Chapter 2

Step-Siblings (of sorts)

Daphne had never seen her mother happier and she herself was quite content with the new arrangement.

Just spending simple time with her father was beyond what she'd ever imagined. Playing games as a family and hearing more and more stories about Sirius, and his family, and his school years, and of course, his escape from Azkaban.

He claimed that he'd always wanted to break out but was unsure it was possible. He also always had hope that Peter would be clumsy and get himself discovered which would lead to his release. Waiting begat despair and just staying alive became his only goal. Then the newspaper; it showed him exactly where he'd be able to find Peter and claim his innocence, upon which he could return to a life with his girls without putting them in danger. The whole ordeal took much longer than he'd planned but that was all water under the bridge now and they were all thoroughly enjoying their time as a family.

That was until things changed one afternoon when Sirius had gone out without explaining what he had to do. He rarely left alone.

'Where did Sirius go?'

'Just to go get something,' Raquel answered calmly.

'He's been gone a while. And why are you smirking?' Daphne asked accusingly.

'Obviously, it's a surprise, dear. I'm not going to spoil it.'

'A good surprise? Like the Firebolt?'

'More like a lightning bolt,' Raquel smirked.

Daphne scrunched her eyebrows in confusion for a moment before a pop from the master bedroom alerted her to Sirius' arrival. She ran to the living room where she could see the hallway to the bedrooms and waited for her father to appear with his surprise.

Sirius emerged from the bedroom with a smile. Following him out of the bedroom was a boy with messy black hair and bright green eyes framed by his well-known glasses.

'What is he doing here?' Daphne asked in fury.

'Daphne,' Raquel started in a reproachful tone. 'Sirius is Harry's godfather.'

'So.'

'I promised Harry could come live with me,' Sirius explained.

'Not here, he can't!' Daphne declared.

'I think she's right, Sirius. I didn't know your daughter was a slimy snake,' Harry spat.

'Slimy? What kind of snakes are slimy?' Daphne asked in disdain.

'Baby ones,' Harry retorted. 'But I wasn't saying it literally, you idiot. Then again, I wouldn't expect you to understand sarcasm.'

'Hmph! And where do you plan on him sleeping?' Daphne questioned with a smug smile as if this would thwart the plan. She crossed her arms across her chest in self-appointment victory.

Sirius and Raquel shared a smile and glanced towards Daphne's room.

'Go see for yourselves,' Raquel said, outstretching a hand.

Daphne marched to her room with Harry right behind her.

'Oh, hell no!' they both cried from the bedroom.

'Are you sure it's a good idea for them to share a room?' Raquel asked Sirius.

'Sure. I think they're more likely to kill each other than any funny business,' he answered confidently.

'Yeah, it's the killing each other that I'm worried about,' Raquel said with a small laugh.

'They don't have it in them right now, even if they might not get along. It might be entertaining.'

'So, they are just our entertainment now?'

'Not just. . . but partially, yes.'

Raquel gave him a somewhat skeptical look. She was not entirely pleased with that answer.

'And I'm not sending Harry back to the Dursleys. And I'm not making him sleep on a couch either. He could use a nice family summer just like the rest of us,' Sirius explained.

Raquel nodded. That was more satisfactory. 'I guess we'll see how nice it is now,' she said with some reservation.

'All siblings fight, that's part of being a family.' Sirius said casually.

'I don't think I dare refer to them as siblings quite yet,' Raquel added.

'No, I think you're right. We'll just have to keep things as normal as possible.'

'Like family dinner?'

'That's as good a start as any,' Sirius agreed.

Dinner was a contentious affair with Daphne and Harry sending verbal barbs back and forth at one another, much to the amusement of the two adults, more Sirius than Raquel but she still had her fair share of laughs.

Before they all departed for bed, Sirius gave them some parting words, 'So, I understand that this will be awkward for the first little while, but I think if you guys try, you can become friends.'

He was only met with eye rolls.

That night, the two teens were laying in their beds on opposite sides of the small room.

'You know I hate you, right,' Daphne said matter of factly.

'That's good, because I hate you too,' Harry replied coolly.

'I wish Voldemort would've killed you.'

'And I wish you would've died with your grandparents.'

'I'm probably going to kill you.'

'I'd like to see you try.' Harry taunted.

Daphne sat up and snatched her wand from her nightstand and pointed it at Harry, 'Avada Kedavra!'

A jet of green light shot out of her wand and in a puff of smoke, disintegrated halfway across the room.

'Ha! Nice try, Greengrass. You're pathetic,' Harry scoffed. 'Crucio!' he shouted, pointing his wand at her.

The purple light zoomed across the room and struck Daphne directly in the side.

She burst out in a fit of giggles, he had connected with her most ticklish spot. 'Stop!' she gasped in between laughs.

Harry did not stop.

In between her fits of laughter, Daphne was able to fire off a Stinging Jinx that landed squarely on Harry's face, breaking his attempted Cruciatus Curse.

Harry's face began to swell, nearly forcing his eyes shut. 'Son of a bitch!' he cried.

'No, more like, daughter of a bitch,' Daphne corrected smugly.

'Yeah, and that bitch is probably getting boned by my godfather right now,' Harry said, laughing to himself.

'You know you are talking about my dad, right?'

'Yeah, so?'

'With my mum,' she prompted.

'And?' Harry asked.

'That means they've had coitus before.'

'Eww, don't say it like that.'

'What? "Boned" is the proper term?' she asked incredulously.

'Yeah, it doesn't sound so gross.'

'I know boys are stupid but you are a special kind of idiot. I can't wait to kill you.'

'Not if I get you first,' Harry countered.

Daphne shook her head and with a sigh, threw her head back on her pillow.

Daphne smirked to herself as she could see Harry's swollen face out of her peripheral vision. And she dreamt of different ways she might be able to put an end to this nuisance that had entered her life.

She didn't get the chance to test any of her ideas the next day as she was jolted awake by a sharp tug around her neck and her head getting lifted off her pillow. She could feel the tightening around her neck and her next breath was barely a gasp. Her free hand went to her throat and just as she thought, she felt coils of a noose wrapped around her.

There was no time to look around for the culprit, it could only be one person anyway. Fortunately, she had slept with her wand in hand and before she was unable to speak she squeaked out a Severing Charm and released the tension of the rope on her neck.

She gasped for breath and heard a loud thud as Harry fell to the floor, the other end of the rope in his hand.

'Damn!' Harry exclaimed.

'You bastard!' Daphne proclaimed as she loosed the rope from around her neck, a not so small length now in her hand.

Harry had his head down and was rubbing the back of it, likely where he'd hit the floor. Daphne wasted no time as she bounded from the bed, and just as Harry raised his head, she whipped him across the face with the coarse rope.

Harry brought a hand to his face and he seethed when he saw the bright red color of blood on his fingers.

Daphne had thought she'd put him out of commission with that and turned back to her bed. She would learn not to turn her back on the enemy as she simultaneously felt a rope across the front of her throat and what felt like a knee driven into her upper back as she was forced face-first into her bed.

She let out a loud scream as she fell to her bed, though her cries were quickly silenced as Harry tugged on the rope and continued to drive his knee into her back. Her wand had flown from her hand during the collision and her attempts to squirm away only seemed to cut the rope deeper into her skin.

This bastard was going to do it. How could she be so naive to think he wouldn't continue to fight back?

Her vision was starting to go blurry and the pain in her back was beginning to dull when she heard her door burst open.

She could vaguely hear Sirius call out a Vanishing Spell and her face fell to her pillow, not without taking a large gasp of a breath first.

Again, she heard a thud as Harry's momentum threw him backward and he landed on the hard floor with a loud groan.

Daphne reached for her wand and rolled over though she didn't quite have the energy to continue the fight, catching her breath was her main focus at the moment.

Harry had his own wand in his hand as he pulled himself up to a sitting position with his back against his bed.

Sirius looked between the two of them and then to the eye-ring that was screwed into the ceiling above Daphne's bed. He spent a moment contemplating, likely piecing together the rope with what he'd walked in on.

'You tried to hang her?' Sirius asked Harry.

Harry shrugged. 'She sent the Killing Curse at me last night.'

'And he hit me with a Cruciatus!' Daphne interjected.

'Wow, you kids went straight to the good stuff. But you really should be careful with the Unforgivables, the Ministry won't care that you can't actually do any damage with them yet, they are still illegal.'

'Pshh, the Ministry,' Harry said dismissively.

'See! Thinks he's above the law no matter where he is,' Daphne countered with disdain.

Harry scowled at Daphne, who sent her own glare in return.

Sirius smiled and chuckled softly to himself. 'Well, there's little chance of getting in any trouble casting magic here but still, probably not worth the risk,' Sirius explained. 'Is that understood?'

'Understood,' both teens muttered.

'K, let's get you both cleaned up. How'd you get the mark on your face?' Sirius asked Harry as they walked out of the room.

'She whipped me with the rope!'

'The one you were choking her with?' Sirius asked knowingly.

Harry's head dropped slightly. 'Yes, that one.'

'So you kinda deserved it,' Sirius suggested.

'No! She started it all. I was just trying to be proactive. Just forgot to take her wand away before going for the kill.'

'Ha! Classic idiot Potter move,' Daphne proclaimed.

Again, Sirius just laughed to himself and Raquel looked up from her book she was reading on the sofa as the group approached.

'Looks like a couple rope burns to take care of, nothing too crazy,' Sirius said casually while indicating the two sets of red marks on each child's face and neck.

'Come sit down Daphne, Harry you can go eat first,' Raquel stated.

Daphne laid on the sofa with her head in her mother's lap and Raquel began to treat her wounds, which were mostly just superficial.

'Why do you have so much animosity towards Harry? I didn't realize you had a history,' Raquel asked calmly.

'We don't. . . really. He just stands for everything I hate, I guess. He's like the Gryffindor Malfoy.'

'Is he?'

'Yes!'

'And you've never interacted in class?'

'No. Thank Merlin,' Daphne answered with a breath of relief.

'Is he such a bad student?'

'I hardly know what kind of student he is, but everyone knows Granger does all his homework for him and the professors just look the other way. It's so infuriating!'

'Surely that's not the case,' Raquel challenged.

'No way to prove it's not,' Daphne countered.

'Sounds like you've given him a lot of thought,' Raquel said teasingly.

'Have not! He always just inserts himself into everything. Always looking for attention and admiration.'

Raquel shrugged. 'Hm. Perhaps having a civil conversation with him could help clarify some of those things.'

'As if he would even tell the truth. He's known for exaggerating everything. He wouldn't tell me anything truthful.'

'Well, start small. You never know. Now, you're all taken care of,' Raquel said, giving her daughter a gentle pat. 'Go on and eat and send Harry in here so I can fix him up.'

Daphne thanked her mother then made the short walk to the kitchen.

'My mum's ready for you when you're done eating,' Daphne said begrudgingly to Harry.

'Thankfully, I'm done. . . so I don't have to share a table with you,' Harry said haughtily.

'Prat,' Daphne muttered loud enough to be heard by all in the vicinity.

Harry left with some unintelligible mutterings of his own.

'Harry almost got the jump on you this morning,' Sirius commented once Harry was out of the kitchen.

'He got lucky, that's all. I'll be sure to be up before him tomorrow.'

'I can't wait to see what you come up with,' he said with anticipation.

'I thought you'd be mad at me for trying to kill him.'

'Nah, I like seeing the creative ways you find to use magic. Takes me back to my young days when we were coming up with new pranks all the time,' he replied wistfully.

'Good, 'cause I've been thinking of a whole bunch of ways I can get rid of that pest.'

'Should be interesting. Harry's not one to back down though,' Sirius said.

Daphne looked at her father pensively as she thought about his words. Did he not think them capable of inflicting any actual damage on each other? He surely wasn't that thrown off by their use of Unforgivables, outside of the potential trouble with the Ministry, and neither had come close to casting their curses with any semblance of power. But she seemed to have his blessing to continue in her attempts to kill Harry. Hopefully, he didn't change his mind when he was standing over the corpse of her newly minted enemy and his godson.

She was broken from her musings by Sirius. 'Looks like Harry's all healed up and you need to eat before we head out.'

Daphne didn't know what plans they had for the day but she took the suggestion and finished her breakfast.

Miraculously, they made it through the rest of the day without any major incidents. Being out and about made sending spells at each other not much of an option, but that certainly didn't prevent them from throwing insults back and forth throughout the day and into the evening.

Both kids were so exhausted, neither made any kind of attempt on the other's life as they went to bed. Even if Daphne did fall asleep dreaming of new and creative ways she could end Harry Potter.

Then next morning Daphne groggily opened her eyes and yawned before realization hit—Harry was still asleep. A smile spread across her face as she delicately pulled the covers off and slipped out of bed. She took care not to step on any of the squeaky floorboards and made it to the other side of the room without disturbing her slumbering target.

Daphne stood over Harry's sleeping body and started with a Bubble Head Charm around his head.

Harry didn't so much as move.

Daphne's grin grew.

She next used an Aguamenti Charm. She tried to make the water warm in order to not shock him awake and her plan appeared to be working; the water was rising within the bubble; climbing up the side of his face; covering his ears. Soon enough, he would be inhaling water and she could claim the idiot had drowned in his own saliva.

Not that her parents would believe her—they knew her intentions—but she could use that story for the Daily Prophet.

She watched with rapt attention as the water completely covered his face and the first bubbles emerged from his nose. This was the beginning of the end.

Suddenly, Harry bolted upright with a forceful cough. He blinked rapidly and quickly brought his wand up towards his face and popped the bubble around his head. Water descended all over himself and his bedsheets and he continued coughing up water and gasping for breath.

Daphne didn't wait for Harry's response and she darted from the room.

She reached the kitchen panting for breath, both parents looked up at her inquisitively.

'How'd Harry almost kill you today?' Sirius asked with a smirk.

'He didn't almost kill me!' Daphne replied indignantly. 'The idiot can barely sleep and breathe at the same time,' she added smugly.

The two adults shared a contemplative glance but their attention was quickly drawn to a dripping wet Harry walking into the kitchen with a scowl on his face.

'Harry! How'd you get all wet?' Sirius asked.

Harry growled at Daphne before answering, 'She filled a Bubble Head Charm with water but I woke up and popped the bubble before I could drown.'

'Ah, not a bad idea,' Sirius complimented. 'Not messy at all but a little Stupefy beforehand would've really helped your cause.'

'She's not smart enough to think about that kind of stuff,' Harry deadpanned.

'I won't forget next time,' Daphne declared.

'There won't be a next time,' Harry replied confidently.

Daphne ignored his comment but later that night realized he might be correct.

Before going to sleep that night, she noticed him casting a series of spells over, under, and around his bed. It wasn't hard to recognize, he was setting up detection spells that would alert him to any further intrusions.

Harry sent her a satisfied smirk before removing his glasses and resting his head on his pillow.

Daphne made sure not to fall asleep right away. Her pride wouldn't let her perform her own set of detection spells while Harry was still awake. She didn't want him to have any sort of satisfaction, even if he would know it the next time he tried something on her.

Eventually, she heard Harry's breathing change and she knew he was asleep. She was disappointed she couldn't use some of her other creative ideas she'd imagined but she quickly set to work at protecting herself and her surroundings before drifting off to sleep.

Their protections worked, much better than their murder attempts, in fact. And the summer progressed without any other close calls, much to Daphne's displeasure. Although, the lack of mortal peril didn't stop the two from relentlessly hitting each other with all sorts of hexes and jinxes. They both quickly learned to never leave their back exposed to the other.

Aside from the physical pain they tried to inflict on one another, there was a seemingly endless stream of insults that reverberated about the small apartment all summer long.

Sirius commented that he was almost more impressed with how creative their verbal jabs were in comparison to the different spells they found use of.

Then one morning late in the summer, Daphne woke up to something she couldn't believe, Harry was packing up his things.

'Where are you going?' Daphne asked. She tried to temper her anticipation just in case this was just some joke Harry was playing on her but there was a definite sense of excitement that she felt at the sight.

'Wouldn't you like to know?' Harry replied scornfully.

'I actually couldn't care less where you are going as long as it is away from here.'

Harry didn't respond right away. He had to be contemplating whether telling her where he was going would make her mad or if the mystery would be more painful.

He slowly turned his head in her direction. 'I'm going to the Weasleys and we are going to the Quidditch World Cup,' Harry supplied with a smug smile.

'Good,' Daphne said dismissively, though there was no denying the pang of jealousy that erupted inside of her. How badly she wanted to go to the World Cup. She turned and left the room before her countenance gave away to Harry how she truly felt about where he was headed.

The thought of Harry's departure also brought to memory something she had been saving; something she'd been waiting for, and with this being Harry's last day, it would be her last chance.

If there was one time of peace that had developed over the summer, it would be during breakfast. Perhaps, the teens were too tired or not quite awake enough to hurl insults, but the breakfast table had become the seemingly lone respite from Daphne and Harry's bickering.

So, today Daphne went to her mother to help set the table and prepare the meal. As she set Harry's bowl of steaming hot porridge on the table she slipped a small vial from her pocket and deposited the contents into Harry's breakfast.

She smiled to herself as she returned the empty vial to her pocket and finished setting the table.

She sat with her legs bouncing rapidly under the table as the rest of the group took their seats, the anticipation was about to cause her to burst.

She took her first bite of porridge, though her eyes were discreetly focused on Harry as he brought his spoon to his lips.

No sooner had he swallowed than his face fell forward and landed in his bowl, causing a more than fair amount of porridge to spill.

A smile blossomed on Daphne's face that did not go unnoticed by her parents.

They shared a glance and Sirius grabbed the back of Harry's head and pulled him out of his porridge face bath.

'Bezoar?' Sirius asked calmly.

Raquel had begun to move before Sirius had even vocalized his request and was bidding her head. She moved swiftly but without any panic to a small cabinet above the sink. She grabbed a small box which she opened and tossed the contents across the kitchen to Sirius.

He snatched the small object and stuffed it into Harry's mouth, using his fingers to shove it as far down the boy's throat as possible.

Almost immediately, Harry gagged and gasped for breath.

At the same time, Raquel had her wand in hand and cleared the porridge off of Harry's face, revealing numerous blisters that were starting to form on Harry's face from the heat of the porridge.

'Why'd you have to save him?' Daphne asked as she rose from her seat.

'You didn't think we were actually going to let one of you kill the other, did you?' Raquel answered.

Daphne just placed her hands on her hips but had no other response.

'Poison was an obvious choice. I'm just surprised it took one of you so long to try it,' Sirius added.

'I was just waiting for the right moment,' Daphne said.

'And you still screwed it up,' Harry said with a laugh.

'Oh, shut up, blister face!'

'I match all your spots now,' Harry said mockingly, causing Daphne to scowl.

'I think I have the ointment all dialed in now, dear,' Raquel stated soothingly. She'd been working on a concoction to get Daphne's burgeoning acne problem under control. She'd also insisted that the constant fighting with Harry had some negative effects but Daphne refused to acknowledge anything of the sort and had made no attempts to create peace.

'Make sure you get her some refills, she's gonna need that this year,' Harry snarked.

'You should stuff it because if you ever hit puberty you'll need it too,' Daphne retorted.

'You wish,' Harry replied.

'Why don't you go lay on the sofa Harry and I'll be right in to fix you up,' Raquel said quickly and calmly, and Harry left the kitchen without another word, followed straightaway by Raquel.

'Don't let the acne stuff bother you,' Sirius said.

'I don't,' Daphne replied defensively.

Sirius shot her a knowing look with his chin tilted down, one eyebrow raised and one furrowed.

'Ok, so it does bother me,' Daphne admitted.

'And that's ok. You are beautiful no matter what.'

'You're just saying that cause you're my dad.'

'And so what, I believe it. There's more to beauty than a perfect complexion.'

Daphne smiled, but she still felt vulnerable about the whole topic. Her recent development of acne had been a sore spot for her but she'd done pretty well at not letting Harry know it got under her skin. Her looks in general were a touchy topic. Sirius constantly told her she was pretty and took after her mum—who was genuinely beautiful—but Daphne knew better than to take her father's word on the matter. She saw how the truly beautiful girls were treated at school, regardless of status or financial station, and she definitely did not get the same type of considerations.

Daphne took some solace in a conversation she'd had with her mother when she'd first expressed her insecurities about her appearance. Raquel had tried to convince her it was just an awkward stage of development and eventually she would grow into a beautiful woman. While it was hope, it was hard to put a lot of stock in the sentiment at the moment. She would have to bear the teasing and lack of positive attention from the boys as best she could for the time being.

There were aspects of her appearance that she liked, her dirty blonde hair, for one. She kept it brushed and smooth, and it always looked healthy; she took pride in that. And even though they weren't exotic or particularly eye-catching; she liked her eyes, light blue with the hint of a storm—which she now knew came from Sirius. The rest of herself, she wasn't particularly proud of, undeveloped and awkward, that's how she would describe herself.

Daphne avoided Harry as much as possible the rest of the day. She couldn't deal with the smug looks he would give her, but given the small confines of the apartment, she had to deal with those looks more than she'd have wished.

Finally, Sirius was getting ready to take Harry over to the Weasleys and Harry just had to get in one last jab. 'Don't miss me too much, Daphne,' he said with a smirk. 'Maybe I'll buy some Omnioculars so you can watch a part of the match.'

'I don't even care. I'm just happy you're gonna be gone. I'd never watch Quidditch again if it meant you never came back here,' Daphne replied.

Harry seemed to contemplate her statement for a moment, as if he was going to actually take her up on the offer. 'Well, you can't say I never did anything nice for you.' And while he had a friendly smile on his face, the two fingers he had subtly extended on the hand that was hanging at his side, told her it was all just a facade.

'Good riddance, Harry,' she murmured as Sirius Apparated away with her rival.

'It's gonna be a little boring around here now,' Raquel commented.

'Boring? You mean peaceful, right?' Daphne corrected.

'Yes, dear, that's what I meant,' Raquel responded with a light chuckle.

'Though going to the World Cup would be nice,' Daphne suggested with an expectant look.

'Yes, it would be nice, dear. But I suppose we should just be happy with what we have.'

'I guess so,' Daphne said with a sigh. She couldn't push down the feeling of jealousy. Harry seemed to get everything and have all obstacles moved away for him, while she was stuck in her same poor conditions—they weren't the same, but that was not something she was willing to acknowledge in this time of self-pity.