A/N: Hello people and sorry for the long absence, I took a vacation amongst other personal matters, but I'm back. I'm sorry, again, and I hope to make it up by posting for two weeks straight, daily - this is day 3 of 14!

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Bold = Parseltongue

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January 6, 1995

Friday

Cuddled up was an understatement inside Harry's cloak. Daphne and he were far larger than first-year students, especially when two of those students had been Hermione and himself. Ron was a good bit larger than them at that younger age, but he was still small. Grown now as he and Daphne were, 'cuddled up' meant practically squished together under that cloak. He didn't mind in the slightest, obviously. Not with an attractive witch in both personality and appearance such as Daphne sharing the space with him.

Still, they were trying to watch Krum as the day progressed to see if they could steal any of his knowledge for the upcoming task and that was incredibly hard to do when you couldn't focus because of your girlfriend. Thrice now, Daphne had poked or prodded at him, her own cheeks as red as he felt his cheeks were, while she whispered or pointed at a new event. None were all that important, but the fact that she could maintain some level of clarity despite their closeness was definitely impressive.

Almost as if it was planned, he felt Daphne poke at him again. This time, she didn't simply nod towards Krum with a quick look over her shoulder, instead, she whispered quietly from their spot a good two dozen or so feet from him.

"He's putting his shirt on, he'll be done soon," Daphne pointed to Hermione next, the girl moving towards the castle at a quick pace while Krum put on his shirt and moved towards his belongings that he'd ditched by the water. "Granger's making her escape. She reminds me of you — what, with her quick exits and lack of parting words."

"You haven't forgiven me for that by now?" Harry asked, a pouting look shot at Daphne.

She pressed a firm kiss to his lips, then she pinched his left side. "No. I don't enjoy the chase, though I'll admit the end result of dating you was well worth it. Come on, he's headed towards Hogwarts after Granger, let's see what he's up to."

Together, he and Daphne moved in almost perfect harmony. Neither would move too quickly or slowly, not once did they trip over one another and should either misstep, the other would correct them. It was perfect, really, and not nearly as awkward in either sense of the word as they kept up with Krum. So easy was it, Harry cursed himself for not finding her years earlier. Undoubtedly, somebody like Daphne would have proved very helpful in many a task, though he'd hate to risk her safety.

Often enough, he would still get annoyed with himself for risking Ron or Hermione and that was knowing full well that the pair of them refused to listen to him when he tried to go on alone. They may not be the closest of friends anymore, but that still didn't change anything about their earlier time together.

Harry roused himself from his daydreaming when he saw Krum take a turn that Hermione didn't at the next junction and immediately, he knew where he was going. Based on Daphne's breathing picking up a notch, she realised it too; the staircase. Krum was either headed up towards the library or somewhere else entirely. Either way, Harry was certain they'd learn something about the other competitor.

If it were overly private, they'd leave… eventually. Daphne's influence over him in the bit of time they'd gotten to know one another said that knowing your competition was pretty useful. Besides, it wasn't like you had to blackmail or use something that you knew about somebody against them, it was just good to know if they had a secret and if so, what that secret was.

"Hey mate!" Called a voice that nearly made Harry stumble, if not for the quick grab from Daphne that steadied him.

Cedric appeared a few seconds later, jogging towards them… the distance rapidly closed and together, Harry and Daphne were frozen. Well, until Cedric promptly ran past them and ended up standing right beside Krum. Harry didn't know if it was his exhale that was louder and more stressed than Daphne's, but he definitely knew he'd be going to the loo once they were done. He'd nearly shat himself thinking the two of them had been caught.

"Do you think they're sharing knowledge?" Daphne asked quietly, her voice a whisper as her hand tightened around his whilst she edged them slightly closer to the two older boys.

Harry shook his head, their faces side by side so that she could see it. "No," he said to her, "Cedric and Krum didn't speak all that much with one another in the tent and I don't think I've really seen them talk during other events either. Cedric's pretty outgoing, learned that on the pitch, so I reckon he's probably just being his usual self and trying to make a new friend. Krum doesn't look all that excited by the idea either, not unless Cedric wants to talk Quidditch."

"Boys and your Quidditch," Daphne said with a huff and roll of her eyes, she nearly said something else too, but she chose to press herself more firmly against him as she batted her eyes in a manner that made his heart race. "I understand your love for the game, but surely you'd enjoy spending more time with your witch, right? I'm sure we could find a few enjoyable games to spend our time playing now that we're together — Tracey could come too, though we both know she'll tag along regardless unless I stash you away in a broom cupboard all for myself… is tha—"

Harry did as she did earlier and pressed a quick kiss to her lips. "When we find out about the task, I'll do whatever you want for a whole day. Merlin, I'll probably take you out on a date to Hogsmeade too, you definitely deserve it after 'chasing' me, as you said," he looked a bit smug then, his chest puffing out slightly. "Ever since you told me about that, I have to admit the idea is really wicked. Never though I'd have a witch as beautiful and smart as you willing to date me."

Daphne flicked his chest. "You're a dork, you could have an— I mean, you're a perfect match for me and I, a perfect match for you."

They heard footsteps then and pulled an inch or two apart, so their intimacy was broken and the lustful hormones that ran through them were dampened. That wasn't to say they weren't still prevalent, that was definitely not the case, but the effects were a good deal less when those types of words were stopped and the person's steps grew closer; it was Cedric, again, and Krum was already moving towards the top portion of the stairs.

We missed the small conversation they had, Harry thought to himself, not all that mad considering what he'd been doing instead of listening to the two blokes talk to each other, Whatever, we've still got Krum to follow and if he knows anything, I'm sure we'll find out what it is.

Nearly two hours later, drifting off in the library with Daphne pressed right up against him and her head on his shoulder, he realised he'd been very wrong. At least, until the pair made to follow Krum out and realised that he'd left something behind, accidentally as it was thanks to how tired he was — luck had always been an important factor in Harry's life, after all.


"I don't believe that's Krum's writing," Daphne said immediately upon picking up the small note that had been left behind. "It's unfamiliar to me and the language, I don't suppose I need to tell you that it's beyond my current linguistic capabilities."

Harry shrugged. "All I speak is English."

"I'll teach you another language if you'd like," She offered, her hand tightening around his ever so slightly while her other clutched the note. "It'd be wonderful to hear you speak Swedish to my family and me. Just the thought alone is very pleasing, not to put any pressure on you."

"Teach me whatever you'd like, I trust you completely if you're half as good at everything else as you are with magic and potions, especially potions," Harry yawned, his hand sliding slightly from around Daphne's shoulders and down to the middle portion of her back. Before he could continue from where he'd left off, she raised an eyebrow at him, an affectionate and somewhat lustful expression on her face that reminded him of the end of their Yule Ball night.

"I thought I said no hands on my arse until later. You're not trying to get a head start on that, are you?" Daphne asked, her voice incredibly casual while she looked at him with one of her perfect eyebrows still raised; he didn't know something so simple as that could look as attractive as it did either, but boy, had he been wrong.

"N-, I was… you're just like Tracey," Harry said, giving up on his words and looking at Daphne with a semi-defeated, playful expression on his face. "I can see how you two are such good friends, you know. Only you and she would be teasing somebody about their hands on arses."

Daphne shook her head. "Only your hand on my arse, nobody else's of either. I'll have to cut your hand off if I hear it's been straying from its designated rear, Harry. Tracey's included too, no matter what she says," she stopped with her teasing to press a kiss to his cheek and when she pulled back, the note was in-between them. "We need to go and find somebody who speaks Bulgarian and if that fails, a Magical or Muggle means of translating the thing."

"Would you know where to look on the Magical side? I think I have a place or two in mind for the Muggle side if those don't work out, but I'm not completely sure," Harry said, thoughtful as he made to bring a hand up to rub at his chin only to stop when he felt the underside of something far softer and less stubbly.

Shite.

That single word was his first thought when he realised what he'd accidentally touched for all of two seconds. Next, he thought of his parents and those currently still alive that cared for him in what he presumed were his final moments for accidentally brushing again a particularly private portion of Daphne's body and finally, he thought of how stupid a way this was to go out of the world. He could already imagine the words th—

"That's a lot more forward of you than I imagined," Daphne said, stealing him away from his errant-thinking mind and grounding him back in reality. "I take it you forgot how cramped things are under this cloak, huh?"

He nodded once, not trusting himself to speak lest he says something stupid or stumbles over his words.

"I'm not angry with you, I can see that you didn't mean to do it," Daphne laughed lightly, easing his worries as she grabbed his hand and pulled him towards the exit of the library. "You're tired, we should get back to our dorms and most definitely get out of here before he comes back for that note in your hand. Something tells me Krum wouldn't be happy if he saw it with you, much less found us by accident under this cloak."

Again, he nodded, finding his words a few seconds later when Daphne gave him an expectant look. "Yeah, he probably wouldn't be overjoyed, that's for sure," Harry said, smiling and letting out a breath when Daphne turned to continue their move towards the exit of the library.

He'd definitely dodged a spell there, now all he had to do was dodge a few thousand more and he'd have Voldemort done in no time. Well, translating that note was a good option too… probably a lot safer of one, he imagined.


January 8, 1995

Sunday

Daphne had spoken with him very briefly in the morning to let him know that she had, in fact, found a way to translate the note they had found. She warned him it would be a bit tedious and incredibly time-consuming, but he reckoned since it was only a good dozen or so words that it couldn't be too hard… right?

He hoped he was right, at least, because he definitely didn't have too much time to spare. Sure, he didn't know what he was preparing for but learning any type of magic in that time instead of wasting it was definitely the way to go. If he sat on his arse and did nothing, he'd be worse off than he already was.

"Hi, Harry," Daphne greeted, her voice as sweet as always and those lips of hers sweeter still, the lingering taste of fruit on her breath incredibly pleasant. "I've arrived as promised, though, for our lesson to begin, there's a small price that you have to pay. Could you guess what that price is?"

For a few seconds, he was too stupid to understand what she meant. It was the tapping of her lips with one hand with the expectant, slightly seductive look on the other that made it obvious to the otherwise oblivious young lad; she wanted a kiss and like any good bloke, he'd give her as many of those as she wanted.

Nearly five minutes later, their chests heaving and their lips a bit larger than they'd previously been thanks to the intense snog they'd had in that empty classroom, they were ready to begin with their translation work. It was at that time that Tracey showed up, or rather, chose to make herself known. He wasn't sure which option it was considering how much the girl liked to read romance films and in her own words, watching him and Daphne together was like watching a masterfully directed play.

One day, he'd bring the pair of Slytherin girls to a Muggle romance film, he vowed. There were those old Muggle films about space and the like too, Star Trekking or something, but he didn't fancy them all that much. It was a bit too make-believe for his tastes. Ah well, to each their own, he supposed.

"Hi Daph, Hi Harry! You two look like you just got done with a pretty strenuous study session — learn anything fun?" Tracey grinned smugly at them, leading him to believe she had watched the entirety of their impromptu workout and when she continued, he was relieved that she hadn't decided to tease them more, as she usually did. "I have the two books from our library like you asked, Daph. Nobody even knows it's me that has them either, I signed Pansy's name then crossed it out and wrote something in Goyle-talk, which not even Crabbe or baby Malfoy can decipher yet."

"Nobody saw you do that, right?" Harry asked quickly. "Could anybody find out it was you? I wouldn't want any—"

"Relax you great big worry-wort. Nobody will know it was me, my handwriting is far prettier than that and beyond that, they've never seen me check out a book. The idea of reading something about magic that I don't have to is horrible," Tracey suddenly scowled, her shoulders slouched and she pouted out her bottom lip. "I hate you both, by the way."

Daphne gave Tracey a knowing look and took the books from the other girl in silence, mouthing to him as she moved back to where she'd previously been; 'she's a drama queen.'

"Why's that?" Harry asked, curious as to what Daphne meant and really, he wanted to humour Tracey after she helped him secret away a few books from the Slytherin common room. That library of theirs was far more impressive than the one up in Gryffindor Tower but he knew for a fact that Ravenclaw would have the best and likely, the safest of them all.

Tracey smiled toothily, happy that he asked and then launched into a very fast-spoken explanation. "Ever since I watched how you two got together, no book I've read in the past or that I try and start is half as good. There's no enemies-to-lovers aspect even if you two weren't technically enemies, there's no drama or chase like you gave to Daphne when she was asking you to the Yule Ball, there's no jealousy from the girl since it's usually always the bloke that has the feelings and the kissing scenes aren't half as well-described as getting to watch in the first person," Tracey shook her head mournfully, a sad smile now present. "I'll need to write my own someday, I think. It won't be any good since my grammar sucks and I can't usually be bothered to write more than a word a day, but I guess I can always do what I'm currently doing to get any sort of romantic satisfaction."

"Don't as—"

"What's tha—"

Daphne tried to stop him, but she was a split second too late. Harry was nearly finished with the question and when the couple stopped after interrupting one another, Tracey seized the initiative and answered his question. He had to commend her too, she was very fast on the draw, so to speak.

"Well, obviously, that's living vicariously via you and Daphne. It's pretty great — I'm like the things that stay on the side of sharks in the ocean, I get to suck up the extra affection, watch you two be super cute and happy which makes me happy and obviously, I already know I'm cute, so it's great," Tracey pointed accusingly at Daphne as she continued speaking, "If she let me steal you away from time to time — I know, I know, I won't — then It'd be like I'm the lucky girl in all of those books. Too bad you don't have a cousin or something, you're really good-looking except for your hair."

Harry blinked. Then, he blinked for nearly five seconds straight while his mind tried to compute all of what she just said. It was weird, very weird and his hair… what was wrong with his hair? He reckoned it looked pretty good when he looked in the mirror and Daphne never really complained about how long it'd gotten, so surely it wasn't that bad. Unless it was and Daphne didn't say anything since she thought it'd hurt his feelings.

You shouldn't have asked, you dimwit, Harry internally scolded, realising the smirking Daphne who was shaking her head at him had been completely correct, which was something he'd come to learn happened very often.

"Don't look that put out by what I said, you're still pretty handsome," Tracey said, the girl close enough to pat him on the shoulder as if she'd just diagnosed him with some incurable disease. "I'll steal you away from Daph for a few hours and give you a makeover, Tracey style. She can say all she wants about my taste in books, boys and other stuff, but I'm definitely the one with the best style in all of Hogwarts."

Daphne snorted. "You understand that you're typically always wearing a beanie or beret because you're too lazy to do your hair, right?"

"But when I do my hair, it's pretty great," Tracey said, her nose raised in a manner that was distinctly Daphne-like if ever he'd seem an imitation of his girlfriend.

It figured it was Tracey to do it too, as there wasn't any other person who knew Daphne half as well as her, himself included. That would change with time, or maybe not with how prevalent Tracey was in both of their lives now. He forgot the Muggle saying, but dating Daphne made him feel like Tracey had become his best friend just like she was hers — he nearly thought that second girlfriend could work too with how often she'd hug him and be generally physically expressive, but even thinking something along those lines would likely have Daphne pinching him or smothering him in a thousand kisses.

The latter wasn't all that bad, but those pinches were something she'd mastered, annoyingly so.

"Harry?" Daphne asked, the girl now beside Tracey and looking at him after a hushed few words with her. "Tracey will be staying with us to help in deciphering the note, I imagine you're fine with that, right?"

He nodded, not at all displeased with Tracey's presence.

"Thanks, Harry!" Tracey said, throwing her arms around him and squeezing him tightly against herself. "I knew you were super cool! I'll make sure Daphne kisses you lots as a thank you since she won't let me — not even on the cheek if you can believe it!"

Daphne gave a pointed look at her friend before she rolled her eyes and nodded towards the desk where a few books, the note included, already lay. In addition to those, there were a set of quills and a lengthy parchment too, but Harry already knew what those were for. It was pretty obvious that Daphne expected them to mess up a number of times, especially since none of them had any experience whatsoever in translating words.

"What's the one with the spell in it that we're looking for?" Daphne asked, her question directed towards Tracey as they all formed up — Harry in the middle — on a transfigured couch instead of those uncomfortable, old wooden chairs or benches that were in every classroom.

"The dark gold book with the ripped front page," Tracey answered. "I tried it once, but it didn't really work all that well for me. Pronunciation was probably the problem, but if I'm honest, I just couldn't be bothered enough to learn it. Figured that was why you and Harry were here, I'm just the cute side character every main girl has in all of my books; the funny, adorable, awesome one too."

Daphne nodded and shot a glance at Harry as she picked up a quill whilst sliding the book towards him. "Uhuh," she said, acknowledging Tracey with all of that one uttering before she spoke towards Harry. "You can do the spell since you have a natural affinity and no small amount of luck when it comes to stuff like that. I'll write out the letters on the parchment as best I can so that we don't ruin the original."

Harry nodded and watched as Daphne got to work, her handwriting incredibly neat and her ability to properly mimic the other person incredibly satisfying to watch. He was nearly so distracted that he failed to open the book until Tracey did so for him, landing directly on the page that he needed.

"There you go, pretty Potter," Tracey said, grinning at him. "I already found it when I took a lil glance through it, you'll have to let me do your hair one of these days as a thanks but if you want, I'll take a box of chocolates and your strongest hug too."

"If this works out and we find out this note is super helpful, then I'll get you a whole trolley full of chocolates from whatever place you want," Harry promised, smiling because of how infectious Tracey's look of happiness was.

When she squeaked and hugged him, clearly ecstatic at the idea, he realised he'd likely have to do so regardless of the outcome or he'd feel like a total turd.


"We're on to our seventh attempt already?" Tracey asked with a huff, clearly unimpressed. "I thought you said this would take three to one hour…s?"

Daphne huffed and pushed the quill away from herself. "If you want to do all this writing, be my guest — why'd you say the higher number first anyways? That doesn't make any sense."

Harry blocked out their little bout of bickering and looked down at their seventh attempt at translating from Bulgarian into English. It didn't make a lick of sense, but he figured at least this one was worth a try, considering there was a coherent sentence.

'Take a bath before supper and then we'll have a lesson, I've seen to it that poached eggs are served."

Poached eggs were disgusting, first of all, and why would anybody be telling Krum to take a bath? Even if they were a Professor, cook or fellow student, that seemed pretty odd to say. Well, all of it didn't really seem to make sense, but that was definitely the oddest part; those poached eggs weren't too far behind.

"Why don't you just take a bath together? Maybe that'll work," Tracey finally said, folding her arms across her chest as she looked at them.

"How do you think that'd be remotely helpful?" Daphne asked, her own arms now crossed as she stared at her friend. "We have work to do and a bath would simply waste what remains of our evening."

Tracey pointed at Harry. "If he takes a bath with the thing from the task and you're with him, that could work — think about it, you have eggs, at least that's what my mum tells me. Maybe he needs a witch to be with him in a bath and the thing will let him know the next task."

Harry snorted and that very quickly turned into a cough when the two witches looked at him. "Sorry… allergies?"

Daphne rolled her eyes and Tracey shrugged, the two immediately going back to looking at one another. "We don't lay eggs, we have them for the eventuality of pregnancy. The translation is clearl— Tracey, you've got to be the dumbest smart person I've ever had the pleasure — for the most part — of knowing."

"Thank you! Morgana, was that so hard to say?" Tracey asked, a smug look on her face as she prodded at Harry. "You heard Daphne, she agrees with me. Go, have a bath with her and we can study tomorrow after you're both more relaxed."

"Sorry, did I miss something?" Harry asked. "How is this helpful?"

Daphne pointed at the note. "Whoever helped him gave it to him in such a way that anybody else wouldn't know what it was that they were reading unless they knew specifically what they were looking for. It's pretty smart, though not wonderfully so," she picked it up, shaking her head the whole while before a more devious look came to her face. "We'll go enjoy a bath together and you'll be sure to bring your egg."

"Oh," Harry answered.

Suddenly, it all made sense. All it took was that one word from Daphne and he understood what the code had been referencing in its entirety. He felt horribly stupid, but Merlin, who could blame him for thinking the wrong thing?

Bath, Poached Egg, Lesson, Harry thought. We take the egg to the bath and it opens instead of giving off that screeching sound… that's so stupidly simple.

"Wait," He said, his eyes going wide as he looked at Daphne. "Did you say we're taking a bath together? As in, you and I in the same tub?"

Daphne nodded once, an eyebrow raised even as her cheeks began to turn red. "We'll be in our bathing suits so it won't be that big of a deal. It'll be like we're at the beach, only it's far more private and for educational, potentially life-saving purposes. Not a word either, Tracey, I know where your mind was headed."

Tracey raised her hands, still smiling smugly at the pair of them as she knew exactly what he just registered; she won.