Author's note- Hello all, I know I should be focusing on my currently ongoing fic Silence of the Winters but this one has been bugging me for quite some time and so out of the 15 long fanfics in my Notes, I am releasing this one.

Also here goes the Disclaimer for this fic, this applies on all chapters because I won't be typing it again and again:-

I do not own the Harry Potter franchise, it is owned by Author J.K. Rowling, Bloomsbury Publishing & Warner Bros. This is purely an art of fiction and has no real life connection with any person living or dead.

:General info:

A. This fic starts in Harry's fifth year but The Triwizard tournament was postponed and so it's taking place in Harry's fifth year instead.

B. Harry has a young brother who is The-Boy-Who-Lived. Not wrong, he is the true Boy-Who-Lived, Harry isn't.

C. Harry's younger brother is NOT his twin but a year younger. Why? It will be explained later, can't give spoilers.

D. Pairing has been decided, it's Harry/Daphne. No one else.

Hope you like the fanfic and leave tons of reviews because the number of reviews is indirectly proportional to time needed for the next chapter. Simply saying, More the reviews, the less time it will take for you to get an update. so….toodles :-D Author out!

Here's the link to my super private server on discord where I'll keep on updating new chapters, sneak peeks, Character designs, where you are free to talk and ask things regarding my fanfics:

Its a newly launched server...

discord . gg / Gcbcv4dxGx (remove the spaces)
Name: Dev Black's Empire

"I am Talking."

'I am Thinking'

Spells

Innovation is the ability to see change as an opportunity,

not a threat.

~Steve Jobs

INNOVATOR

-Dev Sagittarius Black

~~Chapter 1: Meetings~~

A simple fifteen year old boy looked around the corridor as he moved towards the staircase leading to the courtyard he was supposed to be five minutes ago. He was tired and was busy but somehow his house head had convinced him to attend the welcoming ceremony of Hogwarts.

This boy happened to be a prodigy who had won many awards in his short tenure of five years at Hogwarts, he was on the list of top fifteen celebrities in wizarding world and top five in Wizarding Britain. Why?

Because this boy also happened to be a genius amongst the geniuses, with a total of thirty-nine patents to his name in five years, he was one of the foremost wizarding prodigies and had been bestowed the title of The youngest Innovator in the last five-hundred years.

This boy was also the elder brother to a redhead brat who was christened with the title The Boy-who-Lived for supposedly defeating the darkest wizard in a century when only one year old. Total load of gobshite really.

Safe to say, this boy had more than enough reasons to be pissed off but currently, there was only one, namely the words of his teacher that asked him to be present in their school's courtyard with the rest of the students for welcoming other two schools.

'As if the two schools won't enter if I wasn't present to show my face along with the rest of the sheep' He didn't sigh just yet but he was this close to sighing.

If it wasn't for his head of house he'd have never even shown his face unless they somehow crossed in the Hogwarts hallways, which he really hoped they didn't.

Why were other schools visiting again? Ah, yes that tournament. THE Triwizard Tournament which had been postponed last year was now being held in his fifth year.

Why was it cancelled? Simple really, because of Harry Potter, who was the only one smart enough to note that the professor who had been teaching them was a total nutter for drinking Polyjuice right in front of everybody.

All Harry had to do was note the time gap in Moody's swig, then measure the bottle's size and amount of liquid he might be taking in each swig, multiply it by….well yeah, long story short, Harry suspected that this guy was an impostor and came to two conclusions what might be the reason behind it.

A. This guy was asked by Dumbledore or the original Alastor Moody to impersonate him for some reason or..

B. This guy had some nefarious plans in place and was here for his own gains.

Just one look at the Marauder's Map he got from Weasley twins for helping them out with five simple pranks, confirmed that it's definitely not the first option, why? Because neither Moody nor Dumbledore would ever ask a dead deranged Death Eater to teach in place of the person who caught said death eater in the first place.

Long story short, Harry reported his findings straight to Amelia Bones because he didn't trust Dumbledore enough to do it. So, the whole tournament got postponed.

Moody was rescued from his seven compartment traveller's trunk, Barty Crouch senior was sent to Azkaban while his son was given The Dementor's kiss right before his eyes. Painful? Obviously.

Harry had been given Order of Dragon, the sixth highest wizardry award in Britain after the three Merlins and one two Arthurs, he hadn't wanted to go to that function but his manager was a nagging whine-

The mage's line of thought was broken as all of a sudden he heard doors behind him open and a hand grabbed the back of his collar as he was pulled back into the room,

Harry narrowed his eyes as he flicked his wrist and took the precautionary stance. His fifteen inches long wand is made from an infusion of two different woods and three cores flicked out from his wrist holster

"Who is it?"

Not a single sound answered his question. Not even a single squeak of a person or the sound caused due to pulling benches on the floor….absolutely nothing.

"Lumos Maxima!''

The floating ball of what light emerged from his beautiful wand and bathed the complete room in its light. Harry narrowed his eyes as he took in his surroundings.

Wooden benches littered the entirety of this room, all of them thrown haphazardly around the place.

There was the teacher's desk and chair at the front of the room with a moving blackboard behind it and a fine layer of dust settled on everything, which meant it had been some time since this room had last felt broom on its surfaces.

But that was not what caught his eye. It was his kidnapper, who was standing a few feet away from him, smiling a bit shyly and was that blush?

…..yes, yes it was.

Bleach blonde hairs fell in luscious waves down her shoulders and reached her waist, skin as smooth and pale as the finest marbles, pink cupid bow shaped lips along with crystal blue eyes bordered with long eyelashes.

The epitome of beauty who could have easily beaten a Veela and might have given even Aphrodite a run for her money was standing right in front of him. And she was looking at him as she smiled a mischievous grin.

"Already pulling young boys in empty classrooms? The year just started, wait a few months before your yearly transgressions…Greengrass."

"Harry!" Greengrass said as she tried to be intimidating by placing her hands on her waist

"How many times have I told you to call me by my name? It's Daphne. D-A-P-H-N-E, Daphne. Call me by my name." Daphne frowned but Harry could easily see her smile.

"What do you want, Greengrass? I'm already late to somewhere I don't even want to go. Tell me so I can leave that place as soon as I can." Harry asked her tiredly because he somehow had an inkling as to what the girl might ask.

"Oh so you want to leave that place but not this one? Do you like it here Harry? Is that some improvement that I am seeing?" Daphne giggled a bit when she saw him releasing both, his wand back into the holster and a tired sigh.

"Repeating myself even though I don't want to, what do you want now?" Harry was getting a bit irritated now because this girl was simply delaying him uselessly now and wasn't she supposed to be present in the courtyard with the rest of the students to welcome the schools?

"You already know what I want Harry, it's been three long years Mr Potter, three complete years since the first time I asked you to be my friend and one year since I asked you out. You still haven't responded to either of those proposals, it's bad manners to make a lady wait, don't you know that?" Daphne asked him as she took a step closer to where he was, smiling softly.

"I have already told you my answer to both questions, Greengrass. Every single time you pulled me into one of these'' He waved his arm dismissively to show the dark room "I told you each time, that I am not interested in any relationship of any kind, I don't have time for any of them."

"I don't know why you are always so busy. You are famous, you are rich, you are at the top of our year, what more do you want in your teenage years?" The girl sighed in frustration "By the way you do have that lovestruck Zabini in your friendlist, why can't you include me?"

"Blaise is my roommate too, you aren't and about my goals, they are much bigger than you can currently imagine. Also, this time let me ask you something, Greengrass." Harry said with narrowed eyes.

"I am partially afraid of you. I don't know what goes in your brain." Harry told her.

"I don't know why you behave this friendly, this bubbly and this cheerful around me while you are so cold, emotionless and almost the splitting image of what one would expect from a pureblood heiress of an Ancient and Noble House. Why live a dual life? And which one is real?"

Daphne simply gave a small smile as she regarded the boy "This is the real me Harry, I am free of all the restraints whenever I am alone with you." She then looked to the side.

"The one on the outside that the rest of the world sees is just a simple mask, a barrier to ward off the unworthy and the ones that expect something from me. This real me is only known by family and friends."

"And why me? I am neither your family nor your friend." Harry asked her with a confused frown.

"Well, that's because you are special Harry, you are special to me. You have something that others in our school don't, can you guess what it is?" She took another step closer.

"Yeah, a functioning brain." Harry replied sarcastically.

Daphne's tinkling laughter filled the room and Harry frowned because somewhere he felt that he liked it a bit before clamping down pn his occlumency shields and mentally shaking his head to remove those ridiculous thoughts 'Maybe I should take a bath after this…'

"Yes Harry that you do, you have the best brain in our entire year in fact I bet that you have the best brain in the entire student population of Hogwarts and that's one of the reasons why I like yo-"

"Shut up Greengrass." Harry growled, silencing her immediately.

"Don't complete that sentence. I don't know what you saw in me but if you see anything good, you are blind and if you think that I might behave like the rest of the male population that's dancing on your fingertips then you are delusional too."

"But Harry I never said-"

"No, wait. This has gone on more than long enough, let me finish it now." Harry took a deep breath as he looked straight in those open innocent crystal blue eyes, he couldn't believe he was going to say this but he knew that he had to.

To protect her and keep himself focused, he had to do it. He needed to do it.

"You are really beautiful Greengrass. The best looking girl I have ever met and the best one I'll probably ever meet. You have hordes of boys vying for your attention."

"Choose the best one out of them, go out with him and have fun with your life. Mine is messed up and…" he took a deep breath as he turned from that girl and towards the door.

"I don't want you in my life. You will never be in my life, not in any way except as my first benefactor's daughter. So it'd be good if you ended this useless charade and instead enjoyed the life you have been blessed with."

And with that the emerald eyed mage snapped his fingers to open the doors as he stepped out of the room and went away without ever noticing the hurt look in Daphne's eyes as she witnessed his departure.

Daphne wiped her eyes with the back of her hand as she walked back into the room and sat on the same chair she had been waiting for his arrival on.

The girl took another deep breath and swallowed the small lump in her throat that she got after every rejection.

Yes, every, this was nothing new for her but this time his words had changed. and it hurt her to remember them. Her eyes flashed as she remembered the first time they met in Diagon Alley.

"Dad, I want an Ice-cream."

Eight year old Daphne Greengrass was visiting Diagon Alley for the third time today, well it wasn't her real third time because she had visited the alley many times with her mother and sister and her father and her grandma and her Uncle and her….yeah, many times.

But this was the third time that she had accompanied her father to his workplace in the ministry and then the Lord's chamber. In her father's words she was a big girl now and needed to understand a bit about the mechanisms of running a family and a house as ancient and noble as theirs.

But the work day had ended and now they were leaving and little Daphne wanted her favourite Ice-cream, she might share it with her sister if that little brat asked her politely….duh who was she kidding, Daphne knew she'd give everything away for Astoria, she was too adorable.

"But you didn't help me much and you also poked fun at Lord Malfoy's son when I told you not to, why should I give you an ice-cream treat?" Lord Greengrass grinned mischievously even as he changed route and started walking towards Florean Fortesque's Ice-Creame shop.

"Well, Draco deserved that, he was making fun of Tracey's new glasses." Daphne said and crossed her arms as she cutely puffed her cheek. Lord Greengrass simply laughed and nodded.

The elder Greengrass knew that Malfoy's brat deserved it and hoped that little Malfoy didn't follow his father's footsteps, somehow it seemed like his hope was in vain.

They entered the shop and looked around the counter to locate Mr Fortesque or one of his assistants but they weren't able to find any of them, that's when they heard him.

"Welcome to Florean Fortesque's Ice-cream shop Lord Greengrass, how may I help you?"

Both the Greengrasses looked down to see a small boy with messy black hairs, crooked glasses and the brightest of green eyes looked up at them with a wide smile.

"Hello little man" The elder Grengrass began "May we know your name and exactly why you are working in place of Mr Fortesque or his assistants? Where are they for that matter?"

"Greetings to you too Lord Greengrass, I am Harry and I help around the shops in Diagon alley in my free time, Mr Fortesque is currently unavailable due to personal reasons and I was actually at the back when you came." Harry replied before shrugging his little shoulders.

"I don't know where the rest of the assistants are but I wasn't able to find them. Still, you can trust me completely, I have memorised the price list and have practised making each of the ice-creams at least twice and Mr Fortesque trusts me too."

Lord Greengrass was still a bit sceptical but if the owner trusted the boy and he was getting what he wanted he didn't see what was wrong anyways.

"Well, I don't want anything but my little girl does. Florean usually knows what to give her but now since he isn't here…" The eldest wizard in that shop started going through the list of ice-creams available.

"Wait, let me help you out then." Harry said and stared at Daphne right into her eyes making the girl a bit awkward.

After that he started making the magical cones then rounding the ice-cream scoops as he heaped the cold delicacy one-above-the-other before sprinkling it with sweetened sugar powder and presenting the ice-cream after wrapping it in a tissue paper to Daphne.

"Try it, I am sure you'll like it." Harry told her and she frowned at that, how could he simply say that without even knowing what she likes? Maybe her thoughts were being broadcasted because he simply laughed and placed the blue coloured ice-cream with silver sprinkles in her hand as he went off to make another one.

Daphne hadn't liked it, she had loved it instead. So much that in fact she had insisted on buying a whole bucket. When her father asked Harry as to which one he had made out of the list so they could remember its name, the boy simply gave a sheepish smile and told them that he hadn't named it yet.

At first Lord Greengrass had assumed the boy forgot its name and was too ashamed to admit it so was making excuses but then a single conversation regarding the boy with Florean told him that Harry was telling the truth.

Harry was indeed the creator of twelve different ice-cream flavours and a potion which when mixed with the flavours doesn't let the ice-cream melt. The boy was said to be a genius and regarded as a prodigy by many shopkeepers in Diagon Alley.

That had been her first meeting with the youngest innovator of Britain who would then go on to innovate and invent many things ranging from simple things like Ice cream flavours to complex ones like Eye-cure potions.

Getting his name inscribed in Britain's golden pages of History as the best, the finest and the youngest Innovator of all times. Clear to say that Harry never had to work in Diagon Alley shops after winning both his titles and the awards, one of them being Order of Merlin II Class.

But more than that, Daphne should have cherished their first meeting, she would have if only she had known that it might be the last time she'd get to see that bright, tension and stress-free smile on his face, that it would be the last time she would hear his laughter that could light up even the most depressed person…

…that it would be the last time she would see him relaxed and without a mask, the last time that he'd be so carefree…

Daphne had tried meeting with Harry many times after that but everytime she asked Mr Fortesque he told her that Harry was unavailable and after a few months, she got the news that Harry had stopped coming to Diagon Alley altogether.

In fact, it was just before her first year at Hogwarts that she met the boy wonder, when he was again working at Madam Malkin's Robes for all occasions.

Harry was sitting there on a simple wooden chair with a notepad in front of him and was completely concentrating on whatever it was that he was doing, she had so wanted to go and say 'Hello' to him.

But her position as an heiress prevented her from approaching anyone herself….also, he looked too busy and completely concentrated with whatever he was doing on that notepad with a muggle writing instrument made of wood and something called Grey-fight.

So, she left him completely and instead went on with her business of getting her new Hogwarts robes tailored for herself.

Six months later, Madam Malkin released a completely new fashion line which changed Britain's Wizarding fashion sense completely and helped step into the new era. Name of that fashion line? Why, The En-lightning of course.

Their third encounter was more memorable though….

.

.

.

But before Daphne could have lapsed herself into that encounter, the door again opened and a friendly face peeked in.

"Hey dream girl, your adonis just went past me y'know. Were you able to have a chat with him?" Tracey asked as she skipped into the room and went towards the chair her friend was occupying.

"I did."

Tracey narrowed her eyes at that "And let me guess, he rejected you again? Is it October yet? No wait, you'll try again and only get what…rejection?" Tracey's snark was piercing but she knew Daphne won't be affected.

It was frustrating actually, watching her friend get rejected again and again by the same guy as he went on with his work while her friend went off to her dreamland. Then Tracey had to work on bringing the girl back to her usual self.

"Seriously Daphne, what do you even see in that arrogant good for nothing big-brained nerd? I bet if he ever got the chance then he'd literally experiment on girls to learn what we are and how to understand us. But as of now, that guy is an idiot y'know."

Daphne just frowned at that "It's not like that Tracey, Harry is considerate and he-"

"Is nothing more than a conceited, selfish, walking-talking load of bullcrap who is too full of himself to note about others. Honestly Daphne you are so hot that almost all the boys are head-over-heels for you except him." Her voice was getting higher steadily.

"You can literally get any boy as your boyfriend yet you run after the one who has rejected you, what five times already?" Tracey threw her hands in the air.

Daphne shook her head "You are wrong Tracey, Harry is neither conceited nor selfish. He isn't any of the vile things you screamed that he is. He is scared, he is tired, he is frustrated with everything and he is a lot more. But nothing bad, everything good.''

"I don't see him 'good' in any way y'know." Tracey said as she frowned and crossed her arms.

"That's because you don't know him yet, you will once you like him." Daphne said, looking towards the door.

"Then pray, tell me?"

"I wish I could, but I can't…..I simply can't tell you how he is special."

"Yet, you will keep on pursuing this useless journey won't you?" Tracey asked the bleach blonde with narrowed eyes.

Daphne gave a small smile that frustrated Tracey more before she just gave up, took Daphne's hand in hers and started moving towards the Hogwarts courtyard to stand with the rest of the school so that they could welcome other schools visiting them.

Ten metres away in a room that was two rooms away from the ones the girls had occupied, a boy growled in frustration as he punched the nearby wall and dismissed the listening charm he put on the door when he left.

"Why don't you understand Greengrass? For Merlin's sake, why are you purposefully being stubborn? Just listen to me one damn time!"

Both the Slytherin girls reached the courtyard and surprisingly enough the schools were yet to arrive. Do mind the sarcasm.

Hogwarts was trying its level best to look presentable and welcoming, this is why each of the students had been asked to be at their best with clean uniforms and everything. Each of the houses were divided and students were standing in equal rows and columns.

They greeted the Head of their Hogwarts House who was standing in front of the Slytherin mob wearing his brand new Black shirt with Black pants and a black vest that was complimenting his billowing black outer robe with black embroidery, completing this person's colourful attire was his black shoes.

"Psst…Daphne, look" Tracey told her and nodded towards their left where their housemate Pansy Parkinson was coming from. Unfortunately, Pansy had the smirk which resembled a cat that got the juiciest canary.

"What happened, Pansy? You look like you just had the time of your week y'know." Tracey asked the pug-faced Slytherin girl who gave an even wider smirk as she nodded before pointing in the direction where she came from.

"Can you see what's going on there?" Pansy asked them.

"Yeah, Elder Potter and Dumb-as-dork are discussing something there's nothing new about them y'know." Tracey said as she waved her hand dismissively.

"But oh yes there is, I was just listening to what the two were talking about, alright? Look closely girls, who among the two looks frustrated and who is as calm as a gentle breeze?"

Daphne frowned because what she was witnessing was a bit of a bizarre thing to happen. Usually it's the headmaster who frustrates and tires everyone, their own head of Hogwarts house was in fact a prime example of people troubled by the Headmaster's serene and eccentric attitude."

But here,Dumbledore was the one who looked kind of frustrated while Harry, or as Tracey said, the elder Potter was looking as calm as a gentle breeze 'How much patience and wit would one need so that he could frustrate the one who frustrated them all?'

"Dumbledore looks frustrated while Potter looks calm. I'd say that the headmaster wants something from the Ravenclaw's Royal King while the boy is completely ignoring his request." Daphne spoke out loud.

"No shit, really?" Pansy exclaimed in sarcasm but immediately winced knowing full well what was coming.

"I might have become too civil with you if you were able to forget who you are standing and became sarcastic with. Maybe I should remind you who I am again in the common room." Daphne's eyes narrowed and she was satisfied when she saw Pansy gulp down her fear.

"I-I don't think that would be necessary Daphne, I'll mind my tongue from now on, yo-you don't have to worry about that." Pansy shook her head and tried to think of another topic, why was she here again? Oh yes.

"And well, the headmaster is trying to convince the elder Potter to stand next to him and his brother when the schools arrive." Pansy told them.

"Something related to both power and intellect present in Britain and together bringing more prestige to both Hogwarts and England as a whole. Potter's simply refuting all of Dumbledore's tries." Pansy giggled before sighing.

"Oh, how cool he is. Just look at him Daphne, one of the tallest guys in our year with a really good physique, those wavy rich ebony locks, his soul piercing bright green eyes and of course how can I forget his pink bow-like lips?"

Pansy couldn't notice the glare she was receiving from Daphne because the girl was busy making doe eyes towards Harry who they noticed just got free from his discussion with Dumbledore who simply threw his metaphorical hands in the air and left Harry who moved towards the group of Ravenclaws and stood beside a dark skinned boy named Blaise Zabini.

"Yeah, yeah we know about your not so little crush on the elder Potter y'know." Tracey smirked and tried to joke as she knew Daphne was restraining herself because she couldn't claim Harry publicly unless he accepted her.

"Not just me Tracey, I bet seventy percent of Hogwarts's Female population would love to be with him, in fact I am sure even Daphne won't mind a guy as freaking hot as him to be with her, right Daphne?"

'Oh you don't even know Pansy how much I'd like that' Daphne thought as she shook her head in a negative manner and sneered. "In his dreams maybe, there's no guy who is worthy enough to have me with him."

Pansy just shrugged her shoulders "Of course Daphne and all these girls are lucky that we both aren't their competition."

"I mean you are obviously you while I am really sure that if it wasn't for my Marriage contract with Draco, elder Potter wouldn't have even left me alone unless we had visited all the known broom closets." The pug-faced girl smirked.

Tracey's eyes widened as she looked towards her best friend and grabbed the witch's hand that had already gone towards her wand 'No Daphne, not here, you can't do that publicly and clearly not for this reason' She prayed and tried to convey the message with her eyes.

Daphne sighed and nodded in understanding, for now she'll simply ignore the Parkinson heiress and focus on the task at hand, she was sure that Pansy would provide her with many…opportunities in future.

That's when they heard someone exclaim "Hey, look at the sky, what are those?" Everyone started looking towards where the boy had pointed as Dumbledore and Gryffindor Potter moved towards the front of the courtyard to welcome the first school that had reached.

Ending Note- A new fanfic out of my notes, innovator, genius Harry who is for some reason, cold. This time it's not WBWL and he is an year older than his brother.

Here's the link to my super private server on discord where I'll keep on updating new chapters, sneak peeks, Character designs, where you are free to talk and ask things regarding my fanfics:

Its a newly launched server...

discord . gg / Gcbcv4dxGx (remove the spaces)

Name: Dev Black's Empire

It's a new fic so do tell me if you like the first chapter or not, I've quite a few things planned for it. Constructive criticism is appreciated.

Even a simple 'Good Work Dev' is also appreciated, the more you review the sooner you'll get another chapter (imagine the devil smile)

With Regards

Dev Black