The next two days were a blur of uneasy adaptation and quiet determination. Harry and Daphne moved through the routines of survival, the shock of their arrival in this strange new world slowly giving way to practicality. Each morning, they would wake to the gentle hum of magic in the air and the chorus of birdsong in the trees around them, and each night, they would lie down under the soft glow of their enchanted tent, their minds weighed down by the uncertainty of their situation although the following few days were extremely stressful for the pair.

They were lost. As beautiful as the place may be, they were indubitably lost.

They both finally agreed that they were on a different plane of existence or something like that. Between the tent and the wards, they were able to conceal themselves from dangerous animals and possible threats.

The news about his parents' history, the marriage contracts and even his status as a head of house, was all a bit too much for Harry. He had become rather subdued and very snappy towards Daphne, as if somehow, it was her fault.

According to her, he was supposed to be the head of House Potter and eventually would have to take his seat on the Wizengamot but it could only happen if he was married! And to her nonetheless! He did not know how he felt about his parents in that moment.

-oIo-

"Harry…" Daphnes voice wafted towards him, "what are we doing? It's been seven days exactly"

"I am not sure." Was his response. He clearly had no idea. Do they just stay and wait until someone appears? Do they explore? They had already created a mini glamping area for themselves, complete with a fireplace, chairs, tent with ablution facilities and of course, they were not short of water, aguamenti was an amazing charm.

Their first night, Harry had tried to create a portkey, but realized his skills were sorely lacking. The second night he tried Apparition. Daphne watched this from a distance, he spun on the spot, and with a resounding crack, he remained rooted in the same spot! Daphne teared up at this, feeling weighed down with immense guilt at having brought them here out of her own uncontrollable family magic.

The most pressing matter was food. They had found a small supply crate of food in their tent, which Daphne said did not make sense due to Gamp's laws of Elemental Transfiguration. The crate had only supplied them with a weeks supply.

"I think we have to go into the forest to find food," Harry said with downcast eyes. He was still brooding about Daphne and the implications of their conversation.

"I agree." She responded. "I do know a bit about edible plants."

"Wasn't there a charm, to conjure plants? Like Herbie-something?" He asked.

"Herbivicus." She smiled softly.

He slowly met her gaze and smiled back. "I was pants at Herbology anyway."
He looked down again.

"A good thing you had top marks for DADA." She comforted him.

"Should we, erm, take down the wards and search for food?" He asked, taking his wand out from his holster.

"I think so. I wish I could have some juicy lamb chops right about now, with some butterbeer to boot!" She mimed eating like a gremlin.

They looked at each other and burst out laughing. Laughing with Daphne was fun, Harry felt much better.

"Finite Incantatem." They chanted in unison. They look at each other and smiled.

"All ready?" He asked.

"Not yet." She swished her wand causing the items and chairs to fly inside the tent. The she cast a muggle repellent charm on the tent. "Ready."

"Let's be off, should we go that way towards those cliffs?"

"I agree, also, it looks rather rectangular, I can probably find a larger variety of different plants around it, maybe even some fungi." She said following his eyes to the cliffs.

Harry nodded at this, he figured he should just let her take the lead on this one.

-oIo-

They traipsed through the foliage, noticing it get denser the closer they went. Harry recommended they use Diffindo to cut through the thick bush and brambles. Daphne followed suit and seemed to be having a bit too much fun clearing a path. They spent hours on foot but the cliffs looked to be the same distance away. As the sun was dipping into the horizon, the shadows began to increase and Harry felt a little intimidated by unfamiliar forest.

"Hey look!" Daphne suddenly exclaimed with her eyes fixated on a half-buried item below her foot. "I almost stood on it."

"What is that?" He bent down and examined it, it looked like a cracked glass piece, slightly concave, and the interesting thing was it's colour!

"Have you ever seen glass so pink in your life?" Daphne chuckled, placing her foot safely off to the side.

"I don't think its glass."

"Why not?

He sighed, "See the edges, it's a bit flaky. Glass isn't as flaky as this. I learned about glass in Muggle school."

Daphne frowned, "When you stayed with your relatives, right?" this time she placed a hand on his shoulder like he did to her a week ago.

"Yeah." He mumbled.

"AAHHHHH!" Daphne screamed suddenly, clutching her temples with her palms, "my shields!"

"What shields, what do you mean?" he asked, totally lost.

"My Occlumency shields," she groaned as she fell to her knees, "Someone is trying to break through!"
Then she just shot up to her feet and stared straight ahead, eyes wide open. She nodded for no reason. Harry was unsure of what to do so he stepped forward and grabbed her hands. Taking them in his, he held them tight and waited for her. After a few seconds, her eyes focused on him and went wide.

"What happened?" He asked cautiously, not letting go of her hand.

"Didn't you feel that pressure against your shields?" She asked, slightly confused, "I know why we are here. Did you hear it too?"

"No, sorry, no idea what you are on about." He said.

"I understand. Being raised with muggles… you missed out on more than I realized." She said carefully, "a voice just spoke to me. Now. In my head."

"Please explain, the past few years have been a struggle to keep up already." He grunted in annoyance.

"When you are raised in a magical household, you are taught to protect your mind from other people trying to read it. Let us go back to camp and I will explain it to you."

"Could we not set up a temporary campsite here quickly? We have magic, you know." He opened his arms as if to say, 'here is fine'.

She just shrugged in defeat as if to say they might as well.

Thirty minutes later as they sat by the glowing embers of their campfire that night, the air around them cool and thick with the lingering magic of the forest, Harry broke the silence. He had been curious ever since they'd set up another conjured tent (albeit a bit smaller and simpler) particularly about Daphne's calm composure after someone had just invaded her mind.

"Daphne," he began, glancing at her as she stoked the fire gently with a stick, "back at Hogwarts… I noticed you're always able to keep your face so… indifferent."

Daphne looked up from the fire, her ice-blue eyes catching the soft glow of the flames. She paused for a moment, as if thinking how best to answer, then set the stick aside and turned to face him.

"Yes," she said softly, a hint of a smile on her lips. "It's my physical outward shield. It is why I am called the Ice Maiden in school, not because I froze Notts nuts."

Harry's eyes widened in surprise. He felt that.

"I was trained Occlumency from a young age, as most purebloods are. Especially those of us from old families like the Greengrasses. It's essential, really."

Harry leaned forward, his curiosity piqued. "Occlumency? What do you mean?"

Daphne shifted on her butt slightly, pulling her cloak tighter around her shoulders. The firelight flickered in her eyes, making them seem even more intense. "In a family like mine, where secrets are powerful, you have to learn to shield your mind. Occlumency is the art of defending your thoughts from others—specifically from those who practice Legilimency, which is the ability to invade someone's mind and see their thoughts, their memories."

She paused for a moment, her gaze turning inward as if recalling memories from her own upbringing. "Legilimency is more than just reading thoughts. A skilled Legilimens can sift through your deepest fears, your desires, your vulnerabilities. They can manipulate you, twist your emotions, or uncover things you'd never want anyone to know. The way Professor Snape keeps all the Slytherins in check."

Harry's stomach twisted at the thought, Snape could read minds. "So… your family taught you to guard against that? Since you were a child?"

Daphne nodded; her expression unreadable. "Yes. From that moment on, I could understand it, really. My father always said that your mind is your most precious asset, and in a world full of dark wizards who will use whatever they can against you, it must be guarded at all times. Especially in a bloodline like mine, where alliances shift and expectations are heavy. Every conversation could be a test, every glance a way for someone to try and see what you're thinking."

Harry frowned, he couldn't imagine being raised with that constant pressure to guard your thoughts, even from your own family.

"What was it like?" he asked quietly. "Being raised that way? To always be on guard?"

Daphne sighed, her fingers absentmindedly tracing patterns in the dirt beside her. "I feel like I am repeating myself here; but it wasn't easy. At first, it felt like a game—something I had to master to please my parents. But as I got older, I realized it wasn't just a skill; it was a necessity. When you grow up in a pureblood family, you learn that nothing is private. Every secret is a potential weapon, and every thought you let slip could be used against you."

She glanced at Harry, her voice softening slightly. "I remember my father testing me, using Legilimency to see if I could keep him out. He wasn't cruel, but he was relentless. It was... terrifying at first, having someone inside your mind, rifling through your memories. But over time, you learn to block it, to build mental walls, to compartmentalize your thoughts."

Harry's chest tightened as he listened, imagining the pressure and the fear of constantly having to defend your own mind. "So… you're always on guard?"

Daphne nodded again; this time her expression was lost to infinity and even further beyond. "Always. Even when I'm around people I trust, there's a part of me that never fully relaxes. It's like having a constant shield up. You learn to think in layers—keeping your surface thoughts neutral, while your true feelings stay hidden deep down. And it's not just about protecting yourself. It's about protecting your family, your reputation, your position in society. One slip, and everything could fall apart. Hence the name, Ice Maiden."

Harry stared at her, understanding for the first time just how different their worlds had been, despite both being raised in the wizarding world. He'd never had to guard his mind like that. He hadn't even down his OWL's yet!

"That sounds exhausting," he admitted quietly.

Daphne smiled faintly, her expression softening. "It is, but it becomes like second nature after a while. I'm used to it. But," she paused, looking directly at him, "it's not something I want to do forever."

Harry raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

Her eyes softened as she looked back into the fire. "There's a freedom in being able to let your guard down. To just… be yourself. But in my world, that's a luxury not many of us can afford. Still, I think that's why I admired Cedric. He was always so… open. Honest. It's rare to find someone like that."

Harry felt a pang of guilt in his chest. Cedric's openness had been one of his defining traits, and now, in this strange new world, it felt even worse that they had both lost him. But he understood what Daphne meant—how precious it must be for her to simply trust without fear of betrayal or exposure.

"Not here," Harry said softly, "you still have to be on guard all the time. So who was this voice?"

Daphne glanced at him, her lips curving into a small, grateful smile. "Yeah. It was definitely male, but the voice sounded very deep… sort of like Mufasa."

That startled Harry, "wait, you know The Lion King?"

"Of course, my best friend is Tracey Davis after all…" she smirked.

"Oh right, yeah, the Muggleborn Slytherin." He shook his head.

"So anyway, it told me that it had no idea who we were but it felt that our intentions were pure… and that we need to climb to the top of those cliffs which he called Crags." She looked at Harry pointedly.

"What? Climb those absolutely ginormous cliffs?" His left hand pointed towards the Crags aggressively. "We don't have any rope, gear or know how to climb a mountain, let along a cliff!"

She sensed his panic, "I know, I thought that too, but I was sent a mental image of a way up. An easy way to ascend it without dying."

"So, we are just going to take instructions from a voice in your head?" He joked lightheartedly. Clearly, she could see through his entire façade.

"I have a feeling we can trust it." She explained, "I don't know how, but I just do. Please trust me." She reached out to him and placed her palms his hands.

Harry gazed at her for a few seconds. He sensed she was being truthful. No trace of malice. No arrogant, Slytherin sneer. It was as if Harry saw her for the first time. And his heart fluttered.