* ~ The Eighth Year Universe Series ~ *
PART FIVE
Blame it on Hate
What If You Let Them All in on the Lie?
The chapter title is from the song:
Homecoming Queen by Kelsea Ballerini.
Daphne took a deep breath to control her racing heart. She wasn't scared of Astoria, and she never would be, even if the curse did prove to be true. The only thing Daphne was afraid of was losing her sister, and she had been scared of that happening ever since she told her the truth about her parentage years ago.
All the same, Daphne raised her hand and rapped hard on the door.
"Two seconds!" Astoria's voice called from inside.
Daphne took a step back and waited. She heard her sister's high-heeled shoes click across the floor then she pulled the door open. Astoria frowned when she saw Daphne.
"Daph! What brings you here?"
"Oh, just some family news," Daphne said with a wave of her hand, "Can I come in?"
Astoria stepped back to allow her sister into the flat.
"This place is nice. I never realised you kept it when you married Charlie," Daphne mused.
Astoria shrugged, "Insurance, I guess."
"Which you needed in the end," Daphne added, eying Astoria suspiciously.
Astoria sighed, "I thought you were here to talk about the family or was that just a ruse to make me feel guilty for divorcing Charlie?"
"It's not a ruse," Daphne promised, "But he's struggling. You have to know that."
"I don't talk to him. He wanted a clean break," Astoria said stiffly.
"Well, he's still living with Bill, much to Lara's chagrin," Daphne said as she opened the cupboard and pulled out a mug, "Tea?"
Astoria shook her head.
"Hm, you don't drink tea anymore?"
Astoria frowned, "Of course I still drink tea. I just don't want a cup right now."
Daphne continued to potter around the kitchen, making tea.
"I see."
"You see what?" Astoria asked irritably, "That I don't care about what Charlie is doing? He has had plenty of time to find somewhere else to stay. It's not my fault that he's so reliant on his brother."
"But he doesn't want to because he can't find anything that's right," Daphne cut in, "He's in therapy, and he's making a whole bunch of reckless decisions."
"Why do I care about this?" Astoria asked her sister irritably, "He's my ex-husband. He's not my problem anymore. I have more important things to worry about than Charlie and his reckless decisions."
"Things like?" Daphne asked.
"The business, for one," Astoria said, narrowing her eyes at Daphne, "What are you getting at here?"
"Nothing," Daphne replied. She paused and put the kettle on to boil, "I came here to tell you about a box that Harry and I found. It was related to the case he was working; you know vampires turning ripper on their familiars and werewolves going feral?"
Astoria paled a little and nodded.
"Yes, well, it was a cursed box that was doing the damage," Daphne explained, "It was originally made to protect the family who owned it against those creatures, but then somebody stole it, and its purpose reversed."
"Why is this family business?" Astoria asked curtly.
"Because the family crest on the underside was ours," Daphne remarked, "Crouch, that is."
"So?" Astoria asked irritably, "Are you here because you think I'll fight you for it? It's an old box; you can have it."
"I've already claimed it," Daphne remarked, "I just thought you would be interested to know that it exists. It lends some truth to the theory that the curse is real, don't you think?"
"No, it just means that someone believed it," Astoria remarked, "Just like Grandmother and Great Aunt Cassandra did. You heard what Grandfather said. It's an old story that the Selwyn's spread because they are nasty little liars."
Daphne crossed her arms and stared her sister down.
"Uh-huh?"
"Daphne, there is nothing wrong with me," Astoria said calmly, "I'm not cursed because the curse does not exist. You're a Curse Breaker; you ought to know that there is no such thing as family curses."
"Not true," Daphne said, pouring out the water into her cup of tea, "I haven't worked a family curse personally, but I floo-ed Bill about it this morning, and he said he'd worked two – an old French one and an Egyptian one. The one on our family was in Old French, probably because the Selwyns stole it from a French family then re-used it like the horrid little thieves that they are."
"This is a fantastic history lesson, but I do actually have an important business meeting to get to, so do you mind?" Astoria asked, gesturing to the door.
Daphne raised an eyebrow and brought her cup of tea up to her lips.
"No, Astoria. I'm afraid I can't go right now because I'm pretty sure of two things – firstly, you're lying to me. Both about your business meeting and everything else, I took the liberty of checking your schedule with your secretary before I came over here, you see?"
Astoria scowled at her sister.
"And secondly," Daphne said, putting her teacup down and bringing her wand to her wrist, "You really don't want me to cut myself right now, do you?"
Astoria laughed and crossed her arms over her chest.
"You are unreal. You really think I'm a vampire?"
"I didn't mention that part of the curse, and that part wasn't common knowledge," Daphne said, her eyes narrowing.
"Grandmother told us both everything she knew about the curse as children," Astoria said icily, "So don't try and use some twisted reverse psychology on me, Daphne. I am just as smart as you are; it won't work."
"Okay, no reverse psychology," Daphne agreed, "How about straight facts? I think you've been pulling away from everyone in recent years. I think you left Charlie because intimacy was getting difficult. I think that the reason you loved my boys but can't stand to see my girls makes sense now."
Astoria swallowed.
"Everyone was so happy for me when I fell pregnant," Daphne said, locking eyes with her sister, "It was our miracle baby – we really thought we would never have our own, and when we adopted Alastor, you were so happy for us. But when I told you I was pregnant? You were vague, and you stopped visiting. When we announced we'd had a girl, you dropped by with a gift and barely stayed for five minutes. You wouldn't even hold her."
"I just don't like babies," Astoria said weakly.
"You liked Alastor well enough," Daphne cut in, "But when I fell pregnant again, you kept asking if I thought it was a boy, and when we told you we'd had a girl, you didn't even show your goddamn face for weeks, Astoria."
Astoria looked away from Daphne guiltily.
"And that's because you know the curse is real," Daphne said hotly, "Because it has already affected you, and it's going to affect my daughter. That's why you can't stand to look at Thea because you know what's to come for her."
"Daphne-"
"So tell me right now if it's true," Daphne said simply, "Because if you lie to my face right now and I find out later that it is true, I will never forgive you. If you tell me now, then there's a chance that I can help my girls, and I swear, I'll try just as hard to help you, but you've reached your majority, so I think we both know that it might be too late for you."
Astoria said nothing.
"But if you deprive me of a chance to help my children, to save them from this," Daphne said quietly, "I swear Astoria, I will never be able to look you in the face again."
"Yes," Astoria said quietly, looking away from Daphne and taking a step back, "You're right about all of it – well, most of it anyway, I'm not a vampire. I'm not faster, I'm not stronger, I don't live longer. I just…" she shook her head.
"Have the thirst," Daphne finished.
Astoria couldn't bring herself to nod.
"And it's why you pushed me away, isn't it? It's why you divorced Charlie," Daphne pushed.
"Of course it is," Astoria said, turning to look at Daphne – tears glistening in her deep blue eyes, "How could I turn around and tell you what I am? How could you ever let me be around your children again? I couldn't talk to you about it. I couldn't talk to anyone about it."
"Astoria, you are my sister!" Daphne barked, "Like hell, I wouldn't have kept you away from your family. I would have helped you, I mean for Salazar's sake, you've struggled through this alone for three years!"
"Two years," Astoria corrected, "For some reason, the curse began to manifest itself when I turned 22, not 21. I thought I was safe, I married Charlie, and we were talking about kids, then just after my 22nd birthday, it started."
Daphne watched her warily.
"The hunger?"
Astoria nodded, "It was awful. I felt like I was dying. I lay in bed for days with stomach pains – I had to lie to Charlie and tell him it was a bad bout of food poisoning because if I said anything else, he would have forced me to go to the hospital. I had a hunch about what it was, but it wasn't confirmed until he came in to check on me one day. He had cut himself on one of the dragon's enclosures, and the hunger just became impossible to resist."
Daphne stepped forward and put her hand on Astoria's arm. Her younger sister swallowed and continued.
"So I left, and I broke into a muggle blood bank. It worked. It kept the hunger at bay, and for the first year, that kept working. I thought I would be able to live a pretty normal life, so I kept it to myself. I just didn't want to have kids, Daphne. I didn't see how I could be what I am and still be a good mother."
"You said it was okay, to begin with, but it got worse?" Daphne asked.
"This last year, when I started pushing you away and working abroad all of the time to avoid Charlie," Astoria said hoarsely, "The hunger kept getting worse, and one night, I nearly did something awful, so I went to a meeting at the S.T.V."
"The S.T.V do meetings? What is it like blood-aholics anonymous?" Daphne asked in surprise.
Astoria looked at her in disbelief.
"No. They understand the problem there, and they put you in touch with people who can help you."
"Like Healers?" Daphne asked.
"No," Astoria said, casting her gaze down, "People who have what people like me need and are willing to give it."
"So, a blood donor?"
"They're called sponsors," Astoria said irritably.
"So it's exactly like alcoholics anonymous then?"
"Daphne," Astoria snapped, "I am trying to come clean to you about all of this, but you're not making it easy!"
"I'm sorry," Daphne said genuinely, "But I'm trying to wrap my head around this. You're really telling me that you're okay? You have a special friend who you feed on, and you live your life like normal?"
"As normal as it can be, given the circumstances," Astoria said, her eyes flashing with pain for a moment, "But I had to let go of some things, and Charlie was one of them."
"You didn't even give him a chance, Tori," Daphne said softly, "You could have told him."
"No, I couldn't have," Astoria said, her voice strained, "How do you turn around and tell your husband that an ancient curse has caused you to develop a thirst for blood? Sorry Charlie, but I need to suck your blood to survive now – hope that's not too kinky for you."
Daphne tried very hard to bite back a smirk, but she failed.
"Stop smirking!"
"Sorry," Daphne said, a chuckle escaping her, "But that was funny."
A small smile tugged on the corner of Astoria's lips.
"I'm just picturing his face right now," Daphne added, another chuckle escaping her lips.
Astoria couldn't stop the smile from spreading onto her face, and she began to giggle too. That set Daphne off into a full fit of the giggles. The two girls moved closer to each other, and Daphne pulled her sister into a hug.
"It's going to be okay, Tori," Daphne promised when she managed to regain her composure. She pulled back but kept hold of her sister's hand.
"You don't have to struggle through it alone anymore."
Astoria smiled, "You really don't care?"
"I don't care, just like I wouldn't care if Harry became a werewolf," Daphne promised, "I love the people who I love, Astoria. You should know that not much else comes into the equation for me. I love them for who they are, not what gender or race they are and vampire or not, you are still my baby sister. I know I haven't always been as proud of being a Greengrass as you are but our family motto? Family First – that's what I live by."
"I'm sorry," Astoria said, biting back her emotions to stop herself crying, "I'm sorry for not telling you."
"I'm pissed off that you didn't, but I also understand," Daphne said honestly, "The only thing that we do need to talk about is Charlie."
Astoria shook her head, "That's over, Daphne."
"But it ended on false pretences," Daphne said, "You need to tell him the truth."
"No," Astoria said, her eyes flashing, "Please don't push that one. It's too late."
"You miss him, Astoria," Daphne said softly, "It's plain to see."
"It doesn't matter," Astoria said, "It's over, and however sad I feel right now, it will pass."
Daphne didn't believe that, but she dropped the subject anyway because she felt like she had put her sister through enough emotional turmoil for one afternoon.
Harry slogged through his day. The fact he hadn't had a Patronus from Daphne made him feel slightly better, but a niggle in the back of his head told him that even if there were bad news, she wouldn't bother him while he was at work.
There was plenty to distract Harry, though, mainly because of how Ophelia Wood's appraisal started.
"Before we start, I have something to tell you," Ophelia said nervously, "And I'm sorry. I know the timing sucks because you've just gotten the department where you want it and all, but I'm pregnant."
Harry smiled, "Firstly, congratulations and secondly, don't worry about it. I was actually just thinking about bringing back an Auror who I feel was unfairly dismissed, but I didn't know where to put her. If you're telling me this, you must be past the three-month mark?"
Ophelia nodded and handed him a piece of parchment, "Proof of pregnancy from my healer, along with an estimated due date."
"Perfect," Harry chirped, "You do know that from the moment you tell me, I have to bench you though, right?"
"I know – no active duty, which means I can't really keep at it in Fraud," Ophelia said.
"Exactly. I could put you on paperwork duty, but you'd get bored senseless, and it would leave Blanche without a partner. Hence, realistically I need to banish you to the training centre temporarily," Harry joked.
Ophelia laughed, "Don't worry, I knew it would happen. What role will you put me in there?"
"How is your Herbology? Katie Brown needs a new Assistant – her last one lost his hand to a venomous tentacula."
Ophelia scoffed, "Rookie mistake, right? I'd be happy working in the Herbology labs though. I could even help Katie with her research."
"She's gonna love you," Harry said with a grin, "Does Blanche know you're pregnant?"
"She was one of the first people I told," Ophelia said with a sheepish smile, "I didn't even tell Evan until I'd told Blanche."
Harry smiled, "She's a good Auror partner and a good friend. Isn't she?"
"The best – on both fronts," Ophelia said honestly.
Harry's smile widened, "Well, I'll have a chat with her about the girl I think could temporarily work Fraud with her. If you decide to come back to the main department after your maternity leave though, your old job is yours."
Ophelia nodded, "Do you think I will?"
"I think you'll just have to wait and see how you feel at the time," Harry answered, "A lot of women decide to stay at the training centre once they have kids, particularly when those kids are young. Whatever you decide, I'll back you."
"Thank you, Harry," Ophelia breathed, "I was so worried about telling Sheppard."
Harry felt oddly honoured by that. He shook his head and told her not to worry about it, then he got on with her appraisal and congratulated her one last time before she left.
On her way out, Ophelia called Blanche in, and Harry greeted her with a warm smile too.
"Good afternoon, Blanche."
"Good afternoon, Harry," Blanche remarked in the same tone. She settled herself in the chair opposite his desk.
"How do you feel about Ophelia's happy news?" Harry asked, knowing fine well what her answer would be.
Blanche rolled her eyes, "Babies. Why does everyone have them right now?"
"I remember you gushing to everyone who would listen about Hope," Harry reminded her with a smirk.
Blanche made a face.
"Hardly. I might have shown her picture around the training centre a few times, but I didn't gush."
"Uh-huh," Harry said, "Are you pissed off about it because you know I've got to transfer Fee to the centre or because everyone's having babies and Ginny won't sleep with you?"
Blanche crossed her arms.
"Is this my appraisal – really?"
"Your appraisal hasn't started yet," Harry remarked as he hid an amused grin.
"Yes, the fact she's getting transferred sucks," Blanche admitted, "She's a good partner, and I'll miss her."
"Well, I can sort that part out," Harry said, "I can't make Ginny sleep with you, though."
Blanche sighed, "Seriously, though, if we're off the record?"
"We are," Harry promised.
"We never had an exclusive relationship. She's married to my brother, but I love her, and I thought she loved me too," Blanche shrugged, "It is literally the longest relationship I've ever held down, but if she wants to do this whole domestic shit with Blaise, then I can sleep with someone else too, right?"
"I'm not answering that question," Harry remarked.
"Because you're my boss?"
"Because I don't want to get on the wrong side of Ginny Weasley," Harry retorted, "And yes, I know she's Ginny Zabini now, but when she's threatening to bat bogey me, she's still that terrifying girl I used to date a hundred lifetimes ago."
Blanche sighed and leant back in her chair.
"I have needs, Harry, and she's getting hers fulfilled by my goddamn brother. I swear if Mandy from accounts chats me up one more time this week, I'm going to go there."
Harry snorted, "Look, just talk to Ginny. I'm sure if you explain the problem, she won't have a problem with you fulfilling your needs elsewhere. But can we get onto the actual work part of this work chat now?"
"Yeah, I suppose so," Blanche said grudgingly.
"I have a replacement lined up for Fee," Harry promised, "I'm thinking of bringing back an Auror who I feel was unfairly dismissed. She'll be coming back as a Junior which-"
"Which means I'll have three Juniors to babysit?" Blanche asked irritably, "What am I, a freaking nanny?"
"If you had let me finish," Harry said pointedly, "Which means you will technically have three Juniors, but she's not young and inexperienced. She's been an Auror for years. She just had to have her rank stripped because she was dismissed."
Blanche sighed, "I'll consider it. Who are we talking about?"
"Lux Montgomery," Harry answered.
Blanche bit her lip.
"Is that going to be a problem?" Harry asked.
"Uh, not professionally," Blanche replied evasively.
Harry raised an eyebrow at her.
"Lux and I are the same age," Blanche admitted, "And we were both in Slytherin, so we shared a dorm room for seven years."
"So?" Harry asked bluntly.
"So we have a history, and I'm pretty sexually frustrated right now," Blanche said matter of factly, "And I mean look at her – she's hot."
"Well, this explains your crush on Daphne," Harry joked.
Blanche shot him an exasperated look.
"Blanche – I don't give a shit if you sleep with her as long as you get good work done and you keep quiet about it," Harry said honestly, "She's coming in for a chat on Monday, and if she's happy to come back, I'll pull you two into the duelling room to make sure you can work together. Sound okay?"
"Yep," Blanche said with a far-off look in her eyes.
"Stop fantasising," Harry said with a snort of amusement, "We've got an appraisal to do."
"Right," Blanche said, clearing her throat, "Yep – appraisal?"
Harry chuckled and got on with Blanche's appraisal. Once they had finished, he brought in her older brother, Blaine, and did his review. When that one got signed and sealed, Harry breathed a sigh of relief – no more appraisals for another year.
That, of course, meant that it was time for him to go home and with the mood Daphne had been in when he left that morning, he felt a little apprehensive about that.
Harry breathed a sigh of relief when he heard laughter from the entrance hall of Potter Manor. That was an encouraging sign. He followed it into the kitchen, where Daphne and Astoria were drinking red wine together.
"Evening, ladies," Harry said with a smile.
"Hey, babe," Daphne replied, kissing him on the cheek, "We ordered dinner in tonight. I thought the elves could use a night off. There are leftovers in the oven for you."
"Uh, thanks," Harry said. He looked around the kitchen, "Where are the kids?"
"Oh, they're having a sleepover at Longbottom House," Daphne replied, "Astoria and I decided we were well overdue a catch-up."
Harry smiled, "Well, I'm glad that your freak-out about Astoria being a blood-sucking monster led to you two bonding, I suppose."
Daphne and Astoria shared a look, but Harry missed it because he was walking across the kitchen to grab the take-out from the oven.
"Yeah, about that-" Daphne began.
"You're very suspicious, you purebloods," Harry said with a wave of his hand, "And I seem to be the only one who didn't know about this bloody curse. Draco knew about it – it's the real reason his father wanted him to marry you instead of Astoria, Daphne. Can you believe that?"
"Yes, well-" Daphne tried to say.
"And Theo had heard of it too, which makes a bit more sense, his mother being a Crouch and all," Harry continued, "He said there was a lot of evidence to support it, but it's obviously a lot of nonsense because look at you, Astoria – there's nothing wrong with," he looked up as she sipped from her wine glass.
"What's in that glass?"
"Not red wine," Daphne said, looking at Harry in exasperation, "The curse is real."
Harry paled significantly.
"Uh…what?"
"Astoria drinks blood now," Daphne said, sipping her wine, "She has a sponsor. She goes to her meetings like a good girl. You two could bond over that."
Harry frowned and looked between the sisters incredulously.
"Right – firstly, I don't think you can compare being a vampire to being an alcoholic-"
"Oh, you can, darling," Astoria remarked, "Addiction is addiction at the end of the day."
Harry's frown deepened, "Also – where the hell did you get that blood from?"
"Local hospital," Daphne said offhandedly, "It's a temporary measure until Astoria feels comfortable with us meeting her sponsor."
"What's her sponsor got to do with it?!"
"Rather a lot," Astoria replied, "I suppose another name for her would be my familiar."
"Oh," Harry said, his eyes widening, "Oh right…oh!"
Astoria shot Daphne an amused look.
"Is he getting slower with age?"
"I think he might be," Daphne said, cocking her head at her husband.
Harry shook his head, "Okay, so the curse is real. Astoria is a vampire, and we're fine with that. Of course, we're fine with that. We're a very liberal family."
Daphne raised an eyebrow at him.
"Why the hell aren't we panicking about this happening to Thea?" Harry asked, looking directly at Daphne.
"Because we haven't just been getting drunk all day," Daphne said, "Well, I have been getting pretty drunk actually because, as it turns out, you can't get drunk on blood."
Astoria shrugged, "I've been interspersing it with wine."
Harry watched this interaction, completely dumbfounded.
"We broke into Crouch House," Daphne said, getting to the point.
Harry looked at her in disbelief.
"Crouch House? Your Uncle Julian's place? Where even is that?"
"In Somerset. Honestly, does he know nothing of our family history?" Astoria tutted.
"Sweetie, he barely knows his own family history," Daphne retorted.
"You're a bitch when you're drunk," Harry muttered, pushing himself onto the work surface to survey the two sisters, "And why did you break into Crouch House?"
"You ask so many questions," Astoria said with a shake of her head, "Do you honestly expect us to answer all of them?"
"Unless you want me to put you in handcuffs, then yes," Harry remarked calmly.
"Whatever you and Daphne do in the bedroom, do keep it between yourselves," Astoria retorted.
Daphne choked on her wine, and Harry raised an eyebrow at Astoria.
"Coming from you? I don't even want to know what vampires do in the bedroom."
"First of all, that is offensive," Astoria said calmly, "Secondly – I am not a vampire. I am merely cursed with the thirst for human blood."
"A trait associated exclusively with vampires," Harry pointed out.
"Not exclusively – to name a few other creatures that drink human blood – the Baobhan Sith, a Scottish fairy who sleeps with her victims then drinks their blood. The Lamashtu, a Mesopotamian Demoness who drank the blood of children. The Lamia, a Greek monster which is a cross between a vampire and a succubus."
"Right, you're really not helping your case because all of those things sound like they prey on men by sleeping with them and drinking their blood," Harry pointed out, "But I suppose minus the blood part that's just a Slytherin woman."
Daphne threw a curse at him.
"Oi!" Harry objected as he ducked.
"Don't use magic while drunk, you lunatic."
"You deserved that," Astoria said, sipping her blood casually.
"How are we so chilled out about this?" Harry asked in disbelief.
"Because she's still Astoria, regardless of her new tastes," Daphne remarked, "Now if you're done flirting with her-"
"That is categorically not what I was doing," Harry interjected.
"You just called her a succubus."
"Uh, I didn't, and if that's your idea of flirting, then I think I'm actually a little concerned," Harry cut in.
Astoria chuckled under her breath, and Daphne raised an eyebrow at Harry.
"Do you want to know what we found in Crouch House or not?"
"When you illegally broke in, you mean?" Harry quipped.
"What is your problem with that?"
"I'm the Head Auror! I'm sorry that I have a problem with my wife and her vampire sister breaking the law!"
Astoria rolled her eyes at Daphne.
"I don't know why you married a Gryffindor."
"You married one too," Daphne reminded her.
Astoria's eyes flashed with something akin to guilt or longing, but she covered it up quickly.
"Since when are you the Head Auror anyway?"
"Not until Monday technically, so don't go telling the press," Harry said.
Astoria scoffed, "Why would I? It's not like I need the money."
"Wow, how incredibly pretentious of you," Harry said smoothly.
"Again with the flirting," Daphne said, sipping her wine.
"That's not flirting!" Harry said in disbelief, "I was insulting her. Why do Slytherins think insults count as flirting?"
Daphne shot Harry an amused look.
Harry frowned, "Why are you looking at me like…" he trailed off and shook his head as it dawned on him.
"No way."
"Yes, way," Daphne replied.
"Draco thought I was flirting with him all the way through school?"
Astoria snorted, "Darling, you were flirting with him all the way through school. Anyone who saw the little scared Potter? You wish duel play out could see that."
"I was not flirting with him!" Harry said firmly, "Potters do not flirt with Malfoys."
"No, they save that for Greengrass's apparently," Daphne said, her eyes sparkling with amusement as she teased her husband.
"If you two are quite done bickering, do you want to know what we found at Crouch Manor?"
"Yes," Harry said quickly, "I would very much like to move on to that part of the conversation."
Astoria smiled in amusement, "We found a document about the curse, and there is a section on breaking it."
Harry looked up eagerly.
"So, how do we break it?"
"We don't know," Astoria admitted sheepishly.
"Neither of us can read Ancient French, and Lilly can't either," Daphne said with a sigh, "As soon as we can find someone who can though, then we'll know how to lift it."
"Will that make you stop being a- " Harry cut himself off when he saw the look Astoria was giving him, "- uh, with you liking blood so much?"
"No," Astoria answered, "I have already reached my majority; it's too late for me."
"Right," Harry said awkwardly, "You know, the fact you could kill me with a single bite, literally, suddenly makes you less of a cute little 5-foot thing and more of a terrifying thing."
Astoria looked at him sceptically.
"You think you would taste good? Do you have any idea how much crap you have in your blood? Basilisk venom, remnants of Horcrux, god, you'd make me throw up."
Daphne buckled over with laughter at this.
Harry looked moderately offended.
"Harsh," he muttered.
"The point I was making before you interrupted was that while it is too late for me, if we can lift the curse now, it will help your children," Astoria said.
Harry glared at Daphne, and she managed to stop cackling.
"Do you think you can lift it?"
"If I can translate the old French then, of course, I can," Daphne said, forcing a serious expression onto her face, "And I think between the three great minds in that family, the Black-Notts can help."
"Which one doesn't have a great mind…Sadie?"
Daphne scoffed, "No, don't insult Sadie like that. Draco is the dim one; he's the one who flunked every pureblood etiquette class his mother ever threw at him. Hermione is just brilliant, and Sadie and Theo know everything there is to know about old pureblood traditions and, therefore, old pureblood languages."
"If you two are such perfect purebloods, what's your excuse?" Harry countered.
"I cannot do languages," Astoria said, "It's embarrassing considering how often I work abroad, but I'm lazy, so I rely on translation charms. Now Daphne, what were you doing in the summer before sixth year when you should have been learning ancient French?"
Harry made a face, "Is this the same reason why Draco can't read ancient French?"
Astoria smirked, "Yes, Harry, it is. While they both should have been at home studying, they were sneaking around the grounds of each other's houses studying other things."
Daphne shot Astoria a long-suffering look, "Yes, I am the rebel of the family. I was the one who was sneaking around with my boyfriend, definitely not studying and therefore neither Draco nor I can read ancient French."
Harry snorted, "I can't talk. I wasn't much better when Ginny and I started dating. Teenage hormones, right?"
Astoria rolled her eyes, "Some of us waited until our seventh year to go there."
"Not all of us are such good girls, Astoria," Daphne said with an overly polite smile.
"Okay," Harry cut in before the sisters could start arguing, "We can talk to the Black-Notts about this tomorrow. We'll head over to Grimmauld Place, and we'll have a chat about the curse."
"But we can't tell them that Astoria's a vampire," Daphne said.
"If we tell them that the curse is real, then they're going to work that out for themselves," Harry pointed out, "Those aforementioned brilliant minds, remember?"
"Oh," Daphne realised, "Oh shit. They will, won't they?"
"How much has she had to drink?" Harry asked Astoria.
"A bottle of wine," Astoria answered.
Harry rolled his eyes.
"Please tell me this was after you broke into Crouch House."
"It was. We opened it to celebrate finding a way to lift the curse," Astoria said matter of factly.
"You still haven't told me how you broke in," Harry said, looking between them suspiciously.
"With ease – Uncle Julian is dead, remember? Lucia killed him ages ago, so the house is empty," Astoria shrugged.
"Firstly – that literally just happened, and you are showing no sympathy whatsoever. Is that a vampire thing?" Harry asked, narrowing his eyes at Astoria.
"No, Harry," Astoria said condescendingly, "It's an 'Uncle Julian was a great fucking prick thing', okay?"
Daphne snorted in amusement.
Harry pointed at his wife.
"You, behave."
Daphne rolled her eyes.
"Secondly - you broke into your dead Uncles house-"
"Oh, stop making it a big, illegal thing-"
"It's morally wrong above all else!"
Daphne scoffed, "Hardly, he was a dickhead. Anyway, the house is basically ours, so I don't think you can call it breaking and entering."
"It's actually the property of the Ministry until the paperwork can all go through or until the investigators find a will," Harry reminded them, "So you broke into Ministry property which is not only illegal, it's treason."
"Semantics," Daphne said with a roll of her eyes, "The point is that the investigators will find that the house falls into the hands of the eldest living relative. Julian's parents are dead, so they will look to his siblings – the only surviving one of whom is Mother. Shewon't get the house on account of her being in prison for murder like the bitch that she is. That means it will fall into the hands of the eldest siblings, eldest child, which is me."
"Well done for making that almost make sense," Harry remarked dryly, "That's pretty impressive considering how drunk you are."
"Thank you," Daphne said proudly.
"Astoria, you're an irresponsible sister," Harry added.
"I'm the younger sister. I'm not supposed to be responsible," Astoria smirked.
Harry shook his head, "I swear dealing with two when you're on the same side is worse than dealing with feuding Aurors, and I've had enough of that today as it is. It seems being Head Auror, or acting Head Auror as it stands right now, just makes people want to tell me things."
He waved his hands around as he ranted.
"Ophelia's pregnant, which is great news for her, but it means I need to reshuffle the department and give Blanche a new partner. Only Blanche wants to screw her new partner because Ginny won't sleep with her anymore. I mean, I get it, if I were Blanche, I'd be pissed off too, and Lux is attractive, you have to admit – but why am I the go-to agony Aunt?"
"Lux?" Astoria cut in, "Montgomery?"
"Yeah, she's going to become Blanche's new partner when I re-instate her," Harry said offhandedly.
"She will find her hard to resist," Astoria said, shooting Daphne an amused look, "You're basically her type."
"She does like blondes," Daphne admitted.
"Unlike you and your taste for redheaded women," Astoria cut in.
"Two," Daphne said in disbelief, "That doesn't count as a pattern."
"Three," Astoria and Harry echoed.
Daphne frowned, "Who was the third one? Oh… Susan. Shit, don't tell her I forgot her."
Harry snorted in amusement.
"Does this earth-shattering revelation that you suck blood mean you're going to come clean to Charlie, Tori?"
Astoria shook her head, "There wouldn't be any point. It's over, and with any luck, he's well on his way to getting over me."
"Trust me, he isn't," Harry interjected.
"Told you," Daphne said in a sing-song voice, "She doesn't need a husband anymore though. She has her blood donor."
"Sponsor!" Astoria snapped.
"Is he hot?" Harry joked.
"She is very agreeable on the eyes," Astoria said, a smirk slipping onto her face.
"I did not know that you were so…flexible…in that department," Harry said diplomatically.
"How can she not be? She's related to me," Daphne reminded him.
Harry snorted in amusement.
"Is she a muggle?"
"She's a squib, and she's a very nice person – I might let you meet her one day if you promise to be on your best behaviour," Astoria said to both of them.
"So, are you like….dating?" Harry asked.
"You're such a woman," Daphne muttered.
"You are fond of gossiping, and no, we're not together," Astoria replied, "It's just difficult to avoid intimacy with someone you have that sort of relationship with."
"I can understand that. Drinking someone's blood is pretty intimate," Harry mused.
Astoria chuckled, "He's taking it better than you thought he would."
"Hmm," Daphne agreed, "I thought you might have fainted, love."
"Fainted?" Harry scoffed, "I defeated Lord Voldemort in battle – several times."
"You also fainted when Teddy fell off his broom and broke his leg last year," Daphne pointed out.
"His bone was sticking out! It had nothing to do with the blood; there was an actual bone sticking out of his body!" Harry exclaimed.
"Yes, well, you were still a pussy about it-"
"Right, that's enough – you're going to bed," Harry commanded.
Daphne raised an eyebrow at him.
"Are you going to escort me there?"
Harry rolled his eyes and looked at Astoria.
"I'm going to throw your state of a sister into bed. Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," Astoria said honestly, "I really am managing it."
"I'm sorry, you know?" Harry said, "That breaking the curse won't help you."
Astoria shrugged, "These things are meant to test us. I'll be fine."
"Just don't struggle on your own anymore though," Harry said, "We're here, and we won't judge you."
Astoria smiled and thanked him. Then Daphne started getting woozy. Harry shot Astoria an exasperated look and transported Daphne upstairs to bed, where she promptly passed out.
* ~ TBC ~ *