S I X T Y - N I N E

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Adeline had never fully fallen asleep, only briefly ever dozing off before waking back up due to the uncomfortableness of the sleeping position. But, as far as she knew, George had managed to get some sleep in those few hours. Seeing George at least slightly more well-rested than he had been the night before was enough to give Adeline at least a small amount of relief.

Ten minutes past five in the morning, Mrs. Weasley appeared in the Grimmauld Place kitchen. All the teenagers snapped awake the moment she showed up, and Sirius ran from down the hallway.

Mrs. Weasley appeared exhausted and her skin was paler than normal. But, she still managed a smile as she said in a weak voice, "He's going to be alright, he's sleeping. We can all go see him later. Bill's sitting with him now, he's going to take the morning off work."

Fred fell back into his chair, his hands covering his face. As Adeline breathed a deep sigh of relief, George and Ginny got up out of their chairs and ran over to hug their mum. Ron laughed shakily, downing his butterbeer in one sip before running over to join in the hug too.

"Breakfast!" Sirius said joyfully, jumping to his feet. "Where's the accursed house elf? Kreacher! Kreacher!"

The decrepit house elf did not answer Sirius's summons.

"Oh, forget it," Sirius muttered to himself. "Let's see...it's breakfast for six...seven...eight. Breakfast for eight. Bacon and eggs, I think, and some tea and toast–"

"Let me help," Adeline offered, giving Sirius a small smile as she started up the stove and began to pull dishes out of the cabinet. "I can help cook the eggs and make toast."

"Let me take care of this. You should be resting. All of you had a really long night."

"I had a long night, but not as long as the Weasleys," She responded. "I don't want you to be cooking and serving for the Weasley family all alone. I can help. Plus, I can make wicked poached eggs."

Adeline didn't say it, but she didn't feel right being in the way the Weasley family's happiness right now. She wanted something to do, but she wasn't sure celebrating with the family was the best way to do it. At least with the cooking, Adeline could have some way to help the Weasleys after what was such an incredibly difficult night for them.

Mrs. Weasley suddenly pulled a surprised Adeline into a tight embrace, causing her to nearly drop the pan on her foot. "Thank you so much," She said into Adeline's shoulder. "Though, you don't need to do all this for us, sweetheart. I can help make breakfast."

"Trust me, Mrs. Weasley, it's the least we could do."

Mrs. Weasley was about to protest, but then she caught sight of Sirius Black standing behind Adeline. All negative feelings she may have held towards Sirius over the summer had flown out the window, as she pulled him into a hug as well. "And you, Sirius!" She exclaimed. "I cannot thank you enough for taking them in last night."

"You think I would've let them stay at Hogwarts in a moment like that?"

Mrs. Weasley beamed up at him, which was an unusual sight to see after all their arguments over the summer. "They think he'll be there a little while and it would be wonderful to be nearer. Of course...that might mean we're here for Christmas..."

"The more the merrier!" Sirius responded with such a sincere smile that it caused Mrs. Weasley's grin to grow even more.

She began grabbing more pots and pans out of the cabinets, but Adeline and Sirius both stopped her. "Mrs. Weasley, we can take care of breakfast," Adeline said once more. "You've probably had an incredibly long night. We can take care of cooking at least this one time"

"Just spend some time with your family, alright?" Sirius added.

Mrs. Weasley sighed, but she relented and turned back to go talk to Ron and Ginny. George managed to break away from his family for a brief moment to run over and press a kiss to the top of Adeline's forehead. Almost all the tension and anxiety from the night before had left George.

George's delighted mood became even more clear when he slipped back into his old habits, teasing, "Didn't know you knew how to cook."

"I'm nothing compared to your mother, mind you," Adeline responded. "But I try my best. I'm better at cooking desserts, though."

"Now that I need to try," George said. He then noticed something out of the corner of his eye, prompting him to say, "Addie, turn your head to the right. It looks like the toast's about to burn."

"Shit," She cursed, reaching over to the pan to pull it off the stovetop and take the pieces of bread out. Thankfully, even though the pieces of toast were crispy, they hadn't burned entirely. She could hear George loudly laughing at her, and while she liked the fact he was laughing again after last night, Adeline still rolled her eye and joked, "I can't believe you're making fun of the girl with one eye."

"I make fun of everyone, regardless if they have both their eyes or not." George leaned down to kiss her cheek and lightly tugged on the end of a loose hair ribbon. "Although, I do have a bit of a soft spot for you."

"How charming."

"Love you too, Addie."

George left Adeline with that, going back to the table so he could spend more time with his mum and sister. Adeline turned her head to the side, and she noticed Sirius staring at her with a distant, strange look in his eyes.

"Is everything alright? Did I get something on me?" Adeline asked, confused.

"It's nothing to worry about," Sirius responded, shaking his head. "It's just that sometimes, you and George remind me of a couple I used to know."

"Hopefully that's a good thing," Adeline laughed as she started scooping the eggs out of the pot and placing them onto plates.

Sirius looked down at the pan and even though there was a small smile on his face, Adeline couldn't help but pick up on the twinge of pain in his voice as he said, "Don't worry, it is a good thing."

Every time Sirius looked at Harry and his friends, he was hit with memories of him and his best friends back in the First Wizarding War. Sirius was around the same age as Fred, George, and Adeline when the war truly broke out and he signed up for an organization that he didn't really process the potential consequences of. Before he knew it, all his closest friends had been ripped away from him – whether it be through betrayal or death – and he spent twelve years isolated and heartbroken in a prison in the middle of the ocean for a crime he never committed. Sirius couldn't help but hope that all the young people like Adeline and George didn't have to experience the same pain and heartbreak that he did. But even he knew that hope was likely fleeting.

Sirius was just determined to protect them all in any way that he could.

Adeline started serving out breakfast plates to everyone in the kitchen, and as she handed a plate to Ginny, she noticed Harry sitting in the corner of the room. He was far away from the celebration, looking down at the ground with a distant look in his eyes and barely a hint of a smile.

"Is Harry alright?" Adeline asked Sirius quietly, who had also seemed to notice. "He seemed so shaken up after everything last night – and everything this year, frankly."

"If I'm being honest, I'm not entirely sure how Harry is. We haven't been able to communicate much considering my whole situation and last night seemed to shake up Harry too," Sirius responded. "What has Harry been like at Hogwarts this year?"

Unfortunately for Sirius, Adeline shrugged. "I'm not entirely sure, if I'm being honest. Most of the time, he seems alright, especially when he's teaching D.A. Frankly, that seems to where he's the happiest nowadays. But...there's been moments where Harry will just snap. Ron and Hermione see it the most, but I've been witness to it a few times."

"What do you mean by 'snap'?"

"Hermione says he's been lashing out a lot more, too. I don't see him around much, but from what I hear, he's been even more angry and defensive than usual sometimes. He got banned from Quidditch by that terrible Umbridge woman because Malfoy wouldn't stop being a complete arse and Harry beat him up in the middle of the Quidditch field." Adeline's eye widened as Sirius let out a small snort of laughter at the last sentence and she whispered, "I probably shouldn't have said that last part."

"No, that would actually be something I probably did when I was back at Hogwarts," Sirius said with a small laugh before his face fell slightly. "But the other things you said before and what happened last night...."

"I know," She agreed. "I know you're his godfather and Harry cares about you a lot. I feel like he would talk to you about this sort of thing, so I wanted to at least talk to you about it. After what we went through together last June...I just want to make sure he's alright."

Despite the topic of the conversation, a soft look appeared in Sirius's eyes. "It looks like we both want the same things for Harry."

"It looks like we do," Adeline confirmed with a small smile.

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hi guys !!

i'm so sorry it's been forever and a half since i updated 😭😭 i know i'm always saying school's kicking my ass...but this has to be my hardest semester yet. my workload leaves me so exhausted by the end of the day that i can barely even muster up the energy to write. on top of that, i've been experiencing some writers block, which has been loads of fun (not) and hasn't done anything to help me getting out this chapter faster.

i hope you all enjoyed the chapter, nonetheless !! i will see you at the next update, and i hope you all have a lovely day !!

- g ♡