A/N

Harry: I'm a bit surprised that apparently quite a number of readers regard Harry's abilities to make fun of him, to make jokes about himself, as a sign of weakness instead of maturity. For me it is a sign of inner strength to take yourself not too earnestly and to be willing to listen to your friends.

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Tentative Friendship

Pinegrew Manor – 31st of August, evening

"May I speak with you, both of you?"

It was the last evening before their return to Hogwarts. They had spent the day in Diagon Alley, preparing for their fourth school year, and in the evening had settled in to Harry's room for a few hours, a last evening of silence before they had to return to the turmoil of the Gryffindor common room.

Harry and Hermione looked up – Hermione from the Occlumency book she had been reading, and Harry from the cloth mouse he had used to occupy Balou. The tomcat used the moment of distraction to catch mouse and hand with his sharp claws. While Harry suppressed a hiss, Hermione smiled at Daphne and invited her to join her on the couch.

The Greengrass girl had been very silent for the last days, more or less since her outburst five days ago. Apparently she was still a bit unhappy and very concerned about Harry's presence but slowly seemed to accept it. At least that was what Hermione hoped.

Her grandmother Agatha had started to teach Hermione and Harry the basics of Occlumency as promised. As expected, it had been quite easy for Hermione's very orderly working mind to grasp the concept behind this rare art and she was already working on a finer technique, while Harry was still struggling with the basics.

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Four days ago

"In the beginning you should learn a simple block against intruders and how to calm your mind," Agatha had explained. "The block is like a wall you erect in the open door your mind resembles at the moment. It is a very easy technique to learn but not very effective against stronger or more artful Legilimens. It is also very exhausting if used for a longer time. But it is very fast to use if you're surprised by an attack and even usable if you're unable to calm your mind, if you're wounded or agitated for example.

"Later you should learn how to build a more effective defense. Those can be quite different. It could be a snowy landscape, a carnival or a maze. Perhaps it will be a library for Hermione or a flight on a broom for Harry. Everyone has to find his own … dreamscape, an illusion you allow an intruder to see, hiding your true thoughts. The last step then it will be to learn to falsify memories, but that will have to wait for a long time."

"What is your dreamscape, Agatha?" Hermione asked. Like her daughter before Agatha had offered Hermione to call her by her first name, and Harry more than once watched them with a smile as they spoke about History, Sciences or Arithmancy. He only had to listen to their conversation for a few minutes to remember why Agatha had been a Ravenclaw and why Hermione nearly had been sorted into that house as well.

"My dreamscape I draw from memories about a voyage I made to Australia. I visited the Great Barrier Reef and in my dreamscape you're able to dive around between corals, look at star fishes and play with all kind of colorful fishes. Roxanne has chosen a scene from her dancing education: it is her prom night and you may watch her dancing endless circles of Viennese waltz."

"And Daphne?" Harry asked.

Agatha looked at him, her expression unreadable for some long moments before she answered his question with a smile. "In the beginning she learned a relative simple but a bit boring technique: Standing in front of a canvas, a brush in her hand and repeating to paint the same line of color endlessly. The benefit of this technique is the very low amount energy you have to put in it. But you have to be quite calm to use it. To overcome this fault Daphne started to learn another technique a few weeks ago. You'll see it yourself if you continue your lessons in Hogwarts. I think you'll like it."

"Continue in Hogwarts, with Daphne?" Harry apparently wasn't happy about this announcement.

"Quite naturally," Agatha agreed. "You didn't expect that these few lessons would be more than the start? You'll have to train for the next months at least before you'll be able to use your dreamscape in an acceptable way. And you'll need someone with knowledge in Legilimency. Daphne isn't very good at that art, but at least she knows the basics of it. I think that, especially in the beginning, it would be better to train with her than with one of the teachers, don't you agree?"

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Harry had tried his best to offer Daphne his hand in friendship, to be kind to her, caring about her family and to explain. But he was unable to judge his success as the girl had stayed silent for the most part. She had been sitting there, watching, listening, and staring with her smoke grey eyes. Even as he delivered the message from Fred the only response he got had been a very small nod:

"Fred bade me to speak with you. He wanted me to tell you that he didn't agree with what Ron and Ginny did to you last year. Fred likes you. Not in a romantic way but still he does. He likes your humor and how you behaved after that thing with Montague. Fred doesn't share Ron's opinion about Slytherins. You know, there is this Gryffindor girl. Fred likes her very much and I hope she'll be his girlfriend next year. She had been the main reason that he hadn't been interested in you last year. But I'm sure he would like to have you as a friend. I really think you made an impression on him. Some Weasleys have difficulties to forget the past, but not all of them. Especially the twins are able to see you – Daphne – and not simply another Slytherin."

The next day she had at least stopped glaring at him – quite contrary to her sister Astoria. While Cyrus, as far as they knew, made an extended visit to his parents, Astoria had stayed in the house and prepared for the next year. She hadn't responded to their greetings, hadn't said a word at the common dinner and left to her rooms immediately afterwards. At least this time she didn't insult Harry and Hermione.

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Present time

"I …" Daphne stayed near the entrance, blushing, her hands clenching nervously and her eyes directed to the ground. Startled she looked up as Harry – who had left his place on the bed – gently grabbed her hands and slowly dragged her to the couch to push her down near Hermione before he took a seat on a chair.

"I …" The girl still struggled, looking back and forth between Harry and Hermione perhaps hoping for a kind of inspiration how to start, her nervousness only increasing by the second. Again Harry grabbed her hands and pressed them together, holding them without much force. He knew this look. He had behaved like this more than once himself and had seen it with his stubborn friends.

"It is okay, Daphne, I'm bad at these things too … apologizing and stuff."

Surprised, gaping, Daphne stared at him with wide eyes, not noticing Hermione's proud expression as she watched her best friend. The long discussions with Agatha had helped Harry apparently, not only to grow up but also to understand the perilous situation of Roxanne and her daughters. They really needed this: an open conversation to understand, to find an end. But needing something and doing it …

It obviously was quite difficult for the proud girl to apologize, to accept that she had been wrong. The situation reminded Hermione of all those moments she had waited for a word from Ron, for a simply excuse after another row. But, hopefully, Daphne would be able to do what Ron had never done.

"It was wrong to yell at Hermione. I'm really sorry I did that. You know, I have always respected you. Although you're a Muggleborn you have been our top student since the beginning, knocking all of us purebloods down a peg despite your disadvantage."

Harry frowned at that. He really had expected an apology and not this kind of hidden insult. But Hermione stayed silent, staring intensely at Daphne and he followed her lead – again. He really wanted this to improve but slowly his nerves were getting dangerously thin.

"This isn't meant as an insult, Hermione. Please let me explain. Children of pureblood family learn about magic immediately after they show signs of their talent. Since my fifth birthday I had education in simple spells. By eight I got my own – very small I have to admit – library in addition to the family one and by ten my own little potion lab. In the summer break, while you have to learn on your own, I have the possibility to speak with my mother or my Grandma. You see, it is quite an advantage to be a pureblood, not because of the blood status but simply in regard of social and cultural benefits."

Harry relaxed again and slightly pressed Daphne's hands to show his understanding while Hermione nodded with a smile. How often had she hoped to have someone to speak about her time at Hogwarts? Her parents had been very supporting the whole time but it was simply too foreign for them, too far-fetched to really understand this new world.

"But you've always been the best – in intellect, in your eagerness to learn. And at least in my eyes it wasn't because of an outer force, not because someone urged you to learn, but because you wanted to learn. Am I correct?" Hermione nodded again and Daphne continued with a very soft voice.

"But in the last three years I've seen another side of you, too. Every time something happened around Harry you have been there too. You stood at his side, helped him with your knowledge, I'm certain, and you defended him against Malfoy and his cronies. I saw the effect of your punch on his nose. That evening Tracey and I toasted to you." Hermione blushed as she thought about that moment of her losing her countenance and Harry grinned broadly, storing silently away the information about Tracey. "In second year I heard this story about the basilisk and how you used a mirror. To figure it out was impressive, very Ravenclaw-ish. And to test your knowledge this way was incredible brave and not brave in that dumb Gryffindor-ish way."

Daphne blushed a bit. "Sorry, old habits die hard, but what I mean is: I don't think that it is really brave to enter a dangerous situation if you don't really understand the danger. But you knew what you had to expect and you did it nonetheless. I could never be this way. I would try to find a more Slytherin way, a circumvention that wouldn't put me in such a danger."

Daphne sighed in frustration. "I'm babbling, I fear. I don't want to sound like a Hermione-fan girl now and certainly I don't want to imitate you in that aspect, this loyalty-bravery-thing. But I'm able to respect it and as you yelled back at me five days ago you were only defending Harry. And that is something I should have expected from you; that I should have accepted. You certainly didn't deserve that I reacted in such a loud way."

"Harry is my friend, Daphne, my best friend. In a way he is even like a brother to me and I'm sure he thinks about me the same way." Hermione looked his way and Harry silently nodded. "I'll stay at his side whatever happens. As you protect your family so do I; Harry belongs to my family. And I reacted so angrily because I know how difficult it is for him to accept help if it puts the helper in danger. He would never risk my life willingly and he won't do it with your mother."

"You," Harry started very solemnly, "expected us to hate Slytherins. And we assumed that you hate Gryffindors. I fear we all had been a bit right and a bit wrong about that. The hate between the Houses of Slytherin and Gryffindor is very old and not completely unfounded. Every year someone belonging to either house does something to deepen the gap and the teachers aren't really helping in the matter. If we go public with our friendship, there will be students of all houses trying to prove us right about the hate, prove that there can't be anything else between Slytherins and Gryffindors. Daphne, I don't know if we ever will be real friends. Perhaps we'll figure out that we dislike each other, that we can't stand each other. But the reason should be a clash of characters and not of houses. I would like to give this a try. And even should we decide later not to be friends I would like to share trust with you. I like your mother and grandmother very much. I would appreciate it if you allow me to spend time with them."

Daphne had been listening very quietly, using the time to recover from her emotional speech before. Now she looked up again, a small mischievous gleam in her eyes. In her opinion this conversation had stayed very seriously all too long now. "Hermione spending time with my Grandma, this I could support. But you? I don't know. You would have to spend some time in the library first. We don't want to see Grandma losing her intellect because someone is only able to speak about Quidditch."

Harry smirked shortly before he leaned back as if in deep thought. "Reading in the library you say. That would be a new experience at least. Naturally I would need someone showing me the way. Until now I thought the library to be one of those mysterious places all speak about but nobody ever saw."

Daphne sighed very deeply and pathetic: "If you're able to stand the unknown dangers of a library, then I could endure the hardship of showing you the ropes."

"What about my opinion in this matter?" Hermione asked with a mocking grin.

"You're a girl," Harry stated in his best Daphne-imitation. "Nobody wants to hear your opinion. Girls are meant to be cute, accept our gifts and follow …"

Agatha left her place behind the door as a cry of pain permeated the air after the sounds of two shoes hitting two shins. A soft smile played around her lips. Daphne had needed hours of talking beforehand but it had been worth it. Now they had to wait and see if this tentative friendship would survive the reality of Hogwarts.

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A/N

This has been a shorter chapter but I wanted to finish the visit of Pinegrew Manor before I continue with the train to Hogwarts. The part about the Occlumency training isn't very detailed but I assume you've read more than once about the lessons Harry got from Snape. But I assure you: while Agatha is not nearly the Occlumens/Legilimens Snape is meant to be, she is – after teaching her daughter and two granddaughters – far more experienced in doing a good job at teaching without brain-burning.

Daphne's new Occlumency dreamscape: any idea what it could be? Are you able to guess it?