July 1979

The Order of the Phoenix assembled in Professor McGonagall's transfiguration classroom, and every member, particularly the Marauders, seemed every bit as rowdy and rambunctious as they had as fourth years. Even Professor McGonagall chatted merrily with Lily as Adela stood nervously at the front of the classroom. After receiving an encouraging wink from Dumbledore, Adela took a deep breath and cast a Silencing Charm over the entire room. Annoyed faces turned to stare down Adela over the loss of their voices. Adela undid her spell, then said, "Now that I have your attention, I'll get straight to the point. Professor Dumbledore and Alastor Moody have agreed that it would be a good idea for me to teach you all Occlumency and how to resist the Imperius Curse. So, um, I guess we'll start with Occlumency. What you need to do is keep a tight lid on your emotions. Mainly, stay clam and try to relax. At first you're not going to be able to keep me out, so the main thing to focus on is blocking me from going any further in your mind than I already am. So… who wants to go first?"

Nervous glances were shared around the classroom. Adela was just about to give up hope of getting a volunteer when Sirius stood up from his desk, a solemn look on his face. "I've some experience being put under Legilimency, but it's been some time since I've had to practice Occlumency. Out of everyone in this room, you're the only one I'd ever trust to dig around inside my head without using what you find there to your advantage or against me." Sirius rounded the desk and strode to the front of the room, stopping about a foot away from Adela. Staring into his lover's eyes, he continued, "So go ahead. Search my mind."

Adela breathed a soft sigh of relief and smiled slightly at Sirius, then mouthed the phrase 'thank you' to him. He simply offered a sad smile in return. Keeping eye contact, Adela said, "Legilimens."

The room was spacious with a large bed that had a carved headboard. One wall had a tall window with long velvet curtains, and a candle chandelier hung from the ceiling. The walls of the room were covered with so many pictures that it was barely possible to see the wallpaper, and the room was decorated with Gryffindor banners and colors. Adela gasped as she realized at what exactly she was looking. She saw a younger Sirius, maybe fifteen or sixteen years old, crumpled on the floor as Walburga Black tortured him with the Cruciatus Curse. He didn't yell or writhe on the floor in pain, but Adela could plainly see that he was drenched in sweat and biting his lip to keep himself from crying out in agony. The older woman looked frustrated, then removed the curse from her son. She levitated the teenager to his feet and demanded, "I have permitted you to defy your birthrights for far too long, boy. It's enough of a plague on our family that you made the mistake of becoming a Gryffindor, but now you refuse to accept the pureblood girl your father and I have chosen for you to marry? What makes you think you have any such right to flout your own engagement?" Sirius merely stared back at her, a strong, defiant look in his eyes, never even so much as flinching. The woman screeched angrily, "Legilimens!" Sirius dropped to his knees with a low moan. Adela felt sick at the sight. Suddenly, Adela felt a massive pounding in her head.

Adela felt the force of being shoved backwards, but her body never moved, as Sirius pushed her out of his mind. As reality swam back into view, Adela shook her head. Sirius watched her with a pitying look, cradling her head in his hands and kissing the top of her head. He whispered, "Are you ok, little hummingbird?"

Adela wiped unshed tears from her eyes and nodded. Adela said, loud enough for the rest of the Order to hear, "That was good, Sirius. You pushed me out very quickly. It might have taken longer against a more skilled Legilimens, but not much." Sirius hesitated, then nodded and walked back to his seat between James and Remus. "Umm, who wants to go next?" Remus stood up slowly, a determined look on his face, and walked towards Adela. He offered a simple nod. Adela raised her wand and pointed it at him.

Adela could feel herself floating through Remus's mind, exploring all the memories hidden inside his head. She tried not to stop and stay in one place for too long as she had in Sirius's mind; she didn't want to make it too easy for Remus to repel her spell. Adela caught glimpses of Remus turning at various full moons during his school days, James, Sirius, and Peter transformed into their animagus forms alongside him. Sirius in dog form lay in the floor close to Remus, a soft whine emanating from his throat. Adela floated on through Remus's memories before Adela stopped again. A little boy, whom Adela guessed must be Remus at only three or four years old, was out catching fireflies in the front yard of a house under a full moon. A large, grizzly wolf emerged from the trees close by. Adela stood there and watched, unable to do anything, her hand over her mouth and tears welling up in her eyes as she realized what was happening. She could feel a push against her presence in his mind, but the force of it wasn't strong enough to drive her out of his mind. The wolf slowly approached the young Remus from behind as he chased the insects around his yard. The moment Remus became aware of the advancing werewolf, the creature lunged forward and grabbed Remus by the shoulder with his mouth. A sort of choking sound escaped from Adela's throat as the little boy screamed in pain and fear. His parents rushed out of the house, screaming, and his father threw a curse at the werewolf, forcing it to drop Remus and flee. Adela felt another, stronger push against her manifestation in his memory, and Adela allowed him to compel her out of his head.

Adela's head throbbed slightly as her mind reentered reality. She felt wetness on her cheeks from tears she hadn't realized she had been shedding. Adela's eyes found Sirius, who looked deeply concerned. Remus pulled Adela in for a tight hug, being careful not to squeeze her too tightly. "I'm so sorry, Remus," Adela mumbled against his chest. Remus simply squeezed her again and gave her a smile before returning to his seat.

Professor McGonagall said, "Dear, if this is becoming too much for you, you don't have to continue. We can find another way."

Adela shook her head. "That isn't necessary. I can do this." Adela took a deep breath. Sirius started to get up, but Adela waved him away. "Hormones are just messing with my head, that's all. I'm fine. Umm, who's next?"

Fabian Prewett got up from his seat beside his brother in the back of the classroom. "I'll do it," he declared. Adela nodded quickly as her ex-boyfriend crossed the room to stand in front of her. She raised her wand and cast the spell.

Flashes of memories passed in front of Adela's eyes. She watched as Fabian and Gideon battled side by side against Death Eaters in the streets of Muggle villages, protecting the innocent with ease as their enemies struggled to stay on their feet. The scene changed to the inside of a house, where Fabian played on the floor with his one-year-old twin nephews and Gideon occupied the older Weasley children in the background, the sight of it making Adela smile. Another memory switch, and Adela was watching Fabian and herself in his bed, naked and sweaty. Adela forced her way deeper into his mind, finding herself watching the Prewett brothers sitting on their sofa in the living room of their home. Fabian looked as though he had been crying. "I never wanted to lose her, Gideon. Why did she have to leave?"

Gideon shook his head. "You wanted two different things, Fabian. It wasn't fair to ask her to give up her dreams just to stay with you."

Fabian stood up, throwing the empty bottle of firewhiskey against the opposite wall, shattering it. "I'd never ask her to do that!" he roared. "She wants to get married and have kids, then fine; that's what she wants. Maybe that was never something I wanted, but I could've changed my mind! I would have changed my mind for her." Fabian sunk back down to his seat on the couch, crumpling under the weight of his obvious sorrow. "Now Black's gotten her pregnant. I'll never get the chance to win her back now; she'll never leave him now."

Gideon flinched at the anger in his brother's voice. "Come on, mate. Try to be happy for her. Black makes her happy; isn't it good enough that she's happy?"

Fabian shook his head, seemingly wrestling with himself. He groaned. "Of course I want her to be happy. I just wish…" He hesitated. "I just wish it had been me. I wish it had been me that had gotten her pregnant, before she left me. I love her, Gideon. I would've married her; I would've been thrilled to have been a father with her. It wasn't ever anything I wanted for my life, but with her, it all just seems so different."

Gideon sighed. "You still love her." Fabian nodded.

This time, Adela didn't feel any attempts to force her out of the man's memories. There was no pain in her head; just the anger that was filling her heart. As Fabian's face with his sad eyes swam into focus, Adela threw a Cruciatus Curse at him, making Fabian dropped to his hands and knees with a yelp. Sirius and Gideon jumped to their feet almost simultaneously. Sirius called, "Adela!"

The angry witch looked up at her boyfriend, fury blazing in her eyes. The worried look in Sirius's eyes was enough to bring Adela back to her senses. Releasing Fabian from the Unforgiveable Curse, Adela ran as fast as she could out of the room. She darted down the various flights of stairs, finding herself in the entrance hall of the school before anyone caught up with her. She felt a hand grab her by the elbow, and she spun around to face the owner of the hand. Fabian stood there, eyes filled with sorrow. "Adela, please; let me explain."

"How dare you?" Adela screamed at him. "How could you do this to me? You knew that those memories would be in the forefront of your mind. You weren't even trying to push me out of your head, or to even protect any of your memories from me. You knew I'd see all of that! How could you do that? As if things weren't already complicated for me, you just had to pile that on top of everything else, didn't you? What are you trying to do here, Fabian?"

Fabian shook his head and shouted back, "I don't know, Adela! I don't know what I thought would come out of this, but I thought you deserved to know how much I love you." Adela moved her wand arm to cast another spell over him, but Fabian grabbed her wrist and stopped her. He shook her, a bit more roughly than necessary. "You don't have to stay with Black," he announced blatantly. "I love you so much; I don't care that it's Black's baby. I'd love you and that baby more than you could ever even expect from Black. I'd take care of you both and protect you and keep you safe; you'd never have to worry about anything ever again. Your family would never come near you again; no one would ever hurt you or that little baby. You've seen it yourself; I've changed my mind. I never wanted any of that family stuff until you. Please, just let me love you; let me take care of you again."

Adela slapped him hard across his cheek. He rubbed at the tender spot she left on his jaw as Adela spotted Sirius running down the stairs behind Fabian. She leaned in close to Fabian and hissed, "Just stay away from me." Adela turned and ran out of the entrance hall out onto the grounds of Hogwarts. She could hear Sirius yelling after her, but she didn't stop running until she reached the gate of the school. There, she summoned her broomstick, and flew the rest of the way to Hogsmeade. Stepping inside the Three Broomsticks, Adela sat down at the bar. "Butterbeer, please," she muttered.

The bartender brought her the drink, which she sipped at slowly as her stomach churned with anxiety. Suddenly, a voice behind her sent shivers down her spine. "Why, Rabastan, if it isn't our dearest little sister." Adela gripped her glass tighter as her two brothers took seats on either side of her. She cringed ever so slightly as Rodolphus casually tossed his arm around her shoulder. "We hear congratulations are in order," Rodolphus continued. "Are the rumors true, dear sister? Are you pregnant with that blood traitor Black's child?"

Adela nodded slowly as her free hand gripped her wand. "A pureblood Black child, at long last," Rabastan cooed. "Perhaps not the Black we had been hoping, but a pureblood, nonetheless. After all, this child can still be raised to be a proper pureblood, even if its parents are filthy blood traitors." Adela visibly flinched at the reminder of the words carved into her side by her ex-fiancé. "Of course, you can always come home, Adela. Claim the child was fathered by Regulus, that you've realized what a fool you've been. You and the child will be protected, of course. You'd never be marked a Death Eater most likely. You've been a blood traitor far too long for the Dark Lord to ever properly trust you again with such delicate tasks, but you'd still marry Regulus, and he'd willingly enough father more pureblood children with you —"

Adela sighed in frustration and jumped off the barstool, stepping out from under Rodolphus's arm and pointing her wand at her brothers. "All right, I think I've heard enough," she said. "I'm sick of you two and your pureblood crap. I've heard more of it than I can stand. I've tried so hard to continue to love you two, in spite of all of the terrible things you've done to me, but I'm done. I'm done with you two. I know the truth about Mum and Dad; don't keep trying to lie to me about it. I know they were killed by dragons on their trip to Bulgaria last year; since they're not around anymore, I have no reason to put up with you two anymore, understand?" The LeStrange men stared at their sister, shock written all over their faces, their wands out, but hardly ready to attack. Adela continued, "I'm never coming back, and I'm done playing nice about it. You or any of your friends ever try to touch me, my baby, or Sirius Black ever again, and I will not hesitate to use what you two taught me to hunt down and kill each and every one of you, you hear me?" Adela glanced in the mirror behind the bar and noticed a blonde man slowly maneuvering into an ideal position to attack Adela. She yelled across the room, her wand never leaving her brothers, "And don't think I don't see you back there, Lucius Malfoy, you dirty little snake! Incarcerous!" Ropes flew from the tip of Adela's wand as she waved it quickly in Lucius's general direction, tying up Lucius, who fell unceremoniously to the floor.

Sirius burst through the door of the Three Broomsticks, out of breath. Observing the scene before him, fear for Adela's safety shone clearly in his eyes. He threw a Stunning Spell at the corner of the room opposite Lucius, closest to the door, where Bellatrix had lurked unseen. Bellatrix saw his spell coming and fled, disapparating to avoid the spell. Sirius's eyes continued to scan the room as he called out to Adela, "Are you ok?"

Adela smirked at her brothers as she answered. "I'm just fine. Come on, Sirius; let's go home."

Sirius nodded, and Adela lowered her wand, sauntering over to where Sirius stood. As Adela tossed a haughty smirk over her shoulder at her brothers, Sirius wrapped a protective arm around her, steering her away from the tavern and back in the direction of the castle. When Sirius felt they were a safe enough distance away from the LeStrange brothers, Sirius pulled Adela to a stop and wrapped her in a tight embrace. "What the hell happened?"

Adela shook her head, or at least as much as she could with Sirius crushing her to his chest. "I don't want to talk about it," she said softly.

Sirius protested, "But Prewett and then your brothers…"

Adela said, more firmly this time, "I'm not going to talk about it, Sirius. That's all there is to it."

Sirius scowled. "Fine, then you'll just listen. I don't know what you saw inside Prewett's head that pissed you off so much, but whatever it was, it wasn't worth casting any Unforgiveable Curse on him, you got that? Don't you ever do that to any of the Order ever again." Sirius paused, waiting for a response. When Adela only pulled away from him and glared at him, Sirius continued, "As far as whatever that was back in the Three Broomsticks goes, I just want you to know that you can talk to me about it, ok? I'm so relieved that you were able to hold your own back there. You have no idea how terrified I was for you and the baby when I walked in back there. I'm so proud of you for standing up to them like that."

Adela's face softened some. She sighed and allowed Sirius to take hold of her hand. "I'm sorry for putting a Cruciatus Curse on Fabian, but I'm still pissed at him." Sirius raised a curious eyebrow at her. She shook her head. "I still don't want to talk about what I saw in his memories." Sirius started to protest, but then nodded slowly. "I can't do that to Fabian again, though."

Sirius gently brushed a stray piece of brown hair out of Adela's eyes. "You don't have to," he said softly. "No one's going to make you." He pressed his lips to her forehead. "It's been a long day. Go home, little hummingbird; lay down and get some rest. You can start teaching the Order that stuff again tomorrow. I'll go back and tell the others that you're exhausted and things will pick back up tomorrow."

Adela leaned on Sirius, allowing him to support her weight with his body. He hugged her again. "Are you sure that's ok?"

Sirius smiled down at her. "Of course, sweetheart."

Adela nodded slowly, abruptly feeling very tired as the sun began to set behind the trees. She squeezed Sirius's hand, then released him and disapparated back to their flat. Stepping inside the flat, Adela walked over to the couch and collapsed, laying down on the piece of furniture. She picked up the flipper off the coffee table and turned the telly on to something called the Muppet Show. Adela was just starting to doze off when she heard a crack outside the front door that jolted her awake. She sat up, startled, her wand aimed at the door. The door unlocked and swung open, and in stepped Sirius, his wavy black hair dripping wet from the rain that had started outside. Sirius smiled sweetly at his pregnant girlfriend, whose hand rested protectively over her stomach. Adela breathed a sigh of relief when she saw Sirius, visibly relaxing. "Hey," Adela said.

Sirius chuckled as he stepped inside the door, running a hand through his wet hair. "Hey, sweetheart," he said with a smile. "Are you feeling any better?"

Adela scooted over to make room for Sirius on the couch. He sat down beside her as she said, "Not really, just a lot more sleepy than before."

Wrapping one arm around her shoulders and using the other to hold Adela's small hands, Sirius curled up on the couch with his girlfriend. Adela rested her head on his chest, content, and yawned. "Well, you can't go to sleep just yet. You've got to eat something first; we've got to keep you and that little boy in you strong, you know," Sirius said with a wink.

Adela laughed softly. "What makes you think it's a boy?"

Sirius grinned mischievously. "I don't know; I just know that little baby is going to be a boy."

Adela smiled and shook her head. "I'm not so sure about that, but if you say so."

Sirius watched her face as his attempt to cheer her up slowly worked its charm. He forced Adela to sit up as he asked, "What would you like for dinner?"

An hour later, the couple found themselves sitting at the kitchen table eating shepherd's pie. About halfway through her plate of food, Adela had suddenly stopped eating and began more playing with her food than anything else. Sirius watched her sudden change in demeanor with concern. He gently covered her hand with his. "You ok?"

"Oh, yeah, sure."

Sirius stared at her for a few moments, worried. "Adela," he admonished gently. "Tell me what's going on."

Adela sighed. "It's nothing; just feeling kind of sick. No big deal."

Sirius frowned and squeezed her hand. "Adela, if you're getting sick, you should go see a Healer."

Adela shook her head. "It's not that; it's just morning sickness. Except I'm not just getting sick in the mornings, I'm getting sick all day long. I'll be ok."

Sirius watched her for a moment longer. "Ok," he accepted. "Just let me know if something feels wrong, ok?" Adela nodded.