And Back Again

Joe's Note: I just wanted to alert you lot to the fact that there is a forum up for this story. Go to my profile and my forums to see it. I'll check in there as often as I can to answer questions or just chat. My sister is also doing art of the story and so I'll hopefully be able to post some of that there soon too. And yes, I've deliberately shifted from the book-verse coed versions of Beauxbatons and Durmstrang to the female-only Beauxbatons and male-only Durmstrang. It's a universe difference, not a mistake on my part.

Also, the reference to written Cantonese in the previous chapter wasn’t a mistake. Not only do Cantonese speakers write out words using the way they’d be pronounced in Cantonese rather than Mandarin, but there are a large number of unique characters in written Cantonese and a person who can read Standard Written Chinese will generally have problems with the grammar and vocabulary of written Cantonese. Ergo, coding them into the translator separately would allow Harry to read books in either.

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     "What time is it?"

     "Tempus. 11:50."

     "Thanks, Daphne, I don't think I could have done that on my own." Actually, Harry could have but it would have been difficult. Somehow, despite the one-sided dislike between the blondes, he'd ended up between Daphne and Luna on the couch and the latter was curled up against his side snoring softly while the former was merely leaning on him. "And seriously, thanks for the change of scenery. It was nice to get out of the house and spend time with my friends for the night."

     Daphne wriggled a bit next to him, turning her head so she could stare up at him with sleepy blue eyes. "Yeah, Hermione told me that it's a bit of a madhouse. There's what, six of you? Do you not get along with them or something?"

     Turning his gaze back and forth, Harry studied the two heads resting on his chest, comparing the shades of blonde. Daphne was a much deeper shade of honey blonde compared to Luna's white-blonde, but each seemed to be uniquely suited to match the rest of the girl's coloration. Then he realized Daphne had asked him a question. "Yeah, six of us. One more and we'd be the Weasleys. And there's nothing wrong with my siblings, but… they're siblings. Not friends. Up until my sister decided Hermione was the best thing since self-inking quills, Jasmine didn't like quidditch, Rose still doesn't, and neither is all that interested in books. Lawrence wants to be just like my father, which means he's not serious enough for me. And Dahlia and Violet are too young for me to really get along with."

     "Yeah, Astoria and I are only three years apart but the age difference keeps us from really being friends. Back up for just a moment, though." Daphne looked over at their mutual muggleborn friend, perched precariously on the two-seater across from them and drooling slightly onto Su's hair. "What's this about Jasmine and Hermione? Hermione mentioned they were practicing quidditch against each other a lot, but…"

     Crap. He was supposed to be keeping that a secret, so Hermione could brood about her sexuality and her pint-sized redheaded suitor in peace. But as long as the kneazle was out of the bag anyways, Harry figured maybe filling Daphne in could do some good. Merlin knew he didn't want to have long and thought-provoking conversations about whether or not Hermione should be with his sister.

     Hermione with Su, on the other hand, was an idea he could get behind…

     Harry shook himself, lest he get too interested in that idea and embarrass himself with two young ladies leaning against him. "No, my sister Jasmine seems to have latched onto Hermione. Hermione's not entirely sure what to make of it, apart from using it as an excuse to whine about how spectacular she's not. Personally, I don't care if my sister's interested in girls or boys, I don't care if my friend is interested in girls or boys… I just don't want them to end up hurting each other. Because I don't want to end up picking between friends and family."

     "You know, you don't act like any other boy in our year. You're far too mature." Daphne grinned up at him. "Not that I'm complaining, mind you, it's a nice change of pace. Still odd. Are you sure you're not, say, a vampire who was turned at the age of eleven? Maybe you found some way to kill your adult body and send your memories back in time to when you were younger so you could live life over again?"

     Chuckling at the word for word repetition of what Hermione had asked a few days previously, Harry shook his head. "You've seen me in the sun, first of all. As for the second option… I swear I've never been an adult at any time in this or any other life." Honestly, killing himself and sending his memories back in time. Where did the girl come up with such ridiculous ideas?

     "Drat. I was personally leaning toward the time-traveler option, although you're pale enough to be a vampire so that wasn't completely impossible. You could, after all, have some sort of pendant or anklet that protects you from the sun." Daphne repeated her spell and this time a perfect 12:00 emerged from her wand. "I do believe you owe me a kiss to celebrate the new year. Unless you want to wake up Luna, Su, or Hermione."

     Damn. And he'd successfully avoided all three sprigs of randomly migrating magical mistletoe, too. Based on the look she was fixing him with, Harry didn't think waking up Su, Hermione, or especially Luna was an option that would lead to his continued good health, and so instead he did his best not to cringe as he leaned in and briefly pressed his lips against Daphne's.

     How many years were pedophiles getting in Azkaban these days?

     He knew it really wasn't fair to Daphne, or himself even, but while he could quite easily be friends and stay with those 'his age' in body most of the time, when it came to anything romantic, he rather keenly felt his mental years. He knew exactly what Daphne's body would look like in six years, having admired it often and received slaps upside the head from Ginny on numerous occasions because of it, and looking at her current preteen form reminded him of the unbridgeable chasm in their levels of mental maturity. He'd lived six years longer than she had, lost his virginity, done things that would probably make his parents blush, been engaged to be married… and the extent of her love life to this point was a crush on him.

     Merlin. Was there a spell he could use to accelerate the next five years somehow? Or at least the next three? He'd settle for fourteen year-old Daphne over eleven year-old Daphne. People had started pairing off a bit in his fourth year, meaning she wouldn't be of optimum age but would at least be old enough that people wouldn't think too much of it.

     "Harry?" Looking down at the speaker, Harry raised an eyebrow and a light flush spread over Daphne's cheeks. "Are we going to discuss a certain letter your father received or is it just going to be this erumpent in the room for the near future?"

     Actually, he would have preferred to let it be the 'erumpent in the room', personally. Harry groaned and leaned his head back against the back of the couch. "Not sure. Isn't this the sort of business your father and my father should be discussing? I'm not sure either of us is smart enough to make such an important decision about the future of the Houses of Potter and Greengrass…"

     Daphne winced at the none-too-subtle barb toward her public attitude about marriage and a future husband. "I guess I deserve that. But… you don't get what it's like to be me. We're not dark like the Malfoys or Blacks and I've never heard my dad proposing we kill off the muggles or something, but that doesn't mean the Greengrasses don't keep to certain traditions. I'm not supposed to marry for love, I'm supposed to marry for the good of the family. And right now, I can't really ignore the fact that one of my closest friends is an uncontracted male who's smart and powerful enough to take out three adult mountain trolls."

     "I can, though. My father passed up who my grandparents wanted him to marry so he could be with my mother. And my father may joke about me getting the contracts but he's not expecting me to accept any of them." Harry sighed, leaning over to rest his cheek against the top of Daphne's head. "Can't we just be friends for now? See what happens when we're older? I'm not ready to make such a huge decision about my life at… well, I'm not even a teenager yet. If I'd accepted it when you sent it, I would have been engaged before even getting my first kiss."

     Wide blue eyes greeted that statement as Daphne pulled away, staring up at him in disbelief. "Really? You've never kissed a girl before me?" She brought one hand up to her lips. "Wow." Her head dropped, head shaking in disbelief. "Never?"

     Harry rolled his eyes. "I'm eleven, Daphne. No, I'm not exactly running around kissing girls. I'm only one step past the 'girls are icky' stage." After all, he couldn't exactly tell her about kissing Cho Chang or Ginny Weasley, much less the fact that he'd had sex with the latter.

     "Mmhmm. Feel free to think all other girls are 'icky'; that's fine with me. And I guess we can be just friends… for now." Daphne leaned back in, snuggling into his side. "You know, we should probably go find actual beds soon. And do something with Hermione and Su, because if they sleep like that all night, they're going to wake up with really bad neck pain."

     Nodding, Harry wiggled himself free and drew his wand. A gentle flick had Su hovering an inch or two off the couch and he eased her away from Hermione, gently tipping his friend over to lie on her side for the moment. As he turned to float Su off to where Daphne had previously shown him the guest bedrooms were, a flicker of motion in the corner of his eye caught his attention. Looking over at Daphne, Harry stifled a chuckle. "Alright there, Daphne?"

     Daphne's glare alternated between Harry and the thin blonde lying halfway across her lap, arms wrapped tightly around her waist. Harry's guess was that Luna hadn't taken kindly to being deprived of her pillow and had taken to using the next best thing: Daphne. "Keep laughing and I'll URK!" Luna squeezed Daphne a bit tighter, snuggling in closer to her new pillow.

     Deciding not to wait and see what Daphne's threat actually was, Harry hustled Su out of the room.

********************

     The morning of January 5th dawned bright and cold, but thankfully it wasn't as hectic as it could have been. As much as Harry liked the Weasleys (well, most of them), their last minute rush to pack had always irritated him. Perhaps it was something Petunia Dursley had instilled in him, but saving such an important task for when you had the most to worry about and the least amount of time to accomplish things just seemed foolish.

     With his siblings dressed and fed, his father off to work, and his and Hermione's trunks packed and ready to go, all that was left to do was round up his mother and floo over to King's Cross to board the train. It took him a minute, but Harry eventually tracked her down in the study, hunched over a piece of paper. "You ready to go, Mum?"

     Lily looked up from her work for a moment before shaking her head. "Let me just finish these letters. I want to send these off from the international owl office in Diagon Alley after I bring you to King's Cross."

     "Oh?" Peering down over her shoulder, Harry got a look at the addresses on the envelopes she'd laid out for the letters she was writing. "The Crowley Academy? Durmstrang Institute? The Korean Academy for the Magically Elite? The Delhi Conservatory? Wow, if I didn't know better I'd think you were trying to get rid of me. Only one you missed is Beauxbatons. Forget the address?"

     Pausing for a moment, Lily let out a quiet snicker before her quill began to scratch over the parchment again. "I suppose I could write them and the Salem Witches Institute, but then we'd have to invest in a few potions next summer if we wanted you to meet the entrance requirements. But if you really want to be my eldest daughter instead of my eldest son…"

     Harry blinked as his mind took a moment to wrap around that. Beauxbatons was an all-girl's school here? Huh. That was weird. While most of his attention had been on staying alive in fourth year, he definitely remembered Pārvatī ditching him at the Yule Ball to dance with a boy from Beauxbatons who she'd dated for the remainder of fourth year and then some.

     Actually, now that he thought about it, the idea did have some potential to it. He could get away from the headmaster for a bit, let Neville bumble through the Chamber of Secrets incident while he spent the year with Fleur Delacour and other lovely French ladies. And lovely ladies they were indeed.

     Tempting as it was, though, he couldn't just walk away. Who knew what would happen to Hermione, Su, and Daphne without him there to protect them? Not to mention the fact that he'd miss out on Jasmine and Rose's first year, and his first opportunity to make friends with Luna, Lara, and maybe even Ginny. If she was less of a Neville fangirl these days, that was. "No thank you. I'm quite happy being the Potter heir and not the Potter heiress. Why are you writing to all these other schools, though?"

     "Because the headmaster has put conditions on you returning to Hogwarts next year. Who knows who this friend of his is, or what his real goal is in making you attend these sessions?" His mother gestured to the array of letters spread out before her on the desk. "I want a bargaining chip ready before next fall… and if worst comes to worst, I'm sure that Rensaren would make you eligible for the Korean Academy."

     Hopefully. Actually, Harry mused, it might take a full revelation of his magical potential to qualify for attendance at the Korean Academy for the Magically Elite, not to mention learning to speak Mandarin and Nihongo. Su was a phenomenally brilliant girl and she'd been rejected for admission, but considering it served the combined magical populations of China, the Koreas, Japan, Mongolia, and southern Russia… there were a lot of bodies competing for a limited number of seats. They truly were the premiere institution of magical learning in the world, despite Hogwart's assertions to the contrary, and most of its graduates went on to accomplish great things not only in their home country but in the world at large.

     Harry decided to give his mother a hand and used his wand to neatly fold each letter and stuff it into the appropriate envelope, securing it with a dab of wax and the Potter family seal. "Well, if you're done plotting your next move in the chess game called my life, Hermione and I need to go back to Hogwarts, at least for now."

     Cursing, Lily checked the small clock on her desk before pushing her chair back and rising to her feet. "Right you are. Everything packed?" Harry nodded. "Of course it is, you're getting even better than I am about picking up after yourself. Hermione's ready to go too, I assume?" Another nod. "Let's go then."

     Biting his tongue, Harry decided against pointing out that they were waiting on her and followed obediently as she descended the stairs. He and Hermione had each shrunken and pocketed their trunks for the return to school and so the only thing waiting in front of the fireplace was an impatient muggleborn and a pouting half-blood. "Maybe I'll see you this summer? You can come over and we can fly again?"

     "Sure, Jasmine." Before Hermione could continue, though, Jasmine took advantage of what she thought was an empty room and latched onto the brunette, delivering a hug and a peck on the cheek, neither of which Hermione returned. Then she pulled back, only to catch sight of her mother and older brother. Blushing bright red, Jasmine raced between them and out of the room. "Not a word, Harry Potter. Not one word."

     Harry raised his hands in surrender. "Okay. Besides, talking about how you ended up curled up with Su in HER bed at Daphne's house is much more interesting anyways."

     That induced both a blush and a growl and Harry took a step backwards, slipping halfway behind his mother for protection. "I told you, I sleepwalk. I don't know why I went in Su's room or decided to borrow part of her bed, but… you know what, it was completely harmless and I wouldn't need to explain myself to you even if it was something dirty!" Huffing, Hermione grabbed a handful of floo powder out of the dish on the mantle and pitched it into the fire. "Platform Nine and Three-Quarters!"

     Inching out from behind his mother, Harry shook his head. "That girl is far too easy to tease. Oh well. It's payback for her needling me when I got those contracts. She deserves it."

     "Uh huh. Say that again when you're not hiding behind me. Possibly to her face." Harry shuddered and his mother grabbed a handful of powder for herself, tossing it into the fire. "Hurry up, Harry, or you're going to be late for the train. Platform Nine and Three-Quarters!"

     Harry's jaw dropped as his mother disappeared into the flames. "Wait a minute. We would have been there half an hour ago if you'd been ready!" Realizing he was talking to thin air, Harry just shook his head and took some powder for himself. "Platform Nine and Three-Quarters!"

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     Watching the rather bland countryside roll by as the Hogwarts Express made its way back towards Scotland, Harry yawned and tuned out the idle conversation going on between Hermione, Su, and Daphne. The dynamic duo, as Harry had taken to thinking of them, had broken out his present about half an hour into the trip and were bookending Daphne as they went through some of the new charms it contained.

     A burst of red light filled the cabin and Harry turned just in time to get a face full of rose petals. There was absolute silence for a long moment before the girls started giggling madly, taking in the newly redecorated compartment. Sighing, he rose to his feet, spilling a large pile of petals from his lap onto the floor. "And on that note, I'm going to take a walk. You lot have fun cleaning that one up."

     Ignoring their pleading, Harry exited the compartment and closed the door behind him. Who cared if they didn't know how to vanish things yet? They should have thought of that before conjuring up a ridiculously large amount of rose petals. He wasn't their maid, after all.

     Walking down the corridor, Harry occasionally peeked into the compartments as he passed. Holiday spirit was evidently still in full swing, with most of his peers busy showing off their favorite acquisitions to their friends. It almost made Harry feel guilty for not sharing the Marauder's Map and the true nature of his new pocket watch with his friends. Almost. After all, a boy had to have some secrets and while the girls didn't seem to be the type who'd rat him out, he also knew what jealousy or even just a bad mood could drive a friend to do.

     Cough Ron cough.

     As he passed through to the next car, Harry came face to face with the most mysterious girl in his year: Winifred Burkle. After her rather memorable sorting, he'd put her on the 'to watch' list but it'd fallen by the wayside as he reconnected with Hermione, forged closer friendships with Daphne and Su, fought trolls, and played quidditch. Now, though, he was stuck on a train with hours to go before he reached his destination and Burkle was conveniently present for conversation. Harry held out his hand. "Hi. I don't think we've really met before. I'm Harry Potter."

     Icy blue eyes flicked from his face to his outstretched hand and back again. "I know. Your name was announced when you were sorted, as well as during every shared Gryffindor-Slytherin class prior to Christmas." Flushing, Harry pulled his hand back with a frown. Well that was just rude. What was wrong with introducing yourself to people you didn't actually know? "You and your kind do not interest me in the slightest, therefore I ignore you. However, someone I am doing business with wishes to meet you in exchange for services rendered to me. You will follow me."

     Burkle turned to walk back in the direction from which she'd come and Harry chuckled incredulously at her brusqueness. She insulted him and then expected him to do something for her? What, was Snape giving out social interaction lessons to his first years now? "And if I don't?"

     "Then I will bring you to her using as much force as necessary to subdue and transport you. The choice is yours, but whether you come willingly or not, you will come with me." She shot a glare back over her shoulder at him and Harry, despite everything he'd seen and done up to that point, shivered. And when Burkle took a step down the hall, Harry was right behind her. Hopefully when they got to this mysterious 'her', the creepy Slytherin wouldn't be staying. Harry hadn't felt afraid of something in a long time and it wasn't an emotion he enjoyed the return of.

     Wait. What if whoever this creepy girl worked for was worse? Come to think of it, apart from the gender, Harry knew nothing about Burkle's patron. His mind started racing, supplying possibilities as to who could command someone that even made him afraid. Dumbledore was awfully accepting of unusual students. What if there was a vampire or demon of some kind among the students? He eyed Burkle uncertainly. Demon would certainly explain her lack of people skills…

     Harry slammed into an unyielding form and fell back onto his arse as Burkle came to an abrupt stop in front of a particular compartment. "In here." She opened the door as Harry struggled back to his feet, swaying slightly. Merlin almighty, that had felt like taking a concussion hex to the chest. That demon theory of his was looking better and better. As he took a few deep breaths to catch his wind, Harry shamelessly eavesdropped on the two girls inside the compartment. "I have finished my task. You will notify me when your mother recovers the information I desire."

     "Of course, of course. I'll owl you whatever she sends so you don't need to be seen talking to me." Burkle emerged from the compartment a moment later, giving him one last cold stare before pushing past him and wandering off again. Harry hesitated, studying the compartment's occupant through the open door, until she addressed him directly. "Come in, Harry. Sit, talk."

     Blaise Zabini. It wasn't great power that controlled Burkle, or at least not power in the sense that Harry was used to. The power of information, of knowledge desired, was evidently enough to bind her to the will of a girl her own age. Harry studied the dark-skinned girl as he moved to sit across from her. Now that they were closer, he could see definite resemblances to the Blaise he'd left behind in his home universe… similarities in the eye shape, cheekbones, and jaw, the way she held herself, and the slightly calculating look to the gaze she fixed on him. It made Harry wonder what he'd seen in three years when Beauxbatons came to Hogwarts; would each male student have a female analog or would they still be male and attending another school?

     "Harry Potter. It's a pleasure to finally meet you in person." Blaise's lips quirked up a small smile as she crossed one leg over the other, eyeing him speculatively. "I take it you received my family's letter over the holidays?"

     Harry nodded. "Shouldn't you have met me in person before, I don't know, trying to get your family to sell you to me?"

     Rather than the anger he was expecting, Blaise's smile just grew a bit at his barb. Maybe she found her parents' actions amusing as well? "Touché. But, what's done is done. So, what did you think?" Harry raised an eyebrow and regarded her in silence, waiting for her to elaborate. What did he think about… what? The current werewolf legislation? The price of newt eyes? Lavender Brown's new haircut? "Of my family's offer, that is. I thought the dowry was generous, considering the rank of my family compared to your other suitors."

     Uh… huh. There was something incredibly disquieting to Harry about how easily young pureblood witches could talk about businesslike future marriages at such a young age. "Well, it's not exactly like the Potters are hurting for money. The size of the dowry doesn't matter to me as much as the person it comes with. I don't know how you knew about Daphne and Luna's contracts to compare to…"

     "A copy goes on file with the Department of Magical Records and Contracts when their parents send the letter to you. My step-father works in the department and saw them come in, then wrote down the details for comparison."

     "…okay, that's a bit creepy. But as I was saying, Daphne and Luna are friends. I've never even met you before today. So I'll tell you the same thing I told Daphne when she pushed me about the contract she sent. Right now, I'm looking for friends." Harry leaned forward, patting Blaise on the knee. "If something happens between me and a friend in the future, then it'll happen. But I'm not interested in tying myself down, especially when I'm eleven. So if you're really interested…"

     Blaise shook her head, daintily grabbing his wrist and removing his hand from her knee. "Pass. You were a good candidate, but you're not the only boy in our year. I didn't think you'd go for it because of your parents, but Mother thought otherwise. I was right. Oh well. She'll need to pay off Miss Burkle for her help finding you, but that's not my problem. I'll see you in class."

     That was it? Harry almost felt insulted. While he was glad he wouldn't need to expand his little group to incorporate another girl and a third suitor at that, hearing that Blaise's interest in him was strictly business was… scratch almost, it was insulting. But seeing as how he was in the clear now, Harry decided to make a strategic retreat rather than argue and potentially convince her he was a good bet again by accident. "Still can't believe you basically hired someone to find me on the train for you. You could have walked down the hall and found my compartment, or I was planning to track you down within the next day or two so we could have this talk."

     "I could have. But it was a good excuse to start a working relationship with Miss Burkle." Blaise's odd little smile returned as she gestured to the door. "Ta."

     Now that he'd been dismissed both subtly and directly, Harry decided to take the hint and rose to his feet, exiting the compartment. Closing the door behind him, he made his way back towards his own compartment, amused to find the rose petals still present when he returned. Then again, he realized after checking his pocket watch, he hadn't been gone long. "So, what happened to cleaning up in here?"

     "Harry!" Daphne launched herself from between the other two girls, hugging him with uncharacteristic enthusiasm. "Please, teach one of them the spell to get rid of these damn petals. All the other compartments in this car are full and the smell is getting overpowering."

     While Hermione and Su weren't quite as desperate, Harry could tell from their expressions that it was starting to get to them too. "And here I thought girls liked flowers?" Daphne crossed her arms over her chest, fixing him with a magnificent pout, and Harry sighed. They were stuck with the petals because the spell was above their grade level… as was the spell to get rid of them. Even just showing the girls how to do the spell would reveal that he knew how to do even more advanced magic… but at this point, they probably knew as much. "Alright, I'll teach one of you how to do the spell…"

     Hermione's hand shot up as she wiggled forward, sitting on the edge of her seat. "I'll do it!"

     "…but I get to transfigure the clothes of that person into a maid's outfit." Hermione's hand abruptly dropped as her expression shifted from excitement to revulsion; despite having to wear a skirt daily as part of her uniform, this version of her was a lot like her original counterpart (well, pre-Ron) in that she greatly preferred slacks to skirts. Evidently she was willing to suffer through the rose petals' cloying smell if it meant she could keep her legs covered. He looked over at Su and then Daphne, neither of whom look too thrilled with the idea either. "What? Maybe next time you'll think before casting a spell you can't undo. So, any takers?"

     Daphne looked over at Su and then both turned their attention to Hermione, who shook her head vehemently. Sighing, Daphne held out one hand towards Su. "Roshambo?"

     "Works for me. Ro! Sham! Bo!"

********************

     Holding out one arm, Harry watched Daphne make the short hop from the train to the platform, her white lace-trimmed black skirt puffing out a bit as she moved. Letting his eyes wander up and down her, he came to a rather disturbing conclusion: Daphne at eleven filled the snugly-fitting outfit just about as well as Ginny had when he'd transfigured one of her robes into the same costume. Merlin. Forget turning into a pedophile while surrounded by younger versions of a number of his female friends, maybe the tendencies had always been there. He let out a self-deprecating chuckle, only to grunt as Daphne elbowed him in the ribs. "What? I wasn't laughing at you, I swear."

     "Uh huh. Laugh it up, Harry. Just remember, I know where you sleep and the boys' dorms don't have a spell to keep us girls out." Shivering, Daphne pressed herself tight against his side. "Now hurry up and escort me to a carriage. I'm freezing in this ridiculous getup."

     Harry nodded, taking pity on her and shrugging off his own cloak so he could wrap it around her. That would cut down on some of the wind chill, although she'd still suffer from the actual cold. Warming charms to both the cloak and his jumper and slacks took care of that problem for the most part, though, and they were both a good deal more comfortable as Su and Hermione joined them, the quartet heading for one of the empty, thestral-drawn carriages.

     A green-clad figure near one of them caught Harry's attention and he diverted the group in a new direction as Professor McGonagall beckoned him to approach. "Professor?"

     "Mister Potter. Misses Granger, Greengrass, and Li." McGonagall looked them each up and down before sighing and relaxing slightly. "Shall I take it from the lack of students needing to be tended to by Madam Pomfrey that you had an uneventful journey?"

     Harry gasped, bringing one hand up to his chest. "Professor! You wound me! You act like I'm the one who starts the trouble. It's not my fault that purebloods can't seem to keep their bigoted opinions to themselves around me. Or that they tend to get injured shortly after expressing their opinions."

     "I'm sure, Mister Potter." McGonagall went to leave but froze, abruptly turning back around to stare at Daphne. "Miss Greengrass, what ARE you wearing?"

     Blushing, Daphne looked down before drawing Harry's cloak more tightly around her body. "Hermione, Su, and I were experimenting with charms on the train. We needed Harry to teach us the vanishing spell so we could get rid of some conjured rose petals, and he decided we needed a reminder not to attempt spells too complicated for us in the future."

     McGonagall's gaze shifted from the blushing blonde to Harry. "I see. Five points to Gryffindor, Potter, for knowing advanced magic well enough to pass it on to your peers. And another five points for reminding them why our material is taught in a certain order." Pulling out her wand, she flicked it and restored the blue dress Daphne had been wearing, the blonde shrugging off Harry's cloak as her own was returned to her. "Now find a carriage and I'll see you all up at the school."

     As McGonagall departed, Harry was surprised to see Hermione pouting. He arched a brow and the brunette sidled up next to him. "What? It was a cute outfit. It worked on her."

     "Uh huh. Were you appreciating the outfit, or appreciating the view?" Hermione looked confused and so Harry elaborated. "You know. In a Jasmine sort of way?"

     Hermione punched his shoulder hard.

     Harry bite his lip to avoid crying out. Damn that hurt. He really needed to learn to stop picking on her while in arm's reach.