SHE'S ALL THAT ➭ SIRIUS BLACK ❨2❩ ✔︎

ACT FIVE, SCENE TWELVE

FONTAINE MANOR

On the last day of the school term, Harry was running into his godmother's arms on the front lawn of her estate, thankful to be back home.

Despite the fact that he was thirteen, on the verge of turning fourteen, he was quick to demand affection from her, whereas most teenagers would shrug off their parents' hugs and refuse any form of physical contact.

Sirius watched from the porch with a smile; Sage used to seldom show physical fondness for others, and when she did, she would pitch a fit and complain about it the entire time. But now, as he observed how she behaved with Harry, he could admire how much she'd changed. From the way she brushed the boy's unruly hair out of his face and adjusted his glasses for him, to the way she held onto his hand as they walked towards the house, he could tell that she was not the same person she used to be.

"Er, hi, Sirius." Harry mumbled when they reached him, nervous despite now knowing that Sirius wasn't the guilty man he was once thought to be.

Sirius rolled his eyes and ruffled Harry's hair. "She gets Aunt Sage but all I get is plain-old Sirius? Come on, mate. No fair." He joked with a grin.

Sage shoved Sirius. "Oi, I raised him. Changed his diapers. You have to earn the aunt or uncle title, you bastard." She paused, looking down at Harry. "Sorry. Swear jar."

"Since when does Sage Celeste Fontaine apologize for her foul mouth?" Sirius asked teasingly, and he wrapped his arm around her shoulder.

She ducked from under his arm and went to chase after Harry. "Since I became a single parent."

Harry had made a beeline for the kitchen, where he stood in front of the refrigerator. "What's for dinner, Aunt Sage?" He asked tiredly, looking back at her with raised eyebrows.

"Oh, I dunno." She answered. "Anna-Lee! What's for dinner?" Her voice raised into a shout, and Anna-Lee entered the kitchen with her arms crossed in front of her.

"How about we make the criminal cook for once? All he does is eat my food and drink my alcohol." The American said, barely concealing a smirk.

Sage allowed Sirius to wrap his arms around her midsection, right over the spot where a mostly-healed scar from Remus's werewolf form was hidden under her clothes. She tensed at the contact and cringed away, masking her pained expression with a sharp laugh.

That was something that hadn't changed about her, he'd noticed—she still hid her pain around others, just like she had in the past eighteen years of knowing her. He hated that she felt it necessary to keep people from seeing that she was vulnerable, but he also knew that she was one of the strongest people he'd ever known.

He just smiled instead of bringing up the fact that she was clearly still hurting, reaching around Harry to grab a bottle of wine from the fridge.

"I say we just order takeaway. That sound alright?"

Sage gave him a grateful nod, happy to have the attention taken away from her single moment of visible weakness.

Harry visibly brightened. "Yes!"