A/N: As usual, I own no rights to the Harry Potter Universe and am just playing in JKR's sandbox. I promise to put my toys away when I'm done with them. This will be very AU from the point of the Department of Mysteries in OotP. I hope you all enjoy!
o.o.O.o.o
Late Summer, 1980
Gideon tucked the baby under his cloak, walking away from the raging inferno that had been the Dolohov home. Fabian had gone to report the incident to Dumbledore, but Gideon knew he had to take care of this little one. A twist of guilt in his gut nagged at him, but her parents had been dark and this sweet, innocent, little baby needed to grow up away from all of that. It would be better for her to grow up with parents that loved her, and to never know what kind of a monster her father was. In his mind, Gideon justified it as saving the baby girl from falling into darkness the way both her parents had.
He apparated to a park and sat down on the nearest bench, the child sleeping peacefully against his chest. At this time of the night the park was silent and still, only the musical cadence of crickets in the grass daring to disturb the quiet. A subtle movement of his wand and a fox patronus appeared, flicking its tail.
"Tell Benjy Fenwick I have the package in Hampstead Heath, the usual place," he instructed it, and then the ghostly creature bounded off into the night.
His warm brown eyes looked down at the baby in his arms, and he was confident Benjy would know what to do with her. His mother was muggle-born and lived nearby. Hopefully, she'd know of a family they could place the little one with. Dolohov needed to believe that she had died in the fire with her mother, and to do that she needed to be placed well away from the magical world. The Dark Lord's influence grew with every child born to his followers: removing even one of those children was an important step.
A short while later, a figure appeared with a crack and Gideon palmed his wand, being cautious.
"Gideon?" Benjy's familiar voice called.
"Here." He stood, careful not to jostle the little girl. "This is the baby."
"Mum knows a family, they were looking into adoption…but a few well-placed memory charms and they'll think that she's theirs," he said, carefully taking the infant from Gideon's arms. "They're good people, and they'll take good care of the little one."
"Your mum's sure she'll be okay there?" Gideon asked, a bit of worry nagging at him.
"Yeah, mum lives a few doors down and can keep an eye on her. They're muggle tooth healers, and they'll absolutely adore her. She'll never want for anything, Gideon," he promised, knowing Gideon had a soft spot for kids.
"What are their names?" he asked, knowing that it was likely better that he didn't know, but it didn't feel right sending the baby off without knowing who had custody of her. He and his brother were responsible for taking her away from her parents, even if they were Death Eater scum.
"Thomas and Jean Granger," Benjy said, rocking the baby a little as she started to stir in his arms. "You did the right thing Gideon. She's better off with them."
"You'd better go, before she wakes up and starts crying for her mum," Gideon said, and with a heavy heart he turned and apparated away. Fabian hadn't turned a hair after killing Anna Dolohov, but Gideon had stood over her fallen body and couldn't help but question what they'd all become, killing a young mother in her home, taking her child, and burning the house to the ground so that her husband would think they'd both perished. A little voice in the back of his head whispered that there would be a price to pay for their deeds this night, and he only hoped they survived whatever it was.
