16. And Back Again

"What time is it?"

"_Tempus_. 11:50."

"Thanks, Daphne, I don't think I could have done that on my own." Actually, Harry could have but it would have been difficult. Somehow, despite the one-sided dislike between his host and the younger girl, he'd ended up between Daphne and Luna on the couch with the latter curled up against his side snoring softly while the former was merely leaning on him. "And seriously, thanks for the change of scenery. It was nice to get out of the house and spend time with my friends for the night."

Daphne wriggled a bit next to him, turning her head so she could stare up at him with sleepy green eyes. He had done well, he decided; the cloak he'd purchased was almost an exact match. "Any time, Harry. Hermione seemed a bit… off… whenever I brought up Potter Place, though. How does she get along with your sisters? She's an only child, right?"

Turning his gaze back and forth, Harry studied the two heads resting on his chest, comparing the two girls. Luna looked quite peaceful while asleep which was more than he could say about Daphne, who appeared guarded even when blinking fuzzily and fighting off sleep. Then he realized she'd asked him a question. "Yeah, she's an only. And she gets along with them well enough. Better than I do but I think that's because they're all girls. Much better than I do with Jasmine, but that's not really surprising. Jasmine would curse her own foot off if Hermione asked her too. How about you and Astoria? When you're not bribing her to do stuff for you, that is?"

"Astoria and I are only two years apart but the age difference keeps us from really being friends. Back up for just a moment, though." Daphne looked over at their mutual muggleborn friend, perched precariously on the two-seater across from them and drooling into Su's hair. "What's this about Jasmine and Hermione? Hermione mentioned they were practicing quidditch against each other a lot, but…"

Crap. He'd promised himself that he would keep his mouth shut about the subject, so Hermione could figure out things on her own without him unduly influencing the future to try and shape it towards or away from the different worlds he saw in his dreams. But as long as the kneazle was out of the bag anyways, Harry figured maybe filling Daphne in could do some good. At least then she wouldn't be blindsided if Hermione ever brought the matter to her. Which was where she was going if she needed advice, because Harry absolutely refused to help Hermione with that particular romantic endeavor. He'd find a way to deal with it if it happened, but that didn't mean he had to help her.

Daphne poked his ribs and Harry jumped, cursing himself for yet again wandering off mentally when someone was talking to him. He had to be careful or one of these days, one of his friends was going to call him on it. "I don't know if Hermione's caught onto it yet, but my sister Jasmine has a painfully obvious crush on her. Actually, given how obvious it is, I'm pretty sure she hasn't realized yet."

"That's mean, Harry." Daphne looked over at Hermione before smirking. "Then again, she seems completely unaware of the way she drools over the older girls in our house and the nicknames they call her, so I suppose I have to rate that one 'mean but true'. Almost makes me glad I'm not an early bloomer like Lavender. Almost." She repeated her spell and this time a perfect 12:00 emerged from her wand. "I do believe you owe me a kiss to celebrate the new year. Unless you want to wake up Luna, Su, or Hermione."

Damn. And he'd successfully avoided all three sprigs of randomly migrating magical mistletoe, too. Based on the look she was fixing him with, Harry didn't think waking up Su, Hermione, or especially Luna was an option that would lead to his continued good health, and so instead he did his best not to cringe as he leaned in and briefly pressed his lips against Daphne's.

How many years were pedophiles getting in Azkaban these days?

He knew it really wasn't fair to Daphne, or himself even, but while he could quite easily be friends and stay with those 'his age' in body most of the time, when it came to anything romantic, he rather keenly felt his mental years. He'd lived six years longer than she had, lost his virginity, done things that would probably make his parents - or at least his father; his mother seemed rather free-spirited - blush, been engaged to be married… and the extent of her love life to this point was probably just these awkward interactions with him as of late.

Thinking back to his ransacking of Malfoy Manor after the death of the head and the heir, Harry frowned. They had plenty of books… maybe some sort of dark temporal acceleration ritual existed? Some sort of spell he could use to accelerate the next five years, perhaps? Or at least the next three? He'd settle for fourteen year-old Daphne over eleven year-old Daphne. People had started pairing off a bit in his fourth year, meaning she wouldn't be of optimum age but would at least be old enough that people wouldn't think too much of it.

"Harry?" Looking down at the speaker, Harry raised an eyebrow and a light flush spread over Daphne's cheeks. "Are we going to discuss a certain letter your father received or is it just going to be this erumpent in the room for the near future?"

Actually, he would have preferred to let it be the 'erumpent in the room', personally. Harry groaned and leaned his head back against the back of the couch. "Not sure. Isn't this the sort of business your father and my father should be discussing? I'm not sure either of us is smart enough to make such an important decision about the future of the Houses of Potter and Greengrass…"

Daphne winced at the none-too-subtle barb toward her public attitude about marriage and a future husband. "I guess I deserve that. But I don't think you realize what it's like to be me. We're not dark like the Malfoys or Blacks and I've never heard my dad proposing we kill off the muggles or something, but that doesn't mean the Greengrasses don't keep to certain traditions. I'm not supposed to marry for love, Harry, I'm supposed to marry for the good of the family. And right now, I can't really ignore the fact that one of my closest friends is an unattached boy who's smart, of good blood, and powerful enough to take out three adult mountain trolls."

"You seem to be able to forget the fact that we're both eleven pretty easily, though. And you're right there. I don't know anything about what your family is putting you through. My grandparents turned down contract offers for my father and he married my mother out of love. My muggleborn mother, might I add, so my blood can't be that good by your family's standards." Daphne didn't have an answer to that, turning away and resting her head on his shoulder. Sighing, Harry leaned over and pressed his cheek against the top of Daphne's head. "How about you worry about being my friend for now and if something else happens when we get older, it happens. Because there's no way I'm ready to make such a huge decision about my life at… well, I'm not even a teenager yet. If I'd accepted it when you sent it, I would have been engaged before even getting my first kiss."

Wide green eyes greeted that statement as Daphne pulled away, staring up at him in disbelief. "Really? You've never kissed a girl before me?" She brought one hand up to her lips. "Wow." Her hand dropped, head shaking in disbelief. "Never?"

Harry rolled his eyes. "I'm eleven, Daphne. No, I'm not exactly running around kissing girls. I'm only one step past the 'girls are icky' stage." After all, he couldn't exactly tell her about kissing Cho Chang or Ginny Weasley, much less the fact that he'd had sex with the latter.

"Hmmph. Well fine. Feel free to think that most girls are icky if you want. Less competition for me when you finally come around." Harry rolled his eyes but figured that was good enough for now. If she slipped down the road and began pushing too hard on the potential pairing off front, he'd have further words with her then. Looking over at their friends, Daphne nudged him in the ribs again. "You know, we should probably go find actual beds soon. And do something with Hermione and Su. Because if they sleep like that all night, they're going to wake up with really bad neck pain and I don't want to listen to them whine."

Nodding, Harry wiggled himself free and drew his wand. A gentle flick had Su hovering an inch or two off the couch and he eased her away from Hermione, gently tipping his friend over to lie on her side for the moment. As he turned to float Su off to where Daphne had previously shown him the guest bedrooms were, a flicker of motion in the corner of his eye caught his attention. Looking over at Daphne, Harry stifled a chuckle. "Alright there, Daphne?"

Daphne's glare alternated between Harry and the thin blonde lying halfway across her lap, arms wrapped tightly around her waist. Harry's guess was that Luna hadn't taken kindly to being deprived of her pillow and had taken to using the next best thing: Daphne. "Keep laughing and I'll urk!" Luna squeezed Daphne a bit tighter, snuggling in closer to her new pillow.

Deciding not to wait and see what Daphne's threat actually was, Harry hustled Su out of the room.

The morning of January 5th dawned bright and cold, but thankfully it wasn't as hectic as it could have been. As much as Harry liked the Weasleys - well, most of them - their last minute rushes to pack had always irritated him. Perhaps it was something Petunia Dursley had instilled in him, but saving such an important task for when one had the most to worry about and the least amount of time to accomplish things just seemed foolish.

With his siblings dressed and fed, his father off at work as always, and his and Hermione's trunks packed and ready to go, all that was left to do was round up his mother and floo over to King's Cross to board the train. It took him a minute, but Harry eventually tracked her down in the study, hunched over a piece of paper. "You ready to go, Mum?"

Lily looked up from her work for a moment before shaking her head. "Let me just finish these letters. I want to send these off from the international owl office in Diagon Alley after I bring you to King's Cross."

"Oh?" Peering down over her shoulder, Harry got a look at the addresses on the envelopes she'd laid out for the letters she was writing. "Crowley Hall? Durmstrang Institute? The Korean Academy for the Magically Elite? The Delhi Conservatory? Kourotrophos? Isn't that in Greece? Geeze, Mum, if I didn't know any better I'd think you were trying to get rid of me or something. The only one you missed is Beauxbatons. Forget the address?"

Pausing for a moment, Lily let out a quiet snicker before her quill began to scratch over the parchment again. "I suppose I could write them and the Salem Witches Institute, but then we'd have to invest in a few potions next summer if we wanted you to meet the entrance requirements. But if you really want to be my eldest daughter instead of my eldest son… you know, that could be where Carina comes from. Narcissa and I set you both up with the potions and transfer you, and he decides to keep the new look after returning to Britain…"

Harry blinked as his mind took a moment to wrap around that. Beauxbatons was an all-girl's school here? Huh. That was weird. While most of his attention had been on staying alive in fourth year, he distinctly remembered Parvati ditching him at the Yule Ball to dance with a boy from Beauxbatons who she'd dated for the remainder of fourth year and then some.

Actually, now that he thought about it, the idea did have some potential to it. He could get away from the headmaster for a bit, let Neville bumble through the Chamber of Secrets incident while he spent the year with Fleur Delacour and other lovely French ladies. And lovely ladies they were indeed. Much lovelier than a basilisk that went around the school terrorizing people. And much, much lovelier than that buffoon of a DADA professor they'd get stuck with: Gilderoy Lockhart.

Tempting as it was, though, he couldn't just walk away. Who knew what would happen to Hermione, Su, and Daphne without him there to protect them? Not to mention the fact that he'd miss out on Jasmine and Rose's first year, and his first opportunity to make friends with Luna, Lara, and maybe even Ginny. If she was less of a Neville fangirl these days, that was. "No thank you. I'm quite happy being the Potter heir and not the Potter heiress. Why are you writing to all these other schools, though?"

"Because the headmaster has put conditions on you returning to Hogwarts next year. Who knows who this friend of his is or what his real goal is in making you attend these sessions?" His mother gestured to the array of letters spread out before her on the desk. "I want a bargaining chip ready before next fall… and if worst comes to worst, I'm sure that Rensaren would make you eligible for the Korean Academy."

Hopefully. Actually, Harry mused, it might take a full revelation of his magical potential to qualify for attendance at the Korean Academy for the Magically Elite, not to mention learning to speak Mandarin and Nihongo. Su was a phenomenally brilliant girl and she'd been rejected for admission, but considering that the school served the best of the best of the combined magical populations of China, the Koreas, Japan, Mongolia, and southern Russia… there were a lot of bodies competing for a limited number of seats. They truly were the premiere institution of magical learning in the world, despite Hogwart's assertions to the contrary, and most of its graduates went on to accomplish great things not only in their home country but in the world at large.

Harry decided to give his mother a hand and used his wand to neatly fold each letter and stuff it into the appropriate envelope, securing it with a dab of wax and the Potter family seal. "Well, if you're done plotting your next move in the chess game called my life, Hermione and I need to go back to Hogwarts, at least for now."

Cursing, Lily checked the small clock on her desk before pushing her chair back and rising to her feet. "Right you are. Everything packed?" Harry nodded. "Of course it is, you're getting even better than I am about picking up after yourself. Hermione's ready to go too, I assume?" Another nod. "Let's go then."

Biting his tongue, Harry decided against pointing out that they were waiting on her and followed obediently as she descended the stairs. He and Hermione had each shrunken and pocketed their trunks for the return to school and so the only thing waiting in front of the fireplace was an impatient muggleborn and a pouting half-blood. "Maybe I'll see you this summer? You can come over and we can fly again?"

"Sure, Jasmine." Before Hermione could continue, though, Jasmine took advantage of what she thought was an empty room and latched onto the brunette, delivering a hug and a peck on the cheek, neither of which Hermione returned. Then she pulled back, only to catch sight of her mother and older brother. Blushing bright red, Jasmine raced between them and out of the room. "Not a word, Harry Potter. Not one word."

Harry raised his hands in surrender. "Okay. Besides, talking about how you ended up curled up with Su in her bed at Daphne's house is much more interesting anyways."

That induced both a blush and a growl and Harry took a step backwards, slipping halfway behind his mother for protection. "I told you, I sleepwalk. I don't know why I went in Su's room or decided to borrow part of her bed, but… you know what, it was completely harmless and I wouldn't need to explain myself to you even if it was something dirty!" Huffing, Hermione grabbed a handful of floo powder out of the dish on the mantle and pitched it into the fire. "Platform 9¾!"

Inching out from behind his mother, Harry shook his head. "That girl is far too easy to tease. Oh well. It's payback for her needling me when I got those contracts. She deserves it."

"Uh huh. Say that again when you're not hiding behind me. Possibly to her face." Harry shuddered and his mother grabbed a handful of powder for herself, tossing it into the fire. "Hurry up, Harry, or you're going to be late for the train. Platform 9¾!"

Harry's jaw dropped as his mother disappeared into the flames. "Wait a minute. We would have been there half an hour ago if you'd been ready!" Realizing he was talking to thin air, Harry just shook his head and took some powder for himself. "Platform 9¾!"

Watching the rather bland countryside roll by as the Hogwarts Express made its way back towards Scotland, Harry yawned and tuned out the idle conversation going on between Hermione, Su, and Daphne. The dynamic duo, as Harry had taken to thinking of them, had broken out his present about half an hour into the trip and were bookending Daphne as the trio went through some of the new charms it contained.

A burst of red light filled the cabin and Harry turned just in time to get a face full of rose petals. There was absolute silence for a long moment before the girls started giggling madly, taking in the newly redecorated compartment. Sighing, he rose to his feet, spilling a large pile of petals from his lap onto the floor. "And on that note, I'm going to take a walk. You lot have fun cleaning that one up."

Ignoring their pleading, Harry exited the compartment and closed the door behind him. Who cared if they didn't know how to vanish things yet? They should have thought of that before conjuring up a ridiculously large amount of rose petals. He wasn't their maid, after all.

Walking down the corridor, Harry occasionally peeked into the compartments as he passed. Holiday spirit was evidently still in full swing, with most of his peers busy showing off their favorite acquisitions to their friends. It almost made Harry feel guilty for not sharing the Marauder's Map and the true nature of his new pocket watch with his friends. Almost. After all, a boy had to have some secrets and while the girls didn't seem to be the type who'd rat him out, he also knew what jealousy or even just a bad mood could drive a friend to do.

Cough Ron cough.

Speaking of Weasleys, though, Harry found himself staring at two of them as he entered the next car of the train. Two Weasleys and a Robinson to be precise, the twins bookending the shorter brunette girl as they whispered together about some havoc they'd either already caused or were in the process of planning. "…new wand is amazing. Same wood, same core, a quarter of an inch longer and I'm a whole new witch." Kate waved said wand for emphasis, releasing a spray of red and gold sparkles. "Ollivander said it'd be great for charms, which will be a plus for our…" Suddenly, she trailed off as the three realized they weren't alone. "Potter."

"Robinson. Unknown Weasley Twin the First. Unknown Weasley Twin the Second." Harry moved to one side of the hallway and gestured for them to pass, only to find himself turning to call something at the retreating trio. "Hey, Robinson." Stopping, the brunette looked back over her shoulder at him. "Arithmancy and Ancient Runes?"

Kate blinked owlishly at him. "My electives, you mean?" Harry nodded and she turned to face him properly, an odd look on her face. "Yeah. Why? And why do you know that?"

Hoping this wouldn't come off as creepy as it sounded in his head, Harry tapped on temple. "Oneiromancy. I think. I've been having these odd dreams…"

"You're dreaming about me? That's kinda creepy."

"…and so I've been asking people little things I remember to try and figure out if it's oneiromancy or I'm just having strangely vivid dreams. In one of them, I was in the common room with my friends and you were sitting with Angelina and Alicia working on homework. Angelina tells Oliver that she can't come out for extra practice because she's working on arithmancy homework with you and Alicia, and then mentions ancient runes work too before he can ask about later." Lies, lies, all of it lies, but Harry wasn't about to admit to a dream where she asked him to sign one of her breasts, nor the half a dozen others she'd either starred or co-starred in. He liked his manhood attached to his body and in full working order. Some of his plans for a few years down the road would require as much. "So far, I got your electives right and out of two couples I saw, both girls admit to having a crush on the person I saw them dating."

The twins looked at each other over Kate's head, communicating silently for a moment before turning their attention to Harry. "Say, Harry, favorite seeker of ours…"

"…well, after Charlie, but he's family and so we have to say that…"

"…you didn't happen to see or hear anything useful in these dreams of yours, did you?"

"Broom racing rankings…"

"…quidditch scores…"

"…little things like that?" Waiting for the twins to stop bouncing their sentences back and forth between themselves, Harry shook his head and the pair slumped. "Well bollocks. That could have been a useful way to get the money we need for our prank store someday."

Chuckling, Harry turned to continue his exploration up the length of the Express. "Nah, it wouldn't have been a good idea for you. Sore losers don't make for good customers. Or parents of customers."

"He has a point, I guess."

"I know. Strange little blighter. No wonder he's the top of his year, though."

"You two were just outwitted by a first year." Kate sighed, her final words muffled as the door between the cars slid shut behind her and the twins. "I need a better class of friend."

Harry shook his head as he laughed quietly. That had been interesting. So Kate really was taking ancient runes, as he'd seen in his first dream, and the 'private arithmancy tutoring' she'd asked for in another had likely been a combination of actual need and innuendo. Two more signs that he might actually be seeing the future - or potential futures - in his dreams. A soft cough made him realize that his preoccupied wanderings had brought him to the end of the car… or rather to stand in front of someone waiting outside the last compartment of the car. "Join me."

Contemplating that for a moment, Harry decided he of all people was hardly at risk. What could an eleven-year old girl with half a first year's education possibly do to him, after all? Entering the compartment, he looked to each side before taking a seat on the bench that wasn't occupied with an owl cage and a satchel. Blaise seated herself opposite him and poked a finger into the wire cage, stroking the back of her owl and giving Harry a moment to study her. Now that they were closer, he could see definite resemblances to the Blaise he'd left behind in his home universe… similarities in the eye shape, cheekbones, and jaw, the way she held herself, and the slightly calculating look to the gaze she fixed on him. It made Harry wonder what he'd see in three years when Beauxbatons came to Hogwarts; would each male student have a female analog or would they still be male and attending another school?

"Harry Potter. It's a pleasure to finally meet you in person." Blaise's lips quirked up a small smile as she crossed one leg over the other, eyeing him speculatively. "I take it you received my family's letter over the holidays?"

Harry nodded. "Shouldn't you have met me in person before, I don't know, trying to get your family to sell you to me?"

Rather than the anger he was expecting, Blaise's smile just grew a bit at his barb. Maybe she found her parents' actions amusing as well? "Touché. But, what's done is done. So, what did you think?" Harry raised an eyebrow and regarded her in silence, waiting for her to elaborate. What did he think about… what? The current werewolf legislation? The price of newt eyes? Lavender Brown's new haircut? "Of my family's offer, that is. I thought the dowry was generous, considering the rank of my family compared to your other suitors."

Uh… huh. There was something incredibly disquieting to Harry about how easily young pureblood witches could talk about businesslike future marriages at such a young age. "Well, it's not exactly like the Potters are hurting for money. The size of the dowry doesn't matter to me as much as the person it comes with. I don't know how you knew about Daphne and Luna's contracts to compare to…"

"A copy goes on file with the Department of Magical Records and Contracts when their parents send the letter to you. My step-father works in the department and saw them come in, then wrote down the details for comparison."

"…okay, that's a bit creepy. But as I was saying, Daphne and Luna are friends. I've never even met you before today. So I'll tell you the same thing I told Daphne when she pushed me about the contract she sent. Right now, I'm looking for friends." Harry leaned forward, patting Blaise on the knee. "If something happens between me and a friend in the future, then it'll happen. But I'm not interested in tying myself down, especially when I'm eleven. So if you're really interested…"

Blaise shook her head, daintily grabbing his wrist and removing his hand from her knee. "Pass. Mother decided you should be our prime candidate after Samhuinn, but you're not the only boy in our year. I didn't think you'd go for it because of your parents, but Mother thought otherwise. I was right. Oh well. She now owes me two extra presents for putting me through this indignity. I'll see you in class."

That was it? Harry almost felt insulted. While he was glad he wouldn't need to expand his little group to incorporate another girl and a third suitor at that, hearing that Blaise's interest in him was strictly business was… scratch almost, it was insulting. But seeing as how he was in the clear now, Harry decided to make a strategic retreat rather than argue and potentially convince her he was a good bet again by accident. "Right then. I'll just show myself out."

Rising to his feet, Harry exited her compartment and closed the door behind him, making his way back towards his own compartment. Much to his amusement, the rose petals were still littering the floor of the compartment, their cloying scent hitting him like a slap in the face as soon as he opened the door. Then again, he realized after checking his pocket watch, he hadn't been gone long. "So, what happened to cleaning up in here?"

"Harry!" Daphne launched herself from between the other two girls, hugging him with uncharacteristic enthusiasm, even for her. "Please, teach one of them the spell to get rid of these damn petals. All the other compartments in this car are full, so there's nowhere we can move to, and the smell is getting overpowering."

While Hermione and Su weren't quite as desperate, Harry could tell from their expressions that it was starting to get to them too. "And here I thought girls liked flowers?" Daphne crossed her arms over her chest, fixing him with a magnificent pout, and Harry sighed. They were stuck with the petals because the spell was above their grade level… as was the spell to get rid of them. Even just showing the girls how to do the spell would reveal that he knew how to do even more advanced magic… but at this point, they probably knew as much. "Alright, I'll teach one of you how to do the spell…"

Hermione's hand shot up as she wiggled forward, sitting on the edge of her seat. "I'll do it!"

"…but I get to transfigure the clothes of that person into a maid's outfit." Hermione's hand abruptly dropped as her expression shifted from excitement to revulsion; despite having to wear a skirt daily as part of her uniform, this version of her was a lot like her original counterpart - well, pre-Ron - in that she greatly preferred slacks to skirts. Evidently she was willing to suffer through the rose petals' cloying smell if it meant she could keep her legs covered. He looked over at Su and then Daphne, neither of whom looked too thrilled with the idea either. "What? Maybe next time you'll think before casting a spell you can't undo. So, any takers?"

Daphne looked over at Su and then both turned their attention to Hermione, who shook her head vehemently. Sighing, Daphne held out one hand towards Su. "Roshambo?"

"Works for me. Ro! Sham! Bo!"

Holding out one arm, Harry watched Daphne make the short hop from the train to the platform, her white lace-trimmed black skirt puffing out a bit as she moved. Letting his eyes wander up and down her, he came to a rather disturbing conclusion: Daphne at eleven filled the snugly-fitting outfit just about as well as Ginny had when he'd transfigured one of her robes into the same costume. Merlin. Forget turning into a pedophile while surrounded by younger versions of a number of his female friends, maybe the tendencies had always been there. He let out a self-deprecating chuckle, only to grunt as Daphne elbowed him in the ribs. "What? I wasn't laughing at you, I swear."

"Uh huh. Laugh it up, Harry. Just remember, I know where you sleep and the boys' dorms don't have a spell to keep us girls out." Shivering, Daphne pressed herself tight against his side. "Now hurry up and escort me to a carriage. I'm freezing in this ridiculous getup."

Harry nodded, taking pity on her and shrugging off his own cloak so he could wrap it around her. That would cut down on some of the wind chill, although she'd still suffer from the actual cold. Warming charms to both the cloak and his jumper and slacks took care of that problem for the most part, though, and they were both a good deal more comfortable as Su and Hermione joined them, the quartet heading for one of the empty, thestral-drawn carriages.

A green-clad figure near one of them caught Harry's attention and he diverted the group in a new direction as Professor McGonagall beckoned him to approach. "Professor?"

"Mister Potter. Misses Granger, Greengrass, and Li." McGonagall looked them each up and down before sighing and relaxing slightly. "Shall I take it from the lack of students needing to be tended to by Madam Pomfrey that you had an uneventful journey?"

Harry gasped, bringing one hand up to his chest. "Professor! You wound me! You act like I'm the one who starts the trouble. It's not my fault that purebloods can't seem to keep their bigoted opinions to themselves around me. Or that they tend to get injured shortly after expressing their opinions."

"I'm sure, Mister Potter." McGonagall went to leave but froze, abruptly turning back around to stare at Daphne. "Miss Greengrass, what are you wearing?"

Blushing, Daphne looked down before drawing Harry's cloak more tightly around her body. "Hermione, Su, and I were experimenting with charms on the train. We needed Harry to teach us the vanishing spell so we could get rid of some conjured rose petals, and he decided we needed a reminder not to attempt spells too complicated for us in the future."

McGonagall's gaze shifted from the blushing raven-haired girl to Harry. "I see. Five points to Gryffindor, Potter, for your advanced, albeit unusual, garment transfiguration. And another five points for reminding them why our material is taught in a certain order." Pulling out her wand, she flicked it and restored the green dress Daphne had been wearing, the black-haired girl shrugging off Harry's cloak as her own was returned to her. "Now find a carriage and I'll see you all up at the school."

As McGonagall departed, Harry was surprised to see Hermione pouting. He arched a brow and the brunette sidled up next to him. "What? It was a cute outfit. It worked on her."

"Uh huh. Were you appreciating the outfit, or appreciating the view?" Hermione looked confused and so Harry elaborated. "You know. In a Jasmine sort of way?"

Hermione punched his shoulder hard.

Harry bite his lip to avoid crying out. Damn that hurt. He really needed to learn to stop picking on her while in arm's reach.