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May 27, 1995
Evening
"You're certain it was him?" Daphne asked Harry with her hand lightly on his shoulder, the nervousness still visible in his body language.
Harry nodded and took a few seconds to gather his words — he'd seen the man fine, but frantic and nervous, then he'd come back to find Krum unconscious on the floor, and after looking around, he'd seen Crouch Senior strewn along the ground. As any good person would do, Harry had raced to the side of the man before being pushed back by Hogwarts' staff. It didn't change the fact that he'd overheard them say he was dead.
"Yes," Harry finally said, after the moment had been relived and a sense of clarity was found. "I recognised him when he came stumbling out of the woods, but he wasn't himself. Krum thought he was cursed or mad, I don't know what he said, really. Still, I trusted Krum to keep him safe while I went for help. I shouldn't have done that."
Daphne shook her head, her long hair whipping into the front of his face and making him blink involuntarily. "Whoever it was that wanted him dead was going to do it any way that they could, I don't believe staying with Krum or swapping places with him would have helped anything. Neither wizard was a slouch with a wand, and while you've improved drastically, I imagine either of them would've been a very difficult fight."
Harry didn't know what to say in response and so he elected not to say anything at all, especially as the thought came to him that he was meant to die alongside Crouch Senior… still, eventually his mind searched for another topic that wasn't related to the one he no longer wished to discuss. "We don't have too much time before the third task comes along and there's no hint as to what it actually is. Will I have to fight the others? I looked back through the book that we have and there doesn't really seem to be any pattern."
"There won't be in the past, nor one that emerges in the future," Daphne assured him. "They decide most of this on the fly and after they've decided the tournament's been cancelled for long enough. If you go back centuries, it was shut off three or four times before this most recent one. As for our decision, the best one that we can make for you is duelling."
"You mean duelling as in our second year or duelling as in fighting somebody one on one?" Harry questioned, the latter far more likely as h-
"Most assuredly the latter. Duelling with honour may be very captivating and a sure way to win a romantic witch over, but more would likely prefer their wizard back alive. If you'd agree with me that back and by my side is better, we're going to be teaching you every trick that we can in under a month," Daphne leaned forward to place a peck on his cheek, smiling when she pulled back to look at him. "You'll have dozens and more after you win… they're far better than the hugs we shared back when we were solely best friends, aren't they?"
Harry nodded rapidly, there wasn't doubt in his mind about that. Daphne's response was a roll of her eyes and snort, followed shortly thereafter by a smile as pretty as ever.
"There's one more Hogsmeade weekend before this task. I know we probably shouldn't spend any time relaxing or getting comfortable, especially since it'll be even closer to the task starting but I think maybe one more trip before I go in wouldn't hurt. What do you think?" Harry tossed a smile that wasn't half as hesitant as he inwardly felt, and based on the brief pause Daphne gave him before she nodded, it had succeeded.
He was glad to know that his pleading looks still worked on the girl whereas her sterner looks still tended to do the same on him.
"We'll split the day — I'd like to take you somewhere before you enter the task and I'm sure you've already got a plan of your own," Daphne's eyes went to the door as she paused, a group of students who'd moved particularly quiet in the hall passing the door to the classroom they were in, but none of the group saw the couple. She turned back to Harry with a shake of her head as a curtain fell over the door that peeked inward. "We'll have plenty of time for practise and while you may not enjoy it, I hope you see it necessary that we duel one another. I would suggest Fleur or Cedric too, but with this being the final task, we can't trust them."
Harry nodded bitterly, he knew why they couldn't trust the other two, but it didn't make it any less shit than it was. "I don't think either of them would use anything horrible. Krum, I don't know. He seems nice at times, but you know what they say about Durmstrang."
"I do," Daphne said as she folded her arms. "I'm the one who told Tracey and you about the rumours regarding the school. You're very right, I nearly forgot to say that. You can't trust Krum, you shouldn't trust Fleur and if you see the Goblet, the final trophy in every third task, you're no longer able to trust Cedric."
"I know. I know I won't be able to trust them and I know there'll be other creatures wherever we are, there've been others in the other tasks, I just hope it's in the open. Underwater was horrible, I still see the looks you give the lake when we pass it… but fighting under it where you couldn't move and there were all these weeds, it was horrible," Harry shook his head and narrowed his eyes in thought as he looked at the wall before him.
He would absolutely hate this next task, he was certain of it. The first had been the hardest in name only; Dragons, who could have thought that he would have wanted to face them a second time in this tournament?
"You'll get through it," Daphne said to him, her tone slightly muffled or different, whatever it was he didn't recognise the quality.
Harry turned towards Daphne to smile at her at the same time one of his arms pulled her closer. For the first time as she snuggled in closer to him, her arms wrapping around his torso, there wasn't a smart or teasing remark.
June 1, 1995
Harry reclined in a transfigured chair covered in padding and leather. It had a lot of give to it, almost like he was floating and for the first few seconds, the coolness had been wonderful. Unfortunately, as the seconds began to tick by and his skin began to stick to the material of the chair, he realised he'd messed up. His seat was horrible for when he was sweaty, Daphne's looked far better and far cooler, even if it wasn't as beautiful or large as his.
"You realised your preference isn't the smartest choice in this heat?" Daphne called over to him lazily and still vaguely out of breath, her own chest still rising and falling with a quickness that wasn't usual of it. "I thought you were crazy when I saw it, but in any other instance, it would've been very desirable. My transfiguration magic isn't half as good as yours, I suppose I'll have to have you teach me it this coming year."
"Anything you want as long as we don't go that long without a break again," Harry panted as his chair transfigured below him, this time the material of the chair was a light and breathable fabric that didn't make him peel himself away from it.
Daphne laughed while she was on her stomach, the typical musical quality vanished as an effect of her position. "Your endurance has to be high, you won't be able to relax once you're in the task and it won't be comparable to the other two before it, it never is."
"You're right, definitely, but we could've picked a cooler day — look at you, you're just as sweaty as I am and we're both wearing our lightest breathable clothes," Harry huffed when he looked down at himself, the sweats and t-shirt that he wore still felt like too much, but he bet Daphne had it worse. She was still practically wearing a whole outfit.
"It's never going to be comfortable, the heat's horrible this time of year. If only my family never came over from Northern Sweden, your weather here is far too terrible; rain, more rain or extreme heat with barely a cooling breeze," Daphne shook her head and slowly turned to face him, her long, golden hair sticking to her forehead. "When's the Hogsmeade weekend? I can't remember the date and when I looked in Gryffindor's common room, there wasn't one listed."
Harry grinned at her, the bitterness of his sweat making the gesture worse. "Well, you see, Slytherin has a few Prefects who know the schedules and don't mind sharing them for a price. Once they're handed over, a few of the other students find a path that works and post it for the others, thus allowing us additional Hogsmeade trips… as long as we're not caught. Don't worry, unlike all of your housemates, mine are actually quiet when they need to be."
Daphne snorted at him and reached for the glass of water on the table beside her. "You have Malfoy, you're aware of that, right? Anybody who has a Malfoy in their house isn't able to talk in regards to the others."
"You have the Weasleys," Harry retorted, mimicking Daphne's snort. "Don't forget how the lot of them eat or act. I may not care about it all that much, but I know since you sit close to them that it's not enjoyable in the slightest."
"Correct, the Weasleys are pigs. I wouldn't mind it if Ronald weren't always trying to send me these off-putting looks between bites. He was quite annoyed with me when he learned that you and I were dating, but he wouldn't say so directly to me himself, I had to hear it from Lavender," Harry could tell just by the way that Daphne spoke those words how little everything in Gryffindor seemed to bother her.
He could understand it to a certain degree too, the Gryffindors would say rude comments or purposefully go out of their way to inconvenience you, but they weren't like a group of angry Slytherin students. There wouldn't be any politics or word games, no theft or vindictiveness, just simple bullying or tossers being tossers.
"Wh—" Harry stopped speaking when Daphne lifted herself off of her chair and slowly made her way over to his, plopping down right beside him with her head inches from his as their breaths mingled together before splashing the opposite person in the face.
"I wanted to be closer to you, it was taking too much energy to speak that loudly," Daphne offered up as a way of excuse for her getting right beside him.
Harry looked at her, rolled his eyes in such a way that she could see it without much effort, and continued back to what he had been saying when she first made her way over to him. "What should we do when the break's over? Did you want to have another round or should we go back to studying from the books?"
I really hope you decide that we've duelled enough today, it's too hot for this. The chair's probably going to gain an extra few kg just from our sweat.
"One more round in thirty minutes, after we're both rested and rehydrated. My guardians always tell me that staying well watered is very important in any prolonged fight. You'll have to meet them soon too, don't forget that," Daphne said to him as she shifted closer, one of her sle—- wait —- one of her bare arms now coming down to touch one of his.
Harry looked over to see that she'd transfigured her shirt's sleeves so that they were half as large as they previously were. It wasn't a major improvement, but it was a smart one that kept her privacy and definitely one that he'd make too, now that he'd seen her do it.
"As if I could forget about that," Harry answered after his sleeves were shorter and his sweats were modified into shorts, his legs immediately cooling down as a result. "That's going to be one of the most important days of my life, I think. If they don't like me, then that'll make things a lot more difficult."
Daphne laughed, openly and without care as to what he thought, if he thought anything about it; he didn't, he knew it wasn't at him.
"They're not going to hate you after all of the times I've spoken about you. Perhaps they even expected we'd eventually date, if not quite this early in our lives. Based on the looks I'm given by my Aunt especially, I believe they thought this news was coming at some point in our lives," Daphne finally moved close enough to him so that they were touching from their legs all the way up to their shoulders. "You remember the Tempus charm I taught you all the way back in our first year of Hogwarts when we first became friends?"
Harry nodded. "Of course I do, it's the easiest spell in the world, why?"
"Cast it now and cast it again in twenty minutes, when you wake me up. I'd like to take a small nap," Daphne said, her fists fisting themselves in his shirt as she rested her head on his chest.
"Okay," Harry answered as his right arm came up to wrap itself around her. "Twenty minutes."
Daphne's breathing slowed in under one and as the minutes went by with Harry staring at the ceiling above, he realised that he truly had a brilliant witch for a girlfriend. It didn't take her falling asleep on him for the realisation to hit, but in the time that he was given in those twenty minutes; he didn't have to think about their date, the task, or other stressful, potential failures of his.
There, in that classroom with her pressed into his side, he was more content, more at peace, than he had ever been in the entirety of his life. If he knew any higher power, he would've asked it then and there to let the moment linger for hours, the poultry twenty minutes weren't nearly enough.
June 12, 1995
Hogsmeade
"Ever the gentleman," Daphne remarked as she grabbed ahold of his outstretched hand with one of her own, her other hand then grabbed the pole opposite of Harry as the girl eased herself into the carriage. "How'd you manage this carriage if this is meant to be a secret?"
Daphne's question made Harry smile and nod in the direction of the French lodgings. "Fleur and the others can book these whenever they want to, I think Durmstrang can too, but I used Beauxbaton's and told them it was for a small group, so the smallest carriage works. One week later and here we are… we better get inside quick, actually."
Harry climbed as quickly as he could and settled in right on Daphne's right at the girl's look when he moved to sit opposite of her. This cabin was more heavily padded, larger and newer than the ones Hogwarts typically used to get to the small village. He wasn't sure what the cost of it was for Hogwarts' but if this one had been in the realm of fifty Galleons for a two-way trip, they couldn't be paying more than half of that or he'd been right and proper ripped off.
I should have Daphne teach me the economy here too… if I survive, that is.
"You can hardly tell we're moving," Daphne commented, Harry turning towards the window at her words; he too hadn't thought they had been moving. "Something tells me you booked something you didn't mean to or you were trying to impress me. Consider me thankful if it's the latter and should it be the former, do what you're doing now."
Harry narrowed his eyes at her and cracked a grin. Had he not thought about it, he would've asked her what he was doing since he'd just been sitting there, but that was what she wanted. It'd make him look stupid and guilty, at least changing his look towards her meant he was only stupid.
After a suitable enough amount of time went by, Harry restarted the conversation and turned himself fully towards her. "You have the evening, I have the afternoon, that's still the deal?"
"Yes. Whilst I don't know the same number of secrets about Hogwarts that you do, I know enough to be able to make our reservations discreetly," Daphne patted his hand with hers, then, that soft hand of hers slid into place and they were joined together. "Would you want to play that game of mine again, when you visit my home?"
"We could do that — that's still assuming your guardians don't hate me too, or Astoria. I know you don't really talk about her all that much, but I wouldn't want to ruin her summer by visiting her home," Harry said as he closed the curtains to his side of the cabin, the sunlight glaring annoyingly against the side of his glasses.
Daphne shook her head. "I've already told you my family won't mind you visiting and that goes for Astoria too. She's aware of our friendship which is the exact reason she's not speaking with you, it's safer for her with how fickle people here can be."
"Your house especially, no offence. It seems like they'll bail on you whenever something goes even remotely wrong, I don't get it, I thought I was meant to have the cowards and lackwits based on what everybody's been saying," Harry grinned at Daphne and she rolled her eyes in response.
"You still have a majority of the idiots in Slytherin, I've got the remainder and the other two houses escaped from having to deal with any of them," Daphne took a glance out of the window on her side and turned back to him, her nose slightly raised as she held out her other hand, the one that he wasn't actively holding onto. "We've arrived, boyfriend. Your girlfriend requires assistance in climbing down."
Harry made to do as he was told and when he moved past her, his lower half already descending, he spoke. "That's exactly how I thought you'd act and talk when I first me—" Harry bent his body back, only narrowly avoiding a finger to the ribs. "You could've made me fall, icicle."
At that, Daphne huffed and folded her arms, looking every bit the spoiled girl that Pansy did, only far cuter. "Again with that moniker — Ice Queen is unoriginal and loathsome, they're simply mad I don't pay them or their pathetic attempts at romance any attention. You'd think any man half as good as you would stand a chance, but there aren't any even a third of your quality. Now help your Queen down."
'Help your Queen down', Harry had never heard anything funnier from Daphne. She was typically stoic, confident, quiet and assured, never comedic. It was a nice change of pace and one that saw him successfully poked in the ribs this time around, his pause to contain his laughter leaving him open to her pokes. The burst of laughter scared her away for a few seconds extra though, and finally, he was able to help his Queen down, as she'd asked.
"I'm glad to know you don't think any of those other blokes that aren't worth even a quarter of me don't have a chance, it's wicked," Harry said, smiling brightly at Daphne as she finally steadied herself in the centre of Hogsmeade, where they'd come to a stop. "Can you guess what we're doing now?"
She shook her head and looked around once more, but it was impossible to guess. They were at the intersection of the bustling village; there were shops in places that were previously for rent, tents set up with different goods or foods being cooked at them and foreigners a plenty making their presence known via language or manner of dress.
"Are we going to be trying a new type of food or shopping at a restaurant that deals in foreign goods?" Daphne guessed, her eyes moving from the former to the latter at the far North-West side of the town centre.
Harry shook his head and gently took a hold of her waist so that he could direct her. She allowed him to do so and before too much longer, Daphne found herself looking down the third of five streets. "I rented out an old tavern and had it cleaned up, I actually did the cleaning up myself, but it was a friend who did all of the designing. Really, I don't even know what the inside looks like, I just gave a few directions and went to deal with everything else."
"Everything else?" Daphne inquired, her cheeks slightly red as she looked away from him and into the crowd at their right.
"I can't have us just sitting in an empty, remodelled tavern now, can I?" Harry asked with a laugh as he picked up the pace, encouraging Daphne to do the same. It didn't take more than a minute before the pair reached their destination thanks to the increase and speed, and once they made it, Harry took out a key from his left pants pocket. "Ladies first?"
Daphne shook her head, pointed at the key, then Harry and finally, at the door. "You. In."
Harry did the very Daphne gesture of shaking his head as he moved in on the door and used the key. It took all of a second before the thing was opened with a satisfying click and once he heard it, Harry slowly opened the door to reveal the interior. Not much could be seen on account of the L-shaped wall that was in front of the door and forced guests to move with it before they properly entered, but what little Harry did see was a vast improvement from the time he'd first seen it; in other words, Dobby had done his job exceptionally… thus far.
"Not horrible and not at all what I expected of a place you said you rented in Hogsmeade," Daphne said from behind him, her words encouraging him to move ever inward so that he could prove to her just about great the place looked in the parts that they hadn't seen yet.
When he turned the corner, his shoes still on and tracking a small amount of dirt after him, Harry was stunned. He knew the deeds that Magic could accomplish, and what transfiguration or other such spells were capable of when cast exceptionally, but even with all that he'd learned up until this point, he couldn't believe the vastness of the changes until he saw them.
Any comment he made felt as if it'd be an understatement and when he felt Daphne push in behind him, then after a few seconds, move past him, he understood that this place was likely extremely common to her. She was a Greengrass and while that hadn't meant much to him for the first dozen or so times she'd said it, he'd come to learn that her last name is very important. Her family historically has controlled a large chunk of the economy and now that she's the oldest member as well as the second to last still currently alive, everything was hers.
Really makes it feel like it's been knocked down a peg or two, but it shouldn't. Dobby and I did great, the place is brilliant, Harry shook himself of the awe, finally, and moved to join Daphne at the single large table placed in the back of the restaurant and at the top of a small flight of stairs.
"Window seats that look out towards the forest," Daphne commented, her eyes dancing along the tree line with a curiousness that she typically only had when dealing with books. "It's quite the beautiful sight, far more so than the lake — I'm happy you remembered to avoid it, but I couldn't expect anything less of you. This place is very beautiful, by the way, you did a wonderful job cleaning it up and your friend did just as perfect a job with the decor."
"Thank you, I'll be glad to pass it along to him," Harry said with a theatrical bow that earned him a smile as Daphne moved beside her seat. When he was finished, he raced over to pull the chair out for her and carefully push it back in when she was seated, as he'd learned from the Dursleys when they had taught it to Dudley for important guests.
"You've spent a small fortune today. That carriage, the wagon was top of the line and this, this was essentially a building restoration and then you've had a spread of food placed all along the bar with my favourite sweets closest to the staircase," Daphne shook her head and promptly left her chair, but instead of moving down the stairs, she grabbed him before he could seat himself and kissed him square on the lips. "I'm not materialistic, but the thought you've put into this is very sweet. If I wasn't afraid of sending you running on account of what my Aunt's said about boys, there could've been three words out of my mouth just now, but I'm certain you'll hear them before too long anyhow."
I like you, or I love you?
Harry didn't want to ask in case he was an idiot, so he smiled as brightly as ever back at Daphne. "I wanted to do something for you that shows how much I care about you and how thankful I am, so I thought up the best of what I could get you that you deserve… I came up short, obviously, but I gave it my best shot."
"You aren't remotely short," Daphne kissed him again, "It's truly one of the nicest things I've ever heard of," she placed another kiss on his face, this time at the tip of his nose, "and I've had to suffer through Davis' Muggle books," finally she pulled back to look at him, her cheeks very read now. "I'm a very lucky witch."
Nearly two hours later, the food mostly eaten and the drinks enjoyed with their sweets, Daphne turned to him with that same smile on her face, but with a totally different energy about her. She was she leaned back in the chair with her top button undone and a bit of chocolate in the corner of her mouth; she looked full to the brim and more relaxed than he'd ever seen, almost as if she'd finally decided on something and a weight was off her shoulders.
He hoped he would know what choice she'd just made, it could very well be an important one, but as his final thirty minutes ticked by with the two of them comfortable as ever in their seats, he wouldn't come to learn her secret.
"That was one of the best meals of my life, and most assuredly the greatest date I'll ever go on," Daphne squeezed his hand after she said that, the pair now walking leisurely through the streets of Hogsmeade as they made their way towards whatever plans she'd made. "Unless you think you'll be able to top it sometime in the future."
"I can do that, it won't be a problem," Harry responded confidently as the two side-stepped a door as it opened.
Daphne smiled and shook her head but pressed into his side with more force than she'd previously been doing. "I'd call you a liar if I didn't believe you. I know better though, and now that you're nearly as good as me, I know my threats of a stinging hex when you're acting up don't work anymore."
"They really stung those few times you hit me with them if that's any consolation," Harry answered with a grin as he looked over to Daphne, still not fully comprehending how he'd gotten her to date him.
"Pfft," Daphne gestured to his back and lower body, and then she gestured to where she tended to keep her wand. "I always hit you where it wouldn't hurt all that much and we both know it was barely a pinch. You can be just as bad as Tracey, she's a horrible influence."
Tracey's wicked, she helped me make Draco slip up with those marbles back in first…
Harry nodded and shrugged. "Maybe she's not the greatest influence sometimes, but she can be pretty awesome, we both know that. Sometimes she's quiet or not all that interested in what's happening, but she's one of the few that's never been rude to either of us."
Daphne gave a look that said he was right and dropped the subject as they finally began to slow down, her first stop in their evening now making itself known to him; it was a shop, not just any random or plain shop, but one that specialised in very 'nice' clothing. Harry recognised that their version of nice, new clothing was only decades prior in the Muggle world.
"Not happy with how I dress?" He asked Daphne with his eyebrows raised, curious as to how she'd answer.
She looked back at him, then down to his clothing, then back to Harry's face. "It's not horrible, though I'd change a few things about your specific style," Daphne looked back at the shop and pointed, before he could look at what she was pointing out, she spoke the words. "Dress robes, casual robes, corsets, enchanted clothing and more. We can safely remove most of the possibilities, can't we?"
I certainly should hope so.
"I've already placed your order anyhow — we'll have you try it on and after we ensure everything functions as I requested, we'll take our leave and head to the second of my three appointments," Daphne grabbed his hand, leaving nothing up to discussion as she pulled him into the shop and off of the street he had loitered on.
June 13, 1995
"I'm ready," Harry said, his wand loosely gripped in his hand and his eyes solely on Daphne's thighs; he didn't look there specifically for any reason save for one he'd learned whilst watching her fight.
No matter where she moved, her thighs would twist and turn in the direction a second or two before she took an action. Her wand arm would always stay locked on him, her other would be used in fanciful ways in the hopes that it distracted him — which it had done a lot early on in his training under her— and her feet would move so often, any spectators would assume she was dancing rather than fighting. Still, her thighs always told the truth and for a change, he hoped to catch her off by paying attention to them.
"Yeah right, you're never ready!" Tracey said from the sidelines, a book in her hands before she finally huffed and said the words he and Daphne each had been waiting for. "Fine, fine. Fight! You two defi…"
Harry zoned out on whatever it was that Tracey was saying and dove to the left, the side he typically avoided at the start of a fight, before throwing his first spell at Daphne. He had hoped to catch her off-guard by making a new move to the left and beyond that, the silently-cast spell meant to do nothing more than push her foot that it connected with.
As he assumed would happen, Daphne had cast a shield strong enough in such a short amount of time that his spell was absorbed into it without any issue. He had hoped for a break and whilst he hadn't gotten one, Daphne was surprised enough that she hadn't immediately followed that shield of hers up with a chain of spells.
He pressed the attack in a way he had never done before, his wand whipping about with a ferociousness and speed that he didn't know he possessed. Each spell streaked after the other, from a hex to trip Daphne up to a curse that would temporarily disable her senses, each one slammed into her shield with enough force that she was forcefully sliding across the floor. The cracks they made as they impacted were just as strong as the force they gave and when Harry saw her stumble, finally, her feet catching on a piece of the floor that was jutted upward, he thought he had her and went in for the final chain of curses.
First, he used one that would ensure he stayed down; transfiguration. The stones at her feet wrapped around her legs as she fell to the floor, preventing her from moving. In tandem, the next two spells from his wand were meant to summon her wand and bind her, preventing her upper body from further movement.
It was at this point that his plan stopped. Even on the ground and half-defeated as she was, Daphne wasn't out of the fight. She recast her shield charm, the new one shinier and far more visible than the previous one she'd used. It absorbed the spells with a louder crack still, only this time, she didn't move, save for her clothes as they jostled from the impact — there was a crack of some sort too, but Daphne paid it no heed as she waved her wand in a circle and uttered a curse he didn't know the meaning of. She did so even while the new chain of spells he cast after his momentary was over struck her shield with barely any effect, the concentration was unbelievable… almost as unbelievable as the form of a giant moose made of a wind that stared him down for all of a second before it charged.
The thing struck him, sending Harry flying into the charms that made up their protective barrier with a crack before he fell down, onto the floor. He was gasping for air and his head was ringing, but he wasn't bleeding, nor was his wand taken from him. Quickly, with all of the willpower that he could muster, he began to lift himself from the floor as he recast his shield charm as best he could; nothing struck it as oxygen filled his lungs once more.
Harry's wheeze slowly dissipated, his jostled mind settled and finally, he looked back at Daphne. She was just getting herself to a standing position, her ankles were visibly reddened and her left arm barely moved. He knew what he needed to do before she fully regained her composure and so he did what was required.
He cast another chain of spells at her even whilst his off-hand stabilised himself against a desk, one that was old and far dustier than anything in Hogwarts had any right to be. One spell after the other, from a jelly-leg jinx to a knee-reversal hex and finally, a spell that would make Daphne's eyebrows grow so that they obscured her eyes was sent at her — he finished it all off with one of the darker spells she'd first taught him, one that would leave her confused and light-headed as well as terribly anxious.
Daphne's eyes turned towards him as the spells reached her, the girl's shield from earlier still up but weaker than it'd been and in those eyes of hers, Harry saw a fire that he had never seen before. It was as unnerving as it was beautiful and inspiring. "No!" she yelled to him as the first impacted her shield, breaking it and the second struck her in the left thigh.
Harry made to move closer to her when he saw the latter spell strike, a desk kept in front of his shield charm as an extra layer of protection even if he didn't think he would need it. "I think this mean— Daph!"
The third spell struck her too, but before the rapid growth could fully accomplish its aim, she fired a more serious spell at him than she had ever done before. Before him, the ground rolled like a wave, knocking aside the desk he'd used as cover and breaking his concentration so that the shield charm fell. After he noticed his shield charm go down, he felt another spell hit him in the leg, but this one had no effect.
That worried Harry beyond belief as he turned back to look at Daphne, the girl now eyebrowless thanks to a charm she hadn't taught him. Her knees were still backwards facing and her face was very off from what it typically was, meaning his fourth spell had worked.
"I can win and we can end this, just surrender," Harry called to Daphne as he made to right himself again, finding the action impossible when he realised nothing wanted to respond to him; not one arm, not one leg, not one toe, not one finger, not even his shoulders would listen to what he demanded of them.
Daphne shook her head as she stumbled over to him, bouncing off of one desk to the next. "You," was all she said, the word spoken slowly and deliberately as she finally made her way over to stand above him, her wand-arm swaying over his prone form.
Harry willed his body to listen, he demanded it to carry his weight so that he could beat his girlfriend, but it wouldn't listen. His wand was left limply in his grasp, the hand and appendage responsible for it no-longer under Harry's command as he found himself looking into Daphne's eyes.
"Over," she said again, just as slowly as she'd done before.
One second later, the tip of her wand lit up and Harry closed his eyes before they were closed for him. He had lost the fight.
"Wake up," Harry heard as he came to with his head atop something soft as he felt cool fingers comb through his hair. "I didn't over-cast my spell that much, wake up, Harry."
The voice belonged to Daphne, her tone was more frantic than he'd heard it all year. Briefly, he thought to play with her and fake an injury of some sort, but when he felt her shake him harder this time, the soreness of whatever she cast on him registered and as a result, he opened his eyes to prevent her from doing such a thing again.
"I'm here," Harry said, his throat dry as he blinked himself back into consciousness to see where he was and what he was laying on.
He was in the same room that they'd duelled on, but instead of the rock-hard floor, he was on a couch that Daphne had transfigured and his head was resting in her lap. It was needless to say his pillow was the best he'd ever had and her couch… she'd definitely taken a few notes from all the times he'd made them, that's all he would say in that regard.
"You worried me for a few minutes, though I suppose you shouldn't have," Daphne shook her head and leaned down to kiss him softly and on the lips, the action making him blink as she pulled away to look down at him with her cheeks tinted a red-hue. "Don't give me that look, Harry. I've always done what I liked when the fancy strikes me and if there's anybody currently deserving of a kiss, it's you. I never would have thought you'd get that close to beating me in any capacity until we were out of Hogwarts, but you nearly managed it in our fourth year."
Harry smiled up at her, and surprisingly, it didn't look very goofy despite the kiss he'd just received. "That's all thanks to you, no doubt. I may have studied the odd hour or two by myself, but you're the one who gave me the books or corrected my spells. Are you okay too, by the way? I didn't mean to get so ser—"
Daphne shook her head and responded before he had finished, clearly not taking any such words from him. "No no, you did exactly what I wanted and more. If I'm completely honest with you, ever since we first became friends, I didn't think you'd cut loose as you did just then. When you visit my home over the summer break, we'll enjoy a true fight without the Hogwarts restrictions. My guardians will watch and aid us as needed, but the true reason will be real experience… I suppose you may not need it by then, but I'll hope that I'm wrong."
"Do you really think I'm going to have to fight one of the other champions?" Harry asked as he broke eye contact to focus elsewhere, the thought of crossing wands with Fleur or Cedric disturbing and doing so with Krum, nerve-inducing.
"I believe you'll fight somebody or something with magic, of what or whom specifically, I couldn't dare to guess," Daphne said in a tone that was as true-sounding as it was upset by her own words. "The best we can do is train you for that eventuality as we've done and while our fights aren't nearly as serious as a real one would ever be, it's the best we can do. Please do remember that you mean far more to me than you know or think you do — heroics are off of the table, Harry Potter. I'll hear you say it before we leave tonight."
I can't really promise her that, now can I?
Harry was like Daphne, only less successful in accomplishing his goals by way of force than she was. It wasn't lost on him that the two accomplished all that they had while together, not apart, but there wasn't any way that she could join him in the tournament. It was similar to when he'd fought the Basilisk, but even then, she'd been around to help him… to save him after he'd taken the venom for her.
"I won't do anything stupid," Harry said softly as he looked back at Daphne, the girl oddly emotional-sounding. "Are you nervous that I won't win?"
"I'm nervous that I've failed you. I'm nervous that you won't come back even if you always have before," Daphne answered him honestly, her right hand tightening in his hair as her left came around to grab whichever hand of his was closer.
With their eyes connected, Harry smiled as sincerely as he could up to his girlfriend. "You've never failed me and I've always come back, and I always will. We've done everything together, that's not going to change anytime soon, especially since I've only just got to date you and believe me, I'm not letting any other bloke get you unless I've really done something absolutely horrible… even then, it'd be hard. We don't have to worry about any of that though — I'll win, I'll come back and then we can work on your transfiguration."
Daphne snorted and rubbed at her nose when she pulled her hand from his hair, her eyes were next, but she tried to play that action off. "What's wrong with my couch?" she asked accusingly, a tinge of lightness in her voice even if the creeping sadness was still present.
"It's not as comfortable as your thighs, that's for sure," Harry said to her as he wiggled his head in her lap, the softness fairly similar, but Merlin, he truly preferred her.
He felt Daphne lightly slap the top of his head as her hand went back into his hair. "You belong in Gryffindor with comments such as those, they go hand-in-hand with much of what I hear the others say," she leaned forward again, her face hovering over his. "I'll learn how you cast everything as 'perfectly' as you do over the summer or next year in Hogwarts, but if I do, you might lose out on your current situation in the future."
Harry shook his head and let loose all of the tension within his shoulders and neck, forcing his head to settle completely in her lap as a statement. "Nevermind."
Daphne laughed at him and leaned back, her hands both going to his hair as they combed through it in such a way that one was always caressing him. It felt divine, the softness of her hands and the coolness of her skin, and as a result, before long, Harry was asleep and receiving some of the best rest he had ever had throughout the entirety of his life.
Until they duelled tomorrow, and it ended in much the same way.
June 23, 1995
Harry and Daphne were waiting together in the Beauxbatons carriage the evening before the task for one very simple reason; to speak with Fleur Delacour and come to some sort of accord that truly ironed out their relationship, if any. Neither of them would be foolish enough to truly trust anything the French girl said, that would be stupid beyond belief, but they each wished to read her reaction physically as well as vocally and come to a decision.
Would Fleur be proactive and go after her fellow Champions during the final task? If not that, would she allow them to cross paths without any sort of confrontation, or would she purposefully hinder them? How about her charm, would she truly unleash it in all of its fury if victory were to be on the line?
"Come, come," Fleur said the moment she turned the corner and the two saw her. "We will go to my room to talk, the hour is late and rest does not come easy tonight, no?"
You're right there, that's for sure.
Harry and Daphne followed after the French girl through the various familiar hallways before they eventually came to her door. Another few seconds later and together, the three of them were seated on the edge of her bed or, in Fleur's case, her desk chair.
"This is about the task," Fleur stated before either Harry or Daphne could speak.
"Yes," Daphne answered without missing a beat. "It is."
Harry injected himself into the conversation then. "I'm not asking you to throw it, partner up with me or split the prize if either of us should win. I don't need the money, I wouldn't want a cheated victory and it's not like we can both be the champion — all I want is for us not to be enemies. Unless we're staring each other and the goblet down, we don't need to fight."
Fleur looked at Harry for all of a second before her eyes went to Daphne. There, Fleur's eyes stayed for nearly ten seconds before they returned to Harry. "You aided my sister, aided my family and for that, you were invited over after a gift was given. I will not fight you, Harry Potter. To us, you are already a friend and you do not hinder the actions of friends," Fleur stood up and held out a hand to him. "We will each try to win and the best of us will, but a friendship or a life is not worth it, oui?"
"Yeah," Harry said as he grasped her hand and shook it. "We."
At that, Fleur snorted and Daphne shook her head, the latter witch then reached under her desk. "Wine?"
"We shouldn—" Daphne said, but Harry shook his head. This was the perfect chance to see if he could trust her and if he could shake off her allure, he could handle whatever was in her wine… she wouldn't poison him and Daphne knew spells to check for all manners of things just like he did.
"It isn't a deal unless we drink on it, is that right?" Harry asked with a grin.
Fleur beamed at the younger couple. "Parfait," she said. "We will drink and you two will tell to me the tail of your getting together. It is a perfect end to an evening."
Harry didn't remember agreeing to that, but Daphne simply stuck her nose at him and rose a brow. He'd gotten himself into this one.