SHE'S ALL THAT ➭ SIRIUS BLACK ❨2❩ ✔︎

ACT FIVE, SCENE FORTY TWO

FONTAINE MANOR

Sage hadn't realized how comfortable her bed was until she'd been tied to a chair and tortured for almost an entire day. So when she woke up in the middle of a sea of plush pillows and blankets, despite the early June heat, she didn't question her safety, or where her loved ones were; she just sighed and sunk deeper into the soft mattress.

Until she attempted to roll over and suddenly a rolling wave of pain was drowning her.

She stifled a gasp and went completely still. Even though she didn't move a muscle, didn't even blink, the pain lingered, and nausea bubbled in her stomach.

She knew Sirius was close by—he had to be, for there was no way in hell he'd leave her alone after her ordeal at the Lestrange house—but she didn't call for help or ask for any sort of assistance as she shakily pulled herself out of bed and stumbled to the bathroom.

She felt uncomfortable in her skin. Her skin itched, her bones itched, every organ in her body itched. And when she collapsed in front of the toilet, prepared to throw up whatever tainted food Bellatrix had managed to force down her throat, she realized that that creeping, crawling feeling stemmed from one place in particular: the Dark Mark on her forearm.

A sharp, stabbing spasm worked its way up her spine as her head dipped into the toilet bowl, and she wondered if the pain would ever go away. She wondered if the Longbottoms, sweet Alice and kind Frank, were still in pain. It had been years, but she knew some injuries never healed right. Or at all.

When it became clear that the nausea was here to stay, no matter how many times she tried to empty her stomach, she sighed and withdrew from the toilet, standing on trembling legs to look at herself in the mirror.

She'd been gone for little more than a day, but somehow, she looked like a corpse; her hair was dull and greasy, her skin was sallow and pale, and dark bruises stood out in sharp contrast against her skin.

The Dark Mark stood out, too, to the point where it was the focal point of her body. Despite how she tried to force herself to look herself in the eyes, her gaze kept drifting back to the inky black snake on her forearm.

"Green? You alright?" Regulus said from behind the closed door, knocking once as a performative gesture, because he opened the door as soon as his fist had kissed the wood.

She felt naked under his critical eyes. "I'm fine." She said, lying through her teeth.

Sometimes she forgot how good he was at telling when she wasn't being truthful. He certainly knew, now, that she was lying, for his eyebrows raised in suspicion.

"No, you're not." He replied, and in two steps, he crossed the small bathroom to stand in front of her, hand circling her wrist gently. He surveyed the bruises and cuts on her arms, frowning. "Will you let me clean these, or are you going to be a stubborn brat?"

She bit down a curse. "I don't think you can call me a brat when I've just been tortured by the enemy." She grumbled. Despite her annoyance, she held her arms out freely, a silent permission to do what was necessary.

He set to work, wetting a rag and dragging it across the skin of her arms. "We're all still quite confused about how you knocked down a brick wall without a wand. Did you become an expert in wandless magic all of a sudden?"

Her frown deepened. "I don't know. I was in pain. I was scared. I just wanted everything to be quiet, to stop for five damn minutes. I couldn't see straight, and I didn't even know what I was doing.

"I just know that everything stopped after the explosion. It stopped hurting so much, and I wasn't as scared." She finished, barely meeting his eyes.

Regulus's eyebrows furrowed, and he paused his work. "My brother thought you might need some space. From him, from everyone. He thought the two of us know how to be alone while still being in the same room, so he sent me in to take care of you. He didn't want to suffocate you."

Her face flashed with surprise for a moment. It was still so strange, after several years, to hear Regulus refer to Sirius as his brother. There were many years at Hogwarts where the two Black brothers were at odds and hated each other with a burning passion. Apparently, however, all it took to reunite them was time.

"Seriously," Regulus broke her out of her thoughts. "Are you going to survive this? If you aren't, let me know right now so I don't have to watch this kill you."

Sage looked at him dead in the eye, jaw clenched. "I have survived worse than this, Regulus. I will be fine." Her anger dissolved, and then she was smiling softly. She winced, as if it hurt to do so. "I'm not letting you outlive me. I buried you once—I intend for you to never have to do the same for me."

He suddenly yanked her into a hug, and she went completely stiff. Pain radiated from the places his arms made contact with her body.

She'd never been a hugger, especially not with Regulus. Both of them grew up in households where crying did not deserve coddling and pain did not deserve any sort of physical affection or warmth.

"Next time you discover that you can do some strange magic trick, you tell me first, alright? Not your stupid husband, not your friends. You tell me." He ordered, loosening his grip on her to relieve some of that pain.

"Oh, sod off. You just wish you could do what I can do." She said in a light voice. It seemed like she was trying to be alright in front of him, even though he was one of the few people she could allow herself to feel pain in front of.

"Oh! That reminds me." Regulus reached into his pocket and withdrew a piece of long, carved black wood with slivers of silver running down its length. "We found this outside, on the lawn. Thought you'd want it back." He said, handing the wand to her.

She snatched her wand from him and inspected it, checking for any scratches or damage. Apart from a bit of dirt, it was still in perfect condition.

She gripped it tightly, ignoring the pain that flared up in her fingers and knuckles. It felt good to have her wand again, to not be walking around defenseless. She wouldn't have to rely on her friends to protect her.

She knew they would—that was the worst part. Sirius, Regulus, Anna-Lee, Rowan, Maia, and Remus would go to the ends of the earth to save her, proven by the fact that they broke into Voldemort's right-hand-woman's house just to save Sage.

She knew she was loved, cared for, and appreciated. But she would not let her friends put their lives on the line for her safety ever again.

Because Sage Fontaine-Black couldn't live with herself if it ended with one of them dead.