Hello, All! I know it's been a while and I apologize. This past week has been absolutely crazy.

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. But I do own a scooter that desperately needs to be cleaned.

So, if you've been reading my Author Notes, then you know that I'm reading GOF with her. Cedric has just died. She is not very happy with that. We still don't know who's put Harry's name in the Goblet, but she heavily suspects Karkaroff (she really hates Karkaroff). It's so great reading with her because she gets so into the story. She gets personally offended by anything that Wormtail does and she gets super excited anytime the Golden Trio does something against the Slytherins. (She hates Slytherin even though she knows that that's where I'm sorted.)

I would, of course, like to take the time out to thank those that have left a review:

Dragul, harryislife, Xarvas, FierceDeityLinkMask, Deathlord135, Vi38, Ingriz, MichaelJ-D, trispectrum, ShadouRyu-kun, CCBottle, DraacoClaye, Kagemaru Raiden, BurningDay, ErikaNeubert, feydran, and SoapOpera

"So, I've been thinking… that maybe we could sleep in my bed tonight."

Harry looked up from the Death Eater reports that Ron had given him to read over and correct. Had he just heard Daphne correctly? From the way that she was biting her bottom lip and looking staring intently at her plate of chicken and vegetables, Harry was sure that he hadn't misheard her.

"I mean, you've been staying over here the past few nights. I know that your back must be killing you. That can't be good for your line of work," she said clearly, though her eyes were still glued to her plate. Harry knew that Daphne was nervous. He didn't need the Auror training to be able to see that she was uncomfortable. He couldn't understand why, though. Did she really think that he was going to turn down her offer to sleep in her bed?

Ever since Daphne's attack on Saturday, Harry had been staying the night at Daphne's flat. It was now Monday evening, and although Harry hadn't complained, his back was in quite a bit of pain.

He hadn't planned on sleeping at Daphne's for so long. He was just worried that she wasn't okay. She acted like everything was back to normal, but sometimes she'd get a far off look in her eyes that concerned him. He didn't ask her about it because he knew that she would be annoyed and accuse him of hovering, but he couldn't help but just… keep an eye on her.

In fact, he was originally planning on going back to Grimmauld Place that night. He didn't want to smother Daphne with his presence. But, apparently, Daphne had other plans.

"Uh… yeah. Okay. If you're sure?" Harry agreed, hesitantly. Daphne nodded slowly, her eyes moving from the plate in front of her up to Harry's.

Harry could feel his thoughts clouding. He was going to be in Daphne's bed. He had never been in Daphne's bed. This… this was big, wasn't it? Daphne rarely let him in her room because it was usually in disarray, but that night she expected to sleep in her bed. Every night that Harry had spent there, intentional or not, had been spent on Daphne's awful excuse for a sofa.

Thinking of Daphne in a bed was doing weird things to him. Sure, they had slept together on her sofa, which left very little room to move around and forced their bodies to be pressed together whether they wanted it that way or not. But, Daphne in a bed with him, where they could move around and sleep comfortably… or not sleep at all.

Harry shook his head. He shouldn't be thinking of things like that. Not when he hadn't finished reading over Ron's notes and definitely not so soon after Daphne's attack. He pushed his thoughts of Daphne splayed across the bed, her lips swollen from kissing, her moaning his name in ecstasy…

"Harry, are you okay? Your face is red. Do you need water?" Daphne asked, concern all over her face and dripping into her voice. Harry quickly shook his head.

"NO! No, I'm fine," he told her, trying not to think about how badly he wanted to… "It's just Ron's writing. It's… it's awful, you know? Just dreadful. I have to get the guy a dictionary for Christmas," Harry lied.

Daphne's eyes widened a fraction before she rolled her eyes. "Oh, hell," Daphne groaned.

"It's really not that bad," Harry said, confused with Daphne's reaction. "I mean, he could use a dictionary, but his grammar isn't bad at all."

"No, not that," Daphne said, running a frustrated hand through her hair. "I'm supposed to go to the DMLE tomorrow. I completely forgot. I'm supposed to fill out paperwork for the… you know? So, Clames and I won't have to work together. I want a full restraining order and I want to make sure that snake doesn't slither his way out of this." Harry didn't correct her, even though Thomas Clames was a badger and she was actually the snake.

Thinking of Daphne in the DMLE reminded Harry of another pressing matter that he had been trying to repress into the recesses of his mind. He still had a decision to make. Robards hadn't hassled him at work that day, but every time that the paths crossed, he would send Harry a questioning glance.

Harry had originally planned to use legilimency on Daphne to get information on her father. But, after Daphne's attack, the thought made him sicker than it had originally. Daphne's trust had been broken already by a co-worker, he couldn't bear to think that he could further injure her.

Harry wasn't a master legilimens. He wasn't sure if he'd be able to slip into Daphne's mind without her knowing. And even if he did, he would know. He would know and the guilt would eat him alive.

Harry knew that he had to do something. The little information that had come back involving Daphne's father proved that he could be potentially dangerous. Sightings of him near muggle cities that had been attacked, money transfers from false companies abroad that were previously owned by the Greengrass estate, and family history regarding the Dark Arts were all red flags. However, there wasn't anything strong enough to get a warrant and no one knew where the bastard was.

It was more difficult to get Mr. Greengrass than any of the previous Death Eaters because the man's involvement with Voldemort was either nonexistent or very well hidden. He hadn't faced any charges after the Battle of Hogwarts.

Robards had warned against Harry telling anyone about his, technically illegal, mission. Robards thought that he was doing Harry a favor by not bringing Daphne in for questioning, but he had actually fucked him over. Harry would've rather had Daphne brought in for questioning like Theodore Nott (or her own sister for that matter) than putting him in this impossible situation.

Hadn't he done enough for the Wizarding World? Harry was sure that he had reached his quota for sacrifices made for the greater good. For fuck's sake, he was tired of having things fall on his shoulders. No one was asking any of the other Aurors to potentially end their relationships for the cause? At least, not that he knew of. There were so many secrets within the Auror Department, he wasn't sure of anything anymore.

His conscience wasn't going to allow him to use legilimency on Daphne without her permission and he couldn't ask for that permission without telling her about his mission. He regretted even accepting this fucked up mission in the first place. Why had he? Why hadn't he told Robards to go fuck himself? Why did he still feel the need to prove himself?

Daphne planned on going to the DMLE in the morning, so Harry had to do something. He couldn't put off making a decision any longer. If Daphne found out about it, or if Robards decided to question her, Harry could potentially lose his job and Daphne. Robards would know that Harry hadn't even made an attempt to complete the mission and Daphne would know that Harry had purposefully kept something from her. Something that directly affected her.

Harry pinched the bridge of his nose. He wasn't going to be able to finish reading over Ron's report. There was no way that he was going to be able to focus on it. Not with his mind in such a clusterfuck.

Daphne used her wand to send her dishes to the sink and stood up. "Well, if I'm going to the DMLE tomorrow, I'd better get some sleep." She stretched and her shirt rose up to above her navel.

"I'm going to take a quick shower and then the bathroom's all yours," she told him, walking towards her bedroom. Water was so scarce in some parts of the world. Why couldn't they do their part to conserve water by sharing the shower?

He heard the shower start and his mind started to wander again. The only thing that could possibly be better than a Daphne in the bed, was a soaking wet Daphne in the shower.

It had been so long since he had had sex with someone. Too long. The last had been Ginny and that had been a while ago. There was nearly a moment when he hooked up with someone immediately after his breakup with Ginny, but he quickly removed himself from that situation. He was too drunk at the time and the lady was too aggressive. Or, maybe Harry wasn't the "casual hook-up" type?

Harry shook his head angrily. How could he think about sex at a time like this? How could he think about a soapy Daphne wearing nothing when he was keeping such a big secret from her? When he was going to potentially ruin their relationship in a matter of minutes?

How had his moral compass gone so skewed? Harry prided himself on always doing the right thing. Or, at least, what he thought was right at the time. When did that end? He wished, for a brief moment, that he could ask Hermione what to do. She'd know what to do without question. But, that would be breaking his promise to Robards. And, she'd probably hit him for being such an idiot in the first place.

Harry heard the shower stop and his stomach lurched. 'Well, here it goes,' he thought miserably. Harry stood up from his chair at the table and stretched, though he still felt sore from the previous night spent on the sofa.

Well, on the bright side, at least Harry wouldn't have to lose sleep over this. He had put a great deal of effort into not thinking about his stupid mission and now it was going to be over.

Harry sighed and walked over to Daphne's bedroom door. He knocked and asked if she were dressed enough for him to enter. She said "yes" and Harry slowly entered.

Daphne was in a bathrobe, her hair drenched and those awful bunny slippers that Harry had always hated, on her feet. Harry could see that the bathrobe wasn't as securely tied around her waist as it could've been and he could see a great deal of her chest and stomach. Harry had never wanted anything to loosen itself as badly as he wanted Daphne's robe to.

Harry shook his head again. What the hell was wrong with him?

"Everything okay, Harry?" she asked, curiously. Harry's eyes moved from her chest to her bright blue eyes and felt guilt wash over him.

"Daphne, do you mind sitting down?" Harry asked, gesturing to the bed. Daphne's eyebrows knit together, but she slowly sat down, her eyes never leaving Harry's.

Harry sat down beside her and took a deep breath, preparing himself to lay everything out on the table. But before he could say anything, Daphne was speaking.

"I knew this night was coming. I can't say that I'm not nervous, but I'm more excited than anything. I mean, I've never done this before. But… I've heard stuff, you know? From Pansy and the nurses at St. Mungo's. So, I know the basics. I'm not sure if I'd be good or not, but I'd like to give it a try if you are. I mean, I know you're not a… I know that you've done this before. So, at least one of us is experienced. I'm sorry for rambling. I'm just really nervous and I-,"

Harry blinked dumbly at her. It took a while for Harry to follow what she was saying, but once he understood what she was talking about, he could feel his face redden with each word she said.

"N-no, Daphne. Tha- that's not what I wanted to talk with you about," Harry said, interrupting her. Although, he'd much rather talk about what Daphne was thinking about, he needed to get this out of the way. He couldn't be distracted. Not even by beautiful blondes with too little clothes covering them.

"I have to tell you something," he said firmly, though he felt nervous beyond measure. Daphne waited patiently, her eyes wide with curiosity.

"I… Okay, you know how…. Your sister….," Harry ran a frustrated hand through his hair and groaned. This was going to be harder than he thought.

"Robards… mission… your father…" Harry's brows knit together. Why couldn't he just spit it out?

"What's wrong with my family? Is everyone okay?" Daphne asked, panic lacing her voice. Harry couldn't answer. Harry was too busy panicking over what was going on with his tongue. And he got the sinking suspicion that he wasn't going to be able to answer her. Fucking Robards.

The bastard had literally put a gag order on him. The fucker was magically preventing him from speaking. How the hell did he manage that? When was he close enough to Robards for him to be able to put the curse on him? And how did he not notice?

Harry thought that he might've been under the Imperius curse, but that theory was quickly flattened. Harry had been under the Imperius curse before and fought it. He knew what it felt like to have your mind magically cleared with a strong impulse to do whatever the caster wanted you to. This was not that. Harry wasn't being persuaded to do anything. He was being forced to not do something.

"Harry, you're scaring me. Is everything okay. What happened to Astoria?" Daphne asked, placing her hand on Harry's arm, alarm evident in her voice. Harry looked around, trying to find something…

"Do you have parchment and a quill? Maybe I can write it down!" Harry thought quickly. Daphne stood up and walked towards the clutter on her desk. She grabbed the desired items and handed them over to Harry. He didn't get much farther in writing anything down than he had in speaking it to her. It was like Harry wasn't in control of his hand anymore.

"That fucking piece of shit," Harry cursed loudly. He was pissed. Beyond pissed. How dare Robards put him on a gag? How fucking dare he? What Robards was asking of him was illegal, whether he thought it was for Harry's benefit or his own. And putting Harry on a gag was definitely illegal and was definitely not for Harry's benefit. Did he not trust Harry to keep his promise enough that he had to put a gag order on him? Harry was offended. Robards was right in that assumption, because he was planning on telling Daphne, but still…

"Charades!" Harry shouted, standing up quickly from the bed and startling Daphne.

"What?" she asked, confused.

"It's a muggle game. Where… I act things out. Or, use hand gestures to get you to think of a word or a phrase, more like," Harry explained, his thoughts jumbled because of his frustration.

"Why don't you just tell me what's going on Harry?" Daphne asked angrily.

"I can't," Harry said exasperatedly. "I literally can't."

Harry could tell that Daphne was quickly catching on to what had happened to him. Her face went from angry to impossibly angry.

"Are you on a fucking gag order?!" she asked, standing up. Harry nodded and Daphne started to swear loudly. Harry would've laughed if the situation were different.

"Who did this to you?!" she nearly yelled.

"Robards," he told her. He was surprised at how easy it was to answer that question. "He…" Harry groaned. So, the gag order was definitely still in place.

"Why did he do this to you?" she asked angrily.

"He doesn't trust me," Harry told her, once again, surprised at what he was able to say and what he wasn't able to say.

"Why wouldn't he trust you? He's been working you like a fucking house elf! You're at the DMLE all fucking day and fucking night! You've nearly died countless times rounding up the Death Eaters that the Ministry let slip through their fingers! You took out Voldemort! What more could he possibly want? What more do you have to do to gain his fucking trust? Give him your first born?!" she ranted.

Daphne sat back down on the bed in a huff, her arms crossed angrily over her chest.

Harry couldn't help but be the slightest bit happy that Daphne was so angry on his behalf. He knew that she was thinking of ways to break the curse… or perhaps thinking of a way to get revenge on Robards. He wasn't quite sure. But, seeing Daphne get so upset for him and hearing her curse so much and seeing that robe slip a bit more down her shoulders was doing something to him.

"I wish I could just read your mind," she muttered sulkily. Harry, who had been staring at Daphne's chest again, looked up to Daphne's eyes which were now glued to his.

"Get your waned," he ordered softly. "How good are you at legilimency?" he asked her as she accio'd her wand.

"Not at all. I was planning on learning from Draco, but Theo said that I should learn Occlumency first and when I saw Draco on Sunday, we kind of got distracted by other things," Daphne told him.

Harry raised an eyebrow at her. What other things had they gotten up to? And why was Daphne's face reddening and why hadn't she come to him first about learning legilimency? Why did she have to go to Malfoy and Nott?

Harry pushed those thoughts into the back of his head. He didn't have time to worry about those things. It wasn't the time for jealousy. He could deal with that at a later time.

"Okay. Well, we don't have enough time for me to teach you occlumency first. So, we're just going to jump right into legilimency," Harry told her. Daphne looked hesitant but nodded her head slowly.

"It'll be fine," he assured her. "Now, just point your wand at me, say legilimens and concentrate on my thoughts. It will be easier if you look into my eyes," Harry instructed. Daphne nodded her head again and gripped her wand firmly in her hand.

Harry thought clearly of his conversation with Robards, the memory that had been replaying over and over in his head without warning since that morning.

"Legilimens!" Daphne said clearly. Harry could feel Daphne rummaging through his mind. It was obvious that she had never done this before. Harry had laid all of his memories for her to see, not placing a single barrier up against her. She kept jumping from memory to memory, blindly moving through his mind like a Minotaur in a tea shop.

Harry thought about his conversation with Robards again, hoping to show Daphne that specific memory instead of the memory of Harry receiving an old pair of socks from his Uncle Vernon. He could feel Daphne latching on to that memory and he sighed in relief even though he could feel a massive headache coming on.

After what felt like an hour, though must've been only a few moments, Harry pushed Daphne out of his head after she had seen the memory replay a few times. They were both breathing heavily and slightly sweaty. Harry's headache was in full swing and he groaned in pain.

"Do you have any pain potion?" Harry asked her.

"Why would you agree to that?" Daphne asked him, hurt evident in his eyes.

"Because I'm an idiot," he answered without thinking.

"Yes, you are. You are because anyone who wasn't an idiot wouldn't have agreed to such utter bullshit," Daphne said, marching towards her bathroom. Harry knew that this was coming. He knew that she would be pissed. He just didn't know that he'd have to deal with a massive headache while trying to fix things with Daphne.

Daphne walked back into the room, a vial of pain potion in her outstretched hand. Harry took it from her and swallowed it all in one gulp. The pain in his head started to dissipate and he only had to worry about the pissed Daphne standing in front of him.

"I'm sorry, Daphne," Harry apologized. Daphne didn't look impressed. Her arms were crossed over her chest and her face was emotionless.

"I should've never agreed to it. But, at the time, I thought that I was doing the right thing!" he told her, more frustrated with himself than anything else.

"This happened not even two hours after you told me that you loved me," Daphne said softly.

Harry had nothing to say to that. It was true. He had agreed to this almost immediately after confessing his love to Daphne.

"I do love you, Daphne," Harry said, panic holding him firmly in its grasp. He could tell where this conversation was going. She was going to end things with him and he deserved nothing more. He had been an arse and an idiot. But, he selfishly wasn't ready for things to end. He wasn't going to lose her. The thought alone made him sick.

"How can you say that you love me?" Daphne asked him, her voice toneless and emotionless.

"Because it's true!" Harry said firmly. He took a step towards her and she quickly took a step away from him. Harry sighed but wasn't deterred. "Daphne, I love you more than words can say. I didn't know that I could feel this way. I didn't know that I could ever be so happy. You make me feel… like I'm constantly drinking amorentia and felix felicis. I know I hurt you. I know I fucked up, but…"

"But what?" Daphne challenged angrily.

"But… I love you," Harry said flatly. He had lost her. There was no going back now.

"You're not a poet, Harry," Daphne told him, her eyes bearing into his.

"I'd write the best poem in the whole world if it meant that you would forgive me," Harry told her, still hoping against hope that she wasn't going to slip through his fingers.

"I doubt you'd be able to. I've seen your writing and I can only expect for it to be subpar. But, that doesn't mean that I'm not willing to let you try," Daphne said, a small smirk playing on her lips.

"Really?!" Harry asked, confused. He got the impression that she was giving him a second chance, but that couldn't be. Maybe Daphne had done more damage in his head than he had originally thought.

"Is that how you're going to start your poem off, Harry?" Daphne asked, shaking her head in disapproval. "Tsk tsk."

Harry smiled down at her before clearing his throat.

"Roses are red. Violets are-,"

"Nope," Daphne said quickly, laughing. "You'll have to do better than that."

Harry thought of another way to start off a poem. Did he know any other poems?

"Luckily for you, Potter, that you'll have plenty of time to think of a better poem. But, make no mistake, I do plan on collecting that best poem in the whole world someday," she told him, taking a step towards Harry.

Harry didn't hesitate to press his lips against hers. He wrapped her in his arms and held her against his chest. His mouth moved against hers and one of his hands was lost in her golden locks while the other held her against him. If Daphne didn't want to be kissed, she gave no sign.

Before things could get too carried away, however, Harry ended the kiss. Daphne's lips were lightly swollen and red and she was breathing deeply. She pressed her lips against Harry's softly and smiled up at him.

"I love you," Harry said again.

Daphne's smile only brightened. "I know. I love you, too. But today wasn't the best and I'm really tired. So, can we go to sleep?" she asked him.

Harry was exhausted too. More exhausted than he had been in a while. He was physically, mentally, and emotionally drained and the thought of Daphne's bed was the most welcome thing he could imagine at the moment. He nodded his head and yawned. He walked to the bag of packed clothes that he brought from Grimmauld Place, and grabbed clothes to sleep in.

After he was showered and in much more comfortable clothing than he had been in earlier, he laid down next to Daphne in her bed. It was so comfortable. It was as if the sofa and the bed were polar opposites. He could feel the tension leaving his body the longer he laid there. The pillows were so soft that the second his head relaxed against one he was dozing off.

"I didn't tell you about Sunday," Daphne whispered. Harry wasn't exactly sure if he had heard her or if this was the beginning of a dream.

"I walked in on Hermione and Draco," she told him, snuggling up to him. Harry turned towards her and wrapped her arms around her, pulling her closer.

"That's nice," he said automatically, not fully registering what Daphne had just confessed to him. He was too busy being delighted by Daphne's desire to cuddle. Sure, they cuddled on the sofa, but that had more to do with lack of space. Daphne's bed was a King sized bed and she still preferred to lay as close to him as possible.

"Wait, what?" Harry asked groggily, finally understanding what Daphne said a few moments ago. "Walked in on them?"

Harry could feel her nodding her head against his shoulder. "Yep," she said, popping the "p". "It was really awkward. Really very awkward."

"I can imagine," Harry said, fighting to stay alert and not give into unconsciousness.

"But… it's got me thinking… about us," Daphne confessed. Now Harry was adamant to stay awake. He wasn't going to miss out on this conversation.

"Yeah?" he asked, feeling his pulse quicken. Daphne was really close to him. And she wasn't wearing much; only a pair of shorts and a tank top. Has her skin always been so soft?

"I know that you're not a virgin. What's it like?" she whispered. Harry gulped before answering.

"I wouldn't know from your perspective. But… it's good."

"Just good?" she asked skeptically.

"Really good. Really fucking good," Harry said lamely.

"Does it bother you that… you're not… that we haven't had sex yet?" Daphne asked him. Harry could feel her eyes on him. He didn't have to open his eyes to see that her attention was completely focused on him.

"No."

"Really?" she asked, unsure.

"Really. I love you, Daphne. I'm not going to lie and say that I don't think about it. Us having sex, I mean. But, I'm not going to pressure you. I can wait for you until you're ready," Harry told her honestly. And boy, did he think about having sex with Daphne often. Sometimes she would just look at him and he would think about her legs wrapped around his waist. She'd kiss him and he'd wonder if everything about her was as sweet as her lips were. She'd win one of their stupid arguments and she'd have that sexy smirk on her face and Harry wanted nothing more than to erase that smirk and replace it with gasps and moans and his name falling from her lips.

"Okay," Daphne whispered, and Harry could tell that she was smiling.

"But, can you never bring up Draco and Hermione having sex before bed again? I already have enough nightmares without adding that to the mix," Harry grimaced. Daphne laughed and kissed his cheek.

"I promise. But, if you would've seen it then you would understand why I've become curious," Daphne defended.

"Ugh. Did seeing Hermione and Draco like that turn you on?" Harry asked, pinching the bridge of his nose. The very thought of it made him sick to his stomach.

"NO! Of course, not," Daphne said a bit too quickly for Harry to believe that she was telling the truth. "It kind of scared me, if I'm being completely honest. It was… disturbing. I'm curious to see if we'll be disturbing too."

"I don't think that there are many things that can be more disturbing than whatever it was that you walked in on," Harry commented. Daphne laughed but she agreed with him.

"Even though I'm going to have to deal with some emotional damage, I'm glad to see that they're together. Even though, I could've done without actually seeing them together, you know? I was getting whiplash from the back and forth, honestly. Are they together or aren't they? It was exhausting," Daphne said softly. Harry wasn't so sure. Daphne trusted Draco and Hermione trusted Draco, but Harry wasn't completely convinced. He knew that Draco wasn't the same bastard that he was while they were in school, but house rivalries and blood supremacy aside, the blonde was still a huge prat.

"Whatever makes her happy," Harry said before yawning.

"Even if having sex with Draco in public places happens to make her happy?" Daphne challenged, fighting a yawn herself.

"Whatever makes her happy except for that. That would be unforgivable."

Another chapter in the bag, friends!

Review! The last chapter didn't get as much reviews as my other chapters usually do. So, I'm going to shamelessly beg for more. What did you think of the chapter? What do you think is going to happen in the next chapter when Daphne goes down to the DMLE? What do you think of Harry and Daphne's awkward conversation about them… furthering their relationship? Did you take the Ilvermorny house quiz?! Where were you sorted? REVIEW!

Thank you to those that have followed and favorited NQSB. As I type this, this story has 769 follows and 450 favorites. I challenge those who have followed to leave a review and say what their favorite part has been so far. (Shamelessly begging)

Thanks x