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"You pulled me along for your typical shenanigans, I see. I do have to admit, the place of your choosing is a bit too posh for your style of dress, Potter, but it's wonderfully large," Daphne raised an eyebrow at him, her arms crossing under her chest. "Typically, this would be the opportune moment for you to tell me where we are, what we're doing here, and why I'm with you — begin whenever you're ready."
Harry sighed and rubbed at his temples. He hadn't intended to be wherever he currently was and he most certainly had not meant to bring Greengrass back with him. She wasn't an enemy of his any more than the typical Slytherin was, that much was true, but her colours were the same as Draco; her history, mannerisms and arrogant attitude matched as well.
"These shenanigans usually work themselves out before too long," Harry answered, as amiable a smile on his face as he could manage with the near stranger status girl in front of him. "If they don't, well, we'll manage. There's no need to worry though, everything always goes well enough. If you speak with Malfoy half as much as I think you do you'll know that everything works out."
"I speak with who I'd like whenever I wish, Malfoy for that very reason is rarely if ever in my company. You may think us all cookie-cutter shapes but that doesn't mean it's true. I could tell you beyond any level of doubt that those tales of yours are often undersold, anybody with half a brain could tell as much once they saw you escape the dragon and win the tournament," Daphne nodded towards a balcony from where they stood in one long, vast hallway.
"Ladies first," Harry said as he motioned for her to take the lead.
If there were any spells, traps, wards or people waiting for them, he'd be ready. It didn't matter that she seemed curious or otherwise equally as confused as he was. Slytherins were conniving actors with a propensity for violence.
Most of them, Hermione wouldn't like it much if I lumped everyone into one large group even if it's most likely true.
"If I'm to lead the way then you'll return that kindness, firstly by answering my earlier questions — where are we, why am I with you and what is our purpose here?" Daphne didn't look over her shoulder as she spoke, instead, she favoured keeping her head pointed straight forward.
With how unsteady she looked and the way her left hand constantly sought her wand, he was just about ready to think it may not have something to do with her. If it did, she was a wicked good actress and if it didn't, he had one person he could partially trust back in this time.
"I don't know the answer to any of those questions. I've never been in here before in my life and considering how old it looks, you'd be far more apt to know where we are than me. I mean, you Purebloods have gatherings and the like, don't you?" Harry pushed onward at a quicker pace until he was level with Daphne, his hand hovering just as hers was above his wand.
It wasn't meant as any form of deterrence, no, it was him truly wishing to be as ready as was possible whilst maintaining a level of respect should they come across anybody else in the home they found themselves teleported into. What a wonderful home it was too, for even in Harry's humble t—
"I recognise the home we're in," Daphne said suddenly and confidently, her voice as well as her posture the epitome of honesty. "This manor was originally owned and built by House Peverell, then it went to House Rowle who later sold it when financial issues struck… long story short, Potter, the home currently should belong to nobody save for the Ministry. They should have wards up while a small group of house-elves maintain the building for usage at a later date."
"You know all of this how?" Harry asked curiously, looking purely at her for the first time since he'd blinked and seen the new surroundings.
Daphne looked him up and down, her eyes ever so slightly narrowed at his question. "My apologies for expecting you to take me at my word," she said with an aggressively polite tone of voice. "This building, whilst different and older-looking in this time of yours, will eventually be bought by distant cousins of mine for usage as a summer home. If you don't believe it, this is located in Dover on the coast while my family typically splits time between Norway and Scotland."
Harry shrugged. "I believe you," he said before looking around once more. "If that's the case like you say it is, what are we doing here? Come to think of it, before we got teleported, why were you reaching for the same book as me?"
"It's the only copy of that specific book within all of Hogwarts and I pride myself on making use of the library based on an order of importance thanks to our limited time. That book you were attempting to grab ahold of relates to magical theory, namely that of soul magic and an affinity for certain types of souls to be attracted towards one anoth—" Daphne wasn't allowed to finish before Harry cut her off.
"If you're about to suggest we're soulmates, bonded or whatever else, I'll have to say I'm not buying it. Don't get me wrong, you're a, uh, very pretty witch and all but I don't think we're me—" This time it was Daphne's turn to interrupt him and she did so, only through her wand with a stinging hex.
Daphne's relaxed posture and the silent — or near enough — nature with which she cast the spell told Harry she was far more dangerous than he initially gave her credit for. Draco's lackeys, the typical ones like Pansy, Crabbe or Goyle, none of them would be capable of such a feat. All that as it was, he still didn't believe everything that came out of her mouth at face value.
"Now that you've ceased that train of thought let me tell you that I most certainly do not believe in those types of magic. Those are read solely in the confines of a Muggle romantic literature and I can assure you that I know as much thanks to my roommate, Millicent Bulstrode — you would know her as the giant girl in our year who would very easily overpower you," Daphne smirked as she looked him up and down. "I'd make a bet that she could do so successfully too, Potter. Now before we're compelled to duel, why don't we make use of the time we were given on our lonesome to explore? The sooner we return to our home, the better."
Harry couldn't agree more; he wanted away from this time, the warmth of his bed, the camaraderie of his friends and most of all, to be away from this bothersome Slytherin girl.
He would settle with her for now though, at least until the time came that they were back in their own time and didn't need to speak with one another to save their sanity.
"Unless I'm mistaken, you were far more hostile to me when first we were brought here," Daphne said, her visage nearly a glare but close for Harry to consider it as such as the two of them spoke in hushed tones within the walls of their own home. "What's changed, Harry?"
Her question was equal parts teasing as it was genuinely bothered by his initial dislike. It had taken no small amount of time, months really, for the two of them to get along well enough to share everything. None of what they discussed as they slowly opened up with one another had led to them finding out why they had been brought back to the time of his parents as well as hers, but it certainly allowed for a deeper relationship than ever imaginable.
Suppose that comes when you're forced back in time with some random bird, doesn't it?
He felt a sharp tug at the top of his head and refocused himself to see Daphne looking at him with a far more appealing, open look about her. When she drew closer to him, her face now containing a level of amusement, he knew he was in for teasing and a pinch of actual hostility.
Truthfully, he supposed he deserved that latter emotion and whatever words she spoke next. She admitted feelings for him nearly three weeks ago and during that entire time, he'd only occasionally spoken with her. Never were their conversations about their feelings nor were they long enough for her to switch to that topic… but it wasn't totally his fault. Not with how out of sorts he still was and especially not while he tried his best to find a way for them to return to their true time.
"If you don't say something, regardless of what it is, I'll attend our next few meetings with the Blacks, Potters and whoever else by myself," Daphne said, her voice as soft as ever but the seriousness and another underlying, unreadable emotion present.
That second one, whatever it was that he couldn't identify, it made him feel cruddy. The look on her face didn't help, not when he'd finally come to recognise it; she was annoyed, bothered by something very clearly, but Daphne wasn't the time to speak up and say what it was. She was naturally giving and as such, reminded him of Katie — that wasn't all either. Daphne had Hermione's intelligence, Ginny's ferocity and Parkinson's boldness.
Obviously, he fancied her. There wasn't a bloke alive that wouldn't and that's what made their situation all the more awkward. He didn't want to risk her friendship any more than he wanted to separate from her when the time came for them to return home. There wasn't any illusion there either, Harry knew for a fact that they wouldn't be together when they got sent home.
Daphne Greengrass and Harry Potter dating? That wouldn't be allowed by her housemates, his incessant stalkers or those who fought alongside him.
"I'll say it, I'll say it," Harry said quickly when he saw her wand arm raising. "I've liked you for nearly as long as you've liked me, I think. I wasn't going to say anything, even right now I don't really want to — wait, wait wait, it's not for anything bad or because of our houses."
"Then say what it is instead of saying what it isn't, Harry. If you beat around the bush for a minute longer, I swear on whatever power sent us here, I'm sending you back with a few missing pieces," Daphne's threat was quite clearly, empty; she hadn't been half as violent as he had thought she'd be.
"When we go back, we won't be together anymore… assuming we get together here," Harry finally said, huffing and looking into her eyes for the first time since they started speaking. "Going to Hogwarts again, seeing all of this history and meeting these people decades earlier has been wicked. We've made some grand memories and I've definitely changed the way I look at people in green now, but I don't want it to end even though I know it will."
Daphne hummed, her finger tapping as he spoke and continued to do so for a minute after he was finished. Her face was nearly void of emotion save for the fire of her eyes as she maintained their eye contact. There were a million feelings and one, all of them racing through her mind until she made her choice.
She stepped forward, slid her hands into his… and kissed him.
Nearly five seconds later when she stepped back with a smug, pleased look on her face, she spoke a sentence that he would never forget.
"Good luck trying to make me forget that, much less give it up — we're together now if you were too thick to understand that kiss."
Her personality and affection were perfectly caught up in those few words.
When he kissed her back, he hoped his actions shared exactly what he was thinking.