September first came much sooner than anyone would have liked at Greengrass Manor. "DAPHNE" Harry yelled from his room. "Have you seen my Quidditch Robes?!"
Harry was scrambling to finish packing his trunk. He had spent the night before packing much to Daphne's protest. "Trixie was washing it this morning!" Daphne yelled back from her room.
Despite all the preparation and organization the Slytherin girl was credited for having, she was never ready for the start of school. She too was frantically packing her trunk and wardrobe case.
Harry had all of his school robes laid out in front of him. "Two school robes, Training Robes, Formal Robes, House Robes." He recounted to himself.
Trixie appeared next to Harry holding his bright red and gold Quidditch robes. "Master Potter be looking for these?"
"Yes! Thank you,Trixie." Harry said while quickly giving the little elf a hug and snatching the robes.
The house elf smiled, she liked Harry quite a bit. He was always treating her with respect like the other Greengrass's.
"HARRY! DAPHNE! TEN MINUTES!" Came Aurora voice from downstairs.
Harry went into frantic mode, he had almost finished with his school clothes, the only thing left were his casual clothes. Something that until this summer had only been a few pairs of pants that were Dudley's overgrown pants. However since moving in with the Greengrass's he had greatly expanded his wardrobe and was actually quite fond of his now ever growing clothing collection. Harry had taken an interest in football and thus had several shirts from Liverpool and Manchester United and also a signed Paul Scholes jersey.
Aurora had surprised him a few days earlier when Daniel came home with tickets to a Manchester United versus Liverpool expedition game. Harry and her went to the game as no one else in the family had any interest in the sport. Aurora was very happy because it meant that she was able to spend some one on one time with Harry. Something that she hadn't had much opportunity to do this summer.
She'd insisted on spending one day a month teaching Harry about the family and some of the Pureblood traditions that he would be expected to take on. However he was still much too foreign to their world to be doing them on his own yet.
Daphne walked by his room, "You ready yet?" She stood in the doorway holding her trunk wearing a dark green sweater with a white long-sleeve shirt underneath and a new pair of dark blue jeans that she had ordered from America.
"Just a second!" Harry quickly shouted back.
Daphne glared at him and when he finally looked up his frantic face softened, "Sorry, I didn't mean to yell." Harry sat down on his bed next to his trunk holding a pair of shirts that he was trying to fold.
"It's ok, you just need to relax." Daphne dropped her trunk in the hallway and walked over and sat down next to him.
"Every other year I was packed two days before school." Harry sighed while Daphne smiled.
"Well every other year you didn't have a cute girlfriend to introduce to everyone." To that Harry smiled and leaned gently over and rest his head on her shoulder. "You nervous?"
"No." He replied quickly. "You?"
"A bit." Daphne said as her face fell slightly.
"We'll figure it out. Together." Harry and Daphne had been steadily spending more and more time together since their trip to Diagon Alley and even though his nightmares hadn't gone away he was feeling better. Daphne had agreed to give him space when he wanted all he had to do was ask and in return he would have to tell her about his nightmares. Harry agreed under the condition that he would also tell Hermione about them.
"Come on." Daphne said while standing back up. "Hurry up, we don't want to miss the train."
Harry scoffed, "I've only done that once!" He threw the shirt he was holding into his trunk and picked up two more and stuffed them in and slammed the lid closed.
"I thought that was just a joke."
Harry smirked, "Na. Malfoys house elf blocked the entrance on Ron and I our second year and we had to take his flying car to Hogwarts. It eventually got destroyed by the Whomping Willow." Harry stood and rolled his trunk to the doorway and the both walked to the top of the stairs.
Trixie was waiting for them and with a snap of her hand both Trunks levitated and were floated to the Den.
"Come along kids." Aurora said happily from downstairs.
"Yeah come on you two!" Astoria said with a grin. "What were you doing up their for so long!?"
Daphne glared at her sister. "Nothing."
"Snogging" Daphne and Harry said together.
Which made Astoria gasp and Daphne blush. "All right, all right that's enough." Aurora said while stifling a laugh of her own.
She raised her wand and floated the three trunks and two suitcases onto their trolly and she punched in the code to Kings Cross and the four of them walked through the Floo.
As they arrived onto platform 9 ¾ Astoria quickly kissed her mom before running off to store her trunk and hang out with her friends. Something that Daphne was grateful for seeing as she didn't want her sister making fun of her the entire train ride.
"Now Harry, you remember that you are to write us if anything happens." Aurora said while leaning down.
"Yes mum." Harry grumbled. "I'll write at least once a month."
"Good now go and enjoy your school year." She gave him a big long hug. "I love you Harry."
Harry dropped his trunk and hugged her back, "Thanks mum. Love you too." Harry had been getting more and more comfortable towards the end of the summer with the affection that Aurora had shown to him. He figured that it was because he was actually getting use to the idea of having a family. He knew it would never be the same as if his mom and dad were still alive but it was better than anything he had previously.
Aurora released Harry and smiled, "I'm gonna go find us a cabin on the train." He turned towards Daphne.
Daphne nodded, "I'll be right behind you."
Aurora and Daphne watched him jog lightly towards the train and stash his trunk. "You're going to watch him right?" Aurora said lovingly to her daughter.
"Yes mom." she said softly. "He means more to me than anything."
"I am so glad for you sweetie. I remember when your father and I were first going out. It was as if nothing in the world mattered." She was remembering some of their early dates and it made her cheeks flush and a warm smile crept across her face.
"Ew mom." Daphne said recoiling slightly. "I don't want to think about that…"
"Oh dear not like you haven't done anything like that with Harry? Like maybe on his birthday." She said in a 'I know everything' sort of voice.
Daphne stood up straight and blushed, "I… I don't know what your talking about!"
Aurora laughed to herself while kept a small smirk, "Just remember to be careful. You remember Contraceptive Charm I taught you last year?"
Daphne stared at the ground, "Yes mom…"
"Good now give your mom and hug and enjoy your year." Daphne dropped her trunk and gave her mom a very proper and warm hug before quickly picking her trunk up and walking it over to the train.
As she boarded the train she started searching for Harry's cabin. She quickly found him sitting near the middle of the train and he wasn't alone in his cabin. Not that she was surprised to see Hermione already sitting with him. Daphne figured that Hermione had already claimed the cabin and Harry joined her, however she was surprised to see that Neville Longbottom was sitting across from Harry and next to Hermione.
"Hello, Mr Longbottom." Daphne greeted in the traditional Pureblood fashion.
Neville stood, "Hello, Mrs Greengrass." He stuttered.
Both Harry and Hermione laughed slightly, "Neville you remember Daphne right?" Daphne sat down next to Harry and stored her bag in the overhead compartment.
"Yee... Yes, from your birthday party."
"Yeah, well she's my girlfriend." Harry said it casually. He hoped that he didn't make a big deal about that his friend wouldn't either. Harry wanted the information to be out in the open but not to the point where people were gawking at him and Daphne.
To say Neville was shocked by this information was an understatement he sat speechless for a good five minutes while Daphne and Hermione chatted lightly about their Ancient Runes project that was due on the first day of term.
A few minutes later Tracy walked by the cabin and it took Daphne getting up and yelling down the hallway to get her attention, "Tracy!"
She turned around and smiled when she located the person of her interest. Usually they sat towards the back of the train near where there rest of Slytherin house sat however this year was a bit different. She of course was already privie to the information that Harry and her were dating and was ever so excited to be able to make fun of her best friend for it. Not to mention being able to spend time around the very good looking Harry Potter was a pretty big upside to this upcoming year.
"Daph, didn't see you there."
"Come sit with us before everything gets crazy." Daphne said coldly, she was already working on establishing her Ice Queen persona. She had found that since Harry entered her life that she was much more happy about everything. Something that was both wonderful and frustrating because it meant that she found it harder to be bitchy about everything.
Tracy shrugged and walked into the cabin sitting across from Daphne. "Hey Neville, Hermione." She greeted the two unexpected people.
"Hee...Hello Mrs. Davis" Neville greeted politely.
"Please just call me Tracy." She waved her hand at him.
"Good to see you again Tracy." Hermione greeted happily. She had been a bit slower to accept the brunette as she had Daphne. However over the past few weeks of their training she and Tracy had developed an interesting relationship. Hermione liked how the girl was so open about her sexuality and it was nice to have someone other than Lavender to talk about boys with.
"Likewise Hermione, how are things with a certain brown haired boy?" She said as she waggled her eyebrows.
Hermione turned her face away slightly, "They are fine. He'll be staying at Hogwarts this year."
"Who will?" Neville asked curiously.
Harry answered, "You might have heard about new bill that authorised the protection of Muggleborn Witches and Wizards that are attending Hogwarts. Well the DMLE assigned three Aurors to protect them and their families."
"Oh. Gran was talking about that, and how wonderful it is. She even donated my parents Auror gear to them. Who'd they end up getting?"
"Mad-eye Moody and his two junior Aurors, Nymphadora Tonks and Cedric Diggory." Hermione answered.
"Oh Mad-eye.. Is he the one that was teaching us the unforgivables last year?"
Harry tensed up remembering how Barty tortured Neville by making him experience the Cruciatus Curse. "No that was actually Barty Crouch Jr." Hermione answered noticing that Harry went oddly quiet.
"Really? I thought he died in Azkaban?" Tracy asked.
"No turns out that was his mother, she Polyjuiced herself to look like him so her son could be free." Daphne answered while carefully looking over Harry. He must be going over the incident at the end of the Tournament.
"Well that's terrible, I wonder what happened to him." Tracy asked unknowingly.
"I killed him." Harry said opening his eyes and looking emotionlessly across the room towards the doorway.
Just at that moment Ron Weasley walked by and stopped only for a second before hurrying on. Neville and Tracy both noticed the boy stop and suddenly get very scared. "What was that about?" Tracy asked in a whisper to Daphne.
"I wouldn't if you knew what was good for you." Daphne returned getting a significant glance from Hermione.
A few minutes later the train pulled away from the station and their journey to Hogwarts had begun.
About ten minutes later the quintet was having casual conversation about their summer vacations when the door to the cabin slide open. Standing in the doorway wearing her school uniform and a serious face was Ginny Weasley.
Everyone looked up at her, "Harry can I have a word please?"
Harry looked a bit annoyed at first but then softened, "Yes but you can say it front of everyone."
Ginny frowned slightly this was not how she envisioned it going, "It's kind of a sensitive topic."
Harry and her exchanged several looks in silence as everyone in the room was staring at Ginny. "I would trust the people in this room with my life. That includes you by the way Ginny." Harry smiled and tried to reassure the youngest Weasley.
Both Daphne and Hermione smiled on the inside knowing how much Harry cared about his friends and those closest to him.
Ginny sighed and stepped into the cabin, "Harry James Potter, I Ginevra Molly Weasley owe you a life debt and have come to pledge my services to you until you decide it fit to release me." Ginny held out her wand a white flash of light forced everyone but Harry to avert their eyes for a second.
Once the light faded everyone except Harry was shocked. Harry however stood and raised his wand and pointed it at her, "I Harry James Potter do hereby acknowledge Ginevra Molly Weasley's life debt and do subsequently release her of any responsibility provided that she remain a loyal a faithful friend to me and mine." Another flash of white light spread throughout the chamber and when it faded Ginny had one tear and a bright smile on her face.
Harry walked over and gave Ginny a warm hug, "I am sorry I wasn't there for you these past two years."
Ginny's breath hitched slightly as she regained her composure, "It's not your fault, you were trying to not die. I am sorry I wasn't able to help you through your godfathers death."
The two held each other for several minutes while Daphne watched with great intrigue trying to process their relationship. Clearly Harry and Ginny had a past and that it likely had to deal with their adventures in the Chamber of Secrets their second year.
The two broke their hug and wiped the few tears that were on each other face. "I was worried that because you and Ron weren't talking that we weren't friends." Ginny said now happy.
"Ginny, after all the shit we went through in the Chamber, I should be the one owing you the life debt." to which they both laughed and the mood in the cabin relaxed. "Oh by the way, Ginny." Harry turned to gesture towards Daphne. "This is my girlfriend Daphne Greengrass."
Daphne smiled and looked up at him, "Your going to be doing this all day aren't you?" Harry nodded
"Yup." he said brightly while still standing next to Ginny.
Daphne stood and extended a hand, "Very nice to meet you Ginny."
Ginny walked forward and gave Daphne a light hug and whispered in Daphne's ear, "If you do anything to hurt him I'll kill you the same way he killed Crouch." That sent a chill of fear down the blondes spine. Daphne knew she was someone that she was glad was on their side.
"I'd soon kill myself first." Daphne whispered back. To which Ginny pulled away.
"You know this one is a prat right?" Ginny said in her normally cheerful way that she talked to Harry. She punched him in the shoulder and sat down.
"What was that for?" Harry said in protest.
"For not telling me you had a girlfriend." She punched him again in the stomach. "That one was for being a prat about it."
Daphne laughed and turned towards Ginny, "I like this one."
The next hour or so was filled with happy conversation most of which was about how everyone's summer was. Around two o'clock Daphne nudged Harry who was just staring out of the cabin window.
"We need to get ready for the Prefects Meeting."
"Right…" Harry said while he was staring at a cloud thinking about how different this year would be.
Hermione, Daphne and Harry all left the cabin a few moments later and walked to the back of the train all wearing their new Robes and Prefect Badges.
When they arrived they were greeted by Angelina Johnson who was wearing her Gryffindor house Robes and Golden P on her badge. "Heya, Harry, Hermione. Welcome to the club. Please take a seat on the left next to Katie and Cormac."
"You made Head Girl?! Congratulations!" Hermione hugged the elder Gryffindor.
"Good work Angie." Harry said clapping her on the back.
"Thanks, Dad was very excited he flew home the day after my letter came. Never get to see him ya know. Always traveling." She rolled her eyes and noticed that Daphne was standing right behind them. "Mrs Greengrass a pleasure to have you with us."
Daphne stepped forward, "I don't think we've met before." Daphne said a bit unsure. She had met most of the students in her year and even most of them of the year above and below however Angelina was two years older and a Gryffindor.
Harry interrupted, "Oh I'm sorry, Angie this is my girlfriend Daphne, Daph this is Angelina Johnson she's the captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team and apparently our new Head Girl."
"I didn't know you had a girlfriend." Angelina jabbed him hard in the stomach. "Well Daphne it's a pleasure to meet you and if your good enough for this one, your good enough for me. Eagun Thomas is Head Boy. Come have a seat." she pointed with her head to a Hufflepuff boy across the cabin talking to Hannah Abbott.
Daphne gave a quaint smile and took a seat across the row from Harry and Hermione. People from all houses started to arrive. Daphne made note of who all the new Prefects were as they arrived. After about five minutes all the students were assembled.
The fifth year prefects were as follows:
Harry Potter and Hermione Granger - Gryffindor
Ernie Macmillan and Hannah Abbott - Hufflepuff
Padam Patil and Anthony Goldstein - Ravenclaw
Daphne Greengrass and Draco Malfoy - Slytherin
"Welcome everyone to another Year at Hogwarts." Angelina greeted. "I am Angelina Johnson and this is Eagun Thomas and we are your Head Boy and Head Girl. We would like to keep this meeting brief so I'd like to just get started right away. This year we are going to have increased security as a new Bill has passed through the Wizengamot which is putting all of the Muggleborns under protection." This comments drew a few grumbles from the gather students especially from Draco. "As a result we will see an increased Ministry presence this year. We will be joined by two Aurors, Nymphadora Tonks who graduated two years ago and Cedric Diggory who most of you will remember from last year's Triwizard Tournament. They will be staying in the staff quarters. As for our schedule you will use the same partners as last year unless a valid reason for change is requested." She paused and looked around the room at the returning sixth and seventh years who all nodded. "As for our new fifth years our policy is that you will get paired with a Prefect from another house to ensure fairness and to encourage all of us to work together.
Eagun pulled a small bag out of his pocket, he spoke in a deep voice. "Everyone will pick a name out of the bag and that will be who you work with during your rounds for the rest of the year. If there are any problems with who you will be working with please let us know." He gesture towards Angelina and walked down the aisle to Hannah. "Mrs Abbott you get the first selection as your name is first alphabetically."
She smiled and reached into the bag and pulled out a purple P with Padam Patil's name. "Padam." She said and both girls nodded.
Eagun then went to Hermione, "Mrs Granger you have next selection."
Hermione nodded and reached and prayed to herself that she didn't get Draco. She almost screamed when she pulled out a green badge and then visibly relaxed when she saw Daphne's face. "Daphne Greengrass." She said while sighing.
"Mrs Granger." Daphne nodded. Hermione thought it was weird that she referred to her by her family name but realized that she was in front of a lot of purebloods. She nodded politely back to the Slytherin.
Anthony was next and he got paired with Ernie MacMillan which left Harry and Draco to get paired together.
Both of which glared at each other for several moments, "Brilliant." Harry spat out.
"Great." Draco yelled while not breaking eye contact.
Several more moments went by as the tension slowly diffused and Angelina and Eagun talked about patrol schedules and responsibilities. They also went over criteria for docking house points and awarding house points. No Prefect could dock more than twenty points a week from a particular house nor could they award more than twenty points per house in a calendar week.
Angelina also noted that it was the fifth year responsibilities to escourt all first years to their dorms after the Feast. They were also encouraged to tell all first years that if they had any questions about Hogwarts that they shouldn't be scared to ask a Prefect if they weren't comfortable talking to a professor.
The meeting lasted about an hour and everyone was dismissed. As Harry was leaving he put his arm around Daphne and opened the door to the rest of the train, "Potter." came the annoying voice of Draco Malfoy.
Harry stopped and turned his head, and saw Draco standing with a taller Slytherin boy. "What do you want Malfoy?"
"See you got yourself a new fan godclub. Hope they last longer than your last one." Draco laughed to himself.
Daphne flinched and went to reach for her wand and was physically restrained by Harry. "Don't." He said softly. "Tell you master that he's 0-4 and next time I'll take his head." Harry said back loudly. Everyone still in the car was silent as the two fifth years stared off Harry still having his arm around Daphne.
"You and your pet better watch yourself-" Draco was hit by a blast of red and flew back several feet as a small puff of smoke floated up from Harry's wand. No one in the room had been able to register the speed at which Harry had drawn his wand nor at how he was able to cast a fully powered Stupefy non-verbally at his age.
"Anyone see anything?" he asked the room. "Good, I think someone should attend to Mr Malfoy. I think he may have eaten some bad pudding."
As the elder Slytherin woke Draco he was vomiting. Apparently Harry had chained the stunning hex and a vomiting jinx together as the only curse people saw was the stunner.
Harry lead Daphne out of the room silently. They both held hands as they walked down the train back to their cabin towards the middle. Along the way people all smiled and said hello's all the while noticing that Harry and Daphne were holding hands. Harry was very happy as was Daphne shockingly.
Daphne had been nervous about today for the past two weeks, nervous about how she would be received. As they got back to the cabin Hermione was already seated and talking with Tracy as Ginny and Neville were playing a game of Exploding Snaps.
"Everything ok?" Hermione asked as it took them a fair bit longer to return than she expected.
"Yeah just a bit of trouble with Malfoy." Harry said calmly.
"Yeah just Draco being Draco." Daphne said easing Tracy's concern. There was a reason they were always seen together at school and it was because it wasn't safe for either of them walk around alone without being in camp Malfoy.
Everyone in Slytherin followed Draco from the end of their second year. He walked in and proclaimed himself King all because of who his father was. Not to mention all of the Junior Death Eaters that were aligned to their fathers or mothers.
A few minutes later Angelina walked by and stopped at the cabin, "Harry, can I have quick word?"
Harry got up a slight confusion about his face, "Yeah Angie, what's up?"
"Well two things really. One, are you and Mr. Malfoy going to be ok working together?"
Harry shrugged, "I don't know, you'd have to talk to him."
Angelina nodded, "I only ask because it's my job. I know you can handle yourself."
"I'll be fine as long as he doesn't do anything stupid." Harry smiled. He secretly liked the idea of having to spend time with Draco. It would allow him to keep better tabs on him throughout the year.
She nodded again and smiled, "Second thing." she frowned slightly which concerned Harry. "I won't be able to perform all the duties of being Captain along with all the duties of being Head Girl aaannnd…" She paused a moment to gauge his reaction. "I was wondering if you'd like to be Captain. If not I'll ask Katie." She said quickly making sure to give him a way out if he was too pressured.
"I don't know…" Harry said honestly. He hadn't even thought about it, sure he'd thought about Quidditch it was one of his favorite things about returning to Hogwarts but being Captain was very different. "You're still gonna play, right?" Harry countered after a few moments of thought.
"Of course I'm going to play." She gave him a look that said 'Do you think I'm crazy?'
"Sure, I'll do it, but I can't promise anything." She gave him a quick hug and then a pat on the back.
"Thanks Harry. I'll tell McGonagall when we get to the castle." She walked towards the front of the train and waved as she did.
Harry walked back into their cabin and sat down next to the window and Daphne. "What'd Angelina want?" Ginny of all people asked first.
"She wanted to know if me and Draco being paired for Prefect's duty would be a problem, also to find out if I would take on being Captain."
There was silence for a few moments as Harry continued to stare out of the train as the Hogwarts lake came into view.
"Well!?" Daphne asked breaking the silence in the room.
Harry turned from the window and saw everyone staring at him eagerly. "I said I'd do it." His grin turned into a big smile when everyone got up and congratulated him.
"Harry that's great!" Ginny gave him huge gripping hug.
Daphne shot the young redhead a glare. Ginny noticed and stared back at the Slytherin. Daphne swore later that she saw the girl nod ever so slightly.
Soon after that the Hogwarts Express rolled into Hogsmeade.
As Harry and Daphne walked towards the carriages they noticed a woman in a black and yellow robe inspecting bags. She had a badge that had a gold HA on it. Curiosity struck Harry and he walked over to her.
"Hello?" He asked trying to figure out who this new teacher was.
"Wotcha, Nice to meet you Harry Potter." Her hair was blue and as she shook Harry's had it turned pink.
Harry shook her hand a bit less enthusiastically than she did but he didn't know who she was, "Nice to meet you too. Forgive my bluntness but who are you?"
Tonks laughed, "Thought the robe gave it away, I am Nymphadora Tonks Junior Auror and assigned to Hogwarts for this year, but please call me Tonks."
It all clicked in his head, "You're the other Auror working for Mad-Eye." Daphne walked up behind him having watched the entire exchange from behind.
"Nice to meet you Auror Tonks, I am Daphne Greengrass and I imagine we'll be seeing a lot of you this year." Daphne and Tonks exchanged light greetings and her bag was checked but otherwise was cleared to board a carriage.
As Harry walked over to the carriages he noticed a large skeletal beast was standing in front of the carriage. "What is it?" Harry said fascinated by the creature.
"What's what?" Daphne asked her eyebrow raised.
"The thing pulling the carriage." Hermione and Tracy walked up at that moment.
"What's he talking about now?" Tracy asked trying to get a rise out of Harry. It had been something of a game between the two of them since they started hanging around more.
"He says there's some kind of thing pulling the carriages." Daphne said rolling her eyes.
Harry meanwhile ignoring the trio of girls walked to the front of the carriage and gently reached out to touch the creature. As he made contact with its neck he felt the skin was soft and warm and stretched gently when he rubbed it. "It's warm." He said over his shoulder. It was then that he noticed two folded wings along its back. "I think it can fly if it weren't tied to the carriage."
Hermione noticed them for the first time, "I think they are called Thestrals, they can only be seen by those that have seen death." She said gravely remembering anger and fear that she felt when Harry killed Crouch.
"Thestrals?" Daphne asked trying to remember where she had heard that name before. "I've heard of them but can't remember anything about them." She walked over to Harry and stood next to him.
Harry felt her heat from behind his shoulder, he reached back and gently took her hand. Daphne's heart jumped a bit as he grabbed her. Harry turned to look at his girlfriend, "Do you trust me?" His face was emotionless.
Daphne nodded and Harry pressed her hand lightly against the Thestrals neck. Daphne was first shocked that she was able to feel something where her eyes told her there was nothing. "It's warm…" She said turning to Harry who now had a weak smile on his face. "It's almost like leather yet…"
"Furry." Harry said as he began to stroke the creatures mane. The Thestral made a odd sound that sorta reminded him of a louder owl trill, to which Daphne jumped slightly and caused Harry to laugh a bit. "A bit jumpy tonight aren't we?"
Daphne hit him in the shoulder with her other arm. "Stuff it!"
Tracy and Hermione both giggled from a few feet away. A light breeze blew through the forest and sent a chill down Tracy's spine. "Come on let's get inside, we must be the last bloody ones still out here." She and Hermione climbed into the carriage followed closely behind by Harry and Daphne.
The trip to Hogwarts was cold and filled with light conversation. As the quartet walked into entrance of the Great Hall. Daphne pulled Harry into an alcove and motioned for Hermione and Tracy to go in before them.
"What's up?" Harry asked before he realized that Daphne was starting to hyperventilate. "Hey…" Harry gently reached out and touched Daphne's chin, she was starting to shake slightly.
"I...I…"
"Sshhhh…" Harry pulled her into a soft embrace her head resting on his shoulder. "Daph it'll be fine." He said it calmly and softly.
Daphne reacted by calming down a bit when he pulled her into his embrace. "I don't know if I'm ready." She whimpered
"Daph look at me." Harry spoke with love.
Daphne leaned back and looked at him, his eyes were full of love and joy. His smile sent little sparks into her chest. All the world around them faded away into a cloud of white and there standing holding her was Harry. The boy that came into her life two months ago and changed everything. Changed her outlook on boys, on wizards and on life and here he was this boy that had seen TERRIBLE things. Things that no witch or wizard should ever have to see in their lifetime and he was standing with her telling her that things would be alright.
Daphne's breathing had slowed to its regular tempo when she came out of her dream world. "Better?" He asked with a slight grin.
Daphne stood up straight with Harry's hands on her shoulders, "Yeah." She said weakly and as she looked at him, her confidence grew to match his. "Yeah, who the fuck cares if a Slytherin and Gryffindor go out, I dare them." She with a wicked grin that Harry made note that he wanted to see more of. "I dare them all to stand between us."
Harry remained frozen for a second before starting to giggle. "Too corny?" Daphne asked.
"Nope." Harry gave her a quick kiss on the lips. "Just the right amount of corny."
The two of them walked out from the alcove and as they did they heard the familiar steps of a herd of children.
Daphne interlaced her fingers into Harry's and the two of the walked casually into the Great Hall. Most of the students were too busy talking with friends they hadn't seen all summer but their entrance was by no means unnoticed. Harry looked up at the Head table and caught a glint from Dumbledore and a perplexing smile that followed as he registered the scene before him. Harry also noticed Hagrid was not at the feast which was odd since he had been reinstated as Care for Magical Beasts Professor.
Daphne meanwhile noticed several of the Slytherins glaring at them as they walked past. Ones of note Theodore Nott and Draco Malfoy of course who had a bright grin on his face. She also caught an interesting look from Blaise Zabini. Daphne and Blaise had an interesting relationship, Blaise was still in camp Draco but only out of necessity. Blaise if he had his way would be like the Greengrass's, neutral.
Daphne and Harry walked down the center aisle until they reached Tracy at which point Daphne squeezed his hand and then sat down next to Tracy. Harry walked a bit further down and took the seat between Hermione and Ginny and across from Fred and George.
Harry was grateful that Ron had decided to sit at the end of the table with Dean and Seamus since he really didn't want to deal with him in front of the entire school.
A few seconds after Harry took his seat, Dumbledore stood up and the room fell quite.
"Greeting and welcome to another year at Hogwarts. In a few moments a new class of students will arrive and the sorting ceremony will proceed. I would like to remind all of you that these are new students and have almost no training with magic and their minds are ripe to be molded. I ask that the older students do their best to help them integrate into our way of life." He sat down a few moments after.
The double doors of the Great Hall were thrown open as Professor McGonagall walked in with about forty or so students who were walking side by side.
Ginny tapped him on the shoulder and he turned and shook his head as if to say wait. He was very interested in the group of new students as it was his responsibility as Prefect to help educate them.
Ginny was a bit saddened but then quickly saw his bright purple P badge that was on his breast. She smiled and nodded to him but made note that she would get him later.
After the last student was sorted and all the kids took their seats at the front of the tables, Dumbledore stood again.
"Hello everyone and welcome to another Year at Hogwarts. I am Headmaster Dumbledore, and I would first like to say that a privilege and an Honor it is to have each and everyone of you at our prestigious school. A few announcements before the feast can begin, I would like to introduce our new Defense Against the Arts Professor. Dolores Umbridge."
Hermione hit Harry lightly on the shoulder, "Isn't she the one from the hearing?" She whispered to his ear.
Harry turned his head slightly while still looking straight, "Yeah, she the Undersecretary for Fudge."
"I would also like to…" Dumbledore was cut off by a high pitched 'Ahem.' He turned towards the source of the noise and Professor Umbridge had stood up and was walking towards the front of the podium.
"Thank you Headmaster for that wonderful introduction." She stood with her hands at her chest in a small fist. "How wonderful it is to see all of your bright faces looking up at me. I'm sure that we are going to be wonderful friends." She paused and look specifically at Harry. "The Ministry of Magic has always considered the education of its children to be of the paramount of importance. Over the years each Headmaster has brought his or her expertise to Hogwarts and it is because of these expertise that we have the greatest school of Magic in the world." She nodded appreciatively at Dumbledore as he still stood behind the podium.
"Progress for the sake of progress must be discouraged. We must preserve what practices that must be preserved and perfect those that can be perfected while pruning those practices that must be prohibited. Tee-hee."
Dumbledore and the rest of the teached clapped weakly while the rest of the hall was silent. "Thank you Professor Umbridge for those inspiring words. I would also like to inform everyone that because of some recent events we are now hosting several members from the Auror's." Dumbledore gestured towards the end of the Head table where Alastor, Cedric and Tonks sat. They all were wearing their official Auror robes. "Some of you will recognise Alastor Moody from last year." His eyes stared directly at Harry, "He has agreed to lead a special task force for the duration of this school year. He and his two associates have unrestricted access to Hogwarts and you are to respect any direction and order given to you by them as though they were given to you by me or any other staff member. With that out of the way let the feast begin." With a wave of his hands a full banquet of food appeared in front of everyone and people began to enjoy the Opening Feast.
The first few minutes were like every other year but as people finished their first mouthfuls people started getting curious.
"So Harry?"
"We noticed that you walked in-"
"- With a particularly beautiful blonde." Fred and George asked with a grin from ear to ear.
Harry finished chewing his potatoes, "You mean Daphne?"
"No dumb dumb, the other beautiful girl that has long blonde hair that you were holding hands with." Ginny poked.
Harry grin and looked at her, "You're jealous!"
The twins being the opportunistic older brothers that they were jumped in, "Does little Ginny-Winny have a crush on the Boy-Who-Lived?"
"I think she does Freddie just look at how red she's getting."
"Boy's you really need to learn when Ginny's mad and flush." Harry answered while taking a bite of Ginny's spinach.
Hermione turned him to face her, "When did you get to be such the expert on girls?"
"Oh, I don't know when she and I were forced to kill a Basilisk and the reincarnated spirit of Tom Riddle." Harry said it as fact and with no ill-will towards any of the parties involved.
Ginny just nodded and continued eating her chicken. Meanwhile Hermione was stunned silent and was forced to go back to eating her dinner. The twins however sat back in their chairs and took stock of the two people in front of them.
"You mean to tell us."
"That you and Harry are-"
"-No longer attracted to each other?" George finished.
Harry and Ginny both stopped chewing their food and shrugged, "No." They said it in almost the same inflection and tone, and went back to eating.
"Mom'll be pissed."
"At least Ron will be happy."
"SHUT IT!" Harry screamed. "Let me get this out in the open right now, I don't want to hear anything about Ron. No messages from him to me, no stories about him to me. If he decides to grow up and apologize for all the stupid shit he's done, he can. Till then please keep the Ron-talk to yourselves."
Harry spent the next twenty minutes eating his dinner quietly every now and then glancing over his shoulder to check on Daphne. They made eye contact a few times but she seemed to be having a much more enjoyable feast than he was.
As the feast came to a close Dumbledore instructed everyone to leave and for the first years to stay behind as they will be escorted to their dorms by the fifth year Prefects.
Harry and Hermione said polite goodbyes to their friends and walked up to the head of the table. There were five girls and four boys and only one of which was muggleborn, not that Harry thought that it was bad, hell his best friend was muggleborn and Hermione is one of the brightest and most talented witches of their generation. It only meant that he would have only one student to really focus on.
"Hello everyone welcome to Gryffindor." Hermione started.
"My name is Harry Potter and this is my best friend Hermione Granger. We are both fifth year's and your Prefects."
"Does anyone know what Prefects are?" Hermione asked.
One girl with dark red hair raised her hand. "Yes?" Harry pointed to her. "Please state your name."
"Lauren Finley." she said brightly. "Prefects are teacher appointed students that act as assistants and junior staff members."
"Very good Mrs. Finley." Hermione said, "We are also a resource to you if you have any questions."
"Like what?" A darker skinned boy asked, "Sorry, I am Tyler Gregory."
Harry shrugged, "Like how to get to classes on time. What time meals are? How to not get points taken away in potions?"
"Anything you can think of, we'll answer if we can." Hermione laughed slightly at his joke about potions.
"Mr Potter?" Another girl asked. "Nancy Springer. Is it true what my mum says about you?"
Harry kneeled down, "I don't know, what does you mum say about me?" He smiled and tried to alleviate the girls nerves.
"She says that you're a liar and shouldn't be trusted."
Harry laughed slightly, "Nancy, I wish your mom was correct because if she was then my life would have been so much easier. Just know this." He looked over all the kids. "You are in the safest place in all of Britain, and as long as Albus Dumbledore is here nothing can happen to you." Harry lied a bit but he knew that as long as Dumbledore was Headmaster he would do everything in his power to keep all the students safe.
"Any other questions before we show you to your dorms?" Hermione said bringing everyone back together.
When no one raised their hands, Harry clapped his together, "Brilliant, follow us. We'll show you the most direct way to Gryffindor Tower. It may be a bit of climb but you get use to it." Harry and Hermione lead them out of the Great Hall which was only filled with the ten Hufflepuff first years and Ernie and Hannah.
Hermione walked in the back while Harry lead, one of the boys remarked how amazing it was that all the staircases moved. One of the remarked at how annoying it was.
"I remember my first week, I was late to almost half of my classes because of these stairs." Harry laughed.
"Just remember to leave five minutes earlier than you think is necessary." Hermione added.
Ten minutes later they were standing in front of the painting of the fat lady. "Welcome to your new home for the next seven years." Hermione smiled.
"Huh? We live in a painting?" Amos Winston a black haired boy asked.
Harry chuckled and turned to Hermione, "You know I asked the same thing when Percy showed us up here. No, we live behind the painting, you have to give the password to the Fat Lady." He gesture to the painting and the Fat Lady waved back.
"Oh my, aren't they so adorable." The Fat Lady waved at the group of nine of them.
"The password is Lion's Pride but it will change every few weeks so keep an eye on the bulletin board in the common room." Hermione gave the password and the painting swung open.
Revealing the Gryffindor Common Room, "Welcome to our Common Room." Harry said while stepping in through the doorway and walking backwards waving the students to follow him. "You can do pretty much anything you want in this room. Study, read, play games, talk you name it. You'll find that everyone has their routines, but everyone in this house is very open to company."
Hermione walked in after the last girl walked in, "The Dorms are right up these stairs, Boys on the left, girls on the Right. You will find that all your stuff is up in front of your beds already."
"If you need help with anything please feel free to ask either of us or any of the other Prefects or Teachers. I personally am going to be awake for a while but your curfew is at 9:00pm. Sharp." Harry said it a bit loud and forcibly but not such that it would scare anyone.
Most of them ran quickly up to their respective dorms as they were mostly interested in making sure they got the best bed. A few of the kids lingered for a few minutes and talked with their fellow classmates about plans for tomorrow. After about five minutes all nine of them were tucked safely up in their dorms.
Harry walked over by the fireplace and sat in one of the chairs. Hermione walked over to him, "What's up?"
Harry gave her an odd look, "What makes you think that something is up?"
Hermione sat down across from him, "Because usually you go off to your dorm to hang out with Dean and Seamus." She eyed him carefully, she had a pretty good idea what was bothering and truthfully it had been bothering her all day.
Harry sighed, "I don't know what to do about Ron…" Harry sat up and put his head in his hands. "I mean I can't just stay mad at him forever."
"I can." Hermione spat out. "The git hasn't said anything to me all summer. No letters no apology, nothing."
"When we spoke, if you could call it that, in Diagon Alley. He seemed to have no idea why I was so mad at him. Maybe he'll never grow up, but I certainly can't be friends with him." Harry grumbled out.
Hermione sighed and they sat silently for the next ten minutes as people people came in and out of the common room. Harry stared at the fire the whole time. Eventually Hermione got up.
"I have patrol tonight." She walked over to him and put a hand on his shoulder.
"I have my first shift tomorrow, which will be a problem to worry about tomorrow. Can you tell Daphne to meet me in the Astronomy Tower at four?" Harry was laying across the chair his feet hanging over the edge of the chair.
"Sure, but promise me you'll at least try and talk to Ron. You both are going to have to sleep in the same room the rest of the year." She said a bit light heartedly.
"Sure thing Hermione." Harry flashed a smile that Hermione know he was brushing her off.
"Harry, I promise you this year will be better than the others."
"I hope so. I certainly hope so. I don't know how much more I can deal with."
Hermione walked up the stairs to the fifth year girls dorm and changed into more comfortable clothes. Harry meanwhile stayed in the chair and waited till after she left. It was passed nine-oclock and he no longer needed to be on duty so he marched slowly upstairs to his dorm.
When he opened the door he found that everyone was on their beds mostly dressed to sleep, but none of the fifth year boys had ever gone to sleep before 11. Harry walked over to his trunk grabbed his new sweatpants that Astoria had given him and changed.
Harry sat down on his four poster bed and took out the picture of his mom and dad and held it lightly in his hand. He glanced up and saw Ron sitting on his bed reading a magazine. "Eh fuck it," he said to himself.
Harry walked over to the bed and sat down next to Ron, who was stunned silent. "Look, I strongly doubt we can be friends again after what you did at the end of last term, but I don't want this to be awkward. As long as you keep out of my business were good."
Ron just nodded, "What about Hermione?"
Harry laughed, "You're on your own on that one. She's just as pissed at you as I was."
Harry got off Ron's bed and laid down on his. "Harry?" He turned to face Ron. "I hope that I can prove you wrong."
"I do too, Ron. I do too." With that Harry went to sleep for a few hours.
Hermione and Daphne both reported for their first Prefect watch in front of the Great Hall at ten. They were joined by Angelina and Eagun.
"Hey Hermione, Daphne, over here." Angelina waved them down. "So I understand that you two have become friends of the summer?"
"Where did you hear that?" Hermione asked, Daphne was also curious as to the Gryffindors information.
"From Astoria." She grinned at Daphne. "She and my little sister, Maggie, are good friends. Anyway I was worried on the train but after hearing that and seeing your face." she gestured towards Hermione. "I was feeling much better."
Daphne was a bit irked at her sister but that was a conversation for another day, "So what are we to do exactly?"
Eagun stepped forward, "Our job is to patrol the castle looking for students that are out past their curfew. Commonly they congregate in the broom closets or the Astronomy tower."
"I once found two seventh years in green houses. They were doing things that I won't mention." Angelina giggled.
"It's the first night and usually students are pretty subdued but if you do find someone just send them back to their dorms. We don't want to start docking points early and getting people upset." Eagun said happily.
"Ok, so basically we are to just walk the castle looking for anything out of place?" Hermione clarified.
"Basically, but tonight you'll do the East wing and the main castle, we'll handle the dungeons and the towers." Angelina said as she yawned.
"You are to meet back here at three am and then the next shift will take over. Which I think is Darius, Cho , Cedric and Tonks." Eagun said trying to remember the organization chart that he spent hours making.
"Oh and just do yourself a favor and keep a light on at all times." Angelina said to two girls before she and Eagun walked up the stairs towards the Divinations tower.
Daphne and Hermione stood around in the entrance to the Great Hall for a few minutes as Hermione pulled out a odd piece of parchment. "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good." She touched her wand to the paper and it begun to fill in the with all the corridors of the castle."
Daphne watched in excitement as the lines filled in, "Sick, did you make that?" She said before she saw that their names appeared in front of the Great Hall.
"No, Harry's father and Sirius Black made this, I think Professor Lupin helped as well." Hermione said as she was folding the Marauders map so that it would only show the section where they were.
"Wait, then why do you have it?"
"Harry let me borrow it for tonight so we can learn all the hidden passageways."
"Can I see it?" Daphne asked excitedly. She never knew of magic that was able to map out such a magically secure place as Hogwarts while being pinpoint accurate with each person's location.
Hermione pulled her friend up the stairs, "Sure but, I promised Harry I wouldn't use it for getting students in trouble. It would defeat the purpose the Marauders intended it for."
"Who are the Marauders?" They marched slowly up the stairs into the East Wing of the castle.
"James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew." Hermione handed Daphne the map.
"Peter Pettigrew? Isn't he the one that got Black locked up in Azkaban?"
"Sorta. He was the one that we later found out betrayed Harry's parents to Voldemort. He framed Sirius Black for it knowing that only Harry's parents, Sirius and himself knew of the change in Secret Keepers. So he faked his own death and killed twelve muggles while framing Sirius for their deaths."
Daphne thought for a few moments in silence as she unfolded the map. As she did she saw two fourth year Slytherin names in an empty classroom nearby, she chuckled.
"What's so funny?"
"Oh just Smith and Sadie are having some alone time." Hermione peeked over at the map and giggled.
About an hour later after they reached the top of the East wing and began their circle back to the Great Hall. "How are Harry's dreams coming?" Hermione asked her friend out of the blue.
Daphne sighed, "I fear they are getting worse. Not that Harry will tell me much anymore."
"Never did with me either…" Hermione said under her breathe.
"What he does tell me is that he's moving towards the door in the Department of Mysteries but has never been able to open it. Just that whoever or whatever is showing him this can't get inside."
"Why do you both keep saying whoever or whatever?" Hermione asked a bit confused.
"Well I too thought it was Voldemort, but he can't just go waltzing through the Ministry of Magic. Especially in a place like the Department of Mysteries." Daphne still holding the Marauders Map.
"Well then we need to figure out more about the Department of Mysteries. Even if Voldemort isn't the one walking down the hallway he's involved and if we are to be able to help Harry we need to find out what he's after." Hermione was walking a bit faster and a bit more pep in her step until she yawned.
"Hahaha, Hermione you are someone I wish I'd taken the time to get to know earlier." Daphne was laughing her ass off.
"What's so funny?" She puffed up.
"You realize when you talk like that you sped up to almost twice the pace and you got the same look that Harry gets when he's really focused." Daphne managed to catch up to her.
"I did?" Hermione smiled and noticed that Daphne was slightly out of breath. She too started laughing. "You know Daphne, I think your right. Until this summer I was always jealous of you. You have always been my main competition in classes and the fact that you have access to much more information and hell just the magical world than I do…"
"And by information you mean books right?" Daphne giggled as Hermione shot her a glare. "Well that's behind us… right?"
Hermione smiled and took the map back from Daphne, "I hope so. I mean I'm still going to beat your ass in Runes."
"And I'm still going to fly circles around you in Arithmancy."
"Good"
"I wouldn't have it anyother way."
The two girls marched side by side for a few strides before doubling over in a fit of laughter.
Around 3:00 AM they walked into the foyer of the Great Hall and saw Angelina and Eagun along with Tonks and Cedric.
"How was it?" Angelina asked the two approaching girls.
"It was fine, we did manage to find two Hufflepuff's in a broom closet." Hermione said with a faint blush.
"We sent them back to their dorms, I think they were more embarrassed than anything." Daphne said with a grin.
"We only managed to find someone's lost toad…" Eagun said a bit disappointed.
"Well you are free to head back to your dorms, We'll see you again in a few nights."
"Monday right?" Hermione said.
"Yup, you are Monday's and Friday's." Angelina said pulling out her patrol schedule.
Daphne yawned, "Well as much as I'd like to stay and chat, I am very tired and would like to sleep."
"Goodnight Mrs. Greengrass." Angelina waved as did Eagun.
Daphne headed down towards the Dungeons.
"Daph wait up a sec." Came a call from Hermione. She caught up to Daphne and pulled her around a corner. Daphne gave her an inquisitive look.
"Harry asked you to meet him atop the Astronomy Tower at four." She handed Daphne the Marauders Map and his Invisibility Cloak.
"What's… OH MY GOD!" She said a bit loud but quickly clamped her mouth shut.
"Sshhhh. The cloak will make you invisible but it won't make you quiet." Hermione scolded.
"Thanks Hermione." She gave the brunette a big hug.
"Now if you don't mind. I am getting some sleep. Remember no classes tomorrow." Hermione was a bit sad but September 1st was a Thursday and they wouldn't be starting classes till Monday. However they would be getting their schedules, most of the student body was very excited about having the long weekend to settle in. Even Hermione was a bit excited because it meant that she'd have three days to use the Library before anyone really needed to be in there.
Daphne watched as Hermione slowly trudged up the stairs towards Gryffindor Tower. She quickly dawned the Invisibility Cloak. "Vouvos" she said softly as a quick yellow light appeared around her shoes and then vanished. As she walked she made no sound, a spell she learned in her third year to help her sneak in and out of the Restricted section of the Library.
Daphne look over the Map and saw that Harry was sitting alone atop the Astronomy tower. Daphne quickly made her way up the two hundred stairs. When she got to the top she took a few moments to catch her breath before walking into the large open space atop the tower.
"Harry…?" Daphne whispered.
Harry who was sitting leaned up against the edge of tower perked up, "Daph?" He returned in his normal voice. Harry was wearing the same sweatpants as before but now was wearing his Gryffindor Sweater as it was cold and windy.
Daphne immediately shivered as a gust of wind hit her from behind. "I never saw why couples come up here. It's fucking cold."
Harry smiled he loved how Daphne would just swear all the time. It was a refreshing change of pace from spending all his time around Hermione. "It's because the Prefects never want to walk up the two hundred stairs. Beside with the Marauders Map, I can see them coming from the base of the tower." He smiled still not able to see his girlfriend.
Daphne noticed that he was still kinda looking around as if trying to find her. She quickly took off the cloak and siddled over to Harry. They were sitting on the cold stone and the view that Harry had been staring at was the Black Lake. The moon was almost full and only a few clouds peppered the night sky.
"Wow… I never knew the grounds looked so…"
"Peaceful?" Harry said while wrapping an arm around Daphne's shoulder.
The two of them sat together for a while in contented silence. "Harry?"
"Hmmm?" Harry muttered as his eyes were closed. He was enjoying being able to be with Daphne.
"What's up with you and Miss Weasley?"
"Ginny?" Harry asked his eyes still closed.
"Yeah." Daphne pulled her head off his shoulder and she slid across the opening so she was sitting opposite him.
"It's complicated… I mean…" Harry sighed. Honestly he had no idea what was going on with him and Ginny. She'd been so supportive of his request for space last year. Then after the Yule Ball when Harry saw her come down the stairs in the Common Room he felt something. "I think at some point, I liked her." Harry said heavily.
"Liked? Meaning you don't anymore?" Daphne brought her knees up to her chest.
"Yeah, I think." Harry shrugged opening his eyes. "What we went through… It changed both of lives. I don't think I'd be the person I am today without her, but do I love her? No."
Love, he used the word. The word that had been on her mind since his birthday. She had a vague idea of what it meant to love someone. She loved her sister and parents, but Harry. She felt good around him but it was different, different than when she was around her parents. "Do you love me?" She asked tentatively.
"Yes." He said it as he exhaled and softly that she could barely hear him say it, but she knew it was true.
"Sorry, say that again." Her heart froze as the word echoed in her so loud that it sent shivers up her spine.
He was staring directly at her and that flame that was behind his eyes was blazing brightly and it filled her with happiness. "I love you Daphne." He reached over and offered his hand to her.
Daphne stared at his hand and slowly reached out and gently grasped his fingers. She sidled over to next to him as he wrapped his arm around her waist. She leaned her head against his shoulder. The two of them gazed out into the clear September sky in Scotland.