Chapter One
Daphne's Distress
"You're not listening, are you?" Ron asked.
"Of course I am," said Harry, staringly intently through the compartment window at the blond boy in the hallway.
"So, then, tell me what you think?" Ron said.
"Huh?" said Harry distractedly, noticing Malfoy moving further away from their door. Now was his chance.
"See!" said Ron smugly.
"Er, yeah," Harry admitted, his hand already reaching for his cloak as he made his way out of the compartment.
Hermione stopped her conversation with Ginny. "Where are you going, Harry?"
"The loo," he said absentmindedly, shutting the door behind him, and completely missing the contemplative look on Hermione's face.
Malfoy was already a third of the train ahead of him. He tried to move quickly – but being invisible made it harder to maneuver around the other students in a space as tight as the corridor.
The train rattled violently beneath him, knocking Harry slightly off balance and causing him to momentarily lose sight of the boy. But to his luck, a group of girls suddenly emerged from a compartment far ahead, spilling into the hallway and blocking all passage.
Draco Malfoy was forced to wait as Harry silently crept up behind him.
The girls moved on and Malfoy continued, peering into compartment windows as he headed further down the train. He must have spotted what he was looking for, as he stopped abruptly, causing Harry to almost crash into his still body. He barely had time to recover before Malfoy rushed into the compartment and he slipped in behind.
The door slammed shut, and, suddenly, Malfoy turned around to face him, his wand drawn.
Harry's breathing stilled.
"Colloportus!" Malfoy snapped, causing the compartment door to lock, and the windows shades to close themselves. His face swiveled back towards the passenger in the room, and Harry realized he had not been noticed.
He let out a sigh of relief.
"Good evening, Draco."
There was a girl sitting on the train bench, looking up curiously. From her blond hair and crystal blue eyes, as well as the finely cultured mannerisms, Harry realized it was Daphne Greengrass, a fellow year-mate from Slytherin.
"Hey, Daph," said Malfoy. Her eyes narrowed marginally at the nickname. "Do you have a minute?"
"Sure," she said, "we've got another two full hours until we reach Hogwarts. What is it you would like to discuss?"
Malfoy sat down on the same bench as Greengrass. "Do you recall my offer I made at the end of June?"
Daphne snorted. "You mean when you graciously informed me that I may have a chance at becoming the next Mrs. Malfoy, should I so choose?"
Malfoy's face reddened.
"It is an honor to be a Malfoy."
She just rolled her eyes. "Yes, well, I think I'll decline the honor."
His voice dropped precipitously low. "You may wish to reconsider, then. Do you realize the extent of my family's influence? Do you realize the extent of my power?"
"You?" she said, her eyes staring at him quizzically.
"Yes," he said, his voice becoming even softer and more dangerous. "You will be much safer as my wife."
"No, thank you," she said politely. "I'm sorry, but I'm just not interested in you that way."
That seemed to be the wrong to say, as Malfoy's face became red with rage. He grabbed her wand from the bench beside him, eyeing it careful.
"I tried to be nice," he said, his voice now increasing in volume, coming out in halting gasps, "I tried to help you see reason! You're too stubborn to even save yourself!"
"Draco," she said calmly, but her entire demeanor had changed. "Please give me back my wand."
He sneered at her, his eyes shifting manically. "You really don't realize just how powerful I am, the things that I'm capable of doing! You really should have taken my offer."
"My wand," she demanded all vestiges of politeness gone.
He smiled cruelly, tucking the wand into his robes. "I don't think you will be needing this anymore. I will ask you one last time, Daphne, do you –"
"NO!" she snarled, leaping for her wand.
But he was far too fast for her. There was a flash of light, and Daphne went crashing into the compartment wall. Blood oozed slightly from behind her ears as she slid dumbly back onto the bench.
She tried to call for help, but with a wave of Malfoy's wand, found that she could not make a sound.
Malfoy was laughing. "Pathetic. That's what you are. Screaming like a little baby instead of being a proud pureblood lady! As if your screams would be heard anyways, I silenced the room as soon as I entered."
She was shaking now, terror in her eyes, as she tried once more to speak, this time to plead with him, but no sounds came out from her lips.
Malfoy pulled out a small flask from his robe, with an unmistakable pink color. Harry flinched. He wouldn't…
"Daphne, dearest," he sneered, unstopping the flask, "would you care for a drink?"
Her face paled dramatically; her limbs shuddered by her side. Harry gripped his wand tightly in his fist.
"Never," she seethed. "I will never drink that!"
A cold, hollow laugh rang out in the compartment. "Too bad I don't care." Malfoy raised his wand, pointing it at her head.
"Stupefy!" Harry shouted, just as Draco called out,
"Imperi–!"
The red beam hit first, and Malfoy crumbled unceremoniously to the floor, smashing his head with a loud thud.
Daphne leaped down after him, knocking over the contents of the vile pink potion while grabbing back her wand in one single motion. She then turned to face Harry.
"Who are you?" she yelled, adrenaline coursing through her body.
He shook off the cloak, shimmering into view.
"Potter? How –? What are you –?" the sentences seemed to die on her tongue as her brain raced to catch up.
"I followed Malfoy into here," Harry hastily explained. "He… he seemed suspicious…"
Her eyes narrowed. "You knew what he was planning on doing to me?"
"No!" he exclaimed. "No, not at all. I thought – here." Harry grabbed the still unconscious body of Malfoy and lifted his sleeve. Gleaming eerily on his arm in haunting black ink was a snake curled around a skull.
Daphne's eyes were round as saucers. "You suspected this?"
Harry nodded dumbly his suspicions confirmed. He felt Malfoy stir beneath, and quickly shot him a second stunner. "What do we do with him now?"
Slowly, color refilled Daphne's cheeks as she began to calculate. "We can't let him go back to Hogwarts. The staff won't believe us, Professor Snape might, but –"
"He'll just get a detention"
"Yes. The headmaster won't be able to expel him, as he didn't do any actual crimes."
"He's got the mark," Harry countered grimly.
Daphne sat quietly, contemplating. "I'm not sure you can get expelled for simply possessing an evil tattoo."
The two looked at each other, struggling for a solution. Daphne shivered violently, her voice a hoarse whisper. "I'd never feel safe with him in the castle. I'd prefer to return home. And… and what if he attempts this on others?"
Her eyes began to fill with tears and her body spasmed again and again, as she stared at Malfoy with utter dread. The look reminded Harry of a young Ginny, awakening in the Chamber of Secrets, and several ideas popped into his head at once.
"Dobby!" he called, and the elf materialized in the compartment with a crack.
Daphne's eyes widened slightly, but nothing compared to Dobby's eyes as he looked upon the room. "Why is old bad master lying on the floor? Has he tried hurting the great Harry Potter?"
"Yes," Harry replied, "well, sort of. Can I ask you a favor, Dobby?"
"Certainly, Dobby is always happy to do a favor for Harry Potter!"
"Would you be able to take Draco far away from here?"
Dobby smiled brightly. "Dobby can be doing that, yes."
"How far?" It was Daphne that asked the question.
"How far does missus Greeny want?"
Daphne peered at the small elf, a smile crossing her lips upon hearing his name for her. "Can you do Australia?"
Dobby paused for a second, before replying. "Not in one go, but over a couple hours, it could be done."
Harry could not believe it. "You can really transport someone that far?"
Dobby's normally gentle face tightened with pain. "Normally, Dobby could not be doing it. But for his bad master, Dobby will make it happen."
Harry and Daphne shared another look.
"Alright, then," Harry said, "thank you, Dobby. I'll let you know when he's ready." He then grabbed Malfoy's wand and snapped it in half. Next, he cast an incendio, scorching the broken pieces to ash and defenestrating them through the window.
Then, he began casting several spells at Malfoy.
"Stupefy!"
"Confundus!"
"Obliviate! Obliviate! Obliviate!" He wanted to make sure it was being done correctly. Having never cast the spell before, he figured three shots would do the job.
He felt a hand tugging at his wand arm. "Harry," Daphne called, "I'll do it. How much of his memory do you want wiped?"
"Everything."
She nodded, scrunched up her nose in concentration, and brought her wand down in a flame of white light. Blood came pouring from Malfoy's nose, spilling onto his clothes.
"That should do it," she said.
Harry then asked Daphne to look away as he cast a spell removing all of Malfoy's clothing. Finally, he signaled to Dobby to take the body away.
With a pop, the room suddenly felt very empty.
There was a long, awkward pause, and Harry got up to return to his compartment.
"Harry," Daphne called. He turned back around and was startled to see the pain in her eyes.
"Harry," she repeated hesitantly, "would you be able… do you mind staying with me a little bit?"
"Sure," Harry said, sitting down.
He watched her whisper a thank you as she seemed to fold into herself, both figuratively and literally. Her feet were tucked close to her body; her head bent over; tears streamed from her eyes as she rocked back and forth, finally coming to terms with her harrowing experience.
He sat there awkwardly for a time, wondering if he should say or do anything but ultimately deciding against it.
After a time, she seemed to notice his discomfort.
"I'm sorry," she whispered hoarsely, wiping at her tears.
"You have nothing to be sorry for," he told her earnestly.
A sudden knock on the door had the two of them drawing wands, but it was simply the trolley lady offering the familiar Hogwarts Express treats. With a sigh of relief, and enjoying the interruption, the two ordered a fanfare of sweets and began to discuss their favorite wizarding treats. Harry noticed that Daphne seemed to visibly relax with the familiar and easy conversation, so he kept it up until the train whistled their imminent arrival at the school.
"I'll see you around," Harry said, picking up his cloak and folding it into his pocket.
"I'd like that," said Daphne brightly. "Thank you, Harry. For everything before and for staying with me. That was very special of you!"
Harry smiled in return, and then rushed back to his compartment to gather his things.
"Where were you?" Hermione asked him as soon as he entered. He could see his other friends were frantic as well.
"Busy," he replied softly. Hermione's eyes narrowed dangerously, but Harry gave away nothing as he grabbed his items and headed off the train.