This is a work of fanfiction using characters from the Harry Potter World, owned by JK Rowling. Excluding all original plot and character content, all of the Harry Potter characters, settings, etc. are the property of JK Rowling. I am not associated with JK Rowling or any creators/producers of any previously copyrighted material. No profit is gained. This story is purely for entertainment purposes. No copyright infringement intended. Thank you to JK Rowling for producing such a wonderful base to imagine from.

Chapter Four: Surprising Comfort

Harry led Daphne back to their private dorm, while the rest of the couples made their way to their own. While he was sure she could find the way by herself, her hand felt warm and soft and Harry didn't quite feel like letting it go. She hadn't pulled away either, so it looked like for now they were both pretending Harry was leading her to the dorm. That suited him just fine.

And as Harry glanced around at the crowd of heirs and heiresses splitting up to head to their own private dorms, spread across the castle, Harry relaxed as all the children of Death Eaters had filtered out by the time they arrived at their corridor.

Harry had found out Umbridge had labeled them all and done some rearranging since he didn't intend to spend his time surrounded by people he didn't trust. They were next to Susan and Ernie, and Neville and Hannah. Beyond being by his old roommate, it had the extra advantage of ticking Umbridge off which tickled Harry to no end - especially since he'd been getting a laugh out of Daphne who seemed amused by his endless glee every time something went wrong for the resident Pink Toad of the castle.

And Harry would do anything to make Daphne laugh.

He chanced a glance at her as they walked into the common room. Her crystal blue eyes were sweeping over the room, her soft bottom lip moving between her teeth as if she were in deep contemplation.

Harry blinked and tore his gaze away before he found himself permanently distracted by the rhythmic movement of her lips.

"Look, I'm sure our magic will be fine if I sleep on the couch for the first few nights" Harry said "I don't want you to be uncomfortable"

Harry watched as Daphne turned her attention from her thoughts to himself, staring at him for a moment.

"Come to bed Harry" Daphne said softly, as she turned and walked towards their bedroom

Harry looked after her for a moment, surprised, before following her into their room


Daphne cuddled into the warm lump beside her as she felt the morning sun hit her eyelids before pausing as her mind caught up to her situation.

Without opening her eyes she evaluated she'd somehow ended up in the arms of Harry and...she quite liked it. She sleepily opened her eyes to find she'd scooted to his side during the night. She blinked up to see a pair of emerald eyes looking down at her.

"Morning" Harry said simply, making no move to push her away, but Daphne, to her surprise, didn't mind. In fact, if she wasn't slightly embarrassed, she probably would've cuddled deeper and gone back to sleep. How was he so damn warm?

Instead of responding, she blinked sleepily at him and yawned, causing a low chuckle to escape his lips, tickling Daphne's throat.

"Not a morning person, I see?" he said smiling down at her and Daphne felt some of the tension escape her body

"Gee, that easy to tell" she mumbled sarcastically, flopping back down and closing her eyes

Her lips quirked as she felt Harry's arms adjust around her, automatically holding her close

Daphne groaned when she heard a rather incessant pecking at the window "Shhhh" she mumbled sleepily, furthering her fiancé's amusement as he moved from her cuddle, letting the owl in through the window

Daphne burrowed into the bed, pulling the covers up, trying to trap the heat that was still emanating from Harry's spot. She turned her eyes to the window as it opened, letting a fresh breeze in with the owl.

"Apollo" Harry greeted the owl, reaching to gather some treats as he took a package from the owl -and from his slightly confused expression, Daphne gathered he hadn't been expecting mail so soon.

Whatever it was must've flustered her fiancé, because as he opened it a mild blush tinged his face, before his eyes met hers with an indiscernible gaze.

Before she could begin to question or tease him, he slipped whatever it was into his trunk and distracted her with a letter from her parents, who appeared to still be with Harry's family if they were using the same owl

Daphne hummed in contentment as Harry slid back into bed - since she'd scooted, he had to slide until he was flush against her if he didn't want to fall off the bed. Daphne gave no indication of moving away, so Harry gently encircled her with his arms until they were back in the same position they'd woken up in.

She heard him inhale deeply after they'd settled.

"Are you smelling me?" she asked, forgoing the letter to watch the blush return to Harry's cheeks

He opened and closed his mouth several times, apparently unable to decide whether it was in his best interest to deny or admit it.

Daphne felt a laugh escape her lips as she watched him

That seemed to provoke Harry's brain as he gave her a half-hearted glare, tempered by the softness in his eyes

"You smell good" he defended

Daphne leaned into him and gave an exaggerated inhale of her own

"Not so bad yourself darling" she said airily, her lips barely able to prevent lifting into a smile

Harry let out a surprised huff of laughter, his eyes sparkling at her.

Daphne rewarded him with an impish grin before looking down at the parchment in her hand

"Daphne smiled at her parents' letter, detailing how relieved they were -apparently Sirius had told them about the Nammalak Mark- and how they understood the situation much better now. Daphne supposed she should have clarified that, but it had honestly slipped her mind. She left the private note from her mother for later; if she hadn't included it in front of her father, Daphne supposed that she probably should read it in private

"We should head down soon" Harry said breaking her from her thoughts "breakfast will be starting soon…you want first shower?" he said

"First shower" Daphne purred, smirking when Harry's adams apple bobbed as he swallowed. "Why waste water...shouldn't engaged people be showering together?" Daphne finished, before erupting in giggles at the look on his face, causing him to let out a short relieved laugh as his eyes sparkled with something again

When Daphne came out, Harry had a rather heavy tomb next to him, open about a third of the way. He looked up upon hearing her footsteps "The Potter Charter, I thought you might want to take a look at it and suggest any adjustments before we're bound in marriage" Harry said gesturing to the book

Daphne blinked in surprise and suddenly felt a wave of relief wash over her as she considered the stark differences between the situation she could've been in, and the one she was in now

"Thank you" she said sincerely "I'll have a look"

She was further surprised when Harry left to go have a shower, leaving a Potter Family Document for her to peruse

"You're not going to supervise me?" she asked, her tone indicating her surprise

"You're going to be a Potter, Daphne" Harry reminded her softly, before turning and entering their bathroom

Daphne felt herself smile at the thought as she looked through the charter. As far as pureblood charters were concerned, this was the best she'd seen. It seemed like Potter men had a propensity for marrying for love - and intelligent women at that - so there wasn't any trophy wife legislation at all in there. Sure, there were traditional rules, they were a pureblood house, but she counted herself lucky for jumping into this scheme with him the other night. Daphne didn't even want to think about the horror story that would've been the Malfoy Charter and the Ministry Contract combined.

Daphne was further surprised that Harry's ancestors seemed to have magical weddings, blessed with soul magic. She thought those were incredibly rare and you had to be certain about the person as there was absolutely no getting out of a bonding of souls.

"They were all soul mates" Harry spoke from behind her, as if guessing her question "Very lucky" he added smiling at her

Daphne didn't catch his mouth opening to begin another sentence before he glanced down at her, reconsidered, and closed it.

Daphne nodded in agreement before she packed up and headed to take her own shower.


20 minutes later, Daphne watched, impressed, as Harry began to weave some complicated runic warding schemes around their unit

"I only put up the basics last night" Harry explained "I thought Umbridge would be too busy explaining herself to Malfoy and the Minister to have a serious go at getting in" he said

Daphne nodded before raising her own wand and murmuring a spell or two of her own, causing Harry to look at her in surprise for a moment before beaming at her

"Shall we" he said extending his arm

Daphne smiled and linked his arm, feeling a flutter run through her as they opened their door. She wondered if he felt the tingles of magic whenever they touched.

"Morning" Neville's voice sounded and they turned to see a beaming Neville and Hannah before them

"Morning Nev, Hannah" Harry smiled "May I introduce my beautiful fiancé, Daphne" Harry said, his hand moving Daphne gently forward

"Daphne" Neville nodded smiling, having already been slightly acquainted

"Nice to officially meet you" Hannah said warmly and Daphne found herself liking the witch immediately

"Breakfast?" Harry suggested, tilting his head down the corridor

They were almost to The Great Hall, when they bumped into the Headmaster

Daphne looked up at the Headmaster in surprise as Dumbledore stopped to have a word "Lord Potter-Black, an entertaining performance as always, I do look forward to the coming ones this year"

"I try" Harry said dryly grinning mischievously at the Headmaster before they parted ways again and Daphne had to marvel at that relationship for a moment before they were moving again

"HARRY" Hermione shrieked and suddenly a bushy haired woman flew at her best friend and Daphne had to bite back a giggle at her enthusiasm

Harry seemed pleased with her reaction and she assumed he might've been expecting jealousy, given what had happened before

"Hermione, calm down' Harry pleaded as Neville introduced Hannah as a distraction, Harry's arms slipped around Daphne's waist again and he introduced her

Hermione simply beamed at her and pulled her into a hug

"You make sure he's happy, you hear me?" she whispered and Daphne nodded against her shoulder, amused, but also thankful. It would be much easier if she could fit in with everyone.

She walked the rest of the way into the Great Hall with them where Harry was delighted to see Umbridge looking a bit worse for wear

Harry had a surprise himself when the Prophet came in, his eyes widening as he read the title

"LORD SIRIUS BLACK DECLARED INNOCENT - CLEARED OF ALL CHARGES" was splashed across the headline and detailed the case which Harry perused until he came across a part and froze "Lord Greengrass spearheads push to clear the Black Lord" before Daphne saw him raise his head, his face holding an expression she couldn't decipher, but emotion was clear in his voice as he leaned in and softly thanked her, so sincerely that Daphne couldn't help but be so thankful she'd proposed the idea to her father last night

Daphne didn't think anything could wipe off the smile Harry wore for the rest of breakfast. She found it quite contagious and felt happiness simmering inside of her as she watched him.

"Hem Hem" Umbridge said from the podium where Dumbledore sat attentively looking at her -which Harry thought was amusing- but managed to hold in his chuckles

Daphne inwardly sighed as their moment ended and she turned her attention to the Pink Toad

"As the Ministry stated, we will be monitoring how the relationships progress, as such, I have been instated as a relationship counsellor and am so looking forward to seeing you all in my offices in the coming weeks" she simpered and Daphne held back a giggle as Professor Snape and McGonnagal's expressions almost matched

"Also, the ministry has sent catalogues for each couple to choose engagement rings, wedding robes, wedding planners and caterers amongst other things. The ministry will also be marking your progress so that we will be getting heirs in a satisfactory time to ensure the wizarding world is functioning again" she smiled sickeningly at them

Daphne felt Harry's thumb run soothingly against hers as she involuntarily stiffened at the mention of producing heirs

Daphne knew she eventually wanted children, and she wasn't opposed to sex soon - she could feel the magic already between herself and Harry. He was kind and gentle and she knew he'd only go as fast as she wanted. However, children so soon was not something Daphne wanted. They were still in Hogwarts for Merlin's sake. Daphne had dreams - of working in the Department of Mysteries, of perhaps working as a Healer.

She supposed talking with Harry about children was something they should do soon. Although he seemed so much older than his peers, she had only known him for a short time. Although she knew he was charming and gentle, she had no idea what his thoughts were on a family or when they should have children.

She had heard rumours that he was raised by his muggle family before Sirius took him in. From what Tracy had told her of the muggle world, it seemed that they married much later and it was more accepted that women keep employment. Tracy had mentioned there still being an expectation that women would stay home to raise the children if needed, but that until then they usually had a job.

Daphne squeezed Harry's hand and resolved to bring it up later for her own peace of mind. At least she'd know what his expectations were one way or another.

Daphne closed her eyes and thanked Merlin and Morgana that she had bumped into Harry that night in the corridor -merlin knows where she'd be if she hadn't, she thought frowning