deceit - sirius black

eleven

Sadie Wraith hardly ever got interesting post. The only letters delivered to her lonely townhouse were bank statements, bills, and several other things that she would much rather not receive. On Sunday the fifteenth of February, she received a letter sealed with green wax, and with her name written on the back in messy handwriting, and a large splodge of ink in the corner.

Almost certain she recognised the handwriting, Sadie found herself opening the envelope cautiously, as though there could be something threatening inside. All there was, however, was a letter from her sister. She was shocked, to say the least, considering they'd not spoken in two years, but read it anyway:

Sadie
I'm coming over tomorrow, need to talk
Sabrina

The letter was short, blunt, and left no room for speculation - typical Sabrina - she thought. With mixed feelings regarding the reunion to come, Sadie went about her day, trying not to give it too much thought.

***

After waking up in the early morning, in the arms of Sirius Black, Sabrina Wraith had cautiously and quietly left the room (its whereabouts and its sudden appearance still confusing her), sneaking back into her dormitory and laying down on her own bed for an extra few hours of guilt-free sleep. She was hoping for her breakfast a few hours later to be relaxing, but clearly she should have expected questions.

"Where were you all night?" Natalia asked.

"With Sirius," Sabrina shrugged, "How was your date with Marlene?"

"Great," Natalia smiled, "She showed me this thing where- don't change the subject, Wraith. I know what you and Sirius were up doing."

"We were not!" She defended, "We just fell asleep, pervert. Ads, how was your day? Did you talk to Remus for me?"

Adeline inhaled sharply before answering, "No, I didn't." She snapped.

"You alright?" Sabrina asked, picking up on her unusual behaviour.

"Funnily enough, Sabrina, I didn't spend my day talking about you, or thinking about helping you with your Death Eater stuff."

"Will you keep your voice down?" Sabrina hushed.

Adeline complied, but her angry tone and scowl still remained, "Why should I spend my time doing things for you instead of myself? Why should I have to drop everything to make sure you and your stupid plan are moving along? It's your plan, you sort it out. If you're failing, that's on you, and it's not my job to sacrifice my happiness for your selfishness." With that, she stormed out of the hall.

Sabrina could tell (and so could Natalia, perhaps more so) that this was not sudden. It had been going on for a while, maybe longer than they knew. Still, Sabrina sighed, and turned her attention back to Natalia.

"Well, Marlene's friends with Sirius, right?"

"No, Sab, you're not doing this." Natalia groaned.

"Doing what?"

"Exactly what you were trying to do to Adeline! You're pushing your problems and your responsibilities, which, might I remind you, you signed up for, onto us! If you want help with your plan, we'll help you, but you can't expect us to do it all and make sacrifices for you. You have to be the one doing the work, we can only help you along."

Sabrina was silent, pondering what had been said.

"I have to go, I have homework," Natalia said, standing up, "I'll see you later."

Sabrina sat on her own for a moment, still thinking. Remembering what she had been thinking about the previous night, she stood up abruptly, and headed towards the Owlery. On her way out of the Great Hall, however, she was met with Sirius, whose friends had been walking with him, and carried on while he stopped to speak to her.

"Hey," he greeted, "Where were you this morning?"

"Oh, sorry, I just.. had homework. I had to get it done while I remembered or I never would, y'know."

"Okay," he said, understandingly, "Are you doing anything now? I thought we could have breakfast. Or, if you've already eaten we could just talk while you watch how sexy I look when I'm eating." He grinned.

"As much as I'd love to, I have to do something," she said apologetically, "Maybe another time?"

"Sure," he smiled, "Oh, and there's something I wanted to ask you, too."

"Yeah?"

"I'll tell you when you have a moment." He smiled, almost hesitantly. She nodded, and sped off to the Owlery, leaving Sirius to walk to the Gryffindor table, where his friends were waiting.

"What did she say?" Remus asked.

"I didn't ask her, she had to be somewhere."

"Where could she possibly need to be so urgently on a Sunday?" James asked sceptically, "I think you're too good for her."

"What makes you say that?" Sirius half-laughed.

"Dunno, you just seem to be making more effort than she is. It's not fair on you: you should move on and find someone who cares about you."

"What, like you should with Lily?"

"That is different," James pointed his toast at Sirius, "We're in love, she just doesn't know it yet."

"Maybe Sabrina and I are in love, and she just doesn't know it yet." Sirius challenged, taking the toast from James' hand and eating it.

"And, considering Prongs' plans to get Lily to realise haven't worked so far," Peter said, "How do you intend to get Sabrina to realise?"

"I'm gonna ask her to be my girlfriend." He said simply.

"James has tried that." Remus said bluntly.

"I know, but Sabrina has been proven to reciprocate my feelings, unlike Evans for Prongs."

"Don't be mean." James said through a mouthful of cereal, which he spat out as he spoke. Remus placed an arm on his shoulder, though it was unclear whether it was comforting or patronising.

"How will you do it?" Peter asked.

"I was planning on saying 'will you be my girlfriend'."

"No, no, no," James whined, as though what Sirius said was majorly irritating, "It's all about the gestures. Show her you really care."

"Great, so if I want to actually date the girl I like, I'll do the complete opposite of what you say!" Sirius smiled patronisingly, and stood up to leave, taking the other slice of toast (the other half of the one pointed at him) from James' plate with him.

***
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