The Lion Cub (HP SI)

He had nearly forgotten about the Yule Ball and now he was faced with the greatest challenges of all. He needed to find a date for the Yule Ball plus there was the interrogation by Madam Bones to look forward to before the whole thing.

Harry was not doubtful of his ability to pick up women but that's part of the problem. He dated women, not teenage girls. While there was not a great age gap it still felt odd for someone who was a twenty-five year old to date a fourteen-year-old girl. Thinking about it made him realize there was indeed a great age gap.

He knew the Ball was not required to have a permanent date but he felt a mental disconnect with the prospect of what was expected of him. He could go for older girls but the chances of embarrassing himself were also quite high. After all, older girls would feel embarrassed to go with a young boy and unfortunately for him biologically he is a young boy. There was nothing he could do to change that unless he could perform some mass hypnosis. This left him to find one of the most mature girls in his year and that's how he found himself in the library.

Hermione is the most mature girl he met in his year. Comparatively, she is far more mature than many of the older girls as well. Not to mention, he could freely admit to her that he was asking her out as a friend. The other girls, he feared, would either be distraught or totally ignore his heartfelt plea.

The last thing he wanted on his plate was an emotionally volatile teenage girl whose feelings he hurt unwittingly.

Harry looked around the many tables in the library until finally, he found Hermione at a corner with a slew of books.

"Hey, Hermione."

Harry greeted as he plopped on the seat opposite Hermione.

"Hey, Harry. I looked for you in the Common Room but you were not there."

"Ah! I got a note from Professor Vector asking for me."

"What for?"

"I told you about my plan to switch to Arithmancy from Divination. Professor Vector has agreed to have me over provided I pass a test she'd hold for me after ten days of special classes." said Harry.

"You should have abandoned Divination in the Third Year." said Hermione letting out a sniff.

"Life is full of bad choices Hermione. Besides, I listened to Ron instead of thinking what's good for me." Harry shrugged helplessly.

"I have some notes if you want to familiarize yourself with the subject." Hermione offered.

"But, isn't that third year material? How come you have it now…. Never mind. I should have expected that from you, Hermione." said Harry with a shake of his head. "But, yes. It will be immensely helpful if you share your notes."

"I'll give them tonight then." said Hermione before she began scribbling down on her book.

Harry was about to ask her out to the Ball when he noticed a gaggle of girls gathering at a nearby bookshelf. They were whispering and giggling making Harry frown. Madam Pince looked none too pleased with the girls.

Harry followed the line of sight of the girls and found Krum not too far away. In fact, Krum was looking his way or more exactly in Hermione's way.

'Uh oh.'

Krum had a thing for Hermione and Harry became hesitant to go through with his decision to ask Hermione out. Krum certainly liked Hermione by the looks he was throwing Hermione's way and he doubted Hermione was that ignorant as she played it out.

If the one thing he learned about women all these years was that they never missed the details. They have a keen sense of taking in all the details some of which men stupendously ignores. So, he was not so sure whether Hermione was blind to Krum's intentions and he suspected she chose a wait and see approach.

Harry once again looked at Krum who was hanging behind the bookshelf silently staring at Hermione now and then. He then looked at the gathering fangirls of Krum and took pity on the guy. He could understand Krum in a sense. The guy wanted some peace and quiet which Hermione seems to give him and that made him all the more attracted to her. It didn't help the Ball was announced publicly yesterday and Krum's fans were lining up to ask the guy out.

"I'll be back in a moment." said Harry as he stood up and approached Krum.

Seeing Harry approaching, Krum quickly went back to the pretend-reading the guy was engaging.

"You don't have to pretend to read to stare longingly at Hermione. You can just ask her out you know." Harry said in a whisper as he slid in opposite Krum.

Krum looked at Harry with wide eyes and immediately went into denial which was a classic reaction one could expect.

"I don't know wot you are talking 'bout." said Victor avoiding Harry's eyes.

Harry let out an amused snort.

"Your red cheeks say otherwise. Oh, look your ears are also turning red. You should ask her out instead of stalking her all day."

"I don't…stalk." said Krum, his whole face now turning red while struggling with his heavily accented English.

"You don't say…" Harry eyed Krum with an amused smirk. "You want me to introduce you to Hermione?"

He could see Krum's eyes widen in surprise. Krum looked undecided for a moment as he looked at Harry curiously and then at Hermione before finally succumbing.

"I'd appreciate 'eet."

Harry smiled before getting up from the seat asking Krum to follow. He walked towards Hermione's table with Krum closely following him.

"Hermione."

Harry had his suspicions confirmed when Hermione looked up at the two of them with uncharacteristic shyness.

"This is Victor Krum and he'd like to discuss an important matter with you. You don't mind do you?" Harry asked and before Hermione could respond he pushed Krum into the seat opposite Hermione. "Glad to know you are okay. Have a good time both of you."

With that, Harry made his exit from the library. Once outside, he smiled at his awesome matchmaking powers.

Not so amazing when Krum was already interested in Hermione but he'd certainly expedited the process.

It was better this way.

Hermione would certainly have a better time with Krum than if she went with him. Besides, things could get awkward in the Gryffindor common room if he was going out with Hermione.

'It was better if he found someone outside the Gryffindor House.' Harry thought as he walked outside the Castle towards the Black Lake.

He waved his wand around covering his body with warming charms. The sleet and winds of December were far too intense to take on without the comfort of warming charms.

Sitting down on a small slab of stone he relaxed a bit. Even the Common Room of Gryffindor tower was now a hostile environment. Not a conversation would go by without discussing who asked who out, who turned down dates, the most embarrassing moments in asking out a girl to the Ball and so on.

It felt like he was living in a soap opera skit where all the characters are discussing the most inane things they could think of for the sake of drama.

"Bloody immature teenagers!" he uttered before a flutter of wings caught his attention.

Hedwig swooped in with a letter clutched in her talons. The letter fell into his lap while Hedwig perched herself on his shoulder.

"Good girl, Hedwig." Harry said, petting his trusted owl.

Hedwig let out a soft hoot and nipped at his fingers before taking flight to the sky. Most probably she was going back to the owlery and pick fights with other owls.

Harry shook his head before concentrating on the letter at hand. It was from Andromeda Tonks.

****

Dear Mr Potter,

I am happy to say our writ petition in the ICW court has been taken into due consideration and the court has asked for an explanation from the British Ministry before December 16. While this is a standard procedure the political pressure the ICW court will undoubtedly exercise on the British Ministry is to our advantage.

To that effect, I am glad to inform you that the British Ministry has agreed to suspend the Dementor Kiss on sight order against Sirius Black till he is judged under the oversight of a Wizengamot trial. The trial date has not been clarified but I'm told the session will be held at the earliest of January. Once the date is fixed I shall inform you at the earliest time possible.

However, do keep in mind that Mr Black remains a wanted person by the British Ministry. If he is caught by the Aurors he will be moved to Azkaban. I strongly advise he remain in hiding wherever he is hiding until the trial date. I'm in the process of moving the DMLE to halt all criminal proceedings against Mr Black but the Ministry has been dragging the proceedings. I fear they are trying to stonewall the progress of the case and hoping to capture Mr Black before the trial date.

On another unrelated note, your suspicions regarding a benefactor behind the Daily Prophet article is true. There is an internal battle waging inside the Prophet between two shareholders...

****

On reading further Harry found out the name of the individual who was indirectly helping him. A total unknown in some sense but there was a path he could make contact with the individual right here in Hogwarts.

Harry sat there thinking for a moment before he came to a decision. He burned the letter and cast the Point-Me spell. The wand spun around in his hand before pointing in a direction.

XXXXXXXX

She stared confusedly at the large doors of an abandoned classroom. She was just about to return the Charms textbook she had borrowed from the library. Just as she climbed the stairs from the dungeons to the first floor she had an epiphany to open the doors to this classroom.

She wondered why she needed to open the door?

"Hello, Daphne."

She nearly screamed but her wand was out and whirled around to face whoever it was only to falter at the visage of the resident Golden Boy of Gryffindor.

"You? Why are you here?" she asked keeping her voice steady and her face icy neutral.

She employed the teaching of her father and began suppressing emotions. Harry Potter was dangerous far too dangerous than she had ever thought.

As someone who grew up hearing the story of Potter's miraculous survival of the Killing Curse and the apparent destruction of the Dark Lord, Daphne was curious about Harry Potter. But, all that curiosity came crashing down in the First Year when she saw an immature and weak boy joining the House of Gryffindor. When the boy befriended a lazy slob like Ronald Weasley her opinion of the supposed saviour of the wizarding world came further down.

In the Second Year, Potter surprised her with his ability to speak the noble tongue of serpents. While the ignorant fools of the wizarding world would deride the serpent tongue as dark magic she knew better. Parseltongue was the epitome of healing magic, something that her family has been interested in for some time.

The revelation that Potter could speak the serpent tongue was a gut punch to her father who has been looking for a sane speaker in the world. The one that everyone knew was an insane wizard bent on world domination. The other speakers have isolated themselves in the remotest islands near the Indian Subcontinent doing Merlin knows what.

Despite, Potter's apparent ability to use Parseltongue she observed how much of an ignorant buffoon the boy was. Not to mention, Dumbledore and all the self-proclaimed 'light' wizards held a monopoly on Potter.

At least, that's what she thought and never has she been so mortified and embarrassed to have judged someone wrong.

"Cognitiva aequilibrium, the first sign of a budding Occlumens. Impressive." Potter said with an impressed look.

Daphne blanched in fear as she struggled to keep her mind blank.

Could Potter read her mind?

"No, I can't." Potter said making her eyes widen with fright.

"Wha..? What do you want?" she stuttered out. Potter is a Leglimens?

"A few minutes of your time for a one on one chat. You are not afraid are you?"

"No, I'm not afraid. What do you want to talk about?" she asked, regaining her composure as she readily took hold of her mind.

"Please open the door and let's talk."

Daphne eyed the door behind her and then looked at Potter who stood idle. She could have decided to not entertain Potter's request but she was curious.

She pushed the door open and entered followed by Potter who walked around her and sat on a desk. Daphne meanwhile stayed by the door lest this was a trap of some kind.

"I'm told from a reliable source that your father has been trying his hardest to oust a branded slave from the Prophet." said Potter.

Daphne frowned at that and was quite surprised that Potter knew what was going on inside the Daily Prophet. While her father certainly didn't share much details the fact that the Prophet suddenly turned on Mr Malfoy can only mean her father was involved. It was not a great leap for her to conclude this was the case.

Although, she wondered whether Potter was speaking of Lucius Malfoy.

"I don't know what you are talking about." said Daphne.

"A lie." Potter observed much to her chagrin. "You should work on your Occlumency a bit more. Either way, just be a dear and pass on my heartfelt thanks to your father. An enemy of my enemy is my friend. Should he desire some small aid in his endeavour to oust the ferret's father feel free to contact me."

Daphne watched with a frown as Potter decided to walk out of the classroom. This was what Potter had to say? She had expected some trouble when Harry Potter of all people asked to have a word with her in an abandoned classroom of all places

"Wait! You want me to pass along a message of thanks and an offer of aid to my father?" asked Daphne, while her mind came up with an idea to use the situation.

"Yes."

"I shall do this for you but what will you give me in return?" Daphne asked and she was pleasantly surprised Potter was not gaping like an idiot.

Instead, Potter was frowning and looking at her far too closely for her liking.

"You want something for passing on a message to your father."

"Yes. If you haven't took notice I'm my own person and not your personal owl." Daphne snarked.

"I did notice that. You look nothing like Hedwig. So, what do you want?" asked Potter, with his arms folded over his chest.

She hadn't thought Potter would agree to her demand but now that he agreed she was a bit stumped on what she should ask. She hadn't exactly planned for any of this to happen but she certainly would like to know more about the enigma that was turning out to be Harry Potter.

"I require a date to the Yule Ball and you are going to take me."

Daphne was satisfied with the shocked and confused look gracing Potter's face.

"You do realize what you are asking right?"

"What? Afraid of the reaction you'd garner from your house?" she asked with a smirk.

"I could care less what anyone thinks of who I'm taking to the Ball. Are you sure you can take the backlash from your house?"

"You don't know anything about me Potter nor do you know everything about Slytherin House. I can handle myself. The only question is, will you be my date to the Yule Ball?" Daphne asked with her hands on her hips.

Daphne felt the green eyes of Potter looking at her searching for a moment before he agreed to her surprise.

She watched as Potter walk away from the classroom and once she was sure the Gryffindor seeker was far away she smiled. If Potter hadn't cornered her today she wouldn't have bothered to ask him out for the Ball. She would've waited and watched Potter's progress and made contact with him at the end of the year.

The fact that he knew of the Curse afflicting her family was troubling. Her grandfather had studied extensively about the Greengrass Curse and according to him, Parseltongue was the last hope for their family. There was another way to escape the Curse but her father considered that an impossible task.

Although, she wondered how Potter could have known of the Greengrass Curse. It was not something that was widely known. It was one more reason for her to be curious about Harry Potter.

XXXXXX

"Mate you won't believe the Hogwarts rumour mill is saying about you. Can't believe some of the lies they cook up." said Ron as the redhead plopped himself beside Harry who was reading his Transfiguration book.

"Um-hm." Harry grunted but otherwise remained silent.

"What kind of rumours?" asked Hermione.

"Of all the things they could have come up with..." Ron trailed off with a snicker. "Apparently, Harry is taking Greengrass to the Yule Ball."

Ron proceeded to laugh like a hyena in the common room garnering glares from many other inhabitants. As usual, Ron remained ignorant of the reactions he was gathering with his raucous personality.

"What's wrong with Harry taking Greengrass to the Ball? She is in my Runes class and we get along well." said Hermione.

Ron sputtered and looked at Hermione as if she grew a second head.

"Greengrass is a slimy Slytherin. Get along well she says... There are no good Slytherins, Hermione. Everyone knows that." said Ron.

"Oh, don't be daft Ron. Look at Pettigrew. He was a Gryffindor and he became a Death Eater. If a Gryffindor can become a Death Eater then a Slytherin can become a respectable human being." said Hermione with a scowl of disapproval directed at Ron.

"I can't believe you are saying this. Harry, she's gone bonkers." said Ron.

"It's true." said Harry as he turned a page of his book without looking up.

"What? Harry...!" Hermione exclaimed, looking indignantly at Harry for taking Ron's side.

"See... Even Harry agrees. Slytherins are..."

"I'm taking Daphne Greengrass to the Yule Ball." Harry talked over Ron's gloating.

Ron paused and looked at Harry with his jaws wide open in shock. "What! How?" he shrieked.

The common room by this point had gone deathly silent.

"Greengrass asked me out today. She was the first one who asked and I had no reason to say no. So, I said yes and we will be going to the Yule Ball together." said Harry, standing up from his seat before collecting his books and parchments. "I'm turning in for the night. Goodnight Hermione. Goodnight Ron."

The entire common room watched silently as Harry made his way into the dorms.

"He was joking, right? Right!?" asked Ron.

Unfortunately, no one had an answer.

Hermione let out a scoff before she too retreated to her dorm leaving a heavily confused Ron in the common room.

AN:

To read in advance : pat(r) eon. C (O) M/Dragonspectre.