Author's Notes: It has been quite a while, hasn't it, gang? The Rotten Writer, here to let everyone know ow I'm not dead, and I AM still writing. I have plenty of excuses. Going back to school, working on a career change, marital issues, health issues, kid issues, life issues. Same things just about everyone else has to deal with, so I'm not going to make excuses. Just going to say, I'm back. I'm still working on my other stories as well. I make no promises as to a schedule for future updates but they are in progress.

So here is chapter 4 of Cunning, Courage, and Cleverness. I hope you all enjoy and that it was worth the wait.

Disclaimer: I own nada.

Cunning, Courage, and Cleverness

Debts Paid and Offers Made

By,

Rtnwriter

Harry watched as Daphne thought over his question, her face blank, but her eyes showing the activity going on behind them. She might not be quite as smart as Hermione, he didn't think anyone was quite as smart as Hermione, but he'd already learned that she was an extremely clever witch. Definitely, she was smarter than he was, and it was obvious that she was trying to decide what to ask first.

"I hadn't realized that there was a choice of explanations," she finally said after nearly a minute of silence. "I mean, I was under the impression that you were going to explain how it is that you believe You-Know-Who is still alive?" she added in response to the questioning look that he gave her.

"Well, I could do that, though how he's still around I don't really know, just that he is. I can tell you how I know that he is, in fact, not dead, but how he managed that, I couldn't begin to guess. That's only what I learned in our first year, though. You'll remember something big happened in second year as well, and last year is pretty obvious. You did mention wanting to know what happened with Sirius Black, didn't you?"

She nodded at that, considering for a few more moments before her eyes focused more fully on him.

"I want to know everything. Whatever you're willing to tell me."

With that clear declaration of intent, Harry nodded, took a deep breath, and launched into retelling the last three years of life-threatening danger that he'd put his best friends through. At least, that was how he thought of it. He was reasonably certain that Hermione, at least, would have a very different definition in mind for what they had experienced, and who was at fault.

As he talked, Harry realized that he'd never actually spoken of what they'd experienced over the last three years aloud to someone that hadn't actually been involved in the situation, with the exception of the Headmaster. It surprised him to find that it actually felt good to get some of it off of his chest, to talk about it with someone that hadn't been there and get an outside perspective on the events that had taken place.

For the most part, he talked without interruption, though occasionally Daphne would interject with a question for clarification, or he would pause to ask her something, such as, 'Do you know how Hermione got to all her classes last year?'.

The fact that Hermione trusted her enough that she knew of the Time Turner was enough for him to trust her with the knowledge of his father's cloak and the map.

"How big was this basilisk?" she'd blurted out at one point, her eyes going wide as he explained the battle that happened under the school.

He'd shrugged at that question. "I wasn't really trying to stick around and measure it," he admitted. "If I had to guess I'd say maybe sixty feet or so with a good three or four feet between its eyes? It was really big, and after I killed it I was a little distracted thinking I was going to die since one of its fangs stabbed through my arm as I was shoving the sword up into its head."

He explained how Fawkes had cried into his wound, saving his life, but not preventing the wound from leaving a nasty scar on his arm where the fang had impaled him. By the time he'd finished their first two years in school, they'd arrived outside the Shrieking Shack, their feet carrying them outside the village proper and he leaned against the fence, looking at the dilapidated building curiously. He hadn't really taken much time to look at the place before and so took a moment to really take it all in before turning and leaning his back against the fence.

"So that leads us up to last year," he said before he launched into the tale. He explained everything, from blowing up his Aunt Marge, though he carefully glossed over the details, to spending the last few weeks of his summer at the Leaky Cauldron and exploring Diagon Alley. He told her how Mister Weasley had requested that he not go after Sirius personally, how the Dementors had affected him when they'd come onto the train on the way to school. He explained everything he could, leading right up to the night when they found themselves out on the grounds as a large black dog attacked them and dragged Ron down the tunnel beneath the Whomping Willow.

"Where does that tunnel lead?" she asked when he trailed off.

Smirking, he turned around and gestured to the building behind the fence. Her eyes darted from him, to the Shack, then back to him again as realization struck.

"The Shrieking Shack? The tunnel leads there? Why?"

"You remember that Professor Lupin is a werewolf, right?"

She nodded, frowning minutely at that. "Yes, Professor Snape made a point of letting that 'slip' in the Common Room."

Idly, he noted that she seemed rather annoyed about that and made a mental note to ask her about it later.

"When Remus attended here as a student, Professor Dumbledore let him use the tunnel under the willow to come here on the nights of the full moon so he could transform someplace where he wouldn't be a danger to anyone else. All the noises that the villagers think was the work of restless ghosts or spirits? That was all him while he was suffering through the transformation."

"So what happened when Black dragged Weasley down the tunnel?" she asked after taking a moment to take that last bit of information in.

Raising his wand, Harry removed one of the boards in the fence and set it aside, stepping up to the opening before he turned back and held one hand out to her.

"How would you like to see where it happened?"

#####

Ron Weasley was lost. Not physically, he knew precisely where he was at that moment. He paused and looked around the stone corridors for a moment before he started walking again. He knew, generally, where he was at that moment, but his physical location wasn't the problem. No, the problem was that he was lost, emotionally.

Not an unusual place for Ronald Weasley to be, to be perfectly honest, but in the past he'd always been able to just dismiss those things that didn't make sense or didn't fit his view of the world. According to Hermione, there were things happening that he would not just be able to dismiss as he usually did.

Harry was on a date with a Slytherin. Hermione was actually friends with a Slytherin, and somehow had never thought to mention this to either himself, or Harry. Part of him wanted to blow up at these people that claimed they were his friends, but hid things like this from him. At the same time, he was acutely aware that he'd recently gone overboard not listening to Harry and he'd made a right arse of himself in the process.

With that thought at the front of his mind, Ron pondered the situation, giving it the same sort of focus and consideration that he put into deciding on a move during a game of chess.

Hermione wouldn't be friends with someone that was evil, he thought, and Harry wouldn't give someone like that a second thought, much less actually ask her out. You've already made an arse out of yourself once this year… so give them a chance?

Grimly, he nodded to himself.

Considering the situation carefully, he decided that there really wasn't much of a choice to be made. Harry and Hermione had both shown that they were probably the best friends he'd ever make in his entire life. After everything they'd been through over the last three years, and with his monumental screw up still fresh and at the forefront of his mind, he knew that one more disaster like that would probably damage their friendship beyond any possibility of repair.

Only thing to do is give them a chance. Can't say I want to be friends with this snake Harry asked out, but at the very least I can bite my tongue and keep an eye on things. If she's on the up and up, then good. But if not, at least I can try to keep an eye out for my friend, watch his back for him.

Decision made he continued wandering, his thoughts already moving on to more agreeable topics.

"Wonder what they're serving for dinner tonight?"

#####

"You certainly know how to show a girl a good time," Daphne muttered in a dry tone as she followed Harry into the abandoned shack, her nose wrinkled at the layers of dust and the cobwebs that hung from the ceiling.

"Well, you can't say it isn't unique," he shot back over his shoulder, grinning cheekily at her.

She couldn't help but let out a small laugh, one hand coming up to cover her mouth.

"True enough," she admitted. "I'm fairly certain that something like this never even occurred to me as an option for a first date scenario."

"Then it's a good thing you took me up on the public date," he said. "My plan for if you wanted this date to be private would have been worse."

She blinked in surprise, her eyes turning away from a set of deep claw marks scored into the wall next to her to focus on where he was standing at the top of the stairs leading up to the next floor, only a few steps above her.

"What was your plan if I wasn't willing to have our date in public?" she found herself asking, unable to contain her curiosity.

He shrugged, one corner of his mouth twitching up into a smirk. "Well… being the Slytherin that you are, I thought you might like to visit the Chamber that your House's Founder built beneath the school… problem is, there's still a dead basilisk down there and I'm not sure how much it might have rotted by now. It probably doesn't smell very good, and then there's how we get to the chamber in the first place. Pretty dirty ride if I'm being honest."

Eyes wide, Daphne climbed the last few steps, forcing Harry to step back lest she walk right into him until she was standing well inside his personal space, her chest almost touching his, looking up just slightly to meet his gaze.

"You mean that?" she asked breathlessly. "You'd really show me the Chamber of Secrets?"

Harry was leaning back slightly, eyeing her warily and with no small measure of surprise.

"Err… yeah? I mean… yeah, I was considering it. I thought it might be something that you'd find interesting, but like I said, it'd probably be a dirty and disgusting trip overall. Probably not a good 'date' kind of outing."

"I'm not afraid of getting dirty, Harry Potter," she told him seriously. "If you're serious, then we are definitely doing that soon. Can you imagine the extra clout that would give me in my House? Being the only Slytherin in the school to get to see our Founder's Chamber?"

His expression took on a thoughtful cast for a moment, as if considering what she'd said, before he seemed to shake himself and he took a small step back, giving her a small, nervous smile.

"Something to plan for, then," he said as he offered her his hand. "Come on, it's this way."

It took a moment for her to remember what he was talking about, so distracted was she by visions of ancient secrets. Eventually, her mind latched onto the story he'd been telling and she gave herself a mental shake, resolving to revisit the idea of the Chamber later as she placed her hand in his.

Calloused, rough fingers closed around her hand, yet his grip was surprisingly gentle as he started down the dimly lit hall.

"See there?" he asked a moment later, drawing her attention away from the feeling of his hand wrapped around her own to look where he was pointing with his free hand. Even after the months that had passed since the end of last year, she could still clearly see a mess of footprints and drag marks cut through the dust on the floor all leading toward a door at the end of the hall.

"That's where the dog dragged Ron, and then me and Hermione, following along behind."

"There's more footprints here than just you and Hermione," she pointed out, studying the very large paw prints carefully. Based on their size, she could only conclude that the dog that attacked them had been very large.

"Remus, and then later, your Head of House," he told her.

"Professor Snape was there?"

He nodded, his expression taking on a furious cast for a moment before it vanished. Leading her into the room he pointed to the bed off to one side.

"That's where we found Ron with his leg broken and his wand missing," he told her, then he turned to the door and gestured to the corner behind it. "And that's where Black was standing with Ron's wand."

"You actually met him?" she blurted out, aghast at the idea.

"Oh yeah, and it was probably one of the most enlightening meetings of my life. I wanted to kill him," he admitted in a sombre tone. "I honestly wanted to kill him more than I've ever wanted anything before. But then he started talking and… actually, Hermione did something then that I'll always remember. We were sure he was going to attack us and I was barely thinking straight when she stepped in between me and Black, her wand pointed at him and told him that if he wanted to kill me that he'd have to go through her first."

He didn't seem to be seeing the corner of the room anymore, his eyes unfocused as he thought back on the memory of that night.

"Just one of the reasons I love her, I guess," he muttered. "She's never let me down, no matter what was happening, she's always stood by me."

Daphne remained silent, not entirely certain what to say, or if it was even her place to say anything at that moment.

Eventually, Harry seemed to shake himself and he turned away to face her. "Anyway, I learned a lot that night. We had a scuffle, we managed to get the wand away from him and we had him on the ground. I accused him of killing my parents and he didn't deny it but said that I didn't know the whole story.

"Back when they were in school, my dad had three friends that he was closest to. Remus Lupin, Sirius Black, and Peter Pettigrew… do you know how my parents went about hiding before the attack that Halloween?"

Daphne nodded. "It was said that they used the Fidelius charm, right? And that Black was their secret keeper, that's how he was able to lead You-Know-Who to their cottage in Godric's Hollow that night."

Harry nodded. "Well, that story is really only half right."

One slim brow arched in question and he gave her a rueful smile.

"Yes, they used the Fidelius. No, Sirius Black was not their secret keeper."

Daphne felt her mouth drop open, but she was too surprised to really care or do anything about it as Harry kept talking.

"Peter was the secret keeper. They let everyone think that Sirius was because he was the obvious choice. My dad's absolute best friend, the best man at his wedding to my mum, and he is also my godfather. Sirius was supposed to act as a decoy, to take suspicion off of Peter, but what they didn't know was that Peter was already a Death Eater, he'd already joined Voldemort and he was the one that told him the secret so that he could find my parent's house that night."

"But Pettigrew is dead," Daphne protested. "Black blew him up along with all of those muggles."

"No, Pettigrew faked his death. He was the one that cast the curse that blew up the street, probably hit a gas main or something. In the confusion, he cut off one of his own fingers and then transformed into his rat animagus form and escaped into the sewers."

Daphne was frowning, her brow furrowed in concentration as she turned the story over in her mind. "How could he prove that?" she asked. "All Black would have had would be his word. How was he able to convince you that he was telling the truth?"

Harry went on to explain the rest and she listened carefully as he revealed what happened that night. In the end, she was left dumbfounded and amazed. Peter Pettigrew was a traitor and had hidden as the Weasely family pet for more than a decade. She couldn't help but laugh over the idea of her Head of House getting blasted into a wall and knocked out.

"So, you all returned to the Castle after that?" she asked as they left the shack behind and began walking back toward the village.

"Nope. The story still isn't over."

"What more could there be?" she demanded. "You had Pettigrew captured and Professor Snape was knocked out. You were on your way back to the castle to turn the rat in and…" She trailed off questioningly.

"And right about that point was when the full moon came out, and Remus realized that, in his rush to get down to us, he'd forgotten to take his wolfsbane potion."

It took all of two seconds for Daphne to connect the dots and her eyes widened dramatically at his implication.

Before she could interject, Harry continued with the story, explaining the rest of that harrowing night up to, and including, his and Hermione's trip through time as they went about saving both Buckbeak and Harry's godfather's lives.

When he finished with the tale, Daphne remained silent for some time, turning over everything she'd learned in her head as they approached the carriages that would take them back to the castle. She murmured a quiet 'thank you' as she took his hand and let him help her up into the carriage, carefully settling herself on the bench seat. Harry climbed in behind her, closed the door, and sat across from her.

"I believe you," she finally said after they were nearly halfway back to the castle. He looked over at her from where he'd been observing the scenery outside the carriage again. "I believe you, Harry," she repeated herself, just for the sake of clarity. "This whole thing is a travesty, a miscarriage of justice that is… well, it's unconscionable really. For someone, anyone, to simply be thrown in prison without a trial or the benefit of any sort of due process… it's an outrage."

Harry sighed and nodded his head. "You're not going to hear any argument from me," he muttered, "but without Pettigrew as proof, there's no way to clear Sirius' name. He's still on the run and he still has a 'kiss on sight' order hanging over his head. There's nothing any of us can do about it right now."

"That might not be entirely true," she said, causing one of his brows to rise in a questioning manner. "My father is a member of the Wizengamot. He's a respected member of the neutral faction in the government and he's no fan of Minister Fudge, either. If… if you're willing to talk to him, or to let me write to him… I think he might be able to do something for your godfather. At the very minimum, he might be able to get Sirius the fair trial that he should have had more than a decade ago. If everything is really as you say then a trial, testimony from you, Hermione, and even your friend, Weasley, along with veritaserum questioning from Sirius himself… I can't make any promises, but that should be more than enough to see him exonerated."

"If it was that easy, then why couldn't Dumbledore do it?" Harry wondered, not, she noticed, in an accusing manner. His tone of voice simply indicated curiosity.

"The Headmaster is powerful, politically speaking, and he is well thought of and respected, but he also has just as many detractors and enemies as he does supporters. Unfortunately some of the most powerful of them are in positions to block him from achieving his goals. With a situation like this… there are a lot of people that wouldn't want your godfather's innocence to be revealed. It would get people asking them questions that they would not want to answer, and Fudge is all about his power and popularity.

"He would look really bad if it came out that he placed a kiss on sight order on an innocent man's head. It could even be argued that he could be charged with attempted murder for keeping the order in place after he was told that Sirius was innocent. At this point, it is in his best interests for your godfather to quietly 'disappear' so that Fudge won't look bad in front of the public."

Daphne gave him a small, wry grin.

"On top of that, Professor Dumbledore is viewed as a paragon of the 'light'. He is extremely crafty and clever, but he can't resort to the kind of underhanded tactics that would be needed to get this pushed through without some really solid evidence, like having Pettigrew captive to present to the DMLE. My father doesn't have a problem with that, and is more than willing to get a little dirty if need be. He can also gain the ear of some people in the neutral and dark factions that normally wouldn't listen to a word the Headmaster has to say. Like I said, it's not a sure thing, but I am fairly confident that he could do something to help beyond what the Headmaster would be capable of right now."

Harry frowned, his brow furrowed in thought and Daphne let him think in peace, not wanting to push him. Everything she'd learned about Harry Potter told her that pushing him was the easiest way to get him to dig in his heels, if for no other reason than just to be contrary.

The carriage pulled up to the gates leading onto the school grounds and Daphne waited for Harry to open the door, to move, to acknowledge that the carriage had even come to a stop. None of that happened, however. Instead, he sat, staring unblinking at the floor of the carriage, just in front of the toes of his black uniform shoes. For several minutes they sat, Harry staring at the floor and Daphne watching him as the story of what he was feeling raged behind his bright green eyes like a storm.

She couldn't put a name to the many feelings that he seemed to experience in those few minutes, but she found herself mesmerized, attempting to catalogue them all.

"Can I take a bit to think on it?"

She blinked, broken from her trance to realize that his gaze had focused on her and she found herself mentally scrambling to remember what he'd said.

"Meaning you want to discuss it with Hermione before making any decisions," she said with a small smirk curving up the corners of her mouth.

Harry shot her a grin and shrugged one shoulder. "I might be more clever than I appear, but I know full well that Hermione is probably smarter than both of us put together," he said, referencing her own comment from the day before. "A large part of me wants to take you up on your offer, Daphne, but this isn't just my life that we're talking about here, and it isn't my freedom that's at risk if something goes wrong. I would like to talk to Hermione, and I think I'd need to try to talk to Sirius as well before agreeing to anything."

Daphne lifted one hand in a stopping gesture.

"You don't need to justify yourself to me, Harry," she told him. "I understand it's not a quick decision to make, so take your time, discuss it with whoever you need to discuss it with. Worst case scenario, maybe you could meet my father and explain everything to him yourself over the holiday break. That way you can be absolutely certain that there's nothing left out by mistake."

Nodding his head, he offered her a broader smile before he turned, pushed open the door to the carriage, and climbed out, turning to offer her his hand once again. Once they were both standing beside the carriage he closed the door and offered her his arm, leading her up the snowy path toward the castle in the distance.

"So," he said as they walked, "how do you want to handle things going forward?"

She turned her head slightly to look at him out of the corner of one eye. "How do you mean?"

He shrugged one shoulder again, raking the fingers of his free hand nervously back through his hair, the end result being that his already unruly hair was sticking out in even more wild directions than usual.

"This, us, us and Hermione… Hermione and I, we don't want to keep everything a secret, but there are so many different ways to handle what we're doing in relation to the school…" He let out a long, frustrated sigh.

"I hate being famous," he bit out. "I hate being the centre of attention and having everyone staring at me and talking about me. More than almost anything I wish I could be 'just Harry'. Just another student, going through school, going on dates, getting in trouble and having fun with my friends.

"Since I came back to this world that's never been possible for me. I get that people are always going to be curious about me, and I hate that most of the people that I might meet won't really have any interest in the real me but just the stories and legends that they've heard about." His face twisted into a grimace of distaste and she found herself, almost unconsciously, squeezing his arm in a comforting way. Absently he patted her hand where it was tucked into the crook of his elbow as he took a deep breath.

"This thing the three of us have going… that will just give people more to talk about, and I honestly hate that. At the same time, I had a good time today, Daphne. Far more than I would have expected at first, considering how nervous I was. I don't know… something about you just… you're easy to talk to in a way that I've only ever felt with Hermione. I know that I'm, well, a little closed off. Like I said, I don't open up to people easily and I've never talked about the things that happened over the last few years with anyone before, not even discussing it after the fact with Hermione and Ron. It just felt easy, talking to you about it."

He stopped in the middle of the path, bringing her to a halt with him, the castle still a fair distance away from them and turned to face her. Unhooking their arms, he let his hand slide down her forearm until he was able to take hold of her hand again, his fingers wrapping carefully around her own.

With his cheeks tinged with red that she didn't think had anything to do with the cold air his eyes met hers and he held her gaze. "Something else that Hermione was right about, I guess," he murmured. "I like what I've seen of you so far. I like your sense of humour and your wit. You're absolutely gorgeous, but you aren't stuck up and snobbish like some girls with your looks tend to be. There's… there's something real about you and I can't help but want to learn more."

He trailed off again, his brow furrowing for a moment before he shook his head and let out another sigh.

"I feel like I'm just rambling here without really saying anything important," he muttered and she let out a small laugh.

"I think you said plenty," she told him. Slowly, she lifted her free hand and placed it on his chest, feeling the solid warmth of him and the steady, if slightly rapid, beating of his heart under her palm.

"She was right," she admitted. "I think it would be fairly easy to come to care for you just as strongly as I care for her. Honestly, that scares me more than I thought it would. I'm not known as the Ice Queen for nothing. I don't let people see what I'm feeling. Most would be surprised to learn that I actually have feelings at all…"

It was her turn to trail off as the hand she had resting on his chest curled into a fist, taking a tight grip on the front of his school robes.

This is a bad idea, she thought.

Making an unusually quick decision for her, she used that grip to pull him forward as she lifted her head slightly and pressed her lips to his.

The kiss was gentle and chaste, but no less impactful to either teen for it. It barely lasted ten seconds, and when Daphne pulled back she had to make a conscious effort not to lean back into him for another one.

"I'm going to fail all my classes, I just know it," Harry muttered in a dazed tone, his expression perfectly matching his voice if not for the lopsided smile that had taken up residence on his lips.

"Why is that?" she asked, amused by his reaction.

"Because I'm pretty certain you girls are going to scramble what little intelligence I have if the two of you keep doing things like that."

Daphne couldn't help but let out a laugh at that as Harry shook his head, as if shaking off the daze that had settled over him.

"Not that I'm complaining at all," he said, "but what was that for?"

"Well, I believe it's tradition to reward the gentleman at the end of an enjoyable date with a kiss," she stated impishly.

He considered that for a moment before the lopsided smile spread into a goofy grin.

"I think I'm beginning to like some of these traditions."

They resumed walking toward the castle as Daphne's laughter rang out over the snow-covered grounds.

#####

Hermione couldn't decide whether she wanted to squeal or explode. Both seemed like distinct possibilities as she sat on the steps leading into the entrance hall, her body nearly quivering with barely contained excitement. She'd been sitting there for nearly an hour already, waiting for her boyfriend and girlfriend to return from their date, and thus had had a front row seat to the liplock Daphne had laid on Harry.

She kissed him! she thought gleefully. Truly, Daphne was one of the potential sticking points in the entire situation as, despite his noble nature, Harry was still a teenage boy. It wouldn't have really been difficult for him to decide he wanted to kiss a girl as attractive as Daphne Greengrass. But for Daphne to be the one to make the first move, since she knew Harry would never… that spoke volumes to Hermione and she couldn't be more thrilled about the entire thing.

Daphne's laughter as the two resumed their trek toward the castle echoed even to where Hermione was waiting. As they approached, she stood, closing the book she'd brought with her and holding it in front of her with both hands, a beaming smile on her face. The two were talking quietly, each glancing in her direction occasionally, though it wasn't until they reached the bottom of the steps that she was able to hear their conversation.

"... you sure?" Harry was asking, his gaze directed toward the blond at his side.

"Absolutely." Daphne nodded her head sharply. "It gets the job done and everything else can be ignored, to an extent. I'm sure something will have to be said to a few people eventually, but that bridge will be crossed when it arrives."

"I'm not sure that's exactly how the saying goes," he said in a dry tone, "but I'll take your word for it. Hullo, Hermione. Been waiting long?"

Blushing slightly, Hermione shook her head, her bushy hair bouncing back and forth. "No, just a few minutes, really," she lied, absolutely refusing to admit to either of them just how long she'd been waiting for them to return.

Smiling broadly, Harry pulled her into a hug, something that startled her just slightly, as he'd rarely been one to initiate any form of physical contact. She was able to quickly recover from her surprise and returned the hug, squeezing tightly as her eyes slid closed and she took a moment to simply revel in the casual contact with one of the most important people in her life.

"So, how was your date?" she asked once she and Harry had separated and the three of them made their way into the entrance hall. She noted that there seemed to be a rather large number of students milling about, no doubt waiting to see Harry and Daphne return. Whispers could barely be heard coming from various pockets of students dotted around the area but she forcefully shoved them from her mind and instead kept her attention focused on Harry and Daphne.

"It was… interesting," Harry said.

"Enlightening," Daphne added in a dry tone that had Hermione quirking a brow curiously in her direction.

Moving forward, Harry hooked his right arm through her left and started leading her toward the Great Hall. "Later," he muttered in a voice quiet enough that only she would be able to hear.

Hermione nodded, biting her lip to hold back the flood of questions that wanted to spill from her mouth. As they stepped into the Great Hall, Daphne reached for Harry's free arm, bringing both him and Hermione to a stop as their arms were still looped together.

"Yes," she said once both of them had turned to face her.

Hermione couldn't see his face, but she imagined that Harry looked as confused as she felt because a moment later Daphne offered a small smile and clarified her statement.

"Yes, I accept your offer of courtship," she explained. "I trust you'll write to my father and inform him of your intentions?"

Hermione slapped one hand over her mouth to hold back the laughter that wanted to bubble out as Harry nervously sputtered his way through an agreement.

More whispers and murmurs sprang up throughout the Hall as Daphne wrapped first Harry, then Hermione, in a quick hug before she turned and practically sauntered her way over to the Slytherin table, taking a seat next to a brunette girl that immediately leaned toward her, whispering quietly in her ear.

"That's Tracey Davis," Hermione informed Harry as she took his arm again and pulled him toward the Gryffindor table. "They've been best friends since they were children."

"Does she know about…" Harry trailed off, giving her a pointed look and she shook her head.

"No. You were the first of our friends to know about us. Though… I think she might let her know soon?"

She added a small tilt to her tone at the end, turning what should have been a statement into a question. Just as she expected, he immediately understood her point.

"We'll have to tell some people, but for the most part Daphne thinks we won't really need to tell anyone."

He fell silent as they reached the table and took their seats across from Ron, who was busily stuffing his face. Not for the first time, Hermione found herself wanting to leave the Great Hall entirely to eat somewhere else. There was no way she could talk to Harry about their situation with so many ears nearby, and after dinner they would be in the Common Room and unlikely to get any privacy there either.

Beside her, already engaged in conversation with Ron, Harry slid his hand into hers beneath the edge of the table, giving it a firm, comforting squeeze. All her worries seemed to melt away in that moment as she returned the gesture, squeezing his hand tightly. For the rest of the meal they held hands beneath the table and Hermione couldn't help the small smile that turned up her lips.

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Meet me in the entrance hall at ten tomorrow morning.

That was all Harry had managed to say to her in private the night before, just prior to him dragging Neville off for a discussion. Hermione woke Sunday morning, those words echoing within her mind as she got out of bed and got ready for the day. She couldn't make sense of it, though her imagination conjured up any number of possible reasons.

Excitement and trepidation warred for dominance, both feelings running through her body in waves. It was still a Hogsmeade weekend. Could Harry be planning to ask her on a date? Would Daphne join them? What were they planning to do about the rest of the school?

She had so many questions as she finished getting dressed that she didn't entirely know whether she was coming or going anymore. Finished with her shower and with getting dressed for the day, she made her way downstairs to find the Common Room nearly empty, only a few of the older year students were sitting around, textbooks in their hands or open in front of them on various tables.

With no sign of Ron, or Harry, she exited the room and headed down to the Great Hall. Daphne was sitting at the Slytherin table when she came in and she resisted the urge to wave to her secret girlfriend, still unsure of how they intended to move forward with their situation. The Gryffindor table was half full when she arrived and she immediately spotted Harry sitting at the table, another box, like the one he'd had the day before on the table in front of him. Beside him Neville was muttering quietly to him, both boys with their heads bent close together.

"Good morning," she said as she slid onto the bench across from them, causing both boys to interrupt their discussion to look up at her, each of them smiling brightly.

"Morning, Hermione," Neville said, Harry echoing him.

She was just starting to fill her plate when Harry pushed his own aside and stood. She looked up, a stricken expression stealing over her face.

"Entrance hall at ten," he said, tapping the watch on his wrist. "It's only nine thirty now."

Her teeth sank into her lower lip but she said nothing and only nodded in response. Harry turned to Neville.

"You have this?" He asked, nudging the box on the table with one hand.

"I've got it, don't worry, mate," Neville assured him.

Giving them both a quick smile, Harry stepped over the bench and strode out of the Great Hall. Hermione noticed Daphne meet him at the doors and both of them left, leaving a new wave of murmured conversation in their wake.

"Okay, Neville, what's going on?" Hermione demanded, spinning away from the doors to face the boy seated across from her.

Setting down his goblet of pumpkin juice Neville simply smiled and shook his head.

"Oh, no," he said. "I'm looking forward to this and I have no intention of ruining anything."

She scowled at him but, aside from a nervous gulp at her expression, he was unmoved.

Sighing, she quickly ate her breakfast, one eye on the watch on her wrist as the seconds and minutes ticked closer and closer to ten o'clock. By the time she finished eating, with five minutes left to go until she was supposed to meet Harry in the entrance hall, she was a frantic bundle of nerves about whatever surprise was waiting for her. So much that her magic was rising to the surface, bubbling just beneath her skin, causing her hair to stand out even more so than usual as occasional sparks of static shot between individual chestnut strands.

With her breakfast done she pushed her plate away and stood, surprised when Neville also rose and came around the table to offer her his arm.

"I promised Harry I'd escort you," he said in response to the questioning look she gave him. "You're both my friends, and I'm happy to offer my services in this."

"You know what he's planning," she accused, even though that had already been made clear. "Why can't you even give me a hint?"

Neville chuckled softly as she slipped her hand into the crook of his elbow and let him lead her toward the doors.

"As scary as you can be, Hermione, Harry is just a little more intimidating," he told her. "And besides, I wouldn't want to ruin the surprise."

Hermione huffed but kept silent, fighting back a small smile. It was honestly refreshing, seeing the playful, confident side of Neville Longbottom. She found herself hoping that they would all see more of this from the typically shy boy in the future.

Stepping through the doors she immediately spotted Harry and Daphne both standing nearby, talking to each other in low tones that didn't carry. Their conversation cut off as Neville and Hermione approached and when the two of them stopped a few feet away, Neville released her arm and stepped to the side, his manner and movements strangely formal in a way that Hermione couldn't quite place her finger on.

"Hermione Granger."

She jerked slightly at the sound of Harry's voice, pulling her attention away from Neville and back to her boyfriend as he stepped forward, leaving an arm's length of distance between them.

"Harry?"

Smiling, he reached into his robes and removed a small bouquet, holding them loosely in one hand for a moment before he bowed slightly, presenting them to her.

"Oh, Harry," she breathed, as trembling hands reached out to accept the offered flowers.

Red roses represent true love, white roses represent friendship, both together represent unity, she thought as she examined them. Love, friendship, unity. Yeah, that seems fairly accurate.

She looked up from the bouquet that she had cradled in her arms to see Daphne hand Harry a small, decorative crystal vial. Opening it with one hand, he raised his right hand, wand pressed against his temple and closed his eyes in concentration. Slowly, he began to pull the wand away from his temple and as he did, silver, wispy threads of… something, stuck to the end of his wand as he drew them from his own head.

"This," he said as he carefully placed the long thread into the vial, "is a memory. This is my gift to you, in the hope that you will accept it and the fact that I would very much like to court you, Miss Granger." He paused and glanced at Daphne where she stood beside him when she delicately cleared her throat. "Sorry, we would like to court you, together. The vial, Daphne created and is her gift to you while the memory is mine."

He put away his wand and replaced the stopper in the vial. As he held it the stopper seemed to melt into the rest of the vial, leaving it a solid, diamond shaped crystal with silver, glowing wisps swirling and turning inside it, a soft glow radiating from it as a silver chain appeared to grow out from the neck of the vial. In moments he was holding a glowing pendant in his hand and he carefully offered it to her.

Hermione was so focused on the two people in front of her that she was completely unaware of the crowd that had gathered and was watching them with varying levels of shock and surprise.

Swallowing thickly she found herself asking, "what is the memory?"

Harry took a deep breath and shot another glance at Daphne, his entire posture radiating nervous tension. At her quick nod he turned his attention back to Hermione.

"The memory is of the moment when I first realized how I felt about you. I'd like to say it's when I first realized that I love you, but honestly love isn't something that I have much experience with. I don't know for sure if what I feel is actually love, but I would very much like to find out and the best way to do that is to court you and to explore the feelings that we both have."

Silently, Hermione reached out and accepted the pendant as he presented it to her, carefully studying it for several long moments.

"Hermione," Daphne spoke up, drawing Hermione's attention to her and away from the pendant in her hands. "Harry and I would very much like it if you would accompany us on a date today. Please use that time to consider our offer of courtship."

Before she realized it Hermione was shaking her head.

"I don't need to consider anything," she said. Quickly she handed the roses to Daphne and then turned back to Harry, holding up the pendant. "Please put this on for me?"

Grinning like an idiot, Harry accepted the pendant back and Hermione turned in front of him, reaching back to pull her long mane out of the way. Shivers ran down her spine as he reached around her, carefully pulling the chain around her neck and his fingers brushed against the fine hairs at the back of her neck as he fiddled with the clasp. Eventually, he managed to lock it and let go, letting the weight of the crystal pull against the chain and she let go of her hair, turning even as one hand came up to brush against the glowing vial hanging between her breasts.

More than anything she wanted to launch herself at her boyfriend and reward him with an entirely indecent kiss. What she'd learned from Daphne about propriety in the wizarding world, however, stopped her.

"Like I said," she told them, "I don't need to consider anything. I would be absolutely thrilled to accompany you on a date, and even more pleased to accept the offer of courtship from both of you."

The rising noise level around them finally drew her attention back to the fact that they were still standing in the middle of the entrance hall and there were several dozen students milling about, each now speaking with each other in hushed tones.

Daphne handed her roses back to her and Harry offered his left arm to her, to which Hermione smiled and slipped her right hand into the crook of his elbow. Offering his right arm to Daphne, the blond gave a small smirk and hooked her hand into the crook of that elbow. Thus linked together, Harry began to lead them out of the entrance hall and toward the Grand Staircase.

"Where are we going?" Hermione found herself asking.

"Well, Daphne made mention of something yesterday that I hadn't given serious thought to before, though I'm fairly sure that I should have, but it made me realize that there are a number of things we could do for a date, aside from just heading into Hogsmeade." Harry flashed her a lopsided grin. "How would you like to visit Salazar's famous Chamber of Secrets?"