25

Mirror…mirror…

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Harry heard the owl pecking on the window as he woke up groggily and looked at the time. It was a little past six in the morning as he wondered whose post had arrived so early. Looking at the rest of his dorm mates he found them all asleep so he rolled his eyes and got up to open the window. The owl hopped in and looked at him with a tilted head. He saw the name on the envelope and found it was for him.

Harry took the letter from the owl before it flew away. There was no name of the sender. Also, he felt something flat and solid inside the envelope which made him wonder what it could be so he tore it open and found a square piece of mirror along with a single page letter. Harry instantly recognized the handwriting. It was Daphne's so he quickly folded the letter and walked out of the dorm and into the privacy of the common room which at that time was completely empty. He sat by the fireplace before he opened the letter.

'I suppose you will receive this letter in the morning so good morning, Potter. If you are thinking that I am angry with you because of what happened in the second task then I want you to know that I'm not. The only reason I was avoiding you was because I needed a little bit of time to wrap my head around everything that had happened and by the time I was ready to talk to you my parents had taken me home.

I hope you are not blaming yourself for what happened because I know that is how you are. I have told you before and I am telling you again that it's not on you. Things happen and if you want to blame anyone then blame the coordinators of the tournament or whoever it is that put your name in the goblet. I want you to know that it was not your fault and I am stressing over it in this letter because I could not have said the same thing while standing in front of you. It may sound a little weird but that is how I am and I don't want to discuss anything about it.'

Harry chuckled at that line before he continued to read the letter.

'Also, I suppose you found the mirror with the letter? Well, do you remember how you once told me that using letters to set up meeting times was a hassle? It's for that. It is cast with an unbreakable charm so it won't break easily. It is linked to another piece which is with me and I was hoping we could use it to talk after your classes were over.

I will be waiting for your call so until then, goodbye.'

He read it once more as he couldn't believe how different she sounded in the letter. He then looked at the mirror and smiled. He had wanted to talk to her after the second task. Now that Harry knew she wasn't angry with him he felt a lot better. He couldn't wait for the day to end so that he could talk to her as he felt butterflies in his stomach.

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"Where is dad?" Daphne asked her mother.

"Oh, he had some work in the ministry so he left early," Annabelle said. "Is Astoria up yet?"

"No," Daphne said. She saw the look of plead on her mother's face and sighed as she rolled her eyes. "ASTORIA!" she said loudly. "WAKE UP!"

"Remind me to get Missy (one of their house elves) to wake her up next time," Annabelle said. Daphne smirked as she walked over to her mother who was busy making breakfast.

"Any special occasion?" she asked.

"Why do you ask?" Annabelle said.

"Well, you are clearly cooking which is something you very rarely do," Daphne said, "so I was wondering whether it's a special day."

"It's just that all four of us are home so I thought I'd make something special," Annabelle said. "Unlike yesterday you look a lot happy. Did something happen?"

"Just enjoying coming to home a little early than usual," Daphne said before she looked at the time in the kitchen's clock.

"Why are you looking at the clock?" her mother asked.

"No reason," she said before she turned around and left the kitchen. Her mother watched her go with a confused look before she went back to cooking while Daphne cursed herself mentally. 'Don't be so desperate, Daph,' she thought to herself as she went to the main hall and sat on the sofa. She looked at the center table and saw the Quibbler magazine. It was Astoria's favorite thing to read so her parents had probably taken a few weeks of subscription for it for as long as Astoria was home.

Daphne never understood why her sister liked to read that thing. It talked about weird things, mostly imaginary creatures that obviously didn't exist. She opened the magazine and saw the name under one of the articles. It said Luna Lovegood. Daphne remembered who she was as she remembered the night of the Yule Ball. Harry had brought Luna as his partner. She was a weird girl, Daphne thought.

The magazine was owned and published by her father and from the looks of it even he seemed mental. The Lovegoods seemed to be an overall weird family and Daphne wasn't the only one who thought that. But then again, she had never judged Luna for how she was. The girl had enough problems with being bullied by her fellow housemates because of her weirdness. It wasn't a secret that the Ravenclaws picked up on Luna.

It seemed there was at least one student in every house who was hated, ridiculed or bullied by their housemates.

Suddenly the fireplace lit up as Daphne saw her father walk out of the green flames. He dusted his clothes as he looked at her and stopped. She didn't miss the look of surprise on his face but said nothing about it as her father smiled at her.

"Mom said you went to the ministry," she said. "What was the occasion?"

"Just a little bit of official work," Matthias replied as he sat beside her. "I didn't know you liked Quibbler, or has your boredom started to get you?"

She closed the magazine before rolling her eyes. "What official work?" she asked looking at him. When he didn't say anything she continued. "I'll be the family head of this house eventually so don't you think it's time I started learning about some of these official things that I would need to know by the time I am of age or whenever I become the house head of this family?"

"You are already the head of this family," he said in a dramatically tired tone causing her to punch him on the shoulder. "Ouch," he said playfully. "Well, in all hindsight you really are. I say that because you have taken it upon yourself to do a lot of things that a kid of your age wouldn't normally do. While there are a few important things that we are happy for you to do but then for someone your age there are a lot of things that you are missing out on as well. I don't want you to look back and regret that you couldn't enjoy these times in your life just because of the responsibilities that you had taken. As a parent there is nothing more that I want other than seeing you enjoy your life."

"Have you actually seen what my life is like?" Daphne said before she realized how she had framed it and quietly mumbled a 'sorry'.

"Don't be sorry," Matthias said. "It's true that it's a little different for you because of certain things but even then your mother and I want you to find a way to enjoy your life as much as possible. Astoria is two years below you. I don't want to sound like a parent who is choosing a favorite amongst both his kids but she is not as mature as you in terms of looking at or understanding things. She will still have two years of Hogwarts left after you graduate. Who do you think will be there to look out for her then?"

"Did she complain to you about me behind my back?" she asked.

"Well…she did mention that you are making her follow a lot of your own rules," Matthias said.

"It's because of that Creevey boy," Daphne said.

"Who now?" Matthias asked.

"There is a boy by the name of Colin Creevey," she said. "He's a third year Gryffindor to whom she has taken a liking to. He wanted to ask her to go to the ball with him…"

"And you said no to her," Matthias said. Daphne looked at him. "Yes, I know. Astoria told me about it…also behind your back."

"Well, she was going to put herself in danger because of that," Daphne said. "If it's not enough for one of us to be in trouble after being seen with a student from another house she wants to go ahead and do it too. I can only look out for her so much."

"Exactly," Matthias said. "You take too much pressure on yourself and Astoria doesn't like it. Give her some space. She understands the complications of being friends with a student from another house and she has told me that she will be careful."

"She wishes," Daphne huffed.

"Well, no one's an expert right from the beginning," he said. "I remember you having a lot of trouble looking out for her when she first started going to Hogwarts. You wrote to us almost every single day complaining about it in your letters but then you learned how to handle it in time. Astoria also needs time. I am not telling you to completely let her be but start loosening up with her little-by-little. That will make her look out for her own self just like you did when you first started Hogwarts."

Daphne thought about it for a while and realized her father was right. However, it felt a little weird to not look out for her younger sister like she used to but she decided to give it a try once Hogwarts would open after winter holidays.

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Harry settled down on the comfortable sofa before he took out the mirror from his pocket and looked at it for a moment. He was a little nervous as he wondered what he was going to say to Daphne. Now that he thought about it nothing came to his mind. However, he was also desperate to know how she was doing after the second challenge. In her letter she did mention taking a little personal time as he wondered whether she was still fine or whether her parents were angry with her. A part of him knew that she wouldn't tell him about any of that. What he really wanted was to see her face and hear her voice and he didn't know why he felt like that.

He swiped the mirror and it turned white. That was how communication mirrors worked. After establishing the connection with its other part the mirror would go white unless the person on the other side picked up the call. Only then could they see the other person on their mirror.

As Harry sat there his heartbeat increased. A few minutes later he saw the mirror's white vanish as something else appeared. As he looked a little closer he wondered what he was looking at when he realized that the mirror on the other side was constantly moving back and forth. He could hear voices in the background which sounded like a woman's before he heard the closing of a door and a few seconds later Daphne's face appeared on his mirror.

"You got my letter," she said with a little smile. "Sorry I took so long to pick up. I was downstairs with my parents. They still don't know about any of this. In fact even I was surprised when I first thought of sending you a communication mirror…"

"How are you?" She paused with a slight look of surprise on her face when Harry interrupted her with his question. It was then that she realized how worried he sounded as her expression softened when she looked at his face in her mirror. "Are you alright?" he said after a slight pause.

"I'm fine…Potter," she said. While she didn't show it on her face she felt a warm rush inside her when she heard him sounding worried for her.

"Oh," Harry said, "alright. I thought maybe your parents were angry with you…or me."

"I don't know about you but they are not angry with me," she said. She saw the look of slight dread on his face and let out a small laugh. "I'm joking, Potter. They are not angry at you. They are angry at the coordinators just like Cho and Fleur's parents are. My father told me that if it wasn't for the contracts that have you champions bound to the tournament the stupid thing would've been cancelled already. But enough about it, where are you right now? I can't seem to recognize the place."

"I am in the room of requirement," he said.

"Really?" she said. "Well, it makes sense as nowhere else is private enough for the both of us." Harry blushed at that sentence of hers. Thankfully Daphne didn't notice it through the mirror as she continued. "But it looks like there's nothing around you."

"There is not," Harry said. "All I asked for was a sofa so that I could sit down and talk to you."

"About what?" she asked.

"Well, you told me to call you after classes today so it's you who have something to talk about," he said.

"Hmm, fair enough," Daphne said pressing her lips together. "So, tell me. What is going on in the castle? Am I missing anything fun?"

"Nothing's happening here," Harry said. "Everyone now knows about your parents as well as Cho's and Fleur's and how they were not happy with the second challenge. The rumors have taken the weirdest turns with some speculating that they will bring out another tournament in place of the tri wizard. Some are even saying that this tournament is actually a secret, forbidden ritual for a black magic or something."

Daphne scoffed as she rolled her eyes. "Yeah, try not to believe those things otherwise one day you'll think that Dumbledore is actually bad and Voldemort is good." Harry chuckled. "So, how are Neville and Tracey?"

"I thought you already talked to Tracey," Harry said.

"I only came home yesterday," Daphne said. "I haven't written to her yet nor do we have a pair of these mirrors to talk to each other."

"You don't?" he sounded surprised.

"For your information, communication mirrors are not a widely used item," she said.

"But it's so convenient!" Harry said. "And it's much faster than floo call or letters and even patronus messages."

"You are welcome to try and change everyone's minds about that," she said. "Do you think we would still be living like the people from medieval periods if we cared about improving our lifestyles? This is why I think muggles would be an actual threat to us down the line if they come to know about us and don't take kindly to our existence." Harry looked at her with a raised brow. Daphne looked confused. "Why are you looking at me like that?" she asked.

"Well, I never thought you would actually praise muggles," he said, "you know, because you come from a pureblood family and all."

She sighed. "You need to have an open mind, Potter," she said. "I think staying with Weasely for the last three years only made you dumber."

"I am dumb?" he said.

"Well, if you ask those kinds of questions then yes," she said. There was a small pause before she continued. "My parents are very curious about muggles and their lifestyle. My mother, who is a healer, thinks that muggle and magical medicines together, can cure certain incurable diseases like cancer."

"Cancer is curable," Harry said.

"Well, not entirely," she responded. "People either get lucky and beat it or they don't and while the magical medicine is a lot less painful it also doesn't confirm a complete cure from the disease just like muggle medicine." Harry laughed softly. "Why are you laughing?" Daphne asked.

"I didn't think we would ever talk about medicine and cancer," he said smiling. "But it's nice."

"What is?" she asked.

"Having a casual conversation with you," Harry said. "When you didn't talk to me after the second challenge I was really worried but now I'm not. Also, we never have casual conversations. All we talk about are what I should or should not do for the tournament's task."

"Well, that is the agreement between us," Daphne said, "but I think you are right. Besides, I wanted to clear things between us after I realized that you must've started blaming yourself again after the second challenge. So, let me ask now – how are you?"

Harry smiled. "Much better," he said. "What are we going to do once you return after winter holidays? Everyone saw us coming out of the lake together. People have already started talking…"

"I thought you didn't care about others," she said.

"I don't," he said before he paused and Daphne realized what he was going to say next.

"Don't say that you are worried for me," she said before he could speak. Harry looked at her with his mouth partially open which he then slowly closed. The smile on Daphne's face had gone and she was looking at him a bit seriously now. "I don't want you to worry about me."

"Well, then you should know that I can't," Harry blurted out before he realized what he had just said.

Daphne was looking at him slightly confused. "What…do you mean you can't?" she asked slowly. Harry said nothing as he looked a little embarrassed. "Harry?" He didn't miss the fact that she called him by his first name as he slowly looked at her.

He sighed before speaking. "After what happened on the ball night, I keep thinking that something like that will happen again to you. I can't stop thinking about it especially now that everyone has seen us together. I am scared that you will be in danger again."

Her breath hitched as Daphne looked at him. Those words of his hit her like an arrow as she remembered what had happened on the night of Yule Ball. She felt a chill down her spine as images of Theo attacking her flashed in front of her eyes. Harry must've noticed what she was feeling as he said 'sorry' through the mirror bringing her out of her thoughts.

"I shouldn't have brought it up," he said apologizing.

"It's alright," she said in a low voice. "I never thanked you…for saving me that night." Harry didn't know how to respond to that so he kept quiet. "I know words aren't enough for what you did for me but…thank you. If you didn't come to my rescue that night than I don't know what would've happened." He saw her eyes starting to become wet. However, unlike before whenever Daphne had begun to open up to him, this time she didn't try to hide it. She just let it go as she sat there crying in silence.

For Harry it was like a torture to see her like that. He wanted to reach through the mirror and hug her, console her but he couldn't. "If you want to thank me then let me worry about you," he said slowly as Daphne looked at him. He had a nervous look on his face. She could tell that it was taking a lot of confidence for him to speak what he had just said but it seemed like that was not all. "I want to worry about you," he said in a trembling tone. "I want to look out for you. I want…to talk to you like we are not in a meeting. I want to talk to you like normal people would, like we are friends and…" he paused.

"And?" Daphne said in a croaked voice. Harry didn't miss the look of anticipation on her face as if she wanted him to finish his sentence so he gulped and wiped the sweat off of his face.

"…and I want to be with you!"

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Thanks for reading…