Chapter 6

Harry sat in front of Ragnorak's desk, in between Cyrus and Augusta. They just finished the negotiations and everything else that came along with starting a new alliance.

"Okay, so I think that I'll leave the political side this alliance to you guys. I'm more suited to the battlefield than the political field. That doesn't mean I won't help out when and where I can."

Cyrus and Augusta agreed to those conditions so they all signed the treaty. Cyrus then glanced at Harry.

"Harry, I must ask this since it has been bothering me since you wagered it, was it really wise to bet the entire Potter fortune in your duel against Malfoy?"

Harry and Ragnorak share a glance before they both burst out into hysterical laughter. Cyrus and Augusta look on in confusion as the laughter finally died down.

"Malfoy would have never gotten a single thing. The reason I was late to arrive for the Wizengamot is because I was moving the entire Potter fortune to other Houses which I am the Heir of."

Both Harry and Ragnorak send child like grins towards Cyrus and Augusta who just sit there in shock before they too burst into laughter.

"So you are telling me that even if you were to lose the duel, your family fortune would have been safe and protected." At Harry's nod, Cyrus shakes his head in amusement. "That just might be the most Slytherin plan I have ever witnessed!"

"There was no way I was ever going to risk my family's fortune. Even if I was certain I would win the duel, and I definitely was not, I would have still had precautions made in case the worst case scenario happened."

After exchanging a talking for a bit more, Harry decided it was time to go home so that he could rest. He stood, shook hands with Ragnorak and Cyrus, and kissed the back of Augusta's hand.

"Thank you again for having my back. It was a pleasure to be in your company, Lord Greengrass, Lady Longbottom."

"Lord Potter, I would like to invite you to dinner in two days time. My wife would love to meet you and I would also like to introduce you to my daughters."

"I humbly accept the offer Lord Greengrass." Harry gives them all one more nod before heading out to the looby of the office and using his pendant to portkey home.

As long as Harry got home he climbed straight into bed and stayed there until the next morning. When he woke up the amount of pain his body was in finally hit him. He managed to stumble his way over to the bathroom and run a nice warm bath. He stayed in the bath for most of the morning, allowing his sore muscles to relax and heal themselves.

After he got out he spent the rest of the day lazing around outside with Hedwig. It was as he was dozing off in the long grass near the edge of the forest that he heard a growl. As he searched the forest for any sign of life, his gaze met a pair of menacing yellow.

Harry stepped back in fear as a giant wolf walked out of the forest. It had a gaunt look to it but you could easily tell that its body was made for powerful fast paced battling. Its fair was midnight black with specks of grey here and there, indicating that the wolf was a bit reaching elderly age. It had strange yellow markings running up and down the length of its body. For some strange reason, Harry knew instantly that it was a dire-wolf that was standing before him.

The wolf walked up to him and gave him a tentative sniff before tilting his head to the side in what Harry guessed to be confusion.

Little cub, why do you keep him locked away?

Harry jumps and the gravelly voice coming from the wolf standing in front of him. He looks around him in confusion.

"Who is locked up? I don't see anyone."

The wolf walks up to Harry and presses his snout into Harry's chest.

Him. He wants to get out. You must let him out.

The dire-wolf walks off into the forest, leaving Harry alone to stand around in confusion. After getting over his shock he races back to the house and grabs his jacket before channel magic to the pendant around his neck to portkey to Gringotts.

Later that night Harry was sitting in his office. Tomes, parchments, and books surrounding him as he searched through everything Ragnorak was able to get him for any information of dire-wolves.

The dire-wolf is one of the rarest magical creatures to ever walk the earth. They always roam around together in packs. They have been sighted all around the world but as of the time this is written, no one has ever been able to find a home of a pack.

The species is very battle orientated. They battle each other and other creatures so that they may decide the chain of command. Dire-wolves are fiercely territorial, often fighting to the death to protect the pack. They also have a 6th sense of knowing who to trust and who not too. The markings on their bodies and colour of their eyes are a way of identifying each other.

A dire-wolf is one of the fastest creatures on land. It often lives in mountains and forests, jumping from cliff to cliff or tree to tree. It is one of the deadliest predators out there. To the date, none of them have ever been captured, dead or alive, for us to do further study.

Harry put down the piece of paper that had the notes on everything he managed to learn about dire-wolves. If a elderly dire-wolf was right here close to his home then there was a chance that the rest of the pack would not be too far away.

None of what he learnt so far helped him figure out what the wolf meant though. He sat in his office for most of the day until he had to get ready for dinner at Greengrass Manor.

He guessed that since it was the first time going over to the Manor that it would be a formal dinner so he put on slacks along with a nice shirt and jacket. He tried to fix his hair but like always it just didn't want to be tamed.

At 6pm he walked over to the fire-place to floo over. This would be the first time he used the floo network so he was kind of nervous. Grabbing a handful of green powder Harry glanced at his watch one last time before throwing down the powder.

"Greengrass Manor"

Harry watched as green flames covered his body before as swirling sensation took over. Before he realized what was happening he was shoved out of a different fire-place and landed flat on his back.

"I have just decided that I hate the floo network." Harry groans in pain. His body still hadn't fully recovered from the duel in the Wizengamot.

As he tries to sit up he hears a giggle from behind him. As he turned around to look for the source of the giggle, he was captivated by a pair of the bluest eyes he has ever seen. His vision tunnelled in on them, ignoring all other details. He managed to tear his gaze away from the eyes only to be entranced by the rest of the angel's beauty that stood before him.

She had golden blond hair that was tired up in a bun with a few loose strands framing her face. She had a fair complexion and a face was clear of any imperfections as far as he could see. He paid no attention to the look of disdain she was sending his way. She was wearing a light blue summer dress that reached just above her knees. All in all, she was the most beautiful girl Harry has ever laid eyes on.

For a second he forgot every single thing he read in the wizard's etiquette book his mother left him and took a step towards the girl standing before him before he snapped out of his dazed state and remembered where he was.

He looked around the room to find Lord and Lady Greengrass standing in the doorway behind a younger, smaller version of the one who enchanted him. Lord and Lady Greengrass were sending him amused looks while who he assumed to be the youngest Greengrass was trying her best to hide her giggles. His face light up with embarrassment, as he had no doubt that they had just witnessed his momentary loss of self-control.

He fixes his jacket and clears his throat as he takes a minute to reign in his emotions by using occlumens. When he is satisfied with his level of control he walks over to Lord Greengrass and shakes his hand before gently taking a hold of Lady Greengrass's hand and laying a gentle kiss to the back of it.

"Lord and Lady Greengrass, thank you very much for the invitation to dinner tonight. I am very honoured. Please excuse my momentary loss of self-control earlier. I did not have my occlumens shields up so seeing the beauty of your daughter for the first time rendered me at a loss of proper etiquette. I apologise for any insult I might have mistakenly made."

"Thank you for accepting the invitation Lord Potter. It is a pleasure to play host to you this evening. May i introduce to you my youngest daughter, Astoria." Harry smiles charmingly at the little girl before placing a kiss on her hand while she giggles again. "And I see you have already met my eldest daughter, Daphne."

Harry turned to face Daphne and walked over to stand in front of her. He takes her hand and kisses the back of it. "I'm sorry for my earlier reaction, Ms Daphne. I usually don't get so flustered when first meeting people. I beg your forgiveness."

Daphne raises an eyebrow at him before giving him a once over. "All is forgiven, Lord Potter." She gentle pulls away from Harry to walk and stand besides her parents.

Lady Greengrass then walked up to Harry and give him a warm hug. "Now that all the formalities are over, it is so good to see you again Harry. You may call me Bethany. I know you don't remember but I was there when your mom gave birth to you. You were so cute. Please no that you never need an invitation to come over. You mother was a sister to me in everything but blood."

"Thank you, Bethany."

Following that reunion, dinner was a pleasant affair. Harry learnt a lot about the Greengrass family. Cyrus was a owner of a large shipping country and Bethany used to be a doctor at St Mungo. Astoria was a sweet little girl that Harry took a instant liking to. She spoke about so many things and he was only too happy to listen to her.

Daphne was a mystery to him. He caught himself glancing at her a lot throughout the night. She didn't speak as much as the rest of her family but when she did speak he found that they had a few common interests. She loved to read books outside on a nice day. She was already through half of the first year's school books. They even had a conversation about the curriculum. He found out that she ran a bit in the morning since she didn't want to be lazy. He noticed that Daphne would look at her family fondly and allowed herself a small genuine smile every now and then. All in all, she was one of the few people whose company he actually enjoyed being in.

"Daphne, do you have training in Occlumens? I noticed that you seem to have very good control at keeping from showing any emotions."

Daphne looks at her parents for permission, when she received it she took a moment to think about her answer before lifting her head to look directly into Harry's eyes to convey the seriousness of what she's about to say.

"I know that there is a very high chance that I will be sorted into Slytherin. My dream is to start a business that will bring in the modern technology of the Muggle world into the magical world. Being in Slytherin is somewhat dangerous for a female due to it being the house that most kids of pureblood supremacy families go to. To them, females are meant to be seen and not heard. For my dream to become a reality I will have to learn to control myself in certain situations so that I don't become a target for members of the house that might use me to gain favour with or harm my family. Plus there are certain traditions that Slytherin House is rumoured to have. I have to use every resource I have to protect myself for the next seven years."

Harry takes in all that has been said in quiet contemplation, already going through plans to keep both Daphne and Astoria safe at Hogwarts.

"How far along is your plan to your business?"

"Well I know I will be able to get lots of contacts due to my dad's business. I just have to figure out a way to get magic and electricity to co-exist with each other since electrical appliances short circuit when around active magic."

Harry tilts his head in confusion. "No they don't. They work perfectly fine."

Harry looks around at the other members of the Greengrass family to see them giving him strange looks. Its Cyrus that eventually explained things to him.

"Harry, electrical appliances have never worked around magical. No one has been able to figure out why that is or how to fix the problem."

Harry looks at them in shock before a grin spreads across his face. He looks at Daphne and props his head up onto his hand.

"What if I told you there was a way to make things work? I don't know why magic messes with electricity but I do know a spell that allows electrical appliances to run off of magic instead of electricity. I found it in one of my mother's journals and just assumed that everyone knew it."

Daphne jumps out of her chair in shock and excitement to rush over to Harry's side to grab his hands.

"Please teach me the spell! I'll pay you! I need that spell in order to achieve my dream business."

Harry looks at Daphne with a shocked expression at the amount of emotion she is currently showing. Strangely enough, he prefers the Daphne that doesn't hide away behind her mask of indifference. Which is kind of ironic since he hid behind his almost constantly around people.

He looked to Cyrus and Bethany but they didn't look like they were going to help him if the looks of mirth on their faces was any indication. He sighs before glancing at Daphne but quickly has to look away to keep his blush hidden.

"You don't have to buy it from me Daphne. I will teach you the spell but I do have certain conditions that have to be met."

He watches as her mask falls back onto her face and she pulls away from him. He doesn't know why but something in his chest clenches with pain at that. He stands up and gently takes her hands back into his.

"Please listen to my conditions before you make your decision?" He waits for her to nod her head in acceptance before taking a deep breath. "I want you to come to me if anyone at Hogwarts ever does something to threaten or harm you. I want to be your friend and friends help each other. And I know this is selfish of me but when we are alone I want you to drop the mask you are wearing right now. You are very pretty right now but you are absolutely beautiful when you smile." Harry sends her a genuine smile that has her blushing, both at the compliment and at how handsome he looks when he's smiling at her like that. He has a small smile on his face that light up the intensity of his gaze as he looks at her. He isn't that much taller than her but still tall enough that she has to tilt her head up a bit.

"Only if you save that look on your face for me alone." Daphne immediately blushes a deep shade of red as she never meant to say that thought out loud. She watches as a smirk appears on his face as his eyes dance in amusement. "I mean, I accept those terms and conditions. You better not disappoint me Potter."

Harry chuckles out loud at her attempt at trying to save face. "Oh I don't plan to Greengrass."

"Ahem"

Harry and Daphne jump away from each other and look at the source of their interruption only to see Cyrus still sitting at the table with a sour look upon his face while Bethany and Astoria are giggling away at them.

"I'm sorry Harry but Daphne isn't allowed to date until she is at least 30."

"Daddy!" Daphne shouts in embarrassment as both she and Harry blush at the comment. Their blush only worsens at the sound of the other two occupants in the room burst into laughter.

Bethany eventually regains her composure and decides to save the kids from Cyrus.

"Honey, they are only 11. Its still much to early for anything to happen. Besides, I'm sure that our grandkids will be just gorgeous."

"Mother!"

"Oh hush now darling. He is the first and only boy I have seen you blush for-"

"This conversation is over!"

Harry just stands there as he watches Daphne shout at her parents for embarrassing her. He looks over at Astoria and just knows that she is going to tease her sister mercilessly over this.

Eventually the evening comes to an end. Astoria is asleep on the couch as the rest of the Greengrass family walks Harry to the fire place.

"Harry, do you have all your supplies ready for school?"

"No, not yet. I decided to first check up on the rules and regulations of Hogwarts. I'm planning on getting muggle writing equipment and other things that might help now that I know that Hogwart's charter doesn't disallow any of those items."

Daphne looks over at Harry in concern. "A lot of Slytherins won't be happy about that."

A grin appears on Harry's face that Cyrus recognizes from the duel with Malfoy. The Greengrass family can suddenly feel Harry's magic, almost as if it can sense its master's thirst for battle.

"Oh I really hope that it upsets them. I'm quite looking forward to seeing what they plan on doing."

Bethany walks over to Harry. "James had that same look in his eyes when he was planning a rather nasty prank on someone. I know I can't stop you so please be careful and look after yourself." She hugs him tightly before pulling back to kiss his forehead.

Unknown to Harry, tears start falling from his eyes as he feels for the first time what he assumes must be a mother's love. He hugs Bethany tightly before stepping back into the fireplace.

"Thank you"

The last sight he sees is a pair of concerned sky blue eyes.

okay so i know that a lot of you are going to have something to say about the chemistry between harry and daphne. no they won't just jump into a relationship. everything will be explain in later chapters