A/N

Starting with chapter 2 I revised a couple of chapters from this story. I wanted to make Harry a little more active as this point has been the greatest point of critic so far. He should still have a long way to go becoming a leader/hero, but he really was a tad too passive at the beginning.

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Sweet Sisters

Pinegrew Manor – July 1994

Harry tried hard not to gawk too openly. He wasn't sure what he had expected, but this certainly wasn't it.

Four days ago Roxanne – before parting she bade him to call her Roxanne and forget about the 'Lady Greengrass stuff' – had asked him to think about her proposal. "I think we should take this slowly. Perhaps you could spend the rest of the summer break with my family and me."

Harry was still pondering about the 'why', about the reasoning of her sudden interest. Too often he had experienced the duplicity of the Slytherins and then there was this nagging feeling that Roxanne hadn't told him the whole story about the contract. But she seemed to be nice enough and really: could it be worse than with his Aunt Petunia? He needed only one night, or more precisely one breakfast with the Dursleys to reach a conclusion: he would give it a try. As agreed he had sent Hedwig to inform Roxanne of his decision, and three days, a shouting discussion and a heavy bribe handed to Vernon Dursley – for all the trouble you had with him and as a settlement for the medical bills – later she had picked him up. Wasn't that a line from Victor Hugo's "Les Miserables"?

The feeling of sitting in Roxanne's car – she called it a Bentley or something like that – to feel the soft leather cushion, to see Little Whinging vanish in the distance was simply dazzling. Hedwig was sleeping in her bird cage, undisturbed by the whole event, and Balou tried to fetch Harry's hand with his small paw. Balou had been another point of joy this morning. As Harry entered the car the small tomcat had greeted him.

"I've spoken with Mrs. Figg. She wanted to do you something good. She's really sorry about not seeing how badly you were treated all these years. If you wish he may stay with you this summer. But you'll be responsible for his behavior and his care." Without hesitation he agreed and his open joy was greeted by a small smile on Roxanne's lips. Harry still wasn't certain about her motives, but right now he felt that she really wanted to make him feel welcome, that she really cared about his feelings.

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"First I want to introduce you to my family. Ciddy will show you your rooms later."

Rooms? He would have rooms as in 'more than one'? At the Dursleys he had only one room filled with garbage and a worn bed. Shortly he glanced at the petite house-elf. Ciddy wore, to his surprise, some sort of housemaid uniform as he had seen it on TV. She seemed quite happy to see him and even more so Roxanne. Now she went to the stairs – the magically flying cages of Hedwig and Balou circling her small frame like little moons – while Roxanne led him towards a door at the end of the entrance hall. Harry's eyes glanced around, eager to take in everything around him. As they had neared the manor Harry noticed that it consisted of a round central building and three wings.

The marble floor, the splendid chandelier and the sheer height of the hall told of the family's wealth. To his relief it wasn't in the colors of Slytherin as he had feared, and the hall was far brighter than expected. Prominent colors were blue and bronze, and after a moment thinking about that he realized that this would be the Ravenclaw house colors.

"My mother fashioned most of Pinegrew Manor. It still belongs to her and hadn't been part of my dowry," Roxanne explained, obviously noticing his surprise. "Only the western wing had been changed into a Slytherin's den. There my husband resides. You'll stay with me in the eastern wing." A blue room, he could live with that, Harry pondered.

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Three persons met them as they entered the tea salon. At the central table, Harry saw a man in his mid-forties, short, with broad shoulders, and a little tummy. A single glance at his face convinced him that man was a friend of Lucius Malfoy: the same sneer, the same haughtiness, with a tad of disgust to add. A girl of twelve years in a pale green frilly dress hopped from her chair, walked to Harry and offered her small hand: "Hello Harry, I'm Astoria Greengrass and I'm happy to make your acquaintance." She pressed a polite smile that didn't reach her eyes and the tone of her voice made it clear how happy she really was about his presence.

The last person in the room was… beautiful. Sitting at a small table near a tall window overlooking the garden was Daphne Greengrass. She shared the black hair and grey eyes of her mother and overall seemed to be a younger carbon copy of her. Nothing about her bore any resemblance to her father. She wore beige-colored pants, ending a handbreadth above her ankles. Her bare feet in simple slippers, a midnight blue satin shirt accentuating her shoulders and her small breasts, she was a sight to behold. Before this moment Harry had never seen her that close and he felt himself blush.

At least until she let the heavy book sink – some light lecture for the afternoon, Harry heard the voice of Hermione in his mind – and stared at him, her eyes like she would see an especially disgusting insect. For a moment she stayed silent before she left her chair, the book under her arm, and went towards the door. "Would you please excuse me? I've much homework to do." Wonderful, Harry groaned.

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The next hour certainly belonged to the worst he had experienced so far. Cyrus Greengrass had asked him some questions about his life, showing that he heard about the events in the last years, his knowledge obviously influenced by the opinion of Lucius Malfoy. Especially the point of Dobby's freedom seemed to be a sour one and he had been warned not to try something similar in Greengrass Manor. "Pinegrew Manor," Roxanne had corrected him with a cold voice, causing Harry to smile, Astoria to frown and Cyrus to leave the room. Astoria had been polite enough, but it occurred to Harry to be only a question of manners and not sympathy or simple overall friendliness.

"I'm sorry about them," Roxanne whispered as they ascended the stairs to the eastern wing. "They're still struggling with the thought of your presence. They will get better… Astoria at least." Marching past the pictures of the Pinegrew ancestors Roxanne pointed to some of the doors. "At the end of the corridor are my rooms. Yours are on the left. And here…"

She opened a door and led him into a five by seven yard living room, the wall opposite the door nearly entirely consisting of three large windows that allowed the sun to illuminate the room. The other walls were hidden behind dozens of book shelves only broken by a number of pictures showing Hogwarts in different seasons, Roxanne, Astoria, an elder woman that could be Roxanne's mother and a girl that looked familiar to Harry. All pictures had been painted in water colors or were sketches in coal, and seemed to be relatively new.

Looking up from her papers she had been writing on, the table covered with books, with the same annoyed look on her face, was Daphne. And I thought that statement about homework had only been an excuse, Harry smiled inwardly.

"I have something to do until dinner and would like you two to spend some time together. Have a nice afternoon." Before Harry had time to respond, or Daphne to disagree, Roxanne exited the room, leaving the two teenagers behind in an uneasy silence. After several minutes a glaring Daphne groaned very unladylike and pointed towards a chair across the table: "Sit down," she ordered, her bossy tone somehow very familiar. She reminded him strongly of Hermione in that moment – a very annoyed Hermione. Harry suppressed a smile. He would indulge her temper – for now. For a second he wondered how Daphne would feel about getting compared with a Muggleborn.

While Harry complied she rummaged through her books, pushed some parchment and quills in his direction and growled: "I assume you haven't already finished your assignment for Professor Snape." Harry nodded absent-mindedly. "Today I'm working on Charms so I don't need the books. Go on and please try to be not too much of a nuisance."

Without waiting for a response she went back to work. Harry glanced at the books and parchment before he started to watch the girl again. Being nearer than before and having time to examine her he noticed the differences to her mother's figure. Her neck wasn't quite as slender and long, her shoulders a bit broader, her arms more muscular but of the athletic, sportive kind, not like she would be working physically. As she browsed a book he saw the same kind of callouses on her hand he had also noticed on Roxanne.

Without looking up Daphne snarled: "It is quite impolite to stare at a lady."

Harry looked down, grabbed a book and started to browse it quite clueless. "Where's the lady?" he mumbled, low enough that Daphne could pretend she didn't hear. He didn't want to start his visit with a fight. And perhaps she wasn't that bad after a while.

Another sigh of Daphne, then she fetched the book, searched the correct page about the effects of a Bezoar and more or less smashed it down in front of him. "There you go," she growled. Harry hadn't to look up to 'see' her deep and disgusted frown. He suppressed a sigh. She really has to make this difficult.

After some moments of silence she continued, struggling to keep her voice smooth: "Look, I'm as excited about your presence as you are about living here I assume. I'm only not as 'well-behaved' as my sister and don't try to appear all joy and smile. I have no idea what my mother was thinking to invite you, or why she had this preposterous idea about us spending time together. It's quite obvious that she somehow hopes us to bond over homework or something similar. It is not likely that we'll exchange a single word at Hogwarts in the future with the usual tension between the brave Gryffs and the evil Slytherins, don't you agree? So why don't you try to do something useful and spend your time preparing for next school year? You certainly need it and this way we can avoid speaking with each other."

Harry stared at her, unsure how to respond. Why did she hate him so much? And why was she thinking that he didn't want to be here? Perhaps it had been a stupid idea to come to Pinegrew Manor. Nobody wanted him here – at least nobody aside from Roxanne and perhaps Ciddy. But he didn't want to give in so early and at least she had been correct about the Potions' assignment. With a sigh he started to read. "Why do you think I don't want to be here? You don't know me. Your mother offered but I still had to agree, it was my own decision. Perhaps it was the wrong one." He frowned, thinking about the 'evil Slytherin' part. "Perhaps you're right about the tensions between our houses. Honestly, the Slytherins I met so far – I don't like them very much, especially Malfoy and his cronies. Perhaps not all Slytherins are like Malfoy, but he is certainly the loudest. And it doesn't help that you foredoom our … whatever this is … to failure. Perhaps you should give it a chance."

Daphne's frown deepened and she didn't look happy, but at least she appeared a little more thoughtful now and a little less secure.

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"We have bigger rooms but I thought this is more to your taste – cozier. Over there is your bathroom, to the left your bed-room and the small door leads to a closet. I thought about walking you to Harrods tomorrow. These clothes of yours" she looked with the smallest hint of disgust at the ill-fitting pants. "I suppose they're hand-down from your cousin. If you don't disagree I would like to outfit you. Be assured, I don't want to change you into some 'Lord Fauntleroy' but…"

"I would like that," Harry assured her with an open smile. Roxanne had led him into his room after Dinner, releasing him from 'Daphne-prison' after some grueling hours. Her honest friendliness was all he needed to feel certain again about staying here. At least Daphne had been silent most of the time after their little talk and while her eyes were still filled with rejection she had never said anything demeaning and even helped him when he struggled with the assignment. She appeared to be quite good at Potions and had been able to explain the more difficult parts to him. At explanation she was even better than Hermione, who always struggled with the needed patience especially around Ron.

"She reminds me a bit of Hermione," Harry whispered. Detecting the smile on Roxanne's face he explained: "With all her books and her reading and how seriously she takes studying. It is like Hermione all over again. Hermione Granger I mean."

Roxanne nodded. "I thought that you meant her. She has been mentioned more than once in this house." Harry grimaced, thinking about what a Slytherin would have to say about his friend and a Malfoy-lover like Cyrus Greengrass to add. So he was quite stunned as Roxanne continued: "Daphne adores her because of these traits you mentioned. She wants to be like her."

"But… Hermione… she is a…"

"A what," Roxanne smiled: "A despicable Gryffindor?"

"A Muggleborn," Harry said, intoning the way Draco Malfoy used the word like a cuss "Most Slytherins think her to be a witch unworthy to use magic. That's at least what she has to hear often enough at Hogwarts. Many of them even used this other word to describe her, to hurt her, irrespective of what a wonderful girl she is. You know, the M-word." He certainly wouldn't pronounce the curse word. His voice trembled with anger, his fists clenched as he thought about Malfoy and how much he envied Hermione for the chance to punch him into his arrogant face. "Every time I hear Malfoy use the word, I feel like punching him."

Her face petrified, her voice struggling with hot anger Roxanne scolded him: "This word will never be used in my house. I don't allow my husband to use it and certainly I won't allow it to anybody else. I stepped back from that marriage contract with your father to allow a muggle-born witch to replace me. You can be sure that neither I, nor my daughters, share this disgusting opinion."

Harry visibly relaxed. "That's good to hear." After a moment of hesitation he added: "actually it would have been a serious reason to overthink this living with you and your family. Hermione is very important to me, my best friend. A family of mine would have to be able to accept her as well. I rejected her friendship once out of stupidity. I'll never allow it again to happen."

"That won't be a problem. She'll always be welcome at Pinegrew Manor. We don't would share these prejudices," Roxanne declared with a much more caring voice. "At least my daughters, my mother and I don't. My dear husband," there was much contempt in her voice "regretfully is too Malfoy-esque in his worldview – I have to warn you." Harry could live with that and he valued her honesty.

For a minute both were silent before he quietly asked: "Why… why does she hate me? Daphne I mean. She doesn't want me to be here."

Roxanne sighed. "It is difficult for her. She… no, it is not my place to explain that. You'll have to ask her that herself. Allow her some time to… catch up. But be assured: It's not hate that causes her to stay away from you. And ask yourself this: do you want to get to know her? Without your honest willingness to make friends with her she won't be willing to be more than an unwilling host." She stepped nearer and gently pressed Harry's shoulder: "But be assured: I'm happy to have you here. And I hadn't invited you if I wouldn't hope that one day you'll be friends with my daughters too."

It didn't need a genius to recognize the apparent missing of her husband's name in the sentence and Harry was still unsure about the answer to the question: did he want to get to know her – the Ice Princess of Slytherin?

With a head heavy from all the new experiences Harry prepared for bed. He would ponder about that tomorrow.