Harry Potter and the Heir of Slytherin

Harry would have liked to say that was the worst of it, but no, it wasn't even close. The worst part was that he couldn't do a damn thing to stop the man from using him for his own purposes without either looking jealous or like some kind of petulant child. Because he could not afford to have his reputation marred by someone who was obviously quite popular, he had been forced to endure the man's long winded and pompous ramblings as he spoke to the crowd, all the while invading his personal space like the idiot had no clue what the term meant.

And even that might be the worst of it as Gilderoy Lockhart had apparently gotten the post of Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher at Hogwarts, which meant he would be having to deal with the showboaters presence for an entire year.

"Language, Harry!" Hermione scolded her friend.

"Ugh, sorry, Hermione." Harry ran a hand through his messy hair. "I guess my agitation got the better of me."

"I don't see why you're so angry," Tracey mumbled with a huff. "You got to stand next to Gilderoy Lockhart."

"And I wish I had been standing as far away from him as possible," Harry returned dryly. Astoria, Tracey and Hermione looked scandalized, like they couldn't possibly fathom why he would not want to stand anywhere near such a great man.

"I feel for you, mate," Terry spoke up, causing the trio of girls who were goggling at Harry to glare at him. Terry gulped at the terrifying sight. He had obviously not been subjected to such glares before.

Perennelle was far more horrifying than these three could ever hope to be.

"So even the great Harry Potter can be annoyed by some things," Daphne's tone was a tad dry as she spoke.

"There are a lot of things that aggravate me," Harry informed her. "Being paraded in front of a group of people for someone else's benefit happens to be one of them."

The group soon entered the backyard to the Leaky Cauldron. As the portal to Diagon Alley closed behind them, they found themselves standing inside of the small, dirty looking pub.

Because it was that time between shifts for people who worked, there were not a lot of people yet, just a smattering of men and women sitting in chairs, sipping their pints of alcohol. It would likely pick up soon, but Harry hoped to be gone before then.

Hermione was the first to leave at her parent's urging. Before that, she gave Harry a breath taking hug that did a very good job of depriving Harry's lungs of oxygen.

Thank the gods for magical reinforcement.

"I'll see you later, Harry," Hermione said as she stepped away.

"I'll see you at Platform nine and three-quarters," Harry returned. After saying goodbye to the others, and in particular Tracey, Lisa, Neville and Blaise, she and her parents went on their way.

One by one, all of Harry's friends left until it was just him, Astoria, Daphne, Tracey and her mother.

"I guess this is where I say so long," Tracey gave her blond friend a strong hug. "It was good to finally see you outside of school, Daph."

"Nice seeing you as well," was the response we got. "Hopefully, now that my father is letting Harry escort me, we'll be able to see each other more often."

"That's right," Tracey's eyes flickered to Harry, a mischievous grin on her face. "I forgot about that. Just how did you convince her old man to let her and Astoria out of the house?"

"A lot of time and effort," Harry said. Tracey gave him a pout.

"That wasn't very informative."

"No, no it wasn't."

Tracey rolled her eyes a bit at the typical response, before sharing a quick hug.

Quick for Tracey at any rate. Harry's body almost reacted when he felt her slowly developing chest press against him through the fabric of their robes. It was only his incredible will that stopped his arousal from becoming obvious.

"Whatever, I'll see you at the start of the year, ok?"

"Right, stay out of trouble."

"Don't I always."

"You don't want me to answer that," Harry, Daphne and Misses Davis all said at the same time. The three shared a small smile while Tracey huffed and Astoria giggled. Soon after, the brunette Slytherin left via floo like most of their friends, leaving Harry, Astoria and Daphne alone.

"Stori, why don't you go on ahead and wait for me in the lobby," Daphne suggested.

"Okay," Astoria agreed. Before she left, the younger blond turned to Harry and gave him a surprising yet quick hug. "Thanks for convincing Lord Greengrass to let me go with you. I had a lot of fun!"

Harry frowned at the term she used for her own father, but couldn't really blame her for it. Nathaniel Greengrass, from what he had seen, was no father to either of the girl's. One he ignored and the other was a political tool. There wasn't exactly any love lost between them.

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