Year 1993

Roger Hooper had a normal and ordinary life in all those fourteen years, ever since he had changed his name and decided to join the Muggle world, leaving his old life and his magic behind.

     But that day — the summer of 1993 —  was no ordinary day.

     Because it was the day that his daughter was going to be born.

     Even though it had been fourteen years since the night that Regulus had escaped the cave with Kreacher, not a single day went by that he didn't miss Alexandra.

     Throughout all those years, he would go beside a lake nearby his house at least once a month, laying a flower on the surface of the water as he watched the flower float away in her memory. He hadn't gotten the chance to hold a funeral for her, so this was the least he could do, as a gesture to keep her memory alive.

To say that Lisa had been a great comfort to him in all those years was an understatement. She never pressured him into telling her what had driven him away from the Wizarding world, and she was there for him for each step of the way as a friend.

She was the one who helped him change his identity, although she always mocked him about his name, saying,

     "You literally had the chance to choose any name that you wanted, and you went with Roger Hooper?" She gave him a teasing grin.

      "Look, I was just trying to have a common name. Nothing that would stand out," Regulus tried to reason, shrugging.

     "Meh... I still think it's a boring name," Lisa said teasingly.

     "Oh, yeah?" Regulus raised a brow at her. "Then what would you rather I had named myself?"

     "Hmm... I don't know, but something cool..." she said thoughtfully, before clapping her hands together in realization. "Ooh, I've got it! How about 'The Hulk'?"

     Regulus laughed, shaking his head at her in disbelief.

     Lisa never told her parents about Regulus's secret; she obviously didn't tell them that he was a wizard, and more of that, she didn't tell them that his real name wasn't Roger Hooper either.

     Lisa kept Regulus's identity a secret under his own request, because it was impossible to explain to her parents the reason behind it. But soon Lisa introduced him to her mother and father, saying that they had become friends at her college.

It was hard for Regulus to adapt into living as a Muggle for the first year and even harder to carry on normally with his life after the events that had taken place at the cave that night, but he finally made it through even with all its difficulties.

Throughout the years, his friendship with Lisa grew stronger and after a long while, he slowly found his old feelings for her resurfacing.

It wasn't easy for him to move on quickly, but in nine years time, he felt an attachment to Lisa in his heart that led them to marrying each other and eventually moving back to England.

Although in five years time, the couple were surprised to learn that Lisa was pregnant. They were both excited beyond belief at the news, but there was one thing that worried Regulus.

They were now back in England and so if Regulus had a child with magic, the Ministry could easy put the trace on her and they could be able to track them all down. And this was the last thing he wanted.

Regulus couldn't risk putting Lisa and his unborn child in any danger, because if the Death Eaters knew that he was alive, they would kill him and his whole family without hesitation.

So Regulus had to make a decision which he knew he was going to regret in the future, though it was necessary if he wanted to keep his family safe.

It was a month before Lisa's due date, when they were going to welcome their child into the world. But Regulus was growing more and more worried by each passing day.

Lisa was taking a long nap in her bedroom that afternoon and Regulus was downstairs in the living room, pacing around as he ran his hand through his hair anxiously.

     But at last, taking one last deep breath, he called out, "Kreacher!"

     He wasn't sure if it would work or not, but he smiled in relief when moments later the old house elf appeared inside the living room with a loud crack.

     "Master Regulus!" Kreacher cried out, tears leaving his eyes in both shock and happiness.

      Regulus rushed forward to greet him and then comfort him when he found out that his mother had passed away. Although the shock he had received by this was nothing compared to what he had seen on the TV last night; a Muggle news channel had stated that Sirius Black — a convicted murderer — had escaped prison. 

     But trying to put all these crazy news aside and shaking his head off the thoughts, Regulus turned to Kreacher, saying, "I summoned you tonight for a favor..."

     "Kreacher would do anything for Master Regulus," said the house elf as he bowed down, his wrinkly face still covered in tears.

     "I want you to go to Diagon Alley, Kreacher," he said. "Take some money out of my family's vault. I... I need you to buy a few ingredients for a Potion. It's called the Concealment Potion."

     Kreacher didn't know what the Potion was or why his Master needed it, but soon after Regulus had handed him a list, the house elf vanished into thin air and left for Diagon Alley.

     It was tremendously hard to brew the Potion, but Regulus couldn't give up. He knew that his child was probably going to hate him for doing this in the future, but he just hoped that she would understand. He had to hide her magic away after birth.

      The Concealment Potion wasn't going to take away her magic forever, but to conceal it within herself, only able to be freed if she ever felt powerful emotions all at once.

      At last, the Potion was done in time, which was a matter of relief to Regulus. He felt guilty, but he knew that it was necessary. Death Eaters were still out there even though the Dark Lord was temporarily gone.

     If the Ministry put the trace on his daughter and they found out that Regulus was alive, the Death Eaters would kill him and their entire family for betraying the Dark Lord.

***

It was a week before Lisa's due date that she shot awake in the middle of the night out of pain. At first she thought that the baby was just kicking, but when the pain grew worse and worse, she had to wake Regulus up.

     "Lisa, honey," Regulus started sleepily, sitting up on the bed, "I swear if this is like the time you pranked me by saying you were in labour on April Fool's —"

     "This is not a prank, you idiot! This baby of yours is freaking impatient!" Lisa groaned in pain.

      Panic washing over him, Regulus immediately got out of bed and rushed to get Lisa dressed, immediately driving her to the hospital. Lisa's parents were supposed to arrive tomorrow night.

     Regulus couldn't remember being this nervous in his entire life. This was more surreal than he'd ever imagined.

    He was going to be a father.

    For a second, the thought flashed through his mind that maybe they weren't ready for this, but all his worries washed away the moment he laid eyes on his daughter for the first time.

      The nurse had just handed the little baby to Lisa, who was laying down on bed with sweat covering her exhausted face. It took the baby some while to stop crying, but eventually the room fell quiet.

      "Oh, my..." Regulus breathed out, staring down at the baby in disbelief, his eyes filling up with tears.

     Lisa smiled up at Regulus before looking down at their daughter, who was throwing her tiny fists in the air. Regulus went forward and placed a sweet kiss on his wife's forehead, before looking back at the little baby lovably.

      "Oh, look! She's opening her eyes!" Regulus whispered excitedly, his smile widening.

      "She has your eyes." Lisa giggled as the baby looked around curiously with her grey eyes. "Damn, she actually looks way more like you than me."

      "W-well, I guess she's got your hair," Regulus tried to reason.

     Lisa gave him a look. "She's bald!"

     They both chuckled, looking back down at the little baby.

      "Do you want to hold her?" Lisa whispered to him.

      Regulus panicked again at first, but then he finally nodded, carefully taking the baby in his arms as he stood beside the bed, smiling down at her. This was the happiest he had felt in his whole life as his heart pounded in his chest.

    "We still need to think of a name for her," said Lisa, laying down on her pillow. "I don't think the names we had listed would suit her, to be honest."

     "Well... how about 'Alexandra'?" Regulus suggested, his heart lurching.

     "Hmm... Alexandra..." Lisa repeated under her breath, before smiling. "Yeah, I love the sound of that... and we can call her 'Lexi' for short."

     Regulus found his face light up at those words. He was glad that he could honor her memory this way. He knew she would've loved it.

"Welcome to this crazy world," said Regulus, smiling down at the adorable baby who was slowly drifting to sleep in his arms, "my little Lexi."

~ The End ~