Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter

Warnings: Violence , and Mature Themes.

Chapter 18

Daphne woke up sluggishly; she looked at the clock on the bedside table, and was amazed to see that it was 9 o'clock in the morning. She had apparently slept throughout the whole day, and the sudden need to visit the toilet was a testament to that. After taking care of the most pressing concerns, she fixed herself up a bit, and went downstairs in search of food.

She entered the hall and looking into the kitchen, she saw that Hermione's mom was in the kitchen cooking something up. She was truly grateful to Hermione's parents for all the help that they had provided. But she knew that she couldn't stay here. Now that she had banished herself from the family, her parents wouldn't hesitate to take drastic measures to ensure that the blemish that she represented on the Greengrass family, would be dealt with properly. Her continued stay here would put the Grangers in danger and she couldn't have that on her conscience. She had argued with Hermione, stating that she needed to leave but hadn't stated her reasons for it. She knew that if she told Hermione, she wouldn't leave her out of her sight even for a bit. She was truly glad for her friendship, but Hermione needed to understand that she was doing this for her own good.

Harry Potter's presence had complicated matters as well. If she stayed here, and if someone was to come and . . . harm her, they would undoubtedly notice Potter's presence, and then every person who held a grudge, everyone who wanted to meet him, would begin swarming the place. His location had always been kept a secret, much to the public's displeasure, but she understood the need for it. Half the girls in Wizarding Britain had a crush on him, and Daphne would sooner die that admit to being one of them at one point. Seeing Harry at Hogwarts and hearing to Hermione talk about him, had been effective in making her see that the Harry Potter that was portrayed in the books, and other Teenage Magazines, was nothing like the real person. Daphne was definitely glad that she had grown out of that phase. He was just an ordinary wizard, albeit not that ordinary, like the rest of them.

"Good morning Daphne. Breakfast?" Emma asked smiling pleasantly in her direction.

Daphne managed a weak smile, and nodded her head. As Emma put together her plate, Daphne pondered over another thing that was bothering her. Hermione's and especially, Harry's, physical changes. She had asked Hermione about that the first night that they had arrived here, and Hermione had looked flustered for a short while and responded with, " You are my friend Daphne, and I won't attempt to make lame excuses, but I am not comfortable answering that question. Don't try and ask Harry about it either." She had been quite firm as well. She had told her what she had told her parents, and asked her to tell them the same if they were to ask her about it. Daphne was curious, but relented.

"Daphne, a letter arrived for you this morning." Emma said, as she placed the letter on the table in front of her.

"Thank you." Daphne managed through the feeling of nervousness that had settled in her stomach. She immediately noticed the green ink that the Headmaster preferred. Suddenly, she wasn't so hungry anymore, her mind thinking through the worst outcomes if her plea to the Headmaster for a scholarship was rejected.

Her hands were shaking imperceptibly, as she opened the envelope.

Miss Daphne,

First of all, I would like to express my condolences for the events that have transpired. If you would like any help, or just like to talk with me, my office doors are always open for you.

I am happy to inform you that your application for the Scholarship has been approved by me, and the Hogwarts Board of Governors by extension. Let me be the first one to congratulate you on this. As you might have guessed, there were some objections by some of the members, but you were highly recommended by the rest of the staff, and me as well. You are a bright student, and it would be a shame to allow circumstances to hinder your education.

If you have any other problems, I would again urge you to talk with me, or send a letter if it is what feel comfortable doing. Miss Granger is a very valuable friend, I would advise you to talk to her, and stay with her for the summers.

Sincerely,

Albus Dumbledore.

A feeling of relief coursed through Daphne, as she wondered how the Headmaster knew that she was staying with Hermione. She was accepted at Hogwarts, she wasn't going to have to worry about protecting herself from her parents for the rest of her life, and the most important, she would be seeing Astoria again! She was feeling better than she had felt in days. She truly loved her sister, and was missing her immensely. This took a huge load off her shoulders, and she truly smiled for the first time in days.

"Good news dear?" Emma asked noticing Daphne's expression. Emma was as worried about Daphne's situation as Hermione was, and looking at Daphne's smile, it looked like things were finally looking up for her.

Daphne smiled and said, "Yes, Professor Dumbledore accepted my application for the scholarship, I will be able to continue at Hogwarts." She wasn't normally so chatty, but if asked later she would blame it on the emotional roller coaster that she was on.

"That's wonderful, Hermione would be happy to hear that, she was very worried about losing her friend at school." Emma said.

Daphne nodded and asked, "Where's Hermione, is she still asleep?" She didn't think that Hermione would be sleeping in, she had always been an early riser, but maybe she like to sleep in at home, Daphne thought with a shrug.

"No, she and Harry left early this morning to go do some exercise. I never thought Hermione was into exercising before, do you know if she did them at Hogwarts?" Emma asked with a confused expression on her face.

Daphne shook her head, adopting a confused expression on her face, all the while chuckling inwardly. She had a fairly good idea why Hermione might have felt the sudden need to exercise. Hermione had admitted to having a major crush on Harry, and Daphne figured that Harry being on the Gryffindor Quidditch Team might be the one who wanted to exercise, and Hermione might have tagged along to spend some more time with him.

"Oh well. It has almost been 3 hours since they left, they should be coming back soon. I and Dan have to leave for our work in a few minutes; do you want me to wait until they get home?" Emma asked. She and Dan had originally taken the week off to spend some more time with Hermione, but they were getting bored sitting around the house the whole day, as Hermione spent her time with her friends. They didn't begrudge her for it though, they were just happy to see that Hermione was finally making some friends that she was comfortable with.

"No, I will be fine." Daphne said, smiling at the concerned tone in Emma's voice. It felt . . . nice to have someone genuinely care for her.

Daphne was sitting around in the hall, waiting for Harry and Hermione to come back, pondering the Headmaster's advice to stay at Hermione's house for the rest of the summer. Dumbledore was a very wise Wizard, and nothing seemed to escape his notice, as evidenced by his knowledge of her whereabouts. Even though he might have known about the repercussions of her actions, he had still advised her to stay with Hermione.

She was brought out of her thoughts as she saw the front door open, and the utterly exhausted forms of Harry and Hermione stumbled inside the house.

(Break)

Harry waited for Hermione as she went upstairs to her parent's bedroom to inform them that they were leaving the house for a few hours to go exercising. the two of them were dressed in similar tracksuits, and both were wearing sneakers, Harry had chosen a black tracksuit for himself and Hermione had chosen blue.

They walked a few blocks away from Hermione's house and finding a secluded spot that would ensure that they would not surprise someone with their sudden appearance when they Portkeyed back there, they active their Portkeys and were greeted by Perenelle. Judging by her apparel, she intended to join in on their exercises as well.

"Good morning, excited to begin training?" Perenelle asked brightly. Harry and Hermione found her chipper mood entirely too disconcerting. Sometimes they had a hard time believing that she was centuries old, and her youthful appearance didn't help matters. They nodded their heads wearily.

"Now Harry, I believe that you have done this type of exercises before?" Perenelle asked.

Harry nodded his head. "Yes, the Quidditch team does some exercises, but the regimen that you gave us, is a bit . . . much."

"This is just the beginning Harry, being Vampires you are capable of much more than that. You just need to train. Thee regimen that I have outlined for you is the basic regimen that Aurors follow. You need to be better than that." Perenelle said.

The door to the left of their position opened, and Perenelle led them in. Once in the room, Perenelle told the tens to close their eyes, saying that the changes that the room would go through would be slightly disconcerting visually.

They closed their eyes, and opened them to see their new training ground. It was a beautiful sight, it was the Black Lake at Hogwarts, only difference being that there was no forest on one side of the lake. Everything else, was exactly the same, the lush green grass, the distant snowcapped mountains. Harry spied a running track that was laid around the circumference of the lake. And if Harry wasn't imagining things, it was as if it had gotten a bit hotter inside the room. He loosened the tracksuit a bit, having a little difficulty breathing.

"I think this would be ideal. Any objections?" Perenelle asked with an accomplished expression on her face.

The two teens shook their heads negatively. "I have adjusted the environmental conditions to gain the maximum benefits, the room is a bit humid, the temperature is a little higher, and the Oxygen content has been adjusted to emulate the levels of the top of a mountain." Perenelle stated.

The two teens stared slack jawed at her statement, wishing that they hadn't decided to train here. They were feeling hopeless, and they hadn't even begun!

Perenelle led them through some stretches, and with a statement of "Try and keep up." was off running around the lake.

Harry and Hermione ran for a little under an hour, and by the end of it, Hermione went and sat down on the grass unable to continue any longer. Harry paced Perenelle for a few more rounds around the lake, and then sat down as well.

After they were finished running, Perenelle showed them some basic exercises comprising of sit ups, crunches, and push-ups. By the end of it, Harry and Hermione were feeling as if every muscle in their body was on fire, they rested up for some time before taking their leave and Portkeyed back to Hermione's house, silently grumbling about 'Sadistic teachers'.

(Break)

Harry and Hermione stumbled into the house, Hermione slightly leaning on Harry. Their body was violently protesting every movement that they made, but both of them were amazed that they had lasted for almost two and a half hours of rigorous training, they were definitely sure that they wouldn't even last a measly half an hour before their transformation. Both of them knew that the training would be rough in the beginning and their bodies would take some time to get used to it, it was that thought that kept them going.

They plopped down on the floor, not wanting to ruin the furnishing by sitting in it with their sweat soaked clothes.

"What happened to you guys?" Daphne asked as she moved towards the two of them. It was the first time that she was the one that had initiated a conversation.

"We . . . were . . . exercising." Harry mumbled tiredly, Hermione raised her hand tiredly in greeting, she seemed to be ready to pass out and Harry kept on poking Hermione to keep her awake. Eventually he decided that it was a lost cause, and feeling quite tired himself, he took out his wand and performed a quick series of Cleaning Charms on them. It wasn't as good as a bath, but it would have to do for now.

Daphne was slightly amused at their antics, and smiled. She remembered the letter that she had received, and her smile widened.

"Professor Dumbledore wrote back, I got the Scholarship." Daphne said.

"That's . . . great." Hermione said wincing slightly as she tried getting up.

"Are you really alright?" Daphne asked, slightly concerned. Seeing Hermione like this was slightly surprising.

"Yeah, I will be once I take a bath. Could you help me upstairs?" Hermione asked.

Daphne nodded, and helped Hermione upstairs. Harry got himself up, and went into the bathroom adjoining his room and took a long relaxing bath with Hedwig trilling in joy and laughter as he scrubbed clean her soft feathers.

(End Chapter)