So the writing of this fanfiction has encountered a derailment of disasterous proportions. And the reason that I say that is that the characters in this story have taken on a life of their own and they refuse to conform to the outline I have carefully constructed for this story. No matter how hard I've tried I cannot get the story to work the way I originally planned. So I'm winging it. Updates will be sporadic, thank you for reading.
If you don't know or haven't heard the song Ashes of Eden by Breaking Benjamin I seriously encourage you to listen to it because that song is very much a big inspiration for this fic.
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. Alas, this is JK Rowling's sandbox, I'm just building castles.
Please remember to feed the magical review eating fairy.
Anything is possible when you have the right people there to support you.
- Misty Copeland
Harry walked Daphne to dinner, they parted ways at the door to the Great Hall and Harry made the short walk over to where Ron and Hermione were already sitting, watching as Daphne hurried over to the Slytherin table to sit with Parkinson.
"Where have you been?" Ron demanded.
"I was in the Library, with Daphne," Harry said, shrugging. "I did some work on that Defense essay for Snape."
"Daphne?" Ron asked, looking disgusted.
"That's her name," Harry said, spooning a large helping of Shepard's Pie onto his plate.
"Oh honestly," Hermione said, rolling her eyes. "You can't very well expect him to keep calling her 'Greengrass', given the situation."
"What exactly is the 'situation'?" Seamus demanded from his seat a few paces down the table. "What was with her sitting with you in Charms?"
"Not that it's anyone's business," Harry glared down the table at Seamus, "but Daphne and I have a betrothal contract. She'll probably be sitting with me in Charms from now on, and you're not going to say anything to upset her." The table around them went silent, everyone within ear-shot turning to stare at Harry with wide eyes at his announcement.
"Blimey," Seamus whispered, his ears turning pink. "I'm sorry, Harry. I won't say anything to her again."
"Bad luck, mate." Dean told him seriously. Harry frowned at him.
"She's not so bad," Harry shrugged. "She's been nice about it, and she's pretty, it could have been worse."
"She's a Slytherin," Ron muttered angrily, stabbing his potatoes a little too venomously.
"Get over it," Hermione hissed at him, elbowing him hard in the side.
"Is ickle-Ronniekins jealous?" Ginny sneered at her brother. "Leave the poor girl alone, I highly doubt she had a say in any of it. Congratulations, Harry," she said, turning to smile at him. Was it just him or did she seem upset? Was it because of Ron or because Harry was betrothed? Harry wished with all of his heart that he didn't care.
"So everyone is just going to pretend that this isn't the worst thing that could have happened?" Ron demanded.
"How is this the worst thing?" Harry asked him, slamming his fork down. "Tell me how, out of everything that could have happened, this is the worst?"
"She could bloody well hand you over to you-know-who without a care in the world," Ron spat.
"Except she wouldn't do that," Harry hissed. "We've already talked about this."
"Yeah, because she acted scared when she realized that it might make her a target," Ron argued.
"Oh for Godric's sake, Ronald," Hermione yelled. "Grow up!"
The entire Hall went so quiet you could have heard a pin drop. Every head in the room had turned to stare at them.
"Fine," Ron said, standing up and glaring at both Harry and Hermione. "If you both want to act like nothing about this is suspicious, fine." And with that, Ron stormed out of the Great Hall, leaving everyone to stare after him, wondering what in the world had just happened.
Harry met Daphne's eyes across the room and he gave her a small, reassuring smile and watched as her shoulders relaxed a bit. Excited whispers broke out across the Hall, everyone speculating about what the trio of Gryffindor friends could possibly have been arguing about. Seamus and Dean gave Harry apologetic looks and Harry waved them off, turning instead to ask Neville if he could pass the salt.
"Congratulations, Harry," Neville told him quietly as he handed him the salt. "Could have been worse, right? Could have been Bulstrode."
"Thanks, Neville," Harry laughed, remembering his own thoughts about having to jump from the Astronomy Tower if it had been the hulking Slytherin witch. A little ways up the table, Harry could see Lavender and Parvati whispering to one another as they stared at Harry. The giggled when they saw him looking at them. Parvati got up and walked the length down the table to sit in the seat Ron had vacated.
"We'll try to keep the gossip positive for you, Harry," Parvati reassured him, still giggling. "Make sure everyone knows that you were defending her."
"It's so romantic," Lavender squealed quietly, making Harry jump because he hadn't noticed her move to sit on the other side of him. "Everyone will know soon enough now, there's no way people won't make the connection between Ron's attitude and Greengrass sitting with you during Charms."
"We could help things along," Parvati offered, "if you'd like. Get it over with."
"Daphne's already told Parkinson and Malfoy," Harry said, nodding. "Couldn't hurt to make sure that everyone gets the right idea. We can't pass the betrothal down, my dad and her aunt already did that once, there's no way we can break it. But we're trying to get along. We want this to work." He looked at Parvati and then at Lavender. "Don't make her out to be some kind of villain. This isn't her fault, she didn't ask for this."
"Of course," Lavender said reassuringly. "And Ron?"
"Is just concerned," Ginny interjected quickly. "He overreacted, but he'll come around."
"It would help, Lavender," Hermione added slowly, and Harry could almost see the wheels in her head turning, "if you made a move. Oh, don't look at me like that, I've seen you ogling him. If Ron is distracted by his own love life he won't be as concerned with what's happening with Harry's. Stop making puppy eyes at him, he'll never get the hint, and just- just- I don't know, snog him stupid or something."
"Stupid-er," Harry muttered angrily.
"Don't you start, Harry," Hermione scolded him. "He thinks he's looking out for you, he may be a little... misguided, but he has his heart in the right place."
"I thought you liked Ron," Lavender said, staring at Hermione. Hermione shook her head.
"No, not that way," she said, shrugging. "He's my friend, but it's never going to work between us."
"Alright then," Parvati said, smiling broadly. "Lavender, we have work to do."
"Right," Lavender replied. "I'll start with the Hufflepuff table, Parvati, you go talk to your sister." The two girls hurried off to spread the gossip that they'd laid out and Harry watched them go with a sinking feeling in his stomach.
"The Slytherins are going to come to their own conclusions," Harry worried aloud. Hermione shook her head.
"Parkinson will help things along in Daphne's favor, I'm sure," she pointed out. "You said Daphne already told her, and since she defended Daphne's choice in seating arrangement this afternoon, I think it's safe to say she's on your side."
"Imagine that," Harry snorted. "Pansy Parkinson on my side. What is happening to my life?"
"Everything will be fine, Harry," Ginny told him. "We're all on your side, aren't we, Dean?"
"'Course, mate," Dean said, looking slightly surprised at being addressed.
"This is surreal," Harry muttered. "I'm not even hungry anymore. I'm going for a walk. Thanks for the support, guys." He stood and walked out of the Hall, trying to ignore the stares he could feel pressing against his back as he left.
He should have been used to it, the stares and the whispers that always followed him around, but Harry couldn't help but feel like he hated them more than ever now. It wasn't so much that people were talking about him, but now they were talking about Daphne too. He wondered how she was going to handle it.
They'd gained a little headway in the library, she'd taken Malfoy's criticism in stride, but he wondered if she was going to do as well with the entire school's input on top of it. Setting Lavender and Parvati loose on the entire population of Hogwarts, armed with insider knowledge, had seemed like a good idea at the time, but now he wasn't so sure. Would Daphne be upset that he had so willingly offered up information to the two girls? Or would she be grateful to have them on their side?
Harry wished he had an easier way to communicate with her without having to run up and down the stairs to the owlery every time he wanted to send her a message. He wondered if Hermione might charm a few Galleons for them like she had for the DA. He wondered if Sirius would give him the other half of the pair of mirror's he'd given to Harry for Christmas last year. He sighed, knowing that he was still too angry with Sirius to ask him.
In a rather bizarre derailment to his train of thought he wondered what type of engagement ring Daphne Greengrass would want.