Warning: this chapter includes adult language and sexual content.

Hey everyone! My life is pretty insane right now (work stuff and I'm finally moving), so I'm not sure how long it'll be before I update again. I have a feeling that I'll either hit major writer's block or write like crazy to deal with all the stress, but I really don't know.

I also realized that I'm running out of plot points for this particular story, so there's going to be a lot of skips ahead in Sage's 6th year. But I'm super excited for the sequel, and I hope y'all will love it! I'll post more about that when we get closer to the end.

Of course, reviews are always welcomed and do help! Please let me know how I'm doing!

In the following month, Sage Potter had never felt so alone in her life. Marlene was still acting nasty; Alice insisted that she wasn't taking sides, though she spent more time away from Sage than with her; Kylie was spending most of her time with Remus; James was trying to divide his time between Lily, Head Boy duties, Quidditch Captain duties, and his N.E.W.T.S. revision; even Peter was busy with his newly-official girlfriend. Worst of all, Sirius hadn't said a single word to her, though she wasn't sure she'd let him if he tried.

Sure, she was surrounded by people most of the time. Classes were packed with students; the library, where she often studied alone, avoiding the table where Gideon sat with his friends like the plague, was always packed; and Quidditch practice was dictated chaos, between the team and the assorted hangers-on, hoping against hope James or Sirius would take off their shirts, despite the cold February air. However, even when she sat with the Marauders and their girlfriends (Dorcas Meadows now included), she felt a chasm between her and everyone else. She was noticeably closed off and after many failed attempts at prying it out of her, her friends decided to let her be.

Sage had completely folded into herself. She couldn't quite understand why she had done it. She felt a weight on her chest every day, from the moment she woke up to the time she finally fell asleep after tossing and turning for hours. She had never experienced anything like this but she knew there was a word for it: depression.

It seemed fitting, however, as the Wizarding World was falling into chaos. Every morning, the news of more and more disappearances came with the owl post and there was an undercurrent of anxiety throughout the Hall. Even the professors seemed to be sitting on the edge of their seats, waiting for the building wave to crash down around them.

And then, in mid-February, it finally happened. Michael Smith, a fellow sixth year in Hufflepuff and sometimes-Quidditch commentator, was pulled out of their Defense class to be told that his father had been found, dead. There was no official report just yet, but everyone knew what happened. After all, Mr. Smith had worked for the Muggle Liaison office and was an outspoken Muggle Rights Activist. He had been murdered by Lord Voldemort's followers, the Death Eaters.

The ripple of this news hit everyone. Teachers could be seen whispering to each other in the corridors and during lunchtime; students huddled together, as though in fear that the Death Eaters would snatch them if they wandered alone; and Dumbledore seemed to spend more time away from the castle than in it. The worst of all were the students who seemed destined to become Death Eaters.

With every passing day, they seemed heartened by Voldemort's gaining power and became brasher and crueler. There was an outbreak of dueling and towards the end of February, a second year was so badly cursed, she was taken to St. Mungos. The attacker, a fourth year Slytherin with whom Sage was not familiar, was expelled due to the testimonies of the Fat Friar and Nearly Headless Nick. The ghosts heard the screaming coming from a girl's bathroom on the second floor and arrived in time to see the fourth year use the curse. The exact details were unknown, but the rumor was that the fourth year girl had used the Cruciatus Curse. How a fourth year knew of, and had the power to use, that curse, Sage couldn't fathom. Rumor had it that the fourth year was trying to impress older students. Whether it worked or not, Sage didn't know.

The day after the incident, Sage was studying in the library alone when she felt someone plop into the seat across from her. Looking up, she saw Sirius pulling books out of his rucksack. She stared at him in disbelief but he purposely avoided her eye, situating his supplies as if he was settling down for a good, long revision session.

"Erm, what exactly are you doing?" she asked. Sirius' eyes flickered to Sage for a moment, before settling on his books.

"Transfiguration," he mumbled, opening his copy of The Standard Book of Spells, Year Seven.

"Okay, but why are you sitting here?" Sage tried again, voice soft and slightly defeated.

"Are you waiting for someone?" he asked.

"Well no-"

"Then what's the issue?" Sage felt a burst of annoyance flash through her body and welcomed it. It was better than the hopelessness that had numbed her for the past month. She longed to feel again but hadn't even realized it until now.

"Why now?" Sirius finally looked up and held her gaze, sending a line of warmth up Sage's body.

"I don't like the idea of you wandering around alone now. Not with what happened to that second year." Sage let out an annoyed huff and opened her mouth to argue. "And I missed you." Sage closed her mouth with an audible click of teeth on teeth and looked incredulously at him. "What's that look for?"

"You missed me?"

"Merlin, Sage," Sirius let out a huge sigh, lacing his hands on the top of his head and leaning back in his chair. He studied her for a moment before speaking again. "Why is that so surprising to you?"

Sage decided that it was safer to ignore his question. "I appreciate the concern, but I'm fully capable of taking care of myself," she said, looking down at her Defense textbook.

"I know you are," Sirius said softly. "That doesn't mean that I don't want to protect you."

"What if I don't want your protection?"

"Sounds like a personal problem to me." Sage's head whipped up to glare at Sirius, who groaned and ran his hands over his face. "Taking my help doesn't make you any less capable. Everybody needs help."

"Why are you so invested in my safety?" It was Sirius' turn to look incredulous. He stared at her for a few silent moments before packing away his books.

"This isn't the place for this conversation. Come with me." It was a demand, not a request, and Sage felt that stab of annoyance again.

"I'm not your dog, Sirius. I don't have to respond to your every command," Sage put a subtle emphasis on the word dog, and by the flash in his gray eyes, she knew Sirius caught it. With a wave of his wand, Sage's things piled themselves neatly in her bookbag.

"You either come with me willingly or I throw you over my shoulder, your choice." Sage heaved a huge sigh and stood, slinging her bag over her shoulder and stalking towards the exit. Sirius caught up with her in two strides and together, they left the library. She followed him down the corridor and up the stairs, passing the chattering students milling around before curfew until they arrived at the blank stretch of wall where she knew the Room of Requirement hid. Sage watched as Sirius paced in front of that wall three times, brows furrowed in concentration. She gasped as a door appeared and Sirius held it open for her.

"So, what? You just walk past it three times and a door appears?" Sage asked, feet still firmly planted.

"In essence, yes," Sirius replied. "Are you going to make me stand here all day?"

"I really should," Sage grumbled as she moved towards the door. "You really are an insufferable git sometimes."

"It's part of my charm," Sirius quipped, following her into the room and once more, out into the Potter Manor grounds. Sage flopped down on the crest of the hill and watched as he followed suit. "So, you asked why I'm so invested in you."

"Actually," Sage began harshly. "I asked why you're so invested in my safety."

"Which is the same question," Sirius growled, running his hands through his hair. "Do you really not know how much I care about you?"

"I know you care about me, Sirius," Sage snapped. "But I don't see you 'protecting' James, or Remus, or Peter." She made quotation marks with her fingers around the word protecting. "Is it because I'm a girl?"

"For fuck's sake, Sage, you know me better than that!" He roared, jumping to his feet and beginning to pace.

"Then what is it?" Sage yelled, standing as well. "Because I honestly don't understand. You ask me to fake-date you, which is a bloody stupid idea, to begin with, and then I basically tell you that I love you and then you ignore me for a month. An entire fucking month, Sirius! So excuse me for being confused as to why you suddenly want to be my guard dog!"

"I ignored you? You've been shutting yourself away from everyone since then! So excuse me if I didn't see the bloody welcome mat!"

"Can you even comprehend how awful it feels to know that the person that you love will never love you back?" Sirius stopped inches from her and she was suddenly aware of how large he was. He had grown from the rangy, albeit attractive, boy she once knew and stood as a man in front of her. It was hard to believe that he was only 18, though Sage knew that the trauma he endured at the hands of his parents and the war aged him more quickly than his peers.

"Can you comprehend how terrifying it is to realize that I love you too? Nobody has loved me, Sage, not until I met you. Everybody who is supposed to love me has hurt me. And you are so bloody pure that I shouldn't be able to touch you." Sirius took a fraction of a step closer until he was a breath away and grasped her chin. "But, Godric help us, I want to."

Sage's breath was coming in pants, but not because of anger anymore. She felt a rush of electricity shoot from his fingers into every nerve. It was almost as if she had awakened from death itself, she had never felt so alive.

"You are not the sum of other people's actions, Sirius," she gasped, leaning into his touch. "You deserve happiness. You just have to take it."

"Take you, you mean," he whispered, leaning close to her face, a ghost of his signature grin playing on his lips.

"That too." Sirius leaned forward, resting his forehead against hers, eyes closed. Sage's hands lifted of their own accord to grasp the sides of his head, tangling her fingers in his hair.

"I want to. I want you, but I know that I can break you because I'm broken." He traced the line of her nose with the tip of his and Sage's eyes fluttered closed. "Doesn't that make me a bad person?"

"You're not broken," Sage said, arching her body into the line of his, hands moving from his hair to his shoulders. "You're just a little bent. And that's okay." He let out a chuckle that warmed his lips. "And I'm not a delicate flower."

"No, you're a sturdy tree." Sage let out a laugh that almost, almost brought their lips together. "I think, if there's anyone who can handle me, it's you."

"Then kiss me, idiot." Sirius let out a single bark of laughter and kissed her. It was just a soft press of lips as his arm wrapped around her waist and his hand moved to the back of her head.

Then Sage moaned, hands tightening on his shoulders, and Sirius deepened the kiss, opening her mouth with a practiced flick of his tongue. Sage's hands convulsed, gripping his button-down shirt, matching the probing of his tongue with her own.

He pulled back slightly to get a better angle, and she caught his bottom lip between her teeth, biting to keep him there. Sirius growled and in a second, grasped her by the back of the thighs left bare by her school skirt, and hoisted her in the air. With a yip, she pulled back and wrapped her legs around his waist. Sirius moved his lips to her neck, finding that sensitive spot and sucking until Sage's vision went blurry.

He sat down heavily and lifted his hands from her thighs to her lower back, taking care to skip over the questionable area of her arse, as she settled on his lap. With this new angle, she could feel the stiffness in his trousers but she didn't freeze. Instead, she bucked involuntarily, causing them both to moan. Sirius' face left her neck to stare up at her as she did it again, and again, and again, revealing in the sensation the friction caused with only her panties and his trousers separating them.

"Sage, we don't-" She silenced him with a kiss, trailing her hands from his shoulders, his neck, and down to his biceps. She kept her rhythm steady, feeling the warmth traveling from her core to the rest of her body. As that delicious warmth built in her abdomen, her moans became louder and her thrusts more frantic, edged on by Sirius' hands on her hips. She threw her head back and with a final cry, that warmth exploded, leaving her shaking in his arms, face buried in his shoulder. Sirius held her, stroking her back with his strong hands until her breathing calmed and she lifted her head with a lazy smile on her face.

"Merlin, that was the sexiest thing I've ever seen," Sirius muttered, placing a kiss on the portion of her collarbone that was exposed by the neckline of her shirt. Sage let out a throaty laugh and leaned down to kiss him, before realizing that he was still hard and ready between his legs. She pulled back and looked down.

"You haven't-I mean, you didn't-" she stammered, her cheeks heating.

"Come?" Sirius said with a smirk. "No, I didn't."

"Do you want me to…" she trailed off, staring at his cheekbone, too embarrassed to look him in the eye. He studied her for a second before shaking his head.

"Not until you're ready. I can be patient." Sage nodded and scrambled off him to kneel on the grass next to him. It was then that she caught the wet spot on his trousers and her face flushed even more.

"Oh my god," she muttered, throwing a hand to her mouth. "You must think-"

"I don't think anything," Sirius said firmly. "I know that you haven't done this with anyone else. And that," he gestured down to the wet spot. "That's a normal thing. And honestly, a sign of a job well done." Sage let out a nervous laugh and he winked, grabbing her hand from her mouth and lacing her fingers with his. "Come here, I want to hold you."

Sage let herself be pulled into his arms as he laid down on the grass, her head on his chest and his fingers in her curls. Sirius put his other arm behind his head and stared into the clear blue sky. Sage deftly unbuttoned the first button of his white shirt and slipped her hand inside to feel his warmth. Laying there, surrounded by that warmth, physically sated, hearing his heartbeat pounding steadily under her ear, Sage felt more relaxed than she could remember feeling in a very long time.

"Sirius?" She asked, voice hesitant.

"Hmm?"

"Are we together?" Sirius let out a noise that sounded suspiciously like a stifled snort of laughter and Sage sat up, staring at his face. He was, indeed, trying to hide a smirk. "It's a fair question."

"You're right, it is," Sirius said, schooling his face and sitting up as well. "Sage Potter, would you do me the honor of being my girlfriend?" Sage's face broke into a smile.

"Yes, I will be your first girlfriend."

"And only, if I have any say." And with that, he kissed her.