I do not own Harry Potter, the Wizarding World, or any canon characters.

Extended Family

Chapter 78 – Definitions of Family

Takes place during chapter 73.

"Babe?" Tracy knocked on the door. "Are you okay?" She started to panic a little, hearing Daphne cry. "I'm coming in." Tracy pushed the door opened and walked swiftly to Daphne, wrapping her arms around her. "What's wrong?"

Daphne shook her head, trying to stem the tears but melting into Tracy's embrace. "It is…it…"

"Don't say it's nothing," Tracy said firmly. "You're really upset and we know that only one thing makes you lose your composure like this. What happened."

Daphne coughed fitfully. "He…he already started."

Tracy's blood ran cold. "Already?!"

Daphne nodded miserably. "He summoned me home to inform me," she spat.

"No, no fucking way. Abso-fucking-lutely not!"

"I agree," Daphne shuddered. "But…he…he said some dreadful things and can make things horrid." She swallowed. "He said it is my duty and because he allowed…" she made a weak gesture at herself and Tracy, "…we must…we…" she dissolved into more sobbing.

"That absolute bastard," Tracy hissed. It showed how upset Daphne was when the woman did not chide Tracy's use of words. "We can't let this happen. We swore we would never let this happen, ever."

"What can we do?" Daphne whispered.

"Harry. Harry swore too."

"We…cannot involve him in this. He has done so much for us already."

"When it comes to Harry, we know the one thing you don't mess with is his family and Heather counts."

"So do we," Daphne whispered.

"Right. Come on, we have to fight this with everything we got."

-0-

Harry's smile slid off his face when he saw them at his door. "Hey, what's wrong?" He took Heather from Daphne who had held her arms out to him. "Is everything okay?"

"Not really," Tracy said weakly. "Can we talk? It's unfortunately really important. Probably best if Katie's here too."

"Of course." Harry kissed Heather's cheek. "Dally? Do you mind watching Iris and Heather and Lucas for a little bit?" After making sure the two little girls were happily playing in the sitting room, and Lucas napping away, with Dahlia there too, he and Katie joined Tracy and Daphne in the kitchen. He made them cups of tea and waited for them to sip. "What's going on?"

"My father summoned me for a meeting," Daphne said. She looked wretched. Her hair was limp, her eyes red rimmed. Her hands shook as she clutched the cup of tea. "He informed me that he was in negotiations."

"What kind of negotiations?" Katie asked, feeling her stomach sour.

"For Heather's…betrothal," Daphne whispered.

"What the absolute fuck," Harry gasped. All the women looked at him with surprise, unused to hearing him talk like that. "Heather is still a baby! Tell me you're kidding."

"No, I am not," Daphne said, voice shaking.

"Is this normal?!" Katie gasped.

"It can be," Tracy winced. "I mean, there are instances of offspring promised to each other before they were even conceived. It's deep-rooted Pureblood family ties and alliance things."

"That's…horrific," Harry said. He looked out into the sitting room, at Heather and Iris playing together, at Dahlia playing with them. "I…I can't even imagine that."

"Can he do that? Heather is your baby, not his," Katie said.

"He's the head of the family and he can. He can override refusals to a degree and force things," Daphne said miserably. "I have managed to build my own vault and do things separate from the family. He was never happy that I accepted a different vocation while working on my mastery. Despite the fact that there are plenty of Greengrasses in the family business, he saw me not joining as a betrayal, a dereliction of duty."

"So this is his way of getting back at you," Katie said angrily.

"To a degree," Daphne nodded. "I think he always had aspirations and plans for my children however."

"Did you have a betrothal thing like this?" Harry asked.

"Apparently there were talks and options," Daphne whispered. "When I firmly stated that I wanted to be with Tracy, it was eventually accepted but my father made it clear about the lost opportunities."

Katie hugged her and looked at Tracy. "Your family is a vassal of Daphne's right? What do they say?"

Tracy shrugged lamely. "They don't think we should have to do this and they've said as much but they also can't fight him on this too much."

The cups on the table started to rattle and the kettle began to puff as if the water within had reached a boiling temperature again. The women stared at Harry. He stood there, his hands clenched on the back of a chair, his eyes burning. He noticed their looks and took a deep breath and things stilled. "What can I do?" he asked.

Daphne melted with relief, clinging to Katie's arms for support. "You said back then that you would put a stop to whatever Society machinations that may come. Are you still willing?"

"And able," Harry said firmly.

"Please, help us," Tracy whispered. "We do not know what else to do."

"What exactly do you want, just so I know," Harry asked, hugging her.

"I want my daughter and any future children to be able to live and love as they will," Daphne said plainly. "I want them to live without any sort of obligations that are out of their control hanging over them. I never dreamed this life could exist until you have shown us it is possible."

"What she said," Tracy said wetly and they all smiled briefly.

Harry hugged her again and hugged Daphne. "You got it. Let me see what I can do and try to make this as painless as possible."

"That may not be possible," Daphne said sorrowfully. "My father is a very difficult man to deal with."

Harry's smile was one of the coldest they had ever seen. "I'm told I'm pretty stubborn myself, when I need to be."

For the first time since the meeting, Daphne felt something relax in her chest.

-0-

Cyrus Greengrass frowned when he saw the people within the room. "I was under the impression that this was a private meeting."

"It is Sir," Harry said, rising to his feet and offering his hand, a ring glinting in the lamplight. "The only people present are the ones involved with the…situation."

Cyrus ignored the hand and sat at the table's far end with his wife Adelle. "Then why are you here, may I ask?"

"Harry is Heather's father," Daphne said sharply.

"He is the donator and nothing more," Cyrus said.

"No, he is her father, just like how we are her mothers," Tracy said angrily.

"He is also her godfather and he has say in these matters," Daphne said frostily.

"Barely any say," Cyrus sniffed. "I thought better of you. Running to someone else for their aid in a purely personal matter."

"Like it or not, he is involved in this personal matter," Daphne said. "He has a right to it."

"Ah, when you said that he had conditions on the contract of donation? As far as I know, nothing was written," Cyrus said snidely. His face twisted when Harry slid a very official looking document over the table to him. "What is this?"

"Something written," Harry said blandly. "Notarized and authenticated, legally I might add."

Cyrus looked at the signatures. "I am aware of your connections with Edward Tonks. This is suspect for you to have a document appear out of nowhere."

"It is legally done and correctly done," Harry said. He ignored the looks that Daphne and Tracy gave him, and did not flinch at the look Cyrus gave him, the one Adelle wore. "Authenticated by the Department of Justice no less."

Cyrus glowered at the seal on the parchment. "So it seems." He stared at the document for a long time before focusing on Harry. "What is your goal here?"

"I thought it was clear," Harry said. "My goal is to protect Daphne and Tracy and Heather as well as any future children they may have."

"But why?" Cyrus asked.

"Because I want to. Because it is the right thing to do."

"One might think the right thing to do is to do what is right for the family," Cyrus said.

"I suppose you and I have different definitions of what the right thing to do is," Harry replied calmly. "I am doing what is right for the family, their family."

"There lies the flaw in your argument. Their family is mine. Therefore, you should be aiding me, and not them."

Harry snorted, ignoring Cyrus' look of outrage. "That is a circular argument and you know it. You're just making it to serve your wishes."

"Of course I am." Cyrus sighed, a deeply patronizing sound.

Harry smiled thinly. "If they don't consider themselves a part of your family, then they aren't."

"It does not work that way. You cannot leave a family just like that at your discretion any more than you can simply claim one to be family." He laughed at the looks on the younger people's faces. "Oh I have heard of you. Claiming all and sundry to be a sibling or to be a part of your family. That farce of a family is in word only, not in blood."

"Blood does not mean family either," Harry retorted. "One does not have to listen to someone because you have blood between you."

"Perhaps not for one like you, but for us, it does," Cyrus said coldly.

Daphne opened her mouth but Harry raised a hand. "Then I suppose you and I have different definitions of family as well," he said quietly.

"What do you know of family anyways? You have none," Cyrus said. He winced at the look of rage on Daphne's and Tracy's faces and he could feel the disapproval radiating from his wife. However, when he looked at Harry's face, how utterly still it was, he flinched.

"You're right, I don't have any blood family of note," Harry said, his voice low and so cold it burned. No one missed the word he emphasized. "That's why I fight so hard for the family I have found, the one I have chosen." His voice rose to cut Cyrus' reply off. "So, I gather you disagree with the document then?"

"I disagree with the limits of your involvement," Cyrus said.

"And you have found the limits of my disagreement," Harry said coolly, making everyone blink. "Very well, in that case, we should adjourn for now and meet once more at a later date. Good day Lord and Lady Greengrass."

Cyrus looked wrongfooted at the dismissal but could do nothing else. He stood and started to leave with his wife, glaring at the others all the while.

"A last word, Sir," Harry said softly.

Cyrus paused.

"Your daughter taught me a valuable lesson many years ago. She taught me about intent behind actions, at speaking a language that the person listens to most." Harry stared at Cyrus. "Remember that, in the coming days."

"Is that a threat?" Cyrus asked coldly.

"No Sir. An observation," Harry said smoothly.

"Do not presume to threaten me," Cyrus hissed. "I can do far worse to you than you can to I." Cyrus glared once more and left with Adelle behind him.

"I'm so sorry," Daphne said, beyond mortified.

"Don't be. He's a piece of work," Harry grunted. He turned sheepish. "Sorry."

"Do not be," Daphne said and they smiled weakly, "you are not wrong."

"Where did you learn all the little things about things done legally and what to say and all that?" Tracy asked. "That's Society mannerisms."

"I asked MumAndi and Sirius for some help and they told me the broad strokes. I was hoping it would make things easier and in a way it did, but was hoping it would make him more happy somehow."

"He is only happy when he wins," Daphne sighed.

"Daphne, Tracy, I need to know, do you really care about remaining a part of the Greengrass family after this?"

The women shared a look. "I will keep my name but I do not care if I am still a member in good standing," Daphne said firmly. "They have known my feelings about this for a long time and yet still went ahead. And the insults they have bombarded you today is inexcusable."

"Yeah, what she said," Tracy said just as firmly.

"Good. I feel less bad about what's coming then." Harry rubbed his face wearily.

"That…that is a signet ring," Daphne said, focusing on the ring. "I…I never seen you wear that before."

"I only wear it when Sirius throws a fancy Society party and I'm there," Harry said.

"That's…that's a family ring," Tracy exclaimed when she looked at it closely. "Is that a Peer ring?"

"It sure is," Harry smiled.

"My father insulted you and threatened you while you were wearing that," Daphne said, voice shaking and eyes wide.

Harry's smile turned predatory. "He sure did. And that's a pretty big deal in Society, right?"

Daphne and Tracy nodded mutely.

"Good. Let's go to Grimmauld, shall we?"

-0-

A few weeks later.

Cyrus sighed deeply, looking at the occupants in the room.

"Good to see you too, Cyrus," Sirius said, idly cleaning his fingernails with the tip of a metal quill. "How have you been?"

"As if you do not know," Cyrus said bitterly, sitting down with his wife beside him. "Nor do you care."

"You're right," Sirius said, still not looking up from the quill or his fingers, "I do know and don't care."

Andromeda rolled her eyes silently while Harry met Cyrus' gaze levelly.

Cyrus turned to glare at Daphne and Tracy. "I do hope you are proud of yourselves. You have ruined us from acting out like this."

"They had nothing to do with this," Harry said smoothly. "Everything that happened after our meeting was purely because of me and Sirius and Andromeda. You had a chance to keep it from getting that far. You failed to stop it."

"Clearly I underestimated you." Cyrus visibly tried to shake his irritation and failed. "Why have you done this," he said to Sirius. "You did not do this for Daphne or Tracy's sake, nor their child's."

"Well, you're wrong. I like them. Daphne is a fine example where a girl from a Pureblood family isn't a terrible person. Tracy is frankly hilarious. And I love Heather. She's adorable and I like the way she calls me granddog."

Sirius set the quill down and stared directly at Cyrus. "But I sort of did it for their sake because they're close friends with Harry and Harry is Heather's godfather. And since I'm Harry's godfather, I took it personally when you threatened him. Not only that, he's a Peer of the Blacks. You go after Harry; you go after me and I was not going to let that go."

"I was unaware he was a Peer," Cyrus said stiffly.

"Then that's your mistake. He was wearing his ring and did everything right. You went into the meeting with hostile intent and remained belligerent the entire time. You entered the meeting with bad faith. You reap what you sow."

"And we have done nothing to the family Greengrass," Andromeda interjected. "All the inquiries, all the motions, are purely directed at you."

"I am the Head of the Greengrass family," Cyrus said angrily.

"As you have made readily apparent," Andromeda said blandly. "And yet, everything we have done is purely personal to you. The repercussions on the rest of the family are simply collateral."

"Simply collateral?" Cyrus seethed. "Business deals cancelled. Audits into my work. Inquiries?! You deem that simply collateral?!"

"Hey, they were really easy to start. That sort of implies that everything you did was not exactly above water," Sirius grinned. "And if everything you did was completely correct, then nothing bad will come from them."

"Are you happy?" Cyrus asked Daphne. "Are you happy that you have caused this to happen to me and your mother and your sister? After all we have provided for you? Given you?"

"I wish it did not happen," Daphne said, eyes wet but expression resolute. "I begged you to not involve me in those contracts and to not use Heather like that. I begged and pleaded, and was more than willing to pay you back for every Knut."

"What we asked is something every child of every Pureblooded family has been asked, for the betterment of the family," Adelle said softly. "Your sister does not fight."

"She has always liked it more than I," Daphne protested. "She likes all of that. I never did! I worked my hardest to bring pride to the family and to do my best for it. I have worked hard. I have endured! All I ever wanted was to have some reprieve on certain things!"

"Heather's your first granddaughter, why couldn't you have just loved her and been happy?" Tracy asked sorrowfully.

Cyrus looked away from Daphne and Tracy, before turning to face Sirius. "What do you want to make this stop?"

"Swear you won't bother them with this stuff ever again. Let them live their lives. Take what you have and be happy with it. You have plenty of other ways to get what you want, leave them alone," Sirius said frankly.

"If I agree, then you two will never enjoy your former status," Cyrus said, looking back at Daphne and Tracy.

"If that is what it takes," Daphne whispered, "I wholeheartedly accept."

Cyrus and Adelle looked shocked at her admonition, their shock growing when Tracy remained quiet, only nodding in agreement with Daphne.

"You made your ultimatum," Andromeda said. "Your decision?"

The silence grew and grew before Cyrus slowly signed the parchment in front of him. He tossed the quill aside and rose. As he and Adelle began to leave, he stopped to look at Harry. "I am surprised by you. I thought you were a man capable of doing things on your own. Apparently you are a boy that runs to others for aid."

Harry looked calmly back at Cyrus. "Some families help their own, others don't. But what do I know about families? I don't have any." He looked at Andromeda and Sirius, at Daphne and Tracy. "No, I do actually. Apparently I know something about families after all. Sir."

Cyrus blinked and opened his mouth but no sounds came forth. He shut his mouth and left with Adelle. The door slammed behind them and the silence within the room grew heavy.

"What an asshole," Sirius grumbled.

"Sirius," Andromeda sighed, looking pointedly at Daphne.

"Sorry," Sirius muttered.

"You are not wrong, he is an asshole," Daphne sniffled. "But he is my father." She felt better when Tracy hugged her and Harry took her hand.

"As someone who had an asshole mother and father, I can sympathize," Sirius said awkwardly.

"I sympathize as well," Andromeda said warmly.

"Thank you for helping us," Tracy said. "We…we couldn't have done it without you."

"Of course. I always enjoy sticking it to Pureblood idiots and like I said, I'm genuinely fond of you two and Heather. And anyone that fucks with my godson is going to regret it," Sirius growled. He ran his hand through his hair.

"Do you think this will be the end of it?" Andromeda asked softly.

"I do," Daphne said. "Father prides appearance over all and his appearance has suffered with all the inquiries and audits. He will not risk continuing this and now with the Blacks involved, he dares not do anything illicit."

"Might make gatherings a bit awkward," Tracy joked feebly.

"You can come to ours instead. Ours are awkward for other reasons," Sirius said breezily.

"The last time, Dally found a grey hair in Sirius' fur," Harry said, smiling for the first time since the start of the meeting. "Sirius…had a bit of a reaction."

"He was screaming bloody murder you mean," Andromeda snickered.

"I still think she was making it up!" Sirius said loudly while the others laughed. "I looked again later and couldn't find it!"

"Because she pulled it out. She didn't want to leave it there to bother you," Harry chortled.

"Such a kind girl," Andromeda sighed lovingly.

-0-

"What is this?!" Katie asked, eyes wide.

"You like raspberry dark chocolate, right?" Tracy asked. "I told you I was getting you some chocolate bars."

"When you said chocolate bars, I thought you know, normal bars of chocolate." Katie held up the large wrapped block of chocolate. "This is like a brick of solid chocolate!"

"I brought more, where did they go?" Tracy frowned and looked around.

"The bunnies are using them as building blocks," Harry chuckled.

"Heather did that earlier before we brought them over," Daphne smiled.

"Thank you, it's too much," Katie laughed and hugged Tracy.

"Not nearly really," Tracy said.

"Did you get Harry bars of treacle?" Katie asked, unwrapping a corner of the brick and gnawing off a mouthful.

"Oh, does treacle come in bars?" Harry asked excitedly.

"No but it does come in buckets." She gave him a large bucket of deep golden syrup.

"Would you judge me if I ate it with a spoon?" Harry asked.

"I'm gnawing a brick of chocolate right now so not really," Katie laughed. She sobered a little. "I'm glad things worked out in the end."

Daphne sighed. "Yes. Things will be unpleasant for a while but I must do what is best for Heather. She is what matters right now. Thank you again, Harry. I do not know what we would do without you."

"Of course. We're family," Harry said firmly.

"We are," Daphne replied and hugged him tightly.

The four of them stood quietly, watching Dahlia and Hadley and Hailey play with Iris and Heather with Lucas slumbering beside them.

"Thank you, friend of my heart," Daphne said quietly.

"You're welcome, friend of mine," Harry said.

-0-

A couple of weeks later, Katie poked Harry gently, nodding at the looks on Daphne and Tracy's faces. She winked and coughed lightly. "So, still burying us in chocolate and treacle for Heather? We haven't even finished the last ones you brought."

"I never said I'd stop," Tracy said evasively.

"And for no other reason?" Katie said teasingly.

"Is that another bottle of hundred-year aged mead?" Harry asked, looking at the bottle on the counter top.

Daphne and Tracy looked at each other guiltily. "I know this looks terrible considering all you just did for us and I swear that we were going to broach the subject before this all happened but now we feel much better because we know we are protected from future reprisal which gives us so much hope and so we wanted to ask but we really should have waited because it now smacks of entitlement-" Daphne babbled.

Katie laughed freely and hugged her tightly. "Take a breath before you pass out."

"We kinda knew," Harry grinned. "Before all that happened I mean. We saw how you were looking at Lucas and chatting between yourselves."

"We always wanted more than one," Tracy said sheepishly. "Plus we kinda like how Iris and Heather are close in age and thought it'd be nice to have one to grow up with Lucas."

"Are you still okay with it?" Harry laughed when Katie gave him a thumbs-up, gnawing on more chocolate. "We're still okay with it and still flattered. At least I am." He grinned when Katie smacked him. "I mean, in the sense of giving Lucas a friend to grow with."

"Who's going to take the potion this time, if we can ask," Katie asked.

"Me," Tracy said, not embarrassed in the slightest. "Really?" she laughed when Katie gave Harry a coin.

"I knew you would switch off," Harry grinned.

"You really do understand us," Daphne smiled.

-0-0-0-

LifeIsAGreatAdventure - I don't think this would work as a separate story because it depends on you being familiar with the other chapters for it to work. Glad you enjoyed the chapter. I never imagined she would be such a featured character but she has grown into someone I greatly enjoy writing for.

Arnie1701 - The many facets of Hedwig.

alix33 - The tantrum part, the bacon part, and the Christmas finery were my favorite bits.

DOOOOOOM Lord of Waffles - Glad you enjoyed it. Hope your wekk has improved.

jouve25 - Hedwig POVs are a smidge tougher because she's not outwardly verbal, but I do enjoy the challenge of writing them. That being said, revisiting past scenes where she can fully vent her voice was a lot of fun.

odonnellzoo99 - Thank you so much. It was fun picking through the older chapters and seeing what I could do. It was a bit harder to try and find the right voice for her to fit each of them but I am fairly certain I achieved it. I'm pretty sure I picked the best bits to delve into and glad you enjoyed.

Urgwaew - Good to see you. Hope you've been well. Yeah I had a bit where I wasn't sure how to use the italics when Hedwig was in France but I figured the words would show who was talking and it would still be obvious that they didn't understand her technically, despite her understanding everyone else perfectly. Her giving herself authority was one of my favorite turns of phrase. I knew I had to use Butt Warmer again, that still makes me laugh to this day. The tantrum she threw over being shrunk and the turkey bacon were my favorite bits and the Christmas scene was just fun to indulge in her vanity. Glad you enjoyed. All my best to you.