Gabrielle giggled to herself over her daring gesture, as she had had to summon all her courage just to walk up to Harry alone in the empty classroom and had almost backed out at the last moment. The look on his face was priceless, though, and as she travelled to her next class, she thought to herself: Je ne regrette rien.

x

Daphne Greengrass was silently pushing the lima beans around her plate, not having much of an appetite for Hogwarts food on this night.

"Not to your taste?"

The unexpected remark nearly caused her to jump out of her seat.

"Don't do that, Potter!" she yelled. "And who said you could sit there?" she asked, when he took the seat beside hers.

"Ummm…every other seat is taken."

Seeing that that was indeed the case at the staff table, she begrudgingly gestured for him to sit in the most dismissing manner she could conjure up, then defiantly turned her head to the side in an attempt to completely ignore him.

"You don't like me much, do you?"

"Gee, what gave you that impression, Potter?" she replied snidely.

"It's just that we never really talked back when we went to school together, you know, so I'm wondering what shaped your opinion of me," he said, shoveling some mashed potatoes down his throat.

"Well, first off, you're a filthy Gryffindor," she said as she started counting with her fingers. "Second, you think you're far smarter, more powerful and handsome than you actually are, and third, you've coasted on a success you had seven years ago! I'll give you one thing, though, you are idiotically brave."

"Ouch. Well I can tell you that the Sorting Hat originally wanted to put me into Slytherin, believe it or not. As to your second point," he continued, ignoring the shocked look on her face, "I didn't know you were such a skilled Legilimens that you could pass my Occlumency barriers and read my thoughts." At this, Daphne turned red in anger, causing Harry to chuckle. "Finally, my…trying formative years instilled in me an attitude of never taking anything for granted…" As he trailed off, Daphne wondered if the stories of his life with the Dursleys were actually true, that he had in fact lived in a cupboard under the stairs and was forced to perform all the chores and cooking, essentially acting as a slave for them. If so, maybe she had misjudged Potter a bit. But just a bit. "I got this job after seven years of hard work as an Auror and I had to pass a completely objective test of skill to become Head Auror, I wasn't just appointed by popular vote." She hadn't known that… "For that matter, how did you become Potions Master, Daphne?"

Caught off guard and slightly ashamed of her less than legitimate hiring, she tried changing the subject.

"Don't call me by first name! Should you even be cozying up to me, for that matter - don't you have a girlfriend, Potter?"

For a moment, Harry was taken aback by her comment, but then realized that Daphne could not possibly know about Tonks. They had kept their relationship under wraps, since Aurors were prohibited from dating one another and he didn't want to jeopardize Tonks' career. Hence, they'd agreed to keep it a secret for at least a little while longer so as not to arouse too much suspicion.

Luckily for him, Daphne did not catch the lapse in conversation, her mind still in a whirl trying to reconcile the truth – if Potter indeed wasn't lying – with the image she had built up of him throughout the years based on newspaper articles and conversations with her friends and family.

"No, still single. What about you, Daphne – sorry, Professor Greengrass?"

"Same," she replied, glad they were no longer talking about how she got to be Potions Master.

"Really?" he asked, somewhat shocked, though she had gained notoriety as the Ice Queen of Slytherin during their years at Hogwarts.

"Yes, really, Potter," she huffed angrily, "though I'll have you know that it is not for a lack of suitors. Heaven knows father wants to marry me off to the highest bidder."

As soon as the words escaped her mouth, Daphne wished she could take them back; she had no idea why she had uttered them, thus revealing such a close detail of her personal life to a relative stranger in Potter.

"That's terrible, Daphne. You deserve better – everyone does. You should have the chance to love, to be loved in return, and to marry the person who gives you all that."

"Professor Greengrass," she corrected, but no longer with any venom in her voice. "It's easy for you to say, you don't have parents who…"

As soon as she realized her words, she blurted out, "I'm sorry!" surprising Harry and making him pause for a moment before bursting out laughing. Angry that he was mocking her consideration and genuine apology, she swatted him on the shoulder, which only caused his laughter to redouble. She struggled not to laugh herself, turning her head away so Harry couldn't see the smile slowly forming on her face.

"It's alright, people have expressed their sympathy for me ever since I entered the wizarding world. I'm twenty-five years old – I've long since dealt with the deaths of my parents, so you don't have to worry about hurting my feelings, Professor Greengrass."

"Very well then. As I was saying, you don't know my father and mother's pressuring ways. They want to preserve the nobility of the Greengrass line and that means they only want me getting engaged to a rich pureblood of similar or higher status."

"I may not have that kind of pressure from any parents, but I do come from a noble line of pureblood wizards and witches myself, so I've gotten my fair share of marriage proposals ever since I turned of age." Daphne snorted, knowing that was almost certainly a gross understatement – maybe Potter was a modest chump after all. "We're like two peas in a pod!"

Daphne turned silently towards him and raised one delicate eyebrow, but Harry just started digging into his food in response. She couldn't believe he could stomach the high-calorie and high-fat food and still keep the fit body he possessed. As she subconsciously snuck a peek at his muscled torso and abs, she suddenly realized what she doing and abruptly turned away, chastising herself while blushing slightly. The seemingly endless plates of food were cleared one by one, and Daphne watched half in jealousy and half in disgust as Potter ate to his heart's content. It was actually rather amusing observing him lose his usual proper and professional demeanor, instead scarfing down food as though he hadn't eaten in days. It was…dare she say it…cute, watching him drop the grown-up facade and enjoy a meal like a kid. She sighed, wishing she could possess some of that carefreeness herself.

"Are you going to eat those beans?" Potter asked her, breaking her from her reverie.

"No, go ahead," she replied, smiling as he cleaned off the plate, leaving not one bean uneaten.

"Ahhhh…." Potter exclaimed in content, stretching both of his arms backwards. Daphne's smile could not help but broaden at the sight – Potter's joy was contagious, and she realized that if anyone could help her break out of her shell more, it was almost certainly the young man with the lightning bolt scar on his forehead.

x

The next morning, Harry Potter woke up bright and early at the crack of dawn, as he always did, changing into a comfortable Muggle sweatshirt and pair of sweatpants that Hermione had gotten for him. As he started jogging around the Hogwarts Lake, catching a glimpse of the Giant Squid, he cleared his mind of all thoughts and just ran. For half an hour, he simply let his feet take him where they may, feeling the stress fall off him in waves and reveling in the peace and quiet of a cool fall morning.

It was in this state of euphoria and disconnect that he almost tripped over someone at the Quidditch pitch. Luckily, he had managed to sidestep the stretching form at the last second, avoiding contact. When he turned around to apologize, he realized he was staring once again into unmistakable sapphire blue eyes.

x

Gabrielle Delacour stood up from the stretching she was doing on the ground, surprised but happy to see Harry again so soon.

"Sorry," they both said at the same time.

In an instant, they were both laughing, the rising sun casting a soft light over their two figures.

"It was completely my fault," said Harry. "I always zone out when I run, and I didn't see you there when I turned the corner."

"No, it was mine – I should have been stretching on the field, and not on the path; I have just never met anyone on the grounds this early before."

"Trust me, I don't often run into people," he wiggled his eyebrows, "this early, either."

As she giggled at his corny pun, he continued:

"What are you doing out at dawn, anyway?"

"I'm practicing for Quidditch," she answered proudly, nodding towards the Firebolt on the ground a few feet away from them. Harry looked towards it, having obviously not noticed it beforehand. "I got it because you had one, too," she said.

"Still do," he replied. "Shame I don't have it with me, though, or I could have flown circles around you, little missy."

"As if!" was her haughty response, in a manner that would have made French royalty envious. "I will have you know I am the current Seeker of House Gryffindor, while you are but a retired has-been."

Harry mimed getting shot in the heart and fell to the ground. He looked up at her with pleading eyes for a second, then his whole body collapsed abruptly in death. This caused her to giggle once more and he found the sound compelling.

"You know, in spite of my obviously superior abilities, I am having trouble with this one maneuver that I think you are familiar with," Gabrielle said, tapping her chin.

"And which one is that, m'lady?"

"The Wronski Feint!" she replied enthusiastically, rushing to get her Firebolt. "Can you teach me how to do it?"`

"Ugh, sure, but how will I do that without a broom?" he questioned.

"We can share mine," she replied, seating herself at the back of the broom and gesturing for him to sit at the front. After a moment of hesitation, Harry decided that despite the inevitable closeness of contact that would ensue, this was no doubt just the completely innocent request of a young girl who wanted a mentor and someone she could trust. Moreover, she was his student after all, and he wanted to impart all the knowledge that he could in order to teach the kids of Hogwarts to the best of his abilities.

"Alright," he finally agreed, seating himself on the familiar, yet also decidedly foreign Firebolt.

x

Gabrielle's heart soared as Harry climbed up rapidly, circling her arms around Harry's waist so as not to fall off. She could feel him tense for a moment, before eventually relaxing and laying back comfortably against her. So at ease was she in this position that she wasn't listening when he started talking.

"Earth to Gabby," he mocked jokingly, snapping his fingers near her face. "As I was saying, the Wronski Feint is all about deception, so the act you pull off before the actual maneuver is just as important as the feat itself." She nodded her understanding. "As a result, you have to be aware of the cues that you normally display when you dive for an actual Snitch – think of it like a tell in poker." Again, she nodded - she was familiar with the Muggle card game, as it was also popular in the wizarding world. "Before you perform the feint, you should try to mimic those tells as closely as possible and essentially bluff the other Seeker into thinking you're diving for the real thing." She smiled in wonder at his simple and clear explanation: this was why she had grown up idolizing him. "As for the actual maneuver itself, there's no better way to show it than with a little demonstration, right?" he said with a grin. "Ready?" he asked. As soon as she nodded her head, they abruptly started to plunge.

As the g-forces increased from their near vertical descent, Gabrielle could not help but be pressed against Harry, her breasts crushed against his back. She thought she could sense a tingle run up his spine as that happened, and she could feel her own nipples harden in excitement. Not really paying attention to the task at hand, she almost missed the Wronski Feint: Harry had continued descending at the same breakneck speed right up until they were mere meters from the ground, and then had put all his strength into bringing the Firebolt back level. As that happened, Gabrielle grabbed an even tighter hold of Harry so as not to be thrown off, pushing her now rock hard nipples into his back, and their feet nearly touched the ground, so close were they from actually crashing into the ground.

"Wow," she exclaimed, exhilarated.

"Yeah, wow," Harry replied, but noticeably less enthusiastic. He remained cool and more detached for the rest of the morning, allowing Gabrielle to try the feint on her own and only giving her constructive critiques of her attempts; Gabrielle wondered why he was suddenly acting so distant, hoping their flight together had not created some kind of rift that would affect their friendship.