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James returned to Azkaban, quieter than usual. The jovial banter and playful teasing that had filled the previous days were absent. His eyes were stern and focused, his posture rigid. Delphi, who had grown used to their daily exchanges, found his silence unnerving.

In an attempt to break the ice, she decided to tease him, as she had seen him do so many times before. "What's the matter, Potter?" she asked, a hint of mockery in her voice. "Back to not living up to your father?"

To her surprise, James' response was far from the playful retort she was expecting. He turned towards her; his face devoid of any warmth. "I'm here to do my job, Delphi, not to have fun," he said, his voice cold and distant.

The silence that followed was deafening. Delphi could feel a sudden rush of anger boiling up within her, a familiar feeling that she had come to rely on. But, along with the anger, there was something else – a foreign sensation that made her feel vulnerable. Hurt. Delphi quickly shook off the feeling, dismissing it as a momentary lapse. She did not care about James Potter. She did not care about what he said or how he behaved. She was Delphi Riddle, daughter of the Dark Lord. He was nothing more than a jailor, a reminder of her imprisonment.

"Fine," she snapped, her voice icy. "Do your job then. And when I escape, Potter, I won't hesitate to kill you."

As she spat out the words, Delphi forced herself to forget the shared laughs, the playful banter, the glimpse of humanity she had seen in James. They were enemies, after all. And she had a plan to execute when she got out – a plan that did not include sparing the life of a Potter.

In the quiet solitude of his room, James found himself unable to sleep. He tossed and turned, images of the day replaying in his mind. His harsh words, Delphi's cold response. He knew he had been right, that his father's warning was valid. He was an Auror, and she was a prisoner. But why did he feel a pang of regret? Why did he care so much about how he had treated her?

"Delphi is not your friend," Harry's words echoed in his mind. But the shared laughs, the banter, the unexpected camaraderie – they painted a different picture. One that James was struggling to reconcile with his reality.

Meanwhile, Delphi too found herself wrestling with restless thoughts. Nights in Azkaban were never easy, but this time, it wasn't the chilling cold or the oppressive solitude that kept her awake. It was her own mind, replaying the day's events, her own harsh words. She had said she would kill James if she escaped. It was a statement she had made casually, a simple fact given their circumstances. But why was she questioning it now? Why did she feel a strange regret for uttering those words?

In the quiet darkness of her cell, Delphi shook her head, trying to clear the confusing thoughts. She was Delphi Riddle, daughter of the Dark Lord, not some weakling who regretted her actions. She needed to focus on her eventual escape, not on some misguided guilt over hurting an Auror's feelings.

As the night wore on, two young people on opposite sides of Azkaban's walls tossed and turned, lost in their thoughts, questioning their actions, and trying to make sense of their confusing emotions.

Three days of uneasy silence passed in Azkaban, a sharp contrast to the previously lively exchanges. But James was a Potter. It was in his nature to try and do the right thing, despite his brash personality.

On the fourth day, he finally broke the silence. "Delphi, I..." he began, shifting uncomfortably. "I'm sorry for the other day. I was out of line."

Delphi looked up in surprise, taken aback by his apology. But she quickly composed herself, her expression hardening once again. "And why would I need your apology, Potter?" she retorted coldly. "I don't have feelings that can get hurt."

A smile tugged at James's face. He'd hit a nerve. "Alright then, I take my apology back."

Delphi glared at him in annoyance. "You can't just take words back, Potter."

James shrugged, his smirk widening. "Well, I just did."

A familiar bickering resumed as they got into another back and forth, a hint of their previous camaraderie seeping back into their interaction.

"I'm pretty sure that's not how it works, Potter."

"And I'm pretty sure you don't get to make the rules, Riddle."

"Since when do you care about rules? You're just as bad as your father!"

"And you're just as charming as yours. I can see the family resemblance."

"Keep talking, Potter. I'm counting the days till I can finally be rid of you."

"I'm sure you are. But till then, you're stuck with me. And my incessant talking."

As their words bounced back and forth, the cold silence of Azkaban seemed a little less daunting. Despite their differences and the dangerous tension that constantly hung in the air, they found a strange comfort in their banter, a small respite from the grim reality of their circumstances.

Delphi, deciding that it was her turn to stir the pot, came up with a plan to unsettle James. The idea was simple yet devilishly effective: she would flirt with him. After all, wasn't he the one who had said she was hot?

The next day, James found himself taken aback as Delphi greeted him with a teasing smile. "Good morning, Potter. Looking good today."

James blushed, taken aback. "Eh, thanks?"

Delphi smirked, leaning back against the cold stone wall of her cell. She decided to push a bit further. "I've been thinking about what you said... you know, about me being... hot," she said, her voice dropping to a husky whisper. "I have to say, you're not bad yourself."

James was visibly flustered. "I... well... um... thank you?" he stuttered.

Delphi's smirk grew even wider. She was enjoying this. "You're welcome, Potter. You do know it's okay to take a compliment, right? Or do Potters have trouble with that?"

James didn't know how to respond. He was in unfamiliar territory. This was not the Delphi Riddle he had been dealing with these past few weeks.

Meanwhile, Delphi was having the time of her life. The once dull, oppressive air of Azkaban seemed just a tad less unbearable. She was playing with fire, she knew, but for the first time in what felt like forever, she was enjoying herself. She had successfully turned the tables on James Sirius Potter.

Delphi's relentless teasing continued. She moved closer to the bars of her cell, her eyes never leaving James's face. "Come closer, Potter," she urged, her voice soft yet provocative. "Or are you too scared?"

Delphi puckered her lips, leaning further against the bars. "I know you want to."

James hesitated, his heart racing. He wasn't sure what compelled him. Was it her intoxicating beauty, or perhaps the fact that he hadn't dated anyone since Hogwarts? Either way, he found himself slowly stepping forward, closing the distance between them.

Their lips met through the bars. The contact was brief, but it sent shockwaves through both of them. Delphi's eyes widened in surprise. She hadn't expected this. She had merely wanted to fluster him, throw him off his game.

But, to her own disbelief, she found herself reciprocating. For a moment, Azkaban's cold, grim reality seemed to fade away. She closed her eyes, letting herself get lost in the moment...

Suddenly, they broke apart, both gasping for air. Delphi quickly recomposed herself, a hint of red still lingering on her cheeks. James stepped back, equally shocked. Neither of them had anticipated this.

"You... you..." James stuttered, at a loss for words.

"I what, Potter?" Delphi replied, her voice barely above a whisper. "Wasn't this what you wanted?"

With that, she turned away, leaving a flustered James standing alone. For the first time since their encounters began, he felt utterly out of his depth. He had entered a territory he had no map for, and he wasn't sure how to navigate his way through it.

James found himself standing outside Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, his Uncle George's joke shop. He needed to talk to someone, and his cousin Fred, George's son, was his best friend.

Fred, who had been managing the shop, looked up in surprise as the door chimed. "James! Long time, mate," he greeted him with a grin. However, he quickly noticed James's troubled expression. "What's up, mate? You look like you've seen a ghost."

"I need to talk, Fred," James said gravely. "Can we speak alone?"

Fred nodded, leading James to the backroom. "Alright, spill it. What's got you so rattled?"

James took a deep breath before he let the words tumble out. "I did something I shouldn't have... I kissed Delphi Riddle."

Fred blinked, his grin vanishing. "You did what?"

"I kissed Delphi... In Azkaban," James repeated, his voice barely above a whisper.

Fred was speechless. This was the last thing he'd expected to hear. James, kissing Voldemort's daughter, and in Azkaban of all places? This was a complication they didn't need. James looked at Fred, waiting for his reaction. But all Fred could do was stare, trying to comprehend what he had just been told.

Fred was silent for a moment, trying to digest the news. Finally, he found his voice. "James, are you mad? She's Voldemort's daughter. A Riddle. They are dangerous."

James frowned, trying to defend his action. "I know who she is, Fred. But..."

"But nothing, mate. You need to keep your distance," Fred interrupted, concern evident in his voice.

James looked down, struggling with his thoughts. "Should I tell my parents?"

Fred's eyes widened. "Do you want Delphi to be brutally murdered?" he retorted.

"Fred, I'm not joking," James insisted.

"Neither am I, James," Fred replied, seriously. "Your parents, especially your dad, wouldn't take this lightly. Telling them might put Delphi in more danger."

The words hung in the air between them. James swallowed hard, realizing the gravity of what he'd done, and what it could mean. This wasn't a simple matter of teen crush or forbidden romance; this was a tangled web of complexities involving old vendettas and dangerous affiliations. And he had unwittingly stepped right into the middle of it.

At home, Harry and Ginny were quick to pick up on James's distant mood.

"James, is something wrong?" Harry asked, concern etched on his face.

"No, it's just...Auror work, you know. A bit overwhelming," James said, attempting to brush it off.

Ginny gave him a soft smile, "We know it's a lot, sweetheart. Just remember you're doing important work, protecting the wizarding world."

James nodded, feeling a pang of guilt as he lied to his parents.

Meanwhile, in Azkaban, Delphi lay on her hard prison bed, her mind racing. The kiss kept replaying in her mind like a broken record. She remembered his lips on hers, the brief moment of connection they had shared.

She knew she shouldn't dwell on it. After all, he was a Potter. The son of her father's archenemy. She had no business feeling anything towards him.

But no matter how hard she tried; she couldn't shake off the memory. The kiss had stirred something in her, something she wasn't ready to face. And that unsettled her more than anything else.

A/N: As always please feel free to review, and let me know what you think of James and Delphi's portrayal so far!