CH 45

Daphne spun on her heel until she was facing him and launched herself at him in what Harry was coming to call a grapple-hug. "I missed you. I was so worried about you," she said into his shoulder.

"And I've missed you," said Harry, unsurprised he meant it. "Hospital was boring. All I could really do was spend time on rebuilding my Occlumency mindscape and shields again; and read my school texts. At least this time I was able to build them from the ground up with some pretty wicked defences. "Now, more importantly, what's been happening with you while I've been away?"

"Well, it's now common knowledge that I'm betrothed. The ring saw to that pretty quickly. However, I've kept Mum about to whom. I don't think we could or should keep it a secret for much longer, though.

"I'm sharing a dorm with Tracey and two other girls named Millicent Bulstrode and Pansy Parkinson. Parkinson's a Malfoy lackey and I think he and she might be betrothed, too. Millicent's a nice girl, a bit overweight, and I think she lacks a friend.

"Of the rest of those who were with us on the Express, Susan and Hannah are together in Hufflepuff, and Neville and Hermione are in Gryffindor - But, I've already you told you that, haven't I? You're the only one in Ravenclaw. So, the seven of us are pretty evenly split. Susan and I try to sit together, occasionally, but Snape sends her away if she sits at our table. And, if I try to sit anywhere else, Snape soon comes over and orders me back to the Slytherin table. And I met up with Hermione and Neville in the library, at one time, and we talked a bit before the librarian threw us out."

"Hmm..." mused Harry. "Well, there's nothing in the rules that say you can't sit at another table during mealtimes unless it's the Sorting Feast or the Leaving Feast. And there's specific reasons for those two feasts. More to the point, the rules suggest you should sit at other tables occasionally as it promotes inter-House fellowship.

"I think I might join you for breakfast at the Slytherin table, in the morning. If you want to come out openly about the betrothal that may be the perfect opportunity to do so. I want to put a stop to anyone trying to stop us sitting together for meals before it starts."

"Actually, I think that's a great idea," said a beaming Daphne. "I'll let Tracey know tonight, so she knows what to expect."

Thinking a bit, Harry said, "Alright. But, could you please go to the owlery and send a message to Neville and Susan we're going to do that? And ask Neville to inform Hermione and Susan to let Hannah know?"

With a bit of an amused snort he said, "I left the common room full of Ravenclaws waiting to quiz me about what happened on Sunday night. So, I have to get back there pretty soon or they're likely to burn me at the stake."

Giggling, Daphne said, "Well, we can't have that. I'll send the two owls - plus, I'll send one to Daddy. You'd best head back to the raven's rookery."

She then leaned back in and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek before they both exited the passageway back into the Entrance Hall. From there, both headed up with Harry branching off to head across to the Ravenclaw tower while Daphne headed to the owlery.

After answering the ridiculously easy riddle at the stone raven guarding the entrance to the Ravenclaw common room, Harry entered to find most of the House sitting or standing around and waiting for him.

"Sorry about that," he said, before moving to prop himself against one of the study carousels near the wall opposite the large fireplace.

"Now," he said a little loudly. "Who wants to know what?" He was suddenly assailed by questions from all sides.

Suddenly, a louder, older, male voice rang out, "Silence!"

The room very quickly quieted down. Harry could see one of the prefects walk over to him before he turned and said, "If you can't raise your hands and wait to be called upon, perhaps Mister Potter should just tell us, in his own words, what happened, alright?"

When no one disagreed Harry said, "Right, then. From the beginning..." and proceeded to tell them as much as he could starting with what happened the night his parents were murdered. He left out a lot that dealt with the new information about Pettigrew and Black, and about staying at the Greengrasses, but most everything else was included. When it came to what happened on the previous Sunday night he covered it as well as he could. When he was finished he asked for questions.

"So you weren't actually possessed, then?" one young girl asked.

"No. As I said, the piece of Voldemort's soul was wedged between the skin of my forehead and the bone of the front of my skull. That's as far as it ever got and was locked in there."

"How come it wasn't forced out when you had previous bouts of accidental magic?"

"It's believed - and they're still researching this - that the piece in me was linked to the larger piece that was possessing Professor Quirrell and was being drawn to it when we came into close proximity to each other. Then, when the infant binding on my magic - shattered - my now much more powerful magic forced the piece in me out.

"And, yes folks, it's completely gone. That's why my scar is also gone." Harry lifted up his fringe so they could all see there was no longer a scar on his forehead.

"You were really treated that horribly by those muggles?"

"That's where all the scars come from, yes. And those scars are from the beatings and whippings that didn't fade away over time. Believe me, they're only a fraction of what I went through."

"But all the books say you grew up in a castle and had lots of adventures, and stuff."

"All those books are nothing but blatant flat-out lies!" he said a bot heatedly before he took a moment to calm himself again. "My new guardians will soon be taking action against the authors and publishers of those books and taking each and every one of them to court for slander. If you have any of those books, I suggest you contact your parents to take them back to the bookshops from where they were purchased and demand refunds."

"How come you're not wearing your glasses?"

"It was found that the soul fragment was causing the problem with my eyes that required me to wear spectacles. With the soul fragment gone the healers at Saint Mungo's were able to fix my eyes. Therefore, I no longer need them."

"What about the rings on your fingers?"

Indicating his right hand by lifting it up, he said, "This one is the Head of House ring for the Noble and Most Ancient House of Potter. I accepted the Headship of House Potter on my eleventh birthday as per the instructions of my late father."

Switching hands he said, "This one is a betrothal ring paired to another. And, before you ask, I'm not going to tell you, tonight, to whom I'm betrothed. However, it's a surprise you will find out tomorrow morning at breakfast. As for why I'm betrothed; my father and another man became drunk as skunks one night and, as a lark, decided to betroth their infant son and daughter. However, they signed the betrothal contract in blood; which means it's unbreakable.

"Now, while I was rather miffed to discover, just before my eleventh birthday, that I was locked into a marriage contract with someone I hadn't even met at that time, I am very happy to say we both have come to terms with it and find we've become quite enamoured of each other in a very short amount of time.

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