1 August 2047

For their entire marriage, Fleur knew that full moons caused Bill immense pain. He became withdrawn and tired, and Fleur would often wake in the middle of the night to find him gone from their bed, standing out by the shore or simply on the lawn, gazing up at the moon.

Now that he was nearing eighty years old, though, the full moon was harder on Bill than ever. More often than not, he and Fleur would simply crawl into bed early, and Fleur would gently stroke his arm until he fell asleep—usually with the help of a few potions. It took him about a day to recover now, not just a quick nap in the early afternoon.

Fleur was tidying in the kitchen after dinner as Bill was washing the dishes when it suddenly occurred to her that their fiftieth anniversary was less than a week away.

She hurried over to the calendar, lifting July's page to peer at August. And, to her horror, she saw a tiny silver circle on the first of the month. She turned to Bill, biting her lip.

"What's wrong?" he asked, frowning.

"Our—our annivairsairy," Fleur said softly. "Eet is on ze full moon."

"Oh," said Bill. "That's…that's not good."

Fleur shook her head. "Your parents wanted to 'ave zat party for us—Victoire 'as been planning for a month."

"No, no," Bill said quickly, coming over to her and putting on a big smile. "Don't worry about it, pretty girl. I'll just—well, I'll just take an extra potion, and we'll have a great night."

"Are you sure?" Fleur asked. "I don't want you to be in pain."

Bill smiled again, scars and wrinkles creasing his face, and he kissed her. "I'm not missing our anniversary because of a headache."

Fleur rolled her eyes. "Eet eez not just an 'eadache," she told him, putting her arms around his waist. "But thank you, chèr. I love you."

"I love you, too," Bill chuckled, embracing her tightly.

And true to his word, he was a good sport about the whole evening—Fleur brewed him pain potions, enough that he could last through the whole party with the family. It wasn't until very late into the evening, when Fleur spied Bill sitting in a corner with only their sleeping, one-year-old great-granddaughter for company that she knew it was time for them to go.

"Bill," she said gently, surprising him. Apolline was curled on his chest, sucking her thumb, and Fleur stroked her blond hair tenderly.

"Hi," Bill said, trying to smile, but he winced slightly. Fleur sat down on the little garden bench beside him, watching Teddy spin Lily out on the little dance floor Harry and Ron had put up for the party.

The rest of the family were milling around, laughing and chatting, and soft music poured from several large, floating lanterns that lit the entire garden.

Victoire smiled and waved at Bill and Fleur from where she sat with her grandmother. Molly had her arm around Victoire, laughing at a story Charlie was telling.

"Time to go?" Fleur asked.

Bill sighed heavily, looking around at his family with definite regret, but he looked back to Fleur and nodded. "I think so," he said, taking hold of Apolline and starting to get up.

"Let me," Fleur said gently, and she took the little girl from his arms. Carefully, so as not to wake her, she kissed Apolline and carried her over to Victoire, who smiled and took her granddaughter.

"Is Dad okay?" Victoire whispered, patting Apolline's back.

"'E will be fine," Fleur assured her, leaning over to kiss Molly goodbye. "Thank you for the lovely party, ma petite."

"Of course, Mum," said Victoire. "I'll drop by this week, all right?"

"Zat sounds wonderful," Fleur told her. "Molly, thank you so much."

"Oh, goodness, I'm nearly in the business of throwing these parties by now," Molly laughed, waving her hand. Fleur beamed. "You and Bill should come for dinner sometime soon." She eyed her eldest son, who was still sitting on the garden bench, watching the party. Molly took Fleur's hand. "Take care of him, dear."

"I will," Fleur promised. And, waving hurried goodbyes to everyone else who still remained, she went back to Bill. "Come along, chèr,"she said, helping him stand.

They left the garden gate and Apparated home. Fleur helped Bill up the stairs—he was even more tired now, it seemed—and got him into bed. When she had gotten another dose of potion to leave on his bedside table and crawled in beside him, he was sound asleep.

Fleur smiled, lying close to him and closing her eyes. "'Appy annivairsairy," she whispered in his ear.

"Happy anniversary, pretty girl," Bill answered, not opening his eyes. Fleur raised her head, gazing at him. Bill held up one arm, indicating the she should join him, and she wrapped herself around him. The full moon glimmered outside the window, pouring light across their bed, but when Fleur woke the next morning, Bill had still not touched the pain potion sitting beside him. She looked up at him, warm and comfortable as he rubbed her back and blinked sleepily, a contented smile on his face.

OH! I didn't mention this earlier, but I ought to have done. There are going to be little threads and bits and odds and ends that appear here and there in different forms throughout these stories. Just like, a detail here or there that you'll start to recognize as we get farther in. Yeah! :) So enjoy!