On Holiday
A/N: You know how artists do "art trades" where they each draw a request for the other? Well, I often have trouble getting plot ideas. What I need is a simple request to start me off, and then I can go wild and mix it up all over.
So a friend of mine and a fellow HP fan and fanfiction author (WitchwannaB on Mugglenet) and I decided we'd do a fanfic trade. We'd each give each other a simple request, and then we'd write a fanfic based on that. My request for her was a Draco/Harry fic. She knew that my personal favorite character in Harry Potter was Daphne Greengrass, mentioned in a single sentence ever (she's become my muse and I've given her much more characterization. She's like a canon OC!). So her criteria for me: "A Daphne Greengrass fic, where she gets hit on by Seamus." So - here goes nothing.
coughs this is going to be one hella-long one shot. (And/or first chapter.)
Requirements:
-it must follow the criteria given
-it must begin as a one-shot. It can be continued afterwards if the author wishes.
-the criteria must be in the first chapter (due to rule 2)
-any slash fics must include snogging (Hey, she asked.)
DISCLAIMER: In this chapter, the only HP characters actually mentioned in the book that are in this fanfic are Seamus and Daphne. (Though Daphne is mentioned only once, in one sentence, and only because alphabetically, "Greengrass" is close to "Granger".) Those two belong to J.K. Rowling, but everything other than Daphne's name and Seamus Finnigan are mine! ...yes. Okay. Moving on.
---------------
"Are we there yet?" Daphne Greengrass asked, lazily laying her legs across the backseat of the disgusting small, revoltingly slow, and repulsively ugly Muggle car. They'd been driving for half an hour - she couldn't imagine any mode of Wizard transportation that could take nearly this long to go only this far. Her mother turned and gave Daphne an irritated glare. "Well, I'm sorry, but why are we even going here?"
"I thought you wanted a vacation, Daph," her father said, semi-distracted by trying to work the controls of the car.
Daphne sighed. "Yes! But not some Muggle vacation! I'm going back to Hogwarts in just a few weeks. I don't want to waste time in Muggle-land."
"Daphne, your father and I received a large donation from a Muggle company," Daphne's mother explained slowly and for the fourth time. "This is a business meeting, so that we can hope to acquire more of such generosity in the future."
"A business meeting?" Daphne repeated suspiciously.
"Yes."
"In Ireland."
"...yes, Daphne, that's where their business is located," her now-irritated mother replied.
Daphne sighed again. She hadn't understood why her parents' business had a Muggle branch. They'd given her a reason - but she couldn't remember it and didn't entirely care. All she knew was lately her parents had been traveling around the world to go to various events pertaining to their business - some of which were Wizarding events, but most of which were Muggle-hosted. This was the first time Daphne had been dragged along - and she already had a good idea of what she didn't want to do when she got out of Hogwarts. It ran in her family that they would all be Slytherins - but she was killing early any plans for a tradition of businessmen (and women).
"Let it be said," Daphne announced, coming out of her thoughts, "That I have no intention of ever accompanying you on one of these stupid Muggle trips ever again."
"That's nice, dear," Mr. Greengrass said tiredly.
"And I cannot guarantee that I will be mentally whole after this drive is over," she added.
"What about the drive back?" Mrs. Greengrass asked.
Daphne shrugged, playing with the ends of her hair. "I'll probably become a homicidal psychopath, bent on destruction and demise," she decided. "I'll lose my mind to boredom and start imagining things. Voices in my head will lead me to darkness and I'll spend the remainder of my days in Azkaban."
"I'm sure that's exactly what will happen."
"Are we there yet?"
"So help me, Daphne, if you say that one more time we'll drive you all the way to America. All the way across the Pacific Ocean."
Daphne let out yet another sigh and slumped back in her corner. A moment of silence passed before Daphne stuck her head between the front seats and looked at her mother. "Mum, look, I think my eye's twitching. This ride is giving me spasms."
Daphne's mother responded by pulling out her wand and facing it at Daphne's face. "Silencio." Daphne's eyes grew wide as she slumped back, now silent.
The rest of the ride was quietly pleasant - at least, for her parents.
--
"Eileen?" came a shout. A dark-haired man in a suit came hurrying up to Daphne's mother the moment they stepped foot in the lobby of the tall hotel they'd parked that infernal vehicle next to.
"Ah, Mr. Byrne," Mrs. Greengrass replied pleasantly, shaking the man's hand. "You haven't met my husband or daughter yet, have you?"
"Well, I've spoken to Darren," the man answered, smiling a nod at him, "But never seen him face to face. And I didn't know you had a daughter - you two seemed far too young!"
Mrs. Greengrass' smile grew and she put a flattered hand to her chest. "Why, thank you," she said cheerfully.
Daphne tried her best not to roll her eyes, failing quickly but managing to put on a smile by the time her mother was motioning to her.
"This is my daughter, Daphne."
Mr. Byrne held out his hand. "Well, I can see where you get your good looks from."
Daphne tried her best not to sound sarcastic when she thanked him and shook his hand, then stepped back. Part of her regretted not giving some smartass answer, but another part of her knew that her mother would be furious and just might make true on that drive across the Pacific.
Mr. Byrne handed her father a small plastic card. "This is the key to your room," he said. "You're in 314." He pointed to a nearby elevator. "It's been very nice to meet you."
"Good to see you again, Blair," Mrs. Greengrass nodded and the three walked into the elevator.
The door closed in front of them, and Mr. Greengrass took his daughter by the wrist as the three apparated into their hotel room.
Daphne glanced around the room. "Can I go home now?" she said disdainfully. The walls were ugly, the carpet was ugly, the bed stands were ugly, the curtains were ugly, the lamps were ugly, and the beds were tiny - and ugly.
"No, Daphne. We want to bring you to the dinner tonight," her father said as he charmed the contents of his suitcase into various drawers around the room.
Daphne stared at her father. "I can't stay in this room for that long. Can I at least go out, look around?" she begged.
Her father turned to face her. "Daphne-"
"Pleeeease?" Pleading tone. Puppy eyes. Clasped hands. It was a fail proof scheme.
"Alright. Fine. But...here," he said, taking a small silver gadget out of his pocket and showing it to her. "It's a device Muggles use. It's a portable communication device - it's called a cell phone. I'd show you how it works, but you don't need to know," he said. "Just know that if it starts making noise or ringing, open it - see, it flips open like this - and put it up to the side of your head, like this. See, this end broadcasts noise, and this end records your voice. ...that way you can talk to whoever's calling you. Get it?"
Daphne nodded slowly. "I think so."
"And if you're in a loud area, try to find somewhere quieter," he added. He took a small wallet out of his suitcase, opened it, and pulled a good chunk of Muggle money out of it, as well as some plastic cards. He then handed her the wallet. "Here, it's got Muggle money in it."
"Thank you, daddy!" she said, opening her own suitcase and pulling out a dark green tank top (even in Muggle area, she had to show her Slytherin pride at least a little bit) and some white capris. She hurried into the bathroom - which was ugly, so it went with the rest of the hotel room - and changed, grabbing a black leather purse. She was about to hurry out the door when she stopped and grabbed her wand, then muttered a quick removal of the charm concealing the silver highlights in her brown hair.
--
The city they were in wasn't very big, and Daphne hadn't bothered to learn the name. Even though the city seemed rather industrial, with lots of tall grey buildings and cars and other irritating Muggle city things, there were hills and even some farms just past the city's borders. Daphne had soon learned there was very little of interest in the city, until she found a park at the edge of the city.
It was really just a lake with some benches and a vending machine. The vending machine looked simple enough, but she had no idea what the money in her wallet was worth and didn't want to mess something up. That and she was waiting for someone to come along and use it.
Eventually, though, her thirst got the better of her. She took some of the coins out of the wallet and stood there, comparing the little pictures on the machine to what she held in her hand. She took a deep breath and put a big gold and silver one into the slot. 2 euro. ...crap - that was too many, the drink she wanted was only one. She looked around and found an unlabeled button. She pushed it and the coin fell into a little slot at the bottom. She picked it up again. Okay, that was too many.
Someone laughed behind her. "Not from around here?"
She gasped and whirled around. Standing there with an eyebrow raised was a boy about her age - maybe a year off, she wasn't very good at guessing ages. He had blondish hair - that kind of oh-so-slightly brownish blonde that nobody could agree on a name for but was still definitely blonde. His eyes were clearly and unarguably green, though. Her favorite color. Hey, I have green eyes too, she thought. He tilted his head and she realized she'd forgotten to reply. Whoops.
"Oh. Uh. No, not so much," she stammered. Mouth 1, Brain 0, she thought before turning back to the vending machine. "Which coin gets me soda?" she asked.
He took a step closer, and Daphne blushed. It only lasted a moment, though - one thing Slytherins were good at was covering up emotions. "That one," he said, pointing to a coin she was holding.
Putting the other coins back into the wallet, Daphne quickly regained her composure. "Thanks," she said quickly, pushing the coin into the slot. She stepped back to look at the selection, and bumped right into him. Oh yeah, he was still behind her. "Oh my god, I'm sorry," she said quickly, turning back around to face him. Damn, her face was turning red again.
He laughed. "S'fine," he replied, looking over her. Daphne suddenly realized he was about half a head taller than she was. "Which one you getting? Meself, I prefer the red one."
Daphne nodded, trying to get her face to return to a natural color. He has an Irish accent, she thought quickly before replying. I don't know that I like Ireland, but I do love Irish accents... "Are the green ones any good?" she asked, tilting her head and pointing at a green can in the machine. She had no idea what these Muggle drinks tasted like, she just knew they were sodas (due to the word "SODA" printed on the machine in gigantic letters).
He looked at her. "Why?"
She shrugged. "I like green."
"Yeah, those're good too."
Daphne leaned over and pushed the button with the green can on it, and the machine began making some horrible whirring noises. Daphne was about to turn and ask if that's supposed to happen, when a can clanked out into the hole at the bottom. Guess that IS supposed happen, then, she thought as she bent down to pick it up.
As she stood up again, she realized something. You had to do something special to open these cans, and she had no idea what it was. She'd had Muggle soda a few times before, but every time she'd just magicked the little hole open. She couldn't exactly do that now, not with someone right there. "Er," she said, looking up at him.
He looked surprised, but he grinned. He took the can from her hands, flipped something on the top, and handed it back. "You don't know how to open a soda can?"
"I've never had to before," she said with a shrug, taking a drink. She walked to the nearest bench and sat down, and was pleased to see that he'd followed her.
"Where are you from, anyway?"
She caught herself before she named any Wizarding locations. "Er, London."
"They don't open soda cans in London?" he said, raising an eyebrow.
I wish I could do that, Daphne thought. I can only raise both eyebrows. Not just one. Dad can raise one...maybe I'll ask him how someti-
"Hello?"
"Oh! Sorry. I just took a long car trip up here, and I'm not so good with long car trips. Or any car trips. I don't like cars. So...I'm a bit out of it now."
"You didn't answer me question," he reminded her.
Daphne paused a moment to remember what he'd asked. "Right. Well, I don't usually drink soda. I made an exception today because I'd been staring at a lake."
He watched her questioningly.
"Well, when watching large bodies of water, one of two things will happen. You'll either become incredibly thirsty, or you'll instantly have to use the bathroom."
He laughed. "Never thought of that," he said. "Lived most of me life with water somewhere nearby. Guess I'm used to it."
Daphne smiled, then a thought struck her. "What's your name?" she asked suddenly.
"Seamus. You?"
At that moment, she was interrupted by metallic music coming from her pocket. It took her only a second to realize it was the cell phone her father had given her. She pulled it out of her pocket and almost dropped it. She caught it and fumbled to flip it open. She finally did, and the music stopped. Still a bit startled, she held it up to the side of her head only to realize a split second later it was upside down.
"Er. Dad?" she said, finally having it properly aligned to her ear and hoping she was using it right.
"Daph, time to come home now," the phone announced in her father's voice.
"Dad, I just left ten minutes ago."
"It's time to get ready. The dinner starts earlier than I thought."
"Alright. Fine."
"Goodbye.
"Bye."
There was a pause.
"Just shut the phone, Daph."
"...Right. Knew that. Bye."
"Bye."
Daphne flipped the phone shut and tucked it back into her pocket, then noticed Seamus watching her. "What?"
"You can work a cell phone, but you can't open a soda can."
Daphne stuck out her tongue. "That was my dad, I have to head back to the hotel now," she explained, standing up.
Seamus stood too. "You know the way?"
Daphne frowned. "Um." She glanced up at him. "Not exactly."
"Do you know the name of the place you're staying at?" he asked.
"High...something."
"Is it nearby?"
Daphne thought a moment, feeling a bit stupid for not remembering where she was staying. "Yeah."
"High Rock Hotel?"
Daphne grinned. "Yeah! That's it!" She remembered, now, scoffing to her mother at the hotel's odd name.
"I know where that is. Only a few blocks away. I could take you," Seamus offered.
"Oh, thank god," Daphne sighed.
Seamus headed back towards the city, and Daphne followed. It had always intrigued her to think about a tiny detail or coincidence that threw off or changed an entire sequence of events. For instance, just now - had she not decided to buy a soda, she wasn't sure if Seamus would still have come to talk to her. Or if she hadn't come by this park, if she'd just turned left on a street where she turned right - it was all the same to her, random chance - she'd have gotten lost and wouldn't have some cute Irish boy to save her. She smiled to herself. She hadn't really noted it before, though clearly she'd just thought it - so she'd obviously registered it and just hadn't actually thought about it. But he was cute...and he had an Irish accent.
Not expecting him to talk, Daphne started when he asked, "So why're you in Ireland?"
"Business." She paused, then laughed. "Ah, not mine. My parents. They're here on a business...thing, and they took me along."
"Against your will, it sounds."
Daphne huffed. "I don't like cars."
"So that's why you're heading back to the hotel now? Business thing?"
Daphne nodded, which was pointless since she was walking behind Seamus and he couldn't see her. "Yeah. They're having some sort of dinner and they want to show me off. Or show us off. It's probably a sort of 'Look, we're great business owners and we have a daughter! Look how pleasant she is!'"
Seamus nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I know what you mean. Me dad's dragged me on a few of his trips." He rolled his eyes. "Long car rides. You'd hate it."
Daphne laughed. "I'd go insane," she agreed.
The two stopped in front of the hotel building. "We're here," Seamus said.
Disappointed, Daphne stared at the sign. The walk had gone faster than she'd hoped. "...oh."
There was a lull in the conversation before Seamus looked back at her. "When does the dinner get out?"
"Oh, uh...eight...ish? I wasn't listening. I didn't think I'd have any good reason for knowing." She sighed. Curse me and my attention span, she chided internally. "But I think it's sometime around eight. Maybe eight-thirty."
"Well, if you want, we could meet back up afterwards. At the park, if you remember how to get there."
She wasn't sure she did, but she didn't plan to let that stop her. "Yeah, we should do that," she agreed.
"See you somewhere around eight," Seamus said with a smile, turning to leave.
"Wait," Daphne said as something occurred to her. Seamus stopped and turned back. "My name's Daphne. Didn't get to say that earlier," she explained, opening the front door and hurrying in.
--
"Daphne, sit up straight," Mrs. Greengrass hissed.
Daphne complied, rolling her eyes. "But mum," she whispered back, "That implies that I care what this old man is talking about."
It turned out the owner of the company they were visiting was holding the dinner in his overly-fancy mansion's backyard (which, like his house, was too large). There were tables set up al around the area, surrounded by cheap plastic lawn chairs, and a buffet sat covered by large royal blue sheets off to the side.
The host had begun a speech of welcome fifteen minutes ago, and had yet to cease talking. Daphne wondered if any potential business partners would turn down any prospect of the two companies forming any sort of anything, for fear of having their ears talked off by a man who reminded Daphne of what she imagined a 75-year-old Leprechaun would look like.
Daphne sighed, playing with the end of her skirt. Her mother had insisted she change into something more pleasant, so she now wore a dark green knee-length skirt with a ruffled hem, and a black sleeveless sweater.
Upon her return to the hotel, she'd been greeted with a cry of shock. "Daphne, your hair!" her mother had objected upon realizing Daphne had revealed her silver streaks. "For goodness sake, now I have to hide them again. Where's my wand? I won't have my daughter looking like this at such an important event."
So now her hair was, once more, a solid brown again. Despite what most people assumed, she didn't use a charm to make her streaks appear. Rather, she had bought a potion that made the streaks grow into her hair. Instead of using a charm to create the streaks, she used a charm to hide them. She'd have to remember to remove the charm before she went to meet Seamus again.
"I won't have you acting rude and obnoxious here, Daphne," her mother threatened quietly. "You'll lose privileges."
"I'm sitting up!" Daphne complained, staying hushed not out of respect for the speaker, but out of fear of her mother's punishments.
The speech ended just then, and the yard was filled with applause.
"Do we get to eat now?" Daphne asked, beginning to stand.
Mrs. Greengrass let out a tortured sigh. "Yes, Daphne, we can eat now."
Daphne let out a small cheer and hurried over to the buffet table, the sheets now removed, and was back at the table with a full plate in a matter of moments. She busied herself with her mashed potatoes, trying to make sure that nobody would come and try to talk to her.
"So, you're Eileen and Darren's daughter, right?" someone asked in an overly-nice voice.
Daphne closed her eyes and counted to five in her head, then looked up to see an incredibly overweight woman in her fifties sitting across from her and wearing more makeup than should be physically or legally possible.
She opened her mouth to say something sarcastic, and then vaguely recalled her parents emphasizing the importance of being nice to potential business partners. "Er. Yes. That'd be me."
The woman let out a laugh. "Oh, your parents are just the nicest people. Your father's simply hilarious, I'm sure you're so lucky to have someone like him. Kept me in stitches the whole time I was talking to him when we last spoke."
Daphne gave what she hoped was a pleasant smile, or at least a cleverly disguised grimace. "Oh, so you've spoken to him before?
"Oh! Yes, yes, yes! I haven't mentioned it, have I? I'm in charge of the branch your parents are here about." She leaned forward and looked very pleased with herself. "I know what you are, you see, your family. My husband's brother was one, too. So your parents thought I would do well to be in charge of the branch with, ah, we normal people."
Daphne raised her eyebrows. "Normal people?"
The woman gasped. "Oh, dearie, I'm not trying to say you're abnormal! I mean that you have talents that we don't." She shook her head. "That was the wrong thing to say."
"Yeah, it was," Daphne agreed, her irritation beginning to show.
"Ah, well, I must be going. Much work to do, all in a day's work! Ta!" she stood and hurried away, and Daphne shook her head. At least she REALIZED she'd said something stupid, she thought with a sigh.
The next hour and a half stretched on horribly, with Daphne trying her hardest not to be rude to her parents' employees and her parents occasionally stopping in and checking on her sanity levels.
"Dad, what time is it?" she asked, the next time her father stopped by to check in.
"Oh, about that time."
"Dad, what time is it?" she repeated.
"Time for you to get a watch."
"Dad…"
He smiled. "Sorry. It's about eight."
Daphne managed to catch herself and switch to a desperately bored look instead of a frantic one. "Dad, I've been here for almost two hours. I have tolerated your Muggle employees, despite the fact that they are, in majority, rather obnoxious. This I have done for you. Now I ask you a favor. Please, let me go back to the hotel. I can fake a headache. Say I wasn't feeling well. I had homework. Something, just please let me go back." She brought back her puppy eyes. "Please, daddy? I didn't get to finish my walk."
"…I don't know, Daph. I- well, I suppose we can say you were feeling a bit under the weather. I'll drive you back."
"Thank you!" she said, throwing her arms around him, then pulling back into a fake coughing fit.
Her father apologized to the host and promised to return shortly, then drove a rather thankful Daphne back to the hotel.
"Take the cell phone," he reminded her as her leather purse appeared by her side. "It's in there."
Daphne grinned. "Thank you, daddy. Oh! Wait, could you…" she pointed to her hair, and her father nodded. With a flick of his wand, the silver streaks returned to her hair. She waved as he drove off, then instantly started hurrying towards the park - walking as fast as she could without breaking her ankle in her heels.
--
"Seamus!" Daphne called, waving from behind him. He'd been sitting at the bench, watching some ducks do nothing in particular.
"Oh, thank god," he said, turning to face her. "There is absolutely nothing to do here alone."
She grinned, sitting next to him. "I'm sorry I took so long. It was hell there."
"What time did it end?"
"I don't know. I had to leave early to save my own sanity." She shook her head, smiling. "I think they found the most irritating people in all of Great Britain and put them in one yard, then told them all to try and talk to me."
"Try?" Seamus raised an eyebrow again. "Don't like talking to people?"
Daphne nodded slightly, retying a thin bow on her skirt that had come undone. "I don't like to talk to strangers."
"What about me?" Seamus asked.
He had a point. She hadn't tried to blow him off like she usually would. She hadn't given some sarcastic retort and ignored him. Normally - even under the circumstances - she'd have avoided asking for help and just continued trying coin after coin until she figured it out. "I don't know," she admitted.
After that, they just talked. It wasn't small talk, it just didn't have much direction. Eventually they ran out of things to talk about, so Daphne stared at the lake. It was reflecting the very beginnings of a sunset, and looked very pretty reflecting the sort of purple-blue sky. She was sorely tempted to go swimming in it, even though she knew it would probably be freezing. But she could still go, at least wade in if she took off her shoes. Oh, but wait, she was wearing a skirt, so she-
"Do you have a boyfriend?" Seamus asked suddenly, cutting off her thoughts.
"What!"
He shook his head. "Sorry. Dumb question."
"No! Ah…no. No, I don't." She replied intelligently. Geez. Think I said "no" enough times..? "Er, why?"
"Because if you don't," he said, "I can do this."
He leaned forward and their lips met. Daphne quickly suppressed a gasp.
So she did the logical thing to do when being kissed by a cute Irish boy would do. She kissed him back.
They pulled away, and there was a silence for a moment. Leaning back and watching the sunset, Daphne commented, "Right now, I'm glad I don't have a boyfriend." She turned to look at him. "I'm going to assume you don't have a girlfriend, then."
Seamus looked surprised. "What? Oh, er, yeah, I do, actually."
Daphne's eyes widened. "Excuse me?" She faltered, then stopped as she watched a grin spread across his face. He began laughing. He'd been joking. She scowled and slapped him playfully on the arm. "I should-- throw you in the lake for that."
That was a close save… She had been half a second away from saying she'd hex him. Rule number one - no Wizarding slang in the Muggle world. But speaking of throwing people in lakes, the sunset was making it sparkle beautifully. She was once more tempted to swim, but still. The skirt. Her evil hindrance. She stood up.
"What?" Seamus asked, watching her.
Right, She'd forgotten to change the subject. "The lake looks pretty," she said, walking towards it.
She didn't see Seamus' face, but she heard him stand up as well. "It looks like a lake."
"A pretty one." She stepped into the water and my shoe sunk down into the mud. When she pulled it back up, her foot slipped out of the sandal. Daphne sighed, reaching down and tugging her shoe from the lake bottom. Most things slimy disgusted her, but lake bottoms were just fine. It was most likely her love of water - slimy mud meant she was wading in a lake. Wading in a lake meant happiness. She rinsed her shoe off in the water and removed her other one, setting them off to the side.
"You're going wading?" he asked incredulously.
She turned around. "Why not?"
He blinked. "I don't know…it's just…the lake isn't cold?"
"I'll get used to it." She stepped into the lake and her toes sunk down into the slime. Seamus was right, it was cold, but in a sort of nice way.
Seamus shook his head and sat back down on the bench.
"What, you're not joining me?" Daphne asked with a pout, turning back.
He snorted. "Of course not. I actually care about me health." Daphne grinned at this little reminder of his ever-present Irish accent.
"Water is healthy!"
"Pneumonia isn't."
She made a face and waded in deeper. It was freezing.
"You going to be smart and come back out now?" he asked, daring her to give up.
Well if I was before, I'm sure not going to now, Daphne thought with a sigh. She was horrible with that kind of thing. Reverse psychology was her biggest weakness.
"No," she said simply, reaching down and running my fingers through the water.
He sighed, leaning back. "You're going to freeze," he taunted.
Daphne laughed. "What, you don't like water?"
"I don't like wading in it when it must be two degrees."
"You're just scared," she taunted, feeling especially mature.
He rolled his eyes. "I'm just warm and comfortable. Much more so than you."
She glared. The cogs in her brain were turning, and she had an idea. She stomped out of the water.
"Finally saw me point?" he asked. She didn't reply, just grabbed his wrist and pulled him up and towards the lake. He must have been too warm and comfortable to react, because he didn't realize what she was doing for a moment. A moment was enough to get him to the edge of the lake.
"Wait, no!" he said, finally realizing her scheme.
"It took you that long to figure out I was trying to drag you into a lake?" she asked, raising her eyebrows - both of them - and laughing.
"I was too busy feeling victorious that I got you out of the lake," he said.
"Celebrating a bit early."
"I don't think so." He turned his hand around and where Daphne had his wrist, he grabbed hers. He took a few steps back and tugged her wrist, and she stumbled towards him and away from the lake, falling into him. He quickly caught her.
Which meant she was now leaning against him. Leaning against the cute Irish boy. And he- No, Daphne. Turn your brain back on. You're still using it, Daphne thought distantly. It took her too long, though, because she forgot to object until she was sitting on the bench.
"Hey!" She said as he set her shoes in front of her.
"Your reaction time was even longer."
"Shut up." She was tempted to run right back into the lake, just to prove a point, but the mature part of her brain was reminding her that the whole argument was too stupid, and the logical part was reminding her just how cold that lake was at sunset. She shivered.
"Ha!"
"What?"
"You are cold!"
Daphne glared at Seamus. "I am not!" A small breeze blew by, cooling her already-numbing toes. "Maybe a bit."
He rolled his eyes, but then both of their attentions were drawn to the little tune coming from Daphne's purse. She sighed. Not again. She grabbed the phone out of the bag and flipped it open. "What?" She asked, clenching my teeth so they wouldn't chatter.
"What do you mean, what? It's nine thirty, Daph."
Daphne paused. Really? Had they wasted that much time? "Oh."
"Yes. Time to head back."
"Well, uh, I'll be home in a few minutes," Daphne said quickly, trying to think of an excuse. "I'm going to walk home."
"From where?"
"Oh, I'm not sure," Daphne lied, glancing behind her. "Somewhere across town."
"Daph, I can pick you up."
"No! It's fine! I don't want to go in that stupid car again," she insisted. "I'll walk home, it's fine. I'll be home soon."
"Do you even know the way?" came a suspicious voice. Dad knew all about my horrible sense of direction.
"Er. Yes."
"Really?"
"Yes. Definitely no ride."
A pause. "…It wouldn't be any trouble, Daph."
"Goodbye, Dad!" Daphne said, snapping the phone shut and smiling at Seamus.
Seamus raised an eyebrow. "You're not exactly across town, Daphne," he noted.
"Oh, I know, I'm just buying time."
"Why?"
"Because I really want to do this," she said, standing up and running full speed into the lake. As soon as it got above her knees, she raised her hands above her head and jumped into the water. She let out a small squeal underwater at the iciness of the water, but she grinned as soon as her head broke the surface. She was freezing and the sudden cold had made her lose her breath, but she beamed as she fell backwards again and floated in the lake.
She must not have been thinking about it right earlier. Sure she could swim in a white skirt. It flowed because it had three or four layers, so you couldn't really see through it when it was wet, and as long as she didn't try anything that involved kicking too far.
She looked back to see Seamus staring at her in disbelief. "Are you insane?" He called. Daphne giggled. Really, leaping into the water and going under were all she wanted to do- she was done now. She waded back, dripping ice-cold water from head to toe.
A breeze blew by, chilling Daphne as she sat on the bench. "Now I'm cold," she complained.
Seamus rolled his eyes. "Yes, it's as if you just leapt into an ice-cold lake."
Daphne curled up into a ball and pouted at Seamus. "I like the water!" she defended. "And it's colder out here. Maybe I'll just go back into the lake."
Seamus laughed. "I don't think so."
"Then warm me up!" Daphne dared.
"Maybe I will," Seamus replied, his tone not so much sarcastic, as Daphne would've expected, but softer. He took his jacket off and draped it around her shoulders, then sat next to her and placed an arm around her shoulders.
Daphne smiled and leaned against him. Alright- yes, she was cold, but maybe she was using the situation a little bit to her advantage to get closer to Seamus. But isn't that what Slytherins do? she thought. Go after what they want?
She grinned to herself. Well then, on the topic of going after what she wanted… "Hey, Seamus," she whispered, sitting up so she could turn her head to face his.
"What?"
She leaned forward and again their lips met. She lifted her hands up and wrapped her arms around his neck as he returned the kiss. The kiss deepened as she leaned into him...
And just at that moment, her cell phone rang. Daphne managed to ignore it for a second, but finally she had to answer it. "What!" she snapped, not bothering to hide her irritation. Was this damn thing going to ruin every moment she had?
"Daph, just checking in to see how close you are." Her father's voice sounded a bit surprised by her reaction.
"Right." Daphne softened her tone. "Yeah, I'm...almost there."
"Alright, bye, Daph. Oh! You'll need to know the room number, won't you? Alright, we're on the third floor, room 302. The first one on the left when you come off the ele-" Here there was a short pause as he had to confirm the Muggle term. "The elevator."
"Okay. See you in a few," Daphne said halfheartedly, closing the phone. She turned to Seamus. "I really do need to go now," she admitted.
Seamus nodded understandingly. "It's been a while since he first called. Need me to walk you home again?"
Not really, I know the way now. But... you know, maybe I might mess up. I might take a wrong turn somewhere! Better safe than sorry, right? I suppose I'll just have to have him walk me home! Daphne reasoned mentally. "Sure." The two stood and began the walk to the hotel.
"So," Seamus began, attempting small talk after the awkward interruption. "What's your favorite movie?"
Daphne faltered. What was a Muggle movie? She knew what they were, but she couldn't for the life of her think of any. She didn't really care. "Oh, I don't really watch movies all that often."
Seamus nodded. "Theaters in London too expensive?"
Daphne smiled to herself as she nodded. "Yeah, I save my money for more important things, usually."
"Like what?"
"Like clothes."
Seamus started laughing, and Daphne shot him a fake-scowl. "Hey! Clothes are important!" she declared indignantly.
"Are they all green?" he asked, still grinning.
Daphne glanced at him. "Well, yeah, mostly, why?"
"Because all of the outfits I've seen you wear today have been green or something that goes with green."
"Well, it's my favorite color! Leave me alone!"
"What, and make you walk back alone? Never! Chivalry and tradition aren't dead in Ireland, lass."
Gah! He's doing it again! Daphne thought. She paused internally. Doing what again? He's...being all Irish again! She let out a laugh to hide the fact that she was absolutely having a (rather unintelligent) conversation with herself. "Lass?" she asked, raising her eyebrows. ((A/N: Both of them, because she can't raise only one! ))
Seamus nodded, smiling. "Yes, lass. What, does nobody speak like an Irishman in London?"
"No, see, they're in London," Daphne replied, "So they speak like Londoners." Every time she remembered to say she was from London, even when she wasn't the one to bring it up first, she felt a bit proud of herself. "I suppose an Irishman in London would speak like an Irishman." She laughed at the odd turn the conversation had taken.
Seamus laughed as well. "Well, we're here," he announced, stopping in front of the hotel.
Daphne shot the hotel a look, as if blaming its nearby location for the conversation being cut short. Though she realized she actually had needed Seamus to walk her back - it was dark, and she'd have walked right by the hotel without recognizing it. "Aw. Well, thanks for the escort," she said.
"Goodnight," he nodded, turning to leave.
He made it a few steps before Daphne called after him. "Wait!" He turned around, and she took the steps necessary to catch up to him again. She smiled. "I don't know about chivalry, but we haven't forgotten tradition in London. And especially after helping me find my way back home," she said slyly, wrapping her arms around his neck again, "You're not leaving without your goodnight kiss."
Seamus grinned. "Gotta love tradition," he declared as he leaned forward to meet his lips with Daphne's. He placed one hand at the small of her back, pulling her towards him, and the other behind her head. Daphne parted her lips slightly, then stopped suddenly, standing back. Seamus blinked. "What?"
Daphne pulled out her cell phone and hit the power button on the side, turning the small thing off and then tucking it back where it belonged. She stepped forward again. "Alright, resume," she whispered as she leaned against him again.
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A/N: To clarify, I have some serious problems writing kiss scenes. My brain goes, "Well, it's been fun, I have to...uh...do something over there." So expect fades to black and irritating interruptions. Ahaha, this will probably drive Daphne crazy (and probably readers too ;;) and I'll have to overcome it at some point during this fic, so don't be surprised if any more romance is interrupted. Yet I promise that you WILL get some smooching. At some point. Seriously. Just know that at the end of THIS chapter its just an innocent kiss. ...you know, innocent in that there is no groping or anything. I can't promise you any innocence tonguewise, it IS Daphne ;;
So. REVIEW! Make a poor author happy, leave a comment. I'm not going to hold my fic hostage - I mean, I'm writing this largely for me, so while it WILL probably inspire me to write faster, or something. I've actually already done a little bit of work on Chapter 2, and unlike in most fanfics I've written, I actually HAVE AN IDEA OF WHERE THIS IS GOING! Gasp!
A final note? Let me know if Daph gets too Mary-Sue. I try to keep it under control but it's hard! TT