Chapter 2

"Oh, no! Don't kill it!" Sage rushed over towards two Ravenclaw boys, who were trying to stamp on a small grasshopper that had found it's way into the Transfiguration classroom. She bent down, picking the grasshopper up in her hands and scowling at the two boys. 

"What did this grasshopper ever do to you." She frowned. "That was very cruel of you, please say sorry." She asked, and the boys exchanged confused looks. "Sorry.. Mr Grasshopper?" The boys apologised. 

"Good, but next time don't assume it's gender." She smiled at the two boys, before approaching the teachers desk. "Professor McGonagall, can I please take this grasshopper outside?" She asked. "What? Oh.. Yes, dear." She obliged, and Sage exited the classroom. 

"That was kind of you." Said Olive when she got back. "I'd hope someone would do it for me, if I were a grasshopper." She smiled. "I'd save you if you were a grasshopper." Cedric beamed at her. "Thank you, Ced." 

"And don't forget about the homework, dears." Professor McGonagall waved the students good-bye, as they left for potions. "My sister says Professor Snape, the potions Professor, is really mean to everyone who isn't a Slytherin." Jill warned as they entered the Potions dungeon. 

"It's really cold in here." Olive frowned as they found their seats at the back of the classroom. "I'm going to sit with Rowan and Harper." Cedric whispered to Sage, before crossing the classroom over to two Hufflepuff boys. 

"Today, first years, we'll be learning about the 12 uses of Dragon Blood.. Please open your textbooks to page 92, I am Professor Snape." A tall, greasy looking man scowled from the front of the class as the lesson began. 

"I already don't like him." Olive shuddered as they opened their textbooks. "Today we will be doing theory, but on a normal day you will need to pair up for potion making." Professor Snape informed them, and Cedric turned to Sage giving her a nod, as if to say 'we'll be partners.'

----

"I'm writing a letter to Athena." Sage told Olive when she'd asked what Sage had been doing. "Who's Athena?" Asked Olive. "She's my little sister." Sage smiled. "She's very excited to come to Hogwarts in two years, I do hope she'll be a Hufflepuff too." Said Sage.

"I love Athena." Jill joined in. "She named her chicken after me, it died two days after, but it's the thought that counts!" Jill laughed as Sage finished her letter, folding it up and dropping it into an envelope. "I'm off to the Owlery, don't go anywhere without me!" She waved her friends goodbye.

"Take this to my sister." Sage petted the head of one of the school Owl's, attaching the letter to its leg before it flew away. She watched for a little longer as the owl disappeared from sight, turning around when she noticed a Gryffindor girl had entered the Owlery. 

The girl nodded at Sage, before attaching her own letter to her Owl, rather aggressively. "Stupid bird, stay still." She scolded it. "Let me." Sage hurried over, not wanting to see the bird in anymore distress.

"I can do it myself." The girl pushed Sage away. "Ugh, just stay still." She grabbed the Owls leg, pinning it down as it squawked in protest. "Please, you're hurting it." Sage pleaded as the girl finally attached the letter. 

"I said I could do it myself, stupid Hufflepuffs, never minding their business." She scoffed, elbowing Sage as she exited the Owlery. "Ouch." She frowned, caressing her side, where she'd been elbowed. 

She sniffled quietly, she didn't want to cry. "Sage?" Cedrics voice called, entering the Owlery after the Gryffindor girl had left. "Cedric." She began to cry. "Sage? What's wrong?" He frowned, pulling Sage into a warm hug as tears streamed down her face.

"That girl was mean to me." She pouted. "She hurt the bird and then elbowed me when I tried to help." She sniffled. "It's okay, don't be sad." He stroked her hair. "Don't cry." He pulled away, wiping the tears away from her face.

"I don't like seeing you cry." Cedric frowned. "I'm sorry, I try not to." She blinked back the tears. "What are you here for?" She looked down at the letter he was holding. "It's for my father." He explained, approaching an owl to attach his letter to.

"Oh, that's nice of you." She wiped her face clean, sighing quietly as the last of her sobs ceased. "What about you?" He turned back to her, after his owl left. "It was to Athena." Sage told him. "Do you miss her?" They intertwined fingers, heading back to the Hufflepuff common room. "I do." 

"Well, Christmas break is in a few weeks, you'll see her then." He grinned as they arrived at the entrance. "Want to do the Transfiguration homework together?" He asked. "Yes, please. I'll go get Olive and Jill." She dashed upstairs, collecting her homework and her friends.

"Does my hair look nice?" Olive whispered as they neared Cedric, who was seated on a couch in front of the fireplace, his eyebrows knitted together in concentration. "It looks lovely." Sage smiled, smoothing out a single strand that stuck out a little from Olive's head. 

"Rowan and Harper are here, I hope you don't mind." Cedric informed them when they had taken their seats across from the boys. "Not at all." Jill smiled as they all opened their textbooks. "I don't get this one." Sage held her textbook up to Cedric, pointing out one of the questions. 

"Oh that's easy." He scooted closer to her, explaining the answer to her, as she wrote it down on a fresh piece of parchment.

"What are you guys doing for Christmas, are you staying or going back home?" Harper interrupts as everyone began to explain what they'd be doing. "I'm going back home." Said Sage. "I'm so excited, I love Christmas." She gushed.

"Me too!" Everyone answered. "What about for Easter?" Rowan asked. "Probably staying at school, my parents and Cedric's are going to France around then, they might not be back in time to get us." Sage pouted. 

"At least we'll both be here." Cedric smiled. "I suppose you're right." She leant her head on his shoulder as she continued her Transfiguration homework.

----

"Merry Christmas, Sage!" Athena ran into her older sisters room, leaping onto the bed, and colliding with Sage's sleeping body. "Athena.." Sage whined, dazed by the sudden intrusion. "Hurry up, Sage. Daddy says we can't open the presents till you get downstairs." She complained. 

"Okay, okay.. I'm up." Sage pulled the blankets away, getting up off her bed as Athena climbed onto her back. "You're too heavy." Sage tried to shake her off. "Pleasee." Athena begged. "Fine, just till we get down there." Sage gave in.

"Merry Christmas, Mother." Sage hugged her mother when she reached the living room. "Where's daddy?" Athena hopped off her sisters back as her father entered the room. "Merry Christmas father." Sage and Athena hugged their father, before they began unwrapping their presents.

"And, Sage, you've got one more here." Sage's father dashed into the kitchen, before returning with a cardboard box. "Ooh~" Athena gasped as Sage took the box from her father, it was heavy, so she set it down on the ground.

She put one ear to the lid, she suspected it was an animal. "Open it!" Athena tried to rip the lid off, but Sage stopped her. "Athena, no. It's my present, not yours." She scolded the younger girl, before taking the lid off.

"A cat!" She gasped, picking up the small brown kitten, and hugging it gently. "Oh my goodness, you're so cute!" She squealed as Athena began to whine. "Why couldn't I get a kitty?" She pouted. "When you go to Hogwarts, we'll get you a cat, if that's what you want." Her mother said.

"What should I name it?" She smiled. "Boy or a girl?" She turned to her parents. "Boy." Her mother smiled. "I'll name him Cedric!" She gasped. "I don't think you should name your cat after your friend, Sage." Her father laughed. "Oh.. Okay." She frowned.

"What about August?" She asked. "If that's what you want." Her parents smiled. "I like the name." She explained. "Hello August, I'm your mama now." She told the small kitten, which meowed in response. "When I get a kitten, can I name it Cedric?" Asked Athena.

"No, dear, you can't name your cat after your sisters friend." Maia, her mother, laughed. "But Cedric is my friend too! And I named my chicken after Jill." She frowned. "Maybe I'll name my cat Febuary." She gasped. 

"Febuary?" Sage laughed. "What's wrong with February? Your cat's named after a month." Athena retorted. "Oh, I don't know.. I've just never heard of anyone named February." Sage shrugged. "Mama, will Cedric be coming today?" Athena asked.

"Yes, they'll be here as soon as they've finished unwrapping their presents." She told Athena.

----

"This years gone by fast." Olive sank into the couch where they were doing their Potions essay. "I can't believe we finish next week." She sighed. "I'm excited." Jill announced. "I'm going to Ireland for the Summer to visit my family." She said. 

"Are you Irish? But aren't you black..?" Olive laughed. "Mixed. My mothers side is from Ireland, and I grew up there." She laughed. "Olive, did you never notice her accent?" Sage laughed as Olive stared at Jill, cluelessly. 

"Well I guess, now that I think about it, it makes sense.." She pondered for a moment.