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Favor…
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It was early morning the next day. As Harry came out of his room he glanced towards the room where Daphne's parents were staying. Ever since coming to Potter manor yesterday they hadn't come out. Daphne and Astoria had spent the night with them. Harry wondered if everything was alright when he came out into the main hall and saw Daphne there.
She was sitting on the sofa, staring blankly at the wall in front of her. She had an opened book in her hand which she was obviously not reading. When Harry came over to her she realized his presence and looked at him as if she was suddenly coming out of some deep thought.
He didn't miss her sulken eyes as she looked at him. "Did you not sleep last night?" he asked.
Daphne didn't respond at first. Instead she glanced at the cover of the book before finally speaking in a low, whispering tone. "I'm adopted," the words left her mouth shakily.
Harry definitely wasn't expecting to hear anything like that but he automatically hugged her. She let go of her body as soon as he did and her body became limp in his embrace. They remained like that for the next few minutes.
Harry realized why she had been down since yesterday. "Did you…find out about it at Gringotts?" he asked carefully but then wondered if he should've. He didn't know what to say or ask her without getting her even more upset.
Daphne sniffled and broke the hug. She then sat back on the sofa, pulling her knees to her chest.
"It's okay if you don't want to tell," Harry said as he conjured a blanket and put it around her. It was a little cold as winter was approaching and the fire in the main hall had died hours ago.
"She abandoned me," Daphne said a moment later. "My real mother, she abandoned me because she was scared of what I was. She is a muggle. I am a muggleborn. My pa…Matt and Ann…" she paused and closed her eyes. She didn't know why she had called her 'parents' by their name and it had immediately felt wrong. "They saw her leave me outside a church and decided to take me in. They said they were trying to have a child for a long time but couldn't, so when they found me they saw it as a sign and took me in. That is what they told me last night."
Silence filled the main hall as Daphne pulled the blanket around her tighter. Harry looked at her. He could only imagine how shocking this revelation must've been for her.
"Do you hate them because of it?" he asked, still unsure of what to say.
"I…don't know," Daphne said slowly. "I don't know what to do or make of this whole thing. I have so many questions. Last night when they told me the truth, for a moment, I felt like I was standing in front of strangers."
"Do you?" Harry asked. "Do you…consider them as strangers after last night?"
Daphne looked at him as her eyes became wet. Her lips quivered. "I don't know," she managed to whisper.
Harry hugged her again, trying to console her. "Have they ever treated you differently?" He asked. "Have they ever given you less attention than Astoria?"
"No," she said.
"Of course not," he said. "That is because they love you. Even if they are not your real parents, they have loved you like one and you have loved them back. They taught you to be strong. They never treated you differently. They sacrificed so much for your safety…took risks for it. They made enemies with powerful families just so you could be safe. Everything that they have done for you, gives them the right to be your parents, whether or not they are related to you by blood. After everything I've seen, I can say with confidence that your parents will do anything for you and Astoria," he said remembering his small conversation with Matt before they had allied their houses for Sirius' trial.
He broke the hug and looked at her. Her face was red and her eyes were puffy. He wiped her tears and held her face softly with both his hands. She looked so innocent, he wanted to kiss her. But Harry knew it was the hormones talking and not his brain. "Did you have a fight with them?" he asked.
"No," Daphne said. "I said nothing after they told me the truth. I just left the room and haven't been in there since."
"I didn't have my parents growing up," Harry said. "Whenever I would look at other kids' families, I felt jealous of them and angry at my parents. At that time I thought mine had never loved me, because I believed the lies that my aunt used to tell me about them. When I met Ron's parents, for the first time it felt like I was with a real family, because of the way they welcomed me. Then I met yours. In both of those incidents I have realized one thing – it's that parents sacrifices a lot for their kids. It proves how much they love you and at the end that is all that matters."
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At Hogwarts, Draco was on a mission – to find Luna Lovegood and convince her somehow to tell him where Helena Ravenclaw's ghost was. The problem was he didn't know one thing about this girl other than the rumor that she was weird. Considering she had been mentioned by Bloody Baron, Draco seemed to believe that. But that didn't mean she couldn't help him. He didn't know about that part yet because he hadn't met her personally.
He also didn't know how to approach her. Other than seeing her in the great hall during meal times, Draco had no idea where to find Luna. He couldn't risk talking to her in the great hall for obvious reasons so it had to be someplace where other students won't see him. As he thought about where this girl could possibly be, he remembered something.
During the Yule Ball Harry had brought Luna as his date. Draco wondered whether he could talk to her through him. However, the problem was that Harry wasn't at Hogwarts right now. He had taken Daphne and Astoria to their home following the news about Voldemort's return and hadn't been back yet. Draco knew that as it was easy to guess. That left the Slytherin with only one possible option and he wondered whether it will work.
So he waited the whole day for an opportunity to talk to Neville. However, the Gryffindor was difficult to approach with other students around him and it was because of what Neville and Hermione were doing. As the day went by, he got more and more impatient.
It was past six in the evening when he spotted Hermione coming out of the library. There was no one else on the corridor. Draco knew that she was once again friends with Harry so maybe he had a shot here.
As for Hermione, she became a bit nervous when she saw Draco coming towards her. She wondered what he wanted.
"Hey, Granger," he said stopping in front of her.
"What are you doing here, Malfoy?" Hermione asked.
"It's a corridor," he responded with a scoff. "I can be here if I want to."
"Do you want something?" she asked sounding annoyed. Unlike Harry and Ron, she could never talk to Draco off-handedly. She had punched him in their third year though but that was in the heat of the moment and it had gotten her worried whether he would come after her for that later on. Maybe it was because of that, Hermione wondered.
"Tell Longbottom that I want to talk to him," Draco said.
"And why would I do that?" Hermione responded.
Draco's face twitched as he looked at her. However, he controlled his anger because if he messed this up then things would become difficult for him. So he took in a long breath and sighed. "You missed out a lot," he said. "Things have somewhat changed since last year when you had betrayed Potter. Tell Longbottom that I will be waiting for him tonight at eleven, in the empty classroom on the third floor." With that he walked past her. Hermione turned to look at him. Draco knew she would pass along his message. He knew how to read people and Hermione wasn't a difficult one.
And as he had guessed, Neville entered the classroom where the Slytherin had called to meet him. Curfew hours were on and being a prefect Draco could still be out for another hour which is why he had chosen this time as he didn't have to worry about getting seen by any of his house members.
"Hermione said you wanted to talk," asked the Gryffindor.
"I do," Draco said. "I have something I need to ask from you."
Neville looked at him for a moment before speaking. "I don't think we have that level of understanding between us for you to ask a favor from me," he said.
Draco smirked. "Someone's been taking lessons in politics," he said coming closer to Neville. "Are you sure you want to waste an opportunity where I might end up owing you?"
"Did you call me here to waste my time, Malfoy?" Neville said unfazed by the Slytherin's intimidation.
Draco pressed his lips together. He knew it would be a huge blow to his pride – asking a Gryffindor for help – but he had no other choice. "I wouldn't have called you if I had any other choice," he said slowly as he stepped back a little.
"Maybe that explains the privacy wards you've put around this place," Neville said.
"Didn't think you'd notice," Draco said smirking. "I honestly never thought that you would change this much. Or maybe you don't like showing others what you are actually capable of. I can tell." Neville narrowed his eyes at that line. Draco smirked before continuing, "Does Potter know how skilled you really are?"
The Gryffindor looked at him with an expressionless face. "If there ever comes the time, he will know," he said. "Now, why am I here?"
"There is someone I need to talk to," Draco said. "Her name is Luna Lovegood. She's in Ravenclaw. I think you know her?"
"Not personally," Neville said.
"I would've asked Potter, seeing she was his date for the Yule Ball," Draco said. "But he is not here right now and I somewhat have a deadline. So you are my only option."
"Why do you want to talk to her?" Neville asked.
"That is not your concern," Draco said. "Just tell her that I am looking for her. If you do that then I'll…owe you one."
Neville smirked. "I never thought I'd hear those words from you," he said. "Whatever this is…you must be really desperate."
"I might have a way to help defeat you-know-who." The words slipped out of his mouth before Draco could realize. He closed his eyes in regret but it was already too late and Neville now looked at him with intrigue. Draco pressed his lips in annoyance. He was so angry right now that he wanted to slap himself.
It took a while for Neville to process what the Slytherin had just said before he finally spoke. "Looks like you finally came to your senses," he said. Draco wanted to say something but he didn't know what to so he kept quiet. "I would really like to know what made you go behind your master's back but for now, I think I will do you that favor."
Draco gave a curt nod before quickly leaving the classroom. Neville watched him go and realized that he had to let Harry know about this. If Draco was actually telling the truth then they could have a spy of their own inside Slytherin.
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It was the next day. Daphne was in her parents' room at Potter Manor. Remus had gone to attend an emergency Order meeting and Sirius was at the ministry, visiting Amelia. Harry was in the main hall, keeping Astoria company while her older sister cleared matters with Ann and Matt.
"Now, tell me," Daphne said.
Ann looked at her husband before sighing. "Her name is Bonnie Cash, or rather Cohen. She changed it back to her maiden name," she said. "After we found you and took you in, we still kept an eye on her because we thought that one day when you've grown up, and when we have told you the truth, that maybe you would want to visit her. Over the years we found that her domestic life wasn't good. Her husband – your real father – was a drunk and often beat her. We didn't want to interfere but we also couldn't see her live a life like that so we anonymously contacted the muggle authorities and they arrested the husband for domestic abuse. Assured that she was now safe, we hired an investigator to keep an eye on her for us while we finally got pregnant with Astoria."
Ann paused and looked at her hands on the lap. "Last week I heard from our investigator that Bonnie had moved into a different neighborhood. When Matt and I went to check up on her we found that there was a ward around her place. We didn't know how it was possible. We had told no one about who she was so it didn't make any sense for that ward to be there. Confused, we returned home but then went back there two days ago. I wanted to know who had raised those wards and began to head for her house. Matt had no choice but to follow me. However, as soon as we reached the ward's limits we woke up here."
"That's it?" Daphne said. "You have no recollection of what happened between then and waking up here?"
Ann shook her head. "That is why we were confused when we woke up," she said. "When you told us that we had been missing for twenty four hours, and that you found us unconscious in an abandoned muggle house, we didn't know what to say because we didn't know how we had gotten there, or that we had been unconscious. For us, one moment we were approaching that house and the next moment we were waking up here. And then you told us that you knew the truth."
"I have forgiven you," Daphne said slowly, "although it wasn't a mistake or anything. I should've thanked you instead. I thought about it last night and Harry helped me understand too. I know how much you have sacrificed for me, maybe more than I actually know. Blood or not, you are my mom and dad." She hugged her parents.
"We would take you to Bonnie," Matt said looking at his daughter, "but we don't know what is happening at her place."
"Has that ward imprisoned her?" Daphne asked.
"No, it's more like a protection ward," he said. "She can go in and out of it. However, there is no telling if it would let anyone else leave once they have walked inside it. No one knows who Bonnie Cohen is, especially in the magical world. We were very careful. We looked into the muggle investigator before hiring him. He doesn't know that we are magical. Nothing we can think of can explain why there is a ward around her place. And it's definitely not a coincidence. We have to find out what is going on with her and who raised that ward because whoever this person is, they are very skilled. I can tell because I touched it with my magic and got a glimpse of how it was made. I didn't understand its weaving pattern but I could tell how strong it was. I haven't seen anything like that before. It can even put goblin wards to shame."
Just then they heard Sirius' voice. He was calling everyone in the main hall. The three came out. Harry looked at Daphne who glanced back at him for a moment before going over to Astoria.
"What is it?" Matt asked.
"Rufus Scrimegeour was made the minister of magic half an hour ago," Sirius said.
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Thanks for reading…
