Wallflower
Chapter Nine: Meet the Family
December 20th finally arrived, and the Marauders (plus Lily, whose family was staying with her sisters husband Vernon) found themselves in front of a large Victorian styled house with a wrap around porch, that looked as if it was worth more then what any of them could dream of. Adelaide blushed, and waved vaguely to the house from under Sirius' arm.
"Welcome to Faye Mansion," she said with a hint of pride, "It's been in my mothers' family for centuries."
"It's big," Lily said in awe.
"Really big," James added. Adelaide laughed awkwardly.
"Truthfully, we barely use all of the house. Since it's usually just my father and the nurse here, we use the living room, dining room, kitchen, bathrooms, and bedrooms. I'm the only one that uses the library," she explained, "But I have to walk al the way to the other side of the house to reach it."
"Damn," Sirius whistled, "It's kind of intimidating." Adelaide laughed, before nodding towards the elegant house and walking foreword.
"Come on, I want to get out of the cold," she said with a bright smile, though there was also pain visible in her expression. The others didn't mention it and she quickly banished their things into their rooms. They quickly made their way inside, and were greeted by warmth that wrapped around them like a cocoon; it had to be twenty degrees outside. They closed the door behind them and noticed that they were on a slightly raised area, which led to a dining room and kitchen on the right, the living room just ahead, and a set of stairs beside a hallway, blocked off by a door, to the left.
The walls were floral wallpaper, and the floor was a beige carpet in the living room, while it was mahogany wood in the entry way and hallway. Their was three sofas in the living room that were clearly from the Victorian era, and looked as if it hadn't been updated at all. It wasn't a huge living room, and it seemed relaxing.
The dining room had dark chocolate brown walls with the same mahogany wood as in the hall, with an elegantly carved table with seats for eight. There was a grand piano in the back right-hand corner. There was no doors leading into it, instead an open archway from the entry way.
The kitchen had wooden paneling underneath a blue checkered wallpaper, giving it a very country-style feel that was much warmer then the living and dining rooms. The flooring was lighter colored wood, and the cabinets were topped with white marble. In the middle of the kitchen was a thin island, were there was pots and pans hanging over head and stools lined up on one side.
"It's a nice house," Remus complimented and Adelaide shrugged him off with a blush.
"Nothing blends; I just finished redoing the dining room. I'm going to redo the kitchen during the summer so it isn't so country (not that I don't like it) and fits in with the Victorian feel of the rest of the house."
"You know quite a bit about styles," James commented. Adelaide shrugged.
"I wanted to be a designer when I was little, so I studied up on fashion and styles; this included housing," she responded, "Go ahead and make yourselves at home, and feel free to raid the fridge for food."
"Where are our rooms?" Lily asked before yawning. Adelaide smiled.
"It is kind of late," she commented, before turning for the stairs, "come on, I'll show you where to go."
All their rooms were in a small cluster on the second floor, around where Adelaide's room was. They each got their own room, and there was another left over that was decorated for a little girl, with stuffed animals covering every inch of space. All of their rooms were similar with tan walls and brown carpeting. They had white dressers and bedposts and brown covers on their beds. Their were two full bathrooms (one connected to Adelaide's room, which was cabin-themed, and one in the hallway) and two half bathrooms (one connected to Remus' room, and another connected to Lily's).
"Well, I have to go check on my dad," Adelaide said after pointing out their rooms, "You guys go on and sleep; it wont take too long." They did so, Sirius a bit more reluctant, and it was barely after their heads hit the pillows that they fell asleep.
-
Sirius awoke when light filtered through his windows, and he knew it must have been a spell since his room was facing the west, and there was no way that much light would come in naturally. He groaned slightly, not really wanting to get up, but did so. He stumbled down the stairs and entered the kitchen to find that Adelaide was already up, and chatting with an elder woman who had dark hair pulled into a ponytail and was dressed in loose white pants and a baggy blue top. Adelaide turned when he entered and smiled widely.
"Sirius, this is Nurse Witte," she introduced, "She lives here during school so my father can stay at home."
"It's a pleasure to meet you," Sirius said and the nurse nodded with a polite smile before returning her attention to Adelaide.
"You are able to go pick up Madeline today, if you wish," she explained, "and Jean is awake now if you want to talk to him." Adelaide smiled sadly.
"Thank you," she responded, "I'll arrive at St. Mungos after everyone's woken up." Nurse Witte nodded, before apparating away briskly. Adelaide turned and looked at Sirius shyly.
"I-I'd like you to meet my father, if it's okay with you," she said shyly, and Sirius smiled kindly at her.
"I'd love to meet your father," he responded. Adelaide face lit up, and she turned and led him to the door beside the stairway. To his surprise, it did not lead to a hallway. Instead it led to a square room, with only two doors. One was open and revealed to be a bathroom, and the other was shut tight. Adelaide moved to it with a strong face, before gently opening the door. When she saw her father, she turned to Sirius and motioned him in.
The room itself was very similar to Adelaide's room and had a very welcoming feel to it. Setting in an armchair and looking out the window was an elderly looking man with gray hair and golden brown eyes, exactly like Adelaide's. He had a large protruding and from what Sirius could tell, also very tall. He looked over to the door when it entered and smiled.
"Lady, my darling!" he said, using a nickname Sirius had never heard before. He opened his arms wide and Adelaide moved quickly to engulf him in a tight hug. Jean seemed a bit disoriented as he hugged her back, with a dreamy look on his face, "It's so good to see you again, Lady, my girl. Has Maddie arrived yet?" Adelaide removed herself from his grasp and smiled, before shaking her head.
"I'm going to get her as soon as everyone wakes up," she said kindly, "You remember I invited my friends over, right?"
"Of course, of course," he responded weekly, his voice loosing it's sudden luster as he started to sound as old as he looked; it was hard to believe that he had just turned fifty.
"Did you have a good birthday?" Adelaide asked kindly, and Jean nodded with a dreamy look on his face.
"Yes – Elizabeth came and visited me, so that was nice," he murmured, and Adelaide kept back a frown. His eyes lit up again and he smiled, "who is the young man by the door? One of your friends? Adelaide glanced over her shoulder and waved Sirius over, and he arrived at her side quickly.
"Daddy, this is Sirius Black," she introduced, "He's my boyfriend." The man nodded slowly and shook Sirius' hand with surprising strength. He eyed Sirius before speaking,
"If you're courting my daughter, you better make her feel like a queen," he demanded, and Sirius blanched slightly; he was intimidating for looking so frail, "I want nothing then the best from my little girl." Adelaide just kept smiling, though her cheeks were flushed. Sirius looked Jean dead in the eye when he responded,
"I will never intentionally hurt your daughter," he said truthfully. They kept staring for a moment, before Jean smiled and drew him into a hug, causing Sirius' breath to leave him in a whoosh.
"Atta boy!" he said as he patted his back. Sirius pulled away and saw that Adelaide was giggling into her hand. Jean paid no mind, "Where are your other friends?" he asked, and Adelaide composed herself.
"They're all still asleep, I believe," she responded truthfully, and he nodded; suddenly, he seemed frail again and he voice was soft.
"Good, good, growing teens need their rest," he said frailly, "lots and lots of rest," he trailed off and looked out the window. Adelaide glanced at Sirius before moving behind the chair; though it looked like an armchair, it was on wheels so it was easier to navigate around the house. She wheeled him into the living room, setting him beside a couch and facing the back wall, where there was a large window with no drapes; it had a beautiful view of rolling hills and the glimpse of a distant lake.
As if on a queue, Remus came down stairs, followed by a still groggy James and a smiling Lily; Adelaide assumed that Lily had woken them up.
"There they are, daddy," she said with a smile, "They just woke up." She motioned them over and they did so, and Lily felt a bit embarrassed to still be in her pajamas.
"Who's who?" Jean asked, and Adelaide just kept smiling as she pointed them out and gave their names, throwing in that Lily and James were a couple. Jean eyed Remus closely.
"Well? What about you?" he asked, and Remus looked a bit shocked.
"What about me, sir?" he asked politely.
"Don't you have a girlfriend?" Jean asked bluntly. Remus blushed slightly.
"A-Ah, no, I don't," he responded, and Jean seemed surprised, but just grunted in response.
"Well," Adelaide said with a slight blush, "I'm going to go pick up Madeline from St. Mungos, you guys go ahead and make yourselves at home, fix up some breakfast, but make enough for everyone." She smiled, before suddenly apparating on the spot. Sirius blinked.
"That was sudden,"
It was barely twenty minutes later that Adelaide apparated into the kitchen, where Lily just finished fixing up some breakfast. Attached to Adelaide's side was a little girl who was about nine years old. She had thin strawberry blond hair and golden eyes, like her father and sister. She was very small, and she looked very similar to her sister. She was smiling widely and she bounded away from Adelaide with out a second though and stopped beside Lily, holding her hand out with a wide smile.
"Hullo! My name's Madeline, but everyone calls me Maddie," she said with a sweet smile, "You're really pretty; I hope I grow up to be as pretty as you." Lily turned a vibrant red, but smiled anyway, and gently shook her hand.
"It's a pleasure to meet you Maddie," she said, "My name is Lily."
"You're names really pretty," Madeline said shyly, glancing up at her through her eyelashes. Lily kept smiling, before withdrawing her hand and continuing to plate food. Maddie then turned and faced James with another vibrant smile.
"Hullo! Are you Addy's boyfriend?" she asked, referring to Adelaide. James and Adelaide balked.
"N-No, I'm Lily's boyfriend James," he said awkwardly, and Madeline frowned.
"Oh. I thought you were her boyfriend," she said glumly, before she cheered up again, "But it's ok! You and Lily look good together!" She pranced off with a wide smile and stopped in front of Sirius, who was watching with an amused smile from his seat at the island. She tugged on his sleeve.
"What about you," she asked with a seemingly permanent smile, "are you Addy's boyfriend?" Sirius smirked.
"Yeah, that's me," he responded, and Madeline's gaze hardened and she pointed at him in what she thought to be a threatening manner, and was really only very adorable.
"You better treat her right, or you'll hafta answer to me!" she demanded and Sirius managed to keep a serious expression (excusing the pun).
"Scouts honer," he said, and Maddie, although having no idea what he just said, nodded and pranced towards the living room, only to spot Remus on the couch, reading a book as he waited for dinner. She 'eep'ed loudly, before rushing over to Adelaide, who had followed her from a bit behind, and hid behind her leg. Remus looked up with a raised eyebrow.
"What's wrong?" Adelaide asked, and Maddie shifted her feet shyly.
"He's cute," she whispered into her sisters ear. Adelaide felt her lips twitch as she tried to keep in her laughter.
"How about you go say hi to dad?" she offered, and Maddie smiled brilliantly, before dashing into the living room and crawling into her fathers lap.
"Mornin' Papa!" she cried happily, and Jean smiled, though he seemed to be a bit out of it.
"Good morning," he said and she hugged him tightly. He looked a bit bewildered, but returned the hug anyways. Maddie began to jabber on about what she did at the hospital, and Jean seemed to just nod every once and a while even though he didn't seem to quite know what was going on. Adelaide frowned.
"He was doing so good this morning, too," she said softly, "and now he doesn't remember her." She sighed before turning with a smile, "How's breakfast coming along?"
"Done," Lily said with a smile, and motioned to the island where there were six plates in front of the six chairs. Adelaide grabbed a seventh plate that had been set to the side and some utensils and a napkin before heading into the living room.
"I hate to interrupt," she said with a smile, "But breakfast is ready. Maddie, go get Sirius to help you into the chair," Maddie nodded and ran into the kitchen, before stopping in confusion.
"Which one's Sirius?" she asked suddenly. Adelaide smiled, before responding, "The one with the black hair," and continuing to her father. She sat up a tray in front of him and placed the plate on top of it.
"Ah, Adelaide," he said with a smile, "It's good to see you again; how long has it been?"
"Not too long," Adelaide said softly, still smiling. Jean nodded in a dazed manner.
"That little girl is so sweet," he said absently, and Adelaide just nodded, before unfolding his napkin and setting it on his lap.
"You just tell me when you're done eating and I'll come pick it up," she said with a kind smile. She walked back into the Kitchen to see Maddie chatting away with Lily, who seemed amused by the whole situation. Adelaide just took the open seat beside Sirius, who looked at her with a smile.
"You should be a healer," he said honestly. Adelaide blushed but kept smiling.
"That's what I was planning on doing," she admitted, "I've just taken care of Maddie and dad for so long that it's really sort of second nature." Sirius nodded and returned to his food, but in all truth he was angry that Adelaide had so much on her shoulders, from a really young age as well. He managed to brush it off and kept up with the joyous conversation easily.
Sometime around noon, Maddie and Adelaide had gone out side to the gardens, and the others lounged in the kitchen sharing jokes and chatting aimlessly. When the two came back in, Adelaide looked extremely amused as Maddie shyly walked behind her with a small bouquet of flowers in her hands. Adelaide just kept grinning as they made their way to the kitchen, and Maddie left her sisters side and walked bravely up to Remus, holding out the flowers bashfully.
"I-I picked you some flowers," she said with a shy smile. Remus raised an eyebrow and took them graciously.
"Thank you very much," he responded with an easy-going smile. Maddie 'eep'ed before running back to her sister and latching onto her leg, glancing at Remus occasionally with a blush across her cheeks. James laughed and patted Remus on the back.
"Looks like you have an admirer," he said, and Remus just pushed him half-heartedly,
"Shut up,"
-
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: OMG I LOVE MADDIE SO MUCH!!! SHE'S SO ADORABLE I ALMOST CAN'T STAND IT!!!! ::SQUEEEEE!!!!!!::
...and now I hate chapters 11/12/13...::emosob::
And I'm obsessing with young Tom Riddle and fics that have him change in school cuz of some OC. I DON'T KNOW WHY!!! ::emosob::
Yours truly,
B.E.N.
