A/N: Edited and Updated 2/9/22

Chapter 9

Terms of Endearment

'Where'd you take him?'

'Er. . .'

'Dad! Where'd you take him?' Daphne demanded, stomping a foot to add emphasis.

'Well. . . I took him to Grimmauld first. . . but then I realized that just wouldn't work right now and it wouldn't be much of a punishment once the Weasleys got there anyway.'

'You're dodging the question. Where did you take him?'

Sirius audibly gulped. 'Dursley's. And I told them he was to receive no correspondence of any kind.'

'What!?' Daphne yelled and she jumped up and ran to her room, slamming the door on her way in. She jumped on her bed, buried her head in her pillow, and shrieked.

She had to get out of the room. . . and away from her parents. She was so happy, there was no way she was going to produce the tears that would be expected. Not only did she not have to live with Harry, he got sent back to his miserable relatives' house. Harry had never told her any specifics but she knew he didn't enjoy living there.

Some of that Potter luck had finally rubbed off on her.

After she had given herself enough time to recover; to settle down; to regain her composure; she silently left her room and creeped down the hallway. She could hear voices coming from the kitchen.

'So, now that you've had some time to think it over. . . Did that go as you expected?' She heard Raquel ask.

'Actually, better. I thought she would yell, scream, and chew me out first,' Sirius replied.

'You mean, your daughter has more self-control than you do?'

'I have self-control!'

'You kicked your godson out of the house because he was—of all the horrible things—decorating his room,' Raquel said reproachfully.

'You make it sound a lot less nefarious when you put it like that.'

Daphne didn't have to be able to see her mother to know what look Sirius was currently on the receiving end of. 'And how did Harry respond when you dropped him off?'

'Saying he was not happy would be an understatement. But he was most upset about no one telling him things. So, I told him all the updates from the Order and promised to let him know if there were any new developments. He still wasn't pleased with me, but he'd put his wand away.'

'I still think you are overreacting. . . banning him from all communication.'

'Oh,' Sirius said bashfully. 'I didn't actually do that, I just said that so Daph wouldn't try to write him.'

'Sirius! That is horrible. I don't think you should leave him there.'

'He's gonna be fine. Vernon knows if anyone touches Harry there will be consequences.'

'Maybe so, but you need to do some more thinking before taking these drastic actions.'

'Ok, do you think I should go get him?' Sirius asked surprisingly.

'I think so, but that's just me,' Raquel said.

'Fine?' Sirius sighed. 'Let me eat first, then I'll go get Harry. Should we get Daph?'

'No, leave her be for now. She'll come out when she is ready,' Raquel replied. 'Maybe the surprise will cheer her up.'

Shit. Shit. Shit.

No! No! No!

Harry can't come back. Was there anything she could do to change the course that was set? She heard her parents start to eat and she thought and thought. Then, she had an idea; it would work, it had to work.

She walked to her room, opened the door, and then shut it loud enough for the noise to carry to the kitchen but not loud enough to be considered a slam.

She put on a contemplative look as she entered the kitchen, drawing the attention of both her parents who seemed to be anticipating her entrance.

'Daphne, I need to apologize,' Sirius started. 'I—'

'Can I go first, Dad?' she cut through his apology before he could state his intentions.

'Well, sure, sweetie.'

'Ok, well, since you already apologized. . . I forgive you.'

'You—what?' he asked in bewilderment.

'I forgive you. I know you probably think you overreacted. But when I thought about it, I realized you were just acting in my best interest. It's no secret that Harry and I kinda lose control around each other, for good and for bad, as you've witnessed. I mean, his eyes are so gorgeous. . . all he has to do is look at me and I melt like butter. Of course, I know a couple of things that make him melt as well. You see, he as this little spot behind—'

'Ok! I get it. I don't need details,' Sirius interrupted.

'Oh, right. . . sorry, daddy,' Daphne said innocently. It was hard not to laugh at the way Sirius cringed at her near description. 'So the conclusion I came to is. . . that maybe it's best if we have some time apart. It's not even two months and maybe we can learn a lot about ourselves in that time.'

'Are you sure? I was about ready—'

'Yes, Daddy. I'm sure. At least right now, I am. But my willpower is notoriously weak when it comes to Harry, so if you pressure me I might change my mind.' She closed her eyes and said longingly, 'If I think hard enough I can feel his rippling muscles—'

'Done! No more trying to change your mind from me,' Sirius said resolutely. He rose from his seat and took Daphne in a warm hug. 'Thanks for forgiving me.'

'Of course, Dad. I knew that I wanted to have a fun vacation and that wouldn't work if I was mad at you the whole time.'

'Daphne, are you sure?' Raquel asked.

'Yes, Mum. I don't like the idea of him being there any more than you do. But Harry's strong. He has faced down Voldemort now how many times? And lived to tell about it. I don't think a few muggles should be a problem,' Daphne said resolutely.

'Ok, this is very mature of you,' Raquel stated.

'Just trying to do what is right, Mum. Perhaps, that's Harry's influence.'

'Or you are just growing up,' Sirius suggested, not wanting to admit anything good could come from boys.

Disaster averted, Daphne thought. She let out a huge inward sigh of relief.

They all sat down at the table and continued with the meal that was awaiting them.

The summer was lovely. They went and did whatever they wanted, with no need to hide or be secretive. But it was only a couple of weeks later, the beginning of August when something changed. The demeanor of her parents flipped from jovial and fun to more cautious and protective.

She thought about prodding but decided against it. She scoured the Daily Prophet for clues but that didn't reveal much. She suspected if it was something involving Harry it would be national news. So although that was her prime suspicion, she had no evidence to support it.

Again, it took her walking into a conversation to get the information.

'Are you going to tell her?' Raquel had just asked Sirius as Daphne entered the kitchen for breakfast.

'Tell me what?' Daphne called out, startling her parents.

Sirius shared a look with Raquel who gave him an encouraging nod.

'You should sit down,' Sirius suggested.

That worried Daphne. There wasn't much that would trouble her so this must be pretty serious for him to prepare her and now, she could only think the worst had happened. But she obliged and sat on the edge of the chair, not feeling the desire to get comfortable.

'Well. . . Harry's been involved in an incident. . .'

'Ok. . . An incident? What kind of incident?' She demanded. Sirius was obviously feeling a sense of guilt over something, and to a degree towards her. She could use that to be as demanding as she wanted, without recompense, she enjoyed that.

'He ran into some—or better, he, and his cousin. . . were attacked by Dementors.'

She slumped in her chair. It was worse than the worst. . . The Dementor's kiss. There was only a small handful of people she would wish that on, and Harry had long since left that group.

And damn, if he hadn't been at his relative's, he never would've been in that situation. Great, now she was feeling just as guilty as her father seemed to be feeling.

'His cousin? But isn't he a muggle?' Daphne asked quickly.

'Harry's ok, dear. You left that part out, honey,' Raquel interjected, sending a scowl at Sirius. Raquel had picked up on how Daphne had paled.

Daphne let out a sigh of relief; not dead, and apparently, no kiss. She could manage almost anything else, her guilt melted away.

'Yes, yes, physically, Harry is ok,' Sirius confirmed bashfully. 'But he is in a bit of hot water with the Ministry.'

Daphne scrunched her eyebrows but didn't need to tell her father to continue.

'Harry cast a Patronus Charm to save himself and his cousin. And as of right now, is in line to be expelled from Hogwarts and have his wand snapped,' Sirius explained with sorrow.

'That's. . . that's. . . that's horrible,' she breathed.

She didn't wait for her parents to respond or to elaborate any further. She took off to her room and for the second time this summer shrieked with joy into her pillow. Her muffled laughter surely sounded like sobs to anyone outside the room, if that is what you expected to hear.

But as she lay in her bed, her smile faded as she realized she wasn't as convicted in her happiness as she thought she would've been. Just one year ago, there would've been no internal struggle but now, there was something, some sadness that she might not have someone to spar with. Or even–perish the thought—snog with on occasion.

Damn. She was going to miss Harry Potter. She did not want him expelled. This was not an enjoyable revelation.

So, as she gathered herself and left her room, it wasn't entirely an act to seem worried as her parents explained the whole situation.

All their worries were put to bed after the trial and they were able to continue their summer without concern. Sirius began to disappear more and more as the days progressed. He refused to let Raquel or Daphne come with him to clean up Grimmauld. He claimed he wanted it to be a surprise and didn't want the current state to taint their opinion of the place.

Daphne cherished the alone time with her mum. It reminded her of all the time they'd spent together and she couldn't help but appreciate how much effort her mother had gone through to make her life as comfortable as possible. She knew it couldn't have been easy with the secrets she'd been carrying around all those years.

'What's this?' Daphne asked as her mum set a small vial on the kitchen table as they were sitting for tea.

'It's a contraceptive.'

'Mum!'

'Now hear me out,' Raquel said with a raised hand, calming Daphne for the moment. 'There's a reason I'm giving you this while your father isn't around. He and I. . . we don't see eye to eye on this topic.'

'But in your letters—'

'That was before I realized how hypocritical I was being.'

Daphne nodded that she would listen and for her mum to continue.

'So, I know things happen. And I know there are protections at Hogwarts. . . but there aren't protections on the train. And if I had a boyfriend I hadn't hardly seen all summer and he was as attractive as Harry—'

'Please don't call my boyfriend attractive,' Daphne pleaded. 'It sounds creepy.'

'I'm sorry, but I can't fault your choice, that's all. Anyway, if I were in your shoes, I wouldn't make it out of London.'

'Mum! You were a slut!' Daphne exclaimed.

'Some still say I am,' Raquel said with a chuckle. 'It's not slutty if it's with your boyfriend, give me some credit,' she reproached playfully.

'Ok, Mum, before you go on. . . I need to tell you something,' Daphne said tentatively.

'Oh no! Please don't tell me!' Raquel gasped, bringing her hands to her chest. 'Did you sneak out and see Harry? I knew your father shouldn't have disabled the Charms. Are you pregnant?'

'Mum, shut up! Do you not trust us at all?'

'If you had teenage years like me and your father, you wouldn't either. I'll never trust a teenager the rest of my life,' she replied with another small laugh.

'I see. So that's why you were starting to sound like dad,' Daphne stated.

'Oh, yes. I'm sorry. Go ahead,' Raquel said and she took a deep calming breath.

'First of all, I'm not pregnant because. . . well. . . we've never actually done it.'

Raquel gazed at her suspiciously, and Daphne kept her expression neutral, she knew it might take some convincing.

'Daphne, it's ok. I thought I'd made myself clear, you don't have to hide it from me. I'm not judging you.'

'I know, Mum. But I'm telling you the truth. All that stuff that dad said we did isn't because he knew. It was all just his imagination. We just never bothered to correct anything. It was all basically a bunch of rumors and gossip.'

'Alright, let's say I believe you. Why would you allow those types of rumors to float about? Surely you've seen how they've affected me,' Raquel said with concern.

'Promise not to be mad?' Daphne requested.

'Yes, can't be worse than what I was imagining.'

'And you can't tell Dad!' she demanded. 'Can you keep a secret?'

'I'm basically a professional secret keeper.'

'Ok. . . everything. . . well, just about everything you've heard about the relationship between Harry and I. . . is just pretend,' Daphne explained.

Raquel looked at her with skepticism. 'Go on. I'm still not buying it.'

'Would you buy it if I told you it only started because we thought it would get under dad's skin?'

'I could see that,' Raquel agreed.

'And then we realized the further we took things—or the further he thought we took things—the more irritated he got. And if we kept it up until summer, we wouldn't have to share a room. . .'

The light seemed to go off for Raquel. 'You mean to tell me you've been pranking Sirius for over six months just so you two don't have to live together?'

'Uhuh. It's not like it was a continual thing. We only had to act when we knew Sirius was around.'

'That is . . . amazing! That was some serious commitment. You sure had me going. But I actually think you two could be good for each other.'

'Please, stop that! He's disgusting!' Daphne exclaimed. 'So you're not mad?'

'Heavens no! I'm somewhat relieved you won't be needing this,' Raquel said, lifting the little vial from the table. 'Though I wouldn't blame you if you wanted to fool around with Harry.'

'Mum!'

'I'm just saying. . . you obviously work well together when you want to and that goes a long way to having a satisfying—'

'Stop! Just, stop!' Daphne exclaimed, waving her hands in front of her face. Anything to distract from the thoughts that were making a barrage towards her. 'Do you think dad will be mad?'

'Oh, yes. But he isn't going to find out, is he?' Raquel asked conspiratorially.

'We hope not,' Daphne said.

'Good. I won't tell him. I'm not delivering that kind of news. And if anyone deserves it, it's him. After all the grief he put people through.' Raquel paused to take a sip of her tea. She gave a few small shakes of her head as she set her cup down. 'So it was all fake?' she asked disbelievingly.

'Yeah.'

'Even the kissing? How'd you fake that?' Raquel asked with a mischievous glint in her eye.

'I—well, the kissing was real. . . I guess. But it just didn't mean anything,' Daphne reasoned.

'Nothing?' she questioned.

'No, nothing. It was just an act. . . a fun act, but nothing more,' Daphne replied defensively.

'Ok. . . I'm just asking. And he knows all this as well? He's on the same page?'

'Yes!' Daphne was certain. They'd been very clear that everything they did was just for show and they still despised each other. Nothing had been said to the contrary.

'Ok ok. Well, I support you. Are you going to keep up the charade this year? I don't think Sirius will be at Hogwarts at all this year.'

'I don't know. We haven't discussed it. We don't actually talk much,' Daphne replied. She then went on to describe how the year went and how she and Harry rarely spoke outside of their 'moments.' Her mother ate it all up and Daphne could tell she had things she wanted to say, but held back. Daphne didn't ask either, she wasn't sure she wanted to hear her mother's opinions, or suggestions—she had blushed enough for one day.

'Well, all I can say, is that relationships—real and fake ones—can get complicated. If you need to talk to someone, I'm always here for you.'

'Thanks, Mum.'

The night before she was to leave for Hogwarts Sirius gave her a gift, a small handheld mirror.

'Er, thanks, Dad,' Daphne said. 'We have mirrors in our dorms, you know.'

Sirius smiled wider than he should've for a simple object, then left the room.

Daphne looked at her mum in confusion. Then the mirror began to vibrate lightly and she heard her name. When she looked down, she saw her father's face, the giant smile still on his face.

'Dad!'

'Yeah, this is an enchanted mirror. Just say my name, or your mum's, and it will activate,' Sirius explained.

'This is great!' Daphne exclaimed and the mirror connection broke.

'So, when I said I am here to talk to you whenever you want, I was being serious. I just couldn't spoil your father's surprise,' Raquel said before Sirius reentered the room.

The next day she packed up her last items and they went to King's Cross to send her off. She scanned the platform, no sign of Harry. She spotted Tracey and Millicent. She said goodbye to her parents and gave them one last hug.

'Go snog you boyfriend,' Raquel chimed in before she got too far away.

'Don't encourage her!' Sirius retorted. 'That is if he'll even talk to her,' he added with a mischievous grin.

'What did you say to him?' Raquel asked accusingly.

'Just the truth,' he replied.

Daphne tried to ignore her father's comments as she left, he was just egging her on, right? She looked back with a laugh and a smile, her mum already laughing. 'I'll be sure to, mum!' Then she turned back towards the train and her friends. She boarded the train with the satisfaction of hearing her father's low growl.

She joined her friends and found a compartment.

After their regular greetings, Daphne asked, 'So, Tracey, how are you and Ron?'

'We broke up. Well, I broke up with him. He was getting a little mysterious in his letters and I had the feeling he was hanging out with Hermione, which I expected. I didn't feel like being the absentee girlfriend, used as a prop to make another girl jealous. Doing in real life is one thing, this was another.'

'And, how'd he take it?'

'Didn't seem too messed up over it. I think he understood. Who knows what this year holds,' Tracey said with her usual "what'll come will come" attitude.

'What about you and Harry?' Millicent asked.

'I don't know. I think we're good but I didn't hear from him very much. I didn't exactly write to him either though,' Daphne answered.

'Why not?' Millicent probed.

'Well, for one he never apologized,' Daphne said with a hint of anger.

'About Fleur?' Tracey ejaculated.

'Yeah,' Daphne confirmed. That was as good as anything else she would've come up with.

'So, you refused to write him until he apologized; a condition he probably didn't even know you had set,' Tracey postulated.

'If he didn't know, he should have,' Daphne said with a shrug.

'So you went all summer without hearing from him?' Millicent asked. She was more concerned for the relationship than Daphne.

'Just about,' Daphne stated.

'You two sure have a weird relationship. If it even is still a relationship,' Tracey commented.

'Yeah, I guess we'll see what this year holds,' Daphne said, taking a page out of Tracey's book. Though she couldn't entirely kick that nagging doubt that was floating around in her head.

A few younger students joined their compartment, claiming it was the least full. That put an end to a lot of what the friends wanted to talk about, so the girls caught up on different topics for the rest of the ride.

It didn't take a long time for Harry to cause a stir, just the first day of classes. Word had traveled quickly and Tracey was primed to discuss at dinner.

'Did you hear Harry got detention for talking back to the toad?' Tracey asked.

'Yeah, 'cause he's an idiot,' Daphne replied. 'Sometimes he can't keep his mouth shut and other times he can't open it.'

She'd spent the first few days at Hogwarts trying to catch his eye. Well, she hadn't been trying that hard but she'd regularly look his way, and unlike before, not once did she find him returning her glances. If she were to wager, she'd say he was avoiding her, which was odd, no matter what their relationship was. Unless Sirius really had said something, but Harry would be stupid to believe anything he said, right? She tried telling herself she was over it, if he wanted to talk, he could come to her.

'Maybe you should talk to him,' Millicent suggested.

'No, you know Harry. He only talks when he is ready. The rest of us have to operate on his time,' Daphne snarled.

'Yeah. . . maybe you shouldn't talk to him,' Tracey said with a laugh. 'You might bite his head off.'

'Exactly,' Daphne agreed. She glanced around the Hall again, and for the first time this year, she thought she caught Harry looking over in her direction. She let her eyes linger on him to see if he would look back up as she took her goblet to take a sip of her pumpkin juice.

It was not pumpkin juice. But in her distracted state, she took in almost a full mouthful before the taste registered. Without thinking, she spewed the liquid across the table and all over Tracey.

'The hell, Daph!' Tracey cried. She began wiping her face and started scrunching her nose. She was sniffing. Then she took the napkin she'd been using and gave it a big whiff. Immediately she threw the napkin away in disgust. 'That's piss, Daph!'

'What?' Daphne shouted. She brought the goblet to her nose and inhaled. The scent was unmistakable. Students up and down the table were laughing and Daphne's screwed-up face was likely adding to their enjoyment.

She wanted this goblet out of her sight as soon as possible so she tossed it over her shoulder. The goblet hurled through the air.

Tracey's eyes widened as she followed its trajectory.

Daphne heard the thud of brass hitting something and it wasn't the floor. She turned her head to see Draco Malfoy, liquid dripping from his blonde locks and onto his pristine robes. A look of fury on his face.

Another burst of laughter erupted across the Hall.

'If you came over to take the piss, Malfoy, I guess you got what you came for,' Daphne mocked.

Those nearby burst out in another bout of laughter.

'Be sure to tell your father,' Tracey called out to Malfoy as he stalked away.

Daphne scanned the Hall again, most people were laughing to some degree, most uncontrollably. Though, one individual was particularly subdued in his joy—especially given his animosity towards Malfoy. Harry's shoulders were jiggling with mirth but he kept his head down. He was so guilty.

'Who do you think did that to you, Daphne?' Tracey asked once they were settled again.

'I don't know,' Daphne lied. She knew, or she had a very strong suspicion of who had done it. Her friends would never believe that Harry would do such a thing; it wouldn't be worth the argument to try and convince them.

'Maybe it was those Weasley twins. They're always pulling pranks, especially on us Slytherins,' Millicent proposed.

'That's the most likely,' Daphne agreed. The sooner they moved on the better.

'I don't think they'd choose Daphne. But there's just no way to prove it anyway. We'll probably never know,' Tracey said in defeat.

As Harry rose from the dinner table, he most definitely looked in her direction, a victorious smile flashed for the briefest moment. It was confirmation, if she ever needed any.

It was a few weeks later when Hermione sat next to her in their Arithmancy class. She'd shared some friendly hello's with her but they'd yet to speak at length. And Daphne hadn't expected her to sit with her, there were plenty of desks and available chairs, not everyone needed to share.

They made a little small talk before the class began. But as the class progressed Daphne could tell Hermione was a little antsy. Something was on her mind. Finally, the professor set them to work on their assignment and they could converse freely with their neighbors if they liked.

'Something on your mind, Hermione?' Daphne asked with a friendly tone.

'Yes,' Hermione sighed, though she still seemed worried.

There was one likely reason for that. 'Is it Harry?'

'Yes,' Hermione said with another sigh.

'What about him?' Daphne asked calmly.

'I know it's not my place. But what's going on between you? The only thing I could get out of Harry was that you never reconciled from your last fight. When, where, or what it was about, he'll never say. I've given up asking, but I thought I'd get your side before giving up completely,' Hermione said.

'That sounds pretty accurate, actually,' Daphne said pensively. 'Harry didn't say anything else?'

'Well, he mentioned one other thing, but it was so discombobulated I couldn't make heads or tails of it. I think Sirius gave him the impression that you wanted some space for the summer. We thought with him dating your mother, you'd come over to visit at some point. But that never happened so I think he started to think Sirius was telling the truth.'

Daphne's mouth made the shape of an "O" but she didn't release any sound. But in her head. . . Ooooh, shit. Sirius told him she wanted space, and probably blamed her for him staying at the Dursleys for a longer time. Even then, that didn't seem to be all that bad from what she knew; admittedly, that wasn't much.

'I told him that he was mad. Sirius' information was likely third-hand and not accurate, or even more likely, completely made up—'

'Do you know much about the Dursleys? Where Harry stays in the summer?' Daphne asked.

'No, he always clams up when I ask, which hasn't been for a while. Seems like a pattern. But I'd venture to guess they treat him well, that's pretty obvious.'

'Yeah, obvious,' Daphne agreed in word so she didn't come off as the oblivious bitch she felt like.

But now, some things were starting to make more sense. Harry's hellos were colder, and his glances in her direction were less frequent than the year prior. Perhaps, his situation at home was worse than she'd anticipated. If that were the case, it was no wonder he was pissed at her. Perhaps his stunt was more thought out than she gave him credit for—that made her chuckle inside, even in his revenge, he was more clever than she'd ever credit him for.

It was either that, or he was just toying with her, and given the history of their relationship, it would be difficult for her to differentiate the two. Whether he was justified in his actions or not, she was still intent on some sort of revenge for how much he'd embarrassed her.

'Maybe you should try talking to him. . .' Hermione suggested somewhat hesitantly.

I'd rather just snog him. She shook the thought. 'I'll tell you the same thing I told Tracey, and you should understand this better than her, and even I. . . Harry talks when he is ready to talk. I'm ready when he is.'

'I get that,' Hermione replied with an air of defeat. That was not the answer or response she was hoping for. 'Especially this year, I get that.'

The slamming of closing books from their classmates was like a gong telling them the class was over.

Daphne closed her own book and got up with a nod to Hermione.

She didn't look particularly hopeful. That conversation didn't seem to go as she had planned.

'That doesn't mean we can't be friends,' Daphne said hopefully before leaving.

That drew a small conciliatory smile from Hermione. It was something.

A couple of weeks later she was sitting in her bed, writing out a couple of notes—she had finally come up with an idea and was ready to put the wheels in motion—while waiting for her mirror to buzz. She had tried to talk to her parents weekly though it didn't always pan out and she hadn't spoken since her revealing chat with Hermione.

Soon enough, the mirror shook and her mother was calling her name from the other side. They caught up on the latest; Sirius was spending more and more time at Grimmauld. He claimed the cleaning was just taking longer than expected and he had some grand plans that required it to be done by the summer. Daphne sensed he was not telling her something but she knew all the questioning in the world wouldn't pry the information out of him.

'So. . . How's your boyfriend?' Raquel asked in an overly obnoxious tone.

'Why?' Sirius groaned. He had moved to the background after chatting.

Both ladies laughed at his discomfort.

'Not great, Mum. I can barely get a word in with him right now, no thanks to Dad,' she said scornfully. 'I know what you said.'

'What did you say?' Raquel asked threateningly, looking at Sirius.

'Hey, it's not my fault that Harry didn't like the idea of his girlfriend saying she wanted space,' Sirius reasoned with his hands up defensively.

Daphne furrowed her eyes at her father.

'Perhaps, he just needs some cheering up. . .' Raquel said suggestively.

'Ahhh, why do you encourage her?' Sirius moaned.

'I was thinking the same thing,' Daphne said cheerily while picking up one of her notes and flashing it in the mirror. 'If he won't talk, maybe he'll read. I was just writing to him, saying he could use a good snog. A little distraction might be good for him and a reminder of what he's been missing.'

'I think you're on the right track,' Raquel stated.

'No, you're not! Harry needs to focus. The last thing he needs is another distraction,' Sirius claimed.

'Sorry, Dad, you're outvoted here. I'm thinking, the broom closet on the third floor,' Daphne said as she started filling out the rest of her note. 'You know the one, right Dad?'

'Ok, good night, Daphne!' Sirius said in exasperation. 'I might not be able to stop it but I don't have to know where it's happening.'

'Ok, no more details. But don't tell Harry, Dad. I want next Saturday night to be a surprise,' she said as sternly as she could muster.

She could see Sirius put his fingers in his ear and dance around singing some song. But it had been too late, he'd already heard the last detail, there was no undoing it.

'Good night, sweetheart. Have fun,' Raquel said with a smile and a wink.

'Night,' Daphne said with a satisfied smile.

Her plan would work. It had to work.