The past two days had been interminable for Daphne. Exhilarating but interminable. Thankfully the waiting and anticipation was nearly at an end.

It was now Tuesday. She had made it through her classes and was now finally walking with Tracey to an empty classroom to 'learn' the Expecto Patronum charm. In truth Daphne had absolutely no interest in wasting her time on the planned task. It was an above NEWT level spell and would more than likely never be needed. The chances of a dementor getting near enough to suck out her soul were miniscule and if she had to she was sure she could deal with having to be sad for a few minutes. She was going for two reasons: To prevent her sister from needlessly overexerting herself and to pass the time until she got to meet with Harry to find out about the memory.

She had forced herself to focus on her normal classwork the last two days but Harry had made it extremely difficult. Her only communication with him had been two messages delivered via her enchanted coin. On Sunday evening the message was a simple I got it! and Monday evening Just met with Dumbledore. It's all coming together. See you tomorrow night. She hadn't slept that night.

As annoying as it had been she knew it was best to wait until Tuesday night to learn the news. It would have been excruciating to sit with Harry during dinner and not ask him what he had learned. Her mind told her to stick with the plan but her heart could not wait until this patronus lesson was over so they could get to the real work. But they had a routine and a plan. They needed to stick to the routine and the plan.

She was broken out of her thoughts by Tracey. "You are really excited to learn this spell aren't you? Couldn't have anything to do with the teacher could it?"

Time to lie without actually lying. She had become very good at it over the last month.

"Let's just say I won't be going back to the common room once we're finished," she stated simply.

Tracey squealed before replying. "I really liked the old Daphne but I love this new rule breaking Daphne. I need to ask Harry to set me up with one of his friends."

Daphne's mind briefly flashed to a vision of her and Harry going on a double date with Tracey and Neville but quickly pushed it away. She didn't even know Neville and she needed to focus on helping Harry. Stupid daydreams could wait.

They finally made it to the classroom and found Astoria and Harry had already arrived and looked to be involved in a serious discussion. She made a beeline to Harry, embracing him in a hug and whispering in his ear. "Let's make this quick so we can get to work."

She had expected a smile when she pulled back but instead he looked confused. Confused and annoyed.

"This is really important to Astoria and it is very hard to master. It's not going to be quick," he muttered. "If you think Astoria needs to take a break just tell me. Don't say anything to her." He pulled away to begin the lesson

She vaguely listened to Harry's instruction (think of a happy thought) but her main focus was watching her sister. Astoria had paid rapt attention to Harry until she had noticed Daphne staring and had immediately become annoyed. Daphne couldn't have cared less. Astoria was too stubborn for her own good. She would just have to deal with Daphne looking out for her.

After a few minutes of explanation they set out on trying to cast the charm. Daphne focused on her happy thought (seeing Astoria sorted into Hufflepuff and not Slytherin) and said the incantation...keeping half an eye on Astoria the entire time. As time passed she waited for Harry to say something...to step in and tell Astoria to stop. As the minutes went by and nothing was said she silently fumed.

She tried the spell multiple times with no success. After sixty minutes Astoria finally managed creating a mist but she seemed drained. Much too drained and tired for Daphne's liking.

"Brilliant, Astoria!" she heard Harry exclaim. "I know it's just a mist but it is a great start!"

Astoria looked annoyed and apparently Harry had spotted it as well.

"Getting angry or frustrated won't help. You need to focus only on your memory. Focusing on other emotions will only make it harder. Just trust me...you are doing really well."

Astoria leveled Daphne with a glare that she returned in full force. "It's not you or my progress I'm annoyed with, Harry. It's her. I can't concentrate with her staring at me all the time."

"I don't care if you're annoyed with me Tori," she spit back defiantly, "I won't apologize for worrying about you."

"Daphne, I think-"

"Not now, Harry," Daphne interrupted. "You have no idea how many times I've had to tell Astoria to stop being careless over the years. There are bigger things at stake here. If she's too immature to deal with it than I will. It wouldn't be the first time."

She could tell her sister was angry now but she didn't care. She was protecting her. It was for her own good.

"You have no idea what you're talking about Daphne. You have no idea what those things are like," Astoria replied.

"I don't care. I can deal with you being depressed for a bit but not with you being dead."

"Is that what you think it's like? That they make you depressed? You can't be that stupid, Daphne." Astoria looked disgusted with her.

"Daphne-"

"Stay out of this Harry!" she interrupted more forcefully. It was hard enough dealing with Astoria...she didn't need Harry taking her side.

"Daphne, I really think you need to-"

"I said to stay out of this Harry!" she practically shouted. She was furious now. She wasn't sure how it had escalated so quickly but she didn't care. She hated being backed into a corner and lashed out without thinking.

"This is a waste of time anyway!"

"You need to leave," Harry calmly replied. The calmness disturbed her.

"Harry, I don't-"

"Either you leave now and let us work in peace or we quit for the night and I'll set up a separate time to work with Astoria and Tracey without you sabotaging everything. They actually want to learn this and you are making it impossible."

"Fine," she spit out, storming out the door before she could think better of it. She was mildly disappointed that Tracey hadn't joined her out the door but honestly didn't care. If she didn't understand what was at stake that was her problem.

As she made her way back to Slytherin house she pulled out her coin and tapped it with her wand, sending a message to Harry.

Forget about meeting up tonight. I'm suddenly not in the mood to help.

He needed to understand. She had worried over Astoria her entire life...it was a part of her.

She spent the rest of the evening in the common room working on homework and waiting for Harry's angry reply. He had hurt her and she needed to hurt him. Her worst instincts had flared up and for the first time in a long time she was embracing them.

As the minutes dragged by and her coin remained stubbornly lukewarm she found it increasingly difficult to focus on anything else. Tracey entered the common room minutes before curfew and said nothing...only looking at her disappointedly before heading up to their shared room.

She was positive Harry would reply now. He had probably been too distracted in teaching that stupid spell. But now that they were done he would surely see her message and react. She could not wait for him to react.

But no message came. She stayed in the common room for three more hours pretending to study while the coin in her left hand remained lukewarm. She finally made her way to bed, trying her best to ignore the unexpected emptiness and worry now seeping into her thoughts.