12

Chapter XII: Reassurance

(Daphne P.O.V)

Daphne looked at her boyfriend, his forearm wrapped in bandages as they sat beside each other in the cold dungeon, awaiting the Potions Master. Yes, the damage to his forearm was concerning, and yet it was the look of conflict in his eyes that had really commanded her attention. Slowly, she reached over, placing her hand inside his as Harry turned to her with a weak smile, "Harry, can you please say something, it's not like you to be this quiet. Especially after hearing about the news from Neville."

"Daphne, I-"

"Please don't lie to me," She spoke, "I know you're not fine. Michael, he told me that I should give you your space, but I- I just can't do that. Not when you look as miserable as you do right now."

"I was actually going to say that I wanted to talk to you after dinner tonight," Harry spoke his eyes heavy with exhaustion and stress, "I know I've been being selfish lately and making you worry about me and I want to fix that. I'm sorry that-"

"It's okay," Daphne said as she squeezed his hand, "Whatever is happening, we can handle it, together."

Harry nodded, and for the first time in days, Daphne had seen an authentic smile upon his face, "I'm lucky to have you, Princess."

"You're damn right," Daphne said with a teasing grin, "And don't you forget it, Flyboy."

Harry let out a soft chuckle, before, within an instant, the room grew silent, nothing but the creaking of the chamber door filling the space. She watched as Professor Snape entered the room, and it didn't pass her observation that Harry's eyes had followed the Potions Master with a colder than normal demeanor. Daphne had forced Harry to promise her that if they were going to be potions partners for the year, that he wouldn't pull any pranks on the professor that could lower her grade. But the fire that burned in her Boyfriend's eyes had told her that he was far beyond pranks with Snape at the moment, to her, Harry's eyes looked like daggers waiting for the opportunity to strike.

"Hmm," Snape muttered, his eyes pretending to scan the classroom though Daphne knew they were truly fixated on Harry, "This won't do at all. Potter, you'll be partnered up with Ms. Brown today, Mr. Zabini will be working with Ms. Greengrass today."

"That's," Harry started but a firm squeeze from Daphne had quieted him, however, she herself wasn't thrilled at the puppy dog eyes Brown was sending her boyfriend, to her, Brown looked as if Snape had given her an early Christmas Present. However, knowing that an argument would only lead to a worse situation she released Harry's hand as he rose, collecting his cauldron before heading towards Brown's workbench, "Whatever you say, Snivillus."

"10 points from Gryffindor," Snape growled, "Any more outburst and you'll be serving a week's worth of detention, Potter."

Daphne snarled as she heard Draco chuckle with Nott, but Harry simply shrugged his shoulders as he took his spot beside Lavender who had wasted no time in scooting her stool closer to him. Daphne soon felt the stool beside her move as well, and she found herself staring at the apologetic looking face of Blaise, who Daphne gave a quick smile to, letting him know she wasn't upset with him.

Daphne quickly turned to face Tracey who was now fumbling for a partner before taking a seat beside Ron, who while normally would have looked displeased about being partnered with a snake, took some solace in the fact that of all the Slytherins it could have been, at least it was Tracey. "Now," Snape spoke in a hiss, "Today we will begin our lesson on a rather tricky brew known as the Girding Potion. Can anyone tell me what this potion does?"

The room was quiet before Snape called, "Weasley! What are the effects of the Girding Potion?"

"It's um, it's an endurance potion," Ron said scratching his head nervously, "I think I've seen my mum make it a few times."

"Ms. Davis, any more cheating in the form of giving Mr. Weasley the answers will be punished by detentions, am I clear?" Snape said with a menacing glare.

"But I didn't-," Tracey began.

"Am I clear, Ms. Davis," Snape repeated sternly.

"Sorry about that Professor," Ron spoke in Tracey's stead much to Daphne's surprise, "She didn't tell me it, but I saw it written in her notes."

It was a lie, a rather bad one as while Tracey wasn't an incompetent potions maker, quite the opposite actually, yet, she didn't really care much for planning ahead, and in no way would have taken the time to write notes on a potion before class. Daphne knew Snape must have known this as well, but satisfied in his attempt to discredit the Weasley boy, he moved on.

With a wave of Snape's wand, the instructions appeared on the board, and she watched as Blaise ignited the fire beneath their cauldron and began their potion. Daphne had never felt like such a bad partner. Yes, she cut the ingredients with the correct measurements and still ran most of the prep-work, but she did so at an incredibly slow pace. Mostly due to the nerve in her forehead that pulsed furiously not from jealousy, as she trusted Harry, but in anger, as she watched Brown rub up close to Harry despite his obvious disinterest. "Daphne, Daphne," Blaise repeated the second one a bit louder than the first. She turned to him with an apologetic look as he spoke, "Can you hand me the toasted dragonfly thoraxes?"

"Yeah," Daphne spoke with a stutter, "Sorry about that, I-"

"Trust me I get it," Blaise spoke looking over at Tracey, "If Ron was trying to touch her I'd have a hard time keeping my head on straight too. But I wouldn't worry too much about it, I doubt Harry would even be capable of becoming interested in someone like her."

Daphne smiled as she turned to look at Harry who mimed hanging himself from his irritation before focusing on Tracey who laughed, "Honestly Ron, how did you even manage to get an A in this class last year."

"Ah, shut it," He said with a chuckle, "This is easily the hardest class at Hogwarts, especially for a Gryffindor."

"No arguments there," Tracey conceded with a nod, "Hand me the doxy eggs, please."

Ron nodded handing the tiny eggs to Tracey as she carefully dropped them into the cauldron, "Alright," She said, "Go on and finish up the potion."

"Wait, me?" Ron said his voice riddled with shock, "Are you sure, I mean, what if I mess everything up?"

"You're never going to get better unless you practice, you know?" Tracey said with a warm smile, "Plus, there are only like three steps left, how badly could you mess this up. It's not like you're Finnegan."

Ron gave a nervous laugh as he took the ladle from Tracey's hand, "Alright, well, here it goes."

"You're going to be fine," Tracey said her head resting in her hands, "Give yourself some credit, I know you're not an idiot."

Daphne would have loved to watch the results of her friend's potion, but she had her own to worry about, and with one last glance at Harry she returned her focus to her own cauldron, quickly re-entering her groove and finishing the remainder of the potion with ease. She looked down proudly into her golden-colored mixture before the flutter of Black Robes appeared beside her, slowly she watched as Snape overlooked her work before nodding, "Well done Ms. Greengrass, Mr. Zabini, I see your poor judgment of associations hasn't affected your potion-making ability."

Daphne watched as Snape appeared beside Harry and Lavender next scowling as he spoke, "Dreadful, Potter, the potion is supposed to be a brilliant gold, not a moldy yellow."

Daphne looked at the cauldron before Harry and despite the constant distractions Harry had faced, she was quite impressed with his end product. It wasn't perfect, Snape was right that it didn't glimmer a bright gold, but it certainly wasn't moldy, and most definitely not deserving of a D. However, Harry merely yawned not bothering to cover his mouth, his respect for the Potions Master reaching an all-time low before he spoke, "Alright then."

Of course, Snape had given Malfoy and Nott an O, as well as many of the other Slytherins high marks. Daphne was honestly confused about how this level of cruelty could be coming from a man that had stood up for her in the confinement of the Slytherin Common Room, it made little sense, and yet Daphne was witnessing it first hand. Eventually, Snape had reached Tracey and Ron and with a sneer, he spoke, "E, Ms. Davis," before leaving without addressing Ron. The potions were shortly after disposed of before being charmed clean, and with another wave of his wand and a scowl, the class was dismissed.

Despite being so rudely ignored, Ron left the classroom buzzing, "I can't believe I got an E on a potion in Snape's class. Fred and George might actually think I found a way to confound Snape," Ron chuckled at the thought before he continued, "Thanks for all the help Davis," Ron said before to her great surprise he hugged her breaking away shortly after and quickly bolting off with a bright grin.

Tracey too smiled, shaking her head with amusement as Ron ran towards the direction of the Gryffindor Tower. It wasn't much longer until Harry emerged Lavender still attached to him like metal to a magnet whispering, "Honestly, Snape is so unfair. How could he ever have been given a job teaching student? Don't you agree, Harry?"

Harry remained silent before a glare from Daphne aimed at Lavender which screamed 'beat it' finally detached the tramp's arm for her boyfriend and Daphne watched as Harry sighed with relief. "Honestly, I don't know who's worse, her or Snape." Daphne watched with a happy heart as Lavender broke away from the group along with Parvati in the direction of the divination classroom before walking to Harry's side who sent her another gentle glance, "Thanks, Princess."

"You could have asked her to stop, you know?" Daphne said her arms crossed in mock jealousy.

"I tried," Harry said with a sigh, "But something tells me that no matter how many times I repeated myself the girl wouldn't get the message." Harry shook his head, clearing his mind before gripping her hand and shifting his expression to a serious look, "If I don't see them later, behind the tapestry of Merlin in the corridor between the Trophy Room and Flitwick's Class, there's a hidden hallway that leads to a rather large room. To get past the tapestry, you have to stroke your wand against Merlin's Beard, and the hallway itself is covered in Devil's Snare which I assume you know how to get past. You can tell Astoria, Tracey, and Blaise, nobody else. Meet up there one hour after dinner, I'm finally ready to talk about what's been bothering me."

Daphne stared into Harry's emerald green eyes before quickly scanning that the hall was clear. Seeing it was, without a moment's hesitation, she leaned up, catching his lips quickly before pulling apart with a relieved look as she whispered, "I've missed you, Flyboy."

"I'm sorry for making you worry, Princess," Harry said before Daphne felt his gaze steadily upon her, "I've missed you too."

(Astoria P.O.V)

Astoria had found herself struggling with a mixture of fear and excitement, though she wasn't quite sure if fear was the correct word. Her first class of the day had been Defense Against the Dark Arts, and it was the first time since his arrival that she had seen the man known as Mad-Eye Moody up-close. The more she thought about it, the more she began to realize that it wasn't so much fear of the man she harbored, but a feeling of uneasiness when around him.

The man talked about battling Dark Wizards like it was a thrill, a deep desire of his. She simply couldn't understand that view, as the only time she had faced off with a Dark Wizard herself, she had nearly died. Yet, that wasn't the only thing that weighed on her mind, her big brother, Harry Potter had apparently confessed to Daphne that he was ready to talk about what it was exactly what was bothering him, and Astoria was overwhelmingly excited in hearing that perhaps one of her role models was going to return to normal.

"Astoria!" She heard a voice call out in a light Bulgarian accent, "Wait for me."

She turned and smiled as she watched the curly blonde hustle to catch up to her. He seemed tired and out of breath and with a chuckle Astoria spoke, "Are you okay? You look like you've been running around for hours."

"I'm fine," Damyan spoke through a heavy breath, "I forgot my charms book on the boat so I had to run back to grab and get here in time. It also doesn't help that I can't remember where the Charms Classroom is. I was hoping you could point me in the direction of it, I don't want to be late."

"Well, it looks like you're in luck," She said brightly, "I'm heading to Charms as well. Come on, follow me."

Damyan nodded appreciatively as the two continued down the third-floor corridor, passing the tapestry of Merlin that Daphne had told her about mere moments ago. However, most of her focus was set on Damyan, who looked around the castle in wonder at the armored statues, moving paintings and brightly lit halls. "You walk around here like you're surprised about the Castle," Astoria started, "I might be wrong, but I thought Durmstrang had a castle as well."

"We do," Damyan nodded, "But it's not as big as this, nor as comfortable feeling. It's only four floors and we rarely have active fires unless people are using the floo. Though, I think I like Durmstrang's grounds more than Hogwarts. In the winter, it's hard to use all the space, but in the summer, the way the sun shines of the lakes and mountains, it's just-, well it's magical."

"You make everything sound so fancy," Astoria said with a giggle, "I don't think I'd be able to describe Hogwarts to anyone with words. Though you do make Durmstrang, at least the grounds seem so beautiful, maybe I'll come to visit this summer."

"I'd like that," Damyan said with a smile which stunned Astoria in the way it had nearly forced a smile out of her. Quickly Astoria shook her head, clearing her mind as the approached the door to the Charms class. Quietly, she pulled at the gold handle and entered the room, catching the eye of a rather enthusiastic Flitwick before finding a seat with Damyan right beside her.

Before Damyan could even pull out his quill and parchment, Flitwick stood and with a squeaky voice, he began, "Good morning class, I hope you're first couple days at Hogwarts have been going well. Today we will be reviewing the theory behind one of the most fascinating and dangerous charms in all of magic. Today's focus will be on the Memory Charm."

Astoria watched as excited whispers filled the room, the idea of learning about such a charm filled her mind with intrigue as she readied her quill in preparation. "Now," Professor Flitwick began, "Does anyone here know anything at all about Memory Charms?" To her surprise it was none other than Damyan who raised his hand to answer, "Ah yes, Mr. Oblansk, please go ahead."

"The Memory Charm, also known as the Forgetfulness Charm, is a charm that can be used to erase specific memories from an individual's mind. However, it is not the same as the Memory Modifying Charm which creates false memories. The incantation for the Memory Charm is Obliviate, which is also where the term Obliviators originates from."

"Very well said, Mr. Oblansk, very well said," Flitwick clapped happily. "By any chance," Flitwick queried, "Are you aware of the reason I referred to said charm as one of the most dangerous charms in all of magic?"

"Yes Professor," Damyan spoke, "Though I've obviously never performed the charm itself, my father has had to deal with a few cases in which a brain was irreversibly damaged by a poorly executed Obliviate spell. Even all these years later, the victims have yet to make a recovery."

"It is a tragedy when such things happen," Flitwick said, "But Obliviators play a very important role in wizarding society, especially considering the importance most Ministries place on the Statute of Secrecy. It is important to understand that every spell, especially those of great power, harbor great risks as well. Magic by its nature is dangerous and volatile. It is for that reason schools such as Hogwarts exist, so that young wizards can safely learn to harness their magical powers."

Astoria turned to smile up at Damyan as she whispered, "Who woulda guessed you'd be such a brainiac?"

She couldn't help but smile as Damyan's face became red from her compliment as he looked down at his parchment silently scratching his face, "Well, um, I do read a lot."

Astoria gave a hushed laugh as she watched Damyan's pigment adjust to normal. But before she could utter another word, Flitwick spoke, "Now, if you will open your textbooks to page ninety-three, we will begin with Mnemone Radford, the creator of the Memory Charm…"

As Flitwick spoke, Astoria jotted down every bit of information as feverishly as she could. She loved transfiguration, despite her lack of talent for it, the way in which McGonagall taught her class had made the subject her favorite. However, in this particular moment, the idea of memory charms transfixed her and rarely had she ever found a spell so interesting. Maybe, Astoria thought to herself, Maybe if nobody remembered my curse, it wouldn't hurt so many people, maybe Daphne would be free.

She shook the thought out of her head, No, I wouldn't do that, I couldn't, could I? However, she was pulled from her idea by a coughing fit from Damyan, and in concern, she turned to face the Bulgarian boy, whose cough shook his entire body. Finally, his lungs seemed to relax as he took a few calming breaths, and with a worry-laced voice, she asked, "Are you okay?"

"Yes," Damyan said, though his hand was still firmly around his mouth. He quickly raised his other hand, though it was unnecessary as the entire focus of the class was on him from the moment his outburst started and with his mouth still covered he asked, "I'm sorry Professor, may I use the restroom?"

Professor Flitwick nodded, and hastily, Damyan rose from his seat towards the exit. Astoria couldn't help but glance over in worry at the direction of her friend as he left the room, and as Professor Flitwick began an attempt to take over the classroom once more, Astoria's eyes widened at the small drop of red that rested upon his fresh roll of parchment. Is that, Astoria thought to herself in a panic, Is that blood?

While the lecture had continued, Astoria's mind obsessed over the singular droplet of blood, Let it go Astoria, it's not your business. You could just be over-reacting, maybe he just got a paper cut. Not everyone is like you. Astoria had tried hard to convince herself that she was wrong, and yet, the fact that Damyan had yet to return nearly twenty minutes later had only led her to fortify her belief that something was wrong. Yet, almost as if the world had read her mind, the door once more cracked open, and once again, Damyan returned to the class looking perfectly healthy.

As quietly as he could, Damyan returned to his seat before she locked eyes with him once more, "Feeling better?"

"Yes, sorry about that," Damyan said slightly embarrassed, "Ever since I was young, I developed these awful coughing fits, they get triggered so randomly that it's honestly very difficult to deal with at times. It's like having random allergies, I hope I didn't get anything on your notes, I know I tend to flail about when these 'allergy attacks' happen."

"N-no," Astoria stuttered trying desperately not to remember the blood, "There's nothing to apologize for, I'm just glad you're feeling better." Though Flitwick continued his lecture, Astoria couldn't get her mind off the fixation she had regarding Damyan's random condition. She knew she had no right to pry, especially not when doing so could land her in even hotter water due to Damyan's family, and yet she couldn't stop herself from feeling like Damyan was hiding something.

It hadn't taken long after Damyan's arrival until Flitwick had ended the class, and as the two departed from the Charms Classroom side by side, she felt conflicted as Damyan bowed apologetically, "Sorry if this is an inconvenience, but would you be able to point me in the direction of the Defense Against the Dark Arts Classroom." Astoria nodded gently, relaying the information before Damyan smiled once more, "Thank you, it was nice having a class with you. I'm sorry once again for any trouble I may have caused, I-"

"I already told you, you don't have to be so formal with me," Astoria said with a sheepish grin, "But if you want to make up for rudely interrupting the class," She said with a teasing tone, "Perhaps you could hurry up and show me some of those Bulgarian cartoons you've drawn."

"Okay," Damyan said brightly, "But, I won't be able to do it tonight, Headmaster Karkaroff wants us at the boat right after dinner tonight, I think it might be some sort of strategy meeting for the TriWizard tournament, but I have no idea with that man sometimes. I'll talk to you later, thank you again for all your help."

As Astoria watched her friend wave goodbye, her eyes once more spotted a tiny red dot on his white oxford shirt, and though she smiled and waved in return, her mind raced with theories to the mystery that was Damyan Oblansk.

(Harry P.O.V)

Harry sat nervously in the New Marauder HQ as he had come to call it. Kreacher was right, Harry knew that, he knew that his friends deserved the truth, but it didn't change how nervous he felt about revealing that he, the leader of the New Order, had fears himself. Footsteps were soon heard, and Harry swallowed hard as the glimmer of Blue-Hair in the Lumos light filled the Devil Snare'd hallway before Michael emerged from the hall.

Shortly behind him entered Neville, followed by Tracey, Blaise, Astoria, and finally Daphne. Despite her naturally composed expression, it was oddly enough the coolness of her appearance that relaxed his quick-beating heart. Astoria sent him a small wave, and Neville, despite his recent update on some terrifying news did his best to smile. Tracey and Blaise quickly found a seat on one of the 'appropriated' couches beside Daphne, and Michael leaned up against a nearby wall. Despite their different personalities, Harry saw one look in each of their eyes, concern.

"Alright, Potter," Michael spoke in a calm tone, "We're here. I'm glad you wanted to open up about what's been bothering you, but it was a pretty low blow telling them where our lair was without asking Neville and me first."

"I don't mind," Neville said with a shrug, "I mean, we're all friends here. Plus, they've agreed to fight with us, they're going to need a place to train. This is as good a place as any."

"I know you're right," Michael growled, "But that doesn't mean I like it."

"Sorry Corner," Harry said with a small grin, "I promise we can go exploring the castle for other secret locations, but I agree with Neville. This place will serve as the training facility for spell practice outside of class."

"We might need to find a bigger space," Astoria said as she looked around, "I mean, for the number we have now, this is fine, but if more people like Cedric and Hermione choose they want to fight too, it's going to start to become awfully crowded."

Harry bit his lip hard, the idea of more people joining his war didn't exactly fill his heart with joy. Both Cedric and Hermione were good people, some of the best he knew. Harry doubted he respected anyone as a person more than Cedric in the castle outside of the group gathered before him, and he didn't want Hermione, even though at times she could be a bit bossy, to get hurt or lose her innocent demeanor. Harry shook his head once more as doubt in his decisions seemed to coarse through his mind like a raging river before he sighed and Daphne spoke, "Harry, what's wrong?"

"It's exactly that," Harry said tiredly, "It's the idea of more people joining the fight, my fight. I-"

"Mate," Michael spoke, "We're not really doing this again, are we? None of us here are completely oblivious to the risks. We fought at the World Cup, we know what the Death Eaters are capable of, and we are all still choosing to fight with you. You really need to get your head out of-"

"It's not that!" Harry spoke over Michael, "I know you've all chosen to fight with me, I know there's nothing I can say that will dissuade you, but it's not that simple. I led twenty-seven people to their death during the World Cup attack. Do you think that the fact that they volunteered to fight helps deal with any of the guilt I feel constantly weighing on my chest? In this war, people are going to die, we're fighting monsters, not men, people capable of killing children without hesitation walk among the enemy's ranks, and I know that I can't save everyone!"

"People are looking up to me to lead them against Voldemort and his army," Harry said ignoring the slight shiver Blaise showed at the name, "People think that because I beat him once, I'll be able to do it again. Somehow, people believe that because by a miracle he couldn't kill me as a baby, that I'm some sort of hero, the only one that can stop him, and while I will fight tooth and nail to do so, there's no guarantee that I can win."

"I'm not leader, I never have been," Harry continued, "Sirius, Remus, the rest of the Order, they all think that like my father I'm a natural-born leader. Maybe that's true, maybe it's not, I wouldn't know, I've never led anything before, let alone an army. I have no experience, I don't currently have a detailed plan, the only thing I excel at really is flying and fighting."

"I'm terrible at strategy, outside of a duel or a quidditch match" Harry said as he turned to Michael, "I don't have a clue on how to brew difficult potions," Harry said as he turned to Blaise and Tracey, "I can't tell you the first thing about any extremely rare magical plant or animal," He said as he looked out at Neville and Astoria, "And I certainly don't know the anything about medical magic," Harry said as he looked down at his wrapped forearm before locking eyes with Daphne.

"I'm strong sure, I know a good amount of spells and how to use them, but compared to him, if even half of the stories of his power are true, I'm average at best," Harry said. "As a wizard, outside of a duel or a Quidditch game, I can even be on the south side of useless depending on the activity in question." Harry took a deep breath as he continued, "If Voldemort really is coming back, then we're fighting a man who has decades more experience in magic than I do, and I doubt he'd let me have a Quidditch match with him to decide the fate of the wizarding world. The honest truth is, I don't even know if I can beat him, I'm going to give it everything I've got, I'm willing to put my life on the line to stop him, but make no mistake, as it stands, we're not the winning side. That's why, if anyone doesn't want to stay, I-"

"I gotta say," Michael said with a smirk, "When it comes to pep-talks, you really suck." Harry turned to face his best friend, "Try getting this through your thick skull. Every single one of us here knows exactly who you are. When I agreed to fight with you last summer, I didn't sign up to fight beside the Boy-Who-Lived, I signed up to fight beside my best friend. I did it because I believe in you Potter, I believe you can win, and I'm not going anywhere."

"The Longbottom family has always fought on the side of the light," Neville said, "My parents essentially died doing so. I know the risks, but you're my friend Harry, and I know my parents wouldn't forgive me if they knew I abandoned my friend when he needed help the most. If Voldemort and the Death Eaters are after one Maurarder, they're after all of them."

"You saved my life Potter," Blaise said, "If it wasn't for you, I'd be basically dead anyway. Those bastards look down on people because of something they can't change and it makes me sick. I'm fighting Potter, that's that."

"I know you don't care about debts, honestly, neither do I," Tracey began, "But I know that I owe you and Daphne a lot, not only with saving Blaise but helping me through a tough time. Daphne's my sister, and you make her happy Harry, in some weird backward way, it's kinda my job to keep you alive. Plus, being one of the few half-bloods in Slytherin, I wouldn't mind seeing a change to the status quo. To me, that's a reason worth fighting for."

"I can't even count how many times you've stood up for me," Astoria spoke, "When Pansy and Nott tried to attack me, you were willing to fight for me. When I couldn't master a spell, you were willing to teach me. When I wanted to learn how to fly better, you took time out of your day to fly with me. And when I thought I was about to die, you saved me." Astoria clenched her fist tightly, "I'm not that strong, but I wouldn't be able to live with myself as a person if I let my big brother go out and fight those monsters by himself."

Harry's eyes once again met Daphne's. He watched as she stood, and slowly walked over until she stood directly before him. Before Harry could even adjust, Daphne grabbed his tie, pulling him close to her face, their noses centimeters apart, "Well there's your answer Flyboy. You're a hot-head, you're normally arrogant and proud, and it's true that you don't have any real experience leading. But you have the most important quality of a leader, the ability to bring people to your side. You're trustworthy and loyal, and I know that I'm with you until the end. If we die, so be it, but we go down with a fight, and we fight together. I've seen you perform miracles time after time, I don't know what's gotten into you, but you need to shake it off. All of us, every single person here believes in you Flyboy, you are a great wizard."

Harry felt as if the cloud of doubt in his head began to fade as his chest burned with an encouraging flame as he looked down into Daphne's icy blue eyes, "You'll watch over my judgments, right? Tell me if you think I'm not thinking straight," Harry whispered just loud enough for the two of them to hear.

"Like I haven't been doing that since I met you," Daphne returned with a beautiful smile. "But you won't need it." Harry looked into Daphne's eyes as her tone turned a bit teasing, "You're going to do fine, keep being yourself, focus on your strengths not your flaws, and I'll worry about second-guessing you, alright, Flyboy?"

Harry smiled, the weight on his chest finally feeling like it had been lifted as he whispered back, "Whatever you say, Princess." Before with another tug at his tie, Daphne pressed her lips against his, and for a moment, all of the worry, the doubt, the fear, every ounce of it faded away.

As the two parted, Daphne gave a soft smile before turning to stand by his side, and Michael smirked, "Well, now that you two have shared your moment. If we're going to stand any sort of chance, we should start training as soon as possible. I know you, Neville, and I all have our plans from Remus and Sirius, but where should we begin with them."

"I want to learn the Patronus Charm," Astoria said, "I read that during the last war, V-Voldemort had Dementors on his side. I know that you and Daphne destroyed a bunch of them last year, but you never know, maybe there's more out there?"

Harry looked around the room first to Michael and then Neville who shrugged, "We're supposed to learn that spell soon anyway, I don't see the harm in jumping a bit ahead."

Harry nodded as he smiled a regained sense of self filling his heart, "Alright Short-Stack, the Patronus Charm it is. I was thinking we should try to meet every day apart from weekends for some sort of training. Obviously, we can't train magically every day because of magical exhaustion, but physical skills are important in a fight as well. Any objections?"

The room was silent and Harry nodded before Astoria piped up once more, "So, where do we start?"

"What?" Harry asked.

"You said we're training everyday right?" Astoria said with a smile, "It's not the weekend yet so… what's the plan captain?"

"Captain?" Harry replied with an amused grin.

"Would you prefer Boss-man, Leader-guy, Teacher-Person, Professor Potter?" Astoria said rattling off a list of names.

"I kinda like that last one," Daphne said with a smirk that made Harry blush slightly before he shook it off quickly.

"Just Harry is fine, Short-Stack," Harry returned with a weak grin, "And if all of you are dead set on starting right away, I guess it can't be helped." An array of smiles filled the room, and with a deep breath Harry began, "Alright, basically, the Patronus Charm…"

(Narcissa P.O.V)

Narcissa paced solemnly around the empty manor. Her son, her only son had been sent off for another year at Hogwarts, and her husband had gone on one of his long trips. She wasn't quite sure where Lucius was, and frankly, she didn't much care, the silence of the house was exactly what she needed as she eyed the large grandfather clock in the Malfoy sitting room, her finger twirling around a pearl necklace gifted to her recently by the strangest of visitors.

Kreacher, She thought to herself, How old you've grown. She closed her eyes as she slowly took her place on the couch, What am I doing? Even if Lucius is losing it, he's still my husband. And Draco, how could I ever consider abandoning my son? Each tick of the minute hand had filled her heart with dread. She had until midnight tonight. When Kreacher had first appeared at the Manor, she thought her prayers were answered. When he had told her that Sirius Black had offered her reinstatement into the House of Black if their negotiations went well, Narcissa had allowed herself to have hope. Then came the caveat, the portkey would only work for her, not Lucius, and not Draco.

No, it didn't particularly state that Draco could not be reinstated as well, but Sirius had made it clear in his message that Lucius had no place at the table for the new House of Black, and she knew that her son would follow his father to the bitter end. They want to stop the Dark Lord, Narcissa thought, If they succeed, everything would remain the way it was, no bloodshed, no lost lives, yes, Draco would remain afflicted, but would the Dark Lord truly save Draco? Especially after Lucius' most recent failure. Would we even be in his good graces anymore, especially after Lucius rebuked the Dark Lord publicly to remain in power?

Narcissa swallowed hard as she clutched the necklace, Surely, surely it wouldn't hurt to at least hear them out, right? Yet, before she could even mull over her thoughts, a knock on the door startled her, "Visitors," she whispered aloud, "Now?"

Quickly, Narcissa stood ensuring that her gown looked pristine before she softly walked towards the door. The knock repeated, and while this time a bit louder than before, Narcissa remained composed and with precision, she turned the knob and allowed the door to swing open. As soon as the visitors came into view, she felt a cold chill race down her body as she fought hard against the gasp that wanted to leave her lungs, as with a sadistic voice she hadn't heard in years, her body trembled at the words, "It's good to see you again, Cissy."

Before her stood four ghosts from her past, people she was certain she'd never see again, and yet, there they were. Barty Crouch Jr., Rodolphus and Rabastan Lestrange, and in the center of it all, her eldest sister, Bellatrix. "Bella?" Narcissa asked, her voice just barely returning to her, "Why are you- how did you get here?"

"Didn't you read the news Cissy, the Azkaban Breakout," Bellatrix spoke as she walked pushed past her entering the Manor, "This place certainly hasn't changed at all, I see Lucy still likes to have portraits of himself put up to make himself feel important. But I suppose he had all the time in the world to sit on his hands after betraying our master."

"So, it's true," Narcissa spoke as she began putting the pieces together trying to remain passive in her voice, fighting desperately against her fear, "The Dark Lord is returning."

"Not returning," Bellatrix said with a twisted grin, "Returned. Who do you think it was that freed us?"

"So Lucius, is he-"

"No," Bellatrix spoke, "The Dark Lord is quite furious with him, especially after learning about the stunt he no doubt orchestrated at the World Cup."

"Smearing the name of the Death Eaters the way he did," Rodolphus said spitting on her polished floors, "Absolutely disgraceful. When added to his betrayal, I'm surprised the Dark Lord even lets him live."

"Now, now," Crouch said as he violently licked his lips, "Lucius is still good for something, he does have the Minister's ear as well as a hefty vault."

Narcissa swallowed hard, the Malfoy family was by no means poor, but with Sirius cutting Narcissa from the Black Family Vaults, the money her husband had access to had been cut off by more than half. She hoped her face hadn't betrayed her thoughts, however, Bellatrix must have seen a slight glimmer of fear as she tilted her head questioningly, "Is something that matter, Cissy? Did Barty say something wrong?"

In the presence of three overwhelming figures, all of whom held her husband in such low regard, Narcissa felt she had no choice but to tell the truth. She swallowed hard, steadying herself as she spoke, "Well, Lucius is certainly still in the good graces of the Minister, but-"

"But what?" Rabastan snarled in anger.

"The Black Family Vaults," Narcissa spoke, unable to keep the tremble out of her voice now, "I- we don't have access to them anymore."

"What!" Bellatrix shouted in rage, "Why not?"

"Sirius he-" Narcissa spoke, "He was found innocent of his crimes and was reinstated as the Head of House Black. Before he was even a wanted man though, he cut my line out of the Black Family both you and I can't access our vaults any longer."

"No, no, no, no, no, no, no," Bellatrix repeated and for the first time Narcissa saw true fear in her sister's eyes, "The Dark Lord will kill me, it was in my vault, one of his treasures was in my vault."

"Worry not," Barty said licking his lips once more, "From what I recall, Black doesn't have any children of his own. If we simply kill Black, then custody of the House Black Vaults will turn to Draco, and he can reinstate our access to the vaults."

Narcissa saw her sister's eyes relax slightly, but she knew if she said nothing the repercussions could be much worse, and solemnly she spoke, "That won't work." Instantly every eye had focused on her and with a deep breath she continued, "Sirius Black has named Harry Potter as the heir to House Black."

"He what?!" Bellatrix roared.

"That's not all, Andromeda, as well as her husband and their daughter, have all been reinstated into the Black Family as well," Narcissa spoke, "Not to mention that the Heiress of the Vance family has also joined their cause, simply put, Draco is nowhere close to the Black Family Vaults."

"No matter," Bellatrix said madness taking over her mind in desperation, "Barty's plan is still correct. We'll simply just kill everyone that stands in the way of you regaining our access to the Black Vaults. The Dark Lord means to kill Potter anyway, there's nothing to worry about."

"Still," Crouch spoke rubbing his dirty boots on her emerald green carpet, "It seems like you've become a bit more important to the Dark Lord's plan than your worthless coward of a husband."

"We have everything we need here," Rodolphus spoke, "Let's leave, seeing Lucius even in picture form makes me sick."

"You're not staying?" Narcissa asked in bewilderment.

"No, the Dark Lord requires us by his side," Bellatrix spoke giddily.

"Where is he?"

"That's none of your concern," Rabastan barked.

"Easy," Crouch spoke to the LeStrange brother before turning back to face her, "Don't worry your pretty blonde head about the Dark Lord and his whereabouts. You could be of use and you're Bellatrix's sister, that's the only reason we'll let you live and not leave your corpse as a message for your pathetic husband."

However, Crouch face turned hard as stone as he licked his lips once more, "But when you next see your husband, tell him that if he doesn't answer the Dark Lord's summon, we'll kill every single one of you, and if he disappoints the Dark Lord again, we'll make him watch as we skin your half-breed boy alive."

Bellatrix laughed maniacally as pops of disapperation began to fill the air, and with one last call out she heard, "I'll see you around Cissy," before the final pop erupted in the sky.

Narcissa's body fell into an uncontrollable tremble as she fell to her knees on her front porch, tears of fear swelling in her eyes as she struggled to breathe. Slowly, she reached for the necklace around her neck and fighting back against her stutter she spoke, "T-Toujours Pur" before with a crack, she too fled the Malfoy Manor.