This was less insomnia driven and more "Why the hell am I still awake and writing when I know I work in the morning!?"
So yeah, it's shortish but I just wanted third year over with because this is where my stories normally flounder and I want to write Dany and Harry dealing with the Triwizard tournament. Speaking of which I decided Dany is getting herself involved to protect Harry because she's kind of a control freak when it comes to his safety.
ALSO! WOW! My little omake within the story was pretty divisive with you lot, some of you loved it, some of you hated it to the point of unfollowing the story, color me shocked. I sincerely was simply having some fun at Dany's expense I didn't mean to alienate anyone with it, seriously relax the alternate reality is just going to be something Dany runs into every now and then.
As the saying goes, you're responsible for the lives that you save after all.
Harry stared down at Dancia's sleeping form while Hermione rested her head in his lap reading a book, neither teen really paying much attention to their surroundings as they lounged on the couch Dora had conjured for them.
"Why is it always her?" Harry eventually asked, at this Hermione paused and slipped a silk bookmark between her chosen tomes pages before slapping it closed and sat up.
"I've often wondered the same thing... Harry... Have you ever noticed how things just don't add up when it comes to Dany?"
Harry remained silent for a time, his reticence being fully understandable to the bushy haired bookworm considering the fae like girl was her best friend as well, then eventually he spoke up.
"She's smarter then everyone, and for the most part it's like she's just humouring the adults around us, the only one she shows any deference to is Dora and that seems more like...well..."
"A partnership," Hermione offered in a tired tone.
"Yeah, about right."
Silence, then eventually Hermione spoke up again, "We could just ask her?"
The question floated in the air for a time before Harry dropped his head and let out a tired sigh, "What if asking scares her away?"
She threw an arm around his shoulders and Harry rested his head in the crook of her neck, eventually she spoke up, "In the end, does it even matter? She is still our Dany, so long as we can keep her from harm she can keep her secrets, right?"
Harry took Hermione's hand and held it close to his chest, "Right, she'll always be our Dany..."
They rested like this for about a half hour when the snow haired girl in question suddenly sat up without warning blinking rapidly while spitting out, "Mother fucker what the hell was that!?"
Her friends, despite the relief they were feeling from her awakening, broke out laughing at her expense.
Placating her friends had been a rather arduous task but Dancia eventually managed to get them calmed down, mostly because she agreed with them completely that the bracelet that sent her to freaking Oz was a subject of interest that needed to be handled with caution.
How they had managed to keep said bracelet from their professors knowledge in spite of it being the catalyst for her being in the infirmary to begin with was beyond her, she chalked that up to Harry embracing his Marauder heritage and wrote it off from there.
Still, after her friends were shewed off followed by an hour of examinations Dancia was finally released from the medical wing, she had only walked a few feet out of the doors when she heard a slightly bored drawl from behind her.
"So why exactly did you decide to not ask me to escort you and your friends through the Room of Lost things?" Dancia sighed and glanced over her shoulder at her auntie Bella with a tired gaze.
"What day is it?"
Bellatrix Black blinked slowly at that before tilting her head to the side, "Day before you lot all ship off for the summer hols."
"Exactly," Dancia stated with a smile. "You are the first professor to survive the DADA position for an entire scholastic year without getting killed or falling to some sort of scandal. I happen to actually like you auntie so I decided not to involve you in that little misadventure in order to ensure you were going to be teaching us next year. Consider it...vested self interest in action if you will."
Bellatrix stared down at her smirking niece a few moments before she broke out cackling and pulled her into a hug, "Goddess I love you and your scheming heart little one!"
Dancia wrapped her arms around her aunt's waist, and her inner Draco cringed a bit when she grinned with her reply, "I love you too auntie Bell."
Dancia paced about her dorm room as she contemplated her current path in life while trying her best to remain objective.
She was in love with her best friend, yes, but was that what was best for him and the ongoing future?
If not, did she care? Did she care if the future burned away and it was only her and Harry to stand over the ashes?
...Yes...she did care about that.
Hermione, Dora, Neville, Luna, Susan, Mummy and Daddy, the aunts...
So...how the hell was she going to pull this off where everyone ended up alive and happy?
"Dany! The trains almost ready to leave!"
Turning towards the chirping voice Dancia quickly wrapped her arms around Luna placing her face right next to her ear while whispering out, "Thanks moonbeam, I'll be right after you." Luna giggled, pecked Dancia's cheek, then ran back to the common room while Dancia let out a tired sigh.
Gathering her things she made her way way through the common room, down the tower stairs, and out to the front gates, finding her friends she soon rode the carriage down to the Hogwarts Express and eventually approached said train in a sedate manner.
"It's exhausting, isn't it?"
Dancia jumped as she turned and met the golden gaze of a young woman leaning against a lamp post.
She looked to be of Polynesian descent, with long black hair that seemed to absorb all the light around her, galaxies, nebulae, stars exploding in their deaths while others coalesced into new life, all reflecting in an unending waltz shining from the ebony depths.
This was completely offset by her cargo shorts, sandals, and Mystic Spiral t-shirt.
"What?" Was all Dany could think to say as she stared at the entity before her, said entity smiled kindly while running her hand down Dancia's face.
"You are one of my favorites you know that? Every time my brother decides to screw with one of your lives I try to fix it, I don't always succeed but I try. You though, this you is so...wonderfully stubborn."
"What?" Dancia was feeling irrationally terrified as the being before her smiled.
"He lied to you, you know? Draco's Harry? More than once honestly, he never offered this life to anyone else, he only offered it to you. You were not lovers, but he loved you, and he knew how...unwanted you felt yourself to be. So he convinced Uncle Death to bend the rules for you."
"What!?" Dany asked again sounding desperate as she repeated herself, the woman before her smiled sadly as she kicked off the lamp post.
"I so rarely get to give any of you a happy ever after... It's...a nice change honestly."
Dany just stared at her a few moments before she whispered, "Who are you?"
She grinned at that, "I am Destiny, and I'm leaving before Uncle Death gets annoyed with me, stick close to the child of Prophecy, and you'll send Fate for a tailspin."
Dancia blinked rapidly completely lost as she felt like she had forgotten something important when Harry grabbed her hand and dragged her forward causing her to grin.
"Dany come on! We've got so much to look forward to this summer! My idiot Dogfather got us tickets to the Quiditch World Cup and Hermione's parents bought us passes to a bunch of water parks! Also a new book store opened up in Leeds that we're going to be dragged to but what can you do?"
Dany grinned and soon matched Harry's pace while stating in a matter fact tone, "Luna already found a cabin for us so we don't have to hurry that much."
After she was seated with her friends, Dany finally reflected on what lay ahead of her, the Horcruxes, the teenage drama, the coming politics, and all the oncoming stress... and yes...
It was exhausting...
"They're worth it though," she muttered as she glanced at her gathered friends, and she just barely managed to keep herself from jumping in the air when Destiny appeared beside her and nodded slowly.
"There's a reason you're one of my favorites."
Dancia sighed and shook her head, "Is this going to be a regular thing?" she whispered under her breath, Destiny looked quite amused as she shook her head in the negative.
"No, Uncle just wanted to let you know that his 'master' was done with you, as in he had completed his bargain. I'm just taking advantage of a few dozen loopholes to speak to you, I may find another one later on but for the time being, you're on your own."
Dancia sighed and nodded at that before Destiny shot her a wry smirk, "Gaunt family ring, Hufflepuff's cup, and no, he doesn't have to die."
Dancia blinked and spat out "What!?"
Harry shot Dancia a concerned look as he asked, "Dany are you ok?"
She stared at Harry in confused shock a moment before he leaned forward and kissed her.
Why did that make everything better?
She smiled in return, "I'm fine Harry, promise."
Harry pulled her close and she tried not to think about what had amounted to a massive head trip, all while wondering if everything she had ever done was just on the whims of entities she could never possibly comprehend.
In the end, did it really even matter?
Harry grasped her hand and squeezed it, he shot her a wry grin and she smirked in reply as she leaned forward and pecked his cheek.
She had her answer.
END OF THIRD YEAR! Time for the Goblet, hehe... Hope you all enjoyed