Chapter Eighty-Seven: Christmas Conversations

"I've been thinking," Harry said the next morning.

"Why? It's the holidays," Ron said with a grin. For a reason he wasn't willing to disclose, he hadn't revealed his relationship with Hermione to Mrs. Weasley yet, though Hermione had confided to Ginny and Daphne that if he hadn't done it by Christmas, two days later, she'd do it herself.

"I want to tell Sirius about…y'know," Harry said, ignoring Ron's remark.

"Already?" Ginny asked in surprise. "I mean…I'm all for it, but…Mum," she finished softly.

"Sirius won't tell Mrs. Weasley, I think," Daphne said.

"Not if I ask him not to, anyway," Harry added. "Besides, knowing him, he'll think it's funny to know it before Mrs. Weasley does. By the time we tell her, he'll just say, 'Oh, I've known that for ages'."

Ginny giggled at the thought. "Well, okay, then. Daphne?"

"I'm game. I'd like to tell my parents as well, actually. Come to think of it…Mum actually told me once she'd be fine with me marrying both of you," Daphne said.

"She…what?" Harry asked, exchanging a look with Ginny, who seemed just as confused.

"It was when I was still denying having a crush on you and you were staying over. After one of your Quidditch trainings she told me to marry you, and I told her she just said that because you liked Quidditch, and that Ginny liked it too, and then she told me to just marry both of you and that she didn't judge."

"Is your mother a Seer too, by any chance?" Hermione asked.

Daphne shrugged. "If she is, then either she doesn't know about it, or she never told me. I guess she could be, though…I have to have it from someone, I imagine. Although I don't think it's even possible to marry two people…besides, let's not get too ahead of ourselves, here. We've been together for about a week."

"Well, imagine her expression when you tell her you're dating two Quidditch fans," Ginny said. Her expression brightened. "Maybe she'll train me too…"

Daphne laughed. "I'm sure she will. She might even hope I'll start dating even more people so she can build an entire team…"

"So Ron, when you hear this, doesn't that make you want to…talk to your mum?" Hermione asked.

"You'll notice how these three aren't too keen on telling her anything yet," Ron said.

"Our situation is a bit different," Daphne said. "And we do want her and your dad to know, just…when we're sure it won't become a massive drama."

"We'll tell her before term starts," Ginny said. "We'll go back to Hogwarts, she'll have time to think about it, and by Easter she'll have accepted it…hopefully."

"Oh, there's Sirius," Harry said. "Sirius!" he called, and Sirius came over.

"You rang?" he said in a deep, gravely voice.

Hermione chuckled. "When did you see the Addams Family?" she asked.

"Lily actually showed it to me. She thought I'd like it. Needless to say, she was right," Sirius said with a grin. He looked at Harry. "The fact you didn't laugh tells me you're shockingly uneducated, young man. We'll need to address that at some point."

"Well, the Dursleys didn't really let me watch TV. I know some things because I know Dudley watched them and talked about them with his friends — his parents wouldn't allow that sort of talk, of course — but that's it," Harry said.

Sirius shook his head. "I will never understand how the sister of someone like Lily can be so narrowminded. But anyway, I presume you called me over for a reason?"

"I did, actually," Harry said, rapidly beginning to flush now. "And it's a perfect moment for you to show you're not narrowminded," Daphne said.

Sirius pulled up a chair and sat down. "Go on," he said.

"Do us a favor and don't tell Mum," Ginny said. Sirius looked like he'd gotten an early Christmas present. "I won't," he said.

"Okay, so, you know Daphne and I are together," Harry said.

Sirius nodded. "Because she's insane, yes," he said.

Harry grinned nervously. "Well, Ginny's insane too, and she's now together with both me and Daphne as well," he said quickly.

Sirius took a moment to register that, and then he burst out laughing. Daphne and the others exchanged curious looks while Sirius laughed. After a few moments, he calmed down and said, "Harry, you keep surprising me. Not even James and I could've come up with something like this. I can see why you're not telling Molly yet, though…she's going to freak out."

"But you…are okay with it?" Harry asked tentatively.

"Of course I am! You know me, I'm not much for tradition. And hey, I know free love was quite popular in the late sixties and early seventies…doesn't sound like a bad deal to me." He looked at Ginny. "I do hope you know what you've signed up for, though."

"Sirius, I grew up with Fred and George," she reminded him.

"Fair point. You'll be fine. Harry is James's son, of course, so that'll be fine too… Daphne, I hope you know what you've signed up for," Sirius said.

Daphne laughed. "I'm pretty sure I do," she said, immensely relieved that the first person to learn of their new relationship was taking it so well.

"H-Hermione and I are together too," Ron said out of nowhere.

"You are? Well, congratulations to both of you, too, then," Sirius said. "Have your drinks at Hogwarts been spiked with Love Potions or something, that you're all getting together all of a sudden? Oh, I actually have a fun story about…well, never mind. I'll tell you about that when you're older."

He shuddered. "I don't think I'm old enough for that story yet, truth be told…"

Seeing their horrified looks, he said, "It's not as bad as you think. Merlin's beard, James and I weren't evil. Lily still didn't like the prank much, though, and in retrospect it probably wasn't our finest moment, and it ruined the innocence of everyone who witnessed it forever, but anyway, you'll hear all about that later. Don't bother asking Snape, though; he wasn't involved in this for a change… Does anyone else know about your, let's call it 'rejection of tradition'?"

"Tracey, a friend from my class, is the only other person to know. We plan on telling my parents and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley during the holidays."

"And you're saving Molly for last. Probably smart," Sirius agreed.

"I think I'll tell my parents when we visit Dad again," Daphne said, to the surprised looks of Harry and Ginny. She shrugged. "I mean, might as well do it as quickly as possible, right? Sirius, since you already know and we probably need guards to go the hospital…"

Sirius nodded. "I'll go with you as a guard. I'll ask Remus to be the second guard; there's a man on Edmund's ward who got bitten by a werewolf, so maybe Remus'll be able to talk to him a bit about his condition, and I'll just go and get a drink in the cafeteria while you talk."

Daphne smiled gratefully. "Thanks. I hope they'll take it as well as you did…"

On Christmas day, after exchanging gifts, Daphne and the others went back to St. Mungo's to visit Dad. As promised, Sirius and Remus went along as guards.

All the way to the hospital, Daphne felt nervous. She didn't think her parents would have much of a problem with her expanded relationship, but it was still an odd thing to talk about. Even so, she wanted to get it over with as soon as possible, and this was a perfect moment for it.

She was glad to be out of Grimmauld Place for a moment, anyway, as Percy had sent back his Christmas sweater without so much as a note.

Daphne still hadn't gotten in touch with him, and she'd kind of forgotten because of everything else that had been keeping her occupied since his letter to Ron, but now she figured she should probably try to at least talk to him, even if it was only to hear his side of the story. Since they weren't currently at school, and wouldn't be for some days yet, she might even be able to get a message to him before there was any risk of Umbridge reading it.

For now, though, her mind was focused solely on the matter at hand. Her mouth was dry when the eight of them entered Dad's ward, but Harry and Ginny both nudged her encouragingly, and she felt strengthened by the thought that Sirius, at least, had been supportive and would make sure they got their chance.

After the usual Christmas pleasantries and a short conversation about Dad's condition — the Healers thought they'd be able to find an antidote to the venom in just a few more days — Remus went to talk to Dad's werewolf roommate, and Sirius conspicuously claimed he was parched and was going to get a drink, winking obviously at Daphne as he left the ward.

"What's gotten into him?" Mum asked with a confused look.

"He has the subtlety of a Reductor Curse, is what," Daphne growled.

She shook her head and exchanged a quick look with Harry and Ginny, both of whom smiled at her encouragingly.

"Anyway, Mum, Dad…I, er, there's something I want to tell you," she said.

"And I'm guessing Sirius is already aware of it?" Dad asked with a grin.

Daphne nodded. "Yep." She took a deep breath. "Okay, so…Mum, remember how you once told me you didn't judge? Specifically that you wouldn't mind me marrying both Harry and Ginny?" she asked.

Mum nodded and smirked. "I do," she said. She exchanged a look with Dad, who smiled knowingly as well.

"Well…Harry and Ginny and I are all together now," Daphne said.

Mum and Dad's grins got even bigger. "That's something you don't hear every day," Dad said.

"And yet, it doesn't surprise me at all," Mum said. "I mean, I figured you were at least interested in girls when those Veela affected you so much."

"But did you expect me to end up in a three-way relationship?" Daphne asked.

Mum shrugged. "Not necessarily, but I can't say I mind, either."

"Did you think we would?" Dad asked.

Now it was Daphne's turn to shrug, which she did mostly to hide how nervous she'd been only seconds before. "I don't know, maybe? It's not exactly common, is it?" she asked.

"No, but Mum and I had to date in secret for a while because our families couldn't see eye to eye. We both promised ourselves we wouldn't do something like that to our child. Even though this is unusual, there's no harm in it. If being together with the three of you makes all of you happy, then we're happy. In the current climate, the traditional Noble Houses don't like us much anyway. It's not like something like this will have much of an impact if they already consider us blood traitors," Dad said.

"So…does that mean you'll train me in Quidditch as well if I stay over sometime?" Ginny asked innocently.

Mum laughed. "Are you just using my daughter to get close to me? Now that's dedication to the sport," she said.

"No! No, I–"

"Relax, I'm just pulling your leg. Of course I'll train you," Mum said, waving away Ginny's awkward stammering. "What position do you play?"

"Nothing, at the moment, but I'd like to be a Chaser," Ginny said, still blushing, but also smiling brightly.

Mum's smile, however, had turned into a predatory grin. "You know I was a Chaser, right?" Mum asked, and Ginny nodded. "Then you'll also understand that my standards when training Chasers are even more strict than when training Seekers," Mum went on.

"I can handle it," Ginny said without batting an eye.

Mum looked at Daphne appreciatively. "I can see why you like her," she said.

Daphne smiled widely. Now that she'd told her parents, she suddenly felt much lighter. Harry and Ginny were both beaming as well, as were Hermione and Ron.

"Er," Ron said. "Would you happen to train Keepers as well?"

Mum raised an eyebrow. "Are you dating Daphne too? That has to be awkward, dating the same person as your sister…"

Ron quickly shook his head. "No! No, I'm with Hermione," he said.

"That's new, too, isn't it?" Dad asked.

Hermione nodded, blushing. "Same night as Harry, Daphne, and Ginny," she said.

Mum shook her head in amusement. "Romance must've been in the air, huh? That reminds of that time Sirius and your dad, Harry, pulled off this prank–"

"Do you really want to traumatize them?" Dad interrupted.

"Sirius mentioned something like that too, but even he didn't want to tell us," Harry said with a grin.

"Yet, anyway," Daphne corrected, also grinning.

Mum shrugged. "Ah, well, probably for the better… Anyway, Ron, I can train you, probably, if you think you can handle it. Why don't you ask your brothers as well and I'll be coaching almost the entire Gryffindor team…that'll be a change of pace. If James Potter could see me he'd be laughing his head off, I'm sure…"

She smiled at Harry, who smiled back.

"On a more serious note, though, I'm obviously going to put more time into Harry and Ginny. Daphne isn't interested in Quidditch, but her boyfriend and girlfriend are, so I'm going to focus all those years of missed exercises on them…but if your brothers and you want to come over as well, I'm sure I'll be able to put all of you through your paces…"

"Doesn't it bore you to be training Quidditch players all day long, only to come home and do it again?" Daphne asked.

Mum sighed. "You don't understand the allure of Quidditch. Even though the concept is so simple, there are countless ways a game can play out. By coaching so many different players, I improve my grasp on the game as well. I've been at the top as a player already, short of winning a World Cup, and now I want to do the same as a coach and manager.

"Besides, Harry is obscenely talented. It would be a crime not to coach him, and perhaps you're just attracted to talented Quidditch players, in which case I'm sure Ginny will turn out to be pretty good, too."

"I won't let you down," Ginny promised immediately.

"You do realize, though, that if you're coached by me, you'll probably lose any chance you ever had of getting Gwenog Jones to like you, right?" Mum asked.

Ginny shrugged. "I want to be the best player I can be. It's not just Slytherins who have ambition, you know," she said, and once again Mum grinned a predatory grin, which Ginny actually returned. Daphne was at once amused and terrified about what that training session was going to look like.

They spent the rest of the visit talking about various things, including the story of how Daphne, Harry, and Ginny had gotten together in the first place.

When they were in the Underground heading back to Grimmauld Place, Ginny said, "I think I'm just going to tell Mum and Dad tonight. I…I know Mum's not going to be happy, but…I don't want to keep this from her, regardless." She smiled weakly. "She might even forgive us before we go back to school."

"Well, Ron, if you go first, then maybe your mum will be in a good mood for when Ginny tells her story," Hermione said quickly.

Ron nodded, not looking too happy at the prospect but knowing he'd have to get through it at some point.

Even though Daphne wasn't going to be the one doing the talking this time, she was more nervous than she'd been before when they told Mr. and Mrs. Weasley after dinner they had something to tell.

While both of them were very happy to hear that Ron and Hermione had finally gotten together — for very different reasons, as Mrs. Weasley found it romantic while Mr. Weasley was elated his son might have Muggles for in-laws someday — Ginny's nervous expression made it clear to Daphne that, for the first time, they might not meet with instant acceptance of their peculiar relationship.

So, when Mrs. Weasley had finally stopped gushing over Ron and Hermione, and turned to Ginny, Daphne felt a chill going down her spine.

"Did you have something to tell as well, Ginny, dear?" Mrs. Weasley asked.

"Er, yeah…It's…it's a bit weird, but just…hear me out, okay?" Ginny said.

"I'm sure it'll be fine," Mrs. Weasley said, smiling warmly.

"Yeah…well…Okay, so, you know Harry and Daphne are together, right?" Ginny asked.

"I do," Mrs. Weasley said, exchanging a short glance with Mr. Weasley, who shrugged.

"Well…I'm together with them now too. Both of them," Ginny said.

"How do you mean?" Mrs. Weasley asked, though her tone suggested she knew perfectly well what Ginny meant.

"I meant that Harry and Daphne are dating, and Harry and I are dating, and Daphne and I are dating," Ginny said.

Mrs. Weasley smiled, but it looked pitying and a bit condescending rather than supportive.

"Dear, that's not how relationships work," she said.

"Why not?" Ginny asked.

"Because in a relationship, you find one person who is just right for you, and you share your life with that person. And if, for some reason, that doesn't work out, you go your separate ways and look for someone new, but you can't be in a relationship with two people at the same time."

"But why not?" Ginny asked again.

"You just can't! Look, you're just too young to properly understand how these things work, but–"

"What do you mean, too young?" Ginny demanded. "Harry and Daphne were fourteen when they got together and you had no problems with that!"

"Well, they were together with just the two of them! But to come out with something like this, it's just impossible. You can't simultaneously be in love with two people, and frankly, Harry, Daphne, I'm not too pleased that you'd go along with something like this; you two should know better! You're already together, so I don't want you stringing Ginny along now and playing with her feelings."

"We're not playing with her feelings, we share her feelings," Daphne said. "We are all in love with each other. What's the problem with that? You say we can't, but I haven't heard a reason yet."

"Because you don't understand what love is," Mrs. Weasley said, sounding annoyed but clearly trying to remain patient.

"I know what love is. It's infinite and indivisible," Daphne said. "It just takes different shapes depending on who or what we love, but it's all love just the same."

"Yes, very nice quote from…whatever book you have that from, but you're misinterpreting what it means. If it's indivisible, that means you cannot divide it between multiple people," Mrs. Weasley said.

"And we don't. We each love each other with our full capacity for it, as I love my friends with my full capacity for it. There is no difference in the amount of love I give them, only in the shape that love takes for each of them," Daphne said.

"Exactly, your friends. They are not all your romantic partners, though, are they? You can only have one of those."

"Then why can we have multiple friends? What's the difference?" Ginny asked. "Did you start loving Bill, Charlie, Fred, George, and Ron less when I was born? No! And yet, you still love me with all your love, as you love them with all your love, as you love Dad with all your love. How is this different?"

"The things you do with your significant other are vastly different from–"

"We're not doing any of that yet!" Ginny interrupted.

"And you shouldn't be! You're far too young, and you clearly don't understand relationships well enough yet to even begin thinking about it. You can't be in a relationship with two people at the same time, especially when those people are already in a relationship themselves. Now, Harry, Daphne, I know I don't have any authority over you…"

Mrs. Weasley sounded a bit annoyed when she said that.

"…but I want you to stop putting thoughts in Ginny's head about how you think relationships work. You're both too young to understand them properly, clearly."

"Mum and Dad were pretty happy for us," Daphne said.

"So was Sirius," Harry added.

Mrs. Weasley sighed in exasperation. "Yes, well, Sirius is likely just trying to annoy me, while Edmund and Amaranth are…"

"Yes? What, precisely?" Daphne asked, narrowing her eyes.

"Well, they clearly have very different ideas over what children should and shouldn't know," Mrs. Weasley said.

"Are you talking about my first night here, Mrs. Weasley? Because I think Professor Dumbledore is quite okay with us knowing these things," Harry said softly.

"He had very little choice, though, didn't he, when you'd already been told everything after he expressly forbade it?" Mrs. Weasley said acidly. "Arthur! A little backup would be welcome," she added.

Mr. Weasley shrugged. "What do you want me to say? Molly, Dumbledore has said himself that the current situation might be for the better, and concerning the relationship…where's the harm?"

"The harm is that Ginny is going to end up thinking that it's okay to just fall in love with anyone and then considering herself to be in a relationship with them the second the other person says they feel the same way," Mrs. Weasley said.

"That's not it at all!" Ginny shouted. "Do you really think we didn't ask ourselves these things too? We just decided to go with it anyway because it makes us happy!"

"You only think it makes you happy because you don't understand real love yet!" Mrs. Weasley shouted back.

"I'm perfectly capable of determining how I feel, thanks," Ginny said coldly.

Mrs. Weasley scoffed. "Clearly. What's next? Are you going to say you're dating Neville Longbottom next? You went to the Yule Ball with him, didn't you?"

"Why can't you just be happy for us like Sirius and Mr. and Mrs. Greengrass?" Ginny shouted.

"Because the world doesn't work that way, and I don't want you getting hurt!" Mrs. Weasley shouted back.

"Funny, because the only one in this room currently hurting me is you!"

Ginny and Mrs. Weasley glared angrily at each other for a few moments, and then Ginny turned around abruptly and walked away.

"Forget it, I'm sorry I even told you," she said, and Daphne could her how choked she sounded before she left the room and slammed the door behind her.

A charged silence filled the air. Ron and Hermione stood well back, looking very uncomfortable and unwilling to draw any attention onto themselves. Daphne and Harry both eyed Mrs. Weasley warily, while Mr. Weasley just seemed a bit resigned.

"Now look what you've done," Mrs. Weasley said to Harry and Daphne after a few seconds.

"What we've done?!" Daphne exploded. "We haven't done anything! We wanted to share something with you that makes us happy, and you just shoot it down without even considering it 'because we're too young'. Would you have reacted the same way if Mum and Dad had told you they'd gotten together with someone else?"

"They're adults. They would know better," Mrs. Weasley said.

"They supported us!" Daphne said.

"I'm sure you misunderstood what they meant," Mrs. Weasley said stubbornly.

Daphne looked at Harry in disbelief. While she'd expected Mrs. Weasley to have some problems with the relationship, she hadn't expected this particular reaction.

"They literally told us they were happy as long as we were happy. You can ask Mum right now if you want to. Or Sirius, for that matter," Daphne said.

"No need, we already heard," Mum said, throwing open the door and walking in, followed by Sirius.

"Our curiosity was piqued by the slamming door and we couldn't help but overhear the gentle conversation in this room when we went to look," Sirius said, smiling.

Daphne thought they'd probably used a bit of magic — perhaps even some Extendable Ears — to listen in on the quieter parts of the conversation, but she was happy that they had. Mr. Weasley sighed deeply.

"Molly, what is the problem?" Mum asked bluntly.

"The problem is that Daphne and Harry seem to have convinced Ginny that they can be in a relationship with the three of them, and now I'll have a real job trying to set things straight again! I can't see why you would go along with–"

"Because I don't see why I wouldn't," Mum interrupted. "What's the problem here? Say you're right, and a three-way relationship can't work. If that's true, then it'll fall apart on its own and Daphne, Ginny, and Harry all learn a valuable lesson. And if you're wrong, then maybe you'll learn a valuable lesson. In both cases, no harm is done."

"I don't want Ginny to be heartbroken when she finds out this sort of thing doesn't work!"

"I understand that, but no matter how often you tell a child not to touch a burning stove, they won't listen until they've experienced it. Even if you think the relationship is a mistake — and for the record, Edmund and I wholly support it even though it's a bit odd — you need to allow your kids to make those mistakes. I know you want to shelter them, but don't you think your reaction is just as heartbreaking as the relationship potentially failing, and maybe even more so?"

"You know perfectly well there's more to it than–"

"And I take it you don't want to discuss that with the 'children' here? Alright then…"

Mum turned to Daphne and the others. "Why don't you go upstairs? Sirius and I will talk this through with Molly…"

Mrs. Weasley glared suspiciously at Daphne. "I'm not sure if I want to–"

"Alas, Kreacher has been haunting all the other guest rooms, lately, such a shame, but no sleeping arrangements can be changed tonight," Sirius said theatrically.

Mrs. Weasley prepared to tell him off, and Daphne and the others quickly made their way out of the room, closing the door behind them just when Mrs. Weasley began to rant at Sirius.

"So…that went well," Ron said sheepishly as they went up the stairs. "Though I wonder what Mum's saying to them now…"

"I think I know the direction that conversation's gone in, and I think Mrs. Greengrass was right to get us out of it," Hermione said with a shudder.

Daphne nodded. "Yeah, I think some choice words will be used. But Mum and Sirius can hold their own, I'm sure," she said. She kissed Harry, who looked uncertain, goodnight on the first landing and entered the room she shared with Hermione and Ginny.

Ginny sat on her bed, glaring angrily into the gloom. Even in the low light, Daphne saw that her eyes were still a bit puffy.

Daphne sat down next to her. "Mum and Sirius are talking to your mum now," she said.

Ginny nodded. "I saw them coming up the stairs," she said dully.

"You don't think they can convince her?" Hermione asked.

Ginny shrugged. "Maybe. But that's not the point. Even if Sirius and Daphne's mum convince her it can work, Mum still wasn't willing to listen to me. She just dismissed me. And that condescending tone, too. I'm so sick of it. I mean, how can I ever tell her anything if she's just going to tell me I'm too young to understand?

"And Dad's just smiling, as if he'd love to speak up to help me, except he doesn't. If it weren't for you and Harry, I'd have no one to back me up because my brothers aren't dumb enough to try and Mum wouldn't listen to them anyway. And why would I even need backup, anyway? If she'd just accept I can make my own choices…"

"That's kind of the problem, though, isn't it?" Daphne said. "She's your mum. She's always going to have that as some kind of authority over you. Dad told me once that once he'd moved out of his parents' place, he found it really difficult to go back there for an extended period of time because he didn't feel free. It wasn't like his parents were ordering him around or treating him like a kid, or anything, but it just didn't feel like he could do what he wanted to do, when he wanted to do it. There was this invisible hierarchy still in place that he couldn't move beyond.

"And that was when he was already legally an adult. You're fourteen, so you don't even have that. Harry and I are fifteen, so we're no better. Even Hermione at sixteen doesn't count, and while Fred and George are of age, your mum still doesn't really accept their choices in life, either," she went on.

"But your parents and Sirius did accept it immediately. I mean, if Mum were a terrible person I could at least be properly angry, but she isn't. She's genuinely trying to look out for me, it's just…not in the way I need her to, and she won't listen to me whenever I try to tell her. So now your mum and Sirius need to solve our problem, and I hate that."

"That's often the case, though, isn't it? It's the same at school. If we have a problem with a teacher, like Umbridge, nothing we say to her can make her change her mind because she has authority over us. It takes Dumbledore interfering, or Mum calling in a committee, to get her to back off, and I'm not even convinced Dumbledore will have power over her much longer. He's much stronger, smarter, and older than her, but because Fudge gave her a fancy title on a sheet of paper, she has authority, and you can be sure she's trying to use it to get rid of him.

"Sometimes you need people with more authority than you to step in on your behalf. If you want to change that, you either need to reach that level of authority on your own as well, or reject all forms of authority altogether, but if you do that you'll be seen as a criminal in no time.

"People like Malfoy do both of those things at the same time by simply buying all the authority they need. Mum and Dad could do the same, if they really had to, though they prefer to call in favors with people who actually like them."

"I'd prefer to just hex my problems out of the way," Ginny said.

Daphne laughed. "Harry said the same thing," she said.

Despite her mood, Ginny grinned. "I knew I liked him for a reason."

There was a knock on the door. "Can't be Mum, she'd just come in," Ginny said.

Hermione just shrugged.

"Come in," Daphne said hesitantly.

The door opened and Mum stepped inside, smiling. "You okay?" she asked Ginny, who nodded.

"So…how'd it go?" Daphne asked.

"Not particularly smoothly. I don't think Molly likes Sirius or me much at the moment. She will, however, 'tolerate' the relationship for the time being, provided she doesn't have to see it much," Mum said, rolling her eyes. "I could give you the details, but it got quite nasty at times."

"Yeah, we guessed," Daphne muttered. "What about the, er, sleeping arrangements?" she asked.

Mum waved her hand dismissively. "Not an issue. I mean, what does she expect you to do with Hermione here as well? Besides, if you really wanted to get busy, you'd find a way, and parents disagreeing with those choices have never stopped teenagers from–"

"We get it, thanks," Daphne said, feeling her face flush.

Mum grinned at her. She looked at Ginny. "I'm pretty sure Molly will come around eventually, once she sees how happy you are, so for the love of God don't try to hide your relationship even when she's around. She needs to see for herself that your choices are the right ones. If Sirius or Edmund or I are nearby, we'll back you up if we need to."

Ginny smiled. "Thanks, Mrs. Greengrass."

"Since I'll be coaching you, too, you can just call me Coach Greengrass, like Harry does," Mum said with a wink.

Ginny's smile got a bit wider. "Thanks, Coach Greengrass," she amended.

Mum returned Ginny's smile and said, "Well, I think Sirius will have given Harry and Ron all the sordid details by now, so you should probably be ready to give them some support tomorrow. I'm sure they'll have a learned a lot of new words…"

This chapter ended up being far longer than I intended it to be, but whatever. I wanted to get these conversations out of the way. I'm still pretty sure that I made Molly into too much of a strawman here considering she didn't use any real arguments other than just reiterating that it doesn't work that way. I honestly don't think she'd give a moralistic rant to a bunch of teenagers, given her overprotective streak, so I simply had that take place off-page to spare myself the trouble of writing it. Of course, more villainous characters down the line will have their own things to say later on. Well, at least the (god)parents know now… Next chapter, the plot will finally resume.

On a lesser note, I'm considering Gwenog Jones to have been in Hogwarts when Daphne's parents were. The wiki says she graduated in 1986, but if that were the case she'd have been in Slughorn's club in her first or second year, because Snape taught Potions from 1981 (maybe 1982 at the latest), meaning Slughorn was gone by then, which doesn't make much sense to me. This isn't relevant at all, of course, considering the 'rivalry' between Daphne's mum and Gwenog Jones is just a throwaway joke, but still.