stardust ⋮ george weasley

seventy-three :

S E V E N T Y - T H R E E

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Christmas came and went, and before any of them knew it, they were on Platform 9 and 3/4s getting ready to board the Hogwarts Express. As she said goodbye, Adeline had to fight back the urge to pat the top of Sirius's head, who had transformed into his dog Animagus form so he could goodbye without being recognized. Before she turned to leave, however, she was stopped by Remus. "Adeline? One final thing before you go."

"Yes, Professor Lupin?"

Remus stopped himself in the middle of his sentence, an amused smile beginning to form on his face. "Adeline, you need to stop calling me 'Professor'."

Adeline shook her head. "You're the best one we ever had. If that stupid rule wasn't in place, you'd be where you belong: teaching at Hogwarts. Plus, it feels...odd...not calling you Professor. What did you want to talk to me about?"

"Your boggart." He hesitated when saw Adeline tense up, but continue. "You are allowed to be afraid, especially after what he did. But that man is a coward who only feels any sort of power when he is protected by someone much more powerful than him. You're much braver than he'll ever be. Remember that."

There was a large bark that reverberated through the station, and Adeline didn't need to guess the source.

"Thanks a lot, Professor Lupin. And thank you..." Adeline squinted to get a better look at the name tag hanging around the dog's collar. "Snuffles."

Adeline said her final goodbyes to Mr. and Mrs. Weasley and the rest of the Order members before lugging her trunk up onto Hogwarts Express. George had already gotten his trunk up before, so he helped Adeline pull it up onto the train.

"Thank Merlin I don't have any Head Girl duties for this train ride," Adeline said with a sigh of relief once she had gotten up. "I get a small break from it."

"You're going to go find Estelle, Melanie, and Ophelia, right?"

She nodded. "I kind of left super unexpectedly, so I didn't really have a chance to say goodbye because of the whole situation, and I really want to see them," Adeline went up on her tip toes to peck George's cheek. "I'll see you when we get back to Hogwarts, alright? Don't cause too much terror on the train ride."

"Can't make any promises, Addie!" George yelled behind her as Adeline walked down corridor. She was thankful that her back was turned to him so he didn't see her smile, otherwise that might encourage him on even more.

The moment Adeline saw her three best friends through the window of the carriage, she practically threw open the door to the compartment. Estelle, Melanie, and Ophelia all shot up when they saw her and the four girls all enveloped each other in a tight group hug.

"Holy shit, you're alive!" Melanie practically shouted, in a state of shock, before realizing where she was and quieting down so her fellow students in nearby compartments wouldn't be able to eavesdrop as easily. "You disappeared right before break with all the Weasleys, and we had no idea where you'd gone."

"Your trunk was gone and your bed was made, but Professor Flitwick refused to answer any of my questions about where you'd gone," Estelle added as Adeline sat down on the train seat next to her. "I was about to go to into full panic mode before I went to the Great Hall and realized that Harry and all the Weasleys had disappeared overnight too. We figured that it was probably related to that."

"I'm so sorry I didn't say anything. I didn't even have time to go back to my dorm when I had to leave. I pretty much had to leave the moment I got the news, and I had no chance of contacting you guys."