Chapter 20: Betrothal
Harry sat opposite Jacob and Sunny, finishing up the latest round of correspondence between Lord Slytherin and the various members of the neutral faction.
"Harry, we'd like to talk to you about Daphne," Sunny said, breaking him out of his focus.
"Oh yes?"
Sunny seemed to hesitate before plunging on. "For the last few months we've been engaged in talks with Lord Walter Slughorn about a possible betrothal contract between him and Daphne."
Harry nodded slowly. The nephew of the famous potions master. He could see why they'd do that — the Slughorn family were notorious networkers.
The Greengrasses were looking at him, at though expecting something.
"Well, it makes sense," he said, "from a strategic point of view."
Jacob took over, "Yes, that's why we were doing it, but, well…"
"Daphne isn't really that happy with it," Sunny jumped in again, "he's quite a bit older than she is, when they marry on her majority he'd be almost fifty, and I think she was expecting something else, and we really don't like it much either, but if we don't have a good excuse for breaking off the negotiations we might alienate an important lord who we were trying to secure," she finished in one long breath.
"I see."
"We were wondering," She took a second deep breath, "we were wondering if we could offer you her betrothal instead."
Harry's eyes widened slightly, he really should have seen that coming, but it still blindsided him. "Um, wow… Lord and Lady Greengrass, I'm very honoured. Daphne is a wonderful person and I'm sure one day she'd make a wonderful wife… though I must admit I was already considering another."
"Its okay, Harry. You don't have to give an answer now, but promise us you'll consider it… please?" Sunny implored.
"I will consider it."
"That's all we ask."
...
Daphne was waiting in the manor foyer. She'd been told Harry was taking her somewhere today. Recently, for some reason, her parents seemed to be very keen for her to spend time with Harry.
Her mother had made it very clear that Harry was in charge, and that she should listen to him, which had annoyed her. She could look after herself after all, but, at the same time, she could see where they were coming from. In the last few weeks, Harry had shown a skill with magic that bordered on the mythical. It seemed to her there was nothing he couldn't do.
"Good morning, Miss Greengrass."
She turned. "Good morning, Harry. Are you going to tell me where we're going, then?"
"Well, I thought I'd make it a surprise, but I suppose I could give you a clue."
"Go on then."
Harry took out his wand, waved it over her, and her robes changed into something that could only be described as extremely muggle.
"What is this?" she shouted, "Why am I wearing boys clothes?"
"You've never seen girls wearing trousers before?"
"Well, yes." She blushed. "But I've never worn them myself."
"Wow. Pureblood princess indeed."
"Shut up, Mister. What is this stuff anyway?" She felt the cool, smooth material that covered her. It felt warm and snug on the inside. The top was bright blue with orange dangly things attached. The trousers were dark green and made of the same material. Her shoes now felt massive, like wearing bricks.
"It's outdoor gear. It's what muggles wear when they're going exploring."
Daphne perked up at that. "Really? We're going exploring?"
"Well, neither of us have been where we're going, even if I do know quite a bit about it, so sure, let's go with that."
"And we're getting there, how?"
"Knight bus."
"Oooo, I've never been on the knight bus before! Lead on then, Harry."
...
Daphne was on a buzz high.
"That was amazing!"
"…"
"It was just so wavy! All over the place."
"…"
"You okay, Harry?" She suddenly noticed he looked a little ill.
"…Next time… I'll just disillusion us, and we'll go by broomstick," Harry said, bent over slightly, hands on his knees.
"Oooo! That would be amazing too!" She looked around. "Where are we anyway?"
The bus had dumped them on a roadside, seemingly in the middle of nowhere. Green hills stretched as far as the eye could see. Down in the valleys she could see woods growing around streams. There wasn't a single other person, muggle or magical, anywhere. A light mist hung in the air, peaceful, ethereal.
"Welcome to Dartmoor."
"Dartmoor?" she exclaimed. "Home of the faeries?"
Harry grinned. "Not for a very, very long time. And what we're here for is far less likely to bewitch us into insanity, so don't worry."
"That's very reassuring, Mister Harry… It is very pretty though."
"Well, we're going deeper now. Have you ever side along apparated?"
Daphne nodded, not even bothering to register shock that someone her age could apparate. The normal rules didn't seem to apply to Harry. The fact they were here, on their own, was testament to that. Her parents had barely let her out of their sight her entire life, and suddenly here she was.
Harry held out his arm to her, she took it, and they both felt the distinctive squeezing sensation.
Crack!
Daphne, still on Harry's arm, appeared on the top of another hill. She quickly looked around.
"What's that?" she asked, examining a landscape filled with grass and rocks. The rocks were laid out in a big circle filled with lots of smaller squares and circles. It looked like a blueprint drawn in the earth.
"That is Grimspound," Harry replied. "It's an ancient Bronze Age settlement — both muggles and magicals lived there, probably either druids or Viking rune-smiths — hard to say though. It was named after grim, the god of war, or Odin as he's better known today. The muggles bred cattle while the magicals bred unicorns."
"It's beautiful."
.....
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