A Little Bit O' Mischief pv Sage Lilly Closed

Classes after the holidays were the worst.

Sage had spent the Easter holidays with her family back in Oxfordshire. In the two weeks she spent home, the girl had succumbed to the idyllic living she had so missed. When school resumed, it came at her with a vengeance; her mind buzzed but her limbs just struggled to keep up, it was as if she was wading through honey.

It was about half past four in the afternoon and Sage was lying face down on her bed in the Gryffindor Dorms. A sharp rap at the window woke her from her lethargic daze.

An owl hooted lowly at her, lifting a message-bearing talon in greeting. Extracting the note, the girl's face lit up upon reading its contents.

"Oof, almost forgot!" Uncapping a jar of soil, Sage pinched out a worm and offered it to her winged messenger. "Thank you."

As soon as that was done, she changed out of her robes into her denims, then dashed out of the Dorms in search of her friend.

---

Sage arrived at the Owlery in about 15 minutes, her fringe plastered to her forehead. She'd run the rest of the way and only stopping once to catch her breath. Climbing two steps at a time, she reached the landing in record time.

"Hey, Soph!" blurted Sage, possibly ruffling some literal feathers within her vicinity. The redhead was sitting on the floor, playing with an orange-plumed owl.

Nothing unusual there. Knowing how owl-crazy her friend was, she probably knew the school owls by name. Though the closer she looked, Sage thought her silly goose of a friend was a tiny bit more in love with this particular avian.

"I came as fast as I could." Sage perched against a window, her back cooled by an errant breeze. "What's this about an urgent matter?"

Sophia watched Sage with a concerned look on her face. The poor girl looked disheveled, which was quite unusual for her. In hindsight, perhaps writing about an 'urgent matter' was a bit of an exaggeration on her part, but this prank was quite urgent, to her. And, even more importantly, Sage could finally meet Amelia.

"Sage!" she called out excitedly, standing and gesturing to Amelia with a minute nod, "I have someone for you to meet!"

Amelia flew in a few quick circles in the air above Sophia's head and perched upon her shoulder once more, gesturing toward Sage with a curious gesture. Well, that's how Sophia interpreted the gesture. Sometimes she wondered if she saw more in the owls' gestures than was actually there. Regardless, she nodded and whispered to Amelia, "Yep, that's Sage! You're gonna love her."

"Sage," she said excitedly pointing between her owl friend and her human friend, "Meet Amelia. Amelia, meet Sage. We met over the break at the Magical Menagerie! She is just so precious."

With introductions out of the way, Sophia closed the distance between herself and her friend until they were almost uncomfortably close, and whispered conspiratorially, "Now, we have a huge matter to discuss. We're going to be pulling a little prank on Kim."

She grinned nefariously and explained, "Kim doesn't know Amelia yet, and I feel like I owe the boy a bit of payback, so I'm thinkin' you and I can send him a few letters before he meets her. Just a bit of harmless fun. Whaddaya think?"

She smiled at Sage, eager to work together in this mischievous plot against their friend.

Meet someone, she said.

The tall girl blinked slowly, deliberately scanning the room for anyone she might’ve missed upon her ungainly entrance. Except for the owls nesting within their alcoves, there was not a soul in sight. The bird bath was too narrow to hide a body, either. Sage had half a mind to ask the girl if she was alright.

Amelia? All she could hear was the sound of flapping wings. Wings? Of course. Amelia's an owl, you doofus.

The owl in question perched herself onto the redhead's shoulder, blinking at the newcomer with those intelligent eyes of hers.

"Pleasure to make your acquaintance, miss Amelia!” Sage waved, feeling a little silly, now. The young Gryffindor wished she had brought some bird snacks to feed Amelia with, but she had been in such a hurry to have brought anything but her wand.

"Ah, you got a pet!" Sage had been wanting a pet of her own, but she had yet to earn the privilege (and responsibility) of owning an animal companion. Before jealousy could rear its ugly head, Sophia had crossed the distance between them. Sage seized up in surprise, but listened carefully to the redhead’s proposition.

She roughly knew what this was about. Kim had pulled something on Sophia during the Midsummer Festival. All in good fun, Sage supposed, but she had reacted so unreservedly, she spent the weekend brooding about it. The nose-biting teacup incident was still fresh in Sage’s mind, giving her resolve to get even. It was paramount that they got Kim good.

The 12-year old rubbed her chin, trying to envision a scheme most cunning.

“These letters, what kind are we talking about?”

@Sophia Nelson

Sophia grinned wickedly before clearing her throat. She rested a hand on Sage’s shoulder, ready to pull it away at the slightest bit of discomfort from the older girl. She didn’t want to be that creepy, overly-touchy friend. She’d been a hugger most of her life, and it took years to kick the habit.

She looked clearly into Sage’s eyes to maximize the effect of her little performance.

“Sage, ever since I met you it feels like the pieces of my life have just fallen into place. My mornings are brighter, my blankets are warmer, and my meals are tastier than ever. I’ve only known of one thing to do that to a person: love. I don’t have any experience in love, but I’ll spend the rest of my life learning about it, if you’ll only let me, Sage.”

By the end of it, Sophia was a blushing mess, but her devilish smirk returned. She ignored Amelia’s light pecking at her neck. If Amelia was the metaphorical angel on her shoulder, she’d have to be her own devil and overpower her conscience. It was gonna be a good prank!

“See how embarrassing that was?” She asked, allowing herself to break eye contact. She still wasn’t very good at eye contact.

“Now, imagine getting a letter like that from someone and having no idea who wrote it!” Sophia said with wide, sweeping arm gestures. She was so excited to get some revenge!

She grinned knowingly at Sage before clarifying, “But I’m horrible at romance and stuff, so I need help writing the letters! I bet you’re great at poetry and love letters!”

@Sage Lilly

Tomato.

That's what Sage looked like at the moment, her cheeks glowing like coal on fire. She was mortified and insufferably flustered. What in seven Hells was going on?

Was she being confessed to? Why?? What does this have to do with getting even with Kim?

Sophia had momentarily changed her demeanor, slipping into a role of a lovesick fool. The silly girl was quite the actress, delivering her lines with such ease Sage had almost believed it.

"You… you goof!" exclaimed the taller girl, seemingly cross as she gave the Ravenclaw a gentle bonk on the head. Look at her now, blushing like she was the one being confessed to, not even daring to meet her eyes. The Gryffindor cleared her throat, donning a semblance of calm over her bewildered expression.

"Um, yes, I understand where you're going with this."

Love letters from a fake secret admirer. Would Kim fall for it? The boy was whip-smart, likely to see through schemes just as well as he executed them, but he was stupidly popular for some reason and the idea wasn't entirely outside the realm of reality.

Horrible at romance? Then what was that a la casanova monologue from earlier? Was that a figment of her imagination? An internal scream echoed inside the 12-year old's head.

Sage pushed off from the window, reaching out for some writing materials from the receptacle nearby. Laying them on a desk, the girl waited for Sophia to hurry over.

"I don't suppose you know what type of person Kim likes, do you?" She pictured someone refined like Gemima, but Kim was unassumingly flirty with everyone. Even Sophia had not been spared. Sage could only guess at the boy's preference and she'd still be way off by a mile. Keep it vague, then.

Borrowing a page from Sophia's book, the letter began like so:

---

To the most beautiful boy in the world,

From the moment we met, I knew my life was never going to be the same. You opened these dull eyes of mine and gave them purpose. Even when I sleep, I dream of your lovely smile, your enchanting visage haunts me even when I'm awake.

---

Sage stopped here because she couldn't take any more. She laid her forehead against the table, unbothered by the remnants of bird crap crusting upon the surface and let out a deep sigh.

"Your turn."

@Sophia Nelson

Sophia didn't know how she'd done what she did to Sage, but she did know one thing: she wanted to do it again. For the briefest of moments, something had been different about Sage, and it thrilled and terrified Sophia, but that feeling was gone as quickly as it had come. That was totally fine to her. They were neither there to tease Sage nor were they there to allow Sage to fluster Sophia. No, their purpose was far more noble.

Today was the first cobblestone in the path to sweet, sweet vengeance against their good friend Kim, the flirty deviant!

She allowed Sage's head bonk to clear her mind and shook her head free of such distractions. They needed to focus if they were going to succeed.

Seemingly agreeing with her, Sage nodded in understanding and took the initiative, making her way to a nearby desk. Sophia allowed her previous stupor to break, but the blush was a bit slower to die down, to her embarrassment. She could barely talk to people on a good day, what had she been thinking by throwing out a playful confession like that?

She rushed over to the desk with Sage and stood behind the girl, peeking over her shoulder. It was kind of nice to be taller than Sage for once, even if Sage's sitting was what made it possible. Oh well. She rested her chin on Sage's shoulder, fighting the strange urge to hug the girl. She hadn't been a hugger in years, but old habits died hard. She clasped her hands behind her back and hummed. Amelia perched upon her head and pecked lightly in disappointment.

"Well, there's this boy, but I don't know a lot about him. I definitely don't know what Kim sees in him, but I'm sure there's something there," she muttered thoughtfully, watching Sage's writing with a grin.

As the taller girl's quill stopped moving, Sophia felt her blush return as she read the words on the parchment. She chuckled and said, "Wow. It's just as embarrassing on paper, huh?"

She didn't make any move to actually assume position at the desk, though, preferring her makeshift Sage-pillow.

"Maybe you can do the writing? Gotta keep the handwriting consistent, right?" she suggested, eyes still on the parchment as she tried to think of what to add. Sage was a natural at this. Enchanting visage? Opened these dull eyes and gave them purpose? Wow. Sophia felt so sad for whomever Sage would one day decide to woo, because they would need someone on their side, or else nothing would remain of them but a puddle of embarrassment and affection.

"Hmm. Okay," she thought for a moment, "How about this?

In the day, I find joy in watching you from a distance, fantasizing of a future in which I can tell you openly how I feel. In the night, I suffer in agony knowing that we're so close, yet so far away. I yearn for the day that I can finally embrace you and caress your chromatic locks as lovingly as I wish you would caress me.

A bit corny, I think. Yours was definitely better, but it might make him flustered, eh? Your turn!"

Her blush was creeping across her neck and ears, and she felt like she had a fever, but it was easier now that this felt like a game between the two of them. Taking turns and writing one line at a time definitely made it less embarrassing.

It has become a mantra now - she was doing this to make a fool out of Kim.

Petty vengeance for a petty prank.

The short reprieve she had earlier didn’t help much - Sage found no comfort against the desk’s cool surface, nor did it let her shame seep through the wooden grain and into the abyss. Add to that Sophia’s proximity, it was far too much of a stimulation for someone unfamiliar with such affections. Worse still, they were far from over.

Embarrassing? You can say that again, Sage thought.

A boy, huh? Kim had many acquaintances, and having Sophia and Sage nearby didn’t exactly stop anyone from approaching the boy - most were girls, and she barely paid attention to the boys.

She scratched Sophia’s lines onto the parchment, wincing imperceptibly at the honeyed words. Sage would have to rewrite it, anyhow; her handwriting remained recognisable and there were places where the ink had left blotches: especially at ‘embrace’ and ‘caress’. Merlin, if she had been on the receiving end of this letter, she’d have thought it was a prelude to a raunchy wizarding tale.

In writing this, I hope my feelings of adoration will reach you in its purest form, much more than my watchful gaze could ever wish to convey.

Like so, it would seem that this admirer had an obsessive streak. Sage thought it'd be fun to make Kim squirm. She could only imagine how uncomfortable Sophia had been with a teacup stuck to her face.

“T-that’s enough, I think.” Full stop, and Sage held the letter in front of her. “We’ll be sending him many of these, anyway.”

Merlin knows just how many more variations of sappy love declarations she would have to live through. She dreaded the thought but it was necessary for their plan to work.

Nearly done, she’ll just have to sign off with a pseudonym of sorts, something close enough to an actual person’s name to cast doubt at the writer’s identity.

“Now, to close off. Do you have a name?”

@Sophia Nelson

Sophia enjoyed being so close to Sage. The quasi-hug was comforting, and it helped her to feel less embarrassed by the sweet nothings being composed by them. It was an outlet for her embarrassment and her affection for her friend, as strange and unintuitive as it sounded to want physical contact when embarrassed. It was more of the older kid's version of hiding one's eyes behind their hands to hide shame, only Sophia was hiding her embarrassment in Sage's shoulder in the form of a tight hug-like gesture.

Truth be told, Sophia quite liked romance, and she even read her fair share of romance-heavy comic books as a muggle, but to actually experience it, even falsely through a prank, was mortifying for her. She was so, so thankful for Sage being here, helping her to make it feel like a prank and a game.

As Sage wrote her own adorable conclusion onto the note, Sophia's red face deepened, but she was giggling the whole time. She could only imagine the look on Kim's face when he received this letter. Would he be a flustered mess like she had been at the Ball? She could only hope so. She wanted to watch him suffer as a stammering, lovesick fool, and this was the best way to do it.

“T-that’s enough, I think. We’ll be sending him many of these, anyway.”

"Y-yeah," she agreed with a grin, stifling her giggles, "Poor boy won't be able to handle it! Thank you so much for helping me with this, Sage."

She squeezed Sage tighter, squealing in her excitement. This was going to be so, so fun!

“Now, to close off. Do you have a name?”

Sophia thought about it, and, while she'd seen that one boy interacting with Kim, she didn't know his name, so there was no way to possibly use him as a romantic scapegoat.

"Maybe we could be vague with the name? Or even just use a house?" she suggested. Yeah, that could work. They couldn't use Gryffindor or Ravenclaw, or it'd make them seem suspicious, and between Slytherin and Hufflepuff, Hufflepuff certainly seemed more likely to be the house whose members would send an anonymous love letter. She tested the name on the tip of her tongue, "Maybe,

With Love,

Your Little Badger

That's almost a hint at a person, but it's not too specific. Plus, it'll point him away from Ravenclaw and Gryffindor!"

@Sage Lilly
@Kim Sato

Reducio

Thanks for being part of this plot, Sage

After much rewriting, paper-crumpling, and a bit of hair-pulling, the girls' final product came in the form of neatly-pressed letter.

The paper was a creamy white with golden trim, which twined elegantly at each corner to form delicate fleur-de-lis. A faint waft of vanilla emanated from the letterhead, like it'd been dabbed by perfume and left to dry out in the open. Paragraphs slanted across the page in a neat, cursive hand that dotted its 'i's with tiny hearts. A wax seal clasped the letter close, the shape of a cherry blossom embossed upon it.

25 April 2022

To the most beautiful boy in the world,

From the moment we met, I knew my life was never going to be the same. You opened these dull eyes of mine and gave them purpose. Even when I sleep, I dream of your lovely smile, your enchanting visage haunts me even when I'm awake.

In the day, I find joy in watching you from a distance, fantasizing of a future in which I can tell you openly how I feel. In the night, I suffer in agony knowing that we're so close, yet so far away. I yearn for the day that I can finally embrace you and caress your chromatic locks as lovingly as I wish you would caress me.

In writing this, I hope my feelings of adoration will reach you in its purest form, much more than my watchful gaze could ever wish to convey.

With Love,

Your Little Badger

@Kim Sato
@Sophia Nelson