Chapter 22

Padma had just finished her exercising with Harry for the morning, and unlike him she was feeling fresh and energized.

She glanced back at him as he struggled to catch up with her as they made their way to breakfast.

"Come on slowpoke," She told him, "that's enough staring at my bum for one day."

"Then slow down and wait for me if you don't like it," He quipped breathlessly.

Reluctantly she did so (she really didn't mind) as she stopped and waited for him to catch up.

Once he did, he said, "I'll admit it. I'm out of shape."

"No, I'm just really in shape," Padma replied, "I guess having Su as a workout partner really is good for something."

"What's she been doing with you not going with her?" He asked her.

"Oh, she's doing her own thing for now, she's kind of disappointed, but I told her it's only temporary," Padma answered.

"You know she could go with both of us if it's a problem," He recommended, looking a bit guilty.

Padma looked over at him and said with a smile, "oh, you're definitely not ready for Su just yet. I'm not even ready for Su."

"Is she really that in shape?" He asked her.

"You're just not ready for Su period," Padma argued.

"I think I can handle a girl by now," He insisted.

"You can't handle me," Padma said teasingly.

He grinned and said, "is that a challenge?"

She tried to look as intimidating as possible.

"I wouldn't want you to feel bad when you fail," Padma replied.

"Maybe you're right, my giant, inflated head couldn't take it. A jab like that might pop it," He told her.

"Like this?" She asked as she poked him in the forehead.

"Hey!" He said as he tried to poke her right back.

However he tried to poke her in the stomach.

She decided to mess with him.

"You just poked me in the boob!" Padma insisted, pretending to be angry.

"Did not!" He argued.

"Yes, you did," She told him as she massaged her chest.

He suddenly looked guilty as he apologized by saying, "Did I really? I'm sorry."

"I can't believe you did that," She continued to mess with him, "my boobs are really sensitive and now one of them is hurting. I mean we're close, but you can't just go around touching girls' boobs like that, Harry."

She rubbed her left one for good measure.

"It wasn't intentional," Harry told her, "I'd never um..."

"Just apologize to it," Padma suggested.

Wow, this was kind of fun.

"I'm sorry..." He began to say.

"Not to me, to my boob," Padma urged.

Harry still looked uncomfortable as he stared at her left breast and said, "I'm sorry, Padma's boob. I'd never intentionally hurt you. There are a shortage of perfect breasts in the world and it would be a shame to damage you."

Padma let out a laugh, unable to restrain herself any longer.

"You got that off of Princess Bride that Luna had us watch last week," She pointed out.

"Well yeah, but what was I supposed to say to a boob?" He said before admitting something else, "and I know you've just been messing with me."

Figures he hadn't fallen for her act.

"Why did you go through all that then?" She questioned.

He couldn't help but grin and say, "I figured any conversation about your boobs couldn't be bad."

"Oh, is that so?" Padma said, crossing her arms over her chest, "well then if you're going to play it that way..."

She knelt down so that her face was directly in front of his crotch as she said, "I'm sorry little Harry. I love you and I'd never want to hurt you. It's also okay if you get a little excited when I'm around."

Once she had gotten back up again, he surmised, "gee, Padma, I had no idea you felt that strongly about that part of my anatomy. Why don't you marry it then?"

She couldn't help but laugh and quipped, "Why don't I marry you since I love you so much?"

As soon as the words left her mouth, she felt like she wanted to run and hide.

"I'm sorry," She tried to say.

He merely shrugged like it was no big deal.

Thankfully he was a boy. If she had heard him say that to her she'd never have taken it as "no big deal" and spent weeks if not forever thinking about it.

However since they so often made social miscues around each other, he seemed to just consider this to be yet another one.

"Um, no need to apologize, I'm sure it was just an accident," He answered.

Thank you for always being so understanding, she thought rather than told him.

That could have gone much worse...yet still..."

"All right, well let's go get some breakfast," She managed to say, trying hard not to show just how out of it she was.

When they got there though to the table where Hermione and Luna were sitting, she announced, "I need to use the bathroom."

Which was girl code for "I need to talk to another girl in private."

At first it appeared only Daphne seemed to know the code, possibly because both Hermione and Luna hadn't had any female friends growing up.

"So do I," Daphne answered immediately as she went to go grab her bookbag.

Then as if to prove that girl code was a part of a girl's DNA and not just learned, Luna got up from her seat as she began to dance around weirdly and hold her crotch.

Harry, now watching her dance laughed as he asked, "what kind of dance is that Luna?"

"The potty dance," Luna admitted as she continued to dance, "it helps you go potty. There's a song that goes with it but Professor McGonagall won't let me sing it at school anymore."

Daphne then laughed too as she said, "I'd pay to see Professor McGonagall do the potty dance and song."

"Oh, I'll sing it for you for free!" Luna volunteered, "once we get into the super secret girl lair and she isn't around to hear it."

"You should come then, Hermione," Padma suggested.

"To hear the potty song?" Hermione asked, "no thank you."

"Um, yeah you do," Padma insisted.

She tried to send Hermione a subtle signal that she needed to come with her eyes.

Hermione must have got it because she then exclaimed, "oh, right, I just have to hear that song now. I just realized I've been having trouble going and I..."

Thinking she was laying it on a bit thick, Daphne interrupted her and said, "well, better go before one of us bursts then."

All 4 girls headed off to the nearest girl's bathroom, which was thankfully unoccupied.

Luna rushed into one of the stalls, proving that she actually did have to go, and over the din of listening to various lyrics about loving potties, Padma explained to Hermione about the girl meeting that she had convened.

"Well two questions then," Hermione said, "first of all, why are we having a meeting in a girl's bathroom and secondly why were we trying to keep it a secret from Harry?"

"Since this meeting is about him," Padma said, "and secondly bathrooms are the great girl clubs for secrets."

"I wouldn't go that far," Daphne said, "basically just a lame place to gossip while we do our hair and makeup."

"At any rate," Padma said as Luna was now washing her hands, "I just figured we needed to talk about Harry."

She briefly explained about what had happened that morning in telling Harry that she loved him.

"So in closing," Padma concluded, "I mean I'm not sure if I love him or not, I'm still young and inexperienced, but it sure feels like I do and I felt that you girls needed to know."

"Okay," Daphne said, the first to react, "well that's okay if you love Harry...unless this is your way of saying hey I love Harry and I'm stealing him all for myself. You girls good luck."

"I wouldn't do that," Padma argued, "I care about you girls too."

"Thanks Padma, I love you too," Luna agreed easily, "just so you know, you can't marry me though."

"I'm not talking about marriage," Padma replied ignoring the unbidden fantasy that sprang to mind (just a fantasy) she had had about marrying Harry, "I'm talking about smaller things like dating, and I think that it might be a good idea to maybe set a few ground rules concerning it."

"Well we share him right?" Hermione suggested, "we just all stay friends and let that keep going."

It sounded simple, but even Hermione knew that they wouldn't be able to stay "just friends."

If they could even use that term anymore, even ones with benefits.

"For how long though?" Daphne pointed out, "its not going to last with us as just friends forever. Eventually not just Padma but more of us might actually grow to love him. What then?"

Each of them seemed thoughtful before Luna said, "I think we should all just try and be happy. I love sharing Harry and I love each of you but I don't want to do anything that will make you unhappy or hurt you in any way. It should be all of our decision."

Padma nodded and said, "I think Luna is right and let things progress naturally. I don't know what the future holds but I like the way things are right now. I'm certainly happy and I think it's actually been more enjoyable for me having you girls around than if I was just simply dating Harry myself."

She meant what she had said. It was certainly an interesting situation she found herself in, but she liked it just the same. She didn't know what she would do without her quickly growing stronger friendships with each of them.

"Well I have to confess I'm not too used to sharing," Hermione admitted, "only child here."

"I am too, you can be my sister Hermione," Luna invited.

Hermione seemed unsure how to reply to that, so Padma decided to save her by saying, "well we can talk more later but I think we should at least agree to a few ground rules. When it comes to anything advancing our relationship with Harry such as trying to make him your boyfriend..."

"Or having sex," Daphne reminded her.

"Or feeling our boobies," Luna added.

"Or those things," Padma agreed, "we agree to discuss it with each of us beforehand and come to a unanimous decision."

Each of them seemed to think that over before they each agreed.

Glad to see that that issue was resolved, Padma let out a sigh of relief.

It wasn't a perfect solution, but she supposed it would do for now.

TOOMANYTOOMANY

Unbeknownst to them Harry had aspirations of a meeting as well, because he called one right after class that same day.

He held it in the Room of Requirement, but had ultimately decided to have Millicent there as well for it.

While their conversation had been brief concerning the abuse, he felt that she needed to be there for support and possibly to help fill in some gaps. He wasn't sure if he could get through all of it alone.

Yet still while it would be difficult he knew it needed to be done and let all of them know.

After all if he couldn't trust them, then who could he trust?

As he looked around at each of them, he was reminded that these were indeed his friends. Surely they wouldn't judge him.

"So what's this meeting for?" Hermione asked him.

"Are we going to play Jack in the Beanstalk?" Luna asked him hopefully as she looked over at Millicent.

"That's kind of rude Luna," Padma chided her.

"It's all right, she knows I don't mind," Millicent answered, "besides I'd love to play that with you."

"Except we can't," Hermione pointed out, "the Room of Requirement can do a lot of things, but growing a giant beanstalk isn't one of them, and magic beans have been banned in the school ever since the farting accident."

"The farting accident?" Millicent questioned.

"Don't ask," Hermione replied.

"Anyway, you were saying Harry?" Padma said accommodatingly.

He had decided to just be blunt and come out with it to make it easier on himself.

"Um, you should probably know that I got abused as a child by my muggle relatives," He blurted out.

Padma, Hermione, and Daphne blinked and just stared at him, as if unable to believe him.

Luna was currently studying the ground as if it was very interesting and Millicent seemed to be urging him to go on.

So he continued, haltingly at first. His tongue and mouth didn't seem to want to cooperate with his brain, which was also having trouble functioning properly.

All in all he was a nervous wreck wondering how they would react.

Still he got through it, and gratefully Millicent stepped in to help whenever she could even though plenty of information was new to her as well.

Nevertheless each of the girls looked stunned as they listened.

Finally however he couldn't help but stop as he recounted a particularly nasty incident where his Aunt had hit his head with a hot frying pan for slightly burning dinner.

He looked down, struggling to be able to continue and that was when he suddenly felt arms encircle him.

"Nobody is ever going to hurt you again," Luna promised in a tone way more serious than Luna usually was, "I'll make sure of it."

"She's right," Padma agreed as she also put an arm around him.

Suddenly he found all the girls now hugging him, even Millicent joined in for the group hug.

After a second however Daphne admitted, "uh, not to wreck the moment or anything but could we maybe stop hugging before I pass out from a lack of oxygen?"

Each of them broke apart at that in order to spare her lungs.

"How come you never told me?" Hermione demanded with tears in her eyes, "did you really think I would think badly of you?"

"I was always afraid that the Dursleys might do something if I ever told," Harry admitted, "I mean I'd told a few teachers back when I was still going to a Muggle school but none of them ever believed me. Besides they were my only family, I wasn't sure just where I'd end up otherwise."

He probably should have said something a long time ago he knew, he'd always just been too scared.

"Don't worry Harry," Padma insisted, "we'll be your family from now on."

Surprisingly Daphne added, "yes, we will."

TOOMANYTOOMANY

After the events of the day, what with the meeting and learning of Harry's abuse, Daphne decided that she'd better have another little talk with Luna.

Luna however seemed to be waiting for her just outside her little secret hideout.

"I think I'm starting to understand you," Daphne commented to her.

"Could you maybe explain myself to me then?" Luna asked hopefully, "my Luna puzzler is still trying to figure me out."

"I was just realizing what some of the things you've been doing," Daphne told her, "like making sure we were all okay with sharing and making sure Harry got away from his relatives."

Luna nodded before admitting, "if you really do want to understand a bit better, you have to know that this has always been more about friendship for me than building an actual harem. That's what I figured a harem was, just a big group of friends. It however has proven to be so much more than that."

"I'm listening," Daphne said, unable to think of what to say to that.

"For the longest time," Luna continued, "I didn't have any friends, only people who bullied me. Obviously I realized that I could use my powers to get revenge on the bullies or try to make friends, but I never wanted to hurt anyone, especially since I lacked control over my abilities. Still I could easily have made someone have an accident, someone I didn't like, like having them have a permanent case of the hiccups or have them baked in a pie, or some other not so nice thing, or perhaps created some grand scheme to take over Antarctica and become the Penguin Queen but I've never wanted to hurt anyone no matter how bad they might be to me."

Daphne looked into Luna's eyes and for once she could actually see just how dangerous Luna could really be if she so decided. Her powers and hidden intelligence could easily cause a lot more damage than giving someone the hiccups or becoming a Penguin Queen, if she so wanted she could make tons of people disappear or die horrible deaths and make them all look like accidents, even become a Dark Lady should she so wish.

Yet that was not Luna, and as she looked at her some more, she realized she was still just the same awkward, young friend of hers that she cared about.

Luna must have noticed her staring because she asked, not understanding why, "do I have something on my face?"

"No," Daphne answered.

"Shame," Luna said, sounding disappointed, "well I suppose I'll just have to wait for real dessert then."

Daphne decided to ask her, "so what changed then? Why did you decide to start using your powers?"

"Oh, my vision of the future was definitely a factor," Luna admitted, "however I probably wouldn't have acted on it had I not learned what I had. Harry's abuse for example. I could never have allowed him to continue going through that, but simply telling someone wouldn't have worked. Believe me its a lot more complicated than that. So I had to get the right people involved, Pansy and Millicent who really have done wonderfully I must say. Then I had to make sure that Harry went to a nice family. If I didn't the Malfoys would have ended up adopting him and that wouldn't have been good for anyone. I considered quite a few families before I realized that we could be his family. Of course, because he needed parental figures, I ensured that Harry met your mom and Padma's mom relatively early. Just where exactly he ends up is up to him however."

"You mean Harry could end up becoming my..." Daphne asked before stopping. She couldn't really say brother, it just sounded so wrong to her. If she had a brother, she definitely wouldn't be feeling the same way about him as she would Harry."

"If he wants to," Luna pointed out, "I may be manipulating things a lot, but I still try to give you as much agency as I can. I don't want to force anyone to do anything that would truly make them unhappy. Would you say that anything I have done so far has made you or anyone else unhappy?"

Daphne thought for a moment before saying, "well no, quite the contrary to be honest. I've actually had a lot of fun and I think everyone else has to, well except for maybe Ron or Malfoy."

"Well I couldn't avoid making at least someone upset," Luna said, "however in those cases I did so because I had to. Harry simply needed to get rid of Ron so he could get better friends in us, and Malfoy well let's just say that while I've made him look like a clumsy oaf he could really be dangerous if I let him get to Harry."

Luna smiled at hearing the words clumsy oaf, which was admittedly a bit funny, and so rather appropriate for stupid Draco.

She also had to agree with her in her assessment of him. It caused her to wonder just what her assessment of other people, including her were.

However Luna the mad genius decided to then say, "I actually told you about my plan because I knew I needed to be held in check. No one should have too much power over people, not even me. If I ever get too diabolical like growing a mustache or stealing everyone's left shoe, you have the power to stop me. You could tell Harry or one of the girls what I'm up to, or whatever you decide to do."

"I'd hardly say I'd be the best for something like that," Daphne pointed out, "I'm not exactly the queen of morality."

"Exactly," Luna replied, "you're in the perfect position being my friend and being part of the events that are taking place yourself. Like you said, you also aren't extremely morally high, enough that you won't immediately discount what I'm doing. You've got a journalist's mind, you'll try to learn all the facts you can from all sides first. Besides, it's not like you're the only one keeping me in check. I've got Gabrielle who knows and is outside of the harem, giving her an outsiders perspective, and her sister Fleur who is kind of on the fence as to whether she joins or not, making sure multiple sides are covered."

It was starting to make sense, and she was grateful that Luna had made such considerations.

"So what would happen if one of us were to tell or try and stop you?" Daphne questioned.

"I chose to tell you when I did for a reason," Luna explained, "like I said at the beginning of our conversation, it's always been more about having friends for me. If you were to say something, my plans for a harem would indeed be dashed, but all of our friendships would at least survive. However that being said, I know that if I were to leave everything totally alone from this point on and let each of you decide for yourselves, at least the 4 of us would all want to become a harem eventually."

"So why mess with anything then after this?" Daphne questioned.

Luna sighed as she admitted, "well unfortunately there is a lot of inevitable bad stuff that's going to happen that I have to avoid. Partially due to the ripple of effect of my own actions, but also because of things that would happen no matter what."

"Like what?" She demanded.

"Oh a prophecy or two," Luna told her as if they were no big deal, "well I'm done talking serious, let's go have dinner, my tummy is making funny noises."

She then began skipping cheerily down the hallway and Daphne was once again struck by just how interesting Luna was, one moment talking about her super detailed plan and the next reverting back into her more normal, childlike state.

It struck her as she watched her that this was really the way Luna wanted to be, the way she was right now, carefree and happy, yet couldn't as she was burdened with the many challenges and tough decisions she had in having such remarkable abilities and what she could do with them.

Finally she hastened to catch up to her.

TOOMANYTOOMANY

Dinner turned out not to be as bad as Harry thought it would be.

He had thought things would be more awkward now after his confession and the girls would be treating him like a baby or something, but fortunately so far he was at least still allowed to eat solid foods and not wear a bib.

However he did catch a few looks of sympathy from them, but they seemed to have mutually decided to help cover that up so it wouldn't be so awkward.

Daphne for example, when she caught Hermione doing it, stated, "hey Hermione, want to watch me eat?"

Realizing what she was doing, Hermione turned to her and said, "not when you're talking at the same time."

"I would never do that," Daphne insisted, "that's not ladylike."

"Yeah," Luna agreed, her mouth partially full of food, "it's not ladylike."

"I can see that," Padma answered as she looked at Luna.

"Oh, I'm not a lady, I'm a sexy beast," Luna claimed, not caring if she wasn't considered a lady.

"Did I hear something about sexy beasts?" Harry heard Fred say as he came up behind them.

"Must be talking about us," George added.

"More like sexy brutes," Hermione told them.

"Hey, you just called us sexy, thanks Hermione," Fred said.

"She also called us brutes," George pointed out.

"Ah, I'll take what I can get," Fred replied with a shrug, "you might want to be careful Harry before we steal your girl."

"No worries there then," Harry said, totally unconcerned, "If anyone owns anybody, Hermione owns me, not the other way around and I know she'll never be into you."

"Yet you're saying if we managed to get control of Hermione somehow..." George suggested, "we could own you?"

"Imagine the possibilities," Fred agreed, now rubbing his palms as if he was already concocting an evil plan involving him being their slave.

"Unfortunately it's a mutual ownership," Daphne insisted, "we each own a part of him, and I doubt you'd want to go up against all 4 of us."

Both boys backed away in mock fear as George said, "never mind. In fact...uh...we surrender. Just please don't hurt us."

Padma smiled and said, "apology accepted and the begging is appreciated."

"I'd still be careful around any of us, even if it's just me," Hermione cautioned, "if you don't behave I might end up changing the company name to Granger's Gags."

"Hey, if you really want your name to be the company name I would have been perfectly fine with Herm's Humor," George claimed.

"Might get the wrong crowd of customers, but I'm sure we could create some decent merchandise in order to satisfy them," Fred replied.

"It sounds like a pretty good idea to me Hermione," Daphne told her with a smile.

"Tempting but no," Hermione argued, "besides we've still got plenty of other things that we're working on, especially if we're to start actually selling items by the end of next month like we planned."

"So we can get rich," Fred responded.

"Well if all goes according to plan and we still need to..." Hermione tried to explain, even though the twins didn't seem to be listening.

"So we can get rich," George interrupted.

"Yep, so we can get rich," His brother agreed.

Hermione sighed and said, "yes, but here we are trying to solve the world's problems and all you can think about is getting rich."

"I don't see why we can't have both," Fred pointed out, "just think you can even buy that big boat you wanted."

"With a sign on it that says my boat is bigger than your boat of course," George replied.

Before their conversation could continue, Fleur decided to show up.

"I'm sorry if I'm interrupting," Fleur said, "I just needed to borrow Harry for a moment."

"All right, but it's only if you intend to borrow him," Padma told her, "we're going to want him back eventually."

He got up and went to go talk with her over in a corner.

"I'll try to be brief so you can get back to your friends," Fleur stated, "however I just felt I should probably tell you that while the kissing solution works, I can't say that it's going to work too well when we actually do it for the 2nd task."

He let that sink in for a moment before replying.

"While I certainly didn't have a problem with it I have to agree," He answered, "however I do want to help you find a solution."

"Thank you," Fleur said gratefully.

They both seemed to think for a moment before he suggested, "maybe we could get the girls to help. Maybe do what Daphne suggested at first and I offer an extra date with me as a reward for whoever figures it out."

"Or perhaps a few galleons or something," Fleur replied, making her own suggestion.

He gave her a grin and said, "trust me, extra dates are a lot more valuable to them. Besides they can get a little competitive sometimes."

After talking a bit more they went back over and issued the challenge.

"An extra date huh?" Padma said as she thought about it.

"I dibs being on Hermione's team!" Luna insisted excitedly.

"They're aren't any teams though Luna," Padma pointed out.

"There are now," Hermione replied surprisingly taking Luna's side, "I'd be happy to have you as my partner Luna. If either of us finds a good solution we agree to share the date."

"In that case I'll partner up with you Daphne," Padma offered.

"Nah, I think I'll try and win on my own," Daphne replied.

Padma didn't seem bothered by getting rejected as she then turned to Fleur and offered, "Fleur, why don't you partner up with me then?"

"Sure," Fleur agreed.

"Come on Hermione!" Luna said excitedly, "let's go look in the library for something so we can win that date!"

"Music to my ears," Hermione answered as she got up to go with her.

Not to be left behind, Padma and Fleur went off as well, leaving him and Daphne alone.

"Look at them, they must really want it," Daphne observed as she watched them go.

"Well I think both teams will be really strong," Harry pointed out, "I mean Hermione's just about the best reader and researcher you can find and Luna's actually a lot smarter than she appears. Then there's Padma and Fleur. Padma is really smart and I'm sure she'd love to win that date and Fleur could probably help a ton since she's probably researched things a lot herself and could tell Padma where not to look. No offense, I'm just trying to figure out how you're going to win just by yourself against the competion.."

"Oh simple," Daphne stated with a smile, "by not trying. In case you haven't noticed all the girls are now occupied, leaving us to do whatever we want together and I do believe you owe me a date anyway."

He smiled and said, "ooh, that's devious, positively Slytherin."

"Thanks," Daphne said, taking it as a compliment, "and they say Ravenclaws are the smart ones."

"Only one problem," Harry pointed out, "I still have homework to do and you know how much I love doing that."

Daphne sighed and said, "there's always something to burst my bubble. Come on, let's go get that done so we can have some real fun."

TOOMANYTOOMANY

By the time they finished with their homework (which really didn't take too long) they were both ready for some fun.

As they made their way down the hallway however, they were accosted by Susan and Hannah.

"Oh there you are Harry," Susan said warmly.

"We made you some treats," Hannah admitted with a big smile as she held up a plate of cookies.

"Trying to fatten him up I see," Daphne observed.

Hannah frowned and Daphne decided to apologize in her own way.

"Not that there's anything wrong with that," Daphne said, "he's just a bit too skinny anyway. By the way hot dress Hannah."

"Thanks," Hannah said as she twirled her yellow dress.

She did look great, he had to admit.

"Well thanks for the cookies," Harry said as he reached for some, "but you didn't have to do..."

Then he bit into one.

"Okay never mind," He said, "these cookies are absolutely divine! What in Merlin have I been missing in life without these cookies?"

Daphne helped herself to one as she took a bite before saying, "he's right. It's like eating heaven."

"Careful not to eat all of them then," Harry cautioned, "we wouldn't want heaven to shrink too much."

Susan and Hannah blushed at the compliment.

"It's an old family recipe," Hannah claimed proudly.

"I helped make them," Susan said, trying to make sure she got some credit.

"There aren't drugs in them or something are there?" Daphne asked suspiciously.

"Yes, my mom couldn't wait to share our old cocaine cookie recipe," Hannah said sarcastically.

"These are probably just as addictive though," Harry commented as he finished one off.

"You should try my deluxe extra chocolate cake," Hannah suggested, "I'll have to make it sometime."

"Please do," He insisted.

"What's it worth to you?" Hannah said teasingly.

"Oh no, I can't offer any rewards," He said, even as he took another bite of cookie which clearly made him want to reconsider, "I just offered a date with me as a reward for something."

He briefly explained about Fleur's and his problem.

"Maybe you two should try and compete," Daphne suggested.

"What do you think Hannah?" Susan asked her friend.

"Let's do it," Hannah agreed, as she raced off with her as Daphne watched their retreating forms smugly.

"Well that got rid of them," Daphne said, sounding satisfied.

"Except they took the plate of cookies with them," He pointed out.

"Darn it!" Daphne replied in dismay.

He laughed and said, "maybe you should try and be friends with Hannah if you liked the cookies so much."

"Don't tempt me like that," She argued, "I'd never be able to resist. No wonder Hannah's as big as she is."

"She still looks really good though," He pointed out.

"Yeah she does," Daphne agreed, "good thing too because I think I might end up much bigger if I keep eating those heaven cookies."

"Don't worry I'll roll you everywhere," He told her.

"Never mind," Daphne claimed with a frown.

He took her hand again and they continued on to the Room of Requirement.

When they got inside however, they found Pansy waiting for them.

"Hah!" She said delightedly, "I knew it!"

"Knew what?" Daphne asked, pretending to play dumb.

"I overheard Hermione and Luna talking in the library," Pansy confessed, "as soon as I realized you didn't seem to be participating I put two and two together. Very smart of you."

"This is what I get for not being the only Slytherin in the school," Daphne claimed disappointedly.

Pansy laughed and said, "you got that right."

"Well then, since I don't have any cookies to bribe you with," Daphne admitted, "I'm guessing I know what you want."

Pansy nodded.

"Would you like to accompany us on our date?" Daphne invited.

"I do believe I do," Pansy agreed with a smile as she went over and took his other hand.

Now accompanied by the two Slytherins (which may or may not be hazardous to his health at least according to some) he went further into the Room, where there appeared to be a giant container of some sort.

"What did you make appear?" He asked Pansy who had been the one to decide what would be in the Room.

To answer his question, they went up to the edge of the container.

It was, to his shock, absolutely full of plastic balls, in reds, blues, greens, and yellows.

"Somewhere a Muggle McDonalds is going to be missing the balls in its ball pen," He observed, "poor kids."

"It looked like fun," Pansy admitted, "I saw some Muggle kids playing in one once when I was kid. I just wasn't allowed to go in. Full of Muggle germs and all that according to my father."

"I was never allowed either," He told them.

Both Pansy and now Daphne knew about how he was treated by his relatives, but making an admission like that still felt difficult to him.

Pansy however looked at him not with sympathy but with understanding.

"It'll get better," She insisted, "sure it'll be hard for awhile, but I'm sure you have plenty of support. Millicent would be a good resource...as well as myself."

"You were abused too?" He asked her in surprise.

She sighed and would only say, "some scars aren't physical."

He chose not to press her further since this was after all, a date and would only bring up bad memories.

"I'm still grateful to you for doing that," Daphne said as she went and gave Pansy a hug.

Pansy was still unused to receiving hugs, but allowed it nonetheless.

"You're really turning into a softy aren't you Daph?" Pansy observed.

"If I am, I'm going to turn you into one as well," She answered.

"Never!" Pansy exclaimed before laughing.

Daphne laughed too before pointing out, "you chose to have us play in a kid's ball pen for a date, sounds like you're already well on your way."

"A lapse in sanity," Pansy argued, "well come on, let's go play before I come back to my senses."

They each got into the ball pen, having a good time throwing balls at each other or swimming through them.

It was a bit childish, but still fun.

Pretty soon they were all laughing and screaming.

By the end of the date however he was exhausted as he lay on top of the balls as Daphne crawled over to him and lay her head on his chest.

"Come on Pansy," Daphne urged, "I'll make room."

Reluctantly Pansy went over and lay her head on his stomach.

"This is an awful lot of weight on my chest," He pointed out.

"Are you saying we have big heads?" Pansy questioned him.

"At least you don't have boobs to carry around everywhere on your chest," Daphne added.

"First of all, if you do have a big head it's because you're smart," Harry commented, "and second of all Daphne, I highly doubt you'd want to be without boobs."

She giggled and told him, "you know me so well."

"You're going to know me a lot better soon too," Pansy confessed mysteriously.

"Well yeah if you keep trying to mooch dates," Daphne responded.

"No, I meant what's going to happen now that he's gotten away from his Muggle relatives," Pansy told them, "there is a few things you should probably know.

Author's Note: Yes! Finally finished this chapter. It gave me some real problems, but I finally got it done. Hope you enjoyed it. Please Review.