* ~ The Eighth Year Universe Series ~ *

PART FOUR

Brave New World

Chapter 31: Friends Like You

Daphne felt sick on Monday morning. She knew she would only have to face a few hours at work because Bill had said she could go home after the review. All the same, the thought of having to go through it all with Bill wasn't a pleasant one.

Harry tried his best to make her forget about it. He made her pancakes which she couldn't eat because her stomach felt so unsettled, and he made her a cup of tea which went cold before she could try to will herself to drink it.

"It's going to be okay, Daph," He told her, "Fawley won't be there if that's what you're worried about it."

Daphne shook her head and got to her feet, "I just don't want to have to go through it all again. I know that I have to for Fawley to be punished, but that doesn't mean that I have to look forward to it."

Harry sighed and hugged her, "I understand that. If it helps, think about what we're going to do afterwards. As soon as you've gone through everything with Bill, you get to come home, by which point Teddy will be here. Then we'll have a great afternoon at the Puddlemere match, and then we'll all go out for a family dinner."

"Then we go to Sadie and Theo's and get drunk," Daphne said with a small smile, "A perfect family day followed by a piss-up. You're right. That's exactly what I need."

Harry smiled back at her, "Good luck."

"Thanks," Daphne said.

"Can I kiss you?" Harry asked tentatively. After everything that had happened, she was a little jumpy, so he was somewhat cautious about physical contact.

Daphne nodded. Harry stepped forward and kissed her gently. At first, she tensed up, but then he cupped her face with his hands, and she sighed with relief. She had been terrified to kiss Harry after what Fawley had done. She had been scared that it would flash her back to that moment, but it didn't. Harry kissed her so gently. He poured so much love and affection into that kiss. So much so that she felt emotional when she pulled back.

"I love you."

"I love you too," Harry said, resting his forehead against hers.

Daphne managed a small smile, "You better have Teddy in that little Puddlemere shirt I bought him when I get back."

Harry smiled at her retreating form as she walked towards the front door.

When Daphne stepped into Bill's office and saw a rather surly looking official sort of wizard sitting next to Bill at the desk, her pulse began to race.

"Good morning Daphne," Bill said with a warm smile, "There's no need to be alarmed. This is my colleague from the legal department of the bank. His name is Mr Gibbs, and he will be taking down notes today."

Daphne nodded and sat down in the seat opposite Bill and Gibbs.

"Now, normally, Mr Fawley would be here as well, but unfortunately, he is in St. Mungos after having an accident over the weekend. As such, we will have to conduct his part of this review separately. So I will outline what I need from you today, Daphne. I understand how difficult it is for you to talk about this, but I need you to go through everything with me again," Bill said calmly, "You can do it in your own time, and you can take as many breaks as you need. I just need you to start at the beginning and tell me everything with as much detail as you can remember."

Daphne nodded once more. She took a deep breath, and she began to recount the whole hideous affair. She felt slightly more like the ice queen once more as she coolly and calmly went through it all again. Mr Gibbs scribbled away furiously, and Bill kept his gaze downwards so that Gibbs couldn't see the anger in his eyes. After all, he didn't want to be accused of being anything less than impartial.

When Daphne had finished, Mr Gibbs nodded and thanked her. There was silence in the office as he gathered his papers and put them in his briefcase. When he left the office, Daphne let out a sigh of relief and relaxed a little.

Bill smiled at her, "You did great, Daphne. Do you want coffee?"

Daphne nodded. Having everything out in the open officially made her feel like a weight had been lifted from her chest. She felt the greatest sense of relief, and now, she could see the light at the end of what had been a very long, dark tunnel.

She was pulled out of her daze when Bill placed a cup of coffee down in front of her.

"Fawley is in St Mungos," Bill said as he glanced down at a sticky note on his desk, "He has three broken ribs, six broken fingers, two broken twos, a fractured nose and a cracked knee cap. He says he had too much to drink and fell down the stairs last night."

Daphne nodded and glanced down, "Does he?"

"He does," Bill said, "But I know what happened, and you know what happened. I think it's fair to say that he had a little bit of help falling down those stairs, isn't it?"

Daphne held onto the coffee cup and looked up at Bill, "I think that would be a fair judgement, yes."

Bill nodded, "I don't often advocate that people deserve horrific injuries. Not after this," he gestured at his face, "But in this case, he did."

Daphne smirked into her coffee cup, "So the hospital report didn't mention any injuries to his groin then?"

Bill raised an eyebrow, "No, I suppose he elected to keep that to himself."

"I suppose he did," Daphne said smoothly. She sipped her coffee and said no more.

Bill sat down on the edge of his desk, "I often wonder why you were in Slytherin, you know? The Greengrass family are notoriously associated with Ravenclaw after all, and you do fit the bill, but then I see it."

Daphne smiled, "I'll take that as a compliment."

"It was intended as one," Bill said calmly, "Now, are you sure you want to come back to work tomorrow? I wouldn't begrudge you needing an extra day to gather your wits."

"My wits are gathered," Daphne promised him.

"Well then, I suppose I should tell you where to report to," Bill said, "Since you have a new mentor now."

Daphne looked up, "You assigned me one then?"

"Yep," Bill said, "And I think you'll be a little bit more satisfied with this one than the last. I did think about assigning you a woman to avoid any difficulties in the future, but then I realised that you would get pissed off with me if I did that, so your new mentor is another man."

"That's fine as long as he's not a sleazy bastard," Daphne said.

"He has definitely never been accused of that," Bill promised her.

"And he's competent? He'll let me go out in the field?"

"He'll let you go out in the field, but I'm not sure how competent he is, to be completely honest," Bill said, "He can be a bit of an immature twat at times."

Daphne smiled broadly at that, "It's you, isn't it?"

"Which part gave it away?" Bill asked with an amused smile.

"The immature twat part, with all due respect, boss," Daphne added the last part as an afterthought.

"First rule of this partnership, I'm your mentor, not your boss," Bill said, "And second rule, if you want to go out in the field, bring me snacks because my wife has me on a permanent diet, and she literally locks me in the dog house if she catches me snacking in the house. Can you handle those conditions?"

Daphne smiled, "Yeah, I think those conditions are fair."

"Perfect," Bill said cheerfully, "Now get your arse home. Enjoy a little bit of downtime and be here ready to work tomorrow."

"I will," Daphne promised as she got to her feet, "I'm taking Teddy out to the Puddlemere game with Harry this afternoon, then I'm getting hammered with my friends tonight, so permission to be a little hungover tomorrow, please?"

"Bring me a coffee and a breakfast pastry, and it's a deal."

Daphne grinned, "Thanks, Bill, see you tomorrow."

"See you tomorrow," Bill said with a fond smile.

Daphne found herself breathing a little bit easier as she walked through Diagon Alley. She felt lighter, and she knew now, having done it, that telling Bill was the right thing to do. It made her feel stupid for being so scared to do it in the first place, but it had been dealt with now, and that was what mattered. She left the alley and apparated back to Potter Manor; she felt a smile slip onto her face when she stepped over the threshold into the garden because she could hear Teddy laughing.

She followed the laughter around the house and found the two boys in the back garden. Harry was dangling from his broom upside down, making silly faces at Teddy while the little boy clapped and laughed in amusement.

Daphne shook her head and didn't bother hiding the amused smile that was plastered on her face. The moment Harry saw her, he righted himself and smiled slightly nervous at her, "Was it okay?"

"It was fine, just like you said it would be," Daphne said honestly, "I told them everything, a scribe wrote it down, then Bill told me that I had been assigned a new mentor."

"Hopefully not a sleazy, you know what," Harry said, for the benefit of Teddy's little ears.

"Nope," Daphne said with a smile, "My new mentor is Bill. He wants to get out in the field again."

Harry laughed and dismounted his broom, "Why do I get the feeling you're going to love your job just a little bit more now?"

Daphne laughed too, "Yeah, I think you might be right. But now is not the time to talk about work, now is the time to talk about Quidditch! Is my little munchkin in his Puddlemere strip?"

"Yes, he is," Harry said. He picked the little boy up, "As requested by Daphne, and we always do what Daphne wants, don't we, Ted?"

Teddy beamed at Daphne and held his arms out to her, "Daffee!"

Daphne's smile widened as she took Teddy from Harry, "Hey Teddy, I have missed you so much!"

Harry smiled at the two of them with a mixture of fondness and sadness. He loved these moments; he loved that they felt like a real family, but he knew he would see less of both of them now that Auror training had started.

Daphne caught his look and smiled, "You'll see plenty of him once everything is official. He'll be there every night when you come in from work."

"I know," Harry said, "But that still feels like a long way away, and I miss him."

"I know," Daphne said as she grabbed his hand, "I do too, but let's not let ourselves mope today. Let's just enjoy this day, okay?"

"Okay," Harry agreed with a small smile, "Let's go watch Puddlemere destroy the Appleby Arrows, Teddy!"

The Puddlemere game ran late, which meant that Harry, Daphne and Teddy ended up having dinner late. As a result, by the time they dropped Teddy off back at Andromeda's, they were late for the post-dinner gathering at No. 11 Grimmauld Place.

By the time they got there, everyone was already gathered in the drawing-room. The couple made their way upstairs arm in arm then entered the drawing-room. All eyes turned towards them, and the room fell silent.

Daphne rolled her eyes, "You don't need to act awkwardly around me just because I had an emotional breakdown last week. For those of you who weren't entirely in the picture, yes, I worked with a sleazy bastard, and yes, he sexually assaulted me. But he's being punished, and I'm fine, so don't you dare walk on eggshells around me tonight, or I will curse you all into oblivion."

Susan got to her feet and wrapped her arms around her friend, "You're a queen, and I've missed you."

Daphne laughed at that, "Yeah, where the hell have you been for the last two weeks, by the way?"

"Undercover training," Susan said with a smirk, "It's top secret."

"But you're going to tell her anyway," Percy said with a discreet roll of his eyes.

Susan shrugged, "Yeah, but Daphne can keep secrets, so it's fine. It was kind of like basic training for bounty hunters. They chuck you in the middle of nowhere with your trainer for a couple of weeks to see what you're made of."

"And you aced it, I imagine," Daphne said.

"Yep," Susan said proudly, "Best since Percy Weasley apparently."

"I did tell her that probably wasn't a compliment," Ron joked.

Daphne snorted, "Hey Ron, how's Katie?"

Ron shrugged, "The same as always, she's healthy, which is the main thing."

"Good," Daphne said somewhat awkwardly. She often found it hard to keep a conversation going with Ron. Harry could feel the tension, so he stepped forward, "I reckon we could do with a good catch up mate. What's going on with the shop?"

The two of them started to chat as they walked away. Susan immediately linked her arm through Daphne's and swept her out onto the balcony.

"You are such a bad liar."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"You aren't fine," Susan said with a pointed look, "Girls like us act like we don't care when men treat us like shit, but we do care. I cared about the fact that guys didn't want anything more than sex from me, but I pretended that I didn't. You cared that guys saw you as this sexy ice queen who was cold and emotionless, but you pretended you didn't. Do you see where I'm going with this?"

"I know what you're trying to say, Suse, but I really am fine," Daphne said, "I know that what he did was wrong, and I know that I don't deserve to be treated like that. But at the end of the day, my fiancé, his Auror partner, my cousin and my ex-boyfriend found the guy who did it and put him in hospital and to be honest, that's enough for me."

Susan smiled slightly, "Fair enough."

Daphne leant over the balcony and said, "How was undercover training? Because I don't believe you aced it without any consequences. They use psychological tactics with these sorts of things, and you don't exactly have a pain free past."

"Yeah, you're right," Susan agreed, "It was pretty horrific. I had to relieve some shitty things, and it did change me. But maybe I needed that. I suppose I have always been a bit immature, and now that I've had a reality check…I feel a few years older."

Daphne nodded thoughtfully and looked down at London as it began to come to life, "I feel a little older after the events of the last couple of weeks too."

Susan chuckled as she opened the door into the drawing-room, "Who would have thought that we would all grow up so quickly? I feel like we barely left school."

"Tell me about it," Daphne said as they re-joined the party. She couldn't stop thinking about how much she and Harry missed Teddy when they were apart from him at the moment. She felt older, she felt responsible for that little boy, and now that they weren't in school, it felt wrong to keep him at Andromeda's.

"Oh, there you are!" Hermione called when she saw Daphne and Susan, "The boys have just gone downstairs to the man cave, so it's just the girls now."

"Which means you're gossiping?" Daphne guessed.

"We were just catching up on the last couple of weeks actually," Sadie said, "But we can always gossip if you want to."

Daphne laughed, "Not without Lilly; she would never forgive us."

"Talking about Lilly, I assume you heard about her new nickname?" Sadie asked.

Hermione raised an eyebrow, "Do we want to know?"

"I want to know," Susan smirked, "Go on, Sadie."

"Well," Sadie said with a smile, "Obviously, her and Neville had that whole stupid "We're on a break" thing going on over his birthday. Then Neville realised that they were both being stupid, so he ran away to France to tell her how much he loved her. I guess once he got there, he really told her how much he loved her because Lilly's fellow course-mates now know her as the girl who had loud sex with her hero boyfriend on her first night."

The others all laughed at this, Susan in particular cackled, but then again, she had known Lilly longer than the others.

"Well, there are worse things to be known as," Hermione said, "Behind my back, they call me Harry Potter's encyclopedia because they think that I think I'm above them. I'm just trying to keep my head down and learn everything that I can so I can do my job well…."

"And they are jealous of that," Daphne said, "So ignore them. You know that you're far more than Harry's encyclopedia, and you know that he wouldn't have survived the war without you. It doesn't matter what anyone else thinks."

Hermione smiled slightly, "I know, but nobody likes being the new girl with all of the office bitches breathing down your neck."

"Tell me about it," Sadie said with a roll of her eyes, "I don't think many people on my course like me and I don't like them much either. I kind of got off on the wrong foot with most of them because they had a go at me for being married since I'm so young. I defended Theo fiercely, and most of them took it the wrong way."

"At least you have some friends, though," Daphne said, "Apart from Bill, I've not met anyone at the bank that I like."

"I don't see other people apart from Perce and the other bounty hunters," Susan shrugged, "They're all pretty antisocial, so I get to do my own thing, which suits me just fine."

"I've met a couple of people I like," Hermione admitted, "Most of them are junior Aurors, and surprisingly, the hit wizards are nice guys, but my boss is a bit of a cow, to be honest. It really surprised me, I mean, I remember her when she dated Percy, and she seemed so nice…."

"Merlin, you're not talking about Penny Clearwater, are you?" Susan asked.

Hermione frowned, "Uh…yes. Do you know her?"

"No, but Percy has told me about her," Susan replied, "She's a complete psycho! Is she your boss? Oh man, that sucks, Hermione."

"Susan!" Sadie exclaimed.

Susan bit her lip, "Sorry, but I feel like you should have fair warning."

"Fair warning is great, but you have to explain why you are giving that warning," Daphne pointed out as she tried to hide her amusement.

"Right," Susan said somewhat sheepishly, "Well, when Percy broke up with Penelope, she went mental. She thought they would get married one day, and then the war happened, and Percy changed, he felt responsible for his brother's death, and he wanted a change. So he cut off all ties with his old life, ditched it all to become a bounty hunter and broke up with Penelope."

Susan paused, mostly for dramatic effect. She liked to make sure that she had her audience enraptured before she got to the climax of her story, "But Penelope didn't take it normally. She stalked Percy for weeks and tried everything to get him to take her back. I mean, I don't blame her. He does look good in those dragon hide trousers that he wears these days…."

"You're going off-topic, Suse," Daphne said with a chuckle.

"Sorry," Susan said with a smirk, "But I have just spent two weeks away from him, so you know…."

"Yeah, we all just spent two weeks away from our other halves," Sadie said quickly, "We get it. Now get on with your story. What else did she do after he broke up with her?"

"She tried to learn voodoo magic, I've heard it's just a myth, but apparently she went to this dodgy place in Knockturn Alley and bought a doll that was a replica of Percy," Susan said slowly to build the tension, "She tried to drown it and stab it, but it didn't work because voodoo magic is superstitious bullshit. Either way, Percy thinks she's crazy."

"Jeez," Daphne said with a grim look, "If I were you, I wouldn't piss her off, Hermione."

Hermione groaned, "Just what I needed, a psychotic boss!"

"You'll be fine," Sadie said, "Just keep your head down like you are at the moment."

Hermione sighed and nodded.

"It could be worse," Sadie said, to cheer Hermione up, "You could have spent the last two weeks pretending that your best friend was your boyfriend."

"What?" The others echoed.

Sadie grinned, "Theo and Draco spent isolation hill-walking in the Scottish highlands. They met a couple of muggles, and Theo somehow managed to imply that Draco was his boyfriend 'accidentally'. The hillwalkers spent the next two weeks with them, so they had to keep the story up for the whole isolation period."

Hermione burst out laughing at that, "Did Theo tell you that? Voluntarily?"

"I had to coax it out of him a little," Sadie said with a wicked grin, "But he told me in the end."

"No wonder Draco was so cryptic when I asked him about isolation," Hermione said through her laughter.

"Aren't you two mildly concerned about how devoted your other halves are to each other?" Susan asked with a raised eyebrow, "Don't you remember when they used to apologise to each other in school? Sometimes it looked more like a proposal."

"Yes, I remember," Hermione said with a chuckle.

"Seriously though, they built a door in the basement to connect their houses. They spent two weeks pretending to be together, and their bromance always has bordered on a romance," Susan said with a snort, "Not to mention that they are both Slytherins, and we all know that Slytherins are flexible when it comes to sexuality."

"What's that meant to mean?" Hermione laughed.

"Ask any Slytherin, and I can guarantee that every single one will have at the very least kissed someone of the same sex," Susan smirked, "Right, Daph?"

Daphne rolled her eyes, "Yes, you make a fair point."

"And Daphne likes redheads, apparently," Susan chuckled, "I mean between Ginny Weasley and me."

"You?" Hermione asked in surprise.

"When did that happen?" Sadie asked with a chuckle.

"At a party in eighth year," Daphne replied as she sipped her wine.

"Eighth year?" Hermione asked, "When you were dating Harry?"

"Harry was there," Daphne and Susan said in unison.

"Seriously?" Hermione asked in disbelief.

"Seriously," Daphne said.

"Why is that such a shock?" Sadie asked. She raised an eyebrow at Hermione, "Draco and Theo were there when we kissed."

"Woah!" Susan exclaimed, "Say what now?"

"The foursome had a foursome after graduation," Daphne said with a smirk.

"Holy fuckery…" Susan shook her head, "That has just blown my mind. I mean, of all the Slytherins I know, I thought you were the most innocent Sade."

Hermione snorted, and Sadie glared at her, "Shut up."

Daphne leant forward, "No, Hermione, do tell."

"No, Hermione, don't," Sadie countered.

Susan burst out laughing, and Hermione shook her head, "For the record, this whole conversation seems a lot like gossiping for a conversation that isn't supposed to contain any gossip."

Susan chuckled, "You have a point. I wonder what the guys are talking about downstairs. Guys don't gossip, do they?"

"Draco and Theo do," Sadie said, "Sometimes those two were worse than the girls in the common room."

"They can be bitches," Daphne agreed.

"Well, Harry doesn't gossip," Sadie said, "So-"

Hermione cut her off by sniggering, "Harry doesn't gossip? You must be joking me; he's like an old witch half the time. Nine times out of ten when it was just the two of us in the common room late at night, he would start the gossiping, not me."

Susan shook her head in amusement, "So, in conclusion, they are gossiping."

"Yep"

"Definitely."

"So what did you make of what Sumner and Sheppard said at the end of isolation?" Harry said as he helped himself to some of Theo's rum, "About Harper and Emily?"

"Oh, those two were shagging," Draco said with a nod, "Imagine shagging during isolation training! It was obvious that we were being observed."

"That's rich coming from you," Neville said, "If you had known that you were being observed, you wouldn't have spent the whole time pretending to shag Theo."

"What?" Ron asked with an amused look.

"Oh, haven't you heard, mate?" Harry asked Ron with a grin, "Theo is shit under pressure and accidentally told a couple of muggles that Draco was his boyfriend. Those muggles stayed with them through isolation, so they had to pretend to be all loved up."

Ron barked out a loud laugh, "And they didn't cotton on that you were lying?"

"Have you seen those two?" Percy remarked, "I believed that they were a couple when I first met them."

Theo snorted, "Nah, Perce, we've just got stellar acting skills. We did great."

"Yeah, right up until we blew our cover at the end," Draco added.

"How exactly did you blow your cover?" Neville asked.

"Ugh!" Draco exclaimed, "That is disgusting!"

Harry sniggered, "The same thought ran through my mind, to be honest."

"Filthy Gryffindors," Theo muttered.

"I quite agree."

"Well, you would agree with your boyfriend," Ron said.

"And you do realise that you are massively outnumbered, don't you?" Percy asked, "Four Gryffindors to two Slytherins."

"And one of those Gryffindors is a bounty hunter," Harry added.

"And another is the man who killed Voldemort," Percy said.

"Not to mention the man who beheaded Voldemort's snake with the sword of Gryffindor," Harry said.

"Then there's Ron," Theo said.

Harry half expected Ron to go mental, but the redheaded man just sniggered, "I'm quite happy running my little joke store while you idiots try to kill yourselves, to be honest. I'll be the one that becomes Headmaster one day because I'll be the only one that's still alive."

"He has a point," Harry said with a chuckle, "But anyway, how did everyone else's last few weeks go?"

"Mine was pretty boring," Ron shrugged, "Worked, checked in on Katie, the usual."

"I can't really tell you about my week because of the nature of my work," Percy said with a shrug, "But I spent most of it in deepest Peru undercover."

"Undercover as what, a bear?" Harry asked.

"What?" Percy asked with a frown.

Harry shook his head in amusement and smiled at Neville, who was sniggering, "Never mind, it's a muggle thing. I felt shit for being away for the last couple of weeks while Daphne was going through hell…."

"Stop thinking like that," Percy said, "It wasn't your fault. Just like it wasn't your fault that people died during the war."

"I feel like we've had this conversation before," Harry said with a rueful smile.

"That's because we have," Percy remembered, "Last summer, before you went back to Hogwarts…a lot has changed since then, hasn't it?"

"Yeah," Harry smiled, "It has…."

"I agree with Perce. It wasn't your fault," Theo said, "But I do kind of know how you feel. Sadie keeps saying it's just a stomach bug she picked up from the food in Egypt, but it's obvious that she's not been well, and I feel crap for not being around to help her. She hates that place, you know, Egypt, the course, the people on the course and…I think she's making herself ill because of it. Is that possible?"

Harry nodded, "People handle stress differently. Daphne stops eating and withdraws into herself and Hermione-"

"Screams at people and starts acting like a psycho," Draco finished.

"I was going to be kinder than that, but yeah, that's accurate," Harry admitted while Ron guffawed with laughter.

"Do you remember when she beat the shit out of me when I came back during the war?" Ron asked with a shake of his head.

"Then hugged you and cried," Harry snorted.

"Sounds like the princess," Theo said with a grin, "Sadie is more like Daphne than Hermione when it comes to stress, but I don't want her to make herself seriously ill because of this. I told her that if she hates it so much to drop out and find something else that she wants to do, but she's determined to stick it out."

"Of course she is," Draco said, "This is Sadie we're talking about. When has she ever backed out of something after setting her mind to it?"

Theo sighed, "I know, but this is different…this is hurting her."

"She'll be fine, Theo," Draco said. He rose to his feet, "She'll either get used to it and adapt, or she won't."

"And if she doesn't, then what?"

"Then she will realise that you were right, and she will drop out," Draco said, "So try to stop worrying about her. I know it's hard but try."

Theo sighed heavily but nodded.

"I'm going to the bar. Do you want something?"

"Double firewhiskey," Theo replied.

"Make it two," Ron said.

"Three," Percy said as he raised his glass.

Harry got to his feet, "I'll get myself a glass of water."

"Wimp," Ron joked.

"Recovering alcoholic," Neville countered.

"What?" Ron asked in surprise.

"Oh," Neville muttered, "Fuck."

"Yeah, we haven't seen each other since Ginny's wedding," Harry said with a sigh, "Percy, I assume Susan told you?"

Percy nodded, "Yeah, she did, and I think it's bloody brave of you to face it head-on like that."

Harry shrugged, "I was burying my head in the sand. I would have kept on doing that and lost everything I love if it wasn't for Neville."

"You just needed a bit of a verbal kick to the nuts, Harry," Neville said with an encouraging smile, "And you're doing brilliantly."

Theo nodded, "I'd have gone straight to a bottle if Sadie had been assaulted like Daphne was. The fact you didn't is incredible."

Draco agreed, "He's right Harry, you're doing yourself proud."

Ron got to his feet and pulled Harry into a bear hug, "I'm sorry I didn't know," he mumbled.

"S'alright, Ron," Harry said, patting him on the back, "It was a tough couple of weeks, but you've got enough going on with Katie and the baby and all. I'm on my way up again now."

Ron patted him on the back, "I'm here if you need me, alright? Even with Katie and the baby, if you need me, I'll still be there."

"I know," Harry said with a smile.

"Right, this has been heartwarming, but I need someone to help me carry the drinks," Draco said, nudging his head towards the bar.

Harry chuckled and walked over with Draco. They didn't say much until they reached it. They were out of hearing range of the others now, so long as they spoke quietly.

"Do you reckon Sadie's pregnant?" Draco asked Harry in an undertone.

Harry scoffed, "What? No."

"Why is it such an incredulous idea?" Draco asked as he began to pour the firewhiskey out.

"Because Sadie is – Jesus, you are light-handed when it comes to measures – smart, she's the kind of girl who uses all the spells and takes the right precautions," Harry whispered, "She wouldn't let something like that happen. Not like…"

"Not like Ginny did?" Draco finished with a raised eyebrow, "Are you suggesting that your ex is a looser woman?"

"No," Harry said awkwardly, "Well, I mean…she was a little more promiscuous but-"

"But she has a brain, and look at her," Draco said quietly, "She fell pregnant before she had even finished school. It can happen to anyone Harry."

"But it hasn't happened to Sadie," Harry said, "I just can't see it, Draco. Theo's right. She's gotten herself ill because of everything going on with her course. It's not unusual; Daph gets ill when she's stressed too. She's been ill for the last couple of weeks, and I'm not automatically assuming she's pregnant."

"Fine," Draco said, "But I just think there's something more going on than her hating her course."

Before Harry could say anymore, Draco had begun to head over to the table with the drinks.

Draco was a little irritated that Harry had shot down his idea, mostly because Harry was usually more than happy to gossip. But Draco had a funny feeling that something was off with Sadie, and he did have experience of the changes that women went through during early pregnancy. He had seen it with Pansy, and he saw something of that in the way Sadie had been since she had gotten home from Egypt.

Hermione left the party earlier than Draco because she had work in the morning and he didn't. She used the door in the basement and had to admit; it was bloody convenient.

She was tired, but she couldn't go to bed yet because she had promised Lilly that she would floo her and catch her up on all the gossip that she had missed during the evening.

Hermione stepped into the kitchen, made herself a cup of tea and then got comfortable in front of the fireplace before throwing some floo powder into the flames and saying, "Centre for Trauma Healing, Amiens."

The flames flickered and then turned amber, "Who would you like to be put through to?"

"Trainee Lillian Moon, please."

"One moment," The voice at the other end said.

It took a couple of minutes for the call to connect, but the flames turned green when it did, and Lilly's face appeared in the fireplace.

She smiled broadly at Hermione, "Hey, Hermione!"

Hermione smiled back, "Hey! How are things in France?"

"Busy, how are things at home?" Lilly asked.

"Stressful," Hermione admitted, "Daphne has been off work for a couple of days. Her mentor sexually assaulted her, and it's all going to a tribunal now."

"Sexually assaulted?" Lilly hissed, "How fucking far did he go?"

"Not that far, but she's still a bit shaken up," Hermione answered, "The guy who did it is in St Mungos with a lot of broken bones. Apparently, he got drunk and fell down the stairs."

Lilly raised an eyebrow, "I see," she said. They couldn't talk in any more detail over the floo network because everything that was being said was recorded and kept on record at the Ministry.

"So she's okay?" Lilly asked.

"As okay as she can be, all things considered," Hermione answered, "I've just gotten back from Sadie and Theo's, the first thing I did after making myself a cuppa was floo you."

Lilly laughed, "Is that because you miss me or because you still feel bad for taking Nev's side during our break?"

"Both," Hermione admitted honestly, "I do still feel bad, but I also miss you. It felt wrong tonight, all of us chatting and you being on the other side of the channel."

"Yeah," Lilly sighed, "It sucks, but at least it's only for six months. Why was your night interesting, by the way?"

"Well, Sadie told us all about your new nickname," Hermione joked.

Lilly rolled her eyes, "Yeah, I regret telling Neville about that. I guess he told Theo who told Sadie, who told you?"

"No, Theo told all of us," Hermione admitted with a smile, "The four of us spend most of our time together, to be honest. Ever since Draco and Theo put the connecting door in the basement, it's too easy to drink wine in the library with Sadie while those two research duelling techniques."

"The door in the basement?" Lilly asked.

"Yes, our houses are now connected by a door," Hermione explained, "And no, it's not warded. It's just an ordinary door."

"I give up trying to understand you lot," Lilly snorted, "Did you tell everyone my new nickname?"

"No, but Sadie did," Hermione chuckled, "It is quite funny."

"To you guys maybe," Lilly said with a raised eyebrow, "Please tell me you didn't spend the whole night talking about me?"

"No, of course not," Hermione replied, "We spent more time talking about Draco and Theo. During their isolation week, they had to spend two weeks in the Scottish Highlands together, and Theo messed up under pressure."

"No surprises there," Lilly joked.

Hermione laughed, "Well, he said that Draco was his boyfriend, so they had to spend the next two weeks keeping the cover story up. Draco hadn't told me about it, so I can't wait to grill him tonight."

Lilly snorted, "I wouldn't believe it if it was anyone else, but with those two, I can believe that. How's Nev?"

"Lost without you, as expected," Hermione said with a small smile, "We were all there in couples apart from Ron, so Neville ended up talking to him about boy stuff until the boys disappeared downstairs to the mancave."

Lilly smiled, "I hope we can make it work, but I hate being so far away from him."

"And he hates it too," Hermione said, "That's what will make it work. If neither of you cared, then it would never last."

Lilly sighed, "That doesn't mean I enjoy it. Do you have anymore gossip to take my mind off things?"

"Not gossip as such," Hermione said slowly, "But a theory. Have you heard about Sadie being unwell?"

"I haven't heard anything," Lilly said, "I was back for a few hours, and I spent all of them in bed with Nev."

Hermione chuckled, "And nobody can blame you for that. I'll fill you in though, Sadie hasn't been feeling well since she got to Egypt. She thinks she ate something that gave her a stomach bug, and she's only just getting her appetite back now, but when she got back, she looked awful. She was so pale and thin. We were all quite worried. Theo was worried sick; you know what he's like."

Lilly nodded.

"But I couldn't help thinking tonight when she was talking about it," Hermione continued, "Do you think she might be pregnant?"

"Pregnant?" Lilly asked in disbelief, "No way, this is Sadie we're talking about."

"I know, but nobody expected Ginny to get pregnant, did they?"

Lilly bit her lip, "Uh honestly, I kind of did. She had quite a few sexual partners before she started seeing Blaise, and she always did seem a little…uh, promiscuous?"

Hermione rolled her eyes, "I suppose I can see why you would think that, but I never saw Ginny that way."

"Either way, Sadie is nothing like Ginny," Lilly pointed out, "She's logical, just like you. There's no way you would get pregnant just as you were starting an important course that could set up your future career."

"I know," Hermione agreed, "I'm meticulous, and I'm sure that Sadie is too, but she did just come back from her honeymoon. If there's ever a time when you might forget about the charm or get lost in the moment, it would be on your honeymoon."

"I suppose," Lilly said, "But still, Sadie's not pregnant. It's just the food, she's always been funny with spicy food, and Merlin knows how they prepare it over there. You've heard all the stories about street food. You're reading too much into it."

Hermione hummed thoughtfully, "Yeah, you're right. I guess it's this baby boom after the war. I'm seeing pregnant women everywhere I look."

"War equals babies," Lilly said with an amused smile, "And I had better go. Lights out is in five minutes."

"Okay," Hermione said with a smile, "I'll see you next weekend? You're all coming to the house for dinner on Saturday, aren't you?"

"Yep," Lilly said with a smile, "Can't wait. See you next week."

"See you later, Lil."

By the time Draco eventually crawled into bed, Hermione had been asleep for a few hours. She knew he was back before he reached the bedroom because she heard the basement door slam loudly. Then she heard Draco stumbling through the hall; he managed to knock over every single ornament in the process.

Hermione rolled her eyes in amusement as she looked towards the bedroom door. When it opened, she expected to see a drunk mess in place of her fiancé, but in fact, he was just pleasantly tipsy.

"Do you have any idea what time it is?" Hermione mumbled from beneath the duvet.

"3.58 am," Draco said as he kicked off his trousers and discarded his t-shirt on the floor, "You told me to be home before 4 am."

"You took that very literally," Hermione said with a fond smile.

Draco climbed into bed next to her in his boxers, "I know what happens when I don't do what you say, and I don't like it."

Hermione chuckled and rolled over so that he could wrap his arms around her, "How bad were the others when you left?"

"Percy and Ron were fine," Draco said as he kissed her forehead, "Harry was still sober, obviously."

"What about Theo?"

"He didn't drink that much," Draco said, "He was worried about Sadie. He went to bed pretty early to make sure she was okay. Harry and I ended up playing beer pong with Ron and Percy. That's why I'm so late."

"Beer pong, dear god. Harry didn't drink, though?"

"Nah, we made him do a dare instead every time he should have taken a drink," Draco mumbled.

"I'm worried about Sadie too, you know?" Hermione said as she nestled into his chest.

Draco hummed, "Me too."

"I spoke to Lilly about this earlier. I floo-ed her as soon as I came home," Hermione mused, "I thought she might be pregnant, but Lilly thought the idea was ridiculous."

"I thought that too!" Draco exclaimed, "I said the same thing to Harry, but he was sure that I was wrong."

Hermione looked up at him in surprise, "I think we might be right, you know? A stomach bug wouldn't have lasted this long; she would have gotten better since she got home, wouldn't she?"

Draco nodded, "That made me wonder as well, but I noticed a couple of stupid little things. To someone who hadn't seen it before, the changes are too small to notice, but there were these things with Pansy that seemed weird. Then she told me that she was pregnant, and they all made sense…."

Hermione nodded, "She's been more sensitive than usual lately."

"Yeah," Draco yawned, "She's always ill in the morning, but then she gets better as the day goes on. I know that morning sickness doesn't always happen in the morning. Pansy used to get it in the middle of the night, but still…."

"It all seems too strange to be a coincidence," Hermione admitted.

"If she is pregnant, Theo has no idea," Draco said.

"If she is pregnant, I don't think she has any idea," Hermione added.

"Do you think I should say something to Theo?"

Hermione shook her head, "No. I know we're close, but this is very much their business. We need to let them work it out in their own time and, there is a chance that we're wrong."

"True," Draco said. He leant over to kiss her, "You're very wise."

Hermione wrinkled her nose, "Draco, I love you, but you stink of firewhiskey and beer."

"Sorry, love," Draco mumbled as he buried his head in her hair, "Love you."

She smiled because she could tell from his tone of voice that he was nearly asleep, "Love you too," she murmured as he began to snore.

* ~ TBC ~ *