Bit of a filler chapter- The next one will showcase the orphanage or at least some of it.

...

The moment he settled into the train compartment was the moment he practically felt the load off from the culmination of... The interesting first year finally fall off his shoulders. He let out a relieved, albeit tired, sigh as he watched Blaise, Tracey, and Daphne make their way in as well. The boy elected to sit by his side, a somewhat depressed haze still oozing out of him, having never really gotten over his results for the year.

Daphne and Tracey idly took the seats opposite them, the redhead in her usual cheer while Daphne seemed to worry about something.

Leaning his head against the window, he idly gazed outside with another audible breath coming out, his mind drifting off towards the grandfather he'd still hadn't seen since the incident with the Headmaster.

Speaking of whom, barring a few platitudes regarding his results, the man hadn't actually said much else to him. A fact that while made him feel at ease, seemed to double as more worry that it was all a facade of some sort- Well, it was he just didn't know if it was out of not knowing how to deal with his family name, or because it was he was planning something... Though in retrospect, if it was the latter, he doubted he'd have let him go back to the orphanage for the summer.

He idly considered finding the man there waiting for him and grimaced at the thought.

"Well, I dunno about you three, but I had fun this year." Tracey Davis's attempt to break the silence was oddly endearing, if not utterly wrong in every sense of the word.

"Yeah?" Blaise snorted. "Which part are you talking about? The troll that tried to maim these two-" He pointed a thumb in his and Daphne's direction, the two had taken a window seat each. "The food fights? Finding out Hagrid grows Dragons in a wooden house-"

"Hut," He corrected, his word doing nothing to so much as stop the boy's point.

"-Or the part where our Defence Professor died."

It took a single beat before Tracey answered with unabashed glee- "The food fights."

"Personally I am surprised you can even remember what happened given your history grade." Daphne followed on without missing a beat.

"How does one even get a troll in History anyway?" Tracey questioned with a grin. "Like, doesn't Binns just give out free points to avoid the paperwork of failing someone?"

"...What paperwork?" He couldn't help but question bemusedly, earning a pair of rolled eyes from Greengrass and a look that told him to run with it.

Blaise twitched once before he promptly got up and left the compartment, the boy muttering about Nott of all people been better company.

Credit to Tracey, she did look somewhat regretful of her own part in having driven him off.

Daphne just snorted.

"Happy now?" He questioned sourly, earning a sheepish smile from Tracey. The girl claiming it was meant to just be a joke-

"Eh, he was going to leave at some point anyway," The green-eyed girl deadpanned. "I heard him conspiring with Nott before we got on the train, pretty sure he was just looking for a reason." The girl finished with a shrug.

He wasn't even sure if he wanted to unpack any part of that statement.

"Conspiring?" He settled on. "How do you hear a conspire exactly?" Daphne opened her mouth to respond. "Better yet, I am surprised you know what the word means." And promptly closed it as she crossed her arms with a huff and stared outside the window for a second before changing her mind and promptly turning back to him with a challenging look.

"Sometimes I wonder the same thing about you, you know? I can't imagine there's a lot of education going on in an orphanage."

He raised an eyebrow at that, surprised the girl was willing to go as far as she did. She almost never mentioned his... Status.

Must've really hit a nerve, huh.

Still, she made it rather easy for him to respond as he simply grinned.

"You wonder about me, do you? Had no idea I was living rent-free in your head."

Tracey let out a rather loud snort at his words, while Daphne seemed to turn the slightest bit red-

"...Yeah well!" The girl pointed a finger at him as she mulled her words over. "It beats living in an orphanage." That time she looked somewhat regretful.

Tracey was just switching gazes between the two of them, a goofy smile on her face.

He nodded serenely at the words all the same.

"Certainly a lot more empty space there I imagine."

Before the black-haired girl could respond- Barring the sheer irritation radiating off her expression anyway, Tracey promptly took her attention as she stood up from her seat.

"I am just going to give you two the room so you can work out-" Before the girl could even finish her words, giggling all the way, Daphne promptly yanked her by the arm down back into her seat with a very embarrassed, if somewhat angry, look on her face. The action only caused the redhead to giggle even more.

He rolled his eyes, a small smile on his transfigured face as he leaned back into his seat. The other two noticing his utter lack of care towards the insults seemed to relax the slightest bit themselves- Well Daphne did, Tracey was trying and failing to hold back any more giggles from the looks of it.

It didn't take very long before the previous somewhat troubled expression filtered its way back onto Daphne's face, the girl practically fidgeting for a few moments before something flashed across her expression. He watched with bemusement as the girl turned towards Tracey expectantly.

"You're still planning to come over the summer right?"

The redhead took a single beat to process the question with bemusement before understanding seemed to flash across her own expression as she nodded with amusement.

Daphne in turn nodded as well before turning towards him and blurting oout-

"Greengrass Manor!"

He blinked at her.

A hue of red filled her face after a moment.

"You're supposed to invite him first," Tracey whispered loud enough for him to hear, the hand over her face not doing anything to stop her voice. And judging by the sheer amusement on her face, she'd intended it.

"I know!" The girl groaned out before taking in a breath and looking at him directly. "Greengrass Manor is what you say when you go into a floo-" The girl paused, more embarrassment filling her expression. "Uh, I mean to say, do you have any plans over the summer?"

"Yes, getting interviewed, I am hoping for an adoption this year you see." He deadpanned with a straight face.

After a moment of just staring at the utterly embarrassed girl, who completely believed him for that matter, the dam basically broke at that point as he just started laughing, Tracey giving him an admonishing stare, even as her lips quirked upwards.

After twitching at him, the girl let out a long sigh and started staring out the window.

"Why do I even bother!"

"I figured it was 'cos you liked me." He couldn't help the joke.

Needless to say, the continued sputtering by the girl only made it funnier, but at least Tracey found it funny.

"You wish!" Daphne remarked after a moment, once again crossing her hands and mock-glaring at him.

"...Ok for real though," He remarked easily. "How exactly do you expect me to floo to your home from a muggle orphanage?"

The girl blinked at him, her earlier expression turning passive for a moment before a frown filled up her face.

He just let out a snort.

"It's only the summer, I'll be back to pestering you about studying come September." He joked again.

"Yeah, I know that-" He twitched at the fact she completely believed him. "-Just... I dunno figured you'd want a break from the orphanage or something?"

"Yeah." Tracey deadpanned immediately after. "That's the only reason she wants you to go to her house." The straight face broke down the moment the black-haired girl elbowed her gently.

He was missing something, wasn't he?

"...Are... Are your parents trying to adopt me or something?" He questioned bemusedly.

Daphne's expression turned utterly bemused as well. "Huh? Where'd you-"

"In a way," Tracey snorted, interrupting the girl, only to earn another glare from her. "That's a pretty good way to descri-" She couldn't even finish the sentence before she broke out laughing like a maniac.

That was the moment Blaise opened up the compartment and walked back in, the boy muttering about 'conspiracy nutjob' under his breath before Tracey took one look at him and her laughter subsided the slightest bit. "You know, it's kinda like how Blaise adopts a step-dad!"

Blaise promptly turned on his feet with a huff, the name Granger coming out of his mouth, and walked back out, while he tilted his head in confusion.

"What are you talking-"

"Shut. Up." Daphne remarked through grit teeth, the earlier embarrassment going into genuine dread she locked eyes with the amused red-head.

Oddly enough that might've been the first time he'd heard the girl say that to someone.

Of course, the face she was making was so out of left field the red-head just doubled down in laughter.

He wasn't sure what he was missing, but if it turned Tracey into a giggling lunatic, he doubted he wanted to find out.

"Don't listen to her!" Daphne remarked in alarm as she stared at him.

"Daphne, I have no freakin' idea what's going on." For whatever reason, the words seemed to earn a resigned expression out of the girl instead of relief like he'd expected.

Tracey, seemingly on a never-ending fit of laughter, found that hilarious.

"O-Oh Merlin-" The girl gasped out. "It's bloody helpless!"

...

Hope You Enjoyed! Don't Forget Feedback!