I do not own anything from the harry potter universe, unfortunately.
"Normal Talking"
'Thoughts'
"Parseltongue"
The past couple of days had been surprisingly tense for Harry. It had been two days since his visit with Dumbledore and he hadn't told his friends what had transpired. In fact, he wasn't even sure what had happened. All he knew is that he felt like he was invaded in some way. He had avoided the professor since then and had made sure not to make any form of eye contact. Demona had also been on edge since the event and every time his mind would turn to Dumbledore, he could feel the agitation flow through their bond.
Thankfully he didn't have to deal with Dumbledore right now. No instead he was serving that detention with Snape, at least he was kind enough to make it the day before the weekend and not during. Currently, he was scrubbing cauldrons with an old brush and some strong-smelling cleaner of some kind. Harry didn't quite know how to describe the smell; sour clean was the closet he could get.
Looking towards the Professor who was at the front of the potion's classroom grading papers. Seeing the professor just do a rather mundane task without constantly belittling him was strangely comforting. Though he had a thought in his head, in the past Snape had made it a point to call out Harry's father. That was something he was a bit miffed at still but felt that maybe the subject was too sore to broach now. But there was one person that he had never mentioned.
"Sir, can I ask you a question."
"You just did, and the proper way to ask that type of question is 'may I ask you a question." The potion's professor answered dryly. Harry rolled his eyes.
"May I ask you a question?" He tried again and without looking up from his papers Snape waved his hand in a go-ahead motion.
"D-Did you know my mom?" Harry asked tentatively. He thought he may have taken a step too far when he saw Snape tense at his question. He remained there for a moment before Harry saw Snape's shoulder relax but he could see the tension hadn't left him completely.
"Why do you ask?" Snape asked doing a surprisingly well-done job at hiding his emotions from Harry, if he hadn't seen the professor tense the moment before he would have no idea it ever occurred.
"It's just, you talk about my dad, or at least you used to. So, I was just wondering if you knew my mom." Snape's eyes narrowed slightly at the mention of Harry's father but softened soon after.
"Yes, we attended Hogwarts together." Snape answered while flipping to another paper to grade.
"Is that all? Everyone talks about my dad all the time, but they don't talk about her too much. I mean they mention her but mainly just about how my eyes are like hers." It was true, while Remus and Sirius often talked to Harry about his parents, they rarely brought his mom up. He didn't think they did it out of malice they just really wanted to talk about his dad.
"She was a gifted student; she was masterful at charms and potions. She was also kind, incredibly kind, she had a habit of seeing the best in people even when they couldn't see it in themselves." Snape said the last part a little wistfully and if Harry wasn't so enraptured in hearing about his mom, he might've let his jaw hit the floor from hearing Snape express emotions.
Though Snape seemed to catch himself before shaking his head.
"I believe that these cauldrons will be as clean as they can get. You are free to leave Potter." Snape said as Harry nodded quickly putting away the cleaning supplies. As Harry gathered the things he paused at the door and looked back at the professor. There was a moment, a small moment, where Harry felt like he should thank Snape for the short bit of information that he had told him.
No, maybe another day but not today he still didn't feel all that trusting towards the professor but he was getting there.
He left the classroom and missed Snape looking up from his papers towards the closed door. The potions master took a deep breath his eyes becoming surprisingly soft as he looked back towards his papers.
Now that Harry was free, he was instructed to make his way to the library. The instruction came from Hermione and apparently it was for a bit of studying before curfew. Harry had explained to her that he was going to be in detention today, but she said that it would be more than fine. Hermione wasn't exactly the type to take studying lightly so this sort of last-minute meet-up was a bit weird, but Harry didn't mind.
Quickly making his way to the library he was about to reach it when he saw an odd sight. Quickly backing up to the corner he had just rounded he peeked around. There was Tracey Davis one of his friends who was currently looking towards a dumbfounded-looking Neville Longbottom. Harry was curious as to what was going on, but it would seem he came right at the end as Tracey sauntered off. Poor Neville looked like he didn't know what to do his mouth opening and closing while looking back multiple times at Tracey as she left him alone.
Harry left his hidey spot as he approached the flabbergasted Neville who had failed to notice his approach.
"Hey Neville!" he greeted, and Neville jumped as if someone had just cast the explosion curse right next to his feet.
"H-Harry!" He said seeming to calm down after recognizing Harry who just smiled at him.
"What's going on mate? Someone giving you trouble?" Harry doubted that. Tracey didn't seem the type to pick on others. Neville's face however became a shade of red that put a Weasley's hair to shame at Harry's inquiry.
"N-No! I m-mean, I don't t-think so." Neville said quickly shaking his head but stumbled over his words. He always did that when he was nervous.
"Okay then, are you sure?" He asked and Neville nodded.
"Y-Yeah, you know I'm just going to g-go." Neville again said quickly as he scurried off. Harry couldn't help but wonder just what Tracey and Neville were talking about but shrugged it off. Finishing off his walk he arrived at the library and quickly scanned the room. He didn't spot Hermione until he walked forward a bit and saw she was sitting at a table he had been using lately.
But she wasn't alone, Susan and Daphne were sitting with her. He didn't mind that of course but what was odd is that they didn't have any books or notes out. Kind of hard to study when you have no materials to study with.
"Hey girls." Harry greeted and for the second time that evening he made people jump with his greeting. It was only Susan and Hermione, Daphne just looked at him as a sudden glint appeared in her eye. It was not a mad glint like he had seen in Jones's eyes, and he couldn't quite identify it.
"Hi, Harry." Daphne greeted him back as he took a seat opposite of the girls.
"So, what are we studying, we don't have long before curfew you know." He said placing his bag on the table.
"Um… about that." Hermione said a blush creeping onto her cheeks as she cleared her throat. Harry had no way of knowing but all three girls currently had jackhammers for hearts right now with how hard they were thunking against their chests. Daphne as always did an excellent job to keep herself in check but even she couldn't help the slight dusting of red on her cheeks.
Susan and Hermione not so much.
"W-We wanted to ask you something." Hermione said stuttering a bit at the beginning mentally kicking herself for doing so. Their eyes met and that was a mistake as his curious emerald eyes seemed to glow even in the rather dim light of the library and suddenly Hermione's nerves turned to jelly.
She quickly nudged Susan in an effort to gain some sort of support, this was her bloody idea in the first place. At the prodding, Susan took a deep breath herself as she looked towards Harry.
"We were wondering if you would like to, well if you're not busy that is, to go to Hogsmeade this weekend." She asked a blush as present on her face as it was on Hermione's.
"Oh, sure I'd love to." Harry said not quite sure why they were being so weird about this. Susan and Hermione seemed to relax at his answer while Daphne just rolled her eyes.
"On a date Harry." She said bluntly and all that tension that Hermione and Susan had shed came right back as their heads whipped over to her while she just held a small smirk. Harry's eyes widened at what Daphne just said. He couldn't have heard that right no way.
"What?" Harry asked a bit stupidly, but it wasn't his fault there was no way he was understanding this properly.
"A date. You know where people go to hang out in a romantic sense usually in the way of a planned activity or event. In this case, it would be a Hogsmeade weekend." Daphne said simply the same playful smirk on her lips.
"I-I know what a date is. I just don't think I'm understanding what you are asking here." Harry said as Daphne looked towards Susan and Hermione both of whom were as flushed as tomatoes at this point.
"We want you to take us on a date, Harry." Susan answered a shy smile sneaking its way to her face her hazel eyes fluttering to his. Harry suddenly felt very warm under the collar as he was sure his face was flushed. There was no way this was real… right?
"Okay, and by us you mean… like… I am not getting it." Gods even to Harry that sounded stupid, and it showed as Daphne suddenly rolled her eyes again.
"See I told you we should've dragged him to a broom closet and done this quick and dirty." She said as Hemione looked at her with wide eyes.
"Daphne!" she cried out though not too loudly, they were still in a library after all. Harry's brain at this point had effectively been turned to mush, he didn't quite register what was happening.
"What?" she asked innocently as Susan just buried her face in her hands mortified with just how forwards Daphne was being. This might have been Susan's plan but she wanted to ease into it!
"You can't just say that." Hermione hissed out taking notice of Harry's far away look in his eyes and the blush that now matched hers and Susan's.
"Harry? Are you okay?" She asked carefully but Harry as stated before had mush for brains at the moment.
"I… huh?" He asked not knowing how to respond to anything at that particular point in time.
"Okay, maybe we should just start over." Hermione said shifting in her seat, this was suddenly a lot harder than even what she imagined in her head. She didn't expect it to go smoothly or anything but still. They waited a few moments for everyone to calm down a bit as Harry suddenly regained his bearings blinking a few times.
"Harry?" Susan asked gently and Harry just nodded not trusting his voice to work as he wished. "Look we wanted you to take us to Hogsmeade this weekend, and yes I mean all of us. Hermione, Daphne, and I." Susan said gesturing to her fellow ladies as she named them.
"We realize that it might seem a bit… overwhelming." Hermione continued in Susan's stead "But we've talked about it for a while now and we feel… well." Hermione said not knowing how to word it. This wasn't exactly your run-of-the-mill relationship talk.
"Harry, we like you, like a lot. Susan and I kinda fancied you since first year we just never… found a chance to approach you." Daphne said carefully feeling that bringing Ron up may ruin the moment. "And Hermione likes you too and we just don't want to fight over you. Well, it was Susan's idea so you can blame the Hufflepuff." Daphne said with a small giggle. Susan just threw her hands in the air.
"Why do you always got to come after me and Hufflepuff!?" She said with a mock glare.
"Hufflepuff… that actually makes sense." Harry said speaking up for the first time as Susan turned to him with wide eyes while Daphne just giggled even more, and Hermione couldn't stop her smile from spreading across her face.
"I-I'll be honest, I don't know what to say…" He said trailing off rubbing his hands together. It was a bit much to take in, to be honest. He had only known Daphne and Susan for a little over two weeks now. And yet they've fancied him since first year. Hermione made a little more sense but still, he hadn't seen it coming. This was just a lot to take in for him.
In his mind, he heard echoing nasty voices of his relatives in his head but quickly shook them away. He didn't know if it was the dim candlelight, or how it illuminated their faces.
But the way their eyes seemed to shine as they all looked at him was making his heart thunder in his chest. The way the flickering flames made the light dance around their faces gave all three of them an ethereal beauty that Harry was almost ashamed to admit he had never noticed before. Or perhaps he did notice but just didn't register.
He felt so small in truth, he didn't think of himself as especially handsome or attractive. He was scrawny, not that it was his fault, but it still showed. He had scars he had yet to tell even Hermione about. If anything, he felt damaged compared to the three of them. Then through his bond, he suddenly felt a warmth envelop him.
He smiled at that. It would seem that even Demona was trying to reassure him and give him courage. Meeting the girl's eyes again as they looked back at him, he felt his face flush all over again as he shyly looked off to the side.
"Yeah… I mean if you don't mind." Harry answered and the girls as one smiled widely.
"We definitely don't mind Harry; we've been waiting for a pretty long time you know." Susan said with a gentle smile on her face mirrored by Daphne and Hermione who nodded in agreement. The voices that haunted him a moment ago were quickly forgotten as the girls quickly gave him a time to meet them so they could start their date.
All three began to make their way back to their dorms, when Hermione had to separate to head to Gryffindor tower she quickly gave Harry a peck on his cheek. The kiss was innocent but still made Harry feel that warm silly feeling. When Susan had to separate, she too gifted Harry a small kiss on his opposite cheek which again made him feel warm and fuzzy.
When he and Daphne had reached the Slytherin common room everyone had retired to their rooms for the night and Daphne did not kiss him on the cheeks like the other two. Instead, she brought him forward and gave him a light peck on the nose. She wordlessly smiled and walked back to her room. At that moment Harry was sure he had that stupid look on his face with a smile to match.
Reaching his dorm, he wanted to jump straight to bed just so tomorrow could come faster but he had a thought. A frown formed on his face to replace the smile as he went over to his trunk and opened it. In the trunk were his clothes but he quickly felt a pit forming in his stomach just looking at them. He never really paid much attention to it before, but he quickly realized that his best clothes were his uniform.
The rest were all oversized and worn hand-me-downs from Dudley. Pulling out a shirt that was sort of okay he laid it out on his bed. He then did the same with a pair of jeans and a jacket. Quickly changing he took a second to observe himself.
He looked like a bum, and honestly, he felt embarrassed that he had never really thought about it before. The shirt was easily four sizes too big, and he had to tuck it in just to make it seem like it fit. His jeans all but draped over his feet and he would have to roll them up to get them not to drag. The jacket was much like the shirt but just really faded.
Just thinking of showing up for the first date of his life wearing this was making him feel sick with worry. The fact that there would be three girls with him on this date didn't help this fact. He briefly thought about just wearing his uniform but even that made him dread tomorrow. He wasn't nearly skilled enough in transfiguration to just alter his clothes, he could shrink them down sure but still, he'd look awful.
Harry's mind began to work a million miles an hour as he tried to think of a way out of this current predicament. However, the more he thought the more he came up blank for ideas. Why was fighting a Dragon somehow simpler than getting dressed for a date?
Then Harry thought of something that didn't concern him. He thought of Blaise, his friend even during the weekends always dressed impeccably. He didn't dress snobbish but even Harry wasn't oblivious enough to miss how much attention Blaise attracted from girls in the castle.
Harry then turned to his door and slowly made his way to it.
"No! No, you can't ask Blaise; C'mon Harry." He suddenly said turning around back to his trunk before he caught sight of the rubbish that barely passed as clothes on the bed.
"Okay, maybe." He said turning again and it went like this for a solid minute before Harry found some Gryffindor bravery and opened the door and made his way to the door, he knew Blaise stayed in. Like Harry, he didn't have a roommate but that didn't help Harry at all. He raised his hand and it felt like there were chains wrapped around his hands that kept him from knocking.
When he finally managed to bring his knuckles onto the door, he only forced out three quick knocks before stopping. Harry could hear a slight shuffle on the other side of the door before it swung open. Blaise's face came into focus for Harry as his friend looked at him confused; he was already changed for bed.
"Harry? What's up?" Blaise asked leaning on his door frame. Harry's mouth suddenly felt dry, it was a simple request and yet he felt embarrassed like never before.
"I… uh… I need your help with something." Harry said and Blaise began to nod waiting for Harry to continue.
"And…?" Blaise asked looking at Harry expectantly.
"Well… you see it's about Hogsmeade… I'm… well… I'm kind of going on a date." Harry managed to mumble out and Blaise's eyes began to widen a little as a grin formed on his lips.
"Oh, so you need some pointers? Date ideas?" Blaise asked and Harry shook his head, the girls had said that they already had an idea in mind.
"Not exactly… bugger this embarrassing." Harry ground out and there was a moment of silence between them. It was broken when Blaise suddenly reared back eyes wide as plates.
"You're not going to tell me you need the talk, are you?" He asked and Harry's eyes widened before shaking his head violently.
"No! Gross dude!" Harry exclaimed as Blaise sighed in relief. How the hell did he jump to that conclusion anyway. Harry wondered if he really seemed that hopeless in a romantic sense.
"Good, cause the only version I know is my mum's version and that is not a good one." Blaise said laughing to himself.
"It's my clothes man! I don't have any clothes." Harry said the embarrassment of Blaise's statement overriding the embarrassment from the need for clothes. At this Blaise raised an eyebrow.
"Clothes? What's wrong with yours?" Blaise asked and Harry sighed.
"My clothes are… well there all kind of hand-me-downs, I don't have anything nice to wear." Harry explained but Blaise just furrowed his brows in confusion.
"Hand-me-downs? Why do you have hand-me-downs?" Blaise asked and Harry just shook his head again.
"That's not important, look mate can you help me? Please?" Harry said and there was a moment of silence before Blaise widened his door and ushered Harry inside.
"Alright mate, but you owe me, and you better not ruin anything." Blaise said walking over to his trunk. He quickly fingered through a few things and looked at Harry at times seeming to have internal debates with himself.
"Hogsmeade, you said, right?" Blaise asked.
"Yeah, Hogsmeade."
"Going to be cold… let's see." Blaise said before pulling out a black long-sleeve shirt that had three buttons going down from the collar. He tossed it on the bed before pulling out a lighter grey zip-up hoodie, it wasn't heavy, but it definitely would help keep Harry warm with the encroaching cold. He then tossed a pair of dark blue jeans on the bed as well.
"Try these on." Blaise said and Harry quickly grabbed the offered clothes and moved out of Blaise's line of vision. He was being careful that Blaise didn't see anything that Harry wasn't quite prepared to explain. Quickly changing Harry found that Blaise was slightly bigger than him. That didn't surprise him since he was rather scrawny.
The jeans were just a bit over his heels as he wore them, but Harry could easily tell that this outfit alone was ten times better than the one he had on previously. However, it didn't seem the Blaise was done just yet.
Blaise pulled out a black leather belt and a pair of combat boots. Setting them aside he also produced a black leather jacket. He examined it for a bit before nodding to himself.
"Alright put on the belt and shoes." Blaise ordered and Harry did so, the belt was very helpful since Harry was a bit smaller than Blaise. He then took the offered jacket and threw it over his shoulders.
"Pull up your pants mate." Harry did so and Blaise examined his work before going over to grab his wand. After a few waves, the clothes became a much better fit for Harry. Blaise examined Harry once more before nodding.
"Alright check it out." Blaise said gesturing to a body mirror on the wall. Turning Harry took in his appearance, and it was miles better than what he had before. The jeans were clean and devoid of any form of fading and the boots were nice and comfortable as well. Harry had all the buttons on his shirt done up and the hoodie was zipped up only mid-way and the leather jacket was over it with the hood of the hoodie spilling out over the collar.
The contrast of the grey and blacks was nice and even Harry could tell that with the darker colors his eyes seemed to be more pronounced.
"This is ten times better!" Harry said adjusting his jacket a bit as he shifted from foot to foot to get a feel for the boots.
"Yeah, my mum kinda drilled it into my head that your appearance matters always, so always dress to impress. You feel ready for your date now?" Blaise asked closing up his trunk.
"Better than before that's for sure." Harry said it wasn't much of a stretch to say that this is probably the best that Harry had ever looked outside of his school uniform.
"Harry, do you only own hand-me-downs?" Blaise asked still not quite believing him, and Harry's face morphed into a frown.
"Yes." Harry said plainly and Blaise shook his head while taking a seat on his trunk.
"Why? I mean shouldn't you have some of your own clothes?" Harry didn't want to talk about this but after Blaise helped him out he felt that he at least owed him an explanation. He wasn't going to get into it but, maybe just this one thing.
"I live with my muggle relatives, there not exactly… accepting of magic and that kind of includes me. So, they've never really felt the need to spend money on me. Just pass down whatever my cousin didn't want to use anymore." He explained and Blaise's eye's narrowed, he had heard of this happening to Muggleborns sometimes, but he never expected Harry Potter to suffer similar problems.
There was a moment of silence between the two before Blaise slapped his trunk and stood up in the same motion.
"Well, go ahead and keep those. Also, while you're in Hogsmeade go ahead and look up a place called Gladrag's Wizardwear, it doesn't have much but it's got to be better than nothing." Blaise said surprising Harry.
"Wait what? I can't keep this." Harry said gesturing to the clothes he was wearing. Blaise just shook his head.
"Sure, you can, you'll just owe me a little extra. I'll open up a Potter favors tab and cash them in when I want." He said jokingly.
"Blaise… I can't—"
"Sure, you can, don't make this difficult cause if you do then you'll make it weird. Don't be weird." Blaise said with a smirk as he simply clapped Harry on the arm.
"Be sure to tell me how the date goes." Blaise said as he shooed Harry towards the door. Before Harry left, he hesitated at the door. He couldn't help but smile as he looked back.
"Thanks, Blaise." Blaise just rolled his eyes.
"Don't make it weird mate." Harry just chuckled as he left and returned to his room. Taking off the clothes he laid them out on the opposite bed and changed into his pajamas and climbed into his bed. He was suddenly feeling much better about the date tomorrow.
However, his dreams seemed to have a different idea for his night.
Not even a minute had passed after sleep claimed Harry did he suddenly find himself inside a familiar manor. It was the same manor that had plagued his dreams but as of late stopped. In fact, this was the first time he was having ever since he began hanging out with his new friends.
That obviously didn't last as Harry found himself in a very familiar hallway to an open doored room. In the room, he saw the horrific, yet frail form of Voldemort draped in a black sheet with Nagini coiled almost protectively around her master. Harry then saw the kneeling and cowering form of Pettigrew in the corner of the room. Just the sight of the traitor caused Harry's blood to boil.
His attention was ripped away as another figure approached, he was here the few times that Harry had this dream before but still had no real idea who it was.
"So, the boy passed the first task?" he heard the high-pitched raspy voice of the Dark Lord as the new figure nodded.
"Yes, my lord, quite curiously as well might I add."
"Curious? How so?"
"The boy, he used a form of dark magic while competing to summon what I believe to be Shadow Ravens and a Hellhound, at least that's what I believe they were. He also openly used his Parseltongue ability to try to converse with the Dragon." The man explained as the Dark Lord let out a raspy laugh.
"Dark magic you say that fool Dumbledore must be beside himself seeing his weapon using such magic."
Weapon? What did that mean?
"W-Weapon mi 'lord?" Pettigrew whispered out and received a nasty hiss from Nagini before Voldemort soothed her in Parseltongue.
"Yes… Dumbledore is old, and only becoming weaker with age. He needs to rear a new champion for the light. Harry of course is this champion; you think it was a mere coincidence that those 'traps' Dumbledore used for the stone were able to be solved by mere children? Do you think it was just his aging mind that allowed the school to remain open while Salazar's Basilisk roamed the halls petrifying student after student? Even third year when the dementors were sent for that disgrace Black, do you honestly believe that Dumbledore would just let those creatures get so close to school grounds because he didn't notice. Dumbledore is an old fool, but he is not inept. He was testing young Harry, putting him threw a gauntlet if you would—" another raspy cackle broke his speech "Dumbledore might be my enemy, but he is about as protective and concerned with Harry's safety as I am." Voldemort finished, and Harry could see Pettigrew's eyes widened at his Lord's words. The other man just had a cruel smirk on his lips.
Meanwhile, Harry at first didn't believe his words. He didn't want to, but his mind trailed to the event in Dumbledore's office just two days ago. Have the past three years been some sort of gauntlet of hidden tests and training? What else had Dumbledore done to influence his life besides what he had done at Hogwarts?
Looking back, he suddenly saw crimson eyes staring back at him as Voldemort's sickly ghoulish form peered over the arm of the chair he sat in to look at Harry. Harry's heart stopped in his chest as it became tight, and he took in a sharp breath. Unknowing if Voldemort had truly seen him or not, he felt himself suddenly wrenched from the dream.
He found himself back in his dorm eyes wide as he bolted upright in his bed. Looking around he saw the burning eyes of Demona looking into his own. He suddenly felt pressure on his arm as he took notice that Demona had it in her jaws and could feel her pressing down on it, not enough to puncture his skin but enough that it sent a slight jolt of pain up his arm.
Once she saw he was awake she released his arm with only a few indents on his skin to prove it was there at all. He then felt a soothing warmth flood him as Demona laid her large head onto his lap allowing both her emotional and physical heat to warm him.
With her help, Harry quickly found that his racing heart began to slow and relax, and his breathing became slow and even. He raised his hand to place it upon Demona's snout, honestly with how big she was it felt like a large horse was laying its head on his lap. He slowly stroked her snout as he allowed his feelings of gratitude to flow from him into her.
"Thank you, Demona, haven't had a nightmare like that in a while." He said as Demona raised her head, her horns catching briefly on the curtains around his bed. He swung his legs over the side before rubbing his eyes as he looked at the clock next to his bed. It read six-thirty AM.
Taking in a few deep breaths he knew he probably wasn't going to be able to fall back asleep but wasn't in a rush to try. The girls had told him to meet them in the courtyard that would lead to the carriages at ten o'clock sharp.
So, he had four hours to shake the queasy feeling he currently had in his gut out of his system. Looking towards Demon who sat there, her horns scraping against the roof of the dorm he had a thought. He remembered the rush he had when he rode her in the first task but was too busy trying to survive and pass the task to truly enjoy it. With a smile on his face he rose from his bed he had a plan forming in his head.
"Demona shadow, I've got an idea." He ordered and the Hellhound melted back into his shadow as he quickly got dressed, opting for the outfit that Blaise had gifted him instead of anything else. He was going to make a quick stop at the Owlery first before making it towards the Forbidden Forest.
Getting there was rather easy seeing as on the weekends only the most studious of Ravenclaw's were up at this hour, sometimes Hermione. The sun hadn't even truly risen yet, but the sky was starting to glow a light grey with the promise of its rise.
Upon reaching the Owlery he didn't even need to call out to Hedwig as she quickly flew down to greet her Human.
"Hey there girl, wondered if you wanted to come and hang out this morning, would you like that?" He asked and received a happy hoot as Hedwig jumped to his shoulder with a playful nibble on his ear. Harry chuckled as he rubbed her chin and left the Owlery. Again, it was no problem making his way to Hagrid's hut, the lack of smoke coming from the chimney told Harry that he wasn't awake just yet.
Quickly taking a quick look around to make sure that absolutely nobody was around Harry grinned when he saw no one. He then made his way into the Forbidden Forest Hedwig seemed to become excited as well as she hooted when he entered. After walking a fair distance away from the edge of the Forest and into its depths he stopped. Nodding his head slightly with a smile he spread his feet apart slightly.
"Demona!" He called out and just like during the first time Demona could sense his intention and manifested under him as he quickly felt himself being lifted up. The sudden rising motion startled Hedwig as she ruffled her feathers slightly flapping her wings in surprise. Harry quickly grasped two tufts of fur to steady himself from the sudden motion letting out a cry of surprise.
"Whoa, okay… this is brilliant." He said sitting on top of Demona he saw he was easily maybe six feet from the ground from his heel. Looking around his new vantage point rewarded him with an elevated view of the Forest and the ground. Quickly shifting himself slightly he raised his arm so Hedwig would jump to it.
"Okay Hedwig, make sure you can keep up." He said as Hedwig hooted and took off from Harry's arm and began to fly circles above him. Leaning down he leaned forward a bit stabilizing himself on Demona's back before he gave an affirmative cry as everything that happened next seemed to happen in slow motion.
He felt the muscles on Demona suddenly tense as he felt his body lowered as she bent her front legs. The trees and ground around them suddenly melted into his peripherals as a gust of wind hit his face. He then felt himself rise and before he knew it, they were speeding through the forest.
Harry tightened his grip on Demona's fur as everything tunneled in his vision. The feeling that enveloped him was a mixture of the excitement he got from riding a broom and when he rode Buckbeak for the first time. Feeling every muscle tense as she would practically fly through the forest. Demona's every step was sure, quick, and fluid. She never stumbled and never lost her way, when a tree would come into vision, she effortlessly twisted around it.
Looking back, he was surprised and impressed to see Hedwig flying above them, weaving through the branches and trunks with practiced ease. With how fast they were moving he didn't expect Hedwig to keep up with the ease she was showing. Slowly the surprise and shock left Harry's system, even the worry over his most recent nightmare felt worlds away as he lifted his head whooping in joy.
Through their shared bond he could feel the shared emotions flow between himself and Demona as she matched his whoop with a deep almost melodious howl. Unlike before in Dumbledore's office, this one wasn't filled with malice and danger but was rather ethereal.
After running for a while Harry saw the trees around him begin to thin out slightly and the grassy and dirt-covered ground gave way to stone and gravel. Looking forward the trees seemed to part as Harry saw that they were currently barreling towards a small canyon. He felt excitement fill his body and flow between himself and Demona as he spurred her forward and they began to pick up even more speed. His heart hammered in his head as he could feel Demona's body coil in on itself beneath him as she came to the edge.
He then felt a sudden rush and again everything came in slow. The wind whipped through Harry's hair and Demona's fur as she stretched out sailing through the air. At that moment the sun finally began to spill over the horizon bathing the three in a gentle orange glow. If one were to look onto the trio seeing the young wizard riding on top of a fierce wolf with a beautiful snowy owl flying over them. With the sun piercing through the slight mist that often accompanied the Hogwarts grounds this early in the morning. Their forms casting shadows through the same mist granting the three in an almost mystical atmosphere.
As Demona came bounding back down to the earth she came to a skidding halt, her claws skidding against the stone ash she spun in one-eighty to look back at where they just came from. Harry, despite the fact he hadn't actually done any of the physical running still breathed deeply as if he had. His breaths in synch with Demona's own deep intakes of air.
Harry couldn't contain himself as he released a laugh of pure joy and wonder and Demona again matched it with a howl a light puff of smoke and a few tongues of flame sneaking out of her mouth as she did. Harry was sure that the castle heard her, and he was proud of that fact. Hedwig hooted with obvious happiness as she fluttered around Harry's head playfully grasping some of his hair with her talons.
They remained outside for a while longer before Harry urged Demona to make her way back towards the castle. Upon reaching the area Harry had entered the Forbidden Forest Demona began to slowly melt back into his shadow feelings of contentment flowing freely from their bond. Hedwig also came to a stop landing on Harry's shoulder and nibbled on his ear affectionately showing her gratitude for spending time with her.
Quickly looking over himself he dusted himself off, his clothes were still good but he cast a quick Scrougify on them just to make extra sure he was okay to go. Making his way toward the castle from his spot he was able to see the large clock tower and saw that it was nine twenty. The castle seemed to be coming slowly alive as the students walked out of their dorms and towards the great hall for a late breakfast.
Heading towards the great hall he looked around hoping to spot his three dates but didn't see them. They must have come earlier for breakfast, though it seemed Jones had just woken up if her crazy hair was anything to go by. She was sitting with Blaise and Tracey and Harry began to make his way over to them. When Jones saw him her tired eyes suddenly came alive with that familiar mad glint. Gaining a wicked grin, she placed two fingers to her mouth and released a louder than necessary catcall whistle.
"Look at you!" she said as Blaise and Tracey looked back at him. Blaise just looked smugly proud while Tracey's eyes widened upon seeing him. Harry then became acutely aware of the fact that Jones had drawn attention to him again and he saw weird looks coming from some of the females in the hall as they took in his appearance.
"Really Jones?" He groaned out taking a seat next to his friends. Harry began to load his plate being sure to move a large plate of breakfast ham and Bacon to his side as Hedwig jumped from his shoulder to take her offered Bacon. Then Demona snuck a shadow tendril to suck up the plate of ham for herself.
"Can you blame me? Not exactly the dark lord regalia I was hoping for, but you know it works." She said taking in his appearance.
"Yeah, Harry you look really good." Tracey said agreeing with the older girl's words, well maybe not the dark lord part but even so. Blaise just continued to look smugger and smugger as he gave Harry a knowing grin. Harry rolled his eyes and smiled back.
"So, what's the occasion?" Tracey asked, Harry wasn't known for dressing up all that much, and when out of uniform his clothes were… poor which was the nicer way of putting it.
"I'm… kind of going on a date." Harry said and everyone within hearing distance suddenly dropped their utensils or choked on whatever food or drink they had in their mouths. Well except for Blaise who just allowed his grin to grow even more though this didn't go unnoticed by Jones.
"You knew?" She asked as Blaise just allowed his head to sway side to side in that 'kind of' motion.
"I might've given him some help last night." He said not once losing his grin.
"Who did you ask out?" Tracey asked her eyes alight with curiosity.
"Well, technically no one, th- she asked me out." Harry said quickly catching himself when he almost said they. No need for anyone to know he was going out with three different girls.
"Who is it?" Jones asked but her eyes were scanning the room, then she seemed to realize something. "Wait is it, Daphne? Is that why she's not here." Jones guessed and Harry blushed, and she grinned.
"Well, Hermione and Susan aren't here either." Tracey said following Jones's line of thinking and noticing the absence of the Hufflepuff and Gryffindor from their group. Jones noticed this too and examined Harry who just went redder. Her eyes began to widen little by little, but Harry didn't give her a chance to make her guess by standing up.
"Well, I should go don't want to be late." He suddenly said rushing away from the table, damned Slytherins using that deductive reasoning! Though he wasn't too worried, Jones looked like she was the only one about to figure it out and if she did she wasn't going to go mouthing off to everyone. If she was Lavender or Pavarti, the news would be in the daily prophet by tomorrow.
Shaking his thoughts Harry quickly made his way to the main courtyard Hedwig taking a flight back to the Owlery when he arrived. Looking up towards the clock tower he saw he was five minutes early and scanned around the courtyard. He saw some groups of people and even a few other couples making their way to the carriages that would take them to Hogsmeade.
He didn't spot the girls so just decided to sit on a bench over to the side. Taking another look around he saw that a few of the visiting students were gathering to visit Hogsmeade as well. Some going with groups of their peers' others mingling with mixed groups of all the schools. Seems like it wasn't just Harry making good friendships with people not just outside his house but outside the school.
"Waiting for someone? Or maybe more than just one?" a voice said behind him as he turned to see Daphne, Susan, and Hermione smiling down at him after having snuck up behind him.
Hermione was wearing a modest blue V-neck with a white undershirt and had a warm pink jacket covering it all that she left unzipped. She was also wearing a pair of light-blue tight jeans and simple shoes but what drew his attention was her face and hair. It would seem that she had somehow tamed her bushy hair somewhat as it was drawn into a loose ponytail behind her head. She also had just the barest application of makeup on her face.
She had a light appliance of eye shadow that had a very slight purple hue to them and black eyeliner. Her lips were glossy with a modest application of pink lip gloss and to finish it all up she had some blush applied to her cheeks. Again, not heavy just enough to enhance her features and bring a certain breath of life to her already pretty features.
Susan wore a rather nice-looking white jacket with black zippers and had it zipped up just up to her bust. From what he could see she wore a low-cut shirt, not a V neck but more of a U shape collar that showed off just a hint of her cleavage and also revealed another beauty mark that was just under her collar bone. Unlike Hermione, she wore a dark blue pleated skirt that fell just about an inch or two above her knees, and under that, she had black stockings. And to bring it all together she had black boots that came up to about her mid shins but weren't broad like Harry's own combat boots but rather slender in comparison to his own and he didn't come up nearly as high.
Her makeup was much the same as Hermione's however instead of purple hues in her eyeshadow, she instead wore a midnight blue shade over her lids. She had a darker-colored lip gloss as well. Her hair unlike Hermione's was loose and fell freely from her head in slight curls most of it falling at least to her shoulder blades.
Then there was Daphne, she wore a rather thick-looking green long sleeve shirt that came up to hug her throat in a slight turtleneck but had a diamond cut out in the chest to expose a bit of cleavage. Over that she wore a puffy black vest that like the other girls was only slightly zipped up to about the bottom of her sternum and the collar had a tuft of white fur lining it.
Like Hermione she wore jeans, but it was a darker shade of blue and she had a pair of shoes that seemed to be a mix of a boot and heels. And her makeup didn't have any shade instead just opting for a simple black eye shadow and eyeliner with a rich red lip gloss.
After being shocked by their stunning appearance Harry suddenly was hit with their fragrance and he felt as if he was suddenly flung into a field of flowers. The scent was intoxicating, and Harry found that with the sight of the girls before him as well as the fragrance they were wearing had thoroughly struck him stupid. He stood their eyes wide mouth slightly agape as it opened and closed in his hopeless effort to form words.
The three girls just looked at Harry while he imitated a fish out of water. Seeing the effect they had over him with something as simple as some nice outfits and a touch of makeup filled them with a sort of prideful confidence. Hermione especially since when Daphne and Susan had helped her with her outfit as well as her make-up, she barely recognized herself in the mirror.
"I take it that you think we look good?" Daphne asked and Harry just nodded dumbly eliciting another light giggle from the girls.
"Y-You look gorgeous." He finally breathed out and the girls couldn't help the blush that came to their cheeks which Harry matched. The four just stood there before Susan seemed to shake it off first as she cleared her throat.
"We should get going, don't want to miss the carriages." She said and the group began to walk away.
"By the way Harry you look good too, you clean up nice." Daphne said before taking his hand into her own. You'd think with all the blood rushing to his face that some would've made it to his brain so he could at least make a coherent thought but that didn't happen.
"Yeah, so do you… not that you need to clean up of course! I just mean… well you all look very pretty, though you always kind of do." He said tripping over his words slightly not knowing exactly what to say.
"Only kind of?" Susan asked and hooked her arm through Harry's free arm and Hermione had looped her own through Susan's other.
"Well, no that's not what I mean." Harry said quickly as Hermione laughed.
"Don't tease him too much, we still have to get through the date after all and I think I already see his head steaming." She said with a small playful smile.
It wasn't long before they had made their way to the carriages and once the ride began Daphne had sat across from him and Hermione took her place by his side and gripped his hand lightly. With the doors closed the fragrances the girls were wearing seemed to just intensify and to be honest it almost made him lightheaded, though that might've been the fact that he hadn't stopped blushing since seeing the girls for the first time.
"So… um, is there anything I should do? I mean for the date?" He asked, he felt truly out of his element and was a bit miffed that he did.
"Not really, we're going to just walk around some and explore the shops together and have a good time maybe get some lunch." Daphne said glancing out the window as they went moved. Harry furrowed his brows, that didn't sound like much of a date. More like just a regular hang out with friends.
"Shouldn't it be more… I don't know special?" Harry asked, he didn't know much about dating, but he was pretty sure the first date was supposed to be special in some way.
"Is going out with three pretty girls not special enough for you?" Daphne asked with an eyebrow raised slightly.
"No, going out with you girls at all is special enough for me, I meant for you. Shouldn't it be more special for you?" He asked and the girls all smiled at that all sharing similar thoughts at his words. Only Harry Potter would be sweet and innocent enough to not only compliment them and worry about them all in the same sentence and probably not even realized what he did.
"This is plenty special for us; it's only the first date so just think of this as us getting used to our… unique relationship." Hermione reassured squeezing his hand. Harry felt a little better but still, he didn't want to just let this be too run of the mill. So if he had a chance to get the girls something nice he would take it.
The rest of the ride was rather pleasant as they finally arrived at Hogsmeade, and the coming snowy season began to show as there was just a light powdering of snow on the roofs but the heavy foot traffic throughout the village had cleaned the streets of snow. When they exited the shop Hermione had eagerly pulled Harry to one of the book shops, 'Tomes and Scrolls' is what Harry read as Hermione dragged him in.
Harry was assaulted with the smell of parchment and ink as he entered while Hermione fingered through some of the books. Her eyes lit up as she seemed to glow in the environment.
"Harry there is this one book I thought you'd love." She said looking through the shelves. With how at home Hermione seemed in this place Harry couldn't help but smile at her excitement while Susan and Daphne merely rolled their eyes. Harry was more than happy to look through the shelves with Hermione as she excitedly told him about some of the books she had read and what he might like.
Seeing her so happy made Harry feel warm on the inside, mentally Harry made a note to take Hermione somewhere like this for their second date. Maybe a museum in London or even somewhere else if he could swing it over the summer.
Hermione had thoroughly explained the volumes of books she had read through and how much she's learned about the wizarding world when she first came here.
"Do you have any favorites?" Harry asked as Hermione took on a thoughtful pose her finger tapping a book she was examining.
"Well, not really I love them all. Maybe folktales." She said as Harry smiled at that.
"Folktales? Like Cinderella?" Hermione blushed while lightly slapping his shoulder playfully.
"That's a fairy tale it's different!" she claimed as Harry laughed, his previous nervousness beginning to melt away as he spent time on the date.
"Pretty sure it's just different names for the same thing."
"No folk tales are completely different than fairy tales!" Hermione vehemently claimed still blushing. The image of bookworm studious Hermione being more interested in fairy tales than informational books made Harry chuckle slightly as Hermione huffed and turned on her heels. Though he was pretty sure she was still wrong, and that folk tales and fairy tales were the same things.
"Fine, fine, then what's your favorite 'folk tale'" He asked using his fingers to make air quotes when he said folk tale. Though Hermione didn't see she seemed to sense his action as she rolled her eyes. She then smiled softly as she peeked back at him.
"Well, I actually love beauty and the beast." Harry couldn't help but grin at that, seeing as Hermione was a book lover just like the main heroine was often depicted.
"So, am I the beast still or am I full-on prince?" Harry asked becoming much more comfortable talking to her than when they set out. He just needed some time to adjust and for his mind to come back to him after being blown away by the girls.
Again, Hermione took up a thinking pose though this time tapping her finger to her chin with a playful smile.
"I'd say somewhere in the middle, still a little rough on the edges." She said as Harry laughed. They continued looking through the store as eventually, they left with Susan and Daphne who were waiting for them at the front. It was here that Susan took his hand and took him to a familiar shop that he had entered many times before.
"Honey Dukes?" Harry asked as Susan blushed.
"I may have a little sweet tooth." At this Daphne snorted.
"A little she says." Susan shot her a mock glare as she led Harry inside still holding his hand. The smell of sugar and sweet candy filled his nostrils as Susan made a B line for the chocolate products. Such as chocolate cauldrons, wands, and frogs. Like Hermione, Susan came alive as she began to examine some of the sweet products.
"I tried to make these once." She said picking up a package of chocolate wands.
"Were they good?" Harry asked as she shook her head but still held a smile.
"Not at all, they were all different sizes, and they did not taste at all like chocolate." She said shaking her head at the memory. "I've gotten better though, I'm confident I can at least make them edible! Just maybe not that pretty to look at." She said taking the wands.
"So, you bake?" Susan nodded to Harry's question.
"A little, though I only really started last year."
"Can I try your cakes?" Harry asked and Susan blushed as for a treacherous moment she let that statement run in a different direction in her mind.
"Sure, I don't know if I can make them at school though." She said; blush still present on her face.
"I'm sure the castle elves won't mind you using their oven. They got a ton of them." Harry said as Susan looked towards him.
"You've been in the kitchens?" Hufflepuff's might've been close to the kitchens, but Susan had never really gone in herself.
"Yeah, before we started hanging out and I didn't come to meals those few times, I just went directly to the kitchen. I'm sure Misty would be happy to let you use one of the ovens for baking." He said a Susan frowned slightly. She remembered the first time Harry had been absent from a day's worth of meals after his name came out of the goblet. She and Daphne had both looked for him but couldn't find him. In all honesty, if Daphne hadn't stumbled on him in the Owlery and overheard what he was saying to Hedwig they probably wouldn't have found him at all.
"We should've been there for you." Susan said as Hermione and Daphne gravitated back towards the two catching the conversation as they approached their hands holding a few sweets.
"It's not a big deal, it was just a little while and you came around and found me eventually." Harry said as Susan grabbed his hand to get his attention focused on her.
"That's not what I mean, I meant before that. We should've approached you long before this year. Forget Ron, he shouldn't have been able to stop us." She said as Daphne nodded silently agreeing with her friend as Hermione felt a slight twinge of guilt having been lucky enough to be with Harry since first year.
"If we had, we could've stood beside you. During second year when everyone turned on you the first time for using Parseltongue. Third year when you had to deal with not only Sirius Black but also those dementors. And this year you wouldn't have felt like you were so alone." Daphne came over to grasp his other hand.
"We should've been braver." Daphne said supporting Susan's claim as Harry just smiled.
"You're brave enough, I'm… I'm just glad you're here now. You too Hermione." Harry said smiling at the other girl as she returned it. They went to the clerk and bought their sweets as Daphne began leading Harry to get the date back on track.
"Okay, my turn!" She said as Harry was surprised as she led the group to a music shop, he hadn't visited before. Looking at the sign he saw that it read 'Dominic's Maestro's Music Shop'. Upon entering he saw that the shop was lined with different instruments some harry recognized as ordinary instruments like trumpets and flutes.
Though there were others that he noticed weren't here not seeing any guitars or drum sets. He saw drums just not the type like a rock band would use. Though there was a lute that was floating in the air strumming a gentle calming tune in the air above the shelves and racks. A simple set of bongos were also enchanted and floating with the lute drumming a small beat to go along with the lute's strumming.
The whole place had this shine to it that the music seemed to compliment. Daphne made her way to the wind instruments leading Harry along and Susan and Hermione went to browse elsewhere leaving Daphne and Harry to have their turn.
"Do you know how to play any instruments?" Daphne asked looking through the selection of recorders and flutes that were on display.
"No, not really, though I have always fancied the guitar." Harry admitted having been lucky enough to see a music teacher play once when he was in kindergarten. One of the very few good memories he had of his childhood.
"That's nice, I've always loved the winds myself." Daphne said and just like with Hermione and Susan she came to life in this store. Her eyes gained an almost glitter as she looked through the instruments picking up a few to see how they fit her hands. Her straight blonde swayed from side to side as she examined the instruments.
Though she seemed to lock in on something a few shelves down as she came upon a line of baskets filled with oddly shaped wood instruments that had holes in them. Harry didn't recognize them.
"What are these?" He asked picking up one looking at it and Daphne smiled.
"These are Ocarina's, they're my favorite to play. They're Celtic in origin, guess I get it from my mother." She explained picking up one of the instruments her fingers with practiced ease finding their way to the positions on the Ocarina. It was a golden brown in color and was made of finely polished wood, the lines and waves of the material still visible.
Daphne looked up to Harry then back to the Ocarina in her hand as she smiled shyly before bringing the instrument to her mouth.
The second she played the first note the lute and bongos stilled and silenced themselves as the single calming note rung throughout the shop. With incredibly beautiful skill her fingers began to dance in a way that was captivating. Hermione and Susan had come to join Harry seeing Daphne begin to play.
The song that seemed to swim throughout and fill the shop was a delicate serenade. As Daphne played the lights around them seemed to respond with her song gently warming to the rhythm of the Ocarina. Harry was awestruck seeing Daphne, her eyes closed the dance of her fingers and the slight sway of her body she had begun as she played.
There was something about seeing the usually playful and even blunt girl be so gentle that made him and the others smile. As Daphne's song came to an all too quick end she blushed when Harry, Susan, and Hermione all applauded her performance.
"That was amazing." Harry said as Susan and Hermione nodded in agreement. Susan already knew about Daphne's affinity for the instrument, but it was always a treat to see. Daphne just smiled at his praise and went to place the Ocarina back after wiping it down, but he reached out to stop her.
"If I get that, will you play again?" He asked, the thought of sitting with the three of them with Daphne playing a soft song while they relaxed on a picnic or something had jumped to the forefront of Harry's imagination. Daphne felt a sudden warmth fill her chest seeing how much Harry appreciated her music as she smiled.
"I mean I guess, as long as it's just the four of us." She said, she wasn't looking for an audience but playing for Harry and the others would be nice. That was all Harry needed as, with her hand in his, they made their way to the front of the shop. Harry eagerly paid for the instrument and the clerk happily got a box for it and even threw in some free care items for it.
With that, the four had decided to head for the three broomsticks for lunch. Harry was a bit surprised with just how fast the day had sped away as with a nearby clock he saw that it was nearing one o'clock already. He didn't mind at all, when he began this date he was so nervous and overwhelmed that it made facing the Dragon in the first task look like a cakewalk.
Now though, he felt grateful and incredibly lucky. Seeing each of the girls in their own unique way outside of school was enriching. Learning a bit about each of them, even Hermione. He found that he appreciated them all the more for it.
Looking towards the girls he smiled to himself, they were gorgeous and much more than someone like him deserved. Perhaps he'd be able to open up to them truly much sooner than he'd ever expected.
This had been a great date.
_SCENE_
Whelp here we are chapter seven and Harry's first date with the girls. I hope that I have managed to do the date and lead up some kind of justice and wrote it well. Also gave Blaise and Harry a bit of a bro moment with Blaise helping Harry out before his date and gave some much needed bonding time with Demona and Harry with their little run through the forest.