The orphanage welcomed their request to meet and discuss the British authorities interest in a child with dual nationality. They arrived at a red brick building and met a severe looking woman who tied her hair back in a manner strikingly similar to Professor McGonagall's.

"You are here about ze baby?" Mrs Leonte asked in a lilting accent.

Charlie nodded and answered her in Romanian. She looked surprised, for a moment, then held the door open to usher them inside.

For all the stories Harry had heard about the conditions in Eastern European countries, this one wasn't as bad as he'd feared. It wasn't homey, not by any stretch of the imagination, but the children looked well nourished and happy. That was all he could ask for, really. He'd long since learned that he couldn't save them all.

Mrs Leonte led them through to a small nursery where several babies were held in white wooden cots. A few were sleeping, one was whimpering softly, several others peered out through the bars with big, inquisitive eyes.

He could feel the magic in the air.

Auror training had taught him how to sense magical signatures but Harry had never felt this from an infant before, and he'd had plenty of contact with his friends' babies over the years. Whatever powers this little thing had, they were there, simmering away under the surface.

And Voldemort wanted to rid the world of half-bloods, Harry thought to himself derisively.

Charlie reached into the crib and lifted the baby up, holding her against his chest. Harry assumed it was a girl; she was dressed in a pink all-in-one outfit. McGonagall had said she was less than a month old but this child seemed so alert, so aware of what was happening around her. He didn't blame the nurses in the orphanage for being wary – she was an unnerving character.

Harry leaned his weight onto one of his crutches and reached out to run his fingertip over the little girl's cheek. She blinked at him and he smiled, unable to stop himself. His whole hand flattened over her rusty coloured hair and gently stroked it back. She was so soft.

Charlie had always had a way with children. Harry thought it might be because of all his younger siblings, then all the nieces and nephews that turned up not so long after the last of his siblings grew out of their childhood. Or maybe it was because he was that sort of man. Tough enough to keep dragons, calm enough to soothe an orphaned, abandoned baby.

"Does she have a name?" Charlie asked, in English, this time.

Mrs Leonte gave a little shrug, as if it didn't matter. "You can give her whatever name you like," she said.

"But does she have one already?"

"The nurses," Mrs Leonte said, clearly bored with the conversation, "Zey call her Lily."

A/N: This is probably going to be longer than the chapter. Apologies in advance.
A reader emailed me this past weekend and asked if Unbroken would ever be updated again. I almost cried. I never, ever intended to get to a point where I let this story go, it means so much to me. My hesitance in posting this chapter might be clear - it's a point of no return, and I wanted to be sure that I was taking the story in the right direction. (I am. I think.)
As of today, Unbroken is my number one writing priority. I am insanely lucky to now have a career as a writer, which admittedly sucks a lot of my time. But I wouldn't have any career at all if it weren't for the support and encouragement of various FanFiction communities. I owe you guys everything - and that's not an overstatement. I don't even know if people will be following any more, and that's kinda okay, to the few that are, I really am sorry. If you stick with me I promise I'll take the story I love and give it (and its readers) the conclusion it deserves.