Tepid

Epilogue:
Family

(The
Riverbed, Four Years Later, November 29th)

Bill yawned and
scratched the back of his head. Viktor had managed to get him at
least tolerably clothed--but that just meant jeans and a
sweatshirt--and miraculously out of bed before noon. "I don't
see why I can't sleep in on my own birthday," Bill complained,
scratching groggily behind his ear as he began to trudge down the
stairs. "I've been saying for years I'm more of a brunch guy
than a breakfast guy anyway." He pulled Viktor against him,
chest to chest, and kissed him deeply.

It was at that moment
the living room lit up and a little girl's voice asked "Mama,
how come papa is trying to swallow Uncle Viktor's tongue?"

The rest of the room
burst out laughing, and managed a clumsy and slightly belated
'Surprise!'

"Because your papa
loves your Uncle Viktor very much," Fleur said to the little
girl. 'Uncle' Viktor, because Fleur had insisted on making him her
godfather in spite of the fact that she already had about a million
uncles.

"Ooooohhhhh,"
Victoire said. "Like you and Papa Neville."

Bill let go of Viktor
and made his way down the stairs. He quirked a brow at Fleur's
bulging belly as Victoire clung about his thigh. "Hello, Papa!
Are you surprised? I was very quiet, wasn't I? Mama said you would
be very happy."

He ruffled the girl's
hair and smiled, scooping her up. She was clinging to a teddy bear
he'd given her as a Christmas gift three years ago--still her
favorite, according to her mother. "Very happy," he said,
placing a little kiss to her cheek and turning back to Fleur.
"Neville, huh?" He eyed her belly pointedly.

"But of course,"
Fleur answered. "You of all people know I like my men brave,"
she said proudly. "And 'e is kind, and very smart. 'e is a
good second papa to Victoire, and 'e will be a wonderful papa to his
own babies too."

Bill laughed. "Already
planning on another and this one isn't even out yet, huh?"

"Families with
many children are happier. This is what I theenk after having the
pleasure of meeting yours." She took Victoire back. "Let
your papa greet his other guests. 'e will play with you later, okay
petit?"

"Okay! It's a
promise, papa!" She stuck her pinky out at him and he shook it
with his much larger one.

"A promise,"
Bill agreed. He moved around the house greeting his guests in
turn--Ron and Hermione, his mum and dad. George. Percy. Harry had
brought Snape, who to this day looked like he'd rather be anywhere
else, but was enduring the experience with as much grace as he could
muster. In the kitchen, he found Charlie had halfway spelled out
'birthd--' on his cake before getting distracted by his date. Now he
was busily snogging Seamus Finnigan.

Bill cleared his
throat.

Seamus jumped back.
"Oh er, I...this thing. Uh, Happy Birthday and all. So, yeah,
uh, I think I heard Ron calling just now." And off he goes, all
flushed and embarrassed.

Bill
laughed. "Were we ever like that?" Bill asked, pulling
Viktor up against him as Charlie fussed with
his hair to make it look a bit more presentable, lest their mother
insist on cutting it again.

"You veren't,"
Viktor answered. "I do not think you ever even tried to fake
it."

"He's always been
that way. Not one bit of shy in Bill," Charlie laughed.

"So," Bill
said, changing the subject. "This 'real cutie' you mentioned
was Seamus? Think you'll survive the experience?"

Charlie shrugged.
"Well, you know, at this point I'm rather used to being set on
fire, by accident or otherwise," he laughed. "But never
mind that. It's been, what, four years? Inquiring minds need to
know: is the honeymoon over?"

Bill laughed and pulled
Viktor abruptly into a deep kiss that, in spite of his embarrassment,
Viktor couldn't help but melt into, curling his fingers into Bill's
long hair. When they parted, Bill smirked at Charlie's amused
expression and the way Viktor still needed a moment after they kissed
to let his brain return to the present. When it did, the Bulgarian
blushed straight to his ears--even after four years together. Bill
was sure he would never get tired of that. "Not even close,"
he answered, keeping Viktor pinned to his side and laying a light
kiss to one of his flushed cheeks. "Every night I go to sleep
thinking that I can't possibly love Vik any more than I already do,
and every morning I wake up and realize I was wrong."

"Bill!"
Viktor protested, the blush intensifying, but still unconsciously
embracing the red-head. Bill was always saying such wonderful, but
incredibly embarrassing, things!

Bill and Charlie
laughed. It was the kind of laugh that traced over the years of
sorrow that led them here and all the foolish moments worth looking
back on. It was the kind of laugh you let out not because something
is funny, but because if you don't let it out, you might just die of
happiness.

~The
End~