Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any works by J.K. Rowling.

The cold winds of October soon approached the small family. What started out as a rough beginning of Hogwarts, soon turned to smooth sailing after their initial problems.

It was a Friday afternoon where Harry and Daphne could be found eating their lunch. Instead of dining in the Great Hall with the other students during meal times, they chose to eat in their rooms to maximize the time they could spend with Astoria.

"Tori, you need to lay off on those sweets." Daphne chided. "You're already your second bag."

Astoria just absentmindedly flipped through another page of the book in her hand, as she continued to chew. She laid down on her stomach and focused completely on reading.

Daphne let out a sigh when the little girl ignored her. With a sligh roll of her eyes, Daphne gently slid into the bed and draped an arm over Astoria, while resting her chin over the girl's shoulder.

"Mamaaaaa…." Astoria whined, slightly glancing up.

Daphne chuckled. "Come on Tori. What are you reading that's so thick?"

Astoria quickly flipped the cover over to show her. 'Effective Spell Crafts And Their Crafters in Witch History.' "Papa got this for me last night," Astoria explained. "It's about all the famous witches that made spells! It's so interesting, mama! They're so cool! My favorite witch and spell is…"

As Astoria went on absentmindedly while she read, Daphne's eyes immediately narrowed and she turned to Harry who sat in a corner of the room, quill and journal in hand, and a sack of coins on the table. As he wrote, he would occasionally glance at the books and sigh.

"Seriously?" Daphne glared.

It took Harry a few seconds before he finally noticed her looking up.

"Huh?"

"My boyfriend is already a nerd, and now he turns our daughter into one as well!"

Harry only scratched his head as he looked at her confused. This only caused Daphne to point annoyedly at the book in Astoria's hand.

"You gave her this book?"

"I did. What about it?"

"It's too advanced for her!" Daphne groaned.

Harry continued to look at her in confusion. "How? It's good knowledge."

"…"

"Daphne?"

"She's 7, Harry. 7"

"So?"

"7."

"What about it?"

"Don't you think she should read something a bit more…I don't know, for 7 year olds? Maybe a children's book?"

"…"

"…"

"Why should she read that rubbish?" Harry argued. "It's completely impractical and she won't learn anything except having fairy tales in her head."

"She's still a child, Harry! We could let her have a little bit of a childhood…"

Astoria interrupted the conversation, calling from across the room. "I don't mind, mama! I really like the book!"

Both Daphne and Harry snapped their heads towards her direction. "Tori…" Daphne said softly. "Are you sure? We could get you something more for your age? Is it toys? Do you want more toys?"

Astoria shook her head fervently. She jumped off the bed with an almost ecstatic look on her face. "A wand! I want a wand! Then I can be like Rowena Ravenclaw! Super smart and I'll know all the spells!"

"No." Daphne deadpanned.

Astoria pouted and slumped away defeated back to her bed to continue reading. Daphne could only look at her sternly, while Harry seemed to do his best to not look too amused.

"This is all your fault." Daphne glared back at Harry. "She used to play with dolls and wanted to be a princess and ran around. Now all she does is stay cooped up with a book. Like a certain SOMEONE."

Daphne cleared her throat loudly as she noticed Harry had already gone back to writing into his journal.

"Yes Daphne. I'll get on that in a bit." Harry said absently.

Daphne swiped the quill from Harry's hand, causing him to protest. But it was quickly stifled when he saw the look on her face.

"You. Are. Giving me. Attention. TONIGHT!" Daphne growled.

Harry just looked on in fear at the angry silver blonde hair girl and meekly spoke, "so…uh…what would you like to do?"

"Shopping."

"Daphne-"

"We're going to spend money by the way," Daphne interrupted. She snatched up the coin bag and stomped to their trunk, emptying it into another coin pouch.

The action left Harry flabbergasted, but he dared not say or do anything. Daphne finally finished and stomped back over to him and slammed a lighter coin pouch on the table.

Daphne stared at him until he seemed to collapse from the pressure. With a sigh, he grabbed 2 books from the stack and placed them into his book bag.

"What are you doing, Harry? We're going shopping!"

"I need to get them back to Madame Prince." Harry explained. "It'll be a quick stop Daphne, I promise."

"It's already going to be so hard to sneak out," Daphne moaned. "Can't you just drop them off another time?"

Harry shook his head. "I'll be collecting my pay for this week. I want to make sure we have enough stored."

Daphne didn't look convinced but the next words out of Harry's mouth sweetened the deal.

"I'll get you something extra. I saw the shoes you were eyeing last week." He added.

Daphne pursed her lip for a few seconds before hesitantly conceding. "Okay fine. But it has to be quick."

The two of them quickly got their warm winter clothes on before they both gave a kiss to an Astoria who was still buried in her book.

"Be good, okay Tori?" Daphne muttered as she hugged the little girl on the bed.

"We'll be back soon," Harry promised.

They hurried out and quickly made their way through the castle under the covers of night.

＊＊＊

"I can really see why she accepted you as her assistant. Nerds, the both of you."

"Daphne. Be nice to her."

"I AM being nice to her. As nice as I could be after she spends almost an HOUR talking to you about a stupid book," Daphne growled.

"It was a very interesting book!" Harry shot back. "I have a job as a librarian assistant because of my appreciation for said books."

Daphne just rolled her eyes as she dragged him along through the corridors. "It wouldn't be so bad if you quit," she mumbled. "You're always so busy doing something. Even on a date night like tonight, you still have to do something."

Daphne stopped when she felt Harry pulling her into an embrace from behind.

"That would be irresponsible of me, Daphne." Harry muttered into her ear. "The school year will be over before you know it. I want to make sure we have enough money for a good place when summer rolls around."

This just caused Daphne to slump as she looked to the ground. "I know," she said softly. "I just…we don't spend as much time together as we used to. And considering we're now dating…we should…you know…"

*MEOOOOOWWWWWW!*

Daphne instantly perked up as did Harry. In front of them stood a long shadow, stretching ominously over the dark corridor. A flash of thunder struck the window behind it.

Harry's eyes lit up in fear, as Daphne saw recognition appear behind them. "Filch's cat," he whispered.

A voice echoed around the corner. "Someone there, Mrs. Norris?"

The two teens locked eyes, as both of them thought the same thing.

"Run!"

Daphne felt Harry grab her arm and immediately the two of them took off. A hiss from behind them and sounds of Filch's screaming caused them to run even faster.

Somewhere along the way, they even heard a new voice shouting, "STUDENTS OUT OF BED! STUDENTS OUT AT NIGHT!"

"Damn poltergeist!" Harry cursed under his breath.

The two turned another corner and found themselves running up a set of stairs. However, Daphne found herself quickly being stopped as Harry held out his hand in front of her.

"Harry? We have to keep moving!" she hissed.

"No. Look in front of us," he pointed.

The stair had begun shifting, as another one was slowly making its way towards them.

At this point Daphne was panicking. She frantically looked around trying to find another way, but a firm grip from Harry kept her there.

"We can make it," Harry reassured. "Just a few seconds. It's close."

The sound of heavy footsteps seemed to be getting closer. Out of the corner of Daphne's eye, she caught the light from the lantern that Filch usually held.

"Harry, it won't make it on time!" She cried.

With another curse, Harry looked back and forth between the stairway and the direction of Filch. In a split second, he leapt over onto the stairway and stumbled.

"HARRY!"

Daphne's heart stopped as she watched him fumble onto the stairway. It didn't start up again until he finally managed to get onto the stairway fully. Harry turned to her and reached out his hand.

"JUMP! You have to!"

She turned around to see Filch's shadow approaching, and instantly knew that there was only one thing she could do.

Her legs sprang up and she felt herself flying through the air.

"AH!"

Daphne felt herself slamming Harry onto the stairs as she straddled him, her face mere inches from his.

She felt herself staring at his eyes, those emerald-green orbs, as she took in his features. For a few seconds, she completely forgot about the crazy old man chasing them, as the only thing she could think about was how thrilling the moment was.

"Ba-baby…we need to get going." Harry stuttered.

The feeling of the thrill of danger. The adrenaline. The running. It already made her hazy. But it was that word that truly set her off. Daphne's mind went blank as she felt herself pulling Harry even closer and crashing her lips into his for the most passionate kiss they've ever shared.

Harry just mumbled incoherently into Daphne's lips. "Guh…arghh…Daph-umm."

When she pulled away, Daphne mentally scolded herself when she saw the stupid look on Harry's face. "Right…not the best time," she muttered.

In a flash, she managed to pull herself up along with Harry. "Come on loverboy," she said. "We have to keep moving."

Daphne grabbed his hand and pulled him with her. She glanced behind her to see Filch finally arriving towards the moving stairway.

"You two! Come here!" Filch snarled, his finger pointed at them.

She could only smirk. Daphne knew that there was no way that he could see their faces with how dark it was. And the old man wasn't spring enough to make the jump onto the still moving stairs.

And so, the only thing she could do was stick her tongue out at him and ran with Harry in tow.

Filch's voice echoed from behind them. "COME BACKKKKKKKK!"

The two of them kept on running. They took a right. Then a left. Then another right. Corridor through corridor. It wasn't until they passed a few doors when Harry started saying something.

"We need to find a place to hide, Daphne. Then once he's passed us, we can circle back to our room." He said.

Daphne nodded in agreement. She looked around to see they managed to wind up in a dusty hall. At the end of the hall, was a wooden door. "Through there!" Daphne hurried.

When they ran up to the door, she tried to open it only to find that it was locked. She tried to slam against it, but the door did not budge.

"You're a wizard, are you bloody not?" Harry muttered at her side. With a quick wave of his hand a word, the door swung open.

"Alohomora!"

Daphne just stared at him questioningly. "It was the first spell I learned and used," he shrugged.

They quickly got inside and slammed the door shut behind them. Before a word could be said between them, Daphne grabbed Harry by his collar and pulled him into her lips.

"Mmph!" Harry protested into her mouth. Daphne pulled away and glared at him. "Daphne-" Harry started before being cut off.

"Hushhhhhh," Daphne shushed, placing a finger over his lips. "The other word."

Harry looked slightly taken aback. "Other…word? Baby? Listen there's-"

He didn't even get a chance to finish his sentence before she pulled him back onto her face. Daphne kissed him for a good 30 seconds before she felt him tapping on her shoulder.

"What?" She hissed, pulling away. "Am I not a good kisser?"

"No that's not it…you're great, Daphne. But…"

Harry slowly pointed behind her, and she followed his finger. A slow look of shock crossed her face as she took in what was in front of her.

A giant three headed dog laid sleeping. Each one of the heads seemed to act on their own, as they snored.

"Harry? Are you seeing this?" Daphne whispered.

"Yeah. Daphne we need to leave," he said in a hushed voice.

Harry turned to peek out the door, only to quickly close it. His face paled as he looked at her. "He's still out there," Harry whispered. "Filch. He's looking around."

Daphne moved towards him as he moved to the side for her to open the door slightly and peek. She saw the grumbling form of Filch as he searched around the hallway.

"He might leave soon," Daphne said. "I think he's starting to move. Harry, we can leave in a bit. Are you ready?"

No response.

"Harry?"

Daphne turned back around to see Harry in one of the defensive dueling stances Penelope taught them.

She was about to ask him what he was doing, until she saw all of the dog heads staring directly at them, their eyes open.

"They just opened their eyes all of a sudden," Harry whispered, fear evident in his voice. "Is-is Filch gone?"

Daphne quickly peeled out the door to see no sign of him and turned back. "Okay. We need to back out slowly."

Harry nodded, his eyes still kept on the huge dog.

The two of them slowly backed away until they felt themselves stepping out of the room. The three headed dog slowly walked towards them to growl one last warning before the door slammed shut, leaving the two outside.

Daphne finally let out the breath that she didn't even know she was holding.

But before she could say anything, she already felt herself and Harry running back towards Ravenclaw tower.

＊＊＊

The door to their room closed with a slam, as a tired Harry and Daphne collapsed on their bed.

"What. The. Hell. Was that?" Daphne panted.

"I..don't…know."

The two of them laid there in silence, slowly taking in what they saw.

Daphne suddenly burst into laughter, causing Harry to look at her weirdly.

"Sorry," Daphne laughed, blinking her eyes. "That was just…quite an adventure we went on."

After a few minutes more, Harry finally managed to get himself up with a thoughtful look on his face. He turned towards Daphne and asked, "did you see what was underneath it? A trapdoor of some kind."

Daphne nodded, finally calmed down a bit, and slowly joined him in sitting up. "Yeah. I noticed it as well. What do you think is down there?"

Harry only shrugged. "It could be anything really. But it's already crazy enough they keep a giant dog like that here. Honestly! We should get a warning or something."

"I think they did warn us," Daphne frowned in thought. "Beginning of the year. The headmaster said something about staying out of the third-floor room or whatever."

Harry rolled his eyes. "Oh please. Even if it was an accident for us, some kids are going to go there BECAUSE he said not to. You can't just be all secretive! He has to tell us why it's dangerous!"

"I kind of want to know what's under the trapdoor," Daphne said, her voice slightly excited. "Imagine! What could they be hiding under there?"

Harry shook his head. "Nope. I've had enough for one night. I could care less what they keep down there."

As he was about to make his way back to the table and do his work, Daphne had already pulled him onto their bed and laid atop him. "Come onnnnn," she pouted. "Aren't you just a little bit curious?"

"No, not even the slightest," Harry said. He paused for a second, before looking at Daphne weirdly. "You're acting really different tonight, Daphne. First you kiss me like that, then ask me to call you baby, and now you want to see under the trapdoor?"

Daphne quickly looked away embarrassingly, realizing what she had been doing.

"I…um…" she stammered, her face red.

Harry quickly leaned up and placed a hand against her forehead. "Are you sick?" He asked worriedly. "It's starting to get really cold. Did you catch something? Oh no…did someone say anything to you?"

Daphne panickingly waved her hands in front of her face. "No no no!" she quickly said. "I'm fine! It's just…well…"

She blushed even harder, causing Harry to look even more worried.

"It was just really exciting…" Daphne mumbled. "Sneaking about, you know? It was like something my mom and dad would read to me when I was little…" she trailed off, quickly lost in her thoughts.

Her parents. The ones who raised her. The ones who read her those stories. About the adventures the characters would go on.

Daphne realized that she never even had a moment. A proper moment to truly think about what happened that night.

"Daphne?" Harry asked softly.

Daphne chuckled sadly and unconsciously wiped a tear from her eye.

"I just thought about them, you know? All of a sudden." She mumbled. "After everything tonight, it was somehow one of the best nights we've ever had. Exactly like how they did it in the stories…"

Daphne felt Harry's arms wrap around her comfortingly. For the first time since losing her parents, Daphne suddenly felt all the bottled emotions coming in from the night she lost her parents. "I miss them so much…" she whispered.

"I never even got to mourn," she thought. "I don't think I even said goodbye."

Her tears fell onto Harry's shoulder as he held her against him. Daphne didn't realize it, but the emotion she was showing even had a profound effect on Harry, causing his eyes to water slightly.

But it wasn't something she would see because Harry only pulled her in closer, letting her know he was right there with her.

No more words needed to be said. Daphne just allowed herself that selfish moment to let everything out. Everything since it all happened. Every single painful and sorrowful emotion.

She could hear Harry talking in the background. Apologizing. Telling her how their night was ruined because he wanted to take a detour to the library.

"I'm sorry. "I'm sorry I ruined everything." He was mumbling. "I'm sorry, it's because of me that you're hurting."

But confusion would mount as she felt another emotion rising up. A strange tinge of happiness had started to slowly overwhelm her.

Happiness? In a moment like this?

Daphne slowly pulled away to find Harry's worried face in front of her own.

She couldn't help but smile softly, as their foreheads found their way to each other's.

Why did he keep apologizing? Didn't he know how wonderful their adventure was? Didn't he know it was a thousand times better than a simple Hogsmeade trip?

Didn't he know… that the feeling of happiness was because of him?

All from him. The boy in front of her. The one who was always there for her. The boy who suddenly came into her life and gave her a chance.

And not only her. The little sister that she loved so dearly as well. The last person she had left to love.

Well…not the last. Not anymore. Because he was here.

Another person to love.

Harry.

Her Harry.

"Thank you, Harry. Tonight, was perfect. Thank you for everything."

And…

"I love you."

A/N: Forgot my password, had to fight my inner demons to wrestle it back.

No I'm kidding lol. I just lost inspiration for a few months and my life has been a bit crazy. For the better I am happy to say. Lots of changes. I'm basically a new person.

After all the positive changes in my life, I felt like I was missing something. And all of a sudden, I wanted to write again! Writing this chapter made me very happy, so I would like to continue writing more. I'm just going to slowly get back into the groove of writing. But I think you guys will probably see a different path to this story. I would hope that it's a better path and I'll try to find some time to go back to the older chapters to make sure I keep continuity. If I make any edits, I'll put it in an A/N.

I did try to reread my story to figure out where I was trying to go with it while writing this chapter, but um...well...I cringed too hard lol. So, I guess from now on whatever happens, happens. It is what it is. Throwing out 5k requirement for chapters too. I'll just stop when I think it's good to stop.

Hopefully I can try to get out another chapter around Thanksgiving for all my fellow Americans.