Hey there! It is much earlier than that two-week plan but I'm feeling good right now and I'm very ahead. One reason I be feeling good might be because I got two reviews! (Hint hint!) Anyways, to Guest 101, no, I'm not from Finland. Thought I've had an obsession with certain Finnish rock/metal bands for quite a few years so that was my inspiration. And I'd love to visit and/or move there one day! Happy belated Finnish Independence Day! To Raven that flies at night, thank you! I'm a little in love with their relationship too :).
Anyways, on to Chapter 19! Please let me know how I'm doing!
Sage stared blindly out of the window as the Hogwarts Express rolled past Hogsmeade Station. She felt her chest expand in the first breath she had fully taken since October. Between the attack and Marlene's sudden shift to the dark side, Hogwarts was no longer the safe haven it had once been and Sage felt this was an omen of how her life would be moving forward.
"Hello, Earth to Sage. Come in Sage," Kylie called, waving her hand in front of Sage's face. Sage shook herself and turned to look at her best friend, who was staring at her concernedly.
"Sorry, what?" Sage mumbled.
"It's fun here on the Hogwarts Express. How is it where you are?" Sage gave a small smile and shrugged.
"Not nearly as fun."
"Well, let's change that!" James announced loudly from his seat across from Sage. "New Years Eve party at ours? Mum and Dad will be going to that party at the Prewitt's place and you know how that will end. "
"With Dad too drunk to apparate two metres and Mum too tired to drag him home," Sage said, nodding. "Might as well. It'll be your last New Years Eve at home, right?"
"Very true," James agreed. "Which means it must be the best!"
"Which basically means that you lot will get drunk and tear the place up, yes?" Sage said with a wry smile.
"Exactly," James agreed proudly. Sage let out a laugh and turned to the rest of the group. Sirius, Peter, Remus, and Lily had piled in with the other three leading to a very cramped, but very homey atmosphere. Peter had already pulled out his pack of cards and was dealing Sirius and Remus into a game of Exploding Snap.
"Please tell me you'll be there. I need you to lend some sanity," Sage asked Kylie, who shrugged.
"Of course. Should be fun," Kylie smiled.
"She wouldn't miss a chance to snog Remus at midnight," Peter laughed. Kylie flushed and Remus shoved him sideways. Sage, however, let out a rich laugh.
"'Course not. It's been five years coming." Kylie gave Sage a look that said plainly, 'shut the hell up' and Sage shrugged. "Anyways, it'll be much easier to secure booze now that you lot are of age."
"Is it going to be just us, then?" Lily asked. The other six teens looked at her with wide eyes.
"You've obviously never been to one of our holiday parties," Sirius laughed.
"Well, no," Lily agreed.
"Imagine one of the other parties they've thrown," Sage advised. Lily nodded and she continued, "Now times that by a hundred."
"Oh boy," Lily sighed.
"Oh boy, indeed."
The rest of the ride back to London passed in a haze of laughter, games, and loving insults. Soon, they were pulling into King's Cross and it was time to go home. Home, Sage thought, sighing in relief and following Kylie down the corridor and on to the platform. As soon as they were out of the way of the stampeding students, Sage pulled Kylie into a tight hug.
"Thank you," she murmured.
"For?"
"Punching Mar in the face." Kylie laughed and pulled away.
"She deserved it," Kylie shrugged.
"I'm sorry you got detention though. How will your mum react?" Sage asked.
"I'll tell her what happened and she'll probably give me a high five. Mum loves you." Sage laughed and nodded, knowing that she was right. Mrs. Munroe was highly protective and fierce of her loved ones, just like Kylie.
"Well, I'll try to stall her while you say goodbye to Remus." Kylie's shoulders sagged in relief.
"You're the best, you know that?" She asked with a crooked grin.
"Only to those who've earned it," Sage said sincerely. "Go." And with that, she turned on her heel and made her way through the crowd to Kylie's parents. Mrs. Munroe spotted Sage first and pulled her into a bone-crunching hug as soon as she was in reach.
"Sage," she cooed. "How are you, lovey?"
"I'm great," Sage said sincerely, pulling away. "Hi Mr. Munroe, how are you two?"
"We're great," Mr. Munroe said with a smile.
"You look fantastic!" Mrs. Munroe said. "How's James? And Sirius?"
"They're great as well," Sage laughed. "Eager to finish their last year, I imagine."
"As they should be," Mrs. Munroe's smile faltered as she placed a hand on Sage's cheek. "Kylie told us about what happened. Really, how are you doing?"
Sage sighed, letting her smile fall for just a moment. "I'm okay. Sirius is completely healed, no harm done."
"Hmm," Mrs. Munroe hummed, then smiled, letting her hand drop. "Well, if you need anything, anything at all, don't hesitate to let us know, okay?"
"Okay," Sage agreed. "We're actually having a bit of a New Years bash at mine this holiday. I was hoping Kylie would come."
"Low key, hmm," Mrs. Munroe said with a smile. "Well, I'm sure we could arrange something. Now, you've done your due diligence, it seems Kylie's all done with Mr. Lupin. Send my love to Euphemia and Fleamont." Sage let out a laugh as she nodded. She started to turn as Mrs. Munroe spoke again. "And Sage? Take care of yourself."
"Always," Sage agreed. "Happy Christmas."
"You two, lovely." And with that, Sage made her way to where her parents stood with James and Sirius.
"Ah, there you are!" Mrs. Potter called, pulling her daughter in for a hug. "Now let's go, I've got dinner cooking at home." The Potters turned and started towards the queue to return to the Muggle area of King's Cross. Sage felt Sirius stiffen from beside her and turned to him. His jaw was set as he stared towards the other end of the platform. Sage followed his gaze and landed on Mrs. Black greeting Regulus. Sage turned back to Sirius and slipped her hand into his and squeezed to get his attention. His eyes flicked down to hers and he gave her the smallest of smiles, squeezing her hand back. She gave him a grin and pulled her hand away as the Ministry official waved them through.
As they entered Potter Manor, Sage excused herself to her room with the promise of coming down once dinner was announced. She slipped out of her jumper and jeans into a tank top and fuzzy pajama bottoms and slid in between her sheets. Just as she was drifting off to sleep, she heard a soft knock on her door.
"Come in," Sage called, pulling her duvet up to her chin. Sirius opened the door and plopped on her bed, laying against her pillows as if he belonged there. "What?"
"I wanted to check on you," Sirius said softly, raking his eyes over her face. "Are you okay?"
"I should be asking you the same thing," she replied.
"Reg made his own decision," Sirius stated, shrugging. "I can't control him."
"Sounds reasonable," Sage stated.
"Yeah, well, I had some good advice," Sirius said with a half smile that made her heart flutter as she remembered the day he had come to live at Potter Manor. He's his own person, she had said, and therefore responsible for his own actions.
"Hmm, maybe you should listen to that person more often," Sage said wisely.
"I'm starting to realize that," Sirius agreed. "Anyways, how are you holding up?" Sage blew a raspberry and looked at the ceiling.
"It's been a rough couple of weeks."
"Well, you're not wrong."
"I'm never wrong." Sirius snorted and rolled his eyes. "Okay, I'm very rarely wrong."
"I'll give you that," Sirius replied. After a moment, he continued. "You know, Marlene was wrong to treat you that way. You deserve better than that." Sage stayed silent, letting the disbelief show in that silence. "I'm serious."
"You're always Sirius," Sage said, looking back at him. Sirius let out a bark of laughter.
"Oh Sagey, I'm very rarely serious," he said with a wicked grin, causing Sage to laugh as well. "But I'm very serious about that. You deserve everything good in this world."
"Well thank you," Sage hummed softly.
"Now that that's settled," Sirius said, patting her arm, "Can I have some toilet paper?"