The Beauty of First, Er, Second Love

The Beauty of First, Er, Second Love

Ch. 8

The next morning, Hermione made her way down to the Great Hall for breakfast. She was a bit calmer after last night's row with Ron, even though she still thought he was being an utter prat. But knowing Ron, he'd wait until the solid, concrete evidence was in front of his face before he'd admit he'd been wrong about Daphne. Which, she mused, was a problem in itself. How on earth could Daphne prove she wasn't a typical Slytherin? It seemed to be a lost cause.

Seating herself at the Gryffindor Table, Hermione pulled a plate of eggs forward. She added a couple slices of bacon and began eating. She had just drifted back to the problem at hand when Harry threw himself down on the bench beside her. He loaded his plate with eggs, bacon and toast, and turned to look at her. After taking a bite of a piece of toast, he said, "Hermione? Can we talk now?"

Hermione sighed. She really hated arguing with her best friends, but when one of them was being an idiot...

Shaking herself, she said, "Sure, Harry. Let's talk."

"Good," Harry said. "Now, first, why are you suddenly best friends with Daphne? Especially since you know how Ron feels about her?"

"Because," Hermione said staunchly. "He's completely wrong about her, Harry. I know; I've talked with her. And she's not your typical Slytherin."

"Meaning?" Harry questioned, swallowing a gulp of orange juice.

"Meaning," Hermione said, pausing to take a sip of her own juice, "she isn't like Malfoy and all his pureblood nonsense. How could she be? She's a halfblood herself! And her family is very much against Voldemort's beliefs. They were actually part of the original Order, you know."

"Were they? Only Moody showed me a picture of the original Order, and Moody told me everyone's names. Greengrass wasn't one of them."

"That's because they wanted to be discreet. They weren't actual members; rather, they simply passed information they found from the Bulstrodes. They visited the Greengrasses quite often, you see, and several times tried to convince them that Voldemort had good points too. Daphne says her parents played along to get information from them. That's why the Slytherins hate her. They think her parents played theirs as fools. Which wasn't their intent, they just never said aye or nay. But they all assumed they were switching sides and started telling them small bits of stuff they knew. Granted, it wasn't much, but when Snape added his two Knuts, the Order was able to figure out how to prevent whatever it was."

By then, Harry's jaw was practically on the table. "Wow. That's something. I never knew that!"

"No one does, silly. At least, no one the Slytherins really want to tell. Would you want to tell anyone that an enemy made your entire side into fools? No, they never speak of it, and Daphne avoids the Slytherins as much as possible. Speaking of," Hermione added, "I've invited her to eat with me today. Will you stay and meet her? I want you to see for yourself what she's like."

Harry weighed his options. On one hand, he could take this opportunity to see for himself and confirm that Ron really was an idiot. On the other, having Ron mad at him wasn't something he'd especially like to repeat. But if Daphne really was as nice as Hermione said...

"All right," he said finally. "I will, but only because I want to see for myself if she's really that decent. If not, Ron and I will have to put you in St. Mungos for associating by choice with Muggle haters. Agreed?"

Hermione laughed. "Yes, all right. If I'm wrong, I'll commit myself, how about that?"

They were laughing and giving scenarios for Hermione and her roommate in St. Mungos, (Percy, they both agreed) when Daphne stepped into the Great Hall. When she saw Harry sitting with Hermione, she seemed very hesitant to join them. Hermione, however, got up and pulled her over, explaining what was going on. It was obvious Daphne wasn't all too keen on sitting with Harry, but when he flashed her what others came to call his Hero Smile, she reluctantly sat down with them.

"Hello, Daphne," Harry said. She really was very pretty, he thought.

"Hi," Daphne responded. What was Harry Potter doing, sitting with them? Unless Hermione was trying to prove something again...

"Right, so, um..." Hermione cleared her throat. "Well, Harry, this is Daphne, Daphne, Harry. And..." She trailed off.

Daphne studied the Gryffindors. It was obvious they had no idea what to say in her presence. I'll just give them a little push, she thought.

"So, Harry. May I call you Harry, by the way?" At his confused nod, she continued. "Snape is horrible, isn't he? Always taking points off every house except Slytherin."

Harry's eyes widened. A Slytherin, badmouthing Snape? He looked up at the ceiling in the Hall. Nope, no flying pigs. He focused his attention on Daphne again. She seemed to be waiting for his answer, so he stammered, "Yeah, he is. But um... you're a Slytherin. I thought you were all his pets? OW!" he yelped, as Hermione trod hard on his foot.

Daphne laughed, which eased a bit of the tension. "Well, he may be my Head of House, but he's still a greasy git," she said with clarity. "Actually," she lowered her voice, so that Harry and Hermione had to lean across the table to hear her properly, "he's more partial to Malfoy than anyone. But I found out it's because Lucius threatened to hex off Snape's rather, erm, valuable assets if he ever docked points from his son." She raised a perfectly shaped eyebrow and added, "I think Snape and the Sr. Malfoy have a bit of a... well, let's say a special arrangement. Involving handcuffs and a French Maid outfit."

Harry burst out laughing. His voice echoed around the Hall, causing several people to look over at them. When they saw Daphne sitting with Harry Potter at the Gryffindor Table, many began whispering amongst themselves.

Harry wasn't bothered by it. Daphne actually had a damn good sense of humor. She had just begun telling them some of the relatively harmless things that happened in the Slytherin Dungeons when Ron walked in. He strode over to his table, disbelief and fury clouding his vision.

"...So Draco was sitting there, ok, and Vincent and Gregory walk in. Draco said, 'Where did you two go? You just rushed out of here with no explanation!' And Gregory and Vincent said, 'What? We've been locked in a broom cupboard and only just woke up!' And Draco says, 'But I just talked to you, you dumb oafs! About Weasley's father and that ridiculous flying car of his! I showed you that clipping!' But Vincent and Gregory had absolutely no idea what he was talking about!"

Harry and Hermione were laughing themselves sick by then. Of course, they knew of which incident Daphne spoke, but said nothing about it. They simply laughed, because it was rather funny.

Ron, by now, had reached their area. He simply glared at first Hermione, then Harry, although the glare he reserved for Harry was much more poisonous than the one he bestowed upon Hermione. Neither glare was missing fury, however.

"Harry, Hermione," Ron spoke through clenched teeth.

"Hey, mate!" Harry exclaimed. "Come sit with us! We even saved you some breakfast, see?" Harry pulled a plate of eggs next to the empty seat beside him. Ron, however, didn't sit down; he only glared at Harry harder.

"No thanks, Harry. I think I'll sit with Dean and Seamus, since you've obviously sided with Hermione!" And so saying, he stomped over to Neville, Seamus and Dean and sat down.

Harry, Hermione and Daphne were silent for a minute, simply looking at each other. Finally, Hermione broke the silence.

"So anyway, Daphne," she said, making sure Ron could hear, "You were saying, before you were so rudely interrupted?" Daphne smirked, and continued with another story.

Ron heard Hermione, but only pretended he didn't hear her. He didn't succeed completely, however, as his ears glowed a dull red. Turning instead to Seamus, he said, "Potions first thing! I hate bloody Wednesdays!"

****

The rest of the week was much the same. Harry and Hermione would spend more time together and with Daphne, while Ron spent his time with Neville, Dean and Seamus. Hermione and Daphne were getting much closer, because Harry and Parvati had finally decided to make it official, so Harry spent lots of time with Parvati as well. The Slytherins ignored Daphne completely now, except when they wanted to humiliate her. Daphne would retaliate in kind. Hermione's favorite memory was the time Pansy Parkinson had announced that Hermione was a dyke and hanging out with Daphne purely for the sex. They had wracked their brains to come up with something to get her back, and so it was that a couple days later, Pansy found she had acquired a new appendage that she hadn't previously had. Her screams of horror had been heard throughout the castle, and Daphne and Hermione had laughed themselves sick.

When Ron found out who had done it, he wanted to tell Hermione how brilliant he thought she'd been. But then he found out it had been Daphne's idea, and Hermione had done the spell. He realized if he congratulated Hermione, he'd have to congratulate Daphne as well. Then he remembered he and Hermione were rowing again, so even if he'd wanted to, he couldn't have. It would be like admitting defeat, and Ron wasn't going to be the one to back down first this time.

Harry simply watched Ron and Hermione battle it out. He agreed that Daphne was actually a great person and friend, but Ron was his very best friend. He wasn't going to pick sides over this. He never discussed Ron with Hermione, and Ron was currently ignoring him. He let them both know, however, to leave him out of it. He knew Ron thought he was consorting with the enemy, but Harry paid no mind to it. He simply went his own way and spent time with Parvati or Hermione and Daphne, sometimes even Neville, if Ron wasn't with him. Usually he was with Dean and Seamus anyway. And although Harry wouldn't take sides, he missed Ron something awful.

****

A few weeks later, Ron was running late for Potions class. He'd woken up late, missed breakfast, and had forgotten his Potions book. The morning was not off to a great start, and it was about to get worse.

As he came tearing through the corridor and around a corner, he smacked into someone coming the other direction. He watched in slow motion as his books and parchment crashed to the floor. Ron managed to stay on his feet, albeit narrowly. Grumbling, he began gathering his things as the person he ran into said her apologies. Wait, her? Ron looked up slowly, recognizing the voice immediately.

"...So sorry! I don't know what I was thinking, coming around the corner like that. Are you all right?" Daphne looked up, only to see Ron facing her. She halted, a flush spreading over her pretty face. The silence grew between them until Daphne finally broke it with, "So... are you ok?"

Ron, who had been looking into Daphne's eyes, such pretty blue eyes, he found himself thinking, jerked himself awake. "Yeah, I'm fine. Are you, uh, ok?"

She nodded, saying, "Yeah, just a small cut here..." her voice trailed off as she showed him an inch long cut on the underside of her forearm, near her elbow. She shrugged, hoisting her books higher.

"You should go to Madam Pomfrey for that. It could get infected," he found himself saying.

Daphne's eyes twinkled for a second. "Yeah, I will. Thanks for being so concerned, Ron." And without a second glance, she stepped past him and made her way to wherever it was she'd been going.

Ron's eyes widened as he realized what had just happened. He'd acted concerned. Daphne probably thought that meant something. But it didn't, he thought furiously. Just because I told her that cut might get infected doesn't mean anything.

And still reassuring himself of this, he followed the corridor down to the Potions classroom.