Daphne
The next morning, he was at the ministry, he groaned at his bad luck. His magical guardian until his fifth year had been Sirius, after that Dumbledore had taken guardianship only to hand it over to Molly Weasley a year later, thankfully he had become an adult before Molly could have acted upon her role as guardian. Now all she could do was give him advice.
Chucking the copy into the bin he made his way up to Kingsley's office.
"Harry, good to see you. I have actually been meaning to talk to you. Why don't you go first?"
"I'm actually here to see if you can reduce Narcissa's sentence."
Kingsley raised an eyebrow.
"She's nearly served three years of her five-year sentence. I wouldn't be alive if it wasn't for her. We all might have been living in a very different world right now if it wasn't for her."
Kingsley nodded, he'd had this conversation with Harry shortly after the battle, that's why she was only given five years. Which only made the news he'd just received that much harder to deliver.
"Harry, I just heard that Narcissa Malfoy committed suicide yesterday morning. In fact, the Aurors have just gone to tell her son the same."
Harry blinked several times as he assimilated the news. There really wasn't much he could say. "What did you want to talk about?"
"I actually wanted to talk about Ms. Granger, she has applied for a few positions here at the ministry and I just wanted your point of view…"
"What's there to say? I imagine you conduct interviews, if she passes, she gets the job, if not she doesn't."
Kingsley squirmed in his chair looking uncomfortable "the thing is, ever since the war we've made a few exceptions. Like Mr. Weasley joining the Auror corps even though his grades didn't meet the requirements…"
"Grangers always had good grades if that's what you are asking…"
"No, in her case she's applying for jobs that she normally wouldn't get unless she'd been working for a few years in the department."
Harry shrugged "look if you are asking me if I'd ever vote for her to become minister, the answers no. She's smart but she's too closed minded to even consider another person's opinion. Give a person like that power and you'll have another Dumbledore on your hands. She's really good at research though…"
"Having another Dumbledore actually sounds good…"
Harry scoffed "yes so much good that did us. He used an eleven-year-old as a ruse to secretly attract a dark lord, he then created a secret group that spent their time guarding a hallway only to leave the future of the wizarding world in the hands of three teens and hoped that one of them would sacrifice himself for the greater good. You order members could have started working on finding Horcruxes, hell he could have contacted Madam Bones during my first year and started working on a plan that didn't involve me. I've had a long time to think about this, Dumbledore said that Voldemort was fixated on the prophecy when in reality it was him! He was the one trying to make the prophecy come true and all because he kept everything secret because he knew best and nobody's opinion mattered. I respect the man but I respect Snape now too, doesn't mean I have to like them."
"That was a lot you got off your chest." Kingsley said looking pensieve "and I'm embarrassed to say that you are right and maybe I need to do some thinking of my own… oh by the way, are you planning on breaking up any more weddings any time soon?"
He held up the daily prophet that had a photo of Neville crashing into the bloody duo as he whisked them away.
Harry ducked his head making Kingsley laugh louder, he hadn't subscribed to any paper. Life was better without the Daily Prophet. Leaving the ministry, he made his way back home.
"You's is having visitor. Master needing to buy furniture, Tinkle is being embarrassed of showing peoples her home."
Harry laughed and apologized to the elf promising to buy furniture soon. He followed her into the kitchen, Daphne was seated on a stool on the kitchen island furiously writing away.
"Hey…" she lifted a finger indicating for him to stop without looking up. He pulled a stool out and took a seat, mouthing thanks to Tinkle for the iced tea.
Half an hour later Daphne looked up from the papers. "Sorry about that, when I was waiting for you, I thought I'd catch up on some work."
"No issues" Harry replied, in all honesty he'd enjoyed the view. For the first time in his life he'd actually managed to not just look but appreciate the female form.
"Well, I know this is a bit last minute and a little awkward but will you have dinner with me tonight? I'd like you to meet somebody, you'd be doing me a huge favour. Of course, if she likes you then I'd end up asking for an even bigger favour but… you seem like a nice guy okay! I feel like I can trust you and right now I don't have too many friends around…"
Was Daphne trying to set him up with someone? But why would she do that? Didn't she like him? That actually bruised his ego a little bit and he realized that he'd started crushing on her. "Erm, yeah sure. Where should we meet?"
"McDonald's the one near my place if that's okay?"
"Okay!"
Harry hadn't pinned Daphne as a girl who enjoyed fast food. So, he was surprised to find her sitting on a table waiting for him, he'd secretly been hoping that she was messing around with him. She stood out like a sore thumb in her designer clothes in the middle of the restaurant.
They ordered two menus and a happy meal and sat back down on the table. "Again, I'm sorry about asking for such an awkward favour you can say no if you want to, but you are the only one I know who won't take away any of my control!"
"Where's your friend?"
"She's not my friend…" Daphne replied distractedly as she waved at someone "she's, my daughter!"
Harry was glad he wasn't eating or drinking anything, else he was sure he'd have choked on it. Especially when a little girl of around five with big brown eyes and curly blonde hair showed up.
"Darling won't you say hello to mommy's friend?"
"Hi." She said shyly "what's your name?"
Harry smiled warmly "my name's Harry. What's your name?"
"My new name is Ellie!"
"That's a beautiful name for a beautiful girl."
"You're a natural!" Daphne said with a laugh as she helped the girl on the bench. They talked about Ellie's favourite colours and animals as they ate their meal. Once done, Ellie ran off to play in the kids' area again.
"You are wondering how I have a kid when Draco told you that I was barren. Well, I am barren, during our seventh year one of the Alecto twins hit me with a spell which destroyed my womb."
"I'm sorry." Harry whispered.
"Don't be, that's life. But I always knew that I wanted children so I decided to adopt. I know I'm very young, in fact, I'm still studying but there are so many orphans from the war in need of a loving home that I decided to go ahead and do it. Ellie is a half-blood who was forced to live with her maternal grandparents who are devout Catholics and thought that she was the spawn of the devil. She thought evil was her name…"
Harry hadn't realized that he'd crushed his foam glass, he only noticed it when the cold drink spilled out onto his hand.
"Look, she's a really good girl but like I said I'm still studying. There are some days that I need someone to look after her while I'm out. I could ask my parents and they'd do anything for me but they won't love her, I don't want her to be in a hostile environment. Tracey has moved to Italy with Blaise, Neville's great but I don't want Augusta mothering my child… she usually goes to school and daycare after that but some days I have to stay late and the daycare closes at 8. Would you do me the enormous favour of looking after her on the days that I'm late? I promise it won't happen often and I'll always inform you beforehand so you can tell me if it's going to be a problem…"
"Breath Daphne! You are going to pass out, I'd love to look after Ellie any time."
"I'll do anything you need in return… oh, wait did you just agree?"
"Anything?" Harry asked, wiggling his eyebrows.
Daphne blushed and threw a chip at him.
"Is Harry coming home with us?"
"No honey, we are going to drop Harry off at his house."
Harry followed the duo to a car. "You can drive?"
"Of course, can't you?"
Harry blushed and mumbled something as Daphne strapped Ellie into her car seat. He didn't really need to be dropped, he could apparate back home but he didn't feel like ending their 'date' so soon.
It didn't take long for Ellie to fall asleep. "So, what are you studying?" Harry asked.
"Medicine."
"Oh, you want to be a healer?"
"No, well yeah. I'm actually already a certified healer. I helped Madam Pomfrey during our seventh year, I then sat for my NEWTs at the ministry and didn't go back when everyone else did. Instead, I started taking classes at medical school during the day and practicing at St. Mungos at night. Once I get my medical degree, I'll be a doctor and a healer."
Harry let out a slow whistle "that's amazing but isn't medical school really long? I mean with Ellie around…"
"I have near eidetic memory and I understand concepts really easily so I don't need to spend much time studying. I managed to finish all my theoretical work during our first year. Now I'm a resident at the local hospital, that's why the long hours sometimes…"
"That's beyond amazing, I didn't know you were allowed to just sit for every exam in your first year."
Daphne laughed nervously "you aren't but a little Confundus doesn't harm anybody…"
Harry laughed "beautiful, smart, caring and accomplished! You are a package deal!"
Silence ensued as Harry pondered over what she'd said.
"What are you thinking about? You've been awfully quiet…"
"I was just wondering if maybe I could adopt a child as well. I mean I know what it feels like…"
"I read the paper…" she replied softly "but I'm sorry, the laws are antiquated and don't allow single wizards to adopt. In fact, most single witches won't either because they will mostly be considered unmarriageable and the married couples, well, the concept of blood is so deep rooted that most will consider their inability to sire or bear a child an insult. We really need some young blood in the Wizengamot."
"Thank you." Harry said out of the blue "for doing what you are doing, the world doesn't need another Harry Potter or Tom Riddle."
Daphne reached out and squeezed his hand not asking for any explanations. He didn't let go of her for the rest of the drive.
Ten days later Harry was in Paris. Gringotts now required all their customers to use blood to access their vault, it would stop anybody from using Polyjuice potion. Anyone but Harry, he'd followed his target, an old but affluent lady to her house. She was found unconscious in her home later that evening by a friend.
Three days later Harry walked into Gringotts' London branch.
"What can I do for you Mr. Potter?"
Harry placed twenty engraved objects on the table. "I would return these to the owner before she figures out that they are gone."
The goblins eyes looked like they were about to pop out of his head "when did you steal these?"
"Three days ago."
"And you are coming three days later? If word got out…"
"You said I had to steal, you never said how fast I had to come to you."
The goblin growled but refrained from further comments "How did you do it?"
"Polyjuice."
"Impossible! We have now placed…"
"Blood verification I know! It was simple really. I took a little syringe and drew out a bit of blood from her arm, injected that into this plastic sachet, stuck this to my palm and covered it with make-up. I then went to the vault, sliced the sachet on my palm and smeared it on the ward."
"Muggle contraptions!" The goblin growled "five thousand galleons have been deposited in your account, now if you'll excuse me, I must return these personally."
Harry had been three days late because he'd spent the past three days with Ellie. Daphne had a double shift at the hospital after which she had to go to St Mungos, she had come to pick up Ellie but being awake for 48 hours straight had left her dead on her feet. She'd ended up sleeping in Ellie's brand-new princess room at Harry's house. The only room in the house with furniture, which Ellie had picked out herself.
Leaving Gringotts, Harry made his way to Daphne's apartment.
She answered the door in a pair of silk shorts and a strappy top "Harry?"
"Morning, I thought I'd bring breakfast." He followed her into the living room.
"Harry!" Ellie squealed in delight, jumping out of her bed and rushing out.
"What are you two still doing in bed?"
"Just lying in a bit." Daphne replied, stifling a yawn.
"Well, I'm here to ask for a favour, you did say you'd do anything…" Daphne looked a little alarmed but nodded wearily "I was hoping you two could help me pick out furniture. I'm pants at deciding colour combinations and patterns."
"Not two silly three!" Ellie exclaimed, bouncing on the balls of her feet.
Harry turned to look at Daphne and once again noticed her nightwear, his stomach fell and he was pretty sure that the colour from his face drained especially when Ellie called out for Brian.
He barely registered Daphne's words as he focused on his breathing. He was going to apologize and leave when he found a young sleepy boy wrapped in Daphne's arms.
The boy had black messy hair with light blue eyes and was currently sucking his thumb.
"Harry! Are you alright? You look very pale, sit! Ellie, honey, bring one of your juice packets please." She placed the boy on the couch and went to check on Harry.
"I'm fine really. I just need to eat something…" he said suddenly feeling extremely stupid.
Ellie brought three apple juice packets while Daphne poured a cup of coffee for herself. Brian was once again clinging onto Daphne…
"Brian, Harry doesn't bite! See?" Ellie said happily as she squished herself next to him.
"Harry, Mrs. Lewis gifted us Brian yesterday! He is my baby brother and we will all go shopping today!"
"Come on honey, you've finished your sandwich. Why don't you go get dressed!"
Ellie happily skipped away singing a song.
"Isn't Mrs. Lewis the squib at Ellie's daycare?"
"She is, that's why she brought Brian here. He was staying at an orphanage, he had his first bout of accidental magic, it caused one of the kids to split his head open which didn't sit well with the other members of the orphanage so they were going to send him away to a centre for mentally disturbed children."
"Let me change quickly, he doesn't have another outfit so I'll buy him something. Can we stop by the ministry first though, I really want to get the paperwork done…"
"Sure."
Daphne went to change with Brian still clinging onto her.
Ellie had kept everyone entertained with her endless talking. Brian had finally warmed up to Harry when Harry bought him a pair of trainers that squeaked and lit up as he walked. By the time they were done with their shopping spree the children were fast asleep in their car seats.
"You know, at this rate you'll have to end up getting a bigger house."
"Hmm, I was thinking of looking at a few houses. I always enjoyed our grounds when I was little, especially when Belle was there."
"Belle?"
"Oh right, sorry, Belle was my spaniel. A white spaniel, she was such a lovely dog. Every kid should have a dog."
"Hmm, you know now that you are considering moving, you could adopt ten more and there'd still be place. I have nineteen spare rooms; I could always add more!"
Daphne swerved but managed to get the car back under control. "Were you always this sassy?"
Harry laughed "no, not really. I just woke up one day and I don't know, everything was different…"
Harry was waiting for Neville to finish getting dressed, Augusta had arranged a cocktail party in honour of her grandson's upcoming wedding.
"What's going on with you? You've been acting weird the last couple of months. Ever since your house-warming."
"It's nothing…"
"Will you just spill it? I'm tired of listening to Draco's conspiracy theories."
Harry sighed "it's Daphne okay, I don't understand what's going on in her mind. She never gives me a clear answer and I don't know…everything is just so blah!" He put a cushion over his face and screamed.
Neville laughed "you have fallen deep my friend."
"What does that even mean?"
"It means that you really like her. Don't you remember our crushes back in school. They constantly kept us on our toes."
Harry frowned "not really, I mean I had a crush on Cho but we barely ever spoke and the rest got real awkward real fast. And Ginny well, the potion worked and within a couple of days I had her. It's different with Daphne, we talk like we really talk and I don't know, it's weird. I mean, it feels like I'm talking to my best friend but at the same time she's so much more…"
"That's called building a connection, have you asked her out on a date?"
"I haven't…"
"Then what are you waiting for? Now come on, enough about you, today's supposed to be about Hannah and me."
Harry stayed away from Hannah, she was a nice girl but, whilst, Neville had grown into a handsome young man who shone with confidence. Hannah looked like a little girl in a woman's body, not only were her features childlike but she still wore her hair in pigtails and she had this constant necessity to talk and giggle without pause. He was always reminded of Ellie in her company, but unlike Ellie her sharp voice grated on his nerves.
He sighed in relief when Draco and Viktor showed up. Soon the party was in full swing and according to Augusta, judging from how many drinks had been consumed, it was a success.
"Draco, Viktor I believe congratulations are in order. Neville was telling me that you'll be moving in together." Augusta greeted them both as she passed by and went to mingle with the older guests.
"Oh right, so I was telling Viktor to keep the apartment. He's moving into the Manor but as we all meet up at least once a week in the city it's a good place to crash!"
"That sounds good! We could split the rent three ways."
"What rent?" Neville asked, joining the conversation.
"The apartment in the city, we are thinking of keeping it as a weekend getaway."
"Yeah, I was actually going to suggest the same. It's really hard to find a decent place in the city."
"Harry, I've hardly seen you all night. What are you four planning and plotting?"
Harry tried not to flinch; Hannah's voice became unbearable when she was tipsy "nothing I was telling Neville that I've found a great apartment in the city for him to move into."
"What do you mean move into? Nev? What is he talking about? No!" She pushed Neville aside and jabbed Harry's chest "so you yourself are living in a mansion and you want Neville to live in an apartment. I won't have it! NEVILLE!" She turned around and swayed "so help me god I will leave you if you think that I will marry you only to move into some crummy apartment!"
"So, you are marrying him for the house?" Harry asked bluntly, getting jabbed in the ribs by Draco.
"Of course, I'm marrying him for the house you fool! I have put up with his bloody grandmother for the past three years. And don't even get me started on the stupid hospital visits where his mother keeps on giving me candy wrappers and I'm supposed to keep on smiling! Like why on earth do we have to spend an hour there every weekend? It's not like they know what's happening. After all that, I deserve to be treated like a queen!" With that she swayed once more and puked on Harry's shoes.
"The wedding's off!" Neville announced and walked out.
Draco ran out after Neville as Viktor helped Hannah into a chair. Harry though was looking at Augusta who was positively glowing.
"Harry!" She called out just as he was about to leave. "He can stay with you for a few days but do write to me and let me know that he is okay."
"How did you do it?"
"Do what? Oh, silly old me I keep on dropping things here and there. I might have accidentally dropped some truth serum in the Margarita mix."
Harry couldn't help but raise a glass and drink to her once before leaving.
Draco and Harry were fixing the furniture in the apartment so Neville could destroy it all again once he was done crying; Viktor was making a famous Bulgarian cure for heartbreaks when Daphne walked in accompanied by a beautiful redhead.
"Augusta told us what happened… We brought a lot of greasy food."
Neville passed out after trying Viktor's remedy much to Viktor's amusement. Everyone else opted to stick to Firewhisky leaving him to drink his own cocktail.
Susan who'd just left an abusive relationship herself was venting to Viktor and Draco.
Daphne stepped out into the balcony to get some fresh air followed by Harry.
"Daphne, will you have dinner with me?" He blurted out.
"What, now?"
"No, as in a date. Will you go out on a date with me?"
She bit her lower lip and looked away. "I can't."
He ran a hand through his hair as frustration built up in his chest "why not? I don't get it. You know I like you; I've made that pretty obvious and sometimes it feels like you like me too…"
"Of course, I like you, what's not to like?"
"Then what is the problem?"
"Me, Harry! I'm the problem. You know I can't bear children; you are the last of your line I'm sure, maybe not today, but someday you'll want to have your own children. And look at my life, if I'm not working, I'm spending my time with the kids, if I'm not doing that then I'm sleeping. It's chaotic!"
He stepped behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. "Why can't your kids be our kids? They can all be Potters or Greengrasses or a mix or they can choose their own names and I'll change mine to match there's. I'll become Harry Potter Donald Duck Minnie Mouse if the need arises."
Daphne couldn't help but giggle but tears ran down her cheeks as the reality of her situation finally sunk in. "You're saying that now, but what if things don't work out?"
"Then they won't work out and we'll try staying friends but what if we give it a shot and things do work out? I mean your parents already hate my guts but the kids love me. We are pretty much the living image of every sitcom out there. And you know I barely have to work three times a year, the rest of the year I can be the stay-at-home dad whilst you do your thing."
"You are already planning our future when we haven't even had our first date yet."
"Well theoretically we've been on quite a few family dates in the past six months, now we simply need to take some time out for ourselves."
She smiled when she felt him kiss the back of her head.
Five years passed and six more children along with four dogs and two elves joined the Potter household.
Initially Cygnus Greengrass had been reluctant to accept Harry and all the children into his family but the little rascals made a place in his heart and he and his wife spoiled their grandchildren rotten. Little did they know that over the next decade five more would join the family.
Harry with Cygnus' help started his own company, they specialized in security checks. His most notable client thus far had been the Queen who'd hired him to rob the Crown Jewels, of course in that case he'd only implemented Muggle methods along with his team. Over the years tech companies would start hiring him to check the security of their premises. He'd eventually branch out his business and help keep the wizarding world hidden even with all the technological advancement that the Muggle world would achieve.
Daphne became a consulting doctor and healer. She'd only go two days a week to the hospital from seven in the morning to one in the afternoon and two days a week were spent at St Mungos during the same hours. Friday's she'd spend experimenting, by combining Muggle and wizarding techniques. Thanks to her efforts St Mungos saw a drastic improvement in their patient turnover at the Janus Thickey ward.
Astoria fell in love with a Muggle scientist, they bonded over her proving to him that not everything could be explained. She didn't have any children, instead, she followed in her sister's footsteps and started adopting animals who she treated like her babies.
Draco and Viktor became the first homosexual gay wizarding couple to openly live their lives. Viktor eventually started his own Quidditch team while Draco took his rightful position in the Wizengamot and fought tooth and nail to overthrow all the old outdated laws.
They too adopted a boy, a girl and a dog; who much to Draco's irritation was named Dragon.
Neville ended up falling in love with Susan who much to Augusta's delight seamlessly took over her duties as lady of the house. Having grown up with her aunt who was a working woman Susan decided to become a stay-at-home mom. They had one son, thanks to Daphne's research she managed to combine Muggle and wizarding medicine, helping Frank and Alice recover by over 70%.
Frank still slurred a little when he talked and his left leg would sometimes spasm but he managed to talk to his family and recognized them. Alice sometimes forgot things and would occasionally have nightmares but she too could talk once again and recognized everyone.
Neville's landscaping company became so big that he started a franchise which soon became a global wizarding household name.
George ended up committing suicide after one of his pranks went horribly wrong leaving his father bed ridden.
Molly worked herself into the ground as she spent the rest of her days hidden in the Burrow growing all their produce at home.
Ginny who'd read Harry's reply in a fit of rage went to Knockturn alley to accept the job. She was hoping that he'd find out and she could use it to hurt him but she never came back.
She was sold off to a clan in Eastern Europe who ran a prostitution ring. When Ron later went to look for, he was paid two galleons and told to sod off.
Hermione left Ron and did get the job that she was looking for and became the head of the department of research and development, however, unbeknownst to her Kingsley had hired her on a probation period. Soon her attitude became problematic with her co-workers and other department heads so she was let go.
Unfortunately, she found out that she was pregnant at around the same time and with nowhere to go she once again found herself at the Burrow. They had five more children, when Ron wasn't busy playing chess or flying around in the orchard, he was spending his time leering at the women in the pub at Knockturn alley where he'd become a regular.
When Hermione wasn't busy cooking, cleaning and looking after Ron and the kids she was busy cooking at the local inn.
Harry stood at the bar and looked around the room, he wondered how different things would have been if he hadn't blacked out that fateful night. He honestly felt like someone had given him a warning which stayed with him even though he couldn't recall the details.
A group of ten children spotted him and rushed towards him all talking simultaneously and trying to hand their present first.
"Grandpa, look I made you a cup!"
"No grampa, mine! I made a dwarwing!"
"I wrote a song!"
Daphne laughed as she joined her husband and placed a peck on his lips. Fifty years later and she could still make him feel all warm and tingly inside. "Come on kids, let's place all the presents on the table and eat cake while grandpa opens each one!"
The children cheered in delight and ran to take their seats next to their parents, older siblings, cousins, aunts and uncles.
Harry stepped behind Daphne and wrapped his arms around her waist. "I wouldn't change a thing" he whispered and kissed the back of her head.