"Ewww..." Sofia scrunched her red, raw nose up and tried in vain to hide underneath the covers as she began to smell that -awful- medicinal scent again. That icky green-smell, like swamp moss, tree sap, broccoli and garlic, and a few other things she was sure she didn't even want to know what it was...
But after two successive days of trying to bring her his potion and having her hide beneath the covers, Cedric was ready for her this time, and took out his wand, magically folding back the blankets. "Come now, Sofia..." He tried to reason with the girl, but his patience was already wearing thin.
"It smells bad...!" She cried, pouting and sniffling.
He growled and put a hand on his hip in indignation. Not that she noticed, but he had gone well out of his way trying to make today's potion taste a little less horrid. He had, in fact, worked all night trying to find sweet herbs that would improve the taste without compromising the effectiveness of the brew. Which wasn't nearly as easy as it sounded because magical brews could of course be very particular about tampering with the original recipe, and he had nearly blown his hair off (again) when he discovered that trying to add sweet licorice root made the main active ingredient in the potion, rainbow-fish scales, turn explosive.
But he had been just as stubborn as Sofia was being now, and he was finally able to find a mixture of mint, basil and maple syrup that seemed to work about as well as anything was going to. So he wasn't about to let her turn her nose up this time, especially since that nose of hers looked like it was about to fall off with how much she'd been wiping it.
"You know what else smells bad?" He countered fairly, but with his usual levels of sass, "A sick little girl who has been hiding in her bed for two days without bathing, because she stubbornly refuses to take her medicine!"
She pouted further at him, and surreptitiously sniffed at herself to see if he was right. "...I still don't smell as bad as your potion."
Groaning, he put the cup down on her nightstand and sat down next to her on the bed. "Sofia, please..." He begged her, and now that he was up close, Sofia could see that he had dark circles under his eyes. "I stayed up all night trying to make it taste better, it's just not possible, alright? Would you -please- just drink it quickly, and then we both can get some rest and feel better?"
She looked down at her lap in a little shame. He was right though, sometimes a spoonful of sugar just wasn't enough to help make the medicine go down, but that didn't mean it wasn't still good for her.
...Well, she -did- still have her doubts about how healthy that green sludgey mess could be for her, but she trusted Cedric had put her best interests first. So finally, with a nervous gulp, she reached out and took the cup from from him, and held it up to her lips.
Cedric blinked with surprise that she was actually complying, and encouraged her, "That's it - Just drink it quickly and it will be over with."
Tilting her head back, she gulped the medicine down without trying to taste it. Truthfully, trying to make the potion sweeter had probably made it taste even worse, but since Sofia had refused to take it the day before, she didn't know the difference. Finally she pulled the emptied cup back with a gasp, and a hiccup. Her stomach did do one initial turn of distaste at the strange contents, but then to her pleasant surprise, she felt her fever-blush cool and fade away, and her sinuses cleared up almost instantly.
"Hey, I -do- feel better now!" She exclaimed in surprise.
"Imagine that." Cedric rolled his eyes sarcastically, but then reached over and ruffled her hair to show that he was proud of her. "Get some rest now, alright?"
She nodded bashfully. "Thank you, Mister Cedric."
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A few days later, Sofia was in top shape again, but unfortunately, Cedric had caught her flu from her, and was now sulking over it in his room. Feeling guilty about it, Sofia went up and knocked briefly on his door before letting herself in. She had a tray with a bowl of healthy egg-soup, which she set on his nightstand.
"I brought you something to eat, Mister Cedric." She called to him.
"I don't want any..." He replied stubbornly, his voice full of phlegm. "I don't feel like eating right now..."
Sofia smiled patiently, "That's okay! You will soon."
He raised an eyebrow at her, "What-?"
Suddenly his mother Winifred stepped into the room as well, carrying a cup of smelly green potion. "Time for some medicine, Ceddykins~" She announced in a sing-song voice.
He immediately yelped and tried to hide under the covers. "But it smells bad!" He protested as Winifred used her wand to pull the covers back.
"Now, now, Mister Cedric." Sofia chided him with a little smirk. "It's good for you!"
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