Just updated the story to add some more content, flesh it out a bit, remove some mistakes. My first work, so enjoy. Also, thanks to Leyrann for helping with rectifying mistakes in the story.
Harry never expected to be in this position. He never expected that he would attend the Hogwarts graduation ceremony, much less the Dance after. But then again, his life has a way of turning against his expectations.
Theo snorts when he says that, calling it to be a massive understatement, Blaise agrees readily. They are both dressed in fine robes, seemingly ready to walk into the next stages of their life, though Harry could see their sadness at leaving this stage, at leaving Hogwarts. Harry feels quite the same.
Hogwarts was where they spent most of their lives up to that point, it was where they had become friends, it was where they had fought trolls, and struck down dark lords. It was where they had spent hours studying, trying to get one of them through a deadly tournament. It was where he had found love, and faced the darkness with the power of love.
He looks at himself in the mirror, just as he did when he was eleven, though now, the person in front of him is wildly different from anything his eleven year old self could come up with.
He was sure Daphne would disagree though. She had always said that even after all the wars and fights, he was still the same 11 year old she had taken a fancy to.
The three remaining male Slytherins in their year walked out of their dorms to the common room. The two girls were already waiting for them there, wearing exquisite dresses that differed in many ways but similar in one, the colour green.
He walks up to Daphne, who looks more beautiful and more at peace than he has ever seen her be.
"Took you long enough," she says, a teasing tone.
He smiles at her, one which she returns enthusiastically.
"Of course. We had to make ourselves perfectly dressed so as to not embarrass our ladies."
"Good answer, but I don't think you quite succeeded in your endeavour though."
He just laughs and pulls her closer for a hug.
Tracey presses her lips to his cheeks and puts her hands around him for a hug, and then joins her hands with Theo.
He takes Daphne's hand, and they walk to the great hall, where the dance is being held.
He thinks he sees ghosts running through the corridors, images of himself and his friends, images of times past.
The entire castle seems to be in melancholy to see their generation go. He wonders if everybody who graduated Hogwarts felt like this. The walls are scarred and the floors broken. And yet, it seems exactly the same as when he was eleven years old.
The Great Hall is wonderfully decorated even though the number of students is low. The survivors of the war. Slytherin lost the most, equal numbers lost to both sides of the war. Ravenclaw, the least. He sees what's remaining of their class dancing to the slow music. He sees Hermione Granger on the sidelines, watching the dancers with an expression of longing in her eyes, her side devoid of the presence of Ron Weasley. He sees Neville Longbottom in a wheelchair, with Susan Bones standing next to him. Padma Patil and Parvati Patil, the twins bring each other's date. At the far end by the teachers table, Headmistress McGonnagall watches her students with teary eyes and a kerchief in her hand. The other professors aren't that far from her state.
Tracey and Theo have already started their dance, both of them lost in their own little world. He sees Blaise attempting to flirt with one of the girls, an attempt at one last night of debauchery in Hogwarts.
Slowly, he leads Daphne to the dance floor. He hasn't had any lessons in dancing, nor is he naturally talented, but he hopes that he won't step on her toes.
He holds her in his arms, and starts the dance. Their movements seem as if they were one person, and Harry surprisingly finds himself enjoying it. They dance as if they had no concerns, as if they had no worries in the world. He feels light and happy and oh so lucky to enjoy a dance with the girl he had known for 7 years and loved for 5 of them, even if he hadn't known it then.
They dance without a care for the world until it's midnight and the songs slow down and the students move out. By the end of it, their faces are flushed and there is a light in her eyes that Harry wants to hold there forever.
Meeting the teachers afterward is hard. Harder than he expected. Headmistress McGonnagall has a rare smile on her face and warmth and tears in her eyes. She greets them with pride in her voice and despite his previous problems with the Professor, he feels nothing but love and gratitude towards the aged lady.
Surprisingly, Professor Slughorn does have the gleam in his eyes that Harry has become used to seeing, replaced instead by an unexpected warmth. He shakes Harry's hand and gives him a mock Slug Club certificate. Harry doesn't know whether to laugh or cry.
He looks at the students and sees not the battle hardened soldiers they are, but the innocent eleven year olds they used to be. And he thinks his views are shared by all who are present.
As the students start to leave, Harry decides it's time to go. Daphne takes his hand and leads him towards pathways that are definitely not in the direction of their common room. He doesn't know where she is leading him to and he finds that he doesn't care. At last, they find themselves in one of the numerous towers in Hogwarts. The roof of the tower was opened and Harry finds something familiar about the place.
"Is this…?" Harry begins
"The place where we met? Yes" She interrupts, a rare smile on her face.
A wave of nostalgia washes over him, and he places an arm around her waist. .
"Merlin, it was so long ago, I was searching for the Mirror Of Erised and I accidently walked in on you practicing spellwork. I was surprised, the Slytherin princess"- Daphne growls at the moniker- "As I said, the Slytherin Princess, the one who gets every spell at the first try in class, and it was all because she snuck out to practice she snuck out at nights and practised in advance."
Harry chuckles at the memory.
"Oh, shush, as if you were any better, I distinctly remember someone asking me if they could join me in sessions."
"True, but that doesn't mean I can't rib you about it." He replies, already knowing what she'll say.
"Hypocrite."
"Stuck-up bitch"
"Idiot"
"The one who fell for an idiot"
"Who said I fell for you, I'm just biding my time so I can steal the Potter fortune and then leave you." She says, her head held high in mock-arrogance
"Well, I distinctly remember Tracey telling me about how you were going to name our kids. A blonde boy with green eyes who you will name James Edwin and a girl with black hair and blue eyes who's gonna be Lily Ophelia, if I remember correctly."
"Shit, I'm gonna kill that girl. No, torture would be better, then killing. And you will help in cleaning up the body."
Harry laughs.
"Come here" He says, pulling her closer to himself, and rests his head on her shoulder. He can smell the scent of lemon of her shampoo, and he revels in her presence.
Harry conjures a mat, and they lie down on it, holding hands. They gaze at the night sky, it's full moon and Harry is reminded of another full moon in their third year, when he snuck out to see Sirius and Remus followed them.
Harry shakes himself out of the memory and looks at the millions of stars winking at them. Harry had always thought that the stars were people who died and he wonders who the people in the sky are, and if his parents are there. He hopes that they're happy, wherever they are.
Daphne lays her head on his chest and he presses a light kiss on her forehead. She turns her head towards him and her eyes are filled with the same light he saw earlier. Harry now knows that they're one of love and he just knows his eyes are the same.
"I love you, Harry Potter" She says softly.
"I love you too Daphne Greengrass" He replies, his voice completely filled with sincerity and love. This was the girl who had stuck with him in the darkest of times and the girl who never gave up hope on him. The girl who had chosen him over her family, and the one Harry can see living his life with.
They don't do anything, but lie there, simply content in the presence of each other.
Eventually, they get up and go to their common room. He gives her a lingering kiss before moving towards his dorm.
He sees that Theo is sound asleep, and he can see faint outlines of movement in Blaise's bed. It's their last night in Hogwarts, their items are already packed and even though the sadness of leaving Hogwarts and apprehension of the future lingers in his mind, he feels confident in his ability to survive whatever life has in hold for him. It's his promise towards Daphne, and all their friends.
He undresses and puts his robes inside his trunk. Before getting into bed, however, he looks at himself in the mirror again, He sees himself, and his mind wanders to the Mirror of Erised. Professor Dumbledore's words ring in his mind.
'The happiest man on earth would be able to use the Mirror of Erised like a normal mirror, that is, he would look into it and see himself exactly as he is.'
He wonders if the happiest man could also mean the most content man. That if he looked in the mirror now, will the image be any different to one produced by a normal mirror. He thinks not.