May 2nd 1993

"Well, that should be everything…" Harry said as he finished shrinking down the slab and making it weightless before putting it in his bag. He looked over at Daphne as she sat on one side of the bed while holding her mothers' arm and looking down with concern at the woman.

"And you're sure it's gone?" Daphne pushed. Harry nodded.

"I'm sure. I detected no traces of it left in her system. Besides, her body systems have already shown a jump in improvement even just from the moment the ritual finished. At this point, the only thing left to do is for her to wake up and begin a nutrition program to regain her lost weight. We can leave that for a certified healer at St. Mungo's." Harry told her patiently. Daphne breathed a sigh of relief before squeezing her moms' arm one last time as she got up off the bed and walked around it.

Applying the ritual to her mom had actually been somewhat difficult since the woman was frail to move out of bed. That was a big problem considering the symbols on the floor and making room for the stone slabs with the runes on them. They had to levitate the bed with her in it in shifts to finally get everything set up properly.

Despite that, the ritual went off flawlessly, since the first time they did it, they had added the wards around the ritual to prevent outward damage making the whole thing much less eventful than the first time. Harry was glad he had not had to dislocate his arm to accomplish the results again, that would have been unfortunate.

Another difficult part was convincing Daphne's father that they had developed a legitimate solution to his wife's condition. Daphne had to go and meet with him several days ago and explain exactly what they had done and the test they had run. Ultimately, her father allowed them to try, mainly because there was no real alternative except watching his wife slowly die. He had made it clear to Harry from the beginning that he wasn't confident about the whole ritual business. They would be speaking with the man after this as he had stayed downstairs to allow them more space to work properly.

Before leaving the room, the last thing they had to do was take down the wards. It only took a few waves of his wand before they collapsed neatly and then disappeared. With that done, he looked around the room one last time to make sure they hadn't left anything behind.

"All right… Ready?" He asked looking at Daphne. The girl still looked at her mother with a worried expression but nodded nonetheless. Seeing the concern reminded Harry of the girl's reaction when they had first confirmed that their ritual worked even if it wasn't completely perfect initially. Remembering her tears of joy and how concerned she still was even without the procedure over, really showed how much the woman loved her mother.

"Let's go. We still need to speak to my father." She said before turning and heading towards the door. Harry said nothing in return and instead simply followed her out of the room and down the hallway until they reached the staircase that led to the bottom floor. They walked down it and he could see Daphne's father waiting at the bottom of the stairs, pacing the entryway. His face was still the same serious expression he associated with the man but his stance and the tightness with which he held his hands in balled up first showed his true emotions behind the emotionless façade.

"Father." Daphne called out somewhat eagerly though still restrained. The man immediately stopped pacing and looked up at him. He could see the man's face twitch and for a moment, it was almost like he could see hope in the man's eyes. He knew he didn't think they could cure his wife, he had made it clear already but he was sure the man would be happy to be proven wrong.

"Well?" He asked immediately inquiring how it went. Daphne's face immediately blossomed into a smile.

"It worked." She told him simply. The man's eyes lit up and he took an almost unwilling step back in shock at the news. It looked like someone had literally knocked the air out of him. He reached up and grabbed his chest as if he were in pain.

"You… You're sure?" He asked. Daphne looked at him at that question. He picked up on the hint as he stepped forward."

"The ritual went off without a hitch. After its completion, I personally checked her for the curse and found no trace of it any longer as we hoped. Doing a basic diagnostic of her health, we found most of her biological systems were already showing noticeable signs of improvement. This includes hormones, organ workings, and pulse just to name a few things. She should be waking up soon, within a day or so. I will warn you now though that you will have to likely rebuild her stamina as she's still used to sleeping most of the time. Further, she should probably be put on a nutrition plan to help her regain what she has lost over the years. You can bring her to St. Mungo's for that though. I'm not exactly a trained healer or anything." Harry told the man.

Lord Greengrass looked to have recovered from the news somewhat and nodded along at Harry's instructions almost eagerly. His body looked tightly wound like it was ready to spring. He decided to continue, "Daphne and I have to return to school but the room has been cleaned so you can go up and see her now if you would like."

"Right, I'll do that. Heir Potter, if you could give me a moment alone with my daughter." Lord Greengrass said now looking at Daphne. Harry nodded; he was sure they wanted to have a family moment.

"Of course… Daphne, I'm going to probably retire when I get back so I won't see you until tomorrow. I'll let the headmaster know of our return though so you can go back to your dorms when you arrive." Harry told her politely. She nodded in thanks at that but look too distracted to be paying attention.

"Good, then I bid you both ado." Harry said as he walked from the entryway into the sitting room where he knew the Floo to be. He approached the fireplace and reached up to the mantle where he grabbed a handful of Floo Powder from a small pot. He called out the headmaster's office passphrase before jumping into the green flames.

He immediately emerged in the headmaster's office before being forced to steady himself from the momentum he had come out of the fireplace with. He looked around trying to gain his bearings before making eye contact with the headmaster who was sitting behind his desk.

"Welcome back Harry. I trust your trip was productive?" The man asked. Harry nodded.

"The ritual worked without a hitch. Daphne's mother has been cured of the Blood Curse affecting her."

"You really jumped into the deep end when it comes to lifting curses." Albus commented with a sparkle of amusement. The man was quoting a phrase Perenelle had said the day of their first attempt at the ritual. After the room calmed down from the success, he had gotten to speak some more with the woman. She had spoken with him about how he used runes in particular to help aid in accomplishing such a ritual. He had confessed he had no real interest in posting his findings. His projects, while impressive, were mostly done for personal reasons, not to showcase.

Perenelle had understood though did tell him he should think about perhaps one day revealing the Purification ritual to others as it could potentially save many lives. He promised to think about it at the very least and given it was her asking, he would do it. He had gifted her one of his notebooks as a thank-you for aiding him in the past with hers. She had accepted it gratefully, especially because it detailed how he mixed runes with his rituals, as well as observations he had made on certain symbols in rituals.

She and her husband eventually left for the day, though, a promise had been made to see each other again during the Summer to speak. He was looking forward to it but didn't let it distract him too much. He still had many things he needed to continue to work on. He still had the promised strengthening ritual for Neville, his work on crossing to different worlds, and finally his practice in illusions which he had been slacking on.

"You're not wrong. Even I'm not too distracted enough to not recognize this as a huge magical accomplishment. I have done something that has never been done before. Many have tried and I am the only one who was able to figure it out. I won't lie, I do feel a sense of pride from that. As for the deep end, we did try the ritual on other Dark spells even if it was only on objects." Harry reminded. It was the second attempt to make sure that the ritual worked on other things besides Blood Curses. It was expected to but you needed to be sure with these types of things. He wasn't going to put such curses on a poor animal though.

"True enough… You are right though; this marks another one of your accomplishments. With every new thing you perform, I become more and more sure your dream will one day become a reality… So, what's next for the Great Harry Potter?"

"Ugh, none of that, please… I suppose I have a strength ritual I promised. That shouldn't take more than a couple of weeks to figure out. I had some notes on it already so it should be no big deal. Though having to take in biology so much with the Purification ritual has given me some new ideas to try it and possibly make the ritual more efficient… I'll have to see. I'm sure I'll have it done before Summer break though." Harry revealed.

"Really? I suppose your ability to continue working while asleep truly is a gift for the working mind."

"Actually, I have no plans to use it. As I said, I already have a starting point, and a strengthening ritual shouldn't be too hard to make at this point. I consider it a mid-tier ritual but barely."

"Have you made a list of difficulty for rituals to be classified in? I've never heard about that before." Dumbledore asked. Harry nodded.

"Yes, though not anything official. I just use it to quantify how difficult a ritual would be to create and then perform. My most recent creation is high tier on both accounts of course."

"Of course." Albus agreed with some amusement.

"Anyway, I think I'm going to go head to bed. It's getting late and I made a promise to Ciri that once this was all over, we could get some much-needed relaxation in… Though more on my part than hers." Harry said.

"I understand. Well, congratulations on today's success Harry I look forward to seeing what else lies in store for your future." Albus said with a smile. Harry smiled as he stood up and began to walk towards the door. He stopped though as he reached up for the handle. Something occurred to him right as he was about to leave. He turned back and looked at the headmaster.

"Oh, one more thing… The book, have you found anything out about it?" He asked. Albus suddenly looked like he had swallowed something sour.

"Well, perhaps that should wait till-…"

"Albus… You promised me you were going to stop keeping me in the dark. I know you believe you're protecting me but… If I am unknowingly in some dangerous situation, I can't prepare for it properly unless I know what it is. You know I trust you so… please trust me a little more as well." Harry told the man as seriously as he could muster. Albus looked at him gravely for a moment before looking down and sighing.

"It's so easy to forget how mature you are with how young you still look, Harry… You're right. Please forgive me for not being more forthcoming. I am not perfect and knowingly burdening a young child, even one as advanced as you… well, for an educator like myself, it feels wrong. But you are right, if these things are going to keep happening, you deserve to know." Albus said back to him quietly. Harry nodded and took a step away from the door and back closer to the headmaster.

"… So?"

"The first thing I must tell you is that I do not know everything, I am still learning things as time goes on and doing my best to extrapolate everything else."

"I understand." Harry said. Albus looked at him for another moment before opening a drawer in his desk extracting something and bringing it up to lay it down gently on his desk. It didn't take Harry more than a moment to recognize the cursed journal.

He was briefly reminded of Ginny Weasley who had been possessed by it for much of the year. He hadn't been there for the explanation but apparently Minerva had sat her down and explained what happened after she got out of the hospital wing. Ron had told him that she had been horrified to learn what she had been up to even with the assurance that no one blamed her.

Of course, by then the school had already taken care of young Penelope Clearwater. Harry had bought the expensive potion to help recover himself. She had been told what happened and then apparently been assured her finals would be delayed until sometime in the Summer to allow her to make up for lost time.

"As you have probably figured out, the book is a creation of Lord Voldemort. I believe that the man has found some way to imbue part of his essence into it. I have also learned that the part of his essence in it is that of him when he was still young and a student at this school, or close to said age. The piece of him had some knowledge possibly from young Miss Weasley but was also missing a lot of information as well."

"… How do you know? Did you communicate with it?"

"I did, yes. It was a calculated risk but I believed it to be necessary."

"And it didn't possess you?"

"I believe that the diary can only possess one after enough usage of the book. Because of this, I have made sure to limit my usage of it." Albus revealed. Harry nodded slowly at that.

"All right, so go on."

"Besides the obvious danger of it, I believe that this book may have the key to why Lord Voldemort has stuck around after his supposed death so many years ago. I hope to study it more to see if I can find more out from it."

"I see… The book, when it spoke already knew about me. It seemed to have asked about me specifically from Ginny. Last year the Dark Lord also targeted me. Is there a reason he keeps doing that?" He asked. Albus hesitated before nodding.

"… There is a prophecy."

"Prophecy?"

"Yes… It speaks of one who will challenge the Dark Lord… it is both his and my belief that you are the person in the prophecy." Albus admitted. Harry frowned in confusion.

"Why?"

"It has to do with some of the lines within. You seem to fit the profile best is really what it boils down to. It was originally between you and young Mr. Longbottom but ultimately I believe it is you." Albus continued. Harry just looked at the man with some confusion.

"So, the man's going to continue to target me then?"

"… Yes, I believe so… I'm sorry, Harry." Albus apologized quietly to him. Harry shook his head slowly.

"It's… fine. I'm not upset, I can see why you wouldn't want to tell a twelve-year-old that one of the most dangerous men in the last century is a ghost trying to come back to life to kill them." Harry thought out loud.

"So, you're not upset?"

"Well… Not at you at least? Though I am glad you told me. Knowing this… I will have to begin to better prepare myself… It seems I will have to step up my combat capabilities." Harry muttered to himself. He would have to devote at least once a week to practicing at a minimum going forward.

"I think that will be best… If you continue on this path, I would be more than happy to help you in any way you need. There are some similarities in our styles." Albus offered. Harry nodded.

"I may have to take you up on that at some point. For now, though, I think I will stick to Minerva's lessons. I imagine at this stage they are just as helpful." Harry said as he continued to think about his newly revealed situation.

In truth, he wasn't worried as much as he imagined he normally would be. Lord Voldemort had been powerful as a spirit last year and even as a student clearly when possessing Ginny. That being said, with enough time, like any of his problems, he was sure he would be able to deal with it. What if he threw the man into a different dimension? That seemed like a pretty permanent solution to this problem already, and he was already working on traveling between worlds.

"You're taking this better than I thought."

"True… Though maybe it just hasn't hit me yet… We shall have to wait and see if I have a panic attack later, I suppose." Harry smiled trying to add some humor to the situation. The corner of Albus's lips twitched but he shook his head.

"Please don't."

"I have no plans… Well, thank you for telling me. Please keep me updated on your findings. Now, I think it's time for me to go. I am already late as it is." Harry said to the man. Albus nodded.

"Of course, Harry. Please, have a good night. Tell young Ciri I said hello, would you?"

"Of course, good night Albus."

"Good night, Harry."

That Night

"So, you have the psychotic evil sorcerer after your life? Is that what you're telling me?" Ciri asked him blankly. Despite the lack of expression on her face, Harry could feel his instincts screaming he was near danger causing him to take an involuntary step backward.

"Well… yes, I guess it is. BUT… He's still a ghost at the moment so, he's less of a threat." Harry tried to assure her.

"Until he possesses somebody else and tries to attack you again." Ciri pointed out in an eerily calm tone. Harry hung his head at that. It was so easy to forget how quickly Ciri could connect the dots on things he didn't want her to know.

"That… Is also a possibility… Look, I'm working on it. I'm going to start focusing more on my combat ability to help keep me from dying. I'll make sure to start hoarding as many advantages as possible." Harry tried to promise. Ciri said nothing at that, she just kept eyeing him before sighing and shaking her head.

"I guess, I can't do anything about that…" Ciri said. Harry felt the hairs on his neck start to lower seeing the girl was not going to physically attack him in anger.

"Yes well… I suppose you could officially say we're both danger magnets now."

"Magnets… You mentioned that before, what are they again."

"It's… a magnet is something that attracts other things to it. Usually certain metals in most cases." He explained. She looked curious at that but nodded anyway. He'd be surprised if her world had no idea what magnets were to at least some extent. Maybe it just wasn't common knowledge.

"I see… Well, what do you have planned today, more work?" She asked. He shook his head and smiled.

"If I recall, I told you that after my current project was over, we would have some time to simply relax together. So, today, you can decide what we do." He told her with a smile. Ciri's face immediately lit up at hearing that.

"Really? Well, I was thinking, do you think we could go hiking? Is that possible?" She asked. He thought about it and nodded. They would essentially just be moving in the same place while the scenery around them changed. That shouldn't be too hard to conjure up.

"Sure, we can do that. Where would you like to hike, or would you like me to make something up?" He asked her. She looked up in thought before shaking her head.

"No, I have an idea. Can you make it the mountain pass near Kaer Morhen? I miss it." Ciri asked him. He thought about that for a moment. He had seen enough memories of the place to have a general idea of what it looked like. Though it may not be enough to fool Ciri.

"It may not be perfect…" Harry warned.

"That's fine. Even if it's close, I'll appreciate it." Ciri assured warmly with a smile. Harry nodded at that before closing his eyes and started to craft the illusion around them. He could have just altered the mindscape but to do so continuously actually required more concentration and was just overall more difficult than just overlaying it with an illusion.

He opened his eyes as the images in his head exited and began to form around him until a few moments passed and both he and Ciri were standing on a small dirt pass in the valley of several mountains that looked to be going uphill and deeper into the range. The sun was in the sky and made it appear to be sometime in the early morning. The air was crisp and there was a slight breeze flowing but not enough to be bothersome. He looked back at Ciri and smiled.

"Shall we?" He asked gesturing towards the trail. She smiled back and nodded.

"Indeed."

With that, they began heading up the mountain pass at a slow but comfortable pace. He noticed she was looking around interestedly at the scenery and he wondered if she was trying to notice differences between her memory and the illusion. He had tried his best and made sure to try and fill in what he couldn't directly remember with what he assumed might fit instead.

"You did a good job. I can't notice many differences…" Ciri said as she looked around. Harry nodded slowly as he took that in.

"That's good then. I am glad you like it." He replied easily.

"I do like it." Ciri said as sidled up close to him. Before he could say anything, he felt her hand slide into his. He felt his body jolt in shock from the surprise contact. He looked over but she offered no explanation, nor did she even look at him, instead, she continued to just look out in front of her. She didn't even look embarrassed so he calmed himself down and looked forward as well. Life sure was a confusing mess these days.

"I'm proud of you Harry. That ritual, I know how hard it must've been and all the countless hours you put into making it work." Ciri suddenly said as they continued to walk. He looked over again at her in confusion. Where had that come from? Despite his confusion, he nodded politely.

"Thank you, it was quite difficult. Though nowhere close to the future plans I have." He asserted. She smiled and bobbed her head in agreement.

"I'm sure… Still, I know you're doing a lot of these things for me. I've given up trying to convince you that you should devote your time to other things, I know you won't listen." She scolded lightly.

"Correct."

"So, with that in mind, the only thing I can do is sit back and support your efforts, which I can't do well anyway." She muttered.

"Not in helping me with magic, no but… Just, as long as you're here. As long as you don't just up and leave me one day… That's all I need." Harry tried to articulate. Harry was smart, he knew it. He wasn't the smartest but his drive allowed him to push past what most could accomplish. That being said, he was still young and he didn't know the best way to tell a person that they were everything to him.

He knew some people used the phrase 'light of my life' and he thought that was probably the closest to expressing his feeling. He remembered life before Ciri and it was… dark. He went through the motions of a person but he wasn't one. He didn't hold any opinions and he just did what he was directed to. It was almost depressing to think about now.

Ciri though… He remembered seeing her for the first time and she was like fire, so uncontained and free. He didn't understand the feeling but his younger self somehow yearned to be so free. To be able to make choices and do things based on one's own choices. Life looked so much more appealing that way. Ciri exemplified all of that to him in both her highs and her lows.

It was a shame that they were both trouble magnets. Much of the last couple of years of his life had been worrying about Ciri and her possible fate in a world he could not yet even reach. He had devoted himself to learning anything he thought could help him reach her as well as just helping her in general. The ritual he had just created was for her technically. Don't get him wrong, he was happy it helped Daphne's mother and made his friend happy but… Ciri had been HIS motivation for it.

"Good, because that's pretty much all I can provide… You know, I really love you, Harry."

"I know." He said easily. It was embarrassing to hear her say it so suddenly but she had said it to him before. It made sense in his head. With the death of her grandmother, and almost everyone from her original Kingdom, he had known her the longest. He was undoubtedly closer to her than anyone, even Geralt.

"Do you?" She suddenly asked. His eyes flickered to his side and he saw she was now staring at him with a strange intensity. He was taken aback by that reaction before nodding slowly.

"I think so, you say it to me somewhat often after all." He reminded her. At least once a week for one reason or another by his count.

"And you love me?" She asked. Now he gave her a queer look not sure where she was going with this.

"Of course, you know I do. What's this about, Ciri?" He asked trying to interrupt her so she would hopefully reveal where this was going. She didn't answer him, instead, she completely stopped moving and instead just stared at him.

"Harry, I would like to begin courtship with you."

"WHAT!"

Harry wasn't sure what expression he was currently making but Ciri certainly seemed to find it amusing. Harry, for his part, was NOT amused. In fact, he had no idea what was even happening right now. He hadn't expected the night would go anything like this. He could feel his mind trying and failing to make connections to understand the situation he was currently in. At some point, he realized that Ciri was laughing in amusement as she watched him slowly go inside. He regained control of his mental faculties as he then frowned at her.

"It's not funny." He said to her which only made her laugh harder. She would later tell him that he had started pouting at this point but he would deny it vehemently.

"It's pretty funny. You didn't have to act so surprised, right? I mean, it's not like it should be that much of a surprise." She replied easily as she calmed down.

"Wait… You were serious?"

"Obviously. That wouldn't be a nice joke."

"Right… And you ONLY make nice jokes, of course." He muttered causing her to giggle again.

"Fair enough… So, what do you think?"

"About… your proposal?"

"Yeah." She answered. Harry now that he had calmed down a bit began to notice Ciri looked rather nervous herself. Her face was red and she seemed to have trouble making eye contact with him. Not that he could say anything, he was sure his cheeks were probably glowing at the moment.

"Can I at least ask where this is coming from?" He asked her. It wasn't that he wasn't flattered, Ciri beyond her personality and their long history, was a very pretty girl who was literally a princess. He had already figured out since puberty had been kicking it in that she would probably start grabbing more and more of his attention. His real question was really why she would so firmly want to change their relationship from platonic to romantic? Harry wasn't blind to himself; he wasn't exactly the best-looking guy around. He didn't think he was the worst but… His hair was a mess, he looked pale, and he was still rather small and skinny for his age.

He ignored for a moment that Ciri shared quite a few of those traits herself but he was certain that he didn't pull them off NEARLY as well as she did. So, what was her interest?

"Hmm… That's a hard question to answer. Well, I was thinking of asking if you would marry me but figured this was a better path."

"…Marriage? You want to get married?"

"Yeah, at some point. As for why? Hmm… I guess, I just want to make sure that you're always there."

"What do you mean? Of course, I'll always be there." Harry asked her confused. Ciri shook her head at that though.

"No, I mean more than just here. You know, I love the mindscape. As good or bad as everything sometimes gets, I know if I close my eyes, I can come here. And even better than that, I know when I do, you'll always be waiting for me."

"…Okay."

"I guess it's selfish to say but I want more than that. I want to be connected beyond just our heads. You know, there's nobody I trust more than you and when I think of the future, there's no one else I want to make sure I spend it with."

"You know, you sound crazy, right? We're twelve. Well, I am, you're thirteen but still!" He insisted, making sure to not try and upset her.

"Right, which is why I said courtship instead of marriage." Ciri nodded in agreement.

"Does that make it better?"

"Doesn't it?"

"… Well, I don't know. Maybe." Harry answered. It didn't in his head. Courtship in his world was just synonymous with dating someone. However, courtship, where Ciri came from, meant something more than simple dating. It was dating with the intention of it leading to marriage. It was like telling someone, I intend for us to get married one day. How could Ciri not see this was a huge deal?

"You know, I guess if you want me to boil it down, it has to do with something Yennefer told me the other day. She was talking about how technically I am still the Princess of Cintra to many."

"Right?"

"And because of that… There might be one-day expectations placed upon me. Things like marriage and stuff. I don't think she meant to think about it too much, just as something that might happen in the future but… It got me thinking about the future and about the people, and person, I would be spending it with. I thought about what kind of person I would want to be with if I had to and how I pictured them to be and stuff… And I guess, the image I kept getting of the person I would be with forever just kept turning into you."

"Don't you think that's just because of how connected we are right now?"

"Well, I have no plans to change that any time soon, do you?" Ciri pushed looking at him imploringly. Harry shook his head negatively.

"Of course not." Harry said easily. He doubted he could survive such a separation anyway.

"Exactly, so since we both have no plans or longing to change our situation then shouldn't we just sort of make it official?" She asked. Harry shook his head.

"Just because I'm always around doesn't mean that you won't be able to connect with someone else. Maybe you'll find some you like even more than me in the future. There's a lot of handsome princes and nobles out there you know." Harry tried to say. Ciri just snorted at the suggestion.

"If I did decide on someone else, which I wouldn't, those would be the last types I would decide on."

'You get my point though. You have options, probably a lot of them, even not being a princess. I don't necessarily think this is the best idea. At such a young age to make such a… permanent decision seems foolhardy." Harry tried to explain to her. He wished Albus was here. He would probably have an easier time expressing why this was a bad idea to his friend.

"Nope. I've made my decision already. So, if you feel uncomfortable answering now, that's okay, I can wait. I have no plans to go anywhere. I can wait awhile before hearing what you have to say." She told him smiling softly. Harry shook his head.

"No, you couldn't, you're one of the most impatient people on both our planets combined." Harry shot back. She just smirked.

"You know me so well. So, I guess you better have an answer for me pretty soon after all." Ciri laughed back at him. He smiled a bit himself. He shook his head as he thought about what she had said to him. In truth, he wasn't opposed to… courting Ciri. In fact, just thinking of the opportunity made a fluttering feeling settle in his stomach. His instincts almost felt like they were screaming at him to accept the offer before it was too late. Some part of him also recognized that this might have been a result of his newly discovered hormones.

"I… am not against this… courting of you Ciri, I should make that clear. There's likely no one who knows how wonderful you truly are as much as I do but… I just think we're rather young is all… Why don't we just… take things slow and see where it leads us? I want to maybe try dating in the way we do in my world. There's less pressure associated with it. And, if you find out that this move in our relationship isn't what you want, you should tell me." Harry tried to lay down some ground rules for their… situation. Ciri just continued to smile at him.

"You can call it whatever you want, I don't mind either way. As long as my claim is staked, I couldn't care less." She told him. He rolled his eyes in amusement at that. She was certainly not taking this situation as seriously as he wished she would but, then again, he probably shouldn't have expected her to.

"All right, fine. We can… see where this goes."

"I'm glad you saw reason and agreed with me." Ciri told him looking very much like a cheetah who just caught a baby antelope. Harry sighed but did feel the corners of his lips struggle to not turn up in amusement.

She wasn't wrong though. Harry knew that if she had really pushed it, and wanted to go for the full thing, he would likely cave to her wishes. He was willing to do everything necessary to make Ciri happy even if he didn't think this particular decision was a fully thought-out or smart one. That being said, he was sure Ciri knew that as well. He had made it quite clear in the past that his stance regarding her was such and she likely knew if she pushed, she would get all that she wanted.

Knowing that she had probably tried to hold back a bit and not fully force him into something he may or may not want. If there was something he knew, it was that when Ciri wanted something, like really wanted it, she would try and seize it with both hands, not letting anything get in her way.

"Yeah… I guess you could say that…"