Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters.

Word Count: 1714


Challenge: Are you Crazy Enough To Do It Challenge

Prompt: 208. (feeling) love


In case anyone forgot:

Matthew - Hermione's cousin and the groom.

Madeline - Matthew's mother

Jessica (Jess) - The bride

Monica - Hermione's mother


Daphne settled into the seat Madeline assigned to her. Even though she was seated away from Hermione, she didn't particularly have a problem with their current arrangement; her mother's extravagant parties had been a prime example of how much planning had to be done for a single event, and she understood that disrupting that order could potentially ruin a great deal of things; it wasn't her wedding day to ruin.

Madeline had spent a full three minutes apologizing profusely for the inconvenience she was causing her. Daphne had to wrangle her back into Mathew's dressing room with a note of reassurance that 'it's completely fine by her', so that the wedding preparations could continue without a hitch.

Monica, on the other hand, made offers to exchange seats on multiple different occasions; all of which Daphne had vehemently declined, of course.

That left her at the back with Elizabeth – Jessica's cousin, and her month-old baby girl – Ella. Hermione had slipped her that little detail before they had parted ways.

"So, why are you back here? Are you the groom's ex or something?" Elizabeth leaned in to whisper, eyes gleaming excitedly at prospect of juicy gossip. Daphne almost didn't want to burst her bubble; she seemed tired, as the mother of a month-old baby would.

With a soft chuckle, Daphne responded. "Nope. Nothing that gossip-worthy, I'm afraid. Just an eleventh-hour addition to the guest list."

"Aww… shucks."

"Although, if I was going to be someone's ex, I would probably be the bride's." Daphne added.

Her eyes lit up once again. "Oh… Jess should be so lucky. I must say, it's quite relieving to meet another lesbian in this place. My family may be accepting, but that doesn't mean any of them are queer."

"Lesbian…" Daphne questioned with widening eyes. "What about…" Daphne's eyes wandered down to Ella.

"Oh, she's mine, alright. Roberta may not have been involved in conceiving her, but she's going to be just as much of a parent as a father would've in a straight couple." Elizabeth's eyes flared with pride and a hint of defiance.

"I would drink to that. Unfortunately, my girlfriend warned me against indulging in the punch; apparently, her younger cousins don't hold back on the pranks, so…" Daphne held up her glass of water with a shrug.

"No wonder it doesn't taste like raspberry." Elizabeth murmured; pushing away her drink with a scowl. "And here I was – worried that the pregnancy had fudged up my taste buds to such an extent that I couldn't tell berry from booze."

Suddenly, her expression changed. "Daphne, would you mind if I let Ella trouble you for a few minutes? I might've had a little too much water while we were getting dressed; and the punch certainly didn't help."

Daphne felt her arms go stiff with panic, as she realized she had never held a baby in her arms before; she wasn't close enough to any of her extended family members to be near them during their infancy, and Tori wasn't that much younger than her.

"I… I've never… w-what if I hurt her?" Daphne stuttered as she realized that in her moment of self-realization, Elizabeth had placed Ella in her open arms.

Elizabeth smiled back understandingly at Daphne. "I'm sure you'll do just fine; trust me, I'm her mother and I feel that way every day." With a soft pat of Daphne's shoulder, she bolted off in the direction of the nearest restroom sign.

Daphne sat frozen, eyes transfixed on the little slumbering being in her arms. She could feel her own heart thump loudly in her chest, possibly out of fear. Reluctant to do anything even remotely reckless, she merely sat and gripped Ella as tightly as she could without hurting her; various tragic scenarios relaying through Daphne's mind with every passing second.

"Daph."

The Slytherin nearly jumped out of her seat. "Merlin! Granger, you gave me a mini heart attack." She gasped.

"What world were you living in right now? I just called out to you, like I always do." Hermione approached her girlfriend slowly.

Daphne took a moment to catch her breath. "Sorry… I guess I was a bit on edge."

"Why would…" Hermione finally saw Ella sleeping in Daphne's arms; Daphne's seat was facing away from Hermione's table, so she couldn't see the little girl as she was walking to her. "I leave you alone for twenty minutes and suddenly you have a baby on your lap. And I was just beginning to think you actually loved me."

Daphne's eyes shot back to her girlfriend, only to find her grinning smugly. "Not funny, Granger."

"I beg to disagree." Hermione kneeled down by Daphne's chair. "I presume this is little Ella."

Hermione observed Daphne's vice-grip on the infant and the tremble in her hands. "Daph, why are you… wait, are you scared of her?"

"No…" Daphne's voice dropped to a soft mumble. "I'm scared of dropping her."

The mirth returned to Hermione's words as she chuckled softly. "Wow… Daph, I can't believe it… you're so cute."

Daphne's expression morphed into a scowl. "Shut up. I've never held a baby in my arms before."

Hermione's eyes widened. "Really? Never? Not even Astoria?"

Daphne shook her head.

"Okay, wow." Hermione studied her girlfriend for half a moment. "In any case, give her to me. You're hold her too tightly – you might wake her up; and I'm sure her mother spent a good deal of time trying to put her to sleep."

Hermione waited for Daphne to get up and hand over the baby, but Daphne just stared back at her.

With a roll of her eyes, Hermione leaned down and picked the baby up in her arms. "So dramatic."

Daphne just stuck her tongue out in response, prompting another chuckle from Hermione.

The couple stood together in silence for another few minutes, just listening to the dozing girl's soft breath. In that moment, Daphne finally managed to affirm to herself that this is how the rest of her life is going to play out; and with the brightest of smiles she could say that she had no complaints whatsoever.


"I hope I'm not intruding; I seem to have left my baby back here. I'll be out of your hair as soon as I find her." Daphne turned around hurriedly, only to find Elizabeth with a hand on her mouth, holding back laughter. "Relax dear, I'm just messing with you."

Daphne handed Ella back to her mother with a scowl; with Hermione chuckling silently behind her.

"I presume this is your girlfriend." Elizabeth motioned at Hermione. She received two nods in response.

"Hermione Granger; I'm one of the groom's many cousins."

"Nice to meet you, Hermione. You have a lovely name." Elizabeth stared intently at her; earning a blush in response.

"Thank you."

Daphne glared at Elizabeth. "You have a woman of your own, I wish you would stop putting the moves on my girlfriend."

"I can't help it if she's so lovely." Hermione's blush deepened as the older woman sent another smile her way.

"I worry for Ella's future." Daphne muttered.


Hermione returned to her seat shortly afterwards as the ceremony began; leaving Daphne with Elizabeth, Ella, and Roberta – who managed to make it with a few minutes to spare.

After the exchanging of the vows, the couple said their goodbyes and returned to their hotel room; and Daphne made her way through the crowd to Hermione and her family. The pair stood shoulder to shoulder as the crowd formed a circle around the newlyweds for the first dance.

Daphne slowly laced her hand together with Hermione's. Softly, in a whisper that only Hermione could hear, she said. "That'll be us someday."

"Yeah?"

"Hmm."

"I look forward to it."


The rest of their stay at Manchester was fairly brief – Hermione's parents had a flight to catch, so the four of them had to rush home shortly thereafter.

Daphne insisted that she drive on the way back, sending both of Hermione's parents into a panic as they knew she was born in a family that was strongly anti-muggle. Hermione struggled to hold back her laughter as she watched two halves of her father's mind wrestle with the knowledge that Daphne learned how to drive for his daughter. On the other hand, she began to worry that her mother might just leave her father for her girlfriend.

Finally, after they dropped Hermione's parents off at the airport early the next morning, the couple were sprawled out on their bed – with Hermione's head laying on Daphne's chest, and Daphne mindlessly combing through Hermione's bushy mane.

"And I thought I was the one who spent too much time thinking."

"Shut up. I was just… thinking."

"I believe we've already established that, my love; tell me something new."

Daphne shot her a glare. "I was thinking about you; and about how much has changed in my life since the war. I don't like to say this because I know it'll infuriate someone who lost their loved one because of it, but I'm happy the war happened."

"Daph…" Hermione planted a short kiss on Daphne's lips. "We waged the war for a better tomorrow, so please don't feel sorry that your future is better than your past, be happy that it is."

Daphne could only smile.

"I know I am – I'm happy that I can live without the fear of being at the mercy of a madman; I'm happy that I've been given the opportunity to discover this side of myself; and I'm happy that I've gotten to know and fallen in love you because of it."

Hermione leans up to capture Daphne's lips with her own; the pair sharing a long kiss that wasn't very heated or sexual, but surprisingly far more intimate.

After they split apart from the kiss, Daphne could see the playful glint return to Hermione's eye. "And I know I'm happy to have such a soft set of pillows to sleep on whenever I'm tired." She said as she buried her face in her girlfriend's cleavage.

"I'm a really bad influence, aren't I?"

"Of course. Was there ever a doubt?"

"I hope you still love me despite that."

Daphne knew Hermione's answer even before she said it. "Of Course I Do."


That was long overdue, and I haven't even begun to dig through the pile of pending stories.

This feels like the end of this fic to me, but not the end of their story. I will probably continue in a separate fic when I get more ideas, but it feels like I've dragged this on for a bit longer than what would be considered perfect.

Please let me know what you think in a review. I hope you liked my take on Daphmione.

I'll be posting updates for the other fics in this collection whenever I find time.