Meant To Be

Chapter 39

AN: Wow. I almost didn't make it before Christmas was over. I've been writing the last part of this chapter like crazy and here it is! Yay! I hope everyone is having a good holiday despite the pandemic. I have been super busy with work despite COVID going on, I've still been going into work, but being safe since everyone else in my office is working remotely. But because I'm by myself, I'm basically running everything physically in the office. Which was good, but I didn't have much time to write. Everything has just been crazy.

Anyway, I hope everyone is staying safe and now you can read this chapter! Read on!

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Over the next few weeks, Harry could feel the depressive mood he had been in finally lift and he could feel hope. After Tom had left that day, Ron and Hermione had understandably given him space and Harry had gone inside to lay down next to his daughter as she napped and let everything Tom had said sink in. He had said he had felt the same or felt something for him and the hope that filled his chest was so painful that tears had escaped his eyes, but for once, they were joyful. If there was something there and Tom was willing to try...Harry had to stop himself from fanaticizing too far in case it didn't work out, but that didn't stop the hopeful smile that he now wore around the house.

And Tom was actively trying, he would come over every few days to see Harry and Wynter, always staying outside since both Harry and Tom didn't believe it was appropriate to have the Dark Lord in their house, even if they didn't know it. So they kept it outside. Wynter was overjoyed that she got to see her Daddy regularly now and her tantrums had stopped, though she still wanted to go home. She seemed to understand that her Mama and Daddy were trying to make up. They were at least talking to each other now and her Mama was happier than he had been in a while.

Ron and Hermione were happy for him too if a little confused about the whole thing. He couldn't blame them as they didn't know the whole story or the truth. As far as they knew, Harry had met Marque and hit it off and started seeing each other, and then suddenly they are sleeping with each other and living together...in any normal relationship the couple would at least be feelings involved from the start and it would evolve from there. But Marque's freak out over the "L" word had surprised them, Harry could tell. According to them, they thought things were going well and were heading in that direction and that Harry's fear of voicing his feeling was just him being careful and scared. They didn't dig too much into it though and just assumed that they had moved too fast for Marque to be comfortable with but was willing to keep going to see how things went. It made Harry happy and in turn, they were happy. Hermione still had questions of course, but she kept them to herself and that was that.

Also, the fact that Harry was moving was enough to distract them. Harry had taken Tom's advice and had gone to Gringotts to talk to the Goblins about any properties that the Potter's owned, therefore what he owned and there had been a few. Most of them were out of the country as vacation homes, but there were some local ones. So while Ron and Hermione were at work, Harry took Wynter to view some of the houses. Most of them were way too big for the two of them, they didn't need anything that grand, but they had been fun to look around. Seeing all the history of his family and how they lived, he even talked to a few of the portraits, some of which had his famous Potter hair. Harry relished in talking to old relatives and gleaning any bit of knowledge he could about them, including that some of his family were well-practiced potioneers and had invented several potions that were still in use today, so that was how they made their money and continued to, considering the size of the main Potter Family vault. So having a lot of houses was not out of the realm of possibility. Harry eventually narrowed it down to two of the smaller ones, though still big, they had everything he needed. Once he had narrowed it down, he had Ron and Hermione check them out too and they both got their approval, though they told him that he and Wynter could stay with them if they wanted. While he appreciated their offer, he had already intruded on them long enough especially as they were planning their wedding. More than once he had interrupted an intimate moment between them as they went over details. Plus with a child walking around, it didn't give them much privacy. No, it was better that he found his own place, at least until he and Tom worked things out.