A Series of Events
Chapter Four
It was around the month of April that Severus began to suspect some things were beyond his control.
By the beginning of February, however, life was only growing more and more frustrating. It seemed that the demands being made of him from all sides were not enough. He has been ill every single day without exception since mid-January.
He wasn't sure exactly what had triggered it. One moment, he was discussing the massive flaws of a third year Hufflepuff's attempt at improvisation. The next, he was desperately trying to keep his lunch from reappearing, particularly all over the afore-mentioned third year Hufflepuff. He hiccupped and swallowed before composing himself and continuing with his commentary.
"Miss Keeler," he said in his most imperious voice as he looked down on the mousy girl even as the taste of acid filled the back of his throat. "I do believe that if you actually tried to defend yourself against a Dark creature in the wild, not only will you die, but you will die so spectacularly that your very name, Miss Keeler, will enter the English language as synonymous with complete and utter incompetence."
Not that he believed she could ever beat the incompetence of one Gilderoy Lockhart, but she was welcomed to try. Just not during his class. He should make sure that she was especially clear on that one point.
The girl began to sniffle pathetically at the words, despite the fact that he was merely discussing the situation with her. His stare hardened. Were those tears forming in her eyes?
At that moment, the bell rang, signaling the end of the class.
Well, he'd just have to wait another day to finish this discussion. "Leave, Miss Keeler, before you disappoint me further," he said to the girl, noting with irritation that, yes, the girl's eyes were indeed brimming with tears. Her classmates, in hopes of not attracting any unwanted attention, gathered their things and rushed out to their next class and out of his clutches. Their hurried motions did nothing to ease the churning in his stomach. "I hope that you will learn to follow directions in the future."
With those words, he turned and strode towards the preparation room. He could hear Miss Keeler's friends reassuring her that he was nothing more than a mean, greasy bat with little else in his life aside from terrorizing students. Such talk deserved more than a mere handful of points taken away, and on any other day, Severus was more than eager to collect. He was more concerned, however, with reaching the sink in the preparation room before it was too late than with detracting points from simple, unassuming Hufflepuff.
He made it just in time and retched the remains of what had been lunch out into the stone basin. It was an unpleasant affair that petered out with a handful of dry heaves before residing.
He stared at the acid-coated contents of his purged stomach. He recognized one white chunk of cheese here, one bit of green vegetable there. First the persistent muscle cramps in his abdomen, and now the unexpected bouts of nausea. He was beginning to think, and not for the first time, that he was quite the lightning rod for misfortune.
He gargled with some water in an attempt to get the vile taste out of his mouth. The gargling made his stomach churn in a sickening fashion. He spat the water into the sink and leaned against the stone basin, his head low and his arms rigidly holding him up. He took a moment to gather his wits and his strength, exhausted from the nausea. Perhaps it was not just his meal that he had dispelled.
He took a deep breath and straightened his back. He banished the mess from the sink and prepared himself for the next class, hoping that would be the end of it.
It didn't end that day, however. It happened every day for a week, and it wasn't long before he began to take evasive action. He started taking a nausea potion to ease the effects. He began eating milder and milder food at meals in hopes of not upsetting his stomach further. Before too long, he was eating nothing but toast and drinking nothing but potion and very weak tea, but none of his preventive measures were helping. On average, he was keeping down about a third of his meals, and just barely.
If anyone had noticed his problem, they hadn't mentioned it. Dumbledore hadn't appeared at meals since just after the holidays and hadn't seen how Severus has been spending his. Minerva, the sharp-eyed tabby that she was, had noticed something was off, but after questioning him on it, came to the conclusion that it was merely a result of the work he was doing for the Order. The rest of the occupants of the castle, however, were completely oblivious, or worse, unconcerned.
Severus gave the rest of the Great Hall a glance and found Potter staring at him again. He assessed the look and, once he found it was a completely normal glare from the boy, Severus returned his attention to the chicken broth he was hoping would stay down afterwards.