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February 25, 1995
Slowly, carefully, Harry opened the small box that Fleur's younger sister had given him. It was very light, almost to the point of weightlessness and when he gave it a small, sudden move to see if there was anything overly large within, he noticed nothing. Whatever the girl had given him could very well be homemade for all he knew.
"Open please, my sister is impatient," Fleur said with a bright smile on her beautiful face and a nod in the direction of her smaller clone that was still staring directly at Harry.
Harry smiled at Fleur, repeated the action so that her sister could see it and finally, he peeled back the top of the box so that he could see the gift within. What he first noticed was a singular shoe, one that was very small, enough so that it was likely for a small child or infant. Under it was a hair, long and golden-silver; a perfect match to Gabrielle's hair.
He cocked his head at Daphne for all of a second before he turned back towards Gabrielle. "Merci," he said to her in butchered French that made the smaller girl giggle before she darted in for a firm hug, one that made him feel like a hero even if it lasted for three seconds at the most. "Fleur, could you tell her I'm grateful for the gifts? I only really know thanks and based on everybody's looks, it wasn't all that great."
Fleur winked at him and repeated the action in the direction of Daphne. He wasn't sure if she was hitting on the both of them or if she were teasing them, he wouldn't put either past the older girl, not with the looks he'd occasionally caught her sending their way. From what he could remember learning about Veela — Daphne a good source of information — they seemed to enjoy teasing and had a love for those who could look past their allure. Those that could do just that were incredibly rare, enough so that Veela would try their best to befriend them, if not take them for lifelong companions.
Gabrielle shook him from his thinking by darting forward again so that she could hug him. Just as it was previously, the hug was fleeting but tight. The young girl seemed glad to have somebody to hold onto regardless but for whatever reason she wasn't all that fond of latching on for any noticeable amount of time.
"You made a new friend, Harry," Daphne said when the young girl was finally moving away and around the corner, skipping all the while as she shot looks over her shoulder. "Possibly a lifelong one."
Fleur hummed at Daphne's words. "You are right, my sister is very fond of Harry for what he did. There is no amount of words to share how thankful we are, the tournament is deadly, we all know the history and my parents, they want to thank you too," at this point, Fleur pointed at the shoe. "It is an emergency portkey for us to return home. Gabrielle and I are each in possession of one for our safety, but there is another to act as a spare. She passed it to you, along with something else."
"The piece of hair?" Harry asked as he finally closed the box and stuffed it into his satchel, ensuring its safety.
"Ouais, a strand of her 'air. It is powerful more than you could think when a Veela gives one up willingly and out of pure admiration. You can do much with it, the obvious answer already resides on your person, should the need arise for you ever to receive a new wand," Fleur said to him, smiling freely as she seemed to do when somewhere comfortable… Hogwarts, he couldn't understand why she seemed so cold. At least, now he could.
Daphne caught on a second or so before he did. "Your wand has a core similar to that, doesn't it?"
Fleur nodded once and her smile turned brighter. "It is a great gift and an honour beyond belief for any outside of a family directly related or married into one to receive. You would be smart to keep it hidden and somewhere safe so long as you hold on to it."
"I'll give her something just as grand in return," Harry promised as the food began to be served in larger portions. "I wasn't sure what exactly it meant, nor what I could do with it. Now that I know what it means and how big of a deal that was, I promise, I'll make sure I give her something equally as worth it. You have my word."
"No," Fleur said, shaking her head as her smile faltered and her hand slowly reached across to pat his once and only once. "It is even now, her safety and possibly her life for a strand of hair — you are a good boy, still little, but good. Many men twice your age or more would not have done what you did, and many more do not see us as people or witches in the first place. You are a firm friend to my sister, my parents and I so long as we are alive."
Harry swallowed and did his best to return a strong smile at the older girl's more serious words even if there was a hint of teasing mixed within them. "I hope I'll be worthy of such a strong friendship."
Daphne's squeezing of his hand and the small smile she shot him told him that he'd chosen his words right and as they continued eating, silence falling here and there before it was replaced with joy once more, he realised he'd made his first real friend since the year had started. None of the others from Hogwarts or the other schools gave a shite about him. Not his own housemates, not those of the others houses due to his Slytherin status and least of all those blokes or witches from the other schools.
Fleur probably understood exactly how that felt.
March 6, 1995
"You understand that this isn't the wisest decision at the present time, don't you?" Daphne asked in an almost bored tone of voice as the two made their way throughout Hogwarts' long, maze-like halls.
Harry nodded once in return, finding it hard not to smirk in response to her question. She was typically the brave one always willing to break the rules due to her upbringing alone; nobody had a stronger sense of right and wrong than she did which he reckoned was a bit strange on account of her learning certain spells that others wouldn't consider normal or positive.
"I know, this isn't the right time but we need to see him," Harry finally answered. "Padfoot needs company just as badly as we need help… maybe not you, but I know I don't plan on going home to the Dursleys this summer. I'm older now and thanks to you, I can take care of myself. Those wards that Professor Dumbledore insists I have to protect me aren't needed anymore. They're just an excuse to send me someplace that I don't belong."
Daphne tightened her hand around his to the point that it almost hurt, her long, painted nails just barely digging into the skin of his hand just enough to pinch him. "My guardians would allow you to stay with us if you wish it. I'm aware that it could be a bit fast for us, but it would be better than having you live with Padfoot on account of his circumstances. You haven't forgotten, I know, so surely you could see how rough your life would be."
"Padfoot has a home that we could get him access to and if that works, I'll have more than enough space and security beyond belief — your adoptive family, your guardians as you call them, they wouldn't really like me. You said it yourself, you practise the old ways even if you won't tell me exactly what those are and while that sounds wicked, I can't imagine they'd like an outsider seeing what that entails," Harry pressed a soft kiss to Daphne's lips as he withdrew a map from his pocket and started to do the same with the usual cloak from his satchel.
One of her soft, dainty hands stopped him from completing that action. Not more than a second later, she had pulled him into one of the many of empty classrooms that littered Hogwarts and with a privacy spell quickly cast, she started speaking as her hands settled on her hips. "If I wanted them to invite you, to have you join us, they would allow it. You're my boyfriend, the final member of an ancient family and somebody whom they respect a great deal due to what you've accomplished whilst at Hogwarts."
"Have you told them everything we've done here? I know I didn't really tell you not to, but wouldn't they have taken you out of here?" Harry furrowed his brows in confusion at that; who in Merlin's right state of mind would leave their kid, adoptive or otherwise, in a place where so many horrible things could happen?
Really, they should all be thankful that the tournament happened this year. If it wasn't for that and whoever had tried to do him over this go around, it was incredibly likely that something far worse would have happened to the entirety of Hogwarts. He really didn't need that to happen, he was already blamed for far more than he liked.
"I may leave out the occasional detail here and there," Daphne said with her signature smirk and lack of care when it came time to discuss those aforementioned horrible things. "We're still here, still together and still learning. From the Basilisk to Professor Quill all the way to a Werewolf and your supposed murderer of a Godfather, we're fine… that doesn't mean we should go on testing your luck or my own."
Harry huffed and folded his arms while Daphne looked at him, hers settled on her hips with a look of haughtiness. She knew she was right, that was how she thought and that was the level of confidence she had when it came to her assistance. Daphne, regardless of who the person was so long as they weren't a right and proper arsehole, would always defend the weak and do her best to ensure people like the Malfoys didn't rule over the rest. If she truly thought her family would take him in and not murder him outright, maybe it was the better alternative.
Professor Dumbledore wouldn't be happy. Her family had fought against him in the first war and the adoptive ones, Merlin only knows what their history is.
"I'll make my mind up later, but you should check with your guardians. I wouldn't want to impose on them and we should make sure it's alright before I start planning to live under the same roof as you," Harry finally said, ending the conversation diplomatically before Daphne got impatient and hit him with a jinx; she wouldn't really do that, but she'd tell him if he were being an arse and taking too much time to respond… she may love helping others, but she could be a tad bit impatient.
He reckoned that made sense after all they've done and how quick it had all happened. In all honesty, he sort of preferred going in quickly and getting everything over with too.
"He's really settled himself down into a cave this close to Hogwarts?" Daphne asked, her voice holding an element of suspicion. "This feels a bit weird to me… what was the reason he gave? There's no food, no proper toilet and least of all anyplace that's remotely comfortable."
Harry swallowed his spit as they moved further through the dense woods. "All he said was that he wanted to be close to me so that he could protect me in the event that something happens, as we all know it eventually does. I don't imagine there is much food, as you pointed out, which is why I brought a lot with me. If he's doing all of this, living out here by himself in a cave with no proper bed or anything of the like, the least I could do is give him something proper."
Daphne side-eyed him as they came to the opening where his cave was and when they did, Harry hesitantly knocked.
There was nothing save for the dripping of water and sound of insects as they buzzed incessantly all around the couple stood at the entrance to what was supposed to be Sirius' temporary home. No sound of walking greeted their ears, no dog panting or person hollering out to them, just silence. In response to that, Harry took his wand out and when he looked over at Daphne, he saw that she had already done the same. That shouldn't have surprised him in the slightest, she seemed a bit paranoid despite her usual confidence in handling any and all situations.
"Should we go in?" Harry asked while the two waited for Sirius or any sign of the man.
"You're jesting, surely?" Daphne asked in response, her head tilted forward with a look that told him all he needed to know.
"We can't just leave the food here, the bugs will make it spoil or some wild animal will run off with the lot of it. Watch my back while I transfigure a box to place it in and some rope to tie it up?" Harry asked, very quickly having determined that he'd rid himself of all the extra weight before he took a quick peek inwards.
Daphne nodded. "You don't have to ask me to watch your back, I've been doing it way before we started dating — I've grown used to your company far too much to allow you to get yourself dealt with in the woods like this."
There's the old pre-dating Daphne, now all I need is the concern that comes after and the blush on her beautiful face when she realises she's hugging me or holding my hand, Harry thought with a small grin as he went about doing just as he'd told her, all of that casting and moving about taking a minute if that.
"I'm do—" he started, only for her to cut him off.
"Done," she said, her eyes narrowed in the direction of the thicker portion of the woods. "Good, let's go. I don't like it out here — you remember that a man was just found murdered in the woods, don't you? Many an adult wizard may be daft, but none of them is a slouch with a wand."
Harry nodded and swallowed, nervous, but not for himself. Sirius was still heavily weighed down by his time in Azkaban. The man was left scarred and hurt from his years spent locked away with some of the worst creatures the magical world had to offer. What if whatever or whoever had killed that official had come after Sirius and in his poor state of health, had killed him?
"I want to take a glance inside," Harry whispered to her, the lad almost wincing when Daphne shot him a look that wasn't the least bit pleased with him, but still, he held firm. "We need to know if he's in here and asleep or worse, hurt. If he's not here and there aren't any tracks outside, we won't know when the last time was that he actually slept inside of this cave… I'm worried about him."
This time around, Daphne's look wasn't annoyed or bothered but rather, it was defeated. "Go quickly, we really shouldn't linger out here, Harry. Not when the killer or group of killers weren't captured."
Harry smiled, thanked her with a nod and ducked inside the small cave. Once he was a good few feet inside, he cast a lumos spell so that he could see and when he did so, he saw much and at the same time, nothing; there was an obvious bed in a poor state, a small table with a smaller chair, wrappers and bags once filled with food and finally, a small pouch with coins falling out of it. None of that mattered to Harry as he poked around, not until he noticed something that made him double down on his nervousness, dust.
There was a layer of it all across the wooden furniture and the bed itself… save for the pillow. Harry blinked when he came to that conclusion and slowly, his wand raised, he poked at the pillow. Nothing jumped out at him, no ward sounded off, there was nothing, as there always seemed to be whilst inside of this dreary cave.
Again, Harry poked at the pillow and again, there was nothing that got back at him. Confident that he would be fine, he moved the pillow aside and found a small letter, one that he very quickly pocketed before he made his way back out to the mouth of the cave. When Daphne glanced at him, her eyes searching, he shook his head and responded not a second afterwards.
"Let's go back to Hogwarts," he said to her, his disappointment evident as they started back whence they came, Siriusless.
They didn't return to Hogwarts.
"Why here?" Harry asked as he took a slow sip of his butterbeer while he waited for his food across from Daphne, the girl calmer than earlier and taking a long sip of the wine she'd somehow convinced the bartender to give her.
"The Hog's Head isn't as clean or respected as many of the other places within Hogsmeade, but it serves its purpose just fine and does so with a good sense of privacy. We'll need privacy and possibly the alcohol he lets us get based on what we find inside your letter… I may have been a touch cold too, but I don't want to be overly reliant on the heat that you give off," Daphne's cheeks were only just tinged with a hint of a blush at those final words of hers, but it was the earlier ones that stuck to him.
She expected bad news or negative news at the very least, something that would make them want to be somewhere with others as well as a calming drink. That didn't sit all that well with him after the murder and lack of Sirius.
"Sit beside me when I read it?" Harry asked as he patted the space beside him. "I'm in the corner and it's definitely the best spot to read a letter. If I gave it over to you, others could read it over your shoulder and we both know even with privacy spells for talking, you'll want to read it yourself."
Daphne huffed and rolled her eyes at him, but she didn't disagree. It was funny enough that he nearly laughed when she stood up and moved over to the empty seat beside him, her inquisitiveness was admirable, and to a lesser degree, cute. Maybe he just had a soft spot for nerdier, bookish girls with blonde hair and a slight Swedish accent too.
"Take it out already," Daphne said when she was settled and comfortable, her shoulder pressing against his an—
Nearby, Harry heard a couple of older students snort as they looked over at them. One of them was a bloke in Gryffindor robes and one of the other ones was a Hufflepuff girl attached to his arm. They had started laughing with one another whilst looking at them and before too much longer, that sound was lost to him as he turned back to Daphne to see her wand out and her face redder than it'd been in a good long while.
"Immature idiots, all of them. You would think at their age they wouldn't be half as inappropriate," Daphne said annoyedly, her sharp gaze turning to him and away from the older students. "Letter."
Harry raised his hands to appease his girlfriend as many a good bloke would do and withdrew the letter as requested. It didn't take him more than a second to rip the seal off and then the two were reading it together in silence, Daphne pressed tighter against him than she had been earlier.
'Harry,
I'm so very proud of you, and I'm sorry that I wasn't here to see you. I want you to know that I truly did plan on seeing you in person, but there are circumstances that you don't know about and I can't share with you. Please, keep yourself safe and do not, by any means, come looking for me. I'm safe and more importantly, I'm meant to be the one looking after you, not the other way around.
On a truly sirius note, you can't trust anybody, no matter who they say they are or claim to be. You're not alone, you never will be and I promise, I'll do everything I can to keep you safe. Be careful, I'll be close and give that pretty which of yours a kiss. If she's reading this, I'll know you're just as whipped as your father was.
Padfoot'
Harry set the letter down, kissed Daphne on the cheek and then turned to look at her from a bit further away, her eyes still gazing searchingly at the letter. "Trust nobody, he said. Other circumstances that he can't share with me and that I shouldn't go after him. What is any of that supposed to mean?"
Daphne's eyes snapped to his and she flipped the letter over despite them being in the very corner. "It means we can only trust people that aren't native to this country and probably not from the Durmstrang contingent either — he had too many followers with roots from that school and not one was known to be from our friends across the channel."
"Fleur's safe? Do you really think so?" Harry asked as he looked back down at the paper that had only just said not to trust anybody, not one person save for Daphne, else Sirius would have mentioned her… or so Harry would like to think.
In response to his question, Daphne snorted. "Safe in so far as she won't hurt you, but I do think she'd like to take you home and keep you as a friend if not something more. You can resist her allure, which is something they really look to find in a friend or romantic partner, but yes, my jealousy aside, I think you could trust her. I would say Cedric should be fine too if what you said about working with him during the task is completely true. That would've been a good time to finish you had he so wished it."
Harry nodded in agreement. Cedric could have done him in while they were underwater and away from any real form of help, but he hadn't. That wouldn't be forgotten.
"Where do you think he is? Who do you think sent him away?" Harry tried, picking Daphne's mind as he thought about the answers to those very questions himself and coming to only one conclusion; Dumbledore had given him some sort of task that was meant to aid Harr and that was why he was gone, all of that food and the other items they'd given would sit there forever, or as long as the magic lasted.
"I think we both know the answer to that question and it's not the one we need to worry about right now," Daphne said as she wrapped an arm around him and looked back down at the table. "We can't spend time with anybody else save for Tracey and Millicent, they'll be our only friends. Cedric and Fleur we need to be tentative with."
With furrowed brows, Harry swallowed and broached a topic he reckoned would be sensitive. "What about Tracey and Millicent, really? You read the same letter as me, he said we can't trust anybody."
"If you can't trust anybody, that would mean you can't trust me, Professor Dumbledore, Madame Pomfrey, I won't continue — you can trust those you already know, those who have already worked with you and for you throughout your time at Hogwarts," Daphne said to him, her gaze switching from Harry's face to the room they were in and the dozen or so people they could see. "It's them, every person you can lay your eyes on, that you can't trust. We don't know them, we won't get to know them this year or any other, so long as he lives."
Harry slowly nodded, the obviousness of her words making him want to slap himself but he stopped short of such a drastic, likely stupid-looking action. "I guess I'm just a bit too nervous for Sirius, sorry… he's just my only family left, I don't want anything to happen to him. You understand, don't you?"
"I do, but as I've said many times before, you never need to do anything all by yourself. I'm here with you, Tracey and Millicent would be if you asked it of them, Fleur's got an interest in you and Cedric's proven himself," Daphne rested her head on his shoulder, her hair tickling his neck as her fruity breath splashed against the side of his face. "We'll get through the year as we always do. I'll teach you everything I can, you'll do the same for me and together, we'll deal with everything."
Harry liked the sound of that and truthfully, he wasn't all that against living with Daphne or her family, should it truly be permitted. He desperately hoped it was but a small part of the back of his mind made him wonder something else; why did he need permission to live with her in the first place?
April 13, 1995
"Still nothing?" Daphne asked him when she saw Harry step off from the trail and move towards the bench she currently was seated upon.
Harry shook his head, put out by the lack of information he had been given since the letter he'd found in Sirius' cave. He had hoped the man would write to him, offer up some small parcel with information as to his whereabouts and safety, but there was nothing. All that he had to go off of was that he still lived, else he would think Professor Dumbledore would tell him otherwise.
"I'm sure he's safe and whatever it is that he's doing, it's very important," Daphne said as she patted the space beside her. "Come over and warm me up while we wait for the evening to approach? I'm sure you'd like to worry yourself half to death, but I'm quite cold at the moment and nothing quite replaces the feeling of having another person beside you for warmth."
"You're going to be using that cold excuse for quite some time, aren't you?" Harry questioned with a grin as he made his way over to the spot she had pointed out, not at all bothered at the thought of sitting on a cosy bench with a very pretty Daphne.
"So long as it continues to work on you, I do believe I'll be using it for quite some time. It doesn't seem as if you mind with how readily you agree," Daphne answered as he sat down, the girl burrowing into his side without a second's hesitation.
Harry wrapped one arm around Daphne and pulled her closer if such a thing was possible. "I don't mind, not at all," he said to her with a soft smile and a happy, contented look on his face. "You know, I think I would've been happy to stay here the whole rest of the night if you didn't set up that dinner with Fleur and her friends again."
"Gabrielle and Fleur only, and it was at the behest of the latter, should you believe it. I would think she means to officially ally herself with you in this next and final task, it's not like she can win, so she has everything to gain and nothing to lose," Daphne said to him after a cursory glance around.
As if anybody is listening in on us. We'd see them or hear them, it's not like anybody else in Hogwarts can stay quiet, Harry thought before he responded to Daphne.
"If I could work with Fleur, that'd be pretty wicked. Krum seems unstable… even when we were below the surface of the water, he was off. I mean, he was aggressive and only went after Granger, nobody else," Harry shook his head, a sense of foreboding coming to him. "Isn't it weird how she let her sister give me a hair and a portkey? I mean, I don't know about you, but that's awfully forward, right? The wand comments too, I didn't think it would work for me."
Daphne looked thoughtful when he side-eyed her and after a few moments, she deigned to speak. "I don't really know, in all honesty. I've never put much thought or care in regards to what Veela hair can do and until you shared with me the contents of Fleur's wand, I didn't know that using a single strand of hair from a Veela was possible as a core. I'd definitely agree that the portkey and visiting suggestion was weird — very forward of her, Fleur I mean, as her younger sister wouldn't have done such a thing without her approval or suggestion."
"I agree. I guess we'll just have to see what it is they want from us," Harry said with a shrug as he started to gently massage Daphne's shoulder. "Until then, we've got a lot of other stuff to worry about. Fleur and her sister, they're probably the least of our concerns."
With a huff, Daphne shook her head and spoke with a spike of jealousy that wasn't usual for her. "Speak for yourself, there's an ulterior motive I'm not fond of."
Harry snorted, which drew a look from Daphne, one with a raised brow and an expression on her face that urged him to continue. Part of him considered just shrugging in response, but his self-preservation extinct had never been quite as good as it should be for a Slytherin whilst hers was better than a majority of those he knew.
"You're jealous of her," he said with a grin that was noticeably teasing so that she didn't pinch him or use a minor jinx on his feet, the one that tied his legs together and made him immobile; it was her favourite when they duelled.
Daphne raised her nose at him, her eyes looking down at him as she straightened her back. "I'm not remotely jealous of Fleur. I've known you far longer than she has and you've still yet to visit me, why should I think you'd go overseas for the first time at her behest?" it was at this point that Daphne got up from the bench and held her arm out, clearly expecting his hand to go in hers. "We'll go and meet with them now before the evening comes and we've not any daylight left. I'd like to walk the grounds of Hogwarts with you, it's comfortable and I think it'd be nice after all we've been doing."
"Whatever you want," Harry assured her as he rose to his feet and grabbed ahold of her hand, the two starting on their way to meet with the two Delacour women for a private meal and even more private conversation.
Merlin, he hoped something would come of it and a small bit of him hoped that Daphne's jealous side would come out. He had seldom if ever seen it from the girl, in fact, he couldn't remember any time throughout their vast friendship that she'd gotten possessive of him, not even remotely… he wondered what the real cause of it was.
This time around, their entrance into the French carriage was far easier thanks to Fleur already having told her friends they were dropping by. It helped that Harry and Daphne had made friends — very loosely — with a few of the other students from across the channel despite the language issues. Most of them spoke very rudimentary English, a few of them spoke it with a good basic structure like Fleur did and only the occasional one could speak it perfectly. It was obvious that those in the lattermost group were Canadians or Yankees, their accents gave it well away.
"Here you are," One of those aforementioned Yankees said as she gestured to Fleur's door, the Champion's quarters.
"Thank you," Daphne said for the pair of them as she knocked on the door, Harry being thoroughly lost in thought until he noticed the French-Yankee girl turn to leave, at which point he gave a little quick thanks as she left. "You're over-thinking our being here, I can see it on your face."
Harry huffed and poked Daphne once in the ribs, the girl jolting to the side and narrowing her eyes at him, in part teasing and in part with a look about her that told him she'd hit his shoulder if he did it again. "We're here, aren't we? I didn't over-think it enough to bail out of this meeting."
"Harry, Daphne!" Fleur's voice said from the direction of the door as the thing was yanked open to reveal the tall, beautiful young woman. "I am happy that you two came as I wanted. Come in, please, the food will be ready soon but we can drink a nice wine until then, no?"
Daphne shrugged and started in after the older girl, not bothered with the underage drinking of a likely potent French wine whilst Harry very much doubted it was allowed. But then again, they were here for cultural exchanges and to make friends, so he reckoned it wasn't totally a horrible thing if he did have a sip or two… with his mind made up, he followed right in after the two women.
Quickly spoken French greeted his ears and a second later, he was slammed into from the side by a girl with long blonde hair. She didn't say anything in English and her words were far too fast for him to pick out anything, but he recognised the sentiment easy enough.
"Hi Gabby," he said to her as he hugged the smaller girl affectionately, genuinely happy that she still wasn't tired of him like most others seemed to get after a month of school together.
"She says you are always welcome and that she missed you, to summarise," Fleur said to him from beside a table with Daphne at her side, on her face was what looked to be one of the happiest, most genuine smiles he'd seen from her. It wasn't flirt-filled, teasing or false as many of her other looks were.
"I feel like shite for not being able to speak her language. I've always been pants at learning stuff like that," Harry said with a shake of his head and a slightly sour look before he recovered and looked back at Fleur. "Could you tell her that I'm glad she's alright and I'll see her as much as she'd like before this whole thing is over?"
Fleur nodded to him, spoke in rapid French and after one more firm hug, this time without any French, the girl let go of him as she went towards her big sister. Gabrielle latched onto Fleur, her arms wrapping around Fleur's waist as she pressed her face into her side and that was how Fleur continued her conversation with Daphne. It had to be an entirely normal occurrence too, for she didn't so much as bat an eye at her younger sibling's actions.
"You two are hungry, I hope?" Fleur said when he walked over, their hushed conversation broken up, now that he had come over.
"I could definitely go for a good meal, yeah," Harry said as he tucked himself into the third chair at her small wooden table, one that he reckoned had been added on to for the occasion.
Daphne coughed politely, drawing Fleur's attention over to herself and away from Harry. "We're thankful for the invitation and chance to meet with you, Fleur, but you made it seem as if you had something specific to speak about. I would think it'd be best to discuss whatever it is that you wanted to before we're all a cup deep in our wine, wouldn't you?"
Fleur laughed demurely, one of her hands coming up to cover her mouth as she did so. It was a very feminine, high-class action that he only saw done by those of 'high' status on his aunt's television.
"You are straight to the point and don't wish to do games with words," Fleur said to Daphne once she had finished her laughter. "It is respectable and I should not be surprised after I had learned about the houses. Brave, bold, straight-forward, that is what the House of the Lion is for, no?"
"Essentially, and my apologies if it comes off as rude, but I would very much like to know what you're thinking — Harry and I have been practising every day, but it doesn't seem like you or the other champions are making use of all of the resources available to you. I'm not going to get into that, neither of us will since it's your private life, but there is a reason we're here, isn't there?" Daphne's final question was emphasized when she folded her arms.
Harry took over before Fleur could respond or Daphne could say or do anything else. "I have a gift for your sister, would you have her come over so I could give it to her? Unless she'd rather play and we could wait until the end before we've left?" he flashed a small box that was similar in size to the one that Gabrielle had given him. "We could talk about why we're here after when she's gotten her present."
Fleur looked at Daphne, Daphne looked at Fleur and they both looked over at him, only with completely different expressions; Daphne's look was searching, definitely curious as to why he hadn't continued along with her plan whilst Fleur's was appraising and very thoughtful. Eventually, Fleur turned and said something to Gabrielle in as fast-spoken French as was usual and whilst she did that, Daphne seemed to accept what he had done with a small nod of her head; she preferred the blunt way but with Fleur, maybe she realised the French girl needed a softer touch.
"You might have your biggest fan in the world after today," Fleur said to him as Gabrielle raced over, her eyes wide as she stood next to his chair and looked up at him with a gaze of childlike innocence.
Harry laughed politely at Fleur's words and carefully put the present into Gabrielle's small hands. She didn't shake it, attempt to guess what was inside of it or anything of the like, she simply looked over to Fleur and said something in their native language. It sounded like a question was the only thing that he got out of it.
Fleur raised a hand when Gabrielle made to speak again and asked the question the younger girl had likely asked her. "She can open it now, yes?"
In response to that, Harry nodded. "Definitely, she doesn't need to wa—"
As soon as he said it was fine, Fleur had nodded and in response to that, Gabrielle's hands had moved faster than he had thought possible for the already energetic girl. In under three seconds, the wrapping paper was on the ground, the lid was opened and she had withdrawn the present he had gotten for her; it wasn't half as valuable as what she had gotten him, at least not sentimentally, but he had done his best whilst at Hogwarts.
"You noticed she had one already when you saw her last time?" Fleur asked, her brows furrowed at the present; he had gotten her a doll made of that material all the grandmas in his area had on shelves, only this one was far more masterfully crafted and new in appearance.
The wizarding world really is stuck in the past, but that makes it easy to tell what's in and what isn't, I reckon, Harry thought as Gabrielle hugged him again, Fleur smiled at the scene and Daphne smirked whilst seated in her corner spot. He hoped she approved of the duel-purpose the gift had.
"I had a thought, I guess," Harry said as Gabrielle raced away, over to Fleur's bed as she jumped on it to begin playing with the new doll and another of a different style that was already present.
Fleur nodded a few times, pensive, then with a glance in Daphne's direction and a smirk that matched the latter girl, she spoke. "I would like to work with you during the final task… that is acceptable to you, no? I can do better than I have, we can work together for safety and not the prize."
Harry didn't look over to Daphne when he made his decision. It was something that he had to do alone and any glance over to his girlfriend would only hinder the agreement. He wanted to be seen as his own person and as the moment dragged on, Fleur's expression increasingly more curious, he nodded.
"I agree. Safety matters more than some small amount of Galleons and some school pride," Harry answered, his hand stuck out in the direction of Fleur after he did so. "I'd like to work with you, I'm sure Gabrielle would be happy too — I'm happy you reached out about this Fleur."
Fleur smiled, looked between him and Daphne, and then she shook his hand. "I am happy you accepted and happier still that two cute people join me for a meal, it is lonely here… more wine?"
Harry looked to Daphne who already had been looking at him, the two shrugged, one of Daphne's eyebrows arched as her sand sought out his under the table and then in tandem, they responded to Fleur's question with a nod. One more glass each wouldn't hurt now that they'd gotten through the tough part of the evening and who knew, maybe Fleur would turn out to be more than a teasing and vaguely flirty witch; as the night progressed and she turned more caring of Gabrielle as well as more loose in her interactions, he and Daphne each would understand the real Fleur had as beautiful a personality as she did looks.
It was, very simply, nice.
April 26, 1995
Harry and Daphne had accomplished so much this year. Together, mainly thanks to her affinity for teaching and his natural ability with magic as she liked to say, he hadn't died yet. He could say the same for every year with all the trouble they'd gotten themselves into, definitely, but there was still so much to come, even this year alone there was still the final, most dangerous task.
All of that was horrible and they would study harder as they always did. Daphne would plan, Tracey and Milly would do their best to help and the lot of them would get stressed out as was normal, but there would always be the occasional day where they would rest. Those days were the sweetest and whilst they were very infrequent, Harry had decided today would be one of them. He didn't need an explanation and he wouldn't offer one — Daphne deserved better, he felt like he was using her for her knowledge of offensive and usually dark magic.
That was his reason for telling her to meet him at a restaurant in Hogsmeade, one usually reserved for adults with lots of Galleons to spend. Tracey and Milly were in on it, they had to be for this to go smoothly and he was grateful for their help. Daphne figured he wanted to do something with all of them, Tracey and Milly had said they'd arrive a bit later after they got themselves a new… something or other, he wasn't sure about that part of the plan, but Daphne would arrive and remain alone with him for the whole evening.
She would get whatever she wanted and Harry, well, he would get her company. All of those beautiful smiles of hers, the soft laughter, the pretty looks she shot him, that was all he needed to remove the stress bearing down on his shoulders.
Harry looked at his stopwatch again, he'd done so a lot whilst he'd been seated in the restaura— the door opened, the little chime they had next to it drew his attention and there, he saw her. Daphne was dressed beautifully, better than he'd ever seen her dress before. Her hair was done up in a ponytail, a look he'd never seen on her and the dress she chose was as beautiful as the one she'd worn to the Yule Ball.
All he could do upon seeing her was manage a small wave, his voice and his eyes wouldn't do as they were told. Before he knew it, she was standing right at her chair and looking at him with one of her eyebrows raised and a smirk on her face.
"You've been staring at me since I walked in, aren't you going to say anything?" Daphne asked as she cocked a hip to the side, his silence continuing until she huffed, rolled her eyes and made to sit down. "Some best friend you've turned out to be, Harry. I would have thought you would know better than to allow a lady to seat herself while you openly gawk at her."
That was the kick that he needed to shake himself from the fog her beauty had caused. Harry shook his head around a good bit, blinked a few times and then smiled at Daphne as dorkily as ever. "You look really beautiful… sorry for, uh, well — appetizers?"
Daphne snorted. "I didn't think you'd be at this much of a loss for words. It's surprising, you know I'm still the girl who went into the Chamber with you, who went through everything in our first year and even our little moony friend, right?"
Harry nodded, of course, he did. "Yeah… you're just really beautiful… not that you weren't back then, but it'd be wei—"
"I get your point, please," Daphne said, raising a hand with a teasing smile on her face. "You get flustered when I tease you in such a way, it's nice. It's about the only thing that hasn't changed about you since the year started too. If you could go back in time and tell me that you'll be getting fairly close to me in terms of offensive magics, I wouldn't believe you. It goes to show what you can do when you set your mind to something."
"Usually it's set on just staying alive. It's not like I would've gotten this far without you either, or Milly, or Tracey. We're a team, but I have to admit, I like being a couple more," Harry winked for emphasis, hoping the remark would come off as romantic and slick.
Daphne's slow blink in return told him that he'd failed. At least, that's what he'd thought until she brought a hand up to her face and openly giggled behind it, the sound resonating within his soul for the brief few seconds it had lasted.
"Not a word," She said once she'd regained composure, her cheeks still red as she looked at him and shook her head, silently pleased.
The two were perfect for one another, Harry knew it.