I open my eyes. I shift around and realize Rose and Lily are standing at the foot of my bed. I roll around and see that Remus left the spot next to me sometime in the night. He is sleeping, sitting up, in a bed next to me. “What time is it?” I ask, confused by the light streaming in through the windows.
I rub my eyes as Lily answers. “We’re on lunch break.”
“Wait, I missed class!” I blurt out. Remus groans, waking up from his light sleep.
Rose looks over at Remus before nodding, then asks, “How are you feeling?” She places a homemade card on my bedside table.
“Fine now. Stomach bug,” I add for Lily’s benefit.
“We brought chocolate,” Lily points to the table at the food of the bed. Remus stirs more. I grab a chocolate bar and open it while Lily summarizes Herbology. Remus walks over and scoots me over so he can sit on the bed. He takes the chocolate from my hands before I can say anything. After breaking a large piece off, he hands the chocolate back.
“Too much chocolate never hurt anybody,” he says as he takes a bite. “Hello Lily, Rose.”
They both reply, “Hello Mr. Lupin.” I take a bite of my chocolate bar.
Remus asks, “Have you had Defense of the Dark Arts yet?”
I reply, “Yeah, we had it yesterday. It was about hags. Why?”
“I used to teach Defense of the Dark Arts. Here actually. Back when Harry Potter went here.” Remus explains.
“You used to teach? I don’t see it,” I ask, imagining my father as a teacher.
“Ha, ha, very funny,” he says sarcastically. The tower bell rings, signaling that lunch is over.
“We gotta go,” Rose says. I wave goodbye as Lily and Rose walk away. Remus finishes off his last bit of chocolate. I place the last bit of mine on the bedside table and look at him.
“What did Snape ever do to you?” I ask curiously.
The corners of his mouth twitch. “It’s more like what he didn’t do.” I sit up eager to hear more. “It’s not much of a story. I had my own friend group when I went here. James Potter, Sirius Black, and Peter Pettigrew.” I snort. “What?” he asks defensively.
“They all seem more. . . adventurous than you,” I giggle.
“Well, believe it or not I was quite adventurous too. Anyway, James always was mean towards Snape, but no one knew why. Well once a month I would go to the Shrieking Shack. One time Sirius dared him to follow the hidden passageway under the Whomping Willow. James stopped him before I could kill him, but he figured it out.”
“Ah. . . that’s why you two don’t get along,” I conclude.
Remus stares past me before telling me I should go to class. “I’ll go to Madam Pomfrey’s office to sign you out. Owl me if you need anything.”
I nod and reply, “I’ll see you at Christmas, hopefully not sooner.” He smiles and says goodbye, giving me a kiss on the forehead.
I leave the hospital wing, encountering nobody in the halls. After giving the Fat Lady the password, I climb through the hole. Several older students are sitting around, working. I look down and I realize I’m still in my nightshirt. Teddy hurries towards me. “I’m fine. I have to get changed for class and I’m already late,” I huff, trying to get past him.
“Fine, we’ll talk later,” he says, sensing my mood. I sprint up the stairs and throw open my trunk. After getting changed, I run back down the stairs, adjusting my tie. I sling my bag over my shoulder, give Teddy a rushed hug, put my wand in my pocket and climb out the portrait hole. I hurry to Astronomy, in the tallest tower. I gently open the classroom door and take a seat, trying not to be noticed. The professor gives me a look, but continues teaching. I quietly grab a quill and a piece of parchment out of my bag. Taking notes, I try to concentrate, but my mind skips to other things. Soon the bell rings. The professor asks me to wait for everyone to leave. I shoot Violet and Lily an apologetic look. Lily smiles back and Violet waves.
“And why were you late?” he asks, impatiently tapping his foot.
“I was in the hospital wing, with a stomach bug, late into last night.” He gives me a stern you-shouldn’t-be-lying look. “Professor Snape was there and my parents. Also, the headmaster was there so you can ask him if you would like.”
“I see,” he says, “get the notes from a classmate. On Friday we will be at the top tower, ten pm.” I nod understanding. “You may leave,” he says, pointing towards the door. I thank him and leave. I hurry down the steps and head towards the greenhouse.
Professor Longbottom turns around when he hears the greenhouse door close. “I’m so sorry Professor,” I gush. “I was in the hospital wing. What did I miss?”
“That’s quite alright. I was in the hospital wing a lot in my first year. We went over the first chapter of the book and the syllabus.” Longbottom explains, handing me a copy of the syllabus. “Now I have to tend to some mandrakes.” I thank him and hurry back up to the caste, following the stone path. I climb up the staircases and reach the Fat Lady.
“Are you okay? You’re very pale,” she questions.
“I’m fine. Ibblediums,” I respond.
“If you say so,” she huffs. She swings open and I clamber through. I find a seat at a round table where Rose, Lily, and Violet are working. Everyone says hi and they continue working, except Violet.
She asks, “Where were you last night and this morning?” I place a couple pieces of parchment on the table and grab a quill.
“In the hospital wing, throwing up my guts,” I respond calmly.
“Oh,” Violet continues working on an essay. I continue writing my essay for DADA, adding four more inches before dinner. I scan the Herbology syllabus. The clock chimes six.
“Let’s go to dinner,” Rose suggests. Heads nod in agreement. I roll up the essay and syllabus and stuff them in my bag. We climb out of the portrait and head down the moving staircases, towards the Great Hall. We turn the corner and walk to our table. I glance at the head table, seeing Dumbledore and most of the teachers, except Snape. Rose passes the corned beef, and I take some. I ask Lily if I could copy her notes from Astronomy later. She consents, but she asks if I feel okay.
“You’re very pale,” she explains. Violet and Rose nod in agreement.
“I feel fine,” They look at me, as if I’m not, “really,” I add. They look skeptical, but continue eating. After dinner, I begin on my plum pudding. Lily is eating strawberry cake, Rose is eating pastries, while Violet is eating a chocolate drizzled donut. After a couple of bites, Snape walks up to our table.
“I need to see you in my office, now,” he commands. I stand up and give my friends a pitiful look. Snape leads me out of the Great Hall and towards the dungeons. My body shivers from the drop in temperature. He opens a door at the bottom of the stairs and I follow him in.
We are in what I guess is the Potions classroom.
I walk past the rows of desks where students sit and stand in front of Snape’s desk. He hands me a goblet that was on the desk and instructs, “Drink up.” He smirks. I accept the goblet and take a seat in the front row. After taking an inaudible deep breath, I down the potion. I place the goblet on the desk with a clink. Looking around the table I pick up a copy of Advanced Potion Making and flip through it. I settle upon the page about Wolfsbane and begin to read it. Snape glares at me occasionally before diving back into grading. Reading about the complexity and side effects, I lean forward over the desk.
“Lupin!” Snape yells, a very harsh tone in his voice. I pick up my head off the desk and realize I was sleeping.
“Sorry, I’m so sorry,” I straighten up. “Drowsiness is a side effect, Professor.” I add.
Snape’s lip curls, “You can at least try not to fall asleep.”
“Yes, Professor.” I look down, avoiding eye contact.
“Your time is up. I’ll escort you to your common room.” Snape stands up and begins to walk out of the classroom. I stand up and loosely follow behind him. We climb up the steps and I feel the cold lift. He leads me through a corridor near the Great Hall when I hear a voice.
“Professor?” I turn around to see that McGonagall is standing behind us. I glance over at Snape and he stops and cringes. We turn around. “Where are you going Severus?” she asks, looking at me.
“I’m escorting her back to the Gryffindor common room,” he explains.
“There’s no need to escort students at this hour,” she smiles lightly.
He looks speechless for a millisecond but recovers quickly. “I have orders to escort her back.”
She looks at my eyes, pleading to go with her. “Then I’ll take her back. She is one of my students.” She stresses “my.”
Snape happily gives in, “Fine. I’ll see you tomorrow Miss Lupin.” He turns and walks back in the direction of the dungeons. We continue on our way to the common room.
“Thank you Professor,” I say, grateful to escape from Snape.
She asks as we walk along a long corridor, “What were you doing with Severus?”
“I was. . . I was. . .” I search my brain for a lie but I don’t find one sufficient enough for a teacher.
“I know about your little problem,” she quietly answers, looking away.
“Okay. Good to know. Anyway I’m allergic to the main ingredient so I have to be watched when taking it,” I say, trying to be vague in case there are students lurking around.
“I see. How does it taste?” We turn a corner and start the climb up the staircases.
“That is a great question. I think it tastes different to each person but it’s just flat out gross. Sugar just renders it useless,” I explain. I add for good measure, “Polyjuice would taste twenty times better.”
McGonagall chuckles. “Well here we are Miss Lupin.”
“Password?” The Fat Lady asks, giggling a bit. Her friend Violet from another portrait is visiting and both are drinking.
“Ibblediums,” I answer. She swings open.
As I wave goodbye to McGonagall and climb through, I hear the Fat Lady tell Violet, “I swear she looks worse each day.”
Rose and Lily walk towards me, pushing through the crowded common room. “What did Snape want?” Lily asks.
“Nothing much. He wanted to talk to me about tomorrow’s lesson. Apparently I’m allergic to one of to one of the potion ingredients we’re using tomorrow,” I lie, wondering why I do so much. Lily accepts the answer, but Rose looks at me skeptically. Lily sits back down and continues her work. Rose takes my hand and leads me up the spiral staircase to her room. She closes the door behind her and I take a seat on her bed.
“So what happened last night?” she asks worriedly.
I smile, which shakes her into confusion. “Nothing much. Let’s see, I threw up a lot, I threw up more, I’m allergic to monkshood, and I threw up more,” I list.
“You’re allergic to the main ingredient!” Rose shrieks. I nod. “That’s rare, isn’t it?” she asks.
“Yeah, that’s what Dumbledore said. I have to be monitored when taking it,” I put air quotes around monitored.
“Wait. . .But. . . Dumbledore was there. Of course. Does Remus know?” Rose inquires.
“Yeah. Madam Pomfrey called my parents and Dumbledore, who called Snape.” I giggle. “You could cut the air with a butter knife. Remus nearly killed Snape by looks.” She laughs while I yawn.
“I should go to bed.”
“Good night, Alexia,” Rose says softly. I tell her goodnight and descend one flight to my room. After getting changed into night clothes, I get into bed. Wrapping myself in blankets, I fall asleep before others get in bed.