Epilogue

Harry took some satisfaction as one after one, the girls trundled into the dining room, lured in by the smell of bacon, eggs, pancakes, and hash browns. Harry had breakfast down to an art form after having to cook it for the Dursleys for so long, but while he'd resented being forced to cook meals for his relatives that he'd barely get to eat, he found that he loved cooking for his new family.

Hermione and Katie had been the first in. Each of them had strict schedules with their respective jobs at the Department of Mysteries and the Appleby Arrows, even if their professions couldn't have been further apart. Susan was not long after them, she too had a position at the Ministry, in a mid-ranked position in the DMLE, as well as often standing in for Harry at the Wizengamot. Today was a particularly important day for her, and for all of them really, as it was the culmination of much of her work over the past year.

A rather chipper Luna led behind her a still groggy Ginny, who did perk up considerably when she saw the vast array of food he'd prepared. "God, I love you." She nearly moaned as she loaded her plate.

"Glad to know I'm appreciated." Harry teased. Neither of them were typically up this early, but it was a special occasion of sorts. Demelza shot a nervous smile around the room as she entered, but Susan returned it with confidence.

"Don't worry, everything went according to plan." She said. "No one can say a thing to stop it, especially since we timed the announcement for the anniversary. We've presented as a fait accompli."

Harry nodded along, he was still uneasy about any dealings with the press or public, but he trusted Susan's judgement on this. She'd never given him a reason to doubt her- not during the war, and certainly not in the turbulent months following it. If anything, she'd only begun to truly come into her own after Voldemort was dead.

Fleur was the only one who tarried, and understandably so. It wasn't that there weren't plenty who were happy to take care of Victoire- Fleur simply wanted time to bond with her daughter, and Harry, frankly, felt the same.

He had returned to Hogwarts for his seventh year, but it just hadn't felt right. It was more than the guilt over leaving the pregnant mother of his child behind, Hogwarts didn't have anything for him anymore. Classes came easily to him, with his now instinctive understanding of magic. It didn't feel like he was accomplishing anything there, or that he even belonged in this school where he had grown up. Even though he was close to his bondmates, the classes and public meals put distance between them that they all began to resent, even Hermione.

When Harry returned home for the holidays (home being the Bones Manor, not Hogwarts), the difference was like night and day, and he knew there was nothing left for him at the school. With Fleur very far along in her pregnancy, the decision suddenly became easy. He simply would not be kept apart from his daughter for a school of all things. And so, he dropped out, just like that. McGonagall had been disappointed, but not surprised, and had even suggested that Harry still take his NEWTs at the end of the school year.

His decision had been validated when Victoire was born. While Fleur, exhausted and drained, laid back to rest, Harry cradled his daughter to his chest. She was so tiny, and fragile, and wonderful. He knew in that moment he'd do anything for her, even fight another dark lord if it came down to it. It had been worth it, all of it had been worth it, all the denial and trauma, and every struggle had been worth it for this. Tears prickled at his eyes, and for a moment he fought them until Katie reminded him it was okay.

Those first few months with Victoire had been rough, but Harry wouldn't change it for the world. The only regret he had was that those still at Hogwarts couldn't really be there- it was just him, Fleur, and Katie. When summer came, so too did reinforcements as Victoire's many aunts made it clear that they would treat her as their own.

They had school, jobs, and of course Victoire, so the sex was no longer as all consuming as it had been those desperate last months of the war, where they didn't know if they'd survive the year, or that first month after winning, when it'd been hard to pry them away from each other. That didn't mean it had stopped by any means. They'd managed many stolen moments, and the nights… they'd had some truly spectacular nights. Hell, it was only a matter of time until Hermione's research into sex magic would drag them in for some… practical applications. It was simply that they now had the time to thoroughly enjoy each other. There was no rush, they had their entire lives ahead of them.

Harry's reverie was interrupted by the arrival of the Daily Prophet, suddenly all conversation stopped, and even Fleur was paying close attention through the bond. Susan snatched up the paper and everyone else leaned in expectantly "Well?" Katie asked impatiently.

"We made the front page." Susan noted, her expression inscrutable "I don't know what you guys were expecting, we already approved the article word for word. Its all as it should be."

It wasn't an exactly satisfying development, but it was probably the best they could have hoped for. There was no easy way to announce that you were marrying seven people.

"It had to happen sometime." Hermione said, building on his thoughts "The rumors were common enough, especially with Victoire."

"We couldn't afford to let things be any longer, we needed to take control of the narrative ourselves." Susan assured "I know things might be tough for you and Katie today."

Katie rolled her eyes "Not really, my team already kinda knew." At the few looks she got, she said "What… you think its possible to spill no details of my private life to my teammates? As soon as I let the blokes know I was off the market, they started putting the pieces together. Nosy bastards."

Hermione, meanwhile, just shrugged "You guys know what I'm studying." Even if she couldn't exactly divulge details, she couldn't exactly keep anything away from Harry, and by extension the rest of them. "So I don't think I'll have any problems."

"I'm not exactly looking forward to how Hogwarts reacts to this." Ginny added "But I doubt it'd be any worse than when everyone found out about us fu-" At that moment, Fleur walked in, carrying Victoire and Ginny hastily course corrected "Fun! About us having fun together!"

Harry snickered "Nice save, Weasley." She did have a point, though. Pretty much everyone who mattered already knew about them, to some extent at least. This was simply making it official.

Fleur gracefully pressed a kiss to Ginny's cheek, who immediately flushed red. "I appreciate your restraint, Ginny." Despite the challenges of pregnancy and motherhood, Fleur looked every bit as gorgeous as ever, if not more so. At least that was how Harry felt, and Ginny heartily agreed with his assessment, as she only nodded dumbly while more snickers were let out across the table.

"How is she?" Harry asked Fleur, even if he already knew the answer.

"Fussy." Fleur said, approaching him. Harry took Victoire, who squirmed in his arms momentarily, before seeming to get settled in. She looked up at him with bright eyes and Harry felt something in his chest melt.

Demelza cooed. She, and well many of his girls loved seeing him with Victoire. It had only reinforced Demelza's desire to have children of her own. In fact, Harry had begun to suspect that all of them would want children with him, which secretly thrilled him. He could see in his mind's eye- a house full of kids, a huge bustling family. He hadn't quite realized just how much he wanted that until he realized that it was possible.

He looked around the table, from Demelza who looked back at him with a loving, devoted gaze, to Luna, who was praising Susan's article, to Katie, who was teasing Ginny for being 'whipped', to Hermione, who gave him a quick kiss goodbye before she left, and then to Fleur, who was looking at him with an intense, loving expression that had him looking forward to when they'd get to – how had Ginny put it? Ah yes- have fun together.

Ginny rolled her eyes laugh it up Potter. Fleur gave him a playful wink, and he didn't need to be able to read her mind to know she was thinking similarly to him. There certainly was, and would never again be, and shortage of affection in Harry's life.

Sure, there would still be challenges, but Harry wouldn't trade his life for the world. He was happy, so happy, and more than that he knew the people he loved most in the world were happy too.

Life was good.