Hello All! I'm back with another chapter and I hope that you all enjoy it.
I would like to warn you all that this story is currently un-beta'd, so all spelling and grammatical errors are my own fault. Also, I'm an American, so my British lingo is only what I've picked up from watching BBC.
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. I do, however, own a scooter that may or may not have a wasp's nest growing inside of it.
Also, I'd like to give a special thank you to those who have reviewed my story! The last chapter got more reviews than any other chapter and I'm super happy about it:
Alix33, Kagemaru Raiden, Awesomeace18, m1ndfreak, Vi38, 1529, fuzzy6, Shadowsmage, SoapOpera, Shannon 186, James Spookie, BurningDay, trispectrum, and Khaos Risen
Daphne was still confused at work the next day. She was unable to get much sleep because of the previous day's events. She found out that it was highly probable that the Death Eaters were making an unwanted comeback. Every shadow in her flat seemed darker and every noise she heard sounded magnified. She had to give herself a Dreamless Sleep draught to help her finally get some rest.
Also, she was unsure of her relationship with Harry. He was sweet and caring, but she wasn't very confident that he trusted her. When she asked him if he did trust her, he hesitated answering the question. It didn't sit well with her, but she could understand his point of view. Not long after her relationship with him started, Death Eater meetings start taking place; could he believe that it was more than a coincidence?
To counter her confusion and paranoia, Daphne decided to drown herself in her work. She couldn't focus on bloodthirsty bigots when she was too busy going over the uses of pixie eyes in burning salves. How was she going to stress out about her relationship with Harry Potter when she was too busy trying to improve her wandwork for healing charms?
Healer Alvarez was very impressed with how attentive Daphne was being. She didn't say anything, but she didn't glare or scowl nearly as much as Daphne was used to. Daphne morbidly thought that perhaps she should maintain some sort of drama in her life until her Healer certification. If that were the case, she might be able to guarantee success.
"Greengrass, I'm going to give you an option," Healer Alvarez said after handing release papers to an admitted patient with green skin. Daphne waited patiently for Alvarez to continue.
"You can take your lunch now or you can take your lunch after we take a stroll down the orthopaedic ward."
"I'll take my lunch later," said Daphne without hesitation. Daphne usually spent her lunch hour with Harry, but due to the awkward tension that transpired the night before, she wasn't sure if they were keeping their date or not. How pathetic would she be if she sat at the muggle Thai place and waited for him for an hour, only for him not to show up?
"Good," said Alvarez, turning around and heading towards the ward dedicated to broken bones.
As she followed Alvarez around St. Mungo's, a sad thought crossed Daphne's mind. What if Harry did show up to their date? What if he was the one waiting for her? The unstable ground they stood on would certainly implode if that were the case. She didn't want to stop seeing Harry. She wanted him to like her as much as she liked him in the short amount time that they'd been together.
"May I use the restroom?" Daphne asked Alvarez. The healer turned around to face Daphne and nodded once before continuing towards the ortho ward.
"I'll be in room 217. Make sure to find me as soon as you're finished," Alvarez said, not stopping her strides. Daphne sighed and turned quickly to head towards the small owlery that St. Mungo's had. If she wasn't with Healer Alvarez in five minutes, the healer would surely get suspicious that Daphne was up to something. Daphne mentally cursed. Why didn't she just tell her that she had to write a quick letter? She supposed that the restless night before was negatively affecting her in some ways.
Daphne nearly sprinted to the owlery, pulled a scrap of parchment that was in her robe's pockets and quickly wrote a note to Harry with an ink-replenishing quill that she found on the floor. She tied the poorly written note on the closest owl's leg. The bird looked rather annoyed at how disheveled and unkempt Daphne was, but flew away dutifully to find Harry anyway.
Daphne rushed to room 217, getting curious stares along the way. When she stood outside of the door, she straightened her robes and made sure the ponytail her hair was in was tightened and not a strand was out of place. She opened the door without knocking and found Healer Alvarez reading over her clipboard.
"I was starting to worry that you might've drowned in the loo," Alvarez commented without looking up. Daphne forced a fake laugh that startled everyone, including herself, but didn't say anything to the comment.
Daphne went to introduce herself to the patient when her sluggish mind caught up with her eyes. She was looking into a familiar face but she couldn't place her. Red hair and freckles, so she was more likely than not, a Weasley, but she couldn't for the life of her recall her name. Daphne continued to stare at her, a small confused frown on her face, before she shook herself out of her haze.
"Hello. I'm the Healer-in-training, Daphne Greengrass," she said, holding her hand out to the young woman.
"Ginny Weasley. I'd hold my hand out to you, but I'm afraid my arm is a bit shattered," she said, a slight grimace on her face. Daphne looked at her arm and saw that it looked mangled, as if it had spent a few minutes in the mouth of a dragon.
"And I'm Luna Lovegood," said the woman standing next to Ginny that Daphne hadn't even noticed until she spoke.
"Greengrass, I'd like for you to demonstrate the wand movements required to reconstruct an arm after the skele gro has been administered," said Alvarez finally looking up from her clipboard. Daphne took her wand out of her robe's pocket and proceeded to show Alvarez the correct movements for the healing charm. Alvarez watched Daphne but didn't glare like Daphne assumed that she would.
"You were a quarter of an inch off when moving your wand counterclockwise," she said. Daphne knew that that was as close to a compliment as she was going to get, so she beamed with pride.
"I'd like you to give the patient the skele gro that I've already brewed for her, and then use the charm necessary to speed the process along. I will see you soon, Ms. Weasley." With that, Healer Alvarez swept out of the room.
Daphne grabbed the skele gro potion out of the Healer's cabinet along the wall of the room. She uncorked the vial and handed it to Ginny. Ginny groaned before downing it all in one gulp.
"That's bloody gross," she swore after handing the vial back to Daphne.
"I'm sorry. You wouldn't believe how many potioneers have tried to make the potion more appetizing, but the slightest alteration to it makes it nearly useless," said Daphne while putting the vial next to the sink so that it could be washed thoroughly later.
Daphne then got to work using the charm on Ginny's arm. She made sure to notice her movements when moving counter-clockwise. She didn't think that the quarter-inch would really matter, but in the case that it did, she didn't want Alvarez to burn her at the stake for the stupid mistake.
After that was done, Daphne smiled to herself. Daphne had been handling patients on her own more often than not, but she was still very happy that she hadn't killed anyone yet. That, alone, was a success in her book.
Daphne summoned parchment, a clipboard, and a self-inking quill.
"Are there any questions that you have for me?" She asked the beautiful redhead.
"Yes, actually. How long have you been fucking my ex-boyfriend exactly?" Ginny asked her, her voice void of all emotion. Daphne was taken aback. She nearly dropped the clipboard and had to scramble to keep it in her arms. The young woman with long blonde hair and crystal blue eyes glared at Ginny before sending a sad look Daphne's way.
"E-excuse me?" Daphne asked.
"How long have you been fucking-,"
"I heard you," Daphne cut her off. "I was just giving you the opportunity to ask a different question. Or, not ask anything at all."
"I didn't know that you were a Healer," said Luna Lovegood, trying to change the subject.
"Healer-in-training. I haven't gotten my certification yet," Daphne corrected. Daphne didn't know how Luna knew about her and she also didn't know how Ginny knew about her. She assumed that they all went to Hogwarts together because they looked to be around the same age as her, but she wasn't sure.
"That's fascinating. Tell me, have their been many snorkack attacks lately?" Luna asked. Daphne's face scrunched up in confusion. She had never heard of such a creature.
"So, how long?" Ginny asked, cutting Daphne off from answering Luna's question.
"I can only assume that you're alluding to Harry," Daphne said. Ginny nodded her head in confirmation.
"I don't see how that's any of your business," she said in a snippy tone. It was really no one's business but theirs. She wasn't about to tell Harry's ex-girlfriend, someone that she had never heard of, anything about their relationship. Ginny glared at her and Daphne glared right back.
"Now, are there any questions about your health that I might be able to answer?" Daphne asked, trying to finish up her obligations as quickly as possible so that she could get far away from Ginny. Ginny shook her head slowly and Daphne continued.
"May I ask how you came to be in our care today?"
"You mean, Harry hasn't told you that I'm a Quidditch player?" Ginny asked. Honestly, Daphne didn't even know that Ginny was Harry's ex-girlfriend. He never talked about a past relationship so she couldn't have known that they were together. Daphne shook her head and Ginny frowned.
"But even if he did, I would still have to ask the question," said Daphne, trying to, for some unknown reason, make the redhead girl feel a bit better.
"I was hit with a bludger at my Quidditch game and fell nearly one hundred feet," she mumbled.
"She was lucky to only have her arm shattered. It could've been so much worse," Luna said sagely.
Suddenly, Daphne knew why the girl looked so familiar. She played for the Holyhead Harpies. She had to repress the sneer from marring her face. For some reason, the fact that she was a player for the Harpies disturbed her more than the fact that she and Harry used to be in a relationship.
"Does he ever talk about me?" Luna asked. Daphne raised an eyebrow at her. Did Harry date her too? Was there a harem of women that Harry had under his belt that she didn't know about? Who exactly was she dating?
Daphne shook her head again and Luna's eyes fell to the floor. Ginny grabbed Luna's hand with her unbroken arm and gripped it tightly.
"I guess we're both dirty little secrets," Ginny said venomously. Daphne sighed before putting a fake smile on her face.
"If that's all, then I'll be on my way. Healer Alvarez should be on her way soon." Daphne shot out of that room so fast, everything seemed like a blur. She hurried to turn in her paperwork and quickly left to take her lunch. She hadn't had much of an appetite that day to begin with, but there was no way that she'd be able to stomach anything at the moment. She stood outside of St. Mungo's Hospital completely at a loss as to what to do to pass the time.
Without thinking, she apparated to the Ministry of Magic. She had no idea why the Ministry was the place her magic took her, but she didn't question it. When she walked into the Ministry she found herself walking towards the Auror department. Before she could thoughtlessly walk into the office housing her boyfriend, she turned right and continued walking. She was aimlessly walking around the hidden building, trying to pass the time while escaping her own thoughts and the stifling air of the hospital. She walked up and down corridors and took the magical elevator to random levels, not paying any kind of attention as to where she was going.
"Daphne? What are you doing here? Is everything ok?" She turned around to find the owner of the voice and sighed in relief. Theodore Nott was standing behind her, a confused look on his face.
"I don't know," Daphne confessed. "I'm on my lunch break and I'm not hungry so I figured "why not"?" Theo raised an eyebrow at her.
"You decided to come to the Ministry for fun? To pass time? Are you okay?" He asked her. Daphne swiped a few stray hairs out of her face and shrugged.
"I had a really weird day today. I don't know why I chose to come here, but I'm certain that it had something to do with my lack of sleep last night. I haven't been making the best decisions today," said Daphne, her head muddled and racing at the same time.
"Well, right now, you're near the Department of Mysteries. It's not a very popular place to be. We don't have many visitors. Did you maybe want to go to the Auror Department?" Daphne quickly shook her head and Theo raised an eyebrow at her. He didn't say anything about Daphne's reluctance to see Potter, but he was a bit curious.
"Okay. Well, luckily for you, I'm also on my lunch break. I was just on my way to see Draco before heading to lunch. Would you like to accompany me?" Theo asked her. Daphne accepted because she really couldn't think of anything else better to do.
As they were walking towards the Department for the Regulation and Control for Magical Creatures, Daphne found herself speaking without thinking once again.
"Did Harry ever have a harem?" Daphne asked Theo. Theo turned his eyes towards her, his face emotionless and blank.
"Are you asking me if, Harry Potter, your boyfriend and savior of Wizarding Britain ever had a harem?" He asked for clarification. Daphne nodded slowly, realizing how stupid she sounded.
"I wouldn't know," Theo said plainly. "That would be a better question for Draco. He was slightly obsessed with the kid in school. I'm sure he knows all of Potter's allergies and food preferences too, if you're interested in that. But, do you know who might be a touch more knowledgeable about Potter's harem than even Draco?"
Daphne's eyebrows furrowed in confusion.
"Potter," Theo explained.
"Of course I can't ask Harry about his harem," Daphne said as if it were the most obvious thing on the planet.
"Why not?" Theo asked, as they continued to walk towards Draco's office.
"Because, if he had one, why would he tell me?" Daphne asked. As soon as the words left her mouth, she regretted it. Wasn't she supposed to trust Harry to tell her the truth? She had been mentally agonizing over Harry's lack of trust of her, and she sounded just as untrusting.
"If he had one, which I'm not sure that he did, you'd know about it. I assume it would be difficult for Potter to have many secrets with the media constantly stalking him. And, I'm not sure how harems work because I've never found myself the object of one, but I believe that the difference between a harem and a bloke sneaking around with several women, is that they're all aware of each other. If you were being added to the harem, you'd know about it," said Theo before opening Draco's office door without knocking.
Draco was sitting behind his desk, papers neatly stacked in a pile and quills lying in a straight line. He had a book opened in front of him and he looked up briefly before returning his attention back towards the book.
"You'll find the Department for Magical Law Enforcement on level two, Daphne," said the blonde who, on closer inspection, had dark marks under his eyes.
"I'm not here to see Harry," Daphne informed him, a little miffed that he didn't think that she could just be in the ministry to see her friends.
Draco raised an eyebrow and turned his attention to Theo who shrugged his shoulders.
"Where's Hermione?" Daphne asked looking around Draco's office. "I thought you two spent most of your time together while at work."
"She left for her lunch because she has a date with that tosser, Oliver Wood," Draco grumbled. Theo and Daphne looked at each other before Theo rolled his eyes in annoyance. He opened his mouth to speak but Draco pointed his wand at the wizard before he could get a word out.
"If you say "I told you so" I swear I will hex your bollocks off."
Instead of grabbing his own wand like Daphne expected him to, Theo broke out into laughter.
"Well, what the fuck did you expect? For her to keep waiting around for you?" Theo teased, still laughing. Draco's face reddened but he put his wand away, a deep frown on his face.
Daphne tried to remember if her best friend ever talked about this Wood person, but she couldn't remember. She rubbed her forehead in frustration. She was never going to go a night without sleep again. If she had to drown herself in sleeping draughts, then so be it. She couldn't handle the constant confusion that she felt.
"Now, cheer up, because your services are needed. And I'm not talking about getting kappas out of Mr. Johansson's pond. Daphne, here, would like your wonderful insight on a personal matter," said Theo, taking a seat on the edge of Draco's desk. Draco's eyes lightened as he looked at Daphne, glad that the attention was no longer on him.
"What can I help you with, Daphne?" He asked, crossing his arms and leaning back on his chair.
"What do you know about Ginny Weasley?" Daphne asked, deciding to cut to the chase. She didn't want to ask about the harem, in the case that there wasn't one. Draco wouldn't be as polite as Theo. He'd laugh and mock her suspicions without a second thought.
"She's annoying and plays for the Holyhead Harpies. And she used to date your boyfriend I think. Hermione would know better than I would. I think they used to be friends," Draco informed, a confused and curious look on his face. "We never got along."
"Do you know why she and Harry broke up?"
"Why the fuck would I know that?" Draco asked, offended.
"Well, Theo said that-,"
"We just figured that you would know because maybe Hermione might have brought it up," Theo said, effectively cutting Daphne off and preventing her from tossing him into Draco's wrath.
"Hermione and I had an agreement not to bring up her friends in conversation. She wouldn't bring them up and I wouldn't make fun of their obvious ineptitude at anything that wasn't killing dark lords."
Daphne had hit a stone wall. Theo couldn't clear anything up for her and neither could Draco. She supposed she could ask Hermione, but then there was the chance that it would get back to Harry, and he would be confused as to why she didn't go directly to him in the first place. Theo was right. The best person to ask these questions to was Harry. She dreaded that conversation. She hated the fact that she had so many doubts and concerns when yesterday everything seemed to be going fine for her.
"Are you okay, Daphne?" Draco asked her. She noticed that Draco and Theo were staring at her with worried expressions on their faces.
"Yes. Of course. Um, I think that I might be running out of time on my lunch hour so I'm going to head back to St. Mungo's. I might be able to get some studying done before Alvarez starts torturing me again."
"Have you even eaten anything?" Theo asked. Daphne shook her head slowly. She still wasn't hungry.
Draco reached into his desk to grab something and tossed it at her. She missed it, of course, which led to Theo and Draco making fun of her lack of hand-eye coordination. When she picked it up off of the floor where it landed, she noticed that it was a muggle protein bar.
Daphne thanked Draco before saying goodbye to the duo and heading out of the office. She decided to walk back to St. Mungo's. She hoped that the fresh air would clear her head so that she could finish her workday without killing someone. As she walked, she slowly ate the protein bar, trying to imagine it was anything other than the pasty tasteless protein bar that it was.
While she was walking, she saw a flash of light and turned her attention to the culprit.
"My name is David and I work for the Daily Prophet. I was hoping that you'd be able to answer a few questions for me," said the young short man, camera still tightly held in his hand.
"I'm so sorry. I really have to go. I'm running a bit late," she lied.
"What's your relationship with Harry Potter like?" He asked, ignoring her reluctance to be bothered.
Daphne continued walking, pretending that she was unaware of David following closely behind her.
"What does your father think about your relationship with the half-blood?" David asked. Daphne rolled her eyes but continued on walking. Even if she had all of the time in the world, she still wouldn't have enough time to deal with this nosy reporter.
"Does it bother you that your relationship has a 38% approval rating amongst Daily Prophet readers?" At that, Daphne stopped and turned her angry glare at the annoying little man.
"Why don't you go fuck off somewhere else?" She sneered. At that moment, David snapped another picture of her. Daphne grabbed the camera out of his hand and contemplated throwing it on the ground.
"Give that back, you bitch!" He nearly yelled, reaching for it. Because of David's short stature, she was able to hold the camera out of his reach by merely holding it over her head.
"I think not. You're annoying. I don't like you. And so now this camera is mine." With that, Daphne apparated outside of St. Mungo's, the camera still in her grasp. When she stepped into the building, she tossed the camera into the nearest wastebasket and went on about her day.
Before leaving for work that day, she went to look for Healer Alvarez to turn in all of her paperwork for the day. She happened upon a hallway that was dedicated for Curse Breaking and Dark Charms. The hall was filled with Aurors standing guard, their faces tense and focused. Daphne's curiosity was piqued but she dared not wander down the hall.
She assumed that whomever was being guarded was a very important person and she couldn't help but wonder who it was. She thought about asking one of the Aurors standing guard, but decided against it. She made a mental note to ask the nurses the next day; they always knew what was going on in the hospital before anyone else did.
Daphne decided to apparate home instead of walking like she normally did. She just wanted the day to be over. She wanted to stuff her face, as her appetite had come back full force, and then sleep for 3 years.
As she was eating her third bacon sandwich she heard a knock on her door. She groaned in frustration. All she wanted to do was eat and sleep. Was that too much to ask for? She wasn't in the mood to entertain company. Especially if that company was who she suspected it was. When she opened the door, her suspicions were confirmed. Harry stood in front of her, his Auror robes still on.
She opened the door wider, silently inviting him in since her face was still filled with bread and meat.
He walked in and stood in the middle of her living room. He turned towards her, a small frown on his face.
"You didn't get much sleep either?" He asked her. She shook her head.
"Is it that obvious?" She asked him feeling a bit self-conscious. She noticed the dark marks under his eyes and his pale complexion. She supposed that sleepless nights might have been contagious and there was a terrible case of it going around.
He nodded his head and Daphne frowned. She realized that she hadn't really looked at herself in the mirror at all that day. She thought back to Draco and Theo's unusual concern for her. They kept asking her if she was okay. Did she look so bad that her friends worried about her health?
She was also pretty pleased with herself for throwing away that man's camera. If she really looked as bad as she suspected that she did, then she really couldn't afford to have those pictures seen by anyone. Although she wasn't as vain as people assumed her to be, she liked to not like a troll on an everyday basis.
"Harry, do you have a harem?" She asked without thinking. Harry's eyebrows shot up towards his hairline.
"N-no. I've never had a harem," said Harry, trying not to laugh at how ridiculous a notion it was. "Where is this coming from?"
Daphne bit her lip in confusion. She didn't know whether to tell Harry about Ginny or not. She, typically speaking, wasn't allowed to tell Harry about Ginny being admitted to the hospital thanks to patient-healer confidentiality. But, she wanted to quell her curiosity.
"I ran into Luna Lovegood today," she said, deciding to bring up the beautiful blonde woman up first.
"Oh! How is Luna? Wait, you said you ran into her today? At your job? Is she okay?" Harry asked, pelting her with questions as his eyes lit up with concern.
"She's fine. She seemed a bit disappointed that you never talk about her," Daphne told him, staying away from any information that might get her in trouble with her job. Harry's eyebrows furrowed.
"Shite. Well, I'm sorry. I guess I don't really talk about her much. Did you have much time to talk to her? I'd love for you two to properly meet. Luna can be a bit weird, but I believe that she's truly one of the most brilliant people I've ever met. She's an amazing friend. I think you'd like her."
Daphne assumed that the young woman was a bit weird, what with her talking about snorkacks. But, she didn't get the hints of brilliance that Harry was alluding to. From the way that Harry talked about Luna, Daphne assumed that there was nothing romantic between them. He talked about her almost like he talked about Hermione.
"Yes, she did seem pretty nice," Daphne said, thinking about the awkward tension between herself and Ginny. It was obvious that Luna was trying to prevent the situation at the time.
"Did Luna tell you that I have a harem?" Harry asked, confused. Daphne shook her head quickly.
"No, no of course not. I think I came to the conclusion myself, but now I'm not really sure how that happened anymore," Daphne said rubbing her forehead. Harry laughed.
"I understand. I was nearly useless at the department today. I haven't had such a horrible night in a very long time. Sleep is rather important as I'm sure you know, Ms. Healer," said Harry before pulling her into a hug.
"Healer-in-training," Daphne corrected, her words mumbled because her face was pressed into Harry's chest. Harry laughed and Daphne smiled at the vibration that it caused on her face.
"There was someone else that I ran into today," Daphne told him, after Harry's laughter died down. Harry raised an eyebrow at her and waited for her to continue.
"Ginny Weasley."
Harry's face paled and his eyes widened behind his glasses.
"Ginny?" He asked almost to himself. Daphne nodded her head, responding to the question and gauging his reaction. He seemed very uncomfortable and also a bit angry.
"What did she say to you?" He asked, his eyes mimicking the color sparkling emeralds.
"She asked me how long I had been fucking you," said Daphne quietly. Harry rolled his eyes.
"That's none of her business," he said, an annoyed look on his face.
"I told her that," Daphne said, nearly laughing. "She also seemed upset that you never told me about her."
"I don't like to talk about her," Harry confessed. "Things didn't end on the best of terms between us."
"Can I ask what happened between you two?" Daphne asked, unsure if she really wanted to know the answer.
Harry laughed a humorless laugh. "She cheated on me."
Okay. I'm going to stop right here for now. I know. I'm cruel!
I got so many reviews last chapter, that I decided to extend this chapter a bit. I hope that no one had a problem with that. I'll try to write longer chapters if I can.
I hope you all liked the chapter. If you did, please leave a review. I try to reply to all of them and I love to get them. If you did not like this chapter, also leave a review. However, leave a constructive one. If you don't like the chapter and don't explain why in a thoughtful manner, I'm going to judge you harshly for being a douchebag. I love constructive feedback.
I'd love to give a shout out to the followers and favoriters. As I type this, this story has 169 favorites and 283 follows! Thank you so much!
Until next time x