Harry looked at Daphne. "Fat kid?" Harry repeated in barely a whisper. He was surprised to hear Daphne insult Neville. "What is wrong?"
"The first event of the tri-wizard tournament is today and you might not survive." Daphne's eyes glistened with delight and a smile spread across her face.
"Oh, don't worry. I am ready for this," Harry assured her. His eyes narrowed as he hoped he was misreading her expression.
"Overconfident, I see," Daphne chuckled. "You are so obviously a virgin. I mean really who would touch…. I mean it would be a real shame if you died a virgin. Make love to me Potter." She commanded with a winced look.
"Potter? Why so formal?" Harry asked. Even back when Harry first met Daphne at Three Broomsticks, she called him by his first name, not his last, before she even considered him to be a friend, back when she referenced him simply as 'fellow student.'
"If you don't, I will have to marry Draco Malfoy," Daphne pleaded.
"What?" Harry questioned.
"It is true. Draco's dad and Daph… I mean my dad have a marriage contract in the works. If I am not a virgin, I am out of the contract," Daphne said.
"Oh my God! I really want to help you get out of that, but we will have to find another way," Harry responded.
"What are you, gay? Come on, you know you want me," Daphne insisted.
"You are the most beautiful girl in the whole school," Harry said. Most girls would be flattered by such a statement, but Daphne just rolled her eyes. "Of course, I want you, but not like this. If we were to take things… All the way… I would want it to be something you truly want too, not something you will just regret later." The memory of his dream about Daphne truly wanting him seemed to dance in his head.
"Come on Pot… I mean Harry, just do it!" Daphne commanded.
The words of Draco Malfoy echoed in his head. 'I should have known. Since when have you been bossy?' He had to admit, Draco probably knew Daphne better than he did. He wasn't sure who this girl was, but she probably wasn't Daphne. "With your father's curse, we don't have a choice. We can't do it."
"What curse?" Daphne asked as she took another sip of her drink.
"If you're really Daphne, then I am the queen of England. I am not falling for this," Harry said. She didn't even know about the curse. This most certainly wasn't Daphne. Harry wondered about that drink she had too. She drank it too easily for it to actually be a polyjuice. Nobody could possibly hide the disgusted reaction to that putrid drink. As he looked at it, he realized it looked much more like butterbeer then a polyjuice. She is probably drinking that to wash out the horrid taste of the polyjuice.
"Perhaps, you don't know me as well as you think you do," Daphne suggested. "I have been so fake with you. I know I had to be to trick you into liking me."
"I like the real Daphne. You are just an imposter. Draco fell for your trap, but I won't," Harry declared. He didn't believe that for a second. He witnessed first-hand that Daphne was still sweet even when she didn't know Harry was watching.
"Fine," Daphne scowled. "I am glad you didn't fall for it because honestly, the thought of sleeping with you makes me want to vomit!"
"Really? Then why are you doing this?" Harry glared at her.
"I am being blackmailed," Daphne declared. Of course, she wasn't really Daphne. She was Pansy following Draco's orders. She knew Draco's plan had failed, so now she had to follow a plan of her own.
"By who?" Harry asked.
"You wouldn't believe me if I told you," Daphne said.
"Try me," Harry insisted.
"Granger!" Daphne briefly looked him in the eye.
"I don't…" Harry hesitated. "Believe you." He contemplated what this girl had said. He didn't know whether to believe it or not. He knew Hermione had a huge problem with Daphne, but would she really go this far? Then he remembered Hermione actually warned him that it would just be a matter of time before Daphne messed with him the same way she messed with Draco. Would she really deliberately cause it to happen? "So what is the plan here? You sleep with me and then call out another guy's name? Just like you did with Draco?"
"Of course! Granger ordered me to turn you against Daphne. She knew if you heard Draco's name called out, that would do the trick. That was her plan anyway. Believe me! Don't believe me! I don't care! It was Granger," Daphne declared confidently as she lied through her teeth.
"Or someone well versed in polyjuice potions pretending to be her. Who are you?" Harry asked.
"I am nobody you know," Daphne lied again. "I will show myself out." She left his room.
Harry wasn't properly dressed to chase after her. He quickly donned his cloak of invisibility and pursued her down the hallway.
Hermione stepped out of a room and closed the door behind her. She saw Daphne. "Daphne, what are you doing here? I thought you said you wouldn't be able to see Harry until…" Hermione began to say.
"I really don't have time to explain," Daphne interrupted while she made note of which room Hermione just came out of, then moved down the corridor and rounded a corner.
Still invisible, Harry followed closely behind, yet arrived only in time to see Daphne disappear. He suspected it was a port key, not invisibility. Harry hoped everything she said was false. He found the idea of Hermione being behind this just as repulsive as the idea of a marriage contract between Draco and Daphne.
Triwizard Tournament – First Event
The arena began to fill up with spectators. "I really don't want to go to this," Daphne protested as she and Astoria ascended the staircase-like bleachers to find a seat.
"Would you rather go back to your room and fret about what might happen?" Astoria asked. Daphne looked back and gave her a blank stare. "It is better for you to see for yourself. Besides, I think your hero would want you here to cheer him on."
"Can you promise me he won't die?" Daphne asked in a somber tone.
"I.. Can't promise you that, but it is still better that you see for yourself. Not knowing will just drive you crazy," Astoria suggested.
Daphne reluctantly admitted to herself that her sister was right. Then she spotted Tracey. As she looked over at Tracey, she remembered what Hermione had said, that being pure-blood is one of the reasons for being placed in Slytherin. She wondered how true that really was as she looked at Tracey, a known half-blood. "Tracey," Daphne called out and she raced over and took a seat next to her. Astoria sat next to her sister on the other side.
Draco followed closely behind them. He could hear their conversation and he found it annoying. He wanted to get a seat next to Daphne, but no such luck, the seats on both sides of her were already occupied. He disliked Daphne being so supportive of Harry and the fact that he didn't get to sit next to her. He hoped this would be the end of Potter and if it were, he would feign sympathy for Daphne and hopefully that would repair his bond with her.
"Hi Daphne." Tracey smiled at her and seemed genuinely happy to see her. "Where is Pansy? I thought she was coming to this."
"Oh, she had something to do," Draco snickered with too much of a smirk.
All of Gryffindor was seated on the other side of the arena. Ron, Hermione and Neville all sat together for the event started Hermione found herself watching the Slytherin students, especially Daphne and Draco. She noticed Draco seemed to be in a pretty foul mood from the get-go.
"I hate to say it, but you were right about Daphne," Neville told Ron. "I never thought it would happen, but she really has become just a snake in the grass. Nothing but a better looking version of Pansy Parkinson! She was so rude."
Ron nodded while only half-listening. Neville realized it and dropped the subject. Besides, it was Harry that he really needed to convince.
Sure enough, Harry learned that Daphne was correct about the first event being about dragons. He was surprised to learn that he only had to steal a golden egg. Hermione did have him properly prepared for this event.
The contestants took turns in the same order their names were drawn. This of course, meant that Viktor Krum went first. Like everyone else, Hermione watched the main arena, but every so often her gaze drifted over to the Slytherin group on the other side. Even though she couldn't hear anything they said, the body language was obvious. Astoria leaned forward with her eyes glued to Viktor and a wide smile splashed across her face. Draco had his arms folded and seemed completely disinterested.
Viktor successfully used a Conjunctivitis Curse to blind the dragon. The dragon's eyes went pink and he thrashed around randomly smashing anything in his path. Viktor had no trouble getting past the dragon and taking the golden egg. Unfortunately, several of the dragon's real eggs got smashed in the process.
Draco turned to Astoria. "I guess this isn't as hard as I thought. I could have handled that," he said.
Daphne pretended not to hear him. She simply rolled her eyes. Just because they can do it, doesn't mean we can, she thought to herself. This was the same kind of overconfidence Draco had when he approached Buckbeak a few years ago.
"Sure you could," Astoria smiled at him. "I am glad you don't have to."
Next up was Cedric. Cedric threw some rocks and transformed them into the cutest little puppies.
"Aw," Daphne said. Then she gasped as she realized that the dragon was chasing after them. She still found this disturbing even though she knew they weren't real puppies.
Cedric's ploy successfully distracted the dragon, but not Astoria. Lucky for him she wasn't the dragon because she never took her eyes off him. After eating one of the puppies, the dragon returned his attention back on Cedric and managed to slash Cedric's arm open with his claw. Most of the audience gasped at the sight of gushing blood, but Cedric still managed to complete the task at hand.
During Fleur Delcour's turn, Astoria lost interest in the spectacle in front of her and instead turned her attentions to Draco. This didn't go unnoticed by Hermione. Astoria definitely told the truth about her three crushes. Even at this distance it was obvious.
"So, did anyone confess yet," Astoria asked Draco quietly.
"Yeah, three girls did," Draco answered honestly. Besides Pansy, two other girls had already come to him to 'confess' that they had impersonated Daphne, "But none of them actually did it," he lied. The other two only confessed because they wanted to get together with him, sure, but he knew that Pansy was actually responsible thanks to Astoria's little idea to lie about the details. He told one of the girls that she had given him the best blow job and asked if she would be willing to do that again, which she agreed to. He was tempted to let her before calling her bluff but he decided against it. The other one he asked if she really meant it when she said she would agree to a threesome, as he already had someone in mind. She was so horrified, she admitted she lied.
Fleur simply hypnotized the dragon and went for the egg. Unfortunately, the dragon sneezed and blew out a flame jet. Her skirt caught on fire. She was well versed in fire safety and managed to put the fire out quickly and she too completed the task.
Next up was of course Harry.
"Oh, God," Daphne groaned as she felt a knot in her stomach.
"All three survived. He will too." Astoria squeezed her hand in a comforting gesture.
"We will see." Draco crossed his arms and rolled his eyes.
All three watched intently. For his first move, the dragon spat fire all around Harry. There was no denying that it was a direct hit. The entire audience gasped. Daphne cried and looked down at her shoes. She like most of the audience believed that was the end of the boy who lived. Astoria put her arm around her sister in a comforting gesture.
Draco gave a smug smile with the realization that he just won that little bet he had with his father. Harry didn't even last five minutes. Unfortunately for him, any feeling of satisfaction he might get from this was squashed by the girl he felt something for crying. He couldn't stand to see that, but now with Harry out of the way, Draco would be more than happy to wipe away Daphne's tears. It was his chance. "Sorry Daphne!" Draco reached behind Astoria and gently patted Daphne on the back.
Hermione yet again found herself watching Daphne, Draco and Astoria a bit too much. Of course, she was concerned about Harry too, but not as concerned as Daphne appeared to be. She knew Harry was properly prepared for this. She personally made sure of it.
As the flames gathered around Harry he quickly waved his wand and cast a flame-freeze charm, which was a trick Hermione found for him. Thankfully, the spell worked. The fire danced around him harmlessly and tickled his skin in a gentle caress. Harry let out a small laugh. "Accio sword of Gryfindor!" Harry called out. Unfortunately, after a few moments Harry realized this didn't work. He wasn't surprised. It was an intelligent sword and probably well-guarded against such charms, but Ron suggested this and he just had to try it. "Accio broomstick," Harry called out. Luckily the flame-freeze rendered all the flames that still surrounded him harmless, so his broomstick didn't ignite. He flew up above the flames.
Daphne still had her head down and continued to cry. She looked up only after she heard the thunderous applause of the crowd as Harry rose above the flames. She breathed a sigh of relief to his smiling face. She put her hand to her heart.
Her reactions didn't go unnoticed by Hermione, which removed all doubt she had. Now Hermione knew Daphne truly cared about Harry. Of course, Daphne's sense of relief was short lived when the dragon perused him. The dragon seemed faster and would easily catch up to Harry. Harry circled around and fired of another spell.
"Confringo," Harry called out. A bolt of blue-white light fired from the tip of Harry's wand and slashed the dragon's left wing.
The dragon spiraled out of control and descended downward toward the audience. Harry realized the dragon was headed right for the part of the audience where the students from Slytherin sat. Of course Harry didn't want to see anyone get hurt, but at the same time he was relieved the dragon wasn't headed for the side his fellow Gryffindor's were seated. Much to his horror, Harry realized the falling dragon was heading straight toward his girlfriend. He started to worry about Daphne.
"You were right. We shouldn't have come to this," Astoria yelled as everyone in that area ducked and screamed. They heard a loud sound as the dragon's body slammed against something previously unseen and they could feel a strong vibration. Those beneath the massive body of the dragon expected a quick and painful death. Instead, much to their relief, they realized the spectators of this event were fully protected. It was only the contestants that were not. They looked up seeing a bright blue-white light force field of some sort. The dragon slid along back toward the arena making a sound not unlike chalk board squeal. Bright flashes of light traced the dragon's path as he slid down.
The dragon glared at Harry, then pranced over to the golden egg and sat on it. Harry landed near-by. Why did he have to get the smartest of the dragons? The dragon realized his breath weapon was ineffective and with a broken wing, he couldn't pursue him in the air. The dragon showed his sharp fangs which loudly communicated an unspoken threat that if Harry approached he was going to get bitten. This reminded Harry of the time he was bitten by the Basilisk, an experience he had no desire to repeat.
Then Harry wondered, would it actually be this easy? No way! "Accio Golden dragon egg!" Harry called out. He did his best to visualize the egg while pointing his wand in the general direction of his intended target.
The dragon could feel a scouring heat going on under his body where the egg was. Instinctively, he quickly jumped up. A few of his protective scales dislodged and fell. A bright streak of light, roughly the size of the egg raced toward Harry. Harry grabbed it and watched the transformation back into a golden egg.
"Cheater," Draco screamed. Of course, his callout was drown out by the thunderous applause and laughter of the audience.
Snape looked over at Dumbledore and then face-palmed. "The egg wasn't protected against that particular spell. You must be slipping," Professor Snape suggested.
"An oversight, I assure you, won't happen again," Dumbledore retorted.
Back at Gryffindor – During the Triwizard Tournament
Pansy was close by when Neville let her in to Gryfindor, so she already knew the current password to get into Gryfindor and she thought she would take advantage of that fact everyone was at the event. She snuck her way in. She went straight to the room she witnessed Hermione leaving this morning. She hid several polyjuice potions in Hermione's closet. She also grabbed a few hairs from Hermione's brush before leaving again.
She wondered about what curse Harry referred to. If that were true that Daphne had some kind of curse and had not even told her best friend about it, then it must be something she wanted kept quiet. She wondered how far Daphne would go to keep her secret. Could she follow Draco's lead and blackmail Daphne?
A/N
I would like to thank everyone for the favorites, follows and reviews. I would also like to thank CSGT for helping with this story.
For many things in this story, I follow the movies more so then the books. However, for Polyjuice potions, I follow the book version more-so than the movies. Voice is not an issue, unlike in the movies and the taste of the potions vary widely depending on the nature of the person being impersonated. At this point, Harry's exposure to polyjuice is very limited. He is aware that voice is not an issue but he is unaware of the drastic difference in taste of the potions depending on the nature of the person being copied.