"To be loved, and to be in love"
— T H E A N N O U C E M E N T —
Sirius picked up Alexander from his laying spot on Sage and Sirius's bed. He had woken up around 6, which was perfect for Sage because she had to get up early anyway for last-minute planning. It was December 22, and that meant at 1 o'clock the couple would make the public announcement at the castle of their engagement and Sirius's future royal titles. Sirius was to be the Duke of York, seeing as Sage's title before she became Queen was the Princess of York. "Hey, buddy... How long do you think before your mum comes in here demanding I wear a suit?" Sirius whispered the question to Alex, who just stared up at him with his almost hazel eyes that Sirius already adored.
He chuckled when Alex started gurgling at him in response. "Really? I think so too... Red tie? Good thing mummy is wearing red today, we can match." Sirius laid Alex back down in his portable crib and smiled at him softly. "You're going to end up breaking some hearts, buddy. Just don't be too much like me before your mum... I think Sage would have a heart attack."
There was a soft click and the door opened slowly. Sage was wearing a red dress with gold accents and her hair up. She looked beautiful, no one could deny that. "You have thirty minutes to get ready, we have to greet photographers and interviewers before the actual press starts... Is he still awake?" Sage questioned as she walked towards the crib. Sirius moved away to get ready and felt his smile grow at the sight. "He is but I'm not sure for how much longer." Alex's eyes were droopy and he looked close to sleep. "I guess I'll have to hold you when we get back then." Sage rubbed his cheek softly with her left hand.
"Have I ever told you how much I love it when you wear suits?" Sirius smirked at her comment as he buttoned up his white shirt. "No, I don't think you have," Sage rolled her eyes at his egotistical tone. Sirius tied the red necktie and put on the black suit jacket with quick ease. "Gotta do my hair..." He mumbled under his breath as he walked towards a large mirror and combed through it. Sage repressed a giggle as she glanced down and saw Alex already fast asleep, his small hand gripping hers. She felt her heart melt at the sight and feeling.
A soft knock at the door caused Sage to walk away from sleeping Alexander and open it slightly. It was Jasper. "Is he asleep?" The blond boy asked his sister. "Yeah, he just went down." Sage opened the door and he walked in. "Don't worry, it won't last long," Sirius looked over and gave him a playfully forced smile. Jasper wasn't sure if he was serious and shot his sister a hesitant glance. "Don't listen to him, Jasper." Sage was glaring at Sirius.
"I have to leave. Sirius, stop teasing my brother. Jasper, Alexander is a sweetheart, don't worry too much." Sage was already walking towards the door. "Twenty minutes."
———
Sage stood with her head held high and back completely straight. She was waiting on Sirius, who should be there any moment. He wasn't the most timely, but she knew not to press her buttons today. Sirius knew how important this was because he wasn't born into Muggle nobility. Stepping into the room, reporters went silent as they watched Sirius approach Sage and wrap his arm around her waist. "Were you crying?" Sage asked when she saw his face blotchy.
Sirius nodded, "Had a little heart-to-heart with your brother. Jasper cried too." Sirius chuckled when he saw the confusion on his fiancée's face. "He'll tell you about it."
Cameras started flashing when Sage pulled him to walk over to the podium.
"Good afternoon. It is with great joy today I announce my, Queen Sage of the United Kingdom and the commonwealth, engagement to Sirius Black, the soon-to-be Duke of York."
Silence... Silence... Chaos.
"Quiet, please." Voices died down at Sage's request. "On the 17th of September, Sirius Orion Black asked to marry him. We were in the presence of friends. I accepted. Because of this, it was deemed best that Sirius Black is bestowed a title, and after long thinking, Sirius Orion Black is to become the Duke of York after marrying me."
Sirius tried his best to keep his head high as he stood next to Sage and in front of rows of muggles. "Questions?"
———
The couple walked back Sage's room hand-in-hand. It went surprisingly well. Sage's mother got shamed to no-ends when she announced she was marrying a commoner. She could only imagine the outcry when they announce they adopted Alexander. "I'm going to find Eden and Theo... Jasper wants to talk to you."
Sage was confused to all hell when Sirius pulled his hand out of hers with a smile and walked towards the Princess's room. Turning towards the large bedroom door, she opened it slowly and caught sight of Jasper holding Alexander, whispering to him softly as he rocked the baby. It melted Sage's heart, truly. She loved her siblings more than almost anything in the world and seeing Jasper hold her son just made her skin glow. "Sirius said you were going to talk to me?"
Jasper jumped a little, not hearing the door open. Seeing her made his confidence crumble. He thought he could do it, but now he wasn't so sure. "Yeah... I did- No, I do. Can we sit?" Jasper asked her and Sage nodded, her confusion only grows. Sage sat down and Jasper laid Alex in his crib before taking the chair diagonal from hers. The older sister watched as he shuddered in-breaths and played with his hands. Something was bothering him immensely to be making Jasper this anxiety. "Jasper what's wrong?" She leaned over and grabbed his hand.
"Sage, I'm gay."
Her eyes widened slightly. Jasper felt tears start coming back up. Above all else, the young prince valued his sisters' love and opinions of him. He felt like he was going to vomit. "Oh." Sage was at a loss for words. She was not expecting that. "Are you... upset?" Jasper felt like a wounded child. He felt like he was laying in his own blood on his back, terrified at the thought of not being accepted by his sister. "Jasper, why would I be upset? Love... Love isn't a choice."
Sage moved and stood on her knees in front of Jasper, her hands still holding his when she brought them to her lips. "I would never not accept who you are, baby brother." And then he burst into tears. Jasper fell out of the chair and hugged his sister tightly, grasping her dress like it was his lifeline. Sage rubbed circles on his back as he cried. "I told father in a letter... He told me that he could forget I ever told him if I didn't tell anyone else, if I didn't act on anything." His chest shuddered harshly as more tears fell. Sage just embraced him tighter, rage filling her entire being.
How dare he? How dare he speak like that to her brother? His son? Sage was beyond furious. "Jasper... I will always love you, no matter who you love," She whispered in his ears.
———
The King-Father was receiving pure hell from his oldest child at the moment. The language you would never expect to hear come from the mouth of Sage slipped out in cruel words, completely disgusted at her father. "Listen to me!" Sage's voice boomed throughout the room when he tried to interrupt her. "I am grateful for what you did with Alexander, but you will not be welcomed back into my home." His whole demeanor changed in a matter of two seconds. "Excuse me?" He stood up.
"If you are here by the time we return from Hogwarts in June, there will hell to pay. That's final." Sage stepped in front of him, the air around her so terrifying the older man almost backed down. "All of this over your brother, Sage? Don't behave like a child!" He scolded her. "You made your son feel unloved and unwanted in the home that belongs to him more than it ever did you!" Sage pressed back. "He is gay, Sage! Don't you understand? It's a sin!"
That was it. Oh, that was so it.
"Don't you dare use the term! If you weren't going to be accepting of your children then you shouldn't have had any!" Her whole body began turning red, this was past any type of anger Sage had ever felt in her life. She couldn't believe him. Jasper was his child, his flesh and blood. "If you want to talk about sin, let's talk about how you married a woman of magical descent! How you fathered two witches and a wizard! What are you going to do, father? Burn us?"
Slap!
Her head shot to the side, her body being pushed to the side by the amount of force her father hit her with.
"You don't talk to me like that."
"Security!" Sage called out immediately, holding the side of her face. The door swung open and two men came rushing in. "Get him off my property! Now!" Her father was instantly gripped up and pulled out of the room. The man yelled nonsense and Sage just stood herself back up, removing her weight from the oak wood desk she was balancing herself on. Sage would be damned if he ever raised his hand to her like that again. The entire side of her face burned, the spot where he hit was definitely going to bruise, she already knew it. Sage bruises like a peach.
Sirius was going to bend heaven and raise hell to go after her father, she already knew it, the boy wanted to floo to the castle when he badmouthed her in just a letter.
Coming up with a plan in her head as quickly as she could, Sage walked to the other side of the desk and sat in its old chair. This was her mother's old office. Eden will stay with herself and Sirius during the holidays, Jasper could too, maybe they could renovate the flat a bit and he could stay there if he chose. She's going to have to find a live-in nanny until July, maybe two. "Why is this all so bloody fucking complicated!" Sage slammed her hands against the empty desk, frustration ravaging her mind.
She still couldn't believe he had the audacity to hit her. A grown man. Hit his 17-year-old daughter. Sage also couldn't believe how he regarded Jasper. She was the angriest about that. By Merlin she wanted nothing more than to hex him straight into muggle hell.
It was all going to be okay, though. Sage was going to take care of her brother, and her sister. She was going to take care of her son while she wasn't there too. Sage just had to.