PART TWO ( NOTHING GOLD CAN STAY ) CHAPTER ONE:
001 || Meet The Lupins
"in which aurelia black meets the lupin family at the worst time. . ."
June, 24th, 1995 . . . present time
CARDIFF, WALES IN front of a small, friendly-looking two story house is where Aurelia finds herself when she opens her eyes. At least, that's what Dumbledore says when she asks. Aurelia finds herself trusting him less in less in these passing hours. He brought her to bloody Azkaban without asking her first, why on Earth would he do that to her? He treated Harry better than her, she literally went through almost the exact same situation as Harry, yet it seemed to her that Dumbledore was treating Harry like he was the only one who suffered tonight. Perhaps, she's only seeing it that way because she's grown a little jealous of Harry over the past year. She hopes not, she hopes Dumbledore's behaviour isn't just all in her head even if that means Dumbledore's a real git, she doesn't want to be imagining the stuff.
Aurelia frowns, she glances at the house once again and wonders where Dumbledore's brought her now. She doesn't recognise this place, perhaps - "Sir, is this where my father lives?" Aurelia asks hopefully.
"Yes, Aurelia."
Aurelia sighs in relief "Oh, thank Merlin! I was starting to think that Voldemort might be my father, y'know, even if that's highly unlikely because he kill -"
Dumbledore's eyes flash dangerously and he grows rather stiff and Aurelia stops stalking, he sounds almost disappointed as he says: "Fear not, Aurelia, Voldemort is not your father . . . Although, I wouldn't put it past Bellatrix to be able to hide his child from him. She'd always been quite clever and cunning, she fooled him many times even without the help of Esrom. Bellatrix was one of three people whom Voldemort blindly trusts, if anyone is going to get away with having his child and keeping them alive and safe from his wrath, it'd be her. But, without a doubt, you are not his."
"That's a good thing." Aurelia says slowly, so why don't you sound like it's a good thing?
Dumbledore stays silent for a moment, studying her then he replies: "Yes, it is . . . Aurelia Riddle wouldn't be a very fitting name for you."
The last part had meant to lighten the mood but it does nothing of the sort.
Asterope Aurelia Riddle, she thinks and it sounds wrong. It sends chills down her spine, she can't be that evil, it's bad enough her mother is Bellatrix Lestrange.
She shakes her head, she doesn't want to think about that, she wants to know who her father is. Aurelia looks up at the house and wonders who lives there, is he nice? Does he really love her? Does he know she exists, does he know she's here right now? Perhaps it was the strange man in the graveyard, it would make sense as to why he was so kind to her? He -
A big black dog comes bounding around the side of the house - is that Sirius? The dog barks when he spots her, running over to her, he comes to a halting stop at her feet. Aurelia can't tell if it's Sirius or not, it's still too dark out and the sun is just barely rising.
"Sirius?"
The dog looks up, barks then licks her hand, Aurelia takes that as a yes.
"I think we should go inside." Dumbledore says, "It's high time you met your father."
Aurelia swallows thickly, she's not sure how she feels, she's not sure if she's ready to meet him just yet. Of course, she wants to know who he is, a name would have sufficed for now; she can't meet him looking like this. Aurelia looks like Veronica Sawyer after she watched Jason Dean blow himself up, she looked like she just got back from hell.
She tucks in her blouse and smooths down her hair, she should at least look presentable. What if he doesn't know about you, you're certainly not going to convince him to keep you looking like this!
"Oh, I wouldn't worry about your appearance, Aurelia, your father has already seen you tonight," Dumbledore says, smiling knowingly.
Aurelia knows that smile is meant to be good-natured but, it makes her so angry. He knows everything but, he's not telling her anything, she grinds her teeth and clenches her fists, how many people knew about this?
"Was he in the stands? . . . Was he in the cemetery? Where was he - did I - did I see him?"
"You did see him. You even spoke to him," Dumbledore replies, "Perhaps, I should rephrase my earlier question: are you ready to meet him as your father?"
Aurelia grinds her teeth, biting her tongue - for fuck's sakes just tell me his name already!
The front door opens and Mae's voice calls out: "Dumbledore?! Aurelia?! What are you doin' here?!"
"What are you doing here," Aurelia yells back, feeling more than bloody confused.
The front porch light switches on and an older man steps past Mae, Aurelia freezes, is this my dad?
He's holding a creature of some kind, Aurelia thinks it might be a Niffler. He's got silvery-blond hair, possibly grey from old age, he's got to be in his mid-sixties. Aurelia exhales, he's a little too old to be her father, she decides. The man steps out onto the porch, he's wearing a flowery poncho and he's most definitely holding a Niffler. His silvery-blond hair is pulled back into a bun but quite a few strands of hair frame his sharp face; he looks bloody familiar.
He smiles and waves and them, Aurelia waves back, albeit a little hesitantly, she's bloody confused. The man laughs "Oh, look at her, Mae! She looks so confused! She can't tell which one of us is her father! Oh, she's like a little baby duck!"
Mae sighs "Lyall, why are you like this? Besides if anyone, out o' the two o' us, is goin' to be her father, it'd clearly be moi."
"What's going on? I thought you said this was my father's house," Aurelia says angrily, rounding on Dumbledore. She's tired of these games he's playing with her. She wants some fucking answers and she wants them now.
"Technically, it's my house but, your father does visit often." The man - Lyall - says then raises his voice: "Though not as often as he should!"
"Who are you?"
"I'm Lyall Lupin. I'm your grandfather."
Lupin? Aurelia feels faint, as in Remus Lupin? I'm related to Remus Lupin? What the fuck? How the fuck? Aurelia sways slightly, oh, Merlin! she thinks she might actually faint.
"What are you yelling at now, Dad," Remus questions tiredly, coming to stand in the doorway next to Mae.
Good, Godric.
His eyes widen in surprise when he sees her, he drops his mug in surprise "A - a - Aurelia?"
She frowns, is Remus her father? No, he can't be! That's weird, besides, he doesn't look to happy to see you - oh no! He is your dad and he hates you!
Remus brushes down his hair and smooths out his cardigan, completely ignoring the broken mug that lay at his feet and the steaming tea seeping into his bunny slippers. "What - what are you doing here?"
Tears burn her eyes, Remus is her father! He's got to be, unless he's got a brother he never mentioned. While it's weird and doesn't make sense as to why her aunt - her mother would be anywhere near him, it does explain why he came around this past year, why he was so nice to her. He's always been nice to her and she's always seen him as a father figure - but, fuck me gently with a chainsaw! She never thought he'd actually be her father! No, that just can't be right! Aurelia shakes her head, it must be a sick joke!
At this point, she wouldn't put it past Dumbledore to do something like that, she just can't believe Mae and Remus and the Niffler dude would join in. Aurelia breathes heavily, as much as she wants Remus to be her father, it just can't be true.
"You weren't supposed to bring her here 'til tomorrow, Dumbledore! What did you do," Mae asks, giving him an accusing glare.
Aurelia runs forward and straight into Mae's arms, she buries her face into the redhead's cloak, refusing to look at Remus. What the fuck is going on?!
Mae wraps her arms around Aurelia in a protective manner "Merlin's beard! You're bloody freezin', wee moon!"
Aurelia gives her an incoherent rundown of what happened after Mae had left her with Dumbledore. Mae surprisingly understood most of it and Merlin was she ever fucking furious.
"How dare you bring my daughter to Azkaban, and without consultin' me first no less," Mae hisses venomously, running her fingers through Aurelia's hair, "If you ever do that again, I'll have your head on a gold fuckin' platter, Albus."
"Oooh, I'd be careful with her, Dumbledore, she may be tiny but, you would not believe the things Lestrange taught her," Lyall says, letting out a low whistle as he adjusts the squirming Niffler is his arms.
"Aurelia here was under the belief your wife had escaped Azkaban, I was simply trying to give her some peace of mind," Dumbledore explains.
Mae sneers at him "That's o' load o' bullshit and, don't even try that on me -"
"Wife," Aurelia exclaims into the blue velvet fabric of Mae's cloak.
"Yes, wee moon, wife. Trix and I are married, secretly and magically, unlike her marriage to that asshole, he was only meant to keep everyone happy. We were married before an' when I say before, I mean literally an hour before."
"Is there anything else you'd like to tell me," Aurelia asks dryly.
"Aye," Mae mumbles, "A lot, but, we should start with the most important thing: your father."
Aurelia sneaks a glance at Remus, who looks the complete opposite of happy, she wonders if he's only just found out. That would explain his sudden change in behaviour.
"I - I'm going to make some more tea," Remus mumbles, backing into the house.
Merlin, he hates you! He fucking hates you!
Aurelia sniffles, clinging to Mae, who is asking where Ellie is.
She looks up, blinking away tears "He does - he doesn't want me, does he? Re - Remus, I mean."
Dumbledore had been explaining that he had left Ellie at Hogwarts and Mae had been snapping at him for it, saying something along the lines of 'He's goin' to be pissed, he's got no idea what's goin' on! You know kids don't like bein' kept in the dark, you should know that by now, Albus!'
Her expression softens when she looks down at Aurelia, patting her head and saying "No, that's not the case at all! Don't even think that for a second, Remus is just a little nervous, we weren't expectin' you to be here 'til tomorrow."
"Perhaps we should take this inside, the poor girl is shaking like a leaf," Lyall suggests, "Dumbledore would you care for a spot of t -"
"No, he would not," Mae says cooly, leading Aurelia into the Lupin household.
Aurelia hears Dumbledore chuckle faintly, telling Lyall that he'd love to but, he needs to get back to Hogwarts. She looks around the house, it's quaint but, then again she was used to living in a fucking castle. Aurelia loves it though, it's nice, bright, and warm. Mae leads her towards the kitchens where she can hear a soft but stern voice scolding Remus. Aurelia looks at Mae, wondering who else is here.
"That's Hope Lupin, Remus' mum," Mae explains, smiling at Aurelia, "She's the sweetest thing, an' absolute angel, really. Trix absolutely adored her even though she was a Muggle."
They step into the kitchen, Remus is being scolded by a woman in a portrait while holding a steaming kettle and a new mug.
"'Ello mama Lupin," Mae greets the portrait.
The scolding ceases immediately, the woman in the portrait turns to Mae and gives her a friendly smile.
"'Ello my precious painter girl," Hope Lupin says warmly, "And who is - is that little Aurelia? Remmy you told me she wasn't supposed here until tomorrow!" The portrait starts rambling on about how messy the house is - which, it isn't - and how there's nothing for the poor girl to eat.
"I'm sorry," Aurelia blurts out, wrapping her arms around herself.
The kitchen falls silent, Remus places the kettle and mug onto the kitchen counter, asking: "Why are you apologising?"
"I'm ruining everything! I ruined your life, you don't want me here and you probably hate me now that you know you're my real fa -"
Remus pulls her into a tight hug, cradling her head "You haven't ruined a single bloody thing! You are the one good thing that came out of that situation. You're my daughter and I love you. You don't understand how long I've been waiting for this moment, it - it's not how I planned it, it's not how any of us planned it. You weren't supposed to know until -"
Aurelia pulls away, his grip on her is tight so she can't pull away much.
"And why not?!"
Mae and Remus share a look, Remus speaks hesitantly: "Well, you know Esrom Riddle? Well, she quite liked your mum. Growing up, she was very fond of her and your aunts, especially your mum though. From what Mae has told me, she was creepily invested in your mum so when you came along, Esrom kept a close eye, well, inner eye on you. She was always looking out for you and at one point she predicted that something very bad would happen to you if you grew up believing your real mum was Bellatrix."
Remus pauses and Mae continues: "Esrom never said exactly what would happen but, it shook Trix to the core. It devastated her and she went out lookin' for families to take you in so nothin' bad would happen to you. I remember she found a family somewhere in France but, when it came time to hand you over, Trix couldn't bring herself to give you up to someone so far away. She made many plans to keep you safe but, a lot of them weren't the most, well, they -"
"Why didn't she give me to Remus then, huh? From the sounds of it, Esrom only predicted I might die only because I was Bellatrix's daughter, not because I was Lupin's - unless you didn't want me or you're not my real father," Aurelia exclaims, yanking herself free from Remus. Anger courses through her veins as she points a finger at him.
Lyall and Sirius enter the kitchen, both looking extremely cautious as neither of them wanted to face the wrath of Aurelia's rightful rage.
"I did want you," Remus exclaims right back, "It's just well, I'm not fit to raise a child as much as I want to."
"Okay, so you can't take care of me a few days a month that doesn't mean you had to go and ship me off to relatives who didn't love me because I'm a Half-Blood! You still could've been my father!"
"Remus," Sirius interjects, "You need to tell her, I know it's something you don't want to talk about and I know it's horrible but, it'll help her understand."
"Understand what?!"
Remus had gone pale, he's visibly shaking, his blue eyes had glossed over, he shakes his head.
"Remus, if you don't tell her, Lyra will and she'll make it sound so much worse. She won't hesitate to not explain it right. It's best if Aurelia hears it from one of us."
"Lyra wouldn't - my daughter doesn't need to know about that," Remus snaps at Sirius, "Bellatrix would never tell her about it -"
"She would if she thought it would protect Aurelia," Mae cuts in, giving Remus a meaningful look.
"What are you - you guys talking about," Aurelia stammers, wiping her sweaty palms on her pants.
If Remus doesn't want her, why doesn't he just say it?
She feels sick, they're hiding something from her again. Aurelia glares at them, tell me, you cowards, just fucking spit it out! Aurelia grinds her teeth, clenching her fists at her sides.
"Remus," Sirius says softly, "Plenty of people know the truth and none of them will be able to tell it the way we can, they didn't see what really happened. It will only hurt Rory more if we keep this from her."
Aurelia looks at Remus, he's crying now but, he's nodding his head.
"I'll handle this, Moony," Sirius says softly, "It is partly my fault that this happened."
"It's not your fault, Sirius. It's no one's fault but Trix's," Mae tells Sirius, it looks like it pains her to say that.
Sirius sighs, grabbing Aurelia's shoulders "I think it's best we sit down for this, it's a long story."
Irritated, Aurelia shakes his hands off her, telling him flatly: "Then get on with it."
Sirius looks affronted by her tone but, he doesn't scold her for it. Instead he shares a nervous look with Remus and Mae.
What the fuck is going on? Aurelia cries, burying her face into her hands.
X
AUTHOR'S NOTE:
Welcome to act two and, uhhh, Surprise! Remus is the father that baby Aurelia chose for herself and part of her always remembered that ( see what the sorting hat said in the prologue ). And to clarify, although it's kinda obvious because Bellatrix was already pregnant before Remus was thrown into the mix, I just want to say that they did not sleep together,,, that's weird ( to me, I know there's people out there that ship Bella & Remus and I don't want to be rude to them, like if you do that's cool, I just don't ) they just came together to protect Aurelia, so Remus knows that she isn't his biological kid but he loves her anyway because she deserves a better dad than Voldy.
The reason that Remus was chosen is explained in the next chapter. Although there was a version where Remus was her actual father but it was very short-lived because I thought people would find it too weird. So I just used that plot as a cover-up story to hide the fact that Voldemort is her real father because I was too proud of the plot to get rid of it entirely, my brain ( for it being 2am when I created it ) popped off with it. Bellatrix and Remus are the ultimate brotp and Lyall and Hope lowkey adopted Bellatrix, a 28 almost 29 year old women, into their family.! Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed the chapter please let me know what you thought of it in the comments, your thoughts/feedback means a lot to me!