Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, as it belongs to J.K. Rowling.

A/N: Published September 25, 2014

Chapter 1

June 26, 1996

In the smallest bedroom of Number 4 Privet Drive, Harry Potter laid in his bed, brooding about his godfather's recent death. He hadn't moved at all in the last three days. Due to his "hero-complex", as Hermione called it, Harry was suffering from the guilt of blaming himself for Sirius's death.

'If I didn't go charging into the Department of Mysteries, then Sirius would still be alive,' Harry thought. 'I have to learn Occlumency so I don't get tricked again.'

With this resolve, Harry knew that he needed to train harder if he wanted to make it out of this war alive. Right now, he didn't know who he could still trust. He was still angry at Dumbledore for not telling him about the prophecy.

'If Dumbledore had told me earlier about the prophecy, then Sirius would still be alive. He should have trained me from the beginning! Since he hasn't done anything, I have to get out of this dump and learn to fight.'

'But who can I trust? Ron and Hermione? Ron can't keep a secret, especially when he is angry and Hermione has too much trust in Dumbledore. Remus owes too much to Dumbledore.'

'Who can I trust to help me run away?'

Flashback

April 24, 1994 - Third Year

Harry was walking back from detention after curfew when he heard someone sniffling in an abandoned classroom. Walking in, he saw a familiar girl crying in the corner, but couldn't remember her name. He had never been with a crying girl before, so he didn't know what to do.

Awkwardly, Harry sunk to the ground next to her, mimicking the girl by folding in his legs and wrapping his arms around them. After a few minutes Harry built up a little courage and put an arm around the girl's shoulder.

Up until now, the girl had yet to notice Harry. With the sudden contact, she stiffened and looked to see who was holding her.

"Potter? What are you doing here?"

"I heard you in here when I was walking back from detention."

"Why are you comforting me?"

"Cause you're obviously upset about something..."

"But I'm in Slytherin."

Harry sighed. "I don't hate every Slytherin, and I don't think that all Slytherins are evil. You're not evil are you?"

"Of course not!" shouted the girl indignantly.

Harry chuckled. "Didn't think so. Besides, I don't even know your name..."

"Greengrass, Daphne Greengrass."

Harry was shocked that he was talking to the 'Ice Princess'. "So what has you here all alone? Do you want to talk about it?"

"No. Not right now, at least. Maybe another day. Thanks. We should probably get back. It's past curfew and I don't want to get caught by Filch."

"I can help you get back unnoticed," Harry stammered. "That is if you want my help."

Daphne raised an eyebrow.

"You see...I have an invisibility cloak and a map that can help us..."

"YOU HAVE AN INVISIBILITY CLOAK?" Daphne shouted.

Sheepishly, Harry admitted, "Yeah, it was my dad's, but you can't tell anyone! Okay?"

"Okay."

Harry took out his cloak and the Marauder's Map, and showed Daphne how to use it. To say she was ecstatic would be an understatement. The two crept through the hallways to the dungeons, where the Slytherin common room was located.

"Thank you, Potter."

"Let me know if you ever want to talk. And call me Harry."

"Thanks...Harry. I might take you up on that."

"Goodnight Daphne."

Walking back to the Gryffindor tower, Harry was chuckling to himself. 'Who would have thought that I would be friends with a Slytherin?'

Present

The memory of his first time talking to Daphne finally brought a smile to Harry's face. The following year, Daphne had told Harry that she believed him that he didn't enter himself into the Triwizard Tournament. Even when his best friends turned their backs on him, she still stuck by his side. After the third task, Daphne had even snuck into the hospital wing to see him. This past year, she had believed him that Voldemort was actually back when others were calling him delusional and insane. The two had kept their friendship a secret so that the Slytherins wouldn't hurt Daphne.

Harry recalled when he and Daphne had finally opened up about their childhoods…

Flashback

November 12, 1994

Harry and Daphne were sitting in the abandoned classroom where they had first met. Since finishing their homework, they were just talking to get to know each other.

Out of nowhere, Harry asks, "Why do you pretend to be the 'Ice Queen'?"

Daphne sighed. "It started when I was younger. My parents were always a bit cold to me and would ignore me a lot of the time. They never hit me or anything, but I learned that I how to rely on myself and hide my emotions." She went on to describe how her parents never showed her and her sister any love. By the end of her tale, Daphne was hands were shaking from reliving her childhood.

Seeing Daphne in distress, Harry quickly went over and put his arms around her. He held her until she stopped shaking. Then, he told her about living with his relatives and how he had to do all the chores and would get beaten if he didn't finish them in time. This was his first time telling anyone about his childhood. Not even Ron and Hermione knew all the details. When Harry finished, both he and Daphne had tears streaming out of their eyes.

That day, Harry and Daphne became best friends, even though nobody else would know about it. Neither one of them ever told anyone else about the other's secrets.

Since then, Harry had been dreaming of beautiful blonde girls with mesmerizingly blue eyes. Unbeknownst to him, Daphne went to bed thinking about messy black hair and emerald green eyes.

Present

Who would have thought that one of Harry Potter, Gryffindor's Golden Boy's, best friends would be in Slytherin? Harry knew that Daphne would help him leave Privet Drive for good.

'How do I get in touch with Daphne? I can't just run away without planning anything. I have to use my Slytherin side now.'

"Dobby?"

With a pop, Dobby appeared in Harry's room. An excited squeal later, Dobby cried, "Oh Harry Potter, sir! Dobby is honored to be called by the great Harry Potter."

"Shh...Dobby, please keep it down. My relatives can't know that you're here."

"How can Dobby help the great Harry Potter?"

"You work for Hogwarts right?"

Dobby eagerly nodded. "Do you want to work for me?"

"Harry Potter is too kind! Dobby would love to work for Master Harry Potter!" Dobby wailed, while wrapping his arms around Harry's legs, nearly knocking him over.

"Please Dobby. Just call me Harry. I don't want to be anybody's master." Harry awkwardly replied.

"Of course, Master Harry Potter, sir!"

Sighing, Harry realized that Dobby was not going to drop the formality.

"How do I bond you to me?"

"Just say, 'I, Harry James Potter, claim the house elf Dobby as a servant of the Ancient and Most Noble House of Potter. So mote it be.'"

Upon completion of the bonding, Dobby was surrounded by a blue aura. When the aura disappeared, Dobby broke down into tears again.

Harry took a minute to figure out what to do next. "Dobby, can you take people when you apparate?"

Dobby nodded.

After a few moments, he found a quill and some parchment to write a letter to Daphne. Going to see Daphne would be too dangerous and risk getting caught by the Order. The Order of the Phoenix was supposed to be protecting Harry from Voldemort, but Harry figured that they were really to make sure he stayed in the house. Harry had to figure out how to escape, and he needed to talk to Daphne in person to see if she would run away with him. Eventually, Harry decided to send Dobby with a letter to Daphne and to bring her to him.

D,

This is my new house elf Dobby. I need to speak to you in person. Dobby can bring you to me when you are ready. Please don't tell anyone about this. I'll explain everything when you get here.

Love,

H

"Dobby, can you take this to Daphne when she is alone?"

"Of course Master Harry Potter,sir!"

Scene Break

Daphne's parents, who had been neutral in the last war, had just told Daphne and her sister Astoria that they had aligned themselves with the Dark Lord.

Daphne ran up to her room crying. She didn't know how long she cried but she was broken out of her stupor by a small pop. She turned around to see a strange looking house elf by her door.

"Hello Miss Daphne! I is Dobby. Master Harry Potter is sending you a letter," Dobby said while handing her an envelope with her name on it. Daphne recognized Harry's handwriting immediately and tore open the letter.

Upon reading the letter, Daphne turned to Dobby. "Could you please take me to Harry?"

Without replying, Dobby took Daphne's hand and apparated. Daphne felt like she was being pulled through a tube, and suddenly she found herself standing in a tiny room filled with broken toys. Even though Harry had told her about how he lived outside of Hogwarts, she was shocked by how bad his living conditions were.

"Hey Daph."

She turned around and saw Harry sitting on the edge of his bed. Remembering what her parents had told her, Daphne rushed into Harry's arms and sobbed into his chest.

"Shh. Daphne what's wrong?" Harry rubbed circles on her back. Harry had always been there for Daphne when she needed him, and vice versa. Daphne told Harry about how her parents were now death eaters and openly supporting Voldemort.

At the end of her story, Daphne asked, "So what did you need to talk to me about?"

"I'm going to run away to train on my own. Dumbledore wants to keep me here, away from everyone," Harry spat. "I know I can't do this alone, so can you help me for a get everything ready for me so I can leave in a few days?

"Of course," Daphne smiled. "I'll do whatever I can. I'm glad you're finally being Slytherin about this, instead of just disappearing without any plans like you Gryffindors like to do."

"There's something you have to know before you make your decision, though," Harry said warily. "I'll understand if you don't want to talk to me again. You'll be in a lot of danger-"

Daphne cut him off. "I'd rather be in danger than be with my death eater parents!"

Harry sighed and began. "There's a prophecy about me."

"The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches... born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies... and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not... and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives... the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies…"

Once again, Daphne threw herself at Harry with tears in her eyes. Here in front of her was a boy, no man, who had suffered so much in his life and had the weight of the world on his shoulders. He was the only one who could defeat the Dark Lord. Daphne knew that Harry was strong, but everyone has a breaking point.

"I don't want to put you any more danger. I understand if you don't want to help me anymore."

"Stop being such a noble prat! I'm going to help you, and you can't do anything about it!" said Daphne, wrapping her arms around Harry.

Smiling, Harry hugged her back. When Daphne eventually pulled back, he couldn't help but notice how empty he felt.

"If we're going to be running away, can we take Astoria with us? I don't want to leave her to fend for herself," Daphne inquired.

"Of course. I want to get to know my best friend's sister."

Daphne's face fell. She didn't want to be just a friend. For years Daphne had been dreaming of being held tightly by Harry's strong hands while he would snog her senseless. She felt like all her hopes and dreams were slipping.

Harry noticed Daphne's sudden change in demeanor. "Daph what's wrong?"

She just looked away with tears in her eyes. "C'mon Daph, you can talk to me about anything."

Hesitantly, Daphne replied, "Is that what I am? Just a best friend?"

Suddenly Harry realized that Daphne must have fancied him. "Daphne look at me."

She hastily wiped her eyes, but refused to meet his eyes. Harry reached over, gently taking her chin and turning her to face him. Harry hated seeing her so heartbroken.

"Daphne, do you fancy me?" She dropped her head and stared at her toes.

"Daph?"

"Yes you idiot! I've-" Daphne replied, but was cut off by Harry's lips covering hers. She was so shocked that for a few moments, all she could was stare. All of the sudden, she closed her eyes and started kissing Harry back. She felt a soft hand caressing her cheek, while harry's other was on her waist. Hesitantly, she slipped her tongue out of her mouth, begging for entrance to Harry's, which he immediately granted. She loved feeling his soft lips massaging hers. After a while of wrestling tongues, they unlocked their lips. Harry was grinning brightly at her.

"I've wanted to do that for a long time."

"Me too."

"Daphne, will you be my girlfriend?"

"Yes," Daphne whispered, before throwing herself at Harry again, snogging him senseless.

Harry and Daphne kicked off their shoes and laid down side by side on Harry's bed, talking about everything from their childhoods to their favorite foods. Harry told Daphne all about Sirius and how he died. Even though many people told Harry that Sirius's death was not his fault, he felt much better when Daphne told him as well. After talking Sirius, Harry felt like a great weight had been taken off of his shoulders. Late into the night, Harry and Daphne both drifted into a restful sleep.