ask me no questions, i’ll tell you no lies
fifth year, 1976.
Adeline always struggled with the concept of friends, both as Hermione and herself. In Beauxbatons it had been easy at first, until they realized just how truly strange she truly was. She was too smart, knew things she really shouldn't and didn't fit into their perfectly wrapped boxes of first impressions.
As Hermione, before Ron and Harry, she had similar issues. She was too smart, choosing to spend time indoors with her nose in a book or hanging out at the library rather then playing dolls or cycling around the neighbourhood. No one really understood her as a person, looked at her and was like—you're strange but your the type of strange I want at my side for the rest of my life. Adeline, for as long as she could remember and recall, had always been a temporary friend. A blip in the map, a short time person to spend time on and then forget about. She knew it was mainly her own insecurities speaking when thinking such things in the presence of the seemingly forever bubbly and strangely optimistic Marlene Mckinnon.
The truth of the matter was that Adeline knew that Marlene was more likely than not a temporary friend at the time, that soon she too would find Adeline's quirks and secrets too much and leave her be and Adeline was fine with it. Really, she was. Or at least she told herself that she was, as the blonde girl continued to chat her ear off about all sorts of things. Bouncing from topic to topic about things even Adeline hadn't known about Hogwarts was passed down in knowledge from her brothers.
She learned lots about the girl in such a short time. From her favourite Quidditch teams, to what position she played and why she liked the sport in the first place. Marlene was also a half-blood with two older brothers —Matty and Marcus— that had both previously graduated. The blonde girls mum, Matilda, was rarely ever at home since she worked at St. Mungo's but it seemed that the girl was still close with her anyway from her many stories.
Slowly, Adeline found herself sharing bits of information too, mindless and silly things really— about her maman* and her love of gardening and foraging for potions ingredients. Adeline had even marginally discussed about living with her Aunt Druella and her cousin Narcissa, though she purposely kept those tidbits short and to the point. She even shared about how she was nervous for potions class, about how she hadn't been able to even pick up a stirring stick or chop ingredients with the same precision she had once had before her mother's fatal accident.
Though as much time as two fifteen year old girls could fill with idle chatter, soon the topics began to fade and a sort of calm filled their compartment. The trolly lady had come recently and Adeline splurged on a set of sugar quills while Marlene loudly kept snapping bubbles in her droobles blowing gum. It was a relative quiet and calm that Adeline hadn't expected to fall in but it was... nice. It felt safe and relaxing just sitting mindlessly in the train compartment eating sweets and gazing out the window and asking a question when it popped into mind.
"Not that I'm complaining in the least," Adeline started to say, choosing to vocalize a question that had been buzzing in the back of her mind for quite some time now, "...but why aren't you sitting with your friends?"
"Lily and I got into a spat," Marlene huffed, popping a galleon sized bubble with her tongue as she did. "Nothing serious, but still I needed too cool my head before I started talking too much and we both blew up."
Adeline had noticed that Marlene spoke often of Lily, not in adoration but more so in an adverse or almost jealous tone. As if the girl herself didn't have anything against her but that they often didn't see eye-to-eye on many occasions, which caused many disagreements.
"Emmeline — that's another girl in our year who normally sits with us," Marlene added for Adeline's benefit as she listened with apt attention. "She told me to go take a walk for a bit."
Adeline nodded as Marlene carried on in talking about her other friends.
"They're both in Gryffindor with me, so we've always kind of stuck together, I guess." Marlene added before giving Adeline one of her half smiles with a hint of teasing laced between its folds. "I have a feeling you'd like Lily best though. She's a spitfire but super nice, very smart—if a bit too stubborn and set in her ways at times. Terrible at taking care of herself though."
"What's Emmeline like?" Adeline asked in curiosity. She couldn't remember ever coming across her name in previous memories and flashbacks as Hermione.
"Em is like... the spello-tape that holds us together really, she's always the voice of reason when we start loosing our heads." Marlene chuckled at that and Adeline couldn't help but grin too. That seemed to fit the dynamic well for how often Marlene quipped about being at odds with Lily over some silly and insignificant reason.
"Then there's Dorcas Meadowes," she adds on. Adeline couldn't help but notice how the girl went a bright pink when saying her name and how she started to fidget more than usual. "She's in Slytherin but she's one of the good ones. Ambitious as hell, but a little strange too."
Adeline tucked that piece of knowledge away for later. With Marlene having a decent friendship in Slytherin house it could save her lots of later issues in trying to steer her own family members and a few others away from the so-called 'Dark Side'. She'd rather not have to make herself into an entirely fabricated copy like she has been for years in order to get an in. Her last name could only pull so many strings before her luck would inevitably run out and she would have to make some far more difficult choices.
"....got a wicked throw in baseball, but is shit at Quidditch when I tried to teach her."
Adeline blinked twice before realizing she had incidentally zoned out much of what Marlene was saying about the other girl. In an effort to keep Marlene talking and not notice her sudden bouts of inattentiveness she fired off a mix of questions that she knew could keep Marlene busy in her own thoughts before prying into her own.
"Do you play on your house team? You never mentioned it besides pickup games at your home."
Adeline had learned early on into the train ride to Hogwarts that if she got Marlene speaking about Quidditch it would be highly unlikely for her to run out of things to speak about in regards to the sport. Marlene lived and breathed the fast paced game and by the sound of it wasn't scared to get her hands dirty when playing. It reminded her a lot of he old (future?) friend Ginny Weasley in that instance. The same stubborn determination and free will glinting in her eyes as she screamed at the world to try and tell her what to do.
"Oh yeah!" Marlene exclaimed brightly "I made the team in my third year. We got a great team this year though so whichever house you get if it's not Gryffindor is gonna have some real competition this time 'round." Adeline tried not to roll her eyes at the girl and state that who wins which game's in a highly dangerous game of dodgeball and tag in the air was the last thing on her mind.
Instead, she let the girl speak long and in adoration about all the players on her team. Marlene was passionate about the sport that was undoubted, but she was just as passionate about the players— they seemed to hold a very close friendship between them all, both on and off the pitch. At least, from what Adeline could gather and interpret from the girls short quips and snippets about them all.
"Frank Longbottom is the captain for Gryffindor," she added swiftly, "you've probably heard about him or at least his family cause you're a Black. He's a year ahead of us and dating Alice Fortescue."
Adeline felt her heart sink at the thought of Neville. A boy from her classes and year the first time around who never truly got to keep this parents. He would have loved this, hearing about his mum and dad being school sweethearts and playing Quidditch. Even when Marlene spoke so fondly of them both without a second thought.
"...she's a Ravenclaw but a major procrastinator. All of her assignments are a cluttered last minute mess, which I mean I'm the same way, but it's a little crazy how she still gets such good grades." Marlene paused for a second to breathe and huffed out a deep breath as she snapped her gum loudly once more. "Either or, Alice is like an honorary Gryffindor at this point anyway. She spends more time at our tower than her own."
Adeline felt the need to say something— anything at this point, which is perhaps why the softest and strangest tone she had ever spoken with decided to drop out a bland phrase of, "They sound nice."
She wished she could say something else—something like she's glad they're so happy, and so easily loved. That Neville would have been so proud to have them as his parents, that he must have taken after his father far more than his mother in the way it seemed Frank Longbottom sounded so adored by others. As someone to look up to, to rely on in times of need. Or even how Alice seems to always come up with an ending conclusion to work and figure it all out in the end even if it was a mess to start, Neville was exactly like that from what she could remember of him.
It hurt hearing about them, but it was also soothing in a sense—like aloe cream spread across a sunburn after a long day at the beach. The coolness acted as a balm against the pain. It was still there but it was dampened, controlled. Knowing that Adeline could change it, that she had the power to make it so that Neville could truly know his parents unlike before, filled her with a fluttery feeling in her navel. Marlene seemed lost to her in such feelings as she instead pushed forward with her few minute introductions on the other players of her team.
"There's also one of our chasers, James Potter,"
Marlene brought up and instantly Adeline felt goosebumps rise along her spine. Harry's father, one of two people he never got to meet and dreamed and wished to have in his life. A family— that's all Harry had ever wanted in the world, and Adeline would do her damnedest to make sure that such a dream became a reality for her best friend. He deserved it more than anyone after what they had all been through.
"He's obsessed with Lily and a major prankster. Always making jokes and laughing. He's like this big ball of energy really—, lights every room he walks into but not in like a model sort of way but in like... energy."
Adeline felt her heart stammer a bit as Marlene attempted to explain the enigma that was James Potter. She had heard many conflicting things about the boy both from Sirius' letters, the few flashbacks that she had seen or been told about from Harry himself and of course the never ending insults and complaints from her Aunt's. Truthfully, everything she knew about him was second-hand and hardly reliable but having to meet the boy was giving her excessive anxiety almost more so than meeting Dumbledore but for very different reasons.
She had to make a decent impression on Potter, mostly so she could remove some key points that happened in the their joint timeline. She needed to somehow squirm her way into his eye-line and become close enough to start a conversation with his parents to plant the seeds of doubt. Without the backings of the Potter's, the Order of the Phoenix would fall and therefore the dreaded night of October 31st would never come to light and Harry would be safe. He would be safe, and loved, and have a family he deserved.
"...he's best friends with your cousin actually." Marlene continued saying, joking along as she did. Adeline forced herself to zero in on her words once more. "—Always attached at the hip those two and constantly giving our Transfiguration Professor, that's McGonagall, more grey hairs by the day."
Thinking she would get no better segue, Adeline asked in innocent curiosity, "Who else is Sirius friend's with? He doesn't speak of them much when we did write one another."
Adeline hoped Marlene wouldn't know the blatant lie she had just shoved in her face, and by some sort of mercy it seems the blonde girl didn't. As if Sirius Black talked about anyone but his friends in his letters—he surely wasn't sending the family any sorts of niceties about any pureblooded relatives or Slytherin's.
"There's Peter Pettigrew, he's a short guy and has got a really high pitched laugh." She said thoughtfully, as if trying to remember any significant details about the boy was rather difficult. Suddenly, Marlene snapped her fingers, as if remembering something important about the boy. "He's the resident goods dealer for the tower. Still don't know how he gets all his things outside of Hogsmeade visits. He brings in all the booze for the parties, and any other additional merchandise for a price."
Adeline felt her brows slowly lift more and more in blatant astonishment. Out of all the things she thought Peter might be, —and there were many, most of them being along the lines of evil, an imbecile and a literal rat— a nearly identical version of a Weasley Twin was not it.
"He's a right smuggler, and sneaky as hell," Marlene stated with something akin to awe in her facial expression. "I don't think there's a bit of gossip he doesn't know in this school."
"Then there's Remus Lupin. Frankly, he's a little terrifying with all his scars and temper." Adeline felt more shock fill her features though she promptly washed it away. She had to purposely remind herself that this Remus Lupin would not be the same as her once Professor Lupin. He was just another student, not a teacher and she mustn't slip up no matter how difficult it would be.
Marlene continued her run down on the boy without pause, oblivious to Adeline's waging emotions. "He's usually super sweet, but he wears the ugliest sweaters and cardigans I've ever seen. I think they're from his mum though—which would be it's own travesty if she hadn't been horribly sick since his first year. He's always going home to visit her."
"Really?" Adeline spoke, trying her best not to let her lack of surprise show. A sick mother would surely explain his disappearances on the full moons... at first. Though she doubted they were working as well as they once had or even at all anymore. "...that's too bad."
"Yeah, he's wicked smart too. I'm pretty sure he holds all the brainpower for that group."
Adeline raised a disbelieving brow at this. She knew rightfully that Sirius was smart, mainly from her own inferences and how heated and loud Walburga's boasting had been in his first year and all throughout his private lessons before that. He was a right prodigy in that sense—it had aggravated Adeline much when she was younger, seeing as she was just as smart and none of her family members thought it to be a miracle. It was only remarkable becuase he was the male heir, and also becuase he got sorted into Gryffindor and had to make up for all his misdeeds in that department. Eventually that seemed to get old however, as he started making friends with blood-traitors, half-bloods and nobodies, as her Aunt often complained.
"Like Sirius and James are smart, don't get me wrong," Marlene quickly rectified in saying with the odd look Adeline had quickly levelled her with in response. "—but school just comes easy to them. It's like they don't even have to try and they still get above average grades."
Adeline felt a strange pang in her chest at the blonde girl's words, feeling a sinking in her gut knowing that she was much like James and Sirius in that aspect, if what Marlene was saying turned out to be true. Except her own brilliance was based more on past-more-like-future-flashbacks. It seems far more likely that Marlene would ditch her much sooner than anticipated—if she was as insecure about her grades as Adeline was picking up on.
"I have to work for every grade and it's annoying that Sirius and James just get it right off the hop." Marlene finished in a huff before going a bright red across her cheeks and mumbling out in a rush, "Sorry, you probably don't want to hear me—"
"No!" Adeline rushed out in haste, before more calmly adding, "No, it's fine really. I get it, truly."
Marlene seemed to deflate a little at the girls words, her shoulders loosing it's tightness and her eyes looking less hardened with a bitterness that didn't suit her in the slightest. Adeline swiftly sympathized with a rough edged version of her thoughts on the matter.
"I mean," she began first off with a slight titter to her tone. "...learning comes easy to me too, I'd say it's a Black Family trait but it's more likely because of the preliminary schooling we're forced to endure at a young age. But I get the resentment of it, of seeing people excel without putting any efforts in. It must be hard."
"Yeah," Marlene replied as she gnawed nervously on her lower lip. "but it's fine you know? I never expected to be top student—that's all Lily and Remus seeing as they're the prefect's of Gryffindor."
Adeline nodded in understanding, cataloging the information away swiftly about Remus and Lily. If she could get in their good graces perhaps she could use it to her advantage someway. Or maybe just the knowledge of it would help her later on. There was also the fact that she was curious to see if she could come across far more wittier than them in academics. She had always been a tad competitive and she had heard the stories of how 'brilliant' Harry's mother had truly been from her old Professor Slughorn. Though she was also admittedly waiting for the shoe to drop and Marlene to call of being friends with her because she was smart—too smart, freaky smart like the girls at Beauxbatons had claimed.
"Don't let that fool you though, the Marauder's—" Marlene suddenly quipped her previously dour mood banishing as quickly as it had arrived as she planted on a sly smile and tore Adeline from her dwindling self-doubt. "...that's your cousin Sirius, Peter Pettigrew, James Potter and Remus Lupin, are trouble."
Adeline had to work double time in contorting her facial muscles into something akin to befuddlement at the accusation. After all, a girl from Beauxbatons should have no idea of how exactly troublesome the mayhem-making foursome could be. Nor should she know of the Marauders Map and it's secret tunnels outside the castle and grounds. Likewise, she shouldn't have any idea of the coming pranks than Sirius had loudly lamented about in Grimmauld Place during her past-self's fifth year.
"Trouble?" She repeated in false bewilderment.
"They are constantly making people laugh," Marlene replied in a begrudging huff of amusement that quickly soured. "Real class clowns if you will, with terrible pranks often targeted at Slytherin."
Adeline hummed, not exactly in surprise but in acknowledgment. It was nice of the girl to give her any sort of context of the inner workings of her house and Quidditch team, especially since Marlene McKinnon had no idea to which house Adeline could be sorted in come their arrival. Marlene McKinnon seemed truly to be just a ridiculously nice and honest person, one who surprisingly offered a breath of fresh air away from the politics that corrupted most of Adeline's (or to say Hermione's) previous school years. It was always houses against houses, filled commonly with foolish rivalries and constant ridicule. Adeline couldn't help but feel a warm and fuzzy feeling sprout beneath her collar bones when Marlene went the extra mile to offer her a slight look of pity as she stated in warning.
"I'd watch my back if you're sorted there. Though you might get some form of passive immunity since you're related." Marlene glanced at her fingers here, as if what she was about to say was taboo and not to be discussed often except in private. "Sirius gives his younger brother Regulus immunity for targeted pranks but not group ones. Though I think it's more of James that pushes that unspoken rule."
Adeline felt her blood turn to ice at the blonde girl's words and her stomach twist at the thought. In the past, Sirius had always made the jokes and pranks sound as if they were harmless fun, with no ill-intent or bad outcomes. Then again, she had seen the Weasley twins and how horrid their pranks could go south and people got hurt. The fireworks at the end of her fifth year being the least of their vandalism efforts and injured parties. Singed hair, burnt students, and children jumping off staircases in the hopes to avoid stray fireworks and sparklers flying through the air.
Unable to stop herself, she asked with concern wiggling amongst her chest. "Are they really that bad?"
"Not all the time." Marlene replied slowly, before rolling her eyes as she began to list a few of their exploits in a disturbingly vague amount of description. "It's usually just voice manipulation or colour changing tactics of robes, hair or skin."
Adeline couldn't see how that made them troublesome in the slightest, annoying most definitely. At least she couldn't, until Marlene went on further to explain. "...Sometimes you can only speak in Pig Latin or Elvish. Professor Flitwick, he's our Charms Professor, had a good laugh at that one. Other times all your showers sing when you turn on the tap, or the stairs are turned into slip and slides."
Marlene shrugged if any of what she had just was was a normal day at Hogwarts and Adeline felt her jaw drop. "It's always a gamble with them around when they're scheming."
"I'm sorry," Adeline spluttered feeling the tips of her ears redden as a swirl of emotions billowed in her belly, "They turned the stairs into what!?"
Before Marlene could stammer out a reply or wipe the amused look from her face at Adeline's obvious indignation at her cousin and his friends, the compartment door slide open once more. Well, slide makes it sound like a gracious effort but truthfully, it was thrown open without a care in the world and slammed quickly shut from the motion as a boy walked in. Adeline only had to catch a glance of the inky coloured mane of ringlet-like curls, and ivory skin to know exactly who it was that had barged in. Before Adeline could even bother to reprimand the boy or give a proper greeting, the boy began to pester her recently acquired friend.
"Marlene, you are looking as ravishing as ever." He silkily complimented, with a voice that had Adeline rolling her eyes at the sheer sweetness of it. "Is that a new top by chance?"
Marlene, thankfully, seemed to have little to no interest in Sirius' compliments and instead shot back with a roll of her eyes, "Oh, sod off Sirius. I'm not interested."
"But you were last year," he replied without missing a beat, Adeline could feel the grin emitting from him despite his slightly turned back. "—if I recall correctly we were sitting in the common room and you..."
"Shut up!" Marlene exclaimed Adeline couldn't help but gag at even the thought of it, though mainly in jest. Marlene sent her a pleading look as if wordlessly comminuted that she shouldn't listen to a word of which he said. Which Adeline wouldn't, seeing as Sirius had a tendency to go off at the mouth and say whatever came to the front of his mind.
"That was last year," she enunciated clearly with burning cheeks and ears, "I'm not falling for it this year, Black. It was a stupid mistake that will never, ever be repeated."
Sirius let out a strangled gasp, as his hand dramatically fell to his chest, as he presumingly sent Adeline's blonde friend his big grey eyes in a pout. "You're wounding me darling."
"You'll survive." Marlene quipped with a wicked grin as she added with no real anger to her tone, "You're unkillable... like cockroach."
That seemed to be the end of their conversation as Sirius then turned sharply on his feet and now stared down at Adeline. He had changed from since she had last seen him but not enough to be unrecognizable. He still had that wide and infernal smile she had always liked. The one that made him seem like nothing bad had ever happened to him. Like he didn't know of anything but love, joy and happiness.
Of course, that was obviously and undoubtedly incorrect, evident by the many layers of glamours that Adeline couldn't help but notice poorly applied to his face. He was also wearing a long sleeved denim jacket, despite the train not being even slightly chilly. Likely to hide whatever bruises, cuts and damage that couldn't be hidden behind the bad glamours he had likely applied in a rush to get to the train station. Adeline could hardly pick apart his facade much longer however, because as soon as his eyes met her stormy irises, he was chatting again at almost breakneck like speed. As if she would disappear if he stopped talking for even a second.
"Addy," Sirius acknowledged his grin widening just a smidge, that would be unnoticed by those that know the meanings behind those smiles of his. It was his way of toeing the waters to see if he had a friend in the family or an enemy. "Look at you, all grown up. You're almost a proper pureblood princess by the looks of you."
Not about to take anything he said to heart, knowing his entire scheme of stirring the pot to be nothing more than a test, Adeline replied without skipping a beat with a lazy gaze and smirk.
"Cousin Sirius," she greeted back. "By the looks of that mane of yours you still lack a proper hair regime in taming those curls of yours."
Marlene made out a strangled gasp sound in the eerie silence that followed soon afterwards. Adeline raised a brow at her cousin's surprised facial expression before he broke out in a blinding white smile and began to laugh in loud barks at her words. Adeline noticed from the corner of her peripheral how Marlene's eyes all but bulged out of her skull as Adeline began to chuckle light heartedly as well. Soon the entire compartment was filled with laughter—, small snorts and chuckles from Adeline, loud dog-like barks from Sirius and Marlene's nervous but bright giggles as well.
As the they laughed, Sirius collapsed on the seat next to Adeline and pulled her into a tight, side armed embrace. Something that took Adeline by surprise as the Black's as a rule had never been big on the use or demonstration of physical affection. Nonetheless, she melted into the warmth of his side, and the steady thrum of his heart in his chest anyway. She had missed her hair-brained, lunatic of a cousin, even if she had only met him a few select times in her new life.
"Damn," Sirius sighed out as all the tension faded from his body and the laughter slowly but surely died out around them.
"I missed you, Addy." He hummed into her hair before pulling away at last and leaning back much like a sprawling cat across the seats. "Wished I could have seen you this summer. Would have made it so much better."
"Same here." Adeline replied shortly, knowing that despite all the changes that had happened over the course of summer, that Sirius would have made the grieving and mourning of her mother, Mipsy and home easier. If only because he was almost consistently a bright light at the end of a tunnel. It hadn't mattered when they were younger, her mother had said they were much like magnets at the ball, even when causing mischief. It was for that reason that Aunt Walburga had wanted them betrothed, not only because they got on like two peas in a pod but because she tempered his worst impulses.
"Now, as much as I would love to relive my absolutely thrilling summer at Black Manor, we have work to do." Adeline stated briskly as she turned her body towards Sirius without a second of hesitation. Before the boy could even begin to ask what work she was referring to, she added—more like ordered—, him to remove the poorly applied glamours.
Sirius stuttered, looking like a deer caught between headlights. "I have no idea—"
Adeline didn't even bother to let to try and make excuses or weasel his way out of the compartment at the sudden change in topic. She had never been great at tact when it came to touchy subjects such as these. Adeline knew how to fix him, so she would, and that was the end of it. She absolutely refused to let him walk around with shoddy magic covering his features to hide his mother's anger management issues.
"Can it, 'Ri." She clipped-ly replied, as she went about unsheathing her wand from her holster, which was concealed under her sleeve with an ample amount of familia magic. A late birthday gift given from her mother in her second year so that she could always be armed but it would never be noticed by a regular witch or wizard's eyes.
"Remove them, or I will myself." She instructed him swiftly, and levelled her wand in a blunt threat towards him. Though she knew it unnecessary as he often folded, much like he did when they were little, at the use of nicknames.
"Fine, fine," he muttered, going red around the ears and his lips turning downward at the wand as he brandished his own from his denim pocket. "—don't get your knickers in a twist."
"Remove wha—," Marlene began to say from across them, just as Sirius dropped the glamours with a quick jab from his wand and the mess of his face was soon on full display.
Yellow bruising covered his jaw in what looked to be fading finger marks and crescent mooned nail marks just creeping above them. A nasty looking gash near the corner of his eye was still crusted over with blood, likely a reminder from this morning or late last night. What was most troubling was another slice across the bridge of his nose, which looked to be slowly but surely becoming infected from a lack of treatment and the yellow crusting of pus around it.
Adeline would bet her entire dowry that there was much worse hidden under his clothing but knew it was unlikely that he would let her even touch them with Marlene still in the compartment. Especially, since it sounded as though he wanted no one at school to know about Walburga's issues regarding her firstborn son. Which made sense in a backwards sort of way, Adeline knew it was far easier to suffer in silence.
Not wanting to look at the mess that her Aunt had made of her cousin, Adeline made quick work of the injuries with a few enchantments and charms. The bruising faded swiftly, and though Sirius had let out a string of curses when she slipped in a disinfectant charm for his cuts, for the most part she worked in silence. It was only when the last of the cut across his nose was fading back into pale ivory skin, without a blemish to be noticed or seen that Adeline spoke at all.
"Is it just your face or do I need you to smuggle me into Gryffindor this evening?" Adeline asked simply, she knew better than to ask about it directly on what had all spiralled down.
"Chest is a little banged up." Sirius grumbled, giving her a small grimace but let his eyes meet hers in what she knew to be a silent thank you. Adeline was about to ask him to remove his jacket and shirt so she could fix them, but Sirius quickly beat her too it.
"—But it's nothing Prongs can't fix later tonight." Adeline raised a brow at this as Sirius slipped back into his usual goofy self and quipped with a smirk, "Unless you're wanting a little show..?"
Adeline snorted loudly at that, and flicked his ear in retaliation. "You are disgusting. Absolutely filthy."
"But you love me," Sirius grinned widely.
Adeline rolled her eyes. "Like a toothache."
"And..." Sirius started to say with a annoying amount of enthusiasm and that all too familiar gleam of 'I-know-something-you-don't-know'. "—who is to say you won't be in Gryffindor with me? I heard from a bird that you get sorted privately before the feast."
Adeline couldn't help but raise a brow at this as she let him ramble further.
"Meaning," he stretched out in emphasis once more, "...there is still hope that you won't be the perfect pureblood princess that they all think you are, and instead a lion in disguise like me."
Adeline purposely ignored his comment about her impending sort and instead focused on getting him off her case and changing the subject with what he likely wanted to forget about for the unforeseeable future. "Was your 'little bird' by chance the reason of these bruises?"
Sirius at least had the decency to look ashamed when he muttered out a sarcastic quip in reply. "Ask me no questions, I'll tell you no lies."
Adeline rolled her eyes for what felt like the millionth time during their entire conversation. "You're insufferable."
Thinking their not-exactly private conversation was at a close, Sirius shifted his attention to the blonde girl seated across from him with a bored expression, only marred by the slight upwards tilt of his lips. "You educating her on why Gryffindor is the only house to go to Marls?"
Adeline swiftly tucked away the nickname away in her memory. She knew that Sirius only gave nicknames to those he truly cared for or respected. There was a certain way he nicknamed others that gave clue to how close he truly was with them however, one that Adeline wasn't quite sure she had all the pieces of the puzzle to figure out.
"Absolutely." Marlene replied without hesitation before giving Adeline a once over with a look that screamed they were going to talk about whatever happened later on when Sirius was gone.
"Unfortunately," she pushed onwards in a huff, "—she remains undecided despite my obvious enthusiasm and superior knowledge."
"Pity." Sirius sighed belatedly. "Perhaps, if I bring Prongs around he'll sway that stubborn mind of hers."
Feeling out of the loop and not exactly enjoying being talked about as if she wasn't in the room, Adeline interrupted without a second thought and blurt out loudly, "Who the hell is Prongs?"
"Potter,"
"—James"
They both replied at the same time in a varying range of tones. Suddenly, Adeline wished she had never asked. Mainly due to the reason that she knew Sirius could likely wax poetic about how wonderful James Potter was and all of his family. According to most of their family, he loved James more than anything else in the world. He was his brother— more so than his actual brother was. It was horrible and sickeningly sweet all in one. Bitter too, at least for Regulus who even as a child had always wanted to be exactly like his older brother and constantly tried to please him. Well, that and everyone else around him.
"Ah," Adeline numbly responded. Unsure of what else to say that wouldn't send Sirius into a frenzy to explain the best thing and person to ever strut into his life.
Sirius suddenly snapped his fingers as if remembering something important and giving Adeline a curious look that she didn't like in the slightest.
"You asked about him in your letters a while back... think it was 'bout third year." He started to say with a brow quirking in interest at her lack of response. "...you ever gonna tell me why?"
Not about to get into that conversation, Adeline instead repeated what he had spoke only a few moments earlier. "Ask me no questions, I'll tell you no lies."
Adeline felt a sort of triumph as Marlene snorted at her words and Sirius looked indignant at the thought of his own words being used against him. At least, until Marlene snorted again and they all fell into another round of laughter at the girl's expense as she went a bright red. Yeah, Adeline felt as though she could get used to Hogwarts again, make it her home once more, even if felt like a far away dream that couldn't possibly true.
(was going to stop here but... decided to just keep going)
Sirius stayed for the remainder of the trip to Hogwarts, at least until the conductor with the use of a sonorous charm through the speakers alerted all the compartments of their upcoming arrival. At first, Adeline half-expected him to not even bother returning to his own compartment to change, even as she pointedly reminded him that herself and Marlene also had to change. But, in a typical Sirius fashion of knowing no boundaries and having no filter when it came to his speech, he saw no issue to this at all, evident by the ongoing argument that ensued.
"Then change." Sirius shrugged, his eyes uninterested and blatantly confused on why changing with a boy in the compartment might be uncomfortable for them. Not to mention both weird and creepy in many, many ways.
"No!" Marlene exclaimed, her ears going a bright red along with her cheeks in frustration and the same time that Adeline stated in complete seriousness. "Absolutely not."
"What's the big deal?" He asked clueless, looking at Adeline as if she was the one being crazy at the moment and making a mountain out of a mole hill.
"It's improper! Not to mention outright perverted!" Marlene exclaimed, her topper nearly blowing as she tried to not blow up entirely on the idiotic boy in front of her. "Not to mention that everyone would talk."
"Who cares?" Sirius snapped right back at her, his hands flying up in his swirling emotions. He had always been very gesture-filled when trying to get a point across, as evident by his later speech on why exactly he didn't see an issue with the entire situation. "Adeline is literally my cousin and no offence to you McKinnon but I've seen you down to your knickers in the changing rooms during Quidditch. It's nothing I haven't seen before."
"Sirius!"
Adeline didn't even feel sorry for her idiotic cousin when Marlene swiftly kicked him in the shins from where she was sitting.
"Ow!" Sirius yelped as he pulled his leg up and started rubbing at the spot the girl's shoe had landed a hard thud too. "What the bloody fuck was that for!?"
"You're being a tit!" Marlene snapped at him with her eyes blaring. Adeline felt like they were slowly sailing into stormy waters with the way the entire conversation was going. She truly wished Sirius would just leave already. He was making a great mess of everything.
"Well, you would know seeing as you have two of them!" Sirius shouted back in just as much anger.
"Stop talking about Marlene's tits!" Adeline interrupted in agitation. They were getting way off point and honestly, they were going to arrive in nearly twenty minutes and they all still had to get changed into their robes.
"Why?" Sirius shot back at her, his brows furrowing in the middle a she gave a quick once over to said girl's chest before adding on. "They're quite nice considering, you should be pleased with your rack Marls. They're truly spectacular."
This time it was Adeline who delivered the blow, as she gave him a sharp elbow to the ribs, ignoring the fact that she knew he was still injured along his chest. Perhaps, the absolute bludger-head would finally get the idea of what was and wasn't appropriate to compliment on a girl.
"Ow! Damn it Addy, that fucking hurt!"
Though any further conversation was swiftly shut down at the sudden opening of their sliding door. Adeline wanted to all but hug the stranger in front of her that had saved them from Sirius' further lunacy and this ridiculous argument over tits of all things. Though when she glanced up to see who it was she felt all that courage die swiftly in her belly. Staring at them was none other than a teenage Remus Lupin in all his glory of gangly and jutted out limbs and dark circles beneath his eyes.
"Sirius?" The boy stated in confusion, glancing at both Marlene and Adeline in befuddlement as he tried to gauge what was going on between them all.
Like a light switch had been flipped Sirius suddenly morphed into what Adeline would firmly declare and describe as puppy love. Or something to the equivalent as her cousin all but wiggled with joy at the sight of the chestnut haired, gangly limbed boy who was littered with silver scars. Remus looked far less excited and more cautious on what the heck he was potentially walking into.
"Moony, my love, you found me!" Sirius exclaimed dramatically, looking ready to flop into the boys arms and tell him to save him from the two witches. Adeline was at a loss on what was going on.
"Well," Remus stammered, glancing to both girl's with that still confused expression of his that had his eyes darting side to side and his left hand picking at the sleeves of his robes. "...it wasn't hard with all the racquet you're making."
Sirius gasped as if he had been stabbed, with a hand flying to his chest in over-exaggeration. "You wound me, my moon! How will I ever recover from this slight to my person?!"
"My heart is literally cracking in two!" He exclaimed as he pretend to wipe away a tear that wasn't there to begin with. Over the theatrics and the absolute idiocy of her cousin, Adeline leaned over and sharply flicked the lobe of his ear.
"Enough with the theatrics, Ri. You're acting like the love interest of one of Aunt Druella's novellas." Adeline quipped at him.
Sirius instantly spun around in his seat to level her with a fierce scowl, "Excuse you—,"
Before Sirius could get out another word, Adeline sent a sunshine-like smile over to the Gryffindor prefect that was still loitering their cabin compartments door frame and began to make her introductions. After all, it seemed unlikely that Sirius would ever get to making them and despite knowing that Marlene hadn't known the proper introductions, she had hope that perhaps, Sirius had taught it to his friends. After all, it was only proper and what was expected. If word got back to the family that she hadn't introduced herself as such she would have very little time to explain herself before getting into serious trouble.
"Hello, you must be Remus Lupin," she greeted most politely before plowing through her pureblood dictated introductions to the boy. "...it's a pleasure to meet you, I'm Adeline Black, the youngest heiress of the Most Ancient and Noble House of Black, the daughter of Cassiopeia Black, and Sirius' cousin both maternally and paternally."
Now, normally after such an introduction the other party was meant to reply in like with their name, house and to whom they are sired or bore from. Though it seems much like Marlene and maybe all of Britain that they were never educated to these proceedings. As instead of offering his full name and Noble House, to which Adeline already knew, the gangly boy instead stared at her like a fish out of water. Eyes bulging, mouth literally dropping open and looking seconds from spiralling into an anxiety attack.
The silence didn't last long however, as soon Sirius was snorting into the palm of his hand and looking to be on the verge of tears. Marlene sighed loudly across from him with her head in hands. Not sure what else to say, and thinking no one else as ever going to speak, Adeline asked Marlene with a grimace.
"Too much?"
She was never given a reply however, as Sirius once again swooped in and began his own unneeded comments on the matter in between fits of laughter. "You really are the perfect little pureblood daughter my mother always wanted—You even broke Moony!"
That seemed to somehow bring the Gryffindor prefect out of whatever spiral he was falling into as he stammered and stuttered out a very disjointed exclamation. "I didn't break! You didn't break me... I just didn't expect that." He paused. "Like at all. You caught me off guard. That's it. No breaking of me today."
Adeline could literally feel the anxiety streaming off the boy like water. Taking pity on him and thinking perhaps, she should shorten her introductions if she ever wanted to make friends with these people, she replied with a short grin. "Of course, and Sirius?"
Sirius snorted before dramatically offering his hand to her, as he got down on one knee and acted as if she was some high priestess or heir to royalty. Which he most certainly knew was improper and just outright undignified for a heir of his stationing. In other words he was most obviously and stupidly, mocking her.
"Yes, your most purest of blood, the daughter my mother always dreamed of, the woman I am swore to love for the rest of my life in sacred matrimony upon our maturation into witch and wizard?"
Without missing a beat she sent a wordless stinging hex towards Sirius and shoved him out of the compartment and into the other Gryffindor boy's arms. The boy whom which looked not only shocked but impressed at the feat. Before she could loose any of the adrenaline and outright nerve singing in her blood, she calmly stated.
"I think I'm tired of this family reunion." She hummed with a roll of her eyes before letting her eyes settle on the chestnut hair coloured boy in front of her. "Remus, could you be a gentleman and escort my lunatic of a cousin out of our compartment before I am forced to send him Irish jigging down the corridors?"
Remus just nodded in agreement which made Adeline smirk in triumph as Sirius began to splutter out in a mix of both adoration and shock.
"Addy! What was that for?!"
"Pleasure meeting you Remus! Goodbye Sirius, see you at Hogwarts!" She called before swiftly slamming the doors shut as Remus pulled Sirius out along with him. Adeline sent a few locking charms towards the compartment doors before turning to Marlene who was looking much like Remus had a few moments before.
"Now then," Adeline stated with a sigh, as she swiftly placed her wand firmly back into her hidden holster. "Shall we get dressed?"
Marlene stared at her for a moment or two before nodding her head and mechanically moving to pull on her robes. Adeline soon followed suit, having packed her designated attire into her small bag with a shrinking charm before leaving Black Manor. It was at that moment she was thankful for her forward thinking as her trunk was nowhere in sight. Marlene had pulled hers from her pocket and resized them as well without a backwards glance. As they dressed into their stockings, black skirts and white blouses, Marlene commented over her shoulder while tying her red and gold tie.
"You really ought to watch your back when we get to school." She stated simply. "There is no way they're going to leave you alone after that little show."
Adeline couldn't help but chuckle. "Good. Perhaps, that will keep them away from targeting those who don't know how to fight back."
Adeline had just been pulling on her own black robes, currently plain and without a house emblem along the front breast pouch, when Marlene began to cackle at her words.
"You really are something else, Adeline Black."
Adeline cousins help but grin at the girl before the train slowly but surely began to slow down as they neared the Hogsmeade station.