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Arthur stood in the doorway to the kitchen, watching as Harry leaned over his textbook, his face almost touching the page. He had been with them for the last few weeks, and it had been interesting. Harry was quiet and shy, but every day he seemed to open up a little more, become a little brighter.
It was amazing that Arthur could be surprised when it came to a twelve-year-old boy, he had raised six sons, including one who was the very same age. They were all straight forward, all simple, and with no perspective for anything they would do.
Harry was calm, kind, and witty on the rare occasions when he did speak up. He was quite actually interesting to talk too.
Arthur did have his concerns about his home life. Fred and George had told him, once Arthur had pulled them aside to ask them about how their flight in the car went, that all of his things had been locked up and the Muggles had put bars on his windows. He was also quite thin and Arthur had heard him get sick a few times after dinner, especially on the nights that Molly served him a third or fourth helping, something Arthur had finally put an end to.
“Harry,” said Arthur, walking into the room and watching as the young boy looked up from his textbook, squinting at him. Arthur could recognize eye strain from his own youth, and from watching Percy struggle with his eye sight. “When was the last time you went to see an eye…uh…doctor?”
Harry was quiet, and Arthur waited…and waited…and waited.
“I don’t remember,” said Harry finally, and Arthur nodded. This was what he expected.
“Alright then,” said Arthur, already thinking of a plan. “Why don’t you go play with the other boys? You can work on your homework later.”
Harry nodded and smiled, running out the kitchen door without taking care of his books. Arthur walked over to the table and marked Harry’s page before closing his textbook and gathering his things. He would take them upstairs to Ron’s room for him.
~`~
“Now how do those feel Mr. Potter?” asked Healer Michaels, as he tapped Harry’s old frames with his wand.
Harry was quiet, quickly glancing at Arthur who just smiled at him, and Percy who just nodded. “Better,” said Harry, his voice small, and Arthur felt himself smile bigger.
“Can you read this line for me?” asked Healer Michaels, pointing to a line on letters on the wall. “Go as fast or slow as you need too.”
Harry glanced over at Arthur and Percy again, waiting again for a nod or smile, before starting to read out loud. “A O G H L R S W.”
“Perfect,” said Healer Michaels, and Arthur stood up along with Percy. “Good job Mr. Potter.”
Harry smiled and Arthur put his hand on his shoulder, gently guiding him out of the office. He knew that it was a good idea to have Harry go last, his exam had taken the longest, it had been close to seven years since Harry had last gotten his eyes checked, and they had been worse than Arthur could imagine.
Bringing along Percy had seemed to be the right thing to do too, he didn’t pay attention to really anything, but he seemed to be a comfort for Harry. Having someone else that he could trust seemed to help.
~`~
The next time Arthur noticed that Harry’s eyes weren’t up to scratch, it was two years later, after the Quidditch World Cup. He was squinting at the World Cup program, trying to memorize the players’ names, and rubbing at his forehead.
It pained Arthur to know that his aunt and uncle didn’t care about his health. He was still getting sick after most meals when Molly served him a second or third helping of dinner.
“Come on Harry,” said Arthur, taking Harry’s program and holding his arm out to him, pulling Harry up to his feet. “Percy has an appointment with Healer Michaels, you can tag along too.”
Harry was quiet, as he always was whenever Arthur tried to talk to him one-on-one. He was an amazing kid and deserved more care than his aunt and uncle gave him.
~`~
“A O G H L R S W,” read out Harry, and Arthur felt himself relax into his chair, Percy nodding absentmindedly beside him.
This trip was a lot faster than the last one. Harry’s eyes had gotten a little better, but he still needed his prescription updated on his glasses.
“Perfect, Mr. Potter,” said Healer Michaels, and Harry nodded and smiled. It was nice to him grow a little more comfortable with this trip. Arthur hated that Harry felt nervous or unsure around people that were trying to help him, but little by little he was getting more confident.
“Let’s get home,” said Arthur, squeezing Harry’s shoulders as he led him out of the optometrist’s office. “Percy you can floo back first.”
~`~
It wasn’t a great sixteenth birthday present, but sometimes presents weren’t always for fun. Arthur would love to get Harry some new Seeker gloves or a new set of gobstones or a pack of Exploding Snap cards, things he didn’t get in his childhood but should’ve, but sometimes growing up meant that you needed practical over fun.
“A O G H L R S W,” said Harry, and Arthur smiled at him when he glanced over. It felt strange not to have Percy with them, but Arthur didn’t even want to think about his son and his backwards views.
“Very good Mr. Potter,” said Healer Michaels, and Harry smiled. Arthur had been worried he would be just as upset this summer as he had been last year, but losing Sirius seemed to have grounded him more than anything else.
It was surprisingly hard to see him grow up before his eyes. Arthur had only met James Potter a few times in his short life. The most memorable had been at his brothers-in-law funerals. James, Lily, Sirius, and Remus had all been so impossibly young to be fighting for the Order, but they were so kind and full of admiration for Gideon and Fabian. They had been the last ones to see them alive in the Order, and Lily had even done the service of coming to tell Molly of their deaths.
They had only been nineteen or twenty, Lily had just been starting to show in her pregnancy, and James had refused to leave her side, other than the one moment he knelt down and talked to the boys. Percy, Fred, and George had been so interested in every word he said, while Bill and Charlie had just rolled their eyes and looked at him in disbelief.
Stories of pranks, of missions, of fighting Death Eaters, it was everything Arthur and Molly had wanted to shield from their boys, but it was everything James knew.
Harry was sixteen now, not far off from the young man that Arthur had met at a funeral. In another few years, he would surpass his parents in age, and it was enough to make Arthur feel a bit emotional.
“Are you okay if we side-along?” asked Arthur as they left the small office, offering his arm to Harry. He didn’t shy away anymore like he had at twelve, so afraid that Arthur would hurt him instead of care for him.
“Do we have to?” asked Harry, his voice still quiet, low and calm and nervous.
“We need to make a quick stop before we go home.”
“Okay.”
~`~
Arthur sat down at the patio table across from Harry, handing over a chocolate ice cream cone, Ron’s favorite when he was younger. It had been a long time since he had last come here, since he had last brought one of his boys or Ginny to get a treat at the muggle ice cream parlor.
“Here you go, just don’t tell Molly,” said Arthur, winking at Harry before taking a bite of his own vanilla cone. “She’ll get upset about ruining your dinner.”
“Thank you Mr. Weasley,” said Harry, before he took a bite of his ice cream.
Arthur smiled, enjoying the quiet as he watched Harry out of the corner of his eye, pretending to watch the muggle kids running up and down the street. He would wait for Harry to say something else, anything else.
“Mr. Weasley?”
Arthur turned back to Harry, watching as he put down his ice cream, avoiding his eyes.
“Yes Harry.”
“Thank you for all of this,” said Harry, his voice quiet and nervous again. “The um...the glasses…and the ice cream.”
“You have to be able to see Harry,” Arthur told him, hoping that maybe this would make the boy open up a little. “We can’t have you flying into trees, or the goal posts.”
Harry smiled, and Arthur could see the ghost of James Potter telling his sons about his brothers-in-law pulling a prank on Dumbledore. Arthur met his eyes and saw the ghost of Lily Potter, her eyes bright as she let slip that she was having a baby boy of her own to Molly, who was holding a newborn Ron in her arms.
It made the quiet better.
~`~
“I can- I don’t need- I-“
“Shut up Harry,” said Percy, as Arthur tightened his grip on the young man’s arm. Between the pair of them, they could drag Harry to the optometrist easily. His year on the run had made him too thin again.
He was getting sick after meals again.
“It’s been two years,” Arthur reasoned as the three of them walked to the boundary of the Burrow’s wards. “It’s time to get your eyes checked again. We do it every summer holiday, you know that.”
Harry sighed, and Arthur felt his stomach twist. For six years, Harry had been a guest in their life, he was Ron’s best friend, he was in love with their Ginny, he was their seventh son. He had stood with them as they buried Fred, and he was living with them because he had nowhere else to go, though the truth was that they wouldn’t let him stay anywhere else.
Percy came back into their lives just as they lost Fred, and Arthur would be damned if they lost Harry too.
“You’re eyes are important,” said Percy and Harry sighed, almost crumpling into himself. He looked more like the scared little boy that came to them six years ago than the eighteen-year-old he just became a few days ago. “Can’t have you walking into walls.”
Arthur felt himself smile as he wrapped his arm around Harry’s thin shoulders and turned on the spot.
~`~
“Okay Mr. Potter,” said a much older Healer Michaels, “read the letters out loud to me, just this fourth row. Don’t worry about going fast or slow.”
“A…uh…O G H…L R…S…and um…W?” said a little five year old Albus Potter.
“Very good Mr. Potter,” said Healer Michaels, and Al turned his head and smiled at his dad and grandad. “You can read just like your dad and grandfather.”
Arthur smiled as Al jumped out of his seat, wearing his new glasses. They were boxy square frames that were more similar to the pair that his other grandfather had worn. Al smiled as Harry picked him up and held him in his arms. Al was more than familiar enough with Healer Michaels, as he came almost every six months to get his eyes checked out.
“Good job Al,” said Harry, bouncing his second son in his arms, and Arthur reached over to ruffle his grandson’s hair. Al looked just like Harry, just like his other grandfather, but he had the same bright green eyes of his grandmother Lily, and a sprinkling of freckles that made his Weasley heritage known to the world.
“Ice cream?” asked Arthur, and Harry rolled his eyes as Al’s smile got bigger. “I take that as a yes.”
“Only if you let me pay,” said Harry as they waved goodbye to Healer Michaels and made their way out of the office.
“Absolutely not,” said Arthur, catching Harry’s eyes, “you know the whole point of this is to spoil my kids.”