Edited as of : 8/12/18

~Of Silver and Gold ~

Chapter 2: Birth

Someone was shaking her. Amorette opened her eyes slowly hoping for a brief moment that this was all a dream and Sirius was waking her up. That was not the case; instead she saw a blonde in front of her. Her skin was pale, her eyes bright blue and her long blond hair tickled her face. Narcissa?

Amorette shook her head, not believing that someone she had not seen for months was now not only there, but in her home seemingly waking her up from an uncomfortable position. Once she was properly awake, she grunted.

"What are you going here?" she croaked.

Narcissa said nothing but brought her into an embrace. Amorette didn't even bother to fight her. She was too exhausted in every way to even try to push her. She was tired of fighting only to be ignored, still she refused to hug her in return. But being in her old friend's embrace, she couldn't help but think that there was something bothering her. A question she could not keep in.

"You knew didn't you?" Amorette whispered.

"Amorette, I couldn't-" Narcissa began.

Amorette pulled back. She wanted to see the woman's face clearly to see any signs of lying. And her guilty expression said everything before she could ask for anything else. The way her blue eyes shifted away, the way she wrung her hands were a tell that made Amorette angrier than before.

"Why didn't you warn us?" Amorette rasped as tears were already ready to fall.

"Oh love, Lucius and I couldn't, you know that! But if we could we would ha-" Narcissa tried.

"I'm glad your Lord died" Amorette hissed not caring if she interrupted her.

Narcissa looked away.

"You know I was never like them." she murmured.

"He's a half-blood" Amorette taunted. "Did you know that? You all followed a half-blood!"

Narcissa turned to face her face beginning to redden.

"What?"

"How can you follow a Half-blood in the genocide of muggleborns?" Amorette continued her onslaught of words.

"I didn't-you know how I feel" Narcissa tried.

"But you had to follow him no?" Amorette cried.

"Enough" a voice said firmly.

They turned to see Lucius looking as stoic as ever. His hair was slick back and not an inch of imperfection. As if he hadn't just lost the war, as if he hadn't plotted anything heinous.

"I hate you" Amorette snarled.

Lucius sighed. It was an odd feeling to see his old friend looking so distraught and spewing her words like acid.

"The feeling is not mutual, whether you believe it or not" Lucius said calmly.

"You'll be sent to Azkaban along with Sirius you'll see" Amorette glared. "And I'm glad that you-"

"I will not, an Imperius Curse befell me," Lucius drawled out. "I did not mean to do what I did."

"Liar" Amorette cried out. "You are just full of it if you think I'll buy that."

"That may be, but the Ministry of Magic will believe me," he replied with a steely gaze.

Narcissa caressed Amorette's cheek, trying to comfort her as much as she could. Her guilt was overwhelming her. She was never apart of that group; she never got the dark mark, but never once did she protest for what had happened. Because she knew that deep down she believed the ideology.

"I never followed anything" Narcissa found herself trying to justify all of it.

"We came here to take care of you" Lucius said in a drone tone ignoring his wife's comment completely. "You might have married a blood traitor, but you are our friend first"

Amorette fought as he picked her up, refusing to leave her home. She would rather be left alone with the portrait of Sirius' mother than be with the traitors, but there was no use. As they reached the Floo Network, she groaned at the dizziness. He walked out towards their home and placed her on the couch carefully.

"I hate you both" Amorette whispered her voice leaving her.

Narcissa's eyes watered and Lucius brought her close to him. He stared at Amorette with cold grey eyes. The woman clearly saw everything as an attack.

"Whatever you feel know that we are the only people left that care about you"

Her eyes watered at his comment. She hated to admit but he was absolutely right, she was alone. Her parents were an ocean away, her brother had died during battle, and her husband- She covered her face and she was frustrated that her tears would not stop falling. Her baby would not stop kicking and she was simply exhausted.

"We'll take care of you" Narcissa begged. "I love you and the baby. We can't leave you alone-"

"You betrayed me" Amorette glared.

"We were young" Lucius replied instead of his wife "Our beliefs will be put aside for you and your offspring. It's not its fault its father is a blood traitor"

Amorette glared.

"I'm a blood traitor too" she commented.

Lucius shrugged ignoring the flawed logic of it all.

"Yes, but so was I for following a half-blood."

Amorette would never forgive them, but her desperation and a need for a shoulder to cry on was more important than anything. She bubbled out a sob and she felt her old friend hold her close. They heard a cry echoing through the halls and Lucius looked up.

"Dobby" he called out.

Dobby the adorable house elf popped in and looked up at him fearfully.

"Tell Winkle to take care of Draco," he ordered.

"Yes master, Dobby shall" he said and popped away.

"It will be fine" Lucius told Amorette.

Amorette pulled back from Narcissa to glare at him. She had once thought of that man as her friend, she belonged in his clique, but he was the lowest of scum in her eyes. She wanted nothing to do with him.

"You'll see" Lucius said and walked towards his study.

…..

Two months later…

A sharp cry echoed through the halls of the west wing of Malfoy Manor. Lucius ran towards the screams only to be followed by his long-time friend Severus. As they slammed the door open they saw a crying Amorette, face red from the pain that she was experiencing and sweating profusely.

"Help her Severus!" Narcissa cried out holding a crying Draco in her arms.

Severus looked at her and glared.

"Calm down you frantic woman, you get out and take that son with you" he ordered.

Before she could protest Lucius pulled her from the room and walked out after her. As Severus got everything in order, Amorette was arching her back in pain.

"Oh Merlin Severus take this painful child out!" she cried.

"Here's a calming draught," he said lifting her head to help her swallow it down.

She gasped and winced at the horrible pain she was feeling. Severus looked at her nervously then decided to begin with helping her go through labor. It was not something he was exactly qualified for, but privacy was at the most important thing. Not many were in the inner circle, thus sacrifices needed to be made. As he slipped on the gloves, he took a deep breath and began perhaps the most scarring event of his life.

…..

Twelve hours later..

Amorette stared down at the tiny pink bundle. The baby had been a very long and painful labor. Her baby was still pink and wrinkled, but she had some qualities that were recognizable. She had a tiny nose and lips like Amorette. What made her eyes water was the little fluff of brown hair at the top of her girl's head. Her eye color was yet to be determined considering everyone's eyes started as grey. But for Amorette it didn't matter; her baby was beautiful. She couldn't help but caress her daughter's face, she was so small, so precious. It was love at first sight. Pulling her even closer she hummed softly, her voice failing her on a few parts.

She lifted her head to see Severus red-faced opening the door to the others. Narcissa pushed through and ran over towards her friend. She smiled fondly at Amorette; she was so proud of the new mom. Narcissa's eyes watered at seeing the baby girl for the first time. Draco whined to be let down, and with a mild struggle, he got what he wanted. He immediately crawled over to his favorite aunt and tugged one of her waves to get her attention. Amorette smiled tiredly and turned her gaze towards him.

"Draco dear, meet your new best friend" Amorette said.

"What's her name?" Narcissa asked.

Amorette sighed eyes sad.

"She's my Angel" she began.

"Angel" Narcissa repeated excited.

"No" Amorette butted in "Angeline Marie"

"Marie?" Narcissa repeated asked.

"It's a star…star of the sea" Amorette smiled tiredly. "a wished-born child"

"Keeping up with the Black traditions?" Narcissa asked.

Narcissa was the only one that did not have a star name. She and Angel would be the only ones that never had a star name but a star middle name. She was Narcissa Aquila Black. Narcissa cooed at the newborn. Angeline Marie Black. Narcissa turned to see Severus and Lucius talking furiously. Their expressions gave away the seriousness of the situation.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

They turned to face the women and they knew they'd been caught. No matter how good they were at hiding their expression, this time around the severity made it hard to. Narcissa looked at them confused. It was not an emotion that she was used to seeing after a birth. Amorette knew what was happening.

"I'm dying aren't I?" she asked with a small sad smile.

She felt it, her shivers wouldn't stop, and it was so hard to keep her eyes open. It hurt to take the truth in, but she knew.

"Don't say such foolish things don't- tell her!" Narcissa said.

Severus and Lucius said nothing and stayed quiet.

"Tell her!" Narcissa demanded in a more hysterical tone, making a now confused Draco to cry.

She picked her son up and shushed him, rocking him and staring at her husband expecting their protest.

"Why am I dying? Can I at least know that?" Amorette cut into the silence.

"The stress during your pregnancy and your constant vomiting" Severus said in a thick tone.

"You also have a very high fever. I'm sorry I-"

Amorette smiled softly, the joy in her gaze was gone.

"It's perfectly fine" she interrupted him. "I had everything I could ever want."

Silence overtook the room, even Draco was quiet. Amorette looked up at her friends and asked for a moment of privacy. All nodded and left her with her newborn. Staring down at her baby, she knew there were only a few things she was capable of saying.

"Angel, the pearl of my world. Whatever the world brings you, know that I will always be there to protect you. I will be there in your lowest of moments, and the happiest of times. You are a child of love." her voice wavered and she pulled her child closer to her chest. "You father and I will be reunited with you one day, trust me my pearl, you are the one thing in this world we love more than each other."

She kissed her daughter's forehead and swore the baby opened her eyes to take her in. She let out a shaky laugh seeing her and she kissed her all the more. She wasn't sure how many hours she had left, but she would burn the image of her child in her mind.

"Never knew I could feel like this" she hummed softly at the baby. "It's like I've never seen the sky before. Want to vanish inside your heart, every minute I'm loving you more and more. Listen to my heart can you hear it sing, telling me to give you everything. Seasons may change, winter to spring, but I love you, until the end of time"

She sang to her daughter softly a song that Sirius would always sing to her belly, changing it briefly to accommodate their bundle of joy. Yet her baby did not cry in those hours of them being alone, she drank her milk, she grasped her ringlet of her, and Amorette found herself simply singing and telling her the love she was made with. She knew that her little Angel would not remember, but it didn't matter, because she swore that she would be there for her, in her heart, and in spirit.

Hours Later…

Narcissa's eyes watered, she was losing her best friend and another family member. Amorette's eyes were beginning to close. She was tired, first time having a child, but at twenty-one it wasn't normal for women to die after childbirth. But her pregnancy had been anything but normal.

"Promise me one thing" Amorette whispered towards her friend.

"Anything" Narcissa said breathlessly.

"Raise her as your own" she said softly. "I can't have my daughter being hated for what her father was falsely accused of."

"We'll make her a Malfoy," Lucius interrupted.

Amorette smiled gratefully at the man before her. While she could never necessarily forgive him for what happened, she was thankful her child would be safe.

"Don't let her be near the ones that betrayed Sirius" she whispered her eyes filling up with tears. "Those Gryffindors know nothing of loyalty.."

"We won't" Narcissa cried.

Amorette grasped her friend's hand softly. "Please take care of my pearl? She's the proudest thing I ever created"

"We will" the blonde whispered.

Amorette closed her eyes and her breathing ceased. It was as if they were looking at an abandoned house; the frame was the same, but it seemed too empty, too quiet to still have life. If the child could understand what was happening, she began to cry. Lucius walked over and before Narcissa could pick her up, he did so.

As Severus covered Amorette with a white sheet, Lucius held the child close and was surprised as he looked down. Her eyes parted and he saw a pair of sleepy filled grey-brown eyes: the eyes of her mother. And despite his cold exterior he could not deny the child was beautiful.

"She's related to a blood traitor," he muttered.

"Lucius don't say such things," Narcissa hissed as she wiped more tears.

Severus sighed. It was hard to deal with another death. It seemed that it followed them everywhere. He too still mourned for Lily, and now another one to mourn for. When would this all end?

"You are naming her, are you not?" Severus asked suddenly.

"Angeline Marie Black-Malfoy" Narcissa said.

"No!" Lucius told her indignantly " Her father is destroyed in the tapestry. She is Angeline Marie Malfoy, never Black. She is ours."

Narcissa nodded suddenly ashamed of her family heritage, but that was expected, after all Sirius was shameful as Andromeda was. Her family was filled with second-rate witches and wizards it seemed.

"What will we do with Amorette?" she asked Lucius.

"Dobby, Twinkle" he called out.

The two house elves appeared.

"Take the body towards the Malfoy cemetery, make a special tombstone for her" he ordered.

"What about an honorary burial?" she asked.

He turned to face her annoyed.

"Oh yes, because people will come to see a blood traitor and mourn her. What about the Order members who blamed her idiot of a husband, your cousin, for the Potter's death? Yes let's. Be reasonable Cissa" he reprimanded his wife.

She winced at the tongue-lashing but it was absolutely true. The Black family was a disgrace and the others saw Amorette either as a blood traitor or a crazed wife mourning for her imprisoned husband.

"Missus Malfoy?" Twinkle asked.

"Add all my roses from the garden around her tombstone" she said softly.

They nodded eagerly and they popped out, the body leaving the bedroom.

"I should head off as well, Dumbledore will ask me what happened" he said the pair.

"Tell him that they both died" Lucius ordered.

"Lucius?" Narcissa asked confused.

He lifted her hand to quiet her.

"That way he won't want to take the child. She is our child and despite her looks she does seem remarkably like Bellatrix no?" he said.

Narcissa sighed; Sirius and Bellatrix did have stronger Black characteristics than herself. And if this meant to be a good excuse to keep the child she would. She simply nodded.

"I'm not an idiot Lucius" Severus commented. "He'll want to give her to some Weasley to take care of her. Now if you excuse me, I'm off," he said beginning to leave the room.

"Severus, would you be the godfather of our second child?" she asked.

Severus snorted but nodded walking away. Amorette was always kind to him even when isolated, and she kept quiet about his love for Lily. If she did that, then he could keep the secret of her child accursed with Black family blood.

"Hogwarts" he called out from the Floo Network.

Lucius and Narcissa were left alone, now with their two children.

"Come along Cissa" he called out.

Narcissa had no choice but take Draco with her as she followed him. She wondered how he simply knew how to take control of the situation. She stopped with Draco to see Lucius with the newborn in his arms, staring at the Malfoy tapestry.

He simply lifted his want and muttered a spell. Suddenly the tapestry began to add a new branch under Lucius and Narcissa's marriage branch. There was now the words "Draco Lucius Malfoy" and across from him the tapestry itself sewed "Angeline Marie Malfoy".

"Now her fate is secured," he said.

They stared at one another knowing that this would be a secret they would probably take to the grave. But for their friend and their new child, it wouldn't be too much of a struggle.

…..

Three Years Later…

Narcissa felt older than she was. At twenty-five she dealt with two small children. Draco was now four going on five and his sister had just turned three. She sat down on the formal sitting chair and she sighed. She then heard a groaning twenty-six year old Lucius coming towards her direction. She could not help but smile as she heard the pitter-patter of children behind him. He was no better himself, looking tired.

"Having a good day?" she asked amusement laced in her comment.

"Not now Cissa I'm tired," he said.

He sat down immediately she vaguely wondered how he could be so graceful even when tired. He leaned over and kissed her softly, she found herself immediately responding. Years after their marriage she still loved him more than anything.

They pulled apart as they heard a tiny giggle. They turned to see their son Draco looking at them with a face of disgust. Draco sure looked like their perfect union. He had silvery blond hair with grey-blue eyes and a smirk worthy of a Malfoy. Currently his smirk was missing and instead replaced with a frown.

"What's wrong?" Narcissa asked.

"I lost Angel," he said.

Lucius got up and looked down at a now crying Draco. It seemed that Draco now saw the severity of it all.

"What do you mean? You lost your sister?" he said trying to stay calm.

"She-she" he began to sniffle "She was flying and she hasn't come down"

Narcissa picked up Draco and hugged him close trying to calm him down. Lucius walked out of the house and towards the gardens. He loved his manor, but the problem was that it was sometimes too big. A small three-year old could be easily lost.

"Angeline Marie!" he called out.

They walked down the garden's pathways, the white peacocks moving out of their master's way. His eyes lead him to the gate that was perfectly closed but the mist around it signaled that someone welcomed had entered.

Narcissa called out "Angel" wondering where the little girl went. She tried to keep her hysterics down for the sake of an inconsolable Draco.

They suddenly heard a giggle and turned to see her their little girl. She was the spitting image of a happy girl. She was a lovely girl, wavy hair running down her back with a tiny bow on the left side of her head. She had a pair of chestnut-brown eyes and had a pale skin color with a smile on her face. She looked just like the perfect mix of Sirius and Amorette.

Her hair bounced as her godfather carried her. Severus Snape, now a well-known Professor of Hogwarts carried the supposedly lost girl with a broom on his other hand. As he placed her down she ran over to her father and Lucius lifted her up.

"Lovely to see you Severus, would you like to join us for tea?" Narcissa asked, relieved that they'd found her.

"Uncle Sev" Draco said and immediately wiggled from her mother's arms to give Severus the signal to lift him up.

"Why not. " he said lifting Draco and walking along with them.

The Malfoy Manor screamed a splendid life full of riches. The fountains, the small lake the immense gardens and the animals showed their affluent way of living. Draco and Angel ran off promising not to get lost and left the adults alone. As they reached the table out in the garden they sat down comfortably and let the house elves served them sweets. Narcissa lifted her cup and took a sip.

"What bring you here Severus?" she asked smiling.

Severus bit a scone and before he swallowed and took a sip of the tea.

"As you know, there are certain rumors going around" he said.

"Rumors shouldn't be of importance…right?" Lucius asked.

"That may be so, but there are rumors that the Dark Lord is alive" he said morosely.

"Oh dear..." Narcissa said shocked. "If – oh he can't" her hands shook and she nearly spilled tea.

"Calm down Cissa" Lucius said patting her hand. He turned to face Severus "What do you suggest we do? Look for him, establish our loyalty?"

Severus shook his head, his eyes on the children running around. His eyes never left the little girl who had brought so much danger upon them. While she was not to blame, she surely had a heavy burden on her.

"I suggest you go talk to Headmaster Dumbledore" he said

Lucius looked at him surprised.

"You're a spy!" Lucius said surprised.

He nodded.

"For Lily" is all he said.

Narcissa squeezed Lucius' hand and nodded.

"We shall do the same. If the time comes that he returns….we shall be on the safe side." She turned to face the children as Angel tackled Draco down. "I can't see them go through what we did."

"We chose to follow" Lucius protested.

"Did we Lucius?" she whispered softly. "I was never asked."

Looking away he knew that she was right. Part of him wanted to join for his father, who believed those prejudice thoughts more than he ever did.

"They won't be able to" she replied. "Would you want them at war?"

Lucius looked at their children. He could not fathom either of them being pushed to such a fate.. Plus there was Angel, she was on the tapestry and he could not live to see her defile the memory of Amorette.

"She look a lot like-" Severus began.

"Bellatrix" Narcissa finished nodding "Yes, Sirius and her did have an uncanny resemblance."

"If they were to ask-" Severus continued.

"No one would dare" Lucius smirked.

"If they did, then she is theirs?" Severus asked.

"Maybe" Lucius finished.

The trio ate in silence as the two children rumbled, oblivious to the fact that they had change the whole future of their parents.