* ~ The Eighth Year Universe Series ~ *

PART FOUR

Brave New World

Chapter 28: Breaking Point

London, England.

Daphne had barely eaten by the time she went to work on Wednesday morning. She felt sick with dread at the thought of spending all day with Stuart, mainly because most of the day was spent in a cramped little office. He had flirted with her incessantly on Tuesday, and he had moved on from rubbing his leg against hers; he was full-on running his hand up her leg now. Daphne always moved her leg away, but she didn't say anything anymore. The first time she had told him to stop it, and he had threatened to head upstairs to Bills office.

There was a part of Daphne that wondered if Bill would believe her over Stuart. After all, Harry was a good judge of character, and she was his fiancé, but then she kept coming back to the fact Bill had known Stuart since he was a trainee Curse Breaker. She was just his little brother's girlfriend. There was too much history between Bill and Stuart. Talking to Bill would be a considerable risk, and she didn't want to lose her job.

"The beautiful lady is looking rather pale this morning," Stuart said when Daphne stepped into the office, "Are you sleeping?"

"Not really," Daphne said dryly, "I'm not really eating either."

"You must be coming down with something," Stuart said, "It's the time of year for it."

Daphne didn't say anything as she sat down on her side of the desk and pulled her chair as far out as it would go. Even with the back of the chair against the wall, the creep could reach her.

"I was just about to say, there's no point sitting down," Stuart said. He was sitting on the edge of the desk, "We're off to Surrey to find a cursed hairbrush."

Daphne got up silently, and they left the office together. As they walked to the back entrance of the bank, the one that was strictly employees only, Stuart asked, "Any theories?"

Daphne shrugged, "Cursed hairbrush, probably cast by a witch in revenge after falling out with a friend."

"I suspected as much," Stuart said, "This is a recent curse, so we have an extra job. If we can find any evidence relating to the person who cast it, we are required by law to pass that on to the DMLE."

"Do the Auror office deal with that?" Daphne asked.

"Oh, that depends on the nature of the curse," Stuart said, "If it's something petty like this which is just making girls hair fall out, then it goes to the Magical Law Enforcement Patrol. If it's something that's killing people, then it's up to the Aurors to solve it."

Daphne nodded, "That makes sense," she said as they stepped out of the bank into the back alley and apparated to Surrey.

The job was relatively easy; they found the hairbrush and had a quick chat with the cursed girl to find out who the culprit was. Stuart recorded the memory, and once they left the house, he extracted it from his head and put it into a phial, "Well, that's the evidence for the DMLE. I'll drop it in later today."

"Could I do it?" Daphne asked, "One of my best friends works in the DMLE. I could take her lunch."

Stuart glanced down at her, "That's very considerate."

Daphne frowned, "Why do you sound surprised that I can be considerate?"

"Well, us Slytherins don't have a reputation for compassion," Stuart said with a smirk, "Do we?"

Daphne wanted to say something along the lines of, I should have known you were a Slytherin. But she didn't. She just shrugged, "I'm not your average Slytherin."

"You are not average in any way, Daphne," Stuart said as he placed his hand on her back.

Daphne's instinct was to jerk away from his touch, but he anticipated this and snaked his arm around her, "I am fortunate to be working with someone as pleasant as you. Of course, you can take the evidence to the DMLE."

"Thank you," Daphne said stiffly.

"There is just one condition," Stuart said quietly as his hand dropped lower onto her bum.

Daphne tried to pull away from him, but he gripped her tighter, and her wand was holstered on the leg that he was pressing himself against.

"Don't you dare tell anyone in the DMLE any lies about the big mean supervisor that you think is blackmailing you. Not that anyone would believe you anyway, you're just a little minx who is playing hard to get," Stuart said. He squeezed her bum then let go.

Daphne felt physically sick as she took the vial from him, "I'm not playing hard to get. I'm engaged," she reminded him as she spun on her heel and apparated back to the office.

When Stuart got back, he acted as if nothing had happened like he always did. He clearly felt like he could get away with more in the field than he could in the office, which meant Daphne had some time when she felt relatively safe. After all, the corridor outside the office was busy with Curse Breakers and goblins, so she knew Stuart wouldn't try anything. However, she hated going out into the field with him, and she was dreading what he was going to do next.

London, England.

"Hermione, there's someone at the front desk for you."

Hermione glanced up from her paperwork, "Is there?"

Penelope nodded, "She says she's your friend and that she's brought you lunch. Have you taken a lunch break yet this week?"

Hermione shook her head, "No, I've just been eating in here."

"Then I think you ought to get out of this office for a while," Penelope said, "Take your lunch hour outside; it's a lovely day."

Hermione nodded and got to her feet, "I will, thank you, Penelope."

Penelope just smiled in response as Hermione grabbed her handbag and headed for the front desk. She smiled when she saw Daphne standing there, holding a brown paper bag and two cups of coffee.

"I thought we could have lunch," She said when Hermione reached her.

"That sounds great," Hermione said with a smile, "Let's eat outside. I'd like to get out of here for a bit."

They left the Ministry via the front entrance, which brought them out onto Scotland Place.

"Whitehall Gardens are about 5 minutes this way," Hermione said as she hooked her arm through Daphne's, "Thank you so much for getting me out of there for a bit."

Daphne shook her head, "I needed to get out of that stuffy old bank too."

They made small talk about the weather and how they both hated being stuck indoors doing paperwork during these last days of lovely summer weather. When they reached the park, they sat down on a bench and ate their sandwiches.

Daphne took a deep breath and looked down at her untouched sandwich, "Sometimes fresh air just makes you feel a bit better."

"I thought things were going good at your work?" Hermione said, "With you getting to go out in the field and all now."

"Yeah, it is pretty exciting," Daphne said, "I like getting to go out and talk to people, find the cursed object and everything, you know?"

Hermione nodded, "So what's got you so down? I mean, Daph, you're hardly eating."

"I don't know," Daphne lied, "I guess I'm just feeling a bit under the weather."

Hermione hummed thoughtfully, "I suppose the weather is starting to change; it is the time for it. Are you sure that's all it is?"

Daphne nodded, "Yeah, I'm sure."

"You're sure you're not…well. Do you have another reason for feeling unwell?" Hermione asked.

Daphne wasn't following Hermione; she just got defensive because she thought that Hermione knew something about what was happening at work, "What? No, I told you I'm fine."

Hermione frowned, "You're not pregnant then, you're sure?"

Daphne looked up in disbelief, "Pregnant? No, come on, Harry and I are careful. Why would you jump to that?"

"I don't know, wars and baby booms," Hermione said sheepishly, "And you look pale, you're not eating, it was just where my mind went."

"Well, I'm not pregnant," Daphne said with a shake of her head, "But speaking of pregnancy, when is Ginny due?"

"Soon," Hermione replied thoughtfully, "October, I think, her due date might be Halloween actually."

"That would be weird for Harry if her baby was born on Halloween," Daphne mused. She glanced at her watch, "I really don't want to go back to work. If I have to spend another day stuck in that office with Stuart…."

"Is he still flirting with you?" Hermione asked.

"Yeah," Daphne said as her stomach churned, "But I can put up with it if it keeps me out of that cursed room."

"Daph, you shouldn't have to put up with a sleazy guy just to get to do a more exciting job," Hermione said.

Daphne shrugged the comment off, "It's fine, Hermione. You wouldn't blame me if you had spent a week going mad in that room."

"I'm pretty close to going mad being stuck in the admin department," Hermione complained, "And I have another two and a half weeks of that to go."

"It will pass faster once Draco's back," Daphne said, "Do you know when their isolation ends?"

"Sunday night," Hermione replied, "I was going to go to Sunday lunch at the Burrow to pass the time since they doubt they'll get out until after 6 pm at the latest."

"Molly invited Teddy and me," Daphne mused, "I wasn't sure if I would go or not, but I think I will if you're going along."

"You know Teddy loves it there," Hermione smiled, "Will Harry see him when he gets home?"

"No, I have him overnight on Saturday, but I need to take him back to Andromeda's for his dinner," Daphne replied, "I'm trying to arrange a weekend to have him over for when Harry's back."

"That sounds good," Hermione said, "He misses him an awful lot."

"Yeah," Daphne said, "I know he does."

Cairo, Egypt.

Sadie, Liang, Arielle and Ash were all lazing around the common room on Wednesday evening. Sadie still felt a little queasy, but Ash's English dinners were doing the trick. They were getting her strength back up, and she wasn't feeling sick to her stomach now that she wasn't starving herself

"I miss England," Sadie sighed.

"Tell us something we don't know," Ash joked.

"I miss Theo…."

"We know that too," Arielle said with an amused smile.

"I miss English food…."

"Hey! I thought I cured that!" Ash exclaimed.

"Don't get me wrong, I am loving my English dinners," Sadie said honestly, "And I'm so grateful that you managed to do that for me, Ash, but I just want a proper cup of coffee or a fizzy drink that doesn't taste like it's been left out in the sun for hours."

"I suppose that's fair enough," Ash conceded, "Is there anything else about England that you miss?"

"Yeah…I miss Daphne."

"Daphne?" Liang said, "Daphne Greengrass?"

"Yes," Sadie said. She opened her eyes and looked over at Liang, "She's my best friend."

"Her family own Greengrass Shipping Limited," Liang said, "They are our biggest competitor."

"Her father owned the company," Sadie said, "But then he died, and it fell to the next male heir, which is her Uncle Phineas. It doesn't have anything to do with Daphne; she's training to be a Curse Breaker."

"I just found the connection interesting," Liang admitted, "Do you have any other internationally recognisable friends?"

"Apart from Harry Potter," Ash joked.

"Not really," Sadie replied, "Apart from Neville Longbottom, commonly known as Harry Potter's snake killing sidekick."

"I saw that photograph of him beheading the snake in the newspapers in France," Arielle said, "It was pretty impressive. I don't suppose he's single?"

"Nope, sorry," Sadie chuckled, "He is very happy with another one of my friends…she's training to be a Trauma Healer in Amiens."

"You lot really are quite far-flung," Ash said in amusement, "How do you find to catch up?"

"At the moment, we don't," Sadie said with a chuckle, "But we'll all see each other on Sunday night. I bet they've all had a much more exciting time than me. I've just felt ill from the moment I got here."

"You're perking up now you've got my good ole English food to eat," Ash said as he patted her on the back on his way to the door, "See you guys in the morning for study hall."

"Night Ash," Sadie said as she shut her eyes and let herself drift off again. She had taken to sleeping on the couch in the common room with the balcony door wide open since her bitchy dorm mates wouldn't let her open a window. Of course, all of this hassle could have been avoided if they were allowed to use magic. She could have just used cooling charms.

However, they had to check their wands into lockers at the end of the day because no magic was permitted in the dorm rooms or the common room.

Amiens, France.

"I've had a terrible day, but it always makes me feel better when I see a pretty girl smile," Marcel whispered as he and Lilly walked along the corridor towards the operating room, "Would you smile for me and make my day?"

Lilly turned to Marcel and glared at him, "We are about to go into that room and watch Healer Selwyn cut into some poor bastards brain. His survival chances are slim to none, so you really haven't had a bad day yet, Marcel! Would you just shut up and let me focus? I'm getting sick of your bullshit!"

She was hopeful that Marcel had gotten the message because he did at least look a little guilty. He didn't make a witty comment either. He just nodded and followed Lilly silently into the operating room.

The Forest of Dean, England.

"I'm enjoying this way too much. What did you say it was again?"

"Pheasant," Neville said, "I don't know where it came from; they aren't even in season."

"I don't care. I'm just glad it's not a rabbit," Harry said, "What day is it?"

"Wednesday," Neville replied, "We're almost there."

"Are we? I feel like this week is going slower than last week," Harry said, "Sunday feels ages away."

"Tell me about it," Neville said, "I think it's harsh that we don't even get a weekend off at the end of this. I know Sheppard said we would get a few days off during the week, but Lil will need to leave for France late on Sunday night. I'm hardly going to see her."

"This long-distance thing is bothering you already, isn't it?"

Neville nodded, then sighed, "It will be worse when I get home. Her stuff is all over the house. Everywhere I look, I'm reminded of her and…Merlin, this will sound cheesy. I just want her back there. I want to have dinner with her every night and be able to go to bed with her. I don't want her to be on the other side of the bloody channel."

"I understand," Harry said honestly, "I know that I couldn't manage it. I'm finding it hard enough to be away from Daph right now. If she ever does need to up sticks for her job, then I guess I'll just have to go with her."

"Well, I can hardly commute in from France," Neville said glumly, "This long-distance thing is going to be the end of us, I can just tell."

"Only if you let it be," Harry reminded him.

Neville shook his head, "Haven't you noticed that I'm a disaster when it comes to relationships? It turned out that Hannah was obsessive and a bit psychotic, then Susan seemed to be more interested in my fame than me. Now Lilly…"

"Lilly loves you for who you are," Harry said, "Not Neville, the war hero Longbottom, but who you really are. That's rare, so you better not give up on that just because you find six months of long-distance love hard to cope with."

"It's easy for you to say that," Neville said, "You and Daphne have a perfect relationship."

"Perfect?" Harry scoffed, "How can you think that?"

"Look at the two of you!" Neville exclaimed, "You're getting married. You're adopting Teddy together. You are literally the golden couple."

Harry rolled his eyes, "Okay, firstly, don't ever call us that again or between us; we will curse your bollocks off. Secondly, Daphne and I are far from perfect, and I can give you plenty of examples of that."

"On you go then," Neville challenged him.

Harry snorted, "Where do you want me to start? I mean, I'm a fucked up mess who became an alcoholic and punched her in the face? That's a pretty good start. She gets next to no sleep because my nightmares keep her awake, but she still calms me down and helps me get back to sleep every time I wake up screaming. And how do I thank her for that? I don't because I channel my emotions in all the wrong ways. I channel my depression into drinking, and I channel my stress into sex. I take it out on her, and she doesn't even complain about it."

"Maybe she likes it," Neville joked.

"It's not funny, Nev," Harry sighed, "I'm a mess. She's healing me, but I'm not better yet, and we do argue. We're both stubborn, and when we get caught on an idea, we don't want to admit that we're wrong or compromise. We argue about Teddy because we have conflicting ideas about what's best for him since we were raised so differently. What I'm saying, Neville, is that we're far from perfect, but I love her despite the fact she drives me up the wall half the time."

Neville nodded, "I know what you're saying. I just…I'm worried that Lilly and I will spend the next few months struggling through for nothing."

"You know that won't happen," Harry said, "If Lilly didn't have faith in your relationship, you wouldn't still be together."

"What if she meets someone else in France?"

"She's probably thinking, what if he meets someone else in Auror training?" Harry pointed out, "You just have to trust each other and make the most of the moments that you do have together."

"Yeah," Neville said with a sigh, "I just wish those moments weren't so few and far between."

Amiens, France.

"Healer Selwyn, could I talk to you in private?"

Clara smiled at Lilly and nodded. She said goodbye to the Senior Healer that she was talking to and said, "Let's check if the break-room is empty. Are you feeling okay?"

"I'm fine," Lilly assured her, "And I'm definitely not thinking of quitting if that's what you were thinking."

"Oh, I didn't think that," Clara said as she led Lilly into the empty break room, "You have a stronger stomach than most. What's bothering you?"

Lilly frowned, "Marcel, he keeps flirting with me, and every time I see him, he comes out with some cheesy chat-up line. It's distracting when he does it before we go into the operating room, and it's just sleazy and disgusting. I have a boyfriend, and I keep telling him that, but he's taking no notice."

Clara nodded, "It's alright. You don't have to get yourself worked up about it. I had noticed the odd comment, but I wasn't aware that it was happening so regularly. I will give him a caution, and if he keeps it up, you had better come back and tell me. We want you to feel comfortable and secure here, do you understand?"

Lilly nodded and breathed a sigh of relief, "Thank you, I was worried about telling you."

"You had no reason to be," Clara said. She put the kettle and asked, "Do you want a cup of tea?"

Lilly nodded, "Yes, please."

"While I have you alone, I wanted to ask, how are you coping with being here while your boyfriend is back in England?"

Lilly opened her mouth to reply, then hesitated and shut it.

"Is it serious with this guy?" Clara asked.

Lilly nodded, "Yeah, we were living together in England before I came over here."

"And you're finding it hard to be so far away from him," Clara said.

"Yes," Lilly admitted, "But it isn't affecting my work-"

"I would never suggest that it was," Clara cut her off by raising a hand. She handed Lilly a cup of tea and sat down in an uncomfortable chair.

Lilly sat down next to her boss; she had no idea where this conversation was going.

"I was just going to say that I understand how hard it is when the man you love is in another country," Clara said tentatively, "My fiancé lives in England, and I live here."

"Oh," Lilly said, "I don't mean any disrespect but, couldn't you do what you do here in England?"

"Oh, I could train people at St. Mungo's," Clara said with a nod, "Or I could work as a Healer in the trauma ward there. But I could never do what I do here. All the same, I do suspect that this will be my last year at the centre."

"That must be hard," Lilly said, "Didn't you say you had worked here for six years?"

"I have worked and lived in France since I was 18," Clara said with a nod, "I didn't really have a choice. I'm surprised you haven't said anything, actually. You fought in the war, and you're from the UK. I assume that means you know who my brother was."

"I did wonder if you were related to the Death Eater Selwyn," Lilly admitted, "But it's not my business, and it doesn't affect how I see you, so I didn't think it was worth mentioning. Is that why you came to France?"

"My father and my brother were twisted," Clara said, "My mother died halfway through my last year of school, and I didn't want to go back home without her calming influence. So, I upped sticks and moved to France to become a Healer."

"I guess you like it here since you stayed so long," Lilly mused, "I kind of hate France, to be honest."

"Oh, I completely hate France," Clara said with a roll of her eyes, "I hate the food and the lack of manners and the guys like Marcel. I do love Paris, though, and I bet you will too. The art and history are amazing. The only reason I stayed was because I was too scared to go home while I knew my brother was there. Now he's gone; I suppose I'm just scared."

Lilly nodded thoughtfully, "How did you meet your fiancé? Was it here in France?"

"It was through work," Clara replied, "During the war, I went home briefly to help. Most of the time, I didn't leave the trauma ward at St. Mungos. I was just an extra Healer for all of the injured Aurors that were being brought in. Sorenson started chatting me up when he was lying in the hospital wing half-dead, and the rest is history."

Lilly looked up sharply, "Did you say Sorenson? As in Sorenson Cauldwell?"

Clara frowned, "Yes…you can't know him, can you? He's much older than you are."

Lilly laughed, "He is older than me, but I do know him. One of my best friends is Sadie Cauldwell, his little sister."

Realisation shone in Clara's eyes, "I should have realised that when you were talking about your friend Theo the other day. Theo is the name of Sadie's Husband…no wonder I recognise you; I must have seen you at Sadie's wedding!"

Lilly was still chuckling, "Sadie did say that Sorenson had been dating someone and that the wedding was the first time she had met her, but I had no idea it was you."

Clara laughed, "Well, I can't say I'm surprised. We're both English, and most of your friends are purebloods like me. We're all related at the end of the day."

Lilly snorted, "Yeah, when there are only 28 'pure' families, there tends to be a lot of inter-breeding. Doesn't there?"

Clara chuckled, "Yes, the Cauldwell family actually came to Britain from America in the 1860s, which is why they aren't on the sacred 28, but even then, they have managed to marry themselves in with Zabinis, Potters, Weasleys, Slughorns, Ollivanders, Lestranges and now Notts."

"Your family are an ancient wizarding family, though," Lilly said, "You must be related to everyone."

"Oh, if you go back far enough, you'll find every name in the sacred 28 in my family tree," Clara said with a roll of her eyes, "Sometimes I dream of being a muggle-born."

"There's a lot more of us, therefore, a lot less incest," Lilly agreed.

Clara laughed heartily at that, "It is nice to have a decent Brit here to mentor. What house were you in?"

"Ravenclaw," Lilly replied.

"That explains why I like you so much," Clara grinned, "A fellow Ravenclaw."

"You were in Ravenclaw?" Lilly asked in surprise.

"Yes, uncommon for a girl with dark wizards all around her, I know," Clara said with a chuckle.

At that point, a bell rang loudly downstairs.

"New casualty, duty calls," Clara said as she got to her feet and abandoned her cup of tea, "Here's another little piece of information for you. You will never finish a cup of tea or coffee here."

London, England.

Thursday was Daphne's lucky day. When she got into work in the morning, Stuart told her that Bill needed a favour, so she had to spend the day back in the cursed room with the other trainees. At first, she was worried that she was being demoted, but then she realised that they had found a particularly interesting statue from the Lestrange vault, which had a curse on it that none of the trainees could break. Daphne had to admit that it was a difficult one, so it took pretty much all day and all of her expertise.

The best part of the whole thing was that she hadn't had to see Stuart all day, and soon her best friend would be home, and she could come clean. After all, Sadie would know what to do because she always did.

She went into work feeling a bit lighter on Friday because she knew Sadie was coming home the following morning. She would get to see Lilly soon too and then the boys would all come back. There was a lot to look forward to at the weekend. Daphne still didn't quite have her appetite back, but she managed to eat small amounts now, at least.

"Ah, my beautiful assistant has finally decided to grace me with her presence," Stuart said when Daphne walked into the office, "How did yesterday go?"

"Fine, it was a difficult curse, but I managed to break it," Daphne said stiffly, "What's on the cards for today?"

"I looked through some letters yesterday and identified a few interesting cases, so we'll be in the field for most of the day," Stuart chirped.

Daphne's stomach lurched at that, and she found herself wishing that she hadn't had breakfast, "Right, where?"

"London first, then Taunton and…oh our last one is in the sticks, Caithness."

Daphne nodded, "What's the first case?" she asked as they left the office together.

"Cursed toilet," Stuart said, "It's an easy enough fix. I suppose I'll have to drop the toilet off at the DMLE afterwards. It will be of some interest to the Misuse of Muggle Artefacts Office."

Daphne nodded again, and they made their way out of the bank to the scene of the 'crime' in silence. Luckily, the first job was in the middle of London, so there wasn't much that Stuart could sensibly get away with, it was a relatively quick job, and it only took about two hours. An hour of that had involved Daphne drinking coffee on a park bench while Stuart took the offending toilet into the DMLE.

"Next," Stuart said as he clapped his hands together, "Off to Taunton to have a look at a cursed steam engine."

Daphne frowned, "Did you say a cursed steam engine?"

"Yes, apparently it's spewing insults instead of smoke," Stuart said with an amused look as they slipped into an alleyway, "Obliviators are already working overtime with the muggles there. We need to get in and un-curse it as soon as possible so there won't be any time for chit-chat, just watch and learn."

Daphne wanted to roll her eyes. On top of everything else, Stuart was a smug arsehole. They spun and apparated away, emerging into a chaotic scene at a train station in Taunton. As Stuart had said, it was busy, and there was no time for chit-chat, which also meant there was no time for inappropriate comments or groping, thankfully.

Daphne could only observe; it was a problematic curse to break, partly because of the object's size. It took Stuart a good 4 hours to finish, and by the time he had, it was well past lunchtime. They grabbed sandwiches and sat down in the (thankfully, very crowded) park to eat them.

She had to admit; she was feeling relieved. She had been out in the field with him all day, and so far, he had been well-behaved.

"Alright, now we're refuelled. Let's head up to Scotland," Stuart said as he clapped his hands together.

"What are we doing up there?"

"Ah, I'm glad you asked," Stuart said, "It's an interesting one. An abandoned crofters cottage in Caithness is apparently cursed, it may well just be haunted instead, but I wanted to investigate."

"Why?" Daphne asked with a frown, "If there's no solid evidence, then why are we wasting our time investigating it?"

"Let's call it curiosity or a hunch, either-or," Stuart said evasively. He told her the coordinates, and once they were clear of Muggles, they apparated there.

It was the middle of nowhere. They were on a moor with an abandoned cottage before them that was well on its way to becoming a ruin. It had no roof, but the rest of it was still standing, although it looked like it might fall down at any point.

Daphne immediately felt uneasy; she could feel Stuart's eyes on her as he said, "Are you coming to investigate or not?"

"I just…I have a bad feeling about it," Daphne admitted.

Stuart laughed, "Maybe it is haunted. I didn't peg you as the sort who is scared of ghosts."

"I'm not," Daphne said defensively, "But I think there is a curse on it. Something just feels wrong here."

"Then let's have a look and see if we can work out what," Stuart said. He was standing in the doorway and holding his hand out to her.

Daphne tried to push the bad feeling away as she stepped up onto the front step and slipped past Stuart into the cottage. She sure as hell wasn't going to hold his hand. As she moved past him, he grabbed her arm and pushed her inside.

She was going to turn around in anger and asked him what the hell he had done that for, but then she felt something strange. It was like a warm wind had just rushed over her, and it had erased all of the angry thoughts from her head. Instead, she felt light, like she was floating on air, and when Stuart kissed her, she didn't push him away. Instead, she deepened the kiss as the light feeling became a sudden onslaught of passion.

It felt like being under the imperius curse, but the fog was thicker and harder to cut through. Her thoughts had flown all over her head, they were out of order, and her body was reacting even though her mind was all over the place.

She was kissing him back, and she had no control over it. He unbuttoned her blouse, and she couldn't push him away. As her fear grew and panic set in, she began to get a bit more clarity, but it was like she was standing outside of her own body, watching this happen to her.

He slid his hands up her legs, under her skirt and murmured, "I knew you were just playing hard to get."

And those words cut through the fog like a sharp knife. She tried even harder to pull away, but her brain just refused to communicate with her body. She was sure he could see the fear in her eyes as he smirked and unclasped her bra. It was like being trapped by a devils snare; the more she tried to break free, the harder it was to do so.

"I can see why the boy wonder keeps you around," He murmured appreciatively as he pressed himself against her, his eyes flashing with lust. Daphne wasn't stupid; she knew what he would do if she couldn't break free of the curse.

She shut her eyes and focused like she would do when using Legilimency. She concentrated her mind entirely on breaking free, and it gave her a split-second of clarity. Just long enough to pull herself away from him and run out of the cottage. When she got outside, she gasped as she tried to get fresh air into her lungs.

He followed her out, so she hastily buttoned up her blouse and glared at him, "You knew that was going to happen! That was why you brought me here!"

"All I knew was that a local claimed Morgana cursed this cottage," Stuart replied, "But yes, I did know that you were going to give in to me eventually."

"I didn't do any of that by choice!" Daphne hissed, "Something happened the moment we stepped inside that cottage; you knew that!"

"Oh, something happened alright," Stuart said with a sly grin, "You finally gave in to me, and I would love to-"

"Shut up!" Daphne roared, "Accio letter for Caithness!"

The letter flew from Stuart's pocket and landed in Daphne's hand. He lurched forward to grab it from her, but she threw up a shield charm to stop him. It wouldn't hold for long, especially if Stuart tried to break it down with any spells or curses, but it would hold for long enough for her to skim the letter.

"The cottage was supposedly cursed by Morgana, the evil sorceress, thousands of years ago. According to legend, all those who enter are drawn to whoever is in close proximity to them. The nature of the curse was to ruin a local woman's reputation after the man Morgana was supposed to marry left him for the Caithness woman."

"Well, I suppose we know that the curse does exist then," Stuart said.

"You tricked me, Fawley!" Daphne hissed.

"Oh, you loved it. You were just as into it as I was-"

"Because I didn't have a choice!" Daphne snapped, "And I won't put up with this anymore. Blackmail is one thing but that? That was sexual assault, you fucking creep! So do you know what? Tell Bill I made a mistake, get me fired! Right now, being fired would be better than working with you, you scumbag!"

Before Stuart could say anything else, Daphne dropped her shield charm, spun on her heel and disapparated. She didn't want to go back to Grimmauld Place because she knew that Hermione would see how upset she was, and she would get the truth out of her, one way or another. The natural choice that was left was, therefore, Potter Manor, but it was Harry's house and right now, thinking about Harry made her feel sick with guilt.

She wanted Sadie, but Sadie was in Egypt, so there was only one place left for her to go. Daphne made this decision in a split-second as she spun to apparate, and when she rematerialised, she was standing in front of a metal gate looking up at the home she had grown up in.

She had some good memories here, but there were far more bad ones. Daphne stood at the foot of the stone steps staring up at the house for a moment. She wasn't entirely sure that she would enter. Greengrass House was a façade, it was designed to look old like the likes of Malfoy or Potter Manor, but it had been built when her family rose to prominence in the early 1800s.

The house was whitewashed and stood three stories high, four if you included the room at the top of the tower. It wasn't a manor, but it was grand enough with its large bay windows and the gold leaf embellishments that her grandmother had added. Daphne took a deep breath and walked up the steps. She stood outside the front door on the porch and raised her hand to knock.

She hadn't set foot in this house since she left to return for her eighth year. Her father had set this house alight in a bid to murder his entire family, it hadn't been too severely damaged, but the wing at the back was far newer than the rest of the building. Daphne felt sick as images from that night flooded back to her.

She remembered waking up in bed, feeling terrified. She remembered the smell of the smoke, the heat of the fire—her mother running down the stairs with Astoria in her arms screaming at Daphne to run. The back door had been consumed in the fire, so they had stood shivering on the porch as they waited for the Aurors to show up.

Daphne remembered all of it as clear as day, even though she had only been six years old at the time. She remembered the Aurors wrapping them up in blankets and giving them hot tea to drink. She remembered the nice lady who had asked her questions about the fire and her family. Daphne hadn't known anything at the time, so their questions hadn't meant anything to her.

She remembered how, after the fire, they had to stay with Uncle Phineas while the house was being fixed. She found it strange that although Phineas was her father's brother, she hadn't seen her father for the entire month that they stayed with Phineas. She remembered all the whispered conversations her Mother and Phineas had; they would always stop the second she walked into the room.

Daphne remembered the effect it had on Astoria. She had been four and a half at the time, and she had stopped talking for a year. When she did start to speak again, she spoke very quietly, and she became so timid when she had been bubbly and full of life before. Daphne remembered how terrified she had been on the first night they moved back in. She remembered being too scared to sleep in case the house went on fire again.

She remembered the night her father came back, not long after they moved back into Greengrass House. The argument had been loud, and Astoria had come into her bedroom because she wanted a cuddle. Daphne had covered her sister's ears and listened as her parents shouted at each other. She had been old enough to understand what had happened; her father had set fire to the house to punish her mother because her mother was in love with someone else.

Daphne remembered coming downstairs the following day to find her mother performing glamour charms on herself. She remembered how her mother limped for a week afterwards, how she cradled her arm as if it was hurting. She had known, even at such a young age, that her father was responsible. From that moment on, Daphne had been terrified of two things, fire and her father.

When she had been a little older, Daphne had asked her mother why her father had done it. Lareina had sat her down, made her a cup of tea and told her the truth. Daphne had always respected her mother for that, she could have sugar-coated it, but she thought it was important that Daphne knew exactly what sort of man her father was. That was how she had discovered that her mother had been forced into an arranged marriage with her father; she had found out how much her mother had always hated her father. She had looked for love elsewhere, and she had found it once or twice. Lareina had told Daphne that her father set fire to the house to punish them when he found out.

She vividly remembered asking her mother why he had come back then? Lareina had looked ashamed as she admitted that she had begged him to come back because her younger brother had blown all of the family money by drinking too much and gallivanting across the globe. Daphne remembered her mother telling her that she couldn't have provided for her girls without Cygnus, so she had begged him to come back and support them. That had been the night he came back to the house, the night of the argument that Daphne remembered so well.

Daphne had said to her mother, "He hurt you, didn't he?" And Lareina had said that yes, he had. He had beaten her to within an inch of her life, but he had promised to come back. There had been conditions though, Lareina had to pay for what she had done, and if she ever strayed again, then he would kill her. Daphne knew from the look on her Mothers face and everything she had just heard that this was true.

Once she was older, Daphne began to wonder if it was a coincidence that she didn't see as much of her Uncle Phineas anymore.

She pulled herself out of the depressing memories and knocked on the door. After all, if she didn't do it now, she never would. There was a crack, and the door opened almost immediately; a little house elf smiled brightly up at her, "Good days, Miss Daphne!"

Daphne smiled weakly back, "Hello, Corky. Is my sister at home?"

"Yes, Miss, she bes in her room," Corky said, "Is Miss staying for tea?"

"I don't think so Corky, I'm just going to go up and see Astoria," Daphne said as she stepped into the entrance hallway.

The house didn't look like it had changed at all. Directly ahead of her was a spiral staircase, and four doors were leading from the central hallway. One went into the lounge, another into the dining room, another into the library and another into what had been her father's private study. From the dining room, there was access to the conservatory or, as her mother preferred to call it, the morning room. Behind the spiral staircase was a smaller doorway; if you went through it and followed the stairs down, you would find yourself in the kitchen. Unlike at Potter Manor or Grimmauld Place, this wasn't a place to socialise or cook. Her mother had never cooked, so she rarely entered the kitchen and instead took all of her meals in the breakfast room or the dining room. The kitchen in Greengrass House was most definitely Corky's domain.

Daphne made her way up the stairs and bypassed the first floor. The master bedroom was located on that floor, as was the drawing-room and a second large bedroom which her mother had always called the most agreeable guest bedroom.

The second floor was where Daphne's bedroom had been when she lived here. This floor consisted entirely of bedrooms, but hers and Astoria's were the largest, and they had an adjoining shared bathroom. The other three bedrooms were relatively small and rarely got used.

Before she knocked on the door of Astoria's bedroom, Daphne walked into her old room just to reminisce for a moment. She wasn't sure if her mother had kept it or if she had converted it into another spare room. It made her smile to see that it remained unchanged; it was like she had just stepped out of it yesterday.

The walls were pastel green; she had painted them herself in her third year. There were posters on the walls with images of the Weird Sisters, and her little library of muggle books remained in the alcove that she had turned into a reading corner. Her dressing table still had some old perfume bottles sitting on it. Every surface was covered with wizarding photographs of herself with a combination of Tracey, Sadie, Pansy or Draco. She smiled a little sadly as she began to pluck them from the dresser and put them into her handbag; they all brought back great memories, but those memories were tinged with sadness because Tracey and Pansy weren't here anymore.

Once she had placed all of the photographs in her bag, she looked around the room. Her bed was made up neatly; the curtains had been pulled open to let light in. Despite her rocky relationship with her mother, it looked like Lareina kept the room perfect for her, just in case Daphne ever came back. It made her heart swell with love, but she felt guilty too, she didn't see her mother often enough, and that had to change, especially when Teddy was legally adopted.

Daphne sighed and left the room, shutting the door gently behind her as she did so. She walked to the next door along and knocked three times; it had been their secret knock as kids.

There was a pause, and then, "Daph, is that you?"

"Yeah," Daphne called back.

She heard shuffling inside the room, and then Astoria came to the door. She opened it and smiled, "What brings you back home?"

"A really shitty couple of weeks," Daphne said. For some reason, tears had begun to fill her eyes, "And I don't know who to talk to or what to do, so I just wanted to come home."

Astoria stepped out of the bedroom and hugged her sister, "Come upstairs. It's the only place mother can't eavesdrop."

Daphne felt stupid as she hastily wiped her eyes and followed Astoria up the stairs. All that was above them was the tower that stood at the centre of the house. Originally it had been a bell tower, but the bell had been gone for as long as Daphne remembered. They climbed the wooden step and emerged into a small square room.

It had four narrow windows and a roof light; Daphne had always loved that as a kid. She and Astoria had laid a blanket out on the floor and looked up at the stars, trying to spot constellations. It, like the rest of the house, was completely unchanged. Two huge beanbags sat against one wall as they always had, and a blanket box filled with warm blankets sat against another wall.

Astoria pulled out the fluffiest blanket she could find and sat down with Daphne on one of the large beanbags, "What happened?"

"This guy at my work," Daphne began, and she felt so stupid as her eyes welled up again, "Merlin, I don't know why I'm crying; it's pathetic!"

"It's fine," Astoria said gently, "I'm your sister; I know that you cry. I don't believe any of your ice queen rubbish."

Daphne sighed and looked down at her shaking hands, "This guy at my work is blackmailing me, and he…well…it's a long story, and I just don't know where to start."

"The beginning," Astoria said as she took Daphne's hand and squeezed it.

"I uh…He's my mentor. I got pulled out of the cursed room because Bill, my boss, said I was too good to be stuck breaking easy curses, so this guy, Stuart, became my mentor, and I was excited because it meant I got to go out in the field and break proper curses."

Astoria nodded as Daphne paused for breath.

"But after our first case, he kissed me, and I told him I wasn't interested because I'm with Harry," Daphne continued shakily, "That was when he threatened me. He said if I said anything, he would tell Bill that I made a mistake so that I would lose my place as a trainee Curse Breaker. I thought Bill would believe me over him because Bill and Harry are close, but Stuart said that he and Bill went way back, so there was no way he would believe me over him."

"It's alright, Daph," Astoria said as she squeezed her hand again, "Keep going."

"So I didn't feel like I could say anything to Bill without losing my job," Daphne said shakily, "And I thought after that it would stop, but all week he's been touching my leg under the desk or grabbing my bum when we're out in the field and then today-" her voice caught. She shut her eyes tightly, "He took me to this cottage in Caithness that was apparently cursed, and when I went inside, I felt this warm wind blow over me then all of a sudden I…I was kissing him, but I had no control, it was like the imperius curse and he…."

Astoria's eyes darkened, "Daph, tell me he didn't."

"He didn't get that far," Daphne said quietly, "But he had his hands all over me, and I was panicking, but the more I panicked, the harder it was to break free then he…" she swallowed and hastily wiped her eyes, "…he unclasped my bra and just stared at me then he said," her voice became lost in her throat.

Astoria wrapped her arms around her sister.

"He said he understood why the boy wonder kept me around," Daphne choked out tearfully, "And something snapped. I could get free and get out of there, but I just feel so useless, Astoria. I should have been able to fight him off. I mean, I fought in the war…."

"I'm going to kill him for what he did to you," Astoria said icily, "You couldn't fight him off, you were under a curse, and it sounds like an ancient lust curse too. Daphne, those curses were designed to turn women into whores, the fact you broke free is a fucking miracle, and I swear to the founders, I'll put him in the bloody ground."

Daphne looked up at her sister in surprise, "Astoria…you never get angry."

"I'm not angry. I'm plotting revenge," Astoria hissed, "He sexually assaulted you, and he took you there to rape you."

At that, Daphne broke down in her sister's arms. Astoria wrapped her up in a blanket and said, "You need to listen to me right now, Daphne. You are not going to let this guy beat you. You are going to tell the Aurors what he did, and he is going to be arrested."

"I can't," Daphne said. She wiped her eyes on the blanket, "If I do anything, Harry will find out that I cheated on him."

"Stop panicking," Astoria said. She placed her hands on Daphne's shoulders and looked her in the eye, "You did nothing wrong. You didn't cheat on Harry. This scumbag assaulted you. That's not cheating, do you understand?"

"What if Harry doesn't see it like that?"

"He will," Astoria promised, "He loves you, Daphne. He knows that you would never do something like that. You need to get to the DMLE and report this guy or report him to Bill directly and see if you have any right to legal representation. You work for Gringotts, so I would hope that you do, even if you are a trainee."

Daphne frowned at her sister as she wiped her eyes, "How do you know all of this, Tori?"

Astoria shrugged and glanced down, "I think I would like to be a lawyer, but I need to study hard this year and apply next year. I didn't do as well as you in my N.E.W.T's."

"You can do anything that you want if you put your mind to it," Daphne told her, "You always were naturally smarter than me. You just struggled to find motivation."

"I'll always think you're the smarter one Daph, you're my big sister. I'll always look up to you," Astoria said softly.

Daphne smiled weakly, "I'm hardly a stellar role model at the moment, am I?"

"That's not your fault. None of this is your fault," Astoria said, "I need you to understand that."

Daphne just sighed in response.

"And you can't go to work with this guy on Monday. It needs to be resolved before you go anywhere near this fucking creep," Astoria said coolly.

"But all the Curse Breakers are off at the weekend," Daphne said, "So there isn't much that I can do, even if I wanted to."

"Then first thing Monday you go to Bill, or you go to the DMLE right now," Astoria said, "They don't shut at the weekend. After all, crime never sleeps."

Daphne shook her head, "I can't do that right now, Astoria. Sadie comes back tomorrow morning, and Harry gets back on Sunday. I need to talk to them first before I report anyone or go to the DMLE."

"Just promise me that you will do something, please," Astoria said, and the hint of desperation in her voice was what made Daphne realise that she was in the right here.

"I promise," Daphne said as she leant into her sister's hug, "I'm sorry that I don't see you enough, Tori. I'm sorry we're not as close as we were as kids."

"I guess sisters just grow apart as they get older," Astoria said, "You always had your friends at Hogwarts, and I had mine, but we had the summers. This year we didn't have that because…."

"Because of me and Harry," Daphne realised, "I'm sorry, I never meant to shut you out, but that's exactly what I've done since Harry and I got together. You need to come and visit more, you and Dennis."

"Dennis and I broke up, Daph, at the end of the school year," Astoria said sheepishly, "We just didn't see our relationship lasting outside of school."

"I'm sorry, Astoria, I know you liked him," Daphne said.

Astoria shook her head, "I was kind of glad when it ended; actually, he irritated me. He was just a bit immature, I guess."

"So you're gonna date an older guy next time then?" Daphne joked weakly.

"Maybe, or maybe I'll just focus on getting into the DMLE first," Astoria said with a smile, "And I'm as much to blame as you are for the two of us drifting apart, you know. I never even wrote to tell you about the break-up."

"And I never even wrote to tell you that I'm getting married and becoming a mother, all before the millennium hits," Daphne said as she pulled back from the hug to look at her sister.

Astoria frowned, "What?"

"Harry and I are getting married on New Year's Eve," Daphne said, "And we're going to adopt Teddy too. Nobody knows. It was all supposed to be a big secret, but I wanted to share it with my baby sister."

Astoria smiled tearfully, "That's great; it really is. Does this mean I'm going to be an Aunt?"

"Yeah," Daphne realised, "I suppose it does. Assuming Harry doesn't break things off when he finds out about everything that's happened this week."

"He won't," Astoria said confidently, "But how are you going to raise Teddy while both of you are working?"

"Well, I work 9 am - 4 pm Monday to Friday, and Harry works 9 am – 5 pm Monday to Friday. Then when he starts doing fieldwork, he will have to work every second weekend, but he'll get two days off during the week instead, so between us, we'll find babysitters."

"Mum would love to help," Astoria said, "You know that she is dying to have grandkids."

"I know," Daphne said with a small smile, "And Teddy has his Grandma as well, so she would help. If need be, I know Molly would help when she could too."

"So you would manage like you always do," Astoria said, "You and Harry have such a strong bond. I get envious sometimes."

"Well, you will find someone too, Tori. I know you will," Daphne said as she gripped her sister's hand, "Dennis Creevey was punching well above his weight anyway."

Astoria laughed tearfully at that and hugged her sister, "I've missed you Daph, I'm glad you came back."

* ~ TBC ~ *