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Written for;

Fanfiction Tournament Round 2 - Winter theme.

The Ultimate Patronus Challenge - Birds, 23 Perching Birds - Use your favourite song as inspiration.

A Mother First

"You've brought shame on this family!" he roared, spittle flying from his lips.

She leant back against the wall, making herself as small as possible, even as she forced herself not to raise her hands to protect her stomach. She'd never seen her father so angry. His face was red, his eyes glaring, his fists clenched.

"A muggleborn! You've soiled yourself with a muggleborn, and worse than that! Worse than that, you've gone and got yourself saddled with it's offspring! There's never been a halfblood Black, and you, my daughter, will certainly not be the one who defiles the family name. You will get rid of it immediately!"

No, she thinks. She won't. Her baby, the life growing inside her... No.

Tears fall down her face as she slips her wand into her hand. "I'm sorry, father. So sorry. Stupefy!"

It's freezing. That is really the only observation she has as she walks her regular trail. Her son, her beautiful baby boy, is safe at home, as warm and protected against the winter as she can possibly make him without the use of her magic. She hasn't used magic since she stupefied her father and apparated away from the family home. She's scared, terrified that her father will use it to trace her, to drag her back to the world where she will be forced to give up her son.

She'd tried to find work in Muggle London, but it was difficult. She was a witch, a pureblood at that, and she'd had no reason to learn how to sew by hand or machine, or any of the other menial labour work that muggle women seemed content to do.

In the end, she'd stumbled upon her 'solution' quite by accident. As unqualified as she was to work in the muggle work, sex seemed to be a universal language; one that men seemed quite happy to pay for. Though she had never considered herself vain, she knew she was beautiful.

Beautiful worked for her. Beauty fed and clothed her son. Beauty protected him from the harsh cold of winter. Beauty kelp him safe.

Every night when she has completed her 'work', Cassiopeia returns to the one room that she's managed to claim as her own. She picks up her son from his unremarkable crib, and she rocks him slowly in her arms, promising him that she will keep him safe, that she will love him forever, that she will ensure he has a wonderful life... no matter the start of it.

She will never let anybody see him as inferior.

"Mama!"

Cassiopeia smiles at the sound, and she wraps her arms around the little boy who jumps up to greet her. It's been a good night for her, a night that will ensure she can keep them fed and warm for at least another week.

"Mama, Santa's been, Mama, look!"

"So he has," she murmurs, content at her son's apparent happiness. "Perhaps you should see what he's fetched for you, huh?"

She watches him rip into the paper excitedly, a small smile on her face. It's a long way from her own childhood Christmases. Christmases filled with good food and mountains of presents, Christmas parties that the wizarding community raved about for months afterwards. Christmases where only perfection was acceptable. As she watches her son happily playing with the toys she'd bought him, she thinks that this is even better.

"Mama, look see."

She pulls her boy onto her lap and allows him to show her his new toys. Wrapping her arms around him, she hugs him tightly.

"I'll never let anybody hurt you, baby," she murmurs. When he looks at her, his beautiful blue eyes clouded with confusion, she smiles. "I love you, Son. Always remember that mama loves you, okay?"

"I love you too, Mama."

He shows his first signs of magic when he's eight and she knows it's time. She's been saving every little that she was able since he was born, and though she knew it was a risk, it was time.

"We're going to go on a little adventure sweetheart. Can you pack your favourite toys into this bag for Mama?"

He nods, taking the bag and doing as she asks. When she has everything she can possibly carry, she takes his hand in hers. "I need you to not let go of my hand, okay, Son? I need you to keep your head down as much as you can, and don't speak to anybody, okay?"

"Mama?"

"It's an adventure, baby, but we gotta be careful, okay?"

"Okay, Mama."

"Cygnus?"

He frowns at her, but his wife remains at his side, urgency etched in her eyes, even as she smiles at his companions. He lets her pull him aside.

"What is it, Violetta?"

"Cassiopeia has been spotted at the Portkey office. She's gone to America. She had a... a boy with her."

Cygnus sneers. "What business is that of mine? She made her choice perfectly clear."

"She's our daughter, Cygnus. And it's Christmas. I wish..."

"That's our grandson -"

"Violetta. Christmas is a time for family. Go and speak with Dorea, our only daughter needs you."