Preparations

Chapter 11

Update 14/10/2016: Just fixed some grammar/spelling issues some lovely reviewers pointed out.

"Enter, Miss. Greengrass." Came the old voice from the headmaster as Daphne had gone to knock on the door. A first year student had run up to her the next day at lunch time with a piece of rolled up parchment with a summons from Professor Dumbledore, and she had a good idea what it was about.

Daphne walked into the circular office, full of its usual trinkets and contraptions. "Take a seat." Dumbledore said and gestured to the soft, intricate looking chair in front of his large oak desk. She sat down and placed her hands in her lap, a composed look on her face but was inwardly dreading about the consequences of what happened with Malfoy.

"Lemon drop?" Dumbledore asked with a smile and held the small tin out to her.

"Sure.. Thanks." She replied and took one, blowing off the dusting of sugar and plopping it into her mouth and missing the huge smile appear on Dumbledore's face as he closed and put the tin away.

"I'm sure you're wondering why I've asked you to see me Miss. Greengrass."

Daphne wondered if she should just come out with it or not. "I can guess, sir."

"Yes, I'm wondering.. How are your parents doing?" Dumbledore asked, causing Daphne to raise an eyebrow at him. That was not what she thought he was going to talk about. "F-Fine sir? We don't really talk all that much when I'm here at Hogwarts, apart from my mother." She said with some hesitation, not really understanding the question.

Dumbledore nodded with a smile. "Is that so?" He said and left it at that and leaving Daphne thinking what on earth he was on about. As far as she knew her parents were the same as always. It was true that she only really talked to her mother outside of home, she didn't get along that well with her father to be sending him updates on her life at Hogwarts.

They both sat there in silence for a while, with Dumbledore looking at her over his glasses. Daphne tried to look everywhere else but at him, finally focusing on a knot of wood that look's sort of like a deer on his desk. It wasn't until Dumbledore spoke again that she looked back up at him.

"You'll be pleased to know Mr. Malfoy is perfectly fine and will be spending a few days in the hospital wing. His muscles are let's say.. a little shocked, and will require a few days to calm down. You certainly pulled a number on him." He said seriously to her before raising his hand with a smile as Daphne began to speak up. "I am fully aware of what happened, and that it was in-fact Mr. Malfoy that instigated it. What I'm more interested in however is that lovely bracelet on your wrist that you haven't stopped playing with since you sat down.

Daphne immediately looked down to the hands in her lap, sure enough her fingers had been playing with it. She wasn't even aware until the headmaster had said and promptly stopped. "Sir?" She asked, wondering what he wanted to know about it. It wasn't that she was hiding anything about it, well.. She was, but that was from Harry.

"They're very rare and was wondering if I could examine it?"

"Of course sir." She undid the small metal clasp and pulled it off her wrist before handing it over the desk to Dumbledore's awaiting hand. As soon as it fell into his hand she felt a distinct loss and her wrist felt cold. She knew of some of the properties of the bracelet but she wasn't sure why she would feel any sort of loss.

Dumbledore smiled at her as he held the bracelet up to the light and examined it with his piercing blue eyes. "From the look on your face I take it you dislike the feeling of being apart from it?" Causing Daphne again to control herself and put a neutral expression on her face. "I take it you understand what it does, as I believe you were the one to buy it?" He asked politely.

How did he know I was the one to buy it? It could have been anyone and given to me as a gift. She thought as she looked at Dumbledore playing with the bracelet in his hand. He had pulled his wand out and was tapping it here and there, and small blue spark appearing in between every time he did so. "I believe so sir, that one-" She said, pointing at the bracelet. "-is the master and shows visually how much magic the other copy is using."

"Correct, although if I may be so presumptuous, you're missing a large chunk of its other interesting properties."

Interested now Daphne sat up in her seat a little. "What other properties?" She asked.

Placing the bracelet on the desk between them Dumbledore placed his wand back up his sleeve and settled into his chair. "While like you've said, it displays the current amount of magic being used in the user who own's the other bracelet. They however, were created for a different reason than to just display someone's magic. They in-fact were invented a few hundred years ago, hence my surprise you were able to find one at all. Mostly used by married partners they enabled the witch and wizard to protect the other if they became separated. Back then we were sought after by the Muggles if they caught wind of a 'witch'. Now they were not always in the form of a bracelet, many pieces of beautiful jewellery were created in a similar way." Dumbledore explained to an attentive Daphne.

"When we talk about the 'master' copy of the piece of jewellery they both can read one another. This bracelet right here-" He picked up the bracelet and handed it back to Daphne. "-can also send some of your magic to the owner of the other. Thus creating a partnership, one protects the other while the other protects them, if you follow." Daphne nodded and Dumbledore continued, the bracelet having glowed brighter a few times as he spoke. "Now what happened to Mr. Malfoy was the result of magic, that was not your own, lashing out at him in defence of you. Weather the other knew or not, little is documented about them but I would assume Harry knew not of what happened."

At the mention of Harry Daphne's cheeks went red and she stared at the bracelet grasped in her hand and causing Dumbledore yet again to smile. So he knew. She thought.

"Now I take it young Harry has told you of his, let's say.. Unique grasp on magic?" He asked her to which she nodded in reply.

"Harry has an abnormal amount of magic, in some cases far out stripping some young adults; and it will continue to increase. While he considers it a curse, I believe it is a blessing. He has practised control for many years to be able to reel in his magic. When he was younger he'd cause an accident every other day; some small, some large." Dumbledore chuckled as he thought back. "Why, one time he managed to turn my entire office into what can only be described as a glacier when he was angry at my trying to persuade him to come to Hogwarts. That little event unfortunately confirmed his theory's in his own mind and he once again refused."

Frowning Daphne finally spoke up. "Why did he refuse sir? He's said it can be hard to control sometimes but no one's ever been hurt, right?" She asked, thinking back to what Harry had said when they first met.

"While no one has been hurt, there have been some close cases. Mostly with his family, which was lucky. There aren't many who can calm Harry down if he loses control.. But! Back to the bracelet. Harry has a lot of magic in his body, so when you were in danger and no matter how small, his magic came through the connection and sought to protect you. In this case, by disabling Mr. Malfoy for a while. You notice how you felt different when I removed the bracelet from your presence, this I believe to be because you're not very connected and not just by magic." As he said the last sentence he looked over his glasses at her again in a knowing fashion.

Daphne could only nod and wanted to jump out of the office window than be here having a conversation like this with Albus Dumbledore.

"Mr. Potter is very fond of you, he may be difficult sometimes, even hard headed; but I now ask two things of you. Look out for him, especially in present times. He certainly lacks company in the friend's department but from watching over him I can see he's slowly getting there. The second thing, is to be careful. His magic is feeding into you on a constant basis whether you notice it or not. Harry's magic is not something to trifle with, should you wrong him in a serious way, and I'm not saying you will, the connection between you two will break and believe me when I say that it would be beyond painful. Now-" He said clapping his hands together and causing Daphne to jump. "-You've listened to this old man for long enough, and I apologise for taking up your lunch time. I would also appreciate if what was said here was kept from Harry. I have my reasons to which he will be enlightened of when he is ready."

Sirius was bouncing his way up the path that led to the Potters house, he was going to visit both Lily and Remus for tea. He was in such high spirits as he made his way there. It had been far too long since they had all been together. He reached the door and gave it a quick rasp with his knuckles and waited.

The door opened and Lily Potter stood in the doorway and looked at him. "Oh," she said. "It's just you. Come in." She said as she moved back into the house.

"Hello Sirius, nice to see you again. Oh thank you Sirius, it's nice to see you too." He mumbled at the greeting.

"Oh be quiet." Remus said from the sofa in the living room. He placed his mug on the small table and got up to greet him. "Good to see you." He said as he hugged and patted the man on the back. "You too Moony." Sirius replied.

"Yes, yes. You've both greeted now sit down." Lily said sternly. "Remus was filling me in on what Harry has been doing, and who he spends all his time with."

They both sat back and down and Remus continued what he was saying before Sirius arrived. "He's doing very well, mostly because he's getting quite the academy shove from a Miss. Hermione Granger who's a-"

"Who's she? What's she like?" Lily interrupted, sat on the edge of her seat. Anything to do with her son she was interested in.

"If you'll let me finish Lily." Remus said causing Sirius to snicker and Lily to look bashful. "She's a very smart witch, top of her year. Harry and her seem to be getting along very well. She's very studious, and being in the same house as Harry is having a good effect on him. He's catching up very quickly." He finished off and took a sip of his tea. "What about that other one? Daphne or whatever he name was?" Sirius asked which caused Lily to scowl at him.

"Daphne Greengrass! How could you forget?" She said "They're basically inseparable, right Remus?"

Remus smiled and nodded and Lily carried on. "I'm rooting for them. Ever since he met that girl he's been far happier and outgoing than normal and It's so nice to see him smile even if he doesn't realise he's doing it." She said as she beamed at the two of them.

As Sirius had spoken to Dumbledore about the Greengrass family he was a little uncomfortable talking about them with the two but smiled along none the less. He knew what it meant to Lily to see her son happy.

"Enough about that trouble maker. Have you heard about the second task Lily?" Sirius asked the smiling woman.

"Mhm. Remus told me, a duel? It's better than a dragon."

Sirius grimaced. "I wouldn't say that just yet, we don't know who or what he's going to have too duel and if the rumours I've heard are right it's going to be a tricky for him."

Lily hated the tournament since Harry was a part of it, but since passing the first task she felt a lot better. Her not so little boy got through it mostly unscathed and actually didn't do too badly. She hoped the other tasks wouldn't be as far, though perhaps but nothing like facing a dragon on your own as an underage wizard.

"I'm sure he'll be fine; he's been reading up a lot on spells useful on a duel and no doubt he will ask you for some practice Sirius, so make sure you're available some time." Remus said with a nod to the man.

"Oh I'll show him a thing or two alright." He replied with a grin. This had the opposite effect though as his two friends had worried expressions. "Oh sod you both, you'll see." He crossed his arms and looked away as the others laughed.

Harry was sitting in the library, having been dragged there by Hermione and was currently reading a book on magical elements by the window when a huge tome landed 3 inches to his right on the table causing him to jump. "Bloody hell Hermione! You could have crushed my head!" He shouted, albeit quietly.

"Sorry Harry.. It was a little heavier than I thought so I sort of rushed back to the table with it." She apologised and gave him a small smile which Harry returned. "What is this anyway?" He asked as he rifled through the pages which has large drawings and diagrams.

"It's not much, just information I want to find out for charms class." She said as if everything was normal. Harry thought the entire terms lessons could fit in that book but decided to keep it to himself. While Hermione and he were getting a long really well he didn't know the boundaries of their friendship and he didn't want to hurt her by making fun, even as a joke.

They carried on reading for a while in silence, only the sounds of pages being turned disturbing them. They could hear some students occasionally and to Harry's annoyance some of the whispers included his name in, although he couldn't here exactly what they were saying. He had a few guesses though. He was pleased to note though that the school as a whole seemed to be coming around to him finally, he just wished it would happen quicker. "You're not with Daphne for a change." Hermione said quietly next to him, she hadn't looked over; still reading her book and making notes.

"She had to speak to Professor Dumbledore. She didn't know what about though, she went at lunch time and she's probably in a lesson now even though we have a free period." He replied. Harry had been thinking about her earlier when his wrist suddenly went cold but dismissed it when it warmed up again not to long after.

"Oh? I see.." Was all she said in reply before going silent again as they worked. It wasn't long though until she couldn't take it anymore and a question burst out of her mouth. "W-would you like to go to Hogsmeade with me? You've never been right?" She asked, her face going red but Harry didn't seem to notice her blushing but he did laugh. "Hermione I live on the outskirts of Hogsmeade."

Wanting to run out of the room for being stupid and forgetting she closed her book and started to tidy up her notes. "But I'm going there this weekend with Daphne and Tracey, you're coming too right?" He asked her and she looked down at him having stood up. "O-of course, I'll be there Harry." She said and smiled when she saw the bright smile adorn his face.

"Anyway.. I've got to go; my lesson starts soon; don't waste your free time." To which Harry mumbled, already bored of reading. He liked reading but sometimes this was a bit much even for him. I don't know how she does it. He thought fondly. Now alone in the library Harry leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes. It was nice and peaceful with only the sounds of books being read and the breeze flowing in through some of the windows. It wasn't until he felt a presence that he opened his eyes and found himself staring into a pair of brown eyes.

"So you're him, huh?" The stranger said. "I thought you'd be 6ft and dazzlingly handsome. Glad I've still got the handsome on my side. I'm Andrew, Andrew Jones; but you can just call me Andy." He was speaking fairly fast and full of confidence. Harry sat there, still leaning back in his chair with surprise and confusion on his face. No one had once come up and spoken to him like this, they were generally afraid.

"H-Harry.." He said, not really knowing what to say and leaning forwards in his chair. The guest had already jumped into the seat Hermione had vacated only a short while ago. "Well duh, everyone knows who you are. Weird how they move around you like you're in a bubble though hey? Who'd you piss off anyway to cause them to act like that?"

Is this guy for real? Harry thought. "No one.. They're just afraid, I guess.." Harry said.

"Oh yeah? Weird.. Anyway, I've only just gotten out of St. Mungo's today; bad accident with a Humbledinger so I've been out of school. Everyone is talking about you so I thought I'd come and see for myself. I'm in Gryffindor like you." He pointed and tapped on his tie showing the colours. "So look, I heard about the first task with the Dragon; it was in the papers too. Cool stuff doing that, the other champions too. Shame about getting forced to enter though. You couldn't back out of it? I'd probably pretend to be dead and hoped it'd leave me alone if I had to face a dragon.. You know what the second task is yet? It's in a few weeks right-" He stopped midway although Harry was having a hard time keeping up with him. He'd gone to answer a few of his questions but he just kept talking. Seemed nice enough though.

Andy suddenly jumped up and did a little bow and gave a winning smile at a familiar blue eyes girl strode across the library and stopped in front of Harry. That comfortable feeling he felt whenever she was around causing him to be at ease. "Andy, a pleasure to meet you." He said as Daphne went to speak to Harry. Daphne looked at him once and then turned away.

"Yeah, brilliant." She said, cutting him off and looking back at Harry with a smile. "Harry let's go to the lake, I've no more lessons for the day and I know you've got free periods."

"Yeah sure, just let me put these away. I'll meet you down there."

Daphne nodded and walked out of the library, leaving Harry alone with Andy again as he started to tidy up the books and pieces of parchment scattered on the table he was using. "She your girlfriend? I've been trying to get Greengrass to even notice me since second year. How'd you manage that?" Andy asked with disbelief.

"Girlfriend? We're.. Just friends, we met over the summer." Harry replied and placed a large book back on the shelf near them.

"Either way, nice score mate. Her friends not bad either." He looked horrified for a second before whispering "Don't tell them I said that." Which made Harry laugh. He didn't think Andy was a bad guy, even though he seemed a little out there and he was nearly on the same level as Hermione with speaking. "Well I won't interrupt your date, I'll be off to the Great Hall and wait for dinner seeing as I've not got much on at the moment having gotten back this morning." And before Harry could even say good bye he was walking out of the room leaving Harry a little baffled about the whole engagement.

After Harry put the last of the books away he smoothed his robe and made his way out of the library and down the corridor towards the front gates. His thoughts drifted back to what Andy had said. "Girlfriend." He whispered to himself as he strolled slowly down the corridor, the breeze feeling good. It was a nicer than normal day today, so most were making the most of it outside. He had thought about Daphne a few times in that way and he honestly thought he liked her more than a friend. He didn't know how to ask her though, or even if he should. He had a reputation as it was already, he didn't want to bring her down or anything.

Not realising his legs had gotten him to the lake already he stopped when he saw Daphne sitting against the tree at the lakes edge with a book in her hands. The steady breeze causing her hair to flutter and she had to move a little behind her ear so it wasn't in the way. Harry just stood there as he watched how beautiful she looked. All his thoughts about not saying anything bubbling to the surface again as he watched.

She eventually noticed him looking and gave him an odd look that he didn't recognise. She's probably just wondering why you're standing here staring at her like an idiot. He thought. Harry walked over and sat down next to Daphne, their shoulders touching but Daphne didn't move away so Harry stayed like that.

"What're you reading?" He asked her looking down at the book in her hands.

"Just stuff for ancient runes. Your brain wouldn't be able to take it." She said jokingly with a smirk. Harry shoved her a little as pay back. Once she'd stopped giggling she put the book away and turned to look out over the lake. "Have you thought about the second task yet? I'd rather not visit you in the hospital wing every task you know."

He had thought about it, Dumbledore had announced last night that it would be in a few weeks and the task would involve a duel, although who they had to face no one knew. "I've thought about it.. I was thinking of asking Sirius or Remus if they had time to teach me some duelling. I doubt I'd last a few seconds if I walked into the task now." Harry wasn't very happy when he thought about the tasks ahead, judging from the first one they all seemed to be out of his reach; but that wasn't surprising since he had less of an education than them and was younger. That didn't stop him grumbling about being forced to participate though. "Might be able to make some large holes though." He laughed but Daphne didn't.

"It's not funny Harry, what if you got hurt again? It was bad enough the first time." She scolded him.

Harry leant back against the tree and sighed. "I can't wait for all this to be over."

Deciding she was fighting a losing battle when it came to Harry getting into trouble she decided to talk about other things. "So who's that guy bothering you in the library earlier? She asked him.

"Who, Andy?" He said. "He wasn't bothering me. He sort of just, appeared; and then didn't stop talking. Seems nice enough though."

"He looks like a playboy.

"Hmm, yeah I guess he comes across like that. At least he spoke to me like I wasn't about to blow his arm off, that was refreshing." Harry said causing them both to laugh a little. It didn't help Tracey was spreading rumours that he would blow their arms off. While it kept a lot of gossip on stupid made up rumours like that, it did sometimes annoy him as he wanted some friends. The castle was huge and he couldn't always be with either Tracey, Hermione or Daphne.

At the thought of Hermione Harry remembered something. "Oh by the way, Hermione is coming to Hogsmeade with us this weekend." He said as if there was nothing wrong with that statement.

Daphne whirled round on him with her eyebrow raised. "Granger? She said she's coming did she?"

Before Daphne could get angry Harry patter her leg and told her he invited her before going silent. "Although she invited me first, I think she forgot I almost live in Hogsmeade." This caused Daphne to go silent to which Harry assumed she was probably mocking her inwardly. He didn't like it when they didn't get along. Daphne however wasn't mocking her however; she was out right fuming at her. She had a smile on her face but it was very fake as they both watched students throw stones into the lake. So she asked Harry out on a date did she? She thought with frustration. Tracey said there was nothing to worry about because Harry liked her and she sometimes got the feeling he did but she wasn't sure. It's not like she could listen in on his thoughts. She hadn't had the nerve to ask Harry to go to Hogsmeade with just her so she invited Tracey as well.

"Hey.. Daphne.." Harry's voice was pretty quite, so she had to listen carefully over the breeze. "After we visit Hogsmeade with the others, would you.. would you like to you know, hang out a bit? We could visit my mum, or something.."

She could see his face was starting to turn red and at that knew what he was asking. He's asking me on a date? She yelled internally. Inside she was jumping up and down and wanted to walk up to Granger and tell her to back off but she fought it down and simply replied normally.

"Sure, I'd like to visit your mum." She said as she tried to stop her cheeks from going red. She really wanted to say "It's a date." But thought it might break him, and her come to think of it. This was all pretty new for the both of them. Daphne knew she was considered pretty but she had always turned down invitations for dates and the like. She hates going home for those reasons, where her father would try and marry her off to some jumped up little pureblood.

"C-Cool. I'll send her an owl tomorrow so she knows." He muttered beside her.

They both continued to sit there after that, neither of the two speaking as they watched the students around the lake more. Daphne was playing with her bracelet under the big cardigan she was wearing and could feel it growing ever so warmer. Glancing at Harry she saw a smile on his face. She liked it when he smiled.

"two galleons say I can hit that boulder on the other side of the lake." Harry said suddenly as he stood up and dusted the loose grass off his backside.

Daphne looked over the lake to where he was pointing and smirked. "Deal." She said knowing there was no way he could hit it. Harry smiled at her and lifted his wand. "Get ready to cough up."

Steadying his wand out in front of him he concentrated on the boulder and whispered the levitation charm as he flicked his wand upwards with a swish. The white light shot out and flew straight across the lake, passing the boulder and hitting a large oak tree on the other side of the bank. A few seconds later the tree was being pulled out of the ground as if by ropes and the cracking sound of large roots being ripped from the ground could be heard from where they were. Daphne had jumped to her feet and was tugging on Harrys arm and pulling him back. Eventually he seemed to snap out of it and realised what Daphne was doing, the next second they were both running from the lake and heading back to the castle. They stopped in a corridor just off from the entrance hall, leaning on their knees and panting. They looked at each other and burst out laughing. "If-If anyone asks, we were in the library.." Harry managed to get out before sitting down to lean against the wall as he laughed harder. Daphne fell down next to him and together they planned an alibi for when it inevitably came back to them.

"Your progress, Greengrass?" A cold voice said from a throne like chair in a baron room. It was deadly silent and so cold you could see your breath.

The man kneeling on the ground shivered slightly at the voice and the cold. "S-soon. It's very nearly complete." He said quietly, as if afraid to speak.

"Good.. Do not disappoint me." The voice said again. "And your daughter, you say she is at Hogwarts correct?"

"Y-yes." The man said.

There was silence momentarily. "You'll bring her to me when she comes home for the holidays. I wish to speak to her." The man didn't say anything at that, he hung his head and nodded quickly without looking up.

"Excellent, you may leave."

The man didn't hang around for long, quickly standing up and bowing he walked quickly from the room. Closing the door with a soft thud. He turned away from the door and came face to face with his wife. "Well?" She whispered.

David Greengrass pulled his wife along the hallway and into one of their many living rooms, closing the door firmly behind him. "Everything is fine. I'll finish the potion once I've got the last few ingredients and then he'll leave." He told her.

Danielle sat down on the plush sofa with intricate golden carvings. "And you believe that thing?" She asked, not bothering to hide the disgust in her voice. "I don't want that monster here, you tell me it's nothing bad but I know what's in that room. Strange men coming and going in our house at all times of the day and night. Cloaked with masks, some of them. Don't think I'm a food David."

David knew his wife was smart, that there was no way he would have been able to hide what was going on in the house but he had no choice. "It doesn't matter what we think, if we say or do anything against them, they'll kill us." He wasn't looking at his wife when he spoke, they hadn't been getting along very well recently but she was still his wife.

"He wants to see Daphne." He said abruptly and his wife stared him in the eyes.

"No." She said simply, as if daring him to argue.

"Dani-" He started to say but was cut off as a short, thin piece of carved wood appeared at his throat. "Don't you dare even start that sentence. Our daughter, will not go near that man; do you hear me? I'll make sure she stays at Hogwarts." She said fiercely to her husband. Pulling her wand away from him she strolled over to the door and pulled at the handle. It didn't budge however as David was holding it shut with his hand. "We don't have a choice. I didn't get a say in having to make this stupid potion, I didn't get a say when the bloody thing basically moved in and we don't get a say about this. He'll kill us and he'll kill her, is that what you want? Your only daughter murdered before she's even an adult all because her mother tried to protect her?!" He yelled.

Danielle was fuming now, she let go of the door handle and started hitting him in the chest with every sentence she said. "Don't you dare tell me what's good for your daughter! You try and marry her off every summer to sleaze bags! You don't give her the time of day! You're never even around! I love our daughter, would do anything for her!" She yelled back.

David however didn't retaliate, her words seeming to hit a mark and he took a step back. "I do love her.. She's my daughter. I'm only trying to give her a life I had to work my entire life for. If we don't bring her to him, he'll kill her." He said quietly to his wife.

She glared at him for a few moments, pure venom in her eyes before pulling the door open and strolling out; slamming it shut behind her. David moved to the sofa and slumped down into it. It was true what he said, he loved his wife and his daughter; more than anything. He just wanted to give them a life they deserved, he'd made mistakes and perhaps hadn't listened to their wishes but this was serious.

He didn't know what Voldemort wanted with his daughter, but he had no choice.