Courtyard of Hogwarts
Lucius Malfoy paid his son a visit at school. Draco told his dad all about how he tried to enter the Tri-Wizard Tournament and even the part where Harry offered up his spot in the contest. "You idiot. Don't you ever do anything so stupid again," Lucius tapped him in the chest with his cane. "You have no idea how lucky you are that you failed. You wouldn't last ten minutes in that contest."
"Ouch, dad, I, ah…." Draco began to speak. He couldn't believe how little confidence his father had in him.
"Do you even know what kind of tasks are involved?" Lucius asked, then preceded to answer his own question. "No, of course, you don't."
"Enlighten me!" Draco let out a bit of a scowl and crossed his arms.
"A dragon. The four champions will have to get past a dragon," Lucius informed his son.
"A dragon. Are you serious?" Draco asked, then he laughed. "Good luck with that one Potter! He won't last five minutes."
"Either way, it should be fun to watch. On a lighter note, how are things going with you and Miss Greengrass?" Lucius asked.
"Ah," Draco briefly gave a scowl, then he forced a fake smile. "Great! She practically threw herself at me." Draco believed that to be true, but certainly not the whole truth.
"Wonderful! Her father and I are working on a marriage contract between the two of you," Lucius said.
"Great!" Draco let out a deep sigh and looked down at the ground. He wasn't about to argue with his father, but after what Daphne did, there was no way he was going to let that happen. Of course, Draco would prefer Harry to be the one to tell Dumbledore that Daphne put his name in the Goblet of Fire, but if Harry wouldn't Draco decided he would do that himself. Either way, he just hoped Dumbledore would make good on his promise to put Daphne away for a long time, thus stopping this marriage nonsense.
Gryffindor Common Room
Later that evening, Hermione managed to get a moment alone with Harry outside. She immediately began to rant about Daphne. "I can't believe her. She flat out denied what I saw with my own eyes. Oh and get this, she is using you as her alibi!" Hermione rolled her eyes at Harry.
"What are you talking about? What did you see exactly?" Harry asked.
"Are you kidding? I know I told you this already. Draco and Daphne…" Hermione's words trailed off as she tried to find a polite way to say it.
"Wait! Are you saying you actually saw that first hand?" Harry asked a rhetorical question, which he quickly followed up with his own answer. "That is impossible. Daphne was with me the entire night! I assumed you were talking about a rumor you heard."
"Maybe someone using a polyjuice potion. Perhaps the girl you thought was Daphne, was actually someone else. You don't really know her that well. You would have a hard time spotting a fake," Hermione suggested. She didn't realize just how close to the truth she was with that answer.
"I don't think polyjuice potions last that long. Do they?" Harry asked unsure. "We were together for over four hours."
"No, I don't think it would last that long," Hermione conceded. "Was she drinking anything? Someone could probably maintain it indefinitely if…"
"You are probably right about that, but no, she wasn't drinking anything," Harry interrupted as he knew exactly where she was going with that. "If you are correct about the polyjuice theory, I think it was you who was watching a fake. You don't know her at all, so you couldn't spot a fake. Honestly from what you described, if it really were Daphne, I am thinking Imperius Curse. It was the complete opposite of what Daphne wanted," Harry insisted.
"Or maybe we both were really seeing her. She might be using time beads to be in two places at once." Hermione tried to come up with a plausible explanation.
"I doubt it, or at least I hope not," Harry said. Harry hated the idea of Daphne and Draco being together intimately, but he also realized Draco just might be the easier choice for her boyfriend because it would keep her at peace with her father and she wouldn't have to worry about whatever magical curse her father put on her, but still the very thought of Draco being with her really made him shudder. "Look, forget the gossip and focus on what is really important here. Did she really put my name in the Goblet of Fire?"
"If she did, she is in big trouble," Hermione grinned.
"You have no idea," Harry said. He remembered Dumbledore's attempt to scare a confession out of Daphne and Draco with a threat of a one way ticket to Azkaban if it were found out later that they lied.
"Could I borrow the cloak again? I will try and find some proof, one way or the other," Hermione said. As much as Hermione liked the idea of getting Daphne in trouble, she wasn't about to falsely accuse her again and repeat her previous mistake. She thought Daphne stole the book on curses. On that, she was completely wrong.
"I don't know," Harry contemplated his choices. If he witnessed what Hermione did between Draco and Daphne, he would probably get so angry, he would tattle on her just because of that, which would be wrong, especially if she was innocent. "Last time you stole something from her," Harry reminded Hermione in a scolding tone.
"I won't do that again. I promise," Hermione agreed.
Slytherin – Daphne's room
Using the cloak of invisibility, Hermione had no trouble getting into Slytherin and she stood outside of Daphne's door. She could hear the murmuring of a conversation going on inside, but couldn't quite make out the words. Using a spell to unlock the door was out of the question. Hermione was about to knock on the door, but then the door opened and Pansy stepped out. She yet again looked amazing with her hair and makeup done beautifully. Hermione stepped in while Pansy stepped out.
"You did an amazing job. Maybe you should start charging her for that," Astoria said to Daphne.
"We don't need the money." Daphne began to put her makeup kits away.
"Ah, actually, could you do me next?" Astoria requested.
"Sure," Daphne smiled. Astoria sat down on a chair next to her desk. Daphne tied back her sister's hair so it would be out of the way. Then she started doing her sister's makeup.
"Oh and now that she is gone, tell me more about your date with Harry," Astoria requested.
Something about the use of the word 'date' turned Hermione's stomach. She was repulsed by the very idea of Harry dating Daphne, or any other girl in Slytherin for that matter.
"It wasn't a date," Daphne insisted.
"Ok, you just watched the sunset with him, then danced the night away in the tower," Astoria grimaced. "Right… Not at all like a date!"
"Please, we didn't even kiss," Daphne declared.
"Yeah, that is actually a good thing," Astoria declared in an awkward and deadpan tone. Then she changed to a far more playful smile and clasped her hand together. "I bet you wanted to."
"Well kissing him is completely out of the question. I can't," Daphne sighed.
'Hallelujah! Thank god,' Hermione thought to herself. She wasn't sure why that would be the case, nor did she care, but hearing it was music to her ears.
"Yeah, I know. Can I ask a small favor?" Astoria requested gingerly.
"Sure anything," Daphne replied.
"If I ever want to date a muggle, a half blood or a muggle born wizard, basically anybody who isn't a Pureblood, knock some sense into me, would you?" Astoria gently pounded one of her fist into her other hand.
Hermione had to roll her eyes. She was horrified at how prejudice that sounded. She was surprised Astoria didn't use the more derogatory word - Mudblood.
Daphne chuckled a bit. "No, can do sis. I am not like dad or Granger. I will not tell you who you can and cannot date. If you want to learn from my mistakes, just make sure dad doesn't find out, till it is too late."
Hermione yet again found the comparison between her and Eliot Greengrass to be a slap in the face.
"You mean like after he proposes?" Astoria asked.
"I was thinking more like, after the honeymoon," Daphne said.
"You wouldn't invite him to your wedding," Astoria questioned. Daphne finished doing Astoria's makeup. Then she did her hair too. Astoria was already a pretty girl, but after Daphne was done, she looked totally stunning.
"I would like an actual chance of my wedding being the happiest day of my life," Daphne said. Daphne finally finished putting everything away. Then she went to her closet.
"I see your point," Astoria snickered.
"It is gone," Daphne just about panicked. She scrambled as she desperately tried to find that book.
"What is gone," Astoria asked.
"The book," Daphne cried. That book was her best chance of finding a way to break the curse her father had put on her. It was her best hope at getting the life she wanted. She couldn't help it, but to cry. To make matters worse, she had borrowed that book from someone and needed to return it someday. What was she going to tell her?
Hermione began to feel bad for taking the book in the first place. Of course, without knowing the underlying reasons for why Daphne was getting so upset she also had to shake her head and roll her eyes at the overreacting drama queen.
"It is just a bo… Oh that book. There is another copy of that book in the library. One way or another, I will get it for you," Astoria tried to placate her sister.
"That book is in the restricted area. They won't let just anybody have it. I don't want to get you in trouble," Daphne said.
"I would be dead already if it weren't for you. I will risk it," Astoria assured her.
"Maybe it is just time I gave up on it. I mean I had that book for weeks and still couldn't really find anything useful. I am probably kidding myself to think I ever will," Daphne said. She had no intention of giving up. She simply did not wish to get her sister in any trouble.
"Don't give up. If you want any chance with Harry, you need that book," Astoria reminded her.
Hearing that just confirmed Hermione's suspicion concerning Daphne. She definitely intended to use a spell in that book to control Harry. At least that is what Hermione thought.
"Hermione is probably going to mess up any chance I might have with him anyway," Daphne let out a frustrated sigh. "I told her I was friends with Harry and she said she won't allow that to continue! Who does that sound like to you?"
"Dad!" Astoria nodded without even thinking about it. "But can she really do that? I think Harry really likes you."
Hermione felt like smacking both these girls. She really hated the comparison between her and Elliot Greengrass.
"Of course, she can. All she would have to do is force him to choose between me and her," Daphne admitted.
"If she does that, then she is a total bitch and doesn't deserve his friendship," Astoria said.
"Agreed, but fortunately, she hasn't done that yet. Instead she is telling lies about me. If she can get Harry to believe it, I can kiss that friendship goodbye. Get this, she accused me of putting Harry's name in the Goblet of Fire," Daphne told her.
"Did you?" Astoria asked.
"Oh, come on, you know me better than that," Daphne grinned at her sister.
"Definitely not something you would do. But it only matters what Harry believes," Astoria said.
"Exactly! She also claimed I slept with Draco last night," Daphne said.
"Before or after your date with Harry? Or during, maybe it was a three way?" Astoria cracked up laughing. "Or maybe Harry just likes to watch."
"I don't know. You would have to ask her," Daphne cracked up laughing too. "Thanks, sis, I really needed a good laugh." She let out a sigh as she looked back over at the closet door. "I can't believe I lost that book."
"You always put it back each and every time. No way, somebody stole it," Astoria insisted.
"But who and why?" Daphne questioned.
"Pansy?" Astoria suggested.
"Not likely. She can't read Latin, and she didn't know I had that book and even if she saw it once, she doesn't know what it is," Daphne quickly dismissed that suggestion. "To her it was just a weird book that is of no interest."
"What if you are wrong? What if she does know what the book is?" Astoria asked.
"Oh, then yeah, she would want it. There are spells in that book that could make Malfoy completely infatuated with her," Daphne said.
"Really," Astoria gave a smirk. "Um, I just might be stealing that book out of the library then, even if you don't want it!"
"Might not be such a great idea. Just be sure to pay attention to the warnings," Daphne said.
"Warnings? Like what?" Astoria asked.
"If you use it on a guy, especially one who is already attracted to you, you better be willing to go all the way, because if you are not, you are going to get more than you bargained for," Daphne said.
"Not a problem there. I would be plenty willing," Astoria said with a bit of a grin on her face.
Daphne wasn't a mind reader or anything, but she knew her sister well enough to have a pretty good idea of exactly what she was thinking about. "Ok, saying that backfired. I think I just made you want the book more. Who else actually knew about the book?"
"There is Cho, but I doubt it was her. She couldn't read it at all, so she wouldn't be interested in it. Harry? He saw the book too," Astoria suggested.
Just then, there was a knock on the door. Daphne went and got it. Draco walked in. "Go ahead and say it," Draco said as he walked in with a big smile.
If those two were going to fool around, Hermione didn't wish to see that again. So as Draco walked in Hermione snuck out.
Of course Hermione's accusations about Draco claiming he had sex with her and she entered Harry into the tri-wizard tournament were at the forefront of Daphne's mind, but she really believed Hermione made that up and she did not want to give Draco even the slightest reason to believe she actually believed it, so for that reason, she decided not to bring that up at all. "Go ahead and say what?" Daphne asked.
"I told you so! You were right. Trying to enter the Tri-Wizard Tournament was a big mistake." Draco grinned and laughed.
"Why? What changed your mind?" Daphne asked.
"Father told me what the first task of the Tri-wizard Tournament will be. You can kiss your friend Potter good-bye." Draco sat down next to Daphne on the end of her bed. He held her hand in a falsely consoling manor.
"What do you mean?" Daphne looked him in the eye.
"The first task is getting past a dragon," Draco grinned and laughed. "Good luck with that one Potter. That should be fun to watch."
"He could actually get himself killed. Is that…" Daphne let out an exasperated sigh. She was going to ask Draco if that is what he wanted but the grin on his face pretty much answered the question. Then she remembered watching the four dragons flying over the castle last night. Now she knew why there were four of them, one for each champion.
Not long after that, Astoria and Draco left her room. Daphne put on her ordinary cloak. She envied the rather cool invisibility cloak Harry had. She left quickly hoping to find him.
Outside of Gryffindor – near the stairs that like to change direction
Daphne rushed straight passed Hermione. Since Hermione was still hidden under Harry's cloak, Daphne didn't even realize it. She spotted Neville Longbottom. "Neville," Daphne called out. "Small favor, get Harry. Please." She was out of breath so her words were rushed and almost ran together.
"What?" Neville turned around and looked at her.
Hermione watched the exchange. Part of her hoped Neville would just tell her off.
"Oh, hi Daphne." Neville smiled at her.
Daphne took a few deep breaths. "I really need to talk to Harry. If he is in there, could you please let him know I am looking for him?"
"Sure," Neville gave Daphne a friendly smile. "Actually, just come with me. Slytherin is the only house that actually has rules about not having guests from other houses."
Ugh! Hermione thought to herself. There was no way she wanted her visiting Gryffindor. She followed the two of them as they made their way up the changing stairs.
"Just curious, what do you want to talk to Harry about?" Neville asked.
"I found out what the first event was to the Tri-wizard tournament," Daphne said in a low and sad voice.
"Yeah, he would definitely want to know that," Neville turned his head back and looked at Daphne.
Neville led Daphne into the Gryffindor common room. To her relief, the room was empty. "I will see if Harry is in his room. You wait here," Neville told her.
"Thank you, if you happen to run into Hermione, please don't tell her I am here," Daphne requested. She didn't realize Hermione was standing only a few feet away from her hidden under a cloak of invisibility.
"What?" Neville shook his head. "Don't worry about her. She is sweet. A lot like you actually."
"Thanks," Daphne smiled at his compliment. "I am glad she is sweet to you at least, but I just want to avoid her."
"Ok, fair enough," Neville agreed and left to find Harry.
Hermione watched Daphne for a few moments. She was shocked Neville described Daphne as being sweet. She expected Daphne to actually do something on the suspicious side like cast a spell or start searching things, but instead Daphne just glanced around nervously as she waited. Hermione left the room, then removed the cloak and walked right back in.
Daphne happened to have been looking the other way when Hermione entered. Then she looked at her and nearly jumped back a bit. "Crap," Daphne muttered to herself. Hermione crossed her arms. "Whatever you are going to say, please don't! We are on the same side on this one. I don't want to see Harry get hurt and I am pretty sure you don't want that either," Daphne pleaded.
A/N
I would like to thank everyone for the favorites, follows and reviews. I would also like to thank CSGT for beta reading this story.
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