Daphne gave a massive huff as she carefully navigated her sister's hospital bed off of the Knight Bus. If it weren't for how sick Astoria was, Daphne would have easily been able to apparate or use a portkey to take her back to Malfoy Manor. Still, the trip hadn't been so bad, she supposed. Only a few nauseating turns through the winding countryside had left her with a queasy stomach, but now that her feet were back on solid ground, things felt better again.
"Careful when you set her down," Andromeda cautioned Daphne gently as she oversaw her efforts.
Each movement of her wand was perfectly precise as she lowered Astoria's bed onto the driveway that led up to the grand manor. The wheels on Astoria's bed squeaked as they settled.
The moment Andromeda stepped off of the bus, the doors slammed shut behind her, and it took off suddenly. A gust of wind from its disappearance washed over the three of them.
"Are you sure it's safe to have her here?" Daphne asked Andromeda for the hundredth time. No matter how many times she heard the answer, she never seemed satisfied.
"I've done all I can to stabilise her magic against the blood curse," Andromeda answered with a grimace. "There's nothing more that St Mungo's can offer besides what I've done. Everything is up to her now until she's given birth. It's best to keep her at home. She might feel more comfortable here."
Daphne still felt like they were relegating Astoria to hospice care, bringing her back home where she could live out her final days in some form of peace. Not that there was much peace to be had when she was still locked in a coma.
The massive wrought-iron gates swung open at their approach, granting them access to the manor beyond. Daphne and Andromeda walked on either side of Astoria's bed, guiding her carefully forward.
The front doors of Malfoy Manor opened and Draco came sprinting out. His robes were an absolute mess, his eyes bloodshot, and his face was full of desperation. Narcissa watched from the entryway, holding the hands of little Delphini and Teddy.
"How is she?" Draco all but demanded as he grabbed onto Astoria's bed and helped guide her forward.
"Fine," Andromeda assured him. "She's still in her coma. The trip was as smooth as could be expected."
So, not smooth at all, Daphne thought to herself. At the very least, Astoria hadn't tumbled out of her bed like she'd seen some others do in the past.
"Are we setting her up in your bedroom?" Daphne asked Draco.
He nodded. "I've made some space for her beside our bed."
"Is Aunt Astoria okay?" Delphini asked quietly as they reached the bottom of the stairs.
"She will be," Daphne told her with a gentle smile. She didn't have the heart to tell Delphini the truth that something could go terribly wrong at any moment without any sign of warning.
Together, Daphne, Draco, and Andromeda levitated Astoria's bed up the front steps and through the threshold into Malfoy Manor. From there, they carefully guided her up the stairs and through the corridors to Draco and Astoria's bedroom. The room had clearly been freshly cleaned, and the large desk that had once sat next to the window had been removed from the room, leaving space for Astoria's bed to be nestled in there comfortably.
Andromeda came to Draco's side and began murmuring instructions on how to care for Astoria and himself. The reality was that Draco needed as much help as anyone else here to get through this. The emotional and mental tolls that caring for Astoria were severe, and as much as Daphne was hurting, she knew that Draco must have felt even worse.
Eventually, it became clear that Draco wasn't exactly listening to Andromeda. His gaze was fixed on Astoria's face. She looked surprisingly peaceful laying there, almost as if she was dead already. It was only the occasional twitches that she made, along with the sensation of her baby kicking every so often, that visibly confirmed that she was still alive.
Suddenly, tears welled up in Daphne's eyes. It was all too much to handle.
She walked out of the room as calmly as she could. Andromeda was too distracted from writing down instructions for Draco instead to notice anything wrong with her. Once she got back down the corridor to the top of the stairs, she finally let her tears free. Silent sobs wracked her body as she stifled her voice.
Minutes later, she returned back downstairs as though nothing had happened. A few beauty charms cleared away any signs of tears and reapplied her makeup exactly as it had been. She found Narcissa, Teddy, and Delphini playing in one of the sitting rooms.
"They're still upstairs," Daphne grimaced at Narcissa's questioning look.
"Did they get settled in alright?" She asked in reply. "I helped Draco reorganise his room…"
"It was perfect," Daphne answered. "The sun will shine on her face everyday and help keep her warm, and Draco will be next to her every night."
"I moved into the guest bedroom across from him," Narcissa said with a sad smile. "Just in case anything happens in the middle of the night. I hope you know that I already see Astoria like a daughter, and I'll do whatever I can to help her through this."
A lump formed in Daphne's throat, but she swallowed it down forcefully. "Thank you, sincerely. I'll be visiting as much as I can."
"Of course," Narcissa replied. "I—"
"Lady Malfoy!" A house-elf announced loudly. "There's someone at the floo for you. It sounds urgent."
"I'll be right back," Narcissa told Daphne as she got to her feet.
"Auntie Daphne," Teddy said, tugging at the hem of her robes.
Forcing her sad emotions down, Daphne knelt beside Teddy and put on her brightest smile. "Yes?"
"Is it true that you can make things just like Delphini can?" He asked innocently.
"Like her stuffed animals?" Daphne asked encouragingly. Teddy nodded eagerly. "Yes, I can."
"Can you make me some?" He asked her.
"Alright," Daphne said as she pulled out her wand. "What would you like?"
"A hippogriff!" Teddy exclaimed, throwing his arms wide. "This big!"
Daphne laughed. "One hippogriff coming up. And would you like anything, Delphini?"
Delphini was still sitting on the floor next to the sofa that Narcissa had been on. She had a stuffed augurey in her arms, as she so often did. She shook her head and clutched the stuffed creature tighter to her chest. "No, thank you," she answered politely.
"Okay, but just let me know if you change your mind," Daphne told her.
Teddy was bouncing excitedly beside her as Daphne stood back up and readied her wand. She filled her mind with the image of a hippogriff, the same one that Harry had introduced her to on a date night in Hogsmeade where they'd coincidentally met up with Hagrid, Hogwarts' gamekeeper and Professor of Care of Magical Creatures. Buckbeak was a beautiful creature, and he'd even allowed Harry and her to ride on his back over the Black Lake.
With the image of Buckbeak firmly cemented in her mind, Daphne weaved her wand carefully through the air and conjured a near-perfect replica of him, albeit scaled down to the size that Teddy had indicated.
The moment that the stuffed creature appeared, Teddy shouted in glee and latched onto it eagerly. He climbed onto the creature's back and shouted, "Fly!"
Smiling to herself, Daphne levitated the stuffed hippogriff into the air and flew it around the room in gentle circles. Teddy looked like he was having the time of his life, and Delphini was even staring up in awe.
Eventually, Daphne settled Teddy and his hippogriff back down onto the floor. He immediately rushed over to Delphini's side and started showing off his proud new toy, despite knowing that it would only last for a few hours at most.
When Narcissa returned, she had a dark look on her face. Daphne checked to make sure that the kids were still distracted by their toys before hurrying over to Narcissa's side.
"What's wrong?" Daphne asked.
"It's St Mungo's," Narcissa replied in a hushed whisper. "Someone just attacked it."
"Just one person?" Daphne asked. "Who?"
"Emile Delacour," Narcissa answered quickly. "He blasted his way into Astoria's room."
It felt like an icy-cold dagger had just been shoved into her lungs. Daphne tried to suck in a breath but found that she couldn't.
"We should lock down the manor," Narcissa told her.
Daphne could do little more than nod. Was he truly so vindictive to go after Astoria after their father had sold out the man? Wasn't Harry over in France right now trying to put a stop to him?
There were too many unknowns. Too many questions that were racing through Daphne's mind. She couldn't pay any of them any attention though, not while her family was in danger.
Moving mechanically, Daphne scooped up Teddy, Delphini, and their stuffed toys into her arms and headed for the corridor while Narcissa began waving her wand in the air. She frowned and opened her mouth to speak, but whatever warning she tried to give was cut short as a massive explosion rocked the manor.
"The wards!" Narcissa gasped loudly. "But how—"
"Never mind that," Daphne cut in quickly. "We need to get everyone somewhere safe."
With the manor under attack, it wasn't safe anymore. Daphne tried to turn on her heels and apparate herself and the kids away to safety, but something snapped her right back into place.
"I can't apparate out!" Daphne shouted at them.
"Emile must have put up his own wards around us," Narcissa cursed under her breath. "We could hide upstairs. We have extra security measures in our bedrooms."
"Then let's go," Daphne said as she took off at a run.
Carrying two small, squirming children was no easy feat. Neither of them seemed to have any idea of what was going on and were whining to be let down, but Daphne wasn't going to do that. She needed to get them upstairs somewhere safe.
The layout of Malfoy Manor was familiar to her now from the many times that she'd visited. There were two staircases: a main one by the front entrance and a rear one by the exit out to the back gardens.
An ear-piercing howl from outside the front of the manor made the decision easy for her.
"Go find Draco and Astoria," Narcissa told Daphne. "Keep the kids safe. I'll hold him off."
"No," Daphne snapped in reply, shouting over her shoulder as she ran for the staircase. "Come upstairs and we can lock down the manor."
"It's too late for that," Narcissa smiled sadly as the front doors to the manor crashed open.
Daphne ducked around the nearest corner as Teddy wailed at the horrific sounds that came moments after. It sounded like parchment being torn at an impossibly-loud volume and wood chips being sprinkled upon the floor. Another howl was unleashed, but Daphne just kept running. Meanwhile, Delphini had gone silent in her arms.
Taking the stairs two at a time, Daphne burst out onto the first floor of the manor with a panicked look in her eyes.
"What the hell is going on down there?" Lucius demanded as he stumbled out of one of the sitting rooms, a bottle of firewhiskey in hand. He was drunk enough that he didn't seem to fully recognise the fear in Daphne's eyes.
"We're under attack," she said as she rebalanced Teddy and Delphini in her arms.
"By who?" Lucius scoffed. "The Dark Lord is dead, and the Aurors wouldn't come after us anymore."
"It's Emile Delacour," Daphne told him urgently. "He's after Astoria."
Lucius rolled his eyes. "He can have her for all I care. I'm going back to—"
A massive explosion from below made the floor rumble beneath their feet. The wood warped awkwardly, making it look like gentle waves of wood.
"You bastard!" Daphne spat at him. "Your own wife is fighting right now to protect her! Are you so sick in the head that you're willing to let your own grandchild die?"
"My… grandchild?" Lucius repeated the word slowly.
Merlin, had no one bothered to tell him? Daphne knew that his relationship was teetering on the breaking point with both Narcissa and Draco, but she'd never imagined that they'd keep something like this from him. Although, maybe Lucius was too busy spending his days sulking and drinking to bother to ever interact with his family at all.
"Astoria's pregnant, and I'm going to help keep her safe," Daphne told him as she started moving again. "I'm taking the kids to her too, and we're locking down Draco's bedroom."
Something that Daphne couldn't quite decipher crossed Lucius' face. It was like a swirl of emotions that tried to morph into something that was completely alien to her. Maybe Lucius didn't even know how he felt at that moment either. His days and nights blended together from his excessive drinking and sullen brooding. Learning that he had a grandchild on the way must've been quite a shock to him, but there was no time to let him process it.
Another booming sound erupted from beneath their feet, and a thick ball of crumpled, corrugated metal sliced through the floor just a few feet away and embedded itself in the ceiling. Then, Narcissa screamed. Lucius twitched violently at the sound of his wife crying out in pain.
"If you want to do something helpful then get out of my way," Daphne told Lucius as she started to move forward again. "I need to get Teddy and Delphini out of here. Go back to your drinking if you must—"
"No," Lucius interjected, shaking his head. He stumbled around Daphne, looking painfully frail and weak, and drew his wand. "I'll do what I can to hold him off. Just… go."
Daphne didn't need to be told twice. She took off at a sprint as Narcissa's cries of pain faded. Barely a few seconds later, she heard Lucius let out a roar as he entered into battle.
Draco's room sat very close to the centre point of the manor. The route to it was fresh in her memory from bringing Astoria up just minutes ago. Her legs, arms, and back all burned from the exertion of carrying two kids while running, but it was necessary.
As she rounded the corner to the corridor where Draco's room was, she heard footsteps coming from further ahead.
Quickly, Daphne lowered Teddy and Delphini onto the floor. "Go hide in a room," she told them.
"But—" Teddy tried to protest.
"No buts," Daphne said firmly. "Do what I said. Now."
"Come on," Delphini murmured quietly as she took Teddy's hand and pulled him away.
Daphne readied her wand as Delphini took Teddy into a room a fair bit back down the corridor behind her. Just a moment after the door closed behind them, a bald man wearing a wicked grin rounded the corner at the far end of the corridor. His eyes landed on her immediately.
"Pardon the intrusion," the man said in a silky French accent. "I take it that you're Daphne Greengrass?"
"And who might you be?" Daphne asked as she shifted her body into a defensive duelling stance.
The man seemed completely unbothered by her posture as he continued to close the gap between them. "Of course, where are my manners? I am Emile Delacour."
So this was Emile. Daphne had suspected as much the moment he appeared, but it was good to have it confirmed for her. The only lingering question in her mind was that if he was here, then who was it that had attacked Narcissa and Lucius?
"I suggest that you leave now," Daphne warned him. "The Aurors are already on their way."
"And they will be unfortunately forestalled upon trying to enter the manor's grounds," Emile told her. "I went to great lengths to ensure that we would not be interrupted."
At that moment, another explosion rocked the manor. It seemed to come from all around them. Windows shook in their frames, and the entire structure of the manor seemed to groan under the force of the shock wave that washed through it. If it weren't for her wide-footed stance, Daphne was sure that she would have been sent tumbling to the floor.
Emile caught himself on the wall, and for an instant, Daphne saw his eyes darken with pure rage.
"Seems like your lengths aren't good enough," Daphne mocked him.
Before he had a chance to recover, Daphne jabbed forward with her wand and sent a piercing hex straight at the man's breast. However, Emile batted it away with the tip of his wand with ease.
"I do so love it when they put up a bit of a fight," Emile commented to himself as he resumed walking forward again.
Standing her ground, Daphne unleashed a torrent of spells. Anything that came to mind, she hurled at Emile. Half of the spells were dark in nature, the types of things that would see her land in hot water with the Ministry if she were caught using them, but she didn't care. This man was dangerous, and she couldn't afford to hold back at all if she wanted to stop him. After her, Draco was the last line of defence for Astoria, but he wasn't in a fit state of mind to be her protector right now. This was Daphne's turn to fight.
Emile's smile only grew as he blocked and dodged every single spell that Daphne threw at him. Even when she tried to trip him up by transfiguring a marble bust into a hawk, the man simply transfigured it into a bundle of feathers and banished them back at Daphne, causing her two followup spells to collide with the obstacle in midair.
What frustrated Daphne most of all was that Emile wasn't even fighting back. He never launched a single violent spell her way. Daphne knew that she wasn't the greatest duellist in the world, but she was no slouch either. If she'd trained for it, she knew that she could have made for a decent Hit Witch, but her skills seemed completely useless against Emile.
"Don't tire yourself out too quickly now," Emile teased her as he sidestepped another spell of hers.
Daphne felt like trapped prey. Every spell she attempted to use failed against this man. It reminded her of the times she had practice duels with Harry and he was going all out on her. No matter what she did, it never seemed to faze him. Emile had a cocky smile on his lips. He already knew the outcome, like her, but he was dragging it out and milking it for every little pleasant emotion he could.
"Where is your sister?" Emile asked her smoothly as he came to a stop just a few metres away from her.
Daphne wanted to spit at him and tear out his tongue for daring to ask such a question. Instead, she tried to kill him again.
With a twist of her wand, she transfigured some of the fragments of the wooden floor into iron nails and sent them flying at Emile's side.
The man didn't even bother to turn and look as he redirected them up into the ceiling. They nearly grazed his cheek, but he didn't so much as flinch. Everything about him was cold, calculated, and predatory. Fear coursed through Daphne's veins like shards of ice, but her desire to keep her family safe overrode it all.
"Leave," she told him dangerously.
"I'll have to decline your suggestion," he smirked. "But I'll make this easy for you. Tell me what I want to know and your death will be swift."
"Fuck y—"
"Crucio!" Emile snapped, his face morphing into a look of intense fury as he jabbed his wand forward.
Daphne screamed. She didn't remember when she started screaming. One second she was staring up at him, and the next she felt like every single one of her nerves was burning up in the flames of hell. All of her muscles tensed up, screaming as they threatened to tear themselves from the bones they were attached to. Her wand went flying out of her hand, leaving her with no means of protecting herself.
She wanted it to end so desperately that if she'd been able to speak, she didn't know if she'd have been able to stop herself from revealing Astoria's location.
When the pain finally faded and she was left twitching on the floor, Emile clicked his tongue at her.
"Let's try again, shall we?" He grinned.
"I…" Daphne struggled to form the words in her mouth. It didn't feel like her tongue was working normally, and her throat was scratchy like she'd gone days without water. It hurt to even try to speak.
"Go on," Emile prompted her.
"I… won't… tell… you… shi—"
Another scream left her, but this one lasted far less long than the first.
Faintly, Daphne recognised the sight of Delphini's stuffed augurey taking flight overhead. Emile noticed it too, frowning. Then, the augurey exploded.
The Cruciatus Curse ended, and Daphne scrambled towards her wand as best she could when her body was still struggling to listen to her. Her fingers barely grazed the wooden grain of it when it was suddenly sent flying away from her.
"Who else is here?" Emile shouted down the corridor, eyeing past Daphne. His face was covered with soot and a thin trail of blood dripped down from a cut above his eyebrow, but he was otherwise unharmed. "Show yourself, coward!"
Daphne could only watch on in horror as Delphini stepped out from the room she'd sent her and Teddy into.
"No," Daphne said with her broken voice.
Emile laughed upon seeing the young girl step out. "Really? You did this?"
"Come back, Delphini!" Teddy shouted as his head appeared around the corner of the door frame.
"Delphini?" Emile repeated. Suddenly, his eyes widened.
"Go," Daphne said as loudly as she could muster. "Hide."
But Delphini refused. She stood firm, staring down Emile.
"Can that really be you, Delphini?" Emile practically cooed. "I haven't seen you since you were born. Your parents were dear friends of mine."
Delphini took a half step back, her eyes filling with suspicion. Daphne wished she could force her to run away, but she barely had any control over her own body as it was. Still, she tried.
"Run," Daphne told Delphini weakly.
"No, stay here," Emile told Delphini kindly. "I have a surprise for you, Delphini. How would you like to see your father again? If you come with me, I'll bring you straight to him."
Daphne saw the man's lie struck Delphini right in the core. She'd grown up around strangers, only briefly spending any real time with her horrible mother. She'd likely only ever met her father when she was a baby, and whatever she'd been told about him since would've been Death Eater propaganda. They would've painted him as a god among mortals who was trying to save the Wizarding World. Who wouldn't want to meet a man like that?
"He's lying to you," Daphne told Delphini. "Please. Don't trust him. He's dangerous."
"Don't listen to her," Emile snapped, taking a cautious step forward. He lowered his wand and held his other hand out open for Delphini as he drew closer. "Your father has missed you terribly. He's wanted to see you for so long, but these people have kept you away from him. Come with me, and you can spend the rest of your life with him."
Delphini reached out with her hand towards him.
"Don't," Daphne coughed, her throat aching. "Stop."
"That's it," Emile smiled. "Just take my hand and we'll—"
A moment before their fingers touched, Delphini pulled back and a surge of magic washed through her. Suddenly, a great wall of fire conjured between her and Emile, stretching from floor to ceiling.
Emile's screams were like a symphony to Daphne's ears, but this was no time to relish in them. She needed to protect Delphini and Teddy, but she couldn't do that with the state she was in.
"Kids! Run!" She shouted at them.
Teddy leapt out of the room and grabbed Delphini's hand, but before they could move more than a few steps, the flames were doused by a torrent of water.
Emile stood there with his wand pointed dangerously at all of them. His other arm was burnt black from the flames all the way up to his elbow, and his eyebrows were nearly completely singed off.
"Now you've done it!" Emile shouted at them. "I tried to be nice, but now you're going to pay the price for what you've done."
A new voice spoke up, and a wave of relief unlike anything else washed through Daphne. Even with her body unable to work properly, she still managed to smile.
"I've a debt to collect first," Harry said as he appeared behind Emile. "And you won't escape from it this time. This ends right here, right now."
"Yes, it does!" Emile shouted as he rounded on Harry.
"Kill him, Harry," Daphne murmured softly.
A/N: Hey, thanks for reading! If you are interested in reading more or supporting me, check out at p atreon .com(slash) ashox