Chapter One

2016-10-25

Remus

It all started on a cold evening in May.

There was a meeting in the order, and everyone was expected to come, so everyone worried when Mad-eye didn't show. James and Sirius tried not to look at each other with worry. Lily was rubbing her round stomach to deal with her nerves. Peter was tapping his foot obnoxiously. Remus simply looked around the room, observing everyone else.

McGonagall tried not to look sternly at the others as they listened to Dumbledore, and Remus could understand why. It was no secret why everyone was on edge. If something had happened to Mad-eye, one of the strongest and most capable members of the order's highest circle, then no one knew who they would try next to strike, and who they would likely succeed in getting was safe.

Dumbledore was half way in the middle of some speech of his (Remus hadn't really been paying attention) when a loud door slamming was heard from out in the hall. Startled, the Order quickly had tens of wands pointed towards the door, ready to fire at whoever the intruder was. Everyone swayed nervously as the shadow got closer behind the door, and as the door began to swing open.

"Good to keep you on your toes, I- Don't bloody fire at me you idiot." Mad-eye Moody howled at Peter. He'd been shaking so much he'd accidentally fired a curse at Mad-eye, who just barely dodged the spell.

"Ah, Alistair. Wonderful that you could join us," Dumbledore smiled from his seat. Remus hadn't even noticed that the headmaster had stayed seated the entire time. "I hope you found no troubles on your way."

"As a matter of fact," Mad-eye growled under his breath, and Remus just barely picked up on it as Moody shifted his cloak with one arm, the other mysteriously hidden. Remus, however, couldn't have been the only one who noticed the shift, as McGonagall looked him up and down wearily.

"What are you hiding beneath your cloak Alistair?" The professor asked, her tense voice hanging in the air. What was Mad-eye hiding? and a question that McGonagall was obviously thinking, was he in control of his own actions?

"I'm not imperiused, if that's what you're asking me," Moody snapped, but he shifted once again. "If you must know, I ran across a problem on my way."

Everyone stayed silent as they waited for an explanation. The only member at the table who wasn't clutching their wand as a precaution was dumbledore himself. He instead had a twinkle in his eyes and a smile on his face. Mad-eye, however, had no smile on his face as he flipped back his cloak, and placed something down on the table, something that made Remus' (and everyone else's) eyes pop.

"This is that problem," He said, pointing at the newborn baby girl.

"You get Baby next, mate." Sirius sighed, plopping down onto the couch beside Remus. Remus simply sighed, rolling his eyes at his friend's antics, and continued to read through the morning's prophet. It had become a routine over the past week for Remus to pop on over to Sirius' flat at all crazy times to deal with the newest tenant. Actually, Remus was being called by many different order members for help. Apparently, he had this ability to make the baby calm down in a way no one else could. I scare her half to death, Remus couldn't help but think, no matter how many times the marauders and the baby's smiles would say different.

"How the hell am I supposed to look after Baby," Remus groaned, getting a headache at just the thought. Yes, he was the best at getting her to quiet down, but he was also a monster. How was a monster supposed to watch a baby for a week?

"I don't know mate, but whatever you've been doing so far, keep that up." Sirius smiled cheekily at him, two thumbs up into the air.

Over the past month, different Order members had been babysitting Baby, the wonderful name they decided to call her for now or at least until they could find a home for her. Mad-eye claimed he had found her on the edge of the boundary for an order safe house, as if the parents had been trying to get her to the order, and dropped her as close as possible. They didn't even know if she was magical, for all they knew, it was a fluke that she was dropped there. That didn't stop them from looking after her, though.

"I'm gonna sleep like a baby, actually way better than one, tonight. She's your problem in an hour." Sirius beamed, and Remus was still thinking up a retort when the piercing wail rang through the flat. Sirius just winked before dropping the baby in Remus's arms, and leaving with a goodbye "Goodluck Mooney."

So eight hour later, Remus Lupin sat in his small flat, frantically trying to rock Baby back to sleep. She had been all calm and fine until half an hour ago, and no matter what Remus would try, she wouldn't calm down. He'd fed her, burped her, rocked her, changed her, sang to her with his tone-deaf voice, played with her, and rocked her again, but she still cried. He was at his wit's end.

"Shhh, shhh Baby, it's okay." He whispered, but if he was expecting this to make things better, he was sorely wrong. Actually, it just upset her even more.

"What did I do?" Remus groaned to himself, looking frantically down at the crying baby. "I'm sorry, look it's all okay, alright? Everything's fine, Baby." But she just kept crying and even got slightly worse when he said her name or lack thereof.

That was it! or, at least, he thought it might be. Baby. It was hardly a name, but it was all she'd been called for the past month. It didn't make much sense, but many things in this world don't. The little girl needed a name, a real one, but naming a baby on the spot is harder than it seems.

"Umm," Remus hummed, his mind going blank of any female names. It really didn't help that she wouldn't stop wailing. "Patricia? No no, you don't seem to like that one. Megan? or Tiffany? or what about Olivia?" Remus winced when the crying got louder. "Okay, not Olivia."

Remus looked down at the baby in his arms, sighing as he rocked her back and forth. There was something about her, something that struck him as familiar. It was as if her name was obvious, placed hazard on the edge of his tongue as if it were about to fall any second. And when she opened her blue eyes, he knew instantly.

"Hope?" Remus whispered, his voice barely audible against the wailing. But as soon as he spoke, the tears began to slow, and her voice quieted. In just a minute, the infant calmed down enough to be almost still in his arms, her tear filled eyes looking up at him expectantly.

"Hope," Remus repeated, "just like my mother's name." His voice was hoarse as he wiped away a tear that was on her face, still half expecting her to shy away, and still being surprised when she didn't. He couldn't help but think, as he looked into her blue eyes, that Hope Lupin sounded really good.

No one had a problem with Remus becoming Hope's official foster parent, as long as Sirius or Peter or James and Lily would take her once a month. Hope grew fast, and her smile whenever she saw Remus only grew. Lily once made a comment that Remus was sent to save Hope, but Remus couldn't help but think it was the other way around. Hope was sent to save him.

When Harry was born, it made sense for him and Hope to meet and become friends. After all, they would start Hogwarts the same year, and it was always nice to have friends. And the two kids did grow to be friends. Hope's second word, spoken not long after her first birthday, was 'Harry.' Her first, however, was Daddy.

With enough convincing from his friends, Remus finally went and made it official, adopting Hope and making her legally his daughter. Everything was finalized on October 30th, 1981. Remus planned to tell everyone right after the Halloween holiday.

He never got the chance.

I know, I know I'm cruel. Anyways, this is the first chapter of a fic I'm hoping to start. How the Harry Potter series might differ if Remus had an adopted daughter that was in Harry's year. I'm going to try and keep this as close to canon as possible.

Anyways, I hope you like this. Please favourite or leave a review if you like it :)