prologue
Fall 1979
Darkness crept silently through the house, claiming every inch of it as the night crept onward, with the only source of light being a dwindling fire in the drawing room fireplace. The sound of the crackling fire cut through the silence in the room which was growing steadier by the moment. A sigh emanates from the man in the corner of the room, leaning against the wooden frame of the fireplace with fatigue evident on his face. Two other men and one woman are the other current occupants of the room, all three of them are standing a few feet away from the other man with equally tired expressions on their faces. As well as the sleeping infant that the woman was holding
"How do we know that he won't come after her?" The woman asked in a hushed tone, her red hair shining in the firelight.
"No reason too, I suspect, with both of the parents being dead and her being suspected dead as well" The man in the corner says solemnly.
The red-haired woman looks at him with an unreadable expression in her eyes before turning her attention back to the newborn.
"Padfoot, listen, I know your relationship with your brother wasn't the best but is shipping this kid off with strangers the best idea?" One of the men says, taking a step closer to the man in the corner.
A flash of something passes through the man in the corner, Padfoot's eyes before he clenches his jaw and also takes a step forward. The woman gingerly takes a step back from the two of them, using her arms to guard the infant as much as she could without jostling her awake. Despite their strained relationship, it was apparent to everyone who knew him that Sirius still cared deeply for his brother and his death hit him harder than he would admit.
"She's my niece, James, of course, I don't want to just send her off! But we're at war here and I can't risk her dying too" Sirius says, his voice raising slightly as tears fill his eyes.
Silence falls between the four of them after that, none of them knowing exactly what to do or say at that moment. The fire crackles next to them as darkness has slipped onto the house like a blanket at that point. The infant girl was hardly a month old and had been in the care of Sirius Black, along with the help of the newly married James and Lily Potter along with Remus Lupin, following the passing of both of her parents.
"Her mother's family won't come looking either?" The other man, Remus Lupin, asks after a long bout of silence.
"Last I knew all of her family save a paternal uncle were dead" Sirius says mournfully.
"And your mother?" Lily asks softly.
Sirius barked a laugh.
"I would willingly hand myself over to the Dark Lord myself before giving her another child to raise, she isn't an option" Sirius says with a frown.
Lily nods as if she had been expecting that answer from him.
"Then the Muggle family Remus and I looked into will have to do" Lily says with a small smile directed down at the sleeping child in her arms.
"And who's that then?" James asked with an arched brow.
Lily and Remus share a long look before turning their respective gazes back to James and Sirius.
"We thought....that it would be best if you two didn't know" Remus speaks for the two of them.
"What?" Sirius says instantly, looking between the two of them with a clear look of betrayal on his face.
"What if the Dark Lord manages to catch and torture you, Sirius? Or you, James? She'll be safer the less people know where she'll be" Lily explains.
Silence falls between the four of them again, silent rage brewing on Sirius' features as he clenches his fists at his sides.
"Have you...communicated with this family?" Sirius asks after a while.
"Yes, they're expecting us tonight actually" Lily says bluntly, refusing to meet Sirius' gaze.
"Tonight?" He echoes.
Lily nods, guilt evident on her face that she had kept it secret until now.
"I can go put her things together" Sirius says numbly, looking at the still-sleeping baby in Lily's arms.
"I took care of everything this morning, all I have to do now is bring her to them. They're good people, Sirius, they'll take good care of her" Lily says, giving him a watery smile.
"Once the Dark Lord is defeated we'll be able to visit her whenever we like" Remus says in a reassuring tone.
Sirius nods dumbly, his eyes still on his niece. Would this be the last time he'd ever see her? What if he were to die before Voldemort is defeated? Would she even want anything to do with him once the war is over? Would she care that he's her biological uncle or would he just be some random stranger to her for the rest of her life?
"The mother is a Squib and has ways to contact me so once the war is over she'll know and we'll be able to see her" Lily tells him.
Sirius nods again.
"Didn't Regulus leave a letter for her? We should at least give them that so they can give it to her when she's old enough" James says.
The mention of the letter from Regulus snaps Sirius out of his own mind, the very same letter that had burned him when he had tried to open it once his niece had been left in his care. With shaky hands, Sirius grabs the offending envelope out of his jacket pocket and slowly hands it over to Lily. The contents of the letter were completely unknown to him, his brother must have put a ward on it so only his daughter could open it, but that didn't make parting with it any easier. She gingerly takes it out of his hand and slides it into her jacket pocket without a word.
"Do you want to hold her before we take her?" Lily asks Sirius.
Sirius nods.
While trying not to wake the child, Lily gingerly gives her over to Sirius. Slowly, Sirius lowers his mouth down to her forehead and leaves a delicate kiss there. As he's pulling away, the now-open brown eyes of his niece hold him in place.
"Hey, kiddo" Sirius whispers at her.
She looks up at him with wide, inquisitive brown eyes but something akin to a smile takes over her face as she fully recognizes Sirius. There was so much of his brother in her face, even at just a month old, that it made Sirius remember when his brother was a toddler, following him around their family home with the same inquisitive eyes. In another life, he wouldn't have a war to fight in and he'd be able to become her legal guardian and raise her. In another life, his brother wouldn't have gotten himself involved with Voldemort and he would've been around to raise his daughter.
"Ready to go with Aunt Lily?" He asks her with a forced smile.
The baby didn't move or babble at him like she normally would, she just kept looking at Sirius as if she knew what was going to happen. Sirius looked over at Lily, who at this point was looking at him with tears trailing down her cheeks as she approached him to take the baby again. She didn't cry when Lily picked her up out of Sirius' arms, just kept looking at her uncle with those same wide eyes as if it was also Regulus looking at him via his daughter. Lily gave him a quick one-armed hug before walking out of the room, Remus trailing slowly behind her.
"Are we doing the right thing?" Sirius asks James once the two of them were alone in the house.
"She'll be safer this way" James says, not fully answering his question.
Sirius nods, his mind clouded by whether or not they had made the right decision.