Despite emerging victorious from the Second Wizarding War, defeating Voldemort, and finding love, it seems that happily ever after was never in the cards for Harry and Fleur. Bill went first, taken by a complicated trap in a former Romanian manor house Gringotts had acquired out of foreclosure. Ginny followed not six months later, brought down by a freak training accident that left the whole Quidditch community in shock. Now, two years on, the life of a single parent has taken its toll on Harry and Fleur.
The Weasley and Delacour families are nothing but supportive to the widowed parents and their six children (all the canon children), but they all have their own lives to manage on top of helping with childcare. Molly is slowing down; Arthur is in line for a promotion at the Ministry; Ron and Hermione are wrangling their own brood of even younger children.
Out of necessity, Harry and Fleur begin covering for each other whenever work gets in the way of running the household. Fleur turned to Harry the first time out of absolute necessity after all of her usual sources of help were unable to help. After that,
The children love the attention of a second parent and the new company. Hurried afternoon Floo calls asking for help quickly become requests for playdates and sleepover, and soon the children, and by extension, Harry and Fleur, are spending every weekend together. Somehow, a household with six children and two parents runs much smoother than one with three children with one parent.
With this newfound stability and companionship, Harry and Fleur finally start to come out of survival mode. The loss of a spouse and the life of a single parent had left both of them to push their own needs aside for too long, and as they finally start to get their heads back above water for the first time since their spouse's death, they find comfort in each other and the new life they share. Soon, this comfort turns into shared interest, and then further deepens into romance.
Featuring (Things Astro would include if writing this story)
- Healthy grief and coping mechanisms
- Harry and Fleur remembering that they, too, deserve happiness and that they do not have to sacrifice everything for their children.
- Single parents coming out of survival mode to rediscover old hobbies they used to love (Quidditch for Harry) and discovering new ones (Muggle ice skating for Fleur)
- The children viewing Fleur and Harry as New Mom/New Dad well before the couple actually admits their feelings to each other.
- Lots of scenes displaying character and relationship development for the Potter and Delacour children.