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Chapter 6. Parting With Illusions
"What a wonderful performance, Ms. Abbott. Ten points to Hufflepuff, you have deserved it today. You may also feel free to skip writing the essay about this spell for our next lesson. Well done," Professor McGonagall gave the happy girl a tiny smile, slightly shaking her head the next second at Hannah's Gryffindor partner that was sitting next to her, terribly blushing and trying desperately not to look at anyone around her.
It was a really tough day for Hermione Granger. Not that it was all that different from all of her previous days at Hogwarts, though, but today was just something exceptional.
Not only had she managed to screw up her performance twice due to feeling too stressed and nervous lately, but she also had failed her House mates by losing ten points because of that by upsetting Professor McGonagall, and rightfully so, at least in Hermione's own opinion. Still, losing points wasn't the biggest problem the muggle born witch was facing at the moment.
On top of all that...
The most bothersome thing was the fact that everyone in the classroom laughed at her misfortune whenever they received an opportunity. Even the Gryffindors, her fellow House mates. They couldn't care less about the points — the amusement they felt whenever they witnessed her misery evidently compensated it all.
And here she was now, sitting in the back of the ancient hall they were using as their classroom for Transfiguration lessons, hugging herself and shaking, trying her best not to sob with everyone glaring at her as the students were gathering their books and other stuff in preparation to leave. The lesson was nearly over, but Hermione wasn't in rush to get to the Great Hall for the lunch.
No, she just wanted to be left alone for a while so that she would be able to let her emotions out.
Ever since that day two weeks ago when Professor Snape took her first points ever from the girl after Neville Longbottom and Harry Potter had saved her from the Slytherins, Hermione had been thinking a lot concerning her attitude and behavior, and by now she had reconsidered many important things. Contrary to what Harry (who also happened to be her only rival in Gryffindor when it came to studies, so his opinion was one of the very few that truly mattered to Hermione) thought of her, she wasn't stupid by any means, and she had quickly realized what grave mistakes she had done after analyzing everything that had happened.
She was a total mess. A big, colossal failure. And it seemed like she had already gone past the point of no return. Everybody in her House began to hate her, and no matter what she tried to do to fix it, it didn't seem to change in the slightest.
And now she also had no chance in hell to befriend The Boy Who Lived himself anymore, obviously. It was pretty evident seeing his uncovered despise for her that he demonstrated whenever their paths crossed, even though he usually preferred to ignore her.
Still, she hadn't lost her hope yet. She had accidentally heard that—no, she shook her head, correcting herself silently. Actually, she had overheard that Harry, Draco, Ron and Neville had decided to become Aurors after Hogwarts. Ever since that day, or rather since the moment when they had saved her from Mulciber and Flint, the girl had been willing to join them. She desired to become a part of their team, and not only because all the four of them seemed to be very promising wizards and their goals were noble and respectable, but also because she was... jealous.
Yes, she had always dreamed of having such friends. Of being a part of something similar to what the four of them had right now. She would pay a lot for such a chance.
That's why Hermione had been watching all the four of them carefully from a distance ever since that evening, trying to figure out the best way to approach them and to make them hear her out.
To give her a chance to fix everything she had done...
Luckily enough, they weren't very secretive in regards to their plans. As she quickly realized, that was most likely because they were simply taunting her and the Prefects to snitch on them. Of course, she would never do such thing... At least not anymore.
On the other hand, such behavior of theirs provided her with a wonderful opportunity. She could actually help them... somehow. She wasn't sure what could she do, but there just had to be a way. Hermione refused to give up so easily.
For instance, she knew for sure that they were very interested in finding out who had attacked Nott back in September. And so far they weren't any successful at that — not that it was a trivial task, she could admit.
Still, Hermione was thinking about it too nowadays as it was her only idea that she thought could really work out.
Logically, the only people who could possibly reveal any valuable information on this matter would be Nott himself as well as his closest people in Slytherin, which would be Daphne Greengrass and possibly Blaze Zabini who seemed to hang around Theodore quote a lot lately.
But how could she get either of them to talk to her, let alone cooperate? That was another obstacle she had yet to find a way to overcome.
The door to the classroom shut, making Hermione flinch and get up slowly, putting her bag on the shoulder and grabbing her textbook from the desk. She didn't really notice anything around as she walked out of the empty room, too absorbed by her thought as she was passing by a few sets of plate armor placed on huge pedestals along the walls of the corridor, at some point turning to the stairs that led to the nearest bathroom.
In a minute or two she entered one of the empty cabins after making sure that there was nobody else inside the bathroom, closing the door and sitting down before covering her face and beginning to shake silently as tears flowed down her face.
All of that was truly far to stressful for the young witch to withstand, being completely alone in the foreign world where nearly everyone hated her... And having so many problems to solve at the same time didn't make the situation any better either, especially when everything she believed in was falling apart. All of the principles she had been raised with, about the law and the rules being the most important things, the pinnacles of the society... About her being not worse than anyone else by default.
Yes, she had realized by now that she was a lot worse than many of her peers. And no matter how hard she worked, the gap between her and them didn't seem to shorten at all...
She lost the track of time pretty soon, but when the creaky door of the bathroom opened again, the Gryffindor held her breath, snapping her head as she heard the soft sounds of someone's footsteps closing in. Somebody was there, just a couple yards away from her... Had they followed her, or...?
"He's acting really weird, you know. I'm aware that he's not very fond of your situation, but come on... He is the boy, and even you took it all far easier than him," said a girl — the voice was familiar, but Hermione couldn't remember instantly to whom it belonged.
"I know... I think it also has something to do with that attack. He has changed after that," replied the soft, gentle voice.
There was a short pause which made Hermione close her mouth in the sudden realization and in fear of uttering a sound that could give her presence away.
She knew the person that had just replied — it was Theodore Nott's quiet friend.
Daphne Greengrass!
"Well, I recall you telling me that he had received a very unpleasant letter from his father after it had happened. So I guess it's no wonder, but still, why is he such a bugger?"
Another pause... Hermione's eyes widened. Were they talking about Theodore..?
"I have no idea, Tracey. But he has been acting really weird ever since that day."
"And he still hasn't figured it out, has he? I mean, who did that to him..."
Hermione frowned at the sound of a quiet chuckle that came in response. What was even funny there...?
"No, he hasn't. I'd love to know that myself. Everyone says that the only plausible option is Harry Potter, but somehow I doubt that."
"Huh? But why? Wouldn't it be perfectly logical for him to seek revenge for what Theo did at Potions back then? And also on the train..."
"I know, but it would be totally out of his character to do something like that."
Another giggle, but this time it came from Tracey Davis.
"You're saying this as if you know Potter any better than all of us. You haven't even talked to him aside from that one time... Does it have something to do with the fact that you've been watching him since day one?"
Daphne sighed heavily, making Hermione frown even more.
Watching him? Why on earth would she need to watch Harry...?
"You could say so. Harry Potter is too prideful and noble to attack somebody from behind. No... it would take a Slytherin to do something like that. Gryffindors prefer more straightforward ways, they wouldn't hide their faces afterwards. And the only ancestral Slytherin who could possibly support him... Well, you know. It's Draco Malfoy. At least I suspect him... Yes."
"Huh? Malfoy...?" Tracey's voice sounded very doubtfully, but to Hermione's surprise, this version almost didn't have any flaws.
Almost.
Except for the fact that Draco wasn't the one who had done that. The Gryffindor girl remembered that day very clearly. Nott had already been there when she had run past him, and both Draco and Ron Weasley had been been walking behind her after they had—she winced at the memory.
After they had told her to leave them alone...
"Well, think about it," continued Daphne, "It happened right after the Potions class, so it definitely had to be someone from our year. Older students simply wouldn't have had enough time to find out. It was either one of us or Professor Potter, but it would be ridiculous to suspect her, don't you think so? I mean, have you even seen how she treats Harry? That's why Malfoy is the only option that makes at least some sense."
Tracey hemmed thoughtfully before drawling quietly,
"Well, I guess you have a point here... Still, I'd really like to know for sure who did that."
"Me too. Anyway, we should hurry up for the lunch. Professor Flitwick doesn't like it when we're late, and I don't want to be scolded again."
"Yea, you're right. let's go."
Just to make sure that they wouldn't notice her presence, Hermione waited for a good few minutes after they left, trying to calm her racing heart down and thinking rapidly.
Now she finally had a clue. She had a way to prove herself worthy to them.
She needed to find Harry and tell him what she had just overheard as soon as possible!
"I tell you, this is how it works."
"But it doesn't!"
"Yes, it does."
"Blimey, Harry! No! It doesn't! No matter what I do, it just doesn't!" exclaimed Ron with his face reddening as he aimed his wand again at the self made dummy that was standing in the corner of their common room that was nearly empty at the moment aside from the three sixth years that were sitting in the opposite corner of the room, doing their homework and not looking even remotely interested in what their younger House mates were doing.
"That's because you're waving your wand around like a mad man. Try focusing more on what you expect the spell to do instead of paying too much attention to the way you cast it."
"But it doesn't mean that I shouldn't move my wand at all...!"
"Dear Lord, mate... You really need to calm down," drawled Harry grumpily and leaned against the back of his chair, crossing his legs and rolling his eyes.
"Yeah, relax. The fact that you're the only one who hasn't managed to make it yet shouldn't upset you this much." Draco and Neville glanced at each other, smirking understandingly which made Ron groan.
"Screw you guys... You are even worse than Fred and George."
"I take it as a compliment," said Neville jovially which made Draco grin and look at Harry who was staring at the ceiling of the room distantly with an impassive expression, nearly spacing out. "Hey, mate? Are you alright?"
"Huh...?" The black haired boy's perplexed gaze slid to his friend before he give him a weak smile and shook his head quickly. "Yeah, 's okay. Just a bit tired, that's all."
"Well... If you say so," muttered young Malfoy doubtfully, frowning and turning his head towards the entrance of the room as they heard the familiar sound of the portrait opening up to let someone enter inside.
"Oh, look whom we got here...," groaned the blond boy quietly, making Neville and Ron turn their heads in the same direction as well.
"Careful, guys. She's coming at us," mumbled Ron, lowering his wand and sitting on the small stool that was next to him to take a break from his training.
"Hey, Granger," said Draco, smirking devilishly. "What's up? Somebody breaking rules again? Sorry, the prefects aren't here. You may feel free to leave."
"I—," The girl stopped near the four of them, panting and leaning her hands against Harry's chair from behind, to which he just closed his eyes, trying to ignore the annoying classmate he had grown to dislike quite a lot. "Boys... Can I talk to you? Please, this is very important!"
"Important, huh? Is this about some homework we forgot to do?" Ron sneered, to which Draco chuckled as well while Neville just looked away, barely suppressing a smile.
"No! No... Please. Just hear me out!"
"You have thirty seconds, Granger. Shoot it," said Harry, still not moving and not opening his eyes — it was clear that he was having a hard time tolerating the girl's presence.
"Oh—Of course! I... Look, it's a bit complicated—"
"Twenty seconds."
"Fine... Fine! Look, Harry! I know you've been wondering who had attacked Nott back then—"
The green eyes snapped open the moment she said the name of the only person in the whole castle whom young Potter disliked even more than the girl herself, making him jump up from the chair and turn around, looking at the girl incredulously.
"And I take it you've come to tell me that it was you?"
"No—! No—not me. But I think I can help you find out who did this. And also..." She looked around, lowering her head and adding quietly as she narrowed her eyes slightly, "I thought you might be interested in the fact that one of his friends has been watching you for a while by now."
"His friends? Are you talking about Zabini? Or Crabbe... Or maybe Goyle?" Ron laughed at the ridiculous idea. Neville smirked as well while Draco frowned a bit, biting his lip worriedly.
"No! Not them. It's Daphne Greengrass. I heard—well, overheard—accidentally—!"
"Overheard what, exactly?" Asked Harry impatiently, crossing his hands.
She took a deep breath before opening her mouth again,
"Daphne Greengrass and her friend, Tracey Davis. They were discussing it in the bathroom—what had happened to Nott back then, I mean. Tracey mentioned that everyone in Slytherin suspects you, Harry, but Daphne said that she doesn't think so. Then Tracey asked her if it was because Daphne had been watching you, and she didn't deny that!"
"Watching, you say? Damn, that sounds dangerously close to stalking if you ask me," Ron whistled while Malfoy let out a loud sigh, looking remarkably relieved for some reason as he heard Daphne's name.
"Oh well, it seems like you've already earned yourself a fan girl, mate. If not for the contract—"
"Shut up, Draco," he glanced at his friend to which he, surprisingly enough, nodded slowly, realizing belatedly that it wasn't their secret to share. "Fine, I get it. What else?" asked Harry, turning back to Hermione.
"Else...? Well, Daphne also said that she thinks it was Draco who attacked Nott."
"Huh? What the heck?" The grey eyes of the blond widened in surprise with a slight note of fear. "Why me?"
"Uh... Well, according to Daphne, they believe you to be the only Gryffindor who is Slytherin enough to do something like that—"
"That's a pile of dragon crap! I'm a Gryffindor! Who the hell does this idiot think she is?!" Draco looked like he was about to outrage, so Ron came closer to him, putting his hand on his friend's shoulder.
"Calm down, mate. We know that. They are just mad because you went a different way and decided not to side with the losers."
"Still, Greengrass has a point," Harry scratched his chin thoughtfully. "We thought it was one of Slytherins, too. Possibly even Nott himself, intending to frame one of us. But it doesn't matter. What actually does is that neither her nor Davis knows for sure who did it. It's another proof to our version, innit?"
"Well, for the lack of a better clue...," muttered Ron, nodding slowly.
"What are we going to do about this?" finally asked Neville, frowning at his friends.
"That's a million galleons question, buddy. Granger," Harry looked into the soft brown eyes of the girl who looked back with a glimpse of uncovered hope, "Why did you tell us all this?"
The girl gasped, caught by surprise with this question.
"I—I, well... I thought you might want to know that the Slytherins—"
"Stop it. What's your real intention behind this?" The shrewd gaze of his eyes made Hermione feel far more uncomfortable than she did during lessons whenever teachers were asking her various tricky questions.
"I—uh... Actually..." She took another deep breath and closed her eyes before blurting out, "I want to join you guys! I want to be your friend! I realized that what I've been doing so far was very wrong, and I wanted to tell you that I'm sorry!"
Dead silence fell upon the common room. Even the sixth years stared at them now, surprised by her overly loud last line and giggling quietly at Hermione's tirade.
After what seemed like eternity to the girl, Harry finally uttered slowly,
"Fair enough... I think we could let you join us, but there is a condition."
"Uh? What kind of condition?" She asked quickly, opening her left eye and looking at the boy cautiously and curiously at the same time.
"I'm going to prank Greengrass now for stalking me. You must help me to arrange that—"
"I will!"
"Don't interrupt me when I'm talking, Granger. We're not friends yet."
"I—I'm sorry—!"
"Not only you will help me to plan this through, but you will also serve as our decoy for this. In other words, you'll be staying on guard, distracting everyone including teachers from whatever we'll be doing if necessary, and no matter what happens to the guys and myself—should a teacher or a prefect catch them or whatever—you will deliberately tell everyone that it's your and only your fault. Do you agree?"
She swallowed heavily, nodding vigorously the next second.
"Y-Yes. I will do it," she said quietly.
The four boys looked at each other before similar grins appeared on their faces.
"Very well then. Let's go for a walk."
Daphne stared at the small, creased piece of parchment in disbelief, shock and anticipation at the same time, reading the inaccurately written laconic lines for the fifth time in a row while her friend clasped her hands and yelped,
"No! You can't be serious! This is absolutely insane!"
The blonde girl shrugged distantly, touching the parchment with her slender fingers and smiling warmly as her eyes ran through it once again.
If you want to find out who attacked Nott back then, come to the abandoned Charms classroom on the second floor at midnight. Don't worry if Nott and his bunch follows you, I'll take care of them.
"Whatever or whoever it is, Theo is going to follow me if I go there, that's for sure. And even if it's a trap—which it probably is—I will make sure to stay behind him and to let him take all the damage. After all, isn't it his duty to protect his future wife, don't you think so?"
Tracey shook her head, covering her rapidly paling face with her hands as she was walking across their bedroom back and forth.
"This is madness. We're going to lose all the points we have. And that's the best case scenario! We might also get hurt!"
"Well, you could just stay here and wait for my return," Daphne shrugged again. As much as she wanted Tracey to do exactly that, she knew precisely what reaction to expect from her friend to such a taunt.
"Oh yeah, and to leave you alone in this crazy adventure that's possibly going to kill you? Not a chance!" blurted out the second girl, crossing her hands. "But who could it possibly be? Surely not one of us Slytherins, because it would make no sense. But then again... How can this person be so sure that Theo and the guys would follow you? Nobody knows about the contract outside of our House... Or...?"
"No, not as far as I know," Daphne replied immediately, suppressing a smile. Truth to be told, she was pretty sure that certain someone knew about it. There were even two of them, but there was only one person that could possibly be so sure on himself to say that he'd be able to handle Theodore and the other Slytherin boys... As if it was nothing to him.
"Ugh! Why are you smiling so mysteriously? This is bugging me so much! Stop it!" Daphne giggled quietly, hiding the parchment in the sleeve of her shirt.
"I'm simply excited to witness Theo's reaction when I tell him that I'm going to some dangerous meeting this late. And the aftermath of whatever is to come, too. Beside that, there is finally something that might make our days here a bit less boring. Isn't that enough to feel happy?"
Tracey sighed and looked away, unable to hold back a smirk.
"Damn, you're right, I give you this. Aside from being dangerous, this is surely pretty exciting. But still... What exactly is your plan?"
Daphne raised her head to look at her friend as her thin brow cocked in a question,
"My plan...?"
"Yeah, your plan. Let's say that you have managed to convince Theo to escort you there in three hours from now. Don't you think that he will do his best to screw everything up? Especially if this stranger is someone he loathes. "
The blonde frowned. If she was correct in her assumption about the identity of the person who had sent her this message, that wouldn't be a problem. But on the other hand...
Daphne bit her lip. On the other hand, he was unlikely to consider the fact that not everyone who would follow her to the meeting would need to be 'taken care of', as he called it in that note. Tracey could very easily get hurt, too...
"Actually...," she muttered, frowning at Tracey's expecting gaze, "I was thinking about asking you to stay here. In exchange—!" she raised her hands quickly seeing how her friend's face twisted in anger, "In exchange for telling you the name of the person who wrote this."
Tracey's eyes widened as she opened her mouth in awe.
"What...? Are you actually trying to tell me that you know who it was?"
The blonde smiled warmly and nodded.
"Yes, I'm nearly sure I do. And that's why I want you to stay. I don't think he will show any mercy to Theo and the other boys, and you might indeed get hurt as he wouldn't know the difference between you and them. He doesn't talk to either of us, after all."
The brown haired girl closed her mouth with her palms and gasped.
"Don't tell me that it's actually him..."
Daphne looked away, clenching her fists tightly in excitement.
Even if she had to suffer tonight, she knew it would worth it. She had a trump card too, after all.
"Damn, this is awful, I hate waiting," groaned Ron, leaning against the wall behind him and watching carefully the dark passage that led to the stairs.
"Well, it's better than spending your evening for a detention, after all," mumbled Draco in an accommodating spirit.
"True, but—"
"They are coming. Look here," whispered Neville, touching the bunch of signed dots on the parchment Harry had given them prior to entering the room where he was planning to meet with the Slytherin girl to interrogate her.
"My, look at that... All the morons in one piece. That's going to be quite something." Draco smirked, glancing at Hermione who was standing next to him, looking at the other end of the corridor from behind of the massive statue where the four of them were hiding. "Are you ready, Granger? The first move is yours as we planned, so you better do something spectacular."
"You better worry for yourself. I'll be fine," hissed the girl, gripping her wand tighter as the blond boy grinned leniently.
"Woah, how scary. I like it. Far better then the downer you usually are."
She glared at him darkly before shaking her head and returning her gaze to the previous direction.
"I'm preparing to break a dozen rules at the same time here, so kindly back off."
"Breaking rules can be fun, you know. Especially when it involves fighting Slytherins," said Neville, to which Ron smirked and nodded.
"Well, how can she possibly know? She has yet to try it. Speaking of which...," Ron cleared his throat, pointing at the map again, "Filch is heading in our direction, so we won't have much time to deal with the bastards. Here is what we're going to do. There are Crabbe, Goyle, Zabini, Nott and Greengrass herself. Harry said that he had charmed the door so that only Greengrass would be able to open it during the next hour, just to make sure that she enters the room first and that nobody intercepts whatever he's up to. When she gets inside... Granger, you take care of Zabini. I'll handle Crabbe and Neville will fight Goyle. Draco—"
"Nott is mine, yeah, thanks. I'll make sure to beat some crap out of the moron. He's been irritating me for too long," Draco grinned in excitement, twirling his wand in his fingers a bit nervously and trying to look as confident as possible.
As cocky as he was when he was talking to the bookworm they knew as Hermione Granger, the boy was feeling hardly any better than her at the moment, but he couldn't allow his classmates to notice it, no matter the cost. Especially not after his courage had already been questioned a few hours ago, even though it had been done indirectly and by some Slytherins, but still... It was far too important to him to make sure that his friends wouldn't doubt him no matter what.
"They are coming!" yelped Hermione, raising her wand up which made the rest of the Gryffindors give a start too.
They tried not to make any noises as the bunch of their Slytherin peers came to the charmed door, stopping next to it and whispering something to each other — the group of Gryffindors couldn't quite distinguish what were they talking about, but they saw it clearly when Nott suddenly pushed Daphne away from the door and made an attempt to open it — futile, of course, which made Ron and Draco glance at each other and smirk understandingly. Harry's charms always worked perfectly, and it would take far more than just rough physical strength to open it.
"Don't they know how to cast the Unlocking Spell...?" whispered Hermione, to which Draco shook his head and smirked.
"Nah, they are too dumb to learn it."
After every Slytherin boy had tried to pull the heavy locked door, they stood there and discussed something, looking pretty baffled but still not letting the blonde witch to try it for some reason. It was taking far more time than it should have taken according to Ron's plan, so the tension was getting stronger with each passing second as the Gryffindors realized that Filch was closing in on them, threatening to ruin everything any moment.
And then...
Then the Slytherins turned around and started walking away.
"Oh, damn it!" growled Ron, striding forward to stop them somehow, but just as he was about to cast a spell, Draco gripped his wrist and hissed,
"No! Wait. Look there." He pointed at Daphne who suddenly began to slow down, stopping in a few seconds and turning around silently, coming close to the door and reaching out to grab the door handle.
"What in Morgana's name do you think you're doing?!" Nott's dangerous growl echoed across the passage as he turned around and took his wand out, but it was already too late — the rusty door opened with a loud creaky sound, making the girl flinch. Giving the enraged boy one last feared glance, she slipped inside the room, slamming the door behind her back.
Grave silence fell upon the dimly lit corridor. Nott and his bunch had been simply staring at the closed door for a few seconds before the blue eyed boy growled in anger and came close to it, trying to make it open again.
"Merlin's pants, what the hell?! Open up, Daphne!" Theodore hit the wooden door with his foot, wincing in pain the next second and starting jumping on one leg ludicrously.
"It's now or never. Granger, go!"
"Petrificus Totalus!" The flash of Hermione's spell reached Blaze Zabini in a moment, making his hands press to his body as his legs got glued together by an invisible force which led him to falling down helplessly onto the stone floor.
"What the—?" Nott turned around, gripping his wand as he met Draco's gray eyes. "You...?"
"Well done, Granger. I'm most impressed. Now let's teach these mongrels a lesson, guys!"
"H-Hello...?"murmured Daphne, frowning and striding slowly deeper into the old classroom. There were no sources of light at all — even the windows were closed, so she couldn't see anything as her blue eyes hadn't adapted to the darkness yet. "Are you here?" she added quietly, taking her wand out and looking at it as if she partly expected it to fly out of her grip the next second.
Harry frowned as well, looking at the girl from behind the heavy curtain covered with a few years old layer of dust, and trying to decide what to do.
Everything had gone exactly according to his plan, much to the boy's surprise and amusement. And now that he had his presumptive foe right in front of him, completely defenseless and utterly defeated even though they hadn't even clashed directly yet, he felt a bit lost at the amount of opportunities that were lying in front of him at the moment.
Still, he knew that didn't have much time to decide. Hardly more than thirty minutes to get it over with according to his calculations as the temporary locking rune — one of the few things he had stolen from his dad's commode before going to Hogwarts — was designed to last for exactly one hour, no more, no less.
That's why he moved out slowly, biting his lip and narrowing his eyes at the tiny silhouette of the Slytherin girl. Unlike her, he had grown accustomed to darkness while he had been waiting for her so he could see her face relatively clearly.
Her features were sharp but soft at the same time, as if she had been starving for a while, but it was still the face of a kind person as much as he didn't want to admit it. Her slightly curly blond hair that reached a bit past her shoulder blades looked a bit messy, as if she didn't care all that much about its looks but still tried to keep it well-groomed out of necessity.
But most of all, her eyes... These blue eyes weren't those of a frightened person, no. On the contrary, they radiated excitement, and judging by her expression, she was more intrigued than afraid of whoever she had come to face.
"Harry Potter... Is that you?"
The Boy Who Lived nearly gasped as his green eyes widened. He clenched his fists as his breath and heartbeat hastened.
How could she possibly know it was him? How could she have figured it out...?
Daphne frowned, lowering her hand with the wand as he remained silent, rapidly thinking on what to do.
"I... Well... If it's you—could you please stop—stop hiding? I didn't come here to fight... If it was you who sent me that note, that is..."
He shook his head, gritting his teeth in irritation. He wasn't supposed to lose control in such situations. He still had the upper hand, without a doubt, and there was no chance in hell she could possibly outfight him under the current circumstances. It was his battlefield, not hers. And he was the one to decide on the rules of the game.
"How did you know it was me?" he finally asked, making her flinch and look at his direction, squinting slightly.
"I—Well, it wasn't very hard to figure out..."
"Explain," he demanded gloomily.
The girl's lips curved into a barely notable smile.
"T-There are a few reasons, to be honest... Firstly, it had to be someone from our year, because little to nobody else knows about what—what had happened to Theo. Secondly, Theo himself... He considers you his archenemy and his rival, so I, uh... I thought you might be thinking the same of him. And finally...," she lowered her eyes timidly, "Only you are powerful enough in our year to pull something like this. In that note—the one you sent—you said you would take care of Theo and the others... Well..." She stopped, finally noticing Harry and looking at him as he stepped closer toward her with his hands in the pockets of his pants.
"What makes you think that I'm powerful?" He asked calmly, looking at the girl impassively from behind the glasses.
Her eyes widened a little as if he had asked something indecent, and he knew that he hit the right spot the instant she blushed and looked away again.
"I, well—I've seen you using magic a few times," she mumbled quickly, "I think I told you that back on the train—"
"Stop lying. We hadn't met before that day, and the only time I had used magic in your presence until that moment was when I had disarmed Malfoy so that he wouldn't have wiped the floor with your boyfriend," said Harry harshly.
"I—I'm not lying! And he's not my boyfriend...!"
"Boyfriend, husband, betrothed, whatever. It's none of my concern. And yes, you are indeed lying."
"I'm not!"
"Oh, really?"
"I saw you making that cauldron fall on Lucius Malfoy's head four years ago!"
Now it was Harry's turn to nearly gasp in surprise, staring at her incredulously and curiously at the same time.
"What...? How?" She smiled at him, blushing at little.
"I was there. Me, my sister and my mom, we were having lunch at Leaky Cauldron when you, your family and Draco Malfoy appeared. I felt your magic when you did it to Mr. Malfoy, and I—I remembered it... How it feels..." She lowered her eyes sheepishly, as if ashamed of how it sounded.
"Uh huh," he muttered skeptically, "So you're implying that this is why you were able to recognize my magic whenever I used it in your presence since that moment?"
"Well... Yes..."
Harry smirked triumphantly, deciding that it was the right time to strike again.
"And I take it has totally nothing to do with the fact that you've been stalking me for nearly two months here in the castle?"
She yelped as her face reddened terribly while she stared at the boy who peered at her angrily and a bit mockingly.
"I—I did no such thing! I just—"
"You just what, Greengrass? I'm the son of the greatest Auror of this century. I have eyes everywhere, don't you think that anything can slip unnoticed by me or my friends even if I myself couldn't care less about you. And I know for sure that you've been watching me. Why?"
Daphne lowered her eyes once again, not saying anything for a while which nearly made Harry groan impatiently in frustration, but just as he opened his mouth to say something to her, she finally uttered,
"It's—really hard to explain. Honestly, I—I understand what you might be thinking now, but you're wrong."
"Prove me wrong then!"
She closed her eyes, turning her head away.
"Please...," whispered the young witch pleadingly.
"Oh no, I'm not buying this. I grew up with a little sister, so your girlish tricks won't ever work on me," he snapped, crossing his hands as Daphne opened her eyes and looked at him with uncovered sadness and pain.
"It's no trick... It's just hard for me to talk about it," she said quietly, sounding a bit offended as she came close to one of the multiple dusty desks and sitting on it. "There are a few reasons why I was—why I'm watching you... Sometimes."
He kept looking at her impassively without saying anything, waiting for the girl to continue which she did after letting out a loud sigh.
"You are The Boy Who Lived... And moreover, your power is just amazing from what I saw. Clearly you are destined to do great things... You are already a living legend, and it is your fate to become an even greater legend seeing how smart and powerful you are for your age. And here—here I am...," she sighed quietly, and to Harry it nearly sounded like a sob which made him frown, "My destiny, on the contrary, is the exact opposite. I was born to become a slave... And although I have yet to embrace it to the full extent, I'm already a slave. I have no free will. No future... I belong to Notts and I have to obey their every whim. I'm also nothing special..."
This time he noticed the glimpses of tears that were flowing down her cheeks, and it made the boy feel extremely uncomfortable all of sudden. He hated it when girls cried in his presence, especially when he didn't know how to help it.
"But watching you... To me, it's like reading a book. A book about the life I'll never have. A life where I'm free, strong and have loyal friends, and a loving family, too... I envy you and admire you at the same time, Harry Potter. And... Since I—I'm worthless anyway... I just want to help you in every way I can. That's why I try to keep Theo from crossing your path. And that's also why," she smiled painfully which made Harry's heart clench in pity — something he didn't experience very often to say the least, "That's why I found it so funny—what you wrote in that note. About telling me who had attacked Theo."
Harry gasped in disbelief, quickly connecting the dots in his mind and stepping backwards.
"What...?"
It couldn't be. He was sure that it had to be just some filthy Slytherin trick. There was absolutely no way that...
"I was the one who attacked him for picking on you. I didn't want that incident to grow into an endless cycle of vengeance and the feud between the two of you... You shouldn't waste your time on things like this. On people like him. Or—or me. That's why I—I ventured to—"
"You shouldn't have done that!" he blurted out, not really knowing why he was saying it.
Daphne frowned, looking deep into his eyes.
"But why? It worked exactly as I wanted it to."
"No! Not that. You shouldn't have helped me at all to begin with!"
She smiled sadly, shaking her head and whimpering.
"Well... Maybe you are right. After all... My parents hate your family. And you. I'm supposed to hate you, too. But I guess I can't help it."
Harry winced.
"So I take it your parents are former Death Eaters?"
Daphne shook her head quickly.
"No. No, they aren't. But my father had business with some of them. He sold them some potions and medicine during the war... You could say he's lucky not to be locked in Azkaban at the moment, but on the other hand... All that led to me being what I am. A slave," she said bitterly.
The boy frowned a bit, finally beginning to see the entire picture.
"So your family's wealth and status suffered because of that?"
She nodded, wiping her tears.
"Yes. Our family had been struggling even before it happened, and when it did, we spent everything we had to set dad free, and also got in a lot of debts... To cover them all, father was forced to basically sell me to Notts. Otherwise we all would've been doomed. The Auror that had arrested him was furious about this act of corruption, as he called it... But it worked. And I'm glad that dad doesn't have to spend his whole life in prison with dementors, even though like this."
Harry didn't reply at first, saying carefully after a short pause,
"Well, corruption is a crime, too..."
Her strange gaze made the boy feel a slight shiver. Daphne looked at him quizzically with a mixture of unreadable emotions. She didn't reply instantly either, uttering eventually,
"I suppose it is."
Such a simple reply made the boy feel even more uncomfortable for some reason he couldn't quite grasp yet. It also made him remember that talk with Professor Snape when they had discussed what is good and what's evil as well as the matter of crimes and punishments. Of course, Mr. Greengrass was a criminal. Without a doubt. And the Auror that had caught him had a right to be mad.
But still... Was this a crime worthy of such a heavy punishment? After all, he was merely a merchant. Sure, he was making illegal deals, and yet...
"If all what he did was really just trading stuff with Death Eaters to survive, I don't think it would be fair for him to be placed to Azkaban, though."
She smiled.
"I'm glad you think so... That's surprising."
He gave her a slightly baffled look.
"Surprising? Why?"
The girl suddenly gasped quietly, looking away again before muttering,
"I shouldn't tell you this..."
"Say it already!" he nearly yelled in annoyance.
The girl covered her face with her hands.
"I—please, don't think that it has something to do with what I told you before. About watching you and all that. It really doesn't, I swear."
"Alright."
She shook her head, whimpering again and sniffling.
"The Auror that caught my dad back then... It was your father, James Potter."
The final realization hit him like a muggle truck. This short and simple sentence demolished his picture of the world completely, crushing every last bit of faith he had in his belief of what was right and what was wrong.
His father... His role model and the kindest, the smartest man in the world... His actions had led Daphne, this silly, little broken girl to becoming a slave. A slave of one of the direst families out there. Yes, Daphne's father was a criminal, and he deserved to be punished. But at what cost? And what had this punishment actually solved? He was just trying to make some money so that his family would live through the war. Was it worthy of the Azkaban sentence? Was it worthy of his daughter becoming someone's toy?
It was, according to the law. Which could only mean that the law itself, the only thing that could help them distinguish between good and evil, was flawed and corrupted in its very foundation. But if that was the case... Then what was he supposed to do with his life? What path was he supposed to choose in the end...?
Lawful, criminal... These are just labels, Mr. Potter. Nothing in this world is absolute, and very few things in our lives truly matter. If you are interested in my advise... Always do what you feel is the right thing to do and never pay much attention to what others say or think about you.
Now he finally understood the true meaning of those words of Snape's. As much as he loved his father, Harry realized now that his point of view was only one of many sides of life. It was far more complicated than just blindly following the law and protecting it no matter what...
"Uh... Harry...?" He suddenly felt her soft palm on his hand which made him flinch, snapping out of his thought and meeting her troubled and annoyingly compassionate gaze. "Are you—"
"I'll set you free."
Her eyes widened as he gripped her hand tightly, looking at her vigorously.
"What—?"
... Always do what you feel is the right thing to do...
He took his wand out, making the girl gasp and recoil reflectively, but Harry didn't let her go. Instead, he flicked the wand and said,
"I will set you free from that contract with Nott before you turn seventeen. No matter what, I will. You won't have to marry him and you won't die because of that, either. I swear," A thin tongue of brilliant flame came from the wand and wound its way around their locked hands like a red-hot wire, making the girl gasp and yell in fear,
"Harry, no—!" She tried to break the connection, but it was already too late — they had been sentenced by the Unbreakable Vow. " What have you done?!"
"What I felt was the right thing to do," said the boy simply, letting go of her hand and flinching as she hugged him tightly, sobbing on his shoulder and barely standing on her shaking legs.
"Why... Why did you do that...? How could you...?"
He felt a bit awkward despite the apparent meaningfulness of the moment as he put his hands on her thin waist and pushed her away a little, meeting the despaired look of her tear stained reddened eyes.
"It doesn't really matter why. What happened to you is partly my family's fault, and it's also a fault of the Ministry. I'm going to fix it all. I will find a way, you'll see. You said that I'm destined to do great things, didn't you? Well, in this case, if even I can't do it, then this damned world is completely hopeless and doesn't worth a thing. But...," he looked at her thoughtfully, making a pause before continuing, "You will have to do me a little favour in return."
She swallowed, whispering huskily,
"I—I told you, I intend to help you in every way I can, but—"
"No, I don't need your help. What I need is for everything that happened here to remain a secret. Let's just say that I simply pulled a prank on you and the others from your year tonight, and that's all. It wouldn't be any suspicious. Nobody, and I mean absolutely nobody is to find out about this. We won't talk, we won't be meeting at all, and you will stop... watching me for good. To everyone else, we don't even know each other personally, and it will remain as such."
He ignored the apparent hurt in her eyes as she clearly wanted to say something, but simply nodded instead.
"I understand... I promise, I will do as you wish." She took her wand out as well, mumbling something indistinguishable quietly, and with a short flick of it her hair turned bright green and the girl smiled at the Gryffindor weakly, wiping tears away again. "Is it good enough?"
He smirked.
"Not really my style, but oh well." He turned away, walking towards the door. "It should already have unlocked by now..."
"Harry..." He looked at her over his shoulder questioningly, wanting to leave the room as soon as possible. He had too many things to think over. "Can I... Can we at least send notes to each other? From time to time... I mean... We are connected now. It would feel really strange not to stay in touch at all..."
He frowned, eyeing her up and down slowly and hemming thoughtfully before saying,
"I'll think about it. Good night, Greengrass."
"Good night... Harry," she whispered as the door closed nosily.
He could hear their laughs even before the portrait to their common room would open, which made Harry rub his eyes tiredly and return to the reality reluctantly as he walked in to see the four of his classmates sitting in their favorite corner of the room near the fireplace, discussing something really loud and cheerfully.
"Oy, Harry! About time, mate! How did it go?" Ron waved at him, inviting him to join their small celebration of whatever made them so happy — he noticed that the space around them was filled with various sweets, a good half of which had already been eaten.
The Boy Who Lived smirked, putting the mask of carelessness and happiness before they could notice that something was seriously wrong with him.
"Fine, I suppose. As we presumed, it turned out that Nott had damaged himself back then, wanting to frame one of us, but something went wrong with his crappy plan. Typical Slytherin failure, basically. You better tell me how did it go for you guys." He grinned, sitting on the empty chair and crossing his legs, looking at Hermione whose happy smile nearly died out under his piercing gaze.
"Oh, it was brilliant! Granger turned to be, how to put it... Not as bad as we thought," Draco smirked, receiving a glare from the girl who rolled her eyes and shook her head.
"Actually, it's more than that. She saved us all from Filch when we ran away after we took down those Slytherin bastards, by locking us in an empty broom closet. It turned that Filch couldn't open it on himself, can you imagine that? So he just went away after waiting for like twenty minutes. By the way," added Neville, handing him the familiar parchment. "We wouldn't have made it without a map. It's awesome, Harry!"
"I know," he smiled warmly, taking the map and pointing his wand at it. "Mischief managed!" The parchment became blank again, and the boy hid it in the pocket is his robe.
"You should tell me how it works! It's absolutely amazing!" Yelped Hermione, making the boy look at her with a note of skepticism.
"Oh? I'm still not completely convinced that we should trust you...," he drawled playfully, watching in amusement as the girl's cheeks reddened in anger and frustration.
"Seriously, though. I think we should, mate. Too bad you haven't seen how she handled Zabini!" said Ron as his eyes widened at the memory.
"Well, I suppose she's not a lost case, after all. She still needs us to teach her some things and manners, but all in all I suppose she's decent," drawled Draco, shrugging and looking away.
Harry smiled, yawning and stretching his limbs. It was truly a day of great revelations... But he didn't really mind it. He decided not to be biased anymore no matter whom he dealt with, be it his parents, Snape, Daphne, Nott... Even Voldemort himself.
"Fine. Welcome abroad, Granger."
The girl's eyes widened, and a genuine, happy smile appeared slowly on her face.
Harry smiled in return, and then every single one of them laughed happily and carelessly.
He knew that he had made the right choice this time.
Only one chapter left for the prologue part now. The time skip is finally at hand! Next chapter: James and Lily's point of view! What's going on in the magical world meanwhile? Voldemort finally makes an appearance!
Also please don't forget to leave a review! ;) Even a couple words help me a lot!