A/N: Thank you all for the views and reviews. Like I said, there will be blow ups soon and a lot of explanation of the couples' pasts. As for Hermione's behaviour, I'll clear that up in a few chapters.
But in this chapter, Daphne comforts Pansy in her time of need.
As always, read and review. Check out my other fics. And I do not own Harry Potter.
The black-haired witch beside Daphne shudders holding her arms to her chest as if she would break. Daphne places a comforting arm around her friend, silently helping her to hold the pieces together.
Daphne has seen her friend cry many times over her husband. Even at Hogwarts, the blonde-haired man would crush her best friend's heart under his boot. But her friend held on, forgave him every time, and eventually she married him. She knew her friend loved her husband deeply, but it was hard to watch her best friend shatter every time.
Fat tear drops roll down her friend's face, dampening her blouse. Daphne plucks another tissue out of the box on the coffee table in front of her, offering it to her friend.
Drying her eyes for the nth time, her friend chokes out, "And he just left! Just like that. Admitted it right there. Smiling as if it was the biggest joke ever told."
Furiously, she turns to her friend, "Am I just a big joke, Daphne?"
Daphne makes shushing noises, rubbing her friend's back in small circles. Her hand brushes the tips of her friend's hair, drawing away Daphne's attention. She notices how limp and lifeless it feels and knows it not just from today's events. Her friend seemed to have given up long ago and Daphne can see the evidence of the defeat, the result of it all.
Fresh tears form, retracing the path of their predecessors. "He never cheated before, Daph. I know he didn't. He would always get upset with me, always storm away, but he never strayed. He always came back home." Her friend blows her nose into the tissue, trying to clear her head.
Resignedly, she falls back against the couch, her used tissue joining the growing pile at her feet. "I should have seen this day coming. I saw the signs but I ignored them, hoping I was seeing things, hoping I was just overthinking, hoping that they'd just go away. I thought to confront him long ago, but then we'd start fighting and I'd shy away, just to return to some sense of normalcy. I didn't want to break us. I would take the breaking if it kept us intact."
Daphne gets up for a moment to run to her friend's kitchen. This was her friend's acceptance stage every time she got upset, and now Daphne would pull out the usual soothing tea. Quickly getting the tea and heating up the water, Daphne rejoined her friend with two steaming mugs.
Her friend sips her tea silently for a moment, savouring the taste and Daphne sees her resisting a smile. She always loved green tea. Her friend pulls her head down into the mug, hiding her eyes behind her dark bangs. Quietly she murmurs, "I don't know if he's coming back."
"If he loves you, then he'll come back. If he loves you, then he'll talk it out. Even if this does end badly, you guys need to talk it out and get everything on the table. You can't run away from this problem."
Her friend spits back, "He's always been a runner Daph! I was usually the one who had to go crawling back to him after a big fight! Especially ones that were his fault." She deflates, "Now I'm gonna have to find him again, like it's all my fault he cheated on me." She sniffles, "Maybe it is my fault."
Daphne suddenly snaps, looking her friend dead in the eyes, "This is in no way your fault. Throughout all this, you have loved him from the beginning. Your attention has never wavered, not even when that cute Ravenclaw boy winked your way in 6th year. You have sacrificed yourself for him almost your entire life, but he took that for granted. This is entirely his fault. If you do talk, don't let him tell you otherwise. You know who you are and you know where you stand."
Her friend gives her a watery smile, "Daph, you always know just what to say."
They both put their mugs down and pull each other into a long, warm hug. Daphne pats her back. Now she just has to talk to him. Then she can begin healing.
Green flames appear in the fireplace across from them and the pair turn towards it, the figure not yet materialized. Her friend takes in a deep breath.
Daphne offers, "Do you want me to stay with you?"
Her friend shakes her head, "No, you go on. I need to handle this myself."
Daphne looks one more time at her friend and then to the fireplace. She pops herself out of her friend's apartment, not before hearing, "Pansy, we need to talk."