Wallflower

Chapter Eight: The Invitation

Adelaide sighed heavily as she sat in Transfiguration, propping her head up with her hand while her other gently held Sirius', who was leaned back in his chair with a bored look on his face as they waited for other students to finish their test. It wasn't often that they got a written test in Transfiguration, but when they did, it was a) during their double classes and b) one hundred questions long. So far, only the back row was finished completely. They had to sit there and wait while the other two rows finished up their test.

"I'm bored," Sirius whispered, glancing at Adelaide from the corner of his eyes. Adelaide nodded lazily, before glancing down at her watch.

"We have fifty minutes," she murmured, and on queue the bell signaling other classes end sounded and several students groaned, knowing that they had another fifty minutes left until they could make their escape. Adelaide sighed before leaning back in her chair, untangling their fingers, and crossing her arms.

By now, every student in Hogwarts knew that Sirius Black was officially dating Adelaide Vicknair, though she was commonly referred to as 'that one shy girl who never talks'. Peter had out right avoided both of them, and only talked civilly with James and Remus; they both thought it was just a phase.

"Wanna play hangman?" he asked softly, and she shrugged before digging out a quill from her purse. Sirius supplied the paper, and after drawing the basics, charmed it so that the little man would slowly make his descent to the noose, instead of slowly appearing. He drew out the spaces, and since they couldn't talk, on the edge of the paper Adelaide wrote her guesses. It didn't take long, and her first two guesses were 'a' and 'o', which led her immediately to 'Padfoot'.

This managed to entertain them for about ten minutes, before they began to play tic-tac-toe. The majority of the games were cats, and when they finally grew tired of it they had twenty minutes left to the class. They settled with passing notes.

I hate that we always finish first –S

I'd rather finish early. I abhor taking tests. –A

I wish she would change it so we took these in normal classes; or at least allow us to leave. She knows that we'll pass; she should cut us some slack. –S

She already does. If you haven't noticed, she doesn't take points off for us passing notes in class or playing tic-tac-toe instead of listening. –A

Ah, I forgot. Maybe that's why she's one of my favorite teachers. –S

I thought that was because she gave us extra candy on Halloween? –A

Well, that too. –S

Adelaide smiled as she read his reply, and this continued until the last test was turned in five minutes before the bell was due. Adelaide smiled as McGonagall scanned the classroom before allowing them to talk amongst themselves quietly. Adelaide folded up the note and stuck it in her bag, before grinning over at Sirius, who wrapped his arm around her shoulder and brought her close to him.

"I'm glad that's over with," he said with a laid back smile, "I missed talking to you."

"I think you missed talking, period." She said with a grin, and he smiled bashfully.

"True," he said slowly, "But that includes talking to you." Adelaide shook her head but relaxed against him with a sigh, focusing on the way his fingers drew lazy patterns on her shoulder. She was beginning to drift off, when the bell rang, causing her to jump and Sirius chuckled before grabbing his things and grasping Adelaide's hand as making their way to the Great Hall for lunch, the others trailing behind them slightly.

"I haven't seen Peter recently," Adelaide mused as they took a seat, her beside Sirius and across from Lily, who had Remus and James beside her. Sirius shrugged as he piled food onto his plate.

"I only see him when he's in the dorm, or in classes. He doesn't really talk that much," he said, and Adelaide bit her lip softly.

"He isn't upset that we're going out, is he?" she asked softly, and Sirius shook his head.

"I don't think so," he said before grabbing his drink.

"Do you think the Hogsmeade trip is going to be canceled?" Lily asked as she looked up at the ceiling, which was almost completely white from snow, "If this keeps up we won't be able to walk without sinking." James groaned.

"We have Herbology today," he said, and the others winced. Then, as if some divine god had been listening, Dumbledore stood, and everyone silenced.

"Due to the weather," he said with a twinkle in his eyes, "All Herbology classes are canceled until further notice; unfortunately, that means that Hogsmeade trips will also be put on hold." Groans went through the hall, and Adelaide smiled at Lily.

"Does that answer your question?" she asked, and Lily smiled.

"That means we get a class off today," James said with a grin, "Awesome."

After setting through a D.A.D.A. class, everyone made their way back to the common room, where they ended up taking the squishy chairs by the fire, basking in its heat and sharing jokes with each other. The snow was coming down, and they could barely see outside of the window; it was all a white blur.

"We might get snowed in," Remus remarked as he eyed the white blur, "It's really coming down."

"We'll be fine," Sirius said with a wave of his hand, "Besides, it'll get us out of classes."

"And put us behind for our N.E.W.T.s," Lily countered quickly, flipping through her book slowly with a bored expression. The portrait swung open and they turned to see Peter walking in. He glanced over at them, before he seemed to ready himself and walk over, taking a seat across from Adelaide.

"Hey," he greeted slowly, and while James and Sirius raised their eyebrows.

"Where have you been recently?" Sirius asked casually, "We never see you except for in classes." Peter shrugged.

"Around," he answered vaguely, but no one pushed him for a clearer answer. Adelaide watched him carefully.

"Are you feeling okay?" she asked softly, "you look a bit pale." He shook his head.

"I'm fine," he responded, but Adelaide was right. He was very pale, and her hair was messier then what they were used to. Adelaide bit her lip, but didn't push it and quickly changed the subject.

"Hey, since you guys normally hang out at Hogwarts for Christmas I was wondering if you would like to come over to my house," she said with a smile. The others shrugged, and Peter was the only one to flat out refuse.

"I have to go to my grandparents this Christmas," he excused, "Maybe next time." Adelaide nodded in understanding, while the others promised to ask for permission.

"I'll be there," Sirius said before wrapping his arm around her shoulder and pulling her against him, "I promise."

"Excuse me," Peter mumbled, "I'm going to get started on homework," and he disappeared upstairs. Adelaide frowned and watched him leave in confusion.

"We don't have any homework," she said and the others followed her gaze to the staircase. She bit down on her lip, "He's upset."

"He's fine," Sirius reassured, "He's probably just tired, and behind on his work."

"But he turns in his work every day," Lily stepped in, "I see him." They were silent for a moment, when Peter suddenly came down again, rushing out of the common room.

"Peter!" Remus called, but he ignored him and the portrait swung shut behind him. Adelaide bit her lip even harder, but cursed when she felt the skin break and blood slip into her mouth.

"Bit my lip," she murmured to Sirius, and she ran a finger across the cut and pulled away to see her blood smearing against her finger. She frowned, before wiping it off on her skirt and taking her lip into her mouth.

-

One week later, Peter was in the kitchens, drinking a glass of butterbeer and staring at the table angrily. The elves kept away, but occasionally would bring up a sweet or another bottle. He knew that he would most likely miss his next class, but he didn't care.

In all honesty, he was happy for Adelaide on a small level. She was happy with Sirius; that much anyone could tell. The images, though, of Sirius and Adelaide caused anger and jealousy to rouse up inside of him like an angry dragon, clawing at his insides and causing angry tears to prick at the corner of his eyes. Even though it had been about a month, he couldn't get over her. Sure, they never had anything to begin with, but the fact that she was dating his best friend (who knew he liked her) was like a stab in the back.

"So, here you are again, drinking away your worries," Peter recognized the voice, and anger swelled up inside of him.

"Go away, Annalisa," he demanded, taking another drink. The Italian just raised an eyebrow and allowed her lips to quirk into a coy smile.

"You don't really mean that, do you Peter?" she asked as she made her way to the table and taking a seat across from him, resting her chin on her hands, "You enjoy my company." Peter snorted into his glass.

"What gives you that idea?" he asked, and she raised an eyebrow.

"You've never been so angry at me before," she whispered, before uncrossing her legs and taking off her shoes, and then trailing her foot up his leg slowly. He kept glaring at her and jerked his leg away.

"I have some self respect," he snapped, "Leave me alone. I'm not one of your little toys." Annalisa smiled coyly, before her form began to shift into a mirror version of Adelaide, the coy look replaced with an air of concern as she leaned over the table, her cleavage toying with him, and she gently cupped his cheek.

"Peter," she said softly, looking deep into his eyes, "It's not fair that you aren't giving other people a chance. See? I can be you're precious little Adelaide as much as you want me too." Peter felt his breath catch in his throat, and while part of him knew that Annalisa was just toying with him, and that this wasn't really Adelaide, he could help but want to believe that it was Adelaide.

"A-Adelaide loves Sirius," he responded after a second, "And you aren't anything like her." Annalisa frowned angrily, the expression foreign to Adelaide's face. It sent chills down the animagus' back.

"I can be like her," she whispered angrily, her hands snatching out and grabbing his collar, pulling his face up to hers, "You just don't give me the chance. I can be anyone you want me to be. I'm a metamorphmagus, Peter! I could be Bellatrix Lestrange if you wanted me to! I can be anyone!"

"But you aren't Adelaide," he protested strongly, while his body said very differently, "You're Annalisa Bertucci."

"But I don't have to be!" she whimpered, before she relaxed, her grip slackening, and her expression changed to sad, her eyes watering up as she observing a weakening Peters expression, and his mind stopped working the moment he smelt Adelaide's scent wafting towards him. Annalisa easily kept back her triumphant expression.

"Peter," she whispered softly, pressing closer so that their lips were only a hair away, "Can you help me? Just for a little while?" He didn't get the chance to respond, before Annalisa pressed her lips against his and kissed him softly. Peter had no control over his mind as he kissed the Fake Adelaide back; it was what he always wanted, right?

So for the moment, he let himself believe that it really was Adelaide he was kissing, that it really was the girl of his dreams. Just as he was finally convinced, Annalisa pulled away and his world crashed around him as she morphed back into her original form. His heart stopped for a moment and Annalisa watched patiently as he gathered himself together.

"I can be you're Adelaide all you want," she said softly, gently running her fingers through his hair, "Just do everything I say." Peter didn't respond for a second, and then he only shook his head. and She smiled triumphantly, before pulling away and sliding her shoes back on.

"I'll see you soon, Peter," she purred softly, trailing a hand down his cheek idly, "Remember what I've told you."

-

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: ((GASP)) PETER'S BEING PLAYED! Bad Annalisa!! ((hits with newspaper))

((cough)) anyway, here you go. Peter almost sold his soul to the devil!! Please review, love you all, yadda yadda yadda.

Yours truly,
B.E.N.