The last couple weeks of the term flew by in a blur of exams and hellraising, and before he knew it, Sirius was back at home for the summer. He normally spent a good portion of the holiday at the Potters', but he wasn't feeling too sure about that prospect this year; things were still extremely awkward with Sadie, and it had been bad enough living in the same castle. He wasn't thrilled with the idea of having to face her every day in her own house. Besides, they were planning a trip to France for a couple of weeks, and as much as he felt like a second son to them, he felt it was important to let them have their family vacations without having to worry about an extra person.

And so, he had resigned himself to the reality that he would probably be stuck at his parents' home for the duration of the summer. His plan was to stay holed up in his room as much as possible. As much as he felt like spending time with his parents...well...he didn't feel like it.

Unfortunately, when one is locked up and alone, one tends to get bored. And when one gets bored, one's mind begins to wander. Sirius all too frequently found himself thinking about Sadie and reminiscing about their kiss. Merlin, what he wouldn't give to experience that again. But he knew that wasn't going to happen any time soon, and his heart ached at the thought. It was one evening when he was feeling a particular amount of self-pity that his mother opened his door and stuck her head in, looking grim.

"Come downstairs. You have visitors."

Sirius raised his eyebrows. Who on earth would be visiting him here? A feeling of apprehension blossomed in his chest, but he pushed it aside and followed his mother down to the sitting room. Upon entering, a marble of anxiety formed in the pit of his stomach.

"Hello, cousin," Bellatrix smirked. "It's been a moment."

Sadie yawned as she trudged up to her bedroom. She'd spent the day wandering Diagon Alley by herself as James and her parents were vacationing in France. The original plan had been for her to go with them, but after the last few months, she was eager to have some time on her own. Luckily, her parents were fairly easygoing, and even though they were disappointed that she wouldn't be joining them, they understood her need to try and take care of herself.

They had left four days ago, and Sadie was gladder each day that she had chosen to stay home. She had spent time out in the gardens, soaked in the bath nearly every day, and done more baking than she'd had time for in years. The stress that had been building up since Christmas was slowly dissipating as she took time simply relax and recover. Granted, she still woke up with nightmares fairly regularly, but she figured that was to be expected after the attack on Christmas Eve. That wasn't something that just went away in a hurry.

One of her favorite things about summer was being able to sleep with the windows open. It got cool enough at night that it brought her room down to a lovely temperature, and she could snuggle up under her fluffy duvet or, this year, her blanket from Sirius and feel that kind of cozy comfort that can't be replicated any other way. With a happy sigh, she threw open the window, changed into a loose pair of booty shorts and a tank top, and wrapped herself up tightly in Sirius's blanket. She was asleep within minutes.

She awoke with a jolt and a scream as something large pummeled her in the chest and began...pecking at her face? She swatted the thing frantically, heart racing, and gaped at the owl that fluttered away only slightly. It gave her a slightly indignant look before thrusting its leg forward. Breathing heavily, Sadie took the slip of parchment that was tied there. It was perhaps the shortest letter she had ever received.

COME NOW

R.A.B

She stared at the message in confusion for a moment, but then her heart dropped as she realized what it meant and who had sent it. Her stomach churned with guilt. How could she have forgotten her promise to Regulus? In a bit of a panic, she scrambled out of bed and practically sprinted to the fireplace, snatching her wand from her nightstand and the invisibility cloak from James's room on the way. She and Sirius may not have been speaking currently, but she loved him and would sooner die than stand idly by and allow harm to come to him. Throwing the cloak over herself, she grabbed a shaky handful of floo powder and jumped into the fireplace.

"Number 12 Grimmauld Place," she cried, and she was twisting and turning through the floo network, catching random snippets of conversation from other fireplaces as she went. Finally, her destination came into view, and she somehow managed to land gracefully and quietly on her feet.

She recognized Regulus's form as he stood directly in front of the fireplace, back to her. She realized that he must have known she might be coming by floo and had stood there to block the others' view of the flames turning green. He glanced discreetly behind his shoulder, squinting in confusion when he didn't see her. She crept up behind him and breathed out:

"I'm here."

He gave the slightest of starts but pulled himself together quickly. His face was pale, and as Sadie looked over his shoulder and into the room, she knew the color must have drained from her face as well at the sight that greeted her.

Bellatrix Lestrange was strutting around Sirius's feebly stirring form on the floor. She twirled her wand in her hands and looked down her nose at him, sneering gloatingly. Just at a glance, Sadie could tell that she had done more than the Cruciatus Curse. His clothes were torn and bloody, and his arm was stuck at an odd angle.

A cold fury that Sadie had never before experienced welled up inside her. Her hands shook with both rage and fear as she leaned forward once again to whisper quietly, "I'm going to have to stun you too, or it will look suspicious." Regulus gave an almost imperceptible nod which was all the confirmation that Sadie needed before raising her wand and shouting, "Stupefy!"

It seemed that Bellatrix was not anticipating any sort of attack, for this time Sadie was successful in catching her off guard. The woman whipped her head around in shock just in time to be hit full on with the stunner. She crumpled to the floor, and Sadie reluctantly sent another stunner at Regulus, making sure that he fell forward rather than backward into the fireplace. She heard hurried footsteps on the floor above them, and she rushed forward, knowing they didn't have much time. Pulling the cloak off, she knelt down at Sirius's side.

"Sirius," she muttered frantically. "Sirius, Love, please wake up."

He let out a weak groan and forced one eye open. "Sa..die...?" That was the only response she got, however, as he immediately slipped back into unconsciousness.

The door burst open, and Orion and Walburga Black stared in shock at the scene before them. In a moment of blind panic, Sadie used their surprise to her advantage and managed to stun them both.

"Come on, Sirius, we've got to go!" She carefully grabbed him under the arms, nervous about hurting him further, and struggled to drag him toward the fireplace. Bellatrix was already stirring, and Sadie's heart raced.

She nearly smacked herself on the head as she suddenly realized the obvious solution. Aiming her wand at Sirius, she mumbled, "Wingardium Leviosa!" His body lifted off of the ground, and she was able to pull him into the fireplace just in time to see Bellatrix sit up, blinking in confusion. Her eyes landed on Sadie and Sirius, and she let out an angry shriek.

"You!"

But Sadie had already thrown down floo powder, and they were shooting through the fireplace toward Potter Manor. They landed in the sitting room in a heap, and Sadie scrambled to her feet and levitated Sirius to the couch. She quickly vanished his shirt, trying not to think about how much trouble she would be in with the ministry if they knew that it was her and not her parents casting all of these spells, and gazed for a second in horror at the bloody mess that was Sirius's chest. She took a moment to compose herself, taking a couple of deep breaths before setting to work cleaning up the blood and getting a better look at what she was dealing with.

Before long, she had reset his broken arm and closed all of the gashes that she could see. Feeling confident that he was at least in stable condition, she stood and hurried into the kitchen to grab as many potions and medicines that she could from her mother's healing stock. Arms filled with bottles and vials, she made her way back to Sirius's side and pulled a vial of Skele-gro from her supplies. Tipping it into Sirius's open mouth, she winced in sympathy as he coughed and spluttered, but she managed to force enough of it down his throat to do the job. Then she set to work applying salves and creams to the various wounds and bruises on his chest.

Once she was satisfied that her work was sufficient, she conjured up a long piece of cloth which she used to tightly bind his chest to prevent the medicines from rubbing off on the couch or anything else. His breathing, while still uneven, had become much less labored than it had been when they had arrived. Sadie blinked back tears as she gazed at his pale face. Now was not the time to get emotional. She needed to be alert and present in case he woke up or took a turn for the worse. Swallowing hard, she grabbed and quill and parchment and scribbled a hasty note to her parents which she sent with Daisy before curling up on the floor next to the couch, taking Sirius's hand in her own.

All that was to be done now was wait.

A/N: As always, thanks to everyone who has read, followed, favorited, and reviewed! Ya'll have no idea how much I appreciate you! You keep me motivated!

20luna90:I am so glad that you are enjoying it! I definitely ship Sadie and Sirius to the moon and back, so it is so nice to hear that you love them both! Thanks for reviewing, and I really hope you continue to love the story!

Jess: Gideon really is great, and I love him to death, despite the rather unfortunate situation he's in. He will definitely get some redemption later on though!