Author's notes: The Rotten Writer, here again with a new chapter. Work moves along on all mu stories I'm happy to say and several should see updates soonish. Next couple of days Ill be fairly busy so little time for writing but I'm working on it.

Not a lot to say for this chapter. Moving things along and hoping people like what I'm offering here.

Disclaimer: I own not Harry Potter.

Here is Chapter 03 of Cunning, Courage, and Cleverness. Enjoy!

Cunning, Courage, and Cleverness

Neville Takes a Chance

By,

Rtnwriter

This date is certainly off to a roaring start, Harry thought with a nervous glance toward Daphne from the corner of his eye where she was sitting across from him in the carriage as it carried them toward Hogsmeade. After leaving the entrance hall the two of them had exchanged a total of four words to each other, those being 'thank you' from Daphne when he'd offered her his hand to help her into the carriage and his own two word response of, 'you're welcome'.

He wasn't really sure what it was about the girl, but for some reason being in her presence was making him unaccountably nervous. His hands felt clammy and he found himself rubbing his palms against his thighs in the hope of drying them before he had to take her hand again.

Who are you kidding? he thought. You know exactly why she's making you nervous.

"I don't bite."

Harry jumped in his seat, startled out of his thoughts by the sudden sound of her voice and he turned from where he'd been staring out the window at the passing scenery to look fully at her. She had an amused smirk turning up her lips and he felt it as his face flushed.

"W-wh-what?" he stammered, cursing himself inside his head all the while.

"I said, 'I don't bite'," she repeated herself. "At least, not on the first date."

He couldn't help it. He laughed, suddenly feeling a bit more at ease.

"You seem really nervous," Daphne commented and he found himself nodding.

"I am," he admitted ruefully. "Can't honestly remember the last time I was this nervous."

One slender brow arched upwards at that admission.

"You weren't nervous before the first task?"

He had to think about that for a moment but, eventually, he shook his head.

"No. I can't really say that I was nervous. Terrified, but not nervous. Even then, once I was in the air everything else kind of fell away. It was actually almost fun."

Daphne shook her head as he shot her a lopsided grin.

"Unbelievable. Facing one of the most dangerous creatures on the planet and you thought it was fun?"

"Almost fun," he said, emphasizing the first word carefully. "I'll admit, my response to life threatening situations is probably a bit… broken, but I'm not a complete idiot."

"Just a half-wit, then?" she shot back with a teasing grin and Harry broke out into surprised laughter.

"So facing a dragon didn't make you nervous, but I do," she remarked thoughtfully once he'd calmed down. "I'm not sure if that's a compliment or not."

"Oh, you should definitely view it as a compliment."

"Why is that?"

He shrugged. "The dragon would only kill me or maim me," he pointed out nonchalantly. "You however. You have the ability to do something much worse. If you decided that I wasn't good enough for you, or Hermione, you could potentially get her to change her mind about me. That would cause a lot of damage that I'm honestly not certain I'd ever recover from."

Daphne no longer looked amused as she stared at him, her gaze steady, face unreadable to him and he felt those nerves that had so recently been beaten back by their friendly conversation creeping back up on him.

"Do you honestly think that if we don't have a perfect date that I'd sabotage your relationship with our girlfriend?" she asked.

He shrugged, his eyes dropping to the floor for a moment before lifting then again to look at her.

"I don't know," he said. "I don't know you well enough to guess what you might or might not do."

"Whatever happens or doesn't happen between us, I want you to know up front that I would never do something like that to Hermione," she said firmly, her gaze icy. "I love her, and I want nothing more than for her to be happy, that's part of why I'm giving this a chance, why I came up with the idea in the first place.

"You don't know me, so I'll forgive you the assumption you made, but let me make it clear to you now that family is the most important thing in the world to me and I consider Hermione part of my family. I would never do anything to hurt her if I could possibly help it."

Harry was nodding rapidly, honestly a bit scared of the girl sitting across from him in that moment. She closed her eyes and seemed to take a long, deep breath before slowly letting it out again and her cold blue eyes opened to regard him much more calmly than she'd been just moments ago.

"Is that why you've put so much effort into this?" she asked. "From what Hermione says, you weren't raised in our world. I didn't expect you to know any of the usual courting protocols. I'll admit that you've surprised me so far."

He nodded again then frowned and slowly shook his head. "Well… no, not really. It's… my reasonings are all kind of mixed up in my head, I think." His frown deepened and Daphne sat quietly, watching him as he worked through his thoughts, attempting to put into words what was going through his mind.

"I think that it was a possibility, in the back of my head, that you could decide to kill this entire idea and I really don't know which way Hermione would go if that happened. She says that she has feelings for me, but the two of you have been together for almost a year now, so I'm not so sure what would happen, and I wouldn't want that to happen, either. I wouldn't want to be the reason that things between you two ended if that was the direction she went.

"Mostly though, I was thinking that you're important to her. Very important, from what I understand, and she wants a full relationship between the three of us. She doesn't want you and me to just be friends and both be dating her. Right?"

Daphne nodded.

"Well, with that in mind, I really wanted this date between us to go well. I wanted to make a good impression on you and I wanted to give this idea a real effort, not just going through the motions…" He trailed off for a moment before giving her an exasperated look. "I'm not sure if any of that makes any sense."

"It makes sense," she said. "Though I see a small problem in what you're saying. It sounds like your only motivation for wanting this date to go well, for going on this date with me at all, is for Hermione's sake."

Harry frowned again. Was that really what he was doing?

"If you're not interested in me, or don't really want to try dating me, then that's not going to work."

"Isn't that what you're doing though?" he asked, feeling slightly confused. "You're trying because Hermione wants this, not because you specifically want it."

"Except, if you'll remember, I said yesterday that I've had a small crush on you for some time now," she pointed out, a light pink dusting her cheeks but her eyes remained steadily focused on him. "Actually... Hermione reminded me just a few days ago that, if we got to this point, I should make a point of mentioning something to you."

"What?"

"I'm interested in dating and getting to know Harry Potter," she said. "Not the Boy-Who-Lived. Not the Gryffindor Seeker. Not anything else that people think they know about you, but you, the actual person. That being said, are you actually interested in getting to know me? Or are you just willing to do this for Hermione's sake?"

Harry leaned back in his seat, shocked by what he'd heard, but doing his best to consider the point she'd brought up as carefully as he could. He'd admitted to himself the day before that he could honestly see himself dating Daphne Greengrass. But did he really want to? Was getting to know and hopefully getting closer to the girl sharing the carriage with him something that he, personally, wanted?

The answer came fairly readily, though it honestly surprised him, despite his earlier thoughts on the matter.

"I think… I really do think that I would like to get to know you better, Daphne," he finally said, just as the carriage came to a stop at the edge of the village. "From the short amount of time we've already spent together, I have to admit you're interesting. I think a small part of me will always be doing this because Hermione wants us to and she seems to feel that we could find something with each other that could fit into this strange dynamic we've got going on. But for myself, I believe that I can honestly say I would like to get to know more about you and I'd like to see where us getting to know each other better could lead us."

Daphne Greengrass, he could easily admit, was a beautiful girl in a cold, aristocratic kind of way. When he finished speaking and a small, genuine smile broke out on her face, he found himself slightly dumbstruck by just how beautiful such a happy expression made her look and he couldn't help but smile back at her.

"In that case, don't worry about Hermione right now. Don't worry about making a good impression on me for her sake. Just be here... with me, and let's get to know each other better."

Still smiling, Harry opened the carriage door and climbed out, turning and reaching up to take her hand as she followed him from the carriage. Once they were both standing outside and the door was closed, he turned to her and extended his arm again.

"You have my undivided attention, Miss Greengrass," he said as she slipped her hand into the crook of his elbow once again. "I'll warn you now, I'm not really good with letting people in, but you'll get my best effort and I hope we can work our way forward from there."

"That's all I ask, Harry," she told him softly and then started forward, tugging him along with her as they entered the village and their first date truly began.

#####

Neville Longbottom was a godsend, Hermione decided as she sat at a table in the library, a large tome open in front of her and a roll of parchment lying on the table next to the book; quill and a bottle of ink nearby. Hermione had heard before that flowers apparently had different meanings, though she'd never really thought much of it. Honestly, it seemed silly to her. All these meanings were likely arbitrarily attributed to the plants. It wasn't as if the flowers themselves intrinsically held certain meanings or traits to them in that manner. But Harry had put together a bouquet for their girlfriend, using the meanings behind the specific flowers he'd chosen to send a particular message, and she was determined to work out exactly what it was that he'd said to her.

"Fern, daisy, and irises," she muttered, one hand turning the pages of the book while the other reached for her quill and filled it, holding it poised above her parchment.

"Daisy," she said, finding the entry and reading quickly. "Daisy's are said to represent innocence and hope."

More pages turned.

"Ferns are believed to represent sincerity and humility; also magic, and bonds of love."

Her quill scratched across her parchment as she turned a few more pages.

"Irises represent a message."

More quill scratching and then she pushed the book aside and studied what she'd written, rearranging the order of the meanings several times in her head and scratching out connections with her quill. Ten minutes later she had more than a dozen different combinations and possibilities and no real clue which was accurate, if any of them.

"Hermione!"

Hermione jumped as Ron loudly called out her name, quickly followed by a harsh shushing sound from Madam Pince. Ron cringed but quickly shook it off and made his way over to the table that she was sitting at as Hermione closed the book and set it on top of her parchment, hiding what she'd been writing from his view.

"Ronald Bilius Weasley," she hissed as loudly as she dared as he dropped heavily into the seat across from her, "if you get me kicked out of the library because you can't keep your voice down, I promise that I will not be held responsible for what I do to you. There isn't a jury in the world that would convict me."

Ron gave her a blank look.

"What's a jury?"

Groaning quietly she dropped her head into her hands and slowly counted to ten in her head before she sat up and fixed him with her best glare.

"What do you want, Ron, that has you barging in here like a Troll? Shouldn't you be down in Hogsmeade?"

Ron shrugged his shoulders. "Didn't really feel like it. Wanted to see if Harry wanted to play some chess, but I haven't been able to find him and there's the weirdest rumors flying around the castle."

Hermione let out an exasperated sigh. "I don't care about rumors," she muttered, packing away her things as she spoke. "Most of the time the rumor is completely false or has most of the story wrong so why would I bother listening to rumors?"

"Maybe because these rumors are about our best friend and they could really hurt him?" Ron snapped. "These are even worse than those idiots that were saying that Harry cheated his way into the tournament!" She made a shushing motion as he increased volume again.

As if you weren't the loudest idiot, insisting that Harry cheated, you… urgh!

"Fine, Ronald. What are these oh so terrible rumors going around?" she asked as sarcastically as she could.

Ron looked around them before leaning forward in his seat and whispering, "there's some people saying that Harry went on a date this morning with a Slytherin."

"Oh no," she drawled in a deadpan tone of voice. "How terrible. Whatever shall we do?"

"I know!" Ron burst out, completely missing her sarcasm, and Madam Pince's glare, as he threw both hands up in the air. "The good news is that I know for a fact this is all a big fat lie," he added with a smug smirk, leaning back happily in his chair with his arms crossed over his chest.

"How do you know that?" she wondered.

"Because the rumor has it that he asked her to go with him using old pureblood courtship protocols."

"Why is that so difficult to believe?"

"Because Harry doesn't know the protocols. It never came up whenever we talked before."

Hermione blinked a couple of times, dumbfounded by that particular statement.

"So, because you didn't tell him something there's no other way for him to have learned about it?" she hissed.

Ron shrugged. "I'm his best mate," he said as if that was explanation enough.

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"Who else would he ask, but me? Not like he'd talk to Neville or something like that." Ron chuckled quietly, shaking his head back and forth as if the very idea that Harry would speak to someone other than him was completely ludicrous.

"For your information, Ronald, Harry did go on a date with a Slytherin, and he did actually ask Neville about the protocols. He told me before they left that he wanted to make a good impression on her so he asked Neville for some advice."

Ron's mouth dropped open and he sat there, gaping at her, for several long seconds before his mouth snapped shut again and he started sputtering incoherently.

"That's ridiculous!" he argued loudly. "There's no way that Harry would ever go out with one of those slimy snakes, much less actually be the one to ask her out in the first place!"

Somewhere in the stacks another loud shushing noise emitted and Ron cringed again, sinking down slightly in his seat.

"And why not?" she demanded. "What's wrong with going on a date with a Slytherin girl?"

"She's a Slytherin! They're all evil little monsters in the making. You know that You-Know-Who is still out there. If he actually asked her out, she must have potioned him or something. Must be trying to get him alone so she can kidnap him and deliver him right to her Master." Ron had a disgusted sneer on his face as he spoke and she found herself wondering more and more how it was that Harry had ever really become friends with the boy.

"Daphne is not evil. She's a very nice girl, if a little hard to get to know at first, and she and I have been friends since last year."

"What are you on about?" Ron scoffed. "You aren't friends with any Slytherins. There's no such thing as a good Slytherin. Just look at Malfoy and his lot."

"I am so friends with a Slytherin. Daphne has been my class partner for more than a year now for both Arithmancy and Ancient Runes. I've gotten to know her pretty well and I consider her a very good friend," she practically growled furiously at him. "And what about Malfoy and his friends? That's a few people out of an entire House, Ron. You can't judge an entire group based solely on a handful of idiots."

"It's not just them, there isn't a bad wizard out there that wasn't a Slytherin. They're all evil, and if Harry is really on a date with one of them, we need to do something."

Growling under her breath Hermione stood and grabbed her bag, slinging one strap over her shoulder as she glared down at the still seated boy.

"Two words," she snapped. "Peter Pettigrew."

With that, she spun on her heel and stalked her way out of the library, muttering darkly under her breath the entire way and leaving a dumbfounded and confused Ron Weasley behind her.

#####

Neville Longbottom didn't often have reasons to feel any personal sense of pride. He was proud of his greenhouses at home and the knowledge that he'd gained over the years on the subject of Herbology, but often that knowledge didn't help him beyond his grades in that one class at school. For once, however, his knowledge had helped someone that he'd long wanted to have a closer friendship with.

He'd been surprised the night before when Harry had actually asked him for advice on an upcoming date. When it became clear that Harry needed Neville's understanding of pureblood traditions and protocols it made more sense, but still, he'd never thought he'd be in a position to offer actual help to someone that they couldn't get better from someone else.

Of course, that now left him in a slight quandary as to what to do going forward. For centuries the Longbotom and Potter families had come to each other's aid at various times and over various reasons, from war, to business, to standing before the Wizengamot in a bid to enact new laws or strike down old laws that served only a minority of their population. They had never been in any kind of formal alliance, but they'd been friendly toward each other for a long time.

When he first came to Hogwarts, and Harry didn't seem to really want to be his friend, Neville hadn't been entirely sure what to think. In the back of his mind he'd considered the possibility that Harry might have considered the friendship between their families ended when no Longbottom attempted to help the night his parents had been murdered by You-Know-Who. It was only recently that Neville realized that Harry probably had no idea that their families had been friendly. He didn't know the first thing about the wizarding world and that most certainly included any friendships or enemies that the various families had.

So, should he attempt to educate Harry himself? Or should he let Harry know that there was a lot more that he needed to learn about his family and the world that he now lived in and then let Harry look for his answers where he would? Neville was pretty sure his grandmother would want him to step up and offer to educate Harry as best he could, but he also thought that she might not think him capable of teaching someone else.

Neville had never been a very good student, except for Herbology, and he wasn't much of a wizard either. He struggled in all the wanded classes and his ability at potions was a joke.

Despite these worries that were rattling around in the back of his mind, Neville was finding his Saturday to be very relaxing, not something that he could say exceptionally often. This day, most of the castle was in Hogsmeade, and he was sure that many would be speculating over the fact that Harry had asked Daphne Greengrass on a date, so therefore the Gryffindor Common Room was nearly empty, populated only by a few first and second year students while the rest were occupying themselves somewhere else, outside of the tower.

He'd sat himself in the armchair closest to the fire, enjoying the warmth while losing himself in the herbology text that Professor Moody had given him. It was there that the force of nature known as Hermione Granger in a foul temper found him when she came storming in through the portrait hole, bag slung over one shoulder, her face set into an angry scowl while she muttered furiously under her breath.

Warily, Neville watched as she practically threw herself into the sofa near him with none of the usual grace or poise that he'd come to expect from her. She may not have the presence of some of the pureblood witches who benefited from years of lessons in dance, etiquette, and comportment, but she was still not the type to throw herself about like that. This departure from the norm caught and held his attention almost as well as if she'd demanded that he focus on her.

Digging around in her bag, she removed parchment, quill, and ink, and set them down on the low table in front of the couch before she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She held it for a few seconds then slowly let it out. When she opened her eyes again they were focused directly on him and he found himself suddenly sitting up straighter in his seat.

"Neville," she said calmly. "I was wondering if you could help me solve a puzzle? I've looked at it from several different angles but I'm not sure that I have it quite right."

Neville gaped at her slightly, more than a little surprised to find himself being asked for help again, and by the brightest witch that he knew.

"If you haven't been able to figure it out, I'm not sure how much help I would be, but I'll give it my best."

Hermione smiled at him. "You're much smarter than you give yourself credit for, Neville," she offered kindly. "Also, in this case, this is a subject that you are uniquely suited to help with and you have a lot more experience with it than I do. Any help you could offer would be really appreciated."

With that, she turned the parchment she'd set on the table around and pushed it toward him. Curiosity piqued, Neville closed and set aside his book, then leaned forward and picked up the parchment, his eyes scanning quickly over Hermione's small, but tidy, handwriting.

"You're trying to figure out what Harry meant with the flowers he gave to Daphne this morning?" he asked.

"Yes. Finding the individual meanings attributed to each plant wasn't difficult with that book you recommended. The problem I'm having is that the fern and daisy both have multiple meanings and I'm not sure which he intended as part of the message."

Neville was nodding to himself by the time she wound down, his mind turning over the possible ways he could respond. Luckily, Harry had already told him that he could tell Hermione exactly what he meant with the plants he'd chosen, so he didn't have to worry if he was betraying his friend's confidence by explaining it to her.

"Well, the thing is he didn't intend just one of the meanings, but all of them," Neville started, grinning when Hermione blinked in surprise and her eyes darted toward the parchment that he still held in one hand, her brow creasing into a frown.

"Irises signify a message that the gifter wishes to convey. Ferns mean sincerity, humility, magic, and bonds of love. Daisies represent innocence and hope. By giving her these particular flowers he's telling her that they're a message from him to her specifically. That message is given sincerely, with humility and innocent, or pure, intentions, meaning with no ulterior motives. When he gave them to her he also requested that she accept him courting her, by using his magic in the creation of the gift by turning them into a broach that she could wear, he's telling her that he's baring himself to Magic herself, in the hope that she'll accept his offer of courtship so that the two of them can see if bonds of love could develop between them."

Hermione's face had gone slack, her mouth hanging open slightly and he really had to work to hold back a laugh at the dumbfounded look on her face.

"How… how do you get all of that from a few short words that the plants supposedly represent? That doesn't make any sense," she complained.

"It's not just about the flowers themselves," Neville tried to explain to her, setting her parchment down onto the table in order to free up his hands to gesture with as he spoke. "The language of flowers is more than just the plants. The meaning behind the plants changes depending on a lot of factors such as what event or reason the flowers are being given for. The fact that Harry gave them to her as his courting gift to her has a different meaning than if he'd just given them to her as a gift to a girl that he liked. Even which hand the flowers are offered with can affect the meaning or the message being conveyed."

Frowning, Hermione reached out and snagged her parchment, pulling it back to her with one hand as she loaded her quill with the other.

"Tell me again?" she asked. Neville repeated the wording as Hermione wrote, copying down what he said, verbatim. When she finished she picked up the parchment and leaned back in her seat, reading it several times to herself. As Neville watched, her face broke out into a soft smile that slowly grew until she was practically beaming.

"It's sweet, isn't it?" she asked, looking up at him a moment later. "He telling her he's serious about wanting to know her better and hoping that something develops between them. He's not just looking to be seen with a pretty girl, but he's offering a chance for something much more."

Neville nodded again. "I actually asked him about that a couple of times while I was helping him work out the exact message and how to present it. It's… well, it's a little unusual for people our age, isn't it? To be so serious right from the first date?"

Hermione shrugged. "Maybe," she admitted. "But this is Harry. He doesn't exactly do anything normal, now does he?"

Neville chuckled quietly for a moment. "Yeah, I can't argue with that," he agreed, still laughing. Once he managed to get a handle on his amusement he turned a considering look in her direction.

"What?" she asked, one brow arched in a quizzical manner and he almost shook himself from his thoughts, blushing slightly at being caught staring.

"I'm sorry," he told her. "I was just…. When Harry told me he had a date with a pureblood witch… honestly I was pretty surprised."

"Why is that?"

Even more embarrassed now, Neville looked down at his lap, nervously plucking at some imaginary lint on the leg of his slacks as he mumbled his way through an excuse. "I don't… it's not really my place to say," he muttered. "Just ignore me, I'm being an idiot."

"Neville, you have never been an idiot in the entire time that I've known you. Shy and a little timid at times, but never an idiot. I promise, I won't get upset."

Really, Neville honestly thought he could believe that. Of all the people that he knew, Hermione Granger was probably the last to get angry over an honest mistake, especially if the person that made it was genuinely contrite over it, as he most certainly was. With that thought in mind, he decided to go ahead and spit out what was on his mind.

"Well, it's just that you and Harry have always been so close. If there was a girl anywhere in the castle that I would have put money on him asking out, it would have been you," he said, his gaze still directed away from her. As such he didn't notice how she suddenly appeared extremely nervous, her eyes darting about for a moment as if looking for an escape before she let out a shaky sounding laugh.

"I love Harry to death," she said. "He's my best friend and he always will be."

"Yeah." Neville nodded and finally managed to lift his head so he could look at her again. "Well…" He trailed off for a moment and pushed himself up even straighter in his seat, squaring his shoulders and looking directly at the girl across from him as he plucked up every ounce of his Gryffindor courage and forged ahead. "Well, since it appears that Harry didn't ask you to go to the ball with him, would you be willing to go with me?" he asked.

Gobsmacked was a barely adequate word to use to describe the look on Hermione's face when he finished speaking. Her mouth hung open again and both eyebrows had shot up toward her hairline, giving her a startled appearance that he might have found funny if he hadn't just asked her, probably, the most serious question of his short life.

"Hermione?" he pressed when she didn't respond after several seconds and she suddenly blinked, her mouth snapping shut with an audible click.

"Oh!" she squeaked, actually squeaked. Neville didn't think he'd ever seen her so utterly shocked before and he wasn't entirely sure how to take that. Was it a happy surprise? Or was he seconds away from being horribly rejected?

"Oh, Neville… I'm sorry, I can't. You're a great guy, and I think it would be wonderful to go with someone like you, but I actually already have a date. Somebody asked me yesterday afternoon, really only a few minutes after Professor McGonagall announced it to our class."

Heart sinking in his chest, Neville tried to take some solace in the fact that she didn't say she'd never go to the ball with someone like him. Someone else got to her first, he couldn't fault her for that, though it would have been brilliant to go to the ball with someone as kind and intelligent as Hermione Granger.

He tried to give a nonchalant shrug, but was reasonably certain that he failed miserably. "Well… that's okay. Somebody beat me to it, can't argue with that." He sighed, and gave her a small smile. "So, who was it that was smart enough to snap you up as quickly as they could?" he asked.

She winced, her expression twisting into a slight grimace. "I'm sorry, I-I can't really say," she stammered slightly. "Not yet, at least. The situation is… well, it's a little complicated."

She wouldn't be making up that she has a date already just to avoid me, would she? he thought, hurt at the idea.

At the suddenly panicked look on her face, Neville realized that he hadn't hidden his feelings as well as he'd thought.

"Really," she blurted out. "It's all a bit difficult and we're trying to decide how we want to handle things. I promise, Neville. I would love to go with you if I didn't already have a date."

He nodded again, somewhat despondently, he was sure, and reached for his book.

"It's fine, Hermione," he told her. "It's none of my business."

"Neville, wait," she burst out as he made to stand. Surprised, he fell back into his seat as she took out her wand and waved it through the air several times, muttering under her breath as she did so.

"Privacy charms," she told him in response to the bewildered expression on his face. "And a silencing charm as well."

Despite the charms she'd just cast she still looked around them, checking to see that the Common Room was mostly empty, save for a group of second years that were engaged in what appeared to be a heated game of gobstones on the other side of the room. That taken care of, she turned her attention back to him and leaned forward in her seat.

She spent nearly a minute staring at him, a worried expression on her face as she chewed nervously on her lower lip.

"Can I count on you to keep quiet about something, Neville?" she asked and Neville found himself struck by the heaviest sense of déjà vu that he thought he'd ever experienced as she used exactly the same wording that Harry had used the night before.

Now feeling a little worried over how she was acting, Neville chose his words carefully before he spoke.

"I'll tell you the same thing I told Harry last night when he asked me that exact same question," he said slowly. "Hermione, I promise you that if you tell me something in confidence, as long as no one is being hurt, I would never break that confidence."

A small, relieved smile turned up her lips and she seemed to sag slightly in her seat as tension ran out of her body.

"Thank you, Neville. And I swear to you, no one is being hurt at all. The person that asked me to the ball… it was Harry. Harry asked me and things got a little…"

"Complicated," Neville finished for her, frowning heavily at that revelation.

"Yeah, complicated."

"But… if Harry asked you to the ball, why is he courting Daphne Greengrass?"

She sighed and leaned back on the couch.

"That's where it gets complicated," she muttered. "There are only three people that know what I'm about to tell you, Neville-"

"I already promised I won't say anything," he cut in, slightly surprised at himself for cutting her off. "Just tell me whatever you're comfortable with."

She nodded her head. "Right. Okay. So, yesterday, right after class, Harry asked me to the ball. Before I could tell him that I would go with him I had a secret I needed to tell him about. Daphne and I have been a couple since Christmas Day of last year."

Neville felt his mouth drop open in shock but Hermione didn't notice and just kept on with her explanation.

"We've kept our relationship a secret, but I've been in love with Harry for a long time now and Daphne knew about it. She insisted I stay open to the possibility of including him if it ever came about that he showed any interest in me. Yesterday, I finally got him to admit that he had feelings for me, so I told him I would be happy to go with him to the ball and even happier to be able to say I was his girlfriend, but if he still wanted to be with me then that relationship was going to include Daphne. As much as I love Harry, I've come to love Daphne just as much and I couldn't just let her go.

"So, that's what this date they're on is really about. The two of them had never even spoken a word to each other before yesterday afternoon. This is them getting to know each other and see if they can build the kind of relationship I'm positive they could have. All three of us are going to be dating each other equally. Really, that's why I can't go with you, Neville. More than the fact that I already have a date, but I actually have a boyfriend, and a girlfriend."

When she finished, Neville was silent for several moments before he suddenly let out a long, low, surprised whistle.

"Wow," he muttered, shaking his head slowly. "That's… I mean, that's just… well, that's really surprising, to be honest," he admitted.

"What part are you surprised by?" she asked warily.

"Well… multiple relationships like that aren't unheard of in the wizarding world. They're not very common but there are occasions where it happens. I guess I figured that you and Harry would be some of the last people I'd expect to get involved in something like that considering how you two grew up in the muggle world. Relationships like that are frowned upon there if I'm not mistaken?"

"Yeah, sort of? I mean, we couldn't legally marry outside of magical communities, but there's no legal reason we can't be dating each other even in the muggle world. Generally most people wouldn't really approve, you're right about that."

"Because of that I'm surprised that you'd be willing to get involved in a trio like this," he pointed out. "Not growing up with the understanding that it was an accepted possibility it just seems like you and Harry would have more trouble accepting the idea."

Hermione shrugged, a little self consciously.

"I probably wouldn't have if it wasn't for Daphne," she admitted. "When she first kissed me… I didn't really know what to think, and I was getting ready to turn her down as gently as I could when she informed me that this kind of relationship was possible in this world. We kept our relationship secret, but she made me promise not to give up on the possibility of Harry right away." She was slightly flushed by the time she finished, but her obvious embarrassment did nothing to diminish the smile she wore.

That more than anything she'd said convinced Neville that this wasn't just some story she was making up. She looked entirely too happy for it to be anything other than the truth. Hermione Granger was many things, an accomplished liar or actress was not one of those things.

It was interesting, Neville thought to himself. A few minutes ago he'd been sure that he was being nicely fobbed off with a fake story and that had hurt more than most of the teasing or bullying he'd put up with from some of the other students over the years. The thought that Hermione, one of the few people that he would have considered something of a friend, treating him that way had been a lot more painful than he'd expected. But now, knowing the truth and that he was the only person outside the trio directly involved in the situation to know about it…

The trust that Harry and Hermione had both shown him was almost awe-inspiring and he found himself wondering just what he'd done to deserve that kind of faith and trust.

"Thank you," he suddenly blurted out.

Hermione blinked several times, as if startled by his abrupt exclamation and gave him a confused look.

"For what?" she asked.

"For trusting me. You and Harry have both shown me a lot of trust in the last twenty hours or so, more than I think anyone has ever shown me. So, thank you for taking a chance on me. I promise, until the three of you decide you want to be public with your relationship, no one will hear a word about it from me."

"You're an easy guy to trust," she told him. "And really, I'm sorry I can't go with you. If it wasn't for Daphne and Harry, I would be happy to go to the ball with you, Neville. You're a good guy and I think we'd have had a good time."

Neville felt himself flushing and shrugged his shoulders.

"In fact, promise you'll save a dance for me?" she asked. "We may not go together, but I consider you a friend, and I'd be happy to share a dance with you."

He couldn't help but offer a shy smile and nodded. "That's a promise," he said. "Of course, now I have to figure out someone else to ask." The last was said with a frown stealing over his features as he reminded himself that he still didn't have a date."

"Maybe I can help with that?"

He looked up at her, startled by the offer, but strangely pleased with it at the same time.

"You'd do that?"

"Of course I would. You could ask Ginny, but then you'd have to put up with Ron potentially being a jerk. What about Susan Bones, or Hannah Abbot?"

Smiling again, Neville set down his book and fell into conversation, the rest of the afternoon being taken up by Hermione discussing the merits of the various girls they knew as well as offering advice on how he might approach one of them. For Neville, he might not have gotten a date with his first choice, but by the time they finished, he was confident that he would be able to find someone that he could take and have a nice time with.

In fact, he put her advice into practice that very night at dinner and went to bed that evening with a smile on his face.

#####

"You know, you never answered me yesterday."

Daphne turned from where she was examining a display of rather handsome, eagle feather quills to look at Harry where he stood beside her, a few items in his hands as he waited for her to make her choices. They'd ended up in Tomes and Scrolls after an hour of wandering the High Street, chatting amiably over relatively inconsequential things.

Mostly inconsequential, she reminded herself as, during their time talking, Harry had let slip a few comments that were starting to paint an unpleasant picture in her mind. She resolved not to say anything overt until she had more information, however, and could only hope that he'd come to trust her well enough to be more open as time went on. He hadn't been kidding though, when he'd said that he wasn't good at letting people in. For every slip he'd made she'd had to wheedle other bits of information out of him.

"What was that?" she asked.

"Yesterday. You never answered me when I asked if going on a public date with me would put you in any kind of danger with your House."

"I'm here with you, aren't I?" she asked. "Would I do that if it would put me in danger?"

He shrugged and set down the quill he'd been looking at, turning so he was facing her more directly.

"I don't know," he admitted. "You might. But I doubt you'd do so without some kind of plan to protect yourself. I don't like the idea of you, or anyone, being in danger because of me."

"I'm a big girl, Harry," she told him, rolling her eyes and turning back toward the quills. "I don't need the big bad Gryffindor to protect me, I can take care of myself."

She stopped when his hand grabbed her arm, firmly enough to stop her and pull her back toward him, but not hard enough to hurt. She was so startled by the sudden action that she let herself be pulled back until she was facing him again.

"I don't think you need me to protect you," he told her firmly. "Just like Hermione could probably protect herself far better than I could. But that doesn't mean that I won't do what I can to help, should the situation call for it. I'm not arrogant enough to think I can solve any and all problems, but I won't stand by and do nothing if you're putting yourself in danger because of me."

Before her eyes, Harry Potter seemed to transform into an entirely different person. He looked the same. He sounded the same. But something about him had changed and she found herself seeing the person that Hermione talked about so much in vague terms when she refused to give details on whatever adventures that she and her friends had gotten up to over the last three years. Hermione had talked about his strength of will and character, his determination, his refusal to let an injustice happen if there was something that he could do about it.

She saw the man that flew against one of the most dangerous creatures in the world and did so with a smile on his face. It was a side of himself that he appeared to keep well hidden, or perhaps he only let it out when the situation called for it and that's why so few had seen it before. As she stood there she could almost feel the strength of his magic bubbling to the surface, pressing against her skin.

The feeling bordered on intoxicating and she realized that this glimpse that he was showing her was only going to make the crush that she had on him worse. As it was she could feel her heart racing in her chest and a flush growing in her cheeks.

"I'm sure there will be some backlash," she finally admitted in a soft tone. "Malfoy and those like him will run their mouths. But I have allies in the snake pit, Harry, and my family is more important than most of theirs. I'm fairly well protected from anyone actually trying to do something. Aside from not wanting you to think of her as being unavailable, the reason that Hermione and I kept our relationship secret for so long was mostly to avoid the stares and the way people would talk. We didn't want to deal with it, but it wasn't really out of fear of some sort of reprisal."

"You're sure?" he asked, his expression softening slightly while his eyes searched hers carefully.

"I know my House, Harry. Believe me that there's nothing any of those idiots can try that I can't handle. Your concern is appreciated, but in this case it's rather misplaced."

He didn't look away or let go of her arm for several long seconds, but eventually he sighed and let go of her as his body relaxed. In a blink he was back to being the somewhat awkward, slightly goofy, handsome, and interesting boy that she'd been enjoying the date with.

She was reasonably certain that he had no idea what he'd just done and if she brought it up he probably wouldn't believe her.

"Let's get out of here," she said, grabbing a set of the quills she'd been examining before his question. "I'm getting hungry."

And if I don't distract you from being so… you, I think I might do something we're not really ready for, she admitted to herself as she started toward the front of the store.

Harry agreed easily enough and they made their way to the counter to purchase the items they'd each chosen. As they paid, she couldn't help but study him out of the corner of her eye.

The more I learn about you, she thought, the more intriguing you become. I'm really looking forward to seeing where this goes.

Outside, with her hand once again tucked comfortably into the crook of Harry's elbow the two of them started up the High Street toward the Three Broomsticks, both of them ignoring the stares and whispers that had been following them since they stepped out of the carriage earlier. Once inside the busy pub, Daphne lead the way to a booth toward the back of the building and within minutes they had two butterbeers sitting in front of them and an order placed for lunch.

"All right," Daphne said, looking at Harry where he sat across the table from her. "Time for you to pay up, Mister Potter."

Harry slowly lowered his mug and swallowed the drink he'd just taken, a quizzical expression stealing over his face as he set the mug on the table.

"Pay up? Pay what?" he wondered.

"I believe you promised me some explanations yesterday? Something about You-Know-Who and him not actually being as dead as people seem to believe?"

Harry grimaced and leaned back in his seat.

"Are you sure?" he asked.

"You wouldn't be trying to get out of the explanation you promised me, would you?" she asked in a sweet tone that did nothing to hide the fact that she was serious about hearing the promised story.

He winced and let out a sigh. "No, I'm not trying to get out of it, it's just… we're having a nice time, right? I've been enjoying myself, at least, and I hope you have too."

"I have been enjoying our time together," she admitted. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"It's not a pleasant story. It seems a shame to bring that kind of thing up right now during our date."

"Like I said, I'm a big girl, Harry. I can handle it and I won't let a hard story ruin our date."

He stared at her for several moments then sighed as their food was brought over and set down on the table in front of them.

"Let's eat first, we'll talk about it after?" he asked. "It's a little loud in here for a heavy conversation."

Daphne nodded and picked up her fork. "That I can accept and understand, as long as you're not trying to avoid it entirely."

"You've known Hermione for over a year," he said with a snort of laughter escaping him. "I'm willing to bet she's taught you all the tricks she knows to get me to talk about things I'd really rather avoid. I don't think I could avoid it long even if I wanted to."

"You're not reluctant to tell me?"

"Oh, I am reluctant, don't get me wrong. But as much as I don't want to talk about it, and as much as I'd rather not have such a heavy discussion during our date, you do deserve to know what's going on and what danger you might be putting yourself in by agreeing to go out with me."

Sighing again, he picked up his own utensils and the two tucked into their food. Conversation was light during the meal, but it wasn't an uncomfortable or awkward silence. Instead there seemed to be a sense of anticipation in the air between them and though Daphne could tell that Harry wasn't looking forward to the discussion that awaited them, she was curious as to what she was going to learn, and strangely happy that he was willing to set aside his reluctance to discuss the particulars for her.

There you go, being you again, she thought, watching carefully as he ate, apparently lost inside his own thoughts while his body mechanically went through the motions of eating. You don't really want to discuss this, but you're doing it anyway and you're doing it for me. Your reasons seem to run the gamut, but in the end this is all for my benefit, at least to your reasoning. Dammit, Hermione was right, again, I think it really would be very easy to fall in love with you, Harry Potter.

With that thought taking up residence in the back of her mind, Daphne did her best to remind herself that she needed to be cautious. She needed to keep her distance, to a degree. She wanted Hermione to be happy, more than anything, but she needed to try to protect herself at the same time. It wouldn't do to fall too fast for him until she was sure that he was falling for her as well.

The very last thing she wanted was to get too emotionally invested in him only to discover that the feelings weren't returned.

Of course, by getting to know him better you're just going to keep running the risk of stepping right off that cliff, she reminded herself. And if Hermione is to be believed, though she's a touch biased, he'll be right there to catch you whether he realizes it or not.

She ate in silence for a few more moments before groaning in her head.

Yeah, you've hexed yourself in the foot this time, Greengrass. By the time this fool has some idea of how he might feel for you, you're likely going to be head over heels for him. Dammit, now I owe Hermione a forfeit.

As they ate, a few people called out to Harry, greeting him from across the bar as they passed, but luckily no one actually approached them and by the time they were finished the place was really starting to get crowded. Pushing his plate aside, Harry looked up at her, a questioning look in his eyes.

"Ready to go?" he asked. She nodded and let Harry stand and come around to assist her from the booth before he offered her his arm once again and lead her from the building. Outside, the village was quieter than it had been when they went in. Daphne figured it was probably a fairly even mixture of some of the students returning to the castle while a vast majority of those left in the village were in the pub behind them.

"At least it'll be quiet," Harry muttered to himself as he started making his way down the street. "Well… no more avoiding it." He turned his head, bright green eyes seeming to pierce her with a worried stare. "What would you like to know first?"