Where The Sage Shrubs Grow,

Chapter 78

Sage's POV:
It was the day of the Gryffindor VS Slytherin quidditch game. The one Fred had been talking about non stop, the one Oliver had been making them run extra laps for. Just one problem, I wasn't able to go like I had promised.

Snape had assigned me to help tutor a first year student at the same time as the game. I had tried to convince him to schedule a different time but I guess he assumed since it wasn't my house playing then it didn't matter.

I had told Fred this, he was disappointed obviously but he understood. I dragged myself out of bed and to my closet to throw on some comfy clothes, I didn't know how long I would be studying for. Ironically enough my comfy outfit turned out to be a pair of short shorts that I promised Fred I would never wear out and one of his jumpers.

I looked like I had no pants on but I was too tired to care. It was also a Saturday so none of the staff cared either and Umbitch was too busy micro managing the quidditch arrangements to notice a student in booty shorts. I stopped by the Hall for my daily cup of coffee, textbooks and notes tucked under my arm.

I had wanted to wish Fred good luck but after fifteen minutes and waiting till I was almost late, I didn't see him. I rushed off too the library before I saw any of my friends.
"Good morning." I smiled at the little first year

Poor thing looked like a deer in headlights. She'll get the hang of it soon enough.
"Hello-" she squealed "y-you're very pretty."
"Awe, thank you." I sat down in the chair next to her
"So I heard you were having problems in potions."
She nodded shyly.

"That's alright, there's nothing to be embarrassed about. I was never very good at mathematics myself." I said trying to put her at ease. Another reason for dressing so casually.

After about an hour she warmed up to me, I found out her name was Beth. I couldn't help but think of the dear sister who died in little women and one of Shakespeare's many writings Macbeth. But I found the name wonderfully lovely. She was also the sweetest first year I had ever met. I wanted to take her home with me, she was precious.

We stayed in that library for hours, until it was finally 1:30 and we went to lunch, only to return once lunch was over. This poor girl, she looked even more tired than I felt.
"No,no it's that one." I said explaining to her how she got the question
I had never seen someone so confused before. It didn't matter how I explained it she just didn't get it.

Minutes turned into an hour, an hour turned into hours. I still hadn't seen any of my friends and I didn't know how the quidditch match went. I regretted telling everyone to not bother me today. We studied right into and all through dinner time. I felt horrible, the poor thing was probably starving.

She seemed determined though. No matter how many times she got something wrong she would continue working at it until she had it right. I finally forced her to stop for the night when I checked my watch and it read 11:56. I had kept her way too late, I gave her a paper with a note on it in case she got stopped and sent her on her way.

I cleaned up the table we had been using, putting all the books back, cleaning up my papers, throwing away all my empty coffee cups and her juice boxes. I bid Madam Pince a goodnight and left. I was excited to hear about the quidditch match, if Fred wasn't asleep already.

The halls were empty except for a few students lingering, despite Umbridge, curfew had still remained pretty flexible.
"I can't believe Gryffindor lost." I heard a student murmur
I couldn't believe what I had heard, surely not. They had some if not the best players out of all the teams.

I headed to my dorm to change pants before heading over to the twins dorm, where I assumed Fred was. I crept up the stairs and gently opened the door expecting Hallie to be fast asleep in bed.

When I opened the door I was greeted by a dark dorm room, as I expected. What I hadn't expected was Fred to be sitting in the desk chair next to my bed. I jumped back slightly and gasped.
"Merlin Fred you scared me!" I placed a hand to my chest
"Where have you been?" His jaw flexed

"Fred, I was tutoring a first year. You know this already."
"Until midnight?" His eyes darkened
"Yes."
Fred was twisting one of his rings around his finger.
"We lost the match." His tongue gliding over his canines
He was wearing his school uniform, only he had lost the robe and the jumper. His tie hung loosely around his neck and his shirt was partly unbuttoned.

He looked like he was going to eat me. He looked like a predator. He looked angry. I nervously backed up, my hip hitting the doorframe. Sure I had seen him get mad over loosing a quidditch match, but never this angry.
"What did I tell you about those shorts?" He growled sitting forward
His movements were slow, as if he wanted me to notice the way his fist was flexing, or the way his chest rose and fell deeply.

My eyes widened, suddenly aware of what I was wearing. I started slowly backing up out of the room into the hall. Fred shot up out of the chair taking three fast strides to reach me. I backed up faster until my back hit the stairway railing. He gripped my jaw harshly, the cold feeling of his rings burning into my skin.
"Or do you just enjoy pissing me off more?"

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