Chapter 10

"Guess what, guess what, guess what!" Adria screeched as she entered the small bakery just after noon. She was grinning from ear to ear, her eyes bright and her laugh loud whilst Mildred looked up from a customer and May stopped pouring the tea to see the bright girl almost crying. The two-working shared a look, gesturing for each other to ask whilst Adria danced near the entrance, greeting regular customers as she done so that she had already grown fond of in her short time working at the bakery.

"What?!" asked Mildred, smiling at the customer who was walking to her table with a tray of tea and cakes to share with her friends whilst Adria squealed in excitement, thrusting the letter in her hand to Mildred who clutched it tightly whilst scanning the words on the paper, "congratulations, Addy, that's brilliant!" she beamed, throwing her arms around the excited girl who was nodding her head.

May soon rushed over after her tea pot had emptied that was ready to be filled, leaning over Mildred's shoulder to read the letter before the proud smile erupted onto her lips for the girl who was grinning widely, "oh I'm so proud of you dear, but please do be careful."

"I will be, I will be," she nodded, a wide grin to her lips whilst she wiped her tears, "...oh bloody hell I'm getting emotional already! See, I promised myself, I said "Adria you better not bloody cry!" and now look at me!"

"Well I think it's a bloody given," Mildred giggled, clutching the girl tightly whilst she reached for the apron, and soon tied up her hair, "what did Sirius say?"

"He hasn't found out yet, I said I'd tell him tonight when I got in," she shrugged, "he's leaving work early though, I think James and Lily need help with something but I'm not sure, knowing him he'll probably go and kidnap Jude."

"I wouldn't be surprised," May shook her head, patting Adria's shoulder, "now you can have a break before you start, don't think you have to get to work right away."

"Oh no, it's alright," Adria smiled widely, "I actually like working and maybe my excitement will die down a bit."

"Well you can ice some cupcakes then," May nodded, knowing that the girl was getting much better at decorating the cakes, it would only be a matter of time before the girl was baking in the shop, too."

"Oh, look at you," Mildred teased, nudging a laughing Adria, "you're already promoted to decorating."

"Oh, shut it," Adria scoffed, "you're just jealous that I can ice cupcakes better than you."

"Who wouldn't be jealous of the perfect icing queen," Mildred joked, gesturing to the letter in Adria's hand, she spoke, "now you and your new ability to drive can go into the kitchen, you're blocking my space."

"I'm shocked, Mil," Adria wiped a stray tear, clutching her hand over her heart, she spoke, "and here I thought you loved me."

"Where did you get that preposterous thought?" Mildred gasped, a wide grin soon spreading over her lips when the two girls burst into giggles, "oh merlin, you're bloody mental, now hurry up before May comes out and bites my head off for keeping you busy."

"Fine, fine, I'm going!" she huffed. She entered the kitchens behind the counter that Mildred was currently working at with the kind smile on her lips as she handed customers their change and made sure to tell them to have a wonderful day, and soon moved out of May's way who was walking past with her tea pot now once again filled with Tea for the regulars who needed their small china cups refilled.

She set her bag on the counter beside her, humming the tune to a song she had heard on the small radio that sat on the window sill of the kitchen by some singer that she didn't keep up with. The days were getting colder and the nights longer as December was soon creeping in, but the thought of Christmas and seeing Alina was more than exciting for the older Hopkins sister.

She had found herself more than once looking in magazines and shop windows for gifts for everyone, even for Sirius who found himself laughing. The two had decided months ago to save up money for Christmas so that they weren't struggling, and now that both Adria and Sirius had jobs, it was much easier for them to save without putting a dent in their needs.

"Hey Mil!" Adria called from the kitchen, waiting a few moments before Mildred shouted a quick, 'yeah?' back to her, "are these cookies ready to be served or are they to be iced too?"

"No, they're fine the way they are but there's too much out here so we don't need them just yet!" Mildred called, turning to peak her head into the kitchen to see Adria with a piping bag in her hand, ready to scoop the icing in.

"Alright, thank you," she grinned, waving as Mildred shook her head and carried on with her work. She looked at the way the cookies sat on the plate beside her, somewhere stacked on top of the other and the thought of teasing both Jude and Sirius popped into her mind.

She got her camera out of her bag, she much preferred to carry it around with her because she thought that now during a war would be the best time to take as many happy pictures as she could, and soon did she snap a picture of the cookies on the plate, waiting for the small photo to develop before she stuffed the camera and the photograph back into her bag and carried on with icing the cupcakes.

"You know," May spoke from the door to the kitchen, watching Adria's concentration as she iced each individual cupcake as best as she could. Her eyebrows knitted together and her tongue poked out of the side of her lips as she squeezed the piping bag onto the cupcakes in a perfect swirl, "your mother would be so proud of you, Adria. Your dad too. I bet you know that, I bet you hear that all the time but I can tell you, if there's anyone they should be proud of, it's you."

Adria smiled softly, carefully sitting down the piping bag next to the newly decorated cupcakes before turning to a softly smiling May, "I think the title of proud should be given to my siblings, or my boyfriend. Or even my friends. We've all kind of had to grow up faster than we'd all have liked to, the way the world is right now, the way everything is, it's like we've been kicked out of school and left to fend for ourselves."

"You know, you're a great person, Adria," May laughed softly, "but you're a terrible liar."

"Wha- May?!" she exclaimed, "what do you mean?"

"I'm a squib, Adria," May laughed softly, "I know about it all, the wizarding world, this new threat, this terrible man, it's all so horrible."

"Oh merlin," Adria whispered, thankful that she didn't have anything in her hands as she stared at the woman in front of her, "so you know about everything?"

"Of course, I do," May whispered, "I know about you, and I know about Mildred too. I think the most surprising thing was hearing that Judy and Douglas had magical children but the surprise was definitely pleasant. There's so much I have to tell you, Adria, so much you don't know that will be useful to you. But for now, there's someone I think very close to both of us who I think you will love to see after a very long time."

She gestured for Adria to follow her, and with furrowed eyebrows, Adria pushed herself in May's direction, "who is it?"

"My sister," May smiled, patting Adria's back.

The teenager's eyes followed May's to the tables that scattered around the shop, a gasp falling from her lips when she spotted the woman in front of them, the kind woman with the stern gaze and her favourite teacher at Hogwarts.

The transfigurations teacher that always seemed so motherly to Adria, who was always there to help her whenever she was in a jam, who let the multiple pranks from the boys slide and knew that Remus was trying his best during the days nearing the full moon and even let him off with sleeping once or twice in his class whilst pretending not to notice.

"Pr-Professor," Adria squeaked, her hand clasped over her mouth and her eyes already welling with tears. She didn't care that she seemed like an all-around teacher's pet to admit that she missed the professor so much after leaving school. Even back in her early years at Hogwarts, the woman was always there to make sure that Adria was alright, always worried about her lack of friends and her shyness, she was the one to push Adria to make friends and she didn't even know.

"Adria," the Professor beamed, her eyes crinkling whilst she smiled in delight. Her stern gaze Adria once remembered was gone to be replaced by a smile that Adria felt happy to see, it was as though her hectic months from leaving school had washed away, that the stress she felt was barely evident and seeing her old professor who mothered her when her own mother couldn't, was a gift she could bask in.

Adria pushed herself forward, unable to help herself when she threw her arms around the woman who tightly hugged her back, "what- I can't believe it, Professor what are you doing here?!"

"I'm here to see you, of course," Minerva smiled, "and Adria, dear, you don't have to call me Professor now. You're not my student anymore!"

"I know, I know," she laughed softly, her smile widening with every passing moment, "I'm just- wait, sister?!"

May laughed, taking the other seat at the table whilst Minerva gestured for Adria to sit down, "Euna and Minerva McGonagall. I call myself a squib but our father was a muggle. Our mother and father raised us like witches from the day we were born so not getting my letter was a big deal of unhappiness. Though, Minerva didn't keep me out of the loop when it came to information."

"I think I need to lie down," Adria whispered, blinking away the confusion, "I just...why are you telling me this?"

"The war is getting darker, Adria, heavier, there are dreadful things happening and he is targeting everyone. You and Sirius are distancing yourself but at some point, he will find you and you need to be prepared for that moment. He will find your siblings too, your muggle siblings who don't know the full extent of our world and they won't stand a chance. He is merciless, he is evil and powerful and you have been through far too much," Minerva sighed, a sympathetic look on her older face, "we really hate to spring this on you so suddenly and the school year is not over yet but you are going to have a child soon and you're looking after your infant brother with Sirius. Is it really the best idea for you two to fight in this war and put a bigger target on yourselves?"

Adria breathed a sigh, "I wasn't going to fight, I would help as best as I could but I cannot fight, and as much as I don't want Sirius too, he wants to."

"His family don't know where he is or you would've been tracked down already," Minerva whispered, "they don't know his whereabouts or they would've tried to come for him already, it's the only reason you are still safe."

"He has a target on his back for being a blood traitor...and for being with me, a muggleborn." Adria shook her head, running a frustrated hand through her hair. She wished most of all for the war to be over, but she knew that was a hopeless wish.

"Fighting could put you at more of a risk, it could put your family at risk," Minerva shook her head. She was terribly worried for Adria, and for Sirius too. She loved all of her students but she knew that the two where all alone with no help, they had each other and a family to look after, and that was all.

"I wish I could fight," Adria spoke after a moment of silence, "I wish I wasn't pregnant, don't get me wrong, I love my baby already but I wish it wasn't now, not when the wizarding world needed so many fighters. I wish that Jude had his parents to look after him like he should have and my commitments didn't need to be on something so precious, that I could fight as best as I could but it's not like that. I mean for god's sake, Sirius Black, the son of two high powered purebloods has a muggle job! We are in a completely different place right now, I feel so cut off and it's my own fault.

Sirius wants to fight for the both of us and that will always be his decision and I know he is scared but it's the right thing to do. If he goes through with fighting then I will always be there to stich up every wound he obtains and he knows that. I love him more than anything this world can offer, and I love my family too, and my friends and if I could fight for them merlin I would, but even at a time like this, the love for my family has to come first."

The two ladies with her where silent as the teenager spoke, both completely baffled about how mature Adria was being, that the young Gryffindor was thinking of the greater good instead of the reckless decisions to fight, and with a small smile and a nod, Minerva spoke, "I wish you didn't have to grow up so soon, Adria, but I'm so proud of who you have become in such a short space of time."

-

A plate of chocolate chip cookies that Adria wished to tease her boys with. ~ Taken by Adria Hopkins. Late November. 1978.