Secrets To Keep

Delilah May Shultz

Around three o'clock, there was a knock at the door of Grimmauld Place. Of course, no one heard it except Kreacher, who was cleaning.

He opened the door to find a shivering girl with blonde hair and a tattered green dress on the step. When he looked up, there was no one there.

He supposed he should tell Master Harry. "Come in child. Master Harry's will see you soon."

The small little child crawled in, letting Kreacher pick it up, although it was his size. The child started softly crying, and Kreacher felt bad. "Shush, child. Master Harry's make it better."

Kreacher quickly and quietly reached Harry and Luna's room, popping in. "Mistress Luna." She was only half asleep, so she woke easily.

"Kreacher? What's wrong?" She whispered, feeling for her wand.

"Kreacher found this child outside. Kreacher thought Master Harry and Mistress Luna's would want to know." Kreacher cradled the crying child carefully before handing it to Luna.

"Thank you Kreacher. Could you wake Harry? I'm going to check for some new clothes. These are torn." Luna said, standing.

"Yes Mistress Luna." Kreacher obeyed, beginning to wake Harry.
—————-
"What do we do?" Harry asked, finally fully awake.

Luna shrugged, trying to warm up the shivering child.

"Well, we should check outside to see if there are clues or something."

Harry nodded, grabbing his cloak. "Okay, I'll be back soon Darling."

Minutes later, he came back with a damp piece of paper. "Here I saw this with a bunny." He held up a sopping wet, pink, stuffed bunny.

"Bunny!" The child murmured, reaching for it.

"Do you want the bunny?" Harry asked, lowering himself to the child's level.

They nodded.

"Okay, what's your name?" Luna asked.

The child looked away, refusing to speak.

Harry looked at the note. "Look, read this Lu."

This is my daughter, Delilah May Shultz. I love her so much, but I fear I cannot give her the things she needs. She's magical, a witch of course. But she has powers I don't understand. My husband, he was a wizard, left us when Delilah was born. I'm just a Muggle. Please care for my baby girl. I believe the word for her powers was pyrokinesis? She can control fire, and she has burnt down two of the homes I've taken her to. I'm one woman, I can't deal with it. Please, please, take good care of her.
Thank you,
E.S.

"So her name's Delilah, and she can control fire...what do we do?" Harry asked.

Luna shook her head. "I guess take her in. We'll figure it out. She can sleep with us tonight. It's only a couple hours until breakfast. Thank you Kreacher. Get some rest."

"Yes Mistress Luna."
——————
Cho had woken and made breakfast, so was yelling for everyone to come down. "BREAKFAST EVERYONE!"

They all ran down the stairs, when Ginny asked, "Where's Harry and Luna?"

"Probably just having some fun, if you know what I mean." Gwen laughed, raising her eyebrows.

"Gwen!" Hermione gasped, nudging her playfully.

Minutes later, Luna came skipping down the stairs, her sleeve singed.

"Luna, what's with your sleeve?" Padma asked.

"Oh, you'll see. Harry, Dear! Come on down." Luna called.

Harry came down the stairs, holding a small child. The child looked to be a girl, from the pink dress anyway. She had blonde hair cut to her ears, and blue eyes, as well as cute chubby cheeks. Her hands looked to be burnt.

"Harry! What the hell!" Hermione exclaimed.

"Mione! Don't curse in front of Delilah! She's only three." Harry scolded.

They all looked at him blankly.

"Um, Harry, maybe you should explain why this little girl miraculously appeared." Petunia suggested.

"Right. Well, last night Kreacher said she was dropped on the doorstep. There was this letter." He handed Neville the paper that was also singed.

"She has pyrokinesis?!" He exclaimed.

"What's that?" Dudley asked, looking up from the book Cho had given him.

"She can control fire with her mind." Ginny told him. "Harry, she might be dangerous."

"Gin, I don't know why, but my instincts are telling me she belongs here. Just...trust me. Please."

"Harry, I love you, but you can't always trust your gut! Just think of all the things that have happened because of it! Think of Sirius! Me, Ron!" Hermione exclaimed, instantly backtracking when Harry's eyes dimmed. "Harry, I didn't mean-"

"Obviously you did, but don't worry. You're right. It was my fault." Harry said shortly, grabbing some applesauce for Delilah and leaving the room.

They turned towards Hermione with open mouths.

Luna glared, then snapped, "Hermione Granger! You should know better than to say those kind of things!"

She too left, leaving the kitchen in awkward silence.