act two: little dark age
chapter thirty-nine

Many things had happened in one night, and the night had yet to end. It was truly a night that Daphne would remember for centuries, to say the least. She had endured a night full of dancing and thankfully, she had no blisters from her heels. That was the beauty of wearing heels that were already broken in and not new, it took longer to get blistered.

The Great Hall still had students and teachers alike dancing gracefully around the room even as the lights had dimmed down more. Soft music flowing from the magical instruments and through the bodies of those who glided across the floor with their partners as the decorations shone and glimmered from a few feet above.

Daphne wasn't sure what was wanted or expected of her - or even what her brother needed at the moment. She was surprised that he had come to the ball, let alone that he had tried to seek her out and instead of finding her, he went to her best friend and asked her to send her in his direction. That was a risk all in its own right.

Daphne was still in shock, though. She was now, in secret, dating Harry Potter, an outcome she did not expect. She simply expected to stay away from him before they'd start arguing again, at least until they managed to resolve things. Instead, feelings were acted upon and the two fourteen-year-olds were a couple.

Which was truly weird, in Daphne's mind. She was dating her best friend. The boy she had been around for three years, the boy she often teased while he went along with it all while being there for her when she needed him. The boy who was in danger with the girl who was as much of the danger as she was in danger.

Daphne managed to squeeze through a few people as she stood behind a few chairs while narrowing her eyes as she tried her best to spot out her brother who seemingly disappeared from thin air. No matter what corner her eyes landed on, he simply wasn't there. It was as if he had disappeared in the short period of time that Daphne had been out of the Great Hall.

The girl walked out into the hall once again, noticing how Harry and Hermione were gone. She figured that Harry had decided it was best to take Hermione back to the Common Room to get some rest so that she could calm down and if that wasn't the case, he probably went to bed and Hermione went back to Krum.

Daphne heard a whisper, though, which caught her attention. The girl's head snapped in the direction of the sound as she looked down the hall to the right of her, she walked outside into the courtyard while holding her arms close to her chest as she ignored how cold she began to get in the snow.

The girl caught sight of something moving out of the corner of her eye which prompted her to look in that direction once again, as her eyebrows furrowed in confusion while she tried to see what was there. She began to walk in the direction before she felt as if she was getting a splitting headache which caused her to lean against the wall.

This headache was like only one she had ever had in her lifetime, and it was unbearable. The pain was quick to leave from her head to the rest of her body as her muscles began to spasm and tense up while she breathed out heavily as her jaw clenched. Trying to get a grip on herself and her body as the pain flickered from being unbearable to bearable.

"Daphne?" Atticus' voice caught her attention as he emerged from the shadows before quickly taking off his coat as he placed it over her shoulders, "You were supposed to meet me inside."

Daphne let out a small huff as she rolled her eyes, "I wasn't aware of that, Atticus. I was merely told you were looking for me and when I went to find you, you were nowhere in sight."

Atticus placed his arms around Daphne in an attempt to help warm her as they wandered along, "I must say, I was surprised that Potter wasn't your date."

"Wow, no 'you look great little sis'," Daphne retorted as she tried to ignore the searing pain in her body as she continued on, "I was surprised to see that you came."

"We were told to be on the lookout," Atticus muttered under his breath as he walked alongside her until the pain got worse and the girl nearly toppled over, "Daphne," Atticus was quick to grab ahold of you, "What is it?"

Daphne shook her head as she tried her best to breathe properly while trying to ignore the pain. Her eyes shut tightly as her nose scrunched up while she let out a soft groan at the pain, knowing that this was a sign and not a good one. Something was coming her way and she wasn't going to have a good time with it.

"Just... being warned," Daphne forced out as she collapsed down into her brother's arms with a long groan, "I'm not going to have a fun time in the future, am I, Atticus?"

Atticus simply sighed before hearing the clanking of a foot against the floor behind them, "Shit. Daphne, you've got to hide. He can't see you."

"Godric," Daphne huffed out before handing her brother his jacket back as she stumbled into the next corridor, fighting the urge to just groan again before she took her heels off and began to run, nearly tripping a dozen times, as she made her way towards Gryffindor tower.

Why was it that everytime she went to talk to her brother, even if he was the one who was looking for her, that their conversations were interrupted? Could she not simply have one uninterrupted conversation with the boy or would it always be this way? It was as annoying as a slytherin and ravenclaw fight.

The girl heard the whispers behind her and made it most of the way to Gryffindor Tower before she found herself hunching over on the stairs. Pain seared through her body as she felt the way her vision began to flicker in and out which she knew was a sign that she needed to get somewhere safe and quick.

"Little Loony Lupin-Black!" And here comes Peeves, the last person Daphne needed at the minute, "Little loony Lupin-Black!"

Daphne groaned as she pushed herself off of the bannister of the steps as she made it up to the portrait. Waking the Fat lady from her slumber before she slipped through the portrait hole, falling to her knees as she dragged herself over to the couch while she breathed heavily. Her forehead pressing against the fabric of the couch before everything around her changed.

Daphne breathed out heavily as she looked around in her vision, watching as she was guided up the stairs of a rather dark mansion. One that she was quite unfamiliar with, but she was sure she'd get to know rather soon as she found an open door. She tilted her head to the side as she got a peak in.

Wormtail stood in front of a chair while there was a tiny body inside of it. Another man was standing there, one she couldn't see a face for, as he held out his wrist revealing the movement of the dark mark while he hissed out in response.

"Let me see it again... as yes, the time is close now. Harry, Daphne, at last!" Voldemort's voice caused Daphne's insides to twist as she bawled her fists up so tight her nails dug into her palms, "Step aside Wormtail, so I can give our guests... a proper greeting."

In one direction, there was a flash of green light and Daphne found herself blinded by a flash of red light that caused all pain in her body to cease. By the time she finally opened her eyes again, she found herself still sitting on the floor in the common room with her head pressing harshly into the couch as blood trickled down her palms.

"Daphne?" Harry's voice caught the girl's attention as she forced her head up as she looked in his direction, "What happened?" The boy was quick to move down the stairs as he was quick to her side, "Did you... did you see something?"

Daphne tried to force her breathing to calm so she wasn't losing as much air as she was while nodding and managing to get out, "Yeah... saw something."

"What was it?" Harry asked, almost as if it was urgent while trying to get an answer out of her as he kneeled down on the floor beside the girl, "Was it him?"

"Voldemort," Daphne looked at the boy as she sighed, "Voldemort and Wormtail and a man. He said our names - and my body had hurt so bad... I saw a flash of red and green light and then nothing."

Harry was covered in his own sweat and his skin was unusually pale which led Daphne to believe that the boy had a dream, "I've been seeing that for months now."

"Lovely," Daphne scrunched up her nose before looking around as she muttered, "Harry, I have a bad feeling about Professor Moody. I don't think he's a good person."

Harry looked confused as he helped the girl onto her feet while bending back down to pick up her shoes, "What do you mean? They all say he's mad, Odette."

"He's more than mad," Daphne looked at the boy as she stabilized herself on him before taking her shoes from his hands, "I've got to get some sleep. But I just need you to be careful around him, something just doesn't feel right."

Harry stayed quiet for a moment before nodding, "Yeah... Yeah. I will," There seemed to be a bit of uncertainty in his voice but Daphne shrugged it off as she began to stumble to the dorms, "Goodnight," Harry spluttered out awkwardly.

Daphne turned her head to catch a glimpse of Harry over her shoulder as her cheeks turned pink, "Goodnight, Harry."

And from then until February, nothing happened. It was unusual, nothing going wrong or causing any problems. Daphne and Harry kept it a secret even from their friends that they were dating as they just made it look as if they had come to an agreement through their anger which led to everything being back to normal.

But there were the speculations behind their back. Fred and George were very clear on what they thought, they believed something more went down than the two led on. Hermione agreed but shut it down believing that the two would've at least told her or Ron while Ron really didn't care to have a say in the matter out of fear of Daphne's rage.

But, the second tournament was a day away. Daphne and Harry were going great in secret for three months, but now they had to worry about the next task and what it might be.

"You said you'd already worked out that egg clue!" Hermione exclaimed indignantly as she looked ready to hit her best friend, "You lied about having this figured out!"

"Keep your voice down!" Harry shot crossly as he sighed before adjusting his glasses, "I just need to — sort of fine-tune it, all right?"

The group of four friends were sitting at the very back of the Charms class with a table to themselves. They were supposed to be practicing the opposite of the Summoning Charm today — the Banishing Charm. But the pair of four had clearly not been working on it as Daphne was almost asleep on Ron who was asleep.

This classed owing to the potential for nasty accidents when objects kept flying across the room, Professor Flitwick had given each student a stack of cushions on which to practice, the theory being that these wouldn't hurt anyone if they went off target. A theory that was slightly at fault with who was practicing. Neville's aim was so poor that he kept accidentally sending much heavier things flying across the room — Professor Flitwick, for instance.

"Just forget the egg for a minute, all right?" Harry hissed as Professor Flitwick went whizzing resignedly past them, landing on top of a large cabinet. "I'm trying to tell you about Snape and

Moody. . . ."

"Are you getting my suspicions?" Daphne yawned as she adjusted herself in her seat as her eyes remained closed, "If something flies and hits me in the head I will absolutely wreak havoc on whoever is the reason..."

"Lovely, Odette, lovely," Harry made a face as he ran his hands through his hair while watching as a cushion nearly hit her, thankfully he put his hand in the way so no one was in danger yet.

"Snape said Moody's searched his office as well?" Ron whispered as he snapped up from his slumber, his eyes alight with interest as he Banished a cushion with a sweep of his wand, "What . . . d'you reckon Moody's here to keep an eye on Snape as well as Karkaroff?"

"Well, I dunno if that's what Dumbledore asked him to do, but he's definitely doing it," Harry commented, waving his wand without paying much attention, so that his cushion did an odd sort of belly flop off the desk, "Moody said Dumbledore only lets Snape stay here because he's giving him a second chance or something. . . ."

"What?" Ron questioned, his eyes widening, his next cushion spinning high into the air, ricocheting off the chandelier, and dropping heavily onto Flitwick's desk before one hit Daphne as she shot up, "Harry . . . maybe Moody thinks Snape put your name in the Goblet of Fire!"

Daphne grabbed her wand as she got ahold of the cousin before sending it at a group of Ravenclaws, the group who she quickly found out had hit her, so hard that it caused their table to flip as well as the students as they tried their best not to get hit.

"Oh Ron," Hermione sighed, shaking her head skeptically, "we thought Snape was trying to kill Harry before, and it turned out he was saving Harry's life, remember?"

"It's not Snape, I'm stuck that Moody's the odd ball," Daphne commented as she sat back down in her seat, "I've seen things and he just gives me an ick. He follows me through the corridors."

"I don't care what Moody says," Hermione went on as she looked at Daphne, "Dumbledore's not stupid. He was right to trust Hagrid and Professor Lupin, even though loads of people wouldn't have given them jobs, so why shouldn't he be right about Snape, even if Snape is a bit —"

"Why the Godric is my Uncle being brought into this-" Daphne was cut off by Ron who continued on with Hermione's train of thought.

"— evil," Ron went on promptly, "Come on, Hermione, why are all these Dark wizard catchers searching his office, then?"

"Why has Mr. Crouch been pretending to be ill?" Hermione looked over at Harry, ignoring Ron. "It's a bit funny, isn't it, that he can't manage to come to the Yule Ball, but he can get up here in the middle of the night when he wants to? Why send Mr. Black out to do everything when he can do it himself?"

"You just don't like Crouch because of that elf, Winky," Ron mumbled as he moved his wand, sending a cushion soaring into the window.

"Can we stop bringing in the names of my family?" Daphne muttered as she didn't want anyone to overhear and spark anymore dark rumors about them.

"You just want to think Snape's up to something," Hermione shot at Ron as she ignored Daphne, sending her cushion zooming neatly into the box.

"I just want to know what Snape did with his first chance, if he's on his second one," Harry noted grimly, and his cushion, to his very great surprise, flew straight across the room and landed neatly on top of Hermione's.

Daphne sighed as she shook her head before going on about her day. Trying her best to find anything that might help out Harry for the next task while trying to make sure that she couldn't see any danger or anything going wrong, but it was like she was missing a chunk of time in her own mind. How very odd...

By the evening before the second task, Harry felt as though he were trapped in a nightmare and it was very clear. He belittled himself over not figuring anything out sooner since he wouldn't have time to master a spell. Daphne sat with Harry, Hermione, and Ron in the library as the sun set outside, tearing feverishly through page after page of spells, hidden from one another by the massive piles of books on the desk in front of each of them.

"Take two pints of water, half a pound of shredded mandrake leaves, and a newt . . ." Harry read out while trying to keep hope that he'd find something in time.

"I don't reckon it can be done," Ron's voice came out flatly from the other side of the table, "There's nothing. Nothing. Closest was that thing to dry up puddles and ponds, that Drought Charm, but that was nowhere near powerful enough to drain the lake."

"There must be something," Hermione muttered, moving a candle closer to her, her eyes were so tired she was poring over the tiny print of Olde and Forgotten Bewitchments and Charmes with

her nose about an inch from the page, "They'd never have set a task that was undoable."

"What can we get you to do? Is there absolutely anything that any of us have found useful?" Daphne asked as she peeled her eyes from a book, "This is horrible."

"They have," Ron sighed, "Harry, just go down to the lake tomorrow, right, stick your head in, yell at the merpeople to give back whatever they've nicked, and see if they chuck it out. Best you can do, mate."

"There's a way of doing it!" Hermione exclaimed crossly, "There just has to be! Daphne, have you seen anything?"

She seemed to be taking the library's lack of useful information on the subject as a personal insult; it had never failed her before. Daphne couldn't give much help because she couldn't figure anything out but she saw the hope in their eyes.

"I haven't seen anything," Daphne sighed as she looked back down at the books sprawled around her, "But we aren't leaving here until we find something."

"I know what I should have done," Harry muttered, resting, facedown, on Saucy Tricks for Tricky Sorts, "I should've learned to be an Animagus like Sirius."

Daphne let out a small laugh as she shook her head, "Oh yeah, would've been funny to see a Unicorn Potter, got something to say, mate?"

"Yeah, you could've turned into a goldfish any time you wanted!" Ron laughed loudly as he then grew quiet upon seeing how he got weird looks.

"Or a frog," yawned Harry as his face remained on the book, though his eyes wandered between the words and his friends.

"It takes years to become an Animagus, and then you have to register yourself and everything," Hermione went on vaguely, now squinting down the index of Weird Wizarding Dilemmas and Their Solutions, "Professor McGonagall told us, remember . . . you've got to register yourself with the Improper Use of Magic Office . . . what animal you become, and your markings, so you can't abuse it. . . ."

"Hermione, I was joking," Harry whispered wearily, looking beyond exhausted, "I know I haven't got a chance of turning into a frog by tomorrow morning. . . ."

"Oh this is no use," Hermione began to exclaim, snapping shut Weird Wizarding Dilemmas. "Who on earth wants to make their nose hair grow into ringlets?"

"I wouldn't mind," Fred Weasley's voice caused Daphne's ears to prick up as she turned around with a grin, "Be a talking point, wouldn't it?"

Everyone in the group seemed to look up once Daphne did, the girl having a shit eating grin. Fred and George had just emerged from behind some bookshelves with their usual smirks as George stood behind Daphne, ruffling her hair.

"What're you two doing here?" Ron asked in pure confusion as he seemed a little annoyed.

"Looking for you," George explained as he looked down at Daphne who looked up at him, "McGonagall and your father wants you, Daphne. And you, Hermione."

"Why?" asked Hermione, looking surprised and confused as to why anyone would want her, after all, she never did anything wrong.

"Dunno . . . she was looking a bit grim, though," Fred made a face as he looked between the girl's, "I reckon Daphne's been framed for something and she's dragging you with her," He joked.

"We're supposed to take you down to her office," George explained as he shrugged his shoulders with a slight grin.

The two girl's stared at Harry, who looked as if he felt his stomach drop. Daphne felt bad that she had to leave as well as Hermione, the brains of the group was being dragged away from a boy who had absolutely no clue of what he needed to do. He was initially screwed unless Ron screwed his head on.

"We'll meet you back in the common room," Hermione told Harry as she got up to go with Daphne— both of them looked very uneasy, "Bring as many of these books as you can, okay?"

"Right," Harry muttered out uneasily as he gave Daphne a soft look.