Disclaimer: Everything belongs to JKR.

AN: A big THANK YOU to my faithful beta Federer Rex

I'm sorry for the long delay. My beta as well as I have been battling health issues. I had an inflammation in my shoulder that made writing impossible and is not yet gone completely, but it's improving.

May 3rd, 1998

Someone touched her shoulder. Daphne raised her head and blinked.

"Ahhh!"

Her head and neck hurt like someone poked them with a hot iron.

Madam Pomfrey's smiling face swam into view. "Time to wake up, Miss Greengrass."

Daphne shifted herself into a sitting position, using her arms, while her sleep-addled brain tried to make sense of Madam Pomfrey's words. Her palms were pressed against something soft. A mattress, and she sat in a chair that was pulled up as closely as possible to the bed. Had she fallen asleep, sitting next to a bed? That would explain her back pain. The smell of herbs and potions assaulted her nose. Why was she in the infirmary? Her eyes fell on the occupant of the bed, and the familiar features made her gasp.

Astoria!

The memories came rushing back to her.

Potter's sudden appearance in the castle, together with his two friends, and Professor McGonagall's announcement that they were going to fight the Dark Lord—

Astoria's resolve to stay and fight, and her own resolve to protect her sister—

The fierce fight on the Northern Battlement, the breaking through of the Death Eaters, their subsequent flight and Astoria's injury—

Their mad dash to the infirmary, and her decision to remain to take care of her sister despite the battle raging in the castle—

"How is my sister?" she asked, her heart in her throat. Merlin have mercy and see that Astoria's condition hadn't take a turn for the worse after Daphne had fallen asleep out of sheer exhaustion.

"She is still stable." Madam Pomfrey put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "The curse that hit her is contained for the time being, but it has to be removed from her system. We're going to send her to St Mungo's, they are better equipped there for that kind of magic."

Daphne let out a breath of relief.

"I tried to inform your parents about Astoria's condition, but they didn't answer the Floo." Madam Pomfrey seemed to choose her words carefully and didn't quite meet her eyes.

The hidden meaning was not lost on Daphne. Her parents had always been vocal in their support of the Dark Lord, even though their family's official politics on the Wizengamot, represented by her Uncle Cygnus, was neutral, albeit traditional. Greengrass Greens and Groceries, the chain of shops her parents managed along Diagon Alley, in Hogsmeade, Godric's Hollow and Edinburgh. had been the first business after the downfall of the Ministry to refuse to sell to Muggleborns—before that become an official order.

Madam Pomfrey would remember that, and she would ask herself whether the older Greengrasses had joined the Dark Lord and died in the battle, were on the run, or arrested.

She'd asked herself that ever since the final spell had been fired. Madam Pomfrey had returned to the infirmary when she had just dried her tears and resumed her duties. Along with the matron arrived healers and nurses from St Mungos with even more injured in tow. This time, however, they were only Death Eaters. She'd been drafted into setting them up in an additional room that had opened itself and was now secured by Aurors, and each time she took care of a new patient, she'd been afraid she would see the face of her father or mother. She'd not been able to muster up the courage to look at the list of the names of the fallen—

"Maybe they are at my uncle's house." She grasped the only tenuous hope she could think of. It sounded forced to her ears and didn't fly with the matron, if the short flicker of pity that crossed her features was anything to go by. "May I go with my sister?"

The matron shook her head. "That's not possible, I'm afraid. The hospital is not yet back to normal. With the unjust captives of Azkaban freed and Muggleborns allowed to get medical attention for the first time since last September, they are swamped."

Daphne's shoulders slumped, but she nodded in acceptance.

"Why don't you go and get some breakfast?" Madam Pomfrey gave her another pat on the shoulders. "I'll keep you updated about Astoria's condition. As soon as things are back to normal, you can visit, I'm sure."

On her way down to the Great Hall, Daphne saw for the first time the destruction the battle had wreaked on the castle in the harsh light of day. In many of the corridors she passed, the outer walls were missing. In those that still had walls, every single window pane was blown out. The suits of armour which used to decorate the corridors were all gone. Instead, piles of debris lined the remaining walls that were here and there covered with rusty-red splotches that matched big patches on the ground and made her shudder.

Gods, what had those monsters done to her beloved school? How many of her classmates had they killed?

The Hogwarts elves were everywhere, clearing the corridors of rubble and scrubbing the stains and mess of battle. Out on the ground, on a lawn covered with debris, stood Professors McGonagall and Flitwick within a group of wizards and witches whose plain blue robes marked them as members of the Ministry Maintenance Department. They were facing the castle and making grand gestures towards the damage while they held a lively discussion.

Her chest became lighter. Despite the destruction, people moved on and were already cleaning up the mess and planning the rebuild.

She had not yet had the time to think of what the defeat of the Dark Lord would mean for Astoria and herself. Their family dynamics would shift dramatically, so much was sure.

Over the past ten months, their parents had been giddy with joy about the prospects the Pureblood agenda opened for themselves and their daughters. It didn't matter anymore that they came from a mediocre background of farmers and traders, or that their family was not rich but wealthy at best. They were of pure blood, and thanks to the Greengrass family maintaining a neutral stance over centuries, not as inbred as the dark families. That made Daphne and Astoria desirable brides in the eyes of the new rulers of the magical world, and their parents hadn't hesitated capitalising on that by advertising their daughters to the highest bidder.

Daphne smirked to herself as she reached the Great Hall. That was out of the question now. She knew her parents, with the Pureblood cause lost, they'd try to distance themselves as far as possible from the sunken ship.

The noise of many voices talking brought her out of her musings. She stopped and looked around.

The cavernous room was almost back to normal—if you didn't count the broken and boarded-up windows, and the place where the high table used to be was separated off by a curtain. Madam Pomfrey had turned the place into a makeshift ward for the lesser injured defenders of the castle after the battle. The four house tables were back in their places, however, nobody seemed to bother about houses anymore. Students from Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, and Ravenclaw mingled at all four tables, interspersed with alumnis and relatives who had joined the battle. Her heart lifted at the sight of former Slytherins who had joined the fight against Him: Gemma Farley, Adrian Pucey, Geoffrey Bode, Cassius Carrington, and Iris Parkinson, Pansy's older sister who was engaged to Cassius. However, it made the absence of Slytherins from her year painfully obvious.

She hesitated on the threshold, not sure whether she should join them or hide on the outer edges of one of the tables for her breakfast, when an arm waved to her and a female voice shouted, "Oi, Daphne, over here!"

Lisa! Her battle sister had made it!

Daphne's face almost split into halves, her grin was so wide. She hurried down the aisle between the Gryffindor and the Hufflepuff table towards Lisa, who awaited her with open arms. The young women hugged, tears of joy streaming down both their faces.

"How's Tori?" was the first thing Lisa asked when she could talk comprehensively again.

"Not better, but still in stable condition. They are transferring her to St Mungo's today."

Lisa let out a breath of relief. "That's good news! That spell looked awful, and I was so worried for her." She tugged on Daphne the arm and led her back to her spot. "Come on, sit down and join us for breakfast. You must be hungry; someone told me that you had your hands full in the infirmary while the rest of us were celebrating."

"Starved, actually," Daphne said and slid into the place next to Lisa. She nodded to the classmates who sat with her: Terry Boot next to Lisa, and Susan Bones and Ernie Macmillan across the table. They returned her greeting. A plate popped into existence in front of her, filled with eggs, toast, beans, and bacon. Her stomach gave an appreciative rumble, and she picked up the cutlery that appeared with the plate and dug in. "That's heavenly," she groaned between bites.

The others laughed. "Didn't they feed you in the infirmary?" The horror in Terry's voice was palpable. "I think the house elves put food on the tables of the Great Hall as soon as the fighting was over."

"We had soup and sandwiches," Daphne said. "However, there was so much to do we hardly had time to eat." A grin spread across her face. "You did a real number on the Death Eaters. The healers had their work cut out to get them back into shape for Azkaban."

"I'm happy to hear that," Susan said, her voice dripping with venom. "Serves those bastards right."

Terry, Ernie, and Lisa nodded to that, their faces grim.

"Did you stay in the infirmary for the entire battle? I can't remember seeing you with the volunteers Madam Pomfrey enlisted at the beginning of the battle," Ernie asked.

Daphne shook her head. "We weren't there. Professor McGonagall ordered all Slytherins to leave the castle, remember?"

"And leave they did, cowards they are," Susan spat.

"It's not easy to stay and fight if you have to fight against your parents and older siblings," Daphne said in a low voice.

Susan had the decency to blush. "I'm sorry, I didn't think of that."

Daphne dismissed her embarrassment with a wave of her hand "Don't sweat it. It's like that growing up in a dark family, although mine is supposed to be neutral. However, I think you all know how my parents are."

Her classmates nodded at that, still embarrassed. An uncomfortable silence descended.

"Yet you decided to stay and fight," Terry took up the conversation again. "Why?"

Daphne shifted in her seat. "My sister—she wanted to stay and fight. Tori's like that, you know, passionate about what is important to her and always doing what is right instead of what is easy. I wouldn't be able to look at myself in the mirror, if I left her to fend on her own." She gave a helpless shrug. "She's been my responsibility ever since she was born."

"Seems Tori is not the only Greengrass who is doing what's right over what is easy," Lisa whispered into the silence that followed Daphne's words. She raised her goblet of pumpkin juice in a toast to Daphne. "I, erm, I'm glad you fought with us. Merlin knows that I would have died if it wasn't for you."

"You must be joking!" Daphne gaped at her. "I was pants, petrified I wanted to run away most of the time!"

Now it was Lisa's turn to gape. "Are you serious?" As Daphne nodded, she put down her goblet and took Daphne's hands in hers. "Listen to me, girl! Who was the one who Banished that barrage of Transfigured cobblestones into the first wave of Death Eaters and held them up?"

"Yes, but—"

"Who was the one who shielded Tori and I for what seemed like hours?"

"But—"

"Who was the one who took four giants out of the battle with one cleverly placed hex?"

"That was you?" Terry asked before Daphne could utter another objection. He jumped up, rushed around Lisa, and enveloped Daphne into a crushing hug. "Thank you, they were coming directly at us, I already thought I was going to end up as giant paste." Terry released her from his hug, only to pick up her right arm and raise it as if she were a professional dueller who had won a championship. "Three cheers for Giantslayer Greengrass!" he shouted.

Lisa, Susan, and Ernie whooped, clapped, and stamped their feet. Daphne's face felt as if it was aflame, but she couldn't help it but laugh at Terry's antics. "Prat," she said between chuckles.

Terry shot her a blinding smile, let go of her hand, and returned to his seat. Daphne reached for her goblet of pumpkin juice and raised it to Lisa. "A toast to Lisa Turpin who took out the last giant with its own club. I wouldn't be here otherwise."

Now it was Lisa's time to blush, while the others clapped and shouted. Terry slung an arm around Lisa's shoulder and kissed her cheek. "That was some clever application of the Levitating Charm. What in the world gave you the idea?"

"Well, I remembered the rumours about how Weasley fought the troll in our second year—"

Daphne stared at her. "You believed that?"

"Well, it worked, didn't it?" Lisa said.

"Sheer, dumb luck," Daphne said with a snort. "I'm lucky I'm still alive."

"You might say the same about Harry," Susan threw in. "What are the chances to counter the Killing Curse with a Disarming Spell and survive?"

"But that's Potter," Daphne said. "I'd bet there was more going on than met the eye—or he chose to reveal. Lisa, on the other hand—" she turned and glared at the Ravenclaw "—is not Potter and without a claim to the dumb Potter luck."

Lisa ducked away from her in mock fear, and they all laughed.

Daphne revelled in the sound, feeling as if a burden had been lifted from her shoulders for the first time since Headmaster Dumbledore's murder, despite her worries about her sister. The war was over, she and Tori were still alive against all odds, and their parent's "noble cause", and with it their means to force them to follow in their footsteps, lay in the dust. As soon as Tori was out of the woods, they could make plans. They both would have to finish school first, of course. Maybe they could stay at Uncle Cygnus' house until then, it would be rather awkward to live with their parents if they escaped Azkaban by some miracle, given everything that had happened. With a little luck, she could persuade him to invest in the business she planned on opening one day—

A heavy hand landed on her shoulder.

Daphne turned around. Her eyes fell on crimson Auror robes. She looked up and met the hard eyes of their wearer. Her heartbeat sped up under the glare, as if her body was getting ready for flight. The Auror opened his mouth.

"Daphne Greengrass, I arrest you for alleged membership in a terrorist organisation, participation in a terror attack on Hogwarts School of Wizardry and Witchcraft, and involvement in the murder of fifty-two victims of that attack."

t.b.c.

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