Chapter One – Growing Pains

Lupin Cottage,

May 1985

"Papa!" Finnely, now six years old, called for her godfather. The young girl had just begun to exhibit her magical abilities, and tended to have small accidents when she experimented. Remus found himself spending ninety percent of the time chasing after the redhead, worried she would hurt herself. Yes, Remus Lupin had well and truly settled into the life of a father.

When Finn had just turned three, she began referring to Remus as 'Papa' and James as 'Daddy' or 'Dada'. The toddler couldn't help it, he supposed. After all, he was the only person she had resembling a parent.

The twenty-five-year-old man had not settled down, and did not intend to. It was rare to find a woman willing to have a werewolf as a partner, and there were even less women willing to take on a child that wasn't theirs. Not that he blamed Finn, of course. He wouldn't trade his goddaughter for anything in the world. He did have to wonder though, if there was a woman out there whom would help raise Finn and be able to deal with Remus' furry little problem. The werewolf didn't spend much time thinking such thoughts, as he was perfectly happy with what he had; a wonderful little girl.

Remus also, as he had promised long ago, taught little Finnely about her parents and brother. He told her how her mum and dad had died protecting her and her little brother, and how one day she would be reunited with him.

The small child didn't really understand when Remus talked of her parents. She knew they were important, and remembered them in her mind, but she had her godfather, whom was a dad to her.

And Remus was a great dad. He cared for Finn when she was sick, bandaged and kissed her better when she skinned a knee or obtained a bruise. He took her to lovely places like the clearing near the cottage where they lived, and bought her the best toys he could afford. Remus didn't have much, but what he did have he used to make life as comfortable as possible for Finnely.

When the girl began showing an aptitude for magic, Remus was there as well. He fixed every piece of furniture broken in a magic fit. He took pictures and marvelled at the girl when she did something wonderful with her powers. He healed her when the magic tired her out too much to function.

The one thing Remus could not do, unfortunately, was teach Finnely. As intelligent as he was, Remus didn't know what a young witch needed to learn before being sent to Hogwarts. And so, he came to the decision to call upon Molly Weasley, mother and teacher of seven. The homely woman had delightfully agreed to teach Finn all she needed to know, which lead Remus to his current position.

"Now Finn, are you certain you have absolutely everything Mrs. Weasley asked us to bring?" He asked, crouching down to look his goddaughter in the eyes.

The redhead, for her part, simply nodded and straightened the skirt of her dress. Looking at her, Remus couldn't help but think of a picture he had seen of Lily when she was around Finn's age. The resemblance was uncanny, and sometimes just seeing his goddaughter hurt, as he was reminded of all they had lost.

Picking the girl up, Remus flooed to the Weasley home, affectionately named the Burrow. Setting Finn down and taking her small bag, he grabbed her hand and lead her towards Mrs. Weasley, who had been expecting their arrival.

"Oh, Remus! Thank Heavens. I was beginning to worry that you and our young one had gotten lost." She smiled kindly down at Finn as the child looked shyly back up at her.

"First day jitters are all, Mrs. Weasley. I'm afraid both of us are a bit nervous to be away from each other." Remus answered with a smile.

"Well let's not worry too much about that, I'm sure the day will pass quickly and you two will be reunited again." Mrs. Weasley laughed. "Hello Dear, my name is Mrs. Weasley. I'll be your teacher. You're a year between my youngest boy, Ron, and my twins, Fred and George, but I'm sure they'll all love to play."

Finn smiled up at Mrs. Weasley. The kind woman had a way of making people feel at ease with her, even when they'd barely met. "Hello, Mrs. Weasley. I'm Finn." She said shyly.

"Well its very nice to meet you, Finn." The older woman smiled.

Remus bent again to Finn's height and looked her in the eye. "Now, I know you're a good girl, but be sure to listen to Mrs. Weasley. I'll be back at the end of the day to pick you up." He smiled fondly at the little girl. "Can I get a hug before I go?"

Finn wrapped her tiny arms around Remus as best as she could. "Bye Papa." She smiled.

When Remus finished hugging the girl, Mrs. Weasley spoke again. "Now Finn, why don't you go find the others and play for a bit while I see your godfather out." Finn nodded her agreeance and with that she was off, heading in the direction of the loud voices in the other room.

The Weasleys all stopped what they were doing as a small redhead ran into the room. She stopped and looked around, smiling.

"Hello!" She announced cheerfully. Then she walked towards Ginny and Ron, the youngest of the group. "I'm Finn." She introduced. Though shy around adults, Finnely was most certainly not the same around other children.

"Hello." Ginny replied, a bit shy but also excited. There was finally a girl for the four-year-old to play with. "My name is Ginny, and this is my brother Ron."

Ron, for his part, opened and closed his mouth, eyes wide. A girl was speaking to him. Yea, Ginny and his mum were girls, but they were different. This was a new girl, and Ron was already developing a crush.

"Hi." He finally managed to squeak out, turning pink and dashing off towards Fred and George.

Finn frowned and shrugged.

Ginny looked back to the girl after her brother's strange scene, and tugged on her sleeve. "Do you want to play dolls with me? I haven't had a girl to play with me before."

Nodding happily, Finn followed Ginny towards one of the cupboards, and helped her take out her dolls.

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The Burrow,

February 1989

The years seemed to pass quickly. Soon, Finnely was ten and in her last year of schooling with Mrs. Weasley before going to Hogwarts. The girl was both excited and nervous about going, having never been so far from home in her life. She was also worried about leaving Ginny and Ron.

The youngest Weasleys had managed to become her best friends, and Finn didn't want to go to Hogwarts without them. Unfortunately, as Ron was nine and Ginny was eight, they would not attend for another couple years.

Finn herself had only grown to look more like her mother, and Remus already knew she would be a heart breaker in school. She already had the young heart of Ron Weasley, firmly held in one hand like it had been for the last four years.

Remus also worried about what would happen the next year. Finn had never been away from him at night, other than the odd sleepover at the Weasleys', and Remus was going mad with worry. What if she didn't like it at Hogwarts? What if she was scared?

He didn't panic about what house she'd be in. He knew wherever she was put she would succeed. Still, Remus couldn't help the small piece of him that hoped she'd be a Gryffindor, like he and her parents had been.

Finn's last year before leaving for Hogwarts passed too quickly. There was no doubt that she would get her letter; she had been performing magic since she was five. Just recently she had exhibited a surprising amount of control for a wandless witch, and had made a daisy grow in the palm of her hand. She was able to conjure butterflies as well, ones of all different colours. Remus figured she would be ahead of her peers in the curriculum based on talent alone.

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The year passed, and Finnely received her letter, as Remus knew she would. A trip to Diagon Alley had taken care of all the supplies the young witch would need, and soon it was time for Remus to say goodbye to his little girl.

Next chapter, Finn will start at Hogwarts. I probably won't go too much into her first year, as it isn't going to be a large part of the book. If you want to see more of Finn's childhood, I might write flashbacks and possibly even a small story about her growing up.