Hi everyone, I've returned with another Haphne one-shot. This one is inspired by the direction I hope to take in Reminiscing A Life. To explore the world and the hidden magic it holds. This was but one idea I've played around with and decided it be better as a one-shot. I hope you all enjoy!
Arcadia, the ancient name for Greece. A name associated with the ancient Greek god Pan, Lord of the Wilderness. To witches and wizards, the area called Arcadia was always deeply soaked in magic. Magic that was often uncontrollable and dangerous to even attempt to use. In the past, Arcadia was where the magical beings of ancient Greece lived. Now they have moved away to areas where the magic is calm and more malleable.
Daphne would have preferred to stay away from Arcadia as well. But when she glanced back at Astoria, any hesitance disappeared. Their journey for a cure for the blood curse that Astoria has worn down much of the hope they used to hold in the beginning. Before Astoria would always be nervous, worried about whether or not they would find a cure. Now, Astoria was resigned to her fate. Instead, she was making the most of her journey.
Riding upon a donkey, Astoria was taking pictures and taking notes about the magical plants they had gathered along the trip. She declared this was going to be her last trip. Daphne could see how worn out already she was just making the journey. Tracey and Blaise attended to Astoria's every need which freed Daphne up to search and guide them.
As the group rested at a stream, Daphne was busy studying a map while everyone else had lunch. Tracey was the first one to finish and took a seat next to Daphne.
"Can you remind me what we're even looking for this time? Another artifact that's said to heal anything? A tomb that holds magical secrets? A grimoire that may reveal and cure-all curse-breaking spell? An ancient shrine to just pray at?" Tracey asked.
"There are rumors of a priest that popped up two years ago. It is said that the priest is able to cure all ailments. The only question is if the person is willing to make the sacrifice. Some do, some don't." Daphne played with an expensive silver necklace that was covered in gemstones that had been enchanted.
"You're going to sacrifice your grandmother's necklace?" Tracey asked in a harsh whisper.
"If I have to," Daphne said. "I'd sacrifice my own magic if it means I could save Stori."
The silence was heavy before it was broken by Astoria calling out to them.
"How much further do we have to travel Daph?" Astoria asked packing up the camp.
"Not much longer, should be there in an hour or so," Daphne answered as she quickly stowed everything away and went to help Astoria. Astoria tried to wave her sister away but Daphne still managed to help resaddle the donkey.
"I wish we could simply travel by brooms or carpet or portkey. Hell, I'd ride a dragon if it meant I didn't have to hike for two and a half days." Blaise complained as he tried to crack his back.
"Me too Blaise, me too," Astoria commiserated with Blaise.
Daphne rolled her eyes at the two whiners but she too wished it was an easier journey.
For the next hour, the four continued their quiet trek. As they clambered over a mountain ridge, they felt a wave of magic wash over them. All their aches and pains seemed to wash away. In the valley below Daphne could just make out a stone altar with a hearth and a person in all brown tending the fire.
The donkey that Astoria was riding on quickly trotted on. Astoria tried to take reign of it but it ignored it. It simply continued on without care. At the very least it was following the path that leads to the whom Daphne suspected was the priest.
The donkey managed to pull ahead of the group and disappear into the forest. By the time the three caught up, Astoria had dismounted. Daphne watched as she gingerly walked up to the edge of the stone shrine. The priest simply watched from their simple wooden chair with a white cushion. Their face was hidden by the shadows of their hood. Daphne quickly moved to kneel before the stone hearth and priest along with Astoria.
Before the sisters could say anything, the priest lowered their hood.
A very familiar face stared back at them. The emerald green eyes that seemed to glow with power that was partially hidden by glasses. A faint scar in the shape lightning bolt that told all in the clearing who exactly sat before them.
"Potter?" Daphne asked in disbelief.
"Greengrass," Harry greeted her with a smile before focusing his attention on Astoria. "Welcome, Astoria Greengrass, I've been expecting you."
Astoria was silent before bursting out laughing.
"Harry, you can't say it like that," Astoria said trying to hold in her giggles. "You sound like some Bond villain."
"It's nice to see that you caught that reference," Harry said before standing. His attention was turned to the fire momentary as he fed it a new log. "Why have you come before the hearth today?"
"We're looking to break the blood curse on Astoria," Daphne said speaking up, "can you help us?"
Harry's stare seemed to pierce Daphne all the way to her soul.
"You? No."
Daphne collapsed. She wanted to scream and shout but she only felt empty. Everything she had worked so hard for was so easily dismissed. Was it worth it even to try and force Potter to do something, anything?
"You though? Whether I can help you or not depends on you."
Daphne looked up to see Harry standing before Astoria. His palm was outstretched as he looked down at Astoria with kind eyes and a warm smile. She was looking up at him as tears trailed down her face.
Astoria hesitantly took Harry's hand as she stood up.
"You can help me?" Astoria asked in a wispy voice.
"I can. I swear by the hearth that your curse can be removed and your family will never have to worry about it ever again." The hearth's flame soared towards the sky at the end of Harry's oath.
"What's the catch?"
"You must be willing to sacrifice something important to you."
"You're not going to ask me to sacrifice my virginity or firstborn, are you? Or like take me right here and now? Cause I'm not a virgin… Well, I guess I have one virginity left if you catch my drift." Astoria rambled causing Daphne and Harry to choke on air at the same time. Tracey and Blaise were laughing away in the background.
"No, Merlin, no," Harry said pinching his nose. "I don't make deals like that. I'm not some devil." Harry had to take a few deep breaths before giving Astoria a deadly serious stare. "The sacrifice you will have to make… is your magic."
"NO!" Daphne stood up in anger. "I will not allow that! Take my own magic, take my life if you have to. Just let Astoria experience the life she always wanted."
Astoria's burning glare was a response Daphne expected to get. What she did not expect was the understanding yet pitying gaze that Harry gave her.
"I'm afraid that the only sacrifice that will be accepted is Astoria's. And we don't deal with souls. Such a sacrifice has no place here," Harry said turning back to Astoria.
There was no hesitance on her face. Not a trace of doubt in her eyes.
"I'll do it. You've never steered me wrong before Harry. I trust you will not do so now."
Harry bowed his head low, he had a grateful smile as he guided Astoria to a free chair that was opposite of his previous seat. Astoria gracefully took a seat as Harry took his. Harry reached both hands into the fire. There was not an ounce of discomfort in his eyes as he did so.
"I will warn you, this is your last chance to back out. Sacrificing your magic will be painful. It will feel as if all your nerves were ripped out of your body. Sewed back in, then ripped out again." Harry informed with a solemn look. "But if you do this, I can promise you, your sister, and every one of your descendants will never have to fear this curse again."
"Then do it. Free us from the sins of our family. We've paid the price a hundred times already," Astoria said reaching into the fire and grasping Harry's hand. Her face shifted from shock to curiosity as the fire merely tickled against her instead of burning.
"The fire here was never going to hurt you." Harry had an amused smile before it became somber. "But ritual will, don't brace yourself, it only hurts more if you do."
After getting a nod and letting Astoria relax, Harry began to chant an ancient tongue. To Daphne, it sounded Greek, but not. The phrasing and pronunciation were all wrong to be Greek or even ancient classical Greek.
"Mycenaean Greek?" Daphne asked herself as Astoria's face began to scrunch up in pain.
Harry sat relaxed in his seat, chanting ever calmly. In the background, the faint sound of drums and a lyre began playing. Daphne would have lost herself to the music if not for Astoria. Her little sister writhed in her seat. Her veins pulsed through her arms glowing a faint red. Barely any sound escaped Astoria. Only faint groans and pants.
It was hard for Daphne to watch. She wanted to comfort her sister. To tell her it is okay to cry and scream at the world. It hurt Daphne to have to watch Astoria try to suffer in silence as she had all her life. Hopefully, today would be the last time.
Daphne admired Astoria's stubbornness even in intense agony she never tried to pull her hands out of the fire. For all the pain that coursed through her body, only her hands were relaxed.
Magic swelled around the clearing. At first, Daphne simply ignored it, nothing more than a faint headache. But as the magic grew, the more suffocating it was. As Harry's chanting became louder the magic became heavier. Daphne tried to hold on as she watched her sister fight through her own pain.
Two thuds sounded behind Daphne. She could only hope Tracey and Blaise were alright. Daphne was close to blacking out as well. Her very soul felt as if it was being crushed underneath an unending weight.
As the tightening of her chest became almost unbearable and black completely filled her vision, the weight suddenly vanished.
As her vision cleared Daphne could see Astoria slumped in her chair, breathing heavy but smiling. It was the widest most elated smile she had ever seen from her sister.
Then Daphne realized there was a third figure at the hearth.
She was beautiful.
Auburn hair framed her freckled face. Amber eyes glowed with power and wisdom beyond the youth her face suggested. Yet there was nothing fierce about her as she gazed down at Astoria. She shifted her deep red chiton and reached up to first tousle Harry's hair. Daphne could not help but notice how motherly the woman looked at Harry. When she reached down and brushed Astoria's sweaty hair from her face. Daphne watched amazed as Astoria's skin finally gained a healthy glow and all her tiredness seemed to be waved away.
Astoria leaned into the woman's touch much like a cat before her eyes drifted shut as the woman wrapped her in a red blanket and held Astoria in her arms.
When the woman's eyes drifted toward Daphne, it felt as if the heavy weight on her shoulders suddenly disappeared. Daphne's body felt weak and before she could collapse she fell into a pair of warm arms. She was surprised to look up to find Harry looking down at her. His kind eyes were just as she remembered so long ago. The two did not realize that they got lost in each other's eyes and smiled. A quiet giggle broke the pair out of their daze. They turned to find the woman laughing to herself while she cradled Astoria.
With a deep blush, Harry picked Daphne up with ease.
"I'll take you to my home to rest, I'll bring along the others too," Harry said.
"Astoria, take her first," Daphne said nearly begging.
Harry shook his head, "She needs to rest here near the fire for a while. Don't worry, she's in the best care."
"Who is she?" Daphne asked pointing at the auburn woman.
"My patron, Hestia," Harry answered with a warm smile.
Normally, Daphne would be shocked but maybe she was simply too tired to be. Giving it not another thought, Daphne drifted off to sleep. Daphne did have enough strength to peek at Harry who was a blushing mess as she snuggled into his chest.
000
By the time Daphne woke up again, it was quite dark. Only the faint crackling of the fire and the chirps of crickets welcomed her as Daphne sat up. Taking the blanket and wrapping it around her, it was warm sue her, Daphne tiptoed out of the bedroom. With nearly silent steps, Daphne wandered the strange home.
It was cozy, in the faint moonlight, Daphne could see small potted plants that littered the counters and overgrew down to the floor. Finding the door, Daphne stepped outside into the cool air. Not too far away, she spotted Harry sitting by a fire pit. She tried to sneak over, but somehow Harry realized she was there and conjured a chair for her to join him.
Taking a seat, Daphne enjoyed the warmth of the fire washing over her. Harry said nothing as he tended to the flames. So the two sat enjoying listening to the noises of the night.
"I wanted to apologize, for my words at the hearth." Harry broke the silence turning to her. "I did not wish to break your spirit like that."
"Then why say it? I had thought this trip had been for nothing!" Anger bubbled to the surface in Daphne.
"Because it was true." Daphne stopped cold at Harry's words. "I could not help you in the way you desired. To sacrifice yourself and everything you held precious for your sister. I could not help you do that."
Daphne was silent before she let herself curl up into a ball. She wrapped the blanket tight around her as she gazed into the fire.
"I just wanted her to live a normal life. To be able to enjoy and practice all the magic she ever wanted. To be free to do whatever she wanted." Daphne began to tear up. "She's free now, but at what cost?"
"She would make the same choice she did today, no matter how many times she had to do it," Harry said.
"What do you mean by that?" Daphne snapped, "That she was happy to give up her magic to be free?"
"No, that she was happy to give up her magic, for you to be free."
Daphne felt her heart skip a beat at Harry's words. When she looked into his eyes, gone was the youthful innocence that Harry once clung to. Instead the tired weathered wisdom Harry had gained spoke volumes of his words.
"For me to be free?"
"You dedicated the majority of your life to her. Astoria is not a fool, she knows that all the time you spent with her, researching for her, fighting for her, that you could have instead done it for yourself," Harry said turning back to the fire.
"I was doing it for myself though," Daphne said.
"Was not the end goal always for her though?"
Daphne's protest died on her lips. Harry was right, she had spent all her time for Astoria. A hand on Daphne's shoulder nearly caused her to jump out of her seat. Only seeing that it was from Harry caused her to relax.
"Astoria once told me that the second she could free you from the chains that bind you to her, that she would. No matter the cost," Harry gave Daphne a sad smile. "Her prophecy came true, huh?"
"Damn it Astoria," Daphne said tearing up. In the past, Daphne would have tried to hide her tears. Unable to let someone see her vulnerable for even a second. But it was always different with Harry. So right now, Daphne cried her tears of happiness, of sorrow, of freedom, of pain. She cried until there was nothing left. Her face was buried in Harry's chest as he silently rubbed her back.
When she pulled away from Harry, she could see that his eyes were red from crying. Daphne imagined she looked even worse.
"In the end, you were the one that held up your promise to her?" Daphne said.
"She only made it this far because of you," Harry said, "I could only help her because of you."
"Speaking of that, if you could have helped her all this time, why didn't you? We had to travel through barren nothing for two days. Could we not have just floo here or taken a portkey?"
"Yes and no," Harry said trying to calm Daphne, "My house has floo and portkey access, but if you had taken that way to me just to do the ritual, it would have failed."
"What? Why?" Daphne's eyes burned with worry.
"The magic in Arcadia is special. I'm sure you are aware of how much richer and wilder it is here than compared to Hogwarts. Being exposed to that magic, whether magical or muggle, is what allows one to be malleable to the magic I use." Harry explained as he tended to the fire again. "I'm sure you felt just how different the magic I used was."
"It makes sense, there were many old rituals that I ignored because I feared that they would only tear Astoria apart from how wild the magic was. This trip even I was world about that." Daphne's eyes snapped wide. "Astoria, how is she? Where is she?"
"Easy Greengrass, she's in one of the guest rooms right now, sound asleep. She should be her energetic bouncy self come morning." Harry smile causes Daphne to relax back into her seat.
She frowned before poking Harry in the shoulder, "you called me Greengrass again. Why? I thought we were… at least friends."
Harry winced, "I thought you would hate me for going radio silent after leaving. Honestly, I would not be surprised if everyone else hated me."
"You idiot," Daphne said rapping her knuckles against Harry's head. "I'm mad that you never said anything. Or gave me any hints to come here. But I can't hate you for just wanting to enjoy your life. To find the peace you longed for." Daphne paused before looking away. "I had just hoped that it would have been with me."
Silence hung heavy between the two before Harry reached out and took the hand that Daphne left hanging outside her blanket.
"If you are willing to give me another chance. That is something I can help you with." Harry said trying to give his sincerest smile.
Daphne smiled back.
"And what kind of sacrifice do I have to make?" Daphne said with a tease.
"The rest of your life? In return, you will always be by my side." Harry squeezed Daphne's hand gently.
"And here I thought you didn't deal with souls," Daphne said leaning forward to touch her forehead against his. "It doesn't sound like much of a sacrifice to me."
"I hope it wouldn't be," Harry said before closing his eyes. Daphne closed hers as well as the two share a soft, longing kiss.
Neither of them noticed a red-cloaked figure that sat at the fire with them. She smiled warmly at the two as the bonds that were once broken slowly rebuilt. She giggled before simply disappearing as if she was never there to begin with.
Not a lot of Haphne in this story but I wanted to include some. I hope you enjoyed this small story. I promise I'm working on my other stories as well, they are all just slow coming.
Have a good day!
PK OUT!