Hero Summoning - Chapter 11 (Patreon)

Sleep came barely for Harry after last night's events.

Coming back to Hogwarts wasn’t easy at all, no matter how much he had prepared himself. And how could it not be, when it was the place where he learnt so much, found his first home, made friends, found the loves of his life, and the same place where he lost most of those friends and the girls he loved.

On top of that, seeing and meeting the very much alive Daphne Greengrass was like a boulder to his stitched heart that was broken in pieces one year in the past when she died right in front of him.

All night, every time he closed his eyes, he was haunted by those visions of her dying and the smile on her face she had while she said I love you last time to him before he lost her.

So it was hardly a shock that after only a couple of hours of sleep, Harry was awake while the sun was barely rising.

Throwing the covers off, he sat up in bed and, rubbing the sleep from his eyes, took a deep breath to get ready mentally for the first day of his return to Hogwarts.

Despite having a couple of hours of sleep, he thankfully felt rested enough to go on his day. Which wasn’t a surprise after living 3 years on the run and hiding; his body had become accustomed to not having full sleep.

With his emerald green eyes wide open, he stood up and spread his arms wide in a stretch, popping all his lazy joints. With that done, he took off the T-shirt and sweatpants he had on and went into the bathroom to freshen up.

Despite agreeing to come back to Hogwarts, Harry hasn’t agreed to it before getting some terms and conditions first.

He has made sure to Dumbledore that even though he would be a student, none of the rules and regulations that other students abide by would be enforced on him.

Which means no curfew, no compulsory homework submission on time, no limitation to any part of the school at any time, and also him being given his own room.

Which was why Harry had no shame getting naked, as the whole room was his.

In fact, not only the room, but Harry was also actually given a whole quarter, which had a living room, a small kitchen, a bedroom that was bigger than a normal boys' dorm room and a bathroom attached as well.

In short, Harry had better accommodation than most of the teachers as well.

Perks of being the hero that was summoned.

After all, Harry was doing them a favour by getting rid of such a big problem, so why shouldn’t he get compensated for it?

Harry from 6 years back would be disappointed with him, but the current Harry, after what he had gone through in life and who had Daphne Greengrass as a girlfriend, who had instilled in him the “know your worth” mentality, wasn’t the slightest bit ashamed for taking advantage like this.

He was Harry Potter, damn it; he deserved all this after going through the shit he had in just 19 years of his life.

After brushing his teeth and freshening his body up, he donned his workout clothes, which included a muscle shirt and shorts, and went down to the school grounds.

Walking through the silent hallways of the school, Harry let the peace and humming magic of the castle flow through him.

He could never get used to the sheer raw strength of this ancient castle's magic.

There really wasn’t a more magical place on earth than Hogwarts.

Walking out of the high entrance doors, Harry entered the courtyard, tilting his head back to breathe in the fresh air before he found his way to the Blake Lake.

Taking a deep breath, the messy-haired man dropped his water bottle and a towel at the bottom of the tree that was Harry’s favourite spot in the whole school grounds before stretching his arms to warm his body up.

Once that was done, the summoned hero waved his hand, and two sets of floating mumbles appeared in the air.

On top were the numbers for recording time, while the set below showed the distance covered.

This was his own created spell.

A magical time that also shows distance.

Nodding his head one last time, Harry touched the floating numbers, which started running as his time began, and so did he.

For the next few minutes, there was nothing but the morning peace of nature and the chirping songs of birds as Harry ran around the Great Lake, covering 5km without stopping.

After a beep from the timer when it showed 5000m covered, the now s sweaty and yet only slightly panting green-eyed man stopped right in front of the tree where he started from.

Looking at the time, he frowned in dissatisfaction.

“16 minutes… a minute off my average”, Harry sighed and touched his stomach. “Mom has spoiled me with her delicious cooking”

Mom… it still feels so good saying that out loud, knowing he has a mother and father now to call his own. Sure, this Lily might not be the one who gave birth to him, but still, she had become a mother to him in his eyes.

And that alone was worth getting summoned into this world and having to fight no nose bastard again.

Wiping the sweat with the towel he bought with him, he decided to continue his workout and not get distracted by his parents' thoughts.

Setting his time back to zero, he was ready to start his second run but was stopped by a surprising interruption.

“I never thought I would see a fellow student out here so early, and especially not a Slytherin”

Harry turned around, and his eyes widened as he saw a very unexpected surprise.

It was a girl, and it didn’t take even a second for him to recognise her.

With her shoulder-length brown hair in a high ponytail, dark black eyes, light freckles on her nose, and her pink lips curled in a very familiar teasing smirk, it was none other than Katie Bell.

Though for Harry, all those features weren’t the ones that made her recognisable to him.

No, it was what his green eyes tracked next as they drifted down to her uncovered toned stomach that had a clear showing of abs, and even below that, those damn thick thighs so tightly covered in the dark leggings she wore.

He can never forgive those thighs and the girl they belonged to, who was his first school crush.

Though he never told Katie that, which, for him, was always a missed opportunity in his mind.

“You know I’m kinda glad that I got the newbie speechless”

Harry trailed his eyes up and saw her smirking smugly, making him realise he was ogling his past best friend who didn’t know that he knew her already.

“Um…Sorry.” The messy-haired man blushed, scratching his head and averting his eyes far away from those thick thighs “I was just surprised to see another student at this time. I’m Harr- Harold Potter by the way”

Damn, remembering that his government name wasn’t Harry anymore would be a difficult task.

“I know who you are, the ‘Monster of Cambridgeshire’” the brunette grinned, seeing his blushing reaction at his new title “Also, I’m Katie Bell, seventh-year Gryffindor”

Harry's eyes widened in surprise. “Seventh year?”

“Why? Do I not look like a seventh year?” Katie tilted her head, angling her and jutting out her hips, making Harry almost lose his focus

“No, no! Nothing like that,” Harry stuttered, waving his hands as he tried to come up with a lie fast. “It’s just with how fit you are. I thought you would be a fitness trainer or Quidditch coach”

He hid his wince at the weak lie, but it seemed to work on the brunette

“Well, thank you for the compliment”, Katie beamed with a mock bow “But no, I am a student just like you. Though you wouldn’t be wrong to think that I am a little older”

“How so?” Harry furrowed.

“You see, I don’t know if you know this or not, but according to Hogwarts rules, if you are born after the 15th of September, you have to attend the next year's class. And you can guess already I was born on the 16th of September, so I had to wait a year to join Hogwarts.” The seventh-year Gryffindor explained.

Harry nodded in understanding, as he already knew the age rules since Hermione was in the same case, but it was still surprising for him to see another change in the world from his.

“That’s… quite a play of luck”, Harry replied before remembering they both were here for a different purpose. “Oh yeah, I am gonna go to some other place you can work out here”

“Wait, what? Why? You don’t need to do that,” Katie hurriedly stopped him. “In fact, I should be the one to go somewhere else since you were here first.”

“Well, how about we both work out here? No need to do this ‘you stay, I go’ drama” Harry chuckled and smiled when the brunette giggled.

Katie, though, still looked unsure “Are you sure? As a fellow runner, I know how much you would prefer to be rather alone than me being an annoyance for you so early in the morning“

Harry snorted, shaking his head. “I won’t lie, I do prefer to be alone during my runs, but I have no problem with having you as a fellow partner in crime”

The seventh-year Gryffindor then beamed widely “Alright then”, she said brightly before dropping her own towel and bottle beside Harry’s.

She then did some stretches to warm up while Harry really tried not to stare at her toned stomach, legs, thighs, and ass.

Seriously, every body part of this girl was fit. And it was fucking hard not to stare.

While she was doing her warm-up, Katie's eyes fell on the floating numbers beside Harry.

“What is that?”

Harry followed her eyes to his time. “Ah, this…this is my own magical spell,” he explained, which amazed the girl who was now standing still in awe.

“That's bloody amazing! Harry,” Katie exclaimed before looking up at him with her dark eyes. “Strong, handsome, fit, and intelligent? You really are a full package, Potter”

Harry looked down to hide his blushing face “It’s nothing, truly just a simple spell “

The brunette smirked at his bashful face, but she decided not to tease him further.

“Alright then, let’s see what you have got,” Katie said before getting into her stance. “Hope you can keep up, newbie,” she challenged before running off.

“Oh, it’s on”, Harry smirked before catching up with the brunette.

After 15 km covered, the two seventh-years were back at the tree.

This time Harry was sweating and breathing a little heavy, as another 15km run was definitely showing an effect on him.

But it was still nothing compared to the brunette.

The seventh-year Gryffindor had her hands on her knees, her head down, and was breathing quite heavily, getting her pumping heart back to normal.

“18 mins”, Harry hummed, looking at the time “Not bad but not good enough either”

Katie, hearing that, glared up at the black-haired Potter, who was standing straight, looking like he just took a nice walk instead of running 30km at athlete speed.

“What….the….fuck…is wrong…. With you!” The Gryffindor year girl whizzed out, “Are you a…human or an…animal? Who runs 15….FUCKING KILOMETRE… so fast and still says it’s not GOOD ENOUGH?!!”

Harry, completely unfazed, just raised his eyebrows at the panting girl. “What? That was 3 minutes slower than my average. Also, I expected better from you, newbie”

Oh yes, karma is a bitch. There is no better feeling than getting your get back, and the smirk on the messy-haired man proved how much he enjoyed it.

“Fuck…you!”

Harry laughed out loud before sitting beside the brunette who had fallen down her bum.

Taking both of their towels, he gave Katie one before wiping his sweaty face off while Katie did the same.

Once his face wasn’t all wet, he picked up his bottle and drank half of it in one gulp. Seeing Katie ask for her own, he instead gave his bottle.

Noticing her questioning gaze, he just smiled mischievously. “Just drink it; you will thank me later”

Furrowing her eyebrows in caution, Katie still took a sip, but slowly. After taking a small sip, she waited for something to happen, and she wasn’t left disappointed as her sore muscles relaxed gradually and she felt her energy flowing back in her body.

Turning her dark eyes to the new student, she exclaimed in wonder. “What the bloody hell is in this?!”

Harry chuckled, rubbing his nose. “Just a small do muscle relaxation potion and pepper up potion”

“This is genius! Was this your idea as well?” Katie asked, her eyes still wide, as she gulped potion water.

“Nah, I was never that good at potions”, Harry shook his head before Daphne's image came to his head. “It was actually my girlf- I mean one of my friends' idea”

Thankfully, Katie didn’t catch his slip.

Both seventh-year students fell into a comfortable silence as they just enjoyed the peaceful air of the early morning.

After a couple of minutes of silence, Harry turned to Katie “You wanna do something else as well?” He asked.

Katie snorted, shaking her head “Well, normally I do yoga as well, but after that run I have no desire to strain my body anymore. Also, breakfast will start in 30 minutes, and I am very hungry”

Harry chuckled but agreed with the whining Gryffindor to call it a day.

Gathering his towel and bottle, the green-eyed man stood up, then gave a hand to his classmate.

Katie grabbed his hand with a smile, and then, with a jump, she stood up with his help and then dramatically crashed right on his chest.

With an exaggerated gasp, the brunette looked up at him through her dark eyelashes and batted them innocently. “If you wanted to hold me close to you so badly, then you could have just asked Harry”

Instead of blushing, the messy-haired Potter just raised his eyebrows at her “I am not the one who has her hands rubbing all over my body”

Realising how her hands were unconsciously feeling his chest and bare arms, Katie blushed red before pushing him off her.

With a huff, she grabbed her own things and stomped towards the castle, with a laughing green-eyed Slytherin catching up with her.

With the teasing and blushing done, the two newly made friends —at least in Katie's case— chatted the whole way to the castle.

Once they were at the stairs that would lead to Gryffindor towers, Katie climbed on a few of them before turning around to look at Harry. “Hope we get to have a workout again; that was the most fun I have had”

“How about every day?” Harry smiled, tilting his head as Katie agreed with a wide smile.

“See you in the class, Potter.” The brunette smiled one last time before turning around and climbing up the stairs.

“Yeah, see you too,” Harry whispered, but his eyes were fixed on one thing only.

Katie Bell’s fat ass that was so tightly covered in those leggings that they looked painted on.

“Are you staring at my ass, Potter?”

Her teasing voice brought him out of his lecherous stare as Harry looked up at her eyes, to Katie still climbing but looking at him over her shoulder.

“Yeah, I am”, the green-eyed man admitted unashamedly, crossing his arms while his green eyes once again went down to her ass.

An ass that he knew she was swaying intentionally.

“Good”, and that one smug answer was the proof of that.

Shaking his head with a smile, Harry turned back and made his way to the dungeons.

Katie Bell being in the same year as him was a big surprise…but it was a surprise that he was quite happy with.

He and her always had this chemistry between them, even since his first year. But he had never acted on those feelings, even though something tells him that there had been many times when Katie had wanted to.

Maybe in this world it could be different.

Looking up, he suddenly realised he was at the entrance of Slytherin common room, seeing the looming grand door in front of him.

Not wanting even to say the chosen password, Harry quickly looked around and, after finding the hallway empty, stared at the emerald green gem encased in the eyes of the stone snake in the middle of the gate and opened his mouth.

But instead of words, a hiss came out of his mouth.

“Open”

Smirking, he watched as the gate opened without the password, and he stepped in smugly.

He v couldn’t wait for the day to show all his new housemates his hidden magical talent.

Looking around the common room, he was surprised to find a yawning Elara sitting on the couch.

“Morning”, he said, making his way straight to her and plopping down beside the House Black heiress.

“Morning”, Elara replied with a smile before turning her body to him “You woke up early”

“I've been awake for like an hour”, Harry nodded “Went down to the ground, did some workout, feeling quite good now”

“I can see that”, Elara replied as her silver eyes traced his bare arms from his biceps to his veiny arms.

She really loved Muggle clothing and was oh so thankful that Harry liked wearing them.

“You are up early as well”

Harry’s reply brought the black-haired girl out of her horny thoughts as she looked up at him. “Yeah, while in Hogwarts I always like to wake up early, but at home in the summer I get used to waking a bit later, so I’m still feeling a bit sleepy.”

“I can see that”, Harry smiled, seeing her rub her bleary eyes again.

“Good morning to you two”

A new voice had them turn back to the stairs, and they saw Daphne Greengrass walking towards them.

Harry, despite trying his best, couldn’t help but let his green eyes take in the elegant beauty of one of the most precious people to him. 

As always, even the Daphne of this world was as elegant in the early morning as she was at any other time of the day.

However, Harry also remembered all those times when the blonde didn’t look so elegant and neatly put together.

He remembered the countless times her hair was dishevelled, her always composed face crumpled in pleasure, and how her whole body was always left in a mess after their sweaty, passionate time.

But there was no point in remembering the past right now.

Because in the present, Harry Potter was a complete stage for Daphne Greengrass, and he would make sure that would remain the same.

For her sake.

“Morning, Ela” “Morning, Potter”

“Morning, Daph”

Averting his eyes, Harry replied, “Morning, Greengrass”

He then stood up suddenly, surprising Elara, who looked at him in confusion. “I am gonna go take a shower, Ela”, Harry made an excuse, seeing her eyes.

“You can sit with us, you know that, Harry; we wouldn’t mind”

Ignoring the blonde, who was agreeing with her friend's statement, Harry just waved his hand. “I would love to, but after the workout I am too sweaty, and I stink as well. I need a shower right now, or both of your mornings will be ruined because of my smelly ass”

With that, he hurried back to his room, leaving behind the blonde, who, unnoticed by him, was staring at his back with a slight flush on her cheeks, and the black-haired girl, who was looking at him with a concerned face.

Elara knew exactly why Harry left just when Daphne arrived.

And she didn’t like that at all.

Glancing at her friend's slightly flushed face after staring at the retreating, messy-haired man's body—something she had never seen her friend do in the whole six years they had spent in this school— she knew that despite Harry’s best attempt, he couldn’t change what and who was already written in his destiny.

And she was also gonna make sure to make Harry realise that as well.

And also add her to his fate along the way as well.

After showering and taking care of their hygiene routine, the Slytherins were in the great hall enjoying their breakfast.

The hall was still barely half full as it was still quite early.

The Slytherin trio were at their house table on the edges where Elara and Daphne always sat, as they prefer to be away from their housemates. Harry, the new addition to the house, obviously followed them since he had no desire to sit closer to the other Slytherins, and the way they were fearfully looking at him didn’t help that case as well.

He didn’t want the whole school to suspect already that something had happened last night.

But Harry, instead of sitting across from the two girls as Elara told him to, sat beside her.

Now Elara obviously didn’t mind that; in fact, she even enjoyed Harry being so close to her, but this was another of his attempts she knew to be not close to her blonde friend.

Biting back a sigh, she continued her breakfast as she would speak to the stubborn idiot about his stupidity later when they would be alone.

Feeling multiple sets of eyes on him, Harry ignored them, being used to it after years of practice, but couldn’t help but catch one set of dark eyes on the table on the other side of the hall.

Katie grinned, catching his eye, and sent him a flirty wink before diving back to her breakfast as if nothing had happened.

Harry chuckled, shaking his head at the bubbly girl's antics, and went back to filling his empty stomach as well.

After a few minutes of just silently eating, the silence was broken by their great of house as he distributed their class schedule for the new year.

Slughorn, as expected, tried his best to spend as much time as he could with Harry, listing off his accomplishments and buttering him up, which the messy dark-haired man just took with silent nods.

Once he realised he wasn’t getting anything from his new student, the potion professor made his way back to the head table.

“We have most of our class with Gryffindors”, Daphne said, looking at their schedule.

“Nothing new there”, Elara snorted.

For Harry, this wasn’t new either, since it was the same case in his world, but this time he was in the opposite house.

Though knowing this meant he could have more time with Katie, he didn’t mind; sharing it with the boy who lived in this world was definitely an annoyance.

He still didn’t know what to make of Neville Longbottom of this world; after all, he hadn’t even met him, only heard about him from others, and what he had heard…wasn’t quite good.

But he would like to make his own opinion on that instead of what others think.

“First is Slughorn with Gryffindor no less, so it’s better if we arrive there early.” The blonde words brought Harry out of his thoughts as he looked at her, picking up her bag.

“Yeah, we will be with you shortly. I need to show Harry something so that he doesn’t go missing in this huge castle”, Elara said with an eye roll.

Daphne was too smart not to notice that her friend was hiding something, but she let it go, knowing it must be something between the black-haired friends.

“Alright, but don’t be too late or we will miss the best desk in the class” The Greengrass heiress smirked before leaving the hall and heading down to the dungeons.

Before Harry could even say something, Elara had grabbed his hand, and he was getting dragged by her. Once outside, the silver-eyed girl found an empty enclave and shoved Harry into it.

“Whoa, what-“

“What are you doing?”

Harry stopped hearing the harsh tone of the girl who was staring daggers at him with her hands on her hips.

“What am I doing?” Harry pointed at himself with a raised eyebrow “How about what are you doing? Lying to your friend like that. Seriously, you telling me how to navigate around this castle? I know more corners of this castle than even our dads did, Ela”

“Don’t try to play smart, Harry”, Elara hissed, her eyes narrowed “Why have you been avoiding Daphne?”

That stunned Harry, making the playful smile falter, but he quickly recovered “I am not avoiding her. Why did you think that? She doesn’t know me, and despite my past, I don’t know her here as well”

“Yeah? Well, you actively avoiding even sitting a meter closer to get ain’t helping that,” Elara whispered with a finger on his chest. “Don’t even try to argue. This morning you were so quick to run back to your room right when Daphne showed up.”

“As I told you, I was sweaty-“

“You weren’t sweaty enough when you sat down beside me”

“Well, that was different-“

“No, it wasn’t, and stop trying to argue!” Elara finally snapped, and Harry shut his mouth. “Don’t think I don’t know what you are trying to do. You are avoiding even interacting with Daphne for what? So that she doesn’t get close to you?”

“Yes, because that’s better for her; at least this way she won’t get killed because of me”, Harry replied, gritting his teeth and averting his eyes.

“Stop being a fucking idiot, Potter!!” His green eyes snapped back to the furious silver ones of Elara. “You think trying to make Daphne’s decision by yourself is right for her. You are not a god, Harry Potter; you can’t dictate others' lives. That's not your right!!”

Harry’s green-eyed wee was wide as they stared at the heavy-breathing girl whose dam had finally broken. But her silver eyes softened seeing his.

“I... I know you have gone through so much in your life, Harry” Her voice went from sharp to a whisper “You have suffered so much in your past that you never deserved to. You have always been dealt a bad set of cards after another by fate, but... But for once, don’t you think you have been given a good hand after all the bad ones.”

“You have been given a chance…a chance to make sure that what happened in your past in your world doesn’t happen again in this world. You have a chance not to lose the loved one you once already have, to… to make sure that you live the life you deserve with the loved ones you once lost.”

“And…and I know you think that by keeping Daphne away from you, you are making sure that she remains safe, but have you considered that she could still be safe while being with you if she wishes so? Don’t you consider yourself powerful enough to keep her safe”

Harry's eyes were a mix of a multitude of emotions; his mind was in disarray after Elara’s words destroyed a layer in his mind that he had built.

Seeing the turmoil in his green eyes, Elara stepped back and gently touched his chest right where his heart was beating rapidly. “I know that despite being a stubborn idiot, you are smart enough to know that I am right. Also smart enough to know what will happen if Daphne finds out that you won’t let her be your friend for your frankly nonsensical reason”

That brought a smile on Harry’s face, which made Elara relieved, and with one last gentle smile, she left him alone in the alcove.

Once she was gone, Harry again took a deep breath and rubbed his face as he took his time to get his mind in order while her words kept repeating in his ears.

Maybe she was right.

When only 5 minutes were remaining, Harry joined his housemates in the potion class, looking around and finding almost the whole class full. The ones who weren’t present were only him from Slytherin, while the few were from Gryffindor.

His eyes found Katie, who waved at him, and he waved back with a smile.

He then found Elara sitting with her best friend, and he snorted when he realised the best desk blonde was talking about was the one in the very front.

For him, the best desk would have been the last one, but he still made his way towards it and sat down behind the two, where Tracey Davis—a friend of theirs but not as close as the two were— was sitting.

“Hey,” the honey-blonde-haired girl said with a shy smile.

“Hey,” Harry replied warmly, and the two girls in front turned at his voice.

“I thought Elara was gonna make sure that you won’t go missing, and yet she left you alone?” Daphne said playfully, raising an eyebrow.

Harry could feel Elara's concerned eyes on him, but she had nothing to worry about. “Well, I was gonna come with her, but my sisters stopped me, as they wanted to know how my first night in Slytherin was,” he replied, looking straight in the blue eyes of the blonde, and from the corner of his eye he could see Elara smile slightly in relief.

“Hope I am not late”

“You’re the last one to arrive, so I guess you can say you’re late”, Daphne smirked with her head on her palm.

Harry raised his eyebrow before looking over at the Gryffindor section and pointing directly at the empty seats without even saying anything.

Noticing that the blonde just waved her hand. “Longbottom and his gang don’t count; they are hardly ever at times”

That comment made Harry chuckle, and soon the other girls around him joined in as well.

Funnily enough, Daphne was proven correct as Longbottom and Weasley arrived right when Slughorn did. But being a boy who lived obviously had his own favouritism, as the portly professor just let them both in without any punishments.

“Alright, class, welcome to your seventh year at Hogwarts”, Slughorn began, grandly spreading his arms wide with just as wide a smile. “This is the last year of your studies before you go out there and make your own name and fame”

“Obviously some of you already have made your own name and have your fame”, the potion professor giggled while looking at Longbottom.

Harry rolled his eyes subtly and grimaced when he noticed the smug smirk on the pudgy face of the boy who lived.

This boy was nothing like his best friend Neville.

“Now, for this last year you will make some of the hardest potions in the world, and I want only the best from you.” The portly man continued, this time actually seriously, “I hope every one of you takes this year seriously and does your best because NEWTs are no joke. If you thought OWLs were hard, then this year's exam is a completely different league”

He looked at each student's eyes, drilling how serious he was, before a smile broke on his face once again. “Though I already know you all will do your best! Now this year I am gonna randomly pair all of you to put you out of your comfort zone and make it challenging for you”

Groans and whines could be heard all over the class as the students expressed their reaction to that news.

However, it did not affect Slughorn, who just began listing out the pairs.

Harry looked around the class, and he decided he would be very happy if he got with Elara or Katie, but his hopes were dashed very quickly when both of them were paired together.

After that, one by one, every name came instead of his until only two remained. 

“And the last pair of Daphne Greengrass and Harold Potter”

Of fucking course

Ignoring the teasing smirk of Elara—who joined a pouting Katie who was looking at him— he went one desk forward and stood beside the blonde who was showing no emotion regarding him being her partner on her face.

Once the shuffling around was done, Slughorn began the lesson. “Now the very first potion you will be making this year is Draught of Living Death. I know, I know it’s a very hard potion to make, but I told you before this year you will only make the hardest potion out there. So chop chop, time is running!”

With the signal given, Harry, with a deep breath, turned to Daphne, who was already organising the table.

“Potter, you bring the ingredients while I will get the potion started.” The blonde was unsurprisingly a step ahead, and Harry just nodded before he went to take the ingredients…..

but in the wrong direction

Instead of going to the front, he turned right at his partner and collided with her as she turned right at that time.

A scent of jasmine and sandal filled his senses, and Harry almost lost himself in the very familiar scent but was brought back to reality when a spoon hit his hand.

“Ow, what the hell, woman?”

Cradling his hand, he stared at the ice blue eyes that just pointed to the ingredients shelf with the spoon she hit with. “Shelf is there, Potter”

“Yeah, yeah, I know, it was a mistake… violent woman”, Harry grumbled before yelping again when he felt the hit from the spoon again, but this time on his ass.

Turning back with wide disbelief, green eyes, he looked and saw the blonde not even look at him as she continued to set everything with an innocent face, but the smile on her face was not helping her case.

Rubbing his bum, he silently grabbed all the ingredients and went back to his desk, but this time keeping a distance between him and his partner for the sake of his still-stinging bum.

“Good, now chop them exactly like the book says and do it properly”, Daphne ordered while opening her book, which had many notes in it.

Picking up the knife, Harry didn’t argue back and just did what he was told.

“Yes, ma'am”

The words were whispered very quietly, but the small smile on the blonde face made it clear it wasn’t quite enough.

An hour went by as all the students tried their best to make the perfect potion.

Well, almost all of them, as Longbottom and Weasley were too busy whispering and giggling and trying to ruin Slytherin's group potion.

Thankfully, Slughorn stopped them before they could.

And now the portly potion professor was checking every group potion one by one.

“Good, good, impressive with Miss Black, Miss Bell”, Slughorn remarked, smelling Elara and Katie's potion, who smiled in satisfaction.

He then made his way finally to Harry and Daphne, and after just one look at their potion, he laughed loudly.

“Just as I expected from you two, a perfect potion!” The boisterous man proclaimed loudly. “It seems you have got your father's talent, boy”

After being told he had got his mother's talent from the same man, it took a while for him to realise he was talking about Fleamont Potter.

His made-up father in this world.

“Not really, sir” Harry shook his head humbly before nodding toward his partner. “Daphne did everything I just did; what she told me to”

The blonde beside him looked at him with narrowed blue eyes to see if he was laying game, but seeing how sincere he was, she smiled softly and stared back at their professor, who was nodding his head with a wide smile.

“And as humble as your father as well, I must say. It seems like you two worked perfectly with each other” Slughorn smiled a bit shyly when he saw the light blush on the cheeks of his favourite student and the newest addition to his house.

“Take 10 points each, both of you deserve it, and I hope to see the same for the rest of the year from you two”

With that, the class was dismissed, and everyone packed their bag for the next class.

Once outside, Harry looked at Elara, who looked to be in a hurry as she looked at him and Daphne. “I will meet you two at the next class. I need to go to the washroom first” With that said, she hurriedly made her way to the closest restroom, leaving behind the two.

“Shall we?” Daphne waved her hand forward, and Harry nodded as they made their way slowly to the transfiguration class.

A silence fell between the two, but Harry was satisfied to realise it wasn’t an awkward one.

“You weren’t so bad, Potter”

Harry furrowed his eyebrows as he turned to his partner and asked, “Hmm?”

Daphne looked at him before rolling her eyes with a huff. “In the potion, I mean, you weren’t so bad”

“We made a perfect potion. I think I was better than just ‘not so bad’” Harry replied smartly.

“Please, Potter”, the blonde snorted with her nose high “It was as you said before,

Only because of me that our potion was perfect; you were only following my orders”

“Yeah, well, I had to cause I didn’t want to get my right ass cheek soanked as well with a wooden spoon”, the green-eyed man complained while rubbing his left bum “It still hurt, you know”

Daphne tried her very best, but she still couldn’t stop the giggle at watching the pout on his face and his hand rubbing his ass. “You deserved that”, she pointed with a smug smile.

“Shut up”, Harry mumbled while the blonde was still giggling.

The pair took the stairs to the upper floor in silence before it was buried again by Daphne.

“You know not to be rude, but I expected you to be quite good at potions because of who your father is, just like the professor said” Her curious blue eyes turned to him while climbing the stairs.

Harry once again almost forgot which father she was talking about but recovered quickly, and with a sigh he shrugged “Yeah, well my father wasn’t alive to teach me”

Daphne winced and looked down in embarrassment, realising how dumb her question was. “I’m so sorry I didn’t mean to-“

“It’s fine, Greengrass” Harry waved her off, not wanting her to feel bad. “It happens all the time, and you didn’t know, so it’s not your fault.”

“Still, I am really sorry” Daphne shook her head. “That was very immature of me”

Harry just accepted her apology with a smile. “It’s perfectly alright”, he reassured her before he decided to tell something true. “To be honest, having a teacher who hated me didn’t really help my skills at potions”

“Your teacher hated you?” The blonde asked, astonished. “Why?”

“Two reasons”, the messy-haired man showed two fingers “One, because he and my father were rivals at school and used to bully each other, and two, he was obsessed with my mom, who only looked at him as a friend, which made him very jealous of my father. And then me looking very much like my father didn’t help.”

“What?!” Daphne exclaimed before looking at the passing student who stared at her in shock and then fled away in fear when the infamous ice queen glare fell on them.

She then turned back to him and whispered, “That's so stupid! He sounds like a man-child with a little dick complex “

Harry's green-eyed gaze widened in shock at her language before he burst out laughing.

“That…is the perfect…description of him”, he wheezed out between his laughs.

All the while, Daphne hid her smile as she didn’t regret her choice of words at all. People might think she was a perfect pure-blood lady who would be above using such language, but she was never ashamed of using such words when needed.

The pair find themselves on the third floor outside the transfiguration class and lean against the wall as they wait for their professor to usher them in.

“I have a deal, Potter”, Daphne said suddenly.

Harry blinked a couple of times in confusion. “A deal?” What deal?”

“I help you with potions, and in return you will help with duelling”, the blonde proposed her deal, looking serious with her arms crossed.

“Based on what I know from Elara, you are quite good with your wand”, Harry asked curiously.

“I am good, and that’s not enough for me”, Daphne replied without hesitation “I want to be better- not good, but great enough that I can defend myself against anyone without needing others' help.”

Harry stood silent, just staring at the blonde, who was getting nervous the longer he went without saying anything.

For the green-eyed man, the words of Elara from earlier were repeating in his head.

Don’t you think you can make sure she remains safe while being close to you

His answer was very easy.

“Alright”, Harry shrugged. “That’s a good deal I accept”

Daphne barely contained her beaming smile and just nodded. “Good, we can decide the place and time later.”

“That sounds perfect, Daphne”, Harry smiled.

The blonde raised her eyebrows “I don’t remember giving you permission to say my name”

“You didn’t”, Harry smirked. “But I call all my friends only with their names”

Daphne's blue eyes looked at him in amusement as she leaned towards him. “We are not friends, Potter”

Harry leaned closer as well. “Yes, we are, Daphne”

Daphne's beautiful pink lips twisted in a smile, and she leaned back and looked towards the gates of the classroom again.

Though Harry noticed she was standing closer to him than before.

Maybe Elara was right.

Maybe he needs to stop being a stupid idiot.

And enjoy the good set of cards Harry Potter has been handed for the first time in his life.