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 11 of 14!
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Bold = Parseltongue
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November 16, 1994
"I'm fairly certain I could've handled Hogsmeade with Harry by myself, Tracey," Daphne said with a roll of her eyes in such a way that only Harry could see. "I still don't get why you insisted on him and I holding hands either. It's not as if we're being watched by anybody, not like in those horribly trashy muggle spy books you enjoy reading."
Tracey made a hurt noise at that. "First of all, rude — Harry, I thought you weren't going to tell her."
"I didn't, she s—" Harry was interrupted by Daphne.
"I saw one of those Muggle books in your satchel. If you didn't want me to find out, you wouldn't have placed it at the very top with the title visible," Daphne shook her head and made a tutting noise. "Come now, Tracey. After reading all of those romance-filled spy books, you'd think you'd take a page out of them."
"I did! How else do you think I found out Harry here is fighting dragons?" Tracey raised a good point, she hadn't been caught so far as they knew.
Well, she'd probably not tell us anyhow.
Harry nearly found himself nodding at his own thought. Tracey was the epitome of a scatterbrain, and at the same time, she was as quiet as a mouse when she wanted to be. It was horribly hard to understand, for the characteristics seemed like they'd constantly be at odds with one another, yet, somehow, they worked for her.
"She raises a good point," Milly finally said, speaking up for nearly the first time since they'd disembarked the carriages.
"She raises a fair point, I would say. Regardless of muggle books and how you found out, we should be picking up the pace. I'm sure whoever we can find, or more accurately, whatever books we can find will already be thoroughly picked through. Especially if we go under the assumption that the other champions have already figured this out," Daphne nodded towards a turn when she finished speaking, her point raised and filling Harry with a sense of impending doom.
Dragons.
He still hadn't gotten over the fact it was those giant, fire-breathing mythical creatures he'd have to be dealing with before too much longer. It certainly made sense why past champions had died — been killed — if students were expected to fight something that most grown wizards and witches wouldn't stand a chance against. None of the books Daphne found for them could probably change that outcome either.
But… she did raise a fair point when she reminded him of the other challenges they'd survived against. Voldemort, the strongest Dark Lord said to ever live by most, had fought him and lost time and time again.
"I don't think the other two boys have," Milly said, her expression filled with certainty. "Krum hasn't had the time, not with the rabble that constantly follows him any which way. Even when they're not hot on his heels, he spends most of his time publicly visible. Cedric's more private out of the two of them, but it's not by much. From what I can tell, he's not got a sense of urgency that a dragon would cause."
"Fleur's the only one then?" Daphne asked as their pace slowed.
Have to be getting close now if she's stopped us.
Harry couldn't think of any other reason they'd slow down unless their stop was close.
Tracey and Milly shared a look, with the former ultimately speaking. "We think she is, but we didn't get all that close to her. All the boys that constantly follow her like witches do Krum makes watching her as a witch a bit… difficult? All we can say for certain is that she barely leaves the carriage now, so it's gotta be safe to assume that she knows."
"If it's only her, then that should mean the books we're looking for aren't quite as hard to find. Well, I do suppose that's if we assume she doesn't know exactly where to look," Daphne pointed at the building directly in front of where they'd stopped. "This is the first place that comes to mind. Unless one of her pet wizards told her about it, we should be the first of the champion groups to scour the shelves for all things dragon related."
"How do you just know where this is and that they have books about dragons?" Tracey asked as the four entered the rundown, near-empty building.
"That's easy," Daphne said with a smug look shot at Harry, complete with a wink and all. "I'm always reading, aren't I?"
Tracey nodded with so much force behind the pair that they heard her coat rustle and neck crack.
"Where do you think I find all of my books?" Daphne asked then, right as she came to a stop in front of a particularly large bookshelf. Above it in the form of a label was one simple word; creatures.
She's done it. Merlin, I need to stop getting so easily impressed and surprised by her.
"So, Greengrass, how many of these shops exist in Hogsmeade?" Milly asked, a bit more formal in tone and wording as she roughly grabbed a large book with an imitation of dragon scales as the cover.
"Enough that it should be easy finding a book or a dozen that could help Harry. All we'll need to do is purchase them since a majority of these buildings don't rent them out like the Hogwarts library," Daphne then separated herself from the group, moving a good dozen or so feet away as she sought out a second shelf dedicated to magical creatures.
Harry only barely noticed how red her cheeks were despite the warmth of the building they'd been in for a fair few minutes now. He knew with how pale she was and how cold the weather was outside, it wouldn't be uncommon if the redness lingered for half an hour or even longer, but the point his mind had made was that it usually lessened after a few minutes in the warmth.
Maybe that was all a load of bogus too. That was a strong possibility after holding hands with her for so long — that portion of his mind could very well be fried thanks to his crush on her. Tracey had really helped him out in one way, but Merlin, if her constant little looks or teasing remarks weren't more of a hindrance.
"Do we really need to go to a fifth shop if we already have two dozen books to carry back?" Tracey whined from behind the rest of them, her feet dragging audibly in the snow.
Harry had to stifle a laugh on account of Daphne's irritated look. "We could call it here if you'd really like. Oh, and let me take those for you, no point in carrying them using your arms."
"Absolutely not," Daphne said firmly, rolling her eyes when Harry looked at her curiously. "I don't mean the books, please, take them from her if you'd like — your manners are lovely, Harry. What I meant was we can't call it here, not with the potential of other books of rarer quality or with better information possibly at those shops."
"Daphne's right, Tracey. As tired as you get on account of your usual lack of a work ethic, you really should tough it out just this once if nothing more. We've already come here and gone to most of the shops we've needed to, what's a couple more?" Milly then reached back and pulled Tracey further up, the tired girl groaning as she was forced to move quicker.
It was then that Harry took the books from her too, lest she had them hit the ground or think his earlier offer wasn't true. Daphne's happiness at his manners was only an added benefit. Anything to impress her and make his two other friends happier would always go over well internally.
"Can we stop for food when we're done?" Tracey asked with a pout, a petulant look sent his way on account of those looks not working on the other two members of their little group.
"I wouldn't mind it," Harry said with a smile and shrug, continuing when he saw that Daphne looked about ready to interject. "I'll be awfully hungry by then too, I bet Milly'd be in the same boat. We could go to that weird place, the one that serves food from all over the world for the Durmstrang and French students."
"Beauxbatons, not French," Daphne corrected, pulling him closer to her as a shiver came and went. "I'll need to reapply my heating charm when we're at our next stop. You'll be my heater until then, think of it as the cost of us stopping for a meal once we're done with our work."
Right as Harry thought to lean more firmly against her on account of the feeling of intimacy, Tracey pressed into his other side with her head stretched forward to look at Daphne. "What's the difference between Beauxbatons and them being French if they're from France and speak French?"
Milly, the only one not pressed against him and the only one far taller than him, shook her head. He thought he heard a sigh too, but he couldn't be sure on account of the loudness of the door that was only a dozen or so feet away from them.
Well, he heard one sigh, that being from Daphne as she spoke without looking at Tracey. "They all speak French, but they're not all from France."
"Where are they from?" Tracey immediately asked as a follow-up, leaning firmer still against him and forcing him to do the same to Daphne to counteract the added weight.
At least I can use that as an excuse. Couldn't think what Daph would do otherwise… prolly hex me or squeeze my ears.
"Most are from France, the rest come from the French-speaking world at large; Canada, America, Indochina, parts of Africa, a few pieces of South America. Anywhere that the French had or still have colonies in," Daphne paused to enter, thanking Harry when he held the door for her and Tracey. "It's not much different from Hogwarts. We have more than a couple of peers who don't come from Britain but do come from the holdings, albeit former ones or those still currently with us."
"Huh. That's cool and interesting… so where're the books about dragons around these parts?" Tracey's question and wording completely changed the course of the conversation, and while he wanted to be surprised just like how Daphne looked, he truly wasn't.
Tracey, as smart and spy-like as she could be, took too much from those books; the weird Americanisms, how much she loved the idea of love, there was a myriad of things that were off about her thanks to those damned Muggle romance books.
Still though, she was his friend no matter how weird she was. Daphne would probably say the same so long as Tracey wasn't close enough to hear it.
"Finally," Tracey said with a yawn as she stretched her arms above her head. "We've got every book that's gonna be moderately helpful or more. We can get food now, right?"
"Is that all you've been thinking about since we promised it earlier?" Daphne asked not unkindly, genuine curiosity clear to hear in her tone.
Tracey had a look of deep thinking flash across her face, such was the speed of it, before she nodded. "Yes."
"I told you, she's addicted to food regardless of what it is or who makes it. We're lucky she's focused as long as she has, if I'm being completely honest with you," Milly said with a shake of her head as she answered Daphne's question with more depth.
"It's a wonder how you function," Daphne said with a smile on her face as she mimicked Tracey's earlier stretching, yawn and all. "Come on then, let's go to that restaurant Harry spoke about earlier. We'll get you whatever you like."
Harry couldn't help but smile as he saw Daphne loop her arm through Tracey's, a more casual demeanour about her despite the earlier level of focus.
"Those two could've been as thick as thieves if they were in the same house," Milly said as she fell into step beside him. "I sometimes think you and Daphne should've swapped houses. That's not meant to be a bash against the either of you, I hope you know that. It's only, sometimes, the pair of you don't quite seem to fit within the specific house traits — perhaps you're each a mixture of the two would be a more accurate saying."
Harry waited until Milly was finished before he shook his head. "It's all good, I know you're not being rude, you've never been rude to me even before we were friends. In all honesty, I think the same thing from time to time," Harry nodded towards Daphne and Tracey ahead of them then, the pair giggling as they whispered back and forth. "Daphne can be so… stoic and combat-minded. You know how she is on account of her family and from that duelling class when she destroyed Malfoy. I doubt there's anybody better than her, and when it comes to scheming, she's second to none that I've met in Hogwarts."
"You're not all that bad at it either, you just don't like to admit it," Milly said, elbowing him in the ribs as she looked down at him with that knowing look of hers.
He had to admit it too, when you had a tall, Viking-like girl with larger arms than Crabbe or Goyle giving you such a look, it wasn't something you'd raise issue with. Friend or not, Milly was an intimidating witch without her wand needing to be present.
"I can't manipulate or scheme half as good as any of you, Tracey included. As much as I think Daphne would be brilliant in Slytherin just like she's wicked in Gryffindor, I sometimes think Tracey's meant for Hufflepuff — don't tell either of them I said anything either," Harry took a nervous glance at the two and saw all was still fine, so he continued with his speaking. "Daphne's shown her bravery when she rushed in to help with something that happened last year. Tracey's ability to make friends and hold a conversation aren't anything to scoff at either."
"You're ri—" Milly stopped abruptly and looked ahead of them, where Daphne and Tracey were. "I believe we're at our stop."
Daphne nodded once and held a hand out to Harry. "Tracey wants to go to the loo with Milly. We'll reserve a table and wait for them, if that's fine with you?"
Already, Milly was reaching into her satchel for some mystery item as she went off with Tracey, leaving him alone with Daphne. He figured his answer wasn't really needed, especially when he grabbed her hand and twirled Daphne back to facing the entrance, but he still gave one.
"That's definitely fine with me," Harry said with a smile as the two walked past an especially loud couple of tables and over towards the furthest back portion of the restaurant — it was packed to the brim too, with students and Professors from all three schools. "We're pretty lucky to get this table, huh?"
Daphe poked him in the side, forcing him to look her in the eyes on account of her not stopping. When he finally did that and saw the look she was giving him, it wasn't at all surprising what the next few words out of her mouth were.
"Don't play coy with me, Harry Potter."
Looks like my little remark was said too early… or soon.
"What?" He asked with a goofy smile settling on his face as he pulled her chair out for her. "I was just saying we got luc- please, not the tickling charm."
Daphne lowered her wand and bit her bottom lip when he sat down in the chair across from her. "I'm happy to know that still works on you after all of these years," she said with a small smile, her lip still folded inward as her other arm came up to play with her wind-messed hair. "I know you reserved this table too, the hostess gave it away with the look she sent you. Don't worry, I'm still impressed."
Harry nodded, his shoulders not quite sagging on account of Daphne's words. "You've always been too good at reading me, you know."
"If I wasn't, I don't think we'd be half as good a friends as we currently are. There's also the fact that you could very well be dead if I wasn't so good at reading you either… I suppose that's a double-edged sword though, on account of you helping me two years ago. Had it not been for your ability to speak Parseltongue, the Basilisk wouldn't have hesitated in coming after me," Daphne smiled softly and slithered one of her hands across the table until it took a hold of his; the softness, the gentle rubbing, it was perfection. "I'll always be thankful that you stopped it, just as I'll always be cross with you that your master plan was to jump out and shout at it with that ridiculous hat in your grasp."
"In my defence, it did allow you to pull the sword from it. Without the sword, I don't think we could've ultimately beat the Basili-isk," Harry's voice hitched when he felt Daphne's other hand join the earlier one in holding his.
He wasn't practised or experienced when it came to witches, least of all beautiful ones that were equal parts dangerous and magically gifted — the fact she'd been his crush for some time only made it worse still. All of that combined was just a recipe for disaster.
"Do you like me?" Daphne asked him, breaking the silence that'd only just started to linger over them.
"Wh-what? Ye-, of course, I do! We've been friends for so long, you've help—" Harry was cut off when Daphne shook her head.
"I meant as in, well, romantic feelings?" Daphne looked away from him, the tip of her nose, her neck and her cheeks all turning red. "Forget I asked if you'd please. It's Tracey that filled me with the thought that you did. I'd simply thought I could confirm that you didn't."
"What… what would you do if I said I did?" Harry asked after clearing his throat.
When Daphne turned to regard him, it was his turn to look away from her; it wasn't out of disrespect or teasing as she might think either, he was just too nervous to look at the girl he'd had a crush on for a long time. As Tracey once said, it was easier to talk to your crush about your feelings while looking at something that made you more comfortable.
Aside from Daphne, the thing that made him most comfortable was a fireplace. It filled him with warmth when that was a feeling he'd lacked for so long in his life, a feeling that she'd instilled in him time and time again.
"I think. I think I would've told you that we could try it out… slowly," Daphne said, swallowing audibly and then flicking his hand suddenly. "They're coming back — don't act like we had a conversation about the possibility of us or Tracey won't let it rest until she has us snogging in a Hogwarts broom cupboard like degenerates."
"Snogging's fun," Tracey said as she skipped over the last few feet to her spot beside Harry. "What has you two talking about snogging, finally ready to give it a go?"
Harry looked wide-eyed at Daphne, at a loss for words and worried that they were caught, but it was Daphne who smiled smugly at him with a wink following shortly thereafter. "Yes, actually. Harry was hoping you'd give him lessons on how to properly snog a witch — I told him the two of you would have to try it out in a broom cupboard like our degenerate classmates often do."
Tracey blinked a few times, then turned her attention to Harry with a very slow turn of her head. "Har—"
"I wasn't done, Tracey," Daphne said, scolding the girl with a tutting sound.
"What else is there to say?" Tracey asked curiously, her eyebrows furrowed.
Daphne leaned forward in her seat with a sweet smile. "I was going to say after you taught Harry, you'd have to teach me too. That's fine with you, isn't it?"
Tracey's eyes got wider, but before she could respond, Milly flicked Daphne on the nose and kicked Harry lightly under the table. "As I said earlier, the two of you sometimes belong in the others house — maybe that's why you'd make such a wonderful couple."
Maybe.
November 19, 1994
"Do you think you're prepared?" Daphne asked him as she paced back and forth next to his desk. "There's much that we'll have to think about in these last few days before the first trial — task, I mean. I want to make sure everything's ready with you."
Harry nodded and caught her forearm when she made to pass him again.
"We've searched through every book that you got. All of those spells, every single one that we thought would be helpful, is right here on this slip of paper. I don't think I'll be able to learn all of them, probably not even most of them, but I trust you enough to know that the few you've told me I should focus on are the ones I need to use," Harry sighed and flicked the edge of the piece of parchment. "I guess what I'm saying is I'm as prepared as I can be, all things considered. Nobody can ever be really prepared against a dragon, but I think with everything you've done for me alongside Tracey and Milly, I have a chance."
Daphne brought over her other hand to pat him on the cheek a couple of times. It wasn't unheard of from her, but the action often meant she was nervous or proud of him.
He wasn't sure what made her do it whenever it was that she did.
"You'll always have a chance when we're working together," Daphne said to him as she perched herself on his desk, her hand still resting on his face. "We've gotten through worse, haven't we?"
Harry nodded, a snort coming from him. "We have. As horrible as Hogwarts is for that to be true, we have."
"Not too horrible, I hope. It's why we're as close as we are," Daphne leant against him, the position only slightly awkward due to her elevated position. "You're not usually a fighter, Harry. What I find so wonderful about you is your sense of peacefulness, and how much you dislike the violence that seems so present… you don't mind that it's where I excel either."
"You like about me what I don't like about me, and it's what I like about you a lot," Harry chuckled. "I hope that made sense, and it's not the only reason I like you either. You're a wicked person, Daphne. Ever since the first time you helped me when I was weaker up until now, where I'm still weak, but I can beat people thanks to you regardless of that fact."
Daphne shook her head, he felt her hair tickle his nose as she did so. "You're not weak because you don't like fighting or because you're not good at it. I'd argue that I'm weaker for being so good at it to the point of relying on it whenever I help others — violence begets violence, my family used to say. It was a justification for what they did, but seriously Harry, I envy how wonderful you are at all of the other branches of magic. I wish I could be half as good as you are at anything else aside from Defence or the Dark Arts."
"You could be if you wanted. Trust me, after working together with you as long as I have, I'm sure you could be wicked at whatever you'd want to uh, be wicked at," Harry rubbed the back of his neck, his way with words not close to Daphne's.
"When we're done with this year and you're the champion of the tournament, it'll be your turn to teach me everything you know about healing magic, charms, transfiguration, all of it. I'll hold you to that too, you know I will," Daphne finally removed her hand from his cheek and slid it up to his hair, her hand trying to settle the messiness of it. "Why don't we head back now instead of planning or studying some more?"
"Are you sure? I thought you wanted us to d—" Harry was cut off by a particularly rough tug by Daphne's hand still fiddling with his hair. It wasn't hard enough to cause pain, but it was definitely unpleasant enough to cut him off.
"I'm sure," Daphne said, staring into his eyes and smiling softly at him.
Harry looked curiously at her, but he did as she wanted and slowly packed up all of his belongings. There wasn't any reason not to, and truth be told, he was feeling pretty tired after a day filled with nought but books and her — maybe that wasn't the best way to think either, because he definitely couldn't grow tired of Daphne as much as he could regarding books.
"I had a thought about what we'd do once our studying was over," Daphne said as the pair exited the abandoned classroom, the door closing gently behind them and kicking up a small, angry puff of dust.
Harry nearly sneezed at the sensation, but when the familiar scent of the Hogwarts halls filled his nose and they moved ever further from the door, he held back the feeling. "Yeah?"
"Yeah," Daphne said as her hand slowly took hold of his; it was a hesitant motion, one that wasn't exactly like the firm, aggressive and knowing girl he was familiar with. That'd happened a lot recently with her too, ever since Tracey had pressed the relationship between them. "I figured we could sneak out and head back to Hogsmeade for a meal. There's a friend I'd like you to meet, a couple of them. They're the ones who were responsible for my upbringing early on."
Oh, right.
Sometimes, it was easy to forget that Daphne lacked parents just like him. She was so grounded, so confident, so strong. It didn't make sense to him that she could be all of those qualities despite not having a wonderful home life — he knew it wasn't great either, she spoke from time to time about her aunt and uncle who were responsible for her.
What, or rather who, she never spoke of save for a scarce few times, were her cousins. So seldom were they spoken of that Harry didn't even know how many there were, let alone their names or ages.
"You want me to meet them?" He asked dumbfounded, not at all expecting such a thing to happen after years of knowing her. "Actually, you want us to ditch Hogwarts for a few hours instead of making our way around the castle like we usually do?"
Daphne nodded, looking around at the bumbling peers of theirs and of the other schools. "We'd only need to change out of our Hogwarts uniforms and into casual clothes to fit in. It's not like the Professors are monitoring Hogsmeade on a weekend not meant for it either."
He'd have to give her that. Besides, the Professors were probably busy themselves on account of all the new students from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang.
"Can you tell me a bit about them? Before we go to meet them, I mean… you've rarely spoken about any of them," Harry felt a tread of trepidation, not wanting to overstep but at the same time nervous about meeting her family.
Daphne herself had mentioned how all of them were dark to some degree. Even the ones she was fond of would be considered dark by 'modern' terms, as she called it; Merlin, she'd be considered dark right alongside them too, regardless of how or why she used the spells or potions that she did. That right there was the issue Harry, Daphne and a myriad of others had with the classifications of magic.
The use of a spell doesn't make you evil just because you think it does, what matters beyond what a spell or potion takes is the use therein. He supposed it was a bit like Muggle organ donors in that way — if you don't need something anymore and could save a life, why not do so?
"I can tell you a bit about them when we're at the tunnel, but until then, why don't I tell you something else?" Daphne leaned into him, it was intimate to any onlookers but familiar to Harry on account of their genuine closeness. "I've learned more about your task thanks to Tracey, and until now, it escaped my mind to tell you. Before you bombard me with any questions, it's nothing too helpful."
Harry turned slightly, his lips only a few inches from her ear. "What is it?"
"Eggs. Something about the dragons involves eggs, it's why I was so focused on scents and your parseltongue abilities earlier," Daphne sighed, clearly annoyed with herself, and shook out her hair. "If I knew what it was, we could more accurately devise your plan at succeeding. Until we know, however, and thanks to the book mentioning that parseltongue doesn't work on dragons — only on wyrms — we'll have to go in with the current array of spells. Here's our hatchway."
He was nodding along with her words until the hatch, at which point he stepped back and watched as Daphne flicked her wand to lift it up. "Here we are, huh?"
Daphne nodded. "You get to meet my family, and tomorrow, we finalize our plans. I'm excited on both accounts, and one other that'll come before your task — don't try getting it out of me, it's meant to be a surprise."
Harry smiled softly with his head tilted slightly downward, he was worried, nervously energetic, and a dozen other feelings coursed through him too, but he trusted Daphne. Everything would be okay.
