Disclaimer: This is a work of fan fiction using characters and settings from the Harry Potter world, which is trademarked by J. K. Rowling. I do not claim any ownership over them or the world of Harry Potter and will not receive any money or other financial profit for presenting the work on this site. The story I tell here as well as certain original characters are my own invention, and are not purported or believed to be part of J.K. Rowling's story canon.

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Chapter 55

It took everything Neville had in him to finally stop pacing the greenhouse. Sage was on her way now, there was no going back. But what if she wouldn't like it? And what was he even going to say once she had arrived here? He really hadn't thought this through at all, had he? All this hours of preparation, and yet.. not a single thought spent on what he was going to say! Argh! How could he be so careless? Today needed to be perfect. Nothing else and most importantly, nothing less.

"Neville? Are you in here?" a familiar voice whispered through the dark.

"Co-Come.. Come in and f-f-find out," he responded, stuttering from one syllable to the other.

Though he knew better not to, Neville expected her to laugh at him. About how he suddenly struggled to talk to her, how he set up this ridiculous plan to bring here out here in the middle of the night, about how-

"Wow.." Sage acknowledged, ripping him from his thoughts. Her mouth was wide open, as if she was about to yawn. Except she really wasn't. In fact, Neville had barely ever seen her look so awake than right in this moment. Her eyes were sparkling with excitement, her grin reaching all the way up to her ears, once she had managed to close her lips again.

"You like it?" was all he managed to ask.

"Like it? I love it!" she quickly retorted.

Neville didn't dare to say another word, in fear of ruining the moment. This utterly perfect moment. She LOVED it! Sage, of all people. The last few weeks she had been downright bitter from day to night, indulging in sadness and frustration for far too long now. Neville didn't know what had happened to upset her like this, but he suspected there was something else behind it than the floods of schoolwork she had been met with ever since arriving back in Hogwarts after Easter Break. She wouldn't talk to him about it though and he had ultimately decided to stop asking. There were things she just didn't want to talk about and Neville had to accept her silence as much as she did his.

"Did you make all of this alone?" she asked, staring in awe at the numerous shining ranks hanging from the ceiling.

As the sun was about to disappear behind the horizon, it finally became clear just how many little lightning plants Neville had cultivated all around the greenhouse. The way they illuminated Sage's face drew a beautiful, yet pitiable picture. Though, to him, she always looked beautiful, he could clearly make out the dark circles underneath her swollen eyes. He seriously doubted she had gotten much sleep lately.

"Yeah.. It didn't take too long though," he lied, scratching the back of his head.

"Somehow I find that hard to believe," she muttered, still gazing all around the room.

"I'm just glad you like it."

"How could I not? Not even the Great Hall can compete with this. And I'm talking Christmas edition!"

"Now you're just exaggerating.."

"No, sir, I'm simply stating the truth," she replied frivolously, stepping back to his side, "You've outdone yourself!"

As she spoke, Sage curled up against his shoulder, wrapping her arms around his. He would have yelped, had he not been able to maintain his composure in the very last possible moment. For once in his life, he didn't want to embarrass himself in front of her. At least no more than he had already done anyway.

"Thanks, Sage. Sprout will kill me once she sees this but.. I had a happy life," he joked, or rather attempted to, thankfully hearing her snort in amusement shortly after.

"What are you gonna tell her anyway?"

"She'll have to take 'accident' for an excuse. Wouldn't be the first time."

"How tragically underwhelming."

"But convincing if you are me."

Sage rolled her eyes at his words, obviously struggling to restrain herself from punching him.

"With all due respect, anyone who is stupid enough to think you could have grown these plants on accident, obviously has never seen you inside this greenhouse before. Even only watching you for a split second is more than enough to realise your talent," she explained in her usual lecturing manner.

"Oh, but tearing apart my genius plan is appreciative of my talent?" Neville teased in return.

"Don't flatter yourself, I was talking about your herbology stuff. Your plan-making skills, however? In great need of improvement."

"But it got you here, didn't it?"

"I suppose so.. but that doesn't count, because you knew I'd always come if you asked, no matter what."

"Oh, is that so?"

"Of course, don't play dumb now, Longbottom, you already got what you wanted!" she muttered, nudging him into his side after letting go of his arm.

"Which would be?"

"For me to drop my dramatics. I know it's been getting on your nerves."

"It didn't get on my nerves, I was just worried about you."

"Same thing."

"It's really not."

"Are you laughing at me?"

"No, it's just.. you look like a four-year-old pouting like this."

"I'm not pouting!"

"Yes, you are."

Sage gave him quite the telling look, with her trademark furrowed brow and almost grotesquely pursed lips.

"Look, there is a huge difference between worrying about somebody and being annoyed at somebody."

"Which would be?"

"If I was annoyed, I would have wished to see your smile again for my own sake.. but I couldn't help but notice the way you suffer, and it got me worried about what could possibly be going on with you, and all I wanted was for you to be able to smile again.. for your own sake."

"Neville Longbottom, you are otherworldly."

"What?"

"So wise beyond your years. For a literal child, I mean."

"Sage, we are pretty much the same age."

"Now don't be ridiculous, I am much older than you."

"About a year."

"A year and a half, thank you very much!"

Neville couldn't help but laugh at her stubbornness.

"Bugger! I completely forgot I brought something for you!"

"What?"

"Yeah, my gran gave it to me, it actually belonged to my Mum, but she hates that her stuff is just lying around without being used, so I thought.."

Neville didn't bother to finish his sentence, instead producing a delicate golden necklace from his pocket and handing it to her.

"I just thought.. it might bring you as much joy as it once did to her," he explained hesitantly, burying his hands in his now empty pockets (save for his wand, of course).

Sage's eyes were wide open, but her mouth had gone completely silent. She didn't like it, right? She thought it was ugly, or she hated that he had mentioned his mother, when they had never really talked about her before, or maybe she just-

"It's beautiful," she finally murmured, barely loud enough for him to hear.

"You haven't even seen everything yet. Open it!" Neville announced enthusiastically, not even a hint of panic left in his words.

"What do you mean?" she asked, her gaze glued to the locket hanging at the centre of the necklace.

"Just open it."

Though sceptical, Sage obeyed to his command and opened the locket, revealing a small bouquet of dried woodworm, sage and stinging nettles.

"Neville, I.."

He was prepared to hear about anything. She could have loved it, hated it or simply not understood it, but instead.. she carefully closed the locket and just stared at it for what felt like eternity, before finally looking up at him again, all without making even as little as a squeak.

There were tears in her eyes, sparkling with the reflection of a gazillion little lights spread all around the greenhouse. Oh, how Neville hated himself for putting her in this position! This necklace was supposed to cheer her up, not bring her down even more.

"Sage, I am sooo sorry. I never meant to make you cry. Please, for the love of Merlin, tell me how to make you feel better again. Honestly, I'll do anything, just please, don't be sad again. Not because of me," he begged her.

Her lips trembled, as one tear after another rolled down her cheek, eventually hitting the floor. She took several attempts to speak, each time only producing the faint hint of a word, immediately drowned under a wave of desperate sobs.

This was it, right? This was the end of their friendship. And Neville didn't even know what he had done wrong!

"How could I ever be sad because of you?" she finally asked.

"Excuse me?" was all he was able to return.

"I have been given many gifts in my life before. Far too many, one might even say. But there is only one.. a single one more beautiful than the necklace hanging from my hand right now.." Sage explained, stepping closer to him which each word she murmured.

Once again, tears welled up in her eyes and quiet sobs erupted from her mouth. Neville just stood there, as if rooted to the spot, but as he was about to take action, Sage hastily wrapped her arms around him, burying her face in his shoulder. It was odd to feel her quiver and shake against his chest, but Neville held her as tight as possible, carefully stroking her back.

"It's.. I'm talking about your friendship, Neville. Thank you.. for always worrying about me and taking care of me. Just.. I.. Thank you for always being there. You mean the world to me and forever will.." she explained as she cried herself hoarse.

Her words would echo through his mind long after they had parted ways that evening. He knew they were genuine. He could tell by the way she spoke, by the way she held onto him. Sage knew he could always rely on him and apparently finally allowed herself to do so.

How Neville felt about this? Ineffable.

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Author's note: Hello everyone! I hope all of you are well and enjoying the holidays! I'm sorry to have left you with no new content for so long, but here is finally a new chapter! I'd love to hear your thoughts on it! Hopefully none of you have been scared off by the long hiatus. Unfortunately, life just got in the way of writing. I'll be back soon with a new chapter! Until then, thank you so much for your continued support. It truly means the world to me. Wishing you all the best!