* ~ The Eighth Year Universe Series ~ *
PART FIVE
Blame it on Hate
When It Rains, It Pours
The chapter title comes from the song:
Rainbow by Kacey Musgraves.
Harry had expected Daphne to be in bed or at the very least in the bedroom when he eventually got home after Helena Montgomery's arrest. It was past 9 pm, and she'd had a busy day too, between breaking a powerful curse in the morning and looking after the kids all afternoon.
He floo-ed into the bedroom to avoid waking the kids up and was surprised to find the bed unmade. Harry left the room and headed downstairs, checking the drawing-room on his way. She wasn't there either, so the obvious choice was the kitchen or the library.
Harry heard voices the minute his feet hit the entrance hall floor, so he followed them into the library, where Daphne looked frantic, and Lilly seemed concerned.
The desk was full of documents – family trees, family charters, birth certificates, death certificates. Daphne's make-up was smudged, her hair up in a messy bun, and she was wearing one of his checked shirts over her t-shirt, which she only ever did when she was stressed.
"What's going on?" Harry asked curiously, looking from the pile of paperwork to the two women.
"The curse is real," Daphne said quietly.
"What curse?" Harry asked stupidly.
"The Crouch Curse," An unfamiliar voice replied.
Harry frowned and looked around in surprise. He spotted a portrait that he hadn't seen before – it was propped up against a bookshelf and depicted a beautiful woman in her mid-40's. She looked very regal. Her long blonde hair flowed across the ornate robes that she wore, and facially she looked remarkably like Daphne.
Harry pointed at the picture and looked at his wife.
"Who is that?"
"My Grandmother," Daphne said offhandedly.
"Where did you get that portrait from?" Harry asked.
"Greengrass House," Daphne replied with a sigh, "I sort of broke in to get it. It wasn't that hard to get past Father's wards."
"You broke into your own house?" Harry asked, dumbfounded.
"Yes, because the curse is real!"
"Okay, rewind – what curse are you on about?" Harry asked, exasperation dripping from his voice.
"There's an old story about a curse that was placed on the Crouch family," Lilly said before Daphne could freak out, "Aphrodite told Daphne about it when she was a child, but Daphne's grandfather, Hyperion, never believed in it."
"And you believe it?" Harry asked sceptically.
Daphne looked at him in disbelief.
"Do I, a renowned Curse Breaker, believe that the blood curse stories are true?"
Harry's eyes widened.
"Blood curse – as in, it's already in your blood?"
"And our children's," Daphne said, staring at the papers in front of her, "But right now, I'm more worried about Astoria."
"Why? What will the curse do to her?" Harry asked sharply.
"If I'm right, then it already has done something to her," Daphne said quietly.
Lilly sighed and picked up a piece of parchment, "It's in old French, so translating it isn't easy, but it's something like, A plague shall befall on the House of Crouch. When a generations youngest child is of eve, she shalt be afflicted of a curse most terrible."
Harry frowned.
"The next part isn't very clear," Lilly admitted, "There's something about reaching her majority, which we think means 21 if we go by typical pureblood traditions. Then there's something about insatiable thirst and a cursed half-life."
"What does that mean?"
"Lilly just told you, we don't know!" Daphne snapped.
"Calm down, Daphne," Lilly said softly.
"I can't calm down!" Daphne shrieked, "How can I calm down when this is hanging over Astoria's head? All of this time had passed since she turned 21, so I thought the curse must have been a story, but then that box appeared, and why would that box exist if there wasn't a curse?"
Harry frowned, "What does the box have to do with it?"
"It was created in the 1800s to protect the Crouch family from magical creatures," Daphne said, her eyes meeting Harry's.
Daphne took a breath and continued.
"And if Grandma is right – the curse was placed on our family in 1880 by the Selwyn's when Radcliff Crouch refused to marry Silas I Selwyn's daughter."
Harry frowned, "The Ripper attacks were in 1888, so somebody must have stolen the box before then."
Daphne nodded, "Someone from the Selwyn family, I suspect."
"Solomon Selwyn," Harry said, surprising both women, "We got a warrant to search Helena's home after we arrested her, and we found the arrest charter that she stole. In 1888 Solomon Selwyn was arrested for unleashing the curse."
"What happened to the box then?" Daphne asked with a frown, "How did it end up back in the Selwyn family?"
"The Aurors didn't recover it in 1888," Harry said, "They believed that it had been destroyed, but we think the muggle authorities that were after Jack the Ripper seized it."
Lilly frowned, "Lux is Ivy's big sister, isn't she?"
Harry nodded, "Uh yeah. Why?"
"Ivy was a year below us at school," Lilly said offhandedly, "She was a Slytherin, but she was so timid and cautious, I took pity on her. I helped her through her fifth-year revision. Either way, her father was a Muggle-born and didn't you tell Neville that the name Montgomery came up, which was what made you suspect Lux and Ivy?"
Harry's eyes widened, "Yes! The Muggle Detective was called Montgomery – so you think the box stayed in the Montgomery family until a muggle-born was born, and by chance, he married Helena Selwyn?"
"And the box ended up back with the family that stole it all of those years ago," Lilly said with a nod, "You couldn't write it, could you?"
Daphne didn't care much for the history of the box.
"As great as this history lesson is, it doesn't tell us anything about the curse, does it?"
From her portrait, Aphrodite said, "My darling, the curse was placed on the family by Silas Selwyn because he was embarrassed. Radcliff Crouch married Octavia Yaxley, and that put shame on the Selwyn family. They were far superior to the Yaxley family, but Radcliff had chosen love above status, and at that time, it was unheard of."
Everyone looked at Aphrodite's portrait as she spoke.
"Sitara Selwyn – who was supposed to marry Radcliff, mysteriously disappeared after he broke off the engagement, and she died shortly afterwards. It was thought that she had fallen in love with a vampire who had killed her or taken her as his own."
Daphne's frown deepened.
"When Silas cursed the family, he spoke of a thirst and a terrible affliction," Aphrodite continued, "And he specifically stated that the curse would only affect a generation when a daughter was the youngest child. This was because Sitara was his youngest child, and he had lost her to a vampire."
"The curse turns someone into a vampire?" Daphne asked hoarsely.
"No, my love – no curse is powerful enough to turn a human into a vampire. Only the blood of a vampire itself can do that. However, it could curse them with the vampire affliction – the thirst for human blood," Aphrodite spoke softly.
"No," Daphne said, her voice choked, "No, that can't have happened to Astoria. She would have told me. I'm her sister."
"And for the past year, all she has done is push you away," Lilly reminded Daphne gently, "She hardly sees the kids. She broke up with Charlie because she didn't want children. Daphne – it all makes sense."
Daphne shook her head, unable and unwilling to believe that it was true.
"Calm down for a minute," Harry cut in, "At the moment, this is still a story. Let's look at the evidence and treat this like a case, okay? We don't panic until the evidence tells us that we need to."
Daphne swallowed a lump in her throat and nodded.
Harry pulled up a chair and sat down next to them at the table. He pulled the largest family tree towards them, murmured a creative little spell and projected it up onto the wall.
"How did you do that?" Lilly asked in amazement.
"Auror training," Harry replied, studying the family tree, "It makes it a damn sight easier for the whole team to assess a document at the same time."
"Smart," Lilly said.
Harry shot her an amused look.
"You don't have to sound so surprised."
Lilly smirked in response.
Harry turned back to the family tree, "So Silas allegedly placed the curse on the family way back in 1880."
Daphne nodded.
"Let's start with Moriarty Crouch then. He had two children – a son, Radcliff, and a daughter, Astrid," Harry continued, "Astrid would have been the first to be cursed, but she died in 1918 when she was only 11 – way before her majority."
Aphrodite interjected, "My darlings, there is a story about Astrid."
Harry shot Daphne a sceptical look, "Is there?"
Daphne nodded, "She was always described as a strange child, and then one day, she disappeared off the face of the earth. The story goes that Moriarty tried to change the curse but failed, turning his daughter into a Maledictus."
"A what?" Harry asked.
"A Maledictus," Lilly said slowly, "It's an individual who carries a blood curse which will turn them into a beast. It's the type of curse that the Selwyn's placed on the family but with the variation that the 'beast' is a humanoid one. Rather than having his daughter turn into a vampire, Moriarty Crouch allegedly experimented on her and tried to turn her into a snake - the symbol of Slytherin house."
Harry's eyes widened, "A snake?"
Lilly nodded, "A sentient, intelligent snake."
"Nagini," Harry said in disbelief.
"That was the story," Daphne said with a sigh, "But Nagini could have just been an intelligent snake like Dave is. Either way – I think the curse probably did affect Astrid in some way."
"But we have no proof," Harry pointed out, "So let's keep at it. Radcliff Crouch married Octavia Yaxley. They had two children – a son, Caspar, and a daughter, Eris."
"This is where it gets complicated," Lilly cut in, "A blood curse like this is usually only active in the main line. So in this case, it would affect both Caspar and Eris, but not Eris's children."
Harry's frown deepened, "Okay."
"Eris married Silvanus Selwyn," Lilly said, looking up at the tree, "And they had a daughter, Sofia."
"She died in childbirth," Harry guessed, "Sofia was born in 1943, and Eris died in the same year."
"That's the assumption most people would make at a glance but look more closely," Daphne said, "Sofia was born in January, and Eris died in June – 3 days after her 21st birthday."
Harry frowned, "It's an odd coincidence, but-"
"It's not a coincidence, Harry," Daphne snapped, thrusting a death certificate in front of him, "Read the cause of death."
Harry looked down and read aloud.
"Self-slaughter."
"She killed herself three days after her 21st birthday," Daphne said.
Harry sighed, "That does lend itself to the theory that the curse is real, but if it were, then the Selwyn's would know about it, so why would they allow their son to marry a Crouch girl? Surely they would know how that would end?"
"Which is probably why they protested the marriage and had Silvanus disowned when he eloped with Eris," Daphne said dryly.
Harry bit his lip, "Right."
"The curse then passes down the main line to Caspar's children," Daphne pointed out, "Which is where I come in."
She pointed to the family tree where they could see that Caspar Crouch had married Charis Black.
"Caspar had three children," Daphne continued, "Bartemius Crouch – you know what happened there, he had a son, and they both died."
Harry nodded.
"Hyperion Crouch - my Grandfather, and Cassandra Crouch who the curse should have affected," Daphne said, "She's the anomaly which I think is because she married a Muggle. I wonder if they had a wizarding ceremony and therefore were blood bonded. Cassandra was a seer, so she would have believed in the curse, and she knew that Muggle blood would dilute it."
"Right," Harry said with a frown, "So she married a muggle, but she lived a pretty long life, didn't she?"
"She was in her 50's when she died," Daphne answered, "So for this curse, yes, that's a long life. She had a son, Tertius, who was wizarding, and Tertius married a muggle-born. Apparently, Cassandra had an operation to remove her womb after having Tertius."
"All that tells us is that she believed in the curse, not that it's real," Harry cautioned, "Cassandra's line is where Tracey comes in, isn't it?"
Lilly nodded, "But it would never have affected Tracey because it only goes down the main line."
"In this case, it should have passed through Bartemius Crouch, but when his line died out, it jumped to the next in line," Daphne explained, "My Grandfather and his descendants."
Harry sighed and looked up at the family tree.
Daphne followed his line of sight.
"Hyperion Crouch married my Grandmother, Aphrodite Cornfoot. My Grandfather never believed in the curse, but my Grandmother did. She told her daughters about it, and I think Aunt Almina believed it. I think it scared her because she knew that she was the one who would be affected."
"But she wasn't," Harry said with a frown, "She died so young."
"Hang on a minute," Lilly cut in, "Almina wasn't the youngest in the generation – Julian was."
Daphne turned to her Grandmother.
"Grandma, would you explain why Julian doesn't count in this case?"
Aphrodite bowed her head.
"Regrettably, I had an affair and concealed this from my husband. However, Julian is not a Crouch; therefore, the curse does not apply to him."
Lilly raised an eyebrow at Daphne.
"What is he then?"
"You don't want or need to know," Daphne muttered.
"That scandalous?" Lilly asked.
"Pretty scandalous, yes," Daphne answered tartly.
Lilly knew to drop the subject, but she and Harry shared a knowing look – they wouldn't be leaving it there.
"Anyway – Almina was killed when she was 20 years old before she could reach her majority," Daphne said, clearing her throat, "So the curse continued down the main line, through my mother."
"To you and Astoria," Harry said, "But Astoria is fine."
"We don't know that," Daphne said testily, "And this will affect our children too, Thea is the youngest, and she's a girl."
Harry sighed, "Babe, I know you believe in all this supernatural stuff-"
"Supernatural stuff?" Daphne exclaimed, "Harry -we're witches and wizards! You just arrested someone for turning werewolves and vampires feral! My sister's ex-husband has 30 dragons in his back garden!"
"I know," Harry said, placing his hands on her shoulders, "But this family curse stuff? It's the stuff of legends, and you know that. I know you've worked blood curses before, but have you ever worked a family curse?"
Daphne shook her head.
"Just talk to your sister," Harry suggested, "Tell her about the box, say you've been researching the curse, and I'm sure she'll just laugh and say it's a lot of nonsense. She would have told you if she had turned into a blood-sucking monster."
"Would she have?" Daphne shot back, "I don't feel like I even know her anymore."
"Just talk to her," Harry said, "You've had a long day; we both have. Let's go to bed and look at this with fresh eyes in the morning – if you're still worried, you can head over to Astoria's flat and talk to her."
Daphne nodded.
"He's right, Daph," Lilly said, "You need some sleep."
"Fine," Daphne said, waving her wand and tidying away all of the papers.
She staked out of the room without another word, and Lilly caught Harry's eye.
"I'm worried about her, Harry."
"So am I," Harry said quietly, "I've never seen her like this before."
"I have," Lilly said darkly, "That first miscarriage she had before you adopted Alastor, you and Neville were out of the country, and she fell apart. She blamed herself, she tore apart every decision she had made, and it took all the willpower I had to convince her that sometimes terrible things just happen – there's no reason, nothing we can do about them."
Harry averted his gaze guiltily, "I'm sorry that I wasn't there."
"Don't be sorry for things that we all put in the past a long time ago," Lilly said softly, "Just make sure you are here now. Make sure you get her through this because if she's right…."
"You think she is?" Harry asked sceptically, "You don't think we would have noticed if Astoria was a vampire?"
"I have noticed," Lilly said, "I've noticed changes, lots of them. Changes in the way she talks to the people she loves, changes in the way she holds herself, changes in her temper. There are a lot of little signs there, Harry, so yes, I think Daphne might be right."
Harry sighed and rubbed his eyes.
"I hope you're wrong."
"Me too," Lilly confessed, "I don't want to be right about this one."
Harry leant down and kissed her on the cheek.
"Thanks for looking after her till I got home."
"You're welcome," Lilly said. She gave him a small half-smile then walked through the vanishing cabinet to Longbottom House.
Daphne barely said two words to Harry the following morning, so by the time he headed into the office, he was well and truly worried about what this obsession was going to do to her. He wanted to grab Draco and ask him for his advice, but by the time Harry got in, the Homicide Team were in full swing already – they had a lot of work to do in the lead up to Helena's trial.
Harry had a lot of work to do too – he hadn't done Elizabeth's appraisal the previous day in light of everything else that had happened. John had also suspended Rob rather than giving him his review, so Harry decided to start with those two.
"Excited to start your new job on Monday?" Harry asked Elizabeth casually when she walked in.
Elizabeth sat down and quirked an eyebrow up at him.
"Are you?"
"I'm excitedly shitting myself," Harry replied with a grin.
Elizabeth chuckled, "Did I hear that Kingsley is coming down for the big announcement?"
"I heard that too, so I presume that means it's true," Harry said honestly, "I'll be inundated with press conferences and meetings for the first week. It's going to be hellish."
"The price you pay for power, Harry," Elizabeth remarked.
"I don't want it because I want power," Harry said honestly, "I want change – for the better."
"That's why John thinks you're a better fit than him," Elizabeth confessed.
"How is John?"
"Oh, he's great. He just finished reading War and Peace, which is quite some achievement considering that he started it when we started Auror training," Elizabeth joked.
Harry snorted, "So he's lazing around feeling sorry for himself?"
"Precisely – it's pitiful," Elizabeth said with a roll of her eyes.
Harry chuckled, "I'm bringing Rob in off his suspension today. I'll do a return to work and his appraisal at the same time. Do you think we need to include any more special conditions in his contract for his furry little problem?"
Elizabeth smiled at his description.
"I think he already has plenty of special conditions, between not working graveyard shifts and getting paid leave around the full moon."
"So if he asks me for anything else, you think he's pushing his luck?" Harry checked.
Elizabeth looked at Harry knowingly.
"It's Rob – of course, he'll be pushing his luck."
Harry chuckled at that and got on with Elizabeth's appraisal. It took longer than most, partly because they were drinking coffee and talking about their new roles and doing the review and partially because they were interrupted three times by members of the Homicide team with questions relating to the Helena Montgomery case.
By the time they got finished, it was mid-morning. Elizabeth headed back to the CPS building to hold the fort there, and Harry called Rob in via a Patronus. He knew it would take him a little while to come in, so Harry dropped into the Homicide Office only to find it virtually empty.
"Where is everyone?" He asked Draco.
"The Juniors are getting a crash course in how to file properly by Terry," Draco said, without looking up from his paperwork, "And Jason is making sure everything in evidence is locked up securely because I do not want that box getting stolen again."
"And you're doing paperwork, go figure," Harry said with an amused smile.
Draco glanced up, "Are you okay?"
"Yeah," Harry lied, "I'm fine."
"Are you sure?" Draco raised an eyebrow, "It doesn't seem like you came in here to discuss the case."
"I did come here to check up on you, but something is preying on my mind too," Harry admitted. He leant against the desk that had once been his, "That box has the Crouch family crest on it, so Daphne thinks it's proof that this story about a curse on her family is real."
Draco looked up sharply, "What does the box have to do with the Crouch family curse?"
"You've heard of it too?" Harry asked in surprise, "Did Daphne tell you about it?"
"No, my Father did," Draco replied. He put his quill down and focused his full attention on Harry, "But I fail to see what a box that protects against vampires and werewolves could have to do with it-" his eyes widened with realisation, "- unless…it's a creature inheritance curse."
Harry said nothing but his face must have given him away.
"It turns the victim into a magical beast upon their majority?" Draco asked in disbelief, "That's ancient magic. There's no way a British family could come up with that in the 1800s. It must come from an ancient French text."
Harry made a face, "How did you do that? What are you, Sherlock fricking Holmes?"
Draco shot him an amused look.
"No – just a damn good Auror. Is it true then?"
"Of course it's not true, but Daphne thinks it is," Harry said with a shake of his head, "I tried to talk sense into her last night – there's no such thing as family curses."
"Yes, there is," Draco said sternly, "They don't crop up much anymore because they come from ancient texts, old French, ancient Greek, Roman or Egyptian. All records of the known family curses were destroyed because of the devastation they cause families. But some old wizarding families – dark ones mostly, still have copies of the ancient texts that contain them."
Harry frowned, "You seriously think it's real?"
"My father thought it was," Draco said, "And he wasn't a naïve man or a believer in divination. The marriage contract that linked me with a Greengrass specifically stated that I was to marry the eldest female unless good reason dictated that I couldn't – such as she was already married, or she was a squib. The reason for that was that he didn't want me to marry Astoria because of the curse."
"I thought she was just superstitious," Harry admitted, guilt flitting across his features.
"Has she spoken to Astoria about it?" Draco asked.
"She's doing it today but don't you think we would have noticed if Astoria had turned into a blood-sucking monster?" Harry asked him dryly.
Draco shrugged, "She's already the CEO of Greengrass Industries – what's the difference?"
Harry shot Draco an exasperated look then a knock sounded on the door. Harry turned away from Draco as the door opened, and Rob ducked his head in.
"You summoned me to your lair, my lord?"
Harry snorted, "Morning Rob – chat in the office, yeah?"
"Sure thing," Rob said. He waved at Draco, "Having fun with that paperwork, pretty boy?"
"Go back to your boring desk job, Wolfie," Draco retorted.
Harry chuckled and escorted Rob into his office before the argument could get out of hand.
"How are you feeling, Wolfie?" Harry asked, sliding a cup of coffee over to him.
"Tired, but no more than usual after a full moon," Rob answered honestly, "I'm doing alright."
Harry nodded and looked at him for a long moment, "No more stupid ideas?"
"No more stupid ideas, don't worry, kiddo," Rob said, smiling genuinely at Harry, "I'm all good."
"Good," Harry said, "You feeling okay about getting Shep back on Monday?"
"Oh yeah, I'll have to teach him how to work the Closes like a grunt, though," Rob said with a grin, "He went straight into being a hotshot Vice Auror when I got dumped in the corner with the house-elves."
Harry chuckled, "I think he'll surprise us both, you know?"
"Yeah, I reckon he might," Rob admitted.
"There's something else I need to talk to you about before we crack on with your appraisal."
Rob leant back, "Yeah?"
Harry nodded, "I don't want to say that John did a bad job as Head Auror because he didn't. He held this place together when it needed that kind of clear leadership, but I do disagree with a few of his decisions."
"Like his decision to kick me to the curb for publicity?" Rob scoffed.
"I definitely disagree with that, which is why I'm ending your suspension," Harry confessed, "But I also disagree with his decision to strip Lux of her rank. Did you ask him to do that?"
"No," Rob admitted, "I didn't want her working for me if that was how she felt. There was no way we could work in the same department if she couldn't respect my basic rights, let alone my decisions."
Harry nodded.
"But she was a good Auror – fierce, but in a good way, you know?" Rob said, "She fought for the kids in the Closes. She believed in them, and it's a rare attitude to see in an Auror – you've got to be wired a certain way to work CPS."
"I agree," Harry admitted, "Which is why I'm thinking of bringing her back. I would have knocked her back to a Junior and put her in a department like Missing Persons, but if she fought hard enough to claw back from it – I wouldn't hesitate to promote her. She could rise back up the ranks quickly, end up in Organised Crime after a year if she plays her cards right."
"You're fairer than Shep," Rob said with a smile, "Got a real Hufflepuff streak there."
"Nah, I don't do it because it's fair or because I'm the better person," Harry said, leaning back in his chair, "I do it because one day, I might need a favour from Lux Montgomery and for her to agree, I need her on my side. I do it because I don't want to isolate our people and turn them into Lucia Cross. I want them all to stay on our side, to be a part of this family."
"A real cross between a Slytherin and a Gryffindor, aren't you?" Rob chuckled.
"I was a hat stall," Harry smirked, "Had to beg the hat not to put me in Slytherin because I didn't want to end up becoming friends with Draco Malfoy. Look at how that turned out for me."
Rob barked out a laugh.
"Life can be unexpected sometimes, eh?"
"Oh, it definitely can," Harry agreed with a chuckle, "So how do you feel about me bringing Lux back and giving her a second chance?"
"I'm fine with it," Rob said honestly, "I get it – she doesn't like werewolves, and she's got good enough reason. Stripping her of her rank for one small mistake, an emotionally charged one at that, seemed a bit harsh to me too."
"Alright," Harry said, "I won't put her in CPS for obvious reasons – she has issues with you, and Shep fired her, but I'll find somewhere for her."
Rob nodded and called Harry a good kid. Harry joked that come Monday, this 'kid' would be his boss, and without further ado, they got on with his appraisal. It also took longer than most because they kept getting distracted and having conversations about other unrelated things. As such, by the time Rob headed over to CPS, it was lunchtime.
Harry planned to eat alone in his office because he didn't want to distract the Homicide team. Still, the moment he stopped concentrating on work, he started worrying about Daphne and the stupid curse, so he knocked on the door of Theo's office instead.
"One second! I'm experi – BOOM – menting."
Harry opened the door and peered in.
"You okay?"
"Yep, I was working under a shield charm," Theo said, wiping his brow and looking up at Harry, "I'm not a complete idiot."
"I didn't say you were," Harry admitted. He walked into the room and shut the door behind him, "Fancy sharing some pumpkin pasties for lunch?"
Theo grabbed one from the bag instantly.
"You not hungry?"
"Nah, not really," Harry answered, sitting down heavily in a chair that sat in the corner of the room. It was Draco's chair because he was the one who spent most of his lunch breaks in here, "What are you experimenting on?"
"These one-shot wands," Theo said with a shrug. He took a bite out of his pumpkin pasty, "They were coming along well enough until I tried to load them, but I keep getting the strength of the spell wrong. The last one was too weak – couldn't even stun a rat."
Harry snorted.
"This one was too strong. The whole wand exploded," Theo finished.
"Yeah, I heard that," Harry admitted with an amused smile.
"Seriously, dude, what are you doing in my office?" Theo asked, reaching behind him and starting to brew a pot of coffee, "I'm not complaining – it's cool to hang out with you some more and all, but you don't normally come in here sharing your food, lounging on Draco's chair and all that."
"I know, I just didn't want to spend lunch alone today," Harry said with a sigh, "Homicide is working through lunch trying to tie up all the loose ends with the Montgomery case, and I don't have Shep in the office at the moment."
"Yeah, what's going on with him?" Theo asked.
"Honestly, he's lounging on his sofa feeling sorry for himself till the big announcement on Monday," Harry said, looking up at Theo, "He's stepping down as Head Auror, and I'm taking his place."
Theo choked on his pumpkin pasty.
"For real?"
"Yeah," Harry said, "Liz is going to be my assistant head until I get my feet under the table."
"Right," Theo said, leaning back in his chair, "And why do you sound miserable about it? Head Auror at 25? Harry, mate – that's huge."
"I know, and I am excited," Harry said honestly, "I'm just worried about Daphne right now. Have you heard of this Crouch family curse?"
Theo frowned and looked up.
"Course I have – my mother was a Crouch, remember? It's how Daphne and I are related."
"Yeah, I know that," Harry said with a wave of his hand, "But I just didn't know if you knew about it."
Theo nodded, "My mother was terrified of it affecting her. I never quite understood why it would because I thought Uncle Julian was the youngest, but apparently, he's not a Crouch."
"Do you know what he was?" Harry asked, leaning forward in his chair.
Theo raised an eyebrow.
"No, but I guess you do?"
Harry nodded, "Yep, I got it out of Aphrodite's portrait last night. Julian was a Cornfoot."
Theo frowned, "Well, obviously because Aphrodite was a Cornfoot, but who was the guy?"
"Stefan Cornfoot," Harry answered.
"Her brother!"
"Her actual full-brother," Harry said with a shake of his head, "Not half-siblings like the Zabini brothers who were Death Eaters – full brothers."
"That's some Game of Thrones shit right there," Theo agreed, "Explains why Julian was batshit insane, though."
"Inbreeding, yep," Harry nodded, "Hermione get you into Game of Thrones, did she?"
"She convinced Draco to read it, then he said I'd like it since I liked Lord of the Rings," Theo said with a shrug, "Anyway, like I was saying about the curse. My mother was terrified of it; she was convinced it would turn her into a vampire."
"Yeah, Daphne's obsessed with it. She thinks it's done something to Astoria," Harry said with a frown, "But I just can't see it. There are too many instances where nothing happened – like you and Lucia, for instance."
"What d'you mean? And are you going to eat that?"
Harry shook his head and handed Theo the other pumpkin pasty.
"You and Lucia are siblings are far as the curse is concerned – both Crouch's through your mother."
Theo made a face, "I hate to be reminded of that, thanks."
"But the point is, Lucia was the youngest, and she was a female, so why didn't the curse affect her?" Harry asked.
Theo's frown deepened, "Well, it's an old pureblood curse, isn't it? Probably ancient French, so it will be all about tradition."
Harry looked at him blankly.
"It will go down the main male line," Theo said by way of explanation, "And in the absence of a male, probably just down the prominent line. It's in all of our blood, but it's only active in Daphne's line right now. If your whole family died in a freak fire or something, it would pass to my line, and it would affect my children if the youngest were a girl."
Harry looked up sharply, "Mina is the youngest, isn't she?"
"By like two minutes, yes," Theo answered, "But are you planning on dying in a freak fire anytime soon?"
"I hadn't planned on it, no," Harry said, shooting Theo an exasperated look.
"Exactly so if it's true, it will pass down to Daphne's children," Theo said.
"My children," Harry frowned.
Theo nodded, "Draco's father thought it was true – it was why he was pushing Draco so hard to court Daphne and not fuck it up. He really didn't want Draco to marry Astoria."
"Do you believe it?" Harry asked anxiously – his fear of this being real was beginning to grow.
Theo shrugged and sighed.
"Honestly, Harry? There are quite a few suspicious deaths in the family that would lend truth to the idea. I couldn't say for certain unless I'd seen evidence for myself, but yeah, it might well be true."
Harry sighed and let his head drop into his hands.
"That's what I'm afraid of, and I just can't make sense of any of this, Theo."
Theo sighed, "Simply put, your youngest child is a girl, so that means the curse will activate in her blood."
"So if we have another kid and it's a boy, then that generation is safe?" Harry asked.
Theo shot him a surprised look.
"Yes, but you can't guarantee it being a boy, can you? What if it's a girl? Then the curse would still stand, and you'd practically be Weasley's."
Harry rolled his eyes.
"Funny."
"In all seriousness, you need to find out if it's even true first before you start worrying about it," Theo said sensibly.
"I'm praying that it's not," Harry confessed, "Because if it is true…if Daphne loses Astoria because of this? It will break her heart."
"Have more faith in the Greengrass sisters," Theo said with a small smile, "Daphne ran into a burning building to get her baby sister out – there's not much those two won't do for each other."
Harry nodded, but he wished he had as much faith in them as Theo did.
* ~ TBC ~ *