The following evening found Harry once again in the third floor classroom trying to force as much power as he could into the spells he already knew. He enjoyed the exercise and the distraction it provided. As he cast spell after spell he could feel the slow drain on his energy begin to make itself felt. From experience he knew that if he kept going at this pace he would reach the end of his magical reserves in about a half hour. The sound from his spells impacting their targets was so loud he did not even notice the door opening or his Slytherin friend coming in.
"Potter!" she yelled, finally getting his attention. Harry slowly lowered his wand, the tip of which was still lightly smoking.
"Hey, Greengrass." he answered, still breathing heavy from training.
"I thought you said you weren't going to exhaust yourself anymore until we could figure out what was going on?" she reminded him.
"I know, but I'm not there yet. I could keep going for another thirty minutes." Harry sat down on bench, still huffing, and conjured a towel to wipe the sweat off of his face.
"Really? You could have fooled me."
"Yes ma'am, I've learned my lesson. I'll take it easy for the rest of the night." he answered sarcastically.
"Good. I'll only need you teaching skills tonight anyway. I think I have a got a good enough memory to make the Patronus charm work."
"Really? That's excellent!" Harry said in encouragement.
"I remembered that you said the emotion was more important than the memory, knowing that helped a lot. And I've been practicing since last time. I've gotten close, but I think I can get it this time. I'm going to try it now…" Daphne took her wand out and began to concentrate on her memory. When Harry saw a small smile on her face he knew that she was going to be able to cast the spell successfully. Finally she raised her wand and yelled "Expecto Patronum!" Immediately pale white mist began to flow out of the tip of her wand. The mist did not dissipate, but instead seemed to form a sphere that grew as the spell continued for several minutes. The sphere then began to take a shape and the first thing Harry noticed was that her Patronus was going to be a four legged animal of some type. Slowly the shape became more and more defined until at last a small white fox was left, its head looking around the room for signs of danger. Harry smiled and glanced over to Daphne, who still had her eyes closed focusing on the spell.
"You did it! Open your eyes and take a look." Harry said with a grin on his face. Daphne's eyes shot open and landed on her Patronus which was now looking directly at her. Daphne's pride and happiness were clear in the way she looked at the proof of her accomplishment. The ghostly fox walked over to Daphne who began to inspect the Patronus.
"This is amazing. I wasn't sure I could do it…" Daphne softly whispered. The fox remained for another minute or so until the spell began to get harder for Daphne to maintain. Slowly the fox lost its form and turned to mist. Harry felt immensely happy for her, knowing how hard it was for him to learn.
"I knew you could do it." Harry answered.
"Thank you." she replied, still a little shocked that it worked. The spell must have taken a lot out of her, Harry realized, when he saw her stumble slightly. He rushed over to her and put an arm around her waist to hold her up. The expression on his face changed to one of concern.
"Are you feeling ok?" Harry asked.
"Just a little tired, I guess." she answered, but her head started to fall and gently landed on Harry's shoulder. Harry helped her over to a bench along one of the walls, still clutching her tightly. Reluctantly he loosened his hold of her, but Daphne's head remained on his shoulder.
"Didn't you come in warning me not to exhaust myself?" Harry asked with a smile.
"Shut up, Potter." she said quietly. As the strength started to return to her she began to realize the position they were in. She sighed and lifted her head up and leaned against the wall for support instead. She was sad to note that it was much harder and colder.
"Do we need to get you to the infirmary for some Pepper Up Potion?" Harry asked, seriously this time.
"I don't think so. Just give me a minute. How are you able to make it look so easy?"
"I'm sure it will be easier the next time you do it. It's a hard spell, though." he reassured her. She nodded closed her eyes again, still not feeling strong enough to do much else. Harry watched her, wondering if she was about fall asleep. But a few minutes later she opened her eyes again stretched.
"I'm feeling much better now. Hope I didn't scare you too much." Harry laughed and shook his head, glad that she was ok.
"Greengrass, I was wondering. Would you like to go to the Yule Ball with me?" Harry asked, surprising even himself with the question. It had been on his mind all day of course, but he had not had any intention of asking her when she came into the room. Daphne's head swiftly turned in his direction, and Harry was quite happy to see a small smile on her face. But as quickly as it had appeared the smile faded and was replaced by a look of worry. He knew bad news was coming when she turned her head away and looked at the floor.
"I can't." she answered simply.
"Oh." Daphne looked back at Harry and could see the disappointment clearly on his face. She wished it didn't have to be this way, angry that they could not even say hello to each other in the halls without it being looked at suspiciously. In that moment, Daphne made a decision.
"What I meant was, I can't answer you right now. There's something I have to do first. Can you wait a couple of days?"
"Did you already say yes to someone else?" Harry asked. The disappointment had faded from him, but was replaced with confusion and a little bit of hope.
"What? No, it's nothing like that! I'll explain as much as I can in a couple of days, ok? Please just leave it at that for now."
"Ok, I won't ask anything else right now."
"Good. Could you help me up? It looks like I have things to do." she stated. Harry stood and helped Daphne to her feet. She took a few steps to make sure she was ok to leave and found she was. "Thank you, Potter. For everything. I'll talk to you soon, ok?" Harry nodded and she walked out of the door, leaving Harry to speculate as to what was going on. He sighed with a little bit of frustration, realizing he would just have to wait to find out.
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