I want to point out that this won't be HP/DG story where it takes Harry half of the story to thaw the "Ice Queen"'s heart, she also isn't the "Ice Queen" just a bit conservative in a few aspects, it was how she was raised.
5th September 2011
The Gryffindors had booked the Quidditch pitch that Monday evening, it happened to start raining, heavily. That did not stop people attending to watch the practice; it was the Quidditch try-outs, so obviously people wanted to get a peek at the competition. Surprisingly, the Captain of the team, Harry Potter, did not particularly care who was watching, his only mind was to get the best and if that intimidated the opposition in the stands then even better.
Daphne and Tracey sat in the stands, Tracey held her wand up, an invisible umbrella formed above the girls keeping them dry, it did not help that it was very cold as well.
"Why have you dragged me out here?" Daphne grounded out, her teeth chattering, she rubbed her hands together, it was excessively cold for September. Tracey was leant forwards on her seat her eyes narrowed as she watched all the people wanting to try-out, there was surprisingly quite a few.
"Gotta know what the opposition has..."
"But Malfoy is here already watching" she pointed further down the stands to where Malfoy, the Captain of Slytherin team, with Crabbe and Goyle were sat. Tracey waved her off still watching as Potter, who had just opened the Quidditch Ball chest and dropped a spare Quaffle beside the chest.
"OK! Listen up, this year we will need, 2 new Chasers as Katie Bell is here for another year, 2 Beaters, if there any twins in this group considering the Beater position, remember the Weasley twins were the best, can you be better? Last, of course, we will need a Keeper" She heard Potter shout, the group whispered, a few people stared at Bell who was just behind Potter, some look annoyed, it was one less space on the team.
"If you don't make the cut, don't kick yourself, after practically begging McGonagall we have allowed there to be a reserve team, these will be made up of the people who JUST didn't make the main team. You will train alongside the main team, and will take over from anyone who has been injured to the point of being unable to play or cannot play for doing something stupid that stops you from playing!" There was a small cheer from the group, she saw Malfoy scowl.
"Now this is a double-edged sword, to make things fair, I have been told that every House team will have a reserve team!" A few people swore in the group, she saw Malfoy sneer; she knew that if Potter had not announced that to everyone including those in the stand, Malfoy would run to his Father.
"Reserve teams? This will be interesting, now I have to see who else will join them," her best friend said excitedly, she watched as she pulled out a small writing pad and a muggle pen. Daphne rolled her eyes, she liked watching Quidditch but she wasn't a Quidditch nut like her friend.
"We will split up, those who wish to be a Chaser in one line, Beaters in another and Keepers in another. If you wish to become a reserve Seeker however you may line up into another line!" Daphne doubted that Potter could injure himself to the point of being unable to play, it came close in 3rd year when the Dementors entered the game but he hastily flew down to a point where Dumbledore saw them and drove them off.
Apparently, the Ministry had a visit from a very angry headmaster that year.
She watched as the group scrambled to line in their disciplines, like every try-out, many wanted to be a Chaser, amongst them was the youngest Weasley, there was a few in the Beaters line, surprisingly a lot in the Keepers section including the last Weasley boy, and only 5 in the Reserve Seeker line.
"Right, Katie here will be trying out the Chasers today, I asked her what she would like to see, and these attributes include spatial awareness, hand-eye-coordination, and a tactical mindset!" The Chaser line shuffled under the gaze of Bell.
"I myself would like to concentrate on the Keepers, so to choose the Beaters I have asked a friend of mine to drop by, Fred!" One of the Weasley twins walked out from the stadium's locker room, he turned and waved at the crowd, he had a sneaky smile plastered on his face. The Beater line broke out into whispers.
"Fred here-"
"I'm George! He's spent 4 years as my teammate and still can't tell us apart!" she heard the Weasley twin shout, seemingly offended by a problem that even the Weasley clan had, a few people laughed at the 18-year-old.
"Fred here wants to see strength, and like Katie, a tactical mindset" Potter ignored the twin's complaint, she saw the twin smirk.
"Oh this is cheating; the Weasley twins were the best Beaters this school has seen since their late-uncles" She turned to Tracey in puzzlement. Without missing a beat, she explained to Daphne as if she knew she would not know.
"Fabian and Gideon Prewett, Molly Weasley's brothers, like the Weasley Twins were the best of their time, it seems the Beater blood ran in the family" Daphne slowly nodded, how Tracey knew about this she didn't know.
"I saw their names on a trophy in the trophy room and did some research" Oh. She watched as the Weasley twin picked up two Beaters bats, two Bludgers and a broom before yelling for the wannabe Beaters to follow him down the pitch. Bell picked up a Quaffle and a broom before following the Weasley down the pitch, stopping far enough to give room for her and the Weasley Twin. They both started talking to their collective.
"Right, Keepers follow me!" Potter picked up a spare Quaffle and headed towards the left goal hoops.
"Alright, I will call your name out and you will position yourself in front of the hoops, I will then try and score, easy. The score will be out of 20" The group nodded.
"McLaggen, you are up first" The blonde boy smirked, he sat on his broom and floated to the hoops, he sat there with an arrogant smile on his face. She looked at Potter who had a pained expression on his face. The 7th year was a known prat throughout the school.
"This will be easy!" McLaggen shouted, Tracey grunted with annoyance, Daphne felt the same.
"The problem we have here is that all he, and you lot, would have to do is watch me; so to make things interesting I have another guest, Alicia!" Another person stepped out of the locker room carrying her own broom. Alicia Spinnet, Bell's friend smiled slightly and gave Harry a one armed hug before floating upwards. Daphne saw McLaggen's smile drop, she grinned.
"McLaggen doesn't look happy anymore"
"Good, the dick tried to kiss me last year, I hope Spinnet or Potter throws the Quaffle at his face" Daphne quietly laughed, she remembered Tracey telling her what McLaggen tried to do. A swift knee to the groin was all the contact McLaggen received.
5 minutes later, McLaggen swaggered off to the side after catching 18/20 balls. Shit. She watched the other group try-outs, Tracey was furiously writing, she said she was guessing who they would pick.
Lastly, Ron Weasley flew up and positioned himself in front of the hoops he looked pale. She noticed Potter seemingly not noticing that it was his roommate. She knew Malfoy would not do this, extremely biased person. 5 minutes later, Ron came away with 16/20 saved.
"Reserve" Tracey mumbled scribbling away.
After an hour and a half in which the rain stopped, Potter called for everyone together whilst he talked to Bell, Spinnet and Weasley. He had also done Reserve Seeker tries as well which were interesting; it seemed that the ones who wanted to become a Reserve Seeker had to come closest to the Snitch before Potter caught it. He gave them a 5-minute head start. Daphne was not sure, if this was a very arrogant way of seeing who was best or if he was that good, none of the Gryffindors trying out for the position seemed to complain about the process. In the end, none of them caught the Snitch before Potter got it
"He's that good," Daphne whispered.
"What was that?" Tracey asked
"Nothing," Tracey smirked at her
"He is that good" Daphne went pink. Potter turned back to the group.
"Right, we have decided, I will name the position then call your name out!" The Weasley Twin started a drum roll with his hands on his legs Potter rolled his eyes.
"Joining Katie as a Chaser: Ginny Weasley," Weasley the younger jumped up and down before going to stand next to Bell
"And Demelza Robins!" A brunette that neither Daphne nor Tracey knew smiled brightly and stood next to Weasley, both started whispering with Bell.
"Becoming the new Beaters we have: Jimmy Peakes!" A mousy haired boy pumped the air and went to stand next to the Weasley Twin.
"And Ritchie Coote!" A stocky black boy with a soft smile came out of the group and high-fived his fellow Beater.
"Becoming the new Gryffindor Keeper," Potter looked sick for a second "Cormac McLaggen!" Tracey groaned and fell back into the seat.
"Fucksake"
McLaggen strutted and stopped next to Potter who shifted closer to the Weasley Twin with a look of regret and disdain.
"Now, for the Reserve team!" The group leant in, Tracey stood up as if it would make any difference in her hearing. Malfoy, Daphne noticed had left after McLaggen had been announced, probably thinking that the Reserve team would be rubbish and not worth his time knowing.
"The Reserve Chasers are: Annette Proudfoot," A blonde girl went to stand next to Robins "Rose Manning," A girl with long dark dreadlocks rushed to Proudfoot's side, "and Stacey Moretti!" A girl with black hair and a tanned skin, probably from the Italian side of the family, grinned then stood next to Manning.
"The Reserve Beaters are: Christian Sayre," The first Pureblood so far on the Reserve team and descendant of the founder of the Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in North America stood next to Coote, "and Marcas Donohue!" A Ginger boy who had quite a few freckles whooped and stood next Sayre.
"The Reserve Keeper is-"
"Gonna be Weasley," Tracey said instantly
"Ronald Weasley!"
"Knew it" Weasley trudged and stood next McLaggen who was still smirking.
"That's it! Thank you for coming, there will always be next year…" Potter trailed off as the rest of the try-outs moaned and walked off, he turned smiling at his new team and reserve team, the smile dropped slightly at the sight of McLaggen and even further looking at his roommate.
"Okay you lot, I have booked training for every Saturday morning 5 am!" The remaining Gryffindors let out a collective whine, McLaggen looked like he was going to say something but Potter cut him off.
"Yes 5 am, I want you all in shape for our first match against Slytherin next Month, this means early mornings, I will be releasing my inner Oliver Wood so be prepared" Bell went deathly pale at his last statement, even Spinnet and the Weasley Twin looked pained.
"Right, off you go, I need to start planning our training sessions, your team uniforms will be with you this Saturday morning!" The team rushed off to the locker rooms, Potter grabbed his roommate's shoulder and whispered something to him, and Weasley brightened a bit before heading towards the locker room.
"So what do you make of the team and the new Reserve team?" Daphne asked watching Potter thank Spinnet and the Weasley Twin who immediately made a comment about McLaggen that made them all nod mournfully.
"Well I don't particularly know any of them, only Bell but from what I saw of McLaggen he is unfortunately very good," Tracey said putting away the muggle pen and writing pad.
"However, I will try and watch their training sessions to see who we need to look out for" Daphne knew her friend would not tell anyone except her about the players, she would rather make guesses on how the games will play out.
"Maybe McLaggen will get hurt very badly before the Slytherin match?" Daphne said hopefully
"Potter won't be so lucky"
XxxxxxX
They were walking back to the castle, idly talking about the upcoming year when McLaggen appeared out of nowhere blocking their path, and a shit-eating grin adorned his stupid face.
"Ladies, I noticed you were watching my try-out, what did you think, pretty good eh?" He said
"Beautifully, now piss off" he did not take any notice of Tracey's words instead he stepped forward, Daphne noticed Tracey bend her knee slightly preparing for a replay of last time.
"As the new Keeper, my status amongst my peers has gone up once more, so which one of you lovely Snakes would like to go with me to Hogsmeade at the end of the month?" he winked at her. Daphne gave him a look of loathing.
"Listen here you arrogant Cu-"
"McLaggen! A near Perfect Try-Out, why don't you head in and we will talk strategy?" Potter loudly said as he approached them cutting Tracey off, and diverted McLaggen's attention
"Yeah, just a sec, I want to know which one of these girls want to go with me for Hogsmeade weekend" He smirked.
"I don't have a sec mate, I need to go to see McGonagall soon to confirm yours and everyone else's position, you don't want her to take your position away due to you making me late?" Potter explained. Daphne could have hugged him. McLaggen stared wide-eyed at his Captain before turning a running off.
Waiting for a couple of seconds, McLaggen vanished into the castle; Potter took his place putting on an easy smile.
"If any of your Housemates want to put him into the Infirmary I will gladly pay them" The two Slytherins chuckled.
"I'll ask around, how much are you offering?" Tracey asked grinning at Potter; he stood there thinking for a minute.
"50 Galleons"
"Are you seriously putting a bounty on your teammate?" Daphne asked Potter, he shook his head laughing.
"A bounty makes it sound like I want him dead-"
"Even better," Tracey said offhandedly
"-more like an incentive" Right. They all started to head towards the castle, Potter started to discuss Quidditch with Tracey, Daphne kept quiet for a few minutes before interrupting their conversation on The European League.
"Why are you here?" Potter looked at her surprised
"I am talking to Davis about Quidditch" Daphne put her hands on her hips, Potter smirked, her friend gave her a tired look.
"We are in Slytherin, the train ride was us just finding a place to get away from Malfoy and you were unfortunately in the least crowded compartment, thank you for 'saving' us from McLaggen which we could have done ourselves, but we-" Tracey coughed, "-I don't want you here" Daphne said scowling at Potter and her best friend. He aggravatingly put an arm around Tracey's shoulders, who looked at him in surprise before smirking and putting an arm around his waist, she turned grinning at Daphne.
"I am talking to a fellow Quidditch fan, we are all friends when it comes to professional Quidditch, no matter the House," He said nodding, his messy black hair floating back into its messy place, Tracey also vigorously nodded, she then did something that annoyed Daphne even more, Tracey pulled him closer, he grinned.
"Yep!" Daphne locked her jaw and turned, storming off.
"Bye Greengrass!" she heard him call, her (possibly ex) best friend calling after her, didn't help that she was laughing as well.
XxxxxxxX
She arrived at her Common Room faster than she thought; she quickly passed everyone and headed to her room. Slamming the door, she glared at Tracey's bed hoping it burst into flames.
'How could she?' Daphne furiously thought, she fell onto her bed and stared up at the ceiling. Sighing, she realised that she was overthinking this. Annoyingly, of everyone in the Slytherin house, Tracey was the only one in the year who did not care about House rivalry, privately that is, but she wasn't in private with Potter, she was out in the open.
There was a single knock on the door before it opened; her little sister Astoria entered looking at her with a concerned expression. Astoria had similar features as her; slightly lower cheekbones, a perkier nose, a bit shorter than her, the main difference being the brown hair whereas Daphne had blonde hair; however, she also had bright blue eyes like her older sister.
"Wassup?" she asked sitting next to her sister.
"Tracey" Astoria made an 'O' face.
"What has your outspoken half-blood best friend done now?" Daphne turned to face her she was smiling slightly. She sat up and corrected her hair.
"She is being all friendly with Potter" Astoria raised a delicate eyebrow.
"Really? Are you saying your best friend has turned to the light side?" Daphne snorted and shook her head.
"No, but she was playing along with him purposely annoying me" Astoria rolled her eyes then leant her against her shoulder.
"Grow up Daphne" She pushed her sister away looking at her with shock, she would usually be on her side.
"We both know how Tracey can be, we both know that it was unlikely she would stick to the traditional attribute of hating everything Red and Gold," Astoria explained,
"Yeah but she was practically hugging him" her sister giggled.
"Sounding a bit envious there Daph" Daphne glowered at her sister pulled out her wand and sent a stinging hex at her, she jumped laughing and dived behind Pansy's bed.
"Why in Merlin's name would I be envious?!" Daphne shouted, Astoria peered over the bed smirking evilly like the demon she was.
"Cos you fancy him" she ducked again as the bed cover bunched up from another stinging hex.
"Fuck you!" she heard giggles come from behind Pansy's bed.
"Oh don't be ashamed Daph, lots of girls fancy Potter, I know I do!" she definitely knew that, she spent the summer listening to all the boys Astoria like repeatedly, Potter was always mentioned in some way.
"I do not fancy the Golden Prat!" she stamped her foot, then stopped, she just stamped her foot, she had not done that for a long time.
"Did you just stamp your foot?" The stinging hex left a mark on the wall, her sister giggled.
"No" sighing, she put her wand away, her sister sensing the end of the Stinging Hexs popped up and sat next her again. The door to her room opened again and Tracey entered grinning.
"Ayup moody!" Daphne growled in response, Tracey tittered as she put her pen and writing pad into her Trunk.
"My sister is annoyed that you got all close with Potter, she fancies him!" Astoria announced Tracey went wide-eyed; the smile that followed could have split her face in half. Damn you Astoria.
"You have fancy Potter?"
"No"
"She does," Astoria said happily standing up and heading towards the door.
"I'm not surprised, he is gorgeous"
"No"
"He his isn't he"
"No" she threw a pillow at Tracey who caught it and threw it back.
"Tall"
"Confident"
"Stop"
"That hair"
"Stop"
"Those eyes"
"Piss off" Daphne put the pillow over her face; maybe self-asphyxiation was the best way out.
"Oh God yes, those gorgeous green eyes" The pillow wasn't working; maybe they were charmed to stop people who had attempted this before in her situation.
"He's wealthy"
"Super rich" Daphne groaned
"Smart"
"Built like an athlete"
"Okay! Yes, we get it, he's hot, both of you get out before I set you alight" she shouted, her sister and best friend ran out of the room giggling. Sighing again, she decided to get ready for bed and do some homework, the only homework she had so far, Slughorn assigned some on Friday since it was the only lesson she had that day in the morning.
Putting her pyjamas and brushing her teeth, she sat cross-legged on her bed, taking out her potions book for the year, some parchment and a quill; she read the objective of the homework she had wrote on another piece of parchment.
"Explain with examples, why Amortentia is considered frowned upon yet is not illegal" she frowned, she would have to visit the library tomorrow for the examples, she got down to doing the layout of the assessment instead.
Halfway through her mind drifted to the boys within the school, contrary to popular belief, Daphne did think about boys as any other teenage girl does, she was just very tight-lipped about them with briefly considering boys only with a political aspect when she did speak about them openly. Her thoughts drifted through the boys within her house, the only ones of any worth were Blaise Zabini and Theodore Nott, Hufflepuff she didn't know, Ravenclaw had a couple of potentials, finally with great annoyance she thought of Gryffindor boys. Neville Longbottom seemed to grow out of his baby-fat, politically speaking he was one of the best, and not bad on the eyes now. With great self-loathing, she thought of Potter.
"Nope, time to go to sleep" she placed her book, parchment and quill on her bedside table, her wand under her bottom pillow, and closed her curtains; she got into bed and stared into the darkness. Potter. She had to begrudgingly agree with her sister and Tracey on everything, no matter how much she hated it. He was confident, even in 1st year, smart, he was top of the year for the past several years in Transfiguration, DADA and usually in the top three within his other classes, he had grown, he was the best politically speaking, those eyes….Did she fancy him?
"Fuck"
If you feel that Daphne Greengrass fancying Harry Potter came too quickly then you have never had a crush on a celeb, we both know that's Bs, even if she tells herself she doesn't fancy him. You don't have to know the person to like them, you just sit there wallowing in your sad little imagination of you and Margot Robbie on a date, her laughing at your jokes, you...-cries-