Chapter 23

The remainder of the evening following the confrontation between Lady Bulstrode, and Daphne haunted the corners of her mind. Her former master instructor had never visited her in the middle of the night like that before, and to do so in her formal Wizengamot robes seemed to be sending a message she couldn't quite decipher. She wanted to go to her friends about the threat, but realized Gretchen Bulstrode had nothing, and was nothing these days. The alliances she had grown up with had all but dissolved, and she lost her heiress in the war. She was likely clinging onto any vestige of power she could, and while Daphne may have lost some respect for the woman she couldn't bring herself to take it up the ladder to her friends.

When she went to her flat that morning she let out a huge sigh. She had been working herself to death practically for months now, and the time to reap the rewards of her hard work was now. As Daphne strolled into her bedroom she came to an abrupt halt as her eyes took in the scene before her. Two vases of a dozen roses mixed with lilies, and less common florals, one on each side of her bed were waiting for her with a note sticking out. It took her several moments to comprehend how this happened as she slowly reached out for the note that read:

Looking forward to our time together.

HP

Daphne felt her heart leap a little at the gift from her boyfriend. He had never brought her flowers before, and figured it just wasn't his thing, and she hadn't really thought much of it. This however was a very nice gesture, and the smile overtook her face as she lifted one of the vases towards her face to take a nice whiff of the beautiful floral arrangement.

All negative thoughts of Gretchen Bulstrode, work, and political pressures left her mind as she laid down onto her bed exhausted from the night before. Harry had been sweet to her since they met, and if this was any indication of what their romantic life may be like she had a feeling she could be a very happy young woman with the adventurous man at her side. As she closed her eyes she took a happy stress relieving breath, and let her mind wander to the possibilities of the coming week.

Her evening started with a loud thud. Daphne's eyes shot open as she felt a static pressure in the air around her. A loud gong-like sound reverberated through her apartment, and in a panic she summoned her wand to her, and stood out of her bed quickly. She shot forward to take cover behind the wall of her bedroom, and peaked her head across the threshway looking into the dark living room. Her stomach twisted realizing she had slept through the entirety of the day into the early evening. The light outside her living room window indicated it was beyond sunset, and her gut clenched at the realization that her wards were being attacked. This should have been impossible. She lived in the muggle suburbs, and this meant all the muggles around would be witnessing the assault on her home. The aurors would surely be coming in seconds, as would Harry who should've been notified his wards had been attacked.

She waited several moments to hear any signs of arrival, and her fear spiked when she realized no help was coming. It was very possible the object used to bypass the wards at Saint Mungos, and Seamus' home was being used at this moment, and she would have no means of escape.

Seeing nothing in the living room she took a chance and took a run for the fireplace. A jet of light flashed towards her that was purple and sickly in nature, and she screamed as she dove for the fireplace and dropped a ton of floo into her network, screaming out the address to the Potter home she disappeared in a massive flash of green fire.

Stumbling out of the floo network at Potter Manor was a trip. Her landing was straight to her knees as she plummeted forward, and groaned in pain. The trick to smooth floo travel was the right amount of floo powder, and with the panic she was in on the way out she grabbed an excessive amount causing this swell of dizziness. An elf appeared at her side immediately, "Lady Daphne, issy you okay?"

Daphne shook her head quickly heaving for breath, "No my home was attacked. Please call Harry. Call Harry."

The elf's eyes widened in a way that would've been comical if not for the severity of the situation, and she quickly disapparated away. Daphne rolled over and sat on her backside as her heart continued to race. She had been attacked in her own home. After all the wards, upgrades, and defenses on her home they had still breached. Someone was still breaking into people's wards. How had they not caught her though? Her apartment was so small, how could they have missed? Quickly her mind began replaying the memory to identify her attacker, but she couldn't put a face to it at all. It was a complete blank.

A pop in the entryway signalled Harry's arrival, and he was at her side in a minute, "I am really going to have to quit leaving you alone. Are you okay?"

"My apartment. Attacked." She struggled to get the words out still feeling completely terrified.

"Stay here." Harry frowned before snapping his fingers calling out, "Inky."

A small well dressed elf appeared immediately, "Yes master Harry."

"Get Lady Daphne a cup of tea that Grandma Potter liked. Then please if I am not back in fifteen minutes contact Susan, and let her know to alert the guard." Harry commanded as he stepped over towards the floo.

Daphne wanted to stop the man, but he was gone in a moment. Several tense minutes passed, and a cup of tea was forced into her hands by a very persistent house elf. She sipped at the tea without even a thought of what could be in it. Her frayed nerves however calmed instantly, and she wondered if her drink had been spiked with a calming potion. She had found her feet with the coaxing of Blinky the house elf, and was standing near the fire waiting for Harry to return, or to raise the alarm to the aurors if he didn't return soon. Thankfully her silent prayers were answered when the man stepped out of the floo with a frown covering his countenance.

She now realized that Harry was dressed very casually. Her mind didn't process it earlier, but the young man was wearing simple blue jeans, and a flannel shirt. Her mind seemed to be hyper analyzing him looking for some sign of battle, but nothing stood out. He took a deep breath before saying, "Daphne I searched your apartment and…"

His hesitation made Daphne frown as she reached to touch his hand, "Are you okay Harry? What happened to my flat?"

Harry took a deep breath, "Daph you have been under a lot of stress lately, and I know you have been working a lot of hours, and the sleep deprivation probably caused it. It's really okay."

The words were practically gibberish. She understood that the language he was speaking was English, but the order of them made no sense to her, "What?"

Harry sighed and shrugged his shoulders, "There was no one there, and no signs of an intruder. The wards were perfectly intact, and as far as I can tell not as much as even a probe had hit your flat. No magical residue, nothing."

Daphne stepped away from the man, "That's not possible. Harry, I swear someone was in my flat. They threw a spell at me, and it barely missed me. It was purple and-"

"Daphne, it's okay. I believe someone attacked you." Harry said calmly.

She nearly flinched at the honesty in the man's words. Her eyes widened, "You believe me?"

Harry put both hands on her shoulders, "Yes Daphne I believe you. Over my years in the magical world I have realized that anything is absolutely possible. I spent six years at Hogwarts with absolutely no one believing me. Not even Ron and Hermione at times. If you say you were attacked, and you saw spell fire coming towards you then I believe you." He then kissed her forehead and pulled her into a hug, "I am just glad you are safe."

Her shock couldn't have been more evident as her arms went around the youngman. She wanted to cry in relief, but instead she just exhaled, "Thank you."

When they separated he smiled at her, "Now we are supposed to be starting our well earned time off tonight. If you want you can stay at my flat, and I can have Blinky prepare my guest bedroom for you. I do need to go back to Andromeda and Teddy, and of course you are welcome to come, but I kind of ran out on them a little while ago."

Daphne immediately shook her head, "No I don't want to impose on you Harry. I can stay at Greengrass Manor tonight."

Harry shook his head, "Whatever you want, but my door is open to you. Anytime you need it."

Daphne bit her lip in consideration. She had been attacked tonight. There was no safer place on Earth at this point than at Harry Potter's side, "You know what...I think I would like that."

Harry offered the girl a smile and his hand, "Come on let's go. Andromeda and Teddy will be happy to see you."

Tentatively and shyly Daphne took the young man's hand and followed him back towards the entryway, "You're okay right? I don't want to throw you into something with my family."

Nodding her acceptance Harry offered her one last smile, and pulled her closer to him as he apparated them away.

Arriving on a hillside was not what Daphne was expecting. It was fully dark outside, but the house in front of her was fully lit up. It was only two stories tall, and sat on top of the highest hill in the area. The house was skinny in its stature, and didn't seem to be particularly wide. Daphne supposed it was perfect for a single mother, and her grandchild. Easily defendable on the high ground, and if the sound of running water nearby was any indication the young lad probably had a lot of opportunities to get up to mischief and fun.

Harry didn't even knock as he pulled open the door in front of him, and pulled her through the entryway. The inside of the house was well decorated and very bright. Lights were hung up everywhere, and pictures of Teddy, and other family members with Teddy decorated the wall. It was immediately clear to Daphne that the boy was very loved, and didn't want for anything. Not that she had expected otherwise of course.

It took all of five seconds for Teddy to shout through the house, "Uncle Harry? Are you back?"

The young boy came barrelling down the stairs at breakneck speeds, and launched himself at Harry happily giggling the whole time, "You left in the middle of the game Uncle!"

Harry smiled at the boy as he lifted him up easily onto his hip, "Sorry I had to go check on my lady Daphne here. She was having a rough night at home, so I brought her over. Will you help me cheer her up Ted?"

The little boy's hair turned dark black when Harry picked him up, easily matching his godfathers in color. The eyes changed as Daphne was looking at them, and was startled when Harry's emerald eyes reflected in Teddy's instantly as he took her in. The boy's metamorph abilities never ceased to amaze her, and after only a moment of locking eye contact Teddy offered her a big smile, "Of course. Anything for Uncle's Lady."

This made Daphne blush slightly and Harry to chuckle as he motioned for her to follow him towards the stairs, "Come on we were playing games upstairs."

Teddy squirmed out of Harry's arms easily and ran back to Daphne as she was quietly following the two up the stairs. Little Teddy forcefully grabbed her hand with a large smile, "Are you gonna play with us? Uncle Harry cheats in all our games? You won't cheat will you?"

The toothy smile that the kid offered made her smile at his exuberance. She wasn't sure if it was the calming drought or the presence of a place that felt like the home she had grown up in, but she answered with a slight grin, "Oh I don't know Teddy. I was a Slytherin in school like your grandmother. I don't know If I know how to play fair. Though I am sure I could teach you some ways to beat your Uncle."

This last part was whispered conspiratorially and followed with a wink while the boy's jaw dropped in awe. Harry immediately turned around looking like he was going to throw a fit, "Oh no I will not have you helping his grandmother corrupt my godson into being a snake in school!"

"Don't worry Uncle. I can still be a lion just like you!" Teddy answered excitedly.

"You will be the best lion since Godric himself." Harry said proudly.

This made Daphne roll her eyes, and a woman's voice came from in front of them when they arrived on the second floor, "Don't forget who he spends most of his time with Harry. If you want him to be a lion you better retire so you can start influencing him more. I think Slytherin is going to gain a fine young man in a few years."

Andromeda Tonks Nee Black stood with her hands folded in front of the two. The older woman had a stern countenance, but her face softened slightly at the sight of Harry and Teddy. When she saw Daphne her eyes did twitch in surprise but that was the only sign of recognition, "Daphne how nice of you to come by. Is everything okay?"

Before Daphne could answer Harry said, "She had a little surprise at home so I invited her over to get away for a little bit."

Andromeda's countenance broke into an easy smile at Daphne, "Well you are of course welcome. Harry and Teddy were playing catch the snitch earlier. You are welcome to join me for tea, and biscuits, if you don't wish to join in their frivolous games."

"That would be lovely." Daphne said with a light smile.

Harry looked like he was going to offer to let her play, but Teddy spotted the snitch floating in the far side of the second floor living room, and pointed dramatically, "Uncle Harry there it is! After it!"

The little boy then surged after it with Harry laughing following hot on his heels. Daphne then found herself following Andromeda into the nearby kitchen where two bar stools stood tall with spoons swirling into glasses of tea, "Sugar?"

"Two cubes please." Daphne answered quietly watching the two boys rough house for the snitch in amusement.

After a moment Andromeda slid the white porcelain glass towards her, and Daphne thanked her while saying, "This is a lovely home. How long have you been here?"

The woman drank from her glass of tea before answering, "We moved here during the War. This was the house of Remus Lupin, Teddy's father. It took some effort to make the place feel like home, but I could not bring myself to live in the big city manor of Grimmauld Place, or the home my husband and I shared for fifteen years. This was where Teddy was supposed to be raised, so Harry and I decided to honor that."

"He seems like a very happy boy. Everyone loves him." Daphne said with a smile watching the two boys fondly.

"He was a ray of sunshine in the darkest moments of my life. He kept me moving forward after losing my family. Harry has been great as well. It's not easy to ask a seventeen year old boy to help raise a child. He has done the best he can." Andromeda spoke heavily, "Perhaps one day in the future he will do more."

Daphne didn't know what was implied by that, but decided to let the sentiment hang when Andromeda posed the next topic, "So a surprise at home huh? Do you want to talk about it?"

Daphne flinched slightly at the memory, but shook her head, "I'm honestly not sure. I am not really sure if there is anything to talk about."

Andromeda nodded her head, and watched the two boys wrestling with no cares in the world, "Harry took off out of here like the devil was after him. Scared poor Teddy I think."

This made a sliver of guilt crop into Daphne's stomach, "I'm sorry I didn't mean to disrupt their time together. I thought...I thought I was in danger."

Andromeda said nothing for a full minute while the two just continued to spectact the godfather and his godson play together, Daphne sighed after a while, "I didn't know my life was going to change so much when Harry stepped into it."

"Most things that are worth it aren't ever easy or free my dear." Andromeda answered wisely.

In acceptance Daphne could only nod her head, but added, "I understand, and there hasn't been a moment of the time I have known Harry where I have regretted the hardships my friends and I have faced, it's just hard to believe he has been doing this his whole life."

"Tell me what happened?" This time the question seemed a little more forceful, and when Daphne faced the woman she caught the flicker of fear on her face. It was a moment of clarity that Andromeda must not know exactly what's been going on recently, and clearly she was worried about Teddy, and what kind of threats may be rising in the shadows. The young healer couldn't blame her for trying to avoid getting blindsided so with a deep sigh she told her about the attack on her home.

The story took some time, but with the playful banter between Teddy and Harry keeping the atmosphere light it passed in the blink of an eye. When it was over Andromeda frowned, "This is concerning. Harry has kept this place hidden from the public forever, and there is no record of it. Still the fact remains that his wards are compromised. That means our enemies could gain access to Potter, Bones, Longbottom, and other manors of our friends and allies could be conquered."

"We have to trust in Harry and his auror department. He will solve this. Besides who knows, maybe I am just crazy." Daphne said half jokingly.

Andromeda nodded severely, "Let's hope that's all it is my dear. It has been a rather trying few months."

The two women happily remained in silence for a short while. Harry and Teddy ended up on the couch after a short while where Harry was reading an excerpt from Quidditch through the ages to the young metamorphmagi in his Oliver Wood jersey. Teddy's eyes seemed to get heavier and heavier as he cuddled up to his godfather falling asleep in his arms. It wasn't long before Harry was placing a kiss on the boy's head, and carrying him to his bedroom.

When he returned Harry was smiling contently, "Well my lady are you ready to go?"

"You aren't taking her back to her flat are you?" Andromeda asked incredulously.

Daphne blushed at the question while Harry grinned cheekily, "So anxious to know where my girlfriend is spending her nights Andi?"

The woman gave a passable Mcgonagall glare at the young man, "You are not too old for me to hex you Harry Potter."

"Geez you Black women and your tempers! She is going to be staying in my guest room Andi. Happy?"

This made the Tonks woman raise her eyebrows challengingly, "Your guest room you say?"

Harry shrugged and winked at Daphne, "Maybe! Bye Andi."

Daphne couldn't meet the woman's eyes as she followed her boyfriend down the stairs. She could imagine she was shaking her head at the pair, and when they walked out the front door she slapped his arm, "You prat you are going to give her a heart attack!"

This made Harry snort, "Hardly. I think she is hoping we start shacking up ASAP so you can be the future Lady Potter and start popping out children so I can take Teddy full time. She says that a grandmother can't spoil her grandchild if he is with her all the time."

Daphne rolled her eyes, but then Andromeda's words from earlier echoed in her mind. She had mentioned that perhaps Harry would take a more full time role in Teddy's life one day. Perhaps that's what she meant, "I think a lot of people are expecting us to run down the aisle."

"Everyone is in a hurry for everything. Patience wins the day my lady, and you will find that I am not rushing anything." He said, offering his arm.

The two were walking down the cobbled path towards a nearby river, and she laughed, "Well thank goodness we both have a sense of humor about it or this all could've been quite awkward."

It was a testament to their relationship that Daphne could bring herself to laugh after the night she had. The moon was high in the sky, and the stars were immensely beautiful and plentiful on the clear Summer evening.

At the corner of her she caught movement in the distance. At first she chalked it off to wildlife, but as her eyes lingered in the peripheral she noticed the outline of a man standing in the shadows. Her heart seized momentarily, and her hand that was linked through Harry's arm began squeezing in panic. Harry seemed to detect her unease, and his eyes scanned the area, "What do you see?"

"There's a man over there Harry. Across the water." Daphne said shakily.

Harry pulled her behind him in an instant his wand in hand as he flicked out a small ball of light to go across the water and illuminate the area Daphne had been looking in, but the light seemed to erase the shadow from existence, and she had to blink several times to realize whatever she had seen was not there any longer.

The Auror frowned deeply as he circled his wand a few times, and light flashes of purple sparks fell to the ground from the tip of his wand, "If anyone was over there they are gone now."

Daphne felt her heart squeeze. First the fake attack on her apartment, and now she was seeing people in the shadows. Maybe she really was losing it. Straightening up trying to save what little dignity she had left though she laced her arm back through Harry's, and attempted to push them forward like nothing had happened.

They walked together arm in arm to the end of the cobbled path, and they turned to look back at the house before disapparting back to Harry's flat. When they arrived Harry yawned, "Blinky will have made you a room. Teddy is the only one that ever sleeps in it, but I am happy to keep it in case he ever wants to stay. If you need anything you are welcome to come ask me. The house elves stay at Potter Manor so it's just you and I here."

Daphne nodded, feeling only slightly nervous from her phantom attacker and visitor from earlier, "Maybe a nightcap before we go to bed?"

This made the young man smile, "Damn I knew there was a reason I liked you. Come on grab some couch, I will grab us a bottle, and some glasses."

Daphne kissed the young man on the cheek in appreciation. Truth be told she wasn't quite ready to be alone yet. As she took a seat on the couch Harry came around smoothly with a small bottle, and two glasses. He quickly poured the glasses and took a seat across from her on the opposite couch while waving his hand towards the wireless starting the soft background music, "So you looking forward to the festivities this weekend?"

Daphne smiled at the young man, "Yes definitely. Group night tonight, and then the World Cup on Sunday! Then our little mystery trip you won't tell me about."

"It's a surprise Daphne! Sue me for trying to romance you." Harry said cheekily.

Sipping at her drink she responded cheekily, "You scored some points with the flowers, but don't think I am going to make it too easy for you."

"I would never dream of you being too easy, my lady." Harry responded happily.

They held a long glance, and Harry smirked as he laid backwards in his chair, "How's Astoria and my old buddy Malfoy?"

"Oh Draco has been avoiding me since we went on our first date, but Astoria thinks it's great. I am sure half the ladies of the Wizengamot are privy to our relationship details though, because between Astoria, Tracey, and my mother, what they share among themselves is probably a lot more sordid than the truth." Daphne said with a fond smile.

This made Harry groan, "I am surprised we have avoided the Daily Prophet this long."

"I am sure us appearing at the game together will warrant some mention somewhere. Especially since I have only been sworn into the Wizengamot for all of a week."

"The world will know my secret that I am only trying to corrupt you for your votes." Harry answered jokingly.

"How dastardly of you." Daphne said with a roll of her eyes.

The two bantered back and forth for an hour about a variety of topics. Ranging from their friends, Teddy, bucket list travel plans, and of course the state of their own relationship. It had to be late in the early hours of the morning before Daphne rose to her feet, "Well I think I am going to head to bed. Thank you for staying up with me Harry."

Harry stood crossing over to kiss the woman gently on the lips, "You know where to find me if you need me."

She took his hand and placed it on her cheek gently and then held it as she began walking away until they separated. She began heading towards the bedroom when Harry cleared his throat, "Hey Daph your bed is in the other room."

She turned around to grin at the man as she called out, "I know which bed I am heading to Harry. Are you coming?"

Clearly needing no more prompting he followed quickly after the young woman ready to see just where the night might lead.

(A/N) Daphne is seeing phantoms where they ought not to be, and she along with Harry are taking a big step forward in their relationship. Lots of romantic character dynamics still to come for our two main characters, and I believe we have at least 10-15 more chapters left in this story as I bring everything back together. Then we will take a shift towards focusing on wrapping up the Rise of House Neptune around the same time. That means new stories are around the corner that I am already hard at work on, and can't wait to share with you. Stay tuned, and please leave your thoughts in the review section down below!

This chapter was beta approved by James Marx. Thanks for your hard work sir!

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