On day five, Harry was greeted with a golden opportunity.
Daphne, his sister, had finally dropped her cold mask, and was proving to be stubborn, confident, and caring. She had made a point to talk with him whenever she could, keeping him updated on important things between talking about nothing whatever with his parents and humouring Astoria's heartfelt desire to share her extensive (and expensive, and fancy) doll collection with him. Daphne made the most sense to him, and it was easy now for him to notice when she had something interesting to ask.
Her nervous tendencies included threading a hand through her hair, excessive staring, and crossing her legs. As all three of these were things she did today, he adjusted his seat on his bed and listened.
"Orpheus, I want to invite some of my friends over tomorrow," she explained. "We haven't told anyone about you yet. I want to know if it's okay with you if you meet them."
"Of course," Harry replied immediately. "Who are your friends?"
Daphne shrugged. "Some other purebloods who I know from my parent's work. There's Neville, who's from a pro-muggle family, but they respect the pureblood ways to Mum and Dad let me say hi from time to time. Oh, and there's Susan Bones, who I talk to sometimes, Dad says everyone's scared of her aunt but I don't really see it. And there's Mandy Brocklehurst, she's nice, really smart. Oh, and, um… Draco Malfoy." she sighed. "Astoria has this huge crush on him-"
Harry nodded slowly, still focused on the 'Draco Malfoy' part. He hadn't had time to prepare at all… he would need a mirror and his wand the moment he could get his hands on them. He needed their first meeting to go perfectly.
"-so of course, Astoria's not being told about this for our safety." Daphne finished. "Thank you, Orpheus. Oh, um, Mum said you have to stay in bed, but I'll take them all up to meet you, yeah?"
Harry nodded. "Thank you, Daphne. We can talk again later, you'll probably need to send out invitations now."
"Of course," Daphne nodded absently. "Later then, Orpheus."
"Later, Daphne."
The next morning, Harry slowly left his bed. He still felt shaky, but at least his body was strong enough to stand up and walk around a bit. He'd been painful and exhausted for days.
Conjuring a mirror, he stared at himself. His scar was nearly totally gone, reduced to a single white line which shrunk every day. His hair was still jet-black and his eyes still green as emeralds, but his facial features had changed drastically. His once circular face was now angular and aristocratic; his nose had rounded off; even his eyes were now angled differently, though his sight was still bad. He'd overheard his parents discussing potions treatment for it, which he was ready to agree to. His glasses were discarded; he didn't need them right at this very moment.
He was also, thank Merlin, a bit taller. He looked particularly emaciated, but it was to be expected, with both his condition and the changes. It wouldn't be strange. He began to carefully charm his hair in a delicate attempt to have it rest around his face instead of sticking up everywhere. Finally satisfied, he cleaned up his face and then let go of the magic on the mirror, moving to his closet to change into something better than silk pyjamas.
He may not be a fashionable person, but he knew his old clothes - the ones he had met Draco in the first time - were not suitable whatsoever.
He finally decided on a comfortable, dark green polo and a pair of grey pants. He wouldn't bother with robes; after all, he was still sick. It wasn't like he was going anywhere.
Finished, he lay back and waited, mulling over things in his head.
Daphne sighed as her four friends got to bickering again. Mandy and Neville had been disagreeing over whether muggleborns should count when added to a pureblood line, and as usual, Susan had sided with Neville while Draco had sided with Mandy. Daphne honestly didn't care, but she eyed Draco as he began to creep away silently, quickly adopting a stance which meant he didn't want to participate in any more fighting.
Well, she would offer a distraction.
"Please, everyone," Daphne sighed. "Can we drop this argument? We're not getting anywhere."
"But Daphne-" Mandy complained.
Daphne groaned. "My brother would not be impressed. Don't you guys see what this means to me?"
Mandy stopped. So did everyone else. Yes, they knew, from the moment she'd announced her brother's existence, what it meant to her.
Daphne had been close to the age where parents had begun considering arranged marriages. Of course, this didn't normally happen in the Greengrass family, but in the event of a female heir, the Greengrasses would agree to arranged marriages to keep the line pure. She knew that Draco's parents, as much as Draco did not agree with them on it, were considering proposing a deal. With a male heir, Daphne was no longer required to represent the Greengrass family. She was finally free to love any she pleased.
Not to mention - she adored him. Polite, frail, kind-hearted and altogether a gentleman. He was all she talked about lately - even Astoria found him charming.
"Of course we do, Daph," Mandy soothed over. "I'll back down… for now." She gave Neville a sharp look and relaxed.
"Where did Draco go?" Susan asked.
Daphne glanced around and shrugged. "Eh, he'll miss meeting Orpheus if he doesn't show. His choice to slip off."
The remaining three glanced at each other and accepted that, following Daphne up the stairs.
Draco sighed in relief and trotted up to his favourite room in the Greengrass house. It was always empty, kept for the firstborn male. It had beautiful blue carpets and beige walls, and was always very calming. He reached for the door and opened it, pushing into the room with a sigh of relief.
"I must admit, I expected Daphne would want to be here to introduce you."
Draco froze. Looking up, he felt his breath being ripped from his lungs.
This must be Orpheus Greengrass. And Orpheus was stunning. A bright smile, gentle almond-shaped eyes; if he didn't know better he'd say those eyes were emeralds, gemstones meant to adorn someone's fingers, not their face. And his voice was so silky and gentle…
"Daph was right," he breathed at last. You ARE beautiful.
Orpheus looked a bit confused. He nipped his lip delicately, studying Draco carefully. He was just a few inches taller than Draco, too, and looked terribly worried. "Excuse my rudeness," he apologized quietly, "but who are you? And what did Daphne say?"
"Draco," he rushed, a bit flustered. "Um, she said that, that you were ill," he lied quickly. "You… um… look tired." No, he reminded himself. He looks like an Adonis. Are you sure he was named right?
"Do I?" Orpheus averted his gaze, gently tugging at a strand of hair. "Strange. I've been sleeping for days… I suppose I have been tired, though. You're Draco Malfoy?"
Father would have my hide if he knew I mentioned my given name first… "Yeah, I am." He replied rather numbly. He probably sounded like an idiot.
Orpheus nodded. A bit sadly, he continued, "I can't stand up for very long, so…" he pointed. "I'll be on the couch… feel free to join me." He walked over a bit shakily, and in a bout of shocking rashness, Draco supported him, earning a bright smile. They dropped onto the couch, and after a few moments, Orpheus lifted a hand to summon a book from the shelf at one end of the room.
Seemingly unfazed by the magical feat, Orpheus flipped it open to somewhere in the middle, smiling and leaning in to point at the lines in the book - a magical mythology book. "Right here. This one's my favourite."
"Isn't the tale of the three brothers…?" Draco inquired awkwardly. He managed, somehow, to bite back the 'a story for babies?' that was about to leave his mouth.
"Awesome?" Orpheus finished. "Think about it. If I had one of those…" he sighed gently, a hand tracing the different shapes of the three gifts. "There's so much good they could do, you know? If they existed."
Draco blinked. He'd never actually considered it that way, always what he could get, actually. It made him feel… inferior, somehow. Ignoring the twinge of guilt in his chest, he nodded. "Yeah, you're right."
There was a knock on the door, and Orpheus rose on unsteady legs, putting the book down and walking very slowly towards the door. Draco quickly joined him, subtly offering his arm for support, just in case, and opened the door.
"Orpheus? Have you-? Oh, there you are, Draco." Daphne smiled. "I guess you met then."
"We have," Orpheus replied cheerfully. "I haven't met your other friends yet, though. If I may?" he gestured, and Daphne immediately backed up, pointing towards the others.
Draco felt oddly ignored. He didn't like it.
"Neville, Neville Longbottom," Neville introduced himself shyly. Orpheus's demeanor changed in a heartbeat, his seemingly tall, proud stature falling into a sloppy stoop and his smile growing from nice to lopsided. Strangely, Neville seemed to immediately relax, smiling back.
"Orpheus, Orpheus Greengrass," Orpheus replied, giving Neville what appeared to Draco to be an awkward pat on the shoulder. "You're going to Hogwarts too, yeah? Keep an eye out for Daphne for me."
Neville nodded, full-on grinning now, and watched as Orpheus composed himself again and nodded politely to Mandy Brocklehurst.
"Mandy, I believe," he greeted her softly. "Daphne mentioned you yesterday."
"Yeah?" Mandy shrugged sheepishly. "Nice to meet you."
"The same here," Orpheus chuckled. Draco pushed aside his jealousy to relish in the sound, committing it to memory. "And you must be Susan Bones."
"I am," Susan replied cheerfully. "You're Orpheus Greengrass?"
Orpheus merely smiled.
While Susan, Mandy and Neville hadn't noticed yet, they certainly did notice when Orpheus used Daphne's shoulder for support as they walked down the stairs, and it was clear that Orpheus was extremely weak by the time they made it to the sitting room. He flopped immediately into a couch, his body going somewhat limp as he tried to disguise heavy breathing.
"Are you alright, Orpheus?" Susan asked quietly, as everyone went to sit down as well. Orpheus nodded slowly, forcing himself to sit up straight-backed.
"I'm fine," he clarified weakly. "Just a few aftereffects from the blood adoption… I've been rather tired lately." He punctuated this with a slow pair of blinks that showed off his exhaustion perfectly.
"Maybe you should sleep," Mandy suggested.
Orpheus shook his head. "I've done nothing but sleep, Mandy. I think I deserve a break from healing, don't you?" There were no arguments.
Harry felt so incredibly at peace around people he recognized. Draco, for instance, reminded him of just how lucky he was; Neville was a taste of Gryffindor despite not being one yet, the place he spent seven years in; and Susan was also a familiar face. While he didn't know Mandy well, she was also becoming a comforting presence. The four of them were deep into a game of exploding snap, and Harry was happy to simply watch, leaning heavily into the couch and letting his eyes drift shut occasionally.
This. This was bliss. He would do anything to keep this.
A/N: I feel particularly on the fence about this chapter. The whole... love at first sight thing... is part of their development, and I won't be going along with a relationship based on this sort of love, but I want to allow it to evolve and grow while also having them be very dedicated to each other nonetheless. Opinions?