Palliation Chapter 5: It's Christmas! (Patreon)

Author's Note: Here you have it my lovely patrons family. Palliation chapter 5! Chapter one is on ffn and ao3.  I hope you'll like it!!

Important Note: This is Harry 'and' Daphne not Harry/Daphne. I am not going to make a love relation between a mentally 6 year old girl and a twenty six year old guy. Harry will be more like a guardian/parent figure along with friendship.

Author Out!!

“I am Talking.”

‘I am Thinking’

Spells

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Happiness can be found, even in the darkest of times, if one only remembers to turn on the light.

~Albus Dumbledore

(Character from Harry Potter series)

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Previously in Palliation:
Harry facepalmed as he looked at the book. Why? Oh, why did he have to buy that book? He looked at the cover image of a large bunny standing on a grassy land while a monster was fighting the hero, who had spectacles on his face and a lightning bolt scar on his forehead.

Above the image was the title of the book: ‘Harry Potter and the Bunny Monster.’

Harry groaned as Andromeda kept on laughing.

~.~.~.~

Palliation

-Dev Sagittarius Black

~~Chapter 5: It’s Christmas~~

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When you are with someone you like or whose company you enjoy, you have no idea how quickly time passes. This was what happened with Daphne and Harry, who were now busy with their entangled lives.

Everyday was kind of the same, with Harry waking up earlier and cooking breakfast for Daphne and himself before leaving for work. Daphne would then spend her day watching TV, drawing in her art book, reading her stories, and eating snacks.

Harry would cook lunch for Daphne along with breakfast and keep it in the fridge, which she used to have while watching her favorite TV show. Then Harry would come back late at night and cook Dinner for the both of them. Then, obviously, Daphne made him read one of her bedtime stories until she slept.

Andromeda joined them sometimes, always before Harry reached home. And Daphne would always run away from the elder witch, choosing to hide under her blankets rather than face her. She was still of the opinion that Andromeda was the woman who hunted kids when they did something wrong.

Harry had a good laugh when she told him her logic, but he didn’t say anything when she started pouting and making puppy-dog eyes at him. Because sometimes having someone who the kid is afraid of is quite useful when stopping them from harming themselves or something similar.

Like if Daphne wanted to make paper planes out of the patient files that Harry brought home, Andromeda would take Daphne away from him.

If Daphne wanted to ride Harry’s firebolt in the house, Andromeda would tie Daphne to a chair.

If Daphne didn’t want to finish the veggies on her plate, Andromeda would take her away and feed her only veggies.

If Daphne wanted to eat ice cream and other junk food excessively, Andromeda would take her away and never give her sweet rolls.

Threats like that were pretty common in the Potter household. Daphne wasn’t usually a brat, but sometimes it was needed to control her bratty tendencies.

Harry was also proud of the fact that the latest memory tests done on Daphne’s mind, by the mind healer, had revealed that the block had weakened considerably as Harry’s magic was helping Daphne immensely.

He calculated that with the way things were going, Daphne might easily get her memories back in just another month.

The healer in him was proud and actually happy about the fact that Daphne would soon be healed completely, but the person who had been happy for the last few months would definitely miss the woman’s childish antics. That was a sure thing. He only hoped that everything would go back to how it was once her memories were released from the block.

To try out a few things, Harry had started teaching Daphne basic spells and trying to make use of her magic in rooms without any electrical appliances. That way, he would be able to gauge how far Daphne had come and how much she could use her magic on her own now.

Unfortunately, she hadn’t been able to do any of them, which frustrated her to no end. She was worried that by the time she joined Hogwarts, she’d be far behind her peers and that Harry Potter would not talk to her because he would want a strong girl to be his friend.

Harry had laughed at that and simply patted her head, telling her that he was sure Harry Potter would be her friend, and if for some reason he didn’t accept her friendship, then it’d definitely be his loss, not knowing how awesome Daphne was. Said girl would just blush a bit before pushing Harry’s hand off of her head.

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“Huh? I remember keeping it here last night…where did it go?” Harry scratched the back of his head as he looked around the room for his muffler, which was the first hand-sewn gift Hermione had given him on his twenty-first birthday.

After searching for about twenty more minutes, he gave up and decided to go without the muffler today. He left the room and called out for Daphne, who was doing something with her coloring book.

“Daphne, I am going to work,” he said out loud, and was about to move out when he noticed something. “Daphne, what are you doing with my muffler?”

Daphne came running and stood in front of Harry before making a poker face—well, trying to make a poker face—and saying, “Hello, I am healer Greengrass. How may I help you?”

Harry raised an eyebrow at this. “Weren’t you going to become a cook yesterday? Open a ‘large restaurant for everyone’ out there?” he asked her.

She shook her head.

“No, I want to become a healer like you and help everyone like you do. I’ll be a better healer than you.” Daphne announced proudly as she placed her hands on her waist and gave a heroic pose.

Harry laughed and pulled the muffler-turned-stethoscope from around Daphne’s neck, making her pout.

“See you later, Daph.” Harry told her as he wrapped the muffler around his neck. “Be sure to wear socks and your cap and don’t leave the fridge open and-”

“I know Harry; I know everything. You don’t need to tell me every day; I am a big girl.” Daphne gave a small pout but smiled when Harry laughed at her before they shared their customary ‘I am going to work’ hug.

Daphne watched as Harry was leaving the house and said, “Don’t forget the tree!”

“And the decorations—I know I’ll bring everything tonight.” Harry said before he closed the door.

Daphne started humming the tune she had heard Harry hum a few times as she skipped back to the sofa in the living room, where the fireplace was burning and keeping the room warm. She switched on the TV and sat in front of the sofa on the soft carpet that was in the room.

Everything was the same as before, and Daphne was bored, just like every day. She knew that it wasn’t Harry’s fault; in fact, he was trying his best to cure her. The healer they visited every week said that there was drastic improvement and that soon she'd return to her old self. But there was still a long way to go.

She looked around the room before trying to do something. She knew that Harry was going to buy the Christmas tree tonight, and then they’d decorate it together for Christmas, which was two days from today.

Daphne remembered the Christmas times at Greengrass Manor and how she and Maisy decorated the tree that was brought in from the nearby forest. How she was allowed to play in the snow and how she made snowmen in secret because, according to her mother, she wasn’t allowed to do such peasant things.

She remembered the last Christmas when Tori had joined her in decorating the tree and how much fun they had and how she had been able to turn the decorations pink and blue because she didn’t like their color. Her grandfather had been over the moon when she had performed magic at such a large level, and even her mother had relented that day.

That day, she and Tori had made their first snowman together with their mother’s permission and baked sweet rolls with Maisy. It had been the best Christmas of her life.

Daphne had begged Harry to take her to Greengrass Manor for Christmas; she had even cried a bit, which was unexpected because she had been taught never to cry. Still, Harry had explained how it would be awkward for a grown-up Daphne to meet a small Astoria and how it would scare her poor sister.

Also, it might worsen the mood of her mother, and since she couldn’t punish Daphne right now, she might vent her anger on little Astoria, which was totally unacceptable in Daphne’s eyes. Therefore, Daphne had decided to write a letter to her sister and Maisy and had given it to Harry to post.

Daphne was trying to think of something to do to pass the time when her brain supplied a weird thought. She had just thought about how she had baked sweet rolls with Maisy last year, and she had seen Harry bake the sweet rolls a few times when she had asked—not whined and thrown a tantrum—for them a few times, not all the time.

“Alright, I know what to do! This will be my Christmas gift for Harry!” Daphne grinned and dashed towards the kitchen.

She knew that Harry worked really hard and that he had to cook food, clean the house, and do the dishes, as well as read bedtime stories for her on top of that. And since she knew she was too young to be able to cook a full meal, she decided to cook sweet rolls for him.

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‘WHAAM!! DHUMMMmmmm…!’

“Oops…”

Daphne looked at the mess that was once the kitchen of the Potter household. She was ashamed to admit that all of this mess was the work of one person. She didn’t want to mess things up this badly. But here she was, covered in floor and some sticky substance that was egg and vanilla mix.

Almost all of the utensils that were strewn across the kitchen were dirty. There were bowls that had the remains of the dough as well as two bowls full of egg yolk that she had mistakenly spilled down the kitchen top. The yeast powder and cinnamon powder were mixed, and whatever the result was, it was now in the cheese bowl.

The dozen broken eggshells were lying in a corner while the yolk was still dripping down the kitchen counter. Milk and liquid butter were mixed, and the flour she had used to make dough was almost too much…therefore, thirty percent of it was on the kitchen top, and another forty percent was on the ground, where she had slipped on the dripping egg yolk and fallen.

And let’s not talk about the oven. The smoke that was inside the kitchen from the three burnt rolls and one spoiled sweet roll on the ground was more than enough evidence that the machine would need some repairs to start working again.

Oops.

“I-I need to clean it up before Harry comes. He’ll be really angry if he sees his kitchen in this condition.” Daphne said out loud before she went on the hunt to grab the cleaning supplies.

Five minutes later, Daphne came back with a broom, a dust collector, and a wet rag before starting the cleaning work. She went ahead and switched on the kitchen's exhaust fan to remove the smoke that was in the room.

“Time to clean it all off.” She announced, grabbed the broom, and started her work.

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If one tried to locate Daphne Greengrass, the resident of the Potter household for the last three months, you might find her hiding in her room. Why? Simple, the day wasn’t going as she had planned, and now she was scared as to what the owner of the house might say once he witnessed everything.

Her attempt at baking had ruined the kitchen, and her attempt to clean it had made it worse.

She didn’t know where she had gone wrong, but wait, she did. What she didn’t know was how she ended up doing everything wrong. “Almost..I did clean the floor.” She muttered to herself, “But I spoiled the oven and the kitchen top even more…and the bucket of water fell down anyways….uhgh.” She groaned, pushing her face into the pillow.

“Why am I like this? I just wanted to do something for Harry.” Daphne gave a small pout before she noticed something and remembered something that Harry used to say to her. She gave a small grin as an idea popped into her head. ‘I am sure Harry will love it!’

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The lock clicked and turned twice before the wooden door opened slowly and Harry stepped into his home. The day had been really tiring. He had tried not to pull his hair off his head, but a few patients as well as his fellow practitioners were making it really difficult.

And then there was the fact that he had gone shopping to buy the Christmas tree as well as decoration items. Usually, he didn’t do this because he spent Christmas at the Tonks household, where his only job was to help decorate the tree. 

This time, Daphne wanted them to spend their first Christmas together and didn’t want to go to the ‘Evil Aunty’s’ home. Her logic was that she might kidnap Daphne and sell her. Ridiculous really.

He announced that he was back and called out to his friend, who was probably watching TV or drawing something. He pulled his muffler out as he reached the living room to relax a bit near the fireplace before he started working on dinner.

That’s what he had planned, at least. Because something else happened when he entered the living room. His eyes widened as he noticed the rather large graffiti that was drawn on the wall with crayons.

Sorryy Harryy! I am Sorryy for the KitCHeN, aNd I Hope you weel pHorgive mee.

Love you, DapHNe G!

And on the right end of this ‘masterpiece’ was a childish drawing of a smiling green-eyed boy wearing spectacles standing with a golden-haired girl with blue eyes, and she was grinning.

Harry ran towards the kitchen to see what she had done that had made her do such an….artwork on his living room wall. His eyes went saucer wide, and his mouth fell open when he saw the condition of his kitchen.

“DAPHNE!!”

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Daphne was sitting in her room, making a sketch of her favorite character from her favorite book. Her eyes widened when she heard Harry’s scream. She didn’t know why he was screaming. She had asked for his forgiveness by writing on the wall; did he not read it?

She stepped out of her room and reached the kitchen, where Harry’s scream came from.

“Yes, Harry?” She asked, peering inside the room from the doorway.

Harry immediately turned from looking at his ruined oven to glaring at the young woman who was standing in the doorway, “YOU! What did you do?! WHY DID YOU DO THIS?!”

“Did you not read my ‘alopogy’?” She asked him.

“That’s what you call an apology? Ruining the living room wall?!” He asked her as he cautiously stepped out of his kitchen, making sure not to step on the puddles of water, milk, and yolk.

“But I made it pretty, Harry. I tried to make my alopogy as pretty as I could.” She said, stepping back into the hallway.

“That is NOT what I meant. Why did you RUIN the kitchen in the first place?”

“I didn't do it for fun, and I am sorry!” She cried back.

“Greengrass, my question is, what was the DAMN NEED?!” He screamed at her and saw her flinch a bit. “Why do you always ruin things?!”

“I do NOT! AND IT WAS FOR YOU!” She screamed as her back touched the wall.

“For Me? I asked you to ruin my kitchen? How dare you! Lying right on my face!”

“I am not lying! I tried to make something for you. I am incompetent, I know! I am sorry but I tried to make something for you…” She muttered, her vision going blurry as tears started accumulating in her eyes.

“And why did you do that? Isn’t it enough that I have to care for you as well as bear your expenses? I have to clear your shit now too. WHY?!” He shouted out loud.

Tears fell from Daphne’s eyes as she realized what Harry had said. It was the same thing that she had heard from her mother’s tongue when she was really mad. And this was the first time she had heard it from Harry. She knew she was a burden, but to have someone like Harry say it right to her face? It hurt.

“Ha-Harry…I-” A sob broke out of her as she choked on her tears and took a small hiccup. “I am sorry.” And with that, she ran back to her room, leaving an angry Harry behind.

“Daphne! Come back right now!” Harry shouted after her, but she didn’t bother to deign his demand with so much as a turn of her head. She slammed her door open and shut it immediately behind her. The door glowed a bit before going back to its normal appearance.

Harry rushed after Daphne and tried to open the door, shock etched on his face when the door didn’t even budge. Harry banged his fists on the door and screamed Daphne’s name, but was surprised that nothing worked and the door remained shut.

“Daphne, open the gate now, or I’ll open it with magic!” He said in a loud voice and was surprised that nothing happened. So he pulled out his wand and pointed it towards the door’s lock “Alohomora.”

Shockingly enough, there was no clicking sound that would’ve signified that the door was now unlocked. Harry tried physically unlocking the door, but the damn thing wouldn’t even budge. He growled in frustration as he slammed his fist on the door for the last time before turning back and moving towards the kitchen. He’d deal with Daphne later.

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The next day, Daphne woke up and rubbed her eyes. She didn’t remember what had happened last night or why she was sleeping on the hard wooden floor. She looked around at the cold room and saw that her room’s window was open, letting the cold wind enter. That was the reason she had woken up.

She gave a small yawn and stretched her arms before wincing, ‘Guess I should sleep on bed from now on..but what am I-Oh…’ And just like that, the memory avalanche that was waiting for her brain to register her surroundings occurred. Forcing her to remember everything that had happened last night.

Daphne let out a deep breath before slowly crawling over to her bathroom door to start her day. “I’ll have to wake Harry and say sorry. Hopefully his anger has decreased and he will listen to me today. Yes, everything will be fine after that. I am sure about it.”

Stepping into the living room, she was surprised to see her drawing still there. ‘After how angry he was about a ruined wall, I thought he would clean it as soon as possible.’ She shrugged before calling his name a few times, frowning when she didn’t get any response.

‘Guess he is still sleeping. Sometimes I wonder how he was always on time when I didn’t wake him up every morning.’ Daphne moved out of the living room and started walking towards his room.

‘Or maybe he is still angry with you.’ Her traitorous mind supplied, and she tried to resist her wince.

“Harry? You’ve been sleep-” Daphne paused. The white-painted wooden door was half open. She could clearly see inside the darkness; the bed was untouched, and the room was empty. Harry was not there.

She tried to search for Harry in the bathroom, the terrace, the store room, and the basement. Calling his name out, but Harry was not here. Daphne’s face fell when the realization hit her. ‘Harry is still angry…he left without even saying goodbye to me’

She entered the living room again and saw the large grandfather clock that was there. She noticed that the small arm was on ten and the long arm was on four, which meant Harry had left the house two hours ago and she had been sleeping the entire time.

Daphne didn’t want to, but she entered the kitchen to check if it was still in bad condition or if it was good again. She was surprised to find a clean kitchen.

Everything was back in its place. The crockery, the utensils, and the trays were all in the cupboard. The island as well as the kitchen top were both clean; there was not a single speck of dirt on the floor or the cupboard, which was surprising because it was covered in flour when she left.

For a moment, she thought that last night was a nightmare, but then her eyes fell on the oven, and she winced when she saw that it was covered by a cloth, which meant the oven was still in bad condition. Daphne knew that she was not the one who cleaned everything, which meant Harry had cleaned it all by himself.

She looked around the kitchen before her eyes fell on a small note that was left on the kitchen top, and she was surprised to see that there was a plate and a glass of orange juice, both covered, along with a small note that read, “You were asleep, so I didn’t wake you. Eat it.”

Daphne looked at the note in her hand before an idea managed to sprout in her mind. She gave a small smile as she picked up her plate and the glass of orange juice.

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“Are you sure, Harry?” Healer Lamming asked the young man.

“Yes, sir, it was definitely her magic. I am completely sure.” Harry nodded. “I was not able to open the door through any method, no matter how much I tried.”

“Well, that's excellent news, Harry.” The mind healer, Edward, told him. “This means that her magic is finally being released from her mind and can easily be utilized soon. If she shows accidental magic now, I am quite sure that she’ll be able to guide her magic like a normal, trained witch soon.”

“Yes, which means her magic will be utilized elsewhere, thereby weakening the shield sooner than we had anticipated.” Lamming added before looking at Harry, “I am proud of you, Harry. Even if the situation where we got to see this change is bad and disheartening, this is indeed a major improvement.”

Harry bobbed his head in agreement. He had noticed it this morning when he tried opening the door again to wake her for breakfast and was surprised that it was still as unmoving as before. He was confused at first, but then his memory clicked, and he was beyond happy that she was healing rapidly.

“Which reminds me, Harry, what do you think about notifying the Department of Mysteries? The department was released from lockdown a week ago. Shouldn’t we tell them that one of theirs is with us and is currently undergoing treatment?” Lamming asked the young healer, who shook his head in response.

“No, sir, as much as I’ve seen of Croaker, the department’s head, in ministry meetings, he is a very secretive as well as intrusive person. If we tell him about a person, one of their own, who is suffering from a rare disease and is about to be cured, he’ll poke his long nose in and take her away.”

“What? I am sure they’ll listen once we tell them that any magic other than yours is harmful to her.” Edward tried to reason.

“No, that will make him pursue this cause even more. He’ll try to get her in contact with different types of magic just to experiment on her, worsening her condition, and I as a healer cannot allow that to happen to a patient.” Harry vehemently disagreed.

“Then what do you propose?” Lamming asked his most brilliant healer.

“We wait till Daph is healed. Then Edward will merge her memories, so she will know what actually happened. And then she’ll explain it to her department head. The hospital won’t be blamed. I’ll talk to Kingsley about it. He’s habitual about handling Croaker’s tantrums.” Harry shrugged.

“This sounds like a better plan.” Lamming agreed and was about to dismiss the meeting when Edward spoke up.

“Also Harry? Try to calm down a bit. The things you described were childish things done by a child to appreciate the efforts of their parent, or in your case, her guardian.” Edward explained.

“I know, sir, but the problem is, I was already having a bad day when I reached home to find my entire kitchen ruined. So I kind of lost it in the heat of the moment and scolded her a bit.” He replied.

Lamming hummed, “Yes, we healers have a busy and tiring life, Harry. But do our close ones waiting for us at home know about that? They don’t. And Daphne didn’t do anything with the intention of causing havoc. I am sure she was trying to bake something for you.” He added.

“She was, and by the materials she used, I think she was trying to bake her favorite food. But in that moment, I kind of lost it and said something that I now know I shouldn’t have said.” Harry told them, sighing a bit.

“Cheer up, Potter. A gloomy you doesn’t seem like you at all. It’s Christmas Eve today. Why don’t you two spend some bonding time and have fun tomorrow?” Edward told him, but he was looking at Lamming, who took his colleague’s hint immediately.

“Yes, that’s a good idea.” Lamming exclaimed before looking at Harry, “Because of your excellent work in improving patient Daphne Greengrass’ health. I, Cuthbert Lamming, head healer of St. Mungo's, grant you two days leave for tomorrow and Christmas; you are to report to your duties again the day after that.”

Harry blinked owlishly, not knowing what to say anymore. Still, his brain caught up soon, and he gave a wide grin before thanking the two senior healers and rushing out of the office.

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Harry smiled as he entered his house. Like always, he announced his arrival before going to the living room. He removed his muffler and looked at the clock, that showed it was almost half past nine ‘Shit…I am late today, is Daph already asleep?’

“Daph? I am home. Where are you? See what I have brought for us toda-” Harry stopped when he noticed a folded piece of paper that was neatly kept on the center table near the fireplace. He picked it up and began reading it:

Hello Harry,

I am Sorry for wHat HappeNed tomorrow, I didN’t meaN to Cause any of tHat. WHat I waNted waS to bake Sweet rolls for you beCause you Have beeN So good, cariNg and Supportive of me. I will go aS far as to Say tHat you are better tHan my motHer and graNdfatHer and Have treated me aS if I waS your family.

UNfortuNately I kNow I am Not. I know I am a GreeNgrass and Not a Potter (I doN’t kNow wHat your real Name iS, wHat is your real Name Harry?) So, it was Natural of you to feel tHat way, I doN’t blame you at all. You are already doiNg way too mucH for me, more tHaN wHat my family ever did. I caN’t tHaNk  you eNougH for wHat you are doiNg.

I kNow, I am trouble, my fatHer died a few yearS after I was borN, my graNdmotHer died tHe day I waS borN, I CaN Never beCome tHe perfect HeireSS that my motHer waNts me to beCome. I Can Never beCome tHe perfect elder SiSter for Tori and I kNow I CaN Never Have frieNds either beCause bad HeireSS like me doN’t Have frieNds.

I Have uNderStood tHat my SiSter iS SufferiNg our motHer’s wratH all beCauSe of me. If oNly I HadN’t wisHed to grow up aNd be able to take Care of Her away from our mother, my magic would have Never doNe thiS aNd my mother wouldN't Have left me in your Care. I am Not SurpriSed SHe Never SeNt letters or Came to viSit me.

I kNow I waS always a burdeN to Her, sHe remiNded me eNough timeS about tHat aNd How I waS tHe worst CHild oNe Could ever Have. Due to repetitioNS, I Started believiNg tHat too.

But you Never Said aNytHing like that. THat’s wHy I tHougHt tHat maybe my mother was wrong. THat maybe tHere was a miNiScule chaNce, a really small oNe, tHat I migHt Not be the worSt CHild oNe Could ever be stuck witH. THat maybe, I migHt be good too, or maybe tHere are otHerS like me too, wHo Struggle witH tHiNgs.

But maybe I waS wroNg. I Now uNderstANd tHat I am a trouble cHild, someoNe tHat is really hard to haNdle aNd someoNe wHo Should be puNisHed for doiNg useless tHiNgs. ANd you Have every rigHt to puNisH me Harry, I kNow aNd agree witH you, I am ready for aNy kiNd of puNiSHment.

But pleaSe Harry, doN’t igNore me. I don’t Have aNyoNe elSe. I don’t waNt to lose you too. I will be all aloNe, today waS a really Sad aNd loNely day. PleaSe doN’t give up oN me and pleaSe talk to me. You caN sHout at me all you waNt, I woN’t ever talk baCk. I will be obedieNt aNd Never do aNytHiNg you tell me Not to do.

I will eveN Stay quiet iN tHe morNiNg aNd woN’t diSturb you or beg you to read me one more Story. I promiSe. But pleaSe talk to me, doN’t igNore me aNd doN’t Stop talkiNg to me. I woN’t be able to live witH tHe Shame of losiNg SomeoNe as preCiouS aS you.

Sorry for beiNg a burdeN Harry, I will try my beSt to be better.

YourS

DaphNe G.

The letter was written with a pen, and the handwriting was really bad, but surprisingly, it was understandable. What was the most noticeable thing out of all this were the few spots that had blotched ink and wrinkled paper—tear drops.

Harry felt really bad. He didn’t mean for Daphne to feel this way. He was angry and frustrated and had regretfully released all of his anger on the woman because of a mistake that could have easily been cleaned, and he could always buy a new oven.

Harry rushed towards Daphne’s room and slowly opened the door, only to find the woman cuddled up in her sheets. The lights were still on, so he knew that it hadn't been long since she fell asleep.

“I am sorry, Daph. I never meant for you to feel that way. I am new to all this and didn’t know how to react. I feel like a terrible person now.” He sighed and rubbed his forehead, thinking of what to do to make everything go back to how it was before all of this happened.

That’s when his eyes fell on a book lying on the table. More specifically on the book’s cover image, which triggered a memory in his brain from a while ago. The first time they had gone to a shopping mall. Harry smiled and said, “Well, I know what to do.”

.

“Are you sure you want to do this, sir? You can buy a plushie with the amount you’ve spent on getting this one.”

Harry looked up and smiled at the salesgirl, who was watching him with worried eyes. “I am sure I want more tokens for this game. I need to have that one bunny plushie at all costs.”

The sales girl looked at the weird customer who had rushed in about twenty minutes ago and stopped only at this ‘Grab-a-Toy’ game before shoving cash in her face to buy tokens for this machine. She didn’t know what his reason was, but she was not going to question it. Ergo, she shrugged and went to exchange the added money for more tokens.

Harry looked at the Bunny plushie that was now quite close to the exit platform inside the game. He knew that he could easily buy one, and Daphne wouldn’t even know whether it was the one she liked or something else.

Yet here he was, spending more and more on the plushie, just because the plushie’s sentimental value was way more than any amount of money he could’ve spent on getting it. This was also the reason he wasn't simply levitating the plushie and dropping it on the exit platform.

“Don’t worry, Daph, you will definitely have your bunny plushie.”

.

Baby blue eyes opened slowly as their owner twisted and turned in her bed. She knew she would have to wake up soon, but how could she? The bed was just so comfortable that she was sure that no sane person could ever leave it.

She mentally grumbled a bit about mornings and how it should always be night before slowly shuffling a bit and raising her upper torso with all the energy of a comfortable sloth. Giving a big yawn, she felt her eyes get a bit wet.

‘Why do my eyes get wet when I yawn?’ She rubbed her eyes and looked around her room.

Her art book was still there; it was on its last pages, so she definitely needed to get a new one. Her favorite storybooks were there too, in the corner on her table. Her bunny plushie was also there, looking at her as if it were ask-wait what?

Daphne’s eyes widened when she noticed the bunny plushie that was now sitting on her desk. She rubbed her eyes again ‘Yep, still there.’

She jumped from her bed and picked up her bunny plushie. She looked at the book it was sitting on and grinned.

“Haarrryyyyyyy..!!!!!” She screamed excitedly as she ran out of her room.

Harry looked behind himself when he heard Daphne’s voice and gave a small smile. ‘Looks like she noticed it,” he thought as he went back to his work. ‘Now, where to put this?’

The door to the living room opened, and Daphne skipped inside. She looked around the room before spotting Harry standing in one of the corners, placing a bauble on the 8-foot-tall Christmas tree. Once she noticed that he had seen her, she dashed towards him.

Harry’s eyes widened as he noticed Daphne running towards him with the Bunny plushie he won for her last night. The woman jumped a few feet from him and tackled him to the ground, laughing all the while.

“THANK YOU SO MUCH, HARRY!!” She cheered out loud as she gave him a tight hug.

Harry slowly patted her back and laughed at her antics “Like your gift?”

“Like it?” Daphne sat up on his waist and pushed the plushie in his face. “I ABSOLUTELY LOVE HER! I can’t believe you remembered her.”

Harry chuckled at the childish antics before frowning. “Her?”

“Of course, Harry, don’t you know she’s the bunny queen?” Daphne exclaimed, proudly hugging her plushie.

“She is?”

“Yes! She is the great bunny queen, Thea! Merciful ruler and protector of all the bunnies in the world!” The woman exclaimed as she raised the bunny above her head.

Harry could almost hear the Queen’s trumpet blowing somewhere as the bunny plushie was crowned.

“Alright, alright, now get off and freshen up. We have lots of work to do today as tomorrow is our first Christmas together!” Harry said and smiled as Daphne hugged him once more before getting off him and standing to the side.

“Also, Daph, I read what you wrote yesterday.”

Daphne stifled a bit; she had forgotten that she was supposed to behave well and politely from now on. ‘Just brilliant, Daph. You completely ruined it by breaking your promise and it hasn’t even been one full day!’

“The letter is still with me, in my drawer. I thought a lot about it, and I’ve come to a conclusion.”

“Harry I-”

“Listen to me first, Daphne.” Harry said, his face was completely serious “You will never consider yourself an odd one. You will never consider yourself a burden, and you will never consider yourself to be a trouble kid, because you are none of them.”

“What?”

“Yes. You have been here with me for the longest time now. I was really lonely, and I really like the fact that you are here with me. It might have been medical conditions that brought us together in this house, but trust me, it’s been the best gift to me in a really long time. And I can never let my gift feel the way I did. So will you please forgive me for saying all of that?”

Harry looked at Daphne’s shocked face. The mentally six-year-old girl didn’t know what to say. He again helped her by opening his arms and inviting her for a hug. She didn’t give it a second thought and tackled him again.

They soon broke off the hug, and Harry sent Daphne to freshen up so that they could have breakfast together and then decorate the Christmas tree and the house.

“I’ll be back soon, and don’t you dare start off without me. We have to remove the howendous thing you call decoration.” Daphne said as she moved out of the living room.

“My decoration is quite beautiful, thank you very much! And learn to speak ‘horrendous’ before using it.” Harry laughed as Daphne turned to glare at him and stuck out her tongue before laughing and running away.

Harry shook his head as he moved and picked up his finished coffee mug from the table to put it in the sink. That’s when he noticed an owl hovering over his window. He opened the window and let the owl in.

The bird flew straight towards the empty white-coloured owl perch that had various multicolored socks pinned on it. Harry reached for the owl and saw that it had an envelope tied to its leg. He relieved the owl from its package and prepared two bowls, one with food and another with water, for the tired avian.

The healer sat on the couch near the fireplace as he broke the weird seal on the envelope and pulled out the parchment. His eyes widened when he finished reading the letter.

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Ending Note: Ending Note: There you have it fellas, Chapter five of Palliation. Liked it? Loved it? Needs some changes? Please, do tell.  

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