Hold me now, warm my heart
Characters: Ron, Harry, Leila Summary: Recovery
Ron dropped his bag onto the hearth just inside the kitchen fireplace of Haven's Loft and brushed the remaining ash on his robes off with a few flicks of his wand. He cocked his head and listened for the tell tale signs of Leila’s voice and when he came up with nothing more than silence, he headed out towards the back yard.
Ever since hearing that Sirius had gone again, Ron had been in something of a daze, caught somewhere on the fringes of disbelief and utter shock. Leila, perceptive child that she was, had started firing off questions almost immediately as she tried to figure out what was wrong with the adults around her. When she’d asked if the monsters were coming back, and if that’s why Mummy looked sad, Ron knew it was time to level with the child for better or worse. While they hadn’t told her that G’pa had died, unsure if she’d even understand what that meant, they’d settled for telling her that he’d gone away and Leila seemed to accept that. And had taken since to not wanting to be separated from her parents, any of them, for long stretches ever since.
That, coupled with worry over Harry, had left Ron with a sleepless night spent with Hermione and Leila curled up with him in their bed, even Crookshanks had joined in at some point.
When she’d asked this morning if she could stay with DaDa rather than go to school, Ron had acquiesced without even a token argument. They, Harry and Leila, had a special bond between them from the time Harry’s spirit (or energy or whatever he’d been then) had started to return. He thought that maybe, just maybe, they could comfort each other in a way no one else could.
It didn’t take him long to find them, took even less time to realize that he’d been spot on about the comforting. Harry lay semi-reclined under the shade of a tree, back against a large stone, with Leila curled in his arms. Both of them were fast asleep.
Not wanting to wake either, Ron shrugged out of his robes and pooled them on the grass. He lay near the sleeping forms of his daughter and best mate, using the robes as a pillow and staring out into the leaves overhead.