Fireman
"Daphne, did you finish the charms assignment? Who am I kidding, of course you did. Can you help me with it?"
She nodded absentmindedly, pulling out a fresh Slytherin tie from her wardrobe. "Not till lunch, I'm going to see Astoria this morning."
Tracey inhaled sharply. "I forgot about her, any news?"
"She should be better by tommorow." Daphne muttered, glancing around to see if anyone was listening. "Mother and Father aren't going to visit, but they sent a letter. Of course, Astoria insists that she'll be out by this afternoon."
Her sister's childishness was sometimes more annoying than endearing, but Daphne could certainly live with it.
"You know, I can always come with you? Astoria's important to me, too."
"No." Daphne shook her head. Her parents never wanted Astoria's condition to get out, and it was one of her tasks while at Hogwarts to keep Astoria's sickness out of the rumor mill. To date she had succeeded in doing so, and wouldn't risk it being ruined by Tracey's loud mouth.
The fact that the only person who had a hint of Astoria's condition was Harry Potter of all people irritated her. She doubted he cared enough to investigate the matter, but the fact that Harry Potter had seen and even spoke to her in Saint Mungos was definitely worrying.
Normally she would have obliviated him, but he was Harry Potter of all people, and she wasn't going to risk messing with his mind when he was regularly meeting with Dumbledore if the rumors were to be believed.
"Well anyways, tell her I hope she gets better soon. Falling down the stairs isn't fun, it happened to me too in third year."
She had lied and told everyone Astoria had fallen down the stairs, hinting that a Gryffindor had likely hexed her and caused it. Her housemates had immediately believed it.
Astoria actually suffered from the Greengrass bloodline curse that appeared about once every other generation in their family.
"Did you hear about the row McGonagall and Umbridge had yesterday?" Tracey asked suddenly as they walked into the Great Hall.
"Pardon?" Daphne returned.
"You must have been with Astoria." Tracey tucked a loose hair behind her ear. "After Malfoy said all those things to Potter after defense, and Potter got mad, Umbridge assigned him a week of detention. McGonagall intervened, and she and Umbridge were screaming at each other outside the Great Hall."
"Nothing new there." Daphne muttered, finally sitting down at the Slytherin table and starting to fill her plate until a black head of hair caught her eye.
Daphne noticed Potter looked like shit, but that wasn't new. He just looked… more worn out than normal, she figured. There was a strange tenseness in his posture, almost like he had readying himself for something. She could tell that something was off, and it was confirmed when he sat at the Gryffindor table and simply stared at the Slytherin table.
A glance and she could tell he wasn't observing all of them, simply staring directly at Malfoy who ignored Potter's green eyes.
As more people groggily shuffled in for breakfast and owls delivered their mail, Potter didn't stop staring at Malfoy.
As gasps and whispers erupted around her at the Slytherin table, Potter didn't stop staring at Malfoy.
When Draco sprung up in rage, and went to pull his wand on Potter and attack him from across the hall, Potter didn't stop staring at Malfoy.
As always, Snape was able to stop Malfoy just in time, grabbing his wand arm, silencing him, and dragging him out of the Great Hall. Everyone stared at Malfoy, pointing and either whispering sadly or triumphantly. Tracey nudged her from the side, and Daphne looked down at today's issue of the Daily Prophet. Her stomach dropped.
MALFOY MANOR DESTROYED
LUCIUS MALFOY KILLED BY NOTORIOUS BLACK FAMILY SPELL
MINISTER BLAMES SIRIUS BLACK FOR VIOLENCE
"Does this mean Draco is done?" Tracey asked from her side as she read the articles.
Draco had all but ruled Slytherin this year, being even worse than the year before. Even the older students followed his lead, no doubt wanting to get on the good side of the Malfoy family with all the chaos going on.
"He still has Snape." Daphne said quietly, thinking through things. "And Umbridge too, but with his father gone things are going to get rocky."
"His 'my father will hear about this' line won't work anymore." Tracey observed. "Will Crabbe and Goyle even follow him around with Lord Malfoy gone? I know they're next to useless, but still. That's not even mentioning the older years."
Daphne ignored her. "Did you see Potter? He was staring at Malfoy."
"So was everyone else." Tracey shrugged. "Everyone just learned his parents are dead, of course people were staring."
"Before the owls came he was staring." Daphne said. "Since he sat down he was staring only at Malfoy. It was like he knew."
"Maybe he did." Tracey shrugged. "Umbridge isn't here, and the Minister already released a statement. He probably found out beforehand."
A glance at the staff table showed Umbridge truly wasn't there like Tracey said.
"Yesterday Potter said Malfoy's father would die." Daphne observed, thinking through things as she read the paper. "The Prophet says he was killed with the Brain Liquefaction Curse, a Black family spell, one so horrific even I've read about it in my family library. Only someone with access to the Black Library could learn that spell."
"Yes." Tracey said slowly. "And the Minister blames Sirius Black."
Daphne read the paper a bit more before folding it and standing up. "I'm going to see Astoria."
She thought through things as she walked to the hospital wing.
"How are you?" Daphne asked as she entered.
"I'm fine." Astoria replied without missing a beat.
"I doubt that."
Astoria sighed, "How is Tracey?"
"Worried about you. She wanted to visit but I turned her down, I'm sorry our parents don't want people seeing you like this."
"Harry was here last night." Astoria said suddenly, something strange in her voice. "We talked a bit before he left."
Daphne stiffened, the paper in her hands suddenly feeling cumbersome. "How did he know you were here?"
"He didn't. He came in covered in ash, and needed potions to help with magical exhaustion."
Her heart thundered in her ears, and her limbs felt heavy. "Did he say why?"
"Malfoy pissed him off yesterday." Astoria said, her eyes wandering. "Guess he tried out some nasty spells afterwards to vent."
"He also saw you like this at Saint Mungos." She observed, trying to control her breathing. "That's not good, Astoria, he might talk."
Astoria fixed her with a stare. "Have you talked to him? Like really talked to Harry? He's not the type to run his mouth. He doesn't even have anyone to tell he saw Astoria Greengrass in the hospital wing, he sits alone all the time. That's not even mentioning that Weasley and Granger don't even bother talking to him anymore, they didn't even defend him from Malfoy yesterday."
Daphne's jaw set, feeling frustration cloud the edges of her vision.
"Why do you care so much about this?" Astoria asked with a frown. "Harry's not going to talk, and-"
She remembered the Harry Potter from the past month. Those cold, glowing green eyes that rarely moved. His gaze now held an intensity that wasn't there before, an iron-clad willpower that was relentless in its quest for vengeance.
Harry Potter was the public secret in Slytherin, someone no one spoke about yet everyone spoke about at the same time. His new cold, calculating persona was beyond terrifying to those used to the brash Gryffindor, and had many of her housemates jumpy. It was the reason Malfoy had tried to bait him yesterday, but his actions had only worsened things for himself.
Astoria saw something else in him. Where she saw the monster hiding in flesh, Astoria saw a lonely boy who had been abandoned by his friends. Astoria might be right, but that doesn't change the fact I don't want Harry Potter near my family.
She found Harry Potter wandering around on the second floor, favoring his right side over his left.
"Potter."
Harry Potter looked up at her. "Greengrass."
She approached him, getting close enough that it showed they were on neutral ground. "Your actions last night were bold, Potter."
He tensed, but didn't respond, simply watching her with that unnerving gaze.
"My sister respects you, Potter." She continued. "And I don't want her getting hurt."
"I would never hurt Astoria." Potter stated.
"I know." Daphne replied. "But you could get her hurt, and that's not something I want by you associating with her."
Potter slowly blinked and looked away, and she could tell she had gotten through to him. She didn't know why, but seeing his reaction made her heart hurt.
I'm sorry, Astoria. I'm sorry, Harry.