Chapter 4: Expressly Forbidden
Daphne felt that summer holiday had come and gone rather quickly. Seeing Blaise and Tracey over the summer really took it out of her, but in a good sense. She never really had friends outside of Harry, so it was nice.
It was very quickly apparent that Tracey was maturing quickly. Considering she was more outspoken and friendly, she felt a bit jealous of her friend. Nonetheless, what really seemed to get to her was her friend flirting with Harry. It seemed innocuous enough, but seeing Harry's reaction hurt. Why doesn't he react like that to me? Daphne wondered, watching Harry finish setting everything in his trunk.
Tomorrow, the four friends would ride the Hogwarts Express, and return to the school for what they hoped would be a good year.
"Can we actually make it a whole school year without something bad happening?" Tracey asked, sitting down in the seat next to Harry in the library.
"Merlin, yes, I hope so." Blaise said, smirking at Harry's shrugged response.
"Too many adventures for you, Zabini?" Harry replied, smirking back.
"If you'd like to deal with more deathly situations, that's your deal. I'd rather deal with being bored to death." Blaise retorted, frowning. Everyone agreed, settling into an easy conversation.
As they talked, they remained unaware of something watching them, hidden in the collection of books and objects the large library room had accumulated from generations of Greengrasses.
"Dobby must make sure that Harry Potter does not return to Hogwarts. His life depends on Dobby!" the elf said to himself, trying to see what he could do to stall the boy.
OooooO
The next morning started off with a panic. No one had any idea what happened, and Victoria was wondering if this was someone's idea of a joke. Last night, everyone had left their packed trunks in the entry hall. Now, all four trunks were empty and things were mixed up and all over the house.
"Who did this?" Victoria asked, helping the children and their House Elf, Zeri, recover everything.
"Mum, why would we do this?" Daphne and Harry harmonized, frantically getting their clothes together.
"Who else would have?" She asked with a frown. No one had a response. After an hour or so, they'd gotten everything together, Victoria keeping an eye on their luggage while the four friends hurriedly got ready to leave.
They took the hand of the Greengrass matriarch, who with a quick sweep of her wand, sent their things to the trains' baggage check.
"Hold on, everyone." Victoria warned. Everyone grabbed on tightly as they were apparated away, landing in a crowded room in Kings Cross station.
"Please, have a good year. Write to me every chance you get." Victoria said, smiling at her children, bidding them farewell. A quick kiss on each cheek and they were on their way, looking for the division spot for platform 9 3/4s.
"I'll go first." Daphne said, smiling at her friends. She walked through, followed quickly by Blaise.
"I know I don't usually ask, but is everything well?" Zabini asked, looking at Daphne curiously.
"What do you mean?" Daphne asked, confused.
"Well, you seem... I dunno, short." He tried.
"I just haven't hit my growth spurt." She said quickly. Too quickly. Blaise smirked and she sighed.
"So, tell me what's wrong." Zabini said.
"You promise not to tell?" She asked with a frown. Blaise nodded. "Uh huh. You're gonna have to make a wizard's oath."
"A… what? Is it that serious?" Blaise asked incredulously, his usual swagger replaced by how off guard the request caught him.
"Do you want to know or not?" Daphne asked, eyeing the Italian boy. He nodded and stuck out his wand.
"I, Blaise Giovanni Zabini, swear upon my magic not to reveal anything that Daphne Victoria Greengrass discloses to me in any way, shape, or form." Blaise said lazily, trying to ignore the flash of light that came from his wand.
"Harry and I are soul bond." Daphne said flatly.
"Oh, oh bloody… Damn." Blaise tried, flustered. What exactly was he supposed to respond to that?
"Yeah, I found out about it during Christmas break. It cleared up some things but it's made other things a lot more complicated." Daphne admitted.
"Complicated what things?" Zabini asked, walking with her to the train.
"Well, Harry doesn't know, for starters." Daphne said.
"Potter doesn't know?" Blaise asked with surprise. "How not?"
"My parents wanted me to tell him." She explained, receiving a nod from the boy. "But I haven't worked out how exactly you tell someone that you're bound to be together or else."
"That certainly is complicated." Blaise said. "I'm not entirely sure what I expected, but this was definitely not it."
"Yeah. And with Tracey getting all flirty with Harry…" Daphne said, trailing off. Blaise nodded, understanding.
"Wait... But then why isn't Potter all head over heels for you?" The boy asked.
"Well, since Harry doesn't know, he hasn't accepted it." Daphne explained. "The soul bond doesn't create feelings. Harry has to like me and then accept the bond."
"Greengrass likes Potter." Blaise teased with a smirk. Daphne smacked him. "Prat. I was teasing. But that makes sense. So what happens if Potter never accepts the soul binding?"
"It would slowly hurt my magic, but not drastically. If he rejected it, however, it would hurt us both. It would sap our magic and well…" Daphne said, leaving the obvious end to sound ambiguous.
"Damn." Blaise said simply. What else could you say when you find out that your friends could perish if their relationship didn't work out. "But uh… hey. Speaking of friends, where the hell are Harry and Tracey?"
OooooO
Harry watched Blaise hurry in after Daphne.
"Ooh, I wonder what that's about." Tracey insinuated. Harry rolled his eyes.
"Dunno, but let's-" He began, when suddenly a pair of hands found themselves on his shoulders.
"Well, lookie here." Said the voice on the right.
"If it isn't Harrykins." Said the one on the left.
Harry spun around to see the grinning faces of Fred and George Weasley. They were accompanied by a large group of red headed people, and two who weren't.
"Boys. Who are these two?" asked a man, whom Harry realized was their father.
"Harry Potter, sir." The boy said, introducing himself. "And my friend, Tracey Davis."
The man stood quietly for a moment, realizing that this boy was the Wizarding world's savior, but also a Slytherin. His twin boys seemed oddly comfortable around them.
"Hermione, good to see you again." Harry greeted the girl with the messy hair. She smiled politely back.
"Harry, Tracey." Hermione replied with a small nod. They remained mostly ignored by Ron and Percy, which was fine by the Slytherins.
"This is our father." Said Fred.
"Arthur Weasley." Finished George.
"Nice to meet you, Mister Potter and Miss David." Arthur said with a small smile.
"And these two" George said, signaling at the two other girls with them.
"Are Ginny, our sister." Fred said.
"And her friend Luna Lovegood." George finished, introducing the final girl.
The red haired girl smiled and looked away, blushing ever so slightly.
"Hello, Harry Potter." The small blonde girl said dreamily. He wasn't entirely sure why, but she seemed to stare at him expectantly. Maybe it was her odd appearance.
"Boys, the time. Hurry up, let me and your mother know when you're at school." Arthur said. He gathered his family in a quick hug with much protest, and let go, waving and walking off to work.
"See you inside." The twins said in perfect harmony, walking through with their things.
"Potter. Davis." Percy said, excusing himself. He followed through with his trunk.
"See you at school, Harry." Hermione said, pushing a protesting Ron with their things. Ginny followed them quickly, almost tripping through the barrier.
"Nice to meet you, Harry." Luna said with an awkward smile. She hugged Harry, much to his surprise, and walked to the barrier. "My, so little wrackspurts today. Interesting."
After a moment of the odd girl being gone, Harry chuckled.
"She is definitely an odd one." Harry said with a smile.
"That's an understatement." Tracey chortled. She liked the weird girl.
"Luna… that's the girl from the store." Harry said, his smile falling. Tracey stared.
"The one Malfoy…?" She questioned. Harry nodded. "Why didn't you say anything?"
"I don't know her. I don't know what Lucius gave her. I can't just walk up to someone and say 'hey, you've got something dangerous on you.' I would come off as some kind of nutter." Harry said. Tracey reluctantly agreed.
"Well, we better hurry. The train finishes loading up soon." Tracey said. She took Harry's hand and walked to the barrier and smacked her face into it
"Funny. Now hurry up." Harry said, rolling his eyes.
"I can't." Tracey said, scrambling all over the divider between them and the school train.
"What do you mean you can't?" Harry asked.
"Harry, the wall is a wall." Tracey panicked.
"Oh." He said simply.
This was not a good thing.
OooooO
Victoria was barely getting home. She looked at the clock, seeing the time.
"Five minutes until the train leaves." She said to herself, smiling softly. She would miss her babies.
As she walked past the living room, she noticed a book on the table. She instantly recognized it as Daphne's, by the initials written on the fringe of the cover. She looked back at the clock and sighed. Two minutes left. She wouldn't have time to make it, but she'd try. She smiled to herself, realizing how dramatic it would look. With that, she apparated away, trying to beat the clock.
A second landing at Kings Cross and she took off in a brisk walk. She didn't want to attract too much attention from the muggles. She recognized a few wizards and witches and arrived at the barrier, where Harry and Tracey were, patting the wall down.
"Harry?" Victoria asked, wondering why her boy was not already on the train.
"M-mum." Harry stammered, looking embarrassed.
"What is the meaning of this?" She asked the two of them.
"Mrs. Greengrass. The barrier. It's just a wall." Tracey said, slapping the wall. Victoria frowned.
"That's not possible; the barrier never closes." Victoria said. She put a hand to the wall, feeling the solid brickwork. "How?" She wondered.
"What do we do?" Harry asked, worriedly. A loud, but unseen whistle was heard in the distance. The train was leaving the station, minus two students.
"I'll write a letter to the school and explain your tardiness." Victoria said, smiling at the two friends.
"But how do we get to the train?" Tracey asked.
"I'm not entirely sure you can anymore." Victoria said. "Let's get home and we'll see if we can figure it out."
With defeated sighs, Harry and Tracey walked behind Victoria, heading home.
"Tracey, you're holding my hand." Harry grumbled.
"Uh, you're holding mine." She replied.
"Oh, sorry." He said, letting go. "There's a lot on my mind."
"It's okay Harry." Tracey said, feeling down as well. "Snape's gonna have our heads for this."
"Zeri?" Victoria called once they reached the wizard arrival and departure platform.
"Yes, Missy Greengrass?" the house elf asked, appearing with a pop.
"I need you to take this this to Cyrus." Victoria requested, using her wand to write a quick letter to her husband.
"That's it!" Tracey cried. "Zeri, can you take us to the Hogwarts express?"
Harry remembered that that's how Blaise had met them last Christmas.
"Of course, I forgot!" Harry said, smacking his forehead. Victoria frowned.
"You can't apparate to the train; it's warded." Victoria said.
"House elves can, Blaise had his elf do it." Harry said with a smile.
"Zeri can try, sir." The elf squeaked dutifully. He took the letter from Victoria and grabbed onto Harry and Daphne before disappearing.
"But…" Victoria tried. She sighed and quickly headed home. This would not end well.
OooooO
Harry fell over, tumbling across the country side for a few feet. Off to the side, Tracey found herself in the same situation. They'd been popping up all over the country for a good while at this point. The sun was beginning to set, and the train was heard chugging along in the distance.
"Ugh. What gives?" She griped, getting to her feet.
"I'm not sure." Harry said, frowning at his glasses. The left rim had broken and the lens was somewhere around.
"The glasses is here, Master Potter." Zeri said, huffing with exhaustion.
"I'm sorry, Zeri." Harry said, taking his lens. "I didn't mean to ask too much of you.
"It shouldn't be too much for Zeri." The elf squeaked tiredly. "Something is keeping Zeri from getting to the trains."
"What do you mean?" Harry asked the elf.
"Something isn't letting Zeri get to the train. I keeps following but I can't lands." He squeaked sadly. He began smacking his face into the grassy hillside. "I let master down! Zeri is sorry!"
"Zeri, it's okay." Harry said, gripping the elf by the waist while he threw his fit. Zeri quickly calmed down and stood up.
"Since Zeri can't get us to the train, why don't we just go directly to Hogwarts?" Tracey asked, watching the boy try to get his lens back into his broken glasses.
"Zeri can't bring people into the castle grounds, Missy." Zeri explained. "The magic let's elves in, but not peoples."
"Damn. Well, what can we do?" Tracey asked, throwing direct options out.
"Good question. Maybe we can go to the Hogsmeade station?" Harry asked. Zeri smiled and nodded.
"Zeri will try!" the elf squeaked. He held out his hands, which Harry and Tracey took.
Suddenly, there was that uncomfortable feeling of being squeezed that came with apparition. A quick pull launched him out of the familiar feeling and Harry felt himself flying through the air. He flew and landed upright, but from the momentum, tripped over a massive root of a tree. With a yelp, he pitched forward, rolling just downhill from a singular tree.
With a groan, Harry got up and looked up. He put what remained of his glasses on half his face, trying to get his bearings. He saw a towering structure close by and realized they were in the Hogwarts grounds.
"Tracey! We made it!" Harry said. He looked around and realized his friend was not on the ground. "Tracey"
A small groan made him look up, and he realized his friend was caught in the tree in a rather compromising position.
"Tracey, wake up." Harry called, trying to find a way up the tree. As he approached, he heard a series of creaking and cracking sounds, and felt something solid collide with his midsection. Harry flew back down the hill and landed with a painful roll. A few more loud sounds and Harry heard a shriek of fear from Tracey.
With a groan, Harry got up and watched in a mix of awe and terror as the massive tree began swinging around, Tracey holding on to a swinging branch for dear life. This was the tree they'd been told by the older students to avoid: The Whomping Willow.
With as much half blind dexterity as he could manage, Harry jumped past and around several branches, trying to close in on Tracey, who had at this point flown off one branch and onto another.
"Help me!" She called, dizzy.
"I'm trying!" Harry yelled, smaller branches hitting him all over like a swarm of angry hippogriff riding crops. "Let go when you're swinging at me! I'll try to catch you!"
Harry realized how half cocked the whole plan sounded, but he was desperate, and panicking. He avoided a few more of the sizable branches and readied to catch his spinning friend. With a final shriek, she let go of the branch and slammed into Harry's chest, flinging them both back down the hill. Pacified by the lack of intruders, the tree slowly returned to its neutral posture and was still once more.
Harry and Tracey tumbled down for a moment and ended side by side. With pained groans, they got up and stretched. They were bruised and battered, but definitely whole.
"We need light." Harry said, taking a breath. He drew his wand and quickly shone a light. A small, high eep drew his attention to his friend, who was sitting down.
"Harry. My- my wand." She cried, lifting the wand into the light. At first, Harry didn't notice the issue until he saw a crack running along the wood grain. That wasn't good, but it could definitely be worse.
"We can fix it later." Harry said, trying to assure his friend that things would be well. Judging by the time, there was no way they'd be on time. "I think we're missing the sorting."
They painfully limped their way past the great doors of the castle and into the school. As they approached the Great Hall, they realized they had indeed missed the sorting. Everyone was eating and chatting among themselves. The staff table at the far end had too settled into easy talk.
"Harry? Where's Snape?" Tracey questioned, eyeing the room.
"Yes, where indeed is Professor Snape?" Said a voice behind them. "And perhaps even, he is wondering why two of his students were not only late to the sorting ceremony and fest, but also why they weren't on the train."
The thin, hook nosed man stared impassively at the two tardy Slytherins, before turning, his black cloak billowing as he turned.
"With me." The teacher said as he set off on a brisk walk.
The two friends followed quickly, knowing they were already in enough trouble. They followed quickly to the dungeons, the warmth and merry of the Great Hall slowly fading. He led them to his office, signaling them in. They sat at the two seats across from the desk that clearly belonged to the teacher.
"Care to tell me why, in Merlin's name, the great Harry Potter and his little friend thought they were too good to ride the train like every other student" He asked coldly.
"Sir, the-" Harry tried. Snape held up his hand, calling for silence.
"You two simply thought popping up all over the country would go unnoticed?" He asked angrily. He pulled out a copy of the evening news paper, pointing at the headline. "You were seen."
Sudden Appearances Baffle Muggles all over Scottish Highlands
Today, several reports were filed about two people and an elf apparating around the Hogwarts Express track. Several hiking muggles reported seeing what appeared to be a male and female popping up and down the area with what they claimed to be a knobby, mistreated child (later proven to be a house elf). The...
Snape looked up from the article and stared coldly at the children. Harry maintained his usual blank look he had at school, whereas Tracey looked worried.
"I also happened to notice the disturbance you caused on the school grounds by messing around the Whomping Willow tree and the damage you two did to it." Snape continued.
"The tree hurt us!" Tracey exclaimed, attempting to explain what happened to their head of house.
"Silence!" Snape roared, shocking Tracey into being quiet. "While normally, I would expel you two in a heartbeat, you two had someone actually clear headed looking out for you."
He drew the letter that Victoria had written, which explained that the barrier to platform 9 and 3/4ths had sealed.
"You two simply did not think, but this letter will earn you at least the right to explain your actions. If I deem them inexcusable, you will be gone before the feast ends, do I make myself clear." The Potions master said softly. "The Headmaster will join us briefly.
This was not his choice, as they had been seen by muggles of all people but Professor Dumbledore had asked him to at the very least listen, with himself there, of course.
As Harry began to explain, a simple knock was heard.
"Come in." Snape said calmly. As the Headmaster walked in, Harry felt his stomach drop. Dumbledore liked him, but he knew he'd be just another student at Hogwarts. He was there simply to make sure Snape gave them a fair chance, nothing more.
"Please, explain what happened." Dumbledore said, taking a spot near the doorway. He looked rather unhappy, but they understood, given the situation.
With a sigh, Harry related their story. The barrier not working, and the idea to use Zeri to simply get back on the train, as they'd seen Blaise do it (which Snape hated to admit sounded like an actual idea). Both Snape and Dumbledore frowned when Harry admitted that Zeri couldn't land on the train, claiming something was blocking him and the sudden and painful result of them separating from the elf, which led to their misadventure with the murder tree.
"Head to the feast. You have class in the morning." Snape said coldly. They needn't be told twice, and hurried off to join their friends.
"Whatever could stop a house elf from apparating?" Dumbledore wondered.
"As far as I'm aware, only another elf." Snape replied.
He didn't like this. He hated to acknowledge it, but something definitely tried to keep Potter and Davis out of the school. No. Davis was just at the wrong place. This was definitely meant for Potter, Snape thought.
Harry and Tracey quickly made their way to the common room, changing into their school uniforms and heading back out.
"Harry, your glasses." Tracey said. Harry nodded and used the repairing spell Cyrus had shown him to fix the broken spectacles.
"Better?" Harry asked, fixing his glasses upon his face.
"Other than the bruises, yeah." Tracey joked.
"I'm still sure I look better than you do." Harry replied.
With that, the two friends made their way to the Great Hall, readying for the looks, whispers, and unavoidable questions to come.