Harry Potter and the Heir of Slytherin

Myriad Mysteries of Magic

Exactly one week after his meeting with the Hogwarts staff, Harry was still waiting to see if any of his ideas and proposals had been accepted. He was certain that at least some of them would be, but given how long it had been since the proposal, doubt was beginning to creep up on him.

What if they had decided none of his ideas were feasible? Or what if they simply couldn't afford to? What if they didn't have the manpower or resources for such a thing?

Why oh why did he not think about the logistics that would be involved in many of his ideas? You'd think someone with eidetic memory would always be able to think of every possible variable. Alas, that was not the case.

Harry knew this was not a good way to think. Many of his ideas would take a lot of time and work to implement. Even if they decided to use some of them, it probably wouldn't be happening for another few months if not next year.

That didn't mean that he liked the idea of waiting that long.

"Something wrong, Harry?"

Sighing into his bowl of oatmeal with blueberries and sliced apples, Harry looked up to his left to see Susan staring at him with inquisitiveness and concern. He gave her a wan smile. "I'm fine. Just a little anxious, I guess."

"About that meeting you had with the staff?"

"Yes," Harry frowned. "I had hoped at least one of my ideas would have been implemented by now. I suppose it's too much to ask for though. Many of them would take a lot of time to work out the logistics behind, and a good deal would require a lot of the Hogwarts schooling system to be changed."

"Give it time," Susan smiled at him, her cheeks only flushing a tad. She was getting much better at talking to him recently. Harry thought it was because of the close proximity they shared when exercising.

That, or it could have had something to do with their clothing. Because, let's face it, when you see someone every morning wearing the kind of outfit Susan and Daphne exercise in or the kind of clothes Harry wore, something like talking to someone just doesn't invoke as powerful a reaction.

"Thanks," he smiled at her, then chuckled as her cheeks finally flared a bit and she went back to eating to hide her growing blush. Well, even if some things between them had changed, it's nice to see that a few things remained the same.

Before Harry could get back to his own meal, he felt the person on his right scoot closer to him, close enough that their thighs were touching. He looked over to see Daphne Greengrass sitting next to him, eating her meal with poise and elegance as if she had not just scooted several inches closer to him. A confused frown crossed his face.

This had been going on for some time now. Whenever he got closer to one of the other girls in their group, Susan especially, Daphne would do something subtle to get closer to him.

Truth be told, he didn't mind her doing it. He actually kind of liked it, the closeness that is, but it did make him wonder. Why was she doing it? Was she jealous perhaps? Or maybe she just wanted to be physically closer to him? Perhaps she needed some reassurance that just because he was closer to Susan than before didn't mean he cared about her any less?

Harry didn't know. He didn't have any of the answers to any of those questions. Girls were confusing at the best of times, and downright impossible to understand at the worst of times. Even he, who had the benefit of being best friends with a girl since he was seven, did not understand them very well.

He decided not to think about Daphne's unusual behavior. If there was something wrong, he would find out eventually. Until then, he would just continue acting like he always did.