Nightmares
The pitter-patter of tiny feet cut them off.
“Mama?” The tiny girl looked at him in terror, chest heaving.
“Delphi, what’s wrong?” He stood immediately, taking note of the shakiness of her stance.
This hadn’t been what he expected, or what he wanted. However, that wasn’t to say he was unwilling to comfort his child. That would never be a chore, not with how much he had already come to love her. It was just heart-wrenching to witness such devastation without knowing the true cause.
“No!” Delphini screamed, throwing herself at him. Her face was red and tear stained. “You can’t stay here mama, you can’t let him hurt you!”
A shuttered gasp escaped from him, horror slinking down his throat.
“What’s wrong, baby?” Harry asked, pushing away his despair. All he could do now was damage repair; he should have been more careful.
“I had a bad dream!” she wailed before starting again. “The bad mans gonna hurt you and you’re gonna join the death man.”
“Oh, Delphi,” he sighed, heart aching.
It was something he never wanted a child, his child, to envision. Such nightmares were unfit for a child. No child should ever have to experience the loss of their parent to a great evil.
“Mama,” She sobbed. “You gotta stay, you can’t leave me again!”
“I won’t.” He promised. “For you, I’d live forever.”
“Promise?” She asked, voice turning into a whisper. “I don’t want to watch you die again.”
It was something she never told him, content to take it to her grave. Children weren’t meant to watch their parents die at such a young age. So she had held onto it, no matter how warped the memory had become.
“Again?” Harry choked, sinking to the floor with her. This was his child, his baby, someone who should never have to see a parent die.
“What do you mean?” He asked, voice breaking.
“You wouldn’t let them hurt me, so they hurt you.” She cried, holding him tightly to the point of bruising. “I watched them hurt you. You made me hide and I- I-”
“Shh,” he soothed, running a hand up and down her back. “You don’t have to tell me more than that.”
“You gotta go to papa!” She urged, eyes wide. “Papa won’t let anything happen to you.”
“I can’t, Delphi.” He hated denying her; he truly did. But there was no other choice; it wasn’t safe. Leaving was too much of a risk, especially without a sincere confirmation of peace from her father. Trust but verify.
“Mama, please,” she begged cheeks puffing.
“It’ll be fine,” Harry sniffled, eyes blurring. Fuck if it didn’t feel so hard to deal with. He was only sixteen, almost seventeen. He was a teen parent a year away from his majority. “We’re fine Delphi, we don’t need him.”
“But we do mama, we do!” The blonde girl buries her head in his shoulder. “I don’t want them to hurt you again!”
“Delphini,” Hermione interjected with a soft voice. “We’re not going to let anything happen to your mama.”
Sagging with relief, Harry shot his friends a grateful look. He wasn’t sure what else he could have said, not when he was just as panicked.
“How can you promise that?” She cried, fright filling her eyes.
“We’re strong and badass,” Ron grinned, though it was more bloodthirsty than anything. “We’re family and nothing is going to happen, because if it did, we would most certainly k-”
With a scowl, Hermione elbowed him in the gut. “Ron, maybe that’s not the best thing to say.”
Though it seemed she was proved wrong because that was what made Delphini laugh.
“Okay.” She nodded to herself before turning to the other two in the room. “If you let mama get hurt Imma fuck you up.”
“Delphini Soleil Potter!” Harry hissed. “That is not appropriate to say.”
“But mama-”
“You know better.” He sighed, rubbing a hand across the bridge of his nose. “So what do you think the consequence should be?”
“No consequence?” She pleaded, eyes widening. “Please, mama?”
“Nope.” He snorted. “Try again.”
“A spanking?” Delphini shrinked inward at the thought, eyes squeezing shut.
“No!” He paused, voice softening. “Never that. I would never lay a hand on you. How about a time out?”
“M’kay,” she sighed, a faint pout lingering on her lips.
“Okay.” Harry breathed, soothing her hair back. “You’re going to sit and think about what you could have done differently, then we’ll talk about it, sound good?”
“Mama does it with me?” She whispered, glancing up at him nervously.
“Sure baby.” He smiled softly. “Let’s sit and think.”
They sat for a minute, though it felt like much longer than that. Once it was over, Delphini was quick to twist around to hold tightly to him.
“I’m sorry mama.” She apologized. “I just wanted to make sure that they would really keep their promise.”
“I know, and I’m so grateful that you want to help me, but there are better ways to do so.”
“Like what?” Delphi demanded, though the harshness was belayed by the puffing of her cheeks.
“Well, you could do a pinky promise.”
“A pinky promise?” She tilted her head to the side.
He laughed softly and the curious look in her eyes.
“Mama, show me!” She said, before adding a small ‘please’.
“So make a fist with your hand, but lift your pinky up.” Harry instructed. “Then we link our pinkies.”
“Like this?” She asked brightly.
“Exactly!” He smiled. “Pinky promises are special and we have to keep them.”
“Okay.” Delphi said, eyes narrowing. “Pinky promise that you’ll always love me?”
“Of course,” he swore, quick to link their pinkies together. “I’ll always love you no matter what.”
“Even though I said a bad word?”
“Of course.” Harry promised, pressing a gentle kiss to her forehead. “I’ll always love and protect you no matter what.”
“I love you mama,” she yawned, nesteling closer to him. “Bedtime?”
“Yeah,” he huffed softly. “Let’s go to bed.”
With a tender look between his child and siblings, Harry made his way to the bedroom provided by the room of requirements. It was time to sleep, and this time he wouldn’t leave his child no matter what.