Heartbreak and Hope

The new Slytherin Proxy Lady Sunny Greengrass, temporarily the most interesting person in the wizarding world, arrived home after many hours of snacking on finger food, pretending to drink, and fielding questions.

She immediately felt something wrong.

From the sitting room, came the sound of sniffling and sobbing.

She walked in.

"Dear?"

The sight of her daughter, Daphne, curled up in a ball on one of the couches, gently rocking herself, tears streaming down her face, wrenched at her heart and shredded all thoughts of work.

Daphne looked up, and hiccupped. "I don't want to," she said, her voice barely reaching across the room.

Oh dear. She closed her eyes. The regular after-Wizengamot meeting with Lord Slughorn had obviously not gone well.

"I don't want to," the girl repeated, a little louder this time.

She walked across the room, sat down next to Daphne, and wrapped her up in her arms, holding her close, stroking her hair. She didn't say anything. She couldn't think of anything to say.

"He's horrible!" her daughter suddenly burst out. "I don't want to, I don't want to, I don't, I don't," she cried, clutching at her robes, and soaking them with tears.

Lady Sunny's heart broke. She felt so helpless. If nothing changed soon, the signing would happen in the next few weeks, and her daughter's match would be sealed. She couldn't bear to see her Daphne's spirit slowly crushed like this. It was too painful.

Screw it. She knew she could get in a lot of trouble for doing this, but she didn't care anymore.

"Dear," she started, softly, continuing to stroke the hair of the little blond in her arms, "I really don't want to get your hopes up, but I think I should tell you that we have spoken with another about your betrothal."

Daphne sniffed. "Who?"

"Harry."

The girl stilled in her arms, and stayed that way for a long time.

Finally, Daphne spoke. Her words were barely audible. "And what did he say?"

"He said he'd consider it."

More silence.

Suddenly, the little girl moved, and before she could register what was happening, Daphne was up and running for the door, almost tripping over her robes in her haste.

Lady Sunny watched her daughter disappear from sight, hoping something good was going to happen, and praying she hadn't just made a huge mistake.

...

Daphne ran through the halls of Greengrass manor. She needed to find Harry. She needed to.

Eventually, she opened a door to an unused room and found him, sitting at a desk, reading something. Her throat constricted, but she choked out, "Harry."

"Miss Gree—" Harry looked up, and stopped, clearly startled. "Daphne? What's wrong? You look terrible."

She ran at him and threw her arms around him, clinging to him.

"Please," she said, desperation weighing every syllable, "Please don't leave me to that man. He's horrible! I told him about wanting to explore the world, and he laughed at me! He said that wasn't what witches should do. He said when I was married to him, I was going to stay at home, host his parties, and raise his children, and that was all I was for. Then I got angry, and did some accidental magic that turned his skin blue, and he slapped me! He said that I would learn to be obedient, or he'd never even let me step out of the house."

She looked up into his face. It was hard, and he wasn't smiling.

"Please Harry," she repeated, "I don't want to be a prisoner for the rest of my life."

Something flickered in his eyes, and she thought she saw his face soften a little.

Eventually, after what seemed an eternity, he spoke. "Daphne… living by my side would be very dangerous."

"I don't care!" She gripped him harder.

"You know you wouldn't be the only witch in my life."

"I don't care!" she repeated, "I trust you. I'll do anything you want, just don't let him have me… please…"

They sat in silence for a moment more before Harry extracted himself from her, and walked to the door. He paused.

"Excuse me for a moment. I'll be back soon."

.....

Want to read ahead. Then You can dive right in!

Head over to my P*atreon right now and enjoy a combo of more than 60 advanced chapters from my two novels.

FREE members can access up to 2 chapters for FREE.

Join now!

Link:

p*atreon.com/Divine_Quill (Remove the *)