EPHEMERAL [2]

02. MOTHER DOES NOT KNOW BEST

"Eve Finnigan. That's the name of my absentee mother." Elara ran a hand through her hair. "She was a squib; I suppose that was partly the reason she left Dad. She couldn't bear the thought of a magical child when she herself wasn't one."

"So, you and Seamus?" Ron asked.

"Distantly related, I think. My English and French overpowers my Irish, but I've got some." She smiled. "That woman is not my mother though. She just gave birth to me. I want nothing to do with her. She left not only me, but my father, and I swear on my life that if I see her again, she won't be getting away unscathed. Call it self-defence."

"El." She turned to see Sirius standing at the door, a sad smile on his face.

"Hey, Dad."

He walked closer and opened his arms. "Come here, love." He hugged her tightly, and she laid her head on his shoulder, closing her eyes. Elara never had a mother, because hers couldn't deal with her, and decided to leave her on her father's doorstep. Sirius never wanted his daughter to have a childhood without a mother, and partly without a father. But he came back, and he never wanted to leave. Unlike Eve, who left both of them intentionally and never bothered coming back.

//FLASHBACK//

The doorbell rang, and Sirius stood, placing his butterbeer on the table. "Be right back, guys." He headed to the door, leaving James, Lily and Remus waiting for him, all of them with their own butterbeers, an engagement ring glinting on Lily's finger.

Sirius swung the door open without looking through the peephole. He saw a shadow around the stairwell that disappeared as soon as the door open. "Hello?" He looked down when he heard a little sniffle and saw a baby in a small cot, wrapped in a blanket and accompanied with a little bag that had a letter sticking out of it.

He knelt down and opened the envelope. He slid the letter out and unfolded it.

Sirius,

I met you a while back. We spent a lovely night together, and this was the result. This is your daughter. I never named her because I was never going to keep her. You got me pregnant, and this is your responsibility. My job was to give birth. I did.

I know she's yours because the Healer at St. Mungo's checked, and I never slept with a man around that time other than you. Keep her, give her up. I don't care. As long as she isn't with me.

Eve Finnigan.

Sirius looked down at the little girl. He knew for sure that she was his daughter. She looked like him. Black hair and pale, grey eyes. He dropped the letter into the bag, before lifting it and the girl. He walked back inside and closed the door, walking to the living room.

"Sirius, where are yo-" Remus called out, going quiet when he saw the long haired man walk back inside with a bundle in his arms. "Is that a baby?"

"Yeah." Sirius sounded hoarse. He cleared his throat. "Yeah, she was outside." He sat and held her in his arms, before fishing out the letter inside the bag and handing it to Lily who was sat beside him.

"You took her?" James questioned.

"She's his daughter." Lily gasped. The other two looked over, wide eyed and jaw dropped.

"What?" Remus whispered.

"I never knew. I never saw that woman again. She never came looking for me to tell me she was pregnant, she never wrote me, nothing."

"Are you going to keep her?" James asked.

"I couldn't get rid of her. I saw her and I knew she was staying with me. There's no doubt she's mine. Look." Sirius pulled the blanket away slightly and everyone crowded to look at the little girl who giggled and reached out, yanking a lock of Lily's fiery hair.