A/N: Sorry for the late update everyone, new job. Hands hurt so yeah. I try writing during my lunch breaks to get this much. Updates will probably be every 2 weeks, maybe 3. Not abandoning the story, I'm just needing more time to write.
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any works by J.K. Rowling
Chapter 5
Daphne was annoyed at Harry. He promised her that he'd only be gone for only an hour.
It's been 3 hours since then.
Currently, she was crossed armed, leaning against a wall with Astoria next to her, and impatiently tapping her foot.
"Only an hour, he said." Daphne grumbled. "I'll be back soon, he said."
Wizards and witches walked by and looked at the sisters weirdly. Astoria seemed to have shrunk behind Daphne from their gaze.
"Daphs, how longer are we going to wait here?" Astoria squeaked.
The older sister frowned and gave one last look around before letting out a sigh.
"Come on Tori, we're going now." Daphne ordered, pulling Astoria along.
The two would walk down the alley silently, both of them lost in thoughts about the green eyed boy that somehow made his way into their life. Daphne's mind was filled with different scenarios on what could have happened to him. Did he get lost? Maybe something happened to him. Diagon Alley was fairly big after all.
'Or perhaps he abandoned you,' a sinister voice whispered. 'You went too far last night. You had no right to ask him that and now, you're paying the price.'
Daphne forcibly shook herself out of her stupor. It would do no good to start doubting him now, not after everything that's happened. She refused to believe that Harry abandoned them. It was more likely that something had happened to him.
The thought made her shiver. She stole a quick glance down towards Astoria to see her little sister's face was sunken. Daphne sadly realized that if anything did happen to Harry, Astoria would be broken. The little girl had somehow grown very affectionate of him as she saw this morning.
Before Daphne could continue her line of thoughts, the two sisters stopped in front of a small shop just on a corner of Diagon Alley. It seemed ancient and decrypted, with the windows being completely dark, unable to see anything past. A sign hung from the entrance that had the words "Future's Fortune."
Daphne turned to Astoria with a stern look on her face.
"This is going to be the last one for today. Since Harry's not here, you're going to come in with me." Daphne said.
Her face suddenly turned stern, just to make sure that Astoria understood what she would say next.
"Tori, I need you to be on your best behavior. Don't touch anything and only speak when spoken to. Do you understand?"
Astoria nodded and Daphne reached to open the doors to the shop.
The first thing that they noticed was the intense smell of incense and tea leaves. Daphne looked around and saw that the inside was just as dark and gloomy as the outside. Long rows of shelves stretched along the shop, selling various products. She saw boxes of tea leaves, bowls, crystal balls, and various other items.
At the other end of the room was the counter, with an old woman sitting behind it. She wore dark blue robes and her hair was messy. Her face seemed ancient, with many wrinkles running along it. The eyes behind her pair of circular glasses were closed, showing that the old lady was asleep.
Daphne hesitantly walked up to the counter and rang the bell.
'DING!'
The old lady immediately jumped up out of her seat and quickly did her best to sit upright.
"O-oh, welcome to Future's Fortune!" The old lady greeted; in a hurry. She saw the sisters in front of her and blinked twice. "How can I help you today?"
Giving the old woman the best smile that she could, Daphne mustered up her courage to ask, "Good afternoon ma'am. My name is Daphne and I saw your wonderful shop while I was passing by. Are you by any chance hiring? I would be very interested in working here!"
The old woman blinked some more and rubbed her eyes. She stared back at Daphne and let out a gasp.
"Oh my! You're the one!" she exclaimed. "It was foretold by the stars! I have seen it. A child of bright hair like the sun would come one day to pledge her services to me."
Daphne was taken aback by the woman's rambling. "U-um so-I…yes?" The girl stammered.
The old woman nodded adamantly at Daphne's reaction. "Yes! Already you are in awe of the inner eye! Tell me child, can you tell me what you see in yours?"
To Daphne, this woman was definitely bonkers. Yet, she was the one who was holding the power over her on whether or not she's going to have a source of income. Because of this, Daphne decided to play along.
"I can see myself working here." Daphne said, with as straight of a face as she could. "I foresee being paid…mmm…at least 70 sickles a day. And starting work as soon as tomorrow."
The old lady nodded carefully, contemplating her words. "The all seeing eye has decided! Tomorrow, you shall arrive at 7 in the morning and be prepared to learn about the beauty of Divination! 70 sickles a day it shall be."
Daphne held a tight smile, doing her best not to make it seem forced. "That…sounds great! Yeah. I'm so excited…yeah I'll be there tomorrow ma'am."
The old woman waved her hand. "Oh please, none of that." She said, while holding her hand out. "Call me Evril. Evril Trelnaway."
"Pleased to meet you, Evril." Daphne said, taking the woman's hand.
After they sorted out work hours, which Daphne would start around 8 in the morning to 5, she thanked Evril and headed back to The Leaky Cauldron with Astoria. Daphne was in a good mood with the 70 sickles pay. It would be enough to ensure they had food and a place to stay.
When the sisters got back, Astoria immediately ran upstairs to their room to check if Harry was waiting for them. Walking in to see Astoria's gloomy face, Daphne let out a sad sigh.
"Where are you, Harry?" Daphne muttered. "I can't lose you. Please…come back wherever you are…"
＊＊＊
Harry was dodging for his life. A series of curses and jinxes were flying right past him, a few narrowing missing his body.
The boy currently had his stomach to the stage, doing his best to keep his eyes on Viktor.
He quickly rolled to the side as another curse flew towards where he had laid.
"I knew I vas fighting boy, but I did not know I vas fighting coward as well!" Viktor scoffed. As Viktor sent another curse towards Harry only to see him dodge, he growled in frustration. "Vight me! Stop dodging!"
Harry ducked under another curse sent his way. The pain he experienced was excruciating. His body contorted at weird angles and every movement he made seemed to burn every muscle inside. He could see a variety of emotions sprawled across Viktor's face. Disgust, arrogance, annoyance, all with just his eyes looking at Harry.
Suddenly, a leg locker curse managed to hit Harry.
He soon found himself on the ground. Harry tried to move but the only thing that responded was his upper body. His legs were firmly frozen and locked to the ground.
Harry gazed over towards Viktor to find him grinning evilly, one of his fists raised in the air triumphantly. The crowd at this point was roaring for Viktor.
"Krum! Krum! Krum! Krum!"
Suddenly, he felt like he was back in that alley. Over him was the face of the hooded man, wearing that knowing smirk of his, ready to kill Harry.
Fear overtook him once more.
His breathing became more shallow. His mouth started to water. His hands started to feel warmer as sweat poured from them.
The killer was approaching him.
Step.
Step.
Step.
A wand was in his face. He knew what would come next. He knew that with just one word, immeasurable pain would overtake him. Harry wished that it would be the killing curse instead. That way, he would at least be spared from the pain. But he wouldn't be granted that mercy. So instead, he braced himself for the worse to come.
'Are you going to give up? Will you surrender yourself once more? Will you leave Daphne and Astoria alone to their fates?' a voice in his head suddenly said.
Daphne and Astoria. Their faces started appearing in his mind. He remembered the promise he made to Daphne. He wouldn't give up. He would work with her and Astoria, all three of them, together. They would survive.
He remembered that night, holding Astoria in his arms to console the young girl. Softly soothing her of all the horrors that she saw, something no girl at that age should've seen.
He saw himself making that promise to Daphne, holding her hands that same night. He would help Astoria. He would do whatever it took to be there for her.
The scene of the morning after flashed through his mind. He saw how Astoria happily ate her food and promptly threw herself onto Harry afterwards. Harry did notice the small smiles Daphne tried to hide this morning. He wanted to keep that smile. On both of them.
"NO! I CAN'T! I WON'T!" Harry suddenly shouted at Viktor.
A force from Harry suddenly blasted Viktor away onto his back. Harry felt the curse on his legs disappear and he quickly got up to his feet.
Harry was done losing. He was done being told that he wouldn't amount to anything, compared to his brother. That he was a coward and unwanted. He was done.
As Harry approached the form of Viktor Krum who was trying to get back up to his feet, the words of what his father said yesterday that struck terror into him appeared in his mind.
'Petrificus Totalus!'
While Viktor Krum was trying to get up, a light shot towards him from Harry, and he collapsed back to the ground, frozen still.
This time, it was Harry coming towards Viktor. He didn't even notice how the crowd had gone completely silent. All that mattered was the person in front of him.
Step.
Step.
Step.
An aura of anger omitted from the small boy. Albert, who was watching from the side, unconsciously stepped away.
Viktor Krum was helplessly frozen on the ground as Harry stood over him. His face was full of fury, his eyes filled with hatred.
A fist connected to Viktor's face.
'SLAM!'
Another fist connected.
'SLAM!'
And another.
'SLAM!'
'SLAM!'
The punches and the sounds of Harry's wails rained onto Viktor's face for a good solid 2 minutes. As the punches went on, the louder Harry sobbed.
"I WON'T GIVE UP!" Harry shouted.
'SLAM!'
"I WON'T LOSE THEM!"
'SLAM!'
"I WON'T BE ALONE AGAIN!"
'SLAM!'
His fists were hurting. Blood was flowing from them, both his' and Viktor's. He tried to raise them again but instead, he just collapsed in front of Viktor's form. Harry had his face in his hands, letting himself sob.
He slowly raised his head to see the entire room just staring at him with their mouths agape. Viktor's face was unrecognizable. A mixture of tears and blood covered his body. It didn't even look like Viktor was breathing.
Harry shakily looked at his hands and saw all the blood. Viktor's blood.
What had he done? Did he just kill someone?
He wanted to cry even more. He wanted to scream. But he couldn't. His tears were gone, his throat was dry.
"Enervate!"
Relief washed over Harry as he saw Viktor groggily moan and started to slowly breathe. Harry looked over to the side to see Albert standing there, wand in hand. Albert had an excited grin as he walked over towards Harry.
"WIZARDS AND WITCHES!" his voice boomed, from the effects of a Sonorous spell. "A TRULY MAGNIFICENT FIGHT FROM JUST HARRY! HE MANAGED TO DODGE ALMOST EVERY CURSE SENT HIS WAY AND TO RETALIATE WITH A BODY BIND SO FAST THAT EVEN I COULDN'T SEE."
The crowd was roaring with cheers. Whistles and the slow build up chant of Harry's name could be heard.
Albert's grin grew even wider and he continued his speech. "INSTEAD OF ENDING IT THERE, HE CHOSE TO GIVE US AN AMAZING SHOW WITH HIS FISTS! HE SINGLE HANDEDLY TAKES DOWN A CHAMPION TWICE HIS SIZE, SHOWING ALL OF US THE FURY HE HELD INSIDE. WELCOME TO THE HALL OF CHAMPIONS, JUST HARRY!"
At this point, the chant was loud enough to be fully heard.
"JUST HAR-RY! JUST HAR-RY! JUST HAR-RY!"
The boy was speechless of what just happened. Before he could even say anything or protest, he felt himself being pulled away by Albert towards the same hallway they came in, past the red curtains.
As they were walking, Albert was visibly excited as he spoke. "That was a bloody well performance, lad! You keep coming in and I'll make sure you become a star!"
"I don't think I want to-" Harry quietly began.
Harry suddenly caught a small pouch thrown his way from Albert. It felt slightly heavy and he could hear a small jiggle inside it.
"Open it." Albert said.
Inside revealed a pile of gold galleons. He emptied the amounts into his hands to count the amount.
There were a total of 12 galleons. With that amount, he could probably put down enough for a couple of months for the rooms in The Leaky Cauldron. Daphne and Astoria could be eating decently every day. They could survive. They could maybe even attend Hogwarts if he can make this much every week. Harry's face morphed into a stunned expression at the possibilities in front of him.
Albert saw the look on his face and smirked. "I threw in a little extra for the act back there. I mean, those tears looked bloody real! I can already see the story created for you! A young boy, Just Harry, who has no titles nor reputation, emerges to fight and work his way up from the dredges. You'll do well, lad! Sleep on it, and come back next if you decide you want more. I'll pay you well to fight, win or lose. As long as you put on a good show!"
Albert walked back out towards the stage while chuckling, talking about how Harry will bring in so much money for him.
Harry just stood there staring at the pile of gold in his hand. He didn't know what to do, but it would probably be best if he ran it by Daphne before he agreed to anything.
"Damn it!" Harry cursed. "Daphne! She's going to kill me!"
He quickly ran back out into the front, rushing past the two guys who took his money and out into the alley. When he was outside, he saw that it was already dark. His time was shorter than he thought. Harry rushed as fast as he could back to the leaky cauldron, up the stairs and to the door to their room.
"Huff…Alright…huff…I'm back Daph-" Harry started.
'Cough'
Out of nowhere his throat started hurting. He gave another cough.
'Weird.' Harry thought.
The coughs didn't stop coming. He tried covering his mouth with hand but the coughing kept coming. He felt his vision starting to get blurry.
The last thing he saw before collapsing at the door was blood flying from his mouth towards his hand.
＊＊＊
Daphne was tucking Astoria into bed. The little girl was throwing a fit about sleeping without seeing Harry. Daphne wasn't sure exactly what to say, because she honestly didn't know if Harry was coming back.
"Hmph! I'm not sleeping until Harry is back!" Astoria protested, with her arms crossed and looking away.
"Tori, you are getting into that bed and sleeping! I don't want to hear another word from you!" Daphne shouted.
"Not without Harry!"
"You'll see him when you wake up!"
"Then promise me, Daphs!"
Daphne hesitated. How could she promise that? What if he didn't come back? She couldn't do that to Tori.
"Tori… I can't promise you that…"
When Astoria heard that she froze. Her eyes started to water as tears started to fall from them. She threw herself at Daphne and started beating her small little fists onto Daphne's chest.
"WHY WHY WHY WHY, WHY!" Astoria cried, stamping her foot. "Why can't you promise me that?"
Daphne quickly caught the girl's little fists and pulled her into a hug, her chin on Astoria's head.
"I'm so sorry Tori, but I can't." Daphne whispered.
"Why…why can't you…is it because he hates me?" Astoria asked, hoarsely.
"No! Never think that Tori!" Daphne said sharply. "It's just…sometimes things stop him. Sometimes it's out of our control, Tori."
"I'm scared mama." Astoria suddenly said quietly. "I'm worried about him. I'm worried about papa."
Daphne froze. She never heard Astoria call her that when she wasn't having a nightmare. And papa? Was she referring to Harry? Could she have been…aware last night? It didn't matter. Her little sister in front of her needed Daphne to comfort her, so that's what she'll do.
Daphne pulled Astoria tighter into her embrace and softly stroked her hair. "It's okay, Tori. Mama's right here. I'll never leave you. And I…I can at least promise you this; papa is trying his best to come home. He's going to try to come home to you, Tori."
Suddenly, a loud thump was heard outside their room. Astoria gasped and quickly broke away and ran towards the door, throwing it wide open.
"Harry!" Astoria cried happily. "You're back! Harry you're…you're…papa…?"
In front of her was indeed Harry, but laying on the ground with a small pool of blood flowing from his mouth.
Daphne saw Harry on the ground and quickly rushed past Astoria to check up on him. Her hand briefly brushed past his head and she felt it extremely warm.
"My god!" Daphne muttered. "He's burning up! And the blood! Tori, run downstairs and ask for a bowl to get me some water! And a rag! And if that bartender ask, just say you want to clean something!"
Astoria only stood there frozen, staring at the scene before her.
"Tori!"
"..."
"TORI!"
"..."
"TORI! IF YOU DON'T MOVE, YOU'RE GOING TO LOSE HIM!" Daphne snapped.
The shouting shook Astoria awake and she gasped, quickly running downstairs to get the necessary things.
Daphne somehow managed to drag Harry onto the bed, and did her best to try to sit him up right. He was coughing heavily but at the very least, there wasn't any blood.
When Astoria returned with the bowl of water and rag, Daphne promptly got to dabbing Harry's forehead. He shivered at her touch but his breathing started to get more steady.
"Oh Harry…" Daphne whispered sadly. "What happened to you?"
Astoria sat to the side, silent throughout the ordeal. She kept her head bowed down, trying her best to hold back tears.
Suddenly, she broke her silence. "Will papa make it?"
Daphne didn't even have the strength to ask why Astoria was calling Harry papa. "I don't know Tori…he's…it's bad. It's still a miracle that he seems to be breathing."
"What if we get help…?" Astoria asked.
Daphne scowled at the question. "The moment they find out who he is, they'll make sure he stays dead. I won't put his life in someone else's hand! Only we care enough about him to make sure he lives!"
Astoria just kept quiet once more and continued to brood. Daphne just continued to do her best to dab his forehead with the rag, whilst occasionally stroking his hair with a worried look on face.
Suddenly, Harry started to groan. He groggily blinked and started to open his eyes to see Daphne's face staring down at him.
"Oh…I made it to heaven…pretty angel…" Harry mumbled.
Hearing his words, Daphne started to immediately blush red. Astoria however, ran over to him and jumped right on top of Harry.
"PAPA!" Astoria screamed.
Harry winced at her hug. "Ow-ow-ow. Tori, ribs!"
"Tori, get off before you kill him!" Daphne scolded, pulling Astoria off him.
Daphne turned to Harry and crossed her arms, doing her best to give him a cold glare. "What were you doing?"
Harry had a guilty look on his face as he sheepishly rubbed the back of his head. "I was um-well I guess you would call it…dueling?"
"…"
"You were doing what now?"
"…"
"Dueling."
Daphne took a deep breath in. She tried her best not to immediately yell at him. Instead, she hardened her glare even further. "Explain."
And so he did. Harry told her about how he got turned away from every job he applied to. How he came across the alley where he was attacked a couple months ago to running off into the building where underground fuels were taking place. He explained how 2 men essentially robbed him of his money and made him fight.
When he got to the part of fighting Viktor Krum, he started choking up.
"I didn't mean to…I just wanted to survive. I just…I thought about you and Tori and… I couldn't die. I couldn't be alone again…" Harry whispered.
Daphne had stayed silent throughout his story, but just hearing him like this broke her heart.
She threw her hands around his neck and pulled him in softly.
"You did what you had to do, Harry." Daphne whispered tearfully into his ear. "You came back to me, to us. You didn't leave me alone. Don't do it again. I can't…not again. You're alive. You're alive, Harry. You're alive…"
Daphne was almost chanting at this point, constantly running her hand along his back; trying to confirm that he was there. That he was, in fact, alive.
"Daphne…" Harry started hesitantly, a small blush on his face. "I need to go back there next week."
Immediately Daphne pulled away from him. "What?" She asked incredulously.
"Look in the pouch, Daphne." Harry said, pulling out the pouch of coins.
She gasped when he showed her the contents.
"12 galleons, Daphne. Look at it! With this much, think about how long we can stay here! Food, housing, hell, we could even get Tori some toys or books even! All I have to do is come in once a week and I'll get an amount close to this."
"But you would have to leave for that-that horrible place!" Daphne protested.
"I have to! It's the only way we can have any income. Once I learn a couple more spells and practice more with my wandless magic, I'll be able to take anyone on! Besides, I even have a fake wand to use so I can hide my ability."
Daphne looked at him with frustration as she shouted back at him. "It's not about you winning or losing, Harry! It's about you coming back to me. I mean-um-…us! Look at what it did to you. You were coughing, Harry. You were coughing blood! You passed out!"
Harry frowned. "Passing out is normal. When I first started practicing my ability, I passed out when I pushed too far. The blood however…well it doesn't matter. Look Daphne-"
"But it does matter! Every week I'll have to see you half dead? In a pool of blood? You don't have to do this! I got a job, Harry. I was about to tell you! I got a job, you don't have to do this!
"How much?" Harry asked quietly.
"…"
"70 sickles a day."
Harry immediately shook his head and said, "I'm going back next week."
At this point, Astoria decided to join into the argument. By jumping right on top of Harry.
"No! You're not leaving again, papa!" She screamed.
Daphne didn't even bother pulling Astoria off. She instead doubled down on what she said. "Why? It's plenty enough, Harry. We won't have the most comfortable life, but it'll be enough! Is this some macho thing you have to do? Because you're a guy, you won't accept letting ME do the work?"
"Damn it Daphne! This isn't about my manhood that we're talking about here!" Harry shouted
"It bloody hell seems that way with how stubborn you're being!"
Harry frustratingly rubbed his face with his one free hand that Astoria wasn't clinging on to. "Have you even thought about Hogwarts? What are we going to do when the letter comes? Where are we going to get the money?"
Bringing Hogwarts up made Daphne flabbergasted, the thought clearly never crossing her mind. "Well-um, we can always just have you go! We'll figure something out that doesn't need you fighting!"
"I'm the one going? It should be YOU!" Harry retorted.
"Well the both of us can go then!"
"No! All 3 of us! What about Tori?"
"Alright then! All 3 of us!" Daphne decided.
"Then we'll need money!"
"Which doesn't mean the only way is fighting, Harry!"
"Okay then! Throw me some ideas!"
Daphne didn't have any ideas, so she just glared back angrily at Harry.
"Fine!" She snapped. "Go fight! Go if I care! It's not like I need you here!"
"I will!" Harry snarled. "I'll go! If it makes you happy, I'll die there as well!"
Astoria was on the verge of tears from hearing all the arguing. She tried covering her ears but their voices just kept getting louder and louder. Hearing Harry die and Daphne not caring, broke Astoria.
"STOP!" Astoria shouted. "STOP FIGHTING!"
Both Harry and Daphne went quiet and turned to stare at the little girl on Harry's lap.
"MAMA AND PAPA SHOULDN'T BE FIGHTING!" Astoria repeated.
Silence filled the room for a minute. Everyone just sat there, processing the words that came out of the little girl's mouth. The silence would be broken by Daphne when she decided to speak up.
"Tori…you can't call Harry that. You can call me whatever you want but with Harry-"
"Daphne, stop." Harry interrupted. He turned to the little girl on his lap with a kind smile on his face. "Tori, I understand what happened to you. Call me anything you want that'll help you. I-I know I won't be able to be your actual papa, but I will try my best. Okay?"
Astoria only looked him in the eyes and restated what she had always been trying to say. "You are papa." She said, with determination.
Harry's smile grew wider at hearing that, but it quickly fell when he turned to Daphne's worried look.
"Look, Daphne, I'm sorry about making you worried." Harry said. "But I have to do this, Daphne. I care about the both of you too much. These last 2 days, the two of you have given my life more meaning than all my years at the Potters. I want to be able to see the two of you get through this."
Daphne let out a sigh and just threw her arms back around Harry, causing him to blush again. "Promise me Harry." She whispered. "Promise me you'll come back to me alive. I can't lose you. These last 2 days, you've become a part of me, of us. I've lost so much already, but I won't lose you as well."
Astoria nodded fervently along with her sister's words, reinforcing her point.
Daphne and Harry knew that it wouldn't be a guarantee. They knew that when Harry would leave, there was a chance he wasn't making it back. But it didn't matter. To the small family of 3, comforts were rare, and they would take whatever comfort they could get.
Even if the words could turn out to be lies.
"I promise. I'll come back alive. No matter what it takes." Harry whispered.
A/N: So I tried a new writing style for this chapter. It personally was my favorite one to write. I wanted to show a bit more vulnerability from our characters. I had a bit of trouble trying to make it seem a bit more realistic by keeping the fact that they are 12. But then again, they have been through a lot for kids, so they would probably be a bit more mature.
The way Astoria was acting was a bit tricky for me as well. I always wanted her to want Harry as a father figure instead of brother figure to...spice up the story I guess, and challenge myself to see how I would be able to write it. I saw Astoria as a small kid who lost her parents (who have pretty much been neglecting her for like the past 2 years due to preparation) which makes her desire deeply to find those parental figures, I.e her sister Daphne and Harry who treats her well.
Harry wants a family to belong to. He was neglecting and treated terribly by his own blood and the public. To see how Daphne and Astoria giving him the time of day and interacting with him, well, they're essentially his life now.
Daphne starts finding Harry attractive, looks wise and as a person. She sees him as someone who relates to her situation and how he treats Astoria. Daphne loves Astoria with everything so seeing Harry with Astoria, that just solidifies her care for him.
I hope I can incorporate these ideas into the story better! Hogwarts letter and many answers might come next update who knows wink wink
Special thanks to Freudentraene, for giving me such good suggestions! It helps me so much with my writing style!
Thanks for reading, I hope everyone has a good day!
5/14/2022: Changed the phrase "Harry never felt such pain before to "The pain he experienced was excruciating." Thanks Freudentraene for pointing out that Harry suffered from the crucio before!