Chapter Ten
Wanting to dress casual, Harry dressed in a plain white t-shirt under a grey sweater, with black trousers and plain black sneakers. Nothing like having a house-elf to do the shopping and magic to make the adjustments. He put on his robes, casual black with a hood, long enough to reach his shin but with sleeves only the length of half his arm. Those robes had been created by Dobby based on the design of the combat robes he had used in the future, along with some minor quirks and modifications, namely minor enchantments such as Warming, Lightweight, Impervious, and Dirt-Repulsing Charms.
Looking at himself in the mirror, he noticed the stubble growing on his chin and face. Picking up his wand, he trimmed his beard and found himself appreciating the sight.
Smirking, he crossed his arms behind his back and made sure he had the living chambers ready to accommodate him and Daphne for several hours later. Next to the teacups he noticed the Kit-Kat and Crunch bars, which Dobby must have acquired during the night.
He intended to tell her the rest of the story of Voldemort before he started the story of their own lives together. He sighed, wondering how Daphne would accept it...
Not wanting to think about that, he picked his glasses up from the desk and called for Dobby to pop him to his bed in the Slytherin dorms. He got up from the bed and heard his dormmates snoring as he exited the dorm into to the common room. The events of last night were still fresh in his mind, including the not-so-subtle interrogation by his dormmates, namely Blaise and Theo, who did most of the talking, asking him about the status of his relationship with Daphne. Honestly, they seemed to be nothing more than gossipers. He gave them almost nothing, stating only that they had started to date that same afternoon and nothing else. They clearly wanted to know more but accepted it either way.
Being early on a Sunday, there was no one else in sight. He sat at a chair by the fireplace, watching the magical fire burn as he considered the next stages of his plans. Recent events had him reevaluating his plans, at least those concerning Voldemort.
He reconsidered the need to kill Voldemort with witnesses around. It would be so easy to destroy all the Horcruxes and just kill the bastard, almost effortless...but he decided against it. He would need influence in the future, and nothing beat the influence gained by vanquishing a powerful enemy. The example of Dumbledore came to mind. Who cared if the fight was rigged from the beginning, as long as Harry would win? Maybe it was time for him to pay Voldemort a visit at Riddle Manor and put him under a Veritas Imperio spell to make sure he behaved just like he had planned. He could even go get the damn ring on the same night.
Concerning the ball, he was ready and so was Daphne. They still had a week and two days to go, but time would fly by quickly, especially with all he needed to tell Daphne.
Daphne... The woman he had broken the laws of magic, time, and space to be with, once again. She was taking it rather well. Granted, she had discovered everything by a mere accident, but still, she had accepted his story and was willing to believe him. He would never lie to her, but she didn't know that, and yet she still believed him. He decided that he had to give her something more for Christmas beyond what he was already planning. She deserved it.
~Meanwhile, with Daphne~
Daphne woke up softly, letting the memories of the previous day flood her. She smiled to herself, remembering that she had started dating Harry Potter. Then, she frowned when she remembered the inquisition in her room the previous night. Tracey, Millie, Pansy, her own sister and two of her friends, two fifth years and a sixth, all girls decided they had to know details. She was forced to tell them about their lunch date and how they kissed the first time, eliciting a general sigh from all the girls.
Yes, Harry was a romantic. She knew it better than them. Tracey then had to moan about her newest acquisition, Persistent Mistletoe that she bought at Zonko's specifically for the both of them. The mistletoe would hover above them and prevent them from separating before they kissed. Now it was useless.
Daphne rose from her bed and went to have a quick shower. As she showered, she thought carefully about everything Harry had told her. His alternate past, the return of the Dark Lord, which he was already working to prevent, the convicted Death Eater that had put his name on the cup, whom he had already dealt with, their fifth year together, when she and him became close, and he helped her to become a powerful witch... although nothing compared to himself, she wagered. She shivered, thinking about the memory he showed her of the duel in the graveyard on the night of Voldemort's resurrection. For a fourteen-year-old Harry had been amazing, able to withstand the Dark Lord himself. Few could claim that.
He had been a naive idiot, but according to his own admissions he had been conditioned by his upbringing, even though he tried his best to prevail. His former friends didn't help, though. Then she remembered, Weasley and Granger had been his friends before, in his former life. What happened for him to snap against them? It must've been something big. Her then mind went to herself and Harry's words:
"I lost you and wasn't able to deal with it..." he admitted, looking into her scared, sapphire orbs. "So, I worked at it for a long time and was able to create a ritual that would bring me back just to be with you and prevent it all from happening."
She was afraid, but whatever fear she felt disappeared when she remembered his other words. He had comeback for her, to save her. How could she not feel safe around him if he would do those things? Not only that, but she remembered their wedding, the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. A tear of happiness fell from her eye, and she smiled. She had no idea what to think about today, but she would know soon. Harry had promised to tell her everything.
She dried herself and went back to the room, where she already had her clothes prepared. She dressed in a black skirt and a green sweater, wearing her winter robes of dark green satin with sheepskin lining. She was comfortable, and that was what she cared about. She applied a bit of makeup and put on her shoes, deciding to go down to the common room and wait for Harry.
To her surprise, Harry was already in the common room, sitting by the fire with a pensive look. His elbow was on the arm of the chair, and he held his head on his fingers as he intensely gazed at the magical fire. She almost felt like she was interrupting something. Somehow, she could feel the power surrounding him and focusing on him, and she could swear that the flames were burning stronger than she had ever seen.
She moved forward and he turned to look at her, his focused gaze quickly replaced by a smile. He rose from his seat and walked over to her, giving her a good morning kiss on her cheek. Daphne smiled and looked back at him.
"Did you sleep well?" she asked, accepting his invitation to sit by his side.
"I did. What about you?" She nodded.
"Did your roommates give you any trouble?" he asked, seeing her scowl.
"Tracey, Millie, Pansy, Astoria and two of her friends, Isabella Miller and Sophie Marbrand, Grace Steele and Hanna Newborne from fifth year, and a sixth year, Julie Murton." She counted them, explaining to him how she had to tell them what had happened during their date and how they had officially started dating.
"Apparently, my sister thinks I'm a very lucky girl." Harry scoffed.
"Tell Tori that if anyone is lucky, it's me," he said, Daphne lifting her eyebrow in return. "What? We were family, remember?"
Daphne chuckled, nodding.
"What do you want to do?" he asked her, "I have everything prepared downstairs for our talk. I would suggest we go to breakfast first, then maybe a walk, and then go down to the Chamber."
"I can agree to that," she replied, and he rose from his seat as he offered her his arm, which she took gladly.
"Are you sure you're fine? With what I told you yesterday, I mean?" he asked her, concern clear in his face. She looked at him and nodded.
"I'm scared, that's true. I have no idea what you'll tell me today and I know I won't like it, especially about me, but... I don't know, you're here. I feel safe with you, for some reason." His reply was a soft kiss and a smile.
"If you need something, just say so, Daph. You're dealing with this better than I expected, but still, I want you to feel comfortable." She nodded again with a smile.
They walked out of the common room, talking and laughing, first about Daphne's story and then about Harry's. Halfway to the Great Hall, they met Peeves.
"Potter and Greengrass, sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G!" Peeves glided around for a bit, repeating his song and then came upon Harry with a huge grin.
"The twins have a stash of fireworks hidden on the second floor, near the painting of Anaclet of Sodonia," the poltergeist said, and Daphne saw a vicious grin on Harry's lips.
"Can you take it to a secret location? We can use them to make a wakeup call when the term begins anew." Peeves grinned and pretended to consider it.
"So Peevesie does all the hard work again? Peevesie should have a reward."
"Fine, I'll get you a box of dung bombs. Two if you..." started Harry, being interrupted by Peeves at that moment.
"Peeves promises not to use the bombs on the snakeys. Not on purpose." Harry grinned.
"That's all I ask," Harry replied and Peeves glided away, laughing. Daphne mocked sighed.
"You enjoy pranking the dorks too much," said Daphne with a smirk.
"Daphne, how could you think that about me?" Harry said in a shocked tone, his eyes betraying his mirth. She decided to lift an eyebrow in reply. "I never said anything about pranking only the dorks."
Daphne smiled and shook her head in amusement.
"I don't even want to know."
"That's good, gives you plausible deniability," he replied, and Daphne chuckled.
"You were supposed to be wise and mature," she teased, "Why all the pranking?"
He shrugged.
"I like to think I am, but I am also a fourteen-year-old boy again, who wants some revenge for misdeeds done to him. Almost none of them are innocent. The dorks happen to be on the top of my list, and it wouldn't do to curse them to death while in school, would it?" he asked with a cold smirk.
Daphne kept that information to herself, simply nodding with a smirk of her own. Harry hated the dorks. Why? That was something she needed to know. Something had happened between him and the dorks, of that, she was sure.
They kept walking and finally entered the Great Hall. It wasn't that early, almost half past nine, but the Hall was almost empty. Only a couple of students were around, several firsties from Ravenclaw, two Hufflepuffs, a group of four girls from Beauxbatons, one of them being their champion, and two boys from Durmstrang.
They ignored all of them and sat at their table, face to face.
Daphne sat with her back to the wall and Harry sat with his back to the rest of the hall.
"What do you think will happen because of yesterday?" asked Harry, filling two cups with tea. Daphne picked one and added sugar.
"I don't know, really," she replied, looking at Harry. "But I do know that all the girls that visited me talked a lot about you and what you did. Keep in mind, they are all from neutral families, or at least supposedly neutral. I think your fangirl club grew by a lot last night."
"Joy," he mumbled sarcastically, and Daphne smirked.
"Astoria asked me if they could see the Chamber," revealed Daphne with a pensive look, drawing Harry's eyes to hers. "I told them they had to ask you, but I also told them that the Chamber was a refuge and not a tourist attraction."
"I see. If the others ask for the same, I may be forced to take everyone there," he mumbled, shrugging. "But let's not talk about that now." Harry drew his wand and waved it around, casting the silencing ward he had used the previous night.
"We never talked about it, but yesterday I was able deceive my uncles and conscript them to help me with the tournament," Harry said, "We were also able to go to Gringotts and claim my lordship." Daphne looked at the green-eyed wizard in awe and respect, noticing how the Potter family ring shimmered into existence on his finger for a moment. "We got evidence of Sirius's innocence, which was relayed to the DMLE, and soon there should be some official statement about Sirius's fate."
"That's good to hear," she replied, buttering a piece of toast. "But what if they do nothing?"
"Sirius will be free by the end of the year," said Harry, and Daphne saw his eyes flaring. "By the end of this school year, it will be all done, and we can have the life that was denied us."
Daphne wasn't sure if he meant her as well, but then he looked up at her.
"Lupin is a werewolf that takes his wolfsbane. Is that a problem for you?" he asked her, and she shook her head.
"As long as he takes his potions, I don't mind... He's not less of a person for it. I won't be in the same room as him the night of the transformation, though," she replied, and Harry nodded. He could live with that.
"Very well, then," Harry said with a happy smile that reminded her of the Harry from the marriage memory.
"By the way, in the memory, who were the lady and the child at your side?" asked Daphne.
"Andromeda Tonks née Black, my unofficial grandmother after the war and Sirius Black's cousin. The little brat was Teddy Lupin, her grandson and my godson, Remus Lupin and Nymphadora Tonks's son. Both of them died in the war. Teddy was a Metamorphmagus just like his mother. Luckily, he didn't inherit any werewolf traits from his father. For all intents and purposes they were the closest family I had left, apart from you, of course."
Daphne widened her eyes in shock.
"Metamorphmagus?"
Harry mumbled something that sounded like an amused 'Figures' and smiled while nodding.
"Wow," she said, noticing him turn sullen. "What happened?"
"Teddy died," was Harry's reply. His eyes flared in anger, although not at her. "I will tell you about it, of course." She nodded, after a gulp, and they went back to their breakfast. Harry started again.
"Yesterday, I told you about my fifth year. I was a pariah, seen as a loony and a murderer. The Ministry appointed Umbridge as our DADA teacher and High Inquisitor of the school. She started making edicts, forbidding clubs and normal things teenagers do. She was also a horrible teacher, and we were forced to make an illegal club to do some self-study. All the while, you and I were in a different club of our own, in which we worked on our schoolwork and DADA alone together. You taught me about my station and actually trained me in pureblood protocol. I gave you access to the Chamber, and we were able to set an alternative password on the toilet just for you, so you could enter on your own."
"Why not use Dobby?" asked Daphne with a raised eyebrow.
"Back then, I hadn't yet bonded with Dobby. The bonding only occurred in our seventh year, or what should have been our seventh year." Again, Daphne raised an eyebrow.
"And what do you mean by that?" she asked.
"Patience, Ms. Greengrass," he smirked, his eyes looking at her in mirth. She gave a huff that was only half serious and nodded her agreement.
"We were able to make use of some of the Chamber's resources and turned it into our personal training area. I helped you, you helped me - it worked very well. Yesterday you asked me about us, right?" he asked, and she nodded with a small blush. Harry smiled fondly.
"Let it be said I was a disaster with girls. I was asked by Cho Chang on a date for Valentine's Day," he said, almost scowling, but not as much as she did. Luckily, she said nothing. "My guess was that she wanted me to be her rebound guy. Well, I said no because I had plans with you. NOT a date," he added quickly, noticing her blush.
"You didn't want dates and I wanted to spend the time with you, so naturally, I was a little sneaky about it to get what I wanted," he added, having Daphne's full attention by then. "We met in the morning and worked on our schoolwork in the Chamber, practiced our dueling, and ended up going to the kitchens for a snack at the end of the day. We had fun, and after our meal you gave me a kiss on the cheek and told me to keep it up, because our not-date was actually pretty good," he said with a smile, looking at her with an accusatory grin.
"Of course, you knew quite well what I wanted from the very beginning, but you went with it and had fun with me and at me. I believe your words were 'I'll make a proper Slytherin out of you yet'. You did, by the way."
Daphne smirked and saw the smile taking shape on Harry's lips, imagining what he was describing. It sounded nice. "I had a shit-eating grin for days after that." They both chuckled.
"Nothing actually happened until after our OWLS, except for us growing closer. Then, the battle of the DOM happened. Sirius died, and I was a mess. I don't know exactly how it happened, but somewhere between chewing me out, slapping me to get some common sense, and comforting me, you kissed me. We began dating that night."
Daphne looked at him, happy about what she heard and carefully analysing his words.
"What was the battle of the DOM?"
Harry sighed.
"To answer that, you have to know that for reasons we didn't understand back then, I was able to have visions of Voldemort's activities, and he was able to send visions to me." Daphne was shocked, but nodded along. "Back then, the old man theorized that it was probably because of a magical link created between us when he attacked me that first Halloween. We discovered the truth later and let us just say he was very wrong."
"I assume that was the reason you had to learn Occlumency?"
"Very true. It didn't help in the end, though," Harry replied, seeing her inquisitive look.
"During Christmas, I had a vision of Mr. Weasley being attacked by Voldemort's snake. I managed to alert Dumbledore, and the man's life was saved by a thread. After that, he decided I had to learn Occlumency, from Snape, without even explaining why. Had it not been for you, I would never have learned it properly.
And in the end, it didn't matter at all. Voldemort crushed all my defences, which were considerable, all thanks to the bloody link. He sent me a vision of him torturing Sirius in the Department of Mysteries." Daphne groaned, predicting the rest of the story. She hid her face in her hands.
"Tell me you bloody didn't," she demanded, looking at him with angry eyes. Harry gulped and just kept silent.
"Well?"
"I'm not going to lie..." he said.
"You bloody fool," she hissed in an angered tone, "What could have possibly possessed you to do something so foolish?"
"Sirius was my last remaining family then, along with Remus. I tried to call him on the floo but couldn't reach him. It didn't help that his house-elf hated both him and me and wasn't useful at all, the bastard answered the floo and told me Sirius wasn't available. I understood it the wrong way and..." Harry hesitated, seeing the angry look Daphne was giving him. It was as if she was actually commanding him explain himself.
"It was during our History OWL, our last one. I got the vision and was forced to leave the examination. I ran outside, ranting about what I saw but I didn't see you. If I had, you would've probably made me see some sense. I didn't though, and I came up with a plan to go to London, after breaking into Umbridge's office and using her floo. We rode Thestrals into London."
"Thestrals?" asked Daphne, curiosity replacing her anger. "And who's we?"
"Thestrals are type of winged horse that can only be seen by those who have closely witnessed death," Harry explained. "We will study them next year. The we were me, Granger, Longbottom, Luna Lovegood, Weasel, and Weaselette."
Daphne noticed how he spat the names as he said them. Daphne looked at him carefully and saw the regret in his eyes. She grabbed his hand and looked at him.
"Tell me everything."
He did. He told her how they flew to the Ministry, how they entered the Department of Mysteries and found the prophecies. She flinched when he told her about the ambush and was in awe as he described the battle, how six school kids with Harry Potter's training managed to battle twelve Death Eaters. That clearly meant something.
She found it hard to believe that Longbottom stood by Harry the entire time, being the second best in their group. Apparently they had worked him hard, and he became a powerful wizard under Harry's tutelage, especially motivated after the Lestranges' escape from Azkaban. She also noticed the disdain in Harry's words when he told her that, but asked no questions.
He told her about how they were trapped in the Veil Room, how the Order of the Phoenix appeared to help and joined the battle, how he was dueling Lucius Malfoy with his godfather, and how Bellatrix Lestrange hit Sirius with a curse, causing him to fall through the Veil and into death.
The vacant expression on Harry's face told her everything she needed to know, and she squeezed his hands. She didn't hug him, only because she was on the opposite side of the table. Then he told her about how he ran after Lestrange, and how he tried to cast a Crucio on her. He failed, and then both Voldemort and Dumbledore arrived and engaged in a most amazing display of dueling skills.
Harry explained how Voldemort possessed him thanks to the link, and how Harry managed to banish him from his mind. Only then did the DMLE finally appear, along with the Minister, who saw Voldemort with his own eyes and was now forced to recognize he was indeed back. Then, the captured Death Eaters were arrested, the students sent back to Hogwarts, and Harry was told of the prophecy that had been made before he was even born, by Dumbledore, who instead of preparing Harry had decided to leave him in the dark because he wanted him to have a fucking childhood?
To say that Daphne was in shock was an understatement. Maybe she should've expected it after the graveyard but still... And the prophecy part was...insane. Just thinking about that made her quite angry.
"What was that damn fool playing at?" she hissed, and Harry shook his head.
"What IS that damn fool playing at, Daph," Harry corrected, looking at her. He shrugged, "I gave up trying to understand his actions a long time ago. He made huge mistakes because he felt it best... but he actually tried to take a more active role with me in our sixth year."
"That doesn't justify all the rest," she snapped.
"No, it doesn't. I never said I forgave him, mind you," he replied with a smirk.
"Good," she replied, letting go of his hands. "Do you want to go for a walk?"
"With you? Always," he replied with a grin, making her smirk in amusement. Harry dropped the wards, but before they were able to stand and leave, Fleur Delacour came up behind Harry.
"Bonjour, Monsieur Potter. Could I speak wiz you?"
Harry turned to the blonde Veela, who was sporting a pleasant smile. He also felt her allure focused on him.
"I did tell you to mind your allure, didn't I?" asked Harry, rising from his seat at the same time Daphne did. "And no, you can't, because I have plans to spend the day with my beautiful girlfriend." Daphne smirked as she saw the shocked look on the French champion's face.
"I know what you're trying to do," Harry said calmly and coldly, looking at the Veela, making her actually gulp. Although she would never admit it, she also felt some excitement. "You want a powerful partner, someone who can endure your allure." Fleur nodded, much to Daphne's shock. "I'm not available and even if I were, don't you think your actions towards me were, shall we say, demeaning?"
Harry turned to Daphne with a nod, and both started to walk away, leaving a flabbergasted Fleur Delacour standing in the same spot.
"You know her, don't you?" asked Daphne, a hint of worry in her voice. Once again, Harry's wand was waved between the both of them in the corridor outside the Great Hall.
"Yes, I knew her. She was a friend of ours for a while until..." Harry hesitated.
"Tell me," said Daphne, more demanding this time.
"Veela want powerful mates that can endure their allure. No, that didn't happen last time, I wasn't this powerful before." Daphne scoffed. Of course, he wasn't...he dueled Voldemort by luck. Idiot.
Ignoring Daphne's sarcastic snort, Harry continued, "She married an Englishman at the beginning of our seventh year and he was all she wanted, I think. But then her sister-in-law was an accomplice to a crime and ended up dead by blood vengeance laws. Some stuff happened and her husband decided to avenge his sister with the help of some of his brothers. They all died at the hands of the one they wanted to kill," Harry told her. It wouldn't do to tell her that Ginny Weasley had been an accomplice to her murder and was killed by Harry when he discovered it. Or that the eldest Weasley son decided to avenge his sister later in life, wanting to be a hero, no doubt. He was killed by the Dark Lord Potter, along with his brothers Percy, Fred, and George.
Daphne raised an eyebrow and waited for him to continue.
"She never condoned her sister-in-law's actions, especially because she was a close friend of the victim. That was a source of conflict between the family. After her husband's death, she fled to France with her children. Whenever I'd see her, she would be less than polite towards me. After a while, I never saw her again."
Daphne thought very carefully about all he told her, deciding to wait for more information before drawing her own conclusion. She nodded and held Harry's hand as he dropped the wards around them. The both of them walked outside quietly and calmly, towards the lake.
"Could you show me the memory?" asked Daphne, out of nowhere and Harry was actually startled. "I mean the memory when you and I kissed after your godfather..."
"Oh, right, that one, sure, of course," he replied, actually worried for a moment, something Daphne took notice of.
Weird.
"Remind me when we are back in the Chamber, will you?" She nodded and asked him to continue his story. He waved his wand and two comfortable chairs appeared before them. He invited Daphne to sit in one while he sat in the other, again raising the privacy wards.
"You know, I don't recognize that spell," Daphne said, having meant to ask about it before.
"You wouldn't. You won't learn it in any book," Harry replied with a mocking grin, making her cross her arms.
"And why is that?" she asked, raising an eyebrow in defiance, which made him chuckle.
"Because I created it from scratch," he replied, her eyes widening in surprise.
"Really?"
Harry nodded. "It creates a ward around an area that is keyed to specific magical signatures. That basically means that when I create the ward, I key us into the ward structure. I can't key anyone else, nor can anyone not keyed join us. If they do, they'll still hear nothing."
Daphne was amazed. Harry just shrugged.
"I had a lot of free time... I figured I had better do something useful. It was a shame I never shared my knowledge. This time, I'm hoping it will be different, though." Daphne understood his meaning and slightly blushed, all the while appreciating his confidence in her.
"I would be honoured if you shared your knowledge with me," she said with a small blush.
"And I would be honoured if you let me share it with you," he replied with a small smile. Daphne squeezed his hand and Harry caressed it with his thumb, looking at her.
"What's wrong?" she asked, almost in a whisper.
"I'm just enjoying this," he replied, looking at her. "Sometimes I can hardly believe that it worked, and that I am actually here, with you." Harry smiled and a tear slipped from the corner of his eyes. Daphne barely saw it.
"Why? Why do I mean so much to you?" she asked, lowering her eyes.
"Where did magic come from?" Harry asked, although it was a rhetorical question. "No one knows. It just is. Why do I care so much about you? Why are you my everything? I don't know. It just happened. It just is."
Daphne almost shed a tear. Almost.
"But I'm... I'm me. One month ago, we barely knew each other and now you've time travelled from the future, we're together, and you're telling me about your past that was supposed to be my... our future. You're changing it for the better, I'm sure, at least the better for you but... What if I don't become what she was?" Daphne asked, apprehension clear in her voice.
"Do you know the difference between you and future Daphne?" Harry asked, turning to her. Daphne saw the intensity in his eyes. "Your age," Harry said, his eyes never leaving hers. "It's your choice. It's always our choice, Daph. Like it was my choice to come back to you. The way I saw it, I would be happier if I knew I did everything I could to be with you, instead of just dying and praying to whatever entity ruled the afterlife that we'd be allowed to be together." Daphne held her breath and shed another tear as Harry rose from his chair, looking at the lake with his arms crossed in his back.
"You were foolish. You could have died. Or disappeared forever," she said, even if she didn't feel the words.
"True," he replied, turning slightly towards her, "but I had nothing to lose anymore and guess what, it worked," he said, turning back to the lake. "And it has been well worth it."
Daphne rose from her chair and hugged him, burying her face on his chest. He could feel her sobs and hugged her tight, kissing her head.
"Don't be stupid anymore. Don't, please," she mumbled. He didn't reply, caressing her back.
"Harry, look at me," she said and when he did, she leaned in. He did as well, and they both kissed. After holding each other for a long while, Daphne broke the silence.
"Tell me about the sixth year," she asked.
"By the end of the summer, I was named Heir Black by Sirius's will, and thanks to my emancipation in my fourth year I was made both Lord Potter and Lord Black. I kept it a secret, of course, sharing it with only with you and Dumbledore. My name became Harry James Potter-Black."
Daphne was amazed but said nothing, letting him continue. "I was also a prisoner again at the Dursleys while once again I was being heralded as a hero by the Wizarding World. Dumbledore recruited me to help him convince a professor called Slughorn to return to teach. We actually managed to convince the man and then he sent me to the Weasleys to spend the rest of my summer, even though I wanted to be with you. Just so you know, we talked by letters every day. I met you on the train and let's just say that we had some snog time alone in an empty compartment. We stayed there together for a while before we had to go back. I was bombarded by questions about where I was but said nothing. Snape taught DADA that year, instead of Potions. As it turns out, Slughorn was Snape's teacher."
"Yes, it's a known name," she said, her head still buried on his chest.
"Are you going to stay like that?" he asked.
"Yes. Keep going," was her reply.
"Fine... So, you brought it to my attention that Malfoy was acting weird and started to investigate it in the common room. Not only that, but I also started to have special lessons with Dumbledore."
"Better late than never," said Daphne and Harry snorted, making her unbury her face from his chest.
"What?"
"Those special classes were scheduled in a way that we met only once a week, and for the first three months we only watched memories about Tom to understand him better," scowled Harry. Daphne was shocked.
"Please tell me you're kidding," she asked, but he didn't say anything. "No combat training, no special spells?"
"Nothing. I did learn about Tom, though. His mother was Merope Gaunt, an almost-squib. She lived with her brother Morfin and their father Marvolo. She was in love with a muggle squire and brewed a love potion to ensnare him. Then, she had the brilliant idea to stop giving him the potion after getting pregnant. Naturally, he left her. She died during childbirth and Tom was dumped in a muggle orphanage. Then, when he was eleven, Dumbledore was the first to meet him and tell him about Hogwarts. Let me tell you, Tom was a pretty scary kid, naturally cruel and with great control of magic. A near prodigy. He rose to power in Slytherin, naturally, and eventually opened the Chamber of Secrets and killed Myrtle. But that was just extras, what Dumbledore truly wanted was a specific memory from Slughorn that I had to help him get."
"This ought to be good," Daphne mumbled.
"It was a failure at first. First, I improved my Potion skills a lot with the help of a book filled with notes. That caught Slughorn's attention, in addition to me being who I was, but he still wouldn't give me the memory. Eventually, I did get the memory, thanks to you." He smirked, looking at her appreciatively. "They say Granger is the smartest witch of our age? They have no idea what you can do, my beautiful and cunning snake." Daphne blushed.
"Slughorn had a party for his Slug Club to make contacts and invited the both of us. We each went alone but managed to dance together a couple of times during the party and actually talk. Our excuse was that there were no houses that night, only alliances in the making. You can't imagine how ecstatic Slughorn was after hearing that.
Of course, a lot of people didn't like the idea, not that we cared. We acted polite to each other and then I distracted him while he was showing me around, and you cast a Compulsion Charm on his glass to make sure he would get drunk. We convinced him to give me the memory with another Compulsion, and then we enjoyed the rest of the party. After making sure he wouldn't remember anything, of course..."
Daphne was both shocked and amused, and Harry noticed.
"All your plan," he said, "You were tired of seeing me fail and decided to help me."
"I knew about your special lessons?" she asked, and Harry nodded.
"Of course, you did. I told you everything," Harry said, and she nodded appreciatively. "The memory, however, told us a horrible secret. Tell me Daphne, what do you know of Horcruxes?"
Daphne narrowed her eyes.
"I have never heard of such a thing."
"I know," he said with a smirk. "Future you didn't either. As it turns out, a Horcrux is a container for a piece of someone's soul. While it houses the piece of soul, the wizard will technically be immortal, and in order to kill the wizard, the Horcrux has to be destroyed, either by Fiendfyre or basilisk venom. They can only be made by murdering someone, and Riddle made several."
"A piece of soul? But that...that's disgusting!" she said. Having been raised in a magical home, she knew the soul was sacred in the magical world, and to tamper with it was a heinous act. "You said several? Then, that means that he survived because he had...?" Daphne concluded, quick to the point. Harry nodded.
"Voldemort had already made several Horcruxes before that night. We believed that he intended to use my death to make another. Fortunately, my mother did something that saved me and destroyed his body, reducing it to a shade of vapour." Daphne was shivering in disgust. Then, she widened her eyes, looking at him.
"The diary!" she gasped, and he smiled.
"Yes. That was the very first one he created." Daphne shivered even more in anger, fear, and disgust toward the Dark Lord.
"Have you destroyed them all already?" she asked, her voice still filled with disgust. He shook his head.
"We never knew if he sensed the destruction of his Horcruxes. I've collected several but I'm still missing three. I intend collect the rest soon and destroy them all together before striking at him down once and for all."
"What are they?" she asked, and he started to count them.
"The diary, which is gone, the Gaunt ring, I know where that is, Ravenclaw's diadem is already in my possession, Hufflepuff's cup is in Lestrange's vault, Slytherin's locket I already have, his snake familiar is with him, and the last one, that was accidental...and was me," Harry said, and Daphne gasped in horror.
"Turns out that extracting a piece of a soul from an item and moving it to another is easy, if you know what to do," Harry said with a smile, caressing a still shocked Daphne. "I successfully extracted the piece of soul from my scar and moved it into one of Dobby's old socks." Daphne was baffled, looking strangely at Harry.
"But... But..."
"Like I said, I had a lot of time and did a lot of research," Harry said as Daphne huffed.
"You carried a piece of Voldemort's soul with you all this time?"
"In my scar, yes," he replied, pointing at it. Daphne noticed she could see only a faint outline of the famous scar. "Without it, the scar is mostly gone and my eyesight improved a bit, though I still needed to heal myself before I could go without glasses. It was a leech on me, and it was the source of the link between Voldemort and me, completely unknown by either of us."
Daphne was shocked but nodded her understanding.
"It's gone?" she asked, and he nodded.
"I have them in one of the locked containers, that's why I didn't want you to pry. Those things are very dangerous, they could even attempt to possess you," he said, and she accepted it, trusting him and his reasons.
"What else, then?" she asked, trying to change the subject, even if she knew she couldn't.
"Well, back then, Dumbledore had the ring but was cursed retrieving it. A Rotting Curse that withered his hand and was slowly killing him, all because he wasn't careful enough."
Daphne's eyes widened in shock, "Dumbledore was dying?" she asked.
Harry nodded in reply.
"Nothing could be done for him except slow the curse's progression. What else? Oh, Malfoy. You discovered that he was going to the Room of Requirement, but we weren't able to discover what for in the beginning. So, my brilliant girlfriend wondered if there was a way to keep tabs on him and the room he was using, which led me to call for Dobby, who volunteered himself to spy on the little shit. One month later, we discovered that he was fixing a vanishing cabinet in order to bring Death Eaters into Hogwarts."
"What?" asked Daphne in shock, and Harry's vicious smile made her slightly uneasy.
"We destroyed the cabinet and left the room. When Malfoy discovered that, he was so terrified that he wouldn't even talk. He actually thought he was going to die for failing. You even said he was too quiet in your common room, quiet and terrified." They both laughed at the thought. "I don't even want to imagine what would've happened if I didn't have your help."
"What about your friends?" asked Daphne and Harry snorted.
"Weasley started to date Brown after becoming Gryffindor's Keeper and actually manage to do something good for a change. Granger was angry at me because of the book I mentioned before, since I got better marks than her." Daphne scowled. "And you'll never guess this, but the bint started to date."
"And who was able to deal with her?" asked Daphne, seeing that Harry was scowling.
"Longbottom."
At first, Daphne was shocked. Then she started to laugh while Harry smirked.
"The Know-It-All and the Squib?" she laughed.
"Not really a squib," admitted Harry with a scowl, attracting Daphne's attention. "The idiot is using is father's wand, which isn't compatible with him. That and he has self-esteem problems. The DA helped him during our fifth year, bringing out the wizard in him, and then he bought a new wand for sixth year. He started to work hard with Granger's tutoring, and he became a rising star in our year." The scowl and the anger were all there for Daphne to see.
"You had problems with them, didn't you?" Daphne asked and Harry actually laughed, cold and threatening, his aura flaring around him, fueled by his anger and his hate.
"Oh, you have no idea how much I hate those two pieces of shit, wastes of magic and life," Harry admitted. Daphne could only look at him in disbelief while he breathed in deeply to calm himself.
Daphne thought about Harry's interactions with the dorks, and now it actually made sense. Harry hated the dorks but was more aggressive towards Granger and Longbottom. The episode when he summoned Zael against Longbottom came to mind... She never even thought about it. Harry did hate Longbottom more.
"Why?" she asked, and Harry looked back at her with broken eyes.
"Later in the story," Harry almost begged, his voice torn with emotion. Daphne nodded and actually leaned towards him, kissing him softly, which at Harry's encouragement gradually became more intense.
"It was only me and you, Daph. Eventually they came to me and joined us but by then it was only me and you. I loved it," admitted Harry, and Daphne smiled and kissed him again.
"Carry on with the story," she ordered, and he chuckled.
"Dumbledore asked me to tell my friends everything, because I would need their help eventually. I did tell them, but I only cared about you knowing. Meanwhile, he actually taught me something useful and helped me with dueling. By the end of the year, Dumbledore was able to discover the location of another Horcrux, the locket. He took me and... let us say it was bad. It was a cave that could only be opened with an offer of blood. There was an inner lake filled with Inferi and a small boat. To touch the waters would wake thousands of Inferi against us. There was an island in the middle of the lake, with a stone basin filled with a potion that would cause hallucinations. In order to get the Horcrux, one needed to drink the potion... Dumbledore drank all of it and was severely weakened, hallucinating to the point where he started to see his dead sister and entered the waters before I could stop him."
Daphne widened her eyes and Harry carried on.
"I got him back to safety, but it was too late. I had the Horcrux, but the Inferi were stirring. We ran to the boat, but those things stopped us and we had to fight." Daphne looked at Harry in awe as he recounted everything.
"Flame spells were very effective. I used as many flame spells as I could, along with Blasting Curses, and Dumbledore managed to cast a Firestorm, which solved our problem for a while. We got to the boat and reached the other shore and left the cave, locking it behind us so we could finally rest. Dumbledore was terribly weakened but still managed to cheer us up... until we discovered the Horcrux was a fake."
"All that trouble...?"
"For a fake, yes," Harry said as Daphne shook her head.
"We came back to Hogwarts and Dumbledore went to the hospital wing, asking me to meet him with all the friends whom I had told the secret, as soon as possible. I got them and you."
"Me? But..." she started, and Harry stopped her.
"You knew, you were my girlfriend, you had helped me a lot, and I wanted you to be there, more than the others. However, I understood that we needed help. I was able to convince you to come as well and believe me, it was a shock for them."
"I can relate," replied Daphne in a whisper, although she was smirking.
"Do you want to see the memory?" Harry asked and Daphne looked wide eyed at him.
"Sure," she replied with a smirk.
"Then let's get to the Chamber. I need to show you the memory of when we started to date, too."
Daphne smiled and held the hand he offered to her.
"Dobby!" the elf appeared and after a 'Good Morning Mistress', he held out his hands, popping them into the Chamber.
~BREAK~
Daphne looked around, seeing that Dobby had popped them directly into the living area.
"Before anything else," Harry said, bringing Daphne to the table prepared beforehand and picking up the chocolates. "This is a Kit-Kat, and this is a Crunch bar," he said, presenting her with each of them. Daphne smiled at his gesture. "Have a taste and then you can tell me which one you prefer, although I know you'll enjoy the Crunch bar more."
"And you know this how?" she asked, opening the Kit-Kat first just to challenge him, smirking all the while.
Harry grinned and approached her. "Because it was your favourite, too," he whispered in her ear. Daphne felt a shiver of excitement run through her and smiled as Harry kissed her softly before walking over to the Pensieve, already focusing on the memory he wanted to extract.
After tasting both, Daphne preferred the Crunch bar, just like Harry said.
Harry placed the Pensieve on the table with a wave of his wand.
"The memory is from the night we started dating," he said, extending her his hand. "Shall we?" Daphne held his hand, and with a nod, both teens went into the Pensieve.
They found themselves in a dark training room, a setting of the Room of Requirement. Daphne saw an emotional Harry Potter casting spell after spell against a number of training dummies, which repeatedly repaired themselves. Harry didn't stop his casting.
"BOMBARDA!" The orange light hit the cackling dummy, obliterating it. "Defodio, Confringo, Depulso, Diffindo," he cast against three others, destroying them. Then, a training dummy took the shape of a cackling Bellatrix Lestrange, making Harry growl.
"AVADA KEDAVRA!" he shouted, and the green light hit the dummy.
"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?" an angry voice shouted from the entrance of the room, startling both memory Harry and the real Daphne, who was shocked at seeing the spells being used.
Memory Harry flinched slightly before responding, "What does it look like?" before attempting to cast another spell. As he started casting, his wand suddenly flew out of his hand and into the hands of memory Daphne, making him glare at her.
"Give me my wand, Daphne," he demanded, but she only glared back at him.
"Where the hell have you been?" she demanded, obviously angry. Memory Harry didn't say anything, instead just glared at her. "Harry, please, I am concerned about you. You disappeared before the OWL finished and didn't answer my summons. Where have you been?" she asked again, but this time more emotionally. Memory Harry closed his eyes and Daphne could see something shiny falling from his eyes.
"He's dead, Daph... He's dead and it's all my fault," he said, starting to sob. Memory Daphne ran to him as he fell on his knees and held him close as he sobbed.
"Harry, tell me, what's wrong?" she asked again. He told her everything starting from the moment he had the vision. He told her everything that had happened, including the prophecy Dumbledore had told him.
Memory Daphne was angry. Maybe even furious.
"You invaded the Ministry, the Department of Mysteries no less, with five other school children and fought twelve Death Eaters, survived long enough for reinforcements to arrive and managed to capture eleven of them, fought Voldemort and revealed him to the world?" memory Daphne asked, and Harry nodded. "It would be impressive had it not been for just one thing." Memory Harry looked at her and both real Harry and Daphne flinched as the slap hit memory Harry.
"What could have possessed you to do something so stupid?" she demanded, angrily. "It was clearly a trap and just because the house-elf told you he wasn't there it doesn't mean he had been captured."
"What was I supposed to do? What if it had been true? Was I to let him be tortured?" memory Harry demanded, and memory Daphne snorted.
"Then let's go underprepared with no plan at all, jump onto fucking Thestrals with five other unreliable school kids and hope for the best," she drawled sarcastically, and Daphne saw memory Harry flinch. "You should have told me!" she shouted, tears falling from her eyes, "You could have died!" she added, and memory Harry sobbed.
"I didn't think, alright, and I was scared that you would convince me not to go. Or worse, that you would want to come." Memory Daphne looked back at him in shock.
"Why?" she asked in an angry tone.
"I couldn't stand it if something happened to you," he whispered. She slapped him again.
"You are a selfish bastard, Potter. You couldn't stand...what about me? What if something had happened to you? How would I deal with it, knowing that there was nothing I could have done because I wasn't there with you?" Without another word, she grabbed him by his shirt and kissed him for all he was worth, holding him tightly to herself. After the initial shock, memory Harry held her tight and kissed her back. By the time the kissed ended, memory Daphne was crying.
"I'm sorry," begged Harry, and Daphne looked at him before kissing him again.
"At least you're not hurt," she said, before noticing her mistake, "Physically, I mean."
"The others are..." he tried to say, but she shut him up with a glare.
"Well, tough luck for them," she growled, "They aren't any of my concern. It wasn't your fault that they were hurt, was it? They wanted to accompany you when you said you didn't want them to. People get hurt in wars, and that's what this is now." The way memory Daphne spat the words confused the real Daphne, who decided to ask Harry about it later on. To her surprise, Harry agreed with her.
"I wouldn't want anything to happen to you."
"Let's make one thing clear, Potter. You can't save everyone, and you are not responsible for everyone's choices, only yours." Memory Harry nodded, and she kissed him again. "Now what is this about a prophecy?" Harry recited the prophecy again and Daphne frowned.
"That idiot knew all this time, and instead of preparing you he just let you be so you could have a fucking childhood? That's it, I'm going to kill him," Daphne said, clenching her fists in anger.
"That, I wouldn't mind seeing," chuckled memory Harry, earning a glare from memory Daphne.
"And what's this about love being the power he knows not?" Harry shrugged and Daphne huffed and sighed. "It's not your fault," Daphne said again, sitting on the floor close to him.
"I know. He was mocking Bellatrix instead of being serious," Harry said.
"Actually, based on everything you've told me I think he was being very Sirius." Harry snorted at the bad joke and Daphne actually chuckled.
"What would I do without you, Daph?" he asked.
"You don't want to know," was her reply, leaning her head on his shoulder. They remained like that for a while.
"Daph?"
"Mmh?"
"Will you be my girlfriend?" memory Harry asked hopefully.
"Yes," she replied, moving even closer. "Besides, I spent too much time training you to let you go to some hussy."
"We wouldn't want that," memory Harry said, and memory Daphne smiled. The memory ended with one last kiss.
Harry and Daphne left the Pensieve, and while she was pleased with what she saw, Daphne frowned.
"Why all the hate for the dorks?" she asked, sitting on her chair.
"Well, while I never truly forgave the dorks for turning their backs on me, you never even considered doing it. According to you, it showed their stupidity and made them nothing less than blood traitors and scum. You did become somewhat more accepting of them in our sixth year, though."
Daphne nodded.
"I suppose you are aware of the Potter-Longbottom alliance?" she asked, and Harry flinched.
"Yeah, I know. That's one of the reasons I despise Longbottom. Besides, can you imagine what his grandmother will do to him when he becomes the responsible for breaking the alliance?" Harry's vicious grin actually made Daphne chuckle. Harry placed the memory back into his head "Was it everything you expected?"
"I don't know what I expected," replied Daphne, looking at Harry. "But I liked it."
"I'm glad," he replied, removing another memory from his head.
"What did I mean when I said, my summons?" Daphne asked, and Harry looked at her.
"Well, your brilliance allowed us to develop a bracelet with a Protean Charm embedded, which we always wore hidden under charms so we could secretly send messages to each other. We laughed when the so-called smartest witch of our age came up with the same thing for the DA, only far rudimentary than our method."
Daphne appreciated the compliment and almost blushed.
"You make it sound like it was my idea and my work," she replied, and he shrugged.
"It was. It was also what made me study Ancient Runes with you, and after some really intense study I was able to get my OWL in it. Let's just say it was a surprise to everyone but you."
Daphne nodded again with a smile, which quickly changed to a frown.
"Then why aren't you taking Runes now?" she asked, and he shrugged.
"I will be taking a special exam to evaluate my knowledge in Runes and Arithmancy at the end of December, and then I can change classes. I wasn't allowed to before the exam, at least that's what Snape said."
"And this is the first time I hear about this, why?" she asked, crossing her arms.
"Surprise?" he tried, with a chuckle. She shook her head, amused. Harry then pointed back to the Pensieve.
"This is the discussion after Dumbledore and me returned from the Horcrux hunt. Are you ready?" She nodded and held Harry's hand again, both of them entering the Pensieve.
Daphne saw herself entering the hospital wing with a dirtied Harry Potter. Both of them walked in stride next to each other towards the furthest bed in the hospital, ignoring the surprised looks Madam Pomfrey gave them. They reached Dumbledore's bed, where Weasley, Longbottom, and Granger were already waiting.
"Harry, where were..." Granger's words died in her mouth as she saw who Harry came in with. Daphne could see the surprised looks on everyone's faces as she and Harry moved to better see everyone's reactions. Granger was shocked, Longbottom was surprised but had half a smirk on his face, and Weasley was red with anger. Dumbledore looked half surprised and half amused, his twinkling eyes looking to both memory Harry and memory Daphne.
"She's the one you said you still needed to get?" Weasley shouted in anger, before being silenced with a wave of Harry's wand.
"Now, we are all here because the headmaster asked me to call you guys here, everyone whom I had told about my special classes with him," Harry said in a cold tone, focusing mostly on Weasley. "We will go no further in this conversation until I have an oath from each you not to say a word to anyone about what we will speak of in here."
"Harry, I hardly think that's necessary," said Dumbledore, looking at Harry with tired eyes.
"With all due respect, Headmaster, your opinion is appreciated but I want this to be kept a secret and leave no loose ends," Harry said, and Daphne could swear she saw a smile behind the ancient man's beard.
"I agree," said Memory Daphne, holding up her wand, "I, Daphne Persephone Greengrass swear upon my life and magic to keep this meeting a secret, and not share its contents with anyone unless given explicit permission by Harry James Potter-Black, so mote it be." A golden light surrounded her, and memory Harry looked amusedly at her.
"Potter-Black?" asked Longbottom with widened eyes, looking at the both of them.
"Since when are you Potter-Black?" demanded Granger, ignored by Harry, who was looking at Longbottom.
"Do you trust her, Harry?" asked Longbottom, earning a glare from the Ice Queen and surprisingly, from Harry Potter.
"With my life," was Harry's reply, shocking everyone. Dumbledore smiled.
Longbottom looked from memory Daphne to memory Harry and nodded before giving the same oath.
"Neville!" shouted Granger, shocked.
"'Mione, just make the oath," the boy said, and Granger huffed, giving the oath, having to be corrected when she didn't use Harry's proper name. They all turned to Weasley, and Harry dropped the Silencing Charm.
"She's a slimy Slytherin whore!"
Memory Daphne twitched, but she kept her cool, only glaring at the buffoon. Memory Harry didn't, however, and pulled his wand on Weasley.
"Harry!" shrieked Granger. Longbottom recoiled seeing the glares coming from both Harry and Daphne.
"Let's try again, Won-Won, either make the oath of piss off. I won't give you another chance." Ron felt properly chastised and made a shaken oath. Harry nodded and hissed in Parseltongue, raising some wards around them.
"What was that, Harry?" asked Dumbledore curiously, as everyone but Daphne flinched.
"Parseltongue silence wards. More powerful and harder to break," explained Daphne, everyone turning to her in surprise as Harry finished raising the wards. "Although they don't stop intruders from passing through them."
"But...but that's Dark," said Granger, making both the real Daphne and memory Daphne roll their eyes.
"It's a tool. It's up to you what to do with it," memory Daphne replied with a glare, earning an appreciative smile from the headmaster.
"Well Harry, I can see you have been keeping some secrets. Would you mind making the proper introductions?" asked Dumbledore with a smile, making Harry smirk.
"Daphne Greengrass, meet Albus Dumbledore, Neville Longbottom, Hermione Granger, and Ron Weasley. Everyone, meet my girlfriend for the past year, Daphne Greengrass."
"WHAT?" shouted Weasley, while Granger and Longbottom just widened their eyes. Memory Daphne smirked, holding memory Harry's hand.
"A pleasure," memory Daphne smirked, amused by their reactions.
"I see," replied an even more amused headmaster, "Well then, Harry, would you please tell everyone about our evening?"
Harry did, and by the end of his tale everyone was gaping at him, including real Daphne. Next, memory Harry opened the locket and revealed the note inside, reading it aloud.
To the Dark Lord
I know I will be dead long before you read this, but I want you to know that it was I who discovered your secret. I have stolen the real Horcrux and intend to destroy it as soon as I can. I face death in the hope that when you meet your match you will be mortal once more.
R.A.B.
They all looked at each other, and Daphne saw memory Daphne thinking.
"Any idea, Headmaster?" asked Harry, and Dumbledore shook his head.
"It most likely is a discontented pureblood but I am not sure..."
"Braddock, Bainbridge, Baldock, Bhagat, Bhatia, Bishopper, Black, Bletchley, Bole, Boyle, Brody, Bulstrode, Burke..." she said, and everyone looked at her. "Those are a few of the pureblood families that start with a B." Memory Harry had a huge grin.
"That's my witch!" he said, kissing her soundly in front of everyone, making his friends gape and Dumbledore chuckle, the latter still thinking on what Daphne had said. Real Daphne felt embarrassed.
"Not now, honey," memory Daphne admonished him with a smile, turning back to Dumbledore before noticing the looks from the other teens. "What? Didn't you pay attention to your Politics classes?" she asked, and Longbottom blushed and Weasley just made a weird face.
"Actually, Ms. Greengrass may have a point. I shall check the Hogwarts registry for a name starting with R and A, and ending with a B." Then Dumbledore's eyes widened in shock.
"Regulus Arcturus Black!?" he wondered, heard by Harry.
"Black?" he wondered, looking at Daphne, who shrugged. "Wait, Sirius's Brother? Kreacher!"
The old house-elf appeared before them and immediately scowled. Granger would have started ranting, had she not been silenced by Longbottom.
"Nasty half-blood master called for Kreacher?" the elf asked with a sneer.
"Kreacher, Regulus Arcturus Black, Sirius's brother. How did he die?" asked Harry, and the house-elf immediately stiffened.
"Kreacher doesn't wish to answer filthy half-blood master," the elf replied, and Harry's magic flared.
"I am Lord Black, elf. Answer me!" he shouted, scaring everyone, but memory Daphne noticed something - the elf had recognized the fake locket.
"Harry, stop," she said, and he did. Everyone turned to her, who took the locket from Harry. "Do you recognize this, elf?" she asked, and to everyone's surprise, he nodded.
"Kreacher, do you know where the Horcrux is?" Kreacher turned to Harry in shock.
"Why does master wants the nasty thing?" the elf asked, a hint of hopefulness in his voice.
"To destroy it," Harry replied, and Kreacher's eyes filled with tears. The elf started telling them the story of how he had to help master Regulus swap the Horcrux with the fake. He described how Regulus was dragged underwater by the Inferi, but Kreacher was able to escape, promising to destroy the locket as his master wanted. He had been unsuccessful so far. The Real Daphne, who was holding Harry's hand, was baffled.
"Can you bring it to us, Kreacher?" asked memory Daphne, and the elf looked at her.
"Kreacher can, Mistress," he said before popping away, leaving behind a chuckling Harry, a baffled Daphne, three confused teenagers, and a very amused and hopeful headmaster.
Kreacher came back within moments, carrying the locket.
"Master Regulus wanted it destroyed," the elf said, and Harry nodded, taking the thing and feeling its Dark magic. Memory Daphne looked at the elf and gave him the fake locket.
"You fulfilled your master's last wish, Kreacher. We will destroy it. You can have this one as a memento, if you wish." Kreacher's eyes bulged, and he nodded.
"Thank you, Mistress," the elf said.
"Why do you call her mistress?" asked Granger, attracting their attention. Real Daphne wondered that too.
"Because Kreacher can feels Master's magic on Mistress." That made both memory Harry and Daphne blush, and Dumbledore actually laughed with mirth. The others didn't understand at all what Kreacher meant. "Master, the thief brought in by previous master steals the possessions of the House of Black. What does master want to do?"
Harry was shocked by the change of demeanour in the house-elf.
"What thief?" Harry asked.
"The one called Dung," the elf said, and Harry's magic flared.
"Seal the house. No one goes in or out without my consent. If you can, retrieve everything."
"Yes, Master," replied Kreacher, popping away. Harry turned to Dumbledore.
"You better do something about Dung, or he will pay for stealing from my house," Harry threatened. Dumbledore nodded, actually shocked by both the revelation and Harry's behaviour. "Now, about this thing, we should destroy it?"
"Before we do that, it is possible to use one Horcrux to find the others?" asked Daphne hopefully, looking at the headmaster. His face gave away the answer, though it wasn't the one she wanted to hear.
"I have no idea, Ms. Greengrass, although I did think about it."
"Great," she replied sarcastically.
"Then, what? Should we destroy it? Should we just keep safe for now?" asked Harry, looking at the both of them.
"I have gathered clues in regard to the nature of the other Horcruxes. I believe we may destroy it. Meanwhile, I'd suggest we keep it in a silk bag. It reduces the influence of the Horcrux upon us." Harry immediately conjured a red silk bag, making Daphne sniff.
"Too flashy," she mumbled, summoning a green one of her own and placing Harry's bag with the Horcrux already inside into hers. Harry grinned and Daphne showed him her tongue, smiling. Clearly it was an inside joke between them, thought real Daphne.
"Are you sure we should destroy it now? Shouldn't we keep our cards close to our chest?" asked Daphne, and Granger almost snapped at her for doubting the headmaster.
"I am sure, Ms. Greengrass." Daphne snorted.
"As sure as you were when you decided to leave a one-year-old orphan baby at the doorstep of magic hating muggles on a November night?" she snapped, making Dumbledore flinch.
"Daph..." said Harry, putting his hands on her shoulders, clearly making her more at ease.
"If it puts you at ease, Ms. Greengrass, I know of nothing we can do with them but destroy them."
Daphne sighed.
"Fiendfyre or basilisk venom, right?" she asked, and Dumbledore nodded while both teens grinned.
"See? I told you it was a good idea to keep a gallon of the venom for ourselves," said Daphne, and Harry chuckled.
"I remember agreeing with you?" he replied, and both laughed. "Fine, let's go deal with it. Can you come, Headmaster?" asked Harry, and Dumbledore was actually curious but felt unable to join them.
"Alas, I cannot, but I would like to speak with you after you finish your task," Dumbledore said. Harry and Daphne looked at each other and she shrugged.
"I can do it myself. If not, you'll join me down there either way, so..." Daphne said. Harry nodded and kissed her in front of everyone.
"I assume you mean the Chamber of Secrets?" asked Dumbledore, curious. "How will Ms. Greengrass gain entrance if she's not a Parselmouth?"
"Not a problem for her. Why don't you three make yourselves useful and go with Daph?" Harry asked the three teens, bringing them out of their shock and surprise, "and make sure she's safe."
"I hardly need help, Harry," she replied, crossing her arms with the green bag in her hand and a mock pout on her face.
"Indulge me, will you?" he played with her. Harry turned to Longbottom, "Pretend she's the Lady Potter."
Longbottom nodded immediately, grinning all the while, and stepped forward, followed by Granger. Weasley sneered at Daphne but followed the others after being coerced by Dumbledore.
"I can see you've kept your secrets very well, Harry," the headmaster said with a grin. "I must say, I never saw it coming."
"There's a lot of things you never saw coming, Headmaster," replied Harry in a polite and amused tone, making the old man chuckle.
"True, but how will Ms. Greengrass gain entrance to the Chamber?" he asked again.
"We tweaked the password charms using Parseltongue and I managed to add her magical signature to the ward of the door. That, and I recorded the Parseltongue password into a memory crystal she always carries with her. If she touches the door with her magic and uses the crystal to say the password, the doors will open for her. It will only work for her, though."
"Very ingenious, indeed. I suppose I should award you points for it. Twenty points each," said Dumbledore with a smile, and Harry nodded.
"I can finally understand the changes in you since last year, Harry," said Dumbledore, "Ms. Greengrass has been a most positive influence on you."
"I like to think so, too."
"Tell me, Harry, would you say you love her?"
"With all my heart, although I don't understand how that is relevant, and please don't talk about the prophecy." Dumbledore chuckled at Harry's words.
"Love is a most powerful magic, Harry. I believe that soon you will understand it. However, it was not because of this I wished to talk to you."
"Then what was it?" asked Harry, making himself comfortable at Dumbledore's request.
"I wish for you to disarm me, Harry," Dumbledore said. Harry just looked the old man as if he had two heads.
"You never do anything just because, and even still, you try to make it seem like you're a bit off. What is it you're not telling me, Headmaster?" asked Harry, and Dumbledore laughed.
"Harry, my wand is quite powerful, and it is not my original one. I wish you to keep it to help you in your future endeavours, but alas, the wand has to be taken from its wielder by force. That's why I want you to disarm me, so that you can have the loyalty of the wand." Harry looked at him strangely.
"Have you finally gone insane, sir?" asked Harry with a frown, and Dumbledore chuckled.
"I believe so, Harry, although a long time ago," Dumbledore said and Harry actually rolled his eyes, casting the Disarming Charm on Dumbledore, who just chuckled. Dumbledore's wand jumped into his hand and Harry felt the rush of power flowing through him.
"What... What was that?" the teen asked, looking at Dumbledore with a frightened expression.
"Promise me to keep the wand a secret, Harry. Promise me that you will use it carefully." Harry nodded, and Dumbledore believed him.
"Sir, what type of wand is this?" asked Harry again.
"Does it matter, Harry? It is a wand, no matter how powerful. It is a tool, nothing else. It's up to you to decide what to do with it, as Ms. Greengrass put it so well."
"I know you're hiding something else, sir," Harry said, and Dumbledore actually looked sullen.
"Some things I'm not actually sure of, Harry. But for now, off you go, go meet your beautiful girlfriend. You're only young once, you know?" Harry smiled and the memory started to fade.
Harry and Daphne exited the Pensieve, and Daphne looked at Harry, curious.
"What kind of wand was that?" Daphne asked.
"A legendary one. Do you remember The Tale of the Three Brothers?" Harry asked, and Daphne looked at him as if he had grown two heads. Then she paled.
"Merlin, that's the Elder Wand?" she gasped, and Harry nodded. Daphne felt dizzy and fell on her chair. "But... it's only a story. The Hallows are only a story."
"No, they are real," Harry replied, kneeling at her side, making sure she was fine. "At one time, I had all three Hallows. As of right now, Dumbledore has the Elder Wand, Riddle has the Resurrection Stone, even if he doesn't know it, and I have the Cloak."
"The Cloak?" Daphne gasped again, and Harry chuckled.
"It has been passed down in my family for years without losing its power. I'd say that was an indication of something, wouldn't you say?" Harry asked, and Daphne could only mumble. Her mind was spinning, working too fast for her as she tried to assimilate that fact that her boyfriend had a Hallow and had been the master of the three in the future he had travelled from.
"What... What was it like? To be the Master of Death?" she asked, her voice betraying her astonishment.
"I don't know. I never felt any different, and I never embraced its power. Maybe it was a mistake, but I never cared about it and just kept the Hallows safe. Barely used them, in fact." Daphne heard his words and was able to detect the regret and the sorrow.
"Why?" she asked, and he looked at her.
"Because if I did, I might have been able to save you," he replied in a whisper, and her awe was replaced by shock. She caressed his face, which was filled with sorrow. She hugged him close to her and felt Harry silently crying. She felt the wetness of his tears as he grabbed her close.
"Maybe," she said, trying to channel the wisdom of the older self she had come to admire, "but it doesn't matter now. Not anymore."
Harry stayed in the same position for a while until Daphne asked him to continue. He just cast a Tempus spell and saw that it was almost noon. Since neither of them was hungry, they opted to continue with Harry's story.
"What happened after that?" asked Daphne, playing with Harry's hair, finding it to be very relaxing for the both of them.
"You destroyed the Horcrux by dipping it in the venom, Granger threw a fit because we didn't allow her to check the library in the Chamber, and then we came all back. We separated for the night and nothing else happened until the end of the term."
"What happened?" asked Daphne, knowing it would be something big.
"Voldemort made his move," replied Harry in a dark tone.