Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. JK Rowling does. I'm just an avid fan.
Word Count: 2097
OMG guys, thank you so much for 6.47K views! The highest number of views per day yet! Also, I will be taking the poll down an hour after this chapter is posted, so make sure you vote! I'll put up the old poll after that. Enjoy chapter 32!
Chapter 32: Hogsmeade Visit and First Date
It was Saturday noon, and Cadmus was looking forward to visiting Hogsmeade for the first time. According to Neville's description yesterday, Hogsmeade was a large magical village that students got to enjoy the culture and atmosphere. Neville and the Weasley twins spoke very fondly of the stores too, by the sounds of it, Zonkos was a stop to make. It looked like they were going to have a great time in Hogsmeade, but it was much more to Cadmus, their Hogsmeade visit was also their official first date.
Cadmus had made sure he was dressed nicely for their first date, he combed his hair with a little blob of hair gel and sprayed a little cologne on himself. Cadmus nervously buttoned his navy blue dress shirt and grabbed his winter coat before he headed downstairs. He lost the tie because he wanted to be more simplistic. Cadmus didn't have to wait long for Daphne to arrive because she came down from the girl's dormitory at the same time.
"Ready?" Cadmus asked Daphne, smiling back at her while trying to hide his nervousness.
"Yep," Daphne replied. Cadmus smiled as he held out his outstretched hand, which she grasped. They made their way to the Great Hall entrance, crowded with lots of students waiting to head towards Hogsmeade. Above all the heads, Cadmus somehow found Neville, who was waiting for them towards the back of the crowd.
"There you are, Cadmus!" Neville shouted, waving his hands. Cadmus and Daphne squeezed their way to the back of the crowd and finally got to Neville. Neville saw Daphne and smiled at her, "You must be Daphne."
Neville led them past security before they made it out of the castle and were following their guide to Hogsmeade. Not long after, they arrived at Hogsmeade. It looked like a Christmas card; little worn cottages and shops were all covered in a layer of crisp snow; enchanted candles hung in the trees, providing a sense of warmth and liveliness.
They headed to Honeydukes first. There were shelves upon shelves of the most succulent-looking sweets imaginable. If Cadmus had thought he had gotten his share of British wizarding sweets, he was wrong. There were creamy chunks of nougat, shimmering squares of coconut ice, hundreds of different types of chocolate bars, tooth flossing spearmints, sugar quills, and Ice Mice. They even stumbled upon some Cockroach Clusters when browsing the Unusual Tastes section. They had a good laugh when Neville's tongue got stuck to an extremely sticky lollipop in the freezing weather outside.
"That's the post office over there, hundreds of owls and hundreds of mail color-coded by importance-"
"Oh, you gotta go to Zonkos, best shop out here. Fred and George's favorite," Neville said. Zonko's store had a red framing with several of their merchandise out for display, it looked bright colorful, and the inside was steaming with action. Zonkos turned out to be a wizarding shop for joke items and toys. Several of their products made an appearance; a dungbomb had gone off, stinking the whole store, but after a few minutes, the smell dissipated, allowing Cadmus and Daphne to explore. In the end, Cadmus bought several Stink Pellets and a couple of sugar quills. When asked what he was using it for, Cadmus simply grinned a mischievous smile.
"Oh my year mates stink up the dormitory a lot, this is my way of getting back at them," Cadmus responded with a sly smile. The wind was gaining speed with sure signs of a blizzard coming through, so Neville suggested that they head to the Three Broomsticks. The Three Broomsticks was full of energy; friends grouped drinking butterbeer and couples in the corner of the room. The three of them made their way to the back of the inn. There was a small vacant table between the window near the fireplace.
"I'll get the drinks" Cadmus offered, quickly standing up and making his way to the front. He returned a couple of minutes later, holding three tankards of hot butterbeer.
"To happiness," Neville said, raising his tankards into the air.
"To happiness" Cadmus and Daphne echoes, thunking their tankards into Neville's.
The taste of butterbeer was satisfying and delicious; it warmed up every bit of their cold bodies. While enjoying their hot butterbeer, Cadmus, Daphne, and Neville shared their most embarrassing experiences. Neville talked about the time he lost his toad on the Hogwarts Express and found it hours later croaking along with the Frog Choir. Some other student lost their frog and needed a fast replacement. Then it was Daphne's turn, and she recounted a childhood moment that she shared with Cadmus.
"Cadmus, remember the time I fell into the deep end of the pool? You were a poor swimmer, but you still dived into the water and tried to save me. You couldn't swim me across the pool, so the lifeguard had to rescue both of us in the end" Daphne laughed as Cadmus made a disgruntled face at the memory.
"Sounds like he's got some hero complex in his genes," Neville remarked, causing them to laugh even harder. They exchanged even more memories, not only embarrassing ones but happy, cheerful ones as well. The more Daphne talked, the more Cadmus felt drawn to her. She was a natural story-teller, she made the boring parts interesting and the sad parts funny. Daphne grabbed their attention like the stars in the night sky, subtle but powerful.
"Neville, over here!" someone called out to them from across the inn. Neville turned around to see a grinning Seamus Finnegan wave his hand cheerfully at him.
Neville faced Cadmus and Daphne, giving them a sad smile, "Sorry guys, I gotta go. I promised Seamus I would go with him to the Shrieking Shack. Hope you two have a wonderful Hogsmeade experience."
Cadmus and Daphne waved his excuse off. "Don't worry. Thank you for showing us around, Neville. We are planning to leave now," Cadmus said, pointing to the frosty window. "The blizzard is over now, so it's safe to depart." He was correct because the wind calmed down, and it was slowly drifting snow.
Neville grinned, "No problem! There is a nice little elevated walkway down the village if you want to go there. Quite peaceful." Cadmus thanked Neville for the suggestion and finished off the remainder of his butterbeer. Then Cadmus and Daphne put on their winter coats and stepped out into the cold January weather. There was a little visible pathway they followed down the village and past all the colorful stores. Cadmus and Daphne climbed onto the elevated walkway and peacefully walked hand in hand past the snow-packed trees and view of the snowy Hogsmeade village.
"This reminds me of the first Christmas you spent with my family, our house overlooked the city, and every winter the view was splendid, remember?" Daphne commented, gazing at the warm glow coming from the village.
"Yes, I remember," Cadmus responded, marveling at how calm and collected Daphne was. He followed her lead, gazing at the sky, it was getting dark, and the stars were starting to shine through.
"You were shy," Daphne noted.
"Was not," Cadmus said defensively.
"You were!" Daphne retorted.
"Was not! You were the shy one," Cadmus rebuked.
"I was not!" Daphne defended.
"You were. What about the times you always scampered off when I came over to say hi? Or the time you accidentally poured water on yourself while being too preoccupied blushing at the sight of me?" Cadmus laughed.
After a second of reconsideration, Daphne finally admitted to the truth, "Fine! I still don't know how you even noticed me in the first place!" She made a whole show of pouting, making her look like a needy toddler. Cadmus laughed and wrapped his arms around Daphne, swaying from side-to-side.
"I noticed you because you were the smartest and funniest girl in the class, not to mention you looked adorable in your pretty dresses. Your beautiful blue eyes looked like the ocean, and your childish carefree smile felt like soft cuddly marshmallows. I felt drawn to you the moment you met my eyes," Cadmus said as a matter of fact.
Daphne giggled, "So that was your first impression of me? Wow, I never knew that."
"There's so much you don't know about how I feel about you" Cadmus noted carefully. Daphne smiled as they started to walk back to the castle.
"Really? Tell me, Cadmus, I want to know," Daphne begged, tugging on his arms gently. Cadmus let a caring smile grace his lips as he revisited his early teen years.
"Well, remember when you used to go on long family summer vacations? I missed you terribly during those months, so I used to send numerous owls to you. Poor Alfred worked himself to death sending letters cross-country," Cadmus chuckled, remembering the memory of making sure his family owl was well-fed and rested.
"I sent those letters because I missed your safe and comforting presence, hearing your responses made it seem like I was right next to you."
"Aww, is that why you were always happy when I returned from vacation?" Daphne asked, thinking about how eager Cadmus was to hear about her adventures coming back from different countries every summer.
"Yes, that was the reason" Cadmus admitted, stopping in front of the entrance of Hogwarts. He turned around to peer into those beautiful sea blue eyes that he yearned to see every day. Daphne felt her heart melt at how caring and loving Cadmus treated her and knew that she was lucky to have such a wonderful friend like him.
"Cadmus"
"Yeah?"
"Thank you for today, it was lovely."
Cadmus softly tucked the strand of blonde hair that always stuck out behind her ears and said softly, "Anything for you." Daphne leaned closer slowly and stood on the tip of her toes to place her lips on Cadmus' mouth. Their lips met as they closed their eyes, experiencing the wonderful feeling. Cadmus wrapped his arms around her body to close the gap between the two of them. When they ended their kiss, they gave a sweet laugh.
"Ah, young love" came an old wise voice. "Where your treasure is, there will be your heart also."
Cadmus and Daphne turned towards the direction of the voice and saw Albus Dumbledore standing nearby, leaning on a stone column, his eyes twinkling as brightly as his smile.
"Professor Dumbledore!" Cadmus exclaimed, his face red when he realized that Albus Dumbledore saw the two of them kissing. It felt inappropriate and embarrassing to be intimate in front of a teacher. "Sorry, we're just going…"
Dumbledore's eyes twinkled, "Not to worry, young man. I've stumbled upon my fair share of make outs, this is no stranger to me. I believe you found yourself a keeper, Miss Greengrass. Now off to your dorms, both of you."
Cadmus and Daphne stammered out their apologies and ran towards the Grand Staircase, up the moving staircases until they reached the portrait to Harvard Tower. Cadmus gave the password, and both of them quickly entered the common room.
Jacob spotted both of them. "Where have you two been the whole day? Professor Kim's test is on Tuesday. We were supposed to study!"
"I'm sorry, Jacob. Cadmus took me to Hogsmeade today." Daphne collapsed on the couch, looking exhausted but happy. Jacob made an annoyed face and collected his work material to study somewhere else.
"I said I was sorry, Jacob. I needed a day of fun. Cadmus promised to help me study tomorrow. The offer is open if you want." Jacob was silent as he erected a silencing charm around his desk, his back turned defiantly at Daphne. Cadmus sat down next to Daphne, who looked a little put off.
"Do you think Jacob is going to come to the study session?" Daphne asked.
"Yes," Cadmus answered with hesitation.
"How can you be so sure?"
"Haha, Daphne, when has Jacob ever passed without your help? Never. That's why he is going to come sniveling to us in the library tomorrow, trying to weasel his way into our study session," Cadmus said. Daphne laughed and scooted closer to Cadmus, placing her head on his arm like a pillow.
"Cadmus?"
"Yes, Daphne?"
"I think I'm starting to fall in love with you."
"Me too, Daphne. Me too."
The two of them fell asleep just like that in the common room, kept warm by the fireplace all through the night until morning. Cadmus' arm wrapped comfortably around Daphne, his head gently resting on her head.
A/N: Aw so sweet. I am loving their relationship together, Harry/Daphne rocks! Sorry, I love the other ships too but this is by far my favorite. I don't have any experience with dating or romantic relationships, so my best shots at writing relationships are based on what I have learned from other fanfic authors. No experience, no understanding. That simple. I didn't let their relationship progress too fast, taking it slow. So the next chapter will be the Second Task where Cadmus realizes that the thing he sorely missed was Daphne! But will he find out hours before the second task or when he realizes that Daphne is missing? Stay tuned.
Stay safe and happy,
mintloveme523