Prologue: Rainy Night

"Avada Kedavra!"

"Protego!"

The green Killing Curse struck the invisible armor, sending out a long, reverberating echo.

Heavy rain poured down as the black-robed Death Eaters drifted like ghosts in the night, pursuing the red-haired woman.

She waved her wand rapidly, firing Impediment Jinxes and Disarming Charms without pause, trying to carve out a path to survival.

But an Anti-Apparition Jinx had already been set up nearby, leaving her no way to escape. The black-clad woman at the forefront effortlessly deflected every spell aimed at her and let out a piercing laugh.

"Stop struggling, hehehe."

Bellatrix Lestrange, a Death Eater, pulled back her rain-soaked hood, revealing a pale face. To be fair, she was beautiful, but her features had twisted with extreme excitement.

"What do I see? A Weasley, a traitor to pure-bloods!" She slashed her crooked short wand, firing a red bolt that nearly struck the red-haired woman.

"And pregnant, too. It must be some Muggle's spawn!" Her wand trembled slightly as it pointed vaguely at the vital spots around the red-haired woman. "Don't worry, I'll cut it out for you soon enough!"

"Bellatrix, you're insane!"

Vivian Weasley protected her swollen belly with one hand while continuing to wave her wand with the other, spinning as she fired curses in every direction.

Vivian was seven months pregnant now, and moving was extremely difficult. She knew she likely would not be able to break out of the encirclement today, but the child in her womb kept her from submitting meekly to death.

There was one last way.

She silently recited an ancient incantation, looking apologetically at the wand that had accompanied her through her entire life.

"Your days of running rampant won't last much longer!"

"Say more. I enjoy hearing the death curses of lowly creatures like you."

Before Bella's laughter had faded, Vivian's cypress wand with its unicorn hair core flashed blindingly and exploded with a bang into countless fragments.

The dazzling light blinded every Death Eater. Several of the weaker ones were even sent flying by the radiant energy storm. By the time they regained their sight, only smoking wand fragments remained within the encirclement.

This ancient incantation could remove its caster from a certain death, at the cost of their magic, wand, and life.

No matter how furiously Bellatrix raged, Vivian could no longer hear her. Her wounds had all burst open, and she lay on an uninhabited island in the middle of a lake. Bright red blood soaked through her beige maternity dress, pooling beneath her into a scarlet puddle.

She did not fear death, but she could not let go of the child in her womb. Yet she lay in this desolate place, where no one could help her.

Regulus did not yet know that she had been attacked. Perhaps he was already in danger himself.

Cousin Arthur did know she was pregnant, but he did not know who the child's father was, nor did he know that she had been gravely wounded and was near death.

Then there was the long history of hostility between the Black and Weasley families, an even heavier burden weighing on her heart.

Perhaps she could no longer protect this child.

Despair consumed the strong mother as waves of cold invaded her body. She sobbed twice, gathered all her strength, and recited a farewell poem in the ancient tongue.

"On the far side of the lake lie Sleuth Wood's chilly highlands, There, upon a green-shaded isle, Herons spread their wings, waking the languid water rats;"

Vivian coughed twice, and bright red bloody foam flowed from her nose and mouth, interrupting her recitation. She wiped her lips and continued singing softly.

"Come away, O human child, To the waters and the wild, With a faery, hand in hand, For the world's more full of weeping than you can understand."

Vivian's vision blurred, and she seemed to see green motes rising from the earth. Thinking it a dying hallucination, she paid it no mind.

"The solemn-eyed child

Walks beside us now.

He shall no longer hear, upon the warm hillside, The tender cries of calves; nor hear

The kettle singing on the stove, that sound

Which once soothed his heart;

He shall hear them no more."

The green motes bounced playfully, slowly circling Vivian like a dazzling river of stars.

"Rats leap around the chest—

For he has come, the human child, To the waters and the wild, With a faery, hand in hand.

For the world's more full of weeping than he can understand."

The motes playfully flowed in through her fingertips. An energy utterly unlike magic began surging through her body—it was vigorous life force.

At the same time, Vivian felt her soul leaving her body, bound for an unknowable shore.

"My child, as long as he can survive..."

Her body began to change. Her bare feet became thick roots that plunged into the earth; her wounded skin turned into rough bark; her arms, head, and neck became a lush canopy. The baby in her womb was buried within the massive trunk.

She understood what was about to happen and smiled. Thick branches swayed, rustling softly.

"My child, your name is Canopus Black."

Vivian's final voice drifted away on the wind. The selfless mother had finally found peace.

It was not until broad daylight that the Death Eaters reached the island at the center of the lake. All they saw was a large, beautiful oak tree standing tall in the morning light.