Disclaimer: Don't own any of the recognizable characters, I just create weird situations for them to be in for my own amusement. I don't make any money off of any of this.
Written for the School of Prompts Challenge
1-2: basic. candle. wonder.
Daphne briefly wondered what Pot—Harry's plans for tonight were. She had been there to console him after the disastrous date with Cho Chang, and then told him in no uncertain terms that he needs to get over Cho. To assist with that, she asked him to ask her out on a date.
She had absolutely no ulterior motives for getting Harry to ask her on a date. None. None at all.
Maybe.
Okay, maybe she did find Harry at least somewhat interesting. He did win the Tournament last year, and she enjoyed his company, but bloody hell did Harry need a kick in the arse when it came to girls.
Daphne was pleasantly surprised this morning when she found a note slipped into her pocket on the way to the Great Hall. *Be ready at our classroom at 7, and wear something nice*. She guessed that it would be a dinner or something like that.
Daphne showed up at the classroom, wearing a simple sleeveless green dress with silver trim. She opened the door and found Harry wearing a simple shirt and slacks, and an old cloak draped over his arm, the same cloak he seems to carry with him from time to time.
"So this is my invisibility cloak, its how I sneak around places." Harry lifted up his old cloak.
"So we are going to be sneaking somewhere?" Daphne inquired.
"To our date." Harry shuffled nervously, looking down at the floor. It never ceased to surprise Daphne that Harry, who could face down a dragon, would be nervous around girls. Especially considering the time he spent around Hermione. Daphne briefly considered that Harry didn't realize Hermione was a girl, but she was sure those thoughts were crushed after the Yule ball last year.
"Then lets go." Daphne motioned towards the door.
Harry glanced at the cloak and then glanced towards Daphne. "So... we are going to have to stand very close together for this to fit over both of us."
Harry looked a bit nervous and shy asking for permission to stand in close quarters. "No problem, Pot—Harry." Damn, slipped again. Old habits are hard to get rid of.
Harry perked up slightly and offered an arm to Daphne. She graciously accepted it before he threw the cloak over their bodies, huddling a bit closer. Daphne became acutely aware of Harry's scent as it encroached the air around them. There was the mild smell of Harry's cologne intermingling with the faint musty smell of sweat. Daphne also smelled a hint of something acidic and acrid.
Murtlap.
That's what it was. She remembered from the time her mother used it on her when she scrapped up her arm. Considering Harry was banned from Quidditch, she wondered what injury Harry sustained to require the pickled Murtlap essence. Daphne put it out of her mind as they started walking towards the Great Hall. Daphne tensed as they approached the hall, thinking that they were going to go inside. The number of people also made her nervous but Harry seemed comfortable skirting around the few students that came and went.
Daphne started to relax a bit when she realized they were heading outside. They headed towards the Whomping Willow, and part way there Harry pulled off the Cloak and moved to step away from Daphne to give her some space. She just kept a firm grip on his arm to keep him at her side. They stepped into the forested area and came to a small pond, on the other side Daphne spotted a small table, a small candle illuminating the neatly prepared table, plates and silverware all arrayed out.
"How did you get this out here?" Harry clearly had some romantic side, a candle lit dinner by a small pond.
"Dobby helped a lot. He also set up some simple wards to keep people and animals away. Come on." He gave her a small smile, and tugged her along the edge of the pond.
"Why would Malfoy's house elf help you out?" Daphne looked at him confused.
Harry's smile bloomed into a giant grin. "I freed Dobby, or rather, I tricked Lucius into freeing Dobby."
Daphne smiled too, remembering Malfoy's rant at the end of second year. Harry launched into the story of giving Lucius the diary with the sock in it after the Chamber of Secrets. As Harry finished the story, telling Daphne of Dobby blasting Lucius down the corridor, they arrived at the table.
Harry stepped up to the table and pulled out the chair for Daphne, then pushed it in after she sat down. As soon as Harry stepped away Daphne realized that it was quite chilly on this early spring evening. Noticing her shiver, Harry pulled out his wand and cast a warming charm on her. She smiled gratefully.
Dobby popped in once Harry was seated and started them on their dinner. Daphne enjoyed dinner, briefly sharing with Harry some basic stories from her family. She was careful to not share too much information, mostly harmless things like the funny stories involving her sister, Astoria. Harry didn't share many new things, just filling in some of the gaps in the stories of his first few Hogwarts years that he didn't tell Daphne before.
Daphne noticed that Harry never talked about his life before Hogwarts, and she suspected that the stories that pretty much everyone read as a child were a complete fantasy. Daphne made a note to try to get that information out of him later.
They soon finished their dinner and they got up. Daphne noted that it was pretty late and close to curfew. They got up and walked away as Dobby popped away the table and cleaned everything up.
They decided to separate at the front entrance to avoid running into other students.
"Thanks Harry, that was a pleasant meal."
"No problem Daphne, I had a great time too." He gave her a shy smile again.
Daphne hesitated a moment, before leaning in and giving Harry a quick peck on the cheek. Then she whirled around and walked off towards the dungeons. She didn't see Harry's smile morph into a smirk. Harry wrapped his cloak around himself and whisked off after Daphne to ensure that she would get to her common room safely.
A/N: As a note I'll be posting a multi-chapter story that I've started working on, so updates for this is slightly slower, but I will be updating both, constructive criticism always welcome!