Power Plays Chapter 58

Every single paper, magazine, and emergency leaflet across Britain made some kind of reference to the horrendous attack upon Daphne Greengrass the day following the event. None spared offering even mere token sympathies to the woman who’d nearly been killed in the midst of declaring her intent to run for Minister for Magic. Most major outlets delivered lengthy pieces discussing the impact of Daphne joining the race and how she stacked up against Amelia. These tended to be favourable of course, but they would eventually begin to more explicitly question her experience and age once she was back up on her feet.

On the second day though, those stories quickly gave way in favour of the juicier story: Who attacked Daphne Greengrass?

The press was rampant with speculation. It was well known that Harry, acting in his role as Head Auror, had brought both Amelia and Rhys down to his office for a private meeting shortly after the attack, which fuelled rumours that one of them was behind the attack. There were more fringe theories that somehow the Death Eaters had returned once again or that some unknown party was behind the attack. The former was easily dismissed thanks to a clear report from the Auror Department that the Death Eaters were gone for good, but the later remained open as a possibility.

Rita Skeeter played an important role in fuelling the stories that it was either Amelia or Rhys behind the attack. She drew up salacious rumours, some she made up herself and others that originated from within the Ministry itself, to use as springboards to explain why they would want to target Daphne.

On and on, the circus ran itself rampant in a circle as multiple special evening editions of papers went out. Each time the Aurors brought in someone for questioning, the press would make sure that everyone across Britain knew that there was a new potential suspect in the case. Then, once that person was inevitably released, they’d return to their useless speculation.

Without any clear answers as of yet, everyone’s eyes were on Harry. In the eyes of the public, he’d made it his personal mission to track down the one who’d harmed his fiancée. Truly though, it was mostly up to Tonks and Gabrielle to maintain this inquisition while he spent time in St Mungo’s.

It was a wonder that the silence of the hospital wasn’t disturbed by a child walking around it. The cries of babies and the whinging of small children was a common sight within the waiting room at the front of the building. They were either scared of the sights around them or simply eager to get on with it all and leave so that they could do something more interesting. It was rare for a child to be calm in a hospital, but Delphini managed it with ease so long as Harry held her hand. It amazed him to see how quickly she’d attached herself to his and Daphne’s side since they took her in.

“Do you want to grab a snack before we go see Daphne?” Harry asked her as they walked the clean, white corridors.

Delphini looked up at him with clever eyes. “You want one, don’t you?”

Harry chuckled quietly. “Guilty as charged. But I was also thinking about getting Daphne her favourite sweets: chocoballs and some caramel cobwebs.”

“That sounds nice,” Delphini said. “Could I get some nougat?”

“Of course you can,” Harry smiled down at her.

After making a brief stop up on the fifth floor to get their sweets, Harry took Delphini back down the lift and through the winding corridors towards Daphne’s room. A full squad of four Aurors stood outside of her door, scanning everyone who went past.

Harry gave them an approving nod as they quickly let him and Delphini through. Once Harry closed the door securely behind him, Daphne sat up in bed and smiled at them.

“Are you finally here to free me from my prison?” She joked.

“Please,” Harry rolled his eyes playfully. “You’ve only been here for a couple of days. You’ve got nothing on my record back at Hogwarts. I reckon that I must have spent over a month there across the six years I attended.”

“A tremendous feat,” Daphne snorted. “Andromeda told me that I could leave this afternoon once I had my final checkup.”

“She said that she’s sending someone around soon to clear you for release from your prison,” Harry replied.

“Good. There’s much to be done.”

Delphini eagerly hurried to Daphne’s bedside and held out the small bag that held their collective sweets. “We got you something.”

“Did you now? How sweet,” Daphne smiled at her. As she reached into the bag, Harry was relieved to see that her body didn’t tense up at all. She was able to stretch and move her head around without getting dizzy or exhibiting any sign of pain; although, knowing Daphne, it wasn’t likely that she’d show off any weakness if she could help it. Daphne was very protective over Delphini and didn’t want her to see any more violence in the world after everything that she’d been through with Bellatrix and Emile.

Daphne took a careful bite of a caramel cobweb, letting the sweet begin to melt away on her tongue before she took the rest. She moaned in contentment and then gestured for Delphini to try one too.

As the two of them were sharing sweets, a quiet knock sounded at the door. Harry cracked it open to find one of his Aurors on the other side.

“A mediwitch is here to see Ms Greengrass,” the Auror said. “She says that she’s a friend.”

Harry frowned. A friend?

“Send her in,” Harry replied.

He pushed the door the rest of the way open and stepped out of the way as the mediwitch came into view. It took Harry a moment to recognise her, which was unsurprising given the fact that the last time he’d seen her had been when she was a patient here too.

Tracey Davis came bustling in with a mischievous grin on her lips. Her wavy, mahogany-brown hair bounced prettily as she strolled into the room. She had on a typical set of mediwitch robes that were neither form fitting nor loose but still managed to be quite flattering to her figure.

“Guess who’s in charge of you leaving,” Tracey called out in a singsong voice to Daphne. She winked at Harry as she passed by, and he stepped back with an amused smile to let the two best friends get on with their banter.

“Oh great,” Daphne grumbled. “I still have no idea how you managed to convince them to let you start working again within a week of you finally being released from this place.”

“They’re always short on healers and mediwitches,” Tracey answered as she made her way to the opposite side of Daphne’s bed from where Delphini was standing. “And besides, they already know that I’m brilliant at this job. I had half of the floor organised according to my standards while I was still a patient here.”

“You must’ve made the other mediwitches’ lives miserable,” Daphne replied.

“Only the ones who weren’t doing their jobs right,” Tracey argued back playfully. “Speaking of which, do you know how refreshing it is to work under someone like Andromeda? There’s a witch who knows her business.”

“That she does,” Harry commented.

Smiling at him briefly, Tracey turned towards Delphini. “And how are you doing today?”

Delphini lit up with a bright smile as she showed off her bag of sweets to Tracey. Ever since she’d woken up from the curse that Bellatrix had placed upon her, Tracey never went without at least a weekly visit from Daphne. Astoria, Draco, Harry, and Narcissa had gone along as well, and that meant that Delphini was a regular visitor too.

“Ooh, chocoballs,” Tracey squealed excitedly as she pulled out the strawberry mousse and clotted cream-filled chocolate treat. With her mouth full, she patted Delphini gently on the head. “You sure do know Daphne’s favourite sweets.”

“They’re supposed to be for me. You know, the patient,” Daphne huffed in faux annoyance. Harry knew that as much as they teased each other and went back and forth like this, it was all light-hearted fun.

“Oh, so you’re still ill enough that you need to stick around for an extra day or two?” Tracey asked innocently. “Or are you feeling well enough to leave today and therefore not in a pitiable-enough state that I can’t have some of your sweets?”

Daphne’s jaw snapped shut, but she still glared daggers at her best friend.

Tracey took her time finishing up the treat before she drew her wand. “You can keep eating,” she told Daphne. “This will take a few minutes.”

Delphini and Daphne continued eating their sweets, and Delphini even came over to deliver Harry one of his miniature treacle tarts, as Tracey worked her magic. Harry was all-too familiar with the spells she used, which were designed to diagnose various areas of a patient’s body to see if the healing spells and potions had worked as well as they had been expected to. Anything from sloppy casting to old ingredients could lessen the effectiveness of a healing regiment.

Tracey worked with a deft hand. Her wand motions were smooth, and she jotted down her results with a quill onto a sheet of parchment that floated in the air next to her. Harry occasionally glanced over her shoulder to read the reports. Everything seemed to have healed up as expected.

After a short while, Tracey finally stowed her wand. The parchment rolled itself up into a scroll and deposited itself into a small container at the foot of Daphne’s bed.

“You seem to be healing up perfectly well,” Tracey finally informed Daphne. “Your skull is the only thing we need to keep an eye on. We have a bone-knitting potion—much more palatable than Skele-Gro—that you’ll need to take daily for the next five days to make sure that the charms our healers used really stick. Beyond that, you’ll need to care not to injure yourself any further. That means not doing anything that might make your head bounce around a bunch… like jumping a lot or getting fuc—”

“Thank you, Tracey!” Daphne said loudly, cutting her friend off before she could finish her sentence.

“No problem,” Tracey grinned. “You can feel free to get changed while I collect your potions. Feel like helping me, Harry?”

“Sure,” he replied smoothly, noticing the look in her eyes that she clearly wanted to talk about something. “I guess we’ll be right back. Are you okay staying with Daphne, Delphini?”

“Of course,” Delphini replied.

Tracey led Harry out into the corridor past the Aurors before she began speaking.

“Daphne told me all about what happened. Everything about it, I mean,” she told him with a serious look.

Harry hummed in acknowledgement.

“I can’t believe that you’d let her go through with something so stupid,” she continued with just the slightest growl of frustration in her voice. “You’re supposed to be the voice of reason in the relationship.”

“Is that what you think?” Harry replied with a tinge of amusement. “I’m the one who’s always running into dangerous things recklessly.”

“But you have the unimaginable grace of somehow always being able to survive through it all,” Tracey countered. “Even back at Hogwarts, everyone thought that you were invincible. Daphne isn’t. She has big dreams and bold ambitions; each one is likely to get herself into danger, as we’ve already seen.”

“It was a calculated move,” Harry sighed, hating the fact that he was having to argue against his own thoughts and feelings on the matter that Tracey was clearly expressing. “Have you seen the craze that’s taken hold in the media? Once everyone sees that Daphne is alright and capable of running a proper campaign, she’ll have a surge of support from the masses.”

“And how long will that last for?” Tracey asked him. “The election is still weeks away, and the tides can shift between now and then.”

“That’s why we need to keep things moving along smoothly,” Harry said. “Daphne has a brilliant plan in place, one that you play an important role in if I’m not mistaken.”

“Oh yes,” Tracey rolled her eyes. “I’m supposed to be the one spreading the good word of Daphne to all of my patients and coworkers here at St Mungo’s. It pisses me off that she’s asking me to do that, especially since her plans to revitalise St Mungo’s and the healer training programs in Britain sound like just the thing we’ve needed since the war’s end. She should know that I would’ve tried to convince people to vote for her regardless.”

“That’s Daphne for you,” Harry replied. “She comes up with brilliant plans and asks you to play the role she’s come up with for you in them. It’s the politician in her; she likes to know that everything is perfectly in place. I’m sure that she knew that you’d try to convince people to vote for her regardless. Her asking you to do it is more to reassure her own mind than anything else.”

Tracey chuckled quietly. “It’s surprising to see how well you know her already. I guess that you two have been together for a while now; it was me who wasn’t around for most of it.”

They reached a lone door at the end of a corridor. Tracey opened it with a tap of her wand, revealing a small room lined with shelving units covered in vials of various potions. Small labels sat beneath each one, detailing the name of the potion and when it was brewed. The two of them stepped inside as Tracey strode forward to a specific shelf.

“She was terribly worried about you back when Bellatrix Lestrange was still alive,” Harry murmured. “She’d tried to break the curse on you but couldn’t find a way through.”

“And then she asked you to kill her to save me?” Tracey asked rhetorically. “I know. She told me about it.”

“It doesn’t sound like you’re happy about it though,” Harry pointed out.

“That’s because I’m not,” Tracey replied as she pulled out a small basket and handed it behind her back for Harry to take. “Ever since I was little, I’ve dreamed of becoming a healer. I’m only a mediwitch right now, but I fully intend on passing the healer courses in time. I want to take care of people and fix what’s wrong with them through medicine, not violence.”

“Daphne did try to fix you first,” Harry reiterated.

“I know,” Tracey sighed softly. “I don’t… it’s complicated. I’m thankful to be able to live my life again, but I’m unhappy that someone had to die in the process, even if that person was Bellatrix Lestrange. And I really don’t like that it was my best friend in the entire world who ordered the killing.”

“It was my choice to go through with it,” Harry told her. “And believe me, I had plenty of my own reasons for taking her down.”

“I know,” Tracey replied. “Take these.”

She handed back a vial filled with a shimmering bone-white potion inside. Harry placed it into the basket and waited for the next one.

“I understand everything that Daphne does, even if I don’t agree with it,” Tracey told him as she handed back more of the same potion. “I know that she’ll listen to my opinion and that it may even end up changing hers a bit too, but I need your help on this too. I don’t want Daphne risking her life like this ever again. If something went wrong and the worst was to ever happen… I could never forgive myself for not stopping her sooner. Please promise me that you’ll help me keep her safe.”

Tracey turned around then with the last vial in hand. She held it out to him while staring deep into his eyes.

“Promise me,” she said again.

“I promise,” Harry replied without hesitation as he took the final vial from her hand. This had already been a dangerous-enough move on Daphne’s part, and it would hopefully be the last of its kind. “As long as you promise to help me talk her down from any more crazy ideas.”

“Deal,” Tracey giggled. “So, how does this work now? Do we seal it with a handshake or do I get to fuck you like all of the other witches do?”

Harry laughed at that. “A handshake will suffice for now.”

“For now,” Tracey wiggled her eyebrows. “I like the sound of that. Daphne has been telling me quite a bit about how excellent a lover you are and the arrangement the two of you have. She was also quite keen on letting me know that I could join you two anytime I wanted, as long as you didn’t have a problem with it.”

“How could I ever turn down a witch as beautiful as you?” Harry replied smoothly.

Tracey laughed again. “Handsome and smart too. Daphne certainly found herself a perfect match. Let’s bring these potions back to her so that you three can get out of here.”

Harry’s spirits felt lightened as he and Tracey walked back to Daphne’s room. Knowing that he had someone else in his corner who was deeply vested in keeping Daphne healthy and safe was reassuring to say the least. Hopefully there wouldn’t be any more crazy plans before the election, but with how things were constantly in flux, Harry couldn’t rule any out. As long as he and Tracey could help temper Daphne’s wild ambitions, then they could make it through this election without much trouble.

The Aurors stood aside and allowed Harry and Tracey back inside, where they found Delphini sitting atop Daphne’s hospital bed, happily eating her sweets. A curtain had been erected on the far side of the room, and Daphne stepped out from behind it wearing a fine set of robes that resembled those that she’d worn the day of her attack.

“The press are waiting in the lobby for you,” Tracey told them. “The staff have had a hell of a time keeping them from sneaking up to this floor. There was talk about banning them from the premises entirely, but Andromeda worked out an agreement that kept them quiet and in place for now. If you want, we can sneak you out the back—”

“No,” Daphne shook her head. “I need to be seen so that the public knows I’m fine.”

“Fair enough,” Tracey nodded. “In that case, your Aurors can go down with you and help to handle the reporters down there. Try not to linger around too long or you might draw the ire of the administration here.”

“Thank you for everything, Tracey,” Harry said.

“Yes, thank you for finally letting me out of this place,” Daphne chuckled as she went over and gave her best friend a tight hug. “You’d better come around for supper tonight when you get off work.”

“I don’t get off until half past eight,” Tracey grimaced.

“It’ll be a late supper then,” Daphne replied instantly.

“Alright,” Tracey replied, her grimace turning into a smile. “It’ll be good to catch up outside of St Mungo’s for once.”

Delphini walked in between Harry and Daphne, holding onto each of their hands. The four Aurors assigned to protect Daphne’s room guided them to the lift, which took them down to the ground floor where the reception area was. Already, they could hear a commotion taking place out there. Harry wondered if Tracey had gotten someone to tip off the reporters that they were on their way down.

“Are you ready for this?” Harry asked Daphne.

She nodded solemnly. Taking a deep breath, she schooled her features into offering a pleasant smile. “Let’s do this and then get back home.”

The doors pushed open and the blinding lights of flickering cameras engulfed them.