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Dumbledore had been expecting the urgent owl from the head warden at Azkaban for around a week now, estimating from the very rough dates Bellatrix had given that her baby would be due around now. So it was with ease and very little time that he found himself in the warden's very unimpressive office. It was just as bleak as the rest of the prison, the only improvement from the prisoner's cells being slightly better lighting and the ability to leave at the end of the day.
"Albus! So glad you could make it so quickly, I was just about to call for the minister and see what he said." The warden spoke frantically, his normally stoic and frightful appearance marred by the baby in his arms. It was wrapped in a ratty blanket, but it seemed to not mind and was seemingly fast asleep.
"About what may I ask Mr Muller? And why do you have a child in such a place?" Dumbledore asked not letting on then he already knew, despite knowing he would obliviate the man shortly anyway. He'd learnt it was always easier to just play along in these situations.
"Mrs Lestrange. Two of the guards on their usual rounds found her with the baby, Merlin only knows how she managed to hide a full term pregnancy." He said nodding towards the still silent baby he was holding.
"Yes hard to believe she hid it so well, even at her trial. No one would have suspected." Dumbledore nodded along.
"Must have used some sort of concealment charm," The warden rationalized.
"Most likely, can I speak with the two guards who found Mrs Lestrange with the child?" he asked needing all the guards together to obliviate them all, he didn't want to have to deal with finding them all individually.
"Of course, I'll just send an owl to them now." The warden said placing the baby in one of his desk draws which he had clearly transfigured to be more reminiscent of a crib, it's formally wooden bottom replaced by a padded cloth, safe for the infant to lay on. Dumbledore waited till the owl had flown off through the dim corridor to alert the guards, briefly wondering why the prison didn't have a more efficient way of contacting staff members, but then quickly pointed his wand at the warden whilst he was still turned away, wanting to avoid a conflict.
"Petrificus totalus" With a flash of white light the warden fell to the floor completely immobilized by the spell, he laid out on the concrete ground like a garden gnome that had been knocked over in a storm. He levitated the warden behind his desk so the two guards wouldn't see him on their arrival, knowing he had to obliviate him last so he didn't see him obliviate the two other guards once they arrived. It was all rather complicated and he found himself for a moment slightly irritated Voldemort fell before Bellatrix had had the chance to have her baby, outside of Azkaban.
He waited till the two guards showed up and made quick work of obliviating them before they'd even had the chance to say anything, he then sent them on their way, which given their confused state wasn't too difficult to do. Before he went back over to the head warden, unfroze the man and obliviated him before he had a chance to even register what had happened. He watched the green light appear from his wand directly hitting the warden before he carefully picked up the baby which had begun screaming from all the bright lights the spells had caused from it's 'crib'.He for a moment was reminded of taking Harry Potter to his Aunt and Uncle's house just a month before, and for a moment realized how despite having backgrounds completely opposite to each other they'd both ended up with the same fate. And he was again reminded that wars don't discriminate against children, and this one certainly hadn't.
He'd been pondering on where to place Bellatrix's baby since she had made it a condition of her helping the order and had eventually settled on the Saunders couple. They were both squibs who'd decided it would be less painful for them to live their lives in the muggle world away from magic, however once they'd decided to try for children they'd been unsuccessful. He didn't personally know them very well, but knew that both were so desperate for a baby that they wouldn't tell anyone that this wasn't their biological daughter and they wouldn't question where he'd got her from. He'd told them both that everyone would have to believe that biologically this child was their own even telling the mother to get a fake bump in order to fool her relatives. He'd been following Bellatrix's orders and make sure their wasn't a single way this baby could be traced back to her, the consequences could after all effect the order just as badly as they'd effect the 'dark' witch.
He arrived at the Saunder's house meer seconds after he left Azkaban, the baby still wailing in his arms, wiggling around making a valiant effort to get out of the blanket swaddling it. However the professor held her closely to him and walked forward along the pebbled path knocking on the wooden door. He knocked loudly and waited patiently for an answer, whilst rocking the screaming girl in his arms, in a half-hearted attempt to sooth her.
"Hello? Oh my!" Elizabeth Saunders opened the door quickly ushering Dumbledore inside and taking the screaming child from his arms, going into the kitchen to warm up one of the many pre-prepared bottles she had, attempting to comfort the child as she did so.
"Hello Elizabeth, nice to see you again." Dumbledore greeted her, seeing he'd made the right decision by the way Elizabeth and the baby reacted to each other.
"You too Albus, Will and I truly can't thank you enough." She gushed as she finally put the bottle in the mouth of the hungry baby who immediately quietened down and gulped down the milk as though her life depended on it, which in fairness it did. He also noted that William Saunders wasn't present and assumed he was at work, the squib had done well in the Muggle world and had become a marketing executive at some large muggle company.
"I trust you remember that no one can know she isn't your own, especially anyone in the wizarding community." Dumbledore reminded her.
"Of course, I always made sure to wear my fake bump when I left the house, and I haven't spoken to any witches or wizards in years. No one will suspect a thing, just as both you and I want it."
"Very well, by the way the biological mother did by the way have one request." Dumbledore informed her of the small tidbit of information Bellatrix had given him when she'd sent him a warning about one of the many Death Eater attacks.
"Yes?" Elizabeth asked suddenly much more anxious and on edge.
"She wanted her first name to be Ivy, you can do as you please with the middle and of course she'll take your last name."
"Ivy, how lovely." Elizabeth nodded, clearly relieved.
"And what would you like for a middle name?"
"Rose," She said without hesitation.
"Well then Ivy Rose Saunders, I hope you have a long prosperous life." He said now speaking to the baby which was still sucking on the bottle, and definitely didn't understand a word he was saying.
"I'll get you a muggle birth certificate to you by the end of the week, look out for it." He told her, but she was to preoccupied by the child in her arms to be properly listening. For now Ivy Rose Saunders was safe and well cared for, but like with Harry he predicted an uncertain future at best.
Bellatrix laid on the thin creaky bed in her cell, still in pain from giving birth just hours before and stared without emotion at the ceiling. In her head she knew what she'd done was the only good choice she had in front of her, yes she could have had Narcissa look after Ivy but then when the Dark Lord rose again, as she was certain he would, she'd be in danger. She had more faith in Dumbldore than Voldemort, despite his flaws, and trusted that he would make sure Ivy was with a loving family, though she shuddered to think of their blood status. She knew Dumbledore must have already collected Ivy because when the wardens came back around for their rounds they didn't even mention it, he must've already obliviated them.
She'd always thought the moment she'd inevitably have to give Ivy up to the guards she'd have been distraught. She'd imagined that she'd have been crying, that she'd suddenly change her mind and want to keep her daughter, that the guards would have to physically pry her away but they didn't. She'd carefully handed her over to them, even made sure the guard was properly supporting Ivy's head and watched them go down the hall. She hadn't cried like she'd imagined she would have in the vivid nightmares she'd had whilst heavily pregnant in her cell, she'd just been numb. She'd off course been emotional when she first held her child, she'd kissed her and told her how much she loved her but once she'd calmed down and stopped crying and Ivy lay sleeping in her arms, she'd shut off. She became completely numb, she needed to in order to be able to give away her daughter. She couldn't have voluntarily given her up if she was still feeling all the emotions she felt when she'd first held the screaming child.
She knew in her head the only way to guarantee her safety was to give her away, but she could still feel a physical pain radiating from her heart as though a part of her own body was missing. Still though she would sacrifice her life for Ivy so she would definitely sacrifice her happiness, and deal with the pain it bought, letting go of Ivy was the most difficult thing she'd ever had to, but she'd done it now and she'd do it again.
Thank you so much for reading, please review if you have any suggestions or notice any mistakes, or you know just review for no reason other than to make my day a little better :p
I also wanted your guys opinion on something, and this is a very tiiiiiny spoiler so if you don't want to know then stop reading now. Ivy is going to be close with the Golden Trio either way this goes, but I wanted to know if you guys would prefer if she was part of their group or if she had her own little group but was still close to all three of them. Keep in mind to be part of their group she'd almost definitely have to be Gryffindor.
Guest:Thank you, hope you enjoy this chapter💚
Guest:Thank you so much, I'm glad you liked it, I hope you enjoy this chapter too😊 And I completely agree I think Narcissa is very strong, however I watched a video on YT once where the person said that her strength varies and she's much stronger when she's fighting for her family than when fighting for herself, which I think is entirely true. On the Bellatrix front I'm torn between obviously showing Ivy getting her letter, the sorting ceremony and all that jazz and then skipping straight to OOTP so Bella wouldn't be in prison for to long (At least in the story anyway) or adding in a few chapters showing the in between, which would you prefer?Thanks for the review!💙
Karknagarcia96: Good I'm glad! I hope you enjoy this chapter as well!
Mylifefightingdragonswithyou: Thank you so much, hope you enjoy this chapter too!
Talkalot135:Thank you, hope you enjoy this chapter, thank you for the review💜