Acknowledgment—The following is a work of fanfiction, written and posted solely for the enjoyment of readers. The author thanks Ms. JK Rowling for allowing writers to set work among the population and locations found in the Harry Potter series of books. Everything belongs to Ms. Rowling and the author of this story neither seeks nor receives remuneration.
Two Daughters
Chapter Fourteen
A Harry and Daphne Fanfic
By
Bfd1235813
"Harry Potter."
Potter flinched at the sound of his wife's voice as she spoke the words that always prefigured a good scolding, at the least, from either his aunt or uncle. Petunia and Vernon Dursley did not know anything about magic and certainly didn't understand it, but they were convinced they did not like it one bit. This made for a difficult childhood for their Ur-magical nephew and foster child, Harry Potter.
Potter was no longer living under the Dursleys' roof and had a much more agreeable personal circle than he'd had for the ten years he had been there. He was mad for his wife, in a good way, for one thing.
"Well, that was interesting," he said. "Give us a mo."
Potter left the bedroom and went to shed his cloak and hand it off to Kreacher, his house elf. Then he returned and stepped into the bath that served the master suite. Daphne Potter-Black waited patiently, sitting up in bed, listening to running water, reading Witch Weekly by lamplight.
Witch Weekly was the one popular culture indulgence Lady Daphne allowed herself. It wasn't that she didn't like lowbrow reading such as Witch Weekly so much as she needed time for her more challenging projects. As a magical lawyer, her work required care and diligence, lest a mistake creep into a file or brief or contract that would cost time, money and lots of apologies to correct. She found that exhilarating, to her husband's puzzlement.
"Delphi and Mary Beth were walking around the castle, as new students always do, looking for this or that and alternate routes. I'm sure you know the drill. They came upon a witch's loo and decided it was a good time for a stop. They went in. Care to guess what happened next?" he asked.
"Not really," answered Daphne.
"A witch made her presence known," said Potter.
"How remarkable," Daphne noted.
"I understand she was kind of washed-out in appearance and was annoyed when they asked if she was a student at Hogwarts," Potter said.
"Ah—that had to be Moaning Myrtle," said Daphne. "Do go on."
She put the Witch Weekly down on the quilted coverlet that lay across her lower half and waited for the rest of the story of Potter's adventure.
"When they went to wash up, Delphi asked herself, or so she thought, how to make the taps work. She spoke actual words, of a sort, and the water started to flow. Mary Beth informed Delphi she spoke but it wasn't in English."
"So what? Are the taps intelligent?" asked Daphne.
"Not exactly, although, in a way, you could say, I guess…"
"Potter. Please. Get hold of yourself," Daphne admonished.
"The taps in there are made to look like snakes, so, naturally, when Delphi asked her rhetorical question, she spoke…"
"NO! Oh, Delphi, I'm so sorry!" Daphne spoke to the ether that might carry her words to her step-daughter. "We'll get you some help. Can she make it to Yule?"
"What? She's a parselmouth, okay? I used to do that all the time. It isn't dangerous. People are so prejudiced!" Potter complained.
"What did you do? Did Mary Beth see everything?" Daphne demanded.
"She did. Delphi was a little bit upset that we hadn't talked about it before. I had to confess I didn't give it any priority because we'd had so much to do to get ready for school and it just escaped notice. It's very rare. Who'd have thought it would show up in a witch from Islington? I apologized, of course, for the oversight. Then I thanked Gorr for looking after Delphi. Then I had a few cautionary words with both of them," Potter concluded.
"I can't help thinking about that poor muggle-born," said Daphne. "She has no background, for anything, really, to help her understand magical peculiarities and put it all in context. They'd better be giving those students some accelerated, remedial counseling on what nonsense, like you, means. Where it fits in the matrix of magic and the points of contact."
"Contact. With what?" Potter asked.
"Well, for one thing, the two societies can resemble one another, which is actually very deceptive," Daphne began. "Muggles have a government, a civil service, their courts and judges and barristers and so on. Mary Beth will be somewhat familiar with those, just because of exposure to news reports and dinner table conversations. How relevant is that to her magical society?"
"Not very," Potter admitted.
"How relevant is parseltongue? To her muggle experience, I mean," Daphne asked.
"Not at all," he answered.
"Exactly," said Daphne. "Even if there is a phenomenon, let's say a job like solicitor, that does much of the same work as on the other side of the looking-glass, that poor girl is going to be hopelessly confused if she tries to equate the two in her mind. Even if I do the same job, generically speaking, as my muggle counterpart, there would be almost zero relevance of her legal studies to mine. Then we get to linguists skilled in English and Parseltongue."
"Ah," Potter admitted.
He'd stepped back in from the bath, now wearing a fresh, ironed pair of pajama bottoms. One of the things Potter had discovered he liked about being magical nobility with a London townhouse and the services of a house elf was being able to sleep in a clean pair of pajamas a single time before tossing them in the hamper for Kreacher's next batch of laundry. Kreacher had some means of conjuring another pair, washed and ironed, each evening.
"Ahhh…."
Daphne looked at her husband. He had become so house-broken, a stranger would think he'd grown up posh.
"Blood will tell," she thought. "It was in there all along."
"Comfy, milord?" she asked.
"Wiggle over here," said Potter. "I need you closer."
When she was positioned properly, Potter slid his arm around Daphne's head so he could reach out and touch her chin with a fingertip, orienting her lips just so. Then he gave her a kiss.
"Since we're here, face-to-face, cozy, cuddling, defenses down…" he began.
"You are getting to it, aren't you? Just to clarify…" she answered.
"We do owe your family a little princeling," said Potter.
"If that is what you wanted you could have just left the pajamas until later," Daphne said.
"We don't have to tonight, that isn't what I meant," said Potter. "We just haven't talked about how you want to do it. Timing, work schedule, those kinds of things."
"Since when did wizards take those into account?"
"At least since I negotiated with Cyrus. He drove a hard bargain. I, um, recognize the sensitivity of those issues for today's witch and wanted to initiate a discussion, in private, with my focus solely on you. Maximum truthfulness, no evasion. I wanted a safe space. Did I achieve that?" asked Potter.
"That area right below your tummy is charmingly warm at the moment, Lord Harry," said Daphne, moving her hips to give Harry's warm area a friendly rub.
"We are in hock to the House of Greengrass for a little lord-in-training," Potter said. "Or, subject to your schedule, I should say."
"So considerate," Daphne said, just before an interrupted thought looped around and came back. "So, how did your visit with Delphi and Mary Beth turn out?"
"Fine, once Delphi got over her rage at me for sending her off to school without informing her she might find she spoke parseltongue," said Potter. "I cautioned them to keep it to themselves because people can't seem to help being judgmental, the self-righteous scamps. I'm not worried, as long as she has Gorr up her sleeve."
"What about Mary Beth?" asked Daphne.
"Seemed to take it in stride," said Potter. "Maybe she's becoming used to these kinds of revelations."
"Maybe," said Daphne. "We will have to explore a bit more, with Delphi. When Yule break comes, you know? Her friend seems to be a nice young witch. On the other hand, she's got a very rough road ahead of her."
"Could be," said Potter. "Depending on what she decides she wants to do. If her career goal is to be head librarian at Hogwarts, couldn't a muggle-born do just as well as a pureblood? Could you take her on as an apprentice, get her up to being a magical family law attorney?"
"I don't think so," said Daphne.
"Really? Why's that?" asked Potter.
"Too much to learn," Daphne answered. "I wouldn't say it is impossible, just that working as an assistant under the solicitor who is also a recognized subject matter expert would be achievable for a Mary Beth while getting the whole way to licensure and an independent practice would be a challenge. She will never have that daily exposure to life as it is lived and the complex of relationships Ane is getting at Grimmauld Place."
"True, but who does? Other than Ane and Delphi, of course," said Potter. "I guess you're saying that is all in the background, the totality of your experience and education from childhood on."
"Yes, that's a good summation of what I was trying to say," Daphne replied. "Thank-you for polishing my syntax."
"We should get to sleep," said Potter. "One of us has to work tomorrow."
"We can start next week," said Daphne. "The timing will be favorable."
"Start? Oh. OHH! THAT! Oh, how wonderful! Cyrus will certainly be ecstatic," said Potter.
"Harry, couples try for years, sometimes, doing everything right. It still has to happen. It's a very natural process and Nature is whimsical," said Daphne. "And if you spill the beans and tell Cyrus Greengrass before I give you permission, I'll favor your gonads with a lovely new glass house full of formaldehyde. Now, kiss good night?"
Harry was giving Daphne a breakfast worth of happy grins the next morning, the only way he could chat her up about their new project since they had agreed not to say anything to Ane just yet. About the same time, back at Hogwarts, Delphi looked up to see Teddy and Scorpius arriving in the Great Hall.
"Not a word," she told Mary Beth, who zipped her lips in response.
Delphi knew the wizards would have to learn of her linguistic gift at some point or the solidarity of the Black Cousins group would be undermined. She did not want to give them their briefing in the Great Hall at breakfast lest some indiscreet person become informed and start spreading inaccurate gossip.
The opportunity did not present itself until the following week when the cousins, along with Mary Beth, were sitting on a sunny slope that overlooked the quidditch grounds. The Gryffindor and Slytherin sides were conducting a scrimmage, allegedly for practice purposes.
"Wizard just got the crap knocked out of him," Delphi observed as a Gryffindor disengaged from their broom. No harm was done thanks to a timely 'Arresto Momentum!'
"Yeah, except that was a witch," said Teddy.
Delphi flared, immediately.
"What? Who? Someone's getting a piece of my mind!" she declared.
"Relax, it was Bulstrode," said Scorpius.
Millicent Bulstrode, it seemed, came from a two-tiered family. Millicent's cohort terminated with the untimely death of her mother, followed by her wizard father re-marrying and starting all over again. Millicent's half-sister had just knocked a Gryffindor quidditch witch off her broom in mid-flight.
"Oh, okay," said Delphi. "I'm sure Desiree meant no harm."
Delphi took a few seconds to look all around where the four were seated on the hillside. Satisfied they had sufficient distance between outsiders and themselves, she asked for the attention of the assembly.
"Mary Beth and I met Moaning Myrtle," she said. "Have you heard of her?"
"Sure," said Teddy. "Harry told me all about her. She's that ghost, right?"
"Exactly, haunts a witch's loo," said Delphi. "She's historical."
"Okay, you met her," said Scorpius. "Anything she said that was newsworthy or otherwise valuable?"
"Oh, Myrtle's okay, as long as you remember she's kind of needy so you might not get away once you let her start talking," said Delphi. "While we were in her bathroom, I learned I'm a parselmouth."
"A PARSEL…" the wizards began, all surprised to meet someone with a legendary special ability, almost like a mutation.
"SHUT UP!" Delphi commanded. "The reason I'm telling you this out here is so you don't learn about it while we're in the middle of a bunch of people, get surprised and let the whole world know."
"Whole world?" asked Scorpius.
"Wouldn't the whole world think that's just nuts?" asked Teddy. "I mean, the whole world isn't magical. Is it?"
Delphi screwed up her face and was ready to loose a blast when Mary Beth spoke up.
"Teddy's right," she said.
Mary Beth looked at Delphi, both appearing to be mildly shocked by the muggle-born effrontery.
"What do you mean?" Delphi demanded, her voice dangerously calm and measured.
"A muggle would not understand anything. They don't know enough," said Mary Beth.
"Frame of reference," said Scorpius.
"What is that?" Delphi demanded.
"The facts we need to have before we can understand some new piece of information," Scorpius said.
"Where do you get all this knowledge?" Delphi wanted to know.
"Only child," Scorpius muttered, looking down.
Mary Beth looked, a bit guardedly, at Delphi. Message received, Delphi reached for Scorpius' hand. She interlaced her fingers with his.
"You're right," she said. "You too, Teddy. I apologize for being sharp. It's just going to be a lot easier if this doesn't get outside the family. And you, Mary Beth."
Delphi gave Mary Beth's knee a little tap with her fingers, which resulted in a smile overtaking her friend's face. Years later, Mary Beth remembered that gesture, and the moment it happened. She had been accepted, at least a little bit, by Delphi Black and her wizarding cousins. Her friend made her feel she was vaguely a part of her solidly-magical family. The resulting warmth, spreading from someplace beneath her breastbone, filled her from her toes to the top of her head. She stretched out the arm nearest Delphi and laid her hand on her back, just for a moment. Delphi leaned over, a bit, to let her shoulder bump Mary Beth's as she sent her muggle-born housemate a little grin.
It wasn't all that, as a bonding experience, except to Mary Beth, for whom it was the first time a witch or wizard bestowed upon her one of those little gestures that said they were more than two anonymous humans who were, momentarily, in close proximity.
Post-war Hogwarts strove to develop witches and wizards who felt themselves part of a greater whole. Excessive tribalism within the magical population was identified as one factor in the civil wars instigated by Voldemort. The house system was nearly dismantled as a result, escaping reform only because of its historical significance. Joint observance of magical holidays was emphasized. The houses cooperated, contributing members to the planning and organizing committees that functioned as hosts for the celebrations.
"What's this Samhain? I know I ought to know the answer to that," said Mary Beth.
"It's the old Autumn Equinox festival," said Delphi. "It's Halloween to the muggles."
"Ah! Ghosts, ghouls, black cats," Mary Beth said.
"Mmm…yeah, I guess," said Delphi. "It's less of a party. I went to a Halloween party once, just to see what it was like. They aren't at all respectful of the dead. No one spoke of Earth, or where we get our food. Maybe there is more to it, some places, but I don't know where that would be."
"Ah," Mary Beth said.
The organizing committee produced a real show for Samhain. The celebration did not get out of hand since the strongest beverage available was a non-alcoholic apple cider. Mary Beth stayed close to Delphi and Teddy. Scorpius had gone home with Draco to participate in the festivities at Malfoy Manor.
"Tell me what I'm seeing," Mary Beth whispered to Delphi.
"That Ravenclaw is playing a guitar," said Delphi.
"Yes, he is. So? What's the song?" asked Mary Beth.
"Teddy?" Delphi tried. "I'm not musical."
Teddy Lupin listened for a bit.
"Isn't that 'Black is the Color of My True Love's Hair?" Teddy replied.
"Oh, it is," said Mary Beth, suddenly recognizing the melancholy tune. "I didn't know that was magical."
"You know it?" asked Delphi.
"Not really, but I have heard it sung."
"There are songs like that. Muggles sing them, wizards sing them. Gran said music is one of the places the two cultures can meet," Teddy said.
"Why are we so afraid of being found out?" asked Mary Beth.
Teddy and Delphi looked back and forth. Each appeared to want the other to answer. Delphi was the first to yield.
"Witch burning," she said, her voice low and sad. "At some point, witches and wizards weren't someone an ordinary person went to see to get something for his headache. The priests found a verse in their scriptures that said, "Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live." They took that to mean they had to hunt down the witches and wizards and kill them. So, we went away."
"Is that from Daphne?" asked Teddy.
"Yes, or Astoria," said Delphi. "Auntie brought Scorpius to class at Grimmauld and we did some readings and then, during discussion, that came up. You weren't there? We were all crying at one point. I don't remember who told us about the burnings."
"So we stay out of sight," Teddy said, with a look over at Mary Beth. "Better for everyone."
"Party on," said Delphi. "Want to get a little closer? Need some cider?"
Samhain came and went and the Hogwarts students began to get excited about Yule. The mid-winter break equated with trips home, reunions with parents, younger siblings, cousins, grand-parents and in-laws. There would be holiday food everywhere, visits to manors and estates and gift exchanges galore. Delphi passed along some advice she'd been given by her Mum Daphne.
"You'll want to work really hard during November, Delphi," Daphne had said. "Once December arrives it is just a countdown to Yule. Probably, a week before you're let out, your energy for study will fade. Excitement and anticipation will rise up to take its place, but those aren't very good for reading and taking in new information. Then you'll be home and won't be able to focus again until the New Year. So, you'll want to really work hard. In November. Delphi?"
"Uh-huh," Delphi answered.
It took one experience with the cycle for Delphi to absorb Daphne's wise words. She did pay attention to her studies, all through November. It seemed to her like she really was learning a great deal. The excitement of the looming holiday began to exert influence the final week in November. The professors brought out their most spectacular teaching aids as they struggled to hold the students' attention. Finally, the last few hours ticked down. Mary Beth and Delphi finished up their packing, closed their bags and turned to face one another.
As if on signal, the two witches broke down in tears.
"I've been thinking about this," Delphi said through her sniffles.
"I cried all night long," said Mary Beth.
"Did you? Oh, I wish you hadn't told me. Now I feel bad for not holding your hand and telling you it will be fine," Delphi said. "Listen, I have your address. I will write as soon as I get home and send an owl. Let's see if I can send a card or a letter. Then we'll know. Our first magical experiment!"
Her excitement was comical, over something as pedestrian as a letter. Mary Beth stopped crying and laughed. The witches had been in a kind of loose hug that suddenly turned fierce. Daphne's hands became fists, her knuckles pressing into Mary Beth's muscles.
"Kiss good-bye?" asked Mary Beth.
Delphi didn't answer, turning her head so her lips were next to her friend's cheek. The kisses came as one, Mary Beth whispering a sweet valedictory.
"I'm going to miss you, Delphi."
They stepped back and Delphi nodded.
"Me too, Mary Beth," she said.
The witches picked up their bags and left the dormitory for the designated drop-off. From there, the elves would take charge and get all the baggage to the Hogwarts Express. Scorpius, Teddy, Delphi and Mary Beth nearly reenacted their journey from September, albeit in reverse. The four shared a compartment, along with a changing cast of fellow students. When the train arrived at King's Cross Station, the witches hugged a second time.
"Write," Mary Beth ordered.
"Before I go to bed tonight," Delphi assured her, then had a second thought. "Before I go to bed tomorrow night!"
After descending to the platform, Delphi, Teddy and Scorpius worked their way through the clumps of students and families. Potter had organized a combined approach to meeting the students, identifying a specific brick column where the families would wait. He had drawn a sketch map of the platform and sent it off to Delphi, who was charged with getting the word out to her cousins. The arrangement worked perfectly.
The Black cousins were on good terms with all the members of their extended family, so the greetings and hugs went on and on. Potter finally intervened and got everyone headed home. There were already extensive plans for holiday visits to all the houses. The children had received a number of invitations here and there for gatherings, primarily events featuring tea and cookies. For some reason, the matriarchs of well-fixed families delighted in bringing children from similar families into their homes and treating them to tea and sweets.
The first thing Delphi wanted to do, upon arrival at Number Twelve Grimmauld Place, was to get out of her Hogwarts gear and into one of her dresses. She took Ane to her room to choose from her holdings. The witches had a nascent signature look that they'd developed. Their dresses featured full, below-the-knee skirts and tailored tops, some with collars and some without. They had some skirts without tops. They liked to wear those with blouses with big collars and a vest that matched the skirts. Delphi would wear gray tights when it was chilly.
"Wow," said Potter when the witches came downstairs. "You went off a first-year and came home a witch."
Delphi knew that was hyperbole, but she liked it anyway.
"Plans for your Yule Break?" asked Potter.
"I need to send an owl to Mary Beth," Delphi said.
"Get your letter ready and we'll take care of it," said Potter. "Anything else?"
"What do you want to do?" Delphi asked, turning to Ane.
"Want to read with me?" asked Ane.
Delphi saw her sister held a volume of Bathilda Bagshot's magical children's stories.
"That would be perfect!" said Delphi, turning down the hallway that led to the second drawing room.
The sisters enjoyed the room with its excellent natural light and enchanted family tree tapestry for nearly two hours. When daylight gave way to winter gloom, the two looked back and forth and started to laugh.
"I missed you!" Delphi said as she pulled Ane into a hug.
Ane returned the affection before asking, "Hot chocolate?"
"Of course," Delphi assured her, "Whipped cream on top?"
That recipe proved more than acceptable, and the witches were still indulging when Daphne floo'd in from chambers. Mum Daphne's arrival set off the greetings a second time.
It had been an eventful day and Ane tired early. She summoned Holly and took her bath, then turned in. Daphne read some more Bathilda Bagshot and Ane quickly went to sleep. Letting herself out of Ane's room, Daphne walked downstairs as quietly as she could, locating Harry and Delphi in the rear drawing room.
"So, young witch, what is your view of Hogwarts, now that you have been there for a bit?" asked Daphne.
"It's okay," said Delphi. "I'm glad I have Teddy and Scorpius there. I don't know what Mary Beth would have done if we hadn't made friends."
"I hope she isn't being mistreated or bullied," said Daphne, although, in reality, asking a question.
"Not that I know of," said Delphi. "Right after sorting, someone from another house told her she didn't belong in Slytherin and we wouldn't like her because she's a muggle-born. I think we've fixed that. She does fine in her classes, as far as I know. The ones that I'm in, that is."
"So, she is adjusting? Successfully?" asked Potter.
Delphi looked into Potter's eyes, which were looking back, seriously interested. She knew enough to know that her father had his own adjustment challenges when he first went to Hogwarts.
"Yeah. I think so. It was hard at the beginning, I know," said Delphi. "There was so much she didn't know."
"Of course," said Potter. "Muggle-borns usually don't know much, if anything, about all of this magical stuff. They can't make it up in a few months. Or all of first year, for that matter."
Delphi Black sat quietly, staring at the floor. The Potters didn't know, but Delphi was thinking about her own early years. She had a surprisingly-large cache of memories of Euphemia Rowle's house in Somerset and the grouchy, negative witch. Comments about Delphi's destination, the 'bad end' Euphemia predicted for her, were especially searing.
"Delphi?" asked Potter.
She prefaced her response with a big, noisy sniff.
"It would have been better if I didn't go to Mrs. Rowle's," she said. "I know that I don't know enough to judge her, but thinking about my mum makes me really angry. I didn't know anything until you came and got me out of there."
"But you're doing great now," said Potter. "The reports for all your classes were terrific."
"Uh-huh," she said as she reached across the gap between them, putting her arms around her father.
After one of Delphi's anaconda hugs, she moved to her step-mother.
"Mum Daphne," she said, "Thank-you. You're the best."
"Silly. Wait until you've grown up a little more," said Daphne.
The next morning, Delphi summoned Holly before the others were out of bed. She asked the elf to lay out the clothes she wanted to wear that day before moving on to her bathroom.
"I need a trim," Delphi announced.
She'd shampoo'd in the shower, leaving her hair wet.
"Oh, Miss Delphi, does Lord Harry approve?" the elf asked.
"Has he ever objected to a haircut?" asked Delphi.
"Uh, no," conceded Holly.
"Two inches, no more," said Delphi. "I doubt he will notice."
"Yes, Miss Delphi, as you wish," said Holly.
The smile that took up her whole face betrayed Holly's real feelings on the matter. Truth be told, the little lady's maid elf loved cutting and styling her charges' hair.
One trim and a hair-drying spell later, Delphi was wearing that day's outfit and heading down to the kitchen where she would order pancakes, yoghurt, orange juice and tea. While she ate, Delphi read more Bathilda Bagshot. During the fall term, Delphi developed a fascination with history, including the myths and fables that framed the common literary and historical heritage of British Magic. She actually read history books for fun.
"Well," said Daphne as she entered the kitchen. "Up bright and early, studying? You're very industrious this morning."
"Mum Daphne," Delphi acknowledged. "How are you this morning?"
Delphi put her book aside and looked at her step-mother.
"You look slightly—glowing—today," she said.
Daphne's reaction struck Delphi as a bit odd. Her face flushed, becoming quite pink. She opened and closed her mouth several times, like a fish just removed from the water.
"I…I..," said Daphne. "Thank-you, Delphi, that is very nice of you. What's good this morning? Kreacher?"
Everything was good, of course. Daphne was soon enjoying a breakfast of poached egg on toast. She had just started on her first cup of tea when Potter walked in. He wore a cardigan that Delphi hadn't seen before. The color was crimson, very subdued, with a patch sewn on the left, just above the pocket.
"Harry," said Delphi.
"Delphi?"
"What's that?" asked the witch.
"What? Oh, this? Let me show you," said Potter, reaching into the pocket. "The Heraldry Office did us a favor. These are our Arms."
Potter took a patch from his pocket and laid it in front of his daughter. Delphi picked up the patch from the table and began looking it over. The feature of greatest interest was Salazar Slytherin's snake.
"Hey!" she said.
Delphi held the patch up for Daphne's inspection.
"Oh, I know, Delphi, I've been blessed with seeing it nearly every day," Daphne said.
"Cool!" said Delphi. "Uh, why do we have these others?"
"I'm Lord Potter-Black," said Potter. "These are Potter and Black."
He pointed at the two crests at the top.
"The last Peverell was Iolanthe, a woman, and she married a male ancestor and their family became ours. That is Peverell. Slytherin is because I fought Tom Riddle, Jr., better known as Lord Voldemort," said Potter.
Delphi looked down at the Slytherin crest.
"Did you really kill him, Harry?" she asked.
"Who's been talking?"
Potter didn't look pleased.
"It's all over school," she said. "Some people act embarrassed about it. Some don't seem to know."
"Wish I could do a memory wipe," said Potter. "I don't mind standing up to someone as evil as that but so many people…they can't keep it in perspective. But that is our crest, and we will look at it and remember that sometimes we have to do battle."
"I like it," said Delphi. "I need to sew it onto something. The four crests are Potter, Black, Peverell and Slytherin. Just like the Royal Standard."
"Maybe not JUST LIKE, but the same idea," said Potter.
Daphne finished eating, winked at Potter and excused herself. Potter listened to her climbing the stairs. Daphne didn't dither when she was getting out of the house in the morning and a few minutes later they heard, "I'm leaving!" followed by the sound of flames in the chimney.
"What are we doing today?" asked Delphi.
"When Ane comes down," said Potter, "I'd suggest we let her eat, then see if we can agree on something like a walk in Hyde Park or a visit to the Tate or whatever you want to do. A cultural outing."
"Could we go to the boat?" asked Delphi.
"Sure," said Potter. "Weather isn't really the best and she's kind of buttoned-up for the winter, but we can go. Think your sister will be enthusiastic?"
"If both of us are," said Delphi.
Delphi did an excellent sales job and as soon as breakfast was over, the Potters went down to the magical marina.
"The Bella," said a proud-sounding Potter as he looked her over.
"Yep," said Delphi as she let go a sigh.
Potter understood his daughter's ambivalence toward the birth mother who believed she had gifted Voldemort with a direct descendant. In fact, Bellatrix Lestrange went to her rest not knowing Delphi's parentage. The tangled mess was not a proven, well-established means to get a child up to young, sane adulthood.
"You'll be a great witch someday, Delphine Black," said Potter.
"Harry, it's okay," said Delphi.
"Listen," said Potter. "I remember going to check on you, at Mrs. Rowle's place. I remember bringing you home. You made us all so proud, the way you got your feet under yourself and simply took off. That is all anyone can say. It's a character issue. Don't dwell on the negative things. Keep your feet moving toward your goals. Positive goals, please."
Delphi brightened up. She walked the boat, from the stern to the bow, crossed to the opposite side and walked back. Ane was in the cabin, busy with something.
"Tea, Harry?" called Delphi.
"Sure," came the reply.
Going down into the cabin, Delphi filled the kettle with water from a bottle they'd brought. She drew Gorr and cast a heating charm. When the tea was steeping Delphi brought two mugs to the cockpit, handing one to Potter and the other to Ane.
"How'd you get the water hot?" Potter asked when Delphi reappeared with her own mug.
"Gorr," she stated.
Potter sat still, studying his daughter.
"Really?" he said.
"Uh-huh," Delphi answered.
"Well done," said Potter, just before taking a sip.
The weather was not favorable for sailing. Potter had expected as much. Delphi liked being aboard the Bella. If it wasn't as invigorating as sailing on some open water, she still appreciated the smell of seawater, watching the graceful acrobatics of the gulls and listening to the water that slapped the boats' sides. Along with those little positive reinforcers, Delphi positively adored her sister, Anemone, whom her father had brought about when he was keeping their mother out of the reach of British Magical law enforcement. 'My father is a pirate!' was a very satisfying thought Delphi enjoyed, repeatedly. What more could a witch want in a father?
Heritage was a mixed bag for Delphine Black. The existence of troubled thoughts could not stay subdued forever. Daphne had expected there would be conversations in their future, so she wasn't overly-surprised when Delphi sought her out.
"Mum Daphne? What is posh, exactly?" asked Delphi.
"It usually means a person has a little money, sometimes inherited, and doesn't want for anything," Daphne answered.
"Well, are WE posh? Am I?" Delphi asked.
"We aren't snobby or egotistical, but, yes, our condition would qualify," Daphne said. "Although, we don't put on a show or rub other peoples' noses in it. I hope?"
"Oh, no! Never! I just heard someone say something was posh and I wondered…"
"Something? Something was posh?" Daphne suggested. "Like?"
"Me."
Daphne looked at her step-daughter, whose face indicated discomfort and a bit of confusion.
"Ah, like it was a bad thing? Or you didn't deserve such a background? Were they taking issue with your house or your family or your father?" Daphne asked.
"I don't know, it was just kind of like 'Posh! Ee-yeaggh!' I didn't know what to say or think. I didn't say anything, in the end. I just stood there and looked at her," Delphi finished.
"Probably for the best," Daphne said. "If it comes up again, try looking through the offender."
"Through?" Delphi asked.
"Like they're not even there," Daphne answered. "Very effective. There is even a name for it—Cut her dead."
"Cut her dead?"
"Yes," said Daphne. "As in, 'Miss Badmanners made some remark she didn't like and Black cut her dead. Right there in the Great Hall. Everyone saw it, too."
"That's great!" Delphi said, beginning to laugh. "Where did you learn that?"
"Delphi, social friction wasn't invented yesterday. I had my own struggles, of course. Slytherin's interactions with the other houses back then were what I'd call fraught. So many of the pureblood families were Voldemort supporters. At least they weren't going to fight back. The Death Eaters were running amok, all over the place, before the greater community woke up to the danger. You know, I think, Slytherin is always over-populated with purebloods so there was lots of friction. Some of my house-mates made it worse, throwing threats around about what they would do when the Dark side triumphed."
"Mary Beth was upset, for a while," said Delphi. "I don't know if anyone made actual threats."
"She has you and your cousins around her," Daphne said. "How is she doing?"
"Classes are okay," said Delphi. "I hope we're keeping her happy with school and Slytherin and everything."
"All you can do is try," said Daphne.
"There is a feeling, kind of, in the house, I mean," Delphi said. "Like we're all supposed to think we are better than the others."
"What do you think?" Daphne asked.
"The others can do some things," Delphi answered. "Overall, I'd say we're on top. That's not wrong, is it?"
"Not at all. That is what you're supposed to think," Daphne replied as she patted Delphi's hand.
Delphine Black returned to Hogwarts, following the Yule break, enthusiastic and full of plans and new goals. Her day on the Bella, with Harry and Ane, reinforced Delphi's determination to learn everything she could about sailing and seamanship. There was something about the implicit freedom of a sailor, and a sailboat, that was irresistible. Unfortunately, Delphi acknowledged, the days when a young person could sign on at eleven and begin to learn the trade were gone. Therefore, she would have to apply herself and do the best she could in her Hogwarts courses, while depending on outside reading to add to her knowledge of sailing.
The quartet that had traveled to Hogwarts the previous September re-formed, crowding into a compartment occupied by two students. The pair were a brother and sister, Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw, respectively. He was a fifth year. Delphi thought the girl was a third year. The two gave the appearance of having been hit by a couple of stunners.
The first of the Blacks through the door was Teddy Lupin, acknowledged metamorphmagus and son of a werewolf, crossed with an auror. Lupin was followed by Scorpius Malfoy, a glam socialite who was very smart, a pureblood and disadvantaged by his surname and unmistakable head of blond hair. Mary Beth Olson followed. She was an admitted muggle-born and a Slytherin, a combination that raised all kinds of questions even as it laid there quietly, observing. Bringing up the rear was Delphine Black, whose mysterious origins metaphorically screamed 'COVER-UP!' No one seemed to be quite sure how she came about because her close resemblance to the late magical outlaw Bellatrix Lestrange was discounted due to Delphine's date of birth. No one could make a convincing case that Bellatrix Lestrange had taken a time-out to have a baby while she was also in the middle of a shooting war, in the service of her Dark Lord master.
"Hi!" said Mary Beth to the original occupants.
"Umm…" said the Hufflepuff.
"Four spaces and there are four of us. If you don't mind?" Mary Beth asked.
"Oh, no, not at all," said the Ravenclaw, giving her brother a quick glance.
He looked at Mary Beth and made a little hand gesture that might have meant, 'Please, why don't you sit down?'
"I'm Delphi Black," said Delphi, still standing as she held her hand out to the Ravenclaw witch.
The others followed her lead.
"Edward Lupin. Call me Teddy."
"Scorpius Malfoy."
"We haven't met. Mary Beth Olson," said Mary Beth as she extended her hand.
The Hogwarts Express had barely passed through the outer ring of London suburbs when the original pair began to fidget. The Ravenclaw witch stood up first, mumbling something, the only intelligible syllable being '…loo.'
Delphi and Mary Beth nodded and smiled, the two wizards being polite and taking no notice of the witch's need for a comfort break. The door slid closed, leaving the wizard, the fifth-year Hufflepuff, alone in a compartment full of Slytherins.
"Pardon the intrusion of my oversized nose, but may I ask where you're from?"
The wizard looked at Scorpius, who was on the edge of his seat, visibly eager to hear the response. Taken by surprise, with four Slytherins against one of him, the wizard answered, "Gloustershire."
Scorpius got a big smile at the response.
"I thought so!" he said. "I'm from Wiltshire. We must practically be neighbors!"
"Well, I could…I guess I should check on that," said the young man.
The door slid open and the wizard's sister returned. She seemed fine until she'd looked around the cabin and took in the Blacks and their muggle associate.
"What's going on?" Delphi asked.
"What? I didn't see, well, anything. Going on, I mean," the witch replied, sounding a little defensive.
Teddy Lupin wondered what she had to be defensive about, thought it over and decided to sit quietly, since the cause would surely emerge, eventually.
"Are you all family?" asked the witch. "I'm reading about genealogy. You could all be from the same family. Well, except you."
She gestured with a finger, indicating Mary Beth.
"Really?" asked Scorpius. "We, um, aren't family-family. Not like brothers and sisters. We're cousins. Except for Mary Beth, who's in Slytherin with us three."
The wizard from Hufflepuff sat, silent, seeming to be waiting to see where his sister was going with her line of inquiry.
"Ahh, I thought so," said the witch. "There's a resemblance. Can't say what, exactly. You don't really look alike but there is something. Similar. Maybe that is it."
She seemed to be expecting a response to her mushy observation that wasn't even a statement, really. Delphi was mystified as to what the witch was getting at. Scorpius appeared to be in search of the action verb the witch neglected to provide. Teddy hit on one possibility.
"A family resemblance, then?" he asked. "Can't pin it down. There's just a look, maybe."
"That could be it," the witch agreed. "How wonderful you all came to school together. The same year, I mean."
The Slytherins looked back and forth, each trying to cede the floor. The Ravenclaw expected some response while none of them had one ready. Scorpius showed he'd been getting a lot of encouragement, on social skills, from his mother and grandmother.
"Yes, it's been a real help, familiar faces and all," he said.
Delphi looked at Scorpius, gratitude evident on her face. He'd given a response without saying anything too revealing. Meaning there oughtn't be any comeback along the lines of, "Oh, your mother did it with the Dark Lord, then? That's awesome!"
