AN: Prompts will be displayed at the bottom to avoid them potentially giving away things.
you were lightning before the thunder
AlwaysPadfoot
Susan was sat on the edge of her seat.
Lightning illuminated the room every so often, white flashes casting shadows across the room that she was waiting in with Daphne.
They were going to call it any second now.
Susan watched Daphne pace back and forth across the room, looking like she'd gone weeks without sleep. In reality, it had only been a few days of insomnia, but she seemed to look far worse. She wondered whether she could have helped in any way. If Daphne wasn't allergic to one of the ingredients in a Restlessness Potion, Susan would have made sure they had one for every night of the election. Her anxiety was clear. She'd pulled the sleeves of the homemade pale blue sweater Susan had knitted for her over her hands and was gripping them tightly. That and the fact that Daphne was chewing on her bottom lip made Susan realise just how nervous Daphne was.
"Daphne, sweetheart," Susan said calmly, "you pacing furiously won't change the result of the Wizengamot."
"I know, Susie." Daphne sounded irritable, but Susan knew immediately she didn't mean to cause offence; her wife was just incredibly stressed after the election campaign. "They're not going to vote for me; they're going to be misogynist, homophobic old men."
Susan sighed lightly. It was plausible, yes, that Daphne would lose. The archaic rules that meant only three of the fifty Wizengamot members were female stacked the odds up high against her. However, Daphne had fought hard for the votes. Perhaps Susan was a tad biased — after all, this was the woman she loved — but in her opinion, there was no finer candidate for the position of Minister for Magic. Daphne wanted to do good; she always worked with a clear mind, especially when it came to everyone else but herself. The red-headed woman rose to her feet, caught Daphne's hands in hers, and pulled her close.
"Whatever happens, there will be another fight to win," Susan said quietly. "Whatever happens, I will still love you, but for what it's worth, I think you will beat those other two fools easily."
Daphne was shaking, but she put her forehead against Susan's and whispered a thank you. They stood together, taking comfort in one another before the door opened swiftly. A skinny and tired-looking assistant came into the room.
He smiled and then held his arm out to gesture to them. "The result is about to be announced."
Daphne exhaled slowly. She took Susan's hand as they followed the man across the hall and into the room where they would find out who the next Minister was. The other two candidates were already there alongside their wives. The atmosphere was thick with tension, and barely anyone spoke after the assistant said that the Head of the Wizengamot would be through shortly. All that could be heard was the rumble of thunder outside the windows set high in the ceiling. Whoever had chosen the weather for the Ministry's windows today certainly had a sense of humour. In Susan's opinion, it made the election far more atmospheric, but she wasn't about to point that out.
Instead, she gave Daphne's hand a reassuring squeeze as the seconds passed.
Eventually, the door to the Wizengamot Chamber that the assistant had exited through opened once more. The Head of the Wizengamot entered, accompanied by the assistant from before and two other people that Susan didn't recognise at all.
The Head of the Wizengamot was an old, infuriating man, in Susan's opinion. Every time she'd had the pleasure of meeting him, it felt as though she were talking to a brick wall. Daphne had agreed — apparently, he was no different in a work environment. The man was clearly unfit to still be heading the Wizengamot after eighty-five years of service. He shuffled as he walked and it took him an agonising minute to unroll the scroll of parchment in his hand. Susan, Daphne, and the rest of the room then had to watch as he shakily lifted a monocle to his eye, squinting to read the paper in his hand.
"Bloody hell, he's going to die before he reads the results out," Susan muttered, wondering just how this man had lasted as long as he had as Head of the Wizengamot. "It's like the blind leading the blind, literally."
Daphne stifled a response, but even so, Susan noticed the corners of her lips turn up into a slight smile. Mission successful, Susan thought to herself.
"The Wizengamot would like it to be known that after many, many hours of deliberation, they have come to a decision on who should replace Minister Shacklebolt. Mr J. Willick; Mr K. Rowle; and Mrs D. Greengrass-Bones will step forward and make their presence known."
Susan didn't let go of Daphne's hand, wanting to stay with her.
"It's okay, Susan," Daphne said softly, pulling gently on the neck of her jumper. "I've got you with me, remember?"
Susan watched her walk away, her stomach filled with butterflies. She was proud; it didn't matter whether Daphne won or not, Susan was so proud of the way her wife had conducted her campaign. Daphne and the other candidates approached the table that the Wizengamot Head was stood behind with his accompanying staff.
"By a lead of thirty-three votes, we would like to announce that the next Minister for Magic is," he said, pausing for an unreasonably long time, "Mrs. D. Greengrass-Bones."
Susan swelled with pride and ran across to Daphne, throwing her arms around her neck from behind. Daphne turned in shock, returning the hug automatically.
"I can't believe it," Daphne stammered.
"Congratulations, Minister," Susan whispered softly in her ear, tears in her eyes. "I'm so proud of you, so, so proud."
Susan wouldn't get to celebrate for very long with her wife though. For a new Minister, Daphne had a lot of things to do. First, there was an acceptance speech to the Wizengamot, followed by a short press conference to the world's wizarding media, and then a bunch of other things that Susan understood Daphne had to do.
Before Daphne left to attend to the first item on the agenda, she caught Susan's hand from where she stood with a glass of champagne. It had been pushed into her hands during the commotion of the announcement and the following kerfuffle.
"Hey, you've been brilliant tonight," Daphne said with a smile. "I couldn't have done this without you."
Susan blushed.
"That's a lie; you would have done just as well," Susan responded before grinning slightly. "Maybe a smidge worse, like winning by thirty-two votes instead of thirty-three."
Daphne laughed and moved in close, kissing Susan softly. "I love you, Susan."
"I love you… Minister."
With a wicked smile on her face, Daphne leant in to whisper in the redhead's ear, her voice low and sultry. "Are you going to call me that later tonight when I come home?"
"You bet," Susan said with a wink.
Before she moved away, Daphne kissed her cheek. They broke apart as the assistant from earlier called out. "Minister, the Wizengamot is waiting for your speech."
Susan wished her good luck and Daphne was ushered away to give her acceptance speech. She would see Daphne later at home after she'd done all her new ministerial duties. That meant that Susan could prepare food and cake and decor — they could celebrate the win together. As she left the room and walked through the Ministry's corridors, it didn't matter that outside the storm was still raging. It didn't matter that she was alone because Daphne admitted Susan was with her every time she wore that knitted blue jumper.
And as she walked it was quickly dawning on her that, after months of campaigning and restless nights, her wife had won.
Daphne was the new Minister for Magic.
Comp/Challenge & Prompts:
QLFC Season 6, Round 1: Write a theme you have never written before - Politics. [2. (setting) Thunderstorm, 8. (word) homemade, 11. (dialogue) "It's like the blind leading the blind."]
Assignment 11: Careers Advice — Task Five: Write about someone non-canon as Minister.
Word Count: 1315