A critical mission #7 (Harry/Daphne) (Patreon)

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Chapter #7: The culprit.

“Harry, are you sure this is the only way in which we can find the culprit?” Asked Daphne with a concerned expression.

“I wish we wouldn't have to, Daphne, but if we don’t do it this way, then you won’t believe who the culprit is,” Harry told her with a serious tone.

And that was the last conversation they had, and now an Auror team was in the blonde’s home, taking pictures of “Daphne’s dead body.” In reality, the blonde wasn't dead; she was actually under a drought that paralyzed her body. This was part of Harry's plan to catch the culprit who had been sending those threats.

“No… It can’t be!” Daphne’s mother said.

“No… She’s… Is she gone?” Her father asked, but Harry didn’t say anything.

Astoria, on the other hand, suddenly fell to her knees. She couldn’t believe what she was seeing; her sister was gone.

“No… This doesn’t make any sense. What’s the meaning of this, Potter?” Astoria demanded as she grabbed Harry by the collar.

“Please, Miss Greengrass, this is a crime scene. Treating me like this isn’t going to bring your sister back. Now the stalking investigation has turned into a murder investigation,” Harry told her with a serious tone.

“No… This is stupid… She cannot be dead; she cannot be. This wasn’t supposed to happen; this isn’t what I wanted to achieve!” Astoria said loudly.

Then everyone stared at her with interested expressions, but the most interested people were her parents.

“Tori?” Asked her father with an arched brow.

Astoria then realized what she had just said.

“No… I mean, something like this… This isn’t what any of us wanted, right? We wanted Potter to solve the case and find the culprit before this happened,” she tried to play innocently.

“Astoria... Can you swear on your magic that you have nothing to do with the treats your sister has been receiving these past weeks?” Asked Harry in a serious tone.

The brunette remained silent.

“No… I—That doesn’t make any sense. I loved my sister, I didn’t want her dead and—” She couldn’t take it anymore, and soon, she started to sob. “I didn’t want her to die; I just wanted to scare her so she could stop ruining the places that I love… One of her reviews made the ice cream parlor that I loved so much remove the chocolate chip cookie ice cream because she called it “basic.” Astoria then fell on her knees after confessing that she was the culprit behind the threats.

Harry then applied a spell on Daphne, and the blonde woke up with a heavy gasp. Her parents then ran to hold her; however, Daphne had no time for this.

“You… Astoria, you threatened me because of an ice cream flavor? You hate me that much? It couldn’t have been because of your horrible sense of fashion compared to mine?” Daphne asked, more scandalized about the reasons than the actions.

“See? There you go again, hurting people that haven’t done anything to you!” Astoria suddenly got up. “Listen to me, you pedantic lunatic woman… You always say hurtful things, and then you keep going with your life after hurting innocent people's feelings… Let's be honest, that’s not fair!” Astoria complained.

Daphne tried to get support from Harry, but he just shrugged his shoulders.

“I don’t know, Daphne… I loved that chocolate chip cookie ice cream too,” Harry said with a weak smile.

The blonde looked at him with an offended expression.

“However, that doesn’t mean I would’ve threatened you,” he tried to fix the situation. “In my opinion, both sides are right and wrong,” Harry started. “Daphne… You write and sometimes say things that hurt others. I know it’s your job, but the feelings of other people are important too,” Harry tried to reason with her.

“But—” the blonde tried to defend herself, but Harry wasn’t over yet.

“However… That’s not an excuse to threaten someone. I think the best thing would’ve been for you to talk to your sister about it, Astoria,” Harry now told the younger sister. “Why threaten her when you could’ve just talked to her about it?” Harry asked with a raised brow.

“Because that’s the only way she would’ve changed her behaviour. Trust me, I know her; she’s a very special person in the worst sense of the word. She's very hard to please, and when she gets an idea, nothing can make her change her mind,” she sighed. “I just wanted to scare her so she would think twice about what to write. I tried to tell her to change so she wouldn’t get threatened again, but she saw it as a challenge instead, and after that it was already too late to tell her the truth of what I did because you were already involved,” Astoria said, ashamed.

The blonde was looking at her sister with a surprised expression.

“I did something terrible, but I’m glad you’re alive, Daphne. I love you, but I also know that there’s no excuse for what I did, so… I’m ready for Azkaban as my punishment if that’s what you want.” Astoria got her hands ready so she could get handcuffed.

Daphne instead walked towards her younger sister and then hugged her.

“Daphne, what—” Astoria was confused.

She was expecting shouts and slaps, but instead she was being hugged.

“You idiot… You truly scared me with those threats, you know?” Daphne said in a serious tone.

“I’m sorry—” Astoria was stopped once again.

“That’s why I’m so proud of you,” the blonde declared with a smile.

She surprised everyone in the room.

“And I’m sorry for making you both lose your favorite ice cream,” she told Harry and Astoria.

“Why are you proud of what I did? I did something horrible; I sure made you fear for your life!” Astoria was confused.

“Exactly, your threats were done so well, and I was so scared that I couldn’t think straight. If I had, then I would’ve realized that it was you from the start; all the clues were there: the fact that the threats appeared out of nowhere and no one noticed, your attitude, the fact that you've been spending too much time in the Muggle world recently, it all made sense… You did what not even the Death Eaters managed to achieve… You managed to scare me, and that’s why I’m proud of you,” Daphne declared with a grin.

“Well, it seems like even in the strangest situations you’re still a very strange person,” Harry told the blonde before sighing.

Daphne giggled.

“Guys, I’ll take it from here. You can take the day off if you want to,” Harry told the Aurors, and soon they left the place while Harry stayed with the Greengrass family.

“Well, you better get used to my attitude, Officer Potter… Since we’re dating now,” Daphne declared, surprising the whole family.

“So… You’re letting me go just like that?” Asked Astoria, concerned.

“Yes… But only because if it wasn’t for the threats, I wouldn’t have gotten the chance to know Harry better, and I wouldn’t be dating him, so this is all thanks to you, Tori,” Daphne declared, and soon she and Harry shared a short kiss.

“Well, that’s something I didn’t expect; however, Harry seems like a good lad,” the father said with a smile.

“Yes… I think he’s good for Daphne,” the mother declared with a smile.

“Please… Take good care of her, and try not to break her heart. I don’t want her to ruin my favorite pastry place,” Astoria whispered in his ear.

Harry could only sigh; it seemed like his life was going to change from now on. Still, as long as he had Daphne, he knew he'd be fine; after all, he went through the most critical mission to get her love, and it was all worth it.

-       FIN -