Chapter seven
Confessions and Conversations
Harry fixed his eyes on the blond girl he met over the summer as he walked slowly up to her. Daphne stood to greet him as he approached.
"Hello, Harry." Her voice was soft.
"Hello, Daphne," He replied in a slow, drawn out way.
Smiling timidly she said, "You don't look very surprised."
"Surprised? That you're a witch or that you're here?"
"Both." Her expression turned to worry.
"No, I'm not really surprised." He kept his voice firm with a hint of anger. "You see, I over heard you talking to your aunt the night the owl came."
She sighed and looked away. "I told her it was risky contacting Mr. Black while you were in her home."
Startled by the name, Harry asked, "Mr. Black? You don't mean…Sirius?"
"Yes. Isn't he your godfather?"
"So he is in on this!" Harry was quite frustrated. "What is it with everybody?"
"Harry, I'm sorry! I wanted to tell you, but…"
"But what?"
"I was told not to!"
Nodding his head he said, "Figures." Then with sudden puzzlement he asked, "Come to think of it, why are you here? Or better yet, why haven't you been here for the last four years?"
Daphne's eyes widened. "That's a good question. I…er…well I've been…"
"At Beauxbatons Academy. Daphne's a student at Beauxbatons." Albus Dumbledore stepped out of his office and placed a hand on Daphne's shoulder. "She was accepted here, but with her mother's work on the continent, they decided it would be better for her to study at Beauxbatons."
Harry looked from one to the other. "So, why is she here now?"
"We are facing dangerous times, Harry. Daphne's mother has a special gift that could prove quite useful in our coming endeavours. I asked her to come here to help and, naturally, she brought Daphne with her."
Starting to feel a bit better about the whole thing, Harry asked, "What sort of special talent?"
"I'm sorry, Harry, but I cannot tell you that. I cannot risk Voldemort finding out about any of our plans. Not that you would tell him, but you never know who, or what, is listening."
Harry glanced around at the portraits and the suits of armor. Dumbledore was right. Any of these things could possibly tell a hundred secrets.
"Now, Harry, I trust you will forgive Daphne for keeping this from you, but I thought it would be better if you heard the truth from me." Harry nodded at the old wizard. "And as far as Mrs. Figg is concerned…" Harry's eyes widened at the name, "I think she ought to tell you about it herself."
Harry was about to ask him to be more specific, but instead Dumbledore became his usual jolly self and said, "Dear me! We're going to miss the feast! Harry, could you take Daphne down and introduce her to the rest of the Gryffindors? That's where she'll be staying this year."
Harry shrugged and eyed the blond girl before turning around and signaling her to follow. After a few minutes she said, "So, you're not upset?"
"Not really. It wouldn't be the first time I found out about a secret everyone was keeping from me. And I'm sure it won't be the last," Harry replied as they descended one of the many staircases leading to the Great Hall.
* * * * * * * * * * * * ** * * * * * *
"I wonder what's keeping Harry? What did they need him for anyway?" Hermione asked Ron as they sat down at their table.
"I think we're about to find out," Ron watched closely as Harry approached their table. Hermione noticed that Ron flattened out his hair and brushed out some wrinkles in his robes before saying, "Hello there, Harry. Who's this?" He smiled a wide smile at the pretty girl.
"This is Daphne Affigo," Harry gave them an all knowing look.
"The girl from this summer?" Hermione asked.
"No wonder you wanted to get to know her better!" Ron said grinning, causing Hermione to elbow him in the side.
"You must be Ron Weasley." Daphne shook his hand.
"How did you know?" He seemed very pleased that she had heard of him.
"Harry told me all about you…and Hermione Granger." She shook Hermione's hand. "You really are lucky to have a friend like Harry. He talked non-stop about you both!"
Ron's ears went pink and Hermione thrust her chin in the air. They all took their seats, with Ron making sure he sat next to Daphne, and started asking her more questions than she could answer. Harry jumped in and explained what Dumbledore had said.
"Beauxbatons, eh? Well, I'm sure Hagrid will love hearing your stories about Madame Maxime," Hermione chimed in.
"Who?" asked Daphne.
"Hagrid, our Care of Magical Creatures teacher." Hermione pointed to the large man at the end of the staff table. "He looks frightening, but he's really quite nice," she said.
"He and Madam Maxime spent the summer together on assignment for Dumbledore," Ron added, nudging closer to Daphne.
"I'm sorry, but who is this Madam Maxime?" Her question brought stares from Ron, Harry, and Hermione.
"Well, she's the head-mistress of Beauxbatons," Harry said, puzzled.
Daphne's eyes grew large, "Oh yes! We just call her Madam M," She looked at the others with a smile. "So, who are all the other teachers?"
Ron started down the table naming the teachers and rating them by classroom manner and amount of homework given. Hermione kept an eye on Daphne, still curious about her lack of recognition of Madam Maxime. Her eyes stayed fixed on the girl right up to the moment when Daphne said, "Professor Snape!"
She smiled and looked very excited. Ron had to ask, "You know Snape?"
"Of course I do! My mother and he are good friends!" Her smile broadened. "I had forgotten that he would be here! Oh how wonderful!"
Ron and Harry looked at each other and back at Daphne before Ron said, "You mean…you like him?"
"Certainly! What's not to like?"
Ron smirked, "How much time do you have?"
Harry jumped in. "What Ron's trying to say is that Snape, being head of Slytherin, doesn't much care for Gryffindors."
"HATES is more like it," Ron spat.
"Especially Harry." Hermione said.
"I can't imagine that!" Daphne smiled at Harry. "Maybe you just haven't gotten to know him. Trust me, underneath that gruff exterior is a genuine heart of gold!"
Before there could be anymore protest, Professor Dumbledore stood up and all the students in the Hall quieted down to hear what he had to say. "My dear students, welcome to another year at Hogwarts! I'm so very pleased that so many of you made the right decision and returned to school during these dangerous times. But for us to be victorious in this battle, we must first learn HOW to be victorious!
"We haven't overlooked the dangers, however. I'm certain you all noticed the two Graphorns as you entered the castle. They have been trained to recognize only those people placed under the Identicus charm, which you all received upon entering. You need not fear them. Also, you will notice your course schedules will include a dueling lesson once a week in place of one of your other classes. Our dueling instructor, Remus Lupin, will be joining us next week."
Harry, Ron, and Hermione looked at each other with surprise. "I though he had left because of parental complaints?" Hermione said.
"He obviously doesn't care. Dumbledore knows that Lupin can be trusted," Harry stated.
"Just goes to show you that Dumbledore won't let Mr. Malfoy or any of those other ninnys run the show," Ron said.
They silenced as Dumbledore continued. "We also have a new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher with us who, I'm sure, will provide us with an excellent new view of protection…Professor Arabella Figg.
Harry's eyes darted to the other end of the staff table where, sure enough, sat Mrs. Figg. Harry, Ron, and Hermione turned to look at Daphne with astonishment.
She smiled coyly and said, "Er…surprise?"
"Now, as I'm sure you are all quite hungry from your trip, let the feast begin!" At Dumbledore's command, the plates filled with some of the most appetizing food the students had ever seen. Harry, Ron, and Hermione started in on their food, glancing every now and then at Daphne.
"I guess I need to apologize for not explaining about my aunt," she said to Harry.
"She is your aunt then?" Harry questioned.
With a laugh Daphne said, "Yes, she is definitely my aunt."
They continued with the meal, getting to know one another better. Ron took great pleasure in telling Daphne about which students were nice and whom to avoid. Harry told her more about Hagrid and his monster fetish and how Lupin had been the best teacher they'd ever had. The conversation went on until they were all stuffed and growing very sleepy.
As they headed to the Gryffindor tower, Dumbledore called Daphne aside and spoke to her alone as the other three watched with curiosity. Harry noticed Hermione squinting at the other girl. "What's wrong, Hermione?"
"There's something fishy about that girl," she replied.
"Oh come on. So she lied to Harry a bit this summer. She apologized and got it all out over dinner. You were there!" Ron said.
"Yes, I was there…to see how she obviously didn't know who Madam Maxime was, how her mother is in league with Snape, and now the headmaster is whispering to her before bed!"
"You're imagining things, Hermione. Sure it's weird about Snape, but he's bound to have a friend somewhere." Ron argued.
"I wouldn't expect you to believe there's anything wrong with her, Ron. Goodness knows, you spent half the night flirting with her!" retorted Hermione.
"You're just jealous that she's getting more attention than you are!" Ron said, getting red in the face.
Hermione had had enough. "I am not jealous!" She turned around and headed up to the portrait hole.
"Great, Ron, now we don't know what the password is," Harry said.
"Didn't you ask somebody?" Ron questioned.
"No, I didn't think I'd have to because we'd be with Hermione!"
They stood in silence for a minute, watching Daphne discuss what ever it was with Dumbledore. Harry couldn't hold it in any longer. "You know, Ron, you and Hermione really need to work out the tension between you two."
With a perfectly straight face Ron said, "There isn't any tension."
Looking away Harry said, "If you say so."
Daphne walked up to them with a smile. "Sorry about that. He just wanted to make sure dinner had been all right. Where's Hermione?"
"She went on ahead. I'll show you to the portrait hole." Ron smiled at her and led her down the hall.
"Course, we won't be able to get in cause Hermione didn't tell us the password." Harry said after them.
"Professor Dumbledore told me. It's bugjuice."
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Lying in their beds Ron turned to Harry and asked quietly, "Harry, do you think Hermione's right about Daphne?"
"I don't think Daphne's a bad person, but I do think there's more to her than what she's letting on," Harry answered.
It was quiet for a while before Ron asked, "Do you think Hermione's really mad?"
"Ron, you and Hermione fight constantly, and she always manages to forgive you." Harry's eyelids drooped with sleepiness.
After another moment of silence Ron asked, "Do you think Daphne's prettier than Hermione?"
"RON! Just go to sleep!" Harry rolled over on his side. And then it struck him what Ron had asked. Sure Harry had noticed Ron flirting with Daphne, but why would he ask if Harry thought Hermione was pretty? Harry turned his head over his shoulder to look at his friend. Was it possible? Was all the fighting because Ron…had a crush…on Hermione?
**** Daphne Affigo is an Alphie creation. Harry Potter and all other characters are property of J.K.Rowling and Warner Brothers.
