Prologue
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FOR CENTURIES, the noble and most ancient House of Black has always judged their honor and pride based on their prejudiced beliefs over pureblood elitism. These were the beliefs, Sirius Orion Black and Regulus Arcturus Black, had grown up being taught.
However, as Sirius grew older, he came to find that he wanted nothing to do with his family's beliefs and when he reached his eleventh year, he began to attend Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry. Upon his arrival, he knew he did not want to be like his parents, and so it happened he was the first Black ever to be sorted into a house that wasn't Slytherin. As for his younger brother, Regulus seemed to believe everything his parents taught him and decided to follow in their footsteps. He was sorted into Slytherin and did whatever he could to make his parents proud; he gained great marks and even joined his house's Quidditch team and became their star Seeker.
Upon the Black siblings' first years at Hogwarts, everything seemed calm. It wasn't until their final years that the First Wizarding War reached its climax as the support for Lord Voldemort grew. Growing up, Regulus had admired Lord Voldemort and the ideals he held, so he decided to join his cause. However, when he was branded as a Death Eater at the mere age of sixteen, he did the one thing no one ever believed he was capable of — he fell in love with the very thing he opposed.
Amara Atticus was a muggle-born witch, and undoubtedly, the brightest witch of her age. The young Ravenclaw had never expected to meet Regulus Black and she most certainly never expected to end up falling in love with him either. Amara simply thought fate was funny that way. Amara and Regulus were two halves of the same hole, each made perfectly for the other.
Although, Regulus and Amara's relationship was kept a secret, for the simple fact of what Regulus was involved in and as the couple entered their seventeenth year, they discovered Amara was with child. It was at this point in his life that Regulus realized his mistake of becoming a Death Eater, and decided he needed to create a better life and future for his child.
Amara ended up dropping out of school in November when her belly had begun to grow. Sirius Black had been one of the few to know about his younger brother's situation (the others being his most trusted companions) and knew his brother needed help, so he offered to house Amara in his small home at Godric's Hollow. The months of Amara's pregnancy had been the most difficult months she's ever lived. She was beyond grateful to have Sirius there for her as a friend and for the support of James and Lily Potter, Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew. Despite the Black brothers' countless arguments, Regulus was grateful to have his brother there for him and his new family in their time of need.
It was not until the second of June that Amara went into labor. Sirius, The Potters, Remus Lupin, Peter Pettigrew, The Longbottoms and even, Regulus, who had been pulled out of school by Professor Dumbledore, were at her bedside as she endured several hours in labor. And finally, on the third of June, did Amara Atticus gave birth to a beautiful baby girl, with eyes as clear as the sky, who Regulus christened Nova Arya Black — a name worthy of a new beginning, seeing as that was exactly what it meant.
The moment Regulus first held his daughter in his arms, he realized he needed to do everything he could to make sure she would be safe, after all, she was a half-blood — one of the very things Lord Voldemort wished to rid the world of, and Regulus would not risk losing his daughter to him.
Luckily, from the moment he fell in love with Amara, Regulus had been uncovering one of Lord Voldemort's deepest secrets. Regulus discovered one of his many Horcruxes and set out on a mission to destroy them. With the help of his family's house elf, Kreacher, he duplicated Salazar Slytherin's locket and formed a plan to switch the original with the duplicate. However, Amara discovered his plan and would not let him act it out unless he allowed her to accompany him. The couple knew what they would be leaving behind, they knew who they would be abandoning, yet they knew they had to act in order to save their daughter's life.
After much argument, Regulus and Amara readied themselves for their inevitable fate and decided to leave three things for their daughter: a locket, a photo album and a letter. The locket was made to hold a photo of the three of them, as well as their initials marked inside. The photo album held an abundance of photos from the couple's time together, from their very first date to the end of Amara's pregnancy, and finally, to the last moments they spent together as a family. Lastly, the letter was a rather vague explanation of their untimely departure, along with a reminder of how much Amara and Regulus truly loved Nova.
Nova was left under the care of her godfather, Sirius, while Amara and Regulus set out on their mission. Regulus had not told his brother of what he and his wife were about to do, but it didn't matter. He knew that Sirius would protect Nova as if she was his own; he knew she would have a grand life, surrounded by people who loved her.
And so it happened, when Nova was merely a year old, her parents sacrificed themselves for her and the rest of the Wizarding World. Yet, their bravery was left unknown and no one besides Kreacher knew of their acts of heroism.
When Sirius found out of their deaths, he merely believed that Regulus had attempted to back out of being a Death Eater and Lord Voldemort had discovered he had married a muggleborn. This rumor was spread widely and soon people discovered Regulus had a daughter, and every pureblood supremacist declared her a blood traitor. However, this did not stop Sirius from raising Nova as his own.
Sirius had never loved anyone more in his life, than the way he came to love Nova. She became everything to him and he became everything to her. He watched her slowly grow from a babe into a walking toddler and watched her flourish in her magical ability. Their time, however, was short-lived.
By Nova's second year of life, the First Wizarding War was still in action and Sirius, being a member of the Order of the Phoenix, was called to help. Being only two years old, Nova did not have much recollection over the events of the night she lost yet another parent.
She remembered being left with Molly and Arthur Weasley on Halloween night because Sirius had lost trust in Remus Lupin. She remembered crying out for her uncle as he left her with people she did not know. She remembered the last thing Sirius said to her. I'll be back for you soon. I love you, little star. She remembered Remus picking her up from the Weasley Household the next evening and taking her home to the apartment she had been born in. She remembered that Sirius did not return; he had not come back for her. He had not come back, because he had been falsely accused of the murder of Peter Pettigrew and twelve muggles and had been given a life sentence in Azkaban.
Nova had not even reached her third birthday and she already lost not two parents, but three. Not to mention she had also lost the better half of her once large family; from her Uncle James and Aunt Lily, her Uncle Peter, her Aunt Marlene, to her Uncle Frank and Aunt Alice. They were all gone. Remus Lupin had also lost all of his friends, yet he seemed to have found them all again in the form of a two-year-old girl. Remus brought it upon himself to become the parental guardian for the young Black. After all, they were the only thing either of them had left, and they needed one another.
Growing up, Nova could hardly remember her infancy. She could hardly remember her parents and she could hardly remember her Uncle Sirius. Although, there was one thing she did remember that she never believed she would ever be able to forget. She remembered the feeling of being loved so much, one would rather die than see her in pain. She knew her Uncle Remus felt this for her, and yet, she couldn't help but miss the feeling of her parents' love. She also missed the feeling of Sirius' love. She was left with so many questions over their departure; questions that Remus would not answer for her until she reached the age of eleven — the age in which he felt she would be ready to hear such things.
So, Nova waited and waited, month after month, year after year, until she finally reached her eleventh birthday — the day that would change her entire life.