Hello everyone, welcome to the beginning of my *almost* new story. I've actually attempted a fanfiction like this story before, but I didn't like the way I had it going, and felt like I needed a fresh start. This is just the prologue, it's much shorter than the rest of the chapters will hopefully be. I don't have a schedule as of now, I'm really just writing when I can. However, I do actually plan on finishing this one
Back in the day, I read a lot of fanfics involving Daphne, and I understand there is a general consensus among some of the bigger stories on her appearance, but I do not remember it, so I'm just gonna write her how I picture her
There may be slight Dumbledore and Weasley bashing, and I do mean slight. This story will be a Daphne/Harry story
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter obviously (I forget to say it a lot because it's quite obvious imo)
In the future, my A/N's will be much shorter, but I wanted to ask a question. Do you like the internal dialogue (Thoughts) or would y'all prefer less?
Edit: I went through during some spare time and spruced this chapter up a bit, and I've decided to call it Chapter 1 and the current Chapter 1 is now Chapter 2.
Edit (3/8/19): The reason I have taken longer to update is I decided to revise this chapter (Plus homework and exams, but I prefer not to focus on them). It's kind of been haunting me and I feel I can do a bit better. Reviews, follows, and favorites are HUGELY appreciated :) A lot of people say this, but the more of a response I get the more motivation I'll have and the more time I'll dedicate to this story over other projects and things I have going on. The next chapter will come out in the next few days hopefully
A train whistle blared, the station was pure chaos. Parents were busy hugging their children, while students of all ages were rushing onto a train to get the best seats. However, among all of the chaos, a single student stood out. A girl was taking her time to get on the train. If her parents had been there to send her off, they'd already left. Watching her calmy stroll through the ravenous crowd was interesting for anyone watching. In her mind, it didn't matter where she sat, she'd still be with her friends and the train only made one stop. In fact, she wasn't even looking forward to going back after all the drama last year, normally people like her thrive in situations like this, but the stakes were much higher than she'd ever experienced.
A group of students, who obviously disagreed with her sentiments, rushed past her, not caring about any collateral damage their impatient urges might cause. No one seemed to notice as they knocked her cart over getting on the train. Had they been paying attention, one of them might have commented about seeing flames in her violet eyes. More faces on my list this year, she thought angrily, crouching to pick up her cart. Across the station, one person noticed her through the sea of people. He felt driven to go help her, and he almost dropped his cart to go, but suddenly she glanced up, her violet connecting with his. "Harry, it's time to go," Ron said tugging on Harry's sleeve, snapping Harry back to reality.
"Alright!" Harry huffed out, yanking his sleeve out of Ron's hand. Giving Ron only the quickest of looks, Harry glanced back up to look at Daphne one last time, but she had vanished behind the crowd. Harry could feel the anger inside of him simmering, but he held on because he had too. He couldn't afford to lose control and make even more people hate him. A curious expression crossed Ron's face. Harry hardly ever lost his temper like that, and what was he looking at? Ron followed Harry's line of sight, but he didn't see anything unusual. I guess a dark lord being after you will do that, Ron thought, shrugging off the incident. Ron nudged Harry gently, tossing his head in a silent gesture telling Harry they needed to go, before taking off towards the train. Harry grabbed his cart and followed Ron, but believe it or not, just like the Slytherin that caught him staring, Harry wasn't looking forward to going back to Hogwarts. Hogwarts used to be Harry's escape, but now it felt like he was walking into a prison. All because the Dark Lord couldn't leave Harry the fuck alone.
Another year, another threat of death, he thought cynically as he pushed his way through the crowd, attempting to keep pace with his impatient friend. If Ron isn't careful, one day he may push past the wrong person. Harry doubted Daphne was the type to turn the other cheek. To Harry, it seemed like Ron was racing towards the crowds, but Harry had no idea why. It wasn't like their friends were just going to give their seats away.
Ron and Harry made their way through the train, searching for their friends. Harry felt like he should be excited to see his friends, but right now he really just wanted to take a nap. It was one of the few things he felt like doing recently. As they navigated the train, he was actively trying to avoid the glares and looks of pity from those in the hallway, Harry caught a glimpse of Daphne in one of the cabins. He only looked in there, checking for his friends, but before he shifted his gaze, she looked up directly into his eyes, almost as if she had known Harry was there. Her eyebrows arched, as if curious about why the Boy Who Lived might be staring at her. Harry dropped his gaze. Shit, she caught me staring at her. He began to worry a bit, that's twice they'd made eye contact, and he really didn't need another antagonistic Slytherin on his case this year. "Harry! Up here" Ron shouted, gesturing for Harry to come to him. Ron had found their friends while Harry and Daphne were making eye contact. Harry hurried towards Ron, hoping Daphne was the only person who noticed their exchange. "Hey guys," Harry said sliding into the cabin, trying to act as normal as he possibly could.
"Harry! How have you been?" Hermione asked with a hug, pretending for Harry's sake she didn't notice his charade. Neville and Ginny nodded greetings but sat in the corner busily chatting about their summers. Harry made out something about gardens in their chatting.
"As good as it can be with the Dursleys." Harry smiled, he'd still take a dark lord over the Dursleys any day.
"What were you distracted by in the hallway?" Ron asked. Harry panicked a little, What do I say? He thought worriedly. It's not like he could tell one of the biggest Slytherin haters in the school he was staring at Daphne Greengrass.
"Nothing, I just zoned out," he said as nonchalantly as he possibly could. I hope that placates him.
"I do that all the time!" Ron said excitedly, carrying on as Ron does. However, Hermione had her doubting expression on. She obviously wasn't buying Harry's story, but he hoped she thought it had something to do with the sociopathic dark lord after him. I'll worry about that later, Harry thought. His friends started catching up on their summers, but Harry sat unusually quiet. This Voldemort problem does have its benefits, he thought with a cynical chuckle, noticing his friends weren't pressuring him to join in. He was just happy to have squeezed his way out of explaining he was distracted by Daphne Greengrass, the most unforgiving Slytherin in the school. There was a rumor she kept a list of students to mess with throughout the year. However, for some reason, he could not get her eyes out of his head. They were the most beautiful eyes he had ever seen, he regretted not noticing them earlier.
It felt like hours had passed by and Harry was only minimally participating in the conversations with his friends. At some point, however, Hermione decided she wasn't going to Harry sulk all the way to Hogwarts without her interference. Anything to help him, she thought to herself, as she faced Harry, turning her back to the rest of her friends. She just looked at him for a while, trying to formulate the correct sentence to start a conversation he might actually participate in.
"So, did you get to see Padf..." she began, but trailed off when he didn't even turn towards her. Steadying her nerves as well as she could, she began again, this time laying a hand on Harry's shoulder. "Did you get to see Padfoot before we left for Hogwarts?" Harry sighed internally, Hermione may love to read books, but she definitely can't read me.
"Uhh, no, not this time. Dumbledore left me at the Dursley's in the muggle world, the only time I left was to go get my supplies." Hermione was baffled, she had expected the opposite, and was hoping happy memories would cause Harry to cheer up.
"Did you read any good books?" She raised her arms halfway up, giving Harry a half smile. She'd really sucked this conversation up. If only I still had a time turner, she joked in her head. Harry let out a small chuckle, but she knew that this wasn't a happy chuckle, more of a "leave me alone Hermione" chuckle. She move her hand off his shoulder and down, gently setting it on his hand. Harry understood she was only being pushy because she cared, but the truth is: He didn't want to talk to her. He had to do this on his own, it was his job. It had always been his job, ever since Voldemort decided to cast the first killing curse.
"Hermione, I just want to sleep the rest of the way, okay?"
"But we still have hours? How will you sleep tonight?" She looked concerned as she asked.
Harry just gave a smirk, as if enjoying an inside joke he had with himself. "Don't worry Hermione, I think I'll manage." He pulled his hand out from under her's and turned his head back away from her, resting it in a nook between the wall and the seats. Signalling that Harry was done talking to Hermione, whether she liked it or not.