Palliation; Chapter 6: Healing some scars (Patreon)

Author's Note: Here you have it my lovely patrons family. Palliation chapter 6! Chapter one is on ffn and ao3.  I hope you'll like it!!

To patrons who have joined my server too: Ryan (rmk6); Ghostking#2177; Arden2709; Wreacher#0859; psrikar97#5174; profound_magician; drs#9921; mavolen_db and Stormking#1011. Thank you for joining my server, I have give each of you the Patrons role which gives you access to the special patron only channel and we can discuss the chapters available to you in that channel. 

Thank you once again! <3

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.

“I am Talking.”

‘I am Thinking’

Spells

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Having a place to go is a home.

Having someone to love, is a family.

Having both is a blessing.

~Donna Hedges

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Previously in Palliation:
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.

~.~.~.~

Palliation

-Dev Sagittarius Black

~~Chapter 6: Healing some scars~~

.

“Harry, I am ill. I don’t know what happened, but I am not feeling well at all.”

Harry looked at the woman, roughed-up hair, tomato sauce on her Tee shirt and an overall haggard look.

“Oh yeah? Come here, I am a healer, let me see.” Harry called her, knowing full well that she’d try to stay out of his reach.

“Ugh..no-no, I don’t want you to get ill, Harry. I think this illness is congatious.” She said, backing out.

“It’s contagious. And no, don’t worry, I have been immunized against all the known diseases. Now come here.” He said and watched her hesitate a bit before slowly coming near him.

Just for show, he placed his hand on her forehead and hummed, knowing full well that she wasn’t feverish at all and that this was just another one of her excuses. “You do feel a bit feverish.”

“Right?”

“Yes, have you been sweating a lot lately?” He asked, amused, when she rapidly bobbed her head.

“Oh? And are there any stomach aches too?”

“Yes Harry! You got me right!! That is what’s happening with me.” Daphne nodded. “See, I am ill, which means I really can’t visit Aunt Andy’s house.”

Harry was rolling with laughter at the pitiful face Daphne was making. "Yes, Daph, and you really wanted to visit Andy, right?”

“Of course!! It’s really bad that I can’t.” Daphne said, looking down with her lower lip protruding out a bit.

.

“Nooo…NO Harrryyy!! You can’t do this!! I forbid you from doing this!”

"Yeah, well, when did I ever listen to you?” Harry sighed as he pushed his hands into his pants pockets and watched the way Daphne was throwing a tantrum while Andromeda was dragging the girl into the Tonks household.

“Is this what it is?! This is how you repay my kindness?!!!” Daphne was crawling towards him while Andromeda kept pulling her towards her house.

“Errr..Kindness? What kindness? Bullying me every day into making sweet rolls or making me read stories before you sleep... that kindness?” Harry raised his eyebrow.

“Something that you should have seen as kindness! You cruel man!” Daphne screamed before her eyes widened, and she realized that badmouthing Harry could be done later; for now, she needed his help in escaping her predicament.

“Bu-but we’ll talk about that later! Harry, you need to save me! You’ll miss me too much!!” Daphne cried as she felt herself being pulled almost into the house.

Andromeda really hated the fact that she was living in a muggle neighborhood. Honestly! If this was a magical neighborhood, she would have stupefied the woman and levitated her inside. As simple as that!

“Harry! She'll sell me to someone! She’ll cook me alive!! You have TO SAVE MEEE!!!” Daphne screamed as the door was finally closed. The last thing she saw was Harry waving her goodbye.

“Don’t do any mischief, and she won’t sell you to someone.” Harry muttered before sighing. He then looked at his wristwatch, noting that it was about time he started looking for the usual alley that he used to apprate.

The healer just prayed to whatever deity looking over him right now to make sure that by the time he came back after five days, the Tonks household wasn’t blasted to smithereens and that things worked out as much as they could between Daphne and Andy.

“Seriously, can’t the hospital send some apology in my name to the French ministry? Is it necessary that I am the only one who has to go to that convocation for the next five days?” Harry grumbled as he entered the alley before vanishing with a soft ‘POP’.

Daphne, her mouth agape, looked at the closed door with small pools of tears in her sapphire eyes. Five days…. She still couldn’t believe it! Why didn’t he take her too?? And even if he had to leave her, why leave her here of all places?! Why not their home?! She could have easily survived on her own, thank you very much!

“Wingardium Leviosa.” Andromeda flicked her wand and levitated Daphne, watching her squeal in surprise as the woman floated towards the deeper sections of her new living place.

.

“Gramma, I am home!” Eight-year-old Theodore ‘Teddy’ Lupin announced as he stepped in through the main gate of the Tonks household.

Andromeda came into view, wiping her hands on her apron as she eyed the boy and his dirty clothes. Clothes that were spotlessly clean just a few hours ago. “You went to the ground again, didn’t you?” She asked him and got his answer when the brat gave her a cheeky grin.

“I’ll prepare the bath, leave these dirty clothes in the wash bucket outside the bathroom.” Andromeda said and watched Teddy leave, that’s when she remembered something important. "Ah, Teddy, wait, I have to tell you something.”

“What’s it, gramma?” He asked.

“There’s someone I’d like you to meet. Also, something I would like to tell you about her.” Andromeda told the boy, who tilted his head in confusion.

“Your godfather has been tending to a special patient for the last three months now. She has a special, rare disease, and because of that, she has been hidden from the outside world.” Andromeda said grimly.

“But why hide her? The more people know about her, the faster she could be cured, right?” He asked the old witch, who shook her head in answer.

"No, dear, the more people know about her, the more they’d want to research her disease.” She saw the boy’s eyes widen. “Until now, only five people knew about her, and now you are the sixth one. Be sure to understand the gravity of this situation so you don’t tell this secret by mistake to one of your or Harry’s friends.”

The small kid gave a solemn nod, determination filling his blue eyes “I promise to never reveal the secret, gramma.” He said before looking at her.

Andromeda nodded her head, satisfied with Teddy’s response. She knew that the boy was actually quite smart and therefore would have agreed immediately, but knowing that and watching it happen are two different things altogether.

Andy was about to move away when Teddy said, "Err... Gramma, can you tell me what’s her special disease too?”

Andromeda laughed. “Of course, and then I have to introduce you too. Hopefully your introduction will be better than mine.” She said, remembering the first time she had met the Greengrass heiress at Harry’s home.

Teddy just looked at her excitedly; his gramma was laughing, which meant a fun story was on the way, and Teddy would rather die than miss any of his gramma’s or his uncle’s fun stories.

.

Teddy knocked twice on the door to their guest room, which was usually Harry’s. His grandma had told him about the disease and the patient’s name. He had been really excited to meet this person. Still, his grandma had made him take a bath and be clean because ‘you don’t make your first impressions looking like a runaway brat’.

“It’s open!” A muffled voice came from behind the wooden door.

The boy slowly opened the door and peeked inside. The room was just the same as always when Harry wasn’t living with them. The only change was that there was a woman sitting on the bed, an art book open in front of her as she doodled in it. Oh, and she had the cutest-looking bunny plushie with her.

The woman looked at him and froze. Teddy, on his part, wasn’t doing much better either; his gramma had told him that she was actually his uncle’s age, but due to the disease, her mind was stuck at six years of age, which meant that she was mentally a girl two years younger than him while physically a woman three times his age. Yeah, confusing as hell.

“Hey.” He began before wincing as his voice broke.

‘Well done, Teddy, you’re as stupid as they come,’ he thought before clearing his throat and stepping inside the room. “Hello, I am Theodore Lupin, but you can call me Teddy. What’s your name?”

“Hello,” she began. “I am Daphne, Daphne Greengrass, and she’s Thea, my friend.” Daphne said, pointing at the bunny plushie before picking her up and pushing it slowly, waving one of Thea’s arms. “Thea says hello too!”

Teddy laughed and waved at Thea. “Hello Thea.”

Daphne placed Thea back on the bed before looking seriously at Teddy. There was something she needed to know. “Tell me, Teddy, did your guardian leave you here too, or were you kidnapped by the evil lady?”

Teddy blinked a bit, not knowing what to say…wait… he did…

“...”

“...”

“...What?”

…..or did he?

.

Life at Tonks house was good, Daphne surmised as she sat around the dinner table. A large roast chicken sat in the center, along with other dishes that the evil lady had cooked for them.

Daphne knew that the lady might be bad, but her food was quite tasty, thanks to the times she had visited them in the last three months. Every time she visited, she brought some sort of mouth-watering dish with her. Her food wasn’t Maisy-level yet, but it was almost there.

“Pass me the curry, gramma.” Teddy said, and Daphne watched as the eager boy poured some curry on his plate.

That was yet another surprise, the evil lady wasn’t as evil as she had presumed her to be. She was the boy's—Teddy's—grandmother, and she was actually quite a nice and fun person. Daphne, of course, denied it, but she was willing to give the old lady a second chance because of Teddy’s insistence.

They had shared a few things in the small amount of time that they had, and Daphne had already taken Teddy as one of her close friends. She hadn’t known it earlier because she was surrounded by adults, but having someone your own age to talk to was definitely a blessing.

And even though Teddy was two years older than her, he was as close to someone her age as she could get before finally going to Hogwarts! And Teddy was good too. He had awesome games! And he was a ‘metamowfmagus’!!

She had seen him change his hair and eye color; it was so awesome!! She really wished she had that; then she could have changed her hair to match Thea’s fur or would circle her hair through a variety of colors for Tori.

She wondered what Tori might be doing now. Was she missing her as much as she was missing the little bundle of joy? Not for the last time, she cursed her accidental magic. If only her magic hadn’t listened to her wish to grow older sooner, she would be spending Christmas with Tori right now. ‘Well, my current company isn’t bad either... in fact, they are quite great! If only Tori and Maisy could have joined us too.’

At night, Daphne twisted in her bed once more. The clock showed the small hand at nine and the big hand at twelve, which meant it was her time to sleep. But Harry wasn’t here, and that meant there was no one who would read her bedtime story.

She looked sadly at her hand, her four fingers and thumb outstretched, making a total of five. ‘When will you come, Harry?’ she thought before slowly folding her thumb.

‘Four more days to go.’ Her vision blurred as tears filled her sapphire pools. She missed the healer too much.

Daphne was about to cry when she heard a small knock on the door. She immediately wiped her tears and opened the door. She blinked a bit when she saw Andromeda standing in the doorway.

“I am sure you can’t sleep, right?” The elderly woman asked her and saw her hesitate a bit before nodding.

“Harry told me that, just like Teddy, you need a bedtime story too.” Andromeda said and entered the room. She then picked up the first book from the five that were on the desk and sat on the bed.

“Come, I’ll read a story for you.” She said and patted her lap.

All of her emotions from the entire day finally came to an end as Daphne looked at Andromeda, who was smiling at her. She didn’t waste a single moment because this time she wouldn’t be stopping her tears.

Daphne slowly placed her head in Andy’s lap. She was missing Harry badly. She knew that she was not a small kid anymore and that heiresses didn’t cry, but right now, at this moment, she wasn’t a heiress, her mother wasn’t there to berate her.

No one expected anything from her; she was completely free from her bonds, as right now she was Daphne. Just Daphne, the girl who was free to miss someone, laugh with joy, dance with freedom, draw with her imagination, and cry as much as she wanted.

Andromeda smiled at the woman, who was mentally a small girl. She slowly patted her head and passed her fingers through her hair so that she could soothe her in her time of distress. The story could wait; this was more important.

.

“See you later, gramma. See you, Daph!” Teddy waved as he left the house the next day, off to play in the playground with other muggle kids in the neighborhood.

“Bye Teddy!! Come back soon; I want to learn more about the snowball fight.” Daphne waved excitedly at Teddy’s back.

Andromeda watched Daphne and smiled. She still didn’t know what to make of the woman. The heiress was pretty headstrong and inquisitive; she was, of course, a brat too, but that was how six-year-olds usually were. Other than that, she was pretty good and obedient, not doing anything that was denied.

Which the Tonks woman knew was due to her upbringing. ‘You never changed, did you, Elizabeth? See how you cursed your own daughter’s childhood because of your delusions and loyalty to that madman.’

Andy had known that Elizabeth Selwyn, or later Greengrass, was going to be a terrible woman one day. The girl’s family and she herself were way too involved with Voldemort’s ideology of a perfect world. She was almost as bad as Walburga. Almost. Ergo, it wasn’t a surprise that the woman had tried her best to make her daughter the ‘perfect pureblood princess’.

"Come, Daphne, I’ll teach you how to bake some sweetrolls. Harry told me how your first attempt was... not so impressive.” Andromeda promised to herself that taking this moment as a second chance, she'd try to heal a few of the Greengrass heiress’ childhood scars. She couldn’t be her mother, but at least she could show the woman how a mother should be.

‘I think this way I will be able to somewhat fill the emptiness that Nym left in my life too.' She knew that no one in the entire world could ever fill that void in her, but she couldn’t let the pain of losing her daughter decide the rest of her life either. ‘Hopefully this way I’ll finally get rid of that stupid moniker ‘evil aunty’ too,’ she thought internally, laughing when Teddy had told about his first conversation.

.

“...and then I pelted him continuously with the snowballs, and he was like, ‘How are you able to do that even? That’s way too fast, Ted!' And that’s how we won the game.” Teddy told his new friend, who was now living under their roof, and chortled along with her.

“That’s so good!” Daphne said, wiping her tears of laughter, “I wish I could have been there to see that with my eyes.”

“That’s not a problem, Daph. It’s our Christmas holiday time, so we play on the ground every day. You can join us tomorrow.” He told her but was confused when he saw her face fall.

“I wish I could join you guys, but I am sure your grandmother won’t allow me. And Harry did tell me to never leave the house on my own.” She replied, looking down sadly.

“Well, you’re not alone. I am with you, right? And come, we’ll talk with gramma now. We’ll convince her so that she allows you to accompany me tomorrow.” Teddy said, and they ran towards Andy’s room.

“No.”

Both Teddy and Daph were standing side-by-side, holding their hands, tears about to fall from their baby blue eyes, and their lips protruding out a bit. Perfect for blackmailing any adult to do their evil bidding.

“Please aunty?” “Please gramma??”

“No means no, Teddy, Daphne. I told you both earlier; we can’t let her out of the house all alone, and I am not going to watch over you two.” Andromeda said, her focus on knitting a woollen sweater for Daphne.

“But I will be with her, gramma. I won’t leave her alone, and we’ll be fine.” Teddy tried to plead again.

“And you are the perfect example of a responsible person, aren’t you? For someone who still wets his pants while watching horror movies and needs bedtime stories, you sure are a responsible adult.”

Teddy did the mature thing and stuck his tongue out at Andromeda while Daphne giggled.

“We promise to stay together, and I’ll immediately call you if anything happens. And we aren’t that far anyway, just the playground. Please gramma? Just this once, pleaseeee??” Teddy begged her, and Daphne joined him, nodding fervently.

Andromeda paused her knitting and looked at the two with a look of contemplation. "Hmmm... I can allow her to go-”

“YAAAAYY!!!” Both Teddy and Daphne cheered and hugged each other.

“At least listen to me…” She calmed them first. “As I said, she can go with you, but only if you agree to my conditions.”

“Anything you say, gramma!” Teddy cheered.

“You’ll have to take care of her.”

“Done.”

“You won’t be doing your usual reckless stuff.”

“I don’t do reckless stuff, gramma. It’s called adventure! Like Uncle Harry!!” Teddy cried.

“And that is the best definition of reckless stuff. So none of that ‘adventure’, understood?” She eyed the two and watched Teddy bob his head.

“Good, also, you’ll be back before sunset, and I mean ‘before’ not ‘when’.”

Teddy giggled before nodding happily. “Sure gramma! So we can go, right?”

"And... you two will tell me all about your games, agreed?” She asked them, and the duo laughed before agreeing.

Andromeda smiled and raised her hands. “Good, now come and give me hugs.”

Teddy immediately jumped into her arms, but Daphne hesitated. Hugging Harry was a normal thing, but it had taken them about a month to become that comfortable. And she had never hugged Andromeda. In fact, she had never hugged her own mother. And this was all new to her, and—

“Daphne, I said 'hugs'; it includes you... unless, of course, you don’t want me or Teddy to hug you.” She asked her, knowing full well what might be going through the scared woman’s childish mind.

“N-No aunty, I am not scared at all... it’s just that I was waiting for my turn.” She made an excuse.

“Nonsense.” Andromeda waved her hand dismissively. “Family hugs are the best. Come here, we’ll show you.” And with that, the residents of the Tonks household pulled their newest member into their small family hug.

‘Family..?’ Daphne thought, hugging the two together and cherishing the feeling. ‘Yes… this is better, I can get used to these hugs…and my new family…’

.

“Hello Teddy! How’re you?”

Teddy and Daphne entered the ground and were immediately surrounded by Ted’s friends, who thought Daphne was here as a caretaker for Teddy.

“Hey Eren! I am good, buddy. How’re you?” Teddy greeted the boy. "Everyone! meet Daphne. And Daph, these are my friends.” Teddy introduced each of his friends and told them that Daphne would be joining them too and that she was here to play with them. He made sure to never reveal Daphne’s disease, and had told Daphne to never reveal her age either.

Teddy’s friends were all the more happy to welcome a new member. There were a few who were a bit doubtful about allowing an adult to play with them, but they couldn’t say anything as Teddy was the unofficial leader of the group.

The games began, and soon it was apparent that Daphne had never played a single game and was actually quite bad. It wasn’t her fault that she had never known about the outdoor games or played them the muggle way.

Daphne never had friends when she was six years old and was completely unfamiliar with muggle outdoor games due to her upbringing. But that was not something the other kids knew about; in their eyes, she was an adult who sucked at children's games. And that…was not a really good thing.

“Making snowballs this way is sure hard work.” Daphne said as she tried to collect snow and make the balls as soon as she could. Currently, her job was to help her team win the snowball fight. And like in every other game, she was failing miserably.

Teddy was continuously aiming at the other team’s attacker, and it was becoming a hassle to wait for another snowball to form so he could attack. It was like they were in war and were out of ammunition.

In the end, they lost the match, and the teams went back to lying around and chit-chatting to relax after the strenuous activity. Daphne smiled at all the fun memories she had created today. She knew she sucked, but it was her first time. And Teddy had told her that none of them did well on their first tries. She was determined to practice more and improve herself.

“Hey Teddy, can you please bring a bottle of water? I am tired.” Daphne said as she approached Teddy, who was sitting with Eren and discussing their day.

“You are?” Teddy asked before standing up and dusting himself, “Sure, Daph. What do you say, Eren, a race to my house?  The loser will have to carry the bottle of water.”

Eren grinned. “Oh, you’re so losing it!” And with that, the two boys ran in the direction of the Tonks household.

Daphne smiled as she took Teddy’s place on the ground, looking at the horizon and humming Harry’s favourite song to herself.

“Err..Daphne right?”

Daphne turned her head and saw a few of Teddy’s friends standing behind her. “Yes?”

“We wanted to speak to you about something.” The leader said.

.

“Ha! You lose!!”

Teddy made a face at Eren, who was standing a few meters ahead at the playground’s entrance. “It’s not my fault. I am a bit clumsy, gramma says that mom was clumsy in her childhood too!” Teddy retorted as he approached his still-chuckling friend, who was giving the victory pose.

The duo entered the playground, and they saw a peculiar sight. Daphne was standing with her head bowed while his friends were circling her and pointing fingers at each other while saying something.

“Think something happened?” Eren asked as they approached the group.

“No idea, let’s see.” Teddy shrugged, and they closed in as they listened to the ongoing conversation.

“-but that doesn’t give an excuse!”

“Yeah, this is not a reason to be this bad!”

“She wasn’t trying to be bad on purpose, you know!” Amanda said, glaring at Ben, “She did say it was her first time playing the games.”

“What’s going on here?” Teddy asked the group, and everyone immediately went silent. Daphne saw Teddy and rushed towards the boy, tackling him in a hug, and started crying, “I am sorry, Teddy. I didn’t know I sucked this badly at the games. I promise I’ll never come back and disturb you or your friends.”

Teddy was shocked at this. He didn’t know what had happened. He slowly patted the woman’s back and looked at Amanda with a curious expression. “What happened?”

Amanda glared at Ben and the boys who were supporting him. “After you and Eren left, they came and started making fun of Daphne’s poor performance.”

She then pointed at their group. “We came to support Daphne when she said that this was the first time she played the games. At this point, Ben started making rude comments about living under a rock and whatnot. And here we are.”

Teddy understood the situation immediately; he then patted Daphne and slowly moved out of her grasp. Then he held Daphne’s hand tightly in his free hand and gave the bottle to Eren, who was openly glaring at Ben’s group.

“Daphne is my friend. More than that, she is my family. So any of you, and I mean any one of you, who have a problem with her playing with me can leave the group. I will not tolerate anyone mocking her on anything in any way or form. You come at her, you come at me, and we all know how this will end.” He threatened.

“Tedd-” Daphne began only to be silenced by said metamorphmagus.

“If anyone has any problem with her, they will either come to me or leave the group for all I care. But Daphne will play with us till she wants to, and no one will ever say anything about her! Understood Ben?” The fierceness in the small boy’s eyes made the offending group take a step back in fear.

“Bu-But we lost because of her performance, Ted. How can you-”

“And? As if you never lost a game. It was a game, Ben, learn to take it as one. My gramma says that you should be passionate about what you like, but not to the extent of making others feel bad about themselves.”

Teddy told them before glaring at Ben. “I remember your starting days, Ben. Remember when you wanted to play with us and were all alone? What would have happened if I had made fun of your poor aim or slow speed and never let you play?”

Ben didn’t say anything. He knew that he wasn’t as good back then as he was now. And Teddy could have very well mocked him like he had mocked Teddy’s sister. But he was a kid back then! She was an adult. How could she fail at a children's game of all things?!

On their way back home, Teddy and Daphne were walking together. Daphne was silent. She was thinking about how Teddy stood up for her against his friends. ‘...more than that, she is my family... You come at her, you come at me’

This was the first time in her entire life that anyone older than her had stood up for her against anyone else. Hell, she was sure that this was the first time that anyone had ever stood up for her.

Her sister was too young to understand anything. Maisy was bound to listen to her mother, and her grandfather never cared about her, preferring to stay in the library or his room than to scold her mother, who would do her level best to mock Daphne and make her feel worse about herself.

‘I am sure Harry and Andy would have stood up for me too.’ She thought before thinking about Andromeda's statement yesterday. ‘Family hugs are the best.. Come here, we’ll show you…Family…Is this what having a family means? To support each other and yet caution each other? To stand for their own even if the world stands against you?’

She looked at Teddy, who was walking beside her. ‘I think so…yes. And I love my new family…they’re the best’

“Teddy?” She called the boy and hugged him tightly when he turned.

Teddy was surprised but hugged her back. “I am not complaining, but why the sudden hug? You alright?”

Daphne looked at his eyes, which were currently matching her own blue ones, and grinned. “Can’t I hug my…elder brother?”

Teddy was confused for a while before he remembered that mentally she was six years old and was probably thinking he was older because he was eight. He laughed at the late realisation and agreed.

“Yes, you can hug your elder brother anytime. In fact,” He held her hand and raised his little finger. The two crossed their pinkies, “From this day onwards, I, Teddy Lupin Potter, take you, Daphne Greengrass, as my younger sister.” The boy announced loudly.

“Wait, Teddy Lupin..Potter? Why Potter?” She asked him curiously.

“Because Harry takes care of me, so I took his surname too!” Teddy said and shrugged as they began walking again.

“Well, Harry takes care of me too.” Daphne muttered and grinned at Teddy. “So from this day onwards, I will be Daphy Greengrass Potter! Younger sister of Teddy Lupin Potter!!” The duo cheered before running back towards the Tonks house to tell Andy about their day.

That night, Daphne held Thea as she lay in bed. She was missing Harry way too much now. Why wasn’t he calling them? There was no letter; was he so busy that he couldn’t even do a small floo call?

She’ll not talk to him for a month when he comes back! Well, maybe not a month, a week maybe? No, how about three days? Yes, three days sounds good. He’ll have to get on his knees and beg for her mercy. Only then she’ll talk with him.

Oh, and buy her ice cream every day, read two stories, and bake her sweet rolls; how could she forget them?! Yes! Sweet-rolls everyday! And only then will she talk with him. Yes, nothing less than that. Not even if he makes his half-perfected ‘Daphne cute’ face. She’ll have to be strong and not fall for his innocent green eyes. Hmph!

But even then, slowly, her vision was blurring. Thinking about all this made her miss the Healer even more. She wiped her eyes and cuddled Thea closer as she looked at her hand, which had three outstretched fingers. She slowly closed one of them ‘Two more days to go... come back soon, Harry…I really miss you.’

.

The next day, Andy noticed that Daphne was a bit down than her usual hyperactive self. At first, she presumed that it might be because of what happened yesterday, but then the woman told her that she was missing Harry way too much.

She tried to console the girl and cheer her up. The duo did a few things around the house, but Andromeda saw that it wasn’t working at all.

In the evening, when Teddy came, he tried to cheer her up too, but his attempts didn’t last long, and soon enough, both of them were sitting in the living room. Their faces depicting their sadness. Andy saw this and tried to think of a way to cheer up her children. That’s when her eyes fell on the piano, and an idea came to her mind.

“Daphne, Teddy, you are missing Harry, right?” Andromeda asked the duo, and they gave slow nods.

“How about we give him a surprise when he arrives tomorrow?"  Andromeda asked, smiling widely.

“A surprise?” Daphne asked. “Are we going to bake sweet rolls again?

Andromeda laughed and shook her head. “No. I am sure he has enough of that surprise.” She laughed when she saw Daphne pout. “I will teach you two how to play Harry’s favourite song on the piano, and you can play it for him later when he comes.”

Teddy immediately looked excited at the prospect. “We can finally play the piano? And you will teach us gramma?” He clarified because Andy never allowed anyone except herself and Harry to touch his grandfather’s grand piano.

“Of course! Now come on, you two, we have a surprise to prepare.” She laughed when both her children ran to the playing stool to prepare for the lesson.

.

The next day, everyone was bubbling with excitement. Harry was about to come today, and tomorrow was the new year. Andy, Teddy, and Daph were preparing the house for New Year’s Eve and to welcome Harry. Daphne was almost vibrating with excitement.

“Is it time yet?” The Greengrass heiress asked for the upteenth time, looking at the clock. Why wasn’t the damn thing moving?! Was it broken? Why did it have to break today of all days!

“Not yet, Daph.” Andromeda sighed as she finished up the blue sweater with a large silver ‘DGP’ on it. “And it’s been only two minutes since you asked last time. Try reaching the fifteen-minute limit.”

“TWO MINUTES?! IT’S BEEN AN HOUR AUNTY! Your clock isn’t working!” Daphne cried and gave a pout when both Teddy and Andromeda laughed at her. Why couldn’t they see it? The clock was broken!

Andromeda was about to reply when the doorbell rang. Before she could have said anything, Daphne dashed towards the door and opened it. Although her excitement dampened when she came back with two bottles of milk and placed them on the kitchen island.

“The milkman wants to talk to you about his monthly payment.” Daphne glumly told Andromeda, who facepalmed and blamed herself for forgetting that as she went to pay the milkman.

Daphne watched her go and slowly dragged her feet back to her sitting position. She was about to sit when she suddenly felt something. It was as if someone was standing at the door. Someone she already knew, she slowly started walking towards the main gate again to check if her intuition was correct or not.

And there he was, his back facing her front as he pocketed the extra cash that the milkman returned. He was still wearing the black blazer and his muffler; his jet black hair was like a rat’s nest, but Daphne didn’t mind any of that. She knew Harry was here, and she ran towards the man.

Harry closed the main gate and turned; he just had enough time for his eyes to widen as a large blonde missile slammed into him, tackling him to the ground.

“Oww! Ow, Ow, OW!!” Harry cried, trying to soothe his bottom, which bore the complete impact of their combined weight. He laughed when Daphne just hugged him tighter.

The woman wasn’t making any sound and was content to simply hug him with all her might.

Due to the commotion, both Teddy and Andromeda joined them in the entryway, and Teddy rushed to hug Harry while Andromeda leaned on the side wall and laughed.

“Missed me?” Harry asked her and was surprised when Daphne looked up, tears falling from her eyes.

“Why did you leave me! Why?! I never knew how long five days actually are until today.” She cried, tightening her grip around him.

“It was needed, Daph, I-”

“No! You will not leave me alone! Promise me, Harry! Promise me that you will never leave me like this!” She cried, not caring about anyone.

Harry smiled at her before nodding. “I promise.”

“Promise what?!”

“That I will never ever leave you alone.” The healer said and patted Daphne, who leaned back into the comfort that his presence provided.

Meanwhile, Teddy slowly left Harry and Daphne as Andromeda called the small boy near her, “You promise to never leave me either, right, gramma?” He asked her.

Andromeda smiled, mussing the boy’s head. “Of course, Teddy, I will never leave you. We will always be together and have each other.” She told him. “In fact, now we have Daphne too, right? She is your younger sister, you have to be responsible to take care of her, right?”

Teddy nodded. “We will never leave each other and will always be together.”

Andromeda agreed. “And that’s why our favourite song is?”

“We shall overcome!” Teddy cheered as he went to pull Harry and Daphne towards the living room, where he played the song on the grand piano along with Daphne.

Harry laughed and praised the duo before announcing a family picnic for the next day on the occasion of the New Year. They were free to go anywhere, and they’d have fun for the entire day.

.

“Photos! Photos for you and your family!!” Cried a man. “Save the memories you make for a lifetime! Only 2 for a piece!”

Daphne, wearing her new sweater that was knitted by Andy, was holding Harry’s hand as she ate the cotton candy with the other one. Teddy was walking beside her as he held Andromeda’s hand, and he was eating cotton candy too.

The Potter and Tonks family was currently moving through a crowd of people as everyone was busy enjoying the new fair. Some were enjoying the rides, some were enjoying the sweets, while others were enjoying the view and having fun.

“Harry, can we have a photo?” Daphne asked him.

He looked at Andromeda before agreeing.

The family as a whole posed for the camera. Daphne and Teddy were standing in between, while Harry and Andy stood on their sides.

“Say cheese!” The cameraman told them.

“CHEEESSEEEE…..!!!” Everyone said, and there was a bright flash of light, making them blink their eyes to remove the green spots in their vision.

Daphne was amazed at the fact that a small strip came out of the camera, and the man shook the strip. He then asked for everyone’s name as he wrote it on the photo.

“Here is your photo, sir.” The cameraman said that and gave it to Harry. But before Harry could have taken it, Daphne snatched it out of the cameraman’s hand.

“I’ll take it!” Daphne told him and looked at the photo. She grinned when she saw the photo, her new family was with her.

The photo was really a precious thing for her.

“Brother?” She called Teddy and handed him the photo. “I want you to keep this photo safe for me. Harry will not give me because he is a booli and Aunty will…” She looked at Andromeda, who raised her eyebrow. Daphne immediately turned back and muttered in his ear. “Let’s not talk about her, Ted. She still scares me.”

Teddy nodded and placed the photo in his pocket.

Soon enough, they were going through the fair again as Daphne started singing. “~We are going on an ooting! We are going on an Ooting-Ooting~”

Harry poked her. “Outing.”

Daphne gave a salute and changed her song accordingly.

The group as a whole decided to try the large Ferris wheel. So they gathered below the large ferris wheel for the ride to end and join the next one.

That’s when Harry noticed something. His eyes flashed on the small box that was dropped from one of the compartments that were moving towards the top.

Midway through, the box opened, and Harry’s eyes widened as he saw the thing that was dropped from the box.

“ANDY! PROTECT TEDDY!!” Harry screamed as he pulled Daphne and started running away from the bomb that was falling.

Unfortunately, they weren’t quite fast enough as the bomb detonated mid-air. There were screams, and a large pressure wave came from behind them, throwing the two away as the world around them lit up in a bright golden flare.

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

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