Sadie trudged up to the common room the evening after the first day of classes, brow furrowed in thought. She had just finished talking with Professor Kettleburn about what they had found out about the forest over the break. The professor had shrugged and given a sigh of bewilderment as he informed her that they didn't know anything more than she did; just that there was something wrong with it, and that was what was making the unicorns and students ill. They had transported the unicorns to a reserve where they could live healthily until a solution was reached. Sadie's heart ached when he confirmed that Rhea had gone as well, but she knew it was for the best.

She gave the password to the Fat Lady and walked into the common room. A smile lit up her face when she saw Gideon seated at a small table in the corner, his face screwed up in focus as he scribbled rapidly on a piece of parchment. She made her way over to him and boosted herself up to sit on the table. He glanced up at her for a brief moment before returning to his work.

"Hey, Sade," he greeted absently. Sadie felt her smile fade slightly. She reached over and placed her hand over his, stopping his writing.

"You look like you could use a break," she told him gently. "Want to go flying?"

He sighed and removed her hand. "I don't have time. Maybe another night."

Sadie blinked. "Oh. Right. Erm...homework already?"

"Studying for NEWTS," he responded shortly, and Sadie knew the conversation was over. Feeling a little hurt, she slid off of the table and made her way over to the fire, plopping herself down next to Lily and Alice, who smiled at her in greeting.

"Lily was just complaining about your brother," Alice warned her with a grin. Sadie laughed and rolled her eyes.

"Alright, Lils, let's hear it. What did he do this time?"

Lily scowled. "I walked up on him and Black tormenting Severus again. And when I told them off for it, he had the nerve to conjure up a bouquet of flowers and ask me to meet him at the top of the Astronomy Tower of all places. Honestly, even if I wanted anything to do with him, what kind of girl does he think I am? I know just what couples get up to up there!"

Sadie hid a smile. "I'm not sure it's as scandalous as you seem to think. Sure, people go up there for that sort of thing, but it's also just a romantic place. Sirius and I hang out up there all the time! As friends, of course," she added quickly at their raised eyebrows. "Not romantically. And I'm not saying that the way they treat Snape is okay, but...it's not as though it's all one-sided."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Lily scowled. "I've never seen Severus pick on them the way they do him."

Alice snorted and muttered something incoherent. Lily frowned at her, and she sighed. "Well, of course he's not going to behave that way in front of you. The guy is, like, creepily obsessed with you. He's not going to do anything that he thinks might jeopardize his chances with you. He loves seeing you pick him over James and playing the victim all the time definitely gets you to do that over and over again. But, Merlin, when you're not around..." She shook her head. "You should hear the way he talks to Sadie. It's awful."

Sadie cleared her throat uncomfortably and looked away as Lily gaped at them. The redhead shook her head. "Severus doesn't have feelings for me. And he's not like that. You guys just don't know him like I do."

Sadie, not wanting to risk an argument, shrugged noncommittally. "Maybe." She happened to have a very good idea of how horrible Snape could be. Alice wasn't wrong about the way he treated Sadie, and he had a terrifyingly strong interest in the dark arts. But perhaps his worst offense, in Sadie's opinion, was his tendency to snoop about trying to discover where Remus disappeared to every month. If there was one thing that infuriated Sadie to no end, it was people deliberately doing anything that could harm those she loved.

Incidentally, James and Sirius had those same sorts of feelings, which was probably a large part of why they chose to torment Snape so frequently. It was, misguided though it may be, an attempt to "get back at him" for his treatment of Remus, Sadie, and, on occasion, Peter. Sadie knew that Lily would not be even a little bit open to that kind of discussion, however, and so she chose to smile and change the subject.

"Where are Mary and Marlene?"

Alice sniggered. "Well, Marlene is...erm...with Archer Timothy, if you catch my drift. And Mary should be back any time. She said she had to run down and ask Slughorn a couple of questions."

The girls continued to chat for a good while longer, waiting for Mary to come back and join them. Just when Sadie was beginning to worry, Gideon appeared beside her and wrapped his arm around her waist.

"Hey," he said quietly, giving her a warm smile. "Come with me?"

Sadie glanced at Lily, who was looking at the time disapprovingly but shrugged resignedly when their eyes met. Sadie nodded at Gideon and allowed him to pull her out of the portrait hole. He led her down a couple of staircases and through a corridor before opening a door and ushering her inside. Sadie barely had time to register that she was in a broom cupboard before he had followed her inside and closed the door, effectively shutting out all light. She swallowed nervously, recalling how their last snogging session had gone, but she barely had time to think about it as he pressed her against the wall and kissed her fiercely. Sadie let out a squeak, her arms going around his neck automatically.

To her relief, Gideon seemed much more careful this time around. She could tell that he was trying hard to hold himself back, and he was successful for the most part. Sadie wasn't sure how long they stood there, snogging heatedly, but eventually things slowed down and Gideon pulled away, breathing heavily.

"Thank you," he whispered, eyes still closed as he rested his forehead against hers. "I really needed that."

Sadie gave him one more brief kiss in response. She opened her mouth to speak, but he was already opening the door and pulling her out with him.

"I should get back to studying," he told her. Sadie blinked.

"You...you're going to study more? Tonight?"

He nodded grimly. "I've got to work hard and stay focused if I want to get the NEWTS I need to become an auror."

Sadie didn't say anything. She was a little bit put out that all he wanted from her was a quick snog in a broom cupboard, but she took a deep breath and told herself that he was busy and grieving and that she was glad that he was making time for her at all.

They walked silently back into the common room, and Sadie's eyes went wide as she took in the sight of Mary, tears streaming down her face as Lily and Alice held her. Sadie hurried forward and sat down next to them. James, Sirius, Peter, and Remus were standing a few feet away, muttering furiously to each other.

"What's wrong?" She asked worriedly. Mary let out a sob, and Lily hugged her closer. It was Alice who quietly answered Sadie's question.

"It was Mulciber. She's not sure exactly what happened. All she knows is that there's this hole in her memory, and then she woke up in her underwear with him standing over her and a bunch of other Slytherins watching and laughing. It sounds like maybe an Imperius Curse, but there's no real way to prove it." She gestured toward the boys, who were watching Mary with varying degrees of concern and outrage on their faces. "If the boys hadn't shown up then, who knows what would have happened?"

Sadie thought she might be sick. She began to shake, and she took a deep breath to calm down her anger before it got out of hand. "Has anyone told a teacher?"

"Don't!" Mary suddenly choked out. "Please don't! We don't even know what happened, and I couldn't bear to have it spread all over the school! Please, I'm begging you, don't tell anyone!"

Sadie opened her mouth to argue but then closed it, knowing Mary had a point. They had no real evidence of wrongdoing on the part of the Slytherins. They didn't even really know what had happened. She took a deep breath.

"Alright...I'm going to go get you some tea, alright? I promise I'm not going to get a teacher. Is there anything else you'd like from the kitchens?"

Mary sniffed and shook her head, giving Sadie a grateful look, but James stepped forward with a growl.

"There's no way you're going out alone, Sade. After what just happened?"

"I'll go with her," Sirius said quietly. "We'll be quick." James turned to look at him, and they seemed to have a conversation with only their eyes before he sighed and handed over his bag, which probably contained the invisibility cloak. Sirius gave him a nod and placed a hand on Sadie's lower back, gently guiding her through the portrait hole. He waited for it to swing shut before pulling out the cloak and throwing it over the both of them.

They walked silently for a moment before Sirius spoke so softly that Sadie had to strain to hear his words. "If it makes you feel any better, we made sure Mulciber will think twice before trying something like that again. I wouldn't be expecting to see him in class for at least a couple of days."

Sadie glanced up at him, feeling a small bit of satisfaction. "What did you do?" She murmured.

"Just a simple swelling hex," he shrugged. "But it was very effective, and I imagine that it will take Madam Pomfrey a minute to get him back down to size." He took a deep breath. "I've never seen Remus so angry in my life. Mind you, I was livid as well, but...well...you know how mild Remus normally is. It was bloody terrifying to see him like that."

Sadie couldn't help a small smile at the thought. That might be something to help cheer Mary up. She sobered up quickly, however, feeling her rage at the situation resurfacing. "They deserve so much worse." Her voice trembled. "The whole lot of them."

Sirius gave her a wide-eyed look. "I'm not saying I disagree with you, but you know there's not much else we can do. Don't go getting yourself hurt or in serious trouble."

Sadie scowled but nodded reluctantly. Sirius breathed a sigh of relief. He hesitated before asking, "How did you sleep last night?"

She shrugged. "It wasn't too bad," she answered vaguely. Sirius fell silent for a moment, and when he spoke again, it was barely above a whisper.

"When I was ten, we spent Christmas with my Uncle Cygnus and his family. Bellatrix had graduated a couple of years earlier and had just gotten betrothed to Rodolphus. Everyone was celebrating their engagement, and, as a part of the celebration..." He paused here and swallowed hard. His voice cracked when he continued. "She found this muggle boy. Couldn't have been much older than 16. She had him sort of suspended over everyone in the room, paralyzed but obviously, you know, aware of what was going on. Sometimes, when I'm lying awake at night, I can still see the terror in his eyes." It seemed to be getting harder for him to speak. Sadie slipped her hand into his, watching him with wide eyes. "He was there as some kind of entertainment," Sirius spat, sounding revolted. "Whenever people got bored, they could just...do whatever they wanted to him...the most horrific and humiliating things...and then...at the end of the night, as a 'grand finale' or something, she just...said the words, and he was gone..." He squeezed his eyes tightly shut. "I was so horrified by it all, but I couldn't look away. And I didn't do anything to stop it either." Sadie's heart broke as she heard the anger in his voice which she knew was directed at himself. She stopped walking and wrapped her arms tightly around his neck.

"It wasn't your fault. What could you have done? You were ten years old; you didn't even have a wand..."

Trembling, Sirius held her tightly to his body. They simply stood there for a while until he had gotten control of his emotions. He pulled back just enough to look her in the eyes. "I've never told anyone about this. It's been six years, and I still have nightmares about it. I don't even know his name, but...seeing someone die, no matter how little you know them...it has a lasting effect on you. I just...you don't need to go through this alone...like I did..."

Sadie gazed at him with tears in her eyes, unsure of what to say. "I don't...I'm not..."

He bent down and pressed a kiss to her forehead. "It's okay if you're not ready to talk about it yet." His voice was thick with emotion. "But please don't shut us all out either. It's great that you're trying to take care of Prewett, but you've got to let other people take care of you too."

She swallowed hard and managed to squeak out an "Okay." Sirius pulled her against him again and buried his face in her hair. After a minute or two, they pulled away from each other and continued their trek to the kitchens, though their hands remained clasped tightly together until they had returned to the common room. Mary had calmed down considerably, though she still looked rather pale and scarred, and she gladly accepted the tea before shakily telling them that she was tired and needed to sleep, which no one could really argue with.

It wasn't long before everyone else had gone up to bed as well. Sadie lay quietly in her bed, waiting for the sounds of her dormmates' breathing to even out before she crept out of the room and up to the boys' dormitory, where Sirius seemed to be waiting for her. He glanced up as she entered the room and lifted the covers up to let her in, a satisfied smile on his face. Sadie slipped in next to him without a word and rested her head on his bare chest, unable to hold back a sigh of contentment as his arms surrounded her.

"I'm safe here," came her last drowsy thought before she drifted off to sleep.

A/N: Thanks for reading! Let me know what you think and if there is anything specific you'd like to see in the coming chapters!

WindSongEnchantment: I'm so glad you find them sweet! I have a bit of a soft spot for them haha. She'll figure things out eventually...probably...

Vicky Lopez: Wow, thank you so much for all your reviews! They just made my heart smile every time I would get a notification for them! I'm so glad that you are enjoying it!