Adele Black: The End

Professor Sharp

As soon as the Daily Prophet got a hold of the news of the Wizengamot reforms, I knew I would be subjected to a bombardment of questions from a lot of people. I got letters from random people I had no clue existed (I didn't answer those). Hermione sent me owl after owl, and I answered those ones with extreme detail.

"Well, what are you going to do now?" Ron asked one night as he, Harry and I scarfed down the pasta I made.

I shrugged. It was early March, and I had been in a state of limbo. I spent my days trying to renovate Grimmuald and thinking about the other lines of the prophecy. I would sit on the couch and stare into space as I thought about how long this could take: would it be months until I was free of the prophecy's hold on me? Would it be years? How long would it be?

"Maybe you could—" Ron was cut off by an owl flying in through the open window in the kitchen. It gave a hoot and tumbled onto the table. It had three letters with it, one addressed to each of us individually. The owl came up to me and I ran my hand over it's feathers, calming it instantly. Owls always had a soft spot for me, and I to them.

The owl nipped my fingers playfully before it flew off.

"I hope we're not in trouble or anything," Harry murmured as he picked up his letter.

I picked mine up and ran my wand over it to translate it to Ancient Greek. The envelope read:

"Miss Adele Black
12 Grimmuald Place
Islington, London, England"

I opened it up and discovered that it was an invitation.

"Miss Black,

In recognition of your excellent work on the Ministry Reforms Committee and the bravery you showed at the Battle of Hogwarts, we are honored to invite you to the 365th annual Ministry of Magic Gala.

It shall be held on the 12th of March, and will begin approximately at 7:00pm. The gala will be located in the ballroom at the Ministry of Magic, and dinner and dessert will be provided.

You are permitted to bring one guest with you.

Sincerely,
Kingsley Shacklebolt
Acting Minister of Magic"

Harry and Ron gave a groan. "I can't wear dress robes again! Not like the ones I wore to the Yule Ball!" Ron grumbled.

"Just wear what you wore to Bill and Fleur's wedding then. Lucky for us, the three of us have been invited and we get a plus one. As long as the three of us stick together it can't be too bad, right?" Harry commented.

I frowned. "This is so soon! It's on Saturday! How could they send out invites so late? I didn't have a plan for this!"

"Well, the Ministry's not very good at planning things," Ron remarked.

"No, I always have a plan. This wasn't part of the plan I had for the next two weeks! Athena always has a plan, so I always have a plan. I don't even have a dress! I can't go in shorts and a Camp Half Blood shirt! There's not enough time to—"

"Adele, calm down," Harry said. "It'll all work out, it always does. Besides, it's on a Saturday, so I'm sure Hermione and Ginny will come and they can help you out."

"On the day of? Have you lost your mind? That's not how it works!" I panicked.

I was about to ramble on even more about the audacity of the invitations tardiness, but at that moment the fireplace in the room over rumbled with life. A pink haired woman stormed into the kitchen, nearly tripping over the troll-legged umbrella stand that was near the kitchen entryway.

"I can't believe they've only given us 3 days! 3 days!" Tonks exclaimed. "I came over right away because my mother said I was over-reacting, and so did Remus!"

"Over-reacting? I think this is the perfect reaction! How on Earth am I going to get a dress in 3 days?" I exclaimed back. Tonks sat down next to me in a hurry.

Ron and Harry looked unsure of how to handle this, but Tonks and I continued on our rant and the two boys sat there, knowing they were in for a long and stormy night.

The following day— Thursday— I met up with Fred for lunch at the Leaky Cauldron.

"I've been invited to this dumb Ministry Gala," I said as I cut up my chicken. "I have a plus one. Harry's bringing Ginny, Ron's bringing Hermione, so I thought we could go together."

"Oh, so that's what was in that letter! George and I each got a letter from the Ministry of Magic but we threw them both out, didn't even read them," Fred explained.

I paused from putting my fork in my mouth. "You ignored a letter from the Ministry?" I asked, my eyebrows raised.

Fred winced. "Yeah, George and I sent an anonymous owl to them last year and it had a bunch of dung bombs in it, so we were worried they finally traced it to us."

I couldn't help the grin that came on my face at the mental image of dung bombs going off at the Atrium of the Ministry.

"Well, anyways, will you go with me?" I asked, nervous.

Fred smiled. "Of course. I have dress robes at the Burrow, I'll have to get them. Do you need a dress? I'm sure Ginny or Fleur has one you could borrow."

I was touched at his concern. I shook my head. "No, one suspiciously popped up in a box on my bed last night. The note said it was from A and had a heart next to it, so I've got somebody up there looking out for me."

It was true: last night, after a good panicking session, I had trudged up to my room and found a box on my bed with a note on top that read 'for Saturday xoxo, A'. The next morning I gave an offering to Aphrodite as well as my mother, because it was obvious to me who it was from, and I was grateful for it.

"Hmm... well, what color is it?" Fred asked after taking a sip of his pumpkin juice.

"You'll just have to wait and see," I smirked.

It was 5 o'clock in the evening on Saturday. Ginny and Hermione had already gotten ready, and I was happy to put off getting ready because I didn't see the point of getting ready 2 hours early when I could easily do it in 45 minutes. However, that's not what ended up happening.

Hermione and Ginny came into my room. Hermione was wearing a floor length burgundy dress with a halter neckline. Ginny wore a floor length dress the color of emerald— much like the color of Harry's eyes— with a v-neck neckline. Both of them looked gorgeous.

"You're not ready yet?" Hermione asked.

"No? Why would I be? We have 2 hours until the gala started," I said.

"Well, Mum wants to take pictures. I told Ron to mention that to you, did he not?" Ginny frowned.

I shook my head and hastily jumped off from my bed. "No, he didn't."

I got the box out of my closet and slipped into the bathroom connected to my room.

"Ginny," I called out as I slipped on my dress.

"Yeah?"

"I'm going to need you to do a smokey eye on me," I said.

"Alright! Oh, by the way, are you bringing a plus one?" Ginny responded.

"I mean, I guess? He was already invited so I don't really know if he would be considered a plus one," I said.

"Hermione, would you consider that a plus one?" Ginny asked.

"Uhm... you know, I'm not completely sure," she said.

I opened the door.

"Adele that dress is absolutely stunning!" Hermione gasped.

Hermione was right. I originally had my reservations about wearing a dress picked out by Aphrodite, but once I had put it on, all of my reservations dissipated.

The dress was made of chiffon, and it was a dusty blue color. It was floor length and had a slit at my mid thigh on one side. It was an A-frame silhouette, and the neckline was asymmetrical. It flew behind me a bit as I walked out of the bathroom. It reminded me of a dress that a woman would wear in Ancient Greece. I felt beautiful in it.

"Thanks," I blushed. I glided over to my nightstand and opened the drawer. I grabbed out a silver necklace that had a small owl charm on it, looking similar to the owl symbol that represented my mother. I had my bracelet on my wrist.

About 30 minutes later, I descended down the stairs in my dress and a pair of silver heels that I almost rolled my ankles in. Ginny had done a dark smokey eye on me, which emphasized the storminess of my gray eyes. I had put some lip gloss on— lipstick was a no go for me. Why would I want to put it on when I was going to be eating? It would just get all messed up. My blonde hair rested just below my shoulders.

Harry and Ron stood in the kitchen. Both of them were wearing black dress robes. Harry's hair was still a mess, despite both his and Ron's attempts to make it stay flat.

Hermione, Ginny and I walked in. I stood there awkwardly as Harry and Ron complimented and kissed their respective girlfriends.

"You look good too, Adele," Ron offered, sensing my awkwardness.

"Thanks," I said, my lips stretching into a weird mix of a grimace and an awkward smile. "You don't look to bad either, Weasley. The dress robes aren't like your Great Aunt Tessie's this time."

Everybody, including Ron, laughed at that.

"Ron, Harry, would you consider somebody to be a plus 1 if that person was already invited?" Ginny asked the two boys.

Harry furrowed his eyebrows together. "Er... I'm not really sure." He wrapped his arm around Ginny's waist, who in turn tested her hand on his chest.

"Well, plus ones are usually not people on the invitation, right?" Ron asked as he grabbed Hermione's hand. "But who knows. Why?"

"Adele has a plus one— or a not plus one— but she won't say who it is," Hermione said, pouting a small bit at the fact that she didn't know who it was.

Harry and Ron have a snort. "Three guesses to who it is," Ron said to Harry.

"What's that supposed to mean?" I retorted, my eyebrows furrowing and my hands resting on my hips.

"Oh, I don't know," Harry said to Ron with a smirk, ignoring my comment. "Do we think it's the guy who brought over the article about Sirius?"

"Maybe it's the guy who I saw reading a book about Greek Mythology at his flat the other day?" Ron said.

My face reddened. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh, I think you do," Harry chuckled, looking at me like I was a sister he got to make fun of.

"This guy found you an article about your dad and showed it to you? And he's reading a book about Greek Mythology? Sounds like you've got yourself a keeper," Ginny winked.

"Actually, he's more of a beater," Ron remarked with a smirk.

Hermione's jaw dropped and her face lit up with a mixture of delight and astonishment. "You didn't."

I winced. "I did."

"How did it even happen?" Hermione asked me.

I blushed. "Well, the first time... Ron and Harry, do you remember when we had that quidditch scrimmage at the Burrow, and I got a bit tipsy? You two had to go right to the Ministry for a night shift, so Fred made sure I got home through the Floo safely. Well, we started drinking here, and then we were just laughing at nothing and sitting on the floor and then we kissed and then... well, we slept together."

"The first time!?" Ginny asked, astonished. "With my brother!?"

I winced. "The second time, it just sort of... happened. Neither of us were drunk. And then it happened again, and after the third time, we tried to stop, because we knew we couldn't continue to do it, but we always just ended up finding each other again and again. So he took me on a date, and we've been going on dates since."

It was silent for a moment before Ginny remarked, "Does George know?"

I shook my head. "No. The only people who know besides Fred and I are now you four. And honestly, I don't care what George thinks. It's none of his business, just like his relationship is none of mine. And if he's going to be bothered by it, that's on him."

"Do you like-like him?" Hermione giggled.

I gave a smile. "Yeah. I feel like a 12 year old school girl with a crush when I'm near him. It feels like he's the last puzzle piece in a jigsaw puzzle that you've been trying to finish for years— and you feel whole once it's complete."

Ginny and Hermione bombarded me with questions that I answered as the five of us made our way to the apparition point within the house and found ourselves in the garden at the Burrow.

Mrs. Weasley war wearing the same green dress she had worn to Bill and Fleur's wedding, and she was currently fretting over Mr. Weasley's crooked tie. Neither of them had yet to notice us.

There was a popping noise from behind us, and I heard my name be called. "Adele!"

I turned and came face-to-face with Audrey, who was wearing a dark purple dress. She was dragging Percy behind her.

"Hey Audrey, Percy," I greeted. "How've you been?"

"Great! Anyways, you'll never guess what they're using our old office room for now," Audrey said, sarcastically.

I chuckled. "It wouldn't happen to be a storage space, would it?"

Before she could respond, my name was called again.

"Adele, you look..."

I turned around. Fred Weasley stood in front of me and was looking at me like I was Aphrodite. I felt myself redden, like I always seemed to do in his presence.

"Thanks," I bashfully said, "you don't look too bad either."

It was true: Fred did look more put together than usual. The orange flames on his head were tamed, and he wore black dress robes. I would never admit it to him out loud as to not hurt his feelings, but I was grateful that he wasn't wearing his ghastly dragon hide jacket.

"Allow me to interrupt whatever this is," Ginny said. "Fred, just what are your intentions with Adele here?"

Fred spluttered. "What?"

Ginny rolled her eyes. "You heard me! I can't have you be playing with her heart. I know she's perfectly capable of standing up for herself, but I just need to make sure you're not planning on making her look like a fool."

Fred looked taken aback. "Ginny, the only fool here is you if you think I'm planning on just breaking her heart."

I smiled. Ginny did as well. "Good, just had to check," she said. She gave me a nod and then made her way over to Harry, whose hair was being tormented by Mrs. Weasley.

"You mean that?" I whispered to him as the two of us made our way into the house. Everybody else remained in the garden still, despite the chilly air.

"Of course I do. I can't picture anybody but you in my life," Fred said to me.

I smiled. "Good, because I don't think I can picture anybody else but you in my life."

"You know, I had a dream the other night about the two of us. You were pushing a little girl with blonde hair on a swing, and I was next to you, pushing a little boy with red hair on a swing," Fred said as he went towards the cabinet to grab out a cup. He filled it up with water.

"You had a dream that we had kids?" I asked him, inwardly panicking.

"Yeah, I suppose they were ours. I've never really thought about them, but if I were to have any with anybody, it would only be with you," Fred said casually with a shrug of his shoulders.

I wasn't sure what to think. The truth of the matter was that I didn't think I'd live to be 16, let alone almost 19. The future was a foreign concept to me. I always had a plan, but not necessarily one for the future.

"There's a line in my prophecy... it's 'a child of the Gods shall see the flame'. I don't know if it's about me. I don't even know what flame means in this context. Is it a green flame from the Floo Network? Is it Greek fire? I'm not sure. And I feel absolutely awful for hoping that it's not about me. It's cruel that I hope that," I said.

"It's not cruel at all," Fred told me. "And Adele, if it helps, there's so many things that it could mean. You told me yourself years ago that heroes find themselves sometimes interpret prophecies in a way that makes them self-fulfilling. And I don't think that line is about you— I don't, truly."

"I knew there was a reason I love you," I said simply, looking straight into Fred's eyes. He looked surprised. He was about to respond but then we got called back out to the garden for pictures.

I walked into the ballroom at the Ministry with a awkward stance. Fred stood besides me. He grabbed my hand discretely and we walked over to a spare table.

"By the way Adele," Fred whispered to me as he pulled my chair out for me, "I love you too."

I blushed and sat down. The panic that I had been feeling for the past hour died immediately.

"Would you like a drink? I see Bill over by the bar," Fred asked.

I looked around and sure enough, Bill was standing at the bar. Fleur was by his side, and it looked like she was holding a glass of champagne.

"Uhm, sure. If they have butter beer, I'll take that. If not... surprise me," I said.

Fred gave me a mischievous grin. "Will do. I'll be right back."

As soon as Fred left, somebody slid into the seat besides me.

"You're in love with him, aren't you?"

My face went pink. "Remus, I'm not sure what you're talking about."

Remus gave me a pointed look and sarcastically asked, "Oh, so you look at everybody like the way you do at Fred? Like he's the sun?"

I spluttered in response. Remus smirked.

Remus looked at the menu that was placed on the table. "To be fair, Fred's always looked at you like you were the only girl in the world. Hmm, I see that there's some treacle tart on the dessert menu..."

Before I could respond to him, Fred came back with two butter beers. He sat in the free chair next to me and handed me mine. I took a sip.

"Hello, Moony! How are you doing on this fine evening?" Fred smiled.

"I'm doing wonderfully, Fred. Did you see that they have treacle tart on the dessert menu?"

"Oh, do they? Do they happen to have any Whoopie Pies? Adele did mention how much she likes those," Fred absentmindedly said after sipping from his cup.

"Whoopie Pies?" Remus asked, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"It's an American dessert," I informed him. "They're delicious though."

"Adele makes really good ones," Fred inputted, causing me to blush.

Remus chuckled to himself. "And you said you didn't know what I was talking about..."

The three of us made small chit chat, and it was comfortable enough. Soon enough, Tonks found her way over to us, along with Mr. and Mrs. Weasley. Hermione, Ron, Harry and Ginny soon followed. Meals were about to be served when I felt a tap on my back.

"Miss Black?"

"Yes?" I turned around in my seat.

"My name is Anna Sharp. I'm a Professor at the Wizarding School of Law," the woman said to me.

Professor Sharp was a woman with dark brown skin and long dark box braids. Half of them were piled on the top of her head and in a bun while the other half rested on her shoulders comfortably. She wore a silver dress and her brown eyes sparkled behind a pair of pink glasses.

"Oh, uhm, hi," I said. We shook hands, and she took a spare seat at the table behind mine and turned it so she could sit in it and talk to me. Likewise, I turned my seat around and faced her.

"I heard about your work on the Ministry Reforms Committee, and I'm very impressed. Have you ever thought about going into the legal field?" She asked me.

I paused for a moment. Truthfully, when I was younger, I had. When I was 8 I had even asked Chiron if the Gods needed legal representation. Chiron had chuckled, but didn't answer my question, thus leading me to ask a billion more. Mr. D found it hilarious, but told me that Gods didn't need lawyers because they were, well, Gods. I had then frowned at him and said "Well, maybe you could've used one when you got punished and stuck here! You always say that it's a cruel and unusual punishment! Maybe your dad violated the Eighth Amendment! You need a lawyer!"

My words resulted in Mr. D wrapping a vine around my mouth so that I couldn't speak for an entire day.

"Yes," I finally said. "I've thought about it from time to time."

"That's great! So, out entrance process is quite simple. The selection for the program is very competitive, so we have you and a partner do a trial in front of Wizengamot. I know in the Muggle world they have students take a test, so think of it like that. You pick something— a person or a company for instance— and and act as their defense or as the prosecutor, along with your partner. A professor from the school will take on the role of whatever you and your partner decide not to be. Wizengamot acts as a jury— if you and your partner wins your case, you're in. If you lose, you're out."

"What happens to the accused?" Remus, ever the eavesdropper, asked.

"I'm glad you asked," Professor Sharp said, a twinkle in her eyes. "If the accused is found innocent, they're cleared of all charges. If they're found guilty, we scrap that and have them brought to a trial with actual lawyers if there's found to be sound basis of a crime being committed. A lot of people have usually done the Daily Prophet for slander and libel, which has resulted in quite a few admissions to the school. I'm always more interested when the accused is an actual person."

I suddenly thought about my prophecy, specifically the line 'With the pureblood heir of Hecate's daughter at her side, Justice shall be brought for the one who has died'. I knew I had to accept immediately.

"I'll do it. And I'll have Draco Malfoy as my partner. He's been thinking about doing law as well," I said bluntly.

"That's great! I'll send you an owl with more details within the week. Do you have an idea as to what the accused will be?" Professor Sharp asked.

"Yeah— uhm, can the accused be tried posthumously?" I asked.

Professor Sharp nodded. "Yes, they can. We once had somebody try to charge You-Know-Who years and years ago, before he came back. That person and their partner got in."

"Good, because I'm going to prove to the world that Sirius Black is innocent," I said, my voice filled to the brim with pride.

Alright folks, in the next chapter there's going to be a surprise visitor that Adele has to deal with...

There's a few options, but I'll let you all guess in the comments.