Wallflower

Chapter Six: Trapped in a Broom Closet

Adelaide awoke to Lily jumping on her bed eagerly, grinning like a mad woman, and screaming at the top of her lungs, "IT'S HALLOWEEN, IT'S HALLOWEEN!! GET YOU FAT BUTT UP!!" Adelaide just groaned and turned her head to look at the clock to see it was half past one. She shot up with wide eyes, and watched as Lily tilted her head curiously.

"It's one o'clock!" she said loudly. Lily smiled sheepishly.

"Well, I thought that you would want to sleep in because you stayed up so late yesterday," she said innocently. Adelaide felt her eyebrow twitch in annoyance.

"You know how I hate getting up past noon!" she said angrily, "The latest I like getting up is noon, and I'd much rather wake up at ten o'clock. Now I feel like I wasted half of the day away!!" She sighed before leaping out of bed and hurrying to the bathroom, "I'm taking a shower. I'll be out in a bit."

"OK!" Lily called back, but the door had already slammed shut. She sighed, "See if I wake you up next time; I'll let you sleep till three!"

"Like hell you will!" Adelaide called through the door, before turning on the shower with a frown. As she stepped under the spray, he frown faded away and she relaxed as the hot water poured down on her. She sighed blissfully and just stood there for a moment, before slowly grabbing her shampoo.

When she stepped out of the shower the mirror had fogged up, to her annoyance. She cleared it quickly, before switching into a fresh set of clothes; a pair of denim shorts and a white tee shirt. When she exited the bathroom, Lily was sitting cross-legged on the bed with a frown etched deeply into her face.

"What happened to your ten minute shower?" she asked, "That one was half an hour long!" Adelaide shrugged with a smile.

"I feel that I deserved that shower," she said simply. Lily kept frowning, though she was just kidding around.

"So, how are we going to pass the time away?" Lily asked, before finally relaxing and leaning back on her hands. Adelaide shrugged before joining her on the bed, falling back onto her back with her arms crossed under her head.

"We can...we can…go get something to eat? Lunch is over now," She offered, though she wasn't really that hungry.

"We can start getting out costumes together," Lily offered, "Not getting them on, but start putting them together and transfiguring all the details." Adelaide nodded with a sigh.

"I guess you're right," she murmured, before setting up and getting the dresses and the fabric from out of the closet, where they hung innocently.

"You're fabric is fine," Adelaide explained as she laid it beside the red dress, "It's just a shawl after all. You can go a head and conjure up a red flower for your hair, and if you can think of anything, just do it." With a nod from Lily, Adelaide turned back to her dress, brandishing her wand like a weapon. She hummed lightly as she transfigures the fabric, mainly just changing its shape. Now it had a long sleeve for one arm, and the rest of the fabric would hang off of her, covering half of her body. With a bit of tinkering, she finally decided on a shape before she snatched up a several galleons from inside her nightstand.

"What're you doing?" Lily asked, already finished with hers.

"I'm going to transfigure these," she showed off the galleons, "Into jewelry." To illustrate her point, she transfigured the galleon into a golden headdress with small floral designs carved into it. She sat that to the side, before she ended transfiguring up a bracelet that covered half of her forearm and had the same floral design, and then a large golden belt that would cling loosely to her hips. She nodded in satisfaction, before she began to conjure up some flowers, and sat them beside the dress. Both girls looked at each other.

"Well, that took about thirty minutes," Lily said slowly, and both girls sighed.

"We need to pass the time," Adelaide said with a frown, "What can we do?"

"Are you hungry yet?" Lily asked, "We can go get some food from the kitchens." Adelaide sighed and placed her hands on her hips.

"Do you think I could get a house elf to come up here and bring food?" she asked, looking at Lily dejectedly. Lily raised an eyebrow.

"Still trying to avoid Peter?" she asked, and Adelaide nodded slowly and shamefully. She groaned loudly and ran her hands down her face.

"I mean, he's a good guy and all, but I don't want to lead him on!" she said helplessly, "I feel that by agreeing to go with him, I've signed my death certificate! He's so fragile half the time, and his self esteem is already shot to hell. What the hell will this do to him!" Lily placed a hand on her friends shoulder.

"Don't panic," she said softly, "I'm sure it's not the first time he's been rejected."

"But it is!" Adelaide cried, and she honestly felt like she would start crying, "James and Sirius confirmed it!" Actually, she couldn't really remember if they had directly confirmed it, but she didn't focus on that right now. Besides, if he was so shy about asking her to help him in classes, how shy would he get around another girl?

"Well, it won't be the last time," Lily said awkwardly, before sighing, "I can't really help you here, so how about we try out your house-elf idea?" Adelaide sniffled dramatically, before nodding.

"Okay," she murmured, before awkwardly clearing her throat, "Um…Lobby? Can you come here?"

There was a pop, and Lobby appeared in front of them with a large smile and wide innocent eyes.

"Miss Adelaide!" he squeaked, "Lobby is so happy to see Miss Adelaide! What can Lobby do?" Adelaide smiled, not bothering trying to find out when he found out her name.

"Could you please get us two bowls of stew and some bread?" She asked, and Lobby nodded quickly.

"Of course! Lobby will be right back!!"

They spent the next hour with Lobby, who was surprisingly fun to hang out with. He seemed to adore Adelaide and always agreed with her (even if she said the sky was green, she was sure that the little elf would believe her). Eventually, four o'clock rolled around and they finally dismissed Lobby (who seemed disappointed at having to leave, but did so all the same) and began to get ready.

"Hey, where are Caryn and Elise?" Adelaide asked suddenly, only now realizing their absence.

"I think they're hanging out in the Ravenclaw dorm with Vanessa Wolfe," Lily replied with a shrug, "They took their stuff with them. Apparently, we're too boring." Adelaide shrugged, before pushing Lily down into a chair.

"This shouldn't take too long," she instructed, before using her wand and carefully molding her hair, keeping it in place with bobby pins and hairspray (she loved being a witch, sometimes). Soon, she looked like the goddess she was meant to be. After Adelaide carefully placed the red flower on the side of her friend's hair, Lily stood and took her place. She put her hair in a bundle of sorts on top of her head, before placing the crown perfectly so that her bangs (which couldn't really be considered bangs) swooped out of her eyes and behind her ear. Her hair took longer, since she had more flowers to twist in.

Finally, Five o'clock came and they were getting into their dresses carefully. As Adelaide had expected, her own dress clung to her legs; if it weren't for the slit she would have had trouble walking. She slid the cover over her, adorned her jewelry (the belt actually underneath the slip, and still visible on her right side). After wrapping some of the flowers she had conjured around her arm, she smiled in success before looking over at Lily, who looked absolutely stunning.

"We're not wearing shoes," she reminded, and Lily smiled.

"Just one more touch, though," she said, before murmuring a quick spell aimed towards her feet. She began walking, and where she stepped flowers sprouted from the ground, but disappeared moments later. Adelaide grinned widely.

"Wicked," she said, "You're the best Persephone I've had the pleasure of seeing." Lily laughed, and the clock switched form five twenty-nine to five thirty. Adelaide sighed, and suddenly her good mood vanished. Lily noticed, and patted her on the back.

"Don't worry," she said happily, "You look wonderful."

"I wish I felt wonderful," Adelaide murmured, before headlining to the stairs. She managed to put a smile on my face, but she relaxed when she saw Peter wasn't in the room yet. She began to get annoyed, though, as the minutes passed and Peter still hadn't shown up. It was Five fifty when he finally appeared, with the other Marauders following behind.

"You're late," Lily said to Peter (James had shown up on time; he'd told her to meet him at five fifty) with a frown. Peter blushed.

"I-I got distracted," was his excuse. Adelaide just smiled politely, and noticed that he was a clown, and the sight was slightly comical, to everyone but Adelaide, that is. If she was afraid of one thing that would be clowns (she had some relatives on her fathers side who were in a circus, so every month they would get free tickets; after being exposed to clowns at the tender age of five, she found she had a large amount of hostility for them). Thankfully, Adelaide managed to ignore it for the most part.

"What are you guys?" Remus asked, and Adelaide smiled as she saw him in a furry brown dog suit, with a headband that had floppy ears attached to them.

"I'm Demeter," she said, motioning to the flowers, "And Lily here is Persephone." She took the chance, and smiled as she saw that James was a Pirate (eye patch and all) while Sirius was a vampire. Adelaide had to admit, he looked rather handsome in a cape, and it was a nice cape too. It looked to be made of velvet, with the inside being red, as was typical of Dracula.

"I'm a clown," Peter said blandly, honking a bicycle horn that was obnoxiously loud, "It was the only costume left." Adelaide smiled sympathetically. She was trying not to notice she horrid suit, but it was becoming increasingly difficult. But she was slightly amused; Demeter on a date with a clown, and Persephone on a date with a Pirate.

After standing idly for a few minutes and chatting (Sirius being unusually silent) McGonagall's voice sounded over the school intercoms (only used when there was a sudden school wide announcement) and announced, rather cheerfully for a woman of her composure, that the celebration could begin. They wisely decided to chat near the portrait, so they managed to get out with little damage (though Adelaide and Lily both had a feeling that they would regret not wearing shoes very soon).

Their first stop was McGonagall's office, and to everyone's enjoyment she had painted her face and worn cat ears. She was smiling warmly, an odd sight but a welcome one none the less, and complimented their costumes (and in Adelaide and Lily's case, their originality). She did seem amused by Peter's costume, but she refrained from saying anything; instead she gave them all two chocolate frogs each. James was ecstatic when he found that she had only given them two each, claiming that it meant that they were her favorites.

All was going well, when about an hour in they suddenly turned into a crowded corridor.

"Quick, grab onto someone," Lily said, clutching to James's arm. Adelaide grabbed the first person she could , which happened to be Sirius. She turned her head to try and find Peter, but it seemed that he, along with James and Lily, had already been swept up. So, she clung tightly to Sirius' arm (fearing for her toes every second) as he followed Remus, who attempted to navigate their way out of the crowd.

They finally came out, not really wanting to know what had happened, and looking every which way to see if they could spot Lily's easily noticeable red hair. They found no such luck, and Adelaide sighed before fisting her hands on her hips. Sirius watched her from the corner of his eyes, and Remus tried to see over the crowds.

"C'mon," Sirius said suddenly, "Let's get to another corridor so we don't get caught up in that again." The other two nodded, and they walked quickly, until they found there selves in the dungeons, which needed no decoration to be fit for Halloween.

"That was a nightmare," Adelaide said under her breath, and both Sirius and Remus chuckled. She glanced between the two and a tired smile lit up her face, "Is it bad that I'm gratefulk to have escaped Peter?" Remus frowned slightly, while Sirius fought down a grin.

"I know you didn't want ot go with him," Remus chastised mildly, "But that doesn't mean,"

"It's not because of him!" Adelaide said quickly, waving her hands in front of her, "I just…" she blushed, looked down at her feet and murmured something unintelligible.

"Pardon?" Remus asked, raising an eyebrow, and Adelaide sighed.

"I-I'm really terrified of clowns," she admitted shyly, "When I was around him, I felt like I was going to have a panic attack." The other two looked at her in surprise, before Sirius burst out laughing.

"Of all the things to be afraid of, you're scared of a clown?" he asked, grinning at her. She was blushing madly, and for a moment she resembled the shy girl that they had met on the train. Was that really only two months ago? To all of them, it felt as if they had known her for a much longer time. Remus stepped in and saved her from further humiliation.

"We should go and find the others," he said, his lip twitching slightly in amusement, but he said nothing.

"Y-Yeah," Adelaide murmured, suddenly feeling self conscious in her outfit as she trailed behind the two slightly, frowning as she fiddled with the end of her hair. Sirius, who had been walking in step with Remus, turned and waited for a moment before walking beside her. HE found it amazing how she had suddenly reverted back to her shy nature in less then a second; it was almost as if she were bipolar.

"Hey, I was just teasing you, you know that right?" he said suddenly, and she looked up and smiled.

"I know, but it still hurts when people laugh at your fears," she responded, and her voice was very soft, not at all like it had been recently. Sirius frowned when he realized it was his fault that she was reverting back into her shell, something that he hadn't seen since September first. He opened his mouth to say something, when a door burst open beside them, causing the two to jump. They bother looked over to see it had been a broom closet. Adelaide opened her mouth to say something, when Sirius lurched foreword and the two went toppling into the closet.

"What the hell, Sirius!?" She asked loudly. Her back was pressing into some shelves, and it definitely was not comfortable. But when she heard cackling, she suddenly knew what had happened.

"Peeves!" Sirius roared, before attempting to open the door. The door rattled, but didn't even budge. Sirius kicked the door in anger, when Remus began pounding on the door.

"Sirius, Adelaide?" He asked.

"Peeves locked us in," Sirius called through the door. He listened as Remus attempted to un-jam the door, but it didn't work; not even Alohomora was working.

"Hang on you guys," Remus said in an exasperated voice, "I'll go get McGonagall." Sirius groaned, when he noticed that Adelaide was unusually quiet. He turned to see her pressing her fingers into her eyes, and shaking slightly as she took ragged breaths. Sirius blanched.

"Hey, what's wrong?" he asked, and Adelaide took in a deep, ragged breath.

"I'm claustrophobic," she said in a small voice, sniffing slightly, "Really bad claustrophobic –I had been locked in broom closet in first year by some Slytherin's, and I wasn't found for three hours." She shuddered again, but kept massaging her eyes. Sirius cursed.

"Damn Peeves," he murmured angrily, kicking the door for good measure. He sighed, and felt completely useless. When he heard a creaking noise, his head jerked up and connected with a shelf behind him, causing him to duck down again; unfortunately, at the same time Adelaide had shuffled and tripped on the hem of her dress, sending her toppling forward.

Their lips connected, and they both froze, staring wide eyed. They didn't move for what seemed like eternity, but in actuality had only been two second, before Adelaide shyly pulled away with furious blush covering her entire face and her neck. Sirius was blushing too; he could feel the heat radiating from his face. He fought the urge to grin as a giddy feeling went through him. He had kissed Adelaide; a pathetic kiss, but a kiss none the less.

"U-Uhm," Adelaide murmured, "I-I-I don't think that w…we should tell Peter about this," she murmured softly, toying with her sash as her blush refused to subside. Sirius nodded, and the giddy feeling didn't leave. Adelaide's breathing picked up again.

"H-How much longer do you think we'll be stuck in here?" she whimpered, shaking like a leaf. Sirius felt his heart contract, and he sighed before taking her into his arms and rubbing her back slowly. She clutched onto his shirt tightly and buried her face into his chest. Her breathing was still ragged, and she felt as if the walls were closing in around them, as if they would be stuck in there forever and starve to death.

"Just try not to think about it," Sirius said in what he hoped to be a soothing voice. She whimpered and her grip tightened slightly, but after three minutes she managed to stop shaking, but tears were soaking through Sirius' shirt. What felt like an eternity later (actually only really being two minutes) they finally heard footsteps and Remus' voice.

"This is the one, Professor," he said, and after a quick spell, McGonagall managed to unlock the door with no harm done to them, or the door itself (Sirius had begun to think they'd have to bast it to pieces). Remus raised and eyebrow at their situation, but when she slowly pulled away and he noticed she had been crying, his features softened.

"Are you alright, Ms. Vicknair?" McGonagall asked with a worried frown. Adelaide sniffed slightly and rubbed away at her tears.

"I-I'm just really, really claustrophobic," she murmured, before looking up at the other two with a small smile that didn't quite reach her eyes, "I suppose we should start getting candy now, huh?" McGonagall, upon seeing they were alright, handed both Sirius and Adelaide another chocolate frog.

"You've certainly earned something," she said sympathetically, "But it would behoove you to not tell anyone I was giving out candy to people who got trapped in a broom closet." She nodded briskly, before turning and heading back towards her classroom. Adelaide shivered and smiled at the two slightly, placing her candy in her pillowcase.

"Well, lets not let this ruin our fin," she said in an attempt to lighten the mood. They quickly agreed and began to head towards other classrooms, Sirius and Adelaide both avoiding each others direct gaze.

They were on the Third floor when they ran in to Lily, James, and Peter. Adelaide smiled at them, but Lily noticed how it didn't quite reach her eyes. She gave her a look, before smiling at the others in relief.

"We're glad you didn't get trampled on," she said, "Peter, James and I were getting worried." Sirius laughed dryly.

"At least you didn't get locked in a broom closet," he responded, and Adelaide nodded. James raised an eyebrow.

"What were you doing in a broom closet?" he asked.

"Peeves pushed Sirius and I into one," Adelaide said softly, "Not taking into account that I'm severely claustrophobic and almost had a panic attack."

"Are you alright?" Peter asked immediately, looking genuinely worried. Adelaide jus smiled and adjusted her sash,

"I am now; I'm lucky that Sirius was able to distract me," she said truthfully, before her eyes widened at how that sounded. James and Lily both raised their eyebrows, while Peter looked horrified.

"Not like that!!" Sirius said quickly (though he kind of wished that it had been like that) "Get your minds out of the gutters!" Thankfully, they accepted their answer easily, though Peter still looked horrified at the very idea of Sirius and Adelaide snogging.

By the time the night ended, they had their pillowcases filled to the rim with wizard chocolate and muggle chocolate ("A little treat" Dumbledore had explained), and about dead on their feet. Adelaide had kissed Peter on the cheek at the end of the night, to Sirius' annoyance and Peters delight, before heading up to the room with Lily. After seeing that the others had yet to return, Adelaide placed her bag on her bag, candy spilling out, before facing Lily with a wide-eyed, panicked look.

"I think fancy Sirius,"

-

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: For those who did not know, Demeter is the goddess of the harvest in Greek mythology and Persephone is her daughter, who is the goddess of spring. She is married to Hades (though against her will) and is allowed to visit her mother for six months out of the year. Her mother is so distraught at these times that the weather becomes harsher and crops are unable to grow. This is the reasons for the seasons, for when Persephone is reunited her mother is happy again.

And yes, when you're claustrophobic you do react like that. My mother is claustrophobic, I would know. And yeah, I hate clowns. Creepy little buggers. ((shivers))

Yours truly,
B.E.N.