"Here we are," Astoria said cheerfully as they finally reached the pond and dismounted from their horses. Daphne smiled at her enthusiasm, knowing her sister always loved the place ever since she was little.
Located deep in the Wistman's wood, the pond was a geothermal hot spring which served as a relaxation spot for many generations of House Greengrass. Its size was about twenty meters in diameter and the water temperature 36°C. Just about right for a comfortable soak.
However, what was most interesting about the place was that it was artificially created.
About a thousand years ago, one of the Greengrass lords decided he would use magic to see what was in the center of the Earth. It was right after one of the goblin rebellions and his actions were also meant as a gesture of contempt towards the defeated magical race. The whole idea was that wizards would dig deeper than the goblins ever did.
Of course, when the lord actually started digging, he quickly discovered several things. Firstly, the deeper one dag, the hotter the Earth became and the pressure of the air increased. At first, his people were easily able to compensate with a mixture of cooling, breathing and shielding charms, some of which were invented solely for the project. But after creating a borehole hundreds of kilometres deep, they made a second discovery – when one digs really deep, the Earth becomes really hot. Even their charms were failing at that point.
And what was even worse, once provided with a passage the hot melted rock tended to bubble up to the surface in form of lava. After encountering that particular little problem, Daphne's ancestors decided to stop the entire project and the borehole was destroyed. Its remains were flooded and the hot spring on the surface was all that remained of it as the water kept being warmed by the subterranean heat.
"Let them go home," Daphne suggested when their horses grew impetuous as Astoria tried to tie them to a tree. Animals never particularly liked being near the pond, likely due to the residual magic and volcanic gasses in the area. "I'll just apparate us home," she offered when Astoria asked her how she planned to get back.
"Oww... I hate that!" Astoria protested but eventually agreed and let go of the two animals who immediately started tracking back towards the stables as they knew the area very well.
Meanwhile, the two sisters walked to the edge of the spring and started to undress. Neither cared to look around if they were alone. After all, the place was reserved for Greengrass family members only and highly secured with numerous wards and charms. Should someone else be present despite all the protections in place then obviously they had far bigger problems than their modesty being compromised. Daphne methodically undressed everything except the wand holster attached to her wrist. She was not about to take that off during a war time, not even at a supposedly secure place.
"Come on!" Astoria beckoned her as she ran naked into the spring, water splashing around her feet. The slope of the shore was relatively steep and she was soon fully submerged and swimming. Daphne arranged her discarded clothes in a neat stack before stepping into the water herself. She felt an instant relieve as the warm water hit her leg muscles which were still sore from the horse riding. It was a great idea to come here. Daphne swam around a little before she joined her sister who sat on a flat rock deliberately placed underwater in one of the shallow spots and was now lounging in the warm water.
As they started a conversation, Daphne kept hoping that her sister would bring up the topic of Harry herself but infuriatingly, the two of them just kept making small talk about everything else. Finally, she could not take it anymore. "So... me and Harry," she began, trying to sound casual instead of anxious but Astoria was not fooled so easily.
"And here we go... I was wondering when you'd explode," she said and winked at her, much to her sister's chagrin. Fortunately, before Daphne could become annoyed, she turned more serious. "You know, I always wondered who'd be the future lord of House Greengrass," Astoria said afterwards. "Don't get me wrong, sis. But you are so unbelievingly picky! And given that the only boy you ever dated for more than a day is a homosexual... I was worried."
"Tori..." she hissed in a warning before asking. "What about Harry Potter? What do you think? Do you like him?"
Astoria shrugged. "He seems nice enough," she said and then looked at Daphne sharply as she asked. "You know he's a halfblood, right?"
"Yes, I know. With both parents magical," Daphne stressed in response.
She never really liked how the halfblood category nowadays included children born to both muggleborns and muggles. It was a gross oversimplification which originated from a simple fact – given the lack of magic in their bodies, muggleborns superficially looked and felt the same as muggles to the wizarding folk. As a result, many purebloods failed to see a difference between the two groups and magical children born to either of them were both categorised under a single label. It was a relatively novel approach as about ten centuries ago, there was no such thing as halfblood. Muggles of that time were primitive and marriages with them so rare that it was unnecessary to design a new category for children born from such couplings.
Under the old system of rules, Harry Potter would have been considered a pureblood since both his parents were magical while Voldemort would have been a mudblood as at least one of his parents wasn't. It was a great irony but one that Daphne was very grateful for. Had Lily Potter been a muggle instead of a muggleborn, there would have been no chance of anything happening between Harry and her. At best, the boy would have had shared Granger's fate and that would have been a real shame.
"Oh, right... big difference," Astoria replied and rolled her eyes.
Daphne knew her sister did not mind Harry's blood status and was rather surprised that Daphne did not mind. But there was indeed a big difference between the two types of halfbloods, especially when one considered the motivation of their parents.
A pureblood having children with a muggle was a blood traitor of the worst kind. There was absolutely no positive reason for a magical person to marry a muggle that Daphne could see, except perhaps not being able to find a magical partner at all. Even then, coupling with muggles only carried risks to one's children's magic and no benefits. It was vile and unforgivable. She supposed that it was also very much unfair and dangerous to the muggle if they were male but Daphne did not really care about that.
On the other hand, muggleborns were wizards and witches. Despite their inferior origin, they could be really powerful and Daphne could understand why some purebloods would be tempted to want to add that power to their family. At the same time, mudbloods were also an excellent source of fresh genetic material which some pureblood families desperately needed. In conclusion, marrying a muggleborn was a big and dangerous gamble but unlike with muggles, there was at least a chance of winning. Harry Potter was a living proof of that. James Potter definitely won as his heir seemingly inherited his mother's wandless abilities.
"I never thought I'd say this... but I think Harry Potter could be an excellent match for you," Astoria said afterwards and Daphne smiled at hearing her first approval of the boy.
Astoria then added, "I mean from your point of view, it makes perfect sense. He's a nice guy... famous, powerful, and with excellent family name. As long as you do not mind his blood status, Harry Potter is perfect. And as grandpa said, poaching the boy-who-lived away from the light side is an once-in-a-lifetime opportunity."
Daphne frowned at that. Although taking away Harry's support from Dumbledore's merry band of blood traitors was a titillating prospect, she was little peeved at how everyone assumed that to be her motivation. Astoria noticed her frown and put up her hands in surrender. "Don't worry. I know that's not why you are doing this," she said defensively and Daphne nodded, mollified for now.
"And as for him... well clearly, pureblood girls are his type," Astoria said with a smile which Daphne reciprocated after a while.
On one hand, her sister's comment reminded her that Harry already dated two other girls. That was two more partners Daphne ever had and she felt a little jealous, especially of the Weasley girl. However, it helped that she had been in Harry's mind and so she knew that as far as the boy was concerned, that relationship was over.
She felt little insecure given Harry was more experienced in that area but otherwise, Daphne felt strangely proud of Harry for his romantic choices. The reason for that was already pointed out by Astoria – despite being surrounded by mudbloods and blood traitors at every turn, Harry Potter only ever dated purebloods. Even better, Daphne knew that Harry never once considered dating the mudblood Granger, despite the girl hanging around him for years. Not even for a moment. So at the very least, Daphne knew that he had an excellent taste.
Actually, she suspected that Harry's powerful magic might have been unconsciously influencing his choices and making him attracted to girls with high levels of ambient magic in their bodies. It was a well-known phenomenon that powerful wizards were strongly attracted to powerful witches. The most famous example being Merlin himself who was destroyed by his female apprentice after falling in love with her and teaching her all his secrets.
"Also, he's a man... and he's obviously not blind," Astoria continued before she let her eyes roam over her sister's half-submerged body. Her sight lingered on Daphne's breasts which were partially emerging from the water. "I mean have you looked at those lately?" she asked, pointing at Daphne's chest. "He'd have to prefer boys not to fall for you," her sister said rather jealously.
Daphne sighed and said, "Tori... you are still growing. Please do not enhance your breasts with magic," she pleaded with her sister.
"This again? You are not my mother!" Astoria retorted petulantly. "No, I am a lady of your House... and you are my little sister," Daphne replied calmly. "I am taller than you," Astoria pointed out to which Daphne laughed and said. "Not the point."
"Fine!" Astoria finally agreed before kicking back and relaxing in the water. "I suppose you are right. I mean even Draco says he likes them the way they are," her sister told her with a smug expression even as she bent her head and optically measured her own tits.
It caused a twitch in Daphne's cheek. She could barely handle the idea of her little sister with boys in general let alone with Draco Malfoy. She never particularly cared for the Malfoy heir and now that she was getting closer to Harry, she liked him even less. But she had to admit that Draco always seemed different when he was with Astoria. Happier and much less insufferable than any other times.
She shook her head to banish the thought. Instead, she looked at her sister suspiciously as something occurred to her.
"You know... why do I have a feeling you are trying to avoid telling me what you were going to tell me," Daphne finally asked while looking right in Astoria's eyes. She knew her sister and strongly suspected that the jokes and tit measuring contest was just an attempt at changing the topic. Astoria always did that when she didn't want to talk about something. She would try and deflect the conversation with her antics.
Astoria sighed and said, "You picked up on that, huh?"
"Was I not supposed to?" Daphne said with smirk before adding with a hint of concern, "What's going on Tori?"
"You're not going to like it," her sister warned before saying, "It's just that the relationship you and Potter have..."
"What's wrong with our relationship?!" Daphne asked immediately, interrupting her.
"Perhaps nothing," Astoria said after a while. "I mean every relationship is different and it's not like you can put a good or bad sticker on it."
Daphne shook her head as she heard those words. "Since when did you become so wise?"
"I've always been wise," Astoria said even as she submerged into the hot water up to her neck. "You people just never appreciated my wisdom."
"Riiight..."
"Anyway," Astoria said as she jumped up on the rock again. "Do you know what I thought when I first saw Potter and you together?" she asked and before Daphne could answer she said, "I could not think of a single explanation for his behaviour... except that you surely must be feeding love potions to him."
"That's not true!"
Astoria nodded. "I know it's not! And once I realized that, it made me think that Potter might be playing you instead. But then I saw the dumb adoring smile he has whenever he looks at you. Even when you are not looking. Despite all the things you have done or planned to do to him, he really, genuinely cares about you."
Upon hearing that last sentence, a big smile plastered itself on Daphne's face and she tightly grabbed onto the rock she was sitting on or otherwise she felt like she would melt into the hot water.
"Right there!" Astoria giggled and pointed her finger at Daphne's face, prompting the older sister to ask in annoyance. "What?!"
"That face! You have the same smile as him!" she said before lowering her hand. "And that's when I realized you were actually both serious about this."
"So what's the problem?" Daphne then asked.
"As I said, perhaps there is no problem. I mean who am I to tell you how to live your live," Astoria said, fidgeting nervously.
"Just tell me!"
"Promise you won't get mad?" her sister asked, eyeing her sheepishly.
"I promise! Tell me!"
"As you wish," Astoria nodded in acceptance. "Since you really want to know, here it is," she said and made a dramatic pause. And right before Daphne was about to snap at her again, she finally said it. "I think it all comes down to a single question. And that question is this: Do you want Harry Potter to be your boyfriend or your doormat?"
Thinking that she was making fun of her again, Daphne splashed her with water. "Stop it, I am serious," she complained unhappily.
"I am very serious," Astoria said as she wiped her eyes. The tone in her voice gave Daphne a pause. "Come on, Tori... a doormat?"
"It's a good analogy," Astoria insisted. "Surely you noticed that Harry Potter tends to do pretty much whatever you tell him. Have you ever wondered why he's doing this? Why he lets you have your way in everything?"
"He's my prisoner," Daphne answered automatically. "He has no choice but to do as I say," she said but the argument sounded hollow, even to her.
"Pleaseeee..." Astoria droned and snorted loudly. "He stopped being your prisoner like a hundred thousand kisses ago," she said, prompting Daphne to splash the water in her direction again but this time her sister was ready and dodged it.
"Since you returned his wand to him, he had hundreds of opportunities to escape. I mean you don't even have guards watching him anymore! But despite that, Harry remains here and he continues to obey your orders even when they are clearly contrary to his interests or wishes," Astoria said and took a short dive in the warm water, getting her hair wet in the process.
"He promised he would not leave… and that he would obey my orders until Voldemort is defeated," Daphne reminded her.
"A non-magically binding honor promise that he is free to ignore at any point," Astoria answered drily. "No matter how honorable he is, no mere promise would be enough to make him behave like that. He even let you torture Granger for heaven's sake!"
"I didn't torture her!"
"Close enough," Astoria insisted. "And did he protest when you decided to turn her into our maid?"
"He did protest... vehemently," Daphne told her. It was that action that almost drove Harry to betray her and Daphne still regretted it. Fortunately, they eventually made up and she even apologized to him as he did to her. 'Well, maybe not exactly as he did,' Daphne thought with a smile, seeing as unlike Harry, she did not kneel during her apology.
Astoria knew something happened between them that day but she didn't know the details and Daphne did not plan to share them with anyone just yet.
"Yes, he did protest, didn't he?" Astoria acknowledged. "And what a fat lot of good it did him! Granger is still your maid. She is forced to serve you every day and Harry is not doing anything to help her."
Daphne considered her words. Ordering Hermione Granger to work as a cleaner around the house almost proved to be the proverbial last straw for Harry but now that he knew her reasons, he reluctantly agreed with her. In any case, it was obviously for the mudblood's own good and even Harry had to acknowledge that when he saw the results.
With that said, Daphne could not deny that dealing with Granger was a trial at times.
Earlier.
"Damn, I still can't believe you actually bagged the boy-who-lived," Millicent Bulstrode said and then declared boisterously. "YOU GO, GIRL!" Then she leaned over and whispered conspiratorially. "Although I have to admit… I never expected to be jealous of Harry Potter of all people," she said with a suggestive wink.
Daphne felt little embarrassed by her words. Even though her friend got over her crush on her, she would still tease her about it from time to time. Also, Daphne did not really feel like she 'bagged' Harry Potter. At least not just yet. Nevertheless, she appreciated her friend's enthusiasm and support and said, "Thanks."
The two of them were sitting in one of the saloon rooms of Greengrass manor, drinking wine and enjoying refreshments. It was Hogsmead weekend in Hogwarts and Daphne took that opportunity to invite Millicent to her home. The official invitation she sent to her gave the impression she was still unsettled by her father's death and wished for some emotional support from her closest female friend.
But that was only part of the reason and intended mostly as a cover story. Unofficially, she wanted to share what she learned about the dark lord and obtain Bulstrode's family support through Millicent.
"Naturally, you have our support," Millicent declared earlier after swearing secrecy oaths and being told everything. When Daphne questioned whether she would be able to convince her parents, Millicent assured her she would be. "Oh daddy will do as I say, you don't have to worry about that. Just let me know when you want to make your move."
The difficult portion of their discussion was over relatively quickly and so for the rest of the time, they chatted about what has been happening in Hogwarts during Daphne's absence.
"She's still angry with me?" Daphne asked in disbelief and shook her head sadly when Millie told her about Pansy Parkinson.
"Worse. She's now spreading pretty nasty rumors about you," Millicent said and when Daphne asked her what kind of rumors, she added. "All kinds. Mostly that you are a dirty little blonde bimbo slut who sleeps with everything that moves," Millicent said in a sarcastic parody of Pansy's voice.
Daphne sighed, not even bothering to get angry over that. "And to think she used to be my friend," she said sadly. Although Daphne was never as close with Pansy as she was with Millie or Tracey, their relationship was always cordial. They were both from respectable pureblood families and there was no reason for animosity between them.
Unfortunately, it all changed when the betrothal between Astoria and Draco was announced. As it turned out, Pansy Parkinson harbored a delusion for many years that she would be the one who was going to marry Draco Malfoy. Despite the fact there was no formal agreement between their families as to that effect. So when Pansy learned that Daphne's little sister was going to take away what she considered 'her man', she became bitter and hostile to Daphne as well. Personally, Daphne scoffed at such reasoning. After all, it's not like it was her fault that their parents made the agreement.
That was the end of their friendship as far as both girls were concerned but the enmity between them was further cemented after her father's death. When Pansy learned of it, she expressed customary condolences to Daphne as pureblood etiquette dictated. However, in literally the very next sentence, she asked or rather straightforwardly demanded that as the new Lady Greengrass, Daphne dissolves Astoria's contract immediately.
Given the circumstances, Daphne considered that a totally inappropriate request and refused to even entertain it. Pansy then cursed her and left with a huff, seemingly snuffing out any chances of ever repairing their friendship. Daphne was sorry about that but given Pansy's behavior towards her, she was not sure she even wanted to be friends with her anymore.
Of course, it put her into a rather difficult position now.
Daphne was unsure as to what degree Pansy's enmity of her extended to other members of House Parkinson but it has been months since Astoria's betrothal was announced. She had to assume that Pansy already poisoned her family against House Greengrass. If that was the case, it would be nearly impossible to get their support now, especially since she was not extensively familiar with any of them except Pansy.
"I once threatened to punch her stupid face if she did not shut up," Millicent mentioned to Daphne, making the blonde girl smile broadly. "So at least now she's toning it down when I am around."
Daphne was very happy that her friend stood up for her like that. But still, the lack of support from House Parkinson could turn out to be costly. Especially if they decided to openly side with Voldemort when the time came to finally move against him.
A knock on the door sounded through the saloon and both girls looked towards the entrance. "That must be her…" Daphne said in annoyance but Millicent looked almost giddy.
Earlier, when she was telling her friend about how the golden trio was captured, Millicent was particularly gleeful about the fact that Hermione Granger was now Daphne's prisoner and unwilling domestic servant. Millie never cared for the muggleborn girl ever since their magical duel devolved into a physical fight in their second year – apparently, the mudblood was quite the skilled hair puller. So it was no wonder her friend got a kick from knowing the arrogant Gryffindor was finally being given what she deserved.
But what finally prompted Millicent to demand to see her in person was when Daphne revealed how the girl unsuccessfully tried to impersonate her during the Christmas break in their second year. At first infuriated by the idea, Daphne's friend eventually erupted with boisterous laughter when told how Granger erroneously used her cat's fur in the polyjuice potion and turned herself into some sort of cat-woman hybrid.
"Enter!" Daphne called and both girls watched as the door of the saloon opened and Granger entered. The girl was dressed in servant's clothes and carried cleaning supplies – a bucket with water and some rags.
Hermione immediately took note of Millicent Bulstrode sitting in a chair next to her and there was a slight panic in her eyes before she managed to school her features. "You called for me," Granger said towards Daphne with a downtrodden look in her eyes.
Daphne eyed her for a while, enjoying how right that moment felt. Technically, Granger should be addressing her as lady Greengrass but Daphne decided to cut her some slack and to take it one step at a time with her. Finally, without breaking eye contact, she pointed at the space between the two chairs in which she and Millicent were sitting. "We broke a glass and spilled some wine," she told her before ordering, "Clean it up."
Granger hesitated just for a second before she stepped forward and approached them. Her eyes flicked between Daphne and Millicent before she nervously crouched at their feet to pick up the broken glass and wipe away the spilled wine.
As the mudblood worked, the two friends shared a brief look but otherwise their eyes were glued to Granger the entire time as they both watched her with fascination. Once she finished her work, Hermione stood and threw the soiled rack in to the bucket. "Do you need anything else from me?" she asked, looking at Daphne.
Instead, it was Millicent who spoke up. "Not so fast, Granger! Before you go, I would really like to know what are your intentions towards my cat?" she said and stood up, looking at Hermione with severe expression.
Daphne watched the mudblood's initial confusion but the girl was sharp and within few seconds, she understood what Millicent was talking about. Her eyes went wide and her face reddened with embarrassment.
"Or at least I assume you have some unhealthy obsession with her. Why else would you try to turn yourself into her," Millie continued to mock her. Hermione's eyes flicked towards Daphne but her mistress offered her seemingly no support in this.
The internal struggle she was going through as a result was plainly visible on her face. The girl did not dare to admit the truth – that her plan was to turn into Millicent herself. That was a crime and she would be incriminating herself. And after reading some of the books in the Greengrass family library, she now knew what sort of punishment was typically prescribed for mudbloods who committed crimes against purebloods.
So instead Granger said nothing and Daphne smiled. Even though the girl still rejected the idea of her inferiority, she was already learning her place and that was also good.
Millicent tsked as she stepped even closer. "What's the matter? Cat got your tongue? Or is it the other way around with you?" she asked and Daphne was starting to have trouble suppressing laughter.
When Hermione remained silent and downcast, Millicent lifted her chin with her fingers and the two girls peered into each other's eyes. "Fool! Do you have any idea what kind of punishment there is for a mudblood who tries to impersonate a pureblood's pet?!" Millicent asked in deadly serious voice but Daphne could tell her friend was trying not to burst out with laughter too.
Sadly, although Granger probably suspected they were only teasing her, she could not be entirely certain of it. Disarmed and utterly helpless, she was looking at Millicent with an increasing worry.
"You know…" Daphne finally spoke, bringing the mudblood's attention onto herself. "I do not think it ever happened before. So there is no precedent for a punishment," she said, watching the mudblood's relieved and almost pathetic expression.
"Still, such mudblood must be severely punished, wouldn't you agree?" Millicent shot back, seemingly irritated by her friend's response.
Daphne pretended to ponder that question for while before saying, "Yes, I suppose so. Most severely," she said and watched as the mudblood squirmed in panic. Finally, after a pregnant pause, Daphne decided to throw her a lifeline and said, "But I am sure she is very sorry. Aren't you, Hermione?"
The mudblood immediately nodded. "I am sorry!"
"See?" Daphne declared before looking at Millie, "She's sorry. Do you think you can forgive her?"
"I suppose," Millie answered reluctantly after pondering upon the answer. She then focused on Hermione and said harshly, "I forgive you, mudblood. But be careful! Next time you mess with me, I might not be so lenient with you."
She then extended her hand towards Hermione. A flash of annoyance passed the girl's face but Daphne's narrowed eyes quickly quelled any rebellious thoughts she might have and Granger leaned over to kiss Millie's knuckles as befitting a mudblood apologizing to a pureblood witch. "Thank you for forgiving me," Hermione whispered without making eye contact.
During their entire conversation, Daphne could sense magic being absorbed by the mudblood's body and it was punctuated with a large pulse the moment she was forced to kiss Millie's hand. Daphne smiled internally, happy that this charade worked so well. Externally, she looked at Granger with annoyance.
"Although miss Bulstrode was kind enough to forgive you, I still want you to think of an appropriate punishment for the transgression you committed," she ordered. "You will also research historical examples of ignorant mudbloods misusing polyjuice potions and potions in general. Finally, you will write an essay on the topic," the blonde finished and looked at Hermione with disgust. "Now, is that understood?!"
Hermione looked at Daphne and her lip visibly quivered. Finally, she said, "Yes, it is. How- how long should I write the essay?" she asked with a touch of sarcasm in her voice that Daphne did not like at all. Starting tomorrow, she would make the 'smartest muggleborn witch of our time' use proper titles when speaking with her betters.
In the meantime, Daphne waved her question away dismissively. "Miss Li will give you precise instruction. Off with you now," she then commanded and watched as Hermione scrambled to leave the room. But just before retreating, she turned back to make an awkward curtsey towards Daphne who dismissed her with another gesture of her hand. And then she was finally gone.
As soon as she left the room, Millicent collapsed back into her chair. "That was… intense," she said.
"I know," Daphne agreed. "Thank you for your help, though. I am afraid I am running out of ideas on how to work with that girl."
"You don't have to thank me," Millie said and smiled. "It's not like I didn't enjoy it to tell you the truth."
"Regardless… thank you," Daphne insisted. "I think it helped her a lot today."
Millicent chuckled at that and said, "I still can't believe you'd be trying so hard for Granger's sake," her friend said and looked at her with a mixture of admiration and suspicion. "Who are you? And what have you done with Daphne Greengrass?" she finally said and laughed.
"What do you mean?" Daphne retorted with a neutral smile. "House Greengrass has always been invested in integrating mudbloods into proper magical society."
"Perhaps you were," Millicent acknowledged. "But Granger is different. When you first told me that Hermione bloody Granger was your prisoner, I expected she'd be dead by now or at the very least screaming in agony and wishing to be. And yet here she is, healthy and sane, with all her limbs intact," she said and paused for a while before asking. "Don't you absolutely loath that girl?"
Daphne sighed and said. "It's true. I did hate her… for a long time. But I can't anymore."
"Because of Potter?" her friend assumed.
"It's more than that, Millie," Daphne answered. "Yes, she's an insufferable stubborn mudblood who doesn't know her place. But the more I learned about her, the more I realized it's not entirely her fault that she's this way," she said with downcast expression before making the final bitter admission. "We, as in purebloods, also share the blame. All we gave her was scorn when it was our guidance she desperately needed. That was a mistake… and it was our mistake. So as much as I want to hate her and punish her for what she is, I can't do it. It would not be right."
Millicent listened to her speech with open mouth and was shaking her head in disbelief at the end. Finally, she said, "You really changed, girl."
"You don't agree with me?" Daphne asked in curiosity.
"Oh, of course I do. You are always right about these things," Millie quickly assured her and Daphne laughed at that. "It's just a huge shock to hear you defend Granger of all people! But I suppose you are right. She already felt less insufferable and disgusting than she ever did before."
"Yes, there is now a small amount of ambient magic in her body," Daphne confirmed.
"Really?" Millie asked in surprise. "I suppose that makes sense. At first, I thought it was just the joy of seeing that haughty and arrogant bitch so broken. Excellent work on that, by the way," she said in admiration.
Daphne frowned a little as she heard that. "Yes… she's a good actress, isn't she?"
"Yeah… wait, what?"
"Oh come on," Daphne exclaimed. "Surely you realize she was lying through her teeth with all that fear and submissiveness?" she said before explaining, "Granger has been slowly altering her behavior over the past week. I assume that she hopes to convince me that she is reforming her ways and coming over to my way of thinking."
Millicent frowned as well this time. "She's trying to trick you? Is she nuts?!"
Daphne nodded. "Yes she does and I don't know. I suspect her plan is to either convince me that she is harmless so that I ease up her restrictions which would allow her to escape, or…" she said and paused, her expression turning dark.
"Or what?"
"Or she hopes that Harry will help her if she appears to be slowly becoming brainwashed. She desperately wants to turn him against me, you see," Daphne finished and then said resolutely. "Well it's not going to work. I've been in her worthless mind before. She was already thinking of that sort of plan ever since speaking with Harry and realizing that he was not going to help her. And as for Harry… I already explained to him what she is doing."
"You know, if she is such a chore… I heard that Dolores Umbridge is offering a huge reward for her capture," Millicent said while whistling innocently.
Daphne sighed. "I wish… Harry would never forgive me if I did that."
From a purely tactical point of view, it was very unfortunate she was unable to hand Granger over to Umbridge. Doing so would probably earn the woman's undying loyalty and give Daphne's faction a significant foothold at the Ministry. Sadly, she knew that Dolores would want to destroy the mudblood in mind, body and soul. So that course of action was not possible.
Millie's comment also reminded her of another future problem regarding Granger.
Daphne's original plan was to let Granger go after Voldemort is defeated and the new regime is firmly established. She reasoned that the mudblood would not be able to do any damage at that point, even if her attitude remained the same. And while that was true, Daphne realized the rest of the plan was very naïve.
The whole problem was that Hermione Granger personally attacked multiple pureblood families and made herself entirely infamous and universally hated among Daphne's peers. Which meant she would probably not last one week after her release before someone snatched her from the streets to dole out some extrajudicial justice on her. And while Daphne did not particularly care about that personally, she knew Harry would and so she did too. She seriously wondered why such a smart girl with political ambitions like Granger would do this. Why make herself an universally hated pariah among an entire class of magical society.
The simple answer was that Granger figured that Voldemort would either win, in which case nothing would matter anymore because she would be dead, or that her side would win in which case the purebloods would be marginalized or imprisoned. But Granger never once imagined the third possibility – that Voldemort would be defeated and a pureblood supremacist regime established afterwards.
And as a result of her lack of imagination, Hermione Granger was now utterly screwed.
Daphne already shared her concerns with Harry. After what happened before, she made a personal vow to always share everything concerning the mudblood with him. The boy did not seem as worried as her but Daphne suspected that he could be underestimating the degree of infamy Granger had among her fellow purebloods. After seeing her memories and thoughts, Daphne was forced to admit that the girl deserved a second chance. But there were a lot of purebloods who would not see it that way. And there was no way they could all look into Granger's mind to change that perception.
Which meant that even after the war, Granger would have to remain under Daphne's protection, either as a servant or prisoner of House Greengrass. The big problem was that Granger would never go for the former while Harry would not agree with the latter. Which left Daphne in a pickle and not for a first time wishing that instead of Granger, literally anybody else had been Harry's best friend.
Present
"Enough about that damn mudblood!" Daphne complained as she took few angry strokes in the pool. She really hated how much time she was forced to spend dealing with Granger when she felt like there were more important things for her to do. "We were talking about Harry and me."
"But it's all connected, you see," Astoria responded. "Even the fact Harry now barely blinks when you constantly refer to his friend as 'the mudblood' says a lot. I have been watching the two of you for a while now and it's pretty clear what's going on."
"And what's that exactly?!" she said, getting rather aggravated by her sister's cryptic remarks and insinuations. In contrast, Astoria was completely calm as she replied. "That he is completely infatuated with you, for one thing. But even that's not enough to explain his behavior," Astoria reasoned. "Boys get infatuated with girls every day. But they don't let the girl turn them into her obedient puppy… let me finish!" Astoria exclaimed when Daphne opened her mouth to indignantly protest her words.
"Harry Potter constantly lets you walk all over him not because he's your prisoner. Or because he made some promises. Or even because you threatened his friends… he does it because he likes it!"
"WHAT?!"
"Really… you never noticed how he smiles whenever you give him orders and happily follows you around like a lovesick puppy? Or how he let's you indulge your weird pureblood supremacy fetish on him?"
"That's… he's… but…" Daphne stammered.
"Just tell me I am wrong!" Astoria challenged her and then went silent, relaxing in the water and enjoying the warm currents coming up from below.
Daphne wanted to deny everything Tori said but the truth was that she couldn't. She was not stupid and also noticed the same thing Astoria was describing. She mostly wrote it off as a wishful thinking on her part but sometimes it also seemed to her like Harry Potter was truly and genuinely happy following her orders. Daphne felt both humbled and self-satisfied by that idea.
Humbled because Harry was willing to give her a chance and his continuing trust despite her actions. And self-satisfied because by obeying her orders, he was acknowledging his rightful place as a halfblood. She grew to like Harry and so she decided not to press the issue. But the possibility that Harry was somehow instinctively acknowledging the rightful power dynamics between them and was perfectly fine with that? Well, that brought up interesting feelings in her.
Daphne supposed that many women would be bored with such a man but fortunately, she was not one of them. The idea of a powerful wizard submitting to her wishes in every way was a long held fantasy of hers. It was actually expected that whoever she married would follow her lead when it came to running House Greengrass but Daphne wanted more than that… she wanted her future husband to follow her lead also on personal level.
She knew it was most likely just a silly fantasy and Harry did not feel that way at all but a girl could dream, right? The memory of Harry willingly kneeling at her feet filled her mind and brought a smug smile to her lips.
A smile which was not missed by Astoria. "Right there… that's how you look every time he does whatever you tell him!"
"No, I don't!" Daphne quickly retorted but for some reason she had trouble removing that smile from her face.
She and Astoria swam further into the pool and towards an overhanging rock which formed a natural shelter on one side of the spring. "You know, at first I thought you were just playing Harry and using the way he feels about you against him. I was angry at you but then I realized you were not playing… that you enjoy it too."
"And what if I do?" Daphne shot back, irritated by Astoria's admission. "You think that makes me a bad person. That I am using him?!"
"No," her sister replied. "In fact, right now I am thinking that you two… in a very weird and disturbing way… are just perfect for each other."
"Alright then," Daphne said, both satisfied and annoyed by that statement. Coming from her sister, she supposed that was something. But there was still one thing Astoria mentioned that bothered her. "Then what's with all that boyfriend or doormat comment?"
"I was getting to that," Astoria said before continuing. "It's great that you like to command him around and that he likes getting commanded. But honestly, I do not think it's enough to sustain a healthy long-term relationship."
"W- why not?" she asked uncertainly and Astoria promptly answered.
"Because eventually, you are bound to demand something from him that he considers totally despicable. You know, like supporting your plans for systematic discrimination against muggleborns after the war?" she said, letting the question hang in the air for a while, perhaps waiting for Daphne to go ahead and deny that that was her plan.
When she did not react, Astoria continued. "I think he might still support your actions… just because you ask for it. But deep down he will grow to resent you and he will hate himself for being unable to deny you. For being too weak to stop you."
"You think that would really happen?" Daphne asked with a frown. She did not like the idea of Harry resenting her in any way or form.
Astoria nodded and said softly. "I am afraid so, Daphne. Which is why you must make a choice and decide whether Harry is your boyfriend or a doormat," she told her. "Because right now, you are in a unique position to have whichever you choose. If you want Potter to be your doormat, then it's very simple for you. Just keep pushing him and fooling around with him like you did until now. Eventually, he'll be so besotted with you he'll swear to be your slave if you ask him or something. And he would do it happily."
"But you just said that I would eventually make him miserable," Daphne pointed out.
"Yes, but if he is your doormat, then that does not need to concern you at all!" Astoria answered. "He is nothing more than your property. Let him be miserable all he wants as long as you are happy."
Astoria let the sentence hang in the air again, prompting Daphne to look deeply into herself and analyse her feelings. Yes, she wanted Harry's unquestioning loyalty... in more than one way. But she also did not want him to be miserable because of it. She cared about his happiness.
"If, on the other hand, you want Harry as your boyfriend... or a husband..." Astoria said, bringing Daphne out of her reverie. She looked up at her sister. "... then you need to make sure he also gets what he wants out of your relationship."
"And what's that?" Daphne asked before realizing how foolish that sounded. Her sister had the same thought because she laughed loudly, "You are asking me?!" Astoria said and shook her head. "You spent so much time with him. Did you not once ask what he wants out of life? I mean, does he plan to finish school after the war? What kind of job he wants to do? Does he want a family?" Astoria listed question after question. "Or is war planning, pureblood etiquette training, and snogging all the two of you ever do?!"
Daphne went through her memories and realized that they never directly talked about these things. What Harry wanted out of his life. She knew what she wanted or at least she thought she did. And in her delusion, she automatically assumed that Harry wanted the same. Now she was completely uncertain and wondered whether Harry even wanted a relationship in the first place. She voiced her doubts to Astoria but her sister quickly assured her.
"No. He definitely wants you," she said decisively. "I see the way he looks at you. He wants you and he is willing to sacrifice almost anything to have you. But you will need to be the one who decides how you go forward because otherwise, Harry will go along with whatever you want. Even if it makes him unhappy in the long run."
Daphne nodded and the two of them stayed silent for a long while, just relaxing in the warm water and thinking about what they discussed.
Finally, Astoria broke the silence and asked. "So which one is it?
"What do you mean?"
"Which one do you want Harry to be – a doormat or a boyfriend," Astoria clarified. "And please know that I won't judge you no matter what you answer. Even if you decide to turn Potter into your willing love slave. As far as I am concerned, he is just asking for it. In fact, I think he's being unfair to place all that responsibility on you," she assured her before asking again. "So… which one is it?"
Daphne thought long and hard about that. If she was supposed to be completely honest, then it was a tough question and she was filled with uncertainties. There was only one thing she knew for certain – she didn't want Harry to hate her or himself because of their relationship. She wanted him to be happy.
Yes, she enjoyed Harry acting subservient towards her and felt like it was a natural and fitting power dynamics between them. But she wanted Harry to like it too. She wanted him to willingly submit to her and not regret it for one moment, much less resent her for it. She wanted him to lay down his power and himself at her feet and relish at that act of surrender. Not as a doormat but as her partner who she cares about and who cares about her in return. Who trusts her enough to give himself utterly to her and on whom she could always rely on.
So as it turned out, she could give both a simple and honest answer to Astoria's question after all.
"Boyfriend… I want him to be my boyfriend," Daphne Greengrass said with certainty.
Astoria had a big toothy smile as she nodded approvingly. She then said with pride in her voice. "Excellent. Then I think you have a lot of work ahead of you."