It was almost midnight the night after the full moon, and Sadie and the boys were crowded together in the boys' dormitory, looking over the map that they had spent the last few months working on. It was nearly finished; they only had a couple areas of the dungeons and one section of the grounds left to cover.
"If we split up, I'll bet we could finish it tonight," James suggested, eyes gleaming. "Remus should stay and rest, but the rest of us could split into two pairs. We'd all take the cloak down to the entrance hall, but whoever takes the grounds shouldn't really need it outside, so we could split up there."
Sadie nodded. "That could work. If Sirius and I were to take the grounds, then we could stop and visit Rhea on our way back too. We haven't been in a few days." Sirius murmured in agreement. Their little unicorn was still doing well and was always ecstatic to see them.
"Great." James was all business. He pulled out a piece of parchment and handed it to Sirius. "Since it's only a small section that you're covering, put it on this, and we'll transfer it onto the real map when we get back." He turned to Remus and clapped a hand on the werewolf's shoulder. "Get some rest, mate. We've got this."
"I dunno, you lot don't always inspire the most confidence..." Remus joked, but he did look exhausted and didn't fight them on the plan. Sadie kissed his cheek quickly before disappearing under the cloak with the three other boys. She and Peter transformed into their animagus forms and perched on their friends' shoulders like they usually did on nights of the full moon.
It didn't wasn't long before Sirius was ducking out from under the cloak and through the doors to the grounds. Sadie huddled against the side of his neck, waiting until they were completely obscured by the shadow of the castle before hopping off and changing back into herself.
"Merlin, it's cold," she muttered, slipping an arm through his and hugging it close in an attempt to warm herself.
Sirius laughed and shook his head as they walked briskly around the greenhouses and toward the Forbidden Forest, keeping to the shadows as much as possible. "I thought you liked the cold."
"I do!" She insisted. "But even I can admit that this is excessive!" Sirius chuckled in response.
"Well, if we hurry and get everything done, maybe we can get some cocoa on our way back and warm up in front of the fire before bed."
Sadie perked up instantly. "You're a genius!"
"Yes, it's almost like I know you a little bit!" Sirius exclaimed in mock amazement. Sadie stuck her tongue out at him, but she was too excited about the prospect of cocoa to be too annoyed.
There weren't many objects to hide behind along the shore of the lake, so they went quiet and fervently glanced around to make sure they weren't being watched. Sadie felt a dull ache begin to form between her eyes, but she shook it off and kept walking. It wasn't until she noticed a now-familiar feeling of weakness and nausea, that she turned to ask Sirius if they could stop for a moment. She was surprised, however, to see that he didn't look as though he was feeling very well either.
His face was pale, and his eyes were closed as he took deep breaths. Sadie noticed for the first time that they had both slowed down to the point that they had almost come to a complete stop.
"Sirius...?" She began hesitantly. "Do you...feel that too?"
Sirius forced his eyes open to look at her. She looked a bit green, and she had tightened her grip on his arm, leaning on him much more heavily than before. He nodded slowly.
Sadie closed her eyes and took a deep breath before speaking again. "Maybe...maybe we should head back and try again another night. At this rate, we'll never make it anywhere close to the edge of the..." She trailed off, and her eyes shot open in realization. "Forest..." she breathed. Sirius stared at her in confusion.
"What..."
"Come with me," she ordered, taking his hand and pulling him in the other direction. He could feel her trembling, but she pressed on stubbornly, and he forced himself to keep up with her. Then he realized that it wasn't so hard after all. Yes, had he even felt sick at all? He certainly felt fine now...
Sadie stopped and turned to look at him. "How do you feel?" She asked breathlessly.
"Um, fine, actually. What...?"
She shushed him. "I don't know yet, I need to test it first. This way." Sirius pouted a bit at being cut off but followed her without complaining as she hurried in the direction of the Whomping Willow. Just before they got near enough for it to start to swing at them, she stopped.
"Stay here. I just need to go far enough to check..."
Sirius stared after her in bafflement as she walked cautiously away from him and toward the forest again. After only a few moments, she stopped and swayed on the spot for a second before turning and heading back towards him. He saw a look of grim satisfaction in her eyes as she reached him again.
"I just want to try one more spot by Hagrid's hut."
Sirius didn't even bother to question her this time. He followed her and watched as she went through essentially the exact same routine. Then she came back, grabbed his hand again, and pulled him toward the castle, glancing around cautiously as they went.
James and Peter were waiting for them in the entrance hall and immediately pulled them underneath the cloak with them. As quickly as possible, they made their way back up through the common room and into the boys' dormitory, where Remus was snoring quietly. As soon as the door was shut behind them, Sadie changed back from her bird form and began pacing the room.
"It's the forest!" She exclaimed. Remus jolted awake, and Sirius hurriedly cast a silencing charm on the door as James and Peter stared at her in confusion. She didn't notice their looks, however, and simply continued to spill her thoughts.
"I've noticed it a few times this year, but I haven't thought much about it because I thought it was just me! But you felt it too this time, didn't you Sirius?"
The other boys looked at Sirius for some sort of explanation, but he didn't really have one to give them. He coughed lightly. "Erm, I mean, I definitely started to feel sick out there if that's what you mean..."
"Yes!" Sadie waved her arms wildly. "And it got worse the closer we got to the forest and better when we walked away!" Sirius paused and thought about it for a second before nodding in affirmation. "And it was the same in the other two places that I checked. It's something to do with the forest. But why doesn't it work the same all the time?" She continued to pace, muttering to herself with a furrowed brow. The boys exchanged looks of concern.
"Oh!" The boys jumped as she shouted out again. "Because of the full moon! The first time was the morning after our first full moon with Remus. That was the worst because Sirius and I actually got a bit into the forest! And then the second time was right after my first kiss with Gideon, and that was the day after the full moon as well! It wasn't as bad, but I still almost passed out, and it was as we were walking along the lake toward the forest! And then tonight! The other times that I've felt a little sick haven't been bad at all. They must have been further away from the full moon."
"Sadie!" James interjected before she could continue. He gave her a grumpy look. "It is almost two in the morning. Will you please let us all in on whatever insanity is happening in your head right now so that we can go to bed?"
Sadie turned and looked at them all as though she was surprised to see them there. She took a deep breath and sat down on James's bed. "Remember that time that I got sick and passed out in the forest on our way to visit Rhea?" The boys nodded. "And then, Sirius, when you went to check on her a little later, she was super sick, right? Like, at death's door?" Sirius nodded again. "But then she miraculously got better and has stayed better since she's been out of the forest. The other unicorns have shown no progress and keep going through these seemingly random turns for the worse. But what if those coincide with the full moon as well? I don't think it's the unicorns that are sick. I think the forest is. And I think it has something to do with the lunar cycle."
There were several seconds of silence during which the boys simply stared at her. Finally, James broke the silence.
"Whelp." He clapped his hands on his knees before standing up and placing a hand on her elbow to pull her gently to a standing position. "I think it's time for you to get some sleep." He pulled a pair of pajama bottoms from his trunk and handed them to her. "You can stay here tonight."
"But-"
"No buts." He held his hand up firmly. "If this all still makes sense to you in the morning, we can talk about it then. But, I'll be honest with you Sade, you mostly sound a little delusional at the moment. So, just go put those on, and let's go to bed."
Sadie glared at him but, after taking a look at the other three boys, relented. Peter was already asleep, and Remus, while still awake, looked about ready to pass out. Sirius, however, was watching her thoughtfully. When their eyes met, the corners of his mouth turned upward just slightly, and he gave her a small nod. Sadie felt a huge rush of relief. He, at least, didn't think she was crazy.
She turned back to James and handed him back the pajamas. "I'll go to bed, but I don't want to sleep with you," she sniffed, well aware that she was being petty. "I'm annoyed at you."
Her brother rolled his eyes, refusing to take them back. "Then sleep with Sirius. It wouldn't be the first time. Just hurry up and get to bed. I want to keep an eye on you."
Sadie hesitated a moment longer, glancing back at Sirius uncertainly. He didn't seem to have even batted an eye at James's suggestion, which was fair. It was true that they had slept in the same bed on a number of occasions; they were close enough friends that it had never felt weird. But that was before she'd starting having all sorts of strange feelings at random times when she was around him. Biting her lip, she turned and disappeared into the bathroom to change. She just wouldn't think about that. She was happy with Gideon, after all, and bugger if she was going to let some stupid teenage hormones get in the way of that or of her friendship with Sirius. It was natural to sometimes feel some level of attraction toward your extremely good-looking best friend, right?
Sadie nodded resolutely in the mirror before walking back out, where James and Sirius were laying on their respective beds, facing each other and conversing in whispers. As soon as they saw her, Sirius smiled and shifted to lift up the covers for her to join him. She crawled in and hummed in appreciation at the warmth that enveloped her. James muttered a quiet goodnight, and Sirius rolled over to face Sadie. She scooted close to him, and he wrapped his arms around her to pull her into his chest. She noted, with some relief, that he had elected to wear pajamas rather than his standard nothing-but-boxers. She sighed happily and melted into the warmth of his body. Her eyelids immediately began to droop, and she realized with some surprise that she was completely exhausted.
"I'm sorry we never got cocoa," Sirius whispered. "We'll get some tomorrow. I promise."
"This is better than cocoa..." Sadie mumbled in response, and, with that, her breathing evened out, and she was sound asleep. Sirius swallowed hard and hugged her a little tighter before allowing himself to also slip into the world of dreams.
A/N: Thanks for reading! Let me know what you think!
Guest (1): Okay, I had to do some googling, but yes, I can toooootally see that! Swooning!
Guest (2): That's totally fair! I am definitely with you on that one in most cases!
BlueHairedRaven: Ummmm yes, abso-friggin-lutely there can be a Team Sadie! I kinda like her too, so I'm so glad that you love her! And, yes, Sirius will always be number 1 in my heart. 3