SHE'S ALL THAT ➭ SIRIUS BLACK ❨2❩ ✔︎

ACT THREE, SCENE THIRTY THREE

FONTAINE MANOR—31 DECEMBER, 1979

Between her work at the French embassy in London, taking shifts caring for Madeleine, and having three more people than usual staying in her home, Sage Fontaine couldn't keep track of the time, let alone the date.

She sat on the sofa in the living room, a book in her hand, Lily's head in her lap, and a bowl of strawberries on the coffee table in front of them.

It had snowed all day, and instead of going to see a rerun of the Star Wars movie that was playing in the theater in town like they had planned, Sage, Lily, Anna-Lee, and their men decided to stay in since the weather was so miserable.

And they'd had a calm day, and the only time the house's peaceful silence was broken was when Madeleine would cry out, in need of a diaper change, a nap, or a feeding. The six adults would take turns assessing the baby's needs, although Sirius needed some convincing at first that he wouldn't break her.

There was something so domestic, so familial and homely and comfortable, about six adults raising a singular child that Sage begins to consider the idea of a 'nuclear family' overrated and outdated. After all, the phrase it takes a village to raise a child had to have come from somewhere.

Sage felt blissful and content, even despite her ignorance of what day it was and the promises and plans she'd made looming over her like a dark cloud.

When the doorbell rang, Lily shot up out of Sage's lap, having been half-asleep but now suddenly and completely awake.

"Are you expecting someone?" She asked, rubbing her tired eyes.

Sage shook her head, eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "No, not that I can think of." She replied, carefully maneuvering off of the sofa. "It might be one of the neighbors—the old lady that lives in the closest house to us sometimes comes over to ask Noah for help starting her car. But stay here, don't get up. I'll be back in a second."

Sage made her way over to the foyer, the entryway empty other than the coatrack and pile of shoes next to it.

On the other side of the door was Bellatrix Lestrange, curly black hair hidden by a cloak of emerald green.

"Finally!" The Death Eater exclaimed, pushing her way past Sage into the house. "I've been texting you all afternoon, and—why are you not ready?"

Her eyes drifted to the pile of shoes and the nearly-full coatrack, and her eyebrows raised.

"You've got people over, don't you? Is that why you've been ignoring me?"

Sage scrambled to find an adequate lie. "No! Of course not. I haven't been ignoring you, it's just that... my uncles are in town! They got in late last night, and the time difference between London and France is, well. You know." The dishonesty slipped right from her lips like water through a sieve.

And for a moment, she wasn't sure if Bellatrix had bought it, because the feral-eyed woman seemed to just stare at her for a moment, eyes narrowed with suspicion.

But then it clicked, and she must have remembered Sage mentioning how she was closer with her uncle and his husband than she was with her own father sometime over the nine years they'd known each other.

While Bellatrix was distracted by her own thinking process, Sage pulled her wand out of her back pocket as subtly as she could, and silently cast a barrier charm on the door to the living room, where Lily was and hopefully would stay. She prayed the redhead wouldn't come to ask questions. And if she did, well, the barrier charm would keep everything on Sage's side nice and quiet and invisible.

"Oh!" Bellatrix finally said after a moment. "Oh, Merlin. It's clearly a bad time. I'll tell the Dark Lord that you've got other plans with family."

Sage feigned disappointment. "No, it's alright. I can reschedule with Uncle Dante, it's really no big deal."

Bellatrix waved her hand dismissively, looking more human in that moment than she had in years. "Don't worry about it. I'm sure he'll understand. Go have fun with your uncles, yeah? I'll see you at the next meeting, love."

Sage took a deep breath and only allowed herself to relax when the door was closed and Bellatrix was out of the house.

That was close, she thought to herself.

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