The Survivors

Chapter 23

Chapter 23

The remainder of the evening following the confrontation between Lady Bulstrode, and Daphne haunted the corners of her mind. Her former master instructor had never visited her in the middle of the night like that before, and to do so in her formal Wizengamot robes seemed to be sending a message she couldn't quite decipher. She wanted to go to her friends about the threat, but realized Gretchen Bulstrode had nothing, and was nothing these days. The alliances she had grown up with had all but dissolved, and she lost her heiress in the war. She was likely clinging onto any vestige of power she could, and while Daphne may have lost some respect for the woman she couldn't bring herself to take it up the ladder to her friends.

When she went to her flat that morning she let out a huge sigh. She had been working herself to death practically for months now, and the time to reap the rewards of her hard work was now. As Daphne strolled into her bedroom she came to an abrupt halt as her eyes took in the scene before her. Two vases of a dozen roses mixed with lilies, and less common florals, one on each side of her bed were waiting for her with a note sticking out. It took her several moments to comprehend how this happened as she slowly reached out for the note that read:

Looking forward to our time together.

HP

Daphne felt her heart leap a little at the gift from her boyfriend. He had never brought her flowers before, and figured it just wasn't his thing, and she hadn't really thought much of it. This however was a very nice gesture, and the smile overtook her face as she lifted one of the vases towards her face to take a nice whiff of the beautiful floral arrangement.

All negative thoughts of Gretchen Bulstrode, work, and political pressures left her mind as she laid down onto her bed exhausted from the night before. Harry had been sweet to her since they met, and if this was any indication of what their romantic life may be like she had a feeling she could be a very happy young woman with the adventurous man at her side. As she closed her eyes she took a happy stress relieving breath, and let her mind wander to the possibilities of the coming week.

Her evening started with a loud thud. Daphne's eyes shot open as she felt a static pressure in the air around her. A loud gong-like sound reverberated through her apartment, and in a panic she summoned her wand to her, and stood out of her bed quickly. She shot forward to take cover behind the wall of her bedroom, and peaked her head across the threshway looking into the dark living room. Her stomach twisted realizing she had slept through the entirety of the day into the early evening. The light outside her living room window indicated it was beyond sunset, and her gut clenched at the realization that her wards were being attacked. This should have been impossible. She lived in the muggle suburbs, and this meant all the muggles around would be witnessing the assault on her home. The aurors would surely be coming in seconds, as would Harry who should've been notified his wards had been attacked.

She waited several moments to hear any signs of arrival, and her fear spiked when she realized no help was coming. It was very possible the object used to bypass the wards at Saint Mungos, and Seamus' home was being used at this moment, and she would have no means of escape.

Seeing nothing in the living room she took a chance and took a run for the fireplace. A jet of light flashed towards her that was purple and sickly in nature, and she screamed as she dove for the fireplace and dropped a ton of floo into her network, screaming out the address to the Potter home she disappeared in a massive flash of green fire.

Stumbling out of the floo network at Potter Manor was a trip. Her landing was straight to her knees as she plummeted forward, and groaned in pain. The trick to smooth floo travel was the right amount of floo powder, and with the panic she was in on the way out she grabbed an excessive amount causing this swell of dizziness. An elf appeared at her side immediately, "Lady Daphne, issy you okay?"