Later that night, in the library, Harry was looking through potions books; yawning.
"Del, I'm tired. Can't we pick this up again tomorrow?"
However, she kept skimming through the textbooks muttering out, "Tomorrow they could strike again Harry; we have to find this now before there's no time left. I may not be around next time you have a cross with whoever is the accomplice of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named!"
Harry was about to go back to searching, but he was too bothered by her words, "Why do you say that?"
Curiously, she looked up at him for the first time in hours, "Say what?"
"He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. You never did before; now all of a sudden it's like you're afraid of-"
"Afraid of him Harry? Well, to tell you the truth yeah, now I am. Never in my whole life did I ever see him; or even a picture of him. But that night Harry, everything changed. I saw his dark eyes before he sent me to that ugly place. I think if I had been there any longer; I would've gone mental, or died from the monster whichever came first!"
"Oh," Harry felt stupid for asking. Of course she could bear to say Voldemort's name; he had tortured her. This enraged Harry; he frantically searched through the book anxious to find something-
Surprising Harry, Del's smooth hand came across his face, turning his head towards her. She was kneeling next to him, with a concerned look on her face.
"Harry, no matter who you are, you have fear in your heart. It's apart of being a wizard. When the time comes, and there seems to be nothing you can do to stop the evil, you must accept that fear. If you embrace it, you can use it to defeat whatever is before you; or behind you in some cases."
Harry smiled a little; but all he could think of was loosing her all over again. Taking her, he placed her in his lap and moved her long brunette hair behind her ear. Gazing into her amber eyes, he promised her, "I've been hopeless without you in my life Del. I love you endlessly. Hopelessly, I'll give you everything you could ever want. But I won't give you up; I won't let you down. And I swear I won't leave you falling. Not ever again."
Dropping her head to hide a tear of happiness, Delphine replied, "I love you so much Harry!" and she fell into his arms.
He held her as tightly as he could; he'd be damned if Voldemort tried to take her away from him again.
Del sighed with great relief in his embrace. Opening her eyes, she glanced over his shoulder towards the desk. Quickly, she gasped and let go of him.
Surprised, Harry said, "What is it? What did you find?"
Delphine leaned over and showed him the page, "The Ambritous Potion is one of the deadliest potions created by a wizard or witch. It contains this and this, that, uh huh, okay, oh-my-God!"
"What? What is it?" Harry asked.
Looking at him, she placed her hands on his shoulders and asked gravely, "Harry, you have to tell me exactly what you remember seeing when you took that last bit of Draught of Peace in the woods before the Lethifold approached!"
"Uh," Harry tried to think, but it was so long ago, "All I saw was a black figure; I don't remember how tall or short. And they were speaking Parseltounge; but it was too difficult to make out what they were saying. Why, do you know who's behind it all?"
"I'm trying to think. I remember that day when I was making the Peace Potion for you. I was alone in the Dungeon after Potions' Class. I added everything in and then, I remember Draco Malfoy coming in. He called me a few pathetic names and then asked me about a certain potion. He hadn't taken all the notes in class to he asked me to read out mine. I went to my desk and read it out to him, just to get him out of there. When I finished, he quickly left the room.
"It was unusual, and I suspected he added something to my potion. So, I checked it for any unusual behavior but the Peace, and there was nothing so I went on making it. However, in this book it says that one ingredient to an Ambritous Potion is Erumpet's blood; its blood is so powerful it can make any potion seem undetectable of the poison planted there. Draco must've slipped it in when I was reading the notes-"
"Meaning he's Voldemort's accomplice!" Harry declared.
'Finally! I have proof that he's evil just like his father!' Harry thought to himself.
"We have to get him to confess; tonight!" Harry stated.
"Right, but we'll need help from both people and potions. You run back to the dorm and get Ron and Hermione; I'll jet over to the potions' ingredients closet and start working on a truth serum! Meet me at the closet in no more than ten minutes, got it?"
"Right!" Harry nodded and they both ran out of the library.
However, before they parted ways, Harry stopped and called, "Del!"
She turned and came back to him, "What is it?"
"This is the first time you'll be leaving me since you woke up; I just want to be sure you'll be alright." He gave her his father's invisibility cloak.
She took it and looked up to him, "Even if something happens; focus on what you need to do Harry."
Hesitating a moment, she kissed him gently on the lips and ran down the East corridor. Watching her disappear out of thin air as she put on the cloak, Harry turned and ran back to the Gryffindor room.
"Ron, get up and get you're girl!" Harry pushed his friend out of bed.
Rubbing his eyes, he complained, "What goin' on Harry? It's the middle of the night!"
"I have proof that Malfoy is behind my attempted assignation; all we have to do is get him to confess. We have to meet Delphine at the potions' closet in a few minutes. Get your wand and get a move on!"
Suddenly, Ron felt wide awake, "Pin Malfoy for murder? Oh, I hoped this day would come; it feels like Christmas!"
He pulled on his sweater and ran out of the dorm with Harry behind. Holding out his wand in front of the girls' dorm, Ron whispered, "Hermione; wake up now!"
Not a moment later, Hermione busted out of the girls' room with messy hair and circles under her eyes, "This better be important!"
"Oh, it is; get your wand and let's go!" Harry whispered.
Five minutes later, they ran up to the potions' closet. Harry opened it, but found no Delphine.
"Fuck no!" Harry couldn't believe it; she was gone.
"Wait Harry, it's alright, look!" Ron pulled out the Marauder's Map, "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good!"
Revealing the map, they all searched the castle for Del. Harry thought to himself, 'Focus! You have to think where she might have gone!'
Then, he found her, "There she is!" he pointed at the north tower; where the astronomy classes were taken.
"But why would she be over there is she told you to meet her here?" Hermione asked.
Hearing footsteps, Ron exclaimed, "Oh, I can take a guess that that's why!"
Before they were spotted the trio ran down the hallway towards the North Tower. However, when they reached the stairs to the tower, Harry stopped them.
"I have a bad feeling about this; Ron, check the map again. Is she still up there?"
Ron looked and replied, "Yes. She's alone; there are no other names moving up there; no Voldemort, nothing!"
"Come on Harry, the footsteps are still behind us!" Hermione urged him.
Whipping out his wand, Harry stated, "Let's go!"
They ran up the tall swirling staircase. When they reached the top, he opened the door to the outside slowly and quietly. He peered out over the empty rooftop, finding no one but a figure towards the end. It was Delphine, crouched over near something.
"Delphine, are you alright?" Harry whispered as loudly to her as he could.
"Yes, I'm fine, don't worry!" she replied.
"Are you alone?" Hermione asked.
"Yes," was all she said.
The two ran over to her. However, Harry was more hesitant to it then they were. He looked around, checking the place out. Then, seeing it was clear, he walked closer to them, "Why are you up here Del-"
As he turned his head, a blue flash hit him in the chest. He fell backwards, hitting the door behind him. His chest hurt, but he grabbed his wand and moved closer to them.
Delphine was chained, along with Ron and Hermione now, with Draco Malfoy holding the end of the shackles.
"Nice evening isn't it Potter?" Draco devilishly asked.
"What? How can you be up here?" Harry was confused because the map didn't read Malfoy on the rooftop.
"I was given an interesting spell to take me off your stupid map Potter! And even thought your little girlfriend was in your invisibility cloak; I could still find her when you left her by the library. I heart your plan and knew where she was heading!"
Harry was pissed. His friends were caught, along with his girl. He wouldn't take Malfoy's bull shit any longer.
Using a more powerful spell than Malfoy's Harry struck the chains holding the trio together and burned them off. Ron and Hermione quickly ran, but Draco blasted Ron with a blue flash, knocking him against the wall. He was unconscious. Just before she was out of his grasp, Delphine was caught by Malfoy.
Malfoy put his hand to her neck and held her tightly, "No more games Potter. Don't want to lose her for real this time, do you?"
Hermione quickly flew to Harry's side, holding out her wand. "Don't you dare Malfoy!"
"Oh, I would love to dare; it's just so tempting!" Malfoy said as he ran a hand across Delphine's cheek.
Struggling, she warned him, "Don't touch me you sick freak!"
"It was you who poisoned the Draught of Peace that night; you summoned the Lethifold to Harry and told it to kill him!" Hermione accused the boy.
"Yes and no. As much as I'd like to, I cannot speak Parseltongue. So, Lord Voldemort had to use the only other faithful servant at this school to help me in bringing you down. Honestly, do you really think I'd act alone?"
Just then, the doors behind them burst open. Hermione kept her wand on Malfoy, and Harry turned to face his enemy. His enemy the entire time he was at Hogwarts.
Severus Snape. He swung his black cloak behind him and approached Harry slowly.
"NO! It was you; you were behind it all along! You gave Malfoy the ingredients to put in Delphine's potion. You had the power to bring the Lethifold to school since you're the Defense against the Darks Arts Teacher and you released him into the forest without anyone's knowledge. You spoke parseltongue to the snake to kill me! And when that didn't work; you accused Delphine of it all because she's the only other person smart enough to do it!"
Snape gave Harry one of his evil looks as he always does, "Clearly you are cleverer than you let on in my classes Potter! What a waste you've turned out to be. You and your friends are pathetic!"
With a light flick of his wand, Hermione's wand was forced from her hands and away from her by Snape. Then, she was lifted up in the air by him, unable to move a single bone in her body.
Quickly, Harry struck with Snape with great force. Snape blocked it however, letting Hermione drop back to the ground. Snape and Harry were locked with sparks flying. Quickly, Hermione grabbed her wand and turned to Malfoy.
She narrowed her eyes at him and conjured a spell. Malfoy's face flickered fright for only a second, and he held his wand closer to Delphine.
Hermione, however, was too quick for him. In one great bolt, Malfoy was thrust back against the wall. Delphine, now free, reached into her coat pocket and pulled out the truth serum. She ran towards Malfoy and leaned over his unconscious self.
As she got close, he tricked her and opened his eyes. He grabbed her by the shoulders and stood up. Whispering, he told her, "I will bloody murder you before this night is out!"
Delphine's eyebrows raised and she chuckled, "And I will bloody kick you in the balls before you can cry to mummy!"
However, Malfoy picked her up off the ground before she even moved. Surprised, she said, "You're much stronger than I thought, nice."
And without hesitation, she leaned over and kissed him. Hermione, by Ron's side, gasped. Ron slowly awoke and saw them and quickly screamed, "He's cursed her!"
Draco himself was very shocked of this. But while distracted, Delphine pulled Draco close to her, and kneed him hard in the groin. "AHH!"
He screamed into the night. Malfoy let go of her, and she pulled the cap off of the potion. Quickly, she poured it into his mouth. She waited as he sat on the ground crying.
"You tried to kill Harry Potter didn't you?" She asked, wand at his throat.
Ron watched her, confused, "I have no bloody clue what to make of this girl!"
Struggling, Draco said, "My balls feel like they're on fire!"
Angry, Delphine slapped Draco hard across the face, "NO! Focus Malfoy, you tried to kill Harry, did you not?"
Crying, he screamed out, "Yes! I tried to kill Harry! Lord Voldemort told Snape to get me to help him kill Harry! The Lethifold, the Draught of Peace, everything! Oh God, it burns!"
Satisfied, Delphine pulled her wand away from him, "Good. I'm glad we're in agreement, thank you for playing!"
Quickly, she ran to Hermione and Ron, "You guys have got to get to Dumbledore now! I don't know how long Harry can fight Snape!"
Hermione nodded. But Ron hesitated, "Wait! What about you?"
"I'll be Harry's backup. He'll need it. Now go; I'll cover you!"
The two made a run for it past the dueling Snape and Harry; but they didn't seem to notice. They were still locked in battle with flying sparks. Harry closed his eyes, 'Focus!'
Clenching his fists around his wand even tighter, Harry's wand brought out a great force, overcoming Snape's and causing him to fly backwards. However, before the man hit the doorway, he disappeared.
Harry kept his hand at ready, looking insanely for him. But then, his worst fear came to life, "Behind you Potter!"
Just like Delphine had predicted, Snape was behind Harry, holding the one person who cared for him the most.
Delphine struggled to get free, but Snape warned her calmly but evilly, "Do not move girl; I won't hesitate to send you into the dark like the poor sap of a wizard Draco did!"
She stopped moving, looking at Harry hopelessly. Snape held the wand harder to her neck and ordered Harry, "Drop your wand!"
But Harry wouldn't, he had to be quick. With great force, he tried to hit Snape. In one swift move, Snape blocked it with his hand and put it back to Delphine's neck even harder. Delphine's eyes closed from the pain.
"Drop it now!" Snape yelled.
He did. Snape gave a small chuckle, "How sweet; you and your little girlfriend doomed to an eternity at the Black Island Voldemort so cleverly created for you Potter. I will send you both there and this time, it will take the creature only a mere hour to find you and kill you! Of course, I must be a gentleman and let the lady go first. This is your punishment Potter; you will watch your love die with her as she dies. Lord Voldemort will rise again!"
Harry wouldn't hear it, he couldn't. He closed his fists and eyes, too angry at Snape for all the pain and torture he caused. He was frightened of Snape all six years at Hogwarts, but now, he embraced it. But his anger didn't match his love for his girl, Delphine. No way in Hell would he lose her again, he made a vow.
Looking at Snape, Harry's eyes were a bright orange. Everything on the roof began to shake. Seeing this, Malfoy whimpered and picked up his wand. He summoned his broom quickly and flew away from the roof before it was too late.
Delphine looked at the ground below her, and saw that she wasn't touching it anymore. She, Snape, and Harry were floating just above the floor of the roof. She couldn't believe what she was seeing; the power in Harry's eyes and hands was growing.
Snape let go of Delphine completely now, focusing on guarding himself from whatever Harry was doing. Delphine feel slowly back to the ground and ran back away from the roof towards the door. And there she watched as Harry went higher with Snape.
Harry looked up at the night sky, orange sparks coming from his eyes and fists. And then suddenly, he screamed. He stared Snape down, throwing his hands in front of him. A great flash of orange hit Snape.
He lost his wand and all power, and then fell back off of the roof. Snape yelled as he fell.
But just before he hit the ground, he was stopped and flew back up to the roof. Appearing next to Delphine was Dumbledore. With his wand, he placed Snape back on the roof and put him in unbreakable irons.
Harry floated back onto the roof as well, the orange spark burning out completely. Ron and Hermione watched from behind Delphine, and Ron whispered, "That was wicked!"
Folding her arms, Delphine told them with complete confidence, "I think Voldemort's in for a big surprise when Harry finds him."
Madeye Moody and Remus Lupin ran through the doors, almost knocking the three over. They went over to Snape and held onto him.
"Finally! We've got the culprit behind your attacks here Dumbledore!" Lupin said.
"Wait just a moment gentlemen!" Delphine came up towards the aurors.
She pulled out her wand and flicked it; revealing Malfoy's confessional she beat out of him earlier, "He's not the only one behind this."
The two aurors looked at each other, and then took the wand. "Smart girl; just like you're mother." Remus grinned.
"And she beat the Malfoy kid to get the confession; as rough and stubborn as Astin was!"
Madeye slapped her hard on the back as they left with Snape.
Grinning like an idiot, Ron looked at Snape and said, "You weren't up to the challenge of teaching smart individuals like us were you Snape?"
Almost growling, Snape muttered, "No one could put up a ridiculous challenge to teach you Weasley!"
He chuckled as the men carried him away, but just then, his mouth was zipped shut.
Hermione saw this as they left, and then looked to Ron, narrowing her eyes. Laughing, Ron admitted, "Okay, maybe I learned one or two things this year in Dark Arts. But, it was from a much prettier, sexier teacher!"
She gasped and blushed when he said that, "Ron! Dumbledore is just over there! And besides, don't think you can get away with talking like that to me at any-"
But before she finished, Ron pulled her to him and kissed her. She shut up after that.
Looking at his hands, Harry was in a state of shock, "I can't believe what I just did; I didn't even touch him!"
Dumbledore stood by him, gazing up at the stars, "Oh, I can believe it Harry. From the first moment I laid eyes on you as a baby, I knew you were special."
"But my power, what if I can't control it?" he asked.
He patted the boy on the shoulder, "With my help, and your friends help, you can. I don't believe you will use it for great evil, or revenge. You are much wiser than that."
Harry sighed and looked over at his mentor, "Thanks professor, for, saving him, even though he's evil."
"Of course Harry; he will have greater punishment by having to live out the rest of his life in Azkaban. And we will find Draco; I imagine we will have a long chat."
Just before he left Harry, he chuckled and said to himself, "The Boy That Lived. I didn't doubt you for a moment."
Harry smiled at this, and then heard someone else say within his earshot, "I didn't doubt you for a moment either."
He turned around to find the soul person he wanted to see. Grabbing her, Harry pulled her into his arms and held her, "Hey Harry."
Pulling his head back to look at her, Harry told her, "I didn't break my promise."
She grinned, "No, you kept it. I had no doubt you would. Harry, your power; that was incredible!"
Harry thought about it, and then replied, "Yeah, I know, I'm fantastic aren't I?"
"Seriously!" she laughed.
They were silent a moment, and then Harry remembered and narrowed his eyes, "You kissed Malfoy?"
Disgusted herself, she explained, "I know but I had to; it was the only thing to distract him so I could kick him in the nuts!"
Harry sighed, "Alright alright! I understand, you were trying to get him to confess. But did you have to kiss him?"
Raising her eyebrow, she asked, "What? Do you wanna do something about it?"
Lifting her chin to met her eyes, Harry looked at her intensely, "Oh, that and more Del."
Finally, he kissed her. She smiled through the kiss, happy that it was over, for now.
The rest of the year, the gang finished out Hogwarts sure that Voldemort was back to square one. And they didn't need to worry. No one knew it, but he wasn't going to try anything until their seventh and last year at Hogwarts. Harry knew then that he had to face Voldemort one last time. Until that moment, Dumbledore would get him ready, and he would have Ron, Hermione, and Delphine to help him through it.
That summer, the four of them spent a relaxing vacation at Delphine's new home on a crystal lake outside of Italy. The weather was beautiful most days, but there was the occasional day of rain.
Ron and Hermione pursued their relationship still; arguing almost 100 of the time, except when Ron would kiss her and all was well. Delphine commented to Harry that she told him from the start that they would get together. Of course, neither of them suspected they would be together.
One rainy afternoon, Harry was sleeping soundly in his own guest room after a very late night of fun by the lake. Suddenly, he was stirred by a creak in the floor. Knowing who the intruder was, Harry whipped around and pulled Delphine onto the bed with him. She laughed as he tickled her.
"Please stop! Stop!" she gave in.
Stopping, Harry groaned, "Why did you wake me up? I'm exhausted!"
He put his head under his pillow and tried to go back to sleep. However, Delphine's stubbornness wouldn't have that. She pulled his pillow away and hit him with it, "Well, I was going to give you your birthday present since today is your birthday. But, if you really don't want it-"
She began to climb out of bed. But no sooner that she said that did he swing his arms around her and pin her to the bed, "I'm up! Sorry, where is it?"
"You mean where are they? I have two gifts for you." She moved her hand a little, but Harry was still holding her down.
"I need one of my arms to give you them!" she told him.
Reluctantly, he let go of her hands and she reached inside her jean pocket to reveal a tiny box. She handed it to him and he opened it carefully. Inside was an amber stone. It had the initials on D.W. on it. Harry flipped it over and saw that the other side was made of ruby which had the initials H.P. on it.
"It's a promise stone. Different from my necklace. It symbolizes the relationship we have and that it'll-"
"-last forever." Harry finished.
Narrowing her eyebrows, she complained, "You know I'm really tired of you finishing all my sentences, why don't you just-"
"-read your mind?" he snickered.
"Very clever. You know, you can be very annoying a lot of the time!"
"What may come off as annoying may really be charming," he whispered in her ear and began to kiss her neck.
"I'm serious; I don't know why I put up with you when you're like this!"
Harry brushed her hair out of her face and looked at her intently, "Because you love me just like I love you."
He kissed her sweetly, and then she groaned, "You see that right there is what gets me every time! I'm hopeless!"
Smiling, he got off her and lay next to her on his bed. Breathing in a peaceful breath, he asked her, "So, when are you going to give me my second gift?"
"Oh, right now I imagine." She told him, stroking his face delicately.
Harry reached over her to put on his glasses, "I'm sure for this one I have to get out of bed and fallow you outside to see the sky, don't I?"
But, she stopped his hand and put it around her waist, "No, you stay right here."
Confused, he looked at her unknowingly, "What is it?"
Before closing her eyes, she whispered, "Me," and kissed him gently but seductively on the lips.
Pulling back a moment, Harry looked at her concerned, "You? Here? Right now?"
"Right now." She confirmed and kissed him again.
He didn't suspect it, and felt overwhelmed with passion by the kiss. He grabbed her waist and pulled her to him forcefully. However, a thought crossed his mind.
"Wait! We can't!" he reluctantly stated.
"Why not?" Delphine asked with her big amber eyes full of desire.
"Because Ron and Hermione are-"
"-gone. They left early this morning with the boat. They aren't going to be back until late tonight."
"Late tonight?" he asked.
She nodded and kissed him again. Then, she looked at him, "Harry, do you not want to? I know if you want to wait longer its fine. I love you; I'd wait forever for you."
But he shook his head, "No. I'm ready. I love you too. Besides, when's the next gorgeous girl going to throw herself at me? That might not happen for at least two months!"
"Are you planning on dumping me Harry Potter?" Delphine asked offended.
"Umm, well, I was giving it some thought." He thought sarcastically.
"Ah!" she sat up and began scrambling out of the bed.
Both laughing, Harry grabbed her and they rolled off the bed. When they stopped rolling, she lay under him and they gazed at each other for a moment. Without a word, they kissed.
A few hours later, Harry opened his eyes. Amber eyes stared back at him.
"Hey," was all he could say.
"Hi," she replied, "How did you sleep?"
"No nightmares." He answered.
"That's a good sign. How are you?"
"Good."
"Do you think we made a mis-"
"Don't even say it. I know we didn't."
"How do you know?" Delphine asked worriedly.
"Because I've never felt more whole until this moment with you."
She smiled at the words, "Good, because that was amazing!"
She blushed when she giggled a little. Harry smiled at her, and kissed her gently.
A little while later, they were fixing some dinner in the kitchen. Just then, Ron and Hermione walked through the front door before the rain outside went nuts.
"Hey," was all the two said.
Harry stood at the stove, grinning. Delphine was grinning too as she chopped carrots by the counter. They could tell what Ron and Hermione had been up to.
Not liking the silence, Hermione walked over and helped Delphine while Ron went to watch Harry cook. They each briefly exchanged stories and smiled a bit.
Later that night, they all sat around the fire place, enjoying each other's company; happy to be living in the moment with the world at their feet.