The Importance of Intent: After the Credits

Mission: Impossible - Part 2

Harry had never felt so drained yet he was wide awake. It had been thirty minutes since Madam Pomfrey politely pried Daphne away and pushed her toward her own bed and it was infuriating. So much had happened that night...so many things in his life had fundamentally changed...his mind was a whirl and refused to slow down. Daphne being mere feet away when she could be right there next to him wasn't helping either.

"Daphne" he said quietly in the darkness.

"Yes," he heard in reply.

"Are you asleep?"

"I think the answer to that should be obvious." He could visualize the annoyed expression on Daphne's face and smiled.

"You should come back over here,"

"Harry..." she replied warningly.

"Or I could come over there...I don't mind."

"You are making it very hard to do the right thing," she said wearily. "We could get in trouble."

"We've earned it," he replied. He knew he was right...they had more than earned it. He honestly didn't think she would budge but it was nice talking to her at the very least.

He heard what sounded like muffled cursing and then a small light appeared. He smiled in victory as he watched the small light and his wonderful girlfriend making their way toward his bed. She was smiling despite herself.

She leaned forward and kissed him before sitting down once again. He was hoping that she would have gotten into bed with him but it was something...it was a start.

"As much as I'd love to stay over here tonight we'll get caught. Pomfrey said the beds are warded so she'll know if more than one person is in it and she has spells monitoring us...she'll know if we get...excited."

Harry's intention wasn't to get 'excited' that night...well he wouldn't have minded...but that hadn't been the plan. Having her next to him was enough. It was more than enough.

"We came up with a way to end the bloody dark lord, he exclaimed in frustration, "surely we can figure out a way to do this." Suddenly he had an idea.

"You said that she would know if more than one person is in a bed...what if we put two beds together?"

"And each of us could get close but make sure we stay on our own bed," Daphne continued his thought. Harry's heart soared. They were doing this.

"The mattresses might not stay together though...we could use a sticking charm!" Harry whispered excitedly.

"It's no good," Daphne said dejectedly. "Astoria said Pomfrey checks the wands in the morning for any spells cast overnight. She'll figure out for sure why we cast those spells."

"Really?" Harry exclaimed in surprise.

"How did you not know that? As much as you're in here I would think you'd have her routine memorized."

"She always confiscates my wand right away," Harry answered grudgingly. Pomfrey knew him too well.

Daphne chuckled before a smile came over her face. It was clear she had come up with something. "Dobby!" she whispered.

The elf popped into the room. "Miss Greeny called for Dobby?" he asked hopefully.

"Harry and I were wondering if you could levitate those two beds next to each other and cast a charm to make sure the mattresses stick together."

"Dobby will do it but only if Harry Potter promises to be a responsible wizard."

Harry heard Daphne's snort and felt his face warm. "Why are you only worried about me? What about Daphne?"

"Dobby works in castle full of young wizards. It is all most young wizards talk about. Dobby knows things. Harry Potter is a great wizard but Dobby knows all young wizards think with other wand."

Daphne let out a laugh before quickly clamping a hand over her mouth. As he watched her shoulders bobbing in silent mirth Harry pondered the fact that he was being lectured about sex from Dobby.

"Don't worry Dobby, all we want to do is talk and sleep. I promise to be a good boy."

Dobby nodded his head and with a snap of his fingers the two beds were in place. It was all Harry could do not to yell in triumph but he refrained. He didn't want to alert Pomfrey and he didn't want to confirm Dobby's suspicion that he had zero self control.

"Can you wake us up at 5:30?" he quietly asked. Pomfrey's normal rounds started at 6:00 and that would give them more than enough time. With a smile and a nod Dobby popped out of sight.

As they slid into the makeshift double bed he wrapped an arm around Daphne and buried his face against her shoulder. "We make a good team," he whispered contentedly. He instantly relaxed and realized Dobby had nothing to worry about as he would be asleep very soon. This was everything. This was home.

Just before he slipped away he was roused back to semi-consciousness.

"Harry?"

"Mmmmm?"

"I'm sorry about earlier...about your relatives. I didn't think you would want me to tell them."

"It's all right," he reassured her. To his astonishment he wasn't lying. He trusted them.

"Now that we've succeeded I hadn't planned on going back there anyway. As awful as the house my godfather left me is I'd have stayed there if I had to." He was so tired now but he didn't mind staying awake to talk to Daphne. Not at all.

"Is it that run down?" she asked.

"It's not totally awful...if it had a good cleaning out it would be fine and we'd made a good start of it. The only problem is the house elf is not fond of his master so he chooses not to do much." This was nice...just talking about mindless things. He could get used to it.

"I can help you sort out your elf if you'd like," Daphne replied, the tone in her voice making it clear how excited she was to help bring Kreacher in line. At that moment he actually felt a little sorry for the elf. He had no clue what was coming.

"Okay...thank you."

"Harry?"

"Mmmm," he murmured, drifting off once again.

"Do you remember how I said I wasn't ready for sex yet?"

"Yes," he replied, wondering why she had made such a radical change in topic. There was no way she could be worried he was going to try anything tonight. He was too tired and this wasn't the place.

"I was thinking...your birthday's coming up..."

"Right," he said, becoming more interested.

"I think I'll be ready by then...but I don't want to try it at my parents' house," she continued cautiously.

Harry was fully awake now, all thoughts of sleep forgotten as his sole focus was on the beautiful creature next to him and his birthday. He'd never been fond of them in the past but suddenly he loved birthdays.

"If you could get your house cleaned up in time I think it would be the perfect place to celebrate."

"Kreacher! Dobby!"