The Sun, Moon & Stars

2. Ophelia Lily Lupin-Black

Remus Lupin appeared on a dirt road in the country, holding the small baby, his daughter Ophelia, in one arm, and in the other a small orange suitcase. He adjusted himself after apparating, and approached the abandoned cottage before him that was his childhood home. The garden that was once full of the most vibrant varieties of flowers and plants was now rotting, filled with wilted flowers and decaying organisms; and the once fresh brick exterior of the home was now covered in a layer of cobwebs. His play structure was still in the yard, albeit it was falling apart and broken in many places, but it was there. A reminder of his childhood--how his father made it for him when he was eight because he didn't have many friends and didn't want him to get bored. Everything looked so, so different-- yet the same all at once.

He took a deep breath in, and then exhaled; it being so cold he could see his breath, and he looked down at the baby, little Ophelia, to see her cheeks had reddened from the cold and she was shivering. The sun shining above them wasn't doing much for the harsh temperatures they were faced with this early in November, and with a wave of his wand he began to unboard the front door which had been bolted shut when his parents passed in his sixth year at Hogwarts. Finally, he could enter and he kicked the door open, and it smelt of dust and grime, like antique shops and it wasn't much warmer than outside.

He entered, using his wand to levitate the suitcase inside behind them as he shut the door. Shivering, he turned on the lights and he was faced with an atrocious mess. Boxes upon boxes laid all over the place, and everything was covered in a thick layer of dust. And it reminded him all over again that before his parents died, they were planning on moving to a new house. One they had been saving up to buy for years. Sighing, he placed Ophelia down on the floor in her small bundle of blankets and he zipped open the suitcase, which he had put an expandable charm on to pack all of their belongings in, and pulled out Ophelia's crib, and used his wand to bring it into his old bedroom.

He suddenly felt nostalgic. It looked the exact same as he had left it the summer before sixth year. Evidently, they hadn't got around to packing it yet. He hadn't been back since. His parents had passed away, and the muggle mayor bolted up the doors seeing as nobody was living there--and he went to live with the Potter's after sixth year with Sirius. After they graduated he got his own place, well their own place, an apartment with Sirius in Godric's Hollow so they would never be too far from Lily and James. The room was just as he left it. His bed was made, with his navy blue duvet he remembered having. His desk was a mess, with quills and ink bottles and various letters sprawled across it, letters he would sort through eventually but for now it was too much; knowing most of them were letters Sirius had written him over the years. Letters from when they were just friends, or letters from when they were more than that; both being a painful reminder that Sirius was gone and responsible for the ache he felt deep inside him now.

Pushing back tears, he placed Ophelia down inside the crib and she started to cry, uncontrollably, so Remus picked her up and rocked her in his arms until she began to calm down more.

They had spent weeks picking out a name for her together. They couldn't really come up with anything good for the longest time. James suggested Jasmine, saying it was 'sort-of the male equivalent of James!' and Lily thought something like 'Rose' or 'Poppy' would be pretty, but Sirius wasn't into the idea of naming her after a flower like Lily was. And then one night they had a conversation, a real conversation, where they actually discussed what they liked and didn't like; and Remus mentioned 'Ophelia'; saying it was a pretty name and that it was linked to astrology; as it's also the name of a moon that can be seen from other planets. Remus knew Sirius' name was astrology linked, and in a way, Remus himself was too (with his 'furry little problem'). And it was decided, then and there, that she would be named Ophelia and that she wouldn't have a middle name because in Sirius' opinion her name was already extravagant and no middle name could do it justice. And they also came to the agreement her last name would be hyphenated, seeing as Remus and Sirius both kept their last names after marriage (though their marriage wasn't legal anyway, being a gay marriage in the 1970's) , they wanted her to have both. And Sirius, being Sirius, requested that it was Lupin-Black, and not Black-Lupin and Remus had laughed and agreed, knowing Sirius wouldn't settle for no as an answer.