In between all the awesome and funny, there are moments when you're reminded the Dresden 'verse is filled with mostly good people.
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[[index]]
* Heartwarming/StormFront
* Heartwarming/FoolMoon
* Heartwarming/GravePeril
* Heartwarming/SummerKnight
* Heartwarming/DeathMasks
* Heartwarming/BloodRites
* Heartwarming/DeadBeat
* Heartwarming/ProvenGuilty
* Heartwarming/WhiteNight
* Heartwarming/SmallFavor
* Heartwarming/TurnCoat
* Heartwarming/{{Changes}}
* Heartwarming/GhostStory
* Heartwarming/ColdDays
* Heartwarming/SkinGame
* Heartwarming/PeaceTalks
* Heartwarming/BattleGround2020

[[/index]]
[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder: Short stories, and general ]]

* From the short story ''It's My Birthday Too'', Harry gives Thomas Rock'em Sock'em Robots for his birthday. Why? Because when he was at the orphanage, he saw a Christmas commercial of two brothers playing with the toys.
-->'''Harry:''' "That was a year when I really, really wanted to give those stupid plastic robots to my brother."
-->'''Thomas:''' "Because it would mean you weren't alone."
* In the short story ''Love Hurts'', Harry and Murphy are hit with a love curse, and rather than accept it and live happily ever after, they destroy the curse to save all the people whose minds were being destroyed.
* In the short story ''The Warrior'':
** Uriel tells Harry exactly how he's doing good by pointing out how seemingly insignificant actions throughout the story would ultimately have life-changingly positive impacts: noticing a bruise on a little girl's cheek helped her mother realize that her husband was abusing the child, stopping an electrician from working while drunk lead to his getting off the sauce and saving his marriage and his young daughter's life, and cheering up a teenager who felt useless on her softball team would lead to her becoming a counselor who would help hundreds of children herself.
** It really hits home when Uriel points out that these are just some of the most recent and insignificant examples, pointing out that all of this doesn't even begin to cover the lives that Harry's saved, the pain he's averted and the darkness he's banished in all his countless battles beforehand. Given Harry's frequent musings on how often it seems that in spite of his best efforts he can't make the world a better place, he has a tremendous impact all the same. Furthermore, if Harry made that much difference to that many people in just a few days, how much more so has he done over a lifetime of being a SmallStepsHero?
** Earlier in the story, Harry is discussing a potential threat with Michael and Charity, and makes no bones about [[TrueCompanions how he feels about the Carpenters]].
-->'''Harry:''' Let me poke around and shine a light on things, so we know what's going on. If it turns out to be nothing, no harm done.\\
'''Charity:''' And if it isn't?\\
'''Harry:''' [[DeclarationOfProtection No harm gets done to you and yours.]]
* Molly has one in ''Bombshells''. At the end when "Auntie Lea" is explaining why she mislead Molly about the svartalves, she speaks of Harry in the present tense. Molly, who is in love with Harry and full of self-loathing over her part in Harry's death, picks up on it and asks Lea in a bare whisper if he's alive. She replies as indirectly as possible that he is.
-->''I bowed my head and started crying. Or laughing. Or both. I couldn’t tell. Lea didn’t wait around for it. Emotional displays made her uncomfortable. Harry. Alive. I '''hadn’t''' killed him. Best reward ever. “Thank you, Auntie,” I whispered. “Thank you.”''
* In ''Day One'', Butters goes in alone on his first quest. The monster destroys his glasses and lays a fear whammy on him and boasts on how she'll feed on his fear till he dies. Blind and terrified, he calls Harry and asks him to come and help. Harry refuses, because this is something Butters has to do himself, but he briefs him on what he's fighting, and gives Butters the courage to stand and fight. Also, when Butters calls him, Harry is about to take Maggie and Mouse to the zoo, and at first invites Butters to come along.
-->“Butters,” he said. “Look. I know it’s hard. But there’s one way you deal with fear (...) You stand up and you kick it in the fucking teeth,” he said, and there was a quiet, certain power in his voice that had nothing to do with magic. “You’ve forgotten the most important thing a Knight needs to remember, Butters, (...) Knights of the Cross aren’t afraid of monsters,” he said. “The monsters are afraid of you. Act like it. Commit to it, hard. And have faith.”
* Ebenezer and Harry's relationship is wonderfully heartwarming all around. Before, after, and even during their fallout after Harry finds out Ebenezer's the Blackstaff, the relationship is mutually respectful and affectionate, with Ebenezer respecting Harry's wishes and boundaries and wanting what's best for him, and Harry thinking the world of Ebenezer. It's nice to see a student/mentor relationship built on a foundation of trust, love and genuine respect, especially when you consider how few truly healthy relationships Harry has in his life.
* In ''Zoo Day'', Harry, Mouse, and Maggie get to have a day together as a family. Mouse's POV really shows how much they all love one another.
* ''[[https://docs.google.com/document/d/12hNgNIqJM5jqHqC-J-jfLA0WNDG2zEW8TrK_uPzpUJg/edit Christmas Eve]]'' (which takes place during the Christmas after ''Peace Talks'' and ''Battle Ground'') has Harry building a bike by hand for Maggie, when three people come to visit, bearing gifts: Mab, who gives him a ring for Maggie that will give her some influence over the winter forces until midday on Christmas Day and play music; Molly, who gives him an envelope showing that she has paid the hospital bills for everyone that was hurt during the battle and for the funerals for those who died, as well as an admonishment to not blame himself for what happened; and Kris Kringle, AKA Santa, who gives him the cup he gifted his father on their last Christmas together, full of the "coffee" (milk and sugar with some coffee) Malcolm would let him drink every Christmas morning. Then Maggie wakes up, just before Kringle leaves, and Harry and Maggie manage to see Kringle's sleigh fly away.
* In the first book, Harry was almost entirely alone and unsupported, except for Mister (and Ebenezar, Nick, and possibly Michael, offscreen and unmentioned). Now, in addition to them, he's got a family: Maggie, Thomas, the Carpenters, Murphy, Mouse, and Molly, not to mention too many friends, allies, and frenemies to list. Even two gods, an archangel, and the GeniusLoci of an island have shown him serious respect. He might die alone (assuming the death curse hasn't been fulfilled by ''Changes'' already), but by no means will he have to spend the rest of his life alone.
* ''[[https://www.jim-butcher.com/posts/2020/morgan-microfiction-rpg-art-and-more Journal]]'', a piece of microfiction written from Morgan's perspective, displaying some HiddenDepths and insight as to his behavior. As it turns out, he promised Margaret, Harry's mother, that he'd take care of Harry, but [=DuMorne=] got to him before Morgan could, and the reason for Morgan's cruel behavior toward him was that he thought Harry may have been under the influence of Nemesis, and hounded him in an effort to purge him of any influence that may have existed. He even admits he's been too hard on Harry, saying he wished he'd done better by him, and laments having persecuted a good man.