* ~ The Eighth Year Universe Series ~ *

PART FOUR

Brave New World

Chapter 27: Are We Out of the Woods Yet?

A/N: The chapter title is from the song:

Out of the Woods by Taylor Swift.

Kinlochleven, Scotland.

"Do you think I'm the weak link in the chain?"

Draco frowned. He had assumed that Theo was asleep because they had spent the last hour lying silently in their bunk beds.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean out of you, me, Harry and Neville," Theo said quietly, "Am I the Peter Pettigrew?"

Draco scoffed, "I can't believe you actually just asked me that question. Of course, you're not. Pettigrew betrayed his friends because he wanted power. He was a weak-minded coward. You would never betray us, you aren't power-hungry, and you definitely aren't the weak-minded one."

There was a pause then, "You aren't weak-minded either, Draco. I know your father told you that you were, but you aren't."

"And you aren't the Pettigrew," Draco assured him, "You didn't give anything up in your physical torture test, did you?"

"No, but it was a test," Theo said, "And I knew it was a test. I knew they could threaten Sadie but that nothing would happen to her. In real life, they could use Sadie against me. I mean, they did it once before, didn't they? On Valentine's Day."

"Theo, if you view love as a weakness, then it's going to ruin your life," Draco said, "They used Hermione against me, they used Daphne against Harry. At the end of the day, the women in our life are our weaknesses, and unless we want to give up on them, then there is nothing that we can do about it."

"I just don't know what I would do if someone hurt Sadie and it was my fault," Theo sighed, "And I worry about you being a weakness for me too because…we're going to be Auror partners, but we're in a relationship of sorts, aren't we?"

"I suppose you could view it that way," Draco said, "But we're going to have to learn to leave home behind us when we go to work. We can't let feelings get in the way of the job. You can't run blindly in to save me and get other Aurors killed."

"I can be objective, Draco," Theo reminded him, "I had to be during the war."

"I know, we both did," Draco said with a nod.

"I just don't know what I would do if something happened to you or Sadie. I don't know how I would be able to live without her. I keep thinking that you're all going to work out that I am the weak link and drift away from me one day. I keep worrying that Sadie will eventually realise that she can do so much better than me," Theo admitted.

Draco swung his legs out of the bunk and jumped down, "Theo, your worries are completely unfounded. None of us think that you are the weak link, you are probably the smartest out of the four of us, and you are definitely the most logical. Harry and Neville act on impulse because they are typical Gryffindors, and you've said it to me yourself, I don't have a great deal of common sense at times. We need your logical thinking and your wit; I suppose what I'm trying to say is…you're our Hermione."

Theo looked up at Draco, "You think I'm that valuable?"

"Yes, I do," Draco said honestly, "And I can tell how much you're letting this get to you because you didn't even make a sarcastic comment about how you can't be our Hermione because you aren't sleeping with me."

Theo smiled slightly, "It did cross my mind," he admitted.

Draco shook his head in amusement, "I couldn't have gotten through the war without you, Theo, just like Harry and Ron couldn't have gotten through the war without Hermione. You kept me from running into the dark tower to save people when we didn't even have a well-thought-out plan. You kept me alive with your logical thinking, so I will never think that you are the weak link in the chain, okay?"

Theo nodded, "Thanks Draco, that means a lot."

"And as for Sadie," Draco continued, "Why are you so caught up on this idea that she's going to leave you for someone better?"

"I don't know," Theo shrugged, "I spent school acting like an idiot and sleeping my way around the skanks of Hogwarts. Why would she want to be with someone with a history like that? How can she have any respect for me?"

"Because she knows who you are underneath that," Draco said solemnly, "She loves the guy who risked his life to get her out of the dark tower. She loves the guy who would do anything for his friends, the guy who acts like a dick to pretty much everyone but completely adores her. Your past is your past. Sadie isn't bothered by it, so you need to stop letting it bother you. Take your own bloody advice, Theo, or you're going to end up being a bitter old man like your father."

Theo shot him an amused look, "Touche."

Draco smirked in response.

"I know I don't talk about them as much as you do. I try and bury the past, I guess, but I have regrets too," Theo admitted, "And I think it all stems from what happened to my mother. I mean, she was forced into a marriage with a monster. Then she had the nerve to fall in love, and he killed her for it, in the most brutal way I can imagine."

"I feel a bit responsible for that, if I'm honest," Draco admitted, "I mean, it was my father that she fell in love with."

"Yeah, and you were a kid, we both were," Theo said, "It had nothing to do with us but…I always used to like thinking about the idea that we could have grown up like brothers if my mother had left my father for your father."

"I don't know if it ever would have happened that way if it makes you feel any better," Draco said honestly, "My mother always said that I was the only good thing to come from her marriage to my father. I think she would have fought for custody of me. I wouldn't have seen much of my father growing up, which…well, it would have been a good thing for me but not for you."

"Your father wasn't a good man, but he wasn't a monster, not like mine," Theo argued.

"My father let the dark lord consume him," Draco said darkly, "By the end, he did anything that he asked. The dark lord had warped and twisted his mind until even my mother didn't recognise him anymore. I'm not convinced he would have been any better to your mother than your father was."

Theo sighed, "Look at us all; our families are in ruins. My mother was forced into her marriage, your mother was coerced into it by her family, Daphne's mother hated her father, and where does that leave us? My parents are both dead. Your father will rot in prison. Merlin knows where and the only thing keeping your mother sane is you. Daphne's father is dead, and his wife and daughters couldn't even force themselves to cry at his funeral. I fucking hate pureblood traditions, Draco, and I will never write a marriage contract for my kids. I don't care if they chose to marry a man or a woman or a bloody dragon. I just don't want to put another generation through what we went through."

Draco smiled slightly, "Beautiful sentiment and all Theo but, a dragon? Really?"

"I was just trying to make my point," Theo said, "And my point is, because of what happened with my parents, I didn't want to believe in love because I always thought that love just got you hurt."

"So you cut things off before they could get serious," Draco realised.

Theo nodded, "And I got a reputation as a womanising arsehole, but the reason I did it doesn't matter, Draco. I did some horrible things like with Susan…I took advantage of her; she was upset because her Aunt had died, and …I never should have done what I did."

"No, you shouldn't have," Draco agreed.

"And I never should have started anything with Pansy," Theo added, "I nearly lost one of the most important people in my life because I actually let myself wonder if love might be worth it. I shouldn't have acted on my feelings."

Draco shook his head, "It's all ancient history, Theo, but I appreciate you saying that all the same."

"I was a terrible person," Theo said, "Sadie deserves more."

"No, she deserves the man who loves her and will always love her, above anything else," Draco said, "And that's you. Whether you feel worthy or not is irrelevant because at the end of the day, if you love somebody enough, you become worthy of their love because they make you a better person."

Theo looked up at his best friend, "That sounds like you're speaking from experience."

"I don't think I'm worthy of Hermione sometimes," Draco said, "Sometimes I wonder why she didn't go off and live the golden life she should have done with Ron. Then I remember that Hermione would never have been as happy with him as she is with me because I challenge her in a way that he never could."

"So you think I'm being insecure for nothing?" Theo asked.

Draco nodded, "Yeah, I do."

"I feel a bit like a whinging girl now," Theo admitted sheepishly.

Draco laughed out loud at that, "Sorry to break it to you, Theo, but that's nothing new."

"Oi!" Theo exclaimed as he hit Draco around the head with a pillow.

"Ouch! What was that for? I just gave you stellar advice!"

"But then you were a dick about it!" Theo exclaimed, and they proceeded to bicker like an old married couple.

Amiens, France.

"Did it hurt?"

"Did what hurt?" Lilly asked as she ran a little faster in a bid to get away from Marcel.

"When you fell out of heaven," Marcel said as he sped up to match her.

Lilly groaned in frustration, "It is 6.35 am! Would you give it a break? What part of 'I have a boyfriend', do you not get?"

She pushed herself and darted away from him, Lucille who had been running next to her, shot her an amused look, "I think the answer to that question is all of it."

Lilly shook her head, "I think I'm going to kill him before six months are up," she said a little breathlessly.

Lucille laughed and said, "Don't worry, I'll be your alibi."

Cairo, Egypt.

As he had promised, the day after saying he would convince the chef to cook something English for Sadie, Ash brought her a covered stainless steel dish. He grinned and looked quite pleased with himself as he sat down across from her and Arielle.

"As promised, an English classic," Ash said, he pulled the lid off and unveiled, "Steak pie!"

Sadie laughed and smiled at him, "Thanks Ash, even the smell of that curry type thing that everyone else is eating was making me feel sick."

Ash smiled and said, "I know what it's like to be in a foreign country when you miss home. We travelled all over before we eventually settled in Egypt."

"Where did you go before you settled here?" Sadie asked curiously. She took a bite from the steak pie, which was one of her favourite English dishes. She was expecting it to taste like heaven, but even it made her stomach churn violently.

"Oh, all over the place, Romania, Argentina, New York, Russia, then eventually here," Ash said.

Sadie nodded and forced another mouthful of steak pie down; she didn't want to seem ungrateful after all.

"Oh, I also put a big pack of water bottles outside your dorm room," Ash said, "I know it's not the same as the breeze from a window, but maybe it will help."

Sadie smiled at him, "Thanks, Ash. I really appreciate it."

London, England.

"Good morning Daphne."

Daphne smiled politely, "Good morning Stuart."

"How was your evening?" Stuart asked as he rubbed his leg against hers.

Daphne tried not to roll her eyes, "Good, I'm staying with my friend at the moment since our other halves are both away."

"Oh, your fiancé is away, is he?"

That question sent alarm bells ringing in Daphne's head, but all the same, she replied, "Yeah, he's training to be an Auror. The first two weeks of basic training involve a two week isolation period, so he's off doing that with his new Auror partner."

"That's interesting. I suppose you're feeling lonely."

"Not really. Like I said, I'm staying with my friend," Daphne said, "We watched a movie last night. That's a muggle thing, by the way."

"I do know what a movie is," Stuart said, "Do you want to hear today's agenda?"

Daphne nodded and looked up, "Yes, I do."

"I looked through the cases we considered to be cursed last night, and the first one I think we should tackle is this one," Stuart said. He slid a piece of parchment across the desk to her and brushed his leg against hers again, "It's one of the cases you identified, the cursed ring that seems to have made its way through this muggle family."

"Oh, the Richardson family," Daphne said with a nod, "Yes, well, I did some research, and Natalie Richardson is telling the truth, every woman who has worn that ring has died the day after her wedding day. The first death was in 1891, and there have been three since then."

Stuart nodded, "Probably a case of a spurned wizarding lover cursing the family forevermore. It shouldn't be a difficult object to find or a difficult curse to break. We will need to pretend to be muggles, though, so we need a cover story."

"And you're looking at me like that because you don't know much about muggles," Daphne said with a pointed look.

"That is entirely correct," Stuart said as his lips quirked into a smile.

"Alright then, I suggest we say that we're journalists," Daphne said, "We can say we're from "The Sun". They're always writing about shit like that. We'll say we would like to write a story about the family curse, and then while I'm questioning the family, you can say you need to go to the toilet."

"Ah, I follow you," Stuart said with a smirk, "I find the ring, break the curse, and then we get the hell out of there."

"Pretty much," Daphne said with a nod.

"Cunning, clever and flawless," Stuart said as he got to his feet, "Just like you," he added smoothly, far too seamlessly.

"Okay," Daphne said awkwardly, "The Richardson family live in Essex. Shall we just apparate there?"

"That sounds like a great plan."

Daphne was grateful that the next hour was devoid of inappropriate comments. They changed their appearances, devised a cover story then apparated to the home of the Richardson family. It was a charming manor house which came as no surprise given the nature of the story.

They made their way up the path, knocked on the door and introduced themselves as Miss Daisy Meadows and Mr Gordon James from "The Sun" to the butler then waited to be allowed entry. About 5 minutes later, the butler came back and led them to the morning room where the family were taking breakfast.

The family consisted of a relatively young couple and an older woman. The young woman stepped forward and smiled, "I'm Natalie Richardson, it was me who wrote to the papers about the family ring. This is my fiancé Jim Daniels, and this is my Mother, Rebecca Richardson."

Jim smiled at them, and Rebecca just nodded gravely.

Daphne smiled brightly at Natalie, "Thank you so much for letting us in, Miss Richardson. We are eager to hear the story."

"So you believe it then?" Natalie asked hopefully, "That the ring is cursed."

"Of course we do," Stuart replied, "We wouldn't be here if we thought it was a hoax."

Daphne nodded as she sat down in the chair that the butler had provided, "Why don't you start by telling us how your family acquired this ring?"

"Well," Natalie began as Stuart began to look around the room as subtly as he could, "It came into the family in 1890 when my great-great-grandmother Rosalie became engaged to a man called Sebastian Malfoy. They were married in 1891, but on their wedding day, Rosalie told Sebastian that she could not go through with the marriage. Nobody seems to know why."

Daphne nodded. Alarm bells had rung the moment she heard the name "Malfoy". She wasn't looking forward to having this conversation with Hermione.

"The following day, Rosalie was found dead, but there seemed to be nothing wrong with her. The doctor examined her and said that she was perfectly healthy, only without a heartbeat."

"Very unusual," Daphne said, although, in her mind, she was thinking the opposite. It sounded just like a cursed death or death by the killing curse.

"Yes!" Natalie agreed, "Of course, everyone assumed Sebastian was her killer, but he was never seen again. Rosalie died without any heirs, but her younger sister had a daughter called Jemima. In 1910 Jemima married, and the next day, she was found dead, exactly the same as Rosalie."

"That's very spooky," Daphne encouraged as she nudged Stuart.

Stuart nodded, "I don't like the scary parts of these stories; they give me nightmares. Would you mind if I nipped to the bathroom while you tell Daisy the gory parts?"

"Of course not," Jim chuckled, "I was the same the first time I heard the story. It's just at the end of the hall."

Stuart smiled, "Thank you very much," he said as he slipped out of the room.

"So Jemima was found dead. Did they ever find out who did it?" Daphne asked.

"They assumed it was her husband; after all, he did inherit a lot of money. After a long investigation, the police arrested him, and he was hung," Natalie said, "But it gets stranger as I told you in my letter. Jemima's twin brother had a young baby at the time of her death, and his daughter was called Hyacinth. In 1930-"

"Hyacinth got married and was found dead the day after her wedding day?" Daphne guessed.

"Yes," Natalie nodded, "The autopsy said there was nothing wrong with her. She had just dropped dead. Hyacinth was my Mothers, Aunt. You were born after she died, weren't you, Mum?"

Rebecca nodded, "Hyacinth was the second eldest of eight children. I was born 13 years after she died."

"So was your Aunt the last to die in these mysterious circumstances?" Daphne asked.

Rebecca shook her head, "No, that was Samara in the '50s."

"1950, to be exact," Natalie said, "Samara's father was Hyacinths older brother. She was found after her wedding day."

"And have there been any weddings since?" Daphne asked.

Rebecca shook her head, "I warned them all off, and they listened. Natalie and I are the only women left in the family, and I, for one, shall never marry. Natalie has this foolish notion of breaking the curse so that she can marry the love of her life; it is so romantic it makes me sick."

Daphne chuckled, "Do you think it can be broken?"

"I don't see why not," Natalie said, "They can exorcise ghosts, can't they? Why couldn't they undo curses?"

"I suppose there must be someone out there who can," Daphne agreed.

Rebecca rolled her eyes, "Don't encourage her, please, dear."

"Sorry," Daphne said sheepishly, "But there is something nice about the notion of breaking the curse so that true love can triumph."

"See Mother!" Natalie said, "It is a generational thing. Are you married, Miss Meadows?"

"I'm engaged," Daphne said with a smile, "But I will be married soon. The wedding is set for New Year's Eve."

"That's very romantic," Natalie said with a smile, "I understand why you believed my letter now."

Daphne smiled and got to her feet. She heard Stuart walking along the corridor towards the morning room, "And our readers will too. Do you mind if I take some photographs of the house and the chapel on my way out? Just for effect, for the article."

"Of course not," Natalie said, "You are welcome to. Thank you for coming and…for believing."

Daphne shook her head, "No problem, thank you so much for your time."

She turned around and saw Stuart smiling triumphantly at her. She felt a surge of relief, which meant that he had found the ring and hopefully destroyed any curse on it. They made their way outside in silence, and they talked as Daphne pretended to take photographs for her 'newspaper article'.

"Did you find it?"

"Yep, in the old hags jewellery box."

"She isn't an old hag," Daphne remarked, "Did you remove the curse?"

"Yep, as I said, it was easy," Stuart said, "The Malfoys aren't exactly renown for creating vicious curses."

"No, just for helping vicious dark lords," Daphne muttered, "So that's it now? They can get married, and nobody will die?"

"Here's hoping," Stuart said, "It might be a generational curse, in which case if anyone of this generation married, they would still die. I don't think Sebastian Malfoy was smart enough to perform that kind of curse though, so yeah, I think it's broken."

Daphne turned away from the house after pretending to take her final picture, "Great," She said with a grin, "It's one hell of an adrenaline buzz. Going in there with a fake story, pretending to be someone else, sneaking around an old house. I loved it."

She turned around to look at Stuart for approval as much as for anything else, but she hadn't expected him to be so close to her. He smiled as he closed the gap between them and kissed her, which completely threw Daphne. She didn't kiss him back, but it did take her a second to process what he was doing. Before she had a chance to pull away from the kiss, his hands had started to wander.

"What the hell was that?" Daphne snapped as she pulled away and took a few steps back.

Stuart laughed, "Come on, you've been flirting with me since Bill introduced us."

"No," Daphne said slowly, "I haven't been. I think you're a pompous arse."

"Seriously? You're having a laugh," Stuart said with another smile, "I know girls find me attractive, especially young, impressionable ones like you."

"Look, I might be young, but I am not impressionable," Daphne said firmly, "And the fact you seem to like younger women is pretty wrong, to be honest. I mean, you must be in your 30's."

"Say what you want about me, but I can end your job in five minutes," Stuart said as his smooth façade disappeared, "All I need to do is tell Bill that you fucked up and that's it, you're back in the cursed room, or you're out of the programme."

Daphne glared at him, "You can't blackmail me to keep me quiet."

"I can," Stuart said, "I mean, who is Bill going to believe if this goes further? A trusted Senior Curse Breaker who he trained with in Egypt? Or you, a silly little girl who thinks Harry Potter is in love with her?"

Daphne swallowed hard but didn't say anything. She knew he was talking nonsense, she knew Harry was in love with her, but it stung all the same. Just like the fact this idiot could make her lose the job she loved hurt. She didn't know what to say; it felt like she would lose either way.

"So I suggest you keep your mouth shut and come back to the office with me," Stuart said, and his tone was just demanding enough to scare her a little, "Let's get on with work like normal for the rest of the day and tomorrow, we can forget this ever happened."

"Forget this ever happened?" Daphne hissed, "You are blackmailing me; that's not something I can forget easily."

"Well, you better because if you don't, you will be looking for a new job next week," Stuart said nastily, "So come on, back to the office with you."

Daphne swallowed again but turned on her heel and stalked down the path to the gates. The moment she reached them, she apparated back to the bank and made her way along the corridors in a daze until she reached the office she shared with Stuart.

She sat down at the desk and tried to compose herself. When he arrived 5 minutes later, his nice guy façade was back on. He smiled at her, sat down and brushed his leg against hers again. It made her feel sick.

"So, let's have another look at these letters, shall we?" He asked as if nothing had happened.

The Forest of Dean, England.

After Harry and Neville had been stuck in the Forest of Dean for a week, they seemed to be surviving quite well. They had worked out the routes the rabbits used to get home to their burrows and were eating enough rabbit and assorted plants that Neville had identified as safe, to keep themselves going.

"I don't think I'll ever be able to eat rabbit again," Harry said as he forced another mouthful down, "Don't get me wrong, it tastes okay but not when you're eating it every night."

"I think it's disgusting, but it's food at the end of the day," Neville said, "If we don't want to die of starvation, then we have to eat it."

"I feel bad, killing rabbits on their way home," Harry said with a frown, "I mean, I keep thinking, what if that was me? What if I was on my way home to my wife and kids, then I got caught in a trap, and just like that, I was dead. I keep wondering if his rabbit wife is just sitting there waiting for him, wondering why he hasn't come home…."

Neville looked at Harry cautiously, "Are you feeling okay?"

"Yeah," Harry said glumly, "The whole thing just reminds me of Peter Rabbit."

"Who?"

"Muggle character from a book," Harry sighed.

"I hate to say it, but if you have morality issues about killing a rabbit on its way home to its rabbit wife, then you might have issues working as an Auror," Neville pointed out, "There might well be times when you have to kill someone for…and I hate to put it like this, the greater good."

"I know," Harry said, "I'm just feeling melancholy because I miss Daphne."

"So you're drawing parallels to your life…with rabbits?" Neville asked as he looked at Harry warily, "You really are worrying me."

Harry shook his head and looked into the depths of the campfire before them, "She's my weakness Neville, her and Teddy. I spent the war trying to keep everyone I loved at arm's length so that they couldn't be used against me. I failed obviously; look at what they did to Hermione in Malfoy Manor…."

"You couldn't have stopped that," Neville said, "You could have told Hermione to leave and never have come back, but she would have slapped you and told you to shut up."

"That's true," Harry agreed, "But it doesn't change the fact that people I love get hurt. I do everything I can to protect them, but I can't always be there for them, you know?"

"Daphne can look after herself, Harry, and she can look after Teddy when you aren't there," Neville said, "I get that you worry about someone hurting them, but the war is over."

"It doesn't matter, Neville," Harry said as he looked up at his friend, "There are still a lot of bad people in the world. It's one thing me putting myself in the firing line by deciding to become an Auror but am I putting Daphne and Teddy there too?"

"No, you know that you aren't," Neville said, "Daphne is going to be your wife whenever you two set a date, that means something, and if you adopt Teddy, then legally he is your son. Do you really think that we just become Aurors and are left to fend for ourselves? A reserved bed in St. Mungo's isn't the only perk Harry, Daphne and Teddy have a level of protection."

"Do they?" Harry frowned.

"Of course they do. The last thing the Aurors want is some sicko hurting Daphne and Teddy to get to you," Neville said, "Your Manor will get extra wards. There will be surveillance charms so that if anything does happen, there are leads. Nothing is going to happen to Daphne or Teddy, alright?"

"Alright," Harry said with a slight nod, "I'm sorry, Neville. I just…I didn't want to fall in love because love is a weakness. It's my biggest weakness, but I just fell so hard for Daphne. It took me a while, but I see why they called her the ice queen now. She's ice, and she's fire. I fear the cold, but I crave the burn."

Neville smiled, "And she's turned you into a poet, apparently."

"Apparently," Harry said with a slight smile.

"I get it, you know?" Neville said as he looked into the campfire, "Because love is my weakness too."

Harry smiled, "Lilly?"

"Yeah, Lilly," Neville sighed, "Who I am missing like crazy right now, and yeah, I hate that she's going to be running out into the middle of duels to heal people like us, but I love her. I can't lose her, which means coming to terms with the fact that she wants to be a trauma healer. That doesn't mean that I'm not scared about what I'll do if I see her get hurt because she's my weakness."

Harry nodded, "I get that. I really do. I mean, if someone did hurt Daphne or Teddy, I don't know what I would do. I don't know if I would be able to control my temper…."

"I'll tell you what you would do in that situation," Neville said firmly, "You would come to me because I know what you're like when you're angry or upset. So you would come to me, and you let me be your moral conscience. I'll stop you from doing something stupid and becoming your godfather."

Harry frowned at that, "You think I'm like Sirius?"

"I think you have a temper, and I think you're reckless," Neville said honestly, "If Draco betrayed us and Lilly and I ended up dead, do I think you would run after him, duel him, then end up looking like a murderer? Yeah, I do. Because A.) You have a temper. B.) You are reckless, and C.) You have a knack for being in the wrong place at the wrong time when an authority figure shows up."

Harry chuckled at that, "Alright, you may have a point there."

"So if you ever feel like you might end up killing someone and rotting in Azkaban, you come to me, okay?"

"Deal," Harry said with a smile, "Thanks, Nev."

London, England.

When Daphne went back to Grimmauld Place that night, she went intending to tell Hermione that she had been right about her creepy, sleazy colleague. She decided to walk home because her head was spinning. After what had happened, Stuart had acted normally all day, he had continued to make suggestive comments, and he had continued to rub his leg against hers.

Daphne had skipped lunch; the whole thing just made her feel ill. She had hoped that the walk home might clear her head, but it just made things worse. What if Hermione blamed her for what had happened? After all, she, like Harry, had believed Daphne's reputation when they had been at Hogwarts together.

What if she told Hermione and Hermione said it was because she had flirted with Stuart? What if Hermione thought that she had cheated on Harry. Harry, even thinking his name made her feel sick. What would Harry have to say about this? Would he blame her too? Would he be angry at her?

Daphne sighed as she turned onto Grimmauld Place. Whatever Hermione thought, Harry would think it too because they were pretty in sync that way. If Daphne told Hermione and she blamed her, then she would tell Harry, and Harry would get angry. He might even break up with her. She paused in front of the door and shook her head. She couldn't tell Hermione; she would talk to Sadie about it when she got back from Egypt.

There was only one problem: Sadie wasn't back until Saturday morning, which meant that Daphne had to work with Stuart for another four days.

Amiens, France.

"I hope you know CPR."

"Of course I know CPR. Do you really think I would have gotten into this course without that basic knowledge?" Lilly muttered irritably as they pulled on sterile Healers Robes to go and observe their first operation.

"I was going to say because you take my breath away."

"I'll take your breath away permanently if you don't leave me alone," Lilly said sharply, "I have a boyfriend, and yes, he's in England, and I'm here, but that doesn't mean I'm going to jump into bed with the first slimy French frog I meet. Can I go and observe this guy getting his ribs re-set now?"

Marcel just smiled charmingly at her, "Of course, after you."

Lilly rolled her eyes and stalked out of the room. Marcel really couldn't take no for an answer.

Killiechonate, Scotland.

"Do you ever miss Pansy?"

"Where did that question come from?" Draco asked Theo as they climbed over rocky paths. Elsie and Rod were chattering between themselves as they walked further ahead of the two men.

"Just the conversations we've been having. About you loving the baby more than her and me regretting stuff that happened during the war," Theo shrugged.

"Of course I miss her. She was a big part of my life," Draco replied, "Sometimes I wish she was here because I know her and Hermione would have gotten on, with a lot of coercion. I never wish things were different, though. I'm happy with my life the way it is."

"I know," Theo said with a frown, "And don't get me wrong, I'm happy with Sadie too, but there are times when I write out a guest list, and I go to write her name then remember she's not here anymore."

"She was a huge part of our lives," Draco said, "All of our lives, I know she wasn't best friends with Daph or Sadie, but I'm sure they still miss her too."

"I don't know," Theo said, "Sometimes I get the impression that Daph is glad she's gone. I mean, think about it, everyone in our year thought of the Slytherin girls, and they thought of Pansy because she was a gossip and…well, a bully too."

"Yeah, she was at times," Draco agreed, "But she acted that way because of her insecurities."

"I don't think that matters to the people who she bullied," Theo said honestly, "But think about it, how many people knew that you dated Daphne? All the gossip was always about you and Pansy. It was always about Pansy, and Daphne was treated like her second in command. The ice queen behind Pansy Parkinson, I always got the impression that she resented her for that."

"I know that she did," Draco admitted, "But that doesn't mean she's happy that she's gone. Daphne isn't like that."

"She's your best friend; you would give her the benefit of the doubt," Theo pointed out.

"She's my closest female friend," Draco corrected, "You are my best friend Theo, and I'm sorry, you know? That I reacted the way that I did when I found out about you and Pansy, she was already gone by that point, and there was no reason for us to argue about things we buried a long time ago."

Theo nodded, "I just wondered if there were times when you thought about her or if you ever talked to Hermione about her."

"I don't talk to Hermione about her," Draco said, "I sometimes think she hated Pansy more than she hated me."

"She probably did," Theo mused, "Because even if she wouldn't admit it to herself, she was probably jealous of Pansy. Like you were jealous of Harry and Ron."

Draco frowned, "I never thought of it like that before, but I suppose it does make sense. Pansy was horrible to her as well, though. I suppose that's why we don't talk about it. I don't talk about Pansy, and she doesn't talk about what happened between her and Harry."

"Don't you think that's a bit toxic?" Theo asked, "I mean, Sadie and I talk about everything. There are no secrets."

"Not talking about it isn't the same as keeping it a secret," Draco said, "She knows I dated Pansy. She knows I loved her once. I know she had some warped sort of love for Harry. I know they slept together. I don't need to know anymore, and neither does she."

"I would respectfully disagree with that," Theo said, "It is a secret because she doesn't know the whole story, does she?"

"She doesn't need to know about that, Theo," Draco said sharply, "What good would telling her do?"

"It would give her more of an insight into you for a start," Theo argued, "You know each other pretty well, but if neither of you are completely truthful, then you will never know each other 100%."

"She knows about all of the worst parts of me, and she still loves me," Draco said, "So why compromise that by spilling my guts about my past girlfriends? People don't talk about their exes for a reason. I already had to tell her about my relationship with Daphne since those two are friends now. I don't intend to tell her about Pansy too."

"And you're really okay with her not telling you everything about her and Harry?" Theo asked.

"I'm fine with it," Draco said, "So can you just drop the bloody subject?"

Theo raised his hands in a sign of defeat, "Fine, but I don't think you're both fine with that arrangement, I'm just saying."

"Then just shut up," Draco said irritably as he walked a little faster in a bid to get away from Theo.

Amiens, France.

"I think I'm going to kill Marcel," Lilly said one night on her second week at the centre.

Savannah snorted, "I'll help you. The other day he said to me, Are you from Tennessee? Because you're the only ten, I see. Do you know how offensive that is? I am from Texas!"

"I suppose it's like someone assuming an English person is Welsh," Lilly mused, "I would get pretty offended."

"He is disgusting," Lucille said. She glanced at the door, but it was still shut. The three girls were the only ones still sitting in the common room. Lilly had been writing a letter to Neville, she couldn't send them, but she wrote one every two days. Savannah had been studying, and Lucille had been knitting.

"He said to me, Are you Jamaican? Cause jer-makin-me-crazy." Lucille said, "I said he was racist and that if he ever tried to flirt with me again, I would use voodoo magic on him."

"Voodoo magic isn't real, is it?" Savannah asked.

"I always thought it was a myth," Lilly agreed.

"It is, but that sleazy little frog doesn't need to know that, does he?" Lucille asked with a smirk.

Lilly laughed and grinned, "Sneaky, I knew I was gonna like you, Lucille."

"If he's seriously bothering you, why don't you just talk to your Senior Healer about it?" Savannah asked, "She can give him a caution, and if he keeps it up, she can swap him out with another one of us."

"I might talk to her if he makes another comment," Lilly admitted, "Because I'm worried it's going to distract me, and it's not fair on Neville either. He's already paranoid enough about me meeting someone else here."

"Is Neville your boyfriend?" Savannah asked eagerly, "I was really hoping that we could get into some back-home gossip!"

Lilly laughed and opened the locket that she wore around her neck. Inside was a photograph of her and Neville that had been taken at Sadie and Theo's wedding, "Yeah, that's him."

"Oh lord, he is a fine-looking man," Lucille said approvingly.

"And so tall!" Savannah gushed.

"He is tall," Lilly laughed, "I know we seem like an odd pair, little and large as my friend Theo calls us."

"As long as you love each other, I don't think it matters," Lucille said with a smile, "What's he doing back in England?"

"Training to be an Auror," Lilly said proudly, "I'm so glad we get to work with our local trainee Aurors on a Wednesday because it means I'll get to see him."

"Lucky you," Savannah said, "My boyfriend is just a farmer. I don't think I'll be seeing much of him. He's a Muggle, but he was my childhood sweetheart, so when I came home from school in the summer, he was always there."

"Do you think he'll wait for you this year?" Lucille asked.

Savannah shook her head, "No way, I'll come home and find him in bed with Mary from next door or Sue-Ann from down the street."

Lilly frowned, "Shouldn't you just have broken up with him, then?"

Savannah shrugged, "Probably. What about you, Lucy?"

"I don't have anyone back home," Lucille replied, "Apart from my mother, who misses me a lot, but I don't think I'll go back apart from to visit. There are just so many opportunities here in Europe that I don't want to miss out on."

Lilly nodded and smiled, "Live your life while you're young," she agreed.

* ~ TBC ~ *