Fixing Old Traditions | 𝘚𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘶𝘴 𝘉𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬

𝑶𝒏𝒆 𝑯𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑭𝒊𝒇𝒕𝒚-𝑭𝒊𝒗𝒆

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spring 1981,
guardianship
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Almost two months had gone by since James and Lily went into hiding. They were under the most strict of cover, no letter, they even freed their owl to prevent the daily prophet still coming, they were completely off the grid just like Frank and Alice were with Neville.

Sirius was taking on more assignments than usually to keep his mind busy, Aimee had arranged to meet with the executor of Jacob's will. To discuss the legal guardianship of his two young children, she realised that within the next few hours Ethan and Laura's care would legally be in her hands.

Aimee was always honoured to be their godmother, but always believed it would never come down to her being the sole caregiver for them. Daniel had come to be with her when they talk through everything, he could see that she wasn't herself even in the slightest.

"I made you tea with a little honey,"

"Thank you," she said, lightly blowing the hot drink before taking a sip, "how's Melissa doing?"

"She's uncomfortable and frightened," he sighed, rubbing his tired eyes, "she thought she'd be safe cause she's not a part of any of this, but she knows what happened to Jake and Theo, she also knows that Laura is gone too, she petrified Aimee. Nothing I could say would even come close to comforting for her,"

"I understand how she's feeling,"

"This is going sound awful, but I wish she wasn't pregnant, don't get me wrong, I'm happy about having a baby it's just, it couldn't have come at a worse time,"

"I know what you mean," holding her own stomach, "Sirius told me, Lily's having another baby,"

"Are you sure, you're going to be fine having full custody of Ethan and Laura, you know that's a lot of children to handle,"

"I'll be fine, I have you," he chuckled, she hooked her arm with his, resting her head on his shoulder.

"I love you, Aimee Bear,"

"I love you too, Danny,"

A few hours had gone by and the executor of Jacob's will had come to the last part the guardianship of Ethan and Laura Burke. He informed the two siblings that with Theodore's death alongside Jacob and his wife, leaving Aimee only legal guardian of the children.

"Now Mrs Black, I understand that you are the biological aunt of Ethan Theodore Burke and Laura Aimee Burke is that correct?"

"Yes,"

"Do you have any previous history of care with the children?"

"I frequently babysat them, while they were young, and I lived with Ethan when he was a newborn,"

"And you would feel comfortable, adding another two children into your care,"

"Yes, I still see my grandmother often, she is currently taking care of the children to get them out of the city,"

"Ah, yes, I spoke your grandmother and she explained the situation, and I believe it's a good decision to have them in the countryside, if you'll just sign here, this will grant you full legal custody of the Ethan Theodore Burke and Laura Aimee Burke," she signed the document confidently.

***

She was the mother of six children, she didn't expect to ever legally care for her nephew or niece. It had been a few weeks and their death still hadn't sunk in, she still expected letters from them. An owl flew through the window, she hoped it was from Regulus, she hadn't heard anything from him in a while.

Aimee Bear,

Melissa had the baby, we had a little boy, we're arguing on the name at the moment, for now, he's called Max. That was my choice, and between you and me, I think I'm going to win. I spoke to Grammy and she said the children a doing great, she's moved Hadrian and Carden out of her room, putting them with Ethan in his room.

I heard Helene Zabini, was devastated when she heard of Theo's death. I knew they were close but to my knowledge, he hadn't seen her in years. I'm planning on going to Grammy's I'll see if she had any visions, that could help us.

I should probably tell you, I'm stepping down from the Order, I need to think about Melissa and my son. That means I can't keep an eye on Sirius for you, I know he looked at James like a brother and I hope he's finding ways to cope.

Stay safe, love you,

Danny.

She smiled, not because her brother was a father, because he made the right decision to leave the Order of the Phoenix. She didn't know what it was but there was just something about fighting with the Order that just didn't feel right to her.

There were a few things that stuck out to her about Dumbledore, the main thing being that before she had graduated she was asked to join and fight with the order. 17 years old barely out of school, being recruited to fight, now that she was older she saw just how irresponsible it was for him to ask a child to fight in a war.

Did she know it would become a war? No.

Did others who joined know it would come to this? No.

Nobody could have predicted just how dangerous their world was becoming, no matter how much she tried to stay positive, she couldn't see a future anymore. She use to sit and think about her life after Hogwarts, a happy family life, watching her children grow, heading to Hogwarts themselves, making friends and beginning their own adventures.

Now that seemed like a dream, one that she may never reach.