On the 3rd of November 1959, London, Sirius Black was brought into the world by Walburga Black. Her screams drowned out his own cries, something that Sirius wouldn't take long to realise would always be the case.

On this very same night, a lot further north of the country in a small village near Newcastle upon Tyne, the doorbell to a gothic and rather daunting looking Victorian building rang repeatedly, it's shrillness ringing out into the otherwise completely silent night. A sign to the side of the bell read 'Winifred Donahue's Orphanage for Magical Children'.

After a few moments of constant ringing, the dull glow of a light flickered at the top floor of the building. As the ringing continued, several more lights at multiple bedroom windows began to turn on and curtains twitched as children peeked out their windows to see who was at the door.

Winifred Donahue opened the front door ever so slightly to peek out, her wand raised defensively out in front of her as she squinted out into the darkness to try and see who was there.

Winifred was a small, frumpy looking woman and though she was only in her mid fifties, she looked as though she could have been a lot older. No matter how calm the woman may have been, she always looked constantly flustered, exhausted and on the edge of a mental breakdown.

She was distracted when the sound of a small cry came from next to her feet. In a wicker basket, woven with a mix of wild flowers, lay a baby that couldn't have been more than a few days old, swaddled tightly in a knitted blanket.

The minute Winifred had stooped down to take the infant in her arms, a loud crack echoed through the night, suggesting that whoever had left the baby was now long gone.

In an envelope that had been left with the child, a letter read simply;

'My name is Esmerelda. Please keep me safe as my parents weren't able. Tell me every day that I am loved by them.'

When Winifred had lifted the baby from the basket, she found a bundled package with another note attached to it. Upon unwrapping the package, she discovered a clear vial containing several strands of silver hair. Along with that, a silver charm bracelet with only one charm attached, a singular rose.

The second note read;

'Gringotts Bank. Vault 236. Here you will find funds enough for the creation of our daughter's wand. When she is of age, please ensure that the hair provided is it's core. We are sorry we can't leave her more.'

Holding the snoozing baby in her arms, with little known about her other than her first name, Winifred did as she did with all the unknown children that came into her care. She gifted them with her own last name. She was as good as family now.

As Esmerelda grew, Winifred and the rest of the staff began to suspect that she was part Veela. Her hair was so blonde and fair that it was verging on silver and from a young age, she was by far the most beautiful child that they had ever seen. Winifred would often refer to her as her 'Little China Doll' despite the fact the girl was anything but fragile.

The staff would dread the day where they would have to cut the children's hair. Esmerelda used to scream so loud that the noise rivalled that of a de-potted mandrake. She would squirm in her chair, kick and even bite if anyone managed to get close enough.

Veela weren't native to the UK, which meant that there weren't very many people who knew much about their offspring but Winifred tried her best. One of the first things she had learnt was that if a Veela had their hair plucked before their death, it was rumoured it would either cause death or serious disfigurement. It certainly explained Esmerelda's refusal to get any more than a few inches taken off her own hair. It also cleared up what the hair had been in the vial, Winifred had originally thought it had been unicorn hair but was now sure that it either belonged to the child's mother or grandmother.

As the years went by, there wasn't a moment where Esmerelda didn't keep Winifred and the rest of the staff on their toes. Having never looked after a child that was part Veela, Winifred was unsure if Esmerelda's wild and unpredictable behaviour was down to her Veela ancestry or if it was just her own personality. She had a feeling it was the latter.

At age 8, Esmerelda had followed the local teens from the village onto a bus that took them into Newcastle City Centre. While exploring the city, she had gotten lost and spent most of the day wandering around asking muggles how to get back to Miss Winifred's Orphanage for Magical Children.

After a man dressed in a suit and tie told her not to tell such silly lies, Esmerelda had gotten so angry she had accidentally conjured a bunch of flowers. Another passing by muggle had laughed in astonishment and tossed her money, assuming her to be part of a street act.

It amazed her that muggles were foolish enough to hand over their money for something that was little more than accidental magic in the wizarding world. Once she had realised this, she spent the next hour entertaining the majority of the high street in an attempt to raise enough money to afford a bus ticket back to the village.

As it turned out, she needn't have worried about purchasing the ticket as when she was leaving a sweet shop, having just bought herself a bag of sweets for the journey home, two wizards from the ministry of magic had caught her and returned her back to Winifred. Winifred had never been both so worried, relieved and embarrassed in her life.

She apologised repeatedly on behalf of Esmerelda, explaining that none of the other children would have dared to do something so foolish. Winifred often found herself apologising on behalf of Esmerelda's actions.

Esmerelda couldn't understand why everyone was so bothered, didn't they know muggles were willing to pay to see magic? She'd seen a poster for it herself in the city centre. Tickets were 5 each and judging by the picture, all that he was able to do was pull a rabbit from a hat. He must've been raking it in for a squib.

She had been grounded for two weeks after that incident. Not that it made much difference. Every time someone would take a meal up to Esmerelda, she was never in her room. Often she could be found in the woods behind the orphanage, hanging upside down from trees and building forts with the other children.

Winifred was almost grateful when Esmerelda turned 11, it meant that she wouldn't have to worry about where she was for the majority of the year. As much as she loved Esmerelda, she was happy for someone else to try and control the whirlwind. Perhaps it might even calm her down?

With her birthday falling two months after September, Esmerelda was almost 12 by the time her Hogwart's acceptance letter came. She would be one of the oldest students in her year, almost a year older than some of them.

As was with anything regarding Esmerelda, fulfilling the parents' wishes for their daughter's wand was not easy.

Though she tried to show Ollivander that she had the funds and material required for him to craft the wand, he flat out refused, claiming that he didn't work with Veela hair as he found the material far too temperamental.

Winifred then travelled with Esmerelda down a side street off Diagon Alley that led to Carkitt Market where 'Wands by Gregorovitch' was located. Winifred had hoped that Ollivander would have been the one to craft Esmerelda's wand- she had heard rumours about the strange wand maker that was Mykew Gregorovitch.

At first, Gregorovitch also refused to craft the wand, claiming that he no longer completed bespoke wands. However, upon laying his eyes on Esmerelda, the skilled wand maker recognised her hair to that similar of a Veela and took a shine to the idea after realising she was no ordinary witch. A Veela witch with a wand of Veela hair core. Interesting indeed.

Gregorovitch had always been a fan of the unusual and was curious to see how the core they were providing would fair in her hands. Not to mention, he jumped at the opportunity to provide what Ollivander could not.

Gregorovitch took two weeks to create the wand, spending most of that time trying to decide the best wood to pair with the hair. Eventually, he decided on the Acacia wood, known to produce wands that were considered tricky and often refused to produce magic for anyone other than the owner of the wand. Gregorovitch liked the idea of a tricky core being paired with a tricky wood, believing they would balance each other out while simultaneously producing the most powerful kind of magic when used by a gifted individual.

Despite not being known as a very approachable or likeable man, he had taken a shine to the young witch and fulfilled her request of 'putting flowers on it'. At the base of the wand, he had spent the majority of one morning carving vines into it, complete with several roses. Gregorovitch completed the wand the morning Esmerelda was due to leave for Hogwarts.

When he had presented it to Esmerelda, he had exclaimed it was most likely one of his best creations. He failed to also mention it was most likely one of the most unpredictable wands that he had ever created.

He cautiously passed the wand over to Esmerelda who eagerly grabbed it. The moment her grip tightened around the wand, a loud blast sounded and the windows of the shop imploded, shattering glass onto the street and causing several passerby's to shout out. Wands flew from the shelves and several of Gregorovitch's assistants dove for cover behind the counters.

Despite apologising repeatedly and trying to shove the wand back into Gregorovitch's hand, both Esmerelda and Winifred stood astounded when all he did was let out a roar of laughter that almost sounded maniacal.

"No apologies. That vond has exactly the power I hoped it vould" He told them, much to Winifred's horror. That was the last thing that Esmerelda should have in her possession.

Unfortunately, Winifred had no choice but to let Esmerelda take the wand, after all it had been paid for and there was no time for her to find another.

As they left the shop, the pair bumped into a boy with jet black hair who had watched the whole event occur with a wide grin on his face.

"That was wicked." He told Esmerelda as Winifred quite literally dragged her along behind her.

Esmerelda took a moment to look back over her shoulder at the boy, despite stumbling several times as she was dragged. "Thanks!" She called back.

"I'm Sirius! I'll see you on the train, will I?" He shouted after her, shaking his head to rid the small shards of glass from his hair that had rained down upon him.

She laughed, ecstatic at the thought of someone who was actually impressed by the mayhem she had caused.

"Yeah, you will! I'm Esme!" She yelped as Winifred pulled her over a curb and she stumbled, eventually looking away from the boy so she could see where she was going.

"I think I just made a friend, Winifred."

"Merlin help us all then Esmerelda, dear..." Winifred huffed, though she still paused to send her a small, reassuring smile down at her nevertheless. Behind it, she was terrified about what Esmerelda was going to get up to with a wand like that.

Maybe they could get her a calmer wand to practice with come Christmas break?