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"Albus? Albus, wake up!"

Albus Perceval Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Order of Merlin, First Class, opened his eyes at the sound of his younger brother Aberforth's voice. His bleary, sparkling-blue eyes blinked a couple times before he realized his younger brother stood right in front of him. He had, apparently, fallen asleep while working on school paperwork. Adjusting his glasses, he looked up at Aberforth. His brother had a panicked look on his face, and fiddled with his fingers nervously.

"Aberforth? What is it?" Albus asked, rubbing his tired eyes. After the incident in their youth, Aberforth never really wanted much to do with Albus. But they spoke some times, and Albus helped Aberforth when he needed it.

"I...erm...Albus, I need your help. Again." He murmured the last word, looking down at the carpet. "I'm afraid I might've...screwed up a little." Albus sighed. This wasn't uncommon with Aberforth. He stood, shuffling the papers on his desk into a somewhat-neat pile.

"Alright. Shall we go to your pub?" The pub/inn Aberforth owned, the Hog's Head, was located in Hogsmeade, and was a usual meeting place for thugs and the sort. But it also was a great secret location, if one wished it to be. Aberforth nodded, so the two Dumbledore brothers walked over to the fireplace in Albus's office. He grabbed a handful of green powder from a nearby flower pot.

"The Hog's Head, Hogsmeade." They stepped into the fire, and were sent spinning through fireplaces until they got to the right one and entered the top floor of the pub, which housed the youngest Dumbledore brother. Brushing some soot off of his robes, Albus looked up. "Now, Aberforth, what is it this time-"

Albus Dumbledore didn't have to finish his sentence before he got a clear view of what this 'problem' was. Lying in a small basket, with a blanket over her body, was a small baby girl. She was crying, and loudly at that. She squirmed around the small basket, and Albus could see small tufts of blonde hair on her head. When her eyes opened, he was shocked to discover they were a startling blue. The child couldn't be more than five or six months old.

"That is the problem." Aberforth murmured, grimacing a little. He took another step away from the small child, as if uncomfortable. He looked at his older brother, frowning deeply. Albus's eyes were fixed on the child, and his mouth was slightly open. But, snapping back to his senses, he moved quickly and took the little baby in his arms, and began rocking her. The girl calmed down a little, one tiny hand gripping a piece of his long, white beard. Albus scowled at his younger brother.

"What is this? Or, excuse me, who is this?" He gestured to the baby in his arms. He did not dislike the child, not at all, but the fact that Aberforth would leave a small baby alone irked him. In his opinion, Aberforth wasn't fit to be a father.

"I dunno. I found her on my doorstep an hour ago...No note, no nothin'. Just her." Aberforth bit his lip nervously, looking intently at his older brother holding the child... or his child. "I...Albus, I had a... fling with a woman a year ago. This..." he swallowed the lump in his throat. "I think she's mine."

Albus sighed, looking back down at the little girl in his arms. She was looking back up at him, with wide, sparkling blue eyes. Those were the eyes of a Dumbledore, there was no denying it. "You're right. She's yours." He murmured, not tearing his eyes off the girl. She babbled a little as she gripped his beard tighter, and the corners of his lips twitched a little.

Aberforth groaned, turning his back to his older brother and closing his eyes. "What do I do?! I'm not fit to raise a kid! I can't, Albus." He turned around, only to be surprised at the fire in his brother's eyes.

"You must." He said defiantly, looking up at Aberforth. He had come to a decision. "You must." He repeated, walking over to his brother and putting the child in his arms. Aberforth stumbled a bit, looking fearfully at the child. "We are not," he looked up into his younger brother's eyes, and said the following words with force: "We are not losing another family member. She is yours, and she is our family now. We are not losing another one." Memories of their younger deceased sister, Ariana, filled both brothers' heads. They stopped for a moment in silence, but then Albus regained composure.

"I will help you when necessary. And... I can enlist some additional help from Madam Pomfrey." He smiled a genuine smile at his brother, who nodded as he tried not to drop his daughter. She was looking up at him curiously, and slowly took a handful of his beard in her hand, then giggled. It made Albus smile, and Aberforth crack a small smile, as well.

"What should we name her?" Aberforth looked up at his brother, who thought for a moment. The Dumbledore tradition was to name children with letter 'A' names. Hence Albus, Aberforth, and Ariana.

"What about Aquila?" The elder Dumbledore suggested, looking at the little lump that was his niece. Aberforth pondered the name for a moment, then looked back down at the girl.

"Aquila Dumbledore...It fits." He nodded and finally allowed himself a full smile, rocking the child a little in his arms."Aquila Dumbledore." He tried it out again. He may not think himself fit to be a father, but he was slowly starting to like the idea more and more.

Albus chuckled a bit as he looked at his brother. Then he looked back down at his small, silver watch. The one with planets and moons instead of numbers. It was getting later and later, and he still needed to finish the paperwork on his desk. Maybe a stop by Poppy's office wouldn't be so bad, either.

"Well, Aberforth. With that solved, I take my leave." He nodded once to his brother, who nodded back. Now, Aberforth seemed immersed in the small girl, and played with her quietly as he sat on his couch. Approaching the fireplace, Albus Dumbledore turned around one last time.

"And, Aberforth?" His brother looked up. "Do keep her away from the goats."

Albus chuckled merrily to himself as he heard his younger brother's roar of laughter.

oOo

Returning back to his study, Albus sighed quietly as he rubbed his tired eyes once again. A cup of hot cocoa wouldn't do anyone harm, and he would like to stop by Poppy's office. The Headmaster stood, and walked out of his office.

The halls were quiet, as was to be expected at one o'clock in the morning. He walked briskly down the halls, his steps echoing lightly. He made it to the kitchens first, where he was greeted by enthusiastic house-elves and a steaming cup of cocoa. He left satisfied, one mug of warm chocolate in his hand. Making his way to the Matron's office, he began humming merrily to himself, thoughts of his new niece still on his mind.

He knocked on the door to Poppy Pomfrey's office with his free hand. A weary, tired-looking Matron answered. But she blinked a couple times to get herself to wake up when she saw it was Dumbledore.

"Oh...Headmaster! What can I do for you?" She said, stifling a yawn with the back of her hand. She tried to look behind him, to see if anyone was injured.

"My apologies for waking you up in such a late hour, Poppy..." Dumbledore said. Now he was starting to slightly regret it. "I simply must share some news."

Poppy nodded, a sign for him to go on. Relieved no one was injured, she allowed herself to freely yawn as she paid attention to the Headmaster's story.

"My brother Aberforth came into my office earlier, with a rather shocking dilemma. Apparently someone had dropped a baby on his doorstep earlier. She is his daughter, as he himself said. We named her Aquila. Oh, I'm absolutely delighted." He said giddily. And it was true. Maybe it was because of the late hour, or maybe he really was that excited- right now, it was hard to tell because of the drowsiness.

"Oh, that's wonderful news Albus!" Poppy said, smiling. A little Dumbledore running around. And a girl, no less! She had definitely meet the little tyke as soon as possible.

"Thank you, Poppy. I was wondering if you could possibly aid my brother in taking care of her from time to time? Checking in, just in case? You know how hopeless he is with anything besides his goats..."

"Of course, of course. I'd be delighted to help." The Matron smiled at Dumbledore's happiness. It was rare now, with You-Know-Who as a constant problem, for anyone to be happy.

"Thank you Poppy. And again, my apologies for the late hour. I'll let you catch up on sleep now." The Headmaster left, a definite skip to his step that night.

Poppy Pomfrey shook her head and chuckled quietly to herself, closing her office door and tucking back under her covers in her bedroom. She definitely couldn't wait to meet the little Dumbledore.

The daughter of a goat-lover and the niece of a barmy old codger... what a life that girl was going to have!