Chapter 49- So, What's the Verdict?
Adelaide arrived in her first Arithmancy class just seconds before the bell rang. She slid into the seat beside Remus and behind Lily, breathing heavy and fumbling to find her book out of her bag.
"Ads... what happened?! What did Dumbledore say?! You shouldn't have stuck up for me like that..." he whispered quickly.
"I'll explain everything later, but yes. I should have." she hissed back.
The class went by quicker than expected, probably because Adelaide actually found it interesting being able to predict the future in such a precise and measurable way. However, as interesting as it may have been, she was still annoyed to find out they already had homework the first day of class.
"Addy, we can work on it together..." Lily said as they left the class.
Adelaide groaned. "But why do they always have to muck up interesting classes by giving us homework in the first place? LILY WHY!?"
"You've obviously spent way too much time around Black." Lily giggled.
"Huh?"
"You're just so... dramatic this year. I mean you screamed at a teacher this morning Adelaide!"
"That git deserved it..." Adelaide grumbled.
Lily put her hands up in defense. "Never said he didn't! He was out of line. But, Last- Year-Addy wouldn't have called him out on it like that... Sirius might have though." she shrugged.
Adelaide continued to ponder this as the girls made their way toward the great hall for lunch. Was she different? Had she really changed that much? She thought, if anything she was just being more herself...
"ADDYKINS!" screamed a curly headed boy, running full steam ahead toward the petite blonde.
"Oomf! PADFOOT! PUT ME DOWN!" she squealed as he picked her up and spun her around in a hug. "PUT ME DOWN! YOU'RE MAKING ME DIZZY!" she laughed.
Sirius set her down gingerly. "You were bloody amazing back there!" he beamed, sitting in the seat beside her at the long table (she blushed slightly). "How bad is your detention?"
"Well Dumbledore didn't actually give me detention..." she said hesitantly.
"What?! Really?! That's great!" exclaimed James, as Peter beamed from where they were seated across from them.
Remus frowned from where he was sitting beside James. "But you were in there for a while... What did he say?"
Adelaide looked down, poking at her fish and chips with her fork and shrugged.
"Addy. That's not an answer." Sirius whispered.
"I'm aware of that." she mumbled.
Sirius's eyes darkened with concern. She was hiding something, but he figured she just didn't want to talk about it out in the open.
"We can talk about it later if you want." Sirius said thoughtfully. Adelaide nodded, still pushing around bits of fried fish.
After a long Transfiguration lesson, a lovely nap during History of Magic, and a delicious plate of roast beef at dinner, Adelaide went with the boys back to Gryffindor tower... slowly.
"I swear you are just going slow to bug me." Sirius said, trying to drag her up the stairs. Adelaide smirked. "You are, aren't you!?"
"That's only part of the reason!" she laughed. "I also just hate climbing all these stairs..." she grumbled, looking up to him in hopes of a piggy back ride.
Sirius rolled his eyes, smiling. "FINE! I'll carry your lazy self up,"
"YES!" She cheered.
"BUT! I have one condition." he smirked.
Adelaide pouted. "Fine, what is it?"
His smirk widened. "You have to let Snuffles come up to the girls dorm."
"WHAT?! NO! WHY?!"
"I can't sleep Addy! You got me all spoiled in that stupid fluffy bed of yours! I was up all night!"
Adelaide rolled her eyes. "No."
"Come on Addy!"
"No."
"But the stairs! You hate the stairs!"
"Not happening. You'll just have to make due with not sleeping and having me take forever."
Sirius furrowed his eyebrows in frustration. How was he on the losing end of this? "Ugh! Get up then!" he said, leaning down for her to hop on his back. Adelaide hesitated. "No condition. This is just me being a gentleman. Now hurry up before I change my mind and leave you here!"
Adelaide hopped on without a second thought.
"The common room looks different from up here." she commented as they entered through the portrait hole. "I like it."
"Ads? What are you doing?" Remus asked with a bit more hostility than really necessary.
"Sirius gave me a piggy back ride." she said with a laugh, she thought it was obvious. "I didn't want to climb all the stairs."
Remus rolled his eyes and muttered something under his breath. Sirius eyed him curiously. "What's got you all moody Moony?" he asked ruffling his sandy hair.
Remus huffed. "Take a wild guess."
Adelaide slipped off of Sirius's back and walked over to the teenage werewolf. "It'll be better this time." she said giving him a reassuring smile.
"Yeah... maybe... So you gonna tell us what Dumbledore said?"
Sirius watched as Adelaide looked down, fiddling with the sleeve of her robes. "Why don't we go upstairs?" he suggested. Adelaide nodded in a agreement and followed the two up to the boys dorm.
"What took you lot so long!?" James cried out, throwing a pillow in the newcomers general direction. "Pete and I have been here for ages!"
"Addykins was moving at a glacial pace." Sirius shrugged, flopping onto his bed and grabbing some Every Flavor Beans from his night stand. He popped an apple flavored bean in his mouth then threw an algae flavored one at Adelaide.
"Hey! I did not come up here to be pelted with your reject beans!" she complained.
"You're right. You came up here to tell us what Dumbledore said." Sirius smirked.
Adelaide scrunched up her nose in frustration. "Ugh! Move over!"
Adelaide sat cross legged at the foot of Sirius's bed, fiddling with the hem of her sleeve, and quietly recounted the discussion she'd had with the old wizard who offered to help her control her wandless magic... and how he tried to read her thoughts... and how she subsequently called him out on it.
"I knew it! I knew he could do Legilimency!" Sirius said passionately.
"Shush! Let her finish!" Jame said, waving his hand wildly at his curly headed best friend.
"So, then he said something about there being more to me than meets the eye... not sure what that meant. But he apologized for trying to read my thoughts and offered to tutor me in Occlumency in addition to doing wandless magic."
"And?! You're going to do it right?!" James asked. "I mean, this is a chance to take private lessons from freaking Albus Dumbledore!"
"I- I told him I would think about it." she said softly, bracing herself for the backlash.
"WHAT?! WHAT IS THERE TO THINK ABOUT?!" James hollered.
"Addy! He's possibly the greatest wizard on earth and he's offering to tutor you!" Peter exclaimed.
"I know that! I just... I dunno. I just get a weird vibe from the whole thing."
Sirius moved to sit beside her. "This is because of Riddle, isn't it?" he said quietly.
Adelaide looked up to see Sirius's grey eyes looking at her with a striking amount of intensity. "Well... Yes." She sighed as the others gave her looks of confusion. "I mean, he and riddle aren't all that different. They both didn't give me a second look until they realized I was more capable than they thought, they both tried to read my mind, and now they both want to tutor me. I know for a fact that Riddle wants to use me for some weird reason, and if I'm honest, that's the same vibe I got from Dumbledore."
Remus pursed his lips, thinking hard about what he was about to say. "Look, I know you don't trust Dumbledore, especially after he did basically nothing to help you when he found out about your family. But Ads, this is a really great opportunity, plus he could help you keep Riddle out of your head if you ever see him again."
"I mean... You make a good point... But I still need to think about it..." she said quietly. The boys sensed how uncomfortable she was and just let the matter drop for the moment, changing the subject to planning their prank against Dollie.
That Friday afternoon, after the first week of classes came to a much anticipated end, Adelaide found herself sitting on Mary's bed flipping through one of her Quidditch Magazines, avoiding Lily Evans's nagging for her to do their Arithmancy homework together.
Mary looked over at her friend and half-heartedly asked the same question she had posed for a majority of the year before. "Sooo, you going to try out for Quidditch this year?"
"Yeah." Adelaide said casually, flipping to a 'Where are they now?' story about former Holyhead Harpies seeker Glynnis Griffiths.
Mary perked up. "Wait... WHAT?! REALLY?!"
"Well, yeah... Didn't I tell you this?"
"NO! NO YOU DID NOT TELL ME THIS!" Mary squealed, flailing her long willowy limbs around wildly.
Adelaide gave her a guilty smile. "Erm... well yeah. I practiced all summer with Sirius."
Mary smiled knowingly. "I bet that was fun... Having him around all summer..."
"As a matter of fact it was, but not because of that."
Mary smirked. "I saw him give you a piggy back ride up the stairs the other day..."
"I was tired!"
"Mmhmm... Sure you were..." She said slyly.
"Mar, I told you that you couldn't tease me about that! Besides, I don't even like him like that anymore." she lied rather convincingly.
Mary made a puzzled expression. "I can't tell if you're lying or not."
Adelaide smirked.
"You are lying! You lurrrvvvv him– OW!" She exclaimed as Adelaide threw Dorris at her face. "Fine! I'll stop! Geez... We need to get you on the quidditch pitch so you can direct all this aggression towards something that isn't my face." she huffed.
"No worries, I'm practicing with James all day tomorrow."
Mary grinned and squealed in delight. "I'm just so excited to see you out there! You know, I asked McGonnagall, and she said I could try being commentator for the first game!"
"WHAT?! Oh Merlin, I can see it now!" Adelaide stood up on the bed, looking off into some imaginary Quidditch game going on somewhere near Lily and Marlene's beds. "Captain dreamy, Blake Wood, fires a well placed bludger toward that git of a Puff Gudgeon Oh, and he's down folks! Now here comes that cheeky Mr. Potter, eying that prat of a puff Edgar Bones... the Quaffles in the air... and... SCORE!" she said in her 'announcer voice', pointing toward nothing in particular as Mary was rolling on her side laughing. "And here comes the myth, the legend, and sassiest Marauder of them all, Adelaide Fawley, for the shot to tie the game! Been telling her to try out for years folks!" she exclaimed, jumping up and down, flailing her arms around just as Marlene walked into the dorm.
"What the hell are you doing?" she asked incredulously.
"Commentating the game." Adelaide answered calmly and unflinchingly.
"What game?"
"The one over there?" Adelaide replied, pointing toward Marlene and Lily's beds.
Marlene's eyes shot over to the beds, then she rolled her eyes as she went to grab the book she forgot. "You two are so weird." she muttered with a slight smile the other two couldn't see as she left.
"I don't care what Marlene says, that was awesome! If by some tragedy you don't make the team, you can have my job as commentator!" Mary laughed, wiping away tears.
"Good to have a back-up plan I suppose." She shrugged.
Adelaide sat with Regulus and Evan at breakfast the next morning, munching on her waffles, and listening with amusement as the two boys bickered about whether or not The Appleby Arrows were a better team than The Wimbourne Wasps.
"Addy! You ready to go?!" James asked with a big smile as he came up to her and her slithery friends. "Oh hey Reg!" He said, ruffling his hair.
Regulus patted his hair back down and mumbled a 'hi' back quietly, then glanced toward some other Slytherins who were eyeing the interaction with suspicion.
"Nearly, you can sit with us for a bit while I finish eating if you want!"
James noticed the unfriendly faces all around, including Snivellus. "Uhhh... How about you just come find me when your done? I'll wait for you back by our table... need to go ask Evans something anyway." He said with an uneasy smile.
"Oh. Um alright... see you in a few." She said softly, waving as he made his way back to the Gryffindor table, then slumping down in her seat beside Regulus.
Evan Rosier leaned over the table to whisper to the girl. "Ads, he didn't leave because of you... he left because of them." he said quietly, nodding his head toward a huddle of sour faced Slytherins a little further down the table.
Adelaide looked over and frowned. "Oh."
After she finished up her breakfast she went over by the Marauder boys to wait for James, who was currently begging Lily Evans to go to the Hogsmead weekend... that hadn't been announced yet.
"He wastes no time at all, does he?" she chuckled sitting beside a rather pale Remus and across from Sirius.
Remus smirked. "He's only doing that because he heard Bertha Jorkins gossiping, saying that Davey Gudgeon was going to ask her."
"Bertha's an idiot." Sirius scoffed.
"So is Davey! He tried to poke the Whomping Willow just for the hell of it! He nearly lost an eye!" Adelaide exclaimed.
"Sort of sounds like something James would do though..." Sirius countered.
"Yeah, but James isn't an idiot."
"That's possibly the nicest thing you've ever said about me Tufts!" James said, clapping her on the back as he returned from pestering Lily.
"So, what's the verdict?" Remus asked smirking.
"Her mouth said no... but her eyes said maybe." he said confidently. "You ready to go now Ads?"
Sirius looked back and forth between the two. "Wait. Where are you going?"
"Oh, James said he would help me train for Quidditch tryouts!" she explained happily.
Sirius knew that it was great that she was practicing with James, especially since he was already a chaser for the team, but he felt a little disappointed that she hadn't asked him to help her... After all, it was sort of their thing.
Adelaide seemed to read the hurt on his face. "Pads, you okay?"
Sirius instantly plastered a smile that Adelaide didn't find quite genuine. "I'm fine. You two go have fun!"
"Will do! Oh! And Padfoot... don't forget, tonight's the night..." she whispered, nodding to Remus.
Adelaide and James walked onto the Quidditch pitch, breathing in the crisp morning air.
"Ah! Alrighty Coach! What's first?!"
"Run five laps around the pitch." he said instantly.
Adelaide looked at him in horror. "W-what?"
"HOP TO IT FAWLEY!" he said clapping his hands and chasing her.
Adelaide jumped in surprise, then ran, begrudgingly. She made it about two and a half laps around then started whining and holding the stitch in her side. "POTTER... I... CAME TO... LEARN QUIDDITCH... NOT TO FEEL LIKE I WAS DYING!" she shouted between labored breaths.
"OH FINE! YOU CAN BE DONE NOW YOU LAZY CAT!"
"I'M NOT A CAT!" she replied reflexively, internally cringing.
James smirked. "YOU SURE ABOUT THAT TUFTS?" he laughed.
After Adelaides slow walk back to the middle of the field, she mounted her broom, kicking off like a rocket into the air. "Alright Prongsy! Teach me your ways!"
James went through a variety of maneuvers and strategies, most of which she had already learned from Sirius, then practiced passing the Quaffle, making penalty shots, and flying some routes until it was nearly dinner.
"Prongsy... I'm tired." she whined.
"Sorry princess, you aren't getting any piggy back rides from me." he laughed.
"UGH! JAMES PLEASE!?"
"No!" he chuckled.
Adelaide pouted... walking at an annoyingly slow pace... entirely on purpose.
"Come on! You can't be that tired!"
"I am though! I think I'm dying! I can see the light ahead! Tell Dorris I love her!" She exclaimed melodramatically, reaching her arms out into the distance.
"Ugh! Fine you lazy house cat! But only because you're going to need your energy with Moony tonight!"
