Chapter Text
31 July, 1980
The summer of 1980 had been unusually hot. The days were almost unbearable, warm and humid with not a breeze in sight. The nights weren’t much better, with only the smallest bit of cool air that could barely be constituted as a reprieve. Tonight was no different, the air thick with humidity and the smell of cut grass. Summer blossoms were flourishing, and fruit trees were beginning to show the first signs of their future fall harvests.
And twenty year old Lily Potter was in labor.
She’d been told of her due date several times, but she knew from her mother that those weren’t always accurate. She had even found it a little silly, at first, that the Order had put so many protections on her and James. For what? A prophecy? Perhaps it was because she was Muggle-born, but she had never put much stock in the ideas of destiny and fate. Everything she had was through her choices and nothing more. After all, it was she who had decided to carry the child to term. She and James had discussed it. They were in a war and they had already lost so many people. Every time they blinked someone was in danger or dead. Tortured or turn-coat. They both wanted children, but was now really the right time for it? James was terrified, but he left it in Lily’s hands to make the final call.
“Fear is merely how we keep breathing, not how we keep living,” she had said.
However, there was a brief moment of regret as another contraction wracked her body, and Marlene McKinnon was encouraging her to give another push.
Lily gave a growl of frustration when it was over. This would have been so much easier if she could have gone to a Healer, or even a Muggle hospital. But no. Her child had to be born in secret, a web of several decoys scattered about, because some megalomaniacal, hypocritical blood purist feared that her son would be his downfall.
She did wonder at this point if it mattered that she and James had discovered that Lily was having two babies instead of just one…
It was curious. Did that affect the prophecy at all? Did it cancel it out? She sincerely wasn’t sure. And, in all honesty, she didn’t care. She didn’t care that some woman predicted that her son would defeat Voldemort. She didn’t care that it was her ex-best friend who was the one to tell Voldemort this. It didn’t even matter that besides all this, that it wasn’t the best time to start a family. All that mattered to Lily was her husband holding her hand and the look in his eyes and the future they were desperately fighting for.
After about another hour of strenuous labor, her hair drenched with sweat, Lily finally gave birth to Harry James Potter.
Almost forty minutes later, Magnolia Hope Potter was also born.
“Your genetics are powerful, it seems,” Lily joked several hours later as the two parents held their newborns. It was well past midnight now, first of August. Both babies had full heads of jet black hair.
“Not entirely,” James said, his eyes shining with humor. He indicated the sleeping newborn in his own arms. “This ones a girl.”
Lily snorted, absently smoothing Harry’s hair along his head. “How does it feel to be the father of twins, Mr. Potter?”
“Wonderful,” James said with no hesitation. He pulled Lily’s hand towards him and kissed her knuckles. “The three of us are going to give you gray hairs before you’re forty.”
“You say that, but I’m more hoping you get a taste of your own medicine. What it’s like to rein in a menace like you.”
“Ah, but you see, I don’t even try to rein myself in. What makes you think I’ll rein in little mini-mes?”
Lily shook her head. She could only hope that one of these children would take after her studious and not so mischievous nature. But even if they didn’t, it didn’t matter to her. Here she was, with the love of her life and the two beautiful children they had created together. Lily Potter could safely say she had never been happier.
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1 November 1981, early morning hours
It was one of the chilliest nights yet. Or mornings, technically. The dying leaves coated the cold, soft ground, almost hiding the small dirt road that led to Godric’s Hollow from view. The air was quiet, and, for anyone who wasn’t the wiser, it was peaceful.
For Sirius Black, however, it was anything but. Landing haphazardly in his flying motorcycle, he could hardly stop his hands from shaking. He had just left his friend, Peter Pettigrew’s, hiding place, only to find it completely empty and the small man unaccounted for. He had rushed to the Potter’s home as fast as he could on his flying motorcycle. Something was off. Something was very, very wrong.
Dismounting his bike and kicking the kickstand down, Sirius took a moment to survey his surroundings. There was nothing that would hint at anything being amiss. The porch swing moved gently with the cool wind, the lights in the windows gleaming in the dark night. Even the trail of lilies leading up the front steps looked untouched. Sirius remembered how excited Lily was to see them bloom, ensuring they were charmed to not freeze when fall and winter came. She had even mentioned adding a magnolia tree, just so both flowers of the house could be represented.
Sirius shook his head, walking up the pebble walkway to the door. The air felt too quiet, too calm. He also wondered why either Lily or James hadn’t come to greet him. There were wards around the house, after all. However, as he approached the door, a large shape appeared within the frame, having to duck down as they exited. Sirius immediately brandished his wand, pointing it at the figure. He was just about to hex them when the figure spoke. “Back off I have a baby, ya hear?!”
Sirius lowered his wand, confused and shocked. Sure enough there was definitely an infant in Hagrid’s arms, currently giving several discontented grunting noises. “Hagrid?! What are you doing here?”
Hagrid squinted for a moment, lowering the pink umbrella in his hand. “Sirius? What are you doing here?”
Sirius huffed a bit, but he decided to try his best not to lose his patience with Hagrid. He was a friend, after all. “I’ve just come back from Peter’s place. He’s missing.” He opened his mouth again to ask if Hagrid had seen him, if he was here, but that all came full circle to his very first question. “Hagrid...why are you here? What are you doing with Harry?”
There was just a second’s pause before the half-giant’s bottom lip began to tremble, then he was a complete blubbering mess. “It...it’s awful, Sirius! Lily and James! They...I almos’ couldn’ go all tha way inside! You Know Who he...An’, an’, an’ Harry!” He broke off into thunderous sobs.
Sirius felt ice swim in his veins that had nothing to do with the chill in the air. His stomach turned and he felt sick. “You...can’t mean…” He balled his hands into fists until his knuckles were white. “Let me see.”
Hagrid shook his head furiously. “I can’, I can’. You don’ wanna-”
“Move out of the way, Hagrid!” Sirius barked.
The noise had startled Harry, causing him to begin to cry. This seemed a distraction enough for Hagrid, who began bouncing the infant. Sirius took this moment to push past the enormous man and into the Potter home.
What he found brought him to his knees.
James Potter, his best friend in the entire world, his partner in crime, his platonic soulmate, lied dead at the foot of the stairs.
Sirius had never been much of a crier. Lily would joke that he was practically made of stone, but that wasn’t true. Sirius’ emotions ran deep, and he loved harder than perhaps anyone ever could. It was just years of living in the bleak Black household still held tight to him like iron chains. He knew it was okay to cry, but he just...didn’t. Until now, here on the floor of the Potter’s entry way, he screamed and cursed and pounded the floor as hot tears fell in rivers down his face.
“Sirius,” Hagrid said behind him, coming to place a hand on the grieving man’s shoulder. “Sirius I’m so sorry.”
Sirius shook his head, sniffling and forcing himself to his feet. There was only one person to blame here, only one person who could have caused this. Burning rage began to melt away the mourning ice in his blood. He cleared his throat. “You’re not at fault here, Hagrid.” But I know who’s fault it is. He turned to face the half-giant, finding fresh tears on his face and snot coming out of his nose. “Lily...her, too?” His voice still shook as he spoke.
Hagrid whimpered and nodded. “I...I only foun’ Harry. I…” He trailed off, starting to hiccup.
“Calm down, my friend. We...we wouldn’t want to upset Harry again.” His heart was racing. “What do you mean you only found Harry? Where’s Maggie?”
Again Hagrid whimpered. “I don’ know, I don’ know! Dumbledore sent me for both of ‘em! I looked everywhere an’... I’d look more but the Muggles…”
Sirius’ mind was racing, trying to piece together whatever Hagrid was saying. “What do you mean Dumbledore sent you for them? I’m their godfather. James and Lily meant for me to take them.” His brow furrowed. Muggles. Right. If Hagrid didn’t feel him coming then that meant the wards were down. And by the looks of the inside of the house, the Potters had not gone down quietly.
Not that I expected anything less , Sirius thought, a sense of pride burning in his chest.
“Let me take Harry,” Sirius told Hagrid. “As I said I’m his godfather. If the Muggles come snooping I will just tell them that I’m looking for Maggie and enlist their help and then Obliviate them.”
Hagrid shook his head. “I’m sorry, Sirius. I can’ do that. I got strict orders from Dumbledore to take Harry to ‘im.”
“On what grounds? What authority?! He would really dare defy the dying wishes of two of his most loyal members? Two of his friends?” Sirius snarled. Tears were pricking the corners of his eyes again. How dare Dumbledore think he had any right to Harry and his well-being! What the hell did that crackpot think he was doing?
However, Sirius was reminded that they were running low on time. It wouldn’t be long before a neighbor or something came snooping about. Also Hagrid’s blubbering was so pitiful it was making it hard to stay angry. “Fine. Take him. But tell Dumbledore I will be meeting him shortly to have words. You can take my bike.” He nodded outside. “It will get you where you’re going faster.” He then turned on his heel.
“Wait! Whadya doin’?” Hagrid asked as he watched the other man head for the stairs.
“I am going to find my goddaughter. She’s a toddler. She couldn’t have gotten far. And if she were taken, there must be a clue somewhere.” He looked over his shoulder at Hagrid. “Get Harry out of here. I will see him shortly, make no mistake.”
Hagrid hesitated for a moment, but eventually turned around himself, making his way down the porch steps toward Sirius’ motorcycle.
Sirius made the rest of the way up the stairs, feeling his nerves buzzing with every step he took. It was like he could feel James’ lifeless eyes on his back. A bubble of guilt appeared in his stomach. If he had just stayed the Secret Keeper. If he hadn’t suggested the switch… His mind began to race with other thoughts, regrets and terrible theories. He shook them off. They were not the priority at the moment.
“Maggie!” He called into the hall, checking the master bedroom. The children could only say a few words here and there. Both of them had said “Mama” as their first word, and Sirius remembered how dramatically James had sulked at that. Then again, he’d had his own little lament, as while neither child had been able to even try to form his name, little Maggie had just started saying “Remy,” whenever Remus was in the room.
He again had to shake the darker thoughts from his mind. He hadn’t trusted Remus enough to make him Secret Keeper instead, thinking his being a werewolf could compromise him. Now he was drowning in guilt. He should have known better. He should have told him…
He filed it in the back of his mind on his to do list...
After checking the master bedroom painstakingly, including the closet and under the bed, he made his way to the guest bedroom. Then the bathrooms. All the way he called for the little girl over and over. He got no response, nor did he find even a scrap of clothing of a lock of the girl’s jet black hair.
Sirius had one more room left, and he had to steel his nerves before entering. Perhaps this was the most obvious place, and where he should have looked first. But perhaps he was also avoiding it, knowing that another dead body lied just beyond the door. He took a deep breath, stepping over the obliterated door.
A choked sob escaped Sirius before he could stopped himself, staring down at the body of his best friend’s wife, a woman he had come to adore as a friend and confidant. Whom he affectionately called Lils. A woman who had had so much life and light to her that even Sirius could admit that any room seemed to glow as she entered. There was no glow anymore. Just a husk with dead green eyes and disheveled red hair.
Sirius sniffled, forcing himself to turn away and observe the rest of the room. The air felt thick, like he was in the same room with molten gold, without the heat. There were scorch marks on the floor, the walls and the ceiling. The cribs were completely destroyed, bits and splinters scattered along the room.
At seeing that, Sirius began to wonder how hard Hagrid looked for Maggie after seeing the room. It was possible that the toddler could have been caught in some kind of crossfire, and if that were the case Sirius wouldn’t be able to blame Hagrid for not being very thorough. The half-giant was large but soft, hardly being able to handle the sight of his dead friends. Seeing the deceased body of one year old Maggie Potter was perhaps something Hagrid could not even fathom, and therefore he would rather not find out for sure.
However, Sirius had to know. He had to see. Just like with his friends, even if it killed him he had to see. So he began searching, moving the rubble around. He was careful of Lily’s body, not wanting to disturb it. He jokingly thought to himself that perhaps if he did, the woman would come back to haunt him. That only saw to make him laugh and cry at the same time.
After what felt like an hour of sorting through wood and decimated linens, Sirius found himself sliding down the wall right back to the floor. His chest felt tight. Had someone really taken the girl, and left no clue as to where she’d gone? Could she have been killed in the crossfire in such a way that left no kind of remains? Just what had happened to his spunky goddaughter with the bright green eyes and emerald ribbon in her hair?
Tears began to fall from Sirius’ eyes again. He had a feeling he would find himself crying quite a bit for the rest of his life. He threw his head back and looked up at the ceiling. He’d have to leave soon. He’d have to leave, and live the rest of his life without two of his dearest friends...and the goddaughter he had come to love so much…
He smacked the back of his head against the wall much harder, again blaming himself. They shouldn’t have switched. He should have never trusted anyone else with their lives.
He took a few deep breaths, forcing himself to stop crying. He had to go. If he was found here by a bunch of Muggles, it would look bad. Hell, until he found that little bloody rodent, Peter, and made him admit what he did, it would always look bad. He wiped his eyes and put his hand to the wall, pushing himself back up to his feet again. There was no time for weeping. Not yet.
However, as Sirius stood up, his hand still on the wall, something peculiar happened. Next to where he had placed his tear soaked hand, a part of the wall had clicked out of place, like some kind of hidden door. He didn’t have a chance to wonder what that could mean, before the loudest, shrillest cry began to pierce the air.
Maggie did always have quite the set of lungs on her.
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Andromeda Tonks was very happy with her quiet life, thank you very much. She didn’t run away from her blood purist family to elope with her Muggle-born husband, Ted, because she enjoyed adventure, but quite the opposite. While her older sister took on the role of the warrior princess of the Black family, and her younger sister took on the role of the perfect wife to her Death Eater husband, Andromeda had went rogue, deciding what she wanted more was love and happiness...and perhaps to be away from those who would do harm to people she had come to care about.
It had been years since then, and Andromeda and her husband were still happily married. They also had one daughter, Nymphadora, who was eight years old now. Sometimes they would talk about having another, but if she were frank, one was enough for Andromeda. She remembered how she and her own sisters had once been so caring and loyal to one another, only to slowly drift away. Most notably Bellatrix, as she grew into the Dark Lord’s favor. Andromeda knew that she would forever be Bella’s enemy now, but she couldn’t help but wonder about Narcissa. Did Bella even still care about the sister who did stay and adhere to the status quo?
However, that was not the thoughts that were plaguing her this morning. Instead she was preoccupied with getting breakfast together for one rambunctious, purple haired child.
“Can I try to flip the eggs?” Nymphadora asked, bouncing on the balls of her sock clad feet.
Andromeda gave her daughter an amused look. “The last time I let you try, you dropped the whole pan.”
“That was only one time!” Nymphadora protested. “I won’t do it again I promise!”
“How about you set the table instead, sweetheart?” Andromeda suggested. She and Ted had come to find that their daughter was quite clumsy. Not that they faulted her for it, but it did make occupying the stubbornly helpful child rather difficult.
“Fine,” Nymphadora groaned, walking over to drag the step stool over.
Andromeda chortled a little, pulling out her wand to flick at her bottles of spices. They came levitating over, dancing and sprinkling over the eggs. Her back had been turned only a few moments when she heard a commotion behind her.
“Whoa, there!” said the voice of Ted Tonks, his own wand out as he froze both the falling plates and their daughter in midair. He pulled Dora out of the spell first before plucking each plate out of its hovering position. Luckily none of them had had the chance to hit the floor and break. “You’ve got to learn to pace yourself, Dora-meleon,” Ted told his daughter, placing the stack of plates carefully in her hands.
“I was!” Dora insisted, her hair changing to a hot fuchsia in embarrassment. Even if it was just her and her parents, that nickname was the worst. “I just...lost my footing a bit.”
Ted chuckled. “Come on. Let’s get these plates on the table.”
Andromeda heaved a sigh of relief as well as a small laugh. Her daughter was simply something else and she would never ask for her to be any other way.
“Alright, all done,” she said, turning the fire off beneath the eggs. With another flick of her wand the eggs, along with some english muffins and orange juice, began plopping themselves on each plate and into each glass. Some bananas and apples also appeared, cutting up in the air and settling into separate servings with the rest of the food.
Dora gave a clap of delight. “I can’t wait to be able to do things like you can, Mum!” she said excitedly before digging into her food.
Andromeda smiled. Her daughter had certainly been showing signs of magic, so she would definitely be attending some kind of magic school. Though, in all honesty, if Nymphadora had been a Squib, it would not have mattered to her. Nymphadora was her daughter, and Andromeda would give her the life and the love that she had not had while residing in the dark and gloomy Black home.
Just as the family was settling into their breakfast, a loud crash from the living room caused Andromeda to jump. It sounded like someone had come through the Floo Network, but people almost never came to the Tonks’ home unannounced. It was simply a courtesy that Andromeda expected, especially with the state of the world at the moment.
“What was that?” Dora asked, starting to rise from the table.
“Dora, stay where you are,” Ted told his daughter, getting to his feet along with his wife. Both parents pulled out their wands and made their way to the living room, peering through the archway that connected the two rooms.
Andromeda was the first to react. “Sirius?!”
Sirius Black was Andromeda’s cousin, and perhaps the only blood family she kept in contact with. They were both rebels of their family, running away and defying their blood purist parents. Typically, the man was always full of mirth and mischief, and even the straightlaced Andromeda couldn’t help but laugh at his terrible jokes. However, there was no mischief or mirth in Sirius’s black eyes as he stood in her living room. They looked wild, feral even, full of desperation and maybe a hint of rage. His hair was wild and his clothes looked slightly tattered. There was a bundle in his arms. A moving bundle.
“Andy,” he said. He seemed to have trouble catching his breath. Had he just been in some sort of scuffle? “Andy I am so sorry to come to you like this…”
“Hey, it’s alright,” Ted said, walking forward and placing his wand back in his robes. If it was just Sirius then there was no danger, though he was still wary and concerned. “Take a seat. What happened?”
“I can’t sit down,” Sirius replied, shaking his head. “I have to go before he gets away. I have to find him.”
“Who?” Ted asked. “You’re not making any sense, man.”
Sirius ignored Ted’s question, his eyes only on Andromeda. She lowered her wand at her side but did not put it away just yet. Something wasn’t right. She could see it in her cousin’s eyes.
Suddenly, Sirius stepped forward, his steps seeming almost cautious. His eyes looked glassy, like he might start crying, but Andromeda could see beyond that. She’d seen eyes like that one too many times in her life not to recognize them. Eyes full of rage. Eyes full of vengeance.
“Please,” he asked, shoving the bundle into Andromeda’s arms. She struggled with it for a moment, not wanting to take it at all. But Sirius didn’t seem to be giving her much of a choice, and once she realized just what it was Sirius had been holding, she knew she couldn’t allow herself to drop it. “Please, Andy. I’ll never ask for anything ever again. Keep her safe. Just for a bit I’ll come back for her soon. Do not let Dumbledore have her.”
The last sentence was said so harshly and intensely, one without context would think it was Albus Dumbledore that was going around trying to take over the world. Andromeda looked down at the infant in her arms. She was a very pretty toddler, with thick black hair topped with a green ribbon. Her green eyes were absolutely startling.
“Sirius,” Andromeda said. She knew a little about what had been going on in her cousin’s life, with his friends, the Potters. “Is...is this your goddaughter?”
Sirius, instead of answering, took a few steps back. “I have to go. I promise I’ll be back for her soon.”
“What do you mean you have to go? Sirius what is-”
Andromeda never got an answer to her question, as with a loud crack that startled the infant girl to tears, Sirius had Disapparated out of the Tonks’ house, leaving Ted and Andromeda completely dumbfounded.
It was Ted who snapped out of it first, shaking his head and turning to his wife. “Any idea what that was about?”
Andromeda took a moment to bounce the crying child, wincing at the shrill sound. Nymphadora had not cried like this as a baby, and it was certainly not something Andromeda was used to. However, after a moment of rocking, the child began to settle down, making it easier to hear her husband’s question. However, she wasn’t sure how to answer. The whole thing was completely strange and worrying. Not just Sirius suddenly shoving his goddaughter into her arms and disappearing seconds later, but also that Andromeda knew that he also had a godson, that, for whatever reason, was not with him.
“Keep her safe...Do not let Dumbledore have her.”
As Andromeda opened her mouth to speak, an owl was heard tapping on the window. It nearly made her jump out of her skin. Ted went over to the window and opened it, pulling the parcel from the owl and handing it a coin. “Just the Daily Prophet,” he said as the owl flew away. He froze, however, his eyes catching the headline.
“What is it?” Andromeda asked. She was still reeling from shock of what had just happened, but the look on her husband’s face told her that her tumultuous morning was far from over.
Ted looked up at his wife as he approached her with the newspaper, holding it out for her to see.
HE WHO MUST NOT BE NAMED DEFEATED! HARRY POTTER THE BOY WHO LIVED!
Andromeda squinted. A little to the side there was the beginnings of another article, stating how Lily and James Potter had tragically died at the hand of the Dark Lord. Apparently their son, Harry, was not only alive, but was now the one and only person to ever survive the Killing Curse. There was only a small mention of Magnolia Potter, how she was never found and presumed dead.
Andromeda swallowed hard. Everything was adding up now. Why Sirius looked so desperate and deranged. However, that did not explain why Harry was not with him if he were alive, or what it was that her cousin needed to do so urgently that it required leaving the girl in Andromeda’s care.
“Do not let Dumbledore have her.”
Andromeda took a deep breath. It was not that she believed Dumbledore to be a malicious man, it was that he simply had his own goals in mind. People were all chess pieces to him, to be used and sacrificed as he saw fit. In one of the rare conversations she’d had with Lily Potter, she’d learned that she was not the only one who saw this side of Dumbledore. “We are all his tools,” Lily had said. “However, what he doesn’t seem to realize is some tools require a learning curve, or else they will not work properly.”
She looked back down at the child in her arms, whom she now knew for sure to be Magnolia Potter. The sensible thing, honestly, would be to contact Dumbledore, or perhaps one of Sirius’ other friends, maybe even the Weasleys. However, something in Andromeda was stopping her from doing any of that. Whether it be the look in Sirius’ eyes, or her own mixed feelings about this entire situation, she didn’t know or care. But her intuition had never once steered her wrong.
“I’m guessing Sirius has some things he must settle then,” Andromeda said to her husband. “I believe we still have Nymphadora’s old crib, yes? We can set it up in the spare room for now. If it seems like he is taking too long, we will contact Remus Lupin. Or perhaps that other one. The small mousy one.”
“I think his name is Peter,” Ted said with a shrug. “Alright, then. I’ll go get the crib out of the attic and get it set up.”
“Can I come into the living room, now?” Dora called suddenly, making her way through the archway. “I finished my breakfast and everything.” She stopped, tilting her head at the bundle in Andromeda’s arms. “Who’s that?”
“I’ll explain later, sweetheart. Would you mind tidying up the kitchen while your father and I get this little one settled?”
Dora’s eyes widened in excitement. “Really?! I mean...no problem, Mum!” She then dashed back into the dining room.
“Just be careful!” Andromeda called after her. “And don’t be afraid to ask us for help if you need it!”
“Okay, Mum!”
Andromeda sighed, looking back down at the child in her arms. The little toddler seemed to be simmering down, her eyes blinking sleepily. She gazed up at Andromeda and reached toward her with her tiny hand, a squeaky little sound coming from her.
“Don’t you worry, little one,” Andromeda told her. “You heard your godfather. He’ll be back for you in no time.”
However, when Andromeda read the paper the next morning, she found that Sirius would not be coming back for Magnolia at all.
MASSACRE IN THE STREETS! TWELVE MUGGLES AND ONE WIZARD BRUTALLY MURDERED!
And the culprit arrested for the deed?
Andromeda’s own cousin, Sirius Black.