Third year passed with little else of interest taking place. The outrage over Firenze also joining the Wizengamot surpassed the reaction when Griphook had, especially when once again, they were presented with a flawless argument, as well as precedent due to there being a goblin present within the meetings, supporting the appointment of Centaur Firenze as the proxy for the newly announced Lord of the Most Ancient and Noble House of Gryffindor.

The wizarding community was in a frenzy when news broke of not just another non-human joining the Wizengamot, but of yet another descendant of four of the most influential wizards and witches in Magical Britain revealing his existence to the world. Speculation concerning who these two new lords were became one of the most discussed topics among people of all kinds. Meanwhile, believers and followers of more conservative ideologies were forced to either voice their beliefs more bluntly or maintain their silence in the face of both Griphook and Firenze being amongst the most intelligent, articulate, and, with the help of their individual political situations, formidable voices in the meeting hall. The biggest challenge they faced was in lobbying support, as they were quickly opposed by many, while others who did support them did so to either try and gain favor from whoever the lords of the two newly returned houses were, or manipulate them into supporting their own agendas, something Harry was informed Dumbledore attempted to do quite often. The problem was found in where to draw the line with the sycophants and manipulators. They needed their support, but neither Griphook nor Firenze would bind themselves to the expectations of returned favors.

Back at Hogwarts, Harry noted that Dumbledore seemed to be taking increasingly frequent trips into the Forbidden Forest, which put him on edge during the full moon, but with Sirius and the new additions of Professor Lupin, whom Harry had finally approached and told the truth about Sirius before asking for a vow of silence and explaining about his own condition, and Firenze, he was reassured that Dumbledore had yet to figure anything out. He had been surprised when he and Daphne had been sitting in the forest with Kyddris, who was now just a bit smaller than a horse, and yet just as friendly as the day he hatched, Zephyr had appeared to join them after one of his daily flights and had been accompanied by Fawkes.

Harry had introduced Daphne to the phoenix, and smiled when he seemed to like her, perching on her shoulder and letting out a song that filled them both with happiness. While Harry had been steadily finding that he could understand most animals, receiving impressions of emotions, instincts, and on occasion thoughts in the case of certain magical creatures, Fawkes seemed to communicate in a completely different fashion. It was almost as if Harry could hear the song in the very depths of his mind, letting him know exactly what Fawkes was thinking, but in a manner completely foreign from what he would consider thought.

It was near the end of the semester when anything noteworthy happened. They had been sitting in their clearing, trying to figure out what they were going to do over the summer, as Dumbledore had come by to remind Harry that he needed to go back and stay with his relatives for at least a month, making sure to emphasise that he was not to run away this time. When he had relayed the info to Daphne she had snorted derisively and rolled her eyes as she leaned against his side while Kyddris draped himself across their laps.

"Yeah, fat chance. I've already spoken with my mother, and after playing to her maternal instincts she's agreed to house you at some point over the summer."

"What about your father?" Harry asked.

"He might be the Lord Greengrass in public, and a jackass in private, but he still knows who's really in charge of Greengrass Manor. Plus are you really telling me that you don't plan on having Tipsy apparate you directly to Potter Manor once we arrive at King's Cross?"

"That's fair," Harry conceded. "But I do wonder what he meant by having to stay for at least a month."

"Whatever reason he has, it's not worth spending another minute with them," Daphne spat.

"No, it isn't. We'll just have to figure it out later."

A rustling off to the side drew their attention as Professor Lupin came strolling into the clearing, his hands in his pockets.

"Good morning, Professor," Daphne greeted.

"It's not Professor any longer, I'm afraid," Lupin replied staring up at the clouds drifting lazily across the sky.

"Why not?" Harry asked.

"It seems word about my condition has gotten out, and parents are demanding my resignation," Lupin informed them.

"That's terrible!" Daphne exclaimed while Harry growled at the idea of someone he considered a pack mate being thrown of the school.

"But inevitable," Lupin said sadly.

"You know that you're welcome to stay with Sirius and me, right?" Harry offered.

"That's very kind of you, Harry. I may just take you up on it after some time to myself," Lupin replied. "I did have one question for you though, before I left."

"Ask away."

"Back in October, when I showed you all the boggart, how did you make it keep changing forms?"

"It was nothing special," Harry admitted. "Severus warned me ahead of time that we would be facing a boggart, and I had read about them before, so I knew how they worked. When it came to be my turn, rather than let it turn into my worst fear in front of all those people, I just started thinking about all the times I had been really afraid, and it changed along with my memories."

"Astounding," Lupin muttered. "Never have I heard of someone able to master their own fears to the point where they could manipulate a boggart like that. If I may, what was it you were hoping to stop the boggart from turning into?"

"Sorry, Moony, you already used your one question," Harry said cheekily.

"That's fair," Lupin replied with a shrug. "You two may want to hurry back to the castle. The carriages will be leaving soon."

Harry and Daphne nodded, and, thanks to Tipsy and Dobby sparing them the need to return to their dorms for their things, decided to they might as well leave.

"How would you like to skip the carriages?" Harry asked.

"What did you have in mind?" Rather than answer, Harry smiled and shifted into Nightfire before crouching down next to her. Daphne giggled when he nuzzled her hand before tossing his head back to his furry back. "You want me to ride you?" Nightfire purred and nodded his head as he waited anxiously for her to climb aboard. Once she was securely on his back, her hands buried in his mane, Nightfire stood up to his full height, which had grown since his first transformation to about five and a half feet at the shoulder. Stretching his wings into the air, Nightfire pushed off his scaled hind legs and took off with a running start, rising above the trees with only a few flaps of his massive wings and roaring victoriously while Daphne screamed and laughed as they zoomed through the air. She could tell that Harry had missed flying since breaking his broom near the beginning of the year, and as he executed various midair maneuvers on the way to Hogsmeade Station, she could feel the exhilaration he felt as he enjoyed the specific freedom that came with flying unencumbered through the air.

It was amazing how much could change over the course of just one year.

*(OoO)*

Summer passed dreadfully slowly for Daphne. While she normally relished in the break in her studies, taking advantage of the warm weather to do little more than lounge about in the sun far away from anyone else, with the exception of Tracey and Blaise, who would regularly come over to spend time with her, ever since meeting and befriending Harry Potter nearly a year ago she simply couldn't get her mind to calm down while he was away. Her friends pestered her relentlessly about it, especially whenever a certain snowy white owl would appear on the horizon and Daphne would leap to her feet and run outside just to receive the letter from the boy who had rapidly become one of her best friends that much sooner.

"She must consider this her second home," Tracey commented one day after Hedwig had delivered yet another letter from Harry before choosing to simply relax on Daphne's shoulder. They were all sitting on the balcony outside Daphne's room on the second floor of Greengrass manor when Hedwig appeared out of nowhere with a letter from Harry.

"I wonder how far he is from us," Blaise said. "How long does it normally take to get a letter from him?"

"He's been staying with the Weasleys at their home on the outskirts of Ottery St. Catchpole, in Devon, for the past couple weeks," Daphne informed them, deflecting the conversation. "Arthur Weasley managed to secure several tickets to the World Cup, so Ron invited him and Granger to join them."

"I bet that's got you all excited," Tracey teased. "Now you have less than a week before you can see him, rather than having to wait for your chance to frantically search the train and hope Weasley and Granger don't lock you out of the compartment."

Daphne rolled her eyes and ignored the part of her that had most definitely not been anxiously counting the days on the calendar before they left for the Quidditch World Cup themselves. That would be behaviour more becoming of someone with a silly schoolgirl crush, not the fourteen year old Heiress to the Noble House of Greengrass, who had to already contend with the political machinations of her fellow Slytherins (and their parents), as well as work covertly to help play her part in some magical prophecy that predicted she and her friends would be amongst those reshaping the entirety of at least one broken system of society before moving on to goals that would somehow involve the world at large. No. If she ever caught herself wondering how much Harry had grown, or pondering on the occasional flash of feeling when he was studying or training, it was simply because she recognised the fact that there were several groups of people who would like to see him dead and he needed to be in peak condition. It most certainly had nothing to do with the fact that by the end of their third year, he had already started to have a body that no thirteen year old boy should have, and that was just from the impression she got through his bulky robes and the couple brief glances she had earlier in the year. If she found herself drifting off into thoughts about his vibrant green eyes, it was only because she had noticed that as his power grew through his exercises and their joint extra training with Professor Snape, they would sometimes actually glow, and she was simply trying to think of ways to cover up the tactical disadvantage that would present were he forced to fight in low visibility. And if she sometimes imagined what he would be like in the far off future, and envisioned him playing with his future son and daughter (who just so happened to have messy, blond hair with green eyes and straight, dark hair with blue eyes, but that was just because they were very common) it was simply because he was her good friend, and after hearing what he would be faced with in the future, and briefly seeing the marks of what he had faced in the past, she couldn't help but hope he would someday have the family he so desperately wished for.

"I can't believe he actually chose to go and spend his time with them," Tracey said disbelievingly, snapping Daphne out of her thoughts. "After everything that happened between the three of them over the last year, you would think he would rather stay far away from them."

"I think he hopes that some time together, not worrying about school, or training, or plans for the future, will help him mend some of the distance between the three of them," Daphne replied, still sour whenever she thought about how the two people who claimed to be Harry's best friends had treated him because he had decided that there were certain aspects of his life that he simply couldn't share with them.

"And how's that working out for him?" Blaise asked.

"Better than I expected, but not nearly as well as he had hoped," Daphne answered vaguely. "He's in a house with eight other people, and all of them –except maybe the youngest Weasley, since she still has a hard time forming complete sentences around him –seem to have opinions about him and want to tell him what they think he should be doing with his free time. The only time they aren't lecturing him on his exercise or reading habits are when he's playing Quidditch with them or flying on the new Firebolt his godfather got him for his birthday."

"I would have thought that Granger at least wouldn't fault him for wanting to get ahead on his classes," Blaise admitted.

"He's not reading anything that has to do with Hogwarts," Daphne corrected. "And for the most she at least respects him enough to let him read in silence."

"Then what is he reading that could have the whole Weasley Clan in such a tizzy?" Tracey asked.

"He's purchased a ton of texts on Muggle practices," Daphne said. "He's been really interested in their science and mathematics, as well as anything pertaining to law and economics. The twins, who he said want to start their own joke shop, have been really supportive. According to Harry, they've asked to borrow pretty much every one of his books after he's finished with them, with the hope of applying them to their pranks as well as how to best manage their future funds. The Weasley patriarch has also been fairly enthusiastic, but that's to be expected considering he's known for his fascination with all things Muggle."

"So it's Ron that's giving him grief?" Tracey surmised.

"As well as his mother and older brother. Despite their apparent love for Muggles, even they've fallen into the trap of believing that we don't need to know anything about their understanding of the world since we have magic to explain most things."

"Man, am I happy that my dad didn't bring any of your society's garbage with him when he married my mum," Tracey announced. "He was nobody special, so no one even cared when he married a muggle."

"Until you went and blabbed about it first year and turned most of Slytherin against us," Blaise muttered. "I do agree with you. My Nonno made sure I was properly educated in Muggle matters in case I decided to join the family business."

"You said he's being given grief for his exercise habits?" Tracey asked getting things back on track.

Daphne nodded with a smile. She had been particularly bitter thinking about how, even on vacation far away from those monsters he had lived with before Zephyr saved, he was still being given grief for just trying to live his life his way, when she felt a sudden burst of comfort through her connection with Harry, which while severely weakened due to the distance between them, was still strong enough to occasionally send them both impressions of what the other was feeling. "During the school year he would wake up early most mornings to swim in the Black Lake, and when he returned home for the summer, Professor Snape, Griphook, and his godfather all pitched in to help step up his training. At the Burrow, the best he has is a small pond infested with grindylows and running laps around the property while avoiding the never-ending horde of gnomes that live there."

"Considering his weird connection with most creatures, you would think he would be fine with that," Blaise joked, prompting a snort from Tracey.

"Yeah, while Granger keeps making thinly veiled comments alluding to the fact that she knows he's hiding something beneath his clothes, even while exercising. And the Weasleys find it strange that a person would want to exercise beyond just playing Quidditch."

"I'm sure Sister Granger's coronary at the sight of the massive dragon tattoo across his torso would be a sight to see," Tracey said with a giggle.

"Especially when it came to life and revealed itself to be a four hundred pound Ukrainian Ironbelly," Blaise added.

They all burst into laughter which only died when a larger than average dove made out of glowing silvery-white mist flew onto the balcony and landed between them.

"Your father is home, and has brought guests," Daphne's mother's voice rang out of the dove. "He will be in the drawing room for the rest of the night, and working from home until we leave for the World Cup. He does not wish to be disturbed."

"That's not good," Daphne muttered as the dove faded like smoke caught in a breeze. Despite the warm late afternoon sun, a cold chill had suddenly made its way down her spine, filling her veins with ice and threatening to restrict the air from her lungs. The drawing room was just down the hall from Daphne's room, and while Cyrus didn't normally use it, preferring to use the Lord's Office (much to her consternation), if he so much as was made aware of her presence nearby, Daphne knew it wouldn't end well. Especially if she had visitors, one of whom was Tracey, over without his permission.

"We need to get to out of here," Tracey whispered frantically

"How?" Blaise asked. "We can't apparate, and the drawing room is between us and the rest of the house."

"Maybe he hasn't put up any wards yet."

"No, Grubby puts them up for him right away after he arrives now." Daphne countered. "He isn't about to make the same mistake again, especially after Firenze and Griphook managed to secure the law he was attempting to pass last month failed. He was convinced I leaked information to them regarding what he said in a conversation concerning his thoughts on certain members of the Wizengamot."

"But didn't you?

It had actually been a recording of him discussing the illegal dealings of some of his allies. Turns out Hermione's spy earrings were good for something after all.

"That's beside the point!" Daphne hissed. "If he's paranoid enough to trap me in my room, that means he's just looking for an excuse. We need to find another way out of here."

"I don't suppose Grubby would help?" Blaise asked.

"I doubt it," Tracey said ruefully. "Didn't you say he came with Cyrus? Lady Greengrass didn't have an elf at the time of their marriage."

"No, but that does give me an idea," Daphne said as she was struck by the memory of seeing Harry collapse on the ground after reciting a prophecy that he shouldn't have been able to. Closing her eyes and focusing on the feelings that bonded her and Harry together, Daphne prayed for success as she whispered the only word that could possibly save her and her friends.

"Dobby."

With a loud crack, Dobby appeared standing between them. His recovery from the Malfoy's abuse had gone splendidly as he was now standing a bit taller and there was more than just skin and bones beneath the nice suit that Harry had finally manipulated him into wearing instead of the pillow case he had before. His large, exaggerated features had started to shrink, making him look slightly more humanoid. He was still a far cry from Tipsy, who looked more like a miniature human with only slightly larger eyes and ears. Going more than a decade without her masters had made her look significantly older, wrinkling the corners of her eyes and mouth, and greying her hair slightly, but other than that, she was the picture of what a happy, healthy house-elf with a loving home should look like.

"Master Harry Potter's Sunny-Grass Girl called?" Dobby asked with a smile.

"Dobby, we're in danger," Daphne whispered desperately as she already heard footsteps and voices in the hall. "There's a bad man outside this room, and we need your help to get away from here."

Dobby's smile faded and he nodded seriously. Taking out a pocket watch from the pocket of his nicely pressed slacks, he quickly checked the time before putting it back. "Worry not. Dobby will keep Master Harry's Sunny-Grass and friends safe." Reaching into his jacket, he pulled out a slip of parchment and handed it to Daphne. "Quickly now, Lady Sunny-Grass and her friends must read this so that Dobby can bring them through the wards."

Daphne nodded and looked down at the slip of parchment and recognised the scratchy handwriting that read: The Home of the Most Ancient and Noble House of Potter can be found in the forests north of Banff National Park.

Banff? Daphne thought as she handed the slip of parchment to Tracey and Blaise, who read it quickly and both bore similar looks of confusion as Dobby took back the parchment and quickly burned it. They didn't have time to question him, though, as the doorknob to her room rattled and she heard cursing followed by a low muttering of a spell as she grabbed hold of Dobby's shoulder and was suddenly struck by the feeling of being a square block shoved through a circular hole as her room vanished and she collapsed on the warm hardwood flooring of what she assumed to be Potter Manor.

"Daphne? What are you doing here?" A familiar voice asked, and Tracey screamed in fright as they looked up and saw Sirius Black standing over them, a look of concern in his sunken grey eyes.

"I called for Dobby to get us out of a tight spot and he brought us here," Daphne explained. "Though I'm not too sure where here is. Also, these are two of my best friends, Tracey Davis and Blaise Zabini."

"It's a pleasure to make your acquaintances," Sirius said politely. He looked far different from the haggard man that she had watched Harry fight off an out-of-control to save earlier in the year. Like Dobby, his body seemed to be recovering nicely from years of torment, and his eyes, though still haunted, had regained some of their shine. He was now dressed in a stylish three-piece suit, and his long black hair had been tied back in a low ponytail with a red ribbon (most likely an allusion to the fact that he was the only known Black to enter Gryffindor instead of Slytherin) while she noticed a ring on her hand that most pureblood families would recognise.

"So, you finally managed to get to Gringotts to secure your Lordship?" Daphne asked while Tracey and Blaise continued to balk at the casual way she was speaking to a known mass-murderer, who was infamous for the betrayal of James and Lily Potter.

"That I did," Sirius replied. "I never thought I would be taking up this position, especially considering it wasn't all that long after Regulus died that I was hauled off to Azkaban. But with Harry and Griphook's help, and a good word from Ragnok himself, I managed to sneak my way into Gringotts to take the blood test and accept the ring."

"Wait, you're the Lord Black?!" Tracey shouted. "I would have thought that you would lose your candidacy for the Lordship after, you know, killing a bunch of people."

"I would," Sirius replied, his eyes sparkling with mirth. "But seeing as I do hold the position as Lord of The Most Ancient and Noble House of Black, perhaps a bright girl like yourself would be able to infer the truth of the matter."

"You're innocent," Blaise said. "And that also means that you're the godfather of Harry's that Daphne keeps mentioning."

"Got it in one, my young Mafioso," Sirius said, causing Blaise's eyes to widen before he simply blazed onward. "Now, what was it you were saying about danger? And make it snappy, Harry's going to check in the second he can get away from the Burrow, and I'd like to prevent an angry dragon-lion from bursting in here and burning the place down, especially after Tipsy and I just finished putting in these new hardwood floors over that dreadfully cold cobblestone."

"My father brought home guests while I had Tracey and Blaise over," Daphne explained. "My mother told me to find someplace to stay and meet up with her and my little sister at the World Cup."

"I see," Sirius murmured, writing down a quick note and handing it to Hedwig, who had been forced to apparate with them and had flown over to sit on a nearby shelf when they all collapsed on the floor. Hedwig took the note and took off only to disappear before she even made it to the window. "Owl apparation," Sirius explained. "Lets her instantly come and go from here to a believable distance from anywhere else. Helps with keeping people from using her flight patterns to figure out where we are and spares her from having to cross the pond every time we want to send a letter."

"Lord Black, where exactly are we?" Tracey asked.

"Canada," Sirius replied simply as he walked off to the kitchen. "Now come, let's have some food and figure out the best way to use this opportunity to mess with Harry. Now that they know to be quiet, Dobby and Tipsy will collect all your school things and deliver messages to your parents alluding to where you are. Afterwards I can show you all where you can stay until the World Cup."

"Be sure that it goes to my mother, please, Dobby," Daphne said as they followed Sirius. Dobby nodded and vanished, this time quietly, while Tipsy quickly served four plates of steaming hot stew with buttered slices of baguette before also vanishing silently.

"If we're really in Canada, how do you keep the authorities from tracking your international travels?" Tracey inquired.

"The Potters are a very old and very powerful family," Sirius said. "Only Harry is allowed to know the details of how any of the probably thousands of enchantments and wards work, but the way I understand it, in the case of the Floo Network, somewhere along the line, one of Harry's ancestors found a way to create their own between here and different locations all over the world. There's a second regular fireplace at each of these locations that while traceable will only tell you that he's in your country, not where he came from or where he's going."

"That sounds all kinds of illegal," Blaise muttered.

Sirius shrugged and took the first forkful of stew. "Probably."

*(OoO)*

Harry woke earlier than usual the day of the Quidditch World Cup. He was happy that he had mended some of the damage to his friendships with Ron and Hermione, going so far as to actually share with them the identity and innocence of his godfather, and even reluctantly explaining some of the details concerning Zephyr after they had seen him appear to Harry in a bolt of lightning and shrink himself down from his four-winged size to the one he normally used when around others. Despite all this, he was still extremely anxious about seeing Daphne again, especially after receiving the letter from Sirius detailing how she was staying at Potter Manor with Tracey and Blaise and would meet up with him at the entrance to the camp. Ron and Hermione both teased him relentlessly for packing a particularly nice set of clothes just for the World Cup, but this was the first time Harry would be meeting the Lord and Lady Greengrass, and, in the case of the latter, revealing his position as Head of House Potter. Daphne had convinced him to bring her mother into the loop, stating that Penelope Greengrass was fiercely loyal to her family and their allies, and that she would make a powerful ally and useful spy until they figured out the best way to remove Cyrus from his place as Lord of House Greengrass. Creeping out of the room he shared with Ron, he waved at the twins, who were already up and prepared to leave, both sitting in the small living room on the ground floor, reading two of the Muggle books Harry had brought with him.

Stretching his arms above his head as he stepped out into the early morning sun, he made his way over to the small pond behind the Burrow, punting a gnome who was trying to uproot Mrs. Weasley's vegetable garden along the way. Pulling out his wand, he quickly transfigured his T-shirt and boxers into a form fitting wetsuit, frowning once more at the strange feeling from his wand. It seemed like it had been fighting him more and more lately as he had to sometimes force his magic through it, similar to how one would struggle through waist-high mud. There had even been one occasion where he tried to cast a simple lumos, and rather than the tip of his wand starting to glow, a bright light suddenly poured out of the tip of his pinky fingers. With a quick greeting to the nearest grindylow watching him from the murky bottom of the pond, Harry dived in and started his daily routine of swimming the length of the tiny pond over and over.

It wasn't nearly as good as swimming in the Black Lake, or any of the many bodies of water around Potter Manor, and he always found himself missing the company of the Giant Squid, who never failed to make him laugh with its silly underwater antics or stories of how it messed with the merpeople. The grindylows were not much smarter than the gnomes, and only respected him after he had proved that he was capable of communicating with as well as blasting them to bits. Kyddris had particularly enjoyed that last part. He had spent the entire time at the Burrow hidden as a tattoo and Harry couldn't help but find it cute that he couldn't seem to decide whether he was more excited to finally get to spread his wings again, or finally see Daphne after nearly two months apart. Harry couldn't help but agree as well. The distance separating him from his best friend felt like a piece of him was being pulled and stretched getting closer and closer to snapping off with every day and every mile. Pulling himself out of the pond, he quickly dried himself and conjured a towel, making sure to leave his hair damp so as to not arouse suspicion that he was performing magic outside of Hogwarts. He returned to his room just as Hermione was exiting the bathroom, and greeted her cheerily, ignoring the slightly skeptical look in her eye as she returned the greeting.

It still hurt him to keep so many secrets from his friends, but after seeing Ron nearly spill the beans about Sirius several times already, and having to spend twenty minutes using all of his Occlumency skills to convince Hermione that Dumbledore was already aware of the existence and innocence of his godfather, he had unfortunately only succeeded in proving to himself that he had made the right decision a year ago when he had decided to turn his life around and take control of his own destiny. He quickly got dressed and made himself a hurried breakfast before joining Fred and George in the living room and cracking open his own book on physics. At the moment, he was particularly interested in energy and the many forms it could take. Learning about the details behind fire and electricity and the many different ways energy could transfer from one thing to another was particularly enlightening, especially after reading the opening paragraphs in the book Griphook had gotten him for his birthday on the art of Dragon Slaying Magic. The book had described it as the only magic that could cause a dragon serious harm, because it was the very magic of a dragon itself. It dealt with controlling and manipulating energy within and around a person using an extremely rare ability that hadn't been seen for a long time, and vaguely alluded to a unique way masters in the art would train long before it was even recognised as a sufficient tool for killing one of the most dangerous and powerful creatures in the world. Nowadays it took a team of at least ten wizards just to subdue one, while only magically enhanced weapons made out of goblin steel, or a Killing Curse directly to the eye, could bring them down. Anything else was shaken off and eventually healed remarkably quickly.

He sat there and quietly read as the rest of the house awoke one by one, tuning out the chaos as everyone ran back and forth to get ready at the last minute. It amazed him that they ever made it anywhere on time, but after a lot of running around, Ron groaning about how early it was, and Mrs. Weasley shouting at them, they finally made it out of the Burrow and were walking through the nearby woods, where they met Amos Diggory and his son Cedric. Harry laughed and waved Cedric off when he tried to apologise once more for the disaster that had been Harry's only Quidditch match last year, and told him that they would just need to have a rematch between the two of them when they got back to school. That led the conversation between the students towards speculating on what the reason for Hogwarts to send out letters stating that the Quidditch season would be cancelled while Harry noticed Percy, Arthur, and Amos all stiffening, as if they knew something. He chose not to question them, though, figuring he would wait and see what was going on, and followed the others up a hill toward where a mangy old boot awaited to transport them to the location of the Quidditch World Cup.

Heart thumping with excitement, Harry felt Nightfire roar inside him, his inner beast more excited than him to see Daphne. He had been fortunate that the full moon had come and gone before he even came to the Burrow, and was dreading having to take the Wolfsbane he had packed to deal with the next. He had only been able to spend a couple of hours as Nightfire, as even with the invisibility cloak and a silencing charm, there were simply too many people around the Burrow who would notice his absence, and the presence of a horse-sized chimera and even larger Ukrainian Ironbelly (he had learned soon after bonding with Kyddris that he was unable to remain as a tattoo unless Harry was fully human) were not easy to hide, especially when Ron's older brother, Charlie, who had only returned to the Burrow the week before, worked with dragons all the time.

A strong tugging behind his navel drew Harry from his remunerations as he suddenly felt himself being dragged off the ground before landing in a heap on the ground with everyone but Arthur, Amos, Cedric, and Percy.

The first thing he noticed was her deep, primal fear. He could even smell it as he stood up off the ground, barely registering that he had just thrown Fred off of him onto Ron as he tried to hide the fact that he was sniffing the air, looking for her trail. Within moments he found it, and Nightfire roared at him to go to her now. He fought down his instincts and tried to send the most comforting feelings he could over their connection, sifting through his memories for the correct emotion to transfer. Finding one where he had reassured himself after being locked in his cupboard without food. He sent the same feeling he had managed to produce in himself by repeating that it would be over soon to her and felt her fear subside.

His friends had immediately picked up on his shift in mood, but he had reassured them that nothing was wrong as they walked towards their tent. Taking another quick sniff of the air, Harry instantly volunteered to go and gather some firewood, and nearly sprinted through the rows of tents once he was out of sight. He followed the smell of vanilla and parchment and her towards the woods surrounding the campground and grinned when he broke the tree line and was tackled by a flaxen missile. He grunted as Daphne tackled him to the ground, but wrapped his arms around her and didn't even think of restraining the pleasant rumbling in his chest as he held his Sunshine close and buried his nose in her hair. He was struck by just how much he had missed her, and tightened his grip on her as they simply lay there in the grass, soaking up the comfort in once again being with the person who, in the span of only a year, had become their closest friend. Daphne reached up and buried a hand in his shaggy hair, lightly scratching his scalp, and giggled as the rumbling in Harry's chest grew louder. He had grown several inches over the summer, and from the feel of his chest, had once again increased his exercise regime, but as her smell invaded his nose and peace finally settled in his soul, his hair steadily grew longer while his body started to grow.

Only a mental reminder from Kyddris, who was about to be expelled from his tattooed form, stopped Harry in time before he lost control and Daphne would have to explain what she had been doing laying on dangerous creature that had no business that near the campground.

"I missed you," Harry muttered as he buried his face in her hair and allowed himself one more deep breath of the scent that somehow made him both foggy and enhanced everything around him.

"I missed you too," Daphne replied as she looked up into his shining green eyes.

"I guess you weren't exaggerating when you said that Daphne had found a new best friend, Piccolo," an amused voice remarked from above them.

Harry and Daphne snapped apart, both diving behind their respective masks to hide their mutual embarrassment at being caught so emotionally exposed. Harry looked towards the speaker and was met with Blaise and Tracey struggling not to laugh while a tall woman stood just behind them, smiling amusedly. Considering the similar facial structures, skin tones, smells (though hers was masked beneath a perfume that made Harry's nose itch), and magical feelings, it wasn't hard for Harry to piece together who he was looking at as he stood up and bowed to her before offering his hand in greeting.

"You must be Blaise's mother," he said, unaware of the wide eyes and gasps of amazement as he accidentally introduced himself in fluent Italian. "It's nice to meet you. I'm Harry Potter, a friend of your son's."

"Potter, since when do you speak Italian?!" Tracey shouted.

"Was I?" Harry asked. "Sorry, I wasn't aware."

"Nonsense," Mrs. Zabini said, accepting Harry's hand and laughing softly as Harry bent down to place a short kiss on the back of it. "You may call me Abra. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance Signore Potter."

Harry smiled and stood back up. He had heard the rumors concerning Blaise's mother and her suspicious marital history, but generally ignored it. Even if they were true and she was some sort of black widow, he saw no point in judging Blaise for the actions of his mother, who was an adult and perfectly capable of making her own choices. According to the rumors, though, she was supposed to be supremely attractive, with some rumors even stating that she might have veela blood in her veins. But try as he might, Harry simply couldn't see it. Sure, she was young, and tall, and fit, and the mixture of her aristocratic demeanor and exotic appearance was unique, but Harry simply didn't feel anything. He figured she was probably attractive from an objective view point, but by that logic so was Blaise, who at fourteen already shared many of the same features as his mother. Perhaps there was something wrong with Harry in particular? Either way, he wasn't terribly concerned, so he shrugged it off and followed Abra, Blaise, and Tracey out of the woods, making sure to actually grab some firewood along the way as he stuck as close to Daphne as he could, a grin on his face the entire time.

"While the reunion between a girl and her cat is always heartwarming, wasn't there something you meant to tell Harry, Daph?" Tracey asked as they approached the edge of the treeline.

Harry frowned as a hint of the fear he felt earlier bled through their bond. "What's going on?"

"Harry, before Dobby brought us to your place, my mother warned me that Cyrus was going to be working from home for the rest of the summer and would be having guests," Daphne explained. "What was left unsaid was that 'working from home' meant working on things that couldn't be discussed at the Ministry. When Dobby brought me here and I met up with my mom, she warned me that I should make sure I go straight back to the tent after the match and then take Tracey, Blaise, and my sister to the portkey."

"You think something's going to happen tonight after the match, don't you?" Harry asked.

"You might not know this, but Cyrus and a lot of the darker families followed You-Know-Who during the first war. They managed to evade capture through a variety of means, and if they're planning something, it can't be good."

Harry nodded and considered what he had been told carefully. "I need you all to come with me while I warn the Weasleys," he said after a minute or two of thought. "I don't want to start a panic, but they do need to be ready in case something happens." Without another word he took off towards the Weasleys' tent, and Daphne could feel the barely restrained protective anger through his impassive façade, meanwhile magical power seemed to roll off him in waves.

"If nothing else, Piccolo, your friends certainly are not dull," Abra concluded as she hurried after Harry.