* ~ The Eighth Year Universe Series ~ *

PART FOUR

Brave New World

Chapter 51: Trust Me

By the time Daphne got to work, Bill was already there.

"You're late."

"My fiancé relapsed last night and had to get the damage to his liver reversed so that the Healers wouldn't find out that he's a recovering alcoholic," Daphne remarked dryly, "Which meant he screamed for hours on end, which kept my toddler and me awake all night."

Bill nodded, "Okay-"

"Then he left me a bullshit note saying he was going to Neville's to work things out, leaving me to look after Teddy," Daphne continued irritably, "So naturally, I stormed into his place of work and gave him an ultimatum."

"Naturally," Bill said with a smile, "I mean you're you, so of course, you had to cause a scene."

Daphne smirked, "Sorry for not getting back to help with the mirror."

Bill shook his head, "It's fine. Did you get my message? I know I sent it early in the morning."

Daphne nodded, "Was it really as simple as that?"

"Prank curse," Bill said with an amused smile, "100 year old one, but a prank curse all the same. It was probably put on the mirror for a Halloween party or something. Then the mirror was moved to storage, and nobody removed the curse."

Daphne shook her head in disbelief, "So what did it do? Make you think your own reflection was killing you, then let you go?"

Bill nodded again, "Hence why there were no reported deaths. The whole thing is just a trick; I could have taken it off in less than 5 minutes, but as soon as Marianne found out that it wasn't dangerous, she wouldn't let me."

"She is very territorial about that mirror," Daphne said with a slight smile.

Bill nodded, "But no harm done, eh?"

Daphne sat on the edge of her desk, "Look, about that…my new best friend and my old best friend might have both pointed out to me that I'm a very flirty person, so if anything I did or said last night was misleading-"

"Oh no, no," Bill said with a shake of his head, "You are a very flirty person, but I've never thought that was intentional. You're with Harry, and you love Harry. That much is clear to anyone who spends five minutes in a room with you."

"Well, that's not apparent to Harry," Daphne remarked.

Bill frowned, "The thing is, Daphne… I can kind of see how Harry might have misinterpreted what he saw last night as…that."

"No, Bill, don't take his side!" Daphne complained, "A good relationship is built on trust, and that goes both ways. I don't think he's going to jump into bed with every hot girl that he works with, but every time I so much as smile at a good looking guy, he thinks I'm going to run off and leave him. When is he going to get it into his thick head that it's him I want?"

Bill smiled slightly, "Look, Daph… I can see this from his point of view. I have been Harry in this situation. I've been the less than whole, scarred and not that attractive guy in a relationship with this beautiful, radiant, part-Veela. I thought she could do better and figured she did too, so I was paranoid that she would leave me for the next decent looking guy she met. But she was in love with me, despite the ginger hair, the scars, the wolfiness and all the other flaws. It took me a while to work through that one, and I never thought we would end up in a situation like we are now where no one is cheating, but the love has just dried up."

Daphne scoffed, "I'm not Fleur, Bill. I'm hardly a beautiful, radiant, part-Veela."

"You're not far off it, and you had better not tell Harry I said that. You're of French descent, blonde hair, blue eyes, slim build, you probably do have some Veela blood somewhere in your family. On the other hand, Harry views himself as shorter than average, scruffy, specky…can't you see why he worries?"

Daphne sighed and sat down behind her desk. She let her head drop into her hands, "When you put it like that…I feel a bit like an idiot for storming the Auror base and giving him an ultimatum in front of all of his peers like a dumbass Gryffindor."

Bill laughed, "You're right, you know? Harry is starting to rub off on you. That is a very brash, Gryffindor thing to do."

"I know," Daphne groaned, "And the thing is, normally we would get past an argument like this by roaring at each other, possibly duelling, then having sex in whatever room of the house we happened to be in, but we can't exactly do that with Teddy in the house."

Bill sniggered in amusement, "See, I told you a kid was a big adjustment. It means that you two are going to have to settle this as adults, then have quiet make-up sex without waking up Teddy."

Daphne raised an eyebrow at him, "You sound like you have experience with this."

Bill's eyes just sparkled with amusement as he threw her a brown folder, "Next case, read up because we leave in half an hour."

"So I got the goss on your ex!"

Hermione rolled her eyes, "Did I ask you to do any such thing, Susan?"

Susan grinned at her and dropped a brown bag on her desk, "No, but I figured you might want the inside scoop."

Hermione peered inside the bag, "I'm more interested in these muffins than the inside scoop, but do tell me how you even found out in the first place."

"Oh, you know, Percy was in the hot seat for Assistant Minister for Magic before he had an existential crisis and became a bounty hunter," Susan shrugged as she bit into a chocolate chip muffin, "So he hears things."

"Why is everyone so excited about Viktor coming to work here anyway?" Hermione mused.

"Because he's a hot, former Quidditch player," Susan said, as if this were obvious, "Why are you the only person I've spoken to who isn't bothered about it?"

"Because I've dated that hot, former Quidditch player, and I can tell you that yes, he has a lovely accent and he's a pretty switched on guy, but he's hardly Draco Malfoy," Hermione reeled off.

"Well, as someone who does not find Draco Malfoy attractive in the slightest, no offence Hermione, that did not put me off. Him leaving me high and dry after Harry's new year party though, that did put me off," Susan joked, "Although, don't tell Percy I said that."

"I won't," Hermione chuckled, "So what department is he going to be working in anyway? The Department of Magical Sports and Games, I assume?"

Susan swallowed her mouthful and nodded, "Uh-huh, he's the new Assistant Head as of tomorrow."

Hermione smiled, "Well, good for him. It's a shame he had to retire so early due to that injury."

"I didn't quite get that myself, to be honest. Most people just see healers and get on with it," Susan mused.

"It was a bad injury; he practically turned his kneecap inside out because of the way he twisted when he fell off the broom. Then when he landed on it, it shattered it. Even after all of the follow-up appointments, he still has a lot of pain, and he was told that he might never walk again if he continues to push it by playing Quidditch professionally," Hermione informed her.

Susan looked at her in disbelief.

"What?"

"Hermione Granger, you are still in contact with him!" Susan realised.

Hermione rolled her eyes, "I write to him occasionally, and no, Draco does not know about it because you know how he is."

"You still write to your ex?"

"He was hardly my ex," Hermione said. She gave Susan a pointed look, "Do you call every guy who tried something on with you behind the greenhouse your ex?"

"Implying he tried something on with you behind the greenhouse," Susan grinned.

"In the restricted section, actually, and I made it very clear that whatever he wanted wasn't going to happen. He was okay about it, so we agreed just to stay friends, and we have been that ever since, just friends," Hermione said clearly.

"I get the hint, but I'm still reeling from that information," Susan joked. She shot Hermione a smirk, "See you around."

"See you, Susan," Hermione said with a shake of her head. She could never quite tell whether Susan amused or exasperated her.

Daphne got home first that night. She picked Teddy up from Andromeda's and took him home; then she made macaroni cheese for dinner. She was watching the clock and preparing to serve food when Harry walked in at 5.28 pm.

"Where's my favourite little man?"

Teddy grinned and shuffled into the entrance hall to hug Harry. Daphne kept her back to him as she plated up food and put it on the table, she knew she would have to face him when they sat down, but nothing could be said in front of Teddy.

Harry popped Teddy in his high chair then sat down in his usual seat. He looked over at Daphne, but she refused to make eye contact and stabbed her pasta rather aggressively.

"How was Teddy's day?" Harry asked awkwardly.

"Good, he hasn't had a nap today, so I think it will be dinner, bath, story, then bed tonight," Daphne said without looking up, "He painted and had a woodland walk with Narcissa today, so I hear."

"That sounds nice," Harry said, "What did you see in the woods, Ted?"

"Bears!"

Harry laughed, "Bears! We don't have bears in the UK, little man. Did you see any foxes?"

"No, bears!"

"What about squirrels?"

"No, bears!"

"Alright," Harry chuckled, "Bears, it is."

He glanced over at Daphne, but she hadn't even cracked a smile. His heart sank; he really was in deep shit this time. They ate in relative silence; the only topic of conversation was Teddy.

After dinner, Harry offered to wash up, so Daphne took Teddy upstairs, bathed him, read him his favourite story and put him to bed. When she emerged at the foot of the stairs, Harry was waiting for her.

"How was your day?" He asked tentatively.

"Great," Daphne replied in an overly cheerful manner, "I fucked Bill in three store cupboards."

"Daphne, don't be like that-"

"Like what? Like the person who always gets accused of cheating? I don't accuse you of sleeping with every fangirl that comes up to you," Daphne hissed, venom dripped from her voice as she spun and walked towards the kitchen.

"Where are you going?"

"Where Teddy can't hear us arguing," Daphne snapped.

Harry followed her into the kitchen and shut the door behind him, "I'm sorry that I misinterpreted what I saw, but it looked like-"

"- I know what it looked like, Harry!" Daphne said irritably as she opened the door to the basement.

He followed her down, dreading whatever she was planning on doing to him if she was taking him to the bowels of the house.

"You shouldn't have flown off the handle because you should trust me," Daphne said. She turned on her heel and glared at him.

Harry shut the basement door behind him, "I do trust you-"

"You don't," Daphne cut in, "Because if you trust me, you wouldn't assume that I'm shagging every decent looking guy who glances my way.

"Honestly, Daphne. Look at you and me. Can you blame me?"

"Yes, I can!" Daphne snapped, "You can't not trust me for the rest of our lives because you're hung up on the fact that I'm a little bit better looking than you."

"A little bit better looking? You're absolutely stunning! Every time we walk into a room, every guy looks at you, and I'm just me. Yeah, I'm a powerful wizard, but I'm not a bloody heartthrob like Neville, am I?"

"Well, I'm sorry, but Neville's not you," Daphne snapped, "Nobody is you, and if you're going to be such a fucking arsehole about this whole thing, I think we need to duel to settle it."

"What?" Harry asked cluelessly.

"You heard me," Daphne challenged him, "Let's duel, and if I win, you actually have to have some fucking respect for me! And you admit that it's you I want and nobody else. You stop being insecure, and you stop thinking I'm going to run off with another guy. Okay?"

"I'm not going to duel you, Daphne," Harry said in a long-suffering tone.

"Why? Do you not even think I can defend myself?" Daphne countered.

"Well, no," Harry admitted, "I know you can defend yourself, but I don't want to duel you, Daph."

"Right now, Harry Potter, I don't give a fuck what you want," Daphne said irritably, "You are duelling me."

"Daph, no, I'm not."

Daphne rolled her eyes and fired a stinging hex at him, "Come on then, fight back."

"No, you're being ridiculous," Harry said. He threw up a lazy shield charm.

"No, I'm not," Daphne argued. She threw some curses at him that could strike through a shield charm, but he just ducked to avoid them.

"Fight back, you coward!"

"Expelliarmus," Harry said half-heartedly.

"Confringo!"

Harry shielded the explosion and contained it in a magical bubble, "Daphne! We're in the fucking basement! Do you want to damage the foundations of the house?"

"I told you to fight back!" Daphne hissed, "And this room is magical. It's a duelling room; nothing we do in here can bring the bloody house down!"

Harry sighed, "Levicorpus!"

Daphne shielded the curse and threw back, "Ventus!"

A strong wind whipped up and threw Harry back into the wall, but he knew what was coming, so he placed a cushioning charm on the wall before he hit it.

"Right," Harry snapped, "You want a duel? That's fine, but I'm not going easy on you. I'll duel you the same way I'd duel anyone else."

"Fine," Daphne said coolly, "Bring it on, Potter."

"Avis!" Harry said. The moment the birds were conjured, Daphne put up a shield charm "Oppugno!"

The birds splattered into the shield, and Harry made a face, "Good to see that you care about nature, Greengrass."

"They are conjured animals," Daphne said with an eye-roll, "They aren't real," she added as she threw an entrail expelling curse at Harry.

He ducked to avoid it and yelled, "Really? That's the best you can do? Bombarda!"

He aimed the curse off to one side, and she was about to yell at him for going easy on her when he shouted, "Alarte Ascendare!"

The spell hit Daphne and sent her flying into the air. She hovered just below the roof, then the spell dropped her, and Harry thought about putting a cushioning charm on the ground but then decided she would tell him off if he did.

When she landed on all fours like a cat, she stood up and smirked at him. Harry just raised an eyebrow at her and cast a precautionary, "Protego!"

"Diffindo!"

Daphne shielded the charm and cast, "Incendio!"

Harry shook his head and said, "Glacius!" which conjured a wall of ice in front of him.

"Stop stealing my spell, Potter!"

"It's not your personal spell, Greengrass," Harry scoffed, "And at least I can use it properly."

Daphne smirked and yelled, "Glacius!" which turned the floor beneath his feet to ice.

Harry started slipping but tried to catch himself. Daphne called, "Training for the ballet, Potter?"

"It's not a turn on when you quote Malfoy at me," Harry shot back.

Before he could reverse the spell, Daphne used the slippery floor to her advantage and conjured a hedgehog, then slid it across the floor.

It hit Harry and spikes flew everywhere.

"What…the…fuck!" Harry yelled.

"Saw Theo do it to Draco one time, and I thought it was pretty nifty," Daphne remarked with a sly grin.

Harry muttered a quick healing charm and cast, "Aguamenti!" straight at Daphne, which soaked her to the skin. Her white blouse went see-through, and she laughed, "What are you trying to do, distract yourself?"

"Well, it is a nice view," Harry remarked, "But not as nice as you lying on your back with your wand in my hand because I've defeated you."

Daphne smirked, "Normally it's your wand in my hand because I've defeated you," she quipped.

At that point, they both cast a spell at the same time. Harry's "Expelliarmus" rushed past the beam of red light that had come from Daphne's wand. It hit her, and her wand flew out of her hand, just as Daphne's curse hit Harry in the shoulder.

He grimaced and looked down at the arrow in his shoulder blade, "Wand arrows? You have been spending too much time with Lilly."

Daphne smirked and crossed the room. She yanked the arrow out, and Harry hissed in pain. Then she placed her hand on his chest and murmured a healing spell.

"Well fought, Greengrass," Harry said with a playful smile, "I mildly regret teaching you wandless magic after the Fawley fiasco. And I have so much respect for you. Are you happy now?"

"Is that an apology, Potter?" Daphne quipped.

Harry caught her eye and said, "Yeah, it is."

"Good," Daphne remarked, "I'm sorry too. And, as hard as it may be for you to believe, I like you just the way you are, messy hair, dodgy glasses and all. And do you know something else? For some women, powerful magic is a turn on."

"But-"

"Goddamn it, no buts!" Daphne snapped. She grabbed him and pulled him towards her.

Harry knew how they tended to sort out arguments, so he just rolled with it and kissed her back. He took a step, pressing her back against the wall, then he lifted her and she wrapped her legs tightly around him.

"I'm sorry," He murmured in-between frantic kisses.

"I'm sorry too," Daphne said breathily when she drew back from the kiss, "I don't care if people look at us and wonder why I'm with you. I know why I'm with you. I know that I'm with you because you're the most generous person I've ever met. I know I love you because of how selfless and loving you are."

Harry wasn't sure how to respond to that, so he just kissed her again. This time she went for the buttons on his shirt and started to unbutton them. Harry's breath caught, "Daph, Teddy's upstairs."

Daphne smirked, "Then I guess we'll just have to be quieter than normal."

With that, all thought of further discussion left Harry. Instead, he focused on his fiancé's attempt to strip him as quickly as possible.

Once Daphne had removed Harry's shirt and the t-shirt he had on underneath it, she started to kiss all of his scars while gently running her nails over his chest, making him groan as she did so.

Harry withstood this torture for as long as he could before he pulled her face back up to his and kissed her once more. He then grabbed the bottom of Daphne's blouse and pulled it over her head, leaving her in just her lacy white bra. Harry then stood up and pulled his fiancé to her feet before lifting her and pressing her up against a wall as she wrapped her legs around his waist.

Daphne kissed Harry with everything she had, trying to make him physically feel how much she loved him and how much she needed him. She moaned loudly as her back scraped against the wall. Harry kissed her neck and grasped her breast with his right hand, then he unclasped her bra with his left hand, moved his mouth down, and started to circle her nipple with his tongue, making Daphne moan once more and run her hands through Harry's messy hair. She used his hair to pull his head back up from her chest and whispered, "Enough foreplay, Harry, I need you now."

Harry was not going to contradict his soon-to-be wife and put her down only to spin her around and pull her skinny jeans down to her knees. He pulled his jeans down and quickly cast the protective charm, then thrust himself into Daphne hard. Harry held onto her hips and groaned as he drove into her from behind.

Daphne, in turn, was moaned loudly as Harry continued to thrust into her, making her nipples rub up against the cold brickwork that he was fucking her against.

"Fuck, Harry," Daphne gasped against him, "That duel riled you up, didn't it?"

"Can you tell?" Harry murmured, his lips against her neck. She shivered, and he chuckled under his breath in response.

Harry smirked and pulled out of his fiancé, to noises of displeasure and irritation. He pulled her over to the duelling platform and banished the remnants of their clothes.

Daphne then grinned slyly and pushed him onto the duelling platform, moving to straddle him before he could ask what she was doing. She wasted no time at all in sinking down on Harry, moaning in satisfaction as she did.

The two of them then moved as one for the next few minutes, and the basement was filled with the sound of moans, groans and panting as they got closer and closer to their end. Harry sat up and pulled her close to him as she sank down for a final time. They both came undone together. Harry gasped her name like it was a mantra, and all of a sudden, there was an explosion of golden light. Daphne shut her eyes tightly and had the best orgasm of her life; it was like she could feel Harry in more than just a physical sense; it was like they were connected mentally and could feel each other's orgasms as well as their own.

When the light faded away, Daphne opened her eyes and murmured, "How do we keep doing that?"

"Because we're both really magically powerful, and that was intense?" Harry countered.

Daphne laughed as he kissed her on the forehead.

"Sorry for goading you into a duel," Daphne said with a playful smile.

"If that's the end result, you can goad me into duels whenever you want," Harry shot back.

Hermione had all but forgotten that Viktor Krum was joining the ministry until she almost barrelled into him head-on.

"Hermione!"

Hermione had been rushing for the lift because, unusually for her, she was running a little late. She looked up and saw him smiling at her; he held the door and motioned for her to enter.

Hermione stepped into the lift and smiled, "Viktor! Congratulations on the new job."

Viktor smiled back, "Thank you. I am very excited; I have been practising my English lots."

"I can tell," Hermione said, "You said my name right."

Viktor laughed, "I am sorry about that; you were the first person to attempt to teach me English."

"It's alright," Hermione chuckled, "What brings you over here for the new job?"

"Oh, you know," Viktor said with a wave of his hand, "I fell in love with lots of things about this place when I visited for the tournament and when I came back during the war. This ministry is beautiful, we have nothing like this at home, and the job is all I can imagine myself doing apart from playing Quidditch."

"That's understandable," Hermione mused, "It's such a shame that an injury like that forced you to retire so young."

Viktor shrugged, "Ah, these things, they happen. They come to test us, yes?"

"Yes," Hermione agreed. She reached past the only other people in the lift, a couple of greying gentlemen, and pressed the button.

The lift came to a stop, and the doors opened. Hermione smiled at him, "This is your floor. Your new office is just along the corridor."

Viktor beamed at her, "Thank you, Hermione. I am glad to be having you around."

Hermione chuckled as he exited the lift. So his English had improved significantly, but he wasn't quite there yet. She rode the rest of the way to her department silently, then dashed along the corridor to the office she shared with Rachel.

"Late."

"By one minute!" Hermione exclaimed.

"You really think I'm gonna log it?" Rachel asked. She raised an eyebrow, "I'm messing with you. But seriously, you're never late."

"Well, Octavia threw up a hairball on my shoes, literally as I was going out the front door," Hermione said with a roll of her eyes, "Then I bumped into Viktor in the lift."

"Old flame Viktor?"

"Yes, Rachel," Hermione said irritably, "Ancient, definitely extinguished flame."

"Whatever you say!"

"Hey Sade, you here?"

"Of course I'm here; I'm bedbound. Where else would I be?"

Daphne bit back a chuckle as she darted up the stairs of number 11 Grimmauld place. The door to Sadie and Theo's bedroom was ajar, so she stepped in, "Hey, I thought you might need a friend right now, and I won't lie, I need a rant."

Sadie smiled weakly, "Shouldn't you be at work?"

"I'm on my lunch break, and it's a slow day, so there's no real hurry for me to get back," Daphne admitted, "I brought food. I didn't know if you would be hungry or not, but it's just a cheese sandwich. I figured the blander, the better?"

Sadie's smile reached her eyes this time, "Bland sounds great. I'm starving."

Daphne handed her the sandwich, and Sadie said, "So…did you cause a scene?"

"Kind of."

Sadie snorted, "What did you do?"

"Stormed onto the pitch at training and gave him an ultimatum to come home, or there would be no wedding and no adoption of Teddy," Daphne admitted sheepishly.

"Sounds like you," Sadie said with an amused smile, "Did he come home?"

"He did…" Daphne answered.

"And have you made up?" Sadie prodded.

"Kind of…"

"Meaning you had hot make-up sex, so you're not that angry anymore, but you're still a bit miffed," Sadie filled in.

"Pretty much," Daphne said with a shrug, "Anyway, how are you?"

"Shit," Sadie answered honestly, "You did things right, you know? Adopting a baby so you don't have to deal with any of this pregnancy bullshit."

Daphne chuckled, "Well, we didn't exactly plan it that way, but I guess I see your point. Are you still being sick all the time?"

"No, it's getting better every day now. I'm down to four times a day," Sadie said with a roll of her eyes.

"Yeah, being pregnant sounds awful. I came here to bitch about Harry, but I'd feel kind of bad doing for that now that I see how crap you feel," Daphne admitted.

Sadie shook her head, "No, I've been stuck in this bed for far too long getting bored out of my damn mind, so please talk to me about anything. I want you to bitch about Harry."

Daphne snorted in amusement, "I think Lilly had a point the other night, to be fair. I do think I should have an overnight bag for work with frumpy pyjamas and a fluffy dressing gown like the ones Hermione wears."

"Thank Merlin Hermione's not here, or she'd hit you for that," Sadie chuckled, "But I do think that's a good idea. Your bedtime clothes are a little…boudoir-esque?"

"Did you just call me a hooker?"

"What? No!"

"It really sounded like you did."

"You are so defensive," Sadie said. She crossed her arms over her chest, "It's because you are attracted to Bill."

"What? Where are you getting this from?" Daphne asked in disbelief, "Jeez, Sadie, pregnancy hormones are driving you mad."

"Oh no way, you do not get to blame hormones for this one," Sadie said. She pushed herself up in bed, "You are being defensive because a part of you is attracted to Bill. The question is, is that part of you physical or mental?"

"Sadie! He's my boss, and he's a bloody Weasley. I do not want to sleep with him!"

"Mental then," Sadie deduced, "I guess I can see that. You admire him; you want to be like him…I wouldn't worry about it too much, it's normal. A lot of people have these strange sorts of crushes on their bosses, and it's just an admiration thing."

"Since when were you a psychologist anyway?" Daphne muttered under her breath.

"I can just read you well Daph, you are one of my oldest friends," Sadie pointed out with a smile.

Daphne frowned at her cardboard coffee mug, "The thing is, I should be over it now, you know? Normally the anger dissipates after the make-up sex, but I still feel like he doesn't trust me."

"He does," Sadie assured her, "But he doesn't have the most self-esteem. He thinks you're too good for him, and he worries that someday when you realise that, you'll run off and leave him. It will take time for him to realise that what he worries about won't happen. Until then, give him a little bit of leeway."

Daphne sighed, "Yeah, you're right, Sadie. Sorry to bother you with all my drama."

"Feel free to spend every lunch break unloading onto me. I'm so bored," Sadie complained, "Theo works all day then talks about work all night, and I can only get out of this damn bed to shower or pee. Otherwise, I start throwing up."

"When do the Healers think it will end?" Daphne asked.

"It's gotten a lot better over the last couple of weeks, so they think in another couple of weeks, I'll be over it," Sadie said, "I just hope they're right."

"I'm sure they are," Daphne assured her, "They're all really good at what they do."

Sadie nodded, but the jovial air that she had had around her when she was teasing Daphne had gone. She seemed down, pale and ill-looking again. Daphne just prayed that the Healers were right because she didn't know what damage a whole pregnancy of bedrest would do to Sadie's mental health.

* ~ TBC ~ *