It was almost seven, and Vernon Dursley was nearly hysterical.
"Petunia!" He yelled. "Is dinner ready?"
"Almost" was heard from the kitchen. "The chips need a couple more minutes"
"Food checked" mumbled the fat man, while turning to his only son. "Dudders, are you ready?"
"Yes dad" answered the young man, swinging in his feet, clearly uncomfortable about the evening.
"Good, good" said Vernon while he started to pace in the living room, clearly nervous about the visitor. "Everybody, gather, we need to plan the dinner". Petunia left the kitchen while Dudley took a seat in the two couches the Dursley possessed.
"So" he started, addressing his family. "This is the new principal owner of Grunnings, and I was the only one of the managers who got her to accept an invitation to dinner" he puffed his enormous chest, while his son and wife nodded. "Therefore this evening needs to be perfect. This girl is quite young and she probably has no idea what to do. After all, women are useless outside the house, so she will be overwhelmed with everything"
Dudley turned his gaze towards his mother, attempting to see if that comment annoyed her. He couldn't find anything in Petunia´s face.
"If we manage to get a good impression on her" continued Vernon "I may become his trusted advisor, and finally get the promotion my hard work deserves" He concluded with an ugly grin.
"How young is she" asked Petunia, understanding her husband pause as permission to talk. "Maybe we can get her with Diddykins"
Ignoring his son sudden tensing, Vernon answered. "The bitch is young Petunia, but I fear that that won't happen. The rumors at Grunnings say that the actions are part of her wedding gift" he commented. "Apparently both her father and the boyfriend are filthy rich"
With a disappointed pout, Petunia went back to the kitchen at the time the bell rang.
Instructed by his father, Dudley opened the door to find a beautiful sight. The young woman was stunning, dressed in black jeans, an elegant white shirt and a black jacket, with a simple and expensive-looking necklace. Her blonde hair was tied in a short ponytail, letting her sharp features be the focus of her appearance. Her eyes were blue, but the coldness they showed was enough to make Dudley avoid her gaze. His boyfriend maybe a lucky man, he decided, but he must also be a brave son of a bitch.
"Good evening" he asked politely. "May I have your jacket, miss…"
"Greengrass, Daphne Greengrass" she answered, with a voice as cold as her eyes.
Shuddering, Dudley hurried to hang the jacket, hoping that the terrifying blonde would become soon his father´s problem.
The dinner went by with a polite tension, while he observed his father's vain attempts to impress the young woman. It took a comment from Petunia to get a reaction from her.
"That's a beautiful ring dear" pointing at the elegant diamond ring she had in her hand. Dudley was no expert, but that ring looked silly expensive.
Daphne looked at her hand and smiled, for the first time in the evening. "It is, isn't it?" she said, while caressing it with affection. "My betrothed gave it to me in our last trip to France"
"Congratulations" exclaimed loudly Vernon. "When is the happy event" he asked, trying to calculate the time he had to get an invitation.
"January the 15th" she answered, while her sweet smile turned into an evil smirk. "In exactly two months I will become Daphne Potter"
Daphne let her guests process her words, and at the time comprehension and horror hit their faces, she hit them with a silencing charm, before conjuring strong ropes to restrain them.
"Finally" she exclaimed while standing, letting all of her anger to break her Ice Queen facade. "I think I was going to puke at this dreadful meal"
Turning to her prisoners, Daphne started her rant.
"You will have to understand that for a pureblood, family is the most important thing in the world. Since Harry and I will become family, it's important to me that nobody, and I mean nobody thinks is safe to mess with a Greengrass"
Standing right in front of Vernon, Daphne slapped him with an enormous strength for a girl her size. She was quite satisfied when she saw the blood in the fat man´s face.
"You are a really lucky man Vernon Dursley, because "the boy" you hate turned out to be one of the kindest person in the entire world". Daphne lifted slightly the man´s face, so he would look her dead in the eyes. "You basically destroyed his entire childhood, and yet, he forbade me to do any permanent damage to you or your family"
"However" continued the witch, seeing the relief in the Dursleys eyes. "That doesn't forbade me to ruin your life in other ways. Since I´m your boss now, you will never get another promotion in your lifetime. You will have to see how better men and women surpass you in your work, with nothing you can do about it". With a satisfied smile she concluded. "If you think that another job will suit you better, you will find that the Greengrass name can close a lot of doors for you, even in the muggle world"
She wasn't completely pleased, but that punishment was the best she can do without breaking her promise to Harry. Turning her attention to Petunia, she pointed her wand right in the middle of her eyes, trembling with rage while the older woman shrunken in her chair.
"You make sick" growled Daphne, barely containing her anger. "I would both kill and die for my sister, and yet, you used your only living blood family as a freaking house elf!"
Sticking her wand in Petunia´s neck, she kept going "I didn't have the honor of meeting James and Lily Potter, but I´m sure that, if the case were the opposite and the orphan was your son, he would have grown as an equal to Harry, even if he wasn't a wizard" Daphne said, with rage making her eyes glow. "I want you to know that even if you were a witch, as your younger self desired, she was still the better sister, and nothing you will do in your life will change that" concluded the blonde, while Petunia started to cry, ignoring her husband shocked stare.
As the witch approached Dudley, he sat straight, ready to take his part. In the past years he had thought carefully about his behavior towards his cousin, and he knew that everything his future relative would tell him was completely deserved. However the rant never arrived.
"I don't know why" She deadpanned. "But Harry wants you in the wedding" She said, handling him a small white card. "The letter itself is a portkey, touch it in the indicated hour and it will transport you there"
Stepping back from the table, Daphne shot one last blow. "Just imagine all the gold Harry has, that this ring barely made a dent in his fortune. Imagine how grateful and generous he would have been, with a family that loved him"
Cancelling the silencing charm, she turned to leave to house, stopping right in her tracks when she heard one of them calling. "What´s the dress code" Dudley asked, ignoring the bewildered expressions of his parents.
With a little smile and without turning, Daphne answered. "Harry says that a suit should work, but probably a tox will be more discrete"
"A tux?"
"Something like that"
As Daphne grabbed her jacket, she could hear another voice.
"Your freak government won't let you get away with this" shouted Vernon with all his guts. "They will throw you with the dementoids?"
With a now genuine smile, Daphne turned to answer. "Please dear. I'm the fiancée of the savior of magical Britain and the Minister of Magic comes to dinner with us at least once a month. I could kill you and nobody will do anything to me"
"Except Harry" she thought. With a crack, the blonde witch apparated.
Standing in the hallway at Grimmauld Place, she took her time to undo her ponytail before calling the house elf.
"Kreacher!"
With the loud "crack" typical of elf-apparition, the ancient house elf answered to her call with a deep bow. "Mistress Daphne called"
"Is Harry home?"
"Master Harry bes in the library Mistress" answered Kreacher allowing himself a small smile. "Kreacher just delivered his daily whisky"
A smile appeared in the witch expression. When they started to date, Harry didn't drink anything stronger than a butterbeer, and the afternoon-whisky tradition grew with their relationship. It was an inside joke that when one couldn't arrive to their date, the other had to take two in the missing one´s honor.
"Thank you Kreacher, I will accompany him with another"
With another bow, the elf disappeared.
Making her way to the library, Daphne found her future husband in his favorite couch, reading what it looked to be the new edition of The Noble Sport of Warlocks. Rolling her eyes, she hug him from behind, planting a kiss in his cheek.
"Evening" Harry said with a grin. "Short dinner?"
"Short but awful" answered the blonde, taking seat in her own couch. "Muggle business-man are just as boring as the wizards"
With a sympathetic smile, Harry returned to his lecture when Kreacher appeared with Daphne´s glass.
She could only observe him, with a big smile that only her sister have watched before. After dealing with his family, she could finally start with her new project. Giving Harry a family, and a place he could completely call home. After all, there is nothing more important for a pureblood than family.