* ~ The Eighth Year Universe Series ~ *

PART THREE

The Eighth Year

Chapter 32: Quidditch & Quarrels

When dawn broke on Boxing Day, everyone slept on in Potter Manor. They had all eaten so much the day before that even though they'd had a reasonably early night, they were all exhausted. Even Hermione, who usually never slept past 10 am, didn't wake up until noon. They all felt incredibly lazy but very refreshed and headed downstairs for a fantastic brunch of bacon, sausages, eggs, black pudding and hash browns.

It wasn't until the doorbell rang that Harry cursed, "I forgot the others were coming today," he said as he rushed to the door in his pyjamas.

The four people in the doorway looked amused, "Nice look, Potter," Theo said as he walked into the house and looked around, "And nice house."

Harry only smiled in amusement, "Thanks, Theo. We kind of forgot you guys were coming today. We just woke up."

"What did I tell you?" Tracey said to Dean, who shrugged and smirked at Harry, "Guess I had more faith in Harry than you did."

Harry chuckled, "Well, we did eat and drink slightly more than we should have yesterday," he admitted as he led Theo, Sadie, Tracey and Dean into the kitchen, "Are you hungry? There's plenty left if you want anything."

As they tucked into some lunch, the group got talking and exchanged thank yous for the gifts they had gotten. It wasn't until Theo said he had gotten a firebolt from his stepmother that a plan hatched in Draco's head.

"Why don't we have a game of Quidditch?"

Harry laughed, "Where? The garden is still an overgrown mess."

"The front garden is," Draco smirked, "But did we forget to tell you we restored the Quidditch pitch out the back?"

"And that we put a roof garden in upstairs?" Daphne grinned.

Harry gaped at them, "Seriously?"

"Seriously," Hermione laughed. They had finished eating, so she led him through the drawing-room towards two large patio doors. They unlocked with a touch of Harry's hand, and sure enough, there it was outside, a full-sized Quidditch pitch in his back garden. There was a path leading to the Quidditch pitch, and all around the garden were ponds and flowers with frogs hopping around and fish swimming inside them. It was beautiful.

"It's hidden from muggles, just like the Manor itself," Daphne informed him.

"Just don't fly too high," Hermione advised, "Or you'll come out of the protected area right into the air above Muggle Surrey, and that probably wouldn't go down too well."

They laughed and said she was probably right then set to work deciding on the teams. Draco and Harry decided to each be captains and got everyone else to stand in line. To determine who got to pick first, they flipped a knut.

"I call the dragon's heads!" Draco said.

Harry rolled his eyes; he hadn't been fast enough, "I'll take its tail then."

To make it fair, Hermione flipped the coin, "It's a tail! Harry, you pick first."

Harry picked Daphne first, of course. Then it went on with the two boys taking turns to pick their teams.

As there were only 11 of them, they couldn't quite make up an entire team. Harry was playing seeker with two chasers, Daphne and Sadie. He had one beater, Susan, and his keeper was Neville.

Draco was also playing seeker and had three chasers (because there was an odd number and Hermione was terrible), Hermione, Dean and Tracey, his beater was Theo, and his keeper was Hannah. It looked like it would make for an interesting game.

They took their positions, Harry blew the whistle, and the game began. Where Hermione had gotten a quaffle, bludger, bats and snitch from, he didn't know, but he was impressed that she had thought into it so much. As the game began, it became clear that Neville was a much better keeper than Hannah, who let in three consecutive goals. Daphne and Sadie were good chasers because they had always played together, and they were talented. Whereas Dean had briefly been a chaser but preferred being a beater, and Tracey wasn't playing alongside Daphne and Sadie as usual. Hermione just hovered around in the air and screamed whenever a ball came near her, including the quaffle. Draco was more than a little exasperated by this, but everyone else was just amused.

They played for about an hour until Harry caught the snitch. He beat Draco to it by about a millisecond; things were much more even now that he had a firebolt. In the end, the score was 230-60 to Harry's team, but before the capture of the snitch, they had been at 80-60. It really had depended on that crucial catch which Harry continued to tease Draco for all the way back to the house. The ground had been muddy with the cold and the rain, so everyone was more than a little dirty as they headed off for showers. They made their way to their bedrooms and trailed mud through the house, leaving poor Kreacher to walk behind them and clean it up.

The house was a bit more cramped now that two more couples were staying, but Harry had found rooms for everybody. Ron was supposed to have been here today, but he had floo-ed that morning saying he had a promotional party thing with George for the shop. Harry had made a mental note to talk to him about Lilly the next time he could grab a moment with his friend. Ron was fast becoming obsessed with the shop and the work he did there, to the detriment of his relationship with Lilly.

Later that day, after they had all freshened up, Hermione had shown everyone the roof garden. It had obviously once been the attic because they reached it by going up the attic stairs. However, the space they walked into did not look anything like an attic. It was a huge room filled with light thanks to the large windows. There were sofas and armchairs scattered around the room, which had white walls and exposed wooden beams.

"We thought it would be a nice area to relax," Draco said. He walked over to the window and looked out at the view. Potter Manor was in Surrey, quite close to where Harry's Aunt Petunia lived actually. The view was amazing; the largest window took up a considerable chunk of the wall, showing Muggle London. They were some distance away, so they couldn't see a lot in great detail, but they could see the iconic London skyline. They could also make out specific landmarks such as St. Pauls Cathedral, Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament.

"You guys just keep amazing me,'" Harry said honestly, "This is the best present anyone has ever given me."

Hermione grinned broadly and ran up to Harry. She tackled him and squeezed him tightly in a bear hug.

"There's more," She said once she had released him.

Harry let her pull him over to a portrait that portrayed a vase of flowers. Hermione reached into the picture and put her hand inside the vase. When she took it out, it was wet, and she was holding a key. A keyhole suddenly appeared in the portrait, and once the key had been placed inside it and turned, the picture swung open, revealing another set of stairs.

They climbed the small set of stairs and emerged into a fantastic roof garden. It was obviously magical because the sun was shining and it was warm, just like the back garden had been, but that couldn't be right because this was December in Britain.

"There's a dome around the house," Hermione explained, "It controls the weather. All of the enchantments that make the house invisible from Muggles are so strong that they stop the rain from coming through. So for the plants to grow, wizards install an AWS, in other words, an Artificial Weather Spell. The house looked like a ruin to Muggles, and all of the enchantments had died with your grandparents. You have to get a warrant to perform an AWS, but I called in a favour with a guy at the Ministry."

"You're fantastic, Hermione," Harry said as he walked around the roof garden. There was a patio in the middle and plants all around it. There were strawberries growing and tomatoes; it was just incredible. Harry sat down on one of the loungers and laid back with a sigh of contentment. He had never had such a great Christmas break before, and there was still New Year to come.

As relaxing as it was, the roof garden got boring after a while, so like the big kids that they were, they decided to play hide and seek.

"What about a game of hide and seek?" Hermione suggested, "In a big wizarding house like this, it will be loads of fun!"

"Enlighten us, princess...what in hell is hide and seek?" Theo asked from his sun lounger; he lifted his sunglasses to look at her.

"How many times do I have to tell you not to call me that? And for your information, Theo, it's a Muggle game where one person counts, and everyone goes and hides," Hermione explained.

"It sounds ridiculous," Theo said. He rolled his eyes and put his sunglasses back on.

"I think it sounds fun!" Daphne piped up.

Tracey nodded, "It does sound pretty good!"

"I'd be up for it," Harry said, and Draco and Sadie nodded that they would be too.

"What about you, guys?" Hermione asked Neville, Hannah and Dean, who also agreed to play, which left Theo to grumble and say he would join in too if everyone else was. Hermione offered to count, and everyone else ran off to find a hiding place. Once she had counted to 100, she set off to find them.

She had been right, hide and seek in a big wizarding house was fun and the places she found her friends hidden in were very amusing. She found Theo in the food hatch in the formal living room, Susan in the pantry eating cake, Hannah hiding in a bookshelf in the library and Sadie in a wardrobe. Daphne had been found hiding under a bed, and Harry was sitting in one of the golden hoops on the Quidditch pitch.

Neville had been inside one of the couches in the drawing-room, and Draco had transfigured himself into a couch in the drawing-room ("How did you know it was me?", "I've never seen a couch with blonde hair before", "Oops, guess I need to work on my transfiguration."). Dean had been using a bubblehead charm inside one of the ponds in the back garden, and lastly, Tracey had been found in the house-elves quarters eating chocolate biscuits.

The game had been amusing, but by the end of it, they decided it was dinnertime. With dinner came alcohol, and after dinner came more alcohol…and then a little bit more. They were all so busy catching up that they didn't realise how many bottles of wine they had gone through between them. Then, someone, Harry was sure it was Theo, brought up the idea of wizarding truth or dare.

Harry had never played it before, so he was happy enough to see what the fuss was about. Theo drew a magical circle around them all, meaning they would have to do their dare unless they shouted "Pass!" before 1 minute was up. They also each took a sip of Veritaserum to ensure they would answer the questions truthfully. They kept the alcohol flowing, and the game started as a good laugh, at first.

Draco got dared to strip down to his boxers which he did quite happily after claiming that Sadie (who had given him the dare) just wanted to see him naked.

Theo had glared at him for that, and Draco had chuckled his amusement.

Hermione got asked who the first guy she had slept with was and, in an embarrassed mumble, had said, "Harry..."

Draco scoffed, "Aren't you glad your tastes have improved, Hermione?"

Harry rolled his eyes, and he was then given a truth question from Tracey, "The first girl you ever kissed."

Hermione burst out laughing because she knew the answer already. Harry glared at her and admitted, "Cho Chang."

Hermione's laughter got louder, "And how did you describe it? Oh yes! Wet because she was crying."

This sent the others into hysterical laughter, "Were you that bad, Harry?" Neville asked as he caught his breath.

"You'll pay for this one," Harry said to Hermione with a slightly evil look in his eyes.

Hermione only smirked, and Harry added, "You're rubbing off on her Draco."

Draco grinned, "Good to know."

On Theo's turn, Daphne asked him, "Did you ever sleep with a teacher?"

Theo rolled his eyes, "You're obsessed with that Daph, I told you then, and I'll tell you now, I didn't ever sleep with Sinistra!"

Daphne smirked, she had always asked him about it in sixth year, and it had driven him crazy, but she was sure he had been lying.

"Sadie, truth or dare?"

"Truth," Sadie replied tentatively.

"Did you date anyone before Theo? And if you did, who?" Dean asked her.

Sadie glanced at Theo and then at Neville, "Only one, in the summer before sixth year, I sort of dated Neville...we lived near each other, and it was a bad time for both of us."

Hannah smiled at Sadie; she already knew because Neville had told her all about it. Theo tutted and shook his head.

Sadie rolled her eyes upon seeing his reaction, "Theo, you've slept with half the girls in this circle. All Neville and I did was kiss."

"But he was your first kiss," Tracey grinned.

Sadie rolled her eyes, "Shut up, Tracey."

"Bet it was his first kiss too," Daphne said in a sing-song voice.

Neville laughed, "Yep, it was."

They all laughed about it, and ironically a while later, Theo got asked, "How many people in this circle have you hooked up with?"

Theo glanced at Sadie, who was looking at him with exasperation and amusement.

"Three," Theo replied, "But it's not as bad as it sounds. Sadie's my current girlfriend, Tracey, was a drunken mistake."

Tracey scoffed, "Thanks, Theo," she muttered.

"And Susan will forever be in my heart," Theo said with a grin, "Who can forget that awkward first time, right?"

Susan snorted in amusement, "I'm honoured, Theo," she said, shooting Sadie an amused look while Sadie shook her head at her boyfriend's antics.

When it came back around to Harry, he was asked by Draco, "What's your biggest regret?"

Harry sighed, "Sleeping with Hermione."

Hermione made a face, "Thanks!" she exclaimed irritably.

"Not like that," Harry cut in quickly, "Because of the emotional turmoil it put you through and because I was kind of with Ginny – although Neville was taking care of that anyway-"

"Thanks for that, Harry," Neville said sarcastically.

"Well, you say that," Dean said with a frown, "But you broke up with her, Harry."

"I know I did," Harry said with a shrug, "But then I slept with her at her brother's weddings which blurred the lines a little and gave her false hope."

"Dick move," Tracey said.

"Yes, I have spent the last year being a dick," Harry agreed, "I'm aware of this. Daphne has told me this more than once."

"Good to know she keeps you grounded," Neville chuckled.

They then moved on, thankfully. A few more questions were asked; they were all relatively harmless.

Then Daphne was asked, "The riskiest place you've had sex?"

Daphne grimaced, "Behind greenhouse three."

"You walking cliché!" Hermione laughed; she shook her head at Harry.

"Hey, don't shake your head at me," Harry laughed, "That wasn't me."

"No, that was in the Blaise days," Sadie said with a raised eyebrow.

"You dated Blaise?" Hermione asked in surprise.

Daphne rolled her eyes, "I didn't date him. We hung out."

Harry, of course, had already known this, but he didn't know the full details, "How long did you 'not date' for, exactly?" he asked her.

Daphne groaned, "Harry!"

"What? I can tell you're keeping something secret," Harry objected.

"For good reason," Daphne muttered, "It lasted for a few months, okay?"

"Why does Blaise only think it lasted for a couple of weeks then?" Harry asked.

"Because he doesn't remember it," Daphne blurted out. She had to answer truthfully because of the veritaserum.

"We obliviated him," Draco cut in, "Because Daphne couldn't be bothered to deal with her mistakes."

"Look, it was not my fault he decided to go all psycho and try to kill my sister!" Daphne exclaimed.

Harry's eyes widened, "What the fuck?"

"This isn't your average, bad break-up story," Theo said.

"Yeah," Neville frowned, "I'm getting that impression."

"What happened?" Hermione asked.

"Why don't you tell the story, Draco?" Daphne asked coldly, "Since you seem to have such a strong opinion."

"He's not wrong," Tracey said, "You fucked up, and you know it. You knew Blaise liked you, and you strung him along."

"So much so that when Theo was in the Dark Tower, Blaise went out on a one-man mission to save him, just to impress Daphne," Draco continued, "The Carrows caught him, put him under an imperius charm, then sent him to kill Astoria."

"Daphne blasted him through a wall; then we had to obliviate him and send him and his sisters off with a fake story about how they had to run away to protect themselves," Tracey finished.

"All because Daphne wanted someone to shag because she was stressed," Sadie finished.

"Wow, guys," Daphne muttered as she got to her feet, "Some fucking friends you are!"

She stalked out of the room, and Harry sighed, "You were kind of harsh."

"She was a bitch to Blaise," Sadie said with a sigh.

"And she knew we disapproved," Tracey added.

"I just got fed up of walking in on them fucking every time I wanted a shower," Theo said with a roll of his eyes.

"Shut up; you asked to join in one time!"

Harry rolled his eyes, "Shut up, all of you!"

They all fell silent, "She's not a joke, okay? She's a person, a person who made a mistake and obviously feels guilty about that. You slagging her off and belittling her isn't going to help anyone."

They all looked a little guilty.

"And the reason people thought she was a slut?" Harry said, glaring at them all, "Is because of the kind of shit you said about her!"

Without another word, he followed Daphne out of the room. Harry found her in a secret room behind a portrait of Charlus Potter. He smiled when he stepped in, "Hey."

"Hey," Daphne sighed. She had tears in her eyes.

"It's okay, you know?" Harry said. He sat down next to her and rested his head against the wall, "It's okay to have fucked up in the past. I've fucked up enough times to know that."

Daphne scoffed, "You've fucked up? You're the golden boy."

"Yeah, I am," Harry agreed, "And do you know what? My godfather is dead because of me. Voldemort tricked me, I fell for it, and he died. Do you know what else? I fucked up and nearly ruined Hermione's life."

Daphne turned her head to look over at him, "You didn't ruin her life."

"I could have done," Harry said sincerely, "She wanted to wait till marriage. She had values, and I can't pretend that I didn't know about them. She's my best friend, of course, I did. I just didn't think with my head; I was a typical shitty guy. I was a shit friend. I could have lost her, and I could have lost our friendship."

Daphne sighed, "You didn't, though."

"I know," Harry said, "But the point is, it could have gone so badly wrong. We didn't use protection. How stupid is that? What if she had gotten pregnant? That would have been the end of the road for her, no eighth year, no career, just being a teenage mother. I don't think Hermione could imagine anything worse."

"A lot of people didn't use protection during the war," Daphne said. She shut her eyes and leant against the wall.

"What…do you mean.."

"No, not me," Daphne said quickly, "I was always very careful. You know how careful I am."

Harry nodded.

"But I had a friend who…wasn't as careful," Daphne said evasively.

"I know, about Pansy," Harry admitted, "Draco told me."

Daphne breathed a sigh of relief, "That makes this easier. It killed him, you know? When she died, and he lost that baby. He spent the entire summer in my house, slept in my bed for months – not like that -" she added when she saw the look on Harry's face, "He was warned that he'd be chucked in the spare room if he tried anything on."

Harry chuckled.

"He loved Pansy, and that baby was going to be his fresh start," Daphne explained, "At some stage, he has to tell Hermione the truth, but I understand why he doesn't feel like he can talk to her about it."

"You really care about him," Harry said, "Don't you?"

"Yeah," Daphne smiled sadly, "Yeah, I really loved Draco once upon a time. We grew up together. There was always this marriage contract, you know? You see someone differently when you grow being told you're going to marry them one day."

"I can imagine," Harry admitted.

"We were happy in fifth year, but then he became a Death Eater," Daphne shrugged, "He always said I saw the world in black and white. He said that was why Pansy could accept him for what he was because she saw him as grey, but I only saw good and evil."

"That's not a bad thing," Harry told her.

Daphne sighed, "It is what it is. Breaking up with him broke my heart, but we got our friendship back during the war. I love him, even now, I love him, and I can't describe how it feels. It's not romantic, but it's closer than friendship."

Harry chuckled, "I understand it perfectly because it's exactly how I feel about Hermione. I feel the need to protect her, to look out for her like a sister, but it goes beyond that."

Daphne nodded, "I'll always be there for Draco. I've tried to hate him, and it just doesn't work. I tell myself I'll kick him to the curb, but then he shows up on my doorstep drunk and soaked to the skin. And what do I do? Perform a drying charm, make him a cup of tea, and let him spend all summer sleeping in my bed until he feels better."

"Are we basically saying that I can't function without Hermione and that you can't function without Draco?" Harry asked in amusement.

Daphne laughed, "Yeah, it looks like it. But don't ever tell Draco that."

"I won't," Harry said with a laugh.

"I'm sorry for storming out," Daphne said. She rested her head on his shoulder.

"It was going to happen. We all have secrets," Harry said with a shrug, "Blaise was yours, I guess."

"Oh, it's not the only one," Daphne murmured, "But it's the only one I feel comfortable talking to you about at the moment."

"I understand that," Harry said honestly.

"I did fuck up," Daphne admitted, "I knew Blaise had feelings for me, but I convinced myself that he was okay with it just being sex. I never wanted anything more. I never had feelings for him. I used him, I channelled my stress and my fears into an unhealthy relationship, and it nearly killed my sister."

Harry reached down and took her hand, "And the girls, and Draco, they thought I was doing the same with you this year."

"You weren't, though," Harry murmured, "I could tell there were feelings at play, even if you couldn't."

Daphne laughed weakly and nudged him in the side, "Shut up."

Harry just smiled, "I love you."

"Yeah, I know," Daphne said. She leant into him, "I love you too."

"I know," Harry said, placing a kiss on the top of her head.

When Draco slipped out of the room, Hermione followed him and caught up with him in the kitchen.

"Do you feel bad?"

Draco groaned, "Yeah."

"Good," Hermione said. She raised an eyebrow at him and pushed herself onto the kitchen table, "Harry was right; you were a dick."

"I know," Draco said, "I treated her like shit, and I don't think she's a slut. It's far from the truth…I feel guilty for the way she is…"

"Why?" Hermione asked.

Draco sighed, "Because I was the one who broke her heart. I was the reason that she spiralled like that."

"It must have been pretty serious between the two of you," Hermione said. She cocked her head at him.

Draco continued to pace the floor, "Yes, we knew there was a marriage contract. I suppose we courted rather than dated. We knew it was going to happen one day until I did something that she classed as unforgivable."

"Became a Death Eater," Hermione said.

Draco nodded, "It broke her heart, it broke her trust. I was her best friend before I was her boyfriend, and it messed with her head, you know?"

"But sometimes that happens, Draco," Hermione said with a frown, "Sometimes best friends date then realise they aren't right for each other, then they have to try and get back to some semblance of normality, but…it never quite goes back, does it?"

Draco shook his head, "No, it's never the same. Daphne and I are still close, but it's different."

"Of course it is," Hermione said softly, "When you've been intimate with someone like that…you've bared your souls to each other. You can't forget something like that, no matter how hard you try."

"It doesn't mean anything," Draco said. He looked up and caught her eye, "I mean, I spent all summer with Daphne. Did you know that?"

Hermione shook her head.

"After Pansy's funeral, I left Malfoy Manor," Draco told her, "I showed up at Daphne's house, she took me in, and I stayed there all summer. I slept in her bed for two months, and nothing ever happened."

"Draco," Hermione said, smiling softly at him, "I don't feel threatened by Daphne, and I hope you don't feel threatened by Harry."

"No," Draco said with a shake of his head, "No, of course, I don't."

"The only thing I am unsure about is exactly what happened between you and Pansy," Hermione said, her eyes searched his, "Because you're deeply disturbed by her death, and I feel like there might be more than you have told me."

"Yeah," Draco said, he swallowed hard, "There is, and I promise you, I will tell you all about it one day, but I…I just can't, not yet."

Hermione jumped down from the table and crossed the floor, "I understand that, but I do worry that you're still living with the ghost of her."

Draco shook his head and pulled her in for a hug, "I loved Pansy, but she's gone. Why would I waste my energy on a ghost when you're right in front of me?"

Hermione looked up at him, "You still love her."

Draco didn't deny it.

"But that's okay," Hermione continued, "Because love isn't exclusive, Draco. She meant a lot to you, and you still love her, but I just need to know that you love me at least as much."

"I do," Draco promised. He placed a kiss on the top of her head, "A part of me will always love Pansy, but it's the dark, twisted side of me that I left in the war. The way you make me feel…my love for you, Hermione, it makes me better. It's different. It's so different."

Hermione smiled into his embrace, "I love you too," she murmured.

* ~ TBC ~ *