Chapter 13 – The Stylish Kids at the Riot


Hermione had planned an incredibly busy day for them, and Sage was somewhat surprised that her parents were going to let them go to a concert, alone. His uncle had been quite careful not to leave them to their devices, and he could not blame the difference on them being Muggles either.

Sage had such little experience with others his age for most his life that he had no idea how other parents (or guardians) operated. That his uncle was strict was obvious, but he did not have that good of an idea how lax other parents could be!

And there really were a million places to shop in the Muggle world. He looked down the streets lined with shop after shop and cars and busses bustling by. It was very noisy.

"You know, I don't know why you were so impressed with our shopping," he commented. "There is a shop for every little thing you could want, and a variety of them. Muggles must buy a lot of things."

She giggled. "I do think they might be more consumeristic than wizards, but they can't just magic what they need either."

"True, I guess being able to transform things makes for less things…More so for me," he added with a cheeky smile. He was quite good at Transfiguration naturally.

He dodged by someone who got to close on the sidewalk, stopped and glared at the person's retreating back. "Busier too. And with very poor manners about personal space." He looked back at Hermione and started walking again. "I wonder if that's how the peon wizards feel when they have to walk down Knockturn Alley." He chuckled and reached his hand out for hers.

Other wizards generally sensed to give him a wide berth, as she had learned down Knockturn Alley. The entire thing just made him think of her parent's big secret. It momentarily put a scowl on his face.

"All right, Sage?" she asked, not thinking him that particular over someone on the sidewalk. At least, not enough for that look.

"Yeah, no worries."

"There's a guitar store up ahead, and it has a bunch of band shirts and things." She raised an eyebrow at him, "Want to get some new clothes for the concert tonight?"

"Don't want me to look out of place?" he asked. "Get me some of those spiky wrist things those funny looking chaps are wearing?"

"Oh, please, no." She giggled. "I just figured t-shirts with Muggle stuff on them aren't really on the professor's list and you might like some band ones given how much you like music."

"And you'd be correct about the professor. His list for t-shirts with things on them consist of Hogwarts and Quiddich pretty much exclusively." Neither of which could he wear anywhere here, but he could easily put anything he wanted on a t-shirt either way. Did she forget he could change his hair and other things quite easily? He grinned. "But you can put any t-shirt on me you like so long as you wait for me to try a bunch of guitars."

Because he honestly did not care much whether guitars were on the professor's list. He already had one anyway. The existence of charms to make sound barriers had won that battle previously.

But he wouldn't mind another one.

Or two.

Or five.

Good thing he had plenty of money. Apparently the parental types had not discussed, well enough, who was paying for what. Because his uncle had not batted an eye over how much money he'd asked for. It had not been the first time his uncle had needed money in the non-magic world, and he'd given Sage some plastic rectangle that Muggles used. Hermione had to explain it to him.

The ding as they entered stores continually amused him, for they were all somewhat different. Initially, he had asked Hermione if little ringy bells on doors was supposed to ward off their type, which made her laugh. Especially when he added, "Clearly doesn't work."

Wide blue eyes conveyed that this was his candy store. If he was a Muggle, he would have been here daily.

It was fortuitous that Hermione liked hearing him play, because he tried quite a number of guitars before he settled on one. Because, self-control.

One Gibson Les Paul electric.

One Martin D-28 acoustic.

One Ibanez Workshop bass.

Because, self-control only means so much to a sixteen-year-old with large eyes and a generous bank account.

Hermione then had her fun picking him out t-shirts. Which, if she was so concerned over his uncle's proclivities, he informed her were a least one size too small for him. Not that he minded himself.

Kitted out with band shirts ranging from The Libertines and Muse to Judas Priest and Social Distortion, his girlfriend finished his look with a leather jacket that she plopped on top of the pile.

"My uncle would have a heart attack," he replied, snickering, looking down at the distressed Libertines shirt he was now wearing. 'Did you see the stylish kids in the riot?' was not a slogan he was going to wear around the house. Even if Sage rather was a kid in a riot, and if he was going to have to do so, he thought doing so stylishly apropos. One only died once.

Although, if he was entirely honest, the Muse shirt he liked best was one with a big rainbow hand holding a joint, so…He congratulated himself on having the sense not to buy that and bring it home.

"When in Rome…" Hermione said, with a lopsided smile.

"…" Up went an eyebrow as he tilted his head at her. One year of Muggle Studies did not provide a Muggle-ignorant, mostly home-schooled wizard much idea of Muggle sayings.

"Erm, right…It's a saying, like, 'when in Rome, do as the Romans do'?"

He lowered his voice and said, "So…do as the Muggles do?"

She giggled and nodded.

"I'll leave you to tell him that, shall I?" he asked, grinning mischievously.

Hermione gave him the side-eye.

"I'll pay for this but then…" he lowered his voice again. "…we need to find a surreptitious corner to shrink it all." Shopping in the wizarding world was way easier.

"It's almost time to meet up for dinner with Mum and Dad. Then we can head out for the concert while they go to their show."

By the time the concert was over and the Grangers met them for the trip back to their home, it was just after midnight. There was no way in Hell his uncle would have left them alone for that long, and Sage noted the wide gap between Hermione's liberal "Muggle" household and his own old-school wizarding traditionalist one.

His uncle had probably figured her parents would be even more concerned about leaving them alone than he was because they were the one with the daughter. They trusted Hermione's responsibility quite clearly. His uncle mistrusted his male teenaged hormones quite heavily. It was an interesting contrast.

All would be pleased to know, he had zero desire to attempt anything remotely like that with her father sixty feet away.

Still not able to sleep very well, he put up some magical sound barriers on the guest room he was staying in and played his new instruments for a few hours before falling asleep a few hours before the sun came up.


AN - Thank you so much to those of you who took the time to give me my first reviews on this series in years: Bookivore, Jedilogray, & Duj (and SuziQ and MBird1980 for reviewing the earlier fic). I really appreciate it, and it will help keep my muses motivated to get this beast done too! 3/2020