Sirius groaned and forced his eyes open to glance at his watch, unsure of what had woken him up. It was still pitch black in his room, and it took a moment and some squinting for him to read the time. 1:47am. He grumbled to himself but rolled over, relieved that he still had plenty of time to get some more sleep. He was just beginning to drift off again when a sound from down the hall brought him, once again, to full consciousness. He sat up and rubbed his eyes tiredly. The sound came again, louder this time, and Sirius frowned deeply as he recognized it. He slid out of bed and pulled on a pair of pajama bottoms before slipping quietly out of his room and down the hall to Sadie's.

He opened the door carefully and poked his head into the room. Sadie was breathing heavily and fidgeting in her sleep, letting out the occasional whimper or incoherent mumble. Sirius shut the door behind him quietly and crept to the side of her bed, crouching down and laying a gentle hand over her own.

"Sadie Mae," he whispered. "Sadie, wake up." He reached out to brush a strand of hair out of her face. At the contact, Sadie suddenly sat bolt upright, gasping for breath and looking around wildly. Her eyes landed on Sirius, and she froze, chest still heaving.

"S-Sirius?" She questioned hoarsely.

Sirius gave her hand a squeeze. "Hey, Sadie Mae. You're alright. It was just a nightmare."

Sadie's lower lip began to quiver, and she squeezed her eyes shut in a futile effort to stop the tears from flowing down her cheeks. Sirius immediately joined her on the bed and enveloped her in his arms. She let out a quiet sob into his chest, taking deep, strained breaths to try and calm herself. Sirius pressed his lips to the top of her head and murmured soothing words. Without realizing it, he had begun to rock slowly side-to-side. After a few moments, she had calmed down to the point of sniffling quietly.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Sirius asked softly. She sniffed and shook her head. He sighed but nodded in resignation. "Alright. Let me know when you're ready." He kissed the top of her head once more before laying down, her head still resting on his chest, and pulling the blankets over them. "I'll be right here. Try and get some more sleep, okay?" Sadie nodded and wiped at her eyes. Sirius fought to keep his eyes open, wanting to stay awake until she was asleep. Fortunately, it only took a few minutes for her breathing to even out, save for the occasional shuddering breath, and Sirius allowed himself to join her in sleep.

The rest of the winter break passed at a snail's pace for Sadie and her friends, but they eventually found themselves on board the Hogwarts Express headed back to school. Sadie and Gideon had been fortunate enough to find a compartment all to themselves. Gideon was laying with his head in her lap, intently focused on the book he was reading. At one point, Sadie finally looked down at him with a smile.

"What are you reading that's got you so focused?"

Gideon's eyes flicked up to meet hers briefly. "It's about countering dark curses," he answered quietly. "If I'm going to become an auror, I need to get serious about preparing for NEWTS and training."

Sadie nodded in understanding. It made sense that he was suddenly so committed. She knew that he was itching to avenge his mother. She has a feeling that he and Fabian had doesn't many hours since Christmas Eve coming up with various plans to find Bellatrix Lestrange. Sadie swallowed her worry and forced herself not to think about it. It wasn't her job to police him. It was her job to be supportive and offer whatever she could to make him happy.

Almost as though he had read her mind, Gideon sat up and set his book aside before turning toward her and kissing her fiercely. She let out a small gasp of surprise, but her arms went around his neck automatically, and she quickly gained her senses and kissed him back. He nipped at her lower lip, and his hands couldn't seem to touch enough of her at once. One moment they were tangled in her hair, the next running up and down her back, and, finally, gripping her hips tightly as he let out a low growl and yanked her into his lap with her legs resting on either side of him.

Sadie felt her heart begin to race, and she tensed nervously. He had never been rough like this with her or tried anything new without making sure she was comfortable with it first. This was certainly a position she'd never been in before, and she wasn't sure she liked it. From her spot on his lap, she could feel very explicitly that he would gladly take this a lot further, and, frankly, that terrified her.

Gideon pulled away from her lips to press hot kisses along her jawline and down to her neck. His fingers were in her hair again, and he used them to tug her head to one side, giving him better access. Sadie let out a squeak as he latched onto a spot just under her jaw and sucked hard. Her fingers dug into his back as she squeezed her eyes shut, an involuntary whine sounding in her throat.

"Gideon," she choked out. "Wait...please..."

He froze. Then, ever so slowly, he pulled back, breathing heavily. His hand fell away from her head, and he looked at her, taking in her creased brow and wide eyes as she worried her lower lip with her top teeth.

"Sorry," he mumbled. "I don't know what came over me. Just looking for a distraction, I suppose."

Sadie felt her heart break. "I'm sorry..." she whispered. "I'll try..."

She broke off as the door slid open, and they both turned to see Lily standing there. Her eyes went wide, and her cheeks reddened slightly.

"Oh! Erm...sorry...I was just looking for you, Sadie, but...I guess you're busy. I'll just catch up with you later."

"No, no," Gideon said breezily, gently lifting Sadie off of his lap. "It's okay. I need to get some more reading done anyway. Go ahead, Sade. I'll see you up at the castle."

Sadie stared at him for a moment, mouth opening and closing, but she couldn't think of anything to say. She swallowed hard and nodded before following Lily, who murmured her sincere condolences to Gideon on the way out, into the corridor. The door slid shut, and Lily looked at her with raised eyebrows as she led her to another compartment.

"That looked intense..."

Sadie wrapped her arms around herself and avoided her friend's gaze. "Yeah..."

Lily stopped and grabbed Sadie's arm gently. "Hey...you okay?"

Sadie cleared her throat and forced a smile. "Yeah. It's just been a weird couple weeks."

Lily still looked skeptical but didn't question her further. "I'll bet. I couldn't believe when I read about Gideon's mother in the Prophet." She shook her head solemnly. "How's he doing?"

"About as well as can be expected, I guess," Sadie answered quietly.

"Was he there when it happened?"

"He was in the other room, but yeah," Sadie whispered. "There were other death eaters there, and people got kind of spread out. Luckily, help got there before anyone else got...seriously hurt."

Lily shook her head sadly. "How horrible. I'm so glad that he's safe though. It's really miraculous that the others were able to get out unscathed."

Sadie swallowed a lump in her throat and nodded silently as they walked into a compartment where the rest of their dorm mates were laughing jovially. They quieted as Sadie and Lily entered.

"Well, you look thoroughly snogged," Marlene grinned. Sadie laughed uncomfortably.

"When I left, Alice was just about to tell us about an encounter she had with a certain Frank Longbottom over the holidays," Lily said quickly before anyone could ask Sadie anything more. Sadie shot her a grateful look. "We're all here now, Alice, so spill!"

Alice grinned sheepishly, and jumped right into her story. Frank Longbottom was a charismatic sixth year in their house who happened to be decently good-looking. Sadie smiled and giggled along with the other girls as Alice told them about how she had run into him at Flourish and Blotts and detailed the rather flirtatious conversation that they'd had. Sadie leaned back in her seat and sighed, happy to fade into the background and forget about her own circumstances for a moment.

A couple of hours later, the train slowed to a stop, and the students poured out into Hogsmeade Station. Sadie shivered as the cold winter air hit her, and she stuffed her hands in her pockets, bracing against the icy wind as she made her way to the carriages. She had lost her friends in the crowd, but, she very quickly became grateful for that as an unexpected sight made her halt in her tracks.

Large, black, skeletal horses were snorting and pawing at the frozen ground at the front of each of the carriages. Every so often, one of them would stretch out its huge, leathery wings and let out soft, impatient noises. Sadie gaped at them, hardly noticing as she was jostled by other students rushing to reach the warm carriages.

Thestrals. Of course. She'd known what pulled the carriages to and from the station since her second year, but she hadn't made the connection that she'd be able to see them now. It came as a bit of a shock. She jumped as a hand laid itself gently against the small of her back. She whipped her head around to see Sirius watching her, struggling to keep his face neutral.

"Can you see them?" He asked lowly. "Why can you see them?" Sadie could only stare at him, swallowing hard. That was apparently all the answer he needed as he swore under his breath. He opened his mouth to speak, but was cut off as Cynthia appeared at his side and slipped her arm through his.

"Coming?" She asked sweetly. She turned her eyes on Sadie. "You don't mind, do you, Sadie? Sirius and I didn't get to see each other at all over the break, after all, and that train ride really did not feel long enough."

"Not at all," Sadie smiled, actually relieved that she'd been rescued, at least temporarily, from Sirius's interrogation. "He's definitely missed you." This may have been a bit of a stretch, as Sirius hadn't even mentioned his girlfriend the entire holiday. They'd had other things to focus on, however, and Sadie was sure that he had missed her, even if it hadn't even come up.

Sirius frowned at her but didn't resist as Cynthia pulled him toward the nearest carriage. Sadie gave him an innocent smile before looking around for someone she knew. It didn't take long for her to spot James, Remus, and Peter, and she hurried over to them.

James squinted at her before rolling his eyes and hugging her. "You look like you're freezing to death. I know you love the cold and all, Sade, but that doesn't mean you're immune to it. Bundle up a little more, for goodness' sake!"

Remus chuckled and ruffled Sadie's hair as they all clamored into a carriage. Sadie sighed as the warmth hit her, and she collapsed onto the seat next to James, content, once again, to listen to her friends chat as they rolled up to the castle.

Before long, they were crowded together at the Gryffindor table, eagerly awaiting the start of the feast. Gideon slid into the seat next to Sadie and kissed the side of her head.

"Hey, Beautiful," he whispered, giving her a warm smile. Sadie felt herself relax at the obvious sign that he wasn't angry at her. She grabbed his hand and gave it a squeeze before they both turned to face the staff table, where Dumbledore had stood up and was getting ready to speak.

"Welcome back to Hogwarts!" He smiled around at them all. "We are excited to begin the new term. I have just one announcement before we dig in. I would simply like to remind you all that the Forbidden Forest is strictly off limits to students and to advise you that security surrounding the forest has been greatly expanded." There was some confused murmuring, but Sadie's eyes widened and darted to where Professor Kettleburn was seated. He was already looking at her and gave her a brief nod of confirmation when their eyes met. "I would strongly advise you, for your own safety and if you wish to avoid severe punishment, to keep as far away from there as possible."

Sirius leaned across the table. "You must have been right, Sadie Mae!"

Sadie nodded slowly. The forest. The unicorns. That all seemed so long ago. She'd forgotten all about it in the events of the break. Food suddenly filled the dishes on the table, and the students began to fill their plates as the buzz of conversation returned to the hall. Sadie glanced back up at the Care of Magical Creatures professor, wondering what they had discovered.

In the common room later that evening, Gideon was once again immersed in his book, and most other students were gathered in small groups talking about their holidays. Sirius caught Sadie's eye and motioned toward the boys' dorm. She sighed but reluctantly followed him up the stairs and into his dormitory where he shut the door behind them. He sat on his bed and gazed at her searchingly.

"You saw it happen." It was a statement, not a question. Sadie stared at the ground uncomfortably.

"I don't want to talk about it," she mumbled. Sirius watched her for a moment longer before standing up with a sigh and walking toward her.

"Sadie, I'm worried about you. What..." He paused and reached up to tuck her hair behind her ear, brow furrowed. "Is...that a hickey?"

Sadie's eyes widened, and her face burned as she swatted his hand away. "I don't want to talk about that either!"

His eyes bored into hers, and he sighed. "Well...if you decide you do want to talk...you know I'm always here for you, right?"

"Sirius, I'm fine," she insisted. "I didn't even know Caroline. I'm just trying to be here for Gideon, okay? You don't need to worry about me. I'm over all of it."

"Is that why you're still waking up with nightmares?" Sirius asked quietly, and she hesitated. "Do the other girls know about those?"

"I'm fine," she mumbled. "The nightmares are just...they'll go away. And I'll just close and silence the curtains in the meantime. They're just nightmares. I was really scared that night is all, and my brain is still trying to process it."

Sirius sighed, a bit frustrated at her stubbornness, but knowing there wasn't much else he could do. "Okay. Just...let me know if anything changes, alright? Or, if not me, someone else? You don't have to work through all of this alone."

Sadie gave him a sad smile. "Sure thing. But that won't be necessary. Really, I'm fine." She wrapped her arms around him. "Thank you though. For caring. And for being here."

Sirius nodded and returned her embrace tightly, as though he could hold her together if he just hugged her hard enough. They stood like that for perhaps a little too long before Sadie pulled away and bid him goodnight, leaving him to stare after her and do his best to swallow the nagging feeling that she was in much worse shape than she was letting on.

A/N: Thanks for reading! Let me know what you think!

Traumatised: Haha so glad that I can bring you such scream-worthy entertainment! :P

guest: Oh my goodness, you are so sweet! Thank you so much! It's so good to know that people are still reading and enjoying it! I always appreciate the feedback, so thank you, thank you!