Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, JK Rowling does.

Author's Note:

First off, massive thanks for the lovely feedback the first chapter received. It's slightly overwhelming, but in a good way.

Secondly, apologies for the wait for the second chapter. It was not meant to be anywhere near this long, but I had a brainwave that had me altering certain storylines that I had to work out and that set me back a bit. I will talk more about that in the AN at the end of the chapter though.

Either way, I hope you all enjoy the second chapter of Taking Chances.


Considering that they had arrived forty-five minutes earlier than the Hogwarts Express was due to depart, Lily thought that Platform Nine and Three Quarters would be significantly emptier than it currently was. The Potter's had reasoned that by arriving early, they and the children's godparents would draw less attention. Alas, Sirius had taken one look at the number of families on the platform and conjured thick, curly moustaches for him, James, and Remus, and dyed all the adults' hair a honey blonde. He had turned towards her children with a gleam in his dark eyes, but Lily had put her foot down. Harry was anxious enough, and Lily refused to have her children feel that they must hide who they are on what should be a jubilant morning.

The scarlet locomotive was stationed next to the platform, and already the more eager pupils were entering the carriages of the train to load their luggage and reserve a compartment for the journey to Hogwarts. Families littered the platform to say goodbye's and meet old friends, and the sound of merry greetings rang about the platform alongside the smoke that wafted from the locomotive's engine.

Her daughter was one such child, giggling in high pitched tones as James, Sirius and Remus spoke to her in hushed whispers with smirks on their faces. Goodness knows what they were telling her youngest. If she got so much as one owl from the school about Holly misbehaving, she would be having stern words with her husband and his friends!

Harry, meanwhile, was standing off to one side, leaning against one of the curved brick columns and gazing pensively at the Hogwarts Express from a position that he must have thought was relatively inconspicuous. Remus and Sirius had already carried most of their luggage into the carriage at the rear of the train with other student's, including Hedwig's cage and Harry's Nimbus 2000, leaving her son with a navy-blue rucksack slung across his shoulders.

Both Harry and Holly were already dressed in their Hogwarts robes, Lily not letting them leave the house this morning without taking at least a dozen pictures of her children all dressed up. She had been intermittently bursting into sobs since breakfast that morning and had seen James surreptitiously grab a handful of tissues as they left home, the beautiful man that he was.

Lily walked over to Harry and reached up to try to neaten his jet-black hair, to which her son ducked away with an uncomfortable scowl.

"It's fine Mum, leave it," he stressed, "you know it's just going to get messy again."

"You know I like impossible challenges sweetheart," stated Lily primly, before whispering conspiratorially, "I did marry your father after all."

Harry snickered. "Not to mention facing down Voldemort on multiple occasions."

"Yes, that too," nodded Lily dismissively. Voldemort had certainly been terrifying, a wizard seemingly unstoppable and incredibly driven to exterminate muggleborns like her. More than that, he had ruthlessly hunted her family and if any number of events had unfolded differently, they would not be alive today.

That being said, Voldemort had only targeted her for three years. James Potter on the other hand, had been simultaneously infuriating and amusing her for almost twenty-five years.

And on his day, no one was as bothersome as James Potter.

'Still, he has certainly improved a lot from when he was Harry's age," Lily mused tenderly, glancing to where James was on his knees and embracing Holly, who had her head buried into his neck. Lily looked back to Harry.

"How are you feeling?"

Harry shrugged a little self-consciously. "Nervous," he replied, giving her a small, embarrassed smile.

Lily sympathised. "That's ok sweetheart, everyone is nervous on their first day, I certainly was. Just promise me that you won't let your nerves stop you from experiencing new things."

"I promise," nodded Harry, "I just need to psych myself up you know? Get into a socialising mindset and not hex anyone that asks me if I'm Gilderoy Lockhart's new apprentice or other such nonsense."

Lily felt her lips tighten. Gilderoy Lockhart, a famous wizard who fought against dark creatures and beings, had mentioned three years ago in his autobiography, Magical Me, that he planned to teach Harry all he knew about fighting dark forces and cited the numerous, not to mention fictional, adventures that Harry had supposedly had when describing why Harry would make the ideal protégé.

Neither her or James read any of Lockhart's books, nor the Daily Prophet which had eagerly printed this news about Harry's past activities and apparent career plans. When James heard the news around his office at work, he apparated home in a rage that Lily had only ever witnessed when the two duelled Death Eaters during Voldemort's reign of terror.

After six months of legal battles, Lily and James were able to force Lockhart's publishers to remove any mention of Harry in Magical Me, but thousands of books had already been sold and the narrative that Harry had a childhood of taming dragons and was Lockhart's apprentice was further reinforced in the public mindset.

To make matters worse, Holly and later Harry's Hogwarts supply lists this year contained eight different books of Lockhart's that they had to buy as compulsory texts. Why Professor Quirrell, who had been the Defence against the Dark Arts professor since 1991, thought Lockhart's writings were essential for the magical development of witches and wizards Lily had no idea.

"Well," pronounced Lily stiffly, "you tell them the truth of the matter and nip that and any other misconceptions your classmates have about you in the bud. You are a bright and friendly boy, show them that and the Boy Who Lived malarky will quickly get overshadowed."

Harry smiled unsteadily. "I'm really going to miss you Mum," he whispered.

Lily stepped forward and wrapped her oldest in her arms, blinking away tears as Harry squeezed her back tightly. "I will miss you too darling," she replied thickly.

Their embrace was interrupted by a pack of tissues gently tapping them on the back of their heads, and mother and son separated with shaky laughter to see the rest of their family standing by, James subtly pocketing his wand from where he had animated the much needed tissues.

Lily grabbed one and wiped under her eyes as Sirius put an arm around Harry and Remus offered final words of advice. Although Remus and Sirius were not on shifts this morning, James should have been in the office over an hour ago, and everyone knew it was time to say goodbye.

Lily felt a warmth on her midsection as Holly pressed a hug against her stomach.

"Bye Mum!" Holly said happily, apparently the only one not experiencing a sense of melancholy at their parting and acting as the living contradiction to Lily's advice to Harry that everyone was nervous on their first day of school.

Lily copied the smile on her daughter's face. "You behave yourself flower. Listen to your brother, pay attention in class, and most importantly, ignore everything your father has just told you."

"But you don't even know what he said!" protested Holly hotly.

"Your father," Lily drawled, "is not half as subtle as he thinks he is."

Holly pouted in response as the men in their group finished saying their goodbyes. The adults faced Harry and Holly, who had their backs to the train and were ready to board.

"Remember," Remus warned, "there are children of Death Eaters and other sympathisers of Voldemort at Hogwarts, students who would readily harm either of you for defeating their parents' master. You know who they are, avoid them when you can but be wary nevertheless."

The two nodded seriously. Lily and the others had made sure to identify such individuals to the children in the month before they went to Hogwarts. She knew Harry could defend himself, Sirius and Remus having claimed on numerous occasions in the past that he excelled in Defence against the Dark Arts, and there was no doubt in her mind that he would be watching Holly like a hawk. Yet part of her couldn't help but worry about her children leaving the safety of their home to a castle that housed the children of the bigoted murderers that had hunted her family.

After a final round of hugs between everyone, Holly grabbed Harry's hand and almost dragged him towards the nearest carriage, their parents and godfathers waving them off before making their way to the portal that would exit out to King's Cross Station.

Lily had a firm hold on her husband's hand, using her other to dab under her eyes with another tissue. James's eyes also had a glassy look to them and despite the happy occasion, both Remus and Sirius appeared rather solemn. As they stepped out into the Muggle world James gave her a final hug and peck on the lips before hurrying away to find a secluded part of the station he could apparate to the Ministry from.

Sirius gently patted her on the back. "Come on Lily, what do you say we find a nice place to have a cup of tea? I know a nice café about a ten-minute walk from here."

"That sounds like a good idea," nodded Remus, smiling kindly at Lily.

"Th-that would be l-lovely," hiccupped Lily, and the trio began walking to exit the station.

"That's enough tears Lily," chided Sirius, "Here, let me tell you about the time in our fourth year when James got his teeth stuck together-"

"-when you dared him to eat an entire tin of Hagrid's treacle fudge?" finished Lily. "I know that one."

"Bollocks," swore Sirius, "has he told you every stupid thing we did at Hogwarts?"

"They have been married sixteen years," Remus reminded him.

"Don't remind me," Lily and Sirius replied, before chuckling alongside Remus as they exited King's Cross.

If her thoughts weren't so preoccupied with her children's first day at school, Lily would have questioned just how Sirius became familiar with muggle café's.


Holly walked through the train after her and Harry had said goodbye to their parents, her brother behind her as they tried to find her a compartment. Most were empty, but a few that they had passed were already occupied by students or marked as reserved by luggage strategically arranged atop the seats.

"This one looks as good as any," observed Harry, sliding the glass door to the side and peering inside a compartment.

Holly nodded in agreement, shrugging off her lavender coloured rucksack and plonking down onto a seat by the window. She was perplexed however, when Harry copied her actions and sat in the seat opposite.

"What are you doing?" Holly asked bemusedly.

"Err, I'm sitting down?" Her brother answered in a slow voice as though she were daft.

"In this compartment? We're not sitting together Harry!"

Harry frowned, his eyebrows knitting together. "Why not?"

'Morgana, he can be really dim sometimes,' Holly thought.

"How are we gonna make friends if we only sit together? No first years will sit with me if they see a fifth year in here are they Harry."

"Wait, you actually want me to leave?"

"Yes!"

At her exclamation Harry sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "I don't believe this! You beg me to come with you to Hogwarts, you tug on my heartstrings by saying you'll be all alone at Hogwarts if I don't, and then five minutes after we board the train you ask me to leave you alone?"

Holly wanted to roll her eyes. Her brother really was being obtuse this morning!

"I'm not asking you to leave me alone. I'm asking you to leave me alone now, so that other people will join me later," Holly explained, trying to be patient.

Harry had a confused look on his face.

"Soo hypothetically…" he enunciated, "I can go and then come back fifteen minutes or so after the train leaves when you have people here?"

Merlin!

"No, you don't come back at all!" replied Holly heatedly. "It would be embarrassing having you here while I'm trying to make friends!"

"Embarrassing?" Harry repeated disbelievingly, sounding quite hurt.

"Not like that," said Holly exasperatedly, "you wouldn't want me there with you when you're trying to make friends right?"

Harry gave a dry laugh. "I genuinely couldn't care less, and if any of these potential friends had a problem with that then they wouldn't be my friends for long." The compartment was silent for a couple of minutes before Harry stood up and grabbed his rucksack from where he had stored it overhead.

"Fine, I'll find a compartment at the end of this carriage if you need me. You also have your mirror, if anyone tries to cause any trouble, let me know and I'll deal with them. Don't forget mum and dad packed you some sandwiches and biscuits for lunch as well."

Holly rushed him with a hug, saying her thanks as Harry patted her on the head, heading out into the corridor before Holly remembered something.

"Harry, wait," she called as he was halfway out the door, causing her brother to turn around.

"Could I have some money for the sweet trolley," asked Holly innocently. Sirius and Remus had told her all about the delicious treats the trolley offered, and she was excited to have her fill of sweets without her mum or dad around to limit her consumption.

"Are you serious," said Harry incredulously, "you boot me out of here and now you're asking for money."

"Well, I wouldn't say I've booted you out," she reasoned delicately.

Harry muttered darkly under his breath and pulled out a pouch of money. Her mum and dad had entrusted Harry with a set number of galleons for when they went to Hogwarts, meant to cover things like birthday presents and Harry's visits to Hogsmeade. As a result, Holly needed to go to her brother if she wanted to purchase anything when she was at school.

Her parents could be annoying like that.

Harry pulled out a galleon and flicked it towards her, where it landed on her lap after she failed to catch it. 'Harry always did have the better reflexes,' she reflected as he left the compartment for good this time, leaving her by herself.

For the next twenty minutes or so Holly sat in a state of nervous anticipation, recycling conversation topics in her head that she had rehearsed in the mirror during the summer holidays. These included, but were not limited to:

Questions about family. "Do you have any siblings at Hogwarts, and if so, what house are they in?"

Academic interests. "What subjects are you looking forward to taking?"

Witch Weekly magazine. "Did you see last month's article on mermaid braids?"

All this and more Holly had stored in her conversational arsenal, locked and loaded for the first person who asked to sit with her. They weren't going to know what hit them. Yet in the back of her head, her mum's words acted as the most prominent advice:

'Always be good and kind to others.'

And this Holly strived to do.

Holly's wait came to an end when a girl with straight, raven hair and navy-blue eyes poked her head into the compartment. The girl wore light blue denim jeans with a dark pink t-shirt partly covered up by plain looking lilac witch's robes. She had an anxious expression on her young face that was at odds with her seemingly forced smile.

"Hello," the girl greeted, "do you mind if I join you? I haven't seen any other first years yet and didn't want to sit with any of the upper years."

At this the girl's eyes widened by a fraction, and she hastily continued. "That is if you are a first year! I don't mean any trouble, it's just quite hard to tell sometimes."

Holly made sure to plaster her warmest smile onto her face as she stood up to welcome the newcomer.

"Oh no it's no trouble at all! I am a first year yes, and I didn't want to sit next to an older student either, I even had to send my brother away when he wanted to sit with me," Holly rushed out eagerly.

The new girl gave a puzzled smile as she attempted to comprehend the spiel that Holly had unleashed, before sitting opposite Holly and bouncing her leg up and down gently.

'Easy Holly,' she thought, 'don't scare her away, go back to the basics.'

"I'm Holly," she said breathily, holding out her hand.

The new girl smiled, shaking the offered hand. "I'm Astoria, Astoria Greengrass, but only my parents call me that, my sister always calls me Tori."

"Oh, does your sister go to Hogwarts as well?" Holly asked, relieved that she hadn't botched her first introduction.

"Yeah, her name's Daphne, she's a fifth year," nodded Astoria, "although she knew better than to ask me to sit with her."

"I knew my brother was being stupid!" Holly exclaimed, "he means well, but it's so embarrassing when you're meeting new people right?"

Astoria voiced her agreement as the train whistled and shuddered as it chugged its way out of Platform Nine and Three Quarters. Holly felt a lurch in her stomach that wasn't wholly caused by the motion of the carriage as she was carried further away from home.

It wasn't long before the two were disturbed by a trio of three girls their age entering the compartment.

"Urgh, finally there's a compartment that isn't full," one of them, who appeared to be the leader, complained. Holly thought her exceedingly beautiful; she had long blond hair and symmetrical features only heightened by her expensive, tailored robes of deep blue. Her eyes were a warm, chocolate brown that was in contrast with the detached air she carried herself with.

The two girls that trailed in behind her were both brunettes, wearing robes that, whilst not as exclusive as the blonde's, were stylish and spoke of disposable wealth. One was as thin as a broomstick with her hair curled, whilst the other had straight hair down to her shoulder with nails that were painted a vivid red. The two uttered groans that conveyed a shared feeling of agreement and annoyance as they slouched into the seats opposite the girl who spoke, who sat next to Holly.

Their sudden, and unannounced, arrival had halted Holly and Astoria's conversation, but Holly saw an opportunity to expand her burgeoning circle of friends.

"Hello," she chirped, pausing the continued complaints from the trio on the limited capacity of the Hogwarts Express, "I'm Holly, this is Astoria." Astoria sent a small smile to the newcomers when introduced.

The girls looked at Holly and Astoria as though had popped into existence from thin air, even though the two had been in the compartment before them. The blonde gave Holly an impatient smile that strongly reminded her of one her mum gave her when she was five years old and kept pestering her to play witches and dragons.

"That's nice," the blonde said, before turning back and talking with the two brunettes about the various difficulties she had getting to Platform Nine and Three Quarters that morning, of which it seemed to Holly there were many.

Holly blinked in surprise, stunned by the abrupt end of the conversation before it could even begin. She turned her head slightly to look at Astoria, who she saw was now sporting a small, displeased frown.

Holly gathered herself, refusing to admit defeat so quickly.

"What are your names?"

At her question the three girls paused again, but this time looked at each other with slightly raised eyebrows as though Holly had committed a grave social faux pas, leaving her a touch discomforted at their reaction.

"I'm Arabella Westchester," the blonde near boasted, her voice coated with pride, "this is Vivian Blackwood and Ester Turner," referring to thin as a broomstick and vivid red nails respectively with far less bluster. The three of them then put their heads together and began whispering to each other, with Holly only catching the odd word.

"Why is she…"

"…so odd…"

"… at her hair…"

Holly subconsciously threaded her hair through her hand. Her mum had brushed it through this morning so that it fell behind her ears, held in place by a dark blue Alice headband. Holly had never given much thought to her appearance before, but she now felt awfully self-conscious.

She chanced a glance at Astoria, whose expression was almost thunderous, her lips pursed in a thin line and her blue eyes staring at Arabella, Vivian, and Ester with a stormy expression.

Holly tried again.

"So how do you three know each oth-"

Arabella cut her off. "Look I get you're probably trying to be nice, but we're trying to have a conversation here ok. You're being incredibly rude you know."

At this Holly recoiled and shrunk in on herself, not knowing what she had done wrong. She had used her planned conversation starters and been polite and friendly like her mum had always said she should be. It only seemed like moments ago that her and Astoria were becoming friends, but now the two were silent, the atmosphere in the compartment oppressive.

Arabella, Vivian, and Ester had continued chatting when Astoria leaned across with an uneasy smile to speak to Holly in a hushed tone.

"So, is there a Hogwarts house you really want to get sorted in?" At the question Holly perked up a little.

"Both my parents were in Gryffindor," Holly answered with pride, "so I think I'd want to be sorted there as well."

Astoria nodded thoughtfully. "My mum was in Ravenclaw, and dad was in Slytherin. My sister Daphne is in Slytherin as well, so it would be nice to go there, but I haven't really got a preference."

Holly felt her eyes widen a fraction at hearing that Astoria seemed nonchalant about the possibility of being sorted in Slytherin and had close family there. In her family 'Slytherin' was synonymous with 'Death Eater' and was the house she desperately wanted to avoid. Yet here was the friendliest person she had met today with a relaxed air regarding the house of the snakes.

Before Holly could decide how to respond, Arabella's voice cut in. "Did you just say you want to be sorted into Slytherin?" she sniffed aghast, "You-Know-Who's house? That is seriously messed up."

"I'm surprised Slytherin hasn't been banned, all the people there must be sickos or something" added Vivian.

"My sisters a Slytherin," Astoria retorted, sounding offended.

"Then she's a sicko too," snickered Arabella, "as are you if you want to go there. I mean how lame, I know I'll be going into Ravenclaw or Gryffindor, they're the only two houses worth anything."

Seeing Astoria clench her fists and grind her teeth as her eyes began to water, Holly decided extremely quickly that if she became a Gryffindor alongside Arabella Westchester then she would ask to be resorted first thing tomorrow morning. Besides, Arabella couldn't be a Gryffindor. If there was one thing Holly knew, it's that Gryffindors were good, and she was confident that Arabella and her two minions were not good people.

Holly ignored the fact that she somewhat agreed with Arabella; Gryffindor was the best house and she too had wondered why Slytherin house still existed when it seemed to churn out racists and dark wizards and witches like some sort of twisted printing press. But Astoria didn't deserve to be ridiculed by three girls who in the last ten minutes had demonstrated nothing but arrogance and malice.

She knew she had to do something, but what? There were three of them and only herself and maybe Astoria if she hadn't been cowed into submission. Arabella and Vivian were taller than her as well, and much more confident. They could know all sorts of magic that Holly didn't; she only knew a handful of jinxes that Harry, Remus, and Sirius had shown her, but hadn't had the chance to cast any of them yet.

She was paralysed with indecision as Arabella, Vivian, and Ester mocked Astoria and called her names. But then Holly asked herself the question she always did when she was unsure of herself.

What would Harry do?

Harry wouldn't sit down and let anyone walk over him or insult his friends, nor abuse someone who had done nothing wrong.

Holly stood up abruptly.

"I think you three should leave," she stated firmly, causing the trio to fall silent.

"Pardon," Arabella questioned, for it seemed as though Vivian and Ester would always look to Arabella to set the tone of any conversation, "why should we do that, this is our compartment."

"No, we were sitting here first, you three barged in without asking and insulted us for no reason when we were perfectly friendly. Leave," ordered Holly, trying to stand taller and appear tougher than she actually was.

Arabella then stood up to her full height, followed shortly by Vivian and Ester, and loomed over Holly with a nasty expression that warped her beautiful features into something ugly.

"Is that so? And what are you going to do about it? Are you going to cast a spell on me? I bet you've never used that wand before, and even if you had, you'll be too stupid to know what to do with it."

In that moment Holly knew she had never hated someone more than she despised Arabella. She also knew just what to do next.

For her entire life she had a hierarchy of family members whose example she'd look to when confronted with an unfamiliar situation and had worked her way through them today.

Phase One, always evoke Lily Potter. Be friendly and polite to everyone you meet.

Phase Two, when being friendly and polite fails, evoke Harry Potter. No matter how hard it may seem, confront the challenge in front of you.

Phase Three, only in dire circumstances, evoke James Potter. Prank the Morgana-loving mess out of the source of your annoyance until said annoyance is no longer a problem.

'It was time,' Holly sighed to herself regretfully, 'to unleash her inner marauder.'

Oh, who was she kidding, she couldn't wait to unleash her inner marauder.

She eyed Arabella up and down, cataloguing every inch of her frustratingly beautiful appearance and deducing what she knew of her in the admittedly short and unsavoury time span she had spent in the girl's presence, and knew just what spell would eject Arabella from their compartment.

Holly drew her wand and pointed it at Arabella's blonde hair, desperately hoping she had remembered the correct movements and annunciation before she yelled: "Colovaria!"

Where before Arabella had shiny, blonde tresses, she now sported garish hair the colour of hot pink, which both Vivian and Ester gawked at with open mouths. Arabella, meanwhile, had an incredulous smirk of derision on her face.

"The colour changing charm, really," she derided Holly, holding her hair up, "is that the best you… could…"

Arabella's voice dwindled off as she beheld her newly dyed hair. Her eyes then bugged out of their sockets, and she released a shriek that had Holly wondering if one of her ancestors was a banshee.

"Yo-you," Arabella stammered furiously at Holly, her cheeks burning an unflattering rouge, "you bitch!"

Astoria had stood up at this point. "Well, it takes one to know one!" Arabella, Vivian, and Ester drew their wands in response, an action that Astoria copied.

It was at this point that Holly realised why Phase Three was only to be applied as a last resort. Acting like James Potter apparently caused a situation to spiral out of control, and unlike her father she had no marauders to back her up.

Merlin, she hoped Astoria's Slytherin sister had taught her some good curses!

She saw Arabella point her wand at her, and open her mouth…

"What is going on in here!"

The five girls turned to see an older girl and boy with prefect badges pinned onto the lapel of their Gryffindor robes. The girl, who was the one had spoken, had bushy hair and a stern expression, whilst the boy had violently ginger hair that hung over his forehead in a fringe and was goggling at the compartment with an astonished look on his face.

"Well?" the girl demanded.

Arabella then burst into sobs, regaling the prefects about Holly and Astoria's supposed wickedness, gesturing to her hair while Vivian and Ester nodded along effusively, and Holly and Astoria shared outraged glances.

"That's not true!" Holly argued, resulting in a rejuvenated yelling match between the five girls.

"QUIET!" the male prefect bellowed aggravatedly, clearly having reached his limit of drama.

"Now," he ordered, rubbing his temples in frustration, "I want each of your names and when we get to Hogwarts McGonagall can deal with you lot." Holly saw his counterpart stare at him in amazed surprise before drawing a quill and leaf of parchment from a pocket within her robes.

Holly's heart sank, although her dad had joked with her about getting into trouble, even encouraged it to some extent she never expected to be sent to the Deputy Headmistress before she was even sorted! What if she was sent home and told she was not the type of student that Hogwarts wanted? Holly's agonising was ignored as the boy carried out the punishment.

"Right, you," he said, pointing at Ester, "name, and don't even think about lying to me."

"Ester Turner," she muttered, shooting a venomous glare at the prefect, who simply looked at Vivian, who begrudgingly told him her name, before the boy moved on to Arabella.

"Arabella Westchester, my father owns the Westchester Consortium of Oriental Antiquities," she said with a winning smile, "and I'm sure this isn't necessary sir."

The prefect rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Is that so? Westchester? Your family are incredibly wealthy purebloods, aren't they?"

"Oh yes," Arabella nodded, "going back at least six generations. We are very proud of our heritage." As she spoke, her smile grew even more, displaying each of her straight, white teeth.

At her words, the boy's eyes gleamed with a sharp look, like a cat that had just cornered a particularly plump mouse.

"Well then, I guess we should just overlook this little incident then. Forget it ever happened. Course, perhaps some galleons will help me forget."

"Of course." Arabella shot a victorious smile at her friends. "I give you some galleons and we won't get into trouble."

"No of course not," the boy snorted with derision, "I couldn't give a monkey's left nut about your daddy or your blood purity, your name's going on the list with the rest, but now I get to add attempted bribery to our report to McGonagall." The female prefect chose this moment to interject.

"Ron," she admonished furiously, "do not swear in front of first years and that is not acceptable behaviour for a prefect!"

The boy, Ron, as the girl called him, simply gave an unconcerned shrug before looking at Astoria expectantly.

Before she could open her mouth, she was cut off by a pair of older looking boys stopping in the corridor to speak with the prefects.

"Ron, Hermione," one nodded at the two before speaking hurriedly in an Irish accent, "you wouldn't believe what Justin told us!"

"Seamus," huffed Hermione, "can't you see we're in the middle of something here?"

"Harry Potter's at Hogwarts!" burst out Seamus.

"What?!" Ron had turned to face Seamus and the other boy fully, Holly and the others seemingly forgotten. Holly's ears perked up at hearing her brother's name and she wasn't the only one, the other first years looking at each other in excitement.

"Yeah," the other boy said gleefully, "Justin and the rest of the 'puffs said he was sitting with them, course, sod's law by the time we went to look he had gone, but they all said he was there!"

"Right," scoffed Ron, "sounds like they were pulling a fast one on you guys Dean. Why would Harry Potter be on the train when he hasn't been on it for the past four years?"

"I dunno mate," said Dean, "they all seemed sincere, even Macmillan said he was there, and Ernie can't lie for shit."

"Language!" hissed Hermione.

Seamus waved her off. "It's spreading like a hive of doxies, even if you two don't believe it most of the train does."

Seamus and Dean moved on, leaving Hermione and Ron looking far more distracted than they were previously.

Ron coughed, asking Astoria for her name before she was again interrupted, this time by Arabella.

"Can you believe it, Harry Potter at Hogwarts," she squealed, "he's my hero, I have to meet him!"

"I've seen the pictures on your wall Arabella, he's so handsome," gushed Ester.

Arabella merely exhaled deeply; her eyes glazed as she clearly imagined whatever photo of Harry she had in mind.

Holly wrinkled her nose in disgust. She could not believe her new nemesis fancied Harry! In the last five minutes she had gotten a preview of just how messianic her brother was to their fellow students and felt a great deal of guilt for begging him to join her at Hogwarts. She was glad to hear that he had been speaking with new people but hoped he hadn't left because he had been hounded out of his compartment.

"Quiet!" Ron snapped at them, before taking a deep breath. "Now. What. Is. Your. Name," he asked Astoria through gritted teeth.

"Astoria Greengrass," she murmured, to which Ron gave a not-so-subtle sigh of relief, appearing well and truly ready to end his interaction with the five of them. Hermione though, had other ideas.

"Greengrass," she questioned interestedly, "any relation to Daphne Greengrass?"

"She's my sister," Astoria mumbled, sounding thoroughly defeated.

Hermione nodded once; her face inscrutable as she looked at Holly.

"And your name?"

Holly squirmed, knowing giving her surname would confirm that Harry was on the train and place unwanted focus on herself.

"Holly?" she offered, but Hermione and Ron were unimpressed.

"Surname," barked Ron.

"Holly Potter," she whispered.

Her answer brought a round of disbelieving snickers from Arabella and her friends, an incredulous snort from Ron, and a laser focused stare from Hermione.

"Like hell you are," said Ron, triggering a chorus of agreement from the other first years minus Astoria, "now, tell me your real na-"

"Are you telling the truth?" Hermione interjected, "remember Professor McGonagall will know even if you lie to us."

"I'm telling the truth," Holly said heatedly, feeling a little insulted.

"There's no way you're Harry Potter's sister," sneered Arabella, who was then sternly reprimanded by Ron.

Hermione gazed at her for a long moment, before writing down Holly's name and looking up to the rest of the group.

"You three," she pointed at Arabella, Vivian, and Ester, "are coming with us to find a new place to sit on the train. Hogwarts is a school of excellence and does not tolerate fighting from its students on or off school grounds; your actions have displayed extreme immaturity and we will be confiscating your wands until you speak with the professor. Perhaps when you get them back you will realise that they are not toys."

"What about my hair?" Arabella complained. "I can't leave it like this!"

Hermione waved her wand, pronouncing "Finite Incantatum," and Arabella's hair returned to its original golden sheen.

The prefects collected everyone's wands and Ron marched the trio out of the compartment until Holly and Astoria were left alone with only Hermione, who paused before she left.

"I'll try and stop students from bothering you Holly, but if any do, come find me and I'll put a stop to it," said Hermione, who gave them a kind smile before disappearing into the corridor, leaving the compartment much quieter than it had been before.

Holly and Astoria sat in silence for a long time, both stewing on what had happened. Would she be expelled? Her parents would be so disappointed, not to mention Harry. If only she had time to speak to her mirror and get him before everything happened!

She discreetly glanced over at Astoria, who was gazing forlornly out the window to the rolling fields of crops and grasses that swept past.

"Tori," called Holly softly, getting the other girl's attention, "I'm really sorry about getting us into trouble. I just hated what they were saying about us. I understand if you don't want to be my friend anymore."

"Of course I want to be your friend," replied Astoria incredulously, "that wasn't your fault Holly, those three were awful, you had the guts to say and do what I wanted to! They were being so horrible, and you just went 'get out hags' then 'kabam' and jinxed her hair pink!" Astoria finished by cackling gleefully.

Holly felt her lips twitch up into a reluctant smile. "I got the spell wrong, I meant to make it green as she kept mocking Slytherin but for some reason it turned pink," she admitted

Astoria giggled even harder at that before sobering slightly.

"You stuck up for me Holly, and I think that's what good friends do."

Holly smiled back at Astoria, still anxious about meeting McGonagall at Hogwarts but her anxieties were subsiding and being replaced by a warm glow.

"We're still in trouble though," pointed out Holly.

Astoria shifted nervously, "yeah… my sister said Professor McGonagall is really scary as well."

"Huh, my dad always said she was a sweetheart," mused Holly.

"Maybe she just hates Slytherin's like everyone else," Astoria muttered sourly before looking at Holly uneasily, "I don't know where I'm going to be sorted, but if I do become a Slytherin and you become a Gryffindor I hope we can still be friends."

Holly nodded. "We should make a pact!" Even though she didn't have as many friends as her dad, a pact sounded like the perfect way to seal her friendship with Astoria and get started on establishing a tight nit band of comrades like the marauders.

"Like an Unbreakable Vow?" Astoria frowned.

"No, no," soother Holly reassuringly, "we'll pinkie swear." Harry had always claimed that a pinkie promise was the most important vow anyone could make, and Holly thought it fitting for the current situation.

"What's that?" Astoria asked confusedly.

Holly explained the intricacies of the pinkie swear to her new friend and afterwards held out the pinkie on her right hand, which Astoria latched onto with a bright gleam in her ocean blue eyes.

"I swear to be best friends with Astoria Greengrass forever, no matter where we're sorted," declared Holly solemnly.

"I swear to be best friends with Holly Potter forever, no matter where we're sorted," repeated Astoria.

They then shook their conjoined hands up and down before erupting into a fit of giggles.

"So now as we're now best friends, are you really Harry Potter's sister," questioned Astoria wondrously.

Holly groaned and spent the next hour correcting the myriad of myths Astoria believed regarding Harry, stating unequivocally that he was boringly down to earth, and while an amazing person, he was enormously uneasy with people referring to that fact.

Their discussions on her brother were interrupted by the arrival of the sweets trolley. As Holly chewed mightily on a jelly slug and watched the British countryside out the window, she reflected that even though her Hogwarts life had gotten off to a rough start, she felt more than ready to face the challenges ahead with a friend like Astoria at her side.


"Bloody nosy bunch of pretentious…" trailed off Harry darkly as he stormed out of the compartment he had been sitting in with a group of Hufflepuffs.

They had asked to sit in his compartment nicely enough without knowing who he was, and introduced themselves as Ernie Macmillan, Justin Finch-Fletchley, Susan Bones and Hannah Abbott. It had only taken them five minutes to figure out who he was, and for the next hour Harry had endured Macmillan's attempts at posturing by boasting of his family's social status, Finch-Fletchley's quizzing of the supposed adventures he'd been on, and the near awe that Abbott and Bones exhibited at meeting him.

Harry had attempted to talk about banal topics but the four Hufflepuffs always shifted the conversation to a place he wasn't comfortable going. It was after Justin excused himself to go to the bathroom and Ernie was monologuing about how far he can trace his family tree and not so subtly highlighting that his and Harry's great-great-great grandfathers were fourth cousins or some such that Harry grabbed his rucksack, made his excuses and left.

He knew he should have been more polite but the thought of going through another seven or so hours under a metaphorical microscope from his new year mates was too much to bear.

He briefly considered visiting Holly to sit with her but quickly discarded that thought. He didn't want to embarrass her when she was making friends after all. Instead, he hurried through the carriages to the rear of the train, where the students' luggage was stored. He felt the whooshing of the wind outside intensify alongside the clicking of the gears of the train as he slid the door to the luggage carriage open, and the muffled silence that arose when he closed the door was in sharp contrast to the chaos that purveyed the coaches he had previously walked through.

Harry emitted a low whistle as he surveyed the magically enchanted coach, with dozens and dozens of racks filled with the luggage of hundreds of students neatly lining the sides and centre of the carriage. He began walking down the carriage, pondering which charms he could safely practice casting on a locomotive travelling at high speeds when a girl appeared from behind a rack of suitcases and looked at him with a surprised expression. Both Harry and the girl halted, freezing like a spooked deer, and surveyed the other.

The girl was a little shorter than him, slim, wearing dark blue jeans and a tight-fitting maroon jumper that had four hippogriffs on the front which would move slightly every few seconds. Her pale, golden blond hair was intricately braided in a complex style that Harry would never be able to name, but it kept her hair out of her face, highlighting her prominent cheekbones and slightly pointed chin. In the midday sunshine that crept into the carriage, Harry could just make out the faint smattering of freckles that painted her nose and cheeks, above which her ice blue eyes were affixed to his person and framed by the subtle crinkling of her eyebrows as she stared at him cautiously.

"Hello," she called out to him hesitantly.

"Hello," repeated Harry stupidly. There shouldn't have been anyone in the luggage coach, which was precisely why he had chosen to be here.

"What are you doing in here?" the girl asked, tilting her head to the side in a manner eerily reminiscent of his little sister when she was trying to figure out an especially aggravating problem.

"I could ask you the same," shot back Harry mulishly, not in the mood to socialise after the cross examination he had just received from four tenacious badgers.

"You could," the girl admitted, "but I asked first, and you did not. I haven't seen you around before, and you don't have a house crest on your robes?"

The girl's caution had seemingly dissipated as she took a few steps forward and peered at his robes, her curiosity plain from her stance. Harry sighed frustratingly.

"I'm new to Hogwarts, I'll be going into fifth year and haven't been sorted yet."

As he finished speaking the girl smiled warmly.

"Oh! I didn't know students could join after first year, no wonder you wandered into here. I'm a fifth year as well, do you not know anyone?" She said this patiently and with an understanding that was at odds with the Hufflepuffs he had sat with for the past hour.

"I know my sister, but she's a first year and didn't want me to sit with her when meeting new people. Other than that, I don't know anyone. I guess… I guess came here to unwind after meeting a bunch of new people."

"My sister is exactly the same, she would hate if I sat next to her, not that I'd embarrass her like that," she chuckled a little.

There it was again! Why was him sitting with and supporting his little sister embarrassing? Harry thought it must be some girl thing he was incapable of comprehending.

"I guess it must be quite intimidating starting something new by yourself," she continued, "my name's Daphne by the way, Daphne Greengrass."

Harry shuffled uncomfortably, not remotely desiring to give his name, but Daphne had been exceedingly kind to him when he had been quite obstinate towards her.

"Harry," he said grudgingly, praying that she wouldn't ask for more information.

"Harry," she repeated, rolling the syllables on her tongue as she tested out his name, before nodding her head succinctly and saying, "well Harry, feel free to say hello or hang out with me at Hogwarts whenever you want to. My friends won't mind, and you would get to meet them as well."

Harry was stunned. Whereas revealing his first name had caused the Hufflepuffs to deduce who he was, Daphne was apparently none the wiser, and hadn't changed her personality at all. He hurried to reply in case Daphne thought he thought her boring and was ignoring her.

"Right yeah, thanks," he smiled, holding out his hand, which Daphne glanced at and huffed out a laugh and shook it lightly. Harry noted that her hands were smaller than his, soft, and felt incredibly delicate. There was still a thought prickling at the front of his mind though.

"So, why are you in here?"

Daphne's eyes widened. "Oh yes, well my parents bought a new family owl, Beatrice, now that both my sister and I will be at Hogwarts, and our other owl Bertram is getting on in years. It's just, Beatrice is quite nervous around other owls you see, she's still quite young and we think she has separation anxiety as well bless her. It's not the easiest condition to have when you're a postal owl, always being sent away to strange places by your family," explained Daphne fondly.

As Daphne spoke, she led Harry further into the carriage towards the back where cages housing dozens of animals, mostly cats and owls, were stacked neatly side by side on rows of shelves. As he observed one Bengal cat stare unblinkingly at a small owl in the cage adjacent to it, Harry pondered who in their right mind thought it would be a good idea to keep the two species so close together.

Daphne stopped in front of a cage that housed a young Ural owl, its feathers speckled white and black, giving it a grey complexion. When Beatrice the owl saw Daphne, she flapped her wings happily and warbled a hopeful hoot that had Harry grinning unwittingly.

"She shouldn't be here really," said Daphne bashfully, "but Beatrice has been… gaseous in the past when she meets groups of strangers, and Astoria didn't want to risk any accidents when she's meeting new people. I'd take her but my friend Sophie who I'm sitting with has a vicious Eurasian eagle-owl who would only reinforce her anxieties around other owls."

Daphne nudged her fingers into the cage and gently ran her index and middle fingers down Beatrice's feather, which the owl readily accepted. "I came by shortly after the train left to let her know that she's not alone and was going to keep visiting for a bit before we arrive in Hogsmeade."

Daphne smiled a little sadly at the young owl, and Harry thought her sweet for worrying over Beatrice. He cared very much for Hedwig, who was currently flying her way towards Hogwarts, the snowy owl not caring for enclosed spaces. He said as much to Daphne.

"We thought of having Beatrice fly there as well, but she's never flown there before, and… I was worried about her making the journey," admitted Daphne.

"Well… if you like I could stay here and keep her company," Harry offered, secretly hoping that Daphne would stay with him, not wanting the first normal person he'd met on the train to leave.

"You don't have to do that Harry," she said surprised.

"I don't mind, it's not like I'll be going anywhere else," he shrugged.

Daphne looked at him appraisingly for a moment. "…I couldn't ask you to do that by yourself. Plus, your new, and as your first friend I really should fill you in on Hogwarts, so we'll hang out here together. That is, if that's alright with you?" Harry thought for a second that Daphne sounded quite flustered but dismissed the idea as ludicrous. What was there for her to feel flustered about anyway?

Harry did feel his own heartbeat quicken at Daphne's offer, however. The fact that he thought Daphne was exceptionally beautiful had nothing to do with it. It was categorically because he had made his first friend at Hogwarts.

Categorically.

"Yeah," he burst out a little too eagerly, "that would be brilliant thanks. That is if your friends won't miss you?"

Daphne waved his question off. "They'll understand." She said this with a gleam in her eyes that Harry could not quite decipher.

He didn't have time to ponder on it though. He couldn't afford an awkward silence and risk Daphne leaving him to babysit a flatulent owl by himself for the next six hours. He rooted around his memories for those conversation topics that Holly kept nattering on about.

"Are your friends all in the same house as you?"

'Atta boy Harry,' he congratulated himself, 'seamless, absolutely seamless, she doesn't suspect a thing.'

Daphne lowered herself to the floor with Beatrice's cage and leaned against a stack of suitcases, Harry copying her motions so that he sat next to her, their legs outstretched and shoes nudging each other's as the Hogwarts Express sped northwards.

"Yeah, we're all in the same house, but when I say 'all' I really only mean three of us. There's me of course, Sophie Roper-"

"The one with the vicious owl?" queried Harry.

"The very same, but don't let one belligerent bird tarnish your opinion of her, she's a really fun person and has a wicked sense of humour," said Daphne with an amused smile, "and finally Tracey Davis, she's really sweet and friendly, you'll like her!"

"Is that normal? Only making friends with people in your house," asked Harry with genuine curiosity. Both his parents' friends were Gryffindors and part of him had always wondered if they were the exception or the rule.

"It's common," admitted Daphne, "but us being in Slytherin makes it so much worse. The boys and some of the girls in our year are absolute pricks, pardon my French, who give the rest of us a bad name, so no one really wants to talk to us because they think we're all as horrible as them."

Daphne continued talking about Slytherin's bad reputation, but Harry's processing of what she was saying had ground to a halt when she said was a Slytherin. It was unfathomable to him that this cheery girl was in the same house, had the same attributes, as Voldemort. He would have bet his Nimbus 2000 that she was in any house other than Slytherin. He was startled out of his thoughts by Daphne shaking his thigh lightly to get his attention.

"Harry? I'm not boring you, am I? Oh gosh, Sophie always said I drabble on about the dullest things and here I am doing it to someone I've only just met!"

"Not at all," soothed Harry, "I just… didn't expect you to be a Slytherin. You seem so nice."

The immovable smile that had been on Daphne's face since they'd started talking collapsed abruptly to make way for a bemused expression.

"What do you mean? That because I'm in Slytherin I'm somehow a horrible person?" Daphne questioned, appearing hurt.

'Where on earth did that come from,' panicked Harry, 'that's not what I said at all!"

"No, I didn't mean that, I don't think you're horrible! I think you're very kind, and I didn't expect someone like that to be in the same house as Voldemort and his group of blood purists."

"Really," exclaimed Daphne, affecting surprise, "I had no idea all Slytherins were Death Eaters in training! We should tell Dumbledore that a quarter of the school are murdering racists. Where do you stand on first year Slytherins, Harry? Are they Death Eaters as well? Should we pack them all off to Azkaban?"

"Oh, come on, you're being ridiculous." Harry was getting annoyed now.

"As ridiculous as someone who stereotypes dozens of people, that he's never met, because of the beliefs of a gang of lunatics who have been dead or imprisoned for almost fifteen years?" Daphne countered. She had shifted away from him during their tense exchange.

Harry fumed internally. "You said yourself that a lot of the Slytherin's in your year aren't nice people."

"They are, but not everyone is like them! How are you any different from those people you despise so much that you cast general assumptions about others that you have never even met? Peter Pettigrew is one of the most famous Death Eaters alive, but no one maligns all Gryffindors as being traitors," yelled Daphne.

Harry froze at the mention of Peter Pettigrew. He hadn't been aware of who the man was, had no idea he even existed until his parents had him organising the loft some time when he was twelve and found a picture of his dad, godfather, Remus and another man he would learn to be Pettigrew all leaning on each other and joking around. Pettigrew had been exorcised from any story the marauders and his mum had told him of their time at Hogwarts, all of them, especially his dad, finding it too difficult to speak about.

When he showed his parents the photograph and asked who the man was, his dad had gone uncharacteristically silent, taking the photograph with shaking hands, staring at it for a long moment, before abruptly walking to his and his mum's bedroom and locking himself in there for the rest of the day.

It was his mum who told him what had happened. With halting words, she revealed how Pettigrew was the fourth marauder, his dad's best friend alongside Sirius and Remus, who was trusted with the secret of the Potter's hiding place when Voldemort started actively hunting them. Who then betrayed their location to Voldemort after feeding the dark lord information about those who fought against him for at least a year.

After Harry destroyed Voldemort and it became clear what Pettigrew had done, the remaining marauders hunted him down. Both his dad and Sirius were aurors at the time and used the Potter's sudden fame to dedicate their time and resources to finding Pettigrew who had fled after providing Voldemort the secret of the Potter's location. His mum said that Pettigrew became an obsession for them and Remus, his dad becoming a shadow of the man he was beforehand.

Three years after Pettigrew had shown his true colours and seemingly vanished from the face of the Earth, the marauders located him, captured him, and dragged him through the atrium of the Ministry of Magic where the man's sobs for mercy rung throughout the building. Pettigrew was later sentenced to life imprisonment in Azkaban and never heard from again.

What happened when the trio found Pettigrew his mum never said, only that they have never spoken his name since, behaving for all intents and purposes as though Pettigrew never existed. Likewise, since telling him, his mum has never mentioned Pettigrew, her retelling of the man cloyed with sadness and regret.

Harry himself had been unsure of what he thought about Pettigrew, his awareness of the traitor landing so suddenly in his reality that the fear and disgust attached to names such as Lestrange and Dolohov was absent. Yet Pettigrew so nearly killed his entire family with his betrayal, and Harry knew that if even one of his family had been killed as a result his hatred of Pettigrew would surpass what he felt for any other follower of Voldemort.

His biggest emotion regarding Pettigrew was confusion. He simply could not understand why the smiling young man in the photograph would betray his best friends who loved him to someone who wanted to kill them.

Why a Gryffindor would betray them.

Harry exhaled deeply and looked Daphne dead in the eye.

"Look, Daphne… I'm sorry. I didn't mean to say that I hate all Slytherin's or think all Slytherins are evil. I've just been used to the idea that Slytherin's were Voldemort's house. My parents fought against him and knew Slytherins in school who later joined with him, and I guess those stories left a deeper impression than I thought.

"I would really like to keep being your friend, regardless of which house I get sorted into, but I understand if you don't want to anymore."

Daphne looked at him dumbfounded for a long moment.

"You said the name," she whispered.

"What?" Harry had no idea what that had to do with his apology, hoping only that Daphne accepted it.

"The name. You-Know-Who's name!"

"Yeah…?" Harry thought he knew where this was going.

"Aren't you afraid?"

"Why should I be," asked Harry uninterestedly, "the twat's dead."

Daphne gaped at him open-mouthed, causing Harry to squirm.

"Sorry about the language," he apologised. Daphne, for her part, was at a loss for words before gathering herself.

"You're definitely going to be a Gryffindor," she decided.

"Not necessarily," refuted Harry, "I plan on going to wherever my sister goes and if that's not Gryffindor, then I won't be in that house."

"That's a shame," said Daphne cheekily, "I could do with having a friend in Gryffindor. There's a girl in our year in Gryffindor called Fay Dunbar who always looks immaculate, and I've been dying to know what her beauty regimen is."

"Please," Harry scoffed, "as if you need any help looking amazing."

And then he registered what he said.

Harry mentally face-palmed. Why did he say that? Why by all that is holy did he say that?!

He had only just resuscitated his blossoming friendship with Daphne from the brink, and as the uncomfortable, suffocating silence blanketed the carriage, Harry was certain that he had cast a metaphorical blasting curse at it.

This was probably why Holly didn't want him sitting with her.

This was embarrassing.

Daphne coughed slightly and bit her lower lip, her cheeks reddened to a scarlet colour that was surely mirrored on his own face.

"That's very sweet of you Harry," she said slightly flustered, gazing at him intently whereas before she had resolutely avoided looking at him.

Harry himself was feeling quite hot under the collar as he found himself observing just how pale Daphne's blue irises were. Circling her midnight black pupils, the colour stood out and shone as though they were aquamarine gemstones, or twin stars illuminating a clear, dark sky with their brilliance.

Merlin.

He's becoming a bloody poet.

Once again Harry reached for one of Holly's conversation topics to save him.

"What O.W.L.s are you taking," he blurted.

It was with an amused smile at his redirection that Daphne informed him that she was taking the standard subjects alongside Care of Magical Creatures and Ancient Runes. Although he wasn't taking Ancient Runes, discovering at an early age that he had no talent for reading or speaking unknown languages be they magical or mundane, he happily told her that he too was taking Care for Magical Creatures with her.

Additionally, Harry was taking O.W.L.s in Arithmancy and Muggle Studies, although for the latter he was only taking the exams at the end of the year and not taking classes. Being intimately familiar with muggle life, he decided to keep up to date with the syllabus and sit the exams to essentially get a free O.W.L without taking classes on a topic he already knew.

In his third year he had initially chosen Divination instead of Arithmancy, being intrigued at the concept of predicting the future. After a month however, it became apparent that he had no idea what he was doing, and his mum was equally as flummoxed when it came to teaching him a discipline so shrouded in mystery. Thus, he switched Divination for Arithmancy, the latter being the only option left to him.

He was by all means adequate at the subject but had little passion for it and thought it unlikely that he would get a higher mark than an Exceed Expectations at most.

Harry and Daphne became engrossed in discussing the teaching at Hogwarts and the values of each subject. Daphne was telling him about her deep-rooted love for animals when her stomach began rumbling, causing her to blush and grasp her abdomen.

Harry was in the middle of sharing his egg and cress sandwiches and ready salted crisps with Daphne when he realised with a start that he was no longer so afraid about going to Hogwarts.

Indeed, for the first time, as he watched Daphne speak about what creatures she wanted to study in Care of Magical Creatures, he felt a shiver of excitement for the upcoming school year.


Got to love a bit of Haphne. I have never written a meet cute before, so I hope that flowed alright.

About me getting set back. Said unexpected brainwave (which when it materialises in the story will be revealed in a later chapter) extended the planned length of this story and I had to step back and think of where I wanted to take it.

After writing my first fanfic on this site, a one shot called Harry's Hair (I know the name is terrible and unoriginal, but if you love haphne check it out), I wanted to write a more mid-length story under 100k words before I move on to one of the novel length fics I have planned. As a result, the concept of this story expanding beyond its original scope freaked me out a little, but I've decided to just take my time with it. This wouldn't be a fun pastime if I stressed and rushed myself after all.

This means I cannot say at this time when chapter 3 will be posted however, only that it will, and will hopefully be worth the wait.

And finally, I think it'd be nice to start recommending a fic every chapter that I have particularly liked reading as a homage of sorts to the authors whose works I have enjoyed.

In that spirit, the first one I would recommend is surprisingly not a haphne, but a Harry/OC one called You Were Always There by OpenBookLina. It is the joint best Harry/OC fic I have ever read that is brilliantly constructed and I sped through reading all seven instalments of it.

Anyway, see you all next time.