Chapter 5 Art is an Explosion
December 31, 1999
"Alright, Daphne, you be safe tonight," came Mr. Raines' voice from his office.
"Yes, sir," Daphne saluted, and made her way out the door.
She walked to the apparition point with no interruption. It seems people had finally gotten bored of staring at Daphne walking to and from work. Taking a moment to check her surroundings, Daphne turned, aparated at the park and headed home.
What she wasn't expecting to find was Astoria and Harry chatting on the couch with Teddy sleeping with his enchanted blanket.
"Um," Daphne started. She wasn't really sure to make of it.
"Daph,"
"Daffy!"
Harry and Astoria both said simultaneously. They got up and both gave her a hug.
"I was just spending quality time with my ward, Teddy," Astoria said proudly.
Harry squinted his eyes at her, "Are you Batman or something?" he asked.
Astoria looked at him with puzzled annoyance, "What did you just say? Did you just call me Snape or something?" she asked.
Harry couldn't stop himself from doubling over in laughter.
"He, wishes," he said wheezing in between each word.
At Daphne and Astoria's look of blatant confusion, Harry took a moment to straighten himself out.
"You'll understand once we watch more movies," he said cheerfully.
"Right," said Astoria dubiously. "Anyway, now that Daphne's finally off of work we can plan what we're going to do to celebrate tonight," she continued with gusto.
"What do you mean?" asked Daphne. "Aren't we just going to do the same as usual?"
After Christmas was over, Daphne and Astoria fell into a routine. Daphne would go to work and sometimes spend time with Harry. Meanwhile Astoria would visit her friends, do her holiday homework, or tag along to Harry's place to see the adorable Teddy.
Occasionally, they would all do a movie night together. Harry raided a video store and bought enough VHS tapes to last a decade or three.
"Come on Daph, it's the start of a new millennium!" she shouted with her arms outstretched.
"I don't know, Tori," Harry said in a troubled expression.
Astoria turned to Harry with an unreadable face.
"Harry, I seem to remember you still owing me for eavesdropping on our conversation the other night," she said dryly.
He held his hands up, "Hey, I already told you I was sorry, didn't I?"
"Of course you did, and if we do this, we're even," Astoria answered while sticking her tongue out.
"But what have I got to do with this, Tori?" Daphne asked hurriedly.
Torie turned back to Daphne, "I seem to remember already telling you during that eavesdropped conversation, dear sister, that we are social animals looking for meaning in our interactions," she said.
"I know that you two like the quiet life, I get that. But I am not going to let the two of you devolve into being complete shut-ins, no sir," Astoria said firmly.
Harry and Daphne looked at each other and knew that there would be no talking her out of it.
Harry gave a small exhale and grinned, "Sure, I guess a change of pace can't be the worst thing in the world."
"That's the spirit, Harry. Daphne?" she asked.
She eyed the stars in her sister's eyes. "Alright, Tori. What do you think we should do?" Daphne said resignedly.
She smirked with triumph and held up what looked like three pieces of paper. "These are tickets to the Dr. Filibuster's New Year Fireworks Charity," said Astoria enthusiastically.
The both just stared at her flabbergasted. It was Daphne who managed to speak first.
"What even is that?" she asked bewildered. Harry still hadn't found his voice.
"Read who's sponsoring the event," Astoria said, pointing at the caption on the ticket.
Harry and Daphne bent forward to get a closer look and saw exactly who it was sponsored by.
"Weasley's Wizard Wheezes?" Daphne asked.
At this, Harry had remembered how to speak, "George is putting on an event?"
"Yep. Apparently, for every ticket and firework he sells, he will match the purchase and light an additional firework from his stock and give all the money raised to charity," Astoria explained.
"So basically, the more noise made, the more money raised," Daphne said amused.
"Did he send you those?" Harry asked, indicating the tickets.
Astoria nodded, "Imagine my surprise when I open my Christmas present to find these hidden within the first gift," she said slightly annoyed. "He hid a prank within a prank. Oldest trick in the book, I must be losing my touch," Astoria said pitifully.
Before she could fall into a pit of despair, Daphne asked a question.
"Where is it supposed to be taking place? Even if muggles are using their own fireworks, I can't imagine it'll be where they could accidently see," she reasoned.
"Here, tap the ticket with your wand and say, 'charity'," said Astoria.
Daphne obliged and as soon as she did so, the ticket morphed into a map.
"It's very similar to the Marauder's Map," Harry said impressed.
"Let's see…in Devon?" Daphne asked.
Harry looked closer at the map and was surprised to see that it was the same camp ground where the Quidditch World Cup took place all those years ago. His mind went to the last time he back there. The celebration that turned to disaster from the Death Eaters and the Dark Mark.
"Harry?" Daphne inquired.
He snapped back to the present to see Daphne staring at him with concern.
"Are you okay?" she asked quietly.
"I'm okay, honest," he told her. He looked back to Astoria, "You said that this was to raise money for charity?" Harry asked her.
Astoria nodded, "It seems like a pretty cool way to go about helping people."
Harry didn't say anything for a few moments, taking time to think over the proposal. Eventually, he folded his arms and broke into a grin.
"Well, I can't very well say no to having fun for a good cause," he said with a hand on the back of the head.
Astoria's eyes lit up, "Yes! Now that's what I'm talking about."
"Are you sure, Harry?" Daphne asked worried.
"It's fine Daph," his grin turned into a frown. "He actually sent me a letter the other day. He apologized for not having my back better when I broke up with Ginny," Harry said thoughtfully.
Daphne immediately averted her eyes. "That was very good of him," she said neutrally.
Harry didn't miss Daphne's odd reaction, but chose not to comment on it.
"Alright then, we're doing this," Daphne said bravely.
"Perfect! I've already mapped out the apparition points necessary to jump to safely," Astoria said while pulling out some parchment and her own map.
She laid the map out on the coffee table, "If we jump here and here first, we can avoid public transit and lessen the risk of splinching," she said pointing to various locations.
"You were determined to go through with this, weren't you Tori?" Harry asked smiling.
Astoria looked affronted. "I just think that if he went through the effort of sending me free tickets meant to be sold for charity, that they should get properly used," she said casually.
Daphne wasn't fooled, she could see Astoria's cheeks begin to warm during the explanation.
"We have about two hours before we should start leaving," Daphne said. She then turned towards Harry, "Let's meet back up in front of Grimmauld before we depart."
He nodded in ascent, "It'll give me time to help Kreacher and put Teddy to bed," he said.
"And that'll give us time to pick out something nice to wear into the new year," Astoria said sagely.
"Alright, see you two in a bit," Harry called on his way out the door.
Two hours later
They knocked on Harry's door right on time. He came out dressed in his winter traveling cloak ready to go.
"Teddy's sleeping nice and sound. Kreacher said that he has things covered here for the night," Harry said cheerfully.
"Perfect, are we ready to go then?" Daphne asked clutching her bag. She had decided to pack her disillusionment cloak just in case something happened.
"I'm ready!" exclaimed Astoria, "Harry?" she asked.
"I should be fine," he answered.
"Okay, take my hands," Daphne commanded. They did as they were told and apparated to the first location. Daphne took a moment to catch her breath before finishing the second and third apparition jumps.
When they arrived, they were deafened by explosions and blinded by blue advertisements for Dr. Filibuster's Fireworks, and orange for Weasley's Wizard Wheezes.
"Hmm, I see firework lighting is already in full swing," said Harry indicating the kids lighting off their own explosions.
"Look at the size of this," Daphne gapped. "I'm starting to think all of the Weasley's should've been in Slytherin with how ambitious the lot of them are," she followed up.
There were stalls to purchase fireworks. Booths set up to take donations. There were games to win prizes. If Harry didn't know any better, he would've thought they stumbled upon a muggle carnival.
Their eyes fell onto the stadium used for the Quidditch World Cup in 1994. The main structure looked the same, but has since been repurposed to accommodate a fireworks show rather than broom riding sports.
"We may as well grab some concessions before we go in," said Astoria. "Looks like the tickets are only needed if you want to watch the show from within the stadium," she went on to explain.
Not thinking of any better idea, Harry and Daphne followed Tori to a stall selling all sorts of food and sweets. A variety of flavors of candy floss, hot doughnuts in the shape of stars, sausages in buns, and strawberry tea were all for purchase for the trio.
They ordered their food without too much hassle besides the salesmen's eyes flicking to see Harry's scar. Daphne couldn't help but roll her eyes. She grabbed Harry's hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze. He turned to look at her with a kind smile.
"Shall we head in and find our seats?" Astoria asked.
"Okay," he said without taking his eyes off Daphne.
When they got to the entrance to the stadium, they were greeted by the ticket collector.
"Are you all here for the show?" he asked jovially.
"You bet," Tori said handing him the tickets.
"Excellent! And I see that these tickets are for the booth. You must be Astoria and party, George said you might be coming," he said.
"What's the booth?" Harry inquired.
"Why, it's the viewing booth towards the top of the stadium. Still a fair few people, but significantly less than if you were in regular seating," he said with a laugh.
Daphne looked at the tickets stunned. Did George go out of his way to make it more comfortable for her and Harry?
'He didn't want us to feel completely overwhelmed,' she thought with a jolt. She and Harry looked at each other and knew they were thinking the same thing.
"Damn brat's trying to get on my good side," Astoria growled.
"Is it working?" Daphne asked with a knowing grin. Tori didn't say anything, but the red ears told the whole story.
"Come on," Astoria said after a few moments. And the party of three passed through the stadium entrance to a colossal crowd of people, eagerly waiting for the main event.
"Looks like our booth is towards the left," Harry said while reading the ticket.
Daphne couldn't help but be impressed with their set up. They had their own section with four reclinable seats, private restrooms, and even a bar.
Before she could marvel at the lavish seating arrangement, the outer lights of the stadium began to dim.
"Ladies and gentlemen. I wish to welcome you to the Dr. Filibuster's New Year Fireworks Charity event," came George Weasley on the giant display. The strange thing was, nobody could actually tell where he was at in the stadium.
He was answered by thunderous cheers and applause.
"Thanks to your generous contributions, we were able to raise 4,380 galleons, 13 sickles, and 5 knuts to be donated to St. Mungo's," he declared proudly.
He was met with even more applause.
"That means we're going to have a light show that you won't soon forget! Now, I'm not gonna delay you from the main event much longer. The show will be starting in five minutes!" George finished with gusto.
The lights dimmed even more so than before; the crowd was eager in anticipation. But before the first firework could kick off…
"Did you guys like my speech?" George asked casually.
Daphne, Astoria, and even Harry all jumped in surprise at the appearance of George standing right behind them.
"You scared me!" came Astoria from the bowels of her chair, "What are you even doing here?" she asked with snark.
"Why, I'm taking my seat!" he said happily. "You saw that there were four chairs, right?" indicating the seat next to Astoria.
"Wait, you're sitting with us?" Daphne asked curiously. "But I thought –" she stopped herself. She was honestly thinking that he would be sitting with the rest of the Weasleys, wherever that may be.
George looked at Daphne in faux shock, "I couldn't possibly neglect spending the evening with my guests of honor," turning to face Tori.
"It's gonna take more than flattery to win me over, bub," Astoria said with a smirk.
"Of course, of course," he said like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"But first things first," he turned to face Harry.
"It's, erm, good to see you, George" Harry said shakily.
He offered Harry a kind smile, "Good to see you, Harry."
Neither of them said anything for several moments, until George broke the silence.
"Listen, Harry…I wanted to properly apologize for how things fell out between you and my family," George said earnestly. "At first, I was really upset and worried that you didn't want to see or hear from us anymore after what happened with –," he stopped.
"I thought that you wanted to hurt us because of what happened with Ginny," George said regretfully.
Everyone was paying close attention to him.
"But," he then subtlety glanced at Daphne, "After some help thinking about it, I realized that you must've felt isolated and that nobody was on your side," George said seriously.
It took everything she had for Daphne to not gasp at the use of her own words.
Harry noticed who George was looking at, he looked back at him, and slowly exhaled a breath that he'd been holding, "It's okay, mate," said Harry truthfully. "You didn't do anything wrong. I was the one who cut you, and everyone else off."
"That still doesn't mean I wasn't a good friend," George said forcefully. "I chose to stay out of all of it, where if even one of us chose to support you, things would've been different," he finished.
Daphne looked back at Harry, and saw that his eyes were watery.
"It means a lot to hear that from you, George," he said hoarsely.
"You're probably, right. Things would've been different," Harry started. "But I think some good came out of the ordeal," he said.
George nodded, having a good idea of what he was getting at.
"I wouldn't have met Daphne or Tori," he said looking back at them.
And just like that, the tension between the two men vanished as if it was never there before.
"Destiny at it's finest," Astoria said glamorously.
"Haha, indeed," said George genially. "I recommend holding onto this one, Harry," he added seriously. "This one's a keeper," George finished.
"George," Daphne started to say.
"Don't I know it," Harry cut her off.
Whatever she was about to say died in her mouth to be replaced with furious blushes.
"Keep talking like that, George and you might win me over one day," Tori said coyly.
"Yes, yes," he said smoothly, "But let's go over the logistics of you and I after the show, it's about that time," George added, while taking the seat like a throne.
Just as Tori was about to retort, a deafening boom came from the center of the stadium. It was time for the show to start.
The show was incredible. There were fireworks in the shape of animals both magical and mundane, fireworks that danced. Many flew throughout the stands in shades of red, yellow, and green.
It was art.
"George, this is incredible," said Harry in awe.
"Appreciate it Harrykins," he said. "It took a bit of time to get the spacing of the fireworks to match the dimensions of the stadium." George continued thoughtfully.
"You know I gotta admit it George, this is pretty impressive," Astoria admitted.
"Such high praise from the queen herself," he said with a laugh.
After a spectacular display of synchronized duck fireworks finished their flight, the climax culminated to a countdown to the beginning of the new year.
"Ten, nine, eight…" the crowd began to chant. They were looking ahead towards the new millennium and leave behind the terror that plagued the end of the last century.
"Five, four, three, two, one, Happy New Year!" the entire stadium cheered.
Harry took Daphne's hand and interlocked their fingers. "So, you talked to him," he whispered into her ear.
Daphne jumped a little from the tickling inside her ear. "Who?" she asked puzzled.
"George," Harry said quietly.
She realized what Harry was meaning and that the jig was up and that there was no use denying it. "I didn't want to meddle, honest," Daphne stammered. "I-I just didn't want –,"
"Thank you."
Daphne focused back onto Harry's green eyes, "What?"
"Thank you, for meddling," he said to her genuinely.
Her face fell at his kind words.
"Harry, I do think there is a part of me that wanted to help you, but I also think part of it was me being selfish and projecting on to you what I didn't have," Daphne said taking a deep breath.
"Somewhere to belong," she finished looking down shamefully.
Harry was staring down at her with an unreadable expression. Then, he gently clasped her shoulders and pulled her into a hug.
"It's okay to want," he said lovingly.
They held each other for what felt like hours, until they pulled apart to return to the present.
Daphne surreptitiously looked back at her sister and noticed that she and George had scooted just a little bit closer to each other than before.
With that, the show came to a close.
They all exited the stadium going into detail on the exciting visual spectacle they had just seen.
"And when it started doing figure eights, it was so pretty!" Astoria cried with unusual sincerity.
"I can't take credit for that one, one of my employees thought it'd be a good idea," George said bashfully.
"Not too bad for your second fireworks show," Daphne said impishly.
George looked at her quizzically, "Second?" he asked confused.
"Remember? Back in fifth year? You and your brother made your grandiose exit from the school," she answered.
Recognition reached his face, "Oh yeah, our great escape from under the Umbridge regime," he reminisced.
Daphne smiled, "We all would've denied it at the time, but all of us on the Inquisitorial Squad had to admit that you were so cool," she said with a grin.
That caused George to break into his own grin, "Well, look at that, even the bad guys couldn't deny our showmanship," he said proudly before realizing what he'd said.
Tori and Harry both stiffened while Daphne had a grim smile.
"I'm so sorry, Daphne," George said frantically. "That was stupid of me. I really like the you that I've gotten to know now," he said without any hint of sarcasm.
She looked at him with no hostility, "I guess now we're even," she said thinking back to her comment in his shop. "And besides, you weren't wrong. We were the bad guys," she sighed.
Astoria walked forward and gave her older sister a bone crushing hug.
"Not to me," she whispered into her hair.
Harry looked at the two of them in deep thought as they broke apart.
"It's probably about time to start heading back," Daphne said trying to sound casual.
"Could we –," Harry hesitated.
George and Tori looked at each other and nodded. They knew what to do.
"I was thinking about doing a last-minute sweep of the concessions to see if anything is still for sale," George said merrily. "Tori, mind helping me check the area?" he asked her innocently.
Feeling a twinge of annoyance and warmth at the use of her nickname, she smiled, "Of course, I'll help out," she answered just as innocently. She looked back at Harry and Daphne, "How about we meet back up at the apparition point in about twenty minutes?" Astoria asked.
Not really feeling the urge to leave right this minute, Daphne and Harry shrugged in ascent.
"Perfect, see you then!" George hollered as they practically sprinted away.
Both nonplussed at the quick getaway, they both turned back to face each other.
"Care to take a walk?" Harry asked.
"Sure," she smiled.
They were slowly walking along the outskirts of the stalls, neither feeling inclined to navigate the crowds for a second time.
"The show was spectacular, wasn't it?" Harry asked.
Thinking about the show, Daphne's eyes lit up, "It was amazing. George really pulled out all the stops," she gushed.
"Yeah, he really is incredible," he said with an abstracted expression.
He looked into her blue eyes, "And you helped me bring him back into my life," Harry said affectionately.
"I did miss him, and everyone else," Harry followed up. He then started to frown.
"But I didn't bother making the first move to mend things, instead opting to save myself through isolation. You were the one who took the step, you were brave," Harry said. Then he snorted.
"Look who's the Gryffindor and Slytherin now," he sighed.
Daphne waited for Harry to continue.
"I want to do better, Daphne," Harry confessed after a few moments. "I want to build my life back. You've made me feel that spark to move through life, not just pass it by," he said passionately.
She looked at him with piercing eyes, but began to feel a seed of doubt. She thought back to earlier calling herself the bad guy. Suddenly the words didn't feel as good as one would expect. She didn't feel like she'd earned this praise.
"You've given me hope," Harry told her.
'I haven't done anything for you. I've been self-fulfilling, self-preserving, egotistical,' she though delf-deprecatingly.
"I love spending time with you," he continued.
'You were just lonely. You wanted companionship, not me.'
Daphne stopped breathing. Was that it? Could it have been anybody?
"You've made me so happy," Harry told her.
She couldn't take any more kindness.
'How can you praise me,' she finished in silent despair.
"And I have something to tell you," Harry said with all the bravery he could muster. He leaned in very close.
"I –,"
"Harry?"
He stopped dead. That fiery voice was one that he had not heard for a long time. He turned around slowly, begging that he had misheard, but knew in his heart he didn't.
Standing before him were the three people who, at one point, were the most important people in his life.
Ron, Hermione, and Ginny were all standing across from them. Hermione with a look of shock, Ron a look of confusion, and Ginny was looking at them with a red-hot fury.
"Ginny," he said woodenly. His eyes chancing a glance at Daphne. She looked completely terrified.
She pointed a finger at Daphne, "What are you doing with her?" she asked angrily.
"Yeah, what're you doing with a snake?" asked Ron accusingly.
Daphne flinched.
At this, Harry was able to find his bearings, "I don't see how that's any of your business," he answered stiffly.
"Now what's that supposed to mean?" Ron shouted, eyes beginning to fill with reage.
"It means," Harry ground out, "Exactly what I said," his temper rising.
"Harry…" Hermione began slowly. "That's Daphne Greengrass from Parkinson's gang," she said as if he was impaired.
"Yeah, mate, don't you remember she was on the Inquisitorial Squad under Umbridge?" Ron denounced.
"I'm aware," Harry said mutely.
'This isn't happening,' Daphne thought to herself.
"Was the Prophet telling the truth!?" Ginny shrieked. "This bitch comes in and swoops in when you're at your most vulnerable," she screamed.
Daphne crossed her arms and curled into herself.
"You of all people should know that anything the Prophet writes is codswallop. She didn't prey upon me like some meek little school boy," Harry retorted. "I chose to be with her," he shouted.
"You are with an enemy!" Ron boomed.
"Ron, stop it!" Hermione shouted, attempting to hold on to Ron's arm.
"She's manipulating you," Ginny screeched, with a look that appeared smug.
"You don't get to choose who I'm with after you were the one to cheat on me!" Harry roared.
Even on the outskirts, all their shouting was starting to attract a crowd.
"You could've been with anyone else, why her!?" Ginny continued to shriek.
'Please, stop,' she pleaded in tears silently. It was as if all of Daphne's insecurities were being thrown right back into her face.
"Because I'm in love with her," he bellowed.
Nobody said anything. All eyes were on Daphne and Harry.
He stood up straighter, "I'm in love with Daphne," he said quietly.
Daphne could barely breathe. She was only dimly aware of everyone looking at her.
She had heard him say it, but she could hardly believe it. He loved her? Preposterous.
"LOVE HER? You've hardly known her!" Ginny laughed.
Harry looked at Ginny pityingly, "Think whatever you want, it's all you ever did," he said grimly.
"Go back to McLaggen," he said sounding tired.
She immediately stopped laughing and looked at him with loathing.
"Comac was better than you ever were," she said venomously.
"Ginny, that's enough!" Hermione shouted.
"Then I hope you're happier with him," Harry said honestly, and turned his back to her.
She clenched her fist, looking like she was going to hit him.
"Now, I hope you're not bothering my guests," came George's voice.
Everyone's heads whipped around to see George standing with his arms crossed, Astoria bulldozing through the crowd to get to Daphne.
"George?" Ginny asked blankly.
"What happened to you, mate? You were with us before the show, but then you never came back after it started," Ron said confused.
George looked at them in disappointment, "I told you, these were my guests," indicating the trio.
Astoria had pulled Daphne into a hug while staring at Ginny with pure vitriol.
"You were sitting with Harry?" Hermione asked cautiously.
"Harry, Daphne, and Tori," he clarified. "My friends," he regarded them warmly.
"What are you talking about, George?" Ginny asked annoyed.
"It's exactly what I just said, dear sister. I invited them to attend with me as my esteemed guests," George said simply, making his way to protect Astoria.
"And now that the charity event is over, it's time for us to be on our way," he said to the crowd. "Come along, my friends," he said humorously.
Astoria basically dragged Daphne away, not daring to speak in case she explodes.
As the four of them made their way past, Harry distinctly heard Hermione's voice just loud enough for only him to hear.
"I'm sorry Harry."
He didn't acknowledge her, but the knot in his gut loosened ever so slightly.
Nobody said anything while they walked to the apparition point, nor when Harry apparated them to the other spots.
It wasn't until Harry had transported them all to the park near Daphne's flat when George broke the silence.
"With the exception towards the end, I think tonight was actually pretty good," he said with some levity. He then looked more serious.
"I'm sorry for how awful they acted," George said downtrodden.
"You can't blame yourself for their actions," Harry said quietly.
"Yeah, it was your siblings' faults, not yours," Astoria defended. "If anything, you deescalated the situation before I decided to rip their heads off," she added savagely.
George looked at them all with a smile, "I still would like to spend time with you guys again in the future," he said hopefully. He tentatively held his hand out to Harry.
Harry's eyes softened, "I'd like that, George," he answered, clasping his open palm.
George turned towards Astoria with twinkling eyes, "And I hope to spend some more time with you especially Tori," he said gleefully.
She looked back at him in bemusement, "I'll see if I can maybe fit you into my busy schedule," Astoria said sarcastically. She had still not let go of her older sister.
"Be sure to do so," George said with mirth. He looked down at his wrist to check the time.
"It's probably time for me to head home and turn in," he yawned. "Thanks again for coming out for the show, guys," he said with sincerity.
Before departing, he looked over his shoulder, "And Daphne," he called.
She started, not having said a word since the drama of the evening.
"I meant what I said earlier. You are my friend." Immediately after he said it, he turned and disapparated.
"Tori," Harry started. "Would you be willing to head inside to give us a few minutes to talk?" he asked.
"I mean, assuming you're okay with that," he told Daphne hurriedly.
She gave a small, almost imperceptible nod.
"It's okay, Tori," Daphne said.
Astoria looked between the two of them and let go of Daphne.
"Alright then, I'll head home first," she said carefully. "But please don't stay out too long," Astoria pleaded.
"And you," she pointed at Harry, "Make sure she makes it to the door before you leave," she said sternly.
"Naturally," he said kindly.
Astoria nodded, gave Daphne a gentle squeeze, and left towards the flat.
Now that they were alone again, suddenly Harry wasn't quite sure what to say. So much had happened in such a short amount of time.
"Shall we sit?" Harry asked indicating the bench.
Daphne didn't say anything, but made to sit down with Harry soon after.
"I'm sorry, Daph," he blurted out. She looked up at him with her head tilted.
"That was wrong of them to say those things to you," Harry said more calmly. "You – "
"Did you mean it?" she cut off.
"What?" Harry asked, thrown off by Daphne's interruption.
"Did you mean what you said in front of all those people?" she asked more deliberately.
He struggled to find exactly what she was referring to; he said a lot of things in a raging blur.
"Do you love me?"
Everything in Harry's mind came to a screeching halt, face beginning to flush.
"I do," he breathed.
Harry waited for Daphne to respond. When she didn't respond after a while, he began to fidget.
"Why me?" she asked curiously. "I mean," Daphne started, "Isn't it exactly like Ginny said? You could've picked anyone to want to be with."
"Daphne," Harry tried.
"No, please listen. Really listen to what I have to say, Harry," she pleaded.
He wanted to argue, but remained silent, intent on listening to her.
"Thank you," she said sitting up straight. "After being in isolation with only your godson and house-elf for company, and by sheer coincidence, you suddenly find yourself with someone else being a part of your life," Daphne said pointing to herself.
"Outside of the occasional class we had together or Parkinson's bullying, we did not know each other," she said pragmatically. "In fact, many would rightfully point out that for the longest time we were on opposite sides, enemies," she thought back to Ron's accusation.
"We connected on the smallest grounds of empathy for each other. Our mutual trauma," Daphne said dispassionately.
"In your isolation you latched onto that like a lifeline. I can tell from your stories that while you may be tired of your friends telling you how to live your life, you miss them," she continued.
"You're lonely," Daphne whispered.
"Then, we spend only a few weeks seeing each other and suddenly you are in love with me?" she asked skeptically.
"I think it could've been anybody in that pub for you to seek out a connection with. It didn't have to be me," Daphne said with tears in her eyes.
She sniffed, "And here I am, doing the same things. I soaked up the time we spend together like a drug because I'm just as lonely," Daphne cried.
Harry wanted to comfort her, but knew that this was something that she needed to say.
"How can I know that this is something genuine? How do I know that whatever we are feeling towards each other isn't just loneliness and codependency?" she sobbed.
It took a very long time for Harry to mull over everything that Daphne had said. He felt that whatever he said next would be a turning point.
"Do you remember telling me about the day you picked up Tori from the train station?" he asked.
Daphne was so confused by the question that she stopped crying.
"The two of you spent all night watching movies together having the time of your lives," Harry said fondly. "After you learned how to turn on the equipment, there was no involvement from me at all. You learned how to use, modify, and share movies with your sister all on your own," he said kindly.
Harry looked at her seriously, "That how I know it's not codependency. We spend a lot of time together, but we do not need each other to function," he said resolutely.
"There were many days that I was content staying home and playing with Teddy and did just that," Harry remembered. "I love spending time with you, but I don't fall into despair if I can't or won't," he said simply. Harry then frowned in thought.
"As for whether or not it could've been anybody in the pub that night. Well, that may have been true. It's possible that if the person I met that night wasn't you, then my life would've gone a completely different direction," he said.
"You were right, after pushing away my friends I was lonely for a very long time," Harry said honestly.
He took a moment to chance a glance at Daphne. Her eyes were red and puffy, but she was no longer crying.
"But I've learned that nothing beneficial ever comes from thinking on what-ifs or if things had gone differently," he said while thinking of Sirius as well as the Mirror of Erised.
"We'll never know what might've happened that night," Harry said simply. "What I do know is that I met a beautiful woman named Daphne, someone so pretty that I blush just thinking about it," he said sheepishly. "And I truly met you for the first time that night. We are different than who we were at school," he said.
"And we got to know each other," Harry pushed on. "The time I spent with you and all of our talks is when I was really falling for you, the fact that I also find you so pretty is just a bonus," he said with an embarrassed grin.
His face relaxed to a more neutral expression. "I don't think it has to take a lot of time for someone to fall in love. When you know, you know," Harry shrugged. His eyes focused on Daphne's, "And I knew that I fell in love with you," he said sounding sure of himself.
"What about Ginny? Daphne asked furrowing her brow. "You were sure you were in love with her too, right? Is it really 'true love' if you feel it more than once?" she asked.
Harry took another moment to gather his thoughts. "I believe that people aren't restricted to falling in love once in their life. Things change, people who we once knew become strangers." He smiled at Daphne, "Or people who were strangers become the most important to us."
"Wouldn't that mean that it's possible that one day we grow apart and not love each other like you and Ginny?" Daphne asked, but she was beginning to sound less sure of her argument.
"If that were to happen…" Harry started, "Then I'd at least be able to hold my head up high knowing that I followed my heart and chose what I felt was right," he affirmed.
"I love you, Daphne."
Daphne looked at Harry's face to search for any deception. After finding none, she let out a long sigh.
"Is it okay?" she asked while looking down at her hands.
"Is what okay?" Harry asked quietly.
She looked back up at him, "To tell you that I love you too, Harry," Daphne said with a small voice. She then pulled out her disillusionment cloak and draped it over the two of them.
Harry and Daphne could not hold back anymore. They pulled each other and kissed each other like they had never done so before. They deepened every one of their kisses, each more passionate than the last. With every breath they took they each said 'I love you' to the other.
It was as if the world outside that park bench stood still. Time only moving forward for two people, each second just as beautiful.
As slowly as ice melting in the Arctic, they eventually began to slow down until they held each other in an embrace.
"It's time to go, Daphne," Harry said regrettably.
"I know," she replied sadly.
Finally letting go, they both got up from their bench, and made their way to Daphne's hand in hand.
When they did finally make it to her door, they hugged for the last that night.
"Happy New Year, Harry," Daphne said lovingly.
"Happy New Year, Daphne," Harry said just as lovingly.
She went and opened her front door, giving one last glance back at Harry, and closed the door.
Astoria was waiting on the couch looking extremely tired and anxious; but when she saw Daphne, she sagged with relief.
"Are you all right, Daffy?" she asked noticing her red eyes.
"I'm fine, Tori," Daphne smiled. "More than fine," she said contently.
Authors comments: Thank you for reading Blue Satin Sashes so far. The amount of positivity I have received has been nothing short of breath taking. I can't wait to share more, so rest assured, there is still more story to be written here. I just wanted to announce that due to my work taking me out of my home country, uploads may be less frequent for the next two months. I will still be able to write, but it might be a bit before I can publish. I apologize for this inconvenience and greatly appreciate your understanding.