I do not own Harry Potter, the Wizarding World, or any canon characters.

The Family that Chooses You

Chapter 58 – Recovering Interactions

"Hey, Potter."

Harry looked up; his train of thought derailed by the call. His eyes widened as he looked at the girl standing over him. He had seen her in passing and shared classes with her, but never spoke to her directly. She had short brown hair and sharp features, dressed in school robes with a dark green trim. Unlike the majority of the Slytherins, she had never been openly hostile to Harry but she had never been friendly either. Though that seemed to be a Slytherin trait, to him anyway.

He went for a shy smile that showed his nervousness and confusion. "Hello…I'm afraid I don't know your name." He recognized her as someone that was usually seen with Daphne. "You're Daphne's friend, right?" He blushed at her raised eyebrows, guessing the source of her surprise. "I mean, Greengrass' friend?"

She too looked nervous for some reason and nodded jerkily. "Yeah, I am. I'm Davis."

He thought about offering his hand but decided she probably would not accept it. "Nice to meet you," he said, mostly meaning it. "Have I done something to offend you?"

She blinked. "What makes you think you have?" she asked, suspicious and on guard.

"Most, well practically all, Slytherins don't talk to me unless it's to insult me." He looked weary. "If that's why you're here, I'd appreciate it if you came back another time. I'm not feeling too great. I promise to accept whatever insult you want to throw at me when I'm feeling better."

She flushed red and stammered. "What no, I mean, not that's not why I'm here though I don't really blame you." She sighed deeply. "I'm here to say thank you."

"Oh." To say he was surprised would have been a gross understatement. "I, uh, that's lovely but I must admit that I don't know why you're thanking me."

She rolled her eyes and resisted the urge to stomp her foot. "For…helping Greengrass. With the hippogriff."

It was Harry's turn to blink slowly. "Oh, uh, you're welcome. I'm just glad no one was hurt."

"You really believe that, don't you?"

He nodded.

"Why? Why risk yourself for Slytherins?"

Harry shrugged. "I'd like to think I would have done it for anyone despite their House. I just don't like seeing people get hurt, especially if I can do something about it. It's nice to help people," he added lamely.

"But Malfoy has been nothing but rude to you for the last three years. You should hear some of the things he says about you in our common room."

"Ugh, no thank you. I hear him enough in the castle."

She smiled. "Still. There's not many that would help a Slytherin and I know Slytherins barely help each other much less anyone else."

He shrugged again. "I mean, Greengrass said something nice about me last year in front of others."

"During the Chamber and Heir thing?" She looked torn when he nodded. "I don't know if I should tell you this, but that wasn't completely altruistic on her part. She said it mostly to take Malfoy down a peg."

"That's still a good reason to me," he said with a smile. "Still, she kinda supported me when only a few would. Like you said, I'm sure she wouldn't have done that for others. If making fun of Malfoy means someone's nice to me as a side perk, I'll take it."

"That's something I can agree with, the making fun of Malfoy bit. He's insufferable and you don't have to live in the same area as him."

"Thank goodness for that," Harry said sincerely, making her giggle. "You must really care about Greengrass."

"She's my best friend," Davis said stoutly.

"I can tell," Harry said softly. "Like you said, Slytherins barely help each other but here you are thanking me for something that happened a few weeks ago for her."

Davis blushed. "Well, I mean, I've been meaning to thank you for a while now but I kept putting it off. You were always with others or I was. Then, the game a few days ago…" She gulped. "I thought I missed my chance and I would have felt really bad. So, sorry it took a while."

"That's very kind of you. I appreciate your thanks."

They looked at each other awkwardly until someone shouted "Tracy!" making them both start slightly.

Daphne walked up to her friend, eyes opening in surprise at seeing Harry sitting on the ground. "Oh, hello Harry. How are you feeling?"

Tracy looked at Daphne with wide open eyes. "Harry?"

Harry waved. "Hello Daphne. I'm feeling a little better thank you. How're you?"

Her eyes opened even wider? "You let him call you Daphne?!"

Daphne flushed and rolled her eyes. "Well he did save me from a hippogriff."

It was his turn to blush. "You would've been okay, I'm sure. Buckbeak was mad at Draco. It was his fault."

"It was also his fault for knocking me over as well as antagonizing the hippogriff." She shook her head. "It's almost impressive how he can screw things up so well."

"Do you think he tells himself he'll go to his own father when he screws things up for himself?" Harry asked with faux innocence.

The two girls laughed out loud.

"I would not put it past him," Daphne giggled.

Harry rubbed his neck. "You two can join me if you like. It's just, sorry, kinda getting a crick in my neck staring up."

After a moment of hesitation and looking at one another, the girls shrugged and sat down on the grass beside Harry. Daphne sat on her bag while Tracy laid out her outer robe before sitting. They took a moment to enjoy the cool Autumn day, looking out over the lake.

"I am glad to see that you are okay," Daphne said shyly. "That fall looked horrible. Your team is amazing."

"Yeah they are," Harry happily agreed. "I'm still surprised they did all that. I wish I saw how cool they were instead of, well you know."

"Kind of sucks that your team lost technically," Tracy said, mildly surprised that she meant it.

"Cedric caught the Snitch, so it was fair," Harry said, trying to fight the disappointment in his stomach. He knew of course that he did not catch him, thus losing. He did not like losing though.

Daphne looked at the pile of twigs and broken wood in front of Harry. "Is that your broom?"

Harry sighed. "I think was is the more correct term." He smiled at his weak joke as the girls giggled. "Luckily Katie and Angelina's brooms were caught before anything happened to them. Mine though, well it hit the Whomping Willow."

The girls winced with him. The magical tree was belligerent at the best of times and it obviously had been deeply offended by being hit with a broom.

"No chance it getting fixed?" Tracy asked.

Harry shook his head sadly. "No, Professor Flitwick tried but even if he was successful, the enchantments are long gone." Harry gently patted the broken remains. "I know it sounds silly, but I feel like I lost a friend. Flying on a broom was the first time I felt like…I belonged in the Wizarding World. Plus it helped introduce me to my first family…"

He went beet red and clamped his lips shut. He was horrifically embarrassed at himself, as well as horrified. He would never have said something so personal before to anyone, especially to people he barely knew. Ever since the game, being attacked by multiple Dementors, and the panic from learning how his friends had almost died because of him, he felt unsettled. It was easier for him to get distracted. His emotions were so close to the surface after a lifetime of burying them deep.

He knew the team, especially Katie and Angelina, have been prompting him to be more open, to share, to feel. It was hard for him to adjust.

Daphne and Tracy looked at each other again.

"You grew up with Muggles?" Tracy asked.

Harry nodded. "My aunt and uncle and cousin," he said vaguely, praying they would not ask more.

Tracy opened her mouth to ask more questions but stopped when Daphne touched her hand, shaking her head.

"I can understand that," Daphne said instead. "I am not as attached to flying but from what I hear, those that do see their brooms like their wands. It would be very traumatic to lose your wand."

Harry nodded, shuddering at the thought of losing his wand like that.

"What are you going to do?" Tracy asked.

"I'll have to order a new one eventually. I'm going to wait a little though. Our next game isn't until after the holidays and Wood isn't scheduling practice for a little bit. He says it's more for me to recover and not because Alicia threatened to hex him if he didn't give her and Angelina time to study for O.W.L.s, much less his own need for N.E.W.T.s."

The three laughed at that.

"Alicia Spinnet?" Daphne asked. "I do not blame him for doing that then. She has quite the temper. Her family is well known and sort of partners and rivals with mine. Her father tells mine a lot of stories."

"Alicia's not that bad," Harry protested. He thought for a little bit. "Most of the time," he amended to more laughter.

After a bit of chatting Tracy rose reluctantly. "This was actually a lot of fun but I have to get going. I need to do some make-up work in Potions."

"I should as well," Daphne admitted and accepted Tracy's hand, scrambling up.

Harry smiled sincerely. "Thank you for talking with me. This was nice."

"Yeah, you're not as thick as Malfoy says you are," Trace said with a smile.

"At least I know better than to insult a hippogriff," Harry replied. He waved as the girls laughed appreciatively and watched them walk back to the castle.

"Well that's a surprise," Ginny said as she walked up with Luna. "Never thought I'd see the day any Slytherins would willingly talk to a Gryffindor."

"I'm not surprised," Luna said dreamily as she sat down beside Harry.

"You're not?" Harry asked as Ginny sat across from them. "I'm surprised and I was the one that talked to them."

"They came to talk to Harry, not necessarily because of him being a Gryffindor." Luna looked at the pile of broom debris in front of her with interest. "Harry's very kind and easy to talk to."

Harry's cheeks went red. "Thanks Luna," he stammered. He looked down at her feet and was heartened to see her wearing shoes. "Did the wrackspurts return your things?"

"Oh yes, much sooner than anticipated." She leaned into his side. "Also many other things that I had no idea were gone."

"That's good," Harry said, thinking of how to thank Percy later.

He looked over at Ginny. "How are you doing Ginny?"

She shrugged. "I'm okay. Classes are harder than they were last year but I'm getting by."

"Yeah they are, and this year is way harder with electives." Harry thought bitterly about Divination. "Fifth year is going to be a nightmare. Are you feeling okay outside of class?"

Ginny narrowed her eyes at him. "I'm fine," she said shortly. "Are you the reason that Percy and the others are checking on me so much?"

He shrugged feebly. "Yeah, sorry. I just wanted to make sure you're doing okay."

"I have six older brothers, Harry. I don't need another one."

He looked down at his lap. "That's fair. I'm sorry. I was worried but you're right, it's not my place."

Ginny huffed but she felt bad, seeing how Harry would not meet her eye. She thought about saying it was okay, that she appreciated his concern. She truly did. However, years of being watched over by all her brothers and mother had created a stubborn streak inside of her, one that reared its head more often than not.

The teachers this year had been more concerned over her feelings and actions this year, obviously a way to make up for last year. Others in her year treated her either overly warm or not at all. No one seemed to blame her for the prior year, all believing it was the work of the Dark artifact and not her. However, there apparently was still some latent fear and distrust.

For some reason, their attitude did not bother her as much as the teachers did. As much as her brothers. As much as Harry. Why am I upset at them for caring about me? Before she could say anything else, Harry began talking about class things and she was ashamed to be relieved at the change in conversation.

After Harry helped the two second years with some things, Ginny rose to leave. "I have to go ask Professor Flitwick a few questions, but I think I have a better idea of things thanks to you Harry. I'll see you at dinner." She opened her mouth to say more but tried as hard as she could, the words never came out.

Harry had an idea of what she wanted to say and only smiled and gave her a look that he understood.

Ginny felt worse that he did seem to understand. After saying goodbye to Luna, she left, feeling better and worse at the same time.

"She's doing a little better," Luna said after their friend left. "Still, it will be a while yet before she comes to terms with everything that happened last year."

"I know. I didn't mean to upset her though," Harry replied softly.

"I don't think you did. I think she's more upset at herself for thinking she needs the help but not getting it for herself. She also doesn't want to admit she needs help. She's feeling a bit helpless."

"I know what that's like."

Luna looked up at him. "Yes, you do." She bit her lip. "I don't have any older brothers. Would you like to be my older brother?"

Harry grinned, thrown off by Luna's request and deeply touched by it. "I'd like that. I don't have a little sister and would like one."

Luna leaned into Harry more, resting her head on his shoulder. "That's good," she said happily. She continued to rummage through the broken broom pieces. "What are you going to do with these?"

"I think I'll take them to Hagrid's. Professor Flitwick said that even though the enchantments are gone, the materials they use to make the brooms are inherently magical. He said if I burn them to ashes and mix them with soil, it'll help plants grow and be healthy. I'm going to ask Hagrid to help me burn them and see if he wants the ashes for his garden. Maybe take some to Professor Sprout."

"I think that's a beautiful thing," Luna said seriously. "Your broom will live on in the garden and greenhouses, helping others like it helped you."

Harry teared up a little. "I didn't even think of that. I really like the idea of that."

"Me too." Luna picked out a handful of bristles and two larger pieces of wood. "May I take these?"

"We've been siblings for barely a few minutes and already you're nicking my things," he laughed.

She giggled. "At least I asked first."

"Of course, take as much as you like," he said. He watched her take a few more pieces and wrap them carefully in a handkerchief before putting the bundle tenderly in her bag. "Would you like to help me and go to Hagrid's?"

She nodded. "Seems like a good family activity."

Despite the inherent sadness of saying good bye to his broom, Harry felt much better. He had a decent conversation with two unexpected people, apologized to a friend, and gained a little sister.

His family was growing.

-0-0-0-

D. - I already have a plan for that, at least for what will happen to the Dursleys and I hope people like it. As far as everything else, it'll be a journey but a fruitful one.

1529 - Such wonderful words of kindness, thank you so much. It makes me happy to see people enjoy the characters and how they are growing and becoming full characters. For EU, it is really important for me for things to feel authentic and true to the setting.