Sage | H. GRANGER

four

Sage walked slowly to Umbridge's office, not wanting to see what was in store for her. She knew that there was something more than simple line writing. Dolores Umbridge was a vicious woman underneath her exaggerated perky shell. Sage could see right through her and in all honesty, she was scared. As she approached the office, she saw a figure heading her way. She figured it was Harry who had also gotten a detention that day. As they both stopped in front of the door , she nodded in acknowledgement. Harry stared at her for a split second, before completely ignoring her again. Sage had internally scoffed. It was typical of a Gryffindor to practically spit on a Slytherin. But, Sage didn't mind.

    A tapping on the office door brought Sage out of her trance. Her head snapped to Harry who had his hand raised, knocking on the door. Sage had gulped down the anxiety that had threatened to spill out. The tinge of fear began brewing in the pit of her stomach. She wasn't like Harry who stood off at the side, waiting for the door to open. She was scared of Umbridge. Sage could sense that Umbridge wasn't normal. She could tell that Umbridge was cruel. So when the light, shrill, voice of Professor Umbridge beckoning them to come into her office.

    When the two students stepped foot into the office, surprise and a hint of disgust was painted on their faces. The walls were coated with a sugary pink paint and plates with moving pictures of kittens lined the walls. Two desks stood in front of Umbridge's desk, with single pieces of parchment and two blood red quills. Sage stared at the quill on her desk as Umbridge ordered them to sit down. They looked familiar to Sage, but she couldn't quite remember where she had seen them.

    "Now, Mr. Potter, i want you to write 'I must not tell lies'. As for you, Ms. Whitaker-" Umbridge had spat out her name with a fury that sent chills down Sage's spine. "I would like you to write, "I must not disrespect my elders."

    "Professor, you didn't give us any ink." Harry said a-matter-of-factly.

    Umbridge smirked a chilling smirk. "You won't need any."

    "How long do we do this for?" Sage had asked annoyed.

    "Let's say, until the message sinks in." That's when it dawned on Sage. The color drained from her flushed face. Shakily, she grabbed the quill and began writing. Sage gasped silently as she wrote lines. As she wrote, a prickling sensation began to burn her free hand. The words she wrote began to magically carve into her hand. She stopped writing and glanced up towards Umbridge who didn't seem to notice her. Sage looked to her right at Harry who was clenching his hand in pain. He looked up at her and saw the pure pain on her face. Sage looked back down and began writing again. The pain felt as if fire flowed through her veins and was wrapping around her erratically beating heart. Blood spilled from the words that cut themselves into her porcelain hand. Sage had tried her hardest to hold down the tears, but they flowed freely like a raging river. After filling pages with lines and the cuts growing deeper, groans of pain escaped the two students, causing Umbridge to smile triumphantly.

    "Now, that will be enough. I do hope you understand that I will not stand for this type of behavior from you. Especially you, Ms. Whitaker. Your parents will be informed of your outburst. I expected more from a Slytherin, especially and Whitaker." Sage clenched her teeth, trying to prevent herself from gaining another detention. Anger burned through her veins, and all Sage saw was red. With a tight smile, Umbridge dismissed them.

    Tears of anger fell from her eyes as she hurried out of the office with Harry not to far behind.

    "Whitaker." Harry had called out in a quiet, wavering voice. Sage stopped walking and turned around to face him.

    "What, Potter?" She said quietly, but with spite, averting her eyes from his.

    "Are you okay?"

    "No, i'm not, but i have to be. We have to be." With that being said, she turned swiftly and began her trek to the Slytherin common room.

    Harry watched as she walked towards the dungeons. He nodded to himself, understanding her words. As much as Harry wanted to deny it, she was right, they had to be okay. With Umbridge as a professor, things were changing at Hogwarts and they all needed to be okay.

    When Sage opened the door to the Slytherin Common Room, she immediately noticed the head of platinum blond hair that was seated on the couch in front of the green fire. Draco had stayed up waiting for Sage to come back for detention. But, when she did he didn't expect to see her tear-stricken face and trembling hands. Rushing forward, Draco had enveloped the nearly hysterical girl in his arms. Sage had clutched onto his shirt, gripping tightly, but immediately letting go. She gasped loudly at the pain that rushed up her arm. Draco noticed and grabbed her arm, lifting her sleeve. The sight he saw made anger flush throughout his body. Sage's hand a raw and bleeding. But, he could clearly see the words, "I must not disrespect my elders", carved in to her hand in her own hand writing. Draco tensed and pulled her into him. Sage could feel the anger radiating off of him and in a way, it comforted her to know that someone cared about her.

++

    The night faded into day and Sage was forced to awaken once again and go to class. Draco did his best to talk to the Whitaker girl, but she stayed silent. It was unnerving, because you would never catch Sage Whitaker without a smile or a smirk on her lips, but now she was just cold. What Umbridge had done to Sage and Harry had really taken a toll on her. Draco was worried about his friend, but he knew there wasn't anything that he could do if she wouldn't talk to him.

    Sage knew that Draco was worried about her, but she didn't want to bother him. Sage was tired. She hadn't gotten any sleep since her detention with Umbridge. It was different for Harry who was seated with Ron and Hermione at the Gryffindor table in the great hall. She watched as he conversed with his friends lightly and wondered why it couldn't be as easy for her as it was for him. Sage could feel his eyes glancing up at her every few seconds. She wondered if he could see her pain seeping through the cracks of her armor. Sage looked up when she heard the shrill voice of Umbridge bouncing off the walls of the Hall.

    "Pardon me, Professor, but what exactly are you insinuating?" She had sneered towards Professor McGonagall. Sage had stood with other students and walked out of the Hall, watching the two Professors argue on the staircase. Sage raised a brow and looked towards Harry who was also watching the brewing argument.

    "I am merely requesting that when it comes to the students, that you conform to the prescribed disciplinary practices." the head of the Gryffindor house had said back with just as much fire.

    Umbridge's eyes widened at McGonagall's words. "So silly of me, but it sounds as if you're questioning my authority in my own classroom-" Umbridge had paused and glanced around the onlooking students. She stepped up a step to make herself tower over McGonagall. "-Minerva."

    "Not at all, Dolores,-" McGonagall answered, also stepping up a step. "- merely your medieval methods."

Umbridge scoffed in disbelief. "I am sorry, dear. But to question my practices is to question the Ministry and by extension, the minister himself. I am a tolerant woman, but the one thing I will not stand for is disloyalty.

"Disloyalty?" Gaped McGonagall, stepping down as if Umbridge's words had physically struck her.

"Things at Hogwarts are far worse than I feared. Cornelius will want to take immediate action." Umbridge had finished, gazing upon the students who watched with a fearful eye. Sage looked towards Harry once again, but quickly moved her gaze when he looked back at her. She looked towards Draco who stood behind her and moved closer to him. She hooked her arm through his and began to lead him to the common room, away from the hectic hall. But, if Sage had let her gaze linger on the Golden Trio a bit longer, she would have noticed the curious eyes of Hermione Granger trained on her.

There was something pure about the Whitaker girl that called to Hermione, but she wasn't sure if purity is a trait the only child of the Whitaker family held.