Chapter 5: Sage and Severus

Disclaimer: I wish I owned Harry Potter and Co. but I do not! HP belongs to JKR.

Sage and Severus

As soon as Sage exited the doors to the classroom, he grabbed a hold of his stomach. He suddenly wasn't feeling too well, and he wasn't sure if it was because he had used wandless magic for a very powerful curse or for some other reason. His lungs grabbed at the air around him as he walked away as fast as he could. The weight of his bag on his shoulder grew heavier as he walked. He considered where he should go. To the bathroom? No, he'd be by himself, and he was not sure what was happening to him. If he had learned one thing, it was to never be alone during these times when he could lapse into a vision. To the headmaster? No, that would mean he had to climb stairs. Instead he took the stairs two at a time on his way down to the potion's classroom, trying very hard not to lose his lunch.

He opened the door to the classroom slightly and poked his head in. Immediately, Professor Snape turned with a poisonous stare at the person who had dared to interrupt his class. When he saw Sage, his face went rather slack. Sage watched as his uncle instructed his advanced 7th year class and threatened them with a months worth of detention should any of them fool around while he was gone.

"Why aren't you in class?" Severus hissed at Sage out in the hallway. His dark eyes were like bullets aiming straight at Sage.

"Sir, I think I'm gonna be sick," he groaned.

Severus opened the door to his rooms. Sage slid passed him and made a b-line for the bathroom.

Sage grabbed a firm hold of the toilet and emptied his stomach in a series of powerful heaving.

The professor rubbed his eyes with his left hand as he stood at the doorway to the bathroom. *Do I look like a Medi-Witch?* he thought. As Sage laid his head on the toilet in apparent misery, Severus took a step into the bathroom.

"Was this so important that you felt the need to interrupt my class. This is what Pomfrey's here for," he said bitterly. He raised his eyebrow at Sage waiting for an answer.

Sage pushed back from the toilet and sat against the wall. He took a deep breath and ran his hands from his pink face all the way through his black hair. His head was pulsating as if it were actually his heart.

"Well?" He asked loudly, making Sage's head reel.

"Sir, you're going to be really angry with me."

Severus crossed his arms and stared down his nose at Sage. The boy craned his neck to look up and then pursed his lips. His uncle looked so huge when he was sitting at his feet on the floor. The scowl on Snape's face grew larger.

"Get on with it then, the longer you skirt the issue, the angrier I'm going to get."

Sage put his head down, allowing his hair to fall haphazardly over his forehead. He raised his eyes and looked at the professor through his hair.

"I cast an Unforgiveable." he said as quietly as he could manage.

Severus's eyes popped open, "You did WHAT?"

He stalked forward, leaned down, grabbed Sage's shoulders, and shook him violently.

"I, well, he tried to curse me, and next thing I knew his wand was in my hand and. I'm gonna be sick again."

"WHO?" he asked as he stopped shaking his nephew.

Sage did not answer him, he was too busy retching again. Then his voice echoed from the toilet bowl. "He started berating me about knowing the Unforgiveables and that you must have taught me. I got angry and told him you hadn't. But, he wouldn't get off it. He said you were obsessed with Dark Arts and that all Dark Wizards do. When I told him off and said that he had probably killed more people than many Death Eaters, he tried to curse me. So I reacted."

Severus grabbed him by the hair and pulled his head away from the porcelain bowl.

"You REACTED! Gods, if I don't kill you first! You cast an Unforgiveable on an EX-AUROR!"

A look of panicked confusion came of Sage's face. "What? Sir, what are you talking about? I cast an Unforgiveable on a rat."

Severus dropped Sage's hair and put his hands on his hips, taking in a great gust of breath.

"A rat, you killed a RAT. For someone who does not want his uncle to die, you sure seem intent on trying to do it yourself. Why didn't you say you killed a rat?"

Sage swayed slightly from a nausea-induced vertigo. The colors swirled in his vision and the air smelt of strange fumes.

"I didn't get that far, sir."

Severus paced around in front of Sage, staring down at him from time to time. His nephew had threatened a professor, an ex-Auror at that. Not that it did not make him feel slightly smug that Moody was bested by a fifteen-year-old, let alone a fifteen-year-old nephew of his. He glared back down at Sage, who happened to be eying him cautiously. Sage had never been able to do spells of that caliber without either a gesture or a wand before, and not saying the incantation made it even more shocking. Severus found himself to be both pleased and perturbed.

Sage had lent a hand to the appearances that needed to be maintained. Threatening an Auror was definitely a Death Eater type of thing to do. The students, and Moody as well, could only think that Sage had been influenced by his Head-of-Slytherin uncle. And his ability to perform the spell had likely made everyone believe that Severus really had taught him the Unforgivables.

Severus could not begin to imagine what the headmaster would say about the incident. It was true that Moody should not have tried to curse a student, but Sage's behavior was just as deplorable. He was a student after all.

Snape stopped pacing and stood in front of Sage. The boy was nearly glazed over and sitting still and silent on the couch.

"What you did was wrong, no doubt. You could have actually hurt someone had you not hit the rat as you had intended. You should know better than to trust your ability to focus with a curse you have never done before. Did you even think that you could have killed someone?"

"No, sir, I was just angry. I know it was wrong. I just knew I could do it, and I wanted to make a point. I didn't like what he was insinuating about you, about us."

Snape crossed his arms, "Well you certainly proved his point for him, didn't you?"

Sage clenched his jaw tighter. He hadn't thought of it that way.

"You allow your emotions to get in the way. You betray yourself to your opponent too much. You must strive to have your enemy underestimate you, that gives you leverage. The only good thing that came of this is that I now know that you can protect yourself. If you are capable of using Avada Kedavra then you are capable of things much greater than you have shown me in your lessons. That part is not acceptable."

Sage simply stared back at him, not moving a muscle.

"Consider, you successfully blocked a spell from an ex-Auror and managed to deprive him of his wand without gesture, incantation, or even seeming intention. Second, consider, you got angry and then cast an Unforgiveable, certainly a mistake. Had you stopped after disarming him and had simply walked out, you would have done better. I would be happy with you. However, your lack of control is dangerous, and you know that lack of control is not acceptable to me. It never has been."

"I know sir, I'm sorry, I got carried away," he answered quietly. He anticipated the worst.

Severus narrowed his eyes at him and crossed his arms across his chest. His nephew was getting better at looking back at him in the eyes, but he hadn't managed to conceal the fact that he was afraid of what was going to happen.

A/N

To All - I am glad Sage shocked you a little bit. ;-) I have not decided exactly what will happen nexy although I do have an idea about what Snape is going to do and say.

Read it, Review it! Thank you! I love reading your notes of what you liked or didn't!