lumos/ h.p.

14

harry potter was shocked. the letters, always written in elegant handwriting, had never been like this one. she, or saige, he now knew, never seemed like she was ever going to reveal her name until now. and there he sat, in the almost-empty great hall, incredulously staring at the creamy parchment. "ron." he gasped quietly, trying to alert the boy next to him. ron, who had been groggily drifting off to sleep again, paid no mind. "ron." he elbowed the other, who in turn shook himself awake. "blimey, harry, you woke me up early to get the letter and now you won't even let me sleep? it's not even breakfast yet.." he trailed off, the rumbling of his stomach irking him beyond belief. "look at this. she told me. she finally told me." he pushed the parchment into ron's eager hands. he read silently. "saige? saige black? bloody hell, she's stayed for christmas, harry. can't believe you didn't figure it out, who could have been sending you the letters with the school owls over holiday?" harry pinched himself under the table. how could he have not known sooner? "yeah, why didn't you figure it out? i was hoping for some company over the holidays, potter. i was getting desperate." a voice, light yet plagued with a feeling of burden, echoed through the great hall. and there she stood; a vision in her knitted jumper and fleece pyjama pants. it was surreal as saige black sat down next to him, the girl he had been getting letters to for what seemed like forever suddenly revealed. her hair was the deepest shade of chocolate, her eyes a brilliant, almost glowing green. her skin, pale yet dotted with freckles light and dark, was perfect. she was perfect. and at the ripe age of thirteen, harry was vulnerable to all her charms. "speak up, will you? i've been writing for so long, but it does get tiring when you're waiting to speak in person." his jaw, which he hadn't realized was on the floor, clamped shut. "you're not that much of a wordsmith off of paper, are you, black?" he grinned, a light blush invading his face. she smiled. "i'm choosing to take that as a compliment. weasley? how are you? hope you both enjoyed the pasties, by the way. pumpkin pie back home is way better, so i convinced the house elves to add some allspice into those earthy monstrosities." ron grinned. "thanks for that, by the way. hermione got angry at us, said that someone could be posing as a student, trying to poison us, but harry took one to dumbledore and he said they were fine. even had one himself, too. said they were brilliant." he spoke with a mouthful of sausage and egg, which had appeared on the table on platters in front of the trio. saige spread some raspberry jam onto a piece of toast, beaming for the entirety of the process. "i'll have to send him some, then. it's best that we share, now, isn't it?" she grinned, munching on the toast as she loaded her plate with other food. a snowy owl, similar to harry's own, swooped in and dropped an interestingly dirty envelope next to her. she snatched it up like a vulture with its prey, tearing the paper open and reading the unintelligible handwriting. "who's it from?" ron asked. as she turned to him, it was like she was a completely different person. "bugger off, weasley," she spat much more hatefully than she had intended. she bit her lip, hiding the letter away from the curious boys. "i'm sorry, ron. didn't mean it. just... i have to go." she grabbed her plate and her letter, running away into the winding corridors of hogwarts. and just like that, the girl he had longed to see was snatched away from him.