May 10th: Gains and Losses
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hp_may_madnessTitle: May 10th: Gains and Losses
Characters or Pairing: Astoria, Daphne/Harry
Word Count: 956
Rating: PG
Challenge: None today
Author's Notes: Since none of today's prompts really spoke to me, I used this day to advance the plot in a pretty substantial way. Nothing sexual here. Some angst, but I promise we'll get back to fun soon!
Astoria eyed the various dishes spread out on Harry and Daphne's kitchen worktop. Everything looked so delicious, but she knew it would be rude to start piling anything onto her plate until Daphne got back from her routine Healer check-up.
It was a Friday night so both Potters had the next day off, and she didn't have anything to do on Saturday until a late afternoon meeting with Tracey and the editor to put the finishing touches on the Puddlemere United story, so the threesome was taking advantage of the opportunity to spend an entire night together. Harry had gone all out to prepare a special dinner. Astoria arrived early and offered to help, but it was really just a formality since they both knew she'd probably just get in the way. After he'd politely declined her offer, she relaxed in the sitting room and watched their television. Harry was done now, but they were standing around in the kitchen and waiting for Daphne to return.
"You can start eating if you want," Harry offered. She could tell he'd been watching her and was amused by the longing glances she'd been directing at the food. It was tempting, but...
"Daphne would spend the rest of the night mocking me," she said, reluctantly turning away from the feast. "And I was planning on spending the night mocking her for having to take a Sleeping Draught because she ate too much cake, so I'd rather not give her anything to fight back with."
"As you wish," he said cheekily, smirking at her.
"You know, if you keep using that to tease me it's going to lose a lot of its charm when you try to make it romantic," she warned him. He laughed and shook his head at her.
"We'll see about that."
"Hmm," Astoria murmured. She wondered if they'd have a chance to find out tonight.
"Welcome home, Daph," Harry said, breaking Astoria out of her daydreaming. At last, she could eat!
She looked towards the back door, ready to greet Daphne with a joke about holding up dinner, but it died in her throat when she got a good look at her. Her older sister looked absolutely shell-shocked as she walked into her home. The last time Astoria could remember seeing her big sister looking so nervous was during her fifth year at Hogwarts (Daphne's seventh year, the year of the war), when Daphne had risked everything to discretely try and help the younger students however she could without the Death Eaters running the school or the kids of Death Eater families noticing.
Harry noticed too, and hurried over to her. "Daph? Is something wrong?"
"No," she said, shaking her head. "I'm fine, I promise." Astoria could hear Harry's exhale, and felt just as relieved herself. Something important had obviously happened, but at least Daphne hadn't gotten any bad news.
"Thank God," Harry said, hugging her to him. "You had me scared to death."
"Me too," Astoria said as she lingered on the other side of the kitchen. Daphne seemed to just now realize she was there, and gave her a faint smile. She looked at Astoria for only a moment before returning her attention to Harry, who still held her in his arms.
"Harry..." Daphne started, only to stop and frown while biting her lip. Astoria knew her sister well enough to see that she was trying to figure something out, so in this case she was probably trying to decide how to say whatever it was she needed to say.
"Go ahead and spit it out, sis," she encouraged. "I think I can speak for me and Harry both when I say that whatever it is, it can't be as bad as what we were thinking when you first walked in."
"She's right," Harry agreed, pulling back to squeeze his wife's hands. "Just lay it on me, Daph."
Daphne nodded, taking their encouragement to heart. She moved her and Harry's interlocked hands down so they rested against her belly. Astoria couldn't attest to whether or not Harry had already figured out what this meant since his back was to her, but she could feel her own face freeze as she watched on from the background.
"I'm pregnant," Daphne whispered, but it was still easily audible for Astoria in the otherwise silent house.
"Are you...really....you're sure?" Harry stammered, his voice cracking with emotion. Daphne nodded, tears in her eyes and a beaming smile on her face, and Harry hugged her tight.
When Astoria would think back on this night later, everything that happened after this point was nothing but a blur. She had a vague memory of hugging and congratulating them both, and Harry and Daphne assured her that she stayed for the entire dinner and even dessert. But she'd bowed out on the post-meal celebration to give them the night to themselves, despite both of them trying to convince her that they wanted her to stay (and it wasn't just lip service. They really did want her to stay and celebrate with them all night, and probably well into the next morning too.) She knew all of these things happened because Harry and Daphne told her they did, and years later she even used a pensieve to watch her sister's memory of the night just to confirm everything really happened as they said.
They weren't wrong. She really had stayed for it all. But she could be forgiven for forgetting many of the details of that night. While she knew she was supposed to be happy for them both, in that moment she couldn't help but feel like she'd just lost the best thing she'd ever had or ever would have in her life.
Characters or Pairing: Astoria, Daphne/Harry
Word Count: 956
Rating: PG
Challenge: None today
Author's Notes: Since none of today's prompts really spoke to me, I used this day to advance the plot in a pretty substantial way. Nothing sexual here. Some angst, but I promise we'll get back to fun soon!
Astoria eyed the various dishes spread out on Harry and Daphne's kitchen worktop. Everything looked so delicious, but she knew it would be rude to start piling anything onto her plate until Daphne got back from her routine Healer check-up.
It was a Friday night so both Potters had the next day off, and she didn't have anything to do on Saturday until a late afternoon meeting with Tracey and the editor to put the finishing touches on the Puddlemere United story, so the threesome was taking advantage of the opportunity to spend an entire night together. Harry had gone all out to prepare a special dinner. Astoria arrived early and offered to help, but it was really just a formality since they both knew she'd probably just get in the way. After he'd politely declined her offer, she relaxed in the sitting room and watched their television. Harry was done now, but they were standing around in the kitchen and waiting for Daphne to return.
"You can start eating if you want," Harry offered. She could tell he'd been watching her and was amused by the longing glances she'd been directing at the food. It was tempting, but...
"Daphne would spend the rest of the night mocking me," she said, reluctantly turning away from the feast. "And I was planning on spending the night mocking her for having to take a Sleeping Draught because she ate too much cake, so I'd rather not give her anything to fight back with."
"As you wish," he said cheekily, smirking at her.
"You know, if you keep using that to tease me it's going to lose a lot of its charm when you try to make it romantic," she warned him. He laughed and shook his head at her.
"We'll see about that."
"Hmm," Astoria murmured. She wondered if they'd have a chance to find out tonight.
"Welcome home, Daph," Harry said, breaking Astoria out of her daydreaming. At last, she could eat!
She looked towards the back door, ready to greet Daphne with a joke about holding up dinner, but it died in her throat when she got a good look at her. Her older sister looked absolutely shell-shocked as she walked into her home. The last time Astoria could remember seeing her big sister looking so nervous was during her fifth year at Hogwarts (Daphne's seventh year, the year of the war), when Daphne had risked everything to discretely try and help the younger students however she could without the Death Eaters running the school or the kids of Death Eater families noticing.
Harry noticed too, and hurried over to her. "Daph? Is something wrong?"
"No," she said, shaking her head. "I'm fine, I promise." Astoria could hear Harry's exhale, and felt just as relieved herself. Something important had obviously happened, but at least Daphne hadn't gotten any bad news.
"Thank God," Harry said, hugging her to him. "You had me scared to death."
"Me too," Astoria said as she lingered on the other side of the kitchen. Daphne seemed to just now realize she was there, and gave her a faint smile. She looked at Astoria for only a moment before returning her attention to Harry, who still held her in his arms.
"Harry..." Daphne started, only to stop and frown while biting her lip. Astoria knew her sister well enough to see that she was trying to figure something out, so in this case she was probably trying to decide how to say whatever it was she needed to say.
"Go ahead and spit it out, sis," she encouraged. "I think I can speak for me and Harry both when I say that whatever it is, it can't be as bad as what we were thinking when you first walked in."
"She's right," Harry agreed, pulling back to squeeze his wife's hands. "Just lay it on me, Daph."
Daphne nodded, taking their encouragement to heart. She moved her and Harry's interlocked hands down so they rested against her belly. Astoria couldn't attest to whether or not Harry had already figured out what this meant since his back was to her, but she could feel her own face freeze as she watched on from the background.
"I'm pregnant," Daphne whispered, but it was still easily audible for Astoria in the otherwise silent house.
"Are you...really....you're sure?" Harry stammered, his voice cracking with emotion. Daphne nodded, tears in her eyes and a beaming smile on her face, and Harry hugged her tight.
When Astoria would think back on this night later, everything that happened after this point was nothing but a blur. She had a vague memory of hugging and congratulating them both, and Harry and Daphne assured her that she stayed for the entire dinner and even dessert. But she'd bowed out on the post-meal celebration to give them the night to themselves, despite both of them trying to convince her that they wanted her to stay (and it wasn't just lip service. They really did want her to stay and celebrate with them all night, and probably well into the next morning too.) She knew all of these things happened because Harry and Daphne told her they did, and years later she even used a pensieve to watch her sister's memory of the night just to confirm everything really happened as they said.
They weren't wrong. She really had stayed for it all. But she could be forgiven for forgetting many of the details of that night. While she knew she was supposed to be happy for them both, in that moment she couldn't help but feel like she'd just lost the best thing she'd ever had or ever would have in her life.