Chapter Two

Daphne Greengrass, referred to by every student (and even some teachers) of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry as the Ice Queen of Slytherin, sat silently as their housemates laughed at Draco Malfoy's pathetic jokes regarding the Boy-Who-Lived, Harry Potter. Once again, Harry Potter saw himself in a heap of trouble after his name came out of the Goblet of Fire. It all started on Halloween, when the champions were being selected for the Triwizard Tournament. Viktor Krum had been selected as the Durmstrang champion, Fleur Delacour as the Beauxbatons champion, and Cedric Diggory as the Hogwarts champion. Daphne snorted when she heard the Diggory's name, as she really had no faith in the Hufflepuff. Still, she clapped along with everyone else. School spirit, or something like that. But then, the cup lit itself a fourth time and Harry Bloody Potter's name came out of it.

The entire hall was shocked, Daphne herself was too. How on earth did he manage to even put his name in the cup? She saw what happened to the Weasley twins after tying to cheat the age line. After that, all hell broke loose. Potter became a pariah in the school, rejected by all, even his best friends Weasley and Granger. Somehow, they initiated a movement that saw Potter expelled from Gryffindor tower that very night. Daphne didn't hate Potter, but she didn't have any reason to like him either. Still, what the hell? His own friends betrayed him? Gryffindors betraying each other? That was such a paradox...

Potter disappeared that very same night, showing up for classes and nothing more. He never came to the Great Hall for meals and never spoke to anyone. There were rumors that McGonagall and the staff tried to coerce Potter into returning to Gryffindor Tower, ignoring the fact that he was banished by the entire house.

The same rumors said that Potter simply stated that he had found his own quarters, and that according to the Hogwarts charter, in order to return to the house a banished student would have to willingly comply with the requirements the house stipulated at the time of the banishment. Since Gryffindor never made any stipulations at the time, the banishment was permanent.

If the staff were so concerned, they could just give him a new Sorting. Of course, they refused to do so, and Potter politely returned to his own rooms, using a house-elf. That was another thing, Potter was the Lord Potter; he was entitled to have a couple of house-elves, but somehow there was something about this that didn't make sense, and Daphne didn't like puzzles.

All that led up to that day, November twenty-fourth, the day of the first task. As usual, Malfoy was goading everyone against Potter, and in just a couple of hours they would be outside, watching the first task. There were rumors of dragons...

Daphne finished her meal and quietly left the Great Hall, ignoring the commotion and excitement that had taken hold of the entire student body. She exited the castle and casually walked to the shores of the lake, where she intended to sit for a bit and relax before the task.

To her disappointment, as she arrived at the lake she noticed that her usual spot was already occupied by a boy, who seemed to be eating a sandwich. Not only that, but at a distance the boy appeared to be Harry Potter. Daphne snorted and cursed her own luck. However, somehow, she had a strange feeling she should approach him. They had never talked, not even jabbing at each other. She was usually just a spectator in Potter/Malfoy wars, and she had never shown any interest in stepping in. She wasn't selfless nor was she particularly caring, especially for Potter, yet for some reason she felt some level of sympathy for the Gryffindor. He was completely alone, and if the rumors were true, he might even die going up against the dragons. No one deserved that.

She took the first step towards him. She hesitated, focusing again on what she was doing. After reconsidering one more time, she took a deep breath and continued walking in his direction. When she finally reached him, Potter had finished his meal and was simply sitting there with his eyes closed. She wanted to say something, but what? Apparently, Harry Potter decided to make it easy for her.

"Good afternoon, Lady Greengrass," he said without even opening his eyes. "How are you on this fine day?"

Daphne simply gasped, her blue eyes widening.

"How did you know?" she asked, after recovering from her initial surprise.

"I felt your magic a few minutes ago," he said, as if it explained everything. In fact, it only prompted more questions. He rose and turned towards her. Daphne looked at him and couldn't help but notice that there was something weird about Potter. He still wore baggy clothes, unfitting of a lord of his station. His hair was still messy, but his demeanour had changed completely. He didn't smile, nor did he attempt to, and his eyes, usually bright green were now flaring. Daphne blinked twice, just to be sure she had really seen what she thought she had, and indeed his eyes were burning with green flames. She held her breath for a moment before noticing he was looking back at her with a raised eyebrow.

"Greengrass, are you alright?" asked Harry, noticing she was acting a bit off.

"I am fine, Potter, it is nothing," she replied, hiding her insecurities behind her Ice Queen mask. "I noticed you sitting here, and I was curious..."

Harry chuckled, and a very small smile shaped his lips.

"And how can I help you to fulfill your curiosity?" he asked her in a low, soft voice, which made her somewhat uneasy. Daphne gulped.

"Are you aware that there are rumors concerning dragons for the first task today?" she asked, expecting to see surprise or fear in his eyes. Instead, she saw only amusement.

"Oh, I saw them, all right," Harry replied with a smile, looking towards the edge of the forest, inviting her to look in the same direction with a nod. "Magnificent beasts, actually. Whatever they are preparing, they have a Swedish Short-Snout, a Chinese Fireball, a Common Welsh Green, and a Hungarian Horntail. My guess is that they have a dragon for each champion to face."

The easiness in Potter's words shocked her. Was he insane?

"Are you..." she started, unable to finish the sentence.

"Insane? Afraid?" he supplied with a smirk. "Actually, I'm quite scared, to be honest, as I should be. I'm a fourth year who's seen himself drawn into the tournament against his will, squaring off against three seventh year students who have the advantage in both magical power and knowledge. I'll be lucky if I survive the afternoon."

Daphne simply looked at him.

"You meant it?" she asked quietly after a moment, "When you said you hadn't put your name in the cup?" Harry nodded calmly.

"I didn't," was his simple reply. "Unlike what people like to think of me, I am not a glory seeker. Besides, how could I pass through the age line? Also, keep in mind that my name had no school associated, which leads me to believe that someone placed my name in the cup in a way that guaranteed I would be chosen to compete."

"And why exactly would someone go to all that trouble just to put you in the tournament, Potter?" she asked, annoyed with his self-important conspiracy theory.

Harry lifted an eyebrow to her.

"I can give you a couple of reasons, but my main idea is that someone wants me humiliated, dead, or both. By making me participate in the tournament, they wouldn't even have to dirty their hands." This time it was Daphne who raised an eyebrow.

"I see," she replied, believing him an arrogant fool.

"You don't believe me," he replied, after quietly looking at her blue eyes. "You think I am lying, and that I am just an attention seeking brat with no sense of self preservation, like any pathetic Gryffindor."

"Actually, I do believe you didn't put your name in the cup. You clearly have no extraordinary power that would allow you to get around Dumbledore's wards. He is supposed to be the most powerful wizard alive, after all, apart from You-Know-Who."

"Why can't you people call him Voldemort?" he sighed, without noticing the fact that she didn't flinch.

"Because I don't like to announce my "bravery" or make myself a target by calling him by his name," she replied immediately, glaring at him. "Especially in certain circles I am forced to attend."

"I see," he replied, crossing his arms before him. "And do you believe I'm an attention seeking brat?"

"Why would my opinion be so important to you, Potter?" she asked, glaring at him, clearly uncomfortable. Harry simply shrugged.

"It isn't," he replied, "I am simply curious, and in case you ever wondered, I loathe my fame and I would exchange it all for a mere day with my parents."

That struck a nerve with Daphne, although she didn't show it.

"I guess people never think about the true price of your fame, huh?" she asked him, her demeanour calmer, although not warmer.

"There is a phrase among the muggles," Harry started, "I don't recall all of it, but it ends something like you can either die a hero or live long enough to become the villain. I believe people no longer care about the Boy-Who-Lived simply because they no longer have a use for him," Harry explained, missing Daphne's raised eyebrows. "Dumbledore became famous and took up seats of power. People can look to him to seek guidance. The Boy-Who-Lived is just a child," he waved his hand as if he was discarding a piece of trash, "and therefore useless to everyone."

Daphne didn't comment. She simply stared at him, a cold mask hiding her true feelings. She started to speak, but then she heard a pop near Potter. She turned toward the sound and saw a house-elf unlike any she had ever seen. This elf was taller and carried himself with more pride. Unlike the wide eyes of most house-elves, this one had narrower, dark eyes, and wore a very simple black uniform with two daggers at his belt. To her surprise, the house-elf turned to her and bowed.

"My lady, how do you do?" the elf spoke in perfect English. Turning to Potter, the elf lifted his head, "My lord, McGonagall seeks you, no doubt for the first task."

Harry nodded and turned to Daphne once more.

"I apologize, my lady, but unfortunately we must cut our conversation short. I do hope we may resume it at a later date." Potter extended his hand to Daphne, not for a mere handshake, but instead asking her politely for her hand. She recognized the gesture and was indeed surprised when Harry took her knuckles to his lips.

"Enjoy the show," he told her, before turning his back on her and walking back to the castle.

Daphne Greengrass simply stood there, trying to understand Harry Potter.

It was time. People started to occupy the stands around the rocky clearing where the task would take place. The stands were completely full. There were six sections in total, one for each Hogwarts house and their guests, and two others for those who had bought tickets to watch the show, which included mostly purebloods. Daphne knew her parents wouldn't be coming so she wasn't worried about that. Even if they did show up, they wouldn't miss their eldest daughter enough to bother visiting her.

Daphne sat with her fellow Slytherins, who were all overjoyed to be betting on Potter's death. Daphne noticed her friend, Tracey Davis, betting snog time with her boyfriend Theo Nott on how Potter would be hurt, a bet which he quickly accepted and even doubled. Malfoy, as usual, was being his idiotic self, taunting everything and everyone not on his side. Parkinson was simply giggling at everything he said, giving him puppy dog eyes.

Daphne ignored the commotion in the Slytherin section and simply looked around to the other stands. Hufflepuff supported their champion in full, obviously loathing Potter. As she expected, no one in Gryffindor supported Harry Potter; instead, they all supported the Hufflepuff champion. In Ravenclaw, Cho Chang, the supposed Asian beauty of Hogwarts, rallied most of her house to support Cedric. It was clear that Potter wouldn't have anyone cheering for him.

Not that she cared.

And she didn't.