Chapter 71

"Oh, I don't want too!" Adria cringed, shaking her head furiously as she and Sirius sat crossed legged atop of her bed. In between them sat two perfectly straight Mandrake leaves, but both of them where equally as reluctant as each other to even think of putting it in their mouth.

It was June 11th, around a week after they had left Hogwarts for summer, and both Sirius and Adria thought that they shouldn't put off the mandrake leaf any longer, no matter how much neither of them wanted to do it, they knew it would be for good in the long run.

"How are we going to hide this from everyone?" asked Sirius, a wary look on his features at how large the leaf was, he hadn't thoroughly thought out how difficult it was going to be for both him and Adria to hide this from everyone, and neither did Adria.

"Well," Adria sighed, picking up the leaf that felt hard in her hands, "there was nothing in the books that said we couldn't fold them."

"Do you think it'll work."

She merely shrugged, running a hand through her hair, "I don't know," she whispered, shaking her head, "but we need to do this, Sirius, for Remus' sake we have to do this for him, he of all people deserves any help he can get and this is the only possible plan we have, we can't back down, we need to find away."

"You're right," Sirius nodded, bracing himself he picked up the second leaf, and without thinking of his actions, he folded it up as much as he could and stuffed it into the corner of his mouth. He cringed, almost coughing as the vile taste filled his mouth, mostly of the bitter taste of salt, but he was unsure why.

"Is it really that bad?" Adria asked, wincing slightly as she looked warily down at the leaf in her hands. She reluctantly folded it up, and instead of waiting for Sirius' answer, she closed her eyes tightly and popped the leaf into her mouth, "yes, it really is!" she squeaked, shaking her head furiously she wondered how she was going to get through the month.

"I'm sure the taste will go away," Sirius reassured, even though he didn't fully believe it himself. He let a sigh leave his lips as he pushed himself closer to Adria who was shaking her head at the taste that filled her mouth.

"It's so bad," she whispered, coughing slightly at the foul concoction of salt and dirt, "it's for Remus, it's for Remus, it's for Remus," she muttered repeatedly, allowing Sirius to pull her into his chest as they lay on her bed.

"Exactly, Ads, it's for Remus, our best friend who has spent almost all of his life in pain every month, giving himself scars that he doesn't deserve, going through the pain alone," Sirius mumbled into her ear, not in any attempt to feel guilty but rather to motivate her to push through the horrid taste, "think of baby Remus as a tiny little werewolf on his first transformation, scared and alone and in so much pain and how he wished that he had someone to endure it with, think of him scratching himself and bringing himself to tears because he's trapped in something so much bigger than him and he thinks he's never going to have anyone-"

"Where are you going with this because I'm going to start crying?" asked Adria, moving her head to look up at him.

"Now think of Remus next year," Sirius whispered, "he is going to be so much happier and brighter when he has company, when he has people to contain him and calm him, and even though he's not entirely on board with us doing this, we both know that he is so relieved. He won't have as much fresh scars anymore, he'll be scar free for the most part, because we'll be there for company."

Adria let a small smile fall on her lips at the thought of Remus happy and in a lot less pain, and she could already feel herself forgetting the leaf tucked into her cheek, "and don't forget that it'll be exciting seeing what animal we'll be," Sirius smirked, leaning down to kiss her forehead.

"I wonder what I'll be," she sighed, burying her head into the nook of his neck, absentmindedly pressing soft kisses against his skin as he hummed.

"I really wouldn't be surprised if you did turn into a fly," Sirius chuckled, shaking his head as she followed him in laughing.

"Neither would I, if I'm honest," she giggled, "I'd probably just annoy you all with my buzzing, though."

"You could never annoy me," he muttered, "as long as I'd know it's you, it would sound like a beautiful symphony."

"Oh, is this a new era of cheesy pickup lines?" Adria asked, multiple giggles falling from her lips whilst she snuggled closer to him.

"Of course," Sirius smirked, "but they are all true, remember."

"I'm really glad you're here," she whispered, leaning forward to kiss his lips softly, lingering for a few moments and allowing a sigh of contentment to leave her lips when she pulled away, much to his dismay, "last summer was terribly boring without anyone there, and I love my family more than anything in this whole world, but it was incredibly dull without you or the boys, or the girls there with me, so having you here is just perfect."

"You love your family more than me, Adria?" he gasped jokingly, shaking his head with feigned hurt.

"Sirius, I think you've forgotten that you are a part of my family," her smiled widened as she pushed herself forward once again, capturing his lips in another kiss, but this time when she moved to let go did his hand trail up her back, stopping at her neck and pushing her closer to him.

One of her hands rested on his chest whilst the other tangled in his black curls, the softness of his hair feeling particular amazing between her fingers. She couldn't help the small gasp that escaped her lips when he bit her bottom lip, and with the new-found entrance did his tongue slip into her mouth.

"You two make me physically sick," Benji spoke from the opening of Adria's room, a look of disgust on his lips whilst Adria felt irritation rising in her at the interruption, she shared a particular look with Sirius that spoke silently, but clearly that their previous actions weren't over, and with her eyes narrowing to slits did she turn to throw the look at her brother.

"Please step outside of my room as you throw up, Benji," Adria grumbled, scowling at the boy whose smirk widened.

"Oh, did I interrupt something?" he asked, leaning against the wall with an innocent smile replacing the smirk, "maybe dad would love to hear this story."

"Oh, shut up," Adria huffed, pushing herself up from where she lay on Sirius and sitting cross legged on her bed, "now did you want something or is this just your daily annoyance?"

"My heart, Adria," Benji clutched his hand over his heart, shaking his head disappointedly at his twin, "and I actually did come here to tell you something."

She waited for him to continue but a few moments too long of silence went by which left Adria impatient as she finally asked, "well, what is it?!"

"Oh right!" Benji grinned sheepishly, "our lovely, beautiful, glowing with radiant beauty, perfect mother is looking for you, and also, when you find her can you please tell her that I said that?"

"What did you do?" Adria groaned, not particularly happy that Benji could have possibly stressed their mother out when her hormones where all over the place, and not to mention the fact that their sibling was growing in her stomach.

"Nothing!" he exclaimed, his arms flailing everywhere, but when Adria merely gave him the look which told him to tell the truth, did his shoulders slump.

"Fine!" he grumbled, "I may have broken her favourite vase."

"The floral one?!" Adria exclaimed, wide eyed, "Benji she loves that thing, how did you manage that?!"

"It was an accident!" he huffed, "I tripped over the wire of Alfie's record player that he was using in the living room and the vase is on the fire place and I knocked it over."

"I'm surprised you're still alive," Adria tutted, pushing herself up from her bed and holding onto Sirius' hand as she pulled him with her, "well if you'll excuse us, Benji, we are going to see what lil old Judy wants."

"Old?" Benji repeated, "I'm telling her you said that, and also, dear Sirius isn't going with you."

"Okay, first of all, if you tell her that I said that, I'll tell your new little girlfriend that you wet the bed until you where twelve," Adria smirked, watching as Benji's eyes narrowed to slits, "and second of all, I don't trust you with Sirius."

"Oh shush, our dear father Douglas wants to spend some time with Sirius, Alfie and I, that's all," Benji smirked, making sure to make Adria on edge about the whole ordeal, "and Beth isn't my girlfriend." He rolled his eyes at the thought, as much as Beth was a good friend of his, and around his house a whole lot, in the eyes of Adria, he simply didn't like her like that.

"Mhmm, whatever you say," Adria scoffed.

"Say goodbye to your boyfriend, Adria," Benji smirked, ignoring her previous words as he attempted to annoy her once more.

"Fine, I will," she nodded. She took a step closer to Sirius, pushing herself onto her tiptoes, she cupped his face in her hands, slowly leaning forward until their lips touched, and then she proceeded to give him a lingering kiss just in an attempt to annoying her brother.

"Okay, stop it, stop it, stop it!" Benji exclaimed, cringing as he pulled Adria away from Sirius who smirked proudly. She patted Benji's head, and threw a wink in Sirius' direction before she trailed off to the stairs.

"Bye boys!" she giggled, descending the stairs all the way to the bottom floor and making her way into the living room in an attempt to find her mother.

"Mum!" Adria called, frowning slightly as she looked around the bottom floor of the house, she shuffled into the kitchen, looking everywhere that Judy could possibly be until she spotted her outside.

Adria pulled open their patio door, taking in the sun that insantly warmed her skin as she stepped outside, "Benji said you where looking for me?" Adria asked, her voice soft as she moved to take a seat beside her.

"Yes," Judy nodded, wrapping her arm around her second youngest, soon to be third, "I miss you, y'know."

"What?" Adria laughed, turning to look at her mother who really was beautiful, "i'm right here mum."

"I know," judy smiled, nodding her head softly, "I'm not saying this to make you guilty, Adria, because I am so proud of you, so so proud, but it's so hard not seeing you all year, and maybe it's my emotions gone crazy but I miss your beautiful face," Judy cupped Adria's face in her hand, squeezing her cheeks slightly in adoration.

She had already talked to Alina about her school, to which the girl was more than happy at Hogwarts, and differently from Adria, Judy was estatic to hear it. She knew full well that Alina was reluctant of the house she got put into at the castle, and whilst she didn't fully understand the wizard education system, she still knew that a talking hat probably knew what it was talking about.

"I miss you everyday, mum," Adria whispered, "I think of you and dad every time I wake up, and I miss you with every passing second, but I love it there, I love Hogwarts so much, and I love my friends so much, and every day is a new adventure, and I learn something I didn't know previously and all I can think of is how interested you would be in magic, mum, you'd love it. I just wish I could write to you more, but I don't see the point when I don't get a letter in return. Whenever you or dad write I got so excited, but I worry that the bloody owl has hurt you again, god does he love to bite. I really wish dad wasn't so scared of him, he just gets a little excited is all, I just wished I could hear from you both more during the year."

"I'll tell you what," Judy smiled, tightening her grip around her daughter, "I promise that your dad and I will make sure to write every single week, hell probably even more than that. I don't want to be so out of touch again, because I miss you every day, I miss your voice so much that hearing it again is my favourite song, just like your sisters. I had to cope with one of you leaving every year and now I'm dealing with two!"

"Oh mum," Adria whispered, wrapping her arms around her neck, "hey, look, we have the whole of summer together, and Christmas, and the rest of my life, and I'll see you every day. This is just your emotions getting the better of you because of that little nugget in your stomach, and you'll be fine without me for another year, you'll be fine without Alina too because you're the best mum in the world, and you'll have Benji who is technically me but with different...well you get the point, and you have Alfie too, and dad!" Adria laughed, earning a laugh from Judy who wiped the tears from her eyes.

She couldn't help but get emotional, she knew that it was almost all to do with her pregnant emotions getting the better of her, but she was still being sincere when she said she missed Adria, she was her first daughter and her first to leave her every year and even thinking about it sent tears welling in her eyes.

"I love you, Adria," Judy whispered, kissing her daughter's forehead, "so, so much."

"I love you too, mum," Adria beamed, taking her mother's hand and squeezing them comfortingly.