With everything Harry had been through before he could say with utmost certainty that his life at the moment was hell.

He had thought that his fourth year at Hogwarts would be a quiet one, he'd keep his head down and get on with his studies, play Quidditch and hang around with his housemates. How wrong he was. Instead Harry's name had been pulled from the goblet of fire, forcing him to compete in a tournament where previous champions had died. What annoyed Harry the most about this wasn't the fact he was once again having his life put on the line, it was the treatment he was receiving from his peers.

The black haired wizard wasn't so surprised by the cold platitudes he garnered from the other houses, Hufflepuff had their glory stolen by the Boy Who Lived, even Harry admitted he could see why they were giving him the stink eye constantly. Ravenclaw were a slight conundrum, but Harry figured this wasn't out of the ordinary, they most likely thought he had cheated as that would have been the only way to get over Dumbledore's added protections and the Goblets'. Harry didn't bother with why Slytherin had turned their ire at him, they hated him regardless.

No, the house that confused him the most was his own, Gryffindor. Harry reasoned that some scepticism was needed, he had once again stumbled into the spotlight of the school, even he was wondering if Fate was just playing games with him at this point. Though this didn't seem to matter to his housemates, there seemed to be two groups. The first acted betrayed, why hadn't they been told Harry had put his name in, surely they could have added their names in as well? Ron was part of this group, they all felt as though Harry had tried to steal the spotlight again.

The other group were sympathetic, Hermione, Neville and the Weasley twins. They stuck to his side but there was still some distrust and it rubbed Harry wrong, why was he so hard to trust?

This whole situation left Harry fatigued and frustrated. The name calling, the endless shouting and swearing was grinding against his sanity. A worrying amount of thought was being put into just leaving Hogwarts and returning to the Dursleys, at least there was only three of them compared to the hundreds of voices within Hogwarts. The only major arguing point against such a drastic choice was that Harry simply felt like he belonged in the magical world, though even now this feeling was melting away with each insult tossed at him.

The young wizard sighed, his shoulder fallen. He stood in one of the many empty corridors of Hogwarts, the gleam that shone from the suits of armour that lined the hallway even seemed to dim under his eyes. Where had the magic gone from Hogwarts? Why did Harry now dread to leave his dormitory? The wizard shook his head, he wouldn't be getting answers to these questions. Resigned to his crummy attitude Harry continued his trek through the stone corridor, his vision focused squarely on the ground as he walked.

Unbeknownst to the clueless wizard however, three snakes were hiding behind pillars ahead, their wands readied, vicious smiles adorned on their faces. When the young lion had cross the threshold and wandered past the three Slytherins they struck, a flurry of stunners and hexes being shouted at the oblivious student.

"How'd you like that Potter?" a familiar and hated voice echoed into Harry's ears as he desperately searched the ground on his hands and knees for his glasses that had been flung from his face, ignoring the sores on his back and the pain in his arms in hopes of finding the weathered piece of wired metal and glass that allowed him his passible vision.

"Nothing to say? That's awfully rude of you Potter" the snake sneered in a good imitation of the Potions Master. Harry then felt a swift jab aimed at his chest, sending the young wizard to the ground unceremoniously, his head landing on the paved stone with a painful thud.

"What… what do you want Malfoy?" Harry asked groggily, his thoughts jumbled by his fall.

"Oh nothing Potter, I just want to see you…"

The snake was unable to finish his sentence. Harry could make out in his fuzzy periphery the sight of several bright sparks and flashes, the signs of spellfire.

A further few moments passed, the voices of disgruntled boys being stunned and in general discomfort offered Harry a brief reprieve, one that he savoured as the voices seemed to only become fainter as though they were leaving him. The wizard took this time to continue his search for his glasses, a vain attempt to be sure, Draco had probably broken them to add insult to injury.

"Are you looking for these?" a new voice asked, feminine in nature.

"More like feeling for, can't really see if you haven't noticed" Harry said dryly.

"Ah, sorry" the girl said, only for a few seconds to pass. A hand touched Harry's shoulder, making him jump at the contact, but he followed its direction, allowing it to turn him away from the floor. With his foggy eyes Harry could make out the vague shape of a face, and a hand offering him something.

"Do you mind if I?" the girl asked before she stopped and proceeded with her action without consent. Harry soon felt the cold metal of his glasses being placed gently on his face, his hands reaching to the arms to fit them comfortably on his ears.

Now able to see the wizard could make out the features of his helper, a blonde girl, her face pale but sharp and attractive, her eyes a cold blue.

"Thanks" Harry mumbled, realising how close the girl was to him as she kneeled beside his seated form.

"The pleasure was mine" the girl said, "sometimes I think my fellow house members need to be put in their place".

"Fellow?" Harry questioned before it clicked in his head, "you're Slytherin?"

"Indeed, Daphne Greengrass, it's nice to finally meet you" the girl offered as she stood, mindful of her skirt as she reached out her hand to the Boy Who Lived.

Harry took the girl's hand cautiously, wary of any kind of stunt one of the snakes might have pulled. When the wizard was back upright he withdrew his hand from Daphine's, noting how warm and soft it was.

"So why would a Slytherin help me of all people?" Harry questioned, all the while his eyes looked at anywhere that wasn't at the blue eyed witch, her own gaze proving to be unwavering and her presence too close for his liking.

"Greengrasses have never judged people on their houses" Daphne stated, "all I saw was an unfair fight, I wasn't about to let that continue".

"They were out of class, so are you matter of fact" Harry responded, he was also curious as to how they had found his so quickly but his mouth could only ask so much at once.

"Your mind is in the clouds Potter, class ended half an hour ago" Daphne told him, but not in a harsh fashion, "but that doesn't really matter I suppose, what does concern me is my repayment".

"Payment, I thought you were worried about an unfair fight?" Harry challenged, though not surprised by the snake's change in tone.

"I'm pulling your leg Harry, but I wouldn't mind the smallest of favours from you" the blonde snickered.

The wizard sighed in annoyance, there was always strings attached, "what do you want?" he questioned wearily.

"Just a moment of your time, that is all" Daphne replied openly, "if you'd like we could get this over with now, there's an unused classroom just down that way", her finger pointing towards the corridor Harry had been walking earlier.

Harry weighed the pros and cons of such an engagement. His mind was made up quickly, the very least he could do was hear Daphne out.

"Nothing to lose I guess" Harry shrugged, his hands in his pockets as he allowed the now faintly smiling Greengrass to lead him to her preferred spot. The blonde moved quickly, Harry raising a brow as he noticed that the girl was taller than himself, was she fifth year? The wizard shook his head, he didn't really care, he just wanted this debt off his chest today so that he could go to bed debt-free.

Daphne opened an old creaky door, holding it open for Harry, the wizard shooting her a confused glance.

"Manners are a dying art" she shrugged.

"Thanks I guess" Harry offered half-heartedly.

"Not a worry" she replied, a full smile now appearing on her face.

Harry couldn't help but roll his eyes at the girl's politeness, it was certainly different that being called "Potter" in different levels of apathy and restrained hatred.

"So what do you want to talk about?" Harry asked as he sat on the Professor's desk, his emerald eyes watching as Daphne approached, the blonde choosing to sit beside him, her unblinking gaze send a small chill down his spine.

"I have noticed that since your name was pulled from the Goblet that your cohort have seemingly abandoned you" Daphne began, her hands resting calmly on her lap, "would I be correct in saying there were not happy with such a development?"

"Yeah something like that" Harry nodded, a slither of bitterness running through his teeth as he spoke, "they thought I was cheating them of a chance to compete".

"I see" Daphne muttered, "well I would not seek to challenge your judgement, but instead I want to provide you with an offer".

"Oh yeah?" Harry half chuckled, what in the world could she give him?

"You have no friends" she told him bluntly, "the ginger one has abandoned your side and the smart one doesn't seem to look to you as warmly as she used to".

"They're just… confused, I don't blame them" Harry defended weakly, his first instinct to defend his friends.

"Regardless your lack of companionship shows" Daphne continued undeterred, "what I want to offer you is quite simple Harry, me, as your friend".

Harry's mind froze, a snake… as a friend? He was half tempted to just laugh though he restrained himself from such an action. It depressed the young lion but Daphne was right, he had no one he thought of as a friend, it was the reason he had been wandering Hogwarts to begin with.

"What do you gain?" Harry asked slowly as he contemplated the snake's offer.

"A friend I would hope" Daphne responded, "though I wouldn't be opposed to more".

"Oh" Harry muttered, his blood rushing to his head at what Daphne had suggested. "That's umm…" the wizard stuttered, his gaze turning to his hands.

The sound of a clear sounding laughter startled the wizard from his thoughts, forcing him to turn to look at the source. He found Daphne looking at him with an amazed glint in her eyes.

"I'm so sorry, but you're telling me the boy who's faced down the Dark Lord twice, a Basilisk and dementors that he's made speechless by a girl? If I had known I'd have come to you sooner" Daphne laughed earnestly.

"Oh shut up" Harry told her weakly, his cheeks now a deep crimson, yet he didn't feel hurt by Daphne's comments.

"I said I was sorry" Daphne defended as she brushed a tear from her eye.

The young lion stared daggers at the snake for a few second before he let his shoulders fall, he'd come to realise that this had been the first time since the name drawing ceremony that he'd been the source of a joke that was just playful, and it had been made by a member of a house he was supposedly sworn enemies to.

"Yes" Harry whispered.

"Pardon?" Daphne inquired, her head tilted at the wizard acceptance.

"You want to be friends? Fine we can be friends" Harry told her gloomily.

"You don't have to act like it's a bad thing" Daphne scolded him in a light manner, though her face drew ever closer to the wizard, putting him further off kilter, "what's the matter Harry?" she said in a way that made Harry shudder.

"Nothing, just find it weird that a Slytherin is being nice to me I guess" Harry responded.

"Yes well we're more than our labels" Daphne pointed out, her hand drifting from her lap to Harry's limp hand, her warm fingers gripping on to his cold hand, "maybe you'd like to get something to eat from the kitchen? The sun is falling and I doubt you want to eat in the main hall".

Harry mused the snake's question before he nodded, a faint smile now forming on his face, "sure, lead the way Miss Greengrass".

"Follow me Potter" Daphne grinned as her hand wrapped around Harry's and she yanked the wizard forward, the young lion allowing his feet to carry him in the blonde's direction. He wouldn't admit it, but Daphne's behaviour was a welcome change to what he had been faced with.

"Maybe this year isn't turning out so badly" Harry pondered as he returned the grip on Daphne's hand, his previous depressed thoughts seeping from his mind as he followed after the delightful blonde.

A/N:

Just a random one-shot that floated through my head, literally started with the idea of Harry not being able to find his glasses and grew into a monologue of how depressing school life can sometimes be, let alone how depressing it would be fore someone like Harry in his situation.

I chose Daphne just because she's a popular blank slate character, it doesn't mean I don't like her, but she's got no character to her.

There may be spelling mistakes and the such, I wrote this in an hour and I self-check.

All in all... Didn't think this would be my entrance into HP fanfiction, but ehh... Next thing I'll write will be a Harry/Fleur piece when ever I've go the time.

Reviews are appreciated.

Toodles.