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Harry stepped out of the door of the little cottage he’d bought, planning to enjoy the early morning sun before he had to go get ready for Auror training. He stopped short, staring at the step. There was a baby. A baby in a basket. He hesitated a moment, then pulled his wand, checking baby and basket for any traps or other spells.
Nothing. Just a baby in a basket. Left on his doorstep.
That was not suspicious in the least. He looked the basket over for any hint who might have left it there. The only thing he found was a piece of parchment.
‘Please keep her safe.’ Nothing else. The writing was smudged and untidy, as if whoever wrote it had been in a hurry.
“Harry?” Ginny had noticed him still standing in the open door. She’d been spending the night again, to start figuring out how she would make the cottage their home, as she liked to say. “What’s the matter?” She came closer. “Oh.”
“What am I supposed to do with her?”
Ginny shrugged. “Take it to the Ministry. They can deal with it.”
He nodded. “You’re right.” Hopefully they would be able to find the little girl’s family and figure out why she had been left on his doorstep.
~*~
“Harry! Oh, who’s this little darling?” Hermione greeted him when he arrived at the Ministry. It seemed she had also just arrived. It was not unusually for them to encounter one another in the atrium in the morning. His training as auror and Hermione’s in the different departments started around the same time in the morning.
“I have no idea. I found her on my doorstep this morning.” He showed her the short note. “I’m taking her down to the Auror Department, see if they can figure out where she’s come from and who left her there.”
Hermione frowned. “On your doorstep?”
He recognized the tone of her voice. “I figured they’re trying to manipulate me, yes.” Thanks to Rita Skeeter, everyone knew now how he had been left on a doorstep after his parents died and they could imagine that he would not abandon a child left on his doorstep. He looked down at the little baby. “I figured I’d take her down with me and let the other Aurors figure out who she is and who left her with me.”
“I’ll come with you.”
Harry ignored everyone’s eyes on him. He was unfortunately familiar with the sensation. He kept walking until he reached the middle of the Auror Department, then he carefully placed the basket down on one of the desks.
“Potter?” Gawain Robards, the Head Auror, came out of his office when he noticed the commotion as everyone tried to catch a glimpse of the child. “What’s going on?”
“She was left on my doorstep. And I have no idea where she’s come from.”
“There is no chance she might be yours?” Robards asked.
Harry flushed. “No, impossible. I haven’t... I’ve been careful.” In fact he had not had sex with anyone in a while. Ginny had offered repeatedly but the few times he had taken her up on it, he’d used a condom and a contraceptive spell to make sure.
“Is there a way to find out who her parents are?” Hermione asked. “A DNA test or an ancestry test, perhaps?”
“What is a DNA test?” Robards asked but then changed his mind. “Never mind. Jones, take it to Gringotts and have them make an ancestry test.”
Harry stepped back, letting Kerry Jones take the child. His fingers twitched, wanting to reach for the basket again. It was silly, he knew Jones would not hurt a child or allow it to be harmed but, after everything he’d gone through at Hogwarts, he had a hard time trusting people.
~*~
“Any news?” Hermione asked as they met up for lunch. Neville and Ron were there as well. Ron was training with him to become an Auror while Neville was in an apprenticeship with Pomona Sprout. That meant he was normally at Hogwarts but he tried to join them regularly.
Harry quickly filled the other two men in on what had happened this morning, then answered Hermione. “It’s strange. The ancestry test showed nothing but she has magic.”
“A Muggleborn?” Hermione asked.
“Then how could she get to my home? There are spells on the property to keep Muggles away,” Harry pointed out.
“There is another possibility,” Neville said. “It might be that the ancestry test showed nothing because she has been magically disinherited. It would fit with the new patient at the Janus Thickey Ward.” He looked around, noting the confusion on Harry’s and Hermione’s face and the way Ron avoided looking at them. He sighed. “There is a... practice among some very old-fashioned purebloods – light and dark, mind you – to not directly disinherit a girl with too much magic to be considered a squib but too little magic to be trained at Hogwarts.”
“Like Merope Gaunt.”
Neville nodded. “The families hope that the girls will ‘breed true’, as they call it, and have magical sons with a powerful wizard.”
“‘Breed true’?” Hermione repeated. “You mean...?”
“They’re not asked if they want to have a child with them, yes. They’re pressured or potioned usually. It’s possible that she ran when she gave birth to a girl instead of a male heir and the parents then disinherited her and the baby.” Neville took a sip from his water. “When I was visiting my parents today, healers were talking about a young girl who had been disinherited.”
“I’ll tell Jones, she can interview her.”
Neville shook his head. “She won’t be able to. She was so weak magically that the disinheritance damaged her core. She’s unconscious and unlikely to wake up again.”
“That can happen?” Hermione demanded to know.
“It’s very rare today. Few families do it anymore and those that do would never admit to it, the practice is not considered acceptable.” He snorted. “Of course it’s not because of the poor girls but because of the shame of having to resort to that.”
They all grimaced.
“If we have a potential mother, they can do a DNA test,” Hermione said. To Ron and Neville, she explained: “It would prove that she is her daughter.”
“You can suggest it,” Neville said. He doubted however that the Aurors would care overly much.
~*~
“Have you found out anything?” Harry asked Jones as he prepared to go home that evening.
“No and we won’t. I talked to an Unspeakable about that DNA test. We can prove that the patient at St Mungos is the mother but not who they are. The disinheritance changes their genes so a DNA test would not work.”
“What will happen to the baby then?” Harry asked.
Jones shrugged. “We’ll drop her off at an orphanage.”
“There are magical orphanages?” Harry had not heard about that before.
“Oh no, we don’t have any of those. We’ll drop her off at a Muggle orphanage.”
“I thought she has magic.”
“So?”
Harry frowned. No, he was not abandoning her to the Muggle system.
~*~
“What were you thinking?” Ginny shrieked. She had never reminded him more of her mother than in this moment.
“I thought that a Muggle orphanage is not equipped to deal with a magical child,” Harry said. “So I volunteered to take her.” And didn’t it say a lot about the ‘care’ the magical society showed for children, that no one had asked if he was able take care of her properly?
“What about us?” Ginny asked.
“I realize that we’re young. And I should have asked you before offering to adopt her –”
“You want to adopt her?” Ginny interrupted. “That would give her the same rights as any child you and I have.”
“Well, of course.” Harry didn’t understand why she was so worked up about that.
“I’m not going to raise some other woman’s child,” Ginny said. “She’ll take up space, time and money that should be for our family.”
“Ginny, you know I inherited quite a bit from my parents and from Sirius. Even with another girl, we won’t have to worry about money.” In fact even if he decided not to work, they would still have enough to live comfortably.
“And that money should be for us and our children, not some freeloading freak.”
Harry froze at her words. “Get out.”
“What?”
“I said get out! Now!” He watched her toss her hair and apparate away, then dropped heavily into an armchair. He could not believe what Ginny had said. Didn’t she understand that he could not abandon a child? Didn’t she understand why her calling that innocent little baby a freak was unacceptable to him? He had told her about the Dursleys.
“Harry?”
He looked up at Hermione’s voice. “‘mione?”
“I was at the Burrow when Ginny came home,” she explained.
“What did...?” Harry trailed off, uncertain how to continue.
“Ron agrees with her, says you should concentrate on building a family with Ginny. Molly thinks you’re too young to make such a decision and should give her away. Arthur’s on your side, at least.”
“Now what?”
“Now we gather information,” Hermione said. “I can ask my parents. But we should also ask a wix, someone who knows how to deal with a magical baby.”
“How about we talk to Neville? He might know something or be able to point us to someone.” The only witches they knew better, aside from Ginny and Molly, were Luna and Andromeda Tonks. Andromeda was still grieving and raising Teddy and Luna, well...
Neville readily agreed to step through the floo when Harry called him. “Veeny!” he called after listening to their story. A female house elf popped into the room, looking at him expectantly. “Please get everything needed to take care of an infant.” When she was gone, he turned back to Harry and Hermione. “Veeny is a nanny elf. She bonded with my family when my mother fell ill soon after my birth. She’ll know what this little darling needs.”
Harry breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank you.”
“What do you plan to do now?”
“I’m not sure yet. I know I want to adopt her.” Harry paused. “I’ll have to change my career, right? I can’t work as Auror as single parent.” He smiled at Neville. “Perhaps you can take my place in training.”
Neville shook his head. “I’m not interested in becoming an Auror. I’ve come to accept that I’m not my father. He was an Auror, yes, but I know now that I have to find my own path and live my life, not theirs.” He noticed Harry flinch slightly. It confirmed a suspicion he had had when he’d learned that Harry was dating Ginny and planned to become an Auror. “Harry, have you ever considered what else you can see yourself doing?”
“No, not really. Umbridge sat in on my career advice meeting and McGonagall supported my becoming an Auror.”
“Which subjects did you enjoy the most?” Neville asked. He had an idea but he did not want to influence him.
“Charms, Transfiguration. DADA when we could get a competent teacher.”
“Broom making companies will be eager to hire you, I expect. You’d have to start out as test flyer since being broom maker requires at least basic arithmancy knowledge, but you’d hardly be the first wix to learn arithmancy after graduation. You could apply for a Charms apprenticeship, work for one of the companies or shops selling charmed objects. Not jewellery, mind you, the goblins are far better at working with metals and it requires advanced knowledge of runes and arithmancy. You could join Hermione in getting to know the other branches of the Ministry, if you can stand working for them. Or you can come with me to Hogwarts. Either to have the other professors give you proper career advice – they know more about the requirements and options than I do – or to get trained to teach DADA.” Seeing Harry staring at him, eyes wide, he smiled slightly and added gently: “Or you can just wait a bit. You’re not dependant on a job, so you can take your time before deciding.”
“I need to give it some thought.”
“Of course. I’ll check with my grandmother if there is anything to consider with the adoption, but it should be as simple as intentionally accepting her and naming her family.” Given how Harry was refusing to put her down, Neville suspected that he was already well on the way to accepting him into his family.
~*~
Harry sank back in his armchair with a sigh, gratefully accepting a bottle for Mara and a cup of tea for himself from Neville. He smiled briefly at him and took a sip, then concentrated on his daughter. Amaranth Liliana Potter was doing well. Nothing remained to remind either of them of how she had come into his life.
“Long day?” Neville asked.
Harry sighed. “They had me hold the lesson for 7th year Gryffindor and Slytherin on my own today.”
“I understand.”
Harry knew he actually did, they shared that experience after all. He had gone with him to Hogwarts to talk to the professors. Headmistress McGonagall had finally offered him the necessary training for him to become professor for DADA and he had accepted. The other professors had also offered their help in watching Mara while he had lessons. Veeny was also a great help. Harry was happy that Neville had insisted on her serving as Mara’s nanny. She really was a great help.
Contrary to what Ron and Ginny had thought, he did not regret the different path his life had taken now. In fact he found himself happier than he had been in Auror training. He had been trying to life his father’s life, the life that had been cut short because of a prophecy about him, he knew that now after some conversations with Neville. And that was another thing. In the year he was back at Hogwarts, he had talked more to Neville than in the six years they had been in Gryffindor together. They spent a few hours every day in either of their apartments, correcting essays or just talking. Mara liked Neville as well. When he and Pomona had been away for a week-end to get new plants from the continent, Mara had been rather grumpy.
“Have you written to Hermione already about the week-end?” Neville asked.
“I talked to her briefly in my free period this morning. She wants to meet up in Hogsmead.”
Neville nodded in understanding. “Less chance of running into Ginny or Ron.” Ron and Hermione had broken up soon after Harry and Ginny. Harry knew that his decision to adopt Mara and change careers had been one of things they had fought about but Hermione had told him clearly that their relationship had been getting worse before that.
“She’s been to that event with the other European Ministries, right? Do you think she met someone?” Harry asked.
“Hannah and Susan hinted at it.” Hannah occasionally helped out in the infirmary as part of her practical training. Her fiancée Susan worked at the Ministry as well and had gone with Hermione.
“It would be nice for her to have found someone. I know she gets lonely sometimes.”
“What about you? Are you ready for a new relationship?”
Harry looked down at Mara. “I guess. I’m just not ready to go out and look for someone. Not that I have time, between my apprenticeship here and Mara.”
“Do you want to? Go out and look for someone, I mean?”
Harry opened his mouth, then closed it again. Finally he said: “That depends.”
“On what?”
“On whether you would like to go a date with me?”
Neville smiled. “Friday night? My rooms? That way you’re not far from Mara.”
“It’s a date.”