DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN HARRY POTTER BUT I DO OWN MY CHARACTERS AND THEIR STORYLINES.


"He gave you a book?" Don repeated what she told him as they were hanging out in her room. "A book written by a wizard, but it's about muggles."

Evelyn smiled as she put the book down. She had already finished reading the book and she couldn't wait until she saw Rabastan, so they could discuss it. "Yeah. It's a pretty good book." She informed him and Don eyed the book on the nightstand. "You should read it sometimes."

"You know that I don't really care much about literature, so stop forcing me to read it." Evelyn gaped at him. "If you want to discuss it with someone, you should do so with Henrik. He's somehow worse than you when it comes to that." She rolled her eyes. "So, you're talking to Lestrange again?"

Evelyn nodded. "Yeah." She remembered how much he had wanted to kiss her, but she had rejected him. He had seemed hurt and she hated that she had done that, but Evelyn knew she wasn't ready for that step. Not yet.

She glanced at Don who was looking out of the window. She didn't want to tell him about the almost kiss or about the things Rabastan confided on her, it was her and Rabastan's private business. She wanted to tell him something else, something that had been bothering since summer. She needed to tell someone outside of her family, she needed to talk about her Parseltongue and she didn't trust anyone more than Don to tell him. He was her closest, most loyal and trustworthy friend. She shouldn't even have second-guessed or hesitated to tell him.

"I have something to tell you," Evelyn informed him as she got up from the bed and walked towards him. "It's very important."

Don turned to face her. "Good. I have a few things to tell you too."

Evelyn blinked in surprise as she leaned against the wall. "A few things?" She questioned him and he nodded. "Like what?"

"Gared is proposing to Hera on Friday." Evelyn's eyes widened and she put her hand over her mouth. She couldn't believe her ears at what he said. "I know. I was shocked too."

She squealed and jumped up and down. "I can't believe this!" She exclaimed. "I'm so happy for them."

"Me too." Don smiled. "I'm going to be his best man." Evelyn laughed at his excited expression. "Gared said that I was tall enough to pass for sixteen." Evelyn nodded in agreement. "If she says yes, but Gared is pretty confident that she's going to say yes."

"Gared's confidence has proven to be delusional at times." Don chuckled at her words. "Let's just hope that isn't the case this time." He nodded in agreement. After that, he turned his head and bit his lip. She stared at him and frowned. She wondered what was the other thing he was going to tell her.

"Don?" She called his name as she felt her body shake. She was starting to get worried about what it was.

"Do you know Anya? The girl who is a Keeper in our team?" Evelyn nodded as she crossed her arms. "I fancy her. I fancy her a lot."

Without hesitation, Evelyn raised her hand and smacked him on the head. "You prat! You worried me! I thought you were going to tell me something bad."

"Well, isn't it bad?" He asked her. "Fancying someone who doesn't fancy me?"

Evelyn furrowed her eyebrows. "How do you know that?" Don scoffed at her. "She might like you and if she doesn't right now, she will probably like you in the future, especially if she gets to know you." He turned his eyes to the window. "And if she doesn't, she needs to get her brain checked. You're amazing and you'll make a wonderful boyfriend." Don snorted and shook his head.

"Really? She needs to get her brain checked?" She gave him a nod. "You sound like my mum."

"I'll take that as a compliment, your mum is a smart woman."

Don tilted his head and eyed her. "What did you want to tell me?"

Evelyn's smile faltered and she gulped down. She avoided his eyes and looked at the tree in her garden. "Have you ever heard about the Gaunts?"

"The descendants of Salazar Slytherin, right?" She hummed. "What about them?"

"Isolt Sayre's mum was a Gaunt." Evelyn began to explain to him. "Isolt had two biological daughters. One of these daughters was called Rionach and that daughter is my ancestor."

Evelyn turned her face to see that Don's eyebrows had lifted to his hairline and his jaw was wide open. "What?!

He shouted making her flinch. She bit her lip and ran a hand through her hair. "You can speak to snakes?!"

She walked to her bed and dropped on it. "Apparently. Dad decided to tell me this summer and I haven't been able to think about anything else since then." She sighed. "He said that if people found out, we'll be in danger."

"Danger?" Don asked and she nodded. He sat next to her. "What kind of danger?"

Evelyn shrugged. "This man known as Voldemort who has been spitting bullshit and killing people is one of our primary concerns." She explained. "Dad told me to tell no one but mum." Don's eyebrows creased. "But I needed to tell you, I thought it was important for you to know."

"It is." He agreed with her and she spared him a glance before looking down. "You don't have to worry about me saying things, I know better than to spread that out."

She shook her head. "I'm not worried about that." She admitted before facing him. "What if someone finds out, Don? What is going to happen to me and my family then?"

Don didn't say anything, he stayed silent and so did she. The truth was that they couldn't have a clear answer to this. No one did, not even her dad and that fact that terrified her to her core.


From the corner of her eyes, Rose could see him. He was quite handsome, maybe one of the most handsome men she had ever meet. He had short dark bronze hair that seemed kept well, his face was clean-shaven, his eyes were a light brown that seemed to be more lit up in every room and his Auror uniform fit him perfectly. Most Aurors didn't even bother with their uniform, it was all very unkept and it didn't fit them well. Ezra Gerard, on the other hand, seemed to take good care of it.

She sighed and looked away when she remembered one thing. He was her daughter's professor. That was one thing she needed to remind herself whenever she thought of Ezra Gerard. It was wrong for her to even want to date him since this man graded her daughter's essay. She also had made herself a promise that she wasn't going to date professors anymore. Lucah had been great at the beginning, but the aftertaste of their relationship was very bitter.

Rose tapped her fingers against the counter as she waited for the receptionist to come back. She needed to get some files of Law Enforcement to fill a few reports about the extradition of a few criminals to Germany.

"Sorry, Rose." The receptionist came back holding the files and she turned her head towards him. "Things have been mixed up these past few months." He told.

She shook her head. "No worries, Julian," After all, she hadn't minded checking Ezra Gerard out. The man was just a few feet away from her talking to another man. "Are they all there?"

He nodded at her and glanced up at her. "What are you doing this holiday?"

Rose flinched. She hated this kind of consideration which was saying a lot since she had loved it when she was younger. "Spending it with my daughter." She answered.

The man gulped down and snorted. "I forgot you had a daughter." She tried her best not to scoff. Wherever she went, people whispered behind her back about her being an unmarried woman with a daughter. "How old is she now? Five?"

"Thirteen." Rose corrected him and he blinked a few times. "She grew up fast." She couldn't help but think it was true. Her daughter had grown up so fast and she seemed to be growing each day more. It didn't help at all when she put into consideration Evelyn's wish to be an adult.

"Here you have them. See you around." He handed the files to her. Rose was thankful that they were done with the small talk.

She smiled at him and headed to the lift. She tried her best not to catch a last look towards Ezra Gerard's way. She walked in on the elevator and pressed the button of her floor.

"Miss Sinclair." She turned her head to see the receptionist of their department, Fiona call her. "A man is waiting for you in your office." She frowned. "He said that his name is Alphard Black."

Rose almost dropped the files that she was holding. Her head started to spin and she had to hold her head. After her mind was cleared, she turned to Fiona. "You said Alphard Black, right?" She nodded.

Without letting a moment pass, Rose hurried off to her office. She felt her blood boil and she knew she was probably turning red. When she opened the door of her office, she found Alpahrd Black sitting on her sofa, His hair was cut short, he had grown a beard and he seemed to be the same man she had last seen him, only older and skinnier.

"What are you doing here?" She spat as she closed the door behind her. Alphard jumped at the slam. "I thought you and I were done."

Alphard tilted his head. "You treat an old friend like this?"

Rose moved to sit on her chair and scoffed. "You're not my friend, you haven't been my friend for over thirteen years now."

He got up and moved to be in front of her. From what she could see, he hadn't changed at all. His posture reminded her of the grinning fool who thought life was all about the pleasures it gives. He seemed more confident than before.

"I'm not just your friends, I'm your daughter's godfather as well." Rose's lips curled in a snarl and she narrowed her eyes at him.

"How dare you say that?" She snapped at him. "When we needed you the most, you weren't there. You have lost your right to say that."

Alphard put his hands in his pocket and let out a deep breath. "I know I'm thirteen years late, but I'm sorry. I shouldn't have left you when you needed me and I shouldn't have chosen my family-"

"Their money." She corrected him.

"And their money." He admitted. "But I want to meet her and I know she'll be excited to meet me."

Rose pressed her lips together when she remembered an important fact. "She doesn't know you exist."

Alphard gaped at her and shook his head. "How dare you not mention me?" She shook her head. She could remember the day that she had gone crying and with Evelyn in her hands to him, only for him to hurt her and leave them like that. He had been her best friend and he had let her down. "I thought you had changed. People say so, they all say you became a better person."

"I have," Rose stated as she pushed her hair out of her face. "I don't know if you have."

Alphard sighed. "I have, trust me. A lot of things have made me more appreciative of people and things around him." Rose frowned and found herself wondering what he meant. "Give me a chance tonight at dinner." She raised an eyebrow. "I promise you I won't disappoint you or Evelyn."

Rose wanted to tell him, no, but there was something in his eyes that made her stop and think. There was some kind of begging, desperation and fear in his grey eyes. She didn't like that look and it made her wonder what was wrong with him. She looked down and she remembered her daughter. Evelyn had no idea she had a godfather and she knew if she found out, her daughter wouldn't like that she hadn't met him. She needed to do this for Evelyn and maybe for Alphard too.

"Fine." His face broke out to a big grin. "Tonight, you are invited to dinner. If you don't behave, don't bother thinking you'll have another chance."

Alphard raised his hands. "I won't, I promise you." He told her and she hoped that he wouldn't. "Can I bring someone?" She glared at him. "It's not a woman I'm dating. Do you think that low of me?"

"Alphard, you used to be like that all the time." She reminded him and he shrugged. "And as long as it's not one of your sleazy dates, I'm fine with it." She grabbed a piece of parchment and wrote on it. She extended her hand and he took it. "My address."

He took it from her and beamed. "See you tonight at eight." With that, he left her office and closed the door behind her.

Rose was left staring at the wall hoping that the night was going to go well.


Don groaned as the two of them had just finished the homework that was given to them during the holiday. "If you only had known how to speak French, this will be way easier." Don pointed out making her laugh. "Or if they had given the same essay topics. I would have just translated your essay in French."

"The best would have been if you had stayed." She admitted as she closed her Charms book.

He smiled at her. "It would have been ideal." He admitted. "But apparently, getting the same essay topics would be more likely to happen."

Evelyn nodded her head and looked down. "I miss you so much. Sometimes, I wake up hoping to see you waiting for me in the common room." She pushed her hair away. "But I get disappointed when I see Gilderoy Lockhart who is still hurt that I said no to going out with him."

"If I was there, he wouldn't even have the guts to ask him." He said and she huffed at him. "Or I would have done the worst thing to him?"

Evelyn arched her eyebrow. "What is that?"

"Ruined his hair," Don responded making her laugh. He joined in the laughter as well.

"That will secure you a spot in Azkaban immediately." She told him and he shook his head. "I just can imagine your criminal record. Charged for ruining someone's hair."

Don shrugged. "Knowing wizards, there must have been a law like that at some point." He commented and she chuckled. "They are too worried about hair and their beards." He moved his hand to her hair and flipped it. She smacked his hand away. "You seem to be so as well."

Evelyn touched her bob and sighed. "Well, I like this haircut." She told him. "It fits me better than long hair."

Don hummed and before anyone could hear anything, Evelyn heard the front door open.

"It must be mum." She jumped from her bed. Without saying anything to Don, she rushed downstairs. Since Don was with them for most of the holiday, Evelyn and her mother didn't have a proper talk about Elena. She wanted to know why her mother hadn't bothered responding to her.

She saw her mother in the kitchen and looking through the cupboards. "How was work?" She asked as she entered the kitchen.

"Good." She responded and Evelyn noticed that her shoulders were tense. "We're having guests tonight."

Evelyn frowned. They rarely had guests, the only people who came to the house were the Baileys, but she considered them as family. "Who?"

"Your godfather." Evelyn stopped in her tracks and her frown deepened.

"I have a godfather?" She asked and her mother turned to her. "How come you didn't tell me about this?" She wondered how many things her mother was hiding from her. It was starting to get on her nerves and Evelyn wanted her to be more honest with her. She never lied to her mother. Why should she lie to her?

"Because he didn't want to be in our life when I left my family," Rose answered her and Evelyn crossed her arms. "But he said that he is sorry and wants to know you."

Evelyn rubbed the bridge of her nose and pressed her lips together. "And just like that, he's back in our lives?"

"No, this is more of a second chance for him." She explained to her. "For someone who was giving a second chance herself, I thought I ought to give it to him."

Evelyn stayed silent at first. She didn't know what to think about this. She had no idea she had a godfather a few minutes ago and now, he wanted to meet her out of nowhere. She looked at her mother who was pulling out a few vegetables from the fridge. As she did, Evelyn decided that she could trust her mother and her instinct. If she didn't like this man, she could just tell her mother.

"What's his name?" Evelyn realized that her mother hadn't told her that.

"His name is Alphard, Alphard Black."

Evelyn was taken off guard. She tilted her head. "Is he related to that woman that we saw in Don's store a few years ago?" She asked.

"Sadly, yes. She's his sister." Evelyn bit her lip. "Which makes her son, Sirius, his nephew." Evelyn huffed at the mention of the boy. "I know I should have told you about Alphardyears ago, but to be honest, I never thought he's going to come back in our lives."

"You should have." Evelyn retorted. "Like you should have responded to my letter..." She looked around for any sign of Don. "About Elena."

"Sunshine, it's a complicated matter." Evelyn raised her chin. "This has been done to those girls like Elena for years." She began to say. "They are pressured to be skinny because the families think that skinny women make the best wives." Evelyn scrunched up her nose. She was sure that was the worst sentence that came out of her mother's mouth. "While I was in Hogwarts, every roommate of mine tried to be skinny. Some starved themselves, some went to extreme diets and some of them even had to drink a potion that made them throw up."

"What?!" Evelyn exclaimed. "That's horrible! How could they do that to them?"

"Sometimes, they do it to themselves and by the sixth year, many girls in my year were drinking that potion." She informed Evelyn whose stomach had dropped. "The truth is that society as a whole, not just the pureblood one, pressures young people, especially girls to have the perfect bodies. Helping Elena is a bigger issue than you think."

Evelyn didn't like what she was hearing. She always knew that there were some certain beauty standards out in the world, beauty standards that even she felt like she needed to follow them, but she would have never guessed it ran this deep. Hearing that girls didn't eat, drank potions to vomit and went in extreme diets, just to be something they were told. These people, especially girls, were ruining their body and themselves just to reach that unreachable standards.

"There must be a way that I can help her." She murmured. "If Elena continues with this, she could get worse and lose herself in the process." Her mother gulped down and she shuddered. "There must be a way, there's always a way."

Her mother walked up to her and lifted her chin. "It's not your responsibility, sunshine and who knows if Elena will even bother listening to you."

"I can't give up, mum," Evelyn told her. "I want to help people and I'm going to help Elena." She dropped her head. "I just need to find out how."

"Merlin, you are stubborn." Rose breathed out and Evelyn snorted. "Just remember that there is a chance it might not work out and that's fine. It's fine for somethings to not work out."

Evelyn nodded her head, but she didn't think that. She wanted to help Elena and she was going to do anything possible to do that. Her cousin needed help even if she wasn't asking for it. "I know." Evelyn lied to her mother.

She smiled at her and walked to the fridge again. "Will you go out and get me some things in the store later?"

"Okay," Evelyn replied as she heard Don come down the stairs. She turned to him. "We're having guests today."

"Who?"

"My godfather." She told him and Don did a double-take. "I just found out I have one right now as well."

Don shook his head. "The times I've been confused today..." He muttered making her mother raise an eyebrow while Evelyn chuckled.


When the doorbell rang, all the three of them froze. Evelyn glanced at her mother who took a deep breath. She was nervous as well to meet her godfather. She hoped that he had changed from what he had been and she hoped that they would get along. Her mother had told her some things about him and she had found the man to be quite funny.

Her mother was about to get up from the armchair, but Evelyn stopped her. "I'll go open it." She told her and she walked towards the door. She looked through the peephole and saw a tall man with dark hair that had started to grey, grey eyes, a full beard and expensive clothes. She could see that he was talking to someone.

Evelyn held her breath and opened the door only to be met with Alphard and Sirius. Of all people, her godfather could have brought, he had decided for the nephew she had argued a few days ago.

"You must be Evelyn." Alphard had a deep voice, deeper than Evelyn expected. "I'm Alphard." He extended his hand and Evelyn glanced at it. She took it and gave him a small smile.

"Nice to meet you." She told him.

He grinned. "Nice to meet you too."

Evelyn opened the door wider for them and motioned with her head. "Come in." Alphard was the one to enter first and Sirius looked at the house inside. "Are you going to come in, Sirius?"

He stepped in the house. As he did, Evelyn noticed that he had his trunk with him. She frowned and closed the door behind them. She let out her breath and turned around. She noticed that Don had already introduced himself to Alphard. "You can leave the trunk in the corridor." She told Sirius who glanced at her.

Sirius put his trunk down and walked in the living room. She heard him greet both her mother and Don and soon, she entered it behind him.

Alphard immediately turned to look at her. "Sirius was telling me about you as we were coming here." She glanced at Sirius.

"He asked." He told her and she chuckled.

"He told me that you are the smartest in your year."

Evelyn shrugged. "I am." Her comment made everyone laugh, but Alphard was the loudest of them all. Somehow, his laugh made Evelyn smile as well.

"Seems like modesty is lost on you." He told her. "He also said that you like to tell people what to do."

She rolled her eyes knowing quite well why Sirius had said those words to his uncle. "Just people who ignore and disrespect their girlfriends, but act like prats when they break up with them." She turned to look at Sirius who was glaring at her. "And it seems like you still didn't take my advice."

Don, Alphard and her mother looked at them. "Seems like that there is more here than what Sirius led me to believe."

"So much more," Evelyn muttered.

"Well, I think you can all explain this while drinking a cup of tea." Her mother suggested and walked towards the kitchen. Alphard sat on the sofa and Sirius sat next to him. Don sat on the one nearby while Evelyn moved to one of the armchairs.

"You got yourself a girlfriend and didn't tell me. I would have given you amazing relationship advice." Alphard began to speak and Evelyn listened to him.

Sirius leaned on the sofa. "I had a girlfriend." He corrected his uncle. "But she broke up with me."

"Because you were being a prat, according to Evelyn," Don said and Sirius narrowed his eyes at him. "I'm just trying to understand what happened here." He defended himself. "Who were you dating?"

"Marlene," Evelyn answered for him and Don whistled at her response. "One of my best friends." She informed Alphard.

"So, you disrespected and ignored your girlfriend and that is why she broke up with you, right?" Sirius stayed silent while Evelyn hummed at Alphard's question. "Look, I dated a lot of girls and I did break up a lot of hearts too." Evelyn furrowed her eyebrows. "But I never ignored them or disrespected them, I just told them that it was over and moved on."

"I don't want to talk about this anymore." Sirius snapped making Evelyn wince at the tone of his voice. "I thought we came here for you to get to know your goddaughter."

Everyone's attention fell on her and Evelyn smiled. "What do you want to know?"

"Sirius told me you were in Ravenclaw which makes me think that you're smart, witty, creative, a bit eccentric," Evelyn chuckled. "and condescending." She nodded her head. "Also, your posture and attitude remind me of your mum, but you talk like your dad." She smiled. "Do I have a pretty good guess?"

"Yes," Don answered for her. "You have a pretty good guess."

Alphard leaned on the sofa and put his arm on it. "I should have become a mind healer." She laughed at his joke. At that moment, her mother walked in with teas and biscuits for all of them. "How is Lucah by the way? I always thought you two would get married."

Evelyn noticed her mother flinch as she poured the teas for everyone. "He's alright. He's living in Morrigan with his wife and his two other kids."

"Is he still a professor?" He asked and Evelyn noticed that he was eyeing her mother.

"Yes," Evelyn answered him.

"And you still went to Hogwarts?" Alphard snorted. "Why?"

Evelyn glanced at Don who was smiling. "Because of him." She responded and both Sirius and Alphard turned to look at him. "I wanted to be in the same school as my best friend and I decided to go to Hogwarts. We got sorted in the same house and we were happy for two years, but then he transferred to Beauxbatons."

"Bad luck to you there, Evelyn." She glanced at her mother who was pouring milk in Sirius' tea. "Good luck to you, Don. The school must be full of Veelas."

Don chuckled. "They're like three Veelas in our school and two of them are half while one of them is a quarter of a Veela."

"Still a Veela." Sirius pointed out and Don shrugged. "How is it like there?"

"Good," Don responded. "I have made a few friends, we have started Quidditch teams and the professors are quite capable."

"Are you a Beater?" Alphard asked Don and he nodded. "You seem like so." He glanced at Evelyn. "How about you? Do you play Quidditch?"

She couldn't even answer as Don and Sirius started to laugh while her mother was holding her laughter. "You're all mean." She groaned before looking at Alphard. "I don't. I can barely fly and I happen to be a bit clumsy."

"A bit?" Sirius laughed. "You broke professor Sinistra's nose because of your clumsiness."

Evelyn pouted her lips. "It's not my fault that I'm vertically challenged." Her comment made everyone laugh and she joined in the laughter. Even in her wildest dreams, she couldn't imagine herself playing Quidditch.

"Seems like you took more of your father than your mother," Alphard said and she frowned. "More dedicated to books and schools, right?"

"Yeah. Have you met him? Because you sound like you do."

"I did. I had to go get him from America when Rose was pregnant with you." Evelyn tilted her head and she remembered her other telling her about the friend who had gone to get her father. She didn't connect the dots that it had been Alphard. He moved to get the tea and so did the others.

"How come you haven't met Lynn before?" Sirius asked after he sipped his tea. "You didn't mention why."

The room immediately fell into silence and tension was build in mere seconds. Her mother was drinking her tea, Don was eating a biscuit, Sirius was frowning while Alphard seemed like he wanted to combust in place. "You can say that I wasn't a good friend to Rose when she needed me the most," Alphard responded and Evelyn saw her mother turn to look at him. Her mother's eyes almost teared up before she sniffed and straightened her back. "But I met Evelyn before. I was one of the first people to see her when she was born."

Evelyn smiled at him, but that smile drifted away when she remembered that the rest of her mother's family. She also remembered that these people worked under Voldemort and for the briefest moment, Evelyn wondered if Alphard worked as well.

"What do you think of Voldemort?" She asked without thinking. Everyone turned their heads on her and her mother shot her a questioning look. Evelyn cleared her throat and stared right in Alphard's eyes. "You know with what he's saying and what his people are doing?"

Alphard put his tea down and turned his whole attention to her. "You're asking if I agree with him and what his followers are doing?" Evelyn didn't answer him, she kept looking at him. "No, I don't." She tried her best to keep that sigh of relief down. "I don't agree with what he's saying nor do I agree with murder."

Evelyn relaxed her shoulders and moved to get a biscuit. "That's a relief to hear."

She bit the biscuit while the four others looked at her with their eyes wide and shocked expression.


Evelyn walked to the living room after washing her hands after eating dinner and saw that Sirius was the only one there. She could hear the voices of her mother and Alphard from the kitchen, but she had no idea where Don was.

"Where is Don?" She asked him.

Sirius who had been looking at the clock turned to her. "Went to the bathroom." He responded and she sat down on the armchair. He turned his head to the clock again.

"I didn't know you were fascinated with clocks." She teased Sirius.

She could hear him scoff. "It's the prospect of time that interests me." He responded to her. "And how much you have to wait when you want time to pass."

"Bored of us, already?"

Sirius shrugged. "I didn't want to be here, but Alphard insisted. I wanted to head to James' immediately." Evelyn should have guessed that Sirius was going to his best friend. He and James were just as attached to the hips as her and Don.

"How is he like?" Evelyn wondered.

"James?" Sirius furrowed her eyebrows and she laughed.

"No, Alphard." She told him and he chuckled.

"He's alright," Sirius responded and she focused her whole attention to him. "He's my favourite uncle." She found herself smiling at his words. "Although, he doesn't have much competition compared to my other uncle." She tilted her head and frowned. "But he's still the best by far. He's funny, makes family dinners better and he is the best when he's drunk."

Evelyn blinked a few times. "What?"

"He is," Sirius told her as he smiled. "You know when someone gets drunk, they say whatever comes to their mind." He told her. "And he does that. He has no filter and says things as he thinks them, it's hilarious. Makes up your night."

Evelyn found herself laughing until another disturbing thought came to her mind. "Does he get drunk a lot?"

"He usually gets drunk in family dinners, but he has an excuse for that," Sirius told her. "He has to deal with my mother."

She laughed again and had to put her hand over her mouth. Sirius joined in the laughter as well. After she stopped, she spoke up. "I met her only once and she seems like the type of person to give you a headache. No offence."

Sirius raised his hand. "None taken."

Silence fell over them and Evelyn wondered where Don was. He was taking too long in the bathroom. She was sure that if she and Sirius were left in the room a minute more, they would start arguing once again.

"About what you asked Alphard..." She looked up to him. "Do you know about Lestrange's family?"

Evelyn bit her lip and nodded her head. "I do, but I also know that he isn't like them."

"Are you sure about that?" Sirius pressed on.

His question made Evelyn's heart skip a beat and her mind reel with thoughts. Was there a chance that Rabastan was lying about that? What if he was? Why would he lie to her about this? What did he gain from lying to her?

She pushed those thoughts down when she remembered the talks they had. He had been genuine and their lessons told her that he was interested to know. He wasn't like his family and Evelyn knew that he didn't think of a future with them.

"I am." She affirmed to Sirius. "He has proven it to me many times."

Sirius sighed. "Whatever you say, Lynn. Whatever you say." She narrowed her eyes at him and his unconvinced voice. She didn't understand why he was even getting involved with this, it was none of his business. She opened her mouth to say, but at that moment, Don decided to walk in.

"Rose is getting better at cooking each year." He commented as he patted his stomach. "Mum said that she had to teach her a lot."

"She did have a house-elf in her house which is despicable-"

Sirius cut her off. "Where is the bathroom?"

"At the end of the corridor, on the left." She responded to him and he got up. After he walked away, Don sat next to her.

"What was he saying about Rabastan?" He questioned her.

Evelyn rolled her eyes. She would have preferred if Don didn't hear it, she knew he was going to act all protective. "You know that Rabastan's family are bad and Sirius was warning me about them."

"Or was he warning you about Rabastan?"

"He was warning me about his family. There is nothing for me to worry about when it comes to Rabastan." She told him and he puckered his lips. "I know him better than anyone and I know that he's a good person who isn't in position to make decisions." Don opened his mouth. "I would appreciate you to trust me rather than Sirius."

Don shrugged. "Fine." He leaned on his seat. "You're right." She sighed in relief. "I was just worried."

"You don't have to be." She told him. "Rabastan is a good person."

Don turned his attention to the remote control on the coffee table and turned on the television. Evelyn, on the other hand, remembered her talk with Rabastan and their relationship so far. He wasn't perfect, but he was good. She knew that deep inside her heart and Sirius' words couldn't change that.


Rose turned to her old friend and took a deep breath. Something in the pit of her stomach was telling her that there was something wrong with him. The way that he was acting and even talking made her think so. She bit her lip and decided to speak up.

"What's going on with you?" He looked down at his shoes. "You show up out of nowhere, want to meet my daughter, you come to dinner and you act as you have never acted before." She put a towel she was holding. "You didn't make a sex joke once."

Alphard gaped. "We were with kids, Rose." He motioned his head to the living room. "Your kid was there too."

"It never stopped you when it came to your nieces." She reminded him and he let out a laugh. "You traumatized them."

He shrugged. "Well, Bellatrix has lost her mind now, Narcissa only talks about her upcoming marriage to Lucius Malfoy," Rose frowned as she remembered both of these people as kids. She remembered Narcissa to be the same age as Cain which meant she was only eighteen. "and Andromeda has gone and married a muggleborn."

Rose's eyes widened. "Andromeda married a muggleborn?" He nodded. "How is Cygnus alive?"

"Beats me. Kinda wish he was." She shook her head at him. "Like you don't think that about Philip?"

A shudder ran down her spine. "Don't mention him." She spat and Alphard hummed. "I won't have his name or theirs being heard in this house." He was about to talk again, but the truth was that Rose didn't want to hear about Andromeda. She wanted to know what was wrong with him. "Why aren't you telling me what is wrong with you?"

The only noise she heard after that was the kids' and the television's. A big silence fell over them and Rose knew it was bad. Alphard didn't like silence and he always had something to say.

When he looked up, she saw that he was holding tears. "For years now, I've had this illness." He began to explain and her hands began to shake. "A mass of abnormal cells has been gathered in my brain and that is what muggles call brain tumour. Since I found out about it late, the healers have said it can't be cured." Her breath was caught on her throat and Rose had tears in her eyes as well. "With the potions and the treatment I'm getting, they say I have three years to live."

Rose was sure that her heart had dropped on the floor. She shook her head and she felt tears run down her cheeks. "No, no, no." She mumbled. "You must be joking."

Alphard walked over to her and shushed her. She kept shaking her head and didn't let him touch her. "Sirius doesn't know, so, I need you to be quiet." She bit her lip as more tears fell. "I'm sorry, Ro."

"You came back knowing that one day you're going to die?" She questioned him, her voice cracking. "How could you do that to me? How could you do that to Evelyn?"

He gulped down. "I'm sorry, okay?" He whispered to her. "I had to see you and her, I had to make this right to you." His lips quivered. "You were my best friend and I hurt you." She sniffed and whipped her tears off her face. "If you don't want me to be in your life, I can walk away. I just want you to know that I do want to be a part of your life."

Rose hated this. She hated the position he had put her in, she hated that she introduced him to her daughter, she hated that he had come back when he was going to die in three years and she hated that he was going to leave again. This time forever and he would never come back.

"I want to be in your life, I want to be in Evelyn's life as well." He told her. "It's your choice, of course, but I just want to tell you how I feel."

She pressed her lips together. "When do you want me to tell her? As soon as you leave? Or after you..." She couldn't even say the words out loud.

"I'll tell her." He explained to her. "I'll tell her one day when I'm ready to tell Sirius as well." She nodded her head. "She ought to know that, but she needs to know me first and I need to know her too." He sniffed. "From what I saw, you have done an amazing job with her. I always knew you would be a good mother."

Rose whipped the rest of the tears. "You always used to tell me that." She remembered with a fond smile and he grinned at her. "You also thought I'd get back with Lucah." She scowled. "I can't even stand him anymore."

Alphard's eyes widened and he whistled. "Really? I remembered how much you loved him, your eyes shined just talking about him."

"People change."

"Yeah, and you're proof of that." She didn't say anything. "So, am I back in your life? Do I get to be your best friend again? Or Evelyn's godfather?"

She sighed. "You get to be my friend, not my best friend. I repeat, my friend." He rolled his eyes at her. "And you get to be her godfather, but under my terms. Understood?"

Alphard huffed. "Seems like you're still bossy as ever." She narrowed her green eyes at him. "I understand completely." She hummed and walked to the counter. "Do you know how much I missed you, Ro?"

He couldn't see her, but she was smiling. Because despite everything they had gone through, she had missed having him as a friend. "I missed you too, Al." She admitted before letting out a deep breath.


As much as I love writing this story, the lack of excitement and comments about it is making me doubt the whole story and the characters. I did write this story for myself and I'm still going to because I do love the characters a lot, but being appreciated means a lot. So, don't hesitate and tell me what you think about the story. I will appreciate it :)

Next up, An Initiative