The next morning, Harry awoke on his left side to find himself with his right arm around the waist of Daphne and cuddled in behind her, spooning; while his left arm was up under her pillow with her head resting where his bicep would be. Other than a natural reaction in his groin, he didn't think he was in a 'taking liberties' position, so remained where he was for a while.
Unbeknownst to him, Daphne had awoken a little earlier and was also lying, just enjoying the feeling of Harry's arm around her. Her own right arm was over the top of his; and her hand was resting holding his where it was, more or less, across her upper tummy and cupping her body near her left hip.
She'd had one of the most restful night's sleep she'd had since they'd 'backstepped' into the past. And she knew it had to do with how 'her Harry' was cuddling her. She felt safe. He made her feel safe. She realised she truly did trust him.
Unknown to either of them, at that moment, their bond ever so slightly strengthened.
As Harry tried to gently pull away she gripped his right arm tighter with her own arm and hand. "Don't," she softly said. "Just cuddle me, for a while."
Surprised that she was awake, he gently asked with concern, "It's not making you feel uncomfortable?"
"No," she replied. "Actually, I've now realised it makes me feel safe. I'm... not having as many nightmares when I sleep in here with you. I know you're keeping me safe."
"Good," he said, happy for her. "I'm pleased to hear you say that. Thank you."
"Thank you?" she asked in return.
"For realising you can trust me," he said. He carefully leaned forward and placed a gentle kiss on the base of her neck under her ear.
The immediate reaction of her body to that gentle touch made her suck in a gasp of air. "Ooohhh!" she softly exclaimed. "That felt really nice!"
"I'm glad you liked it," he returned. "However, we've got classes and we need to get up."
"I know," she sighed, finally letting his arm go.
Pulling his other arm out from under her pillow, he rolled over to see Hermione smiling back at him. Before he could say anything to her, she held her finger vertical to her lips in the sign of 'be quiet'.
Then she leaned forward and gently planted a kiss on his lips; before she then silently sent him off to have a shower.
With a sigh of contentment, Harry climbed out of bed, over his blankets and over the foot of the bed; and made his way to his ensuite.
As soon as he left, Hermione slid over into his 'warm' spot and wrapped her arm around Daphne, similar to how Harry had his a little earlier. The blonde girl stiffened for a moment until she realised it was Hermione, and she was just looking to cuddle.
Once the other girl had settled down again, Hermione hesitated for a moment before she said, "You're falling in love with him."
Daphne stiffened slightly again for a few seconds before she, once more, relaxed and admitted, "Yes. You're not angry with me about it, are you?"
"Heavens, no!" Hermione softly exclaimed. "I'm happy for you!"
With a soft sigh, Daphne said, "It's just that..."
"You were worried it would make me angry? That, you thought I'd think you were stealing my man?"
"Yes," Daphne replied after a couple of moments.
"Silly girl," Hermione giggled. "I know Harry loves me. And, I know he won't love me any less because he finds himself also loving you. His love isn't finite. It's one of the things about him that makes me love him right back. But, you already knew that from last night with the Hat, right?
"Besides, I don't think our three guardian angels would have set us up for heartbreak, like that; do you?"
"No," Daphne chuckled, seeing the logic of it. She then shifted around until she was on her back looking back at her chocolate-brown haired bond-sister. "This is going to be alright, isn't it? We know this is going to work, because our angels specifically set it up for us."
"Exactly," Hermione smiled. "I'm glad to see you're now understanding that."
She then quickly changed the subject. "Now, we need to get up and go and get ready, ourselves. Otherwise, Harry's about to come out of the shower and we're going to get a show of him getting dressed. Naked man tushie!"
Daphne blushed and giggled. "You say that like it's a bad thing."
Hermione laughed back and said, "Of course it's not. But, we'll miss breakfast if we don't hurry." And, with that, she climbed out of bed.
Daphne followed her out a moment later. But, not before first looking wistfully at the door to Harry's ensuite - and wondering.
When Harry returned to his room and went to pull out his under uniform and robes, he noticed the red and gold had been replaced with the blue and bronze of Ravenclaw. Smiling, he quickly dressed and walked out into the apartment living room to await the girls.
As he waited for them he pulled out his new class schedule and began to note what classes were held where. He then collected the books he needed for that days classes; and wondered if the class material was going to be any different. When he stopped to think about it for a while he realised it wouldn't be. After all, all four Houses sat their OWLs, together.
When Daphne came out first, Harry looked up and said, "Wow, Daphne! Ravenclaw blue really suits you!"
She blushed a little and grinned back. "This is going to take some getting used to," she said, indicating her school robes.
When Hermione joined them they spent a bit of time admiring and acknowledging the difference the change in House colours made them look.
"Well, that's enough of that," smiled Daphne. "Let's go eat."
As they walked down the corridors and descended the stairs they earned a few looks from other students. At this time of the morning, it was only the other Ravenclaws and Gryffindors, as the Slytherins and Hufflepuffs did not venture up past the ground floor until after breakfast.
They were just making their way down the last few parts of the moving stairs when the three of them heard from behind, "Oi! Harry, mate! Wait up!" Ron Weasley had found them.
Harry drew his wand and spun about to see the red-headed nitwit hurrying down the stairs towards them. Aiming his wand at Ron he snarled, "Stay the Hell away from me, Weasley. I'm not in the mood for you."
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