Chapter 14

I Believe I Can Fly

Harry's reward for behaving at the wedding was getting taken to the Weasleys straight away to spend the rest of the summer with his friends. At least, that was the explanation Sirius gave.

Daphne suspected that there was more to it than that. She was not surprised that Harry was jettisoned at the first sight of her and him getting along, even if they both displayed unbridled elation when Sirius announced his decision right after the wedding — they weren't going to let him think he'd won.

Daphne spent her summer alternating between two main activities: reading and flying. The Black family library was loaded, she preferred the fiction selection — and for being such a staunch Pureblood family, there was a fair amount of muggle fiction mixed in. There were plenty of educational books. And while she would get excited about learning something new on occasion, that enthusiasm tended to die down after a while. She would save her studying energy for when she returned to school.

Flying, on the other hand, she couldn't get enough of. Going those months of the last school year without her broom made her appreciate it all the more. And with how willing Kreacher was to help her, she didn't even have to wait for her parents to take her to a designated flying area or secluded public location. Kreacher could pop her anywhere and pick her up at a moment's notice. The freedom was liberating and she couldn't wait to get her Apparition license in the coming year.

Before she knew it, it was time to return to school. She didn't encounter Harry on the train. She didn't exactly go looking for him and evidently, he didn't come looking for her. The train certainly wasn't the best place for them to have the conversation they needed to have either.

She'd had more than a few daydreams about their reunion and she couldn't say any of them happened on the train. Now, snatching him after the opening feast to find a broom closet, that scenario had run through her head on more than one occasion. Hours on a broom by oneself gave ample time for imagining different versions of the same situation.

None of her imaginations involved Harry with a bloodied-up face and a haphazardly repaired nose. Talk about a mood killer, and she could only imagine how Harry was feeling. Her expectations for an evening snog evaporated.

So, when the feast was made over, she went with the flow of the crowd down to her common room. She would wait for Harry to be ready, it couldn't be too long.

It wasn't. The next day, in their first Defence Against the Dark Arts lesson, she found a small folded-up piece of parchment in front of her on her desk. She smiled as she discreetly unfolded the note beneath the table.

Friday night, whenever you're free.

3rd floor corridor, empty classroom,

broom closet, wherever you want.

I'll find you.

The small smile only grew as she read it. Yeah, he was looking forward to this just as much as she was.

The class itself started boring enough. Did anyone like to monologue as much as her Head of House? No one came to mind off the top of her head.

Attempting to produce a shield without using the incantation was at least more interesting, if not difficult. And hearing Snape antagonize Harry was always entertaining.

Wait!

What did Harry just say? Snape seemed to not believe it either.

A Disarming Charm hit her as she was replaying Harry's words in her head. "You don't have to call me 'sir,' Professor." It made her want to laugh just thinking about it, but she had to hold it in, at least while Snape was still around.

Harry received detention for Saturday night. That was fine. If it had been Friday, she would have been very put out. Something about Harry's defiance only intensified her anticipation of their rendezvous Friday night.

The week seemed to drag along like there was an anchor attached to it but eventually, Friday evening arrived. She left dinner early so she could get herself ready without the comments of her roommates. She didn't know how she was going to keep Tracey from catching on if this became a regular occurrence.

She passed her time in the trophy room looking at all the different awards that had been given out over the years. That got boring all too quickly but she'd kept one of the books she'd brought from home with her. So she set up on a soft chair in the room and read while she waited.

The sound of someone clearing their throat broke her from her reading.

'This isn't the place I would've picked, but whatever,' Harry said nonchalantly.

'That's not what I heard,' Daphne replied, causing Harry to raise his eyebrows. 'Word on the street is if a girl isn't willing to snog you, you bring her up here and have her stand in front of your trophy until her knees buckle,' she said while indicating the Triwizard Cup on display with Harry's name inscribed on it.

'Is that why you are sitting down? Already weak in the knees?' he smirked.

'I was starting to,' she said dramatically, bringing the back of her hand to her forehead. 'So I had to back away to keep my wits about me.'

Harry approached the casing with a far-away expression. 'Every time I look at it, I can't help but feel something is missing. I tried to get them to put his name on it too but no one would listen to me.'

Daphne walked up to him and took his hand, pulling him along. The mood was shifting quickly to a place she did not want to go and she kicked herself for not foreseeing it. 'Let's not talk anymore. Before you get all sniffly. I'm in no mood to recreate your kiss with Chang. And we need to find somewhere a little more private.' She tried lightening the mood a little.

'Hey, you brought it up,' Harry said defensively as he let her lead the way. She was headed to the broom closet she once tried to trick him in to going into with another girl.

'And now we are changing the subject,' she stated.

'To what?' he asked as the door to the closet closed behind them.

She answered him by pulling him down to meet her lips. He gave no resistance though his focus wasn't yet entirely on her. She knew his mind was still elsewhere.

She poured passion into his lips and he responded in kind. There were no instructions necessary for Harry, she didn't have to give him any lessons. And before long it was obvious there was nothing on his mind except her.

She had succeeded in accomplishing the goal that she didn't even know she'd had.

She didn't want to stop but she had to. They had to discuss some particulars before they split.

'So, about this arrangement we have. . .' she prompted.

'Yeah,' Harry replied excitedly as he stuffed a hand in his pocket. He pulled out two Knuts. 'I don't know if Hermione explained the coins we used for the D.A. last year. I used the same concept to make these.'

'No,' Daphne said more sternly than she intended.

'Why not? One of us can put a date and time for the next meetup and if the other person doesn't change it, we know we're on. If you can't make it, just change it to a time you can. No pressure either way.'

His idea was actually pretty good. But she'd already shot it down and now her pride wasn't going to let her change course.

'I don't know. It feels too much like a booty call.'

'Isn't that almost exactly what we're doing?' Harry asked, rather confused.

'Kinda, but I don't want to feel like I'm at your beck and call all the time.'

'But I told you, you can say no,' Harry reasoned.

'I know you said that, but what if I still feel pressure? Can we just schedule a time? And I don't want to be distracted — always looking at my coin.'

'So I distract you?' Harry replied. And though she couldn't see his face very well, she knew the brat was smirking.

'Don't flatter yourself,' she scoffed. 'How about every other Friday?'

'That far apart?'

'Yes. We're not an item, Harry. And if we get together too often, it'll be hard to keep that from our friends.' She had already convinced herself of this point, even if she didn't fully agree with it.

'I guess you're right,' he replied dejectedly. 'So, Friday nights? Are we going to have a designated place?'

'Probably shouldn't. But you seemed pretty certain you'd find me tonight,' she replied knowingly.

'Yeah, the map made that pretty easy. So I could find you wherever you go.'

'Yet, there aren't many places I can just go and wait for you without drawing suspicion.'

'Again, the coin would solve that—'

'No,' she snapped.

'Damn, you're stubborn,' Harry groaned.

'No more than you,' she retorted. Perhaps, she was being just a little bit extra stubborn right now

'Hmm.' She could almost hear his brain working. 'You could hide under this for quite a while. It actually breathes pretty easy, you don't feel all claustrophobic under it,' he said while pushing a silky fabric into her hands.

'You're really going to let me use your Invisibility Cloak?' Disbelief filled her voice.

'You let me use your mirror and your Firebolt,' he reasoned.

'You kinda took off with my mirror sans my permission,' she teased.

'That's true. But not the Firebolt. And I'd say this is for a good cause.' Again, Daphne could feel his smirk.

'I can't argue with that. Well, we better make it worth it then,' she said coquettishly as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

There was no more talking that night. Until they were leaving.

'Guess I'll try this thing out,' Daphne said as she threw the cloak over herself while walking beside Harry.

'Certainly don't want to get caught walking next to me,' Harry quipped.

'Exactly,' she said as they reached the stairs where they would go their separate ways. 'Guess I'll see you in a couple weeks.'

'See you,' Harry replied.

As Daphne made her way down to the dungeons she felt a warmth come from her pocket.

What was that?

She fished the object out of her pocket. . . a Knut. That cheeky little brat.

She examined the numbers on the outside and they reflected the date of their already scheduled next meetup along with a time, 7:00. It was a good system, but now she had the Invisibility Cloak, so her stubbornness has won her something.

She ensured she was alone as she slipped off the cloak and stowed it before she entered her common room.

Come Sunday afternoon, Daphne and her friends had completed all their homework, took a swim in the lake, and completed their sunbathing for the day — had to get those activities in while they still could. They had settled under one of the large oaks surrounding the lake. Tracey and Millicent had already drifted off to sleep.

Daphne didn't quite feel as tired and didn't feel like reading. She reached into her pocket and pulled out her coin. She had refrained from displaying it to her friends. She knew it would be odd if she got caught looking at it too often.

She decided to have a little fun with the coin. She moved the minute up by one so now their meeting was set for 7:01. She thought herself pretty funny.

About thirty seconds later the coin warmed and the time went up by one more minute.

This repeated itself for the next few minutes and continued off and on throughout the rest of the day. Daphne became proficient at changing the minute while the coin stayed in her pocket, eliminating the worry that her friends would catch her.

She couldn't put her finger on why she enjoyed this exchange so much. It wasn't like they were communicating anything of substance. Perhaps, it was just that she felt sneaky doing it surrounded by all these other people. Whatever the reason, she smiled — at least inwardly — every time she felt that coin warm against her leg.

Monday came and that meant another DADA lesson. She was feeling a bit bored as Snape was pacing the class. The Professor had stopped to hover over Harry, as he tended to do.

Daphne developed a mischievous smile as she reached in her pocket and adjusted the time on her Knut by one minute.

Harry's hand flinched but didn't go to his pocket, not with Snape lingering over his work.

Daphne changed the time again, this time in the other direction. And after pausing for a couple more seconds, changed it once more. Snape was still there so she kept alternating between adding and subtracting a minute. If the coin had a cumulative component to heating up, she was going to burn a hole in Harry's pocket.

Harry appeared to keep his focus on his work — and he didn't get a hole in his pants — but as soon as Snape moved on, he turned his head enough to give Daphne a vicious side-eye. She had to duck her head and turn away to keep herself from laughing out loud.

The week continued this way, each one changing the time by a minute here and there. It definitely kept Harry on Daphne's mind and she would never tell Harry, but she was absolutely correct when she'd said the coin would be a distraction. She wondered if he was similarly distracted by thoughts of her. Outside of the incident in Defence, they almost always alternated who changed the time, so she felt it was definitely a two-way street.

She actually had time to chat with Hermione during their Arithmancy lesson this week.

'I wasn't able to tell you at the wedding but I think it's so cute how Sirius treats you like he would a daughter,' Hermione commented.

'Yeah, he's been great. It hasn't been nearly as awkward as you would think,' Daphne said.

'It's kinda weird though, don't you think?'

'What is?' Daphne replied curiously.

'Well, you and Harry. . . If you were still together, it would be like you dating your brother.'

'No, it wouldn't!'

Hermione giggled. 'I mean, in a funny way, it would. Just think about, you might've been snogging your brother,' she continued, her giggling only intensifying.

'It's not funny, Hermione. And, at worst, he would be a stepbrother. But not even that since he is not related to Sirius at all,' Daphne said firmly. If Hermione knew, Daphne would never hear the end of it.

'You tell yourself whatever you need to,' Hermione quipped before it was time to leave.

Friday arrived and she was a little disappointed she wouldn't be getting together with Harry. Maybe she'd made a mistake in insisting on every other week. Chalk up another to the list of things she'd never voice. Instead, she decided she'd go for a fly. She enjoyed the solitude and even put away her coin so she could soar without distraction.

It was as good as she remembered and she now had a plan for what she would do every other Friday. It would also make her weekly Friday "alone" time easier to explain away if needed.

The next week passed much like the previous. Her pocket warmed sporadically throughout the days but in the end, their scheduled time to meet didn't change.

Friday night she had to choose where she was going to wait for Harry to find her. She decided to be a pill and found a classroom in the dungeons that, based on the layer of dust, appeared not to have been used in years. She cleaned a portion of the room and transfigured a chair into a comfortable small sofa where she pulled out her book to read.

She didn't have to wait long. Harry came through the door with a slight glare on his face. Even if she irritated him, he usually didn't let it show, so she was pleased with the effect her decision had on him.

'You aren't even using the cloak,' Harry said somewhat accusingly.

'I hardly need it down here. Nothing suspicious about me reading in an empty room in the dungeons,' she reasoned.

'I guess not. But as for me, I couldn't count the number of scowls I got coming down here.'

'You could always tell people you were on your way to a detention with Snape,' she suggested with a smirk. 'People would believe that.'

'They would. But that would require me talking to them. And that makes me think of a new rule I want to institute. No talking about Snape in our snog sessions,' Harry said as he sat next to Daphne.

'Alright, that's fair. And. . . no talking about Quidditch,' she countered.

Harry looked affronted. 'But what if I need to vent?' he pouted.

'Isn't that what Ron is for? He's your best friend and he lives for Quidditch.' This seemed quite obvious to Daphne. She didn't think he was actually going to push back against her "no talking about Quidditch" suggestion.

'But what if I have to vent about Ron?' he inquired.

'Oooh, I hadn't considered that,' she admitted. 'Well, maybe. Let me see how I feel about it after we're done.'

'So, I can vent after?' Harry asked hopefully.

'I said, we'll see. . . Just no pre-snog venting. That's a new rule,' she declared.

'Let's get started then. . .'

'. . . So what do you need to vent about Ron?' Daphne asked once she felt they were done.

'Ron who?' Harry replied with a silly smile and a dazed look.

'Now that's what I call a successful snog,' she said in triumph.

Harry pulled out his coin as he got to his feet and looked to Daphne with a smug smile on his face. 'These worked pretty well, if I do say so myself.'

Daphne didn't satisfy him with a response but she couldn't stop the reflexive furrowing of her brow just for a moment.

'I hope I wasn't too much of a distraction,' he taunted playfully.

'No, none at all,' she replied casually. 'You?'

'Of course not,' he shot back. 'It's a shame there aren't letters around the edge. Then we could send messages.'

'Why? All your coin would ever say is, "I hate you," ' she responded quickly, almost instinctively.

'Don't worry, the feeling is mutual,' he said without missing a beat. 'Until next time, Daphne.' He left with a smile and no sooner was he out the door than she felt her pocket warm. He'd changed the date of their next meetup to the Friday two weeks away.

She couldn't help but smile.

And then, she frowned.

Two weeks was a long time.

But in the meantime, she had an idea. Harry's comment about messages on the coin had her wondering if she could do something along those lines.

The next few weeks passed in the same manner. Fly one Friday, snog Harry the next. Of course, that Hogsmeade trip the second week of October did a bang-up job at changing the mood around the castle.

Daphne'd made the trip with her friends, no dates this time. And though they weren't close to the events surrounding Katie, no one could avoid the news.

It was obvious that the event had an effect on Harry. That he didn't respond on the coin very quickly made it even more apparent, if Daphne even needed such confirmation. He didn't reschedule their meetup, so that was something.

She found a room on the seventh floor so Harry wouldn't have to walk so far to find her. She passed Malfoy. That was odd, seeing him up here. Perhaps, she'd tell Harry. Then again, Malfoy was the last thing she wanted to bring up when she could be snogging instead.

'Hey, Harry,' she said, trying to sound enthusiastic as he entered and locked the door behind him.

He forced out a weak smile. 'Can we not talk?' he asked as he sat next to her on what had become the regular sofa Daphne would Transfigure.

She didn't answer with any words and after a moment, she thought she could feel Harry smile into her lips.

He kissed her with a fierceness she'd never felt before. She wondered if her lips might be bruised in the morning, but that was no matter. If his battered mind needed respite, then she would be his tonic. It wasn't as if she didn't enjoy it.

As Harry got up to leave that night, his smile was much less forced and significantly more relaxed than when he first walked through the door but still not his regular.

'Harry. . . for the record. . . I still hate you,' Daphne said casually.

Harry let out a soft chuckle and a genuine smile crossed his face; it wasn't big, but it was real. 'Thanks, Daphne,' he said. 'And you're still a bitch.'

'Get outta here,' she said playfully as she threw one of the couch cushions at him.

It missed.

And Harry was gone.

It took longer than normal, but a few minutes later, as she was walking back to the dungeons, her pocket warmed as Harry reset the time to two weeks in the future.

Daphne felt that she had again accomplished a goal she had never actually set for herself.

A couple more weeks passed, and Harry seemed to have come around. The first Quidditch match of the year that was on the horizon likely played a large part in that.

She chose one of the towers that overlooked the grounds that night.

And Harry showed up ready to talk. 'I can't believe Ron really thinks—'

Daphne cut him off with a finger to his lips. 'No venting before snogging, remember?'

'Oh, right. . .'

'. . . So, are you worried about Ron tomorrow?' Daphne asked while Harry pulled out the map and noted that their path to the Gryffindor common room was clear.

'I was. . . but I think all he needs is a little luck.' Harry's pensive look made her think there was more to his statement but she didn't prod.

'I guess I don't really care about the outcome but I do hope that you take a Bludger in the ribs or something.'

'That's it?.'

'I guess I could say I hope you lose and get drilled by a Bludger,' she quipped.

'At least, I would know I'm talking to the real Daphne and not some Polyjuiced version.'

'That's not a bad idea. Send Tracey up here with Polyjuice and see if you can tell the difference,' Daphne teased.

'Or you could bring her with you without Polyjuice. . . Just tell me to keep my eyes closed or something,' he countered suggestively.

'Keep dreaming, you man whore.'

'You're no fun, you are definitely Daphne.'

'Yeah. . . I very much still hate you,' Daphne said as she left Harry at the entrance to the Gryffindor common room.

When Daphne got back into her common room, she walked into a ruckus. Urquhart and Malfoy were shouting at each other.

'I told you, I got a replacement already,' Malfoy yelled.

'Harper?! You think he can really hang with Potter in his first match ever? What kind of broom does he even have?' Urquhart argued in return.

'He doesn't have to catch the Snitch. With Weasley in goal, all he has to do is stall Potter for a while.'

'And you are too "sick" to pull that off?' Urquhart asked with obvious disbelief.

'That's right,' Malfoy said in agreement as he started towards his dorm. 'Good luck.'

'Sod off, Malfoy,' Urquhart spat.

The room started to settle down as people began to discuss the argument within their own little groups. Urquhart walked towards a corner of the common room, sat in a chair, and buried his face in his hands while shaking his head.

Daphne approached Urquhart. 'Hey, so I couldn't help but hear you're in tough shape at Seeker tomorrow. . .'

'Yeah, I don't care what Malfoy says, Harper can't keep up with Potter.'

'I might be able to help with that,' she suggested.

Urquhart looked up, scrunched his eyebrows, and contorted his face in confusion before an apparent epiphany hit him. 'That's right! You have a Firebolt. He'd stand a chance on that. That's bloody awesome of you to offer it up to him.'

'You are dumber than a troll if you think I'm letting him fly my broom,' Daphne she said in annoyance.

'So what are you — Oh. . . You really think you can handle it?' he asked.

'I guarantee I can distract him better than Harper can,' she replied confidently.

'I don't doubt that. Alright, let's keep this between us. The element of surprise is the only thing we got,' Urquhart said as if he were trying to convince himself that this was their best course of action.

She nodded and went to her dorm to get ready for bed. Sleep was going to be hard to come by. But there was one thing she wanted to do before trying to sleep. She pulled out her coin and changed the date for the morrow and changed the time for exactly when the Quidditch match was supposed to begin. That ought to get Harry thinking. He was going to have no idea what hit him.

She snuck out of her dorm under the Invisibility Cloak early the next morning and placed her broom in the changing room. She returned to her dorm so she could go to breakfast with her friends. Her appetite was nearly non-existent and she mainly picked at and pushed around her food. Her friends looked at her weird but didn't comment on anything until they were leaving the castle.

'Daphne, what's up with you today?' Tracey asked.

'Nothing. . . Oh, well. . . you know. . . just first match jitters,' Daphne answered.

'Since when did you care that much about Quidditch?' Tracey retorted disbelievingly.

Daphne nodded for her friends to follow her off the path and away from potential eavesdroppers. 'Since I'm playing,' she said with an animated expression.

'What?!' Tracey and Millicent cried.

'Yeah, you heard me. I'm playing. I'm the Seeker. Go get a good seat. I gotta run. . . I mean, fly,' Daphne said as she took off to the changing room, leaving her friends slack-jawed. She didn't have time to explain or answer all her friends' questions right now. And she didn't want to contemplate too much anyway. She just wanted to fly.

She changed into the uniform. It felt a bit too baggy for her tastes so she charmed her pants to be tight, spandex tight — that should have less drag. She cinched up her jersey as well, though not quite skin tight. She wasn't a fan of the shinguards, but apparently, they were required. She had her hair in a ponytail — Harry preferred it down — but she decided to tie it up in a bun at the last minute. She could always go back to the ponytail if she wanted.

Urquhart gave the team some sort of inspirational speech that she basically tuned out. Somewhere in there, he explained the Seeker situation and some of her new teammates seemed skeptical but they'd have to get over it. The double whistle came from outside, summoning the teams to the pitch.

The butterflies in her stomach almost made an appearance but she held them down with a few deep breaths.

It was just flying, she lied to herself.

She was the last to leave and she even delayed her exit slightly. She wanted to be as unnoticed as possible. Instead of flying out to the middle of the pitch, she shot up high in the air and took her starting position. Some people might notice her, but only those paying close attention. Harry was already at the pregame captain meeting so he was yet to be surprised.

She fought to contain her smirk as Harry ascended in her direction. Finally, he got close enough to recognize her.

'You're not Harper,' he stated dumbly while rapidly blinking his eyes.

'How you stay in the air with all those rocks in your head is one of Magic's greatest feats,' she retorted.

'You're definitely Daphne,' he said confidently. The whistle sounded, indicating the beginning of play. 'And now your date change makes sense. Were you looking for a snog while you're up here? We've got a good five minutes before the Snitch will even think about appearing.'

'I'm game,' she said seductively, drifting a little closer to Harry, and batting her eyelashes.

His eyebrows raised as if he didn't expect her to take him up on his offer and he seemed to take a moment to consider acting on it. In the end, he just smiled. 'Gotta catch me first.' And he broke into a dive.

She started after him but quickly slowed and pulled up. She didn't think he'd actually seen the Snitch yet and she wanted to be dictating terms up in the air, not following his lead. She went up higher and slowly circled the pitch, scanning for any gold flashes.

Eventually, Harry found her again and he smiled as if he'd already won. 'Looks like Ron has discovered his confidence.'

'It would appear so,' Daphne agreed. Gryffindor was already up 40-0 and it didn't seem like the tide was going to change anytime soon. She was going to have to pull off a miracle, and straight-up outflying Harry didn't feel like the best bet. Time for some alternative tactics.

She let out the bun in her hair and shook out her ponytail. That drew Harry's attention, it was almost too easy. As she was shaking her head, she pretended to spy something and took off after it. It was probably the oldest Seeker trick in the book, but the opponent would be foolish not to follow, at least initially, until they could verify if it was real or if it was a deke.

She set her course for the Gryffindor Chasers that currently possessed the Quaffle, trying to create a little congestion to disrupt their passing. It worked, a turnover ensued, but Ron made another save and the Lions were quickly on the counter-attack, their numbers helping them score another goal; 50-0.

'Nice try. It's just not your day,' Harry taunted as he sped past her and back up high into the air.

The Lions scored again as she rose, and again as she circled the pitch behind Harry. In some respects, the trailing position was the ideal spot for her. If Harry saw the Snitch first, she wouldn't be likely to beat him to it, no matter where he was positioned. But if she saw it first, this might allow her enough time to chase after it before he noticed. That might provide a lead that he couldn't recover from; might. The big problem with this strategy was that she had no real experience spotting. She was rolling the dice.

She flew past Harry but he would quickly overtake her. Harry preferred to seek from the front, relying on his instincts and raw speed to win. And whether he was intentionally trying to distract her to win the match or just trying to irritate her because it was her, he was being incredibly successful.

This wasn't working and Gryffindor's lead was just growing as Ron kept making save after save. She was getting irritated by Harry and what made it worse was she could hardly focus with her bloody cape whipping at the back of her legs as she zoomed around. Perhaps, there was good reason for the pants to be baggy, after all.

She pulled to a hovering stop, letting Harry fly on, hoping the Snitch didn't appear. She drew her wand and cut off the cape just above her waist, letting the loose part float down towards the ground.

Harry peeked over his shoulder and flipped a U-turn when she wasn't there. His eyes did a quick scan, stopping briefly on the half of her cape that was tumbling through the air before they locked onto her. He flew up beside her.

'You can't do tha—' His words died as she rotated slightly and his gaze locked onto her backside. Her skintight pants quickly went from a detriment to an asset.

As she took off, Harry remained firmly in the trailing position. Sure, he could always claim it was strategically the best spot for him, but there would be no fooling Daphne. She caught sight of Madam Hooch with her hands extended in the "Play on" signal. Daphne's uniform still qualified as legal since she hadn't completely removed the cape.

She weaved around, regularly changing direction so when the time came, it wouldn't be obvious she was tracking the Snitch. Her only chance was that Harry never spotted the thing and now, with his attention otherwise engaged, she had as good a chance as she'd had all day.

The Snitch appeared on the far end of the pitch, beyond the Slytherin goals and she changed her direction to head towards it without much of an increase in speed. She kept bobbing and weaving as she proceeded. She even shimmied a little on her broom and glanced over her shoulder to catch the instinctive smile that blossomed on Harry's face, he was gone.

'Harry, the Snitch!' Ron's voice carried across the pitch but it didn't even register with the boy flying behind her. He was barely blinking anymore.

As they flew, a Slytherin Beater was lining up a Bludger to send right at Harry.

'No!' Daphne cried. 'Just leave him.'

The Beater followed her instruction, if not begrudgingly. She felt no need to mess up the situation she'd created.

Gryffindor scored again as she cruised across the field, 150-0. None of that would matter if she could seal the deal. The Snitch started moving as she approached but even it didn't seem to know what to do with someone not coming in at breakneck speed. A small acceleration later and the Snitch was in her grasp, almost too easy.

Cheers erupted from the Slytherin section of the stands as she landed on the ground.

Harry was right behind her with a smirk. 'Giving up, huh?' he asked, completely oblivious to the happenings around him. Until Daphne opened her hand and showed him the Snitch.

His eyes bugged and grew even wider when he looked at the scoreboard, 150-150.

'No,' he breathed.

As if things couldn't get worse for Harry, the Gryffindor team was marching towards him led by two redheads whose faces were currently in a redder state than their hair.

'You have no idea how much I hate you right now,' Harry muttered under his breath.

'Oh, I think I have an idea,' she smirked. 'Don't die, Harry,' she added as she left to be with her teammates who were celebrating the tie just as they would a win.