Disclaimer: Not mine, sorry.
A/N: Hey everyone! Thanks so much for the reviews; I'm glad you liked the last chapter. Sorry this one took a while- I keep going home for the weekend, and forgetting my jump drive to upload it at home. But here it is. Next one will be posted next Friday (not this Friday, but the one after). So I apologise in advance, but hey, this chappie's 6,500 words roughtly! Now on with the chappie!
The Little Child to Lead Him
Chapter Ten
"Duchess, do you have to come with me?" Harry hissed to her as he pulled on a pair of jeans.
"You'll get in trouble without me," she hissed back lazily, curling up on his bed on top of the shirt he was planning on wearing.
"Get off my shirt," he yanked on it, pushing her off gently. "And I won't get in trouble. The last of those death eaters who were still around were captured while I was in London. And you haven't been coming to classes with me."
"That's because there's no one to worry about in any of your classes," she said smugly. "And if you get cursed or hexed in class, you either deserved it or weren't quick enough to avoid it."
"Nice," he shot her a look. "But please Duchess, it's gonna be awkward enough on the date without you there adding your snide comments. I mean, I've only gone on two dates really; Cho and Ginny. And Parvati at the Yule ball hardly counts. Not to mention that Susan doesn't particularly like snakes."
"Oh very well," she sighed. "I'll leave you be. Just don't expect it every time. I think you should also make it a condition that anyone who likes you also has to like your snake, as well as your munchkins."
"Perhaps, but it's just a date," Harry pointed out. "I'm not talking about forever, I'm just talking about today."
Duchess' response was to uncurl and slither down to the common room. Gathering Rose in his arms after throwing the diaper bag over his shoulder, he followed her down. She of course, had slithered over to the first year girls who were rather taken with her, Allyn especially. Duchess, Harry swore, smirked at him as the first year girls lathered attention on her, praising and petting her as she coiled up in the middle of them.
"Have fun Harry!" They all called collectively, giggling when he gave them a theatrical salute before exiting through the portrait. He made his way to the entrance hall where he and Susan had agreed to meet.
"Hello Harry!" Susan greeted him warmly as he stepped off the last step. "Hello Rose."
"Hi Susan," he smiled, and called on some of the advice Lacey had given him in regards to girls; always compliment them. "You look pretty."
"Thank you," she blushed. Harry didn't have to try hard to compliment her; she was looking pretty in her yellow jumper and jeans, her hair in a ponytail. He was glad she wasn't one of those types who tried to dress all fancy, and wear copious amounts of makeup and jewellery in an attempt to impress a guy.
"Ready to go?" Harry asked after a slight awkward pause.
"Yes," she nodded, and he motioned for her to precede him out the doors, giving her a hand up into the carriage. "Thank you."
"You're welcome," he nodded, and they settled into another slightly awkward silence. Harry didn't like these, and raced through a list of things in his mind to talk about. Susan however saved him.
"How's Rose doing?"
"She's good," Harry looked down at his daughter who he'd dressed in a pair of purple leggings and a purple and pink striped t-shirt, with a black robe over top. "I think she's settling in pretty well. I was worried that all the people and magic in the castle might overwhelm her. If anything though, I think she loves it, and the attention she gets from my friends and the professors."
"Any favourites?"
"Either Professor Dumbledore or Professor Flitwick. She loves Professor Flitwick's squeaky voice, and always coos and squeals whenever we're in charms and he's talking."
"And Professor Dumbledore?"
"She loves to grab hold of his beard and play with it," Harry shared a laugh with Susan. "And I think she likes all the brightly coloured robes he wears, just like a typical girl."
"Hey, I resent that!" Susan tried to glare, but only managed another giggle.
"I'm only joking, though I will say I think there's some truth in it. All girls have some interest in colours and clothing. Guys are the same way too, though yeah, we don't care nearly as much."
"Some of you do," Susan pointed out as the carriage came to a stop. Harry helped her down once again, and they fell into step beside each other.
"Like who?"
"Malfoy for instance; he always makes sure his robes are the best you can have, and that they're the latest style."
"I won't completely disagree, but I think some of that is simply pride and how he was raised," Harry shrugged as they reached main street. "Three Broomsticks for lunch?"
"Sure," she agreed, and they started there. "Continue about Malfoy?"
"Well he was always raised that Malfoy's have the best, wear the best, are the best, and so on. So for him it's probably just second nature to make sure his robes are expensive and of the highest quality; not because he really cares about what he's wearing, or the colour and cut of them."
"Well what about you then? I mean, you looked nice at the Yule ball, and you've got some nice clothes on now," Susan gestured to the khaki pants and dark gray long-sleeved waffle-print shirt he had on. Simple, but it looked good on him.
"Mrs. Weasley was responsible for those dress robes, though I did pick out some new ones a while back, though again, I had help from Madame Malkin with those. And these clothes are only because I had some help from a friend during the summer who took me shopping. She's the one responsible for my new clothes, otherwise I'd probably still just have all of my cousin's old things, or my school stuff. As for the school stuff, that's all standard, and I don't particularly care for fancier fabric as opposed to the typical stuff. Between classes and everything else, it all just gets stained, torn, and dirty anyways, so why waste money?"
"I know it makes sense," Susan said as they entered the pub and sat down in a booth. "But I think there is something fun about having the nice expensive material. They just feel better on than the regular ones do."
"I'll take your word for it," Harry shrugged, not really agreeing, but not caring much either. "Do you know what you want for lunch so I can go order food?"
"Just fish and chips, and a butterbeer," Susan began digging into her purse to find her wallet.
"I've got it, really," Harry held up a hand when she started to protest his paying. "It's the gentlemanly like thing to do. I'll be back in a minute with lunch."
"All right," she smiled. "Want me to hold Rose so your hands are free?"
"Sure," he handed Rose to her, and went up to the bar to grab two orders of fish and chips, and two butterbeers. Madam Rosmerta quickly had them whipped up, and Harry took them back to the table.
"Thank you."
"You're welcome," he nodded, taking Rose back. "I don't think I knew they served up muggle food here."
"I only found out near the end of last term myself," she ate a chip before continuing. "I saw a hag order some, and asked Madam Rosmerta about it; she's got a whole menu of muggle foods she serves, I think because of the number of squibs who visit."
"Makes sense, and doesn't hurt with all the kids from muggleborn families either."
"No, that's why I was wondering why she doesn't have the menu out anywhere, and it's by request only."
"Probably just because she doesn't want to drive away any of the purebloods who come in here," Harry shrugged, and as the silence took over, took a couple bites of food. "This is good!"
"You seem surprised," Susan laughed.
"Well I didn't know how muggle food would turn out coming from a witch, or more likely, her house elves."
"We share most of the same dishes, muggles and wizards," Susan pointed out. "It's really just the dishes that are more fast-food types that we don't have."
"Well then I think I need to talk to Professor Dumbledore about having a pizza party," Harry grinned. "And then open a pizza parlor. I'd be rich!"
"You already are Harry," Ron commented with a chuckle as he and Hermione stopped in front of their booth. Harry hadn't even noticed them come in.
"Thanks for the reminder," Harry rolled his eyes. "I was only kidding. Not like I want anymore money anyways."
"Yeah," Ron grinned. "So how 'bout I open this, what'd you call it, a pizza parlor?"
"Yeah, and best of luck to you if you do."
"Are you having a good time?" Hermione asked, directing the question to both of them.
"Yes, he's very sweet," Susan gave a cheeky grin when Harry coloured slightly.
"Yeah Mione, we're having a nice time," he looked at their plates, which were both nearly empty. "Are you done?"
"Yes," she nodded.
"Want to get out of here, go visit some stores or whatnot?" Harry stood up, and she did the same.
"You two can have our booth, it's getting pretty crowded in here," Susan offered as the table automatically cleaned itself.
"Thanks, and have fun," Hermione accepted since Ron had gone to the bar to get some butterbeer for them.
"So…anywhere in particular you want to go?" Harry asked as they emerged from the pub into the bright sunlight.
"I need to pick up some more quills," she said. Harry gave her an inquisitive look.
"How'd you manage to run out? It's only the end of the first week."
"Hannah and I got into a pillow fight the other day, and I accidentally sat on my bag, where of course I happened to have nearly all my quills," Susan looked sheepish.
"I see," he grinned, and they started heading down the street. "Anywhere else?"
"Honeydukes, for some sweets, and that new costume shop, if that's all right with you."
"Sure. I wanted to stop at Honeydukes for some sweets for me, not to mention the Gryffindor first year girls asked me to pick up some things for them," Harry thought for a moment. "And the costume shop probably isn't a bad idea simply because I should start getting some ideas as to what I want to go as. You know what you want your costume to be?"
"I think I'm going to go as an auror; my aunt can lend me one of her old auror robes for a night. If not that, then just something simple like a kneazle. Cat ear head bands and attachable tails are always a good fall-back plan."
"Good idea," Harry commented as they walked into Scrivenshaft's so Susan could buy her quills. "I never got to dress up for Halloween as a kid, so I really don't have the slightest idea as to what to dress up as."
"Well think about quidditch teams, or books you've read, or movies you've seen, and characters from those that you like," she suggested as she grabbed a pack of quills. "Then just pick one of your favourites, and model yourself after him. Or ask Hermione for help. I'm sure she'd be able to think of an idea."
"Yeah, I may do that."
"Honeydukes next, or the costume store?"
"Let's go to the costume store," he suggested after a moment. "I've got quite a load to pick up from Honeydukes, so I'd rather do that last. I don't particularly feel like carrying that around any longer than I have to."
"Sounds good," Susan agreed, and they headed to the costume store.
The costume store, which also had a section of muggle clothes, was teeming with students. Most of them were browsing the costumes, no doubt getting ideas for the upcoming ball, though Harry did see a number of people getting in line to buy a costume. The nice thing about the store was that the costumes were all one-of-a-kind, so you didn't have to worry about someone dressing the same as you; though the masks weren't under the same restrictions. If someone did want the same costume however, the first purchaser could give their permission for another to be made. Harry knew some people would probably want to dress alike, so that was a pretty good idea.
"Oh look at that Harry," Susan could barely get out through her sudden giggles.
"What?" He looked around, trying to see what was so funny.
"They have a costume of you!" She burst into full-blown laughter.
"WHAT!?"
"Well not a full costume," she pointed to the wall. "Just a mask."
"How can they do that?!" He stormed over to the wall angrily and tore it off the nail.
"Oh it's just for fun, and no doubt because you're a hero. Look," she tried to placate him. "They've got Professor Dumbledore and Merlin here too."
"I don't care who else they have," he growled, upsetting Rose. He immediately began calming himself down, and soothed her.
"I don't know why you're getting so upset," she looked at him in confusion, and he whirled about to look at her, fighting to keep his temper in check.
"All my life, it's always been 'the boy who lived' this, and 'the boy who lived' that, and I hate it. The triwizard tournament, which I didn't even want to be in, didn't help matters at all. The attention I got from defeating Voldemort I didn't even deserve cause I never could've done without everyone's help. The only thing I think I deserve attention for is quidditch possibly, if I ever make it a career. I know you may not understand, but I just want a quiet life. And this," he looked at the mask in disgust, "is just one more way attention's being drawn to me, and without my permission at that! If they wanted to do this, they should have some sort of contract with me, not that I'd ever sign, but this is exploitation."
"Well, just talk to the owners of the establishment then," Susan offered. Harry could see she still didn't completely get his reasoning, but he didn't feel like trying to explain it again.
"Yeah, I'm going to do that," he turned to head towards the counter, then paused and turned back to her. "I don't know how long I'll be…"
"I understand," she nodded. "We weren't really all that well matched, were we?"
"Not as a couple, no," he shook his head. "Sorry."
"Don't be, I felt it too," she gave him a smile. "Still friends though?"
"Of course," he smiled back, glad they were parting on easy terms. They weren't even boyfriend and girlfriend, so it wasn't even really a break-up anyways. He was just glad she didn't get all crazy and emotional about it. Too bad they didn't "click" with each other. But he had been thinking it wasn't going to go beyond that first date during the awkward silences; if a relationship was going to work, he figured you wouldn't feel the need to fill each silence, even if it was the first date.
"See you around Harry," she bid him farewell and headed over to the entrance where Justin had just entered.
"Excuse me," Harry pushed past everyone to the front of the line. "I need to speak with the owner of the store."
"I'm sorry, but Miss Lamb doesn't have time-" the clerk started to say.
"Then tell her to make time before I sue her," Harry demanded, slamming the mask down on the counter. The clerk looked from the mask to Harry's face, paling, and hurried through a door behind her.
"You can go on in," the clerk told him when she came back out a minute later.
"Thank you," he nodded curtly, apologised to the kids in line behind him, then walked around the counter and through the door.
"I'm Marilyn Lamb, what can I do for you Mister Potter?"
"You can stop selling these," he tossed the mask on her desk.
"Absolutely not, they're one of the best sellers we have, both here and in Diagon Alley, and my stores have only been open a month," she stated firmly.
"Well then maybe you can explain where you got permission from to use my face?"
"It's not your face," she pointed to the scar on the mask. "See, the scar is half again as long as yours is."
"And the name of the masks?" He snorted. "The-Boy-Who-Lived-Mask."
"Like you're the only boy who lived; it could apply to any male out there."
"Oh please," he sneered at her. "I don't believe that, and neither will my solicitors."
"Solicitors?" Marilyn Lamb's eyes grew wide as her face paled.
"Yes," he grinned evilly. "You don't honestly think I manage all my wealth and accounts by myself, do you?"
"N-no," she stammered.
"Good, now let's see if we can't work out some sort of deal, hmm?"
"Yes, of course," Marilyn was quick to agree.
A scant twenty minutes later, it was decided that Harry would receive forty percent of all profits from the masks sold, as well as a twenty-five percent discount in the store. They drew up a contract which they both signed, and Harry went on his way, a good deal happier than when he had come in. The money he made from the mask sales would be deposited into what he privately called his 'business account', as it held both money he made from Fred and George's shop, and now from Creative Clothing. He liked to keep it separate from his personal vault, the Black vault, and the Potter vault; all in all which made him a very desirable customer to the goblins at Gringotts.
"Harry!" He turned around to see Ginny and Luna coming towards him.
"Hey guys," he gave them each a hug and kiss on the cheek in greeting. "How's it going?"
"Good, we were just getting ready to go into the costume shop here," Ginny answered. "How's your date with Susan going?"
"Ah, we broke it off," Harry admitted sheepishly.
"So soon?"
"Yeah. Well, we just kinda knew that while we're good at being friends, we just wouldn't be good at being a couple, so we figure why not split up now and go meet friends? Not to mention I had to be all mean and intimidating to the store owner for selling a mask of my face."
"She didn't!" Ginny gasped in shock, and listened to Harry explain what had happened.
"Well if we want to buy anything then we'll just be sure to find you to pay for it," Ginny teased. "Did you want to hang out with me and Luna? You're welcome to."
"No thanks. I think I'll just run to Honeydukes to pick up the sweets, and then just head back to the castle for a quiet afternoon."
"Suit yourself then," Luna shrugged, and then turned to go into the store, with Ginny behind her.
"Shall we sweetheart?" Harry looked down at Rose, and saw she was asleep. "Am I truly that boring? Worse things to be I suppose, huh?"
Harry set off to Honeydukes and ended up spending a good deal of money on two large bags of sweets. The store owner seemed surprised at the exorbitant amount of Bertie Bott's, chocolate frogs, licorice wands, Droobles best blowing gum, sugar quills, and a couple dozen bars of their best milk chocolate; at least until Harry explained he was buying it for a number of first year girls.
"Aye, girls, especially young ones, have a large sweet tooth," he grinned at Harry as he rung and packed everything up. "There ye go Mister Potter, and you and the wee bonny lass have a wonderful day."
"Thank you Mr. Honeyduke," Harry grinned, and slid both bags, magically lightened, onto his arm, and left the station.
He took his time walking back to the carriage point, just enjoying the day. It was a beautiful September day, with just a hint of chill in the air, and he had fun taking a few pictures of him and Rose together. Charmed cameras were a great thing, especially when there weren't others around to take the picture for you. He reached the carriages, and climbed into one which set off immediately back to the castle. The trip didn't take long, and before he knew it, he was back in the common room. He looked around, but didn't see the girls anywhere.
"They're probably in their dorm," he mused. "Winky!"
"Master Potter is calling?" Winky appeared with a pop.
"Would you mind taking Rose and putting her in her crib?"
"Winky is not minding Master Potter," Winky smiled, and took Rose and disappeared once again with another pop.
"All right, time to go find the munchkins," he said aloud, and went over to the girl's staircase, and sent a thought to the school. "Hello Hogwarts. May I ask permission to take this up to my daughter and her dorm mates?"
Like before, a feeling of consent tickled through his mind and he made his way up the staircase to the first year's room. As he approached the door, he heard giggles and squeals, and hesitantly knocked. The noise stopped immediately, and he heard one set of footsteps approach the door. It cracked open to reveal Shonda, the tall black girl, and upon seeing him, she pushed the door open and grabbed his hand to pull him in. Before he knew what was happening, he'd been swarmed by five hyper eleven year olds, who grabbed the bags and began digging through them.
"Hey, no need to crush me," he mock-glared as he pushed himself into a sitting position; he'd been knocked on his arse in their excitement.
"Sorry," Ariella, the brunette apologised, munching contentedly on a chocolate frog.
"Thank you so much Harry!" Allyn threw her arms around his neck, and the next thing he knew, he was being hugged by all the girls.
"You're quite welcome," he laughed, attempting to hug them back, though it was hard to figure out where one girl stopped and another started. "So what have you been up to?"
"Marie got her Witch Weekly magazine this morning, so we've been playing with some of the charms in there; they're really easy ones," Jennifer explained as they all settled back on the floor around Harry.
"There're a couple of make-up ones, and some hair styling ones, as well as a hair growing charm, and some colouring ones too," Marie grabbed the magazine and showed him.
"Not exactly something I could use, but I'm glad you're having fun."
"You could use the hair growing one, or the colour changing one," Shonda pointed out, getting a mischievous look on her face.
"Whatever you're thinking of, the answer's no!" Harry tried to stand up, but Jennifer and Shonda each sat on a leg, while Allyn and Ariella each grabbed an arm.
"We're just going to grow your hair out," Marie giggled, grabbing her wand from her bedside table.
"I like it short," he protested, though he wasn't trying to hard to get away; he didn't want to accidentally hurt one of them, not to mention the four of them were pretty strong.
"Have you ever had it long?"
"No," he said slowly.
"Well then you don't know if you like it long, do you?" Marie gave him a satisfied smirk, and proceeded to grow his hair out nearly a foot, so it was several inches below his shoulders. Grabbing a ponytail that Jennifer handed her, she easily pulled it into a low ponytail at his neck. Only then did the girls allow him to get up.
"So what do you think?" Ariella asked him as he walked over to look at himself in the mirror that hung on the back of their door.
"I don't know," he answered honestly as he looked at his reflection. "I've always had it short as long as I can remember. What do you girls think?"
"I love it," Allyn clapped her hands.
"I agree with Allyn, it looks really good," Shonda nodded.
"If you don't believe us, then just leave it like this for a couple hours and see what your friends think," Marie suggested. "Then if you still don't like it, we can change it back."
"All right," he sighed, knowing they probably wouldn't change it back now even if he wanted them to. "But if people make fun of me than I'm blaming you all."
"Of course," Jennifer gave him a cheeky grin. "Wouldn't have it any other way."
"You girls are all entirely too Slytherin for your own good," he teased. "You sure the hat didn't make a mistake?"
"Nope," they all chorused, breaking into giggles.
"That's my cue to leave," he said, eyebrows raised in amusement. He was very happy to see Allyn giggling and being silly like the others…even if it was at his expense.
"No!" They all protested, once again in unison.
"Please stay?" Shonda asked, speaking for all of them. Harry noticed she seemed to be the 'leader' of the group, so to speak.
"And do what? I'm not about to let you use any more of those beauty charms on me."
"Help us with defense? We're working on the disarming spell," Shonda told him. "Expelliarmus or something like that I think."
"Yeah, and we're all absolute rubbish at it," Ariella gave a defeated sigh.
"And charms!" Marie threw herself on her bed with an exasperated groan. "I may be good at beauty charms, but that's only cause my mum is a writer for Witch Weekly's beauty section. I think if I say wingardium leviosa one more time, without getting it to work, I'm gonna go insane!"
"Well pull out your wands, and let me see how you're doing it," Harry offered. "C'mon now, all of you. We'll hold a practical lesson right now and see if we can't get those two spells to work."
The girls all eagerly complied, and soon Harry found himself teaching the finer points of expelliarmus and wingardium leviosa. He realised their biggest problem was the pronunciation of the spells, especially with the levitating one; they were doing the same thing Ron had when they were first years. Their problem with the disarming spell was that they weren't very good at aiming yet. In order for that spell to work, you had to be able to directly hit your opponent. Otherwise, it wouldn't work. So Harry quickly taught them a colouring charm that would send a small ball of paint from the tip of your wand when cast, and set up a target on one side of the room for them to practice on. This might not have been the brightest idea, as that side of the room was soon covered with red paint drops. So he quickly taught them a simple cleaning charm as well, and told them how to call Dobby for additional help cleaning, should they need it.
"Now I think that's all we've got time for," Harry glanced at his watch as the girls groaned in disappointment. "None of that now, it's time for dinner, and I'm rather hungry."
"Can't we just eat chocolate instead?" Allyn pouted.
"You could, but you know it's not healthy," he gave her a look. "After dinner you can have some. And that goes for all of you; you shouldn't eat it all at once, or you'll end up with a stomachache."
"Yes Dad," Ariella rolled her eyes, but packed up her sweets and put them in her trunk, as did the others.
"I already have two girls, I don't need any more," he shot back with a laugh, then sobered when he realised his mistake.
"Two?" Shonda was quick to catch that. "Everyone knows about Rose, but who's the other?"
"I am," Allyn spoke up hesitantly after getting a nod from Harry. "He adopted me at the beginning of the year cause…"
"Cause why?" Jennifer's brow was furrowed in confusion.
"You don't have to," Harry knelt by Allyn.
"Yeah, I do," she told him, then looked back at her dorm mates and took a deep breath. "Cause I was abused at the orphanage, by my dorm-mates there, and one of the men who worked there."
"Oh Allyn," Marie's eyes filled with tears. "Why didn't you say something?"
"I didn't want you to think I was a freak," Allyn whispered, ducking her head. Harry sat down on her bed, and pulled Allyn up in his lap as she started to cry.
"Never," Ariella stated firmly as she climbed up next to them and wrapped her arms around them.
"We're friends, now and forever," Shonda added as she and Jennifer also climbed up and hugged them, also crying.
Harry felt his heart nearly burst with pride for the show of loyalty; he knew Allyn would be well taken care of. Especially as he couldn't be there to protect her all the time, nor would he want to. Part of Hogwarts was learning to be independent, and learning to get along on your own without your parents there to monitor you constantly. Harry didn't want to take that away from her.
"All right everyone," he said softly so as not to startle them. "Let's dry faces and wipe eyes, and go get some dinner, hmm? Then we can go to the common room and I'll teach you wizard's chess."
At the prospect of food, which is always welcome after both hard work and emotional crises, the girls hopped off the bed and ran into the bathroom to clean their faces. This left Harry alone with Allyn for a minute on her bed, with her still sitting in his lap sideways, cuddled up against him.
"I'm proud of you," he whispered, lightly rubbing circles on her back as she got her emotions back under control.
"For crying?" She gave a derisive snort.
"No, for telling them, and being open when you didn't have to," he chided gently, lifting her in his arms as he slid off the bed. "And for making friends with them, and giving them a chance, even when you had every reason not to after the orphanage." He set her on her feet. "You gonna be all right?"
"Yeah," she nodded, then tentatively slid her arms around his waist and burrowed her head against his stomach. "I love you Papa."
"Love you too Lyn," he ran a hand over her hair.
"Allyn!" Shonda's voice echoed from the bathroom. "Come on and wash your face!"
"You go on, and I'll meet you guys down in the common room; I have to grab Rose," he gave her a slight push in the direction of the bathroom before turning and leaving.
"Thank you," he directed his thoughts to Hogwarts. "I know you saw what went on, and it wouldn't have happened without your help in allowing me up, so thank you again for that. I am in your debt my dear Lady."
"You're welcome my son," a warm melodic voice filled the back of his mind, and Harry nearly fell down the steps, so surprised was he.
"You speak?"
"Only to those who listen," she replied, her voice filled with mirth. "Many don't realise that I'm sentient, as you have, and as such, don't believe I can speak. That keeps them from being able to hear me. Your Headmaster, Albus Dumbledore, is able to, as have all the Headmasters and Headmistresses. It is something passed down when each new headmaster takes over the wards and care of the castle. But other than them, I only speak to those who I deem worthy and pure of heart, such as yourself. You're such a nice boy, I wish you had spoken with me earlier."
"My apologies Lady."
"None are necessary. Now go and get your little one; I believe she has woken up and is feeling hungry."
"Thank you!" Harry smiled, and hurried down the steps, pleased with this recent development, as well as everything else that had happened that afternoon.
"How was your date?"
"Well that's a lovely way to greet me," Harry said sarcastically as Duchess slithered over. "And the date was okay. We both agreed we were better off as friends."
"Good, I didn't like her much anyways," Duchess said, rather nastily.
"That's rude."
"That's the truth. Besides, she didn't like me either."
"Well you are somewhat intimidating, and snakes aren't especially friendly, usually."
"No, we're just misunderstood and cautious, which can come off as unfriendly," Duchess corrected him before changing the subject. "Why don't you ask Daphne out? I like her."
"Because she's not interested in me," Harry rolled his eyes.
"And how do you know? She keeps flirting with you, and saying you'll be her boyfriend someday."
"She was just trying to get a rise out of Malfoy."
"Draco."
"Fine, Draco. That's all."
"If you say so," she snorted, which sounded rather odd coming from a snake.
"I'm heading down to dinner," Harry told her as he picked up Rose and a bottle. "You coming or staying?"
"Oh I'll come and give all the Hufflepuffs a scare," Duchess gave a hiss of laughter, and followed him down the stairs.
"Took you long enough," Marie stood at the bottom, fisted hands on her hips, tapping her foot impatiently.
"Took you long enough," Harry mimicked her. "Do you talk to your mother like that?"
"Doesn't matter whether I do or not, cause you're her father," Marie pointed to Allyn.
"Yeah, and don't tell anyone please," Harry asked them.
"Well why not?"
"Because our relationship is still very new, and I'd rather get to know Lyn better myself, without having to deal with the rest of Hogwarts populous watching and interfering," Harry explained.
"All right, we understand," Shonda assured him, and the girls nodded in agreement. "We'll keep quiet, Gryffindor's honour."
"Thanks, now come on, I'm hungry enough I think I could eat a hippogriff," he grinned, and they exited the common room, talking a mile a minute about some new book series.
He enjoyed listening to them, though he didn't hardly catch a word they were saying, they were talking so fast. With them, he felt like he was getting a glimpse of what Hermione might've gone through when they were first years; being the only girl in a group of guys. Except of course he was the only guy in a group of girls, but it was the same principal. So involved with 'listening' to them, that he hardly noticed the looks he got from other students as they walked through the halls. Still in his muggle clothes without robes, and with the now-long hair pulled back in a ponytail, he was drawing some attention. Walking in the midst of a group of first year girls didn't help much either. As a general rule, most of the older years weren't really friends with the youngers. They'd help with tutoring sometimes, or on quidditch teams for example, but they generally didn't hang out together other than that.
"Oy, Harry!" Ron's voice caught his attention as they entered the hall.
"We'll see you later Harry!" They chorused together, giggling, as they sat down closer to the door. Harry shook his head as he continued down to where his year-mates were; the girls must have planned that whole 'speaking in perfect unison' thing.
"Harry, your hair!" Lavender gasped as he sat down next to her, immediately turning his head with her hand so she could see it better.
"Oh yeah, that. If it's bad, blame Marie, she cast the charm," he said as she pulled out the ponytail holder, running her fingers through his hair.
"No, it looks good, it's just different," Hermione said critically after looking him over. "I'm so used to seeing you with the short hair."
"Yeah, ditto," he nodded, motioning for Lavender to put his hair back in a ponytail.
"Why'd you grow it? Actually, how'd you grow it?" Dean asked.
"And who's Marie?" Seamus added his question.
"Marie is one of the first year Gryffindor girls. When I went to their room to drop off their sweets they ambushed me with some hair-growth charm from their magazine," Harry explained. "Hence the reason I've got the long hair."
"Are you going to keep it like that?" Parvati had come to stand behind him, playing with his hair also. "It looks good."
"I'll be keeping it at least for tonight; girls' orders," Harry chuckled. "After that though, probably not, just because I don't think I'll want to hassle with brushing it and washing it and all. I'd probably use tons more shampoo than I do now."
"Oh well," Lavender sighed, giving his hair a wistful look. "Too bad. And you said the first year girls did this? That's pretty good charm work."
"Well Marie's mum is apparently a writer for the beauty section at Witch Weekly, so Marie's pretty good with stuff like this," Harry recounted what he'd heard. "Though they're all pretty much rubbish at normal charms and defense spells. Don't know about their other classes."
"How d'you know that?" Ron looked at him curiously.
"I hung out in their room a bit after my hair and all, and worked with them on the disarming spell and levitation charm," Harry dished some food onto his plate, and poured himself some pumpkin juice.
"Now you've really got some explaining to do," Seamus stated, eyebrows raised, and Harry groaned at the truth of that. Why'd he have to open his big mouth?
A/N: Okay, that's that for chapter ten. Maybe a bit of an odd place to leave it, but I feel like all too often I end chapters with him going to sleep, lol. Though I think other writers can relate- it's just such a convenient stopping point, isn't it? Anyways, I hope you all enjoyed it. If you've read my other stories (go read! Especially "Love Means Never Having to Time Travel". I'm almost up to 1,000 reviews, yay!), then you'll probably realise this story's style is slightly different. First off, cause it features Harry as the main character, and I usually use Hermione. Secondly, it's quite a bit slower in some ways. The main reason for that is because I'm really working on showing relationships; how they stand now, and how some develop (or don't develop, poor Susan), and all that. And I'm really trying to work on more conversation and such, cause I think conversations are good for showing the dynamics of a relationship, not to mention it's a lot of fun! And I know some of you feel that's dragging out the story, but I don't, so I'm sorry it annoys you. So review if you're so inclined, I always love them, and stick around for the next chapter coming in a couple of days.