A/N: Sorry I've been behind in updating, I have a 9 month old that's absolutely amazing and takes up a lot of my time, I will be striving to keep writing and keep posting. As a reward for those loyal Followers I am posting 2x chapters today and hopefully more in two weeks. Enjoy!
Daphne awoke suddenly when Harry's alarm went off. Sitting straight up, her eyes adjusting to the light, she nudged Harry who seemed unfazed by the vibrating wand.
"Harry we need to get going before anyone shows up," she whispered in his ear.
He groaned and tightened his grip around her ribcage and pulled her close. "One day I will find a way to stay up here all night without getting caught."
Daphne gave a small smile as she silently gathered up her wand and the Invisibility Cloak. Her mind was racing from Harry's actions a few hours ago. 'Why would he mention a wolf?' But her thoughts were quickly cast aside as they raced down the stairs, shrouded in darkness and invisibility.
Once back in the dorms, she laid down and tried to get some sleep but her mind was looping through all the actions of the last few days and couldn't help but feel like something had changed, she just couldn't quite put her finger on it. However, she knew that Harry would tell her in his own time and with that, fell back into a deep slumber.
After several more hours, Daphne finally awoke and rolled over to find an incredibly smug Tracy staring back at her from across the dorm room.
"Should I be saying 'good morning' or 'good afternoon'?" Daphne mumbled without looking at the time.
"How 'bout you just tell me if Harry's as good with things that are not his wand?" The words oozed through the air with devilish intent. Her ear-to-ear grin told Daphne she did not mean it maliciously, but rather to lightly tease her friend. "I was getting worried when you almost didn't come home missy."
Daphne threw one of her pillows across the room, and it landed spectacularly at Tracy's feet as she giggled. "Well I hope your aim gets better once you go downstairs, it seems Theodore and Marcus have been itching for a fight." Her playful tone quickly turned cold and blunt.
Daphne's eyes iced over, her smile faded into a neutral expression as she prepared for what the two Junior Death Eaters had in store. Tracy rambled on about her night, leaving Daphne to silently and carefully analyze the situation. Marcus Flint is the captain of the Slytherin Quidditch team, quick to violence, and had no issue taking the low road. She made a mental note to not disagree with him, as she knew he would belittle his opponent and then physically attack them. Theodore Nott, on the other hand, is a watcher. Gathering tiny pieces of information and only using them when it was at his opponents greatest weakness. She made a mental note to choose her words carefully and to watch her facial expressions, as to not give him any more information than he already had. Not knowing what he already knew would mean that she would have to be extra cautious.
As she didn't have class, she dressed in her workout attire that she normally wore when training with her father over the summer. Throwing on a Slytherin sweatshirt and pulling her hair into a high ponytail, she cooly walked down the steps into the common room.
"Well well well, look who finally got up." Marcus sneered as he got off the couch and stalked his way over to Daphne. "Mind telling everyone what you were doing with Potter so late at night?"
Daphne stopped in her tracks, her eyes shooting daggers at anyone paying attention. Fortunately, the common room only had a handful of students, and most of them were in younger years. She knew that Marcus terrified many of these younger students, but she also knew that they would not cross her path either.
"Hey, I asked you a question." His voice snarling as he got right up into her face, trying to get her to break her icy persona. His voice then dropped to a whisper as he scanned her up and down, "He doesn't have what us Slytherins have. The ability to get things done."
"I'm sure he can get things done Flint, but only when he not shackled to his Mudblood teacher's pet." Theodore's even-toned voice came from across the room, looking up from the book he was scanning. "It's really too bad you got stuck with him as your family, although I take some solace knowing his whiny, pretentious self won't be with us much longer."
Daphne's eyes were burning at this point, and although she was able to project an aura of calm collectiveness, she wanted nothing more than to drop them where they stood. "It's really too bad Harry doesn't know how much unrequited love you two have for him," she carefully replied.
Theo snapped his book shut and shot up out of his seat, hastily reaching for his wand. Marcus didn't even think, just lunged toward the blonde. Daphne anticipated these moves as she said the words, so she was already side stepping Marcus, ducking behind one of the columns as Theo tried to Stupefy her.
"Better luck next time lads!" She called out as she hurried towards the door. She did briefly make eye contact with Blaise Zabini, who was standing in the doorway with his wand in hand. They both knew he would have stepped in if she needed him, but instead gave a quick nod and moved to block the doorway so they couldn't follow her.
With all the rage built up inside her, she didn't notice that she was still in a full sprint until she was outside the castle and approaching the Forbidden Forest. Finally able to catch her breath she knew she would want to write to her parents, to give them a head's up about the behavior of the two purebloods, but her suspicion was that this fight was far from over and if she contacted anyone, it would make things that much worse.
Instead, she jogged back towards the lake hoping her ever-growing run would ease some of her anxious energy. She was finally thankful for all the hours of training that her dad and Mr. Granger had put them through. The cool air was starting to warm, and all she could think about was how to tell the group without inciting a visceral reaction from Harry. She had a feeling that he would react similarly to when Malfoy was making a fuss, but that was a one-on-one situation and Malfoy had clearly started it. She had a sinking feeling that if he did make the first move, they would cry to Umbridge about his unwarranted behavior, which was the worst possible outcome.
She shook her head at the thought and nearly ran right into Hermione.
"I guess our dad's would be proud that we are keeping up with our training." Hermione said with a smile.
Daphne was still deep in thought and replied with the generic, "Yeah, I guess."
Hermione's eyebrows raised slightly, "Daph, what happened?"
She wavered for a minute, debating whether it was worth it to tell someone about what had happened in the common room. "Just Flint and Nott taking swings, both magically and physically. Nothing I can't handle." She tried to project an aura of confidence, but wasn't sure if Hermione was buying it or not.
"Anything I can do to help?"
"Not at the moment, but I'll let you know if that changes Hermione." And with that, decided not to tell Harry about what happened. She just needed to make sure that Tracy didn't accidentally say something. She couldn't risk him falling into another coma or blowing up the entire school.
"Race you to the lake?" Hermione's eyes glimmered.
"Why do you keep challenging me when you know you're going to lose?"
Herminone shrugged and kept a small smile, "One day I'll beat you Greengrass, and I'm going to take great joy in that day."
"Uh huh, sure. ReadysetGO!" Daphne called out and took off without warning.
Hermione grinned and took off after her. Zigging around trees and dodging rocks, they sprinted through the forest until they reached the edge of the lake. Hermione arriving several paces behind Daphne.
"I'll get you next time. But at least we were able to make our own obstacle course as we went." Hermione huffed as she caught her breath.
"We just need a place we can use to practice spells as well." Daphne followed up, her breathing quickly evening out as they walked along the water's edge.
Hermione's stomach grumbled and they both giggled, "Come on, let's go eat." She linked her arm into Hermione's and pulled her towards the castle.
As the girls jogged back, Daphne's eyes darted around looking for any places they could use to set up a mini course to use for future practice. Unfortunately for her no rooms appeared and before she knew it she and Hermione were eating breakfast alongside Ginny and Tracy.
"Anyone seen Harry this morning?" Ginny asked, trying to eat and gather her papers for the rest of the day.
"With any luck he's still sleeping." Daphne said without thinking.
Tracy's eyes lit up and a smile crept onto her face, "Care to tell us why that would be a good thing?"
Hermione perked up and leaned in, unsure if she really wanted the information but her curiosity was superseding the consequences. Even Ginny stopped shuffling papers and looked up with a small glimmer in her eyes.
"He's got Quidditch to train for, I'm sure a well-rested Harry will be better than a grumpy Harry." Daphne sidestepped the question with ease. She glanced around to see if anyone would call her out, but was relieved to find that they all accepted her answer.
"Am I usually grumpy?" Harry walked up behind her, startling several unsuspecting first-years.
"Only when someone pisses you off." Daphne leaned back into him, reassuring him that she meant no harm.
"Can I steal you away today? Or do you already have things that you need to get done?"
Daphne skeptically looked back at him, "I'm free today, although I should be studying for Umbridge's class."
Harry immediately perked up, "Great! Get changed and meet me in an hour at the place where an eye can heal a dragon."
He turned his back and walked away before any more questions could be asked. Tracy and Ginny shrugged off the secret location and started gathering their belongings to head to class. Hermione looked positively confused as she racked her mind for the location of the meeting space, while Daphne hid a small smile.
Over the summer, while teaching Harry about Pureblood Protocol, there was also some history mixed in. Harry had mentioned a statue near one of the staircases, a witch with a hump, that Daphne knew to be Gunhilda of Goresmoor. Why they were meeting there, she had no idea, but any day with Harry lifted her mood, so she was very much looking forward to whatever he had planned.
She quickly said goodbye to Hermione, who looked like she was heading straight for the library, and made her way back to Slytherin house, hoping that she wouldn't have to deal with Flint or Nott. Fortunately, they were nowhere to be found and she quickly got ready and found herself at the statue five minutes before the top of the hour.
"Someone is here early…" came a voice from down the hallway as Harry walked out of the poor lighting.
"What can I say, I cannot be late even for a date where I'm not sure where I'm going."
Harry chuckled and strode confidently over to her. Where he wrapped his arms around her waist and gave her a quick peck on the lips.
"Dissendium." Harry mumbled in her ear and the statue started to move.
Daphne gasped in amazement and pulled away. "Well well well, you're just full of secrets aren't you? How did you even find this?"
Harry chuckled softly, "Don't worry, you'll understand soon enough. Come on let's go!" He pulled her into the dimly lit entrance.
"Lumos." Harry's wand tip lit up as they made their way along the passage.
"Harry, seriously where are we going?" Daphne was happily following Harry, but she also liked knowing where she was going. All she could do was trust him, and hope that it was the right choice.
Suddenly Harry stopped in his tracks. "Quick in here." And pushed Daphne towards the wall, which turned out to be a secret room.
"Wha-" was all Daphne was able to get out before Harry had his lips on hers while he pushed her into the cold, dark space and against a desk.
"Nox." Harry whispered and all the light that was in the room vanished. "Do you trust me Daph?"
"Yes Harry, I trust you." Daphne gasped as his hands started slipping up her sweater. Not being able to see him started to heighten her other senses. Her skin was electrified and as his hands moved towards her chest and around to her back. His nails digging in causing her to arch her back into him.
"Fuck Daph, you smell so good." His horse voice moving up her torso and towards her neck. She sensed the same animalistic nature from the previous night starting to take over, but her encounter with Nott and Flint this morning still had her reeling.
"Harry, take off my clothes." Her voice came out sharp and in control. "Then take off all yours."
She felt his body stiffened, but then hastily pulled her sweater over her head. He gasped as he felt her lacy bra in his hands and fumbled with the clasp. Her pants came off swiftly and in one motion. Another thirty seconds of rustling with his clothes and she finally felt his body pressed up against hers.
"Now kiss my neck right here." And moved his head to the correct location. "Holy god I love your mouth on my skin."
She instructed him to kiss down her chest and move his hands up and down her back. Then put his head in her hands and pushed him between her legs. "Lick. Suck. Don't stop."
She felt his hands wrap around her thighs, pinning her down to the top of the desk. She threw her head against the wall as his tongue circled her clit. His hands started moving up her inner thigh until it was almost inside her.
"Kiss me Harry." She said as forcefully as she could manage. He growled, but followed her request. The second his lips touched hers, she shoved him back against the door with a solid thud. "Don't take your hands off my shoulders or my hair."
She dropped down and he pushed back into the door willing himself to follow her orders. His hands moved through her hair as she worked her way down his body, stopping when she got to his quivering member. Taking him in her mouth, she moved with tantalizing slowness. As she sucked, she would start to move quickly feeling him gasp and cry out.
"DaphDaphDaphneeee!" His voice carrying and his hands getting more forceful. She grinned and slowed her pace until she felt him relax. This torment continued until he was almost screaming.
Without warning, his hands pulled her up and threw her back towards the desk. Their hands frantically pulling at each other, while their lips once again found each other. Daphne moaned into him and pushed her chest into his. She felt his body relax and tense as she tried to put as much of her skin onto his.
Without warning Harry pulled back, breathing heavily. "Daph, I want to, but I can't."
She could hear the tense disappointment in his voice and she felt around until his skin came in contact with hers. "Harry, it's okay. We have plenty of time to do all the things."
"But.. I want you, I just…" He pushed himself back against her and wrapped his arms around her waist and shoulders, buried his head in her shoulder, unable to say anymore.
"Hey now, you are supposed to show me where this passage leads. I will not be lead halfway to go back." Her playful voice filling the room, enveloping the both of them.
She felt him smile and then move to get their clothes that were scattered around the room.
"Harry."
"Yeah?"
"It helps when I can see which way my sweater goes."
"Lumos."
The light was almost blinding after being in the pitch black for almost half an hour, but Daphne could finally see Harry and she felt herself relax almost instantly. They quickly finished dressing, left the room and continued down the passageway until they reached a cellar door.
"You aren't leading me into another dark room are you?" Her calm voice said quizzically.
"Nah, I'm just showing you how we will be getting to Honeydukes when we need to get away." He nuzzled his face into her hair before pushing the cellar door up just slightly for her to look though. "Unfortunately, we can't go now but we will be back."
Daphne grinned as she peered through the crack in the floor. "Harry, how did you find this passage?"
"Fred and George found it. But seriously, if you never need to find a safe place to go, come here. No one ever is down here and it's got a good escape route."
She nodded and made a mental note that if she ever found herself in trouble, she would find herself back in this passage.
As her conscious mind started taking notes of the various aspects of the passage, she gasped suddenly, "Harry! Don't you have a special assignment today? I can't believe I forgot, I can't make you late!"
Harry leaned forward and kissed his blonde girlfriend, silencing her list of questions. "It doesn't start until next week when the first week chaos has calmed down. Today will probably be the only Friday I have off all school year."
"Well then we shouldn't waste it." Daphne leaned into the kiss, throwing her arms around his neck. "Come on, I'm starving and you teased me with Honeydukes you prat."
They slowly made their way back down the passage, stopping to check the Map before exiting. Umbridge was close by, but they were able to get out from behind the statue before she was close enough to worry about.
"That was great Harry, thank you for showing me."
"You're welcome Daph." He leaned down to kiss her, but was stopped by the icy giggle behind him.
"Mr. Potter. Ms. Greengrass."
"Elder Potter." The two of them quickly replied in tandem, turning around to face the pink demon disguised as a teacher.
"Students are not to be wandering the hallways when they should be in class preparing for their O.W.L.S."
Daphne held a straight face, but her annoyingly high-pitched voice was making it incredibly difficult not to wince every time she opened her mouth. She could feel Harry stiffen and reach for his scaring hand.
"Professor, my apologies, I needed to speak to Harry about some Prefect duties that simply could not wait." Daphne stepped forward and held the woman's gaze.
"Ms. Greengrass, I've been hearing you've been starting fights with other students. Tsk tsk."
Daphne's eyes momentarily flared before resuming their icy nature. She felt Harry's head snap up, but she knew he wouldn't say anything in front of Umbridge or any other professor. She also saw a flicker of light go through Umbridge's eyes, knowing that she knew what she was starting.
"I guess we will be on our way, Professor." Harry finally spoke up, took Daphne by the hand and pulled her past Umbridge. The slight smirk on her face infuriated them both, as Umbridge did not make any effort to move.
Daphne and Harry silently walked down the hallway towards the Great Hall. She felt him wanting to ask questions, but not knowing exactly what to ask. She wasn't sure she was ready to tell him about what happened, but knew she couldn't lie to him.
"Daph, I know you probably didn't tell me for a reason, but I would rather not find out that you are starting fights, especially from Umbridge."
She was quiet as she processed his unexpectedly calm response and contemplated her next words. "It's nothing I can't handle. I'm sorry I didn't tell you, but it's just Slytherins nosing their way into other people's businesses."
"Maybe so, but I still don't want to find out from other people." She could hear his voice tensing, causing her to react defensively.
"I will tell you if it's serious enough to be concerned over."
Harry stopped dead in his tracks, "And what if it is serious enough now, but you don't realize it yet?"
"Harry Potter, I will not have you tell me that I need to let you know of every little squabble I get into. You need to trust I can get myself out of it. Without your help." Her eyes sending daggers towards him as she aggressively stood her ground.
"And furthermore, you don't see the need to tell me every time you get into a squabble, and I am not able to let this be a one-way street." She stormed off in the opposite direction, leaving him standing there, stunned.
As she stomped around the hallways and up and down the stairs, she was grateful that classes were still in session and there were very few people to get in her way. She had no idea where she was headed until she saw the sign for the library. She sighed and went to find Hermione, who was undoubtedly buried behind a dozen massive piles.
Like she predicted, Hermione was hidden by a fortress of paper. "Whatcha up to Hermione?"
Half the piles went flying as Hermione jumped, startled by Daphne's ability sneak up on her. "Merlin, you frightened me! You know you can't sneak up on me when I'm this deep in books!"
A giggle escaped Daphne's lips, thankful that Hermione was currently more concerned about what she was researching instead of her.
"Did you find what you were looking for?"
"Not yet, but it all helps put pieces of the puzzle together." Hermione mumbled, trying to reorganize the piles that now resembled a steaming pile of nonsense.
"Would you like some help? Or do you have an exact place for everything?"
Hermione was looking at the book's spine and then carefully spinning around to place it on the correct piles, "I've got it, thanks."
Daphne sighed and leaned back into the bookcase. The smell of books was starting to become a more familiar and welcome scent and coupled with Hermione's resolute focus to her current task made it easy for her to just sit and figure out what she would tell Harry.
I could tell him the truth, but that would mean he would likely attack Nott and Flint and wind up back in the infirmary. They would deserve Harry's wrath, but not at his expense. Her hands were pushing a stray pile of books back and forth across the desk. However, if I don't tell him, I'll be able to get more information out of those death eater scum with less suspicion. They already know I'm with him, why make it worse for the both of us.
Her eyes glazed over as she continued to go over the pros and cons and was so entranced that she didn't hear Hermione calling her name.
"Daphne. Daphne. Daph. Daphne Greengrass!"
"Sorry, what did you say?" She finally replied, shaking her head.
"Are you going to tell me where you went or am I supposed to guess?"
Not much got passed Hermione, Daphne thought with a smile. Hermione could always be counted on to figure out a mystery, even when she wasn't looking for one.
"In my head, I'm flying high above the ground.." Daphne started, before getting cut off.
"A girl who loves to fly, flying in the clouds in her head, what a novel idea." Hermione rolled her eyes as she poked fun at her. "Seriously, don't tell me if you don't want to, but I'm always happy to help."
"I know, maybe once I've figured it out myself." Her face fell back into it's ice queen persona, hoping to mask her true feelings.
"Help me put everything away?"
"Sure Hermione. I'm always happy to help." And gathered an armful of books to be put back. She could have waved her wand and have the books put themselves away, but this option offered more time in the library, and more time to contemplate her next moves.
Once all the piles of books were put back on the shelves, Hermione and Daphne made their way to get some food. Daphne didn't realize she hadn't eaten since breakfast because she stormed away from Harry. Her eyes quickly glanced around and visibly relaxed when she realized he wasn't there. She wasn't quite ready to face him, or the truth, yet.
"Thank god I'm done with classes for today. I'm ready to relax." Ginny slumped into the seat next to Hermione.
Tracy perked up, "We should have a girls evening! You know, since school has officially started but none of us have a lot of work to get done."
"Speak for yourselves," Hermione mumbled rolling her eyes. "I always feel like I have an enormous amount of work."
"And how much of that did you give to yourself?" Ginny giggled as she nudged Hermione.
Hermione glared slightly as a smile crept onto her face. "And yet you always come to me when you need help with a paper."
At this point, all four of them were giggling. Tracy was slightly rocking back and forth, while Daphne brought her hands to her face. As she looked at the faces of her friends, Daphne felt a small twinge of guilt for not revealing what had occurred earlier, but knew that they were supporting her without even knowing it.
Unbeknownst to Daphne, she had caught Tracy's eye who noticed that everything was not okay in her favorite Greengrass. She wouldn't dare bring it up in front of Ginny but made a note to ask later.
As the giggling dyed down Ginny jumped up seeing Fred, George, Angelina and Alicia walking by. "Fred, George wait up!" The smaller redhead jogged around the table and met them at the entrance.
Daphne watched for a second as the two annoying Gryffindor twins joked and ruffled Ginny's hair. Daphne turned back towards the other two girls who both were looking at her worriedly.
"Daph your-" Tracy started.
"-going to have to tell us." Hermione finished.
Daphne's anger flared for just a second as she saw her Slytherin friends face light up knowing she had found something real. She quickly gathered her emotions and fixed a hard glare at the two brunettes who were a big part of her life.
"Tell you what? That Harry and I had our first fight?" Daphne scoffed as she picked up a piece of cinnamon bread and tore it in half trying to hide her true emotion with a partial lie.
"Your lying." Tracy said firmly, which made Hermione a bit confused. Daphne had done nothing out of the ordinary however she'd only spent a few weeks of the summer with Daphne. Whereas Tracy and Daphne had been friends for at least 10 years.
"No, seriously Harry and I had a fight and I haven't talked to him since this morning." Daphne ate the bread tearing into smaller pieces as she nibbled on it.
"Bullshit Daph. You never eat cinnamon bread and you sure as hell don't tear your bread with your hands. I've known you for 11 fucking years." Tracy was getting a bit worked up while her voice remained frighteningly calm. "What. Happened?"
Just then Ginny walked over and saw the fierce glare coming from the normally bubbly and fiendish Slytherin. She paused for a second before sitting down holding a small brown bag with a large bottle of Firewhiskey.
Daphne noticed Ginny sit down and the smell of cinnamon still on her nose told her that the bag was filled with Ogden's Finest Firewhiskey. "You know what?" Daphne didn't even wait for an answer. "Lets get drunk." She said turning to Ginny who too had given her a cautious glare.
Hermione leaned closer to Daphne, "We can't do that. It's against everything."
"You're telling me that you've never par taken in any of the afterparties that the Weasley twins throw at all times of the year?" Daphne asked sporting a newly found grin.
Hermione flushed and Ginny giggled, "What..? I mean... We don't… they don't… ah fine. Let's just go." Hermione sighed in defeat. She had indeed par taken in some of those afterparties. Not that she had any of the Firewhiskey but she had a few glasses of Elven Wine with Lavender and Parvati.
Tracy shot her friend a glare that told her they weren't done with this, but Tracy wasn't about to pass up an opportunity to get Daphne and Hermione drunk. "Well, what are we waiting for?" She exclaimed, slamming her palms on the table while rising to her feet.
The four of them quickly left the Great Hall and headed up and up through several long corridors laughing and talking wildly about their summers. Tracy leading them the entire time as they moved deeper and deeper into the castle, before arriving upon a long abandoned Astrology classroom.
"Alright ladies, let's have some fun!" Tracy's smile brightened to the point that Daphne couldn't help but grin just as much. Her best friend had always been able to bring her out of any mopey stage.
Daphne glanced around the room and saw Ginny pulling some strange items out of her bag while Tracy opened the cabinets looking for anything that could be used as glasses. She then looked over at Hermione who was holding the bottle in her hand before taking a quick swig.
"Don't think I didn't see that Hermione. Am I going to have to monitor you tonight?"
Hermione looked up, shocked that anyone was paying attention. "What no! I didn't… I mean.. What?" Her head slightly moving back and forth as she struggled to get the words out.
Daphne giggled, "I'm only teasing, I trust you more than the other two."
"Hey!" Ginny and Tracy said in unison.
"Daph do I need to remind you about what happened at the end of the school year? Because I am NOT explaining how you ended up on top of the dorms without a broom or your wand again." Tracy said cooly as she raised her eyebrows, mustering every threatening look she could manage.
Daphne paused, but before she could come up with a retort, Ginny had leaned forward and whispered, "Did your wand suddenly reappear around 11:30?"
Tracy eagerly jumped in, "Oh my god, YES!"
"Haahaha, I definitely sent your wand back to you that night! I had no idea why there was a wand on the ground with literally no one around. Luckily, Fred and George had already taught me the return to sender spell, otherwise that would have been an interesting conversation with Professor McGonagall."
Daphne groaned and put her head on the table, "Hand me the bottle, I need to not ever think about that night again."
Hermione was stiffling a laugh as she passed the bottle. "At least it all turned out okay, I've heard plenty of stories from those in Hufflepuff that have been caught. Boy do they know how to party."
Ginny, Tracy, and Daphne exchanged a knowing look and all leaned forward.
"And how do you know how they party?" Ginny's eyes widened with mischievous intent.
Daphne leaned back, unable to hide her grin. "Have you been to many Hufflepuff parties recently Hermione?"
"I bet Cedric has shown you many fun things… including parties." Tracy glanced at her nails before glancing up.
"How is your dear Mr. Diggory?" Daphne quickly added.
"I.. He.. Well you see we… I, uh… You know." The clearly flustered Hermione was usually not caught off guard. Her face flushed as she crossed and uncrossed her arms.
"We kid Hermione, it's clear you like him. And it's even more obvious that he likes you." Ginny walked around and bumped her shoulder into her friends.
"He does not. It is strictly because he is assigned to make sure I'm safe." Hermione's voice returned to it's strong nature.
"Don't worry Hermione, at least you have someone to look at all the time. Unlike the unfortunate situation I'm in." Tracy plopped down, pouting. "All the Slytherins look like trolls, and their personalities are even worse."
"There is always Blaise Zabini." Daphne rolled her eyes at her lust-loving friend. "At least he's smart enough to stay out of my way."
"Yeah, he always did have a nice butt." Tracy perked up, clearly starting to analyze how she would make her entrance the next time they were in the same room.
The girls snickered and passed the bottle of Firewhisky around as they continued to poke fun at each other for the boys they liked. Swapping stories about awkward first kisses and pointing out when someone had clearly been into them and they were just too blind to see it.
They had reached the halfway point of the bottle when Ginny stood up and grabbed a stack of plates and cups that were tucked into her bag. "Let's blow something up!"
"Here? Who's going to pick up all the pieces?" Hermione put two-and-two together and examined the first plate.
"These are special plates Fred and George designed. The moment you do anything to them, they disappear. And I mean anything. I've tried washing, eating, blowing up, putting a simple piece of paper on top. Poof, gone."
"Leave it to Fred and George to make every item they can find into a selling point. But this one seems a little simple for them." Hermione glanced up at her favorite redhead.
Ginny shrugged, "I think this was just something they were working on when they were first getting started. They only continue to make it for me, so I can blow them up when I need to let off some steam."
"What are we waiting for. Let's blow it up then!" Tracy jumped to her feet and grabbed a cup. She tossed it into the air, "Bombarda!"
She and Hermione took turns throwing plates and cups in the air for the other to hit. Sometimes throwing it straight up, while other time throwing several at a time to test their speed and accuracy abilities. They both struggled at first, but quickly found that they could hit several in a row if they trusted their abilities and don't overthink it.
Daphne watched in amazement as the cups and plates shattered and disappeared around her before a piece could hit the floor. Feeling brave she got a cup and put it on her head.
"Ginny, time to work on your aim. Go ahead, hit it off my head." Her confidence surprising even herself.
Ginny turned slightly to the side, raised her wand, and took a deep breath, "Bombarda." And the cup disappeared from the top of Daphne's perfect blonde head.
"Daphne that was reckless. Care to explain why you are so reckless today?" Tracy looked over and glared.
Hermione's concern was written all over her face, she hated seeing Daphne put up her ice queen persona, but knew that it was only up as a defense mechanism.
"I told you, Harry and I got into a fight. It's fine, I'm sure he's okay."
"He isn't, if I know Harry. But I'm more concerned about you at the moment." Ginny jumped in.
"Is this because Flint and Nott were dicks earlier?" Tracy prodding, hoping to gather more information in Daphne's facial reactions.
Hermione sat up, trying to put the points together. "Flint and Nott? What do they have to do with it?"
"Nothing." Daphne snapped. "They are just being their nosy selves, trying to get a rise out of me."
"Well it clearly worked, since I came downstairs this morning and they were both fit to be tied." Tracy took another sip of the Firewhisky.
Ginny's worried eyes were trained on the floor, "Daphne please be careful. I've even heard about their plans to become Death Eaters."
"I'll be fine guys. I know how to handle them, I've been doing it since I've started here."
Hermione sighed, "This is exactly why we need to know how to fight and protect ourselves. It's clear Umbridge is going to do nothing about practical application."
"Well then Harry should lead it. It makes perfect sense and he already knows some of the basics." Ginny said with a determined voice, as if she would be able to single handedly convince him to do so.
This determination always impressed Daphne. She hadn't yet felt like she could convince Harry to act on this, but with Ginny's determination, Hermione's sound logic, and Tracy's passion, she was convinced he wouldn't be able to say no. Maybe to each of them were to talk to Harry one-on-one, but together, even he knew they were a force to be reckoned with.
"Okay ladies, as much as I love hanging out with you, I love my bed." Tracy groaned as she got up off the floor.
Hermione glanced at the clock, which read 1:30 AM. Ginny yawned and started to gather the remainder of the cups and plates. The whiskey was almost gone, but Ginny put it away for future use.
They all hugged goodnight and split up to walk towards their respective houses. Daphne sighed with relief as Tracy rambled on about the Slytherin boys. Finally able to let her guard down and process the day's events. She was relieved that she could mention some of it to the girls, since she couldn't tell Harry, it was great to know that there would be someone with her if she needed. She also felt a ping of sadness that she hadn't talked to Harry since walking away from him. Sure she was angry, but she still cared for him and didn't want to see him hurt.
They finally wandered up the stairs to their dorm and as she tucked a half-asleep Tracy into bed, Tracy mumbled, "Don't think I don't see you Greengrass. I know it all stacked up against you today, but you've got people that will help you."
The corners of Daphne's lips curled up, "Sleep well Tracy." And turned to get into her own bed, thankful for the soft and cool mattress that enveloped her.
Tomorrow's another day. I'll talk to Harry and everything will be alright. She thought as she drifted off to sleep.