SHE'S ALL THAT ➭ SIRIUS BLACK ❨2❩ ✔︎

ACT THREE, SCENE THIRTEEN

THE LESTRANGE HOUSE

Sage wished that Regulus was next to her as she walked up the long cobblestone driveway to Bellatrix and Rodolphus's home.

She loved Sirius, she really did. But Regulus was always better at calming her down when her nerves got the best of her. The fact that he was supposed to be dead and couldn't be her crutch in social situations anymore was incredibly annoying.

The door swung open before she could even ring the bell, and Bellatrix stood on the other side, grinning, with a glass of champagne in her left hand. The way she subtly moved her wrist was a nearly imperceptible technique to show off the sizable diamond that glittered on her ring finger.

"Sage! Come in, come in! How are you? It's been far too long." Bella rushed to get her words out, and she sounded almost drunk, despite the fact that her party had only started a short time ago.

Sage smiled, sweet and full of lies. "I'm good, I'm good." She replied, crossing over the threshold into the belly of the beast. "Still reeling from the breakup and from Regulus's death, but, well, that's a part of life."

Bella's grin drooped, but only momentarily. She looped her arm through Sage's. "You were always too good for that blood traitor, anyway. That's why I wrote to your parents—you deserved better. And I'm sorry about Regulus. I know the two of you were close."

Close didn't come anywhere near effective enough at describing Sage and Regulus's relationship; he was just as much her brother as Julien had been, and to hear Bellatrix feign sympathy for his death made bile rise in Sage's throat.

"Anyway!" Bellatrix said when the silence between them became uncomfortable. "Everyone's in the parlor. Did you bring the wine?"

Was she planning on drinking through a pub's-worth of liquor that evening?

Sage shook her head, plastering a sheepish look onto her pretty face. "No, I'm sorry. I came right from work and I didn't have time to stop." She said apologetically.

That part, at least, was true. She was still in her work clothes—tailored black dress slacks that Lily had gotten her as a congratulations for getting the job; a blouse of emerald green silk; a black blazer that was just a tiny bit oversized to add contrast; and a pair of black pumps.

Bella looked at her inquisitvely. "And where are you working these days, Sagey?"

Whether she was attempting to gather information as a friend who genuinely cared, or as a Death Eater who was suspicious of a possible spy, Sage couldn't be sure.

"I'm an assistant to a few of the diplomats at the French embassy." She answered, smiling her best fake smile once more.

Bella's face lit up. "Oh, that's lovely!" She pulled Sage down the hallway forcefully and threw open a door to a room bursting with Death Eaters.

Edmund Nott was the first to look up from his conversation, and his eyes widened upon seeing Sage again for the first time since his graduation a year and a half before.

Narcissa Malfoy greeted her sister and former friend with a cold smile. "Hello, Sage." She said in a flat voice, her husband not too far behind her.

In a time like this, surrounded by people who would most likely kill her if they found out her true intentions, Sage missed her brother and his charisma; if she slipped up and said the wrong thing, he would be able to talk her out of it.

She wished he could be by her side again.

hey lol