A/N: This version of Daphne is not going to be the typical Pureblood Princess that you see in most other stories. Just putting that out there now. I know that's not everyone's cup of tea and I hope you keep reading but this is going to be a bit different than most other Harry/Daphne fics out there. You have been warned.

Harry Potter felt the cool crisp October air hit him as he walked around London. It was his day off and he wanted to go and enjoy himself as best he could, being an Auror was stressful work and he longed to take advantage of any free time he had when he wasn't sleeping.

Truth be told, he was no longer sure it was worth it. It was when thing when you were operating alone against a Dark Lord but a whole other thing when you had to work as part of a team, do paperwork, and follow every regulation to the tee. He still enjoyed it to an extent but was finding the work less fulfilling then he had hoped.

Still, he could put that to the back of his mind for now. He needed to get a bite to eat and go out and have some fun even if that meant going it alone. Ron, Neville, and Hermione were all working and he wasn't interested in sitting around his flat doing nothing, at 21 he didn't feel like rotting away.

This desire led him to a pub that he had heard good things about. It was busy but not overly so, just the way that he liked it. He was a few drinks in when he noticed that he was being watched. Given how his life had turned out thus far he had a sixth sense for this sort of thing.

There was a blonde woman on the other side of the pub who wasn't staring at him but she was eyeing him up, he noticed. Not in the way other women were either. Harry wasn't foolish, ever since his very public break-up with Ginny he had gotten a fair number of witches throwing themselves at him. This was different though, they seemed to be more glances where she'd quickly look away and go back to whatever she was doing, which didn't look like much. She was alone and seemed a hair uncomfortable there. There was something familiar about her too.

He glanced over at her only to catch her glancing at him, which made her very interested in her drink. It was almost like she knew him. He briefly debated if she was some Death Eater threat but those had stopped about a year ago and it wasn't like he frequented this location. He debated just leaving it be, paying and moving on but something about her blonde hair drew him to her. What'd one conversation hurt?

He walked over to her and she looked a little shocked and uneasy as he sat down. He briefly wondered if she had a boyfriend of any sort but decided to press onward.

"How are you tonight?" he asked her as a blush crept up her pale cheeks.

"I-I'm well," she said seemingly unsure what else to say.

"That's good, I couldn't help but notice you were looking over at me," Harry said causing her blush to deepen.

"Just a bit," she admitted though she didn't seem happy about it. He debated what to say next but unexpectedly she spoke first. "You don't remember me, do you?" she blurted out taking Harry aback a bit.

"I..uh…ummm" Harry said wracking his brain. He hadn't slept with her, he was sure of that. He could count the number of women on his one hand and she didn't match any of them.

The blonde looked a little hurt and a little bemused at the same time. "Can't say I blame you. We didn't exactly run in the same circles," she said sipping on her drink.

Harry was taken aback by this thinking of who this could be. She let him squirm for about thirty seconds before letting him off the hook. "Daphne Greengrass, one of those snakes," she said adding a bit of a hissing sound at the end and laughing at her own joke.

Harry once again wracked his brain and tried to place her. "I vaguely remember you in a few uh…classes in the basement," he said not wanting to say anything with muggles around, even if it was loud.

Daphne sighed. "That seems to be…how most people remember me," she said as Harry looked over her and he understood why. If you took away her hair the rest of her was quite unremarkable. Her eyes were a lovely shade of blue as well, but her skin was a little pasty and her nose a hair too large. She didn't look unpleasing to the eye, but no one would mistake her for some great beauty.

There was also a bit of plumpness to her. Once again not overly unpleasing but no one was about to mistake this woman for a model, she was simply average or a bit above so.

"Sorry, but given the state of your house…" Harry trailed off trying to remember the name Greengrass. He didn't believe it had come up during the Death Eater trials, but he couldn't be sure. If it did, not an inner circle name at least.

"It's fine," she said sipping on her drink again bouncing a bit in her seat. "Not like anyone ever really mixed houses that much. I mean some people did but the whole superior to everyone thing kinda hurt my house. Plus, the older years kinda threatened us against making friends outside our house which seems silly since we should have made connections. Not that its really mattered for me," she said starting to relax a little bit.

"Really? Why do they do that?" he asked leaning in a bit closer. Daphne shrugged.

"Who knows? Old bloodlines and rivalry sort of thing. I don't know how it was supposed to work I just wanted to learn, mostly," she said.

Harry was fairly certain he wasn't going to learn anymore and subconsciously was in Auror mode at the moment. He didn't know why but there was just something interesting about her. "So…what's a Pureblood doing in a muggle bar?" he whispered causing her to shift a bit in her seat and tap her fingers on the table.

"I…uh…well…" she said sweating a bit. "Sorry, it's just…you're Harry Potter. I never actually thought you'd give me the time of day," she said.

"Why is that?" he asked.

"The whole well everything with how my House treated you," she said.

"Yes well, I don't like to just assume things about people. So why are you here?' he asked trying to steer the conversation back in that direction.

"Do you know who Draco is marrying?" she asked seemingly out of the blue.

"Astoria Green…" he started, and a few things started to click in his head. "Ah, he's marrying your sister but that doesn't explain…" he said trying to connect the dots.

"Correct, and they needed someone out of the way," she said sounding a little bitter.

Harry once again went deep into his mind and thought about what he knew about Astoria and he honestly knew less than nothing, but he remembered seeing a picture of them and suddenly things clicked in his mind.

Astoria may have been a brunette, but it was obvious who was blessed with the beauty in the family. He elected not to dwell on it.

"So, he was supposed to marry…" he started, and Daphne nodded.

"Marriage contract. Not overly strange in Pureblood families but Draco didn't find me pleasing and thus very few boys did," she sighed and took a sip of her drink. "Soooo they worked out a deal where he would marry Astoria but she's not the Greengrass heiress or wasn't the main one," Daphne said as Harry squirmed in his seat. He barely knew this girl and from what he knew about his finances was likely complicated.

"I apologize Daphne, you don't have to…" he started but she put up her hand and shook her head.

"No one else knows I have to tell…someone," she said her voice straining as she looked at him and unable to say no, Harry nodded his head for her to continue.

"A deal was worked out. I get my share of money, but Astoria is the Heiress now and I get hidden away. Not that it really matters. I still mail Tracey from time to time but it's not like it was in school," she said sounding sad.

This had not been what Harry thought he was going to hear when he came over. He sipped on his drink and thought about leaving. He didn't really know this woman and he had no direct connection to her story, it would be easy. There was something in those blue eyes though that made him stay. Even if they never talked again he could finish this with her.

"Doesn't she ask about it?" Harry wondered aloud.

"She does but she knows how this works. They couldn't find a good match for me, so I get my money, but they get their little trophy. On the plus side, no marriage contract for me," she said her voice a little up and down.

"That's good at least," Harry said. "I couldn't imagine marrying someone just because. I swear that's what people wanted to happen with me and Ginny," he said hoping that he could move the conversation away from her.

"I heard about that. I had just assumed that well you would. I mean we all thought it. I read about it every day," she said. "Any reason for the break-up or was it that you forced her to get an abortion because the unborn baby was part Voldemort?" she asked so deadpan that Harry wasn't sure if she was serious or not. Then she broke out laughing. "Kidding," she said. "Honestly, it's none of my business. I just hope it was for the best,"

Harry ran his hands through his hair and nodded. "It was. It wasn't fun, but we were different people. Her making the National Team didn't help matters either," he sighed.

"I think she just assumed that she was the only Chaser in England. I remember reading about that too. They didn't do her any favors though. I saw her play a bit and she's good for league play but National…" Daphne said making a motion with her hand and Harry nodded.

"Yeah…I didn't want to have to tell her that. It's over and done with now though. It's kind of nice not being a relationship," he said offhandedly, and she gave him a look but said nothing.

"If you're happy that's what matters, how's Auror life?" she asked finishing her drink and ordering another when the waitress came back over.

"I…don't know. I like it I suppose but…when you've spent your life being chased and having to fight. I do wonder if I want to keep it up," he admitted expecting some sort of stunned silence. Instead all she did was nod at him.

"Makes sense. You're still young, you'll have plenty of time to decide," she said leaving Harry a little amazed that she was that kind to a stranger. "I thought I'd have a job at my dad's company," she said.

"What happened there?" Harry asked out of politeness.

"I didn't get one O and he wanted to see how Astoria did. She got almost as good as Granger, so the selection was obvious. I didn't want to take any Wizarding jobs either. Humiliating with how public it'd be with my sister out there, so I work a muggle job," she said sighing a bit.

"And what do you do?" Harry asked not showing his surprise.

"I work on phones. Customer service," she sighed looking forlorn and drinking.

Harry heard no pride in her voice. This had to have been a tough pill to swallow. Either make people wonder why she wasn't marrying Draco or not be around magic.

"It's fine, really. I took muggle studies and a squib in the family taught me a few things. Lovely woman," Daphne said smiling tightly.

"Fair enough, and it's just for a bit," Harry said, and she nodded vigorously.

"Exactly! I want to run my own business one day. I just don't have a clue what that will be but I'm going to do it. I just need a bit of luck," she said a hint of desperation in her voice.

Harry didn't say anything else and just sipped on his drink. He should really be on his way but there was something interesting about her. He wanted to know a bit more and in an odd way he felt bad for her. He didn't imagine that most Purebloods could make it a week in the muggle world, but she was reasonably dressed and making it work.

They both sat there in silence for a few minutes neither one really sure what to say and both a bit lost in their thoughts.

"Do you live around here?" Daphne asked finally. "I've never seen you here before, not that I do this often," she said unease in her voice.

"Yes, you?" Harry asked.

"Yes, few blocks north," she said, and Harry thought about the area. Fairly nice, so either her job paid well, or her inheritance was sizeable despite not being the face of the family. "Would you maybe like to get together again sometime?" Daphne asked looking a bit pale to Harry.

"You mean like get together here or…" he said as she started to shrink in on herself and turn red. Harry thought about it for a half second. "I mean of course I'd like to. You're right a pub isn't the best place but somewhere nice," he said and she visibly relaxed.

"Great," she said gathering her things and putting some money down to pay her tab. "I just…need to be going but do you have a phone?" she asked.

"Yes, I prefer it that way," Harry said having still been unable to buy himself a new owl ever since the War.

"Perfect, I can't live without one," she said writing down her number for him on a napkin. "It was a pleasure meeting you, you'll call?" she asked her eyes looking at him intently.

"Yes, have a good evening," she said hurrying out, her heels clicking on the hard floor. Unable to help himself Harry gazed at her rear, it was a bit full but not overly so. He looked at the number and wondered if he had done the right thing.

She wasn't much to look at, but their conversation had been intriguing and she wasn't really fawning over him. Sure, there was some of the Boy-Who-Lived, Man-Who-Conquered interest there but she didn't immediately go after that. Just bringing up her family had been awkward, but she seemed to take it in stride. Learning more about a person was never a bad thing though and it was just a date. She wasn't going to demand they go somewhere to be seen by the press or with other witches and wizards. It might be nice to start off on a non-awkward foot with her. He downed the rest of his drink and moved to pay his bill. The night was still young, and he wanted to blow off some more steam.

Meanwhile a blonde woman was currently scurrying home replaying what she had done. She hadn't meant to ask out Harry Bloody Potter. She had been sure she'd never meet him in person. She had missed her chances at school and her heirs would forever wonder why she hadn't just talked to him.

That didn't matter now though because she had a date with him. The thought scared her to pieces. She was sure he'd say no; a decent amount of men did but he was willing to just give her the chance. Hopefully, he'd call. She kicked herself for not getting his number. He said he'd call though and she'd just have to believe that for right now. She could deal with this. She felt like a bundle of nerves, but she could deal with it, for now at least.

Please Review