A Better World
The twelfth bell of the ancient grandfather clock located in the main hall of the Greengrass Manor indicated the passing of midnight. While most of the occupants of the Manor were in deep sleep, one Daphne Greengrass was lying wide awake in her bed contemplating on the events of the past few days.
The only thing on her mind was the mystery that was Harry Potter. She hadn't gotten a moments peace since the day he had walked out of his godson's room declaring the price of the life debt that she owed him.
She hadn't even realized, until later, how much it had hurt her to hurt him with her rude demeanor. She had no intention of being rude to him or to hurt him like an ungrateful person. But something inside her just tended to take over whenever he was around. Maybe it was the carefully developed and nurtured defense mechanism which enabled her to treat everyone indifferently aside from a few select people that she cared about.
With Potter she felt emotionally vulnerable as if she was no longer in control of her feelings. She didn't hate him. She could never hate him. She just hated the feeling of being vulnerable. She hated losing control. She hated that every time she saw him she had the strongest urge to be close to him, to touch him, to hold him. To succumb to every ounce of warmth emanating from his whole being.
Never could she even admit to herself that her whole existence yearned for the warmth. The feeling of acceptance as if he was the final piece that completed her in that moment. She had tried so hard to suppress these feelings and the only way for her to counter this was to be indifferent to him like she was with other things that were insignificant in an attempt to establish some semblance of control as it slipped away with every passing moment she spent with him.
But pushing him away had hurt her more. She would never forget the look of hurt in his eyes when she had him subjected to her glare. It had burned a hole in her soul. Was Tracey right? Would dropping the walls actually work? Was it really possible for her to have a civil acquaintance with Potter. An acquaintance akin to friendship someday?
As this questions ebbed away on her thoughts, in a moment of clarity Daphne resolved to apologize to Potter the next time she met him. That is if she met him. He had made it very clear that he would try and avoid her for her sake. No. She would make sure that she gets a chance to apologize. Having made up her mind Daphne finally closed her eyes. Yet the sleep that came did so at a cost, with green eyes a consistent companion in all her dreams.
=/=/=/=
Lack of sleep was evident in Daphne's eyes as she saw her reflection on the mirror. Nothing a few glamour's could fix.
As she walked downstairs, Daphne was surprised to see her father down in the hall. It was very unlike him to be home so late in the morning. Cyrus Greengrass was a very punctual man and his routine included visiting the Greengrass Imports & Exports office every single morning before getting on with his various other portfolios such as being a member of the Wizengamot, the British Dueling Academy and the Chairman of the Wizarding Business Association or WizBA as it was now commonly known among the business community since its inception nearly 10 years ago.
WizBA was the brainchild of Cyrus Greengrass and Eyric Jiggers, who was the fifty percent owner of Slug and Jiggers Apothecary. While finalizing a deal of engaging Greengrass Imports & Exports as the sole importer of all the international products for his Apothecary, Eyric Jiggers had made an offhanded comment on how easy it is to get business done when you know how they could help each other within their area of expertise.
Something had clicked in Cyrus' mind with that comment, and the idea to form an association had been born. An association that would consist of the business community on a voluntary basis, which would have regular meetings to identify business opportunities for their members from the businesses of other members. Eyric was immediately up for it and quickly many of wizarding Britain's major businesses had joined. Soon everyone reaped the benefits of being part of the Association and it had thrived.
However, her surprise was short lived when she saw Reginald Davis sitting on the other side of her father in the hall. The Davis' were practically family so her father even preferred having meetings with Mr. Davis at their house, usually over a meal or tea.
"I won't lie I was worried for a bit there when I initially got the summons from Gringotts." Daphne heard Reginald say to her father as she joined them, sitting at a sofa across from the two men engaged in conversation.
"Good Morning." Daphne called out.
"Good morning Daphne dear." Her father responded.
"Good morning Daphne. How are you feeling?" Reginald asked.
"I am good Uncle Reginald. Much better now." Daphne replied with a smile.
"So what happened when you went to Gringotts, Reg?" Cyrus asked refocusing on the conversation that had been taking place prior to Daphne's arrival.
"Well not only did they advise on the continuation of the funding but the new owner of the Trust proposed a generous increase in funding together with some very good future development plans that would be fully funded by them." Reginald replied.
Isabella and Astoria had also joined them in the hall with both of them taking seat on either side of Daphne.
"Increased funding and proposals for development? From what I remember the initial funding was already quite generous." Cyrus asked with a surprised look on his face.
"I was also very surprised. But when I read the proposal and communicated with the owner of the trust I was assured that his interest was very genuine indeed." Reginald replied.
"So you managed to meet the new owner. Seems like he is not as secretive as the previous one. Who is it?" Cyrus quizzed.
"Unfortunately, he is as secretive as the previous one if not more. We communicated through letters for which he got Gringotts to issue me with an enchanted parchment. Apparently the Goblins hold him in very high regard." Reginald replied with a sigh.
"Is that so? Curious indeed." Cyrus started with a thoughtful look.
"What did he say in the letter?" he asked finishing his statement.
"Well he seemed pretty interested in knowing how many children we had in the orphanage. There background. Things they liked and their interest areas. He also mentioned that the Trust could set us up with a property he owned to provide room for more children if we required expansion in the future." Reginald replied.
"Well that seems like good news for the orphanage. Congratulations." Cyrus said.
"Katherine would be so happy knowing how well you have managed her dream." Isabella stated.
"To be honest I have Sheena to thank for that." Reginald replied modestly.
"Give yourself the credit you deserve Reg. But yes! Sheena has been very efficient. You should consider hiring someone to assist her in operations especially now with the upcoming plans for expansion." Cyrus advised.
"Yes! I have been thinking about the same thing. I have been trying to recruit someone to intern under Sheena in the time being and then formalize their role as a Development Manager once the expansion is underway." Reginald remarked.
Interning at an orphanage would surely have been one of the things that Daphne would never have considered in the past. But the past few weeks had totally changed her perception on how she saw things. She had only met Teddy once, but it was enough to show her what an orphans life would be without people who cared.
She had been aware of the Katherine Davis Home since its inception and she felt ashamed that till today she hadn't even visited the place. Imagining so many children without families, many of which may have been lost to the war similar to Teddy's. Many of their parents may have died protecting someone just like Professor Lupin had protected her.
These children needed people to care for them. They deserved the upbringing owed to them. They should be loved and provided for. Daphne didn't even realize when she started talking.
"Uncle Reginald! If it would be okay with you and Sheena, I would like to intern at the foundation."
Four pairs of eyes turned to look at her, the shock of the randomness of her statement imminent in all of them. The unexpectedness was the actual shocking factor as everyone present knew that Daphne had the capacity of being empathic, however, it was a trait she usually chose not to portray in public.
"I would be doing it for free and you could still go ahead and hire a permanent Development Manager when you see fit." Daphne continued ignoring the reactions of shock.
"I think that would be great." Cyrus said being the first to come out of his stupor.
Cyrus was actually glad that Daphne would be getting out of the house and doing something to occupy her time. She had had a tough past few weeks. This will be good for.
"Yeah! I mean why not. I am sure Sheena would love to have you Daphne. Let me discuss with her and we can tell you when you can start." Reginald said.
"It's really nice of you to want to do this honey. I am proud of you." Isabella stated enveloping Daphne in a hug.
"Hey. Me too. Me too." Astoria quipped completing the group hug while everyone started laughing at her antics.
=/=/=/=
"Wow Harry. This is so great. What you're doing I mean. Funding the orphanage." Hermione started in her usual Hermionish fashion.
"Yeah mate. Its brilliant." Ron added.
The three were sitting at the kitchen table of Grimauld Place. Harry had just told them about the orphanage.
"But I need your help Hermione. As I told you that I do not want my involvement in this publicized as such I have remained anonymous from the very beginning." Harry stated.
"Yes. You have already told us that. What seems to be the matter?" Hermione asked.
"Well the matter is that I want to be able to visit the orphanage and meet the children. I am pretty sure Mr. Davis is already trying to figure out who the mystery donor is. If I just walk into the orphanage tomorrow morning it would certainly ring some bells, wouldn't it?" Harry said letting out a sigh.
"That indeed is a problem. I am pretty sure they would wonder how Harry Potter knows about the orphanage and what in the blazers is he doing there." Hermione responded with a thoughtful look on her face.
A few minutes passed as the three silently tried to think up a way which would allow Harry to visit without raising suspicions. Hermione's thoughtful face split into a smile.
"Got it!" She proclaimed.
"It is so easy. The perfect plan which would make sure that your secret is safe." She continued.
"What is it?" Harry asked keenly while Ron also motioned for her to spill.
"You did say that you made some suggestions in your funding proposal right?"
"Yes." Harry replied. "What has that got to do with this anyways?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Well you could loosely make a suggestion in one of your letters for them to conduct a volunteer's day and extend public invites in the prophet." Hermione started.
"Hermione, that's brilliant." Harry stated a wide grin plastered on his face.
"I am not done yet, Harry." Hermione replied with her brow furrowed at being interrupted.
"So yeah! As I was saying. When the invite is in the papers I could casually make a suggestion to Professor McGonagall, during our next mentoring session that it would be such a good opportunity for Hogwarts to be represented for this and that it will be a good time for the alumni to come together in providing service to our magical community." Hermione completed.
Harry was once again reminded of how smart Hermione was to come up with something like this at such a short notice. She was currently taking private sessions with Professor McGonagall and a couple of other Professors to prepare for her NEWT's, which she was determined to undertake in a special NEWT assessment which had been scheduled for next month by the Ministry of Magic to cater of all the students whose studies and assessments were affected by the war.
Harry was sure that this would be the perfect cover as Professor McGonagall was sure to take her suggestion on board and Harry would be one of the first people she would approach.
"Hermione, I know I always say this but you are indeed brilliant." Harry said grinning widely.
"It's nothing Harry." Hermione replied turning slightly red at his compliment.
"Well of course she is brilliant. After all she has been spending so much time with me." Ron boastfully added before starting to laugh.
And that was just the motivation the other two required to join him in open laughter. This was life in the new world. A better world.
=/=/=
"This is the common area where you will find most of the kids in their leisure time. This is probably the most popular area of the house." Sheena stated while giving Daphne a tour of the premises.
"There are a total of 31 children of various ages. The oldest among them is 15 and the youngest is just 3 years old." Sheena continued.
Today was Daphne's induction and Sheena was giving her a tour to make her more acquainted with the place.
"We will be getting 5 new children this week from St. Mungos. I think it will be good to have you handle their transfer and oversee their transition here. It will be a great experience for you and it will enable you to better familiarize yourself with the work. Of course I will be their to guide you." Sheena added.
She turned towards Daphne and found her lost in thought.
"Daphne?" She prompted.
"Uhhh. What?" Daphne asked breaking out of her mini trance.
"Did you even hear what I just said?" Sheena asked.
"Sorry! I was just thinking about the children. It is just so wrong for a 3 year old to be without their parents." Daphne stated her voice threatening to break any moment.
"Aww Daphne dear. I feel you. Unfortunately things happen sometimes that are beyond our control. But we can always do things within our control, right? And by providing a home and care for these children we are trying to do just that, aren't we? Sheena asked.
"Yes! You are right." Daphne stated, getting some of her resolve back.
"I just feel bad that before now I had never given a thought to the struggles these children face while we get pampered by our parents." Daphne continued, the embarrassment evident in the statement.
"Don't be so hard on yourself sweetheart. The fact that you here today and are able to empathize with these kids at such a tender age as yours, speaks volumes of the kind of person you are. Don't worry, there is still a lot of time for you to contribute towards making things better for them." Sheena offered.
'Yes, I will. I promise I will. I will do my share for a new world. A better world.' Daphne silently promised to herself.