THE FOLLOWING weeks after their return to Hogwarts, Daisy was acting rather suspicious. Her friends knew it was to do with the second task, but they decided to leave her be, not wanting to make her upset. The task was to take place in a mere few days, students everywhere placing their bets on who they thought would win. Surprisingly, many students thought Daisy was going to win. She disagreed.
Draco and Daisy were yet to tell anyone of their news. They didn't tell their families, or their friends. They tried to avoid anything happening while at school. They really didn't know how anyone would react to it.
Two days before the task, Draco and Daisy sat at the Slytherin table, eating breakfast. Daisy was looking at her food, rather than eating it causing Draco to become concerned. "Dais, you need to eat something." He let out a sigh as she pushed her scrambled eggs around the plate.
"I'm not hungry, Draco." She snapped, causing him to flinch back slightly. She was scared, he knew that. "Sorry, I didn't mean to snap." She picked up a pice of buttered toast, taking a nibble out of the corner.
"Don't apologise." He wanted to hug her, he wanted to make her feel safe. "In two days, this will be all over and you can relax for a bit." She thought for a moment.
"And then I will have the last task to worry about." She sighed loudly, dropping her toast and placing her head in her hands. She had everything prepared, so why was she so worried?
"Hey, don't think about that. One step at a time, even if it's baby steps." She nodded in agreement. "Do you want to go for a walk before class? Fresh air will help." He had become rather concerned for her. It was obvious to him that she wasn't sleeping well again. He could always tell.
"That would be lovely." The two got up, grabbing their things before heading outside. They walked down to one of Daisy's favourite spots, an old oak tree looking over the lake. You could see for miles here. There were a few students walking by, but they didn't care. Without a word, Draco brought her in for a hug, Daisy's head resting on his chest. They didn't say anything, just stood there, in deep thought as the school bells chimed for class. Their first lesson was Potions. She was sure her dad wouldn't mind if she was a few minutes late. She simply didn't want to move.
She was wrong. "Mr Malfoy, Miss Snape." He greeted them as they snuck in the classroom, avoiding making noise. "You should know by now that tardiness is not tolerated in my classroom." Heads of students turned in their direction as they sat down in their seats, taking out their books. "Five points from Slytherin." The pair sighed, Gryffindor's looking at them rather amused. They sat silently for the rest of the lesson, not paying attention.
The rest of the day went slowly, like time had paused itself. Daisy was glad when she could finally get into bed, thankful that she only had a few more days until this task was over. She had decided to take a dreamless sleep potion, wanting to try and get as much rest as possible to prepare herself.
Thursday soon arrived. The second task was tomorrow. Lessons had been cancelled on this day to allow all champions to prepare properly, which heightened Daisy's nerves. Just before dinner, Draco and Daisy sat in the corner of the library reading a book about gillyweed together. Daisy wanted to make sure it would not fail her. Her father had given her more than enough to last the hour, but she didn't want it to go wrong.
Just before they were to depart for food, Daisy saw her father enter the library, walking over to the pair. He greeted them before speaking not to her, but to Draco. "Mr Malfoy, Professor Dumbledore would like to speak to you immediately. Please follow me." He looked confused, getting up from the chair he was sat on. He didn't ask questions.
"I'll see you later, Dais." He waved goodbye, giving her a smile. She smiled back, getting up and heading for dinner. She wondered why Dumbledore wanted to see Draco. Daisy was worried when he didn't show for dinner, or return to the common room that evening.
"Have any of you seen Draco?" Daisy asked Pansy and Blaise as they sat on the sofa opposite each other, playing a game of wizards chess.
"I haven't seen him since he was with you earlier." Daisy worried. He never disappeared like this. She left the common room, departing for the library. Maybe he was in here.
She saw Harry, sitting alone and looking at a book she recognised. "Have you seen Draco?" She asked, worried. He shook his head.
"I've not seen Hermione or Ron for a while either." He sighed. She sat down next to her brother, looking over at the page he was reading.
"You're going to be using gillyweed too?" He nodded.
"Yeah, Neville said about it so I thought that was best." He chuckled. She was happy they were using the same plant for the task. "How have you been?" She thought deeply. She didn't want to tell him just yet about his worst enemy and her being together.
"Honestly, I've been better. I know it's just the contest, but I sense bad things happening, dark things." He nodded.
"Me too. My scar has been paining me for a while." He said, closing the book.
"Mine too, Harry. I'm worried." She sighed. She was worried about so much.
"I know we haven't spoken in a while. I wanted to apologise for how I was to you at the Yule Ball. I know Draco means a lot to you. I should have respected that and left it there. You're different around him, you're happy. That's all that matters." She couldn't believe he was actually apologising to her about that, before he even knew her news.
"Thank you, Harry. I appreciate that. He's not that bad, really. I know you two don't get on." She shrugged. "Siblings tell each other everything, right?"
"Don't tell me you two are together or something." He raised an eyebrow, looking over his glasses as she blushed, diverting her eyes. "You are, aren't you?" She nodded.
"It's a fairly new thing, Harry. We've not been together that long, but I'm happy. He's happy." He sighed. Part of him was happy, the other part didn't want to imagine Draco Malfoy all over his sister.
"He better not hurt you. I don't think I'll be able to cope seeing my sister be hurt by a boy." She chuckled.
"Don't you worry, he won't. I think he's more scared that you've threatened to hex him if he does than anything else." He remembered back to the conversation, laughing.
"Thank you for telling me, though." She nodded. "I best be off to get some sleep before tomorrow. I'll see you at the black lake." He got up, placing the book back on the shelf.
"Goodnight, Potter. And good luck." She waved goodbye, seeing her brother head off to the common room. Strange. She wondered where her friends and boyfriend were.
She walked through the corridors, heading back to her common room. Daisy worried that something had happened to Draco and she wasn't there to help. She pushed back the thought, reaching the entrance to her common room. She spoke the password, before walking in, going to bed. She needed a good nights sleep if she was going to have a chance of winning tomorrow.
••
The task started in less than half an hour and Daisy still hasn't seen Draco anywhere. She was on her way to see her dad, to talk about the task. Then, she had a thought. The task is to recover what has been taken from them. She thought it silly, but she couldn't help but think that it was a person taken from her. That would explain why Ron and Hermione were also missing.
"Are you all set?" Severus asked his daughter as she walked into his quarters. She nodded, sitting on the sofa.
"I haven't seen Draco since you took him to see Dumbledore and I don't know where he is." She sighed. She knew that he knew something, but kept quiet. "Dad, can I talk to you about something?" She sounded worried. He nodded.
"Is something wrong?" She shook her head, taking a deep breath.
"I told you about Draco and I at the Yule Ball?" He nodded. He had seen how close they were, Daisy even telling him what happened. "Draco and I discussed things further when I went to stay at Malfoy Manor during Christmas break." He looked at her, confused and worried. His little girl wasn't little anymore.
"What happened?" He was sat opposite her, getting ready to pack up a few potions for her after she had finished her task.
"Well, promise you won't get mad at me?" His heart dropped a little, worried for his daughter.
"I promise. You can tell me anything, Daisy." He tried to smile, hoping his daughter would open up. She did.
"I said to you that I was scared to start something with him because of the dark times ahead, but I felt so much with him. After taking to you about mum I realised exactly what I wanted with him. I thought hard and well, we decided to give it a try and here we are." She smiled, thinking about the boy. She missed him when he wasn't around.
"So, you made it official?" She nodded.
"We did." She smiled, her dad was looking rather happy.
"I'm happy for you. You really are your happiest when you are around him, and I just hope that he looks after you." She stood up, engulfing her dad into a tight hug.
"Thank you, dad." He hugged her back, tightly. He knew that she was more than capable of making the right decisions for herself. And he was sure that was the right decision, seeing the similarities between her and Lily.
"Shall we head to the next task?" Daisy nodded. The two made their way down to the boats ready to take them to the podiums. All the way there, she clutched onto her jar of gillyweed, her leg bouncing with nerves. She met the other champions, all five of them lining up.
The clock chimed 9:30, Dumbledore stepping up to the podium and using his wand to project his voice. "Welcome to the second task." The five students waved around to their classmates, wishing them a good luck. "Last night, something was stolen from each of our champions, a treasure of sorts. These five treasures, one for each champion, now lie on the bottom of the black lake. In order to win each champion need only find their treasure and return to the surface. Simple enough, except for this, they will have one hour to do so and one hour only. After that, they'll be on their own." Dumbledore turned to the champions, hoping they understood. Everyone nodded. Daisy used this opportunity to prepare her gillyweed. She had read the effects of the potion and knew it wasn't going to be pretty, but she wanted to be ready as soon as the hour started. She swallowed it, feeling a weird sensation run through her body. Parts of her transformed, her body tingled. "You may begin at the start of the cannon." Seconds later, the cannon went off.
Daisy jumped into the water. The gillyweed had worked. She saw the champions around her swimming around. She wasted no time in swimming down to the bottom of the lake, clutching her wand ready to use if something may happen. Minutes past as she swam through thick vegetation, Cedric was just in front of her. She heard screaming from above her, Fleur had become tangled in plants. This attracted the attention of several merpeople, Daisy could finally make out their sweet voices. Daisy looked back to where she was, seeing the bottom of the black lake.
There he was. He was alive, but under some kind of spell Daisy didn't recognise. Draco Malfoy had been the treasure that was stolen from her. He was tied to a heavy rock. Daisy swam closer, Cedric had also discovered his treasure; Cho Chang. She made her way to the rope, using her wand to mutter a simple spell, 'diffindo'. The rope cut away as Draco was free. She clutched onto him as best as she could, ensuring that he didn't get tangled in any type of algae. She didn't look back, she swam, not sure how much longer was left, or how longer the gillyweed would last. She didn't need her wand for this, she could do it. She was sure her adrenaline had kicked in, swimming faster than she had ever done before. Four people broke the surface of the water at the same time. She had done it. She had tied with Cedric.
Draco took a gasp of breath as he returned to the surface, Daisy trying to control her breathing. She turned to him, giving him the biggest hug, moving his soaked hair out of his eyes. She planted a kiss on the top of his forehead. "You had me so worried, Draco Malfoy." He was cold, she was cold and exhausted. They swam back to the podium, several teachers helping them up.
"You came joint first, Daisy!" Several students cheered. She didn't care, she was more focused on making sure Draco was okay.
"Daisy, I am so proud of you." Her dad walked over, chucking a blanket over both of his students. "Here, drink this, it will help." He handed Draco and Daisy pepperup potions, the two not hesitating in taking it.
"You won." Draco smiled at his girlfriend as she sat, shivering.
"I was so worried. You was my stolen treasure all along." She chuckled. The potion was starting to work as the girl wrapped her blanket around her further.
Daisy noticed Fleur did not finish, and Krum and Harry were yet to return. Seconds later,the Durmstrang champion and Hermione returned to the surface, Krum transforming from a shark back into human form. Still no sign of Harry. It wasn't long before Harry shot through the air, onto the podium. Everyone moved out the way as Ron and Fleur's sister also appeared to the surface. Harry had saved them both.
Dumbledore hushed the students as the task came to a close, the hour still ticking away. "Attention everyone. The winners are Mr Diggory and Miss Snape!" Students cheered at the winning champions, Daisy's friends taking it in turns to give her a hug. Draco was last, he gave he a tight hug, not caring about how cold they were.
"The youngest champion Hogwarts has ever seen, soon to be the winner of the Triwizard Tournament." He whispered into her ear, she chuckled. They pulled apart soon after, Dumbledore having another announcement.
"A great use of gillyweed and the bubblehead charm from our winners. The way I see it, Mr Potter would have finished first, also, had it not been for his determination to rescue not only Mr Weasley but the others as well. We've agreed to award him second place!" Students cheered at Harry. The Durmstrang high master and his students looked rather annoyed at their bump down to third place, Fleur placing last as she did not finish.
Students soon made their way back to the castle and Daisy couldn't wait to have a shower and clean off the reminiscence of the second task. She wanted to be warm, she wanted to spend time with her friends and celebrate.
And she did just that. Slytherin house had called for celebrations to mark Daisy's win, she was far too happy about that. She quickly had a shower, before changing into a fresh set of clothes. She found the thickest woolly jumper she owned, before putting on some trousers, socks and shoes. A quick spell dried her hair. She felt cold, but she knew the potion was still working it's magic.
She walked down to the common room, meeting her friends. They, too, were happy to have Draco back. They laughed away, stopping as they noticed Daisy enter the room. "Well, if it isn't the best triwizard champion Hogwarts has seen." Pansy smirked, waving at her friend. Daisy walked over, sitting on the sofa next to Draco. The two made eye contact, focusing on each other. They somehow both managed to block out the world around them, smiling as they did so. "Alright, what's going on between you two?" Pansy clicked her fingers in front of them twice, shaking them out of their trance. Draco and Daisy smirked, laughing.
"Nothing." Daisy laughed, shaking her head.
"You two are bloody bad liars." Pansy scoffed, folding her arms. "Well, we've got something to tell you. Blaise, do you want to tell them?" He nodded, smiling at the girl.
"Pansy and I are in a relationship." Draco and Daisy laughed, their eyes going wide.
"We're not laughing about you, I promise. I'm happy for you both. It's funny you should say that because Draco and I..." Daisy smiled. He took her hand softly, intertwining their fingers. She paused as she felt warm at his touch.
"Shut up, no way!" Pansy squealed. "You're in a relationship too?" They both nodded.
"The whole house doesn't need to know, Pans." Draco silenced her as Pansy hugged Daisy. "But yes, we are." Blaise was looking just as happy. His closest friends all in relationships. The group continued chatting for a while, before it was time to head to lunch. Daisy and Draco stayed behind, him moving closer to the girl. "I'm so proud of you." He smiled. He moved his arm behind the girl, reaching over with his other hand to tuck her hair behind her ear. She smiled.
"One more task to go." She didn't think about it. She didn't need to. It was months away and she had more important things to focus on, like Draco's birthday and school work.
"And you're going to win it. I know it." His hand rested on her cheek as she looked into his eyes. "Don't worry about it now, we'll figure it out together." She nodded, feeling safe with him around. She trusted his words. "Shall we go and get some lunch? They'll think we're up to no good." He chuckled. She shook her head in amusement.
"Let's go and get some lunch." Daisy said. But she didn't want to move. She looked at Draco deeper, he looked at her. He moved his body slightly, moving even closer to her. Their lips met, Daisy's heart fluttered at the touch. He took no hesitation in deepening the kiss, not a care in the world for who could be watching them. The kiss was passionate, but delicate. It was as if time had stopped and her whole world was in front of her. He removed his hand from her face, running it down the side of her body, before resting this on the small of her back, pulling her closer. She smiled into the kiss, but soon froze when he moved to place his hand over her stomach, her jumper lifting slightly. "Draco, no. Stop, please." She breathed as she jumped back, feeling guilty. She placed her elbows on her knees, burying her face into her hands. In that moment, thoughts came rushing back to her. Her past and how badly she had been treated. How her adoptive parents had taken such an advantage of her body, how her scars showed this.
"Daisy, what's up? Did I do something wrong?" She shook her head, not removing it from her hands. He placed his hand on her upper back, rubbing small circles. Something distressed her.
"It's not you, it's me. Draco, I'm sorry." She hesitated, looking up at the boy. He was frowning.
"Is it to do with your past? Did that cause you to remember things?" She nodded. His heart dropped. He had caused her to relive moments in her life she tried her hardest to forget. "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to." He wanted nothing more than to comfort her. She had tried her hardest to forget those memories, knowing Draco wouldn't take advantage of her in that way.
"It's not your fault, don't apologise." She looked up at him, her face distressed. "I want to tell you everything, Draco. I want to tell you so you understand. I know you'd never do the same to me. The two people you met, it was always them. They took advantage of me in ways people don't see happening to a child as young as me. It caused me pain, physical pain. That pain, it's still etched on my skin. Not just the memories, physical marks. It was years and years of the abuse that's made me feel like this, not your actions. Never apologise for it, Draco. It's merely me just trying to push past what's happened and making myself realise that you are not them. Your actions are pure and intended. Their actions were only to inflict pain and harm." She looked at him, his face dropping. "The scars are the biggest reason why I can't forget. I see them and remember all the times that happened to me. I trust you so much Draco, I'm sorry."
He knew. He knew exactly what had happened to her. He was angry, he was sad. But he knew for certain that he wasn't going to give up on her. He cared for her too much. He respected her boundaries. "No need to apologise. Although I can't understand what you've really been through, I can understand how it has made you feel. If I ever do anything that makes you uncomfortable, all you need to do is say. I'll stop immediately." She nodded, giving him a weak smile. He understood her. He knew how to do everything right.
"You, Draco Malfoy, make me feel something else. I appreciate it so much. I'm just sad that I caused you to stop when I liked it so much, but the memories didn't want to budge." Her eyes glazed over slightly as she laughed, trying to stop herself from crying. He instantly brought her in for another hug, her burying her face into his chest, taking a deep breath. His shirt stained with tears, but he didn't care. She sat there, trying her hardest to forget so she could let the good overtake the bad. She tried so hard.
"Do you want to skip lunch?" She nodded. She wasn't hungry anyway, and if she did get peckish she knew exactly where she could get food. Daisy apologised again. "You have nothing to apologise about, Dais. Nothing to apologise about at all. I understand. I really do." She had moved to lay on the sofa, her head still against his chest. He held her tightly, not wanting to let her go, especially not in this state. And he wasn't going to give up on her. Not now, not ever.
He would not give up on Daisy Snape.