Harry Potter: Another Chance

Chapter 440: Together

Disclaimer:

Harry Potter and all of its characters belong to J.K. Rowling.

I own nothing but the original characters I create.

"Dialogue"

'Thoughts'

-Author notes-

Chapter 440: Together

Daphne chuckled. "Maybe I should explain that better."

Harry raised an eyebrow. "Yes, I would very much like that."

"Here." She pulled out a piece of paper and handed it to him.

Harry sat down and read the contents of the sheet.

"A soul bonding ritual?" He glanced at her. "What is this all about?"

She sat down next to him. "I'm coming with you."

Harry stared at her in silence for a moment. "Do you even understand what you're saying? Do you even know where I'm going?"

"I don't know, and I don't care," she huffed. "I want us to stay together. That's what I've been doing these past weeks...researching this ritual and gathering all the necessary ingredients."

Harry shook his head. "Why didn't you tell me this sooner...wait, I remember this ritual. This came from my family vault." He turned to glance at her. "Are my parents involved in this?"

Daphne looked a bit guilty. "Only your mother. I needed her help, so I had to give her an explanation. I'm sorry. I know you wanted to keep it a secret for a bit longer."

That explained the looks he had been receiving from his mother for the last few days. "Forget about that, I don't care… but why didn't she try to change your mind about this madness?"

"She tried… but I'm determined." Daphne leaned closer. "Do you not want me at your side?"

"I don't want you to die… This is ridiculous." Harry stood up from the couch. "I have a good reason to go. If I don't, this world and many others won't last much longer. But you...you have your whole life ahead of you."

"I also have a good reason." Daphne stood up. "Harry… I love you."

He took a step back.

"This is where your mother gave up on convincing me," Daphne said. "But what about you, Harry? What do you feel about me? Because if it's not the same, then you're right, and I shouldn't be doing this."

"Daphne…" Harry muttered her name.

"It's easy. Just tell me that you don't love me, and I'll give up this plan," Daphne said with a firm tone. "Tell me to my face that you don't want me."

Harry took a long breath. "Fine… I don't want you."

Daphne's expression didn't change one bit. "That's a lie."

"What?! You said th—"

"Only if you truly meant it!" Daphne snapped.

"How do you even know that I'm lying?" he asked.

"I can always tell when you're lying. You're terrible at it," Daphne exclaimed.

"I'm not. My Occlumency is t—"

"You're terrible at lying to me," she interrupted him.

Harry sighed. "Okay…"

"Tell me the truth," Daphne demanded. "You owe me at least that."

"You know… maybe I didn't realize it until tonight, but… I think I do love you. That's why…" Harry's wand appeared in his right hand. "I can't let you do this."

Daphne didn't move or try to take her own wand out. She just continued to look at him.

"And what? Are you going to use the Imperius Curse? Because I might resist that. Or maybe an Obliviate? I might break that too," she said, pointing at the fireplace.

"Just like I remember finding that disgusting corpse in there during my first year."

Harry looked shocked. "You remember that? Since when?"

"A while ago. I told you, Harry. You can't lie to me."

"Still… I…" Harry clutched his wand.

"So you'll take that decision away from me? Will you force your will on me?" Daphne asked.

Harry frowned. "That's not a fair thing to say."Nôv(el)B\\jnn

"That's not a fair thing to do," Daphne shot back.

She then walked closer, but Harry didn't fire a spell at her. She gently moved his wand aside and wrapped her arms around his neck.

"I love you, and you love me back. Wherever you're going, I'm going with you. Whatever happens afterward, we'll face it together. Is that clear?"

Harry stowed his wand and placed his hands around her waist. "Since when are you so dominant?"

Daphne grinned. "Do you like it?"

He brought his face closer to hers. "I don't hate it."

After saying that, he leaned in and kissed her.

They began slowly, but soon enough, their kiss became more passionate.

Eventually, their lips parted, and they stared at each other in comfortable silence.

"Are you sure this is what you want?" Harry felt he had to ask one last time.

"I am," Daphne responded without hesitation.

"And your family? You won't see them again."

Daphne nodded solemnly. "I know, and that hurts a lot. But it would hurt more to live without you in my life. My family will be fine without me. Now that Astoria is well and healthy, she can take over the role of heiress."

Harry realized that she must have been thinking about this since their earlier conversation.

"Very well… let me see that paper again."

The two of them sat down and talked about the ritual in great detail.

Daphne had already studied it thoroughly and collected everything they would need.

"Wait… I still don't understand why you mentioned marriage before. That's not part of the ritual," Harry said. If that had been a joke, it was very out of character for her.

"Oh, that." She pointed at the paper. "That's just a transcript I made. In the original text, there's a mention that if the couple has already been bonded through a traditional magical wedding, it drastically increases the odds of success."

"So you were serious?" Harry asked.

"Of course!" she told him. "And by the way… I'm still waiting for your answer," she said with a mischievous smile.