A/N: This was written as a contribution to the Haphne Summer 2021 Collection. The collection can be found here: community/Haphne-Summer-2021-Collection/133850/
The collection was started as a way to celebrate 500 members of the Haphne discord server, which is now closing in on 1,000, come join if you love Haphne: discord dot gg/pKSdvJQvhU
The title of the fic: Punk Rock Princess, is inspired by the song of the same name by Something Corporate.
The title of the chapter: First Date, comes from the song by Blink 182.
Chapter 3
First Date
'Where the hell have you been? Do you have any idea what time it is?' Tonks cried when Harry came through the floo.
'Er, I guess time spun away from us. It's only because I promised you I'd check in that I'm even here at all right now,' Harry replied.
'It's a good thing too. Must've been a good date if you're just barely getting back,' she posited with a waggle of the eyebrows.
'It was a lot of fun. Thank you for your guidance, it was surprisingly effective.'
'Ok! Now I need details! How long did you stay at the zoo? Did you kiss? Of course, you kissed, look at your satisfied face. You didn't kiss in front of the baboons, did you? You know they get off on that kind of stuff. Is she a good kisser? Did she say if you are a good kisser? Where'd you take her to eat? Was it somewhere fancy? Did you fly? Did she like it? Did she ride your broom?'
'Nymphadora!' Andi exclaimed.
Harry just smiled.
'What? That's a perfectly legitimate question and he's not answering.'
'You haven't even taken a breath.'
'Alright, you've heard my questions, now let's hear the story,' Tonks petitioned.
'Here's your details, I had a fun, exhausting day. Now I'm tired. I'm going to sleep,' he said, heading back to the floo.
'Oh no you don't!' Tonks declared. 'Is she waiting for you at Grimmauld? I have no problems walking in on you!'
'Good night, Harry. We're glad you had a good time,' Andi said.
'Thanks. Good night,' Harry said with a final smile and a wave, then he stepped through the fireplace.
'He ignored me. Can you believe that?' Tonks asked in disbelief.
'I do, Dora. And I'm happy for him.' She gave her daughter a challenging look.
Tonks let out a sigh. Then a smile grew. 'Me too, mum. Me too. '
Earlier that day:
Harry arrived at the cafe early, at the prompting of Andromeda. He ordered a few scones and some coffee. Even if Daphne didn't want either of them, the gesture would be noticed, his coaches at home had instructed.
Daphne arrived promptly. She wore a sleeveless yellow sundress that ended at her knees and accentuated her tan skin. Her silky blonde hair fell down past her shoulders, a small streak of hair had been dyed pink on her left side. A small leather handbag hung from her shoulder.
She smiled brightly when she saw him.
Just seeing her made his heart hammer at an accelerated rhythm.
He took a deep breath as she walked across the cafe and sat on the bench across from him.
'Good morning, Daphne,' he said, trying to portray calmness.
Wait! Was it still morning? It certainly wasn't afternoon yet. Do people say "Good noon?"
'Good morning, Harry.' Her pleasant tone assuaged his concerns about messing up the greeting but the accompanying smile did nothing to slow his heart rate. She tucked her hair behind her ears.
A small diamond stud glittered on the side of her nose, he hadn't noticed that before, it had to be new. She wore the same bar in the top of one ear and a series of rings going up the other. Her makeup today was light, a thin black line outlining her eyes, and a glittery light pink lip gloss that made her lips sparkle.
He gently pushed a coffee and the plate of scones he'd ordered in her direction to draw attention to them.
It had the desired effect and she smiled. 'Coffee. I don't leave home without at least two cups, but as long as we aren't going to a movie I can have another. Thank you.'
He shook his head and made a face of disgust as if he was offended she would suggest that he would consider taking her to a movie. After Tonks' strong reaction, he wanted to distance himself from the fact that was his first idea.
'No movie, but why would that matter?' he asked.
'I love a good movie, but it's the worst when you're in the middle of one and nature calls,' she replied.
'Oh, right,' he chuckled. 'You like movies?' he asked. Now he was reconsidering, maybe he should've gone with his first instinct.
'Oh yeah! Who doesn't?' she asked as she brought her cup of coffee to her mouth for a sip.
'Maybe next time then,' Harry suggested.
She looked up from her coffee without taking her lips off the cup, eyebrows raised. She lowered the cup and a small grin grew on her face. 'Look at you, all suave, setting up another date.'
'I wasn't—'
He was caught between embarrassment and pride. For him, that was pretty smooth, even if it wasn't necessarily intentional. 'Well, maybe I have a good feeling about the potential for that,' he added.
'Do you now?' she asked with an amused look.
'I—honestly, I have no idea. I'm terrible at this dating stuff,' he admitted.
'It's ok, Harry. Subtlety is not exactly your thing,' she stated.
'Huh?' he asked, needing some clarification.
'Yeah, your regular wanderings of the corridor in front of the D. O. M.—'
'Who told you about that?' Harry asked quickly.
'Oh. You don't know?' she responded. Her question was half declaration and another grin split her face.
'Know what?' he responded with apprehension. Her animated look did not bode well for him.
'That the D. O. M. offices have one-way windows on them. We can see out, but nobody can see in.'
He blinked a few times, then buried his head in his hands, shaking his head. 'This is going great,' he murmured.
'You should be glad it was me that came out to talk to you that day or you might be on a date with Croaker right now,' she deadpanned.
He lifted his head and tilted it to one side, scrunching his eyes in confusion.
Daphne bore a mirthful grin.
'I would not have had the same conversation with him,' he declared.
'That's what you say, but. . . Longbottom?' she asked, her eyes filled with amusement.
'That was a complete misunderstanding,' he defended, but he couldn't stop a small smile from playing on his face.
'I know. And, I'm glad.'
Glad? About what?
He could analyze that for hours and probably not come up with the correct answer. Regardless, he hadn't blown the date yet.
Daphne continued, 'I'm just teasing you, Harry. I'm also glad that you are more like what Lilith described than Pansy.'
'Based on what I can imagine Pansy would've said, I'll take that as a compliment.'
'As you should. But now I'm breaking my own rule.'
'Oh? What's that?'
'No Hogwarts talk on a first date,' she stated.
Harry smiled. 'Really?' He couldn't think of a better way to avoid all the uncomfortable topics that could be brought up and he was a bit upset he'd never considered invoking a similar rule on his previous dates.
'Yeah, I knew you'd probably be on board with that. But don't go thinking you're special. I do that for every first date,' she clarified.
'Oh, I know I'm not special but that rule sounds great. I think I'm going to adopt it going forward. I guess I didn't realize that would be such a big deal for you or other classmates,' he said with some intrigue.
'You probably get it worse than anyone, but whenever I meet someone new and they find out I went to Hogwarts during "the Harry Potter years,'' well, you can probably guess at what type of questions they come up with. Not exactly my preferred topic on a date.'
'I know all too well what you are talking about,' he concurred.
'I thought you might appreciate it because even though I know a lot of what happened, I can't know half as much as you do.'
'No, and you should be grateful for that.'
'Based on the little I do know, I truly am. Now, what do you have planned for today?'
'Well, I was thinking we'd go to the zoo first. Then see if there is something both of us like to do or something one of us has never done before,' he said with a slight bit of uncertainty entering his voice.
'That's really your plan?' she asked, bewildered.
'Er, yeah. Is something wrong?' Great, already botched the whole thing up.
'It doesn't have to be. I'm just used to guys having elaborate plans for dates. And the ones that don't, at least pretend that they have some big surprise in store, then they claim whatever we end up doing was part of their plan all along.'
'Well, I do have a couple other ideas, but no plans, so it's the zoo and who knows what from there.'
'I'm cool with that,' she said with a pleased smile. 'I'll be honest, I expected flying to be on the agenda,' she said with a hint of disappointment.
'It was one of my ideas but I didn't want to assume. So, we can do that after the zoo if you are interested,' he responded.
'I am,' she stated.
'Ok, then. Are you ready to go?' Harry asked.
'I am, let's get going,' Daphne said with a spring in her step as she slid out of the booth.
Harry led her to an Apparition point nearby and took them to the corresponding point close to the zoo. They walked the few remaining blocks and Harry paid for their tickets.
They meandered about the zoo, looking at the animals and making different observations about their actions, pointing out attributes that they liked or disliked about each.
'These animals are fun to look at, but it's a little bit boring with most of them just laying around not doing anything. Or not being able to get close to them,' Daphne said.
'They are wild, they'd maul you,' Harry replied.
'Please, no way any of these things are more dangerous than Hippogriffs or Screwts. And Hagrid had us up close and personal with those things,' she retorted.
'True,' he agreed. 'But they were magical.'
'Eh, who really knows what difference that makes. Just look at those lions. They are so lazy, just sleeping all day. Quite a representative for a school House,' she teased.
'Hey!'
'Relax, I don't like snakes either. They are just as lazy and aren't nearly as subtle as people say. Now, badgers, those things are cool animals.'
'What about eagles?' he asked.
'I'm not much of a bird person. But for real, you want something smart, cunning, brave and loyal? We should all just be badgers and be done with all the House nonsense,' she stated with finality.
While speaking, she had been discreetly casting a spell at one end of the walkway leading to the lion enclosure. The zoo-goers approaching the enclosure from that side began to turn around and walk away.
Harry gave her a curious look. 'What are you planning?' he asked suspiciously.
'Just a little fun,' she replied with a mischievous glint in her eyes.
'What Charms are you doing?'
'Basic Muggle Repelling Charm.'
'Why?'
'You'll see. Consider it a surprise.'
'Oh boy!'
She performed the same Charm at the other end of the walkway after the last of the muggles had left the observation point.
It was just the two of them now, just watching the lions sleep the day away.
'Don't they look bored?' Daphne asked in observation.
'Yeah, but this isn't anything we couldn't have done before.'
'True, but we couldn't have played a game of tag before.'
'I don't think your version of tag is the same as the lion's version,' Harry teased.
Daphne laughed. 'Only one way to find out.'
She grabbed his arm and Apparated them onto the platform behind where the lions were all sleeping. To his relief, the light pop wasn't enough to cause them to stir.
'I don't know what you are thinking, but I don't think it's my version of fun,' he said.
'You never know until you try,' she replied with a smile.
'Getting close to sleeping lions is one thing, but I don't think you are going to allow them to rest peacefully. What are you going to do when they notice their next meal just hanging out in the enclosure with them?'
'Apparition is way faster than any animal can move. Did you forget you're a wizard?'
'Er, no.'
'Just make sure not to pop right in front of one and you'll be fine,' she stated calmly.
She was far too blase about all of this.
She took a step forward and yanked on the tail of the closest lion, then immediately popped away.
Lions don't ask questions and the giant male lion turned and swiped his paw through the air. There was nothing there for him to connect with, but a quick glance and he targeted Harry. He lunged in his direction pulling back his other paw to take another swipe.
Harry Apparated away, right next to Daphne, just in time to watch the paw with claws born, rip through the air where he was previously standing.
'That was a close call even for me. You're more of an adrenaline junkie than I thought,' she said with a wink.
'Not really, just a master of survival. In case you forgot.'
She laughed. 'Good thing too,' she said as she popped away and tugged on another lion's tail, before popping back next to Harry.
'It gets more fun when they start moving around. Tagging them while they are sleeping is too easy. We have to get them a little riled up first.'
They got them riled up alright. Harry quickly got into the action. And she was right, Apparating behind a moving lion was more difficult than a stationary one, but the adrenaline rush was undeniably addicting. The lions' reaction times started to increase but never to the point where a paw made contact.
It got to the point where they were just popping around the enclosure to avoid the quickly pursuing lions, no more "tagging" necessary.
They ended up back together at the observation point, out of the enclosure, breathing heavily.
'When they start anticipating where you are going to go next, that's when it's time to get out,' Daphne panted.
'Er, yeah, I'd say that is a good choice. I'll give it to you, you sure know how to make things exciting,' Harry conceded. 'But why don't you just transfigure something and watch them chase it around?'
'Where's the rush in that? It's the chance that you might get killed that makes it exciting.'
Harry grimaced.
'Sorry. You probably don't need those kinds of reminders,' she said solemnly.
'Yeah, I've had my fair share of near-death experiences. I've never had to go looking for them before.'
'Is that why you do what you do for the DMLE?' she asked curiously.
'No! That's them treating me with kid gloves,' he said with irritation.
'Note to self, if I want to fire Harry up, just call him an Auror in name only,' Daphne said softly, but loud and clear enough for Harry to hear.
'Haha, very funny. All things considered, I've wished for lack of excitement for so long, I'm hardly in a position to complain.'
'No, exciting is what dates with me are for,' she said suggestively.
He couldn't argue with that.
'Now who's trying to get another date?' he added with a waggle of the eyebrows.
She smiled, but he thought he noticed some colour in her cheeks that wasn't there before.
Did he make her blush?
'I'm becoming more open to the possibility of that,' she replied.
He searched for a witty response, but he had nothing. He ran a hand through his hair.
He looked back to the lions. They had settled down and were beginning their slumbering ways again.
They had done everything he had planned to do at the zoo, and more, but he wasn't ready for the date to end.
Time to take this date somewhere else and add his version of excitement.
'You want to try something else exciting?' He opened his palm to display the shrunken broom that he had withdrawn from his pocket.
Her eyes lit up.
'I was beginning to think the flying thing was just you pretending, but now I see you came prepared. You keep surprising me, Harry Potter,' she said with an impish smile.
She waved her wand to dispel her Muggle Repelling Charms and slowly started walking away, hips swaying slightly.
Harry's gaze followed her, eyes drawn to her well-defined calves, but his feet did not follow.
She looked back, to see what was holding him up, an amused smile grew on her face. 'You coming?' she called out in a sing-songy voice.
He shook his head. 'Oh, yeah. Sorry.' Just when he thought she was going to call him out for checking her out, she didn't. She certainly wasn't predictable. 'Let's go.'
They found an isolated spot and he Apparated them to a secluded place on the western coast, a place he had discovered was great for flying and avoiding interruptions, and muggles.
Standing on the edge of the cliff overlooking the ocean Harry pulled out and enlarged his broom.
'I did only bring one broom, and I don't quite trust you enough to let you fly it alone. Actually, I don't trust anyone to fly it alone, so that's nothing personal,' he clarified.
'Is this the same broom that out flew the dragon?' she asked.
'Can't say,' he replied with a smirk.
'Why not?' she pouted.
'Cause I believe that would violate your first date rule,' he said again with the smirk.
He straddled the broom, and before he could tell Daphne to hop on she slammed into his back, knocking the breath out of his lungs. She wrapped her arms tightly around his chest pressing herself firmly against him.
He had wanted to bring a second broom but Tonks shut that idea down with significant force. "You'll thank me later," she had claimed with no room for debate. For all her teasing, Tonks' advice so far had been spot on, and now he understood and agreed that yes, he would be thanking her later.
'Yup, this feels like a dragon-slaying broom,' Daphne declared with excitement. 'Alright, show me what it's like to evade a dragon.'
'You sure?'
'Quit stalling, Harry. Let's go!'
Without another word, he accelerated and dropped off the face of the cliff.
Daphne let out a whoop of joy. If he had any thoughts that this might be too much for her, they were quickly dismissed.
He went through a series of twists, turns, corkscrews, loops, climbs and dives. He was pushing the limit of what he was willing to do with a passenger on board.
Daphne was continuously laughing or whooping with glee. There was no fear in her voice.
'I want to feel a Wrongski Feint, Harry,' Daphne said right into his ear.
Chills ran down his spine.
But he didn't spend more than a fraction of a second thinking about that.
He was flying at the same altitude as the top of the cliff but was now directly over the ocean so he immediately took the broom into a steep dive.
He actually caught Daphne off guard and her scream of exhilaration got caught in her throat.
Closer and closer they neared the water. At the last moment, he pulled up and their toes skimmed the top of the water as he changed direction and began to ascend.
He took a glance over his shoulder and was rewarded with a beaming smile.
She leaned in close to his ear again and letting her lips brush his ear as she spoke, whispered, 'Do it again, only start higher this time.'
The chills were like an electric current running through his bones. He turned his head to look into her eyes and raised his eyebrows in question.
'Unless that is too much for you,' she challenged.
He made a determined face and shook his head, 'Nope, not for me.' He certainly had pride in his flying so it would take a lot for him to turn down a challenge.
He quickened his ascent and surpassed the level of the cliff. He began to slow as he was ready to level off but Daphne cried, 'Higher!'
He shook his head in disbelief but continued upwards.
Not a moment later his broom lurched and his stomach dropped as a feeling of terror hit him.
He could no longer feel the arms wrapped around his body, nor the weight of another person on his broom.
He looked down and saw Daphne getting further and further away, her yellow dress flapping in the wind.
Immediately he turned and began his descent but he couldn't push the thoughts from his head.
How did she fall? Her grip was tighter than a baby koala's hanging on its mother.
And why didn't she scream when she lost contact? And why wasn't she flailing about as she was falling through the air?
He was gaining on her but not at a pace he was comfortable with. This was going to be far too close for him.
He gained.
Why does she look like a projectile? Spread your arms out. I can catch you faster if you try to slow down. Oh! Her hands are in her pockets. She must be retrieving her wand. Then she can slow down.
She didn't seem to slow down but Harry was gaining and now he felt confident he would reach her well before the water. A small wave of relief washed over him, though he still had to finish the job.
She looked back at him, there was no fear or panic in her expression, a small smile grew on her face.
Not what he was expecting.
She turned to face forward again and in a flash shot up and away from him. He couldn't even tell what caused the sudden movement.
He banked left quickly and shot up to follow.
She wasn't evading him, so it took almost no time for him to be hovering face to face with her, a grin splitting her face.
'That wasn't a very funny trick,' Harry said.
'Worst case scenario was: you save me. Then you're my hero and I have to kiss you.' She fluttered her long eyelashes at him.
'Er—' colour rushed to his face, not that it wasn't already flushed from the exertion of flying.
An amused smile played on Daphne's face as she hovered there on her. . . magic carpet.
It just registered with him.
'Wait, when did—how did you get a magic carpet?' he asked.
'Catch me and I'll tell you about it,' she challenged.
She was off and he was hot on her tail.
She moved quickly but her straight-line speed was no match for his. To combat this, she frequently dipped and swerved, he was no match for her agility on the carpet. Add in the element of surprise that she had, it would be very difficult for him to catch her unless he made a lucky guess on which direction she might turn.
Instead of trailing behind her, he decided to drop down below the carpet and make it difficult for her to keep tabs on his location. He kept moving side to side to avoid her vision and he could see her trying to locate him.
In an act of stealth, he bolted above her and inverted himself. They were nearly head to head but Daphne had returned to trying to find him flying below her.
He thought about scaring her but then decided on another tactic.
He flipped himself upright, shrunk his broom and kept it in one hand as he landed on the carpet behind Daphne, wrapping his free arm around her waist to stabilize himself.
She was startled with a little jump and looked over her shoulder in surprise.
'Gotcha,' he said with a crooked smile.
'How?' she breathed in disbelief.
'Don't tell me you actually thought you were going to beat me in a flying competition,' he replied, feeling pretty self-satisfied with his manoeuvre.
She rolled her eyes but still smiled. 'I guess I thought you might've lost your edge with your sedentary lifestyle now.'
'It has been a while since I've flown like that, so it's nice to see I've still got it,' he admitted. 'So, about this carpet. I was under the impression they weren't allowed in Britain.'
She slowed the carpet to an easy pace and turned around and sat crossed legged facing him.
'Technically, they're not. But the D.O.M. has been doing some research on them,' she explained.
'And they're ok with you taking one out for a joy ride?'
'Joy ride? Who said that this wasn't research? I've learned a lot about the capabilities of a carpet versus a broom today.'
'Research. Suuure,' he drew out the word and added a playful smile.
'You'll be giving the same answer if you ever get questioned.'
'Questioned?'
'Yeah, but I don't plan on turning you in so you can rest easy,' she said with a wink.
'That's reassuring. At least your research can be fun,' he stated.
'Oh, this isn't my department. If it was, I wouldn't be able to talk about it. My ex was the one actually doing the carpet research stuff. I convinced him to let me borrow it sometime before we broke up. He has seemed a bit hesitant to talk to me since the breakup, so I've been able to hang onto it a bit longer.'
'I see. Well, since we're doing research, how about showing me what this thing is capable of,' he suggested.
'Haven't you seen already?' she asked teasingly.
'Yeah, but you know it's different experiencing it from seeing.'
'Good point. Hold on,' she said as she twisted around kneeling on the carpet.
Harry knelt behind her and looked down at the fabric handles that were on each side of him. His hands instinctively reached for the handles before he stopped himself and scooted forward so he could wrap an arm around her waist.
He couldn't see the smile that sprouted on her face.
'Sure you're going to be able to hold on with just one arm?' she called out.
He didn't answer with words. He just wrapped another arm around her. His head was just above her shoulder and he caught a whiff of her jasmine perfume. The intoxicating scent was just another thing added to the ever-growing list of things he liked about her.
Her smile grew.
'Ready,' he said softly in her ear.
She nodded and accelerated forward before going into a series of loops, turns, twists and dives. On more than one occasion he lost complete contact with the carpet and his hold on Daphne was the only thing keeping him from free-falling, he didn't have the same desire as her to experience the sky diving sensation.
She ended by hovering at the edge of the cliff where their flying session had started.
'I can see why you are reluctant to give that back,' Harry stated.
'Yeah, it's a blast,' she agreed. 'Why they don't allow them here is ridiculous.'
She dropped her legs over the edge of the carpet so they were dangling and Harry mimicked her actions. Their hands were resting flat in the space between them, the edges of their little fingers pressed against one another. He was not oblivious to the slight contact and his heart began to race at the prospect of his next move.
He lifted his hand, hesitated ever so slightly, then rested it atop hers.
Her hand didn't even twitch, but she gave her head a quarter turn in his direction, eyebrows slightly raised and the corners of her lips turning up.
He discreetly let out a breath he didn't know he was holding in and a warmth grew in his chest.
They sat like this for a while, just admiring the view of the crashing waves hitting the rocks below them. A light breeze continually brought in the smell of the salty air.
Well, he was actually more focussed on the hand under his, and he wondered if she could feel his pulse from their contact.
His stomach gave a loud rumble.
She turned to him, 'Hungry?'
'Apparently so,' he replied.
'Me too. Do you have a place in mind?'
He pondered for a moment. 'Yeah, I think I know a good place.'
She guided the carpet over to the ground and they hopped off. She pulled her shrunken handbag out of her pocket, enlarged it and shrunk the carpet to fit into the bag before slinging it over her shoulder. She looped an arm through his and said, 'I'm ready when you are.'
Harry took her to a small muggle diner in a small town he'd found a while back. The food was good, not great. The service was usually slow, but no one ever bothered him. Even the staff that recognized him on his return visits just gave him a smile and a friendly greeting. They had to know he wasn't from the area but they had enough self-control to not pry and ask intrusive questions. It had become one of the few places he would regularly return to.
The traditionally slow service gave them plenty of time to talk, and talking to Daphne proved to be easy. Even after a day of chatting with one another, it wasn't difficult to find things to talk about, her family, goings on at the Ministry, Quidditch, and their many mutual acquaintances. Discussions of their old classmates regularly directed their conversation to their Hogwarts days and multiple times one had to stop the other from breaking their only rule for the evening. It started to become a running joke between the two of them.
Their food arrived eventually and the conversation slowed as both were famished and ready to eat.
Again, the quality of the food wasn't great but they were both so hungry it really didn't matter.
As they finished their food the conversation picked up again and a topic came up that had Harry starting on a story about one of his Hogwarts adventures. Daphne hadn't even pried but she was so easy to talk to, the words just kept pouring out.
He caught himself and stopped his story, much to her disappointment that was clearly written on her face, if her pouty lip was any indication.
'I'll let you break the rule to finish your story,' she said eagerly.
'No no, a rule is a rule. That's a story for another date,' he said with a coy smile.
'I guess I can wait for that,' she replied with an impish grin.
'That's good. Should we get some dessert to go? We could probably still catch the sunset on the cliffs.'
'You sure you didn't plan this?' she asked in playful suspicion.
'Honest to Merlin. I was just hoping I wouldn't bollocks things up too much at the zoo.'
'Ok, so what do you recommend for dessert?' she asked.
'I like the ice cream sundae.'
'I'll try that then.'
He ordered their sundaes and paid for the meal.
To their delight, the desserts arrived much faster than their food did and they left the diner. He Apparated them to the same cliffs where they had been flying and the sun was just starting to disappear over the horizon.
They sat with legs dangling over the cliff edge and ate in companionable silence. Daphne devoured her ice cream with gusto while Harry took a more measured approach. He always ate around the cherry on top, saving it for last. She was done long before he was and got out her wand and was twirling it around her fingers.
'Do you think the gulls can see the fish beneath the water? Or do they just dive at random and hope to catch something?' she asked pensively.
'Er, dunno,' he mumbled through a mouthful of ice cream. He was almost done now and the birds didn't particularly interest him.
'Check out that flock over there,' she said while pointing out to a group of seagulls flocking together.
'Just looks like a bunch of birds squawking at each other. What are you looking at?' he asked in confusion. They'd been looking at animals all day and her observations were usually interesting, this just seemed odd. Not to mention her claimed lack of interest in birds.
'Oh, I guess it was nothing,' she said a bit too innocently while scooting nearer and closing the small distance between them.
He went to take his last scoop and was met with a sight of horror.
His cherry was gone.
He looked at Daphne.
Her lips were pressed together tightly but her eyes were sparkling with mirth.
'You took my cherry,' he declared in accusation.
She smiled broadly and displayed the bright red fruit delicately being held between her brilliant white teeth.
'Are you going to give that back to me?' he asked without considering how that might happen.
Shrug
Their eyes locked.
His stomach lurched.
She moved her jaw slowly from side to side, rolling the cherry between her teeth and drawing his gaze to her rosy pink lips. They glistened with what appeared to be freshly applied lip gloss. Magic would never cease to amaze him.
She started leaning towards him but stopped after she had closed about half of the distance.
What was she—Oh!
Oh!
His heart pounded like a parade of elephants in his chest, his stomach twisted and turned, his palms were clammy. He dropped the small bowl and spoon off the face of the cliff, never to be thought of again.
No amount of coaching could've prepared him for this.
Any of his other first kisses had been so spur of the moment, there had been no time for premeditation or even second-guessing. The potential choke factor here was through the roof.
Here, he knew exactly what was on the line and even though Daphne was obviously more than willing to participate, the butterflies were still swarming in his gut.
To hell with it.
He twisted his body and leaned towards her.
He didn't know her smile could get any wider, but it did.
Their eyes closed as their lips met.
Daphne pushed the cherry into his mouth and her tongue brushed his lips as it retreated back into her mouth.
There weren't any fireworks, no ringing of bells, but there was a jolt of electricity that ignited the nerve endings from the tops of his ears to the tips of his toes.
Her lips massaged his, slowly at first. Then her tongue grazed his lips again and their mouths parted once more. His main focus now became rejecting her attempts to retrieve the cherry. He didn't mind the attempts at all, but now that he had it back he was not going to relinquish his favourite part of dessert. It gave snogging a new flavour, it was rather enjoyable.
He felt her smile against his lips before they parted.
He had his crooked smile plastered on his face.
'What did you think about that?' she asked flirtatiously.
'Er.'
How the hell was he supposed to answer that? Was this one of those trick questions that girls are infamous for?
'Speechless?' she smirked.
He chewed on the cherry and swallowed. A little grin appeared on his face.
'No, I'd say it was cherry nice.' And he couldn't prevent his cheeky grin from growing.
She rolled her eyes but didn't seem displeased with the answer. In fact, her leg sweeping over his in order to straddle him indicated she was more than pleased with his response.
'That might be the worst and the best response I could've imagined. But if you're still forming coherent sentences we clearly are not done yet. Just don't let me fall.'
'Done—'
More snogging commenced.
There was no saying exactly how long they stayed like this but darkness has settled around them.
'Any comments now?' Daphne asked after they paused to catch their breath.
'Yeah, but you'll probably think it's stupid,' he replied hesitantly.
'I'm the only one that gets to make that call. Let's hear it.'
'Ok, so the night's almost over, right?'
'Yeah.'
'Well, this has been the most fun I've had in. . . a long time.'
'It has been a pretty good day,' she concurred with a smile he could barely discern by the dim light of the moon.
'So I don't want it to have to end. I wish we could make this night last forever.'
'Forevers a long time.'
'You know what I mean,' he replied.
'I do,' she said, standing up and taking his hands, encouraging him to rise as well. 'And I don't think it's stupid,'
'Where are we going?' he asked.
'Nowhere we haven't been before,' she answered mysteriously, still keeping hold of both his hands.
Without warning, she Apparated them a few hundred yards down the coast. Just far enough away that they couldn't see their previous location.
'I don't remember being here,' Harry noted.
'Technically we haven't been here yet, but I wasn't going to listen to myself snogging.'
'I'm still not following.'
She reached in her pocket, pulled out a small gold chain with a familiar hourglass attached to it and draped it around her neck.
His eyes widened as he recognized the device. So many questions ran through his head,
'Don't ask. I can't talk about it anyway,' she said softly as she lifted the chain over his head.
He nodded in acknowledgement. 'Research?' he asked with a grin.
She replied with a non-committal shrug, but the corners of her lips turned up. 'I can't give us forever but I can give us a couple more hours,' she said suggestively.
He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her close, a crooked smile on his face. 'I think we could make good use of that time.'
She proceeded to prolong their night.
'Research—'