QLFC Round 5 – What's in a Name?

Cannons, Captain: Red rose (as inspired by Rose Weasley) – Write about a character in love during their time at school.

AN: Thank you to Sarah, Web, and Wind for betaing for me :D

The Five Times Daphne Greengrass Felt Like She Was In Love, and the One Time She Actually Was

i. Theo

Daphne ran across the garden. Theo's fingertips grazed the back of her shirt and she let out an excited shriek.

"You can't catch me!" she shouted in a sing-song voice.

She sprinted forwards until she came to a tree. She briefly stopped before running left and almost dancing around it. As she came around the other side, she ran straight into Theo, who had gone right.

"Yes I can!" he said with a laugh. "Tag, you're it!" He tapped her on the arm before speeding off, Daphne on his heels.

The game had been going for nearly an hour, and neither of them wanted to give up.

Daphne was lunging for Theo's back, almost within touching distance, when her mother interrupted their game.

"Daphne, Theodore," she called, "it's time to come inside for dinner."

Daphne groaned. She had been so close to tagging Theo—if only her mother had called them a few minutes later. As it was, Daphne was still 'it' when the game ended, and Theo was already bragging about his win.

The pair made their way inside, Theo blowing raspberries and saying "I win, you lose" every time Daphne looked his way.

"Theodore," Daphne's mother said as they sat down at the table. "Your mother owled and asked if I would be able to take you for the night. "

Daphne's heart started beating a little faster and a grin spread across her face that stayed there for the whole of the meal.

As she ate, she watched her parents interact on the other side of the table. The smile on her mother's face as she spoke to her husband was blinding, and Daphne thought the one on her face probably looked the same.

When we grow up, Daphne thought to herself, I want me and Theo to be like Mother and Father.

And at age six, she truly meant it.

ii. Draco

"Slytherin!" the Sorting Hat shouted, and Daphne grinned as she took the Hat off her head and made her way over to her new house table.

She introduced herself to the students sitting nearest to her, not paying any particular attention to the rest of the sorting until a blond-haired boy caught her attention.

"Malfoy, Draco," the woman, whose name Daphne had already forgotten, called.

The boy sauntered up to the stool at the front of the hall. Everything about him exuded confidence and a sense of self-assuredness that Daphne had never felt herself. Of course, she knew Draco Malfoy; their parents had been friends, but she'd never spoken to him properly. Now, however, she wished she had—he could have taught her how to be that confident.

"Slytherin," the Hat called, and Daphne did a double take. She could have sworn the Hat hadn't even touched his head. Clearly, the Hat could sense his determination and confidence, making it unnecessary to think about where to place him.

He walked over to the table, a swagger to the way he walked. The aura of confidence surrounding him seemed to grow as he got closer. He took a seat next to Daphne and she felt herself blush—how could she deserve to be graced with the presence of somebody this perfect?

She was in awe of Draco Malfoy, and Daphne decided that she wanted nothing more than to make herself worthy of his company.

Over the year, she became friendly with him and they started to spend more time together, but as they did, Daphne realised that his confidence could be more accurately described as arrogance, and her infatuation faded into obscurity.

iii. Ernie

Ernie Macmillan was Daphne's first ever boyfriend. They had Transfiguration together and Daphne had been paired with him in lesson. There was an instant connection; they laughed in lesson, she found that they had a lot in common, and he wasn't bad to look at. It made perfect sense to Daphne, especially since most of her fellow Slytherins had already had their first kiss and Daphne was starting to feel like she had fallen behind the others.

"Do you, uh, do you want to go out with me?" Ernie mumbled.

He had pulled Daphne into an out-of-the-way alcove as they left the class and had been nervously opening and closing his mouth for almost five minutes before he finally got the question out.

"Sure," Daphne beamed.

Her heart gave a little flutter as she processed the fact that she, Daphne Greengrass, finally had a boyfriend.

"Great," he replied.

They shared an awkward smile before making their way to the Great Hall for lunch, walking slightly closer together than they had previously been. There was a pause as they tried to work out how to depart which was broken by Daphne as she leant in to give Ernie a quick hug before she skipped off to her own table.

As the days passed, they seemed to fall into a routine; they would walk together to and from classes, study together, and take walks around the lake at weekends, holding hands. Daphne was elated by it all. She couldn't remember the last time she had been as happy as she was with Ernie, and she wished she could spend all her time with him.

It was love, Daphne knew it. She'd read about it before and she'd seen her parents together, and she just knew this was it. That's what prompted her to move things a bit further one weekend.

Daphne took in the scene: she and Ernie were sitting underneath a blossom tree, pink petals were falling to the ground around them, the water of the lake was lapping against the shore, and the Giant Squid was drifting lazily across the surface. Everything was perfect.

She leant closer to Ernie, turning her head so she was facing him. That was all they needed. Suddenly Ernie was leaning in too and they shared their first kiss. It was chaste and it was quick, but Daphne could officially say she had had her first kiss. She also knew that if they were all going to be like that, she wanted it to be her last.

Where was the spark between them? Where were the fireworks? Where was the excitement?

They stopped dating after that.

iv. Harry

Harry Potter.

Everybody knew the name. He was famous. He'd defeated the Dark Lord when he was just a baby.

When he started Hogwarts, Daphne kept an eye on him, certain that he would be a great student. Even though she was a Slytherin, she decided she wouldn't mind being associated with somebody like Harry Potter—if he proved himself good enough.

She was, however, disappointed. He wasn't the hero everybody made him out to be, and he wasn't even a particularly good student. Sure, Dumbledore said he had done a few things that helped out the school, but Daphne had no proof of this. This, alongside the crowd of Slytherins that had become her family throughout her time at Hogwarts, meant that as the years went by, Harry faded from her mind and became just another student at Hogwarts.

Until, that is, her fourth year, when Harry's name was pulled from the Triwizard Cup.

Nobody had been expecting it, and Daphne's gasp as it happened was both shocked and excited. Suddenly, Harry was back on her radar again and her days were spent combing through the Daily Prophet for his interviews and watching his preparations for each task. Luckily, Draco and his gang were doing the same, albeit for different reasons, so her behaviour didn't come across as too strange.

What was strange was that she found herself rooting for him. Her heart raced in terror as he flew past his dragon, cheering him on in her mind and praying that he wouldn't get hurt. As Ron and Gabrielle ascended from the lake together during the second task, and Daphne learnt that Harry had been noble enough to retrieve them both from the lake, she found herself wishing that Harry would come and rescue her, like princes did in fairytales.

The more she saw of Harry in classes or the Daily Prophet, the more she thought of him when she was alone. On more than one occasion, she found herself wanting to spend time with him, just the two of them. She wanted to know everything about him, and she wanted to have that knowledge all to herself. She wanted to be special to him. And, although she wouldn't let herself admit it, she wanted to kiss him.

Of course, once the year was over and she was back at home, she realised how foolish she had been, but for the majority of the year, the only thought on her mind had been Harry Potter.

v. Blaise

Blaise Zabini was a player.

He was arguably the most attractive boy in the school.

He had more girls begging for his attention than Viktor Krum did their previous year.

He had been the first person in their year to lose their virginity (allegedly).

He had slept with over thirty girls.

Yes, Blaise Zabini was probably the biggest player in the whole school, and Daphne was desperate to change him.

The fire was still going in the common room, albeit rather weakly, and Daphne and Blaise were among the very few people still up. There were seventh-year students scattered across the room studying for their N.E.W.T.s, and a pair of second years in the corner were muttering about what subjects to take the following year, but other than that they were alone.

Daphne shifted slightly so that she was sitting closer to Blaise on the loveseat they were sharing. He draped his arm around her and Daphne leaned into him, her head coming to rest on his shoulder. They weren't speaking, but it was a comfortable silence that had settled between them. Daphne's eyes focused on the fire and she let her mind wander as she listened to the soothing crackle the wood made as it burned.

"Daph?" Blaise's voice startled Daphne and she realised she must have fallen asleep.

"Oh, did I fall asleep on you?" she asked, her face flushing red. "Sorry."

"It's okay," he said. "You're cute when you sleep."

The colour in Daphne's face deepend. She shifted backwards, trying to put as much distance between them as she could, but Blaise pulled her back.

"What—"

Daphne was cut off as Blaise leaned into her and their lips crashed together.

She was breathless when their kiss stopped. It excited her, there was a definite spark between the pair, and it definitely left her wanting more. It was everything she wished she could have experienced during her first kiss aged thirteen.

"Good night, Daphne," Blaise said. He headed to the boys' dormitory, leaving Daphne sat alone.

The days passed by in a blur to Daphne. After their kiss, she and Blaise decided to "see how things go" as he put it. She tried to focus on revising for her exams, but with Blaise sitting so close to her as they studied, her brain, and hands, kept wandering.

"Do you want to find somewhere more private?" Blaise whispered in her ear, grazing it with his teeth as he spoke.

Daphne nodded, pulling her hand away from where it had been resting on his inner thigh. They gathered their belongings, said goodbye to their friends, and sped out of the library as fast as they could without Madam Pince shouting at them. They hurried down a corridor, and Blaise pulled her into the first empty room they found, locking the door behind them and casting a silencing charm on the room.

"Are… are you sure nobody will find us?" Daphne asked, suddenly nervous.

"I've never been found before," Blaise responded, flashing her a grin.

He threw his bag to the floor and quickly got to work on undressing them both.

"A broom cupboard. How classy."

Pansy Parkinson was leaning against the wall opposite as Daphne opened the door.

"I…"

"I'll see you later, Daph," Blaise said as he followed her out of the room. He sped off instantly, not even stopping for a kiss before he went.

Pansy laughed. "You know he's lying, right? Now that you've given him what he wants, he'll move onto the next girl dumb enough to spread her legs."

"That's not true!" Daphne said defensively. "We're in love!"

"This is lust, not love." There was a hint of sympathy in Pansy's voice as she spoke. "You aren't even boyfriend and girlfriend."

"Blaise doesn't like labels."

Pansy sighed. "Okay. Fine. I'm sure we'll see who's right soon enough."

Pansy was right, of course.

Daphne walked into breakfast the next morning, and the first thing she saw was Blaise trailing his hand up the arm of a girl in Ravenclaw robes, leaning close to her as he whispered something in her ear. The girl giggled, batting her eyes in Blaise's direction, and Daphne had to look away.

"Morning, Blaise," she said when he eventually joined them at the Slytherin table.

"Morning," he grunted unenthusiastically.

Daphne decided to test her limits and rested her hand on his thigh under the table, cautiously moving it further up. Blaise shifted away and Daphne's hand fell onto the bench between them. A pang of hurt shot through her chest, and she spent the rest of breakfast trying to work out what she had done wrong.

By that evening, however, all thoughts of Blaise had flown from Daphne's mind. She scribbled furiously as she finished up her essay for Transfiguration, and spent the rest of the night lost in her revision.

i. Theo

How Theodore Nott had slipped from Daphne's radar all these years she had no idea. He was her best friend, they'd grown up together, and he was absolutely stunning.

She smiled up at her boyfriend as she took in his beauty for the millionth time—his dark hair hung messily over his forehead, his green eyes shone like beacons, his plump, pink lips were etched in a permanent smile that enhanced his sharp cheekbones. She liked to admire the way he looked every so often, determined to commit him to memory just in case something happened and she could no longer see him every day.

"What are you smiling at?" he asked, his eyes twinkling as if he already knew they answer.

"You," she laughed. "I'm just admiring how beautiful you are."

Theo pouted. "I'm a manly man," he said, struggling not to laugh. "I should be called handsome or striking, not beautiful!"

The brief eye contact they made as Theo finished his sentence was enough to make them both crack up. They were loud enough to earn a "shh" from Madam Pince and Daphne stuffed her fist in her mouth to quiet herself as Theo quickly pulled down the book he was looking for.

"Sorry for the noise," Theo said as Madam Pince stamped the book. The withering look she gave them was enough to tell Daphne that she didn't believe it to be sincere and they promptly left the library, bursting into laughter again as soon as they crossed the threshold.

"Lake?" Theo asked when they finally regained some composure.

"Lake," she confirmed.

They made their way through the castle and down to their favourite cluster of rocks, Theo conjuring a blanket before they sat down.

Theo pulled out his book and leaned against Daphne's left side as he read. Daphne pulled out her wand and started practicing for her Charms and Transfiguration exams on some nearby pebbles—everything from Wingardium Leviosa to turning them into an armchair and back again.

Eventually, Daphne ran out of spells to practice. Instead, she watched birds flit between the nearby trees, ran a hand through Theo's hair—it seemed foolish not to since his head was now in her lap and his hair looked so inviting—and let herself get lost in her thoughts.

"What's wrong?" Theo asked, bringing her back to the real world. Without realising it, Daphne had stopped stroking Theo's head and was picking at her nails.

She couldn't help but smile. Theo always could tell when she was upset without her needing to say something, and it was one of her favourite things about him.

"I'm just stressed, I guess," she admitted with a sigh. "I keep thinking 'what if I fail all my exams?' and 'what if I pass?'"

Theo let out a chuckle.

"I'm serious, Theo. I'm crazy enough to want to be a Healer. Do you know how much pressure that is? It's like taking every O.W.L. and N.E.W.T. exam there is at the same time. On a daily basis!"

Theo sat up and turned to face her, resting his hands on her shoulders. "Everything will be fine. I promise. You are one of— no, the most brilliant witch I have ever met. If you don't get an Outstanding in every exam I'll… I'll… I'll wrestle the Giant Squid!"

A splash from the lake grabbed Daphne's attention. She looked over and saw the Giant Squid was now swimming across the surface.

"It's like he knows we're talking about him," she laughed.

"He probably does." Theo grinned and winked at the Giant Squid who waved a tentacle at them in response. "He definitely does."

"Are you sure everything is going to be okay?" she asked, unable to rid herself of the nagging thoughts in the back of her mind.

"I'm sure."

Daphne wound her fingers through Theo's and they let a peaceful silence wash over them as they followed the Squid's progress around the lake.

"I love you, Daphne," Theo murmured a moment later, breaking the silence.

"I love you, too."

Daphne smiled blissfully as waves lapped against the shore. Theo sitting next to her was all that she could see. He seemed to shine brighter than everything else around them. He was all that mattered in the world. She couldn't imagine her life without him, and she never wanted to.

Word Count: 2,999.

AN: This was honestly so much fun to write. I loved getting to explore the different types of relationships within one fic. I hope you enjoyed :)