15

Chapter XV: In Your Debt

(Daphne P.O.V)

To say that the Slytherin common room was downbeat after the game would have been majorly underselling it. The snakes were quiet, unable to even lift their heads from the defeat, those that did either looked at Daphne with confusion or Draco in disgust. All the same, the night wasn't the proudest moment for the snakes as Harry Potter had proved to be the prodigy he was rumored to be, demolishing not just one, but two 'seekers' one of whom was the captain.

However, some were taking it better than others, as while Millicent for instance simply looked defeated, Malfoy look outraged, and while he may have meant to whisper it more softly, he paced around the common room mumbling, "Potter thinks he can make a fool of me and get away with it. I'll make him pay, I'll make them all pay. When my father here's about this he'll-"

"He'll what," Daphne muttered under her breath, "Buy you all firebolts. Surely it was the broom's fault," She finished sarcastically.

However, Daphne wasn't aware that Draco seemed to have cat-like hearing, and before she could even ready herself, Draco was in her face, an angry glare in his eyes, "What did you say, Greengrass?"

"Nothing," Daphne responded coldly.

"I know you said something," A vein in the boy's head looking about ready to burst over where the large bump resided, "Probably thinking of a way to betray us to Potter right, since you've clearly lowered yourself to fancying a half-blood like him."

"First of all," Daphne said, "My opinion on Potter has nothing to do with you, second of all, I turned him down, so I clearly don't fancy him, and finally, maybe you shouldn't talk bad about the guy that made it look like it was your first time flying a broomstick out there."

In a fit of rage that even left Daphne surprised, Draco's hand had smacked across her face. It didn't hurt, Draco wasn't a particularly strong man, but it stung, and a trickle of blood had trickled down from her lip onto her white long-sleeved shirt as she looked up at Draco, "How dare you disrespect me. Do you know who my father is? What power my family name carries? You think that you, the ostracized bitch of the Greengrass family has the right to talk back to-"

But before Draco could say another word Daphne spoke in a voice colder than she knew she could produce, "Shut up." The entire room shivered as Tracey and Blaise rushed to her side, hands hovering their wands, "You are an insolent, whiny, little bitch," Daphne started backing Draco up against the wall, "And yes, you're right that I don't have parents, but I'd rather be an orphan than have your kiss-ass father as an example to live up to."

"Do you know why that is," Daphne said not bothering to wipe the blood from her lips, "It's because unlike you, I don't need to hide behind my daddy when things get hard. I'm going to make this clear for you Malfoy, if you ever lay a hand on me again," A demented smile now appearing on Daphne's face, "I'll castrate you and feed your balls to the dog that follows Hagrid around. How does that sound?"

"You dare threaten me," Draco said though his voice was not as strong as Daphne assumed he would have liked.

"I do," Daphne said, "And you should be very careful because the draught of the living dead isn't exactly a difficult potion to make. Maybe I even have some on hand. Maybe I'll slip some in your morning milk, or in your afternoon soda, or your evening pumpkin juice. Maybe I'll talk to other people who can't stand you and have the Twins hide something in your food, or maybe we'll place some acromantulas in your bed, all I know is you've made a very dangerous enemy Malfoy, I promise you that."

"You don't scare me, Greengrass," Draco stuttered.

"I should," Daphne responded.

But before Draco could retort, Snape entered the room, a tight scowl on his face, "What happened," He hissed in a way only he could.

"Malfoy, he hit Daphne, sir," Tracey said.

Whatever Malfoy had been expecting to happen, it certainly wasn't what Snape had done, "Malfoy," Snape said in a cold fury, "Let's go to my office, clearly there are many things your father hasn't properly taught you about pureblood customs. You will have plenty of time to learn them in detention, I promise you that."

"But I'm in your house-," Malfoy started but Snape was not interested.

"And so is Ms. Greengrass," Snape chided, "If you want to go run amuck with Lions or Badgers that is one thing, but I cannot sit by and allow abuses against my own students to go unpunished. Two Weeks of detention should be enough time to teach you how inappropriate your actions were."

Malfoy's eyes were laced in shock as Snape continued, "I should have your broom snapped for this, but I'll let your father decide on the actions, after all, like the Malfoy's the Greengrass family are a part of the sacred twenty-eight. Should her mother or father take issue with your actions do you know what it would cost your father?" Daphne watched on in shock as the man who never seemingly care about any punishment publicly lectured Malfoy before turning to her, "Ms. Davis, take Ms. Greengrass to the hospital wing if she requests it, I'll make sure this doesn't happen again."

Then, with the flap of his long black robe, Professor Snape left the common room, and sulking Draco in-tow as Tracey turned to her, "Well that was unexpected."

"I know Snape normally gets a little strange around Halloween," Daphne said, "But that seemed, well, more odd than normal."

Finally, with a pause, Daphne wiped away the blood from her lip before turning to Tracey who looked at her in concern, "Do you need to go see Madam Pomfrey?"

"And give Astoria a scare," Daphne said with a shrug, "I'm fine, I can deal with it, it's just a bruise, I'll make myself the salve later. For now," Daphne said relaxing her shoulders, "I'm tired, I'll see you tomorrow Trace, night."

"Night," Tracey said nervously as she felt her watching Daphne leave. Yes, she acknowledged she was acting a bit strange, but in her defense, she had finally let loose all the anger she had been bottling up over two-plus years of listening to Malfoy bitch and moan. Her cheek may have been sore, but Daphne fell into her bed feeling much freer than she ever had before. Only momentarily getting off to draw some light protection runes around her bed, a snake could never be too careful, after all.

(Harry P.O.V)

If Harry were to be honest, Halloween was always a tough day for him. Yes, he tried to stay positive as it was the day Sirius had adopted him, and he became a part of what Sirius liked to call the New House of Black, but at the same time, it was also the day that he had become the last surviving Potter. The dread was only heavier now as he had vividly seen the deaths of his parents up close, and not only did the memory cause grief, the fact he saw it was also a reminder that the man responsible for the death was not yet dead. Though Harry promised that he'd remedy that one day, Tom Riddle would pay.

Breakfast had been a bit overwhelming with all the floating jack-o-lanterns and flying bats that swooped around the Great Hall, and it didn't help that despite Harry's not very enthusiastic mood, the fact that Hogsmeade was coming up was only leading to more questions about who Harry would be going with. He had heard that Neville had taken a chance and asked Hannah Abbot to go with him, but had been turned down, and Corner was scared to death about asking Susan, which in fairness to him turned out to be the right move as she had already said yes to going with Terry Boot, something Harry had known really irritated Michael but he did his best to keep his cool.

Honestly, Harry only had an interest in going with one girl, and though they weren't as cold with each-other, Daphne had made it quite clear that she hadn't fallen for him… yet. Harry had been considering just going out with Corner and Neville if he'd accept their invitation that is, but Astoria had other plans that unfortunately did make some sense considering his status as the Boy-Who-Lived.

"Why are we doing this again, Astoria?" Harry grumbled to the kaleidoscopic-eyed witch sitting next to him as the observed the Slytherin, Hufflepuff, and Ravenclaw tables.

"Because despite your ample amount of time," Astoria chided, "You still haven't picked a date for Hogsmeade."

"To be fair," Harry started, "It hasn't been due to a lack of effort."

"Well maybe if you go with someone else," Astoria said, "You could make Daphne jealous and then she'd realize how much she actually likes you."

"Really?" Harry said with a cocked eyebrow.

"No," Astoria admitted, "Daphne's not really the jealous type, but still, you've got to choose somebody to go with."

"Why can't I just go alone?" Harry grumbled.

"Because you're an important figure in the wizarding world Harry," Astoria spoke, "If you show up alone, rumors are going to fly like crazy from you being an outcast to you being gay to you having a superiority complex. While all meaningless speculation, it still paints a picture of you poorly in the eyes of the wizarding world, and more importantly to pure-bloods with a lot of money who considering your treatments of their children in mostly Slytherin aren't really your biggest fans."

"And I care why?" Harry responded with uninterest.

"Because breaking custom makes you look less sympathetic to outside support you could need someday," Astoria spoke, "I think you're a great wizard Harry and your smart, but you can't believe you can handle everything by yourself. Just save yourself the trouble and ask literally any girl out."

Harry just rolled his eyes as Astoria began to point her finger at potential target. "You know Lavender's been waiting for you to ask her, she still hasn't said yes to going with anyone." Harry looked at the rather pretty girl with pale skin, flowing brown locks and dark blue eyes. Harry hadn't really known just how attractive he had found Daphne until instead of acknowledging Brown's sizable bust-size for her age, the only thing he noticed was that he preferred Daphne's shade of blue to the Gryffindor girl. "She's a pure-blood whose family stayed neutral during the last wizarding war. She could be a nice ally for you to have in the long-run."

"Pass," Harry said not interested in the curly-haired girl.

"Okay," Astoria said, "Well you could ask either of the Patil-Sisters. They're pretty, and their father from what I understand is incredibly wealthy. Once again, another useful ally for the future if your willing to make some sacrifices."

"I'm not really short on gold, Short-Stack, plus it's not like I'm not trying to run for minister," Harry said with a sigh, "Why do you care so much about making alliances?"

"Because the Wizarding World is a cesspool of nepotism right now, and in order to break the wheel you first have to get inside it. I'm just saying that choosing the right people to be seen with can do a lot of good for your image, which while might be good now, probably won't stay that way forever. The Daily Prophet's always looking to stir something up."

"You know," Harry said with a sigh, "Sometimes I forget you're the Princess' sister Short-Stack. Thanks for reminding me."

"No problem," Astoria said with a chuckle before pointing at the Hufflepuff table, "You can ask out Hannah Abbot, she's cute, has good roots, most people say she's really nice. It's a safe all-around bet."

"Nope," Harry said, "She turned down Neville, and Neville's my friend, I'm not going to do that to him."

"Urgh!" Astoria groaned, "You are literally impossible. Are you just going to turn down every girl that isn't my sister?"

"Maybe," Harry said sending the girl a smirk before placing his hand on top of her head, "Don't stress yourself out about it Short-stack. I appreciate the research you've done, it's quite extensive," he said remembering the notebook full of information Astoria had handed to him a few days ago, "But I'll handle this on my own."

"Fine," Astoria sighed, "I'll give you twenty-four hours, if you've done nothing in that time I'll ask Bulstrode out for you in your stead."

"You wouldn't," Harry groaned.

"Try me," Astoria said with a straight face.

"God you're evil," Harry said with a light chuckle.

"I am the Ice Queen's sister after all," Astoria said with a devilish grin before she looked up, "Okay, it's 9 a.m., you've got twenty-four hours, starting, now!"

"Don't sound so excited," Harry said with a chuckle, "For now, it's off to class."

While Harry loved spending time with Astoria who was well within the ranks of his favorite people, Halloween was the type of day he like to spend alone, it was his day of quiet mourning and honestly the last thing he was thinking about today was dating, even the thought of the Blonde-Haired Princess didn't cross his mind as frequently as it did

That was until he entered his double transfiguration with the Slytherin class and had taken his seat near Daphne who this time neither hit him with sarcastic quip or coldness, instead, all Harry received was silence and instantly, Harry knew something was wrong, but he didn't have much time to ponder it as Professor McGonagall entered the room, a flick of her wand lightning the overhead chandeliers to heat the room.

"Good Morning Class," McGonagall spoke, "I hope you've all done the prepared readings, as today we are going to be discussing animagi. Now, who would like to tell me what an animagi is? Let's see," McGonagall said scanning the class, "Mr. Zabini, what is an animagi?"

"It's a person that can turn into an animal right," Blaise spoke nervously, "Like the great wizard Falco Aesalon who could turn into well, a falcon."

"Correct," McGonagall said, "Five points to Slytherin for the excellent example. Now," McGonagall continued, "Can anyone tell me what the difference is between self-transfiguration and being an animagi is?"

"The difference between Transfiguration and the Animagus transformation ability is that an Animagus can change into an animal whenever they want, without a wand or an incantation," Dean spoke between carefully written notes.

"Correct, five points to Gryffindor," McGonagall said, "For example."

Harry watched as nearly every jaw dropped as without a word, McGonagall changed from a person to tabby cat. Harry simply smirked, he had heard about the trick from Sirius as he claimed McGonagall's sneakiness as a cat had landed him and his father in more than a few detentions. On the other hand, animagi weren't that jaw-dropping to him as not only did he live with an animagi in Sirius, but he also lived with a Metamorphmagus which was just a completely different level of insanity.

Still, Harry felt envious of McGonagall as she turned back into a human and was welcomed by thunderous applause. Harry had begged Sirius to teach him to become an animagi himself, but he had always insisted there would be time for him to learn it after he had completed his defensive studies, as while it was cool, there were far more important spells to learn, and the time and dedication into becoming an animagi was more than Sirius and Remus ever felt Harry currently had.

The rest of the first half of class was a continued lecture of animagi and how strenuous the process of becoming one is, along with a discussion of the registration system and the surprisingly low amount of animagi that have been registered over the last century. Harry did briefly smile to himself as he saw that neither his father nor Sirius were on the registry because of course, they weren't.

However, it was beginning to become difficult to focus as Daphne had continued to not say a word. Instead, she simply looked straight forward taking notes quietly as she completely ignored his presence. Slowly, Harry tapped her hand, "Princess, you alright?"

"I'm fine," She responded curtly.

"Okay," Harry said slowly, "I sort of thought we've gotten past this hostility."

"You thought wrong," Daphne said turning to face him, but that was where she had made a crucial mistake and Harry had caught it.

"You're wearing make-up," Harry whispered, "Your skin is flawless you never wear make-up."

"I decided I'd do something different is all," Daphne said averting her eyes from him.

Then, Harry saw it, just in the corner of her lip, an off-shade of blue, and suddenly, Daphne's quiet attitude, her unprovoked bitterness, and her aversion to looking at him all made sense. A coldness filled Harry's chest as he stared blankly at Daphne, "Who?"

"Who what?" Daphne said.

"Who hit you?" Harry responded.

"Nobody," Daphne said, "It's none of your business, I'm a big girl, I can take care of myself."

"Was it Malfoy?" Harry said, the chill spreading to his veins.

"It's not your problem," Daphne repeated.

"You're my friend," Harry said, "It is my problem."

"We're not friends!" Daphne growled, but she hadn't realized how loud she had said it as the entire class turned to face the two of them, some snickering and others staring in complete confusion.

"Is there something you want to tell the class, Miss Greengrass," McGonagall asked patiently.

"No," Daphne said, "I'm sorry, I'm not feeling too well, I think I need to go see Madam Pomfrey."

"Very well," McGonagall spoke, "Make sure you get the assignment from another student. You've always done well in my class but leaving early will not be a frequently allowed exception."

"Thank you, Professor," Daphne said quickly collecting her stuff before she walked off, leaving Harry a cold and festering pit.

(Astoria P.O.V)

The rumor mill at Hogwarts was like no other, and in a matter of less than an hour, Astoria had learned about Daphne's snapping at Harry. At first, she wanted to go kick Harry in the shins, but upon further rational thought, it wouldn't have made sense for Harry to have done something to Daphne that would lead her to shout at him the way she supposedly had.

It was a golden rule about Daphne, she never shouted, even when unbelievably frustrated, shouting was never an option. She had wanted to do some investigating, but like most lunch periods for the past couple weeks, neither Harry, nor Professor Dumbledore were anywhere to be found, and while some hadn't put it together, Astoria knew that the two of them were together and she had no idea why. Still, determining that her sister's well-being was more important than anything Harry and Dumbledore could possibly be discussing, she too left the Great Hall after shoving some food down her face and made her way towards the Headmaster's office.

Astoria had made a right heading for the hallway that led to the Headmaster's office, she had hoped he wouldn't be upset about the intrusion, but before she could even continue along that train of thought, she overheard a rather rowdy conversation coming from the inside of an empty classroom. Whoever was in there had made two mistakes, if they didn't want Astoria to begin eavesdropping. The first was that they had forgotten to put up any sort of silencing spell, and the second was that they had mentioned her sister's name.

"I was talking to my father on the floo last night," A girl spoke, "He told me it was worth the risk as the Greengrass family isn't exactly as rich or powerful as they once were, and if we go through with it, some negotiating can be made between my family and the Malfoy's and I could end up with a marriage contract."

"That's good for you I guess," A lazy and uninterested voice spoke, "But what does this have to do with me, Parkinson?"

"Because Nott," The voice Astoria now knew belong to Pansy spoke, "If we do this, Draco owes you a favor, and that means a chance to join his inner circle, which means a chance to get in good with Malfoy Sr., which means a high-ranking career in the Ministry for you after Hogwarts, which means lots of Galleons. Are you following me?"

"Yeah," Nott spoke, and Astoria could almost hear the greed in the boy's voice, "I hear you loud and clear, and without Draco hounding Greengrass, maybe I'll just scoop her up for myself."

"Might be hard to get on her good side after the plan," Pansy spoke, "I mean we are planning to hex her sister into the infirmary. Which reminds me, here are the traceless wands."

"Thanks," Nott said, and Astoria felt her heart beating rapidly now knowing that she was the target for this planned jumping, "And don't worry about Greengrass, I'm sure with this traceless wand, I can be very persuading."

Astoria was quivering with anger, how dare that stringy-haired bastard talk about her sister that way. But for Astoria it wasn't just anger she felt, Astoria was tough, she never gave up, but she certainly didn't know enough Defense Against the Dark Arts to fight two students who were two years her senior. Slowly, she tried to back away, but the sound of an owl cooing drew the attention of the two students in the class. The door busted open and standing their side by side looking down on her were Nott and Parkinson. "My, my," Parkinson said, "It seems we had a spectator."

"Look at how red her face is," Pansy continued, "You must have gotten her really mad Nott."

Astoria turned to glare at the boy, "How dare you speak about my sister that way! If you ever disrespect her like that again I'll-"

"You'll what?" Nott sneered, pushing Astoria back against the wall, his wand in her face, "Please go on I'd love to hear it."

"You have no right to talk about my sister that way," Astoria said trying to remain brave despite the fear that was chewing away at her inside.

"I can talk about your sister however I want," Nott whispered, "And you know why? Because your sister is a stuck-up little bitch who's going to learn not to talk back to her superiors. Trust me, I'll make sure of it."

Astoria's lip began to quiver, she wanted to scream, to punch the stingy haired boy across the face the way Harry would have if he were here. But he wasn't, and she was small, she didn't know much magic, and she was afraid, though she hated to admit it, she was terrified.

Then, like something out of a fairy tale, she heard a voice call out, "Oi! Get off her!"

Her eyes widened as she saw Harry grab the back of Nott's shirt and slam him against the wall with force causing Pansy to stagger back. Harry walked over towards her, completely ignoring the two wands drawn at his back as he smiled down resting his hand on her head, "You alright Short-Stack?"

She didn't want to do it, but relief rushed through her body causing her to cry as she rattled, "I was coming to find Professor Dumbledore because I knew you were with him, and I wanted to find out what happened to Daphne, but then I overheard them speaking. They were saying really awful things about Daphne and I tried to do something, but I couldn't and-"

"Hey," Harry said the same calming smile on his face, "It's going to be alright now, okay?"

"Alright?" Nott scoffed, "Look at the position you're in, it's two to-"

"Shut up." Harry growled in a tone unfamiliar to Astoria before slowly turning around, glaring at the two third-year snakes. "You absolutely disgust me. Not only do you think it's appropriate to attack another student, you two pathetic excuses for wizards decided that you both needed to draw your wands to intimidate a girl two years younger than you."

Astoria swallowed hard, the magical pressure Harry was generating was making her feel like she was losing her balance. Somehow though, through what Astoria could only guess was sheer stupidity Nott spoke again, "A snake doesn't show its prey mercy Pott-"

"I thought I told you to shut up." Harry spoke through clenched teeth, "You slither around here with that stupid house sigil on your robes and you feel that makes you strong. You talk as if you were a snake, a lethal predator, but you're not a snake. Do you know what you are?" This time it was Nott's turned to swallow hard as fear began to form in his eyes listening to Harry continue his speech, "You're just a pasty, pink boy who's too slow on the draw."

Before Astoria's eyes could adjust to what just happened, Harry had his wand pointed at Nott's neck, and his other hand wrapped firmly around Nott's wrist that was currently holding his wand making his once terrifying weapon completely useless. Astoria watched as a somewhat panicked Parkinson held her own wand up to Harry's head before she spoke with a fearful stutter, "Let him go, I'm warning you."

"No," Harry spoke with a chilling voice, "I'm warning you. Walk away and perhaps I won't do the same thing I do to him on you."

Astoria's heart was beating fast, her chest was tight in both anticipation and fear. She didn't want Harry getting hurt, and more so she didn't want to be the cause of why he would be injured. Yes, Daphne was her sister, she loved her more than anyone else in the world, but Harry was the closest thing she had ever had to a big brother, and she didn't want him to risk his own safety for her. Yet, before Astoria could call out another voice called out.

"I leave you alone for one lunch period and somehow you're already with your wand to another kid's throat and another wand pointed at your head," Michael called out, "You're killing me, Potter," But then, from his pocket slid Michael's wand as he approached Parkinson forcing the wand off Harry's head and pointed towards Michael, "Two on one hardly seems fair though, need a hand?"

"I can handle them," Harry said with a smirk, "But if you want to join in, that's fine by me."

"Way to ruin my heroic entrance," Corner said a sarcastic smile, "Now, are we doing this or what?"

"Nobody is doing anything," Another voice called out.

"This is a pretty crowded Hallway," Harry grumbled before Astoria saw that the voice was coming from Cedric Diggory, the Prefect Badge shining on his clean robes.

"Potter, Corner" Cedric called out calmly, "Drop your wands, there's no need for you two to get penalized for standing up for a housemate, but if you fire a spell, I will have to report it."

A small smile of relief formed on Nott's face as Harry lowered his wand but was wiped off when he spoke, "You two, however, are coming with me to go see Professor Dumbledore. Threatening not just another student but a first-year is hardly acceptable behavior. I'm sure the headmaster and Professor Snape would find this action very appalling."

The two third-year snakes mumbled, and Harry turned to Cedric giving him a polite nod which he returned, "Try to stay out of trouble Potter."

"I can't help it," Harry said with a grin, "It always seems to find me."

Cedric gave a chuckle as he shook his head before turning to the reprimanded snakes, "Come on you two, let's go." He then gave one last look at Harry, "Oi Potter! That was some incredible flying yesterday. Nobody has the pitch tomorrow so maybe we could organize some pick-up, let Longbottom know if you're interested. You can come too Corner, I'd like to see just how good the new Ravenclaw chaser is."

"I'm in," Harry said with a shrug, amazing Astoria at just how quickly Harry's mood had changed.

"Sounds like fun," Corner said with equal enthusiasm.

Cedric nodded before he began marching the two third-year snakes towards Dumbledore's office, and before Astoria even had the time to speak, Harry was on his knees in front of her examining her frame for injuries. Concern blossomed in his emerald green pools as she heard him ask, "Are you okay Short-stack?"

Astoria nodded, "Yeah, they didn't touch me. But I'm still upset."

"I know they said awful things about your sister," Harry said grabbing her chin as he looked into her eyes, "But you need to be more careful. I'm not going to belittle you for standing up for your family, I'd have done the same thing. But you need to stay strong when something goes down. And try not to get involved in fights you can't finish."

"I just wish I was better at magic already," She said snarling at the ground.

"I know," Harry said, "I wish I was too."

"But you are good at magic," Astoria spoke, "You're amazing for someone who hadn't been here the first two years."

He smiled as Astoria felt his hand taking its comforting spot atop her head, "I still have a ways to go before I'm as strong as I have to be."

"For what?" Astoria asked curiously.

"To get my family the justice they deserve," Harry said. Had it been anyone but Harry, Astoria might have felt a red flag waving over Harry's head, but that wasn't the way he said it. It pained him, he seemed to be unsure of how to proceed, but in his eyes, it was desperation. All he wanted was justice, not vengeance on the people that killed his family, and who was Astoria to think badly of Harry for wanting the same thing she would undeniably want if she was in his position.

It was quiet for a moment before Astoria rose to her feet and hugged Harry, "Thanks for helping me."

"Always Short-stack," Harry said, his face relaxing into its normal passive look, "Now, you said you were looking for me, right?"

"Yeah," Astoria nodded, "I think something's wrong with Daphne and I-"

"She's going to be okay Astoria," Harry said, and Astoria flinched as she heard Harry use her real name in what must have been the first time in months, "She just needs some space right now. At least from me, I don't think surrounding her will help, but maybe you should visit, just to make sure she's doing alright."

Astoria nodded as she walked away waving back at Harry and Michael, "Thanks again by the way."

"You're my friend Short-Stack," Harry said with a smile, "I'll always protect you." And with that, she turned the corner and began her ascent to the hospital wing.

(Daphne P.O.V)

The next morning had been a difficult one. Not only had Astoria saw Daphne about ready to cry in anger with how powerless she felt about getting attack despite her strong response, she had felt a tremendous amount of guilt in her heart for being so rude to Harry, the same Harry that according to Astoria had just saved her from a terrible attack from the Slytherin's that she was responsible for.

At every turn, all Daphne had wanted to do was make sure Astoria was safe, and at every turn, she had failed. The only reason Astoria was still unharmed was because of Potter, and if it hadn't been for him Daphne might have had to become submissive to all of Draco's taunting in order to hopefully secure Astoria's safety. Now, not only had she yelled at the boy, she owed Harry a great debt, and it drove her insane as it only caused her to focus more on the green-eyed boy.

Daphne was currently sitting at the table for breakfast on Friday in which classes had been canceled as Fudge had called a meeting with all the Professor's regarding proper Hogsmeade Protocol for tomorrow, which just left her mind solely focused on the Boy-Who-Lived, much to her displeasure. It seemingly hadn't gone unnoticed either as Tracey had poked her, "You're doing it again."

"What?" Daphne said turning to face her friend.

"You were zoned out," Tracey said smiling, "Were you thinking about Potter again?"

"No," Daphne said cold as ice, "I was thinking about the attack that almost happened to Astoria."

"Well that's hardly as much fun to talk about," Tracey said, "Are you sure you weren't daydreaming about Potter asking you out to Hogsmeade?"

"Not every waking moment of my life is spent thinking about Harry," Daphne said with an annoyed huff.

"Harry huh?" Tracey said, "Getting on a more comfortable first-name basis, are we?"

"Drop it Trace," Daphne spoke firmly, "I'm not talking about it."

"Okay, but can you at least tell me why you don't have a date for Hogsmeade yet?" Tracey asked patiently.

"Because I have other things to focus on that are more important," Daphne sighed, "Namely Astoria's safety and her condition. I wouldn't even be going to this stupid outing if you and Blaise hadn't forced into coming by forging my parent's permission slip. Why can't you two just go on a date like a normal couple?"

"Because if we did that," Tracey said, "You'd be all cooped up in the library until you eventually died a lonely cat lady."

"Don't you feel like that's too much of an extreme?" Daphne asked not really focused on the conversation.

"Look," Tracey said getting serious, "What you're trying to do for Astoria is a beautiful thing, but you know that she doesn't want you to forget to live your life either. It's one day put the books down and come enjoy Hogsmeade with us. Better yet, go out there and ask Potter, rumor has it he hasn't asked anyone out either."

"I. Don't. Like. Potter." Daphne said accentuating every word, "I already agreed to go, can't that be enough for you?"

"Fine," Tracey said with a sigh, "I'll take what I can get. But still Daph, I just want to see you have some fun for once."

"You're right," Daphne said, "I know I've been a bit high-strung. Sorry for snapping at you, I'll try and have fun tomorrow, I promise," Then, her eyes moved back over to Potter who she saw walking out of the Great Hall before turning back to Tracey, "Look, I'll see you later, I just have to go right now, okay?"

"Go get your man sister," Tracey said with a smile, which forced Daphne to shake her head before she took off after Harry.

She had followed Harry as he clearly was making his walk towards Gryffindor Tower. Waiting until the coast was clear, she swallowed her pride and called out, "Potter!"

Quickly, Harry stopped adjusting his salmon pink shirt and grey sweats before turning to face her, "You called Princess?"

"Can you be serious for a second," Daphne asked in a pleading tone, something she hated using, "I need to talk to you for a little, in private."

"Okay," Harry said with a nod, "Do you want me to meet you somewhere or?"

"Just get in the broom closet and shut up," Daphne said tiredly, not really sure how to go about what she wanted to say. She had been expecting for some flirtatious comment or innuendo, but instead, possibly due to seeing the exhaustion in her eyes, Harry simply nodded and entered the closet as instructed.

As they entered, Daphne found herself in a similar situation. She was nearly nose to nose with Harry, the scent of his cedar and green apple cologne piercing through her like a fine-tipped spear as with caring eyes he spoke, "Look, I know it was none of my business yesterday, and if you don't want to talk about it, then we don't have to, I just don't like seeing my frie-"

"Thank you," Daphne said, struggling to get the words out as she hadn't said the two-word sentence in what seemed like years, "I just, I just wanted to say thank you."

"For what?" Harry asked genuinely lost.

"You are such an idiot," Daphne sighed, "Just yesterday you saved my sister from Nott and Parkinson and you've already forgotten about it."

"I didn't forget about it," Harry spoke honestly, "It's just not a big deal, Astoria's my friend, of course, I was going to stand up for her."

"Not a big deal?" Daphne repeated incredulously, "You nearly got hurt fighting two wizards who were willing to hex Astoria to get back at me and you think that's no big deal."

"It's just not," Harry responded, "I don't care who they are, I won't let other people hurt my friends. Students, Death Eaters, The Dark Lord himself, Astoria's my friend, I'd always protect her."

Daphne stared at Harry in disbelief. He had absolutely no idea what it meant to save another person, the debt they were owed for the protection of a family member from their family. To her, it was amazing just how little the Boy-Who-Lived seemed to care about wizarding customs, and how to him, essentially pissing in the face of many rich and wealthy pure-blood families didn't seem to matter. Still, Daphne pressed on as she took a deep breath and spoke, "Well, regardless of if you think it's a big deal or not, you protected my sister from two very dangerous families. I am in your debt."

"No, you're not," Harry said shaking his head, "I don't care about any of that stuff. Consider yourself debt-free, you don't owe me a thing."

"Potter," Daphne called out just as Harry was getting ready to exit the broom closet, "Debts may not be important to you, but in the wizarding world, having someone in your debt is a big deal. I don't like feeling like I owe you, so for the love of god Potter just tell me to do something for you so I can be out of your debt."

"You're really not going to drop this are you?" Harry said his eyes closed as he ran his hand through his hair.

"No," Daphne responded quickly.

"Fine," Harry spoke, and Daphne froze as he stared into her eyes, "Let me copy your notes for Potions. Honestly, all Corner and I do in the class is dick around, and if I don't actually start figuring out what I need to do, I'll probably fail these exams coming up."

"You," Daphne said in surprise, "You just want my notes?"

"Yeah," Harry said with a shrug, "I mean, I heard from Corner, who heard from Hermione that you're pretty good at potions, and at the very least, you can't be worse than me, so yeah, your notes, that's it."

"I just don't understand," Daphne said tiredly, "For the last month and a half, you've spent every day trying to get me to go out with you. And then, when I owe you a life debt, something I literally cannot refuse, you ask for my notes. Have you gotten over me, or what?"

"Aww," Harry said with a smirk, "Are you jealous?"

"Just answer the question Potter," Daphne said.

"Well, you answered it yourself," Harry said, "You wouldn't be able to say no, and therefore it wouldn't be genuine. I don't want you to come out to Hogsmeade with me because you have to, I want you to come with me because you want to. I want to walk around the small villages and look at houses, or buy sweets, or go on little adventures through the cozy town hand in hand with you. I don't want to go because your honor demands it or whatever."

Daphne couldn't help but stare at Harry in complete confusion as he turned to her and smiled, "Trust me Princess, when you say yes to going out to Hogsmeade with me, I want it to be because you have fallen completely for me. I just don't think we're there yet."

Daphne couldn't speak as she continued to look at Harry, a blank and most likely dumb look coating her face which caused Harry to smile, "So yeah, I'll come and get the notes or whatever on Monday, sound good?" Harry asked to which Daphne dumbly nodded before he turned to her one last time, "Alright, I'll see you around, and if you ever want to talk about what happened, I'm here. You're my friend, even if I'm not one of yours," and with that, Harry exited the broom closet, leaving a completely stunned Daphne inside.