AN: 1. English isn't my mother tongue, so please expect some mistakes.
2. This is my first story ever, so please leave comments. I appreciate fair comments.
3. I don't own Harry Potter or anything in the Wizarding World. I merely play in its sandpit.
AR: New AN called Author's Rambling. Means unnecessary and uninteresting paragraph, the author decides to write down, in case, someone wants to know.
Here we go again. After a long pause thanks to my exams, we finally make some progress in the story. Enjoy.
Chapter V"So, Harry.", Minerva began. "I talked to Professor Flitwick." At that his eyebrows rose instantly.
"Before you say anything: he's an old friend of mine and very trustworthy. I told him what you can do, to an extend, and he's willing to help. Filius also agreed, not to tell the Headmaster of your independent studies."
Harry nodded slowly. "I appreciate that. So how will it work?"
"You will get advanced material in Transfiguration and Charms, that you will silently work on in class. Filius and I will occasionally ask you, to answer a question or do a spell to keep up the appearance. That should not be a problem for you, I believe.", she smirked.
"No, I wouldn't worry about that."
"Good. For the other subjects you'll have to make do with the normal pace." She paused, then called an Hogwarts elf. "Mipsy, please show Harry here to a suitable place for practicing battle magic."
"Yes, Mistress.", the little elf replied, nodding.
"Oh, it should be save from the Headmasters eyes." At that Mipsy nodded again.
"Come Mr. Potter, mes be showing you the perfect place"
[++++++++++]
"Where are we?", a startled Harry Potter asked Mipsy, after she had surprisingly popped them both into a corridor in Hogwarts, Harry had not seen yet.
"Wes be in seventh floor to see Come And Go Room."
"The Come And Go Room?"
Mipsy nodded. "Yes or Room of Requirement. Yous have to pace in front of this tapestry tree times and concentrate on, what room yous need. A door to the room, you need will open."
Harry drove a hand through his hair. "Well, that does sound handy.", he smirked.
[++++++++++]
It was two days after their first Transfiguration lesson. Daphne and Tracey were currently walking up to the Great Hall and the blond girl was fuming.
"That stupid git!", she exclaimed. Malfoy had just cornered her in the common room, after she'd left the first year girl's dorm. Wrapping his arm around her waist, he'd pulled her to the door and started bragging about something, his father had bought or done. Not that she cared or even listened. When they were out of the door, Tracey had rescued her by faking some girls-emergency. Malfoy quickly had left with a devastated look on his face. However he was imagining, life as a girl was like, she didn't want to know.
"Still no way out of your problem with him?", Tracey pulled her out of her thoughts.
"No.", she sighed. "Father is very busy, currently. He has had a lot of trouble with the supply companies recently."
As Tracey nodded thoughtfully, they reached the Great Hall and strolled to the Slytherin table. Arriving there, Daphne helped herself with a bowl of porridge, of which she didn't taste anything. Malfoy just wouldn't leave her mind. He already now was a pain in the ass and she didn't want to imagine, how a betrothal with him would be.
She was startled, when one of the school owls landed in front of her, demanding her attention. Frowning, Daphne took the note from the owl's leg and read it.
Daphne,
If you can, meet me on seventh floor today at 7pm for some studying. Right in front of the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy.
-H
She nodded to herself. Even, if Transfiguration got easier for her, it wouldn't hurt, to get some pointers now. Too, she didn't mind helping Harry in Potions a little.
Tracey raised a questioning eyebrow but Daphne only shook her head. Looking up , she saw Harry sitting alone, as always. He didn't seem bothered and he didn't look, like he was trying to change it. But who was she, to judge. She only had Tracey. Not, that she minded.
Maybe, she thought, they both could make a new friend.
[++++++++++]
At 6.58pm, Daphne rounded a corner and arrived at her destination. Malfoy had tried, to follow her, but he'd lost her quickly. She wasn't in Slytherin for nothing, after all.
As she was starting, to wonder, where Harry was, she heard his voice. "I wondered, if you would come. It's nice to see you." He smiled, as she turned around. His emerald eyes were sparkling and she was about to lose herself in them again. Coming out of her stupor, Daphne smiled back a little.
"So, where's this room of yours?", she asked.
"Well.", he smirked. "Just pace in front of this tapestry three times, while concentrating on what room you need. I thought, you could decide, with what we start."
Daphne frowned. Was he taking the piss out of her? Giving him the benefit of the doubt, the Greengrass Heiress started walking and thought about a cosy, small room with a fireplace and a rather large, ebony table.
When she was done, like he had said, a door appeared. Opening it, Daphne's mouth fell open, too.
"So we'll start with Transfiguration.", Harry concluded. "I like your taste."
Smiling again, he gently pushed her into the room.
"If you want, to be undisturbed, you have to concentrate on vanquishing the door." After processing his words, she nodded and did so.
For the next nearly four hours, Harry worked her through the Transfiguration materials of this and the week after. She, more than once had to smile at his visible passion for the subject and was surprised, how good he was at teaching. If they'd keep their meetings up and Harry was as good and as experienced, as she thought he was, Daphne was sure, she wouldn't get any problems in Transfiguration at all. She would make sure, to repay the favour in Potions as good, as she could.
Rubbing his neck, the Potter heir looked quite shy. "I hope you were able, to gain something from my ramblings."
This time, Daphne gave him a huge smile. "Yes, I was! And it was fun. I sure hope, I can help you in Potions, too."
"So, we'll do this again?", he asked.
"Of course!", she replied. "Whenever you want."
"What about Sunday after dinner?"
"Sounds good to me.", Daphne answered, looking at her watch. "Bollocks! It's after curfew already."
"That's no problem.", Harry told her. "I'll get you back to your common room unseen."
At her questioning look, he pulled out an old looking piece of parchment, smirking. "What do you know about the famous Marauders?"
FLASHBACK
Sitting in a dark corner of the Gryffindor common room, Harry read one of his mother's journals, as he wasn't able to sleep. It was shortly after 1am, as he heard whispers coming down the staircase to the boys' dormitories. Disillusioning himself, he waited. Entering the common room were the Weasley twins, which were looking, like they were up to something. Fred and George crossed the room and approached the portrait hole, just to stop in their tracks. Harry had seen one of them pulling something out of a pocket.
The twins turned around and walked in his direction.
"Well, well.", the first began. "What do we have here, Gred?"
"I don't know, Forge."
"Seems like.."
"…we're not the only…"
"…nocturnals of Gryffindor House anymore."
Shaking their heads in mock disappointment they continued. "You know, Heir Potter, it's rather impolite, to be disillusioned while in company." Harry had to think of something to tell them apart.
Cancelling his charm, he grinned. "Oh it seems rather impolite, to seek trouble in the middle of the night, too."
"You wound us. We would never get into trouble.", one of them told him, trying to look hurt.
"I can imagine, your adventures are rather easy with this parchment of yours."
The twins shared a surprised look. "Well, what about it? It' just an old piece of trash, we collected in the staircase." He pulled it out of his robes. "See?"
"Guys, you don't have to lie. We're not as different, as you think, you see." Harry whipped his wand out. "Because 'I solemnly swear, I'm up to no good'."
Now, their mouths dropped open. "How…how did he…?"
The other one shook his head, to clear his thoughts. "Yes… how do you know about that?"
"What would you guys say, if I told you, you stood in front of the son of one of your idols?" When they didn't answer, Harry continued. "And of course, I know, who the others are."
That snapped them out of their stupor. "You have to introduce us!", Fred and George exclaimed in unison.
"I could do that. But you guys see, I'm in search for this lovely piece of work currently." He paused. "If you are so nice, to return it to the marauders lineage, it'd be my utmost pleasure, to introduce you to Padfoot."
"Of course!"
"We are…"
"…not worthy!"
"It belongs to you anyway." With that, they bowed deep and offered Harry the Marauders Map.
FLASHBACK END
After telling Daphne the story of the Marauders, Harry pulled out the Map.
"Would you do me the honour and point your wand at the parchment here?" She did so, frowning again. "Exactly. And now say 'I solemnly swear, I'm up to no good'."
Daphne was fascinated by the Map. Not only because of the display of magical knowledge, it was, but also by the thoughtfulness. She gushed over it the whole way to the dungeons.
"You have to promise, not to tell anyone about it." Harry said, as they reached their destination.
"Of course not." She smiled and Harry nodded, thankfully. "Thanks again. I'm looking forward to next time." Daphne continued.
"Yeah. Me too.", he grinned.
"Good night, Harry."
"Good night, Daphne." With that, he turned and made his way back to Gryffindor Tower.
[++++++++++]
A large, round, wooden table it was, he'd conjured. The term's first staff meeting was about to begin and Albus Dumbledore watched his Professors filling in his office and sitting down at his creation. It was something, Merlin once had advised King Arthur to do when meeting with his knights. Sitting with them on a round table, would show them, how he valued them. Everybody on the same level, no head of the table.
Not, that Albus had the intention, to lower himself to the level of his staff, but it wouldn't hurt for them, to believe it. They would come forth with information much faster, he experienced.
"Thank you all for joining me in our first staff meeting of this term.", the ancient Headmaster began. "Now, after the first week is over, I would like to hear your impressions. Is there something you want to address? How are the first year students settling in?"
What followed was a round of rather uninteresting thoughts and concerns, Albus didn't pay much interest in. He was annoyed, that nobody seemed to, by themselves, speak about Harry.
When Dumbledore noticed, that they had stopped to ramble, he decided to cut in.
"So, after this is concluded, I would love to get a short briefing of how young Harry is doing."
He didn't see Minerva rolling her eyes, as he was looking expectantly at his Potions Master.
"Well, he shows little to no talent. Messed up the simplest potion. I fail to see anything of his Mother in him. It is yet to be seen, though, if he comes after his father." Yes, Albus didn't expect Harry to be overly talented, which would only play into his hand.
After Severus, most of the other Professors recounted their observations. Harry, so it seemed was a nice and restrained boy. Maybe it wouldn't get too hard, to gain some trust and control over the young Potter Heir.
[++++++++++]
A couple of months later Daphne and Harry were still meeting a few times a week. Both of them had settled in at Hogwarts quite well. Harry managed to keep a low profile, not to trigger actions of Dumbledore. Daphne has had to deal with an increasing amount of advances by Malfoy, who was getting bolder. Other than that and an incident on Halloween, where a troll had to be stopped from killing Hermione Granger by Professor McGonagall, nothing much happened.
Daphne just now was entering the Room of Requirement, where Harry was waiting for another one of their meetings. What had been pure studying sessions at first, had expanded to more over the time. They'd started talking about this and that, Harry had introduced Daphne to his record collection of muggle rock'n'roll, he loved thanks to his mothers journals.
Lily had been a huge fan of bands like The Rolling Stones, Queen, the Steve Miller Band, AC/DC and the like. Harry instantly after reading about it, had gotten a record player and his first records. He'd brought all of that in an expanded and highly warded trunk to Hogwarts.
Little by little he listened to the music with Daphne. She loved it. Her current favourites were 'Fly Like An Eagle' and 'Sympathy For The Devil'. Today, she hoped they could skip the Potions part and directly come to the music. The Greengrass Heiress needed to get her thoughts away from Malfoy. When she was leaving the common room, he'd snatched her arm and told her, her father hadn't much choice left, as to agree to the contract. Lord Malfoy apparently found a way, to increase the pressure on the Greengrasses. More likely he found a way to stuff more gold into Fudge's pockets unnoticed, she thought.
When the doors closed behind her, Harry looked up and saw her pained expression. Standing he crossed the room until he stood directly in front of the girl, which had quickly become his best friend and one of the closest people to him. Though they never talked about it, he hoped she'd feel the same.
When Daphne wouldn't meet his gaze, looking at her shoes, he gently lifted her chin. He didn't like the hurt look in her eyes and it was then, when he saw the bruises on her wrist.
Then, he did something, he never did before. He pulled a surprised girl into an embrace and hold her for several seconds without speaking.
"You know, after our train ride, I never again asked about Malfoy. I thought, you'd come to me, if you needed help.", Harry began. "But you never did. And don't think I don't know, he's bothering you and that it's getting worse."
Daphne couldn't hold back a sob but remained silent. Harry broke the embrace and led his friend to a couch, where he sat her down and pulled her into his arms again. There she moulded into the embrace.
"I know we only know each other for four months or so now, but I feel like I've known you for much longer. You're my best friend and you've gotten very important to me.", he continued. "You can tell me and I'll do what I can, to help you. I won't even kill the moron for what he did, if that's what you want." The last sentence he said while caressing her wrist, where the bruises were.
Slowly, Daphne lifted her head from it's place on Harry's chest and looked in his emerald orbs. She was looking for a lie, a uncertainty but found nothing but honesty and adoration. So she told him, told him everything about the contract the Malfoys wanted to force, their lie and Draco's advances on her.
Finishing, she didn't dare to look in Harry's eyes again, afraid to find disgust or hatred. It didn't take long for her friend, though, to lift her chin again. There in his eyes was the same adoration and nothing of disgust or anything similar.
"I haven't told you everything about me either.", Harry told her and Daphne was confused, where he was going. Now it was Harry's turn to avoid her gaze "This summer, I've been told about some odd sort of contract, one of my ancestors drew up to avoid the Potter line's ending. That contract has specific conditions to activate, which are currently given."
For a few moments neither of them said anything, before he continued. "It basically gives me until my twelfth birthday, to enter a marriage contract with a witch with specific characteristics, to make sure, the line is continued." Now he looked in her deep blue eyes, drinking them in. Then, suddenly, Harry smiled.
"I'm too young , to know what love is and to promise to love you, but I can promise you to always be your friend, no matter what and to always stand by your side and help you in reaching your goals, instead of locking you 'behind bars, until use and old age accept them, and all chance of doing great deeds is gone beyond recall or desire'. It seems like the best solution I can think of. For both of us."
After a few seconds, Daphne's face showed a huge grin and tears of joy were rolling down her cheeks. "That's so much more, than I could have asked for only an hour earlier.", she laughed, as she, once again, buried her face in his chest. "I have to say, I would have wanted an engagement ring and I'm pretty sure, you just quoted some muggle book, but that was rather romantic and sweet. We, of course, have to run the idea by my father and your grandfather but I'd love to marry you" Now it was Harry's turn, to grin.
[++++++++++]
It was half an hour later, when Harry and Daphne knocked on Minerva's door. Opening the door, the Transfiguration Mistress was surprised, to see Harry.
"Do come in, Harry. I was about to drink a cup of tea. Do you care for one", she smiled. What she didn't see, was Daphne next to Harry, who wore a surprised look on her face. The blonde had never seen Professor McGonagall so casual. Now, though, she was spotted.
"Oh Ms. Greengrass, I didn't see you there. Is everything all right?" Minerva was snapping into her teacher role again.
"Yes, more than alright, Minerva." Harry answered. "Though we both need your help and it won't be the last time, I believe."
Minerva was about to scold him for using her first name in front of another student, when Harry quickly ushered them all inside and told his grandmother's friend about the news. When he was done, Minerva had forgotten about tea and was sipping some seventy year old single malt.
"Let me get this straight.", she began. "Because of what you told me, you two need to leave the castle immediately for family business, because you want or need to draw up a marriage contract between you .And you need me as Deputy Headmistress, to not have to inform Albus or Severus about your absence?"
"Yes, that about sums it up.", Harry grinned. "And should everything work out, we'll have to find a way, to get Daphne out of the Dungeons. I wont have her alone near Malfoy and his friends."
Daphne raised an eyebrow but said nothing at Harry's pointed stare.
"Verry well.", Minerva nodded. "Feel free, to use my floo. In the meantime I'll have to ponder about a solution for your housing."
[++++++++++]
Charlus and Dorea Potter were confused. It was an early Saturday evening and currently, they were sitting in their drawing room together with Cyrus and Isabella Greengrass and their daughter Daphne. Lord and Lady Potter's grandson was currently pacing in front of them, only to be pulled into one of the loveseats by the young blonde. All four adults raised eyebrows at that.
"Well, would someone explain, why we were summoned by two eleven year olds, which by the way should be in Scotland, in matters of important family business?", Charlus asked in amusement.
Harry and Daphne looked at each other, took a deep breath each and began telling their plan.