A memorial service was held for Pansy Parkinson the following weekend in the Great Hall.

The new word of mouth was there was a curse over the school. Pansy's life had been taken of her own accord, meaning it could in no way have been related to Malfoy's disappearance or the attack on Umbridge. This fact then instantly catapulted the idea that all of the instances were unrelated to each other, and if they were all unconnected and not the cause of one single person, who's to say what would happen next? They killer was no longer confined by mortal means, they were now an idea, a physical manifestation of death, floating the corridors in search of its next victim.

The school had fallen silent. Nobody celebrated Umbridge's attack anymore. There were no lessons anymore and no word on when they'd resume. News had finally reached the outside walls and Hogwarts was expected to be closed any day now. The only surprising thing about that was that a definite date hadn't been given yet. Ministry Officials came and went, usually crime scene investigators, but an odd lack of Aurors. Whatever the Professors were up to they were clearly still trying to keep the happenings as an isolated matter. They themselves were rarely seen anymore, and when they were, they were always in a hurry somewhere. The prefects had taken over the guardian roles of the student-body's lives, and its effect was taking its toll on them. The school essentially descended into a free-for-all at this point.

Of the few that attended Pansy's memorial, the trio was among them. Out of the three of them, bizarrely, Hermione was the only one to cry. She had her house scarf scrunched up, used as a cover for her mouth. It wasn't sad tears, she was crying of fear. Ron comforted her, the horrid, morbid reality of the situation finally occurring even to him.

"She was fifteen... How can this be happening?"

Harry said nothing because there was nothing to say. This was past the point of being the yearly Hogwarts mystery, now it was a full-blown tragedy.

Meters away from them was Daphne Greengrass. She wasn't crying, like the last time Harry had seen her. She'd probably ran dry at this point, he considered. Harry broke from his friends and joined her. She didn't respond to his presence until he placed a hand on her shoulder.

"None of us thought she'd do it," she mumbled, mostly to herself. "She was bad, we knew, but…"

Daphne closed her eyes. The second she'd opened her mouth, a swelling of tears had started.

"Were you close?"

Daphne smiled at him. Despite her tears, it was a genuine smile.

"Hardly," she laughed gently. "We bullied each other, mostly. Usually her more than me. But I liked her. I think she liked me, too…"

Daphne turned her attention back to the memorial. Harry wasn't paying attention, but he could have sworn she was closer to him now than a second ago.

Harry felt awkward on his feet. He was never good at talking about his feelings, it was about the only thing he inherited from the Dursleys. Arguments were solved by being quiet and doing as you were told. When he came to Hogwarts and was surrounded so suddenly by people who were willing to not only talk about how they felt, but enjoyed sharing, almost dumbfounded him. It left him on the spot, unable to reciprocate but wishing desperately he knew how to.

But it wasn't like that now. Whether it was the emptiness of the hall around them, or the sheer emotional trauma they'd all faced the past few days, he found his words coming up his throat easier than before.

"She was heartbroken. The best thing we can do now is find out what happened to Malfoy, so that she can rest in peace. And to stop it from happening to anybody else."

Daphne shook her head.

"The schools closing, everybody knows it. They're going to send us all home, the killer will get sent home as well and then they'll never find out who did it. Then none of us will ever see each other again."

"You think it was a student?" Harry shot back quickly.

Daphne looked him up and down, a pale grimace on her face.

"You don't?"

The thought had passed is mind but up until this point he hadn't heard anybody say it. The act of doing so churned his stomach.

Harry gave a heavy sigh, returning to look at the memorial.

"Dumbledore's brilliant, if there's anyone to figure it out it's him... What happened to Malfoy and whoever attacked Umbridge, it's all in good hands."

"You genuinely believe the grown ups know what they're doing? Like they're not as clueless as the rest of us?" asked Daphne.

Harry struggled to meet her eye-line.

"I have faith in Dumbledore."

Daphne shook her head again, this time a harsh shiver ran down her body and she choked back another cry into her hands. The sight of the crying girl implored Harry to comfort her, but his own self awareness stopped him in his tracks. He shuffled awkwardly on the spot, unsure of how to continue.

"I'm just scared…" she said quietly. "Scared of what happens next. Scared of who is next… "

She wiped her eyes and let out a scoff.

"I shouldn't be talking to you about this, I'm sorry... I don't even know you."

A glance around revealed it was just he and Daphne in the hall now, Ron, Hermione and the other participants had long since said their farewells and vacated. An idea had sparked into Harry's mind. He didn't know if it was a particularly good one, but it was something to say, and might have done a little towards helping ease the situation.

"We have a group, actually. We teach each other defensive spells. If you're scared you could come along to it. Learn to protect yourself… you know, if you wanted."

Daphne looked up at him, starring at him like he had just dropped to one knee and proposed to her.

"A-Are you asking me to?" she asked, suddenly looking flustered.

Harry nodded, giving her a reassuring smile.

"Yeah. I think it'd be good to have you there."

Despite her tear-filled cheeks and running nose, Daphne flashed him a radiant smile.

"Then... I'd love to."

When Harry entered the room, it was bustling with life. Seconds later it was silent.

It was the first DA meeting since all this nasty shit started. He didn't know how many people he was expecting to show up, but to his surprise, near enough everybody was here.

Everyone crowded around him on instinct, but this time was different. Eager faces usually met him, but this time it was ugly, grim expressions staring back at him.

"What are you doing here?" came a voice through the crowd.

Harry sighed, knowing what was coming. He stepped aside to reveal the short, awkward looking girl that was rocking back and forth on her heels.

"Everyone, this is Daphne Greengrass. Now I know it's a little unusual to have a Slytherin with us, but she has mine and Hermione's trust. She's here for the same reasons as all of you, she wants to learn how to protect herself. Anyone that has a problem with that doesn't need to be here."

"That's very nice and all, but I wasn't talking to her."

Harry did a double-take.

"What, me?"

Seamus stepped forward from the crowd, his arms crossed in a standoffish pose.

"People are dropping like flies mate. First Cedric. Then Malfoy, Umbridge. Now Parkinson. What're the only factors they all have in common? You."

Harry opened his mouth to respond, but of all the people it was Daphne who was the first to leap to his side.

"He's not the only one they have in common…" she said grumpily.

Seamus scowled at her.

"Oh please, we all saw him talking to her in lesson!" he announced to the room. "Next day she ends up in St Mungos, just like Umbridge. Give over."

Ron moved forward next.

"If you're just here to pick on Harry then you can get out."

"Oh yeah, don't worry I will. But first, I want to see if there's anyone else that also has a problem with this twat being able to walk around freely?"

He gestured at Harry, and then out at the room around him, expectantly.

Finally Hermione stepped forward, sealing the gap between Harry and Ron. She too looked around the room in anticipation.

"If they don't believe Harry's innocence then they are more than welcome to leave, too!"

After a second, eventually, there was movement. A few nameless faces in the crowd shuffled on the spot for a moment, and then shrinking away to join Seamus. Judging expressions came from Hermione and Daphne.

Seamus nodded. He pointed two fingers at Harry as they began to move towards the exit.

"We're watching you. Don't you forget it."

Harry watched him as he left. He spotted Daphne seething beside him.

"What a vile man..."

Harry shook his head.

"I don't blame him..."

He turned to address the room fully, teacher-mode now taking over.

"There is not a single person in this room I wouldn't trust. And the fact that some of you are still here means that you trust me too. I'm not responsible for anything that's been going on anymore than you lot have. Anybody who knows me knows that I'm not the one behind this. But that being said… if there are some of you who genuinely feel unsafe being taught by me, you can walk away. No hard feelings, I get it."

After Harry's words, the room fell still. Nobody spoke, but more importantly, nobody moved a muscle. The only movement in the room was Neville's head snapped from side to side, checking if the others around him had moved.

It looked like whoever was left over was indeed here to stay. Fighting to keep his professional persona on, Harry resisted the urge to smile in gladness.

"On with the lesson, then!" he clapped his hands together, lightening the mood with a smile. "Now is a more important time than ever for us to be capable of defending ourselves. Today we're going to be practicing and mastering the stupefy charm."

After Samus's spat, the rest of the lesson passed uneventfully. Attention was taken away from Harry, but unfortunately, it was re-directed at Daphne. It was clear more than a few people felt uncomfortable with a Slytherin in lesson with them, so Harry ended up being her partner for most of the exercises.

As they paired off in an isolated corner of the room, Daphne spoke up.

"You were too nice to that man. I wouldn't have been as good as you were."

He shrugged, offering her a solemn smile.

"He's just scared, I don't blame him. People lash out when they're scared."

Daphne huffed.

"You're too nice, Harry Potter. It'll hurt you."

If Harry didn't know any better, she appeared to be annoyed at him. He decided to lighten the mood with a laugh.

As they descended into the actual spell casting, he was taken aback by how skilled Daphne was proving to be. Her looks definitely deceived her, no doubt in a physical confrontation she could be thrown around like a rag-doll, but right now she was doing well holding her own against him. She already knew stupefy perfectly and how to defend against it, she reflected every spell he sent her way and almost sent him flying across the room on more than one occasion. Then again she was a friend of Hermione's, so what was he expecting?

She proved to be so good he eventually paired her off with Neville, who as of yet hadn't performed a single successful casting. He then set about monitoring the others process and was reasonably delighted to find everyone else excelling at the routines he had given them. There must have been something in the air that had gotten everyone fired up, if it wasn't Harry's confrontation with Seamus, it was probably want for their own self-preservation.

Before long everyone was performing adequate versions of the offensive spell and Harry decided to bring the lesson to a close. As he was giving his congratulations and final words, he noticed a few funny looks were still being sent Daphne's way. Dismissing the class, he tried to make a beeline for her.

"See you later, Harry!" a voice came through the crowd.

Harry's head snapped to the side.

"Oh, bye, Cho!" he smiled, waving the girl off.

As he turned back to Daphne, he found her already upon him. They met in the middle and made their exit together.

"Is this what all the lessons are like?" she asked him.

Harry rubbed the base of his neck, trying to hide his pride.

"This one went very well, actually. It's usually a bit more chaotic."

"Will you be teaching all of them?"

"Yeah. They picked me as a teacher because everyone believes I'm the best qualified. Sound's bad for me to agree with them, but yeah. It is what it is."

Daphne smiled. She spun around on her heels, her skirt doing a dramatic swoosh around her.

"Well then I look forward to our next lesson together, Professor."

With that, she skipped joyfully down the corridor. Harry marveled at her as she left. She was, yet again, proving a completely different side to her that Harry had seen before. It was as though the terror haunting the halls of Hogwarts had completely vanished, and she was smiling like a giddy schoolgirl.

And furthermore, for the first time in what felt like forever, Harry was smiling too.