July 31st came much quicker than Daphne wanted. Her dad had come home late the night before and he'd been able to find a Nyx worker that was willing to put a rush on a holster and would have it ready by tomorrow around lunch time. This was excellent news, but Daphne was very nervous that the gift wouldn't be ready at all on Harry's birthday.
That morning she was woken up by a sharp cry. She shot up and looked around the room. "Huh…?" The sun was creeping in through the blinds and since it was Saturday they didn't have to do any training. Not that they would have anyway. The whole family and the Grangers had agreed to not tell Harry about his birthday party.
She heard Harry thrashing violently against his sheets. It was the third time this week that he'd been having his nightmares about the Department of Mysteries. Daphne felt bad and she wanted to help him, but the last time he made her agree NOT to wake him up unless he was screaming.
His reasoning had been whatever or whoever was causing these visions might show him something that he needed to know.
Daphne rolled over in bed and listened to another twenty minutes of him thrashing about and grumbling about something she couldn't understand. She finally decided it was a better idea to take a shower.
Daphne was both excited for today and dreading it at the same time. She was nervous that her gift wouldn't be here in time, she was also nervous about how Harry would react to not wanting to tell everyone about their relationship.
As the water rolled down her shoulders she started to feel better. It was kind of nice waking up early because it meant that she could take her time and enjoy things, like taking a shower.
After about thirty minutes Daphne got out and dried off. She peeked out into her room and saw that Harry was still sleeping and decided to let him. It was his birthday after all.
Daphne spent another thirty minutes getting dressed. By now the sun had risen and she heard the sounds of running water.
As Daphne exited her room to head down for an early breakfast she saw Hermione leaving Harry's room. "Morning."
"Oh!" Hermione jumped slightly, "I didn't see you. Good morning." She flashed a small smile.
Hermione was actually very tired, she hadn't been sleeping that well since their return from the Ministry. She'd been worried about what would happen to her family. If Voldemort was in fact returning and he knew that she was a friend of Harry's it would only fuel his fire. If the things she had read about Voldemort during his first reign were any indication, she and her family would be targets just as much as Harry would.
"Sleep well?" Daphne asked while walking the bushy haired girl down the stairs.
"A bit better than the last few nights. Not having to wake up at six helps."
"Well that makes one of us." She said with envy.
"You've been really stressed lately, what's going on?"
"It's Harry's Birthday Party." Daphne said while plopping down in one of the dining room chairs.
Trixie had already prepared breakfast so bacon and biscuits appeared on the table as they sat down.
Hermione sat across from the blonde girl, "Why would Harry's party be stressing you?
Daphne leaned into her hands, "I messed up with his present. I got him something and then realized I can't give it to him.
Hermione, chewing a piece of bacon, asked "Why not?"
Daphne looked up with a stunned expression, "Because he can't wear a Quidditch arm guard with rubies and emeralds because he'll be publicly ridiculed as a traitor to his house." She said it as if it was law.
"Oh… Yeah I do see that being a problem… However," one of her eyebrows rose, "You could still give it to him anyway. He may not be able to wear it at school but he can at least wear it at home."
"No, I can't…" Daphne said as she pushed some of the bacon around on her plate. "All his friends will be here today, and I don't want them knowing about us. I asked my dad to try and get something else." She perked up a bit. "Hopefully it'll be here before lunch."
An owl flew into the room and dropped off a letter for Hermione. "Oh what's this?" She opened the letter and eagerly read the contents. Her face perked up slightly then a short gasp.
"What's it say?" Daphne asked through a piece of bacon.
"We get to go home tonight…"
"That's great news. Not that I am happy you're leaving but it's good that the DMLE kept their commitment." Daphne was proud of her father for making the bill a reality.
"Yeah, apparently the Auror who they selected was Alastor Moody." she said remembering back to their last year.
"Oh Mad-Eye, he's the best. He was a great Defense Teacher." she praised.
"You know that was Barty Crouch, Jr.? And that Harry killed him when he returned from the Graveyard?" Hermione said in a grave tone.
"Wait WHAT?!" Daphne said loudly.
"Yeah he tried to kill me and Hermione and even disarmed Professor McGonagall." Harry's voice was cold and unforgiving.
Hermione was reminded of the hatred she felt coming off of Harry when he cast the Killing Curse. She wasn't sure it was the right thing to do but she was grateful because Crouch could have killed them all in a blink of an eye.
"Harry that's awful!" Daphne said, walking over and hugging him.
Hermione noticed that over the past week Harry would visibly relax when Daphne touched him, something that had been a phobia of his for a long time. Harry had never been very responsive to physical contact. Sure, he'd put up with the occasional hug from Mrs. Weasley or herself but never for as long as he did with Daphne. However, this time Harry's mood did not shift.
"Eh I did what had to be done." Harry shrugged Daphne off and sat down for breakfast.
After several minutes of silence and both girls glancing at each other and Harry, Hermione spoke up, "Happy Birthday Harry!"
"Thanks…" He said through a mumble.
Daphne put a soft hand on his arm, "Hey, what's wrong?"
"Nothing I'm fine."
"Harry- " Daphne said before she was cut off.
"I said I'm fine." Harry ate his food in agitated silence.
Hermione looked at Daphne and saw the look of worry on the Slytherin's face. "Say, Harry."
He looked up from his breakfast and raised an eyebrow.
"They chose Alastor Moody to be the Auror in charge of the Muggleborns." She said trying to cheer him up.
"That's good… I guess…" He said through bites of biscuits.
"He's stopped many Dark wizards over the years. He put almost all the Death Eaters in Azkaban away himself." Daphne said trying to help her brunette friend.
"Not good enough to avoid getting hoodwinked by a man that was supposed to be dead, and shoved into a prison box for nine months." Harry spat out angrily.
Both girls were shocked by his aggressive tone. It was so uncharacteristic of him, especially with either of them. Hermione would have expected this kind of tone towards Ron or even Dumbledore but not her and certainly not Daphne.
Harry finished chewing the bit in his mouth, "Excuse me." He said sourly and walked off towards his room.
Daphne looked towards Hermione with pleading eyes. "I have no idea," Hermione replied to the unasked question. She had never seen this kind of behavior. Harry had a quick temper but this was something new.
Harry marched up to his room with his head hurting like it was on fire. It had been like this since early this morning. The dreams he had were much more real and whoever was showing him these visions was feeling very angry and violent. He kept hearing the words Kill, Kill, Kill repeated over and over again.
When he woke up this morning he expected his head to stop hurting after a few minutes, as had been the case every other morning, but this time the pain persisted. In fact it got worse after Harry got out of bed. He hadn't even taken a shower yet and all he wanted to do was go to bed.
After about half an hour Aurora walked up to Harry's door. "Harry? Are you in there?"
"Yeah mum?" He returned from his desk.
Aurora opened the door, "Come down stairs Harry I have something I want to show you."
Harry begrudgingly agreed and followed his godmother down the stairs and into the back yard. As he walked out into the yard and saw that it had been reformed into the shape of a Quidditch pitch with flags and everything.
"Woah!" He exclaimed, his face brightening as he quickened his step.
He took a few jogging strides down the stairs before he was surprised with joyful shouts of "Happy Birthday!" Harry spun around and saw Aurora, Daniel, Daphne, and Astoria standing off to the side wearing bright red and gold sweaters that all had the Greengrass House Crest upon them.
Harry smiled and walked over to the group of them. "How did you know it was my birthday?"
Aurora answered, "Gringotts, actually. When I went to affirm my Godmother status they had all your birth notes written down." She held her hands open offering the boy a hug. Daphne had told her a bit ago about how his mood was. They all figured it was better to inform him a bit early in the hope that his mood wouldn't fester.
Harry walked over and gave each of them a hug, pausing a bit longer for a hug from Daphne. "You all did this for me…" He said looking at the Quidditch Pitch.
Daniel put an arm on his shoulder, "Yup, we even invited several of your friends over. Well as I understand it not much as several as the entire Gryffindor Quidditch team." He said with a smile.
"No way you didn't!?" Harry exclaimed looking towards Daphne.
"Yeah, we had some help from Hermione but we managed to track most of them down." Daphne replied.
"Brilliant!"
"They should be here around one. Its just after ten now so why don't you go and get dressed while we finish setting things up." Aurora said while wrapping an arm around his shoulder.
Harry nodded and ran off into the house, "Walk, young man!" Aurora shouted with a smile.
Daphne looked up at her mother and her smile quickly faded to a frown. She had to go tell Harry that she wouldn't be at the party and to ask for him to not tell his friends they were dating.
"Run along now Daphne. I understand you have to tell Harry something…" Aurora said while catching an interesting look from her husband.
Daphne reached Harry up in his room. Hermione would be moving back into her permanent residence that evening so most of her stuff was already being packed by Trixie and stored in another room.
"Harry, we need to talk." She said warmly.
"About?" He said innocently.
She sighed. Why did he have to make this so much harder? "We need to talk about the party and this upcoming year."
"Why? You afraid to meet all my friends?" He said jokingly.
"I won't be there today outside of dinner." She said quickly.
"Why not? I finally have a girlfriend and a birthday party and I can even…" Harry processed what she was trying to say as she started tearing up at his words. "You don't want them to know?" He asked tentatively.
Daphne just shook her head, "I want to wait till after the school year starts to tell anyone outside the family about us." Harry pulled away quickly.
"Fine."
"Harry…."
"Just leave me alone. I'll find you after?" He said with anger.
"Yeah, I'll be here." She smiled at him and hoped that he wouldn't take it too hard.
As she left the room, Harry's head began to hurt again. He wondered if whoever or whatever was causing it had a vindictive heart.
The next hour went by very slowly for Harry. He changed into his Quidditch robes and went down to help Trixie prepare dinner. Harry had let slip to Astoria one evening that he really liked American-style Cheeseburgers and fries. So Aurora decided to have the entire meal be American themed in the hopes that he might find more things welcoming.
At promptly one o'clock Daniel keyed in the passcode that they had given to all the guests and informed Trixie to take all the guests that arrived outside.
Before Daniel had a chance to leave the Floo roared to life and Neville Longbottom walked through. He was wearing a bright Red and Gold Gryffindor sweater and carrying a small box.
"H...He...Hello Elder Greengrass." He greeted with a bow as he had been trained to do.
"Why hello there you must be Mr. Longbottom." He said noticing the house crest on his sweater.
"Ye...Yes, Sir." He said with a stutter.
"Come now, enough with that sir stuff. Today is a joyous occasion. You can call me Mr. Greengrass." He said bending down slightly and smiling.
"Yes Mr Greengrass."
"Harry's out back." He pointed Neville in the direction of the backyard.
"Thank you." He said while trundling off towards the back of the house.
"Oh Neville?" He turned around. "You can leave your present on the table." He nodded towards the dining room table.
"Of course. Right away." He blushed faintly before setting his gift down and running outside.
Next through the Floo were two identical red haired boys.
"Very nice..."
"...to meet you..."
"...Mr Greengrass." the two said together.
"Ahh you must be Arthur's kids. "Fred? George?" He said to each at random.
"I'm Fred" George said.
"He's George." Fred said.
All three of them shared a laugh but were cut short as the Floo came to life again, this time Molly Weasley and Ginny Weasley walking through.
Daniel squared himself, "Molly so good to see you again." He greeted her with a smile and light hug.
"Oh Daniel, It's been far too long. You really should come join us for dinner some time."
Daniel laughed, "That sounds lovely, and this must be Ginerva." He said looking down at Ginny.
"Ginny Weasley." She said timidly.
"Now, now, don't be scared deary. You mother and I have been friends for a long time."
"Yes, sir." Ginny said while looking down.
"Well on you go, hup hup." Molly ushered her three kids out of the den.
Daniel led Molly towards the study sensing that she wanted to talk.
"Daniel, I am terribly sorry to hear about what happened a few weeks ago. Hermione has been like another daughter to our family. I was mortified when Arthur told me the next day what had happened."
Daniel sat down. "It was nothing, I merely facilitated the rescue. Harry was the big hero. I have to say he reminds me so much of James."
"That's what scares me, Dan. He's going to get himself killed if he's not careful. You know just as much as I do how reckless James was. I too have cared for Harry these past few years." She said sending him a protective glare.
"Molly, I assure you, Aurora and I have only his best interests in mind. I mean for bloody sakes I rejoined with Albus after I swore I'd never deal with that man."
"Be that as it may, you don't know what that boy has been through."
"Do you?" Daniel asked as quickly and sharply.
"I...I..."
"I know that he has fought Voldemort three times in four years. I know that he saved your daughter from the Chamber of Secrets last year." He eyed her carefully as she raised her hands to cover the gasp that would have come from her mouth. "I even know that he killed Barty Crouch, Jr. using the same curse that killed his father and mother. So yes, Molly, I very much understand." He said it sternly but not aggressively.
"Very well." Molly stood up. "If there is anything we can do in the future, please just let Arthur or I know."
"For now the best thing to do is to keep Harry and Ron apart." Daniel said standing up.
Molly looked as though she was about to protest but thought better of it, given how Ron reacted to hearing that Fred, George, and even Ginny had been invited to his birthday and not him. "Thanks Daniel, do tell Aurora I said hello."
"Of course, make sure when you see Bill or Charlie that my offer still stands." Daniel had offered both of them jobs to work with him at the Ministry. They were both brilliant wizards and truly gifted with their wands.
"I'll make sure to tell Bill later tonight. He's visiting for a few weeks, but Charlie..." She rolled her eyes, "That boy… I haven't seen him in over a year." She sighed. "Thanks Daniel, have fun today."
Daniel waved, "I will, I just hope Harry does."
"Give him time, the boy has the biggest heart I've ever seen." With that she disappeared into the Floo.
When Daniel walked outside he saw a hive of people flying happily around the Quidditch Pitch, all screaming and yelling.
Daniel went and sat down next to his wife who was at a table with Trixie. He saw Hermione sitting at a table a few feet away with two other girls, one with blonde hair and the other black. All of them were wearing some form of red, yet none of the girls appeared to be interested in flying.
"Hello dear." Aurora said as Daniel sat down.
"Hello my sweet." He kissed her hand. "Molly sends her wishes."
"Does she now? I can't believe you didn't tell me she was here." She said with a whiff of hatred. Aurora despised Molly Weasley. She had no ill will towards any of the Weasley children, however Molly was always pretentious and had a superiority complex during their years at Hogwarts.
Daniel was quite aware of this and kept Molly away from his wife on purpose. Daniel did not bear the same hatred of the Weasley matron as his wife did, however he knew better than to put the two strong-headed women in the same room when they had something they could fight over.
"Well she only stayed long enough to wish us well and that if we needed any help that they would be there for us."
"How wonderful!"
"Have all the guests arrived?" Daniel asked, pouring himself a glass of lemonade. It was a beautiful day. Almost no clouds with a warm sun and slight breeze. It was perfect for playing Quidditch.
"Yes, in fact Mrs Bell just arrived a few minutes before you got here. Harry was so excited to have all his friends here. You should have seen his face." She beamed about how her godson was happy.
"How about our dear Daphne?" Daniel asked looking up towards her room. Daphne's window opened up onto the backyard. She could undoubtedly watch the entire game from her window and no one would notice.
"I haven't heard from her since Tracy arrived. She did make it a point to ask if you were able to get something for her. I told her I had no idea as it was the first time I'd heard about it." She said sending a intrigued glance at her husband.
"I was not, I'll have to go tell her." Daniel stood up. "Did they end up needing the extra brooms?"
"Actually no, most of them brought their own brooms except for the Weasley girl...Ginny?" She said trying to remember her name.
"Fantastic! I'll let them monkey around a bit before I come to get the game started." With that Daniel went inside to talk to his daughter and to change.
Daniel walked down the hallway and knocked twice on Daphne's door. "Daphne it's me."
"Just a second!" came the quick and loud call from Daphne.
A few seconds later and bit of giggling the door opened, "Yes father?" Daphne was in her Pj's and holding a bottle of nail polish.
"I just wanted to tell you that I wasn't able to get that thing you asked for. Turns out their shipment was delayed a few weeks and they won't be able to have it till the week before school returns."
Daphne's face shrunk, "Oh…" Tracy was listening to them from the otherside of the room and felt bad for her friend.. "Thanks for trying, Daddy."
"It'll be fine sweetie. Just give him the other one anyway. He'll love it because it's from you." Daniel said trying to reassure Daphne.
"Maybe… thanks dad." She said as she closed the door and walked over to her bed.
"It'll be fine, Daph." Tracy said trying to cheer up her best friend.
"I hope so. I felt so bad for him this morning. He was so disappointed that he couldn't tell his friends about me." Daphne's head hit her pillow.
"Well, you made a choice. Now live with it." Tracy said with as much love as the cold truth would allow.
"You're the worst, you know that."
Tracy laughed, which caused Daphne to laugh, and the two girls continued painting each others nails the rest of the afternoon.
Daniel went outside and refereed the almost three hour Quidditch Game that ended with Ginny catching the snitch but Harry's team winning the game by ten points because Katie and Angelina were the two best chasers in the school.
After the game the group all showered and came inside and sat at the table to eat dinner.
Aurora and Trixie brought out two huge plates of hot cheeseburgers along with a huge plate of french fries and onion rings. There was also a few plates of hot dogs and two large racks of barbequed ribs. They even served cola and a few other sodas.
The entire meal was a huge success. Even Daphne and Tracy came down and ate with everyone. They did receive some skeptical glances and a few hushed comments from some of Harry's dorm mates, but other than that everyone ate happily and made nice conversation.
"Now that everyone's fed." Aurora said an hour after food was served, "I say Harry here opens some presents."
Unbeknownst to Harry a table had appeared behind him and it was filled with gifts of all shapes and sizes. His eyes grew huge as his attention was directed towards it. "WOW!" He shouted as he stood up and walked behind the table.
Daniel moved his chair out of the way so everyone could watch him. "Open mine first!" Seamus yelled from across the table.
Everyone laughed and Harry proceeded to open everyone's gifts.
Seamus got him a magazine that he promised to tell Harry about when they got to school. All of the boys oohed and aahed while the girls all made icky faces. Harry went slightly red but smiled nonetheless.
Dean got him a subscription to Quidditch Quarterly.
Alicia, Katie, and Angelina all pitched in and got him a pair of self-cleaning, dual magnification goggles. Daniel was quite impressed by the girls' find as they were quite rare.
Neville got him a book on Charms and Animagi. Harry was particularly interested in the book on Animagus.
The twins got him a full set of their new products, which pleased Harry immensely.
Ginny got him a two large boxes of chocolates from a place called See's Candy. Aurora was very intrigued and made a point to try a few, after which she decided that she and Daniel would have to pay a trip of their own.
Lavender and Parvati got him two more books, one on Dueling and the other on Advanced Spell Chaining. Neither of them had shown particular interest in either of the subjects and so Harry figured Hermione had told them what to get him. He smiled and was happy anyway.
Hermione got him an organizer that would keep track of all of his assignments and his schedule so that he would be able to stay on top of his classes and homework. It also had the added effect that it would gather all information regardless of its location as long as Harry waved his wand over the date and time of the event.
Astoria got him a pair of purple and gold self-heating sweatpants and sweatshirt afixed with the Greengrass House Crest. Harry was pleased because he'd forgotten to get any sweats when they went shopping and it would be cold most of the year at Hogwarts. He gave the young blonde a bright hug, which startled most of the Gryffindors in the room.
Lastly Daniel and Aurora stepped up. "Now Harry, I know that you are new to this family, but that does not mean we don't love you. So to show our happiness we decided to get you something very special." Aurora said beaming.
Daniel flicked his wand and a large flat object appeared in front of him wrapped in gold and white wrapping.
Everyone gasped as he tore into the packaging. In front of him was a shiny new broom. Unlike his Firebolt, this one was purple and gold with white tips on the bristles.
Angelina was first to speak. "Is that a Thunderbolt!?"
Katie was next, "OH MY GOD!" She screeched in happiness. "HARRY!"
Everyone in the room went quiet after that as Harry picked it up. "Daaad…?" Harry asked hesitantly.
"Your father knows the Vice President of an American Broom Manufacturer called Twilight." Aurora said a bit giddily.
"The Thunderbolt hasn't even been released officially to consumers. It won't be until this December, but a friend of mine owed me a few favors and he was able to get one for you. You must promise to report back to him if there are any hiccups. This broom is said to be the fastest broom ever built." Daniel said very excited.
Everyone started cheering and yelling and congratulating Harry. The twins both offered their services as testers should Harry be too scared to test it himself. Harry told them it was not necessary and that he would be just fine testing it.
Harry also noticed that Daphne did not get him a gift, as even Tracy had given him a small bag of chocolates and a very nicely written card. He didn't press things as his friends were all around him and they were having a good time.
Several hours later after cake was eaten and ice cream devoured everyone filtered out through the Floo back to their homes. As soon as Ginny hugged and kissed Harry goodbye he breathed a sigh of relief.
He walked tiredly from the den into the foyer and sat down in one of the small couches and closed his eyes.
He was startled awake a few minutes later when Hermione and her parents walked into the room. Harry jumped up and walked over to her, "Hermione…"
She smiled at him, "Harry, We'll be fine. Alastor is already at the house waiting for us, we have a Floo now and your father has graciously keyed it into yours. We'll be able to call each other whenever."
"Brilliant." He said somewhat non-enthusiastically. "Take care of yourself Hermione." He gave the brunette a long hug and then walked behind her to see her out.
Nathaniel walked over and extended a hand to Harry. "Harry, you take care of yourself, and for all our sakes I hope that you never have to come to my house uninvited again." He and Harry both chuckled and then nodded quietly.
Harry watched Daniel say goodbye to the Grangers in the Den and in a flash of green they were gone.
Daniel walked up to him, "Did you have a good birthday?"
"It was fantastic. Thank you for everything." Harry said given him a warm hug.
"Don't thank me, thank Daphne - she planned all of it." He said warmly.
"Yeah…" Harry said, his eyes staring at the ground. He walked slowly up to his room and ignored the fact that Daphne's door was open and her light was still on. He was tired and his head hurt and he wasn't sure he wanted to see her right now.
Harry got ready for bed quietly. He grabbed one of his new books and climbed on top of his sheets and started reading.
About thirty minutes later Daphne walked into his doorway, "Harry?" She called out softly.
Harry looked up at her, "What?" He said coldly.
"I wanted to give you your present." She said kicking her feet with her hands behind her back.
"Oh! Now you remember to get me something!" Harry snapped.
"I didn't want to give it to you in front of everyone because I thought it would make people curious." She said getting a bit red and staring at his feet.
"Fine. Let's have it then." He said angrily.
She walked over to him and handed him a box wrapped in gold and green wrapping paper. He scoffed at the coloring but opened it anyway.
When he opened the package he was stunned by how beautiful it looked. It was a light brown armguard with two faceted rubies on one side and two faceted emeralds on the other. The Potter Family Crest on the side of the Rubies and the Greengrass Family Crest on the other. As he held the armguard in his hands he could feel a slight wave of magic from the bracers.
"It's enchanted to record the twenty seconds before and after you catch the Snitch." She said with little emotion.
She heard a slight hitch in his breath, and when she looked up at his face she saw two tears falling from his face. He dropped his hands and ran over to her and gave her the tightest hug she had ever received. Daphne was so startled by it that she gasped and took a moment before returning the hug. "It's perfect." He said through tears.
"I was afraid you might not like it because it's green." She said as a smile began to appear on her face.
"Why would that matter?" He asked honestly, getting a bit of control over his emotions.
"Because it's Slytherin colored…" She said a bit embarrassed.
"I could give two flying fucks if its Slytherin or Gryffindor. Its my family and our family. Those are the only things that matter to me. That and it's from you." He said blushing slightly and letting her go.
"Harry… I…"
"Please let me." He put the armguard on his desk and put his hands on her shoulders. "I have been a total arse the past few days and honestly it's not your fault or anyone's fault. These fucking headaches are killing me. I wake up in the middle of the night covered in sweat and this unbelievable desire to kill. If we can't figure out a way to stop them before school I am going to ask Dumbledore about them when we arrive."
"I kinda figured… I saw you this morning and you looked like shit." She said with a bit of cheek.
"Thanks," he said acknowledging her sass that she cared about him. "Can I ask you a favor?"
Daphne smiled, "Sure."
"I understand why you want to keep us a secret from the school for now, but promise me we'll tell everyone on the first day of school." Harry's eyes were pleading for her to say yes.
Daphne had thought about it nonstop after Tracy's comment earlier. She felt terrible about asking earlier and really she wanted nothing more than to go downstairs and snog the shit out of him in front of all his friends.
"We'll tell them, when we sit together on the train." She grinned and Harry smiled brightly. That was the first honest moment of happiness that Daphne had seen from him all day. Sure he must have been happy during the party and the Quidditch game but she wasn't there to see that.
"HARRY! DAPHNE! TIME FOR BED!" Came the call from downstairs from their mother.
Harry groaned, "Thanks for the arm guard." He walked over grabbed her lightly behind the neck and pulled her into a warm steamy kiss. Harry held her loosely so that if she wanted to get away she could, but the truth that he did not know was that Daphne could have stayed like that all night. After several minutes of snogging both teens pulled away. "Thanks for putting up with me." Harry said through his blush.
Daphne was hot really hot. That kiss had ignited a fire that she had never felt before, a fire that she tried for months to keep suppressed. She wondered why on earth she decided that boys were evil. "Any time Harry." She said lamely.
Daphne quickly left the room after noticing a slight bulge in her dark haired boyfriend's pants. "Good night Harry." She said looking back from the doorway.
"Night Daph." Harry returned shying away a bit.
Daphne returned to her room and tried to get ready for bed but the fire that started earlier only grew stronger. As she changed she noticed that her underwear was wet and that a warmth was spreading over her entire body. She felt a strong pull to be with Harry and not just to be held in his arms. The way he held her during thier kiss was maddening and she craved more. "When did this happen?" She asked herself staring at the mirror.
Over the last few weeks she had noticed that some of her physical features had grown and that she was having trouble fitting into some of her bras. She also noticed that a few of her pants and jeans were much tighter than at the start of summer.
She turned side to side a few times in front of the mirror. "I look good." She said with a smile.
After a few minutes she walked over and put on her sleeping shirt and shorts. As she was walking to her bed she had an idea. "It is still his birthday…" She pondered as a mischievous look overtook her face. "Oh Tracy would enjoy this…"
Daphne peeked out her door and down the hallway. The lights were all out downstairs. She figured that her parents would still be awake. She closed the door to her room silently and crept down the hall to Harry's room.
His light was still on and she figured he must still be reading. She knocked softly on the door and when he didn't respond opened it slowly. "Harry?" She whispered.
Harry was holding his arm guard and admiring the craftsmanship, "Daphne?" he asked in a normal voice.
Daphne quietly got in the room and closed the door. She turned to face him quickly and then taking a breath to calm her racing heart. "Hi."
Harry gave her a weird look. "Hey." He then noticed that she was blushing heavily and he realized what she might be thinking.
"Can I come sit with you?" She asked hesitantly.
Harry nodded, too afraid to speak. He felt a fierce heat begin to spread across his head and chest.
As Daphne walked over Harry noticed that she had really long slender legs and… wait, where did those hips come from? His heart rate soared as she sat down next to him. He was still over the covers wearing his new sweatpants.
Harry slowly put down his book. "You look… wonderful." He said entranced. Her hair was in a tight ponytail and she flipped it over her shoulder so it rested across her breast.
Daphne's heart was racing ever faster now. She'd never done anything like this. A small voice in her head told her she should go back to her room and sleep. "Thanks. You were amazing earlier during the game."
Harry sat up against the wall. "You watched the game?" He asked excitedly.
Daphne slid across the bed to so she was sitting next to him. As she moved her shirt caught slightly and when it sprung back Harry noticed the short shorts that she was wearing and it excited him furter. "Of course we watched the game." Daphne said trying to keep her mind off the hormones that were racing in every part of her body. "I think Tracy has a thing for Seamus."
Harry turned slightly so he was facing Daphne, "I think Seamus has a thing for every girl." Harry said rolling his eyes and turning his face down, a searing blush across his cheeks.
Daphne reached out and lightly grabbed his chin, whispering as she leant forward, "Don't hide from me." She gently pulled his face towards her and as their eyes met Daphne was gone. She saw a blazing firestorm of love and passion radiating out from her emerald-eyed boyfriend. She slid her hand up his jaw and grabbed him behind the head and pulled him in to kiss her.
He instinctively reached for her shoulder and pulled her slowly down as their lips met. Daphne was slightly startled by the forcefulness but it was quickly overcome, as being in his arms was the best thing she had ever felt.
Their lips fought for a moment to decide who would be in control but they quickly decided it didn't matter. The only thing that mattered was figuring out how to breathe while keeping their lips together.
Daphne slowly moved until her knees were at his hips. Harry loosely wrapped both arms around her back and pulled her closer to him. Her hands went to his head, running softly and then more urgently through his unruly hair. As he licked and explored the feel of her tongue and lips he found his hands squeezing and roaming her lower back, dipping lower with each caress. Daphne moaned softly into his mouth and he was lit with a racing fire, pulling her hard against his chest.
Harry slowly began trailing light kisses down her jaw and onto her neck. She moaned softly into his ear. His hands reached the hem of her shorts and stopped short uncertain if they should continue.
Daphne pushed away slightly and stared into his emerald eyes and nodded. Her narrowed eyes filled with passion and lust pushed him further. Harry reached further down and found the end of her long shirt just above her ass. Daphne plunged down reconnecting with his lips, as his hands explored her arse, she gently nipped at his lips and tongue.
Harry let out a low growl and closed his eyes enjoying the feeling of holding his girlfriend on top of him. Her weight felt comforting and it was wonderful to have such warmth surrounding him.
Daphne began to gently rock side to side as Harry's hands gently held her ass which caused him to moan a bit louder. She then noticed the large bulge in his sweats and grinned. Daphne slid off to the side leaving Harry lying on his back, as she kissed gently down his jaw and neckline. She began tracing small circles down his bare chest.
As her hands moved softly down his chest Harry moaned louder, "Oh god." He said softly and closed his eyes. Daphne watched the reaction that she was getting from her boyfriend and it was further fueling her own fire. She pushed herself up onto one of her elbows so she could continue to kiss him as her other hand pushed lower down his chest.
As her hand reached the border of his pants she softly played with the hem and every so often would dip a fingernail under the edge. As she did Harry's breath would hitch and she heard a small gasp.
Harry reached over with his opposite hand and pulled her shirt up slightly so he could have access to her chest. He started at her side just above her hip, as his fingers made gentle light contact Daphne gasped and pushed her hand a bit further down his pants which caused him to gasp as well.
Their half open eyes met while still kissing, and the fires blazing behind them spurred them on. Harry traced featherlight figure-eights across Daphne side and stomach and slowly crept up to her chest.
Daphne slid her hand completely under his sweats and was shocked to find him not wearing boxers. However this shock only last a second as his hand traced another soft circle across her midsection. His fingers were like little bolts of lightning every time they touched her, sending tingles all over her body. Daphne slid her hand gently down the side of his hips and softly caressing his inner thigh.
As her hand reached the top of his thigh, Harry let out a loud moan, "Fuck." He said suddenly.
Daphne quickly recoiled and removed her hand from his pants, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to."
This time it was Harry's turn to be comforting, he reached his hand up to her face and gently held her cheek and the single lock of hair that had escaped her ponytail. "Why apologize it felt amazing." His eyes still only partly open and a soft smile on his face.
Daphne nodded back with closed eyes and slid her hand back down his pants right back to where it had been a few moments ago. She lowered herself back down and she started gently nipping at his neck and lower jaw.
Harry tried to move his arm up to get more contact but Daphne gently held his hand still and shook her head as if to tell him not now. Harry opened his eyes and looked confused but that confusion soon turned to bliss as Daphne quickly adjusted her hand in his pants so it was covering his dick.
Daphne had only briefly heard of what men looked like down there. So when she grabbed the first thing that her hands felt was shocked by how warm and hard it was.
"HOLY…. F…." The last part got drowned out by Daphne kissing him to prevent him from screaming further.
Harry looked up at Daphne and was immediately caught by her warm eyes. "Shhhh… not so loud. We don't want to wake mom or dad.
Harry smiled, "Sorry." he said apologetically through a whisper. Which caused Daphne to giggle a little.
Harry would have laughed himself but Daphne chose that moment to move her hand along the length of his dick. Daphne was thoroughly pleased by the reaction she got from Harry. His entire body tensed for a split second before relaxing completely. His head hit the pillow as his mouth opened slightly and he moaned, "Daphne…"
That word sent a shiver of pleasure from her ears down her spine and into her chest. From there it exploded out to her entire body. Every nerve along the way being ignited by his calling her name. She, without thinking, grabbed ahold of his dick and began stroking it. She leaned down and began planting light kisses along his neck.
As she stroked his cock he began to let out a low, guttural moan that reverberated against her lips that told her that she was doing the right things. Every few seconds his body would twitch slightly and he would moan with it. "Ohh.. Daph…" His breathing began to quicken as her tempo increased.
Soon his legs began to squirm and and she could see his muscles starting to tense, "You ok?" She whispered to him.
Harry opened his eyes, and she swore there was a green fire burning instead of his warm eyes. That was all the affirmation she needed and continued with her stroking.
He closed his eyes just as quickly and Daphne felt him begin to rock with her strokes. "Oh GOD" Harry said a bit louder and quickly put his pillow over his head to muffle the sounds coming from him. Harry had lost all sense of control and fear of disturbing anyone else in the house.
Daphne quickened her pace, noticing that as she did his reaction got more and more intense. She kissed and kissed his neck until she found a really warm spot that she could feel his heartbeat. It was really fast, much faster than she had ever experienced herself even during gymnastics. As her lips crossed over the beating artery Harry moaned loudly.
"Daph… Daphne… I am… almost…" Daphne quickened her pace to as fast as she could and a second later she saw every muscle in his chest and lower body tense and then just as quickly relax. "AAAAAHHHHHhhhhhhh."
Daphne felt a warm liquid spurt all over her hand and the inside of his pants. Daphne smiled, she had no idea what to expect. She had masterbaited a few times herself yet never had the kind of reaction that Harry just had. She was very pleased, and when she pulled her hand out of his pants and saw the sticky liquid against it she didn't care. She looked down at him and his face had the brightest smile, and his eyes slowly opened and he stared up at her. She didn't need to hear his words because she already knew that level of bliss he was in. "Wow… I mean wow!"
Daphne leaned up and kissed him softly as his eyes fluttered open. "You like…?" she asked timidly.
Harry nodded slowly, "Yeah…" He looked down over the two of them, his breath slowly returning to normal. "That was mind blowing…"
Giggling, Daphne quietly got up and went into his bathroom to wash her hands. When she returned she noticed that he had changed out of his sweats and was wearing a pair of red and gold boxers.
Daphne walked over to the bed pulling out her ponytail, leaving her hair to flow gracefully around her shoulders. She pulled the covers back and slid under them, and looked at him expectantly.
Harry gave her a questioning look. "Come on, I am not going to hold them all night." She said warmly as she patted the spot behind her.
Harry quickly jumped over and slid behind her and pressed himself against her back. "G'night Harry."
"Night Daph." The two said for the second time this evening.
Harry wrapped an arm around his girlfriend and snuggled into her neck. He was asleep in minutes.
Daphne lay awake for about twenty minutes thinking about the step she and him had just taken in their relationship. Sure she had been nervous and worried, but something about his reactions, and the faces that he made told her this is right where she wanted to be.
She closed her eyes and drifted slowly off to sleep.
The next morning Harry woke just before six. He had had no nightmares and had the best sleep he had ever gotten in the past fifteen years.
As the conscious world came to him he realized that someone else was in his bed. Quickly the events of yesterday came to his mind and a soft smile crept across his face. He snuggled tightly into Daphne's back. As he did she adjusted slightly allowing more skin to skin contact. Harry loved the feel of Daphne's skin on his it was soft and warm.
Harry thought for a few moments about how their relationship had progressed in the past month and it scared and excited him. He never had these feelings towards Hermione or anyone else at school and yet here he was sleeping peacefully with a girl that until a month ago was an total unknown.
Harry lay holding Daphne for a few more minutes when he heard the water turn on next door. 'Crap'
"Daphne." He said softly while nudging her shoulder.
Daphne didn't wake she merely shrugged off his attempt to wake her. "Daphne you need to get up." He said softly into her ear. Harry was in uncharted territory, he had observed that Daphne was a terrible person to wake up let alone be anywhere near if she was disturbed.
"Not yet mom…" Daphne said through a mumble as she rolled onto her stomach. Her hair flopping over her shoulder and into her face.
Harry laughed softly, "Daphne you need to get up and go back to your room." He said a bit louder while sitting up in the bed.
Daphne's eyes shot open and Harry could see a few thin red blood vessels. She jerked her head to face his. She paused for a moment her first thought was to scream at him but then her rational brain kicked in, and she just smiled.
His smile was warm and his eyes melted her rage in seconds, "Morning." Harry said after her face relaxed.
"What time is it." She said while yawning.
"Six-ten."
Daphne rolled over and buried her head in his pillow. "Why!" Her scream was muffled by the pillow.
Harry chuckled at his girlfriends misfortune, "Daph you need to get up." Harry nudged her playfully.
She rolled over and sat up, her hair flopped in front of her face, it was a mess yet Harry found it irresistible, "You look amazing…" he said while extending his hand and gently brushing some of the hair out of her eyes.
Her shoulders dropped and she leaned against his chest, "I don't want to get up…"
"Yet you didn't want to tell others…" Harry said jokingly.
Daphne's face fell slightly, "I deserved that."
Harry turned her head to face his, "It's ok, I forgive you and not just because of last night." At which point he turned red.
Daphne leaned up and kissed him lightly before pushing off the bed. "I don't deserve it, but I'll take it." She walked to the door leaving him in his boxers in bed. "See you upstairs?"
"Yeah, I'm going to shower and then be up."
Daphne opened the door as quietly as she could and peeked out into the hallway. The coast clear she crept back to her room.
After she left, Harry fell back into bed and pulled the pillow that she slept on to his face. The lingering smell was intoxicating, he wish she didn't have to go but it would have been terrible if their parents caught them. "Would it though?" Harry asked himself. He pondered it for a few seconds before he heard the shower next door turn on. "Right training…"
Harry got up and took a much colder and shorter shower than he wanted. He walked out his door just as Astoria was walking out as well.
"Sleep well?" Astoria asked with a grin.
'Crap!' Harry said to himself, she must have known that Daphne slept in his room, "What do you want?" He preempted her train of thought.
"Oh nothing yet. It's nice to have favors and what better than to have favors from the Boy-Who-Lived." She said through a smirk.
"Fine, but just know this." His face darkened and Astoria could see a his pupils get much darker, "I know where you sleep."
She was terrified for only a second as the thought went through her head that he could very likely kill her in a split second. Not that he would… Astoria shook her head and walked over to him. "You really did use the Killing Curse on Barty Crouch, Jr.?"
"Yes, and I'd do it again." He said a smile returning back to his face.
Astoria gave him a light hug, "I'm glad your on our side."
Harry turned them towards the staircase to walk up to the ballroom, "And what side would that be?"
"The side where you don't hurt me or Daph."
"You don't know me well enough yet," he chuckled, "I'd die for either of you, your family."
"God I wish you were two years younger!" she pouted knowing that he was Daphne's and that she had no chance with him.
Harry laughed as they walked into the ballroom. Harry was shocked to see Tracy was there along with Hermione and her father. "Morning Harry." Hermione waved.
"Hey Hermione, Hi Tracy." He said politely
"Potter you look like you slept with a lion." Tracy snarked.
Astoria punched him in the shoulder and snickered. Harry blushed slightly and walked over to bench were they put their extra clothes and dropped his shirt and towel, hoping that his blush would go unnoticed.
Tracy was much too observant to not see the boy's red face however decided it would better to ask her best friend about it than embarrass him in front of everyone.
A few minutes later Daphne and Daniel walked in, "Morning everyone, you know the drill by now." Daniel said before noticing Tracy was there.
"Trace!" Daphne said slightly shocked, "What are you doing here?"
Tracy jogged over to her friend, "You mom suggested yesterday that I be apart of these trainings due to… How did she put it? 'You and Daphne are inseparable.'" Tracy shrugged.
Daphne sighed and turned towards her father, "Did you have anything to do with this?"
He kept his smile, "I may have mentioned something to Mr. Davis a few weeks ago. He agreed that with our assessment that if danger is drawn to our family that you should know how to defend yourself. Now enough dilly-dallying and lets go."
The group of them proceeded to run their three mile warm up to which everyone but Tracy was only breathing a bit heavier.
"How… are… you… not… tired…?" Tracy asked Daphne.
Daphne smirked at her friends discomfort, "Because we've done this for almost a month now and besides." She took a deep breath, "The worst is still to come."
"What do you mean worse?" Tracy's breath had come back to her. Tracy had always been an athletic women and if it hadn't been summer she likely would be running circles around Daphne.
"You'll see."
Daniel reconstructed the obstacle course and the scoreboard appeared at the far side. Harry's name was still at the top however Daniel and Astoria were much closer while Daphne had remained in the low 20's having dropped almost eight minutes since their first run at the start of July.
They all ran through the course and everyone noticed that both Harry and Daphne's time dropped dramatically. Nathaniel remarked that he was shocked to see Harry improve so much over his already impressed time.
Daniel was also very proud of both his daughters. Harry he assumed would be very apt at this kind of stuff given his background, but his daughters were both brought up to be proper Pureblood daughters.
The leaderboard read:
1st) Harry Potter 15:58.74
2nd) Daniel Greengrass 17:43.56
3rd) Astoria Greengrass 19:05.41
4th) Nathaniel Granger 19:23.99
5th Daphne Greengrass 20:06.89
6th) Hermione Granger 21:15.28
7th) Tracy Davis 22:19.56
They all dispersed slowly after everyone was finished. Daphne and Tracy went back to her room to change and shower, Astoria went to her room and both the adults went down stairs. Hermione followed behind Harry and stood awkwardly in his doorway.
"Harry…?" She asked in a nervous voice.
"What's up Hermione?"
"Can I come in?" She had her hands behind her back and was rocking nervously back and forth.
"Yeah, What's wrong Hermione?" He noticed her behavior had been off slightly all morning.
"Nothing!" She said quickly and then her face fell knowing that she was a horrible liar. "You know how we went home last night?" Harry nodded, "Well we met the entire team of Auror's that would be part of protection detail."
"I thought it was just Mad-eye Moody?" Harry said as he took of his shirt and walked over to his closet.
Hermione shut the door, "It is, but he has two junior Aurors that he's currently training. Both of them are going to be with us at Hogwarts this year as a precaution."
Harry was excited that the Wizengamot was keeping its promises, "So who are they?"
"Well that's the thing… We know one of them." Harry peaked his head out from the closet door.
"Who?"
"Cedric Diggory and Nymphadora Tonks."
Harry dropped the pants he was holding, "Cedric joined the Aurors? I thought he was going to be a Curse Breaker."
"I asked him the same thing, and he said that because of what happened when you touched the Triwizard Cup he realized that the world is much more dangerous than he realized. He wants to thank you for stunning him because if he had grabbed the cup he likely would have died."
Harry's heart fell remembering his terrible adventure through the graveyard. "Well I'm glad that he didn't." He tried to smile as he walked into the shower.
Harry took a very quick hot shower and as he walked out he yelled out to his room, "Hermione you still there?"
A few seconds later, "Yeah…" Harry could tell that she had been crying a bit.
"Hermione, we can't dwell on the past. Hell if did I'd be dead several times over." He walked into the room holding a towel over his naked body under it. "Shower is warm if you want."
He and Hermione had oddly gotten comfortable with each other's varying levels of undress over the past years. It got to the point where Ginny or Ron would ask if they realized that the other was in the room. To which both of them would respond, "So?"
Hermione picked up her change of clothes and towel that Trixie had given to her a few minutes ago, "Thanks."
Hermione walked into the bathroom and closed the door just enough so that all the steam wouldn't fill Harry's room. "I just don't know how you do it." Hermione shouted through the bathroom doors.
Harry mumbled to himself, "I really don't…"
"What was that?" she yelled.
"I said that I have to. I don't have much choice in the matter. Voldemort is hellbent on killing me and it seems that now he's taken interest in hurting those around me." He was getting angry.
"We'll hopefully this year we'll have a defense teacher that can help us." They had been told that Mad-Eye had turned down the position in favor of this assignment to protect the Muggleborns. Hermione thought that it was because it gave him more freedom while still being able to serve Dumbledore.
Harry heard the shower turn off and he finished drying himself off. He quickly pulled on a clean pair of boxers and sat on his bed.
Hermione walked out a few second later with a towel wrapped around her chest and another one wrapped around her hair.
Harry let her change with as much privacy as his room would allow, "Oh, look at what Daphne got me for my birthday." He handed her the Arm Guard.
Hermione had just finished putting on a bra and tank top. "Oooh that's cool." She held the exquisite piece of craftsmanship. "I like the emeralds and rubies." She said admiring them.
"Daph, tells me that the emeralds represent the Greengrass family and the rubies are for the Potter family." He said softly as his eyes drifted off towards the ceiling.
"You like her, don't you?" She had just taken the towel off her head and flipped her hair back.
"Yeah… I think so. I mean…" He turned towards her. "I've never felt this way before with anyone."
"I am so happy for you Harry." She walked over to him and hugged him a friendly caring sort of hug.
"I just hope I don't muck it up."
She walked back over the chair with her stuff on it and started brushing her hair, "You won't she cares a lot about you too."
Harry paused before responding, "How do you know how Daphne feels?" He eyed here suspiciously.
She straightened up quickly, "I.. I… I mean… We…"
"Hermione." He said in long syllables.
"She came to me a few weeks ago and asked me about us."
"Us?" Harry asked mistified.
"Yeah she wanted to know if we were together." This caused Harry to laugh a bit.
"She clearly hasn't spent any time with us." To this Hermione laughed.
The two of them were interrupted from their laughter by Daphne, "Hey! Seems our Hogwarts letters came. Hermione's too."
The three of them went happily downstairs and into the dining room. There Astoria and Aurora were waiting with breakfast.
"Your letters came just a few minutes ago." Aurora said happily as Trixie was levitating a tray of scones and fresh fruit onto the table.
Harry quickly tore into his just as Hermione and Daphne did. The letters seemed a bit thicker than normal at least Harry's did.
Dear Mr. Harry James Potter,
We would like to welcome you back to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry for your fifth year. It is tradition that all fifth year students take their Ordinary Wizarding Level Examinations. You will be required to take them in all classes in which you have completed and passed the fourth year Exams. According to our records you will be required to take:
Potions - Practical and Theoretical - Exceeds Expectations
Charms - Practical and Theoretical - Outstanding
Transfigurations - Practical and Theoretical* - Exceeds Expectations
Herbology - Practical - Exceeds Expectations
Defense Against the Dark Arts - Theoretical and Practical* - Outstanding
Care for Magical Beasts - Practical - Outstanding
Divinations - Theoretical - Exceeds Expectations
*It has been brought to our attention that in both Defense Against the Dark Arts and Transfigurations that you posses Above Ordinary Skill in both of these classes and have been recommended for additional testing by Headmaster Dumbledore and your Head of House Minerva Mcgonagall.
We hope that you are excited to start another year with us at Hogwarts.
Minerva Mcgonagall
As Harry finished reading the larger of the two letters he noticed a small badge fall out of the second letter. It had the Gryffindor Crest and a Purple P over it. Confused he read the second letter.
Dear Harry Potter,
I would like to inform you that you have been chosen as one of the two Fifth Year Prefects. You have shown exemplary skill in leadership and willingness to go above and beyond for your friends and fellow classmates. I understand that things have never gone smoothly in the four previous years that you have attended our illustrious school however, I have high hopes for this year. You will get a the full details of your responsibilities on September 1st please be prepared to have a meeting about half past two in the Prefects Car on the Hogwarts Express. You will be required to wear your Prefects Badge at all times while on duty or during normal class hours.
I hope your year is filled with wonderful experiences and you enjoy your OWL year.
Minerva McGonagall.
Harry had to read the letter two times before he could make his brain understand the words. It took a few more minutes for him to notice that Hermione and Daphne both had badges with bright purple P's on them.
"Your the other Prefect?" Hermione asked Harry having noticed him holding the other badge.
"I guess I am, though don't know why she'd select me. Dean or Neville make a much more suitable choice from the fifth year boys." Harry frowned. He wasn't looking forward to having added responsibility. He was still hoping that this would be a normal year for him. This thought caused him to laugh which caught Daphne's attention.
"What's so funny?" She asked curiously.
"Oh, I was just thinking how unlikely it is for this year to go smoothly. I mean look at my past four years."
Daphne was still shocked at how easily he could talk about almost being killed or seriously hurt. "Well at least this year we won't need to use your Invisibility Cloak to sneak around as much." Hermione said to lighten the mood.
"You have an Invisibility Cloak?" Daphne asked him, her eyes growing wide with excitement.
Harry nodded, "Yeah, Dumbledore gave it to me my first year. I think it was my fathers."
Daphne hummed to herself thinking about all the time she wished to leave and enter the Slytherin dorms unseen.
"Daphne, your a Prefect too right?" Hermione asked looking at the badge.
"Yeah..." She said through a groan. "Not that anyone else from the fifth year Slytherins would be selected. Tracy is too adventurous besides Snape has never liked her, Pansey is always in detentions, Millicent has never been good with people." Despite how much Daphne hated most of her housemates she did know a lot about them. In Slytherin House knowledge is power, or currency. So the more that you know the more things you can get out of.
"That should mean we'll have a good excuse to hang out." Harry said remembering that in previous years the Prefects were always assigned in pairs and never with their own house, in order to promote inter house cooperation.
This made Daphne smile, she had already admitted to herself that once news got around that things would be difficult in her dorm, but at least now she'd have a valid excuse to spend time with Harry and Hermione.
The rest of breakfast was filled with light conversation and laughs about the upcoming OWLS. Hermione left shortly after leaving the rest of the Greengrass's do enjoy their Sunday.
Over the next two weeks Harry and Daphne enjoyed their time together, although nowhere nearly as intimate as his birthday. Not surprisingly, neither of them wanted to talk to the other about it. Harry was waiting till they got to Hogwarts and things got settled before bringing it up and Daphne was too embarrassed to say anything, however neither of the two teens were ashamed of what happened.
Aurora and Daniel had arranged for Tracy and Hermione to join them on their yearly trip to Diagon Alley to get all their supplies for the upcoming year. As a result they were informed that Cedric Diggory would be joining them as a precaution since Hermione would be in attendance.. He happily agree to join them as he had already helped several of the other Muggleborns do the exact same thing over the past week.
When the eight of them arrived in Diagon Alley it was just as busy as it usually was before school. Children running up and down the lane laughing.
"Ok Children let's be smart about this." Aurora said as she pushed Astoria and Daphne through the large stone doorway. "Daphne, Tracy and Harry stay with Daniel, Astoria your with me."
"Momm!" Astoria whined, "I want to go with Daph and Harry!"
Daphne smirked, "You will leave your sister and brother alone. We talked about this!" Aurora scolded.
"Yes mum." Daphne shot her sister a taunting look.
Harry, Daphne and Tracy walked over to Madam Malkins while Hermione and Cedric went to Flourish and Blotts.
Hermione looked over at Cedric who was wearing his new Auror robes, he still managed to fit his Triwizard Champion badge along with Hufflepuff colors into his atired. "So, Mr Diggory?" Hermione asked as she was thumbing through a book on Wards an Crystals Foci.
Cedric looked over from the end of the isle where he was standing watch, "Yes Miss Granger?"
Hermione giggled slightly, "How many times have I asked you to call me Hermione?"
Cedric tried to hide his smile, "At least twenty."
"Then I'll ask again. Please call me Hermione." She smiled at him as she said it.
"Yes Hermione."
"Now, I've been wondering why you agreed to this job?" She turned back to her book while keeping her attention on him out of the corner of her eye.
Cedric looked up slightly and paused for a few moments, "Well I guess, because of what happened at the end of the Tournament. After hearing what happened to Harry and You-Know-Who coming back. I wanted to do something, you know to help people."
Hermione nodded, "Well at least there are a few good people out there." she put her book down and turned to him. "How did you hear about what happened to Harry?" She knew very well that Harry hadn't told many people, and since the Ministry was trying to squash all rumors of Voldemort's return there was only one place that he would have heard it.
"I… Uh…" He stammered trying to think. "My father told me and he got it from a very reliable source."
"You're part of the Order aren't you?" She said quickly before her brain remembered that it was supposed to be secret.
"Yes… No.. I mean… How do you know about the Order?" Cedric asked in a low voice as he walked over to Hermione.
"My family was attacked remember? Who do you think it was that showed up?" Hermione said with a smug face.
"The Aurors?" Cedric asked jokingly.
"Harry and Mr. Greengrass."
"You mean to tell me that four Death Eaters were stopped and killed by Harry Potter, Elder Greengrass and you?" Cedric asked shocked and amazed.
"No." She replied with a proud smile. "They were stopped by my father, Harry and his new father."
Cedric leaned back slightly trying to picture the scene and it was not hard to picture. He'd seen first hand what Harry was capable of during the tournament and he knew very well of Daniel Greengrass's prowess as a Auror. The part that surprised him was how Nathaniel Granger played into the mix. "I see…"
Hermione went back to reading her book for a few seconds before turning her head and her flipping her hair out of her face. "So I ask again, why did you agree to take this job?"
"To protect you and your family, and that is all I will say at this time." Cedric walked back to his original post at the end of the isle.
Hermione spent the next half hour picking out her books for the term along with several other books that she wanted for herself. Harry had been very generous insisting on giving her fifty Galleons so that she could buy whatever she wanted claiming that it was for missing her Birthday this past year.
As she shopped she would occasionally find herself looking at Cedric. Not in a im studying you to see if your a danger sort of staring but in a 'huh he's kinda cute' sort of way. She had to forcibly shake herself out of a few these stares for fear of being seen.
About an hour later as the group of them were getting ready to leave, Harry accidentally bumped into a red-haired boy leaving Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor, "Sorry Sir." Came a voice that Harry didn't particularly care to hear so soon.
As Ron turned around and made eye contact Ron's face sunk, "Harry."
"Ron" Harry said tersely as Daphne and Tracy were pushed back as he straightened himself.
"How you doing mate?" Ron said trying to bring himself to smile.
"Fine, better than fine actually." Harry was starting to get angry. Just looking at the boy forced memories to flood his brain about how he acted during the Tournament, and how he acted outside of the Hospital Wing.
Tracey was the first to notice as she felt a strong magical field begin to radiate off from Harry. It was causing some of her arm hairs to stand on end. She turned frantically to Daphne and gently nudged her to look at Harry.
"I wanted to apologize-"
"APOLOGIZE?! For what Ronald Weasley?!" His voice boomed throughout the end of Diagon Alley. Many of the witches and wizards turned towards the very loud and commanding voice.
"For… for... " Ron had never been on this side of Harry's anger. He felt the magic pouring off of him as Harry walked slowly towards him.
"For LEAVING during the tournament?! OR maybe it's for punching one of your best friends in the FACE!" his voice was getting louder and as he walked towards Ron he backed away terrified.
"I didn't mean to hit you mate." Ron pleaded.
"OH I WASN'T TALKING ABOUT ME!" Harry began to radiate a faint reddish gold light from his wand that was drawn into his hand.
All of the patrons and passerbys moved out of the way as the two boys entered the center of the street.
Daphne stood there in the doorway of the ice cream shop and was just as terrified as Ron. She was seeing a very different side of Harry one that she never wanted to see from the other side. She was pulled from her fear by Tracy nuding her on the shoulder. She turned and saw Tracy giving her the 'Do something' look.
"I didn't hit anyone else." Ron whimpered.
"Oh Yes. You. Did." Harry said very slowly and angrily. His eyes were pitch black with rage and fury. "You don't even realize it do you?" Harry asked turning his head slightly towards Hermione who was standing behind Daphne and Tracy crying.
"Hermione? I didn't even hurt her." He pleaded.
"Oh really? Then why did she have a black eye all the way home on the Train. Why did she still have a bruise on her face when I arrived at her house two weeks later?!" He said backing Ron up against a wall.
"You were the ones who stopped the attack at her parents?" Ron asked his fear consuming his mind.
Harry kept his wand at his side and walked up so he was inches from Ron's face. "Yes Ron. I was the one who she called for help. I was there, and just where were you?" Harry said venomously as the arm holding his wand began to shake without him knowing. The magical field that was coming from his wand spread to his hand and wrist.
Ron was too scared to speak he felt worse than he did when the Dementor attacked on the train during their third year.
"You were at home. Eating your Mother's pie."
"That's enough!" Molly Weasley shouted realizing what was happening. She marched over to Harry and Ron and as she grabbed his arm that had slowly risen to his chest, she screamed and pulled her hand away,the skin severely burnt.
Harry turned to face both of them, "If you ever come near me again, I will make sure it is the last thing you ever do." With a quick turn Harry walked calmly off towards the Leaky Cauldron and Flooed home, leaving a very stunned and terrified Molly Weasley and an even more terrified Ron Weasley.
Molly turned to her son. "What have you done?" she asked in a very angry and low voice.
"I… I don't know."
Standing not so far away a young red-headed girl watched unnoticed by everyone. She smirked as the black haired boy of her dreams died.
Harry appeared in the den a few moments later and stumbled off the ground cursing to himself softly about how he hated magical travel and marched up to his room and slammed the door shut.
He walked over to his dresser and quickly scrapped off his clothes tearing his trousers slightly in his anger. He then walked naked into the shower and turned on the water and sat there crying.
About ten minutes later the seven of them arrived at Greengrass Manor to which Daphne ran upstairs to find Harry.
When she got to his door she saw it was closed and she knocked, "Harry?" Daphne got no reply however heard the shower running. "Harry, can I come in?" she yelled. Hopefully he'd be able to hear here through the two sets of doors.
When she heard no reply she opened the door slightly and peeked her head in, "Harry, you in there?"
"Yeah…" came his wimper.
"Can I come in?"
"Sure… but close the door."
She walked into his room and noticed his clothes that usually were put neatly in his laundry hamper were strewn across the floor. She then went into the bathroom.
She saw him sitting curled up in the shower stall crying as the water hit him from above. Daphne walked over to sit next to him on the other side of the glass stall, "Harry what happened?"
He sat there crying for almost ten minutes. Daphne stayed quite the whole time watching him trying to observe any changes in his demeanor
"I don't understand…" He eventually looked up at here. His face was bright red and his eyes were bloodshot he looked so scared. Which shocked Daphne because she expected him to angry not scared.
"You generated the largest magical field I have ever seen. I could feel it pulsing off of you from the opposite side of the Alley." Daphne was hoping that by helping him understand that he'd let her hold him. She had learned over the this summer that he responded quite well to her touch and not just in bed.
Harry stared into her brown eyes and relaxed, they were not filled with anger or rage or sadness they were loving eyes, eyes that were worried about him and him only. "I… felt this enormous amount of anger and an incredible want to kill him. I don't know where it came from."
Daphne watched as he relaxed, "Has this ever happened before?"
"Once." He said while standing up.
Daphne blushed as she for the first time got a full view of his body. He was scrawny yet had a well defined core and his arms while small were lean with muscle. Daphne's vision was drawn for a second to his dick and she felt a great warmth overtake her senses.
Daphne quickly looked straight forward and tried to will her now aroused body to calm down. "When?" Daphne asked trying to cover her true emotions.
"When I killed Barty Crouch Jr. I felt the same uncontrollable rage that I did earlier and it was the reason that I was able to use the Killing Curse." He screamed the last part as his face soon filled with tears. "What's wrong with me?" He fell to the floor his knee impacting the tile and split open and a small pool of blood began to form.
Daphne saw this but noticed no reaction from him. She quickly jumped up and rushed over to him as he cried loudly. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and pulled his head into her chest. "Nothing is wrong with you, Harry. Ssshhhh… breath…." She tried to soothe him while rubbing his back. Her clothes getting soaked, but she didn't care. What were clothes if she lost the one thing she truly cherished in this world, and she was losing him. Not to death or time or to another woman but to his own mind.