"AND BELL HAS THE SNITCH! GRYFFINDOR WINS, 350 TO 70! Merlin, I don't think anyone expected that!" Sage let out an irritable growl at the words of Michael Smith, the Hufflepuff-player-turned-announcer. He had been rather rude all game but it didn't matter in the long run. The Gryffindor team had never played this well and Sage felt on top of the world.
Sage allowed herself to be shepherded by James into the changing room, along with the rest of the team, and sat down on the benches facing the chalkboard beside a very sweaty Jennifer Bell and Sean McLaggen. James headed to the front of the benches with a wide grin on his face.
"Well, there's not much I can say now, except, fantastic work!" James crowed in an excited voice. "Keep it up and we have the Cup in the bag!" The team cheered. "Now, next practice is on Monday. Until then, party in the Gryffindor common room!" Sage grinned as her teammates cheered again before dispersing to change. She cast a quick cleaning charm to rid herself of most of her sweat and quickly changed into her muggle clothes; jeans, a The Who shirt, and a pair of boots. Throwing her new leather jacket (a Christmas present from Kylie) over her shoulders, she followed McLaggen out of the dressing room.
"Hey Sage, wait up!" Sage turned to see Demetrius jogging to meet her. "Great game!"
"You too," Sage grinned. They stared at each other for a moment, both unsure of how to continue, before Sage heard Sirius' voice.
"Hey, Sagey!" She turned, feeling her cheeks warm. Sirius was standing with James, who was looking exasperated. "We need your help!" Sage turned back to Demetrius, who was still looking at her.
"I better go see what they need," Sage said with a thread of impatience in her voice. "But I'll see you in the Common Room?"
"I hope so," Demetrius said with a shy smile. Sage winked (Merlin, what came over her?) and turned to hurry towards James and Sirius. They appeared to be arguing.
"We don't need her help," James was saying softly, glaring at his best friend.
"Sure we do," Sirius insisted. "The more the merrier."
"Need my help with what?" Sage asked when she was near enough. The boys looked at her in surprise but Sirius answered quickly.
"Grabbing food from the kitchens," Sirius said mildly, though his eyes kept darting over her head.
"The kitchens?" Sage asked blankly. "You two know how-you know what? It's not that surprising. Let's go."
"Really, Sage, we can manage," James insisted, eyes darting over her head as well.
"No, no, I'm interested now," Sage shrugged.
"Well, let's go then!" Sirius said, slinging his arms over Sage's shoulders. Sage, however, knowing that the crowd of students heading to the castle doors could very well include Marlene, shrugged his arm off. Ignoring his affronted look, she turned to James.
"Well, lead the way, Captain." James gave her a grin and started pushing through the crowd. She followed James all the way to the basements, but as the Hufflepuffs around them disappeared, he led them to a painting of a gigantic fruit bowl. James tickled the pear, which giggled, squirmed, and turned into a handle, which he then used to pull the painting to reveal a hole, not unlike the one the Fat Lady revealed.
Inside the portrait was not a crowded common room, however, but a bristling kitchen full of house-elves. Sage followed James into the kitchen, mouth agape as she watched the house-elves scurry to and fro, preparing dinner it seemed. One particularly tiny house-elf stopped to greet them.
"Misters James and Sirius! Back again, with a friend, I see!" She squeaked.
"This is my sister Sage, Cilley," James said kindly.
"Missus Sage, what can I gets you?" Cilley said, bowing low.
"Oh, erm," Sage said, still taken aback by the massive amount of house-elves. She had never spent much time with them, as Mrs. Potter deemed that having one would make her life "such a bore".
"We'd love some party snacks if you don't mind," Sirius said kindly from behind Sage, pulling the portrait shut. "We're celebrating a Quidditch match."
"Oh, Mr. Sirius! We would be delighted to pop some snacks up to the Gryffindor Tower in a jiffy!" Cilley said, bowing again.
"That would be lovely, Cilley, thank you," Sirius replied, voice still kind. "In the meantime, you wouldn't have any of those cranberry orange muffins leftover from breakfast, would you?"
"Of course, Mr. Sirius!" Cilley hurried off and James led them to a table, which sat under a replica of the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall.
"So this is your secret, hmm?" Sage asked with an edge of laughter in her voice as she sat down across from James. "How you lot always seem to have the best parties?"
"One of them, yes," Sirius said, plopping down next to her. "The booze, however, is a different secret. Though Moony and Wormtail should have taken care of that."
"What, are there secret passageways to the Three Broomsticks or something?" Sage asked sarcastically.
"Close," James hummed. "Honeydukes, among others."
"What?" Sage asked, aghast.
"Well, you know about the one going to the Shrieking Shack," Sirius said. James shot him a sharp look and he shrugged before continuing. "Logic deems that there are others."
"Well yes," Sage agreed. "If one should think more into it."
"How do you know…?" James trailed off.
"Circle of honesty, remember?" Sage joked before Sirius chimed in.
"I told her about the incident with Snivellus and Moony," Sirius said quietly. James stared hard at Sirius, who was staring hard at a burn spot in the table. His eyes flicked to Sage and she shook her head ever so slightly and grasped for a change of subject. This was afforded by Cilley, who arrived with a bundle of the cranberry orange muffins Sirius had asked for.
"Your muffins, Misters and Missus. The rest will arrive in the Gryffindor common room in five minutes!" Cilley squeaked.
"Thank you so much, Cilley," Sage said, grabbing the bundle and standing. The boys followed suit and followed her out of the kitchen, giving kind words and smiles to the bowing house elves. As they exited the portrait hole, Sage handed the bundle of muffins to Sirius, who shook his head and pushed it back into her arms.
"I got them for you," he said. "I noticed how much you liked them at breakfast." Sage stared at him.
"I—" Sage paused, mouth agape. He noticed?
"You ate at least three of them."
"Well, yes," she agreed, and then gained her composure. "But I can't possibly eat them all. Some of us have to watch their figure." Sirius ignored her pitiful joke and raked his eyes over said figure.
"Looks good to me," he said, shrugging.
"MOVING ON!" James screeched, causing Sage to jump and lose one of her muffins.
"Aw, you made me drop one," she pouted.
"You don't need it anyway. I don't know what Padfoot is talking about, you could afford to lose some—"
"Finish that sentence and die, James Hardwin," Sage growled.
"Oh look, we're nearly there!" Sirius cut in loudly, though they were only halfway from Gryffindor Tower. Sage glared at James and pulled a muffin out of the bundle, biting into it and staring at her brother defiantly.
"It's your arse that's going to suffer," James said, shrugging.
"Merlin Prongs, if you keep talking, I can't save you."
The celebration was in full swing by the time the trio made their way to the common room. There was a loud roar when they emerged from the portrait hole and by the number of people who congratulated Sage for her stellar performance, she had to admit that it wasn't just the appearance of the two most popular Marauders that elicited the response.
James spotted Lily with her friends and made a beeline towards her, while Mary MacDonald snatched Sirius up so quickly that Sage thought he had disapparated from her side until she saw his shaggy head bending down to fuse his lips to Mary's. Sage felt her stomach contract and her heart fly into her throat as she let herself be pulled deeper into the common room by the crowd. After a few dozen handshakes and slaps on the back, she found herself facing her dormmates.
"You were amazing!" Alice squealed, pulling Sage into a tight hug.
"Bloody fantastic," Kylie agreed, grinning at Sage. Sage glanced at Marlene, who gave her a begrudging smile.
"You played really well," Marlene said, before rushing off. Sage's heart soared at what she hoped was an olive branch, and offered the rest of her muffins to Alice and Kylie. She spent a few minutes discussing the match before she felt a presence at her shoulder.
"I thought Davies had me with that last feint," Sage admitted.
"Nah, you saw him from a mile away," Demetrius Johnson's deep voice said encouragingly. Sage turned and gave him a smile.
"Oh Alice, they have cauldron cakes! Let's get some!" Kylie said quickly, pulling Alice towards the massive snack table that had been filled seconds after Sage had arrived.
"So, how are you enjoying the party?" Demetrius asked.
"It's pretty good," Sage admitted. She eyed Demetrius' handsome face before adding in a fit of recklessness, "It's a little crowded though."
"Want to get out of here?" He asked with a grin.
"Hmm, I suppose," Sage said coyly. Demetrius studied her face before nodding and grabbing her hand. He pulled her through the common room and out into the deserted corridor before rounding on her.
"This is better, isn't it?" He asked, giving her a smile. Sage took great care in looking around replying.
"Better, yes, but it's still a little exposed, isn't it?" Her brazenness surprised even her, but Sage thought about the devastation she felt seeing with Sirius with Mary MacDonald earlier and felt her courage bolster.
"Yeah, it is a little exposed," Demetrius replied, his smile growing into another grin. He pulled on Sage's hand and led her down the corridor. He pushed open the door to the first deserted classroom he found. Sage settled on the nearest desk as he shut the door.
"So," he said, moving closer to her.
"So," Sage repeated with a sultry smile. Demetrius settled his body in between her legs, leaning so close, his hands hit the top of the desk and his face was inches from Sage's. She leaned forward until her lips brushed his, closing her eyes at the contact. Demetrius responded in kind, lips moving against hers roughly, hands settling on her waist. Sage was surprised by his aggressiveness and pulled back slightly, eyes opening. This is nothing like Sirius's kisses.
Enraged by the thought, by the fact she was comparing the two, she grabbed Demetrius by the back of the head and pulled his face back down to hers roughly. She opened her lips and let his tongue invade her mouth but the taste, his taste, was all wrong. He pulled her lower lip into his mouth, sucking and biting gently and she growled at how wrong it felt, how his perfectly-fine lips felt thin and unwelcome, how his hair felt short and coarse and not silky and long, how his smell was completely different and all wrong, dammit.
However, Demetrius took that growl as a moan of passion and directed his lips to her jaw, then her throat and Sage grasped at the back of his shirt, willing herself to forget that he was not as broad-shouldered or muscular as Sirius was.
Demetrius seemed to have no objection to Sage's body, however, as his hands traveled up her sides to her ribs, just a hair's breadth away from the swell of her breasts. His lips traveled just north of the sensitive spot on her neck and stayed there, sucking a little too hard. It was all wrong, and Sage was getting angrier by the minute, wanting it to feel lovely and perfect and just as right as Sirius' kiss had.
Sage tried to take control, arching her neck and scooting closer to Demetrius in hopes his lips would travel a bit lower. However, the movement brought something hard against her core and she froze. It was Demetrius' turn to growl as he gyrated against her. The next moment, before Sage could decide if she should shove him away or not, the door opened and Demetrius jumped back from her.
In the doorway stood Sirius and Mary fucking MacDonald. Everyone froze, staring at each other for a moment. Then Mary spoke.
"Whoops! It looks like this room is taken, Siri." Siri. Siri?!
"It does, indeed." Sirius' voice was wooden as he glared at Demetrius. He allowed Mary to pull him out of the room, leaving the door ajar.
Demetrius looked at Sage with a sheepish expression. "Er, this wasn't my intention. You're just so…" he trailed off, before clearing his throat. "I was actually going to ask you to the next Hogsmeade weekend."
"No worries," Sage said, jumping up. "I'll see you later."
"Er, yeah, of course," he replied slowly but Sage was already out of the classroom and hurrying back to the common room.
"Had a good time?" The Fat Lady asked, raising an eyebrow at Sage's disheveled appearance.
"Wiggenweld," Sage grumbled, ignoring the question and clambering into the portrait hole. She scanned the room and immediately found Kylie curled up with Remus on a couch near the fire and discussing something animatedly. She made a beeline toward the two.
"Sorry Lupin, but I need her. Best Friend duties and all," Sage said quickly, gaining the attention of the couple. Remus' mouth gaped but as his eyes flicked to her neck, he nodded quickly.
"Of course," he said, slanting a look at Kylie, who was staring at Sage's neck as well. He nudged her and she detangled herself from his grasp, before allowing herself to be pulled up the girl's staircase and into their dormitory.
"What happened?" Kylie asked immediately, settling herself onto her bed and scratching Lumos behind the ears as she curled into her owner's lap.
"Demetrius and I, er, snogged," Sage said.
"Is that why you have the love bite?" Kylie asked, and Sage's hand flew to her neck.
"Shit!" Sage squealed, running into the loo to look in the mirror. Sure enough, there was a red, slightly raised spot on her neck. Sage heaved a sigh.
"I think I have some bruise potion," She heard Kylie call from the dormitory. "I use it when I run into my trunk. Ah, yes, here it is." Sage took another good look at the love bite before returning to the room. Kylie held out the container and Sage took it before slathering the yellow paste onto her neck.
"Okay, spill," Kylie said, repositioning herself on her bed.
"So, yeah, he pulled me into the empty classroom down the corridor and we snogged. Then Sirius burst in with Mary MacDonald." Sage spat the name with as much venom as she could muster.
"And?" Kylie prompted when Sage didn't elaborate.
"And it felt wrong," Sage admitted. "The snogging. He was good, I guess, but he wasn't…"
"He wasn't Sirius?" Kylie supplied. Sage nodded, then flung herself on the bed, burying her face in Kylie's duvet.
"I don't know what I'm going to do!" Sage cried, face still buried.
"Well," Kylie hedged. "Was it enjoyable at all?"
"Not really," Sage said. "I tried to take control and then, I felt his, you know…"
"Erection?" Kylie deadpanned. "Yes, that happens sometimes, especially when a boy is feeling, you know, aroused."
"Thanks for that clarification," Sage snarked, turning to shoot a glare at Kylie, who was smiling. "Here I thought he stuffed his wand down his pants."
"Nope, just a different wand," Kylie said, grinning.
"Have you seen Remus' wand?" Sage asked with a cheeky smile. Kylie's smile slid off her face as her cheeks heated. "Oh my god, you have!"
"What Remus and I do is none of your business!" Kylie said quickly. "What we really need to be discussing is that you'd rather feel Sirius' wand."
"Shut up!" Sage hissed, looking round at the door to make sure nobody, especially Marlene, had opened the door.
"Well, I'm right, aren't I?" Sage groaned and flopped over onto her back, staring at the ceiling of Kylie's four-poster.
"Say that you are," Sage said. "What can I do about it? Especially with Mary bloody MacDonald around?"
"Tell him how you feel?" Kylie asked.
"And ruin everything?" Sage replied, shaking her head. "No, it's not worth it."
"It's not worth what?"
"Losing him," Sage sighed. "What if James had a fit? What if we broke up? His track record isn't exactly great, you know."
"James wouldn't have a fit," Kylie said firmly. "And you're different than every other girl he's been with."
"How do you know?"
"Because, you're you," Kylie insisted. "He cares for you. That wouldn't change."
"Okay, what if I mess up?" Sage asked. "It's not like I've had a lot of experience. What if he gets bored with me? I'm still a virgin, for Merlin's sake!"
"He wouldn't."
"You can't know that for sure." Kylie heaved a huge sigh and laid back on her pillows.
"Of course not. But I doubt he'd have a problem with it. We're all virgins once." Sage blew a raspberry before covering her face with her hands.
"Do you think Mary MacDonald is?" She asked in a small voice.
"I don't know," Kylie said slowly. "I doubt it."
"See?" Sage screeched, flinging her hands from her face. "She has to be more experienced than I am!"
"I don't think it matters, Sage," Kylie stated. "He cares for you."
"Then why is he snogging her?" Sage asked timidly.
"I don't know, maybe the same reason you're snogging Demetrius?"
"I don't know why I did that," Sage admitted. "I think I just wanted to get Sirius out of my head. He was the one to give me those muffins, you know." Kylie made an encouraging noise. "But why was he going to a secluded classroom with Mary MacDonald? She must have something I don't."
"She doesn't," Kylie said immediately. "She's a mediocre witch and she's not even as pretty as you."
"She really isn't, is she?" Sage snickered, then felt sickened with herself. "Ugh, I hate that I'm being like this! She is pretty! And really nice, for all accounts. It's not her fault that Sirius is being a berk."
"See, that's one thing she doesn't have," Kylie said encouragingly. "Compassion. A level head. Because you know she wouldn't be saying the same about you if the tables were turned."
"Maybe not," Sage hummed. "What should I do? About Demetrius and everything. He asked me to Hogsmeade, you know."
"What did you say?" Kylie asked immediately.
"I didn't say anything," Sage sighed.
"Well, I would suggest sleeping on it. You're too confused to make an informed, rational decision about this." Sage heaved another huge sigh and nodded.
"I think I'll do that. Thanks for the potion and the counsel."
"Anytime," Kylie said brightly. Sage gave her a grin before climbing off her bed.
"I'm going to take a shower. Go back to Lupin and tell him I owe him some Honeyduke's chocolate for stealing you away."
"You're not stealing; you have first dibs in a crisis. But he won't say no to chocolate." Sage let out a laugh and started walking towards the loo.
"Enjoy his wand!" She called, just as she shut the door, laughing loudly when she heard something bang against the door. Sage peeled off her clothes and turned the shower on to full blast before climbing under the spray. She didn't have to make any big decisions just yet; she could deal with everything tomorrow. In the meantime, she hoped the shower would clear her head and the bruise potion would clear up the love bite because she'd never live it down if James saw it.