Harry Potter and The Charming Prince (BP7)

Morning arrived faster than Harry had wanted it to and breakfast was a strange affair with April sharing happy stories of playing with Tonks and Luna while Valen kept asking his fathers why they had left so suddenly the day before. Draco finally asked Valen to hold his questions until after breakfast and they would all talk about it then. Valen narrowed his eyes and gave a small sigh, but quieted down. The shock and the anger were gone now for Harry and acceptance was beginning to set in. He wondered what things were like at the Burrow for Ron and Hermione. Even though they didn't always eat breakfast together, it felt odd not having them in the Manor.

After breakfast, Harry and Draco took all three children into the conservatory. They had considered talking to them outside but after the beautiful spring weather the day before, the breeze had turned chilly and the sky grey with fat drops of rain falling intermittently from the dark clouds. The day matched Harry's mood. Surprisingly, though, once they were in the conservatory, the soft glow from the wall sconces made the plant-filled room seem cosy while the grey skies made the vivid greens from all of the trees and plants outside seem even more colourful. Harry sat down on one of the couches with Sev in his lap and April climbed up beside him. Draco sat on the facing couch with Valen who gave each of his fathers an expectant look.

Harry swallowed and looked over at Draco. He had tossed and turned all night, trying to think of what to say but now that the moment was here he realised that he might as well have slept instead since he had come up with nothing.

Sev's watchful eyes looked at Draco when Harry did and then, after several seconds, he looked up at Harry and asked, "Daddy?"

Harry nodded, knowing that Sev was merely asking both of his fathers if something was wrong in his own way.

Draco took a deep breath. They had been thinking since they got the news about how to talk to their children. He knew it wasn't as much about what he would say as about having to face the pain on their children's faces when they understood. "We have some bad news we have to tell you," he began.

Harry nodded and loosened his grip on Sev when the young boy gave a small squeak. He remembered how he had felt when he realised that everything he had been told about his parents' deaths had been lies and he swore he would never do that to his own children but, now, a small irrational part of him wanted to tell the children that their grandfather had simply had to go away. He wouldn't though. Not with April looking up trustingly at both of them and Valen's sharp eyes watching his fathers.

"Something happened yesterday and that's why we had to leave you here without talking to you first even though we didn't want to do that but sometimes things happen that just can't be helped and that's what ... happened ... yester – " Harry snapped his mouth shut when his voice cracked on the last word. He knew he was rambling so it was probably all for the better that he stop talking anyway. He looked over at Draco for help.

Valen was frowning, looking almost angry. Draco knew that look. As a child, Draco had a tendency to get angry when he was really frightened. It had felt ... safer.

"We want to make this easier, make it less painful, but we don't know how," Draco tried to explain. "Something has happened to your grandfather Arthur."

"Did he get hurt or get lost?" April asked, glancing at the look on her brother's face.

Harry almost smiled at April's question. In her world, getting lost or hurt were the two worst things that could happen to anyone. April shifted closer to Harry and waited for an answer. Harry knew they just needed to come out with it since Valen looked as if he were about to start demanding answers. Sev remained quiet and watched everyone.

"Not exactly, love," Harry replied, running one hand over her tousled hair. He tried to explain what happened, knowing he was probably doing it all wrong. "We didn't know it, but granddad Arthur's heart was – was sick and not very strong. His heart worked very hard but yesterday it was just too tired and it stopped working. He died ...." Harry couldn't speak all of a sudden past the lump that formed in his throat. He swallowed several times, the muscles in his jaws twitching before he thought he could speak. "He died yesterday at the Burrow."

"Just like that? Just dead?" Valen blurted out. "Why can't you fix it?"

Draco reached for Valen's hand but the little boy refused to let him take it. Instead, Valen jumped to his feet and backed away, hands clenched into fists.

Harry remembered the way he had kept Draco at a distance the night before, holding on to the anger since all of his other feelings had scared him too much. Valen's question, though, reminded him of Draco when they were both boys and the way Draco always had a way of zeroing in on the subjects that were the hardest to talk about. April's small hand now clutched at Harry's shirt hem as she watched her brother, waiting for cues on just what was happening.

"It was too late to fix it, Valen," Harry said, still trying to believe it himself. He spoke in his softest voice, the way he did when Draco was frightened. "If there was any way to fix it then we would have, even if it took all of our magic or all of our money. Some things can't be fixed, Valen, no matter how much you love someone."

"Why not?" Valen demanded. His eyes were steely, anger simmering on the surface, but his bottom lip quivered, betraying his fear and pain.

Draco noticed Severus was quiet, eyes almost closed and his face showing a kind of acceptance his brother couldn't. For his age, their youngest always seemed to be more grounded than his siblings.

Harry lifted Sev from his lap and sat him next to April who, oddly enough, was still quiet. A thought ran through Harry's mind of the calm before the storm as he stood and placed himself at half the distance to Valen before going to his knees to be at eye level with his son. He knew, from experience with Draco, not to come closer. Valen needed to be the one to decide when he was ready to be comforted. Harry was close enough, though, to reach out and take Draco's hand which he did.

"Valen," Harry began, watching as his son struggled to hide his emotions. With Harry as one of his fathers, it would be a hard-fought battle. "He's gone and we can't change it. Daddy Draco and I both loved him and we're going to miss him every day but we just can't change it. Magic doesn't fix hearts." If it did, Harry thought, his own wouldn't be breaking.

"Then what good is it?" Valen demanded, eyes glistening with unshed tears.

Draco's fingers curled around Harry's hand, using the warmth of his husband to help steady his own nerves. His heart was pounding, feeling more nervous facing his eldest child than he remembered being when going into Voldemort's stonghold. "Magic is part of us. An important part, but even your Dad isn't immortal." Reflexively, Draco held out his silver hand. Magic had nearly killed him, quite a few times, and he'd lost his hand in order to live.

Harry smiled sadly when Draco lifted the silver hand. It was a constant reminder to them of the risks they had both taken to stay together, stay alive. And it was proof that it wasn't always magic that saved the day. Harry had been humbled when it wasn't his magic, necessarily, that had saved Draco but the simple yet nearly elusive solution of amputation. Harry heard a sniffle behind him and knew it was only moments before April unleashed herself. He kept his eyes on Valen and inched closer. If he could get Valen to return to Draco then he might have time to get back to April before she scared Severus. Draco's hand in Harry's felt cold and Harry squeezed gently, sending a light touch of the magic they were talking about to soothe his husband. Draco squeezed Harry's hand in return but then let go, moving to the sofa beside April and Sev so that Harry could concentrate on Valen.

"Magic is what brought you here, Valen," Harry reminded his son. "You were the first grandchild and granddad Arthur was so proud of you and you made him happy. He loved to hold you and tell you stories and he laughed every time you laughed. Magic did that and so even if he's gone now, he was happy while he was here."

"Then why did he leave?" Valen's voice was smaller now, almost cracking and a single tear escaped to trickle down his cheek.

"You have to have a strong heart to love everyone the way granddad Arthur did," Harry said, his own voice getting quieter. "He loved all of his children and grandma Molly and when I needed a dad he loved me too. His heart took in Daddy Draco and all of his grandchildren but it was too weak for him to keep taking care of everyone here where we are so now he's in a place where his heart won't hurt and he can still love all of us and watch over us. He never wanted to leave you, Valen, but it was time for him to go."

Harry had crept closer on his knees as he spoke, until he was only an arm's length away and carefully reached out to wipe away the single tear with his thumb. Somehow, explaining it to Valen made Arthur's death easier to accept and understand. Harry's own eyes, the same green eyes that matched those of the child standing miserably before him, were also shiny with tears but he wanted to be strong for his son who was still afraid.

"Valen," Harry now whispered, easing his hand over Valen's smaller hand, engulfing it completely. "It's okay to be scared and sad. It's okay to miss him ... I do."

The dam broke and more tears spilled down Valen's cheeks. He squeezed Harry's hand and he pressed his face into Harry's shoulder, his own shoulders beginning to shake as he cried.

April seemed to take that as a signal or permission, launching herself into Draco’s arms. He wrapped an arm around her while she began to wail, his other arm reaching around Severus who pressed his face to Draco’s side, quietly sniffling.

Harry breathed an inaudible sigh of relief. Valen wept quietly against his neck, all of the anger gone now and his little body melded to Harry's as if seeking sanctuary. Harry cupped the back of Valen's head with one hand and rubbed his back with the other, murmuring soothing sounds to his oldest child. Turning his head slightly, Harry saw Draco doing much the same thing with April whose sobs filled the room with the dramatic heartfelt sorrow that only April was capable of displaying. Instead of holding her head though, Draco's free arm was wrapped around Sev, drawing him close. Tears fell from Sev's eyes and he sniffled once in a while, but was mostly still and quiet.

They had expected the children to take the news of Arthur's death with tears and grief. Harry knew there would probably be plenty more tears to come in the days ahead but he felt better about the way he and Draco had chosen to tell them, giving them all a chance to grieve together as a family.

April's sobs died down enough for her to ask with a whimper, "Can granddad Arthur still come to my birthday party?"

Draco tensed, stomach giving a lurch when he realised what his daughter had asked. He opened his mouth to say something but nothing came out. He swallowed hard, looking up at Harry to ground himself, only finding his voice again when he saw those green eyes look back at him. "No, sweetheart," Draco said softy. "We won't be able to see him anymore."

Harry's heart went out to Draco. He could see by the rare emotions on his husband's face just how hard this was for him. His answer to April's question brought silence and Harry nearly closed his eyes knowing that it meant April was processing things and probably wasn't done yet. Sev also appeared to be waiting for April's next question while Valen continued to cry quietly.

"No more?" April asked, her wet face scrunched up in confusion. "Did he dis-tappear?"

Valen cried harder, clutching Harry tightly.

"His body has stopped working, April. He's dead. Dead is gone," Draco tried. He wanted to add "never coming back" but though he knew that was true of Arthur, he also knew that both Sirius and Draco had both died but been brought back. He stuck to what he knew. "He can't ever come back."

It was clear now that April's earlier tears were simply in sympathy with Valen's tears. Now that she understood what her father was saying, April's sobs began anew. Sev climbed up next to her in Draco's lap and laid his head on Draco's shoulder while patting April's arm with his chubby hand. Harry held Valen tighter and lifted his son up in his arms, walking over to the couch and sitting down next to Draco where they spent the rest of the morning answering innocent questions and kissing away tears.