Wallflower

Chapter Three: A Tricky Treat

It had been a month since school started, and Adelaide was surprised to find that while Sirius still talked regularly with her, she had also befriended Lily Evans. It had started when they were paired together in potions. As usually with Adelaide, she had been a blushing mess, but Lily was extremely kind and patient. Now, when Adelaide wasn't talking to Sirius (and on occasion Remus) she was hanging out with Lily.

"James asked me out again," Lily said blandly as they made their way to the Great Hall for supper.

"Isn't that the first time this year?" Adelaide asked curiously, thinking back to the train ride where she promised to put in a good word for him. Lily nodded and adjusted her bag.

"Yeah, it is, but now that he has asked he isn't going to leave me alone," she complained in an exasperated voice.

"He's really not that bad," Adelaide countered, "I sat with him on the train ride here and he was really nice." Lily scoffed.

"We are talking about James Potter, right?" she asked, and when Adelaide nodded she laughed, "James is a pig-headed idiot who takes pleasure in hexing people for no reason."

"But he hasn't done that all year," Adelaide continued as casually as she could, "Usually they do something first, or its on one of his friends. I think that he might have grown up over the summer."

"Whatever helps you sleep at night," Lily said with a shrug as they took their seats towards the end of the table near the doors, and three spaces away from the Marauders in question. Adelaide easily noticed how James watched Lily with a dreamy expression on his face. She offered them a smile before returning to Lily.

"Maybe you should give him a chance," she said softly, "If it doesn't work out, he wouldn't bug you anymore, and if it does…well, then you have a great boyfriend. Besides, he hasn't dated anyone since he set his sights on you, and several good-looking girls have asked him out. I think he really likes you." Lily eyed her in a scrutinizing manner and Adelaide raised an eyebrow.

"You're on his side, aren't you?" Lily asked, causing Adelaide to start in surprise.

"No, but he's a good guy. He'd probably treat anyone he dated like a queen," she said with a shrug. The rest of the dinner they flirted around several different topics, never staying on one for too long, and Lily did a good job at cutting any discussions that could lead to James short. Towards the end of dinner, the sound of McGonagall gently tapping the side of her goblet with her fork caused everyone took look up to the head table, where Dumbledore stood with a smile on his face.

"Good, evening, Students," he said, the twinkle in his eye slightly brighter then usual, "I hope that your food was excellent, as always," he waited as the murmured agreements subsided, "Now, I have an announcement to make concerning Halloween. As some might be aware, there is a muggle tradition to dress up and travel from house to house to get candy. I believe they call it 'Trick-or-Treating'. Upon reading this I decided that we should have our own little tradition.

"On Halloween, we will allow students to traverse around the castle from room to room and receive treats. We will be removing the curfew, and you will be allowed to stay in the corridor up to midnight. Those who have Muggle Studies will then need to bring their candy (or wrappers) to class and receive extra credit," some students began to whisper excitedly, but when they saw the Dumbledore still was not finished, they quickly quieted. Dumbledore just kept smiling as he continued.

"In other news, the first Hogsmeade trip will scheduled for October Twenty Third, and you will find that several stores have stocked up on costumes," he continued, "First and Second Years will be allowed to go to Hogsmeade this one time in order to prepare for Tick-or-Treating."

When the Great Hall was dismissed, Lily latched on to Adelaide's arm with a happy grin.

"Oh, you're going to love this!" She said, "When I was little, I went Trick-or-Treating every Halloween. You get so much candy, and seeing as how this is Hogwarts we'll probably get twice as much as usual!" Adelaide laughed at her friends' excitement and she allowed herself to be lead to the Gryffindor tower and into the dormitories, where Lily began to make a list of what they could go as.

"There are so many different things," she said with a vibrant smile, "you could be a princess, a genie, a hippy…"

"Genie?" Adelaide asked and Lily sighed.

"I forgot you're a pureblood," she said, "We'll have to find something else, then, or else no one will understand what you are." Adelaide smiled apologetically.

"I'm sorry," she apologized, "It's not really my fault." Lily waved her off.

"Oh, I know," she said, "But I guess we'll have to look really hard to find you a costume." Adelaide smiled, though she was wondering why it mattered so much. She didn't dare say this in front of Lily, though.

-

The next day Lily, as well as the other Gryffindor girls, would not stop talking about the 'Trick-or-Treat' celebration. Though Lily was definitely calmer then the other girls, she was also very excited as well. Adelaide found herself hiding away in the library all day, deciding to just stop by the kitchens later as she missed lunch in an attempt to avoid them. She sighed as she took in the silence the Library provided her. Today was sunny, and since it was Saturday most people were outside.

"A-Adelaide?"

She sighed as the timid voice broke through the air, shattering her calm, and she turned to see Peter standing behind her awkwardly, his cheeks tinted pink.

"Yes?" she asked politely. He gulped before speaking,

"I was wondering if maybe you could…you know, tutor me every once in a while," he asked, "I mean, you're really smart and I need help in some of my classes." She smiled kindly and Peter relaxed slightly.

"Sure, no problem," she responded, "I'm going to be free every Saturday, do you want to meet up then? Save for Hogsmeade visits, of course." He smiled with appreciation.

"Thank you," he said, "I'll see you next Saturday, then?" She nodded, and he walked away and headed back towards the common room. Adelaide sighed, and returned back to her book, She sometimes hated her inability to say no to others. I sear It's going to get me killed one of these days, she though humorously before returning her attention back to 'Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them' by Newt Scamander. She was currently flipping through in an attempt to find who, or what, she should be for Halloween. She had a feeling that she would be there for a while.

She had just finished an article on Mooncalves when her stomach gurgled loudly, causing her to blush and surreptitiously glance around to make sure no one was in hearing range. Thankfully, no one was, and she took the time to pack up and sneak out of the Library, glancing both ways to make sure that Lily and her friends weren't in sight. When the coast was clear she began walking briskly towards the kitchens. It didn't take long, and thankfully her stomach hadn't gurgled again, and she quickly tickled the pear before slipping in, glancing around to make sure no one saw.

"Look what the cat dragged in,"

Adelaide yelped and spun around to see James and Sirius setting at a round table, Sirius leaning back on two legs of his chair. James grinned, apparently he was the one who spoke, and waved merrily.

"Put in a good word about me to Lily, yet?" he asked, and Adelaide relaxed and smiled at them.

"Yes, but she's pretty hard to sway," she responded, walking over and taking a seat in a chair (that seemingly appeared from no where) across from them, "I've been avoiding the girls though. They keep trying t bounce ideas off of me for the Halloween celebration. Even Caryn is asking me for advice." Both boys raised an eyebrow.

Caryn Gree was a girl you did not want to cross, on good or bad terms. She had a bad superiority complex and found herself better then everyone. She was a Muggleborn, and her mother was apparently a famous model while her father was a rich business man. Since she was an only child, she was a spoiled little brat (putting it nicely). Her voice was very high and she couldn't completely pronounce her 'r' sounds, but for some reason the younger students found it incredibly adorable.

She was also a really bad Pyromaniac. Not just the 'Wow, that fire's pretty' but the 'let's set my mattress of fire and see what happens' kind of pyromaniac. So, sometimes Lily or Adelaide would walk in and find her flicking a muggle lighter on and off. She was extremely thin, and Adelaide wouldn't be surprised if she was ten pounds under weight. She had ash-blond hair to her chin, and dark grey eyes that looked like steel.

"Wow," James said, obviously knowing about her, "Who knew she would care about clothing. I thought she would have set it all on fire." Adelaide barely kept back a smile but she otherwise kept quiet.

"You weren't at lunch today," Sirius remarked, "I' gonna take a wild guess and say that's why you're here?" she grinned.

"You're rather observant, aren't you?" she asked cheekily, before laughing, "Yeah, that's why I'm here." Almost as if they had been listening in (no doubt they were) a house-elf appeared beside her, with a large nose and wide blue eyes.

"Does Miss want Lobby to get Miss something to eat?" he asked, and Adelaide fought the urge to laugh at the unfortunate elves name.

"Um, yes please. Just a sand-" she didn't get to finish as Lobby ran off to search for food, "…wich." Sirius laughed.

"They always do that," he said, "They give you more then you want every time." As he said this, Lobby returned with a trey stacked with all sorts of food, mostly pastries. Adelaide smiled, but it slightly resembled a grimace.

"Do you maybe have some vegetables?" she asked carefully, "Or meat?"

"Of course! Lobby will be right back!" he ran off again, and Adelaide eyes the desserts with a queasy expression.

"Why don't you want pastries?" James asked, "They're really good." Adelaide shook her head.

"I don't have that much of a sweet tooth," she admitted. James and Sirius stared at her as if she were insane, and she blushed. She was distracted, though, as Lobby returned with a large bowl of stew. Adelaide smiled.

"Thank you, Lobby," she said. Lobby blushed, before scurrying off. She blinked, before turning to her soup.

"So, what do you think we should go as for Halloween?" Sirius asked, and she groaned.

"Not you too," she said, causing them to laugh. She sighed, and shrugged, "I don't know what I'm going as, I don't really see how I can help you."

"She's got a point," James said with a sigh, "We're never going to think of anything."

"Never say never," Sirius said, getting a laugh in response.

"Did you know that Peter was having trouble in his classes?" Adelaide asked, taking another bit of her soup. Sirius shrugged.

"He's always been behind in classes," James said, "Normally he comes to one of us for help. Why?"

"He found me in the library and asked me to tutor him," she said, leaning back in her chair, "What I'm wondering is why he didn't ask one of you guys; Remus is really smart, and so are you two. This is the first conversation we've ever had, aside from on the train." Sirius and James just shrugged.

"Who knows what he's planning half of the time," Sirius asked, before sighing. The two stood and began heading towards the doors, "We'll see you later, Adelaide. We're going to go bug Remus into giving us costume ideas." Adelaide laughed and waved.

"See you later."

By the time Adelaide mustered up enough courage to leave the sanctuary that was the Kitchen, she had been there for about an hour and a half. Lobby was sad to see her go, and Adelaide promised to visit whenever she could (Lobby then proceeded to burst into tears, talking about how no one had ever promised him anything). She took her sweet time going back to the common room, all the while thinking about the Halloween celebration.

"Plimpy," she told the Fat Lady as she reached the portrait. She opened dutifully, and Adelaide crawled in only to be attacked by Caryn, Lily, and Elise Barnes. She screamed in surprise, gaining the attention of half the common room, Marauders included. Sirius and James both began laughing, since they knew what was going on, and waved cheekily at her. She felt like crying as the girls herded her up into the dormitory. She sighed, resigning to her fate, and took a seat on her bed.

"Did you come up with any ideas?" Elise asked.

Elise Barnes was generally a very nice girl, if a bit chatty. She never intentionally meant to hurt anyone, but sometimes she didn't think about what she was saying. She also was a bit of a gossip, but not to the extreme. If she ever heard anything that caught her attention she would report it to someone else, unless directly told to keep quiet. She was one of the girls who would never betray your trust and keep your secrets even after you died. She had long black hair and dark blue eyes. She was tall with a busty figure, and a slight belly, but she carried herself well.

"No," Adelaide said, and the girls all began talking at once. She attempted to tune them out, and finally they seemed to all go quiet in an attempt to come up with ideas, "Why don't we just wait until the Hogsmeade visit? Then we can see all of our options and choose then." She offered this hesitantly, and Caryn basically through a fit.

"NO! We need time to get this right!" she insisted, "If we wait that long then all the things will be bought out before we decide! We at least need some guidelines!" Adelaide winced at her volume, but nodded. Then, she had an idea.

"What do you all know about Greek Mythology?"

-

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:Here we go, chapter three. I should throw a party ((sarcasm)). You know, I seem kind of dull in my authors notes…I need to be happier. Meh…maybe later. Anyway, standard thing applies: Flame you get called an idiot, please review, etcetera, etcetera.

IMPORTANT: The reason I updated before I got ten reveiws, is because I'm going on a criuse so I won't be able to update for a week. (And I already have the first seven chapters written, haha.) So reveiw. I know people are alerting this, I really want your feedback. Even if I get alerts, i don't feel as appriciated if I don't get a reveiw. I like to know what you think! Please reveiw. ((puppy pouts))

Yours truly,
B.E.N.