There was a knock on the door. A soft knock, but it still woke 8 year old Nymphadora Tonks up from her sleep.
She carefully climbed out of bed and snuck down to the landing of the stairs where she wouldn't be seen from the doorway.
She saw her mother and father, Andromeda and Ted Tonks, still in their pajamas, rush to the door. It looked like they had been waiting for whoever was on the other side of the door.
As they opened the door, they were greeted by a man who said he was from the ministry. Probably an Auror. She could not see him very well but she could see that he was holding something in his arms, supporting it on his chest. Tonks listened harder, trying to make out what they were whispering.
"Are you sure that there's nobody else?" Andromeda asked. "What about my younger sister?"
"Narcissa's husband is on trial for being a Death Eater." The Auror said.
"Could Sirius possibly-" Ted began.
"Sirius is in Azkaban." The Auror said. "You're the only able family this girl has now."
'Who are they talking about?' Tonks asked herself in her mind.
There was a long pause.
"She's only three." The Auror said handing what he was holding to Andromeda. "She probably won't remember anything. It's not too late for her."
Andromeda took what the Auror had been holding. Tonks saw it move a little on its own and realized that it whatever it was, it was living.
"What will we tell her when she's older?" Ted asked.
"That's for you to decide." The Auror replied.
"What do we tell her now?" Ted asked.
"For now…" The Auror said, sounding a bit sad. "For now, just let her keep her innocence…make sure she knows that her parents aren't going to be raising her anymore, but she doesn't need to know what they did. She's been through so much in the past 24 hours…I'm surprised that she is sleeping…"
There was another long pause and Tonks was anxious to know just who or what they were talking about.
"What is her name?" Andromeda asked quietly.
"Her name is Alhena." The Auror said. "Alhena Lestrange. But you're her legal guardians now, so you may change her last name if you wish. It's you're decision. As for me, I must go now. Goodnight."
And with that, the Auror turned and walked away.
Ted closed the door softly and turned to his wife.
"What do you think?" Ted asked. "Should we?"
"No…" Andromeda said quietly. "Out of everything she's lost from her old life, I think she at least deserves to keep her name."
Andromeda began walking into the living room still holding who or what the Auror had handed her.
Tonks scooted back a bit so that they wouldn't see her.
Ted followed silently and watched as Andromeda gentle laid down the thing on the couch and gingerly covered it with a blanket. Andromeda glanced in the direction where Tonks was hiding, but apparently did not see her because she turned to face her husband.
"I'm sure Dora will accept her just fine." Ted said, already knowing what Andromeda was going to say. "We should be more worried about if this girl will accept us."
There was a long silence as Andromeda and Ted stood over the couch, looking at the thing with worry on their faces. Then they began to walk away.
As they walked out of the room, Tonks moved forward a bit in order to see the thing on the couch. All she could see was a tangle of long, black hair. She could hear the sound of steady breathing and could see the slow rise and fall of a chest that was concealed by the blanket.
"She just looks so much like her mother…" Tonks heard her mother say from the other room. "I'm afraid it'll be like having to live with my older sister all over again."
The tangle of hair reacted to the sound by rolling over, still sleeping.
Tonks saw the face of a little girl.
She realized that this little girl was the one they were talking about, Alhena Lestrange; and that Alhena…was her cousin.
Author's Note: So how did you like the first chapter? I'd really appreciate if you told me your opinion. If you liked it, then please express it in some way so I know that I did a good job. If you didn't like it, then please provide some constructive criticism on what I could do better so that I can edit and improve the story. Thank you for reading and expect the next chapter to be up soon!