The Survivors

Chapter 20

Chapter 20

"I like the dark silver. It really makes your eyes pop." Susan said, smiling at the girl.

Daphne looked herself over in the mirror, frowning, and placing her small hand on the green pendant that Harry had gifted her the night before, "It does go with Harry's gift. Seems proper to wear it. I suppose it was no coincidence that this gift was not only a nice birthday gift, but a courting offer as well."

"You were lucky on that end. As you know usually Harry would've had to give a fairly nice gift to your head of house, but since technically that is you he was able to excuse an extravagant gift." The red head offered with a smirk.

Shaking her head the blonde began changing back into her original outfit content with the silver dress she and her friend had agreed upon. Susan and Daphne had made a whole morning of it, grabbing a late greasy breakfast to recover from their night of debauchery the night before, and then going in search of a new dress for her date with Harry that evening.

As the two young women were walking out Daphne finally posed her concern, "You're sure this is okay right?"

Susan rolled her eyes, "Daphne I've told you at least twice this morning it is okay. I told you the first night we met that there was nothing there between Harry and I anymore. Also Tracey holds him at least partially responsible for what happened to her, so I don't think that is ever going to turn into anything, while the other girls in our group are thrilled. I think they are hoping the two of you hit it off, and run with it. I count myself among those. Heaven knows Harry needs to start to settle down a little. He can't be jumping through windows going after bad guys forever."

This made Daphne frown, "Can't be much of that now that Tiberius Nott is in prison?"

Sighing at this the young Hufflepuff flipped her hair, "He doesn't think it's over. Nott said he was the first of many, and while personally I think he was blowing smoke Harry is taking it very seriously. He begs Kingsley at least once a day to move the Quidditch Cup to a different site, but our Minister isn't budging on it."

Daphne could understand the Minister's reluctance. England was still in the hunt, and no team had ever been given home field advantage during a World Cup before. The team led by Oliver Wood and Gwenog Jones could certainly be the first as they decimated their way through the bracket. The boost to the English economy and public morale couldn't be understated or dismissed out of hand. After all, it was early July, and tourists were already scouting where they would be staying during the most popular sporting event of the year. Magical England hadn't seen a boom like this since the Triwizard Tournament, and that disaster was nearly ten years ago.

"Harry survived the war against all odds by a fair amount of instinct. If he says it isn't over then I am inclined to believe him. We thought it was over last time, and look what happened. As much as I want this all to be over so our country can move on from this madness, we have to trust the man we chose to lead us through the ashes of the last war." Daphne said wisely.

Susan looked pained by her answer, "It has to be over at some point. It can't go on forever. I trust Harry with my life, but I want to believe this is just him being overly paranoid. We have beaten every enemy they have thrown at us, but at some point it has to end. Regardless, we can't stop living because an insurgency is still threatening our world. The days of us cowering in our homes are over. This is one of the few things I disagree with Harry on because the show must go on."

One of the things Daphne had liked about Susan was how passionate she was about her work, the politics she believed in, and of course her friendships. She had a point too. Whoever is running the show now in the Pureblood ranks can't be a powerhouse or they would've put a face to the resistance like Voldemort was. These people have to fight in the shadows because now the tables have turned, and it was Harry they were afraid of. That was an advantage they would have to continue to push to allow as much normality remain in the country as possible. Daphne sighed it wasn't the first time she wondered if this date was such a good idea, but knew she wouldn't back out until she at least gave the young man a chance.