Legal Disclaimer: I own my stuff, but not the original source material. That belongs to whoever. Also, the opinions and interpretations I use here may not reflect the same in said whoever that owns the source material. Look, I'm just a poor college librarian. Suing me isn't going to get you anything but tears.

Warning: This work may be offensive to some readers. Feel free to back out if need be.

Author's Note: Rush job. Don't mind me.

Submitting Info:
Stacked with: Hogwarts (Term 13); MC4A
Individual Challenges: Bonjour-Hi; Shadow HP Bribery (Y); Gryffindor MC; Slytherin MC; Magical MC (x2); Neurodivergent; Rian-Russo Inversion (x2); Ethnic & Present (x2); The 3rd Rule; Setting Sail; Hold the Mayo; Gender Bender; Do It For Howard; Lunar Era; Old Shoes (Y); Bucket Listing (Y); Companions; Short Jog; Two Cakes (Y); Eating Cake (Y); Green Ribbon; Greatest Gift
House: Slytherin
Assignment No.: Term 13 – Assignment 03
Subject (Task No.): n/a
Other Hogwarts Challenges: Insane Prompt Challenge [499](Fox); 365 [27](Bend); Herbology Club [2-4]("They don't deserve you"); Auction [19-1]("Ah, your voice is like a song."); Pinata [Hard] (Femslash)
Other MC4A Challenges: AU [1D](Daemon/Companion); Chim [Kinzie](Royal Purple); Ship (Heroic Shadow)[Sp Mic 2](Daemon AU); Fire [Hard](The Future); Garden [RAC 02](Shared Daemon/Companion)
Representation(s): Desi & Autistic Harry Potter/Blaise Zabini; Always Female Harry & Blaise; Daemons & Soulmates AU
Primary & Secondary Bonus Challenges: Lyre Liar; Most Human Bean; Muck & Slime; Abandoned Ship; Head of Perseus; In the Trench; Surprise!; Second Verse (Bechdel Test; Ladylike; Not a Lamp; Found Family; Nontraditional; Sneeze Weasel; Spinning Plates; Unwanted Advice; Clio's Conclusion; Lovely Coconuts; Trickster's Union); Chorus (Wabi Sabi; Bee Haven; Peddling Pots; Mouth of Babes; Tomorrow's Shade; Larger than Life; Unicorn; Creature Feature; Vid Tangent); Demo 1 (Inky Shadow; Over the Hills; Casper's House; Under the Bridge); Demo 2 (Call Me Dantes; Sitting Hummingbird)
Tertiary & Generic Bonus Challenges: T3 (Terrarium); SN (Rail; Spare); FR (Satisfaction; Evolution); O3 (Oath); HoSE (Schooner; Sanctuary); War (Sanctuary; Ennui); TY (Ntaiv; Kulonbozo; Enfant)
Word Count: 1079

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Daemons in the Library
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Harini hid as soon as she got free from Hermione and Ron. Admittedly, she did not go very far away from them, because she still needed to study just like they did. The library was really the only place with the books they would all need in the school. Harini had heard that Ravenclaw has an expansive library of their own that the students had built since the founding of the school, but she had never seen it. Besides, she was a Gryffindor, not a Ravenclaw.

Maybe she should have explored her options more when the Sorting Hat had told her that she would have done well in any of the four Houses. Maybe insisting that anywhere was better than Slytherin had been a mistake. Though, given how creepily Snape swung between hating her guts and staring at her creepily, maybe that assessment hadn't been too far off.

Tucked away in one of the hidden study rooms, Harini finally felt like she could breathe. She leaned against the wall near the entrance and just enjoyed the feeling for a long moment. Alerted by the turbulent feelings, her daemon stirred under the cover of Harini's hair. Harini had not felt up to doing anything fancy this morning and had only wrestled it into a simple fishtail braid. She couldn't figure out how Parvati and Lavender managed to get the energy to pull of their fancy coils and hairdos so early in the morning. Harini just wanted to enjoy not waking up to Aunt Petunia's strident voice as she banged on the cupboard door.

"Vi—" Harini started to address the purple toad only to be interrupted by the door right beside her opening up. She let out a small, startled shriek even as she twisted away from the intruder and then stumbled as the motion made her lose her balance. Even she had to admit the resulting squeak was just as strident as anything that Aunt Petunia could achieve.

With an instinct born of years living at the Dursleys, Harini curled protectively around her tiny daemon to keep from dropping her. It also prevent whoever had followed her from being able to easily touch Violet. Trying to touch the daemon had been a favorite game of Dudley and his game. At least it wasn't as bad as when Aunt Petunia would take Violet away and lock her in specially made terrarium. That punishment was always worse than any beating Harini had ever earned.

"Hey, no," the intruder said. Harini was only vaguely aware that she had slid down the wall to better curl around her daemon. The other girl—Harini thought she might be one of the Slytherins who had been sorted at the same time as her—was crouched down in front of Harini. Her brown hands hovered around Harini like the girl wanted to touch but was waiting for some reason. "No one is going to hurt you. It's okay. Just take a deep breath—good, good, just like that."

"Ah," Harini panted as she started to calm down, "your voice is like a song. It's so pretty."

Harini felt her cheeks flush as she realized that she had just said that out loud to a complete stranger. Her dark brown skin might hide the embarrassed blush but there was no way she would be able to change the fact that she just word-vomited all over the pretty girl. Oh, and what had to be the pretty girl's daemon, a very majestic looking fox with black fur that looked very soft. The moment the fox saw that Harini had noticed him, he shoved his way into Harini's personal space to lick at her face.

Harini startled again and looked worriedly at the other girl, who looked just as confused as Harini felt, thankfully. Daemons didn't usually act like that. Or at least Harini hadn't heard of them actively seeking out affection from strangers. Family often interacted freely with each other's daemons without experiencing any discomfort or pain, not that Harini would know exactly. The Dursleys didn't allow Harini to touch any of their daemons, and it had always hurt whenever one of them touched Violet.

"I suppose I should introduce myself," the girl said after the fox had finally calmed down enough to lay his head on Harini's knees. "I'm Blaise Zabini, and that little trickster there is Maximilian."

"I'm Harini," she answered carefully, uncertain if she should assume that Blaise knew who she was since it seemed like everyone in the wizarding world did or if that would be too arrogant. She hesitated a moment before opening her hands to reveal her purple stubtoed toad. "This is Violet."

"It is very good to meet you both," Blaise said with a gentle smile. She didn't stick out a hand for Harini to shake, but Harini couldn't tell if that was because of the way she was holding Violet or if it was because Blaise was one of the wixen who just didn't have that habit. "I must admit that I was not expecting my soulmate to be you, no matter how much I've admired you from afar."

"I'm sorry," Harini said reflexively. She knew about soulmates. She did. But Aunt Petunia had always been so clear about how much of a burden Harini would be to a potential soulmate. Aunt Petunia had said that if Fate was kind, then no one would ever get stuck with Harini like she had. Max licked at the tears that had begun to leak down Harini's cheeks without her knowledge or her permission. "I'm sorry. If you want to pretend that you don't know, I won't blame you."

Max let out a soft growl that matched the one coming from Blaise. Harini covered Violet back up and ducked her head. Maybe if she made herself small enough, Blaise would just leave instead of taking out whatever had just upset her on Harini. Max instantly switched to whining as he tried to shove his way into her protective curl.

"Whoever taught you that," Blaise said with a tight sort of fury in her voice, "they don't deserve you. I'm not going to allow them anywhere near you, not anymore."

"You cah-can't," Harini protested weakly. "I have to go back. We're just kids!"

"I'll enlist my mother," Blaise declared with a sharp finality. Unable to process anything without giving into the dangerous allure of hope, Harini nodded. There would be time later to cry.