I DON'T OWN HARRY POTTER OR ANYTHING AFFILIATED WITH IT. I ONLY OWN DEVYN AND HER PARENTS.

Chapter 8

Today was the day. Today was July 31st. Today was the day that she would meet her godfather.

Devyn could barely control her excitement. The second that she woke up, her heart started thudding as she realized what day it was. If everything went well today, she could be leaving this place forever with a family, with the man that had be in her dreams, so close but still so frustratingly far away.

She wondered how he would be, seeing her again. Would he be angry that they had been separated from each other for so long? Would he be sad, considering she looked like her parents, and therefore would serve as a reminder of who he had lost thus far?

She had so many questions that she couldn't answer.

Little did she know that, a couple towns over, Remus was feeling the exact same way.


Two days ago


Remus was very confused. He had just received a Floo call from Minerva McGonagall, asking him to come to her office at Hogwarts immediately.

Now, what on earth could this be about?

He hadn't spoken to McGonagall in a few years. Ever since Harry Potter destroyed Voldemort, there was no reason to continue the Order of the Phoenix, and he lost every day contact with many of the members, like Mad-Eye Moody, Dedalus Diggle, and, eventually, Minerva McGonagall followed the rest.

So, needless to say, ever since Remus' life was torn to shreds, ever since he lost his best friends and his goddaughter all in the space of five months, he hadn't spoken to many of them. He became depressed after James and Lily broke the news to him that Victoria and Michael were dead, and his young goddaughter, Devyn, along with them.

His entire world shattered that day, but when James and Lily were betrayed by the traitor, Black, and murdered by Voldemort, and then Peter, innocent Peter, was blown to smithereens by Black, whatever shards of his life that he'd been trying to pick back up were crushed to dust.

He could have easily killed himself during that time, but he didn't. He didn't end his pain then, because on some level, he thought he didn't deserve to go that easily, but also because even though his family was gone, even though Devyn, the girl he loved like a daughter, was gone, Harry wasn't.

Harry was still alive and would one day re-enter the Wizarding World, and when he did, Remus wanted to be there to witness what the boy would become. He wanted, at the very least, a chance to know him. James and Lily would have wanted them to meet. Of that he was sure.

Is that what McGonagall was calling me about? Harry? He is turning eleven today, so maybe somehow McGonagall got ahold of him and wants us to get to know each other.

As he realized that Harry was eleven today, another thought popped in his head. Devyn would be turning twelve in just about three months. Twelve bloody years old.

Time sure does fly. Ten years. That's unbelievable. Ten years since I lost everything.

Regardless of his miserable thoughts, Remus grabbed some Floo powder and stepped into his fireplace. He then threw down the powder and said, loudly, "Minerva McGonagall's office, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."

Sometimes it bugged him how specific the Floo Network required you to be. He dismissed this thought as the green flames encompassed him and he started spinning. Just as he was starting to feel queasy, the spinning stopped and he climbed out into Minerva's office, which he'd visited many times as a student.

"Hello Remus," the older witch said. "It's good to see you. It's been a long time."

"Yes, it has, Professor. What is it, now? Four, five years?"

"Yes. And how many times have I asked you to call me Minerva?"

"Many times. Sorry, old habits die hard."

"Yes, I understand. Sometimes I have to remind myself to call Professor Dumbledore by his first name."

Despite himself, Remus smiled in amusement. Minerva hadn't been Dumbledore's student for decades. Since about 1954, when she graduated Hogwarts, and she took the Transfiguration Professor job in 1956, which meant that she'd been Dumbledore's co-worker for about 34 years.

McGonagall was, admittedly, glad to see Remus smiling. He did it far less often than he should.

"So, Minerva," Remus put an emphasis on her first name and smirked a little. "Why have you called me here?"

"Why do you think, Remus?" McGonagall asked him. She wondered if he had enough hope left in him to ask if it was somehow possible that Devyn was alive.

"I don't know. At first I wondered if maybe it was because of Harry. He's turning eleven today, you know."

"I know. But Hagrid has taken care of Harry. They're in Diagon Alley as we speak, I believe. Harry isn't the reason that I asked you here."

Remus smiled, thinking of the gentle half-giant. Hagrid had always been kind to him. Always been a good friend to him. But then Remus frowned in confusion.

"Well, Minerva, I'm at a complete loss then."

McGonagall sighed and put a hand on his shoulder. "Remus, you should probably sit down."

"Why?" Remus asked suspicious. "Has someone died? Wait...Black hasn't escaped, has he?"

"What?"

"No, it wouldn't be that. It would have been on the front page of the Daily Prophet if he had."

"No, this isn't about Sirius escaping Azkaban. That's impossible, although Sirius always was the master of the impossible. But that's not why I asked you to come here."

"Then, why?"

"Remus, please sit down," she said, a little more forcefully. Remus just did as she asked and settled into one of the seats she had in front of her desk. As odd as it sounded, he felt like a student again, being called into McGonagall's office for something that his friends did.

But this wasn't the seventies anymore, and he wasn't a kid anymore.

"Remus, what I'm about to tell you, will come as a shock, but I will ask you not to interrupt me."

"Very well," he replied. What could this be about?

"Remus, I trust you remember Devyn Murphy?"

"Devyn -? Of course I remember her. She was my goddaughter. She's always on my mind. I'm always wondering what she would be like now. She'd be turning twelve in a couple months, did you know that?"

"Yes, I know, Remus."

"I miss her so much. Every day. I miss all of them, but Devyn was...she was..."

"She was your goddaughter. I know. From the moment she was born, you two had a unbreakable connection."

"Yes, we did. Although I try not to talk about him much, Moony accepted her as part of his pack immediately. The moment we both laid eyes on her, he perceived her as his cub. Of course, he realized that he wasn't her father, but the paternal and protective feeling was still there."

McGonagall nodded in understanding as Remus blinked back tears, not looking at her. That was when McGonagall decided to break it to him.

"She's alive, Remus."

Remus' head snapped up quicker than she thought was humanly possible and he said, "What? What did you just say?"

"Devyn's alive."

"No, she isn't, Minerva," Remus said softly but still rather fiercely.

"Yes, she is. I've seen her -"

"Don't lie to me. You know as well as I do that she died in the explosion, along two of my closest friends!"

"No, she didn't," McGonagall said, trying to keep calm. She knew that this was going to take some convincing on her part.

"Yes, she did! I went to the funeral! I saw her coffin! I saw her buried with her parents! Don't tell me she survived when you know damn well that she didn't!"

"Remus! I've seen her, I have spoken to her. I've spent hours with her."

"Stop it, just STOP IT!"

"Remus, why won't you believe that she's alive? Why won't you believe that I'm telling you the truth?"

"BECAUSE I WANT HER TO BE! I want so badly for her to be alive! That's why she can't be! She can't be..."

Although McGonagall was startled when Remus shouted, she carefully made her way over to the weeping lycanthrope and put an arm around his shoulders. She'd known Remus since he was eleven years old and she'd only ever seen him cry twice before now. Once, when Victoria, Michael, and, he thought, Devyn died, and two, when James and Lily died.

Although Remus was a sensitive soul, it took a lot to break him to the point of crying. "She...s-she can't be alive, Minerva. She can't be."

"She is. Remus, she is. I know it seems impossible but it's true."

"How?" he asked desperately. He looked up at his former professor with tears in his blue eyes. "How can she possibly be alive?"

"She wasn't in the house that night. She was with the Potters."

"What?" he said, shock etched on his face.

"She wasn't with her parents that night, thank Merlin."

"No, I heard you. Why wouldn't James and Lily have told me?"

"We swore them to secrecy."

"And...?"

McGonagall knew what he was asking, and she knew he wouldn't like the answer. "And Dumbledore and I took Devyn into the Muggle world and -"

"YOU DID WHAT?"

"-and placed her in a Muggle orphanage."

"Why the bloody hell would you do that? I'm her legal guardian!"

"To protect her! So, yes, we lied and made the Potters promise not to say anything, but she was safe."

"She would've been safe with me!" Remus growled.

"We didn't know if Lestrange and Dolohov would go after her! That was the only way Dumbledore could think to protect her!"

"That's ridiculous! You should have told me before now! It's been ten years, Minerva! TEN BLOODY YEARS!"

"I know, Remus, I know. And I'm sorry. I wanted to tell you. I really did, but you know Dumbledore."

"Yes, I do," Remus grumbled, a dangerous look in his eyes.

"Remus, I understand that you're angry and you have every right to be, but please, listen to me. She remembers you."

"She...what?"

"She remembers you. Well, in a way."

"What do you mean?" he asked tiredly.

"She...she had a dream about you. She even remembered your nickname."

"That's what she called me. She always called me 'Moony'. That was her first word."

McGonagall nodded and Remus said, "You've really seen her?"

"Yes."

"All I want to know is, is she happy?"

McGonagall wasn't sure how to answer that. "She isn't miserable, but she'll be a lot happier when she sees you again."

"Sees me -?"

"Yes, Remus. She wants to see you again. She hates the orphanage and, well I'll be frank with you, Remus, she would love it very much to stay with you."

"She wants to stay with me?"

"You are her guardian, Remus, and she knows it."

"She actually wants me to be her guardian?"

"Yes. And it's possible, if you want to, that she even would want you to adopt her."

"Adopt her? But the Ministry would never let me do that!"

"Well, there is one tiny loophole in their adoption rule."

"What?"

"The law only covers adoptions made in the Wizarding World. You'd be adopting her from a Muggle orphanage."

Slowly, a mischievous smile spread over Remus' face, taking years off and making him seem like the young student that McGonagall taught all those years ago.

"Don't you love it when they don't cover all the loopholes?" Remus said, his smile only growing.

McGonagall shrugged and nodded at the same time, leaving her answer ambiguous. The next thing that McGonagall said gave him more hope and light in his life than the last ten years ever had.

"Would you like to see your goddaughter again?"


Present Day - July 31st


Devyn sat, trying to keep her heart from beating right out of her chest. McGonagall had told her that she would bring Remus to the orphanage today. But she never said at what time. It was now 11 AM.

Just as Devyn was attempting to use the "breathe in through the nose, out through the mouth" technique, Higgenbottom burst into the room.

"You know I am getting really sick of this Professor woman showing up. Why can't she just take you already? Now she's here with some guy who claims to be your godfat- hey, don't walk away from me when I'm talking to you!"

"Not now, Higgenbottom!" Devyn called, not walking so much as running as fast as her legs could take her. She booked it down the stairs and saw McGonagall first. Then she saw him and she stopped short on the last stair.

He was there. He was real. Moony was real. If Devyn didn't already know that he was coming, she would have thought she was dreaming. Tears immediately sprang into her eyes; seeing him for the first time since she was a baby was kind of overwhelming.

McGonagall turned and seeing her reaction, smiled happily. Remus side-stepped McGonagall and saw her.

"D-Devyn?" he said hesitantly.

She nodded and he walked forward and knelt down in front of her. He was much taller than her, after all.

He pushed a wayward strand of her short dark brown hair out of her eyes and said, "Devyn. Oh, my Devyn. I thought I lost you."

Devyn thought she lost the ability to speak upon seeing him but then she said, "It's you. It's really...you. Moony."

Remus smiled widely as his tears came spilling over and Devyn rushed into his arms. She hugged her godfather and for the first time that she could remember, felt him enclose her in his embrace.

Remus just held her, thanking any and all higher powers that she was alive. He tried hard to keep his tears from falling but he just couldn't do it. He had his cub back. He was happier in this one moment, hugging his long-thought-dead goddaughter, than he'd been in the last ten years.

He couldn't believe that she was here, and that she remembered him. It'd been so long. He knew this was real, but how many times had he dreamed something like this?

When Devyn took her head off his shoulder, she looked him in the eyes. "I can't believe it's really you," she said.

"I can't believe it's really you, Devyn. I thought you were -"

"Dead, I know. But I'm not! I'm here, I'm okay."

"You are," Remus said, wiping away the remainder of her tears. "And you're so beautiful."

Devyn graced him with a brilliant smile, reminding Remus so much of Victoria. "I thought, until Professor McGonagall told me the truth, that you were a figment of my imagination!" Devyn said, still smiling.

Remus cocked his head in confusion and asked, "Why?"

"Because the feeling I got whenever I dreamed about you...I always thought it was too good to be true."

"What do you mean?"

"The feeling I got about you was the same one whenever I had some sort of vague memory of my parents. Family."

Remus sighed and brought Devyn back into a hug. "Well, I'm here now. I'm here. And I'm not ever letting you go again."

"Huh?" Devyn said, not quite believing what she was hearing. They locked eyes again and Remus said, "If you want, and if you'll let me...I want to adopt you."

"Y-You do?"

"Yes. Very much so. What do you say?"

"What do I say? Moony, of course I want to be adopted by you! That's all I've thought about since I found out you were real and you were my guardian," Devyn said, sparing McGonagall a watery and not-quite-serious glare when she said 'guardian'.

Even McGonagall was tearing up at the sweet reunion between Remus and Devyn.

"Really, you do?" Remus looked so hopeful, like he wasn't sure what he just heard was the actual truth.

"Yes, I really, really do."

Remus smiled yet again and hugged Devyn tightly one last time before standing up and holding onto Devyn's hand. McGonagall watched them happily and the trio didn't even register that Higgenbottom was standing on the stairs, watching the reunion.

She wouldn't ever admit it, but even she was happy for the young girl. She may not be the nicest of people, but anytime one of her girls was adopted, she was happy for them.

"Well," Higgenbottom said, causing the three of them to look up at her. "I understand that you wish to adopt Devyn here."

"Yes, ma'am, I do," Remus replied, his voice full to bursting with joy.

"Well, I must say, Mr. -?"

"Lupin. Remus Lupin."

"Mr. Lupin, I have known Devyn all her life and I have never seen her that happy before. Come with me, you three. I'll get the adoption papers. Gotta say, this'll be a lot easier considering you're her legal guardian already."

And with that, Remus and Devyn, hand in hand, followed the owner of the orphanage, McGonagall following after them.

It turned out that McGonagall had called in a few favors and pulled a string here or there to expedite the adoption process, so it really was much easier than it altogether should have been. It would be awhile before she was officially Remus' daughter, but it wouldn't be taking months on end like it normally might.

It was two weeks later that Remus and Devyn walked out of there as a new family. Devyn waved goodbye to the other orphans while holding onto her suitcase, which was filled with whatever clothes she had, which, admittedly, wasn't much, but enough. She had her wand in her pocket and Remus had shrunk the rest of her school supplies and put them in his jacket pockets.

McGonagall had served as the witness to the adoption and when the three of them left the orphanage and walked down the street into the alley, where they could Apparate, Devyn couldn't control herself anymore.

Before they Apparated to Remus' cottage, Devyn set down her suitcase onto the blacktop of the road and jumped up in the air, pumping her fist and cheering. "God, I am so happy right now!" she exclaimed.

Remus laughed heartily and said, "Your father did the same thing when Victoria said yes when he asked her to be his girlfriend. He came back to the common room and started jumping up and down, cheering just the way that you did."

"Really?" Devyn asked.

"Oh, yes. You're a lot like them, from what I can tell."

"Good. From what I've heard about them, that's something to be proud of."

"It is. They were amazing people, Devyn. I'm sure I have some photos around somewhere of them. I'll show them to you, some day. Now, come on, Dev. Let's go home."

Devyn never thought this day would come, but it was finally here. She finally had the one thing that she never thought she would: an actual family and a home.