Chapter 8

"Harry? What's going on?"

Harry was stered from his sleep and found he had an uncomfortably stiff neck. He rubbed the sleep from his eyes and tried to look around for the source of the voice. He found a vaguely Dan-coloured blur. "Wha?" Harry's attempt at articulate speech failed miserably.

"Why are you sleeping on the sofa, Harry?" There was a slight edge to his voice, and Harry wondered if he was in trouble for something. He pulled his thoughts together; he was sleeping on the sofa? That would explain his stiff neck. But why wasn't he sleeping in his bed?

It took a bit of prodding, but his brain finally spit out an answer. "It was too hot last night, couldn't sleep."

Daphne and Tracy had arrived the day before and had taken over his room. Harry was all set to spend the night in Hermione's room cuddled up to his girlfriend like he had done more than a few times at Hogwarts. Everything was fine at first, but it was the middle of August and the night was already uncomfortably warm. It was a warm night to begin with, and Hermione's bed was not big. The two of them sleeping on top of each other just became hot and sweaty in a way that was definitely not fun.

Harry had eventually given up on sleep and come down to read and must have fallen asleep on the sofa at some point. He started digging around the sofa looking for his glasses.

"It was too hot?" Dan sounded amused now, the edge to his voice gone.

Preoccupied with searching for his glasses Harry replied without thinking about who he was talking to. "Hermione is amazing but it's like sharing a bed with a radiator."

Dan laughed. "Her mother is the same. It's nice when it's cold but it can be a bit much sometimes."

Harry finally found his glasses between the sofa cushions and put them on before looking at Dan. He was relieved to see an amused look on the older man's face as he started to focus on what they were talking about. Harry didn't know why he was so nervous about Dan when it came to the subject of Harry dating his daughter. The older man had been nothing but supportive and had made it clear with his actions: all he wanted was for his daughter to be happy and the two of them to be responsible.

It probably had something to do with the fathers of teenage girls on TV. Whenever a teenage girl got into a relationship on TV, the father always reacted in a similar way. Whether it was harsh words or something more, they were always hostile to their daughters' boyfriends, and Harry was always a little worried that Dan would become like that.

The two of them made their way to the kitchen and lost themselves in making breakfast. Breakfast was a little more complicated than normal with two more people to feed, but Harry had found that you could buy croissants to bake at home when he and Emma had gone grocery shopping a few days ago. Hary doubted that they would be as good as the ones he and the Grangers had in France, but he popped open a few cans of the dough and set about shaping them ready to be baked.

Emma walked into the kitchen about half an hour later just in time to grab a couple of the first batch of croissants. She and Dan sat there for a while eating their breakfast, talking about everything and nothing at the same time. Daphne and Tracy were the next to show up, the two Slytherin girls following their nose in search of the source of the scent of warm buttery pastry that was filling the house.

"Good morning!" Daphne greeted happily.

"Morning," Tracy greeted them only at Daphne's prodding as she guided her to a chair at the kitchen table.

"Don't mind Tracy, she isn't much of a morning person." Daphne (who evidently was a morning person) beamed.

Harry put a bottle of orange juice and a plate of croissants with a pot of strawberry jam and the tray of butter on the table where they could easily be reached. Harry tried to avoid looking at Daphne when he put the spoon in the pot of jam, but he wasn't able to keep from watching to see if Daphne reacted. She did, shooting Harry a good natured glare. He was glad to see Tracy smile at his little bit of teasing before he disappeared upstairs to check on Hermione.

-ϟϟϟ-

The first day with Daphne and Tracy visiting was taken up by a trip to Diagon Alley. Harry and Hermione had put off their trip until after Hermione had returned from visiting her Nan. Hermione, however, didn't want to put it off any longer. There were only two weeks until they returned to Hogwarts, and she liked to read all her new books though before they went back.

Hermione had apparently told Daphne and Tracy the plan, because they each had gold from their parents to cover their shopping as well. So the six of them went to Diagon Alley. Most of the trip was routine; while getting some money at the bank, Harry almost had to argue with Emma before he could visit his vault, but she conceded that it was OK for him to get some spending money for the year. She and Dan, though, were paying for his school things. Harry was glad that the tuition for Hogwarts was paid from his vault directly and was set up by his parents. He hated to think what the Grangers would have to give up to pay for his school tuition.

Next, they bought refills for their potion kits, where Tracy had a good eye for ingredients. She said that her mother made potions for the spa that her parents owned and had taught her a few things about what to look for. When purchasing quills ink and parchment, the old woman recognised Harry from the last time he was there leading to an awkward apology from the teen. Once he explained that he had just gotten a letter that needed a very urgent response and the old woman had caught sight of his scar, she was quick to forgive him

Next came clothes. Getting school robes had been easy, just getting re-measured and buying the same old stuff as always, just bigger. Measuring the four of them took longer than everything else together, but now Hermione was dragging him along as she followed Daphne and Tracy to buy dress robes. They were going to TWILFITT AND TATTINGS, a more up-market clothing store.

"Come on you two!" Tracy called excitedly over her shoulder. "This shop is great and mum gave me thirty gallons to spend here."

"I still don't see why we need dress robes this year," Harry complained, he wasn't looking forward to spending an hour or more being dressed up by four women.

"Isn't it obvious? There must be some type of formal event this year. Probably a dance of some type," Daphne replied, as though she thought he was being a bit thick.

"A dance?"

Daphne exaggeratedly rolled her eyes, "Yes Harry, a dance. You do know what that is, right? When you and a partner hold each other and move to the sound of music?" Daphne was laying it on a bit, but this was probably her way to get back at him for the jam this morning.

"I know what a dance is, Daph."

Hermione apparently couldn't resist joining in on the teasing. "Harry knows what a dance is. He just doesn't know how to do it, is all."

"Mione." Harry's voice was almost a wine.

The six of them filed into the shop on the south end of the alley. The shop walls were filled with racks of robes in every colour and size, and the center of the room had two raised platforms (not unlike the fitting space in Madam Malkin's), and in the back of the shop were a few changing rooms.

A well dressed witch with a measuring tape draped around her shoulders approached them. "Good afternoon, how can i help you today?"

"These four need dress robes for Hogwarts this year," Emma said as she indicated the teenagers.

"OK, just find something that you like on the racks, you can try them on and see how they look in the changing area. Once you find something you like, my colleague or I will tailor it to fit you." She pointed out a similarly well-dressed wizard, also with a measuring tape draped over his shoulders. "The witch's racks are here, and the wizard's are over there. Come find one of us if you need anything." She indicated three quarters of the racks for witches' robes and the quarter at the back of the store for wizards.

Harry thought he would be alone while he looked though the wizard robes but Tracy followed him. "I doubt you will find much to suit you over here Trace."

She scoffed at him. "With your sense of fashion, I doubt you will find anything that suits you, even if the perfect set of robes were right in front of you. I'm gonna help you while Daphne helps Hermione. That way Hermione won't be embarrassed to be seen with you."

"Hey, I'm not that bad!" Harry protested.

"OK, you're not completely terrible, but formal robes are completely new to you and Hermione. Daph and I know what to look for, and this way the two of you can avoid seeing each other all dressed up until then. Daphne and I are doing the same." Tracy started going through the racks looking for something that would suit Harry.

"Are the two of you going together then? I thought the two of you were hiding your relationship?" Harry also started to flick through the robes. They were incredibly different from their school robes, the closest thing Harry could think of to match them was some of the more ornate priest robes he had seen on the TV, only instead of white and gold, there was an entire rainbow of colours. Sometimes the entire rainbow was on a single robe.

"Yeah, Daph and I need to talk to you and Hermione about that. Mr. Greengrass found out about our relationship and is mostly OK with it. Here, hold this." she passed him a robe in deep purple. "Daph and I will tell you more later, but we should be able to go together." They spent the next half hour going through the robes until Harry had about five sets to try on, then he was bundled into one of the small cubicles to change. While he got changed, he heard Hermione being shepherded into the cubicle next to his.

Harry put on the first robe, the purple one that had been the first one to be added to the pile of clothes he was going to have to model for everyone apart from Hermione. One of the biggest differences that Harry noted about dress robes was the presence of a *stole. He trotted himself out like a show pony ready to be judged. The reaction to the purple robes from everyone, including the sales witch (who was chatting with Dan and Emma) was pretty much "meh", so it was back into the changing room to change. While he swapped out one robe for another, he could hear Hermione going through the same thing he just had.

Eventually, Harry had tried on all of the robes and everyone agreed on the one for him. This set of robes were a dark green, dark enough that you could mistake it for black in low light. The trim, liner and detail work, though, were in a lighter green that matched his eyes. The stole was the opposite, a light green with dark green detailing. The detailing on the stole was a silhouette of a tree on each end that swayed back and forth in a non existent wind.

Now Harry was stuck sitting in the little cubicle while Hermione had her robes tailored to fit. Tracy was standing guard just outside the curtain that served as a door to the changing room, making sure that he didn't get bored or (more importantly) that he didn't peek. Of course, the fact that Tracy kept saying how amazing Hermione looked in her robes only made him want to peek more. Then it was his turn to have his robes fitted. He stood on the raised platform while the sales witch waved her wand at him. Each flick of her wand altered the robes a little, shortened a sleeve losend a seam or tightened another. Then, he was finally free.

He changed back to his regular clothes before joining everyone else as they searched for robes for Daphne and Tracy. Harry was next to useless in helping select robes for their friends, every suggestion he made was shot down almost immediately.. Comments like "Daphne should never wear that colour" or "those robes wouldn't fall right with Tracy's figure" made him give up quickly.

When Daphne and Tracy retreated to the changing rooms, Harry started to muse over exactly what type of event would require clothes like this. Something like a wedding would fit, but Harry seriously doubted that there would be a wedding planned at the school. Even if there was, you wouldn't plan to hold it when there were students at the school. The problem was, Harry just couldn't think of any other type of formal event that would be held at a school, so he did what he often did when he couldn't think of an answer. "What kind of formal events do you think the school would be holding?" he asked Hermione.

Hermione looked at him though he was still being a little dense. "It'll be a dance, Harry. Or more likely, given wizarding society, a ball. You know, music, dancing, nice clothes, a date?"

"Oh, a ball?'' Harry asked and Hermione nodded. His feelings were mixed on one hand. The idea of spending an evening with Hermione as the two of them danced was appealing, but he had trouble picturing it going well. Harry couldn't dance. Not real dancing, like would be required at a ball, and he could easily picture people like Malfoy using it as an opportunity to belittle him.

if there was to be a ball, however, there was one thing that Harry was definitely sure about. "If there is going to be a ball, then there is only one witch whom I would like to accompany. Hermione, would you please do me the honor of being my date to the ball?" One benefit of being in a relationship was that you didn't need to spend time wondering about who to take to an event, nor did you have to waste energy worrying about whether or not they would say yes.

Hermione leaned in and gave him a quick kiss on his cheek and said "I would love to be your date Harry." Then in typical Hermione fashion, pulled him into one of her signature hugs.

-ϟϟϟ-

The four teens were squashed into Hermione's room after their shopping trip. Daphne and Tracy had put their bags in their room, as they would need to wait until they returned to their homes for them to sort that all out, but Harry and Hermione were sorting their purchases into their trunks. During the year Harry saw the inside of Hermione's trunk had remained neat and tidy, whereas his own (while clean) was a disorganised chaos. He had books in the wardrobe compartment, and his gloves were in with his books. He had quills and ink bottles that had just been left wherever, and his Nimbus was sharing its compartment with bag sweets from Honeydukes that Harry had no clue about, especially given the fact that he and Hermione had been prevented from going there for most of the year. Harry took the bag of sweets out of his trunk and put them to one side. His new books went easily into his book shelves, his new robes replaced his old ones, his dress robes were hung up as well but were kept in a separate robe bag to keep them dust and wrinkle free.

"Harry, Hermione, there is something Tracy and I wanted to talk to you about." Harry knew by Daphne's tone that it was something important, but Daphne also sounded a little upbeat at the same time and her normally pale skin was tinted pink from a blush, so he didn't think it was anything bad.

Harry closed his trunk and used it as a chair while Hermione sat on her bed. " Daphne, what's wrong? Is everything OK?" Hermione was concerned for her friend. "Whatever it is, Harry and I will help any way we can."

Daphne looked a little nervous. Her face, as normal, was a sculpture of aloof calm. However, just like a sculpture looks how its creator wants, showing the world what he wants to show them, so too was Daphne's face a work of what she wanted people to see. But Harry and Hermione had known her and Tracy for almost a year now, and there were subtle hints that they were picking up on. For example, Daphne was sitting close enough to Tracy that she was able to conceal that the two of them were holding hands. For some reason, Daphne felt she needed reassurance, so whatever she needed to talk about was big.

"My father knows about Tracy and I." Daphne's tone was even; whatever it was she was worrying about, it wasn't that her father knew about her being a lesbian.

"How is your father accepting the news?" Hermione was asked anxiously

"He seems OK with it, and he said he would support me with mum." Daphne smiled but it was evident she was still worried about something.

"Well that's good, isn't it? I know you were worried about what your mother would think," Hermione relaxed a little as she asked.

"It is good, but he had a few conditions for his support…"

"What did he want?" Harry asked.

"There are a few things he wants from me if he is to stand up to mum."

"He wants stuff from you before you can date whom you like?" Hermione sounded angry but she kept herself from shouting or bad-mouthing Daphne's father. She had learnt that lesson last Valentine's Day, when she learned that Daphne's mum Laurel had some homophobic tendencies. Hermione's reaction was to stand by Daphne, but she did it by bad-mouthing her mother, which Daphne really didn't appreciate.

"It's mostly nothing. He wants me to keep my grades up, and I have been having extra lessons with him in business. Because I won't be marrying a man, he wants me to keep the Greengrass name. If I keep the name Greengrass and my grades are satisfactory, he wants me to take over the family's business when he retires."

"Oh whoa, that's a pretty big thing, isn't it?" Harry asked.

"Huge. Father wasn't sure what he would do with the business with two daughters. 'Greengrass Traders' has been run by our family for centuries. Ever since it was started by my great-great grandparents on my dad's side. But with only two daughters to pass it to, the business and the Greengrass name looked like it would just be added to some other House's holdings." Daphne took a breath to steel herself before she continued. "With me not taking the name of a husband, father seized on the opportunity to keep the family name and legacy strong for another generation. Only he had one more condition…I need to provide an heir."

Harry and Hermione were stunned and didn't know what to say. It wasn't unusual for parents to want grandchildren; after the two of them had researched wizarding law to help Buckbeak and seen how important Houses were in Wizarding Britain, it was easy to see how something like requiring an heir to inherit the position of Warlock or a House came about. At the same time, asking a lesbian to get pregnant seemed like a bit much.

Hermione quickly came up with something to help their friend. "You know, muggles have ways to help a woman get pregnant without needing to have sex. You could always try that."

"There is a magical way to do it as well. A couple of potions, a donation from a wizard, and a spell to put that donation…well, where it needs to go. The problem is…well…it's finding a willing wizard." Daphne's ice queen persona had fully collapsed by this point and the young witch was blushing furiously. The silence dragged on for almost two minutes before Tracy gave Daphne an elbow to the ribs, pushing her to continue, but Daphne seemed beyond the ability to talk right now.

Tracy sighed and picked up where Daphne had left off. "Harry, we were hoping that you would be willing to provide that donation." Tracy was matter of fact in the way she said it, but the redness taking over her face betrayed that she was almost as embarrassed as her girlfriend.

Harry was stunned; why would they ask him? Sure, he was their friend, but it wasn't like he was their only male friend. The Slytherin girls, while never seen in the company of Malfoy and his pureblood supermarket crowd (well at least as much as they could while sharing dining space, common room and classes), were often seen in the company of other members of their school year. Surely they had others they could ask?

But of their friends, how many of them were aware that Daphne and Tracy were together? And just how close can you be with people if you are keeping a big secret from them? Until they had accidentally revealed their relationship to Harry and Hermione, there had been a distance between them whenever they worked together for Runes. At the time, Harry had thought it was the House rivalry, that the two Slytherins hadn't wanted to be friendly with the Gryffindors. However, after it was confirmed that both he and Hermione genuinely didn't care about the two's relationship, the Slytherins relaxed around them. Maybe there was a similar distance to that with their other friends?

The question was would he be OK with this? It was huge. About half a million questions started jumping around his head. If he agreed, would he be part of the child's life? Could he father a child then abandon it? Would he be able to watch him or her grow up as nothing more than a friend of his or her mums? What about Hermione, how would she feel about her boyfriend helping other women to have a child?

The silence had dragged on for a few minutes while Harry and Hermione got their heads around what was being asked. It was Tracy who broke the silence. "You don't have to give us an answer now, we know it's a big thing to ask for. But Daphne and I would be grateful if you two thought about it."

The rest of the evening was fairly quiet, as Harry and Hermione had too many thoughts buzzing around their heads to provide good conversation to their guests.

a/n

*stole - this is a piece of cloth that is worn similar to an open scarf (up one side of the body behind the neck and down the other) they come in a variety of lengths and widths and are usually decorated with embroidery but can be plain. Think of it like a tie, not functional in any way just for decoration.

Sorry, this chapter took so long. Honestly, it's just been kicking my ass and I had some internet troubles around the time I posted the last chapter but those have been cleared up, it took way bloody longer than it should have.

Daphne's request may have come out of nowhere for some of you but it's part of of a subplot that I have plans for. It won't be a big focus but other characters do have their own things to deal with and this is Daphne and Tracy's.

I hope the next chapter will be out a lot sooner.

I'm having the four teens have a little movie marathon in the next chapter. Any suggestions for films they should watch?