Tracey Davis and the Boy Wonder

Chapter 3: Things, stuff, and other things.

"Oh, for Merlin's sake, Potter. Grab me by the waist or so help me, I'll kick you in the taint!" Tracey growled, moving one of her dance partner's hands to the proper spot on her waist.

Harry didn't need to be told twice, especially after such a threat. While he didn't know what part of his anatomy might be his taint, he was in no rush to find out.

He looked at the girl with the playful glare and slowly smiled. It had been a week since Hermione had set them up, and somehow had managed to not get caught together.

Almost like Slytherins were sneaky.

Surprise, surprise.

Harry snorted in amusement, imagining his inner voice slowly becoming more Snape-like.

"I'm just… not experienced with these things." Harry said, placing his hands in their proper places for the other dance they were rehearsing.

He looked down at the shorter girl and saw she was looking back up at him. And she was blushing, very, very clearly.

"How am I supposed to be comfortable with my hands there if you react like this?" Harry said, hastily putting his hands by his side.

"By being a Gryffindor! You lot are all noble whatevers, so be noble, have some damn manners, and come manhandle me!" She almost shouted, clamping her mouth shut after that last part.

Harry looked at her incredulously.

For a "sneaky slimy snake", she really had no control over her own words.

Then again, neither did Malfoy. But that was most likely because he liked hearing himself talk.

Self-important ponce.

"Fine. I will err… noble up. Not gonna comment on the manhandling." He said, stepping close.

"No, no, you ruined it." Tracey said, crossing her arms and turning away.

Harry smiled and blushed a bit himself.

This was usually what led up to a few tentative kisses between them. Not that that was bad.

He very much enjoyed kissing Tracey, and definitely wanted to see where things went, but an hour of listening to Ron and Hannah feeling each other up in the Gryffindor dorms… well… it was a very long and uncomfortable hour.

For him.

Ron hadn't even noticed Harry.

Nor had Hannah.

Huh.

Maybe they did have something in common after all.

Mentally shaking the thoughts away, he slowly closed the space between himself and the girl biting her lip and looking at him hopefully.

With a slightly practiced flourish, he pulled Tracey in and leaned in to kiss her and-

"Harry, there you are!" Hermione cried, walking in and looking down at the rather heavy book she carried.

"Merlin's saggy left tit, Granger, don't you know how to knock?!" Tracey spat out, glaring at the bushy haired girl.

"I-" Hermione began.

"No, she doesn't." Harry interrupted, smirking at his friend gaping at him.

"When we first met her on the Express, she just barged in and then demanded Ron show her the spell he was working on." Harry said, feeling slightly glad that Hermione turned beet red.

"I'm all for some things staying the same, but that is one bad habit that definitely needs to go." Tracey said, enjoying Granger's obvious embarrassment.

"If you two are done," Hermione said, hoping to derail the subject, "I've been trying to see if I can find any pattern to past Twi-Wizard tournaments and this one."

"And?" Harry asked, still cross that his kissing was being interrupted.

This was his time, dammit.

"Well, it seems that having some big monster tends to only be the first task, so fortunately, it seems very unlikely you'll deal with another big beast." Hermione said, her voice clearly showing relief.

"Anyways, I-" Hermione began.

"Hey, Granger?" Tracey said, interrupting Hermione.

"Yes?" The bushy haired girl asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Have I pissed you off lately? Done something to make you upset at me?" Tracey asked.

"No! What makes you think-" Hermione tried in confusion.

"Well, you barge in here, start talking up a storm about the possibilities of the tournament, and have yet to realize boy wonder here has his arms around my waist, mine around his neck, and I'm quite sure I was about to get some snogging done." Tracey said, straight faced before turning to Harry, who nodded in agreement.

"I- I didn't mean-" Hermione tried again, feeling absolutely embarrassed now.

"I know you didn't, but you're still here." Tracey said, now with a full Cheshire cat grin on her face.

"I'll see you later." Hermione squeaked, running out of the door, which closed with a rather loud bang.

"Well, that went well." Tracey said.

Harry looked at the girl in his arms, her eyes alight with mischief. He couldn't even bring himself to be upset that she had chased his friend away.

Without another word, Harry leaned down and kissed her.

TDatBW

Ron Weasley was absolutely the luckiest guy in Hogwarts.

He was leaving a very important meeting in a broom cupboard and wandering the halls towards the Great Hall at a pace much more leisurely than usual. And why not?

He had his dress robes cleaned up, his dances in place (thank you for the lessons, mum), and a great date, who had become his girlfriend.

The only bad thing that had come of it was a very descriptive letter from his dad about "The Talk".

And honestly, he couldn't even bring himself to be mad about whoever had spilled to his parents. Why would he? Hannah was great, after all. A Cannons fan, someone very passionate about cooking, which Ron absolutely loved being a taste tester for, and the snogging, well...

It wasn't his fault Harry had sat there and listened like a pervert, now was it?

Well… maybe a little. But Hermione had said Harry could have left at any time, so definitely not his fault.

At this moment, Ron was just floating through life.

"Hey, Ron." A voice called.

Ron turned to see Ginny walking up to him, looking rather sullen.

"Ah. Hey, Gin. Are you holding up okay?" He asked. He knew Ginny had been harboring a crush on Harry, and while it did make him a bit uncomfortable, it was hard to miss how upset she had been lately.

She wasn't exactly sneaky about it, and he noticed, which spoke volumes.

"I'm fine, I guess." She said, sighing.

"You are. And you know why?" Ron said, taking sudden inspiration.

What kind of bloke would he be if he let his only sister feel sad?

"Why?" She asked with a frown.

"Because, you're my sister. You're an amazing person, and just because one bloke won't see that, doesn't mean another won't." He said with a grin.

"Where did that come from?" Ginny asked in surprised, fighting the small smile that turned her lips.

"Well, as hard to imagine as it might be," Ron said, in full sarcasm," I had a thing for a friend. But that wasn't gonna work. We were too different, and that's okay. Instead, I kept my friend and have someone else who's rather amazing."

"And you think Har-errr… me and this bloke wouldn't work?" Ginny asked, knowing the answer.

Ron gave her a "Isn't that obvious" face that would have made Hermione jealous.

"Gin, you and Harry have me, Quidditch, and a run in with a big snake in common. You like being able to stand out, and if Harry could, he would disappear into thin air. You couldn't have less in common if you tried." Ron said with an apologetic smile.

"Well, they say trauma brings people together." Ginny mumbled.

Ron laughed at her comment.

"What?" She demanded, seeing her brother crack up.

"Gin, if that were true, me and Hermione would be married by now. Instead, I'm realizing how absolutely awful the arguments would have gotten as a couple." Ron said, grinning.

Ginny couldn't help herself. She gave a small, tearful laugh and hugged her brother.

Ron could be a berk, but he was right. And in her heart, she knew she would be okay.

Ron was the luckiest guy in Hogwarts, and at once, he felt like a good older brother. It made him smile.

TDatBW

"Still no luck, eh, Potter?" Draco Malfoy sneered as Harry walked down the hall.

Malfoy's gang laughed with him as Harry looked at the blond with a raised eyebrow.

"Luck at what, exactly?" Harry asked coolly.

"Getting a date for the ball, of course!" Malfoy said with a mean grin. "Weasel got himself a girl, or are you the one taking the mudblood?"

"Malfoy, are you okay?" Harry asked, feigning concern. Malfoy looked confused.

"What? Of course I am!" Malfoy said indignantly.

"Are you sure? You've been taunting people left and right about not having dates, and I'm while I'm flattered you're trying to get my attention, even Parkinson has a date, from what I've heard." Potter said, slowly more mockingly.

"She- what?" Draco sputtered.

His cronies seemed to be trying not to laugh, other than Zabini, who was openly grinning widely, and Nott, who looked spooked and shook his head subtly. Harry looked at the mousy boy and grinned.

"Maybe you should try to find someone else, Draco. It would never work between us." Harry said dramatically before turning. "Oh, congratulations on the date, Nott!"

Draco turned to Theo, who seemed very interested in the painting next to himself, which in turn was smirking at him.

"Harry, mate, that was brilliant!" Lee Jordan said, two grinning Weasley twins on his tail.

Harry smiled back and kept walking.

"How did you know his bird found someone else?" Fred (maybe) asked with a bright grin.

"I didn't." Harry said with a grin of his own.

TDatBW

Tracey felt nervous every time she walked into her Common Room.

She knew she was covering her steps rather well when it came to being Harry's date. And snogging partner. And as of late someone who he spent a lot of time with.

Morgana, were they in a relationship?

"Is who in a relationship?" Daphne asked, walking in behind Tracey.

The brunette was startled for a moment before her mind came up with the perfect deflection.

"Parkinson and Nott. I heard there was some rumor that she was his date." Tracey said, remembering what Harry had told her.

"Not quite. It seems Nott asked Pansy since darling Draco still hadn't, and she didn't outright reject him." Daphne said with a bored expression, but an interested gleam in her eye.

"But her and Draco?" Tracey asked, now genuinely confused.

"Well, maybe he got bored and wanted to ask someone else. Merlin knows he's been on Krum's trail since the guy walked into the castle."

Now that she thought about it, that wasn't inaccurate. Draco had been chumming up to the Bulgarian. It didn't even seem like the Veela girl was pulling him in.

Huh.

Maybe Malfoy was just curious about his own team?

The sputtering and rackuous laughing pulled her from her thoughts to realize she had spoken out loud.

About Draco being bi-curious.

In front of him.

To his friends.

In front of him.

Well… damn.

"I am not some- some poof!" Draco screamed, burning absolutely scarlet.

"Draco, Draco, we understand. We support you learning about yourself." Blaise Zabini managed out between laughter and catching his breath.

"You'll regret opening your mouth, Davis!" Malfoy yelled, pulling his wand.

Tracey paled and squeezed her eyes shut, waiting for the spell through the laughter, when a soft voice cut through the entire wall of sound.

"What is the meaning of this?"

Everyone in the Commons stopped, laughter dying on the students' lips, looking at their Head of House standing in the doorway of the room.

"Just some issue with rumors, Professor." An older student said quickly. No one lied to Snape, he always knew, and it never ended well. "Davis was asking about some current gossip regarding Malfoy, and he was not happy to hear it brought up."

"Malfoy, wand away. Davis, with me." Snape said, turning with the usual flourish of his cloak.

"You'll get yours." Malfoy said ominously as Tracey walked away.

TDatBW

Draco Malfoy was offended.

He would make sure his father heard about this!

TDatBW

A short walk later found Tracey sitting on the opposite side of Snape's desk. She was bouncing nervously as her Head of House stared in his usual bored demeanor.

"Davis, are you incapable of sitting still for even a moment?" Snape asked bluntly.

"I'm just nervous, sir." Tracey said meekly.

"Do you require a calming draught?" He asked, slightly sarcastic, but surprisingly meaning it.

"N-no, sir." Tracey said, willing herself to sit still.

"Now, do you know why you're here?" Snape asked, his cold, calculating gaze locked on her.

"Because I upset Malfoy?" She asked, actually believing that to be the reason.

"I could care less that he's been slighted, even Lucius is tired of the constant complaints home." Snape said with an amused air about him.

"Then what?" She asked, genuinely confused.

"Are you being safe?" He asked, deciding not to waste time.

"I'm sorry?"

"I mean, we aren't going to have little Potters already, right?" Snape asked.

How had he known? And why didn't he care? No. This was Snape. He knew, and he was going to make sure she knew how utterly screwed she was. Harry was his worst one.

"My worst what?" Snape asked, one eyebrow crooked high.

"Enemy?" She squeaked out, realizing she was speaking out loud.

"That title belongs to Longbottom or those accursed Weasley Twins." Snape said with a sneer, leaning back.

"But… you hate Harry! You constantly insult him!" Tracey blurted out.

Snape looked at her, his one raised eyebrow somehow going higher.

"Davis, I cannot expect you to understand the complexities of my position here, but understand that is a simple necessity." Snape said in a voice that sounded decidedly bored.

"So you don't care that Harry and I are going to the dance together?" Tracey asked, confused.

"Oh, I absolutely do, but not because of Potter, but because of you, Miss Davis." Snape said.

"Me?!"

"Unless there is another Tracey Davis. You're not a Polyjuice clone, are you?" Snape said with a heavily sarcastic voice even a brick wall would understand.

"But… but why me?" Tracey asked.

"Miss Davis, you know as well as I do, that you will be seen publicly with Potter. Your Year mates and upperclassmen will all be present to the Ball." Snape said, as if talking to a young child. "That means a lot of people who wish Potter ill, will also wish the same onto you by association."

"Everyone already ignores and hates me." Tracey muttered petulantly.

"What was that?" Snape asked with his eyes narrowing.

"I said everyone already ignores me." Tracey said, unsure of where the sudden boldness had come from.

"How so?" Snape asked.

"No one bothers to talk to me unless it's to tell me to know my place. I don't have any friends here. No offense, sir, but I spent a week locked out of the Common Room." Tracey said, feeling lighter at getting this off her chest to her Head of House.

Snape looked impassively for a moment.

"Miss Davis, at any point in this week that you were locked out, did you come see me?" He asked.

"Er… no, sir." She said, looking down at her hands.

"And why not?" He questioned her.

"I thought you'd yell at me." Tracey said meekly.

"So you preferred a week of sleeping in some random place in the castle to coming here and getting called a dunderhead and getting the password so you could sleep in your own bed?" Snape asked, Tracey knowing she had made a mistake.

She fell for one of the classic blunders.

"Yes." She said softly, clearly embarrassed.

"And who's fault is that?"

"Mine, sir."

"Precisely. I do not tolerate idiocy, nor bullying in-house, but I cannot know something is wrong if I'm not approached, Miss Davis. I am worried for your wellbeing, but I will do my best to stop any issues your classmates may have once your… relation with Potter comes to light, but I do want you to know my door will be opened, should you need it." Snape said softly.

Tracey nodded.

"Thank you, sir." She said gratefully.

Tracey made to get up and leave, but Snape cleared his throat, making her turn back towards him.

"Sir?" She asked, confused.

"As much as I just trust teenagers," Snape drawled, deeply sarcastic, "You are not leaving until we have had a very important chat on sexual safety, your parents requested it."

Tracey looked at Snape in the most terrified expression any student had ever looked at him with.

TDatBW

It was a thoroughly traumatized Tracey Davis that walked the halls of Hogwarts the next day.

Snape was very explicitly detailed on what he had explained. She was sure he got some sort of sick pleasure from her discomfort and horror.

Tracey knew how her body had begun to change during puberty, her parents had made sure she knew she was "becoming a young woman" and not "dying bloody".

But Snape?

Ugh.

Just ugh.

She had never been so disgusted with bodily anatomy.

She grimaced at every reflection of herself and outright cringed at every boy she saw.

She walked into the classroom where she was supposed to meet Harry for their daily training and groaned.

She knew she had some very conflicted feelings towards Harry.

One one hand, he is a Gryffindor, the main enemy of Slytherin House.

But on the other hand, he is cute. Sweet.

Had definitely gotten better at kissing.

And it's adorable how bad at moving things along he is in fear of upsetting her. He respected her boundaries, which she knew no one in Slytherin would do since she wasn't "of class".

"I'm glad that's on the plus sides, then." Came a grimacing, if slightly embarrassed Harry Potter.

"Ah, yes. You're here." Tracey said, feeling her resolve to dance crack a bit at seeing Harry and having survived Snape's sex-ed class.

Harry looked at her in confusion and set his book against down on the desks at the edge of the room and began walking to sit next to Tracey.

"Stop!" She cried, mentally groaning at herself again.

Harry stopped midstep, his face paling.

She knew that look. He was worried he did something wrong and didn't want anything to do with him

Wow.

She really did pay attention to him.

She also didn't say that out loud, which made her feel a little better.

"Sorry, I swear it's not you." Tracey began, making Harry nod slowly, standing rigidly where he stopped moving.

With a sigh, she began explaining her conversation with Snape, making sure she was as detailed as possible to show her hesitancy.

She explained he had somehow found out about them going to the dance together and that he will try to keep her safe from being murdered in her sleep by her House mates.

Snape never said that explicitly, but it had been said as subtext.

Maybe.

Harry frowned a bit, surprised that he didn't make the list of people Snape actually hated.

"That's… strange, but why are you acting so…" Harry said, not sure how to finish his sentence, waving his hands awkwardly instead.

Tracey groaned and took a deep breath, trying to quickly and accurately explain her crash course into sexual safety and health from one (now very sadistic) Professor Snape.

The more she talked, the more Harry burned red and asked for her to stop.

Repeatedly.

But she continued until the entire thing was said, from contraceptive spells and potions, to the very uncomfortable part of making sure your partner is comfortable, to the grand finale, where her mother had kindly suggested, and Snape had gladly shown the proof of the request, that foreplay was important.

Harry looked significantly more uncomfortable than she had ever seen him, and that… actually made her feel better.

"Merlin, why would you tell me that?!" Harry cried, trying to avoid touching himself in any way.

"How do you think I felt? I had to have that lovely little chat face to face with SNAPE of all people!" Tracey shot back.

Harry sat back quietly, mostly because he didn't have any sort of comeback.

Sure, Tracey's retelling is bad, but he didn't have to see his most hated professor.

Who had admitted he didn't actually hate him.

"Imaging just the sick pleasure he took from all of that. I have never seen Snape just… grinning." Tracey said with a shudder.

"I don't need that mental image, you gave me enough." Harry complained.

"I know, I'm sorry. But talking to you made it a bit better." Tracey said.

"Thanks." He said, looking somewhat sick.

"Hey, if I had to suffer, my boyfriend will too." Tracey said, grimacing at the stuff her parents put her through.

She was so deep in thought she didn't think twice about her words, but that boy next to her was certainly thinking about it. And he was certainly thinking about it later when he was with his friends.

TDatBW

"You alright, Harry?" Hermione asked, seeing her friend stare miserably into the fire of the Common Room.

"She's gonna be in danger." Harry mumbled, not looking at Hermione.

"What do you mean?" Hermione asked with a frown, sitting next to Harry.

She looked at Ron, who took a seat by them.

He leaned over and placed his head on her shoulder.

"Anyone I date. Think about it. First year was the whole issue with Quirrell, then the thing with the Basilisk, then the stuff with Sirius and the Dementors, not to mention the werewolf, trolls, and acromantula colony in the forest." Harry listed.

"I'm sorry, a what colony in the where?!" Hermione asked.

"And then, to top things, I'm in some mortal tournament for adults, and I get to add bloody dragons to my list of magical monsters I've had to deal with." Harry continued.

"I mean, fair, but can we talk about this colony of-" Hermione tried.

"So now, with all of that, we have some bloody fancy ball going on, I have a date and have been enjoying my time with her, but she called me her boyfriend, and now I'm concerned for her safety with all the horrors that seem to find me." Harry said, finally finishing.

"Alright. First thing first, you're the only person in the world that would have such a convoluted thought process on your school time." She began, ignoring Harry's glare.

"Secondly, I'm glad she's calling you her boyfriend and I hope she helps pull you out of your own head, Merlin knows what the hell is happening in there if your immediate response to having a significant other is to become a moody blockhead."

"Hey, that was-" Harry tried, but Hermione silenced him with a glare.

"Thirdly, how come this is the first I'm hearing about an acromantula colony in the Forbidden Forest?" She asked, her glare not letting up.

Harry deflated a bit and looked at her sheepishly.

Ron gave her an awkward smile and shrugged.

"Err.. you were Petrified."

TDatBW

"So I called him my boyfriend?" Tracey asked to confirm.

Hermione and Ron nodded.

They had managed to signal her during dinner and she had followed them to some hidden room Ron seemed to know.

She was definitely not touching any surface that looked stable.

"That's what he said. He seemed very put off by it." Ron said, not really paying attention.

It wasn't his fault, he was just dragged away from a rather fun situation with Hannah by a very irate Hermione and he was not happy.

Nevertheless, Tracey looked noticeably let down by the news that Harry didn't seem to want to be her boyfriend.

"I mean, it makes sense. Who would want weird Tracey around?" She said in a saddened tone.

"As eloquent as his wording was, Ronald is cross because I pulled him off- I mean, away from Hannah." Hermione said, glaring at her friend who looked anywhere but at her with a sheepish look.

"So he didn't say he didn't want to be with me?"

That hopeful voice always made her heart break.

"Well, not necessarily in those terms…" Hermione began, but quickly followed up, seeing Tracey's expression drop.

"More like he's concerned for your safety."

"Why would he- because I'm a Slytherin and my House kind of hates him, right?" Tracey said sadly.

"I mean, there's that." Ron said.

"And he's likely worried for my safety. I mean, if half of what he explained has happened in Hogwarts since he's been here is true, I'm probably gonna have some kind of monster or villain coming after me." Tracey said with a grimace.

Ron and Hermione looked at each other.

"Mione, are we sure this isn't Harry under Polyjuice?" Ron said, looking critically at the short girl.

"Excuse me?!" Tracey asked, confused as to why two people in as many days had suggested that.

"It's just… that is exactly what Harry said." Hermione said, frowning.

"Well, it makes sense." She said, crossing her arms.

"Blimey, there's two of them." Ron said, both amused and concerned.

"Two what?" Tracey asked.

"Are you being a moody blockhead at having a significant other too?" Ron asked.

"A moody what?"

"No, she wants that to happen, remember?" Hermione said, pointing out Tracey's expression from earlier.

"Hey, why am I being interrogated now?" Tracey asked, wondering when the conversation went from asking if Harry was okay with being her boyfriend or not to a detailing of what her expressions meant.

"Tracey, can I ask you something and get an honest response?" Ron asked, ignoring what she had said.

"I- you know what, if it gets me free from you two, sure." She said, glaring at the two Lions.

"Were you ever planning on talking to Harry about this and seeing if he wanted to be your boyfriend?" Ron asked, ignoring Hermione's impressed look.

Tracey mumbled and blushed.

"What was that?" Ron asked, slowly smirking.

"I said probably not, dammit." Tracey grumbled.

"Yup, we have two Harrys." Hermione said with a sigh.

"Have I mentioned how much I hate you?" Tracey said with a glare at the bushy haired girl, who simply smiled back.

TDatBW