Chapter 4 Be My Guest
Daphne woke up feeling surprisingly refreshed. She got up for her usual morning ritual capping it off with her hot English breakfast tea. She brought the cup up to take the first sip, but had to take a pause. Everything from the previous night came back to her all at once.
Only her love for tea prevented her from involuntarily dropping her cup onto the ground. She slowly lowered her cup down to the safety of the table, and then immediately threw her hands to her face.
"That happened!" Daphne panicked. Her mind immediately went to every minute detail of their physical intimacy from the previous evening. Daphne's face and ears were turning as red as tomatoes.
"Okay, okay," she said to herself. "I like Harry, Harry likes me, we are adults who can make their own choices. Who cares if the public finds out that their savior is dating me." Daphne rambled on. "Surely it won't cause issues with Harry, or Teddy, or Astoria…" she trailed off.
Daphne thought back to Harry's fears regarding the people's potential reaction to Teddy as the son of a werewolf. She suddenly felt a shiver go up her spine. Would they go as far as to harass Tori? Is she in danger?
She suddenly imagined the spectral image of her sister yelling at her, "Don't let these fools control your life by preventing you from a shot at happiness."
Daphne's breath began to steady at the thought.
She heard a tap at the window, noticing that there were two owls outside waiting to be let in. Daphne recognized the little pouch on the post owl, but didn't recognize the second. Did Tori borrow one of the school owls to send a letter?
With the post paid for, Daphne made her way to the second, much smaller owl. Clutched within its talon was a letter addressed to her in unfamiliar handwriting.
Feeling rather paranoid, she double checked that there were no curses upon the envelope. Having found no such danger, Daphne cautiously opened it to reveal the letter from inside.
'It's from Harry!' she thought in surprise. She unfolded the rest of the scroll and began to read.
Dear Daphne,
I had a wonderful time seeing you last night. Thank you for coming over to meet my godson (even if he was sleeping). I hope this doesn't come off as being too forward, but would it be alright if we met up again sometime today? I want to get to know you better and I feel like our chats have been great for that. I would love to see you again, but I understand if you feel it is too soon.
Harry
Daphne read the small scroll a couple of times, unable stop herself from laughing.
'He's very sweet, but so very awkward,' she thought with warmth. This, more so than even the ghostly hallucination of Astoria, put Daphne more at ease since thinking about the prospect of dating Harry.
"Just another person," she remembered Astoria's words from several days back.
After looking at the clock, Daphne pulled out a bit of parchment, and wrote a quick reply to Harry to meet her at the park.
About an hour later, Daphne was waiting at her usual park bench in one of her many new muggle outfits. For today's attire, Daphne went with a baby blue blouse with a white mini skirt. Due to the cold weather, she added black wool leggings to shield her legs from the cold. To top her outfit off, Daphne went with a wool cardigan, just a shade lighter than her blouse and put on matching ballet shoes. She was beginning to wonder if she would become more used to them over robes by the end of the year.
Like clockwork, Harry apparated behind the tree. He didn't even bother to double check for muggles as he only had eyes for Daphne.
"I got your note," he started. "Thanks for meeting me, I know it's only been a day," he said sheepishly.
"It's not a problem, Harry. I didn't have anything else going on today," Daphne answered. She indicated for him to sit next to her which he obliged.
And so, they talked for what felt like hours. Harry had gotten all the way through talking about his third and fourth year at Hogwarts. By the time he got to the graveyard with Cedric, Daphne took Harry's hand. She didn't let go for the duration of the fourth year.
Wanting to take a break from the intensity, Daphne talked about the complexities of living with pureblooded parents with different values.
"The Greengrass family is extremely old and would much prefer to see muggle and muggleborn influences fall into obscurity. They don't even particularly approve of Hogwarts using a train to transport children given its 'innate muggle origins'," Daphne said with a snobbish voice.
"What do they think would be a good way for the students to get to school then?" asked Harry.
"Portkeys, they're what were used in the old days" she said neutrally. "They don't care that Portkey sickness was a common side-effect. Heck, they think it's just part of the way things are and that it builds character and tolerance," Daphne said with a grimace. "Idiots," she said darkly.
"I'll say," Harry replied.
"My mother is a Fontaine by blood, but her family left America in the 1950s about five years before she was born," Daphne said. "She had hardly a mean bone in her body," she continued fondly.
"I'm not really sure what my parents saw in each other. Maybe love just doesn't make a lot of sense," Daphne muttered quietly.
Harry took Daphne's hand and gave it a gentle squeeze.
For a while, they both just sat together at the park bench, happy to enjoy each other's presence.
Daphne began to hum a tune without even consciously trying to.
"What's that you're humming?" Harry asked.
"Oh, sorry. Was it bothering you?" Daphne asked nervously.
"Not at all," he answered quickly. "I was just curious was all," he followed up.
"It's just something mum use to sing to me all the time. You remember how I told you how she sang to us before bed?" she asked.
Harry nodded, "Your parents took turns each night, right?"
"Yeah, well, this was always her favorite. Mine too, actually," Daphne said almost as an afterthought.
"I don't know if it's from anything, or if she just made it up," she added.
"Would you be willing to sing them to me? I'd like to hear it if that's okay," Harry asked politely.
"Um…" Daphne was initially going to say no due to feeling self-conscious, but remembered that Harry wasn't the type to judge people on such things.
"Sure, I'll sing a few lines," she relented and cleared her throat.
"Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens.
Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens.
Brown paper packages tied up with strings.
These are a few of my favorite things."
Something in the back of Harry's mind was beginning to stir. He knew that he had heard this song before, but had no idea how that could've been possible.
And then he remembered.
"Daphne. You said that your mother was pureblood, yes?" Harry asked.
"Yes?" she answered in confusion. Did he get amnesia and forget the past twenty minutes?
"Did she have any interactions or dealings with muggles?" he continued.
Now she was more lost. "I don't think so. At least, not to my knowledge," Daphne answered with a face of uncertainty.
"Because I know where that song is from," Harry started excitedly.
Daphne looked at his face in unbridled curiosity. "Well, don't keep me in suspense," she answered impatiently.
"It's from a muggle musical called The Sound of Music," he finished.
"Muggles have plays and musicals, too? But they don't have magic. How do they do the effects for big scenes?" Daphne asked quizzically.
But all questions of muggle stage effects were forgotten immediately. Daphne's mind immediately whirled back to her mother's trunk with the strange black rectangles inside.
"Harry! My mother had an old trunk with all of her things in it," Daphne said standing up, mind racing.
"There's a bunch of these…weird…black, things," she said pacing wildly.
"One of them had the words Sound of Music written on them," she continued.
"Black…things? Would you be able to be more specific?" Harry asked tentatively.
Daphne looked back almost forgetting he was right next to her.
"They're like, black rectangles. I can't make heads or tails of them," she said.
"Hmm…" Now it was Harry's turn to be stumped. Daphne didn't seem like she was very good at describing stuff.
She did a double take towards Harry and felt like all the pieces were falling together.
"But you know the muggle world very well, right? You would probably know what I'm talking about if you saw them up close!" Daphne said excitedly.
Harry looked at her with amusement, "I guess there's no harm in trying to find out."
"Perfect! Let's head to my flat," she said animatedly.
It didn't take them very long to reach the flat. Daphne was basically powerwalking the whole way that Harry was having a hard time keeping up.
Harry was suddenly feeling nervous himself. He had walked Daphne to her place several times already, but this would be the first time he would enter.
'I wonder what her place is like?' Harry thought to himself.
Upon entering the threshold, he was met with the smell of lilac and peppermint. It was small, but cozy. Perfectly fine for one person.
Harry didn't have much time to take in the room, because Daphne had raided her closet and pulled out an old, but smart looking trunk.
"Here it is, watch your step going down," Daphne warned.
He watched her open the trunk with interest. He had considered picking up a trunk similar to this one, but had not yet gotten around to it. If it's as big as he heard, it might be a good time to get one for himself.
When they had both climbed down the ladder, Daphne made her way to the black, rectangle tower she had found days earlier.
"Here it is," she said and handed the object to Harry. He knew what she was holding at once.
"Daph…this is a VHS!" Harry said with wonder.
"VHS?" she asked with befuddlement.
"They're, well, let's see," Harry started. "Think of them like moving portraits that wizards have, except they tell a set story and can't deviate from it," he said.
"Or," he snapped his finger, "Like a memory you'd view in a pensieve," Harry followed up with an 'ah-ha' expression.
"Is that what they're for? To record memories?" Daphne asked, struggling to comprehend the objects from the muggle world.
Harry smiled, "Some might, but mostly they're used for entertainment."
She looked back at the VHS, "Okay…then how would we go about seeing what's on it?" she asked.
"There are a couple of items needed, but if VHS tapes are in this trunk, then chances are that the other things might be down here," Harry answered.
"But what would they be doing down here in the first place?" Daphne asked aloud. "My mum didn't have any ties to muggles as far as I can remember," she thought back.
Harry took a moment to look around the rest of the trunk, making note of all the magical equipment and materials.
"You mentioned the other day that your mother was a researcher, do you know what it was that she was researching?" he inquired.
She placed her hand to her chin in a thinking pose, "I remember that it definitely involved arithmancy, and something about photographs, I think? I was pretty young so I never really found out in great detail," Daphne said regretfully.
A small journal on a desk caught Harry's eye and made his way towards it.
"May I?" he indicated the book.
"Be my guest," Daphne shrugged.
Harry opened the book and skimmed the pages within. After about a minute, his eyes found his way towards the VHS tower and the arithmancy book.
"Wow," he finally said.
"What? What is it?" she asked eagerly.
"It looks like your mother was researching ways in which to project the data on these tapes without the need for a television or VCR," Harry said in amazement.
Not many of those words made much sense to Daphne, but it was obviously very clear to Harry so she stayed silent.
"She wanted to be able to show people movies without the need for muggle technology. She wanted to share her passion with others," he whispered.
At this, Daphne's eyes went distinctly misty.
"That would be just like her," she choked. "Showing what she loves to other people," she laughed. Her laugh then turned into a frown.
"Why didn't she show me or Tori what was on these things then?" Daphne asked sadly.
Harry looked back down at the journal, "I bet that she wanted to surprise you and Tori when she inevitably finished her research." He looked up at Daphne, "Your household didn't have any capability to use muggle technology, right?" Harry asked.
Daphne shook her head. She couldn't remember ever having anything remotely muggle, except their token disguises.
"I didn't think so," Harry said almost to himself.
"We had pretty traditional pureblood relatives, so it would make sense that she wouldn't do this so openly," Daphne mused. "It would also explain why the Greengrasses didn't really like my mother," she added sardonically.
"With family like that, I'm amazed all of this didn't get tossed after she passed," Harry told her.
"If it was all in here, they probably didn't want to bother mucking about with muggle stuff," Daphne said cynically.
"It's their loss, and if I can find what I hope is down here, you'll be able to watch what she left behind," he said scanning the trunk.
"Here we are! A TV and a VCR, both in pretty good shape too," Harry exclaimed.
Daphne looked at the objects and could only think that muggles had an obsession with cubes and rectangles.
They both levitated the items up the ladder and into Daphne's living room.
"This is a muggle flat right? You've got wall plugs?" Harry asked.
"Those weird things that are near the floor on the wall? I've never used them for anything," Daphne said.
Harry got on all fours, and gently pushed aside a chair as to not damage the floor.
"Bingo," he said with triumph.
He worked a few minutes more, until he had everything all set up.
"Alright, it's ready. Would you like to watch it now?" Harry asked, eyes beginning to sparkle.
Daphne looked at the tape in Harry's hand and back to the television, "I wouldn't even know how to activate this if you weren't here, let's watch it now," she said with determination.
She was immediately met with noise, causing her to jump. She quickly realized it was coming from the box in front of her.
All her life, Daphne had been told that muggles had no capabilities to do magic. That they were mundane with no special powers.
This was a lie.
What she was seeing with her eyes was the very definition of magic. The colors, the music, she had never seen anything like it. Everything was so wonderful. She then looked over at Harry. Was this what it felt like when he learned that magic was real?
When the movie got to the part of the lullaby her mother sang to her and Astoria, Daphne could no longer hold it in. She felt tears running down her face. This was a gift from her mother that was almost lost to her. If it wasn't for Harry –
'Harry,' she thought with warmth. She put her hand on his cheek and pulled him in for the most passionate kiss she could muster.
When they finished, Harry looked at her with a goofy grin.
"I take it you like the movie?" he asked cheekily.
"Harry, I don't know how I could ever thank you. I never for the life of me would've figured out how to make these work, let alone know what they are," Daphne said emotionally.
"Oh, I didn't do anything special," he said embarrassed, turning slightly pink at Daphne's kind words.
But Daphne wasn't hearing any of it. She pulled him closer into a tight hug and held him.
After the movie had finished it was very dark outside. Harry checked his watch and was astonished to see how late it had gotten. 'Three hours?' he thought shocked. He sat up from the comfort of the couch and got Daphne's attention.
"I think it's about time for me to start heading home. I can't just leave Kreacher stuck watching Teddy," he said regretfully.
"Of course!" Daphne replied abashed. "I'll walk you out."
Once they both made it out into the street, Daphne looked at Harry nervously.
"Wo – would it be alright if we continued seeing each other like this throughout the week?" she asked with a stutter.
Harry beamed, "I'd like that," and gave Daphne one last kiss for the night.
For the next several days, Daphne and Harry would meet up after work to either eat some delicious food at Harry's, or watch movies at Daphne's.
Harry was finally able to make it through the rest of his time at Hogwarts, each year harder than the last. When he got his walk towards death in the Forbidden Forrest, Daphne was certain that there was nobody else who would've made that sacrifice. She thanked the miracle that had given Harry a second chance. Because how could that be called anything less than a miracle?
December 23, 1999
Daphne made it at the train station just a few minutes before the Hogwarts Express was set to arrive. It was officially the winter holidays, and that means that Astoria would be staying with Daphne for two weeks. She had a lot to tell Tori.
"Good, there's the train," Daphne said in relief.
The train came to a slow stop, and a flood of young Hogwarts students came piling out of the cars, eager to be reunited with their families.
It wasn't until there was about a quarter of the students left on the train before Daphne spotted her sister's foxlike smile in the crowd with her luggage.
"Daffy!" Astoria shouted at the top of her lungs over the noise of all the rest of the station.
"Shh! Tori! Keep it down," she said in an almost panic. The stares from the Prophet article hadn't abated, but nobody was saying anything nasty anymore. At least, not within earshot.
But Astoria walked proudly towards her sister and pulled her in for a bone crushing hug.
"Big sis! It's been so long!" she said sarcastically. "Let's be heading off to catch up on everything that has been happening since I last saw you," she finished the last part in a whispered undertone.
"Yes, yes, yes," Daphne said hurriedly, pulling her sister along to the nearest apparition point.
After disaparating, they quickly carried all of Astoria's luggage to Daphne's flat and dumped them unceremoniously onto the floor.
"Now tell me what's been happening," Astoria demanded. "Your letters have been vague and cagey, not at all with the juicy details that are needed to quench my thirst," she said with vigor.
Daphne wanted to laugh at Astoria's enthusiasm, but knew it would infuriate her already smoldering impatience.
"Okay," Daphne finally relented. "I went over to Harry's place at," but suddenly remembered it was charmed so that she couldn't divulge it. "To Harry's place, and we had dinner. Apparently, his elf used to work at Hogwarts so he knew all my favorites." Then Daphne pointed an accusatory finger at Astoria.
"You knew where the kitchens were! How come you never told me?" she asked annoyed.
"You never asked," Astoria replied cheekily, "What else happened?"
Not thrilled about being brushed aside, Daphne continued, "Well, we talked a whole bunch during dinner about school and stuff." Daphne side-eyed her sister, "He's almost as much trouble as you were," she said ruefully.
"Anyways, I didn't stay very long after dinner, only long enough to see his godson. He was asleep mind you, but it still counts," Daphne said.
"Ah, I see," Astoria said sagely. "You had dinner and the works and then you went home," she said. "I'm proud of you Daffy," she added cheerfully.
"Well, not exactly," Daphne said fidgeting her hands together.
Astoria narrowed her eyes. Looking from Daphne's hands, to her blushing ears, things started to click. Astoria's eyes went as wide as saucers, and she covered her mouth in disbelief.
"You didn't," she whispered.
"While I was leaving, we may have gotten a little close. And one thing led to another, and we…kissed," Daphne finished lamely.
"NO!" Astoria bellowed.
This was not the reaction that Daphne was expecting.
"No? What do you mean no!?" she asked desperately.
"I mean, good on you, but no! My plans have been foiled!" Astoria bemoaned. "I had it all planned out. Convincing him to come over for Christmas, setting up the mistletoe, and then bam! Mission accomplished," she finished.
Daphne could only gape like a fish at the audacity of her sister.
Astoria looked back at Daphne, "But I never counted on you moving so fast. Congratulations, you finally got one over me," she laughed.
"It wasn't that fast," she defended. "I read somewhere that three dates are the rule of thumb for physical intimacy," she said, remembering Pansy's constant quoting of Witch Weekly.
"You can't count your birthday as a first date, you were spending it with me!" Astoria decreed. "Harry just came in at the end," she added stubbornly.
Before Daphne had a chance to get a word in, Astoria continued.
"Well. Like I said before, congratulations. I am very happy for you sister," she said with kindness. Her expression turned contemplative.
"So, you're seeing him again, I assume?" she inquired.
"Yes. We've been meeting up all week, actually," Daphne answered.
Astoria looked impressed, "Nice! Maybe I won't have to convince him to come over to celebrate Christmas with us, eh?" she said with mirth.
"That's actually another thing I wanted to talk to you about," Daphne said carefully. "Harry has actually invited the both of us to his place for Christmas if we wanted," she said.
Her sister looked back at her in surprise.
"I know we have usually spent the holidays just the two of us, but would you want to go over to his place this year?" Daphne asked delicately. She knew that Astoria treasured the time that she and Daphne spent together. Especially during the holidays. She wouldn't be surprised if her sister declined.
"Are you kidding? Heck yeah, we should go!" Astoria said with glee.
For the second time today, this was not the reaction that Daphne was expecting.
"Really? Just like that?" Daphne asked skeptically.
"You're telling me, that we get to enjoy dinner cooked by a house elf, from Hogwarts I might add, I'll be allowed to pick the brain of your new boyfriend, and hang out with a cute little baby? What's not to like?" Astoria asked, getting giddier by the minute.
Daphne suddenly looked down in embarrassment and shame.
"I just worried…that you might've thought that I was going to spend less time with you, and that overtime, think that Harry was taking your place," she said with a small voice.
Astoria's cheer evaporated, and she marched over to Daphne and pulled her into a fierce hug.
"Daphne, I know that you love me with all of your heart," she said clearly.
"Your seventh year, you chose to suffer in isolation for my sake," Astoria continued. "And when it came down to make the choice to fight or to run, you chose to save me, accepting the weight of being branded a coward," she said sadly.
She discreetly wiped her eye, "Everything you've done has been for me. I'll always be grateful for that," Astoria said earnestly.
"But now it's time for you to find your happiness," she said smiling.
Tori took a step back, "And besides," she raised her arms to her side. "Nobody will ever be able to replace me," she said proudly.
Daphne looked back at her little sister, suddenly feeling very stupid for worrying.
"You're the best, Tori," she said with a smile.
"That goes without saying," Astoria said with her nose to the air. "Now," she made herself comfortable on Daphne's couch, "tell me what else you got up to on your dates this week," she commanded.
She suddenly had a look of confusion, "What's that?" pointing right in front of her.
Daphne turned towards where Astoria was pointing and with a jolt, remembered the TV and VCR.
"Oh yeah! I forgot all about that!" she clapped a hand to her head. She then went on to explain everything that she and Harry had discovered in their mother's trunk.
Now it was Tori's turn to be speechless. After several moments, she finally found her voice.
"Wicked," she breathed out. "Mum was peddling secret muggle artifacts with the intent to enchant them right under our family's nose?" she asked in awe.
"I don't know if it was anything so, secretive," Daphne started.
"Whatever," Astoria waived off, "This is awesome! Can we watch one of these 'mover' things?" she asked excitedly.
"They're called movies, and yes," Daphne replied just as excitedly.
While Daphne was getting set up, Astoria raided the kitchen to scrounge around for perfectly good food to watch during a movie. Galaxy minstrels, decadent caramel popcorn, and salty pretzel bags had towered over Astoria.
The two girls spent the rest of the night watching movies and eating food of questionable health.
Time truly well spent.
December 24, 1999
"Come on, Daphne, Lawrence was kind enough to let you off today, we gotta get the rest of our Christmas shopping finished!" proclaimed Astoria.
"No need to rush, Tori! And don't call my boss Lawrence, it's weird," Daphne begged.
They made their way to the heart of Diagon Alley on the prowl for potential Christmas gifts. They looked through book stores, menageries, candy shops, even broom supply stores. Until reaching the shop that Daphne was dreading most, Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes.
"Are you sure about this, Tori?" Daphne asked nervously.
Don't worry about it, Daph," she replied smoothly. "George isn't the type to turn customers away just because they used to be in Slytherin," Astoria said easily.
"That's not really what I'm worried about," she muttered to herself. She couldn't stop thinking about Harry's fallout with the Weasleys. And with the rumors about Daphne still in the public eye, she didn't want to think about what he would do if he saw her. But Astoria's stubbornness won out, so they were off to buy joke items.
When they crossed the entrance, they were met with a combination of noise and explosions. Kids everywhere were running around trying out all sorts of toys, food, and pranks.
"Welcome to Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes! For all your hopes of trouble, we can make them double," George Weasley said jovially. Daphne noticed that his smile didn't just quite meet his eyes.
"Hello Mr. Weasley! We're looking for some of your best, but most subtle products available for some stealthy pranking action," Astoria said with as much bravado as a politician running for Minister.
"Well, you've come to the prefect place, young Greengrass!" he answered with as just as much enthusiasm. "We have some brand-new disillusionment cloaks just right over there. They're not quite as potent as invisibility cloaks, but they last many times longer and for a fraction of a price," he explained like an expert salesman.
"Aw sweet," Astoria cackled. "I'll be over here, Daph," she called back.
"Sounds good, Tori," Daphne replied. She was almost just out of reach when, "Miss Greengrass," George called gently. "Would it be alright if you and I had a chat?" he asked amicably.
Not finding a way to escape, Daphne took a deep breath, and followed George towards the back of the store.
He conjured a couple of chairs, indicating for Daphne to sit down. Very carefully, she took a seat, worried that he was going to pull some stupid prank with the conjured chair.
"Your sister really likes our products," he said suddenly.
"Huh?" Daphne asked startled by the random statement.
"Astoria, she likes the inventory. She often orders from our delivery service," George said with a smile.
"Oh. Well, that doesn't really surprise me," she replied cautiously. "She's always been one to find any way to wreak havoc and been a nightmare," Daphne continued.
"Sounds like my kind of girl," he said in good humor.
Daphne suddenly felt a twinge of irritation, "Is there something I can help you with?" she said in muted politeness.
He looked at her completely at ease, "I saw you in the paper," he said simply.
"What about it?" she asked, temper rising. This was getting extremely old; didn't people have other things to worry about in their own lives?
"I'm sorry," George said quietly.
The first thing that popped into Daphne's mind was that people were getting very good at throwing her off lately.
"What for?" Daphne asked.
"You and your sister got dragged through the mud because of Harry and Ginny's personal business," he began. "They shouldn't have to worry about the media making their private lives an open spectacle," said George.
He snorted, "Although, with them being national celebrities I guess it's par for the course," he added without humor.
"Anyways, you didn't do anything wrong. You just happened to be there when Finnigan decided to make it a side show," George said.
Daphne's eyes softened, "It's okay, Weasley," she said. "I'm used to playing the bad guy," she said with false cheer. "People can call me whatever they wish so long as I'm able to go home and see my sister."
She instantly realized her mistake.
"I'm so sorry," Daphne said with a look of horror. "I shouldn't have said something so stupid and tactless," she continued regretfully.
"It's okay, Greengrass," George said putting his hand up. "You're thankful that you have your family. I can completely understand that. I wouldn't wish for my experience upon my worst enemy," he said honestly.
"Fred was my other half," he said matter-of-factly. "When I lost him, I lost half of myself and never really recovered," said George.
Daphne looked at him kindly, "I heard that you and your brother had extraordinary inventions. And then after you both got your loan, your business prowess created this empire," she indicated around them.
George began to chuckle, "Yeah, we dedicated any free time to perfecting our craft," he said wistfully. His eyes refocused back onto Daphne.
"Wait a minute, how did you know about our loan?" George asked curiously.
"Well, Harry, he –" Daphne stopped dead.
"Harry? He told you? When would he –" then his eyes lit up, and as if the final piece of a jigsaw puzzle fell into place, George understood.
"There's a little bit more truth to what the Prophet said than we gave them credit for. Right, Miss Greengrass?" he asked slyly.
Her cheeks and ears started to turn pink. She knew that there was no use hiding it. If half of what she'd heard about the Weasley twins was true, George would not stop pranking her until he found out the truth.
"I'm not after his money or anything shallow like that," Daphne defended. "We just, have started seeing each other," she said embarrassed.
George looked at her in speculation, "I see," he said slowly. "Nice one, that Harry is quite a keeper," he said happily.
"Wh-what?" Daphne stammered. "You're not upset?" she asked bewildered.
"Hey, I told you before, didn't I? You were doing right by your sister, nothing more. And if Harry sees something that the rest of us can't see then more power to him," he finished charmingly.
"But? What about your sister? And the fallout that Harry had with all of you?" she asked desperately.
"Ah, he's told you about that, has he?" George asked. "You must be someone special to him then," he said admiringly.
"Our relationship was already a bit strained after the war ended. My family and his friends expected him to fill a role that he had no interest in filling. Ginny just happened to be what broke the camel's back," he said simply.
Daphne titled her head as if to ask a question.
"Shouldn't you all have been supportive of whatever Harry decided to do with his life? I thought that was what family was supposed to do," she said with a frown.
"Hey, don't look at me," he said with his hands up. "You're preaching to the choir here. My mother wanted Fred and I to working at the Ministry like our old man. If anybody understands letting what people want to do with their life, it's me," he pointed to himself.
"Then," she hesitated. What business did she have meddling in Harry's life?
"Could you, try sending Harry a letter?" Daphne asked uneasily. "He's told me all sorts of stories about you and your family. And I can see that he clearly misses you," she said quickly.
George raised an eyebrow, "Wasn't it Harry who decided to cut off the rest of us? Families fight but try to talk through it, not drop off the earth like he did," he said not accusingly.
"I'm sure," 'What am I doing?' she thought and said simultaneously.
"That he felt isolated," Daphne continued.
'Stop it,' she spat from within.
"And felt that there was nobody on his side," she said.
'He's not you.'
Daphne crossed and held her arms.
"I just don't want him to lose the family he loves," Daphne said quietly. "Especially over something so stupid," she added angrily.
George leaned back in his chair and put his hands together, thinking.
"I guess Harry never had much of a real family to learn from growing up," he said after several moments.
Before Daphne could ponder what George meant by that, he spoke again.
"I'll try reaching out. I miss him too," he said with a smile.
"Really? Thanks, Mr. Weasley," she said relieved.
"George is fine. 'Mr. Weasley' makes me feel decrepit," he said with a grin.
"Even if things don't work out, I'm glad that Harry has someone like you looking out for him," said George holding out a hand.
Daphne began to blush, "It's just the right thing to do," she said while shaking his hand.
"Come on Daphne, we still have more places to check out," came Astoria.
She noticed the clasped hands and leered, "I hope you're not planning on stealing Daphne. I'll have you know she's taken," she said sternly.
"Wouldn't dream of it," said George with feigned innocence. "Besides, you're more my type anyways," he said coyly.
"Oh yeah? Give it a few years, and maybe you'll be man enough to handle me," she said dismissively.
"You got it, boss!" George called after her.
Daphne was left chasing after Tori trying and failing to find the words to rebuke her sister for such gall.
In the end, she gave up and just followed her sister along to finish the rest of their Christmas shopping.
December 25, 1999
"Daffy! Daffy! Time to get up," came Astoria's voice.
Daphne blearily opened her eyes to check the time.
'7:00 a.m. Naturally,' she thought crossly.
Resigned to not getting any more sleep, Daphne begrudgingly got out of bed to start the kettle for tea.
"Oh, come now, we can have tea in a bit, let's have at it," Astoria begged while eyeballing her gifts under the tiny tree.
"Go on then," said Daphne, hoping to get hey daily cup of tea soon.
Not a second later, Astoria snatched up the present that was closest to her. She had a fair number of friends at school, so her pile was much bigger than Daphne's. She didn't mind this however, because it meant that she needed less money to buy gifts for other people.
Harry told her that his gift to her and her sister would be given at his place. She had presents from Astoria, of course. One from Mr. Raines, and strangely enough, a package from George Weasley.
She watched the gift suspiciously as if expecting it to explode, and set it aside for last.
Mr. Raines got her a rare potions book. While Astoria had gotten her a collection of tea bags from around the world.
Then, came George's gift Daphne carefully unwrapped the unusually light package and discovered that it was one of the disillusionment cloaks he was selling at his shop. She found the card and squinted to read.
In case you ever need to make a quick getaway from unwelcome eyes, or to cause trouble yourself – George
She laughed at the thoughtfulness and cheek, making a mental note to send him a thank you card.
"Thank you, Daphne!" she her sister call from the other side of her pile. She was holding up a pair of high-grade dragonhide boots that she had been wanting for some time.
"What time are we heading over to Harry's?" asked Astoria.
"We'll head over around 4:00," answered Daphne.
Now it was Astoria's turn to unwrap her gift from George. With red hearts plastered all over the pink box, Astoria tore into it. "What the hell is this?" Tori said with shock and amusement.
Daphne turned back again to see her holding up a book with step-by-step instructions on crafting a love potion.
"To charm the man that will be enough to handle you," Astoria read her card. "That brat," she said, but Daphne could see a twinge of pink dusted on Astoria's face.
Daphne did not want to open that can of worms. So, she desperately put it towards the recesses of her mind.
"We got a whole 'nother stack of these movies, let's watch them until it's time to head over," Daphne suggested.
And watched them they did. Laughing and shouting at the screen, thoroughly entertained until it was time for them to depart.
"Come on, Harry said he'll pick us up at the park," explained Daphne.
"We can't go directly to his place?" Astoria asked confused.
"No, it's got a ton of protections around it," she said.
"Makes sense," thought Astoria. "You don't want to be the one to wake up to a man standing over your bed with a knife would ya!" she laughed.
After shuddering at that morbidly horrid thought, Daphne led them to her usual spot at the bench.
Harry was already there, waiting for them. When he noticed them, he stood up to greet them with cheer.
"Daphne, Astoria," he said while hugging Daphne.
"Harry! Long time no see, happy Christmas!" replied Astoria.
"Happy Christmas! Shall we be off?" he asked. After they nodded, he took both their hands, and disaparated. When they arrived, Astoria assessed the area with mild interest.
"Neat," she proclaimed, as if she was looking at something interesting.
"Read this," Harry said, handing Tori the password.
Recognition reached her eyes, "Ah," she said, with a hand on the back of her head.
"Come on," he laughed, and they made their way into the dark townhouse.
"Do I get to meet Teddy?" Astoria asked excitedly.
"I'll go ahead and bring him down now. So please, make yourselves at home." Harry said.
When Harry left to go upstairs, Astoria took a seat on the couch.
"Don't you think it's kind-of strange that a family as influential and pureblooded as the Blacks chose to live in the middle of muggle London?" she asked.
Daphne shrugged her shoulders, "I have no idea," she said. "I was just as confused when I first came here," she pointed out.
"The Blacks had many wizarding enemies. Thought it prudent to hide in plain sight amongst muggles," came a croak, causing them to whip around.
"Oh, hello Kreacher," Daphne exhaled. "Happy Christmas."
"Dinner be served in a few minutes," he said.
"Right, thanks Kreacher," she said politely. He nodded his head and returned to the kitchen.
"Nice elf, though he seems quite old," Astoria observed. Before she could comment further, Harry came down holding a baby blue bundle in his arms.
"Oh yay!" Astoria said in a tempered whisper and scurried over to get a better look.
Teddy looked up at everyone with a giggling face, his hair changing colors to match each person he looked at.
"He's so cute," said Daphne.
"He loves changing his face to look like his toys. I'm sure he's gonna be quite the troublemaker when he gets to school," Harry said with a smirk.
"A master pranker in the making," said Astoria, secretly planning on taking Teddy under her mischievous wings.
Harry's face to morphed to nostalgia, "Yeah…just like his dear old dad."
"Dinner's ready, Master Harry," came Kreacher's voice.
"Thank you Kreacher, shall we?" he asked.
Dinner was sublime. Kreacher had outdone himself. Mashed potatoes, baked carrots, sun dried tomatoes, steak and kidney pie, Yorkshire pudding, and delicious Christmas ham. All atop of the finely decorated dinner table. Each seat with a cushion and place mats, red with a golden trim.
They chatted all throughout dinner, without a care in the world. Harry told Astoria about the plethora of secret passages within Hogwarts. Daphne was going into more detail about what she'd read of her mother's research. And Tori talked about all the new teachers at the school since they left.
It was finally time for the gift exchange next to the fire, and seeing that Astoria was the youngest (save for Teddy), she opened Harry's gift first.
"1001 Pranks Magical and Mundane! Thanks, Harry," she said with enthusiasm.
"I have faith you'll put it to great use," he said. "Now it's Teddy's turn, mind giving me his gifts, Daphne?"
After handing them over, Harry carefully opened Daphne's package to find a little blanket that shimmered with a rainbow exactly like Teddy's hair. Astoria gave him a little baby sweater with a little wolf that magically moved around stitched into it.
"Oh wow, thanks you two," he said happily. He put it over the laughing Teddy who proceeded to match his hair to the colors of the blanket.
Kreacher had given everybody their own tiny gingerbread house that won't go bad. Daphne gave Kreacher an old cookbook that originally belonged to the Greengrasses. All that's left were Harry's and Daphne's gifts to each other.
"I'm gonna use the restroom," declared Astoria. "Kreacher, mind showing me the way?"
"Of course, Miss Greengrass," he replied with a knowing look. "I also believe I putting young Master Teddy to bed now," he added casually.
Gathering the baby and his presents, Astoria and Kreacher made their way out of the living room. Leaving Daphne and Harry alone for the first time that evening.
"I uh, guess I'll start," Harry said nervously.
"Sure thing," replied Daphne, just as nervous.
He opened his box to reveal a pocket watch with a capital 'P' emblazoned on the front. Harry gently opened it to reveal a moving photograph of the two of them spending time together earlier in the week.
"I had considered a locket, but I didn't want to remind you of before," Daphne said thinking about the story of the Horcrux.
"It's perfect, Daph," he whispered and gently kissed her. When he pulled back, he placed his box into Daphne's hands.
With shaking hands, she was eventually able to remove the lid to her gift. Inside were two long, blue strips of smooth cloth. Daphne realized what they were after only a moment.
"Blue satin sashes?" she breathed hardly daring to believe what she was looking at.
"I know how much you like the song," Harry began, but didn't get much further than that. Daphne had pulled him in for another kiss.
"This is perfect, Harry," she said with tears, pecking him smaller kisses.
"Happy Christmas, Daphne," he said.
"Happy Christmas, Harry," said Daphne, hugging him with all the love she could give him.
Wait, love?
'No, that can't be what I'm feeling. I've only known him for a few weeks, there's just no way,' she thought dismissively.
They held each other, sitting next to the roaring fire enjoying the moment. The warmth of the fire was beginning to make Daphne's eyes droop. And before long, she began to doze off, Harry not far behind her. But just like any perfect moment, it didn't last forever.
"Daphne," came Astoria's whisper. "Master Harry," Kreacher tried to whisper as best as his gravelly voice could muster.
"It's about time for us to get going," she said a little louder.
They both stirred from the disturbance and realized the predicament they were in. The quickly helped each other up, blushing furiously.
"I'll walk you both to the door," Harry tried to say casually, failing to keep his face from looking lovestruck
"Thanks, Harry," Astoria said merrily, eyes gleaming.
"I'll see you soon, Harry," Daphne said shyly.
"See you soon, Daphne."
Grabbing their cloaks, Astoria and Daphne both bid Harry one final good night, and departed.
After arriving back at Daphne's flat, Astoria looked at Daphne with the biggest grin on her face, eyebrows wiggling.
"Not one word, Tori," Daphne warned, and went to her room to get ready for bed.