A few of you have commented or messaged me on AO3 and FFN, mentioning that you've really enjoyed some of the healer scenes. Fear not; there's more of that to come soon. I've also heard you appreciate the quicker chapter releases, so, like this one, I'll endeavour to make them shorter, when possible. As always, please review or comment.

Chapter 33 - Don't Bite the Hand That Feeds You

Harry let out a long sigh as he entered the Slytherin common room on his journey to the Great Hall for breakfast. When he'd woken up, he hadn't seen Daphne as he'd expected to, but instead, his Memorandus tablet was propped up on her pillow, bearing the message:

'Gone for a run and an early breakfast. See you in Herbology.'

He frowned.

'No 'x' at the end, no 'love you'?'

She was definitely in a mood with him. Harry hated feeling this way. Sure, he was kind of annoyed at how short she'd been with him, but how was he in the wrong here? He just wanted to make sure she was safe! Frowning the whole way up to the Great Hall, trying to see things from her perspective. As he exited the common room and started through the dungeons, he got a clue. He'd agreed with Dumbledore and Cyrus about changing her schedule, but Daphne hadn't been able to express how she felt about it - and Harry knew how much she valued her independence. He got why she wouldn't like being able to be with her friends in classes, he wouldn't either. But it wasn't as though she'd never see them - she'd still be with the other Slytherins at meals, in the classes they shared with the Gryffindors and in the common room.

' No, there's something more to this, ' he thought.

What had she said to him? 'It's not like I'm made of bloody glass?' She didn't want him, or anyone, to see her as weak. Harry could only empathise, knowing how he'd felt after what happened in the Graveyard and how relieved he'd been that only his closest friends had seen or heard what had actually happened.

But for Daphne, many had seen Harry flying her limp body through the castle. They knew that she'd been bested and that she'd needed someone - even if it was her fiancé - to save her. The whole world knew, even; it had been in the papers.

Didn't she understand that every time he was reminded of that night, every time he looked at that Astronomy Tower or the Entrance Hall doors that thankfully opened to let him pass? When she was startled and jumped, images flooded his mind of her writhing under the Cruciatus Curse and when she scratched her head, he saw her tumbling down the Astronomy Tower and smashing her head open on that blasted gargoyle. Even watching her drink sometimes reminded him of her convulsing as they tried in vain to get the Cruciatus Potion down her throat and how he'd collapsed to his knees when everything had seemed lost.

He clenched and unclenched his fists. If there was one thing he'd noticed about Daphne, it was that she wasn't the best at empathy if she couldn't connect others' feelings to her own lived experiences. She understood him because of his innate desire to give and receive love, something she'd treasured from her family since she was little. She also understood his desire to become strong and step out of the shadow of his own legend. She could easily connect that with her own drive to become independent and formidable, refusing to fall prey to the life planned out for many other pureblood girls of similar standing. She hadn't connected his worries about her to her own past worries over Astoria, and Harry thought that if he could just help her make that link, maybe she might be able to empathise.

The twisting feeling in his gut wouldn't abate, and he hoped he'd see her at breakfast so they could smooth things over. But at the Slytherin table, he only saw Draco, Tracey, Pansy, Blaise and Millicent from his year, but no Daphne. His shoulders sagged but he took the opportunity to approach the Gryffindor table in her absence. Maybe just being near his friends from his own house would cheer him up.

"Harry!" exclaimed Hermione with a smile. "You haven't sat here for ages, how are you doing?"

Thinking about how their engagement would soon become public and not wanting anyone to cast any aspersions on their relationship, he quickly schooled his expression into a smile - just like the girl he was worrying about often did.

"I'm good Hermione. How are you?" he replied.

"I'm well, thank you," Hermione answered with a smile, before looking down the hall. "Hi, Neville."

"Hi everyone, excited for Herbology?" Neville asked as he approached, set down his bag beside him and took a seat. He looked decidedly windswept.

"Ecstatic," Ron deadpanned from his seat beside Hermione, wiping his tired eyes and going back to his breakfast.

"You should be," Neville said excitedly. "Professor Sprout told me we'd be working with Venomous Tentacula seedlings today."

"What?" Hermione asked, looking up from her textbook, "But we're not meant to be learning about those until next year - they're a sixth-year plant."

"I know," Neville shrugged, "But she said this year's batch budded so well that they've got nearly twice the work to do, and Professor Sprout thinks we're more than capable. It's exciting."

"Mail's here," declared Dean as a parliament of owls swooped overhead, dropping their parcels on and around their mail's intended recipients. A small envelope with the wax seal of the Ministry of Magic tumbled into Harry's lap, and he opened it hastily.

'Harry,

As you are no doubt aware, I will be running to maintain my seat as Minister in the upcoming Samhain election. I'd very much appreciate it if you were to join Sirius and some others in support in any way that you can. I'd like to publish a list of the houses willing to support me in the Daily Prophet, so please write back consenting to this if you are agreeable. If there is anything that your Minister can do for you, please let me know.

Many thanks,

Amelia Bones

Interim Minister of Magic.'

"Bloody hell," said Ron, reading over his shoulder, "As if you're getting mail from the Minister."

"It's just asking me to show support for her at the election, I'm sure all the other Lords who'll be voting will have received one," Harry replied, clutching the letter to his chest to shield it from Ron's prying eyes.

"I know, but still."

"Hey look, Harry, you're in the paper," said Seamus, holding up his copy of the Daily Prophet, the headline of which in big black letters read:

'Lord Slytherin-Potter BETROTHED After Curing Ancient Greengrass Family Curse.'

"Betrothed?" sputtered Ron, "I thought Hermione and Neville were having me on!"

"Nope," said Harry with a grin, "Daphne and I are getting married."

"But you're serious, you're actually gonna marry a Slytherin?" Ron replied half snarling in disgust.

"No. She is," Harry said with a grin, deciding to ignore Ron's expression. Hermione smirked over her textbook while they waited for the redhead to work it out and scowl. A second later, they weren't disappointed.

"Aren't you a bit young though, mate?" said Dean, "I mean, we're still in school."

"When you know, you know," Harry shrugged after a mouthful of cornflakes.

"And you might as well bag the prettiest girl in school with a Life Debt while you can," said Seamus, waggling his eyebrows, "I mean I would've done it."

"How did you save Astoria anyway?" asked Hermione as she examined the paper, "Soul Magic? That kind of curse is supposed to be nearly impossible to cure."

"It was a bit unorthodox, and there was a lot of luck involved, but I'm not sure it's my place to tell you, Hermione. You should ask Daphne," Harry replied.

"He didn't use the Life Debt anyway, Seamus, she asked him," Neville added.

"What? That's mental!" Fred and George said together from Harry's right.

"I mean, what do you expect, I mean...look at me," Harry replied, giving his best impression of Gilderoy Lockhart, with his hands on his hips, before bursting into laughter. Several others joined him, but when the laughter ebbed, he turned his head and looked at Ginny, who was unable to hide the fact that she was crying into her cereal.

"Ginny?" Harry asked, "Are you alright?"

Ginny nodded, wiping her eyes, but her lip started to tremble. Red-faced, she got up and stomped out of the Great Hall. A moment later after a glare at him, Dean went marching after her. Harry looked to Hermione.

"It can't be easy having a girlfriend with a permanent crush on the Boy Who Lived," she said.

Harry rolled his eyes, "She needs to get over me. I'm engaged to Daphne and sure Ginny's not horrible to look at and is nice and all, but she reminds me of my mum, and they say in the end, women grow up to be like their mothers. I'd literally be ending up with my mum...or Mrs Weasley, who's been like a mother to me anyway."

"True," Hermione laughed, "Oedipus would have a field day."

"What's an octopus in a field got to do with it?" asked Ron.

It was Hermione's turn to roll her eyes now, as she replied, "Never mind, Ronald," from behind the paper.

Hoping to catch Daphne before Herbology and thinking she must've wanted to go for a shower after her run, Harry rushed back to his room, hoping she'd gone for breakfast before her shower and not the other way around. The damp, fluffy white towel in the laundry basket told him she'd been there, but when he summoned the Marauder's Map he could see her name floating just next to the entrance to the Greenhouses.

He waved his wand and cast the 'Tempus' charm, and after seeing that it was nearly ten to nine and remembering that the Greenhouses were on the other side of the castle, he sped out of his room to get to class. By the time he got there, he was quite out of breath and his gaze found Daphne as soon as he entered Greenhouse three. She was sitting on a stool at the end of the row next to Hermione, with Ernie McMillan and Justin Finch-Fletchley partnered together to her left.

"Here, Harry," called Neville from the row of benches directly opposite, "I saved you a spot."

Harry ended up sitting directly opposite Daphne, about ten feet away. She offered him a smile and his heart leapt, but she went back to talking to Hermione. Professor Sprout arrived, clad in her usual olive green garb and pushing a large trolley of very angry-looking small green plants in front of her. Once she'd reached her desk, she waved her wand and started dispersing the plants between the pairs of students.

"The Venomous Tentacula," Madam Pomfrey said as Harry and Neville's plant landed with a small thunk in front of them, "is a wonderful plant with a wide variety of uses. Now, you aren't supposed to be learning anything practical, only theory about these amazing plants until next year, but they're only seedlings so they can't kill you. Today's class will serve to allow you to practise your branch and leaf trimming techniques, which will need to be rather precise in what you have to do today. Look closely at your plant, but please don't touch it for the moment. Can somebody tell me what the Venomous Tentacula plant is used for?"

Neville's hand shot up almost as fast as Hermione's, but neither of them was chosen

.

"Yes, Miss Bones?"

"The leaves are very valuable as they are used in a great many potions, and the nectar can be used as an antidote to many poisons that are administered by skin contact."

"Very good, ten points to Hufflepuff," their Herbology professor said with a smile, "Now, the leaves aren't particularly valuable yet as they need to be of a certain size, but we need to trim the branches and leaves back to get to the nectar within. Once the plant is past the seedling stage, the nectar has become a venom which it feeds into its many thorns."

Harry took a look down at his plant. It looked like a large, much angrier version of a Venus Flytrap, except around its edges were large deep magenta vines covered in bright white thorns with scarlet tips. The most disturbing part was that in its mouth were the very same thorns, but they were arranged in a way that looked like the plant had hundreds of very small, sharp-looking, bloodstained teeth.

"Who knows why we need to trim them first?" Professor Sprout asked, to another flurry of raised hands, "Yes, Neville?"

"They like it, if they are fed that is, which is quite unusual because you would think it would need the leaves for photosynthesis. The rest grows so quickly it often doesn't have enough space to grow its mouth into the size it wishes to. Its bite is razor-sharp and will go through almost anything in one chomp, but it will start off eating worms and rats and then move onto nifflers and bowtruckles as it grows. Animal matter is their main source of nutrition, and the leaves are a backup. That's why the plants need to be fed first before you can trim them. On occasion, some even eat people."

Several of the students took a wary step back from the potentially man-eating plant.

"That's fifteen points to Gryffindor, Heir Longbottom, for such a good explanation" Professor Sprout replied with a bright smile, deftly chopping off a thorny vine of the plant in front of her to get to the leaves beneath, "But fear not you lot, as long as you're wearing your dragonhide gloves they can't bite your hands off. You will certainly need them though, as once you've trimmed enough branches and leaves the Tentacula will let you in its mouth to retrieve its nectar, which is what we're here for. First, though, the trimming and why it has to be so precise. Look closely at how I angle my shears. If you trim the leaves nearer to the mouth too close to where it attaches, you will make the plant angry. It likes to regenerate those leaves rather than create new ones, it takes less energy. The same goes with when you're trimming the branches or 'tentacles' back to get to the leaves. The Tentacula can feel each and every one of its thorns, watch."

She touched the edge of her shears to one of the thorns and tiny fronds around its mouth started trembling. She touched another one next and the vine she was touching started retracting towards the mouth.

"As you can see, it senses the touch, and when it thinks it's got prey, it will use the vines to pull it into its mouth. Its thorns are very sensitive and again, it will get mad if you cut them directly. It has no nerve endings in the rest of the vine, though, so you just need to be careful to avoid the thorns. Use your long-handled shears if you're struggling for a particular snip."

She quickly finished off her work and went back to trimming the last few leaves at its base.

"At the end, each of its seven 'tentacles' should be no less than half a foot in length, and around half of the base leaves must remain untouched. When it feels satiated by your tending of it, well, keep watching."

She finished trimming the last of the leaves and before their eyes, the semi-shut mouth of their Professor's plant slackened to become wide open. Harry could feel Neville's grin at his side without even looking at him.

"Now you probably can't see it from where you're sitting, but right at the bottom is the nectar," Professor Sprout said, pointing into its mouth before pulling a long-handled metal scoop, a strange funnel with a pyramidal rather than conical opening and a glass jar across her workstation. "There's quite a bit of the stuff in a small deep space. You're going to grab your scoop, scoop out all of the nectar and then deposit it into your filtering funnel like so and let it drip into your jar. When you're done, just pop a label on it, add the date of extraction and pop it on my desk. You'll need to do three plants each, they're in the supply closet over there, just go grab your next when you've done with your first one, but remember, you need a different jar for each plant."

As the Professor went in for her last scoop, everyone jumped as the Tentacula's jaw closed around her hand with a loud snap.

"Not to worry, not to worry," the Professor replied, waving her free hand at them, "If that happens, they'll soon let go if you give your fingers a wiggle. It'll tell it you're too big for it to eat just yet, watch."

"See, all my fingers," she said a second later, holding her hand up, "Now get going you lot, there's quite a bit to do before lunch."

The greenhouse burst into chatter as everyone set about to work, the relatively small space making it difficult for any student to hear any conversation but from the person directly next to them.

"So, how are things?" asked Daphne, putting on her gloves and examining their plant whose vines stretched up to her eye level, "Excited to do more work on the runes project? We're nearly there now."

"I know," said Hermione with a gleam in her eyes as she put on her gloves as well, "We just need to rejig the Mesopotamian glyphs to stop the incoming spell velocity from affecting the direction of spell deflection, and we'll have it done by Christmas. If we can do that and it passes testing, we'll have even more time to add other stuff if you want."

"I'm game," said Daphne, smiling back. She had to admit, she loved the spark for learning and research that Hermione had, she didn't know anyone who was like that in Slytherin - not learning for learning's sake, anyway.

"But I'm good though," Hermione said as she picked up a larger pair of pruning shears and started working on some of the vines, "I'm all up to date with homework and have managed to get quite far ahead. I've had a new partner for doing my homework with, so I've managed to get loads done."

"I've heard," Daphne replied, and seeing Hermione's blush, she added, "Blaise spoke to us yesterday, some business opportunity."

Harry tried to keep his eyes on the angry-looking plant in front of him, but he couldn't stop feeling distracted by Daphne and wondering what he should say to her after class.

"Here, gloves," said Neville to his right, passing Harry a pair of thick black dragonhide gloves and proceeding to pull a particularly expensive-looking set of red ones from his bag, "I managed to get one of the transfiguration spells down, you know."

"Already?" Harry asked, picking up a pair of shears and starting to trim a vine.

"Yeah, it's why I was only just on time for breakfast, I got up early. I saw Daphne running around the lake and was worried we started already but you weren't there, so…"

"What did you pick?"

"Well, I blew up a rock and then transfigured them all into butterflies."

Harry blinked and looked at his friend. "Butterflies? You're serious?" he almost laughed, "Why butterflies?"

"Well," Neville said, showing rapid skill in the speed that he was chopping the vines on his side of the plant, "You know how I always suck at non-animate to animate transfiguration? Remember when we did watches to wombats last year and mine was all shiny and metal?"

"Oh yeah," Harry smiled, "It was still a wombat but it was still all metallic. Left a nasty scratch on your desk."

"Exactly," said Neville, now finished with his side and moving over to assist with Harry's, "I can do it now flawlessly, but if I kind of half-arse it they're still made of stone. I thought in the heat of battle it would be easier if I was under pressure."

"Smart," Harry admitted, "So the butterflies are made of stone? Do they still fly?"

"Yep, but to make sure that they can, the wings have to be so thin that they're crazy sharp. I thought I could summon them to me to shield myself and then 'Depulso' them at my enemies. It works as well, left a few great big holes in the dirt, but I can't get them to keep flying around me just yet.

"That's cool Nev," Harry replied, smiling at his friend, "I might even steal that one, you'll have to show me on Sunday."

"I will," Neville smiled in return just as the jaws of their Tentacula flopped open.

Hermione looked up and begrudgingly noticed that Harry and Neville were a little ahead of them at this point, but carried on her conversation with Daphne.

"So he finally heard back from his mum then," Hermione said in surprise, but taking a sharp intake of breath, "Oh God, that means I actually have to go on a date with him now. I promised him that I would if his mum gave her blessing. I've heard some things about the Zabinis and how they don't like muggleborns."

"They're just very protective," Daphne said placatingly but getting frustrated with how tough the leaves on her side of the plant were being, "But they aren't as anti-muggleborn in Italy as they are here. The Zabinis, well, they're particularly ruthless in their business practices and are rumoured to have done some shady things in the name competition, but they definitely aren't anti-muggleborn or participate in that kind of discrimination. That kind of thing was mostly stamped out in Europe after the war with Grindelwald. I bet you that a Zabini telling his parents that he might have a chance with the second brightest witch of her generation would always be told to give it a try, they prize intelligence."

"Really?" Hermione said, stopping what she was doing and blushing.

"Yeah I'm sure you'll make a fantastic couple," Daphne said kindly.

"Thanks," Hermione said brightly, "And congratulations, by the way, on your betrothal."

"Thanks," Daphne said, absentmindedly, getting increasingly frustrated with the plant in front of her, "Have you got another pair of snippers by any chance? I think mine have gone blunt."

"No, but we can just share," Hermione replied, "Why the face?"

"What face?" Daphne replied, feeling suddenly exposed.

"When I congratulated you," Hermione pressed, frowning, "Are you not happy?"

"I am," Daphne sighed, "Of course I am, but Harry's being a bit…overbearing. I've gotta be in all his classes and I miss my friends and it's like he has to go everywhere between classes with me for my protection."

"He loves you," Hermione replied, now finished on her side and passing her shears to Daphne, "You know how important you are to him. You nearly died."

"And he had to rescue me," Daphne said, finding Hermione's shears much easier and now working quickly, "Everyone's just gonna see me as a damsel in distress who Harry had to rescue and can't hold her own."

"You know that's not true," Hermione said comfortingly, "And since when have you cared what other people thought?"

"Appearances are everything," Daphne replied tersely, but she pursed her lips. Hermione had a point, maybe she should've waited up for him last night or gone for a run tomorrow instead.

"Swing it the other way," Hermione suggested, "If Harry had been the one who had nearly died, who had suffered a nearly catastrophic brain injury -and you know they can sometimes have complications, would you want to let him out of your sight? Even if just to make sure you knew he was safe?"

Daphne's stomach fell. "I know, you're right."

"I'm always right," Hermione replied with a cheeky grin, "Now let me have a look at that ring I know I saw before you put your gloves on."

On the other side of the row:

"It's crazy how many dangerous plants are all over the grounds you know," said Neville, "The Whomping Willow, more than one tentacula that has managed to get its spores out so you get them in the grounds sometimes. There's even scurvy grass around the black lake from early spring. Poppy and Hagrid have to trim it back and treat it with potions with bubblehead charms on during the summer holidays because the spores can cause massive inflammation of the brain. It's why it works in Befuddlement Draughts."

"You know, I'd say you'd do better in potions if you weren't as afraid of Snape," Harry replied, "Though I'm not sure it would make a difference with how much of a dick he is."

"I've been doing better too, actually, I got an E on my last essay," said Neville, "I think I'm just feeling more confident in general and it's coming across in my classes."

"That's amazing, well done, mate," said Harry as he took his turn to scoop a clump of the acrid yellow nectar into the funnel between them.

"Either way though," said Neville, "I'm so glad you've agreed to train me, Gran is as well. Merlin, even the plants around Hogwarts are dangerous, not to mention all the other stuff, "Just think about it, without attacks from the children of bloody Death Eaters, we've had three-headed dogs, basilisks, dementors, giant spiders, even Lockhart's pixies! I'm sure Daphne and Tracey are grateful as well."

"Yeah," Harry sighed, worrying about Daphne again and Neville wasn't at all helping, but he couldn't conceal his smile at her happy face as he watched her take off her glove to show Hermione her engagement ring.

"But these can't be that bad, she's letting fifth-years work with them."

"Well, their fangs are still really sharp, if they cut through your wrists you can bleed out in minutes. Can't really trust firsties with them."

Neville reached in and went for one of the last scoops of the nectar they were going to get out of the plant. Some of the little red fronds around its 'lips' started twitching and he jerked his hand back a moment before the Tentacula's jaws snapped shut with a loud sound that made Harry wince.

"That's exactly why," Neville smiled, and then gave the plant a fond love tap with the back of his glove and like a parent chiding their child, said, "Calm down, you, I've sorted all your leaves."

Something caught Harry's eye and he looked down the Greenhouse to Susan who was walking up the middle of the aisle with a jar in her hand.

"Ugh, as if she's finished with her first one before us!" Neville groaned.

"It's not a race Nev," Harry started, watching Susan walk down the middle of the row. Just as she passed, he glimpsed Daphne with her hand in her Tentacula. Its fronds were twitching just as he and Neville's had just a few moments ago.

'Wait…' Harry thought, his heart jumping into his throat, 'Didn't she take her glove off?"

"Daph!" Harry shouted in alarm, and brandished his wand, " Accio plant. "

Its mouth clamped shut with a snap as it flew through the air towards him and as it crossed the aisle he flicked his wand in two sharp upward arcs and the plant burst into flames. Susan screamed and spun on the spot while Harry took a breath of relief and looked up at Daphne.

"What did you do that for?" she snapped, her face white with anger. The rest of the room had fallen silent.

"It was gonna bite your hand off!" replied Harry like it was obvious.

"I'm wearing protective gloves, you moron," Daphne glared, holding up her jet-black gloved hands in front of her.

Harry went red and clenched his jaw.

"There's no need for insults, Heiress Greengrass," said Professor Sprout, "He was clearly worried."

"You don't get to speak to me like that," Harry replied, nostrils flared and eyes cold, "I saw you take off your glove to show Hermione your ring and then my view was obstructed with Susan walking past."

Daphne's heart plummeted, she knew she shouldn't have said that but she hadn't been able to stop herself. "Harry, I…" she tried, but she was lost for words. She didn't even know where to start.

Harry looked at the staring faces of those around him. A few of them started whispering and sniggering. Mortified that he'd overreacted and made a big deal out of nothing, and his face flushed with embarrassment, he grabbed the silver snake at his neck and portkeyed away.