Chapter 7

Luck had nothing to do with it.

Susan tossed and turned all night, Daphne's words running through her mind. What had she meant by them?

At work she sought out Millicent Bulstrode in the Misuse of Muggle Artefacts Office.

"Well, yes, of course Daphne had a marriage contract. Most pureblood girls do," replied a puzzled Millicent, putting her menu down.

"With?" Susan played with her fork.

"Harry, of course! She was over the moon about it. She didn't know she had a marriage contract with a Black heir until her father died last year. As luck would have it, the contract was with Harry."

"Luck had nothing to do with it," murmured Susan.

Millicent blinked. "Well, maybe not. She had a crush on him since third year but never figured she'd get the chance to marry him! When she found out about the Black contract she made plans right away."

"Plans."

It wasn't a question but Millicent took it as such. "Yes. First thing was to befriend Hermione, and through her, the Weasleys. It was important to get close to Harry so he'd agree to the contract."

"Also…eliminate any obstacles in the way." Susan nodded, as a newfound awareness descended on her.

She found Daphne packing up her desk in the office of the Unspeakables.

"Maternal leave," Daphne said cheerfully.

Susan eyed her steadily. "Everything you said, everything you did, was a way to get to Harry."

Daphne had the grace not to pretend she didn't know what Susan was talking about.

"That's right."

"Even making friends with Gryffindors?"

"His friends are important to Harry; that means they're important to me."

"And you made him want you," Susan nodded. "The only thing in the way was that pesky Potter marriage contract. It had to be cancelled, so that the Black contract could supersede it."

Daphne shrugged. "That's what you wanted. You practically begged Harry to cancel the contract."

"You didn't pause to take a breath before you became the binder!"

"I saw my chance and took it. Anyone would have done the same."

"No," contradicted Susan. "Any Slytherin would have done the same!"

"I am a Slytherin," Daphne pointed out. "The Potter contract was older than the Black contract and would have taken precedence. Provided both you and Harry agreed to it. Back then, you were closer to Harry than I was. I couldn't risk the possibility he might prefer you, not until I had time to befriend him."

She took a deep breath. "It was nothing personal, Susan. I just couldn't let you be the one for Harry! I had to be the one!"

What could Susan say to that? It was true that she'd been so eager to shed that marriage contract that she hadn't paused a moment, hadn't given a thought to what she might be throwing away.

But there was one more thing she wanted to know.

"Tell me, what would you have done if I had chosen to activate the Potter contract?" Susan demanded.

Daphne smirked. "I guess I would have had to kill you."

Susan couldn't be certain the other girl was joking.

She felt a bit sore about the way she'd been played, but had to admit it was her own fault. She'd been dazzled by her first lover- and learned too late he was a man not worth having. In retrospect, she couldn't believe she'd been so blind.

But she was, and paid the price.

Auror training finally ended after a grueling three years.

By that time Daphne had given birth to a son named Sirius, and Hermione to a daughter, Rose.

Susan found her career increasingly absorbing. She'd been assigned a partner in Cho Chang. The Hufflepuff and the Ravenclaw hadn't known each other well at school, but they found they teamed together quite efficiently.

After their first successful mission, Cho confided that she planned to marry a muggle barrister next month.

"He knows I'm a witch and doesn't care. He thinks it's fascinating!"

Susan laughed. "Wait until you have a child, and he turns his father's wig blue!"

"Then I get to say, you should have married me!" Ernie Macmillan, Unspeakable, stood in the office doorway, grinning at the two Aurors.

Cho shook her head. "Right, you practically begged me to end it." She looked at Susan.

"Ernie and I had a contract," Cho explained, "but we were able to dissolve it quite easily. Lucky, or I couldn't marry Jeremy."

She reached for her cloak. "I'm meeting Jeremy for dinner. Why don't you both join us?"

"What do you say, Sue?" Ernie asked eagerly. He was watching her with admiration in his eyes, the same way she remembered him looking at her in school. Back then she'd had no time for him, she was only focused on Justin, and found his nice but not very exciting friend to be uninteresting.

But now she recalled the way Ernie had taken notes for her when she was sick, helped her in Transfiguration, and never failed to gift her a box of chocolate frogs for Christmas. There was also the time he'd run all the way back to the castle to fetch her a jacket when she started shivering while watching a quidditch game.

Susan hesitated.

She'd made a mistake- a bad one- with Justin. She'd made the wrong choice once. But that was in the past. She felt ready to move on, and maybe, just maybe, it would be with her old friend?

She gave Ernie a dazzling smile. "I'd love to."