An Unexpected Ally

Daphne Greengrass. Harry finally knew her name. He didn't recognise it at first, but upon thinking back he could remember multiple times that he had heard her name, the most recent example being that day's Transfiguration class. She had made more progress than most people and he vaguely remembered hearing about her intermittently through his Hogwarts years. Hermione had even mentioned that they had shared more than a few conversations in Ancient Runes. Now that Daphne was standing this closely to him, Harry found himself unable to divert his gaze, similarly to when he had first noticed her the day his name had been vomited out of the Goblet. Her eyes were even more stunning up close, they seemed to freeze him in place. He wouldn't have been surprised to find out that they were the reason he couldn't take his eyes off of her, but somehow he knew that wasn't solely the case.

"It's you." Harry said finally, still gazing into her eyes. "You're the girl that's been following me." He added. "You've been stuck in my head ever since I saw you."

At his words, her cheeks took on a slight pink colour as she grew distracted from what she had said to him just seconds earlier.

"Potter- may I call you Harry?" She checked. He nodded wordlessly and she continued, seeming to engage in some kind of autopilot. "As I was saying earlier, I wouldn't have approached you so brazenly, but something has happened recently that I deeply despise and I decided that you were the best person to help me." She explained.

"What's wrong?" Harry asked curiously. The autopilot immediately disengaged as her face twisted into a vicious snarl.

"Malfoy." Daphne spat his name like venom, much to Harry's surprise. He hated the little weasel too, but he didn't expect her to as well, never mind so vehemently. "He's been bothering me since my first year and recently my sister too. He seems to have it stored somewhere inside his thick head that we're his, like some kind of possessions he can flaunt around the castle." She scowled.

"How can I help?" Harry's curiosity was shown once again as Daphne's murderous expression gave way to a look of surprise.

"You're already agreeing to help me?" She asked slowly.

"That sounds horrible and extremely uncomfortable, of course I'd want to help you." Harry nodded.

"What would you like in return, Potter?" Daphne inquired diplomatically. He put his hand underneath his chin to think and for a moment the girl worried that he would impose an entirely unreasonable condition, but that fear was thrown out of the window when he smiled at her with the most innocently playful expression on his face.

"I want you to call me Harry. The whole 'Potter' thing reminds me of Malfoy and besides, you are way out of his league." He threw her his lopsided smile that, in Daphne's opinion, could have beaten Gilderoy Lockhart's winning entry for Witch Weekly's Most Charming Smile Award several times over.

"Oh..." Daphne smiled back at him, feeling a little more relaxed around him. "What about you? Am I out of your league?" She asked just as playfully.

"I don't know... I'd say we're in just about the same spot." Harry smirked.

"How convenient. You don't insult me by putting me beneath you, yet you feel confident enough to place yourself next to me." Daphne smirked back at him. 'Not that I'm inclined to disagree with you, of course.' She thought privately, taking note of how mesmerisingly green his eyes seemed to be.

"I thought I'd play it safe for once." Harry smirked. "Is that all you needed help with?" He continued as Daphne bit her lip, appearing to ponder something for a moment.

In reality, Daphne had realised that if she so wanted, he would most likely assist her with any problems that she had. Usually, she would need to exercise her charm on a boy to achieve that result or give something in return if it was a girl, but in Harry's case he had simply agreed because, in his words, of course he'd want to help her.