Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or its characters.
AN: Chapter edited 21st May
Hagrid was a mess after Charlie's friends had taken Norbert away from him. Harry couldn't fathom what exactly goes through the big man's mind when talking about the dragon. It nearly burnt down his hut before they collected it but Hagrid told the story as if it was a puppy licking their owner's face.
He, Daphne, Dumbledore, Hermione and Ron had all been there to see the dragon off. The scaly metre long creature had taken a strong liking to Harry surprising everyone. Harry had been pondering the fact ever since and the only thing that made some sense was it was because he was a fire elemental. A dragon being a magical creature of fire made sense. It might also explain why Fawkes became so close to him as well.
Since Harry made the suggestion to join them for dinner the phoenix would flame down to the hall for every meal from that moment on surprising everyone. Especially when he took time to visit Harry, Susan and Daphne at each table, Harry had to laugh when he saw Fawkes have a staring contest with his favourite Slytherin the first time. The mystical bird didn't stop until she scratched him and she fed him some food making him trill happily. Needless to say Fawkes caused quite the number of rumours considering it ignored everyone but those three people. Not even Dumbledore could catch his familiar's attention when he was focusing on one of the first years.
Slytherin played Hufflepuff and Oliver was running around as if Gryffindor had already won the cup when Cedric Diggory caught the snitch winning their team the match. This meant even if they got slaughtered by Ravenclaw which was unlikely they would still win the cup. As such there was a party on the Friday of every week from then on in the common room. Even Percy who was a stuck up that followed the rules actually didn't make a big deal of it after the second week.
He had begun to notice Hermione watching him with suspicious eyes all the time as well but when he confronted her about it she denied ever doing it. That only resulted in him eyeing her for some time each time she would do it and she was growing just as frustrated as he was after a few days. When she had a confronted him he simply stated "It's annoying isn't it, you stop it and I will too. I'm not trying to figure out why you are Ron's new best friend so don't staring at me like some puzzle" She had huffed but had indeed stopped staring since she didn't realize her being around Ron was so obvious to others.
Ron kept warning him about Daphne and Tracey being spies for the evil Snake leader Snape but Hermione would stop him from saying anything about the stone. He really didn't understand Hermione's logic in the whole situation. What exactly could they do to stop a fully trained wizard and the Headmaster's traps and protections around the stone as first year students? She might have book smarts behind her but she seemed to hold as much knowledge about the real world as Ron.
Harry shuddered as he suddenly came to the realization that the way Ron had constantly pushed that best friend status around. That maybe in the original timeline Merlin spoke of Harry might have been a part of the situation the redhead and bushy haired girl were in. Perhaps he was the third member that was also retarded when it came to the real world. Harry couldn't deny that before Merlin's knowledge he knew basically nothing about the wizarding world or general social behaviours thanks to the Dursleys. He would have been a scared frightened boy who would have latched onto Ron as much as the boy seemed to latch onto him and hidden away from all the attention focused on him.
Harry felt like screaming and rocking back and forth in the corner of the common room as he realized he was once as dim witted as the redhead. Katie who was nearby saw his horror stricken expression and shook her head before walking over. "Okay what have you thought of now Harry?" He turned fearful eyes to her and whispered "I just imagined myself being as naive and stupid as those two over there. Merlin what if I had taken Ron's hand in friendship and become the third member. A member of a trio of idiots who know nothing of the world, what would have happened to me Katie?"
She sent him a incredulous stare wondering why on Earth he was thinking of being in such a situation. The young brunette couldn't actually picture any way that Harry would have ever ended up a member of said trio. "It would never have happened Harry so don't stress about it alright." He still had wide eyes but let her drag him over to his fellow teammates and away from the duo that were causing him grief. Sitting down she hopped onto his lap while explaining to the others his 'concerns' leaving them all giggling or laughing hysterically.
Harry however ignored them completely as he suddenly remembered how the twins looked out for him. How the only fan like present he got was the sweater from Mrs Weasley during Christmas. Ron and Hermione being the only ones that noticed 'Snape' during his first Quidditch match. Adding all these factors together confirmed he was likely would have viewed them as his best friends in the original timeline.
Harry had to shake those thoughts away, that wasn't relevant in the here and now. This world was not the old Harry so whatever relationships he had there did not impact in this world. After he seemed to finally reign in the last of the horrid thoughts he let out a sigh of relief when he noticed the girl on his lap. But then he heard their teasing about the 'golden trio' and he shuddered again and shot all three girls glares causing them to laugh harder.
Time passed and being the geniuses they were Ron and Hermione had taken to practically stalking Snape to try and catch him out. They had winded up getting themselves detention for their efforts. Hermione was practically in tears when she revealed she had detention. Ron seemed quite proud of his efforts until they found they would be heading into the forest and Harry pointed out Acromantulas were known to be found in there. The proud boy turned pale and looked at Harry like he had just signed his death certificate.
Harry wanting to know why they would serve a detention in one of the places all students were supposed to be forbidden to enter. He decided to follow them to it under his cloak when they were going to do it. Since Daphne knew about the stone he had talked to her about it. It was nice to be able to discuss things with someone and not just think about scenarios to himself late at night. She had agreed it was odd and had demanded to come with him. He reluctantly agreed after she threatened to sit away from him in classes.
Harry had been expecting Tracey to come along when he met up with the girls outside the Slytherin common room. To his surprise however she had simply beamed and stated "Have fun, I'll keep Zabini busy" He merely rolled his eyes while her best friend was sending an ice cold glare and a small smile.
He felt bad about not telling Susan more but he felt she would tell Hannah whereas Daphne kept the secret knowing how important it was. The less people that knew about the stone the better otherwise the professors would begin to get suspicious.
The duo followed Filch, Ron and Hermione down to Hagrid's hut. The big man was sniffling and Harry let out a sigh knowing he was still caught up about Norbert. "Merlin I'm sorry Harry but that is ridiculous. Crying that much over a dragon he knew for two weeks" Harry chuckled and put his arm around her waist "Aww that's going to be me at the end of term though Daphne" She scoffed and didn't acknowledge his arm's position or the statement.
They heard about something wounding the unicorns. Harry remembered reading about Unicorn blood healing fatal wounds but at a price as well as Quirrell walking into the forest. Was the fake man responsible for the attacks? Or perhaps it was Snape going after a rare potions ingredient. He sniffed the air around the wound after Hagrid led the two first years away. He quickly picked up the Unicorn's scent coming from another direction and began to walk in that direction. A pair of arms around him caused him to stop and turn with an eyebrow raised.
"You can't honestly think of going in there Harry? There are all sorts of dangerous creatures in the forest. We might be invisible but we still have a scent, they can see track us" Harry looked at the blonde's blue eyes and noted that she had no fear just curiosity. He simply smiled at her and picked up an odd scent nearby "Don't worry Daphne. I won't let anything happen to you, besides we are children in the eyes of many in the forest. They will leave us be as long as we don't disturb or enter their dwellings"
She gazed him oddly for a moment "How do you know this?" He didn't answer at first just wrapped his arm around her again and began to walk for a few minutes and noticed they were being tracked. "Probably because something is watching us right now but hasn't made itself known yet" She looked at him sharply and hissed "What?"
Suddenly hooves could be heard as a centaur came into the clearing "Interesting, few wizards are able to sense us when we do not wish to be found. Tell me who are you and why are you in our forest? Are you the one that will defy the star's foretelling? Are you the warrior of fate?" Daphne raised both eyebrows at the odd questions made by the centaur in front of her.
Harry laughed at that title before taking off the cloak surprising the girl next to him "Warrior of fate? Wow that sounds way better then the boy who lived. Greetings centaur, I am Harry Potter and I'm looking to discover who is hurting the unicorns in your forest"
"Who? You have your suspicions of who it might be? Unicorn blood grants a cursed life... but you do not seem surprised by this. The war of the past was halted but not stopped and shall begin anew. Interesting, perhaps you are the one to keep it at bay and bring about a new age. I shall leave you for now, we shall protect you from the shadows until you leave once more warrior. It is the role of the old to protect the young after all"
The centaur backed into the shadows and curious of his statement Harry listened carefully and could hear multiple hooves surrounding them but keeping their distance. Strangely none of them held any scent even the one that just spoke to him confusing him greatly.
Assuming they were using some form of magic Harry shrugged and threw the cloak back over them before following the scent once more. After a few minutes of walking with Daphne glaring at him she finally hissed "You think you know who it might be? Who is it? And what was that about a cursed life?"
Harry put a finger to her lips and whispering in her ear "Shh something's over in that next clearing. I do have my suspicions beautiful but you'll have to wait until I'm sure before I tell you. You can't use your good looks to get that much out of me. As for cursed life a unicorn is a purest form of innocence and their blood has special healing properties. For someone to wilfully kill one and drink its blood will keep you alive even if you are an inch from death. But all things have a balance in the world. You are left with a time expiry for your life in exchange for escaping death. However there is something in the castle that could fix that little problem which might be why he is here killing them"
Daphne's eyes widened as realization dawned on her. The stone was in the castle, through that the elixir of life that would remove the curse from drinking unicorn blood. What she couldn't figure out was who might be so close to death that they would... Daphne suddenly gasped and looked at Harry's scar "The war will begin anew, oh Merlin he never even died did he Harry?" Making the boy roll his eyes and muttered out
"Uh didn't think you'd be that quick but I didn't become friends with you just for your looks. Yes I think it might be Voldemort somehow. I mean seriously what are the chances that an infant could kill him or that such a powerful wizard didn't have some sort of backup plan in case he was defeated by someone. My guess is that he was severely weakened. From what I've read all they found was a giant hole in the house and his robes. Where was the body or his wand? Now this isn't really the place to talk about this come on"
Daphne held him tight and tried to stop him from going forward "If you're right Harry than that means he is in that clearing. You can't honestly think you can take him on" He rolled his eyes again and kissed her on the cheek "I'm not stupid Daphne but neither is he. But I would like to see him for myself, the bastard that killed my family. I highly doubt he'll try and take me out and the centaurs are watching us anyway so you don't have anything to worry about"
His eyes began to glow as his rage started to rise but he took a few calming breaths and said softly "We'll be fine I promise. I'd never let anyone hurt you Daphne" She looked at him wide eyed when his eyes began to glow and blushed lightly before nodding her head. He beamed before slowly pulling her along with him heading to get a closer look at the clearing.
They saw a hooded figure drinking from the wound on the fallen Unicorn and Harry felt his anger beginning to rise "That bastard" His rage was getting greater and like he had been practising he focused all that anger to appear on the creature in front of him. He felt the familiar feeling come from within and he pushed it out towards the cloaked figure.
Daphne gasped as she saw Harry's eyes take on a eerie glow and his face contorted into one of pure loathing as he gazed at the figure. She tore her eyes away from the angry boy to the figure who suddenly burst into flame and began to scream and slid. Not run slid towards the shadows of the forest. The scream sent chills up her spine. It wasn't just a man's scream she heard. It sounded more like a combination of two people. One a normal scream but the other was a raspy hiss like sound.
She turned back to Harry and saw a look of surprise on his face. The young Slytherin couldn't help but wonder if somehow her best male friend had somehow caused that through accidental magic since his emotions were so high. It wasn't unheard of but to conjure flames in such a way accidentally didn't seem likely. Was the boy a fire elemental?
Harry broke Daphne's musings by catching her eyes, he smiled at her gently before pulling her up "Come on Daphne, we better get back to the castle before people notice we're missing" They began to walk away just as Hagrid, Ron and Hermione burst into the clearing. Another centaur came into the clearing and had a brief conversation with Hagrid. Harry noticed the darker shade centaur was looking right at him when he said the creature was driven off by a more powerful foe.
Harry and Daphne walked in silence with the latter gazing at him with a curious expression. Once near to the school grounds he let out a sigh "Yes I set him on fire Daphne" She stopped and put a hand to his cheek making sure she had his full attention "You are full of surprises Mr Potter, powerful physically, magically and politically. Even a fire elemental and I don't think there's been one of those since Nicolas Flamel and he's like 600 or something. Keep this up and maybe I'll consider you a potential future husband" She then kissed him on the cheek before pulling the dazed boy with her with a smile adorning her face.
Over the next few weeks everyone seriously began studying. The atmosphere around the castle changed as everyone began last minute cramming and trying to learn everything they could in the shortest amount of time. Harry took the time to help out each of his friends. He had been keeping a closer eye on Daphne lately and this had caught Tracey's attention. She had begun nagging him wanting to know what exactly had happened on their 'date' since Daphne had come back very pleased about something.
Harry never let anything out causing the girl to pout. She had tried everything from asking politely to sitting on his lap in the middle of the great hall and flirting. She even began promising to invite him to swim at her house during the summer so he could see her in a bikini. Merlin she even wore a tight shirt and shorts and run with him one morning but she quickly found she couldn't keep up with him. He ended up carrying her in his arms for another few laps and the girls in the crowd gave her scathing glares from then on. Unfortunately Harry held strong and the girl eventually let the subject drop... for now.
Hermione and Ron seemed to have finally given up their crusade to corner Snape when they realized how close exams were. Hermione especially looked like she would have panic attacks everyday and Harry once more came to the rescue to calm the girl down. Ron too after waking up from nightmares about acromantula's every night started to panic since he suddenly came to the realization that Hermione wouldn't be sitting the test for him. He would actually need to learn all the essays and assignments that she had 'helped' him with all year.
The exams finally ended and he was currently relaxing in the common room. The final Quidditch game between Gryffindor vs Ravenclaw was happening that coming Saturday. Even Oliver didn't bother with rigorous training and it seemed neither did Ravenclaw's team knowing it was unlikely they would actually win the cup. But now that the final exams were done Harry had to once more listen to Oliver's long winded speeches about how proud he was etc.
One by one people began to head up to bed and Harry noticed that the twins were watching an old piece of parchment with a large amount of interest. Finally Oliver dismissed them and headed up to bed everyone but Harry and the twins leaving. Lee had also headed up early in the night. Katie got off his lap and turned back to look at him oddly and he waved her off "I'll head up in a bit, unless you want to join me in my dorm Katie"
The girl scoffed before heading up and he got comfortable sitting on the couch and he turned to the twins who were looking impatient. "What's wrong guys? You look like you're up to something." They looked at each other and after a silent conversation they nodded than turned back to him before Fred stated with a smirk "We were going to see why someone" George added. "Went to the third floor corridor when Dumbledore was out of the castle"
Harry raised his eyebrows at the statement "How do you know this?" They smirked before looking back at him "Trade secret" Honestly he wasn't too fussed on the how just on who they discovered was on the third floor. He didn't want to reveal who he believed it might be so he stated "Alright mind if I tag along. I'm curious to what's under the three headed dog too"
The twins eyes widened in surprise before they got identical grins on their faces. "Well well brother of mine" George began "It seems we might have competition in the future" "Alright Harriken's we will take you with us" "But we want a promise" "That you will not reveal our secrets to anyone" "We think you won't mind" "Since we have stuff on you too" "Oh and we want to know how you get around undetected"
Harry looked at both with narrowed eyes "Alright so first off, who is it that's gone there and how do you know this information?" The twins got matching grins before they said "This is our greatest discovery" "The reason we know the castle so well" "The Mauraders map"
"Map? Like a map of the castle?" The twins gave him the parchment and George stated "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good" The blank parchment suddenly began to show a detailed map of the castle, floor by floor but what really impressed Harry was something else. Every person on the grounds was on the map making Harry suddenly realize another important fact.
The twins likely knew each time he would sneak off and that he always tended to have a girl with him during his little trips. The map obviously had some sort of magical signature like charm on it similar to what Botty explained to him with Daphne. Did that mean his father was one of the creator's of the map? If he asked one of the elves they would have responded even if he didn't reveal himself as heir. They might have even put their elf magic into the parchment since he wasn't sure if such a charm existed beyond wand detection.
He went to the third floor and narrowed his eyes, his suspicions were correct after all. On that corridor was written Quirinus Quirrell and Tom Riddle written in close proximity. The twins than looked confused "What we can't figure out" "Is why Professor Quirrell" "Has had two names" "instead of one"
Harry blinked, he thought that person in the forest was Voldemort. It turned out it was Voldemort possessing Quirrell. His knowledge on possession was limited but it made sense why Quirrell began hunting down Unicorns. With two souls in one body it has likely begun to shut down so he was looking for a way to extend his life until he could get the stone. "Possession, Quirrell is likely being possessed by this Tom Riddle"
The twins eyes widened in surprise and they both exclaimed "Of course, but what is in the corridor" Harry blinked thinking they would have figured it out if their younger brother had. "Uh I take it you two haven't bothered to wonder why your brother and Hermione spend so much time together. They discovered what was hidden on the third floor"
Both twins blinked in surprise at the comment before they did begin to wonder now and it made sense. No offense to their younger brother but they didn't see any girl taking an interest in him pureblood or not at this age. "So what is it Harry?" George asked curiously.
Harry looked them both in the eye as if searching for any kind of ulterior motive before he stated "The philosopher's stone" Both twin's eyes widened in surprise at this knowledge. "We better leave now or we won't catch him before he gets it, hold on I'll be right back"
He ran upstairs to get his cloak from his trunk and groaned when he saw his dorm mates awake. "So Harry what were you doing down there?" Dean asked with a chuckle and the boy laughed "Trying to get Katie to join me in here tonight" This of course resulted in all eyes to bug out in shock. Ron didn't seem to get it as he blurted out "What why would you want a girl in here Harry?"
Getting a cheeky grin he stated "Maybe you should try and get Hermione in here Ron. You hang out with her quite a bit" He looked at Harry with wide eyes and a blush causing his friends to chuckle. Harry headed to his trunk and entered his third compartment shocking his housemates. When he came back out with his cloak in his pocket he locked it back up and said "What? We are in a magical world guys. Apartment inside of a trunk, seriously come on guys it's only a 2 bedroom apartment"
Neville was the fastest to recover since the Longbottoms did have quite a bit of money and he lived in a mansion. He had also seen magical tents that can be up to 10 times the width of one so sticking a apartment inside a trunk made sense. The other three though all looked at the trunk in shock and he sighed before stating "I'll be back in a minute I want to try something"
Seamus chuckled "Trying to sneak into girls dorms eh Harry?" He winked before walking out and went downstairs back to the twins. "Hey guys lets go" As he threw the cloak over himself causing them to gasp in surprise. "An invisibility cloak" They both stated in awe.
Harry chuckled at their reaction before walking out of the portrait hole. It turned out the twins had mastered the disillusionment charm in their second year to help in their pranks. Harry was impressed as it was a very difficult spell to master from what he had read and he had yet to learn it. Mainly because the cloak let him have close proximity to his female friends and he liked it that way.
Once out of the common room he realized that with the twins present he couldn't summon Botty or they might figure out his heritage like Daphne had. That was too important to let go so stroking his chin thoughtfully he remembered a certain flaming phoenix that might like to get the girl for him. "Hold up guys I promised to let someone come with me if I went for the stone. Fawkes"
The twins gasped when the Phoenix burst into flame in front of them and he stated "Hey Fawkes, can you do me a favour and take this to Daphne please. You can come with us if you want too. An adventure awaits us my friend" Fawkes trilled a happy tune as Harry tied a letter to the bird's leg and he flapped twice before flashing in a burst of flame.
"Harry you can order around the headmaster's familiar?" Harry looked over curiously before stating "Actually I'm beginning to think it's not his familiar. I say this since he's a phoenix. There are no records of a phoenix being born. They've just always been there. Fawkes could just follow various wizards and witches he meets over the centuries but I have no way to confirm it of course. He seems to like me so I guess he's happy to do as I ask" The twins could see the logic behind the young wizards words and they agreed with them... for now.
Fawkes appeared in a burst of flames during Tracey hounding her best friend for answers and she squealed in surprise from the sudden appearance of the phoenix. Fawkes landed and held his leg out while trilling as if it was a way of explanation. Daphne smiled before taking the note and reading it. Her eyes narrowed at what she read but she did want to make sure he didn't do anything Gryffindor like. She turned to her best friend and stated "Fine I'll tell you what happened alright Tracey for Merlin's sake. I kissed him on the cheek and he made a big deal of it. Now he wants to meet me for some reason and asked Fawkes to bring me the letter since he can bypass the wards"
Tracey looked from Daphne to the bird and back again before narrowing her eyes "I know you Daphne Greengrass and that's not the whole story" But then she smiled "But you better go and not keep your boyfriend waiting" Daphne's eyes widened in shock but she didn't get to respond as Fawkes had flown over and she vanished in a burst of flames.
Now since Daphne didn't get to change into anything more presentable she was only wearing an old white t-shirt with a picture of a lightning bolt her little sister had bought her a few years before. It was a little tight but since she never wore it outside her dorms that only girls could enter. For this reason she was never bothered by it revealing her figure too much. She was wearing green pyjama pants that one would normally just associate with Slytherin. However since the shirt had a lightning bolt and her closeness with a certain green eyed wizard anyone would tease her of it which is precisely what her dorm mates would do all the time.
This of course had her even more in shock than her best friends comment when she saw Harry drop his cloak in shock and look at her wide eyed. Then she turned to the twins who had equal grins that made her nervous for some reason. Finally her eyes turned to the happily trilling bird above her flying around that she suddenly calmed down enough to say "Not. One. Word. Potter"
He held up his hand in a gesture of peace before helping the girl to her feet. "I like what you're wearing Daphne" She didn't say anything just sent him a glare and then one to the twins who looked like they were about to say something. They recognized the glare and wisely backed off. He threw the cloak over her and wrapped his arm around her waist. He couldn't help but let his eyes wonder to her chest but her growl snapped him back to reality and mutter apologies to her.
Fawkes had trilled something and then vanished confusing all present before Harry stated "He would draw attention flying around. He likely has gone ahead or gone to the office until I call him again. No doubt he'll want to see Daphne clos- I mean join us in our adventure" The glare promised him pain and he wisely chose not to complete the sentence. He found it quite difficult to keep his eyes locked to hers and not lower, he cursed Merlin and the time spent in that realm. It likely made him mentally older so such things were on his mind but he did notice her mouth twitch at his look of concentration.
Halfway to the third floor corridor they ran into Peeves who seemed to sense the twins. "Oh no no no can't have other troublemakers running about. I'll have to tell someone" Before anyone said anything Harry spoke in a voice similar to that of the bloody baron "You will leave here at once Peeves. Keep that troublesome caretaker away too, I cannot be disturbed tonight. Understand?"
Now two things happened and only Daphne and Harry understood it. As a resident ghost Peeves had to follow the orders of an heir. But since Harry put on a voice like the baron the twins wouldn't be suspicious. "Y-yes sir. I will keep the squib away. Please don't send me away sir" The twins looked shocked at the poltergeists words. "You need not worry Peeves, do as I say and you will not face my wrath"
The ghost flew down the corridor to do as the heir commanded him to do while the twins looked over in shock. "Harry that voice was spot on, we have tried to be the baron but for some reason Peeves always knows it's us. It's a good thing you're here" Harry laughed lightly in response but he filed the information that Filch was a squib away.
They arrived at the third floor corridor and Harry let out a sigh, after making sure the twins were out of hearing distance he squeezed her waist. Daphne turned to him with a curious gaze and he muttered "I was originally expecting Ron and Hermione to come after the stone. I would stun them both then Quirrell when he came out with it. Unfortunately the twins might not fall for it. That and I don't honestly know just how skilled they are. They seem more advanced then they show to the world. We'll have to try and bypass the traps within and stop the bastard at the other side"
Daphne looked at him worried and muttered just as silently "Harry these traps were likely set up for Voldemort, are you sure?" Harry kissed her on the cheek making her smile "Good girl you said his name. Yes I'm sure, Voldemort is possessing Quirrell. I think Dumbledore knows this and this was more of a test for me than Quirrell"
She gasped in realization "That bastard was planning on you going to protect the stone. So the protections shouldn't be impossible for a skilled first year student like you. If you failed he would sweep in and stop him himself" Harry nodded grimly and she growled at someone treating Harry as a pawn in some game.
Harry simply gave her waist a slight squeeze before Fred unlocked the door and undoing his disillusion. His brother doing the same just before Harry took the cloak off himself and Daphne. They noticed on the side of the room was a harp and the dog was growling at the new intruders. Harry looked at the twins and stated "Know a charm to get that going?" They both shook their heads keeping their eyes on the giant dog before Harry called out "Fawkes" The bird appeared and looked at the Cerberus curiously as Harry said "Sing a song for it Fawkes. I think that's its weakness"
The bird seemed to give him an incredulous look before he took off and started to trill a happy tune. Surprisingly the giant three headed dog began yawning and soon all three heads began to drop. A short time later it was sleeping peacefully. "Keep it going until we go down okay Fawkes, then flame down to us" The bird didn't acknowledge him but Harry knew he would do as asked before walking over and levitated the paw off the trapdoor.
He turned back to the twins and stated "You want to go first or second? I'm not letting Daphne go in there alone" She rolled her eyes at his 'heroic' statement but they held up 2 fingers each so he shrugged and picked Daphne up bridal style and jumped in ignoring her squeal of surprise.