Chapter Title: She Sings
Timeframe: May of 2011
Characters Involved: Daphne Greengrass and Harry Potter (Mentions of Teddy Lupin, Adrian Pucey, Theodore Nott, Lisa Turpin, Tracey Davis, Hermione Granger, Ron Weasley, Ginny Weasley)
Point of View: Daphne, third person limited.
Notes: Not all fairy tales end in happy endings, but maybe this one will. This vignette is a more telly kind of writing than a showy one? Hahaha, this is how Daphne thinks, so if its confusing sorry. :( Send me a review and I'll work on it or clarify it for you. :D
Disclaimer: Harry Potter and all its contents is owned by JK Rowling.
SIDE A: SHE SINGS
Sometimes, she sings.
She climbs on rooftops and apparates on top of buildings and smokes muggle cigarettes outside karaoke bars and hums. She hums under her breath a tune that's been stuck inside her head that's been clawing to get out.
(Even the Ice Queen has her limits. Instinct rules all of us at the end of the day).
Sometimes, she sings it aloud.
But usually, she doesn't.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
The first time Daphne sings aloud was when she was three; it was a ritual hymn sang during Samhain by the elder witches at Stonehenge. She didn't even know what she was doing but when she caught the melody she joined in.
Her mother was ashamed of her, ordering her to sit down and keep quiet.
One of the elders thought otherwise.
(It was the first time she tasted independence as well; she'd call it exhilarating if she knew that word then).
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
She's in Roma right now, with a bottle of firewhiskey and a brilliant view of the Fontana de Trevi.
(She likes to call places by their actual names; it seems a bit more respectful).
Sitting cross-legged on the edge of the fountain, a couple dozen muggle quarters in her hands.
It has been said that if one tosses a coin into the water they'll be granted a wish (or maybe Harry was the one that said that, it doesn't matter).
She wishes for a lot of things and she knows none of them will come true.
She steps down from her perch, wobbly and unsure of her steps, and tosses one coin for each wish.
(She throws twenty one coins, three for each wish, so even if the mere belief in the act won't work, then maybe magic will).
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
On the day that Daphne learned to finally take control of her life, she sang Spem in Alium in the middle of the busy London streets. It was hot and crowded and she sang with all her might.
That was ten years ago, she was lost and confused and unsure of what to do.
(A lot like what she's feeling now).
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
She stumbles back into her seat, half drunk and on precariously tall Louboutin shoes that Harry gave her a few months back. It pinches her toes and cramps the balls of her feet, but if paired with the right skirt it makes her legs look impossibly long and boys stare at her back.
Harry had always been fond of her back.
She's caught him staring at it way too many times to count.
Also, it's made out of snake skin.
She wears it as an homage to her past.
That's what she's telling people anyway.
.
.
.
.
.
.
There was a time when the past was all that mattered to her; geneology and family and names and assets and lineage.
That was a long time ago.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Daphne Greengrass is blonde, beautiful, and clever. She graduated near top of her class at Hogwarts and has achieved nine NEWT level courses; she's also a certified Potions Mistress and is known to be one of the best Healer Specialists in the Magical Commonwealth today.
She is also alone.
She doesn't know which defines her more.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Being alone used to be a blessing, with the trolls in the Slytherin dungeon and the majority of the male population at Hogwarts who think a woman like her is nothing more than mere animal to be owned and dominated.
Tracey was the first one to break the shell. Theo came next.
She thought she'd be happy.
But Tracey died in the war and Theo saw too much that it changed him.
It scared Daphne more than anything, so she did the only thing she could've done.
She was shunned because of it.
She was left alone again.
(Sometimes, the victim turns into the monster because the monster couldn't handle what it throws).
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
The past is nothing but a reminder. Sort of like a scar, only at the same time sort of not.
It gets more confusing the more she tries to explain, so in the end she'd rather not.
Everyone's better making their own stories, do they not?
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Daphne is good at being alone, almost as good as she does controlling her feelings.
Both of which she's now bad at since Harry Potter came into her life and refused to leave.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
"I'm not good enough for you," Daphne tells him. "What part of that do you not understand?"
Harry smirks at her and says, "Well, that's not for you to decide."
Daphne was about to protest when Harry's lips seize her own. His arm wraps around her waist and pulls her closer, she forgets what she's trying to say and savours the taste of recklessness that Potter has.
He's gotten quite good in getting her to stop her from voicing those kind of thoughts.
But even still, it doesn't stop her from continuously thinking them.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
They first met in a potions classroom in Hogwarts where Snape assigned them as partners. Daphne ignored him and Harry wasted potions ingredients and singed his clothes; Snape never assigned them together again.
They never encountered each other in Hogwarts ever again as well.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Its funny on how they never crossed paths in a place where they're locked up ten months out of a year and a student body less than five hundred.
It was like fate.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
The second time they met was during the Healer orientation at St. Mungo's. They were both twenty one, unsure of the world, and stuck in a place where almost everybody expects them to fail.
"Kindred spirits," Harry says.
"Coincidence," Daphne replies.
It doesn't matter which is which, because in the end they were stuck with each other and three other people; Adrian Pucey, Lisa Turpin, and Harper Delano.
Those three hardly matter to the story that is Harry and Daphne though; Adrian's just a thorn in Harry's rise to become one of the best trauma specialists in the world, Lisa is their mother hen who forces them to eat, sleep, and act like a normal human being instead of soulless puzzle solvers that they are, and Harper is Harper.
He quit three weeks into the program.
No one knew why.
(Daphne thinks Harry scared him off. Harry thinks Daphne scared him off. They're both wrong).
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Daphne Greengrass was never supposed to be with Harry Potter; just like Harry Potter was never supposed to be with Daphne Greengrass.
Fate made sure of that.
Destiny has other plans.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
The first time Daphne sang for another person was during Harry's twenty second birthday. She sang him a happy birthday and baked him a cake.
Harry's got a grin on his face that wouldn't come off and she got to meet Teddy.
Daphne found him charming. Teddy found her pretty.
Harry said to both of them that it was his day, and only he could be charming and pretty.
They both laughed at him.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
They delved into routine and that routine delved into something else. Daphne learned to be a muggle and Harry learned the ins and outs of the Wizengamot and they both took care of Teddy.
They were all each other has now, the only ones that could understand on what the hell is going on, the only ones that could empathize and sympathize and nod and leave be.
(That wasn't true; Harry still had Ron and Hermione but they we're too busy with the ministry and starting their own family and Daphne had her sister with whom she has brunch with).
It was a good thing.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
But with all good things, it had come to an end.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
It was November and it was cold.
That was all Daphne could remember from all the tears and screams and kisses and promises that had been done.
(It's a lie. She could remember that day far too well).
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Now, a mere six months later, Harry's married to someone else.
She was the one that pushed him to rekindle a failed romance with Ginny Weasley. She was the one that orchestrated the subtle switches of scents and put on reminders of the ginger chaserand societal pressure and upping the usage of 'Teddy needing a more stable mother figure'.
She's never been more angry at herself.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
She downs the rest of the bottle and stands on her feet, swaying dangerously on the marble edge.
Daphne has always put the thoughts of other people before her own happiness, its part of the reason why she thinks she's such a sorrowful excuse for a witch. Every time she follows her own instincts its always results in the apocalypse.
Right now though, she doesn't give a fuck.
Harry's married. She's alone.
It's the scariest thing in the world.
Then, she sings.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
The storms are raging on the rollin' sea
And on the highway of regrets
The winds of change are blowing wild and free
You ain't seen nothin' like me yet.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
She's singing an old muggle tune in the middle of Roma at three in the morning. A couple of tourists are in the corner making out, a kid is probably filming her rendition of an old melody, and she could hear clapping.
When she sings the last line, Daphne's knees give up supporting her and she thinks she's going to crash into the pavement.
Only she doesn't.
When she opens her eyes, she sees looks into the eyes of her saviour.
Avada Green.
She gasps and stumbles into her feet and hugs him with all her might, muttering his name like a prayer.
"It's alright," Daphne hears Harry say. "I'm here, Daph. I'll catch you."
To be continued on SIDE B: He plans.
Hope you liked it, please do review. :)