You Hung The Moon For Me

There were certain nights that Bill couldn't be around people. He would feel the moon hanging low and pregnant above him and he'd feel something more animal than man stirring inside him. It wasn't a full wolf like Remus had dealt with, but it was something darker, less human that wanted to grin at the smell of blood and rend something. He'd be more snappy leading up to those nights and if he disappeared out towards the beach Fleur let him saying nothing. When he'd reappear in the mornings and collapse beside his waiting wife he'd kiss her gently if he had the energy, if not they would both fall into a blissful oblivion, both aware of the fact that neither had been able to sleep the night before.

Other nights the war would hit him suddenly. Not necessarily the events or the fighting. Just the people. Too many for Bill to handle sometimes. One moment he'd be researching a particularly difficult curse and then something would make him think of the Twins. Then he'd be forced to remember that there was no longer twins just George. Broken and maimed without his laugh. Before Bill could stop himself he'd be back to the day of Fred's funeral. He'd be carrying his little brother's casket with Percy and Charlie's help. He'd be remembering a smiling bouncy little boy instead of the still, too pale, too quiet body he was carrying. Fleur never said anything to him if he drank a little on those nights, but he knew she was keeping a close eye on him and if he drank too much one night the alcohol would vanish from the house for months at a time.

It was only after when he crawled in beside Fleur that he ever allowed himself to cry. Quietly, wrapped in her embrace, her soft slivery hair covering his face shielding him from the outside world. Her gentle French whispering reassuringly in his ears, her hands gripping tightly at his back as he clung to her with almost bruising strength never wavering in his grasp and squeezing back just as hard, her soft caressing hands dragging him back from the edge of despair every time.

And then when he didn't think he could handle it he'd wake up the next morning and see Fleur laying beside him. Alive and with him. A slice of happiness and peace that had survived through the war, despite all odds. Bill would relax for a moment and he could see that there might be a time in the future, no matter how long it took that he wouldn't wake up from despair and even if he did Fleur would always be there to help him through it. He'd see a future where he was happy with a woman with moon colored hair.