Chapter 22: Chapter 22: First Kiss
"The winner of this duel is Lord Erik Bodewig, in accordance with the old traditions we judges will make sure the agreement is met and followed. Should Heir Malfoy fail to uphold his end of the deal he will be cast out of this house and forfeit his right to be called a Slytherin." Damian spoke in his deep tone stopping any form of argument before they could even be made, with a resignation sigh Malfoy stood and made his way over to me to collect his wand.
"As per the agreement you are due 120,000 galleons in either gold or artefacts. You can take any amount in each or take all of the amount in one form, if you choose gold it will be transferred to your vault by the next morning however if you choose artefacts you will have to wait till a holiday for you to visit Malfoy manor to choose them." Malfoy said as he took his wand I had held out to him.
"Thank you Heir Malfoy, is my understanding correct when I ask that you will be having a yule ball again this year? If so would you be able to secure an invitation for Myself and Daphne? That way we can sort this out while also building better standing with each other." I said while smiling amiably at him as if this was just a minor incident in a long acquaintance.
With a small nod, Malfoy answered my questions before saying, "I will let my Father know to add your names to the guest list. Thank you for your candor Lord Bodewig, if that is all I shall go off to send my letter home." With that, he rushed from the room leaving me in the centre with the rest of Slytherin looking at me, giving a small bow I turned and left to chat with Daphne.
After that eventful evening time seemed to fly by as classes blurred into a series of naps or chapters of books, soon it came to 2 days before Halloween. I was lying reading a book while my head was resting on Daphne's legs, "Daphne, what would you do with unimaginable power?" Startled by my sudden question her hands which were running through my hair paused as she thought.
"I don't know, perhaps I would broadcast my strength to the rest of the world that way people would recognise that I am someone like Dumbledore; someone strong and not to be provoked." As she spoke her hands went back to messing with my hair while she looked up at the canopy of my bed. "Really but wouldn't that be too much of a hassle since Dumbledore never has any peace from the owls that are people asking advice or wanting help? Imagine trying to raise our children and being unable to see them take their first steps or attend their first trip on the Hogwarts Express because of the attention your strength has attracted." I said while ignoring the blush that spread across her face from me telling her to imagine our children.
"I do suppose you have a point, I would hate to be a parent who couldn't be there for my kids." She replied after re-evaluating her idea after my counterargument. "I guess that the power would be exposed at some point when something unexpected occurs or when someone tries to attack you."
"Daph." I said while sitting up from her lap and turning to face her, "If I told you that I had an unbelievably powerful ability?" She looked into my eyes before placing her hand on my cheek and saying, "I don't think it would change anything about how I would think of you. You would still be the one I want to marry even if you had immense strength."
I nodded at her words before capturing her lips and trading our first kisses. "I want to show you my ability Daph," I said as I stood up and took her hand to help her up. "Go get some warm clothes on and we shall take a trip outside."
After we both got some warm clothes on I took her hand and led her out of the castle and started to head towards the black lake, away from prying eyes. As we arrived I found a small grove of trees near the lake but separate from the Forbidden Forest, meaning we could go there without being reprimanded. "Now what I will show you may be hard to process so I will vocalise what is happening, ok?" I said while leading her into the grove, I then pointed to a tree and continued to speak. "That tree will do, ok so first I shall show you my unique ability then I shall show you my magical abilities."
"If you look at the tree currently, you will see that although it has lost about 2/3 of its leaves it is still very much alive. I will now will it not to be." At the mere thought of it not being alive the tree died, all the remaining leaves fell at the same time while its bark lost all signs of life. A gasp was heard by my ears as I turned towards Daphne, "This Daph is my secret ability. If I willed it stuff will just die, but that is not just the extent of my ability," I said but this time I willed the dead tree to not exist causing the tree to slowly turn to dust before the dust turned into nothingness.
The shocked Daphne stood before me with her hand over her mouth unable to articulate the words which were whirring around her head. "That is impossible, it cannot be possible. You just need to think about it and the thing will die or even worse not even exist, I get it now. Why you asked what I would do with unimaginable power, you were not asked hypothetically you were searching for advice."
Sadly for Daphne, the surprises did not end there as I also showed her the extent of my magical power which had grown significantly since I was spending whole nights training it. "I am sorry for dropping this all on you at once but I am glad that I could confide in you." Summoning the control I have of my magic, I gathered all the leaves that had fallen from the tree before transforming them into a small bonsai version of the tree that ceased to exist.