Sleepless Nights

-how had Mum dealt with seven?-

He was exhausted. No, exhausted wasn't the right word. He supposed, for all intents and purposes, he was dead, the figure of a walking zombie. Dark circles underneath his eyes, and thinner than he had ever been before, he went through each day in a constant state of tiredness, and had managed to drop off into sleep several times at work- once when he had been standing upright and talking to a customer, for Merlin's sake!

His wife looked the same as he did, bless her. Her once-gleaming blonde hair was always pulled up nowadays, strands twisted up into a bun to avoid their daughter's grasp. Her eyes had lost their sparkle, and she was always tired, like him. But, hopefully, this period of torture would be over soon. Their daughter was growing up, though slowly, and Bill had vowed not to allow Fleur to have another one, for the life of him. Children were a menace, and he really couldn't believe that his mother had seven. Seven! Gods, one was killing him, but seven?

They were slowly drifting off, both collapsing on the bed still in their day clothes, food staining the front of Fleur's once-white dress. Victoire had been put down an hour before, content on suckling at her bottle. Maybe, just maybe, tonight would be the night that she would sleep right through, and maybe, just maybe, they could finally get a full night of sleep.

But no. Because someone up there hated them, when the clock struck two in the morning, there were loud wails from their daughter's room. Fleur stirred instantly, her eyes fluttering open. She shook Bill roughly, her hand grasped around his forearm. "Bill, wake up. She ezz crying, again," she murmured, before letting out a soft sigh of frustration. With a gentle push, he fell off the bed, instantly waking up, his eyes bleary from sleep.

"Victoire. Go," she told him, prodding his chest sleepily. He opened his eyes to glare at his wife, but her eyes were already closed and her breathing light; both indications that she had drifted back to sleep. With a sharp sigh, he covered her with a blanket, Fleur murmuring happily as she curled up.

He made his way down to Victoire's room, treading lightly, willing the floorboards not to creak. Once he had reached the room, he turned the doorknob, flicking the light on with his free hand. Vic was wailing in her cot, her little hands balled into fists as she screamed; her face red. "Hey now," he said, picking her up. She hiccupped softly, as he shifted her onto his shoulder. He ran his hands down her back, smiling softly. Despite all the sleepless nights and the tiredness, he loved his daughter.

Once he had fed her, Victoire suckling happily on the bottle, he placed her back in her cot, covering her with a blanket like he had with Fleur earlier. He placed a soft kiss on her cheek, before leaving the room, turning the light off as he left.

Fleur was still in the same position, but her eyes were now open. "I couldn't sleep," she confessed, "until I knew she was alright." Bill smiled at her, placing a soft kiss on the top of her head. She rubbed her nose against his chest, giggling softly.

"Hey, now that I got up to fed her, you owe me something!" he exclaimed, eyes sparkling happily. A beam on her lips, she reached upwards to tuck a wild red strand of hair behind his eyes, before biting her lower lip. "What do you want?" she questioned, looking up at him. He wrapped his arms around her.

"You," he told her, placing a soft kiss on her cheek. She blushed visibly.

"No, Bill, I am too tired." She yawned for effect. He bobbed her on the nose with his finger. She squirmed away, smiling. "How about this, okay? I will get up and feed Vic whenever she cries out, and I will let you have a night sleep. Hmm?"

"Can we just shag instead? Please? I can go without a night sleep, I've done it enough, but honestly, Fleur, I will go out of my mind without you." He pouted up at her, and for a moment Fleur remembered why she had married him. Not because of his looks, no, not because of them. She knew looks were fickle and always-changed, but humor and kindness stayed with a person forever. Softly, she ran her fingers through his hair, tugging at the long strands.

"Tempting….. but, no," she told him, grinning. With a soft push on his bare chest, she laid down on the bed, yawning tiredly. Hopefully Victoire would be satisfied with her feed and sleep the night through. Fleur willed her to sleep the night through.

"Fine." With a grunt of disapproval, and a soft sigh, Bill laid down as well, his arms pulling her close. She smiled in the darkness, lacing her hand with his. "Tomorrow, then," he said, before she drifted off.

Perhaps.

Written for bookwormofmassive proportions for the Drabble Request Thread over on HPFFC. Okay, so maybe it's long than a drabble, but hey, I like it. Fleur is sans-accent in this becuase I cannot write it. I would love help, and if you know how, please message me. Reviews are love!

Edit: Big thanks to Bad Mum for pointing out a mistake. Molly and Arthur had seven children, not eight! :D