Colours of Obsession
A story of how the meeting of three colours finally manages to bring together an unknown romance between an obsessed, in-denial Daphne Greengrass and an equally obsessed, and less in-denial, Harry Potter.
*O*O*O*
"Everywhere, everything!
I wanna love you 'til we're food for the worms to eat
'Til our fingers decompose, keep my hand in yours."
*O*O*O*
Daphne thought herself to be a good judge of character.
When it came to Tracey Davis, she was mostly an open book. Whenever she was up to no good, you could distinctly see it in her eyes. A mix of Slytherin's cunning, and Gryffindor's mischief. The same could be said for Harry Potter. Her constant observations over the last four years had led her to believe she was intermediate in most things related to Potter.
And when it came to her little sister… Well, Daphne could practically predict the future, Divinations classes or not.
So, much to no one's surprise, when it came time to finally talk to Astoria Greengrass, First Year, Slytherin, about what her older sister was up to with the legendary Boy-Who-Lived… things had gone about as well as the older sibling had expected.
A young girl was now buzzing around the room so fast she looked like a blur. Daphne could've sworn she saw Astoria running up and down the walls at one point, all while squealing at the top of her lungs.
Even to say that her sister was best described as the physical incarnation of the 'Firebolt' broomstick, was putting it mildly. She was the Firebolt and then some.
A pretty, young girl that shared a striking physical similarity to her older sister, save for having a slightly darker tone of blonde hair, with energy levels so high you'd think she was constantly on a sugar rush. It was a wonder how her brain's dopamine levels weren't already fried from all the excitement she derived from anything and everything.
Astoria was yet another complete contradiction to the Slytherin House, though that had not stopped her from already forming a good circle of friends — which Daphne was grateful to hear. As annoying as Astoria may have been as a little sister, she was still dearly loved by Daphne. And the last thing she wanted was for her beloved sister's life to be difficult Slytherin.
Needless to say that the discussion with Astoria had lasted for as long as Daphne had expected, which was to say — not much. Tracey was here too, laughing in amusement at the sight of the little whirlwind running amuck in the classroom that the three Slytherin girls were making use of. Daphne and Tracey were seated on top of the large table where the teacher would have normally conducted the class, while Astoria was zipping about in front of them.
Thankfully, Astoria had been pulled into an empty classroom before she had been told of her sister's crush. Had they done this in the corridor, Daphne wasn't even sure whether her little sister would come back.
Daphne sighed, pinching her temples. She felt a headache coming on soon.
"Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh!" The shrill voice that whizzed by had cried. The girl dashed circles around the table before breaking off again, "Daphne has a boyfriend!"
"He's not her boyfriend, Tori," Tracey snickered, using Wingardium Leviosa to lift some of the tables the younger Greengrass had knocked over on accident back into place, "At least, not yet." Tracey herself knew the girl well, having visited the Greengrass manor over the years during the summer for a variety of events. She thought of herself as Astoria's older sister too, as did Daphne, considering their similar personalities.
"Not helping." Daphne groaned.
The girl dashed past them, nothing more than a blur.
"And I've seen him around school!"
She was suddenly on Daphne's right—
"He's sooooo cute!"
—then on Tracey's left—
"I want to meet him! When can we meet him?!"
—The girls had barely enough time to look at where she had last been before Astoria was gone again, vanishing in a blur once more.
"Looks like you've got competition, Daphne—" Tracey was struggling to contain her laughter. Daphne helped her with a soft elbow to her tummy, "—Oof!"
How she was somehow friends and sister to the two most un-Slytherin-like students in possibly all of Slytherin House's known history, Daphne would never know.
"Help me wrangle her, please." Daphne had simply asked before hopping off the table, trying her best to get ahold of the maelstrom of energy that was devastating the classroom.
When they had finally managed to settle Astoria down, Tracey had started using Leviosa to rearrange the many tables, while Daphne had given the girl a set number of rules to follow:
1) Regardless of how she felt, she had to behave whenever she was in front of Harry.
2) No using the words 'love' or 'boyfriend' until Daphne permitted it.
3) There was to be absolutely NO talking about her romantic interest in the Boy-Who-Lived in front of ANYONE!
If these rules were broken, Daphne was going to be telling their father that Astoria was the one who had knocked over Great-Uncle Fergus' urn, spilling his ashes all over and making a mess out of the living room two years ago, which Daphne had helped cover up for by blaming their house cat, Cobs.
Cobs as in 'cobwebs', Daphne had chosen.
Cobs as in 'of corn', Astoria had settled for.
Of course, Astoria, as predicted, had been pouting up a storm, which Daphne had to ignore with all her strength. For as much as she chided her sister for any little thing she did, the older Greengrass would not have asked for anyone else to have been her little sister.
Ultimately, the girl had relented to the rules, shaking with excitement at the prospect of meeting her older sister's Not-Quite-Boyfriend-Yet friend.
As Tracey and Astoria were busy play fighting over some of the floating tables, Daphne couldn't help but stare at her little sister.
Daphne knew that hidden just under the surface of her little sister was a witch who had as much wit and cunning as she herself had back when she was younger, if not more. After all, Astoria had plenty of time to observe her older sister, who had set the foundations for her to build her personality on.
She knew Astoria wasn't just a bubbly idiot. That she chose to be one because it was 'more fun' than being serious. And while she trusted Astoria with her life, it was needless to say that Astoria Greengrass was also a very dangerous girl when left unattended.
Daphne prayed that her sister wouldn't mess this up for her.
*O*O*O*O*
The next day had come and gone, and school had been about as normal as it could be. In class, they had still been shooting each other knowing looks, much to Tracey's dismay at a lack of public interaction.
When classes had concluded, as per their agreement, Daphne made her way to the arranged location in the west wing of the school.
Daphne's reputation as the Ice Queen had earned her an unspoken privilege of being able to go wherever and do whatever with little question from the rest of the little Slytherins. None of the boys were interested in being publicly flogged and shamed with her supposed sharp tongue that had been used to decimate that senior during her first year in school. And her skill with the wand was not just a rumored secret either.
Walking past that particular wing had taken her past the medical wing, which had let her mind wander to that particular day. She could barely even remember breaking her nose, to be honest. The pain had been so minuscule in comparison to the overwhelming and intense sense of attraction, awkwardness, excitement, and embarrassment. All of which had been mixed in with a good dose of teenage hormones, creating a storm of emotions that Daphne still hadn't properly addressed.
And so much blood had been rushing to her head and face since that day that even Daphne was surprised at herself that she hadn't fainted yet.
She wondered just what Harry had in store for her today, and quietly wondered if there was going to be any more of the same action. She didn't know what she'd do if Potter had pinned her against something, anything, again.
She might have just succumbed to her primal urges.
Daphne arrived at the abandoned classroom, one of many you could find around Hogwarts, where the private DADA lessons with Harry would be taking place. Opening the door, she peeked in and caught sight of Harry, already waiting for her.
His back was to her as she entered, his robes already set aside on the nearby backrest of a chair. Nearby, there was a large pile of what seemed to be plates. They were varied in size, and all bore some form of defect. From chips to cracks, to just being two halves of the same plate poorly glued together down the middle.
She wondered what they were going to be for.
"Ms Greengrass!" Harry exclaimed as he turned to her with a million-galleon grin on his face, excited to see Daphne, "So glad you could join the rest of the class today!" His voice was pompous. Perhaps a little too much for her tastes.
Daphne gave him an amused look as she shut the door. Blue eyes glanced about the empty classroom looking for signs of life beyond that of the raven-haired boy, then looked back to him with an exasperated smile.
She had no idea how an idiot could make her feel this way. Though, as much as she hated to say it, the character he was doing now was rubbing her the wrong way.
"Is this supposed to be your professor persona?" She asked, wondering if he had been inspired to create one after hers.
"You like it?" He asked, coyly. He gave her a flourish and an unnecessary bow.
"Can't say I do…" Daphne stood there, giving him a once over as she tapped at her chin with her finger as if trying to place where she had seen this behaviour from before.
"I might have to dock points from you Ms Greengrass." Harry clucked at her, waggling his finger.
"Well, you certainly drew inspiration from somewhere, did you?"
"Only the best!" Harry assured her, still unaware of where she was going with this.
Daphne took a second longer before lightly slapping her forehead, pretending like the realization had finally hit her.
"Ah. Of course. Lockhart." She grinned, knowing just how he'd react to being called that particular name, "How could I forget how close you two were? You did spend a lot of time signing his fanmail, didn't you? You got his mannerisms down perfectly! Why, I dare say you're the spitting image of him, Professor."
The grimace Harry made at that had her laughing aloud. He looked like he had just sucked on a lemon.
Just like that, she had broken his persona apart simply by referring to him as Hogwart's greatest joke that had ever served as a professor in all of the school's illustrious and grand history. The famous and well-known teaching staff and alumni of the school from centuries past were likely turning in their graves at the very mention of the man. Even those who were still alive, performing their other duties around the Wizarding World shuddered at the thought.
"Five points from Slytherin for making that comparison." He grumbled jokingly as he abandoned the persona.
Wow, she could actually see his fake ego deflating.
Daphne spared him a bemused smirk.
He had quickly settled back into a more 'humble' state. His shoulders weren't as pulled back as they had been just moments ago, and he lowered how he had held his head up high. His demeanor and aura settled back down from trying to be the 'center of attention'. Proud, but not Lockhart levels of pride.
He now reminded her of himself, but a much more self-assured version of his usual self.
"Better?"
"Infinitely better, actually."
"Then I have no choice but to award five points to Slytherin."
This much more assured version of him had Daphne silently appreciating Harry's new professor persona a lot more. Who knew such small changes could make such a huge difference to her?
A voice in her head that was beginning to sound suspiciously like Tracey went off about how this version of him was hot too.
She shushed it.
*O*O*O*O*
Initially, when they had begun, Harry had offered her the choice to start off easy with Hex-Detection spells and Counter Curses or jump into the deep end with a truly challenging curse.
Not one to pass up the opportunity to impress the boy she had a vested interest in and challenge herself, she had gone with the latter.
Now she was starting to regret that decision.
She had tried and failed to perform the main spell he was trying to teach her. She felt like she had tried close to a hundred times at this point.
Dozens and dozens of small cracks and tiny craters littered one side of the room. In the middle, ever so slightly in the air, was a levitating plate, and on the other end of the room was the student and her teacher, who had cast Wingardium Leviosa on said plate.
So far, she had yet to hit even a single target.
Harry had started them off hard with the Reducto curse. They were going to learn it sometime in the middle of these classes this year with 'Mad-Eye', but, like how she had helped him, Harry figured they could use the headstart too. His interest in the subject of DADA had him reading ahead during his transformation last year, and with some advice from Lupin last year, he had taken to practicing in the same manner he had her performing now.
Apparently, though not completely mastered, he could cast it just fine. He claimed it had taken him about two to three days before he had really gotten it down without a miscast. So, Daphne approached the spell with the ambitious goal of nailing it by the end of the lesson.
But her hopes were quickly dashed as the time for the lesson wore thin with each failure.
She had been trying, much to her frustrations, for the last two hours to get it right. However, things just didn't seem to go her way. Sure, she was getting slightly better at it, but for the last forty minutes, she felt like she had been floundering helplessly in front of Harry.
Daphne didn't know why, but she was getting very, very flustered. And she was struggling to keep her emotions in check. It wasn't like she really had to prove a point to Harry, but having made set the goal to accomplish a successful cast of the spell, and failing to deliver, was really hurting her pride — even more, since she had started off trying to impress him with it.
Each failed cast of the wand sent blue sparks towards the target, but it'd either fizzle out and produce a plume of blue smoke, or sputter and die before it reached the target. About five times or so, she had produced a tiny, tiny blue ball that would be off the mark by a significant amount. But those small successes were scattered between dozens and dozens of failures. This explained the nicks and cracks all around the back of the class, where she had missed the target and hit the classroom's walls and floors instead.
Daphne felt her wand-casting arm grow tired of being held up.
Her throat felt like it was seizing, dry and painful from shouting the name of the spell non-stop.
As they were nearing the end of the lesson, she felt herself getting more and more stressed.
She couldn't explain it. She had never felt this way before. She had always approached this type of failure head-on until she pushed through, but it seemed her emotions were getting the best of her at the moment. Each failure compounded and compounded upon her until she was now just a large ball of stress and worry, even when there was no need to. There would be time for other lessons. But Daphne wanted to get this down tonight!
Meanwhile, Harry had been nothing short of sweet with his constant reassurances, and while his advice had been useful, right now she was far too caught up in her own head and thoughts.
He had even suggested for her to a break, but she had insisted she not stop till she got it right.
Then, seeing that she was quickly approaching her breaking point, he had taken things into his own hands. Quite literally so.
Understanding that she had no intentions of stopping, he decided to support her instead. He stepped behind her, and with her express permission, he gently placed himself against her.
Harry had wrapped himself around her and was now blanketing Daphne's back.
The sweating, tired blonde felt her heart rate start to rise again. Her head was so close to his chest in the hug he had initiated upon her that she swore she could hear his heart too.
His larger arm snaked its way around hers, taking the back of her hand into his palm. His fingers wrapped around her wand hand as delicately as he would hold a small, fragile flower.
His cheek was so close that he was practically pressed up against hers, and she was suddenly self-aware, wondering just how gross she was with the sweat she had worked up throughout the lesson. But he had made no complaints. He was completely focused on helping her achieve her goal of getting this spell down by the end of the lesson.
"Now, we'll do it again — slowly." The comforting tone in Harry's voice made her trembling stop, "Together, we cast on three."
The whole situation made her feel faint, but she stood strong. Somehow, the stress was starting to ebb. Seeing his unwavering belief in her resolute goal to get the spell right by the end of the lesson reassured her that she could, in fact, do it.
Her breathing steadied, and she found her sense of clarity again. Then they spoke in unison.
"One."
The weight on her shoulders seemed to just roll right off, and she could feel the pressure on her chest lift. Subconsciously, she straightened out her back and puffed her chest out with pride.
Deep down inside, she knew that she'd get it right this time.
"Two."
Their hands moved as one, neither guiding the other nor lagging behind. Harry's hand hadn't even pulled her along. They were just so synced up that it had appeared that way.
The movement of the wand was now as perfect as could be.
"Three."
A great warmth bloomed in her cheeks as she finally noticed his other hand that was pressed up against her lower back, holding her steady.
Knowing that Harry was here, by her side, fully concentrated on guiding her, Daphne could no longer hold back the uncontrollable urge to smile. It was one of those smiles that you couldn't avoid making when you did something amazing when you finally saw the fruits of your labour.
The way this boy had no idea what he was doing to her without meaning to… It truly tore her up inside.
But there was now one other thought in her head that felt as though she had just uncovered the secrets. It was the curse she was in the middle of casting.
The same voice, deep in her mind, cheered her on.
She wanted to see this spell through!
Then, on cue, the pair of voices shouted in unison.
"Reducto!"
This time there was no pathetic fizzling. There was no sputtering spell.
Instead, a bright blue bolt of energy ripped out from the wand and soared through the air in front of them. It was far more powerful than anything she had been casting in the last few hours.
The surging energy, however, missed the plate by a good meter or so.
Oops.
It careened way off course, twisting to the side like a missile and finding its mark on a cabinet in the far corner.
The cabinet stood no chance.
There was a loud 'boom!', and the cabinet was reduced to nothing more than waste wood. The explosion had been loud enough to rock the room they were in. Dust and smoke quickly filled the room. In an instant, a shower of splintered wood rained down upon them from the ceiling, and Harry immediately sheltered Daphne with his bigger frame. He raised an arm up to cover his head, just in case he got hit by any larger pieces that hadn't been obliterated in Daphne's Reducto.
"Hope no one else heard that…" Daphne could hear him muttering to himself as he stood over her, shielding her. She had hoped so too. The last thing either of them needed was a professor or Filch to come poking their heads into the destroyed classroom.
When the sound of wooden pieces stopped falling, Harry then stood back up.
"Are you alright?" Harry had asked, his eyes soft and warm, but also full of happiness for her. For getting the spell at the very end.
"Merlin, that was—" Daphne struggled to find the words, staring at her wand. "That was me?"
"All you." He grinned, "Would hate to be a cabinet, right about now, but hey, I don't think anyone would mess with you after that showing." He glanced at where the cabinet had once been. Now there were just four small splintered stumps where it had once stood as legs.
Daphne suddenly snapped back to his initial question.
"Oh, and yes, I'm quite okay." She didn't bother hiding the pink tinge that had become so common on her face nowadays, "You made a great shield. I hope you're not hurt."
Harry laughed at the worried expression that was now on the girl's face when moments ago it had been overcome with sheer frustration.
"I'm good, though I'm sure I'll be picking splinters out of my hair for a few days." He muttered with a smile, brushing his hair as he did. Then he gave her a thumbs up and a beaming grin.
"Fantastic work, Daphne. You did it. I'm proud to call myself your professor." At that, he wiped a mock tear from his eye.
His Lockhart voice returned briefly, taunting her.
"You still have to work on your aim though."
She nudged him in the ribs softly for his little jab at her.
Harry really had a way of making her feel better about things.
Merlin, he really was the sweetest, wasn't he?
She still chided herself for her earlier behaviour, for having shown that level of weakness in front of Harry. She didn't know why she didn't trust herself to show that side of herself to him.
As if somehow sensing her inner turmoil again, he spoke up.
"You need to stop thinking so hard and being so tough on yourself, Daphne." He said, his tone a little more serious than before. She looked him in the eye and saw that he bore a wisdom in his gaze that did not quite match his age. It was like looking into the headmaster's eyes, except a lot prettier. "I've told you before, haven't I? I've been there too. Caught up in my emotions. Losing my temper. You just need to learn how to let go of some things."
Was this how a boy, who had to carry the weight of an entire generation of wizards and witches on his shoulders, had managed to endure the pressure?
"As soon as I stepped in, you stopped thinking so hard. You just cleared your mind and believed in yourself. Sometimes, that's all it takes." He patted her on the head with the same hand that had braced her earlier, very proud of her. "Congratulations on finally managing to cast Reducto, Ms Greengrass. Five points to Slytherin."
Yes… Perhaps she was just thinking too much about how she felt about things, the conflicting emotions confusing things for her unnecessarily.
And… and…
And wow... she was really enjoying the head patting. It was giving her a deep feeling of reassurance. It was a nice, warm feeling. But it did also make her feel like a child.
She pouted, childishly, but returned the favour. She had wanted to.
Now feeling much smaller than ever, Daphne suddenly gave Harry a huge hug. Harry froze up for a second before he settled his arms around her to hug her back.
That felt good.
Moments passed before Harry spoke up again.
"As much as I'd love to continue hugging you," Harry started, "I think we need to clean this place up before it gets too late."
And thus, she forced herself to peel away from him, and they began to clean the damaged room with their wands.
*O*O*O*O*
Having cast a few Reparos and a Scourgify or two later, the room looked as good as they had first found it, now sans a cabinet. An untouched pile of plates sat hidden under the dusty teacher's desk.
Apparently, he had gotten them from the House Elves working in the kitchens.
The pair had quickly departed the room, their curfew approaching soon as the clock ticked down to 10 pm. They were laughing as they ran towards their common room in an attempt to beat the clock, uncaring if they even bumped into the loyal caretaker and resident grouch, Filch, now.
Daphne couldn't really explain why she felt so giddy with happiness. Being in close contact with Harry made her really happy. Her head felt clear now too. Perhaps taking a page out of Harry's advice had liberated some of those awfully confusing thoughts she had, freeing her mind.
Once again, they found themselves at the junction of having to return to their respective common rooms.
Before Harry could depart, she suddenly had a thought and, not wanting to let her thoughts interfere with her decisions, acted on it with haste.
"Wait." Daphne snapped upright, looking him in the eyes. "I know it's still far away, but… when the Triwizard Tournament begins, would you like to join me in watching them?" Then, she realised what she was saying, suddenly finding it difficult to look him in the eye.
It sounded like she was suggesting a date.
"I— I mean Tracey'll be there, of course. Astoria too."
She swore Harry was going to pop his head off with how excitedly he was nodding. He looked so silly, especially after how composed he had been during her lesson, that she couldn't help but laugh at him.
"I'd be honoured to." He smiled brightly at her offer, his cheeks tinting slightly at the thought of what could have possibly been an invitation to a date. He sniffed, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "It's not like I'm going to be competing in the competitions anyway."
It was then Daphne held a pained look on her face.
"Let's not jinx it now, Harry. You're the Boy-Who-Lived." Her eyes softened sadly, "Every single year since you've been enrolled at Hogwarts, you've been caught up in some kind of trouble, scheme, or trap. None of which you've asked for." From what little he had told her of some of the past adventures he had been involved with, Daphne had been quite horrified to learn of the level of hardship he had been enduring behind the scenes.
She couldn't believe the amount of trauma the last year alone had probably inflicted upon him. From multiple Dementor attacks that even she hadn't been aware of, to the myriad of other horrifying magical mishaps, she had no idea how he was still standing in front of her and functioning so well.
She was certain any other one of their schoolmates in his place would have had their psyche broken already.
He had been forced to deal with some of the worst in their magical world thanks to his status as the one who slew the Dark Lord.
He had insisted she keep those stories secrets. That meant that no one, save for a select few, would ever know how much sacrifice and suffering Harry Potter had gone through for the sake of the school and the rest of the Wizarding World.
Regardless, Daphne desperately wished that he'd be able to catch a break this year. For his and, to some extent, her sake.
"You're right, odds are that I'll probably get caught up in some ridiculous, terrible plan by him again." He was musing his scar, rubbing it very gently as if it were troubling him. But Harry had shrugged, seemingly nonplussed, "It's like an 'If not me, then who' kind of situation, ya know? Someone has to bear this burden."
"I know, but…" Daphne whined, "It's not fair!"
Harry's face twitched through a range of different emotions so fast that Daphne had barely been able to read it at all.
A sprinkle of sadness.
A sense of frustration.
A hint of confusion.
Ultimately, he closed his eyes for a moment and then he cast her a look that seemed to reach into the depths of her soul. Daphne felt her breathing hitch at the sight. She felt like the snake on the crest of her robes had just come to life and sunk its fangs into her flesh. Paralyzed, she could only stand there as if time had stopped, staring into the green eyes that had such a burning intensity to them.
A twinge of trust.
A dash of desire.
She couldn't place her finger on the rest of the emotions in his eyes.
After a few seconds more, he seemed to be genuinely happy at her apparent concern.
"I've already got a good thing going for me this year," The look that he had given her was making her skin tingle, "I think I can handle a little bit more trouble from some measly Dark Lord."
*O*O*O*O*
The pair had separated once more, and Daphne made her way through the Slytherin Common Rooms, ignoring the pointed looks from the few students who were still awake. She glanced at the large chair by the fireplace and saw a sleeping Tracey, a thick blanket covering most of her form while she slumbered against the handrest. She must have been waiting for Daphne to return and had fallen asleep.
Daphne wanted to wake her up but decided not to at the last moment. She herself was feeling pretty exhausted from a full day of school, and while the extra classes with Harry had been a great experience, they were still absolutely tiring. Greengrass didn't think she could handle Tracey hounding her the entire time for details about today's time with Harry either.
She managed to get herself showered, and quickly changed out of her soiled clothes. She sat in front of her mirror, combing her silky blonde hair and making sure to watch out for any splinters that may have found their way into it.
As she stared into her reflection, she couldn't help picturing the handsome Gryffindor next to her imagination.
Mirror-Harry was seated next to Mirror-Daphne, dressed in his pajamas and leaning his chin on her shoulder. Mirror-Daphne broke away from her actual physical counterpart and said something to him, her exasperation clear in her crystal-blue eyes. She ran her hand through his short, messy black hair, ruffling it like he was a child, and a pair of amused green eyes rolled in their sockets. Her mirror-self had said something else that had caused a great flush to appear on Mirror-Harry's face, to which the teen had grabbed her by the waist and lifted a squealing Mirror-Daphne up into the air, parading the pajama-clad girl around with a massive grin on his face like he had just caught a golden snitch.
His golden snitch.
Harry was such a simple person to understand. Yet why was she making things so complicated?
He liked Quidditch. He liked pretty girls with great butts. He liked mischief. He liked his friends.
He likes you too.
Tracey's voice was in her ear again and, instead of waving it off with an embarrassed huff like she normally would have, Daphne had actually hoped that was the case. She didn't have to think too hard about it, after all. After the lesson, and the clarity that had come with it, It did seem like it was the case based on his behaviour. He didn't act the same way he did around Granger, nor any other girl he interacted with, as he did her.
As she watched the two imagined Mirror-Lovers spend time with each other, she could not help but yearn for that. Thankfully she had already made moves by inviting him to the Triwizard Tournament, now she only had to keep her fingers crossed that things would go swimmingly during that period.
Perhaps there would also be a chance for them to visit Hogsmeade together this year, though she'd have to wait and see if he got permission to go for this year.
Then, from the corner of the mirror, Daphne saw that her best friend had finally awoken, looking fresh enough to come, find, and bother her.
Daphne turned around, and Tracy was leaning against the doorway to their shared dorm.
Then, Tracey drew her wand and walked over to her with a gait that looked like she had broken an ankle. She then proceeded to give her best impression of what she thought You-Know-Who to have sounded like, which to her seemed to have been a posh wizard with a terrible cold and a horrible Shakespearean accent.
"Aaaaahhh, the famed Girl-Who-Broke-Her-Nose, how doth fare thee after thy lessons with the infamous Boy-Who-Broke-Your-Nose?"
Daphne had barely spared Tracey a glance before she just said whatever was on her mind.
"I admit it. I like him."
Tracey dropped her act immediately. Her face was as horrified as if she had just witnessed the greatest tragedy unravel before her. She held her wand out defensively as if Daphne would leap to the attack at any given moment.
"Who are ya, and what have ya done with the real Daphne Greengrass?"
Daphne shrugged, now stifling a large yawn. She managed four words—
"Character development, I suppose."
—then flopped face first onto her bed, all her usual grace and poise forgotten. She had fallen asleep almost as soon as she had hit the pillows.
*O*O*O*O*
Just moments ago, a hateful green bolt of light and a great 'whoosh' had silenced the DADA class that Harry and his friends were in.
No one moved. Not an inch. He had even stopped practicing the wand movements for 'Accio' under the table as he had been doing for every lesson since he learned the spell. Instead of a wand, however, he had been wielding his quill.
Just moments ago, a spider had been the subject of brutal torture with the Cruciatus Curse, its many limbs flailing about helplessly from the intense agony it felt from the red beam of cruel energy. Then it had been silenced with a swish of the wand in the shape of a lightning bolt.
Avada Kedavra.
Their professor had spoken those two words, and ended the torment of the spider, snuffing out its life in a bright-green flash.
It was the same spell that Voldemort and his Death Eaters had used on so many others. His favored spell above all else.
Like that old man, the one he saw in his recent visions.
Like his parents.
Harry's stone-cold gaze was now upon the unmoving form of the arachnid that lay atop a heap of books for all the class to see. Nearby, Hermione was, understandably, upset. Tears had welled up in her large chocolate-brown eyes as she glared daggers at their Dark Arts professor, who was now taking a swig from the metallic whiskey bottle he always carried around with him.
He was suddenly very much aware of how everyone in the room felt.
Next to him, he could hear Ron's teeth chattering.
Malfoy tried his best to hide his nervous gulp, looking more pale than usual after the display.
Neville was still whimpering, the previous use of the Cruciatus and its effects on his family still lingering in the poor boy's mind.
Daphne's charming face was schooled to be as impassive as could be, but her tight, white knuckles gave away her true emotions.
Tracey was next to her best friend, not really even trying to hide her horror at the whole situation.
He himself was feeling the familiar pain surging from his forehead. As much as it had hurt, Harry didn't flinch. He wanted to get used to the pain, to adapt to it.
"There's only one person to have ever survived this curse." Harry snorted, meeting his professor's gaze as the man started to walk up to him, his gait slow but steady, visibly affected thanks to his prosthetic leg.
"And he's sitting in this very room." Mad-Eye was now looming over Harry, gazing down upon him with his two very distinct eyes. One was hard and bore down upon him with a strange anger. The other rolled around in its patch, never stopping for a moment as it constantly took in its surroundings.
At that, he could feel all eyes on him now.
Then Harry mustered the courage to ask his professor a question, even after that shocking display.
"Professor, just out of curiosity," Harry began, "Is there anything you can do to avoid the Killing Curse?"
The professor had the gall to laugh aloud, perhaps a little too loud, for any of the students' liking.
"Yes! A singular point to Gryffindor." He grunted as he turned on his heel and returned back to the front of the class. Chalk in hand, he began to write on the board.
WHAT STOPS THE KILLING CURSE?
He turned back to the boy who had asked the question, his brow lifted.
"Interested in seeing what made you so lucky, where your parents were not, Mr Potter?" The implication was not lost on the class.
The professor was clearly disrespecting Harry's deceased parents.
Soft mutters came from the mixed group of students. An indignant Hermione made a move to stand and say something, stopped only by Harry's hand. Seeing this, Ron had his mouth shut, trying his best not to say anything he'd regret either.
Still, in her seat, Daphne felt a vein throbbing away in her head as a wave of anger poured over her. It took everything the blonde girl had to not speak up and lash out at the scarred man. Her thinly veiled anger was not noticed by the rest of the class, save for Harry.
Jaw tightening, it had taken Harry a great deal of control over himself to sit there and take the slight against his parents who were slain that very night he got his scar. He swallowed some choice words that would have undoubtedly earned him more than just detention.
Instead, Harry chose to behave and gave the man a smile that was as dry as a desert.
"I'm afraid I've already had my fill, sir." His eyes were completely devoid of his usual mirth.
For some reason, the hair on the back of his neck was rising. He felt like he was in danger. Something in the back of his head was sending him warning signs of the professor. And Harry had learned to take these threats seriously after his first DADA professor had turned out to be a host for Voldemort, the second had tried to mind-wipe him, and the third, although beloved by Harry, turned out to be a werewolf.
Still, it was unlikely he'd try anything in a class full of witnesses, so Harry kept his mouth shut and listened attentively.
Professor Moody broke the silence, his one normal eye staring straight ahead while the other swiveled around in an almost uncontrolled fashion, taking in every single face in the class. His hands raised, he swept his arm across the students in front of him in a grand, menacing gesture, before planting it on the board loudly.
"Listen up, people! Firstly, bother not with magic as the Killing Curse can only be blocked by inanimate objects." He announced to the class, "That means your environment is key! If you are in a location devoid of cover, then you must make the cover. Transfiguration is a good counter to this as you can make your defenses from the very floor! However, don't expect your physical defenses to last, as the Killing Curse will destroy nearly everything it touches, living or not!"
Harry raised his hand, and without waiting to be called upon, proceeded to ask his question.
"Can you outrun it, sir?" Harry had then asked.
"Leave it to Mr Potter to ask the good questions." Moody smiled thinly at the boy, "I suppose you really just dying to try and survive another one, Mr Potter?" The way he had asked the question had sounded a little bit too… excited, and very much like a threat.
Hermione gasped at the intimidating threat to her friend's life. And Daphne's quill was looking unrecognizable after being clenched so tightly in her shaking fist.
"Oh, no plans at the moment, sir." Harry's voice dripped with sarcasm as he tapped at his forehead, which was still hurting quite badly. "Happened once though, didn't it? Always better to be prepared the second time around, sir."
The man huffed at Harry's attitude but said nothing about it.
"That leads us to our last point. The Killing Curse has an effective range of twenty meters and does not hone in on targets. This means, if you can time it right, you can dodge it or take cover. However, use this as your last resort." Moody paused, scanning the room once more, before continuing, "Let this be a warning to all you lot. You can run, you can hide. But all it takes is the slightest of grazes for the Killing Curse to drop you dead."
As the Professor dismissed them, his words seemed to have dug deep into the hearts of the students in the room, who had all bore firsthand witness to the spell's efficacy.
Harry's gaze was lowered to his notebook, where he had written down all the important points that Professor Moody had brought up.
At the top of the notes, above all else, was one question he had written in large letters.
HOW TO BEAT THE KILLING CURSE?
Even with all the notes he had written down from the lesson, the question still lay unanswered.
*O*O*O*O*
"I can't believe he had the nerve to say that to you, Hogwarts Professor or not!" Hermione was still righteously upset about the entire situation.
The trio of friends was standing outside the class as the rest of their quiet classmates milled out, too shaken by the events of today to really discuss anything they had witnessed. The thought of the spider getting hit with the Killing Curse, flopping onto its back, and having its legs curl up, was not exactly something that they felt they needed to rehash anytime soon.
Harry was very grateful that Hermione was upset on his behalf. He had wanted to, but thinking about his parents, the loving faces he had seen in the moving photos and in the Mirror of Erised, had left him feeling rather drained and lethargic.
"Thanks, Hermione." Harry said. His eyes were tired as if he had just woken up from yet another Dementor attack, "I really appreciate what you tried to do in there."
"It was only right that someone tried to tell him off." Hermione huffed. Ron nodded next to her, also clearly shaken, but upset on his friend's behalf.
"Why, we ought to complain to Dumbledore!"
Harry put a hand up, signaling for the two of them to stop.
"It's alright. If our current track record of DADA professors is anything to go by, he probably won't be returning next year." Harry shrugged, obviously still upset about the situation. "He insulted my family. I chose to be a sarcastic twat. No need to make a big deal out of it."
Hermione wanted to say more but didn't. She could tell that Harry didn't want to keep bringing up the topic of his family being murdered any more than he could possibly do.
She glanced over Harry's shoulder and softly cocked a small, bushy eyebrow at the girl that was standing behind Harry as if waiting for him.
"Um, Harry…" Hermione pointed behind him.
Harry turned, glancing down and meeting the steely-blue eyes of the Slytherin girl that was patiently waiting for him to finish speaking with his friends.
That was new. She never approached him while he was with his friends.
"Oi," Ron frowned at the sight of Daphne and her green-trimmed robes, "What do you want, Slytherin?" Harry glanced back to Ron before he could say anything else that would upset Daphne any further than she already looked.
"She's a friend." He spoke up before anyone else could. The incredulous look the pair gave him had him rolling his eyes. He already knew what they were going to say. "Don't worry guys, she doesn't bite. I'll catch up with you two later."
Hermione understood that what Harry had said wasn't up for debate. She glanced at Daphne, then at Harry, before looking back at Daphne again. Hermione spared the Slytherin a brief and polite nod of the head, before quickly dragging Ron away.
"I'm sorry I didn't say anything earlier," Daphne mumbled quietly, her hands still clenched.
"You didn't have to," Harry whispered back, his eyes now cast towards their feet. "Seemed like Hermione was more than happy to speak up for most of us, anyway."
"Yes…" Daphne agreed, her fists unclenching, "She's a good witch and a better friend." Harry nodded. Hermione had her moments where she could be quite difficult, but she definitely was a good friend to have.
"Anyway, you were getting so angry I swear I could feel the temperature dropping."
"Keeping an eye on me in class, Harry?" She asked, a soft smirk on her lips.
"Always." He said, his voice low but resolute. Daphne hadn't missed that. Then he perked up a little, the gleam in his eye returning, "I always keep my eye on the pretty girls in my classes."
"What do you mean 'girls'? As in — plural?" She scoffed, jokingly. "As in — there are others? I'm going to be jealous."
"Well, I'm sure there are," He managed a soft chuckle, "But I've only been looking at one in particular."
"I'm flattered, Potter." Daphne surprised herself by not blushing at that very direct statement.
"Bold to assume, Greengrass." Harry's grin was back in full stride now. "Who said it was you?"
"Idiot." She rolled her eyes with the amused smile still on her face, eliciting a small laugh from Harry.
"Don't get too self-absorbed, Daphne. I'd hate to see the prettiest girl I know become a narcissist."
"Hard not to turn into one, what with you feeding me all these compliments. But keep them coming Potter, and I might just have to let my sister meet you."
The thought of meeting her sister was… nice, actually. Being slowly introduced to people Daphne held dear to her in her life was a pleasant thought.
"Oh, I try not to meet fans of the 'Boy-Who-Lived'." Harry placed a hand on his chest as if trying his best to look modest, all while his Lockhart persona had returned. "But if you insist, I'd be more than happy to meet her."
"Ha! Keep that up and I'll guarantee that Astoria'll hate your guts too."
*O*O*O*O*
Astoria and Harry's meeting wouldn't occur for another five days. And during that time, Daphne and Tracey had started discussing the plan.
Eventually, after a day of intense discussion, they settled for a picnic outside the castle, at dinner time, and away from unnecessary prying eyes.
The location of choice was that grassy hill where Daphne had first taught extra Charms lessons to Harry. It was nice, spacious, and had lots of lights and the right amount of wind before the sun would set.
And Tracey had to admit that it was a very lovely place to have a picnic, especially with the sun slowly setting down the horizon now. The air was just the right temperature, not too hot, nor too cold.
She had crouched down and was running her fingers through the short, lush grass. There was no hint of sharpness from the small green blades. Instead, it was soft and gentle against her bare skin.
The brunette fished out a wand from deep within her robes and waved it across the picnic mat they had brought along with them. In an instant, it had unraveled the whole thing. It was probably large enough to fit the entire Weasley household on it comfortably.
Another slight tilt of the wand and a quiet 'Wingardium Leviosa' later had her dropping the food basket onto the center of the picnic mat.
It was chockfull of delightful desserts, colourful confectionaries, and fresh fruits, all provided by the house elves working the kitchens. Normally, students weren't able to get too much food from them, but Tracey thought herself to be quite persuasive when she needed to. All it took was a show of appreciation, plenty of thanks, and a bit of bending of the rules to appease a nervous House Elf, who wanted to serve a student but was afraid of breaking rules.
After all, they were still technically having dinner. It just wasn't inside the castle's walls.
Glancing up, she saw that Daphne and Astoria were fast approaching, the little girl bouncing with every step she took, excited to be having a day outside the castle. Tracey watched as Daphne struggled against holding back the girl from running straight towards Hagrid's cabin and the Forbidden Forest
She knew that if Astoria went into the forest, it was likely that she'd never come back out. So, deciding that while the sight was greatly amusing, the alternative of losing the younger Greengrass to the hostile communities that lived within the forest was not a good one.
So she got off her haunches and headed over with the intent to help Daphne control her youngest sister.
*O*O*O*O*
With the help of Daphne and her now-behaved little sister, they were finally done spreading out the small feast Tracey had brought out with her.
On the picnic mat lay quite the feast for four.
In the middle was a large charcuterie board with an assortment of different types and colours of snacks. Various sliced pork sausages were neatly spread apart in the shape of a fan in the middle, propped up on either side with a handful of cubed cheeses, a number of crackers, a heaping of olives, and a pile of pickles. Strips of fatty ham had been twirled into a neat circle behind it all. Split strawberries and figs sat on one side of the board, drizzled with honey, while the other side contained two small bowls of dipping sauces, one sweet and the other savoury.
To the side were two large pies. One had cherries as red as rubies tucked underneath a thin latticed layer of golden-brown pie crust. The other had a rich orange-brown filling and reminded her greatly of the coming season of fall. It was a deep dish filled with a smooth and thick layer of pumpkin puree, which smelt heavenly even from where Tracey was standing. Sitting grandly in the center of the pie was a great heaping of whipped cream, which also reminded her, strangely, of Lockhart's bombastic hair. There were also a handful of different cookies, all differently shaped and scattered around the pies in small heaps.
A few sealed glass bottles of fresh pressed juices sat out of the picnic mat, the cool beads of condensation that had formed on the surface dripped down the side of the bottle ever so gently.
"This is quite the spread. I don't think we can finish it all." Daphne was impressed. The house elves had outdone themselves with this small picnic.
"That's quite alright. We don't have to." Tracey glanced towards Daphne's waistline and then her bum, licking her lips jokingly. "Hate to ruin that lovely figure."
Daphne snorted. Her efforts to exercise had slowed down a little, what with all the extra studying she was doing now. But she still made sure to do it three times a week. Still, she was making an active effort to watch what she ate. Thankfully, today would be a break for her to eat whatever she liked. Those pies were looking mighty delicious.
In moderation, of course.
"Wonder how much longer before Harry gets here." Tracey wondered aloud. And as if on cue, Astoria gasped, squealing softly at the sight of the distant figure heading over.
Daphne and Tracey looked In the distance and could all see Harry finally approaching. Astoria had already started squealing, hopping up and down with glee.
As he walked, they could all see his wand in his hand, and that he was performing his wand movements over and over again. But as he got closer, he slipped the wand back into his robes and greeted them with a great, beaming smile.
"Good evening everyone." He said before looking over to the smaller version of Daphne, "And you must be Astoria, it's a pleasure to finally meet you."
Astoria rushed over to the significantly taller boy but stopped short of rushing into him. Her sister's previous words of warning seem to have rang through her head and she greeted Harry with a small curtsy, bowing her head slightly as she did.
"Good evening, Harry." She gave him a large smile, "My sister has told me a lot about you too!"
"Astoria…" The little girl shivered as she felt Daphne's gaze burning through the back of her head, her older sister's voice laced with warning. The little girl had the decency to look chagrined at getting caught trying to be subtle.
"Oh really?" Harry's brow raised ever so slightly at that, to which he looked to the older of the two, "Only good things, I hope?"
"Only the best." Daphne snarked, recalling Harry had once said that to her too, as she sat down in a single, graceful motion.
With plenty of space on the mat, Tracey made a move to join her on the left, beckoning Harry over to sit on Daphne's right with a knowing look in her eye. He obliged with a smile, walking over and planting himself comfortably next to Daphne, who spared him a look before she glanced at the food, once again hoping that the rising heat on her face was obscured by the blood-orange glow of the dipping sun.
Astoria rushed to Harry's side so fast that had been as scrawny as he once was, she would have bowled the boy over.
Strangely, unlike her sister and even with her diminutive size, Astoria appeared completely unfazed as she slammed into Harry.
"Be careful Astoria." Harry gave the little witch a warm look. At this, Astoria seemed to calm, and melted like butter under it, "I'd hate to have to ferry another Greengrass to the infirmary."
"You will?!" Astoria perked up at the suggestion and seemed more interested in the prospect than dissuaded, really.
"There will be no infirmary trips today, at least not by Harry." Daphne cut Astoria's interest down at the knees, and then basically beheaded it with a leveled look of sibling rivalry, "I, on the other hand, will not mind."
"You two are adorable." Harry snickered at their bickering. He had always wanted a sibling to quibble with. Every time he saw Fred and George interact with their younger brother, Harry wondered what he would be like if he had a sibling.
"As much as I enjoy seeing the two of ya fight over lil' ol' Harry here, shall we dig in before the food gets cold?" Tracey gestured to the food before them, already feeling her own tummy rumbling from the sights and scents alone.
"Yes, let's." Daphne agreed before reaching over to the knife, and cutting the cherry pies into even slices for everyone to take.
She served herself a slice and began working on it with a fork the way a surgeon would on his patient. Every move she took was surgical, and when she finally had the perfect ratio of crust to cherries, she delivered it past her pink lips and covered her mouth in a very princess-like fashion as she chewed. Though she was hiding the lower half of her face, it was impossible to hide the expression of pure enjoyment she was deriving from the taste of the sweet pie.
Tracey began plucking pieces from the charcuterie board and forming herself a ham-cracker-pickle sandwich. She took a bite of it, chewed slowly, and sighed with great enjoyment at the savoury sensation that had filled her mouth.
Harry busied himself with keeping an eye on Astoria as she poured out the juice from the very large and heavy bottles into nearby goblets, helping hand them out to everyone as soon as she was done.
They dined on the different finger foods and wined on juices for a bit before Tracey called for a toast.
"A toast!" She had said with gusto, her accent now much more accentuated than it usually was in an attempt to sound tipsy from the juice. "Ta' the Triwizard Tournament! Ta' new friendships! Ta' Astoria Greengrass joining Hogwarts!" She was obviously making up her toast as she went.
Everyone took their goblets and raised them to each other, the colourful liquids inside gently sloshing about as they bumped their glasses together.
"Cheers!" Tracey cried, her goblet raised to the darkening skies. The other hands clasping their respective goblets followed her motion.
"Cheers!" Three voices cried back from those around her before they all downed their drinks. As soon as she was finished, Daphne lowered her cup back down and addressed the friends and family she had around her.
"Speaking of the Triwizard Tournament… Everyone, I'd like to make an announcement." She tapped the side of it with her wand as if she were their headmaster trying to catch the attention of a large hall. It was a dull thudding sound of wood against wood and nothing like what a spoon would sound like against nice glassware, but it would do for the occasion.
"I've invited Harry to see the Triwizard Tournament with us." Daphne had announced, glancing about the group with a soft, yet happy, smile.
"Yay! It's gonna be so much fun!" Astoria was clapping and cheering in excitement. Meanwhile, Harry was doing his best impression of someone receiving an award in their name, seemingly gesturing to an invisible crowd politely.
As she looked amongst the faces, Daphne noted that Tracey's eyebrows had shot skyward. Daphne noticed the very obvious gesture and shot her an odd look of concern, wondering if she was alright at the sudden shock.
Tracey coughed, beckoning Daphne over to speak with her privately. The snowy-eyed blonde spared her a glance before looking back to Harry and her sister.
"Excuse us for a moment, Harry." Then she turned to her sister with a pained smile on her face. "Astoria, please behave yourself while we're gone."
"What's that about?" Harry asked Astoria.
"Girl talk." Astoria shrugged, not really interested in what they were discussing. She was far more interested to get to know her potential future older brother-in-law.
*O*O*O*O*
They had walked a few meters away from Harry and Astoria before Tracey's wand appeared in her hand. As soon as it was within her grasp, she cast a spell instantly.
"Muffliato. Ya invited him out to the games already?" Tracey had asked, her wand already vanishing back into her sleeve.
Daphne nodded. She looked proud of herself.
Tracey was too. Daphne was growing up right before her very eyes, finally shedding her Ice Queen cocoon, and emerging as a bold and beautiful butterfly!
Okay, maybe not that drastic of a change.
"I wanted to get his dates down in advance." The blonde had said a small frown on her face. Her mind was racing a mile a minute if she had made some kind of error in asking so early.
"Have ya asked him for any other dates?"
"Nothing yet. Why?" Daphne looked very confused, "Did I mess something up?"
"No, but ya have been taking the initiative to do so. That's good, that's good. But that's still too far away. The games won't begin for like another week or two before the other schools come." Tracey was shaking her head, "Plus the games are just a handful of days spread out across months! Ya need to invite him to like… Hmm… Ooh, how about Hogsmeade?! There's a trip coming up next weekend!"
"There's a Hogsmeade trip coming up? How'd you know?" Daphne cocked a brow, incredulous at the information. It was the first trip of the year. That normally was kept quite hush-hush.
"Reliable source." Tracey waved her question away, "Not important. What is important is ya ask him out to Hogsmeade too."
"Ugh, can't we just wait for the trip to be announced? Then he can ask me instead. I kind of want to be the one to get asked out." Daphne whined, a little annoyed at the situation that was leveled at her.
"Sure, but if we wait for it to get announced, Granger or Weasley might have made plans with him by then. Plus, there's no real guarantee he'll ask you out." Tracey shrugged, before shooting her an amused look that made Daphne think that had something all over her face, "I think you and I both know no one will be asking you to Hogsmeade anytime soon."
The silence between the two was thick as Daphne gave her best friend an annoyed look at the reasonable logic she provided. Tracey's prediction seemed to be spot on, as much as it aggravated Daphne to admit it.
"Ugh, fine. I'll ask him later."
"Attagirl."
*O*O*O*O*
Meanwhile, while the two Slytherin girls were off to the side in their discussion, Astoria was left all alone with Harry, the current object of her interest.
Despite what it would seem with her childish behaviour and ballistic jubilant energy, Astoria was just a few degrees shy of being as sharp as her older sister. Yet, even with her natural knack for Machiavellianism, Astoria sincerely had no interest in plotting schemes and concocting dastardly plans to overtake or overthrow.
She merely had an interest in having fun!
And right now, all signs of fun pointed toward her sister and the object of her affection, Harry Potter. And to the young Greengrass, he lived up to his reputation too.
He was confident and strong, and Astoria did think he was very handsome. Overall, Astoria thought that he was a good fit for her sister.
Deep down, Astoria was a little jealous that she hadn't been a bit older. Even though she had just kickstarted her first year in Hogwarts, she prayed some of the boys in her year would develop as well as Harry had.
As they currently were, a lot of them just kind of reminded her of asparagus.
Stringy, lame, and yucky!
She wished she had a boy like Daphne did to count on!
Still, the little Greengrass had a wickedly naughty smile playing behind the pleasant facade on her face, a plan to get away with trouble already brewed inside her head. Daphne had never forbidden her from asking Harry about who he liked.
"Harry, do think my sister's pretty?" She asked abruptly after she chomped on her slice of pumpkin pie that Harry had helped cut and serve for her, an innocent twinkle in her eye.
"Very pretty." He said, using his thumb to help wipe a bit of whipped cream from the slice of pie that had stuck to the side of her cheek.
"Do you like her?" She continued to inquire, all while innocently munching on her slice of dessert.
"I— Well, I suppose." Harry had froze for a moment at the question, staring with widened eyes at the little girl.
"Oh." Astoria gave him a cheeky grin, expecting him to go nuclear-red in the face. "Are you looking for a girlfriend?" It was a rather roundabout way of asking, but she was still falling into the confines of the rules that Daphne had applied for her.
"Hahaha! Hopefully, one day. There are a lot of fantastic girls out there in our school, you know? But so far it seems only one really has my interest." Even Harry surprised himself with how honestly he was answering her little sister. Then he shook his head slightly, refocusing his thoughts.
"Is it my sister?" She asked, genuinely interested now.
"Would you tell her if it was?"
"Nope! These lips are sealed!" She pretended to zip her mouth shut, padlocking it and tossing the imaginary key aside.
"Then yes. I do. I like your sister — a lot." Harry wondered if his cup had been spiked with some kind of veritaserum, but realized that he just felt extremely comfortable after sharing this information with someone — even if it was his crush's little sister.
"Should I really be telling you this?" He blinked, asking aloud.
Astoria didn't give him an answer to that.
"Sounds like you have a crush on her!" That particular word was not on the list of words forbidden by Daphne, though truth be told, she didn't really care if she got caught now. Astoria was feeling giddy with excitement now at this news.
"I can't say I really know the feeling, but I suppose I do. I think I like her a lot." Harry couldn't help but laugh at the situation he was in. Here he was confessing his secrets to Daphne's little sister. He half-expected her to spill the truth to Daphne at the first chance she got, but at the same time, he didn't think Astoria was the kind of person to lie about keeping her promise not to.
"Are you planning on dating her?"
"Hopefully," Harry muttered as he leaned back, staring into the vanishing sun on the horizon. He whipped out his wand for a moment and waved it in front of him. A number of floating candles popped out of thin air, giving them a little bit more light.
"You should." Astoria giggled, taking a big swig from her goblet. She could always use another person to help get her older sister off her back.
"If I do, it means I'll be like your big brother, y'know."
Astoria seemed very satisfied with their conversation. It was clear that trying to mess with Harry would be a pointless endeavor with how aware he was of his infatuation with her sister.
"Ooh, I'd like that!" She said with a mouthful of food, her eyes glimmering at the thought of the potential fun they could be having with Harry in the mix. "Then we can play every day!"
Harry couldn't help but laugh at how absurd the situation was and basked in the fading sunlight with Astoria.
*O*O*O*O*
When the pair of Slytherin girls had returned to Harry and Astoria, they found the latter lying on her stomach next to Harry, her little hands arranging what was left of the foods they had brought with them in a neat, orderly row in front of her. With each one, she would pick up, and describe with great enthusiasm about how she felt about it, before popping it into her mouth, much to Harry's amusement.
"Good God, man. It's like watching a group of small snacks being marched towards the gallows." Tracey stared at the pair before remarking softly at the sight that beheld her.
Daphne recognized the sight. Astoria was showing Harry which items she enjoyed eating from the board, and in what order. It was something she regularly did at home when they didn't have their parents around during meals. Unable to be admonished for her unladylike behaviour, Astoria would lean on the table and slowly march the foods into her mouth bit by bit, much to her older sister's bewilderment.
Harry, to his credit, was listening as attentively as he could, as if this would be coming up for a future test in one of their subjects in school. It warmed Daphne's heart to see that he bothered to entertain her little sister to such a degree. Even Daphne had to admit that they looked cute together. Astoria, who looked like she was meeting her idol, and Harry, who looked so kind and sweet handling the small ball of buzzing energy that was her little sister.
Harry was good with kids too, huh? She wondered if he'd look the same way with their—
Hmmm…
Daphne mentally stopped herself before she could wonder about things that were too far into the future.
Still, Daphne couldn't help herself from settling in back next to him, and leaning into him, she began whispering into his ear softly enough that Astoria couldn't hear her.
"You don't have to entertain her, you know?"
"Oh, I want to. I'm learning so much here." He joked, his voice as soft as hers, though his eyes tore away from Astoria for only a second. Then he repeated what Astoria had told him, "The hams before the cheeses, but only after the—"
"—the pickles, and never any olives. Yes, I'm well aware." Daphne finished with an amused look on her pretty face. Then she paused, her eyes flittering between her little sister and the boy she liked.
"You're a sweetheart." She said quietly, staring into the side of his face. "It's no wonder she likes you so much."
"You should see me with babies." He grinned, though his eyes were still on Astoria.
"Handle very many babies, do you?" Her fond exasperation was met with an uncertain shrug.
"Well no, but I'd like to think that I'd be great with them."
"You're so stupid." Her wry statement was met with his snicker.
"And a sweetheart." Harry tacked on, sticking his tongue out at her. "Hey, your words. Not mine."
They sat in silence, listening to Astoria continue on about the order of her favourite foods, feeling closer than ever.
Tracey was seated a slight distance away, watching the pair with a warm smile settling on her face.
Today's picnic was a resounding success!
*O*O*O*O*
It would be another hour before the group had packed up the now empty plates into the basket, that seemed to hold far more than it appeared to. Then Tracey had offered to take a sleepy Astoria by the hand, leading her back to the castle first before the girl could get into any trouble for staying out so late.
It was like they were back at their first lesson, which was almost three weeks ago at this point. Harry could still remember taking her hand and leading her back to the castle after sundown. The air was cool and crisp, and they could hear the chirping of crickets emerging from the grass around them.
"Not that I'm complaining, but shouldn't we be heading back with them?" Harry watched as Tracey and Astoria's forms grew smaller and smaller in the distance as they made their way back.
Daphne ignored Harry, staring up into the dark skies, where loose stars had been scattered and spilled. The only light came from the stars and the candles which were quickly burning out now.
Then she spoke, asking what was on her mind, her voice felt as soft as snowfall.
"Would you be interested to go to Hogsmeade… with me… next weekend?"
Harry took a moment to process that.
Then, he frowned in confusion.
"Wait, there's a Hogsmeade trip next weekend?" Harry asked in the same incredulous tone that she had asked Tracey earlier.
"Semi-reliable source. Not important." She used almost the same words Tracey had. Her voice hardened from snowy and light to becoming as sharp as icicles. "What is important — is your answer."
Harry liked it when she was assertive. It was very attractive.
"I would like to, but I still haven't gotten my approved guardian's signature since last year…" Harry rubbed his chin, "Maybe I'll talk to Dumbledore and see if he can let me go. Just this once."
He watched as Daphne looked excited initially, but then turned downcast at the news of the signature, before swinging back up to 'mildly hopeful' with the mention of asking Dumbledore. He felt the same way too. He really wanted to go on this trip with her.
"You make it happen, and we're finally even." Daphne tapped her nose to remind him, and Harry chuckled at the memory of their initial meeting and how he still owed Daphne a 'favour'. He did think it was interesting that she was cashing it out on a trip to Hogsmeade with him, though he kept that part to himself.
Determination burned in his eyes as he nodded in agreement. Even if Dumbledore didn't let him… Harry still had a map and an invisibility cloak just begging to be used.
He was going on this trip to Hogsmeade, one way or another.
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Chapter 4: End
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Important A/N:
Astoria's age has been changed to be 1 year younger than she is in the canon, joining the school in the 4th year instead of the 3rd. I don't think this will change anything in my story besides making her an even more adorable little sister to annoy Daphne with!
In the next chapter, we'll finally be warming up to the arrival of the other schools and the entering of the names into the Goblet.
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Less Important A/N:
Wow, over 200 followers and almost at 150 favourites! I don't really have much else to say besides thank you! I couldn't have expected my return to the world of fanfic to be received this well! Very much appreciate all the readers, favourites, and followers that I've gained during this time.
I'm also grateful that some of you are reviewing each and every chapter I've released so far. Thank you so much for your thoughts and feedback, and for sticking by my story.
Speaking of which, I hope you enjoyed this larger-than-usual chapter (12k words), and I hope the fluff between the characters was as fun as it was to read it. I had initially planned to release this earlier but had to go through a large rewrite of the meeting-Astoria section because I didn't think it was up to standard. I'm much happier with the final outcome and I'm glad I cut the previous one.
In any case, I won't be updating for the next few days as I'd like to take a break to play Baldur's Gate 3! I've been having a swell time with friends so far. Let me know if you guys are playing the game too and have a favourite character from that game yet. I'm a big fan of Shadowheart, Gale, and Astarion''s personalities. (Could not stop thinking about Astoria and Astarion when I was writing this chapter)
Bye, and until next time!