Chapter 4
The runes were etched across the cobble floor. They formed crisscrossed patterns of colored light all over the endless room. Red, green, blue and many colors more. At the center of it all, a girl. An ashen haired blonde with pale skin colored by the light of the runes etched all around her.
Harry Potter was not sure for how long he had been staring. For a moment, it fell as if years had passed when only mere seconds had done so. Harry ´s palms sweated and it felt as if the beating of his heart couldn't go faster for the girl turned towards him. He stretched his hand towards her and she was there, standing right in front of him. She held his hand as he flinched back. He looked down into her eyes and saw. Her eyes were made out of stars.
The pattern unraveled right in front of him. He could see what was, what could have been, what would never be. Him, praying the word of some forgotten god. Voldemort sitting in a throne made out of wands. Dumbledore crying on a cell while he stared at a mirrored wall. Hermione on a hospital, ready to operate on a child. And him again, kneeling on a destroyed Great Hall clutching something so hard, his hands bled. It made no sense. And at the same time it made all the sense in the world.
"If I knew I'd keep you entertained that way I would have taken you to the Astronomy Tower, Potter," a voice said behind him.
Harry's eyes focused as his pulse slowed down. There were no runes or stared eyed girls. The only stars he could see where those visible beyond the stained glass of the library. Was he dreaming? He had never fallen asleep while standing but stranger things had happened.
"Oy, Chosen One, are you gonna turn around or what?"
With a shake of his head, Harry turned as he sighed.
"Daphne, how many times do I have to tell you that I'm not—" Harry stopped short after contemplating what was in front of him. His hands covered his mouth. He moved them with every attempt at speaking but they returned to their initial position when no words where uttered.
"You're naked," said Harry after his virgin-teenage-paralysis had passed.
"I know," said a one-brow-raised Daphne "and so are you. The ritual demands it."
As Harry stared down into his body, a jet stream of water emerged from the ground, going straight towards his face.
A swift, stream of water connected with Harry's face, waking him. With quick reflexes, he pointed his wand, kept under his pillow, on the general direction from which the water came and yelled: "Expelliermus!"
"Woah, easy there mate!" yelled Seamus as his wand flew away from his grasp.
The wand flew by Harry's hand as he failed to catch it. He had just woken up and felt the weight of the world lift from his shoulders. 'What…?' was all Harry could think before Seamus kept talking.
"It's getting late, Harry, if we don't hurry we'll lose breakfast. Get a move on!" said Seamus as he recovered his wand and quickly dried charmed his clothes.
Harry heard him mutter something about unloyal friends under his breath but there was something scratching at the back of his mind. 'Is it a memory?' Harr's mind races. He thinks it is a memory but he is not quite sure. It's an annoying sensation, like having the world at what you think is your reach just for your fingertips to push it away from you. The more he tried to remember, the more he lost. 'A dream maybe?'
"Hey, lover boy! You'll miss your girlfriend if we don't get there fast!" yelled Seamus while he clapped his hands. He leaned on the doorframe, looking outside as if to give Harry some privacy. Privacy was something the curtains could give Harry but sometimes even Seamus forgot the resources they had at hand in a magic school. Harry quickly got into his school robes and moved pasts Seamus, down the stairs and towards the Gryffindor common room.
"She's not my girlfriend, Seamus," a hand gesture for every word out of Harry's mouth.
"Not yet, she isn't. But if what I hear is right, she will be. Most of the girls at school are really disappointed by the recent developments, Harry."
Katie Bell said from the ornamented chair by the fireplace. Harry stopped on his tracks, surprised by her presence. Seamus slightly shoved him out of the way and kept on going until he reached Katie's side.
"See, we told you they'll notice," said Seamus shrugging his shoulders as a smile spread across his face
"How could we not? He barely leaves the library now, and when he does it is besides that Greengrass girl. I'm telling you, half of the 'Claws are thinking of how to get inside your inner circle or something to try and pry you away of those Slytherin claws. Well, not claws. Fangs, maybe? You get the point, right?"
"Just the 'Claws?" Harry was surprised by the words that left his mouth. By the moment he realized he spoke without filter, Seamus was already smirking at him as Katie looked him up and down, a lopsided smile on her face.
"Don't let the whole Chosen One thing go to your head, Harry! Besides, the 'Puffs are too loyal to backstab like that. Also, us Gryffindors know you'll see the light one day," she finished with a wink and a blowed kiss in Harry's direction.
Harry blushed and looked at his feet as he made his way towards the exit door. No matter how old he got or how many girlfriends he had, Katie Bell's flirting would always give him a stop. 'This all come back to that time Fred and George tricked me into the girl's locker room. Really hope I don't have to see a shrink about that someday,' Harry thought as he opened the portrait door.
"Remember, practice tomorrow Katie. I want to know how the new team can handle the weather," Harry said as he left the common room. He could hear her complain about it being Hogsmade weekend and wanting to go to a snowy Hogsmade before Seamus walked out.
"So you're not only interested in Slytherins are you? You gotta leave something for us mortals, oh Imperial Chosen One" said Seamus trying not to show his smile.
Harry knew that he should keep his mouth shut for the rest of the morning or the rest of his friends wouldn't let him live this down. Hell, maybe even Luna would try a move on him. So he just gave Seamus two middle fingered salutes as he led the way towards breakfast.
"You do know almost all of the girls from other houses, and the firsties from ours, are staring at you, right?" asked Tracey.
"Yeah, so? Am I supposed to grow a couple of horns and start dancing naked under the pale moonlight?" Daphne responded with a blank stare as her knuckles turned white for the grip on her utensils..
"Well its ten o'clock so I'm not so sure about the moonlight thing," was Blaise's response from the opposite side of the table. The dark skinned boy seemed to be the only other Slytherin in their year that did not care about her activities with Potter. Sure, Pansy and Millie were still Daphne's friends but she noticed their looks. As if expecting for Daphne to tell them a secret. 'Well, there is no secret so they better grow up and start acting like they used to,' thought the blonde Slytherin as she toyed with her food.
"Oy, you don't have to go and get all attitudy with me, Miss Greengrass! I'm just saying you should be prepared for this apparent popularity you are getting because of your boyfriend!" Tracey´s last words were heavily dripped in sarcasm. She knew how much Daphne had wanted for Potter to ask her out on Hogsmade weekend. She would have obviously said no, as it is too soon, but the thought would have counted.
"He is not my boyfriend!" Said Daphne, gulping a spoon full of porridge.
Daphne knew it was stupid to grieve after common teenager stuff in the possible wake of a wizarding war but Daphne knew Harry Potter was not a stupid thing to worry about. The boy had far more secrets than those rumoured by the students. He was a mystery wrapped in an enigma. The Prophet slandered and praised him at the flick of a wand and he seemed to be Dumbledore's favourite student. And he was quite a looker. Daphne blushed as she remembered Potter's reveal of stealing glances at her whenever they were studying together.
"Well, well, well, would you look at that? I should have totally taken Divination. The Boy Who Was Promised has decided to grace the mere peasants of Hogwarts by arriving late for breakfast. So charming!"
"A wizard is never late, nor is he early. He arrives precisely when he wants to," Daphne replied instantly.
"What was that?" Laughed Blaise.
"Just—" paused Daphne, as she smiled and played with her hair " just something Potter said once."
"Oh look at you, you are already quoting him!" Tracey turned towards Daphne, hands clasped together and making doey eyes at her. Slowly, she leaned in towards Daphne's face.
Daphne felt the stares from the rest of the Slytherins. She knew what Tracey was trying to do. Rumours had always flown about how she and Tracey spent more time together than it was naturally possible between friends. Daphne couldn't care less and it helped to keep some of the boys at bay so she let it flow. But Potter was staring right at her. She started sweating and knew she had to do something.
Taking a deep breath, she slid away from Tracey and waved at Potter. A small smile formed on her lips as she looked down at her porridge.'That should do. He know I never say hi to anyone besides my friends,' Daphne thought. But suddenly, doubt crept in 'But what if he thinks I only want him as a friend? Should I do something more? I—' Daphne's brainstorming was cut short by a pair of hands in between her and her food. A fair skinned hand.
"Did we just brake up?" Tracey said as she sniffed and covered her eyes. Her voice breaking and lips quivering.
"Hogwarts really needs a drama club," muttered Blaise as he sighed and closed his eyes.
"This is not a joke, Blaise! She just slid away from me! I was about to whisper sweet nothings on her ears," at this, Tracey closed her eyes and looked away "and she did it for Potter."
"Yeah. And you knows who gives a shit?" Blaise clearly made a pause for dramatic effect. He put both of his palms on the table, looked at the two of them and whispered: "Not me."
'And he says Tracey is the drama queen,'thought Daphne.
"Whatever Mommyissues, Daphne needs to get herself a good snog in Hogsmade tomorrow and you are gonna get it for her—" Tracey's words were cut short because Blaise had the perfect retort.
"So you are offering yourself? Great! Tomorrow we'll go to The Three Broomsticks. Be ready. I'm out." Blaise stood and straightened his ties before looking at the rest of the table, a snarl on his face, and leaving. To say a couple of first year students were shoved out of their ways would be an understatement.
"You know he just had it with you and wanted to leave, right?" asked Daphne, looking Tracey up and down.
"Of course I did. Besides, no one's been trying to get into this sweet robes of mine since last year so I'll leave all the romance stuff to you," Tracey said with a wave of her hand. She picked a sausage and bit it in half, staring at a fourth year Ravenclaw straight in the face.
"Gee, I wonder why," said Daphne as she looked away, towards the Gryffindor table. Potter was staring at her. Her pulse quickened, her pupils probably dilated, she blushed.
"Wow, you know how they say that you ears turn red when you see someone you are sexually attracted to?" asked Tracey, given Daphne a crooked smile, "your ears are totally red."
All Daphne did was smile at Harry Potter, hoping his stomach fluttered just as much as hers did.
"Where's Hermione?" Neville asked, hands hovering over the sausages as he looked at the roasted tomatoes. "I really wanted to ask her about our charms homework. I know Flitwick won't really care if the homework doesn't have all the correct answers but since I decided to go against Gran on this I want to be really good," the last few words were said with slight delay. Neville shook kis head slowly as he looked at his hands, now resting on his lap.
A hand clasped his shoulder. Dean was giving him slight, lopsided grin.
"I may not be the best student in Gryffindor—" started Dean before he was interrupted by Seamus.
"Just to give you a background perspective; last time Dean checked over me homework I got myself an E." Seamus finished with a shrug of his shoulders.
"Just give it over, Neville. I'll check it out, okay? I'm done with my breakfast either way." Dean said as he pushed all the things that laid in front of him to make some space.
"Where's Hermione though?" Harry asked as he flashed the brightest smile he could muster towards Daphne. After seeing one of her thick eyebrows raise and her lopsided smile, he turned towards his friends.
"She left when we were talking about how you having a girlfriend didn't really stop your weird mood swings last night and you broke Ron's back with that new spell you found because you're tired of his snoring, "said Dean, without looking up from Neville's notes, doing some motions with his free hand.
"Oh, come on! It wasn't that bad! He was barely a few foot off from his bed!" said Harry, hand flying into the air.
"Merlin's balls, Harry! You woke Neville! Neville of all people! I think it was pretty bad. We might even need to get Ron a massage for his back or something," Seamus' fingers went to his lips as he looked around the Great Hall as if searching for someone to give that massage. Ron looked bewildered, as if wanting to join the conversation but the thought of a girl touching him had left him unsure of himself. It didn't matter. Seamus was laughing, as he looked towards the Slytherin portion of the Hall.
"Say, Harry, would your girlfriend's girlfriend like to hang out with our little Ron here. He is a little inexperienced but I'm sure he is a gentleman underneath all of the… redness."
Whatever Harry was going to say was interrupted by a fist smashing the table. It wasn't really as if Ron hitting the table surprised the Gryffindor boys but the fact that Ron was smiling as he did so.
"Now," said Ron as he slowly looked between Harry and Seamus, since they were the only ones paying attention to him, " you guys may not have standards, but I am a man of class—"
"A man that only cares for curves," Dean told Neville as they verified Neville's mistakes.
With barely a glance towards them, Ron continued.
"A man that won't snog the first snake he sees."
"Now Harry, before you start going for my head. I'm sure Greengrass is a nice girl. A nice girl for you. I don't want to get a massage from some random Slytherin. I'd be pretty comfortable with a Gryffindor. Lavender, perhaps. In the end, all I'm trying to say is that our standards are very different my friends. Please don't kill me Harry." Ron finished,, squinting his eyes and ready to receive an aguamenti to the face.
"He should totally pummel you. But the fact we have standards" said Seamus with his characteristic sarcasm, "means that we actually get massages, Ron. You know. Like that thing you are so totally in need of."
Before anything else could happen, Harry saw Dean snapping his fingers at him.
"'I'm gonna ask Daphne to Hogsmade." Harry really wanted to say something regarding this whole tension between his friends but maybe what he said was better. They had all been on edge. Be it their school work, the war, girls. It all seemed to bring an argument. No matter how playful it started, they recently ended with someone else firing water at each other.
"Um, you mean tomorrow? Aren't you guys going to practice form the next match? Neville's words broke the silence. Or as much silence as it could be in the Great Hall during breakfast hours.
"Harry scheduled the Quidditch pitch for the morning. It's not like we'll practice twelve hours." Replied Ron as he stared at Harry, his lips a thin line.
"Harry, mate, whatever you do, just don't take her to Madame Pud—"
"I think I've learned my lesson already, Seamus" Harry interrupted, " and I know we said that we would hang out after Ron and I left Hermione but— well, I mean, you've all been acting like complete twats. I have as well. I just, I don't know if us being together all the time is okay. Yeah, we are friends, but what if one of these day it is not an aguamenti that ends the argument but a punch to the face?"
After seeing the faces of his friends, the boys he had spent days and nights in Hogwarts, he stopped. He knew that would never happen. And their faces told him they knew as well. He suddenly realized what was happening to him.
"Okay, we won't punch each other. But I guess I just want things with Daphne to work out. I mean, we spend so much time together already, but I want more. And maybe I do am looking for excuses to be with her. Guys, I really like her. And tomorrow is Hogsmade Saturday and we could be together all day and it could be amazing. It's Hogsmade, what could go wrong? And you are all being twats and Seamus is looking at me funny and I just went on a full rant like an emotional teenager." Harry sighed. His friends were looking him with mock tears and sobs. Even Neville!
"I—" Harry's voice was outmatched by Dean's words.
"So now that you insulted us, apologized and went full on When Harry met Daphne in less than five minute, I have to ask the important question. Are you gonna kiss the girl?"
A/N: Hey guys, small update. working on the next one. Be sure to left a review!