* ~ The Eighth Year Universe Series ~ *

PART FOUR

Brave New World

Chapter 73: Brothers & Sisters

When Daphne walked into the office yawning on the 4th of January, she expected a slagging from Bill.

"Coffee, with a shot of vanilla because it's the new year, so why the hell not?" Daphne said, in-between yawns as she placed the cardboard cup down in front of Bill, "Merlin, I am tired. I should have asked for the day off since I literally just got back from my honeymoon."

"Uh-huh," Bill said non-committedly.

Daphne frowned and sat down at her desk, "What's up with you?"

"Nothing," Bill replied.

"Cut the crap, Bill," Daphne said bluntly, "I'm too tired for subtlety. What did I do to piss you off?"

"Well, you never told me that your sister was dating my brother for a start," Bill said irritably.

"Seriously?" Daphne asked in disbelief, "I found out after we broke off for Christmas, and this is me just seeing you now when I'm not in a wedding dress getting drunk out of my mind, so what is this really about?"

"It's about this, alright?" Bill snapped as he threw a pile of parchment down in front of her angrily.

Daphne only had to glance down briefly to realise that it was a divorce settlement advice pack.

"It's about the fact that I'm a failure as a husband and a failure as a father! It's about my brother finding happiness with your sister of all people while my life is fucking falling apart! I have never been a jealous man Daphne, but right now, I am!"

"Stop," Daphne said sharply as she pushed herself to her feet, "I have just had a hectic holiday, and I was up half the night with a teething werewolfy toddler, so boss or not, I am not taking your shit today! You are not a shit father. By realising that you and Fleur are making each other miserable, you are being a good father because you are ensuring that your beautiful little girl will not grow up watching a toxic relationship and thinking that's the norm! You are not a shit husband just because your marriage didn't work out! You got married in a war, Bill; you were bloody scared. I mean, of course, you were. You remember the first war, and you remember the deaths, you remember losing your bloody uncles, you remember it all! You rushed in, and maybe that was a mistake, but you have created a wonderful daughter together, and you have had some great years together, so you do not get to call yourself a failure, do you understand me?"

Bill sighed and sank back down against his desk, "Sorry, you're right. I'm a twat."

"You're an idiot. There's a difference," Daphne said as she picked up his coffee and pressed it into his hands, "I'm sorry that it's gotten to this point through Bill."

"So am I," Bill said quietly, "Because when the shit hits the fan, she's going to fight me with that vicious French temper of hers, and I know I'll only get to see Vic every so often because that's how it goes, the father never bloody comes into it when there's a divorce."

"Which is wrong," Daphne agreed, "But you have good grounds to put forward the mixed custody argument. You are breaking up on amicable grounds because you have fallen out of love. You haven't cheated or done something that would put a mark against your name as far as the judge is concerned. You also have an excellent job. I really think if we put forward the case of split custody, with you getting Vic every weekend, the judge signing off on the settlement will go for it."

"We?" Bill asked, glancing over at her.

"Of course, we," Daphne said with a roll of her eyes, "Do you really think I'm going to let you drag yourself through this on your own? Astoria and I will get our heads together and help you write up the best settlement plan that we can think of, and Charlie and Harry will make sure you don't lose yourself in alcohol and self-pity. I can only imagine how shitty a time this is, Bill, but you aren't alone, I promise."

Bill managed a small smile, "Thank you, Daphne."

Daphne smiled back, "Drink your coffee."

Bill laughed weakly, "Whose the boss here again?"

"Sometimes I wonder," Daphne said, smirking over at the Weasley, "Now, what are we actually doing today?"

"Catching up on the two weeks' worth of letters that came in over Christmas break," Bill said, gesturing to the bundle of letters on her desk.

Daphne split them and chucked half onto his desk, "Get reading then. It will take your mind off of your current plight."

Bill chuckled again as he picked a letter up, "Touché."

When Harry jogged out onto the pitch that morning, he was expecting some sort of prank. But his friends just grinned and said, "Look, it's the newlywed!"

Harry laughed as he joined them.

Theo raised a hand, "Join the happily married with kids club, dude."

Harry hi-fived him and chuckled, "Thanks Theo," he said as they began their first lap. For once, they were eager to run because it was the 4th of January. Therefore it was freezing.

"How was Rome?" Draco asked.

"Amazing, Daphne loved it," Harry replied

"You knew she would," Neville said, shooting his best friend a grin.

"Nev missed you while you were away. He thought it was weird drinking at The Phoenix without you," Theo joked.

Harry snorted, "I was away two days Nev."

"I didn't miss you. I just thought drinking without you was weird because you're always there," Neville pointed out, "Not that you missed much, apart from Theo banging on about conspiracy theories while Draco tried to drink himself into a stupor."

Harry positively cackled, "I'm sorry I missed it, actually."

Draco rolled his eyes, and Sumner shouted, "Pick up the pace, girls! This is training, not a goddamn Sunday stroll!"

They picked the pace up, and Theo asked, "So what did you do in Rome? Apart from shag?"

"Unlike you and Sadie, we didn't spend our honeymoon shagging like rabbits," Harry teased, "But we did squeeze a lot into a couple of days. We saw the Colosseum and the Circus Maximus. Then I took her to Palatine Hill to watch the sunset over Rome."

"Merlin, you Gryffindors really are a romantic bunch," Draco grumbled, "Hermione had better not expect that when we go on our honeymoon."

"You need to set a date for the wedding before you start talking about honeymoons," Harry joked.

"We have," Draco argued, "Since we are getting married this year now, Hermione figured that setting a date might be a good idea."

"So when is the big day?" Neville asked.

"The 23rd of December," Draco replied, "She wants a Christmas wedding, but nobody wants to go to a wedding on Christmas Eve, so I convinced her to go for the 23rd."

"Where are you getting married?" Harry asked curiously, "Because her Muggle family will want to come, won't they?"

"She's not bothered about anyone apart from her parents, so it's going to be a wizarding wedding," Draco said, "No idea where she wants to have the damned thing, though. She was adamant that she wasn't getting married at Grimmauld Place."

"Yeah, I really don't blame her for that one," Harry snorted, "You can use the manor if you want?"

"I don't think she'll go for that idea," Draco said, "You got married there, and this is Hermione we're talking about. She'll want to do something different."

"Knowing the princess, she'll want to get married in a castle," Theo joked.

"Or a library," Neville laughed.

"Salazar knows," Draco muttered under his breath as they passed Sumner once more.

"A little less conversation, a little more action, boys!"

Theo grinned at Sumner, "Didn't know you were a fan of Elvis, sir!"

"Shift your arse, or you will be doing an extra five laps, Nott!" Sumner barked in response.

"How was your first day back at work?" Harry asked as he swept into the kitchen a little late that night.

"Awful, but tell me about yours first," Daphne said, putting plates down on the table and a plastic bowl on Teddy's high chair.

"Fine, minimal slagging from the guys for being a newlywed and no sympathy from Sumner about the fact we've all spent the last few days eating our body weight in food," Harry said with a grin, "We've all gained a bit of weight, slowed down a bit you know? He gave us a week to get back in shape for a duelling contest on Saturday afternoon; spectators are allowed."

"As much as watching you get all hot and sweaty in a duel would be enjoyable for me, I don't think it's a good idea for Teddy to see that," Daphne said, shooting him an amused look.

"Fair point, unfortunately," Harry grinned, "What was so awful about your day? Tough curse?"

Daphne shook her head and sank into the seat opposite him, "No, Bill and Fleur are getting divorced."

Harry's face fell, "Really? Oh sh – sugar plum fairies, I thought they could work it out."

Daphne nodded glumly, "I thought they would too. I thought maybe it was just a slump after Vic was born and that they would get through it, but Bill doesn't love her anymore, and without love…there's no chance."

"So they are properly getting divorced then?" Harry asked sadly.

Daphne nodded again, "Astoria and I are going to help him write up a good settlement so that he and Fleur get shared custody of Vic, and I'm going to need you to help Charlie keep Bill from going off the deep end."

Harry nodded, "I can do that. Bills like a brother to me…all of the Weasley's are like family."

"I know, babe," Daphne said. She shoved her food around the plate, "And really quickly, Bill has gone from being my boss to one of my best friends. I'm worried about him, you know? Heartbreak can do things to you and not being able to see your kid apart from on weekends…."

"I get it," Harry said, resting his hand on top of hers, "If anything happened between us and I had to go from being a full-time parent to a part-time one, I wouldn't cope well with it either, so from that perspective I can relate to Bill. As for keeping him from going off the deep end, that one is definitely going to be up to Charlie. From everything I've heard about the Weasley boys when Bill does go off the deep end, Charlie is the only one who can bring him back."

Daphne nodded and looked down at her untouched plate of food, "Yeah…I figured it was going to be that way. I'll talk to Charlie about it tonight, once Ted's in bed."

"Alright," Harry said, squeezing her hand, "But Bill's going to get through this, as hard a time as it is for him because he has his family and he has us."

Daphne smiled warmly at him, "Do you know something? That's exactly what I told him."

"Guess my 'pointless optimism' as you once called it, is rubbing off on you," Harry said with a fond smile.

"Guess so," Daphne chuckled.

"MORE PEAS!"

"And the moment is ruined by the pea hungry toddler," Harry said, while Daphne laughed heartily.

"Here you go, little man, I don't really like peas anyway," Harry laughed as he tipped a handful of peas onto the little boy's plate.

Daphne wasn't entirely sure how much time Charlie and Astoria were spending together these days, so she tried Charlie's place first. She figured if he wasn't there, then she could floo Astoria and ask if he was at her place.

As it was, Charlie answered the floo call pretty quickly.

"Hey, Daphne, everything alright with Tori?"

"Yeah, everything is fine," Daphne replied with a smile. It was sweet that his first thought had been Astoria, "But I do need to talk to you about something. Is it okay if I come through?"

"Sure," Charlie replied, and his face disappeared from the fire.

Daphne stepped through and dusted herself off. Then she looked around the living room.

Charlie lived in a little cottage on the edge of a large estate. The bare stone walls and cosy hearth made it feel hot and homely. It would have been quaint if it hadn't been for all of the dragon memorabilia.

"Yeah, it's pretty dragon heavy," Charlie agreed with a chuckle as he saw her looking around, "Do you want a cup of tea?"

"Sure," Daphne replied, and she followed him into the kitchen, which was pretty nice for the size of the place.

"You have a range?" Daphne asked as her heels clicked against the flagstones.

"I am a damn good cook, I'll have you know," Charlie said with a grin. He put a kettle of water onto the stove to boil, "So, what can I do for you?"

"Well," Daphne said as she leant against the kitchen counter, "This is about Bill."

"I figured it might be," Charlie admitted, "When I spoke to him yesterday at Mums…he seemed pretty down about the situation with Fleur."

"He was miserable when I got in this morning, and it didn't take much prodding to get to the reason why," Daphne explained, "He threw a divorce settlement advice pack down on the desk."

"So he's going straight to divorce?" Charlie asked in surprise.

"Charlie, they've been trying to work through this since not long after Vic was born," Daphne said softly, "He plays the hard man to you because you're his baby brother, but he's been struggling with his for a long time."

"I know he has been," Charlie admitted, "I just didn't realise quite how bad it had gotten."

Daphne opened her mouth to elaborate, but the kettle screeched loudly to let them know it had boiled. She shut her mouth and watched him make the tea.

Once he was done, he handed her a chipped blue mug with a red dragon on it and said, "So what are we going to do about it?"

"There isn't much we can do about it," Daphne admitted, "Besides handling the fallout. Bill is doing the right thing here, he and Fleur are miserable together, and if Victoire grows up seeing that…she will think love is about resentment and anger and fights. It will put her off relationships from an early age."

"Sounds like you're talking from experience," Charlie said, raising an eyebrow at her over his own coffee mug.

"I am," Daphne said, cradling her mug, "I remember sitting in the cupboard with Astoria, covering her ears while my mother screamed at my father. I remember holding her till she fell asleep in our safe place, which was this-"

"The bell tower room at the top of the house," Charlie said softly.

Daphne looked up in surprise, "She told you about that?"

Charlie nodded, "And about how much it meant to you both."

Daphne sighed and nodded, "I remember being that kid who hated to hear her parents fighting. I grew up wondering what the point of love and marriage was when it just made you miserable. If Bill and Fleur try to carry on the way they are right now, Victoire will grow up just like that, and nobody wants that for her."

"No, you're right," Charlie agreed, "It would be far better for her to grow up with two loving parents who have acknowledged that they don't love each other anymore."

"But Bill is still going to struggle to adapt," Daphne said. She sipped her tea, "How did you know how I take my tea, by the way?"

Charlie chuckled, "I didn't. I just made it the same way that I would for Astoria."

Daphne smiled slightly at that.

"And you're right," Charlie continued, "Of course Bill's going to struggle. He's used to kissing Vic goodbye in the morning and going home to her every night, so to go from that to just seeing her at weekends, it'll be hard."

"It will be harder if Fleur does what he thinks she's going to do," Daphne said darkly, "He thinks she's going to kick off and take Vic back to France."

"I wouldn't put it past her," Charlie admitted.

"Which is why I'm going to ask Astoria to help him write up his divorce settlement so that from the instant the papers are submitted, they get shared custody," Daphne continued.

Charlie nodded, "So it sounds like you have it all worked out. What do you need me for?"

"You know what I need you for, Charlie," Daphne said as she caught his eye, "By all accounts, the only person who can bring Bill back when he goes off the deep end is you. I'll do what I can to make this as easy on Bill as I can from a legal perspective, but it's going to take you to keep him together."

"I can do that," Charlie said as he set his mug down, "You know, I don't know how much Bill talks about me, but I am his best friend as well as his brother."

"I know," Daphne admitted, "Because he talks about you all of the time. He straight up told me you were his favourite brother, and he still feels guilty all of the time about what happened when you guys were kids."

Charlie rolled his eyes, "I've been telling him for years to let that one go, but the old bugger never will."

Daphne smiled, "You know Bill, he won't just let something go when it hurt someone that he loves."

"I know," Charlie said, "And he's lucky to have you as a friend Daphne, you went above and beyond for him. You didn't have to do that."

Daphne shrugged and set her mug down on the table, "Harry might not be a Weasley in blood, but he thinks of you all as family and as his wife, that makes you my family too. And despite the way I grew up, the Greengrass family motto is 'Familia Ante Omnia' which means-"

"Family Over All," Charlie finished, "I'm not the stupid Weasley who ran off to play with dragons, you know?"

Daphne shot him a smirk, "I never thought you were the stupid Weasley. I've always attributed that quality to Ron."

Charlie snorted in amusement, "You're good for Harry, you know that? So you can consider yourself an honorary Weasley, as far as I'm concerned."

Daphne smiled too, "Thanks, Charlie. Keep an eye on Bill, won't you?"

"Always have, always will," Charlie replied as he walked Daphne back into the living room, "If he starts to get in too deep at work, floo me, and I'll sort him out."

"Alright," Daphne said, "We've got a deal."

Charlie chuckled as he flew some floo powder into the fireplace, "Honestly, you Greengrass's and your deals. We don't have a deal. We just have a mutual friend who needs our help."

"You Gryffindors and your hero complexes," Daphne joked with a grin, "And unless you missed the huge surprise wedding last week, I'm a Potter now."

Charlie grinned, "That's going to take some getting used to."

"Tell me about it," Daphne laughed. She stepped into the fireplace and said, "See you later, Charlie."

Charlie just waved as Daphne said, "Potter Manor!" and disappeared in a flurry of green flames.

"Hey, Sadie!" Harry said cheerfully as the Slytherin girl made her way into the drawing-room of Potter Manor.

"Hey, Harry," Sadie said with a smile, "Do you have a spare half an hour? I could use your help with the article about Snape."

Harry smiled, "Sure. You decided not to go with the book idea then?"

Sadie shook her head, "He wasn't Dumbledore, you know? There just wasn't enough material for a book, but the Daily Prophet has offered me a good price for a lengthy article. All I've got at the moment is a prologue, but I wondered if you would let me read it to you first? I'd like to know if I'm on the right lines before I write anything else."

"Yeah, of course," Harry said, "Sit down, get comfy. Do you want anything? Tea? Coffee? Water?"

Sadie chuckled and shook her head, "No, I'll be fine," she said as she sat herself down in front of the fire and pulled a notepad from her bag, "Shall I just start?"

"Go for it," Harry said supportively.

"This brief biography tells the untold story of Severus Snape: Potions Master at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, former Death Eater and undervalued war hero. The bitter, cold-hearted man was despised by his students, but did anyone know what made him so? His story is one of love, pain, deceit, lies and death.

There is no arguing that Severus Snape was an extraordinary man. However, the world is split into those who view him as a villain and those who view him as a hero. The late Potions Master at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry was by no means a simple man, but his story is an interesting one, fraught with pain, suffering and death.

Severus Snape was born in the small town of Cokeworth, England, to a muggle father, Tobias Snape and a magical mother, Eileen Snape [nee Prince]. Eileen had discovered several valuable remedies and potions, and Tobias worked in what muggles call 'the factory'. Severus was raised in the muggle world, but he always knew about Hogwarts and that he was destined to attend one day.

When Severus was nine years old, he befriended sisters Lily and Petunia Evans who were, as far as they were aware, Muggles."

"Slimy git!" James interjected.

"Shh!" Lilly said, hitting him around the head, "It's just getting good."

"That's because you just came into the story!" James said.

"Yes, Lily-flower, very vain of you," Sirius agreed.

"Guys," Harry said, shooting them an amused smile, "Shut up and let her tell the story. Sadie, do continue."

Sadie chuckled and did so, "The two friends shared an interest in magic and Hogwarts. They remained friends throughout most of their time at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. When Severus went to Hogwarts, he was sorted into Slytherin and Lily into Gryffindor. The divide was more significant than they could ever have imagined and led Severus along the road that caused him to lose Lily in his fifth year of school.

Misguided and misunderstood, Severus left school and, like so many others, was drawn into the ranks of Lord Voldemort with the promise of wealth and power that any young man would find hard to resist. The Great Wizarding War transformed Severus's life just as it changed the lives of almost every witch and wizard in Britain. Quickly realising that being a Death Eater was not what Severus had imagined it would be, he turned to the man he could always trust, Albus Dumbledore, and begged for a chance to right his wrongs.

Severus Snape spent the rest of his life righting the wrongs he made as a young man, and he never stopped regretting the things he had said and done all those years ago. Arguably, this is what makes him the hero of Slytherin."

"The hero of Slytherin?" Sirius remarked in disbelief, "The bloody hero of Slytherin? That fucking slimy bastard? Regulus Black died in a cave, drowned by reanimated corpses to bring about the downfall of Voldemort, and yet Snivellus is still the hero of Slytherin?"

Sadie bit her lip and looked at Harry.

"It's fine. He's always like this," Tracey said as she appeared in the portrait of the Marauders, "He's more of a drama queen than Daphne, honestly."

"Hero of Slytherin, my arse," Sirius fumed.

"Sirius," Tracey said, "I understand your frustration. Severus Snape was a bellend of the highest order to coin a phrase a friend of mine is fond of. But Sadie could hardly write an article about Regulus, could she? It would be rather short. Regulus Black, the hero of Slytherin, knocked up a muggle, suddenly regretted his entire life and all of his choices, then put into place a half-arsed plan to bring down Lord Voldemort. It failed, he died, and the Horcrux that he recovered was eventually destroyed 17 years later. See? It's tragic, but it's not interesting enough to keep the Daily Prophet readers interested."

Sirius looked at her in disbelief, "Who are you, and how did you know all of that?"

"My subject was Tracey Davis, who was engaged to Dean Thomas. Dean Thomas's real surname is Black. He's your nephew," Tracey said with a roll of her eyes.

"When did my brother knock up a muggle, exactly?"

"A few months before he died. She was still pregnant when he went into the cave."

"That is sad," Lily frowned.

"And tragic," Remus added.

"But also a short story," Sirius admitted grudgingly, "Although I don't get what Snivellus did that made him so heroic."

"Saved my life multiple times, all because of his long lost love for my mother," Harry said with a roll of his eyes, "The whole thing was pretty creepy. He made me look at him while he was dying so he could pretend he was looking into her eyes."

"That is creepy," Lily admitted with a frown.

James nodded, "Told you he was the creepy, serial killer type. Didn't I?"

"James! Not in front of Harry!"

"He was the creepy, serial killer type though Mum," Harry snorted, "Regardless of his 'tragic' back story, he was a douchebag."

"But half the world thinks he's a tragic hero," Sadie pointed out, "Hence why I'm writing the story. He could become a hero to Slytherins."

"You know who should become a hero to Slytherins?" Harry said, leaning back in his chair, "Draco Black, who renounced the name of 'Malfoy' for love. Who gave up his title, his fortune and his manor to marry the muggle-born that he was madly in love with. That is the kind of person that young Slytherins should look up to, not Severus bloody Snape."

"I am so telling him that you said that."

Harry snorted and looked up, "Hey Theo. What are you doing here?"

"Just here to check on Sade," Theo smirked, "But I'm telling him you said that."

"Go for it," Harry said simply.

Theo frowned, "But…seriously…I'm telling him."

"Seriously, I don't care. I'd tell him that to his face," Harry said calmly.

"But…but…you can't just be okay with me telling him," Theo huffed, "That takes the fun out of it!"

Harry snorted and turned back to Sadie, "I think the prologue is good, by the way. I just feel like you have to straddle the line a little more. Half of the world loves him, and half of the world hates him. Make sure you straddle that divide to avoid alienating half of your readers."

Sadie smiled broadly, "Thanks, Harry, that was really helpful."

"You're welcome," Harry said honestly.

Harry wasn't sure why he was surprised the following morning when Theo 'pranked' him during training. They had just started running laps when Theo said, "So you'll never guess what I walked in on in Potter Manor last night."

"Harry and Neville fucking?" Draco joked.

"No," Neville muttered, "I wasn't even at Potter Manor last night."

"Well, you were," Harry said, "You were just in the garden fixing my greenhouse."

"Yeah, about that, never let a Niffler loose in there again, you idiot," Neville said, shooting his best friend an amused look.

"Noted, I'll let Daphne put it in Astoria's bed straight away next time," Harry said with a grin.

Neville snorted at that, and Theo sniggered, "It was better than that anyway. I walked in on Harry confessing his secret love for you, Draco."

"Secret? We all know about his obsession with me in sixth year," Draco said, blowing out a breath as they paused for a minute-long break in-between laps.

"You were a Death Eater, and nobody believed me! How many times?" Harry muttered.

Theo smirked, "Want to hear what he said, Draco?"

"Go on," Draco said warily.

Theo grinned and began dramatically, "You know who the saviour of Slytherin is? Someone who is greater even than me, Harry Potter, a local lad from Godric's Hollow?"

"I do not speak like that," Harry said while Neville sniggered.

"Draco Black, that's who! Draco Black, with his shining silver hair and his stormy grey eyes, who gave away his title, his privilege and his future, all for love! To marry the muggle-born who he had blessed with his heart."

"I did not say that!"

"He should be the shining light for all Slytherins, now and hereafter. Slytherin House should be renamed Black House, in honour of Draco's greatness and of the sacrifices he made for the love of a girl, a wonderful girl by the name of Hermione Granger."

Sumner usually had a very good poker face, but even he hadn't been able to stop himself from laughing at Theo's speech.

"Nott! As funny as that was, you also distracted everyone, so give me five quick laps, now!"

"Aw, sir!"

"Now, Nott! Or it will be ten!"

Theo smirked at Harry and jogged away. Neville was crying with laughter as they jogged after him, "I'll just jog a bit faster and let you have a minute with the love of your life, alright, mate?"

"Fuck you, Neville!" Harry called after him.

Draco chuckled as he and Harry ran side by side, "I didn't say any of that, by the way."

"Yeah, it didn't really sound like your words," Draco snorted, "Sounded far more like Theo's."

"He took the gist of what I said and changed virtually everything about it," Harry said with a shake of his head, "Sadie came over to read me some stuff for the article she's writing about Snape. I got a bit irritated when she suggested that Snape could be a hero for Slytherins because I feel that what you did is far more heroic. You did give up your title, your fortune and your family home for love, and because you no longer wanted to associate yourself with the man who had dragged the family name through the mud. You are an inspiration to younger Slytherins, and I think you are a far better one than that greasy old bastard."

"I hate to admit it," Draco frowned, "But that means a lot to me, Harry."

Harry smiled, "I know it does, Draco."

"DRACO AND HARRY UP A TREE!" Neville sang as he jogged backwards to look at them.

"F.U.C.K.I.N.G!" Theo joined in.

"Nott! That's another five laps!" Sumner bellowed.

"Aw, fuck."

"How do you think things are going to go down between Bill and Fleur then?" Harry asked Daphne one evening early in January after Teddy had gone to bed.

Daphne sighed and continued folding laundry, "I don't know, but Astoria and I have written up a great settlement between us. I have advised Bill to meet Fleur at the Ministry and hand her the settlement in front of a lawyer, so she can't run away with Victoire."

Harry hummed thoughtfully, "That's a good idea…" he mused as he watched her fold the laundry, "You do realise we have a house-elf for that, right?"

Daphne raised an eyebrow at him, "You had better not let Hermione hear you say that."

Harry snorted, "We give our elves holidays and clothes. We're nice masters. But seriously, we have house elves to fold laundry and cook, but you still insist on doing it."

"When I have time, I like to," Daphne shrugged, "I find laundry folding therapeutic."

Harry sniggered, "Alright, I won't say anything about that because I can't think of anything…nice."

Daphne rolled her eyes and opened her mouth to insult him, but before she had a chance, the front door slammed loudly.

"Who the hell is that?" Harry asked as he looked up at the roof, hoping the noise hadn't woken Teddy up.

"Daphne!"

Daphne shot Harry an exasperated look, "That would be my sister," she muttered before calling, "In the kitchen!"

Astoria stormed into the kitchen, "I think I need to break up with Charlie."

Daphne looked up in surprise, "Why? What has he done?"

Astoria crossed her arms over her chest, "I went to his place for the first time, and I just…I'm sorry, but I can't date a guy who has two pygmy dragons called Hamlet and Ophelia. I just can't."

Daphne snorted in amusement.

"Daphne, you are meant to be a supportive sister!"

Daphne smiled sweetly, "I'm being supportive, okay? He has pygmy dragons. Of course, he does. He's a dragonologist, sweetie."

"Don't you sweetie me like a little girl," Astoria fumed as she turned around and saw Harry sitting on the kitchen worktop, "Hi Harry."

"Hi Astoria," Harry said, biting back an amused smile and sipping his coffee.

"He doesn't just have pygmy dragons, Daphne. He dresses them up! He has pictures of them in Halloween costumes and Christmas hats. He lets them eat at the table in his kitchen. He treats them like bloody children!" Astoria continued, turning back to her sister.

Daphne raised an eyebrow, "If you are looking for someone to tell you how weird that is or that you should leave him for it, can I just remind you that you are talking to the person whose husband has a pet Boa Constrictor called Dave that he talks to?"

Astoria rolled her eyes, "Yes, but you should have expected that when you started dating Harry. I mean, everyone knew he was a bit weird when we were at Hogwarts."

Harry scoffed, "I'm literally right here."

Astoria waved a hand nonchalantly.

"And you should have expected dragons when you started dating Charlie," Daphne pointed out, "He is a dragonologist."

"Ugh!" Astoria said, stomping her foot like a child, "It's not just about the dragons, okay? I mean, at first, Charlie seemed great, he's all gentleman-like, and the tattoos are hot obviously, not to mention the sex, which is just mind-blowing-"

Harry made a gagging sound from behind, which made Daphne smirk.

"But we come from two different worlds," Astoria continued, "It was never going to work! I mean, I come from a pureblood family, I grew up in a nice house with nice things, and Charlie is a blood traitor who grew up in a hovel-"

"Hey!" Harry interjected, "I like that hovel! I made some of my best childhood memories there!"

"Harry, would you just butt out of this conversation?" Astoria asked irritably.

Harry looked at her incredulously, "I don't just live here, you know, Astoria? This is actually my house; you know Potter Manor? My name is literally on the gates."

"It's my name too, babe," Daphne pointed out, "Why don't you go and have a chat with Dave?"

Harry rolled his eyes and walked out of the house, muttering irritably under his breath.

"You were saying?" Daphne nudged Astoria.

"Yes, I live in a nice flat in the uptown area of London, and where does Charlie live? In a shack, I mean, it is literally a shack in the middle of the fucking lake district with his pet dragons! I have a lovely original Van Gogh on my wall, and Charlie has a dragon scale!"

Daphne smiled slightly, "Astoria, I know you, and I know that if you were completely sure that you wanted to break up with Charlie, you would have done it by now. Instead, you are here, telling me all of the reasons why you and Charlie shouldn't be together because you don't actually want to break up with him."

Astoria sighed heavily, "Maybe I do, maybe I don't. I just don't think two people from such different worlds could ever work."

Daphne hummed thoughtfully, "You know, Dad said that this would happen?"

"What?" Astoria frowned deeply.

"At my wedding," Daphne remarked casually, "He asked me if I thought you and Charlie would end up married. He reckoned you would never make it, what with you growing up with lots of nice things and Charlie being a Weasley."

Astoria narrowed her eyes at her sister.

"But I said 'No, I think you're wrong, Dad, I don't think those things matter as much to Astoria as they do to me'," Daphne said with a shrug, "I figured with you being the CEO of Greengrass Industries, you would make enough money to have all of those nice things without your husband having to supply them for you, but I guess I got you all wrong."

"Daphne, stop being manipulative," Astoria said irritably.

"Simply passing on snippets of a conversation, sweetie," Daphne said politely.

Astoria rolled her eyes, "You are telling me about these snippets of a conversation because you think that if I know Dad wanted me to break up with Charlie, I, therefore, won't break up with him just to prove Dad wrong, but you're wrong."

"Am I?" Daphne asked calmly.

"You are," Astoria said testily.

"So you're off to break up with Charlie right now then?" Daphne asked, quirking an eyebrow up at her sister.

Astoria huffed and stalked out of the room irritably, but before she could reach the front door, she turned around and stomped back in, "Ugh dammit, you're right! I don't want to break up with him because I love him!"

Daphne smirked, "You're just going to have to learn to love the dragons, like I had to learn to love Dave."

"You hate Dave!" Astoria objected, "You always tell me that you think he's going to kill you in your sleep one day."

"Okay, so I hate Dave, but I had to learn to pretend to like Dave to keep Harry happy," Daphne compromised.

"This is shit advice, Daphne," Astoria grumbled.

"Maybe you should go and talk to Hermione. She loves dragons," Daphne shrugged.

"Why didn't Charlie marry her then?" Astoria muttered irritably.

"Because Weasley's don't do it for Hermione, she likes a man with class," Daphne smirked.

"What's she doing with Draco then?" Astoria joked, causing both of the sisters to burst out laughing.

* ~ TBC ~ *