What shouldn't have been

5.14

We arrived in front of Andromeda and Ted Tonks' home. Andromeda walked out of her house, holding Elora.

I got off the Thestral and ran towards them. I stopped moving for a few seconds to look at the baby. I walked towards Andromeda and Elora, still looking at the 2 month old girl. Andromeda gave the baby to me.

The baby moaned softly. One of her hands was wrapped around my finger.

"Hi", I said softly to the baby. Tears fell down my face. I was so relieved that I didn't have to stay away from her anymore. I chuckled with relief and kissed her head.

I turned around to look at Sirius. He walked closer to me and Elora. Seeing her father made Baby Elora smile.

We both smiled as the baby coos and grabbed our fingers. Andromeda came back outside, holding Remus's and Tonks's son, Teddy Lupin.

We were reunited with our child and they were reunited with theirs.

--

We all sat at the table with Andromeda. Tonks had finally gotten Teddy to sleep and Sirius had just put Elora to sleep.

"Do you want more, Jaden?" Andromeda asked.

"No thank you", Jaden said, after swallowing a mouthful of food.

Andromeda sat down next to Tonks. She looked at the empty seat on her other side. "I'm sorry about your husband", I said.

"Thank you, Haylie", Andromeda said. "I met Greta when your parents turned against Voldemort. Dumbledore and Greta came to visit Ted and I. They told us about the prophecy".

"The Prophecy? The one surrounding Harry and Voldemort?" I asked.

"Yes, but there's more to it. In the prophecy, the boy is assisted by a girl. The firstborn daughter of the Dark Lord's follower", Andromeda explained. "Everyone knew Severus was the only one of Voldemort's Death Eaters to have a girl. Every Death Eater knew the prophecy surrounded you. Greta and Severus were scared for you. So the Order moved you to different locations. That's how you met most of them".

"So why did she leave Haylie?" Tonks asked.

"Greta went on a hunt for Horcruxes, the source of Voldemort's immortality. If she destroyed them, Voldemort would die and Haylie would be safe, but she was caught. And when word got out that Greta was captured, Dumbledore assigned a rescue mission. He took Greta's newborn to the Longbottoms and Haylie went to the Potters".

"The Potters? I met Lily and James?" I asked.

"You met a lot of us".

"I think I remember now. You were 6 years old. You and Dumbledore arrived at James and Lily's house. That's when we found out Severus had a daughter. You were so quiet. And you seemed so scared", Sirius said to me.

"Why don't I remember this?" I asked.

"You were 6. There's no way you could have remember that", Tonks said. "Unless your memories were tampered with".

"All I remember of the first war is Death Eaters always showed up to our home for meetings. I saw them do so many terrible things. When Mum and Dad turned to the Order, I was still scared. I hated all the Death Eaters and I'd have nightmares of Voldemort, about Bellatrix, about all of them", I said.

"As it turns out, Greta spent the rest of her days, thinking of an escape. Until...Bellatrix came into her prison cell and killed her", Andromeda said.

"She was trying to get back to us?" I asked. Andromeda nodded.

"Your mother did die loving you. She loved you and Lila very much".

I put a hand over my mouth as I sobbed. Tonks puts a hand on my shoulder.

"Why didn't...why didn't anyone tell me? I believed my mother abandoned me and everyone let me believe it?" I sobbed.

Andromeda stood up. She walked towards the counter, then came back with a parchment in her hand. She gave it to me.

"After reading it, your Dad gave it to Dumbledore. He couldn't bear to look at it again. After Dumbledore died, Mad-eye gave it to Molly. And she gave it to me", Andromeda said. "We knew it was only a matter of time until you found out the truth".

I read it aloud.

Dear Severus,

If you are reading this, I'm probably dead. And hopefully we have won. With Voldemort finally gone, Haylie and Lila can live a happy life. Make sure Haylie forgets all the horrors in her past. Even if that means she'll forget me or how much I love her.

I know that if Haylie is anything like her father, she's going to be a strong woman.

And make sure Lila doesn't spend the first 5 years of her life or any year of her life with traumas and nightmares of the Dark Lord.

I know you're probably angry at me. And I don't blame you. But believe me when I say despite everything that has happened with the Dark Lord, I'm glad you and I got to know each other and we got to have Haylie and Lila.

Being a family with you and the girls was all I ever wanted. Even though I am gone, I'm not really gone. I'll be watching over the three of you. So, in a way, the 4 of us will still be a family.

-Greta

I wiped the tears from my face. "This is a lot to process", I said.

"Take a deep breath. I'll go make you some tea", Andromeda said. She stood up and walked towards the cooker. She looked at me. "I'm sorry. Molly and Mad-eye, they wanted to tell you. Most of the Order wanted to tell you, but the whole Order and their allies-including Ted and I-promised not to say anything".

I looked at Sirius, Remus and Tonks. "Did you know about this?" I asked.

"No one ever told me", Tonks said.

"Remus and I didn't know much about you and this prophecy. All Dumbledore told us was that you were in as much danger as Harry and you were apart of the prophecy", Sirius said. "I wanted to tell you, I swear I did, but as Andromeda has said, the Order promised not to say anything. I can assure you I didn't know I met my future wife back then".

"You didn't?"

"Well, for 12 years, I've been thinking of other things while I was in Azkaban", Sirius said.

"Well, yeah, I guess", I said.

"I want you to know that prophecy or no prophecy, it doesn't change my feelings for you. My love for you is real".

"I know that", I said. I kissed Sirius's cheek. I laid my head on his shoulder.

"How are you feeling?" Tonks asked me.

"I'm still trying to wrap my brain around everything", I said. I lifted my head up. "I thought she abandoned me. I told Lila she abandoned us".

"Haylie, what happened with your mother and everything that happened with the Order, it is not your fault", Andromeda said. "Greta chose to protect you. The power of a mother's love is powerful. Lily died for her son, Narcissa helped you because she remembered how worried she was about her son, you stayed away from Elora in case the Death Eaters found you and Greta left to destroy Voldemort's Horcruxes so you and Lila would be safe. Your mother made her choice".

I nodded. "I still deserved to know the truth. Dumbledore let me hate my mother", I said.

"It was Greta's last wish that you forget the horrors from your past. Even if it meant you would forget her", Andromeda said.