Enjoy the next chapter in Daphne and Harry's tale. Thank you again for all the support, it really means the world!.

Chapter Ten

As she was spun around the dance floor, her red silk dress twirling around her in luxurious red waves, before she felt herself being pulled back against a hard chest just as strong arms encircled her as they continued to move around the Ministry dance floor.

Looking up she expected to see the dark brown eyes of Cassius looking down at her, but she was delighted to find Harry's sparkling emerald green eyes gazing down at her as he carried on leading her around the dance floor. She couldn't hear any of the dozen conversations going on around her, nor could she see anyone else but Harry. She was totally focused on him and the way it felt to be held tightly in his arms, and she couldn't remember feeling as safe as she did in that moment, even going so far as to say she'd never felt as loved or cherished. It was a nice feeling; she didn't want it to end as that would mean returning to a reality she didn't want. Before she knew it, the music was coming to an end and Harry was leading her out onto the balcony that was blissfully empty but the two of them. They didn't need to fill the silence with inane drivel, they were completely comfortable with each other, something she'd felt with very few people in her life.

"Oh, I don't want tonight to end," Daphne remarked as she looked up at the stars shining in the sky. It really was a perfect night.

"Neither do I," Harry remarked as he gazed at Daphne. "It's turning out to be a pretty perfect night."

Daphne looked over at him and couldn't stop the blissful smile from crossing her face as she gazed into his gorgeous green eyes. There were both starting to lean towards each other, Daphne's eyes falling shut as she got more and more lost in the moment.

"Daphne?" Harry said her name, but his voice sounded strange, not like it usually did, making her frown slightly. "Daphne…? Daphne!"

Daphne's eyes opened up and stared out at the sparkling blue waters of the ocean, rather than the sparkling green eyes of a certain someone. "Where the hell were you? You've been in la la land all week," Cassius remarked as he sat down next to her sun lounger.

"Just… thinking of happier times, that's all" Daphne remarked with a wistful sigh.

"You're on one of the most exclusive resorts in the South of France, how are you not the happiest you've been here?" Cassius asked her, laying down before snapping his fingers to get the attention of a passing waitress, much to Daphne's embarrassment and annoyance. When Cassius finally got his drink, he looked over at his fiancé. "So, what were you thinking about? It had better be bloody good," he asked, Daphne looking out over the ocean as she contemplated what she should say to the arrogant man beside her.

"I was just thinking about how much fun I had at the Gala last month," she told him, looking over when he snorted in derision. "And exactly what's so funny about that?" she asked him.

"You," he told her with a shake of his head. "Your ridiculous obsession with all things Ministry. To be honest I'll be glad when we're finally bonded and I can put a stop to all this Ministry and working nonsense."

"Excuse me? I'm not going to stop my work when we get bonded. What I'm trying to do with my father in the Wizengamot is important, for the entire population."

"Please, what you try and push through is just a pipe dream. I know it and so does your father deep down, he's just humouring you. He'll be thrilled when I join the family and can take over his seat on the Wizengamot."

"Oh yeah? And what do you about how the Wizengamot works? Most of the time you don't even listen to me when I'm talking to you about what we do in there-."

"Why would I listen to your drivel about witches' rights. You're all fine with the way things are, especially you. You've certainly got nothing to complain about," he told her, waving a hand out to their surroundings as though it excused any hardships she faced as trivial.

Daphne couldn't do anything but stare at her fiancé, not quite believing what he'd just said to her. She knew that Cassius had quite conservative views, but she'd never realised how archaic he was to women. Not knowing what to say to him without hexing him back to the 19th Century where he clearly belonged, Daphne stood and retreated to their suite. In all the years she's known him, Cassius had never shown any interest in the Wizengamot or politics, so to hear his views on a witch's places in society, not to mention his sudden desire to sit on the Wizengamot, unsettled her. Was this the man she was expected to spend the rest of her life with? Would she be bare foot and pregnant in the kitchen from the moment they were bonded to the moment she would stop being able to provide her husband children? The thought was suffocating, it was a fate she'd never pictured for herself; she was ambitious and wanted to make a difference to the world.

The thought of having a child or two was not wholly repugnant to her. Like a lot of women, she'd imagined what her future children would look like and had even picked out what names would work with her crushes surname. But recently, the daydream had changed, as had the names of her imaginary children. Now, instead of two blonde-haired, blue-eyed children that took after her, they sometimes had green eyes and messy hair. It was a nice daydream to have.

Especially when reality was so bleak. In the light of what Cassius had revealed about his true feelings and beliefs, it caused her to question if Cassius was really who she wanted to spend her life with? And if not, was the man she really wanted, Harry?

From all her interactions with him, Daphne knew Harry to be loyal and valued honesty in his relationships and valued the contribution the women he knew made to his life. He listened to her when they talked, didn't disrespect her by letting his eyes wonder along her body when the interacted. He was a true gentleman in every sense of the word and she would be lucky to be with someone like him. When she closed her eyes, as she remembered the feel of Harry's hands on her bare back as they span around the dance floor, and she knew that she's be in seventh e=heaven if she ended up with Harry himself.

But was she brave enough to take the leap, disobeying the families wishes and break off her betrothment with Cassius? She'd pushed the date of their bonding ceremony back- twice- but to actually break off the agreement… she didn't know if that was a step too far for everyone involved. She always strived to keep everyone she loved happy, but what about her own happiness?

For the rest of the afternoon, Daphne went back and forth with herself as she tried to decide what was the best thing to do, before Cassius came stumbling back into their suite, clearly having spent the rest of his afternoon drinking himself silly. Daphne watched dispassionately as her betrothed stumbled his way across the room to her, and placed a drunk sloppy kiss to her forehead- as though she were a child, instead of his future wife- before collapsing across their king-sized bed, immediately letting out a load snore as he fell into a alcohol induced sleep, leaving no room for her and unintentionally helping her by making a tough decision slightly easier.