lumos/ h.p.

33

saige black grumbled to herself as she walked down the corridor from her muggle studies class. she had felt herself growing weary these past few days, the eagerness she felt when finishing her exams waning almost immediately when she started to realize that yes, dad hadn't replied to her in over a week, and no, she couldn't tell harry about it. saige was admittedly a worrier, not a warrior- she knew this, of course- and she always found herself concerned with her father's well being. her love and trust wasn't a thing to be earned easily, and her father won it along with her worrisome tendencies immediately. it was strange, when she learned of his survival for the first time. she didn't have a home or a mother or a family, for that matter, and the witch she stayed with during the long summer months had long since convinced her that both parents were dead and gone by the time he decided to contact her. his efforts began in a series of letters- each one was soiled with the marks of depression and dust, but he tried all the same. saige was ten then- he supposed that, no matter where or who she was living with, her eyes would be soon opened to her parentage. she didn't respond at first- just reading and re-reading every letter that came like it was her salvation. she didn't have the courage to write back. the stack of thick, creamy parchment that sat on the big table in the main room of her house was too frightening, too threatening with the thought of attachment to a man she never truly would know. her heart was weak, until the day she took a single piece of parchment off the stack and inked a message to her father. "dear dad," it said, "i love you." saige turned the words around in her reverie while she walked, the familiar memory only worsening her worries. her eyes were blind to her surroundings- a haze of fuzziness clouded her unfocused vision until a sharp shove to her shoulder snapped her from her thoughts. "watch it, black," draco malfoy snapped, lips curled into a sneer as he looked her up and down. her eyes widened, spooked by his sudden appearance. she looked around frantically- it appeared, while she was caught in her cloud of memories, she had wandered into the corridor leading to the slytherin dormitories. "why are you even down here? gryffindors should stay where they belong: out of my business." he sneered, shoving her shoulder slightly. the contact lit a fire under the girl. "sod off, malfoy, you rat." she spat, turning on her heel and walking away from him. she felt accomplished, somewhat- saige stood up to an arse, wasn't that great- but her small victory came to a screeching halt as an incantation left the lips of the fuming boy behind her. "colloshoo!" he shouted, and saige could feel the bottoms of her shoes stick to the floor, causing her to collapse because of the sudden freeze. she inhaled sharply, pulling her socked feet from the pair of muggle sneakers and standing upright, her wand having already been slipped out of her pocket the second she got the chance. "you git," she fumed, raising her wand in a split second. without words erupting from her lips, malfoy's tongue began to swell, filling his mouth until he couldn't speak another incantation. "colloshoo," she muttered, the immense power she felt radiating through her body roping itself around the boy's shoes and ankles as he tried to run, gluing him to the floor. the spell was so strong he couldn't remove his feet from his shoes, the glue seeping through the soles of his shoes and onto his toes. malfoy fell onto his arse, eyes wide as unintelligible sounds escaped his tongue-filled mouth. saige pointed her wand directly in his face. it felt as though everything went in slow motion- the powerful way she felt, as though there was someone egging her on in the back of her mind, kept her savouring every moment of the boy's humiliation. she smiled. "hopefully this will teach you not to touch me again," she spoke, watching the sudden fear in malfoy's eyes. she stepped closer, the wand poking his clammy forehead. "saige! no!" a voice rang out, and suddenly, the mental encouragement dissipated. she froze, her sock feet becoming cold on the stone floor. her eyes widened as a hand stretched out and plucked the wand from her grasp, watching as her hand dropped and malfoy's tongue began to shrink to a normal size. she turned to the voice. "harry," she said, a certain desperate tone seeping into her voice. and then, for saige black, the world went dark.