The Truth Is Cold
A Harry Potter Fanfiction

Summary: When Rowena Jessica Ward met the skinny, green-eyed and messy haired Harry Potter in Diagon Alley, she never thought that her life would change much. How very wrong she was… Fighting trolls in bathrooms, getting past three-headed dogs and smuggling dragons! But she's fighting an even bigger, internal quest of her own: who is her father?!

So, as some of you might have noticed, this is not from Rowena's point of view. I promise that from the next chapter onwards, it will be, this is just an introduction to the mother and father.
Also, please don't be too harsh on Valerie - I know she may seem slightly like a Mary-Sue but I promise she won't be. We'll be seeing quite a lot of her and I hope that you can get over her first appearance. She's actually a very strong witch. Anyway, enough of my ramblings, I hope you enjoy the chapter.
The only reason this is in italics is because it is a series of flashbacks and ~8~ means a line break. I can assure you that the rest of the chapters will not be in italics.
Finally, the Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter nor am I making any profit from this. All credibility goes to the amazing J. K. Rowling. I'm just borrowing them. However, I DO own Valerie and Rowena.

Prologue

"Sirius, oh god, Sirius, I'm sorry, it was an accident, a one-night stand, I swear!" The woman tried to plead but the dark haired man, Sirius shook his head in anger.

"And what if this baby's not mine, Valerie? What then?" He questioned and Valerie faltered, tears streaming down her face.

"… I don't know, but please, we can work through this!"

"Would you be able to give the child up for adoption, if it was mine?" It wasn't Sirius that posed the question but the other male, his voice harsh.

Valerie stared at him in shock, through her tears. The shake of her head was adamant. "I don't know how you could even suggest that." She snapped but the man didn't flinch. "Wouldn't you even want to know your child?"

The man's emotionless gaze was enough to answer her question.

~8~

"Have you done a DNA test yet?" Sirius glared at the man as Valerie lay asleep in the hospital bed.

"She only gave birth an hour ago. Let her rest."

"I haven't got time to let her rest. I need to know now."

"Oh of course, you have to rush off back to your precious Dark Lord. We'll let you know somehow. Just make sure to send us a sign when we're allowed to." Sirius sneered and the man glared before storming away, out of the Ward.

~8~

"Sirius… Padfoot, please, say something!" Valerie begged as Sirius' steely grey eyes looked down at the paper.

"You can find somewhere else to sleep tonight. I don't want you to come back to the house. And don't ever call me Padfoot." He threw the piece of paper onto the bed where Valerie saw what it said and cried.

~8~

"The child will be better off without me. I'll pay for maintenance monthly but don't tell her who I am." He saw her waver and his gaze hardened. "I mean it Valerie. She'll be best off not knowing who her father is." He looked down at the baby girl, who was sleeping soundly. She had inherited her mother's sky blue eyes, lips and nose, as well as her high cheekbones but still the resemblance to her father was there; she had tufts of black hair and the same pallor that her father did.

"Have you decided on a name?" The father asked, as he gently reached into the cot to straighten his daughter's blanket.

Valerie smiled, as she looked at the small girl.

"Yeah."

"Would you care enough to let me know what the name was?" The father asked, a sarcastic lilt to his voice.

Valerie's grin only grew as she met her blue eyes with his black ones. "Rowena Jessica Ward."