Chapter 7
To be Whole Again
Last Time
As soon as the Mer fell back, Harry dashed forward, cut off the ropes holding Gabrielle in place, looped an arm around her waist, and shot up. Noticing that the Merpeople were following. Harry pointed his wand behind him and fired off a high-speed stream of water, propelling them faster through the Lake while slowing down the Merpeople.
Harry felt the effects of the Gillyweed start to wear off as he pushed more magic into his wand, intending to be out of the water as soon as possible. Just as the transformation back to his normal form was completed, they were propelled out of the water, into the air, and were going to land directly on the deck. Harry made sure to keep Gabrielle above him, making sure he took the full brunt of the impact.
"Gabrielle!"
Medical Wing, Hogwarts, 24th February 1995
Daphne currently was sitting in the Medical Wing, beside a bed that housed the boy she realized she had come to care about. It was no schoolgirl crush that she was hoping for, that was made abundantly clear when she saw him leap out of the lake and land head-first on the wooden deck hard. The emotions she felt at that moment, could not have been due to a mere schoolgirl crush. The worry in that voice was genuine, something that could not have been faked.
Hogwarts Grounds, Near Black Lake, 24th February 1995
Daphne was sitting on the stands with her new group of friends, which oddly consisted of students from all houses. And she also did not have to worry about any repercussions from her housemates for associating with Harry or a Gryffindor. It seemed all were smart enough to leave her alone when they realized that she was protected by a political powerhouse, and Harry defeating a dragon had only added to their worries.
So, currently, she sat on the stands with Tracey, Blaise, Hannah, Su Li, Neville, Luna, and her sister, Astoria. Luna and Astoria had become fast friends when they met each other when the group was hanging out on the grounds. Astoria had somewhat become a 'protector' of Luna from the bullies, once she heard of how Luna was treated in the House.
'It's cute Harry is allowing Stori to play the protector, while all know why Luna is not being harassed anymore is not due to her.' Daphne thought, laughing in her head.
They had come wearing some blue article of cloth, to support their friend Harry, and if someone was to ask where was Susan, they all knew that she was in the Lake, she was the 'something' that Harry would sorely miss. This thought again made her feel a bit jealous.
After spending so many days with Harry, she had come to realize that it was just a silly crush and still held hope that it would go away in some time. After all, she did not want to be disheartened if Harry did not reciprocate her feelings. And was also worried about what might happen to her friendship with Susan or Harry if she confessed her crush to them.
Before she could continue with those thoughts, the judges came out of the tent, followed by the Champions. She could hear many cheers and wolf whistles. She was sure the majority of them came from the male population in the stands, looking at a swimwear-clad curvaceous Veela.
Oddly, she felt pride and happiness when she saw that Harry was not even looking towards Delacour. She did not know why, but she felt happy and proud of Harry at that moment, that he was able to fight off the allure of a Veela standing so close to him while wearing tight-fitting swimwear that showed off her figure and full breasts.
Before long the judges started explaining the task to the audience, confirming what they already knew. Someone dear to the Champions was taken hostage and the Champions would have 1 hour to find them.
She was confused a bit as well when she noticed that while all the other Champions were in their swimming gear, Harry still had his robes on, and just when the task was set to begin, Harry pulled off his robes, and what she saw made her blush furiously.
Harry was only wearing what seemed to be a muggle swimming trunk, while she knew that Harry had muscled up a bit, she was now able to see exactly how fit he was. He was not overly beefed up but had great definition to his muscles.
She could not help but be even more attracted to him. And she could see that many of the females were also appreciating what they saw, which only achieved in making her angry at them. To her utter embarrassment, even Tracey and Astoria were wolf-whistling.
"Shut Up! Both of you!" Daphne said, glaring daggers at Tracey and Astoria. The only reply she got was a knowing smile on both their faces and a mischievous look they shared with each other, making her groan.
Just then a cannon blast sounded which signified the start of the task, while all others jumped into the water straightaway, Harry took out his wand, cast some spell on himself, and ate the Gillyweed they had planned for, before jumping into the water himself.
She was worried when Harry did not resurface for some time, while she knew Harry should be able to breathe underwater as Gillyweed was supposed to give him gills, they had not tried it. They were only trusting what the book Moody gave Neville said.
Suddenly something broke out of the water. She noticed it was Harry, and she could also see the transformations that the book said would happen. Harry jumped about 15 feet into the air and dived straight back down into the Lake.
"Show off." Daphne said, but there was no real heat to it, only a small smile on her lips.
Now all they could do was wait. They could not see under the water, so all they could do, for now, was wait patiently to see who was going to rescue their hostage first.
After 30 mins of waiting, finally, something broke through the water, and they could see 2 figures, only one definitely was a boy with black hair and the other a girl with long red hair. That confirmed that the first to complete the task was Harry. There was a deafening cheer around her, from their group of friends, all cheering for Harry, while some cheers came from the Ravenclaw house members as well, after all, it was a member of their house that had completed the task first.
She saw as Harry pulled Susan towards the deck, and Madam Pomfrey attended to Susan as soon as she climbed up the deck, but Harry remained underwater. The effects of Gillyweed might not have reversed yet.
She noticed as Susan went to the edge of the deck and sat with her feet in the water, no doubt keeping Harry company until he was able to safely resurface again.
Just then another Champion came out of the Lake, but she noticed that Delacour was alone, she did not have her hostage with her, and she was also injured. Daphne thought Harry must have noticed it as well as she saw him race towards Delacour and help her get up the deck.
While she was not able to understand what Delacour was saying, she obviously was distraught, but Daphne could not figure out why.
'Her hostage obviously will be safe. The judges will not let anything harm other students, right? And it's not like they literally won't come back after an hour like the egg said' Daphne thought while trying to figure out why the French witch seemed to be screaming.
Before she could contemplate any further, Susan's voice distracted her.
"Harry!" Susan shouted, running towards the edge of the deck and looking into the water.
'Idiot must have gone back to save Delacour's hostage. Noble git! He will be receiving a proper ear bashing once he comes up.' Daphne angrily thought, making up her mind to talk some sense into the stupid boy.
While she waited for Harry to resurface, in the meantime Krum and Diggory had rescued their respective hostages and completed the task, and the judges were waiting for Harry to come back.
Only after a few minutes of waiting, an object like a torpedo shot out of the water, its trajectory directly in line with the deck where the judges and the Champions with their respective hostages were standing.
On closer inspection she noticed, that it was not an object, it was Harry and another girl that shot out of the water, and she saw with bated breath as Harry placed the girl on top of him and took the full impact of the fall they had on the deck.
"HARRY!"
Medical Wing, Hogwarts, 24th February 1995
That terrified scream that she heard was her screaming at the top of her lungs. Worried about her friend, worried about Harry's safety, worried if he was okay…. Worried about the boy she was falling for.
That was the moment that she realized that this was no ordinary crush that she had for Harry. She really was falling for him.
As soon as she saw Harry fall on the deck, she noticed Susan rush to his side and take his head in her lap. But when even after a few moments of trying Harry was not waking up. She made a beeline towards him. Not caring about the rules that she was breaking, not even pausing when her friends called out for her to stop. She only had Harry in her mind.
As soon as she made it there, she was stopped by Susan.
"Madam Pomfrey is working and needs space. Let us remain here for now." Susan said, and she could see that Susan was worried. And was barely controlling herself from running to Harry's side.
All Daphne could do was nod and hold Susan's hand to ease each other's worries.
Soon Harry was being taken to the Hospital wing, it seemed that Harry had landed on his head, and the impact had knocked him unconscious. So, while Pomfrey could wake him up, she wanted him to rest after the stress his body was under during the task.
And that is how she came to be seated on one side of Harry's bed, while Susan occupied the other.
They were just waiting for Harry to wake up. Pomfrey had assured both of them that Harry was all right and would be waking up soon.
That left her with all the time in the world to gather up her courage and talk to Susan about the feelings she was harboring for Harry in her heart.
"Susan… I need to talk to you about something. Can we go out?" Daphne hesitantly asked.
"Sure. You guys, please watch over Harry." Susan replied while standing up, and requesting Tracey and Hannah to watch over Harry while they were gone.
With that done, Susan and Daphne made their way out of the medical wing and towards a secluded corner before Susan took out her wand and surrounded them with a silencing ward. Which caused Daphne to raise an eyebrow.
Susan just shrugged in response. "When you are in a relationship with Harry Potter, you learn things like these. Silencing wards, helps when you want to have private conversations."
"So, you wanted to talk about something?" Susan prompted Daphne to speak when she noticed that the other girl was nervous a bit.
' Is she finally going to talk about it? After so many days! Finally!' Susan cheered, as she speculated what Daphne was going to talk to her about. While doing her best to ease the girl by giving her a soft smile.
"I do not know how to tell you this, but… " Daphne said, at a loss for words and how to explain what she wanted to.
"You are falling for Harry. Aren't you?" Susan said while continuing to smile at Daphne.
Daphne for her part was speechless, gaping at Susan.
"H.. How?" Daphne managed to speak.
"I can see how you look at Harry when we are together. When you glance at Harry. And also you are not really subtle when you stare at him during classes or when we all are together and you think he is not noticing. Also, you are not so subtle when you glare at me when I kiss Harry." Susan explained, chuckling after saying the last part. Letting Daphne know that she had no real issues with Daphne.
Daphne for her part just looked down, a bit ashamed when she learned that people were noticing her staring at Harry. And hurried to explain herself when Susan talked about her glaring at her.
"It's nothing like that Susan. You are a great friend, and I have nothing against you. It's just that when I see Harry with you, all happy and having fun. I just have started feeling a bit jealous of you." Daphne hastily replied, like quietening down when she confessed that she was a bit jealous of Susan.
"It's alright Daph. God knows that even I would be feeling jealous if I was in your place. Harry is a special boy. He is kind, caring, compassionate, and not to forget hot." Susan said while laughing.
Even Daphne could not stop the small chuckle that she let out.
"That certainly helps." Daphne said.
"Also, the fact that he is an amazing kisser. If I did not know any better, I would say he has been doing this for ages." Susan said, trying to make Daphne uncomfortable, which she was succeeding in if the blush on Daphne's cheeks were any indication.
"So, I just wanted to ask you if you have any issues with me also dating Harry? I know it's a bit odd, but will you be able to share him?" Daphne hesitantly asked, a hopeful look in her eyes.
"I have waiting for you to ask this for ages Daph. I was well aware of the possibility that I would have to share him before I even started dating him. I was raised a pureblood Heiress and as such know that by law, he is required to have two wives since he is the Lord of two houses. While I have not thought about marrying him just yet, I have made peace with the fact that if we ever do decide to marry, I will have to share him. My only demand from Harry was that I have a say in whom he brings into this relationship. And there is no one better than you." Susan said.
"You have been the perfect friend I could ask for. While I love Hannah and Su to death, I do get a bit annoyed by all the squealing and gossiping. You were the friend I needed. And I can also see that you really do care about Harry. So, you are the perfect fit for our relationship in my opinion." Susan said while hugging the other girl. Taking her by surprise.
Daphne was surprised by the hug, but before long, even she reciprocated the hug. In that moment she felt all her worries wash away regarding Susan accepting or not accepting of her dating Harry. Until all the worried came back with vengeance.
"What if Harry does not like me? I mean have you seen the way Delacour looks at him? Why would Harry choose me when he can easily date a Veela, and not to mention that he is already dating such a beautiful and gifted girl as you?" Daphne asked.
Susan looked at her wide-eyed before saying. "Have you looked at yourself, Daphne? You are hands down the most beautiful girl in Hogwarts right now. A boy would be barking mad to not have you as his girlfriend. I know for a fact Harry is interested in you as well." Smirking at the end.
"How do you know?" Daphne asked, a bit of a hopeful expression on her face.
"Just as I know you like Harry. I have seen the way he interacts with you. I have seen the way he tries to hide the fact that he is attracted to you from me. And you are not aware of how many times I have had to stop him from blasting in the Slytherin Common Room and threatening all the students to leave you alone." Laughing at the memory of when she had to literally sit on his lap and snog him senseless in the Room of Requirements to stop him from killing or injuring the Slytherin population.
"What?! How does he know where the Slytherin Common Room is?" Daphne questioned while hiding the fact that she was deeply touched by Harry's concern for her wellbeing.
"I know right?! He even knows where the Hufflepuff Common Room is. But when asked all he says is that he found out using Salazar Slytherin's journals." Susan replied.
"WHAT?! How did he get his hands on Salazar Slytherin's journals?!" Daphne exclaimed, more than ready to interrogate Harry for a chance to be able to see her house's founder's journal.
"I know right? There are a lot of things that I need to make him reveal. Now let's make sure you start dating him and then we both can team up on him." Susan said, with a mischievous look, which was matched by Daphne.
Before long both were moving towards the medical wing. To the side of the boy, they both cared deeply for.
Harry Potter.
When Harry woke up all he could see was a bright light, before he had to squint his eyes and adjust to the brightness before he was able to sit up and noticed he was in the Hospital wing which caused him to groan.
"Harry! You are awake! How are you doing?" a voice asked, which he knew to be Hannah's.
"I am doing fine Hannah. Just a bit tired. What am I doing here? And how long was I asleep?" Harry questioned.
"When you oh so idiotically launched yourself out of the lake and crashed on the deck, you managed to sustain a head injury. Nothing major, Madam Pomfrey fixed that in some time, but decided to let you rest for a while. That's why you were brought here." Tracey replied.
Before Harry could ask something else, the door to the hospital wing opened up, and in walked the two girls he loved to death. Susan and Daphne walking side by side.
He could see both were happy to see him awake. Susan rushed to his side and kissed him soundly on his lips. Which Harry reciprocated wholeheartedly. As they separated, and before he could speak, Daphne had lunged forward and claimed his lips with her own.
Now that was a shock for everyone except a smiling Susan. Harry himself was so shocked that he did not reciprocate the kiss, but before Daphne could stop and pull away, Harry put his arms around Daphne and pulled her in, once he looked at Susan smiling at him.
While the passion was a bit less initially, and Daphne's hesitancy was visible in her actions, once Harry reciprocated and pulled her in, Daphne poured in all the emotions she was feeling for Harry. They stayed like that was some time, before both needed to separate, as the need for air became a necessity.
Both rested their foreheads on the others and just stayed that way before two loud squeals brought them out of their own little world, that they were in. Knowing it would be from the two hyperactive girls in the room with them. Daphne just snorted and caused Harry to start chuckling and before long both were laughing.
Taking both Daphne and Susan's hands in his hands, he looked at them lovingly before asking. "So, did I win?"
Hogwarts Grounds, Near Black Lake, 24th February 1995
After making sure that Harry was all right when slapped in the back of the head by Susan and Daphne for ruining a perfect moment, Madam Pomfrey had allowed him to leave the medical wing, and since there still was some time left for the dinner to start, the newly formed trio made their way towards the grounds and sat in their usual spot near the Black Lake.
There they discussed the aftermath of the task. While the judges gave Harry a score of 40, Krum 35, and Cedric 33, Fleur on the other hand was given a 20. But that was not the talk of the town. Apparently, the Delacour parents were on a warpath against Olympe Maxime and the rest of the judges, as they were not informed about, nor were they asked permission from by Olympe Maxime before she decided to place their youngest daughter in the Merpeople village. Not even knowing the tension between the Merpeople and the Veelas.
There was going to be an official investigation regarding the same and an Auror might come in to take Harry's testimony.
But with all that out of the way, the trio started talking about all the casual things, making conversations, joking around and one could definitely see that they were closer to each other than before, more comfortable in each other's presence. Before Daphne's talk with Susan, Daphne always tried to maintain her distance from Harry. But now that she had also started dating Harry, there was no need for her to keep her distance. She was currently sitting beside Harry leaning against him, and Susan sat opposite.
"So, do you both want to go out for a date this Hogsmeade weekend?" Harry asked.
"Rather than all three of us going, it would a good idea for you two to go on a proper date. While I get to spend some time with the girls." Susan suggested.
This caused Harry and Daphne to look at each other, Harry looked questioningly at Daphne, and only received a shrug in response.
"Ok, then it is final. Daphne and you will go for a date, and I will have a girls' day out with Hannah, Su, and Tracey." Susan said.
The Great Hall, Hogwarts, 25th February 1995
Harry was having wonderful last few days. He had started to date Daphne as well, and it was Susan that encouraged Daphne to join in. And it seemed that his years of hard work were finally coming along. He finally was able to have both the girls he loved so much in his arms.
Today was Hogsmeade weekend and he and Daphne were going to go out on a date. He had something terrific planned for today. Hence, currently, he was wearing some of the best clothes he had. He was currently wearing dark blue jeans and a plain black shirt, tucked in and his full sleeves folded up to his forearms, with an emerald green tie loosely hanging around his neck.
Harry made his way towards the Great Hall and as soon as he entered, he knew that quite a few girls were staring at him, and their boyfriends looking at him with angry eyes. But that only seemed to make Harry happy as he smirked and walked towards the Hufflepuff table and kissed Susan.
But as unlike usual, he did not sit beside her, instead, he winked at her and made his way towards the Slytherin table, before kissing a curious Daphne and sitting besides her, and started to fill up his plate.
Silence fell on the occupants of the Great Hall, he seemed to be doing that a lot these days.
Daphne was astonished and a little flustered, while she was more than happy to kiss Harry, she did not expect him to do it in front of the entire school and in the Great Hall too.
' I guess I should have seen it coming after seeing Harry kiss Susan every day during breakfast.' Daphne thought as she tried her best to fight down the blush that adorned her cheeks.
One could see Tracey grinning like a fool and Blaise gaping at Harry, their friends still did not know about Daphne dating Harry yet. So, this was a complete surprise for all that were not present in the Hospital wing, surprisingly Tracey and Hannah were able to keep their lips sealed.
"Great! When you first did this to Susan, did she or did she not tell you about the ramifications she would be facing? Now, while she was interrogated by Hannah and Su, I will be interrogated by Su and Millie. Which is certainly not good." Trying to glare at Harry playfully.
"I will give you the same advice I gave to Susie. Transfigure their mouths shut." Harry replied in a nonchalant tone.
"Now I don't have time for that. Let's just finish our breakfast and leave for our date." Daphne replied.
Harry shrugged in response and started to eat up as fast as he could.
Once both had finished eating and made small talk with their friends, they made their way out of the Great Hall.
As they were walking towards the Entrance Hall, Harry had an idea, to make the date a bit more interesting for Daphne.
"Now, how do you want to get to Hogsmeade? Walking, taking one of the carriages, or secret passages?" Harry asked, earning Daphne's attention.
"What secret passages?" she asked.
"It's a passage beneath the one-eyed witch status, by the stairs to the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom, leading to the cellar of Honeydukes." Harry explained. This caused Daphne to frown.
"And how did you find it?" she asked, narrowing her eyes.
"Slytherin's journals." He replied.
"One of these days I am going to want to see those Journals you keep on talking about." Daphne replied.
"Sure, we can do that tomorrow if you want. It being a Sunday, we will be free." Harry replied.
"Great! But for now, let's take the carriages. I do not fancy ruining my dress." Daphne replied.
With that, they made their way towards the last of the carriages that were left, and after a peaceful ride, reached Hogsmeade.
After reaching the edge of the village, Harry took Daphne a bit further towards the secluded areas and asked her to hold onto Harry. Confused, Daphne did as asked before she started to feel the tell-tale signs of a side-along Apparition. Squeezing her eyes shut, and hoping for the best.
Once her feet hit solid ground, she opened up her eyes and saw that she was in an alleyway. Before she turned towards her boyfriend and seeing him smirk just annoyed her more. Glaring daggers at him she said. "You could have told me you were apparating!"
"Now where's the fun in that?" Harry replied. The annoying smirk remained on his face.
Just when Daphne was about to take out her wand, Harry stopped her. "We are in muggle London. Do not cast any magic."
"You apparated me to muggle London?!" Daphne hissed in his ears.
"Well, yeah. I wanted this to be the perfect date." Harry replied. As if it should have been abundantly clear.
"I am wearing robes Harry! People will think I am a fool." Daphne replied while looking down at the robes that she knew would look like medieval time clothing to the muggles.
"That's why we are going shopping first." Harry replied with a tight smile. Even though he hated it, he knew that Daphne loved shopping, so was ready to be tortured for a couple of hours for her sake.
Hearing that, brought a bright smile on Daphne's face and her eyes seemed to light up. Before she took Harry's hand and dragged him out of the alley and towards the nearest clothing store she could find.
After a tiring 2 hours later, Harry and Daphne exited the fourth store they had been to, with Harry's arms full of shopping bags, and Daphne wearing a new set of clothes, a black dress that came down to her knees and seemed to fit over all her budding curves, showcasing a bit of cleavage.
"Come on Daph! Please no more shopping, you have already bought enough clothes to fill up your entire wardrobe twice." Harry pleaded.
"Oh, ok you big baby. So, what are we doing next?" Daphne asked.
"Let's go put away these first." Harry suggested as they made their way towards an alley, and put all the shopping bags in the bottomless purse that Daphne had brought with her.
"Now, onto the movies!" Harry exclaimed.
"What's a movie?" came Daphne's confused reply.
"Oh! You are going to love this." Harry replied, before pulling Daphne with him out of the alley and towards the Cinemax near them.
2 hours later, an excited couple left the cinema hall, talking about the movie they saw. And how the Godzilla in that movie could easily crush some of the most dangerous dragons in the wizarding world.
"What's next?" asked an excited Daphne.
"Next up, I introduce you to the delicious delicacies of Italian cuisine." Harry replied, a soft simile playing on his lips when he noticed just how happy Daphne seemed to be.
Daphne noticing that Harry was staring at her, just raised an eyebrow. But all she received was a shake of his head and a bright smile, and action that she mirrored. Before Harry leaned down and kissed her softly.
As they separated, Harry offered Daphne his hand. Which Daphne took, and the couple made their way towards the high-class restaurant where Harry had reserved a table.
The dinner they had was wonderful. Harry ordered for both of them, knowing what the future Daphne liked the most, and sure enough, Daphne enjoyed it thoroughly.
They made small talks, regarding their future, what each of them wanted to be in the future, and what their aspirations were.
Turns out Daphne wanted to be an unspeakable, but in the field of research. She was fascinated by the mysteries of the world and wanted to make it her profession to be able to do what she loved.
While Harry said that he had no ambition as such, he wanted to have a family, and be able to be there for his loved ones. And manage the Potter and Black holdings, deep down he knew he still lived for that thrill of a fight and loved commanding his field unit, but that was not his priority, life had a funny way of making one realize what they hold dear to their heart the most, and what a few idiots with delusions of grandeur could do.
Once done, Harry paid the bill and tipped the staff, before the young couple walked out of the restaurant. Noticing that it was already nearing the end of their allotted time, made their way towards a dark alleyway to safely apparate back to Hogsmeade and catch the last of the carriages back to Hogwarts.
The two were walking in silence. Daphne held onto Harry's arm while leaning against him. Turned to look at Harry and thought. ' This has been one of the best days of my life. I am out on a date with my boyfriend. We went shopping, then Harry took me to see the movies before ending with an exquisite lunch.'
Harry turned towards her and raised an eyebrow when saw her staring at him.
"Something the matter Daph?" Harry asked.
Daphne just shook her head before saying. "No. In fact, this has been one of the most wonderful days of my life. You took me out to muggle London, I got to see the huge buildings that the muggles have constructed. Buying some of the most fashionable muggle clothes. Discovering what a movie is, and experiencing it for the first time. Before ending with the most amazing meal, I have had. This was perfect. Thank you." She placed a kiss on Harry's cheek after she said this.
Harry turned to look towards Daphne and cupped her cheek in the palm of his right hand before softly saying. "You have no need to thank me, Daphne. I want you to be happy. And I will make sure you remain like this for as long as you allow me to be by your side. In fact, I am the lucky one, not only are you intelligent, and cunning, but I can clearly see the caring and kind nature that you have for all that are close to you, even if you try to hide it. Any guy would be lucky to have you at his side. And I am the luckiest bloke around." Harry said.
Both leaned towards each other before their lips met, they poured in all the emotion they held for each other in that kiss. Harry pulled her in from her waist, while Daphne was running her hands through Harry's hair, making them even messier than their usual self.
Once the need for oxygen made itself known, both parted a bit before Daphne rested her head in the nook of Harry's neck and Harry rested his head on hers. They stayed that way before Harry spoke.
"You being drop-dead gorgeous certainly helps make the shopping trips a bit more tolerable."
Which just made Daphne chuckle into his neck, before long she started laughing and playfully slapped Harry on his shoulder.
"Way to ruin the moment idiot."
AN
So, that was the chapter.
This chapter mainly focused on Harry and Daphne.
So, we had Daphne POV, Daphne Susan talk, and a small Harry Daphne date.
I am not great at writing romance and dates so please excuse me XD
Next up, some more Harry, Daphne, Susan interactions, and maybe the third task.
Who knows.
Chapter 8
Hogwarts Grounds, Near Black Lake, 26th February 1995
Harry, Susan, and Daphne were currently sitting by the Black Lake under a tree. With Harry laying his head in Daphne's lap while she played with his hair, and Susan laying her head on Harry's stomach.
All three were just sitting by the lake, relaxing, as it was a Sunday and all of them were already done with their assignments, they thought this would be a perfect opportunity to just lay down and rest for a bit.
"So, Harry, you never really told us how you learned Parselmagic? And before you start, you do know that I do not believe in the hogwash that you told Professor Dumbledore, and I am sure he has not believed in it either." Daphne broke the silence.
Harry opened his eyes and looked directly at Daphne, before smirking and saying. "Slytherin's journals."
That got a huff in reply from Daphne and an amused snort from the redhead laying on his stomach.
Daphne then proceeded to unceremoniously dump Harry's head out of her lap, before standing up and saying "Okay, that's it! You are showing me the journals you keep talking about. I mean, for everything your answer is the same, from knowing the locations of the common rooms to Parselmagic and also the secret passages."
That got Susan's attention. "What secret passages?"
"Apparently, there are many secret passages all over Hogwarts that Harry knows about, which lead out of the castle." Daphne replied.
"Okay, now you are definitely showing us where those journals are. I so want to be able to go out of Hogwarts when I want and buy chocolates." Susan said this time her statement directed towards Harry, who was looking more amused than anything.
"Okay." Harry replied with a shrug, before walking towards the castle.
As Harry led Susan and Daphne up to the second floor and onto the corridor that only housed the girl's lavatory, the girls shared a look.
"If I did not know any better, I would say you were a disgusting pervert leading us into an abandoned girl's lavatory." Daphne said with a smirk on her face, letting Harry know that it was only a joke.
Harry did not bother to reply to that joke and just led them inside the bathroom, thankfully for all three of them, the resident ghost was not there.
As Harry walked in, he just gestured the girls towards a sink. Looking at Harry a bit confused, Daphne decided to take the first step and moved to examine the sink which Harry had gestured towards.
Her gaze flickered over it as she examined it, only for her gaze to land on one of the two taps on the sink, there was something engraved in it. On closer inspection, she noticed a barely visible serpent carved on the side of it.
Whirling around to face Harry, her eyes brimming with excitement. "The Chamber of Secrets?". That got Susan's attention as well, which caused the redhead to rush to stand beside Daphne and see the same serpent Daphne was tracing her finger over.
"It's an entrance to the Chamber of Secrets." Harry shrugged, walking over so he was standing in front of Daphne and Susan. "It's where I had been staying when I was banished from Gryffindor tower. Majorly because of privacy, after all only a Parselmouth could open the entrance. And me staying there had the added benefit of me discovering Slytherin's personal study." Harry knew he was lying about his find of the study, but he just was not ready to let the girls know the truth, mainly because the girls themselves were not ready for it yet.
Hearing of the study only caused Daphne to look more excited, but Harry decided to burst her bubble. "All the books are written in Parseltongue." Hearing this caused Daphne to be deflated a bit, but not entirely, as she still would be able to see the chamber with her own eyes, if not read the knowledge left back by her house's founder.
Susan meanwhile was more amused than anything. "So, this is where you hide away when you don't want company, interesting. I take it you don't know why the entrance is in a girl's lavatory of all places?"
Harry shrugged as he heard that, a slight smile spreading on his face. "No idea, though it could be because old Salazar Slytherin was an idiot and a massive pervert, and had a fixation on young girls…" Harry stopped when Daphne sightly slapped him on his shoulder and glared at him.
"You do of course know he is one of the founders of the school and creator of my House?" Daphne asked while ignoring the giggling Susan behind her.
"And Snape is your Head of House." Harry said dryly, a smile spreading across his own face when even Daphne could not hold back the snort at this.
"What are we waiting for then? Let's go down there!" Susan interrupted.
" Open " Harry hissed.
Both girls nearly jumped out of their skin when they heard Harry hiss, even though they had heard it during the first task, they were still a bit uncomfortable with the feelings hearing the hiss brought.
But both girls did jump out of their skin when suddenly there was a noise behind them and when they turned to check the source of the noise, they noticed that where once was a giant structure, all there was now in its place, was a pipe, the darkness not allowing them to see the end of the pipe.
Before they could reprimand Harry for not alerting them before doing this, they felt an arm grab both their waist before they were suddenly pulled towards the entrance of the pipe.
Both Susan and Daphne screamed at the top of their lungs when they thought they had just been pulled towards their certain doom, and just before they thought they were going to die when they could no longer feel the pipe under them, they were suddenly levitated, and safely landed on the floor.
After both girls had stopped hyperventilating and got their breathing in check. It was Susan that was glaring daggers at her boyfriend while having her hands on her waist, letting Harry know he was in big trouble.
"Slytherin certainly was an idiot, and so is my boyfriend." Came as a statement from a still shocked Daphne.
As Harry led the girls towards the main chamber after a thorough ear lashing and a sore ear, he retold the story of how he first found this place. He told them about the place where Lockhart caused the tunnel to collapse and how he had been forced to carry on alone.
When they reached the chamber, Harry opened the doors, and Susan and Daphne found themselves in a massive cave with snake statues and a massive statue of a man's face, and in front of it, a sixty-foot Basilisk skeleton in an attack position.
Both girls paled at the sight of that massive skeleton, fear clear in their eyes. Harry decided to try and help them calm down, hence moved to stand between the two of them and held them close to him.
"You… You killed that?" Daphne asked, fear still audible in her voice.
"Yeah…" Harry whispered.
"How?" This time it was Susan, that asked.
"I stabbed it with Gryffindor's sword through the mouth." Harry replied, deliberately leaving out the part when he had been stabbed and bit by the Basilisk and almost died in the process. It was unbelievable as it is, and he did not want to show his memory of the event right now.
"Now, how about I show you two Slytherin's study?" Harry asked, knowing that it would distract their attention from the Basilisk.
"Sure." Was Daphne's enthusiastic reply.
Harry led them to a wall besides Slytherin's statue and hissed in parseltongue. The wall opened to reveal a massive chamber, with a room, a laboratory, and a library sharing the space.
Once both the girls had spent all their energy after exploring the entire place and badgering Harry with questions about the secrets the journals held, as he was the only one who could read them. After finally giving in and pointing out all the secret passages Hogwarts had, the girls were satisfied for now and decided to sit down in the main chamber.
" Master! The ball-eyed, half-bald idiot, is muttering about you being stronger than he thought. " Came a voice, which Harry recognized as Salena's. His familiar was bringing him information about the fake Moody, he was not ready to take any chances in case his arrival had somehow disrupted the timeline, hence he had asked Salena to keep an eye on the disguised Death Eater.
"AHHHH!" Came a scream from Daphne, while Susan was too petrified to speak, and was just pointing towards the massive Black Mamba that was slithering towards them, specifically towards their boyfriend.
" Ahh, you finally brought both the Mistresses here! I was waiting for a long time to finally meet them again! " Salena replied excitedly, but though she was excited to meet her Mistresses, she knew that the two were a bit scared, hence instead of heading towards them, Salena moved towards Harry and slithered up his body and coiled around his shoulders, and Harry started to stroke her on top of her head.
"No need to worry Daph, Susie. This is Salena, my familiar"
"Any other surprises for us Harry?" Daphne asked firmly, once both Susan and she had calmed down enough and Harry had assured them that Salena was friendly.
While Susan was still a bit scared, Daphne had gathered up enough courage to go forward and stroke Salena on her head, which caused Salena to slowly uncoil from Harry's shoulders and coil around Daphne's.
"A few." Was Harry's cheeky response.
Both of the girls just huffed in response before glaring at Harry, both knew there was no point in pestering Harry, as it was his secret to tell, and they would wait for him to reveal it to them.
"So, I needed to talk to you both about something. You specifically Susie." Harry replied, his serious tone letting the girls know that it was probably something important.
"Is there any way you can have your aunt come to Hogwarts for the third task?" Harry asked Susan, which caused Susan to become confused.
"I can probably ask her to come, and it would not be an issue once I tell her that I want to introduce my boyfriend to her. But why do you want her to come?" Susan replied while smirking stating the last part, which also caused Daphne to smirk when she noticed the effect, it had on Harry.
Susan's response caused Harry to go a bit pale. Even though he was the defeater of a Dark Lord and one of the most powerful wizards alive, even he had the appropriate amount of self-preservation to fear a redhead, that too the head of the DMLE.
"That… That would be su.. superb. But I actually wanted her here as she is the head of the DMLE, and as you know I was deliberately added into this tournament by someone, and this being the final task, it would be better to have her there in case the person is revealed somehow." Harry replied.
That wiped the smirks right off the girls' faces, and they were suddenly more than aware of the life-threatening tournament that their boyfriend was a part of. And it was not that he was added with his consent, he was added in hopes of causing harm to him, and possibly to have him killed.
Suddenly they were more than a bit scared about their boyfriend's well-being. The last few weeks had been so amazing that they had completely forgotten about the real-life danger the boy they both cared about was facing this year.
Once being reminded of this, Susan made her way onto Harry's lap and hugged him with all her might, while Daphne pulled her chair right besides Harry, snuggling as close as possible to him.
"Hey, nothing is going to happen. I am prepared for it." Harry tried soothing the two girls, rubbing his hands on their backs in a soothing way, trying to calm them down.
"I will make sure Aunty is there Harry. We will make sure you come out of this alive!" Susan said.
The Great Hall, Hogwarts, 24th June 1995
The Great Hall was packed to the brim today, students were whispering, placing bets, speculating and some were even shouting across tables. And all this was due to the event that was to be held today.
The third and final task of the Triwizard Tournament. The event that will decide the champion. The event that would allow one of the 4 champions to engrave their names into the history books. The event that would act as a bragging right for the school.
' The event that had killed Cedric.'
Harry had long ago decided, affecting the timeline or not, he was not going to let his friend die. In the original timeline, he had taken the noble way, trying to have Cedric take the cup and win the tournament. Not this time, he would face Voldemort alone.
He would not show his true powers to Voldemort, but Voldemort needed to be alive for him to kill him, he needed to find and destroy all the Horcruxes before he could kill Voldemort, but he could not do that in the current state that Tom was in. Tom needed to be resurrected. But he did have a plan to seriously hamper Tom's plan.
' This time around, even if I do not want to affect the timeline, it will be affected. There is just no way that my blood would be forcibly taken. Now, I can just hope that that little difference causes the same effect the book talked about.' Harry thought.
Another debate Harry was going through was whether or not to tell the public about the return of Voldemort. On one hand, it might help if the Order of Phoenix was reformed, only to give Voldemort a distraction. But on the other hand, it might bring the Ministry's eyes on him. It would be the Dementors, trials, and Umbridge all over again. Which might get in the way of the plans he had.
Harry was brought out of his thoughts when a hand moved to his cheek and turned it to face the hand's owner, just before a pair of lips attached themselves to his.
Leaning into the kiss, he pulled Daphne closer by her waist as she interlocked her arms behind his neck. Harry could feel all his worries wash away. In that moment he realized what his primary goal for returning was.
It was not to destroy Voldy. It was not to get back at the murder of his wives. It was not to defeat the greatest Dark Lord in history. It was not to kill said Dark Lord's right-hand man. It was to be with his wives again. Be with the women he loved again. Protect them at all costs.
"Don't worry so much Harry. You will win this tournament. And as planned even Susie's Aunt is here." Daphne said as they parted from their kiss.
Sure enough, Amelia had arrived this same morning. They had a long talk about respect, virtue, and trust. A talk that was amusing for one, and scary for another. Harry definitely saw the family trait coming through. Currently, Susan was with Amelia, also getting some sort of talk no doubt.
"Ladies and Gentlemen! Please proceed towards the Hogwarts Quidditch Pitch for the third and final task of the Triwizard Tournament."
Hogwarts Quidditch Pitch, Hogwarts Grounds, 24th June 1995
Harry was right outside the maze, a few minutes before the task was to begin. Daphne, Susan, Luna, Hannah, Su, Tracey, Neville, and Blaise along with the Gryffindor Quidditch team had just wished him luck for the tournament, and Sirius and Remus had sent a message before, telling him to be careful, but also said that they were rooting for him to win the bloody thing.
Harry was outside the maze, focused on the task at hand, mostly on the events that would follow the end of the task. Thanks to his lead on the points table, he had a ten minutes head start on the other champions.
Harry saw McGonagall, Flitwick, Hagrid, and the fake Mad-Eye Moody patrolling the perimeter of the maze, ready to help if any champion got in trouble.
' I just hope that my plan works out.' Harry thought while looking towards the Death Eater in the form of a limping veteran Auror.
"Ladies and Gentlemen! Welcome to the third and final task of the Triwizard Tournament!" announced Bagman in a booming voice, and paused for the cheer to die down before continuing. "The leading champion, Mr. Harry Potter, will enter the maze with a ten-minute head start, before the second-place runner-up, Mr. Viktor Krum enters the maze, followed by Mr. Cedric Diggory and Ms. Fleur Delacour every 5 minutes after that. Whoever gets the cup in the center of the maze first will be the winner of the tournament and the new Triwizard Tournament Champion!"
Suddenly a cannon sound was heard, signifying the start of the task, and letting Harry know that it was his turn to enter the maze.
While Harry's memory was quite good, it was not so perfect which would allow him to remember the exact route he had taken in the original timeline, hence Harry would need to go along with his gut feeling, as even the point me spell would only tell him the direction of the cup, not the route that needed to be taken.
With that in mind, Harry ran into the maze, determined to make sure he made the most of the ten-minute head start he was getting.
He met nothing for a few minutes until he saw a fork in the maze. Making a decision Harry decided to take the right fork. As he moved down the path, he noticed some movements inside the bushes, taking precautions, Harry conjured a mannequin and threw it ahead. Suddenly vines shot out of the bushes and started to squeeze the mannequin. Harry, not wasting any time just started to fire off cutting and fire hexes at the vines, as soon as they retreated into the bushes, he made a beeline to the end of the path.
Harry continued to make his way through the maze and deal with any obstacles in his path. But the one thing that did make him pause was the dead, lifeless blue eyes. Two bodies laid side by side, blood running out of their mouth, staring lifelessly at him. Harry could also hear a burst of lunatic laughter in the background.
"Daph… Susie…" Harry choked out.
" Master! It's just a Boggart! Both the Mistresses are safe and waiting for you to complete and win the tournament! Snap out of it Harry! " Salena said as she manifested herself out of the tattoo on Harry's chest, to come rest on Harry's shoulder and nudge his head with her own.
"REDUCTO!" Harry did not just deal with the Boggart, he destroyed it. The anger he was feeling towards the owner of the laughing maniac was just too much to keep in. It was more than enough that he had to see the person more frequently than he would have liked, but to relive some of his worst memories. Harry was not going to let that be bottled in.
Harry was currently not in the best state of mind, and that was one of the major reasons he had thrown caution out the window and stepped right into quicksand. Taking the time to calm himself down, Harry shot out a rope and attached itself to the bushes, and while one bush would not be able to pull him out, he made sure to attach multiple ropes to multiple bushes before pulling himself out of the trap.
Once Harry was out, he cleaned himself and straightened out before he heard the canon blast in the distance, signaling Krum's entry. Harry spread out his magical awareness sense and tried to ascertain if there was something around the corner or not. And sure enough, he did feel a magical presence. With the shield already casted, he made his way around the corner, and just as predicted, there was a giant Blast Ended Skrewt.
After years of potion making and ingredient gathering, Harry was quite apt with how to deal with these things. So, with practiced ease, Harry levitated the creature using wandless magic before firing off an iron spike 2 meters long right through the Skrewt's underbelly.
After dodging and disabling some more of the traps and creatures Harry now had to make a decision. He had three paths in front of him, and he had to make a decision. Closing his eyes, Harry took the one on the left and rushed down the maze where he met a large golden Sphinx. The Sphinx turned, her eyes fixed on Harry, and smiled an extremely mysterious smile.
"Greetings Champion," stated the Sphinx, with a smile. "The path you have leading to the cup is through me, it will be the shortest distance, but to allow you through, you must answer one of my riddles. Should you answer correctly, I will stand aside and allow you passage. Fail to answer correctly, you will suffer the consequences. However, you may remain silent and take an alternate route to the center. What is your choice champion?"
"Let's hear the riddle." Harry firmly stated. While he knew he could probably take on the Sphinx and win, he saw no reason to not at least try answering the riddle. As Sphinx were one of the most powerful creatures known. And he could deal with it just like he had dealt with the dragon, he would not come out unscathed.
The Sphinx nodded before it began to recite the riddle.
" First think of a person who lives in disguise.
Who deals in secrets and tells naught but lies.
Next, tell me what's always the thing to mend.
The middle of the middle, the end of the end.
And finally, give me the sound often heard.
During the search for the hard-to-find word.
Now string them together and answer me this.
Which creature would you be unwilling to kiss?"
Hearing the riddle, harry went into his scholar mode. Thinking and breaking down all the 3 parts of the riddle.
' First, a person in disguise and speaks lies. That has to be a spy.
Second is the middle of the word middle and end of the word end, which is the letter d. So, spy-d.
Now the third part, trying to find a word, a.., uh…, err…
Spy-d-a,
no no,
Spy-d-uh
Doesn't even make sense
Spy-d-er.
That's it! Spider!' Harry thought as he pieced it together.
"The answer would be a spider." Harry said, and the Sphinx nodded, as she stretched her legs and gave way for Harry to make his way towards the final obstacle in his way.
An Acromantula.
But just like with the Blast Ended Skrewt, Harry wasted no time in impaling it with the similar iron spike, that Harry had used to dispatch off the Skrewt a few minutes ago.
' Ok Harry. This is it. You know what to do and how much to reveal about your abilities.' Harry thought as he closed his eyes and took a deep breath in, before purposefully walking towards the majestic Triwizard cup and latching onto it.
Just as expected, Harry felt the tell tail signs of portkey travel.
Just as Harry's feet hit the ground, he heard a scream.
"STUPEFY!"
AN
So, that was the chapter.
Harry takes the girls to the Chamber of Secrets.
The girls meet Salena.
The third task got over, and no surprise that Harry won, right?
You need to wait to see what role Amelia plays in all of this.
So, what effect will the willingly given enemy's blood have on Voldy?
Let's wait and see.