Black coffee, with sugar

Chapter 22

Daphne knew when the Potter family had entered the station because it was as if the conversation was frozen still, leaving space for whispers instead. She looked at Lilian, who seemed to be more interested in feeding Salem little bits of cat food, and didn't exactly bother to raise her head.

Daphne, however, couldn't be so blasé about the subject, and turned her head to see what was going on, looking just in time to see Harry himself pop from the entrance, side by side with Ginevra. She felt a bit jealous, but she had made her decision a long time ago.

Did a small, dark corner of Daphne wish it was her, instead, on Harry's arm, taking a bunch of children to the station so they could go to Hogwarts? Absolutely, but wasn't that the wish of literally any other woman roughly her age? She was sure Tracey had nurtured a crush on Harry Potter for two or three years, and had heard the exact same fantasy enough times to make her hate it.

Still, that wasn't her, but Ginevra, by her side, and her child was only Lilian. Daphne bit back a sigh, but kept watching as Harry seemed to talk with his oldest, while Ginevra wrangled a boy with dark hair and a little redhead girl. That should be Albus Severus and Lily Luna.

Albus was an awful name for a kid, she noted. It was a name filled with both the impression one was already born old and with the weight of the world on their back, but this was Harry Potter's child - in a way, he was, wasn't he. Poor kid.

"Molly!", chirped Lilian, breaking Daphne out of her reverie, noticing the Weasley girl approaching quickly, the two girls throwing themselves into a hug. Molly's father, if his sour face was any indication, wasn't particularly happy with this development, nearing them with almost carefully measured steps - almost as if he had a measuring tape glued to the side of his shoes. If what she remembered from Harry, Percy was the model example of a boring Ministry worker bee.

This was going to be terrible, Daphne knew.

"Hello, Mrs. Greengrass!", said Molly, as chipper as one could be, and she nodded to the girl, holding hands with Lilian, the two of them exchanging mischievous smiles. Oh, now that would be interesting. "Me and Lily will be going now, we really want a good cabin. Right?"

"Right!", Lilian chirped back, and Daphne smiled. Ah, to be young and want to go to school. Hogwarts was a safe haven from her parents to Daphne, but she was sure Lilian found it fun for other reasons. Studying, perhaps. Something. She had no idea.

"Have a good year, and Lilian, don't forget to write,", Daphne said, the two girls nodding, Molly mentioning she had found some magazine or another as they grabbed their trunks and disappeared inside the train, Salem meowing lazily as the sudden movement bothered his post-feeding nap.

"Mrs. Greengrass,", offered Percy Weasley, and Daphne knew she would have to speak with him. Merlin save her soul.

"Mr. Weasley.", Daphne looked to him, and yes, maybe Skeeter was telling the truth when she had said he hadn't aged well. How old was he supposed to be, again? Fifty? "How are you?"

"I'm fine, thank you for asking.", his voice was harsh, almost as if he didn't want to chat. She could work with that, really.

Daphne looked in the direction she had last seen Harry, and found it was his time to wrangle children as Ginevra spoke, almost softly, to James. She turned her eyes away, looking around, and wondering if maybe she couldn't step away and go work already, but she knew she couldn't - what if Lilian tried to find her before the train departed and wasn't able to? -, and as such, she stayed.

Well, if she did give a discrete step behind so she wasn't shoulder to shoulder with Percy Weasley, no one could exactly blame her. She still had some principles.

Daphne heard the sound of whispering grow in volume, drowned by the train's loud whistle and thickening smoke, and looked once more into Harry's general direction. He was waving at James, a smile playing on his face as he tangled his arm with Ginevra, seemingly in puppy love with her. Merlin, she wished she was wearing Ginevra's shoes. If only she hadn't been insecure and panicking, perhaps...

The train left the station, and Daphne left her thoughts behind, watching as it went north, into Hogwarts. As soon as it had left, though, she made almost a run for the entrance, trying to get out of station 9 ¾ before everyone else had the same idea and created a bottleneck. Her plan was frustrated halfway through, however, when she felt a hand on her upper arm. Daphne looked back, finding Harry holding her lightly, and bit back a smile, aware that, if she reacted and anyone noticed, there'd be gossip abound. Daphne didn't need any more gossip, thank you very much.

"Is there something wrong?", she asked, doing her very best to seem as if she didn't care, pulling him to a corner where there wasn't too much movement, on the sidelines. Other parents seemed to not care about them as long as they weren't blocking traffic, so that was good for them.

"No, not really.", Harry stopped, passing a hand through his hair. "Just felt bad I couldn't see Lilian off, it's all."

"You're not her father, must I remind you of that?", she hissed, eyes darting to the crowd. They seemed as if they hadn't heard it, but who knew. Daphne sighed, looking at him. "Not officially, at least... She does consider you a father, but..."

Merlin, why was her life so complicated? What had Daphne done to deserve this?

"I know, I know, but still. I was going to, but Percy was there, and I wasn't feeling like explaining myself or listening to regulations,", Harry chuckled to himself, and Daphne could perfectly imagine Percy Weasley boring her to death. She had been right to believe he was a boring Ministry worker, then. He looked in her eyes, and Daphne stared back, grey against green. "Are you alright?"

"Yes. Don't worry about me, and go back to your wife. She must be worried her husband is missing,", Daphne said, letting go of his touch. Harry grimaced a bit, but nodded - and Daphne didn't wait for him to speak before almost throwing herself in the crowd, doing her very best to not look back to Harry.