The Power He Knows Not Chapter 6. (Patreon)

Content Warnings: Nothing.

Susan took a deep breath, taking a second to steel her nerves before she walked up to the Slytherin sitting alone in the far corner of the library. Given the traditional animosity between Gryffindors and Slytherins, she had thought it best if she approached the girl alone. The fact that she had never worn the hideous badge that many of her housemates now sported gave her some hope that she’d agree to help them out.

“Daphne?” she called out softly, trying to fight the blush on her cheeks. The curse of being a redhead was that she was as pale as a vampire and blushed at the smallest provocations. And Daphne Greengrass was nothing if not a huge reason to blush. The blonde was intimidating, suave, and unapproachable, not to mention drop-dead gorgeous.

“What?” Daphne snapped, her scowl softening somewhat when she realized who had interrupted her reading. She removed her reading glasses, setting them down on her book before gesturing to the chair opposite her. “Sorry,” she said, her tone still guarded. “I thought you were that idiot from Drumstrang who keeps asking me out.”

“No problem,” Susan murmured, pulling the chair and sitting down on it. “I’m sorry to interrupt your reading, but I need your help with something important.”

Daphne raised an eyebrow.

“I know we’re not exactly friends-”

“You’re tolerable, Bones. Which is more than I can say for most of the castle,” Daphne said briskly, cutting Susan off mid-sentence.

“Right. Well, I wouldn’t even be asking if my boyfriend wasn’t under imminent risk of being ripped from limb to limb-”

“This is about Harry Potter?” Daphne asked, cutting her off again. Susan frowned at the slightly amused tone.

“Y-yes.”

Daphne picked up her glasses, fogging them up before starting to clean them with the edge of her sweater. “Alright. I’m in.”

“You don’t even know what we need help with.”

“Considering this is Potter we’re talking about, I presume it will be something that breaks a lot of school rules and carries with it a risk of severe bodily injury?”

“Quite possibly.” Susan smiled, the grin on her face matching Daphne’s.

Who knew the Ice Queen had a sense of humor?

“As I said, I’m in. I do have a price,” Daphne added, setting her glasses down.

“What’s your price?” Susan asked warily. The Greengrasses were fabulously wealthy, so it wasn’t like she needed money. Fabian Greengrass had made a fortune trading potions, and the family had never looked back.

“A date.”

“With me?” Susan squeaked.

“With Harry,” Daphne replied, her tone crisp.

“W-why do you want a date with Harry?”

Daphne pushed aside the book to reveal the day’s copy of the Daily Prophet. “If I’m putting my life and my reputation on the line, not to mention taking the risk of getting ostracized by the majority of my house, I’d like to have some skin in the game. He clearly has no problem dating more than one person, and the rumor mill says you not only encourage it but that you’re a happy participant as well.”

Susan rolled her eyes. “Really? You’re going to believe the Hogwarts rumor mill and an article Skeeter wrote?”

“Normally I wouldn’t give either a single shred of my attention, but Potter and Granger have been inseparable for years now. One wonders.” Daphne shrugged. “Especially when Granger all but confirmed everything to Tracey during Care of Magical Creatures.”

“It’s a lie.”

“So… she’s not dating Potter?” Daphne asked, raising a perfectly manicured eyebrow.

“No. We just made it up so people would stop looking at Hermione like she’s a charity case and at me like I’m a two-timing bitch. Not to mention making sure the whole sad clueless little boy angle she’s using for Harry doesn’t find any traction.”

“Turning the tables on Skeeter by completely wrecking her agenda. Impressive.” There was genuine admiration in her voice. “It can’t have been those two. You thought it up, didn’t you? There’s a Slytherin hidden in you, Bones.”

“The hat almost put me in Slytherin. Said it recognized my determination to protect those I loved, no matter the cost.”

“That is a very Slytherin quality.” Daphne tilted her head. “Did you come to me to protect someone you love?”

“Yes,” Susan said without hesitation.

“Interesting. I thought you were faking it and this was a marriage of convenience.”

Susan flushed. “Harry isn’t a tool you use for your own purposes or barter with, Daphne.”

“Relax. I mean no offense. I was just slightly astonished that you love him. People like us don’t usually have the luxury of choosing to be with the people we love, after all.”

“Why do you want to go on a date with him if you don’t believe in love?” Susan asked, repeating her question.

“Guess why?”

“The Greengrass line,” Susan murmured, her eyes going wide.

“My sister is besotted with Malfoy,” Daphne said with a scowl. “What she sees in the arse…” She took a deep breath, steadying herself. “Thus, it falls to me to make sure the ferret doesn’t get his grubby hands all over my family’s power and wealth.”

“Why Harry?” When Daphne didn’t respond, Susan continued. “I’m not entirely opposed to the idea, but if you don’t tell me why you want to go on a date with him, I’m not going to say yes. I’m not going to let you use Harry as a bargaining chip. We’ll find someone else to help us with what we need.”

Daphne took a deep breath, leaning back to make sure no one else could overhear their conversation. Satisfied, she leaned closer, her eyes narrowing, “If you breathe a word of what I’m about to say-”

“You’ll freeze my ass off and hand it to me on a plate,” Susan muttered, finishing the girl’s trademark threat.

With how much my ass is aching sitting on this hard chair, I might just welcome it.

“Exactly.”

“So?”

“My family has always straddled a rather perilous fence of neutrality. I fear that may not be possible in the coming years. It’s time to pick a side, and I know which one I’m going with.”

Susan took advantage of the pause to mull over Daphne’s words. A Greengrass had always been the head of the neutral faction in Wizengamot since the times of Gellert Grindlewald. For Daphne to publicly date Harry… The news of it would send shockwaves through the Ministry and the corridors of power.

Something had to have changed. The Greengrass’ determination to abandon their long-held beliefs, combined with Harry’s forcible entry into the tournament and the events of the World Cup all added up to something. She didn’t know what that was yet, but she had an ominous feeling something horrible was on the horizon. Something none of them were prepared for.

“No,” Susan said, despite the obvious advantages to the proposition and her own undeniable attraction for the girl.

“Why?”

“As I’ve said, I have no desire to see my boyfriend used as a pawn in your political machinations, Daphne. I doubt he’ll be any warmer to the idea than I am,” Susan said coldly, moving to get up. She raised an eyebrow when Daphne grasped her wrist, pulling her back down into the chair.

“Let me finish.”

“What else is there to say?”

Daphne sighed. “You’re really going to make me say it, aren’t you?”

Susan simply crossed her arms over her chest and waited for her to continue.

“The thought of laying on my back, pretending to moan while some random idiot paws at my breasts and shoves his tiny dick in me for two minutes just so I can birth his unimpressive spawn and give it my name makes me want to claw my eyes out. The thought of spending my entire life in a loveless marriage with said idiot makes me want to fling myself off the Astronomy Tower.” Daphne paused, taking a deep breath before she continued. “Potter is head over heels in love with you. It took me all of ten minutes of hearing him talk about you to Professor Hagrid during Care of Magical Creatures to gauge the depth of his affection for you. He loves you, you love him. It’s all fairly nauseating,” she teased, a small smile on her face. “I… I want someone who looks at me like that. Call me selfish, if you want to. I want to protect my family but I also want… a happy life. I feel like I’d have one with you and Potter. You’re people I think I can be myself around, a safe harbor where I can abandon the stony facade that has become my life. And-” She paused, a wicked smirk on her face. “I’ve lived with Tracey long enough to know the ‘well-fucked limp’ when I see it,” she finished with a smirk.

Susan turned the shade of a beetroot at the observation.

Is it that obvious?

“He didn’t… uh… I wasn’t uhm… well-fucked today,” Susan mumbled, not sure why she felt the need to clarify that in the first place. She sighed at the disbelieving look on Daphne’s face. “T-there might have been some sexual activity,” she confessed shyly.

“You’re adorable,” Daphne chuckled, picking up her reading glasses and perching them on top of her head.

“You’ll treat him right?”

Why am I even considering this?

She felt a strange draw to the girl. It wasn’t as simple as them needing her help. In some inexplicable way, this encounter felt like it was meant to happen. She convinced herself it was just her brain working out Daphne’s usefulness in the background. Not only was she important to making sure Harry got through the First Task unhurt and alive, having the Greengrass heir in their corner pretty much guaranteed the neutral votes in Wizengamot. With her support, they had enough votes to ensure Malfoy couldn’t force through another change of the damned law. Their little tale about Hermione ‘dating’ Harry might have taken the wind out of Skeeter’s article, but she had belatedly realized it also had the effect of warning Malfoy that they were onto his designs for the endangered Wizengamot seats. Not to mention the fact that once she had peeled back the layers to reveal the real reasons Daphne wanted a date with Harry, she found them to be equal parts sad and adorable. To think a desire for love was something shameful that had to be hidden…

Susan groaned.

This is why I stay far away from politics and making decisions more consequential than choosing between muffins and cupcakes for picnics.

“Why don’t you come along?” Daphne asked, clearly interpreting her groan in a different light.

“With you two? On the date?” That was… unexpected.

“I don’t mind. If Harry and I hit it off, we will end up spending a lot of time together after all. You can be our chaperone,” Daphne said, shutting her book and slipping it into her bag. “That way you won’t have to worry I’m this generation’s Alicia Zabini.”

“That’s… fair. I’ll ask Harry,” Susan said, watching her get up.

“Let me know by dinner.” With that, she left, leaving a dazed and confused Susan in her wake.

                                                             —

“Let me guess, she laughed in your face and told you to go drown yourself in the Great Lake when you asked her to help us,” Harry murmured, frowning. Susan silently walked up to where he and Hermione sat under their favorite oak tree next to the Great Lake, silently plopping down into his lap.

“Unfortunate, but not unexpected. The way I see it, we have two options. We either keep questioning Hagrid until he gives us sensible, useful advice, or we start pouring through every book on magical creatures we can get our hands on.”

“We don’t know what magical creature I have to fight yet,” Harry pointed out. “I doubt they’ll use the Acromantulas considering the colony in the forest is very illegal and shouldn’t actually be there.”

Susan stayed silent, nuzzling into Harry’s chest as she mulled over her interaction with Daphne. Daphne and Harry getting together… made a lot of sense. She wasn’t even as opposed to the idea as might be expected. She had already made peace with having to share Harry with someone else. Having to share him with one more person wouldn’t be all that different. For that person to be impossibly beautiful… She felt a strange combination of desire and jealousy. She had fantasized about watching him with his other partner, and Daphne had hinted she wasn’t averse to the idea of sharing instead of keeping their lives entirely separate… The only thing that held her back was her fear. Her fear that she wouldn’t be enough anymore. That he wouldn’t want her when he had someone like Daphne Greengrass.

That’s never going to happen. We are soulmates, the rational part of her brain reminded her. Daphne could be his girlfriend, perhaps even his wife, but she was and would always be his soulmate.

“She uh… she said she’d help,” Susan said quietly, interrupting the discussion between Harry and Hermione.

“What’d you do, learn the Imperius curse from Professor Moody and use it on her?” Hermione teased, her tone full of disbelief.

“Nope. She said she’d do it for a price,” Susan replied, sighing softly. Here goes nothing.

“Is that why you’re so glum, sugar plum?” Harry asked, kissing her forehead. “What does our potential Slytherin benefactor want?”

“You,” Susan murmured, blushing.

“What, she wants Harry to do something for her?” Hermione asked, raising an eyebrow.

“N-no… Yes? Kinda?” Susan murmured, trying to figure out how best to phrase Daphne’s demand. It was turning out to be much harder than she had expected.

I should have just had her ask Harry out directly.

“She’s lonely and she wants a date with you,” Susan said after a minute’s pause, deciding to get directly to the point instead of dilly-dallying further. “Well… us. She wants a date with us in exchange for her help.”

Hermione snorted incredulously, but Harry stayed silent. Which somehow worried her much more than Hermione’s obvious anger at the demand.

“Harry?”

“Yes, darling?” His voice sounded distant. He absentmindedly traced patterns on her back with his finger, deep in thought.

“What’re you thinking about?”

“Her angle.”

“I told you,” Susan murmured, trying not to roll her eyes. This enmity between Gryffindors and Slytherins is so utterly pointless.

Susan took a deep breath, trying to control the maelstrom of emotions swirling in her. It was futile.

“I told you,” she muttered again. “She gave a lot of reasons that made sense, but the main reason is that she’s bloody lonely and wants someone in her life whose name isn’t Tracey Davis,” Susan said, poking her boyfriend’s chest. “There is no angle. There is no agenda. I swear this stupid rivalry between your houses is going to get you eaten by some big, dangerous monster, and then what?! What then?!” she growled, everything she had kept suppressed since the day his name had popped out of the Goblet spilling over in the aftermath of the stressful day she’d had. “You can die happy knowing that you didn’t fall for the devious Slytherin and Daphne can go back to happily believing she has to live her life without love and where does it all leave me? Alone for the rest of my life, because my soulmate thought his stupid prejudice against someone slightly different than him was more important than giving said person a chance!” Tears were streaming down her cheeks as she continued poking his chest ineffectually.

“I’m not going to leave you, love,” Harry whispered, pulling her into a tight hug. She hiccuped into his shirt, her tears staining the white fabric. “I promise.”

“But you also won’t say yes to her offer,” she mumbled, her anger slowly seeping out of her. She was tired. So very tired.

“I didn’t say that either,” Harry said, ignoring the grunts of indignation from Hermione. “I just wanted to know why, because the last time I trusted something a Slytherin said, I was nearly eaten by a three-headed dog. I just need to know her motives are genuine,” Harry murmured, rubbing her back.

“Well, part of it is politics-”

“Politics,” Harry groaned, cutting her off. “You know, I liked it better when our life was less politics and more snogging.”

Susan giggled through her tears. “It’s not even been a day. You have to do this for the rest of your life,” she teased, rubbing her face against his shirt to wipe off the tears.

“And you won’t help?”

“Oh, no. I plan to live a happy life in our house, tend to my garden, and stay as far away from this stuff as possible. You know someone who can help though?”

“Daphne,” Hermione interjected, her voice wary. “I’m not saying this because of some inherent bias against Slytherins, but can we trust her? What benefit does this date get you other than information about magical creatures that we can get from other sources?”

Susan turned to look at her new friends, “There’s no one more knowledgeable about magical creatures in the entire castle than her save Professor Hagrid. And her knowledge is more… practical. The kind we need. As for the politics, do you think Malfoy won’t catch wind of our fake dating scheme? Except he won’t think it’s fake dating. He’ll think it’s real dating and push through a change to the law.”

“Let me guess,” Harry said, leaning back against the tree. “They have a seat in Wizengamot and we need their vote.”

“Oh,” Susan chuckled, “They have much more than a seat. Daphne’s father controls an entire faction. If we have his support, we ensure Malfoy can never change the law. The best way to ensure his support is to make sure any change to the law directly harms his eldest daughter’s future. ”

“Why not just get his support and repeal the law?” Hermione asked.

“Won’t survive the Minister’s veto even if we did find the votes to do it.”

“All of this is very astute reasoning, but that’s not why you want us to say yes, is it?” Harry asked shrewdly.

“How did you know?”

“Because I know you.” Harry chuckled. “And because that’s not the reason you gave originally. How do you know she’s lonely?”

“She implied as much. I can’t explain it Harry, but for the entire time I was with her, I felt this strange draw towards her. When we were talking about us… it felt like this was meant to be,” Susan mumbled, resting her head on his shoulder and closing her eyes. She was physically and emotionally tapped out, and all she wanted was to sleep in his arms till it was time for dinner and their excursion into the Forbidden Forest. “She needs us.”

“Alright,” Harry said simply.

“Seriously?!”

“Hermione, it’s one date. If she’s as bad as we fear, I’ll grab Susan and hightail it out of there.”

“And if she isn’t?”

“I’ll cross that bridge when I get to it.”

“So, what, you’ll date three people?”

“We’re not actually dating, remember?”

“The school thinks we are.”

“You two can have a dramatic break-up for their benefit,” Susan mumbled, yawning. “We’ll say you were thoroughly unimpressed by Harry’s performance in bed.” She giggled, remembering Daphne’s ‘well-fucked’ comment.

“I’m horrible in bed, am I?” Harry asked, amused at the teasing.

“Atrocious.”

Harry chuckled. His hands rubbed her back as she slowly fell asleep, only half aware of the discussion that was still going on.

“How did we get here?”

“I have no clue, Mione,” Harry answered, shifting a half-asleep Susan to a more comfortable position on his lap. “But since events are so obviously out of my control, I simply plan to strap in and enjoy the ride.”

                                                                ---

“What do I call him?” Daphne asked as she walked out into the nearly deserted courtyard with Susan. Susan had walked over at the tail-end of dinner with the news that she and Harry had agreed to her condition, which had come as no small surprise to her.

“What do you mean?”

“Do I call him Potter? Mr. Potter? Lord Potter? Sir? What’s the protocol? I’ve never had a man court me before,” Daphne said, trying and failing not to sound nervous. She tugged on the edges of her sweater, suddenly wishing she had worn something a little more stylish than her mother’s tattered old school sweater. “What do you call him?”

“When I’m not calling him Harry, I teasingly call him husband,” Susan giggled. “But I think your use of it may be coming on a bit too strong. Just stick with Harry, yeah?”

Daphne turned to study the girl next to her as they walked through the dark castle grounds. The moon was scarcely visible through the heavy clouds in the sky, but there was enough light to barely make out her partner’s features. It wasn’t her looks that worried Daphne. She knew she could more than hold her own in that department. Susan Bones was chipper, open, and the human embodiment of a bright ray of sunshine.

My exact opposite.

Daphne wasn’t good girlfriend material, and she was well aware of how difficult it was for someone to love her. Not that she expected love from either of the two. Her expectations stopped at a happy and respectful domestic life.

This is a simple business transaction. That’s all.

She shook herself free from her thoughts as they walked up to the messy-haired man leaning against a tree close to Professor Hagrid’s hut.

“Husband,” Susan grinned, winking at her before she ran up to Harry, leaning up to kiss his cheek.

“Wifey,” Harry responded with a grin of his own, returning the favor with a quick kiss to Susan’s lips. “Daphne,” he added, giving her a nod.

“Po-Harry,” Daphne said, taking a hesitant step towards the couple. Her nails dug into her palms with enough force to draw blood, the pain the only thing that was staving off an impending panic attack.

“You ready?”

Merlin, no. I have no idea what possessed me to agree to all of this.

She nodded.

“Yes.”

Notes:

I had planned to release Chapter 10 of Together We're Harmony today, but I came down with a bad case of food poisoning (Tried take-out from a new place, didn't go well), and am only just starting to feel like a human again. Sadly, this meant that the chapter isn't edited to the standards I want yet, so I switched it and this chapter. Chapter 10 of Together We're Harmony is all about Hermione's collaring and will be released on Monday. PS. I'm going to have a lot of fun writing this version of Daphne.