Black coffee, with sugar

Chapter 10

The weekend had passed too quickly, a blur of heat and sweat. Daphne couldn't complain, but the nagging to whine about time was still there as she heard the shower running, freshly bathed and drinking tea in her kitchen. She really wished the wry, satisfied smile that seemed to be stuck on her face went away, though.

Lilian would be coming home soon. With any luck, Astoria wouldn't come to bring her, and she wouldn't find Harry in her kitchen. Astoria would make a scandal and a half, and Daphne really didn't need the neighbors to discover, too.

Well, they probably knew anyway, considering Daphne hadn't been exactly quiet this weekend, and even the most powerful privacy ward could let one or two things escape when they weakened. Maybe she should hide from her neighbors for a few days, just until the coast cleared. Or maybe she should invest some of her time in privacy ward research, if Harry planned on making these visits over the weekend a constant.

Daphne blinked, frowning. Was she a stupid eighteen year old again, to have such thoughts? She had Lilian to take care of, and Lilian wouldn't spend all weekends with Astoria and Draco, which meant she couldn't spend two entire days in bed with Harry, for Merlin's sake. She shook her head, rising up, deciding to make more tea for herself. Maybe something stronger, that would get rid of such thoughts from her mind.

The radio was playing some soft, old song that Daphne was straining to remember the lyrics to while waiting for her tea to steep when Harry appeared, hugging her from behind and kissing Daphne's neck softly, making her laugh.

"Stop with that, Astoria is coming any moment,", she told him, and he laughed against her skin. "Come on, Harry."

"I'd love to,", he hummed, warm breath giving her shivers. Daphne turned, facing him and putting her arms around his neck, looking into his green eyes. He was still the same Harry she knew, but with more lines around his eyes, still the same boy she met in the middle of debris, eyes a millennia old. "What, no jokes allowed?"

"None at all,", she replied, kissing Harry as if it was the last minute they had on Earth. His hands were up her shirt when there was a knock on the door, and Daphne bit back a curse, passing a hand through her dark hair. Harry was still in her house, and Astoria, probably, was outside. What a great night.

With a sigh, she let go of Harry, wishing her sister would stop knocking like a child, and wishing Harry would stop trying to stifle his laughter, because it was not working. Daphne smoothed her shirt and with a deep breath, opened the door, finding Lilian with the biggest grin Daphne had ever seen, and Astoria, with a smile more fit for a cat that had eaten the goddamn canary.

"Mum, mum, you won't believe how nice is the Quidditch set aunt Tori bought for me!", Lilian chirped, and Daphne smiled. "There's even a Snitch! I brought it home, aunt Tori let me!"

"That sounds wonderful, sweetheart. Why don't you go put your bag in your room while I talk with aunt Tori?", Lilian didn't even answer, speeding in, and when Daphne was going to tell Astoria to take that smile off her face, Lilian greeted Harry, and Harry, with a barely stifled laugh, greeted her back. Daphne wondered if the ground couldn't just swallow her whole, because Daphne felt that was what Astoria's growing smile was going to do. Daphne was half-tempted to poke her sister with iron.

"So, uncle Harry, huh?", Astoria started, resting against the doorstep. "I'm happy for you, Daph, I truly am. He always made you smile like you were just now."

"I'm helping him cheat on his wife, Tori,", Daphne hissed, and Astoria shrugged, nonchalant. "Oh, come on. Would you like it if it were Draco and, I don't know, Pansy Parkinson, instead of me and Harry?"

"The difference about your issue and your very much hypothetical case is that Draco is happy with me, and thus, wouldn't cheat. Can you say that Harry is happy with his wife, Daphne?", Astoria pointed out, as if she were the older child. Daphne took a deep breath. "I know it's problematic and all that jazz, really, but Daph, there used to be this shine in his eyes when he was with you, and there isn't anymore. Well, there wasn't. Some pictures of him nowadays show Harry much happier. We both know he can't just divorce Ginevra, but if all he needs to be happy is a few moments with you, then to hell with those morality issues you're having."

Daphne bit her lower lip, and Astoria smiled, much more softly, messing up Daphne's hair.

"I still feel guilty.", Daphne batted Astoria's hand away, playing with the hem of her shirt. "He has a wife. He has three kids . Who am I to intrude like that?"

"I remember hearing you complain once or twice about people visiting your house uninvited, and now I'm going to assume it's him, just so I can bring this conclusion to you: you didn't intrude his life, he intruded yours, silly.", Astoria put her hands on her hips. "I distinctly remember you doing your best to avoid him, to the point of plain ignoring him on the hallways. Besides that, are you happy, Daph? That is the most important thing, because if you aren't, I'm going to barge in and give Harry a piece of my mind."

Daphne laughed, and Astoria giggled. Was she happy, though? Yes, but it was all hidden under guilt. Harry had dealt better with the revelation of Lilian's existence that she thought, and the fact he had accepted their daughter, no questions asked, had made her soar high. The fact he loved her just made her break through the sky, shooting for the moon.

"I am. I think I may be happy, Tori.", Daphne replied, in the end.

"Then stop thinking so much about Ginevra, you big baby.", Astoria sighed. "Honestly, Daph, you overthink things. Carpe diem and other latin spells, lady Greengrass."

" Carpe diem is not a spell, lady Malfoy. You ought to know that.", Astoria waved her off. "It's good to see you, Tori."

"I say the same. Come spend a weekend in Paris with us, Scorp misses you.", Astoria replied. "Well, off with me. My child and husband wait for me, and your kid and not-husband wait for you. Go on."

Before Daphne could reply, Astoria Apparated away, and Daphne, mildly panicking, looked both sides, sighing when she noticed no neighbors were around. She closed the door, and went back to the kitchen, where her daughter showed to Harry the Snitch she had caught.

"So, what about aunt Tori's Quidditch pitch?", Daphne asked, deciding to get started on dinner. Harry, noticing her cue, rose up, and started helping her while Lilian told of all the feints she had made in her search for the Snitch, while Daphne decided she should have killed Astoria as a child and Harry laughed.