PLEASE READ AS REQUEST OF AUTHOR! THANK YOU VERY MUCH!
A/N: (Hello my dear and faithful readers. I know it's been a while and I feel really bad, but this chapters good. I hope. The ending's going to shock you half to death anyway. OH, AND SURPRISE! I know I didn't even mention this but this installment ends in such an awesome cliffie that this is going to be the last one in this fanfic! Which means you'll have to wait until the sequel to see what happens! Mwuhahahaha. Sorry, I'm feeling rather evil tonight. Anywayz, enjoy! Laterz and thanks for reading! -Writing Fairy-)
Chapter 10, Old Lives to Leave Behind
Darkness flooded the area for many moments.
"Harry?" Hermione squeaked from somewhere near his knees.
"Yeah?" He whispered. Speaking louder always seemed to lead to trouble.
"What are we going to do?" Ron asked from somewhere behind him.
"Oh, this is ridiculous!" Hermione finally snapped, Harry saw a spark of gold then she murmured, "Lumos!"
The tip of her wand lighted, illuminating a slim hallway with perfectly painted green walls. There were no doors to speak of except for the front door and no windows to be seen. There didn't seem to be any form of lights around the area either which puzzled Harry to no end.
"Wotcher Harry, Ron, Hermione. Now that's a bit better isn't it?"
They all froze. Who had said that?
"Calm down." the voice laughed, "It's just me." Suddenly a blaring light flooded into the dark abyss and they all flinched and covered their eyes. Hermione was the first one to pull her hands away from her contracting pupils. She blinked a few times and glanced around until her gaze fell upon a slight woman with dark green eyes and pitch black hair.
"Wotcher, would you like to tell me what you're doing on the floor?" Sage asked with a small tilted smile on her red lips as she helped Hermione up. She reached for Harry and Ron but they declined and instead decided to wobble on their feet as they stood up, their eyes still adjusting to the brightness of the once dim hall. Hermione surveyed Sage critically. She was rather tall, a little over Ron's height, and wore black dress pants and a silver off the shoulder top that accentuated the darkness of her hair. Her robe was an ink green color that matched her eyes almost perfectly and she wore a pair of heeled black boots. All in all she looked very professional, but you could see how young she was especially on her face. Ron and Harry started drooling almost immediately.
"We were trying to get away from some death eaters and, well, Mystic-" Hermione began trying to sound smooth but she was pretty confused herself.
"Mystic dropped this and we let ourselves in." Harry finished handing her the key. She took it and glanced at it before pressing it inside one of her pockets.
"We apologize for intruding." Hermione spoke almost immediately after him What were they thinking just letting themselves in someone else's house? They didn't even know Sage!
"Ah. So that's where that tricky fiend has been." Sage grinned. "I have nearly ten letters for that sneaky owl to deliver now. But I suppose his disappearance was for the best." She paused, mused over something for a moment before calling lightly, "Mystic!"
The gray owl swooped in and dropped a lock of pink hair into Sage's outstretched hand.
"I don't understand your avid fascination with Tonks' hair." Sage smiled, shaking her head. The bird landed on her arm and cooed lightly, "Yes, I know it happens to be pink but if you pull anymore of her locks out she's going to be bald." Coo, coo, "Yes, yes, I know I asked for confirmation but-" Coo, coo, cooooo, "Alright, alright. I'm sorry about the misunderstanding. Just no more hair deliveries. I have enough to make a wig." Mystic gave them all a triumphant look before alighting upon Sage's head and grooming the various curly locks. Harry, Ron, and Hermione were speechless.
Sage grinned, "Come now. No need to stand in this uncomfortably tight hallway. I have dinner ready for you." And with that she walked off down the hall and disappeared through a door. They scrambled to follow after glancing at each other nervously.
Surprise immediately overtook them as they entered a large fabulous dining hall. The table at the center was beautifully laid with a gold table cloth and abound with food.
Sage was already sitting at the end of the table, nonchalantly sipping soup while fingering through some envelopes sitting next to her place. Sage looked up and laughed, "Come now, don't be shy! I've made enough for us all." before turning back to the apparently intriguing letter she was reading. They walked forward, Hermione admiring the perfectly painted walls with their unique and rather antique design. The boys were more focused on the various dishes placed around the long table. Soup was already placed in front of their respected places and they sat down, Hermione on Sage's right, Harry on her left and Ron next to him.
"I must admit the soup is very tasty. An old family recipe." Sage informed them rather distractedly as she finished the letter with a slight frown, but it disappeared as she reached the very end letting out a sigh of relief, "Glad that's all over." She commented, folding the parchment and slipping it back into its envelope. She was about to set it down when she smirked. "Why not?" She asked, not them it seemed, but more rhetorical, tossed it high into the air and pointed her wand at it.
It exploded in a shower of blue lights, almost like a fire work, but the spray was of little stars showing everywhere, not dotted tentacles. It was beautiful. "Tells you so much about a person's magic, the color of the explosion of their note." She commented absently, opening another in the hefty pile next to her.
"Bloody hell." Ron said shocked, his jaw dropping. Sage gave him an odd look before glancing at all three of them and said, in an exasperated tone, "Please, I know you're hungry. It's not poisoned. I promise." They just looked at her, "Would Tonks- no, would Moody- let you come if I couldn't be trusted?" She revised with a slight laugh.
Hermione smiled, "No, I suppose not. It's just rather...awkward. We don't know much about you..."
"Oh, my dear, before you leave you will know more than you would like. But for now, please, eat." Sage's smile was soft, but there was grimness behind it that made them rather uneasy. But, regardless, Hermione took a bite of the soup, "It's great." She complimented.
"Glad you think so." Sage grinned, flicking her attention to her guest for a moment before returning her gaze to the parchment she had flattened out on the table.
Suddenly an alarm sounded but Sage didn't even react. All three of them jumped, Harry spilling all the soup from his spoon onto his lap, "Not to worry!" Sage exclaimed, flicking her wand at his shirt. It dried immediately and the faint smell of violets reached their noses. She returned to her letter as they waited, the alarm getting louder and higher in frequency, finally she sighed, looked up from her letter about to stand up but stopped when a looking glass floated in flashing brightly. "I'm sorry. If this mirror doesn't freak out at least once every day it would worry me." She apologized with a wry smile. The glass stopped in front of her and with a very urgent look to it. She glanced at it, laughed, and told it, "You are rather late this time. I have already acknowledged their presence and have identified them as guests." The thing made a very 'hmph' -like sound and shut off it's alarm before floating away, it's frame held high.
"Crazy senile old piece of fogged up junk." She muttered rather jokingly shaking her head. She looked up with her piercing green eyes, "It was showing me you three. It's supposed to alert me to intruders right away but the thing's rather mental." She paused, "Have you finished you soup?" They nodded rather slowly, completely astonished. "Fantastic!" She grinned and immediately their bowls floated out of the room in a fanciful fashion, "On to the next course." She said nonchalantly, already immersed in her next letter. Knifes and forks flew from down the hall cutting up various things and standing around their plates. Sage nodded randomly as the knives and forks stopped in front of her. Suddenly she looked up and said, "Oh, I'm terribly sorry. If you want it just say yes or nod and it will set it down for you." She paused, "If you want more just say 'more'. Saying please also makes them a bit more compliant." Immediately after saying this she returned to her very pressing mail.
"Uhm...yes...no...yes please...no thank you...yes please." Hermione said oddly to the utensils offering her various things. In the end she had roasted turkey, mashed potatoes, and broccoli on her plate in healthy portions. Harry wasn't bad portion wise either, but Ron's plate was loaded with food and still coming, "How do I get them to stop!" He cried wildly as they started flinging food at him.
"I told you it would help if you said please." Sage grinned, "Please stop." She said slowly and articulately. "Thank you." She told the stationary utensils. "Please clean up your mess." Immediately the flying silverware speared itself some napkins and some tongs hauled up a pitcher of water. The mess was cleaned up before they could even follow what was happening, Ron's plate left with a large portion of food in their respected places on his plate.
"That's a neat trick." Harry commented weakly.
"You learn a few things over the years." She smiled slightly not looking up. She seemed like a very kind but very detached person as far as the three were concerned, but for the most part she was an interest and a high curiosity subject.
It was just then that Mystic flew in hooting urgently. Sage snapped up concerned. "What is it Mystic?" She asked tensely. It was then that Harry, Ron, and Hermione realized just how much she trusted and relied on her owl. How much a part of her life he was.
Mystic dropped the letter in her lap and hooted loudly, his dark brow furrowed. She instantly tore it open, read it once, read it again, and finally swore loudly. Mystic hooted again, this time an agitated squawk. "This isn't good." was all Sage said, but her voice cracked as tears welled in her eyes and ran down her cheeks, mascara running in black streaks. Then she looked up and said quietly, a sadness and a hardness filling her voice, "You-you have a right to know." She slid note to the middle of the table and Hermione snatched it. Harry and Ron scrambled around the table, yelling, "Hermione!"
Together they read the parchment, a dread looming over them. The writing was thick and faded with tears:
Sage, I'm sorry that I have to be the one to tell you this. It makes it all the harder. Some tragic things have been happening in just the past few hours, it had almost been like evil has been on a rampage. Hundreds have been killed. I know the three are with you at the moment, it is up to you if they should be told like this but...here goes. The Death Eaters, they swarmed everywhere, this began only a few minutes maybe a half an hour ago, right after I sent the three to you. We had no time to contact anyone else. Their were dementors and giants and...god help me...inferius. Among the injured were: Knightly, Mrs. Weasley, and Lupin. Ginny is not fairing well either, but we hope for a recovery, as of the moment she is in a coma. And Sage, there's something...else. There were a few...deaths.
The hand holding the pen became very unsteady at this point.
This might come as a shock. The deaths include...Hallie, honey, I am so sorry, I knew you two were close, I never knew her well, but now...now I wish I had known something about her. And...this one's going to hurt more...Moody. And that's not all...god I wish that was all...Charlie and Arthur Weasley.
Tonks.
