SHE'S ALL THAT ➭ SIRIUS BLACK ❨2❩ ✔︎

ACT FOUR, SCENE TWENTY SEVEN

FONTAINE MANOR

Sage couldn't sleep.

Every creak of the old house, every howl of the wind, and every other noise that she heard in the night had her on edge.

Every bump in the night sounded like a mass-murderer arriving on her doorstep.

It wasn't that she was scared. No, she wasn't scared at all. Paranoid, yes. But not scared.

Anna-Lee had offered to stay up with her, or to take a shift watching the wards. But the American was already worried enough; Madeleine was having her first sleepover with her friend Willow, and the poor woman didn't have the energy to worry about two people.

Around four in the morning, Sage decided it was time to strengthen the wards around the house.

She stepped through the front door and onto the lawn, wearing one of Regulus's old jumpers and a pair of pajama shorts. Her bare feet sunk into the dewey grass, and her footsteps were muffled by the turf.

Just as she raised her wand to strengthen the barrier that protected her and her house, the wall of magic flickered.

It wasn't her doing. And with the amount of power she'd put into the wards, they shouldn't be faltering so soon.

That was when she spotted a silhouette towards the edge of the lawn, tall and lean and decidedly masculine in shape.

"Merde," She muttered under her breath, already moving to run back inside.

"Sage!"

The voice hit her like a truck. "Shit. Fuck. Shit, shit, shit!"

It was Sirius, alright, but he sounded far more raspy and hoarse. "Sage! It's me! Let me in!"

His voice made any amount of courage and strength in her break, and the wards went with it.

He broke into a run, closing in on her far more quickly than she would have liked.

And then he was suddenly in front of her, face lit up by the porch light.

His face was slimmer, cheekbones more defined, jaw covered with dark stubble. His hair was longer, too, reaching almost to his chin. The bags under his eyes, dark as ever but with something like madness inside of them, were heavy and prominent.

"Sage." He breathed.

If he had shown up years ago, before she'd made a shoddy attempt at moving on, her first instinct would be to leap into his arms. She would have kissed him, rough and passionate and full of longing and emotions that hadn't been expressed.

But it had been over a decade. And she was angry.

Before she knew it, her palm was making contact with his cheek, and a loud crack rang out in the quiet night.

"Bloody hell, Sagey. Twelve years and your way of saying hello is to slap me?" He burst, eyes wide and mouth quirking into what resembled a smirk.

She was enraged. "You. Fucking. Bastard! You. Killed. Twelve. Muggles!" She punctuated every word with another hit, striking his chest, shoulders, even his face once or twice.

He caught her hands on the last word. "You pronounced I miss you quite wrong, darling." His stupid smile made more and more anger flare up inside her, and she pulled out her wand, pointing it directly at his face.

"Get the fuck off my lawn." She said, low and mean. "Or I swear to god, I'll kill you. Right here and right now."

It seemed like that was all it took for him to take her seriously. "Alright. Alright, I'll go. But do one thing for me first, yeah?"

She raised her eyebrows. "What could you possibly want?"

"Kiss me. One kiss, and then I'll be gone for good. I promise."

Sage's lips parted, and before she knew what she was doing, she nodded. "Just one."

Suddenly, his hands were on her hips, and he was pulling her in, wrapping his arms around her and holding her tightly to him in a strangling hold.

His lips met hers, and she found herself gasping.

Her head was spinning and her heart felt like it was going to beat right out of her chest.

Twelve years of anger, pain, and heartache melted away, flowing through her body and out of it.

Nothing mattered anymore, other than the fact that he was back with her and she was in his arms once more.

Sirius pulled away before she was ready, letting her go and pushing her away.

"One kiss. That's it." He said, eyes dark and sad.

She lunged to grab him again. "No." She blurted. "Don't go. I—I'm sorry. Please. Stay. Stay with me."

His smile was nervously hopeful. "You do know I'm a wanted criminal, right?" He whispered, and he inched closer.

"I can be mad about that in the morning. But right now...right now, all I need is you."