"Mama, how much longer until we get to Hogwarts?" almost seven years old Delphini Riddle asked.
It was a morning with a blinding sun and an azure sky, which made Bellatrix scrunch her nose. It was too cheery for her tastes. The golden trio surrounded them, as they were Aurors and part of the agreement between Dumbledore and Voldemort to uphold the peace until they destroyed their common enemy.
But their presence didn't fool Bellatrix. They were not there to protect them, they were just there to ensure she did not go curse-free at some poor little mudblood.
"Not much longer, my little darkness," she whispered.
Delphi nodded then skipped ahead, jumping and pretending she was a kangaroo again. Curse that mudblood Granger for telling her useless muggle trivia about kangaroos!
She glared at them, but they only seemed amused by the sight.
"Mate, are you sure she is their daughter?" Ronald Weasley asked, his lips twitching up.
"I'm surprised too," Harry said.
Harry had expected a mini dark lord or lady, being just as vile as Draco Malfoy had been when he was eleven years old, not a six-year-old little girl, tugging on his shirt and asking him if he wanted to play catch with her because her mama never plays. Bellatrix had gone ballistic.
Ron had even taught her muggle chess while they waited for Dumbledore to send his approval for them to advance. She kept renaming the pieces and changing the game from chess to storytelling while Ron was trying, confused, to explain what the piece was really called and how it could move.
"It can move only one square."
"Why?" Delphi asked.
"That's the rule…"
"It's unfair!" she shouted, "From now on he shall be called sultan of all pieces. He will bring glory and prosperity as he advances forward to a new era!"
"Umm."
Harry was giggling and Bellatrix was massaging her temples.
Hermione jumped at the chance and said, "Yes, it is quite unfair, isn't it? Sadly, muggle-borns are treated as inferiors, just like that pawn you played with is treated, by purebloods."
"That's unfair!" Delphi said which made Ron and Harry smile
"Don't fill my daughter's head with filthy lies, you filthy mudblood!" Bellatrix screeched.
"Well, somebody has to teach her right from wrong," twenty-four years old Hermione said, unaffected by Bella's venom.
If Bella hadn't promised her lord that she will not pick a fight for the sake of temporary peace she would have mutilated her.
Later, before the kangaroo skipping started, Delphi fell asleep and Hermione couldn't help but say, "She would benefit much more if somebody else adopted her. Harry or Ronald and I would gladly do it."
"Nobody will take my daughter from me. Sleep with your eyes open, baby Granger," she advised and threatened at the same time.
And now as they were approaching Hogwarts more and more, Bella saw him. It was Voldemort, the love of her life, the father of her daughter. How she wished she would embrace him, but he was averse to public shows of affection, unless they came from Delphini.
He was sitting next to Dumbledore saying something. Too bad she could not hear.
"Daddy! Daddy!" Delphini shouted and ran to him.
Albus Dumbledore, of course, knew of the child but had never seen her.
Delphini hugged her father tightly, while Voldemort put a hand on her head. He sent a withering glare Dumbledore's way, daring him to comment.
Dumbledore's eyes twinkled.
"Daddy is busy, Delphini. Go play with your mother," Voldemort said.
The child almost seemed to not have heard him, because she ignored him and said, "I made friends!"
Voldemort raised an eyebrow.
"What are their names?" he asked, already knowing the answer.
Harry, Hermione, and Ron (and Bella) had caught up with her by that time and she simply pointed at them.
They sent a challenging look Voldemort's way.
Voldemort smiled and said, "My darling little one, you cannot make friends with daddy's enemies. That would make daddy sad."
Delphi gaped and was about to apologize when Dumbledore intervened, "I wouldn't say we are enemies momentarily Tom. After all, the enemy of my enemy is my friend."
Voldemort controlled himself admirably by not letting out expletives in front of his daughter, who looked at Dumbledore and said, "Aunt Mione said Santa Clause was an old man with a beard who gives children chocolate frogs…are you Santa Clause?"
"I'm afraid not, little Delphi. But I do have chocolate frogs that I can share," Dumbledore said kindly.
"But you know my name. You must be him!" the child insisted.
"Daughter, that is not Santa Clause. That is Saint Nicholas. Not nearly as giving and he usually only gives children sticks to beat them with."
Delphi hid behind her father.
"Now, Tom," Dumbledore said sadly.
"Or he leaves them in cold orphanages to rot during dangerous times."