Work Text:
Are Cooties Contagious?
“Daphne! Help!” Harry said, running into the Slytherin common room.
Daphne rolled her eyes. She had been friends with Harry since they were children, and that didn't change after they were sorted at Hogwarts this year, Harry following her into the house of snakes, even though he often acted more like a lion.
“What’s wrong, Harry?” Daphne asked as he came to stop in front of her.
“Hermione Granger kissed me when we were studying in the library! She said that it was the only way to make the mistle-toads go away, but just yesterday I overheard Ronald Weasley say that she had cooties. Am I going to die?”
Gods, her best friend could be dramatic. Hermione wasn't wrong about the mistle-toads though. For whatever reason, the castle was half-overrun with them, their melodic croaks ringing throughout the castle from their green bodies, white dots on their backs like mistletoe berries. The only way that they would move on, and subsequently stop annoying people trying to study, was by witnessing a kiss. Daphne had tried moving one that was in her way the last time she was in the library, but their magic apparently held them in place, causing the boys next to the toad to blush as they avoided kissing each other.
Anyway, back to the cooties concerns. “You aren't going to die, Harry. Now lay your head in my lap and I'll check you out.”
Gods, he was so cute when he looked at her like that. She didn't want to like like him – his friendship was worth more to her than a passing feeling – but he made it so hard sometimes.
“Okay, now where did she kiss you?” Daphne asked.
The only place she could have kissed him to make the mistle-toads go away would be his lips, but as a future healer, she shouldn't assume. She had known that she wanted to be a healer since she was little, and Harry was her star patient, coming to her for anything less than a St. Mungo's visit, not even letting his mom treat him before Daphne diagnosed him.
“Hermione kissed me on the lips,” Harry said, looking up at Daphne with his green eyes.
“It's good that you came to me right away then. Mouth-to-mouth transfer of cooties can be quite serious if left untreated. First, I will have to administer the cootie shot, and afterwards I will kiss it better. Being my patient for so long, you know that it's impossible to properly heal without kissing it better first,” Daphne said
“Naturally. Will the cootie shot hurt?”
“No, but it can produce unwanted side effects if you also have Hanahaki disease, Ligma, Lycanthropy, Vampirism, or Zombification.”
“Ligma?”
“Ligma balls.”
“No, I don't think I have that. I should be okay to have the shot,” Harry said.
“Okay, then roll up your sleeve. It doesn't matter which one,” Daphne said, waiting for Harry to do so. “Ready? One… two… circle, circle, dot, dot – now you've got the cootie shot!”
“Am I all better now, Daphne?” Harry asked, sounding hopeful.
“Well, I still have to kiss the injection and infection locations better, and as long as you don't notice any unusual symptoms in the next twenty-four hours, you should be safe from any and all girl cooties.”
“Okay, I'm ready.”
Daphne kissed his arm like any other boo-boo that he had gotten previously in their six years since she started caring for him, but when she got near his face, she hesitated. This would be her first time kissing Harry, and her heart was fluttering just thinking about it. Leaning down further to finally make contact with his lips, she found it nice. Warm. Too quick, she thought in regret as she pulled away.
Harry was still looking at her with his Merlin-be-damned green eyes, wide, unblinking, and something that she could stare at forever.
“Feel better now, Harry?” Daphne asked, forcing herself to behave and not snog the daylights out of him. Astoria told her that snogging wasn't okay until you were at least fifteen, and Astoria was one to know these things with the amount of Teen Witch Weekly she consumed, despite being only nine years old.
“Yeah,” Harry said, moving his head from her knees and putting it in her lap, resting against her stomach. “You're the best, Daphne.”
Daphne's breath caught. Here was this beautiful boy, trusting her to help cure him from the (entirely made-up) disease that he had contracted and here he was, setting up to take a nap on her lap. Exhaling, she shakily brought a hand up to his hair, running it through the black lawlessness, causing Harry to make a contented sound and burrow further into her lap.
~~~
After five years of helping Madam Pomfrey take care of Harry – through Quidditch, basilisks, Dementors, and dragonfire – and what was sure to be an outstanding set of O.W.L.s, Daphne had finally secured an apprenticeship with the Hogwarts Matron. She would start helping her in an official capacity in September, for a few hours after classes and a few hours on the weekends as long as she got an “O” or “EE” on the required classes. Daphne knew that Madam Pomfrey was secretly relieved for the help – after all, caring for hundreds of students all day, every day, would be enough to drain anyone.
Daphne had also finally secured Harry as hers. After a heart to heart with Hermione earlier in the year, she had asked Harry out to Hogsmeade… as more than friends. She was relieved that she no longer had to worry about anyone else asking him out, but it was surprising how quickly Hermione had acquiesced. Hermione did have a good point that Daphne could take care of him better with her healing knowledge though. Regardless, Daphne had given her the name of a Norwegian cousin currently staying in Britain as thanks, someone that she thought that Hermione would hit it off with.
In fact, she was just making her way down to the Great Hall to meet with Harry and Hermione at breakfast, which would shortly be followed by the carriage ride down to the summer train to London. It wasn't until they were on the train heading home that Harry decided to bring something up that he had apparently been sitting on for a while… ever since first year, if he was to be believed.
“Hey, Daphne?” Harry said to the girl beside him while Hermione looked up from reading her book across from them.
“Yes?” Daphne prompted in reply.
“Do you remember when we were first years and you gave me the cooties shot?”
“Yeah, you said that Hermione gave you the cooties by kissing you,” Daphne said, causing Hermione to look like she wanted to interject.
“Well, all of that was a lie, except for the fact that Ronald Weasley did tell another Gryffindor that Hermione had cooties. Which I'm pretty sure she doesn't, nor ever did.”
“Wait… if you fabricated the whole thing, then…”
“Yes, I was seeing if you would be willing to kiss me, and that was actually my first kiss, not my second. Hermione has never kissed me besides the extremely rare peck on the cheek, and told me that she only wanted to go as friends to the Yule Ball last year.”
“You’re telling me that I had a heart to heart with Hermione to ask her to set aside her feelings for you so I could date you… for nothing?!” Daphne exclaimed loudly.
“I guess so,” Harry said, smiling a little bit.
“At least I got a hot Norwegian boyfriend out of it,” Hermione said. “Have I told you how thankful for your matchmaking I am? “ Hermione continued smugly.
“Harry, if I was allowed to heal you with my wand, I would beat you up for this. Luckily for you, I can't, so I would like a kiss to be able to start forgiving you,” Daphne said.
“Okay,” Harry said, leaning in. “Are you sure that you don't have cooties?”
“Harry…” Daphne growled, causing him to quickly lean in and slowly kiss her.
“Do you want to know something about that time too?” Daphne quietly asked when they finally broke apart.
“What?” Harry responded, equally as quietly.
“I wanted to kiss you too,” Daphne said, leaning back in to give him a kiss that would leave him in a stunned state for the rest of the train ride home.