Chapter 8

Parent Trap

The events that followed were a whirlwind; Snape administering Veritaserum to the fake Moody; discovering the real Moody in the trunk; the full explanation from the junior Crouch.

Madam Pomfrey took the real Moody to the hospital wing while Harry and Daphne retold what had happened in the office before the adults arrived.

It was exhausting.

Raquel escorted Daphne to the hospital wing while Harry went with Sirius and Dumbledore to the Headmaster's office.

As soon as they entered the hospital wing, Hermione bolted from the group that was being briefed by Professor McGonagall and engulfed Daphne in a bone-crushing hug. 'You saved him,' Hermione squealed.

'Huh?' Daphne was barely able to squeak out.

'Harry! You saved him. Professor McGonagall told us everything,' Hermione explained as she finally relinquished her hold.

'Oh. . . well. . . I guess,' Daphne said hesitantly. If McGonagall told them everything, then they'd know she totally missed with her shot. But the distraction was enough, perhaps.

'Guess nothing! You saved him and that's that!'

Madam Pomfrey saw her enter and approached. 'Are you injured at all, dear?'

'No. More just shock at everything that has happened,' Daphne answered.

'Perhaps a Calming Draught would do you some good,' she said while looking to Raquel who nodded in gratitude. 'Come right here, then. Take this bed.' Pomfrey summoned a vial and gave it to Daphne to drink.

Its effect was immediate and she felt the chaos around her melt away. Her mother on one side, holding one of her hands, and Hermione on the other, rambling away with everything she saw and how all the events happened from her point of view; much of it went in one ear and out the other.

Harry entered and Hermione sprang to his side, along with the rest of the Weasley clan. The only thing that registered with Daphne was that Harry, somehow, looked worse than when she'd left him. Madam Pomfrey was quick to assist him and begin taking care of him, shooing away anyone that would get in her way.

'Here, dear. Why don't you take this now as well? A dreamless sleep will do you well. You don't need to be reliving those stories tonight,' Raquel suggested as she pushed another vial of liquid into Daphne's hands.

It did sound wonderful so she tipped the vial back and swallowed.

Tracey and Millicent soon entered the wing as well and rushed to Daphne's bed. A flurry of questions and comments exploded from her friends, so much that she couldn't even process them.

'Slow down,' Daphne pleaded. 'I'm fine. . . And Harry should be fine. . . eventually.' Her eyelids were already starting to feel heavy.

'Do you know what happened? There are already rumors about You-Know-Who,' Tracey said.

'She just took a potion,' Raquel cut in. 'She's gonna be out before she knows it.'

And it was true. Daphne didn't remember anything else from that night.

She awoke to a quiet atmosphere. Mrs Weasley was pacing the wing, seemingly on patrol. She came to Daphne's bedside when she saw her sit up.

'Good morning, Daphne. How are you feeling?' Mrs Weasley asked kindly.

'Pretty good. But definitely hungry, and I should clean up too,' Daphne said groggily.

'Well, go on. Who knows how long Harry will be asleep for.'

'Ok, I'll come back as soon as I can.'

'No hurry, dear. He will be taken care of.'

Daphne got the feeling she was kindly being told to stay away but tried not to give it much credence.

After showering and eating breakfast she returned to the hospital wing only to find Harry had awoken and already taken another sleeping potion.

Finally, later that afternoon she was able to catch Harry awake in his bed without a slew of people swarming him.

'Hey,' Daphne said.

'Hey,' Harry replied.

Daphne sat on his bed, unsure what to say.

'I don't really want to talk about what happened,' Harry stated.

'That's ok. I don't really want to hear your voice,' she replied.

'So why'd you come here?'

'Because I'm your girlfriend and people are going to expect me to come visit with my boyfriend that just went through who knows what. . .'

'Oh, yeah. I guess you're right.'

'Of course, I'm right.'

Harry rolled his eyes.

They sat in silence, both refusing to meet the others' eyes.

'I saw real Unforgivables, Daphne,' Harry said in a hushed tone.

Her eyes widened but she had no words, so she just nodded.

'You didn't train me hard enough,' he said with a smirk.

'How do you mean?' she asked since she knew he was leading up to something.

'I got hit. . . by Voldemort. . . with the Cruciatus.'

'You didn't try to block it with a shield, did you?'

'No, I was tied up.' The corners of Harry's lips pulled up slightly.

'That bastard. Didn't even give you a chance to defend yourself. . . My bad for not teaching you wandless defenses against Unforgivables,' Daphne said sarcastically.

'Yes, I'm placing all blame on you,' he replied playfully

'Did it hurt?' She bit her lip after the words came out. Had she just ruined the mood?

'Like Hell,' he scoffed.

She nodded and looked to the ceiling for a beat. 'Do you think he could teach me?' she said, amazingly with a straight face.

Harry snorted and erupted with laughter causing her to break and join him in laughing. Their outburst drew Madam Pomfrey from her office to peek at them. She smiled and went back in when she observed everything was fine.

'Bitch!' Harry spat after he slowed down his laughter.

'Ass,' Daphne retorted. Her eyes fell upon the bag of gold. 'So they named you the winner?'

'Yeah, will you take that for me?'

'The money?' she replied in shock.

'Yeah, I don't want it.'

'So you're just going to give it to me? As a gift?'

'You're catching on,' Harry smirked.

'No way! Even for a girlfriend that's overdoing it.'

'You could use it.'

'Absolutely, I could use it. But if you think I have so little pride as to accept that kind of charity, least of all from you, then you don't know me at all.'

'Don't let your pride get in the way. Just take the money.'

'You don't understand, do you? No one is going to take your money if you try to give it away like that,' she said almost scoldingly.

'So how could I frame it so someone would accept it?' he asked sincerely.

'Pay someone to do something for you. Make them feel the money isn't entirely free. . . Or find some business and become part owner.'

'Like an investor?'

'Yeah, you can buy a percentage of the business,' she agreed.

'Hmm, that's interesting' Harry said.

'Take some time to think on it. I hope you get better soon, I guess,' Daphne said as she got up and placed a quick peck on his forehead.

Daphne walked up from the dungeons with Tracey and Millicent to go wait for the carriages. Tracey had already coordinated with Ron that they would all ride the train together. Harry had been in his recluse mode ever since the tournament, and he had good reason, so Daphne was able to say he just wanted space and no one bothered her further.

They reached the group of fourth years and the ever-observant Tracey pointed out that Harry was off to the side of the group, talking with Fleur.

'Making a last-ditch effort to steal your champion,' Tracey suggested.

'I don't think so,' Daphne countered.

'Aren't you at least going to make your presence known?' Tracey asked again. 'Go on. I got your back in case things get rowdy.'

'Fine, I'll go over there. But things aren't getting rowdy.'

Daphne put on her best resting bitch face and strode over to where Harry and Fleur were chatting. And as she suspected, Fleur was just saying goodbye, with no hint of trying to seduce her boyfriend.

Yet, when Fleur noticed Daphne positioning herself protectively behind Harry, she narrowed her eyes at her, 'You still think I am trying to steal your boyfriend?' Fleur asked in accusation.

'Well. . .' Daphne answered without answering. Tracey wanted her to defend her man.

'You see. . .' Fleur said with calculation. 'If I wanted to steal your boyfriend, I would do this—'

She grabbed Harry's face and pulled him into a kiss. She didn't just kiss and let go either. No, she was firm in holding Harry close to her, deepening the kiss, and combing her hands through his hair.

Well, that backfired.

Harry for his part, did not appear to resist. At first, he just looked frozen. But the longer Fleur's lips stayed pressed against his, the more Daphne could see his facial muscles contracting and his jaw opening ever so slightly.

He was kissing her back. . . the bastard.

Daphne herself stayed frozen, watching. Again, emotions she didn't understand or couldn't pinpoint overwhelmed her. . . jealousy; surely not. . . anger; perhaps—she knew she should feel anger, at least. . . betrayal; couldn't be, their only commitment was a pretend one. So what was it?

'Do something,' Tracey urged.

'Oh. . . right.' Daphne stepped forward and putting a hand on each of their shoulders, pushed Harry and Fleur apart.

Fleur had a very satisfied grin on her face while Harry was in a daze.

'You've trained him well,' Fleur said suggestively as she sauntered away.

Harry's eyes followed every accentuated sway of her hips.

'Er. . . I'm gonna go talk to Ron,' Tracey said hurriedly as she fled.

Daphne nodded without shaking her gaze from Harry, his head still hadn't moved. She snapped her fingers in front of his face to break him from his trance.

'Hello, earth to Harry. What do you have to say for yourself?' she asked threateningly.

Harry shook the cobwebs from his head and turned to her, a small grin on his face. 'Yeah, I guess. . . I owe you a thank you.'

'Oh. . . you think you're funny?' she asked while smacking his arm. 'You smart ass.'

'A lucky, funny, smart ass. . . to be precise.'

'Ugh, I can't wait to be rid of you,' she mumbled.

'Almost there, sweetie,' he whispered as he took her hand.

She pulled her hand away. 'No! I'm mad at you right now.'

'That's fair. Even the best couples have their quarrels from time to time,' he said, unfazed.

Daphne went and stood between Millicent and Tracey, while Harry took his spot on the other side of Ron.

Ron leaned over and whispered, or his attempt at a whisper, 'That was rough, mate.'

'It was worth it,' Harry replied. 'But it was just a misunderstanding. She was just saying goodbye.'

Ron chuckled. 'Wonder why she didn't want to say goodbye to me. I helped save her sister too, after all.'

That earned him a sharp elbow in the side from Tracey.

'Oomph,' Ron grunted.

'Don't even think about it,' Tracey hissed.

'You should be glad she didn't say goodbye to you. Your girlfriend is still talking to you,' Harry added.

'Good point,' Ron agreed.

Daphne made a point of sitting on the same side of the train compartment as Millicent and Hermione, leaving Harry to sit next to Ron and Tracey. Until she figured out what she was feeling she was going to continue to portray the pissed-off girlfriend—it wasn't exactly an act at the moment.

Daphne found that Hermione was easy to talk to and they conversed for much of the first half of the train ride. She was intrigued by Hermione's love of school and the girl had her reconsidering her choice of electives for the next school year.

She overheard Harry explain to Ron that he had to stay at his Aunt and Uncle's house for a while before he could go anywhere else. Then perhaps, he'd stay with Sirius for a bit or he might just go to the Burrow.

A while? How long was that?

But no Harry! This was nice.

No, this was not nice. This meant an indefinite time of acting like she was missing her boyfriend. Was this not something she should've been prepared for? When was he planning on telling her this? Based on the way he refused to raise his eyes to hers and the small grin he was failing to contain. . . he wasn't. She seethed as she pretended to be listening to Hermione.

Harry stayed engaged with Ron and Tracey while Millicent inserted herself into whichever conversation she found most interesting.

'I think that speech Dumbledore gave this morning kinda loosened Harry up,' Hermione commented quietly.

'How do you mean?' Daphne asked

'Well, you've noticed he's kept to himself even more than normal, lately?'

'You can say that again.'

'I think this is the first time I've seen him smile and laugh since everything happened. We've tried to distract him but I don't think we were very successful.'

'Hmm,' Daphne said as she thought about their laugh in the hospital wing.

Everything was just how Daphne would've preferred it until Tracey had to stick her foot in her mouth.

'Harry, can you tell us what happened. . . you know. . . in the graveyard?'

Millicent gasped, Ron, Hermione, and Daphne looked at Tracey incredulously. It had already been passed along that Harry didn't want to relive the scene. Tracey either forgot or chose to ignore the previous instructions.

'Tracey—' Hermione started to give Harry a way out.

'It's ok, Hermione. I think it might be good for me to give you guys the whole story. Dumbledore wants the truth out so no point in hiding things,' Harry said.

'Only if you're sure, Harry,' Hermione said.

'I am,' Harry said before he broke into the story. He began at entering the maze and inserted the details he learned from Crouch as he went along, making the story complete. 'So then, Voldemort interrogated all his Death Eaters and I could tell he was looking for someone to make an example of,' Harry said.

Voldemort's eyes settled on the last Death Eater in the circle.

'And who might you be?' Voldemort sneered.

'I am Carl, my Lord.'

'Carl? I don't recall a Carl amongst our ranks.'

'Yes, my Lord. I was given the mark the night before—before that night,' he stammered while rolling up his sleeve to reveal the Dark Mark. 'Though you might have been drunk, which could explain why you don't remember.'

'So it may seem.' Voldemort brought a finger to his own mark and pressed down.

Carl let out a blood-curdling scream.

'Can you feel that?' Voldemort asked as he pressed harder and the volume of the scram intensified.

Carl dropped to his knees, writhing in pain, clutching his arm.

'Why don't you answer me, you insubordinate fool?' Voldemort spat.

'I—' Carl started before another wail of pain interrupted his reply.

'I have no use for a shell of a man that can't answer the simplest of petitions. . . Avada Kedavra!'

'So that was the second Killing Curse I witnessed that night. . . He almost made it look easy,' Harry said.

Daphne swore she saw him smirk at her.

'What happened next?' A male voice asked.

They looked towards the door, Fred and George were standing inside the door.

'When did you get in here?' Ron asked.

'Don't worry,' George said. 'We silenced the door after we got inside.'

Everyone squeezed in a little to make room for the twins and Harry continued with the story.

After he was done, they all postulated and theorized about what was next. They'd thrown around the best and worst-case scenarios while Harry didn't offer much input. Daphne also mainly sat back and watched.

Eventually, the topic got changed to a more light-hearted topic—the twins' jokes and pranks they were developing. It was a good note to end on as they pulled into the station.

'Fred, George, can you guys hang back and help me with something?' Harry asked the twins before they departed. Daphne had an idea what he was up to, she'd had the same thought, but was feeling too vindictive to relay the message to Harry. Apparently, he was smart enough to pick up on the opportunity on his own.

Everyone was ready to get out of the confinement of the train. Daphne especially.

Daphne was walking behind Ron and Tracey, who were holding hands and it made her realize that she should probably leave the train with Harry. She pulled off to the side of the hallway and let all the departing students pass while she waited for Harry.

The train continued to empty and Daphne continued to wait. Finally, no more students were walking by and Harry came out of his compartment.

He rolled his eyes as he saw her waiting for him.

'You didn't have to wait for me,' he said.

'I kinda did. There are two people that sorta need to be convinced we are going to miss each other for the next while.'

'Right,' he sighed.

'How long will this while be?' she pressed.

'I don't know. It's not up to me, honestly.' If he was just trying to be irritable, he did a good job hiding it.

'So did they accept your offer?' Daphne asked, giving up the questions that Harry claimed to not have answers to.

'What offer?' Harry replied as he tried to look confused about what she was asking about. Daphne's knowing look cut off his denial. 'Yes, they accepted.'

'As a gift?' she prodded.

'No, they wouldn't take it at first,' he admitted.

'What percent owner are you?' she asked, the satisfaction growing in her voice.

'Twenty-five percent.'

'Mmm,' she hummed. 'That's not bad.' Just like she'd explained to him. A small smirk crossed her face. And did Harry thank her for helping with the idea? Of course not.

He did offer her his hand as she descended the stairs of the train and kept it as they walked across the platform to her awaiting parents.

After some quick greetings, Sirius was anxious to get going. 'Alright, I'll take Harry over to the Dursley's and then meet you back home.'

'Daddy, wait,' Daphne pouted. 'I need to say bye to Harry.'

Sirius rolled his eyes but refrained from his usual growl, earning him a complimentary nod from Raquel

Daphne threw her arms around Harry's neck and he returned the hug. Their mouths were right next to each other's ears and they whispered bitter nothings.

'I'm not going to miss you one bit.'

'I hope your uncle beats you so bad you have to visit St Mungos for the whole holiday.'

Harry chuckled and pulled away, holding Daphne by her shoulders. 'There there, it's only two weeks. We'll get by,' he said gently while brushing her cheek with the back of a hand.

'Oh, Harry,' she cooed. Inside, she was fuming that he had made her seem to be the one that wouldn't be able to handle the time apart. Begrudgingly, she lifted up on her toes and pressed her lips to his.

No sooner had their connection been made than Sirius grabbed Harry's arm and pulled him away. 'Okaaaay, enough of that. You'll see each other soon enough.'

With that, the two pairs Apparated away.

It only took a few hours of pestering Sirius for Daphne to get the information that Harry would be at the Dursley's for two weeks. That was frustratingly long, but at least now she had a finish line. She made a small countdown calendar and placed it conspicuously in the kitchen. As each day passed she applied liberal amounts of her mother's lipstick and placed a kiss on the day, leaving a bright red lip imprint. She loved how it made her dad scowl every time he saw it.

The next two weeks were very enjoyable while they were doing something, it was the downtime that was annoying. She knew she was supposed to be missing her boyfriend but she just didn't know what that was supposed to look like.

She would pace the hallway and let out exaggerated sighs—those grew louder as the days went on. She left random scraps of parchment scattered around the apartment, all with "Daphne Potter," written in different styles—she always knew when Sirius found one of those, the whole building knew.

'Will you just sit down? Your pining is driving me mad,' Raquel stated after a series of particularly dramatic sighs.

'I'm sorry, Mum. I just hate the thought of Harry being with those monsters. You know how they've treated him. . .' Daphne knew just which buttons to push.

'I know. But Sirius made sure to remind them to be nice or they would have to answer to him.'

'That makes me feel better. . . a little.'

'Have you not heard from him? Haven't you written him?'

'No. He told me how much the Dursleys hated owls and I didn't want to be the one to ignite their wrath,' Daphne said innocently.

'Oh, you poor thing. . . no wonder you're going stir crazy,' Raquel said sweetly, taking her daughter in a hug.

'I told that man. . .' Sirius growled from the kitchen; it wasn't exactly eavesdropping in the small apartment. He continued his small tirade as he walked in from the kitchen. 'I told him to allow Harry as much communication as he wanted, owl or otherwise.'

Daphne stood up and put a comforting hand on her father's arm. 'It's ok, daddy. We just decided to be careful. And how did Harry put it? It was some muggle phrase like. . .
"abstinence makes the heart grow fonder," ' she said wistfully, a dreamy look in her eyes. 'He can be so romantic sometimes.'

Sirius' jaw clenched and the reverberations he created rattled the pictures hanging on the walls.

It was Raquel that took the task of calming Sirius but the fact that she couldn't withhold her snigger didn't help her cause. 'I think it's, "absence makes the heart grow fonder," dear.'

'Oh, right. . . that was it. . . silly me,' Daphne replied with her best airhead imitation.

The day Sirius was to go pick up Harry came and all Daphne felt was anxiety. They hadn't made any plans about what they were going to do once Harry arrived. Fortunately, her anxiousness was easily interpreted by her parents as anticipation so she didn't have to do any modifying of her behavior.

Her mom patted the couch next to her once Sirius left and Daphne sat, wringing her hands like a wet towel.

'Nervous?' Raquel asked.

'Yes, I know I shouldn't be, but it's felt like so long.'

'Well, not much longer,' Raquel consoled.

Only a minute later Sirius popped in with Harry.

Daphne stood, and the two teens just stared at each other from across the room. Daphne looked at Harry like she was seeing him for the first time. He hadn't gone through any dramatic changes in two weeks but perhaps, she was noticing some of the changes that she hadn't noticed over the year. A little bit taller, and just a bit older.

He seemed to be evaluating her more intently as well. His eyes did a single pass up and down her body—which had done its own bit of maturing over the past year—and the slight upturn at the corners of his mouth said he liked what he saw, or was at least pretending to like it.

'Aren't you a sight for sore eyes.' Harry said gruffly.

Daphne allowed a coquettish smile to blossom on her face.

The phrase was like the releasing of an invisible gate that allowed them to start moving towards one another. He embraced her in a warm hug. She rested her head just above his shoulder.

'So now what?' she whispered in his ear.

'I don't know,' Harry answered quietly.

'Ok, kids. Let's head out,' Sirius proclaimed. He didn't seem to want to allow for any further displays of affection.

'I guess we have some time to think about it,' Daphne said as she let go of Harry.

Her parents kept them busy for the day. They had obviously made plans ahead of time.

'I think we should stage a fight,' Daphne suggested at one point when they had a hint of privacy.

'A fight?' Harry asked.

'Yeah, like you said, all good couples have their quarrels. If everything seems too perfect, they might get suspicious.'

'Ok, so what do we fight about? Fleur?'

'That's an option, but I'm thinking of something else,' Daphne said mysteriously.

'What else is there?'

'Oh, there's plenty. And if you don't know ahead of time, our argument will seem more real.'

Harry didn't seem to like that answer but accepted it. 'When are we doing this?'

'You'll know,' she answered.

'You're liking this control way too much,' Harry smirked.

'Perhaps,' Daphne agreed with a grin.

They returned home before dinner and Harry asked Daphne to help him unpack his things.

'Keep the door open,' Sirius cried.

'Sirius, relax,' Raquel soothed. 'You trusted your Charms before. . . Do you not trust them now?'

'Of course. I do,' Sirius said, though his confidence definitely seemed to waver. 'Still, keep the door open,' he instructed.

'Yes, daddy,' Daphne sing-songed as she grabbed Harry's hand and nearly skipped to her room, pulling him along.

'I'm going to regret this,' Sirius moaned loud enough they could all hear.

Daphne wrenched her hand away as soon as she entered the room. Harry didn't exactly resist.

'I don't really need help unpacking,' Harry said quietly as he went to his trunk and Daphne sat in her bed.

'That's good because you would've been disappointed if you thought I was going to help you at all,' Daphne countered. 'You're not that lucky.'

'Oh, I'm pretty lucky,' he smirked.

'Are you trying to start a fight?' she hissed.

'Well, you said. . .'

'Yea, and I already told you that was not going to be the topic.'

'So what is the topic? Let's get this going before I unpack too many things,' he suggested as he hurled a Gryffindor banner across the room, taking Daphne by surprise and hitting her directly in the face.

'Hey!' she yelled in a muffled cry.

'That's just small payback for the Stinger right in the face.'

'One of my better shots, if I do say so myself,' she replied in a self-satisfied manner.

'Even a blind Niffler finds gold every once in a while,' he snarked as he placed some clothes in the one drawer of the dresser that was designated as his.

'Nifflers are blind, you dolt!'

'Aha! No, they are not. It's a common misconception because they look like moles. But Nifflers actually have fairly keen eyesight.' Now Harry was the self-satisfied one.

'Ok, Hermione,' she replied sarcastically.

'Strike two. I learned that all on my own. Your insults are feeble.'

'You're making me wish Voldemort never untied you.'

'Alas, he did. So now you're stuck with me,' he smirked.

'Not for long.' She was beyond irritated now, a perfect time to start a fight. 'Why didn't you tell me about Voldemort sooner?' For the first time, she raised her voice so it would surely carry out of the room and down the hallway. Having Sirius instruct them to leave the door open would prevent them from needing to yell the whole time.

'Why would I tell you?' he replied without a hitch. He did a good job at not sounding spiteful, but added a hint of worry to his question. He hadn't even had to look at her to catch the change in her tone and disposition.

Had Harry always been this observant? Or was it she that had been missing something before?

'Oh, I don't know. . . because I'm your girlfriend.'

'And what could you have done had you known? You already helped me train!' The volume and intensity of their voices continued to rise.

'I—well, I guess we'll never know. Could you tell Ron and Hermione? Is that who you could tell?' she accused.

'I—I, er. . .' he stammered as he stood up and let fall into the trunk the clothes he had in his hands.

During the lull, they could hear the laughter coming from Sirius.

'It's working,' Daphne mouthed as she rose from the bed. 'Why could you tell them and not me?' The scornful tone came easy to her.

'Because. . . well. . .' He has the sputtering fool role down pat. She'd have to give him a hard time about that in the future; it felt all too natural.

'Because they're your friends!? Is that it!? So what does that make me!? Were you just using me for my body?' She channeled her inner Tracey as she asked the questions without taking a breath. She let the hurt flow, though she couldn't quite produce the tears she so desperately wanted. She could produce a fake sniffle though.

From down the hall, a low rumble was heard. She'd struck a nerve within one of her questions.

'Honey, no—'

'Don't "honey" me,' she said venomously.

'Daphne. . . I'm sorry. I should've told you. . . You're everything to me. . . But I didn't want to worry you. I saw the way Ron and Hermione almost pitied me and I didn't want that from you. . . I just wanted you to continue treating me like normal. You bring out a part of me that nobody else can. . . and I was scared to lose that.'

He drew closer. They were standing now, only an arm's length away.

Damn, he even had that remorseful look in his eye. If she was going to tease him about being a natural sputtering fool, she'd have to admit he nailed the apologetic boyfriend as well; or maybe she wouldn't ever admit that.

'Harry, I—I don't know what to say.'

'Just tell me you'll forgive me,' he said gently yet firmly enough for his voice to carry out the door.

'You'll just have to show me that you're sorry,' she said suggestively.

'And how do you propose I do that?' he responded in kind. A small smile playing at his lips.

'Well. . .' Daphne started, adding as much sultry to her voice as she could while she made her way to the door. 'I can think of one thing I've been missing for a couple of weeks.' And with that, she closed the door as quietly as she could.

She walked back over to Harry and wrapped her arms around his neck, the Gryffindor banner still in her hand. 'I guess we just wait until he notices the door is closed then catches us in the act. . .' she proposed.

'No. Let's not wait. . .' Harry stepped back and snatched the banner from Daphne.

He went to his trunk and fished out a hammer. He then pulled out a Galleon and transfigured it into a nail.

'Help me?' he asked as he climbed onto the bed.

Daphne caught on and grabbed the other end of the banner to stretch it across the wall above the head of Harry's bed.

'I can't believe I'm helping someone hang a Gryffindor banner. I feel dirty,' Daphne commented.

'The levels you'll stoop to just to piss off your dad,' Harry replied.

'I don't think it's going to stay up with only one nail,' she said as she saw Harry lining up the golden nail.

'I'll be lucky to get this one all the way in,' Harry smirked. And he started to hammer.

Bang

Bang

Bang

He didn't hammer quickly but paused in between each strike to create a nice slow rhythm.

'You are going to be so dead,' Daphne said with a laugh. 'And I love it.'

Harry shook his head and smiled.

Bang

Bang

Boom

Sirius burst into the room. 'What the hell is going on in here?' he roared, shoulders heaving with each deep breath.

'Just a little decorating,' Harry said casually.

'Not funny. And this is not a good idea.'

'What's not a good idea?' Harry asked with some attitude.

'You staying here.'

'But we didn't do anything,' Harry reasoned.

Both kids got off the bed.

Daphne tried to hide her anticipation. Was Sirius really going to make it this easy?

'Not yet, you haven't,' Sirius replied presumptuously. 'But you knew damn well what you were doing. I know what's on your mind. Both your minds,' he added, looking between the two of them.

Neither gave a denial.

'What do you want me to say? Your daughter is hot. You can't tell me you blame me,' Harry said boldly.

Oh! That would do it. She had to hand it to Harry, he went all in.

Daphne almost snorted at his brashness but she kept her reaction in check. And the color in her face probably helped to sell the point.

'Alright! You're outta here!' Sirius cried, waving his wand and repacking all the things Harry had unpacked. The banner ripped from the nail holding it in place.

'Are we going to the Burrow?' Harry asked hopefully.

'Ha! You could only wish,' Sirius said scornfully.

'You're not sending him back to the Dursleys, are you?' Daphne pleaded.

'He's going to wish he was back at the Dursley's when he's through,' Sirius answered.

Daphne wrapped Harry in one more hug. 'You did great! Good luck,' she whispered.

'You're welcome,' he responded cheekily.

'Brat.'

'Ok, that's enough goodbyes. Let's go, Harry,' Sirius ordered, holding out an arm for Harry to latch onto. Sirius already had Harry's trunk in his grasp.

'Bye, Daph,' Harry said with a wink as he latched onto Sirius' arm.

They Apparated before she could even get out any words.

She left her room, turned her smile upside down, and somberly walked to sit by her mum on the couch. She answered the questions her mum had about the details that were indiscernible from the conversation.

'Dad's gonna kill Harry,' Daphne stated gloomily.

'Don't be delusional. He might beat him, but he'll leave him alive,' Raquel said with a grin.

'That's not all that reassuring. Do you know where he's taking him? Is it going to be as bad as dad said it is?'

'I have an idea. And no, I don't think it'll be that bad. Harry will be fine,' Raquel assured her. 'Someday, your father might learn to not overreact. . . someday.'

'Now who's the delusional one?'