Sage | H. GRANGER

thirty one

The news of Alaric's death had spread like wildfire. The news of his and his family's bodies being found in the rubble of his burnt down home was plastered all over the Quibbler. A story was fabricated to cover the gruesome truth and Sage and Draco were forced to keep quiet. No speech was given the following day, nor did anyone mourn the death of the Ravenclaw. Alaric Dawson was just another wasted youth claimed by the greedy hands of war.

    That night still had Sage in a blind daze. She could vividly remember herself and Draco apparating back to the village in a mess, rushing back to the castle. She could remember the cold feeling in her chest and the warmth of the tears that still painted her cheeks. When the distraught friends had made it back to the empty common room, it all had struck Sage. Alaric was dead and there was nothing she could do about it. Throughout  the night, Sage was kept awake by constant nightmares of the moment she had lost her best friend. Lord Voldemort's cold voice echoed in her mind, keeping the girl awake. It was as if there was a constant battle in her mind, a battle she was losing.

    It had been two days since she had lost Alaric. It had been two days since Sage had lost one of the most important parts of herself. She had walked through her day in a zombie like daze. She was there physically, but spiritually, her mind was somewhere far away from Hogwarts. But, on the third day since Alaric's death, Sage woke up with a sickly feeling in the pit of her stomach. She had slowly gotten ready for the day, her Hogwarts uniform loosely hanging onto her frame. Sage walked alone to the Great Hall for breakfast, but a nagging feeling was eating away at her. When she pushed the doors to the hall open, it was as if all of the air in her lungs vanished. There, in the front of the hall, stood Katie Bell. She was surrounded by her friends, but more importantly, Harry Potter.

    Her eyes locked with Katie's and the entire world around her froze. Sage felt her heart began to race as Harry followed Katie's gaze. Sage turned around and pushed her way through the stream of students completely unaware of Harry following her. Draco, who sat at the Slytherin table, had spotted Sage leaving in a rush and Harry not too far behind her. With curiosity leading him, Draco moved throughout the students and out of the hall, following Harry and Sage.

    Sage had sharply turned into the restroom and rushed to the sink. The tie that was tied tightly around her neck felt as if it were getting tighter by the second. With ragged breaths, Sage loosened the tie and turned on the faucet in front of her. Her hair fell like a shield in front of face. Her heart pounded against her ribcage as she splashed water on her face, trying to calm herself down. She couldn't tell the difference between the water that dripped down her face and the tears streaming from her eyes.

Sobs erupted from Sage's weak body. The sounds of despair bounced off of the restroom walls, chilling Harry to the core. Sage had glanced up to look in the mirror that hung in front of her. Harry stood in the middle of the doorway, his wand in his hand.

"I know what you did, Whitaker. You hexed her, didn't you?" Sage gasped in shock, snapping her head up. Quickly, with the anger of a thousand suns, Sage grabbed her wand and shot a spell at Harry. She paid no mind to him as he dodged the ball of light. Sage rushed to the other side of the lavatory, hiding herself from Harry's view. A hex was sent her way, shattering the mirrors behind her as she dodged the harmful spell. She returned another hex, nearly missing Harry who dived out of the way behind the bathroom stalls. She sent another spell, shattering the mirror on the wall in front of the stalls Harry hid behind.

She quickly fell to her knees, glancing under the stalls, only to meet Harry's eyes. Quickly, she grunted as she sent a spell under the stalls. Leaping to her feet, she rushed to the hall behind the stalls, only to be hit with a spell that sent her flying.

"SECTUMSEMPRA!"

Sage landed in a heap, her head hitting the wet stone. It felt as if thousands of knifes were slashing down her chest and abdomen. Blood spurted from each wound quickly staining the stone and water surrounding her. Harry stumbled to side, shock written all over his face. Little did Harry know, that Draco had just stumbled upon the water leaking from the lavatory he was going to pass while searching for Sage. He could hear groans of pain and ragged breaths coming from inside. The cries that echoed around the room were heart shattering. Draco rushed to the source of the cries. He pushed past Harry, who stood in shock next to Sage's trembling body.

"Sage, oh god." Draco gasped as he fell to his knees and leaned over Sage's body. Blood stained his hands and he tried to apply pressure on to the wounds that littered her pale body. Draco paid no mind to the sound of fleeing footsteps or the cold hand of Professor Snape who had just arrived. All he could think about was how tight Sage grasped his hand and the pure fear that was laced with each word she slurred. Her sentences would merge together. Strings of curses and prayers left her mouth as she cried out in pain. Draco tightened his grip on her hand as Snape continued muttering the counter curse.

Sage felt the metallic taste of blood in her mouth. She stared at the ceiling, tuning out the worried cries of Draco and the monotone voice of Snape. She didn't feel herself being lifted, but she felt the sharp stinging of the wounds she had. Her scream of pain floated through the empty hall as Draco carried her to the hospital wing. Sage felt her eyes getting heavy as dark spots entered her vision. She felt the cold hands of sleep grip her mind. Before she fully went under, one last heart broker sentence left her bloody mouth.

"I-I'm so s-sorry." Sage muttered, blood spraying out of her mouth with each word she struggled to speak. She couldn't help but feel as she deserved this. It was her punishment for all the decisions she had made, for all the wrong choices. Sage Whitaker released a heavy sigh and welcomed the cold oblivion with open arms.

A/N:

almost done with the half blood prince are yall ready omfg

if yall are looking for a great that 70's show fan fic for Hyde, check out my story "Candid"!

until next time

-outlaws