Sadie and Gideon had made up completely by that afternoon. She had apologized sincerely for being so insensitive and assured him that she had no feelings for Sirius whatsoever. Gideon had admitted that he knew that deep down and promised that he would try to be more understanding of their friendship from then on. They enjoyed a nice little make-up snog in an unused classroom before walking hand-in-hand to dinner, where Sadie's friends exchanged glances of relief at the sight of them together.
It wasn't long before Sirius and Cynthia had become the hottest couple at Hogwarts. They were, after all, two of the school's most sought after students, and they both received looks of envy from both genders as they strutted down the corridors together. Sadie was just thrilled to see her best friend so happy; he seemed to genuinely like Cynthia a lot more than anyone he had "dated" in the past. She would grin fondly to herself every time she saw one of them yank the other into a broom cupboard or empty classroom.
The weather was rapidly becoming more and more chilly, but there were still a few sunny days here and there. On one particularly nice day toward the end of November, Sadie and Gideon found themselves sitting out under their favorite tree by the lake. Sadie sat with her back resting against the tree, immersed in a book about properties of Alihosty, while Gideon simply lay on his back with his head resting in her lap. When they weren't busy turning pages, her fingers absently ran themselves through his hair and massaged his scalp gently.
Sadie set her book down suddenly, causing Gideon to peek one eye open to look at her questioningly. She was gazing out over the lake, chewing on her lip with a furrowed brow. Gideon chuckled and sat up, pressing his lips to her forehead.
"Epiphany?" He asked when she glanced at him in surprise. Her face split into a sheepish grin.
"Not really. Just processing what I'm reading."
Gideon hummed and brushed his thumb over her bottom lip. "Sounds like you could use a bit of a break," he murmured. Sadie let out a breathy laugh and leaned up to press her lips to his for a brief moment before pulling back with an apologetic smile.
"I've got to meet Lily in the library in a few minutes..."
Gideon shook his head and let out a dramatic sigh. "If you must..." He kissed her once more and murmured against her lips, "Make it up to me tonight? Meet me in the common room after everyone's gone to bed."
She smiled into the kiss and hummed in agreement.
Luck was on their side that evening as the rest of their housemates had disappeared into their dormitories by a little after 11:00. Sadie crept down to the common room to find Gideon already lounging on the couch in front of the fire. His eyes darkened at the sight of her in a pair of short shorts and a thin tank top. She bit her lip shyly as she approached him. He grabbed her hand and pulled her down onto the sofa with him, wasting no time in capturing her lips with his.
Sadie liked kissing Gideon. It wasn't exactly what she had expected kissing to feel like; she had sort of imagined feeling more of an emotional connection from it than she did. But, it was still fun, and it felt good. More than the kissing, however, she enjoyed the feeling of his hands in her hair or running up and down her arms and back. She liked to be touched. So, when her tank top rode up and Gideon's hand brushed against the bare skin of her waist, Sadie inhaled sharply and gripped his shoulders to pull him closer. Gideon paused and pulled back just enough to look into her eyes.
"You okay?" He questioned softly, absentmindedly drawing circles on her hip with his thumb. Sadie felt her face heat up as she struggled against the urge to close her eyes and lose herself in his touch.
"Y-yeah," she stammered, avoiding his eyes shyly. "Um...that just..." She cleared her throat and glanced down at his hand on her hip. "That just...feels really nice."
He blinked at her for a moment before understanding dawned on his face. He chuckled and searched her eyes as he let his hand wander a bit more. Sadie sucked in another breath, and he gave her a hesitant look.
"You'll tell me if anything I do makes you uncomfortable, right?"
She paused uncertainly before giving him a nod. He watched her carefully for any sign telling him to stop as he carefully pulled her tank top up over her head. Her heart pounded nervously, but she lifted her arms to help him, self-consciously avoiding his gaze. She looked back at him, however, when his hands left her, to see him tug off his own t-shirt. His eyes raked over her body.
"Merlin, you're gorgeous," he breathed, making her blush. He kissed her softly as he gently guided her down to lie on her back before allowing his body to press against hers. A soft moan escaped Sadie's lips as the warmth of his skin flooded over her. Her hands found their way to his back, and she simply allowed them to roam up and down his spine, across his shoulder blades, and along his sides. Gideon hummed against her lips before pulling away and trailing kisses along her jaw and down her neck, making her whimper softly...
"WHAT IN THE NAME OF SALAZAR'S PREJUDICED LEFT TESTICLE IS GOING ON HERE?!"
Gideon froze, and Sadie let out a squeak of surprise and embarrassment at the sight of James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter standing at the entrance to the boys' dormitories. She hid her face with her hands while Gideon calmly grabbed his shirt and handed it to her so that she could cover herself. Once she had done so, he sat up.
"Evening, lads," he grinned cheekily. James was glaring at him furiously, while Remus and Peter averted their gazes uncomfortably. Sirius was also looking away, but he wore an unreadable expression. "Where are you off to at this time of night?"
"The kitchens," Peter piped up helpfully. Remus stepped on his foot to tell him to shut up.
James's eyes flashed dangerously. "She...You can't...You're..."
"Take your time." Gideon raised his eyebrows, sounding bored. Sadie placed a hand on his arm.
"You should go," she told him softly. He frowned at her.
"What? No! I'm not going to leave you to..."
She cut him off with a shake of her head. "Trust me." She glanced back at her brother, who was still fuming. "This will be better for everyone."
Gideon hesitated a second longer before nodding with a resigned sigh. He stood up and walked up toward his dormitory, giving the boys a mock salute as he passed them. As soon as he was gone, James rushed forward, grabbing Sadie's hands and looking her over anxiously.
"Are you okay?" He demanded. "Did he hurt you? When I get my hands on him..."
Sadie stared at him in confusion for a moment before shaking her head with a scoff. "What?! No, he didn't hurt me! He didn't do anything that I wasn't completely okay with!"
James's mouth opened and closed, but no sound came out until he finally spluttered, "But...you're not...he can't...my sister..."
"Merlin, James," she grumbled. "Yeah, I'm your sister, but I'm also my own person who can make her own decisions about what I am comfortable with. This may be news to you, but this is the sort of thing that you do when you're in a relationship! Just ask Sirius!"
Sirius's eyes widened, and he took a step back. "Please don't bring me into this Sadie Mae..." he pleaded. Remus rolled his eyes.
"Sirius, don't be a baby. James, Sadie's right. She can do whatever she wants with her boyfriend. It's none of your business. Sadie, while that's true, it might be wise to avoid...such things...in the middle of the common room where anyone can walk in on you. Just a thought."
"Everyone was supposed to be in bed..." Sadie muttered with a frown, but she knew he was right. "We'll be more careful next time. Now, I believe Peter said something about the kitchens? Perfect. I'm starving. Let's go."
And with that, she flounced through the portrait hole, leaving the boys to exchange glances before following in her wake.
The next day in potions, Sadie and Remus were working together on their Invigorating Draught. However, Remus kept having to nudge her in an attempt to keep her from nodding off. After about the dozenth time, she gave him an apologetic look.
"I'm sorry, Rem. I don't know how you boys function on no sleep. I just can't do it."
"No sleep?" Sirius piped up from the table behind them where he was working with Cynthia. "I got a perfectly full three hours! What were you up to after we got back to the common room that meant you got no sleep?" He waggled his eyebrows at her suggestively. "Don't worry, I won't tell James if you were with Prewett again."
"James can hear you!" The boy in question announced indignantly from his spot next to Peter. Then he glanced at Sadie uncertainly. "You weren't with Prewett again, were you?"
Sadie frowned at them both. "Not that it's any of your business, but no, I wasn't. I got some sleep, but you know what I mean!"
Remus gave her a sly grin. "Maybe you can sneak some of this Invigorating Draught when we finish it. We all know how, ahem, effectively these types of potions work for you."
Sadie stuck her tongue out at him as the boys howled with laughter. Cynthia was glancing around at them with a look of confusion on her face. Sadie gave her an embarrassed smile.
"Back in third year, I tried taking some Girding Potion, and...well...let's just say I'm a little bit sensitive to those effects."
"She's a lightweight," Sirius clarified with a grin. "She didn't sleep for, like, three days after she took it. She was this constant ball of energy. We couldn't even understand her because she was talking so fast and jumping from topic to topic."
"We woke up in the middle of the night to her sorting our underwear and socks," Remus laughed. "Who does that? But apparently she had already deep cleaned everything else in her dorm and ours and just needed something else to do."
James's eyes were twinkling in amusement. "That Saturday, she ran laps around the Quidditch pitch for hours until Sirius finally tackled her to the ground to get her to stop."
"I suggested a good long shag might do the trick, but she refused." Sirius shook his head in mock disapproval. "Her loss, really."
Sadie threw a bit of lovage at him. "That literally never happened, you noodle!" Cynthia's eyes were narrowed almost imperceptibly, but she smiled sweetly as Slughorn announced that it was time to turn in their potions and get cleaned up. The fifth years continued to chat amongst themselves as they packed up and left the dungeons, heading up to their respective common rooms.
Nobody noticed the scheming gleam in Cynthia's eyes when she parted ways with them.
A/N: And let the drama begin! As usual, thank you for reading! Let me know what you think!