A/N: All I can really say is sorry about the long wait. This story is very personal to me for many reasons. I'm sure most of you reading can guess why. I have always wanted to finish it and I have a pretty clear path for this story. I appreciate all the support and people who have read it and waited. I cannot promise I'll keep up a solid pace, but I feel better than I have in years. Anyway, thank you all for reading this story and for your support.

Chapter 17

"Just…I can't…who does he think he is?" Astoria asked pacing around her room. "This is just, I'm the one…he can't," a groan passed through her lips as her husband watched on. He could have imagined more than a few bumps during his first year of marriage but her sister and Harry Potter wouldn't have been on his list.

"I don't know what she sees in him. He unemployed now! What sort of life is she supposed to have?"

"I think you're overacting," Draco said. He really just wanted to get to sleep and not think about Harry Potter for once. His wife wasn't going to give him that wish.

"She's in the paper now! Do you realize what this means?" she asked placing her hands on her hips.

"It means that some two-bit journalist got some information and wrote a hit job. It also means that they're both too trusting to know have put up privacy wards. You know how the press gets with him. If I recall correctly you laughed at every single piece of dating information they pulled when he was dating the Weaslette, and when they thought he might be dating Granger,"

"Didn't you provide and embellish half of that information?" Astoria asked sitting down on the bed.

"Mostly about Granger, but the point is: we knew this was coming. Your father just couldn't pay people off forever. He shouldn't either,"

"And why is that?" she asked raising an eyebrow as Draco sighed and hit his head against his pillow.

"If I say something you have to promise not to get angry," Astoria nodded in agreement. "Daphne is weird. I don't understand her. I think I married the better sister. She is also an adult who can take care of herself,"

Astoria opened her mouth in protest. Draco held up his hand. "I mean that sincerely. She lives on her own and yes, it's in the muggle world but she still does it. She knew what she was getting into with Potter and don't pretend she didn't. She's not dumb. She's strange, but she's not an idiot. No matter what your family may think,"

Astoria sat there fuming just a bit but nodding at him to continue. "This was part of it," Draco said. "This is part of what happens when you put yourself out there. If she can't handle it. Then she shouldn't be dating Potter,"

"I agree with you on that point. I just knew this would hurt her. I wanted to give him a chance. I just don't think that he's good for her," Astoria whined finally laying down on the bed and getting closer to her husband.

"He's not hurting her though. You've had to go over there less, you've spent less time reading into every letter, and you said your mother seems calmer about her,"

Astoria couldn't refute anything that he had said. This was the least she had to worry about her sister in years, perhaps ever.

"Look, I'm not the biggest Potter fan. I think he can be an arrogant little shit half the time. He is…noble. He's not dating your sister to be mean, as a joke, or because he wants her money. I don't know why he likes her but he does and you need to either relax or talk with him about this," Draco said, wrapping his arm around her and holding her close. "I don't like you getting stressed like this," he said kissing her.

Astoria pulled him tighter and nodded. "I know. I just didn't want her to be in the paper. I don't want her to spiral. I don't want…I just want her to be normal. Instead of being normal she dates the one person who she can't be that with. She seems happy with him. I just don't want it to end with her hurt more," she sniffled.

"Talk with Potter. He's dense but he's not playing games with her," Draco said.

"How can you be so sure?" Astoria asked.

"He's Harry Potter. If he really wanted to, half the girls we knew in school would be in bed with him right now and that number might be closer to 75%. If he wanted to play around, there are more eager players. Plus, your family didn't do anything to him or join up with the Dark Lord. He just honestly likes your sister. I don't understand it but it'll be fine. A few more headlines and it'll be past us," Draco feeling quite assured that the worst was over.

Astoria huffed and puffed and kicked her legs a bit. "Maybe I'll talk to him after they get back about this," she said looking up at the ceiling. That was just another stress in her life. Maybe she should let go and see if Daphne could stand on her own two feet. "I'm going to bed," she said. Things would look clearer in the morning.

Harry crumpled up another piece of paper and threw it across the room in frustration as Daphne sat next to him, reading.

"Maybe a vacation isn't the best place to do this," she said rubbing her foot up against his to comfort him.

"I know. I just…I keep going back and forth on this," he sighed. "I need to be honest. That's the first step. I know I said that I could worry about it later but…" he trailed off and looked down.

"But what?" Daphne asked putting her book down.

"It's a big deal. Like I want it to be perfect. I take it back. I don't want it to be perfect. I need it to be perfect. I can't get it out of my head. I'm sorry. I know you want to be off doing something fun,"

"I'm happy here with you," she smiled at him. "I just don't like seeing you like this,"

"Okay, I'll stop it for now," he said putting the paper down. "I don't know if I'll go through with it anyway,"

"Why not?"

"Because…because I'm going to have to go all out with it. I'm going to have to explain things to everyone. People are going to know everything about it. I've done a lot for this world; do I need to do more?" he asked.

Daphne gave him a look. "I think, you do. At least that's how you feel. You came in here ranting like a mad man about how you wanted to change the world with your money. I understand you were a little on edge but I think you want to do this," she started to rub his arm lovingly.

Harry stayed quiet as he pulled her closer. "You're right. It's just that you're the only person who knows just how bad it was. I'm putting myself out there with this,"

"I don't think that's a bad thing. What happened to you was awful," she said sadly. It still bothered her when she thought about his childhood. She knew that things like that happened but they weren't supposed to happen to the most famous wizard in England. They were supposed to happen to random nobodies. That would be horrible too but it felt surreal to think about someone who was famous from the age of one would have to endure what Harry did.

"Do you really think that me sharing is going to help?"

"I think it will. My therapist says that writing things out helps. So far, I've found it to be comforting. You don't have to publish it now. You could wait until you're ready," she suggested.

Harry thought it over grumbled a bit. "Maybe, I'm not sure what I'll do. It's just…hard y'know," he said gulping a bit. He felt a bit of pressure in his chest.

"I know,' she said rubbing his shoulders and kissing his neck. "I just think that it's something to look into. We're not going to do anything that you don't want to," she said.

Harry nodded and started to relax a bit. "I'm going to consider it. It'll take time though. You're the only one who really knows," he said.

"I'm thankful that you trust me," Daphne said smiling and laying back down on the bed, her hands moving to her torso. "When we get back to England, I want to join a gym," she said.

"Is it because of…" Harry asked treading carefully.

Daphne shrugged. "Kind of. Maybe. I'm not sure. I don't hate my body, but I think if I just started doing some more exercise it wouldn't kill me. I'm not about to crash diet or anything," she assured him understanding how it might look to him.

Harry looked unconvinced but opted to monitor the situation instead as he sighed and looked down at the paper.

"Do you need to be alone?" Daphne asked rubbing his back, lightly scratching it in a pleasing way.

"No, I'd just like you to stay here with me. I'm just going to be quiet for a bit," Harry said his hands shaking.

"We could go out for a bit. This is supposed to be a break," she said looking at all the crumpled bits of paper around them.

Harry leaned over and hugged her tight. "I don't want to lose my stomach for this, you don't mind?" he asked worried she'd say yes. Instead she just shook her head.

"If you think you need to do this now, I'll live. I mean after the paper the vacation has been messed with anyway. We'll just make the next one extra special," she said butterflies going through her stomach when she said that. She still worried that Harry wouldn't want to go on a vacation with her ever again. She shook her head. 'I really need to stop talking like that'

"Next vacation will be much better," he promised. "I just need to get this done," he said putting his head down and going to work as Daphne reached into her bag and took out a book to read while he worked on it.

An hour later Harry felt spent. There was a gnawing feeling in the pit of his stomach. He looked down at it, somewhat proud but at the same time absolutely terrified of what he had written. No matter what, he wanted to release it on his own terms. He closed his eyes and leaned back. "It's done," he said.

Daphne looked up at him. "Do you want me to read it? It's fully done?" she asked.

"Not really but everyone will. You should be the first and it's fully done," Harry said looking quite sweaty.

"If you're really uncomfortable…" she started.

"Oh hell, I love you so much. It has to be you," he said.

Daphne nodded feeling honored and gently took it from his hand to start reading it.

When people think of the Boy-Who-Lived they often thought of some spoiled young boy. Maybe he lived in a Castle. Maybe he lived in a Manor. That part didn't really matter. Everyone knew he was a spoiled boy who had house elves at his call at all hours of the day. As always the truth is messier. I didn't know what a house elf was until before my second year of Hogwarts.

There were no castles, there was no one serving me. I served others. After the death of my parents I was forced to go live with my relatives. I've often wondered the legality of it but it happened. My relatives weren't just scared of magic, they hated it and by proxy hated me.

I didn't know my name until I went to school. At home I as just 'Boy'. They made me sleep in a cupboard under the stairs. I was forced to cook for them, clean for them, garden for them. I was treated no better than how house elves are treated now.

Throughout all of it no one noticed what happened to me. My Aunt and Uncle would always find some excuse and no one from the Ministry bothered to check, if they even knew I was there.

Albus Dumbledore left me on their doorstep on October 31st. I'm uncertain if I was given a warming spell but my Aunt found me the next morning. She had no say in it and didn't love me. I didn't truly understand what love was until I reached Hogwarts.

I write this not looking for pity. I write this to say that we need to do better. If something like this can happen to me then it can happen to anyone. I plan on leading the way with helping any child stuck in a situation such as mine. I'm am announcing the Creation of the Harry Potter Foundation. Its goal will be to help any child in need along with improving muggle wizard relations.

Daphne read it over a few times and nodded at it. There were a few things she wanted to ask him about. The spelling and grammar weren't perfect, and it seemed like he was writing just to get it over with. "It's a lovely first draft," she said.

"First draft?" Harry asked.

"Yes, it's a solid start but it shows you wrote this in one go. At least the bulk of it. I know you've been trying to write it all day, but did you take anything from any of your other notes? Did you never improve your papers while you were at school?" she asked.

Harry didn't say anything and looked at it. "I'm not sure I can do it again," he said.

"I'm not saying you have to do it again. You've done it once you just need to adjust it. It feels like your rambling," she said. "You did it though and did anything bad happen?" she asked.

"No," Harry said a very odd feeling of calm coming over him.

"Then we can edit it and say as much or as little as you like. It's a lovely baseline," she said.

Harry didn't love the idea of bringing up those old memories anymore than he had to but if he really wanted to help abused children. He would have to. He could just throw money at it but that really wasn't the kind of thing that would work. He recalled being that age and wishing he had someone who was actually there for him. He took the paper and made sure to put it in his suitcase and then put a few different locking charms on his suitcase.

"Thanks, let's head down and get something to eat. I feel…better," he said standing up and looking at her.

"Sounds great," she said smiling. She knew that it was hard for Harry, but Harry had been there for her. She didn't know why. She was fat, she wasn't that pretty, and she was crazy. She shook her head to get those thoughts out. Harry didn't think that. Harry loved her. At any rate, they needed to go back to enjoying this vacation.

"Harry," she said.

"Yeah?"

"You know that…if you ever want to talk or share something with me that you're not going to write. I'm a great listener," she said.

Harry nodded and then a smirk appeared on his lips. "And yet you never listen to your sister," he said jokingly realizing as soon as he said it that it might be taken the wrong way. He opened his mouth to correct himself.

Daphne just snorted. "Yeah well…Astoria just has a big mouth," she said as she went to get ready.

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