Chap. 9: The Prophet, Daphne and Tracey, Harry, Greenhill, and Diagon Alley.

The Davis family was having breakfast on the 20th when an owl arrived delivering the Daily Prophet.

Tracey's father, David, placed the paper's payment into the small leather pouch on the owl and retrieved the paper before the owl flew away.

David was finished with his breakfast and was just sipping his tea while waiting to go to work at the MoM that Saturday for a half-day. His wife, Ruth, who he called Ruthie, his son, Daniel, his eldest, and his daughter, Tracey, who was still at Hogwarts, were still eating.

Here, David unrolled the Prophet and unfolded it to find today's headline.

"Well, the announcement is out about Daphne and Mr. Potter," David commented.

This obtained Tracey's attention very quickly. "What's it say?"

David cleared his throat, took another sip of his tea, and began to read:

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Chosen One To Wed!

Saturday, July 20th, 1996

That's correct, dear readers, the Chosen One and the Boy Who Lived is now, officially, off the market!

It seems that when young Harry Potter, who is to turn sixteen on the 31st of this month, became Lord Black, he found himself under an unbreakable betrothal contract between the Houses of Black and Greengrass.

The contract was made between Arcturus Black III and Astor Greengrass to ensure a line continuance, and the two house members that had originally fallen under this said contract were none other than Sirius Orion Black III and Alcmene Greengrass, who both passed on within days of each other.

What occurred after the two's passing, dear readers is that the contract, to be fulfilled, switched to the new Black heir, Harry James Potter, and Gareth Greengrass' younger brother, Cyrus', elder daughter, Daphne Victoria Greengrass, who became the heiress.

Gareth Greengrass was overheard, by a reliable source, saying that he would step down as the head of house and pass that on, along with his title, to his younger brother, Cyrus, during the next Wizengamot session in August. Thus, dear readers, we are to have a new Lord Greengrass alongside his soon-to-be son-in-law, who holds two seats, himself, Harry Potter, Lord of the Ancient Houses of Potter, and Black. What their allegiance or politics will be, nobody truly knows, though it is thought that the Ancient House of Greengrass will remain as an Independent.

For more on the Greengrass family, see page 4, column 2. For more on the Potter family, see page 4, column 3, and for the Black family, see page 5, column 1.

Barnabus Cuffe, Editor-in-Chief

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"Well," David said as he lay the Prophet down upon the table, which Tracey quickly snatched up, "they at least have two good photos of both, which I assume were taken at Hogwarts."

Here, Tracey merely nodded as she read the same article while already thinking about high-tailing it over to her cousin's this morning.

"I have to be at work, so, I'm off," David said as he made his way out of the dining room. "I'll be home at noon!"

Harry woke that morning in somewhat of a combination of a good and bad mood. The bad, he thought, was over that kiss, as he couldn't, for the life of him, forget it, and that was causing him a huge problem!

The huge problem was a constant erection that would appear almost every time he would think about his soon-to-be wife. That was hard to hide when one was at home, and not wearing robes!

The most he could do was to either take a cold shower or think about something hideous, like Marge screwing Filch. That even made a shiver go over him, then, with goosebumps raising on his arms.

Worse, though, were the dreams, which were obscene. He had dreamed of taking his new wife in every position possible, and worse, he dreamed of the acts that she would perform on him! It was wicked, and no magazine that he had ever seen showed such debauchery!

Last, but not least, were his nocturnal emissions, as he had two, which were that morning, and the morning before; waking up in a sticky mess. Thank Merlin for the cleaning charm, Harry thought, or he would have a hard time explaining his soiled drawers to his aunt, if, Merlin forbid, she noticed them!

He had never acted nor felt this way before, and he wasn't sure about what to do, so, with a sigh, he stood from the edge of his bed, adjusted his todger in his trousers, again, and made his way out of his room with that day's Prophet to show his aunt.

On the way down the stairs, he thought that visiting Diagon Alley might be a good thing to do to take his mind off things. That, and he might hit a few bookstores to find a book about magically binding betrothal contracts.

Tracey appeared in the floo, in the receiving hall at Greenhill Manor, and made her way into the great hall. Nobody was there, so she made her way to the kitchen, where she knew they had breakfast most of the time. When she entered, she only found Helen, who was still looking at the Prophet.

"Good morning, Auntie Helen," Tracey said. "Where's Daph?"

"Good morning to you, too, dear," Helen replied. "Daphne took her tea and made her way to the garden room. She seems a little off since the other night." Helen smirked at that last statement.

"Really?" Tracey inquired.

"Yes," Helen said, "and I believe it's boy related." Here, Helen let out a light chortle.

"I'll go find her, then, Auntie," Tracey said, as she sped out of the room. Tracey had to see and hear this.

Tracey made her way across the great hall to the rear, where a door led to the garden room, which overlooked the fountain and gardens. The door, Tracey always adored, as it had a stained glass panel in it depicting the Greengrass coat of arms, which, legally, still belonged to Gareth, since, in Britain, they are legal property transmitted from father to eldest son as the heir. However, this one showed the cadency as the second son, or spare, having a crescent at the top of the shield.

Tracey wasn't sure if the arms owned by Gareth would transfer over to Cyrus after Gareth stepped down, and gave Cyrus the title.

Tracey shook her head at this to clear her thoughts as she opened the door, and walked out into the garden room, where she found Daphne sipping a cuppa, and staring out toward the fountain. Daphne didn't seem to notice her.

"Daph?" Tracey said, which seemed to startle her blond cousin.

"Oh, er, Tracey," Daphne stuttered, "good morning!"

"Are you all right, Daph?"

Here, Daphne sighed, but then pursed her lips and looked back toward the fountain. "Not really, no."

"Why?" Tracey wondered.

"Not here, Tracey," Daphne said, as she sat down her cup, stood, and opened the door leading out to the grounds. "Let's sit out by the fountain where it's private."

Tracey followed Daphne out the French doors, across the graveled walkway, down a set of steps, and out to the fountain where they sat down on the stone bench that overlooked the gardens and fields in the distance.

They sat there for a few minutes until Tracey said, "Okay, spill!"

"I've not slept well since I kissed Harry the other night when we signed the contract," Daphne said. "I've had dreams all night long, and I wake up tired."

"Dreams?"

"Yes," Daphne sighed, "and they're rather, one could say, erotic."

Here, Tracey snorted.

"It's not funny, Tracey!" Daphne exclaimed, and then looked about to see if anyone could hear them. "They're obscene!"

"Really?" Tracey replied in a surprised whisper.

"You have no idea! Oh, the things that I've dreamed about Harry and I doing; things that I've never thought about before, like putting something in my mouth, you know..."

"Oh, Merlin!" Tracey said. "You have it bad, Daph!"

"Have what?"

"You've already fallen for Potter, hook, line, and sinker," Tracey remarked. "These kinds of lustful thoughts, or dreams, only come about in those who want to, well, do the deed!"

"Tracey!" Daphne exclaimed looking scandalized. "I have, though, woken up with my panties wet the last two mornings! Worse, I've been extra-sensitive, well, you know, down there ever since."

Here, Tracey snorted and then guffawed. "It's normal, I'm telling you! Look, Daph, you've never found anyone that wanted to be with you, for just you, due to your gift. What did you see in Potter's mind?"

"He doesn't see me as a side of meat, for one, but he does find me really attractive, and I do him as well, now that he dresses respectably. Not once did I catch him thinking about wanting to get in my knickers!"

"What kind of kiss did you give him?"

Here, Daphne blushed to her roots. "It was so embarrassing, Tracey! I practically molested the poor man! I don't know what came over me, just that I caught some of his surface thoughts when he gave me that ring, and I saw that he was actually sincere."

"Well," Tracey said, "now that you've kissed the man like that, you might find that he does want in your knickers, so don't be too put off by it.

"Hey, let's go to Diagon Alley, today, for a bit of shopping?"

"Okay," Daphne replied, and then she stood. "It may take my mind off my 'little problem.'"

Tracey smirked at Daphne's use of air quotes.

Harry was combing the shelves in Flourish and Blotts for a book on contract or betrothal magic. They had directed him to go upstairs and look in the shelves along the back, which is where he was now perusing.

Here, he found a rather thin book with its title printed lengthwise along its spine, titled: The Magic Of Contracts, From Business To Marriage, by Wendell D Plunker, Esq.. He pulled it from the shelf and quickly looked at the index.

There it was, on page 58, "Betrothal Contracts," so he quickly fanned the pages to that page. Here, he began skimming over the content, until he came to a section on magic that could cause eroticism to help the couple along. The more he read, the more his jaw dropped. Surely not, he thought!

Here, Harry shut the book and made his way down the stairs to pay. At the counter, the salesman gave him a strange look, but accepted his coin, and Harry left.

Once back in the alley, Harry reopened the book and began to read as he slowly made his way to Carkitt Market, where he was going to have brunch at the Wands and Wizards cafe.

Once he made it to the front of the cafe, he stopped and finished reading the chapter. He didn't notice that he was standing still, with his head bowed, and right next to the entrance.

Finally, he closed the book and took a step forward, where he felt himself bump into someone with his right shoulder.

"Hey, watch it!" Said a female's voice.

Daphne and Tracey had just left the Gringotts Money Exchange, where both exchanged some galleons for the British pound, as they thought that they might take a quick trip into the muggle world later on, and do some shopping for some new jeans, which both wore when not entertaining or visiting older friends of their parents. If they were, they wore long designer skirts, which hang mid-calf, and a nice top, which is what Daphne was wearing the night she signed the contract.

Both were busy discussing what jeans they wanted to look at as they made their way across the crowded market square. They thought that a bite of brunch would do them well, and then they would leave for the muggle world via the Leaky Cauldron.

Tracey was arguing with her cousin about brands and didn't see the man she bumped into. When she did bounce off the person's shoulder, she noticed that it was a wizard wearing a brown tweed jacket, brown slacks, and a brown wool flat cap. She couldn't tell who it was, since they had their head bowed from reading a book. Of course, she wasn't going to take the blame, so she said, "Hey, watch it!"

"Oh, uh, sorry," the wizard said, and then looked up. Tracey's mouth dropped.

"Harry!" Daphne exclaimed with a small smile. "I didn't think I would see you today."

"I didn't think I would you, either," Harry said as he looked his fiancée in the eye, and blushed.

The first thought of Harry that Daphne caught was "she's bloody beautiful," which made her blush.

Tracey looked at both, who were now simply staring at one another, and not making a move to do anything else. It was as if both were lost in their own little worlds.

Here, Tracey cleared her throat, but it didn't break either out of their staring. Tracey thought that both looked like they wanted to snog each other senseless, what with Daphne and Harry's dumbstruck smiles.

"Hey, what am I, a street lamp," Tracey remarked. "Don't I get an introduction?"

This seemed to bring both out of their daze, where they cleared their throats before finally noticing Tracey.

"Sorry, Tracey," Daphne muttered.

"You're Tracey Davis, aren't you?" Harry said as he took in the young witch before him. She was Daphne's height and had dark brown, almost black, hair, which was done in a bob just above her shoulders. Harry also noticed that she wore a pair of wire-rimmed reading glasses.

"Yes, and Daph's lovely cousin. Our mums are sisters."

Harry caught Daphne's nickname and filed that away for later. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Miss Davis."

Here, Harry took her hand, gave a bow, and then gave her hand an air kiss. Daphne noticed that only she received the real kiss, and this seemed to cause the warming and tingling feeling, especially in her nether regions, to reappear. She also couldn't see any surface thoughts of Harry being attracted to her cousin, either. That, then, led to the thought of her wanting to snog him, again! That, and maybe do something to him that was unmentionable, which caused her to release a shuddering little sigh that she hoped neither overheard.

Oh, dear Merlin, Daphne thought, she did have it bad for Harry!

"I was just going to have some brunch, ladies," Harry said, "so, would you care to join me?"

"Sure," Daphne spoke up and attached herself to Harry's right arm with a shy smile.

Here, Harry held open the wide oak door and allowed Tracey to go in first before he and Daphne walked in arm-in-arm.

When the patrons noticed the young couple, who had just been on the front page of the Prophet, a sudden silence fell over the cafe before everyone started speaking to their table-mates in whispers.

When Daphne looked up at Harry, he just rolled his eyes and followed Tracey to a table at the large bow window at the front. The gossip would spread everywhere by that afternoon, Daphne thought.

Once at the table, Harry pulled Daphne's chair out for her and only took his seat after she was sitting. This made Tracey smirk at her cousin, and then wiggle her eyebrows at her, making Daphne, again, blush.

"So, Potter," Tracey inquired, "where have you been this morning?"

Before Harry could answer, though, the waitress came by and asked them for their orders. Harry ordered a Bacon Butty and a cuppa. Daphne thought that this sounded good, and ordered one as well.

Tracey, though, ordered French Toast, as she had a huge sweet tooth.

Once the waitress walked away, Harry finally answered.

"I was out for a bit of shopping," Harry said, "and bought a book."

When Daphne glanced toward him, she saw the title of the book, which was laying on the table.

"Can I see it?" Daphne asked.

"Of course," Harry said, "and I think you'll find pages 58 to 63 very interesting."

Harry and Tracey made polite small talk while Daphne read that section, and when she was finished, she gasped and looked up at Harry with wide eyes.

"Do you think," Daphne asked in a loud whisper, "that the magic is affecting us?"

"I'm not sure," Harry said. "However, I've been having some, let's say, problems."

"You're not the only one," Daphne muttered, which Harry heard.

"So, uh," Harry said, "you have too?"

"Many dreams," Daphne said with another shuddering sigh.

"Me, too," Harry replied, "and..., other things."

This caused Daphne's eyebrows to shoot up. She noticed that Harry was now staring at his lap, where he gave an aggravated sigh.

"I need to go to the loo for a moment," Harry muttered. He stood, and tried to hide his groin area with the white cloth napkin in his hand, but Daphne saw what he was trying to hide, and so did Tracey if her gasp was anything to go by.

Once Harry was out of earshot, Tracey give out a low squeal.

"Oh, Morgana, Daphne," Tracey leaned over and whispered, "did you see the size of his trouser snake? It is huge, and it was stretched all the way over to his left pocket! You lucky, lucky, witch!"

Daphne blushed to her roots, let out another shuddering gasp, and started to fan herself with her folded cloth napkin. She was now practically itching downstairs, and she wanted Harry to scratch that itch in the fastest possible way. It actually put her to squirming in her seat.

"Daphne!" Tracey scolded. "Control yourself, or people will talk."

Just then, the waitress brought their tea, along with a glass of ice water. Daphne, seeing this, grabbed her ice water, and took a huge gulp.

"I'll have to tell you what is in that book, Tracey," Daphne said. "I think the contract's magic is affecting Harry and I."

"What do you mean?" Tracey asked, but Daphne shook her head, as Harry was returning.

"All right, ladies?" Harry said as he took his seat.

Daphne noticed that Harry still had a large bulge at his groin, and almost groaned out, but caught herself.

Their food arrived, then, and the three started talking about shopping, which did take Harry and Daphne's minds off other things.

Once everyone was through, Harry paid their bill, and the three left to make their way back to Diagon Alley. Daphne, though, held onto Harry's right arm all the way to the entrance of Diagon Alley.

"I'll apparate from here," Harry said, "so you two go have fun."

"You can already apparate?" Tracey asked with a pout.

"Uh, yea, I was taught early to obtain my license," Harry explained.

"Harry," Daphne said as she looked up into Harry's eyes, "owl me, will you?"

"I will," Harry said, as Tracey noticed the two being drawn toward each other like a magnet.

Sure enough, it wasn't but a few seconds until the two's lips collided, where Daphne threw her arms around Harry's back as Harry pulled the young blond witch into him.

It was going on for too long to be decent, and when Tracey started to clear her throat, a camera flash went off, which caught all three off guard. It was the Prophet's photographer, Bozo.

"Oh, no," Harry said as he released Daphne. "I'll see you soon, eh? Harrods on my birthday!

"I'm off to the ministry and keep the book. By ladies!"

Here, Harry turned on the spot, and he disapparated with a pop.

Daphne glared at Bozo as if he had just committed a mortal sin. Bozo made the wise decision to flee when he noticed Daphne reach for her wand.

A/N: My review page hasn't worked since the 30th, just after I posted Chap. 8. If I haven't responded, that is why.