Disclaimer: Everything belongs to J.K.R.

AN: Many thanks to my fantastic editor, Federer Rex.

I tossed and turned in my bed all night long and got up early on Sunday morning to have a long run in a nearby park to calm my nerves. It didn't work. Still wound up, I returned to Grimmauld Place, had a shower and went down to the kitchen and the excessive breakfast Kreacher had ready for me. I looked at the scrambled eggs and the fried bacon and my stomach lurched.

"Kreacher, are you cooking for five?"

The old elf gave me a condescending look. "Master needs to eat more." He turned back to the stove.

In the end, I managed to take a few bites of everything not to offend Kreacher and washed them down with a few cups of tea.

There was no need to tell Kreacher about the breakup, he had his ways of always knowing what was going on in the house. He didn't hide the fact that he knew, either: his wrinkled face creased into a truly horrific grin while he hummed to himself and puttered around in the kitchen.

Well, at least one member of our small family was happy. I cradled my mug of tea between my cold hands, leaned back in my chair, let the heat creep in my fingers and took stock of my feelings.

This was a first for me. In the past, I had never analysed my feelings until Hermione—and later Daphne—forced me to. I had always gone along with anything that happened to me, the bad and the good, and not once asked myself what I could do to make things more bearable or to preserve the happiness I had.

Blame that on my infernal upbringing by the Dursleys. Ten lonely years under their mercy had taught me never to ask questions and to accept everything that happened to me, or else. It had never occurred to me that I still reacted like that even though I had escaped them for years. On the outside, I was a grown-up man, respected by my peers and my superiors for my accomplishments and adored by the magical world for defeating Voldemort. On the inside, in many ways, I was still the insecure teenager I had been at Hogwarts.

I took a sip of tea and stared out of the window at the swaying fern that grew out of the joint gaps of the quarry stone wall that enclosed the small patio in front of the kitchen window, while I brooded about my life. At last, I came to a decision.

It was about time I grew up, wasn't it?

I took a deep breath, straightened, and put the tea mug on the table, So, what were my feelings about my breakup with Ginny?

Heat shot in my face. If I was honest with myself, the most prominent feeling was shame. Shame, that I had never had the guts to call Ginny out on her behaviour towards me and to tell her that she hurt me and that I expected more of my fiancée. Shame, that I justified my lack of action so I did not upset the status quo. Instead of letting her participate in my life, I sidelined her, using my work to actively avoid her. I had treated her as a toy, not as an equal partner. Shame, that I took the easy way and turned to Greengrass with my dreams—

Then there was grief for what could have been and what I had gambled away in my ignorance. Our first two years together had been magical, almost like a fairytale. When had we lost that magic? I'd also miss being a part of the Weasley family. I doubted Molly would see me as a surrogate son any longer.

Anger and disappointment were a close follow-up. Anger at Ginny that she never addressed our problems, either, and disappointment that she never made an effort to get through to me. Wasn't she supposed to show interest in my life as my fiancée? Looking back, it seemed as if she had not once been interested in me, just Harry, and instead had been content with being the arm candy of the Boy-Who-Lived.

I barked out a short laugh. True, I hadn't shown much emotional depth, but Ginny hadn't, either. During our whole time together, she'd been the same fangirl she'd been at eleven, only she'd got better at covering that up. At least I had discovered that before we tied the knot.

At that thought, my body became limp. I exhaled, sagged into my chair and tipped back my head with a thankful glance to heaven and all deities that be. Magical Bonding Vows were for eternity, there was no way out once the deed was done, no separation and no divorce. With what little Ginny and I had in common, and how different our goals in life were, we would have headed for a marriage full of disappointment in each other, which would probably have culminated in resentment. At least, we had escaped that fate and had somehow managed to have a civil breakup.

The whooshing sound of the fire in the fireplace flaring up had me turn my head, just in time to see Hermione and Ron stepping out of the green flames.

My stomach dropped, I had forgotten about the Weasley Sunday family lunch and that Ginny would most likely attend, now that the Quidditch season was over. I cursed myself for my oversight and straightened. Even though Hermione had assured me that Ron would respect my decision, I wasn't sure how my hot-headed best friend would react to my break-up with his sister.

Hermione rushed towards me and suffocated me in one of her trademark hugs before I could get up and greet them properly. 'Ginny told us when she came to the Burrow—We had to see how you are.'

Ron put his hand on my shoulder. 'How are you holding up, mate?'

Hermione let go of me and sat down on the chair to my left, and Ron pulled out a chair opposite of her to my right side. They both turned their faces to me and waited for my reply.

A weight I hadn't known to be there rolled off my chest and my breathing became lighter. As long as I had Ron and Hermione in my life, I'd never be alone. I gave them the first smile of the day.

'Fine, all things considered.'

They both rolled their eyes at me.

I laughed. 'Really, it's alright. Ginny's and my breakup has been a long time coming, yet neither of us dared to take that step. I'm glad the cat is out of the bag.'

'So are we.' Hermione put her hand on mine and squeezed it. 'We've been worried for you, Harry, you haven't been yourself for weeks.'

'You never should have proposed,' Ron said.

I started. That was unexpected, to say the least, especially coming from Ron. 'What do you mean?'

Ron's earlobes turned red, a sure sign he felt uncomfortable with our conversation, yet he soldiered on. 'Well, it was already apparent during our last year at Hogwarts that you and Ginny were drifting apart. She was a schoolgirl and acted as one, while you were a Trainee Auror and despite that already hunting down the Death Eaters who had escaped after the Battle of Hogwarts. You had almost no spare time that year and hardly wrote to her. Ginny had the time to put some more effort into maintaining your relationship, but she didn't, as you well know. How many letters did you get from her that year?'

I didn't answer and evaded his eyes. There had been maybe half a dozen letters from Ginny to me that year, not more.

'You don't need to tell me, I know well enough how few there were,' Ron said with a harsh laugh. 'Ginny concentrated on being Quidditch captain and impressing the scouts of the professional teams during the games. She was even more obsessed than Oliver.'

'Impossible.'

That had us chuckle and lightened the mood somewhat.

'You rushed in like a fool, mate, and my sister wasn't better. Oh, I know mum was over the moon when you proposed. Dad, however, didn't share her delight, he thought you both were much too young for that step and needed to spread your wings a bit before you settled down. That's why he put his foot down at an early wedding, no matter how much mum would have loved it.'

I made a face at that, Arthur had told me that much the day I proposed. I owed him a visit and a heartfelt "thank you" as soon as I was back at work.

Hermione's eyes became wide. 'I'd rather not imagine how that would have turned out, considering—' She turned a bright pink and snapped her mouth shut.

I raised my chin, I didn't like the insinuation. 'Considering what?'

'Considering that your feelings are engaged elsewhere,' Ron cut in with untypical bluntness.

Heat shot into my face, and it took all the self-control I had developed over the last four years not to squirm in my seat. Damn him! When and why had he stopped being his emotionally deaf teenage self? Yet I kept silent. He was right, after all, and anything I would say in my defence would be insincere, and he'd know that.

Ron fixed me with a long stare. 'I don't say that you cheated on my sister, mate, you don't have it in you. However, anyone who watched you and Greengrass in the last three years can see where you are heading. What are you going to do about her?'

I rubbed my face with both hands and sighed. 'Nothing.'

'Nothing?'

I looked up, both Hermione and Ron gaped at me, and I had to laugh. 'At least not now. I don't think it's a good idea to jump into the next relationship immediately after my breakup with Ginny. She was not the only one who made terrible mistakes, you know. There was a lot I could have done differently—better. I think Daphne deserves more in a boyfriend than I can offer, at least right now.'

Hermione opened her mouth as if to protest, and I held up my hand to prevent her.

'No, Hermione, I need some time to find out more about myself. If Daphne is still free after that—Well, we will see. I don't want to make the same mistake twice.'

I should have known that Ginny's return to the Harpie's dorms late at night and the ring missing on her hand was a bit of gossip too juicy not to appear in The Daily Prophet on Monday morning. It even made the front page, along with some rather accurate speculations about the state of our relationship, although not above the fold. Sometimes you have to be thankful for small blessings.

I sighed, put the paper next to my mug, and summoned my Patronus to send a message to Ginny. We had to do some damage control, or things would soon get out of hand. Merlin, I hated to have to talk to her so soon after our break-up. Unfortunately, there was no way around that.

Ginny Floo-called when I was just about to get up from the breakfast table and get ready to leave the house. Her pale, unsmiling face hovered in the green flames, and her eyes were guarded.

'Erm—Harry, you wanted to talk to me?' Even the way she talked to me was different than before, distant, almost cold, and my heart sank. Yet I couldn't blame her, this had to be as hard for her as it was for me.

I ran a hand through my hair. 'Yeah. Did you see the Prophet this morning?'

The coldness on her face gave way to confusion, and I suppressed a sigh. Of course, she didn't, Ginny never bothered with what she considered "useless blah-blah" and went right for the sports section.

That reminder of one of the many reasons for our breakup helped me get over the awkward situation. I picked up the newspaper from the table and handed it to her.

'Read the article at the bottom of the front page.'

Ginny took the paper and read it. The paleness on her face gave way to the red of anger, and when she finished and looked up at me, her eyes were blazing with fury.

'That bitch! I should have known she'd run straight to the Profit when I ran into her when I Flooed to headquarters on Saturday night.'

'Who?' Not that it mattered, someone would have talked, anyway.

'Becky, the new secretary.'

She spat out the name with so much venom that I was afraid that Becky's tenure with the Harpies would be a short one. However, Becky had brought that on herself.

'Well, it seems we need to do some damage control before the rumours get out of hand.'

Her eyes, scanning the offending article once again, looked up at me, and some of the anger dissipated as she considered my idea.

'That makes sense,' she said at length. 'I'll talk to the Harpie's PR department immediately.' She motioned to draw her head out of the Floo.

'No!'

There was no way I'd give the hyenas on the Harpie's PR team the spin of Ginny's and my breakup. They'd want to paint Ginny in the most favourable light, and Merlin only knew how they'd deal with me.

My raised voice stopped her in her tracks.

'No?'

'This is not a Harpies matter, this concerns us, so I think the statement should come from one of us, or preferably from both of us together. A letter to The Daily Prophet, signed by both of us stating that we broke off our engagement in mutual agreement and asking that they'll respect our privacy should suffice. I'll write it and you can sign it.'

Her eyebrows shot up at my words.

'Since when do you like dealing with the press?'

'I didn't say I like it, but I won't give away either control about what is printed about me.'

The eyebrows went up another notch.

'When did you learn to deal with the press?'

Hadn't she listened to anything that I told her over the few meals we had shared in the last months? Her ignorant words did wonders to quench the guilt and shame I felt about my role in our breakup.

'I was made Deputy Head Auror a while ago, remember? Dealing with the press is part of my job.'

The coldness in my words made her cheeks flush, and she cast her eyes down.

'Yeah, sorry, I forgot.' She took a deep breath and looked up at me again. 'Alright, let's do that. Send me your Patronus when you have the letter ready, and I'll Floo through to sign it.'

With that, she gave me a short wave of goodbye and drew her head out of the Floo.

I exhaled and rubbed my face with the palms of both hands. Merlin's balls, that had been stressful, and it was not even seven in the morning yet.

My mood didn't improve when I appeared on the Apparition Point of the Auror Department and a hush fell over the cube-farm as soon as my arrival became common knowledge. I shot my fellow Aurors a dirty look, then disappeared into the safe haven of the deputy's office. It didn't take Legilimency to know the topic of their conversation.

The deputy's office wasn't much bigger than the cubes in the big office, however, with four walls and a door it provided a modicum of privacy you didn't have in the cube-farm.

I dealt with The Daily Prophet first and then called for Kreacher. He appeared next to me not a second later. I handed him the letter. 'Please, take this to Miss Ginny and wait for her to sign, then come back.'

Kreacher nodded and disappeared with a resounding crack.

I pulled a folder towards me to get some paperwork done until his return but had not even read the first paragraph when he appeared next to my elbow once again and handed me the letter with Ginny's signature.

Dear Mr Cuffe,

To end any speculations about the state of our relationship, we want to inform you that we decided to end our engagement in mutual agreement. We would also ask you to respect our privacy in the future reports of The Daily Prophet.

Sincerely

Ginevra Weasley

I also put my signature under the letter and folded and sealed it.

'Please, take the letter to the editor of The Daily Prophet', I said to Kreacher.

The moment Kreacher popped away to deliver the letter, I exhaled another breath. One problem dealt with. Only time would tell if it was enough for damage control.

I collected a couple of files from my cluttered desk and went to the first meeting of the day. If Robards and the director of the DMLE had seen the article about Ginny and me in the paper, they didn't let on, although I had the impression they had talked about me before I stepped into the room. There was a satisfied glow in Robard's eyes each time he looked at me.

Was that because of my breakup with Ginny? Robards had put my foot on the first step of the political ladder within the Ministry, and I knew for a fact that he wasn't happy about the many times Ginny hadn't been available due to her schedule and I had to attend an event alone.

The demands of the meeting blew any thoughts about Ginny's and my breakup and it's possible repercussions out of my mind. However, I was reminded of it at least a dozen times that day whenever I came into a room and all conversation ceased.

By the end of my workday, I had developed a throbbing headache and was ready to strangle anyone who got in my way. Of course, I didn't let on, I'd come a long way from the angry teenager who got himself a bloody nose again and again by taking on opponents like Umbridge, who were too far up in the food chain for me to hurt them. I'd learned to work from within the system, and mastering the art of not letting my mood show had been the first step.

Yet I couldn't help a relieved sigh when I closed the door of the Auror Department and headed for the staircase at the end of the hallway that led to the Department of Mysteries. Working on the Runestone project and sharing some fish and chips with Daphne while we discussed our findings would hopefully set me back to rights.

My heartbeat sped up, and I couldn't hold back the smile that spread over my face as I hurried down the stairs. Who was I fooling? I couldn't wait to see her. While I was not yet ready to act on my feelings towards her, I at least could enjoy her company.

Draco leaned against the wall to Daphne's office. When he saw me, he pushed himself off the wall and walked to meet me halfway down the corridor, his jaw set into a grim line.

'A word, Potter,' he said when he reached me.

Huh? Since when was I back to being "Potter"? Ever since we had come to a truce and had developed that strange friendship between us, we had addressed each other with our first names.

He held the door to a small conference room open and motioned me to go inside. As soon as the door shut behind us, he activated the Runestone next to the door with the tip of his wand, and strong Privacy Wards activated. He pulled out a chair for himself and sat down.

I followed suit, leaned back, and crossed my legs. Something in Draco's demeanour told me I was not going to like what was coming, but I'd be damned if I'd let him intimidate me.

A faint grin appeared on Draco's face. 'Quit the act, Harry, you can't fool me. Inside, you're squirming at the thought of what this talk is about.'

That was a slight exaggeration, so I responded with a cold look.

Draco sniggered to himself. The next moment, he sobered and fixed me with a cold stare of his own.

'Are the rumours true? Did you and the W—uh—Weasley break up?'

I just nodded to that.

Draco blinked, then he exhaled and leaned back in his chair. 'Good!' There was deep satisfaction in his voice. 'You were as well suited to each other as Trolls and ballet tutus.'

That made me snort.

Draco joined my laughter. 'Honestly, Harry, Tori and I were concerned you might be heading for an unhappy marriage, and so were Aunt Andromeda and Mother. It was plain to see that Weasley took next to no interest in your life. When was the last time she visited Teddy with you?'

I sighed. 'I know what you mean, Draco. It took me—us—a long time to realise we were heading in different directions. When it, at last, became obvious, we decided to end things before we hurt each other.'

'Rather mature of both of you.' The faint grin appeared again. 'I wouldn't have thought you had it in you.' The grin vanished and he seemed to give himself an inward push. 'Were you on your way to Daphne's laboratory?'

The sudden change of topic caught me off guard. 'Yes, why? You know we work on our projects most days after work.'

Draco sighed. 'Yes, I know. It has to come to an end, at least for the time being.'

I started, he had to be kidding, had he? I put both feet on the ground and sat upright. 'What do you mean, Malfoy?'

'Don't play dumb, Harry.' Draco raised his eyebrows, made a face, and shook his head at me. 'You're a single wizard now, the next edition of Witch Weekly will shout it from the rooftops that you are back being Magical Britain's Most Eligible Wizard.'

'Ugh, don't remind me.' One of the trickier aspects of Ginny's and my relationship had been keeping our lives out of the press. I can't remember all the god awful articles written about me in that silly magazine, and I still shudder every time I think of all the fangirls coming on to me. To them, I was free game ever since my breakup with Ginny. I frowned at Draco. 'Still, I fail to see what that's got to do with working with Daphne.'

Draco gave an exasperated sigh. 'You are both young, good looking, wealthy, and belong to the future political elite, and you are both single. You and Daphne spending hours together alone will set the rumour mills to overdrive. The Daily Prophet and Witch Weekly will have a field day.'

'We've done it before, and nobody cared.' An icy feeling settled in my stomach, I didn't want to give up on my time with Daphne.

'You were both under twenty then, and Daphne was openly dating another bloke and got engaged to him later. You were also engaged, and thanks to the award ceremony two years ago, it is common knowledge that you work together closely. That protected you from gossip mongers. At twenty-one, almost twenty-two, you're both expected to want to get married. Daphne broke off her engagement, and then you did, a few months later. Merlin, Potter, do I have to spell it out for you? I don't want the curious public speculating about Daphne being the reason for your breakup with Weasley! That kind of talk could damage both of your reputations, you know how conservative the magical world is, and that would ruin the coalition you and Daphne have worked for before you can even take up your Wizengamot seats.'

Draco's words were like a punch in the gut. Worst thing, the bastard was right, the same consideration had made me cautious not to be seen following Daphne at Neville's party. Daphne would take over her father's seat as his proxy in the autumn, and Kingsley had told me in confidence that I was going to get an invitation to a hereditary seat on that austere body when the new session started in September.

I didn't give Draco the satisfaction to tell him I agreed with him. Despite everything that had happened, he was still rather full of himself and got a kick out of each time he could tell me "told you so!" Instead, I asked, 'What about the Portable Runestones? You know how important they are for the Auror Department.'

He raised his hands with a smirk. 'I didn't say you have to stop working on that. I just pointed out you have to stop spending so much time alone with Daphne, locked away in her laboratory.'

'That work is time-consuming, as you well know.'

He smirked again. 'I do. That's why both of you are going to work with a chaperone from now on.'

My eyes almost bulged out of my head as I stared at him. 'You?'

'Me.' His smirk held a distinct smugness.

Gods, I had forgotten how annoying he could be. 'Whose idea was that?' I asked, not caring if my voice let on how little I thought of that idea.

'Tori's. For the record, Daphne was as thrilled with her idea as you are.' For some reason, that seemed to amuse him to no end, if the broad grin on his face was an indication. Git!

'You could have said no.'

Draco raised his eyebrows at me. 'And spend my nights on the sofa? Sorry, Potter, not going to happen.'

'You're so whipped.'

'Yes I am,' he replied, unfazed, and gave me one of his "you wait and see"-looks. He slapped his hands on his thighs and got up. 'Enough talk, let's get to work.'

Thanks to Tori's interference and Draco's presence, Daphne and I didn't share any private words that night, although the concerned look she gave me when she greeted me suggested that she had heard the rumours.

I should have known that the Daily Prophet wouldn't be able to resist publishing Ginny's and my joint letter on the front page of Tuesday's edition—above the fold. Never before had I been so grateful that the Auror Department had its own Apparition Point and I could avoid running the gauntlet to the Floos at the entrance hall. The short walk to my office was bad enough, my skin prickled from all the curious glances that followed me.

Urgent paperwork was always a good excuse to hole myself up in my small office. I'd already reduced the stack of folders and parchment rolls on my desk to a manageable size when a paper plane-memo zoomed through the door and circled my head.

With an annoyed flick of my wand, I summoned the memo towards me. It was a notification about an emergency meeting at the DoM, signed by Croaker. The only point of order were discrepancies in the management of the budget allotted to Daphne's and my projects for the Auror Department.

I crumpled the memo in my hand and threw it into the waste paper basket. Great, just what I needed on top of my problems. I should have known that Croaker would come up with a new move to get rid of Daphne since sacking her because of her performance had failed. Of course, there were no discrepancies in the management of the budget, Daphne and I had agreed to hire a Goblin accountant for that to nip that avenue of attack in the bud. I pulled a sheet of parchment towards me, scribbled a short note to our Goblin accountant to inform him of the meeting and ask him to be there, and then called Kreacher to take the message.

With this done, I turned to my pile of parchment until it was time to go to the DoM. I ignored all the looks I received and kindly rejected the invitation of a giggling group of young witches from the secretary pool to join them in the cafeteria for lunch with an inward roll of my eyes. And so it begins; I now knew how a Snitch felt during a game.

Croaker, Daphne, and Axeclaw, our Goblin accountant, were already waiting for me in one of the conference rooms. Croaker sat at the head of the table. He gave a pointed look to the clock on the wall when I came into the room, and I apologised for my delay and sat down next to Daphne.

She gave me a nod in greeting and a warm smile that made my day brighter within the blink of an eye.

Croaker cleared his throat, motioned with his hand towards a ledger in front of him, and gave Daphne and me a glare that was meant to intimidate us. 'It has come to my attention that a considerable amount of the budget allotted to your laboratory can't be accounted for, Miss Greengrass.'

That was interesting, he acted as if he thought Daphne was solely responsible. He knew that making the same allegations against the Deputy Head Auror was a risky move. What a moron! Did he think I'd sit by and twiddle my thumbs when he tried to get rid of my partner?

If Croaker thought he could unnerve Daphne with that, he was mistaken. Daphne merely raised an eyebrow at his implied accusation and showed no sign of concern. 'Is that so? Maybe you can elaborate?'

I don't know how she did it, her face seemingly stayed the same polite mask, but somehow an infinitesimal change in her expression indicated that she doubted just that.

Croaker picked up on that. His face coloured, and he glared at Daphne once again.

She reciprocated his glare with a polite smile.

Crocker harrumphed and opened the ledger in front of him. He turned a few pages and then held the ledger up, the opened pages displayed towards us.

'I suppose you see the discrepancy between the two columns? The numbers in the first column are taken from your monthly reports. They account for almost all the monthly payments that went into your research. The second column is the interesting one. It consists of the numbers as validated by the bills you sent to the department's accountant as proof for your expenses. The total amount doesn't reach the amount you claim to have spent. That leaves only one explanation. You have embezzled government gold, Miss Greengrass!' His eyes glinted with triumph.

'Now, have I?' Daphne's calm wasn't ruffled at all by Croaker's accusations. 'I'm sure this is a misunderstanding that can be corrected. Axeclaw, if you mind?'

The Goblin, who sat opposite, glowered at Croaker.

'Wizard, are you implying that Gringotts faked the books and handed away gold from a trust vault without the bills to back the claims?'

Croaker's eyes darted from Axeclaw to Daphne and me and back. 'What—' His Adam's apple bopped as he gulped. He tried again. 'What do you mean?'

Daphne and I exchanged a surreptitious glance. Was it possible Croaker had no idea that Gringotts kept the books of Daphne's laboratory? A slight smirk appeared on Daphne's face, we both leaned back to enjoy the show.

Axeclaw didn't disappoint. He bared his teeth at Croaker in a goblin smile.

'The monthly reports about the use of the gold Ms Greengrass and Mr Potter get from the ministry for their work are done by Gringotts, as part of the bookkeeping we do for Mr Potter's estate.'

Croaker blanched.

The goblin put an imposing ledger on the table, creaked it open, and motioned Croaker to join him.

Croaker gave the ledger an apprehensive look. 'I'm sure that isn't necessary. If the books are kept by Gringotts—The Goblins are known for their meticulous bookkeeping, after all—It's possible it's all a misunderstanding and will soon be cleared up.' His rambling betrayed his nervousness.

'Wizard! You implied that Gringotts has lost a considerable amount of gold. That has never happened before, and my copies of the accounts do not reflect anything of the sort. You'll stay and work with me through the books until this—misunderstanding—is resolved. Do I make myself clear, wizard?'

Axeclaw's growling voice rolled through the conference room like thunder. It was a neat magical trick, and I made a mental note to look into that. It would be a good arrow in my quiver when it came to interviewing awkward and stubborn suspects.

Croaker shot up from his seat and hurried to join Axeclaw.

Daphne and I looked at each other and grinned.

I doubt that Croaker enjoyed the next hour. Axeclaw went through every single accounting entry with him and sent him running more than once to fetch additional papers from his office he had "forgotten" about and that explained the "loss" of gold he claimed to have discovered.

'Do you agree, wizard, that Gringotts' books are in perfect order?' Axeclaw asked at last and shut the ledger with a resounding bang.

Croaker, a slight sheen of sweat on his forehead, nodded. 'As I said, it was all a misunderstanding.'

'It wasn't, wizard. It was all because you deliberately withheld bills that explained the use of the missing gold to cast a bad light on these two young wizards,' Axeclaw growled and bared his teeth at Croaker.

Croaker flinched back, and Axeclaw's growl turned into a grin that disconcerted the head of the Department of Mysteries even more. He got up from his chair, gave a nod to the room in general, and almost fled out of the room.

Something that sounded like a snort came from Daphne, but when I turned my head to look at her, she had her features under perfect control and presented a calm and polite face.

Axeclaw gathered his belongings, bade us a curt goodbye, and also left the room.

For the first time since Neville's party, Greengrass and I were alone. My heart leapt into my throat.

Daphne's face stayed the bland mask as she rose. 'We'd better get out of here, too, or Draco will come interfering any minute. My brother-in-law takes his self-imposed duties as our gooseberry very seriously.'

I followed her out of the room while my heart still thumped hard. Daphne had just acknowledged that something had changed between us. Was she expecting me to act on that?

Out in the corridor, she stopped, in plain sight of everyone who happened to stand at the coffee corner to get a cuppa, cast a Privacy Charm around us and turned around to me.

'I read The Prophet this morning. How are you, Potter? I want a real answer, not your usual "I'm fine" bollocks.' With her back turned to the coffee corner, she'd let go of the bland mask and looked at me with deep concern.

I sighed and raked my fingers through my hair. 'Honest answer? I don't know. I'm confused, I guess. My feelings are all over the place. Shame at myself, grief, anger—Take your pick, I'm an emotional mess right now.'

'I know what you mean.' Her voice held a lot of understanding, and she gave me a sympathetic look. 'I was like that for a long time after my break-up with Aaron. You helped a lot with that.'

That was a comfort, although only a small one. I had to get my life back into some kind of order and I had to find out where I had gone wrong that caused my engagement to fail. It would destroy me if I got together with the woman before me only to repeat the same mistake and end up alone again.

Some of my thoughts must have shown in my face, she touched my shoulder and asked, 'What are your plans?'

'The immediate future?' I scratched the back of my head. 'Licking my wounds and trying to understand what by Merlin went wrong. In the long term—Who knows? I've never been one who planned ahead much, maybe I should. I just took the opportunities life gave me and ran with them.'

She grinned at that. 'Some spectacular opportunities they were. So, no plans to return to the dating game?'

I thought of the gaggle of giggling secretaries from the writing pool that had accosted me earlier that day and shuddered. 'Merlin, no!'

Greengrass snorted. The snort turned into a small, smug smile that stayed on her face. It seemed that my answer pleased her.

I decided to probe the waters. 'Why, are you offering?'

The smug smile vanished and her eyes widened for a split-second. The next moment, she grinned. 'And let all the effort Astoria put in keeping our reputation go to waste? I don't think so, she'd never let me hear the end of it.'

The corners of my mouth turned upwards, too. It was a rare occasion that Daphne let her mask slip. She hadn't expected this, and if she thought I didn't notice that she did not refuse outright, she was mistaken. However, here and now was neither the time nor the place to act on that realisation. I had to get my life back into order first.

My silent resolution to get my life back into order led to unexpected activities.

I redecorated Grimmauld Place.

When I moved into the ancestral Black house not long after the Battle of Hogwarts, I'd done little to improve the place besides giving it a thorough cleaning and throwing out everything that had the vestiges of dark magic on it. Ginny moved in with me as soon as she left Hogwarts. She didn't like how dark the house was and set out to do something about it. She soon discovered that car boot sales were a great place to find the style of furniture she grew up with, and the house filled up with an assortment of mismatched chairs, sofas, blankets, cushions, books and pictures that reminded me of The Burrow.

I loved it.

However, with my feelings and thoughts a painful jumble that I still had to sort out, the cluttered rooms seemed to reflect the disorder of my state of mind and strangled my breathing. I longed for space and a calm that my home didn't provide. So, I vanished all the treasures Ginny had acquired, starting with the huge four-poster-bed in our bedroom, and had Kreacher change the jarring colourful wallpaper Ginny had chosen to tranquil light colours which eventually calmed the seething currents within. I replaced the dark and heavy furniture with light wood colours with white accents, bought comfortable matching leather couches and chairs for the drawing-room and the family room, and put up huge potted plants everywhere.

With each piece I replaced, the house and my heart became lighter. By sorting through the reminders of happy times with Ginny, I also sorted through my memories. I decluttered the house and cleared my mind, and healing began.

Weeks passed and turned into months. The public interest in the reasons for Ginny's and my breakup didn't lessen. Not a single day went by that either the Daily Prophet, Witch Weekly or Teenage Witch linked Ginny or me to one hapless wizard or witch we encountered during our day and proclaimed them being our "new love." It was tiring, but preferable to the—wrong—articles about our alleged reconciliation that always resulted in Molly giving me hopeful looks and not so subtle hints whenever I went to Sunday lunch at The Burrow.

My work with Daphne was the secret highlight of my day, even though we were never alone. Draco was way too conscious of his duties as our chaperone for my taste. He didn't want to get into trouble with Astoria, so he always kept close to me and Daphne, although he never said a word about the fact that we set up Privacy Wards to keep him out of our conversations. It never ceased to amaze me how such a tiny little thing like Astoria held so much control over him.

Under the cover of Privacy Wards, I told Daphne about my progress on the house. I also might have let slip a sentence or two about my progress in processing my past. She seemed to like both, listened intently, and always gave me useful insights, which meant she didn't hesitate to point out when I acted like an idiot. To be honest, I would have brooded myself into a catatonic state without her.

Before I really noticed, summer had turned into autumn, and Halloween was just past when Draco handed Daphne and me each an invitation.

'We are having our usual Christmas party. Astoria insists that both of you have to come. A "no" is not acceptable.'

Daphne and I exchanged a look and grinned.

'What did my little sister threaten you with if we made other arrangments?' Daphne asked.

Draco shuddered. 'You don't want to know.'

We exchanged another look and broke out into laughter.

'You're so whipped,' Daphne said. 'I have half of a mind not to come, just to see what my sister will do to you.'

'Yeah, call it payback for all the times you were a git at school,' I said.

Draco's eyes became round with horror. 'No! You can't do that to me!'

That set us off again.

Draco pouted.

'Tell Astoria I will be there. If only to make her come up with a different reason to punish you. She would enjoy using me as an excuse, it'll add to her stress but I can live with that. For some reason I'll never understand, my sister loves you, and I love my sister, so you are safe from me,' Daphne said. She was only partly joking, from our talks I knew she still harboured a grudge against Draco for making her years at Hogwarts friendless and lonesome. His attitude had made it impossible for any Slytherin in our year to have friends outside of their house.

My heartbeat sped up. More than half a year had passed since my breakup with Ginny. Neither the wagging tongues in the ministry nor the wizarding newspapers and magazines had once connected Daphne's and my names, thanks to Astoria's foresight and her talent to persuade Draco to do what she asked of him. I couldn't be certain, of course, but something deep inside of me knew that Daphne wasn't indifferent, that I meant more to her than a friend and colleague. Sometimes, when she thought I didn't notice, she'd look at me with a strange expression in her eyes, and her bland mask would slip for a split second and her features would soften.

I had used my self-imposed time of reflection well. I had cleaned my house and faced my demons, and hopefully, I would do better with her—if I got the chance to prove myself.

Maybe now the time had come to act on my feelings for Daphne. A Christmas party in her sister's house, with a horde of people around us, was the perfect set-up to spend some private time with her, without anyone realising what was going on.

I took a breath and looked at Draco.

'Tell Astoria I'll be happy to come.'

The End

Of this part. The story continues with my one-shot "Save Me", which is written from Daphne's pov and covers the events of the Christmas party.