A/n: This is a birthday fic, written for a friend, (tetecia) who does a lot of prereading for me, so I was happy to write her something, though it is a couple of weeks late. This was her prompt: Fourth year, during the GoF fiasco, when he's still being shunned by basically everybody but Hermione and Ron. Prefer if it's when he's back with Ron, that he still feels burned by him and doesn't trust him like he once did because Ron's prig and doesn't deserve Harry's trust and at that point. This is my attempt to oblige, and I hope you enjoy. :) Also, thanks to my betas/prereaders - Lady Eve and skyla2010star!
Disillusioned
Harry had been staring at the same page in his book for the last five minutes. Hermione gently nudged him with her foot under the table. He looked up just in time to see another student walk by with one of those bloody 'Potter Stinks' badges on. He slammed the library book shut, leaving it on the table as he grabbed his stuff and walked out. He heard his friends scrambling after him. They didn't reach him until he was halfway down the hallway. He had been so furious he'd been nearly running out of the library. With his head start added, even Ron - several inches taller - had struggled to catch up to him.
"Harry, wait!" Hermione yelled.
"Mate, what's wrong?" Ron said, reaching him before Hermione, who was still struggling to keep up. The redhead reached over and put a hand on his shoulder to stop him.
Harry shrugged off Ron's arm. "Nothing," he said, a curt tone to his voice.
Hermione had caught up by now. "I wish you wouldn't let those stupid badges get to you," she said.
"She's right. Malfoy just created them to get a rise out of you," Ron added.
"Well, it worked," Harry said, stopping as he turned around to face them. "The whole fucking school hates me."
"That's not true," Hermione said.
"Yes, it is, and you know it," he said. "Outside of Gryffindor House, how many students actually think I should be here? I don't even think I should be here. It's not my fault, contrary to what some people might think." Harry hadn't meant for the words to come out the way they had, but he couldn't take them back now that he had said them. Ron averted his gaze. Good, he thought to himself. He shouldn't feel happy that Ron was ashamed of how he acted, but he should be. Of everyone, his best friend should know better. No, Ron had been jealous. As if Harry wanted any of this!
Neither of his friends responded to that comment. He wasn't sure why he was saying all this stuff now. Maybe it was the past month of having everyone hate him - including Ron - that had started to wear on him. "Malfoy and the rest of the Slytherins are leading all of it, and I am getting sick of it!"
Hermione had been about to respond when another voice spoke up. "You know, not all Slytherins are like Draco Malfoy." The voice was female, but he didn't recognize it. Turning, he saw a blonde girl a few inches shorter than him. She was a Slytherin. He remembered seeing her with Pansy Parkinson's group, though he couldn't remember her name off the top of his head.
"Who are you?" Ron asked, his eyes narrowed in suspicion.
"Daphne Greengrass," she said, pushing a long, sheet of blonde hair off her shoulders. Her eyes were fixed on Harry, though. "I meant what I said. We're not all like him and Pansy Parkinson."
"Aren't you friends with her?" Hermione asked, crossing her arms over her chest.
Daphne turned to Hermione and smiled. "Yes, with both of them, actually," she said. "That doesn't mean that I believe in everything they do, or that I think that they're perfect and without fault. Do you think that about these two?" She motioned towards Harry and Ron, and Hermione couldn't respond. "I told Draco not to make those stupid badges, but he never listens to anyone but himself. Of course, with Pansy egging him on it doesn't matter anyway." She shrugged and turned back to Harry. "Remember what I said." With that, she turned and walked off towards the library.
"What was that all about?" Ron asked.
"I don't know," Hermione said. "Don't worry about her."
"Slytherins, she's bound to be up to something," Ron said. "They all are."
Harry nodded, agreeing almost without hesitation. He wasn't so sure, though. She had seemed sincere, and unlike Malfoy and Parkinson, she had never been one to outright bully them. What was she up to, though? It wasn't like she had never tried to talk to them in the past. Why now, just because he bitched about Slytherins? They always did that. Shrugging, he followed Ron and Hermione back down the hall and towards Gryffindor Tower.
~*o*x*o*x*o*x*o*x~
Harry told himself that he didn't care what Daphne Greengrass had told him. Ron was right; she was bound to be up to something. It didn't matter. That's what he told himself. He also told himself that it didn't matter what she said or did, but he just found the whole situation strange. For one thing, they didn't know her. He'd seen her around, of course. It was hard not to when you were in the same year, and had classes together every week. They always saw her with Pansy Parkinson, sneering and giggling about whatever it was that they talked about. He hadn't even known her name, though. She was just one of Parkinson's Gang.
Now, he could put a name to a face, but that didn't mean that he knew her nor she him.
That brought up that random run-in after they left the library. She had just come up to them and said that they weren't all alike. However, had she done anything to show that she was different? No. She had sneered and giggled right along with Parkinson, going along with anything she did. She had never stopped her from saying anything, or even tried to say anything against what she did. In fact, if memory served, Greengrass was always right behind her, as if she loved the horrible things that Parkinson did, specifically to Hermione. She always laughed along with everything.
By the time Harry got into potions class Monday afternoon, he was seething with anger at Greengrass. What gave her the right? Ron was right; she was probably just planning something. He wouldn't be surprised if it was all Parkinson's idea, or Malfoy's. She admitted to being good friends with him. Sometimes he just got so sick of all the inter-house drama, but there were reasons for everything. The Slytherins had done absolutely nothing to prove that they didn't deserve the hate that they received. At least not in Harry's opinion. He couldn't think of one redeeming thing.
He sat at his usual table in the back of the class with Ron and Hermione. In the next row, in the middle table, were Daphne Greengrass, Pansy Parkinson and another girl whose name Harry didn't know. They were laughing and giggling about something, and it only served to annoy Harry more. Don't let it bother you, he told himself, though the voice sounded strangely like Hermione's.
At that moment, Parkinson turned over, looking straight at Hermione. Snape was at the front of the class, explaining the potion of the day. He didn't seem to notice what Parkinson was doing. She turned back to Greengrass and the other girl, hiding her mouth with her face as she talked. They started giggling, and Snape turned towards them. Immediately, they snapped back into place as if they hadn't been doing anything at all. Snape said nothing, and they class went on. Hermione, meanwhile, kept her head held high as if she hadn't noticed the Slytherin girls gossiping about her.
It all just angered Harry, though. What a fucking hypocrite! She had something up her sleeve, Greengrass did. That was the only explanation. Maybe she was just trying to put him into a false sense of security so that Parkinson or Malfoy could do something horrible and humiliating to them. That was what it was, and it angered him even more that she had gotten to him. Greengrass had gotten to him, and for a moment - for one solitary moment - he may have actually wanted to believe her.
Never again, though, and if he ever caught her alone again, he was going to give her an earful.
~*o*x*o*x*o*x*o*x~
That weekend, Harry, Ron, and Hermione were spending time in the library. He had not thought once about Daphne Greengrass or what she had said. At least that's what he told himself. In truth, he thought a lot about how for one split second he had actually wanted to believe her. Why was that? It made no sense. Surely after Ron abandoned him for a time, he would know better than to trust too easily. Obviously, that was his problem. Had that been what she was trying to do? Show everyone that he was a fool that trusted too easily? Maybe, but that didn't matter anymore.
He studied for a couple of hours with his two best friends when Hermione said she wanted to take the books back to the Common Room; she had found what she needed. Ron was glad to have the opportunity to get out of there. He was about to agree with them and shut the book he had been using for his upcoming Charms essay when Daphne Greengrass walked in with one of her friends, whose name he didn't know. They exchanged words, and then the friend went off to a table while Daphne disappeared into the bookshelves to presumably find a book.
"Harry?" Ron asked. "You alright, mate?"
"You kind of blanked there for a second," Hermione said, a look of concern crossing her face. She looked around a bit, to see what he might be looking at, but she couldn't see Daphne anymore.
"I'm fine," he said quickly. "I'll be there in a bt."
A look of confusion crossed their faces, but they both shrugged. "Okay, see you later, then," Ron said before he and Hermione checked out their books and then headed back towards the Common Room. Harry watched them, waiting until he was sure they were gone before getting his book and headed back into the shelves. This might be his only chance to get her alone and give her a piece of his mind, something he had been aching to do since seeing her giggling about Hermione during Potions class.
It only took a minute or two to find her. Looking around, there seemed to be no around. "You're a hypocrite, you know that," he said.
Daphne gave a slight jump, dropping the book in her hand before she turned. "Oh, it's just you," she said. "You startled me. What did you say?"
Her nonchalance attitude annoyed him even more, and he could feel himself getting even angrier than he already had been. "You're a fucking hypocrite. That's what I said."
She looked a little shocked now, slowly bending down to pick up her book. "Excuse me?"
Now, she was playing dumb. What was her problem? "You heard me," he said, his hand clenching into fists as he struggled to get his temper under control. "You give that whole speech about how 'we're not all like Draco Malfoy and Pansy Parkinson', and then you put on that show in Potions class." She opened her mouth to say something, but he cut her off. "I saw you. Pansy said something about Hermione behind her back, and then the three of you started giggling."
"Well, I was just -" she started to say, but Harry cut her off again.
"No," he said. "You are a fucking hypocrite." He said the words slowly to make his point. There was a look on her face somewhere between shock and hurt. He couldn't believe that she was truly hurt, not after what he had seen. "You said you're not like them, but then you giggle right along with them about someone else behind their back. Maybe you didn't start that conversation, but going along with it makes you must as bad as they are." With that, he turned and walked off.
Daphne had looked honestly hurt by the time he had finished his little speech, and Harry couldn't help it if he felt a little bit glad by that. That's what she deserved. Hermione was his best friend, and she had always stood by him. No one deserved that, especially Hermione. It annoyed him even more that he had, for a split second, wanted to believe that they weren't all like Malfoy and Parkinson. Daphne's little display in Potions class with her Slytherin friends proved him wrong. He would not be making that mistake again.
~*o*x*o*x*o*x*o*x~
Harry was glad to put this whole fiasco behind him. He felt much better after that and didn't think about it at all the next day. By Potions class next Monday, he felt that he was completely behind it. He sat the same table he always did with Ron and Hermione, and they prepared for the day's lesson. That was when Pansy Parkinson and her friends walked in. He wasn't paying attention, really, until Ron elbowed him. "Hey, mate, is this yours?" His redhead friend said, pointing to a piece of parchment on the floor behind him.
Harry's brows furrowed in confusion, and he bent down to pick it up. Opening it out of curiosity, he saw an unfamiliar neat scrawl on it. Scanning it, he quickly saw that it was from Daphne. What is she doing? He asked. He didn't have time to read it, so he quickly wiped all expression from his face. "Yes, it's mine," he responded, quickly shoving her note in his bag. Ron didn't seem to think anything of it and turned back to the front of the class as Snape started the class.
Harry was distracted throughout the rest of the day, thinking about what she could possibly have to say to him. He didn't have to chance to look at it again until before dinner. He and Ron went to put their bags in their dorm. "I'll follow along in a second, okay, Ron?" he asked.
Ron looked a little confused but shrugged. "Okay, see you at dinner," he said.
Harry watched the redhead leave the room, and waited to hear his footsteps die away before reaching into his bag. I should just destroy this, he thought to himself. He wasn't about to be fooled twice by the same girl. He held the letter in his hands and grabbed his wand. Touching the tip to the parchment, he opened his mouth to utter the spell. Nothing happened. No words came out of his mouth. He put his wand away, and opened up the parchment, reading the words on the page.
Harry,
I've thought a lot about what you said to me in the library on Saturday. I'm sorry. You're right; I am a hypocrite. I'd like to talk to you and apologize to you in person if you'll let me. I feel like I need to say this to your face and not just in a letter. Please, meet me after dinner tonight outside the library if you want to.
I'll understand if you don't want to come, so if you don't show, I'll know why. I wouldn't blame you.
I hope you do, though.
- Daphne
Harry stared at the words on the parchment for a few minutes, not believing what he was seeing. This had to be another trap. It couldn't be possible that she was really sorry. Besides, what he did he care? She had proved who she was. Why should he care if she wanted to lie to him again? She had proved she couldn't be trusted by talking about Hermione behind her back. However, and the thought wouldn't go away, what if she wasn't lying?
Harry held the parchment tightly in his hand and wanted to crumple it up and throw it away. Instead, he put it in his trunk and went down to meet Ron and Hermione for dinner.
~*o*x*o*x*o*x*o*x~
Harry waved off Ron and Hermione's comments when he met them downstairs, giving them an excuse as to why he had been late. They seemed to buy it, and things went back to normal. He told himself all throughout dinner that he was not going to meet her later. He had no reason to go. He didn't care what she had to say. She was going to lie to him again, and he would end up making a fool of himself. He was not going to go.
Nonetheless, after dinner, Harry told Ron and Hermione wanted to go for a walk. When they asked to join, he waved them off and said he wanted some alone time. They looked confused, but they parted ways. He headed towards the library. About halfway there, he turned and started heading for the Gryffindor Common Room. He was being an idiot! He couldn't explain why, but for some reason, he couldn't get Daphne's letter out of his mind.
Harry was halfway back to Gryffindor Tower when he turned around again and headed towards the library. When he approached, he saw Daphne's slim form standing near the doors. She was wringing her hands together and didn't noticed him at first. He walked towards her, and then she looked up, a look of shock crossing her face as she saw him. "I didn't think you would show," she said, and he saw a hint of nervousness there.
"Neither did I," he said. "So, what do you have to say? I don't have all night." He crossed his arms over his chest.
"Okay, okay, come on," she said, leading him a bit farther down the corridor, so they were not so close to the library. "I wanted to apologize in person, so I am. I'm sorry, truly sincerely sorry. You're right. I am a hypocrite." Harry had been about to open his mouth to say something, but having her agree that she was a hypocrite was not what he had expected her to say. He just expected her to apologize, and then let that be the end of it.
"I didn't realize it until you said something, and I told myself when you called me a hypocrite that I wasn't," she said, "but the more I thought about it… you're right. I am. I meant what I said to you that day. I'm really not like them. It's just… They hold so much power in Slytherin House, you have no idea. Draco Malfoy is basically the Slytherin Prince. Even the older years don't go against him, and Pansy is right up there with him. If you go against her, she complains to Draco, and… well, you see where I'm going with this."
He did, as much as he hated to admit it. However, Harry was not the kind of person who wouldn't stand up for what they believe in just because they were afraid. He had never been that person, so he couldn't identify with it. He was about to tell her as much, but it seemed as if the blonde wasn't quite done with her speech yet.
"It's just, I've thought about it, but then I just think that they'd end up making my life miserable," she said. "I'm scared, so I don't say anything." She averted her gaze, and she almost looked ashamed as she wrapped her arms around him.
Harry almost felt bad for her, and all the angry words he was going to say died on his lips. "Look, if you believe that, if you really do, you should be yourself," he told her. She looked up at him, a look of shock on her face. "I mean it. If they're really your friends, then you don't have anything to worry about. If they do what you say they will when you try to be yourself, then they were probably never your friends to begin with."
Daphne just stared at him for a second, before she nodded. "You're right, I shouldn't be scared to be myself and say what I believe," she said. "You give good advice, Harry." She smiled at him, and Harry couldn't help but think that she was actually rather pretty when she was being nice. He didn't say that, though, and the two parted ways.
Harry would like to say that he didn't think about Daphne at all after that, but that would be a lie. The truth was that he thought about her quite a lot after that. He had never really noticed her before, in fact, he hadn't even known who was was prior to that first night. However, now that he did, he was having trouble not noticing her. She was truly very pretty, in the way of someone who didn't try to be pretty. They just were. She never wore a lot of makeup or anything as far as he could see, she just... was. He tried not to make it obvious that he was noticing her, because he wasn't sure what anyone would think about that, including Daphne.
Harry did notice that when Pansy started giggling about something in Potions class, Daphne elbowed her and said something to her under her breath. Pansy tried to respond, but Daphne quickly rebuffed her. The giggling stopped, though, and he couldn't help it. It made him happy that she had listened to him. She was trying, and that meant a lot to him. He wasn't sure at first that she would take his advice, but it was clear that she had.
That weekend, Harry, Ron, and Hermione were studying in the library. As his friends were talking about leaving, he noticed Daphne walking in with one of her friends. They talked, and then headed into the bookshelves. "I think I'll stay for a bit," he said. "I'll follow along soon." They both gave him strange looks as if they were trying to figure him out, but he reassured them, and they left.
As soon as he watched them leave, he got up and headed into the bookshelves. He wasn't sure why, but he wanted to find Daphne. He wanted to see her. That was a strange thought for him, but he wasn't thinking about that right now. He found her, thankfully alone, in a bookshelf a few rows down. "Hey," he said, and she jumped at the sound of his voice.
"Oh, it's you, Harry," she said, her hand resting over her heart for a moment before dropping to her side. "You gave me a fright."
"Sorry, I just… I wanted to say thank you for what you did with Pansy earlier this week," he said.
Daphne smiled at him. "You were right," she said. "I just needed to stand up for myself. I just hope that's a sign of things to come, you know?"
Harry nodded. He did know what she meant, but right now, the thought running through his mind was, God, she's so beautiful. The way she smiled at him made his stomach flip-flop a bit in a way that he'd only associated with Cho before. He wasn't sure what to think about that, and he wasn't given any time to think. Before he knew what had happened, Daphne had taken a few steps forward and pressed her lips against his.
Harry was in shock. He just stood there, unsure of what to do and before he had a chance to react, Daphne was pulling away. He found he didn't want to pull her away, but her face was beet red, and she looked embarrassed. Her hands flew up to her mouth, and then she was turning and running away. Harry stood there for a moment, before going and looking for her. She was gone, though, and with a sigh, he headed back towards Gryffindor Tower.
~*o*x*o*x*o*x*o*x~
Harry couldn't stop thinking about her after that. He didn't even really know her yet, but he hadn't minded the feeling of her lips on his. He just wished that he hadn't stood there like an idiot, and had kissed her back. It had been the first time he'd kissed a girl - well, to be more precise, she had kissed him, and he had nothing about it. He hadn't known what to do, but now he wished that he had done something. At the very least, grabbed her arm to stop her from leaving. He understood that she had been embarrassed, he didn't blame her, but he wished that she hadn't run off on him before he'd gotten the chance to say something.
"Ron," Harry asked one night as they were laying in the dorm. Harry was on his bed, staring up at the ceiling. Ron was lying face down on his own bed, looking like he was fixing to doze off though Harry knew that he wasn't sleeping yet. Their three dormmates were currently downstairs, so he knew he could talk a bit without it being overheard.
"Yeah?"
"What would you do if someone you didn't really know but might like kissed you?"
"Er, what?" Ron asked, turning around on his bed to face him. "What are you talking about?"
Harry's heart started to beat faster. "Just a thought, in theory, you know," he said, quickly trying to cover his tracks. "Just what would you do? You think this person is attractive, but you're not sure about them yet, and then they kissed you."
"What are you talking about, mate?" Ron asked. Harry wasn't sure how to explain it without telling him everything that happened, and he wasn't sure he was ready to do that yet. Ron must have taken his silence for a non-answer because the redhead changed the subject and moved on to another conversation. "So, what are we going to do about dates? The Yule Ball is coming up soon, and we're the only ones in the dorm without dates."
"What do you mean, the only ones?" Harry asked.
"Seamus is going with Lavender, Dean is going with someone else in our year, Roper or something her name is," Ron explained, shrugging his shoulders. "Neville even has a date, he's going with my sister."
"Oh, really?" Harry asked. "I hadn't realized that he fancied her or anything like that. He's never said anything."
"I'm not sure he does," Ron admitted. "He asked her because Hermione said no. Apparently, she has a date, too, though Neville said she didn't say who it was. Maybe she does even really have one! She could have just said that to get him off her back."
"I don't think Hermione would lie to Neville like that," Harry said. "She probably does have a date, and it's not anyone's business who it it but hers." He was a bit sore when it came to Ron because his best friend had abandoned him for a month. Things were better, but that didn't mean that he had completely forgiven him for what he'd done.
Ron shrugged again. "You're probably right," he said. "We still need dates. We can't be the only ones without them."
Harry wasn't sure what to think about that, and he was still struggling with the one thing he wanted advice on. What was he going to do about Daphne? He couldn't get her out of his mind, but he wasn't sure what to do about her either. They didn't know each other, and she was still friends with two people he didn't care for. Should he try talking to her? Just forget about it, and throw it off as a fluke?
Groaning, Harry turned over side determined to go to sleep and worry about this later.
~*o*x*o*x*o*x*o*x~
Harry was saved from worrying about it anymore, as in the next Potions class, Daphne slipped another note to him the same way that she had done before. He couldn't open it until after classes that day, once again telling Ron he'd be along later. He was sure that Ron and Hermione were both wondering about his behavior - at least Hermione had to be - but he wasn't worried about that. He opened up the parchment that he'd slipped into his bag during Potions class earlier and read the words on the parchment.
Harry,
I'm sorry if I startled you when I kissed you. I'd like to talk to you tonight if you want. Same time, same place. If not, I'll understand.
- Daphne
It was short but sweet, but he knew exactly what he was going to do. He was going to meet her. This was the opportunity he was waiting for. He wanted to do something about it, and now he had his chance. Therefore, after dinner, he snuck away to go meet her. As her letter said, she was waiting right outside the library just as she had been the first time they had met up. She smiled at him, and he felt his heart start to race a bit.
"I'm glad you came," she said, as she led him a bit farther down the corridor. As soon as they were out of view of the library, Daphne continued speaking. "Look, I'm sorry about kissing you suddenly like that. It's just, you were so nice after that first time, and I just… I just did it, and it took you by surprise, and I'm sorry about that."
Harry shook his head, waving off her comment. "Don't worry about it," he said, "really, it's fine." It wasn't as if most guys would mind being kissed by a pretty girl. She smiled at him again, but neither of them said anything. What were you supposed to say after something like this? Was he supposed to do something? Was she? He was only fourteen, after all, and had never been in a situation like this before.
Harry knew what he wanted to do, though, and before he could stop himself, he leaned forward and kissed her. He was saved from wondering about if she was going to reciprocate when she leaned into his kiss. He had never kissed before, but it didn't seem as if Daphne minded at all. She stepped forward, moving closer to him. He wondered what he was supposed to do with his hands, and decided to slip them around her waist, bringing her closer to him. She made a pleasant sound as they kissed, and he figured that was a good sign.
Harry had to admit, he was enjoying the feeling of this quite a bit - the feeling of her lips on his, her body as it was pressed up against him, not to mention the pleasant sounds she was making in her throat as they snogged in the middle of an abandoned hallway. This was what first kisses were supposed to be like, not her kissing while you stood there like an idiot. They were both fully invested, and he didn't want it to stop.
After a bit, Daphne broke the kiss, their breathing laboured. "Er, I should be going," she said. "I really should get back to the Common Room." She smiled up at him, a light blush crossing her cheeks. "I'll see you later, then?"
Harry nodded. "Yes, absolutely," he told her, and she continued smiling at him as she walked off. He stood there for a moment, a smile crossing his face before he headed back towards the Gryffindor Common Room.
~*o*x*o*x*o*x*o*x~
If Harry had thought a lot about Daphne before, he thought about her even more now. That kissed played in his mind a lot over the rest of the week. Despite this fact, though, he made no move to try and talk to her again. It was rather difficult when they only saw each other during classes. She was always with her friends, as well. Besides, he didn't know what the next step was supposed to be. Was he supposed to ask her out? Did she want him to? Yeah, she had kissed him back, and she kissed him first before. That was a pretty good sign, right? What if she wasn't really interested in dating him, though? He wasn't sure how these things were supposed to work.
Apparently, Daphne knew what she was doing, because she dropped him another note as he was walking into lunch one day. Harry picked it up and had to wait until after dinner in order to read it.
Harry,
I think we need to talk. Meet me tonight. Same time, same place.
- Daphne
What did that mean? It didn't tell him what she wanted, or how she was feeling about them kissing the other day. Was she telling him that it was a mistake? He wasn't sure about that because she had kissed him first. However, that didn't mean that she wanted anything more. Did it mean that she did want something more, and wanted to talk about that?
Harry was nervous but immediately left to go meet her. She was waiting for him outside the library. She did not look happy. Her face was impassive, and as soon as she saw him, she turned and walked down the hall until they were a little ways down the hall. Daphne turned around to face him and crossed her arms over her chest. "So?" she said, staring him down.
Harry could feel his pulse quickening. "Er, so… what?" What did she expect him to say?
"Look, I am not that kind of girl, so you're entirely fucking wrong about me if you think I am the sort of girl who is just going to let some guy snog me and be done with it," she said. "So, why did you do it then?"
"It felt like the right thing to do at the time," Harry admitted. Once the words were out of his mouth, they sounded rather lame. Surely there was something better that he could have said, right?
"Is that all, or are you going to do something about it?" Daphne asked him.
Harry furrowed his brows in confusion. "Er, what do you mean?"
Daphne rolled her eyes. "Ask me to the Yule Ball."
That seemed like such a simple thing to do, but when Harry opened his mouth to do just that, nothing came out. Suddenly, his throat felt dry. He cleared his throat and tried again. "Will you go to the ball with me?" His voice sounded a bit hoarse, but the words had actually come out, so that was a good thing for him.
Daphne's once serious and severe demeanor melted. "Yes, I would love to," she said, smiling at him.
Harry couldn't help it but smiled back at her. "Great," he said, and suddenly, it didn't seem like such a big deal anymore. He should have asked her sooner. He knew that now, but none of that mattered. He was going to Yule Ball with a beautiful girl. He walked towards her, and leaned down, kissing her again. Instantly, her body melted against his and she wrapped her arms around his neck. He slipped his hands around her waist, holding her body tight against his.
Daphne gave a slight moan as she broke the kiss. "I do have to get back," she told him. "I can't wait, though." She gave him a peck on the lips, before slipping out of his arms and then walking back down the hall. Harry just watched her go, smiling at her, before making his way back to the Gryffindor Common Room.
~*o*x*o*x*o*x*o*x~
It didn't occur to Harry until he got back to the Common Room that night that he was going to have to tell Ron and Hermione that he was going out with Daphne. That also meant telling them about what had been going on between them lately, none of which he had mentioned previously. It was a weekend, so he waited until they were studying in a corner of the Common Room before bringing it up. "Look, there's something I need to tell both of you," he said.
They looked up from their books and notes. "Yeah, what's that, mate?" Ron asked.
"I have a date to the Yule Ball," he said. They both looked at him in surprise. "I'm going with Daphne Greengrass."
"Wait, the Slytherin? Parkinson's friend?"
Harry nodded and went to explain what had been going on between them and what happened. "I'm happy for you," Hermione said to him. "I'm glad you found someone that you really liked and want to go with."
"Why?" Ron asked. "Why someone like her?"
"Excuse me," Harry said, narrowing his eyes at Ron. "What do you mean by that? Because she's friends with Parkinson and Malfoy? She's not like them, which you would know if you'd talked to her the way that I have. She has trouble standing up to her friends, but she's been trying lately if you had bothered to notice."
"I'm sorry, it's just… Now you have a date, and I don't," Ron said, before turning to Hermione. "You're a girl. Why don't you and I go together?" Harry doubted that was the reasoning for Ron's words earlier, but he was going to give him the benefit of the doubt. He wished he could have stopped Ron from saying what he did to Hermione, though, but it was too late for that.
Hermione glared furiously at him and blushed scarlet red. "Believe it or not, someone's asked me," she said, turning her face towards the books in front of her.
"Oh? Who?" Ron asked, looking at her expectantly.
Hermione turned back towards him. "It's none of your business," she said. "Just because you're too thick to notice that I'm a girl doesn't mean everyone else is the same. For your information, Neville asked me, too, but I already had a date, or I'd be going with him! Either way, I'd have a date that wouldn't be you!" She slammed her books shut and walked off.
"Ron, you really need to learn to think before you speak," Harry told him.
Ron groaned. "Yeah, you're probably right," he said. "I didn't mean for it to come out that way. I wonder why she wouldn't tell us."
"Because you were being a jerk," Harry responded. The words were out of his mouth before he could think about it. Not that he disagreed because Ron had been rather rude to Hermione. He wondered if he could have phrased it differently, but his best friend didn't seem offended by it at all.
The redhead shrugged. "It's too late to take it back now," he said. "But what am I going to do about a date?"
Harry thought about that for a second. "Well, I can ask Daphne if she has a friend who doesn't have a date," he told him.
"Me? Going with a Slytherin?"
Harry looked at Ron, almost daring him to say something rude about Slytherins now. "Just trust me. Don't you trust me?"
Ron didn't hesitate for a second, before nodding. "Yes, I do."
Harry nodded. "Well, then I'll talk to Daphne." If all of her friends had dates or weren't willing to go with Ron, then the redhead was just going to have to find his own date. It spoke volumes about Ron, though, that he was willing to go with a Slytherin. Harry knew that he didn't trust them, and prior to talking to Daphne, he hadn't trusted them, either. She had opened up his eyes, and hopefully, he could get Ron to see the same thing that he now did.
~*o*x*o*x*o*x*o*x~
They were at the library later on that day, studying, when Harry saw Daphne walk in with some of her friends. She went by herself into the book racks. He told Ron and Hermione to go on without him and then snuck in to find her. He found her searching through the books in the Charms section. "Hey," he said, walking to her.
Daphne turned towards him and smiled. "Hey," she said back, wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing him.
Harry eagerly kissed her back, wrapping his arms around her waist, and pulling her against him. He didn't want to break the kiss, but he actually hadn't come back here to kiss her. Okay, he hadn't come back here to only kiss her. "Look, I was wondering if any of your friends were still looking for dates for the ball," he said. "My friend Ron is still looking."
Daphne didn't move away from him as she spoke. "I think I have a friend that might work," she said. "I'll talk to her, okay?"
"Thanks, I appreciate it," he said, kissing her back before making his way back to the Gryffindor Common Room.
Harry didn't mention his convo to Ron, not anyway yet. The next day, they were in the Great Hall, hanging around for a bit after eating lunch when he saw Daphne making a beeline for him. He smiled at her. "Hey, Daphne. You know Ron and Hermione?"
She nodded, smiling pleasantly. "My friend agreed to go with you," she said to Ron, "If you're still interested in a date."
Ron clearly looked hesitant, but nodded. "Sure, I'd love to go with your friend," he said.
Daphne smiled. "Great, we'll both be waiting for you two in the entryway this Saturday night," she said, leaning forward and kissing Harry on the lips. It was a short, lingering kiss, and then she sauntered off back towards the Slytherin table.
"Which friend?" Ron asked, and Harry noticed that there were two other girls at the table with her, neither were Pansy Parkinson or Millicent Bulstrode. He didn't know either of their names. One had shoulder length, black hair, and the other long, straight brown hair. All Harry could do was shrug, and he figured that they would find out this Saturday.
~*o*x*o*x*o*x*o*x~
Harry got ready in the dorms with Ron and the others. Everyone had a date. Seamus and Dean kept badgering them about who Ron's date was. They knew by now that Harry was dating Daphne Greengrass. Ron still didn't know who he was going with. Harry had tried asking Daphne, and she had told him that it was a surprise. Ron was incredibly nervous and tugged at his dress robes, which were in truth, probably the worst dress robes that ever he had ever seen. They were red, for starters, instead of the traditional black, and also had lace and frills all over them. Ron said that they were from some old family member because his parents couldn't afford anything else. Harry felt bad for him, and might even offer to buy Ron some new dress robes if he didn't already know that Ron wouldn't accept his offer.
Harry and the rest of his dormmates made their way down, where Ginny, Lavender, and a curvy, dark-haired girl that he vaguely recognized from his classes were standing and waiting for them. That must be the other girl, Roper or something that Ron had mentioned that Dean had asked to the dance. They all made their way down to the entrance hall, along with throngs of other people. When they got there, Harry immediately looked around for blonde hair, hoping to see Daphne. "Do you see them?" he asked Ron, who stood a head taller than him.
"Yes, there they are!" Ron said, pointing over the crowd. "They're standing off to the back of the entrance hall."
Harry followed Ron as he led over to the girls. Daphne was looking beautiful, in soft green robes. He couldn't help but smile at her. Her hair was twisted up at the back of her head. The girl standing next to her had brown hair that was folded at the back of her head and was wearing dark, navy blue robes. She had brown eyes, and a kind, oval-shaped face. He went over to Daphne, and wrapped his arm around her waist, feeling her do the same. "You look beautiful," he said to her.
Daphne smiled up at her. "Thank you, Harry. You look very fit yourself," she said. "This is my good friend, Tracey Davis. Tracey, this is Harry's best friend, Ron Weasley."
"Hello," she said, her voice sounding a bit reserved. No emotion was showing on her face either. She looked Ron up and down and did not look impressed. "Nice to meet you."
"You, too," said Ron, and suddenly, Harry felt very, very awkward. Neither Ron nor Tracey seemed overly thrilled with each other.
"Why are you wearing those awful robes?" Tracey asked.
"It's all I've got," answered Ron.
There was still no sign of Hermione, though they saw Ravenclaw Quidditch Captain, Roger Davies, with Fleur Delacour. Ron stood a bit straighter when she walked in. A large of Slytherins walked up the steps. Draco was with Pansy Parkinson, and Crabbe and Goyle flanked them on either side. Neither, Harry was pleased to see, had managed to find a date to the ball. Professor McGonagall called for the Champions, and Harry led Tracey over to her as the Durmstrang students entered. Krum was with a pretty girl in blue that Harry didn't recognize - at least at first. Cho and Cedric arrived soon afterward, and McGonagall told them to wait on one side of the doors while everyone else entered the Great Hall. Then, they would enter in procession when the rest of the students at down.
The four couples stood there and waited. It was then that Harry looked over at Krum's date: It was Hermione. She looked completely different from the girl he normally knew. Her hair was up in an elegant knot, and she was wearing periwinkle blue robes. She was standing differently and smiling. "Hi, Harry," she said. "Hello, Daphne."
Daphne smiled pleasantly at Hermione. "Hello, Hermione," she said. "You look lovely."
"Thank you very much," she said. "It took hours. You look beautiful, too."
Hermione got glares from some of Krum's fan club, and even Malfoy and Parkinson looked stunned. After everyone had entered, McGonagall came back out and told them to follow her. She lead them inside and started leading them up to the round table. Daphne beamed, content to just be there with Harry as they followed McGonagall. He caught site of Tracey and Ron as they neared the large, head table. Ron was looking at Hermione, eyes narrowed. Tracey looked bored. Percy Weasley was there in place of Mr. Crouch and pulled out a chair for him. Harry sat next to him, and Daphne took a seat next to Harry.
Percy wanted to talk about work, but Harry politely told him that he had a date and it was good to see him. He then turned to Daphne as Dumbledore demonstrated how to order. You simply said your order into the plate. Harry thought Hermione might be worried about the extra work for the house levels, but for once, she didn't seem worried about it at all. He glanced around as they ate. The Great Hall was decorated in mistletoe and ivy, and the four house tables had been replaced with lots of different small ones that sat about a dozen people.
Harry and Daphne talked to each other as dinner went on. Krum was talking excitedly to Hermione, in his thick accent, telling her about the Durmstrang castle before he was cut off by Karkaroff. After that, Hermione was trying to teach him how to say her name properly, but that was something that he simply couldn't seem to do. She just said close enough and grinned at him and Daphne. Fleur, meanwhile, was doing nothing but bad mouthing the castle. Davies didn't seem to care about what she said and just gazed at her stupidly.
After the food had been cleared, Dumbledore asked the students to stand. They did so, and the tables zoomed back against the walls. He then conjured up a raised platform, with various instruments. The Weird Sisters then walked up on stage, and the students started clapping enthusiastically and screaming. The lanterns went out, and the other champions stood up. Harry had forgotten, but Daphne gently nudged him up. He only looked at Daphne as he and the other champions walked down the floor and began to dance.
Harry could not dance. Daphne, however, could, and gently led him throughout the slow, mournful tune that the Weird Sisters were playing. He smiled down at her, and she didn't seem to mind that he couldn't dance at all. Slowly, everyone else started dancing, though he didn't see Ron and Tracey. When the song ended, everyone clapped loudly and cheered. "This is a good one," Daphne said as the next song started. "Shall we?"
"Sure," Harry said as they danced through another song before stopping to go find Ron and Daphne. They were sitting down at a table and didn't seem to be enjoying themselves at all.
"That was a good song," Tracey said, "and the robes are still hideous."
"It's not my fault," Ron snapped as Harry and Daphne sat down. "My mother gave them to me. I know we don't have money, I'm not an idiot, but I'd taken even some cheap ones bought from the secondhand store as long as it wasn't this piece of rubbish!"
Harry shared a look with Daphne, but Tracey laughed. "I should have known your mother made you wear them," she said. "Anything horrible you wear is always something your parents told you to wear. Like one summer, a couple of years ago, my mother made me wear these frilly pink robes for some family painting. I hate pink, but Mum insisted. The painting is still hanging in our drawing room."
Ron laughed, and once he did, Harry and Daphne laughed, too. Everything seemed to ease up after that, and the four them - yes, even Ron and Tracey - went to dance again. They got some drinks after dancing before running into Malfoy and Parkinson. Malfoy tried to make a snide comment, but both Tracey and Daphne shut them down. After that, they both acted much more normal. Krum and Hermione showed up, and Ron didn't even seem to care any longer about it. He did glance at her, but he actually seemed to be enjoying himself with Tracey.
Harry danced a lot more than he thought he would, and while Daphne lead most of the time, it wasn't in an overt or controlling way. She was just trying to stop him from doing something stupid or stepping on her feet. He held her tighter during one slow dance later on and kissed her. Her body almost seemed to melt into his as she returned the kiss. Tonight had been a very good night, in his opinion.
~*o*x*o*x*o*x*o*x~
Eventually, the dance had to end, and when the Weird Sisters played their song, the students started to file out. McGonagall was out front of the Great Hall now, pushing everyone to go back to their dorms immediately. Harry and Daphne, Hermione and Krum, and Ron and Tracey all walked out together. Harry was holding tightly to Daphne's waist, and Krum had his arm around Hermione's shoulders. Ron and Tracey were even holding hands now. "It's so wonderful to see," McGonagall told them as they walked, "international magical cooperation -" She glanced at Hermione and Krum, both who smiled. "-and inter-house cooperation." With that, she looked at Ron and Tracey and him and Daphne. They smiled before Krum led Hermione away.
Harry led Daphne away and pulled her into him. He leaned down and kissed her on the lips. She tightened her hold on him as she kissed him back. "I had a great time," she said.
"So, did I," he said. "Maybe we could do this again?"
"I insist," she said, giving him another kiss before telling him goodnight, and making her way over to Ron and Tracey. Ron gave Tracey a brief, goodnight kiss, his face as red as his hair. Tracey was blushing, too, and they said goodnight before Tracey walked off with Daphne. Both girls were giggling as Hermione and Ron walked over to him.
"Well, I thought tonight went rather well," Hermione said, beaming. Harry nodded. Yes, it had gone rather well. "Ron, things seemed to go well with Tracey?"
Ron nodded, the blush fading from his cheeks. "Yeah, she's not bad," he said. "She's quite funny and seemed to think I was funny, too. We're going out again."
"So are Daphne and I," Harry said.
"That's wonderful!" she said.
"How long have you and Krum been seeing each other?" Ron asked.
"Well, I wouldn't say we're seeing each other, but I mean not long," Hermione said, blushing. "He started coming to the library, and we started talking, so he asked me out. He's a lot different than I would have expected from an International Quidditch player, but he's actually really nice."
Harry was glad that Ron wasn't seeming jealous or glaring at Hermione like he had earlier. "Why didn't you tell us?" Harry asked her.
Hermione shrugged. "I don't know," she said. "I thought you two wouldn't believe or would think I was making it up or something. Besides, it's really not any of your business."
"We're friends, though, right?" Ron asked.
"Would you have believed me?"
"Probably not," Ron admitted, albeit a bit sheepishly. After that, the three of them made their way back to the dorms. He had a very good night, and he couldn't wait to see Daphne again. She seemed to like him, and though it was just one date, he found that he was starting to rather like her, too. He wondered what would have happened, how tonight would have gone if she hadn't made that comment that day. Some random Gryffindor girl? Or would he have been walking around the dance, alone, while everyone laughed? Neither seemed like good options. He couldn't picture going to the ball with anyone else but Daphne now, and that was how he wanted things to stay.
~*o*x*o*x*o*x*o*x~
Harry and Daphne continued seeing each other, and he came to rely on her support as much as he did Ron and Hermione. It was great knowing that she was there for him, no matter what. Ron and Tracey were even continuing to date, much to everyone's surprise. Ron said she actually had a great sense of humor and was "quite fit." He was glad that his best friend was happy, and the redhead even seemed to mellow out a bit with Tracey around.
Hermione didn't talk about her relationship with Krum, though she made a comment once about him liking to watch her study, which she found annoying. Seamus and Dean found it weird that both Harry and Ron were dating Slytherins, but Neville was supportive of his friends' relationships. "Houses shouldn't matter," Neville said, and that said a lot coming from someone who had been terrorized by Malfoy and his gang.
Speaking of Malfoy, he had calmed down a bit, as well. He figured that Tracey and Daphne had a lot to do with that, as Parkinson calmed down some, too. Parkinson was still a twit, but as the school year went on, Harry had to admit that Malfoy started to grow on him a bit now that he wasn't trying to make their lives a living hell.
Despite the horrors of Voldemort returning at the third task and Cedric dying, Harry was still sure that he loved Daphne. She never once tried to give him space or shy away from it. She believed him wholeheartedly when he told her what happened, and said that if he needed anything, she was there for him. Harry loved her in that moment. If he was sure of nothing else, it was that Daphne loved him, he loved her, and that Ron and Hermione would always be there for him, too.
To think, it all started because Daphne had broken the illusions he was under about Slytherins, and he could never be more grateful to her. Harry knew that there would be a hard road now, now that Voldemort was back, but as long as he had Ron, Hermione, and Daphne by his side, he would be okay. Everything would be okay. They would get through it, as long as they had each other. Nothing else mattered.