If you're looking for something that would adhere to your idea of canon then I would click off right now. Things are going to be shaken up although, the events of Harry Potter have all happened except let's put Astraea into all of the Golden Trio adventures. Also, Walburga raised Astraea. Walburga will still be a bitch as is canon but she did love her granddaughter. Orion died his canon death but Walburga lives a long time without him. She died the summer before Astraea's third year. Losing her whole family somewhat softened Walburga. She still raised Astraea to be the pureblood(even if at the time, her blood status was unknown)heir of the Black House and would not accept a Black being in any house bar Slytherin but she no longer sympathized with the Dark Lord after both her sons were wiped out while in his service (note: she does not know that Sirius is not a Death Eater)
The night was cold as a girl of seventeen walked the dark, empty streets of London. The stars seemed to not want to shine brightly tonight, not even for one named after them. Instead, the sky was black. Dark. Empty. The girl was troubled, wanting a distraction from her dreadful thoughts but not finding any that evening. Her feet carried her towards her home, once empty but now alive with life as four others bustled within its walls. Looking up from the asphalt of the pavement, she saw her...home. Number 12 Grimmauld Place. She had lived there her whole life, finding comfort in its silent walls, away from all the death glares and the hate-filled looks for something that Astraea had no control over.
Letting herself into the house, she was met at the door by Kreacher; a faithful elf, an even better friend. "Welcome home, Mistress Black."
Astraea sighed out loud before she said, "Kreacher," Astraea lifted her hand and placed it on the elf's head, softly petting him. "You know that you do not need to call me Mistress. At least not while we are home." Kreacher grabbed her coat from her hands and put it away for her before following her as she moved towards the dining room knowing that dinner would be waiting for her on the table.
She briefly glanced at the blank spot on the wall where her grandmother's portrait once hung. Astraea loved her grandmother. How could she not when Walburga was the only person she had for all 12 years of her life before her death? But she could not stand the chaos and her screams of blood traitors, filth, and dishonour whenever so much as a tiny sound woke her from her slumber so she had her removed and instead placed her in the hallway to the Head of the Family's office with the rest of her ancestors. At least she would have the company of the rest of her family to bicker and fight with instead of any guests she had over.
Stepping into the dining room, a huge smile appeared on her face when she saw who else sat at the table. Neville, Luna, and Hermione. Neville had moved into Grimmauld Place just this morning. After the war, the three of them had bonded over shared traumas and experiences. The war had done a number on them. Harry had died. Killed in the final battle. Sacrificing himself like the hero he always was. Sometimes she wished that she had been able to convince him to run with her but she wouldn't have loved him so much if he wasn't himself. In the end, he had made the ultimate sacrifice and it was her that stepped in to kill the one man that had taken everyone she loved from her. Remus was killed as well, leaving a baby boy behind, naming her and Harry as his godparents. The grief became too much for Andromeda after the passing of her daughter and son in law so she too passed a few months later, leaving a 17-year-old Astraea as the sole guardian of one Teddy Lupin. With the death of Harry came the end of her relationship with the Weasleys, their link because of Harry now gone. This left Hermione in the middle of both groups. She spent many weeks trying to convince Ron to come around but he was too stubborn so in the end, she broke up with him, choosing to instead stick with the girl that had been there for her through everything. Astraea saw how much that decision destroyed her friend and immediately begged for her to move into Grimmauld Place with her and Teddy. She accepted right away wanting to be close to her friend since she still had not been able to find her parents after the war. Hermione was crushed over her ended relationship with Ron while Astraea only mourned her friendship with the rest of the Weasley clan. Astraea and Ron were never really close. Her being a Slytherin and a Black being the main factor as to why they never bonded.
With the loss of Ron came the arrival of Neville and Luna. Neville and Luna had proved their loyalty to the girls countless times over the years. They were there for Astraea as she navigated her new life as the sole parent to a small baby boy. The four of them decided together that they would not be returning to Hogwarts to finish their seventh year. The memories of the lives lost there were too fresh for the four of them. Neville's grandmother had died there, taken down by Rodolphus Lestrange after she killed Bellatrix, and finally had revenge for what had happened to her son and daughter-in-law. While the other three just could not return to a place that had taken so much from them; so many friends were lost within its once hallowed halls.
By the end of the war, all four of them were well and truly orphans with only each other to rely on after Xenophilius Lovegood was murdered by Death Eaters after failing to capture them when they were on the run. Memories of the war and their life on the run made it hard for Astraea to move on. Astraea still trained every morning before Teddy woke and every evening after she had put him to sleep as was her habit. It used to be her and Harry that would train together but now it was just her. They had bonded while on the run; the pair of them only having each other after her father was killed in their fifth year. At first, it was just her training but she was soon joined by Neville, Luna, and Hermione; the Gryffindors and Ravenclaw wanting to learn more about duelling and any other form of fighting that she and Harry had learned while on the run. Hermione could have trained with them while they were on the run but she was too busy trying to keep them alive and learning protective spells to join their training sessions. There were still Death Eaters out there and Astraea wouldn't put it past them to try something on her or even worse, Teddy. It seemed the Wizarding World had not learnt its lesson from last time and still let some higher-ranked Death Eaters roam free. And for that reason, she nor anyone else who sat at the table had returned to the Wizarding World unless absolutely necessary.
The three of them greeted her while a now 10-month-old Teddy waddled towards her, his arms wide open. Astraea smiled beautifully at her godson as she stooped down to his level and let him walk to her. Once he was in reach, she pulled him into her arms with a bright smile on her face and a soft giggle. She placed sweet kisses all over his face, a bright smile on the now green-haired boy's face as he hastily pulled on her dark hair. With a shy giggle, she changed her own hair to match the exact same shade of green that Teddy sported, making the little boy squeal in delight before deciding to tug a strand of her long green hair into his mouth.
"No Teddy, we don't eat hair." She managed to pull her hair from his surprisingly strong grasp and put the dummy that Hermione had passed to her in his mouth instead. The toddler settled against her chest with a satisfied sigh, babbling to her as if to tell her about his day with his uncle and aunties. Astraea listened avidly as she fed the toddler and herself from her own plate with a soft look on her face.
Astraea looked around at the people sitting at the table with a look of happiness but couldn't shake the feeling of discontent that settled within her heart. Even though she spent the first 12 years of her life feeling like an orphan with no father or mother in sight and only her grandmother for company, those 12 years compared to nothing as she felt now. She and her father only had two short years with each other but she missed him every day. Remus as well. Her eyes met Hermione's from across the table and she could tell that the both of them were thinking the same thing. They had both lost everything.
The rest of dinner passed in happy chatter as each member of their admittedly small family spoke of the events of their day. It seemed that Neville had run into Ginny while in Muggle London shopping with Teddy. "That must have been awkward," she said to him concernedly.
Neville only shrugged his shoulders before he responded, "Surprisingly, it was ok. Teddy and I just walked past and continued on with our fun day, isn't that right buddy?" He kissed the toddler on the forehead, completely unaware of the conversation going on between the adults at the table.
An hour later, Astraea had put Teddy down for the night while she got ready to train with the others. The four of them had been practice duelling for about 30 minutes when Astraea suddenly stopped, her head narrowly missing the stinging hex Neville sent her way. She gasped loudly before she ran out of the room, the others hastily following her. They found her in Teddy's room with an upset but obedient toddler in her arms. Astraea hurriedly gathered Teddy's emergency bag that she kept underneath his bed in case of emergencies. Hermione and the others stood in the doorway confused and unsure of what to do. Astraea called Kreacher and just when she was about to place the evidently tired toddler in the waiting elf's arms, Hermione snapped into action; stopping the old elf from taking the toddler.
"Rae? What's wrong? What's happening?" Luna asked her clearly upset friend as she kept trying to give Teddy to Kreacher.
She eventually gave up when the 17-year-old just kept blocking her way before she answered her, "The wards around Grimmauld Place; they're falling."
Hearing her words, Hermione ran out of the room to her own to find a single beaded bag filled to the brim with everything they would need in case something like this exact event were to happen. Hermione ran back into the room to see everyone else emotionally saying goodbye to Teddy. She hurried over as well with Neville at her side and kissed the young baby boy on the forehead. "Kreacher, if we do not contact you by tomorrow evening then it means that we have most likely been killed or taken prisoner. I need you to take Teddy to the Laurent Estate; any Black property is out of the question."
Astraea smiled sadly at the now fully awake toddler in the elf's arms with tears streaming down her face. "You are the future of us, dear one. Everything I own," she felt Hermione grab hold of her hand while Luna grabbed her other, fingers clasped tightly with Neville standing right behind her. "Everything we own... is yours. You are the future of the Blacks, Laurents, Potters, Lovegoods and the Longbottoms. All that we have will be yours."
"We love you." the four of them said together. And with that, Kreacher and Teddy disapparated out of Grimmauld Place; most likely to never return to its halls.
The group immediately sprang into action. They always said that if something like this ever happened then their first order of business was to flee and run, leading their pursuers as far away from Teddy as they could. And they would stick to their plan. They would do anything if it meant that no one would ever find and harm Teddy even if it meant never seeing the toddler again. Just as the four of them were about to disapparate, there was a loud explosion as the door to Teddy's room was blown off its hinges throwing the four of them to the floor as rubble scattered everywhere around them.
A vicious smile appeared on Astraea's face when she saw who was standing there. Their plan had been turned to dust now that Death Eaters had infiltrated Grimmauld Place and the only thing left to do was to fight. Spells started to fly, bright colours filling the darkroom as the three 17-year-olds and one 16 year old fought against at least 10 Death Eaters. Astraea could see Alecto and Amycus Carrow amongst the 10 while she could not pinpoint their identities.
They battled for what seemed like hours as they brought down Death Eater after Death Eater; the Carrows having met their end by the sharp side of Hermione's knife. Their win seemed guaranteed as they watched their enemies fall to either their spells or by the mistake of getting too close to them when a siren sounded. The living Death Eaters immediately disapparated, leaving the four of them in the room alone.
"Something's not right," Neville said. "Death Eaters don't just retreat." She nodded her head in agreement. Just as they were about to leave, a blinding light appeared in their vision followed by a scorching heat that seemed to burn them from the inside out. Astraea managed a single look at her friends before the darkness took over.
Astraea woke with a loud gasp, her grey eyes taking in her surroundings. She looked around what appeared to be a hospital with only herself and her friends as its patients. Standing from her bed, she rushed over to each bed next to her trying with all her might to wake her friends to no avail. She couldn't even find her wand. Astraea was about to call for Kreacher when a handsome man walked in. He had the palest skin she had ever seen; almost deathly pale with dark gelled down hair, only one strand curled on his forehead. His eyes were this brilliant blue colour; almost the same colour as the ocean if she had to compare it to something. He was wearing, well if she had to describe what he was wearing then she'd say that the only person who would ever be caught dead in what he was wearing was Professor Snape.
"Who are you?" she demanded. "And what have you done to my friends?" With no wand on her, she grabbed the next best thing; the book placed on her bedside table and held it as if she was prepared to use it to defend her family. The man only seemed amused by her antics, blue eyes following her closely.
"Your friends are ok, simply sleeping so that they may heal as for who I am; I'm Death."
Astraea stared at the man in disbelief then grabbed her pillow and screamed into it loudly. Death missed everything she said but caught what sounded like 'Curse the Marauders! and their strong genes of trouble!'. This couldn't be happening. This couldn't be happening. She's just dreaming is all she could think as she laid on her bed, contemplating her very strange and overwhelming life. This is what she gets for being the daughter of a Marauder.
"I know you don't believe me but I have no time to prove to you that I am who I am. Instead, I need you to listen," Death said as he made his way towards her. Her friends had each begun to wake up as Death began to speak to her. "When that man," he uttered the word man as if it left a dirty taste in his mouth. "created all those Horcruxes, he went against the very law of nature."
"Tom has been dead for some time now. I don't know why we need to keep talking about him-"
"Because while he is dead as you say it, Miss Black, he has not moved on into the afterlife. I cannot reap a soul as damaged as his. The Horcruxes have damaged him beyond comparison, essentially turning him into a shade."
The four of them looked at the frustrated entity as he spluttered and paced in front of them, her friends having woken up due to all the noise he was making; the entity no doubt planning a long and painful afterlife for the Dark Lord. "My sisters and I have tried all we can to try to rectify his hold to the mortal realm; that's why we created the prophecy in the first place after our first attempt with one Regulus Black..."
Astraea stared, well more like glared at the immortal before she asked, "What does this have to do with my Uncle?" she demanded to know. While she did not know her uncle, she had heard stories; from her grandmother and father alike. While her father and her uncle never spoke to each other because of school animosity, family problems and eventually being on opposite sides during the war; her father had only ever told her good stories about his younger brother. Stories that spoke of two young boys stuck in an abusive household with only each other to love. It was Regulus and Sirius against the world her father would tell with an almost wispy expression of pain, guilt, and longing on his face. Just Regulus and Sirius. Not Regulus the Slytherin or Sirius the Gryffindor. In that townhouse on Grimmauld Place, they were Regulus and Sirius Black; brothers.
"That day I left Grimmauld Place will always be the best and worst day of my life," her father told her one late night while everyone else slept as the two of them sat at the dining table in Grimmauld Place, nursing cups of warm tea in their hands. "I finally got to leave this hellhole. This place was never home to me but I left my little brother here, alone with my vicious parents. That day I gained a brother but I also lost one."
"I will never forgive myself for that."
Death sighed looking surprisingly tired for someone who had to do this for an eternity, "Your uncle was our first attempt at destroying his Horcruxes. We thought that with the knowledge he had then he'd turn to your father or maybe even Dumbledore for help but instead, he ended up dying and sacrificing himself." Astraea could only stare at Death in disbelief. Is this man really the one that our afterlife is entrusted to? This man? She didn't know what was worse; that he clearly had no idea what he was doing or the fact that he actually thought that was a good idea. By the looks on Hermione, Luna and Neville's faces, they were also questioning whether or not Death was alright in the head.
"Are you out of your mind? You thought you'd risk the whole magical civilization on the slight hunch that maybe my uncle would ask my father or even worse Dumbledore for help?" she repeated his words just to make sure that she got the gist of what he had just said. Death merely nodded at the 17-year-old in certainty, making the young lady groan in exasperation as she slapped a hand to her forehead in disbelief.
"You really think my uncle would have asked either of them for help? Please have a long deep think about your words." Death merely shrugged his shoulders before agreeing that he and his sisters thought that that was how the events would play out only for them to not.
She sighed before explaining herself to the clearly confused entity, "You forget who my father and my uncle were at this time. They hadn't spoken since my father was sorted into Gryffindor, especially since my uncle was sorted into Slytherin when he came to Hogwarts. My father used to bully my uncle in school for being a slimey snake; his words, not mine, and then when my father was 16, he left Grimmauld Place. Escapes from their abusive home life and what does he do? He leaves my uncle behind," she told everyone in that room, her heart going out to the young boy she had never had the chance to meet. "I don't know if my uncle would have left to go with my father but that doesn't change the fact that my father never even thought to ask him or beg him to leave with him. Instead, he packed all his things and left without a second thought. Leaving my uncle with their terrible and very abusive parents."
"There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that my uncle didn't even think of my father during those moments. Why would he ask for help from someone that had constantly let him down?" Astraea didn't like thinking about the man that loved her so deeply and unconditionally that he sacrificed himself for her like this but even her father had been open with her about his faults as a teen. And if he could be open like this then so could she.
"As for Dumbledore, my uncle was a Slytherin. I know that in the scheme of life, which Hogwarts house you are sorted into means nothing but, that does not change that he was a Slytherin and Dumbledore has never been kind to us," her eyes sort out those of her best friend. She knew that the Headmaster and Hermione had been close once but even Hermione had admitted that the old man had some very big glaringly obvious faults. "My uncle went to school with the Marauders. He watched them bully people in the name of pranks. He watched his brother almost kill a fellow Slytherin student but yet he faced no consequences. Only a slap on the wrist and forgiveness."
A look of rage crossed her face as she thought of her own years at Hogwarts. While her fellow Slytherins would never touch her especially since she was a Black, that did not mean she wasn't free real estate for the rest of the school. Everyone hated her for being the daughter of a mass murderer and constantly showed their hatred through their constant bullying of her. The bullying only stopped after Harry saved her from a pretty vicious 'prank' in first year. They became friends and then family. He had known who her father was but still decided to defend her. Harry would always come to her defense and as payment, she would always be loyal to him. Even with Harry at her side, things still weren't easy yet the Gryffindors never got in trouble. "Dumbledore has proven himself to us Slytherins to be someone to not be trusted. Someone who will always stand by while we suffer and to think that a single Slytherin who has attended school while he was Headmaster to trust him even a little bit is idiotic."
Death stared at the impassioned Black with a look of interest before he simply nodded at her words. "It seems that my sisters and I had a momentary lapse in judgment but I do not think we are wrong this time in asking the four of you for help. Two of you have already been on a journey to destroy his Horcruxes. You have all the knowledge that you need. We will send you back to 1976 so that Tom may be destroyed before his soul is too warped to be reaped by yours truly and in doing so save all your family and friends."
Hermione's mind was already moving as fast as possible as she listened to Death's words, trying to go over all the ways that this could all go wrong for them while Astraea stared at Death in shock, unable to believe what Death had just offered all of them.
"Time travel is dangerous. What if something happens to us? What if one of us isn't born or even worse?" Hermione questioned Death.
"That will not be the case for the four of you. You all will essentially exist outside the timeline; the only things that will surely change are those that you wish to change but, you need to understand this; people are shaped by the people they interact with, the choices they make, the environments they find themselves in. You will have to accept that with the help of the four of you, things are bound to change. Some people may never end up together, others that were the best of friends in your timeline may decide to let go of their friendship in this timeline. You will need to understand that the people that you all know will only be known by you. Your parents will not be your parents; simply people that look and speak like them but not them. Some of your own friends might never be born because of you being in this timeline but that is the price that must be paid if you want to live in a world free of Voldemort's influence."
Neville narrowed his eyes, "And what of our appearance? I know that you said that our parents are not our parents but if we suddenly appear looking like we do now then people will suspect that we're at least their siblings or something?"
"And what about our last name? If we are trying to change the timeline then we're going to have to change things inside our own government but how can we do that if we have to pretend to be muggleborns?" Hermione questioned Death, continuing on from where Neville had stopped talking.
Death rolled his eyes, almost as if he was offended that the four of them had no faith in him. He simply stared at Astraea as if to say well go on then. "We will all take the Laurent name," she told her friends who only gaped at her in surprise. "You all know the story of my mother's family; they will not be suspicious of members of the Laurent family appearing out of nowhere because they themselves do not know who they are. My ancestor hid our name so well that even his own descendants have forgotten who they are."
And wasn't that a wild thing to find out? Imagine coming from a family as prestigious as the Laurents. A French family; the Laurents are considered Royalty in all of Europe and even other parts of the world. They weren't actual royalty but the family's name is so famous that not a single person of high birth hadn't heard of them. The Laurents were famous for producing people of great intelligence and power; with each member of the family having achieved some amazing feat in their lives. There was even a rumour that her family were descendants of Magic herself for how could a single House achieve such amazing feats without having help. This of course placed a huge target on their backs with people either wanting to kill them or wanting to try and marry into the family just to learn their secrets. Her ancestor, Jean Laurent, had been the last 'known' member of the Laurent Family. Jean was 38 years old when a Dark Lord rose from the depths and he seemed to have an unhealthy obsession with the Laurent name and the fame the name would give him. He demanded that Jean handed over his then 16-year-old daughter, Esme Laurent; a name that she found her own mother shared, to him in exchange for peace. Jean refused. He and his family were constantly in danger so to protect his family, he faked his and their deaths. In order to protect themselves from the Wizarding World and any others that would try and use them for greed, they fled to the Muggle World in London and resorted to living as if they were muggles. And so their lives began as harmless muggles with no knowledge of the Magical World. They would go on to live as if they had no idea that magic existed; as if they were not magic themselves. Only one thing gave them away and that was the violet eyes that all those of Laurent blood shared. The same violet eyes that Astraea herself had. The ones that her grandmother had told her to hide using her metamorphmagus power as soon as she was old enough to understand. She never understood why she had to pretend like she had the grey-coloured eyes that the Black Family were known for until a few months after Tom had been defeated. She was happy that her grandmother had protected her. Astraea shuddered to think what Tom would have done if he knew who she really was. Sometimes she thought that whenever her grandmother looked at her, she saw someone else. One time she even swore that her grandmother called her Sirius once but the old lady gave no reaction to her words so Astraea thought that she had misheard.
"Because of this, when you travel to the past, you all will experience changes in appearance except for Astraea. You all will have violet eyes which will be the biggest change whereas the other changes will be more subtle," Death told the group. "We might also have to de-age you guys a little bit so that you're not older than your parents not parents. Things will be different but I feel that I must warn you all. Taking the Laurent name will place more scrutiny on the four of you but it also means that others will be less likely to go against you all, especially the purebloods."
"It will be your decision to make."
The four friends looked at each other before Astraea said, "I lost my father, godfather, and uncle because of this war. We lost Harry. I don't think I'd be able to forgive myself if I knew that there was a chance for us to save Harry, give him a better life than the one he lived and I didn't take it."
"Maybe because of us there won't even be a Harry James Potter but I think Harry would be ok with that if it meant his parents wouldn't have to die and that Tom would die…."
Neville placed his arm on her shoulders, "My parents were tortured to insanity. They never got the chance to watch me grow up, go to Hogwarts. They deserve a better life than the one they lived. I don't know what's going to happen. Maybe my parents will never get together in this timeline. Maybe we'll never see Teddy again..." At his words, small tears fell down Astraea's cheeks; the young girl mourning the baby; the only source of light in her life for the past year that she will most likely never see again, and even if she does, he won't be the same Teddy. He won't be hers. "But that is a price I'm willing to pay. A price that I know we are all willing to pay."
The firm nods that he got in return was all Death needed. With a wave of his hand, the four of them suddenly felt faint as a piercing headache made itself known. Death spoke to them one last time, "You all will appear at the Laurent Estate. I suggest looking in a mirror when you arrive and maybe going to Gringotts. Oh also expect a surprise." With his last words spoken, everything went black.
Not me starting another story even though I'm currently writing two other stories... Gosh I hate it when I get like this. Sorry, I just have too many ideas so I have to write them down before I lose inspiration.