A/N: I hope you're all enjoying this so far. Please note that I made a slight mistake when I disclosed my pairings. I said Sirius/OC right? Well I meant to put Sirius/Emmeline. Emmeline was one of the members of the Order who came to pick Harry up from the Dursleys. She was hardly mentioned at all except for her being described as regal looking. So her personality is mine…

Thanks to both Padfootgrim and Lemon the Kitty for being the first two people to review.

Chapter One: A Difficult Beginning

Christopher Black lay alone and unwanted in his cradle in St Mungos. He had only been born one day ago, but he had yet to be held by his mother. He basked in the sun shining through the tiny window in the two-bed semi private ward knowing vaguely that something was not right. There was another cot beside his, belonging to a baby girl who had been born a mere two hours after he had, and she was currently being cuddled by her broadly smiling flaming red haired mother. On Christopher's right there was another single bed. Although he was too young to see properly, his mother currently occupied it. She lay with her back to him, curled tightly into a ball with her once regally kept hair, pushed back lank and unkempt over the pillow behind her. She shook with silent tears.

The healers had ohhed and ahhed when he had been born, thinking that he was the sweetest baby they had seen in a long time. They did not know of his true last name - Emmeline had told them she did not know who the father was when she checked in, knowing full well she would not get away with this for long. This was because his name would be magically written down at the Ministry of Magic - and at Hogwarts if they accepted him. Healer Meredith had been startled to witness Emmeline turning away with a look of disgust on her face when offered her baby to hold, then had felt sad for the woman when she had mumbled something about the child looking like his father.

Christopher it seemed at first, had inherited all his looks from Sirius, and none from Emmeline. He already had a mop of black hair, and his nose and chin where clearly Sirius'. Emmeline didn't need to look twice at her son to know that she was going to have a very hard time loving him.

It was the red haired woman occupying the other bed who had finally convinced Emmeline not to give Christopher up for adoption. She had commented on what a pretty baby he was and repeatedly requested permission from Emmeline to hold him. Emmeline had just lain on the bed and ignored her and her request, wishing nothing more than to shut out the world and, as a bonus, die peacefully. Later in the week Healer Meredith had entered the room while this was once again being requested and finally told the red haired woman Molly, that it probably wouldn't matter if she did hold the child.

Emmeline had lain on the bed listening to Molly singing to her son, and enticing happy baby noises out of him. Molly, now examining the baby closely (worried that he might have some terrible defect that was causing his mother reason to reject him) had been startled to find that when baby Christopher had opened his eyes to look at her, that they were a quite lovely violet colour. She quite naturally had continued her running commentary of how beautiful and well behaved he was, and then told Emmeline that his violet eyes where gorgeous.

Sirius had brown eyes.

To Mollys surprise, Emmeline turned over and sat up, reaching out for her son for the first time since he had been born.

Although only partially loved, Christophers violet eyes served to give his mother some small hope that he may not turn out to be quite as bad as his father had. Although reminded terribly of Sirius, and knowing that it would get only worse as Christopher grew up looking more and more like his father, her violet eyes he had inherited gave her hopes of a different life for her son. The proof in the eyes that he was not exactly the same as his father was enough cause to keep him, in her opinion.

Emmeline took her son home with her the next day – she was now living in the flat above 'Vances Potions', and deposited him alone in the once spare bedroom where she wouldn't have to look at him so much. Christopher certainly wasn't mistreated though. Emmeline wasn't a cruel woman, she provided him with a cot and warm blankets, and although she couldn't bring herself to breast feed, there was always a warm bottle for him at hand.

As Christopher grew older, Emmeline took him to a muggle primary school every day out in London. She knew that he already knew about the magical world so it was too late to keep that secret from him (she had decided earlier on that it would be simply too hard on her to keep up a façade of living a muggle lifestyle). Emmeline never mentioned the subject of Christophers father to him, and he grew up unaware of his fathers crimes, although she knew he was not always so unaware that his father had not been so nice – due sometimes to the passing comments he received from the customers.

The summer before Christopher turned eleven, Emmeline took it upon herself to finally compose a letter to headmaster Dumbledore asking whether Christopher might possibly be considered for acceptance into the school. She had not corresponded with him since before Sirius' crimes, and despite being an ex-Gryffindor, this did little to make it less of a trial for her.

Emmeline found herself screwing up the parchment with 'Dear Professor Dumbledore' written on it, and instead starting a new one with 'To Professor Dumbledore'. She didn't think a 'Dear' would go down too well. She in fact didn't think even a letter would go down well for that matter, but she had to try.

To Professor Dumbledore,

I am writing to you about my son Christopher. I would like to know in advance if he has any chance of being accepted into Hogwarts, or whether I will have to find an alternative school for him. This is because I'm not sure if either of the two other schools that spring to mind would be exactly suitable for him. Beauxbatons, which would be my second choice to Hogwarts, is as you are aware, French speaking, and I'm certain the language barrier would hold him back in his studies. Durmstrang is well known for it's dark magic, and I would rather he wasn't encouraged to follow in his fathers footsteps. I will admit that I am ashamed to say that he has not been loved as much as most other children his age would have been, but I have tried my best. He is intelligent, well behaved and clearly shares my love of potions, in which I am sure he could do well.

Sincerely, Emmeline Vance.

Emmeline rolled up the parchment and attached it to the leg of her owl. It immediately took off before she could change her mind. She had been entirely honest with why she wanted Christopher to attend, but had evaded telling Dumbledore of her fears that Christopher was far more alike in personality to his father than to herself.

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