October 31st 1981

Sirius Black paced through the halls of Grimmauld Place, wringing his hands anxiously and while constantly keeping one eye on the clock. He ran his hands through his shaggy hair and let out a deep breath as he finally flopped down on the stairs. The news of James' and Lily's murder not only left Sirius heartbroken, but also exposed a new dilemma which needed to be solved quickly.

The fact that Voldemort had finally been defeated did not mean that Sirius was out of danger yet. He knew that since James and Lily had been found, Peter Pettigrew, his good and loyal friend, had betrayed them all. The Ministry of Magic would soon be arriving to arrest Sirius for Wormtail's crime.

Sirius placed his face in his hands as he racked his brain for a possible solution.

Should I run? he asked himself. No, even I couldn't outrun them forever. Maybe I could fight them? Oh, even I'm not that powerful!

A sudden cry from the other room yanked him back to reality as his head snapped up and he followed the cry to the sitting room. There, in the corner lay a crib with a baby girl who, up until now, was sleeping silently while Sirius pondered their future.

It didn't take the man long to reach the child as he carefully bent down to pick her up. He smiled at her even though she was bawling her eyes out. She was his angel, his darling, his world. And his daughter.

"Shhh baby, it's ok," he tried to calm her down as he gently bounced her. "Shhh, don't cry Arra".

Arra. Short for Ariana. Her mother, Sirius' wife, had died in labor shortly after she was born and was therefore, left without a name. Sirius, depressed and clueless, asked Albus Dumbledore to name her, and he did so. However, Sirius decided that Ariana was too long and elegant for someone so young and spunky so he decided to call her Arra.

She finally stopped crying and Sirius set her back down in the crib as he smiled down at her sadly. He knew that even if he managed to escape the Ministry's wrath, there would be no way he could continue to care for his daughter.

A loud thud from the outer side of the front door sent Sirius into a state of panic--he wasn't ready to fight yet! He looked lovingly at his daughter one last time before leaving. She looked so peaceful as she slept, without a care in the world. Not knowing that the events to immediately follow would change her life forever. Sirius shut the door to the sitting room to isolate her from the impending violence. He pressed his forehead to the door separating him from the love of his life as he closed his eyes and mentally said a goodbye.

Another loud bang from the front door reminded Sirius of why he was leaving Arra. His hands balled into fists and his face changed into a look of pure hatred as he turned around to face his opponents. He raised his wand as one last boom sent the front door into a thousand pieces and aurors flooded into the Noble house of Black. Sirius sent stunning spells in every directing he could as he dodged the jets of light coming his way. He flung himself behind a couch as a stunning spell narrowly missed him. The aurors then took their chance and swarmed him from all sides. But these ministry monkeys were gravely mistaken if they thought that Sirius Black would go down without a fight! In a last attempt to fight them off, Sirius jumped atop the couch and sent spells firing at every auror he could see. He laughed heartily as they fell to the ground and for a fleeting moment, he thought he was winning. The grin was wiped from his face however, when a red light hit him square in the chest and he slowly fell over.

His last thought before his vision faded to black consisted of one word…Arra…