A/N: So, I'm about to run off for another work trip tomorrow, so no more updates this month. Hopefully I'll get one done by the first week of February. Also, I have been terribly busy lately, and have not had the chance to do this chapter justice as much as I wanted to. So I apologize if the content seems subpar. Also, if anyone is interested in being a beta, please PM me. My beta and I are both terribly busy nowadays, and would appreciate a helping hand.
Shoutout to Sir Matthias for the 400th review!
15. Return
"This is unacceptable." A Death Eater said as he was waiting outside the Ministry holding cells. "I shouldn't have to escort dumb schoolchildren around. I have better things to do."
"Oh shut up Noble." His partner replied, annoyed at the older man's moaning. "If you had better things to do you would be doing them. Clearly they don't deem you competent enough for anything more challenging."
"You are here too, Grisham." The Death Eater named Noble shot back angrily and his partner shrugged.
"Yeah but I'm not complaining about it like you are."
Noble glared at him and muttered unpleasant jargon under his breath, which went largely ignored. His wait was over soon, however, as five teenagers were escorted by a guard.
"Here they are." The guard said. "Now get out of here quickly before someone sees you."
"I thought there were six of them?" Noble the Death Eater asked.
"The Malfoy boy was taken away by his father the same day he came in." he informed, his eyes darting around.
"And he didn't bother to take the rest with him?" Grisham asked rhetorically.
"He's a Malfoy, isn't he?" Noble replied darkly, as if that explained everything. And it did.
"So who sent you lot here? I thought you lot were supposed to be undercover?" Grisham asked the teenagers as he motioned them to move.
"Potter. He somehow overturned an ambush and left us stunned near Dumbledore's office." Pansy Parkinson said, looking like she had a sour lemon in her mouth.
"Six on one? That's mighty impressive, even for the son of James Potter." Grisham commented.
"We will see how impressive he is when he plays with the adults this time." Noble snarled.
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When Harry woke up next morning, he felt very content. It took a moment for him to remember why he felt so good before memories of last night rushed back to his head and he smiled. He had kissed Daphne and sweet Merlin, it felt so good! They didn't do anything else worth mentioning, except talking some more and maybe touching each other a bit more than before.
Shaking off the dreamy memories, he prepared himself for his morning workouts. He didn't know if Daphne wanted to join him as they skipped any kind of training till yesterday and they didn't discuss about it. He quietly knocked on her door once he was ready, and when he didn't hear anything, he turned away, letting her sleep in peace. He reached the stairs before she called him.
"Harry?" Her eyes looked sleepy, her hair messed up and her face looked puffy, and he felt like she was the most beautiful girl in the world.
"Hi. I was just going for my morning workout. You can go back to sleep."
"No, I'll join. Wait up."
He went towards her door as she went inside. She took out her exercise attire from her closet and with a smile at Harry, turned towards her bathroom.
"You know what, I'll wait downstairs." He said, and she nodded. He softly closed her door and went down to the kitchen. He found a note in his mother's handwriting.
Harry,
Your dad and I have to go to a recon mission that came up in the middle of the night. We'll be back before dinner. When Mel wakes up, take her to Andromeda and Ted, they had agreed to keep her for the day.
Love, mum.
Harry fiddled around with the note, trying not to worry about his parents. Mum said it was a recon mission, and recons weren't very dangerous until you became careless, and whatever you might call James and Lily Potter, careless wouldn't be one of them. Lily hated recon missions though. She claimed that she didn't have the patience for it, even though she was quite good in it.
Daphne came down after a while, wearing her sports attire and tying back her blonde hair in a ponytail. She noticed the note in his hand.
"What's that?" she asked and Harry handed it to her. She read it quickly.
"Alright. So what's the plan?" she asked, not knowing how that affected Harry or his routines.
"Same as before. We probably have to get takeaway for lunch, but other than that it's not really much of a difference. I'll have to call Padfoot to see what's he doing when the mutt wakes up."
He walked out of the house and Daphne followed him. He started to jog as he reached the main gate.
"You never told me what was your animagus form." She said, jogging beside him and he grinned.
"I'll show you after the workout. There are muggles in this street."
They jogged through the main street for a while until Harry took a path into the woods. After jogging for another minute, they reached an opening.
"This is where I work out. Let's get started, shall we?" he said, already stretching.
They worked out for close to an hour with small breaks in between. Daphne's routines were a combination of yoga and light free hand exercises. Harry conjured up bars and his workout was similar to calisthenics with a bit of what looked like martial art. They mostly worked out in silence, with some small talks in breaks. Harry sometimes corrected her postures and gave her tips. He tried not to stare at her bum in yoga pants when she was stretching her body, but sometimes failed. Thankfully, he had excellent awareness, so whenever he absolutely could not resist looking, he made sure that she was turned away to the other direction.
Once Daphne was panting like a dog, Harry called it for the day. After the first few days, Daphne never complained about the load he was putting on her. Of course, he knew that he was not giving her more than she could take, but he was still surprised that she didn't protest a little bit even when she was tired as hell. Her steadfast determination was one of the things that he really admired about her.
He waved at her to follow him, walking at a leisurely pace and she followed him. He knew she was tired so he didn't talk on the way and she was thankful for that as she caught her breath. Soon, they reached a lake and Harry held out his hand for her. She looked a bit taken aback, but took it anyway and was immediately glad that she did because Harry was going down the bank to the water.
"Harry where are we going?" Daphne asked in a guarded voice. Knowing Harry, it wouldn't be too out of place for him to announce that they were taking a bath in the lake.
"Oh sorry. I always do this just before stepping." He said, waving his free arm and a small boat appeared in front of them. They climbed onto the boat, and Harry lied down, staring at the sky. Daphne lied down beside him, a little blush creeping up her face as it reminded her of last night.
It was peaceful. The boat was moving slowly, the soft splashes of water coming from every direction except above, where the sun was slowly making its presence known in the blue sky, giving out a slight, comfortable warmth to their bodies. And on the edge of their visions were the trees forming a green line. You could not ask an artist to paint a more beautiful picture.
"Want to see something cool?" he asked quietly.
"Have I ever said no to that question?" she replied with a smile, looking at him.
"I don't think I ever asked it before." He said with a laugh before her turned to lay on his stomach and seconds later, a raven replaced him and Daphne almost fell off the boat in surprise.
"Holy sh- Oh it's your animagus form!" she exclaimed, still grabbing the side of the boat in shock. The bird nuzzled its beak to her hand and she smiled prettily, stroking the neck of the bird. The raven softly nipped her nose before it took off, circling around the boat lazily. After a while, it came back to the boat and turned back into Harry.
"Let's head back. Astoria's awake." He said, sitting up as the boat slowly turned around. She scooted to rest her head in his lap and he gently run his finger through her soft hair, which felt wonderful in his fingers.
"How did you know? That Astoria's awake?" she asked, sighing contently.
"I set up wards for her and Mel when we left." He explained.
"That was thoughtful of you. Tori will not look for us for a while, though." She said and he nodded.
"I know."
"How do you know?" she asked, curious.
"When she came back after Christmas and you weren't there, she used to sleep in your room during the day. I always had a ward up to alert me when she woke up, and she didn't get out of the room at least half an hour after she woke up. Most of the time I found her sitting in bed, staring at nothing."
"I never thanked you properly for looking after her when I wasn't there."
"You don't have to." He said softly, but she shook her head.
"No, I have to. You didn't have any duty towards her except maybe escort her to her common room, and you could've even asked a prefect to do that for you. You took on my role and you did it better than I did at that time. I don't have the courage to ask her, but I think if I asked who she liked better among you and me, I think I might not stand a chance. So thank you for doing that Harry."
"You're welcome. And just so you know, I took care of her for a week, but you have been doing this all her life. Agreed, that I'm much cooler than you, but I don't think she would ever choose anyone over you, Daph. When you are not cursing anyone, you are one of the most compassionate and kind people I know."
His hand slowly reached up to cup her cheek and she had that unreadable expression in her eyes that stirred something inside Harry and he slowly reached down. Her lips parted as her head tilted up in anticipation.
That was the moment when the boat bumped against the bank and the two teens jumped in surprise. Daphne quickly stood up, her cheeks pink and Harry tried to act nonchalant but a blush was creeping through.
He climbed out of the boat first and helped her, vanishing the boat behind them. They walked in silence for most of the way, avoiding eye contact. They entered the house together, and Harry went towards the kitchen and Daphne went to check on Astoria. Harry switched the coffeemaker on and checked the refrigerator to take a stock of breakfast ingredients. As luck would have it, they were out of bread. He was done with his coffee when Daphne and Astoria came down the stairs.
"I need to get bread from the shop. Anyone coming with me?" he asked.
"Can I go? Daphne went yesterday." Astoria volunteered. Harry shrugged.
"Sure. I'll just have to take a quick shower and change." He said, putting the coffee cup down and heading towards the stairs.
"So do I." Daphne said. Turning towards the stairs as well.
"Can I have some coffee?" Astoria asked, looking at the steaming pot.
"It's your house too, Tori. Help yourself to anything you like." Harry said with a smile and Astoria grinned.
"Save a cup for me." Daphne called as her younger sister practically ran towards the pot.
Climbing the stairs together was a little less awkward than before, but it wasn't totally normal either.
"Harry." Daphne called as they passed Astoria's empty room.
Harry barely had time to turn before she pulled him by his shirt and as if by reflex, he put a hand on her waist just in time as she kissed him. He kissed her back quickly before they broke apart.
"I hate it when I get interrupted." She said with a grin before going back to her room.
"Yeah. Shame." He mumbled to the air, as he stood there, gobsmacked, a little smile on his face.
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Harry showed Astoria around the same way he did Daphne, and Astoria was fascinated by the muggle village, much more so than Daphne. Astoria had a thing for old buildings, and the many relics of the village really got her interested. Harry told her that it was okay if she wanted to roam around the village later, as it was a pretty safe place and Potters have placed discreet wards all over the village from the first war that were still active.
Once they were back to the house, Astoria asked Harry if he could give her a lift to a friend's house she was visiting later. She could take the Knight Bus, but she really did not like the ride. Harry readily agreed. Daphne volunteered to help with breakfast, feeling a little guilty in letting Harry do all the work. Harry showed her how to use the toaster and Astoria took charge of bacon while Harry took care of the eggs and sausages. After the toasts were done, Daphne went to get Melanie while Astoria served the food on the plates and Harry prepared Melanie's food.
During breakfast, Astoria mentioned that Harry was dropping her off at her friend's house and Daphne said it was okay. After breakfast was over and Harry did the dishes (Using the dishwasher was still something the others didn't understand properly) and Astoria went to her room to get ready. Harry called Sirius to find that he had turned his mirror off. That usually meant he was on a mission as well. Harry wanted to join the missions too, but he knew that the Protectors were a more disciplined organization than the Order, and bringing a non-member would not be something that would be appreciated.
Harry picked up Melanie and held Astoria's hand as he disapparated to the Tonks' home. He dropped Melanie off, exchanged small pleasantries with the elder Tonks and introduced Astoria. Andromeda said that she actually knew her mother, who was three years below her in Hogwarts. Soon they bid their goodbyes and Astoria gave him the address for her friend's home and Harry apparated them there. It was a large Manor and covered in trees from all sides. Astoria promised to wait for him at the gate at exactly five. She went inside and was out of sight before Harry apparated away back to his home.
Daphne was reading the newspaper and glanced at him when he came in.
"So, do you have any plans for the day?" she asked.
"Not really, no. You seem like you have something on your mind?" he asked curiously and she nodded.
"Let's go to the muggle London." She said and Harry shrugged.
"Why not? I don't know all of it, but I know enough to get around. Get dressed then."
"Any suggestions?" she asked, as she climbed up the stairs, and he followed behind her.
"Red usually looks good on you. Try it with light-coloured jeans and red lipstick." He suggested and she laughed.
"I was asking about what kind of clothes should I wear, but thank you for being specific. I'll keep that in mind." She said with a mischievous smile and he hung his head in embarrassment.
"Just wear something casual and you'll be fine." He said, quickly retreating to his own room.
Being a guy, it was needless to say that he came down first. He was wearing a plain white shirt with dark jeans and a pair of sneakers. He thought he looked simple but smart. Daphne came down after a while and she appeared to have taken his advice. She was wearing a red blouse with a deep neckline that showed off a respectable cleavage, making Harry's mouth go dry. So he looked downwards and regretted it. Her light jeans were fitting nicely, showing off every curve she had from waist downwards. Harry tried very hard not to stare and was successful… eventually.
"You're going to wear a coat over that?" he asked,
"Like what you see?" she asked with a playful smirk and he noticed that she had, indeed, put on red lipstick. He knew he was fighting a losing battle and decided not to go down without a fight.
"Very much, blondie." He stepped forward and stole a quick kiss, and was pleased to see the colour spreading on her cheeks.
"Alright, where to?" she asked, pulling up her leg to fasten the laces of her heeled, leather boots, making Harry look away from her. He knew that she was enjoying herself too much for it to be a coincidence and sadly there was nothing he could do about it.
"I don't know. You want to watch a movie?" he asked, silently putting up wards to detect any intruders.
"A what, now?" she asked, summoning her purse with a wave of her wand.
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They ended up watching Titanic and Daphne was too amazed at the concept of a movie to care much about the movie itself. She talked about it all the way as they walked to Piccadilly Circus Square, and Harry had to explain to her all about motion pictures, CGI and televisions as they browsed bookshops nearby. Harry bought her a diary and a fountain pen and she immediately commented on how convenient they were.
"Why do they use quills and parchments in Hogwarts?" she asked rhetorically, but Harry knew the answer to this.
"Parchments are more magic absorbent than paper, so if you want to put spells like spell checking, word counting or even used dictation spells, the parchment will allow you to do it more easily than paper. Quills are just traditions."
"How do you know that?" she asked in wonder.
"When you live with a researcher, you tend to pick up on a lot of stray knowledge you don't really need." He explained. She laughed but claimed that she would start taking notes using her diary and pen from now on and he got her ink cartridges and a few ballpoint pens to go with it. She was gushing about the ballpoint pens when they were getting out of the shop, causing a few people to look at her suspiciously.
Harry gave her a short lesson about popular muggle culture that she should be aware of if she wanted to get around. Daphne took notes in her diary, still amazed at how much lighter the diary seemed to be than the ones she used.
They had pasta for lunch and Daphne insisted on paying, saying that he had paid far too many times to count. They had some muggle ice cream before she discovered a shop that sold bicycles.
"Tori always wanted one of those but father never allowed it. I think I'll get one for her birthday." She said, entering the shop. She was impressed by the large variety of their collection, and chose a red bicycle with a basket in front. She also got other accessories like helmets, knee pads and gloves. The shopkeeper was a bit suspicious at seeing a young girl with so much cash with her, but he didn't comment on it. Discreetly, Harry put impervious charm on the tyres so that they didn't get dirty. They quickly ducked to a quiet alleyway where Daphne shrank the bike and Harry conjured a cushioned box to keep it safe. Deciding to get his gift for Astoria as well, Harry pulled her to a music store that sold CDs and brought entire discographies of Astoria's favourite bands. Daphne knew quite a few bands by now, and she got some albums, recommended by Harry, for herself as well.
They still had half an hour to kill before they had to pick Astoria, so they sat in the Piccadilly Circus Square for a while and Daphne tried to observe the way muggles clothed. The street performers were particularly amusing to her. With a different sense of value of money, she tended to leave large tips to whichever performer caught her attention. A fact that all said performers were quite happy about. She definitely loved the muggle world and wanted to spend more time here, so she wanted to make sure that she understood their customs, fashion and culture. Harry was happily surprised at that because he often found the muggle world more interesting than the wizarding world as well, and was glad that she felt the same.
Soon they got up and ducked to another alleyway but this time there were three men there, standing close and smoking.
They turned to leave and find another alley but a rough hand grabbed Harry by the shoulders and turned him around, pointing a gun to his stomach.
"Looking for something kid?" he asked in a raspy voice. Daphne was reaching for her wand but one of the other man quickly leapt at her with a knife.
Harry didn't have a chance to react before the man was pushed violently away from her and in the split second of shock, Harry used magic to pull the gun away from the man in front of him and knocked them out with weak stunners. He erased the memories of the three goons and held out his hand for Daphne, who grabbed it quickly. Glancing around one last time, they disapparated.
As they reached a spot close to the gate where Astoria was supposed to wait, Harry spoke.
"Thank you for wearing that necklace."
"What?" She asked, confused, before she remembered that she was wearing the necklace that he got her for Christmas. "Wait, do you mean it was the necklace that pushed that... thug away from me? I thought that was you."
"Well, technically I put the protective charm on it, so you can say that, but yes. It was the necklace." He answered and she hugged him tightly.
"Thank you, Harry." She said and he patted her on the back affectionately.
"You say that way too often. Makes me kinda miss the old you who would curse me every day." He joked and she swatted his chest but gave a chuckle all the same.
Astoria arrived at the gate precisely at five and for once, Daphne was the chatty one as she told Astoria all about the new muggle things she discovered that day. Astoria looked quite jealous and Harry promised her that they would take her along the next time they went to roam the muggle world.
They reached home to find that Lily and James had already arrived home and were relaxing on the living room, a bored Melanie trying to climb up the window curtains.
Lily asked them about their day and Daphne once again rattled on about how amazing she found the muggle world. They chose not to mention the muggle goons. Astoria just hung out with her friend and got to ride a horse. Harry asked about their mission and James replied that it was successful while Lily complained that it was the most boring ten hours of her life. Sirius would be joining them soon and so would Remus as they intended to celebrate James's birthday. The two girls wished him a happy birthday and went upstairs to get their gifts for him. James was very ecstatic to receive a nice set of dress robes from Daphne and a signed Quaffle from Puddlemore Unites, James's favourite quidditch team, from Astoria.
James was still thanking the girls when Sirius and Remus arrived. Harry knew that Remus and the others had a little disagreement about them joining the Protectors, but he was happy to see that they put their differences aside for this day, at least. Sirius brought a large cake and steak and ribs for everyone. Remus brought a bottle of champagne. Daphne and Astoria were introduced to Remus, as they never met before, and Remus caught Harry's eye and gave him a meaningful look. Harry nodded in understanding and took the two girls aside and asked them if they would mind if a werewolf was invited.
"Are they… tame?" Astoria asked and Harry laughed, but nodded nonetheless.
"Are they a friend of yours?" Daphne asked.
"Actually a friend of my parents, but I'm fond of them as well." Harry replied.
"I don't mind." Astoria said with a brave face. Harry smiled at her.
"It's Remus, isn't it?" Daphne asked, a glint in her eyes and Astoria gasped.
"Yes, it's Remus. He is probably the gentlest and 'tamest' guy I know, werewolf or not. He takes Wolfsbane potion before every full moon, so he isn't even dangerous during a full moon."
"It's alright Harry. If you trust him, I do too." Daphne said with a smile.
"Good. Let's get back then." Harry said and showed a thumbs up to Remus to show that they were fine with it. Both girls smiled at him and he smiled back gratefully. Sirius noticed the exchange.
"So you two know about Moony's furry little problem?" he asked with a grin and they nodded.
The dinner was a boisterous affair and there was cake and cream everywhere. Harry had conjured some balloons for Melanie's sake and the little girl was happy chasing them around. Harry smuggled some champagne to Astoria, who never had it before, while Daphne kept Lily distracted. The Marauders exchanged stories of their school days and recalled some of the best pranks they pulled on each other. Daphne was very amused to hear the story about Lily hanging James by the Astronomy Tower. She and Astoria both seemed disappointed that Remus had been offered the position of Defence Teacher at Hogwarts a few years back, but being happy at the job he had, Remus refused. He would've been better and much cooler than some of the teachers they had over the years, Daphne thought. Harry and Daphne shared some of their best pranks on each other and Astoria even supplied a few that they had forgotten. Sirius tried to impress the greatness of being a prankster upon Astoria and it looked like he was making some headway. James and Remus were telling stories involving their alternate forms to Daphne, while Lily and Harry quietly planned Astoria's birthday party that was two days away.
They went to sleep late that night and before going, Astoria asked if it was okay if she made breakfast the next morning, and everyone agreed merrily. Lily asked her to make a list of the people she wanted to invite for her birthday and after a little protesting about no need for a party, she caved easily. Although Lily said she could hand in the list the next day, but Astoria wrote it down pretty quickly and gave it back right away. Lily beamed when she saw that she had invited both Sirius and Remus. She only invited a few friends, and Lily told her that they would hold the party on the Potter Manor, so she could invite more people if she wanted, but Astoria said that she was fine.
It was strange, Daphne thought as she watched her sister talking animatedly with the Potters. She had been in this house for a mere three days and it already felt like home. The meals, the laughter, the love and the house itself- it all felt more like home than her actual home used to. Obviously, she still missed her mother almost constantly, and to a much smaller extent her father as well, but she knew that although James and Lily didn't try to be her parents, along with Sirius, Remus, Harry and Melanie, they definitely felt like family to her. You couldn't choose your family, they said, but Daphne didn't know if she could find a better family if she could choose. She knew that these people that she didn't even know at this time last year, really considered them family. Astoria seemed to have accepted them as family too. Daphne knew that her younger sister was very much taken with little Melanie, and she was becoming increasingly fond of James, Lily and Sirius and she already loved Harry like an older brother.
It was a bit difficult for Daphne to imagine the amount of compassion one must have inside themselves to be so kind, caring and loving to two almost completely strange girls. She counted her luck that Lily Potter came to her rescue when her assholes of relatives came to claim the property hours after they heard about the passing of her parents. She knew Harry must have asked her to look for her when he didn't see her in the Hogwarts Express.
Then there was the matter of Harry himself. She always took pride in the belief that she was an independent woman who could live life on her own just as fine. And that worked out pretty well for most of her life. She used to hate Harry Potter and everything was normal. Then out of nowhere he became her friend, and threw her previously normal life out of the window. Maybe it was the constant war between them, but she couldn't believe that all those years ago she turned down the friendship of a boy who was the most kind, caring and fun person ever.
And now she was pretty sure that she fancied that boy. And she was absolutely sure that he fancied her back. She was quite surprised at herself for kissing him like that in the rooftop or in front of her room, but she didn't regret doing those. She wasn't sure what Harry thought about her after those incidents, but she didn't really want to discuss the matter right now, and by the looks of it, Harry didn't, either.
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Neville was growing restless in anticipation. They were at the house that once belonged to the Gaunts. It was the house where Voldemort's mother grew up. And Neville had a bad feeling about it. Dumbeldore had been studying the wards of the place for a while, and unlike the regular magic that Neville knew, ward detection was very boring to watch. Dumbledore would stare at a wall, occasionally waving a hand over it. There was no way to know what was happening unless the Headmaster shared it with him, and Neville did not want to break the older wizard's concentration.
Rubbing his arms to fight the chill in the air, he looked around aimlessly. The place look abandoned and devoid of life. He could actually taste the magic in the air, and for some reason his scar was slightly itchy, giving him a feel of crushing unease. Ever since he learned Occlumency, his scar had bothered him much lesser than before, but every now and then, it prickled or itched irritably, reminding him of its presence. His occlumency teacher, a man called Duncan Roger, told him that he would have to get used to it. Mr. Rogers was hired by his grandmother after he insisted that he really needed to learn occlumency.
The thought of his grandmother brought on a slightly bitter mood. True to his word, Harry had asked James and Lily Potter to talk with the old woman. Neville did not know the words that were exchanged between them and his gran, but he knew it was not pleasant. His gran was red faced once they emerged from that meeting and the Potters had a hard expression on their faces. Neville was afraid that by talking to the Potters might have made things worse, but he noticed the changes in his gran gradually. She had stopped comparing Neville with his father in every possible opportunity, asked for Neville's opinion on a few things, and even allowed him to go on a lunch in Diagon Alley. Of course, he did not tell her that he was going to that lunch with Ginny Weasley, his girlfriend. She did not need to know about that now.
"Ah, I think we can now enter." Dumbledore announced happily, standing back from the wall he was examining. "Tom is very smart, but he is also very arrogant."
"Why do you say so, sir?" Neville asked.
"He is one of the most knowledgeable wizard I have met, but he truly believes that no one can match his knowledge, or wisdom. Wise men never think that."
Nodding at the remark, Neville went forward and pushed the door that had a dead snake nailed to it. The smell inside almost brought back his dinner. Fanning the air in front of him, he tried to ignore the stench and step forward. Dumbledore followed behind him and made a beeline for a trapdoor that Neville did not notice at first. Dumbledore opened the trapdoor and revealed a depressed portion of the floor.
A ring with a large stone sat inconspicuously in the middle.
From the moment he set his eyes on the ring, Neville's scar began to prickle significantly more and he could feel the taint of the darkest trenches of magic from it. He looked at the Headmaster to confirm if it was really a horcrux, but Dumbledore did not appear to be paying him any mind. In fact, he had a fleeting suspicion that Dumbledore's mind was not even present there.
"Uh… Professor? Is that a horcrux?" he asked with a frown at the offending object. For some reason, he wanted to pick it up and put it on his fingers.
"Professor?" he called again, and noticed that Dumbledore was looking at it desperately, whispering something he could not make out. He was slowly reaching out for the ring, looking hypnotized by the artefact.
Compulsion charm! That's why I want to put it on too!
He knew that nothing that Voldemort would try to compel you to touch could possibly be good for you and knew that Dumbledore was not in his senses and his hand was almost touching the ring. Neville made a split second decision and tackled the Headmaster to the ground. In his hazed state, Dumbledore drew his wand on Neville, and Neville immediately snatched it away with a reflex that surprised even him. Dumbledore seemed to be in shock, staring at his hand.
"Professor, I'm so sorry but it looked like you were under a compulsion. Are you hurt? Profess-" Neville stopped at the sight of the Headmaster. Dumbledore looked back at him with teary eyes.
"But I can bring her back". The old man pleaded with a broken voice.
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Astoria's birthday party was a blast. The Potter Manor was huge with too many rooms to count, and the hall room where the party was hosted was almost as large as the Great Hall in Hogwarts. Lily, James, Harry and Daphne decorated it beautifully and Sirius volunteered to organize the party games and activities. Daphne paid for the food and the drinks, not hearing any protests from the Potters, insisting that it was the least she could do. Remus looked after Melanie, and later played human transport to Astoria's friends who needed to be picked up.
The party itself was quite enjoyable to everyone. There were games, snacks, entertainment, drinks, more games, more snacks, music and dancing, some more games and most importantly, food. Daphne had really wanted this to be a success and she went bonkers with the food. There was British food, there was Italian food, there was Asian food and there were every kind of dessert Astoria liked. Lily was afraid that some kids might throw up when they went home and Daphne slyly replied that it was not really their problem if they didn't throw up here and the two women shared an evil laugh about it, worrying James a little.
As the guests all went home and the family headed back to the Potter Cottage, (Daphne had hired two house elves on a temporary basis to clean up, once again ignoring the protest of Lily) where Astoria would receive the gifts from the family. She had put away the gifts from her friends to open later.
Daphne went first, giving her the bicycle she had bought in her day out with Harry. Astoria squealed and hugged her sister so tight that Daphne had a little trouble breathing. Next up was Harry, who gave the discographies of all her favourite bands and received an almost identical reaction. Sirius and Remus teamed up for their gift (they took advice from Daphne and Harry). Remus got her tickets for a Metallica concert, but the concert was in Australia and Sirius managed a return portkey to Sydney and back. Astoria thanked them profusely, her eyes watery. Lily and James were last and Harry knew that there was going to be some tears, so he summoned a box of tissues beforehand.
"I did some extensive research" James started, being the expert, "and although Lily wanted to get you the one that Harry has, I think this will be better suited for a Chaser that you said you wanted to be. We can always change it, though."
Lily handed her a long package, and Astoria unwrapped it with disbelieving eyes to reveal the latest model of Comet Supreme broomstick. Harry was ready with his box of tissues as Astoria broke out into tears as she hugged the life out of James and Lily, who patted her back soothingly.
"So you like it, I am guessing?" Lily joked and Astoria nodded, kissing the cheeks of her new kind-of foster parents. Harry offered her the tissue box and she accepted it with the biggest smile.
It was not the biggest birthday party Astoria had, Daphne thought happily. But it was damn well the best party she could ever imagine for her little sister.
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The remaining days of the holiday went by quickly. Astoria brought Harry and Daphne along with her to the Metallica concert in Australia, which was the first concert either Daphne or Astoria attended, magical or muggle. They had a great time, though their heads and shoulders hurt afterwards from the loud music and the head bangs. The trio went to muggle London a few more times, sometimes accompanied by James, Lily and Melanie, sometimes by Sirius and other times on their own. They went to the Potter Manor a few times, which had a quidditch pitch where Harry and Astoria could fly around. Harry showed Daphne his training room in the Manor that he used in the summer, and she would too when they came back after Hogwarts. With the help of Harry and Daphne (and occasionally Lily), Astoria seemed pretty confident with her studies, and Daphne took a lot of help from Lily as well. Although she was quite shocked to discover that the laid back, goofy James Potter had a knowledge about Transfiguration and Defence Against the Dark Arts so deep that even Lily was hard pressed to match.
Soon enough, it was time for them to go back to Hogwarts, and both Daphne and Astoria felt sad about going back. Daphne knew that the novelty would wear off after a while, but she already missed the cottage when James was parking the car at the King's Cross station. The goodbye was quite emotional and Harry was secretly amused to see Daphne, the most collected person he knew, dabbing her eyes as she hugged Lily. James gave the girls a parting gift: a pair of mirrors that were connected to each other and to the rest of the family.
The journey back to Hogwarts was quite uneventful, with most of the train being empty. Astoria lounged around with Daphne and Harry in the Head's compartment since none of her or their friends were there. Harry and Daphne took her along in the few patrols they made. Harry taught the girls how to use their mirrors and told them the story of how James Potter and Sirius Black used it to talk with each other when in separate detentions. He also decided to share the secret of the Marauder's Map with them, and Daphne was amazed at the magic that four schoolchildren (mostly three, as Pettigrew did the scouting) commanded to create such an item. It almost felt like home with the three of them hanging out together and time flew by before they were already in Hogsmeade station, climbing a carriage.
School seemed a bit tense when they sat for the welcoming feast. Harry gathered from his fellow Gryffindors that three sixth year Slytherins had attacked a third year Ravenclaw and Professor McGonagall had publicly dressed down Snape for defending them. The offending Slytherins were given detention though everyone knew McGonagall had wanted to suspend them at the very least.
Neville also mentioned, confidentially, that two students with covered faces tried to attack him as well, and it was blind luck that Flitwick was coming at that direction, causing the attackers to run away. Neville had reported this to Professor Dumbledore, but the headmaster had asked him to stay on his guard, admitting that there was nothing he could do without knowing who the attackers were. Ginny had urged him to report this to McGonagall as well, but even she knew that she couldn't do much if Dumbledore was not going to help. Once he got Harry in private, Neville shared the story of his and Dumbledore's adventures at the Gaunt House. Harry was very intrigued at the Headmaster's words and even more on the stone that Dumbledore just pocketed the ring instead of destroying it like they originally planned. But the attacks on Neville was higher in his priority, so Dumbledore's shenanigans were ignored for the time being.
School resumed as normal from the next day and Harry continued his training with Daphne as usual. Astoria came over more often and often spent the night with Daphne. Sometimes she wanted help with homework and other times she wanted coffee, but most of the time she just wanted to hang out. Harry had managed to convince Mimsy to serve pizza for lunch during weekends, and once it started to appear in the dining table, it was a big hit and occasionally was seen during weekdays as well.
The stress of NEWTs was affecting everyone in their year. Parvati Patil had spent a night in the hospital wing when she bought a 'memory enhancing potion' from a shady man in Hogsmeade, which later turned out to be niffler piss. Hermione tried to make a study schedule for Harry like she did for everyone she knew (including her ex, Ron Weasley) and Harry had politely asked her to bugger off. Daphne was starting to show signs of stress too as April rolled into May and Harry was reluctant to talk to her unless necessary when she snapped at him three days in a row and then tried hexing him when he suggested that she take a few days off training and workouts.
On the upside of things, Ginny was turning out to be quite a captain as she worked the team hard in trainings and even oversaw Harry's individual seeker training as well. The team was working like a well-oiled machine ahead of their last match of the season (and Harry's last match in Hogwarts as a student). Things were going as normal as one could hope for when it happened.
After a particularly long quidditch practice session, Harry had followed the team to the Gryffindor common room, where he discussed tactics with Ginny for a while before leaving for the Head's dorm. He was planning a new training setup for Daphne when he turned a corner and suddenly he felt the flesh in his back split open and before he could make a sound, something hit the back of his head like a bludger, causing him to black out.
A/N: Yes, I really am going to leave for two weeks with that. Review to let me know how you feel about that.