3rd Person POV
Raven woke up the next morning with the lingering thoughts he had the previous night. When Daphne was about to say something before she got interrupted by Snape and Karkaroff, he thought she was about to confess to him. After hearing what she actually said, he became a little disappointed. Sure he had a wonderful time, but he wanted to move things forward.
He would have confessed himself, but he was worried after hearing that she didn't, he would ruin their friendship, and he didn't want to push her away. The kiss on the cheek after they said goodnight made him even more confused. Was it a friendly gesture, or was she flirting?
Girls can be so confusing sometimes. Raven mentally sighed, getting out of bed.
He fed Uri and gave her some treats, to which she gave him a delighted meow. "You can thank Luna for those when she comes back." Raven said. Raven went to have breakfast and then finish the homework he had neglected the first week of the holidays.
Once the new term began, Raven and his friends made it down to Care of Magical Creatures, though everyone but Raven was cold, as the grounds were still filled with snow. There was a bit of an awkward silence between Raven and Daphne, but not too awkward, as they still exchanged a few words. They just couldn't tell what the other one was thinking, and haven't had the chance to speak since the night of the Yule Ball, and Daphne's cheeks would occasionally heat up when she met his eyes.
Once they arrived to Hagrid's cabin, they found an elderly witch standing before his door. "Hurry up, now, the bell rang five minutes ago." She barked at them.
"Who're you?" Ron asked the question everyone wanted to know. "Where's Hagrid?"
"My name is Professor Grubbly-Plank." She said briskly. "I am your temporary Care of Magical Creatures teacher."
"More like Grumpy-Plank." Raven whispered to Daphne, who had to put a hand on her mouth to hide her laugh. This broke any awkwardness the two formerly had.
"Where's Hagrid?" Harry repeated loudly.
"He is indisposed." Grubbly-Plank said shortly. "This way, please." She led them around the paddock where the Beauxbatons horses were shivering. Harry kept asking Grubbly-Plank what was wrong with Hagrid, but she ignored him.
Once they made their way past the Braxan, they saw toward a tree on the edge of the forest, where a large and beautiful unicorn was tethered. The unicorn kept her eyes on Raven.
"That's quite a sight." Raven said in awe.
"Wow." Daphne said, completely amazed.
"Oh it's so beautiful!" Lavender Brown whispered. "How did she get it? They're supposed to be really hard to catch!"
"Boys keep back!" Grubbly-Plank barked. "They prefer the woman's touch, unicorns. Girls to the front, and approach with care, come on, easy does it..."
She and the girls walked slowly forward toward the unicorn. "Go on, she won't bite." Raven told Daphne and she walked away from Raven and toward the unicorn.
While the girls were admiring the unicorn the boys were leaning against he paddock fence. Raven, however, went into Instinct Mode and the unicorn felt his calming aura and kept her gaze on him.
Sensing that she was comfortable with his energy, Raven walked toward the unicorn. "Mr. Mordecur, I said girls only!" Grubbly-Plank barked, seeing him approach. The other girls turned and were confused, except for Hermione and Daphne.
"Relax, she's not going to run from me." Raven said calmly, as reached his hand out to pet the unicorn. Grubbly-Plank and the other girls unaware of Raven's gift, looked shocked. "See, she's a good girl." Raven said, petting her. Raven, avoiding her horn, rested his head on hers."
Just full of surprises, aren't you." Daphne chuckled, standing next Raven.
"The unicorn probably has you confused for a girl, Mordecur!" Pansy Parkinson taunted, causing the Slytherin girls, except Daphne to laugh.
"Pansy, you're just jealous because I'm prettier than you." Raven retorted, causing every other girl to laugh at her. Pansy went red and quiet. Raven could've sworn he heard the unicorn laugh as well.
"I didn't know you were on first name basis with Pansy?" Daphne said to Raven, as class ended. There was a hint of jealousy in her voice, this, however, went unnoticed by Raven.
"I'm not." Raven stated. "I called her and Draco by their first names, as I have no respect for either of them." He explained.
"Oh, that makes sense." Daphne said, getting his point.
"Raven, have you seen this?" Harry asked, holding up a piece of the Daily Prophet in front of him. Raven took it, and he and Daphne read it. It was an article by Rita Skeeter, writing about Hagrid being a half-giant, and how he was a terrible teacher."
"How did she find out?" Raven questioned.
"Hagrid's a half-giant?" Daphne questioned.
"Yeah, he told me his mum was a giant the day Mum and I got Uri before my first year." Raven said.
"You've known for that long?" Ron asked, surprised.
"Yeah, though I don't see what the big deal is, I honestly thought it was pretty cool." Raven stated.
"I agree." Daphne said. "Half-giant or not, I don't think any less of Hagrid."
"We should visit him after dinner." Hermione suggested.
"Good idea." Raven agreed. "Anyways, Harry," Raven spoke in a whisper. "Moody gave me a tip on the egg last night."
"Oh, cool." Harry said. "Cedric gave me a tip as well." His voice was sour.
"Why do I feel a 'but' coming at the end of that sentence?" Raven asked. Harry glanced down. "Bloody hell, Harry." Raven facepalmed. "Are you mad at Cedric because he went to the ball with Cho?" Harry had a guilty look on his face. "Look, mate, don't let a grudge get you killed. Suck it up and take Cedric's advice. You tipped him off about the dragons, so he returning the favor. Don't waste it."
Harry gave out a sigh seeming to understand. "You're right, I'm being stupid." He said. "I'll take his advice, and let me know what you find as well."
"You got it mate." Raven said, patting him on the back as they headed to dinner with their friends.
That evening after dinner, the five of them left the castle, and went down to Hagrid's cabin. They knocked, and Fang's booming barks answered. "Well, Fang's still alive." Raven said.
"Hagrid, it's us!" Harry shouted, pounding on the door. "Open up!" There was no answer. They hammered on it for ten more minutes, Ron even banged on one of the windows which also led to no response.
"What's he avoiding us for?" Hermione asked, as they made their way back up to the school. "He surely doesn't think we'd care about him being half-giant?"
"He shouldn't' be, as he told me the day I met him." Raven said. "Maybe he's worried about what Rita Skeeter wrote."
"Possibly." Hermione said.
One afternoon, Raven was down by the black lake, that had started to defrost a bit, so the water was accessible. He was reading the book on magical creatures his mother gifted him for Christmas his first year, while the golden egg sat next to him.
Daphne, who was bundled up, was walking towards him, her boots crunching on the snow with each step. She was about to say something, until Raven shouted. "Aha! Found it!" He closed the book, grabbed the egg and chunked into the water. What he did next made Daphne drop her jaw.
Has he gone mental? Daphne thought, as Raven took a dive in the nearly frozen lake.
She was getting a little worried, as he hadn't come back up for air in a bit. She gave a sigh of relief when he eventually emerged. "Raven, what was that about?" Daphne asked, standing at the edge of the lake.
"Oh, hey, Daphne." Raven greeted stepping on the shore line next to her. "I figured out the clue!"
"Really? What is it?" Daphne asked, intrigued.
"Well, opening the egg underwater allows me to hear what it's actually saying as it's the voice of merpeople whose voices sounds like screeching above the ground." Raven explained. "The egg had a message that said,"
"Come seek where our voices sound
We cannot sing above the ground,
And while you're searching, ponder this:
We've taken what you'll sorely miss,
An hour long you'll have to look,
And to recover what we took,
But past an hour-the prospect's black,
Too late, it's gone, it won't come back."
Daphne listened, focusing on every line. "So the merpeople are going to take something from you? I wonder what?" She questioned.
"Not sure." Raven said. "But I'm more worried about the fact that I have to find a way to breath underwater for an hour. How the bloody hell am I supposed to do that?"
"That is also concerning." Daphne sighed. "Your clothes are starting to freeze, by the way." She pointed out, as with his clothes being wet, ice started to form on them.
"Oh, right, didn't realize." Raven said, taking out his wand. "Scourgify!" His clothes and himself immediately dried off.
"Did you need me for something?" Raven asked.
"No, nothing in particular." Daphne replied. "You were just down here on your own, so I thought I'd come and see if you were all right."
"Oh, yeah, just working on the clue, thank you." Raven said, holding up the golden egg. "I've got to go and find Harry, tell him about the clue, see if he's figured it out yet as well. Perhaps I'll see him at dinner."
"Okay, I'll join you heading back up the castle, we have classes soon."
"Sounds good." Raven said, and they headed back up to the castle.
"Harry, I've figured out the clue." Raven whispered to Harry, as he and Daphne joined him, Ron, and Hermione at the Gryffindor table for dinner.
"Yeah, so did I." Harry said. "Please tell me you know a way for us to breath underwater for an hour."
"Sorry, mate, I've got no clue either." Raven sighed.
"I'm curious as to what they're going to take from you." Ron said.
"No idea." Raven said. "Probably something that's like a treasure to us champions, but I'm not sure."
The day of the next Hogsmeade visit arrived. Raven and Harry still hadn't figured out a way to breath underwater and were getting nervous. "Hey, Raven." Daphne began, as she caught up to him making his way to the carriages. "What do you plan on doing in Hogsmeade first? Want to walk around together?"
"Oh, hey, Daphne." Raven said. "I'm meeting up with Mum in Hogsmeade, so we're going to spend the day together."
"Oh." Daphne said, a bit of disappointment in her voice, as they got in a carriage together.
"You're welcome to join us if you'd like, I'm sure she wouldn't mind." Raven said.
"Oh, no, that's okay." Daphne said. "You two have fun, and I'll say hi if I see you."
"Alright, maybe we'll see each other in the Three Broomsticks." Raven said.
"Yeah, we could all have a butterbeer together before we have to come back." Daphne said, hopeful to spend some time with Raven.
Maybe I'll have some alone time with him next visit. Daphne thought.
Once they arrived and got out of the carriage, Wren was waiting for Raven close to where they got off. Raven saw her and ran up to her. "Hey there, Little Bird." Wren greeted, smiling.
"Hi, Mumma Bird." Raven said, immediately giving her a hug.
"Ohhh, I missed you, Baby." Wren said, embracing him tightly.
"I missed you too." Raven said, as they let go.
"Hi, Daphne." Wren greeted with a smile, waving. "How are you, dear?"
"Hello, Mrs. Mordecur." Daphne greeted back. "I'm doing well, thank you. How about yourself?"
"I'm doing good as well, thank you." Wren replied. "Care to join us today?"
"No, that's alright." Daphne politely declined. "I need to pick some stuff, but perhaps we can meet back up later and have a butterbeer together?"
"Sounds good." Wren said. "I guess we'll see you later then."
"Alright, catch you two later." Daphne said, waving to them smiling, to which they returned it.
Once Daphne was gone, Wren said, "So, Little Bird, where to first?"
They looked to one another with a smirk on their faces and both said, "Honeydukes." With that, the two set off towards the sweets shop.
"Did you have a good Christmas?" Wren asked, as they walked.
"I did." Raven replied. "While I did miss spending it with you, Christmas at Hogwarts, along with the Yule Ball was quite the experience."
"I'm glad you had a good time." Wren said, smiling. "While it was weird not having you home for the Holidays, I'm glad we get to spend today together to make up for it. The Tonks' and I had a good time together as well."
"That's good to hear." Raven said. "I'm glad we get to spend today together too."
They entered Honeydukes and began to get plenty of sweets for themselves. With their bags full, they exited the store. "Let's head to Gladrags Wizardwear next." Wren said.
"Thank you for the Christmas present, It got me some compliments." Raven said, as they walked to Gladrags.
"You're welcome, I bet the ladies simply loved it." Wren cooed. "Sooo, who was the lucky gal that got to go to the Ball with you?" She asked, playfully bumping him.
"I'm sure you can take a guess." Raven said.
"It was Daphne, wasn't it?" Wren asked, with a smirk. Raven nodded with a smile. "Did you show her a good time?"
"I did, you can ask her yourself." Raven replied. "We had a wonderful time, and I brought the pictures we took, so I'll show you those later."
"Ooooh, I can't wait to see them." Wren squealed with excitement.
"What do you need to get here?" Raven asked, as they entered Gladrags Wizardwear.
"Just a few things." Wren said, those Raven was unconvinced. He suspected she was here for a specific reason. "Though, I'll need your help with some."
"Why?" Raven asked, raising an eyebrow.
"You'll see." Wren cooed. And Raven found out what she meant, as she made him try on different kinds of clothes. She went on to try a few different ones her self as well. In the end she held some new clothes for her and had gotten Raven three new outfit sets that contained new shirts, pants, gloves, and scarfs. She even got him a new pair of shoes, and some boots for harsher weather. She didn't get him any hats, as he was not a fan of those.
"Did you really need to get me so many things?" Raven asked, carrying his new bags full of clothes as the exited the shop.
"I did." Wren stated. "That-" She pointed to Raven's bags of clothes "-is an early birthday present."
"Oh, well I'll take it then." Raven said. "Thank you, Mumma Bird."
"You're welcome, Little Bird." Wren said, kissing the top of his head. "Happy early birthday."
"Now, unless you need to spend more money, I'm ready to head to the Three Broomsticks if you are." Raven said.
"I think I've had my fill of shopping for today." Wren said. "I'm sure your girlfriend's waiting for us." She said mischievously.
"She's not my girlfriend, Mum!" Raven whined, his face going red.
"Haha, I'm just teasing you, Little Bird." Wren laughed, ruffling his hair. "You're so cute."
Once they made their way into the Three Broomsticks, they each got themselves a mug of butterbeer, and saw Daphne sitting by one of the windows enjoying her own butterbeer. They walked over to her and Raven said, "Want some company?"
"Oh, Raven, Mrs. Mordecur!" Daphne said, looking up at them. "Absolutely, please sit." She gestured to the seats opposite of her. Raven and Wren sat down and took a sip of their butterbeer.
"Feels like ages since I've enjoyed a butterbeer here." Wren said, looking around.
"You calling yourself old?" Raven teased with a smirk.
"That's...not what I said." Wren pouted. Raven couldn't help but let out a small chuckle. "Brat." Wren said, playfully pushing him. Daphne held a smile on her face watching the mother and son tease each other.
"I see you two went on a shopping spree." Daphne said, noticing their bags.
"Yeah, she nearly bought Gladrags out." Raven said.
"Well I had to get you plenty for an early birthday gift." Wren stated.
"You certainly out did yourself this year." Raven chuckled, holding up a bag. "I see you did some shopping too." He nodded towards Daphne's bag.
"Oh, yeah, I got some stuff for Astoria." Daphne said, hiding the fact that Raven's birthday present was also in the bag.
"A friend of yours?" Wren asked.
"No, she's my little sister." Daphne replied. "Two years younger that Raven and I."
"Aww, that's sweet of you." Wren said with a warm smile.
"Speaking of that, I've got the pictures from the Ball." Raven replied, digging them out of his jacket pocket. He set them down on the table in front of Wren.
"Oooh, my Little Bird looks so handsome!" Wren squealed, looking at the first photo, which was the one Raven took of himself in his dorm. Raven couldn't hide his smile or the slight blush on his cheeks at his mum's words.
"Thought I'd take a spellfie for you." Raven joked.
"Ha! That's a good one." Wren laughed. Daphne couldn't help but giggle as well.
Wren flipped to the next photo, which was of Raven and Daphne before the dance started. "Oh wow, you look so gorgeous, Daphne." Wren gasped. "I love what you did with your hair, and that dress is exquisite."
"Thank you." Daphne said with a smile, her cheeks having a hint of pink on them.Wren flipped the photos again, and saw the one's that Jasper took of Raven and Daphne dancing together. A flow on Raven's dress robes and Daphne's dress, smiles on their faces with their eyes locked on one another, and the elegance that could be seen with their in sync dance.
"Jasper took those for us." Raven said.
"That was nice of him." Wren said. "These are simply wonderful. You both look like you had such a wonderful time."
"We definitely did." Daphne said. "It was a great night, and Raven was quite the gentleman." Daphne smiled warmly at him.
"Aww, I'm proud of you, Little Bird." Wren said warmly, hugging her son with one arm.
"Oh, who's this?" Wren asked, as she flipped to the next photos.
"That's my sister, Astoria." Daphne replied. "She didn't have a date to the ball, so Raven agreed to save a dance for her."
"That's really sweet of you." Wren said. "The buns in her hair are so cute! It looks like she had a wonderful time as well." She noticed the smile on Astoria's face in the pictures.
"She did indeed." Daphne said. "She couldn't hide her smile the next morning." They all gave a chuckle at her sentence.
Wren's eyes widened and her mouth fell open when she looked at the last photo. It was the one of Raven and Daphne, with the beautiful scenery of the moon and the frozen black lake in the far view behind them.
"Wow...this is...simply...just wow." Wren was lost for words. She looked to Raven and said, "I'm so framing this one."
Seeing that this was this last photo, Wren folded them neatly back together and said, "I'll get these moving when I get home tonight, and make some copies for you, Daphne." She put them in her pocket.
"I look forward to seeing them." Daphne said with a smile.
"So, Little Bird." Wren said, after taking another drink of her butterbeer. "Tell me more about you battle against the dragon."
"Well, it started out good." Raven began. "She warmed up to me and allowed me to pet her, but when she saw me reaching for the golden egg, she gave me a little too warm of a welcome, as she tried to bite me and breathe fire on me. She was putting up quite a fight and I was doing pretty well until around the end."
"When you broke your hand?" Wren questioned.
"That and...the dragon clawed my chest pretty good." Raven said, hoping to not worry his mother, but she gasped and lifted his shirt up to see. Daphne chocked on her butterbeer and her face went red seeing Raven's chest. She couldn't help but enjoy the view of his slightly muscular body.
"Oh, Baby." Wren said worried, noticing his scars. "Please be careful, I worry for you, you know." She set his shirt back down.
"I know, Mumma Bird." Raven said. "But I'm okay, really." He rested his hand on hers to comfort her. "The scars are pretty cool anyway."
Wren huffed a laugh. "Of course you'd say that." She said.
"I broke my hand after she clawed my chest though, I punched her in her snout and I connected with her mind." Raven explained. Wren and Daphne looked intrigued at what he said. "After I grabbed the egg, the dragon began to protect me like I was her own. In her mind I heard her say, 'You will not take my child!'"
"She said that huh?" Wren said in a jealous tone.
"What, are you jealous?" Raven cooed.
"You bet I am." Wren stated. "You're no one's son but mine. I won't let anyone else have you." She reached over and held him close.
"Hear hear." Raven said, patting her arm until they separated. "Now who's being the cute one." He said, causing Wren to giggle. "Have you figured out the clue for the next task yet?" She asked, changing the subject.
"A part of it." Raven sighed.
"We've figured out what's going to happen, but we're stuck on the next part." Daphne said in a whisper. "We're trying to figure out how Raven's going to breath under water for an hour."
Wren smirked, digging out a piece of paper from her pocket. She slung her arm around Raven and put it in his pocket. "Don't open it here." She whispered, giving him a wink. Raven and Daphne just looked at her confused. "It'll make sense when you see it."
They then heard yelling on the other side of the pub. Wren got up first and walked over to see Hermione yelling at Rita Skeeter.
"Rita Skeeter." Wren said icily, introducing her presence.
"Well, Wren Mordecur." Rita said. "Care for an interview."
"Harassing students, are we?" Wren said, as Raven and Daphne joined her.
"I'm simply just asking them questions." Rita stated.
"You foul woman, first you write bad about Harry, then Raven and his mum, and now Hagrid!" Hermione shouted.
"You little girl, you have no idea what you're talking about." Rita said, turning to her.
"I would stop there if I were you, Skeeter." Wren said. "I recall that you're banned from Hogwarts."
"But we're not in Hogwarts." Rita stated.
"No, but you're harassing Hogwarts students. You wouldn't want me to take this up to the headmaster would you?" Wren said with a smirk. "Or, since I'm an Auror, I have the authority to take you in to the Ministry, would you prefer that?"
"I-I uh..." Rita stuttered, fearing what would happen next. "I just remembered I have some place to be." She said bolting out of the pub.
That's what I thought, bitch! Wren thought.
"Are you okay, Hermione?" Wren asked softly.
"Not really." Hermione replied. "I hate that foul woman."
"I understand, dear." Wren said. "But be careful, she may come after you next. Just ignore what she writes though, it's all garbage anyways."
Hermione nodded, then left the pub with Harry and Ron.
Wren checked her watch and saw this it was almost time for the students to head back to the castle. "Aww, it's almost time for you to go." She said disappointed.
"Already?" Raven questioned.
"Time flies by when you're having fun." Wren said.
They went back to their table, finished their butterbeers, got up to leave, and made their way to the carriages. Once there, Wren turned to Raven and said, "Well I had fun today, Little Bird."
"I did too." Raven said. "Thanks for spending the day with me. And seeing you scare of Rita Skeeter was awesome."
"Thank you as well. That woman won't mess with us again. I love you." She said giving him a hug, and kissing his cheek. "And good luck on the next task."
"I love you too, Mumma Bird." Raven said returning the hug.
"It was good to see you again, Daphne." Wren said, as her and Raven separated.
"It was good to see you as well, Mrs. Mordecur." Daphne replied.
"Keep and eye out for Izanami over the next few days, Little Bird." Wren said. "I'll have her deliver the pictures to you."
"Okay, I'll be ready for them." Raven said.
"You best get going now." Wren said, nudging him toward the carriage. "I'll see you later, bye." She waved as Raven and Daphne got into a carriage together. They waved back and the door closed. Wren walked off as soon as the carriage was out of sight.
Seeing that they were alone in the carriage, Raven pulled the piece of paper his mother put in his pocket out and opened it. Daphne who was sitting across from him, moved to sit beside him so she could see what it was as well.
Upon opening it they saw that it was instructions on the Bubble-Head Charm. It showed the incantation, the wand movement, steps on how to get started on learning it and eventually on how to master it.
Raven and Daphne looked to each other with hope. "You-You and Harry can use this to breath underwater." Daphne said, relieved he had a way now.
"Yeah, I've got to master it first though, and I can't exactly teach him without me knowing how either." Raven said.
"I know you can do it, Raven." Daphne assured him. "You're smart and talented, and I believe in you."
"Thanks, Daphne, I appreciate you saying that." Raven said, smiling at her.
Once they got back to the castle, they both returned to their own common rooms to put the things they bought in Hogsmeade away, and Raven, seeing as he had time before dinner, began studying to master the Bubble-head Charm.
Thank you, Mumma Bird. Raven thought.