Prologue: Things We Lost In The Fire

Ophelia Black brought her steaming cup of tea up to her lips and took a small, unsure sip of it. Satisfied with it's temperature, she took a much larger sip of the tea the next time. A warm fire roared in front of her. Despite it being a late August night, there seemed to be a chill in the air that made Ophelia shiver.

Sirius was supposed to be joining her for supper. She hadn't seen her brother in weeks and it often worried her as to why he was gone so much. She loved her brother more than anything. He was the only family she had left that hadn't disowned her years ago but she couldn't change that nor would she. The tiny beautiful creature in front of her wouldn't be here if she had done what her parents wanted of her. To marry Rabastan Lestrange and be a perfect pure-blood wife. Rabastan had always been too obsessed with her and she would never be like Bella or Cissa. Andy and her had always had the more adventurous souls.

A soft squeal made Ophelia turn her attention from the fire to owner of the squeal. A little boy with hair the color of wheat looked up at her with dancing blue eyes. The magical toy hippogriff Sirius had brought the small boy on his last visit, flew around him. Chubby hands grabbed at the flying contraption as the boy squealed in delight.

Her seventeen month old son, Connor, was a surprise to her at first. To this day she could never wrap her head around his conception but all that mattered now was that he was here. Ophelia felt the all too familiar pain in her heart, causing her to bring her free hand up to her chest. Her thoughts had quickly changed from her son to his father. She had simply wished that he could be here, to see his son growing up and starting to look more and more like him everyday. But he had made the choice not to be in their lives. It almost killed her for him to walk away like he did, but she had to go on for Connor.

A soft knock came at the door and Ophelia jumped up from the couch happily. Sirius was finally here. As she made her way towards the door, Connor stopped giggling and the flying hippogriff fell to the floor with a soft clank. She swore she saw the beginning of tears forming in his eyes. Thinking it was only because she was suddenly away from him, Ophelia quickly opened the door.

What surprised Ophelia that the man in front of her wasn't her brother but Rabastan Lestrange.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Ophelia cried in surprise as her old Slytherin classmate and once betrothed stood before her.

His piercing blue eyes stared back at her the same way as they always had, in possession and lust. In her sixth year before she grew some sense in her head, she had dated him. Who wouldn't be pulled in by his shaggy dark hair and his piercing blue eyes. However, when he attacked a Gryffindor boy a year ahead of her, she stopped him. After that she saw him, his brother and Bellatrix for what they really were - cruel and not her kind.

"Lia, don't be that way," Rabastan said in tone that might have worked on her when she was younger but she knew him too well.

"Is that damn dog is still around?" Rabastan asked harshly as he grabbed a hold of Ophelia's waist. She cried out in pain as Connor's own cries begin to fill the room. Ophelia had forgotten her wand on the end table in a rush to get the door. "Here, doggy doggy," Rabastan screamed then woofed.

"He's not here," Ophelia cried as she struggled against Rabastan.

Connor's cries intensified causing Rabastan to turn his wand from her to the small boy sitting in front of the couch. Tears streamed down his chubby face and his grubby hands reached out for his mother.

"Tell that abomination to shut the hell up," Rabastan yelled at Ophelia. She wanted to comfort her son but Rabastan had a pretty good grip around her waist.

"Connor, keep quiet for mommy," Ophelia cooed at her son, who watched her with red eyes and trembling lips. "Everything will be fine, sweetheart," she added as Rabastan kept his grip on her and moved them into the house.

Ophelia struggled to get loose. Since he walked into her small cottage, her wand was a lot closer than it had been before. Connor's cries had quieted down but he still sniffled and reached out for her. Rabastan forcefully turned her to look at him. The look she saw in eyes caused her body to shiver. He was going to do something and she only hoped Sirius would soon arrive.

"How could you choose that filthy half-blood mutt over me?" Rabastan screamed, his eyes glaring with the fire that danced behind him and made the darkening cottage glow with an eerie orange glow.

"Because I love him," Ophelia sneered, bringing her face close to Rabastan. "And after everything he's done to me, it could never amount to the awful things you've done," she added, before spitting in his face.

With a thud, Ophelia landed on the floor a few feet from Connor. As she crawled towards her son, Rabastan raised his wand at her once more.

"Stupefy," Rabastan casted with a flick of wand. A blue light hit Ophelia square in the back as her fingers grazed Connor's chubby pajama clad leg.

Connor's cries began again as he grabbed for his mother's hand. He knew something was wrong with her but his young brain could not understand. Rabastan moved to stand beside the fire. He twirled his wand between his fingers and stared at the fire as if thinking about what to do.

"You should have never been born," Rabastan screamed at Connor. More tears spilled from his eyes as the man screamed at him. "Once Lord Voldemort kills the Potter twins, we will make sure nothing like you can happen again," he added while he kneeled beside an unconsciousness Ophelia.

Rabastan moved his wand near Ophelia's head then began moving his hand in the shape of a brain. "Obliviate," he charmed. He was never really good at charms. He had always been better with hexes but he didn't want to kill Ophelia. He would finally make her his. He left her memories of her family, her cousins and him. Gone were the memories of her son and his father.

When he felt the job was done, he picked up Ophelia and threw her over his shoulder. With one more sneer at Connor, he turned towards the fireplace.

"Engorgio."

The fire exploded from the fireplace to the floor. Connor cries echoed through the house and the clearing outside the house as the house started to erupt in flames. He watched the man disappear with a loud pop. Connor clenched tightly to the hippogriff as smoke started to fill the room quickly. Small wheezing noises started to come from him.

Soon the entire house was engulfed in flames and Connor laid down against the floor as the smoke started to affect his breathing.

As the world started to go dark around her, he heard someone someone yelling. His little eyes opened to see a young man with scars across his face but the man's blue eyes were gentle and kind. Connor continued to clenched to the hippogriff as the man with light brown hair picked him up.

Connor's free hand grabbed on tightly to the man's tweed jacket as the man frantically searched for something. Tears begin to fill the man's eyes too as he took one last good look around the collapsing cottage.

"I'm taking you to safety, buddy," Remus coughed as he held his son close to him.

With the same pop the scary man had disappeared in, Remus and Connor did the same just as the second floor collapsed into the living room. Remus was taking him to the only place that he knew he would be taken care of - the Potter's.

Author's Note: If it wasn't for my friend and fellow writer January Lily, this story would have probably never been posted. Thank you so much for being there for me when I was having problems and for being there to help me figure out this mess of story in my head.