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f i f t h y e a r
The weeks flew by when she was finally able to leave the house. She went back to the Black estate nearly every day, despite the rumblings of many. The usual crowd would come and go, never all there at once. The Weasleys would come and go, as would the Tonks girl and Remus. Sirius was always there, supposed since he did live there after all.
Mr Goldfinch was one of the most consistent members that appeared at the house. He and his group of angry men and women would glare and mumble to one another. There was nothing Adeline could do but sit quietly as they did. She'd heard constant whispers of how they wished for her to be locked up or hung. When she'd first heard them talking about it, Adeline nearly cried. She didn't, however. She lifted her chin and never mentioned it to Arthur. It's not as if the people that sat in that room would agree to it anyway, not Sirius or Arthur, not Remus or the Weasleys.
So as the days and weeks went by, Adeline didn't do much but sit into the meetings listening to them all strategise and plan. They were trying to defeat the Dark Lord and his many followers - her parents were mentioned many times during this - and attempting to sort out what was expected of the notorious Chosen One. Whenever Molly Weasley was present and they mentioned Harry Potter, she'd always be the first to interject and argue.
"He's just a boy." She'd always start with. Adeline couldn't help but think Harry would both appreciate and hate it.
Dean would also be there every day, silent and stoic soldier behind her. They still lived in the same apartment at the top floor with the three-eyed receptionist and the house-elves. It turns out the birds in the elevator don't get much more freedom than the shaft, much to Adeline's bereavement.
The living arrangement wasn't so terrible after all. They'd eat dinner together every night even. She wouldn't go so far as saying they were friends again, but a begrudging trust had to return in order for the house to run peacefully.
None of it was really all that terrible, even though Adeline wasn't sure what was expected of her nor did she know what came next for her. Week by week and day by day, it became easier to see Mr Goldfinch. She found his hatred was a motivation for her to get up every day, a reminder of what she had done to others. Adeline was even gracious that someone wasn't pretending that she wasn't a total monster and that everything that had happened had been her fault entirely. She knew it was, that the loss that had been felt by many was because of her, and Ryland's father knew too.
Adeline had asked Dean at dinner one night, months after her arrival, what he thought of it all.
"Do you think it was my doing, that night at the barn?"
Arthur had informed Dean of what had happened, she just never worked up the courage to ask him. It was one of those things they didn't talk about to keep the peace.
Dean looked up from his place, slightly startled. "Pardon?"
"Do you think that night of the barn - Ryland and Honey - do you think it was my fault?"
