A/N: Thanks again for all the reviews over the last week. The one bit of news is that I've found someone to help me edit. Editing is something I struggle with so having a second set of eyes should help. We'll also be going back and cleaning up previous chapters as well over the next week. The content will not change, it will just be fixing some grammar and spelling errors I missed.

Chapter 11

Work was dreadful for Daphne. It wasn't always dreadful, at least not the way it had been in the beginning. Sometimes she was amazed at how rude muggles could be to someone over the phone that they called for help. A few wizards she knew would have taken that as another way wizards were superior to muggles, but she knew that those few wizards were more than ready to throw a curse to get something they wanted.

Daphne had debated just calling in for the day, she knew that wasn't an option. She had taken far too many days off over the last month. It was just a job, but she didn't want to be fired from it. Daphne wasn't sure if being fired would really be that bad. It wasn't like she loved what she was doing. She had more than enough money to just quit. However, she also knew that she needed a reason to leave her house and get out of bed.

Between school years at Hogwarts her parents didn't always force her to go places. They forced her to go to some parties she couldn't miss or doctors' appointments. Otherwise, they left her and Astoria alone which meant that she barely went out all summer unless forced. It wasn't healthy for her to only go out to walk around a little bit every now and then.

This was most due to her anxieties about life. When Astoria, or Tracey invited her to go somewhere she would normally say yes. Daphne had a limit, she knew that anything more than four hours would start to grate on her nerves. She mostly accepted it, it was nice to go out and have a fun time. If Astoria was with her friend, or Tracey was too busy to go, Daphne found it vey hard to get herself to go out on her own. It didn't help that she didn't have many other friends. She had been desperate enough to go to Diagon Alley with Pansy one time. The less said about that, the better.

Vague worries of people judging her for being alone went through her head. Along with the idea of some horrible crime happening to her because she couldn't properly defend herself. It was just easier to stay in the manor, in her room rather than go out somewhere without her sister or friend.

As Daphne left work she thought about her friend. They hadn't seen each other in person in months. It wasn't either of their faults. Tracey had gotten a job in another country. They could have used portkeys or other methods to visit but Tracey always wrote about how busy she was. Daphne didn't want to bother her, and her letters gave Daphne the vibe that Tracey wasn't really interested in being her friend anymore.

Logically she knew that wasn't true. Tracey had a very demanding job where she was working over ten hours a day and was just too tired. It didn't stop Daphne from feeling like there was some gulf between them, even though they shared at least three letters a week when Daphne was feeling well.

Daphne would have preferred not thinking about that relationship too much, but she needed to do something to take her mind off Harry. Just the thought of his name made her stomach churn with guilt. She had left a note in her apartment in case he came over to see if she was there. She didn't know what she was supposed to do. She didn't want to come on too strong and ruin what little chance she had. Sitting around seemed like a horrible idea as well. Weren't you supposed to fight for the people that you loved? Pansy had done that with Draco. It didn't work out at all, but she did try.

Daphne walked up the stairs, hoping Harry would be outside her door or inside her apartment waiting for her. She didn't believe he would be, she had to hope. She could have just popped in but there were times she liked taking the muggle way. Plus, it would look quite strange if no one ever saw her entering or leaving her apartment. She wasn't sure if people would actually notice this. Still, it was best not to draw too much attention to herself. People could be busy bodies when they felt like it.

Unlocking the door, Daphne entered her apartment to find it the same way that she had left it this morning, minorly disorganized. If Harry had been here he hadn't touched anything. She checked the time, it was 5:21. Daphne chewed on her lower lip and started to walk around her apartment to think this out.

"I could just go over. Would that be the worst thing? He might need another day. What if he's working? Is he working today? I can't remember," she said trying to busy herself by making something to eat. "Maybe just checking on him would be good. Maybe he's not that mad. He's going to be mad," she said.

"The only question is if he'll reveal all your secrets," Daphne said and stopped in the kitchen, she no longer found herself hungry. Would Harry really do that? No, he wouldn't. He had told her too much. Not that she'd ever reveal anything, he'd never risk her spilling secrets.

What if all those secrets were a lie? What if this was just one big prank to earn her trust? What if this was the plan all along? Just make her love him and then humiliate her publicly.

Daphne could feel herself starting to circle the drain and had to pull herself back. She went to the pantry to take a calming potion. No cooking tonight. She needed to relax. "You're going crazy. Harry has done nothing except be sweet," she said laying down on the couch.

"He could be up to something. You never know," she said back to herself.

"He wouldn't have taken me to the doctor if he didn't care," she said as the appointment started to flood into her memory again. She wasn't sure about the Xanax. If it would just calm her down she didn't see a point to it. The therapy idea was starting to enter her head again.

Daphne knew it wasn't normal to talk to yourself like this. Her mother and sister had told her that enough times. She knew she was going to have to swallow her pride. The calming potion was helping her just enough, but she knew that it wasn't enough. She knew she needed more help. She didn't want to do this but she knew she had very few options at this point. A muggle therapist was not an option. They wouldn't understand. She couldn't talk freely around them. Astoria and Draco wouldn't understand either. Her parents, for as much as they tried to help and understand, wouldn't understand this situation at all. She took a deep breath and walked over to her owl. She couldn't just come out and say this, it was going to be too hard. This was straining the foundation of her relationship and it wasn't going to be fun. Writing it out would be easier, she started to write to the one person who could help her.

################

Harry had been in an awful mood all day long. Daphne's words still rested heavily on his mind and he had a mountain of paperwork to do. Oddly enough, the respite did help him a bit. It was nothing but busy work, it was something he needed today. No one was talking to him and he could just bury himself in it and easily forget what had been said last night.

That had worked until about noon, he had finished everything in record time. His mind had started to wander to Daphne and what he was going to do about that situation. She hadn't tried to contact him yet. He was thankful for that. He still needed more time. He was going to talk to her when he could. It was just something he didn't want to deal with first thing in the morning.

The rest of his day went well if rather dull until they got an alert. He and Ron had to go into London to deal with a wizard who had lost control of his Cornish Pixies in a department store. His whole afternoon was checking every clothing rack until they re-captured all of them. When it was all said and done 57 muggles had to be obliviated, and half the store had to be fixed up using magic. They now had a box of 42 pixies they had to deal with.

"Who would take a box of pixies with them?" Ron had asked. Days like this seemed to solidify his decision to leave the Auror Department. He still had to tell Hermione what he was going to do. Part of him thought that he should just tell her today, but she was so busy with the wedding. He wasn't leaving the department until after, they could discuss it then. He was certain she'd understand.

"I have no clue and of course it had to be a department store. Couldn't just lose them in a big empty room," Harry grumbled.

By the time Harry was able to get home it was 7:24 and he exhausted. Part of him had expected and hoped to see Daphne there waiting for him. He was disappointed when she wasn't. "Maybe I should go over there," he asked himself. "Maybe some food first," he said. He was hungry and that would help his mood. Besides she should be the one to apologize to him. She needed to make the first move.

Harry started to cook when he noticed there was a pecking at his window. Apparently, the owl had been sitting there just waiting for him. He recognized it right away as Daphne's owl. Harry wasn't sure if this was a thing good or bad thing. He could feel his heart start to pound as he opened the letter, not sure what it was going to say.

Harry,

I am truly sorry for what I said to you last night. I didn't mean what I said. You're right to be mad at me. I know that I was wrong. I'm sorry. I also realize that maybe some help would be good for me. If you're still interested in being with me. I want to talk to you. You can come over to talk. If you're not interested in talking or seeing me again, please do not respond and I will move on.

Love,

Daphne

Harry read it and made a face. This was his out. She was giving it to him. All he had to do was ignore it and he'd never have to see her again. He knew he didn't want that. He didn't want to just ignore her and move on with his life. He knew he was about to do something incredibly stupid. He had done incredibly stupid things enough in his life that he knew the feeling. He decided that he was going to do this anyway. He wasn't going to waste time.

He would just floo in directly, she had given him permission to come over when he wanted. He walked out of the fire place and saw Daphne curled up with some blankets. She looked shocked to see him actually show up.

"I'm sorry," Daphne said right away. Her heart was pounding. Her legs were shaking just a bit. She had prepared herself for a shouting match.

"Why did you say it?" Harry asked trying to keep his emotions in check. He had gotten better at it over the years.

"I just blurted something out," Daphne said looking down feeling guilty. "It was a long day. I felt like it had been pointless. I still don't think the pills will help," Daphne said. Harry opened his mouth to interject, Daphne kept on going. "I know you think they're worth a try but I'm just not sure. I do want to try something," she said shifting uncomfortably.

"What do you want to try?" Harry asked sitting down next to her.

"I do think I want to give therapy a shot," Daphne said. Her entire stomach was lurching and saying everything aloud brought the full weight of everything down on her.

Harry was surprised to hear this. She had been so anti-therapy yesterday. "Why? I'm not saying don't do it. I'm just shocked that you're that willing to go and try it," he said.

"Harry, I spent the evening talking to myself about you. I've known this isn't healthy for years. I'm also talking about actual conversations. I do it a lot. I don't know if that's good or bad. I just feel like a bundle of nerves all the time. I want to be able to be a normal girlfriend and do normal things with you. I'm sorry for being short yesterday. You're right that I need to try something. If therapy has a chance to help and help me find what's wrong with me. I think it would be worth it," Daphne said.

Harry sat back and listened to her words. He nodded as she spoke. "I think it might help. I am sorry for pushing you yesterday. I know it was hard for you to do that. I also know you were disappointed. I shouldn't have pushed as hard as I did. I just want you to feel good. Do you ever feel good about yourself?" Harry asked.

Daphne blushed red and mumbled something. She really didn't want to get into this conversation now. Merlin, she felt sick about all of this. He was still looking at her, she shrugged at him. "Sure," she said.

"What do you mean by 'Sure'? How do you really feel about yourself?" Harry asked. He was getting the feeling that he was treading on dangerous ground but he felt it was going to be worth it. He had gone a hair too far yesterday. He knew her limit and while he was going to push her a bit he wasn't going to force it.

"I don't know. I'm just me. I'm just Daphne. If I didn't come from the right sort of family, then I'd just be uninteresting. I'm kind of uninteresting now. I don't know why you're even dating me," she said getting to the heart of the matter.

On some level, Harry knew that she had felt this way. She had said enough small self-deprecating comments while he had been with her to know that this was bubbling underneath the surface. "Tell me what do you think of yourself. I promise I won't judge you or interrupt," Harry said.

Daphne sat there for five minutes to collect her thoughts on the subject. She hated this. Why was Harry making her do this? Was he looking for reasons to leave her? She could just ask him to drop it. "You promise this isn't some joke?" she asked.

"I promise. I also forgive you for yesterday. It hurt a lot and I'm not totally over it. You didn't mean it. I'm also sorry for pushing you like I did," he said to trying to remind her why she should trust him.

"Fine," Daphne said. "On a good day. I feel I'm okay. I'm not great. I'm not horrible. My body isn't the best. I know what I look like. I'm not exactly what you'd call sexy. There are days where I think I look good but I know I'm a bit too plump. My nose is a hair large. I don't hate how I look every day. There are some days that I do. Taken alone, I'm alright. When you compare me to my sister or other people I feel like I'm hideous. I don't know why you're dating me. I just accept that you're dating me despite my obvious flaws," she said taking a breath.

"I have these horrible fits of depression. I don't understand why you didn't run the other way. Everyone runs from me but my family. Sometimes I feel like that's only because they have to help me. I hate that I'm like this. I hate that I get nervous. I hate that I can't do normal things like a normal person," she said. "Certain things that make Astoria flutter with delight scare me to death. I know that I'm not a catch. Part of me just thought I'd be single forever. I feel pathetic. Like I was staring at you from the moment you walked into that pub. I knew who you were and I just…I was never going to talk to you. You're Harry Potter. You should be with someone who is better then me," she said finishing up. There were tears rolling down her cheeks.

Harry's immediate reaction was to tell her that she was wrong about everything. Part of him knew he couldn't just convince her by forcing it down her throat. Instead he just wrapped her into a tight hug and rubbed her back.

"That's really how you feel?" he asked.

Daphne nodded. "I try not to, but I keep comparing myself to Ginny," she admitted.

"You've never met her,"

"I see her pictures in the paper all the time. I look like a fat monster next to her," she said rubbing her hand on her thick thighs.

"You're not though. You are beautiful. Besides she's an athlete. She needs to be as tiny as possible. You look great. I like how you look," Harry said.

"You've never seen me naked," she pointed out. She started to blush. She hadn't wanted to open that can of worms.

"I've seen you in tight dresses. Not the same I know. It's still close enough," Harry said.

"It's not the same and you've been so patient with me. I'm grateful for that," she said. "The fact remains that the idea of doing…naked things with you. That scares me too," Daphne said once again feeling uncomfortable.

This didn't surprise Harry at all. Given her unwillingness to even sleep together clothed for such a long time obviously meant that she wasn't comfortable with the idea. He wasn't sure if that had been Pureblood upbringing or something else. It was probably a bit of both.

"I know that you worry about that, but I don't. I have had sex with Ginny. Not going to lie about that. You don't need to compare yourself to her or anyone else. When you're ready you'll know it,"

"You'll get tired waiting for me. The idea of sex is both erotic and scary to me," she admitted looking down.

"You let me decide if I'll get tired. I don't want you to force this. I want you to want it and enjoy it. If you have some issues to work out first. Then I can wait," Harry said. "Right now, let's focus on finding you a therapist," he said. The sex discussion would wait for another day. He now knew what was going on in her head. It bothered him she thought so lowly of herself.

"It can't be a muggle therapist obviously. I don't know where to start looking," she said.

"Does St. Mungo's have any sort of therapists? Would they be mind healers?" he asked.

"Not that I know of," Daphne said.

Harry nodded. "We'll just either have to find you one then. I'm sure we'll be able to," he said realizing he had never heard anyone talk about them. That didn't mean there weren't any. It just meant he was going to have to ask around. Harry knew who he was going to have to ask.

"I think I know where to start looking. I won't mention your name. I know some people who might know something about it," Harry said.

"Who?" Daphne asked looking puzzled.

"The Weasley's," he said. "They never talked about it, but you remember what happened with Ginny our second year," he said.

Daphne winced remembering the message about her body will lie in the Chamber of Secrets forever.

"Did she ever mention seeing anyone after that?" Daphne asked.

Harry shook his head. "No, but I feel that's my best place to start. Between that, their dad almost dying, and Fred dying. I don't know if they did find someone to talk to. I just think those people are the most likely ones who would know of any wizarding ones. It's possible Hermione's parents know someone who might help. They are doctors. Slight chance they might know of another muggleborns parents who is a therapist," he said.

"You won't mention my name?" Daphne asked whimpering.

Harry nodded. "Between everything I've been through in life. I don't think anyone will question that I'm looking for me," Harry said wondering if maybe it was a good idea to find his own therapist too.

Daphne nodded and cuddled up to him. "I am sorry. I'm sorry I'm this way and you have to deal with this," she said.

Harry started to play with her beautiful blonde hair a bit. "Don't be sorry about me having to deal with you. You make me happy. This is the happiest I can remember being despite everything. Just please don't mention the cupboard again,"

"Agreed, I am really sorry about that," Daphne said resting her head on his chest. She felt at peace. She wasn't sure if Harry would be able to find anyone to help her. She still didn't feel great about herself either. Still, when she was cuddling up next to Harry she felt all her worries melt away. This was better than any calming potion.

Please Review