A/N: This was written for the first femslash prompt: Daphne/Susan.

Despite its popularity with wizarding Britain, Daphne had always found the Leaky Cauldron an uninviting place. She gazed around the hazy room, watching the other patrons who had kept themselves turned away from her since she'd entered the pub.

Perhaps that was why she found it uninviting.

The wizarding world was small compared to the Muggle one, and it was easy to feel as if you knew everyone, especially if you'd been a part of the world since you were born.

Daphne had known her place within their society until the end of the war. Her parents had never been Death Eaters, but they'd been aligned with those families and that belief system closely enough that technicalities hadn't mattered in the aftermath.

Whereas she would have expected polite nods, if nothing else, as a child, people now averted their gaze when they saw her coming. Looking around the pub, she could have listed off the names of most of the people gathered, but a rat would have been more welcome than she was.

"You're looking particularly melancholy today."

Daphne couldn't stop herself from grinning as Susan settled into the seat across from her.

"I hate this place," Daphne said. "You know that. I don't know why you insist on coming here all the time. The Muggle pub across from our apartment has better food and better company."

They'd become fast friends with the woman who ran after moving in, and she gave them a free beer each when they ate there.

"I only drag you here once a week," Susan teased. "And you know why."

She inclined her head towards her best friend, who had appeared at their table with a notepad in hand, ready to take Susan's order.

"What can I get for you today?" Hannah asked with a grin.

Susan stuck out her bottom lip, glancing over the menu before handing it back to Hannah without having read it.

"The usual," she concluded.

Hannah snorted as she took the menu back. She didn't bother to write the order on the notepad.

"Coming right up," she said, hurrying back to the bar.

"And try to come over to talk this time," Susan called after her.

Hannah waved a quick hand over her shoulder, and Susan rolled her eyes, muttering to Daphne about how Hannah could never be bothered to talk to them despite the long journey between the Leaky Cauldron and their apartment on the other side of London.

"It's not even that busy today," she said.

"It's always busy," Daphne countered, though Susan was correct in that they had often seen it far busier.

Susan didn't bother with a retort as one of Hannah's workers sat a coffee in front of her. Daphne watched her girlfriend as she added cream before taking a sip and humming in satisfaction.

"How was work?" Daphne asked once Susan had set her cup down.

The redhead grimaced at her coffee.

"Same as always," she replied.

Daphne was about to reply when another worker appeared and sat a steaming plate of cottage pie in front of Susan. Daphne gave her time to swallow a few bites before she began steering her towards what she wanted to talk about.

"You hate it at Flourish and Blotts. Why haven't you quit yet?"

Susan levelled her with a glare over a forkful of pie.

"Stop," she said. "I don't want to have this argument again, especially not here."

She waved her fork around at the bar, almost dropping her food in the process.

"It's a steady job, and what else am I supposed to do? I don't have the big dreams everyone else does. I don't want to own a pub; I don't want to be a star Quidditch player; and I certainly don't want to be locked up in the Ministry all day filling out paperwork."

Daphne cringed at the insult to her work. Paperwork was certainly not the only thing she did, and she counted herself lucky to have gotten as high in the Ministry as she had in the little time she'd been there. She'd been shocked when they'd hired her despite knowing her family, and her current position had meant a lot of hard work that had left her girlfriend with plenty of ammunition to accuse her of being a workaholic.

"Maybe you don't have to work at all."

Susan's eyes widened for a second before narrowing. Daphne pushed on before she could speak.

"Halpern told me today that I'm getting a raise. Susan, it's more than enough for the both of us. You could quit the job at the bookshop without worrying about having another job lined up."

"And do what?" Susan leaned over the table, trying to keep her voice low. "Become some kind of housewife who wakes up early to pack your lunch before I send you on your way?"

"No," Daphne replied in sudden alarm. "That wasn't what I was trying to say. I mean, if you wanted that, then that'd be fine, but," she hastened to add, "I know you don't. All I meant is that not working would give you time to look for a job you actually want. When was the last time you did that?"

Susan's lack of an answer was enough. She'd been insistent when she began work at Flourish and Blotts right out of Hogwarts that it was temporary, but she'd given up searching for a different position long ago, and it had become temporary only in her words.

Susan stared down at her dinner, her fork laying untouched across the plate. Daphne reached across the table, taking one of Susan's hands in both of her own.

"You'll figure it out," she said softly, feeling a tug on her heart when Susan looked at her. "I know you will, but it'll be a hell of a lot easier to do so if you're not exhausting yourself in that bookshop day in and day out."

Susan chewed on her lip for a moment before she gave a short nod.

"You're right," she agreed.

Daphne's face broke into a wide grin, and she gripped Susan's hand tighter.

"Is that an agreement?"

"It's an 'I'll think about it,'" Susan warned.

"That's good enough for now," Daphne said, rising from her chair far enough to place a quick kiss on her girlfriend's lips, not realizing until she'd sat back down that her robes had received their own helping of cottage pie.