Daphne felt a bit as if she was floating to breakfast the next day...the day after Harry became her real boyfriend and, remarkably, Harry had successfully tracked down a horcrux.

As difficult as it had been last night Daphne insisted on immediately returning to the Slytherin common room so she would not miss Draco's return. She had spent the next hour with Tracey working on her homework and trying to ignore Vincent nervously staring at her. If she didn't believe Harry before Vincent's abject fear and paranoia confirmed it to her. He was definitely the one they had spotted outside the Room of Requirement and it was clear that he was terrified that she and Harry had sorted it out. It spoke to how poorly Draco was regarded within his own house that the best he could do for help was Vincent and Gregory. It was a bit embarrassing when Daphne thought about it. Harry had a literal army of students willing to fight with him and the best Draco could manage was Vincent and Gregory. She almost felt sorry for him. Almost.

Draco returned a few minutes before curfew and immediately left the room with Vincent in tow not so subtly giving him an update on whether Daphne suspected anything. Draco was at least smart enough not to stare at her in abject terror as he passed. She sent the all clear message to Harry and four hours later her coin warmed, relaying Harry's excited message.

I found the diadem! Ready to experiment on me?

Several inappropriate responses flashed through Daphne's thoughts but she settled for sending a celebratory message back and quickly fell into a contented sleep...exhausted from the day. It wasn't until the next morning that she read Harry's follow up message.

Let's eat breakfast with Astoria. I want to see you again.

There were no games...no subtle hints of affection...just direct honesty. He was such a Gryffindor...it was brilliant.

She was broken out of her thoughts by Tracey. "What is going on with you this morning?" she asked bemusedly. "You're either staring into space or at your love coin."

"You're imagining things and stop calling it that," Daphne pleaded unconvincingly as she failed to suppress another contented smile, reflexively rubbing the coin. "Harry and I are going to sit with Astoria this morning if you'd like to join us." Her smile grew larger as she realized she'd be seeing Harry again in a few minutes.

"Oh sweet Merlin. You two shagged last night didn't you?" Tracey said triumphantly.

Daphne shook her head and chuckled in disbelief. It seemed that Tracy and Astoria were destined to always be one step ahead of the actual reality of her and Harry's relationship. She briefly imagined telling Tracey she was engaged only for her to assume they had eloped and were already married.

"I was back in the common room an hour before curfew," she replied condescendingly. "If we had really done that don't you think we would have stayed to bask in the afterglow or something?"

If and when they did that Daphne was definitely going to bask.

"Fine," Tracey grudgingly agreed. "spoil my fun...but something happened last night because you are entirely too cheerful."

"It was a really good night," Daphne replied vaguely, her dreamy smile returning despite herself. She did not smile dreamily.

"I really really really need to get a boyfriend," Tracey said disgustedly. "It was fine when we were both lonely spinsters but your cheerfulness is depressing."

"I'm sorry? I'll do better...or is it worse?" Daphne offered half-heartedly.

"Idiot," Tracy replied as she playfully shoved Daphne and smiled.

They entered the Great Hall and Daphne saw that Harry had already arrived and was sitting at the Hufflepuff table and was in the middle of a conversation with Astoria and Sue Bones. It struck her that he seemed more relaxed and animated than normal. She realized it was because of her and that blasted dreamy smile returned briefly before she squashed it for a more dignified version. She quickly made it to the table and sat down in the seat he had saved for her and grabbed his free hand under the table. Having to eat using her less dominant left hand was slightly awkward but she didn't mind.

They decided to eat dinner in the Hogwarts kitchen so they could have a bit of time alone before discussing the next steps. Daphne had been so caught up in the realisation of her relationship and helping Harry get into the Room of Requirements she'd forgotten she had not updated him on her progress with his mother's spell and how it could apply to what she was working on. That would be a much easier task now that he knew her true feelings.

The had eaten in relative silence and quickly made their way to a nearby classroom so they could begin their discussions under the oath. Daphne insisted on going first. She wanted Harry to know about her theory in detail and the sacrifice his parents had made on his behalf. She watched as Harry seemed to fold into himself as he pondered her theory...that his parents may have doomed themselves willingly to a shorter lifespan to protect him. She had been so wrapped up in the excitement of formulating the theory she hadn't truly reflected on the personal impact such a revelation would have on Harry.

After she had finished she waited for what felt like an eternity for his response as he continued to stare downward at his desk, seemingly processing what she had shared. Finally he spoke.

"Do you really think they might have done that?" he offered.

"It's just an idea," she quietly replied," but it would make sense...and Flitwick thought it was the most likely theory he had ever heard."

"I hope it's true," he continued as he looked into her eyes. "I know it was based on her sacrifice either way but everyone always puts it down to circumstance or luck. To think that they actually did it on purpose and really did sacrifice themselves...well it's something else isn't it?"

"It is," she replied simply, "they were brilliant....and they really loved you."

She watched as he drew in a deep breath and gathered himself, nodding his head and smiling. "So the horcrux," he offered as he pulled a wrapped item out of his bag and placed it on the desk between them. As he took off the multiple layers of wrapping she could feel the dread growing inside her. It seemed to radiate evil.

"It feels-"

"Wretched," Harry interrupted. "I'm sure it's a horcrux based on how awful it feels." He quickly wrapped it back up and placed it back in his bag. Daphne instantly felt better.

She watched as he pulled out several pieces of parchment before continuing. "I had some ideas about next steps," he said tentatively.

"Go on," she said with a smile, continuing to be encouraged at how thorough Harry was being.

"We need to limit our testing to one night. If it actually works like we think Riddle is going to feel it and suspect something. We can probably get away with it for one night but I don't think we should push it."

"I hadn't thought of that but you're right," she concurred. "I have a list of things to try...we should be able to do everything in a couple of hours. You'll need a potion for your headache by the end but it should be okay."

"Good, and I think we need to test it from several distances...have it somewhere on the other side of the castle when we try the spell. It would be too risky to leave it alone and we'd need to observe it anyway so I thought we could ask-"

"Dobby," she interrupted enthusiastically. "He could take it there and monitor how much it moves...if it moves similarly as when it is the same room then we'll know distances don't have an effect!"

"Exactly," he agreed.

They spent the next hour exchanging ideas and brainstorming anything they may have missed. Daphne was explaining the Runes she wanted to apply around his scar when she noticed Harry was smiling.

"What? This isn't funny. They may have no effect but it's worth a try," she said defensively.

"It's not that," he said, shaking his head, "it's not that at all. "It's just...this is brilliant...you were right...we make a great team...great partners."

She was so taken aback by his comment she acted without thinking, lunging over the desk and kissing him thoroughly for several minutes. Eventually she gathered herself and took the seat next to him.

As she was explaining the Rune designed to amplify focus she noticed Harry was still smiling dumbly and desperately wanted to kiss him again. She briefly wondered if inscribing the Rune on her own forehead would help her concentrate on the explanation and not on kissing Harry again.

An hour later Daphne brought up the final topic for the night. "I've had some more ideas about Tuuso Patronum," she began...suddenly becoming nervous. The step they had taken last night would go a long way to making this easier but it was still going to be hard to say the word.

She could tell she had Harry's full attention and continued. "We'll know more once we do our testing but I think I can protect you and kill the souls with just my spell. Avada Kedavra focuses on the desire to end a life but the main focus of my spell will be on saving your life and the only way we can do that is by getting rid of Tom's souls. I had been thinking about protecting you and and destroying the horcruxes as two separate things but they are really the same. It's about you...protecting you."

"I don't understand," he interjected.

"You said that you drove Voldemort out of your mind by focusing on your feelings for Sirius and your parents...that it hurt him. My spell will be similar...I think I can destroy the horcruxes using my feelings...my love for you. I want him dead but I really just want you safe...to save you."