Wallflower

Chapter Sixteen: The Passing

With April came Easter Holidays, and this time only Sirius accompanied Adelaide home this time around. Lily had asked her parents permission and went with James to spend the holiday there, while Remus remained at Hogwarts to give Peter some company. Adelaide and Lily had managed to snag a compartment while Sirius and James said their goodbyes to Peter and Remus, and now they were sitting peacefully and passing jokes between each other much like they had during Christmas, but Adelaide seemed a bit out of it.

"What's wrong?" Sirius whispered into her ear while James and Lily chatted amongst themselves. Adelaide smiled sadly.

"I don't want to go home," she whispered, "But daddy knows that I'm going to come; it's all he has to look foreword to anymore. It'll be so weird, though."

"I get it," Sirius murmured, before smiling and changing the subject, "So have you decided on becoming a Healer?" She smiled and nodded.

"Yes," she said with relief, "I'm planning on going to St. Mungo's University." Sirius raised an eyebrow, but she continued, "Nurse Witte put in a word for me over Christmas."

St. Mungo's University was well known for producing some of the finest Healers known to the Wizarding world. St. Mungo created it and became a professor there so he could make sure there was never a need for Healers. Not only was it well known, but it was expensive and extremely selective about it's students. From what Sirius had heard, you had to get all O's to make it in with a virtually clean record. Rumors said that if anyone got lower then an E on their N.E.W.T.s they would be set aside and chosen as a last resort if they didn't meet the quota.

"From what I've heard about Mungo's you'll need it," Sirius commented, "And that's not based on your intelligence; I've heard they are very picky."

"And Nurse Witte graduated at the top of her class," Adelaide said with a smile, "I think that they'll take her recommendation seriously." Sirius refrained from making a lame joke, and just smiled before wrapping his arm around her shoulder.

"I don't have any doubt that you'll do brilliantly," he commented, "You're bound to get all O's, no problem, and you'll be put in Hogwarts Hall of Fame."

"We have a Hall of Fame?" she asked, and he laughed.

"They'll make one after you," he said with a wink. She laughed, and leaned in to his arms.

"So, what're you planning on doing after Hogwarts?" she asked him, glancing up to watch his facial expressions, "don't tell me you wanna be a healer too." He laughed.

"I was thinking about Quidditch, seeing as how I'm the teams beater, but decided against it and decided I want to be an auror," he explained. Adelaide hummed,

"I'd want you to be an auror; lack of manic flying bludgers is always a good thing," she joked, and he laughed.

"Yeah, decided that I don't need a concussion," he said.

The rest of the trip passed by quickly, and they said their goodbyes before Adelaide and Sirius apparated to her house. They went in and for some reason, the house was colder then before. Not physically, but it sent an unpleasant chill down her spine.

"I half expect her to come running down the stairs," she whispered softly, "But I know that she isn't going to come." Sirius just pulled laced his fingers with her, and she turned to smile at him, biting her lip.

"Come on, let's go say hi to dad," she said before turning and leading him down to the two-door room and then to her fathers room. She went in and smiled at her father, but her smile faded quickly as she saw how pale and thin he was.

"Daddy?" she asked, and she got no response. Sirius felt his throat close up, and Adelaide let go of his hand and hurried foreword, placing her hand on his neck. His breathing was shallow, and his pulse was unusually slow, "Sirius, we need to get to the Hospital." She took out her wand and quickly used a levitating charm to levitate her father to his chair, still in his pajamas, and she quickly began searching through the night stand, and pulled out a ratty map, magically attaching her fathers hand to the edge, and looking at Sirius.

"Come on," she whispered, and he hurried over and placed his hand on the map, already guessing that it was a port key. She gulped, before pointing her wand at the map and activating it.

They arrived at St. Mungo's in a flash, and almost immediately Nurse Witte was beside them, looking panicked.

"I was just there this morning," she explained, un-sticking Jeans hand and quickly rolling him off, "I was alerted as soon as the port key went off and was waiting here; you two need to go into the waiting room and I'll be right with you."

The two stopped following her and watched the nurse hurry down the hall. Adelaide clung to Sirius' arm, and he slowly led her to a nearby bench, where they took a seat slowly and watched the wall in front of him.

"I'm sorry," Sirius murmured, "This wasn't the homecoming I was expecting." They shared a dry laugh, and Adelaide felt as if she wanted to puke.

"This hasn't been a very promising year so far, has it?" she asked softly, and Sirius sighed.

"Remember how we thought this year was going to be great?" he asked, "When all of us were friends, there was no animosity between us, and we were just having a good time?" she smiled sadly.

"Yeah," she whispered, before laughing, "Maybe we shouldn't have started going out; that's where it all started." Sirius shook his head and pulled her closer to him, and she buried her head into his neck.

"Nah; that makes it all worth it," he whispered, kissing the top of her head, "we'll just keep taking what life throws at us, and take it with a grin. Of course, if it pisses us of we can always flip Life off; just yell out real loud, 'Fuck you, Life!' and go on with our lives." Adelaide giggled, and sighed as she stared straight ahead of her.

"I'm not as distraught as I thought I would be," she whispered, "I've known this was coming, and after Maddie died I knew it would be soon."

"Hey, he's not dead yet," Sirius said lightly, "We just have to wait it out and hope that you get your chance to say goodbye this time."

"If he does die I'm not telling the others until after the funeral," she said, "They've already done so much for me, and I want their Easter Hols to be happy."

"Lily will throw a fit," Sirius said with a grin, and Adelaide laughed.

"Yeah, I know, but that's okay. It's nothing she would kill me over,"

They ended up spending the night at the hospital on that bench, waiting for news from Nurse Witte. It wasn't until noon that she appeared again, with a small frown.

"He's alive," she said, "But he doesn't have long. I suggest you say your goodbyes now." Adelaide sighed, tears overflowing and dropping into her lap.

"You've told me that about ten times now," she whispered, "but how likely is it that this is it?"

"He has a ninety percent chance of dieing," Nurse Witte said solemnly, "He's barely hanging on."

Without another word Adelaide and Sirius stood and followed Nurse Witte down to her fathers room, where he was laying with a glazed look in his eyes as he stared at the ceiling. Adelaide just took a seat by his side, and his head turned. Nurse Witte left the room, and Sirius remained beside the door.

"Hey daddy," she whispered. He smiled softly.

"Hey, Lady Girl," he responded in a raspy voice, "I knew I'd see you. I was counting down the days until I saw you again; it got so lonely at the house."

"I know," she whispered, "It's so odd being there without you or Maddie." Jean sighed, and looked up at the ceiling.

"I'm going to die, aren't I?" he asked, and Adelaide closed her eyes tightly before nodding.

"Yeah," she whispered, "Yeah, you are." He sighed in resigned defeat, and kept his eyes on the ceiling.

"How many times have we said our goodbyes?" he asked, "Nine?"

"Ten," She corrected with a wry smile, "I guess this makes number eleven, huh?" he laughed.

"It's funny how every time you say goodbye, it changes," he commented, "How's that boy of yours? He treating you alright?" Adelaide glanced over and saw Sirius grin, and she laughed.

"Oh, he's terrible," she said sarcastically, "worse guy I've ever met." Jean laughed, hearing the sarcasm, and spotted Sirius at the door.

"What're you doing standing so far away?" he asked, "Come over here and help my daughter if she starts to cry."

Sirius laughed, and did as instructed, placing a hand on her shoulder with a smile, though it didn't quite reach his eyes.

"I'm already crying," Adelaide said wryly, "So much for that." Jean laughed, and looked over at the two with wise eyes.

"You've been such a good kid," he whispered, "and I couldn't be prouder of you. I'm sorry I pushed you when you were little; I only wanted what I thought was best for you."

"It's OK," she whispered, "I know that."

They were in there for a bout an hour when her dad fell asleep, and then Nurse Witte stepped in and demanded they go home and get some rest. Adelaide put up a fight for a while, but gave in after Nurse Witte promised to keep them posted on what happened. The quickly apparated back, and Adelaide immediately headed up for a shower, while Sirius grabbed their things and placed them in their rooms, claiming the one he used last time. Nothing had changed, including Maddie's room. The only disturbance was the covers, which hadn't been touched since her death. To his surprise, he found a House Elf setting at the small table, where a tea set was still setting out.

"Poor Miss Maddie," the house elf said sadly, blowing his nose noisily, before he turned and saw Sirius there, "Oh! You's must be Master Sirius! I am Nobbie, sir."

"Er…are you ok?" Sirius asked slowly, "You look kind of…distraught." Nobbie blew his nose again.

"Nobbie is just grieving, sirs," he said solemnly, "Miss Maddie was a good mistress, yeses she was." He tucked his napkin into his clothes (they looked like some old rags sewn together) and smiled a watery smile, "How can Nobbie help Master Sirius?"

"Um, I was just putting our things away," Sirius said. Nobbie nodded enthusiastically.

"Of course! Nobbie is sorry Nobbie wasn't there to take them up. Nobbie was in here cleaning Miss Maddie's room." Sirius nodded awkwardly.

"Well…I'll just be going now," he murmured, turning and leaving the room.

"Goodbye, Master Sirius!" Nobbie called from behind him.

The next day was vary much the same, and after they ate breakfast prepared by Nobbie, they returned to the hospital and they were greeted by Nurse Witte, who lead them to Jeans room with a solemn expression. They didn't say much, but when they opened the door Jean was asleep, his heart beat going steadily. They took their seats and sat there in silence for an hour, before Adelaide sighed.

"I wanted him to go to my wedding," she whispered, "I wanted him to be there when I had my first kid, or my first job. It…it's going to be so hard to go through all those milestones in my life and know he's not there."

"I'm sorry," he whispered, "but there isn't much we can do." Adelaide sighed and nodded.

"I know," she whispered, and smiled slightly, "I'm going to miss him calling me Lady, or Addy." Sirius grinned.

"If you want, I can start calling you Lady," he said, and she laughed, but shook her head.

"It's okay; I like it when you call me Adelaide." He smiled reassuringly and took her back into his arms.

They were only there for ten minutes when the projection that showed his heartbeat (what Healers used instead of Heart Monitors) suddenly flat lined, and Jeans chest stopped moving. Adelaide took in a shaky breath, before burying her head into Sirius' shoulder and crying.

The funeral was small, and held two days later. Adelaide, true to her word, hadn't invited her friends and waited to tell them when they boarded the train. She didn't give an Eulogy, and they were the only two beside Nurse Witte that watched as her father was buried. There was no music, and they watched in silence as he was buried beside Maddie, his gravestone engraved with the image of his house.

The rest of the week was spent away from the house. Adelaide couldn't stay and instead packed a lot of her things, most things she would never use, and they rented a room in the Leaky Cauldron, spending their time in Diagon Alley while they received owl after owl from Lily, James, and Remus complaining about why they weren't invited, Lily the most upset then the other two.

The twentieth came quickly, and when they found James and Lily in a compartment Lily began to berate Adelaide, before bursting into tears and hugging her tightly, murmuring how sorry she was. James and Sirius were quickly kept to one side of the train while the girls talked quickly, Lily arguing her point more then once. Finally, Adelaide sighed.

"Look, I just want to have a relaxing stay at Hogwarts, and avoid the topic of my father," she said in a voice that screamed no exceptions, "Please. I got over it; I've been prepared for six years now, and it wasn't sudden. It's okay." She smiled, and Lily finally quieted herself, moving the topic along to N.E.W.T.s.

And Adelaide really believed her words; it was going to be okay, and they would be fine. She shared a smile with Sirius and as they left the train, she held his hand tightly as they made their way to the carriages.

"I can see the Thestral's," Adelaide whispered softly, her grip tightening. Sirius nodded.

"I can too," he murmured. The Thestral looked over at them with its odd milky eyes, and Adelaide felt her heartbeat stop in her chest.

For a moment, she thought she had seen her Dad, Mum and Maddie watching her, smiling and waving to her as she boarded the carriage.

-

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: I didn't want to make as big of a deal about Jean dieing, because they knew it would be very soon, and frankly I was tired of death (or funerals, at least) and I don't think I could have done it. The ending is rushed, because I didn't want to talk about death any more. But the thing is, as it stands right now the sequel would be 40 chapters or so, twice as long as this story. Tell me if you think I should either A) cut the sequel into two parts or B) combine the sequel with this. I think I'd rather post it as a sequel, but w/e you guys want.

BUT DUDE! MJ DIED! That means you can't joke about him, cuz otherwise it'll be very distasteful. Srsly. I'll yell at you and call u a heartless monster if you do.

Yours truly,
B.E.N.