Chapter 18

Another Nameless Chapter

'So, you ran off with Harry last night. . .' Tracey said suggestively.

'Yeah, and?' Daphne replied.

'You didn't exactly leave secretly,' Tracey added. 'Just wondering if there's anything to report.'

'Well. . . Let's just say, you don't have to keep "us" a secret anymore.' Daphne considered leading them on but they'd been so diligent in keeping her secret, she felt not being difficult right now was the right call.

'Really?' Millicent said excitedly.

'Yeah, we decided there was no reason to hide it anymore, basically.'

'That's great, Daph. Only took Dumbledore dying for him to figure it out, huh?' Tracey said, trying for playful.

'He does have a pretty hard head,' Daphne replied.

'And that's why you're such a good match,' Millicent stated playfully. 'So, does that mean we aren't going to see much of you anymore?'

'Of course not,' Daphne stated firmly, drawing a big smile from Millicent. 'I mean, we'll want some alone time,' she said with a smirk. 'But now that exams and classes are canceled, there's gonna be plenty of time for that and hanging out. And Harry likes you guys.'

Both her friends seemed pleased that they weren't about to lose their friend.

Daphne was pleased that they hung out with her and Harry so much over the days leading up to the funeral. The conversations stayed light and pleasant when Daphne's friends were around. They created a Voldemort buffer. And she could tell that was always at the forefront of Hermione's mind. As evidenced by her bringing up the topic whenever Tracey and Millicent weren't around.

'What are you writing down, Hermione?' Harry asked. 'We don't have any exams.'

'I'm making a list,' she said without breaking from her train of thought. She was looking for inspiration from the tree above and something struck as she quickly went back to scribbling in her small journal. When she was satisfied, she closed the book and looked at Harry. 'I'm trying to be prepared.'

'Prepared for what?' Ron asked.

'For anything. For Everything.'

'That seems like a lot,' Ron replied.

'It is. So, you're welcome to help,' she scolded, sticking her tongue out to show she wasn't entirely angry with him.

'Help with what though?'

'Well, Dumbledore was the wizard Voldemort feared the most. And I think it was more than just magically. Dumbledore had a lot of influence still, and I think that was part of why Voldemort kept working in the shadows. Now that Dumbledore is out of the way, Voldemort will likely make a move on the Ministry. We know Voldemort wants Harry, right?'

'Right.'

'So, if Voldemort has control of the Ministry resources, it'll make it much easier to track down Harry. I know Sirius did a new Fidelius on Grimmauld and the Weasleys have placed one on the Burrow but if Voldemort gets control of the Ministry, he might be able to find a way to bypass or overcome those. Nothing is foolproof,' Hermione stated.

'I'm not saying I don't feel safe at the Burrow,' Harry started. 'But there's more than just a Fidelius protecting Grimmauld. I feel pretty safe there.'

'Even in the off chance Snape was able to reveal its location before they could replace the Fidelius?' Hermione said.

'Yes,' Harry replied firmly. 'I feel safe there.'

'That's fine. I'm still not taking any chances. I've got down everything I think we'd need to go on the run, if it comes to that.'

'Let's hope it doesn't come to that,' Harry said. To which Ron nodded aggressively.

The other fun part about not hiding their relationship was being able to get up and leave without inventing some sort of lame excuse. One of them would reach in their pocket and adjust their coin — the date and time were no longer significant — the warming sensation would alert the other and they'd drop whatever conversation they were having.

It only took a couple of these events for their friends to pick up on what they were doing.

'I almost liked it better when you two were in the closet,' Tracey said with mock disgust when Harry and Daphne rose to leave at the same time.

'Where do you think we are headed?' Daphne responded suggestively.

'Oi! I don't need to hear that!' Ron cried.

Harry and Daphne walked away laughing.

They didn't only snog, they kept up with their flying, the weather was perfect after all.

Harry stopped and hovered his broom over a seemingly random part of the castle. He smirked when he saw her curious look.

'This is where the dragon almost killed me. I don't think many people saw that part,' he said.

'I would've been ok with that at the time,' Daphne said with a grin. 'It was before the Yule Ball.'

'Is that when things changed for you?'

'It's when I recognized that you had some value alive,' she snarked.

Harry gave a weak courtesy laugh. 'To get on Sirius' nerves?'

'You know you're getting smarter as you get older,' she teased.

'So when did things really change?' he asked.

'Can't really pick one point.' She hesitated to give thought. 'But if I'm honest with myself, I know things were different after the Tournament. I'd never let myself admit it back then. And I'd be lying if I said my reaction to you kissing Chang wasn't some sort of indicator.'

'She kissed me. I'll go to my grave on that,' Harry deadpanned.

'Don't let it happen again or I'll have to put you there,' she replied with a coy smile.

'You're gonna die when you hear this,' he said with a smile. He waited for her eyebrows to raise in question. 'Megan broke up with me because she found out Chang kissed me again.'

'What?' she replied, incredulous.

'Yeah, after the article came out. She realized why I was stupid on our date. I didn't think she was going to kiss me again and I didn't take anything from it. It didn't feel romantic, or anything.'

'But she kissed you on the lips? Not the cheek?' Daphne clarified.

'Right.'

'And you didn't tell Megan?' She saw the puzzle coming together.

'In my mind, there was nothing to tell. I fancied her, not Chang anymore,' he said in playful defense.

'You are an idiot, you know that?'

'Was. . . was an idiot,' he corrected.

'Oh, you still have your moments.' She laughed. 'But that story is so you. And quite funny. So. . . when did things change for you?'

'I guess they were changing the whole time. Sometimes for the better and sometimes for the worse,' he answered with a small smile and she nodded. They both had their moments, and she'd probably claim more of them. 'But it really hit me after you had those detentions with Umbridge and started ignoring me. I guess, it took that sort of thing for me to actually ponder things. But I was kinda unsure of how you felt then.'

'You were right to not push me too much back then. I wasn't in a great space,' Daphne said solemnly.

'So it was a good thing I waited so long to ask you to be my girlfriend?' he asked with a satisfied smile.

'I wouldn't go as far to say it was a good thing,' she smirked playfully. 'You certainly didn't have to wait as long as you did. But I can't say I fault you, we had a good thing going.'

'We have a good thing going,' he corrected. 'Just a couple of stubborn kids.'

'Yeah, on that note. . . if Hermione is right. . . and you have to go on the run. . . hide from Voldemort and his followers. . . I don't know that I should go with you.'

'Yeah, I kinda thought you'd say that. I saw your face as she was talking about it,' he laughed softly.

'Don't get me wrong, I want to be by your side, and help you. But don't know that I'd be much more than another mouth to feed.'

'Don't say that—'

'You could take my mirror. We could still communicate.'

'But you'd be a target,' Harry reasoned.

'Harry, my mum is married to your godfather, or that's what the public knows. I'm a target no matter what. Even if our hatred for one another isn't so well known.' She looked at him longingly, and he smiled, catching her meaning.

'Alright. I'm not planning on any of that though. I think we are going to be fine at Grimmauld.'

'It doesn't hurt to know what you're going to do in a pinch though,' Daphne said, adding a little pinch of his side, causing him to cry out in exaggerated pain.

Daphne shot off before he could retaliate and a game of chase ensued. 'I'll show you a pinch!' Harry yelled after her.

After some time flying, she slowed down and let Harry settle in beside her. 'Harry, there's something I want to do.'

'Yeah?' he prompted.

'I've noticed how relaxed you've been the last few days. Like, it's a noticeable difference, even Tracey and Millicent have commented on it. They think it's because of me, but I feel it's more than that.'

'I would've denied it if you had proposed such a thing,' he teased with a smile.

'Exactly,' she agreed. 'But I can't help to think that getting all your secrets out had some sort of alleviating effect that you didn't even know you needed.'

'I hate to admit it, but you're right.' He looked at her pensively for a moment. 'You want to do the same thing? Tell your friends your secrets?'

'Yeah, I think I do. Tracey and Millicent have known about us for months and never said anything.'

'But will it actually change anything?' It didn't feel like he was trying to get her to change her mind, but more to ensure she was considering her options.

'Perhaps, not for them, but it will for me,' she stated.

It wasn't until after dinner that they were all together again.

Daphne wished she'd been able to have this discussion right after she'd told Harry because now she was a ball of nerves, wringing her hands together and scratching an itch behind her ear that she didn't even have.

'So. . .' Daphne started once there was a lull in the conversation. 'I have something I want to tell you all.'

Her tone was enough to quiet everyone and they looked at her expectantly.

'I know who my father is. My actual father.'

Millicent and Tracey gasped as they waited for her to continue. No one asked, well, not verbally.

'You know him, or of him,' Daphne continued.

As if they couldn't help it, all their heads inclined slightly towards Daphne, some more than others.

'It's Sirius Black.'

Ron and Hermione rocked back, while Millicent froze. Tracey on the other hand, seemed very skeptical.

Tracey's skepticism quickly changed to a burst of howling laughter that broke the silence. It wasn't quite contagious, Hermione and Millicent still remained pensive.

'That's an all-timer, Daph!' Tracey exclaimed between laughs.

Daphne smiled, she had expected either this, or anger, from Tracey. She'd take this any day. 'It's true, Tracey. Remember when I got my Firebolt in third year? Who else got one that same Christmas?'

'Yeah,' Tracey answered. She didn't seem convinced until her eyes found Harry. His expression remained unchanged and seemed to edge Tracey into believing her. 'It's true?'

'Yeah, it was hard for me to believe at first too,' Harry stated.

'You could say that again,' Daphne commented.

'Wait, so that's when you found out?' Tracey asked.

'Not even. It wasn't until he was cleared the next summer.'

'Is that how you and Harry were officially introduced?'

'Yeah, but we did not get along at first. Like, we were at each other's throats the whole time we were together.'

Harry nodded in agreement with Daphne, 'We were pretty immature back then.'

'As if you've grown up so much since then,' Hermione teased.

'I can't speak for Daphne, but I sure have,' he responded with a smile and little nudge.

'Yeah, whatever,' Daphne retorted.

'So how'd you end up going to the Yule Ball together?' Millicent asked.

'We recognized that the only thing we had in common at the time was uniting against Sirius. He took too much satisfaction from our quarreling over the summer,' Harry said.

'That. . . and Harry couldn't find a date,' Daphne quipped with a smile that softened her jab. 'We legitimately hated each other back then.'

Harry a confirming nod.

'But you were all over each other,' Ron said in confusion.

'It irritated my dad,' Daphne said with a shrug that was mimicked by Harry.

'Damn, who knew? All I had to do was find a witch that wanted to upset her father,' Ron stated in mock exasperation.

Hermione smacked his arm, while Tracey hurled her shoe at him. It ricocheted off his head and she summoned it back to herself before he could grab it and throw it in the lake.

'Honestly, woman. Who throws a shoe?' Ron asked as he rubbed the spot on his head.

'Keep up with the daft comments and I'll throw another,' Tracey warned.

'So, anyway, that's why we didn't spend a lot of time alone while we were "together" the first time,' Daphne explained.

'I just figured it was because Harry was so busy with the tournament. . . and you were still kinda young,' Millicent reasoned.

'Do you still hate each other then?' Hermione asked with a knowing smile.

Harry and Daphne locked eyes. Their smiles grew and, in unison, they nodded and said, 'Most definitely. We still hate each other.'

Ron looked confused. But the girls all smirked and nodded, they seemed to pick up on the new meaning that the phrase contained.

They stayed out on the grounds as long as they could. They let their friends race on their Firebolts, those that wanted to, at least.

They weren't the only ones that were pushing the limits and Professor McGonagall had to come outside to usher all the students into the castle.

'You don't know how pleased I am to see you two have reconciled,' the Professor said with a motherly smile to Harry and Daphne. 'You two just look good together. If you don't mind me saying so.'

'We don't. . . at all,' Daphne said.

'You are free to let my godfather know how you feel,' Harry added with a mischievous smile.

'You're awful,' Daphne said softly.

'Oh, I don't need any prompting. I was going to have to mention it to him to get my Galleons back anyway.'

'Your Galleons?'

'Cat's out of the bag, I suppose,' Minerva said with a sigh. 'We made a small wager a while back. I'm proud to say I was team Harry and Daphne. And now you make me a winner.'

'And Sirius bet against us?' Harry asked with fake offense.

'That can't come as a surprise,' Minerva said knowingly.

'No, I guess it doesn't,' Daphne conceded.

'You should've told us,' Harry stated. 'You could've gone double or nothing with him. He probably thought he'd won with how we were getting on earlier.'

'Yes, except it was never about the Galleons for me. It was the pride of being right, and Sirius being wrong. That look on his face is worth more than money can buy,' she said wistfully. 'Surely, you know the one. You've been the cause of it multiple times, even in my limited observations.'

'Yeah, we know the one,' Harry said with a smile at Daphne. She squeezed his hand in return.

'Well, you best be getting in the castle,' Minerva said. She brought a fist up to her mouth as if she was preparing for a cough and said some muffled words, 'Don't get caught out past curfew.'

Harry and Daphne smiled and nodded as they made their way inside.

Daphne spent the morning of the funeral with her friends but waited with Harry for her parents to arrive.

'Your bowtie is horrendous,' she exclaimed when she found Harry.

'Do you mind?' he asked with the beginnings of a smirk. 'You are the expert at tying things — between the two of us.'

She glared at him as she approached. 'You're lucky that I'd be embarrassed on your account if you were seen walking around like this, else I'd let you go around looking the fool.'

'About that. Maybe we shouldn't be so together, for today,' he suggested hesitantly.

'Will you stop!? We've already discussed this,' she said defiantly.

'Ok, well, if we're together, should we let them catch us snogging?' he asked playfully.

'Too late for that,' Sirius' voice rang out from behind them.

Harry rolled his eyes in annoyance. 'Your timing is impeccable.'

'If you two think you can rekindle your fake relationship just to irritate me you are going to be sorely mistaken,' Sirius declared. Raquel smirked slightly as if she didn't quite believe the declaration.

'I guess we'll just find out about that,' Daphne said, looping her arm through Harry's and batting her eyes at her boyfriend.

Sirius' forced smile started to turn. He didn't have as much control over his reactions as he would like to think.

'Well, let's go take our seats,' Sirius said, trying to put a stop to the display that had begun.

Harry and Daphne didn't hold hands in the traditional sense. They found an innovative way to accomplish the same end. She knew he was probably trying to protect her in his own way and she was too stubborn to grab his hand. So they spent the time with the backs of their hands constantly pressed together. Be it sitting down or standing, their fingers were constantly brushing and flicking against each other. They even timed their steps and swung their arms in unison as they walked so they wouldn't have to break contact, it was a rather impressive display of coordination for anyone who paid attention — like their friends.

Tracey and Millicent came over after the funeral was finished.

'Are you guys sticking around for the train?' Tracey asked.

'No, I think we are headed home sometime in the next couple of hours,' Daphne replied.

'Me too,' Millicent said.

'You can't leave me here to take the train alone,' Tracey whined.

They all laughed, 'Sorry, Trace,' Daphne said.

'Well, you better not mess things up with Harry over the summer. We want to hang out next year,' Tracey stated while indicating her and Millicent.

'Me? Mess things up?' Daphne replied, affronted.

'Yes, you,' Millicent said. 'We know Harry wouldn't do anything dumb.'

It was a funny paradox that had developed, Tracey and Millicent always sided with Harry, while Hermione and Ron almost always sided with Daphne. It was as if both sets of friends believed the other incapable of messing things up, or at least they joked about things that way.

'Yeah, Daphne, don't mess anything up,' Harry agreed. 'I like hanging out with your friends and it'll be weird if we have to leave you out of the fun.' That got a good laugh from Daphne's friends and earned Harry one of Daphne's non-venomous glares.

The Minister of Magic was making his way over towards Harry and Harry noticed so he excused himself from the group to go have the chat he knew was coming, and left Daphne with her friends.

'But seriously, Daph, take care of him,' Tracey said sincerely. 'Whatever you do for him, it makes a noticeable difference.'

'Thanks, Trace. I think we make each other happy.'

'You do,' Millicent interjected. 'You especially. I'm happy for you. And I get to hang out with Harry.'

They each gave Daphne a hug and went back to the castle as Harry returned from his shorter-than-she-expected chat.

'That good, huh?' she quipped.

'Yeah, but it was to be expected. Let's go find your parents. I'm ready to get out of here.'

Instead of heading home, they went to the Burrow for a nice meal with close friends where they could talk openly about their own experiences with Dumbledore. Some had more to say than others, but everyone had their turn sharing thoughts and comments about the man that they all called Headmaster, at one point or another.

As part of the twins' tribute, they set off an explosion that had lemon drops raining down on the group. While they were tasty, they also kinda hurt if they landed right on the crown of the head. Many hurled extra candies at Fred and George as a show of their mock outrage.

Amongst the desserts were scattered some of the twins' gags, though mainly of the less severe variety: Elephant Ear Eclairs, Runny Nose Licorice Ropes, Hiccupping Half-Donuts, and a chocolate cake that ballooned the eater into a replica Aunt Marge (though only for 30 seconds). Everyone took their turn with at least the cake and it made for an almost festive atmosphere, especially in contrast to the funeral.

Remus rose from his seat and calmed everyone down. 'I feel it appropriate to raise a glass one last time to our late Headmaster. May we honor his memory by fulfilling the task that he started.' His eyes lingered on Harry for a moment before he put his arm holding his glass in the air. 'A toast to Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore!'

'Cheers!' Everyone shouted as they raised their own glasses and took a swig.

About half the table spewed out their drinks. Piss water, or fake piss water, splattered over those that didn't take a drink themselves.

The only individuals that were spared were Fred, George, Harry, Ron, and Ginny, though it was difficult for that to be known to everyone.

The initial ire of the affected group was directed towards the twins. But they had no intentions of being the sacrificial lambs and shouted, 'Harry, Ron, and Ginny were in on it too!'

Soon the culprits were being chased around the yard and nearly everyone ended up down by the water. Wands were put away and traditional grappling matches had broken out amongst the group. The smiles on everyone's faces demonstrated that the small battles were all in good fun.

Then Daphne caught sight of Sirius chucking Harry in the water. She couldn't let that slide. Her feet started moving before Harry even splashed down.

Sirius had no time to react, she was on him before he turned around and her shoulder drove into his side. They both ended up in the water, but only one of them left with a smile.

Daphne took Harry's hand as they walked out of the water.

Fleur helped Sirius out, 'I think I know how you feel,' she smirked.

'Yeah,' Sirius said, rubbing his side. 'Aren't you going to do anything?' he asked Raquel as he dried off.

'You fight your own battles, sweetheart,' she replied with a shake of the head.

'That was for throwing Harry in the water. . . and for betting against us,' Daphne declared victoriously.

Sirius' eyes widened.

'Yeah, we know,' Daphne said.

'It's not over yet,' Sirius replied with a sly smile.

'Don't get your hopes up.'

Everyone dried off from their impromptu bath and made their way back up to the house. This get-together had been a nice respite from the serious things that were looming over them.

'Guess we'll come by tomorrow and start figuring stuff out,' Hermione said to Harry as they were about to go home.

'Alright, see you tomorrow,' Harry said to Hermione and Ron before they left.