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It's the afternoon of the Final Task, and the castle is buzzing. Everyone's finished their exams by now, so everybody's mingling and enjoying the last of the school year.
Stevie Marks is sitting by the lake's edge with Daphne and Tracey. They are skimming stones over the surface, seeing who can get the most jumps before the giant squid snatches the pebbles and throws them back. They're talking about how Pansy's being a bit of a bitch at the moment, and how Daphne is travelling to Sydney with her parents this summertime. Apparently, it's winter there. But winter in Sydney is as warm as summer in England, so it's not like she's missing out on the heat.
Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnegan are in the Great Hall playing Exploding Snap. They've amassed quite a crowd around them, and there's bets going on. Seamus has a history of causing combustion, but Dean's not won a match so far. Neville Longbottom is part of the crowd, and he's watching on eagerly. Nobody ever wants to play Exploding Snap with him, but it's okay. He likes watching other people have fun, too.
Ripley Koh (remember her?) is sitting in the Ravenclaw tower by herself. Her chin is resting on her palm and she's looking out of the window, down to the Quidditch pitch— well, it's not a Quidditch pitch anymore. It's a hedge maze that seems to go on forever. She can see Hagrid guiding beasts in there, but she's so high up that she can't see exactly what they are. She wishes she could see, so that she could tell the other champions and not Potter. She's one of the few students that still despise him for making Hogwarts into a joke in front of the other two schools. Plus, he's friends with Sage. And she Really Hates that girl.
Hermione Granger, Ron Weasley, and Harry Potter are down in the library (from Hermione's suggestion, of course) reading up on any spells that could help Harry navigate a huge maze. So far, he can make his wand spin like a compass on his palm, and a few other neat tricks. Hermione's scouring over a huge tome while Ron and Harry flick paper triangles at each other. She clucks her tongue every now and then, giving them both disapproving looks. Neither of them seem that bothered, even though the three of them are all worried sick.
Across the country, Remus Lupin is reading the latest letter his almost-daughter sent him. She's been talking about how excited she is to see him over the summer, and has he heard anything new about her dad? She's worried sick. Also, does she want her to bring him any Honeydukes chocolate from Hogsmeade? Love you lots, see you soon, from Sage. The man runs his fingers through his hair and sighs. The girl deserves better than to worry about a man who's seemingly dropped off the face of the earth.
And, finally, Sage Laurent is sitting— well, rather, slouched over a desk— in Professor McGonagall's classroom. She's thrown up three times; the Professor keeps having to vanish it from the floor at Sage's feet. Her eyes are sunken deep and bloodshot, her veins pop from beneath her skin, she can't walk for more than a few steps before stumbling and falling to the floor. Her vision is double, her ears ring with church bells.
"—been like this since Miss Patel came running to me in the wee hours of the morning," Sage can barely hear McGonagall telling someone else. "I don't have a clue what's wrong. Poppy was in here this morning looking at her, she says she hasn't any idea. It's nothing she's seen before."
The person she's with doesn't answer. In Sage's swimming vision, she sees someone dressed in yellow walking down a dirty pathway, surrounded by green walls. Something blue glows in the distance.
Sage whines, clutching at the sides of her head. "Please don't-- don't go."
"What?" McGonagall strides to her side. Sage leans back in her seat to look up at the woman, whose body seems to stretch on for miles until her head touches the ceiling above them. "Repeat yourself, Laurent."
Sage doesn't reply. She stares at McGonagall's face, and how familiar it seems while looking abstract and unrecognisable. She sees that face staring down at her, and her body feels like nothing, weightless, but so heavy that she's being drawn into the ground.
"Laurent," McGonagall says, and Sage's eyes refocus.
"Yes?"
The other person McGonagall was talking to walks over. It turns out to be Professor Snape.
"Get him out of here," whines Sage, throwing a limp hand in his direction. "Go on. Get out."
"She seems to have returned to her normal self," says Snape.
Sage whines. She sees the two professors looking down at her body on the floor, surrounded by crowds and gasps and screaming and another man, older, but with a familiar face, sobbing at her side and clutching her body. Then she's part of the crowd, tears stinging her eyes, and a boy in yellow and black on the floor where she was a moment ago.
"Who's that?" asks Sage, but then she's back inside the room, not out on a grassy field. "Huh."
"Are you seeing things, Laurent?" McGonagall asks. Sage casts her a fearful look.
"Make Professor Snape leave."
McGonagall looks to him, and he shoots Sage a hateful look before gliding to the door and whipping it shut behind him.
All that's running through Sage's head is Cedric's face, and his body pulsing with green light. It's been plaguing her for months. She has to stop this. She wants to throw herself off the Astronomy tower. Something has to be done. And she's not going to get it done by sitting in McGonagall's office feeling sorry for herself.
"Well?" asks McGonagall. "What is it?"
"I'm— I think I'm having a migraine," says Sage. "Yeah. Migraine. That's it."
McGonagall gives her one of those looks. "I don't think you're having a migraine, Sage."
"Hmm," says Sage. "I think I am."
"Would you like me to call Madam Pomfrey?"
"No. When's the Task?"
"An hour or so.. You don't think you're going, do you?" McGonagall asks, her face a little amused but mostly worried. "You cannot go down and spectate in the state you're in."
"Oh. That's a shame."
Sage smiles at McGonagall and walks towards her chair, then swiftly turns and runs to the door. The professor points her wand and pulls her backward into the chair.
"You are going to the infirmary," says McGonagall. "You are forbidden to attend the Triwizard Tournament today, Laurent."
Sage pouts, and folds her arms.
And that's how Sage ends up scaling down the outside of the castle at sundown, spelling her fingers to stick to the outside of the wall and please don't let her fall, today will not be the day Sage Laurent dies. She climbs down into the bushes that rise against the wall, then makes a dash for the Quidditch field. She knows what's going to happen, she knows that it's all going to go to shit if she doesn't warn somebody and, goddamnit, she's a Gryffindor and this is what's she's supposed to do.
a/n: eeeeee things are gonna get sticky from here on outtttt
