After the last of the guests had left, Harry changed out of his dress robes, opting to wear only his boxer-briefs instead. Walking back down, he plopped himself on the comfortable couch in the informal drawing room, relaxing as the environmental charms around the room blew cool air in his face. He was exhausted and was glad that Dylan had taken the responsibility of putting Rigel to sleep.
"Had fun at the ball?" asked Daphne as she sat down opposite to him. She too had changed out of her formal dress.
"Oh yes," he said, closing his eyes. "It went better than I thought it would. What about you? I noticed that you were annoyed with Cormac McLaggen. I don't blame you. I've heard rumours of his bragging skills."
"You noticed?" asked Daphne bitterly, unable to hide the hurt in her voice. She gave a watery chuckle. "I'm impressed! And here I thought you had forgotten about my existence the entire evening."
Harry's eyes immediately snapped open. "What are you talking about?" he asked, sounding confused.
"Don't play innocent with me," snapped Daphne angrily. "You didn't talk to me during the entire event. You didn't ask me to dance with you - not once! Instead, you were flirting with every girl that caught your fancy. If you were planning on… do you have intentions of… why did you do it, Harry?"
"Do what?!" asked Harry incredulously. "Daphne, the whole point of this ball was to socialise with everyone. Everybody present wanted to talk to me and, well, I didn't have time to search for you. Besides, we were hosting the ball, and with everything going on, it's not like we had to talk to each other at the time."
That was the wrong thing to say.
Daphne shook her head, and the young wizard was startled to see tears pool in her eyes. He couldn't understand what was going on.
"So, you had been planning it all along," she said in a hollow voice. "I should have known… how stupid of me to have not realised it until now!"
Swallowing hard, Daphne stood up shakily and murmured, "Good night, Harry. I'll see you at the World Cup."
Harry's eyes widened. World Cup? That was weeks away! Did his fiancée just say that he wouldn't get to see her until then? Getting to his feet, he rapidly moved towards her to stop her from leaving.
"Daphne, what the hell is wrong with you?" asked Harry angrily.
"What's wrong with me ?" shouted Daphne, her eyes suddenly blazing with fury. "You expect me to remain calm about all this? You ignored me for several hours straight! The ball went on for five hours! Not once did you talk to me or did we make an appearance together! Yes, you were busy talking to people from old to young, but that's the problem. You did it alone! We're betrothed and we should have done it together!"
"You could have just come up to me yourself. Not everything is my fault," said Harry stiffly.
"And how was I to do that when you were being surrounded by girls the entire time? Don't be dense, Harry. They weren't there only for Rigel; they were there to curry favour with you!"
"But what's the point?" asked Harry coldly. "I'm already betrothed to you, aren't I? How would it matter if they flirted with me? Why in Merlin's name are you blowing things way out of proportion? You're honestly not making any sense!"
"Really?" asked Daphne incredulously. "You still haven't realised why I'm this upset? Why didn't you just tell me what you were planning? At least then, I wouldn't have gotten this emotionally involved with you!"
"Oh, just spit it out, will you? What the hell has gotten into you today?" asked Harry, gritting his teeth. "If you're jealous because people were around me -"
"Not another word, Potter," said Daphne, her eyes glinting dangerously, not wanting to admit that he was spot on in detecting her jealousy. "Clearly, since you are too stupid to realise what is going on -"
Harry's eyes flashed angrily at being called stupid. " Well ?" he hissed, switching to Parseltongue for an instant in his anger. "Tell me, Greengrass, what did I miss?"
"You have a duel Lordship, a phenomenon that, historically, has nearly always attracted multiple partners for the sole heir or heiress," said Daphne quietly, looking down at her feet. "You are the future Lord Potter-Gryffindor and the Greengrass Lordship will also be inherited by our children. All those girls were doing their best to gain favour with you for that reason. Polygamy and polyandry are rare, but not unheard of. Since you avoided me the entire evening, it's not far off for me to assume that you were looking for a future wife for those titles. If you were considering it, you could have at least told me, Harry. Didn't it cross your mind that I deserve to be informed about it?"
Daphne paused when she was greeted with silence. She looked up in confusion and blinked in surprise at the shocked expression on her fiancé's face. They stood there for a few moments, simply staring at the other, trying to understand what the other was feeling. After nearly a minute, Harry sighed and gently guided her to the sofa. Kneeling before her, taking her hands in his, he began.
"Daphne," he said softly. "I swear to you, such thoughts never even crossed my mind! I didn't know. I swear, I didn't know."
"Y-You mean," she stuttered, "You weren't actually -"
" No! Never! And as for us not making an appearance together, Daph, I seriously don't think anyone noticed!"
....
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