Thank Merlin for Hermione, Harry thought to himself as he checked on Ciaran in the bassinette in what had once been a rather unused 'study'.

Being bookish, she hadn't known much more about babies- especially babies as young as Ciaran- than Harry, but after his rather odd question the day before, she had demanded a full explanation, which had led to them Apparating back to Harry's house before he'd had a chance to bring attention to himself as a purportedly single, famous, young man suddenly buying baby supplies for no discernable reason.

Thankfully, Hermione had reminded him of the joys of owl-order, and had helped him draft a letter to the Wizarding baby supply store regarding his need to set up a nursery for when his godson was visiting.

As it wasn't common knowledge who his godson was, or how old he was, Harry was able to order everything he needed for a newborn without any uncomfortable questions being raised.

Well, except by Hermione, of course.

He'd been a bit shocked at some of the language she'd used after reading the letter that had been left in Ciaran's basket, but after her outburst made the baby cry, she'd forced herself to calm down before refocusing her energy to helping Harry with the task he'd undertaken.

Unfortunately, Harry still had no idea how or when he was going to tell Snape that he had a son.

After all, their last meeting hadn't gone all that well, what with Snape demanding for him to leave without ever answering any of his questions.

Harry was fairly certain he had enough evidence to keep Snape out of Azkaban, but with the addition of Ciaran to the mix, and the type of things that his mother had alluded to but not outright stated in her letter, he was cautious and didn't really want to go to court and then have some new crime come up that would still sway the Wizengamot to throw Snape into the darkest hole they could find and promptly forget he existed.

Checking the time, Harry headed into the kitchen to spell one of the bottles he'd ordered to fill and warm itself for Ciaran as he would probably wake from his nap soon. He didn't make it any further than the living area, though, before the fireplace erupted in green flames and Hermione half-walked, half-fell out. Lunging forward to catch her, Harry frowned at the sight of her white, bloodless face.

"Hermione? What's wrong?"

Nearly gasping for breath, her eyes became glassy as they filled with tears. "Harry-" she stopped, her voice strangled as she handed him a copy of the Daily Prophet.

Well and truly worried, he accepted the paper distractedly as he helped his brunette friend to the couch. "What's going on?" he questioned.

Stifling a sob, she shook her head. "Just read it."

Brow furrowing, Harry turned his attention to the paper in his hand, and promptly had to sit down himself as a wave of vertigo struck him. "Oh, my God," he gasped disbelievingly.

"They're trying to make anyone who's had a baby within the last year or that has one a year from now register and testify under Veritaserum about the paternity to make sure that Voldemort's 'breeding' project is stricken from the population. The registry part is on page two," Hermione told him, her voice shaky.

Harry shook his head in utter disbelief. "They're murdering babies! This is...Merlin, Hermione, does the Order know about this?"

Clearing her throat, Hermione gave a weak shrug. "I don't know. I Flooed over as soon as I read it. From what I can tell, they're calling it a specialized division of Child Protective Services and claiming it's to protect Muggleborn children and other choice 'targets' of Death Eaters."

Still reeling with the horror of it, Harry felt nauseous. "They're no better than the Death Eaters! Nobody controls who their parents are, and they can't possibly believe that just because their fathers were Death Eaters that somehow all of the babies born because of that project are going to grow up to be just like them. It's madness!"

"I know," Hermione agreed softly. "And I'm afraid of what they're going to do next. What about the children of Death Eaters who are students at Hogwarts? Some of them will be First and Second Years when the school reopens, but what if they're targeted, too? They can't possibly be Death Eaters, but there's nothing remotely logical about this. What if they start hunting down everyone related to a Death Eater? They might even somehow justify going after Andromeda and Teddy because of Bellatrix. The whole Wizarding world has gone mad!"

Harry closed his eyes, shaking his head in denial. "They can't keep doing this...there's got to be some kind of outcry, or rebellion. Mothers aren't just going to hand over their babies to be murdered because they were the product of rape."

"Harry...some of the mothers did refuse. They...they were charged as sympathizers and executed, too," Hermione informed him.

"Merlin," Harry breathed, shocked anew.

From the back of the house, in the newly outfitted nursery, came a thin, plaintive wail.