended.

oOo

Harry Potter was staring out the window. The snow was falling thickly, blanketing the grounds with a white, fluffy powder. It was a cold Saturday in February, nearly two months since Hermione's visit. It was also the season in which he had very little to do. The Quidditch Pitch was frozen, and he couldn't really give effective flying lessons in the snow. After all, not many people turned up, considering the weather, and he himself was reluctant to fly in frigid conditions, especially considering how he wasn't playing professionally.

He'd been brooding ever since Hermione had left. She'd said a lot of things that made Harry think, and it was messing with his head. The revelation that Daphne was in love with him was confusing him immensely.

He wasn't sure what to think. He knew that he felt something for his former agent and friend, but he wasn't prepared to start another relationship. He was feeling the grief and sadness over Ginny less, but her face still haunted his dreams…sometimes. And Harry knew that it would be completely unfair to Daphne if he began any type of romantic relationship with her while still being hung up on his recently deceased wife.

Unfortunately, according to Hermione, if he didn't make his move soon, some other bloke would be bound to "snatch" her away. He didn't want that. Anytime he thought of Daphne on the arm of another man reminded him of how he felt in Sixth Year with Ginny and Dean. He wasn't sure why, but just the thought of Daphne in a relationship was abhorrent to him. He hated himself for thinking this way, and tried to tell himself that Daphne deserved to be with whomever she believed would make her happy. This led to enormous amounts of inner turmoil as his heart fought with his head.

Normally, he buried any confused, romantic thoughts by working, whether it be professional Quidditch, or nowadays, teaching Quidditch, but right now, there was no work to be done. He was out of Quidditch for at least a while, both due to his weakened arm due to the Bludger, and his spinal injury from the Bludger to the head. The Healers hadn't talked as much about his head injury, but it had affected his movement in the air slightly. It was nothing majorly debilitating in regular life, but it affected him slightly when flying in the air. And in professional Quidditch, slightly was the difference between a win and a loss.

Really, all he could do nowadays was pop into a few DADA classes to offer a few pointers. While occasionally helping out with various classes was fun, he still felt incredibly restless, cooped up in a castle with nothing to do.

Harry resolved to speak with Daphne sometime over Easter, and decided to send her a letter. It didn't matter if they didn't enter a romantic relationship (he didn't believe himself ready anyway), at least they could define boundaries and understand each other. Perhaps he could ask Prof-er Minerva to grant him a few days leave so that he might visit her.

Making up his mind, he got up from his armchair and his solitude, and headed towards McGonagall's office. Along the way, he was joined by Aurora, who still blushed whenever she saw him.

Deciding that he really didn't want colleagues who couldn't look him in the face for more than a few seconds, Harry decided to initiate a conversation with the Astronomy Professor, since there was an opportunity here. Besides, Aurora had seemed fairly friendly, even back during his school years, and Harry wanted to be on good terms with his colleagues.

"Hello Aurora." He said, in what he hoped was a casual tone.

Aurora looked at him with surprise, thinking that it would just be a silent walk to wherever they were going, still blushing a little from memories of him on top of her.

"Uhm… Hi Mr. Po-er Harry." She stammered.

The two walked in an awkward silence that dragged on and on for a little. Until Harry got tired of it, and tried to initiate the conversation again.

"Um… Aurora, I-I wanted t-to talk…about…w-what… I mean… that d-day on the staircase…" Harry stammered, feeling incredibly awkward knowing that he was having this conversation with a former professor of his.

Aurora smiled hesitantly at him. 'He was attractive.' She admitted to herself, and, after all, he was no longer her student so…

She quickly banished that dangerous thought from her mind. Merlin, what was she thinking? Her cheeks were reddening further at her thoughts.

Harry, meanwhile, took her silence as discomfort and anger, and immediately tried to placate the "irate" witch.

Aurora quickly put a stop to Harry's apologies and self-recriminations. She knew that it was incredibly embarrassing for the two of them, and she really didn't want to draw out the pain.

"It's alright, Harry. I know it meant nothing. I'm not angry over what transpired. It was an accident on the staircase, that's all."

Harry breathed a sigh of relief. It was good that aurora hadn't gotten the wrong idea over the awkward situation on the stairs. Meanwhile, Aurora smiled at him, thinking that her former student was indeed quite cute when he was flustered.

She cursed herself for these inappropriate thoughts that kept flitting their way into her head.

They were silent until Aurora broke off from Harry and headed off towards the Astronomy Tower, while Harry continued his trek towards the Headmistress's office. He wondered briefly why that particular office was so far from the staffs' quarters, but dismissed the thought as trivial. He had more important things to focus on.

He told the Gargoyle the password ("Albus!"), and headed up, knocking when he reached the door.

A voice inside bade him to enter, and he turned the doorknob, opening the door into McGonagall's office.

The Headmistress was seated behind her desk filing some papers away in one of the many drawers in her desk.

"Harry? Is there something wrong?" Minerva asked, quite surprised to see one of her favorite former students in her office.

"No Prof-er Minerva. I just wondered if I could…leave the school during Easter…?"

Minerva fixed him with one of her searching looks.

"Whatever for, Harry?"

Harry blushed, and said, "I want to go visit a friend."

Minerva didn't know much about Harry's personal life, but she felt sorry for him, losing his wife in such an untimely manner.

Although, if the color of his cheeks were anything to go by, he may have found someone new.

"Alright Harry, I'll grant you three days leave to go visit this 'friend.' Make sure to let me know before you leave and when you arrive."

"Of course, Minerva." Harry said, before turning to leave. Minerva watched him go, and wondered who the lucky lady was.

oOo

Daphne Greengrass didn't want to be here. Here in this Muggle Pub, wearing a slinky black drew that was drawing far more attention to herself than she was comfortable with.

She cursed Oliver for bringing her here. He'd insisted that he owed her for the rather juicy contract she'd landed him with Ballycastle. With Harry gone from professional Quidditch, Chudley had reverted to their tradition of being a bottom-of-the-league team, and Oliver had no wish to stay with Chudley. He was still seeking the elusive League trophy.

All night long, Daphne had been plagued by various men. Oliver had done his best to keep them away…for about three seconds before he disappeared somewhere with a young, blonde, leggy witch. Daphne was left to fend for herself.

Suddenly, a familiar face materialized next to her seemingly from thin air. Unfortunately, it wasn't a friendly face. Her lip curled in disgust as she stared into the face of Marcus Flint, Quidditch Keeper wannabe who happened to be half-troll. He'd been rejected by both Puddlemere and Tutshill when he'd tried out, and had finally landed a reserve spot on the Falmouth Falcons. It didn't matter that he was a third-string reserve Keeper, and was unlikely to ever play in a game. He'd then proceeded to seek out an agent, and decided that Daphne was the perfect agent for him.

Daphne had never liked the guy in school, and he'd been a Dark Lord supporter after he graduated, although he'd never been caught in any criminal activities, and he did not bear the Mark. She'd turned him down instantly, and cited a lack of time as her reason. It was what was required by the firm. You couldn't simply reject a client because you didn't like said client.

"Why hello there Daphne, you're looking stunning." said a grinning Marcus Flint in what he believed to be a charming manner.

Daphne fixed him with her patented Ice-Queen glare. Marcus, for all his bravado, took a step back warily.

"What do you want, Flint?"

"You, of course!" Marcus replied with a lecherous grin.

Daphne raised one elegant eyebrow at him, and asked, "Have you forgotten your failures to woo girls both during and after school, Marcus? Especially your many attempts on me? Now fuck off before you regret it."

Marcus, though, wouldn't be deterred.

"Aw, come on, Daph, I know you've lightened up since school," he said, scooting a little closer to her. So close, in fact, that Daphne could smell the alcohol on his breath.

Daphen raised her knee, prepared to knee the perverted bastard in the balls. A mistake.

Marcus, displaying an agility and speed that belied his reputation…and inebriation state, snatched Daphne's leg, and delivered a hard blow to it, incapacitating her for a few moments as she bent forward in pain. This was enough time for him to snatch Daphne's purse off her arm, which also happened to contain her wand.

Normally, Daphne would always keep her wand on her person and not in her purse, but her dress today didn't allow her to put her wand anywhere inconspicuous, so she'd placed it in her purse.

The pain in her leg had dulled, and she looked up, but realized her predicament when she noticed her purse was gone.

Marcus smiled sinisterly. He'd finally get what he'd always wanted.

After casting a Silencing Charm on Daphne to prevent her from crying out, and discreetly immobilizing her, catching her as she pitched forward. He carried her out of the pub saying, "Oh, Daphne, look at you, you've drunk way too much again. Let's get you home now, dear."

Once they were outside and in a darkened alley, Marcus cast "Finite Incantatem" to remove his earlier immobilization, before smirking at Daphne, who was glaring at him, backed into a corner.

Daphne hated herself for being caught off guard like that. She'd underestimated Flint badly, and now she was going to pay the ultimate price. Tears slid down her cheeks.

Marcus was incredibly turned on by the sight of Daphne's hot curvy form cowering helplessly in front of him, and her tears were exciting him even further.

'Serves that cold, stuck-up bitch right.' He thought.

Just as he was about to Vanish her clothes and defile her, a cold voice said, "Now I wouldn't do that if I were you."

Marcus, shocked that they'd somehow been discovered, clumsily turned on the spot, looking around for the source of the mysterious voice. He even forgot about the wand in his hand for a moment. He never got to find the voice as he was knocked out by a Stunner to the side of the head.

Daphne realized that someone had somehow saved her. She looked up, trying to catch a glimpse of her savior.

A blonde, tall, gorgeous man stared back at her, concern evident in his eyes. He looked vaguely familiar, but Daphne couldn't put a name on the face.

"Are you alright?" He asked, leaning down to give her a hand.

Daphne wiped away some tears, took the man's hand, and said, "Yes I am. Thanks for…well…everything."

The man smiled.

"Daphne Greengrass, is it?"

Daphne turned, surprised that the man knew her name.

"Why yes. How'd you know my name?" she asked.

"I went to school with you. We were in the same year, although we never did talk." The mysterious man said.

Daphne's interest was piqued.

"Who are you?"

The man smiled.

"My name is Kevin Entwhistle."

Daphne looked down, slightly ashamed that she didn't even recognize someone from her own year at Hogwarts, and she'd prided herself on being observant.

"Well, thank you for everything…" she said quietly.

Kevin smiled, and Daphne couldn't help, but notice how wonderful he looked when he smiled. She still felt something for Harry, but Harry wasn't here. He was at Hogwarts, and if the rumors were true, had entered a relationship with the resident Astronomy teacher. She hoped he was happy.

"It's quite alright, Ms. Greengrass." Kevin replied, jolting Daphne from her thoughts.

She smiled at him, and hesitantly asked, "Would you mind coming inside the pub for a drink?"

Kevin's smile brightened.

"I'd love to."

"Oh, and Mr. Entwhistle?"

"Yes?"

"Call me Daphne."

oOo

In an obscure warehouse at the center of Shanghai, China, a meeting was taken place.

There were two people seated at an expensive mahogany table, being served food and drinks by a few servants.

"I wish to enlist your help, Mr. Zhou." The pretty young woman at the table spoke up.

"But of course, my dear Ms. Chang, I will help you…for a price."

Cho rolled her eyes in exasperation. She wouldn't be here if she didn't have money to offer.

"I want you to kill Harry Potter's loved ones."

The room was silent for a moment. Then, Mr. Zhou spoke up again.

"Ms. Chang, you want us to…kill the loved ones of the Boy-Who-Lived?"

Cho Chang scowled.

"Are you deaf? That's exactly what I said, you idiot."

Mr. Zhou bristled at the rudeness. Still, the Changs were one of their richest clients, so killing or hurting the scion of the family would be quite detrimental to their finances.

"Ms. Chang, as I'm sure you are aware, there is no one on this Earth whom I believe is capable of taking down Mr. Potter in a duel, much less in my employ."

Cho gritted her teeth in frustration. Why did she put up with these idiots. She couldn't understand why her father had praised Zhou and his network of assassins, especially if he was this dense.

"Did I say I want you to kill Potter? No, I said that I want you to kill his friends and family."

Mr. Zhou was quite frustrated with his client's failure to see the bigger picture of such an operation.

"If I kill Mr. Potter's friends and families, he will retaliate, and I will lose much more than I gain. Do you understand?"

Cho shook her head in exasperation. She was getting nowhere with this moron.

She stood up from the table, and said, "Well, since you are obviously unable or unwilling to help me, I shall look for services elsewhere. Goodbye, Mr. Zhou."

Mr. Zhou, unfortunately for himself, couldn't afford to lose such a valuable client.

Knowing he'd regret it later, he nevertheless cried out, "Ms. Chang! Wait!"

Cho turned, and waited, inwardly smirking. Money always achieved results.

"My organization will undertake your operation…for triple the price." Mr. Zhou said, unable to keep the greed off his face.

Cho frowned. Rich as her family might be, triple Mr. Zhou's fee was nothing to scoff at.

"Double, or I'll be leaving." Cho said, after some contemplation.

Mr. Zhou smiled. "Very well, Ms. Chang. A pleasure to do business with you, as always."

Cho nodded back. "Likewise."

"If you would please provide a full list of targets for me?" Mr. Zhou said.

Cho nodded. "They will be delivered by a messenger in three days. Code word shall be Diggory."

"Very well." Mr. Zhou said, standing up and shaking Cho's hand.

Cho left feeling satisfied.

She'd been distraught over the death of Cedric, and had always, in the back of her mind, suspected that Potter was behind his death. Then, her beloved mother had been tortured and killed by Voldemort because of her connections to Potter. She'd been forced to watcher her death as well, and narrowly escaped Death herself, although not without paying a price. Her legs still hurt sometimes with phantom pain from her time in Death Eater captivity, where they used her for their pleasure almost daily.

All because of Potter. And she didn't even get any sort of recognition from the bastard. She'd just been brushed aside while he and his friends had risen to the pinnacle of Britain's Wizarding society.

Well, she was sick and tired of being used by the Chosen one. He'd taken advantage of her in her Sixth Year, after he'd gotten Cedric killed in her Fifth, and then she'd tried to mend fences with him at the Battle of Hogwarts, only to be brushed off casually. Her friends and family had been killed, tortured, and raped, and he has the gall to just pretend like nothing happened.

Cho Chang was determined to make Saint Potter feel the pain that she, and countless others must have felt because of him during the War.

Mr. Zhou would just help make sure of it.

oOo

Tracey Davis was worried. Daphne had all, but ignored her ever since she'd found her with Draco.

Tracey knew why her best friend hated Draco. And she had hated him too, once. But he'd come to her, apologizing, and acting different than he'd ever had in the past.

He'd been a changed man. Tracey was sure of it.

The only problem was, Daphne definitely wouldn't see it that way. To her, a Death Eater was a Death Eater, and she hated Draco more than other Death Eaters, because of her mother.

Tracey still remembered how she had to comfort her friend after Daphne had received news of her mother's death.

Now, she decided to Floo call her friend. She needed to talk to her, and to explain.

She called out the address of her friend's flat where she lived. Daphne had only recently connected her flat to the Floo Network. But it made contacting her so much easier.

When her head finally stopped spinning, she looked up into Daphne's living room. Daphne was standing by the window, staring out with a faraway look in her eyes.

Tracey wondered what her friend could possibly be thinking about, but decided to announce her presence.

She spoke up, "Daphne?"

Daphne jumped, nearly spilling the coffee in her hand.

She turned towards the fireplace, and her demeanor hardened.

"Tracey." She said simply, without emotion.

Tracey had always hated her friend's Ice Queen mask back in school. She now found that she hated it even more when the mask was directed at her.

"Look, Daphne, I know you hate him, but at least give him a chance."

Daphne's mask slipped a little, and Tracey saw the anger underneath.

"I don't care if the little ferret changed. He killed my mother. I'm never going to forgive him for that." She said coldly.

Tracey pleaded with her friend, "He's better. He's remorseful of his actions. I swear, Daphne. I hated him as much as you did back in Seventh Year. You know that. But I know he's changed."

Daphne turned away.

"You can go out with him if you like. But don't ever ask for me to like him."

Tracey sighed. She knew how stubborn Daphne was. She'd tried to get her to lighten up in school, but that had failed miserably. She was incredibly stubborn, and she knew she couldn't change her mind.

"Alright. What were you thinking about when I got here?" Tracey asked, changing the subject.

Daphne raised an eyebrow.

"Why do you want to know?"

"Well…" Tracey began, smirking.

Daphne put her head in her hands. She knew her friend had always wanted to know every detail of her love life, especially considering her reputation in school.

She'd even held Tracey back from too many amorous relationships in school. In fact, Daphne was fairly sure that she was the reason Tracey was still a virgin by their Sixth Year.

"You know I'll get it out of you eventually, so just tell me." Tracey coaxed.

Daphne threw her hands up in the air in a gesture of exasperation.

"Come through."

Tracey grinned. Perhaps this would be the first step to some sort of reconciliation with her friend.

She stepped through the Floo, and stumbled upon landing. It was a rare occurrence, but she occasionally still messed up Floo travel. After all, she'd been raised in a Half-blood family that tried not to use magic when possible.

Daphne was sitting on the couch, waiting for her. She sat down next to her and looked at her expectantly.

And Tracey listened to her inner conflict that she felt. Apparently, Daphne was hung up on two guys.

Tracey didn't remember much about Kevin Entwhistle. She'd only talked to him once, and that was because she had clumsily crashed right into him in her Fifth Year.

He'd seemed nice enough back then, and the story of how he saved Daphne from an unpleasant fate put him Tracey's good books.

Still, Potter had been Daphne's love interest for over a year now, despite the fact that he was married. And now that he was newly single, Tracey knew that Daphne had wanted to be the one to be there for him, to comfort him, and to be the new lady in his life.

Those plans hadn't exactly gone the way she'd wanted though. Potter had been, understandably, cold and distant after Ginny's death, and Daphne had never connected with him in the way that she'd wanted.

Now, Potter was off teaching Quidditch at Hogwarts. Tracey offered Daphne the best advice she could.

"I think that you should give Kevin Entwhistle a chance. He definitely seems like a nice, selfless guy, saving you from Flint. Besides, Potter's at Hogwarts, and didn't you say he was in a relationship with our old Professor Sinistra?"

"Those are just rumors…" Daphne said quietly. Still there was an air of defeat in her voice, and Tracey felt bad. The Hogwarts rumor mill hadn't been all that accurate, but it did on occasion get things right.

Although Tracey had learned over the years that perhaps she shouldn't listen to rumors about Harry Potter. They seemed to get wilder year after year. And yet, there definitely was some truth in the rumors. Especially the Ministry one in their Fifth Year, as Potter had been photographed at the Ministry, looking quite beat up.

"Tracey, I'm not sure. I've felt something for Harry for ages. Now I just meet Kevin, and you think I should go out with him?"

Tracey shook her head.

"Of course not. Just get to know him better. Besides, you don't even have to go out on a date with him. Just have lunch or something with him."

Daphne glared at her. "That is a date."

"Well, I would come, but I'm busy. I've got classes at noon, so I can't come."

Daphne was contemplating the situation when suddenly, there came a rapping on the window. Looking up, she saw a Hogwarts school owl tapping on her window.

Surprised that a Hogwarts school owl was actually tapping on her window, she rose and crossed the room, before lifting the latch and allowing the owl inside. Her heart leaped when she saw the sender.

Harry Potter.

He'd sent her a letter.

Oh, this was going to complicate things.

She opened the letter.

Dear Daphne,

First of all, I'd like to apologize. I know that I haven't been the easiest person to get along with since Ginny's death. Far from it, in fact. So I'd like to apologize, and I hope you'll forgive me.

I think I'm over her death, and I'd like to resume our previous relationship before the incident. Hermione's enlightened me to a few things in her trip. I think I need to talk to you. And not like over Floo or something. I want to meet you, to see you, and to talk to you. I made arrangements with Minerva to see you this Easter. If you have time that is. If you don't that's alright, I'll find someone to visit. Please send back a reply. You can choose the time and place if you're coming.

I also heard about the incident with Marcus Flint. I'm furious, and I swear I'm going to kill him next time I see him. I hope you're alright. I heard that Kevin Entwhistle saved you. He's a good person. I remember him back from leading the Defence club in our Fifth Year against Umbridge. I'm glad he was there to help you, and I wish I could've been there for you.

With my sincere apologies,

Harry

Tracey had walked over and read the note over her friend's shoulder.

She smirked at her, and patted her on the shoulder.

"Have fun figuring this mess out."

Daphne just glared at her.

The letter from Harry told her several things. One, he really cared about her, which just intensified the feelings she'd had for him. Two, his apologies were incredibly sweet. They were endearing him to her even more. Three, he'd praised Kevin, which just made her life that much harder. And last of all, he wanted to see her! He was coming to see her!

She was dancing with joy inside.

Tracey was smirking at her, no doubt reading the emotions flitting across her face.

Daphne merely glared at her, and said, "Shut up," although there was no malice in her voice. She was too happy for that.

Tracey just continued to smirk at her.

Daphne grabbed a piece of paper, and quickly composed a reply.

"Oh would you stop smirking!" she yelled.

Tracey just turned towards the fireplace, but before she tossed the powder in, she threw one last parting shot.

"Are you taking advantage of a poor, young, rich widower?"

Tracey quickly jumped into the fireplace, dodging the thrown coffee cup that went flying her way.

oOo

Thank you for reading. Please review.