Once again, heartfelt thanks to my amazing beta KellhusTheKing, for all the help with this chapter. Any remaining errors are, of course, my own. Also thanks to everyone who left a review. It really means a lot to me.
If you don't like what happens in the first half of this chapter, I strongly encourage you to read to the end, and read my end chapter author's note as well. I hope that might persuade you to continue reading.
griffin blackwood: I'm glad you liked her. I'm trying to show her as being a bit better than Ginny at managing her celebrity crush. No this does not mean that the final pairing will be Harry/Astoria. It also doesn't mean it won't be. ;)
Shae Vizla: Glad you liked that. I don't really understand how they can have magic to fix other mundane illnesses, but nothing to fix short-sightedness, although maybe it was magic that made the same prescription last that long. ;)
KnowPein: The twins will still be around to cause trouble, but Harry and co will hopefully be able to hold their own As for the basilisk, I won't spoil that.
Reader0007: Don't count on it. :)
Laern: That's exactly what I was going for in my characterization of the Greengrass family, so I'm glad you thought it worked. Hope you like the more interesting bits of the party in this chapter. And yes, Harry has plenty of reasons to angst without being sorted into Slytherin being one of them. At this stage, he's the wizarding world's equivalent of a child celebrity. Even if some people in Slytherin don't like him, it's more prudent to keep quiet.
Jslee102: Indeed, most people don't end up marrying the first person they were in a relationship with at age 13. Even J. K. Rowling didn't make that mistake! It's true that without universities there's more scope for couples who were together at the end of Hogwarts to stay together, but there's also meeting people on the rob or through mutual friends. I tried to show that those were options by depicting the Greengrass parents as having met only after Hogwarts. As for Harry, he's young and a child celebrity, so he'll have plenty of opportunities for experimenting.
STOP PRESS: Mordac from the future here. Thanks to LifeIsAGreatAdventure for pointing out to me that I made a major boo boo timeline wise, because if Mrs. Greengrass had been younger than Harry's parents, she would have been too young to give birth to a child of Harry's age. So I had to do any emergency edit to make Mrs. Greengrass a couple of years older than them, rather than younger. Thank you very much for bringing this to my attention.
"As if a phantom caress'd me,
I thought I was not alone walking here by the shore;
But the one I thought was with me as now I walk by the shore,
the one I loved that caress'd me,
As I lean and look through the glimmering light, that one has
utterly disappear'd,
And those appear that are hateful to me and mock me."
Walt Whitman
Harry could see from the shape that three of his gifts were books, so he decided to start with the ones that were not. He picked up Blaise's first, which turned out to be a small, round mirror. Blaise was grinning at him as he urged Harry to try it. When Harry did, he was startled to hear his reflection talk back to him.
"Goodness, do something with that hair, will you? You look like you saw a ghost." They all burst out laughing, and Harry reflexively patted his hair, before remembering there was no point.
"They're charmed to give you advice," Blaise explained. "They can be a bit cheeky, but they give good advice… Although maybe your hair is a lost cause." He added with a laugh.
Grinning, Harry took up one of the books, which turned out to be from Tracey. After tearing through the wrapping paper, he found it to be an illustrated tome titled Transfiguration Disasters.
"You probably helped prevent me getting into some of these by tutoring me," Tracey said, as Harry opened it at a random page to find a gruesome picture of a man who'd been transfigured into a cockroach, albeit of human size. The transfiguration had not been complete, though, and his internal organs, which had retained their human configuration, had pooled at the bottom of the cockroach's exoskeleton and begun to leak out.
"Right, that's going to give me nightmares for weeks," Blaise exclaimed as he looked away. Whenever Harry could remember his dreams, they were usually nightmares, so at least this'd give them some variety.
"I'll save this for bedtime reading," Harry said, putting on a brave face and grinning at Tracey, who bit her lip awkwardly, though she seemed pleased.
The next book was from Ted. "I've already given you my main present, but I didn't want to show up empty handed," he said. "I just bought this yesterday." It was a book chronicling the history of Grindelwald's rise and fall, which of course was very relevant after their strange meeting with Bathilda Bagshot. He still needed to tell Daphne about that.
The final book was Daphne's gift. It was titled Duelling for Dummies, and from a quick overview of the contents gave a basic, but thorough overview of spells useful in competitive duelling, as well as a number of more general discussions. It seemed very useful, and Harry couldn't wait to begin to read it and practice the spells contained therein. Due to Quirrell's subpar teaching, he had already got into the habit of practicing Defence in an unused classroom with Ted and Daphne, even if occasionally their practice veered into less defence oriented spells, mostly courtesy of Ted. Still, Daphne had clearly picked up on his enthusiasm for the matter.
"This is great, Daphne, thanks!" he told her, before putting down her book and picking up the final gift, which very much did not look like a book. It was from Morag, and it turned out to be a little silver locket with space for two photographs.. Or so it looked.
"You can actually place up to ten pictures on each side," she explained. "They're charmed to switch them over. I have one with pictures of my parents," she explained, lowering her voice, and Harry nodded slowly. Morag was also an orphan, so it made sense that she'd think of something like this.
"Thank you. I know exactly what to put in there," he said, remembering the album of pictures Hagrid had given him.
Once all the gifts had been opened, they took advantage of the warm weather to have a picnic, featuring a birthday cake. It was only the second birthday cake he ever remembered being given, and while Hagrid's offering had meant a lot to him, its culinary quality had been memorable for all the wrong reasons. This one, on the other hand, was amazing, with chocolate and sponge layers and covered in delicious frosting. Harry reluctantly had to agree that the house elf's cooking and baking skills were great, even if that ultimately didn't change his opinion on ever wanting to own one.
They ate in the shade of a copse of trees which protected the Greengrasses' house from view. Only the faintest breeze blew in from the sea, providing just enough refreshment so that the heat was not oppressive. Faint noises of agricultural activity could be heard in the distance, but for the most part only their conversation disturbed the quiet of the surrounding countryside.
Daphne, Blaise, and Morag had got into a lively discussion about Quidditch and their respective teams' chances in the upcoming season. Morag supported a Scottish team called Pride of Portree, while Blaise favoured the Appleby Arrows. The only thing they seemed agreed on was mocking a team called the Chudley Cannons, the whipping boy of the league by the sound of it. Ted and Tracey were sitting a bit closer to Harry, and the latter had been telling him about her Summer.
"I've just gone to stay with dad, but I was with my mum the past few weeks." Tracey's wizard father and muggle mother had a very turbulent, on-again, off-again relationship. Fortunately none of the issues had anything to do with magic, and Tracey had grown up with it so took it all in stride. "We went down to Spain for our holiday. Travelling by muggle means, of course."
"That'll have been an aeroplane, not a bus, Ted," Harry said with a grin, remembering his friend's first experience with muggle transport. Tracey nodded. "They're not as fast as a portkey, obviously," she explained. "But they don't leave you nearly as frazzled when you arrive."
"Portkey? Just how many ways of getting about do wizards have?" Harry frowned, annoyed at another gap in his knowledge. Tracey and Ted explained the concept.
"So why bother apparating when you can just create one of those?" Harry asked.
"They're very strictly regulated. You need ministry permission to make one, and that's quite expensive, so you only mostly have them for international travel," Ted replied.
"Hmmm," Harry murmured noncommittally. It sounded like the ministry was just restricting them to make money. Still, he supposed there might be some reason he didn't know about, so he kept quiet while he listened to Tracey's account of her beach holiday.
"You do look very tanned, you must have spent a lot of time sunbathing," Harry said, making Tracey blush and thank him. For some reason, he had a vision of Tracey wearing a bikini and sunbathing on the beach that he found quite hard to shake. He looked away awkwardly and his eyes met Morag's, who seemed to be having quite a good time.
"So how're you coping with being surrounded by snakes, Morag?" he asked as he got up to stretch his legs. Even though the sun was still far from completing its course in the sky, it was getting on towards tea time and the breeze was getting colder.
"Ravenclaws are always the ones who give us less crap, anyway," Blaise replied. "Besides, that accent is enough to melt the heart of even the darkest wizard," he added, to Morag's blush, even if she looked quite pleased. Harry smiled. Even at his young age Blaise fancied himself a budding Casanova. Considering his mother had buried six husbands, he had the heritage to back it up. He was definitely very handsome.
"Don't mind Blaise, he's like that with everyone," Daphne said with a grin. "Well, not with me, because I don't have any time for his sweet talking."
"Oh, I don't mind at all," she said, giving Blaise a very bright smile. Tracey shivered as she huddled closer to Daphne and Harry.
"It's getting a bit cold, isn't it?" They were all wearing very light robes as had fitted the temperature earlier in the day.
Daphne grinned at this. "Come on, then, guys. Hope no one's expecting you home early," she said as she jumped to her feet and motioned them to follow her back to the house.
"Oh I doubt anyone would notice if I didn't go home," Ted told Harry in a whisper. Harry's face fell briefly as he was reminded of his friend's family situation, but Ted shook his head. "Not that I'm in any hurry. This is great," he said, louder now so that Daphne could hear.
"You ain't seen nothing yet," she replied, just as they were arriving at the house. She led them away from the main door to a side entrance to what might, at some point, have been a stable for horses, but was definitely only being used for storage currently.
Or rather, was mostly used for storage, because now it was set up to host the remainder of the party. A large, round table stood in the centre, covered in food and drink. There were a few games piled on the side, some of which Harry recognized from seeing people play in the common room, like gobstones and exploding snap.
"Daphne, you didn't have to," Harry said, blushing at the unexpected, extra gift.
"Don't be silly. If I'm going to throw you a party it's gonna be a good one," she exclaimed, rushing towards the table and lifting up a glass. "Bottomless butterbeer," she proclaimed, to what almost amounted to a cheer from the group. "To Harry," she said, her drink still held high, putting her arm on his shoulder after handing him his own glass. "The surprise Slytherin. Our house just wouldn't be the same without you. And you're the best mate a girl could want."
They toasted, and Harry was happy for being able to hide his face with his glass, for he really was embarrassed by all the attention, even if he genuinely appreciated it. He just didn't know how to react. Fortunately no one really expected him to do much more than take it. It was his birthday, after all.
They sat down to eat and drink. Harry suspected this butterbeer was a bit stronger than the one Mr. Greengrass had offered him, even if not anywhere near the goblin cider he'd had. In any case, Harry decided he would rather remain blissfully ignorant, and just enjoyed the conversation and the food.
Once the meal was over, the food was gone by magic-house elf magic, Harry suspected, but Daphne was not about to let the party end there. She rose and began to fiddle with a device that looked like a muggle grammophone, but Harry suspected was enchanted in some manner. Soon it began to play music, which seemed to be recognized by his friends, even if Harry himself had never heard it.
"The Weird Sisters," Daphne explained, recalling Harry's curiosity about their posters in her bedroom. The music wasn't loud enough to drown out conversation. It just provided a pleasant background to their hang out. By mutual agreement, they decided to play exploding snap, and soon the room was filled with a cacophony of talking, laughter, and the occasional explosion. Harry had himself played the game a few times in the common room, even if he wasn't usually inclined to levity. Still, it was his birthday party, so he could afford to loosen up for a bit.
Even Ted was quite entertained and not at all his usual sombre self, even when he had the cards explode right on his face. He guessed being away from home was like a weight off his friend's shoulders. The bottomless butterbeer probably didn't hurt, either. Harry was certainly feeling more than a little dizzy now. Not that it was unpleasant. On the contrary, he was feeling pretty happy. He knew he had things to worry about, but they all seemed quite remote, and the present was very much enjoyable. He did stumble off his seat as he tried to rise, to the mirth of all those present. Laughing himself, he decided to catch a bit of fresh air, trying to clear his mind.
It was just past twilight, and the cool night air did work to make his head feel less fuzzy. He took a couple of deep breaths and was about to turn back when he saw Tracey had just joined him. Her cheeks were bright and she gave him a cheery smile. Harry wondered why he never noticed her smile was so nice before.
"Hi Harry. Needed some fresh air too?" she asked. Harry nodded.
"Yeah, just felt a bit dizzy. You had the same?"
Tracey nodded. "Yeah, I just wasn't prepared for bottomless butterbeer," she giggled, steadying herself by leaning against the wall. Harry thought it'd be a nice idea to sit down, and before he knew it his wand was in his hand and he was casting a cleaning charm at the ground. Amazingly, despite his head not feeling completely clear yet, he managed to cast it flawlessly at the first try.
Tracey gave him a wide grin. "You're so nice, Harry," she said as they sat down together.
Harry had tried to give her a bit of space, but she held onto his arm and pulled him closer. Harry suddenly became very aware of her presence next to him, and found it very hard to form any coherent thoughts. Still, with a monumental effort, he powered through the fuzziness to break the silence.
"So I never asked how you did in Transfiguration," he began, remembering her gift and the reason for it. "No disasters during the exam, I hope."
She gave him a bright smile in return. She really was being much less shy than usual. Then again, he was a lot more relaxed than usual too. "I had an E," she replied. "I was so happy. I could never have done it without you." She bit her lip, quickly deliberating, before asking. "Do you think we can keep studying together this year? I'd really love that," she got out, before looking away from him, her cheeks bright red.
"Of course. I really enjoyed tutoring you. I think it helped me learn things a lot better anyway. You really have to understand something before you can explain it to somebody else…"
Tracey gave him a grateful look, and Harry felt a shiver as their eyes met. "Uhm, besides, I just like spending time with you." He felt like that's what he should say for some reason. If possible, Tracey blushed even brighter and held closer onto his arm. Harry could feel her whole body next to his, moving only slightly with each breath she took. It was nice. She was nice.
Harry felt like he could stay like this all night, but Tracey glanced at her watch after what felt like only a couple of minutes, but had been a fair bit longer. Her head had somehow ended up resting on Harry's shoulder, letting him see the time as she did.
"I'm going to have to go soon. I wish I didn't…" she whispered, looking up at him. Their eyes met again. "But I'm glad I got to speak to you for a little bit."
"I wish you could stay longer… This is so nice…" Harry whispered too. His breathing was ragged now, and he could feel Tracey's was too. Was she feeling as nervous as he was? He didn't know what he was supposed to do or say, just that he didn't want to do anything to ruin this. Tracey was looking up at him, blushing but holding his gaze. She was biting her lip. She did that a lot.
When she realized where he was looking, though, she stopped. She became very still, her breathing stopped and she only moved to place her hand over his, and lift up her head from his shoulder, moving her face closer. Harry would never know what prompted him to reciprocate and meet her lips with his.
They only touched for a second or two, but Harry was more than jolted to full awareness then. He felt Tracey move her lips against his for a second, then pull away, her eyes wide.
"Tracey, I…" Harry began, suddenly worried that he'd screwed up horribly, but she held his hand tight and made no further move to pull away.
"No, shhh," she said, placing a finger on his lips. "I really, really need to go. I'm already late. But it was totally worth it. I wish I could stay here all night with you," she whispered. "And if you do that again, I don't think I'll be able to leave," she added, giggling despite herself.
Now it was Harry's turn to blush profusely, as they both rose again and began to walk back inside. As they did, they came across Blaise and Morag, who also happened to be holding hands. They all exchanged awkward smiles as their hands came apart in a flash. Tracey and Morag giggled, while Harry and Blaise let them walk in ahead. Blaise turned to Harry and gave him a wink.
"I was beginning to think you were blind, Harry," he whispered. Harry wasn't sure what he meant, but he didn't have time to ask, as they stepped inside to find Ted and Daphne playing gobstones and chatting quietly about the upcoming year.
Ted raised his eyebrow at Harry, and Daphne just grinned. "Well, helloooo, birthday boy," she began with a grin, slowly rising from her seat before stumbling forward slightly, having to catch herself on the table.
"Sorry to disappoint but we're not pairing the spares," Ted said wryly as he rose too. He gave Harry a grin as he stepped towards him. "I probably should go too, though." He gave Harry a hug, wishing him a happy birthday again, before everyone made their way back to the living room and said their goodbyes. When it came to Tracey Harry lingered a bit, hugging her for longer than strictly necessary, before she stepped onto the fireplace and Floo-ed away.
Mrs. Zabini had had tea with Mr. and Mrs. Greengrass, and was still waiting for Blaise. After they apparated away and Ted took the Knight Bus, it was just Harry and Daphne left. They made their way upstairs, with Harry helping Daphne, who had obviously consumed slightly too much butterbeer, along the way.
"Don't think I'm not going to pump you for the details tomorrow," she said with a giggle as Harry took her to her room.
"But you get a pass right now. Happy birthday again," she said as Harry helped her to bed.
"Thanks for the party Daphne," he said. "Almost made up for all the ones I didn't have growing up." He gave her a hug before letting her fall back into bed. As he was closing the door, he saw her turn to one of her many quidditch posters and giggle.
"Ooooh, Gwenog, am I invited to the victory party…." Blinking and trying to not think where that was going, Harry shut Daphne's door and was quickly asleep in his own bed.
The next day they slept in late. Fortunately, it was Saturday, so that didn't require any particular indulgence in terms of breakfast time. Mr. Greengrass was relaxed about these matters on the day after a birthday party anyway. That was fortunate, because while Harry woke up with a mild headache, one look at Daphne's demeanour told him she was faring far worse.
"Not one word until I've drank a pot of coffee," was her only, curt greeting. Harry managed to only chuckle a little.
After breakfast and consumption of a healthy amount of caffeine, she did perk up significantly. Harry offered to help clean up the storage room where they'd held his party, but Daphne waved it away.
"Oh, Ziggy will have taken care of that already," she explained, before turning to him with a grin. "Now you have a choice. Either spill the beans about what happened with you and Tracey last night, or get your arse on a broom and put those flying skills to good use. I need someone else to properly practice for quidditch."
Harry was slightly taken aback that they had been that obvious. He kept having the few seconds of that kiss fly through his mind since he'd woken up.
"Alright, what do I need to do? For Quidditch, I mean," he added, although he knew he was going to tell Daphne and Ted what happened at some point. Mostly because he had no idea what he should do next. But in the meantime, he appreciated the delay, and he couldn't refuse to help Daphne with her practice when she'd gone to so much trouble to organize his party anyway.
So he followed her to a literal broom cupboard, except of course the brooms were not meant for cleaning.
"These are not fantastic, but they'll do for us to practice. If I get into the team, dad has promised to buy me a Nimbus 2000. The 2001 model is just out, so the older one's dropped a fair bit in price. It's the perfect sweet spot."
In addition to the brooms, she brought the large ball Harry knew was called the Quaffle. Carrying their brooms, and in Daphne's case her gear, they walked to the tree lined area where they'd eaten their picnic the previous day. Harry watched while Daphne ran to one end of the field and pressed her wand onto a point in the ground. Instantly, the three hooped goals which the keeper was meant to guard sprung up.
"That's clever," Harry said, looking up and grinning, with that bittersweet tinge he felt whenever he saw a particularly clever application of magic to solve a relatively mundane, but annoying, problem. He effortlessly flew towards Daphne, who threw the Quaffle at him.
"I'm going to be the Keeper. Try to score. It's not the same as having three Chasers but you're pretty damn good on a broom, so I'll take it." Harry noticed she was wearing the dragonhide gloves he'd got her for Christmas, and smiled. He didn't mention it, though, instead flying away from the hoops and beginning to circle around Daphne, looking for an opening to strike. When he finally threw the quaffle at the far end hoop, Daphne managed to block it by executing a quick change of direction, but Harry caught it on the rebound and scored on the hoop opposite the one he'd aimed at first.
"Knew you had it in you, come on, another," she yelled as she threw the quaffle back at him. They spent the rest of the morning practising like that. Harry wasn't used to throwing things so hard and his arms felt very sore by the end. Daphne's breath was ragged and there was a hint of sweat down her forehead, but she looked like she'd enjoyed herself immensely.
"That was great. If only we'd been allowed our own brooms last year we could have spent all that time practising. It's such an unfair rule, how are we meant to be ready for tryouts by second year…" Harry had heard this particular rant many times before, and not just from Daphne. Draco Malfoy had repeated it a few times too. He had also mentioned he planned to try out for the team, although he was after the seeker position, which Daphne wasn't interested in.
After lunch, Harry suggested they just fly around for a bit. They could practice twisting and turning maneuvers, but he didn't want any balls to worry about. He did enjoy flying, and he might not be so averse to joining the quidditch team if he didn't feel like there were better uses of his limited time. He valued improving his skills in magic above playing a sport. That didn't mean he wouldn't help Daphne with her ambition. That's what friends were for, after all. Still, practicing maneuvers was a good compromise, as she would need that, especially if she got picked as a Chaser instead of a Keeper.
Harry had good fun doing this for a couple of hours, especially when he pretended to be an oversize bludger and flew at Daphne, who tried to dodge him with remarkable success. When they were taking a break to drink some water, Harry actually began to feel like he wanted to talk about what happened. Before he knew, he was spilling out the previous night's events, even if he tried to do it in a tasteful way.
Daphne looked at him appraisingly. "You know Tracey has had a major crush on you for pretty much all of last year, right?" she asked him.
Harry's eyes widened. He'd known nothing of the sort. "What? No way, Daphne, you're taking the piss, aren't you?"
"What's so weird about that? You're in Slytherin, so she sees you every day. You've actually talked to her and are tutoring her in Transfiguration. And you're the bloody Boy-Who-Lived! Probably half the first year girls have crushes on you. Hell, a few of the boys too, I bet. And hey, even I'll say you're pretty handsome," she added the last bit with a grin. For some reason, Harry was sure that Daphne was not including herself in that category. Still, he felt really embarrassed.
"You're not serious. Oh my God, you're serious, aren't you?" he stammered. Daphne was trying hard not to laugh.
"Oh, Harry, you are so innocent. Anyway, yes, Tracey at least has definitely had a crush on you for a while. Remember we share a dorm. I mean, she's not some crazy fangirl, but she's brought you up enough times that I can tell," she gave him a grin. "I'd've given you a hint, but she thinks I like you. Which I do, as a friend, but not in the way she thinks. So rather than get involved I let her handle it. It was probably your inviting her that gave her the courage to finally do something about it."
Harry was very confused by all this new information. He supposed he knew, intellectually, that people talked about him, especially because of his celebrity status. But he didn't think anyone would be trying to guess whether he liked his friends like that. Still, the realization that Tracey had had a crush on him for ages worried him, because it raised the stakes on anything he did now.
"What do I do now?" he asked, knowing how lamely that sounded. But Daphne was a girl, so had a lot more insight into what girls thought than he did.
Daphne sat against a tree and motioned for Harry to sit next to her.
"What do you want to do?" she asked when he was settled down. "Rather, what do you want to happen? Do you like Tracey?"
Harry felt his mouth go dry as he tried to consider that question. Did he like Tracey? She was really nice, and he had always enjoyed the time they spent together. She was definitely pretty, he thought, knowing he was turning a bit red as he considered it. And kissing her had felt… well, it was very nice. He certainly wouldn't mind doing it again.
"Harry?" Daphne asked, waving her hand in front of his face. "Anyone home?"
"Sorry… I was just thinking," he replied. "I mean, I do like her. But, I don't know that I like her to the point where I want to be her… her boyfriend… I mean," he stammered again.
"You don't have to know. I mean, don't take me as some sort of authority. Hell, I've never kissed anyone, so you're ahead of me in that respect," she took out her wand and began to trace patterns in the air, which left long traces of light coming from the tip. She seemed deep in thought now. A very uncharacteristic sadness emanated from her, making Harry worry that he had actually been wrong and she did have a crush on him.
"Daphne, are you alright?" he asked her, concern evident in his voice. She sighed.
"Sorry, it's nothing. Or, it's nothing to do with you, anyway. I just wish things were simpler sometimes… This is reminding me of some things I'd rather not think about…" she trailed, leaving an awkward silence between them.
"Is there… is there anything I can do?" Harry asked. "Even if it's just listening…"
"I'm not ready to talk about it yet. I'll tell you… I'll tell you when I can. When I'm ready, you'll be the first to know," she told him. "But, it's nothing to do with you. Tracey honestly doesn't need to worry about me," she added, grinning despite herself.
Harry sighed. "Alright, well, whenever you want to talk… I'll be here."
"Thanks Harry. You really are the best mate I could ask for," she said quickly, before returning to the previous topic.
"Enough about me. Tracey, you. You had one kiss, after you both had drunk a lot of butterbeer. That doesn't have to mean anything. I mean, you should let her know where you stand. And don't kiss and tell. As far as everyone else is concerned, we've never had this conversation," she said, mimicking a zipper over her lips. "Although I'm sure you'll tell Ted, and Tracey will tell Millie. That's just how it goes. But don't brag about it."
"I wouldn't do something like that," Harry protested.
"I didn't think you would. But I thought I'd warn you just in case. I don't want to have to hex my best friend, after all." Harry guessed this was a girl solidarity thing. Daphne went on. "Just don't lead her on. You won't be seeing her for a while. Think about what you want to happen, and be honest with her. I think she'll appreciate that more in the end, regardless of how she feels at first. That's my advice. Think how lucky you are for being such good friends with a girl." Daphne's natural good disposition was beginning to assert itself again after her earlier fit of gloom.
Harry nodded. He'd really have to think about that hard. One more thing for him to worry about. They practised Quidditch a bit more, this time with Harry as keeper and Daphne as chaser, until it was time for tea.
"I think you're actually better at being a chaser. I know you'd have to team up with the others, so it's not really the same thing as practising alone, but I think I struggled to keep up with you now a lot more than earlier," Harry told her as they walked back to the Greengrasses' home.
Daphne looked pensive as they walked, taking off her dragonhide gloves before replying.
"Yeah, I think you're right. I'm still going to try for both, but I guess I'll split my practising equally between the two now," she said, as she stepped inside the house. "I never thanked you properly for these gloves, by the way. They're great."
They stored away the brooms and gear back in the cupboard, and after a quick shower were at the dinner table. As usual, Mr. and Mrs. Greengrass asked Harry and Daphne about their time at Hogwarts. It was a safe topic of conversation, and Astoria liked to get in and ask questions too. She was so eager to learn that Harry couldn't help but tease her.
"You might end up in Ravenclaw rather than Slytherin if you're not careful," he said with a grin, laughing when Astoria pulled a face.
"You never mention your head of house, Harry. Old Horace Slughorn was head of Slytherin in my day. I suppose he never paid the firsties a lot of mind, but he was around," Mr. Greengrass said, before pausing. "I suppose Severus Snape is not really the supportive type, is he?"
Now it was Harry's turn to pull a face. "I've barely exchanged two words with him the entire year," he replied, frowning. "He usually gives Slytherin points at the drop of a hat, but you'd think it pains him to give me any. I suppose I'm not the best at potions, but I feel like Crabbe's got more points out of him than I have!"
Mrs. Greengrass was giving Harry an interested look. She seemed to be considering whether to tell him something. Eventually, she came to a decision.
"Severus Snape was a couple of years below me when I was at Hogwarts. It's very strange to think of him as a head of house," she began.
"Dumbledore's quite fond of him," Mr. Greengrass interjected. His wife nodded.
"Your parents were in the same year as Severus," she continued.
"Snape knew my parents?" Harry exclaimed, his eyes wide in surprise.
"Well…" Mrs. Greengrass was trying to choose her words carefully. "He was very good friends with your mother. Even though he was in Slytherin and she was in Gryffindor, they were very close."
Harry was listening to every word with rapt attention. Why had no one told him anything about this before?
"He also did not get along well with your father, I'm sorry to say." Mrs. Greengrass looked like she was trying very carefully to phrase something in the most diplomatic way possible. "Your father, and his friends, really were not very popular with Slytherin students. Especially not with Severus. In fact, they were constantly at each other's throats." Before Harry could ask anything, she forestalled his question. "James, your father, and Severus both gave as good as they got. Please believe me when I say I'm not trying to speak ill of the dead. I'm only telling you this because I think you should know why Professor Snape might be acting the way he is towards you."
Harry felt an amount of inner turmoil at this. His first reaction was to jump to his father's defence, but a few seconds of thinking made him realize that regardless of what the truth had been, what he was hearing from Mrs. Greengrass would be closer to how Snape saw things, and that would help him understand why the man behaved towards him the way he did.
"I understand…" he replied after taking a deep breath. "I really would just like to know, ma'am," he replied, eyes downcast and focused on the plate in front of him, avoiding any eye contact. "Just tell me what you remember, please."
"Of course," Mrs. Greengrass replied sadly, even if she was trying not to make Harry feel pitied. "Well, one day, in a particularly bad fight with your father, Severus had a spell cast on him which…" she carefully weighed her words again. Harry was beginning to understand why Daphne thought her mother was a consummate Slytherin. Her skill at diplomacy certainly was evident. "Did not leave him in a very dignified condition. Your mother tried to help, but he… rejected her help in a very rude manner. I wasn't there, but I'm sure you've already learned what the Hogwarts rumour mill is like. The whole school knew the details before the day was over." Harry wasn't usually that interested in the rumours, but he'd heard the exchanges often enough. He nodded.
"Your mother never quite forgave Severus for that. And not long after, she started going out with your father. That was fairly surprising in itself, because they hadn't got along very well for years. Something must have changed at some point, but for Severus, that turned the dislike for your father into hatred. I'm not defending what he did, but he did try as hard as he could to get your mother to forgive him. I think he blamed James for her never having done so…."
"So, he hated my father? But he liked my mother?" Harry was thoroughly confused by these revelations. "But I can't even remember any of them… What does that have to do with me?"
"You're right that it should have nothing to do with you… But Severus might have a bit of trouble reminding himself of that when you look so much like your father…"
Harry's eyes widened. Was that really why Snape had such a hard time with him? As much as it was strange to think about, it made a lot of sense when he went back and thought of his interactions with the man. He always seemed torn between conflicting impulses when dealing with Harry. If it was because he was now responsible, as Harry's Head of House, for the child of his old enemy, who was also the child of his old friend, whom he had alienated… No wonder the Professor always looked like he'd rather pretend Harry didn't exist. He let out a heavy sigh.
"I think that makes a lot of sense. It's like he can't decide whether he wants to hate me or not," Harry explained. Mrs. Greengrass nodded.
"I don't think I need to tell you that you didn't hear this from me. And I would advise you not to let Severus know you know this at all. I told you because I thought you deserved to know. I'm sure you would know if your parents were still with us."
"Of course. I can keep a secret. I really appreciate your telling me this, Mrs. Greengrass," Harry replied, looking up from his plate to face Daphne's mum.
"Harry loves his secrets," Daphne added, before turning to her mum. "I won't say anything either, obviously. I can't even think of Snape as a student. Was he always so greasy?"
Mrs. Greengrass stifled a grin. "Now that's no way to talk about your Head of House, Daphne. But… He kind of was. He wasn't exactly popular with the ladies. Definitely not like your father, Harry. Not that he ever went out with any Slytherins. Well, not unless they kept it a very well guarded secret."
Mr. Greengrass gave his wife a wry smile. "Anything from your past you'd like to share, dear?" he asked, to his wife's laughter and Daphne and Astoria's grimaces.
"Oh, I should hope he found me too intimidating for that," she replied with a laugh. Daphne had told Harry that her parents had only met after his mum had left Hogwarts, so he supposed it made sense that he would joke with her about that. "I wasn't just a Slytherin, I was a Prefect and then Head Girl."
He was distracted from his parents' and Snape's history, his thoughts drifting to Tracey once again. He was starting to think he didn't really want a girlfriend right now, as nice as kissing her had been. He tried not to show it for the rest of the evening, but was awake long into the night thinking about what he should do.
So I've already mentioned this in an author's note, but as it was a reply to a specific review you might have skipped it. I'll just reiterate that just because Harry had one small moment with Tracey here, that does not mean that he will end up with her at the end of the story, or even that he'll actually go out with her. How many of you ended up with the person you've had your first kiss with?
So nil desperandum, regardless of ship. On the other hand, if you like Harry/Tracey, then enjoy this moment, even if nothing else beyond it is guaranteed.
As always, I love reviews, so please leave some. I'm especially interested to hear what worked for you and what didn't. It was very hard trying to write age-appropriate romantic moments, so I'd also really like to know if there's anything I can improve in that regard.