Lupin Household, Rome, Italy

Four year old Lupa was becoming rather impatient. It had been hours since her mother had gone into labor and her little brother or sister still hadn't been born. For a toddler, Lupa was extraordinarily patient. However, today her patience had been pushed to the limit. She had been extremely impatient as she waited to meet her new baby sibling. She had only kept mostly quiet about it because she accepted her parents explanation of the baby needed some time to grow inside mommy before it could be born. When her mother had gone into labor, Lupa had been very excited at finally meeting the baby. Ten minutes later, she was impatiently demanding an explanation from her father as to why she wasn't allowed to see the baby. She hadn't been at all satisfied at her father's explanation of babies taking a long time to be born.

"My little angel, won't you come sit down and read a book?" Her father coaxed.

Lupa shook her head and crossed her arms stubbornly. "No. I don't want to read. I want to see the new baby."

"The baby isn't here yet, darling."

"When will it get here?"

"The baby will come when it's ready. You have to be patient and wait darling."

Lupa, unused to getting what she wanted when she wanted it, or shortly after, looked as if she was preparing to throw one of her rare fits. Her father saw the look on her face and a frightened look stole over his face. His daughter's fits were legendary. She had only thrown two in her entire life and both had deeply shaken everyone who had witnessed them.

Thankfully, before she could start, the midwife entered the room. She immediately captured the attention of both the father and the little girl. Lupa paused for a moment to hear what she had to say before deciding if she would throw her fit.

"Congratulations Mr. Lupin. You have a son."

"The baby's here?" Lupa asked.

"Yes Miss. You have a little brother."

Lupa's entire demeanor changed. In the space of a second, she went from a very angry little child to one who radiated joy and happiness. It was a stark contrast to her father. Mr. Lupin's face had gone very pale and he looked neither joyful nor happy at the announcement. In fact, he looked rather upset and worried. Lupa didn't notice. She was too busy demanding that the midwife take her to see her brother. The midwife shot a questioning glance at her father, who nodded his permission, before gently taking the girl's hand and leading her into the bedroom.

Inside the bedroom, the lights were dim so as not to cause pain to Mrs. Lupin. Mrs. Lupin was lying on the bed looking utterly exhausted after nearly twelve hours of labor. She brightened a little upon the entrance of her beloved and cherished daughter but Lupa ignored her. She ran straight to the cradle sitting against the far wall and peered in. Inside the cradle, a little baby boy was sleeping, warmly wrapped in a blue blanket. What little hair he had was blonde.

"Lupa?" Mrs. Lupin asked hesitantly.

"He's adorable." Lupa breathed. "What's his name?"

"Remus." Her father answered, coming into the room at last.

Mr. Lupin went straight from the door to his wife's side. He didn't stop to look in the cradle or even shoot a glance in its direction. As far as he was concerned, the baby didn't exist. Lupa didn't notice that her father had completely ignored the baby or that he was now involved in a very hushed conversation with her mother. She was too absorbed in watching the baby sleep.

"Look at her. We can't tell her we don't want it. She's completely entranced by it. She'll never let us get rid of it." Her father hissed.

"We should have told her when we first discovered that I was pregnant again that we couldn't take care of another baby." Her mother hissed back.

"She would have never believed it. She's much too smart for that."

"You shouldn't have let her see it. Now's she's become attached to it and she'll be devastated when it dies in the next few months."

"Lupa was about to throw one of her rare fits." Mr. Lupin defended himself. "If I hadn't let her come in and see it, she would have thrown one for sure."

Mrs. Lupin sighed. "Well, what's done is done and there's nothing we can do but hope the baby will fall sick and die soon before she has too much time to get too attached."

"How long does it usually take before the curse kicks in?"

"A couple of weeks at least. It can sometimes take years though."

"We'll just have to hope for the best." Mr. Lupin said.

Black Manor, Godric's Hollow, England

Orion Black was sitting calmly in his favorite chair inside his personal sitting room. Unlike most fathers when their wives go into labor for their first time, Orion was not panicking in the slightest. Indeed, he was the perfect picture of serenity as he sat in his chair and read the morning newspaper. He believed that panicking was unbefitting of a Black, especially the Head of the family. Across from him on the couch, the nanny was sitting there nervously but patiently.

Walburga Black had been in labor for ten hours when the midwife entered the sitting room with a small smile on her face.

"Lord Black." She said.

Orion looked up from his paper with a blank look.

"You have a son, sir."

Orion nodded and folded up his paper carefully before getting up from his chair. He entered the master bedroom and crossed the room in a few strides to his wife's side. Walburga, looking exhausted yet regal, was holding a bundle wrapped in blue. She looked up as Orion reached her side and handed him the baby without ceremony.

"It's a son." She said shortly.

Orion looked down at the child in his arms and saw that his son was awake and looking at him. The boy, whose name they had decided was Sirius, had black hair and the traditional silver eyes of the family. Sirius was quiet, not making a sound or wiggling as his father held him.

"He is a fine child. I have no doubt that he will grow up healthy and strong, and one day become a fine head of the family. He will make a good match and when the time comes, take over the family business." Orion said.

Walburga nodded waved a dismissive hand. Acquiescing to his wife's wishes, he turned and took the child into the sitting room. The nanny was on her feet and attentive the moment he entered the room. In the same manner his wife had, he handed her the boy without ceremony.

"His name is Sirius. He is your responsibility now. See to it that he is raised properly and that he has everything he needs." Orion instructed.

The nanny nodded and gently cradled the child in her arms. Orion left the sitting room to instruct a servant to take the news down to the newspaper office at once. This would be the headline news for tomorrow. After all, there was nothing more important than the birth of the Black family's heir.

As soon as her employer was gone, the nanny, Lucille, looked down at the baby in her arms.

"I'm going to do my best to make sure that you receive some love in your life, Sirius." She whispered. "I'll give you all the love I can. You certainly won't be getting any from your parents."

Sirius merely blinked at her before giving a tiny yawn and falling asleep in her arms.

"Someday Sirius, I hope you fall in love with someone and get to marry them. You will be much happier if you do than if you make a match to please your parents." Lucille continued on, not minding that the baby was asleep. "Money isn't everything, my little pup. I hope you get the chance to know that."

With all her heart, she hoped that everything she told him would come to pass. Sirius deserved to have the happiness that his parents would surely deny him. But they would never say that they were denying him happiness. They would say that they were keeping him from the things that were bad for him, insisting that what they wanted for him was what was good for him. Some of it probably would be. Sirius would surely receive the best education possible and that would be good for him. But the rest, no the rest would not be good for him.

AN: A bit of a shorter chapter than you're used to from the other story. One thing you should note, I have no idea if each chapter will contain two separate views like this one did. It all depends on how long one part is and when something happens for one of them at a certain point in their life, nothing interesting may be happening for the other at that time.

Now, before I get comments on how at the end of the Lupin family's part Star wasn't acting like a four year old, I want to let you all know that Star is not your average four year old. She's very smart for her age and an unusual child as well. Though she is capable of acting like other children her age as we saw at the beginning.

The curse that Mr. and Mrs. Lupin were talking about? I'll explain that in the author's note next chapter. So if you ask about it in your review, you'll probably get this answer.

One shots for Outcasts are coming. I simply can't get my train of thought to co-operate at the moment. I suspect Remus and Sirius. And possibly Star. So, if you'll excuse me, I have some hunting to do.