A week after Voldemort had been defeated and the majority of his prominent death eaters had been captured the Ministry held a press conference informing the public officially that the reign of terror had ended, specifically thanking Harry and his 'team' for their efforts. To his credit, Minister Scrimgeour was much more astute than Fudge had ever been, realizing that taking credit for Harry's feat would be political suicide once the truth came out. Instead, he wisely hitched his wagon to Team Potter, subtly implying a partnership with the Chosen One and vowing not to repeat the sins of the past. The very public sacking of Dolores Umbridge was a particular highlight for Daphne.

The day after Scrimgeour's announcement Harry spent an hour answering reporters' questions, giving no specific details while taking great pains to pass the majority of credit to the unnamed people around him who had helped and insisting he only played a small part. He was awkward, occasionally stumbled over his words and became visibly irritated over some of the more intrusive questions he had been asked. Thankfully he had learned enough from Daphne and never truly lost his temper, choosing instead to politely grit out "next question" when anything inappropriate was asked.

From what she had learned from her father's training Harry's unpolished performance could have been a public relations disaster. But it was Harry. He was honest, humble, and spoke from the heart, causing the public to embrace him like never before. Dumbledore's prediction had come true. He had inspired them for his actions and shamed them for their inaction.

It had been her mother's suggestion that they wait to share the entire story and Daphne's true involvement until her presentation, thinking that the frenzy of interest would have died down a bit, allowing her and her family to ease themselves into the spotlight before politely and quickly fading into the background once again. It was then that one of her father's earliest pieces of advice came to fruition. No matter how much you strategize, how much you plan, sometimes things simply go pear shaped.

Dumbledore died a few months later, using his final words to the public to vaguely admit his mistakes with Harry and confirm that he had very little to do with the final victory, giving all the praise to Harry and for the first time, Daphne. Most crucially he hinted that what the public knew of Harry's endurance and bravery during his life merely scratched the surface of what he had actually gone through.

In hindsight Daphne should have known it would happen...that she had been naive in thinking people would lose interest. Far from dying down, interest seemed to grow to a fever pitch over the school year as more of their peers spoke out about Harry and her involvement was revealed by the headmaster.

Her father had suggested she take questions from the press immediately after her presentation was complete and it sounded so logical at the time. "We need to give them something or they will never leave you two alone," he wisely advised. She should have known by Harry's bemusement at the suggestion what torture it would be.

Her actual presentation had gone splendidly of course. She'd had almost a year to prepare for this moment and could recite her speech by heart. The only struggle had been preventing herself from being intimidated by the intensity of her rapt audience. She was used to giving presentations to a classroom of bored peers and this experience was entirely different. Their unwavering attentiveness drove home that, a year after the event that had fundamentally changed her life, it was now changing again.

Now, as she was the one in the spotlight answering questions, she truly felt that she could relate to Harry. She was proud of the part she had played but felt most comfortable speaking about Harry, her parents, Dobby, Flitwick, and even to a lesser extent...much to her dismay...Dumbledore.

She had given them forty five minutes and it was time to signal her parents to step in and end her suffering with one last turn of the knife. Rita Skeeter had spent the entire conference obnoxiously speaking over other reporters and Daphne had made a point of ignoring her each and every time...silently celebrating as she watched the reporter's frustrations visibly grow. It was time to call on her...sort of.

She pointed at her with a confused expression on her face, refusing to acknowledge that she knew exactly who she was. "You, wearing the glasses with the fake jewels and shiny teeth," she said in her most unimpressed voice.

"I'm sorry but that is all the time we have," her father cut in authoritatively and smoothly, interrupting Rita before she could say a word.

"Sorry," Daphne mouthed insincerely with a shrug as Rita continued to try asking her question above the rumbling of people breaking into their own conversations as they left.

Her tension dissolved as the reporters were finally escorted out of the room and her family and friends made their way towards her. As expected Hermione was the fastest and most determined, quickly and forcefully wrapping her in a hug. As she stepped back Daphne realized Hermione had been crying.

"You're ruining all the fun you know," Daphne joked. "You are meant to be frustrated and annoyed that I'm going to finish at the top of our grade. How am I supposed to gloat when you are being so appreciative?"

"You saved Harry," her friend stated simply as she smiled.

"Come on," Daphne prodded with her own smile. "There isn't a teensy weensy part of you that is annoyed? I mean, you devised a way to apparate inside Hogwarts. It was only three feet and you set off five different alarms but it was quite impressive. Not as impressive as my project of course but still... "

Hermione folded her arms, still smiling. "I know what you are doing and it's not going to work. You saved Harry, Daphne...nothing is more important than that."

Daphne waited...she knew Hermione. She knew it was coming.

"Fine," Hermione said in amused annoyance. "There is a teensy weensy part of me that may be slightly annoyed that some people may be more impressed with the flashiness of your project. If it makes you feel better I wore my Head Girl badge today to specifically combat your smugness."

"Finally!" Daphne exclaimed, raising her arms in triumph before continuing. "Now that is settled where is Ron?"

Hermione rolled her eyes in annoyance. "He said he'd had his fill of school lectures and would just have Harry explain it to him at dinner tonight."

"Why wouldn't he just ask me? I'll be there after all," Daphne asked.

"I asked him the same thing...he said he preferred Harry because he uses smaller words," Hermione grumbled affectionately. "His loss. It will just give me time to ask more questions about your spell," she said excitedly.

"I can't wait," Daphne answered honestly.

Hermione suddenly realized Daphne's family was standing behind her, patiently waiting. "I'll see you in a bit at the Three Broomsticks," she said affectionately before quickly hugging Daphne again and moving to leave.

She watched as Hermione made her way to the back of the room where Harry was speaking to Ginny, Neville and Tracey. He had said he wouldn't be there...that he didn't want to steal the spotlight that she had earned...but she knew that he would be there somewhere under his invisibility cloak. It's what she would have done.

After the requisite hugs from her family and affectionate insult from Astoria ("they may think you're brilliant but I know how boring you really are") it was just her and Harry in the room, ending just as it had begun so many months ago.

"I knew you'd be here," she said warmly as she gathered up her things.

"I missed the beginning," he confessed. "Spent longer in the Hospital Wing then I anticipated."

"Is something wrong?" Daphne asked instinctively. It had been almost a year but she was still fiercely protective of Harry. She suspected she always would be.

"Nothing like that," Harry said with a laugh. "When I walked in Pomfrey started ranting at me for hurting myself again. When I told her I was fine and just wanted to say goodbye before end of term she started ranting that I waited the entire school year to stop by. She ended up sharing some stories about my parents and their friends...said she preferred me and my mother much more than my father or Sirius. Apparently they were big babies," he said, laughing at the memory.

"I should warn you though," he said seriously. "Prepare to be interrogated by Hermione at dinner tonight. She started in on me with the questions about Tuuso Patronum before Ginny pulled her out of the room. She had pages of notes," he said with a look of horror.

"Don't worry. I'll talk to Hermione while you and Ron talk about important things like food and Quidditch."

"I was hoping the Quidditch insults would stop now that I'm going to earn a living at it, Daphne. Maybe you'll even wear my jersey without messing with the colors?" he asked hopefully.

"As long as it's not Chudley," she said, shuddering at the thought of her hair clashing against the Cannons' hideous orange. "You can leave the actual magic and contract negotiations to me and my family while you go off and fly," she teased as she began walking toward him.

"Such a big head now that you are the savior of the Wizarding World," he joked. "You know now that I've had a think on it your spell wasn't that impressive," he continued dismissively. "I could run rings around you when it comes to actual spell casting," he concluded, not an ounce of sincerity in his voice.

She stopped and folded her arms. "Let's see it then, Merlin," she playfully challenged.

She watched as Harry tried to suppress a grin and pretended to concentrate. "Accio Daphne," he incanted authoritatively.

"You can't summon animate objects," she said amusedly, taking a step forward, now standing four steps away.

"Accio Daphne," he repeated, his 'concentration' now so intense that he appeared to be in pain.

"You're not even holding your wand," she said in a singsong voice.

Three steps.

"Accio Daphne," he repeated, holding his hand forward as if pulling her toward him through sheer force of will.

"Is your hand supposed to be the wand?"

Two steps.

"Daccio Daphne?" he said, barely keeping a straight face.

"You're just making up words now," she laughed.

One step.

"Accio Daphne," he repeated softly, pulling her forward and caressing her face.

She leaned into his hand and smiled. "That was the worst attempt at spell casting I've ever seen," she said affectionately.

"Yet here you are," he observed.

"Here I am," she answered as she closed her eyes...still finding him overwhelming. "Hard to explain," she mused.

"I have a theory," he said academically.

"Go on then," she said before kissing him and laying her head on his shoulder.

"It's quite simple, Daphne. It all comes down to intent..."