A/N: Hello! I'm here with a second story! I will still be updating The Oddity of the Bond, which I estimate has less than 10 chapters left, but wanted to get this story started while I was inspired.
This will likely be a shorter story, and is already mostly planned out - in terms of major plot points. I hope you enjoy!
Adeline Yarbury was not ready to face the music. Not after what had happened after breakfast this morning. As hard as she tried to hide it, it was hard to ignore the fact that your brother was a raging prejudiced, git when he was hexing your best friend right in front of you.
Finnegan had inherited all of the parts of her family that she wished didn't exist – the dark, ugly, entitled parts that had come out in full force over the last several years. Ever since Voldemort had started gaining followers, her family had decided their time of keeping their less politically correct opinions quiet, had ended. Adeline's father came from an old, pure-blood family; when his father, her grandfather, had passed away during her second year, her father had inherited everything. Her mother was a distant relative of the Lestranges, her ancestors having immigrated with the Lestranges from France during the mid-1800s. Both of her parents full-heartedly agreed with Voldemort that muggles were scum; it bothered them to no end that Adeline, a Gryffindor, had become best friends with Mary Macdonald and Lily Evans, two muggle-born girls in her year. Of course, it bothered them immensely that she hadn't been sorted in to Slytherin, as well, but they could have ignored that had she chosen more suitable friends.
Adeline's brother, Finnegan had been sorted in to Slytherin, and was their parent's pride and joy. He was two years older than Adeline, finishing up his seventh and final year at Hogwarts. Adeline couldn't wait for the day she could walk down the halls without hearing whispers of the horrible thing her bother had done that day. He was a part of a group of Slytherins that did terrible things to students; they practiced dark magic and were always in trouble for one thing or another. It had become apparent in the last year that Finn planned on joining Voldemort once he graduated; nothing Adeline did to plead with him made any difference. He was lost to her.
"You know, Dellie," he had said, his mouth turned down in to a taunting sneer. She bristled at his use of her childhood nickname; nobody called her Dellie anymore. The name caused red hot tremors to run through her body, angry that the brother she had known and relied on as a child, the brother who had called her Dellie because Adeline was too hard to pronounce, the brother who had taught her how to fly, had become a distorted and broken version of himself.
"If you weren't such good friends with this mudblood," he'd continued, spitting the slur at Mary as though it meant nothing. "We wouldn't even be here. As it stands, the boys and I think you need a little reminder of the pedigree that you hold. Don't you agree, boys?"
He'd turned back to his group of Slytherin thugs, who all shouted their agreement. Mulciber and Avery, two sixth year Slytherins that Adeline's brother had taken to hanging around, shouted in particular glee at the prospect of attacking Mary.
"Finn," Adeline had pleaded. "Please don't do this – Mary is my friend. Doesn't that mean anything to you?
"Not when she's filling your precious little head with lies. The mudblood certainly knows how to get in your head, huh? Has you all convinced that she's just as good as you are, eh? What do you lot say…should we see if mud really does run through her veins?"
"Finn!" She'd shouted, as he raised his wand. He'd hit Mary with a curse that she didn't recognize. Mary had screamed as she'd fallen against the wall that she had been cowering against, her left arm cut down to the bone, blood falling freely from the open wound.
"Shame," Mulciber had jeered, his voice slimy with mock indignity. "Looks the same as ours. Well, we'll just have to teach the mudblood how useless her blood is another way."
Mulciber had hit her with a dark curse, which had flared magenta against Mary's skin. Mary's scream had been bloodcurdling, as she writhed against the floor in agony. Adeline had screamed for help, and thankfully heard footsteps coming quickly down the hallway. The Slytherins had scattered, Finn calling over his shoulder, "pick your company wisely, little sis. You never know who's watching you."
It had been a seventh year Hufflepuff prefect who had heard them. She didn't know his name, and she didn't care. After explaining what had happened, he'd helped her carry Mary to the Hospital Wing. She'd passed out halfway there, and after being kicked out by Madam Pomphrey, Adeline had wandered the castle for the next two periods, not willing to face a classroom full of students who knew that her brother was responsible for Mary's injury. Finally, after she had avoided Professor McGonagall no less than three times, she'd decided that she had to get back to class eventually. That's how she had come to find herself standing outside of Professor Flitwick's classroom, fifteen minutes late to Charms. She debated with herself if she should just skive off the last forty-five minutes, rather than barging in the middle of class. She heard footsteps coming down the hallway and, not wanting to be caught skiving by a professor, she pushed open the door quickly.
Professor Flitwick stuttered slightly, hearing the door open in the middle of his explanation of the Cheering Charm. He looked at her lightly, evaluating before nodding once at her. "Please take your seat, Ms. Yarbury. We will talk after class about your tardiness."
Adeline nodded vaguely as he picked up where he had left off. Nearly everyone had been staring at her as she'd barged in, but slowly they turned their heads back to the front. The benefit of sharing this class with Ravenclaws? They wouldn't want to miss a word he said, even if it was for something as interesting as Adeline Yarbury, sister of the resident psychopath.
Adeline hurried to her seat, falling in to it and pulling out a piece of parchment so that she could take notes. She felt something reach out and touch her hand. She looked down, realizing that it was Sirius Black, having reached over, taken her hand in his, and squeezed once. She nodded at him, smiling slightly. He returned the gesture, winking once and giving her hand a final squeeze before releasing her hand and going back to his notes.
Adeline and Sirius had a…complicated relationship. They were friends – or, friendly, at least. All of the Marauders were overly friendly and outgoing; James was the ringleader, one of the nicest lads you could find; Remus was quieter, more reserved, but incredibly kind; Peter was awkward, and followed the rest around like a little kid. Sirius, however, was a little more difficult; he was hot-headed and more aloof than the rest. He was harder to get to know, not quite as open as the others. He was a giant flirt, and most of the time hid behind a cavalier persona instead of portraying any genuine emotion. He was an enigma, never showing all of his cards at once; but he never failed to offer his show of support to her, whenever anything with her family occurred.
Sirius never spoke about his family, but Adeline had deduced enough through his unwavering support of her, and general knowledge, to assume that his family was similar to her own. Sirius's brother had been sorted in to Slytherin three years ago, and she didn't think that they got on any better than she and Finn did. She thought he sympathized with her, having a brother in a different house and having a difficult relationship with him. Whatever it was that drew him to her in those moments, it was the only time the iciness behind his steel grey eyes thawed, if even for a moment; it was the only time he let any sort of emotion shine through them, instead of the carefully guarded wall that he kept up most of the time. So, she didn't press him for more – she accepted his moments of passing interest, and hoped that one day she would understand why he cared.
Flitwick finished up his lecture and dismissed them faster than Adeline would have liked. She took her time packing up, hoping that the classroom would empty quickly so she wouldn't have to speak to anyone. She remembered with a groan that she still had to speak to Flitwick about being late. She lumbered up to the front, her bag dragging on the floor behind her, and cleared her throat.
"Professor?" She said quietly.
"Ah, yes, Ms. Yarbury. Very unlike you to be tardy…is everything all right, dear?" Professor Flitwick squeaked in his kind, but high-pitched, voice.
"I'm sorry, sir," Adeline said quickly. "Mary Macdonald was hexed this morning, and I suppose I'm just upset about it. It won't happen again, sir."
Flitwick appraised her over the top of his spectacles. Pushing them up with one gnarled finger, he nodded once. "I understand that your…family situation…must be stressful for you. Please remember that we, the professors, are always available if you should need to talk, Ms. Yarbury." He said this affectionately, tapping on her hand once with his own. She smiled at him, tears popping in to her eyes at his unexpected offer.
"Thank you, sir. I'll remember that."
"Good. Best be off, then. Wouldn't want to be tardy twice in one day!" He warned her kindly, gesturing towards the door. After saying goodbye, Adeline turned and left the Charms classroom. She had transfiguration next, her last class of the day, and there was nothing she wanted to do less than sit through another class; she wanted to return to the common room, flop in to her favorite armchair by the fire and doze off to the sounds of a good record. But no matter what had occurred today, she knew better than to skive off McGonagall's class. McGonagall would have her in detention for the next month if she even got wind that Adeline had thought about skiving.
As she closed the door to the Charms classroom behind her, she felt someone fall in to step next to her.
"Are you okay?" Lily asked, smally. Adeline nodded once, not trusting herself to speak.
"Is Mary okay?" Lily continued. Adeline shrugged.
"Do they know what curse she was hit with?" Adeline shook her head.
"Merlin, Delle, are you going to speak at all?" Lily asked, throwing her hands in the air, exasperated.
"Sorry, Lil," Adeline said, running her hands over her face. "Pomphrey thinks it was a blood boiling hex, but she wasn't entirely able to tell before running advanced diagnostics, and she kicked me out before she was able to do so."
Lily gasped. "Oh, Merlin. That's terrible. Poor Mary." Adeline nodded, not knowing what more to say on the subject. Lily didn't bring up her brother, for which she was grateful. None of the girls knew how to broach the subject without upsetting her, so for the most part they just ignored the fact that Finn thought two of her best friends would be better off dead. It was a terrible feeling, knowing that your friends knew how dark and twisted your family was…knowing that they must have wondered at some point if she secretly felt the same way Finn did.
They walked in to Transfiguration and took their normal seats; Lily to Adeline's left, and an empty seat to her right, where Mary should have sat. In front of them were the Marauders; James immediately in front of her, Sirius to his right and Remus to his left, with Peter at the end of the aisle. As they settled in to our seats, James turned to look at them.
"Hey, Evans, you're looking ravishing today, as always," he said, tousling his hair in a way that he seemed to think was appealing.
"Shove off, Potter," she said, without even looking up from her bag, which she was digging through for a quill.
"Afternoon, Yarbury," he said, turning his attention to her, not at all phased by Lily's harsh comment. "Nasty business this morning. Your brother's a right git."
"James," Remus hissed, shooting Adeline an apologetic look.
"What?" James asked, looking around in confusion. "What did I say?"
"No tact, James," Sirius said with a chuckle. "No wonder Evans won't go out with you. You have just about as much charm as the Giant Squid."
"Don't insult the Giant Squid like that," Lily said. "At least he doesn't make me want to bash my head in on sight alone."
"Oof," Sirius barked, laughing at Lily's insult. "Tough break there, Prongs."
"Shut it," James said, his cheeks burning bright red. He turned back around, focusing diligently on the blackboard at the front of the room, although class hadn't started yet. He didn't turn back around for the rest of the lesson, but the tips of his ears remained red until well after Professor McGonagall had asked him if he needed to go to the Hospital Wing for a dose of Pepperup Potion.
Lily, Alice and Adeline sat with the Marauders near the fireplace that night, after visiting Mary in the Hospital Wing. Madam Pomphrey confirmed it was a blood boiling hex, and that her insides had been burned so badly that she was going to be in the Hospital Wing for the next couple of days as she healed the damage to her internal organs. Lily had been angrily writing her Herbology essay in the chair next to Adeline for the last hour and a half, and Adeline had been purposely ignoring making eye contact with anyone in the room. Half of the room was working, but the other half kept throwing her suspicious looks and whispering with their friends while doing a poor job of concealing who they were talking about.
At a quarter to eleven, Lily slammed the book she was referencing closed and said, in an exhausted voice, "I just can't believe that Mulciber would use a hex like that!"
James looked up in surprise from the game of exploding snap he was playing with Sirius, flinching when the card in his hand exploded, singeing his eyebrows off. Sirius exploded in to laughter, but James merely waved his wand and replaced his eyebrows, shooting Sirius a nasty look. When Sirius continued to laugh, James tackled him, rolling around on the floor and trying to get him into a headlock.
"It certainly was nasty," Remus agreed, closing his own book gently. He crossed his legs and leaned back in his armchair, looking at James and Sirius with a look that clearly portrayed that he wished his best friends would grow up. "Can you two be serious?"
"He's always Sirius," James said with a chuckle, stilling with his arm wrapped around Sirius's neck.
"Damn it, Prongs! You stole my joke," Sirius pouted.
"Not my fault you say it so often," James said, letting him go. "It came out like a reflex. You need a new joke."
"No, I just need prats like you to stop using it." Sirius grumbled, scooting away from James, leaning against the bottom of the armchair that Adeline was curled up in. She tucked her feet up even closer to her body, not wanting to accidentally kick him.
"Anyway," Lily said pointedly, glaring at the back of James's head. "Do you think they'll get in trouble?"
"I heard that Mulciber, Avery and…" Remus trailed off, shooting me a quick glance.
"My brother," Adeline finished for him. "They all got a bunch of detentions."
Sirius snorted, derisively. "Should have been expelled."
"Do you think they'll keep attacking Gryffindors?" Peter squeaked fearfully.
Sirius rolled his eyes. "I think you're fine, Wormy. They're going after muggleborns, not Gryffindors. Dorcas Meadowes was attacked last week."
"She's that short muggleborn in Hufflepuff, right?" James asked, his eyebrows scrunched as he tried to place her.
"The fit one, yeah," Sirius said with a grin. "Merlin, what I wouldn't do to get her…"
"Yes, thank you, Black," Lily interrupted him primly, rolling her eyes.
"Is she okay?" Adeline asked. She hadn't heard that Dorcas had been attacked; the two weren't close, being that Dorcas was the year above them and in another house, but she had always seemed kind and soft-spoken.
"She's okay. They didn't get her too badly," Sirius said over his shoulder. She nodded at him, noting that his eyes were closed off again – the twinge of emotion that she had seen in Charms, gone.
"But Lily is muggleborn," Peter said, stating the obvious.
"Right you are, Wormy," James said, with much bravado. "So, I'll just have to make sure to keep my eye on her at all times! Never fear, my lady, for I shall protect you!"
"I don't need your protection!" Lily snapped, crossing her arms across her chest.
"You do," Adeline whispered, remembering Finn's words from earlier. He'd said the only reason they had specifically targeted Mary was because they were trying to teach her a lesson. Lily was in just as much danger as Mary had been; if she was attacked, it would be all Adeline's fault.
"I…what?" Lily stuttered, taken aback by Adeline's pained expression. "What's wrong, Delle?"
She shifted uncomfortably in her chair, wishing that Sirius would move so she could stretch her legs out. He remained oblivious, however, and Adeline crossed them so that she was sitting on them now – which was equally as uncomfortable. "Finn told me that he targeted Mary intentionally…to teach me a lesson," She admitted, shame-faced.
The conversation died out after that, everyone feeling the weight of what Adeline had revealed. Lily was in danger – all muggleborns were, but Lily in particular. She went off to bed a short while later, citing that she wanted to be well rested for their Potions practical the next day, but Adeline knew her well enough to know that she didn't want to admit that she was frightened in front of James. Remus copied her shortly after, yawning widely and dragging Peter with him.
James and Sirius were the last ones to remain, deciding to take up another game of exploding snap before bed. Sirius had Adeline pinned in her chair, so she couldn't get up even if she'd wanted to. It was nice, she thought to herself, being around two boys who didn't treat her any differently because of who her brother was. Everyone else tip-toed around her whenever the subject was brought up; but James and Sirius never did so. Remus may have chastised James in Transfiguration for his off-color remark about her brother, but Adeline was secretly pleased that he spoke the truth. Finn was a git, and hearing someone else say it was oddly refreshing.
Thirty minutes later, after the deck had exploded in James's face again, signaling a decisive victory in Sirius's favor, James bade her goodnight and turned towards Sirius.
"I'll be up in a moment," Sirius said, stretching. "Just want to clean up so Evans doesn't bite our heads off tomorrow."
James shrugged, but continued upstairs anyway. Sirius moved away from Adeline's chair, finally, and she stretched her legs out, relishing in the blood flow that returned to her limbs. She stood, waiting for the feeling to return to them before walking towards the stairs to the girl's dormitory.
Sirius was busying himself at the coffee table, scooping up cards and organizing them to bring upstairs. When Adeline's pins and needles subsided, she walked over to the staircase. Sirius looked busy, and didn't look at her when she moved, so she decided to say nothing and go to bed.
As she put her foot on the first step, he spoke. "It's not your fault, you know," he said quietly, so quietly that Adeline wasn't sure he had even spoken. She turned around slowly, seeing that he had stood up, the firelight from the dying embers dancing in his reserved eyes.
"Pardon?" She asked, hoping he would repeat himself.
"You are not a reflection of your brother's actions," he said. "What he does has nothing to do with the person you are. I hope you know that."
Adeline was touched and taken aback. She looked him over, trying to understand why he was saying this. He gave away nothing, his gaze just as closed off as it ever was – but his expression was earnest, as though he was trying to communicate something to her that she didn't understand.
She nodded at him, a soft smile playing on her lips. "Thanks. Goodnight, Black."
She was halfway up the stairs before she heard him respond. "Goodnight, Yarbury."