A/N: Once again thanks for all the kind words and reviews. I hope you enjoy this chapter.
Chapter 8
"Are you sure you want to do this?" Harry asked for what had to be the 50th time that day.
"I'm fine…" Daphne said trying to keep herself steady while working on her make-up.
It had been a few days since their heart to heart talk and Daphne seemed okay. They had been able to push the dinner to Saturday. Harry had wanted to push it back later, but Daphne felt that getting it over with would be for the best. She wasn't feeling her best. It wasn't going to get any better though. This way she had less time to focus on the dread of it.
"Hermione and Ron will love you," Harry assured her, rubbing her arm.
"I'm sure," Daphne said not believing it. She'd been thinking about what stories she could tell. They all seemed to dinky to her. They would think the same, then Harry would break up with her, then Astoria would say I told you so, and she'd be alone with ice cream.
Daphne shook her head. She needed to stop doing that to herself. Harry hadn't left her. It would probably end one day but it wouldn't be this weekend. She needed to stop thinking like that. She didn't know how long it was going to last. She just wanted to enjoy it while it lasted.
"Okay, well don't worry you'll be fine. Just don't mention the wedding," Harry sighed.
"Why?" Daphne asked.
"Because that will be the only thing we hear about all night. I don't know how other couples make it work," he said.
"One of the biggest issues with purebloods and muggleborn weddings. Purebloods want to do everything magical. You have to hold back a bit depending on who the muggleborn invites. It's a headache," she said. "I mean imagine Astoria's wedding if you had to include a muggle second cousin who knows nothing about magic and can't find out,"
"Makes sense, there was talk of a second wedding. It's not happening. They're making it work the best they can. I just don't feel like hearing about place settings all night," Harry said.
Daphne started to debate bringing it up at dinner. She'd save it in her back pocket in case they started really questioning her and she needed an out. "How do I look?" Daphne asked finishing up.
"You look amazing," he said kissing her.
"I don't," she said.
"You do, now come on. If we're more than five minutes late Hermione will send out a search party," he said.
"How'd you live like that in school?" Daphne asked.
"I don't know. It annoyed me at the time. She means well and that's what counts," he said.
Daphne just nodded. She supposed that having someone who actually cared about your well-being would be something that Harry craved even if he didn't realize it.
"Let's do this," she said planting a fake smile on her face. That was one thing she was grateful for her mother for. She knew how to fake her way through things. There were times she broke down but if she could avoid that she'd just smile and soon enough it would be over. She reached over and grabbed him as they apparated into Hermione's apartment.
"Oh, there you are! I was getting worried," Hermione said pulling Harry into a hug.
"Hermione, it's only three minutes…" Harry said.
"I know but I was worried someone would get sick again," she said.
At that comment Daphne blushed. "Sorry about that. Just really didn't feel well,"
"It's fine. Just happy we were able to get together. It's nice to see you again Daphne," Hermione said.
"Same to you," Daphne said not wanting to make things awkward. She was certain she had never talked to Hermione in her life.
Ron came out and looking more refreshed than Harry had seen him in a while. "Glad you could make it," he said. "What are you drinking?"
"We have wine," Hermione said leading everyone to the kitchen.
"Water will be fine," Daphne said. She wanted wine. She wanted firewhiskey. She wanted a stiff drink. She couldn't risk losing control. She was stressed enough. Alcohol was a wild card. She might be happy, or she might start sobbing. It was a bit of a toss-up.
"Okay, water for Daphne and for you Harry?" Hermione asked.
"Wine will work," he said not particularly caring. He would have preferred something a bit harder. Wine would work for now.
"Great!" Hermione said going and playing hostess.
Daphne took this time to look around a bit. Everything seemed to be clean and proper. It reminded her of her own home but a bit more magical. Not too surprising. Hermione never had to worry about a muggle who didn't know anything coming over. It wasn't a common occurrence for Daphne but every now and then she'd go out with co-workers and her place was the closest. Quick spell to make her pictures freeze took care of it and no one was the wiser.
Suddenly she felt a tap on her shoulder and jumped.
"Sorry. I was just asking if there was anything else you needed," Hermione said.
"No, I was…uh…just…you have a very lovely apartment. Do you and Ron live together?" she asked.
"Yes, we plan to live here for a bit longer," Hermione said.
"It's very nice," Daphne said trying to act like her heart wasn't pounding.
"Thank you. Hopefully Ron will get promoted soon and we won't be here for too long," Hermione said. Ron looked uncomfortable, he stayed quiet.
"Yeah…kind of how I feel about my place. I might get promoted soon. Maybe," Daphne said.
"Oh? That's good! What do you do?" Hermione asked.
Daphne's cheeks grew hot and she cursed herself for saying anything. "Just customer service for a muggle company. Nothing great. Might get promoted to Tier 2. Less on the phone time," she said wiping a fake bead of sweat off her forehead and laughing.
"Is it bad?" Ron asked.
"It's…people are…crazy," she said. "Treated worse than a house elf sometimes,"
Hermione opened her mouth to say something. Harry cut her off first.
"Yeah. Well that's any job really. Remember she just can't use magic to fix everything," Harry said.
"On the plus side nothing too weird. No brooms randomly crashing. Just people who were billed wrong. I've just done it enough that I'll get to move up. Only have to deal with a supervisor call sometimes," she said sticking out her tongue. She wasn't looking forward to that bit.
"It sounds…lovely," Hermione said.
"Not really. I need to find something else. Just hard," Daphne said.
"What do you want to do?" Hermione inquired.
"I don't really know. I'll figure it out," Daphne shrugged.
Hermione gave her a look but held her tongue. "If you ever decide that you want something just let me know. I'm sure I know someone. My parents could help too," she said.
Daphne blushed. She didn't want someone to help her. Plus, she could use her parents contacts if she really wanted something. She knew that Hermione was trying to be nice, but she felt a little insulted. "Thanks. Can I get that water?" she asked.
"Oh yes, sorry," Hermione said going to get it for her as Daphne gravitated back to Harry.
Harry could tell she was struggling a little bit. He wrapped his arm around her. "You're doing fine," he whispered.
Daphne didn't say anything. She just nodded and when Hermione came back, happily accepted the water.
"What did you make?" Harry asked trying to take some pressure off.
"I made a roasted chicken," Hermione said proudly.
"Weird to think of you cooking and domestic," Harry teased.
"We can't all live on takeout," she said. "Do you cook?" she asked Daphne.
"A bit, I'm not fantastic at it. I prefer simple," Daphne shrugged feeling like she was being judged.
"If you'd like…"
Ron coughed a bit. Hermione looked at him had enough shame to blush. "Uhhh I mean…if you like…we have appetizers," Hermione said.
"What do you have?" Daphne asked.
"Shrimp cocktail," Hermione said smiling leading the way to the kitchen, Daphne followed.
"Thanks for that," Harry said.
"No problem, I've been trying to keep her focused all week. She just wants to be friends," Ron said.
"I know. It's just a bit…"
"Much?"
"Yep,"
"That's why I love her. It'll be fine. Ever since Ginny started traveling more I think Hermione is just looking for someone to do things with. She got used to it," Ron said.
"It might be good for Daphne," Harry said. Would getting out more help her? He didn't know. He needed to find some time to really talk about this with someone.
"Ohhhh! This IS good!" Harry heard from the kitchen.
"Sounds like it's going well in there," Harry laughed.
"I'm sure it is. They both just need to relax," Ron said.
"You noticed how tense she is?"
"I did learn a few things in Auror training. She knows we won't bite?"
"Yeah. It's just difficult for her," Harry said wanting to remain vague.
Ron said nothing and just nodded as Hermione and Daphne returned with plates for everyone. "This is fantastic," Daphne said shoving another one into her mouth.
"Glad you like it," Hermione said. The mood started to relax a bit and everyone started to chat lightly. Daphne didn't really say anything. She seemed to be fine with that. Hermione wasn't grilling her anymore. A fair amount of her fears were starting to leave her. This wasn't that bad. Harry was right, they were just his friends. The night seemed to be going along swimmingly, she opted to partake in wine. Nothing much, just a glass.
Soon they were all around the dinner table eating and Daphne was her normal self. As normal as she could be. Harry was holding her hand under the table. Hermione was a little overly friendly. It wasn't bad though. She was used to her family treating her like glass, this was refreshing.
"Your sisters' wedding looked nice," Hermione said about halfway through the meal.
"Thank you. It was a little over the top for my taste," Daphne said.
"Any reason why?" Ron asked.
Daphne shifted uncomfortably. "Just not my style. I prefer intimate. How big is your wedding going to be?" she asked.
"Not small but not large either. You'll enjoy it I'm sure. You're not allergic to anything, are you?"
"No. At least nothing that I know of," she joked. "I mean I guess I could be allergic to something muggle I've never had," she joked.
"Good to know. Just hold back on using magic. My family will be there," Hermione said.
Daphne nodded. "I don't use magic too much anyway," she shrugged. "I apparate to travel or when I'm running late. Some simple spells but that's about it. Can't keep replacing electronics," Daphne said.
"Is there any reason you prefer to live that way? Most purebloods don't," Ron said.
Daphne blushed and squirmed. "Just what I prefer," she said politely.
Harry knew that Ron and Hermione went well but he could sense that Daphne was getting annoyed by this line of questioning. She'd never say anything, she'd just keep on answering questions.
"Daphne, did I ever tell you the story of how the three of us became friends?" Harry asked.
Hermione and Ron looked at him a little wary.
"No, you haven't," Daphne said suddenly very interested.
"You guys don't mind, right?" Harry asked looking at them.
"It's not some crazy secret," Hermione said.
"I don't mind," Ron shrugged. "I'm surprised it didn't get out earlier," he said.
"What do you mean? I mean, yeah it was a little weird you three just started hanging out all the time," Daphne said visibly relaxing.
"Well…it's a little more complicated than that," Harry said and proceeded to tell the story of the troll incident. Hermione and Ron helped filling in a few details for her.
Daphne just looked at them slack jawed. "I…I…you thought it was a good idea to jump on a troll?"
"It was the best idea at the time," Harry pointed out laughing a bit.
"How can you just…laugh about it? I mean…you were eleven! I heard rumors something happened with you three and the troll. I didn't believe them though because I didn't think anyone our age could take on a troll,"
"We got lucky," Hermione said. "Total luck," she said.
"Why'd you take the blame for it?" Daphne asked.
"I don't know…I was in shock. I…I didn't want Ron or Harry to hate me. I didn't want to get them in more trouble. Stupid. It wasn't like Ron meant for that to happen," she said. "I probably shouldn't have lied but it all worked out," Hermione said waving her hand.
"What did your parents say when you wrote them?" Daphne asked.
Ron and Harry had never thought of that and looked over at Hermione. It was her turn to blush and curl in on herself a bit. "I kinda never told them," Hermione blushed.
"What?" Ron asked while Harry laughed and shook his head.
"I was worried they'd pull me out of school! You two were being nice to me. I never really had close friends. I don't know. Much like the troll it made sense at the time," she said obviously embarrassed.
"Not going to tell that story at the wedding then," Ron said.
"I wouldn't recommend it," Hermione said. "I love my parents. They'd have had massive strokes and I'd never be able to learn magic. They're probably die now. I've told them a lot but certain things I've held back," she said.
"Did they know you were petrified second year?" Harry asked.
Hermione just sipped on her wine and didn't look at him. "So anyway…that's how we became friends," she said.
"That's…crazy to me," Daphne said. "I'd have literally died. Did you guys ever have a normal year at Hogwarts?"
The three looked at each other and thought it over. "Third year until the end…" Ron said.
"Seventh for me. Without these two distracting me I was able to just relax," Hermione teased.
"Sixth. Third had the Dementors. The Draco thing was strange and so was Dumbledore's stuff but I kind of felt like I was normal that year," Harry said.
"Yeah, he's right. Minus me almost dying," Ron said.
"Still the most normal then," Harry said.
"Hey!"
"Face it, Ron. You probably could have died every year we were in school," Harry said. Ron thought back to it and couldn't disagree with it.
"I'm telling you guys. You guys NEED to write books," Daphne said. "Or collaborate and write a book. Like this is just so interesting. Why haven't you told people?" Daphne asked.
Hermione answered first. "There are things I haven't told my parents. There are certain things that people can't know at this point. It's just a mix of everything. Maybe one day. Throwing all that information out there right now might end badly," she said.
Ron nodded. "We broke a lot of school rules. I think some real laws too. Not worth going into," Ron said.
Daphne looked crestfallen. "Sorry. I don't mean to be rude it's just that there were always crazy rumors about you guys. I didn't believe half of them until the Tri-Wizard Tournament," she said blushing.
"Why then?" Harry asked.
"Well first year there was nothing concrete. I know you did something because we lost the House Cup. Something happened second year. I know it's with the Chamber of Secrets. I never believed you were the Heir of Slytherin though. Well I did for about a week," she said babbling.
"Why for a week?" Harry asked.
"Well wouldn't it be the most Slytherin thing ever to be in another House to no one expects you. More I thought about it, it didn't make any sense. Other than Draco you didn't really hate anyone, and Malfoy wasn't petrified. Third year I know you learned a Patronus. I mean you did it at a Quidditch game when Draco was being dumb. Can you tell me if it's true you fought off fifty Dementors at least?" she asked looking at Harry.
"I don't know the number. I think it was all of them so about a hundred," Harry said.
"You beat a hundred…how…I just…I mean yes you killed a Dark Lord but my third year I was still working on making a lizard into a book. Maybe it was a book into a lizard. Anyway, I just…wow," she said. "Sorry," she said blushing.
"I wouldn't worry about it. I had Ravenclaws come up and ask me things all the time," Hermione said.
"You did?" Harry said.
"Yes. I never said anything but there was a rumor mill going," Hermione said.
"People needed hobbies," Harry said.
"Oh, so anyway…it was the Tri-Wizard Tournament I started to think more things were true. I still have no idea how you summoned that broom and then flew against a dragon," Daphne said. "I mean Snape always kept saying how much of a dunderhead you were. I think at some point I accepted it as fact," she said.
"Yeah, Snape…that's a conversation for another night. What do we have for dessert?" Harry asked.
Hermione brought out a cake that she had bought, apologizing for not having enough time to bake. The rest of the evening went well. Now that it was winding down Hermione and Ron kept their questions to a minimum and soon enough it was time to leave. There were promises to do this again. Harry and Daphne popped back to her apartment.
Daphne immediately collapsed on the couch. "I've had job interviews less intensive," she groaned. "Food was amazing at least," Daphne said kicking off her heels.
"It wasn't that bad," Harry said coming up to her and rubbing her back.
"True. I thought they'd make fun of me and then kick me out," Daphne said.
Harry was taken aback. "Did you really?" he asked.
"Not seriously but it was in my head," she said blushing.
Harry didn't say anything to that. He just kept rubbing her back.
"I'm sorry. I upset you," Daphne said.
"No. I just don't understand what goes on in your head. I'm happy you're sharing with me,"
"It does feel nice to have someone to talk to about it. I mostly just talk to myself," Daphne said.
Harry nodded and filed that away. He needed to talk to Andromeda tomorrow. He didn't like that she seemed to down on herself. It might be pointless, but he had to try. "You can always talk to me,"
"Okay," Daphne said not quite believing him. She did feel better. She couldn't talk to her family like this. Even Astoria would get too upset when she talked about her thoughts. Maybe she could trust him, maybe. "Are you going home?" she asked as she started to play with her hair.
"I was planning on it," Harry said.
"If you like, you could spend the night," Daphne said not looking at him. Her heart was pounding.
"Are you sure?" he asked.
"Yes," she said. "I don't…I might not be ready for that," she said. "I'd like to at least sleep close to you,"
"As long as you're sure," he said pulling her into a hug.
"I am. This feels nice. I've never done anything like this before. I mean…I've slept in the same bed as Astoria. No one else," she said her heart pounding.
"I won't do anything you don't want,"
"I know. I just…I appreciate it. You've been patient. I've been good too. You sure that you're fine with all of this?" Daphne asked.
"I'm totally fine with this," he said.
"Then let's head to bed," Daphne said walking to the bedroom. She grabbed her pajamas. "I'm just going to change in the bathroom quick," she said not wanting to totally expose her body to him. "What are you doing Daphne. You're going to trust Harry. You should trust Harry. He was nice tonight. His friends were nice. Hermione was really pretty, people made fun of her hair and teeth too much," she said babbling.
Harry could hear her through the bathroom door. He tried not to listen in but he couldn't help it.
"Might be worth talking to her again. She's a bit much but when we talked about Harry she was relaxed. It would be nice to have other friend," Daphne said wiping her make-up off. "You'll be fine,"
Harry thought about saying something but held back. He didn't want to embarrass her. He found the talking to herself odd. It wasn't like she was carrying on conversations with herself. He started to get out of his clothes down to his boxers and shirt.
Daphne came out of the bathroom wearing her silk pajamas and smiled at him. "You look nice," she said.
"You look great," he said looking her over. It was more then what Ginny would wear but he didn't care he was just happy to spend the night with her.
"Let's go to bed," she said smiling.
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