The Sanctuary of Yesterday

1.9 | welcoming the light

It had been a few days since Sage and the girls had found out about the bond. A lot had happened since then. Some good. Some bad.

Theodore and Draco had both sent her a letter, albeit she had to harass her brother through the bond for them to do it. He finally agreed to have them write one when she started screaming inappropriate songs in his head at the worst moments, like Snape's class.

In her letter back to them, Sage explained what she knew about the bond and how to work the communication. Her brother, also extremely skilled at occlumency, had mastered what they called Bonding, just as fast. Draco had told them his name was better but was quickly out ruled as neither twin wanted to think of a kink while communicating. The twins now found a way to annoy each other when they felt like it, and they took advantage of it all the time.

They also spent more time occluding. They knew the risk of the wrong person finding out and decided the headaches from occluding too long and too hard were worth it. So, for an extra hour a night, totaling two and a half hours, they occluded everything that had to do with each other—their voice, their laughs, their faces, everything. At one point, Draco was scared they'd forget each other.

Sage had also managed to see Dr. Charles and started to find her way out of her slump. Dr. Charles reminded her that the world continued to turn outside of her head. He told her that even when everything was crashing down in there, the world continued to thrive. And so could she.

The girls were all eating their breakfast at their respective house tables, as they usually did. Each eating their favorites breakfast foods with their friends from their houses.

Willow, at the Wampus table, sat with Yina Tesoro, Wampus's Quidditch seeker, and Riley Mason, a thriving young artist. Willow had a small bowl of fruit in front of her, picking out the melon she didn't like, and putting it on Riley's plate. Riley gladly ate it up. She had a glass of water, per usual. No coffee or tea in the morning. She didn't like the caffeine rush and crash.

Leah was sitting next to Jasmine at the Pukwudgie table surrounded by people. To Leah's right, Steven Moore took pieces of Leah's not finished breakfast—Eggs, bacon, toast with jelly, and some ketchup for the bacon. In front of him was Una Nardini, chatting Leah's ear off about only Merlin knows what. Jasmine was casually talking to Evangeline Hernandez and Mike Klive about a book she was holding. Jasmine's plate was cleared, her usual breakfast of a bagel with butter and strawberries must have been devoured. She had a large cup of coffee sitting in front of her, because as Willow said no caffeine, Jasmine said only caffeine.

Grace and Sage surprisingly sat alone at their table. Not alone, but none of the kids around them were their friends. Grace, quiet and a pushover, had been an easy target for them to break their first year until Sage found out and unleashed hell. They didn't even know each other until then, and Grace was completely shocked when she heard what Sage did for her. Now the rest of their house lived alongside them but essentially ignored the girls and their friendship. Sage had a piece of french toast in front of her, drizzled with Nutella and powdered sugar. On the side was a bowl of fruit and a piece of toast with bacon. Grace had a granola bar, fruit, and a muffin. Both girls were trying to gain weight.

It was Monday, so that means the girl's subscriptions of The Daily Prophet would come today. When the mail did come, Willow was bringing a strawberry to her mouth, Leah was laughing so hard she was crying, Jasmine was reading the book on different types of medical potions, Grace was chewing on her granola bar and Sage was sipping her orange juice.

The minute the birds dropped the papers, all five girls stopped what they were doing. The front page stood out to all of them. Willow, dropped her fork onto her plate creating an echoing clink throughout the hall. The other four girls were too in their worlds of panic to notice. Leah stopped laughing, stopped smiling, stopped breathing, and clutched her chest. Jasmine dropped her book, surprising all her housemates, onto the floor and snatched up the paper. Grace choked on her bar and some random girl hit her back to help, all while Sage stared at the paper.

Willow, Jasmine, Grace, and Leah all looked up at each other and suddenly the four of them were on their feet, Daily Prophets in their hands, and were dragging a shocked Sage out of the Hall.

Sage, finally able to get her bearings, noticed she was in her dorm and had a death grip on the paper in her hands.

THE BOY WHO LIVED? OR LIES?
By: Rita Skeeter

Harry Potter, or more commonly known as The Boy Who Lived, who defeated The Dark Lord only as a baby, continues to preach to any and everyone who will listen that He is, in fact, back.

There has been no proof behind his words, other than the fact he, supposedly, fought him in his fourth year after The Tri-Wizard Tournament. Harry Potter, or The Boy Who Lived, once had Dumbledore backing him, but now we wonder if some of Dumbledore's insanity was taught to the boy.

There has been no sightings or proof of The Dark Lord coming back nor is there a spike in dark magic. So we ask, is The Boy Who Lived lying? If so for what? Attention?

My name is Rita Skeeter and you've just got the newest facts, fast and real.

Sage fumed, crumpling the paper in her hands. She closed her eyes and found her door deep inside her mind, swung it open, and welcomed the light from the other side, What the fuck is the bloody Prophet on now?

Theo responded Salazar knows. Skeeters lost her bloody mind.

So Sage continued to fume, and The Dark Lord? No one calls him that except followers! So what's Skeeter? A pawn or a follower?

It was silent for a moment before he graced her with his presence through the bond again, Draco says skeeters a Slytherin at heart and to remember that

Sage sighed, a pawn. A fucking pawn in a game she has no idea how to play.

Sage could feel Theo trying to send her reassurance and successfully sending love. She smiled a little and murmured through the bond, I'll talk later. Expect a letter sometime this week, Stay safe. Both of you. Love you, Theodore.

She felt the disgruntled reply before she heard it, fuck you

She laughed and shook her head slightly. When she opened her eyes, the girls were all waiting for her to say something. She opened her mouth and closed it again.

"Rita Skeeter is a pain in my fucking ass."