* ~ The Eighth Year Universe Series ~ *
PART FIVE
Blame it on Hate
I Can't Do Anything Except Be in Love With You
The chapter title comes from the song:
Romeo & Juliet by Dire Straits.
"Morning," Neville said with a tired smile when Harry and Daphne walked into the kitchen of Longbottom House.
"Mummy!"
"Dad!"
Harry was hugged and bombarded with questions about English Kings by Teddy, who was working on that at school. On the other hand, Daphne had Alastor and Andrea both throw themselves at her at the same time.
"Were you guys good for Aunt Lilly and Uncle Nev?" She asked after she had picked them up.
Andrea nodded, "Yep! Yep!"
"Thea cried," Alastor said.
Neville chuckled, "Thea did cry, didn't she? But she's okay now."
Thea looked quite happy as she lay on the floor, trying to catch magical butterflies that were hovering and fluttering around her.
"Was she hard work?" Daphne asked guiltily.
Neville shook his head and slid a plate of scrambled eggs over to Alastor.
"There you go, buddy."
"Thanks, Uncle Nev!"
"She was up twice," Neville replied, "I got up with her and let Lil sleep. The first time she wanted a bottle, and the second time she just wanted a hug which was fine."
Harry smiled gratefully.
"Thanks so much for having them last night, Nev."
"Don't sweat it," Neville remarked, "You guys want breakfast?"
"Oh god, breakfast would be amazing," Daphne said. She was already helping herself to coffee, "Where's Lil?"
"Throwing up," Neville replied with an amused look.
"That's what you were doing this morning," Harry teased, "You're not pregnant though, just hungover."
"Ha-ha," Daphne said dryly. She sipped her coffee and sighed appreciatively, "You make the best coffee in England, Neville."
"Yeah, go on chat him up. He didn't have to drag your drunk arse to bed last night," Harry joked under his breath.
Neville snorted, "I thought you were helping Astoria come to terms with her little problem?"
"Hmm," Harry mused, helping himself to some coffee, "They bonded over breaking and entering, did you hear?"
Daphne rolled her eyes.
"Hardly."
"You broke into a property that the Ministry seized upon the death of your Uncle," Neville said, flipping some eggs in a pan, "So technically, that's treason."
"See?" Harry said smugly.
"You Aurors and your moral compasses," Daphne tutted.
Harry shook his head at Neville when Daphne turned away from him.
"How were the other three terrors?" Harry asked his best friend.
"Good as gold, they went to bed, and we didn't hear a peep out of them till this morning," Neville answered, suppressing a yawn, "How is Astoria?"
"She's fine," Daphne said, sipping her coffee, "Remarkably fine, all things considered."
"She was drinking blood out of a wine glass in my kitchen last night, so I guess 'fine' depends on your definition of the word," Harry muttered under his breath.
Neville raised an eyebrow at Harry.
"She's not hurting anyone, is she?"
"Exactly," Daphne agreed, "If she says she's fine, then she's fine - I trust her."
"Even though she kept this from you for two years?" Harry asked in disbelief.
"She was scared!" Daphne remarked, "Can you blame her?"
Harry sighed, "No, I'd be terrified if something like that started happening to me."
"Exactly, so stop being judgemental – like you said last night, we're a very liberal family," Daphne said matter of factly, "And a very morally grey one too. You and Neville used dark blood magic to become brothers. Lilly and I are very friendly, your adopted Dad is a werewolf, and now my sister drinks blood."
Neville shot her an amused look.
"You could have just said that she was a vampire."
"Uh-uh," Harry said, shaking his head and swallowing his mouthful of coffee, "You can't call her that. She's very touchy about the 'V' word."
"Because it's not true, technically speaking," Daphne added, "She has the affliction, but she's not faster or stronger, and she doesn't live longer."
"So she's got the shitty parts without the good parts?" Neville scoffed, "That's hardly fair."
"It's called a curse for a reason, Neville," Daphne pointed out.
Lilly snorted from the doorway at that.
"Is she okay?"
"She's okay," Daphne promised, "But I'm going to keep a close eye on her from now on."
Lilly nodded and stepped into the kitchen. She made a face.
"Oh, Nev – have you been making scrambled eggs?"
"Al asked for them, sorry."
Lilly went rather green, so Harry quickly cast a spell to remove the odour from the air. Lily breathed out a sigh of relief.
"Ugh, thanks, Harry."
"Experience," Harry chuckled, "You okay?"
"I'm so done with morning sickness," Lilly groaned, "But hey – at least I'm not a vampire, right?"
"Yeah, you can't call her that," Daphne said, "She doesn't like it."
Lilly made a face, "Since when do I do what Astoria wants?"
"Since never – you two don't like each other, do you?" Harry mused.
"She's never liked me much; I didn't quite work out why," Lilly admitted, "Maybe I'm just too rough for her."
Harry bit back a suggestive comment and got glared at by Lilly anyway.
"What? I didn't say it!"
"I could hear you thinking it," Lilly said, hitting him over the head with the prophet.
"And for the record, I still feel sorry for her," Lilly added, "And for Charlie. I doubt she'll tell him the truth, and I feel like he deserves it."
"I do too, but it's her truth to tell, not ours," Daphne said with a shrug, "If she decides not to tell Charlie, that's her choice."
"It's the wrong choice," Harry muttered.
"It's still her choice," Daphne said firmly.
Harry rolled his eyes as Neville slid a plate of food over to him.
"Thanks, Nev – what are you guys doing today?"
"Sleeping," Neville replied with a chuckle, "Your daughter is the cutest little sleep-stealer I've ever met, but I'm still knackered."
Lilly laughed too, "I need to head to Diagon for some stuff. What about you guys?"
"We're going to take this lot over to Grimmauld Place," Daphne said, gesturing to the kids who were all munching their breakfast, "I'm hoping between them, the Black-Notts can work out how to lift the curse."
"I'm sorry that I couldn't," Lilly said guiltily, "I feel like I should be able to work it out because I can read French, but I can't read that."
"Don't worry about it," Daphne promised her, "I can read French too, but all I can make out is one word."
"What word?" Harry asked curiously.
"Family," Daphne admitted, "It's repeated above where it says a curse shall fall on the Crouch family, so I know it's the same word. I can't make out anything else though."
"If the Black-Notts can't work it out, you could always ask Bill?" Lilly suggested.
"He can't read it either," Daphne said grudgingly, "The last time he worked a case with an ancient French text, he got Fleur to translate for him."
"And they haven't been on the best terms since Bill and Lara became a thing," Neville finished, "But I bet my right leg that Hermione can translate it."
"And if she can't, Sadie will be able to," Lilly added, grabbing Daphne's hand, "You'll work it out."
Daphne nodded. Suddenly she felt very disinterested in her breakfast, "Yeah, I hope so."
When the Potter clan traipsed into Grimmauld Place, they stepped out into a chaotic drawing-room. The noisy room was full of laughter and shrieking, the cause of which was apparent immediately – Theo was playing "Twister" with the kids.
"Mum, can we join in?" Teddy asked eagerly.
"Go for it, baby," Daphne laughed.
Teddy ran straight over to Almina and Charlus, with who he had always been friendly. Alastor and Andrea followed their big brothers lead, as they always did, and Harry chuckled in amusement and held Thea close to his chest.
"Hey!" Hermione said brightly, "What brings you guys here?"
"Oh, just the entertainment," Daphne joked, gesturing at Theo.
Hermione rolled her eyes.
"He's impossible, but the kids love it."
Daphne shook her head and smiled fondly at her cousin.
"We just came by for a chat and a coffee as long as you don't have any plans?"
"We don't, and it's lovely to see you all," Sadie said with a smile, "Can I steal your adorable baby for a while?"
"Go crazy," Harry said, handing Thea over to Sadie.
"Oh, you are just the tiniest and cutest!" Sadie said in a ridiculous baby voice.
Hermione chuckled, "I'll get an elf to make coffee."
Harry put his arm around Daphne and looked around the drawing-room.
"It does my heart good to see so much fun and laughter in this place, you know?"
"Not the memory that you had of it, is it?"
Harry turned to look at Draco.
"No – it's not. I remember it filled with dark magic. It was a prison for Sirius…his last prison."
"Is that why you could never live here?" Draco asked curiously.
Harry nodded, "Too many bad memories. You aren't going to sell it, are you?"
"No, we'll keep it as our London residence," Draco replied. He cracked a smirk, "If Hermione starts to become impossible, I'll run away here."
"Don't joke, that might well happen with her campaign going how it is," Sadie said under her breath.
"It's not going badly, is it?" Harry asked in an undertone.
"It's going fine. She'll get the bloody seat," Draco said with a roll of his eyes, "But it's not going as well as she wanted it to, so she thinks she's failing herself."
"She's a chronic over-achiever. Get used to it mate," Harry said bluntly.
"Well said, boss," Theo teased. He wiped the sweat from his brow, "That's a damn work out by the way."
"For an ex-Auror who pushes paper these days, I'm not surprised," Draco cut in, smirking at Theo.
"Oh, that's how we're playing this, huh?" Theo retorted, "This paper pusher is an inventor, thank you very much. Up for an Order of Merlin too."
Draco raised an eyebrow at Theo, "Need I remind you that I am also up for an order of Merlin? For bravery and valour, Theo."
Theo took a step closer to Draco, "I could still take you in a duel."
Draco smirked and took a step closer to Theo, "Like hell you could."
"Boys, quit flirting," Sadie said musically, "We have company."
Draco scoffed, "That wasn't flirting."
"Yes, it was," Daphne smirked, "I was rather reminded of our second year, weren't you?"
Harry rolled his eyes, "For the last time, you Slytherins are twisted. Insults are not flirting."
Draco and Theo shared a look and shrugged.
Hermione returned with the tray of coffee and looked at the distance (there wasn't much of it) between Draco and Theo, "Are you two flirting again?"
"Oh, they were just re-enacting the duel from second year with Theo in the role of Harry," Daphne said with an amused smirk.
Hermione chuckled and gave a flawless impression of Draco, "Scared, Potter?"
Daphne grinned and did her best impression of Harry, "You wish."
"Am I the only one who found that kind of hot?" Theo asked, earning himself a slap around the head from Sadie.
"Yeah, I probably deserved that," Theo admitted, rubbing his head.
Harry chuckled, "I'll get you in the duelling room on Tuesday, Theo. We'll see how rusty you are. With any luck, you might be able to beat one of the Juniors."
Theo whistled, "Oh, just you wait."
Hermione shot him an amused look, "You got out of breath fixing the lawnmower yesterday, Theo. Good luck taking anyone in a duel."
They all had a bit of a laugh at Theo's expense and helped themselves to mugs of coffee. While the kids climbed all over each other and giggled like maniacs, the adults sat down by the fire.
"They don't quite get the game, do they?" Hermione asked with a smile.
"Ah, they're having fun – leave them to it," Theo said with a wave of his hand.
Harry chuckled and turned to his friends.
"We do sort of have an ulterior motive for visiting. The main one being that I have an announcement to make, but most of you know already anyway. As of Monday, I'm Head Auror."
"You're right, we all knew," Hermione said with a proud smile, "But congratulations."
"Which one of you couldn't keep it to yourself?" Harry asked, looking between Draco and Theo.
Theo grimaced, "Guilty. I told Sadie last night, and she told Hermione."
Draco shook his head, "You would make a terrible politician. I've known for days, and I kept it to myself."
"Sorry," Theo cringed.
Harry laughed, "It's fine. I just wanted you all to hear it from me before the press runs a huge story on it because they will, whether I want them to or not."
"And on another note," Daphne said over the rim of her coffee mug, "Can any of you read ancient French text?"
Hermione frowned, "I could probably pick out certain words if that's of any help to you?"
"I know a spell which would translate it into a more modern dialectic, but it still wouldn't match up with modern French," Sadie added.
"I could probably read it anyway after you translated it, Sade," Theo finished, "I know most French dialectics."
Draco shrugged, "I can't read French."
"See?" Daphne said to Harry, "I told you he was the stupid one."
"I am not the stupid one!" Draco objected.
"And I know the real reason that neither of you can read French," Harry pointed out.
Hermione looked between Draco and Daphne.
"Why can neither of them read French? Daphne lived in France for years."
"I can read basic French," Daphne admitted, "But I sort of skipped the ancient French class."
"Yeah, so did I," Draco said sheepishly.
"Why?" Hermione asked, looking from one to the other, "What were you doing instead?"
"Each other, I suspect," Sadie said calmly.
Draco choked on his coffee, "Sadie!"
"What? She's not wrong, is she? We were supposed to learn ancient French before sixth year when you were far more interested in discovering other things," Theo said, waggling his eyebrows at Draco.
Hermione snorted in amusement. Once upon a time, this revelation would have made her jealous, but she was secure in her relationship with Draco these days.
"So because you were so horny as teenagers, neither of you can read ancient French, which as you have just discovered is more of an important skill than you thought it was at 16 years of age?"
"Precisely," Daphne remarked, "Thank you for your understanding, Hermione."
Hermione shook her head in amusement.
"And now you're siblings," Theo said with a wicked grin.
"Step-siblings!" Draco and Daphne said in unison.
Theo snorted, "Oh come on, ever since your parents got married, you have been acting like siblings."
"Theo, don't add fuel to the fire," Hermione muttered, elbowing Theo painfully in the ribs.
"Ouch," Theo hissed, "Did I really deserve that, princess?"
"You normally do," Sadie interjected.
Draco shook his head at their antics.
"What do you want them to translate?"
"This," Daphne said, holding out an old, fragile piece of parchment.
Theo took it and sat down on the largest sofa. Hermione and Sadie sat on either side of him and had a good look at the document.
"You want us to translate the Crouch Curse?" Theo asked, looking up at her.
"Specifically the bottom section on how to lift it," Daphne added, knowing fine well what can of worms that would open.
"But…" Sadie looked at her friend, "That means it's real. You wouldn't need to break it if it wasn't."
"That's right," Daphne agreed.
"And if it's real, that means Astoria is…?" Theo left it hanging there.
"A vampire," Draco finished.
"Afflicted with a thirst for blood – she doesn't like the term 'vampire'. It offends her," Harry said offhandedly.
Theo cursed under his breath.
"Is she okay?"
"She's managing as best she can," Daphne said honestly, "She has pushed a lot of people away, and she feels like she has had to sacrifice some things to make it work."
"Like Charlie," Hermione said quietly.
"She didn't tell him, but she thinks she knows how he would react," Daphne said with a shrug, "We both advised her to tell him the truth, but she doesn't see the point. They are divorced now. It's over and done with."
"But Charlie's still completely in love with her," Hermione said.
"We know that, and I think Astoria does too, but she doesn't want to hurt him or be hurt again," Daphne said honestly, "If she tells him and he rejects her, it might just break her heart beyond repair."
"I can understand that," Hermione reasoned, looking back to the document in front of them.
"Lifting the curse won't help Astoria, will it?" Draco asked, "She's already turned 21."
"Yes," Daphne said with a sigh, "It's too late for her, but it's not too late for our children."
"Our children?" Draco said.
"Those descended from Crouch's," Theo said without looking up from the document, "She means my kids technically, but they're all our kids, let's be real."
Draco looked over the kids who were still having a ball with the twister mat.
"It affects the youngest in the generation though, doesn't it?"
Harry nodded and looked at Thea, who was burbling away in Sadie's arms.
"That's Thea."
Sadie looked at the little girl in her arms.
"There's no way we're letting you turn into a blood-sucking monster, Theodora – we'll work it out."
Daphne smiled at her friend.
"You're the only person who calls her that, you know?"
"I think she should be proud of her namesake," Sadie said with a warm smile, "He's pretty great, after all."
"Yeah, he's not so bad," Daphne agreed.
"You're just saying that because I'm doing something nice for you, aren't you?" Theo quipped.
"Not entirely," Daphne replied. She walked around the sofa and wrapped her arms around Theo's neck, "You're my favourite cousin."
"I'm your only cousin," Theo snorted.
"Exactly," Daphne added, kissing him on the cheek.
Theo shot her an amused look, "This should be pretty easy to translate, so sit tight, and we'll tell you what it says."
"Theo, I love you!" Daphne said gratefully.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm fantastic, I know," Theo said with a wave of his hand, "Hermione – what can you get out of this?"
"This is the sentence we need to translate," Hermione said, pointing towards the bottom of the page, "I can make out the words 'family' and 'enemy'."
"Alright, Sade – do your nifty little trick," Theo said.
Sadie pulled her wand out from behind her ear and did a funny little wand movement with it, then spoke softly. The charm lifted the words off the page. They then began to shift and change before their very eyes.
"You are so good with tricky little charms like that," Harry said in amazement.
"You should have seen her ward our bathroom hideout during the war," Draco said with a proud smile.
"I've never seen magic like it, and she invented it in a couple of weeks," Theo agreed, shooting his wife an equally proud smile.
Sadie's spell ended, and she rolled her eyes.
"It wasn't that brilliant."
"Yes, it was," Daphne said, cocking her head at the writing in the air, "That's not modern French."
"Nah, it's a local dialect from around the 18th century," Theo said as he studied the writing, "It probably originates from Normandy."
"How can you tell?" Hermione asked, amazed by this.
"Little things – the way the I's are dotted, the way certain letters intertwine," Theo said, "My father didn't like me much, so he made me study and to avoid dealing with him, I did."
"What does it say?" Daphne asked anxiously.
"It's still difficult to make out, but I would guess something like this…the family may be free when the enemy indicates his shame. That last word could be disgrace, actually."
"The enemy? But Silas Selwyn is long dead," Harry frowned.
Daphne shook her head, "No, in this case, the enemy is the Selwyn family. What that means is that the Selwyn family have to renounce the curse somehow."
"How?" Harry asked.
"I have no idea, but Bill will," Daphne said confidently, "And we'll be seeing him at the Burrow tomorrow."
"Well, I guess this will have to wait for today then," Harry said, taking Daphne's hand, "After a few more years, what's a day or two longer?"
"I know, especially when Thea has her whole life ahead of her before the curse affects her," Daphne said with a sad smile, "I'm just scared that there won't be a way to lift it."
"Hey," Draco cut in, moving to kneel in front of her, "You are the one who told me during the war – there is always another way. There's always a better way, an easier way, a safer way. I couldn't see that back then, but Daph, you were so right – there's always a way, you just need to find it."
Daphne nodded tearfully and hugged Draco.
"Aw," Theo whispered to the women on either side of him, "He's such a good big brother, isn't he?"
Sadie and Hermione locked eyes, and then in unison, they jammed their elbows into Theo's ribs.
"Ow! For the love of Merlin, what did I do to deserve that?"
Harry found having been away for a few weeks; he had missed the Burrow a little. He enjoyed the hectic nature, the loudness – it was always full of life.
The moment the Potter family arrived, Teddy ran off to find Victoire, and like always, his younger siblings followed him.
Bill chuckled, "Those two are going to be lost when he goes to Hogwarts."
"Don't start," Daphne shuddered, "It's getting closer and closer, and I am not ready to think about that yet."
"Alright, Mama Bear," Bill teased.
Daphne punched him in the arm.
"Do you have a few minutes? I actually need to talk to you about something."
Bill frowned, "That's ominous."
"Yeah, it's not happy news," Harry admitted.
Bill's frown turned a bit more anxious.
"Sure, I've got a minute – come on outside."
Harry watched them go and looked across the kitchen – Molly sang along to the radio while she cooked, and Hermione made everyone coffee and tea.
"Need a hand, Mione?"
"Oh, hey Harry," Hermione smiled, "Yes, grab a tray, won't you?"
"What's going on?" Bill asked the moment the back door shut behind them.
Daphne took a breath, "It's quite a long story, and I haven't told you any of it yet. Please, don't get offended – I've been scared to tell you because you're the expert on curses, and I can't deal with you telling me there's not a way to break this one."
"What curse? Who was cursed?"
"My family," Daphne answered. She bit her lip and leant against the wall.
"It's why I wanted to be a Curse Breaker, Bill. When I was a kid, my Grandmother would tell me stories about this ancient curse on the Crouch family. She was a Cornfoot who married into the Crouch family. She was French and a seer. I just completely admired her when I was little. My Grandfather, who actually was a Crouch, always said the curse was a lot of nonsense, but I still believed in it, and it fascinated me, so I decided to study Curse Breaking when I left school."
"So it's a family curse?" Bill asked anxiously, "Daphne, I don't want to be the one to say this, but without the original document, a family curse is almost impossible to-"
"I have the original document," Daphne cut in, "But it's in old French. I had the Black-Notts translate one part for me, the part about lifting it. But it's vague."
"Go on," Bill said.
"The family may be free when the enemy indicates his shame," Daphne said, "Or disgrace, Theo said that last word could mean either."
"The enemy," Bill mused, "If this was a curse placed on your entire family, I could only presume a rival family placed it?"
Daphne nodded, "The Selwyn's. I took that to mean that the Selwyns have to break the curse, but how?"
"It's pretty simple. It just means that a member of the Selwyn family – or bloodline because I don't think there are any Selwyn's left – has to speak the counter-curse," Bill explained.
"Clara Cauldwell – Sadie's sister-in-law, she's a Selwyn by birth," Daphne said, "But Bill – how do we find the counter curse? This isn't like a normal case; there's no item for us to cast a diagnostic charm on, is there?"
"No, but if it's a family curse, then by definition, it's also a blood curse," Bill said, "All we need is someone afflicted with the curse. We'll take a blood sample from them and work on the curse through that."
Daphne looked at him in disbelief.
"Of course. How didn't I think of that?"
"Because you're too wrapped up in this," Bill said, his eyes scanning hers anxiously, "You're not afflicted, are you? Please tell me you aren't."
"Relax, Bill," Daphne said, placing her hand on his arm, "I'm fine. If the youngest in a generation is a girl, then she's afflicted, so in this case, it's Astoria. But if we don't break it, Thea will be next."
"What kind of curse are we dealing with here?" Bill asked in an undertone, "Premature death? Or is it a petty one like lack of ability to love? Does it have something to do with the reason Astoria pushed Charlie away then handed him divorce papers?"
"Yes, it does," Daphne replied in a whisper, "It's a creature inheritance curse. Upon her majority, she became infected with the vampire affliction."
Bill's eyes widened, "Oh, fuck."
Daphne sighed and nodded.
Bill looked guilty, "I feel shit for being such an arsehole to her now."
"You weren't to know, Bill," Daphne said, "I'm her sister, and I only just found out. She's been struggling through this alone for two years."
"Two years?" Bill frowned, "I thought she was a year younger than you?"
"She is, but the curse started to affect her when she turned 22," Daphne said with a shrug, "It should have been 21. That's when we're classed as reaching our majority, isn't it?"
Bill nodded, "How old is this curse?"
"Uh, it was placed in the 1800s," Daphne answered.
"How many generations has it passed through?"
Daphne frowned as she envisioned her family tree in her head and counted, "Five."
"Any Muggles or Muggle-borns to dilute it in your direct line?" Bill questioned.
Daphne shook her head, "No, the Crouch's always married into pureblood families like the Travers, the Cornfoots, the Blacks. There is Muggle blood in the extended family. My Great Aunt married one, for example, but not in my direct line."
"Right," Bill said, still frowning, "There's no way that would dilute the magic enough to cause the curse to manifest a year late."
"So why did it?" Daphne asked.
"Was Astoria born prematurely?" Bill asked, "Stunted growth as a kid, maybe?"
"She was always small for her age, but as far as I know, she wasn't premature," Daphne answered.
Bill sighed heavily and looked at his friend.
"I hate to ask this, but is there any chance that her birth certificate is fake?"
Daphne blanched, "Why…why would you fake a birth certificate?"
"We know you and Astoria don't share a father," Bill said quietly, "Would your mother fake the birth certificate to cover that up?"
"I don't know," Daphne admitted, "And I don't know how I would find out without going to Azkaban and talking to her, which is completely off the cards."
"It's not relevant to breaking the curse anyway. It's just a bit strange," Bill admitted, "Do you think you can get a blood sample from Astoria tonight?"
Daphne nodded, "I'm sure I can."
"Good. In that case, come into the office at Gringotts tomorrow morning, and we'll get to work on breaking that curse," Bill said confidently.
Daphne breathed a sigh of relief and hugged him tightly, "Thank you, Bill."
Sunday lunch at the Burrow didn't go entirely smoothly after Daphne chatted with Bill. They all sat down to eat, and Molly asked, "Ginny, dear, is Blanche working today?"
"No, she's just not here," Ginny replied.
"Why's that then?" Molly prodded.
Ginny bit back an irritated retort.
"We've broken up, Mum."
"What?" Bill objected.
"Yeah, why?" Charlie added.
"Blanche is great," George agreed.
Ginny bit her lip, "Blaise is right here – can you stop talking about how great Blanche is?"
Blaise shrugged, "I am used to being treated like part of the furniture. I suppose it's because I don't say much."
"But when you do say something, it's always relevant," Ginny said, defending her husband and glaring at her mother, "It's none of your business why we've broken up, but we have. She moved out last night, and that's that."
"Does this have something to do with you being pregnant again?" George asked his sister.
Harry, knowing fine well why it had ended, kept his mouth shut.
"No, George," Ginny snapped, "Lately, Blaise and I have reconnected-"
Harry couldn't help the snort that escaped him, but he hoped that nobody had noticed.
"- so we are going to focus on our marriage and our daughter," Ginny continued, glaring at Harry, "And Blanche and I have been drifting apart, so we broke things off."
"Harry knows something," George said, pointing his fork in Harry's direction.
"Oh, you do, mate," Ron agreed, "You've got a shit poker face on."
"What do you know?" George added.
Percy rolled his eyes, "Whatever he knows was probably said to him in confidence. One Auror to their Assistant Head, he couldn't tell you even if he wanted to."
"Thank you, Percy," Harry said, breathing out a sigh of relief.
Daphne rolled her eyes, "Ginny's stopped sleeping with Blanche, so she broke up with her. There, now you all know."
"Daphne!" Ginny shrieked.
"Revenge for outing Lilly and I, Ginevra," Daphne said calmly.
"Did you tell her that?" Percy asked Harry.
"No, Blanche told me that," Daphne remarked, "I had to nip over to High Top House the other night to borrow a book on Ancient French, and Blanche happened to be there. Don't blame Harry; he's an excellent Head Auror."
"Assistant Head Auror," Percy corrected.
Harry shot Daphne a wary look, and she had the decency to cringe and mouth 'sorry' at him.
"Yeah, thanks for letting the cat out of the bag there, Daph," Harry said dryly. He turned back to the Weasley family, "The big announcement is going to be made in the department tomorrow, but John is stepping down, and I am being named as the new Head Auror."
This took the attention away from Ginny. Everyone congratulated him and hugged him or clapped him on the back. By the time the furore had died down, nobody had mentioned Blanche to Ginny, and she seemed grateful for that. As a result, they got through dinner relatively peacefully, and once it was over, they all moved into the living room.
At this point, Daphne walked over to Ginny and perched on the arm of her chair.
"I'm sorry – that was pretty cruel of me."
"You're a Slytherin. It's what you do," Ginny retorted fiercely.
"It used to be what I did," Daphne agreed, "Lately, I thought I was better than that."
Ginny shook her head, "They would have found out at some point, but I didn't want it coming out at the dinner table."
"Yes, I understand that, and I am sorry," Daphne said genuinely, "You and Blanche seemed happy."
"We were, and we weren't," Ginny said with a shrug, "At first, it was exciting. It got my heart racing, you know?"
"Like our little broom closet encounter back in the war?" Daphne quipped.
Ginny turned around, ready to roll her eyes at Daphne for teasing her. But when she saw the look in Daphne's eyes, she knew that the blonde woman was serious.
"Exactly like that," Ginny admitted, "But we had Hope, and she was such a handful. In those first few years, I appreciated all the help I could get, but then Hope started getting older, and Blanche was at work all of the time. We just drifted apart over the years. We stopped being together and just became friends."
"And you and Blaise?" Daphne asked, nudging her head towards the dark-skinned man.
Ginny smiled, "He made a change. For the first time in our lives, he compromised for his family."
Daphne raised a curious eyebrow.
"We argued about how much he works and how little Hope sees of him," Ginny explained, "And the next thing I knew, he was coming home and cooking me dinner. He started talking about this new job, a freelance one – he could work from home, take cases as and when he wanted to. He said he would tutor Hope if I wanted him to do that."
Ginny shook her head, "And I was just completely shocked, but in a good way."
"So you slept with him and forgot the charm because it had been a while," Daphne teased.
Ginny chuckled, "Yeah, but these last few weeks…something has changed, Daphne. I fell in love with Blaise all over again when I saw him being a father."
Daphne smiled over at Harry, who was talking to Charlie.
"Yes, that happens," she admitted.
"Blanche and I had a mutual split. There was no big fight," Ginny continued, "She's my best friend, but with things being as they are with Blaise and I now, it started to feel like cheating."
"I understand that," Daphne mused, leaning back on the chair, "And I'm happy for you and Blaise, by the way – you're the dark horses, nobody thought you would make it when you had your shotgun wedding but look at you now - you're doing great."
"Thanks for the backhanded compliment," Ginny snorted.
Daphne just chuckled in response.
"Hey Charlie, how you doing?"
Charlie looked up and forced a smile.
"I'm alright."
"Yeah?" Harry asked, "Not sleeping with your therapist anymore?"
Charlie's cheeks flushed, "Yeah," he said, scratching the back of his neck, "I have sort of being avoiding her since that happened."
"Can't walk into the office you shagged her in?" Harry guessed.
"Something like that, yeah," Charlie admitted, "And what's the point of therapy anyway? It's obviously not working. I slept with the young woman who is meant to be helping me not sleep with random people who are younger than me."
Harry snorted, "When you put it like that, yeah, it does seem like a waste of time."
Charlie sighed, "I am trying to fill the void because right now, it feels like it's never going to close. I feel like I'm walking around with an open wound that is never going to heal."
"Heartbreak is a bitch," Harry agreed.
"If this is what love does to you, I don't know why people ever fall in love," Charlie muttered.
"Because most of the time, it's worth the pain," Harry stated with a half-smile.
Charlie didn't look convinced, but he nodded all the same.
"Listen, Charlie – if it will take your mind off of all of this for a while, do you think you could drop by the house tonight and help me expand the snake cabin?" Harry asked.
Charlie perked up a little.
"Yeah, I'm on board with that. Why are you expanding it? Are you getting more?"
"I've got more," Harry said with a chuckle, "You know that new Boa I got that I thought was a male?"
"Female?" Charlie grinned.
"Yep – cue a lot of baby Daves that are going to get big soon," Harry said.
Charlie laughed, "Yeah, no bother, Harry. I'll head over once the kids are in bed, alright?"
"Sounds good," Harry agreed.
The Potter children were exhausted and fell asleep instantly that evening, so Harry shoved his feet into his boots and grabbed a big coat, just as the floo roared to life.
Daphne frowned, "Whose that?"
"Charlie," Harry replied.
"Floo Signature: Charles Weasley."
"Granted – I asked him to help with the snake cabin expansion," Harry explained.
Daphne's eyes widened, and she lowered her voice.
"But Astoria will be here in ten minutes!"
Charlie stepped through the fireplace, and Harry's eyes shone brightly.
"I have an idea," he whispered to his wife while Charlie dusted himself down.
Daphne narrowed her eyes at him but said no more. He greeted Charlie eagerly, and the two of them headed outside to the snake cabin. Ten minutes later, a knock sounded on the door, and Astoria walked in. Daphne smiled when she saw her sister – she looked like the Astoria that Daphne remembered, not the CEO she had become.
"Nice to see you dressed down," Daphne said. Astoria was wearing jeans, high heeled boots and an oversized jumper.
"It's my day off," Astoria said with a smile, "You seemed pretty worried when you sent the Patronus. What's wrong?"
"Nothing, really," Daphne admitted, "I just need to ask you something, and I'm nervous about it."
"Is this the part when you've sobered up and ask me a million in one questions about my affliction?" Astoria quipped as she put the kettle on.
"Well…now that you mention it…."
"Do you want a cup of tea?"
"Oh, in the mood for tea now, are we?" Daphne asked.
"I've been with Amber all day; I'm not thirsty for anything else – don't worry," Astoria remarked.
Daphne shook her head, "We will have to meet this Amber at some point, you know? I think before thanksgiving dinner, we wouldn't want to overwhelm the poor girl after all."
"Are you still going on about this Thanksgiving thing?" Astoria asked in disbelief, "We're English, Daphne. We don't do Thanksgiving."
"Well, I think maybe we should," Daphne said, throwing a couple of tea bags in her sister's direction, "Theo died this year-"
"No, he didn't."
"Theo died, and then it turned out he wasn't dead. Lucia could have paralysed Neville, Sadie and Theo nearly split up," Daphne continued, "I could have lost you, and you did lose Charlie. I feel like we all have a lot to be thankful for."
"We can be thankful without sitting around a table singing kumbaya," Astoria retorted dryly.
"Kumbaya?" Daphne grinned, "You've been to a Thanksgiving dinner before, haven't you?"
"I've spent two Thanksgivings in the states for business, so yes – I have been forced to sit through that before," Astoria agreed. The kettle screeched, and she poured water into the cups, "So you can invite Amber and me if you wish but rest assured – we will not attend."
Daphne scoffed, "Yes, you will. Now back to those vampire questions – do you have fangs?"
Astoria shot her sister a long-suffering look.
"What?" Daphne asked innocently, "You feed on a human, right? So you can't just bite into her with a full set of teeth."
Astoria rolled her eyes, "Yes, I have fangs."
"Okay – where are they?" Daphne asked.
"They are retractable," Astoria replied.
"Can you control them, or is it a blood thing?"
"It's a blood thing – I can fight it when I smell or see blood, but I can't just make them appear to show you, which is what you're hinting at," Astoria said dryly.
"If I cut myself, they would come out though," Daphne pointed out, "And you've already said that you're not hungry."
"Why would you want to see me like that?" Astoria asked, crossing her arms over her chest.
"Because I want to understand this, Astoria. I want to understand all of it," Daphne confessed.
Astoria sighed and said, "Give me your hand."
Daphne held her hand out, and Astoria murmured a spell most often used when a blood sample had to be given to a Healer. It caused a pin-prick sized wound to appear on the palm of her hand.
Astoria took a breath and squeezed Daphne's hand, causing a few drops of blood to appear there.
Daphne watched her sister with interest and curiosity, not with fear. The whites of her eyes turned red, she cracked her neck, then opened her mouth, and four long, sharp teeth protruded from behind her regular teeth.
Daphne quickly murmured a healing charm and banished the evidence.
Astoria shut her eyes and closed her mouth. When she opened them, they were blue again.
"Scary, isn't it?"
"It's disconcerting," Daphne compromised.
"Imagine how I felt the first time I saw it in a mirror," Astoria said, picking up her teacup.
"I'm sorry that I wasn't there," Daphne said honestly.
Astoria shook her head, "I didn't let you be there – don't worry about it. Is this really what you called me here for? A question and answer session?"
"No," Daphne admitted, "How would you feel about giving me a blood sample? Bill thinks he can break the curse, but he needs a sample of your blood to do so because it carries the curse."
"Of course I'll do that," Astoria said, "But if you don't mind, I'll extract it myself, blood being a tricky substance for me right now and all?"
Daphne nodded, "I'll stand outside. Just give me a shout when you're done," she said.
Astoria thanked her, so Daphne took her cup of tea and stood on the porch, watching the snake cabin in the distance as Harry and Charlie finished putting up the outer walls – it was well and truly dark now, so she imagined they probably wouldn't do much more than that tonight.
Astoria called her back in, so Daphne tore her eyes away and stepped back into the kitchen.
"There," Astoria said, handing her a vial.
"Thank you," Daphne said as she stashed it carefully in her pocket.
"If I can save my niece from this, then I will," Astoria said softly, "I wouldn't wish it upon my worst enemy."
Daphne opened her mouth to comment on how mature that outlook was, but before she could – the backdoor opened.
"We'll get the internal walls finished tomorrow evening when we've got a bit more daylight to work-" Charlie cut himself off when he saw his ex-wife standing in the kitchen, "Astoria."
Astoria looked at Daphne in disbelief.
"Did you set this up?"
"No, I swear I didn't!" Daphne said, and that was the truth, "You know why I invited you over, and I didn't know that Charlie was going to be here until he arrived. You know Harry, he doesn't tell me anything."
"Sorry," Harry said sheepishly, "But since you're both here, maybe you should, you know, talk?"
"About what?" Charlie scoffed, "There's nothing to talk about. That's what you do before you get divorced."
"And what if that divorce was on false pretences?" Astoria cut in boldly.
Charlie frowned and looked over at her.
"What do you mean?"
Astoria looked at Daphne.
"I can't say it."
Daphne nodded proudly at her sister.
"There is a curse on our family, the Crouch family, that is. Astoria and I are descended from it through our mother."
Charlie frowned, "What kind of curse?"
"The kind that only affects the youngest child in a generation if she is a female," Daphne answered, "Astoria is both the youngest and a woman, so she was afflicted with the curse. It started two years ago, and it got unbearable a year ago."
"When you started pushing me away," Charlie realised, looking Astoria in the eye, "How bad is it? Is it slowly killing you? Is that why you pushed me away?"
Astoria shook her head, "I pushed you away because I didn't want to hurt you and because I knew you wouldn't stay if you knew the truth."
Charlie didn't take his eyes away from hers.
"Well, you didn't give me that chance. Did you?"
Daphne grabbed Harry's hand.
"We're going to disappear upstairs and let you two talk privately."
"Are we?" Harry asked stupidly.
"Yes," Daphne said, yanking on Harry's hand to pull him out of the kitchen, "We are."
Astoria took a deep breath, "I am cursed with the vampire affliction."
Charlie frowned, "A creature inheritance curse?"
"Of sorts," Astoria answered, "It is a weaker form of that. I'm not a vampire – I don't have the abilities that they do or the long life. I am merely cursed with the…."
"Thirst," Charlie answered for her.
Astoria nodded stiffly.
"Why didn't you just tell me?" Charlie asked quietly, "Why lie and hand me divorce papers?"
Astoria looked at him incredulously.
"Seriously? What was I going to do, turn around and say, Sorry Charlie, but I'm cursed, and I need to drink human blood now? Like you would have stayed after that!"
Charlie scoffed and shook his head.
"You know, you've always done this! Always, Astoria! From the minute we got together, even after we were married – you've always underestimated how much I love you!"
Astoria looked at him for a long moment.
"Don't you mean loved?"
"No, I mean love," Charlie said irritably, "Because maybe I should flinch when you tell me you're basically a vampire now. Maybe I should run and hide, but I don't feel like that. All I feel is guilt and shame."
Astoria frowned, "Why do you feel guilty?"
"Because for you to think that's how I would have felt…." Charlie trailed off and shook his head, "I can't have been as good a husband as I thought I was if that's how you thought I would react."
"You were a great husband, Charlie," Astoria said. She batted away the tears in her eyes, "That's what made it so hard to give you up, but I had no choice. There's a certain lifestyle I need to live with this condition, and I could not envision a world in which you would be okay with that!"
"Well, I can't envision a world where I can be happy without you!" Charlie snapped, "So try me! Go on, try me! Because blood-sucker or not, I'm still in love with you. I've tried not to be, I've tried to let go, I've tried to forget about you, but I can't, Astoria – I can't!"
Astoria swallowed and looked up at him – his eyes were ablaze, and her stomach flipped. God, she had missed him. Their eyes locked, and they held each other's gaze silently for a few seconds before they both moved towards each other at the same time.
Their lips crashed together, and Charlie's rough, calloused hands cradled Astoria's face. Astoria pushed herself up onto her tiptoes as she cherished Charlie's warmth – he oozed heat all of the time, and ever since the curse had begun to affect her, she felt a permanent coldness in her bones.
"I'm sorry," Astoria murmured against his lips.
"You should have told me," Charlie murmured back.
"You really don't care?" Astoria asked breathily.
"I really don't care," Charlie said, his deep blue eyes searching hers.
She gasped as he lifted her onto the counter. Instinctively she wrapped her legs around him, and she knew if she didn't stop herself soon, she would do something reckless. Astoria was so controlled all of the time, but around Charlie, she was careless.
"I've missed you, Charlie, but I can't sleep with you," Astoria whispered against his lips, "Especially not in my sister's kitchen."
Charlie chuckled lowly, and the sound sent shivers down Astoria's spine.
"There's a lot more to it than what I told you," Astoria admitted, tearing her eyes away from his, "There are things that are different, there's a…person…."
Charlie's face fell, "You've met someone else?"
"It's not like that," Astoria assured him, "We're not together, but we are…intimate."
"You know I've not been a saint since we split up, Astoria," Charlie said, averting his gaze, "I did some things too."
"Like made out with a child at the Black-Nott Halloween party?" Astoria asked.
"Right, yeah – not my finest moment," Charlie admitted, "You know Caroline, my therapist? The one I was seeing about my sex addiction and my unhealthy attraction to younger women?"
Astoria nodded, "Yes."
"Well, she's not much older than Harry, and I slept with her." Charlie admitted, "My sex addiction therapist, like…that's a fuck up and a half, isn't it?"
Astoria laughed at that, "Oh Charlie – you're such a walking bundle of cliches, but by Merlin, I have missed you."
Charlie laughed weakly, "So this other guy? Is it Jason?"
Astoria frowned, "What other guy?"
"You said there were other things, another person," Charlie reminded her.
"Oh, yes," Astoria agreed, "My sponsor. The Society for Tolerance of Vampires have meetings to help you manage the bloodlust, and they give you a sponsor."
"Is that a fancy word for familiar?" Charlie asked.
"Essentially, yes," Astoria confessed, "It means that I can feed without the fear of hurting someone. Vampires and familiars don't always have intimate relationships, but it is hard to resist that pull because the nature of feeding on someone is pretty intimate."
Charlie nodded.
"While you and I were together, I fought that urge because I didn't want to be unfaithful to you," Astoria said honestly, "I was born because my mother was unfaithful to the man I thought was my father, and I could never do that to someone I love as much as I love you."
Charlie smiled – it was the first time she had said it back during their conversation that evening.
"But after you and I split up, I found a certain degree of comfort in Amber," Astoria finished.
"Amber?"
"My sponsor, familiar – whatever you want to call her," Astoria said with a nod.
"She's a girl?" Charlie asked, his eyebrows shooting up into his hairline.
"Yes, she's a girl. Why is everyone so surprised about that?" Astoria asked with a scoff.
"We were married for three years, and I had no idea you were that way inclined," Charlie admitted, "I mean, hey, no judgement from me. I think I've slept with everything that goes – men, women, at least one werewolf, maybe even a centaur, but I was really drunk that night so," he shrugged, "Never a vampire though. I need to add that to my bucket list."
Astoria shot him an amused look, "In the spirit of honesty, I did sleep with Jason. As I said, Amber and I aren't together; it's just a mutually beneficial relationship."
Charlie nodded, "Yeah, that sounds like a fair description. Did you just sleep with Jason to piss me off then?"
Astoria cringed, "Not exactly. I did try and sleep with you first, but you rejected me. Remember?"
"Yeah, also not my finest moment," Charlie admitted.
"I know, so I had to find a suitable replacement," Astoria shrugged, "Some things changed when I became afflicted. The obvious one being the thirst for human blood, but there are other things too. I'm always cold, which is incredibly irritating, but I also have a much higher sex drive than I did before and don't get me wrong, I enjoy being with Amber, but I alsoenjoy male company."
Charlie grinned, "So I set the bar high then, did I?"
Astoria shot him an exasperated look.
"Yes, Charlie – let's make this all about you, why don't we?"
Charlie barked out a laugh, "By Godric, I've missed you."
Astoria smiled sadly, "It doesn't matter though, does it? We can't make this work."
"Says who? You?" Charlie quipped.
"Did you miss the part about me being a vampire with a familiar who I overindulge in?" Astoria asked sarcastically.
"Nope, I heard all of that," Charlie answered, "And I still think we can make this work."
"How?" Astoria asked incredulously, "Are you going to become my familiar? Because I can't see that happening."
"No, that can't happen, you're right," Charlie agreed, "There's a reason vampires familiars tend to be muggles or squibs with non-physical jobs – it's draining, literally. I need to keep my strength up, or I'll get mauled by a dragon."
"Exactly."
"But," Charlie interjected, "If you wanted to do that with me, then I would let you. You know, just on special occasions."
Astoria raised an eyebrow at her ex-husband.
"Seriously?"
"Yeah, birthdays, anniversaries, maybe the odd Christmas," Charlie said, shooting her a boyish grin, "And if Amber is happy to become a part of our relationship, then it's all going to work out fine, isn't it?"
Astoria crossed her arms.
"It will never work."
"Yes, it will," Charlie said, "You're always complaining about how much you hate your secretary unless you've gotten a new one since the divorce?"
"I haven't, and I still hate Betty. She's useless," Astoria muttered irritably.
"So hire Amber." Charlie suggested, "Hire her as your personal and business secretary. When you go away, she goes with you, which means you can give her quarters in your home. Nobody will ask any questions, and you will have everything you want and need."
"You're assuming I want you?" Astoria quipped.
"Oh, I know you want me," Charlie said with a grin, "It's taking every ounce of self-control you have not to jump my bones in your sister's kitchen right now. Isn't it?"
Astoria was suddenly far more aware of how close he was, of his warm breath ghosting across her cheek. His sparkling blue eyes met hers, and his grin didn't waver.
"So why don't we go back to your flat and discuss how we can make this work in further detail?"
Astoria watched him for a moment and considered his offer before answering him.
"Screw it, let's go."
Harry and Daphne were playing chess in the drawing-room when the floo system roared to alert them to the fact somebody had activated it from another room.
"Which one do you think left?" Daphne asked, listening for footsteps downstairs.
Harry frowned, "I don't know; it's pretty quiet down there."
"That's because both of them left," A familiar voice said.
Harry and Daphne both turned around and looked for the owner of the voice – it was Anastasia Malfoy who had just stepped into Charlus Potter's portrait.
"Go back to the kitchen, whore!"
Daphne rolled her eyes, "Would you shut up Dorea? She obviously has important information for us."
Dorea Black scoffed irritably. The portraits in their home were so dramatic; they could have their own sitcom.
Harry smiled in amusement.
"They both left?"
"They talked an awful lot about Astoria's affliction," Anastasia said, "At one point, I feared they might copulate in your kitchen."
Daphne made a face.
"Oh, Merlin – how heated did it get?"
"Rather," Anastasia replied distastefully.
"Wipe that look off of your face!" Dorea called, "You copulated with my husband in that kitchen!"
Daphne rolled her eyes, "This is all your fault, Charlus. Why couldn't you just keep it in your pants?"
"Have you seen her?" Charlus muttered, nudging his eyes towards Dorea's portrait, "She looks like a hag. Who wouldn't stray?"
"A HAG?" Dorea screeched.
Daphne shook her head and turned to Harry.
"Ugh, Harry, you're going to have to clean the kitchen."
"Why do I have to clean it? She's your sister!" Harry objected.
Daphne shushed him and turned to Anastasia, "Did they leave together?"
"Yes, they went back to your sisters flat together," Anastasia answered.
Daphne turned to Harry in disbelief.
"Your plan worked."
"Of course it did – I didn't make Head Auror at 25 for nothing now, did I?"
Daphne rolled her eyes, "Why do you always have to prove you're the alpha male?"
"I don't have to prove anything love, I am the alpha male," Harry retorted with a smirk.
"No, you aren't. Go clean the kitchen."
Harry scoffed and shook his head at the portraits, "I'm the Head Auror, but I still get bossed around by my wife."
"Get used to it, son!" James yelled from his portrait.
"Listen to your father," Daphne said, smirking playfully at Harry and leaving the room.
* ~ TBC ~ *