A/N:
Hi, new chapter!
Thanks to the homie Tpobaw for the idea and Ian Fleming for the peer pressure.
Also, if you're so inclined, feel free to check out a completed Harry/Astoria fic I just finished called 'Thirty-Day Astoria'. It's on my profile.
"Boys are fickle creatures," Pansy explained. "If you don't keep them on their toes, they'll switch their attention to another girl in the blink of an eye. I had to change it up just to keep things fresh for my man."
Tracey and Millicent ooh'd and aah'd as they listened to Pansy, taking notes in their minds.
Pansy was trying to explain why she had a new haircut, and why her bangs were cut a little shorter than usual, but based on the way she kept tugging at them like she could pull them into being longer, Daphne had a feeling Pansy was just overcompensating for a little barber-related mistake. As it was, Daphne was still rather certain that Pansy hadn't ever kissed a boy that wasn't her cat.
"You, like, make boys sound scary," Tracey said with a shiver. "Like, I would hate to think my future boyfriend would like, get bored of me like that…"
Millicent nodded. "Yeah, I'm sure not all boys are the same way…"
Pansy shrugged. "Maybe not, but when you get a boyfriend, are you going to leave things up to chance? Are you going to tell yourself that your boyfriend isn't like the other boys, and that he'll never get tired of you? You're really going to trust him when he says he's hanging out with his guy friends for game night, and you won't wonder if he's actually running off with some secret lover? And when you find out he's been seeing other girls behind your back, you're going to tell yourself that it was all his fault, and that you did all you could to keep him faithful?"
Pansy started to raise her voice towards the end of her rhetorical monologue, and both girls flinched away.
"No, I suppose you're right," Millicent said, pulling her sheets up to her chin. "But still, that's a lot of pressure."
"Like, I totally have a newfound respect for girls in relationships now," Tracey added.
"It's tough for us," Pansy confirmed. "But that's the minimum requirement for love."
The three girls talked for a while longer, until eventually they turned out the lights and went to sleep.
Meanwhile, from behind the curtains of the final bed in the room, a fourth girl shook in terror.
Printing Thought Sequence: Will Harry really get tired of me, and seek the affections of other girls behind my back?
Daphne didn't particularly trust Pansy's credentials to be giving boy advice, but what if she was right? She trusted Harry, but that didn't prevent his eyes from drifting against his own free will. Even if he tried to remain faithful, his heart might grow weary of her, and seek out redheaded, frecklesome girls instead.
…Or slight, feminine blonde boys with pretty faces.
Possible Emotion Detected: Protectiveness
Printing Thought Sequence: No! I will not give Harry the chance to doubt his love. As Pansy said, I will keep him on his toes and ensure that things stay 'fresh' between us.
With that, Daphne summoned a mirror and got to work.
Harry's orange juice dribbled out of his mouth as he watched his girlfriend walk into the Great Hall for breakfast the next morning.
Daphne was wearing high boots with countless rows of laces, a short black skirt, and a metalcore band t-shirt with fishnet sleeves. Her makeup was as dark as her clothes, and her usually blonde hair was pitch black.
"Hi…Daphne?" Harry said as she stopped in front of him.
"Whatever."
With a sassy little sigh that was only slightly unrealistic, Daphne sat in the chair across from Harry. He stared at her speculatively for a few moments longer before speaking again.
"Are you trying something new today?"
"No," she replied. "This is the real me."
"...It's not a phase?"
"I am not going through a phase. I am a perfectly goth sixteen year old girl."
Harry squinted. Something about that line sounded familiar, but he couldn't quite place it.
Daphne crossed her long, pale legs and stared wistfully at the ceiling.
"Society is lame, is it not?"
"Er…I guess?" Harry replied tentatively, still not really sure what was going on. "I mean, some parts of it maybe, but I think in general it's okay…"
"Ugh, whatever. Want to rebel against the system together?"
Harry blinked. "Huh? Rebel in what way?"
She shrugged nonchalantly. "We can listen to loud music and make out while complaining about the government."
"I see…"
Sometimes Harry understood Daphne, and sometimes he didn't.
And sometimes, like right now, he didn't even have the first clue what was going through her robotic brain.
"Why don't we listen to soft music while respectfully kissing and discussing how the government could revise their policies?" he suggested.
Daphne tapped a black-nailed finger on her lips.
"That sounds like an acceptable compromise."
The next day, Harry woke up wondering what had gotten into his girlfriend the day before.
He couldn't deny that Goth-Daphne had her own sort of appeal, but he decided he'd be a little concerned if the behavior continued. Daphne hadn't told him what sparked her new style, but he had a feeling it wasn't a desire to rebel against the system.
As he started eating his breakfast, he zoned out and thought some more about Goth-Daphne. He didn't think he was normally into that kind of stuff, but the way his girlfriend looked with black hair and fishnets was something he wouldn't soon forget.
Hm, he thought. I guess a little more Goth-Daphne wouldn't be so ba-
"Um, hi," a familiar voice intoned from beside him. "May I sit here?"
A beautiful girl with blonde hair tied into a neat bun stood there, looking bashfully at the ground. She wore a modest plaid skirt and stockings, and a long-sleeved sweater with a collar underneath. Thick frame glasses completed the look, and she was carrying around a couple of textbooks in her arms for good measure.
"Daphne?" Harry asked questioningly. "Of course you can sit here, but what's going on?"
The girl shyly brushed some nonexistent dirt off her skirt and sat down beside Harry.
"What do you mean?" she asked.
"Well, yesterday you were goth, and now you're…a bookworm?"
Daphne hid her face with her hands and started shaking.
"Oh, Harry," she cried emotionlessly. "How mean of you to call me a nerd."
"Wait, what? I didn't call you a nerd, I called you a book-"
"Oh, Harry," she repeated, glaring at him. "Please do not call me a nerd."
Harry stared at her for a moment before realization sunk in.
"Ah, I get it," he said. "You want me to call you a nerd?"
Daphne put her hands to her cheeks in mock embarrassment.
"Well, I guess if it is you, Harry, you may call me a nerd as a playfully teasing term of endearment."
Harry's brain worked overtime to figure out what was going on with his girlfriend.
"..."
"..."
Yep, I've got nothing, he thought.
"Do you want to talk about our favorite historical figures and science fiction franchises?" Daphne asked eventually.
Even though her acting wouldn't pass auditions for a kindergarten class play, she was clearly trying her best, and Harry wasn't about to dismiss that effort.
"Sure," he replied. "And let's head to the library – we can study while we talk. Seems like the kind of way a nerd like yourself would enjoy spending a Sunday morning."
Daphne shivered.
"Ah, the way you call me a nerd is so condescending and yet I like it."
On Monday morning, it was a tired Harry that stumbled into the Great Hall for breakfast. He'd stayed up late the previous night studying with Nerd-Daphne, who had grown into her role once the textbooks were opened and spent all day tutoring him.
Of course, they put the books away eventually, at which point Nerd-Daphne asked Harry if he wanted to study her in a 'hands-on lesson'. He'd naturally agreed, and subsequently discovered that he rather liked the way his girlfriend looked in glasses; the day had changed when they finally broke apart.
Nerd-Daphne was pretty alluring, he admitted as he shuffled to his usual table and sat down. If that's her new style, I wouldn't be too-
"Hi Harry!"
Harry almost jumped in surprise as an arm wrapped around his shoulders, jostling him in a friendly gesture. He turned to see a girl with short, messy blonde hair spilling out of a baseball hat beside him, decked out in baggy jeans and a hoodie. The clothes covered her curves and made her gender ambiguous, but he could recognize that pretty face anywhere.
"Daphne," he said as much as declared. "Are you…a tomboy today?"
"Got it in one!"
She punched the side of his arm playfully, but he barely felt it as she stopped her fist at the last second. Daphne sat down without waiting to see if he followed, and then started piling her plate high with food.
"This is awesome, dude," she said. "I am totally starving."
Harry didn't reply, instead just sitting down across from her and continuing his observation of his girlfriend. He wasn't sure why Daphne had changed her style three times in three days, but he had to say this androgynous version was doing something to him.
"Are you going through an identity crisis?" Harry asked eventually.
Daphne paused. "I do not believe so."
"Then why…why are you…?"
"Just say it, bro."
"Why this?" he said, gesturing to her ensemble. "There's been three different Daphnes in as many days, and I'm just wondering if you need help working through something."
There was a flicker of something in Daphne's eyes.
"Am I not to your liking?" she asked.
Harry was immediately hit with a wave of guilt. "No, of course you are! I love all of the Daphnes, it's just…I wanted to make sure."
"Chill out, mate. Everything is good here; I am just fun, refreshing, and versatile."
He gave her a strange look.
"If you say so…"
The next morning, Harry was not surprised to see his girlfriend in running shorts and a tank top.
Of course, he hadn't known exactly what sort of Daphne would come after Tomboy-Daphne, but he'd been pretty sure that he'd get some variation on the default, so Sporty-Daphne wasn't that much of a shock.
"Want to go on a run with me before classes start?" she asked predictably, jogging on the spot.
"Daphne…I just woke up."
She checked the fitness tracker on her wrist. "You should try waking up earlier!" she said. "I have been up for several hours and have already done 100 push-ups, 100 sit-ups, 100 squats, and a 10-kilometer run."
Harry pinched the bridge of his nose. "Yeah, I'm not going to comment on that. But seriously, what's up with all of these different Daphnes?"
"I do not know what you mean," she replied. "I am just Daphne, plain and simple. Perhaps we can play quidditch together later?"
Harry froze. Now that surprised him a bit. Daphne wasn't a huge fan of quidditch, and he'd never even seen her ride a broomstick before.
He still had reservations about Daphne's constant personality upheavals, but playing quidditch with her did sound fun.
"Maybe later," he conceded. "If you'd like, I can show you the ropes. But first, can we talk about what's going on with you-"
"There will be no need to 'show me the ropes'," Daphne interrupted. "I am highly proficient in physical tasks, and my eyes can see small objects at distances that most others cannot. I believe catching the golden snitch will prove quite easy, and I intend to defeat you in a match."
Harry's jaw dropped.
He'd been playing quidditch for years, and by all accounts was one of the greatest seekers in the school's long history. Daphne thought she could beat him without any practice?
"Alright, listen here," he said, a mixture of offense and bemusement in his voice. "I think you're vastly underestimating the difficulty of quidditch."
She put her hands on her hips in a rather sporty gesture, and Harry had to drag his eyes back up to her face.
"And I think you are vastly underestimating the difficulty of defeating your girlfriend," she replied.
Possible Emotion Detected: Embarrassment
Printing Thought Sequence: Why is that stupid snitch so hard to catch!?
When Daphne returned to her room later that night, she shut the curtains around her bed and slumped atop it dejectedly. She had been so sure catching the snitch before Harry would be a trivial task, and yet even after countless rematches, he always got it before her.
While Daphne's optical receptors could locate the snitch with ease, and her peak physical control made her an excellent flier, every time she tried to calculate the snitch's trajectory it would dart in a way she hadn't anticipated. She'd analyzed its movements for several hours, but even by the end of their practice session she hadn't been able to reliably predict its path.
Printing Thought Sequence: What a blunder…I will continue to avoid quidditch with prejudice from now on.
Apart from the immense shame Daphne felt when losing to anyone in anything, an uncomfortable uncertainty began to creep into her optical display.
Printing Thought Sequence: Am I successfully keeping things 'fresh' for Harry, or is he growing bored of me regardless…?
Pansy's words still floated around Daphne's cerebral processor, and they gave her more anxiety than she'd care to admit. She knew Harry would tell her that he'd never tire of her, but she still felt the need to ensure her boyfriend continued to see her as 'fun' and 'exciting' just in case.
Unfortunately, her behavior over the past few days seemed to trouble him more than entice him.
Possible Emotion Detected: Determination
Printing Thought Sequence: But I will not give up! I will keep trying out new styles so Harry does not seek the affections of another. Perhaps he simply has not taken to any of the Daphnes I have presented so far?
With that, Daphne once again summoned a mirror and got to work.
"Um, Harry…?" Hermione asked, taking the seat next to him. "What's been going on with Daphne recently?"
Harry just stared after his girlfriend, who was walking out of the Great Hall with a confident stride, seemingly unbothered by the curious glances of many of her peers. She was wearing a bright yellow sundress that didn't quite suit the season, and held a teddy bear in her arms. She bounced a little as she walked.
Her diction had been a bit childish, and Harry really didn't know what she was aiming for with this style, but he promptly labeled it 'Illegal-Daphne' and refused to kiss her when she asked. A short time later, she promised to go change.
"I really don't know," he said eventually, turning to look at Hermione when the doors to the Great Hall were shut once more. "I've tried asking her about it several times in the last week but she always avoids the question. I think she's going through something, and isn't quite ready to talk about it yet."
"Like an identity crisis?" Hermione asked.
"Something like that."
They sat there in silence for a few minutes until Daphne walked back into the Great Hall, reclaiming the entire school's attention yet again.
The two friends shared a glance.
"Maybe it's time for an intervention?" Hermione proposed.
Harry rubbed his eyes. When he opened them again, his girlfriend was still striding confidently towards him with bright pink hair, heavy makeup, and painted-on freckles. He immediately labeled this one 'E-Daphne'.
"Yeah," he sighed. "Let's just get through classes today, and we'll take the opportunity of the weekend tomorrow to get to the bottom of this."
That night, Daphne returned to her room and opened up her wardrobe with a sense of urgency. She scanned its contents, but was having trouble coming up with an entirely new style that might catch Harry's attention. While Harry had at least agreed to kiss her in her second outfit of the day, he'd appeared rather averse to the first despite Astoria's assurances that he'd love it.
Possible Emotion Detected: Anxiety
Printing Thought Sequence: I am running out of options…if I do not come up with something soon, I may lose Harry forever…
It was at that moment that something soft and fluffy fell from the sky and in front of her feet. She turned around to see where it had come from, and found Pansy digging through her closet to find something, throwing everything else behind her as she did.
"Pansy."
The girl jumped a bit as Daphne spoke to her, as in their past six years at Hogwarts, she could count the number of times it had happened on one hand.
"Yeah?" she asked, before finally noticing the clothes that were scattered all over the floor. "Oh, sorry, I didn't realize what a mess I was making. I'll clean up right away…"
"No, it is fine. But I am curious about this." Daphne held up the soft and fluffy thing for Pansy to see. "What is it, exactly?"
"Oh." Pansy blushed. "That was part of my Halloween costume a few years ago. I have a few other pieces as well, but honestly I'm not sure why they're still in my clo-"
"Can I borrow them?"
For a moment, Pansy was surprised, but then she remembered how Daphne had been behaving this past week and realized it wasn't actually that surprising.
"Oh, sure…" she said. "I mean, if you want…"
"I want," Daphne confirmed.
Cringing only slightly, Pansy dug through her closet and found the other components of the costume. She wasn't thrilled to be responsible for whatever Daphne was about to do to herself on a perfectly normal Saturday morning, but on the other hand Daphne hardly ever asked for anything and Pansy was happy to be helpful where she could.
"Well, here you go…"
Daphne looked down at the pieces in her hands, and felt a surge of confidence rush through her body.
"Thank you Pansy. This will be perfect."
It wasn't until after she had gotten into bed for the night that a thought struck Pansy Parkinson.
Daphne was dating Harry, and Daphne had been switching stylistic concepts every twenty-four hours for the past week and a half straight.
While Daphne was no doubt beautiful and highly coveted, Harry was quite popular himself, and there were numerous girls vying for his attention; it was no secret that Daphne fended off other suitors and clung to Harry like her life depended on it.
Wait, she realized, suddenly feeling wide awake. Was I right about boys being fickle creatures? Is this seriously what a girl has to do to keep a boy faithful!?
Pansy let out a breath.
"Wow…relationships are scary."
And at that moment, she felt unequivocally glad to be single.
The next morning in the Great Hall, Harry and Hermione sat at their usual table waiting patiently for Daphne.
"Do you think it could be a malfunction in her hardware?" Hermione suggested.
Harry pursed his lips in thought. "I guess it could be, but I think it's more likely one of her misunderstandings. She's come a long way since the start of the school year and I'm proud of her, but she still has some…well, robot moments."
"That makes sense," Hermione nodded. "So we'll try to figure out what the problem is, and then correct her misunderstanding without embarrassing her?"
"That's the idea."
Of course, there was still a worm of doubt in Harry's mind that this wasn't a more severe issue.
What if she really is having a hard time sorting out her identity? he wondered. What if being the only robot in a world full of humans is getting her down, and she's cycling through personalities in an attempt to-
His thoughts were cut short as the doors to the Great Hall opened and Daphne walked in. She was wearing her school uniform, and her hair was as usual, but there were three additional elements that added the unconventional flair that had been her habit as of late.
On top of her head was a pair of fluffy cat ears, twitching as they processed the noises of the hall. A long, soft tail swished in the air behind her, and a little red collar with a bell attached wrapped around her neck.
Everyone in the hall, Harry and Hermione included, just stared at her as she walked.
Daphne Greengrass had become a cat.
"Meow," she said as she sat down next to Harry.
Hermione winced. "Listen, Daphne, we need to talk."
"Miaou?"
Hermione grimaced. "No, Daphne, stop meowing. Whatever's been going on with you lately, we need you to talk to us about it. We can't help you if you don't."
"Nyaa~"
Hermione blushed. "Okay, Daphne, that was just weird. Please, for the sake of our friendship, can you just tell us why you've been shuffling through different character concepts every day?"
Hermione felt a little bad playing the friendship card, but Daphne was seriously freaking her out and she knew it was the only thing the girl would respond to.
Sure enough, a moment later Daphne slumped her shoulders, and her little cat ears folded down in defeat.
"I recently learned that boys are fickle creatures, so I am trying to keep things fresh and fun for Harry so that he does not leave me."
Hermione sighed. "We figured it was something like that. Look, some immature boys are like that, but boys like Harry aren't looking for constant excitement in a relationship."
"I know it is irrational," Daphne nodded, "but there is still a part of me that fears his attentions may sway. I thought I could get ahead of adultery by becoming all of the girls Harry could ever want."
Hermione bit her lip. Honestly, she thought that was pretty cute, but the misunderstanding needed to be cleared up nonetheless.
"The only girl he wants is you, so you're the only girl you have to be," she said.
It was at this point that Hermione realized Harry had been rather quiet so far, so she turned to look at him.
"Right, Harry?"
Harry blinked.
He didn't understand.
What was happening to him?
A bead of sweat rolled off his forehead, and he licked dry lips. He couldn't take his eyes off the girl in front of him.
It wasn't irregular for Harry to be enchanted by Daphne's appearance, but today there was something extra, something dangerous that he had to push down lest it rise to the surface.
The way those fluffy ears seemed to match her hair color so naturally.
The light flick of the tail behind her that seemed to reflect her thoughts.
And most all, the little bell on her collar that jingled playfully as she moved her head.
"Right, Harry?" Hermione repeated.
"Huh? What?" he said, gulping and turning to look at her. "What were you saying?"
"I was saying, Daphne's the only girl you want, so she doesn't need to try to be anyone else."
"Oh, yeah, for sure. No one comes close. I love Daphne. Yeah."
Hermione narrowed her eyes at him, giving him a strange look, and even Daphne tilted her head at him quizzically. The little bell around her neck jingled, and Harry felt something flutter in his chest.
Something was awakening inside of him.
No! he thought urgently to himself. It has nothing to do with the cat ears! I just love Daphne, so it's only natural that I love Cat-Daphne as we-
"Meow?" Daphne asked, pawing at his hand the way a cat might.
All she did was meow at him, but he could see the concern in her eyes and he knew she was worried about him.
He stared at her silently, and she tilted her head again.
Her bell jingled.
"I'm sorry!" he yelled, standing up from his seat. "I need to go take a walk! Hermione, you can take it from here!"
Hermione and Daphne watched in shock as Harry ran out of the hall.
"Is my appearance really that unsightly?" Daphne asked, rolling her eyes up to try and get a look at her cat ears.
"Um, I'm not sure if it's that," Hermione replied. "But maybe all of these different Daphnes finally broke Harry. It's the regular you that he fell in love with, after all."
Daphne stared at the table, reflecting on her actions.
"I see. Then I have committed another blunder by trying to change my style for him?"
"It's not a blunder, per se, but the only person you should change your style for is yourself – Harry will love you regardless. And in the meantime, if you want to keep things fresh and fun in your relationship you should change what you do with him and not how you look with him."
Daphne nodded. "So I should let him take my socks off more often? Sometimes I say no just to tease him."
Hermione blinked hard, trying to forcefully remove that information from her brain. There were some things she just really didn't need to know.
"Uh, yeah. Sure. That might help, yeah."
Daphne gave Hermione a fond look. "Thank you, Hermione. I should have listened to your advice in the first place, instead of my chronically single roommates."
Hermione blushed. "Oh, no problem…but for the record, I'm chronically single myself."
Daphne's little cat ears perked up.
"Is that so? Well, give it a few years, and that problem may solve itself, if you so wish…"
Astoria Greengrass was in the middle of tinkering with the shell of Daphne's next body upgrade when she felt a chill run down her spine.
She put her wrench down and looked around the workshop, but she was alone.
"Is someone talking about me?" she muttered. "I feel…vulnerable."
The feeling passed and she shrugged it off, getting back to work.
Oh well. Probably just one of my old classmates.
"Sorry for running off like that," Harry said once he had met back up with Daphne. "I was feeling weird and I needed to go touch grass."
Daphne quirked her head at him, and Harry had to push down the disappointment he felt that there were no additional ears there anymore.
"I do not understand why you needed to make physical contact with the turf in order to feel better, but there is no need to apologize to me. Hermione explained where I went wrong, and I understand how my actions of the past week may have troubled you now."
"Oh," he laughed nervously, scratching the back of his head. "It didn't really trouble me, honestly, I was just worried that you were troubled…"
"Let us put it behind us," Daphne said with a wave of her hand. "I no longer feel the anxiety I once did about the security of our relationship, and thus do not need to change my style every day anymore."
Harry winced. "That's good, I guess…but of course you could still change it up every once in a while if you want to…"
Daphne shrugged. "I do not care. I only feel the need to change my style if and when you want me to."
"Really?" he gulped. "And, um, do you still have the cat ears?"
She shook her head. "I was borrowing them from Pansy, and returned them when I realized you did not like them."
"Wait, no, I didn't say I didn't like them," Harry protested, feeling desperate. "If anything, I thought they were kind of cool!"
"It is okay," Daphne said. "I have already worked through the embarrassment; you do not need to lie on my account."
It took Harry a moment to realize where the lie had come from; he didn't think Cat-Daphne was 'kind of cool', he thought she was totally irresistible.
But how do I explain that to her without coming across like a total freak!?
Eventually Harry sighed, giving up. Maybe one day he'd work up the courage to tell Daphne about his newly discovered interest, but until then, he wanted his girlfriend to think of him as a perfectly normal sixteen year old boy.
Seeing his dejection, Daphne took his hand in hers and started to lead him towards one of their favorite empty classrooms.
Printing Thought Sequence: Harry seems particularly distressed…I suppose I will have to cheer him up. It is a good thing I am wearing my cute socks today.
Daphne Greengrass loved her boyfriend more than anything else in the world, even if she thought he was a little bit weird sometimes.
On the other side of the school, on an open patch of ground, a single tear fell down Pansy Parkinson's cheek.
She was proud of Caleb, really. He had finally made friends. And as the person who loved him most in the world, she was happy for him.
"But then why does it hurt so much…?"
She watched her little black cat jump onto the large, vaguely canine creature's back, and then tap its big head with its paws until it started running. Overhead, a snowy owl hooted playfully.
Pansy could still remember the days when it was just her and him, two lonely souls together against the world. But now he was all grown up, and he didn't need her anymore.
"All boys are the same," she sniffled, wiping her cheeks with her sleeve.
A/N:
Hi, I hope you thought this chapter was ok. I was like 50/50 on deleting it, but decided to post it anyway since I put time into it and figured someone might like it. If you think it's bad, just pretend it's a bonus chapter.
Also, I'm kinda curious, is anyone getting bored of the concept? My plan was to finish up Haphne's sixth year and then just skip to a few post-Hogwarts epilogue chapters after that, finishing with probably about 30 chapters overall. I could basically write episodic romcom scenes forever, but I imagine it gets tiresome to read, no? There are other Haphne fics to write, after all?