I don't own Harry Potter, and I'm doing this for fun, not profit. Please let that be a sufficient disclaimer!
...
"Mama, can I hold 'arry?"
Appoline chuckled then replied, "Not yet my angel, you might drop him. Wait until we get to the play park".
Fleur pouted, but couldn't find fault with the argument. Then, just to check the answer hadn't changed in the last five minutes, she asked, "We're going to spend the whole day with 'arry, aren't we?"
Sebastian shared a look of fond exasperation with Appoline. "Yes, my sweet. Just like Mama said the last time you asked. We will take 'arry back home just before bedtime."
Fleur nodded to herself, satisfied for now. Then, turning to Harry, she declared (again), "'arry, you're spending the whole day with us!"
Harry, for his part, just beamed at all three Delacours, happy and excited.
Once they had arrived at the park, Fleur threw her arms around Harry and cuddled him; it had been completely unreasonable for her Mama and Papa to make her wait so long for this!
Sebastian and Appoline smiled as, after a minute, Fleur led a newly-walking Harry around the play park, Harry's hand tightly grasping Fleur's. After a few reminders - "Fleur, you need to slow down, 'arry can't walk that fast" "Fleur, don't spin 'arry around so much" "Fleur, 'arry can't climb steps yet" – Fleur started getting the hang of playing with Harry. Harry, for his part, couldn't stop giggling – neither of them could, really – and the sound was a memory the Delacours would treasure.
Fleur and Harry were inseparable; clearly they had missed each other heavily over the last month, and Appoline wondered if this would be the case each time they visited. If they weren't so cute playing together, Appoline might have felt slightly put out that her Godson didn't seem too interested in her and Sebastian. "Does it feel like we aren't needed?"
Sebastian chuckled. "They are adorable, playing like that. Do you think they will run out of energy before lunch?"
...
Fleur and Harry did not run out of energy before lunch. They didn't run out of energy during lunch "They have McDonald's in 'arry's country too?!". They did have a short nap just after lunch, but then both children wanted nothing more than to run around and play together.
All too soon, however, the day had ended and a teary-eyed Fleur was giving one last cuddle to Harry. "I'll miss you, 'arry! We'll come visit again soon!"
Sebastian and Appoline were also sad for the day to end – spending time with their Godson had been wonderful – but both were glad to see that Harry appeared to be doing well, and was obviously being looked after by Vernon and Petunia.
With one last cuddle each, and some well wishes, "we love you, 'arry, and will see you soon" "goodbye, my wonderful Godson", the Delacours apparated away for another month.
...
It had been several more months - and several more Delacour visits – since Harry started living with the Dursleys. Summer was near its peak, and today four year old Fleur was impatient.
"What's the surprise, Papa?"
Sebastian smiled and shook his head. "If I told you, it wouldn't be a surprise, angel".
Fleur started going through the list of things she clearly rated as Good Surprises. "It can't be my own wand yet, as I'm not starting Beauxbatons. It can't be Christmas. It can't be an 'arry visit, since we had one last week. Are we visiting Grandma?"
Appoline smiled and looked to Sebastian. "Do you have the parcel?"
Sebastian tapped his pocket. "Yes, darling"
"Can I have the surprise now?"
"We need to wait another five minutes, angel"
"Is the surprise in Papa's pocket?"
"Your surprise is not, no"
A pause, and then: "Whose surprise is in your pocket, Papa?"
Sebastian grinned in good humour. "That's a surprise."
Fleur responded as any self-respecting girl her age would: by pouting and sticking her tongue out.
The next four and a half minutes dragged by for Fleur. She loved surprises, but disliked waiting for them! Especially since her Papa and Mama had made comments about it all week, teasing her like they enjoyed her suffering!
Finally, the minutes were over – Fleur counted them herself – and then: "Is it time for the surprise now?"
Sebastian checked his watch, smiled and nodded. Then, standing, he reached out for Fleur's hand. As soon as he held her hand firmly, Sebastian nodded to Appoline and both wizards disapparated with a muted "pop".
Fleur disliked apparating, especially when her Papa gave her no warning! But when she saw where they were, her eyes opened wide and she turned to look at her Papa. "Papa, are we really...?"
Sebastian grinned at his daughter. "It's 'arry's birthday today, Fleur. We wouldn't want to miss his birthday, would we?"
Joy blossomed onto Fleur's face, and she practically pulled her Papa towards the front door of number 4 Privet Drive. As soon as Sebastian rang the doorbell, a shout from inside could be heard quite clearly: "It Lur! Lur here! I see Lur! And Bastian! And Poleen! They here!"
The door opened and, as had become tradition, Harry and Fleur hugged each other tightly, shouting and giggling.
Sebastian saw it was Vernon who had opened the door, and with smiling eyes offered, "I apologise for my daughter, Mr. Dursley; I 'ad 'oped she would be less... enthusiastic, given she only saw 'arry last week."
Vernon just nodded stoically. Also tradition, of sorts.
"Is 'arry's bag packed?"
Vernon handed over the bag. "Yes. Not that we could forget – his first sleepover is all he's talked about. You'll have Harry until evening tomorrow?"
Sebastian smiled and nodded. "Yes, we 'ave much planned for our Godson."
Vernon grunted, then turned to Harry. "Have a good time."
Harry, all smiles, simply declared "Yes!".
...
It was when the four were back at the Delacour home that Appoline realised she had forgot to tell Fleur about the sleepover.
"Fleur, can you take 'arry's bag up to your room, please?"
Fleur looked puzzled. "Why does 'arry need his things in my room, Mama? Are we playing there later?"
Sebastian, also realising that no-one had told Fleur, grinned. "Oh angel, didn't we mention?"
"Mention what, Papa?"
"The sleepover, of course", replied Sebastian innocently.
There were a few second of blissful quiet, then: "WE'RE HAVING A SLEEPOVER?!"
Appoline and Sebastian laughed and nodded. Harry laughed too, though he wasn't sure what the joke was.
A few more seconds of quiet, and then realisation hit a second time: "AND 'ARRY'S SLEEPING IN MY ROOM?!".
...
By late afternoon, Fleur was ready to declare the day as 'the best day ever'. There had been Harry, presents, cake, games, and there would even be a sleepover!
There was one more surprise for Harry and, by association, Fleur, though. That evening, half an hour before dinner, the doorbell rang. Appoline went to answer, and after a few moments a familiar face appeared.
"Uncle Siri!"
"Uncle Woof!"
"Hello Fleur! Hello Harry!"
And thus was Lord Sirius Black violently hugged by his honorary niece and his Godson.
Fifteen minutes later, Sirius could be found racing through the house, with Fleur on his back, Harry in his arms, Sebastian cheering him on, and Appoline looking part amused and part exasperated – she had allowed half an hour for Sirius to tire the kids (and himself!) out before dinner, though perhaps she hadn't allowed enough time. 'And they hadn't even got to the most chaotic part yet'. Of course, no sooner had she thought that...
Harry, in between giggles, asked, "Uncle Woof, you be dog?"
Sirius grinned. "Well, since it's your birthday..."
Appoline counted to five, and then: "Mama! Come see Uncle Siri!" "Uncle Woof a dog! Uncle Woof a dog!" "Woof! Woof!"
...
Dinner was a little late. Bedtime doubly so. But once the children were in bed, the adults could catch up.
"So how have you been since we last saw you?", Appoline asked.
"Really good. Remus and I had a long conversation a month or so ago. Well, after he whacked me again, of course. Since then, things have been more like the old days.
When Remus had found out the details around James and Lily's death - particularly that James and Lily were dead partly because Sirius trusted Peter over him – the werewolf had felt shock, then disbelief, then hurt, then anger. It had taken months for Remus to grieve, and heal.
"That's good, I think?"
"Appoline, darling, it's always good when someone hits Sirius"
"Hey!"
"But joking aside, I'm glad. We hadn't invited Remus here tonight because of the full moon, but we were not sure what we would have done otherwise. It's good to know next year 'arry can have all his real family together for his birthday."
Sirius smiled and nodded. "Yeah, exactly! Speaking of Remus, he's been keeping on touch with you all and Harry, right?"
Appoline nodded. "We made sure he knew how to contact 'arry, and he's even visited with us once or twice."
Sebastian laughed, then added, "Of course, Fleur is torn – she loves Remus, but also just wants to monopolise all of 'arry's time".
Sirius looked amused. "Really? She's not like that with me. Is she?"
Sebastian grinned. "No, but perhaps that is because you are closer to their age? Mentally?"
"Hey!"
Appoline laughed, then added "Honestly, the fact you run around like a lunatic playing with them might have something to do with it. Also, you can transform into a massive dog."
"It's at least 80% the dog that does it"
Sirius looked mortally offended... then joined Sebastian and Appoline in their laughing.
...
That sleepover was the first of many. It became a tradition that the monthly Harry visits lasted the whole weekend, so too did special occasions like Harry's birthday, Christmas, and – albeit a more sombre affair – Halloween. And whilst Harry was treated relatively well at the Dursley home, it was the Delacour weekends that he looked forward to most.
When Harry turned three, Sebastian and Appoline started teaching Harry some French during each Delacour weekend. Harry had picked up a fair amount by osmosis, and whilst Fleur had started learning English – "I want to know what 'arry is saying!" – there were times when Harry and Fleur were obviously struggling with the language barrier.
Harry was an eager student; Sebastian and Appoline were sure he shared the same motive as Fleur, which they found adorable. By the time Harry turned four, Fleur's English and Harry's French was sufficient for them to be able to chatter away to each other mostly unaided, though sometimes Fleur had to resort to dragging Harry somewhere by the hand and pointing – something Harry did not mind.
...
Whilst Harry craved the times where he could see the Delacours, and Fleur in particular, there was someone who hated them.
Tom Marvolo Riddle was currently experiencing agony. Something must have gone wrong with one of the Horcruxes – whilst they had clearly stopped him dying completely, nothing in his research mentioned periods of intense, debilitating pain every month. The worst Dark Lord in history, still a mere wraith, had almost collapsed into the North Sea when one of those torrents of pain had flooded through his form.
Rather than gain strength, Tom had to fight to retain what little strength he still had, and whilst he hated these periods he could not understand what was causing them. At these times, the dark lord who named himself Lord Voldemort was truly afraid.
...
Author notes:
Thank you to everyone who has favourited or followed Delacour Godparents – knowing there are people who enjoy my work means a lot to me. And a huge thanks to those who reviewed: Spider of Dreams, azphxbrd and guest; and to Arnie1701, James Birdsong and BradyC for second reviews. You give me the motivation to keep writing at pace.
Arnie1701 – I'll see what I can do for the next chapter.
Spider of Dreams, BradyC – as you can see, we've jumped a little through this chapter. We will spend some more time pre-hogwarts, as there are a lot more scenes I want to write with Fleur and Harry as kids. Besides, we've not even met Gabrielle... Yet :-p
BradyC – I plan for Harry to still attend Hogwarts, as I want to be able to lean on JKR's world as much as I can; if Harry went to Beauxbatons I'd need to dream up a lot more detail, and I'd rather avoid slowing down the story like that. Maybe for another fic?