Harry didn't know what to do. Daphne's reaction had been a surprise. He'd watched her run away from the Hall, being unable to say a word. They had never been close friends, only hanging out with Tracey present, so what had motivated her to react that way was unknown to him. 'Maybe the same thing that had motivated her to write the letter?'

Deciding that he would have time later to deal with the brunette mystery, he finished his way to the Slytherin table, taking up the place Daphne had vacated.

"Mate, I.." started Blaise, with an apologetic look.

"Don't even bother. What is done its done. Everyone can make mistakes. You guys did one, but the truth is in the past you've stand by my side through thick and thin. I don't know what hit you this time, but I can't shut down people for one mistake. Just please don't do it again, because I won't be so forgiving."

Harry had a lot of time to think about what to do with his friends. They had left his side in front of their all house, and that had hurt more than being cast out by the rest of the Slytherins. But Harry had time to cool down, and to look at it with another perspective. They had been by his side on his first year, even when Harry thought it was their own head of house trying to steal the stone, following him down the trap door guarded by fluffy and risking their lives on those "protections" Dumbledore had put guarding the stone.

On their second year, it was Tracey that made the connection about the monster being a Basilisk, and Blaise had followed Harry down to the chamber, only stopping when that idiot Lockhart had stunned him in the back.

Last year, once again, they had trusted him about Sirius and helped free him, with Blaise putting his life so much on the line that Werewolf Lupin had even gave him a big scratch on his torso. He had stayed very close from being turned or even being killed.

Adding it all together, and with Salazar insisting that Harry was going to need his friends, especially with the threat that his name showing up on the Goblet meant, he could not afford to lose his two best friends.

"Thanks mate, and we truly are sorry. We were wrong, you never us gave a motive to think you were lying. It won't happen again."

"Same by me!" Quickly added Tracey.

"Hope that's prophetic." Said Harry with a smile, lightening the mood "So, care to tell me what that thing with Daphne was all about?"

'Well, this was amusing' thought Fleur Delacour. 'So, the old man was lying about everything? And the changes in Harry's appearance were… interesting.'

Fleur lingered in the Hall, trying to see if she could catch Harry alone and put her theory to the test, but unfortunately, he quickly left, surrounded by two of his friends.

'It's okay, I can catch him at the Wand Weighing Ceremony, just a few more days'

While leaving the Hall, she noticed quite a lot of men following her with their eyes, so she huffed and hasted her pace.

As she walked alone around the grounds in direction of the carriages, she decided to take a longer rout, enjoying the fresh air and the stroll. She went near the lake, were an odd-looking girl was throwing pieces of bread to the center of the lake. Fleur noticed the girl was wearing a blue uniform, so she was a Ravenclaw. Weirdly though Fleur didn't recognize her, which was odd, having sat on their table for a few weeks now.

"Hello there, how are you? What's your name?" She asked, smiling.

"Oh Hii! My name is Luna! If you are here to take my shoes, I'm sorry but someone beat you to it!"

"To take your shoes? Why would I do that?" Fleur asked, confused. She looked down, only then noticed the girl was bare foot. "What happened to your shoes?" She asked, fearing the worse. "You shouldn't be here in this cold without shoes!" She said, grabbing her wand and transfiguring a rock nearby to a pair of comfortable pair of boots.

"Here, put this on. They will only last around two hours, but I will suffice for you to get to your room."

Luna looked at the newly conjured shoes, then looked at Fleur with tears in her eyes. Leaping forward, she hugged Fleur as tight as she could.

Fleur, not familiar with close personal contact, except from his sister, awkwardly hugged the girl back.

A few moments later, Luna let go and was happily putting on her new boots. Fleur looked at the girl in more detail. She was small, blonde and with silver eyes. Now that she thought about it, she looked a lot like Gabrielle. Missing her sister deeply and worried what she might be going through without Fleur's protection, she said.

"Luna, my name is Fleur. If anyone tries to steal your shoes or mess with you in anyway, tell them I will be coming for them, understood?"

"Yes, thank you Fleur. You do have a beautiful name. Want to help me feed the giant squid?"

"The giant squid? So, it's true that there's a giant squid in the lake?"

"Yes" answered Luna, laughing, happy with her new friend. "Sometimes when I throw her the bread, she comes up and shows herself. Maybe we will be lucky tonight"

Feeling the lack of human contact since she had come to England, Fleur joined the girl, grabbing a piece of bread and throwing it to the center of the lake "Maybe we will, I hope so"

This time the situation was different from the last time he had entered the Slytherin common room. This time, instead of entering alone, he entered with Blaise and Tracey by his side.

Once again Malfoy decided to try and tease him.

"Why did you comeback Potter? We didn't need you here. We were better off without you."

This time though, instead of everyone looking at Harry, furious glares from most of the Slytherins in the room, the ones who had fulfilled Snape's punishment already more than the others, focused on Malfoy.

Trying to keep his cool, Harry replied "Who made you the spokesman for the entire house, Malfoy? And can't you really get past the fact that I rejected your offer of friendship on our first day here? Four years have passed Malfoy, are you really incapable of moving past that?"

A few Slytherins laughed at that, but then, Tracey decided to take the roast to the next level before Malfoy could even respond.

"For real, Draco. With you going after Harry again and again, one might think its more than a simple school fight. Some might call it obsession, I'm starting to think its Love."

At this comment, the entire common room exploded with laughter, even Goyle, one of Malfoy's wannabe bodyguards, smirked a little.

Seeing the tide had turned against him, and with his cheeks getting redder by the second, Malfoy went up the stairs, into his room, followed, as always, by both Crabble and Goyle.

The last thing they heard him say was "When my father hears about this…"

With Malfoy leaving, the mood of the common room became way more friendly, and Harry, Blaise and Tracey sat down by the fireplace.

"So, you have to tell us were you've been! Everyone was asking about it over and over again."

"I can't really tell you right now, I'll have to speak to my mentor first, see if I can share the knowledge about him."

"C'mon mate, just give us something! We haven't heard from you for more than two weeks, now you appear again, without glasses, I used to be way taller than you and now you look me in the eyes, what happened? We are you best friends, you can trust us!"

"Well, let's just say something was preventing me from growing as I should, and I found a way to stop that. About my eyes, there's this thing muggles are doing, called Lasik. Its still experimental, but very close to be approved as a safe medical procedure"

Harry had come up with that explanation for his lack of glasses, when we remember reading it on the summer before, during his boredom with the Dursleys. As he recalled, Lasik surgery was still experimental at the time, with clinical trials on their last proceedings, so it should be an acceptable excuse that people would accept.

"Doing muggle surgery now? You do like to take risks" commented Tracey. Being a pureblood, she hadn't really ever been to the Muggle World enough to understand that muggle medicine was very advanced, sharing a bit of her peer's views that muggles were still way more primitive than they actually were. Fortunately, she didn't share their bigotry as well, or Harry, with a muggleborn mother and growing up with muggles, would have a hard time being her friend.

Blaise on the other hand, had a muggleborn dad, and even though he had been raised with her mother's family, and even with the Zambini family being one of the most powerful magical families in Italy, he had some knowledge about the Muggle world.

"Muggles actually have a very advanced medicine," he argued "they can even perform some things we can't do with magic."

Luckily for Harry, the discussion revolved around Muggle medicine from then on, with his friends not asking more about Salazar and the Chamber.

At some point Tracey noticed Astoria leaving the room she shared with Daphne and went to ask her something. Harry and Blaise stayed a little longer, when Harry remembered to ask.

So, I've heard there is a Wand Weighing Ceremony in the tournament, and I must be there. What do you know about it?"

"Not much. I know its on the 21st and that they are going to inspect your Wand for safety for the tournament. Can't help you more than that."

"On the 21st? All right, have to make sure I don't forget."

"Even if you do, its not like they can kick you out of the tournament, right?"

A dark shadow passed through Harry's eyes, as he remembered the words from Crouch.

"It- it's a biding magical contract. The boy has to participate, otherwise he'll lose his magic. It's like an Unbreakable vow, I don't think we have a choice!"

"Yeah, right. They can't kick me out, that's for sure" And both the boys laughed at the joke, just glad to be in each other's company again.

"Well, I'm going to bed, I'm exhausted" Said Blaise, and as the boys shared a room, he asked "You coming?"

"No," answered Harry "I have to go back to where I was. I promised my mentor I would be back tonight!"

"Again with that mystery place. And you don't even tell us where or what it is. You can't just leave school, you know?

"I'm not leaving school, and I'll make an effort to be around more. I just need more training for the tournament. People have died there before, that's why it was cancelled. And, to add up, they are all stronger and better prepared than me, I have to suppress that advantage the best I can. And I'm really making progress right now. Just for the duration of the tournament, I promise you."

"Well, see if you don't push yourself to hard. I'd like my best mate in one piece when all of this is over."

Harry smiled, and with an "I'll do my best", made his way out of the Slytherin common room and into the chamber of secrets.

Daphne woke up the next day feeling anxious. How would she deal with all the embarrassment from what she had done the night before?

She got through her morning affairs with a heavy spirit.

When Tracey was ready as well, they both left for the Great Hall. For breakfast. They had not run into Harry in the common room, so Daphne was shaking with nerves when she arrived in the Great Hall. She took a deep breath when going through the doors, only to find out he wasn't there either.

They found Blaise eating alone, joining him on the other side of the table.

"Morning" he said in a way of greeting.

"Where's Harry?" Asked Tracey, knowing that was what her best friend wanted to know.

"He went back to wherever he has been staying. Didn't even slept in our room. Said he had a lot of training still to do."

Daphne felt a big relief from that statement. Maybe she could avoid having that conversation for a few more days.

The rest of the day went by with no major incidents, even though she noticed a few stares and some giggles from some of the girls she shared her classes with, mostly Gryffindors, and some in the halls as well. She was grateful for that, as she didn't feel capable of facing a more intense teasing.

During lunch though she noticed one particular look different from the others.

Fleur Delacour, the Beauxbatons champion, was looking at her, but with a curious look, not making fun of her.

Not giving her too much importance, she went through with her day.

Harry had spent the rest of the night tell Salazar how things had gone with both Dumbledore and his friends. Salazar was not happy with the developments, telling Harry off for not pursuing the matter more.

"I told you not to confront him that way, but you choose to do it anyway. I warned you, but you didn't listen. Hope this serves as a lesson to you, that dealing with matter with a hot head usually doesn't go well. You accomplished very little, and you may have lost a lot of credibility. As you decided to go this route, you should have persisted on it."

"I know, I was wrong. I'll try and deal with that the best that I can, wait for another opportunity to present to make a move against Dumbledore."

"You better. Lay low for now with that subject, we will see how things develop."

What neither of them knew, was that that opportunity would come way sooner than any of them expected.

The morning after Harry resumed his training. He had been focusing on transfiguration, honoring his family legacy.

They had discussed a lot what the first task for the tournament might be, with Harry reading that usually it involved facing a magical beast. He remembered reading that one time the champions had to fight a sphinx, one of the most powerful magic creatures there was. The article also reported all the champions dying in that tournament, when the sphinx went rogue and provided the spectators with a blood bath.

So, what ever beast Harry was going to have to face, would have to be something controllable.

They were practicing for that, with a strategy for Harry to transfigure something to distract the beast and give him time to figure out what to do. He hoped he wouldn't be required to kill it, as that would become complicated, due to magical beast's resistance to magic. And he couldn't count on the Sword of Gryffindor again, like he did with the Basilisk.

Finished for the day, once again exhausted, harry decided a good meal provided by the Hogwarts elves would be better than the cold food he had stored, so he decided to take a shower and go to dinner with his classmates.

When he arrived at the Hogwarts Great hall, Harry located his friends sitting together, so he me his way to them.

"Harry!" claimed Tracey, surprised to him so soon "Glad you decided to join us!"

"Hello to you too Tracey, how did your day go?" he asked with a big smile, noticing that Daphne's expression had changed and she as looking fiercely at her plate.

"It went well, Defense with Professor Moody is really something. He decided to teach us about the unforgivables today!"

"The unforgivables you say? That's unusual" Reasoned Harry, "normally we don't talk about that until the end of the sixth year!"

"I know, he went on and on about how we should be prepared for anything, and constant vigilance and such. Maybe Dumbledore asked him to teach about that, with all that's been going on!"

"Don't even say that man's name in front of me, please" Asked Harry, taking a glance at the teachers table and noticing Dumbledore staring at him, without even trying to hide it.

The rest of the dinner went on, with harry noticing Daphne was completely out of it, focusing on eating, slowly, as if it required all her concentration at once.

When the dinner ended, and they started to make their way back to the common room, harry decided to speak to her.

"Hey Daphne, do you mind if we speak for a few minutes? Alone, please?"

Daphne was visibly nervous, but agreed "Sure, if you would like that"

Harry made her a sign of 'follow me' and entered an empty classroom.

"So, want to tell me what happened yesterday?" He asked, trying to be as friendly as possible, seeing the nervousness on the girl and didn't wanting to make her even more uncomfortable.

"I- I- I don't know," she stuttered "I was happy to see you and mad at Dumbledore for what he'd done. When I noticed I was already hugging you… I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have lost control like that!" She begged, with tears almost in her eyes.

"It's okay, don't worry about it. I'm not mad or anything. You said you were happy to see me?" he asked, now he was starting to get nervous as well. 'am I flirting with her?' he asked himself.

"Yeah, I mean, you were gone for quite some time, and I was feeling a lot of regret for not sticking by you with all the situation, I don't know…"

Harry looked at Daphne, and it was like he was really seeing her for the first time. The brown hair with the blue eyes made a beautiful combination, whit her face not lacking in comparison. She was really a beauty. And with her eyes all swollen from the almost tears almost coming out of his eyes, she looked so fragile that Harry felt an immediate need to embrace and protect her. Mustering up all the courage he could find, he decided to ask.

"Daphne, would you like to go out on a date with me?"

The effect was immediate. Her face light up for a second, and Harry was filled with a feeling of accomplishment and happiness. Then, one second after, she started crying.

"I- I can't, I'm so sorry" She sobbed.

With is heart sinking and feeling like he had been punched in the stomach, Harry said "Oh, okay. I'm sorry I asked. I'm gonna go now"

"Wait!" She said, grabbing one of his arms. "Please, let me explain."

"Explain what?" He asked, feeling the need to get out of there after her rejection.

"Look, my father as made some things in the past neither me nor my sister agree with, but his beliefs still stand to this day. He fought on the wrong side of the war and now seeing his older daughter, his heir, dating the Boy-Who-Lived? He wouldn't be happy with that, at all."

Harry was now tense. Her father was a death eater? He thought. He knew some of his classmates parents had followed Voldemort, but that had never interfered with his life in a serious manner. "I- I didn't know, I'm sorry" he said.

"Occasional friends are one thing, we are on the same house, so it isn't that bad, but if we were seen on a date… I don't know what would happen!"

And then an idea crossed Harry' mind. It was a long shot, but he felt the need to try?

"What if we went on the date in a place where no one can see us? Would you say yes then?"

"Where would you find that place?" she asked, skeptical.

"Don't worry, leave that to me" assured Harry, the happiness coming back up.

"Well, if you could really find a place like that, I suppose I can say yes!"

"Great, it's a deal then "he said, ecstatic. Leaping forward, this time it was Harry giving her an awkward hug. "I'll speak with you soon, when I figured were it will be!" He needed to speak with Salazar first.

She smiled and replied

"Can't wait"

And with that, each made their way to their respective rooms, Daphne with the rest of the Slytherins and Harry to the chamber of secrets.

AN: And this concludes the seventh installment of this work. This chapter is a little bit bigger (hope you guys enjoy that, a lot of you asked for it) as I wanted to include this scene with Harry and Daphne, to start putting things in motion.

I got a few comments of people not happy with how the discussion between Harry & Dumbledore had played. I want to remember you guys that Harry is fourteen. I don't know about you, but when I was fourteen, I was a child. So, I think it's normal he couldn't stand against Dumbledore who has like a century of experience in politics. Don't you worry though, the situation won't end here.

Thank you all for the support, this fic has passed 5k views in both platforms, which is something I never really expected. Oh, and more than 200 followers on facficdotnet alone, which is incredible. Its really been beyond my wildest dreams.

See you next time (hopefully tomorrow)