He'd just made it back to stand alongside the table when Hermione returned. She took about three steps into the living room, while affixing an earring, when she suddenly realised the change in the ambience of the room.
Looking up in shock, she finished setting the earring to rights and, as she dropped her hands, she looked around and said, "Wow!" Looking at Harry she asked, "Did you do this?"
"Heavens, no!" he replied. "I just told Dobby we wanted an evening meal for just the three of us in our apartment tonight and he set all this up."
Hermione was wearing a nice skirt and blouse combination with a light jacket, medium heeled shoes, and light make-up. Around her neck she was wearing a fine gold chain with a small charm of a lion's head hanging from it. The combination looked almost like something she'd wear to the office, if she was working in the muggle world.
He moved to the table and pulled a chair slightly out and away. Looking back to her, he smirked, "My lady?"
Hermione blushed and slowly walked over to sit down. He slipped the chair back under the table and helped her adjust it to be comfortable for her.
He stepped away and was just in time for Daphne to enter. As with Hermione, she stopped a couple paces into the room and looked about in surprise. However, she'd already set her earrings.
Daphne was wearing a dress in 'robe' style. It fell to just below her knees and was short sleeved. It could almost be considered a sundress, but looked a little more formal than that. As with Hermione's it showed a bit of cleavage, and she had a fine silver chain around her neck with a small serpent as the charm.
"Wow!" she exclaimed.
Harry chuckled and replied, "That's what we both said. Dobby did all this off his own back. He did a good job, didn't he?"
"Definitely," she nodded back.
Harry moved to one of the other chairs and held it for her. "My lady?" he gently asked.
Daphne smiled and walked over. As with Hermione he pushed her chair in and helped her set the chair to a comfortable distance.
Finally, he took his own seat.
Looking to the two of them he was pleased how the centrepiece was not in their way for direct conversation.
"I asked Dobby to prepare us a nice dinner because we wanted to both celebrate Hermione's birthday, and talk about important things during and after. He set all this up," Harry said, indicating the table and lights. "Personally, I think he just wants to spoil us."
Daphne shook her head lightly back and smiled. "No. He's devoted to you."
During the first part of the meal they spoke about life in the Lion's Den and the Snake Pit. Daphne spoke about the ongoing political moves being made right from the start, which would continue through to and beyond graduation.
When Crookshanks and Midnight, who wasn't around all that often, had realised food was being eaten in 'their' apartment, they came over to see if they could mooch. Crookshanks no sooner meowed when Dobby popped in and provided him with a dish of kneazel-friendly food, and her with a dish of normal cat food.
Harry and Hermione spoke about how there were no political machinations in the Lion's Den and that, when someone tried it, they were smacked down by the rest of the House. Hermione talked about how the girls in her 'old' dorm only wanted to gossip about boys, other girls, boys, fashion, boys, and a recent start on the subject of sex – with boys.
Harry talked about how he spent his evenings ensuring there were silencing charms up on Ron's and Neville's beds. And that it was always wise to be up and ready before Seamus started to rise. His morning flatulence, he said, was the stuff of legends. And wondered how the Irishman's bed curtains and bedding hadn't rotted under the onslaught.
"Is that why Seamus was always the last one up?" asked Hermione. "No one wanted to wake him because the first thing he would do on waking was... flatulate?"
"Yep," grinned Harry. "Everyone else wanted to be ready to leave before they'd chance waking him. The last one out was always tasked with waking him and running for the sake of their nasal passages and lungs."
Both girls laughed aloud on that.
During dessert Daphne talked about life at Greengrass Farm and being a child of a 'Neutral' family.
"What is it that's 'farmed' at Greengrass Farm?" asked Harry.
Daphne lightly giggled and replied, "Nothing; now. The family used to farm sheep, cattle and produce. Now, we're involved in manufacturing. Our family invented Butterbeer and Wizard Mead; and we own the rights to both, worldwide. As Grandfather Greengrass used to say, we moved from 'produce to production'.
"Greengrass Farm is now a sprawling estate. The greenhouses have been torn down, as have the shearing and milking sheds, the slaughterhouse, the massive stables, the granary and other farming outbuildings. In their place is a small set of stables that house our family's horses, a small house elf community, and large tracts of reforested land. What's left has been turned into extensive lawns and gardens.
"The house isn't so much a house, now, as it is a collection of interconnected buildings. The main house is where the Head of House and his family live. Then there're the two outlier wings, as we call them. One each side. They can be considered separate residences as they both have their own kitchens, dining rooms, living rooms, et cetera.
"They were built to accommodate other separate Greengrass families. And, were once separate residences. Now, they have fully covered verandas running from them to the main house; and there is a door at each end of the verandas to close them off.
"Mum and Dad now use them as guests' quarters for those who are visiting for more than one night. Dad often has his manufacturing plant executives stay over for short periods and they discuss business. That happens at least twice a year. For the executives it's both a retreat and an ongoing business meeting, and Dad gets to write the whole thing off against taxes.
When she wound down as they were finishing desert, they moved on to Hermione.
She talked about growing up as a single lonely child to parents who were both dentists. She talked about her bursts of accidental magic during her years before school. One was where she was summoning toys to her crib that were left just out of her reach, or a 'bottle'. Another was where she got angry about something, she couldn't recall what, and blew out the windows in her nursery cum bedroom. A third was making real tea, milk and sugar appear in her child's tea set.
She talked about developing her love in reading from her mother and father taking turns to read her bedtime stories when she was little, and getting annoyed when they'd stop before the story was finished. She wanted to know what happened next so, basically, browbeat her parents into teaching her how to read at a very young age.
She was reading children's book before her fourth birthday, albeit slowly, and heavier books before her fifth. Because she was learning to read, her parents also taught her to write. She was slowly 'printing' her own writing before her fifth birthday and moving on to cursive before she started school.
She then started speaking about how she was so excited to get to go to primary school, and discovering that she'd already been taught so much that the pace of learning bored her to tears. So, she started taking books to school and reading them when the teacher was getting students to read from learning-to-read books.
She started to softly cry when she started to tell them about what it was like in those first, few months.
"So, here I was, sitting with two books open on my desk," she lightly sniffled. "I'd have the learning-to-read, grade one, book open at the page the entire class was on, and I'd have another open, such as a grade four would have, and be reading that.
"The first time I was called upon to read from the grade one book, I flew through the page. I was clear, concise and even using the right inflections; such as my parents would use when they were reading me bedtime stories.
"That's when the bullying started, and when teachers would stop calling upon me to read or answer questions. My first teacher sent a letter home with me to my parents basically abusing them for teaching me so much before I even started school. Dad took time off from the practice and went down there. There was an almighty row with him, the Headmaster and the teacher in the Headmaster's office about it.
"I never did find out what they argued about, but I know it had to do with my reading and comprehension abilities. And, from that time on for the rest of the year, that teacher hated me.
"As time passed the other kids first started shunning me. That then moved to minor bullying, until it got to be physical enough to warrant Dad going back down to the school.
"Late in grade three my parents were able to buy a nicer house in a more affluent area, so we moved. I changed school. At first, everything was alright. However, because of the bullying at the first school, I'd learned to stay away from other kids and found solace in my books. When I started at the new school, even though my parents hoped I'd meet new kids and make friends, I never did.
"Then, the bullying started again. Though we moved from lower middle class to upper middle class, kids are kids. They wore nicer clothes and had nicer things, but they were still the same. I used to hide out in the school library to get away from them and their vicious taunts. However, on the way home, they'd often gang up and attack me.
"I have no idea how many times I'd come home with my books, clothes and school stuff ruined. But, it was quite a bit.
"Before my letter came, I was dreading going to high school. My parents were already investigating in private schools focussed mainly on ones that had very strict policies in place against bullying behaviour, and they'd narrowed it down to a few. But, my letter changed all that.
"Coming to Hogwarts, a boarding school, had my parents terrified for me. They worried I'd be, yet again, bullied; and they'd be too far away... and unable to even see the school if they came here... to come to me with help if I needed it.
"But, I was excited. It was magic; and it was something that showed why I was so different. I just knew it was the best option for me.
"However, I was again without friends... to start with. I was on friendly terms with a couple of the other first years, including you, Harry. But, by the afternoon of the troll incident, I'd had enough. I'd planned on going to see our Head of House, Professor McGonagall, and begging her to take me home. Then the troll came in."
She turned to look at Harry and smiled, though she still had tears in her eyes. "I thought I was going to die, right there. But then, one of the boys I was on friendly terms with... even though he hung about with one of the more horrid boys... came in to rescue me. Like a knight in shining armour he jumped on that troll's back and fought him, trying to get it far enough away from me I could get past. From that moment on, he became my best friend; even though the redheaded idiot tried to keep pushing me away."
Harry reached out and held her hand in his for a moment. By then, the dishes had been cleared away and the three were drinking an alcohol free light wine.
Sitting back, he took a deep breath and said, "Well, I guess it's my turn, then."
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