Harry Potter and the Big World

Dixie Chicks

(Talk of death and the aftermath, skip up to ~Elsewhere~ if it will bother you)
(Also, I don't understand why Wattpad got rid of their own covers app to use a third party one. Like wtf. So glad I kept it downloaded, still works. Just never gets updated obviously. So much better than the shitty app they want you to download.)

Arthur was holding a drawing Ginny had made for him just before the fateful trip to Diagon Alley. It showed their family all together and happy. She had died over a year ago and it still hit him hard every day that she was gone and never coming back. His daughter was dead and she was never coming back.

His eyes took in the little note she had written on the back, telling him how much she loved their family. Ginny had loved to draw when she wasn't teasing her brothers or obsessing over Harry like a creeper. The ginger girl had had an obsession that had bordered on unhealthy and he had meant to talk to her about it but had never gotten the chance and now never would.

He wouldn't ever have to warn her first boyfriend or remind her that she was to take no bad behavior from a significant other. Gideon wouldn't ever have to explain the change a girl's body goes through to become a woman. She would stay forever a little girl in memory and spirit.

The Weasley Patriarch knew his sons all still mourned for their lost sister. He had seen the evidence in the way Charlie had refused to come home at all and the way Bill took more dangerous jobs for the goblin. Percy had become even more reclusive and short tempered with everyone. The twins were even more reckless with their experiments. Ron would sit silent at times, staring blankly at the place Ginny had always sat to do her drawing and not respond to anything.

His boys all came alive when Harry had come around though. He had needed to be taken care of and they had made it their mission. Ron had seemed more lively ever since he had written to Harry to ask him to the World Cup and the boy had painstakingly readied his room for the bespectacled lad.

Arthur hadn't truly been angry at the twins for letting Dudley get at one of their prank candies. He had heard Ron talk of how poorly the black haired boy was treated and it killed him that he couldn't help. Dumbledore had refused Arthur's offer to take Harry in for holidays and Summers by stating that there was a special ward on Number 4 Privet Drive and that Harry needed to be with family.

The red haired man was grateful that Sirius and Remus had gotten custody of Harry and become the boy's official Caregivers. The designation of being a Little would have opened another can of worms had they not bonded so quickly as people would have fought over the right to be Harry's Caregiver. He might have ended up with a Dark Caregiver who would abuse him and his fame or one that couldn't handle the myriad of problems Harry had from being abused.

Gideon came in by his husband and just hugged him, stroking his hair. "Everything will be okay, dear. You just have to trust Lady Magic in her wisdom and plans."

Arthur nodded, burying his face against his husband's soft clothing and let his tears trace down his cheeks silently. Their family would never truly be the same but they would heal and the heartbreak would lose it's poignant sting.

~Elsewhere~

"I love you, Harry." Sirius was laying with the Little on his chest, looking at him fondly. He enjoyed holding Harry, always had. The boy was an absolute treasure.

"Love Daddy." Harry mumbled, rubbing his cheek on the sparsely haired chest of the wizard holding him. "Love Moomy."

"I love you too, Cub." Remus was sitting near them, reading his book. He marked his page with a bookmark and set it on the other nightstand, deciding to finish it later. The wolf part of him was demanding they cuddle and scent mark their pack.

Sirius held an arm out to Remus, gesturing for the werewolf to cuddle. He grinned happily when Remus obliged, nuzzling his mate. "Much better."

"Definitely." Remus agreed. He kissed Sirius' cheek and the top of Harry's head. "Need to do this more."

"Cuddle." Harry mumbled sleepily, agreeing that they needed to cuddle more. He was thriving with them.

"Daddy's gonna take a nap." Sirius closed his eyes, pretending to sleep and then opened when he knew Harry had fallen asleep. It was a trick they used many times to get him to nap. "Still don't want to take him back to school."

"I know, love." Remus hummed. "We still need to. He'll be with us four days a week anyways. We already submitted his education plan to the ministry and it's been approved."

"Good. Need to keep him safe." Sirius cuddled their Little, rubbing Harry's back gently. They had been rightly furious that Harry had already ended up in the Hospital Wing so early in the year.

"And I'm somehow the mother." Remus was amused by how much Sirius worried. "But anyways, we will keep him safe this time. No one will be dying this time. Except death eaters."

"Got that right." Sirius mumbled, half asleep. He ended up falling asleep for real this time, snoring.

"And he says I snore." Remus snorted silently. He closed his own eyes, holding them close and let himself drift on his thoughts to wait for them to wake up.