Chapter 18 - BUT SHE'S A SNAKE!

Hermione POV

The second I saw Harry and Daphne I felt cold sweat starting to drip down my forehead. It wasn't because I was not happy to see them, in fact, I thought it was really cute, the two of them together…

No, it was because of who I am next to! Ron and Ginny were with me!

We had taken shelter at Honeydukes during the dementor commotion. At the time I honestly thought we were screwed, the only people I knew that could do a full body patronus, Dumbledore and Harry, were both at the blasted castle. Then when I saw the familiar silver stag in the darkened skies above Hogsmeade, the one I saw on the Hogwarts Express, I let I out a sigh of relief. Although I was a bit annoyed that Harry had once again ignored the rules and decorum, but this time, I could honestly say, it was for the best.

If he had not been here…

Then at the worst moment possible, Ron turned around and saw Harry.

"Oi, Hermione is that Harry?"

He then became alarmed as he recognized the girl holding his hand and smiling and laughing with him.

"Isn't that…? What's he doing with that snake?!"

I bit my lip, I didn't know what to do!

Oh no... why did Ginny turn around as well now!

Ginny then turned around as well, at the mention of Harry. She then flushed red and her eyes blazed.

"Hermione… go get Harry here… now… before I hex that bitch!"

Laughing probably wouldn't be appropriate now. Although I hate to admit it, Daphne was as smart as me in most subjects. It was often the two of us that fought for top grades. Although my average was higher throughout the year, by final exams and tests she would score really well. She was also a decently good dueler, I saw her over the last month in DADA dueling Harry. Although she never beat him, as he somehow effortlessly countered all her spells or dodged them, her string of spells, precision and casting speed was incredible.

At Ginny's angry command, Ron also looked over at me and motioned for me to go over to get him. Caught between a rock and a hard place, I sprinted and ran towards Harry and Daphne.

Harry POV

As Daphne and I turned around, I saw Hermione sprinting towards us with an incredibly worried expression. At first, I thought it was because of the dementors chaos from before, then I looked past her and saw a fuming Ron and a scarlet red Ginny standing at Honeydukes.

Oh fuck… Merlin have mercy on my soul… It already has shared a spot with good ol Voldy...

Hermione then ran in front of us, slightly out of breath. She was crying slightly.

"Harry… I didn't see you until Ron told me… I'm sorry… If I knew I would have-"

"It's okay Mione".

I then looked over at Ron and Ginny, my grip on Daphne's hand tightened slightly. I sighed then turned to Daphne.

"Sorry Daphne… Do you think we can go over and sort this out?"

Daphne gave me a warm smile.

"They are your friends Harry, you don't need to ask me to go to your friends".

"You better brace yourself, Ron can be a bit…"

She then held my hand tighter and moved slightly closer to me and whispered in my ear.

"It's okay… I understand... it was kind of my fault as well… I was just so happy after… you know..."

I then locked eyes with her and stared into those blue sapphire orbs for a while before turning back to Hermione. She had a stupid smile on her face as well…

"Alright Mione, let's go over…"

Hermione, Daphne and I then walked over to Ron and Ginny. Unsurprisingly it was Ron who yelled at Daphne first.

"What are you doing here? Get away from Harry!"

I quickly stood in front of Daphne, putting an arm in front of her before speaking calmly.

"Ron, she's with me".

Ginny then glared daggers at Daphne. Her eyes lasered in on her skull.

"Why are you with this Slytherin slut Harry?"

I felt heat build up around my body. I then focused on my Occlumency and quelled the anger down slightly. I glared hard at Ginny and spoke in a dangerously calm voice.

"Don't you dare talk like that to Daphne, Ginny".

Ginny faltered and stepped back slightly.

"Oi! Don't talk to my sister like that! She's right anyway, she's a snake after all-"

I then lost it, I couldn't suppress my emotions because of the sheer idiocy of this conversation, and shot back.

"Well then both of you shouldn't talk to my girlfriend like that!"

Ron and Ginny became crimson red and surprised.

Ron then stuttered out, "Your dating a sna-"

"Don't you finish that sentence Ron! Why does it matter to you so much if I am dating someone in Slytherin? You don't even know Daphne and you are judging her already! Not everyone in Slytherin is like that git Malfoy!"

Ron then was at a loss of words.

Ginny the yelled out, "But she is using you Harry! She's-"

I cut her off just like I did with Ron.

"No she is not! You would see that if you dropped your prejudice! Honestly, the two of you are no better than Malfoy and his bigoted views!"

Ron then snapped out of his embarrassment at being compared to Malfoy.

"WHAT! I am nothing like that-"

He didn't finish his sentence. From behind us, I heard screams as someone from the crowd yell out Dementor! Dementor! On instinct, I wandlessly summoned my wand to my hand from my jean's pocket, turned around and shot out my silver stag from my wand. My stag barely formed, as I was still a bit drained from doing the full body patronus. However, it would be good enough to shield us from the incoming dementors. Only… there weren't any dementors… I instead saw Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle with there black hoodies over their heads in a look of surprise. They quickly paled as they saw my patronus and ran away.

I then dissolved my patronus on the false alarm. However, once the light died down a bunch of people started to gather around us now. A random person in the crowd shouted.

"Did you see the stag! He is the one who cast that full body patronus!"

Another person then spoke up.

"Merlin's Beard! He's only a student as well!"

I was already uncomfortable with the crowd, then, unfortunately, somebody spotted my scar as well.

"Blimey! It's Harry Potter!"

Then the whisperings turned into an uproar as people approached us. Thankfully at that moment professor Mcgonagall and Lupin came to my rescue. Mcgonagall then started talking in her signature no-nonsense voice.

"Now there will be other opportunities to talk with Mister Potter, if you will excuse us, the Headmaster needs to see him now!"

Mcgonagall then turned to Daphne with a tiny smile on her lips.

She can't possibly know...

"Miss Greengrass will you accompany us as well? A few of the student's families have just flooed over and demanded to see their children, your parents are among those few…"

She then noticed the tension between Ron and I and bit her lip. Professor Lupin seemed to also notice and then spoke up.

"Mister and Miss Weasley, I suspect your parents will be arriving as soon as they can as well... I will come escort you back to the castle once I have dropped off Harry".

Professor Lupin then turned and gave me a barely noticeable wink. Both professors started to clear the crowd and take Daphne and I back towards the carriages. I turned around to see an angry and most likely jealous Ron. Ginny looked furious as well. Hermione though gave me a reassuring smile as I left.

Doran's Ring -

Hi everyone! The famed Maurder's Map was revealed in these chapters :P! I hope you all enjoy the story so far! I know that there was a bit of a repeat with the full body patronus scene, but I thought it was essential in the story. The happy memories moment to power the patronus was a great way to show Harry's growing feelings for Daphne. I don't know, I hope you guys don't mind the slight repeat! Thank you all for the amazing support! I will be working hard on getting chapters out soon!