Chapter 21- Saint Mungo's
Adelaide's parents arrived precisely on time Saturday evening via the floo of Dumbledore's office. The old and spritely wizard quickly led them to the hospital wing infirmary where their daughter was curled up next to a rather fluffy purple stuffed animal.
"Why is he here." Cathryn Fawley spat. Her cold shrill voice was practically oozing with venom and contempt for the curly haired boy laying atop the next bed.
Sirius awoke from his peaceful nap to a much less serene sight. Standing next to the great bearded headmaster were two older adults, both dressed in fine black robes with looks of disapproval stitched upon their faces.
"As I told you before Mrs Fawley, young Mr Black has been instrumental in the care of your daughter since she became ill." Dumbledore said in a calm, almost innocent voice.
Cathryn Fawley assumed that he was referring to Regulus when he mentioned this information in his letter. Filip Fawley, however, knew better.
"Why was a child allowed to administer care to my daughter? Don't you have staff for those types of things?" Cathryn said in a would-be-polite voice, if it weren't for the fury blazing in her hazel green eyes.
"I'm not a child! I'm thirteen, thank you very much." Grumbled Sirius, causing Dumbledore to smile just slightly.
"We certainly have staff!" Said Poppy, bursting into the conversation with two detestable potion vials in her hands.
"Oh Poppy, you're going to put Addy in a bad mood with those if you don't have some pumpkin juice for her to chase them down with." Sirius told the flustered healer with a smirk.
"I'm well aware. Why don't you go fetch them from the office for me Mr Black." She told the boy who was all too eager to help.
"Hmmm.. and you say that the boy has been by her side the whole week?" Mr. Fawley asked the headmaster.
"Yes, yes. Very precocious boy, severely lacking in manners..." Madam Pomfrey answered for the headmaster, "but an immense help. I swear he knows that girl better than himself." She said chuckling softly as she looked at the small girl. "Between him and his hoard of mischief makers, she has been very well taken care of."
"Hoard of mischief makers?" Mrs Fawley repeated incredulously.
"Oh I'm sure Adelaide's told you all about them. She and those boys are inseparable I tell you. They must have been here earlier by the look of it..." Madam Pomfrey said giving a disapproving look at the candy wrappers and half eaten jelly beans strewn across the floor. "But the boy's brother comes often as well. Always brings her flowers. It's very sweet." She told them with a smile. The last bit seemed to calm the angry Mrs Fawley by a fraction.
"Here you go!" Sirius said re-entering the room, placing the bottle of pumpkin juice on the table beside Adelaide. "You probably should get some more, this was the only one I could find." He told Poppy. "Do you want me to wake her up?" He asked.
"Well I don't see Miss Evans coming anytime soon!" She said with a laugh as Sirius smirked.
"Addy... Addykins..." he said, gently shaking her awake.
"Padfoot. For the last time. Stop. Shaking. Me. Awake." She said grumpily, peaking her eyes open and throwing Doris at him.
Mr and Mrs Fawley looked confused.
"This is normal.. better than normal actually.." Madam Pomfrey informed them quietly, referring to their daughter's temperamental nature upon waking.
"Ads. Um. You have visitors..." Sirius whispered to his half-asleep best friend.
"Whaa?" She said turning over in her bed. She reflexively hid under the covers when she saw the headmaster, her parents, and Poppy staring at her. "Oh... um hello." She said, peaking out. It was now apparent that she had dark purple circles under her eyes, a pale and sickly tinge to her face, and a feebleness in her movements.
Madam Pomfrey wasted no time at all. She hurriedly gave the girl pepper-up potion and something for motion sickness so that she could handle the portkey ride to Saint Mungo's. "All ready to go now I suppose." She said handing the grimacing girl the bottle of pumpkin juice.
"When do we leave?" Asked Sirius.
"We?!" Exclaimed Mrs Fawley. Sirius gave Dumbledore a look.
"It is my opinion, and the opinion of Madam Pomfrey, that Mr. Black should accompany Miss Fawley." Dumbledore said kindly.
Mrs Fawley was outraged. "Absolutely not! I won't have a- a Bloo-"
"He may come." Mr Fawley said impassively, cutting off his blithering wife.
"Filip!" She exclaimed to her husband who gave her a look that seemed to communicate something no one else understood.
"He may come with us." He said finally.
Upon their arrival at Saint Mungo's, Adelaide was admitted and placed into a private room on the second floor for the treatment of 'magical bugs'. Her parents, not to be thought cheap in any way, insisted upon the nicest room available. There was a large squashy chair beside her bed, and across the room was a table and chairs, and a large couch. The large windows were framed by billowy white curtains and the floor adorned with a soft white shag rug.
Sirius took up residence upon the large squashy chair like a moth to a flame.
"Ads," Sirius whispered once they were settled, "do they always look like that?" he asked looking at her parents sitting at the table. Her mother was flipping through a copy of Witch Weekly, while her father read through different reports for work.
"Do they always look like what?" she asked.
"Like they just smelled something particularly terrible." he said with all sincerity. Adelaide snorted a laugh. It was a very keen observation.
There was a soft knock on the door announcing the arrival of the healer. She was an older witch with grey hair twisted up neatly, wearing lime-green robes with an emblem embroidered on her chest: a wand and bone, crossed. "Ah! You must be little miss Adelaide! My name is Healer Oystein," She said kindly to the girl with a jolly smile. "And.. who are you young man?" She asked curiously.
"Sirius Black. I'm Addy's best friend." He said with a wide smile, giving a purposeful glance at Mr Fawley, who happened to be slightly glaring at him.
"Oh! You are the one Poppy mentioned! You have the makings of a rather talented healer from what I hear Mr Black." She said with a cheery laugh. Adelaide liked this lady very much. "Now, Miss Adelaide, I understand that you have a very curious case of the Horribilis Flu." The woman began, addressing her parents as well. "we have had a few severe cases come through this year, but we should be able to get you up and back at school in no time!" She said giving a wink to Sirius. "Now, first thing is first, lets get your vitals..." she said. Healer Oystein began to conduct many different non-verbal spells with her wand, marking notes every so often upon the clipboard she held.
"Alright, well I have everything I need, I will have the fellows down in Potions whip you up something special." She told Adelaide before turning to her parents. "She should be discharged within a day or two if all goes well." She said brightly as the two parents nodded curtly.
"Hey Ads! I brought you something!" Sirius whispered with a smirk as soon as Healer Oystein left and her parents went back to whatever it was they were doing. "Well... someone..." he said pulling out the purple plushy.
"Oh Dorris! I didn't think you made the trip!" Addy giggle then yawned.
"Get some rest Tufts," Sirius told Adelaide while gently patting her head. She nodded lazily and fell asleep within minutes. Sirius made himself at home in the squashy chair beside her and pulled out a Quidditch magazine he had borrowed from James... or was it Mary?
"Sirius, may I speak with you privately for a moment?" Mr. Fawley said while Sirius was half way through reading about the Chuddly Cannons miserable defeat last week.
"Why?" Sirius asked, a frown at his brow as he looked over to Adelaide curled up with Dorris the purple plushy. He didn't like leaving her.
"It will only take a moment." He said, sounding almost reassuring. Odd. Sirius hesitantly walked with him out of the room, and out into a quiet part of the hall where he faced the tall man.
"I wanted to thank you." Mr. Fawley said sincerely.
"Wait what?!" Sirius asked incredulously. He had half expected him to curse him, maybe verbally assault him... but thank him? This was a complete shock. Mr. Fawley hated Sirius... or so he thought.
"I wanted to thank you for taking care of my Adelaide." Mr. Fawley said calmly whilst Sirius looked at him, still completely dumbstruck. Mr Fawley took a deep breath, slightly amused by the boy's reaction (not that he would show that). "I know this may come as a shock to you, but I genuinely care about my daughter's well being." He said sincerely.
"W-whaa..." Sirius still couldn't find the right words. He could hardly believe that this was Mr. Fawley speaking these words. This had to be some sort of trick.
"That being said, I find it prudent to tell you that she is soon to be betrothed to another." Mr. Fawley told the curly haired boy, blue eyes boring into him.
"Woah woah woah! It's-it's not like that!" Sirius told him quickly as he realized what he was implying. "She's my best friend! That's all!" He clarified defensively.
Mr. Fawley closed his eyes briefly and nodded... not at all convinced. "Be that as it may, I believe your friendship with her will only cause her future anguish. So please, for Adelaide's sake, I ask that you keep your distance." He said sternly.
"I'm afraid I can't do that sir." Sirius said shaking his head, crossing his arms over his chest in defiance.
"I figured you would say as much." Mr Fawley told the boy with a sigh. "You will keep your distance from her." He stated firmly. "I'm sure you are well aware of my wife's preferred form of discipline... and I'm sure you would never wish Adelaide to go through something like that for your sake again." He said in a deadly cold and quiet voice. "So, I will say this again. You will keep your distance from Adelaide." He said finally.
Sirius didn't know what to say, so he glared at the manipulative man with fierce grey eyes of defiance.
"However," Mr Fawley began with a contrived light hearted voice. "you might be able to keep your friendship with my daughter... if you were to rethink some of your more dangerous ideologies." Mr. Fawley said with a sickly sweet smile. "If, by some miracle, you were to correct your perspective concerning certain matters of importance, you would be a welcome part in Adelaide's life." He said. "You would be able to protect her without any interference." He finished with a triumphantly smug look.
Filip Fawley knew that Adelaide was Sirius's weakness. He knew this because she was his own weakness.
Sirius stared in bewilderment at the man who had once again left him completely dumbstruck. He couldn't let Adelaide go through the horrors inflicted upon her at Christmas. But he also couldn't compromise his own beliefs for her sake; she wouldn't want him to. If Mr Fawley's intention was to mess with his head, he had clearly achieved his goal.
"I'll leave you to think about my proposition." Filip Fawley said, leaving the boy alone in the hall of Saint Mungo's. Sirius leaned against the wall and slid down to sit on the marble hospital floor, running his hands through his hair. What was he going to do?
Meanwhile, Adelaide had awoken from her nap and was slightly panicked when she didn't see Sirius. "W-Where's Sirius?" She asked looking around the room.
"He's in the hall with your father." Mrs Fawley informed the girl, not looking up from her magazine, just as Mr. Fawley walked back into the room... alone.
"Where is he!?" she asked her father, panic in her eyes. For a moment, a small fleeting moment, as he looked into the forest green eyes of his daughter, Filip Fawley wondered if he had made the right decision.