Ok, Chapter Three is go-mode! Sorry for any typos, my phone has a bad case of Autocorrectile Disorder. It happens to a lot of phones.
Daphne was not sure what to expect for her first meal at the Gryffindor table, but somehow she wasn't surprised for her sister to be flanked by the Weasley twins acting as a military escort, complete with a parade march before being lead to a seat near the middle of the table where they flipped from deadly bodyguard to professional waiter mode in an instant. At least the Astoria didn't seem to think it was weird, and seemed to be playing along with the game as if it was a normal occurrence. "Thank you, Mister Weasley," the younger girl had said with a small nod before turning to the other twin. "Mister Weasley, could you and Mister Weasley deliver Madam Tracey Davis to us?"
Before Daphne could scold her for being a prat, the two older boys took a deep bow and spoke in unison, "Of course oh great Heir of Heir of Slytherin. It would be our pleasure." The two spun on their heels and marched towards the Ravenclaw table where the final guest of the morning was still talking.
"I'm assuming their reaction is normal?" Daphne asked with an inquisitive smile. It was nice to see her sister had made friends, even if they were as notorious as the Weasley Twins.
"Of course sister." What sounded more snobbish than the table had ever heard before. "Do you really think I have spent all my time invading Gryffindor House without amassing loyal servants? Ow! Hey stop that!"
Daphne had leaned over and gave her arm a pinch along with a disbelieving glare, trying to fight back the laugh at her little sister's indignation. "Astoria I once watched you spend three hours trying to decide whether to wear socks that were calf high or ankle high. You are about as indecisive as a squirrel that has to choose between walnuts or acorns, and have the political savvy of the average Ministry sycophant that father has to deal with. I highly doubt you are able to take over the entirety of Gryffindor House by yourself, you little brat. Ow! Don't slap me you git!"
On any other occasion, Daphne Greengrass would have been mortified upon realizing all of the Gryffindor table was watching their interaction with unrestrained laughter, but the joy of seeing her sister for the first time since the week of the Malfoy Incident had her too engrossed in the fun. Teasing each other was a time-honored tradition for the sisters, after all.
"Oh yeah? Explain how I managed to get Harry Potter brainwashed into helping with my homework then!" Astoria shot back sticking her tongue out at the other girl, but before Daphne could respond, three more people sat down across the table from them.
"That's a good question. Hermione what are the signs of brainwashing? Isn't that one of the unforgivable curses?" Harry Potter grinned towards Granger, who just rolled her eyes and continued to read out of her Ancient Runes textbook.
"Yea, mate. That's the Imperious curse. Dad mentioned it a few years back, when they were having a bunch of Death Eater trials. You've not been studying how to be a dark lady behind our backs have you?" The younger Weasley male, who's name Daphne could not remember, spoke with a look so impish that his prankster brothers might have been proud.
"Oh knock it off you two, Astoria is not going to turn into a dark lady. She's too innocent for that." Granger added with a sigh, setting down a textbook for Arithmacy. Unfortunately that was also when Fred and George chose to return with Tracy in tow.
"Here you are, oh great one. We deliver unto you one Tracey Davis! May she making excellent thrall for your evil army! We live to serve the great Heir of Heir of Slytherin! Praise be the Dark Lady Greengrass!"
"... Astoria how do you put up with this every day?" Daphne decide the entirety of Gryffindor Table was mentally ill to some extent.
"Ah they aren't too bad Daph," a sophisticated yet singsong Welsh accented voice spoke up from between the twins. "Quite the gentleman, really. They even proclaimed their intent to kidnap me when they went and got me." She was a girl of average height and frame with shoulder length warm chestnut brown hair that matched her eyes pleasantly smart eyes in color. "Well since Daphne is less likely to say it, thank you for watching over Astoria. Hopefully she isn't too much trouble?" Tracy looked over to the first year, who was currently mimicking Ron, grabbing about five pieces more bacon than what would be considered a normal amount for her breakfast.
Harry, smiled at the two, amused by the first two friendly Slytherins he had ever met, Astoria notwithstanding. "She's been all right. Astoria has told us a lot of good things about you two. So you're pretty good at piano, Daphne?"
Harry Potter was a surprisingly down to earth guy, Daphne was surprised to learn. He was not anywhere close to being the insufferable swaggering spoiled brat that Professor Snape ranted about to whoever would listen, nor was he the incompetent moron that Draco believed him to be. According to Tracy he was actually quite a scholar with a nearly unparalleled knowledge of what she called "Films"... Whatever that meant. The two of them had a rather heated debate for ten minutes about some orphaned night stalking vigilante that sounded suspiciously like a vampire to Daphne.
Harry Potter seem to be a pretty good guy in her opinion, and she was comfortable with the knowledge that her little sister would be in good hands. Which was just as well as hers were fixing to have blood on them. Her and Tracey were currently walking with the Gryffindor group to Astoria's first class of the day. Slowly on the way, members of the group splintered off to their own classes until it was just Harry, Daphne, Astoria, and the Weasley twins. It was time to activate Phase Two.
"Mr. Weasley, Mr. Weasley, I have a proposition that I believe will be a mutual benefit for the three of us."
Somehow Astoria was the only person who didn't notice all the misfortune that fell upon Draco Malfoy, too busy caught up in her own attempts to scheme at getting Daphne and Harry to be friends then get married. In the next few weeks leading up to Halloween. It started out simple, all of his socks and shoes had been replaced with sets a half size too small, just enough to cause irritation but not be noticed. Then his dresser had its drawers glued shut, and his sheets were soaking wet, even when charmed to be dry.
As the weeks went on, his text books were spelled to be written in Welsh, all his parchment was died lilac, his most expensive quill only wrote the word "Wimbledon", and for a while a dwarf had began following him around repeating the line, "I'll have yer arse, mate!"
One day the zipper on his pants refused to zip up, and the next saw all of his textbooks replaced with copies of the Monster Book of Monsters. At breakfast one morning gray hairs that rivaled Dumbledore's beard grew from his nose and ears, and one day everything he ate mysteriously tasted like chili peppers. He had a day where his shoelaces tripped him every 10 steps, and a few hours where he could not stop sweating. One day he was nowhere to be seen, so the school collectively thought he was hiding in his dorm room, on unaware of the disillusionment, Notice-Me-Nots, and silencing charms that had been cast on him.
As Halloween rolled around, Harry and Astoria were joined by Daphne, who opted to spend the day visiting with her sister instead of going to Hogsmeade. Malfoy had just passed where they sat in the main courtyard waiting for their respective groups of friends to arrive. At the moment, the boy's blonde hair kept falling out, then slowly regrowing and curling only to fall out and repeat the process again. This time around it had attracted the attention of a peculiar second year Ravenclaw girl that Astoria thought she recognized. The girl kept following him around asking if they were secretly twins hidden from each other by the Department of Mysteries, much to Astoria's confusion, Harry's amusement, and Daphne's pleasure.
With no sign of Ron, Hermione, or Tracey anywhere nearby, Harry looked towards Daphne to ask a question that had been on his mind for a while.
"So Daphne," Harry spoke up. "What all do you know about Sirius Black, if you don't mind me asking? All I've been told is he's a killer, he's after me, and I shouldn't worry about it." He wore a flat expression to mask the unease about the situation, which still managed to poke through the facade in the underlying tension in his jaw. 'He is not the greatest at concealing emotions, but it is a fair effort,' Dahpne mused. She's supposed there was no time like the present to learn more of her sister's new friend.
"Well the Black family has been dark for ages, at least the last 400 years. It was rumored that a member of the Black family may have invented the Cruciatus Curse in the late 1600s, but it's never been confirmed. Politically speaking they're one of the wealthiest families in all of the wizarding world, and I can disclose they have attempted to do business with my family in the past, mostly to no avail. Nothing drastic, just a few personal inquiries into medicinal potions ingredients that are harder to find." She paused momentarily to collect her thoughts, and to study Harry's eyes for reaction. 'He seems to be taking note, despite not answering directly about Sirius Black himself, that's a good sign.'
"However," she continued, "This is where it gets odd. There has always been a madness in the Black family, some sort of underlying insanity in the blood. My grandfather speculated it was due to a blood curse, and that's the reason they tried to obtain potions ingredients from us. The reason I mention this is because up until the night of your parents murder, he had not displayed any of those signs, just a rapid bout of out of nowhere insanity that rivaled his cousin, Bellatrix LeStrange. From what mother could recall, he was really friendly with your parents, and hated his family for their association with dark magic." She paused in recollection, thinking back to the conversation she had with her parents about the escaped convict. "As for his academic background, father was working closely with Bartemius Crouch Sr., the Head of the DMLE at the time, and he said his Hogwarts records were sealed along with his file in the Auror department where he worked, so not much is known as to any strengths and weaknesses, but somehow I doubt a prolonged stay and Azkaban would strengthen anyone's abilities in magic. Honestly, there's probably not much to be done about it, except to train to defend yourself. You might want to see if the Weasley twins would be willing to show you some more advanced spells in defense, as they seem to have a more advanced grasp on magical theory then they they let on."
Harry looked determined, she noted with no small amount of satisfaction. He really wasn't anything like how the majority of Slytherin house claimed. Very intriguing.
"And of course, I would be more than happy to assist you in defensive potion making, runes, and charm work. Granger seems to be a little preoccupied with her own classes this year, but I would like to believe I'm nearly as highly marked as she is."
His green eyes lit up in surprise at the offer, to which he vigorously accepted without hesitation. It was rather adorable she admitted to herself. He seemed to be very intelligent, very eager to learn, and very motivated. Now she pondered whether she could craft a Slytherin out of him.
"I'd like that a lot Daphne, are you free next Saturday afternoon?"
"I do believe I'll be able to make it. It's a date then, Mr. Potter."
Ironically, Astoria was too busy attempting to plot a way to get Daphne and Harry closer, and missed the entire final half the exchange, and the smiles the two shared. As far as Halloweens at Hogwarts went, Harry was happy to note this was one of the best he had ever had. Finally, it was looking like he might be able to enjoy himself for a year.
Little did any of them know, Sirius Black was already in the castle.
Chapter Three is up!
Ok, now a serious question. Do you have Discord? do you like Daphne Greengrass? If yes, then check out the Haphne Discord server.
JOIN NOW! Discord . gg / pKSdvJQvhU. Just copy the link and delete the spaces.
It's a really good server, with a ton of links to different stories, and an active writing community with frequent writing prompt events!