stardust ⋮ george weasley

sixty-nine :

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"