A/N:

Hi, new chapter! This was supposed to be my low-stakes for fun project, but I scrapped three chapters before forcing myself to post this one.

There were many requests for the idea of this chapter, and who am I to refuse the requests of the people? Have more requests? Comment them or DM me :)

Thank you so much to everyone who has been reading/interacting with this story so far, I hope you enjoy this chapter!

Harry and Daphne were taking a leisurely walk around the school grounds, soaking in the early autumn sunshine and enjoying the light breeze.

"Harry, when did you first fall in love with me?"

Harry pursed his lips and thought about it. "It's hard to say when exactly the like turned to love, but I do remember the moment my crush on you started, if you'd like to hear?"

Daphne blinked rapidly a few times and nodded. "Yes, please."

"Well, it was-"

Draco Malfoy was hitting bludgers during the Slytherin quidditch practice, trying to forget about the struggles of his everyday life.

Stupid Daphne! Draco thought as he hit the heavy iron ball with devastating force.

He had been friends with Harry for years, but only realized the true depth of his feelings more recently. Unfortunately, by the time he came to that epiphany, Harry had already been stolen away by the prettiest girl at Hogwarts.

Stupid Harry! Draco thought as he pummeled another bludger so hard his bat almost broke.

Daphne Greengrass might have been the prettiest girl at Hogwarts, but as many people had teased him over the years, Draco gave her a run for her money. His soft, feminine features made him rather popular amongst both the girls and the guys, and he was confessed to almost as often as Daphne was. Despite that, Draco had rejected them all; he only had feelings for one person, even if that one person would never like him back.

Trying to release all of his pent-up emotions into one swing of the bat, Draco wound up and hit an incoming bludger with everything he had.

Stupid everything!

"Well, it was-"

Harry's story was cut off before it could begin as a bludger came hurtling towards them with such unbelievable velocity it could have been shot from a cannon.

Initiating Protocol: Protect

Moving as fast as a robot girl could move, Daphne dashed forward and caught the bludger before it could obliterate her boyfriend.

While her quick movements did in fact spare Harry from obliteration, Daphne's hand didn't fare quite so well.

"Daphne! Your hand!"

Harry looked in horror at his girlfriend's hand, which was now an unsightly mess of bent metal and broken wires. There was naturally no blood, but the way Daphne's mechanics protruded from her synthetic skin disturbed Harry just the same.

"Yes," Daphne said, waving her mangled hand around a bit and getting no feedback from it. "It seems to be broken."

Harry tried his best not to heave at the sight. "How can you be so calm about this!?"

"I feel no pain," she explained. "And this is not the first time I have broken a part. When I was a child, I fell off a roof and crushed two-thirds of my head. Compared to that, this is trivial."

Harry gawked. "What were you doing on the roof in the first place!?"

"It is a long story. For now, I must hide my hand; someone is coming."

Daphne hid both of her hands in her sleeves as a Slytherin student came flying over to them on a broom. Harry recognized him as Vinnie – Slytherin's quidditch team captain.

"Hey guys!" Vinnie called. "Are you okay? You didn't get hit by that bludger did you?"

"Er…no," Harry replied. "We didn't."

Vinnie let out a sigh of relief. "Thank heavens! I only realized I forgot to set up the protective wards around the pitch when I saw that bludger go flying out of the stands. That could have been so much worse…"

Harry glared at him. "It really could have. As a team captain, it's your duty to make sure the wards are set up before the practice starts. It's for situations like this that those wards exist in the first place!"

"I know, I know," Vinnie looked down, chagrined. "Sorry guys…"

Harry sighed, picking up the ball and throwing it over to him. "It's fine, just be more careful next time."

"I will!"

Once the boy flew away, Daphne took her injured hand out of her sleeve and observed it again carefully.

Assessing Damage…

Result: Destroyed

"That is unfortunate," Daphne remarked.

Harry looked at her apprehensively. "What is? You'll be able to fix it, won't you?"

"The damage is fixable," she confirmed. "But I do not have the skill or materials required for such an extensive repair at the moment. I will have to pay a visit to my mechanic."

"That's not so bad I guess…"

"We will see about that," Daphne replied. "My mechanic can be quite the handful."

Daphne_Greengrass: Hello, sister.

xxA5T0R1Axx: hiiiii! :3

Daphne_Greengrass: I broke my hand today.

xxA5T0R1Axx: what?! how?!11!?

Daphne_Greengrass: It got destroyed by a loose bludger. If you are available next weekend, can I make a short trip home so you can repair it?

xxA5T0R1Axx: omg of course, i cant wait to see u!

xxA5T0R1Axx: nobody saw ur hand get destroyed, right?

Daphne_Greengrass: My boyfriend saw, but no one else.

xxA5T0R1Axx: OMG!? U HAV A BF?!

Daphne_Greengrass: I am sorry, I do not understand what you mean.

xxA5T0R1Axx: YOUH AVHE A BOYFRIENED?

Daphne_Greengrass: Ah, yes. Did I not mention him before?

xxA5T0R1Axx: OMG

xxA5T0R1Axx: NO

xxA5T0R1Axx: im coming to ur school tmrw

xxA5T0R1Axx: ttyl

Daphne_Greengrass: What do you mean?

Daphne_Greengrass: Astoria?

Daphne_Greengrass: Are you there?

Astoria Greengrass stood up from the computer where she had just been talking to her sister via the Direct Messaging System she had installed in Daphne's optical display last year.

Daphne, what the hell! Astoria thought crossly. How could you not tell me you had a boyfriend?

Astoria loved her big sister. Not only because she was her big sister, and also her best friend, but because Daphne also (unknowingly) ignited her love for mechanics and engineering. When Astoria never showed any signs of becoming a witch, and was labeled a 'squib' by the wizarding world, the only thing she found solace in was her skill with machines. Now, some years later, Astoria was one of the foremost prodigies in the muggle engineering world, and was working after school in a top secret research facility where advancements in robotics and machine learning were being made with rapid progress.

All this to say, Astoria felt as though she owed Daphne everything, and if her sister was dating a suboptimal boy, she would not stand for it.

Incidentally, Astoria also felt as though it was up to her to determine if the boy in question was suboptimal or not.

She walked over to her project leader's office and knocked aggressively on the door. "Doctor Magyar! Can I come in?"

"Yes, Astoria," a voice called from within.

She opened the door into the sparsely decorated room, walls almost completely blank but for the several degrees, accolades, and qualifications that hung there.

"Requesting permission to take tomorrow off, sir. I have to go visit my sister."

"Of course," Magyar smiled warmly. "Take what time you need. And tell Daphne I say hi!"

Harry and Daphne were eating their breakfast in the Great Hall as usual, Daphne hiding her broken hand in her sweater sleeve.

"Harry," she started. "You never got around to telling me the story of how your crush on me started."

"Oh right," he said, remembering their conversation from the previous day. "I forgot about that."

"Can you tell me now?"

"Sure! So, it was-"

The doors to the Great Hall swung open, and a teenage girl in cargo pants and a white tank top came walking confidently down the rows of tables. Heads turned in her direction, not only because she was rather cute with her tousled curly brown hair and glasses, but also because her presence commanded attention. Her getup, complete with combat boots and a thin gold necklace, were at such complete odds with the regular attire at Hogwarts, and the hall devolved into whispers trying to figure out who she was.

Harry watched as the girl walked right up to his table, and stopped in front of him and Daphne.

"Hi Daphne!" she said, giving her sister a quick hug.

"Hello Astoria. What a welcome surprise; I was not expecting to see you here."

"Hi there," Harry said once Astoria had sat down and started eating with them. "I take it you're Daphne's sister?"

"Yeah, and what's it to you?" Astoria asked testily.

Harry laughed good-naturedly. "I was just confirming. I'm Daphne's boyfriend, Harry Potter. It's nice to meet you."

Harry extended his hand for a handshake, and Astoria slapped it in a way that could probably pass as a high-five, but seemed a little too aggressive to be friendly.

Possible Emotion Detected: Worry

Printing Thought Sequence: Please be nice to him, Astoria!

Daphne loved her little sister, but she knew she could be hard to handle at times. The last thing she needed was two of her favorite people in the world - and two of the only people that knew her secret - to get on badly.

"So," Daphne said, trying to get a safe conversation going. "How is school?"

Astoria ran her hand through her hair nervously. "I, er, got expelled again…"

Printing Thought Sequence: Again!?

"Astoria," Daphne chastised. "This is your seventh expulsion since you started high school. You promised me you were going to try harder after the last one."

"It's not my fault!" Astoria replied defensively. "People just keep picking fights with me…"

There was a lull in the conversation as Astoria poked at her food.

"So, are you a witch as well?" Harry asked eventually.

Printing Thought Sequence: Uh oh.

Astoria glared up at Harry, cracking her knuckles. "No. And if you have a problem with that, we can take this outside."

"Oh, I definitely don't have a problem with that," Harry replied, raising his hands in a placating manner. "I was just wondering, since you were here at Hogwarts and all."

"No. I'm just here to…help Daphne with something," Astoria replied, glancing over at her sister.

"Astoria is my mechanic," Daphne explained. "She was going to fix my hand next weekend, but clearly decided to expedite the process."

"Wow!" said Harry, impressed. "You're able to do such high-level work at your age?"

Astoria stared at her sister with her mouth agape. "He knows!?" she whispered furiously.

Daphne nodded. "Yes. He saw my gears at the start of the semester."

Astoria's jaw dropped even further. "He saw your gears!?" she sputtered out, blushing. "Just how fast are you two moving?"

"If you mean the pace of our relationship, I believe it is more or less average. Though I have no real life examples to compare it to."

Astoria shook herself, trying to clear her head. "Okay then…and you trust that he won't tell anyone about your…circumstances?"

"I trust him implicitly."

Astoria nodded slowly; she was starting to get a better picture of things. Clearly, Daphne's relationship was much more serious than she had initially anticipated, and the boy knew her sister's secret as well. Considering this, Astoria's resolve only strengthened to ensure that Daphne had chosen her boyfriend wisely.

Astoria narrowed her eyes at Harry. "Are you good with machines?"

Harry shrugged. "Not really…"

"Do you understand tech-based magic?"

Harry scratched the back of his head awkwardly. "I didn't even know that was a thing…"

"Can you repair electronic circuits?"

"No…"

"..."

"..."

Astoria raised an eyebrow at Daphne. "What exactly do you like about this guy?"

After breakfast, Astoria went to fetch her tools and materials from the suitcase she had brought, while Harry and Daphne waited for her in the repair shed.

"I am sorry about Astoria," Daphne said to him. "She can be rather disagreeable with new people."

Harry laughed. "Don't worry about it. She's just feeling protective over her sibling, which is something I totally get. Besides, I like her; she has spunk."

"I am glad you are able to see her charm," Daphne replied.

Eventually, Astoria entered with a bag full of equipment and they settled down on the floor of the shed, Daphne resting her arm on a small folding table. Taking out the parts she needed, Astoria put a pair of goggles over her eyes and got to work attaching wires, drilling holes, and soldering iron. Harry watched in fascination as the girl's sassy attitude disappeared entirely in favor of extreme concentration as she worked on her sister, slowly repairing and rebuilding Daphne's hand.

An hour or so later, Astoria dusted off her clothes and removed her goggles, taking a good look at Daphne's new hand.

"Alright, give it a shake, and make sure all the finger joints are moving correctly, and then I'll reattach the skin."

Daphne stretched her hand and wiggled her fingers, ensuring everything was repaired perfectly, and Astoria donned the goggles one last time to set the skin.

"We're all done now," Astoria said once she was finished, putting her tools away. "I'll leave you a few extra springs in case you want to retune the detent, but otherwise you should be good until next summer's updates."

"Thank you for coming, Astoria," Daphne said. "You have been a tremendous help."

"No problem," she replied. "I don't start at the new school until next week anyway."

"And you will not get expelled from this one, right?"

"Right. Oh yeah, before I forget, can you return that book I lent you over the summer?"

"Of course," Daphne nodded. "If you wait for me, I will go get it now."

Harry and Astoria sat alone in the shed, waiting for Daphne to return.

This, of course, was Astoria's plan.

"I'm going to be real with you," she said. "I don't think you're good enough for my sister."

"Huh?"

"Your looks aren't bad, but you seem pretty dumb, and Daphne can do better."

Astoria was bracing herself for a fistfight, which is what most of her conversations eventually devolved into, but Harry just smiled at her.

"We all have different gifts, so we all have different ways of saying to the world who we are. I may not be a genius like you, and I agree that Daphne can probably do better, but I'm still trying my best to be a good boyfriend for her."

Astoria frowned. Harry's words made her feel like she was being rather mean.

Which, if she really thought about it, she was.

"So even if I threaten you, you won't break up with my sister?"

Harry shook his head. "Even if you threaten me."

Astoria sighed. "And you're not with her just because she's pretty?"

"Nope. Of course she's beautiful to me, but that's only one of the countless things I love about her."

"Like what?"

"Well, for one, I love how she's willing to stand up for anyone who's being picked on."

Astoria nodded. "When I was younger, a couple of boys were pushing me around and calling me 'squib', and Daphne came right over to them and kicked them so hard in the kneecaps they had to go to St. Mungo's."

Harry laughed. "That sounds like her – I've seen her hex a few bullies in my time. I also love how she secretly has a weak spot for cute things."

"Oh definitely," Astoria smiled. "When I was just a few years old, Daphne fell off the roof trying to 'rescue' a squirrel from where it was 'stuck' in a tree."

"That's how she fell!?" Harry exclaimed.

"Yep. That's when Dad realized Daphne was a bit out of touch with the real world, and started training her algorithms on things other than textbooks."

"She certainly had an interesting childhood…"

"That's for sure. So what else do you love about her?" Astoria asked excitedly.

Harry thought about it for a second, before something came to him and he smiled. "I love how embarrassed she gets when she realizes she forgot to hide her wind-up key."

"Don't even get me started about the wind-up key," Astoria groaned. "I'm borderline convinced Daphne's mom trojaned a directive into her brain that makes her forget to cover it sometimes – it's a good thing her hair is so long."

"It is," Harry agreed. "But sometimes when we're alone she puts her hair up in a ponytail so I can still see it."

"I'm so jealous," Astoria whined. "That key is so adorable I kind of want a tattoo of one on my back in the same place hers is."

"Hey, that's a good idea! Maybe I should get one too…"

Daphne opened the door of the shed, nervous to see what scene of carnage awaited her inside.

Instead of fighting, it turned out her little sister and boyfriend were actually engaged in a lively conversation about…getting matching tattoos?

"It makes me happy to see the two of you getting along," Daphne said, handing the borrowed book back to Astoria. "But I am starting to feel left out now."

Harry turned to Astoria. "That's definitely another one of my favorite things," he said. "I love how honest she is."

Astoria laughed. "I know, right? It's so refreshing."

Printing Thought Sequence: Should I leave these two alone?

A/N:

Hi! Thanks for reading this chapter. Did you like it? To be honest, I'm still not sure how I feel about it, but I decided to post it anyway...so let me know what you thought.

A lot of people asked for an Astoria chapter, and I'm obviously a huge Astoria fan (see my fic 'Coincidences') so I was happy to write it. I tried to change the characterization from Coincidences though since I didn't want to feel any overlap.

Idea Credits:

(HB: Like, a lot of people: Astoria)

Magyareagle: Daphne getting injured. (HB: This one didn't go totally as you requested, sorry...Also I may or may not have written you into the story, sorry again...)

"We all have different gifts, so we all have different ways of saying to the world who we are." -Mr. Rogers