"Hmm," Harry hummed, finally opening both eyes but still looking frustratingly relaxed. "Coworkers told you, I assume? Nosy gits. Well, I was just doing a bit of research is all. Satisfying an old curiosity." He waved a dismissive hand, clearly trying to brush off the topic.
"What kind of research involves lurking around the Veil of Death, Harry?" Daphne pressed, not letting him off the hook that easily. She leaned forward slightly in her conjured chair.
"Just some thoughts I had recently," Harry said vaguely, his gaze drifting towards the icy ceiling of the cave.
Daphne tensed. That sounded ominous. "What kind of thoughts, Harry?" she pressed again, her voice firmer this time.
Harry looked back at her, a flicker of suspicion in his eyes before they seemed to light up with sudden, annoyed recognition.
"Oh, for Merlin's sake, Daphne!" he exclaimed, sitting up fully now, his relaxed posture vanishing. "I'm not suicidal, if that's what you're implying! Gods! I was just trying to figure out what the damn thing was, is all! I mean, come on! If I actually wanted to kill myself, I'd just point my wand at my head and cast the bloody Killing Curse. Quick, efficient, done. Throwing myself dramatically through the Veil seems a little… over the top, even for me, don't you think?" He settled back into his chair, though his annoyance was still palpable.
"Well, maybe if you weren't being all evasive and weird with your answers, I wouldn't jump to concerning conclusions!" Daphne shouted back indignantly, her own temper flaring. "Answer like a goddamn normal person for once, and maybe I wouldn't have been worried!"
"Suicidal… honestly," Harry muttered, shaking his head. "What the hell makes you think I'm suicidal in any way, shape, or form?" he asked her, genuinely seeming perplexed.
"Well…" Daphne hesitated for a moment, then decided to be blunt. "You are always alone, Harry."
"I do that by choice, Daphne," Harry retorted instantly.
"I don't think anyone sane ever truly chooses to constantly be alone, Harry," Daphne shot back, leaning forward again. "It's not exactly a natural inclination for humans to have, is it?"
"Well, it is what it is, okay?" he said dismissively, clearly uncomfortable with this line of questioning.
"...Does it have to do with Gabi?" Daphne asked softly, venturing into even more sensitive territory.
"Uggghhhh!" Harry groaned loudly, throwing his head back against the chair. "Not this again! Can we please not rehash this?"
"Well, it is weird, Harry!" Daphne insisted, refusing to back down now. "One moment, it seems like everything's going perfectly great with you two. You had this beautiful, vibrant girl who was absolutely, head-over-heels in love with you, and then the next moment, poof! You break up with her, offer zero explanation to anyone, least of all her, and you haven't seriously dated anyone since! That was over fifteen years ago! It's weird!"
"Okay, look…" Harry sighed, running a hand through his hair again, looking genuinely weary now. "It just… it wasn't working out. Alright? There's nothing weird or mysterious about it. Gabi was great, she really was. She was smart, funny, gorgeous… everything any sane man would want in a woman. But I just… I couldn't invest everything in that relationship. I honestly liked her a lot, Daphne, but I couldn't bring myself to say I loved her. Not the way she deserved to be loved. That's all there is to it." He finished speaking, his voice tight, his jaw clenched.
Daphne thought about that for a moment, absorbing his rare moment of vulnerability. "Does this… does this have anything to do with that Ciri girl?" she asked tentatively. "The one Fleur mentioned, years ago, after you came back to Hogwarts?"
Harry immediately tensed at the name, his whole body going rigid. "Fleur… she told you about her?" he asked, his voice suddenly low and guarded.
Daphne just nodded silently. Harry let out another long sigh, the sound heavy with unspoken emotions.
"I… I guess, yeah. Maybe it does," he admitted reluctantly. "Let me ask you something, Daph, since we're apparently getting all deep and personal now. What was your relationship with Blaise like? Before you got married. When did you know that he was… you know… the ONE?"
Daphne frowned, considering his question thoughtfully. "Hmm. When I knew Blaise was the one?" she mused, tapping a finger against her chin. "That's a tough one to pinpoint exactly. I think… I think it was probably when he decided to completely cut ties with his rather… traditionalist family, just so he could stay with me, support the side I believed in during the war. That was… a huge moment."
"That was when I really knew, deep down, that this was the man I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. It also helped, of course, that we were always pretty similar, personality-wise. We just… clicked. I guess, at a certain point, I just couldn't imagine my life without him in it anymore. Didn't want to imagine it. I guess that's when I knew that I truly loved him." She finished, a soft, fond smile gracing her lips at the memory.
Harry sat with a thoughtful, almost wistful expression on his face, processing her words.
"Do you think… do you think you love this Ciri girl?" Daphne asked gently.
Harry tilted his head, his gaze distant. "I don't know," he said honestly, his voice quiet. "I think… I think she was the closest thing to it, at the very least. The benchmark. I can't tell you if she was 'the one' or not, but I can tell you that every single time I was with another girl after her, even just talking to one, I would inevitably compare them to her. How much effort I had to put into a simple conversation compared to how effortless, how… easy it was just to talk and be with her."
He let out a short, self-deprecating laugh. "This sounds almost pathetic, doesn't it? How completely stuck I still am on a girl I knew for barely six months, literally twenty-something years ago. Which is entirely my own damn fault, actually." He looked at Daphne, a wry, pained expression on his face.