Chapter 109

"We'll do this again next year, if you and Daphne would like to," Harry suggested. "Maybe we can even do more than just go shopping for school supplies." As Astoria beamed happily, Harry locked eyes with Daphne, who was giving him a warm smile of approval. The look made his heart flutter and his body feel like it had been shoved into a sauna.

"I would like that."

Astoria soon left, leaving just him and Daphne alone. This was the first time he had been truly alone with the girl since that night they had spoken in the room housing the Mirror of Erised. Perhaps it was due to his increasing hormones, but Harry had no clue what to say.

Fortunately, he didn't have to.

"I wanted to thank you for talking to my father," Daphne said. "Not just for me, but for my sister too. She's never even been out of the house since..."

"Since your mother died," Harry finished. Daphne closed her eyes in pain as she gave him a nod. "You don't need to thank me for this, Daphne. You... ah," Harry looked away, flushing a bit. It was getting incredibly hard to keep looking into those beautiful blue eyes. "You mean a lot to me so... so don't think of this as something you need to thank me for. I aided you because I wanted to, not because I was hoping you would be grateful to me or something similar."

"And that's why I am grateful to you."

Harry sucked in a breath as Daphne closed the small distance between them and took his hands in her own. Standing this close to her, Daphne's scent was nearly overpowering. It was a lovely combination of vanilla and strawberries that were driving his hormone charged body insane.

It was a miracle that he managed to keep from blushing. Even still, his pants were beginning to feel uncomfortably tight.

"I know you, Harry," Daphne said, her eyes looking at him with an intensity he did not see very often in the girl. Or anyone else for that matter. In fact, before now, only Selene had ever given him that kind of look. "I know you very well, and I know that you understand and embrace the Slytherin way. You don't do anything that doesn't benefit you in some way. Even befriending everyone you know was done for a reason."

It was not surprising to Harry that she knew this. Daphne Greengrass had been trained since she was five in the ways of pure-blood culture and politics. The only other person who was as astute in their observations of him as Daphne was Blaise.

"I don't think that way anymore, you know." Sure, his friends had not started off as such, pawns to be used in his political plays, but that had changed over time. After getting to know them, Harry could honestly say the nine people he had gathered around him at Hogwarts were definitely friends, not just pieces in his power games.

"I know," Daphne smiled. "You may try to be cold and ruthless, and you can be on occasion, but I don't really think that's who you are."

Harry raised an eyebrow.

"And who am I?"

"Harry Potter, a good person whose had to grow up faster than most people should and my... someone I care about very much." As she finished speaking, Daphne Greengrass' cheeks took on a lovely hue of pink.

Harry found his breath stolen from him. With the small blush staining her cheeks, Daphne looked even more beautiful than she normally did. Her gorgeous blue eyes were no longer chips of ice, with the small measure of privacy granted to them, they were currently warm enough that Harry felt his legs begin to feel weak just from looking at them. The pink of her cheeks really brought out and enhanced just how silky and flawless her creamy skin was, and matched the color of her lips perfectly.

Those lips. Harry found his mouth indescribably dry as he looked at those lips. Visions of the kiss Selene had given him plagued his mind, only instead of the erotic vampire featuring in them it was the vision of beauty in front of him. He longed to claim those lips with his own, to partake of them and ―

"Harry?"

"Guh!"

Harry jerked backwards as he realized he had been staring at Daphne for several seconds without speaking. He looked up at Daphne's eyes to see her staring at him with startled, slightly wide eyes. Her cheeks had become even darker than before and her breathing had become a soft pant.

It was only then that Harry realized he had been leaning in towards her.

"I'm sorry! I'm so, so sorry!" Harry's voice cracked. He would have cursed himself for displaying such weakness, moment of puberty or not, but he was too busy panicking over the fact that he had almost kissed one of his friends. "I am so, so, so sorry!"

"It's... it's fine," Daphe murmured, her cheeks growing an even darker shade of red. "I... I have to go!"

As Harry watched Daphne throw some floo powder into the fire place and transport herself home, he used every swear and curse he had picked up in as many languages as he knew within the confines of his mind. He had screwed up. He had screwed up so badly.

By the seven deadly sins and all nine circles of hell, when was his suffering otherwise known as puberty going to end?

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