saige | t.lupin

christmas

Teddy was always excited for Christmas holidays. Not only did he get to see his family and finally be granted relief from the unrelenting preparation for his OWL exams, the snow was one of the many things in life that he took great delight in. The thought of the approaching break was about the only thing keeping him sane as he continued his final rounds with Pucey. He'd initially thought the girl was rather shy, but was subsequently proven wrong as she hadn't stopped mindlessly yabbering for the whole hour thy had been patrolling. The girl wouldn't even let him get a word in, although it was not as if he particularly wanted to talk to her. He hummed in response so something the girl was ranting about, potions maybe? But his mind was preoccupied with hunting down the person that swapped their rounds with Pucey. He knew that the girl was originally supposed to be partnered with Boot, he would ask him. As they neared the end of their rounds, Teddy kindly offered to walk the girl to the Slytherin common room, the girl gushing in his politeness. Bidding goodbye as they reached the dungeons, Teddy put his hands in his pockets. How do those Slytherins not freeze to death down here in the winter? he thought to himself. 

The next day Teddy went to seek out the Ravenclaw prefect responsible for his night with Pucey. 

"Boot!" he called out once he spotted the boys mop of dark hair. He was sat at a table in the courtyard with Nott and Stirling as they sat around a small fire one of them had conjured. The boy whipped his head around at the call of his name and his eyes set on the Hufflepuff approaching him. 

"Can I help you, Lupin?"

"Yes you can actually," he huffed. "Would you happen to know why I was partnered with Pucey for my rounds last night? The girl talked my bloody ear off."

"Oh, right," Fletcher stammered, racking his brilliant Ravenclaw mind for a feasible excuse. "Well, you see, I had Saige swap with her because.." the boy paused for a split second before finally landing on the response he was looking for. "Because you and Saige hate each other right?" he said, pleased with himself. Saige raised an eyebrow slightly at the boys words, but was still bright enough to realise that the boy didn't want word getting around about Pucey's attraction for him. 

"Is that right, Stirling?" Teddy confronted, turning his attention to the girl focusing on keeping her fire alive. 

"Maybe we'll leave you two to discuss," Alex finally chimed in, dragging Boot with him.

"Oi, you two!" Saige called after them, giving up when it was evident that they were going to continue to ignore her. She turned to face the boy as he sat on the other side of the table, starting her down. They sat in awkward silence before Teddy finally broke the quiet. 

"Do you really hate me?" he blurted out, not really thinking about what he was saying. "I mean, I know we've never really been friends or anything and we have had some differences but I didn't think..." he trailed off, a look that Saige could've sworn was sadness crossed his face briefly. "I didn't think that anyone had ever hated me." he concluded. She sat quietly for a moment as the boy searched her features for a flicker of emotion to no avail. 

"I don't hate you Lupin," she spoke. Teddy expected her to continue, but she didn't, immersing the two in silence once again. 

"Ok," he responded. When he realised that Saige was not going to say anything else, he decided to tempt a conversation. 

"Are you all packed for Christmas holidays then?" he asked.

"I'm not going home for Christmas," she said, offering no further explanation. 

"Oh, so you're just going to stay in the castle all by yourself?" he quizzed.

"Don't make it sound like so much fun," she replied sarcastically. 

"Right, sorry." The two stared into the fire that Saige was keeping alive, both aware of the question scratching at Teddy's conscience. "Why?"

Saige contemplated her response for a while. She obviously wasn't going to tell him the truth, that her parents anger grew out of their control at the mere sight of her and she wasn't up for another screaming match right now. Instead she settled on something else, not a lie, but not the complete truth. 

"My parents don't want me home," she stated plainly. Shock crossed Teddy's features as he stammered, losing his words. 

"Wha- why? They're your parents, how could they not want to see you?"

"My magic is a tough spot for my family, my dad's a muggle, you see," Saige didn't know why she was telling him this, but something in her wanted, needed, some sort of outlet. "He doesn't particularly like the fact that his wife and daughter are witches, so I generally stay away incase I start an argument." 

"Oh," he spoke, unsure of how to approach the side of the girl he had never seen before. "Well, you can always come stay with my family, I'm sure they'd love to have you," he offered tentatively. Saige chuckled in response. 

"Thank you for the offer, its very kind of you," she said sincerely. "But you have no need to pity me, besides, I don't think that Mr Potter would be very happy if I came to stay with you."

"Harry? He loves everyone, why would he have a problem with you?"

"I think he knows my father," she replied simply. Teddy decided not to push any further in fear of the girl shutting him out. This was the most he'd ever heard the girl talk about herself, her life. It was slightly jarring. 

"Do you like the snow?" she suddenly asked, pulling him out of his thoughts.

"I do, Winter is my favourite time of the year," he replied. 

"Me too," she spoke quietly, looking upwards as small snowflakes fell onto her eyelashes. Teddy couldn't deny that the girl was beautiful, everyone knew it. However, as he watched her smile softly at the small pieces of snow that littered her hair, he couldn't help but grin at her. 

"What?" she asked, noticing his gaze on her.

"You know Stirling, I don't think I've ever seen you so at peace," he spoke. "You're usually running off to the library or quidditch practice or prefect duties, it's nice.

"I suppose you're right," she responded with a sad smile that almost instantly disappeared off her face as she quelled her emotions. "I do like to keep myself busy." The pair settled into a comfortable silence as they both watched the snow fall. Saige's fire burned contently as she used her wand to prod at it, making the flames dance in the cold. 

"The trains coming soon, you should probably go sort your things," Saige suggested, looking across the table to Teddy.

"Yeah, thanks," he replied. He stood up and started walking away. After a few steps, he paused and turned back to the girl. 

"Bye, Stirling," he said. 

"Bye Lupin," she responded. Once again he turned to make his way back to his common room to collect his stuff, leaving Saige sitting alone at her table. She sat for a few minutes after he left in the now desolate courtyard before extinguishing her flame and venturing back to her dorm, ready for another two weeks of wandering around the empty castle all by herself.