Chapter 25

Sage left the hospital wing two weeks later. When Professor Dumbledore had asked her what punishment she wished to give to William, she had only stared at the headmaster until he sighed, wished her well, and left, taking William with him to determine a punishment for him. No one had seen him since.

As Sage walked down the corridor to the Gryffindor common room, students stared and whispered to each other. When she reached the Fat Lady, Sage ran into a bit of a problem. George had told her the new password the day before, but she couldn't say it out loud due to her trauma. She actually said it once in a voice so tiny, the Fat Lady didn't even hear her. The portrait remained closed and age grew increasingly agitated. Sage was sitting with her chin resting on her knees when help finally arrived.

"Sage?" George asked, strolling up with Fred in tow. Sage looked up at him with her dull eyes.

"Are you having trouble getting in? Did you forget the password?" he asked, concerned. Sage nodded once, then shifted her gaze back to the ground. Fred spoke to the Fat Lady, stating the password while George offered Sage a hand to help her up. Together, the three of them entered the common room.

"Welcome back!" exclaimed all of Sage's Gryffindor friends and housemates. She recoiled in shock, but with George's hand on the small of her back, she allowed herself to be guided through the crowd of Gryffindors and placed into a seat that had been reserved specifically for her. Everyone chatted around her, all in a great mood now that Sage had been let out of the hospital wing. They offered her encouraging smiles, but their spirits fell slightly when she only stared at them in return.

For the past two weeks, Sage's only company had been Stacy, George, and Madam Pomfrey. Being around so many noisy people unnerved her. She was used to the peaceful quiet of the hospital wing. Sage was getting up to leave when George pushed through the crowd, beaming.

"What do you think?" he asked loudly over all the conversations happening around them. He gestured at the decorations and food and grinned broadly, expecting a positive response from Sage.

George was shocked when Sage only gave him one of her looks and pushed through a cluster of second-years to reach the stairs leading to the dormitories. He hurried after her, reassuring everyone along the way that she was okay and that they should keep having fun.

Sage was waiting for him at the top of the stairs, arms folded across her chest. She had a slight frown on her face. Having spent every day of the past two weeks with Sage, George could tell what she was thinking by her body language and facial expressions.

"Was it too much?" he asked her. "We just wanted to give you a welcoming party. That's all."

Sage's frown disappeared and she let out a silent sigh. She still didn't talk to anyone other than Stacy, so she simply shrugged and turned away to go into the girls' dormitory. George stopped her and put himself in front of the door so that she couldn't get through. He wrapped his arms around her in a firm hug and stood there for a few seconds, savoring the moment.

"I'm glad you're doing okay," he said, releasing her. "See you around, alright Sage?"

Sage moved past George with a slight nod and walked into the dormitory. George sighed and walked back down into the common room. A few people asked if Sage was okay, but he only waved them away, saying that she wanted rest. It still bothered him that she couldn't talk, but he was determined to work past that problem. He just wanted to make Sage happy.

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Lying on her bed, Sage pulled the covers up around her so that she was comfortably warm. It was early February and there was still a chill that sneaked its way into the girls' common room. She turned onto her side and tried to fall asleep, but remained awake for the next half hour.

She thought about the Valentine's Day Ball that was coming up. It seemed fun, but Sage couldn't find any boy she wanted to go with. George seemed like the top candidate, but he probably had some other girl he was going to ask. Some girl who didn't take up all his time.

Sage felt bad that George always spent time with her when he could be doing more important things. She considered him her closest guy friend, but he felt like he was starting to think of her as annoying because she took up so much of his time.

Sage tossed and turned until she felt comfortable enough to attempt sleeping again. She fell asleep ten minutes later listening to the soothing crackling of the fire.

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Fred wanted to ask Hermione to the Valentine's Day Ball but didn't know if she would say yes. He knew he had to hurry, though, if he wanted to beat that Viktor Krum to it. Sighing, he paced around his dormitory, racking his brain for idea. He could buy her sweets from Honeyduke's and conjure up some flowers.

Fred ran a hand through his hair. Then an idea struck him. He grinned and raced out of Gryffindor's common room to find Hermione. As expected, he found her in the library. He made sure she didn't see him as he went to go find a book. When he found what he was looking for, he sneaked back to the table where Hermione was studying and leaned in close to her ear.

"Boo," he whispered. Hermione jumped, startled.

"Fred Weasley!" she said, hitting his arm. Fred grinned. He held out the book to her. Hermione glanced art it and raised her eyebrows. He gestured for her to take it and she did, reading the title aloud.

"Hogwarts, A History," she said, glancing up at Fred. "Any reason you're giving me this book?"

"Turn to page fourteen, please," said Fred, grinning. Hermione gave Fred one final curious glance before opening the book to the specified page. Looking over the text, she looked up at the Weasley.

"Well?" she said, perplexed. "Is there something I'm supposed to see?"

Fred subtly took out his wand and under the table, he waved it. He grinned and told Hermione to look again. Hermione's expression turned from confused to surprised. For written beautifully on the page were the words, "Will you go to the Valentine's Day Ball with me, Hermione Granger?" A miniature cupid rose off the page and mimed shooting arrows first at Hermione, then at Fred.

While Hermione was occupied with the beautiful papery flowers that were sprouting from the book's pages, Fred conjured up a blue rose to present to her. Fred closed the book with a wave of his wand and held out the gorgeous blue rose to the girl he had feelings for. Awestruck Hermione took the flower and could only stare at Fred.

"So how 'bout it, Hermione?" Fred asked breezily, even though he was a nervous wreck. "Go to the Ball with me?"

Just as Fred was about to explode from anxiety, Hermione's face broke into a smile.

"Yes, Fred. I'd love to go to the Ball with you!" she exclaimed. Fred felt relief course through his veins. He grinned and stood up. Much to Hermione's surprise, Fred pulled her out of her chair and into a hug.

"Thanks for saying yes, Hermione." Fred said after pulling away. Hermione smiled.

"Why would I say otherwise?" she asked, smiling. Fred's heart skipped a beat. "I trust you'll show me a good time at the Ball, Fred."

"Of course!" Fred exclaimed. "I'm the best person to go anywhere with, y'know."

Both of them laughed. They left the library five minutes later and parted ways, both of them in a good mood. After Hermione left, Fred went to his dormitory and found George. He told his twin the good news and George clapped him on the back, congratulating him.

Fred explained how he had asked Hermione and told George her reaction. After a good fifteen minutes had passed, the twins finished talking about Hermione and decided to go to the Great Hall for some food. As they left, neither noticed Ron lurking by his dormitory with a dark look on his face.