A/N: Sorry for the later upload! Forgot to do some spelling corrections for this chapter last night, so I had to give it a quick run through. Not to mention I also kind of forgot to upload this morning lol.

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any works by J.K. Rowling.

Chapter 3

The Leaky Cauldron was as empty as when Hadrian landed there. The only sign of life was the barkeep, Tom, who he quickly hailed over for the three of them to order.

Daphne seemed to have lowered her guarded expression and casually sat across from Harry while holding her sister close.

"A bit late for a meal." The barkeep Tom noted as he approached their table.

"Long night." Harry answered. "I'll have whatever's the cheapest, sir."

Daphne seemed to frown at that.

"And for you, missus?" Tom asked.

"Um, we'll have the same." she replied.

Harry was quick to protest at this. "No really it's okay-"

The girl seemed to have none of it as she sent a glare his way, shutting him up."

The barkeep scratched his head awkwardly before asking them, "You kids got enough to pay for this?"

Harry took out his pouch. "Just tell me how much. I'll cover it."

After their meal was paid for, the barkeep went off to make their food. Taking small glances at the 2 girls across from them, Harry had a few questions on his mind. Mainly about how they ended up in the situation they did.

Daphne however, broke the silence before he could ask anything. "So Evans, huh? I've never heard of that family name. But you're clearly a pureblood or at least half."

"I've recently decided to call myself Evans." Harry answered. "I'll tell you about the whole thing after our meal."

Daphne only looked at him curiously, as if trying to figure him out. "You know, Harry, you look really familiar."

"You might recognize me after the story."

"...you're…"

Daphne paused for a second, still studying him.

"You're Hadrian Potter, aren't you?" she asked in disbelief. "You're the son of James Potter, the savior of the wizarding world."

At the mention of his previous name, Harry grimaced. "Please don't ever call me by that name. The man who named me that…"

He trailed off.

The girl in front of him kept quiet for the rest of the wait, seeing that it was a touchy subject for Harry.

It was just in time as the barkeep brought out their food. For 8 sickles, 3 bowls of porridge and equal amounts of bread were brought out. Laid before them, Harry couldn't help but salivate at it.

While it didn't seem like the most appetizing meal, he suddenly realized that he hadn't had anything at all for the past night.

Both sides of the table looked at each other hesitatingly, seeing who would start on their meal first. However, the little girl, Astoria, dug straight into her bowl and slurped it in one gulp.

All tension was gone as both Harry and Daphne followed suit, devouring their own meals.

Within 2 minutes, there was not a speck of food on the bowls or plates. A madly blushing Harry and Daphne both stared at each other in shock when seeing how fast the food was eaten.

The only one content seemed to be Astoria, who was in her own little world licking her plate clean.

"Um, sorry Daphne I haven't-"

"Forgive me Harry, I should've-"

Both of them stopped mid-sentence when they realized they were talking over one another.

"It's fine you go first!" Their voices chorused in unison.

Astoria let out a small giggle when both of their faces got even more red, realizing what they were doing.

"Sorry about my manners," Harry chuckled, scratching his head. "I was hungrier than I thought."

"Well, uh, me too. I guess?" Daphne laughed nervously. "Thank you for the food, Harry. It was…well, it was probably the best meal I've had in months. And Tori can attest to that too. Now Tori, what do you say to Harry?"

Daphne nudged the little girl next to her.

"Oh!" Astoria stopped licking her dish and looked up at Harry. The little girl gave him the biggest smile ever, making his heart melt at how cute she was.

"Thank you, Harry! You're absolutely the best! The best!" The girl shouted, pumping her tiny fists in the air.

Although he was touched by the statement, he had to wince at how loud the little girl was.

"Pssst! Keep it down or you'll wake people up!" Daphne hissed, clamping her hand over the little girl's mouth for a second. Astoria pouted at that but still kept her grin directed at Harry.

"But they should all wake up to praise how amazing Harry is!" Astoria grinned, breaking out of her sister's hold.

Daphne raised an eyebrow at her little sister's declaration.

"Harry's pretty cool, I guess." Daphne admitted.

"Only pretty cool?" Harry pretended to pout.

"Okay okay! I guess you're alright…" Daphne faked an exaggerated sigh.

"Wait, how's that better than the original!" Harry protested.

That only earned another grin from the two girls in front of him, as they giggled.

Suddenly, Daphne turned to Astoria. "You know, I didn't forget that little outburst earlier. Could've gotten us kicked with how loud you can be, Tori."

"Nyahhhhh!" Astoria stuck her tongue out, mocking her older sister.

Daphne glared at her little sister before she slowly started to smirk. Evilly.

All of a sudden, Daphne jumped onto the little girl and began tickling her in all her sensitive spots. Astoria barely had time to react before she gave a little shriek.

Small fits of giggles soon echoed the room as Harry chuckled at the infectious laughter the two sisters were emitting, lost in their own tickle battle world.

Harry couldn't help but notice how differently the girls acted, especially Daphne. Just one meal and all the fear, tiredness, and guard from Daphne had simply evaporated.

It was as if a weight was lifted off of her as Harry watched her smile steadily grow bigger and bigger while she played with her little sister.

The same feeling of happiness swelled up inside of him identical to when he first saw that smile.

Why did it feel so good? Just to watch her be happy? It wasn't something he could explain. He knew he just met the girl, yet…

The feeling also seemed to extend to the little girl being tickled. Albeit it was a different kind of happiness. It just felt right, to see the little girl being an actual kid. He wasn't sure what happened to them, but whatever it was, it shouldn't have stopped someone as young as Astoria from smiling like that.

Harry was almost disappointed when the girls finally stopped playing. The joyous moment was over too soon. Daphne had recomposed herself as she returned to a more serious tone.

"So…I guess this is where you call in your favor." Daphne said. "Well, I'm all ears."

Harry looked at her and noticed how her look had become very attentive. She had suddenly changed from the happy playful girl to a more businesslike version of herself.

Taking in a deep breath, Harry opened his mouth to begin his tale. However, before a word could come out, he stopped himself.

"Harry?" Daphne tilted her head slightly.

The boy closed his mouth. Seeing the joy the two sisters shared, he didn't want the night to end on something like this. He wasn't going to put all of his problems on them. Seeing how terrified and guarded only a few hours ago, to being happy like this, he didn't want to ruin it.

Pushing himself with both hands on the table, he slowly got up.

"Thank you, Daphne. I think…I'll call it even here. Tonight was…nice." Harry smiled at her and looked down at Astoria. "And thank you too, Astoria. I'm very happy that you enjoyed your meal."

Both of the girls looked like they wanted to say something, but Harry had already begun to leave.

"Wait right there, mister!"

A hand grabbed onto his arm. Turning around he was surprised to see her glaring at him.

"Something's clearly happened," she said, pulling him back down. "I want to hear about it."

"Daphne. You don't owe me anything," Harry tried protesting.

The girl in front of him crossed her arms and huffed. "But I do. You didn't call the aurors on me. To top it off, you're treating me and my sister to a free meal, one of the best one we've ever had in a few months even after I tried to rob you. Lending an ear is the least I can do."

Harry just sat there staring back at her completely gob smacked. The girl who he barely knew for an hour was demanding that he talk about his very personal past. He wanted to start up another protest, but the look she was giving made it clear she wouldn't back down.

Weirdly enough, he then realized he wasn't that mad.

Tilly was the only other person who would spend her time listening or showing a hint of care towards Harry. Throughout his life, being the son of James Potter was only met with expectations and disappointments.

And add to the fact that Tilly was gone…in a way, Daphne might be the only other person in the entire world who would listen…and possibly care.

But Daphne wasn't the only one. Astoria seemed to look worried as well, indicating that she had taken quite a liking to Harry. Curiosity also mixed into the expression on her face, clearly wanting to know the story behind Harry's circumstance.

"Well…" Harry hesitated, still hesitant to talk. "It's not really a story for kids," he tried arguing meekly.

Daphne merely pointed to another table. "Tori, go sit over there for a while."

"But I'm not a little kid anymore! I'm almost 7!" Astoria protested before turning towards Harry. "I can handle it, you know! Please Harry? Pretty please?"

Astoria did her best pleading face but was promptly stopped by her older sister's command. "Tori! NOW!"

The young girl sulkily moved to the other table, but not before giving a small groan.

"There." Daphne said. "Nothing stopping you know."

"Fine." Harry muttered. "I guess I would like to say things started 2 days ago, but you'd need to understand what it was like being Hadrian Potter…"

1 hour later

"So, you found your mother's vault emptied?"

"Yeah. My personal vault, all gone and then, finally some hope…that man still finds some way to take from me."

Harry finished his tale with a bitter chuckle. Daphne had been a good listener, only interrupting a few times to ask questions or to clarify something. At the moment, Daphne was in deep thought as she was probably processing everything he said.

Giving her some time, he glanced over to Astoria to find the little girl fast asleep on the nearby table.

"She can be a real snorer," Harry commented, noticing how loud her snoring was.

Daphne sighed as she followed Harry's gaze. "Yeah," Daphne chuckled. "You should try sharing a room with her for a few years. Lord knows how loud she can be."

"Mhm."

The two of them sat in comfortable silence, both deep in thought about what just occurred. Harry was still surprised how easy it was to talk to her. A part of him still felt guilty for the way he managed to get her to listen, but it seemed she didn't mind either way.

"Harry," Daphne interrupted the silence. "You said your mom left the vault to you under her own name, right?"

"Yeah."

"So…" Daphne furrowed her eyebrows for a second. "What if…what if you created your own house? Harry, you're already taking the Evans name. You'd need to make it official, but now you're emancipated. With your own house, maybe you could contest for everything that was emptied out of the vault your mother left!"

Harry pondered on that and had to admit it seemed like a good idea.

"You're right…" His face lit up at the realization. "The vault was an Evans vault. That would mean technically I would have more rights to it than James does. We might be able to have a case but I'm sure it won't be easy."

"No, it definitely won't." Daphne agreed. "Hmmm…" she continued into a thinking pose.

Suddenly, after a few seconds, Daphne pounded her fist into her palm.

"Right. Harry, let's make a deal."

"A deal?"

"I'm going to help you get that vault back. It's not going to be cheap to create your own house, so I'll help however I can to get us money for that."

That was out of the blue. But she did state that she wanted to make a deal. So what could Daphne want?

"And in exchange?" Harry asked, curiously.

Daphne let out a deep breath before revealing her hand. "I want you to take both me and Tori into your house." Daphne declared. "Give us a place to stay. Make sure we're cared for."

Harry tilted his head. Take them into his house? Wait, but what about family? Daphne and her sister must have family, right? He can't just take them into his house like that!

"Two heads would be better than one," Daphne argued. "We could find a way to make enough money and pool it together."

The girl must have misunderstood him. She probably assumed from his facial expressions that he wasn't convinced.

"No no. Daphne, that's not the issue. I'm more than happy to help you and your sister out, deal or no deal." Harry said. "It's just…what about your family? I can't just accept you into the house without your parents…"

Harry trailed off when he saw Daphne stiffen up at the mention of parents.

"Daphne? Is something the matter?"

"I…no, Harry. Nothing. Anyways, um don't worry about that issue. There won't be any issue with you taking me into House Evans."

"Daphne…"

The girl seemed to be trying her best to avoid Harry's eyes, letting him know that something was definitely up. And it had to do with her parents.

With a surprising amount of courage that he didn't think he had, Harry reached over to grasp her hand into his' making her look at him, startled.

"You can talk to me," Harry said softly. "After all, we're going to have to work together to get through whatever messed up situation we're both in."

Daphne hesitated but ultimately let out a sigh. "I guess it's only fair," she muttered. "Besides, you told me your story so…I'll tell you mine."

For the next hour, similarly to how she had listened to Harry's story, he began to listen to hers'.

And her hand never moved away from Harry's grasp.

A/N: Hey everyone! A bit of a shorter chapter today mainly because the next one will be much, much longer. This chapter is a bit of a buildup if you will. The next chapter is actually my favorite rewritten chapter so far, so I'm very excited for it!

I'm also working on a discord on the side, where everyone reading this can gather and talk. It also serves another purpose of allowing me to post explanations of changes I've made, and my reasoning for it. Will try to get it up by next week!