Prolouge
January 14th, 1976
"Miss Gaunt, are you alright?"
"Take him." A bundle of blankets is shoved into my arms, inside a small child, short black hair already protruding from the hat he wore. Inside was a letter, crudely written with tear-stained ink throughout.
"Dumbledore. You have to take him. They are coming for me. He is coming. I have to keep him safe." Her voice crackled as she spoke, clearly fighting back tears before running, sparing but a glance at the baby in my arms.
The child was weightless, with grey eyes that could stare straight through a soul. He didn't cry; instead, pure curiosity was captured within the orbs that looked around the room, joy painted on his face as he saw the colours. Gold reflected into his eyes, coos of prior Headmasters echoing around the room, each figure merged into one portrait to get a better look at the unknown child. His skin was pale where his hand clutched the parchment letter wrapped with him.
The child's eyes met my own, excitement and wonder swimming within the child's mind as he reached up towards my face, a small smile etched onto his face. A small hand delicately clutched my finger, playing with the crescent moon ring that sat there. His skin was cold, paler than the parchment tightly grasped in his other hand as his skin met my own.
"Philleas, fetch Minerva," I muttered to the portrait behind, my eyes never leaving the small child in my arms. The child was curious; his small features showed no remnants of his mother, no elongated nose, no black eyes, no anger. There was nothing that showed his mother in him. Instead, he resembled Regulus. The same grey eyes that could not conceal the tidal wave of emotion that flowed behind, the same smile.
"Albus?" Minerva's voice interrupted my train of thought, my eyes leaving the child for the first time since his impromptu arrival.
"Minerva. I presume you can see the predicament in which I find myself?"
"Quite clearly, Albus," Minerva responded shrilly, yet keeping her voice quiet enough to not disturb the child, whose eyes were now lightly fluttering closed, exhaustion consuming his entire body.
"Whose child is that?" Minerva asked as she walked over, her arms open to welcome the small boy.
"Adrianna Gaunt's. She abandoned him here not 10 minutes before I called for you. Miss Gaunt muttered something hastily that he was after her."
"Did she give this mysterious he a name?"
"No. Miss Gaunt ran out of here as soon as the child had settled in my arms." I commented as I passed the child from my arms and into Minerva's, who held the child with such a delicate touch that he looked like he was floating.
"I do believe, however, it is someone she knows. Someone she previously trusted. The terror on her face looked like it was something she had grown accustomed to."
"Her brother, perhaps. Their father may be dead, but her brother certainly isn't someone to gloss over. The pair of them were both as bad as each other. Monsters worse than anything written about in books."
"Unlikely, Minerva. I do believe it may be a follower of Voldemort. Her family are all still loyal followers of the line of Slytherin. It would certainly be strange for them to change now." I responded as Minerva rocked the child in her arms, confusion evident on her face.
"Besides the fact of the child's mother, is there any indication of who the father is?"
"I do not know. The boy is holding a letter. I was merely waiting until he slept to read it." Minerva slipped her hand into the blankets that encased the boy and pulled out the parchment, the boy flinching in his sleep as it moved.
I examined the parchment before carefully pulling apart the green wax seal bearing the Gaunt family crest. The letter was crinkled, clearly held too tightly by the now sleeping boy. Each stroke of ink had clearly been followed by the falling of a tear, each word more smudged than the one before.
"Well? Does it say anything, Albus?" Minerva urged from beside me, clearly intrigued by the appearance of a baby on Hogwarts grounds.
Professor Dumbledore,
Many years ago, you visited my family home. I was desperate for help, and you guided me and allowed me to find safety and shelter for a few perfect moments. I now ask you to extend the same courtesy to my son. He has no name. That task must fall to his father, Sirius Black. He has done no wrong to me, and I ask that you instruct him to hand him the wand housed in my ancestral family home, should the boy prove himself worthy. Sirius will be a good father. This I know. He cared for me despite the situation of our relationship. I hold no grudge, nor do I harbour any resentment towards the man who treated me with such kindness despite the nature of our lives.
Keep the boy safe. He is special to me, the last remaining piece of my soul made human once again. The boy can never fall into the wrong hands, like I have. He will become something great. He will be a true Slytherin boy when he arrives at Hogwarts properly. Strong, powerful, cunning and yet I know he will be loyal. I am truly sorry it has come to this professor. I leave him with you, knowing this will be my last memory. The final moment of happiness. Seeing my boy safe.
Enclosed is the certification of his birth, the name left blank. Allow Sirius to choose a fitting name for my boy. Allow him to become the perfect father I know he can be. Allow Sirius to help the boy grow into the man I know he will one day become. My smart boy. My perfect boy. I love you.
Adrianna Gaunt
"This boy is the child of Sirius Black?" Minerva all but shouted.
"It appears so."
"He is no illegitimate father. This is outrageous. He is no child of the Family of Black." Philleas screeched from the portrait behind Minerva, clearly angry as he huffed back to his chair, face flushed red against the dark canvas, "I will have no child of my family..."
"Silencio," I muttered, wand directed towards the screaming man.
"Minerva. Wake Sirius. He should know of his child." Minerva once again handed me the small boy, who now lay sleeping in my arms, content in a world of dreams. She quickly rushed towards the door, rushing with rapid footsteps to find the boy's father.