Wallflower
Chapter Eleven: The Letter
Sirius grinned as he lounged on Adelaide's bed, watching as she searched through her drawers for her leather jacket that she had, apparently, gotten from her father on her seventeenth birthday. Previously, he had gone in to wake her up, but he found her awake and searching for her jacket. That was a bout ten minutes ago.
"I know it's here somewhere," she murmured, mostly to herself, when something caught Sirius' eye: a black sleeve sticking out from under her bed. Curiously, he tugged on it and to his amusement pulled out her coveted jacket.
"Is this what you're looking for?" he asked. She turned quickly, and smiled when she spotted it in his hands.
"Where did you find it?" she asked as she strolled over and tugged it on over her white tank top; it went well with her bell bottom jeans and black boots.
"It was under your bed," he said with a shrug of his shoulders, before standing up and tossing his arm over her shoulder, "now we match." She blinked, before realizing that he was also wearing a pair of muggle jeans, but he had on a black tee shirt and black trainers.
"Oops," she said with a grin, before nodding to her door, "C'mon, we've kept everyone waiting."
He walked with her without complaint, and when they made it downstairs everyone was once again hanging out in the dining room (since the Island in the kitchen was still decorated), and breakfast was already laid out in front of them. Remus glanced up upon their arrival and smiled.
"What took so long?" he asked casually.
"Couldn't find my jacket," Adelaide admitted with a small smile and a blush. Lily raised an eyebrow.
"You match," she said bluntly.
"It was an accident," Adelaide and Sirius said at the same time, causing them to glance at each other with raised eyebrows.
"Creepy," James muttered with a grin, "Anyway, what's on the agenda today?"
"I was thinking that we would head out to town and then come back in to set everything up for New Years," Adelaide said as she walked over to the table and took a seat at one of the empty spots next to Lily, "Even though it's only us, I like to have a lot of food, and I like to prepare it."
"You like to cook?" Lily said with a surprised smile. Adelaide nodded and began to move her food around on her plate.
"It's a hobby of mine," she admitted with a shrug, "But I prefer baking."
"For some reason, I never really saw you as a baker," Remus commented, and Adelaide blushed and shrugged her shoulders.
"I like cake, so if I know how to bake I can have it whenever I want," she murmured before straightening and smiling widely, "Come on, We've only got three days left before we get back on the Hogwarts Express!! Finish eating and get ready to go!" She almost stood, when Sirius gently tugged her back down into her seat.
"You haven't eaten anything yet," he said with a grin. Adelaide blushed again.
"Oh, right,"
-
They ended up spending five hours down town, mostly making fun of some of the muggle things they saw and commenting on some of the people they passed by. They finally got back to Vicknair Mansion around four o'clock, and Adelaide immediately began to get out a large assortments of ingredients for foods and spread them on the counters, using magic to momentarily clear the island, the village now setting on the floor in the middle of the living room.
"Do you want some help?" Lily asked politely.
"Sure, why not?" Adelaide returned, "Just do what the directions say in the book," before she could ask what book it was, she summoned a large cook book and made it flip to a page, "You'll be in charge of the Hash Brown Casserole."
Everyone watched in amusement as she moved quickly, barely using any magic at all and moving much quicker then Lily, and ended up making about ten different dishes, including some thing called 'Ramaki', which was (to their slight disgust) chicken liver and a slice of water chestnut wrapped in bacon and some spices. She also had some sushi (they had no idea she even knew how to make it), some tortilla wraps, mashed potatoes, chicken and dumplings, hash brown casserole (which looked to be really cheesy), and several other unnamed dishes.
That didn't include the deserts.
"She's like the Hogwarts elves in one small package," Sirius said in awe as she placed the food that needed to be kept warm under a warming charm, while keeping the food that needed to be kept cool under a cooling charm and began to get out things for the deserts, levitating all her trash and derbies into the trashcan.
"And it's only seven o'clock," James added in equal awe.
It reached nine o'clock, and they managed to finish the deserts. By now, they men felt as if their stomachs were eating its self. Adelaide smiled and high-fived Lily, who managed to step up the pace after getting used to the fast pace of Adelaide. They had successfully created a Rum Cake, a Coke-A-Cola Cake (both muggle creations), Chocolate Pudding, Snicker doodle Cake (with a large amount of cinnamon), Chocolate Chip Cookies, White Chocolate Chip Cookies, and various store-bought treats in bowels. Adelaide smiled proudly.
"Well, we can start eating now," she said, and it didn't take long for the rest to pile into the kitchen and start eating the food.
"Hey, where is your dad and Maddie?" James asked after a second, and Adelaide frowned and glanced towards the stairwell.
"Daddy's not feeling well today," she said slowly, her hands on her hips, "He had a fit this morning, which is why I was up so early. He thought I was mum again. Maddie also isn't feeling well, and I decided to let her stay asleep."
As if on queue, Maddie made her descent down stairs, fully dressed and smiling happily.
"Hullo!" she chirped as she skipped into the kitchen, snatching a cookie from it's tray, "When did you get back?"
"Around four," Adelaide said with a smile, "How was your day?" Maddie pushed herself onto a stool beside Remus, and begin to chatter incessantly about all she did. Apparently she woke up thirty minutes after they had left, and spent her time chatting with one of the House Elves (who apparently stuck around even though on holiday), playing with her dolls, and visiting her father.
"He didn't really talk much, though," she finished, "but its okay! He I was there and I think he liked the comp'ney."
"Seems like you had a fun time," Remus said, causing Maddie to blush and kick her feet timidly.
"Yeah, it was fun," she said bashfully. Adelaide sighed with a smile, before snatching a cookie from Sirius, who was just about to eat it.
"Wha-? That was my cookie!" he protested. She shook her head.
"Nope, I made it, I eat it," she corrected with a smile, before taking a bite. Sirius sighed, before getting another cookie off of the tray.
The next two hours passed by quickly, and they continued to snack on all of the food (though it was no where near gone). Maddie acted as if she were attached at the hip to Remus and always agreed with him; Adelaide was sure that if he said he had four arms she would believe him. Adelaide didn't fail to notice, though, that Remus was looking a bit paler then normal.
"Is Remus feeling alright?" she asked with her eyebrows furrowed in worry. Sirius nodded,
"Yeah, he'll be fine," he said quickly. Adelaide eyed him, but shrugged it off and glanced at the clock with a gasp.
"It's eleven fifty-five!" she said loudly, "Five minutes till New Year!" She was almost buzzing with excitement. Sirius laughed, wrapped an arm around her shoulder and kissed the top of her head.
"You're easily excitable, do you know that?" he asked playfully. She smiled at him, before returning her attention to the clock, staring at it intently. He laughed, "If you do that, it'll just pass even slower."
"I know," she sighed, before flicking her wand and turning on the nearby radio, which was already set on the channel where the countdown would be announced.
'- Fifty-Six, just four more minutes until 1977 begins! So keep you're loved ones close, and remember to give 'em a big kiss when the year begins! For now, lets pass the time with a song you might know…'
With a song playing in the background, everyone began to get jittery as they waited for the countdown to begin. Adelaide was almost vibrating again, and was snuggled close into Sirius' side. Remus was smiling as he listened to Maddie as she talked about her day (right now she was going through a play-by-play of the drama she set up for her dolls today), and James was teasing Lily as he continued to beat her in a game of Wizards Chess.
'All right listeners, just one minute to go…'
"I'm getting nervous," Adelaide said as she grabbed some Ramaki and eating it quickly. Sirius raised an eyebrow.
"Why?" he asked casually.
"I don't know, I always get jittery before something big like this," she admitted, before grabbing another cookie, "And I'm scared something might happen to Maddie."
'Forty-five seconds…'
"What do you mean?" Sirius asked in confusion, "Why?" Adelaide sighed.
"I keep getting hopeful that she might make it another year, and I'm scared that something will happen before the year even starts and she'll miss out," she admitted, before tightly grasping his hand, "I don't…I don't want to let her go yet. It's always on my mind; I want to be beside her when she does die, because I don't want her to be all alone." Tears were welling up in her eyes as she watched Maddie chat happily with Remus. Sirius gently grasped her chin and turned her towards him.
'Twenty-five!'
"Listen to me," he said softly, "Even if you can't be by her side when she passes, she won't be alone. She'll know that you care, and she'll know that on some subconscious level that you're thinking about her. Look at her: She isn't thinking about her sickness, or that she might die in a month. She's living as best as she can, and enjoying every second of it."
'Ten!'
"Do you mean it?" Adelaide whispered, not paying attention as everyone else began to count down. Sirius nodded and kept eye contact with her, his face serious (excusing the pun).
'Eight!'
"Why would I lie to you about something like that?" he asked softly, gently moving his hand so he cupped her cheek. She watched him with adoration as he offered her a smile; not a cocky one, and not a sarcastic one, but a genuine smile that sent chills down her spine and caused her heart to contract.
'Five!'
"Thank you," she whispered softly, and returning his smile. He watched the way her eye's crinkled and her cheeks pinked, and the way she seemed to light up emotions.
'Three!'
She moved her face closer to his, and she felt his thumb run across her cheek, causing goose bumps to erupt on her arms. She hesitated, before she pressed her lips against his and latched her fingers onto his jacket to pull herself closer. They were completely oblivious of the fact that Lily and James kissed each other, causing Lily to blush, and that Remus had given Maddie a small peck on the cheek, to her obvious delight. They were only aware of each other as their lips moved together passionately.
The kiss was slow and caused heat to run rampant through their bodies. Adelaide moved her hands upward, before wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling herself closer to him and he placed his hands on her waist as their lips moved together slowly, but with enough passion that it felt as if they were much closer, and sharing a much more intimate kiss.
"Oi! New Years passed twenty seconds ago!"
James cry caused Adelaide to jerk away in surprise, almost causing her to tumble foreword and she temporarily lost her balance on her stool. She was blushing madly, and Sirius also had a light pink tint to his chinks.
The others might not have known it, but that was possible one of the most intimate kisses either of them had ever had.
-
Ever since New Years, it seemed that every little gesture from Sirius held much more emotion then one could have thought: when he opened the door, when he held her hand, when he walked beside her, when he kissed the top of the head or her cheek, when he looked at her. That New Years seemed to have awoken something in each of them: it wasn't lust, though there was plenty of that, but it was more substantial then that, but it wasn't exactly love, though, either.
But they did know it had to be pretty damn close.
Now, they sat together on the train to Hogwarts. It was the fourth of January, and Remus seemed to have gotten even paler. Maddie had seen them off with the company of Nurse Witte, and she looked healthier then ever, as well as happier then ever. This cause Adelaide to smile graciously, and for relief to fill her: maybe she would make it for a few more months, maybe even a year!
The train ride was like any other, and they spent the time laughing with each other and stuffing their faces with candies from the trolley; they were almost disappointed when they reached the Hogsmeade Station and got onto the carriages again.
"How do you think Peter's winter break was?" Adelaide asked casually, and the others shrugged.
"We've never not spent a Christmas with him while we went to school," James said with a shrug, "I was surprised to hear he was going to his grandparents house." Sirius nodded in agreement and Adelaide began to worry her bottom lip again.
"You don't think I upset him, do you?" she asked cautiously. Sirius shook his head quickly.
"Nah, he probably just wanted to spend time with his family for once," he said firmly, "You've done nothing to offend him." Adelaide slowly nodded, accepting his answer, but she could help but wonder: if he had left Hogwarts for break, why hadn't he sat with them on the train?
The moment she entered the castle, she forgot all of her worrying and walked happily with the others to the Great Hall, where people were already eating their food greedily. They took their normal seats and completely forgot about any of their worries as they enjoyed each others company.
"I can't believe class starts up again tomorrow," James said as he lounged against the table, "It's odd." The others murmured their agreement, but they didn't let it get them down.
"I'm kind of worried that I forgot things," Adelaide admitted with a laugh, "I'm sure I'm the only one."
"No, I'm worried to," Lily agreed, "They're going to start cracking down soon on our N.E.W.T.s. We're not going to be able to have any free time with the amount of home work they'll be assigning; especially McGonagall!" The others sighed as they realized that Lily was right.
"I'm going to miss just lounging in the common room, making fun of first years," James said, earning a laugh from his friends.
"You should be able to still do that," Lily said, "Save for the first year's part: you are a head boy now." James grinned cockily.
"And you're my head girl," he said cheekily, causing her to laugh and blush at the same time.
"You're so odd," she chuckled, before yawning.
"Looks like we're all tired," Adelaide commented dryly, before pushing her tray away, "I don't have room for desert, I'm going to head to bed."
"I'll come with you," Sirius offered, but Adelaide shook her head.
"You hang out with them if you want," she said but Sirius smirked.
"I want to walk with you," he said sincerely, and Adelaide blushed before nodding. She rose from her seat and made her way to the doors, Sirius walking beside her. When the door shut behind them, he wrapped his arm around her waist and brought her closer to him.
They didn't notice how Peter, who had been absent from diner, watched angrily as they walked away without paying any notice to him.
-
Adelaide was one of the first people to make it into the great hall for breakfast that morning with a small smile; she had ended up falling asleep on the couch with Sirius, and he'd only woken her up when Lily came in later that night to help her get to bed. She was extremely well rested, and abnormally chipper as well. She knew, somewhere deep down, that today was going to be a good day.
She took a seat and waited patiently for everyone else, placing food on her plate as she waited for them. She was buttering her toast when Sirius, Lily, and James walked in. She smiled brightly as they walked over, and tilted her head to the side when she noticed Remus' absence.
"Where's Remus?" she asked curiously as Sirius took a seat beside her.
"He's not feeling well today," James answered smoothly, "He's in the hospital wing right now."
"Ah," Adelaide said shortly, before taking a bite of her toast. Their conversation was moving along easily when Peter came and took a seat beside James, a smile on his face that they hadn't seen in a while.
"Peter!" Adelaide said happily, "It's nice of you to join us." He just smiled, before piling food onto his own plate.
"We wish you could have been with us for Christmas," James said with a grin, "We had a blast; Adelaide's little sister fancies Remus." Peter laughed, slightly surprising Adelaide, and smiled.
"I bet that was interesting to watch," he said with a grin, before returning to his food.
The flapping of wings alerted everyone to the arrival of the mail, and Adelaide was surprised when a letter was dropped in front of her. She furrowed her eyebrows and picked it up carefully.
"I never get mail," she said softly, panic beginning to build inside of her. She noticed the handwriting as Nurse Witte's. She swallowed and shakily opened the letter.
'Dear Adelaide;
I'm sorry to inform you that last night, Madeline finally succumbed to her cancer and passed away in her sleep. She was smiling when I found her, and I have informed St. Mungos. The funeral has been set for Saturday, January 8. You will be needed by tomorrow afternoon at the latest if you want to help plan the funeral, which I know you do. You knew what your sister would have wanted, and I know that you need to do this. I have begun to gather all the pictures of her I could find from birth till now for you to look through upon your arrival.
I'm sorry that your vacation had to end on this note, and I deeply regret her loss: Madeline was a wonderful, intelligent little girl who could light up any room she was in. I am honored to have met her, and her wonderful caring family. She lived a good life, and she can finally be with her mother.
Sincerely yours;
Nurse Jessica Witte'
-
Disclaimer: Harry Potter and all things concerning belong to J.K. Rowling. I own Adelaide Vicknair, Vanessa Wolfe, Caryn Gree, Elise Barnes, Madeline Vicknair, Annalisa Bertucci, Professor Sicily and Jean Vicknair.
A/N: And I'm sure you all hate me. OMG HOW COULD I DO THAT!?!?! ...shoot me now ::emosob:: WHY!?!?! Oh gods...I made myself cry...
To clarify something about Sirius and Adelaide's relation ship: they are not in love yet. They started dating because they had a mutual attraction to each other, physically and emotionally. They have only dated for two months, and in my mind that is too soon in a relationship for you to say that you are in love with someone. You may have noticed that I never once made them say 'I love you' to each other or mentioned love in their actions or expressions. That's because they don't: right now it's like infatuation, but more emotional then that.
Their kiss on New Years represented that their relationship had grown from a simple crush to something more: they cared more for each other, and they felt more emotionally connected to each other. It goes along with the 'you don't have to have sex with someone to be intimate with them'. Every thing they do causes feelings to erupt inside of them; and I'm not talking about lust. It's a deeper and more substantial feeling then that. As I said, it's not quite love, but it's close.
I think that, the New Years scene (and the explanation following) is some of the best writing I have done throughout this story, and possibly all of my stories. I feel like I did a good job at expressing the change in their relationship without directly going 'Their relationship changed'. Please tell me you're thoughts on that passage; I really want to know YOUR opinions on how I wrote that situation.
Yours truly,
B.E.N.