Little Phoenix

M O T H E R

{THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS SCENES OF DRUG USE}

There she was, in all her glory. My mother, mum. I couldn't believe it, I look so much like her, from her hair to her wonderful, kind smile. My heart is racing and it's as if all of the pain from the brawl moments before has disappeared. My mum— my mum.

"Did she go to school here?" I asked Dumbledore, who sits silently beside me. He allowed me to have a moment of silence, watching me drink in the sight of my mother in the old, small photograph.

"Yes, a couple of years above Severus." He said warmly, giving me a soft smile.

I swallow back the lump in my throat as the woman in the picture once again laughs, revealing her pearly teeth. She's beautiful, I was in awe of her beauty. Long, white hair hung in waves down her chest. The photograph was dull but I could make out that she had bright eyes, and fair skin. Each time she turned to look directly at the camera, it felt as if she was looking right at me, eyes boring into me, making it all the more difficult to hold back my tears.

A stray drop of a tear falls from my eye, landing right onto the picture. I frantically wipe it away, in attempt to salvage the photo. Luckily there was no damage, and I used my sleeve to dry my face, catching Dumbledore's warm eyes as he waited patiently.

"I'm sorry, Sir." I sniff.

"Don't be, my dear."

Looking closely again, I couldn't see the emblem on her robes, her long white hair was covering it, and she wasn't wearing a tie either. I furrow my brow and look back up to Dumbledore.

"What house was she in?" I ask.

"Your mother was a Hufflepuff, and a very talented one at that." Dumbledore beamed. My heart soared at his praise on my mother.

"Her name— what was her name?" My questions were finally getting answered. I was on cloud nine. I run my thumb along the cheek of the woman in the photograph, watching her over and over, her happiness in the picture rubbing off on me. I bite my lip and smile down at her, still unable to compute that this was the woman that created me, after not knowing anything about my past, to now coming to understand where I came from, it's all so overwhelming.

"Evelyn Grindelwald."

My face drops, and I feel my stomach tighten. Grindelwald? It couldn't be? It felt like time had frozen, like the world had stopped spinning. Am I related to Gellert Grindelwald? My brain when into overdrive, I didn't know what to think. My heart was thumping hard in my chest as I took in a long shaky breath. 

"Professor— does this mean, I'm.." 

"Yes my dear... Gellert is your Grandfather." Dumbledore says in a quiet tone. "Grindelwald had a daughter, which was your mother and my goddaughter. He had a small relationship with a pureblood witch here in the UK. Evelyn grew up here with your Grandmother, and came to Hogwarts." 

"Why do I have the Grey surname?" I flick my eyes up to Dumbledore, and I could see him mull over the question, until his mouth opened once again.

"Your mother left you at that orphanage, only with the name Phoenix. Grey is a name that they give to children who have been left on the doorstep with no name. Severus decided to keep you with this name to keep you safe." Dumbledore explains, but it all doesn't make a lot of sense. 

A tone of questions rack my brain. Mainly wondering what happened to my mother, there is a reason she isn't here any longer, there is a reason she is no longer with me. She never got a chance to bring me up, I was left at the orphanage when I was only a month old. She is still my mother, but never got chance to actually be a mum.