The sound of nature is a beautiful experience. The birds were amazing orchestral additions to the forest. Harry could feel the light breeze lifting his fringe. He did not feel any rays on his skin and thought it likely to be that he was under the shade of a large tree. Had he been asleep? What happened to all background sounds?
"Shit!" He swore as sudden realization of what had happened just hit him. He sprung up into a crouching position and quietly took in his surroundings as though expecting Voldemort to be hiding behind a tree trunk.
Did I die?
"Potter...?" A voice came from a few meters to his left. He slowly slid his wand down his sleeve from his wand holster and edged towards the voice while taking in his surroundings – alert for danger. He saw her sitting behind a log splattered with mushrooms. It would have been a picturesque sight but the intrepid feelings he was having now trumped any curiosity. Death Eaters could be hiding behind a bush or a tree.
"Potter, help me up." Greengrasses voice broke his concentration.
"Oh, er... yeah, sorry," he mumbled while reaching down to help her up, "we're not in the Forbidden Forest, are we?"
After they both dusted themselves off, the began identifying landmarks, boulders, trees and anything that could be useful. It seemed to be mid-morning – wherever they were.
"Okay. Where are we?" Greengrass huffed with arms akimbo. "where did you bring us too?
Harry held her eye, "I don't know. I didn't bring us here." He said simply, "it's definitely not the Forbidden Forest."
"And how do you know that?" She demanded.
"Well I had recently been spending some time with Neville." He said as though that explained it all.
"Never mind, I will just figure shit out on my own." She angrily withdrew her wand from between the folds of her robes and whispered, "Point me, home." Her wand spun as though it were an overflowing mill wheel.
"What does that mean?" Harry asked her, utterly confused.
"We are lost." She deadpanned.
"What do you mean lost?" He blurted repetitively, his hands flailing like those banners outside used car sales lots.
"What I mean, is that the point me spell should have directed me home. If it's not pointing anywhere, then it means my home doesn't exist anymore." Wand still in her hand, she cupped her face and began to sob quietly.
"I don't think we are in the Hogwarts Valley anymore… " He began but trailed off as he realized he probably was going to make her feel worse.
He looked up towards the sun, and notices large cliffs in the distance, it would be a good vantage point to get the lay of the land.
"Harry." Greengrass said simply.
"Yes."
"What if we cannot get back?" She removed her face from her hands and her eyes were wide with fear. "The magic feels different here," she continued, "I don't think this is our world."
He looked at her sceptically, "I am sure we are somewhere on Earth." He pulled out his wand and firmly said, "EXPECTO PATRONUM!". Prongs jumped out of his wand tip and into its silvery existence. It turned to look at him expectantly.
"Find Professor Dumbledore and ask him to find us."
The stag remained rooted to the ground.
"What are you doing?" Greengrass asked him. "It won't work."
"Okay… but why?" Harry felt slightly annoyed. Hermione did teach him this spell some time ago, specifically for this kind of situation, should he have gotten lost in the maze last week!
"Because we are not on our planet." A tear ran down her left cheek. Harry being the true gentleman he is, ignored it and furrowed his brow.
"How can we not be on Earth?" He walked around her in circles as if deep in thought, "It doesn't make sense to me. Like at all!"
"It's my family magic." She said in a barely audible whisper.
"I'm sorry, what?" The real gentleman asked politely, his confusion growing. "Explain it to me."
Daphne hesitated, her eyes filled with a mix of fear and determination. "You know how some families have special magical abilities passed down through generations?" Harry shook his head. "Well, mine is a little different. It's a kind of...protective shield. When a Greengrass family member is in danger, the magic activates and...well, it transports us to a safe place."
"Like a Portkey?" Harry asked, his mind racing.
"Sort of, but different. It's more...unpredictable. Sometimes it takes us to a familiar place, like our family home, but other times it can transport us somewhere completely unknown. It's happened before, but never like this."
"So, you think this magic is what brought us here?" Harry asked, trying to make sense of it all.
"I don't know," Daphne admitted. "The feeling is different here. The magic feels...off. Like it's not supposed to be."
Harry nodded slowly, his mind reeling. The idea that they were no longer on Earth was almost too much to comprehend.
"I don't get it, what do you mean? Your magic feels off…" Harry was starting to get a headache, and not the scar type.
Then, a thought struck him.
"You know, it's kind of like Parseltongue," he said, his voice barely a whisper.
Daphne looked at him, her eyes wide with surprise. "Parseltongue? Were you really the Heir of Slytherin?"
"Well, I can talk to snakes, but sorry, not the Heir" Harry replied, a little embarrassed. "It's a rare ability that only a few people have."
Daphne's expression somewhat softened. "I see. It's a very powerful magic, Parseltongue. Perhaps our family magic is similar, in a way. Both are ancient, and both can be used for good or evil. I will shut up now, we need to sort out what we are going to do."
Harry nodded, his mind racing. The connection between Parseltongue and Daphne's family magic was intriguing. Perhaps there was more to this than they both realized.
They did not talk much after this, they only discussed two options, leave now and find help or stay and wait for help to arrive. Seeing as how they both could not Apparate yet, they were hesitant to leave.
Using their wands, they made a small clearing by cutting and vanishing bushes, branches and dirt. Daphne seemed to be much more skilled than Harry and made good use of Scourgify and Tergeo to sanitize their area. She was also able to put up wards to prevent people from hearing or seeing them. Harry was amazed.
Just like Hermione.
"Do you know how to conjure a tent, Potter?" She asked him.
"Erm, I –"
"Never mind, listen to me now," she took charge, "visualize a tent, visualize all the details, as clearly as possible, it usually works best from a memory, do you have any memories of a tent Potter?" He nodded his head. "Good, picture that, and focus on it when saying the incantation, 'Conjuro' , when it starts working, then try channeling your magic into the spell."
"Yes Hermione." He fought the urge not to laugh.
"I'll have you know Potter, Granger is a very good friend of mine and I do not appreciate you making fun of her at all." Greengrass huffed.
"Relax, chill, it was just a joke." He gritted his teeth. "And please, call me Harry."
"Why?" she asked.
"Well, why not?" He challenged.
"I cannot be disrespectful to my future head of house."
"What do you mean? CONJURO!" a tent spiraled into existence. Almost the same one that Mr. Weasley borrowed from someone at work, Berkin, Perks, Polka dot something, he was not entirely sure.
"Being below you means that I have to address you in the proper manner." Greengrass stated.
"I still do not understand?" Harry was really confused now.
"The same reason I do my best to avoid you, the contract." She stated matter-of-factly as if he would know what was going on.
"DAPHNE!" He shouted, causing her to jump in surprise. "I DO NOT KNOW WHAT THE HINKYPUNK IS GOING ON!" Her eyes seemed fearful.
She broke down and started sobbing incessantly. She waved her wand and wordlessly conjured a chair to sit down on. She placed her face back in her palms and dug her elbows into her knees.
Harry walked towards her slowly, "I'm sorry for shouting at you…" He slowly placed his hand on her shoulder. "Please forgive me."
She looked up towards him.
"Why did you ignore me for these last four years?" she asked softly. "You may as well just call me Daphne."
"I don't know, I was always with Ron and Mione all the time, I guess…" He shrugged.
"Even when I saw you on the train, I thought you would say hi."
"I'm sorry," he straightened up in confusion, "did we meet before or something? Was I supposed to know you?"
It was Daphne's turn to look confused.
"How much do you know about our parents?" She asked.
"Our parents knew each other?" He blanched.
"Well yes!" She looked completely and utterly shocked at this revelation.
"I'm so sorry, I didn't know." He looked down while shifting nervously.
Daphne looked as though she was trying to solve a ridiculously hard puzzle in her head. Standing up, she said, "our parents all went to school together. Your mum Lily, your aunt Alice, my mum Aurelia, and her sister Pandora, were all friends. Although Aunt Pandy was a first year when everyone else was in their second."
"I did not know about them. The only friends of my parents that I know were Professor Lupin, Sirius and… Peter." He seethed at the last word. The cut on his arm twinged.
"Oh." She looked up at him. "Didn't you see any old photographs or paintings? Or maybe some of the books that your mum borrowed from mine? Your library has tons of books from our library and vice versa."
"I don't have a library, I live in Dudley's second bedroom," he explained.
"Fuck." She swore. Harry had no idea that the magical world knew about Muggle cuss words.
"Did I offend you?" he asked tentatively.
"No Pot-Harry. Not at all." She looked at him a little differently than before. "Just explains a lot."
"What do you mean by that?" he asked, feeling a little hurt.
She sighed and conjured a chair for him to sit.
"You may as well take a seat Harry." She gestured towards the chair with her wand in hand.
She continued, "Four years ago, I was expecting a family friend to greet me. But what I saw was a different person, or so I thought, I mean, who buys the whole trolley? I figured it was something Malfoy or Macmillan would do but not you. My whole life, my mum has been telling me that we would be the best of friends," she hesitated, "and maybe more…"
"Hold up, are you another fan girl like Ginny?" He stared at her open-mouthed.
"No! Absolutely not! It's about our contract." She crossed her arms angrily. "I did not fall for Harry Potter and the Killer Kneazles. I began hating you because you did not follow the proper customs about our contract-"
"Is there a contract for us to be friends?" Harry was dumbfounded.
Daphne inhaled a large gulp of air and released it slowly.
"No Harry. Our marriage contract."