Thank you all who tuned in for chapter 1 and for the reviews, this has been a truly enjoyable experience so far and I'm looking forward to continuing it. Please enjoy.

Also insert the standard "I own nothing" disclaimer here.

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Chapter 2: Daphne Greengrass

Daphne Greengrass pried her eyes open as the squeezing sensation left her bones. She hated apparition, all forms of it. She felt the grip in her left hand loosen. In her right hand she carried her school trunk, filled to near bursting with robes, books, potions supplies and everything else she'd need for school. I'm her left hand she held the hand of Matty, her family's house elf.

"Misses will be alright from here?" Asked Matty looking at Daphne and her younger sister Astoria. Daphne and her sister could not be more different. Daphne was a petite girl, only 5'2 with long wavy blonde hair that reached her waist and bright blue eyes. Astoria on the other hand took after their father. She was tall, in fact she was taller than Daphne despite being three years younger. She had hazel eyes that shown with mirth and kept her dark brown almost black hair short, a bob the muggles called it.

"We will Matty," Daphne replied to the elf with a smile. Unlike most pureblood families The Greengrasses had always viewed their elves more as family that servants. Both girls knelt and gave the aging elf a goodbye hug before she was gone with a slight pop. Straightening up Daphne turned to face the great steam engine that would take them to Hogwarts.

"You ready?" she asked her sister giving her a side long glance. Astoria, to Daphne's irritation, started laughing.

"We're going to school Daphy," she said, "not our execution." Daphne scowled at her sister before walking away in a huff, Astoria chuckling after her. They boarded the train and quickly located Astoria's friends, the group of fifth and fourth years immediately looped Astoria into their cacophony of catching each other up on their summer activities. Daphne, never having the patience for anything she found frivolous, gave a generic wave to the group left the group to find her own friends. She found them all in the usual cabin in the second from last car. The group was a small one, far smaller than the crowd Astoria found herself the nucleus of. Inside sat Blaise Zabini, Hannah Abbott, Susan Bones and, her best friend in the world, Tracey Davies.

"Daphne," cried Tracey standing up to hug her. Daphne closed the door and let her stoic mask fall, smiling at her friends. Tracey stood and gave her a hug, which Daphne eagerly returned, followed by both Hannah and Susan. Daphne smiled to herself as she joined Tracey the bench. The two Hufflepuffs had been an addition to their group last year. Hannah had approached her about tutoring them in potions and Daphne, after failing to think of a solid reason not to, had agreed. The three became fast friends and with Daphne, Blaise and Tracey's refusal to pander to the whims of Draco they all began meeting in the library as much as they could.

"How was your Summer Daphne?' asked Hannah. Daphne shrugged.

"Relatively uneventful," she replied, "spent most of my time reading or at Tracey's." The rest of the group nodded nonplussed; they'd all learn not to pry too much into the Daphne's homelife. She wasn't abused or neglected; they just knew it wasn't something she liked talking about.

"What about you though?" She asked. And so, the group spent the next several hours regaling her of stories of family trips to the mountains to ski, long nights spent camping, and the social gatherings they'd all attended. As the sun began to touch the horizon the friends were pulled from their fond recollections and realized they were getting close to school.

"I should probably use the loo before we get there," said Daphne standing up, "who knows how long we'll be stuck in the Great Hall this year." The rest nodded their agreement and stood to follow her, all but Zabini. Their trip to the bathroom was short and most of the girls left, leaving Daphne alone to touch up the light make up she wore and reclaim her public "Ice-look" as Astoria put it. When she was finally satisfied with her appearance she turned to leave, casting one last look over her shoulder she turned the doorknob and stepped out into the passageway of the train. She only walked a few feet when a door to her left slid open and before she could blink someone stepped into the passageway. Daphne, of course ran right into them.

They were a solid wall of muscle. There was no give in the man's very hard chest as she bounced off him and fell hard on her backside. Irritated, her gaze snapped up to his face. He was gorgeous, Jet-black hair fell into his face framing the brightest pair of green eyes she'd ever seen; this added to his high cheek bones, strong jaw line and full lips left Daphne flustered. But she knew this person, Harry Potter, the freaking Boy Who Lived.

"Sorry," he said in his equally sexy baritone voice offering her his hand. Daphne's scowl intensified; she wasn't at all fond of how pleasant she found his voice.

"Watch where you're going," she snapped back. Completely ignoring his hand, she climbed back to her feet, her scowl never leaving her face. Potter pulled his hand back and used it rubbed the back of his neck in a manner that clearly indicated he was either flustered or confused.

"Good," Daphne thought to herself, let him be as flustered as she was.

"Sorry about that," he said glancing away from her. At a loss at what to do Daphne just scoffed and bushed past him doing her best to extract herself from the situation before she did something stupid. As she walked, she could feel his eyes on her, despite herself she felt a thrill shoot through her. The boy was cute, and she wasn't exactly uncomfortable to have him watching her; with a smirk she added a little sway to her hips as she walked.

As she walked into the car that held her cabin she did her best to school to features back to stoicism, the last thing she needed was Tracey grilling her or Zabini teasing her about some sappy look on her face. She found her getting their trunks and various belongings together. Arrival at Hogsmeade was fast approaching and Daphne moved quickly to join them. Tracey glanced at her but if she noticed anything off about Daphne, she said nothing. Daphne pulled her trunk down and set it in front of her, leaning it against her knees. As she sat waiting her mind wondered, she could still see his green eyes so clearly. Twenty minutes later, the train arrived at Hogsmeade.

Daphne followed her friends out onto the platform and to one of the many horseless carriages. She stood in the back waiting for Tracey and Zabini to board, Hannah and Susan having left to find a couple of their house mate. As she waited, lost in the madness of students clamoring around trying to pair up in carriages with friends and Hagrid's booming cries of 'Firs' years this way' her eyes scanned the platform hoping to just catch a glimpse of, there he was!

He was leaning against one of the carriages, his hands tucked in his pockets, the calm air of utter surety surrounding him as clearly as the glimmering crimson badge with a golden "C" shone on his chest. Daphne watched as he spoke with a couple of his friends waiting for his turn to climb in the carriage. Mesmerized, she watched the animation of his face, the way his smile always seemed so genuine and the shining mirth in his eyes after the laughter ended when one of the others made a joke.

"Daphne?' Tracey's voice cut into her thoughts. Daphne turned to look at her trying to restart her brain. Tracey was looking at her oddly before sticking her head out the carriage a gazing in the direction Daphne had been looking.

"You, ok?" she asked perplexed. Daphne shook her head to clear it and climbed up into the carriage.

"Of course,' she said in a crisp manner that told all in the carriage she would broker no thoughts or questions to the contrary. She sat in the empty seat, crossed her leg and folded her hands in her laps the proper image of a High-born Pure-Blooded heiress. Tracey eyed her curiously for a moment but at Daphne's challenging raised eyebrow, she shook her head and seemed to let it go. Internally Daphne sighed in relief, Tracey had let it go for now Daphne wondered how long it would last.

The ride to the castle was uneventful as the three friends sat in silence. Tracey, though clearly not going to question Daphne so openly, knew something was off about her friend. Daphne for her part was pointedly ignoring Tracey, keeping her prim posture and gazing out the window. Blaise for his part had confusedly gazed between the two girls for the first couple minutes of the ride, before giving up and, shrugging to himself, leaned against his seat and closed his eyes. He had never enjoyed gossip or drama and prided himself on his go-with-the-flow attitude.

Soon enough the carriages reached the Castle, one by one the student unloaded from their rides and made their ways up the Stairs and into the Entrance Hall of the Grand Castle. Once moving to the Great Hall, the mob split into four columns, each house making for their respective table. Daphne walked with her friends, her stoic public mask in place nose almost snobbishly in the air. Surrounded by parasites and social climbers of Slytherin, she could ill afford to show any type of weakness. And appearing to be flummoxed over a crush, even a newly budding one, would not be good for her. She sat between Tracey and Zabini he back to the wall and facing the entirety of the Great Hall. Using only her eyes she scanned the assembled students as she did, she did her best to convince herself she was merely inspecting the assembled student body. Her conviction lasted until her eyes met and a pair of flaming green ones. He made no outward movements, clearly still engaged with the conversation he was having with Granger, but she saw the interest there. They didn't stare at each other, just simply took notice of each other's presence.

"Are you ok?' whispered Tracey in her ear. Daphne turned to address her, not sure what she was going to say, when the door boomed opened. Another inward sigh of relief flooded her as McGonagall led the first years into the room to be sorted.

The pomp and circumstance that followed was the same boring event Daphne had sat through each year since her own Sorting. The Sorting hat sang some vaguely rhyming song referencing house and school unity, to which the older student rolled their eyes. Then each firstie was called to the front and sorted, their respective house clapping as expected like clockwork. Once, Tony Yarbrough became the latest Ravenclaw and joined his housemates, Dumbledore rose.

"There will be a time for speeches later," he said "for now, tuck in." And much to the amazement of a grand total of seven first year Muggle-borns, food filled the trays on the tables.

The Students of Hogwarts descended on the feast like ravenous carrion, each one a growing boy or girl and in dire need so sustenance to facilitate such growth. As they ate conversations sparked around the room as friends who hadn't had the chance to catch up on the train took the opportunity to do so now. Daphne, though as hungry as the rest of them, ate at a slower pace, seeing no need to risk choking herself on a stray morsel of food. She was just about finished with her light fist course when her peaceful silence was interrupted.

"So Greengrass, we missed you and your family at my mother's Summer Solstice Gala," said the greasy voice of Draco Malfoy. Daphne closed her eyes to control herself before turning to face the sleaze.

"Yes, well the family had something come up last minute that could not be avoided," she told him knowing she owed him no explanation but also knowing that not answering him would just make him more instant. Draco pursed his lips in what she was sure he thought made him look confident and calculating but in truth only served to make him look like a fool.

"I see," he said "pity. My father had something he wished to discuss with yours. No matter, another time maybe." He said before climbing to his and striding off. Inward Daphne cringed; she had an idea as to the topic Lucius Malfoy wanted to discuss. Draco had never made a secret of how much he desired her, and that his father was trying to approach her's meant only one thing. The Malfoy's were looking to arrange a marriage. Daphne knew it would never happen, her mother had firmly but her foot down about it years ago and her father, none to concerned about the fate of his daughters, didn't fight it. Nevertheless, the idea that Draco Malfoy would go that far made her skin crawl and honestly made her a bit panicky. Not sure why she was doing it, she glanced back to where she knew Potter was sitting. Though he was wrapped up in conversation and shortly rose to leave, just a glimpse of his bright eyes helped soothe her. She had no idea why, but they did.

Her nerves calmed; Daphne finished her meal in short order. Once desert was properly passed on, she and Tracey made their ways to the dungeon and the Slytherin common room. She stayed in the common room for only as long as manners required of her before retiring to her and Tracey's room for the night. She was stepping of the ensuite bathroom after a nice relaxing shower when Tracey joined her. A towel wrapped around her body she sat on her bed as she used a second towel to dry her hair with the intention of braiding it for bed. Tracey, however, had finally seen her chance, she sat on her own bed across from Daphne.

"Ok, I've waited long enough," she said "what going on with you?" Daphne finally let out a groan and looked up at the ceiling. How in the world was she going to explain this?

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And that, as they say, is that. Hope you've enjoyed it and I'm going to do my best to pump these chapters out every 2-3 weeks.

Even if the morrow is barren of promises, nothing shall forestall my return.