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September 1st, 1998
Tuesday Evening
Hogwarts looked normal again, it almost felt normal too, but Harry remembered what it'd looked like during the final battle. He still remembered the cost of victory, the names of the fallen were still fresh in his mind too — they'd be that way for any Eighth Year, considering they'd been the ones on the front lines alongside the adults.
When Harry turned his attention to his two friends to see how they were faring, he wasn't all that surprised to see Ron smiling at the various people who passed them by. Everyone, even the Slytherin students, would wave, smile or do some otherwise friendly gesture to the trio that'd saved them, even if there wasn't an ounce of friendship in it; Ron was a bit more oblivious to some of the lacking faces than he or Hermione were, but Harry figured his best mate was just trying his best to be happy rather than showing that he felt down.
Speaking of Hermione, the girl was quiet and stoic-looking as they walked through the halls. She hadn't said a word since the three of them had Floo'd in (something that the Eighth years alone could do) nor did she look like she was going to anytime soon.
Ron didn't have those same reservations though.
"Harry mate, you hear what I heard about the Slytherins?"
Harry shook his head, "No, I didn't. What happened?"
"Bloody lot of them stayed home, the ones that aren't… you know, you know? Only that Greengrass girl stayed behind, not even her friend came back, the dark-haired one with big t- tears… from crying a lot," Ron caught himself right before a mistake was made, as even Harry had seen the way Hermione's hand itched towards the back of Ron's head in a very menacing way.
"She'll be in the communal dorms then, won't she?" Harry asked in the direction of Hermione, as Ron was likely as clueless as he was when it came to that sort of information.
"Yes, Harry, she will be," Hermione answered in a short tone, one that made him know he'd not be asking any further questions — that was well enough for him too, it left him plenty of time to think about the crush he'd had on the Slytherin girl a couple of years back.
He'd spoken with her only thrice, all of which were niceties when nearly bumping into one another or cooperating in class, but the few times he'd heard her speak she'd made his heart race. It was sort of like how he'd felt about Cho Chang before that pitiful kiss.
Unlike Cho, however, he really liked Daphne, it wasn't a simple schoolyard crush. Daphne was tall, athletic-looking with sharp features, dark-blonde hair and she had the perfect pair of light-green eyes. All of that said, there was no chance she'd ever given a romantic thought towards him, especially not with all her housemates being who they were.
He hated the cruelty of his crushes thus far, especially the one he had on Daphne now that he was finally free to pursue them only to hear she'd started dating some Ravenclaw donny a year below them.
'Potter luck' had gotten him far in staying alive and winning the fights he'd gotten into, but it wasn't worth a Troll's booger when it came to anything romantic.
"Harry, where've you gone off to?" Ron was prodding him in the side now. "We've got to hurry to the tower or we'll lose the window beds! Hurry up, mate!"
Harry watched Ron runoff alongside Hermione, the pair doing nothing to join their friend until finally, with a sigh and the start of laughter, Hermione followed suit — it didn't take very long for Harry to do the same.
September 2nd, 1998
Wednesday Morning
Breakfast was served… in the Eighth Years towers.
Nobody knew if that was something that'd be normal going forward, Hermione doubted it, so did Harry — he assumed it was a friendly gesture since the lot of them only had a couple of classes on their schedules considering what the Ministry knew they were capable of. Kingsley had tried his best to hire them straight out of the war, but the trio had insisted they finish Hogwarts; Harry was just as surprised as Hermione that Ron had stayed with them rather than take the job, and just as she likely felt, Harry was inwardly very thankful his best mate had returned.
"Mind if I take this seat?"
Harry was roused from his thinking and the sounds of Ron's eating by a voice that was entirely too familiar, one that made him stammer out his response when he looked up to make sure he hadn't been hearing things.
"Su-Not at all Daphne."
Smooth, Harry thought, Really smooth Potter.
Daphne looked amused at his stammering, though she thankfully didn't comment as she sat next to him, or, practically on him once she'd adjusted herself; their knees were touching, her upper arm was right against his too.
Harry tried scooching over, but there wasn't any more room to his right — left of Daphne she had maybe six inches or so of emptiness, yet she'd opted to stay pressed flush against him without the slightest of blushes on her face as he certainly had on his.
"Hey, Daphne?" Harry thanked Merlin that his voice came out normal this time.
"Yes, Harry?" Daphne turned her face to answer him, just as he'd done to talk to her, the result was leaving a few inches before their lips touched.
Harry swallowed and turned away from the girl, thinking the whole while that he shouldn't and wouldn't be the bloke that ruins a relationship.
"Think you could move over a bit?"
Daphne cocked her head at him, arched an eyebrow, and pushed slightly harder against him. Immediately, as a result, he felt her soft skin rubbing against his in a manner that wasn't at all appropriate considering there were others in the room. Furthermore, from that, her answer came in a breathy tone that had her exhaling directly into his ear.
"There's not much room, not unless I sit on your lap or I bump into Weasley."
She'd mentioned his lap in a tone that was horrible for him, thankfully, when she mentioned his mate, that brought him back to where they were.
"Sorry, I've got a… meeting with Professor McGonagall" — Harry stood up abruptly, registering snickers from two other girls that'd been seated behind them on a loveseat, Fay and Lisa he thought — "I'll see you lot in class, Ron let's go, Hermione's probably waiting for us."
Ron groaned something in disappointment through a mouthful of food, but he stood up, all the same, following after Harry as he all but bolted through the exit.
He could handle a Dark Lord no problem, Horcruxes were just as easily dealt with now that he'd become a master in handling their makers, even a Basilisk wasn't all that daunting to him at his current age.
But witches, they were something entirely different, something that all of his experience he'd earned across the years didn't translate to in the slightest.
September 9th, 1998
Wednesday Morning
Daphne had been pursuing him ruthlessly since that morning, and it'd been incredibly difficult avoiding her, to say the least, especially since he didn't want to. In fact, there was nothing more he wanted than to give in to the girl's advances, snog her senseless (not that he knew how) and take her to Hogsmeade for his first date; they'd get sweets, eat lunch, go for a walk… it'd be perfect!
He couldn't though, not while she dated that Ravenclaw git McPhearson, or Pear for short.
"There you are," Harry didn't have a chance to say anything before he got pushed roughly right up against a door. "Finally! Do you know how hard chasing you is? No wonder you have such a wonderful reputation as a seeker."
Daphne was smiling in a teasing manner ever-so-slightly down at him, the girl's eyes catching his eyes just as her body had.
"Sorry?" Harry offered, knowing there wasn't much else he could say.
"You could tell me why you kept running off instead of apologising — I know you like me, don't think I haven't seen all the times you've looked at me, Harry," Daphne's voice turned husky as she pressed up against him. "I wonder if you ever noticed how many times I looked at you… answer my question, why'd you keep leaving whenever I made advances on you?"
Harry's voice held firm though he still had yet to fight Daphne's hold on him, he knew he'd probably win despite the slight size advantage she had on him, he just knew pressing against her as she was to him would only make things more awkward between them.
"You have a boyfriend."
Daphne pulled back a few inches, her grasp lightening.
"Who said that?" Her voice was questioning as she kept her eyes staring into his.
"Ginny did, a few other Gryffindor and Hufflepuff friends too — I even heard it from Demelza at Quidditch practise," Harry was practically stabbing himself in the heart as he told the girl everywhere he'd heard of her relationship; he was expecting any number of responses from her too, though the one she gave was one of the few he hadn't thought of.
Daphne laughed, and it was a full-bellied, tears in the eyes laugh.
Harry was completely thrown for a loop by her reaction to the point that he still hadn't pulled free from her, he was simply too confused at this point.
He still got off a question despite the confusion.
"What's so funny?"
"You are," Daphne said between laughs before the amusement wore off. "I've only dated once, three years ago, since then I've only had a crush on you — one that I couldn't do anything about thanks to Malfoy and the other Junior Death Eaters I shared a common room with. I really would've thought you'd not be this easy to trick either, it's pretty clear those bints were trying to get you for themselves, Harry, especially that Harpy of yours."
"What?" Harry asked.
Daphne looked at him, her face finally blushing as she pulled away.
"I'm not dating anyone, I haven't been dating anyone, those other witches and friends of yours lied to you — I. Want. You," her point was emphasized with slow, deliberate steps towards him until space was gone once again.
Only this time, Daphne's nerves were clear to see in her mannerisms with an errant strand of hair being swiped at or her eyes flicking to the ground only to come back up to stare at his face; it made him feel a bit better knowing he wasn't the only one experiencing such anxiety, she was just better at hiding her nerves behind that aggression she'd been using on him.
Both of them were alerted to the presence of another person when that someone squealed at Daphne's most recent words.
Fay had been returning to the tower and took the same route they'd been on, thus, the Gryffindor girl was watching the two of them with wide eyes, no doubt examining their closeness and flushed features in addition to the words she'd overheard.
"You finally got him!" Fay cheered, looking at Daphne.
Daphne nodded a few times, still looking at Harry as she did so.
"Almost… would you give us another minute so I could do something?"
Fay returned the nodding emphatically, all but bolting whence she came.
Harry almost felt the urge to laugh until he heard Daphne speak again, and in a way that didn't at all fit the confident girl he knew her as.
"Do you still like me?"
Daphne's question came out unlike anything he'd ever heard her ask before; her voice was small-sounding, skittish, filled with worry, he could hear the fragility that came after she'd put herself out there for him.
Harry rose to his full height, put his hands around the girl and flipped them so she was the one with her back against the wall.
Daphne's breathing hitched when he did that, her flushed features that'd been gradually receding were back in full force, especially when he took his next move.
He kissed her… and he kissed her, the pair only broke apart once they were breathless.
"I can say it now — you finally got him!" Fay had returned at some point, and Daphne turned with a glare towards the girl even as she pressed herself flush against Harry while the pair panted.
"Fay…" Daphne said with a warning in her voice, her eyes moving from the girl back to Harry. "Give us an hour."