Unexpected Gifts

Chapter XVII

"So," Blaise asked, "He threatened and complicated you at the same time?"

Harry nodded, "Yes. That pissed off Daphne, and he entertained the thought of attempting to touch her." His voice dropped into another growl, "He ignored my warning, which we later found out could be felt in the Underworld. I know it wasn't on purpose, but Hades and his wife, Persephone, arrived to see what was going on. Their Cerberus barked and that's all I needed to change."

Daphne leaned up to lay a kiss on his jaw, "Harry, protective as he is, would have killed anyone lesser with the stand-off they had. A conversation was had between the gods, in which Hecate explained how Heracles openly threatened a beast and mate. Hades grew angry at such a situation. Persephone, who was busy calming the Cerberus down from seeing Harry, joined the conversation once Hades threatened deathless torture on any that would attempt such on his wife."

"In the single tick of a clock Heracles' arm moved, I blasted him with our ambient magic, and Harry nearly took his arm off," She continued.

"How the hell did you use ambient magic?" Draco cut in.

"If I have my magic spread over an area, I can control that magic without a foci," Harry shrugged lightly. "It was in that single tick that Hecate began to take the situation seriously. She realized that Daphne only could use her magic, but mine as well. She realized something that spooked her and she quickly took Heracles back to Olympus."

"We had to mind meld for almost half an hour before we could both speak without growling," Daphne said. "Father asked their names and they introduced themselves as King and Queen of the Underworld, which prompted our party to use our actual titles. Her Highness quizzed Harry on how well his knowledge of his ancestry is, something that is well documented because of the portrait at home."

"Of course, a portrait a thousand years old would be useful for that," Blaise said, a hint of jealousy in his voice.

Daphne let out a light laugh, "Well, after that we invited them to join us for the evening. Tussisss hid from them, but Selmas don't like large gatherings of people anyways."

"You know, I wanted to bring him back in first year, but Gran wouldn't let me," Harry mentioned, looking at his friends. "How were your breaks?"

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Going around the group, Draco shared that he only spent a week at home before returning to the castle to continue his muggle studies with Hermione. What he didn't share was that the more time he spend around the bushy-haired girl, the more he looked forward to their time together.

It started as a requirement for him, but after two weeks of private lessons together, he began to see the girl behind the bookworm. He began to see that her study habits were trained upon her, something she knew but couldn't bring herself to break. During the break, he got to see more of that girl. They didn't spend the week studying, they had spent it talking.

"Hermione, I know you were trained from youth," He began as he watched her going through a stack of books. "I want to know you though."

"You do know me, Draco," She said over her shoulder. "We've been studying together for months, learning about each other."

He sighed and walked over to her, taking a book from her hand and placing it down, "I only know half of you, Hermione. I want to know the brave, opinionated girl that followed my cousin on adventures around the school. I want to know the girl that survived a fatal curse from a Death Eater."

He took her hand in his gently, "I want to get to know that girl that stood tall before throwing prophecy balls at my father and Aunt."

Hermione had frozen, her eyes on his. Here he was, her old school bully. However, now he stood before her, nearly sixteen and holding her hand.

She could feel the slight roughness of his growing calluses. His hand was larger and cooler than her own. Though, that was likely due to his magic.

His features were schooled, although she could tell he wasn't hiding behind Occlumency shields. He was being honest with her.

That realization brought a flood of heat to her tanned cheeks. It also made her realize that he was becoming quite handsome. She chalked it up to his Black genes.

He wanted to know her, and he was still holding her hand. She wasn't sure if she wanted him to let go.

She nodded slightly, causing Draco to lead her by the hand to the table. He held out her share, something she smiled at. When he went to let go of her hand, she squeezed his lightly and gave a very lame excuse that she knew he saw through.

"My hand is cold," Her voice held a shy and nervous softness.

Draco smiled slightly and gave her hand a soft press, "That's alright. I'll warm your hand if you'd like."

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Hannah didn't have much to share about. Her family went to France for business and she traveled with them.

Seamus had equally as much to share. His break consisted of tutoring and study sessions to better prepare him for renewing his clan. He had found out that he was eligible to take multiple wives because, according to his Clan Charter, as he was the last male Heir, he could have up to a total of seven wives.

"Seven is such a popular number because of how much magic likes the numbers three, seven, and thirteen," Hermione explained, even though they all knew it as such.

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Susan and Blaise went next, having spent most of their break having the other at theirs for a day.

"We went on a few dates, but we mostly just hung out and spent time with his mom and Aunty," Susan shrugged. Harry and Neville knew her too well and could see that she enjoyed time with Blaise.

A look passed between the two, silent agreement that keeping out of the young woman's love affairs was the right play.

Blaise smiled at Susan and took hold of her hand for a moment, "Well, we also went out for dinner. We were chaperoned by Mother, then Madam Bones, and then the last dinner date they allowed us unsupervised."

"How forward of you, to be seen unsupervised with my cousin," Harry teased the boy.

"Quite. However, it was done only after Madam Bones publicly discussed the prospect of a Courtship Agreement between us," Blaise drawled, his smirk firm on his lips.

Susan blushed at the thought but waved it away quickly before she could come under suspicion. Daphne noticed and mentally told Harry she would get whatever she was hiding from her.

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Neville and Luna one-upped Blaise. Luna had spent the break at Longacre, Longbottom Manor.

"I shared a few debates with Augusta. She's funny while drunk as well," Luna said airy, her back leaned into Neville's chest. Her head was resting on his neck.

Neville, for all of his low self-esteem, had his arms around the girl and held her firmly in place against him. He knew that she liked when he did as such, and it felt comfortable and natural to do so.

The boy smiled at his friends and family, "Before leaving for Longacre we discussed bringing the topic of an Agreement to Gran's attention. It took us a few private conversations on both our parts to convince her."

Luna gave the young man a dreamy smile, "She didn't want up rushing into anything. Our Agreement is set until I'm eighteen, so we have three years to decide to marry or not."

Neville whispered that he wouldn't be with her if he was unsure about marrying her, however, he said it so softly that only she caught it.

He, of course, forgot that his cousin and in-law had enhanced hearing, but they kept their faces neutral. Harry would talk about the matter with him later.