A Summer Exchange

Harry and Daphne

Chapter Five

Wiping her hands on the tea towel after finishing the dishes, Daphne looked up out and out the kitchen window to see Harry fall backwards after what must have been a terrible struggle with a weed, making Daphne giggle slightly at the sight. It had been two weeks since Daphne had arrived at Privet Drive and three days since she'd started sleeping in the same bed as Harry. It no longer felt as strange as it did to begin with, but the first moments before exhaustion claimed them still felt somewhat awkward. Deciding it was finally time to get to know her classmate better; Daphne grabbed two bottles of water from the fridge and headed outside to join Harry in the war July sunshine. "Ready for a break?" she asked holding out one of the bottles for Harry.

"Yeah, thank you," Harry said taking the bottle.

When she was settled down on the grass opposite Harry, Daphne looked over at her classmate and decided to just get straight to the point. "Remember when we were in the park, what you mentioned there?" she asked hoping she wasn't over-stepping the mark.

"Yeah, I remember," Harry said curious as to why she was bringing it up.

"I was just wondering why no one ever came and got you out of here? Surely people saw what they were doing to you?" she asked.

"It just wasn't as closely monitored back then as it is today. They never did anything in public; they never took me with them. The neighbours never saw anything, the teachers never noticed," Harry told her with a shrug as though it wasn't a big deal.

"But what about Dumbledore? He dropped you off didn't he? Didn't he ever check up on you?" she asked him.

"Not that I can remember," Harry told replied. "Why the sudden interest anyway?"

"I don't know anything about you. Kind of figured I should know more about the boy I'm sharing a bed with," she said with an amused smirk.

"Fair point," Harry said with a laugh. "What do you want to know?" he asked.

"I don't know. Who's your favourite quidditch team?" she asked.

"Seriously?" he said surprised that she would want to know something to mundane. When she nodded however he shrugged and told her, "Well if you mention this to Ron I'll deny everything, but it's Puddlemere. You a Harpies fan I take it."

"Er, no. Arrows, because obviously the blue makes my eyes pop," she said with a laugh, obviously joking.

"Of course," Harry relied with a chuckled, for the first time really taking notice of the other girls' eyes. Wow, they really are bright blue, he thought to himself, before looking away. "So I take it then that your favourite colour is blue then?"

"Yeah, but not Arrows blue. More like the blue of the sky just on the cusp of sunrise," she said with a smile. "What about you?"

"Green. Spring green to be exact, like newly bloomed leaves on trees. Spring was always my favourite time of year," Harry informed her with a shy smile. "What's your favourite food?"

"Ooo, okay that would probably be apple pie. My grandmother made the best apple pie," Daphne told him with a smile.

"Your grandmother actually made it herself?" Harry asked, his brow raised in doubt.

"Yes, my grandmother made it herself, no need to look so shocked," Daphne told him. "Go on, what's your favourite food?"

"Treacle tart," he answered right off the bat. "Favourite subject at school?"

"Charms. What about yours?"

"Defence. Although I don't really know if it's because I'm just naturally good at it, or if it's because it's kept me alive for the last couple of years," he said with a laugh making Daphne giggle lightly.

"Okay, I've got a question for you. But, feel free not answer if it's too personal. Have you ever used who you are to your advantage? Like getting a date or something?" she asked, curious.

Harry couldn't help but laugh. "Oh Merlin no! For the yule ball I didn't get a date until about a week before it was meant to take place. And any date I've been on has ended in disaster," Harry told her, before frowning thoughtfully. "I've had the Minister of Magic pay for school supplies and a room in the Leaky Cauldron for me though," he told her, shrugging as though it were not big deal making her laugh.

"That is so much better than using your name to get a date," she told him smiling before looking down at her lap, frowning. "You know I used to feel sorry for you"

"Why?"

"I don't really know. I always figured that your life must be pretty lonely, never knowing if people wanted to be with you because of your name or for who you actually were. After everything you'd been through, it didn't seem fair," she told him, awkwardly playing with the bottle in her hands as she avoided looking at the man sat opposite her.

"I guess it just means I have to be selective then. Choose my friends wisely," he said with a smile, tapping the cap of his water bottle to her own, making her look up with a shy smile. Both of them knew that the foundations to their odd friendship had now been laid. They just had to build it up.

The day after his garden conversation with Daphne, Harry woke up with a start as the enticing smells of breakfast drifted up to him, alerting him to how late he'd slept in. Quickly dressing, Harry raced downstairs, praying today would be one of the rare days when Petunia didn't mind cooking breakfast. When he finally reached the kitchen he was greeted with a sight more surprising than his aunt in the kitchen.

There in front of him, Daphne stood at the cooker, casually turning French toast over as though it were the most normal thing in the world.

"What are you doing?" Harry asked as he approached the counter where coffee and orange juice stood.

"I thought you'd like to a little lie in, so I made a start on this morning's work," Daphne said staking the toast on a plate and placing it in front of Harry with a smile before making her way back to the cooker to plate up her own breakfast.

"Thank you, it's delicious," he said after a mouthful. "I didn't even realise you knew how to cook," remarked as she sat down next to him.

"To be honest, I can't really. But I picked up a little watching you and this seemed like the easiest thing to make. Even I can't really mess up eggs; milk; bread and a little seasoning," she admitted with a smile.

"Well, thank you. That extra forty minutes was really nice. I owe you," Harry said with a smile.

"Don't worry about it," Daphne said with a dismissive shrug. "We've just got the rest of the garden to do today, it shouldn't take us too long," she told him.

"How'd you manage all the work? What time did you wake up?" he asked her, frowning.

"I couldn't sleep," Daphne replied with a shrug, deliberately avoiding both his eyes and his questions. "I'm going to wash up before they all descend. Would you mind getting the dishes?" She asked, not waiting for a reply before heading upstairs, leaving the very baffled Harry sat at the counter looking after her, wondering what had happened to the pretty brunette to make her suddenly so very helpful. At the sound of heavy footfalls coming down the stairs however Harry knew he didn't have the luxury to contemplate it at that moment and as began to move around the kitchen preparing the Dursley's breakfast he decided to think on it all later.

Unfortunately before Harry could fully contemplate Daphne's sudden and drastic change in behaviour it was time for her to leave Privet Drive and return home. The day Daphne was due to leave, Harry took charge of every chore that was required for that day, allowing Daphne to pack up and have a peaceful last day in the small Surrey house. When the moment of departure arrived, both stood at the door, unsure of what to say.

"Well… It's been interesting," Daphne said remarked as they waited for the portkey her parents had sent her to activate.

"Yeah, it's been a blast," Harry said with a sarcastic laugh. "We both know it's been terrible."

"The first half was horrible," she admitted," But the last half wasn't too bad. The chores were still terrible, but at least I got to know you a little better," she told him with a smile. "Thank you, for making me feel welcome from the start, even if I didn't realise it at the time. I appreciate it. And I'm sorry I was so difficult to start off with."

"Don't worry about it," he told her. "I knew this was going to be difficult, but I am sorry about how my aunt and uncle treated you while you were here."

"Yeah, well. I'm still going to go thank them for having me. They may have been horrible people with the manners of monkeys but I was still raised to be polite," Daphne said with a smile before heading going into the sitting room to talk to the Dursley's.

"What do you want?" Vernon sneered when he finally spotted her standing in the doorway.

"I'm leaving soon and I just wanted to thank you for having me in your house for the last three weeks," she told Vernon and Petunia. When the two adults said nothing I response but merely looked back at the TV, Daphne lost what little patience she had and walked forward to turn the TV off, ensuring she had their full attention. "I don't know what you know about our world, or about purebloods and the war, but the way that you treat you're poor nephew is absolutely deplorable. Dictators treat their prisoners better than this! That boy has saved your lives and you still treat him like dirt! You really should be ashamed of yourselves," Daphne told them before storming out the room, pausing in the hallway momentarily when she saw Harry stood in front of the door, a look of utter shock on his face having obviously heard everything she had just said. "You'll probably be sent our address by the school at some point next week," she told him as she hadn't just defended him to his rotten relatives. "I'll see you in a week. Thank you again for having me," she told him with a smile before gently moving him out the way of the door and heading outside to catch the Knight Bus home, putting an end to what would go down in history as three of the worst weeks of Daphne's life.

Well that is the end of Daphne's time with the Dursley's. Next up, Harry joins the Greengrass'.

Now, for a slight apology, I'm still doing some edits for the next chapter it won't be up within the week that most chapters are, but it shouldn't be too long.

I've also written a little Halloween one-shot for you to enjoy. It features Harry and Astoria Greengrass, it's not scary but it is slightly different, so hop over and check it out.