CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Letters I Can't Send
October 1st, 1978.

Daphne liked fall, she liked to watch the leaves fall from that tall tree in the garden back at the manor and she adored the cold yet warm weather. Now, she was doomed to watch the people walking through Diagon Alley—some were shopping, others were going to work or drinking. But, this view was much sadder than the one back in Buckinghamshire.

Putting her pen down, she waited a few minutes for the ink to dry and folded her first letter of October. Daphne had developed a habit ever since she broke up with James; she would write letters and put them somewhere. Writing helped with growing as an individual, but also with getting over him. These letters were full of sadness and love, two things she had experienced the most during their last weeks.

She had not seen James and his friends again nor Fabian, which was kind of disappointing. Not that she wanted to see Fabian again, but parts of her were itching to see the man again. Why? She couldn't really answer that question; perhaps she wanted to see new faces instead of worrying about one's fate. Besides, she suspected James and his friends to have little Order missions here and there because they were rarely home from what other spies had told her.

Putting the letter in the box under the cabinet, she sighed and closed it. The box was named 'Letters I can't send'. Those were letters, pieces of paper, she wished she could send so he could read and understand that it was not easy to be who she was today.

Daphne grabbed her coat and headed outside, she loved walking around Diagon Alley in the mornings. It was peaceful and so quiet compared to the end of the day. For the second time, she bumped into someone and closed her eyes at the impact.

"Merlin, are you alright?" The man asked, reaching for her shoulder.

Daphne shook her head and looked up, "Yeah, I'm alright. I'm sorry I wasn't looking."

The man chuckled, "I reckon it's not the first time we bumped into each other," he replied as Daphne looked at him and recognised Fabian. "Daphne, is it?"

"Yes. Fabian, hi," she said as he smiled softly. "This needs to stop," she added with a chuckle.

Fabian pouted slightly, his hand giving her shoulder a squeeze, "Does it though?"

For a second, she felt completely mesmerised and shrugged, "I don't know."

"Are you busy?" She shook her head. "Right, would you like to go grab a coffee then?"

Daphne smiled widely, "Yes, I would love to."

They walked side-by-side through Diagon Alley and for the first time since the breakup, she felt at peace. She didn't feel this hole she usually felt, a hole that she couldn't fill, instead she felt lighter and happy. Fabian was definitely something else; he was joyful, he loved to make jokes and to talk. Daphne was kind of the opposite; she wasn't happy, she was the type to laugh at jokes and to listen.

"You know, you're not what I expected," Fabian admitted once they were sat down in the cafe. "I thought you'd be arrogant and...not so talkative, turns out you are none of these things."

"I usually have this bad image of myself that I have trouble changing," she admitted with a sigh. "Mainly thinks that I'm mean because I was Slytherin and my last name is Rosier."

Fabian snorted, shaking his head, "Last names don't define you. People are having a hard time understanding that. Give them time," he said softly.

"Thank you," she said, her lips twitching into a smile as she fought the urge to look away. "Do you have somewhere to be?"

"Not really," he replied. "So, Daphne, any sibling?"

"My brother, Evan. He's a year younger so right now he's in school," she explained softly. "He's all I have."

"Oh, so you are a family type of person then! That's nice. I have a brother and a sister. Their names are Gideon and Molly. Gideon is my twin and Molly is my little sister," he ranted and Daphne could see that he cared about his family a lot. "Also, Molly has three boys already and she's expecting twins."

"Wow, it must be complicated at home?"

He snorted, "You could say that. Poor Molly is overwhelmed with them."

Daphne hummed, nodding, "Tell me, are you living far from here?"

Fabian shook his head, "No, I live in Camden with my brother," he said. "The flat is rather nice and the neighbours are too."

"Oh, Merlin! I absolutely love Camden. It's gorgeous," Daphne exclaimed, wrapping her hands around the hot mug. "It must be nice."

"Do you? That's bloody amazing! I'll show you around sometime, if you want to of course," he added with a cheeky smile as she hummed softly.

Daphne couldn't help but stare. She hadn't felt this way since James, well she hadn't felt like this before James and now that he was gone she thought she would never feel these things again. Her heart skipped a beat whenever Fabian smiled and said her name. She wasn't sure of what this was yet, but she liked it. She loved not feeling so empty and alone anymore. Besides it was great to have someone to talk to, someone who wasn't on her side, someone who was surrounded with sane people.

"I'd like that," she said softly.

"Great!"

"I have to go meet some friends but how about we meet for dinner during the week?" He proposed and she blushed.

Daphne rested her head on her hand as she scanned his face, he had freckles all over it and brown hazel eyes, "How are you going to find me?"

"I know everything I need to know," he answered, mimicking her posture. "Where you live and your last name is Rosier. I'll pick you up, alright?"

Daphne chuckled, "Alright. I'll see you soon, then?" She spoke up, standing up as he did the same.

"Yeah," he nodded, reaching for her shoulder as he gave it a squeeze. "It was nice getting to know you, Daphne."

"You can call me Daph, and yes it was nice. Thank you," she said lowly. Perhaps, he couldn't understand why she was saying thank you but she needed to say it.

"Right, well you can call me Fab," he chuckled as she hummed. "See you soon, Daph."

Once again, she watched him leave. He put some galleons on the table and headed outside, giving her one last smile. Something felt so right when he said Daph, it echoed through her and made her all warm inside.

Gathering her things, she headed to the Leaky Cauldron to use the chimney powder so she could go back home today. She missed home, she missed waking up to Evan knocking on her door and she missed playing chess with her Mum. Closing her eyes, she threw the powder at her feet and felt herself being sucked up into it; a few minutes later, she was in her foyer.

A pop echoed next to her and she turned around to see Letty, her elf, "Hello, Miss Daphne," she exclaimed, happy to see her again.

"Letty, hello! I've missed you," Daphne told her. "Is anyone home?"

"Master Rosier is in his study and Mistress Rosier is in the garden," she informed. "Would you like I to announce you?"

"No, thank you," she replied, heading to the garden. The garden had gradually lost its colours while she was in her new flat. The tree leaves had turned orange or maroon, which she loved to see. "Hello, Mum," Daphne spoke up, making Amalthea jump.

"Oh, love! You scared me," she chuckled, moving closer to hug her. "How come you are here, darling? Evan and Barty are still at Hogwarts," she said.

Daphne shrugged, "I wanted to come see you," she admitted softly. "It gets lonely back in Diagon Alley."

Amalthea chuckled, rubbing Daphne's cheek, "And you missed the tree, didn't you?"

"How would you know?" Daphne asked with a frown.

Amalthea shrugged with a playful smile, "You've always loved that tree. Your father does too," she said. "He watches it a lot now that you're gone. You know, he misses you."

"Does he?" Daphne snorted as her Mum hit her arm. "Do not hit me!"

"Do not say your father doesn't miss you," she warned. "He does, he really does. He just got caught up in the whole thing, darling...You know how it is," she whispered.

Her mother had a hard time not siding with her father. It always had been Amalthea and Bacchus, not something else. For some reason, her mum loved him to death ever since they met. They were probably the only couple that was real and not some forced marriage from their parents. Daphne respected that and she wanted that, she knew her parents would never make her marry someone she didn't want.

"I know how it is, Mum," she replied. "But compared to me, he doesn't have lots to do Mum and you know that," she added, eyeing the tree. "He is not nice nor friendly. He's a psychopath and a bad one.

"I know, darling, I know," she responded with a sad sigh. "I'll be inside if you need me. Your father is in..."

"...his study, I know. Letty told me," Daphne finished her Mum's sentence. "I think I might head back home soon, I just needed to breathe some fresh air," she told her. "I love you, Mum."

"I love you too, darling."

Daphne stayed a long time after that, just admiring the tree and the leaves falling down. She waited until the sky was dark and the stars were appearing to walk back into the house. She greeted her father who had finally decided to  come downstairs and pay attention to his wife. With a kiss, she said her goodbye and went through the chimney. The silence of the manor was replaced by the noise of the packed Leaky Cauldron, she tried her best to make her way outside but she couldn't even reach the doors. Instead, someone grabbed her wrist and pulled her back.

"Oh, hello," a familiar voice spoke up as Daphne turned around. "Forgot about me, did you?"

Daphne recognised Rebecca instantly and relaxed instantly, "Merlin, Becca," she sighed happily. "How are you? And no, I didn't forget you."

Rebecca raised her eyebrow but answered, "I'm quite good, and yes, you did forget me. I haven't heard from you since your birthday, which was three bloody months ago."

"I'm sorry, Becca. I got caught up in everything and I've found a place near so it's been chaos really," she explained, taking Rebecca's hands in hers. "I've been busy."

"Alright," she replied, looking down at their hands. "But this is the last time you ever forget about me, Daph!"

"I promise."

"Good, now tell me everything!"

"Everything?"

Rebecca rolled her eyes, "Obviously not everything, Daph. Just the essentials!"

"Right, er, I've met someone. His name is Fabian Prewett and he--"

"The Fabian Prewett?"

"I guess," Daphne replied with a frown. "What is it about Fabian?"

"Oh, Daph," Becca exclaimed. "He's hot, he was on the Quidditch team when we first started."

"Yes, he was," she replied. "Anyways, we've grabbed coffee this morning," she admitted with a soft blush. "He's very handsome and nice. I don't know where it's going though."

Rebecca chuckled, "Oh please. Are you meeting again?"

"He offered to take me to dinner sometime in the week," she said. "I've said yes so I will update you then. Are you here alone?"

"Of course not, I came here with Pandy but she went dancing," she said with a snort. "This reminds me of your birthday, Pandora was all over the place. Strong liquor should be forbidden for her," she stated with a laugh.

Daphne merely recalled her birthday. She remembered the beginning, which was probably the worst part of it all--the one where Sirius came then James. For the first time since she got James' gift, she started playing with it. To be honest, she had almost forgotten it was on her finger. She hadn't paid attention to it since she was so busy with everything.

The night ended in Rebecca and Pandora sleeping over because both of them were too drunk to even Apparate home, but Daphne didn't mind. On the contrary, it was always so calm that she missed the noise of others in the house.

—————
authors note, i'm back in my writing era! thank fucking god 😫 anyways, i can't wait to for you to see everything between daphne and fabian

i love youuuuu