Hello everyone! I want to start with my deepest apologies for waiting so long to update. I've been super busy this week; I moved out of my apartment and back in with my parents for the time being and have been running around to find another apartment ASAP. So even though I'm technically on a "staycation", I haven't had much time to rest. But Friday, I'm planning to tell everyone to sod off and spend the day writing/watching movies/generally doing what I want, which means I'll be able to edit the chapters I have already written and write even more!
The second thing I wanted to address was actually brought up by drwatsonn: In the last chapter, it's stated that Sage wants to become an Auror but in the summary, it said she was interested in a completely different occupation. That is a later plot point and after thinking about it, I decided it made more sense to change the summary to reflect the Auror aspiration. So for those of you who saw the original summary with the other occupation, sorry for the spoilers! For those of you who started reading after this chapter was posted, that's why I'm being deliberately vague in this explanation.
Please let me know what you think and, of course, please point out any inconsistencies/grammar issues! It's been a hot minute since I've written anything and I'm still pretty rusty. Thank you to everyone who commented/followed! I really do appreciate all the feedback and let's be honest, I doubt I'd continue writing without y'all.
Without further ado, here's chapter six!
-fancy blood
By the time Sage made it to the Gryffindor common room at the end of the day, she was in a right mood. She had been so distracted by the news her grade wasn't earned, and the daunting task of convincing Sirius to tutor her, that she had mucked up royally in Charms. Instead of casting a Cheering Charm on Kylie, which she was actually pretty good at, she gave her best friend massive hiccups that sent her to the Hospital Wing. Kylie, being the kind and lovely person she was, forgave Sage quickly, but Professor Flitwick was not impressed.
So when Sage scanned the room and noticed that the Marauders were missing, she let out a small scream of frustration. Ignoring Kylie's scandalized look, she took off up the boy's staircase, not stopping until she came to the seventh year's dorms. She knocked on the door hastily, gave exactly thirty seconds for them to respond, and barged her way through. Three of the four boys looked at her in shock as she stood in the doorway.
"Where's Sirius?" She asked, slamming the door shut.
"Oi, you can't just storm in here!" James yelled, jumping from his bed. "What if we were naked?"
"Do you make a habit of parading around naked in front of each other?" Sage asked, raising a sardonic eyebrow.
"Well, no, but-" James was interrupted by the bathroom door opening. Sirius walked out shirtless, framed by tendrils of steam escaping. Sage took a moment to appreciate the sight (because really, Sirius was the fittest lad in Hogwarts) before she sprang forward and took him by the wrist, pulling him out of the dormitory and flinging the door shut.
"What the hell are you doing?" Sirius bellowed as she turned around, leaning on the door so he couldn't escape.
"I need to talk to you." Sirius raised his eyebrows and crossed his arms over his chest, making his muscles bunch nicely.
"And this couldn't wait until I had a shirt on?"
"Nope." Sage popped the 'p', taking care to keep her gaze on his face and not on his broad chest and fantastically defined arms. "I need you to tutor me in Charms."
"I thought you made an E?" He asked and she sighed, slumping her shoulders.
"That was a, well, a gift, I guess." She muttered, hating the taste the words left in her mouth.
"What, did you sleep with the examiner?" Sirius asked with an edge of laughter in his voice.
"What? No! Why would you even say that?" She screeched, shoving him backward. He laughed as he moved back half a step. "He...he…" Sage choked on the words and took a steadying breath before she said quickly, "Hefellasleepduringtheexam."
"What was that?"
"He fell asleep during the practical, okay?" There was a moment of silence where blue eyes connected with grey, then Sirius let out a bark of laughter, hunching over and grabbing the wall for support. "Oh shut up!"
"That-is-the-greatest thing-I've ever-heard!" Sirius gasped as Sage rolled her eyes. She waited with a haughty air as he calmed himself.
"I need a tutor and McGonagall said you're the best," Sage repeated as he straightened.
"Minnie said that? That's flattering," He said in an undertone, crossing his arms again. "Well, she's right, I am rather brilliant-" His eyes darted to the side and Sage snapped her fingers.
"Sirius, focus!" He looked at his best friend's sister, assessing her flushed face, curls billowing as she moved. "Will you help me?"
"What's in it for me?" Sage gaped at Sirius' question.
"Helping your best friend's sister, maybe? The family that has been there for you in your worst times, possibly?"
"Please," Sirius started with a scoff. "Wasn't it just this morning that you put a note on my back stating, I still wet the bed, ask me why?" Sage let out a snort, which he frowned at.
"Oh come on, that was funny!" Sirius continued to stare at Sage quietly until her shoulders slumped against the door again. "What do you want?"
"A favor," Sirius said, smiling much like the snake smiled at Eve in that old Muggle folktale of creation. "One day, I will ask a favor and you will have to do it. No ifs, ands, or buts." Sage assessed the boy who had been living with her family for months and, deciding he was indeed serious, sighed and nodded. "We have a deal."
"On two conditions. Nothing outright illegal, and nothing sexual." Sirius rolled his eyes.
"Oh please, if I wanted anything sexual, I'd go for someone more experienced." Sage squawked in indignation as he continued. "And I wouldn't have to coerce it."
"You're an asshole," Sage said, moving aside. Sirius moved forward and opened the door, smirking.
"Yes, but I'm just so damn sexy." He said, turning to hold the door in his large hand. "We start tomorrow." He shut in her face as Sage growled. She made her way to her own empty dorm and ignoring her homework, which she was sure to regret later, she collapsed face down on her bed. She let out a muffled scream, cursing Sirius and Charms and the world in general.
Sage felt a soft pat on her back and turned, seeing Lumos purring, paw outstretched. She shifted and scooped the cat in her arms, petting her soft head. "What did I get myself into, Lumos?" Lumos let out an uncertain meow, nudging Sage's hands for faster petting. "Yeah, I don't know either."
The next morning, Sage awoke before the rest of the dorm for once. Judging by the barely lightening sky, it was much too early to be awake. But, thinking of the homework she neglected last night, Sage stood and stumbled to the loo. After showering and dressing quickly, she left the room and headed to the Great Hall, hoping that breakfast would already be on the table.
She was in luck, though the Great Hall was almost empty, save some nervous looking first years at the Ravenclaw table. She gave them a reassuring smile before settling herself in the middle of her house table, pulling a plate of toast towards her. There she finished the essay Flitwick assigned to her after her dismal performance yesterday. (Merlin, was she that bad? Did he never get nervous?)
By the time her friends made their way to the Hall, Sage was full of eggs and toast and had moved on to her Transfiguration homework. She stowed the half-completed essay in her bag as the girls settled around her. Kylie looked at her with a raised eyebrow as she grabbed the carafe of pumpkin juice.
"You're up early," She said, earning a shrug from Sage.
"Went to bed early."
"Yeah, why were you so angry?" Sage sighed at Kylie's question, knowing she owed her friends an explanation. She had sent Kylie to the Hospital Wing the first day back, after all.
"Remember the meeting I had with McGonagall yesterday?" The three girls nodded. "Well, apparently I need a tutor in Charms."
"Why?" Alice interrupted. "Didn't you get an E on your OWLs?"
Sage sighed before answering. "Apparently I didn't actually, er, earn it." The three girls looked at her, scandalized. "The old bat fell asleep during my practical." There was a moment of silence where the words hung in the air, before those three traitors she called friends broke into giggles.
"How-" Marlene gasped, wiping tears from her eyes, "Does-that even-happen?"
"I don't know Mar, something about his hernia keeping him up the night before," Sage replied testily. "Anyway, when I suggested Remus, McGonagall told me Sirius would be a better option. And Godric help me, I asked him and of course, he made me tell him what happened. So I'm fully expecting banners saying I cheat to wind up everywhere."
"Never mind that, you know what that means?" Marlene squealed. "You can talk me up to him!"
Sage bit her lip, wondering how to tell her friend that she would not, under any circumstances, talk to Sirius about anything having to do with his conquests. That was a topic they steered away from, especially after she found him in a compromising position with some girl over the summer while her parents were away for holiday. Why they trusted the boys not to throw a party, she would never understand. Fortunately, Kylie happened to be over, so the two of them hung out with Remus most of the night, watching the other three idiots lead the small crowd into debauchery. That had been the highlight of Kylie's year considering she had been concealing a crush on him since that first meeting on the train.
Regardless, madness ensued and various things were broken. However, since all four Marauders were of age, everything was fixed and cleaned to perfection magically before their parents got home. How Dumbledore thought James was mature enough to be Gryffindor Quidditch Captain, let alone Head Boy, Sage would never know.
But all those thoughts were wiped clean from Sage's head as she looked at Marlene's hopeful face. She could feel herself nodding and say, "Err, yeah, I'll try to fit that in." The squeal that issued from Marlene's lips made Sage smile. Marlene's excitement was infectious, to say the least.
"I'm assuming he agreed, though?" Kylie asked, and Sage nodded at her. She decided to keep the fact that she was officially in Sirius' debt to herself. Kylie would stress over it, she knew, and Sage had enough trust in her brother's best friend to know that he wouldn't put her in danger. Well, not intentionally, anyway. "Well, that's nice of him."
"Saint-like, really," a deep voice said from behind Sage. She turned to see Sirius throwing a leg over the bench to straddle it. "I mean, really, giving up my free time to help those in need? I should be canonized. Sirius Black, patron saint of slackers."
"More like Sirius Black, patron saint of egotistical horn-dogs, but okay," Sage snorted, taking a drink of her coffee. Sirius gave her a strange smirk.
"Truer than you know, Sagey. Anywho, that's what I came to talk to you about. It seems I have detention tonight, so we'll have to push back our tutoring."
"How on Earth did you get detention that quickly?" Sage asked, opting to ignore the nickname she hated.
"So little faith even after all these years," Sirius tsked. "Insubordination. Apparently, McGonagall didn't appreciate me calling her 'my dearest Minnie' during class. And after all those nice things she said about me." He shook his head in faux-disappointment as Sage laughed. "I doubt she'll give me more than lines so, meet me in the common room, say, 8?"
"Yeah, sure," Sage agreed, shrugging.
"Now if you ladies will excuse me, I have to see a man about a hippogriff." He winked and stood.
"Bye Sirius!" Marlene squeaked, to which he raised a hand and flicked it, effortlessly disguising the wave of his wand in his other hand to everyone except Marlene and Alice, who sat across from the other two girls. The three friends tried their hardest not to stare as Sage's hair began to turn colors.
"What does that even mean?" Alice said, looking determinedly at Sage's face. Her friend shrugged, not noticing any strange reactions.
"Remus bought me a couple of Muggle western books. Sirius found them and has since been 'wizard-izing' the phrases," Sage said, making air quotes with her fingers. "I think one that means he has to pee."
"Well, we should get going. Slughorn isn't going to be happy if we're late," Kylie, the ever-annoying clock of a person, said, smirking as she watched Sage's hair turn from red to blue to green with every move.
The girls made their way to the dungeons, Sage growing increasingly aware of the stares she was receiving. By the time they were outside of the classroom, she felt very self-conscious. "Is there something on my face?" She asked, feeling said face with her hands.
"Nope, nothing there," Alice said with a suppressed giggle, to which Sage frowned. They filed into the classroom and took seats behind their cauldrons, chatting happily, though Sage kept fidgeting with her clothing.
Soon, Slughorn ambled into the classroom with a smile. The smile slowly fell off his face as his eyes landed on Sage. "Ms. Potter, what on Earth have you done to your hair?"
Sage's head fell back and a groan escaped her mouth. She knew it! "Sorry sir, must have run afoul of a Marauder."
Slughorn nodded knowingly, waving his hand to brush off the statement. "Well, I suggest you figure a way to fix it before the end of class. I'm sure iridescent hair does not conform to the dress code."
Sage was sitting in her favorite armchair in front of the common room fire when Sirius finally strolled in, thirty minutes after 8. He made a beeline to her as she glared at him over her potions work. "You're late."
"Well, there was this rather fetching Huffle sixth year that needed some-" Sage held up her hand to stop him, watching as he plopped into the armchair across from her with a smirk.
"Stop right there, I've had enough second-hand experiences with your escapades to last a lifetime," She said, stuffing the roll of parchment into her bag. Sirius let out his barklike laugh, eyeing the way her cheeks flushed at the memory of the party.
"Want some first-hand experience?" He teased, watching the way her curls cascaded over her shoulder as she bent forward. She had gotten them back to her normal chestnut color, he noticed, noting how the firelight brought out her natural blonde highlights.
"I think I'd rather snog the Bloody Baron," Sage grunted, rolling her eyes and pulling out her Charms textbook. "Thanks for the makeover, by the way. I actually kind of liked it."
Sirius shrugged, still watching her. "I thought it would jumpstart the tutoring process, you know? It's a fun little charm."
"Yeah, well, Slughorn wasn't amused. Luckily, Kylie figured out how to reverse it." Sage flipped her book to the charm she was supposed to be practicing.
"Hmm, I always thought she was kind of like your version of Remus," Sirius muttered, and Sage raised an eyebrow.
"I guess so. They do have a lot a common," Sage hedged. "She's always spoken highly of him."
"I'm sure that's because she wants to shag him," Sirius laughed and immediately, Sage went on the defensive.
"I didn't say that," She replied quickly. "Though, he could do a lot worse. And they get on well." Sirius heaved a sigh.
"Stop fishing," He demanded. "Remus doesn't date and no matter how much I goad him, he has no plans to start."
"Why is that?" Sage asked curiously. "It's not like he doesn't have options. He's good-looking, nice, smart, funny..." Sage trailed off as she caught Sirius' hardened look. "He's a good guy. Not my type, but he's a catch."
"You'd have to ask him," Sirius said evasively, still donning that strange look. "Now, are we here to do Charms or talk about our mate's love lives?"
"We could talk about yours," Sage said with a cheeky grin. "Marlene seems to be quite taken with you. She's great too. A nice witch to settle down with." Sirius shifted uncomfortably in his seat.
"Or we can talk about yours. Any romantic rendezvous I should know about?"
"Let's just stick with Charms."