Remus and Peter sat and listened to Sadie, James, and Sirius recount all that they had seen and heard on their way back from the kitchens. The five friends were huddled together in the boys' dormitory. They spoke in hushed voices despite the imperturbable charm they had placed on the room.

Remus was gazing at the wall, his brow furrowed in thought as his friends finished their tale. It was several moments before he spoke. "I know what you're thinking, but we don't have any real reason to believe they were talking about Voldemort."

James scoffed. "Come on, Moony! This is Snivellus and Rowle we're talking about here!"

"I'm aware," Remus responded calmly. "And I know that you would love to think that Snape is involved with all that. But, while he may have an unfortunate obsession with the dark arts, we don't know if he has anything to do with Voldemort or his followers."

"So, what do we do?" Sadie asked quickly as her brother opened his mouth to retort.

Remus shrugged. "I'm not sure there's anything we should or even can do. Like I said, we don't have any idea who or what they were talking about. For all we know, they could have been discussing some healing potion for Rowle's uncle or something."

Sirius snorted. "That's likely," he muttered. Remus shot him an annoyed look.

"Well," Sadie sighed. "I guess that's that. For now, at least." She glanced at the door and shuddered. "The whole thing gives me the willies though."

James laughed and reached into his drawer to toss her a pair of his pajama bottoms. "Staying here tonight, I take it?"

"If you'll have me," she grinned sheepishly as she caught them. The boys each gave her thumbs up, and it wasn't long before the dorm was filled with the quiet snores of five teenagers.

The next morning found Sadie and Sirius making their way along the now familiar route to Rhea's paddock. Like most mornings, Sirius was grumbling about it being too early to be alive while Sadie joyfully took in their surroundings. The first birds of the morning were just starting to chirp and sing, and drops of dew kissed the foliage all around them. Without realizing she was doing it, Sadie began to hum quietly.

Sirius turned his head and gazed at her for moment. Her lips were curved upward into a soft smile, and her hazel eyes were shining with childlike wonder as she watched a nightingale swoop from tree to tree just ahead of them.

'How is it possible that there is a single soul who is not in love with this girl?' He thought to himself wistfully. She looked at him and gave him a questioning look.

"What?" She asked self-consciously.

Sirius felt his face heat up at having been caught staring, and he gave her a teasing grin to try and recover. "You're such a morning person. It's disgusting, really."

Sadie's jaw dropped for a moment before she gave him a playful shove. "You're disgusting!"

"Oh, well," Sirius responded dryly. "Guess you told me, oh Witty One."

"Oh, shut up," Sadie giggled, looping her arm through his. They continued on in companionable silence until they reached the clearing, at which point they both stopped in their tracks.

Rhea, for the first time ever, had moved. She was now resting in the corner nearest them and almost seemed to be waiting for them. At Sadie's sharp inhale of breath, the unicorn turned her head toward where they were standing and let out a quiet snort. Hesitantly, Sadie let go of Sirius and approached the creature.

"Hey, Rhea..." she murmured softly. "Hey, Baby Girl...It's me, Sadie. Sirius is here too. You know us, yeah?" Rhea whinnied nervously but didn't move. Sadie knelt down next to her. "You gonna let me touch you? What do you think?" She slowly reached out and placed her hand on Rhea's neck. The unicorn gave a small start, but made no attempt to get away. A smile spread across Sadie's face, and she turned to beckon to Sirius. He stared in awe at the scene before him and moved forward to run his hand along the small creature's body. After a few moments, Rhea relaxed and rested her head on Sadie's lap.

"Merlin..." Sirius breathed. Sadie's eyes danced with excitement as she reached into her bag for the bottle they had brought with them. When it was offered, Rhea drank from it readily as Sirius continued to gently stroke her coat.

An hour or so later, the two students reluctantly left the paddock and made their way back up to the castle. They were silent for several minutes before Sirius shook his head in bewilderment.

"What just happened?"

Sadie blinked and gave a small shrug. "I guess she's decided to trust us?" Suddenly, she let out a delighted laugh and threw her arms around his neck. He began laughing with her and lifted her off of her feet, spinning her around.

"That was amazing!" Sirius grinned after he had set her down again.

Sadie was beaming and bouncing up and down on the balls of her feet. "Sirius, for the first time since term started, I feel like she has a fighting chance!" They embraced tightly once again, hearts hammering with excitement, before resuming their trek up to the Great Hall for breakfast.

Their faces were still flushed, and they still wore large smiles as they slid into their seats next to their friends. Remus, with the full moon approaching, was looking a bit peaky, while James and Peter just looked like they wished more than anything that they were still in bed.

"Godric, what's with you two?" James grumbled as Sirius piled food onto his plate and Sadie took a drink of pumpkin juice. "You've always been weird about mornings, Sade, but Sirius is a different story. Did you guys finally shag or something?"

Sadie choked so hard on her pumpkin juice that it came out of her nose, while Sirius simply glared at his friend. James quirked an eyebrow at him as Remus pounded his hand on Sadie's back, trying to hide his smile. Then, Gideon spoke from behind them, and Sadie whipped her head around.

"Hey, Sadie, could I...oh..." Gideon trailed off at the sight of her red face and watery eyes, pumpkin juice still leaking from her nose. "Erm...this looks like a bad time...I'll just...erm...well...see you later, Sadie..." And with that, he turned and walked away, casting awkward glances over his shoulder as he went.

When she had finally stopped coughing, Sadie slowly brought her hands up to her cheeks. "Oh Merlin..." she whispered, her eyes wide with mortification. "That did not just happen. Remus, please tell me that did not just happen."

Remus gave her a sympathetic pat on the arm. "I'm sure he's already forgotten all about it." This was a flat out lie, as he could see Gideon at the other end of the table, and the redhead was still looking their way every couple of seconds. Sadie didn't need to know about that, however. It was then that the rest of the girls in Sadie's dorm entered the hall. Mary spotted Sadie and Remus, and her eyes brightened before she bounced over to them and slid in between them. The other girls looked amused as they followed casually behind her.

"Morning, Sadie! And, oh!" Mary looked to her other side in fake surprise. "Hello, Remus!"

Remus gave her a tired smile, oblivious to her interest in him. "Hey, Mary. How's it going?"

Sadie shared an amused glance with Lily, Marlene, and Alice, then turned back to her brother and Sirius, joining their conversation about plans for Hogsmeade the following weekend. Suddenly, Mary was shaking her arm urgently.

"Prewett is staring at you," she squealed. Sadie let out a moan of embarrassment, muttered a quick goodbye, and leapt up to hurry from the Hall. Mary looked in bewilderment at the sniggering boys around her. "Was it something I said?"

They only laughed harder.

Thursday evening, Sadie was towel-drying her hair in the locker room after Quidditch practice. James and Sirius had been late and were making up that time running drills, so Sadie had decided to take her time showering so that they could walk back up to the common room together. She was just finishing combing her hair when Gideon came around the corner and beamed at the sight of her. Sadie felt her heart flutter as she returned his smile.

"Good work today," he told her sincerely. "You Potters must have it in your blood. You're the best chasers I've played with the entire time I've played for the team."

Sadie flushed and brushed it off with a laugh. "You're not so bad yourself."

Gideon smiled and shook his head, walking closer to her. They could hear James and Sirius heading towards the locker rooms from the pitch. "I'm serious, Sadie. You're bloody amazing." She bit her lip shyly.

"Alright, enough flattery. What do you want?" She teased.

"Nothing!" Gideon insisted. He paused. "Except...maybe...go to Hogsmeade with me next weekend?"

The chatter between James and Sirius stopped as they entered the locker room. Sadie was staring at Gideon with wide eyes, her lips parted in surprise.

"Oh! Um, yes absolutely!" She stammered. "I mean, well, I would love to, it's just that, well..." She glanced at James and Sirius who were watching the scene in front of them with unreadable expressions. "We have plans..."

"Right," Gideon shook his head, laughing uncomfortably. "Right. Of course."

Sirius spoke up. "You know, our stuff isn't really that important, Sadie Mae." He shrugged weakly. "You should go. We don't mind."

James gaped at him, but Sadie gave him a brilliant smile. "Oh! Okay! Thank you!"

"Great!" Gideon grinned. "Great! I'll look forward to it! I'll see you guys around, yeah?" James and Sirius gave him curt nods as he walked past them. Sadie looked at them elatedly, and they weakly returned her smile.

Later that evening, Sirius lay on his bed, staring up at the ceiling as the other boys watched him uncertainly. Finally, James spoke up.

"Why did you do it?" No one needed to ask what he meant.

Sirius shrugged dejectedly. "She looked so happy when he asked her. I just want her to be happy."

None of his friends knew how to respond.

A/N: Poor Sirius... As always, thank you for reading, following, and reviewing! Let me know what you think!

12esheffield: SO glad that you are enjoying it! Thank you so much for your reviews! They make my day!