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Confession… (Part – 1)

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A/N: This chapter was a pain in the butt to write simply because I find it difficult to express character feelings in words. So if you find something off or not to your liking I really hope that you can cut me some slack here. However, do tell me if some things could've been improved or said in a different manner. I would really appreciate it.

Constructive criticism is always welcome…

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"Why are we here?" Harry asked. "I told you I have already talked to Cedric and the others about what we have to do for the final challenge. There's no point for us to have a meeting right now."

"Just trust me," Neville said as they stood at the seventh floor where Harry saw that the entrance to the room of requirement was already open.

"Is someone in there?" Harry asked.

"Tracey wants to talk to you about something," Neville said.

Harry wondered whether it was about Draco before he and Neville walked into the room and the door closed behind them. They entered in a simple-looking hall. However, Harry didn't care what the room looked like. He was, in fact, distracted by the fact that Daphne was also there. She looked equally surprised as him. It seemed neither of them knew that they would be meeting each other there.

Harry pressed his lips as he looked away from Daphne when Tracey walked up to him. "Good, you are here," she said.

"Neville said you wanted to talk?" he said just as Tracey grabbed his hand. He looked confused as she made him stand next to Daphne before taking a few steps back. Even Neville looked confused as Tracey smiled guiltily as she looked at Harry and Daphne.

"Please don't hate me for this," she said. "I just want what's best for the two of you."

"Wha…" before Daphne could say anything a room appeared around her and Harry, enclosing them inside itself. The two looked startled and shocked as they stood there wondering what was happening when a window appeared on the wall in front of them. From that window they could see Tracey and Neville, the latter of who was standing with the same shocked look like Harry and Daphne. "Tracey, what is going on?" Daphne asked.

"You two need to sort out whatever it is that is going between you guys," Tracey said. When Daphne looked at her in confusion she scoffed. "You thought I wouldn't notice? Even Neville knows about it which is why he came to talk to me, asking if there was something I could do about you and Harry." She then looked at Harry. "And please don't get mad at Neville, Harry. He only asked for my help. He didn't know I would do something like this. Now, you and Daphne clearly have some issues between each other and as a good friend that I am I want you both to resolve it. Since I know how stubborn you two can be with your feelings I had to come up with such measures otherwise you two would just keep on brooding and ignoring each other. So, unless you resolve your issues this…room won't disappear. I spend hours yesterday coming up with this set-up so don't try to be smart with me because it won't work."

"She's right." Daphne looked at Harry when she heard him speak. "It's not working. The room of requirement is not making this thing go away."

Daphne tried it too and realized Harry was right. She looked angrily at her friend. "Tracey, stop joking around. Get us out of here or I swear I will kill you!"

"Ah, the usual Greengrass threat," Tracey said as if it was a normal thing between her and Daphne to threaten each other with their lives. "I'm sorry but like I said, I can't do anything now even if I wanted to. The room's magic is absolute. You can't get free unless you and Harry resolve your issues."

"Tracey…"

"I'm serious," Tracey said interrupting Daphne. "I know you think I'm lying but I am not. I can't make it go away. Only you two can."

"Tracey! Tra…" Daphne stopped when the window disappeared from in front of them and was replaced by the wall. "Tracey!" she shouted her name but she could hear nothing from the outside.

"I don't think she can hear you," Harry said as he walked over to one end of the room. He then leaned against the wall before slowly sliding down and sitting on the floor. "Why is she doing all of this?" he asked after a minute's pause.

Daphne looked at him and saw he still wasn't looking at her. She pressed her lips before taking in a long breath and sighed. "Believe it or not that's how she is," she said. "Tracey can sometimes take things to extreme. Crabbe once tried to sabotage her potion in our second year and she got revenge on him by cursing his food. For an entire week, every time he ate Crabbe would have to run to the toilet. It was just as funny as it was worrying. Poor boy was in tears by the third day but Tracey didn't budge until the entire week had gone by. Ever since then no one dares to make her angry."

"I heard something like that happened in your house," Harry said.

Daphne noticed a slight chuckle from him and it made her smile a little. There was a long pause before she spoke. "I'm sorry," she said slowly. "I should've called you but…" she paused as she didn't know what to say.

"But?" Harry said after a while when he didn't hear her say anything. He had his head resting on his knees so Daphne couldn't see his face to guess what he was thinking. However, she didn't miss the tone in his voice. He sounded slightly mad. If she was going to tell him her reason for not calling him, she might as well tell him everything, she thought.

"As soon as you said…those words, Astoria barged into my room and I had to cut the call."

"That doesn't explain why you didn't call me back," Harry said. This time he was looking at her. He looked confused and hurt and it made Daphne feel a little broken on the inside.

"I…" she stammered as she thought if it would be immature of her to say this but then she went ahead anyway because it was the truth. "I didn't know what to say. Not only did you catch me off-guard, it was the first time someone had said something like that to me and I was confused. With everything going on in my life it was all…too much for me to handle."

There was another long pause before Harry spoke. "I want to know…if I crossed a line when I said what I said," he said slowly. "Just tell me so that I can stop thinking about it. I would understand if I made a mistake."

Daphne looked at him. Harry once again looked away from her. There it was again, she thought, him ignoring her like that. She felt hurt whenever he did it. She wanted him to look at her. She knew he was hurting after she didn't called him back and she deserved to be treated like this but she could not take it. Daphne closed eyes and took in a deep breath, calming down her thoughts before she too, sat down on the floor.

"It's not easy…for me to express my feelings," she began slowly. I've always been like that. It's just like Tracey said – I am stubborn when it comes to acknowledging how I feel about things…or people for that matter." She saw Harry look at him. Even though he had an expressionless look on his face she was glad that at least he wasn't ignoring her. She smiled slightly before she continued. "I think it's different with you, however. Unlike with the others I feel like I can trust you so I am going to tell you about me…my life, if you'd like?"

Harry looked at her without saying anything but he gave a slow, curt nod and Daphne felt a little relieved. At least he had agreed to listen to her, she thought, wondering that the worst had already happened and by that she meant the situation that her family was currently in after her father had nullified her betrothal with Theo. She knew that doing it had put her family on the bad side of the Notts, endangering them so if she was going to be in danger, she might as well do what she want and right now she wanted to take a chance with Harry because he made her feel things she had never felt before and she secretly wanted more of it.

"It's not easy for my family to hold their position in the society," Daphne began, "and that is because my family doesn't have an heir who would take over the family head's position after my father. In other words, my parents don't have a son. As a result, families like mine are looked down upon by other pureblood families, especially those who are members of the Wizengamot. To them we are nothing but fodder that they can absorb to become more powerful. They do that by using a betrothal contract – an age-old tactic that has been used in our society for centuries. From the outside it is seen as a means to form a deeper alliance between two families but in reality powerful families use it to take over another family's wealth and political power. If a betrothal contract is formed between two families than the girl's family is often asked to give almost everything that they own as dowry to the boy's family. And if the girl's family doesn't have a male heir than the dowry also includes their seat in the Wizengamot.

"My father told me that before I came to Hogwarts. He told me to be careful as coming from a pureblood family with no male heir I would be targeted by kids from the other pureblood families; and that they would try to win me over so that they could get me to marry them and in turn get whatever is owned by my family, as dowry. It may sound ridiculous but it's very normal and it has happened to a lot of students. If a family is weak then they become a target. I know a few girls from our senior years that have had their fates sealed because of their betrothals. So, naturally after my father's warning I knew I had to be careful so I taught myself not to trust anyone. I also knew that it wouldn't be easy for me because there was a high probability that I would be sorted into Slytherin like both of my parents were and if that happened then I would be amongst the kids from those families who had already tried to betroth their sons with me and Astoria." She then stopped as she looked at Harry. "You look surprised," she said.

"They tried a betrothal for you and Astoria when neither of you are of age?" Harry asked.

"The actual marriage takes place when both the boy and the girl become of age," she said. "However, there is no minimum age requirement when it comes to making a betrothal contract. Some families have their kids betrothed as soon as they are born. I was betrothed when I was just a few months old."

Harry's eyes opened wide. Did he hear it right, he thought. His look of shock didn't go unnoticed by Daphne who pressed her lips before smiling sadly. She knew what he was thinking so she answered his question before he could ask it. "It was with Theo," she said.

Harry sat there, completely numb when he heard her say that name. His mind then quickly went to the night of the Yule Ball when he had found Theo and Daphne in that empty classroom. "I'll just carve it on you, that you are my property," is what Theo had said while he pointed his wand at an unconscious Daphne before he was hit by Harry's disarming spell.

He wondered whether that was why she hadn't responded to him when Harry had admitted his feelings for her. She was betrothed to Theo and that meant she was going to marry him when they both become of age. He now understood it well and his anger towards Daphne was slowly replaced by empathy as he looked at her apologetically. "I'm sorry," he said slowly. "I didn't know that you were…" He couldn't finish his sentence as he didn't know what to say.

"Already taken?" Daphne said as her sad smile slowly disappeared. Harry didn't want to but he nodded before looking away. He felt embarrassed for expressing his feelings to a girl who was already with someone else. "Don't do that," Daphne said causing Harry to look at her in confusion. "Don't feel guilty for admitting your feelings to me just because I am contractually obliged to marry someone else. In fact, my father nullified the contract when I went home during the holidays so I won't be marrying Theo. It was actually shocking for me because my father did it without telling me. When I was told about it afterwards I was left feeling a lot of things. It didn't help that I had a fight with my parents after that. It was also one of the reasons why I completely forgot that I had to call you back as all of it happened the very next day after you said those words to me. At first I didn't know what to say to you but with everything happening with my betrothal with Theo, calling you completely slipped out of my mind and I only realized it on the day I was to return Hogwarts. And when I came back I saw you weren't even looking at me. I felt hurt but I knew that you had a right to be angry at me for not calling you back so I deserved the silent treatment but during the holidays and after the nullification of my betrothal I thought about the time that you and I had spent together and I finally realized that I like you." She looked at him with wet eyes as if hoping that he would accept her confession. She paused for a minute before finally saying what she had been meaning to say to him ever since she came back to Hogwarts after the winter holidays. She spoke slowly but clearly as Harry trembled with emotions when he heard her say those words. "I would like for you…to be with me too."

It was as if he had been waiting an eternity to hear that from Daphne as Harry stood up and walked over to her. Daphne stood up as well before she was tightly hugged by him. Tears left her eyes as she began to cry silently. His hug told her that he had forgiven her and it made her feel relieved in a way she never had.

"I don't care if they all know about us," she said between tears. "I just want to be with you."

They broke the hug a few moments later and she looked into his eyes. They were beautiful, she said in her head. She then closed the gap between their faces and kissed him softly on the lips. They closed their eyes as a warm feeling filled inside them. It felt like all of their problems had gone away. The two parted away and looked at each other. Daphne was blushing heavily as it showed on her face. Harry was the same as they stood there breathing heavily. Their hearts were racing but their faces showed the look of content and…happiness.

It had finally happened. They had confessed how they felt for each other.

Suddenly they heard a low rumble and saw that the room that they were in had started to disappear until it was gone completely. They then saw that Tracey and Neville weren't in the room of requirement as Harry and Daphne stood there holding hands.

"What happens now?" Harry asked slowly.

Daphne knew what he meant as she was also thinking the same thing. "I don't know," she replied softly, "but whatever it is, we'll deal with it…together."

Harry looked at her and smiled. "Together," he said before they hugged again.

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"I really don't think what you did was right," Neville said. He and Tracey were outside the room of requirement by the tapestry waiting for Harry and Daphne to come out. It had already been over an hour and Neville was looking nervous. "You really can't remove the room that you trapped them in?" he asked looking at her.

Tracey sighed tiredly. "For the millionth time, no," she said sounding a little annoyed. "You've asked me that question so many times even I've started to worry about them. Merlin, why do they have to be so stubborn with their feelings? Urgh!"

"Maybe we should check on them," Neville suggested.

Tracey looked at him, contemplating on doing what he had said when the door to the room of requirement opened and they both saw Harry and Daphne walk out with expressionless faces which soon turned into glares directed at Tracey who smiled nervously.

"See?" she said before looking at Neville, "I told you it would work."

Neville didn't know what to say as Harry came and stood beside him while Daphne walked over to Tracey. The boys wondered what was going to happen as Daphne grabbed Tracey's hand and pulled her towards the stairs, leaving the corridor.

The two watched the girls leave. "What do you think is going to happen to her?" Neville asked, talking about Tracey.

"I'm not sure," Harry said, "but I feel sorry for her."

The hint of sarcasm was evident in Harry's tone as Neville looked at him. "So?" he asked. "What happened?"

Harry smiled.

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Thanks for reading…