Partial insight
Two hours, an untold number of dances, equally as many curious glances and probably even more nasty glares sent by Esmerelle Greengrass later, Harry finally dragged himself to a secluded spot to sit down and rest, massaging his pulsating temple. Years and years of lessons and training had left Harry feeling quite confident when it came to social games and obligations but that, admittedly, didn't necessarily translate to enjoyment.
Right now, for some reason or another, he felt as if his limbs were made of cotton wool. His thoughts, he assessed with a frown, were dull and sluggish - as if he hadn't slept in two days at least.
He felt utterly miserable.
He hadn't exactly planned to dance without a pause like that, but Daphne had apparently been enjoying herself, and it was her birthday. There was, of course, the additional benefit of angering Madame Greengrass, too.
'Headache?' inquired a voice from behind.
Harry craned his neck, ignoring the stinging pain he felt behind his eyes. There stood Leo, one hand holding a jug full of water and a glass, the other a damp towel. His sister was lurking in the background. Her cheeks were strangely rosy, but even if she seemed outwardly dismissive, she was obviously paying attention. 'I love you, Leo!' murmured Harry with a little grin, taking a hasty sip and covering his eyes with the cloth immediately afterwards, leaning back and sighing exaggeratedly.
'If Daphne only knew how easy it is to get you to say those things,' jeered Amy with a lazy grin.
'Leave me alone.'
'So what's all this about, Harry?' asked Leo. Harry couldn't see it of course, but he was prepared to bet that the siblings were exchanging silent glances.
'How's Madame Greengrass taking it?' Harry chose to reply, again massaging his temples.
'Depends on your perspective, I'd say,' said Leo calmly.
'She's raging,' clarified Amy. 'The question is: did you do that just for the hell of it?'
Harry couldn't help grinning despite the incredible headache and soaring nausea. 'I need to have a few words with her. However, she's bound to be less than welcoming if I just approach her and ask nicely. So I thought if I openly undermine her political efforts of the last few years, she may turn out inclined to approach me instead.'
Again, he had the distinct impression that the siblings were sharing some secret information by eye contact. 'Daphne isn't going to be pleased,' said Leo carefully.
Harry hesitated for a second. 'Why would that be?'
'Sometimes,' Amy quipped with a smirk, 'I really can't decide whether you're a despicable genius or a likeable dumbass.'
'Is one of those options meant to be preferable?' Harry asked, just to make sure.
'You know it!' returned Amy cheerfully.
Thankfully, Harry was spared the need for a witty answer when Tracey entered the room, looking annoyed. 'The old hag's looking for you, Harry. Thought you might want to know.'
'Excellent.' With a flourish, Harry removed the towel covering his face, standing up rather resolutely. Or, at least, he tried. One joint after the other seemed to defy his control. His legs gave out from under him, and Harry, in a moment of terrible clarity, could already see himself crashing against the brutally hard granite table, when-all of a sudden-his fall was averted by Leo, who grabbed his robes and held him up.
'Thanks,' Harry mumbled weakly.
'I don't think this is a smart idea, Harry.'
'What are you talking about?' he returned, trying to make his body obey. Three seconds later, he was standing up without the aid of his cousin.
'Emeric's Evil Eye, you're a mess!' Amy called out, having hurried to his side when she noticed him collapsing. 'More than usual, I mean.'
'What are you mumbling about? I'm fine, maybe not so used to dancing anymore...'
'Harry,' said Tracey from his side, 'if I hadn't seen you moving right now, I would've been prepared to accept that you'd drowned in a lake somewhere.'
'I believe the word you're looking for is wan, Tracey,' opined Leo, who still had a hand on Harry's shoulder in case he fell over again.
'You can't call dead people wan, Leo! Even vampires would be jealous of his complexion!'
'I'm not dead, though,' Harry threw in. With a tremendous effort, he straightened his pose. 'I'm fine. Where's Madame Greengrass, Tracey?'
'You can't be ser-'
'Where is she?' Harry insisted, directing a severe glance at her.
When Tracey still seemed somewhat unconvinced, Amy narrowed her eyes. 'Mind your own business, Tracey. If he wants to do it, it's not your place to say he can't.'
Tracey stared at her. 'Fine!' she snapped. 'As if I could ever forget. She's looking for you in the resting area.' She turned around and stomped off. At the door, she turned around one more time, looking at Harry with a curious expression.
'Yes?'
'Harry, about Daphne, I...' She chewed on her cheek for a second. 'Never mind!'
Harry and the Lestranges silently watched her leave.
'What was that about?' Amy asked, intrigued.
'How should I know?'
'I think you should focus on your upcoming negotiation, anyway,' said Leo.
'Good point,' Harry grumbled, dragging his feet. 'Say, is the floor wavy?'
'Have you been drinking, too?' Amy looked at him with a proud smile.
'No?' Harry answered, perplexed. That explained Amy's glazed over eyes, at least.
'Oh. Well, in that case, I think your sense of balance is simply screwed right now.'
'Likely due to exhaustion or mental fatigue,' her brother added with a nod.
It took Harry nearly twenty seconds for the ten yards between the sofa and the door. 'Pathetic!' he snarled, gripping the frame in an effort to not lose his poise again.
'Are you sure you can manage right now?' Leo looked at him appraisingly. 'You're risking making a fool of yourself in front of Greengrass.'
'Good point. Amy?'
'Yeah?'
'Can you...rustle something up? Something, anything really, that'll keep me afoot the next hour?'
In Harry's opinion, it was possible to gauge the character of people by setting them to difficult tasks and analysing their attempts at a solution. His other friends might have complained about the impossibility of it all or maybe even asked if he'd injured his head. Amadina Lestrange merely smirked nastily. 'I think I remember where Daphne and her mum store their stuff. Back in a minute!'
Harry closed his eyes again, leaning against the frame. Well, this is for Daphne, too, so it should be okay, right?
~BLVoD~
The sounds of the party were muted up here on the second floor. Daphne nervously fingered the illegal Portkey in her pocket, wondering for the umpteenth time why she was wasting time up here when she should be downstairs with the rest of her friends and the last few remaining guests. It had just been getting good, too!
'Listen, Daphy! Don't anger your gran, don't ask questions and don't interfere!' Tracey walked up and down in front of her, her finger cutely raised in lecture. 'Let Harry do his thing, and please, please don't lose your temper.'
'Don't you think you're overreacting? I think you've spent too much time with Granger,' said Daphne with a shrug. 'Don't worry! I'll keep calm.' Spotting the expression on her best friend's face, she hastily amended, 'I'll stay calm – outwardly that is. I'll try my best to stay calm. I'll definitely not explode, probably. I'm the epitome of forced calmness and rationality!'
Tracey covered her face with her hand in a dramatic gesture. 'Salazar have mercy!'
Daphne smiled, rolling her eyes. 'Don't worry. But where are they? Have you seen Harry since we decided to take a short break?'
Tracey grimaced for some strange reason. 'He's with Leo and Amy. They're probably on their way.'
Daphne couldn't help feeling somewhat giddy when she thought back on the last few hours. Harry holding her close, Harry smiling at her, Harry's attention on nothing and nobody but her. It had all started as a single blissful dance, and she'd been delighted, or rather ecstatic, when he'd agreed to go for another round when she'd gazed at him imploringly, puppy eyes and all.
'There you are.' But there was always a downside. It was quite possible that nothing could rip her more brutally from her daydreams than the voice of her detestable grandmother. At least Harry was with her, outwardly perfectly at ease with the grumpy hag at his side. He looked a bit pale, but he'd always been on the wispy side, and even Daphne had felt a bit winded after their two-hour non-stop dancing session. 'Let's get inside then, I want this over with as soon as possible.'
At least, Daphne thought with a hidden smirk, Esmerelle Greengrass didn't seem happy. Indeed, going by the fiercely grim expression and the way her stupid hat seemed all crumpled, it must have been an altogether very disappointing evening for her. Which is why the smile Daphne levelled at Harry came even more easily than usual.
Her grandmother opened the door and trudged inside. It was quite remarkable how she managed to walk in a way that made the floorboards quake, despite her almost pathologically slender build. 'Daphne, sit,' she barked, pointing at the chair beside her. 'You, over there!' Harry was apparently to sit opposite them.
Naturally, Daphne chose to sit next to Harry, pleased to take note of her grandmother's scowl. Harry smiled in a way that certainly looked polite, though she knew better.
'Fine,' Esmerelle Greengrass conceded grudgingly, clearly deciding that it wasn't worth it to open hostilities over such a trivial matter.
'What can I do for you, Madame Greengrass?' Harry asked civilly, slowly taking a seat next to Daphne and diligently rearranging his robes so they wouldn't get creased.
'What I want,' her grandmother said coldly, 'is for you to stop destroying my career!'
Harry looked mildly shocked. 'I beg your pardon, ma'am?'
'Don't play stupid with me, boy! You knew the folk from the Ministry were there, and you, you of all things had to dance with my granddaughter all evening!'
'I'm so sorry, ma'am. I had no idea...'
Lady Greengrass sniffed patronisingly at that. 'Did you know I had to placate those gentlemen, saying you were invited purely by courtesy?'
'What?' Daphne growled in a guttural fashion. 'What have you been telling them about me and Harry?!'
Her grandmother and Harry both stared at her for a second. Then, to Daphne's and her grandmother's equal shock, Harry smirked, taking her hand in his. Slowly, their fingers intertwined.
If Daphne had been clear-headed enough to do anything but gawk at Harry's warm hand, she'd have noticed the look of rage and rancour that flickered across her grandmother's face.
'I am convinced we can look into that at some later point in time, Daphne. For now, I believe it would be best if we were to attend to the issue at hand, alright?' he proposed with a warm smile.
Daphne nodded tamely.
'This needs to stop,' her grandmother said with forced calm – not that Daphne was paying much attention anymore. 'You can't just parade her around like that! This is a matter of importance to House Greengrass! If you can't oblige, I'll have t-'
Again, Daphne realised with an angry frown, her grandmother managed to destroy her fantasies at a moment's notice. She was about to scream at the embarrassment that just so happened to be her gran, but Harry tightened his grip on her hand, making her look into his confident eyes with a questioning look. I've seen that look before...
'Please, Madame. I'm sure we both wouldn't want to escalate the matter further. So you want me to stop from, inadvertently, interfering with your political dealings?'
Esmerelle Greengrass sneered, her measuring eyes on their linked hands that rested, prominent and extremely visible, on the table between them. 'No, that is what will happen. The only question is if you'll see reason, or if I have to take measures!'
'I see,' Harry responded pensively, looking down, apparently thinking it through.
'If you can't find it in yourself to stop meddling in affairs that aren't your own, I'll have Daphne and Astoria attend Beauxbatons instead.'
'If you do that,' Daphne hissed menacingly, 'I'll-'
'You'll what? You can't refuse whatever I decide to do with you, girl,' the old crone snapped back, her own patience apparently waning as well.
'No,' Daphne replied with a shake of her head, 'but I can tell every person I know, every person you'll ever introduce me to, what a cold, miserable and power-hungry old bat you truly are. I'm sure Skeeter would just love to hear my story about how you try to control me and Tori both by any means.'
'You wouldn't! That's your name on the line as well!' Her grandmother looked horrified. 'Would you shame your ancestors just to spite me?'
'It seems we all have something to consider then, Madame,' interjected Harry, squeezing Daphne's hand again. 'So how about we reach for a compromise?'
'What compromise?' Esmerelle Greengrass demanded harshly. 'You can't haggle with me like a common pedlar!'
'Please, ma'am,' Harry replied enviably unperturbed. The same really couldn't be said for Daphne, who, if it hadn't been for Harry's mollifying touch, would likely have already shouted or left the room. 'I will endeavour to not step on toes as to your political dealings - in public, naturally - you won't try to interfere with Daphne's personal relations or her education, and your granddaughter, in turn, will refrain from publicly reviling you.' He turned to look at her. 'Do you think that's acceptable, Daphne?'
Hesitantly, she nodded. 'Fine! But only if she keeps her word!'
'Madame?'
'I have your word that you won't publicly sabotage my efforts to distance House Greengrass from House Black?' the old women asked shrewdly.
'Well,' Harry drawled with deliberate carefulness. 'I can only speak for myself, of course, but you have my word that I won't mess with your political dealings should you stay true to your promise to let the girls do as they please when at school or not in public.'
Harry, apparently lost in thought, casually moved their joined hands so that his own now lay on top. Slowly, tormentingly slowly, anger and indignation left Daphne – but so did the feeling of happiness she'd felt for the entire evening.
Harry was playing her grandmother.
She could see it in his eyes now. He hid it well, and she wasn't quite sure even now, but this was the best explanation for his strange behaviour all evening; the compliments, the intimate dancing, his willingness to indulge her, all the little gestures - everything had been done to steer her grandmother to this point, to make her agree to this 'compromise' of his.
Daphne would be glad to have her peace at Hogwarts, and despite her insistence on the opposite, her gran's continuous threats had definitely shaken her. But all that was irrelevant, all that was completely negligible in comparison to the fact that Harry hadn't really meant any of the small gestures that had elated her all evening – hadn't meant anything at all.
Harry and her gran were still exchanging calculating glances, but she knew Harry had already won. Her grandmother would take the deal thinking to salvage the game, ignorant of the knowledge that Harry had rigged the board.
'Fine,' the old woman eventually conceded. 'But I'll be monitoring your behaviour carefully.' Without another word, Esmerelle Greengrass stood up and waltzed through the door, leaving a smug-looking Harry and the thoroughly crestfallen Daphne behind.
Harry stood up a bit unsteadily and tried to withdraw his hand, but Daphne held fast. Confused, he looked down at her.
'It's still my birthday, isn't it?' Daphne asked in a small voice.
'It is.'
'Okay, then I want you to follow me. We need to talk.'
She led him through the house, avoiding friends and families until they finally reached the rooftop. It was a clear and warm summer night, stars softly twinkling. A gentle breeze tickled her neck when Daphne finally turned around, letting go of his hand. Harry was staring at her, eyebrows raised, not bothering to hide his bafflement.
'Is everything alright, Daphne?'
'You know, I never believed that I'd actually agree with my gran on anything, but I guess I'll have to eat my words here. You really did parade me around, didn't you?' When Harry seemed ready to protest, she raised her hands to cut him off. 'Don't deny it! Don't lie to me! You wanted to irritate Gran, that's why you danced with me that long and that's why you bent to my whims.' Daphne turned around, electing to avoid Harry's gaze. Dejectedly, she pinched the annoying fabric where it seemed to cut into her skin.
'I didn't lie to you, Daphne,' Harry replied after a while, his tone aggrieved. 'But I did want to solve the issue with your grandmother...'
His voice faltered, but she knew he wouldn't need to say anything else. Daphne didn't even need to consider what she'd do the moment Esmerelle Greengrass decided that it was time for her granddaughter to completely part ways with the only person besides Tori and her mother she truly considered family – or something.
'For what it's worth, I also didn't mean to leave you in the dark about my intentions this evening. I simply didn't get the chance to speak to you beforehand, and, while I don't mean to, er, be rude or anything, you have to admit you're not exactly the most subtle person the world has ever seen.'
Hugging her own body, Daphne reluctantly turned half-way around, still staring at her shoes. 'Don't make me hit you!' she said in what she considered a brave attempt to return to normalcy, though she had to admit that her voice sounded a little flimsy. With a sniff that she hoped would go unnoticed, she added, 'Do you think she'll keep her word?'
'There'll be a way even if she doesn't.'
'You promised you wouldn't leave me, too,' she pleaded desperately, her voice so thin and meek that even a falling leaf might have drowned out her words.
'And I won't.'
Daphne stared at her feet, wishing for the day to finally end. The dress, the party – all that could go to hell, as far as she was concerned. She simply wanted to shut her eyes, forget everything and start anew tomorrow.
'Daphne.' Harry calling her by name caused her to slowly raise her head a bit. Her lugubrious countenance seemed to trouble him. After a second of hesitation, he took her hand again, more slowly, less confidently so than before, and smiled a little. 'How about this? One dance, just the both of us up here. No spectators, no politics, no obligations and no ulterior motives. Just Harry dancing with the birthday girl.'
'You mean it?' she asked in a low voice, searching for any signs of deception.
'I do. This time, however, only one dance.'
'Stingy!' she whispered with a fleeting smile in return, stepping in closer than strictly necessary.
And then they danced. Slower, less striking and much less formal than before and no routines involved, her hands on his back, her face nestled against the nape of his neck.
Up here, it was just Harry and her, with the light of a million distant suns gleaming down on them, glistering, their burning heat as far away, as unnoticeable as the noise of the soon forgotten festivity down below.
Up here, all that counted was Harry and her, consolatory darkness their only company as their silhouettes blended with the green and blue of the night, his body the only source of warmth in a world of coolness that forced her to snuggle even closer to him, their movements slowly ceasing until they only swayed in the wind.
'Harry?'
'Hm?'
'Can we stay like this for a bit?'
'...okay,' he mumbled faintly.
Their 'dance' stopped altogether, and Daphne clung to his body, listening to his calm and shallow breathing, eyes closed, sporting a peaceful smile that might have seemed at odds with the tears that slowly trickled down from her eyes. Ten minutes of indulging in his soothing presence, Daphne committed the images of their dance to her memory with a sad little smile. Looking down at her dress, she knew for certain that it now deserved a special spot in her wardrobe. Eventually, she lifted her head. Harry had closed his eyes at some point, and when she took a tentative step back, he swayed dangerously.
Daphne stared numbly at the person that meant the most to her in the whole wide world. Harry, as it turned out, was fast asleep.
You've got to be kidding me...!
