A/N: Hey everyone and welcome to the first of many short stories I'll be writing, this one is for Weather Report!
For those of you interested in my other works, I currently have three stories in progress with the pairings of those being Harry/FemVoldemort, Harry/Delphini and Harry/OFC
As usual, a big thanks to my Beta's and Discord Staff - Alec, Alpple, Babo, CalamityXx, Champ, DorianGray, O'Neill, Seventh Son, SinisterFox and Xevier!
Feel free to join my Discord for updates, a chance to request your own short story and information; link on my profile. Without any more rambling from me, I hope you enjoy the story!
(Sorry if you don't like this!)
December 25th, 1993
Saturday Evening
Hermione.
What right did she have to send away his gift to Professor McGonagall on only the suspicion that it was jinxed?
What right did the Professor have to take it?
Why had Ron defended her actions rather than side with him when they were supposed to be best mates?
Harry threw a rock from the Owlery and sighed in annoyance at the actions of his friends. Just once he wanted to be allowed some form of luxury, but no, not this time.
He bent down to pick up another rock - the last of the large ones in the area he was standing - and stood back up to throw it from the large openings in the stonework. Putting all his frustration behind it, Harry wound up and threw it as he'd seen some American muggles doing when they played that Baseball game.
A satisfying crash into a large rock told him that he'd put good force behind it and eagerly he looked for another stone; it was fun throwing things with no repercussions.
Spotting a large one that made him wonder the condition of the tower, Harry moved over to the corner it was idly by and right as he bent down to pick it up, bumped into another person.
"Merlin!" He'd exclaimed at the contact.
Whoever he'd bumped let out a noise of shock too, only it was a feminine exclamation of surprise rather than any word or sentence.
Recovering first due to a quickness from quidditch, Harry stood up and looked down at the person still trying to right themself on the ground. He was greeted with a distinctively girlish figure that matched the sound made upon initial contact - she had blonde hair and looked incredibly pale from the limited skin he could see.
"Are you going to gawk all day or be a gentleman and help me up?" He wasn't familiar with the voice and seeing as the girl was wearing no Hogwarts related clothing, he couldn't be sure what House she was in. Still, he held out a bare hand for the girl and she took it in one of her gloved ones, allowing him to pull her up.
"Sorry about that… I, uh, I didn't expect anyone to be coming out here on Christmas." Harry offered that as a lame excuse, what else could he say to the girl he'd knocked down?
The girl said nothing in response to him and instead, brushed the hair from her face. Seeing her do that, Harry couldn't help but steal a glance at her - the moment he did so, he was greeted with ice blue eyes and very sharp features. She looked like a French model in one of those magazines Dudley was always trying to hide from Aunt Petunia.
She huffed, noticing his staring.
"Yeah, yeah. I apologize too - now excuse me, Potter."
Potter. That was all he needed to hear to know the girl he'd bumped into was almost definitely a Slytherin.
"Okay." He replied, stepping out of her way and deciding to leave the tower rather than deal with another potential problem.
"Okay?" Daphne asked, the hostility vanishing as she watched him begin going down the stairs.
He turned back to her hesitantly, his arm itching towards his wand in-case she was trying something.
"Yeah. Okay."
What else did she want from him if he was already going to leave the tower to her?
"Well, aren't you going to do anything? At least curse me?" the girl asked him that with the same expression and sense of confusion he imagined was present on his face.
"Why would I do that?" He asked her, taking a step back up the stairs so he was eye level with the blonde girl again.
"I th-... nevermind," she watched him for a few seconds and zeroed in on the tension in his jaw, "Is everything... alright, with you?"
"Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine," Harry looked away from her in hopes she wouldn't ask any further questions and took a step back down the stairs before saying over his shoulder, "Excuse me… ?"
"Heiress Daphne Greengrass." The girl, Daphne as he now knew her, responded automatically and in a manner that made him know she'd done so hundreds of times before.
"Wicked; excuse me, Greengrass." He stole her line and made to leave the tower for hopefully the final time.
A hand on his back and a word from her halted him.
"Wait."
Harry stopped his moving but didn't look back at the girl when he replied.
"What?"
He heard a feminine huff and felt Daphne try to turn him around so she could see his face - curious at what she wanted, he relented and allowed it to happen.
Now facing her, Harry asked for a second time, "What?"
Daphne didn't respond right away, but when she did, it most certainly wasn't what he'd been expecting.
"You're never without Granger or Weasley."
Harry supposed that was something that a lot of people would think, though he didn't know why that mattered at this point in time, as it most definitely wasn't an answer to his question.
"And?" Couldn't she just go on with what she was wanting to say? Harry hadn't exactly worn the warmest clothing while on his quest to quite literally, cool off.
Daphne raised a singular brow at the snappishness of his tone and replied in one of her own that showed him why many of the boys in his years were nervous when paired with her.
"I imagine they've done something stupid that made you cross enough to ignore them based on the lack of their company, the tension you're outwardly showing and the short manner in which you reacted to my statement - am I right?"
Harry had looked away from her halfway during her question, essentially confirming the truth of it. He hadn't intended to do so and if anything, it was more reactionary than any conscious thought; the last thing he wanted was a Slytherin getting involved with information that could further affect his opinion of his friends.
"No," He responded once he looked back at the girl, trying to fill his voice with confidence enough that she'd not suspect him to be lying even if only prior he'd all but confirmed her words.
Daphne tutted at him, "If you're going to lie, you'll need to do better than that, Potter."
He shook his head and turned around on the steps; the Slytherin witch didn't deserve any more of his time if she'd go about treating him like a child.
"Pot-" Daphne had started saying his name and reached out for him a second time, only she'd somehow tripped while doing so - he heard as much from the sharp intake of breath and the sudden rush of air on the back of his neck.
Acting on a seeker's instincts and reflexes, he turned around in time to cushion the girls fall with a hasty cushioning charm.
Daphne, now looking up at him from the steps and with a blushing face, held out a hand towards him.
For a split second, Harry debated walking away so as to avoid dealing with the conversation that was sure to follow even if it were only to thank him for saving her from a few scrapes. Obviously, that split second thought was squashed by the Gryffindor within him and a second later, he gripped her hand, pulling her to her feet without an issue.
"Thanks, Potter… I suppose I should apologize for being nosy and a touch condescending too." Daphne was still red in the face while she said that, yet she maintained eye contact with him.
Harry sighed and rubbed the back of his neck, "It's fine. I guess what bugged me more than anything was that you knew you were right without even needing me to confirm it - it's unnerving being read so easily."
Daphne observed him with a look of contemplation on her face and then suddenly smiled.
"Say, Potter, would you want to grab some Hot Chocolate from the kitchens? Before you ask too, I won't bug you about Granger and Weasley."
Could Slytherin's be that normal or was this a plot concocted by Draco?
Harry looked around and half expected to see the Malfoy boy peeking out from behind a corner. When he didn't and instead only saw a frowning Daphne, his body hastily spoke the words without waiting for his input.
"That'd be brilliant."
"Let me repeat it back to you in case I misheard anything," Daphne said while looking at Harry, the boy giving a nod in reply and in response, she continued, "You received a broom from some mysterious benefactor - one of the best ones currently available at that - and shortly thereafter, Granger went away to have Professor McGonagall confiscate it under the assumption a notorious mass-murderer sent it to you in his free time?"
Harry nodded.
"Why exactly did Weasley side with Granger over you?" Daphne was leaning forward with her cup of Hot Chocolate in her glove-covered hands.
"He has a crush on her, told me as much earlier this month." Harry wasn't certain he should be divulging that information but couldn't find it within himself to care, as, during the long walk with Daphne to the Hogwarts Kitchens, he'd gotten to know the Slytherin girl a good bit.
While multiple topics had come up, with most of them being unimportant, he'd held onto the information he thought was worth knowing about her.
Daphne was Heiress to one of the most powerful families in magical Britain, she has a younger sister soon to start Hogwarts that means the world to her, she absolutely despises Draco Malfoy along with those that follow him and her favourite thing to do on Christmas is to drink Hot Chocolate while eating freshly made treacle tarts.
Needless to say on the last two facts alone, she'd become his favourite Slytherin.
"Not that it might matter overly much to you or your friends, I would have erred on the side of caution too," Daphne raised her hands calmingly when Harry's look changed to put out, "I'm not saying I would've run off to a Professor so they could confiscate your broom, only that I'd have had someone with more practical magical knowledge take a look at it so as to ascertain it's safety."
"Why would somebody send me something so expensive if it were jinxed?" Harry countered while the girl paused to dab at her lips with a napkin, clearing the debris of her most recently eaten treacle tart.
Daphne took a sip of Hot Chocolate and cleared her throat after doing so, "Harry, there're many followers of he-who-must-not-be-named that would gladly spend even a hundred times the cost of a broom if it meant ending the boy-who-lived."
Harry looked away, knowing she was right when it was put like that; Merlin, why couldn't Hermione have said it so clearly?
"Perhaps… no, nevermind." Daphne had started to say something but stopped and looked away, her cheeks just as red as the time he'd stopped her fall only half an hour ago.
"What is it?" Harry questioned as he went in for a drink of his own - thinking idly that Hot Chocolate was an excellent pick.
Daphne shook her head, but at a look of insistence from him, sighed.
"I was thinking since I have to return to my friends soon, that maybe… maybe you wouldn't be opposed to doing this again sometime."
Harry's eyes widened and he felt his throat constrict at the suggestion.
Did she truly want to see him again?
Taking his lack of an answer as a 'no', Daphne stood up from her seat while looking away from him.
"It was a stupid suggestion, I'll le-"
Harry stood up so fast that he'd bumped his knees and caught a foot on the chair beneath him, falling forward just as she'd done - only this time it was Daphne that cushioned his fall and he that held out a hand towards her, the girl didn't think twice as he had either when she gripped his hand and pulled him to his feet.
Feeling embarrassed after what had just transpired, Harry responded to her while looking at one of the many bustling house-elves in the room.
"I'd like to see you again, you know, if you don't end up taking it back."
A soft hand on his cheek brought his attention back to a shyly smiling Daphne.
"Tomorrow then," Daphne leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek, "Harry."