AN: This is literally my first fanfiction. Don't expect high quality content because I certainly don't. In the future I will probably read this and think it is a piece of garbage. But right now, I am proud of it. Therefore, advice is not only allowed but encouraged. I shall also warn you, I am going to change most canon events, so don't expect the timeline to be precise.
On a happier note, please join the Haphne server! Link: discord dot gg/pKSdvJQvhU
We do several weekly activities such as a discussion club, Care of Magical Creatures lessons and our own movie/anime club!
24th of June 1993, nº4 Privet Drive, Surrey
Harry was having the best summer of his life so far. This year, Harry has not been overworked with chores. That was not due to the Dursley's lack of attempts though. Simply put, Harry had ordered Dobby to do the chores for him, with Harry only doing gardening and cooking (After all, he didn't want anyone to notice his house elf).
But that was not the only good thing about this summer. The first night there, Harry managed to get Vernon's permission to go to Hogsmeade. The only downside about that was that he would have to deal with Marge Dursley again. He also got the news about Dudley's new diet, which Harry has skipped ever since. A few galleons converted to pounds, and he was able to eat whatever he wanted in his room.
Another improvement of his summer life was the absence of his relatives at home. Vernon still worked at Grunnings, but Petunia had joined a book club, and left every day for an hourly chat at number 14.
Dudley went with his friends to "have tea" every afternoon as well, but Harry knew that he actually went to the park to intimidate the younger kids.
Right now, everything was happening at once, so Harry found himself alone at the Dursley house.
Ring…
Ring…
Ring…
Harry picked up the phone, and he was received by a familiar voice:
"HELLO, DOES HARRY POTTER LIVE HERE?"
Harry was almost deafened by his red-haired best friend. Despite this, he was able to answer:
"Yes Ron, I live here. Don't need to shout though, I can hear you perfectly."
"Sorry about that mate. We got the phone recently, and Dad wanted my help trying it out. How are you doing?"
With that, Ron and Harry started a long conversation, and Harry ended up promising to visit his friend at the Burrow at some point during the summer.
One hour later…
Harry was currently laying on his bed when he heard something coming from the window. Moving towards it, he saw an owl waiting for him. A familiar looking owl waiting for him.
Harry stared at the Greengrass' family owl. It had two envelopes on its leg, a white one and a red one. And the red one seemed to be…. vibrating? That was not a good sign. But again, it couldn't be too bad, could it? No one in their family would hurt him badly, would they?
Harry decided to stop thinking about it and picked the red envelope. Unfortunately for him, he had barely touched it when it opened, and it began screaming:
"HARRY JAMES POTTER WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING?"
'Wait a second, how does Daphne Greengrass know my middle name?' Harry thought.
"ARE YOU STUPID OR SOMETHING? WHY DID YOU THINK YOU COULD FIGHT A BLOODY BASILISK BY YOURSELF? ASTORIA TOLD ME IT COULD HAVE SWALLOWED YOU IN A SINGLE BITE!"
Harry would need to have a speech to Astoria about telling this kind of things.
"WHO AM I KIDDING, YOU WERE NOT THINKING AT ALL! IF I WANTED AN IDIOT AS A RIVAL, I WOULD HAVE CHOSEN MALFOY!"
Harry didn't have a counter for that. He doubted Malfoy would ever risk himself for anyone though…
"YOU BETTER REFLECT ON YOUR ACTIONS POTTER AND SWEAR TO ME THAT YOU WILL NEVER DO SOMETHING THIS STUPID AGAIN! IF YOU TRY TO DO SOMETHING LIKE THAT AGAIN AND DIE, I WILL KILL YOU AGAIN IN THE AFTERLIFE!
After that last statement, the letter shredded itself to pieces, and said pieces burned to ash. Harry was in trouble… He would need to send her something. A furious witch was not good for a man's health. 'Or his afterlife' Harry mused.
Looking around the room again, Harry found the owl giving him a predatory glare. 'Daphne probably set her owl on me as well…'
Picking up the other envelope, Harry started reading Astoria's letter:
Dear Harry,
DON'T TOUCH THE OTHER LETTER! My sister overheard me talking with a friend about your actions at the end of the year. Let's just say she wasn't very happy about that…
Last thing I heard from her; she was trying to send you a howler… In case you don't know what that is, a howler is a letter that speaks with the correspondent's voice. They are very useful to reprimand kids because the yelling can be intensified.
I will try to send this before my sister sends her howler. Hopefully, the owl will listen to me, and it won't accept Daphne's letter…
If not, try to burn it or drown it, FAST. I have heard they can be quite nasty.
Hoping you still have your eardrums,
Astoria
'Dammit!' Harry cursed. He should have opened this one first! It would have saved him a headache! He thanked Merlin once again for the Dursleys' absence. He did not want to know what Vernon would have done if he overheard that…
26th of June 1993, nº4 Privet Drive, Surrey
After much thought, Harry had finally finished his 'apology' for Daphne. He hoped she took it well. At least it wasn't very likely to gain him another howler…
Initially Harry had found himself in a pickle. Such lack of experience with the opposite sex could do that to anyone… Harry had to remember the very few arguments between his relatives to gather any useful advice.
In the end, he had reached a conclusion. To calm down an irate woman, there were only three things you could give her: chocolates, flowers or jewellery.
The last one was out of question immediately. He did not want to make the wrong impression. To make matters worse, Astoria's teasing would be unbearable. And Asclepius had quite the mouth as well…
He didn't know a lot about magical sweets either. Even less about what she may or may not like… Plus, even if he did, he didn't know where he could buy them, and he didn't have galleons to spare right now…
That left him with the flowers he had bought. The shop assistant had been very helpful. There were a few geranium flowers, representing his stupidity, as well as some white chrysanthemums to ask for forgiveness. He hoped each flower meant the same in the magical world as in the muggle one. He did not want to get in trouble for that either.
He finished writing the note, and he attached it to the bouquet. Finally, Harry approached Hedwig.
"Okay girl, I am going to need your help for this one. Make sure to deliver these to Daphne, together with the note, okay? If you want to rest, I am sure Astoria will gladly give you some bacon or toast."
With that, Hedwig took off on a new mission for her human, a different one, but one that didn't involve murder, much to her disappointment. She wouldn't have minded getting rid of the whale man and the horse woman…
Right now, she could only hope her human would leave his nest as soon as possible, and it would never be soon enough.
27th of June 1993, Greengrass Cottage, Cornwall
The Greengrass family was having breakfast together, as usual. Persephone was there as well, having decided to spend some time with her cousins for a while, before visiting her parents, and going on a holiday.
Therefore, they were all able to witness that morning's events. At 9 am, a snowy owl entered through the window, and landed softly in front of young Daphne.
Hedwig took her time before handing the gift. She was busy evaluating the young human she sent the bouquet to. She seemed intelligent enough, and she had bright feathers… Yes, she seemed to be a good egg-carrier for her human. Hedwig hoped that would happen soon. Whenever that happened, she would deliver owlets for them, and her flock and their little humans would be together forever…
While Hedwig was planning her long-term future arrangements, Daphne was busy looking at the bouquet she had received. Unfortunately, before Daphne was able to say something, her father asked her an important question:
"Those are some nice flowers you have there, daughter… Is there a young suitor I need to have a talk with?"
Daphne was blushing madly at that comment, and she was split between hating or loving Harry for that present.
"I-I-It's not like that! It's not like that at all!"
"Are you sure dear?" Her mother intervened.
"After all, I only get flowers for my birthday, and not every year." That last part was directed at her father, who had 'forgotten' to pick them up before the celebration. Daphne had been the one to find him in the couch the following morning…
"Yes mom, it's just his way to apologise. If you excuse me, I'm going to put them in a vase…" Daphne and her father (able to get a hint) left the room, leaving the other Greengrass females alone.
"She may be right, but it will change soon." Persephone declared.
12th of July 1993, nº4 Privet Drive, Surrey
Harry just ended wrapping up Daphne's birthday present. He thanked the owl delivery system at Flourish and Blotts for that one. A book for Arithmancy beginners, one of her new subjects this upcoming year. Skimming through it, he thanked Merlin for deciding against studying the subject. He wouldn't be able to enjoy that at all.
From his correspondence with Astoria, he had been able to figure out that Daphne had chosen Arithmancy, Runes and Care of Magical Creatures, though the last one was chosen as a last resort.
Those were two more subjects they would be competing in now… Daphne was probably going to beat him at academics, was she?
31st of July 1993, nº4 Privet Drive, Surrey
Harry's birthday was being a rollercoaster of emotions.
On the one side, there had been a lot of presents to entertain himself with.
'Even if I almost lost a finger because of them'. Harry lamented.
This was due to Hagrid's present, which had been the first one to be opened. The Monster book of monsters had been a killer of a present. The book behaved like a real monster and tried to eat everything on its way. Harry had to stand on it and strangle it with his belt in order to control it. In the end it turned out that you only needed to stroke its spine for it to open…
'I should totally warn my friends about this.' He didn't want any friends of his to lose limbs because of a damned book…
The other presents had been far less violent. Hermione had sent him a homework planner. 'Ironical coming from her, after all; I did not choose all the electives!' Harry didn't want to know how that would even work to be honest.
He had gotten a nice Birthday meal from the Weasley family. The twins, Ginny and Ron had sent him a nice set of magical sweets, and Mrs. Weasley had sent him an outstanding birthday cake. 'This should last me for weeks of Dudley's diet!' Harry thought merrily.
There were also a nice amount of pictures as well. The Weasley's had won the lottery, and they had gone on a trip to Egypt to visit Bill, the eldest son.
Ron had also commented how they would be buying new wands for all the children, and how they would have nice books this year as well.
The Greengrass sisters had also sent him presents. Astoria had sent him a book titled 'Snakes and how to charm them', which appeared to be a book from the magical world. He would have to read it in privacy later…
The eldest sister sent him a pair of Quidditch gloves. In her own words: 'You will need them if you want to beat me this year Potter!' It was a nice detail, since his old ones had been battered due to Oliver's training sessions under the weather and his impacts against other surfaces.
It had been a nice birthday overall, until SHE came. Marge Dursley was everything his brother Vernon represented but brought to the extreme. An overweight, short-tempered woman, who seemed to make it her purpose to praise Dudley and insult Harry at any chance she got. Harry didn't know how he would deal with her for the upcoming two weeks…
6th of August 1993, nº4 Privet Drive, Surrey
Harry figured out how he could deal with Marge after all. By not being at the same house at all. Today, his "aunt" had gone way too far. After one of her usual rants about Harry, she had started to insult his parents. Foul language apart, it had been enough for Harry.
Soon enough, Marge had started inflating like a big balloon, and seemed to be at the verge of explosion. Harry had not wanted to stay there to check. Taking advantage of everyone else's distraction, he picked his things and left that damned house.
He would NEVER come back there. They would have to drag his corpse into nº4 Privet Drive.
Approximately an hour later…
Harry had just finished an awkward conversation with the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge.
After his 'escape' from Privet Drive, Harry had stumbled (quite literally) with the Knight Bus. He "disguised" himself and when asked, he said his name was Neville Longbottom. No one had been the wiser, and he was able to make it to the Leaky Cauldron without being intercepted.
Once there, he had been directed to a room, where he had a friendly discussion with the Minister. He had been notified about Sirius Black's escape (the only day he forgot about reading the Prophet!) and had been forced to make a few promises to the Minister.
First of all, he would live in the Leaky Cauldron for the remainder of the summer. (Something Harry would do unless anything came up).
Secondly, he would not enter the muggle world during the summer either. From what Fudge told him, Black had been using the muggle world to hide himself from the Aurors.
And most importantly, Fudge had 'implied' that he would need to return to Privet Drive the following summer. Harry had agreed with him, but there was a big difference between promising something and doing something. Politicians are the most known for doing that.
Therefore, Harry would be living at the Leaky Cauldron until the beginning of the new school year. Which was a shame, since Harry had befriended a black dog the day before…
18th of August 1993, Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour, Diagon Alley
Harry adapted to his new life quite easily. He now had a nice desk to do his homework, nicely prepared meals whenever he wanted, a lot of free time to spare, and an Alley to explore.
He had already purchased all of his material for the upcoming year, and he also had some extra gold to spare for the Hogsmeade weekends… And ice cream, of course.
Because for the past weeks, Harry had been a regular costumer of Florean Fortescue. Every day, without a fault, Harry would seat at a table, and he would receive his daily strawberry and peanut butter ice cream from Mr. Fortescue himself. Said man had also been very helpful, especially with the History of Magic essays. That man was very knowledgeable with the witch burnings…
Harry's thoughts were interrupted by a familiar (thankfully not yelling) voice:
"What are you doing here, Potter?"
Daphne Greengrass was looking at him and seemed irritated for some reason.
"Good morning, Daphne. Davis, Parkinson; good morning to you as well."
Before Daphne was able to retort, Davis interrupted her:
"Good morning, Daphne? We have names as well you know?"
"I know, but I didn't think we were on first name basis… Plus, after befriending her sister, it would be awkward to call one Astoria and call the other Greengrass right?"
"Fair enough." Parkinson joined. "But you can call us by our names now all right?"
"Okay." Harry agreed. "But all of you must call me Harry from now on!"
"Now that we are done with useless introductions, can we get to the point? And that is, what are you doing here?" Daphne asked.
"Eating some ice cream, of course." Harry answered truthfully.
"What I really meant, Harry; is what are you doing here, at this table? This is where we always seat."
"There are empty seats here, Daphne. No one is forbidding you from sitting on the other seats around this table. Come on, I don't bite!"
The three girls joined him at the table, and soon enough, Mr. Fortescue joined them as well:
"Good morning, everyone! Isn't this great? My favourite clients sat together, ready to enjoy some iced treats! What will you ladies want?"
After the girls ordered, Daphne's interrogation continued:
"I didn't expect you to be walking around Diagon Alley… Did you escape from home or something?"
"You could say so, yeah…" Harry muttered. It was true after all…
"Hmmmm… Have you purchased all of your books then?" Daphne asked.
"I did that over a week ago yeah, I didn't think I would see a bookseller happy for not having to sell something though…" The face of the shop assistant when he said he didn't need the Monster book had been priceless after all.
"Aaah, you mean the Monster book of monsters, right? He almost cried when we told him we wanted three!" Daphne laughed. 'She has a pretty smile. No, she doesn't.'
"Yeah… Did no one tell him how to open them though? I would hope someone found out already?"
"What do you MEAN?" Tracey exclaimed. "You know how to open them without being bitten?"
"Yes." Harry confessed. "You only need to stroke the spine and it will become tame."
The three girls started muttering amongst themselves, and eventually, Pansy said:
"We should deliver this information to everyone in our year, it should make things a lot easier. But maybe, maybe we could 'forget' about telling Draco and his buddies. What do you think?"
Sounds of agreement could be heard around the table. Any chance to have Malfoy look like an idiot could not be wasted…
They had a lengthy conversation after that, and they were only interrupted by the arrival of extra ice cream. Unless you count Lee Jordan wolf whistling at them of course…
Harry had a very good day overall. But he could not wait until his best friends were back.
31st of August 1993, Leaky cauldron
Harry went down to eat his breakfast. He was having his usual bacon and eggs, when he saw a bunch of red heads approaching. 'The Weasley's are finally here!' Harry cheered.
He had not seen any of them since the end of the year, and he was barely able to send letters to them. Egypt was way too far for any owl to reach, and portkey letters were way to expensive.
Harry was greeted by a thin balding man, with glasses and the famous 'Weasley hair'.
"You must be Harry Potter, right? It is a pleasure. My name is Arthur Weasley, and I am Ron's father. How has summer treated you?"
"Quite well actually, sir. I've just spent the last month here at Leaky, and I already have everything I need for my new school year." Harry replied.
"That's good. Would you like to come with us? We still have some shopping left to do, and I believe Ron has a lot to tell you?"
Sometime later…
The Weasley's and Harry were finally making their way back to the Leaky Cauldron. True to his word, Ron had received a new wand, made of willow and unicorn tail hair.
Ginny had also received a new wand made of rowan and dragon heartstring. She was still shy around Harry, but she had improved significantly on that matter.
The twins still were as mischievous as usual. From what they told Harry, they almost managed to trap Percy inside one of the pyramids…
Harry also met Mrs. Weasley for the first time. She seemed to be a very nice woman, but a bit over affectionate for Harry's taste. Still, she had made him promise to visit the following summer, and if her cooking was as good as the other Weasleys said it was, Harry would be in for a very good experience.
Things got a little tense when they approached the Magical Menagerie. Ron had gone there in order to find some type of tonic for his rat, Scabbers. He was really old (at least for rat standards) and didn't seem to possess any kind of special power.
He had started to feel bad in Egypt, something Ron assumed to be the warm climate, but Harry thought it looked stressed. 'But then again' Harry thought. 'Why would a rat feel stressed?'
Said question was answered very quickly. While they were looking for some owl treats for Hedwig, they passed in front of a cage, where they were almost attacked. A fast-moving orange furball was trying to break out of its cage and seemed to find Scabbers very appetizing.
Thankfully, the shop assistant was able to control Crookshanks, and the rat was able to make it out the shop without any injury.
When they finally arrived at the Leaky Cauldron for lunch, they were in for a surprise. Hermione was there waiting for them, and she was holding a cage with a very familiar looking cat inside it.
"You bought that thing?" Ron asked.
"It is not a thing Ronald. It is a cat, and he has a name. Because of course you do, don't you, Crookshanks?" Hermione was now petting the cat, and Crookshanks was appreciating her attention.
"Don't be like that." Hermione continued. "The shop lady said he had been waiting for years at the shop and I could not just leave him there… "
"Do you know what cats do Hermione?" Ron pleaded. "They chase rats! And if you didn't notice, my pet is a rat! And he is not exactly healthy right now… He needs peace and quiet, and this creature almost ate him at the shop! If it weren't for the cage, I don't want to know what would have happened…"
And thus, the first debate over pets between Ron and Hermione began. Harry decided he wasn't psychologically ready for such demanding mental efforts and declared himself neutral in the matter. Little did he know, this debate would last for months…
Once that argument was over, Harry and his friends started talking about the upcoming school year. Ron had only signed up for Care of Magical Creatures and Divination, (he deemed them as easy O's) whilst Harry would also be studying Ancient Runes. Hermione on the other hand, had not been dissuaded of her ambition, and she would be taking all the subjects at the same time. Which began another debate:
"Why are you even taking Muggle studies Hermione?" Ron asked. "You are a muggleborn! You already should now everything about muggles! Hell, you could probably even teach the class yourself!"
"Language Ronald! Plus, I may know a lot about the muggle perspective, but I know nothing about the wizarding one! I bet it has to be fascinating…"
"How are you even going to fit all of those subjects in the same schedule Hermione?" Harry questioned. "I don't think the Professors will work extra hours for one student, no matter how talented she may be…"
"You don't need to worry about that Harry!" Hermione said. "If there was any kind of problem with that, Professor McGonagall would have already told me! She said we would go into the specifics tomorrow though…"
Despite that, Ron still tried to convince her:
"Hermione, going to classes is not even the worse part! Think about the amount of homework you will have! We had seven subjects last year. You may have been better at it than us, but you still struggled sometimes… Next year you will have twelve! That is almost twice the amount! You will go insane!"
"Don't worry Ronald, I already accounted for that! I know it will be slightly harder, but I am sure it won't be as bad as you make it sound…"
Harry loved both of his friends dearly, of course he did. But he had to admit that Ron was straight to the point in this case. He couldn't even consider how she would do it, never mind actually see her doing it. He only hoped their friendship would survive this new development…