A/N: So, I'm back! I haven't had the time to respond to the reviews of last chapter yet, (I will soon, promise) but I wanted to post this one as soon as I could. Also, next chapter would probably be posted next Tuesday.
14. Change
"What place is this anyway? I wanted to ask you earlier, but somehow I forgot about it." Daphne asked, as she walked beside Harry, wearing some fitting sportswear Harry had gone and got for her from a muggle shop somewhere. She had to admit, they felt wonderfully free and comfortable, although a bit cold pre-workout.
"It's called the Room of Requirement. Not a lot of people know about this because usually it's not there, but if you know about it, you can command the room to be anything you wish. All you gotta do is walk past it three times, thinking of what you need." Harry explained and Daphne gasped.
"Wait! I have been to this room before." She exclaimed and Harry looked at her questioningly. "There was this one time I had to get away after… Oh well, after dropping a barrel of maggots on you" she smirked at Harry's glare, "and I had to hide from Filtch. I went to this dead end corridor and was running frantically when this huge door appeared and without thinking I went in to this room with lots of places to hide and when I came back later I couldn't find the room and thought I had been to a different part of the castle before."
"Yeah, the room is tricky like that. I discovered it in my second year, hiding from Snape. Nowadays, I use it mainly as a training room. You can also use it as your gym when you start your workout." He said, stopping in front of the blank wall and walking three times with closed eyes.
Daphne looked amazed as a large wooden door appeared in front of them. "After you." Harry said and Daphne went inside.
The room was huge, a large mat in the centre and what seemed like a weapon rack with swords, staffs and knives stacked in a wall and a door to what seemed like a shower/changing room on another wall.
Harry was already stepping on the mat and Daphne followed him. He started to stretch a little and gestured her to follow him, which she did. They warmed up for a few minutes before Harry stopped.
"Alright, so let's see how good your aim is." Harry said, as a wooden cut out of a human silhouette appeared in the middle of the mat, appearing to hold a wand. "Go to the end of the mat and cast the disarming charm five times."
She did as she was asked, and she managed to dispossess the wooden dummy four times. Harry moved towards her and gave her a critical look, which made her feel a little self-conscious.
"You are holding your wand too tight. Loosen up your grip or it will take up too much energy. Also, you don't have to lock your elbows when casting a spell. You lose mobility if you do that. Try again, and faster this time."
Daphne did, keeping the tips in her mind and this time she hit the target five times.
"Now cast as fast as you would if you were under attack." Harry said, standing directly behind her so she wouldn't be distracted by him. Daphne cast five times in quick successions and was irritated when only three hit the target.
"Keep going until you hit five in a row." He instructed. She cast for five minutes before she achieved that but Harry shook his head.
"That wasn't fast enough. Go again."
"How fast can I go without losing accuracy?" Daphne complained. Harry looked at the dummy, which suddenly multiplied to five dummies, spread around over an area and he brought his wand up slowly. Daphne saw his hand moving in a blur for a second before she realized he had disarmed all five within a second. The four extra dummies vanished.
"That fast, at least." He replied before moving back to the spot behind her and she gulped. She thought she was pretty proficient with a wand, but her illusions just got shattered. "The trick is," Harry spoke from behind her, "not to treat it as five different spells but as five parts of one spell. You take a deep breath and fire all shots before breathing again. Sometimes holding your breath in helps with aim in practice."
It was after ten minutes of casting that Harry called her to stop. Her speed was improving slightly and she was hitting most of the targets, but she was still nowhere near what he showed earlier.
"It will take time. Don't worry, we'll get you there." Harry said as he came back into view. The dummy became mobile and moved in what seemed like an elliptical path.
"Standing in a spot while casting is a shortcut way to get yourself cursed or killed. Fortunately, the new Death Eaters usually don't realize that until they get hit by a few curses. The Inner Circle are smarter, though. What you will be doing now is moving around and try to hit a moving target." He said, as a number of small walls, boxes and barrels appeared in front of Daphne. "Let me demonstrate."
Harry covered behind a wall and fired a stunner at the dummy's head, quickly moved behind a pair of barrels and fired another one before rolling to another cover and repeating. Needless to say, he hit the dummy's head every time.
"Think you can manage it?" he asked and Daphne nodded. It would be physically taxing, but she could do it. "Good, because I'm gonna go to this other room and do my own training for a while. Just shout out if you are exhausted. If you hit five times in a row, I'll come back. If you need me for something just call out for me. Okay?"
"Can I watch you?" she asked, as he walked towards a door that was not there when she started. He smiled.
"Maybe later." And with that, he disappeared through the door. For a moment, Daphne wondered what type of training Harry was doing before she told herself that she should concentrate on her training instead.
She hit the target five times in a row after almost an hour and she was absolutely exhausted. She tried to hit twice from the same spot, but a shield appeared in front of the dummy on the second shot and she knew there was no cheating allowed.
She laid down in the ground, panting for breath when Harry came back and sat down beside her.
"You look a bit tired." He commented lightly as she gave a tired laugh.
"I could kill for a pizza right now." She said. Seeing the look on his face she immediately added, "And no, we are not going to muggle London at this time." She smirked as Harry pouted.
"Alright, no muggle London. Are you up for some kitchen adventure though?" Harry asked, a glint in his eyes. With a sigh, Daphne propped her upper body on her elbows.
"What kind of adventure?"
"I was thinking of making a pizza."
Few minutes later, Harry and Daphne reached the portrait of the fruit bowl.
"Mimsy? Hi there. I have a proposition for you and your friends." He said to the elf and other elves within earshot perked up and looked at him.
"A proposition, Master Harry?" Mimsy asked in confusion. Usually the young master asked for food and elves loved him because he treated them very well.
"Yes. You let me cook in the kitchen." Harry said and the elves all protested in unison. He raised a hand at them and they went quiet. "In exchange, I will show you how to make pizza. Does anyone know how to make pizza? No? Well it's an Italian food that most people love, including me and my fellow Head Girl over here. So to sum up, I cook, you watch and listen and learn to make a new dish. Do we have a deal?"
The elves talked furiously among themselves for a few moments before Mimsy spoke on their behalf.
"Will master let us help him while he cooks?" she asked.
"Sure, no problem, but Daphne will be helping as well." He bargained. The elves looked at each other before Mimsy nodded.
"We have a deal, young master. What do you need?"
"First of all, who knows what a pepperoni is?" Harry asked.
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Daphne continued her training under Harry's supervision for a few weeks and she also started light workouts in the morning after a short jogging period. At first, she felt tired all day with all the activity, but as Harry promised, she got used to it within a month. Every training session was getting a little harder for Daphne but she had managed to keep up so far, and she had a feeling that Harry knew exactly how much she could manage.
She hardly saw Harry's training though. After her own training, she was usually too tired for anything else. The only few times she actually managed to see him training had left her flabbergasted. Harry had explained to her that he always practiced dodging at last, so he had a chance to recover his strained magic caused by the first part of his training. When she saw him dodging, however, she could not believe her eyes. Spells were coming at him from every direction, including elevated heights, and they came at a rate that her eyes could not keep up with. Harry was dodging almost every one of them, seeming to know exactly where the curses were coming from even before it was cast. Harry admitted that this part of his training was very physically taxing, and usually led to all his injuries that he often showed up with. He also promised her that he would bring her to his level if she was dedicated enough. Daphne knew that it was near to impossible to reach that level for her before a few years, but she would be happy to be close.
She had received a letter from the lawyer Sirius had appointed for her. He strongly advised her to sell the current property as her distant relatives could claim it again, and told him she needed a little time to think about it.
She did not have too much attachment to the place despite living there all her life there. She asked Astoria and she didn't have a problem with it either. However, it was their only property that was not rented. Selling it would mean they had nowhere to live. Her parents didn't have a will, which allowed the vulture relatives to have a claim on it. However, if she sold the property, there would be no such claim. But at the same time, it would also leave them without an address, either. She could live in a flat somewhere on her own, but she didn't want Astoria to grow up without a proper home.
As the year progressed, the loads of NEWTs and Head duties were increasing exponentially. With the war outside making everyone jittery, along with the pressure of studies, fights were breaking out in halls more often than not, and a few times it involved the prefects themselves. A fifth year Hufflepuff prefect had been relieved of her prefect duties when she punched the daylight out of a Ravenclaw fourth year boy who 'accidentally' put her notes on fire. If not for Susan Bones interrupting them in time, things could have turned ugly real fast. Daphne and Harry had several meetings with the prefects stressing them to keep their cool and act as the peacemaker in any kind of confrontation.
Daphne had finally managed to finish the paper that she was working on. Professor Flitwick was, to say the least, mightily impressed.
"This is a fantastic paper, Miss Greengrass. Very well done, indeed." The diminutive professor squeaked. Daphne gave him a grateful smile.
"Thanks, professor. But I must admit I had some help."
"Indeed? Care to explain?" he asked curiously. Daphne nodded.
"I had several interviews with a private researcher who has extensive knowledge on this field." She started, but paused when she noticed that Flitwick was grinning.
"So you asked for help from your fellow Head Boy's mother?" he asked with a large smile. Daphne's eyebrows rose.
"Yes sir, I did. But how did you know?" she asked curiously. Flitwick laughed happily.
"Lily Evans was one of the brightest students I had the privilege of teaching. When I read your paper, I thought I saw a hint of Lily's knowledge and understanding, but I dismissed it as a coincidence."
"Then you know it is not all my own work, really." Daphne said, her eyes downcast. The professor sighed.
"Miss Greengrass, no one writes a paper without help. That is one of the main objectives of writing a paper in the first place. To gather knowledge from different sources, study and understand them, and eventually come to your own conclusions from it. Yes, Lily has given you a significant amount of knowledge and insight that you would be hard pressed to find otherwise, but where did you think she got all that from? She is a muggleborn witch, so she certainly did not get it from her parents. She had a remarkable thirst for knowledge that I see in you as well. I can see that you have consulted many sources and drew your own conclusions in most of the cases, so yes, Lily did help you, but it is still your paper and a wonderful one at that."
Daphne beamed at the Charms Professor. Although she knew that she had presented a good paper, she was afraid that with Lily helping her so much with the paper, Flitwick might consider it cheating. She was pleasantly surprised to see otherwise.
"Thank you, Professor. It wouldn't have been possible without your guidance and encouragement." She smiled at Flitwick, and he grinned at her.
"The pleasure was mine. In fact, if you still wish for that Masters, I would be glad to supervise you. I haven't supervised a keen and smart student like you in decades." He praised again, and she blushed a little.
"Umm… thank you, sir. But do I have to join right away? I am very much interested, but frankly I don't even know where I'm going to live next summer, so it is a bit difficult for me to choose right now." She confessed.
"No need to worry, Miss Greengrass." The Professor assured her. "The Masters program can be taken any time, but it is recommended to start within five years of graduating from school. You can delay it further if you want, but you have to sit for a series of tests and submit another paper for that. You can join whenever you have things under your control. My offer for supervision stands for as long as I am here."
"Are you planning on retiring soon, sir?" she asked curiously. Flitwick chuckled.
"Not at the moment, but with what's going on outside, who knows what could happen?" he said with a sigh, but then smiled. "However, if the person I recommended as my successor ends up in my position, I think you have nothing to worry about."
"Who is it, Professor?" Daphne asked apprehensively.
"Oh, you cannot tell her this, but I have made it clear to the Headmaster and everyone in the authorities that when I step down or otherwise leave the post open, I would like Lily Potter to take my place." He said with a grin.
"That would be brilliant professor!" Daphne exclaimed.
"Indeed. Lily has hinted that she would like to succeed me a few times, but I have always pretended to not have heard. I can think of no one else more fit for this job. But please, don't tell her. I want it to be a surprise for her, whenever it is."
"My lips are sealed, Professor." Daphne said with a grin, mimicking closing a zipper over her mouth.
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"Horcruxes? No, does not ring a bell." Harry admitted, trying to recall if he ever heard of the term. "What is it?"
Neville sighed. He was not really surprised, to be completely honest. "It is an object that stores a piece of your soul. You have to commit an act so evil that tears your soul into two and then store one in a horcrux."
Harry was frowning. "What kind of act would split your soul?"
Neville shrugged. "Dumbledore says it's murder."
"But people murder each other all the time. Why aren't their souls split?" Harry asked, a bit disturbed.
"From what I understood, just killing a person is not enough to split your soul. Your intent matters. Killing in battlefield, self-defence or even accidentally will not damage your soul too much. But if you deliberately murder someone who has done no harm to you just for the sake of it, that can tear your soul. And then, if you want, you can store that torn piece inside a horcrux." Neville explained.
"So Voldemort has a horcrux?" Harry asked, already knowing the answer. Neville smiled ruefully.
"I wish. From what Dumbledore could guess, he had a particular fondness of the number seven."
"So he has seven horcruxes?" Harry asked, eyebrows raised.
"That is our guess. Dumbledore knows where some of them are. You don't seem as disturbed as I was when I learned of this." Neville commented. Harry shrugged.
"I am disgusted, but if you think of it, is it really that surprising?" Harry asked. "I mean having seven horcruxes means he murdered at least seven people in cold blood. For anyone else that is too much, but can you really say that about Voldemort? Considering what he's done so far, seven murders is not a remarkable act in his standards, is it?"
"When you put it like that, I guess it does make sense." Neville admitted. "I mean he could have created three horcruxes in one day if he managed to finish me off when I was a baby. It's not very hard to see that he could easily go for twenties if he really wanted to, maybe even hundreds."
"I'm not complaining that he is not more ambitious, but why didn't he go for more than seven?" Harry asked. Neville looked a bit green.
"From what we understand, splitting your soul makes you unstable. So creating more than seven could permanently damage your magical core. You could explode, or become a muggle." He explained.
"I bet Voldemort would rather explode than become a muggle." Harry muttered darkly and Neville nodded.
"Can I let you in a secret? You cannot tell anybody about it. Not even Daphne or Ginny."
"Sure, Nev." Harry replied without hesitation. Neville looked very uncomfortable, and Harry knew his best friend would not trust anyone else so easily.
"Remember the shady diary Ginny showed us in second year?" Neville asked and Harry nodded.
"Yes, the one we handed over to Dumbledore because it was too suspicious." He recalled. Neville sighed.
"Apparently that's a horcrux."
Harry stared at him in shocked silence for a moment.
"And Ginny doesn't know it?" he whispered. Neville shook his head solemnly.
"I am not sure how she would take it if she knew, so I would rather keep it to myself for the moment." Neville said almost pleadingly.
"Of course, Nev. If that's what you want, I won't tell her about it." Harry promised and Neville breathed in relief. He knew he was acting a bit hypocritical, keeping information from Ginny just like people liked to keep information from him, but he was not ready to tell her. Yet.
"Who else knows about this?" Harry asked, breaking Neville's train of thought.
"Just you, me and Dumbledore, I think. He hasn't told anyone else about the horcruxes either."
"But surely that would be useful?" Harry asked dubiously. "No offence Nev, but I think there are a ton of other people Dumbledore must trust who can help his horcrux problem."
"None taken." Neville waved a hand. "I don't know, but he insists on keeping this a secret because it could be a dangerous information to be in the wrong hands."
Harry shrugged, still dubious. He had nothing but respect for Albus Dumbledore, but whenever he heard about his shenanigans from Neville, he seemed like a completely different person altogether. It was eerily similar to Daphne in a twisted way. Instead of a mask of cold indifference to the world, Dumbledore seemed to wear a mask of merrily eccentric teacher.
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Harry had worked hard on the quidditch team and had managed to produce a decent keeper out of Denis Creevy. Obviously, Ron was not happy about it, but Harry didn't really care as long as his team was performing. He played Denis in the match against Hufflepuff and he gave an inspiring performance, saving 18 shots out of 22 and it certainly looked like Ron had played his last match against Slytherin because there was no way he would be selected for the last match against Ravenclaw. After the match, Harry had a talk with McGonagall and a few days after the match, he called the whole team on the pitch.
"Next match is ages away, what's with the sudden training?" Dean Thomas asked once everyone gathered around.
"We are not practicing today. At least I don't think we are. We are here for something else altogether." Harry said, looking at each of them in the eye. "I have been the captain of this team for more than two years, and I will say this: it was an honour to share the locker room with you guys. However, I think it's time for me to step down. So I would like you all to welcome your new captain, Ginny Weasley."
There was a loud applause and cheering from everyone while Ginny covered her mouth in shock. Everyone clapped her in the shoulders and Demelza hugged her. Harry took off his captain's badge from his robes and handed them to her and she wrapped him in a hug, tears in her eyes.
"Thank you Harry." She whispered, letting him go and he beamed.
"You deserved it."
The Gryffindor common room held another party in honour of their new quidditch captain and a farewell to their old, and most successful captain. Of course, he was still going to play the last match for Gryffindor as a seeker, but it didn't stop his fellow lions from having another excuse for the party.
Ginny sent out a notice for another seeker trial in the first week of her captaincy, and after selecting two girls who were not half bad, she asked Harry to train them to perfection. Harry gladly complied, preparing the two girls, Emma and Bonnie, just like Viktor Krum prepared him. He was fairly certain that he was leaving the team in good hands as he saw the spirit of both girls during training. Ginny was going to have a tough time selecting one seeker for the spot; both of them were going to be equally fantastic by next year.
On the outside, the Protectors were employing guerrilla warfare tactics on Death Eaters, and they took the Death Eaters' tactics of installing fear and used in on them. Captured Death Eaters were relieved of all information and depending on their crime, they were either kept as prisoners (mainly the new recruits, kids with no idea what they had gotten into) or disposed of (murderers, torturers and rapists). The houses of the Death Eaters bore the mark of protectors just like the Dark Mark above a victim's house. It was a red shield with two wands crossed in the middle. The tactic had worked like a charm and attacks had come down significantly. They had people in the muggle police system, alerting them if a muggle village/town was attacked and the muggles called the emergency hotline. A number of Order members went to join the Protectors, and Dumbledore was left with mostly his old supporters and people who owed him something. Remus and James was the only competent wand he had left and James didn't even attend all the Order meetings.
The ministry was getting worse, as Voldemort switched his focus from attacking muggles and muggleborns to taking the ministry from within. All the departments were headed by Death Eaters and they were infiltrating the Wizengamot as well. Muggleborn, halfbloods and so called 'blood traitors' received harsh punishments for small offences while the Death Eater sympathizers were rarely even called for a trial.
The war outside was getting more complicated and twisted every day.
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Easter holidays were quickly approaching and Harry was collecting the list of people going home for the holidays when he noticed that both Daphne and Astoria were staying.
"How come you're staying in the holiday? I thought you don't like to stay during holidays?" he asked her during their morning workout on the week before the holidays started.
"Harry you do realize that my parents are dead and I have nowhere to go to, right?" she said incredulously.
Harry stopped his workout and stared at her. Daphne paused too.
"Do you really think that?" he asked quietly and Daphne was surprised.
"What's there to think of Harry? I don't have any relatives that I care about and although we do have a home, there's no point in just the two of us staying over in an empty house." She answered but Harry shook her head. He quickly pulled out his mirror and talked in a hushed voice to it and after a while, he pushed the mirror towards Daphne. It was Lily Potter.
"Hi, Lily." Daphne greeted, knowing that it would please the other woman, who always insisted on them calling her by her first name instead of Mrs. Potter. The woman in the mirror, however, did not look pleased.
"Daphne if you think for a moment that we would let you stay alone in the holiday break you are completely wrong. I've said it before and I'll say it again, you are a part of our family, no matter what. I mean what did you plan to do after you graduate? Go and live with Astoria alone?"
Daphne was speechless for a moment as she registered the words.
"Thank you, Lily. It means a lot to me." She replied with a shaky voice.
"Oh stop it, darling. You know how much we love you and Astoria. Why did you ever think that you are without a home? We can't replace your parents in any way, but we can be your family if you'll have us." Lily replied. Daphne had tears in her eyes. She didn't know why this wonderful family was so kind to them, but she couldn't break their heart and refuse and neither did she want to.
"Of course we'll have you Lily. We'll come home with Harry, don't worry."
"That's what I like to hear. See you soon." Lily smiled before the connection went off.
"Still think you have no family?" Harry asked with a smirk and she pulled him to a hug, surprising him.
"Thank you, Harry. Thank you for being who you are."
"No problem blondie." Harry said, rubbing her head that was resting on his shoulders.
"Found any new blonde jokes that are good?" she asked, as she let him go.
"I knew you liked them!" Harry cried out.
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The train journey to King's Cross was uneventful. The number of students going back for the holidays were significantly lower than the Christmas break, the workload getting to them. Being quite brilliant, smart and organized, both Harry and Daphne had their workload under control, including their duties as Head students. Of course, with Harry giving up the Quidditch captainship and Daphne being done with her paper, they both had more free-time than before, which definitely helped.
As the Hogwarts Express pulled up in the King's Cross station and Harry and Daphne checked all the compartments before the train returned, they found Lily and James Potter talking to Astoria.
"Anyone else feeling hungry?" Harry asked, as he hugged his mother and patted his father's arm.
"Hi Mr. Potter. Hello Lily." Daphne said as Lily pulled her into a hug.
"What do I have to do to make you call be James?" the older man asked, loading all their trunks on a trolley.
"Wait for me to get used to it, I guess." Daphne replied cheekily and James laughed. He pushed the trolley out of the wall that led to Platform nine and three quarters. The family chatted all the way up to the car, where Harry asked if he could drive and James refused to destroy his beloved car by allowing Harry to drive it in a street.
The car journey took a while, even with magic helping them to travel very fast.
"Why are we taking a car?" Astoria asked, wondering what's wrong with magical travel.
"Floo network is being watched and I don't want to show my face there. And our house is under a Fidelius Charm now, which means you, Harry or Daphne can't apparate inside, and Godric's Hollow is not a totally magical neighbourhood, so apparating outside is not a good idea either." James explained.
"Really dad?" Harry asked, rolling his eyes.
"Alright, it might also be because I love to drive the car." James admitted and everyone laughed at his pout.
The ride home was nice, as they talked about school and quidditch. James was delighted to find that Astoria wanted to be a Chaser for Slytherin. He looked almost betrayed when Daphne admitted that she didn't care much for quidditch and flying. Harry had a feeling on what Astoria would be getting for her next birthday. Which made him realize that he didn't know when either of their birthdays were. Astoria shyly admitted that her birthday was a week away and Lily immediately started interrogating her on what type of food she liked and what flavour of cake she preferred and such. Daphne's birthday was mid-August, just a few days after Harry.
As they reached their destination, James gave them each a piece of parchment and asked them to memorize it.
The Potter Cottage is located in 7, Church Street, Godric's Hollow.
As their cottage appeared, Harry noticed that it looked different. Looking carefully, he noticed that it appeared larger because the house was extended quite a bit. Looked like his parents have been busy.
Daphne and Astoria either didn't notice the change (to be fair, Astoria was here for barely a whole day and Daphne had only spent a week here, and both were distressed and had other things to worry about) or they did not comment on it.
"You added rooms for the girls?" Harry asked James, out of earshot from the others.
"Yeah, and there's also a new, larger room downstairs that we added. I was thinking about making it the meeting room for the Protectors, but they acquired another house with plenty of facilities, apparently one of them had a lot of money with no one to spend on, and so we have an empty room with no purpose yet. Lily was thinking about setting up a potions lab or something similar. I guess we could ask the girls if they have any preferences."
Harry nodded. He thought about making a training room, but he knew that the house couldn't survive his training anyway.
He picked up Melanie as he spotted her, and blew a raspberry in her stomach, causing her to giggle. The little girl was pretty happy about seeing her brother again, which made Astoria and Daphne swoon at how cute she was.
Lily took them upstairs and showed the girls their rooms. The room that used to be a nursery was Melanie's, and beside that used Harry's room, separated by the two toilets that were accessible from inside the rooms. However, two rooms were added between them and Astoria now had the room next to Melanie, and Daphne had the one after that. Harry was sent to the far end of the corridor. There was a library on the other side of the corridor where all the bedrooms were, and an open terrace. James and Lily's room was downstairs, along with the study, kitchen, living room, guest room and the new, empty room. Daphne had lived in the guest room last time she was here. Astoria was given Harry's room for the one night she stayed.
"Were these rooms here last time I was here?" Astoria asked. Daphne had never climbed upstairs.
"No, they're new. I have left the rooms undecorated for now." Lily said, sending the trunks to their respective rooms. "I didn't know if you wanted to keep the furniture and accessories from your house or you wanted to start everything from the start. Either way, we will drop by your house tomorrow morning and then do some shopping. How does that sound?"
Both girls agreed to it, thanking Lily heavily. Daphne decided that she would keep her most of her old things and Astoria said that she would change some things. Lily smiled and asked them to freshen up before dinner.
Once they all came down in the living room, they found Sirius talking with James. He brightened as he saw them.
"Oh you guys are here! Did you have to bring Harry with you, though? He kinda sucks." He said, ducking the rubber ball Harry threw at him.
"Dad there's a mutt on the couch. Shouldn't we neuter him?" Harry replied easily, punching his godfather's arm as he sat down beside him. Daphne and Astoria said hello, enjoying the banter between him and Harry, although not understanding them completely.
"Mr. Black, I wanted to-" Daphne started but Sirius cut him off.
"If you are talking to me, you should know that I don't answer to Mr Black. Call me Sirius or Padfoot. Although I enjoy making old bums in the Wizengamot call me Lord Black." He winked at Astoria, who giggled.
"Alright Sirius, I wanted to say that I really appreciate you helping me with the property and hiring Mr. Banner. I didn't get a chance to do it last time I was here." Daphne said earnestly.
"Don't worry about it." Sirius said, waving his hand. "He owed me a favour and I called him on it. Although that reminds me, did you make a decision? He mentioned that the holidays are a good time to get a client for a property easily."
Before Daphne could reply, Harry interrupted. "Hey Padfoot, why can't you buy the property and then sell it back to her? Shouldn't the claims vanish then?"
"Magical law doesn't work that way, Harry." James explained as Sirius nodded. "As long as a Greengrass owns the property, the claim would be present." Harry slumped back to his seat.
"It's okay. I have decided to sell it. I'll write to Mr. Banner by tonight." Daphne said but Sirius shook his head.
"No need. I hear you are going to the house tomorrow? I'll ask him to join you there to discuss everything properly."
The group chatted for a while before Lily called them to eat. They had a wonderful dinner of Wellington beef and Daphne later volunteered to help Lily with the dishes. Astoria happily played with Melanie for a while and Harry smiled as they already seemed to be a real family.
After dinner, Sirius suggested that they played poker and Lily refused to let anyone take money from Daphne and Astoria on their first day. Harry suggested that they play without the actual money, but with the stipulation that two losers would have to buy drinks for everyone and everyone agreed to that. James brought out his box of poker chips and cards that he got from a muggle shop.
Sirius taught Astoria the rules as Lily distributed the chips evenly among them. Daphne already knew the rules but was listening to Sirius all the same. Harry and James tried to show off their card tricks which amused everyone seeing that neither of them knew any card tricks. As the chips were distributed, Lily went to put Melanie to bed and Harry summoned a few bags of potato chips from the kitchen before starting.
Without the real money, it wasn't as exciting as it could be, but they all enjoyed it. Although Harry and Astoria knew it very well, the other adults were absolutely stumped by Daphne's poker face. One time, Sirius stared at her for two whole minutes to see any change in expression, but she looked back at him with that famous mask of hers on her face until Sirius cried out in frustration. It was almost midnight when Lily called it a night, though Sirius accused her of sabotaging because she was on a losing streak. In the end, Sirius and James were the bottom two and they promised to buy dinner within that week.
The next day, the mood was a bit sombre as the family visited the Greengrass residence. Harry had asked James if the Potters could buy it, but James admitted that with the war coming, they needed the money since James didn't have a job anymore. They could live easily for nearly a decade with what they had, but buying a property this large would cost a lot and James didn't want to take advantage of the girls by paying anything less than what was fair, and there was no telling about how long the war would take to settle down. He was already thinking of taking out a large amount of gold from Gringotts and store it outside in case the goblins side with the dark side. Harry suggested that they put two thirds in Swedish banks, run by the dwarves and store half of what remained in a safe somewhere close and keep the rest in Gringotts to avoid the attention that closing such an old vault would cause. James liked the idea and said that they might even try and claim the Peverell vaults as well, seeing that no other descendants of the old family had surfaced anywhere.
Lily had charmed two trunks to expand infinitely to store everything they wanted to take. James, Lily and Harry waited outside as Daphne and Astoria went to secure valuables first. Apparently, the Greengrass family was pretty rich (doing steady business during both war and peace had its perks), more than the Potters (not counting the Peverell vault yet as they didn't know what was in there) but not as much as the Malfoys or the Blacks.
Daphne came back after a while and asked Harry to come and help her with moving some stuff. Astoria was already gathering the things she wanted to take from here. They would obviously leave the basic furniture like the bed, dressing table and wardrobes because the Potters already furnished their room with those.
"Do you really need help?" Harry asked casually as they went up the stairs towards her room. Astoria was rummaging through her drawers.
"No, not really." Daphne admitted. Harry didn't say anything, quietly walking beside her and entering her room. It had a simple elegance to it. "It just feels a bit… strange to come back here and knowing that I will probably never come back here. I was never that fond of this place, but I spent all my life calling this my home and now… it's not anymore."
Harry reached out for her hand and gently squeezed it. She smiled at him and looked around the room, her fingers still intertwined with his.
"Daphne?" he called quietly and she looked at him. "Is that porn?"
Harry was pointing at a magazine peeking out from her dressing table with a very transparent lingerie-clad woman on the cover. Daphne laughed.
"No, you pervert. It's a catalogue for lingerie." She explained, swatting his arms.
"Sounds like porn to me." He replied, rubbing his wrong arm to rile her up, but she laughed instead of taking the bait.
She was beautiful when she laughed. A voice inside him thought, and he was surprised. Since when Daphne was beautiful?
"Sounds like you need to pull your head out of the gutter." She said with a playful smile, dumping her clothes to the second trunk that would store their regular things. She didn't know how Harry always managed to cheer her up whenever she was down. But she was sure glad that he did.
With a little help from Harry, the packing of her room was over very quickly. They went on and helped Astoria as well. They already took everything they wanted from their parents' room before, so next stop was the library. It was just a little smaller than the Potter's library which was pretty large for a private residence. Harry quickly compressed the whole library to a box and handed it to Daphne to save time. Daphne announced that they were done, and the trio went back downstairs, where James was talking with Mr. Banner, who appeared to have arrived a few minutes back.
Daphne listed off everything that she wanted to sell with the house, including most furniture and fittings. Banner said that he already had a few prospective clients interested in the property and would inform Daphne as soon as he got a good offer. He inquired if they had a house elf and Daphne said that the one they had passed away and they hadn't gotten a new one after that as the previous one had no children.
Banner left after a few minutes and Daphne suggested that they go back to the Potter Cottage and see what they actually need before shopping and everyone agreed. Back in the Cottage, Harry helped the girls unpack and decorate their new rooms. Lily and James worked to expand the library space to fit the whole Greengrass library alongside their books. Everyone was tired and Harry and James volunteered to go and get Chinese takeaway instead of making Lily cook. As the boys were gone, Lily introduced Daphne and Astoria to the muggle appliances that filled the house. The two girls were amazed at how muggles had appliances to do almost everything wizards used magic for. Lily explained that magic lacked the finesse that muggle appliances offered on most things. Of course, they still used magic a lot, but the muggle appliances were a big part in their lives. Lily admitted that she had to train James for nearly a year till he got used to all the stuff they used. Daphne and Astoria knew that it would take some time getting used to it, but it sounded like fun. Astoria, who was the one with interest in cooking out of the two sisters, was amazed to learn how muggles had a machine for everything she could imagine and much more. Even Daphne was surprised to see that muggles had a machine to make toast.
After a lunch of Chinese food, they went to Diagon Alley, Melanie replacing James, who had a meeting to attend (for the Protectors). Daphne had to visit Gringotts and the rest decided to wait in Florean Frotescue's Ice Cream shop while she did whatever she needed to do. They enjoyed the spring sun while having sundaes. Daphne took some time getting back, and had a chocolate chip ice cream to go. Astoria stage whispered that Daphne was a closet chocolate lover but didn't like to admit it because it would make her seem less cool. Daphne mock glared at her but ruffled her hair to show that she wasn't really mad. Melanie was once again up on Harry's shoulders, which was her favourite way to move around by far. After getting a few potion items from the apothecary, Daphne asked Lily if she could shop in muggle London. Lily looked like she was about to cry with happiness.
"Can I go home with Mel?" Harry asked desperately.
"No." Lily and Daphne replied in unison and Harry groaned, making Astoria laugh.
So Harry decided to walk around with Melanie while the girls shopped. Apparently Daphne had converted a large amount of Galleons to muggle pounds and she intended to make good use of it for her and Astoria.
The Potter siblings walked aimlessly around muggle London, and Harry got a few comics that Melanie liked and bought a few of his favourite muggle candies. He tried to browse some bookstores, but Mel got bored of them easily. They sat around in a park for a while and Melanie actually fell asleep during that, so Harry had to put a soft silencing charm and a cushioning charm around to not wake her up as he carried her. It was over two hours that Lily called him to say that they were nearly finished. Harry reached in time to see them approaching the counter, three young men carrying the huge stack of packets and boxes they brought from that shop. Lily was arguing about something with Daphne, who looked unmoved. Coming close, he gathered that Lily had bought some stuff as well and Daphne wasn't letting her pay for that, insisting that they were a gift from her. Lily argued for a while, but gave up when she saw that the girl wouldn't be moved. Astoria, who absolutely adored Melanie, volunteered to carry the little girl for a while and Harry agreed readily, his shoulders and arms a little stiff. Lily pointed out that Melanie was perfectly capable of walking herself, but Harry just grinned in reply.
James still was not home when they returned, and tired from either shopping or carrying Melanie (in Harry's case), they didn't feel like doing anything major for the rest of the day. The girls went to put away their shopping and Lily went to the library with a cup of coffee. Harry helped the girls with unpacking for a while before he got bored and went back to his room for a quick nap.
Things were pretty quiet in the evening when Harry woke up and found out that everyone else was in their respective rooms. He knocked softly on Daphne's door.
"Come in." she called.
She was lying in the bed, in muggle clothes.
"You seem to like muggle clothing." Harry commented, sitting down on the chair in front of her desk. He noticed that she had reshuffled the furniture to match the orientation they were in her room in the Head's dorm.
"Yeah. They are quite comfortable, and I think they look good on me." She commented, slowly sitting up.
"They do." He said, and noticed a pink spot in her cheeks.
"So what are you up to?" she asked, changing the subject.
"I was planning to go down to the groceries to get some stuff for dinner."
"You are cooking?" she asked in surprise.
"Yeah. It's kind of a routine around here." He explained. "When I'm home, mum usually makes dinner three or four times a week, I cook two times and we either eat out or order takeaway for the remaining days. Dad and I share breakfast duties and lunch is mostly mum and sometimes takeaway."
Daphne nodded, a bit surprised. Her father never even went to the kitchen, let alone cook. After their last elf died, mum volunteered to cook, with Astoria helping whenever she could. She even cooked a whole meal a few times.
"Astoria knows a bit about cooking, but I don't really cook. Should I learn?" she asked, knowing that Harry would be honest with her.
"No need. It's not a chore, really. I like to cook as much as mum does and dad likes to make things for us, but breakfast is all he can manage without burning the place down. If Astoria wants she can cook a meal every now and then. You can help with other chores if you don't like to cook." He assured her.
"I'm sorry, but I actually never asked anyone what your mum does. Is she a housewife?" she asked, a bit embarrassed. Harry laughed easily at her embarrassment.
"No, she works as an independent researcher at the moment and is working on three books at the same time. She used to be an Auror like dad before she was… cursed. After returning from St. Mungos, she couldn't get that job back, so she worked as a researcher for the Department of Mysteries for a while. When she was pregnant with Melanie, she researched independently during her maternity leave. When the ministry started cutting down the wages of their muggleborn employees last year, she left that job and became an independent researcher. Though she doesn't admit it, we all know that her dream is to be the charms teacher at Hogwarts when old Flitwick retires. I guess Melanie would graduate before that happens." He mused.
"What about you? What's your dream?" she asked. Harry smiled.
"I'll tell you later. I'm not sure of them yet. Do you have any dreams?"
"Not sure of them either." She replied with a short laugh.
"So, do you need anything from the shops?" he asked, getting up.
"Why don't you take me with you? I don't actually know what they have around here."
"Are you up for a little walking?" he asked and she nodded.
"Is this an appropriate attire?" she asked, pointing at her clothes.
"They're fine." He said, looking at her t shirt and khaki pants.
"Let's see if Astoria wants to come." Daphne said, as she went on to check. She came back quickly. "She's tired."
"Okay, let's go then." Harry said, walking down the stairs. He held out both hands and a piece of paper and a pen zoomed into his palms. He wrote a short note to his mother and released the items, the pen going back to where it came from and the paper sticking itself to the kitchen counter.
"You never said how you are so proficient in wandless magic." Daphne commented, a little intimidated by the display. Of course, she had noticed him using wandless magic countless times, but since he never did it when anyone else was around or brought it up, she never asked about it.
"Remember how I said before your training that I don't know a lot of spells?" he said, walking up to the street. "It is because I only do European magic when someone is watching. I trained in Asian magic, which is quite different, and more fluid, but difficult to perform. I'm sworn to maintain secrecy on the exact procedures, but as you already noticed, it does not require a wand. I'll see if I can manage to let you in the secret when I see my teacher next." He offered, knowing that he wouldn't probably see Zhi again until next summer. Daphne let the matter drop. There was not much to do if someone was under oath.
They walked down the road and Harry showed her the important things in the neighbourhood.
"That house belongs to Bathilda Bagshot. She wrote our history of magic textbook, remember? She's too old to speak properly now. Apparently she is around the age of Professor Dumbledore's mother. She lives mostly alone, sometimes her great-grandchildren come and visit her.
"That building over there used to be Dumbledore's home when they lived here, now it's rented to a muggle family called Smiths. That is a muggle war memorial over there. And that's the local church, St Jerome's Church. This street is called the Church Street, in fact."
"Is there anything on the other side of your house?" Daphne asked, looking back.
"No, just open country stretching miles in that direction. There is a lake there I like to go often. I'll show it to you tomorrow." He said.
"Sounds good. Is that a pub?"
"Yes, the only pub around here, but it is pretty large. There's the graveyard that Godric's Hollow is famous for. It's mostly magical, with some muggles who were friends of wizards living here buried here as well. Some say it is haunted, but I have never seen anything other than a few friendly ghosts. C'mon. Shops are that way." He led her to a path perpendicular to the one they were on.
They walked for a few minutes before they reached the grocery, the first shop in the street. Harry greeted the old woman who owned the shop and introduced Daphne to her. He gave her a list and came out of the store.
"Obviously, that was the grocers, that shop over there sells sports accessories, but it was originally the workshop of Bowman Wright, the wizarding smith who forged the first Golden Snitch. The shopkeeper is a squib and he sells magical sports accessories as well. That shop over there is a hardware shop, they sell muggle tools like hammers, wrenches and stuff. The next one is an electrical appliance repair shop. There's a coffee shop a few buildings down. The homes in this street are all muggle ones. I'll show you the other streets later, where there are more wizarding homes. Of course, there is the birth home of Godric Gryffindor, but it's not very interesting, just an old abandoned building."
They took the grocery and went back, Harry smiling at a few people he knew.
"Harry, can I ask something to you without being offended?" Daphne asked after a long period of walking in silence.
"Sure. What's up?"
"I know for a fact that the Potters are quite well off, so why do you guys live in a cottage?" she asked quickly, hoping that he wouldn't take offence. Harry gave a short laugh.
"It's mum, mostly. Apparently she thought that the manor dad lived in was too big, so they moved here just before I was born. We still visit the manor sometimes in the summer, when it's nice, but this feels homelier so I don't mind. You don't like it here?" he asked worriedly. Daphne shook her head frantically.
"Oh no, I love it here. It definitely feels homelier than our old house. I was just wondering, that's all." She explained.
They reached home to see Melanie playing with a big black dog while Astoria looked like she was about to pet it. Daphne looked at Harry.
"Is that your dog?" she asked. Harry shook his head.
"Nah, that's just a stray bitch." He said with a dismissive wave of the hand.
"Oi look who you're calling a stray bitch, you little-" Sirius was interrupted by a shriek from Astoria and a yelp from Daphne.
"Oops?" Sirius said, his eyes full of mirth.
"Don't even try to pretend that it was not intentional, Padfoot." Harry commented, putting the groceries on the kitchen counter.
"Alright, I won't." Sirius said. Astoria was still gaping at him and he winked.
"Oh, now I get it. Padfoot." Daphne suddenly said and Sirius did a mock bow.
"Ohhhh." Astoria said, realizing it as well.
"So you are an animagus?" Daphne asked Sirius, who nodded proudly. Daphne looked impressed. Unable to resist a chance to show off, Sirius said, "I've been an animagus since my fifth year at Hogwarts. James too. Not even the git here had managed it that early." He said, grinning at Harry.
"You're an animagus?" Astoria shouted at Harry who nodded. Daphne looked gobsmacked as well.
"What's your form?" she asked but Harry smirked.
"You'll see." He replied shortly, cutting the vegetables. Astoria approached him.
"Are you cooking?" she asked and Harry nodded. "Can I help?"
"Sure." He summoned an apron, similar to the one he was wearing, adjusting it to fit her. "Put this on and get in here."
Lily came out of her room, and joined the conversation between Sirius and Daphne, about how to become an animagus. Lily herself was not as good as James or Sirius in transfiguration, so she never tried to become an animagus, but being a researcher and an avid bookworm meant she had vast knowledge on almost any branch of magic, and it looked like Daphne was seriously considering to try and become an animagus.
Harry and Astoria worked together and talked about quidditch and cooking. Harry explained the cooking routine to Astoria and she asked if she could share lunch duties with Lily and help with dinner. Harry said that she would have to ask Lily, but he was sure she wouldn't mind at all.
James returned home just in time before dinner. The food was delicious, and Daphne and Astoria both praised Harry's cooking skills. Lily and James looked at him proudly and Sirius made gagging noises.
Soon after dinner, Sirius had to go. The others sat around for a while and chatted lightly before Astoria said that she had a ton of homework to catch up on and went to her room. James said that he was feeling tired and went to lie down for a while. Lily summoned Melanie's book and helped her write the alphabet. Harry and Daphne watched her for a while before Harry got bored and asked Daphne to follow him upstairs.
They reached the corner of the terrace when Harry pulled down a ladder that was hidden. He climbed up to the roof and asked Daphne to follow him. The roof was tilted, but there was a flat surface in the middle, where Harry was headed. He sat down, leaning against a wooden wall, facing away from the entrance of the house. Daphne sat down beside him.
"I come up here when I want to think about stuff. Mum and dad understand that I want to be left alone if I'm up here. Till now, it has been my spot, but you can use it too, if you want." He told her and she smiled at him. He was looking up at the sky. It was dark, the stars already visible. There was hardly anything but woods and open country in front of them. An old fashioned windmill could be spotted far away.
"What do you think about up here?" she asked, knowing that it was a personal question, but having a feeling that Harry wouldn't mind. She was right.
"A lot of things, actually. When I was young, I thought about ways to get mum back. Thankfully, that was one wild desire that came true. Later, I used to plot revenge against the Death Eaters who made her suffer. Once that got old and unfruitful, I thought about other things. Those dreams I mentioned to you earlier- I tried to figure out what I really wanted, but I couldn't. I even plotted a few prank ideas against you here." He smiled and she laughed. He sighed. He didn't know why, but he felt that he could spend the whole night listening to her laughter. He knew this was not normal, but couldn't bring himself to care too much about it.
"Sounds like you had a lot of thoughts here." She commented and he smiled, lying down on the wooden surface, spreading one arm beside him and tucking the other arm below his head to provide some support.
"Yeah. I did. Can I ask you something now?" he asked. She nodded. "Why do you put on that mask?" he asked and she stayed quiet for a long time. For one moment, he thought she was leaving, but she laid down beside him instead, resting her head on his extended arm.
"My father was a strange man. He loved my mother at some point, and my mother loved him too, but by the time I was old enough to understand what went on around me, even I knew that there was something missing between them. He provided for the family, bought gifts for me and my mother, but it was quite clear to me that he didn't love her anymore. Astoria was a toddler back then when I first noticed this. He didn't mistreat us or mother in any way, but I could see it clear as day that he was only continuing this because he was supposed to, because it was his duty. He was a successful businessman and bought us expensive gifts, but he didn't even know what Astoria or I liked. He expressed his desire to try to have a male child after his brother died of dragonpox, to keep the Greengrass line going. I don't know if they tried, but if they did, they were unsuccessful.
"Anyway, I was never an outgoing child, and my parents never asked me to accompany them to parties or such. I mostly saw other people when they visited our house, and in front of guests my parents acted like they cared about each other deeply. But I knew it was all an act. Father did care about us, but out of duty, not love. Mother loved us dearly, but in the end, even she was frustrated with the marriage. If they ever argued about it, they did it behind privacy charms, so I don't know. Seeing all that in front of me, I had a very twisted idea about love, marriage and how to act around people. When I first started Hogwarts, I put on that face of indifference you call a mask because I didn't want anyone to become too friendly towards me. Of course, I later learned that putting on a mask when you are 11 is not very likely to affect your marriage, but I also realized that other students in Slytherin respected me and considered me intimidating and I liked it. I didn't have to talk to the fools and I gained the respect of the house without getting involved in the house politics. I viewed all friendships and relationships like I did my parents' marriage: not worth it. I later realized that they were not really the same thing, but by that time, anyone who knew me respected me and I liked that, and I didn't want to suddenly turn to a friendly Slytherin, so kept that mask, and it slowly became a major part of who I am. By now, that face is second nature to me."
Harry stared at her, a bit surprised by her honest answer and even more surprised by the actual answer.
"So I guess you didn't really like it when a handsome Gryffindor kid tried to be your friend, did you?" he asked with a smile and she laughed that beautiful laugh of hers. Not even realizing what he was saying, he heard himself say, "You are beautiful when you laugh."
Daphne's cheeks coloured, but she turned her body towards him.
"Only when I laugh?" she asked with a raised eyebrow and Harry realized that he wasn't even attempting to exercise any control over his mouth.
"No, you are always beautiful." He admitted and Daphne smiled so prettily that he felt his heart exploding over and over again.
"Thank you. And to answer your question, no, I didn't like it at all when this annoying kid kept bugging me without showing me the respect everyone else did. But if I knew what a wonderful person he would become, maybe I wouldn't have been so reluctant."
Harry smiled and turned towards his body towards her as well.
"It's not too late for an apology letter, you know." He said softly, smiling. Daphne had a strange expression on her face he couldn't identify.
"I don't know about a letter." She whispered, her face leaning towards him. "How about this?"
They closed their eyes as their lips met halfway. Harry felt like his lips were burning in the most pleasant way possible, and the warmth of it quickly spread all over his body. He gently put a hand on her cheeks and felt her smile on his lips. He opened his eyes and she did the same, their heads touching. He brushed a thumb over her lips.
"That works even better than a letter." He whispered and she laughed out. He stared at her with a smile.
He could spend the whole night watching her laugh.
A/N: Please review!