Chapter Eight - A New Realisation

"Stoop, I have a guest arriving in an hour and I think she'll be staying to eat later." Stoop smiled and bowed.

"Of course Master Potter, Stoop will let the other elves know, how will your guest be arriving?" The old elf asked smiling warmly.

"Oh that reminds me, she'll be arriving by floo, I'll need to add her to the wards," he smiled back at the elf and headed to his study to modify the wards, allowing Daphne in. He sat back and smiled to himself. Her birthday had been an amazing day, and the ending had been a simply incredible. That kiss had gone on for a long time, in fact their waitress had to clear her throat to remind them that they were still sat at the table in a busy restaurant, they had blushed a little and headed out, thanking her for their meal. They had headed back towards the Leaky Cauldron so Daphne could head home. He'd noticed her seemingly getting a bit upset and he knew she was not looking forward to another week at Greengrass manor. He smiled at her and told her that if she wanted to, she'd be more than welcome to come and have a tour of his new home. She'd beamed at him and happily agreed, leaning in for a hug before she stumbled, courtesy of the wine. He reached out and caught her, lifting her up, their lips had met for a final time before she had to floo back home. They'd arranged the finer details of her visit by owl and now it was finally the day.

—-

Two hours later, he was waiting in the entrance hall by the fireplace, right on time there was a roar of flame and Daphne strode out of the blaze, smiling as she locked eyes with him. Then her jaw dropped as she took in her surroundings.

"Merlin Harry, this place is… this place is incredible!" She gasped, taking in the huge entryway from the grand old portraits to the bowing suits of armour. Harry gave a small smile.

"That's almost identical to what my reaction was," he chuckled, "come on, let me give you the full tour." He gently took her hand and she gave him a shy smile as he led her around the house. Eventually they ended up sitting in the library. Well more precisely Harry was sat back in his armchair while Daphne was entranced by his huge book collection. He looked up as she gasped, her fingers gently brushing the spine of an ancient herbology tome.

"I never thought I'd see this book," she whispered in awe, "it's one of the rarest herbology books in existence…"

Harry gave a soft laugh, "well if you want I suppose I could let you borrow it," he said smiling. Daphne looked at him, eyes wide.

"Are - are you sure? It's so… valuable," she said, eyes widening in shock and affection.

"Of course, I don't know if you've noticed but I'm not really into my herbology, there is one condition though, make sure you rub it in a bit when you see Neville," he smirked. Daphne chuckled and thanked him, also smirking as she thought of how jealous Neville would be. As she took a seat opposite Harry, Ourlaise slithered up onto his lap. The snake was allowed free access to the house but chose to spend most of her time in the library, when she wasn't hunting that is.

"Shesss the girl with Massster Potter when he ressscued me from the shop, I like her eyesss, pretty eyesss," the snake hissed to him. Harry laughed and hissed back an agreement. Daphne was looking at him with her eyebrow raised. Harry gave a small laugh.

"We were just agreeing that you have pretty eyes," he chuckled, Daphne blushed a little and gave a small smile. Before she could speak, a loud crack interrupted them.

"Ah Master Potter, food for you and your guest will be ready in about two hours," Stoop squeaked with a bow, "ahhh I see your guest likes herbology," the elf said nodding at the book, "has Master showed her the greenhouses yet?" Daphne looked at him, eyebrow raised. Harry chuckled and stood, offering his hand which she took with a smile as he led her outside.

—-

"Harry, this is… this is incredible," Daphne gasped as they looked around the greenhouses. Her jaw hadn't shut since they'd entered and she seemed to be in almost a trance, staring at the various plants. "Would it- would it be ok if I took some cuttings? Some of these plants I've only ever read about," she asked him shyly. Harry smiled and nodded, telling her she could help herself to whatever she wanted. When they finally left she had filled a bag with various different cuttings and seeds, gushing about how excited she was to work with them in her greenhouses back home. He'd shown her around all the gardens by now, deciding to save the greenhouses till last to let the anticipation built. It had worked, he'd seen her growing steadily more excited as the tour had progressed and he reflected on how adorable she was when trying to contain her excitement.

"Come on Daphne, I hate to interrupt but the food will be ready round about now, I'd hate to keep the elves waiting after they've worked so hard," Harry chuckled. Daphne blushed and turned away from the plants. Harry's compassion for everything and everyone was still amazing to her. Smiling, she took his hand and they headed back towards the house.

—-

The dining room table was filled as lavishly as it had been during his first evening at the Manor. Stoop eagerly welcomed them to the table and fetched a bottle of 1955 red wine that Daphne had recommended after spotting it in his cellar. Her pureblood background resulted in a good eye for fine wine, unlike him. They were sat opposite each other, exchanging small smiles across the table while also marvelling at the spread before them.

"Thank you, um Stoop was it?" Daphne asked as the elf finished pouring her a glass of wine. The elf smiled and nodded.

"That's right Miss…" the elf trailed off, cocking his head expectantly.

"Greengrass, Daphne Greengrass," she smiled. Stoop beamed and grew noticeably excited.

"Ah Master Potter, you didn't say your guest was your fiancé!" The elf squeaked excitedly. The two teens froze in surprise.

"How- how do you know that Stoop?" Harry asked in shock. The elf continued smiling, his gaze flicking between the pair of them.

"I was there with Master James and Lord Greengrass when they signed the contract in Godric's Hollow, good friends they were, since Hogwarts, he was always kind to us elves." Stoop answered. Harry was in shock, he glanced up and saw Daphne was also, but she had tears silently streaming down her face.

"Umm Stoop, please could you give us a minute?" Harry whispered to the elf. Stoop nodded and vanished with a crack. Slowly, Harry walked around to Daphne and wrapped his arm around her shoulder. "Hey it's ok, what's wrong?" He asked softly. Her arms snaked around his back as she hugged him back, still weeping.

"It's just, Stoop said they were good friends, your dad must have trusted him and he was a death eater all along!" She sobbed, "how-how can you trust me after hearing something like that, if my father could stab a friend in the back…" she trailed off, her sobs getting louder. Harry was about to comfort her when he froze. Something was wrong, it didn't add up, something about all this wasn't right. She'd told him way back when she'd first discovered the contract that the aurors had killed her father. But if he'd been at Godric's Hollow… Harry shot upwards, Daphne staring at him, hurt and confused.

"Stoop!" He called urgently, the elf reappeared with a crack and asked what he needed. "I need you to go into my study, in my desk, upper left drawer you'll find the marriage contract, please bring it to me." The elf nodded and vanished, reappearing again moments later with the piece of parchment which Harry took, staring at it. Suddenly, it clicked into place.

"Daphne," he started, mouth hanging open in shock, "this contract was signed two days before my parents died…" She looked at him confused yet he carried on. "The cottage they were hiding out in, in Godric's Hollow was protected by the fidelius charm. If… if your father was there on the 29th, yet Voldemort didn't find their location until two days later when Pettigrew told him… If your father was loyal to Voldemort then surely he'd have immediately told him where my parents were hiding." He paused and took a deep breath as Daphne's eyes began to widen in surprise and understanding. "Daphne, I don't think your father was a death eater," he finished quietly…