"You're planning on marrying Courtney?" Harry asked after he gotten over the complete shock of it. He heard stories about Sirius in Hogwarts and those stories usually involved him not being the type of person to marry anybody. Sirius nodded his head to answer his godson's question. Ron looked at Sirius as if he were waiting for him to say 'Gotcha' but that never came. "You're completely serious about this, aren't you?" Ron asked Sirius. "Of course I am Ron. I really care for Courtney and she was the only one that ever caught my eye when I was in school. Besides, I'm a sucker for those blue eyes of hers." Sirius explained after giving his godson a wink. Harry could understand the sentiment of his godfather's words, since he too fell for the Sapphire Blue eyes of his current girlfriend. "Since you're completely serious about this Sirius, I'll be your best man. It's the least I can do for you and Courtney." Harry told his godfather. "If Harry is in, then I am as well. I'm happy for you mate." Ron told Sirius. Sirius gave a big smile and they returned to eating the wide assortments of food and drinking their tea.
They had spent over two hours in Sirius' Office discussing when and where they were going to get their dress robes. Especially since Ron was going to need to look his best. Harry knew from personal experience that Ron hated the dress robes he had to wear to the Yule Ball, because of the fact that it was mostly a dress. Sirius had decided that he'd get himself, Harry and Ron distinguished dress robes meant for a wedding. "That's all I really need to discuss with you two. I'll ask for Daphne and Hermione's help with the rest. Maybe even Molly, but first I just need to get it planned out. I've originally planned to propose during the summer, but I've decided to hold off until December. I'll see you two later. It's about to be ten o'clock." Sirius told them. Harry's eyes went wide when Sirius said that. Of course, Sirius noticed the reaction and didn't hesitate to investigate. "What's wrong Harry?" Sirius asked out of genuine concern. "I was supposed to meet Daphne at ten o'clock and I've yet to put my broom away. I've got to run unless I want to be killed." Harry told both Ron and Sirius.
He picked up his Firebolt and ran out of the office like his life depended on it, which it technically did. He wasn't trying to give Daphne any reason to want to physically harm him in any way. It took him ten minutes to run to the Gryffindor Common Room, put his Firebolt away in his dormitory, run back outside of the common room and get to the Room of Requirement. By the time he got into the Room of Requirement, he was hugging his side in pain and trying to regain all of the oxygen that he just used up in the short amount of time. "I was wondering when you were going to get here. You're late Harry." Daphne told him crossly. "Lost...time. Track of." Harry said while wheezing and continuing to clutch his side. Daphne noticed the state that her boyfriend was in and all of her irritation melted away instantly. "Did you run all the way here?" Daphne asked him with concern in her voice. "Ran to the Common Room then to here technically." Harry explained to his girlfriend when he had ample amounts of oxygen in his system.
"What did you run to the Common Room for? You were supposed to come straight here." Daphne said with irritation creeping back into her voice. "I had to drop of my Firebolt. I was in Sirius' Office ever since I got out of Quidditch Practice." he told her. "Why didn't you just have Ron drop it off when he left Sirius' Office?" she asked him with a frown on her face. "One, because I hadn't thought of that, two, because I wasn't trying to get killed and three, I left before he did when Sirius told me what time it was." Harry explained hotly. He could feel that his temper was starting to go through the roof, and he knew it was because Voldemort was angry at the moment. That didn't stop him from showing that he was starting to get angry though. "Look. Let's just start so we can hurry up and go back to our friends. Okay?" she asked him. After taking several deep breaths, Harry nodded at her and walked over to her. With each step he took towards her, he realized that was the first fight they ever had in their relationship. "So. How do I start, Professor Potter?" Daphne jokingly asked. "Well first, you need to relax a bit. I can sense your tension from right here." Harry told her with a slight smile on his face. Daphne took a deep, relaxing breath and Harry watched her shoulders slump a bit. "Next, you need to focus on your personality and your features. Your looks and all that." Harry told her. Daphne had a slight pout on her lip since she didn't know why it was important for her to focus on her personality and looks. She even took a long, irritated sigh which caused her to tense up again.
Harry walked behind Daphne and placed both of his hands on her hips. "Relax Love. I promise you there is a point to all of this. Just be patient." he told her in a whisper. Once again, Daphne found herself feeling relaxed as her boyfriend's hands touched her waist. In her mind she was telling herself in thought "There better be a point to all of this or there will be trouble for you." Harry moved a strand of her blonde hair behind her left ear and smiled at her. "After you've focused on all of that, imagine yourself as an animal with those same characteristics and looks. When you do, just imagine yourself turning into that animal and you will….hopefully. You'll also need to use your wand as well." Harry whispered in her ear. "It's kind of hard to focus at the moment with your breath touching my ear and your hands touching my hips." Daphne said with a bit of difficulty breathing. Harry slowly removed his hands and took a few steps away from her with a smile on his face. "That's better….a bit." Daphne said after she regained her composure.
She took her wand out of her robe pocket and closed her eyes. It took Daphne a while to focus on her animal, because she didn't know what it was. She had thought that it took the same shape as her Patronus, which was a doe, but that didn't seem to be it. She closed her eyes simply trying to get in touch with her subconscious. That was easier said than done, because all she saw when she closed her eyes was darkness. She took another calming, deep breath hoping that would help and it did….for a moment. She saw a blurry white image of an animal with blue where she was assuming the eyes were. She didn't know why, but she wasn't afraid of the animal. In fact, all she felt coming from the blurry animal was a sense of grace, nobility and serenity that was inhumane to get by hard work. In her mind, she walked closer to it, trying to get the animal to come into focus. As she got ever closer to it, she relaxed more and more and it ended up becoming clearer and clearer. The white began to have black stripes, grew whiskers and the blue eyes defined into high definition.
"You're a white tiger. I hear you're extremely rare in the world." Daphne said aloud to the tiger. The tiger nodded its head at Daphne, as if it were trying to tell her that it understood what she said. "Alright, next step. Imagine myself turning into the animal." Daphne thought to her mental self. She stood still for ten minutes trying her hardest to turn into a white tiger, but she just couldn't get it. She opened her eyes to see Harry standing next to a bookcase, reading something about Defense Against the Dark Arts. "How do you do it? Turn into an animal I mean?" she asked. Instead of giving herself a colossal headache, she decided to get some expert advice. Harry looked up from the book he was reading, to see that his girlfriend had an irritated look on her face. "Didn't I tell you that you needed to be calm to do this?" he asked her in reply. She growled at her boyfriend who seemed to think this was a joke. Or at least, that's what she thought anyway. "Don't answer my question with a question Harry." she told him angrily.
Harry sighed and closed the book fully before placing it back onto the shelf. He walked over to his girlfriend and placed his hand into hers. Immediately, Daphne's look of anger and irritation turned into a look of relaxation. He knew this way of calming her down was quicker than a Calming Draught. "Relax. After that, it'll come naturally. You're trying way too hard. Just relax and let yourself turn into an animal. Don't try to force yourself to become one. If you do, then you could seriously end up injuring yourself. Do you understand me?" he asked her. She nodded gently with a slight smile and a faint blush on her face. She tried the process again and this time, she didn't try to force it like she was doing. It came a lot easier and quicker and she had to let go of Harry's hand because her hand was turning into a paw with claws. She continued going through this whole transformation for awhile until she was standing on all fours and looking up at Harry, who had a smile on his face. She also noticed that her wand had clattered to the ground when she was forced to drop it while transforming.
"Now, you remember the feeling of when you transformed correct?" he asked Daphne in her Animagus form. She nodded her furry head and blinked her eyes as well. "Good. Now you'll know the feeling when you try to transform again without my help. Now. Imagine that feeling but going in reverse. That way, you can try to become a human again." Harry told her while walking back to the bookcase and picking up the book he was reading. When he walked away, Daphne was beginning to slightly panic since her boyfriend wasn't going to help her on this part. At least, she was panicking until she figured out that Harry believed that she could this by herself. He had utter and complete faith and loved her so much that he was helping her with this, even if he didn't want to which he clearly expressed earlier. She calmed her breathing down as well as her mind. "You know, this is kind of like Occlumency. The way you have to clear your mind before attempting." she silently observed to herself. She placed her paw gently on her wand, and tried to transform back into a human. She felt herself slowly shifting onto her back legs and when she opened her eyes, she looked down to see two human legs.
"I did it. I can't believe it." Daphne said in happiness and utter joy. "Is it that surprising that you've learned to turn into an Animagus?" Harry asked her without looking up from the book he was reading. "I can turn into a Animagus. You can turn into every animal that you've seen or touched." Daphne said with jealousy in her voice. Harry looked up from the book to see that his girlfriend also had jealousy on her face as well as her voice. "Are you jealous of me? You look cute when you're jealous Daph." Harry told her teasingly. "I DO NOT!" Daphne said in a raised voice with jealousy still in her voice. Her faint blush that she had earlier now turned into light scarlet blush across her face. Once again closing the book and placing it on the shelf, Harry walked over to his girlfriend and grabbed her hand. "Come on dearest. We'd better get back to the Gryffindor Common Room before Hermione and Ron catch us out in the hallways this late." Harry said jokingly. "You might be joking but this is Hermione we're talking about." Daphne said as if she was stating a fact.
The smile that was on Harry's face instantly became lost in oblivion as he remembered what happened to the students when he was a Gryffindor Prefect. "Good point. Let's get back to the Common Room like….now." he told her with a small amount of fear in his voice. They both ran out of the Room of Requirement and sped towards the Fat Lady's Portrait on the Seventh Floor, after Daphne picked up her wand off of the ground. They had just reached the Grand Staircase when they heard the voices of Hermione and Ron coming from behind them, but mainly Hermione's voice. "STOP RIGHT THERE!" she screeched at them. Harry was the first to immediately halt, because Daphne had already was on the staircase. Harry turned around to get a face full of light from both Hermione and Ron's wands. "Blimey you two. At least turn the light down some." Harry muttered. "Oh it's you two. Hermione thought you guys were some Fourth or Third Years wondering the halls at night." Ron told Harry. "What are you two doing out here so late?" Hermione asked them crossly. That was when Daphne got off of the staircase and looked at Hermione. "I take it that you forgot that I asked/forced Harry to help me learn how to become an Animagus. We were in the Room of Requirement the whole time." she answered without blinking. "So that's why you weren't in the common room. However, that doesn't explain why you were running." Hermione told them. "Harry was afraid you'd tell us off harshly if you caught us in the hallways after hours." Daphne told her in response.
"He must've remembered how I went off on the First through Fourth Years that we caught out of bed after hours when he was Prefect." Hermione had guessed. Harry just nodded his head at her, not surprised that she had the right guess. She was, after all, the brightest witch of their age. "Well, we'll just be going to the Gryffindor Common Room while you two continue your Prefect Rounds." Harry told them. They all said their goodbyes and went their separate ways. "Well, that went better than expected." Harry told Daphne as they reached the Fat Lady's Portrait. "Mimbulus Mimbletonia." Daphne told the Fat Lady. She swung her portrait open for the two and they walked into the Gryffindor Common Room. "I told you there was nothing to be afraid of." Daphne told her boyfriend as they sat down on their favorite couch by the fire. "I don't know if you know this, but you women are extremely scary when someone pushes your buttons." Harry told her with a small amount of fear in his voice. Daphne giggled at her boyfriend, then laid her head on his shoulder. "You're a Gryffindor. I thought you were supposed to be brave." Daphne joked.
Even though he knew that she was kidding, he still gave an answer out of habit. "Not when it comes to girls I'm not." he muttered. "Let's stop talking about it, if that makes you feel better. Instead, we should be talking about ways to celebrate." Daphne told him. "Celebrate what?" he asked in confusion. "Celebrate the fact that I can now turn into an Animagus." she answered happily. "Daph. Sweetheart. You've yet to completely master turning into an Animagus. Ron, Hermione and I had to practice for weeks before we could turn without a wand. You've just started to do so. You've got a long way to go." he stated. "Way to rain down on my parade." Daphne told him disappointingly. "Sorry Love. How can I make it up to you?" he asked caringly. Daphne looked up at him and whispered something into his ear. What she told him left him with a furious blush on his face and a sad look on his face.
"Daphne. We agreed not to do that again until we've found a way to get Shade out of my body. We barely found a way to stop what happened last time." he told her sadly. "I had a feeling that you would say that." Daphne told him in disappointment. "Trust me Daphne. If Shade wasn't possessing my body, I would but we can't risk what happened last time. I'm sorry Love." Harry told her apologetically. "It's alright Harry. However, I do have two questions for you." she told him. "What would they be?" he asked in reply. "The first question is: if Shade wasn't possessing your body, would you do it?" Daphne asked with a scarlet blush spreading across her face. "You know I would Daph. It would make you happy and when you're happy, I'm happy." he answered. She smiled and then had a serious look on her face. "The second question is: what did Sirius talk to you and Ron about?" she asked. "I can't tell you that Daphne." Harry answered apologetically. "Why not?" she asked in disappointment. "That's three questions Love." Harry teased.
Daphne had a playful frown on her face, which brought a smile to Harry's face. "I can't tell you, because Sirius wants to tell you and Hermione himself. It's not my place to tell his business." he answered. "You really are a noble Gryffindor, you know that?" she asked him. "I don't really like being called things like 'noble' Daph, but yes I am a Gryffindor. A proud Gryffindor." he told her. "Not only are you noble, but humble as well. One of the many reasons I fell for you in the first place." she told him. Harry leaned down and kissed her on her forehead. "What were the other reasons you fell for me?" he asked curiously. "Your eye color for one. Your original eye color. Not the Gold color you have now." she answered in a whisper. "Yeah, I miss my original eye color too. It was the only thing about me that reminded me of my mother." Harry said sadly. "When we get rid of Shade, you'll get the eye color back Dearest. However, every other change that has happened to you might be permanent. Especially now that your magical core is unlocked and at full power." Daphne explained. "We're no closer to finding out how to get rid of Shade, than we are to finding and destroying Voldemort's Horcruxes." Harry said absent-mindedly.
When he processed and realized what he had said, he noticed brought up a sensitive subject. "I'm sorry Daph. I wasn't thinking." he told her when he saw the sadness on her face. "I just don't want to lose you Harry. You have to die in order for Voldemort to be defeated. I can't possibly get through that." she told him. "Listen to me Daphne. I am being completely serious right now, okay? I am not going to die. Voldemort has tried and failed to kill me three times already. I am not going die without a fight. Alright?" he asked her. She looked up into his Golden eyes with her Sapphire Blue ones. After looking into his eyes for a few moments, she nodded at him. "I don't know what I would do if I lost you Harry." she whispered to him. "You won't lose me Daphne. That's my promise to you of a lifetime." he told her gently. She cuddled into Harry's shoulder and slowly began to drift off to sleep. After looking at the fire in the fireplace for at least forty-five minutes to an hour, Harry drifted off to sleep as well.