A sharp knock on the door startled Remus Lupin. Who would be coming to see him? His face brightened; maybe it was James and Lily bringing Harry over to visit. Or maybe Sirius had gotten the sidecar on his motorbike fixed and was bringing Aludra over to see her godfather. Aludra was a year older than Harry and very close to Remus. If Remus was anywhere around her, she would be in his arms or walking close behind. She and Sirius were practically inseparable unless she was around Remus. She seemed permanently fixated to him, not wanting to be in her father's arms in fear that she would have to leave. A smile on his face, he strode over to the front door to open it.
His smile faltered. Sure enough, it was Aludra, but not with Sirius. Instead, a very official looking Auror from the Ministry was holding the small girl. Her curly brown hair was pulled back, showing her bright grey eyes and the small cut over her left eyebrow that had yet to heal. Unlike the way she held onto Sirius or Remus, she had her arms crossed and was leaning away from the Auror, as if she didn't want to be touching him. She looked uncharacteristically unhappy, which made Remus nervous.
"I am from the Ministry, Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes." The Auror stated, "Are you Remus John Lupin?"
"Yes," Remus replied warily.
Aludra leaned towards Remus and reached her arms out for him to hold her, opening and closing her fists in the air.
"Godfather to Aludra Margot Black?"
"Yes," Remus answered, still cautious.
"Remus!" Aludra whined, reaching out for Remus and nearly falling out of the Auror's grasp.
"Aludra," Remus said, far too used to Aludra trying to jump from her father's arms into Remus', "Don't do that," Remus said, grabbing Aludra.
Aludra wrapped her arms around Remus' neck and pressed her face into his shoulder, smiling, victorious. She relaxed after that, Remus noticed. She apparently hadn't liked being held by someone she didn't know.
"Thank you," The Auror said with a breath of relief, children apparently weren't his favorite things, "But back to the point of my visit, Sirius Black has been arrested, making you Aludra's legal guardian,"
"What?" Remus' jaw dropped; he nearly dropped Aludra as well, though she did not move or try to hold on tighter, she trusted that Remus would not let anything happen to her.
"There have been a series of accidents involving Black, Peter Pettigrew and Lily and James Potter. If you'd let me in, I'd be happy to explain everything that happened."
"But I can't take care of her! I… I have a condition…"
"We know all about your condition, sir. If it weren't for the fact that her family didn't want her, she most definitely wouldn't be in your custody. You have a spotless record, though if anything ever happened to Aludra, she would be taken away from you. You can, of course, refuse and she will be sent to an orphanage."
"You already tried her family?" Remus asked, shifting Aludra to his right side.
"The Lestranges are in Azkaban and we have already contacted the Malfoys. They refuse to take her in."
"There is no family that can take her in at all?"
"None that we can find,"
Remus desperately tried to think of another excuse not to keep Aludra. It was not that he didn't want her, having her around was the brightest part of his week, but weekly visits and permanent residence were two completely different things. What about the full moon? What would happen then? He couldn't leave a two year old alone while he was out, running around with no sense of what he was doing. And besides that, he was hated by all who knew what he was. What would she say if she ever knew? What would other people say to her? How would he even be able to raise her? He had no money, no way to buy her clothes and food or things for school when the time came.
"I don't have enough money to raise her." Remus said as another attempt to sway the Auror's decision.
"Enough gold for Aludra will be deposited into your Gringotts account every month."
"You're sure there isn't another way?" Remus asked, shifting Aludra to his side.
"If you don't take her in, we'll have no choice but to send her to an orphanage."
Remus looked down at the girl sleeping contently in his arms. The thought of her somewhere that he did not know nor trust made him uneasy. Of course the thought of her living with one of Sirius' cousins made his stomach flip too. He could only imagine what the sweet child that he was holding would be like after growing up with Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy. Surely there was something that he could do with her near the full moon. She could perhaps stay with his mother? And he had a spare bedroom that was currently only collecting dust; it was plenty big enough for a bed and wardrobe.
But the thought of condemning the innocent child to a life of being shut in and knowing that her only guardian was a monster made him shudder. It was a step up, however, from being mistreated and growing up learning to be prejudiced and how to properly perform unforgivable curses.
"I-I'll take her." Remus said shakily, still not sure if he was making the right decision.
"Excellent. Now, someone from the Ministry will be by at every full moon to ensure that Aludra is safe and out of harms way. We'll also regularly visit her to make sure that things are alright during the rest of the phases of the moon."
"That's fine," Remus' thoughts were clouded with the fact that Aludra was now his responsibility.
"I'm also here to inform you of the incidents involving her father, but it is a rather long story and it looks as if it could start raining at any moment…"
"Oh, yes, of course," Remus said, moving aside so that the Auror could step inside.
Remus closed the door behind them and watched the Auror sit in an old armchair. He sat on the couch, opposite the armchair with Aludra. Her arms were no longer gripping his neck and she was snoring softly. He moved her beside him and she laid her head on his leg, still asleep. Remus looked up at the Auror.
The Auror cleared his throat and began, "On October 31st…"
Oh my, I'm nervous about this. I'm rather worried about this being my first OC and long chaptered fic. Hopefully this will go through all of PoA. Read and review and add me to your favorites/alerts so you know when I post the next part!