A/N
Don't worry! Paragraphs written in "first person" will remain an exception. And you've been right: There wasn't enough Daphne/Harry quality time in the last chapters.
This chapter will be a bit disturbing perhaps, but remember: I don't write tragedy. I hope the chapter won't be too weird. It was difficult to write. With 7,5k words it is a longer one, but perhaps still not long (and detailed) enough.
.
Damsel in Distress
.
Hogwarts – Black Lake – 12th of March – Afternoon
.
Hissing angrily Crookshanks chased Balou along the shore of the Black Lake under a clear blue sky. While Crookshanks was bigger and stronger, Balou was younger, faster and nimbler. The large piece of sausage he had snitched from the older tomcat only seconds ago slowed him down a bit and it was thrilling to watch who would win the crazy hunt around bushes and smaller trees.
"You should have given Balou his own piece of sausage," Daphne scolded her boyfriend, her head leaning on his shoulder, her arm around his waist while they walked along.
Harry laughed. "He had his own a few minutes ago. He's simply too greedy for his own good. Perhaps I should have named him Ron instead." He really liked the feeling of her body against his chest. And he loved to tease her.
Daphne stopped and glared at him: "That's not funny, Mister Potter. Balou certainly doesn't deserve to be… umpf."
Harry stopped her with a passionate kiss. He really loved how he was able to prompt this other side of her personality to come out, this emotional and less controlled side. And her eyes started to glitter when he enraged her.
"Mister Potter, you're…"
He deepened the embrace and placed another, deeper kiss on her lips. In the beginning he had proposed this long walk around the Lake to distract her. Daphne had been restless the whole morning, and he wanted to take her mind off things. But now, with her body pressed against him, he congratulated himself to this splendid idea. "We're far too seldom alone," he whispered, staring at her slightly puffy lips.
"We should correct this," Daphne agreed with a coy smile. She didn't know why she had been so uneasy this morning. But she felt much better now. It was a very nice spring afternoon and even both cats seemed to enjoy the difference to the former cold winter weather. Slowly they followed the cats, both teenagers deep in thoughts.
Harry hugged her with one arm, comparing the feeling to the few times he had hugged Hermione. His friend had been the first to hug him and still was the only girl allowed to do this aside Daphne. But while Hermione was all soft and feminine under her loose robes, Daphne had a very well-shaped body. Small but trained muscles all along, making her a sight to behold in her swim suit or when he watched her performing gymnastics. Despite all academic hardship she still enforced at least two runs a week around the lake and tried hard to spend at least a few hours on other sports. Harry especially loved to watch her at the asymmetric bars, this mix of grace, agility and power was incredible and far too arousing to allow him to continue read – his standard excuse if he joined her in the gym.
"Has Mum written about Professor Snape's visit?" Her soft voice broke his daydreaming.
"No," Harry answered, shrugging slightly. "I hope all went well." He knew that Roxanne had invited Snape the day before, so the transfer should have been finished by now.
"He wasn't at breakfast or lunch."
"I noticed it too. Perhaps he needed more time," Harry wondered, not really expecting it to be true. He knew from the other teachers that they had only needed one or two hours to part with their memories – depending on how long they had known his parents. "I'm still surprised that he agreed to do this for me."
Daphne flinched a bit, not much but enough for Harry to notice. "Do you know something about his decision?"
"Maybe," Daphne whispered. She knew exactly why Snape had agreed, but wasn't certain about Harry's reaction to the matter. Snape had asked her to spare Nott, and to finish Harry's picture was far more important to her than some senseless punishment of a brainless prat.
"Maybe?" Harry grinned. "Come one, please tell me. I have been wondering about it for weeks now. Did you know that he even agreed to accompany me to Aunt Petunia? Apparently he knew not only my mother but Aunt Petunia too. He'll try to convince her to part with her memories as well."
"Oh, that's good, isn't it?" Daphne watched the cats for a while and stayed silent, averting Harry's eyes until he gently nudged her.
"Tell me, I won't get angry, I promise."
"Alright," Daphne groaned slightly. "You're a little nuisance sometimes; you know that, Mister Potter?"
"But a good kissing nuisance," he grinned back.
"Oh, a little full of our self, are we now?"
"No, only realistic." He moved to kiss her again, but Daphne stopped him with her hands on his chest. Her face was very serious now, when she whispered: "I made a deal with him."
Harry blinked: "A deal? With Snape? What kind of deal?"
Daphne sighed: "You know that Lucius Malfoy is a close friend to Professor Snape?"
Harry nodded. He had seen them both together quite often and as far as he knew Snape was even Draco Malfoy's godfather.
"Apparently Nott senior is a close friend of Malfoy too, and he bade Snape to assure, that Theo Nott is allowed to stay at Hogwarts despite his attack on me. Knowing about your temper and protectiveness, Snape had qualms about your reaction. I promised him that you wouldn't hurt Nott, if he agrees to transfer his memories."
Baffled Harry watched his girlfriend. That was certainly unexpected. Anxiously Daphne awaited his reaction. "But he hurt you… He should have been punished, expelled like his cronies."
"I know. And I'm happy that you and the twins found another way to get back at him. But other things are more important. You are more important to me. I know what this picture means to you and I thought…"
Again he stopped her with a kiss, this one even more passionate than the last one. "Thank you, Daphne." The little anger he felt about letting Nott go unpunished was washed away by happy feelings. You are more important to me.
.
After their round around the Lake they had parted ways. Harry wanted to spend some time with his old friend Hagrid. He knew how much the evil articles about him, written by Skeeter two months ago, had troubled the half-giant. He's a danger to our children, Skeeter had written. What nonsense.
Normally Daphne would have accompanied him, but her uneasiness had returned and she simply didn't have the nerve to sit in Hagrid's hut, sipping tea and comforting him. So she decided to walk back to her dorm and read something in her new books.
With a sigh she followed the cats towards the castle. Another kiss would be nice.
.
Hogwarts – Gryffindor Tower – Same Time
.
Fred was sitting on a couch in the Gryffindor common room with Angelina at his side. His girlfriend was a bit miffed at the moment because he had been ignoring her advances for the past few minutes. Normally Fred needed only the slightest hint to start a snogging session with her. He had been her boyfriend for more than four months now, and she rarely regretted her decision. Even now she didn't really, because she understood his concern. She understood, but she didn't have to like the reason.
Fred was watching his twin brother. For more than an hour George had been sitting near the window, trying to write a letter to their father. A dozen wadded sheets of parchment were lying around, testimony to his wish but also to the fruitlessness of his efforts. How did you explain to your father that you feared for the mental sanity of your baby sister? How could you tell him that you wanted him to stop your mother from influencing her?
They had spoken with Molly after the second task. They had sent her letters – pleaded, demanded, threatened. It had been to no avail. Molly was unwilling to realize that her influence was hurting Ginny more than helping her, that it would be better to leave Ginny alone. Perhaps once upon a time Ginny wanted to be Harry's girlfriend. Perhaps she wanted it even now – in some odd corner of her heart at least. But Fred was certain that Ginny – contrary to her mother – understood how close Harry had become to Daphne and that all plans could only end in one way: Hurt and tears.
Someone opened the door to the common room and the target of his thoughts entered, her brother Ron close behind. Ginny's face was a heart-breaking mix of despair, sorrow and pain. Looking down to avoid the eyes of her twin brothers she rushed towards the stairs to the girls' dorm. Should they follow her? Fred and George knew how to circumvent the 'stairs-trap' – something they never shared with their brothers. But perhaps…
"I'll look after her," Angelina whispered and left. Her relation to Ginny hadn't been as close as before the 'Balou incident' in the last months, but following Fred's wishes she had tried hard to be Ginny's friend again.
"What happened?" George's growl was frightening. Turning around Fred saw his twin pouncing on their younger brother.
"I have no idea what you're talking about," Ron pouted and tried to circumvent his brother.
George's hand at his collar stopped him. "Don't give me that bull." Fred felt light shivers on his back. George – nice, calm George – was frightening in his rage. Fred knew that his brother wished he had done more for Ginny, wished he had tried harder to stop Molly months ago. And with each passing day his anger towards Ron grew. How could he agree with her plans for Ginny? They knew that Ron not only agreed, but even helped Molly; that he even spied on her.
George shoved his brother against the wall. It was deadly silent in the room. Nobody wanted to mess with the twins, especially not in a mood like this. "What happened? I won't ask a third time." George snarled.
"Mo… mother sent a letter this morning."
For a moment George closed his eyes and took a deep breath without loosening his grip. "And?"
"She… she wanted Ginny to… to…"
George pulled him away from the wall only to slam him against it a second later. "Spill it out!" Fred winced, but didn't interfere. What happened to Ron was no more than he deserved.
"She wanted Ginny to visit the Headmaster. We've been with him for the last hour."
"For what reason?"
Ron looked around. "George… not here… let's go…"
George interrupted him by slamming him against the wall for another time. "For what reason?" His voice was pure ice now and Ron realized the danger.
"He wanted to speak with her about ways to separate Harry from that snake-bitch."
Fast and heavy was the hit of George's fist into Ron's gut. With a yell of pain he slumped to the ground. "Never again call her that. Daphne is Harry's girlfriend. She is our friend. Merlin, she saved Hermione's life."
"George, no, he's not worth it." Fred's voice stopped George from kicking his own brother. Breathing heavily he demanded: "Stay away from us. Stay the hell away from Ginny or you'll pay." Without looking back he walked back to his seat and continued to write his letter.
"She doesn't want to speak with me," Angelina whispered into Fred's ear. Her eyes didn't leave Ron and they showed no pity with him. "I'll try later again."
Fred hugged her and whispered back: "Thank you."
.
"She doesn't open her door."
Hermione slumped into the chair with a deep frown on her face. After their return to the Gryffindor tower, Fred had told her and Neville about Ginny's talk with the Headmaster, and she had been furious to hear about his newest meddling. It's really time to get rid of him. Hermione was a bit surprised by herself. She had always been the 'nice student', obeying and respecting her teachers and looking up to Minerva and the Headmaster like icons. And now she couldn't get rid of him soon enough. Since Valentine's Day he even surpassed Professor Snape and Draco Malfoy on her hate-list. While both used every chance to insult her and especially Snape judged her very unfairly – even now with his behaviour slightly improved since Christmas – they at least didn't mess with their students' private life.
After Fred's news she went to Ginny's dorm and wanted to speak with her. But apparently the redhead not only locked but also silenced the door. Apart from breaking through, this only left them with waiting for Ginny to leave the room, hopefully by Dinner time.
And when Ginny showed her face, Hermione would be there for her.
.
The tears were long gone, her tear glands dried out. Her eyes were puffy and red, but she didn't see this because she avoided looking into the mirror.
It is a beautiful spring afternoon, Ginny mused. Why can't they allow me to simply enjoy such a day? Why can't they leave me alone? Her eyes followed the boy on his way from Hagrid's hut back to the Castle. He would be here within a few minutes. The twins would tell him. Would he come? Would he want to speak with her like Angelina and Hermione before? She knew that they had been there in front of her door, but she had no wish to see anyone. They couldn't help her. Nobody could help her.
She had lost every single friend she had before. Hermione, Neville, and even Luna avoided her. The Quidditch team had evicted her months ago and Angelina only wanted to be polite because of Fred. The twins – yes, they still loved her as did Charlie, but they couldn't help. For a few days she had hoped, hoped to be free after the second task. But then the letters started again. And now even the Headmaster wanted to mess with her. She couldn't understand why he wanted to deny Harry his luck. He was happy. Didn't he deserve to be happy? Even if it was without her?
Ginny knew that she did not deserve to be happy. She had been the one to free the Basilisk two years ago, nearly killing Hermione and a few others. And she had been so awful to Harry and Daphne this year. Ginny deserved to be punished, but not Harry. But the Headmaster wouldn't allow him to be happy with Daphne, not while Ginny was there, not while Dumbledore had hopes to set her up with Harry. She had to end this. She didn't want to be guilty for his pain anymore. She didn't want to be guilty for splitting her family, for setting Arthur against Molly or Ron against the twins.
This would be her atonement.
It would be her little part in bestowing a life of happiness to Harry.
She only hoped that her letter did explain things correctly. She only wished that Harry would remember her as the friend she had been and not the enemy of the past months.
But at least she would be free of pain. No more pain.
Ginny opened the small vial.
.
Hogwarts – Library
.
She had been sitting in the library for a while now. At first she had tried to read her new book about healing spells in her dorm, but with each passing minute her uneasiness had been growing. Trying to distract her troubled mind, she had been wandering around the library, glancing at this book or perusing that tome. It didn't help. What was happening to her? Why was she unable to concentrate?
Suddenly she heard a small chime. Miss Pince frowned in her direction and Daphne needed some seconds to grasp that she had been the source of the sound – she or better the small silver ring she was wearing, enchanted to…
Ginny! The ring was the anchor of the monitoring spell she had cast on Ginny. Merlin, Daphne paled, steadied herself as she realized what happened. Another chime, a third…
"Miss Greengrass, I really have to be adamant that…" Miss Pince watched flabbergasted Daphne leaving the library, more sprinting than jogging, shoving chairs away and ignoring the stares of the few present students.
Daphne silenced the ring, but the colour – an ugly grey now – told her enough about the condition of the monitoring spell's target. Suddenly she stopped. I have to inform Madam Pomfrey.
"Expecto Patronum!" Nothing happened.
"Expecto Patronum!" She tried harder, tried to calm herself.
"EXPECTO PATRONUM!" She was in tears now. No happy thought was able to break through her concern.
A few students looked at her, their expressions telling her that they thought her to be mad. But that was unimportant. She started to run again, reached the stairs to the tower. Pling! With a last sound the ring stopped its work. Shocked Daphne missed a step, nearly lost her stance on the stairs. The ring broke asunder, small pieces and silver-grey dust trickling to the ground.
"Open!" She yelled when she reached the entrance of the tower. No Gryffindor was in sight to ask for the password or to be sent in.
"By no means, Slytherin" the Fat Lady answered in a haughty voice.
"Please, it's a medical emergency."
"You certainly don't expect me to believe you, young lady."
"OPEN!" Daphne lost her last bit of composure, looking around: Still no Gryffindor in sight.
"Countenance, young lady, is…"
"GET OUT OF YOUR PICTURE," Daphne commanded, pulling out her wand, targeting it at the frightened Fat Lady, who all too well remembered the attack of Sirius Black only one year ago.
"3… 2… 1… BOMBARDA MAXIMA!"
In the last moment the Fat Lady left her frame, before Daphne spell hit it, destroyed it together with the wall behind the picture, blasting a hole into the door large enough to allow her to pass through.
"Where is Ginny?"
Shocked stares greeted her from all sides. Perhaps some of the Gryffindors would have retaliated by force but quite now everyone was simply too stunned.
"Where is Ginny?"
Luckily Hermione at least reacted. She noticed the empty slot on Daphne's ring finger, didn't dare to think about the meaning of it. She pointed towards the stairs. "In her room, she locked herself in." Hermione was the first to follow Daphne when she raced up the stairs, the twins following two heartbeats later, hastily circumventing the trap that normally forbid any boy from using it.
"Open it." When the twins reached the door of Ginny's room, they saw a panicked Daphne, fumbling with the door. Hastily Hermione broke through the locking spell and rushed behind Daphne into the room, only to stop again after a few steps when her eyes landed on the small figure, lying on the ground near the window, curled-up like some old clothes. George smashed into her and both went to the ground, while Daphne hurried at Ginny's side.
"Ginny!" Fred yelled.
"Put her on the bed," Daphne ordered and started to cast some examination spells.
Fred, when he stepped at his sister's side, kicked something away that caught Hermione's eye. Hastily she fetched it, sniffed at the vial.
"What is it? What happened to her?" George was barely able to constrain himself, allowing Daphne to work.
"Some kind of sleeping draught, but it smells wrong – like it's contaminated." Hermione noticed that Daphne fetched a Bezoar from her robe and banished it into Ginny's stomach.
She is so pale, Hermione noticed. Is she breathing? God, she isn't breathing.
"We have to carry her to Madam Pomfrey as fast as possible." Daphne commanded.
George nodded and lifted his sister. Carrying would take too long, Hermione mused. "Wait," She stopped him: "Use Ciddy."
Daphne paled another shade. Why didn't I think earlier about Ciddy? "Ciddy!"
A second later a loud plop announced the arrival of her house elf. "Ciddy, bring us to the Hospital."
It didn't even cross Ciddy's mind to tell her mistress, that she wasn't allowed to do this. Only the House Masters and the Headmaster were allowed to use the House-Elf port within Hogwarts. She simply grabbed the arms of George – who was still carrying Ginny – and Daphne and ported away. Seconds later she returned to fetch Hermione and Fred.
.
Hogwarts – Hospital Wing
.
"I'm so sorry. I can't help her."
The four teenagers stared at Madam Pomfrey in disbelief. This can't be. This simply can't be. It went on an on in Hermione's mind. Madam Pomfrey can heal everything. She even healed me from petrification in second year.
"The bezoar neutralized the remaining poison, but it was too late. Her heart had already stopped, her magical core had stopped to heal her. My magic can't help her anymore." Madam Pomfrey was very pale herself. It was a very rare case that she lost a student, and every time it left her devastated. But healing magic needed an active magical core to work with. Without the support of Ginny's core she didn't react better to spells and potions than a Muggle.
"You can't give up," Fred pleaded.
"You simply must help her," George begged.
Hermione watched the twins in silence, her heart breaking. She understood what Madam Pomfrey told them, but that didn't help. Why didn't I break through the door the first time? Why did I wait? She wished she could help, wished she could turn back the clock. But she had no time-turner anymore and the Ministry would deny giving her a new one to rescue a little girl. Ginny…
"Wait," Daphne interjected. "You said her magical core stopped to work. So if we help her core to restart working…"
Madam Pomfrey nodded, realizing a second too late what Daphne was speaking about. "No, you can't seriously propose…"
"We can help her," Daphne turned towards the twins. After a second she added: "We can at least try."
"No, you can't. You can't use the spell like that." Madam Pomfrey tried to stop her. "It's far too dangerous."
"Wha… what…"
"… Are you speaking about?" The twins stuttered.
"I used this spell once and it worked." Daphne remarked towards Poppy.
The nurse wasn't convinced: "But this is different. Ginny is dead." Hermione sobbed.
Daphne cast a few spells and a pale red light lingered around Ginny's body. "Not completely, Poppy. Her soul is still there, her brain is still working. Please, we have to try it at least. We can't simply give up. But we have to act fast; we have only minutes before it's too late."
"Daphne, it's too risky. And you aren't blood-related to her."
"But Fred and George are. It's even better because they are two donators, and very equal to each other in strength and power. I can draw on their magic very evenly. They are nearly seventeen, their cores are steady. We have a chance." Daphne tried to sound as convincing as possible. Yes, two magical batteries, nearly the same in kind and power, would be far better in helping to 'restart' Ginny's core. What she didn't want to think or even speak about was the risk for her own core and health. If she didn't handle the magical energies correctly – no, she had to try. It wasn't Ginny's fault, she didn't deserve to die.
"What can we do?" It was no surprise that Fred was the first of the brothers to trust her, but George followed only a second later.
"It's a blood-healing spell. I used it to help my sister after Viktor's curse. It will connect your cores to Ginny's. If all goes well, you'll kick her core and heart to work again. After that Poppy can help her to heal."
"Do it."
"Fred," Daphne struggled to calm herself as well as the brothers. "Madam Pomfrey is correct: It's very risky for you. If we don't succeed in helping Ginny, you both could damage your own magical cores. You would lose a part of your magic forever."
Fred stared intensely into her eyes. "Do you think that there is a real chance to rescue her?"
"Yes," Daphne answered with a sigh. "I think we can bring her back."
Fred looked at his brother and George nodded. "Then do it. We trust you."
Daphne showed a small smile and nodded. When she led the twins towards Ginny, Madam Pomfrey tried to stop her. "I can't allow this, Daphne. It's simply too risky."
Like in slow-motion Hermione watched the scene, saw Poppy drawing her wand to enforce her will, to stop Daphne. Suddenly a spell hit the nurse, bound her, and made her helpless to watch the following events. Only when Daphne and the twins stared at her, did Hermione realize that she had her own wand in her hand. I just attacked Madam Pomfrey. Her mind and heart not really able to grasp this turn of events, she said unnaturally calm: "Go on, Daphne."
Harry's black-haired girlfriend nodded curtly and spun around.
She had a spell to cast.
.
Somewhere
.
She was calm. No more pain was troubling her. Shouldn't there be a light? Where I am? Ginny wondered. She didn't breath anymore. She didn't feel her blood pounding through her veins. I am dead, Ginny realized, surprised that she didn't feel relieved about it but miserable.
Why am I not happy? Shouldn't I? Mum can't push me anymore. Dumbledore can't use me anymore to make Harry unhappy. It is better for everyone, isn't it?
"Ginny?"
Wha… what? That can't be, Ginny thought confused.
"Ginny?"
She knew the voice, but she had been certain to hear it never again.
"Ginny, please," someone grabbed her arm, turned her around.
"Fred? George?" tears shot into her eyes. I'm going crazy. Yes, that it is. I'm imaging things, that can't be.
Two pairs of arms surrounded her, pressed her small frame against their larger bodies. She felt their warmth, felt their pounding hearts. Ginny felt some spark enter her body. Another… and another… endless streams of sparks flowed from her brothers into her chest.
"Stay with us, Ginny. Don't leave us. We need you."
"Why are you here?" Ginny asked, still not really believing that her brothers had somehow followed her.
"Do you really have to ask?" Fred wondered.
"You are our baby sister." George tried a very weak smile.
"But I… I have been…"
"You have been wonderful."
"Don't you dare to think otherwise!"
"It wasn't your fault, Ginny."
"We should have protected you better."
"Merlin, will Charlie be angry with us if you don't come back." Fred sighed.
"Father would be heartbroken, Ginny." George added in a whisper.
"I… I was so alone." Ginny sobbed. "I had no friends and…"
Fred punched her arm. George glared at her.
"You have friends." Fred remarked.
"You only have to allow them to be it." George explained.
Gently Fred cupped her face: "Hermione was there to help you. And Daphne enabled us to follow you."
"Do you feel it?" George asked, pointing at the red and blue lines that connected their hearts and cores.
"Da… Daphne did this?"
"Yes, but I think you still have to want to go back to make it work."
"We can't force you, Ginny. But please: We want our favourite sister back."
"I'm your only sister," Ginny smiled weakly.
"See? So you will forever be our favourite sister."
Ginny remained silent for a while, listening to her own thoughts, feeling the hearts of her brothers. Then – very shyly – she asked: "Will you be there for me?"
"Forever," Fred stated determinedly.
"Until you can't stand our presence anymore," George added with a grin.
"You're the best." Ginny embraced her brothers and closed her eyes.
.
Hogwarts – Hospital Wing
.
Terrified Hermione had watched Daphne preparing and casting the Sanguis Familiae Spell. She knew enough about it to realize the inherent dangers. Daphne wasn't an accomplished healer. Certainly it would have been safer for Madam Pomfrey to cast it. But it was no surprise that the school nurse wasn't willing to take the risk – not to her own health, but because of the twins. It all happened so fast. Not a minute after the decision was made the twins were lying at their sister's side, each of them holding one of her ice cold hands. Daphne was sitting on Ginny's legs, her own legs and hands serving as bridges for the twins' energies.
I should stop her. I should stop her. It's too risky. Hermione mumbled, feeling unable to move.
Minutes had elapsed since Daphne cast the spell. Hermione wanted to do something, anything. Free Poppy. Walk closer, talk a look at Ginny. But she could only stare. Someone entered the room. There… did she imagine things? Again… yes, Ginny's chest was moving. Breathe, Ginny, breathe.
"What's going on here?" The Headmaster's booming voice rolled through the room like thunder. With a weave of his wand he freed Madam Pomfrey. Before the nurse had a chance to move, Hermione hurled herself at Poppy and hugged her like crazy. "She's breathing, she's breathing." Poppy patted her back to calm the girl.
A sound caused her to loosen her grip. Hermione whirled around only to watch Daphne tumbling down. She wanted to haste at her side, but Dumbledore's grip stopped her. "Miss Granger…"
Without hesitation Hermione broke free and followed Poppy to the bed. She stopped two steps away despite her heart telling her to look after Daphne immediately. Poppy needs space, Poppy needs space.
"Miss Granger, please deposit Miss Greengrass on one of the empty beds." To Hermione's wonder she saw no anger in Poppy's eyes, only concern and a tiny amount of relief, like she didn't dare to already hope for this wonder to happen. Swiftly Hermione used a Mobilicorpus spell to transport Daphne.
"I demand an explanation."
"Later, Albus." Hermione was certain to hear a muttered stupid git. "I have work to do."
"What had happened?" Hermione wondered if the Headmaster didn't realize that Poppy needed to concentrate on the students or if he simply didn't care. "And who dared to stupefy you, Poppy? We can't allow attacks on our teachers."
Hermione flinched. She didn't regret what she had done, but certainly this would have dire consequences. An attack on a teacher wasn't something to be punishment with a few points and a detention. Before she had a chance to explain anything, Poppy growled.
"I did it myself."
"What?" Dumbledore and Hermione asked together. Luckily the Headmaster was loud enough to overhear Hermione's question. In wonder she listened to Poppy's explanation, not noticing that Harry with a piece of paper in his hand, Neville and – a few seconds later – a glaring Ron entered the Hospital together with Minerva McGonagall.
"I misjudged the situation and wanted to stop Miss Greengrass. Luckily in my haste I hit my own foot." The story was unbelievable, her tone of voice not much better. But apparently Poppy expected everyone to believe it nonetheless.
Hermione blinked. Dumbledore frowned. "I am to believe this silly…"
"Do you dare declare me a liar?" Poppy asked with her best death glare.
"Ahem," Dumbledore coughed slightly: "Certainly not."
"Good to hear." Poppy growled before she addressed the newcomers. "We need an observer at every bed. Mister Potter to Miss Greengrass, Mister Weasley to Fred Weasley, Mister Longbottom to George Weasley." She pointed towards the twins and shortly Hermione wondered how Poppy was able to tell the twins apart even at a moment like this.
"Each one in his own bed. Cover them with a blanket. Ensure that they stay in their bed and tell me the numbers." Hastily she cast some spells and numbers in different colours started to appear above the students, telling her the rates of their breathing and heartbeat.
"Miss Granger?" Hermione's head snapped up. "Use my fireplace to floo the Pinegrews. I need them her right away. They know better than I about this spell."
Hermione hasted away, while Minerva walked to Ginny's bed, trying to help Poppy. "Call her parents, Minnie. I think we have her back, but still…"
Minerva nodded, too emotionally exhausted to say anything and departed again.
.
"Where is my baby?"
Hermione groaned. A few minutes ago Roxanne and Agatha Pinegrew had reached the Hospital Wing. Harry, Ron and Neville – for a moment forgetting their strife and obviously shaken to the core – were watching their patients and telling Poppy from time to time the rate of breath and heartbeat. Harry was very quiet at Daphne's side, had only shortly looked up when Roxanne hugged him.
Daphne's mother had only stopped shortly to cast some spells – causing those pictures about the patients' condition to appear above them – before she hurried at her daughter's side. "She'll recover, Harry."
Harry nodded weakly and pressed Daphne's hand. "She must."
Agatha, Poppy and a still beaten looking Snape were discussing what to do, while Hermione was watching Ginny. "We can't floo them to St. Mungo. It would disrupt their cores too much. They have to stay here until they're steady again," Agatha explained.
"Where is my baby?"
Within seconds after the arrival of Arthur and Molly Weasley, the Weasley matriarch was already grating on everyone's nerve. She hurried towards Ginny's bed, ignoring – to Hermione's disgust – that the twins were hurt too.
"My baby," Molly whined. "What have they done to you?" She turned around, noticed that Daphne was unconscious too and that her family was present. "What had she done this time?" She pointed an accusing finger in Daphne's direction. "What has she done to my little…?"
"ENOUGH!"
Everyone had listened gob smacked to Molly's silly accusation. Now they stared in shocked silence at Neville. He had stomped on the ground in fury, causing a wave of accidental magic to roll through the room. For a moment he hesitated, looked in the direction of Harry and Daphne. His friend only nodded curtly and showed a small smile. 'Go on, Tiger' Harry mouthed.
"Shut your mouth, Molly Weasley. Without Daphne your daughter would be dead, yes, dead. And it is your entire fault. She tried to kill herself because you couldn't stop to harassing her with your stupid plans to marrying her off to Harry."
Molly showed her best Weasley-red face. Within moments Ron was at her side and only hesitated to attack Neville because Minerva stepped between them.
"Mister Longbottom, while I understand…" Dumbledore started with his most unctuous voice, only to be stopped by a surreal calm behaving Harry.
"No, Headmaster. That's exactly the problem: YOU don't understand." Harry offered Arthur the piece of paper he had been holding the whole time. "I found this letter in Ginny's room, Mister Weasley."
Molly paled and tried to snap the letter away from Arthur's hand, only to receive a slap from Harry. Flabbergasted she stared at him, while Hermione – who tried to calm her trembling boyfriend – explained: "Fred told us about the letter. Perhaps you should ask Ron about the meeting with the Headmaster – and his plans to separate Harry and Daphne."
"That's got nothing to do with you, Granger." Ron growled.
"Be quiet, Ron." Arthur's voice wasn't very loud but allowed no opposition. Without speaking another word he read Molly's letter to their daughter. His shoulders slumped down; his eyes were full of tears now. He didn't intervene, when Harry addressed Molly:
"You nearly killed her. Because of you the twins and Daphne had to risk their magic to bring her back. I had never expected to feel like this, Mrs. Weasley, but from now on stay the hell away from me. Don't you dare even touch me again. Don't you dare even call me 'Harry' again."
"You can't speak like this to my mother," Ron hissed and stepped forward to punch Harry.
"Ron!" His father's voice stopped him. The tone was frightening. Never before had Arthur Weasley been like this. "Ron, go away. Return to your dorm. If I hear about any attack on Harry or his friends from your side, I'll extract your from Hogwarts." Ron hesitated for a moment, glaring at Harry, Neville and Hermione. "Keep quiet and go, Ron. Now!"
Ron obeyed and Molly tried to calm her husband but Arthur only raised his hand to stop her. "Molly… go away." Pale, with wide eyes Molly watched him, not understanding what he meant. "Pack your belongings and leave the Burrow. Pray that Ginny will recover. Then, and only then, we'll speak about a possible return of you."
"You… you can't be serious." Molly pleaded but only met Arthur's steely eyes.
"You have disappointed me, Molly. I told you to leave Ginny alone. You had no right to interfere like this. Should Ginny and the twins not recover, I'll disown you. Leave! Don't return before I allow you to. And don't you dare speak or write to Ginny anymore."
With defeat in her eyes Molly followed her son. There was no support in the face of anyone aside from the Headmaster. "Arthur, don't you think that your reaction is a bit hasty?"
Arthur only glared at him. Calm, his voice not betraying how ridiculous his request was, Harry demanded: "Please leave, Headmaster. You aren't welcome here anymore."
His beard only partially hiding how pale his face had become, the Headmaster struggled to appear calm: "Harry, I'm the Headmaster of Hogwarts. You can't…"
"But I can," Poppy interjected. "Go, Albus, let me do my work."
It was Harry's reaction that stunned the Headmaster even more. "We'll see how long you'll remain Headmaster after this." Arthur shortly narrowed his eyes at this comment, but instead of reprimanding Harry, he curtly nodded. Dumbledore noticed it in stunned surprise. A hostile Pinegrew he could understand, but a united front of Minerva, Poppy and even Arthur he couldn't handle at the moment. Should Arthur go with this story to the boards of governors, he would be in serious trouble.
Dumbledore struggled with an answer, any kind of intelligent answer, when Agatha very loudly and determinedly clapped her hands: "Enough of this silly conversation. Harry, Neville – back to your places. Hermione, you'll take the place at Fred's side. Arthur, you'll go to Ginny's bed. Roxanne, you'll oversee them for a while; Poppy, Severus and I have to discuss their further treatment. Minerva, you should inform your students about the events and calm them down."
Shortly she stopped and glared at Dumbledore. "You heard your school nurse: Leave." Without waiting for an answer she turned around and walked away.
Unable to understand how this all had happened Dumbledore walked away. This can't be. This can't be.
.
Evening – Hospital Wing
.
"She'll recover, Arthur," Poppy patted Arthur's hand. "The first hours had been dangerous and her condition is still critical, but I'm certain now that she'll recover."
Arthur forced a smile and gulped. "I still can't believe it. That my little Ginny tried to… tried to…" He was unable to finish the sentence, the idea was simply too wrong to him.
"We should have seen it earlier," Hermione interjected with a low voice. "We should have noticed… but we didn't. Only Daphne somehow realized the danger. She… she put a monitoring spell on her."
Arthur and Poppy looked up. This was new to them.
"She used the same monitoring spell I cast on her before the second task. Without that she wouldn't have known…" Hermione stopped, struggled hard to suppress her sobs. "We would have been too late."
"But you weren't." Poppy said to calm her. "Ginny will live. And her brothers will recover."
Hermione glanced in Daphne's direction. Her family – including her little sister – was sitting around her bed. Astoria had begged her mother to allow her to help her older sister, like Daphne had done a few weeks ago. But Roxanne and Agatha had denied her wish. With Daphne's core in such turmoil, it was too risky.
"She'll recover too," Poppy remarked, following Hermione's eyes. "Her core is 'whirling' because of the amount of foreign magic that went through her. She'll need a few weeks, but she'll recover."
Hermione nodded weakly. After a moment she whispered: "I'm sorry. Madam Poppy. I mean about the binding spell I cast on you."
A first smile appeared on Arthur's face, but before he could comment the remark, Poppy responded: "I have no idea what you are speaking about. I hit myself with that spell." She stared intensely into Hermione's eyes. "And if you did it, I would be thankful for it. Thankful that you stopped me from committing a grave error. Without the binding spell I would have stopped Daphne and sentenced Ginny to death. There's no need to apologize, Miss Granger."
.
Evening – Great Hall
.
Distracted by his own thoughts, Severus Snape was watching Minerva McGonagall. She had addressed the gathered students and teachers a few minutes ago and given a short explanation of the events of the afternoon. Had it been right to speak about the attempted suicide? It was something very private and the Headmaster had never been so open about something this difficult.
But Minerva wanted to make a statement. She wanted to enforce her point: "Look after your housemates. Don't leave them alone. You never know. You'll regret it forever if you overlook the signs."
With the Headmaster hidden away in his office to avoid Minerva's wrath, the four house masters had decided not to react to the events in any positive or negative way. The twins and Daphne won't receive house points for their incredible brave and stupid manoeuvre. And there wouldn't be a punishment for the destruction of the Gryffindor entrance or the used binding spell. Shortly Severus smirked. I always knew Granger had it in her.
"Any point – negative or positive – and any detention or bonus would only belittle this course of events," Minerva had decided.
Severus groaned when a new wave of memories troubled his mind. It wasn't the first wave and would certainly not be the last. Slowly, very slowly the memories – old and new – merged to a whole picture, a picture that started to raise his ire in a way he hadn't expected to feel again in this life. Until now his Occlumency had allowed him to stay calm. But soon he would have to act; or his temper would rip him apart.
"Severus," the redhead's looked teary-eyed at him. "We had been friends for so long. Yes, you hurt me, very much even. But I can't hate you anymore. Not with my son in my arms. When I look into Harry's eyes I can't feel hate for another second. You accepted Remus apology. Now I'll accept yours."
A part of the seal on his mind had been broken. He didn't remember all – now. But he knew that Lily didn't die with hate towards him in her heart. He had lived thirteen years not only with the guilt of her death on his conscience, but also in the false knowledge that he never had been able to apologize to her. Remus – he would have to speak with him too. Had someone messed with his memory too? Or did the Werewolf live in the false certainty that Severus never really had forgiven?
Severus felt betrayed. He felt raped. Someone had messed with his memories to cause a certain behaviour. He knew exactly who the culprit was. Albus would pay for this. Severus threw a thoughtful look in Minerva's direction. He wanted to be part of her 'alliance' now. But first he had to show that he wasn't the old Snape anymore. He had to prove that he was worthy to be integrated. Looking down the length of the Great Hall, he realized quite the right way to set an example.
For a short moment Severus allowed himself to smile. It would have made Lily happy, he knew. She never liked that word. And he, despite his disgust about using it, had allowed his students to use it for far too long. But not anymore, he promised himself – he promised Lily.
Slowly he rose from his seat, ignored the stares of his co-teachers and went down the Great Hall. The students started to notice that something was happening. The conversations stopped, their eyes followed the hated and despised teacher, who had been their enemy for so long.
Snape didn't feel like a hero. He was a despicable old man. Yes, he had regretted his betrayal of the prophecy to the Dark Lord, but only because it had caused Lily's death. Had it been someone else, he wouldn't have switched sides. But perhaps the years around Minerva had taught him a thing or two about morals, about conscience. And now he was about to betray his second master, Dumbledore. Again a master had betrayed him, this one perhaps in an even more perfidious way than the Dark Lord. He would pay for this. Rot in hell, Albus.
Severus Snape stopped below the hourglasses that showed the house points. Raising his wand he quickly cast a spell.
"From now on it is forbidden for every Slytherin and carries an automatic penalty of ten points to use inside the grounds of Hogwarts the term Mudblood."