A/N:

Hi, new chapter! Sorry for the wait, I was making progress (ish) on a new fic that I'm hoping to start posting soon (ish).

I have the next couple chapters planned, so with any luck the next update won't take so long.

Thank you so much to everyone who's been reading so far. I hope you continue to enjoy the story :)

Processing Input: 'Daphne, what do you want to be when you grow up?'

Hummmmm

Processing Input: 'Do you have any goals for the future?'

Hummmmm

Processing Input: 'Daphne, do you not have any ambitions of your own? As in, anything you want to do that doesn't involve Harry?'

Hummmmm

"Daphne!" Hermione whispered urgently. "You're humming."

"Ah. I apologize. I was deep in processing."

The two girls were sitting next to each other in afternoon Arithmancy class, both thinking about completely separate but similarly challenging topics.

"Are you having trouble with the classwork as well?" Hermione asked. "I've never heard you think so hard you start humming before."

"It is most likely just a loose screw," Daphne explained. "But I am not having trouble with the classwork. I finished it thirty minutes and forty-six seconds ago."

"Oh."

Hermione looked at the clock – they had another hour left of class, and she would probably need most of it to finish work that would definitely still be less perfect than Daphne's. As much as she liked her new friend, as an academic overachiever, Hermione had to try her best not to hate her sometimes.

"So what were you thinking about?" Hermione asked curiously, pushing down her irrational feelings of jealousy.

"My future."

"Ouch," she winced. "I guess we're getting to that age where we're expected to have an idea of what we want to do with our lives, but it's not so easy…"

"Indeed. While it does not cause me physical pain, the lack of a clear solution frustrates me greatly."

"Well, we're still young," Hermione said comfortingly, glancing back at the clock to make sure she still had time to afford this little distraction. "We have plenty of time to make decisions about our futures when we're older – there's no need to stress about it now."

"Does this mean you are also uncertain about your future?" Daphne asked.

Hermione shifted awkwardly. "Actually, I have a general plan already…"

"Please continue."

"Well, um, it's my dream to become the Minister for Magic one day," she admitted. "So I'm going to continue with school after Hogwarts with the hopes of eventually entering politics."

Possible Emotion Detected: Disappointment

Printing Thought Sequence: There goes the one idea I had…

Ultimately, Daphne wasn't too upset. While she had told Harry's parents and their friends that becoming Minister for Magic was a possibility for her future, the idea held no real appeal to her, and if her new (and only) friend Hermione was actively seeking the same goal with much truer intent, Daphne wouldn't stand in her way.

Because after all, Daphne knew that Hermione wouldn't stand a chance against her if she actually did try to become Minister for Magic.

"Anyway," Hermione continued after a moment, as Daphne remained silent. "I need to finish my work now, but we can reopen this conversation later if you'd like."

Daphne nodded, and Hermione returned her attention to the parchment in front of her.

With the brief conversation over, Daphne went back to staring out of the window to the quidditch pitch and processing about her future.

Hummmmm

"Harry, please let me know when you have decided what you would like me to do with my life. The uncertainty is quite bothersome, and no amount of abstract mathematical calculation is providing me with an answer."

Harry froze with his fork halfway up to his mouth.

"Um, what?"

"It is up to you to decide what I do with my life in the future," Daphne explained. "As such, I am asking you to inform me as soon as you come to a decision."

Harry set his fork down. Clearly, his girlfriend had come to another great misunderstanding, and he would need to take the time to sort it out. His breakfast could wait.

"No," he started patiently. "It's up to you what you do in the future. Be it professional or personal, it's your own life, and you have to decide what you want irrespective of what I think you should do."

"Correct," Daphne nodded. "And I have decided that I want to leave these matters in your hands."

Harry stared at her. Somewhere, something was getting lost in translation.

"And why do you want me to decide your entire future for you?"

"Because it is difficult, and I do not want to do it myself."

Ah. Harry was beginning to understand – Daphne was stressed about her future.

Shaking his head, Harry moved to reply. "No, I know it's difficult, but this really is something you have to decide for yourself. What you want to do after graduation, what you want to accomplish, what career you want to have; all of these are questions you need to answer on your own."

"I do not want to," Daphne answered flatly. "So I will leave it up to you."

Harry slapped himself on the forehead. "Daphne! That's not one of your options!"

"Why not?" she asked, tilting her head to the side. "I do not want to make these difficult decisions. Do not ask so much of me; I am just a little robot."

Harry raised an eyebrow. "But you're not a robot. You're a perfectly normal sixteen year old girl."

They stared at each other for a long moment, and the silence was deafening.

Eventually, Daphne spoke up, and a light chill frosted the air.

"You dare use my own words against me, Potter?"

Harry sighed. "Listen, Daphne. I'm not sure what caused this sudden fixation on planning your entire life, but I'll try to help you figure it out. I can't make your decisions for you, but we can still work through them together."

"Really?"

"Of course. Whatever the future holds, we'll be facing it together anyway."

Whirrrrr

"Thank you Harry," she said honestly. "So how do we start?"

"Oh, hello Harry!" Hagrid greeted jovially as he opened his door. "Wha' a pleasant surprise! Do yeh need me fer somethin' or did yeh just come fer some tea biscuits?"

Harry grimaced. He had tried one of Hagrid's tea biscuits once, and would never be making that mistake again.

"Actually," he replied, stepping aside so Hagrid could see the girl standing behind him, "I was hoping you might be able to tell me and Daphne a bit about what it's like to work with magical creatures? You see, Daphne's trying to decide what she wants to do in the future, and I thought we could start here in case it's a field that seems interesting to her."

Daphne nodded silently from behind him, and Hagrid broke out into a huge smile. "O' course, o' course! I'd love ter talk to yeh about it – working with magical creatures can be real fulfilling, and it sure doesn' get boring, I'll say that much. Why don't the two o' yeh come inside and I'll tell yeh more."

Hagrid gestured for them to enter his hut, to which they politely accepted and found chairs by his kitchen table to sit in.

"I should start by warning yeh though," Hagrid said as he went to the kettle and poured them each a cup of tea. "Working with magical creatures isn' easy, an' you'll need a lot o' passion, and a good deal o' patience, if yeh wan' ter really thrive."

"I enjoy animals, and my patience is impeccable," Daphne replied, turning to Harry. "Perhaps this would be an adequate pursuit for me."

Hagrid laughed. "Now, don' be gettin' ahead o' yourself, Daphne! I like your enthusiasm, but it takes more 'n that ter wrangle dragons and tame hippogriffs."

She tilted her head to the side as she returned her gaze to the gamekeeper. "In that case, what do I need to wrangle dragons and tame hippogriffs?"

"A lot o' things, I reckon," Hagrid said, scratching his beard as he tried to articulate the specified things. "But I'd say at least good instincts an' a gentle touch is a must."

"And how do I know if I have [Good Instincts] and [A Gentle Touch]?"

Hagrid scratched his beard again. "It's hard fer me to explain. Why don' the two o' yeh stay here fer a moment while I bring in some creatures an' show yeh what I mean."

With that, the big man grabbed his equipment and lumbered out of the door. "Feel free to help yourself to some tea biscuits while yeh wait!" he called as he left.

Harry and Daphne sat around in silence, waiting for Hagrid to return. They had only intended to talk with him for a bit to see if any of the things he said roused some intrigue in Daphne, but clearly Hagrid had felt the need to take things more seriously.

"This tea is really quite decent," Daphne observed after a moment.

"It always is," Harry replied. "But I'd advise against the biscuits."

"Why?"

"They're…dangerous."

"When you say 'dangerous', do you mean it in the sense of a human idiom such as 'dangerously' good, or 'dangerously' bad?"

Harry shook his head. "No, like, literally dangerous. I heard of a girl who needed to get a tooth regrown after eating one of them."

"How strange," Daphne said as she looked at one of the biscuits where it lay innocently on the counter. "Though I must admit, my scientific curiosity has been awakened."

"I mean, you can try it if you'd like, just don't take a big bite-"

Harry was cut off as his girlfriend reached for the biscuit and took a big bite.

CRONCH CRONCH CRONCH

A horrible sound like an industrial rock crusher emanated from Daphne's mouth, and Harry winced. A few seconds later, she swallowed.

"How was it?" Harry asked tentatively.

"Subpar," she replied. "Though it would take more than that to break my teeth."

Harry exhaled, relieved. "That's good. Though with the noise you were making, I should probably be more worried about your jaw."

"Do not worry, I have a bite force of approximately 743 PSI; a mere biscuit can not stand up to me."

"..."

For some reason, Harry found himself remarkably scared by the revelation of his girlfriend's bite force, but his concerns were temporarily put aside as Hagrid returned to the hut with a scattering of animals trailing behind him.

"I'm back, an' I've brought a few friends with me," he declared from the doorway. "None o' these beasts will harm yeh, but they'll be certain to let yeh know if yeh're on the right track."

Getting up from their seats, Harry and Daphne joined the man outside, taking a look at the roster of creatures before them.

"A fwooper, a niffler, and a mooncalf," Daphne said, pointing to each in turn. "I am familiar with all of these species."

Hagrid clapped his hands and smiled. "Good, good! Yeh've got a lot o' knowledge. Why don' yeh try coming a little closer and petting Birdy, the fwooper. She's a bit temperamental, so yeh'll need teh be careful."

Daphne made to approach the colorful bird slowly, but it hissed at her the second she started moving. Noting the behavior, Daphne stopped and turned to Hagrid questioningly.

"That's odd," the big man frowned. "She's usually friendlier 'n that… Why don' yeh try, Harry?"

Harry walked steadily towards the fwooper, and it watched him approach indifferently. When he got close enough, he reached out his hand and petted its head.

"Nicely done, Harry!" Hagrid said. "Now tha' she's warmed up a bit, why don't yeh try again, Daphne?"

Once again, Daphne tried to approach the bird, and once again, it started to hiss.

"Er…" Hagrid started, scratching his beard and looking around awkwardly. "I guess that'll happen from time ter time. Yeh want ter get along with a creature, but it just don' feel the same way."

He took a treat out of a bag at his hip and handed it to Daphne. "Why don' yeh take this and try to feed Chilly," he said, pointing at the niffler. "He's a real glutton and won' say no ter food from anyone."

Holding the treat in front of her, Daphne advanced slowly on the little mole-like creature. It started to move towards her, focused on the snack, but a moment later its eyes shifted towards Daphne's face and it ran away with a squeak.

Harry and Hagrid cringed sympathetically as the girl stood there frozen and alone, treat in hand.

"Would yeh, uh, would yeh like teh try with Beatrice?" Hagrid offered half-heartedly, gesturing to the mooncalf.

Daphne turned her head to look at the only animal she had yet to approach, and she stared deep into its massive blue eyes.

It started to shake, and those massive blue eyes began to get wet and watery as if it was about to cry.

"Perhaps it is for the best if I do not," Daphne concluded.

Possible Emotion Detected: Sadness

"Cheer up," Harry said, grabbing his girlfriend's hand as they walked away from Hagrid's hut. "Maybe we'll put working with animals aside for now, but there are still plenty of other paths out there."

"I simply do not understand," Daphne replied, her neutral tone belying the dejection she felt. "It was the same at the cat cafe. Why do animals dislike me?"

Harry winced. He probably should've known better than to suggest they check out magical creatures, but Daphne did like them a great deal, and he had been hoping that the incident at the cat cafe was an isolated case.

Unfortunately, it appeared that animals in general had an aversion to the robot girl.

"Well, sometimes life is like that," Harry said noncommittally, brushing past the girl's question. "But for now, let's head back to the castle – there are at least a few other people we could talk to."

The couple spent the rest of the morning on a quest around the school, asking all of the teachers with past professions what it was like to work in their fields.

While Professor Flitwick regaled them with truly riveting tales about his previous career as a professional duelist, the inherent danger of the sport didn't make it very attractive to Daphne; one bad hit from a blasting curse and her secret would be exposed to the world.

McGonagall told them of her brief time spent working an office job at the Ministry of Magic, but all three of them agreed that it was a rather boring position, and had no real merit outside of the prestige and relative comfort associated with government work.

They had even gone to the hospital wing to speak to Madam Pomfrey about the practice of magical healing, and while at first it seemed like an appealing idea to Daphne, the often unreasonable hours that medical professionals had to put in wasn't. After all, Daphne wanted to ensure that whatever her future career was, it would accommodate both plenty of time for Harry, and a family somewhere later down the line.

In the wake of their difficulty finding a suitable career for Daphne, they turned to a man that they really shouldn't have ever turned to.

"You want to know what being an auror is like, eh?" Professor Moody, the Hogwarts Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, said.

Harry and Daphne nodded, standing awkwardly in the man's doorway as he ate what was presumably an early lunch.

The ex-auror picked up a grape off his plate and whipped it so hard at Harry's head that it exploded as it impacted his forehead.

"THAT'S WHAT IT'S LIKE!" he screamed.

Harry instinctively took a step back from the man, and Daphne prepared herself to block any more flying fruit.

Possible Emotion Detected: Shock

Printing Thought Sequence: He threw that grape precisely through the one blind spot in my near-perfect peripheral vision! ...Our professor is formidable.

"Um, it's not really me that was asking," Harry said awkwardly to Moody, wiping grape from his face. "It's for Daph-"

"Exactly!" the man shouted, picking up another grape and throwing it at Harry.

Daphne deftly caught it this time, but the professor turned to her and continued. "You think only the auror is in danger!? NO! When you start to build a reputation, the dark wizards will target you. And when they target you, they'll strike you where you're the weakest! Your family! Your husband! Your kids! You name it, they'll hit it!"

Towards the end of his passionate exclamation, Moody had gotten out of his chair and advanced on the couple with his one good leg, breathing hard from the exertion.

He looked up at them, spittle flecking his lips, and smiled.

"So. Are you still interested in becoming an auror?"

That evening, Harry and Daphne walked through the castle dejectedly. They had spoken to several other people throughout the day, and had done some research in the library as well, but not a single career was really jumping out at Daphne as being palatable.

"Oh well," Harry said, straightening up. "We can continue tomorrow, if you'd like."

Possible Emotion Detected: Shame

"We do not have to," Daphne replied. "And I apologize for being so dispassionate. This would be much easier if I had marked hobbies and interests, like a normal girl."

Harry put his arm around her comfortingly and gave her a little squeeze. "Hey, don't worry about it. Even 'normal' girls, as you put it, can't always plan out their futures at sixteen. You still have plenty of time to figure things out."

"But what if I do not?" Daphne asked. "Would you still love me if I become a useless woman?"

"Of course," he replied jokingly, confident that she wouldn't in fact become a 'useless woman'. "Worst comes to worst, you can just sit around all day and be a trophy wife."

Daphne stopped walking and turned to stare at him.

"Really? Is 'trophy wife' a viable career option for me?"

Harry stopped as well, suddenly somewhat less confident that his girlfriend wouldn't become a useless woman.

"Um, well, I mean, if you wanted to…"

Possible Emotion Detected: Shame

Comprehension dawning on him, Harry looked at his girlfriend's downcast eyes and realized that she was just trying to play along with the joke.

"I mean, yes! Haha! That was a great joke, Daphne…"

Possible Emotion Detected: Embarrassment

"You do not need to lie for my sake," she said. "It was my fault for trying to do a 'joke' so soon after my last one failed."

Harry tried to remember the last time his girlfriend told a joke, and was pretty sure it was at least a few months ago. He really did want to boost Daphne's confidence, but ultimately her flat delivery made her unintentional jokes much better than her intentional ones.

I guess we can rule out a career in comedy as well, Harry noted silently.

"Putting this aside," Daphne started, "did any of the professions that we learned about today interest you? We were much too focused on me today, and I would like it if our undertaking benefitted you in some way as well."

Harry scratched his head awkwardly. "Oh, well, I actually have an idea of what I want to do in the future already…"

Daphne froze.

Possible Emotion Detected: Betrayal

"Really? Why have you not told me?"

"Well, it just didn't come up, and my idea is still just a rough one…"

"Please tell me."

"...I think I want to become a teacher."

Daphne processed that for a moment, and realized that it made perfect sense.

"You would like to teach at Hogwarts?"

Harry shrugged. "Probably not. I've always felt that even with all of the reformations the Ministry of Magic has been making in recent years, the education system is severely lacking. So I'd like to do my own thing, to be honest."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, Before coming to a school like Hogwarts or Beauxbatons, students with magical parents usually get at least a basic primer on the topics they're going to learn, which gives them a big advantage over the muggle-born students. On the other hand, the muggle-born students are usually much better at basic fields like math, science, and languages, which are often woefully neglected by the wizarding families."

Daphne nodded. "This is an observation that I have made as well. But how would you go about remedying this issue?"

"I haven't figured it all out yet," Harry admitted. "But I think I want to organize some kind of primary school, and get both pureblood and muggle-born students to attend it…?"

Possible Emotion Detected: Inspiration

"That is a bad idea," Daphne said decisively.

Harry slumped his shoulders. He knew the idea was a bit of a long-shot, but hearing his girlfriend's blunt words still stung a bit.

"Ah, I apologize; I have been rude," she corrected herself. "I do not mean that the concept is poor, only that your implementation would run into several issues. Many pureblood families wish to educate their children independently, while several muggle-born families would prefer their offspring to attend schools that would not keep them out of touch with the human world. As such, my suggestion is to make it a summer camp instead of a school."

"Summer camp?" Harry asked. "How would that work?"

Daphne continued to explain, starting to get excited about her idea. "Throughout the school year, parents can educate their children however they so choose; it is not our business, nor our responsibility. We would then, however, run a camp during the summer which could serve not only to treat the specific deficiencies in their education, but also to foster connections between magical children from various walks of life."

Harry raised his eyebrows. "Actually, that's a great idea!"

"I should think so. I read about a similar concept in a book series when I was younger."

A moment later, he thought back to what she said and noticed something strange. "Wait, did you say 'we' would run a camp?"

"Of course. Your idea is very worthwhile, and it could not please me more than to work on it with you."

"Really?" he asked skeptically. "You're not just saying that because nothing else seemed interesting?"

"No. I would not commit to such an ambitious project if I did not feel strongly about it."

Harry looked at her for a long moment, before deciding that Daphne wouldn't lie to him about something like this.

He relaxed, let out a long breath, and smiled. "Honestly, I feel a lot more confident about the idea if you'll be helping me."

"Naturally," she replied. "You have the requisite passion, but it will be better if the logistics of the operation are left up to me."

Harry stopped, and turned to look at his girlfriend questioningly. "Hold on a second. Are you implying I don't have the brains to manage it properly by myself?"

The robot girl remained silent.

"Daphne?" Harry asked.

The robot girl continued to remain silent.

"Daphne!?"

Later that night, Hermione Granger paced up and down her bedroom in the Gryffindor Tower.

This wasn't a particularly unusual occurrence for Hermione, nor was the visible stress on her face, but her anxiety was at a noteworthy high.

Why! Hermione screamed silently at herself. Why did I tell Daphne about wanting to become the Minister for Magic!?

She hadn't spoken to Daphne since yesterday's Arithmancy class, and thus had no clue where the girl was at with her own attempt at planning a path for her future.

And it had only occurred to Hermione quite recently that she may have accidentally given Daphne an idea.

What will I do if Daphne decides she wants to become the Minister for Magic as well!? Would anyone even vote for me over her?

Hermione wasn't usually lacking in self-confidence, but six straight years of coming second place to Daphne in every test, exam, and class at school had given her a bit of a complex.

And unfortunately, that complex was manifesting itself in the form of a paranoia that now had Hermione convinced that Daphne was going to try to take 'her' place as Minister for Magic in the future.

I can't lose! I don't want to lose! Even if she's my friend, this has been my dream since I was in my first year!

Tying up her hair, Hermione got out her books and started studying.

She had never gotten a better grade than Daphne before, but Hermione knew that if she wanted to beat Daphne to their mutually desired position at the top of the political world, she'd have to start here.

Just you wait, Daphne! Hermione thought to herself. On our winter exams, I'm going to take your spot as number one in the school!

…

No hard feelings, of course!

A/N:

Finally, a bit about Harry and Daphne's future plans have been revealed! (Both to you, and to me).

As always, feel free to let me know if you have any praise/criticism/ideas for future chapters in the comments :)

P.S. - A lot of people mentioned Ginny 'bashing' last chapter, so I want to mention that my intention was not to bash her at all. I know many bashing stories feature a similar characterization as the one I used, but I actually think she's just funny this way; not to be taken too seriously or to paint her in a bad light. Nothing worse will happen to her character than what has already happened, and I'll try not to be malicious or mean-spirited with it.