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

Note: I normally don't want to be overly vain but I am very proud of this chapter and hope everyone enjoys. There are a few callbacks I hope you find delightful. Hope all are doing well!

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The Family that Chooses You

Chapter 136 – Match Repair

"I'm calling in my favor."

Harry looked up at Daphne. "Oh? I thought you'd hold onto that one for a long time to whip out at the most inconvenient opportunity." His amusement faded when he saw just how bothered she looked.

"Yes, well," Daphne chewed on a fingernail, "that was the plan but I need your assistance now."

"What's wrong? I'll help you without you calling your favor."

"Thank you but I think I will have to call it in for your help this time." She gave him a look. "I require you to meddle."

"Meddle?" Something clicked in his head at the look she gave him. "Oh. Meddle. Okay, uhm, want to tell me what's going on?"

"No, I rather you go in a blank slate and not make any preconceived notions. However," her voice faded and her face was clearly distressed, "I really need your help."

He got up and hugged her. "Hey, I'll help. I don't need any prep-work to jump in. It's how I operate best." He felt her hug him back with desperate need. "Question, why me? You remember what I almost did last year right?"

"You have the benefit of experience, precisely for that reason," she said, her voice muffled into his shoulder. "Also, you have the kind of face that encourages people to unburden their thoughts willingly."

"Thanks?"

"That was a compliment."

-0-

"So she sent you huh?" Tracy said scathingly, glaring at Harry.

He shrugged awkwardly. "Sort of? She asked for help and I'll admit, I don't know how I'm going to help but here I am."

"And what did she tell you?"

"Nothing aside that she needs help. Come on, let's walk outside."

Tracy growled but followed him out of the castle and they walked to the Lake's edge. Tracy muttered under her breath the entire time, stomping hard enough to almost leave indentations into the ground. When they stopped walking, she continued to pace while Harry sat on a large flat rock. She finally looked at Harry who had not said anything. "Well?"

"Well what?"

"Aren't you going to say anything?!"

"I'm just letting you get there," he said as calmly as he could. He flinched when she picked up a large rock and threw it into the Lake. It made a huge splash which somehow irritated her because she started chucking more things into the water. "I wouldn't do that, might piss off the squid."

"Oh what's another spineless tentacled cold-blooded thing that's pissed off to me?!" She tried to pick up another rock but it was a lot bigger than she thought and as hard as she could, she failed. With a curse she kicked it and grunted in pain, hopping up and down.

Harry sighed and pulled her down to the rock beside him, waving his wand over her foot before casting some charms.

Tracy looked angry and embarrassed. "Thanks," she grunted.

"No problem." He let the silence settle for a few moments. "I assume the other spineless tentacled cold-blooded thing is-"

"-is Daphne yes," Tracy finished, face redder. "She doesn't have tentacles though, in case you were wondering."

"I wasn't and might file that under 'too much information' but thanks for telling me I suppose."

Tracy snorted and sighed. "Why did she send you?"

"I owed her a favor for what she did for me and Katie last year. I told her I would help without her cashing it in but she insisted."

"Oh wow. Those kinds of favors are really valuable," Tracy said quietly.

"She also says I have a face that people want to unburden their thoughts to."

Tracy snorted again. "You kind of do. It's stupidly honest and you can't lie worth a damn. Can always tell what you're thinking."

"Thanks?"

"It's a compliment."

"Hey, that's what she said!"

Tracy laughed.

"So, what's going on if I may ask?"

Tracy sighed again. "School's almost over. Only a few more months. We're about to graduate and that means we have to act like adults."

"And?"

"What do you mean 'and'?" Tracy scowled at him.

"I mean, well, just because you're an adult doesn't mean you have to act like one. Sirius dressed up in witch mourning robes when I became prefect two years ago and he and Dora play pranks on each other all the time. Dora sleeps in 'till noon when she can and she challenges me to burp-offs. Uncle Ted acts like a kid at Quidditch games." He shrugged. "Auntie Andi says just because your age is an adult, doesn't mean you have to act like one all the time."

Tracy blinked. "Huh, that's actually really fascinating and kinda ruins the Fear of the Blacks thing that most in Society kinda has going on."

"Well apparently the older generations were really scary to be fair."

"I guess." Tracy looked out over the Lake. "But, I guess where I was going with it, when we graduate, it won't be Daphne and Tracy, girlfriends at school. It'll be Daphne Greengrass, the eldest daughter of the Noble and Ancient House of Greengrass, and Tracy Davis, middle child of the Slightly-Noble and Not-Ancient House of Davis. There will be so many more expectations on her, on us."

"Is your family a Vassal family of hers?"

"You know about that?"

"Sort of. A little bit. Hermione's family is a Vassal of the Blacks."

"Huh, that makes sense. Damn she has it good then. No one would dare piss off the Blacks to mess with her even if she's a Muggleborn. The Greengrass family have always been good to the Davis family so I won't complain though." She went quiet.

"Do they not approve of your relationship?"

"They do and don't at the same time. For Pure-Bloods, it's all about the whole, do what's right for the family. Produce children, propagate the family bloodline, be loyal to the family, that sort of thing. Same-sex relationships have always been around but they are usually hidden or secret and they have regular public relationships."

Harry winced. "That sounds complicated."

"It is. And it's worse for Daphne because she's the eldest. She has a little sister and her uncle's family isn't a branch family so she has other cousins to carry names and lineages, but Daphne is very traditional and takes duty very seriously."

Tracy looked down. "It's so stupid. What started all this."

"Which was?"

"Having kids."

Harry flushed. "Uh, we're still practically kids. I mean I know we're legally adults but, yeah."

"That's what I said, but Daphne was talking about it because her parents were talking about it." Tracy began to cry.

Harry awkwardly reached his arm out and gently hugged her. She rested her head on his shoulder and wept. "Can I ask something really stupid that I hope doesn't detract from your obvious being upsetness?"

She nodded, blowing her nose on a handkerchief.

"How do same-sex couples even have kids?"

Tracy laughed and cried at the same time. "Magic."

"Of course, magic."

She blew her nose again but there was a smile on her lips. "There are spells that require a man's 'donation' and stuff or you know, the old-fashioned way," Harry went pink, "but it's possible. Then there are rituals that help the baby have blood from both parents. It's not uncommon really and pretty safe."

She sighed again. "It's just, when she was talking about it and it got really real and she got mad that I wanted to ignore it and we said some really nasty things to each other and yeah." She sniffled. "I got scared. I thought she was trying to dump me."

"Really?" Harry was astonished.

"I don't know! I panicked! Her talking about the future and about kids and all that made me think that she finally realized what we have is a crush and a school-girl dalliance and it was time to grow up and be responsible!" Her voice had a note of fever to it, desperation. "I thought it was her being subtle and saying that I was..."

"Was what?"

"Unsuitable," she whispered.

"You don't really think that, do you?" he asked kindly. "You two are great together. You two fit together."

"I know that. I think she knows that. But the pressure from the families is huge." She winced and looked ashamed. "You…wouldn't really know that."

He smiled to show that he was not insulted. "No, I don't. I can't even begin to think I'd understand that. But I do know that if you love someone and they love you, you should hold onto that as tightly as you can because you can easily lose them. That I do know about."

She hugged him tightly, sobbing anew. He ran his hand up and down her back soothingly.

"Do you and Katie talk about your future?" she asked timidly.

"Sort of? Like…we know we're going to make it work despite being long distance right now. And we've talked about being together when she's done with her schooling and me in the League hopefully, or whatever I end up doing. Honestly, her mum and Auntie Andi have talked more about our future than she and I have."

He chuckled. "We're going to have two or three kids apparently. Angelina and Alicia and Daphne have demanded being named after and/or godparent rights."

Tracy chuckled wetly. "Name one of your kids Daffodil in her honor."

Harry laughed. "Hey that's a pretty name." He sobered. "Let me ask you this, do you want to break up with her?"

"No."

"Do you love her?"

"…yes," she whispered.

"Then I think you will both work hard to make things work. Just don't do the Slytherin thing of saying half-truths and being subtle. Just be honest and open."

"Like a Gryffindor?"

"Honest and stupid then," he amended and she laughed out loud.

"Thanks, Harry," she said, clinging to him.

"You're welcome. I promise I won't tell her you called her a squid."

"Oh I called her that to her face. She knows."

-0-

Daphne stared at the tea cup with intense suspicion.

"I didn't charm, hex, or jinx it," Harry said. "I'm not tricky enough."

She looked at him for a moment before she took a sip. "Well, what did you find out?"

"I found out that you two are being silly." He savored the look of outrage on her face. "And yes she sorta explained the duties of the families thing and she also sorta explained that same-sex couples can in fact have children."

"Then why was she so upset?" Daphne asked, confused.

"Because she thought you were subtly trying to dump her."

"What?! Why?!"

Harry shrugged. "I don't know. Did you say anything that would remotely insinuate that? Something your parents might have said?"

Daphne ground her teeth. "I mean, my father did say he preferred me to be in a traditional relationship but he also did not forbid my relationship with Tracy, he never has. As long as we have children, he cares not. Mother likes Tracy and Astoria adores her."

"Did you tell her that you wanted to have children with her specifically?"

Daphne's cheeks went pink. "Do you say that so baldly to Katie?"

"She said that we're going to have to have at least two if not three kids eventually but nothing more than that," Harry replied.

"Well, I, you two are more crass and are comfortable talking about such private things so openly."

Harry laughed. "I'm telling her you called her crass. So let me get this straight, you want to have children with Tracy. You actually love or the polite public word for love Tracy-"

"Deep affection for," Daphne said blushing.

"Okay you have deep affection for Tracy. You just didn't actually say it out loud? And directly?" He enjoyed the look of dawning realization on Daphne's face. "And when she started panicking you probably said something you thought was publicly appropriate but could be rather rude?"

"I told her to stop being silly," Daphne said shamefully.

"Right. So just do what you forced Katie to do without knowing, talk to her."

Daphne sighed. "I…it sounds rather simple when you say it out loud like that. Slytherins normally do not talk about such things so openly and honestly."

"Well that's stupid. Come on Daphne, you're smarter than that."

She glared weakly at him. "Maybe I was panicking and forgot myself," she mumbled.

"Just like I was panicking before. It's easy to feel that way when it comes to this sort of thing, which is normal apparently, so I've been told. I'll tell you what I told Tracy. Don't be a Slytherin about it. Be a Gryffindor."

"Honest and stupid?"

"See? You get it."

Daphne sighed again. "Yes, yes you are right. Thank you, Harry." She tried to get up but found herself stuck to the chair. "You!" she screeched at him, struggling against the chair.

"I didn't do that," Harry grinned.

"I did." Tracy pulled off the invisibility cloak and glared at her red-faced girlfriend. "You dumb bitch! Why didn't you just tell me what you were thinking?!"

"Tracy! Don't call me that in public!" Daphne glared at a laughing Harry.

"I finally got you back," Harry said as he took his cloak from Tracy. "Ah, that felt good." He waved jauntily at them. "See you later, enjoy making up."

-0-

Harry hummed softly as he wrote, still chuckling at the look on Daphne's face in his mind. He had returned to the offices to do some paperwork and was finishing things up. "Oh, thanks Nev," he said without looking when his fellow seventh year handed him a report. It took a moment for Harry to realize Neville was still standing there. "You alright?"

Neville looked uncomfortable. "Uh, not really? I was hoping to ask you for something."

"Sure," Harry said, setting the quill down. "What's up?"

"I need help."

"Help with what?"

Neville gulped. "You know Ginny a little better than I do, or at least the family…"

It was Harry's turn to look uncomfortable. "I don't know if I like where this is going."

"I'm desperate Harry, I wouldn't ask for help if I wasn't." Neville did indeed look desperate, he wrung his hands and looked almost piteous.

Harry stifled a sigh. "Okaaay. Just so you know, Ginny isn't going to like me...meddling."

"Blame it on me. I rather her mad at me for that then what she's doing now."

"And what is she doing now?"

"She's…sort of ignoring what I'm saying. Like I've been trying to talk to her about the future and she keeps ignoring it and the last time I asked her to stop pushing it away she said maybe we don't have a future to talk about."

Harry winced. "Ouch. I mean, ouch. Yeah, I can see why you're desperate. You really like her, don't you?"

"I do, ever since the Yule Ball. She's everything I'm not: funny, outgoing, gorgeous. I love being with her."

"Don't sell yourself cheaply." He coughed at Neville's look of confusion. "Short. Sorry, inside joke. You're a good person Neville. You work hard, you care deeply. I'm no authority on how attractive blokes are but I don't think you'd want me commenting on that anyways."

"Not really," Neville said with a weak smile.

"What are you planning on doing anyways?"

"I already got an apprenticeship with Professor Sprout! I'm going to get my Herbology mastery and go from there."

"Congratulations! That's awesome. You know Ginny is going for the League right?"

"I'm all for it. She's so cool to watch play Quidditch. Problem is," he gulped, "Grandmum wants Ginny to do more House things and I don't think Ginny wants that. I don't know if Ginny even liked Grandmum. I know she likes Ginny, has said so and is nice to her when she visits. Grandmum even wanting Ginny to do more House things is a sign how much she likes her."

"Hmm," Harry hummed. "So, what exactly do you want me to do?"

"Talk to her please? See if you can get her to talk to me? I…if things end…I don't want it to end badly. I'd hate that."

Harry patted Neville's arm. "Hopefully it doesn't come to that but I'll talk to her, for all the good that it'll do."

"She listens to you Harry, more than she does Ron. Which is why I didn't ask him for help." Neville's face turned red. "He's having some trouble too, I think."

"What do you mean by-" The two boys looked when the office door opened, two voices came floating in.

"I really don't want to bother him," Hannah said slowly.

"Look, you want to get to the bottom of this and out of anyone else here, Harry's probably the best to help," Susan said as she walked in, looking at Hannah. "If you ask Hermione, she and Ron will just row about it and you can't ask any of Ron's other dormmates. He and Harry are friends. Harry's super nice, you'll see." She and Hannah stopped and looked at Harry and Neville looking back at them. "Oh! Hi Harry."

Harry looked at them, particularly at Hannah's upset features and sighed deeply. "Don't tell me…"

Susan smiled weakly. "So uh, want to ask you a favor as your godfather's girlfriend's niece…"

"No offense to all of you," Harry interrupted, "but why me? Why ask me for help?"

"Because you're in a relationship and it works despite being long distance. And you were in one before them," Susan said matter-of-factly.

"Which I almost buggered up completely last year."

"But you didn't," Neville said. "And you make it work and that makes you more of an expert than us. Not to mention that you're good friends with the Weasleys."

"Please Harry?" Hannah said, tears building in her eyes.

Harry rubbed his face. "I'm just saying, normally when people need me to do something, things are in pretty dire straits." He sighed and got up. "I'll talk to them, but I'm doing it at the same time to save energy so prepare for the other to learn some things."

"I sort of assumed they already knew," Neville said with relief. "They do that weird bragging arguing thing a lot where they say stuff to try and one-up each other."

"They do?!" Susan asked alarmed while Hannah's face turned into a tomato.

"Ron and Ginny are my friends," Harry muttered to himself as he walked out of the office, leaving Neville to be interrogated by Susan and Hannah. "Neville and Susan and Hannah are my friends. I am helping my friends."

-0-

"What's this about?" Ron asked, suspicious. Harry had gone to Gryffindor tower and had Ron and Ginny follow him to an unused classroom.

"Can't be Quidditch cause the rest of the team would be here," Ginny said, equally suspicious.

"I'm saddened that neither of you trust me," Harry said with false hurt in his tone.

"You've spent more time with the twins learning from them than we did," Ron said. "And we grew up with them."

"If we wanted to learn from them, we did it through experience where they talked to you," Ginny said.

"Huh, well, okay I can see where you're coming from." Harry pushed a chair against the door and sat in it. "Okay, let's get this over with because this is going to be uncomfortable for all of us. Neville and Hannah came to me today, anyone want to guess why?"

"Hannah's breaking up with Ron and wanted you to break the news?" Ginny said snidely.

"Neville found someone nicer and cuter?" Ron said just as snidely.

Harry sighed as the siblings glared at each other. "No. They want to stay in relationships with you two and for some reason asked me to help."

"Why you?" Ron asked.

"That's what I said!"

Ginny snorted. "Because Harry's in a successful relationship and they think he can help. Which he could. But I don't need it because nothing's wrong. Remember what I told you last year Harry?"

"I do, and it's fine that you don't want to tell me anything but Neville told me some things and I can assume the worst over the missing pieces if you'd like."

"I will murder you-"

"What did Neville tell you?" Ron interrupted. "I don't want to hear any gross things about Ginny! And what did Hannah tell you?!"

"She didn't tell me anything but if she and Susan were desperate enough to come to me, then it has to be serious. I sort of hoped you'd tell me yourself but if I got to drag it out of you I will."

"You think you can drag it out of me?" Ginny asked dangerously.

"Nope but I'm hoping forcing you both to do this at the same time encourages you to before the awkwardness drowns us all." He rolled his eyes at their snorts. "But let's start with Ginny because I think I know what the problem is."

"You think you're so smart? Fine, tell me what my problem is," Ginny spat, crossing her arms.

"It's not your problem, it's the problem. Neville likes you and wants to be with you."

"You think that's the problem?!"

"No, I'm getting to it. He likes you. His grandmother likes you, at least he thinks so."

Ginny sat down heavily, looking away from them. "I think so. She's nice to me when I visit. Like strict and very proper, but she's nice. Never looks down on me because I'm a Weasley, says good things about my family. Is happy to chat with me."

"That's good then. So Neville is saying the problem started when he wants to talk about the future with you. Specifically, the role you will have to play if you two get more serious."

She waved a hand. "The future is far away still. We're not going to get married anytime soon-shut up Ron!" Ron's jaw clicked shut. "And he's doing his mastery here at Hogwarts so even when he graduates this year, he'll still be around. Then I'm going to the League and playing for a few years and he'll be a kick-ass Professor or whatever he wants. That's years away."

"Then what happens when years away becomes today?" Harry asked. He sighed at her half-hearted shrug. "You can't keep running away from it, Ginny."

"That doesn't mean we have to talk about it now! What's so funny!" she shouted at Harry's laugh.

"Sorry, I swear I'm not laughing at you. It's just, I had this same exact conversation today pretty much. Anyways, let me guess what's really bothering you, you don't want to be that Lady of the House thing that Neville's grandmum wants you to be."

Ginny blushed and looked away.

"You know, you don't have to do that," Harry said kindly.

"Yes I do. Neville is an only child and the heir of his family. The Longbottoms are an Ancient and Noble House. They have to do things to stay that way, to keep the family going." She shook her head. "I'd have to do it."

"Didn't you think that was a possibility when you started dating Neville?" Harry asked gently.

"I didn't expect to date him this long," Ginny said plaintively. "I didn't expect to…really like him and care for him." She wiped away a tear.

Harry nodded at her, looking at Ron. Ron gaped and walked over and put an awkward hand on Ginny's shoulder. She snorted and slapped him in the stomach, wiping away more tears. Harry gave Ron a look until he awkwardly hugged his little sister who finally leaned into him.

"He deserves a real Pure-Blood girl," Ginny said quietly. "One that will happily do all the family Lady nonsense. Someone who really loves him."

"That's crap," Ron said angrily. "You are a real Pure-Blood girl even if blood status is bunk."

"I agree with Ron," Harry said. "And Neville wants you. He told me as much. He really cares for you."

She sniffled.

"Do you want Neville?"

She nodded.

"So what I meant earlier about not having to do all that, I should have said you have a say in how you do that. Alicia had a lot of pressure put on her and she managed to twist things about to do things in a way she likes. It's hard, but doable. The…people I talked about earlier, they have loads of family responsibility too but there are always ways around it. Ways to do it to suit you."

"Really?" A glimmer of hope appeared in her eyes. "What if it's not what his grandmother wants?"

"You're the one marrying Neville, not her." He ignored their retching noises. "Don't the Weasleys like to do things other Pure-Blood families don't?"

They chuckled at that.

"Is Katie going to have to do those things when you two marry?" Ginny asked.

"As far as I can tell, not really? According to Sirius, the Potters were an influential family but not a Noble One but Ancient enough, and the Potters also used to do things non-traditionally. Sirius plans on having kids and his kids will have to do the stuff to keep the Blacks going. If I ever have to do anything special, Katie and I will work through it.

"So, this is something Katie and I had to learn last year too, but basically, the only people's opinions that matter first are yours and Nev's, then family and friends. Yes, you're going to have to do different things if you end up with Neville. And only you can answer this, but would it be worth it to be a part of Neville's life?"

After the briefest hesitation, she nodded.

"Then you'll make it work one way or another." Harry smirked lopsidedly. "Besides, not many people, if any, can ever tell Ginevra Weasley what to do."

"That's an understatement," Ron said quietly.

Ginny snorted and elbowed Ron in the stomach before hugging him with one arm. She got up and crossed to Harry, hugging him firmly. "Thanks Harry," she murmured. "I'll have a good talk with Neville. He deserves it."

"So do you," Harry said back. "Don't forget it."

She wiped away more tears. "Can I go now?" she asked.

"Not yet. I need you here to force Ron to be honest and to not distract me with Quidditch or chess talk." Harry ignored Ron glare. "Alright, you ready to talk yet?"

"Nope."

"Fine, we can wait."

"Fuck off."

"Hey Ginny, I ever tell you about the things Ron keeps hidden in his room?"

"Fuck you!"

"No thanks," Harry said as Ginny giggled. "Come on, you know you can tell me almost anything and Ginny won't spread your secrets about. Out with it."

Ron sighed and buried his face into his hands.

"You were the one telling me how much you like being with Hannah. You like how warm and welcome she is. You told me you wanted to help her with the Leaky Cauldron and help run the place. Fix things up. That sort of thing."

"You did?" Ginny asked, wide-eyed.

"I said that in confidence," Ron growled.

"Shoulda had it in writing." Harry snorted at Ron's glare. "If you don't tell me what's the deal then I'm going to start assuming the worst. Are you bad at snogging? Like really bad, the kind of bad that makes the girl cry? Did you make Hannah cry from bad snogging?"

"What?! No! I mean, fine I'll tell you!" he shouted over peals of Ginny's laughter. "I'm…scared of mucking things up."

"Is that all?"

"What do you mean 'is that all'?!"

"Mate, I worry about that constantly."

"You do?" Ginny asked.

"Yeah, I do. For a long time I didn't try anything with Katie because of that. I was so worried I'd mess things up so bad, we wouldn't be friends anymore. I didn't want to risk that given my, well you know, my history. It's almost been worse since we've been long distance. If I don't say the right thing, or make a mistake, it's a lot easier to break up now I imagine. Or maybe she'll find that better person like you said she would in Paris."

"Ron! You said that?!" Ginny yelled.

"I didn't say better!" Ron sputtered. "I said I bet loads of blokes hit on her!"

"That's not much better!" Ginny growled, stalking towards Ron with her wand out.

Harry waved her off. "I mean, he wasn't wrong. She actually told me this guy tried to hit on her but she and Aimee chased him off, using my name of all things. First time I've ever liked someone using my name for something." He chuckled. "Anyways, I always worry I'm going to mess up but I assume that's normal. That can't be the only thing though Ron."

He flopped down on his chair. "It's just, it's kind of like the last game. I've been getting better at being Keeper for a long time and then blam! Straight to the ground. I played like arse and when you tried to help what did I do? Be an even bigger arse and almost ruined things. I was about to pick a fight with my team."

"It wasn't just your fault," Harry said with Ginny nodding reluctantly, "it was everyone's fault."

"But that's the thing, I still made things worse and what if I do that to Hannah? What if we get into a fight and I stay my usual stubborn self and ruin everything because I'm an arsehole?"

"Ron, relationships aren't Quidditch."

"Gee, no wonder Hannah and Neville asked you to help with pithy quotes like that," Ron said sarcastically.

Harry and Ginny laughed. "I'm full of them. Alright fine. Let's assume relationships are like Quidditch. Yeah, you had a shite game. Yeah, you acted terribly. What did you do when we had practice eventually? You accepted responsibility and you tried to make up for what you did wrong. So just do that."

"But Quidditch isn't as important as a relationship."

"Bite your tongue," Ginny said.

Harry laughed again. "No I get that. Let me tell you what Auntie Andi taught me. Ron, you're human."

"No he isn't," Ginny smirked.

Harry pinched her arm. "Serious time Ginny. Ron, you're human. Hannah is human. Humans do good things and bad things. They make mistakes. It's what humans do. So you muck something up with Hannah, own up to it. Try not to do it again. Learn from it. That's all anyone can expect from you."

"It's not that easy," Ron muttered.

"Why not? Why isn't it?" Harry sighed. "I mean, you're right, it's not easy being vulnerable and it's not easy worrying about…well everything. But, it can be easier. Know that you're not perfect but neither is Hannah. You're not the only one that can make a mistake. She can too. Look, I bet with all your fears, she probably has just about the same ones you do, maybe more. Maybe less, I don't know her super well to be honest, but she's human too."

"What if I ruin things where we can't be friends anymore?" Ron asked.

"That's a possibility. But if you're afraid of the possibility, then maybe you'll work harder to make sure it doesn't become a reality. You can't be that bad. You and Hermione went on a date and you two are still friends."

"You did?!" Ginny shrieked.

"How did you know that?!" Ron shouted.

"Oops, was that a secret?" Harry flushed. "Never mind. What I mean is, just talk to her. She really was bothered, you know, bothered enough to come ask me for help. I know you're not a cruel bloke who wants to mess with a girl. I bet you were torturing yourself too. It's not fair to either of you." He smiled sadly. "I bet you were torturing yourself worse. We are our own worst enemies. No one can hurt us more than ourselves."

Ron rubbed his eyes. "So just talk to her then?"

"Yeah."

"What if she shouts at me?"

"Shouldn't you be used to that by now? With the lovely ladies in your life?"

"What are you saying about me?" Ginny asked, squinting at Harry.

"That you can be rather loud." He grunted when she poked him.

Ron laughed. "I guess you're right," he said finally.

"It's been known to happen," Harry said. "For what it's worth, I think if you care about her as much as I think you do, you'll be fine."

Ron smiled wryly. "Alright, don't think you know everything just because you've been in a relationship longest."

"Like I said, I don't know why I was asked to help. I've been making it up as I go along and panicking in the between."

"So like everything you do then?"

"Precisely. Why anyone would want help from me is mind-boggling."

-0-

"You look like something Crookshanks dragged in," Hermione remarked when Harry entered their dorm.

"I feel like it," Harry said wearily. He sat on the couch, rubbing his temples. "I had the weirdest day."

"Oh? Do tell."

Before Harry could start, a lioness appeared in the picture frame. "Two people are asking to be let in again," the lioness said. "The blonde and the brunette from Slytherin but neither appear distressed like before."

"Oh what now?" Harry groaned. "Go ahead and let them in if it's okay with you Hermione."

"If seeing them made you react like that, I definitely want to know," she laughed and rose from the couch. The portrait swung open and Daphne and Tracy came in. Her eyebrows rose at their disheveled appearance. "What happened to you two?"

Daphne coughed and tried to straighten her tie and robes while Tracy ran her fingers through her hair. "Fine, and you?" Tracy replied.

"That's not what I asked-"

"You do not wish for us to explain," Daphne interrupted with pink cheeks. "It is nothing bad, I assure you."

"You better not think it was bad," Tracy muttered.

"Anyways, this is for you Harry, a token of thanks." She handed Harry a bottle.

"Did you confiscate that?" Hermione asked, looking at the expensive bottle of alcohol.

"No, I bought this with my own money," Daphne said, insulted. "That is aged mead from a very fine vineyard and distillery. And don't you try confiscating that Hermione Granger! We are of age."

"We are Prefects and Head students! You can't give your Head student alcohol; do you know how bad that looks?"

Tracy took the bottle away from Harry and then gave it back. "There, I'm not a Prefect."

"That made it worse!"

"There's no satisfying you, is there?" Tracy asked wearily.

Harry held the bottle carefully. "Good Lord, 100 years aged? I tried a 100-year-old firewhiskey before and I thought my tongue was going to melt."

"That's because people drink firewhiskey to get drunk. Mead is much more refined," Daphne sniffed.

"Why did you give Harry expensive alcohol?" Hermione asked, suspicious.

"Because he did us a great service," Daphne said pertly as she and Tracy sat down.

"I thought you were cashing in a favor," Harry smirked.

"Oh about that, we're hoping that you would allow us to keep the favor for later," Tracy said.

"We?" Harry looked confused. "I thought it was a Daphne favor."

"I am extending it to Tracy because it will be used for our benefit in the future perhaps," Daphne said.

"So you two worked things out?" Harry asked.

"Yes, thank you," Daphne said.

"Yeah, what she said," Tracy said with a grateful smile.

"That's good." He stopped, realizing what Daphne said. "Wait, you're extending the favor to Tracy and it will be used for your two's benefit…in the future."

"I told you he'd figure it out," Tracy said without shame.

"Figure what out?" Hermione looked at a gleeful Tracy, a red-faced Daphne, and a pale Harry. "Someone explain!"

"You can't be serious," Harry said faintly.

"G-Granted it's many years in the future," Daphne mumbled.

"Don't worry, we'll ask Katie first," Tracy said, waggling her eyebrows.

"SOMEBODY. EXPLAIN!" Hermione screeched.

"Go for it girlfriend," Tracy said breezily to an incandescently red Daphne. "You said you would if Hermione demanded it."

She sat next to Harry while Hermione dragged a visibly reluctant Daphne to her room. "So don't worry. I made you a clause more to punish Daphne because she'd be really really embarrassed. Same with answering any Hermione questions. That being said, color me surprised when she wasn't completely against the idea."

Harry stared at her.

She waggled her eyebrows at him again. "I'm not against the idea either just so you know. Also I brought you this." She handed him a slim bottle. "That's some regular firewhiskey for you to guzzle now. Don't guzzle the mead. That'll kill you and it'd be a shame to. That stuff is really good. This stuff isn't and is perfect for dealing with things."

"I BEG YOUR PARDON?!" Hermione screamed; her voice cut cleanly through the closed door.

Harry undid the stopper on the firewhiskey. "We better drink this fast before Hermione comes back out."

Tracy giggled. "You won't hear me complain. Thanks, Harry. I really mean it. Thanks for all you do."

Harry smiled weakly. "You're welcome?"

"That was a compliment."

"Your compliments are going to get me in a lot of trouble."

-0-0-0-

slytherinsal - Only the once and when it happens I think you will appreciate it, spoilers. Mm, now I want a hotdog with sauerkraut and mustard.

D.J. Scales - Thank you.

DOOOOOM Lord of Waffles - Yeah I tried to draw on his experiences to show how he has become into who he was. Sometimes, the instantly experienced leader Harry is amusing to read but sometimes it's jarring. I hope everything that happened helped him become the leader he is now and that it makes sense. I thought showing Blaise as more casual since he is more comfortable around Harry to be a nice counterpoint with how formal Daphne is but she is very comfortable around Harry. Also, remember when you asked about her favor? Hope you like today's chapter.

Shamgar777 - Thank you. I like to thin that he holds true to his desire to do good for others but not necessarily see beyond the immediate consequences. To see him learn from them was kind of satisfying to me.

yogibears - Glad to have helped in my small way and hope things improve for you soon. The last few chapters did lean very much to the humor of things, well not the previous one but it ended funnily enough. Glad you liked them. I thought the shoot-out was more impactful and dramatic.

alix33 - I'd listen to that band. Hope things get better for you.