* ~ The Eighth Year Universe Series ~ *
PART FOUR
Brave New World
Chapter 37: Workin' 9 to 5!
A/N: The chapter title is from the song:
9 to 5 by Dolly Parton.
"Oh my god."
"What?" Daphne asked sharply.
"I…in…January…me…oh…fuck me."
"What?" Daphne asked quickly, "Is something wrong? Is everyone okay?"
"I…uh, yeah," Harry said, he was staring wide-eyed at a letter.
"What does that say?" Daphne asked. She snatched the letter from him in a panic. Her eyes skimmed it, and then she dropped it on the table, "Holy shit, Harry!"
"Yeah," Harry said in disbelief.
"An order of Merlin!" Daphne said eagerly, "1st class!"
"For me," Harry said with a shake of his head.
"Uh yeah," Daphne said. She gave him a pointed look, "Killing an evil dark lord at the age of 17 is the kind of thing that will earn you that."
Harry was still staring at the letter, "I'm going to get an order of Merlin."
"1st class," Daphne added.
The surprise began to wear off, "I'm going to get a bloody Order of Merlin. A 1st class Order of fucking Merlin. Daphne, I'm getting a bloody Order of Merlin!"
Daphne grinned and launched herself at him, "Yes, you are."
Harry grinned into the hug, "I'm getting a bloody Order of Merlin!"
"Good morning, boys," Harry said as he strutted onto the field with his broom.
"Someone got laid last night," Theo joked.
"Oh, no," Harry said with a shake of his head, "I'm just in a good mood because I got a nice little letter this morning."
"A letter put you in a good mood?" Draco asked with a raised eyebrow, "What did it have in it, money?"
"Nope," Harry smirked, "Just the news that in January yours truly will be getting awarded an Order of Merlin…."
"What?"
"Holy fuck!"
"First class," Harry said smugly.
Neville smiled slightly, "I would say that's well deserved, congratulations."
"Thank you," Harry said importantly, "Thank you very much."
Draco rolled his eyes, "You are so not going to shut up about this today."
"Draco, can you just hex me so that I'm deaf for the rest of the day?" Theo remarked.
Harry grinned but couldn't brag any further because an order to get on their broomsticks and get in the bloody air was barked at them.
"Why does the weekend always fly by so quickly?" Harry asked, "I hate that point on Sunday night when I have to take Teddy back to Andromeda's then get my work bag ready…."
Neville patted him on the shoulder, "It will be better when you adopt him. At least he'll be there in the evenings when you go home."
"I know," Harry said with a sigh.
"Do you want cheering up?" Draco asked. He slung his bag over his shoulder, and they began to walk towards their first class. Monday morning started with flying, then a quick shower before the intellectual work began.
"I can cheer myself up by thinking about my Order of Merlin, 1st class. But cheer me up anyway," Harry said.
Draco shook his head irritably, "We all get to spend the next week laughing at Theo for being strung up by his wife."
"And not in an enjoyable way," Neville added.
Theo glared at them both, "Oh fuck off!"
"What? Harry needed cheering up!" Neville said.
"Through slagging me off?" Theo huffed.
"You're an easy target," Draco said, "And look at his face. He looks like he's being kicked in the face by a Hippogriff."
Harry snorted, "Wrong choice of phrase, coming from the guy who was stupid enough to insult a Hippogriff."
"And then fake a broken arm to make Pansy feel sorry for him," Theo added.
"I knew you were faking it!" Harry exclaimed.
"What did you tell them that for, you prat?"
"You used my suffering to cheer Harry up!"
Harry shot Neville an amused look while the pair of them bickered, "Some things never change," he said in an undertone as they slipped into the classroom.
Auror Carter was already waiting for them, so they all fell silent as they took their seats. She began to talk about disguises and how each situation had a perfect disguise. Half an hour in, when it came to the class discussion, Harry, Draco, Neville and Theo didn't end up discussing disguises much.
"So Hermione didn't want to say anything at the weekend, but the reason she was a bit down was because Crookshanks died on Friday," Draco said while the others discussed what they were actually supposed to.
"I want to say that I'm sad about that, but I'll be honest, I agreed with Ron," Harry whispered, "He freaked me out."
"And he was an ugly bastard," Theo added.
"I know, I hated him too," Draco said, "But Hermione was gutted, and she kept going on about how the house wouldn't be the same without Crookshanks. I think I would prefer a house that doesn't have a cat bringing dead shit into it or puking on my expensive carpets, but you know Hermione."
"She does love cats," Harry agreed, "Do you know what else she would love?"
"If you say anything about an Order of Merlin 1st class, I will fucking kill you," Draco muttered under his breath.
"I was going to say kittens, actually," Harry said.
Draco narrowed his eyes at the Gryffindor, "I was just about to say that I'm thinking about buying her a kitten for her birthday."
"But you hate cats," Theo said, "You just said that yourself."
"I know, but Hermione loves them, and I want to make her happy," Draco said, he shrugged it off to try and look cool, but it didn't work.
"Aww, that's true love!" Neville joked, "You hate cats, but you'll buy her one anyway."
"I obviously don't love Sadie because she keeps asking me for another cat, and I keep telling her to piss off," Theo said.
Harry snorted in amusement, "I've been thinking of buying a dog. Daph really wants one. I was going to buy her one for Christmas, but I don't want to do that whole cliché, a dog is for life, not for Christmas thing."
"What are you talking about?"
"The advert," Harry said, "You know, the charity advert? A dog is for life, not just for Christmas."
They all looked at him blankly.
"Never mind," Harry said with a shake of his head.
"Well, Lilly wants a pony, and I keep telling her that if her Dad never bought her one as a kid, then I'm not buying her one either," Neville said.
"Wow, harsh Nev," Theo said.
Draco nodded, "Really harsh."
"But Theo telling Sadie to piss off isn't harsh?" Harry countered.
"That's a cat, though," Theo said, "Cats are bastards. Everyone knows that if a girl asks for a pony, you damn well buy her one."
"Horses are great animals," Draco agreed, "Huge part of pureblood culture, don't you think, Theo? When did we learn to ride?"
"We started when we were six," Theo replied, "The girls learned earlier, though."
"The girls learned to ride earlier?" Harry asked, raising an eyebrow at him.
"Horses, you filthy little half-blood," Draco said with mock disgust.
Harry snorted in amusement.
"Very loyal animals," Theo said thoughtfully.
"I really miss having a horse," Draco mused.
"Yeah, that's the only thing about living in London, isn't it? No horses, no big open spaces to go for a ride or to hunt. Oh, do you remember that hunt the summer after third year?"
"Yes! That was-"
"Guys," Harry sniggered, "Is this a thing? Love of horses and hunting?"
"It's a pureblood thing. That's why you two don't get it," Draco said pretentiously.
"I'm a pureblood," Neville said slowly.
"But not a proper one, you're like a kinda pureblood," Harry said, "Like me."
"Does anyone hear an annoying buzzing noise? Oh wait, it's just the half-blood talking," Theo joked.
"The half-blood killed Lord Voldemort, Recruit Nott," Carter said. She seemed to have appeared out of nowhere, "You did not, nor did you Recruit Black. Now, how is your discussion about disguises going?"
"Great," Harry said eagerly, "We were talking about different animal disguises like horses or cats."
"But Theo said you should never disguise yourself as a cat because cats are bastards," Neville added.
Carter raised an eyebrow at Theo, "Is that your opinion Recruit Nott? That's interesting…."
Before Theo could ask Carter why that was interesting, she had transformed into a cat before his very eyes.
"Her Animagus form is a cat. I checked our Auror trainers when we registered ourselves last week," Neville said with a smirk.
"Oh…fuck," Theo said. He let his head fall onto the desk with a loud thump.
"Why does Neville look like he's just won an order of Merlin?"
"I don't know, but do you know an interesting fact about the order of Merlin?" Harry asked matter of factly.
"Shut up, Potter."
"I'm going to be getting one in January," Harry continued, "Did I mention that?"
"Did you mention that you're getting an order of Merlin 1st class?" Theo asked sarcastically, "Do you know what? I don't think you have mentioned that at all this morning."
"Really?" Harry asked in faux-surprise, "Because it's for valour, Theo. Valour like a knight."
Theo and Draco both glared at him as they all walked into their Herbology lab. They were all standing in a big group while they waited for the Senior Auror who would be teaching this class to arrive, so Harry started talking to Blanche and Ophelia.
"Did you hear my great news this morning, girls?"
"What news is that?" Ophelia asked politely.
"I'll be getting awarded an Order of Merlin in January," Harry said humbly, "1st class."
"Oh, for Merlin's sake, shut up!" Theo said.
"He won't bloody shut up about it," Draco said to Blanche through gritted teeth.
"Do you realise that he's just doing it because of your reaction?" Blanche said quietly, "If you didn't react, then he would shut up about it."
"Shit, we're so stupid, Draco."
"Speak for yourself, Theo," Draco muttered as he elbowed Theo in the ribs.
Before they could argue any further, a pretty redheaded woman in Auror robes stepped into the room. She had blue eyes and a kind smile, "Good morning, recruits. I'm Senior Auror Brown, and I will be observing you in Herbology lab. My main goal over the next year is to teach you all the dangerous plants from the safe plants. I also want to educate you a little on harvesting your own potions ingredients."
She did a brief outline of the course, then she gave all of the pairs a chart and asked them to identify the safe plants from the dangerous ones as a little test to see how much they needed to learn.
"Do you know any of these?" Neville asked Harry, "Because I know them all, but I want to see how incompetent you are."
"Pretty incompetent," Harry admitted, "Wolfsbane is poisonous if you eat it as it is, isn't it?"
"Yeah, Harry, it's really poisonous," Neville said with a shake of his head, "Thank Merlin, you have me to keep you alive."
Harry smiled sheepishly, "Yeah, I'm really grateful for that. I saw the look on your face when Auror Brown walked in, by the way."
"What look would that be?" Neville asked.
"The, I think she's hot, look," Harry said pointedly, "The look I apparently gave Keller."
Neville snorted, "The look you definitely gave Keller."
"Well, you totally gave Brown the same look," Harry said, "And you like redheads."
"Lilly is a brunette," Neville reminded him.
"But Susan is a redhead," Harry whispered, "Susan, who you had a wild, sexy fling with."
Neville's cheeks coloured. Harry continued, "And Ginny, who you had hot up against the wall sex with in the Hogs Head."
"Look, I don't want to think about that, alright? Just tell me if Moly is safe to eat or not."
"Uh…not?"
Neville sighed, "Wrong, it actually counteracts certain enchantments when ingested. You need to brush up on this stuff."
"I promise to read "One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi" extensively if you admit that you think Auror Brown is hot and that you secretly have a thing for redheads," Harry bargained.
Neville rolled his eyes but didn't look up from the sheet that he was filling in, "Lilly is a natural redhead, alright? She dyes her hair because people bullied her for it when she was younger."
"So yes then," Harry said.
"Yeah, she's pretty hot, and yes, I like redheads," Neville admitted irritably.
"My apologies Recruit Longbottom, but you are far too young for me, and I don't think my husband would be much pleased."
"Oh, for the love of Merlin," Neville said. He buried his head in his heads.
Harry sniggered.
"How are you two getting on?" Auror Brown asked with an amused smile.
"Well, according to Neville, it's a good thing that I have him because otherwise, I would die," Harry said matter of factly.
"I'm sure you're not that clueless Recruit Potter," Brown said kindly, "Could you tell me whether Devil's snare is safe?"
"If you know how to get it to release you, then I suppose it's safe enough," Harry replied, "It hates the light."
Brown smiled, "See? I have no idea what Recruit Longbottom was talking about."
As Brown walked away, Neville glared at him, "You do realise that if she had asked you about any other plant on this list, you would have had no bloody clue, right?"
Harry grinned and patted Neville on the back, "I'm a lucky guy."
If Harry was honest, he wasn't sure what to expect when he stepped into his last class of the day. He wasn't sure what Mind Magic would be about, but he didn't expect to see a room that reminded him of Professor Trelawney's Divination classroom.
There were no seats or desks, just beanbags, cushions and scented candles.
"Good afternoon, recruits."
Harry jumped and looked around for the source of the voice. It had come from a woman who was sitting cross-legged in the centre of the room. She had tanned skin, dark hair and deep brown eyes.
"I am Senior Auror Emmagen, and I will be teaching you how to open your mind to new possibilities," She said.
"Sadie does that all the time," Theo whispered to Draco.
The blond man sniggered and tried to cover it up with a cough.
"I would ask you all to get comfortable on the floor," Emmagen said.
Harry was already wary, but he did so. He had to try not to laugh at Neville as the taller man tried to get comfortable on a tiny cushion. He could barely even cross his legs comfortably.
Emmagen sighed deeply, "Now, close your eyes and clear your mind. I want you to focus on your Auror partner and nothing else; I want you to try and communicate with them."
Harry would have raised an eyebrow if he could have done. He shut his eyes and tried his best to clear his mind, then he focused on trying to communicate with Neville, but nothing happened.
"Recruits Black and Nott," Emmagen said calmly, "I am delighted that you find mental communication so straightforward. However, I do not want to hear about your weekend plans, and I do not tolerate that sort of language in this class."
Harry snorted in amusement, and he could feel Neville shaking with silent laughter next to him.
"Everyone else must clear their mind," Emmagen continued.
This went on in a similar vein for the remainder of the class; Harry was glad that it was only half an hour long. Draco and Theo were told off several times for what Emmagen called their inappropriate mental communication.
Towards the very end of the class, Harry and Neville finally managed to communicate but not in the way that either of them wanted to.
"Ugh, Neville!" Harry exclaimed as his eyes flew open, "You're supposed to be clearing your mind, not thinking about your girlfriend! How am I supposed to look Lilly in the eye after that? Merlin's sake!"
Neville's cheeks went bright red, "I'm sorry, I just thought about her for a second. I couldn't help it!"
Draco and Theo looked like they were going to wet themselves as they roared with laughter on the other side of the room.
"So, Neville told me something interesting when I nipped over to drop off Lilly's birthday present," Daphne said matter of factly as she stepped into the drawing-room where Harry was reading "One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi."
Harry frowned up at her, "Did he?"
"Yes," Daphne said, "He said that you have a hot Healer at training called Keller. He told me that she's blonde and very attractive and that you fancy her."
Harry rolled his eyes, "He only told you that because I pissed him off yesterday."
"Is it true, though?" Daphne asked.
"There is a Healer called Keller who works in the hospital wing," Harry agreed, "And she's attractive, yes, but that's all there is to it."
"Really?"
"Really," Harry said, "You aren't seriously getting jealous about this, are you?"
"You're the chosen one. You're getting an Order of Merlin," Daphne reminded him, "You can have anyone that you want, so yes, I feel a little threatened."
"You feel threatened?" Harry asked in disbelief, "I'm not the one who works with Bill, the best Curse Breaker in 20 years, Weasley! Nobody I work with has long hair, tattoos and piercings. Nobody at my work is a bad arse in dragon hide trousers, Daphne! You should not be the one who feels threatened."
"I told you, Harry, there is nothing like that between Bill and I," Daphne said irritably.
"Yeah, and I told you, I love you and only you," Harry said shortly, "I'm not going to run off with anyone else just because I'm the chosen one. You're the hot one in this relationship, not me."
"Don't try to flatter me."
"I'm not!" Harry exclaimed, "It's the truth! I'm not going to leave you to shag one of my Senior Aurors, am I?"
"I don't know, are you?"
"Fucking Neville," Harry muttered, "Just because he can't take a joke when it's aimed in his bloody direction. No, I'm not going to shag anyone apart from you ever, okay? Even if you die, I will never sleep with anyone else. I'll abstain for the rest of my miserable, sexless life."
"That's taking it a bit far," Daphne said with a raised eyebrow.
"Is it? Or would you haunt me if I moved on?"
"Well," Daphne said slowly, "That would depend on who you moved on with…."
"See? It's just easier to never have sex again," Harry said as he gave her a pointed look.
Daphne sighed, "Okay, I might have been a little touchy about that."
"A little?" Harry retorted.
"Or a lot," Daphne mumbled sheepishly, "But as hard as it is for you to believe, I'm still not convinced I'm good enough for you."
"You talk so much rubbish sometimes," Harry said. He cocked his head at her, "Do you know that?"
"I mean it, Harry," Daphne said, "You were supposed to marry Ginny. You were supposed to be the perfect golden couple."
"Fuck that," Harry said, "I don't care what I was supposed to do. I don't care what the world wanted me to do. I care about what I want to do, and that is be with you until the day I die."
Daphne smiled slightly, "That's cheesy."
"I don't care," Harry said.
Daphne smiled, "Sorry for riling you up."
Harry fixed her with an amused look, "No, you aren't."
"You're right," Daphne admitted as she bit her lip, "I'm not."
Harry smiled knowingly at her.
"And you can shag other people you know," Daphne teased, "As long as I'm there."
"You have no idea where my mind is running to right now…."
"I think I could guess."
"Coffee and a bagel?"
"Don't mind if I do," Bill chirped, "How are you this morning? You seem awfully chipper."
"Harry and I argued last night," Daphne said.
"From what Harry tells me about your relationship, that translates into; you had kinky sex last night."
Daphne snorted, "Maybe. Do we have any work to do this morning?"
"Nice change of the subject there, Daph," Bill grinned.
"It's a valid question since this is my place of work," Daphne pointed out.
"We do have a case, but I'm not going to tell you about it until you tell me why you and Harry argued last night," Bill said.
"It was kind of my fault," Daphne admitted, "I got jealous about this hot Healer that he works with. Then he said that I wasn't the one who should feel threatened because he wasn't the one who worked with, and I quote, Bill, the best Cursebreaker in 20 years, Weasley with his long hair, tattoos, piercings and dragon hide trousers."
Bill raised an eyebrow at her, "Wow, I never knew Harry felt that way about me. I better tell him that I'm not that way inclined, and I've not worn those trousers in years!"
Daphne laughed, "We all know that the idea of him feeling threatened by you is ridiculous. I think he just brought it up to win the argument, so please slag him off for it on Sunday."
"Oh, you don't even have to ask," Bill grinned, "Now this case is a horrific one. You are welcome to take the lead because I might run away halfway through."
Daphne looked at him in disbelief, "I find it hard to believe that you're scared of anything."
"Well, this case involves a cursed doll," Bill said, "Apparently, it talks, moves on its own and tries to kill people. I just can't deal with that, to be honest with you Daphne."
She raised an eyebrow at him, "You are the guy who has broken ancient, terrifying Egyptian curses Bill, and you're scared of a doll?"
"Wait until you see this bloody thing," Bill muttered as he slid the case file over to her, "You won't sleep for weeks."
Daphne flipped the file open and shrugged, "It's a doll. What's the big deal?"
Bill shuddered and said, "You're a stronger person than me Daphne. You have just earned your first lead on a case. I'll do whatever you say."
Daphne shot him a knowing look as they headed out into the corridor, "I didn't earn anything. You're only giving me the lead because you're shitting yourself about this doll."
"You might say that, but I couldn't possibly comment," Bill said cryptically as the office door shut behind them.
When Wednesday afternoon rolled around, Neville was excited to see Lilly again. Harry didn't joke about it this time. Things had been a little bit frosty between himself and Neville all day. They didn't discuss why they both knew that Harry was pissed off about the fact Neville had told Daphne about Keller. Even Draco and Theo could tell that something was up, but neither of them had asked what it was yet.
So when they were told to practise their suturing skills in their Healing class, Harry decided to get revenge.
"Hey boys, how are you?"
Neville smiled, "Good, how is France?"
Lilly shrugged, "I still don't like it much. What have you been up to this week?"
"Apart from admiring hot Aurors?" Harry joked.
Neville had been waiting for Harry to drop that one in, and when he did, he glared at him.
Lilly frowned, "Which one of you?"
"Neville has a thing for the Auror who teaches Herbology lab, eh Neville?"
"She's pretty; that's all I said," Neville said quickly, "Don't worry about it, Lil."
"Don't worry about it?" Lilly asked angrily, "You had a fling with Susan during the war, then you left her when you realised that Hannah liked you. Then you cheated on Hannah with Susan, but I don't need to worry about it? You're right; it's not like you have a thing about cutting your losses and moving on when something better comes along!"
She stalked away before Neville could defend himself any further. Neville glared at Harry, "If you had ever thought to ask, Lilly is self-conscious about my dating history."
Harry had to admit, he felt a little bit bad about that, "Well, you had it coming. You had no reason to tell Daphne about Keller, and I got questioned like I had done something wrong when she came in last night!"
"That was so bloody petty of you," Neville retorted.
"And you telling Daphne wasn't?"
"Is there a problem here, boys?" Keller asked as she appeared behind them.
"No," Harry and Neville said in unison, both of them rather passive-aggressively.
Keller raised an eyebrow, "Are you sure?"
"Yes, ma'am," Harry said, "We're just having a minor disagreement."
Keller didn't look convinced, but she walked away anyway.
"How was I supposed to know that Lilly got touchy about you and other people anyway?" Harry asked irritably.
"How was I supposed to know that Daphne would be bothered about you finding Keller hot?" Neville countered.
"Because she's Daphne Greengrass," Harry said slowly, "Who once said in public that if I kept looking at a girl in a certain way, she would castrate me and feed my genitals to the giant squid."
Neville grimaced, "Yeah…."
"I know you remember it because you told her that the giant squid only eats sea creatures, so her efforts would be pointless," Harry said before Neville could say anymore.
Neville sighed, "I know…I shouldn't have said anything. I'm sorry."
"I shouldn't have said something to Lilly just because I was annoyed with you," Harry admitted sheepishly, "That was bitchy and…I'm sorry."
"She doesn't think she's good enough for me," Neville admitted. He looked over at Lilly, "She thinks I'm going to run off and leave her as soon as someone better comes along. I tried to explain that's not what I did with Susan and Hannah, but she didn't seem to believe me."
"Would you let me talk to her for you?" Harry asked, "It's my fault she's angry with you in the first place."
"Try if you want," Neville said, "But you know Lilly, she's stubborn."
"I've managed to get through to her before," Harry pointed out.
"Is Daphne still pissed off with you?"
"No, I managed to earn her forgiveness with an impassioned speech," Harry said, "I suppose I'll need one of them in January, you know, for when I get my Order of Merlin?"
"That's the first time you haven't added in that it's a 1st Class one," Neville said with a pointed look, "You're getting humbler."
Harry laughed and said, "I'm going to pretend to need help so that I can speak to Lilly alone."
"I need help with my suturing."
Lilly raised an eyebrow at him, "I know you do, but you could have waited for me to come over to tell me that."
"Nah," Harry said, "I couldn't. I shouldn't have said that about Neville finding that Auror attractive. I only did it because Neville told Daphne that I found Keller hot."
"Wow, that's petty of you."
"I know," Harry sighed, "And I had no idea you felt the way you did about what happened between Susan and Hannah."
"Oh, don't even start me on that," Lilly muttered.
"It wasn't like that Lil, you know Neville isn't that kind of guy," Harry said quietly.
"I know," Lilly admitted sheepishly, "But you weren't there during the war, Harry. He was brilliant in the Room of Requirement, but he kind of lost himself a bit too. He flirted with Susan, he flirted with Hannah, he shagged Ginny, and I was there through all of it, watching my best friend and thinking what the hell is happening to him?"
Harry sighed, "I can understand why that would leave you a bit worried, but you have to remember that we all did things back then that we regret. That doesn't just mean killing people or hurting people physically."
Lilly sighed.
"Some relationships work in a war zone but not in real life," Harry said quietly, "Like Hermione and I. You know, at the time, I thought I loved her, but the things you feel in war aren't always your true feelings. Sometimes they are just things you interpret wrong because you're cooped up in a tent or trapped in a school."
"I get that," Lilly said genuinely, "But he went back to Susan once. He fell back on familiarity then, and he nearly did it with Hannah when we were on a break, so what makes you think that he won't do it again?"
"He would never have gone back to Hannah. She kissed him, he pulled away, then Daphne escorted her from the house, violently," Harry pointed out with a smile, "And yes, he went back to Susan once, but things are different now. She's happy with Percy, and he loves you. I think he's always loved you; he just couldn't see it even when it was right in front of him for years."
"Jeez, are you this cheesy with Daphne?"
"Yeah, she frequently tells me that she's going to vomit while I'm in the middle of an impassioned speech about my love for her," Harry admitted with a grin.
Lilly snorted and glanced over at Neville, "He looks like a slapped puppy."
"He hates arguing with you."
She reluctantly sighed, "I'll go over and talk to him. You just stay here and practice on that dummy for a few minutes, okay? Look busy."
"Yes, boss," Harry joked.
"So your best friend presented your case rather well."
Neville looked up in surprise, "Did he?"
Lilly nodded, "Yeah, and I'm sorry for holding things you did in the war against you. We weren't together; I thought it was pretty apparent that I was in love with you, but that doesn't mean you did."
Neville smiled sheepishly, "I was a clueless idiot."
"You were," Lilly agreed.
"Are you doing that thing where you apologise for flying off the handle without actually saying the words, I'm sorry?"
"Maybe," Lilly said sheepishly, "But it's a good thing that you have Harry. He's better at talking about your feelings than you are."
Neville chuckled, "You joke, but that's pretty accurate."
"I know," Lilly said with a smile, "Anyway, practice your suturing a bit more. That's awful. I'd get complaints if you sowed someone up like that in the field."
Neville laughed and did a mock salute, "Yes, ma'am."
Lilly smirked at him, "You can save that for the bedroom, Recruit Longbottom," she said as she stalked away.
"Ooh, who knew miss au naturel dyes her hair!"
Lilly jumped, "What? How did you know that?"
"Because your roots were just starting to come in yesterday, and now they are gone," Savannah said in her thick American accent.
Lilly rolled her eyes, "Yes, I dye my hair, but that doesn't mean I want a makeover, Anna."
"What's your natural colour?" Lucille asked curiously.
Lilly sighed, "Red," she admitted.
Savannah, who had dark red hair, raised an eyebrow at her, "And what is wrong with that, missy?"
"I got bullied for it in school," Lilly admitted, "I was a muggle-born and a geek, so I was already unpopular. They all referred to me as the nerdy ginger one, so I dyed my hair when I went home for summer. Then when I was in fourth year, I learned how to use transfiguration to alter my hair colour."
"You know Lilly, you are beautiful, but I think you would look great with your natural colour," Lucille said.
Savannah nodded, "Can we just do a quick charm to see how it would look?"
Lilly grimaced, "Do we have to? I haven't seen my natural hair colour in years."
"Please, Lilly," Lucille said, "I'm curious."
She groaned, "Fine, but you had better put it back to normal afterwards!"
Savannah grinned, "Close your eyes."
"I don't like this," Lilly complained, but she still shut her eyes.
Savannah said, "Crinus Muto!"
"Wow, Lilly, you look great!" Lucille said eagerly.
"You look hot," Savannah agreed, "Open your eyes and look for yourself."
Lilly opened her eyes nervously but was taken aback when she saw her reflection in the mirror. Her natural hair colour was a dark, auburn red, and it complimented her blue eyes far better than it had down pre-puberty.
"See!" Savannah said, "I told you that you would look good! You should leave it like that."
"Oh…I don't know," Lilly said. She bit her lip and stared at her reflection, "Neville might not like it."
"Oh, who cares? It's your hair," Lucille said offhandedly, "And you're angry at Neville anyway, so why should you care?"
"I'm not angry at him," Lilly said, "We made up; he just pissed me off a little bit."
"Well, you show him then!" Savannah said, "Leave it until the weekend and see what he says."
"If he's like any guy that I've ever dated, he won't even notice," Lucille joked.
Savannah laughed, "And if he hates it, then you can always change it back."
"Or break up with him," Lucille joked.
Lilly laughed nervously, "Wow…well, this is going to take a bit of adjustment…."
"It will be covered up by a cap in surgery all day, every day," Savannah joked, "You'll forget that you even have hair."
Lilly laughed, "That's true. Has Marcel stopped bothering you, by the way, Lucy?"
Lucille nodded, "I spoke to Joan about him, and she put a stop to it. I think he's finally getting the message."
"He's been fine with me all week," Lilly said, "But Neville still wants to try and scare him when he comes to visit at the weekend."
"Oh, let him, Lil," Savannah begged, "Please."
Lucille nodded, "Please let him. Marcel is so horrid."
Lilly laughed and said, "Don't worry, I told him that he could mess with Marcel if he wanted to. He is a complete arsehole."
"You don't want me to go up there with you, do you?"
Daphne shot Bill an exasperated look, "Yes, Bill; I do because if the cursed doll is up there and it does try to kill every person that it sees, then I would like a bit of back-up."
"It won't be in the attic though; that's too cliché," Bill said.
"Well, we've searched every other corner of this godforsaken ruin," Daphne said irritably, "So if it is here, then it's going to be in the attic like I said it was at 10 am yesterday, and now here we are nearly 30 hours later, and we still haven't searched the attic."
"Right," Bill said. He swallowed and nodded, "I'll be the light guy. You do the searching."
Daphne shook her head in disbelief. For a guy who was dubbed as the best Curse Breaker Gringotts had seen for two decades, Bill could be a real pussy sometimes. They stepped into the attic, which was cold, draughty and dingy.
The light from Bill's wand illuminated the space, but there was a lot of junk to sort through. Daphne began to levitate things while Bill stayed as close to the attic hatch as he could.
After a few minutes, they found the doll. Daphne had moved a sizeable rotting piece of cloth, and underneath it was the slightly creepy doll. It only had one eye left, and it just looked old and not very well looked after.
When the doll was freed from the cloth, it focused on them with its one eye and smiled, "I'm Bella. What's your name?"
"I'm Daphne, and this is my partner, Bill," Daphne replied.
The doll's smile widened, "I'm going to kill you, Bill."
Bill screamed, like a girl, and fell through the attic hatch. Daphne rolled her eyes and pointed her wand at the doll, "Priori Incantatem."
The doll froze, "Lumos."
Bill groaned on the stairs below.
"Can you get your pathetic arse up here, please? I could do with some light so that I can break this curse," Daphne called downwards.
"Sorry," Bill said as he re-entered the room.
"You know my fiancé, Harry Potter, the guy who killed Lord Voldemort?" Daphne asked Bill with a raised eyebrow.
"You're going to tell me that he's cooler than me because he's not scared of dolls, aren't you?"
"I was going to say, he's far more bad-ass than you because he's not scared of anything, but close enough," Daphne shrugged.
"Fair play, I'm not as cool as Harry, I can accept that," Bill said modestly, "Thank Merlin, you made it stop talking."
Daphne cast a diagnostic charm on the doll and shot Bill an amused look.
Bill grimaced, "I feel a little embarrassed right now."
Daphne snorted, "That's a schoolboy curse, Bill, I mean seriously. I could have broken that in fourth year."
"It's a prank curse, isn't it?"
"Yep," Daphne grinned, she waved her wand, and the doll burst into flames. Within a few seconds, it was a pile of ashes.
"Okay, I'll be honest, I'm embarrassed right now," Bill admitted while Daphne laughed heartily at him.
When Harry got home from work on Thursday night and saw Daphne hunched over the kitchen table, his first thought was to panic. When he saw her sitting like that, he began to worry that something had happened with Fawley.
"Are you okay, babe?"
Daphne looked up with bleary eyes, "I'm fine. I've just spent the last half hour going over this contract. The owl must have dropped it on the porch while we were at work."
"The adoption contract?" Harry asked in surprise, "This soon?"
Daphne nodded, "I know, it's sooner than I was expecting too. The paperwork will take a long time to go through, though, even after we all agree to the adoption."
Harry sat down next to her, "What does it say?"
"It's all very legal and cryptic, but it's the terms and conditions of us adopting Teddy," Daphne said honestly, "It's an open adoption which means Andromeda can see him as much as she wants and can also demand to have him back at any point."
"Not that she would," Harry said.
"I know," Daphne said. She rubbed her eyes, "It also says that there are conditions which mean Teddy can be forcibly taken from us and given back to Andromeda. Things like abuse, neglect, etc."
"So nothing we need to worry about," Harry said with a nod, "Does it say anything else important?"
"Just that when Teddy is officially adopted, he is our financial responsibility and that we shouldn't expect any allowance from Andromeda," Daphne said, "It also says that if our circumstances change and we are unable to raise Teddy due to lack of funds, then he can be taken from us."
"Lovely."
"Andromeda didn't write it, Harry," Daphne said, "I expect she has an excellent family solicitor who will want to make sure that every box is crossed and that there are no loopholes."
"I know," Harry said, "But the thought of anyone thinking we would hurt Teddy is awful."
"It's a standard adoption contract, don't take it personally," Daphne said. She placed her hand on his, "I can't find any hidden conditions, but I'm not an expert when it comes to legal documents. If you want to be certain, then we should give it to Hermione to look over."
Harry nodded, "When does this need to be signed and sent back?"
"Within 30 days of us receiving it," Daphne replied.
"That's fine, I'll ask Hermione to look at it over the weekend," Harry said, "I don't know Andromeda's family solicitor, so-"
"You don't trust him," Daphne finished, "I know; you don't trust someone until you know them. I know what you're like."
Harry nodded, "I'm sorry."
"In this case, it doesn't bother me," Daphne admitted. She squeezed his hand, "I want to be sure that it's watertight too."
"It makes it feel real, though," Harry said as he looked at the front cover of the contract, "Looking at that."
Daphne looked down and nodded. The front cover said;
Preliminary Contract for the Adoption of Edward Lupin to Mr Harry James Potter and Miss Daphne Lareina Greengrass.
"It makes it feel very real," She agreed.
* ~ TBC ~ *