Mid-September 1981.
A baby heard strange sounds, and he could tell they were coming from the creature holding him.
It had large, pointed ears and an ugly appearance. The scenery around them kept shifting rapidly.[1]
Then, finally, the scenery came to a stop.
...
Late night at 12 Grimmauld Place. The house is cloaked in shadows, silence thick as dust.
Kreacher stood motionless near the foyer, clutching something carefully wrapped in a faded green blanket. The blanket was unmistakable, deep Slytherin green, worn but cherished. It had belonged to Master Regulus.
"Master Sirius. I bring to you the last command of Master Regulus."
Sirius frowned, suspicion flickering in his eyes.
"What is this nonsense, Kreacher?"
His brother Regulus is said to have died over a year ago.
"Master Regulus is gone," Kreacher rasped. His voice cracked — not like the bitter creature Sirius remembered, but broken, reverent. "He gave Kreacher one final order."
Kreacher carefully unwraps the blanket, revealing the sleeping infant nestled within.
"This is his son. Master Regulus's final wish was that I deliver the child to a true Black when the time was right."
He bows his head respectfully, awaiting Sirius's response.
He held out the baby like an offering.
"This is his son. Yours to protect."
Sirius recoiled at first, out of shock, confusion, and something like denial.
"He had a kid? Regulus? That bloody idiot—"
But his voice faltered when he looked at the child. Red hair. Silver eyes.
He thought about his friends who were going into hiding.
"Why didn't he say anything?" Sirius said, not looking at Kreacher
"He planned it alone," Kreacher said simply. "He said the Dark Lord would never know… if the boy disappeared."
Sirius swore under his breath, pacing. He looked again at the baby, and how quiet he was. Watchful. Not crying. Not scared.
Sirius swore under his breath, pacing. He looked again at the baby — how quiet he was. Watchful. Not crying. Not scared.
"What's his name?"
Kreacher hesitated.
"Regulus called him Aster."
"Aster," Sirius echoed. "A Black star. Of course he would."
There was silence. Sirius took the child carefully, like he was made of glass and memory and things he couldn't take back.
"I can't keep him here," he said. "Not in this tomb. Not with what's coming."
Kreacher nodded solemnly.
"Master Regulus left a letter. For you only."
He handed Sirius a folded piece of parchment, sealed with the Black family crest, the wax brittle and cracked. The parchment was soft at the folds, worn thin from time and handling, the ink was slightly faded.
"Thank you," he said — stiffly, uncomfortably."For what it's worth… I think he was trying to do the right thing."
Kreacher bowed, a tremble in his lip.
"He was a good master." Said Kreacher, his voice soft and sad.
Sirius walked to his room to read the parchment.
Lying the boy on his bed, locking his door, Sirius opened the parchment.
"If you are reading this, then I am gone, and Kreacher has fulfilled the last task I gave him. My choices have led me down a path of loyalty to a cause I no longer believe in. I once thought I served a higher purpose — I see now that I was serving death in a hollow mask."
"You noticed it too late," Said Sirius.
"Before the end, I did one thing worth remembering. I leave behind a child. My son. His name is Aster."
Sirius then looked at the boy sleeping in his bed, making no sound.
"His mother… I won't speak much about her. She is a woman this family would not approve of, which is exactly why she was worth loving. She was not bound by our old ways, nor poisoned by the ideas that have plagued our bloodline for generations. Strong in ways I cannot explain. That strength lives on in Aster."
"Hoh... Reggie found himself a lover..." A smirk appeared on Sirius's face.
"I do not ask that he be raised as a Black. That name is too heavy for a child to carry. But he is still ours. And I beg you, raise him free of the pride and madness that consumed our house. Let him be something better."
"I wasn't planning on doing that anyway..." Sirius hated how this family treated the bloodline so important.
"If you are Sirius, then I ask this of you not as a brother, but as a man who once shared my blood: Protect him. Give him a chance to choose who he wants to be. —R.A.B"
"That will be hard, Reggie... I'm not even sure I will be able to protect myself..." Sirius looked at the boy again, he felt happy that at least another Black was alive, not only that, this one wasn't tainted by the family belief and tradition.
"Of course. Bloody Regulus. Always had to have the last word." Said Sirius, weirdly enough, he had a smile on his face.
"Kreacher," said Sirius, calmly. Fast enough, Kreacher appeared in front of him.
"Y-Yes, master Sirius?" Kreacher said he disliked Sirius, but he felt he had no right to do so after also betrayed his blood.
Sirius stood still, the weight of the parchment heavy in his hand.
His grey eyes flicked toward Kreacher, who hovered at the edge of the dim room, wringing his gnarled hands.
Sirius quietly said to not wake up be boy, "When was he born?" He heard the rumours about a prophecy, he was going to visit his friends and tell them he couldn't be their Secret-Keeper.
Kreacher was faltering while he said, "J-July, Master Sirius… thirtieth day of July, last year."
Sirius got furious but couldn't say it out loud. "And you didn't think to say anything? Not when Regulus died, not when... when the world started falling apart?"
Kreacher stepped back, ears dropping.
He looked away, the corners of his eyes tight with something like shame.
"Kreacher was ordered. Master Regulus gave an order, and Kreacher obeyed. Always obeyed. Kreacher is loyal…"
"Loyal?" Sirius scoffed; he couldn't believe Kreacher's words.
He waited more than a year to show this kid?
"Where's the child's mother?" Sirius asked, his voice low and solemn.
Kreacher quietly and not meeting Sirius's eyes, "Gone".
Sirius understood, Kreacher might've been with the mother until she died and then brought the baby here to be with another Black.
"Kreacher hated Master Sirius… because Master Sirius hated his blood. But… Kreacher also failed his blood. Kreacher failed Master Regulus…" Said Kreacher. He wanted to scream, but perhaps because of the baby, he held himself back; the child was, after all, his beloved master's
Sirius froze. The anger drained just enough to reveal something softer beneath.
'I also failed my brother...' He hated how long it took for Kreacher to finally reveal the child, be he hated himself more for not helping his brother get free from his parents' claws.
Sirius then took Aster into his arms. He said nothing to Kreacher, climbed onto his motorcycle, and flew off toward Godric's Hollow.
[1] Ik, young people might not be able to apparition may not be used on children, but still, elves' magic is different.