Disclaimer – Everything you recognise belongs to JKR. All the rest is simply me playing in her sandbox.
-oOoOo-
Hermione's Book Nook
Chapter 29
Wizarding photos were spread out across a wide area of the Gryffindor House table. There were photos of different parts of the castle and grounds, multiple ones of students, a classic pose of Peeves blowing a raspberry at the camera and dozens and dozens of quidditch shots.
Thankfully, as it was a Saturday mid-morning, the table was only occupied by a handful of people, all of whom had given the Hogwarts Photography Club ample space to view their handiwork. This was the first time that the club had been able to view their endeavours in the daylight since they'd formed.
It'd taken the three of them, the entirety of the club, far longer than one would think to nut down a time to meet. Then had come teaching each other what they already knew of photography; securing not only a room, but also the supplies needed to develop wizarding photos; and then teaching each other how to do that correctly.
Now, the first Saturday after the Christmas holidays, Harry, Colin Creevey and Damien O'Hara had been able to get together. The small mousey-haired Colin was near bouncing from one end of the photos to the other in his excitement to see them all. In contrast, Damien, a bespectacled, tall sixth year Hufflepuff with a decided paunch around the middle, was taking the slow methodical approach. He was bent nearly double as he peered intently at photo after photo.
Every now and again, one of the three would move a particular photo to one end of their work space. Those closest to the Head Table were deemed the pick of the batch; those placed closer to the doors, were their failures.
Harry's absolute favourite was a toss-up between two, one taken by him, the other by Colin. Colin's photo showed Harry flying on his broom, right arm clearly broken tucked into his side as his left hand stretched out and plucked the snitch out of the air. The expression of absolute delight mixed with intense concentration and a hint of pain captured that match perfectly.
The photo that he'd taken was a softer, more gentle one. It was taken using a wide angle of the Black Lake. Close to the shore, Neville could be seen wading through the water, occasionally bending over to examine a plant, while further up the bank, back against a tree, sat Hermione, a book balanced on her knees.
"As your Club's sponsor," Professor McGonagall stated, having suddenly appeared on the opposite side of the table, "I should think that it is appropriate that I display one of your photographs on my wall. A copy of this one, I think, would be perfect."
Harry grinned at the Professor's choice. It was a group shot of the Gryffindor Quidditch Team after one of their training sessions. The seven of them were grouped together, the three girls sitting on the grass, while the four boys stood behind them. They were all laughing at some joke or other that one of the twins had told while the golden snitch flew in lazy circles around the team.
"Good choice, Professor," Harry said. "That's one of Colin's. We'll get it framed for you as soon as we can."
With a nod, she continued on her way.
Professor McGonagall hadn't been the first to admire their efforts that morning. Quite a few dozen had wandered by, pointing out this or that particular photo and asking a bit about the Club. None though had been inclined to join them.
"Ooh, I like this one. You can almost see the blibbering humdingers trailing along after the bludger."
Startled, Harry looked up into the large grey eyes of the one that he thought of as She-Who-Talks-To-Books. Close up, her radish earrings and butterbeer cork necklace seemed to suit the long blonde haired, wraith-like girl. She looked back at him in a way that made Harry feel as though she was not so much looking at him, but more examining his very soul.
"Um, I … I hadn't noticed," he eventually managed.
"That's alright Harry Potter, not many people do," she smiled. "I'm Luna, by the way, Luna Lovegood."
"Hi, Luna, it's nice to meet you," he replied. "Do you like photography?"
"Oh yes, Daddy's always trying to get a photo of crumple-horned snorklacks or moon frogs whenever we got on holidays to find them," she replied absently.
"That's … that's nice," he replied, wondering what in the world she was talking about. "Would you be interested in joining the Photography Club, then?"
"Hmm, no, no I don't think that's quite the right club for me, but thank you for asking Harry Potter, that has to have been one of the nicest things that anyone's ever said to me," she smiled.
Harry stared back at the slight girl. He'd had it pretty tough over the years, but to have a simple invitation like that be considered 'one of the nicest things that anyone's ever said' defied even his imagination.
"Then obviously you've never met many nice people," Harry stated.
"I guess not. Definitely none like you, Harry Potter," she replied airily.
"Um, excuse me, Luna?" a soft voice interrupted.
Harry looked across to see Lisa, one of his Ravenclaw study partners standing nervously not far away.
"Yes, Lisa Turpin?" Luna asked.
"I've seen you around the Ravenclaw common rooms with a book that looks like this one," Lisa began, holding up a small, black leather-bound book. "I found this up on the Astronomy Tower and I was wondering if it was yours."
Luna regarded the book blankly for nearly a minute before a tiny shiver took hold of her entire body. A fleeting look of … fear … seemed to cross her face before she lifted her eyes to meet Lisa's.
"While it is true that I had that book in my possession for a time, it was never mine," Luna announced.
"Oh, then, do you know who it belongs to?" Lisa asked.
"It belongs to Tom, of course, although he isn't in a position to take the book back any more. I attempted to clean it for him, but I fear that I failed. If you wish to keep it, be aware of the wrackspurts that inhabit it, they can do terrible things to your mind."
This last part was whispered by Luna, her sudden unexpected intensity enhanced by the way that she leant towards Lisa.
"I must be off, Harry Potter," Luna stated turning her clear grey eyes back onto him. "Thank you for showing me your photographs."
"Um, your welcome, Luna," he replied, but she was already skipping towards the doors leading to the Entrance Hall. Once she was far enough away, he looked at Lisa. "Is she always like that?"
"Pretty much," Lisa sighed.
-oOoOo-
The next few weeks of school passed by in a blur of normalness. There were classes to attend; Harry's tutorial sessions began once more, although with greatly reduced attendance; and despite the weather, Oliver Wood had the Gryffindor Quidditch Team out practicing as much as he thought that he could get away with.
The only two things that particularly stood out for Harry and his friends were the heavy presence of the aurors throughout the castle and the absence of Draco Malfoy. That's not to say that Malfoy was no longer in the castle. He was. It was just that without his bodyguards to provide the threat of retribution, Malfoy kept to himself. He chose seats at the back of each class. He studiously avoided interacting with any of his Slytherin classmates and any time that he encountered Harry or Hermione in particular, he kept his mouth firmly closed. There were no threats, no taunts, no blood-related slurs of any kind.
Added to that was the fact that the castle was now almost sparkling. The house elves, it seemed, did the caretaker's job a thousand times better than Mister Filch ever did. And without the nasty jabs and growls that usually accompanied the crotchety old squib.
All in all, it was decided that, if it wasn't for poor Lil, the petrifications that had taken place wouldn't have been a bad thing.
Everything remained blessedly the same. That was until the morning that Harry walked into the Great Hall and immediately felt like throwing up. Everywhere he looked, a horrible pinkness prevailed. The walls had taken on the hue, pink confetti fell from the enchanted ceiling, groups of red, pink and white balloons dotted the four tables at regular intervals and tiny pink pixies swooped about.
As he was taking his seat, he noticed his worst nightmare approaching the lectern in front of the staff table.
"Good morning, everyone," a lurid pink-robed Lockhart called jovially, "and Happy Valentine's day to you all! Today, of course, is the day traditionally set aside for love, for couples, for those you have a romantic eye on that special someone. And before I forget, thank you to those amazing forty-seven people who have already sent me a Valentine's Day card today. Now, as a special treat to you all, I've arranged a little fun."
A sudden clomping of heavy boots spun Harry's head around in time to see a dozen horribly dressed dwarves, outfitted as extremely big, extremely ugly and extremely mean-looking cupids. Bringing up the rear were a group of four murderous-looking aurors. Harry guessed that they'd been assigned the odious task of guarding said dwarven cupids for the day.
"My fine romantic friends here," Lockhart continued, gesturing to the dwarves, "will be around the castle today. So if you have a special little something that you'd like delivered, just let them know and they'll be more than happy to do so for you."
Fortunately, the rest of Lockhart's speech was cut off by the arrival of the post owls. Harry suspected that he would have attempted to continue with it if it wasn't for the enormous parliament that descended upon the man standing at the lectern.
Harry was so busy laughing at the man's predicament, that at first he failed to notice the owls landing amongst the surrounding dishes. A sharp nip by Hedwig brought his focus back to the important things, namely her.
"Here you go, Hedwig," he said, holding up a rasher of bacon.
"Oh, Harry, you shouldn't have," Hermione suddenly gushed before launching herself on him.
As he attempted to extradite himself, he was of the opinion that she was right. But then, he'd thought a simple card accompanied by a rose was quite acceptable. And it was Neville who had assured him that a yellow rose gave the simple message of friendship.
"Hermione, you're going to want to let Harry go," Neville interrupted, "he's got a couple of owls that are wanting his attention."
"Oh, of course," she said, releasing him with a blush.
Turning to the two owls before him, Harry quickly untied their letters before giving them a treat and sending them off.
Opening the first one, Harry found a card a card written in Hermione's perfect script.
Dear Harry,
Happy Valentine's day.
Love, your friend, Hermione.
"Thanks, Hermione," he said, feeling his cheeks go warm.
"You're very welcome," she replied before ducking her head.
Turning to the second one, he found a much more elaborately designed card. Puzzled, he opened it and read the message inside.
Dear Harry,
Even without knowing me, you acted to protect me at great risk to your own life, saving me in the process. For that, you will always hold a special place in my heart.
Happy Valentine's Day,
Daphne.
"Who's that one from?" Neville asked.
"Daphne," he replied, confused before holding it out to Neville. "Do you think it's got something to do with that life debt thing you and Mister Greengrass were talking about from last year?"
Neville nodded slowly. "I wouldn't be surprised. Although, it could be that she just finds you cute."
Sticking his tongue out at his friend, Harry took the card back and came to a decision. "I think that I'm going to have to have another talk with Daphne. Without her father around this time."
-oOoOo-
Finding the opportunity to talk to Daphne that day was nigh on impossible. There were classes to attend and the fact that she was in a different House didn't help. Nor did the ever present presence of the aurors or the dwarves.
Harry found himself running afoul of the dwarves not long before lunch. One particular tutu-wearing dwarf had singled him out in a crowded corridor, chased him down, tackled him, sat on his legs and then sprouted poetry at him. Very, very bad poetry. The fact that there was an incredibly red-faced Ginny Weasley in the crowd who ran off in near hysterics was a good indication of who had sent it.
Finally, Harry decided to simply wait just outside the doors to the Great Hall and try to catch Daphne before dinner.
"Daphne!" he called, ignoring all of the 'oohs' that immediately sprung up around them. "Can I talk to you for a minute?"
With a short nod of her head, she led him into the small room where all of the first years waited to be sorted.
"Um, hi," he began, suddenly incredibly nervous.
Daphne's piercing blue eyes locked on to his as she gave a small smile. "Hello, Harry."
"Um, I … I wanted to thank you for the card that you sent," he said.
She shrugged and crinkled her nose.
Realising that she wasn't going to make it any easier for him, he plunged on. "I was wondering why you sent it, though. It's not like we've had much to do with each other."
Daphne sighed, before looking around the room, making her long blonde hair sway about her shoulders. Finding what she was looking for, she walked over and took a seat on one of the few chairs in the room. With a pat on the chair beside her, Harry complied and took a seat.
"Look. Harry. I get your confusion. Really, I do," she said. "And believe me, it wasn't my idea to send you that card. I'm not blind. I can see the way you and Granger are."
"What?" Harry exclaimed. "What do you mean, me and Hermione? And if it wasn't your idea to send it, then whose was it?"
"You were raised in the muggle world, Harry, so there's a lot that you don't understand," Daphne dropped her head, obviously deep in thought. "Let me see if I can explain."
"You saw what I wrote in the card, that I sent it because you saved my life?" she began.
Harry nodded.
"Well, in the magical world, and especially among the pure-blood circles, that's a really big thing. That's why my dad wanted to talk to you back in September. And even though you basically told my dad that simply being friends was enough, for him, for saving my life, it's not. It simply doesn't measure up to the code that we live by," here she looked up to meet his eyes once more. "Do you understand?"
"I think so," he replied slowly, "but I didn't save your life to get something out of you. It was just the right thing to do."
"I know, Harry. I've watched you. I know that it's just a part of who you are," she smiled. "But it's not enough for my dad. If we were of age, or if you had an adult who could be your Head of House, he'd be negotiating for a betrothal between us."
"But we're only twelve!" Harry protested.
Daphne waved off his objection. "I know it's not common these days, but this is a special circumstance and my dad's honour would demand nothing less of him. Believe me, Harry, it's got nothing to do with how I feel about you."
"Okay, okay, I think I can see where he's coming from even if I don't agree with it," Harry replied. "But what's that got to do with you sending me a Valentine's Day card?"
"As the daughter of Lord Greengrass, I was instructed to make sure that I continue to make you see me in a positive light. And especially encouraged to try to make that a … romantic sort of thing if at all possible," she blushed. "Thus, the card."
Harry bowed his head in thought. "So you only sent the card so that you could tell your dad that you're following his instructions?"
"That's right," she replied. "Please don't read any more into it than that."
"Okay, it's for your dad," suddenly he had an idea. "Um, I guess you would have heard about the private tutoring lessons that I'm having?" At her nod he continued. "If you like, you could always come along as well. It'd give you something else to tell your dad."
Her eyes glazed over for a minute as she thought over his suggestion. "Could I bring Tracey and Fiona along?"
"Sure, with all that Heir of Slytherin thing going on at the moment, there's plenty of space," he said dejectedly.
"Thank you, Harry," she smiled.
Harry nodded absently, still deep in thought. "But what does that have to do with me and Hermione?"
Daphne looked taken aback by the question.
"I thought that would be obvious," she finally said.
"Sorry, not to me," Harry replied.
"But it's obvious how you feel about her. And more than obvious how she feels about you," Daphne blurted. "I mean, the whole school saw the two of you at breakfast."
Harry's head shot back up and whipped around to stare at Daphne in shock.
