Chapter 55

Blaise Zabini is probably your best option," said Daphne "though I wouldn't exactly recommend him."

"Why?" asked Harry.

"He's smarter than the rest but like Malfoy in many other ways," replied Daphne, simply.

"Well, if I run out of options for the boys, then there will just have to be two girl prefects," said Harry.

"Would that work?" asked Tracey.

"It'll have to. Maybe having that as the end product will result in students in the lower years bucking their ideas up."

Dinner was soon nearing an end and, when Daphne, Tracey and Astoria stood up to leave, Harry went with them.

"Trying to avoid detection are we?" asked Tracey with a smirk.

"Yep," replied Harry "I've got a date with Padma and I'll be damned if I'm gonna let Snape ruin it."

"A date with Harry Potter?" said Tracey thoughtfully "So that's how you're rewarding prefects for good work."

"Very funny." muttered Harry.

"Won't you two dating cause a conflict of interest?" asked Daphne.

"Not in the least," replied Harry "I can be professional. Besides, does Padma seem like the kind of prefect I'd need to punish?"

"I suppose not," agreed Daphne.

"She might appreciate a good spanking from you though," added Tracey with a grin, causing Daphne to shriek "Tracey!" and slap her hands over her younger sister's ears as Harry nearly choked on his own tongue.

"Remind me to never get you and Hannah Abbott together," said Harry, looking around.

They were in the Entrance Hall now, and he spotted Padma standing over by the golden statue of the wizard who had been employed by the founders to convert an old muggle castle into a school.

"You'd better get going," hissed Daphne "The greasy one is on the move."

Harry nodded and went to make his way over to Padma, but paused and asked "Wait, you guys call him "the greasy one" too?"

"Of course," said Tracey "Now if you don't want to spend your evening in his lair get going!"

Harry hurried over to Padma and grabbed her by the arm before she could say anything.

"Come on, quick!" he whispered and pulled her through the front doors and out into the Entrance Courtyard.

From there Harry led her off to the side.

"Where are we going?" asked Padma.

"Snape's coming," was all that Harry said in reply, but it was enough to get Padma to keep up.

They took the narrow pathway which connected the Entrance Courtyard to the Quad and from there the headed across the wooden suspension bridge, which led them into the base of the Astronomy Tower.

"I think we've lost him," said Harry, finally coming to a stop.

"Looks that way," agreed Padma, who looked around before turning back to Harry and asking "So, why were we running from Snape? I saw him go over to you in the Great Hall."

"He tried to give me a detention for telling Malfoy off," replied Harry "and, though I know that it will disappoint him greatly, I'm not going."

"Oh. You know that avoiding him will just come back and bite you on the butt later on, don't you?"

"Probably. Now come on, I believe we planned to take a stroll around the lake."

He offered her his arm and, with a smile, she took it and together they headed off towards the lake.

"So, apart from Snape and Malfoy making arses of themselves, how did dinner with the Slytherins go?" asked Padma and they made their way down the dirt pathway which led to the lake.

"It was alright, I suppose. I got a few glares but after I slapped Malfoy down, everyone else pretty much ignored me. I just sat with Daphne, Tracey and Astoria like I planned and tried to get the whole experience over with as fast as possible."

Padma laughed lightly and commented "Well, you certainly caused a stir by sitting there. I've never seen Ron Weasley so red in the face. Except maybe at the Yule Ball when Hermione was dancing with Krum."

"Yeah, he didn't go too much on that," said Harry with a grin "Sorry you had to be stuck with him that evening."

"There's no need for you to apologise for him," said Padma "Though you may owe my sister an apology."

"Yeah, probably," replied Harry "Hey, is it weird that I am taking you on a date when I went to the Yule Ball with your twin sister?"

"It's only weird if we let it be," said Padma "I mean it's not as if you two did any more that have a dance together."

"True," said Harry "I guess I was a bit too busy staring longingly at Cho to pay much attention to your sister."

"Right, Cho…" said Padma, uncomfortably "What's the deal there?"

"Well, I'll admit to being quite heavily into her least year," answered Harry "But this year things have gone a bit odd. I mean, I was there when her boyfriend was killed, so that kind of puts her in a weird place for me."

"I heard that several people saw her fawning over you on the train," said Padma.

"Yeah, I don't really know what to make of that. I know that on some level I should be flattered, but to be honest it's kind of creepy. I mean, I guess I thought that if she ever did seek me out, it would be to ask questions about Cedric's death, not to fawn over me like some kind of… I don't know…"

"Boy-Who-Lived groupie?" suggested Padma.

"Yeah," agreed Harry "It's pretty unsettling to tell you the truth."

"I see where you're coming from," said Padma "I think that there might be something going on with her though. This morning one of the third years mentioned Cedric's name in the common room before we went down to breakfast, and everyone just sort of looked over to her wondering what her reaction would be. But there was nothing."

"Nothing?"

"Didn't even bat an eyelid."

"Well, that is odd. Are you sure she heard what was said?"

"I don't know, but she was definitely within hearing range."

Harry thought for a moment before shaking his head and commenting "I don't like this. I think she needs to be watched."

"I'll keep an eye on her," said Padma.

"Thanks," said Harry before pausing and looking around "Well, this seems like a good spot."

Padma looked around in confusion before asking "A good place for what?"

For an answer, Harry called for Tippy the House Elf, who immediately appeared in front of them, carrying a large, wicker picnic basket which she placed on the ground before them and then bowed low and disappeared with a pop.

"A picnic, Harry?" asked Padma, sounding surprised.

"Yeah," replied Harry "Why, don't you like them?"

"To be honest I've never had one," said Padma.

"That's funny, neither have I."

He winked at her as he pulled a picnic blanked patterned with alternating red and white squares out of the basket.

Padma shook her head fondly and helped him set up. In addition to the blanket, Tippy had included several brass candlesticks and candles, a few plates, bowls and cutlery.

Harry reached into the basket and pulled out a plate of triangularly cut sandwiches.

"Okay," he said "what kind of sandwich would you like? We've got beef and lettuce, egg mayonnaise, tuna mayonnaise, ham and cheese or turkey and mustard."

"Anything except the beef," replied Padma "I don't eat that."

Harry looked up to her, surprised and asked "Why not?"

"My religion, Harry. Hindus don't eat beef."

"I thought that it was the Jewish that didn't eat beef."

"No, it's the Hindus. The Jewish don't eat pork, though a lot of Hindus are completely vegetarian."

"Oh, well, how about that? You really do learn something every day," said Harry, as he handed her a tuna mayonnaise sandwich before adding "I hope you're not offended by my not knowing. My relatives weren't really the types to embrace other cultures, and I didn't learn all that much about them in primary school."

"It's fine Harry. Most people in this place don't know and don't care to know."

Harry nodded as he reached into the basket and pulled out two bottles of butter beer.

"Well," he said, uncorking one of the bottles and handing it to Padma "Here's to a nice picnic."

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