Freddie finished Herbology without speaking to Daniel or anyone else. She was dreading her next class, dreading Potions for the first time in her life. When the bell rang she left the greenhouse, not waiting for Daniel. He came after her anyway.
"Hey Freddie, wait up," he called, jogging after her.
"I really can't talk to you right now, Daniel," she said, keeping her voice steady.
"I'm fine, Freddie, really. Like Professor Dumbledore said, no harm done."
"No harm done?" she hissed, rounding on him. "No harm done? Your little Mudblood girlfriend screaming in the Great Hall that I'd poisoned you, that I'd killed you?!"
"She just freaked, Freddie, she doesn't know you. You're older, you're a Slytherin. Honestly I think she's scared of you."
"She should be! Her theatrics in the Great Hall cost me my Potions apprenticeship – the one thing that mattered most to me, the one thing I've had to be excited about in god knows how long!"
"What? He didn't! I'll go talk to him-"
"No! Just stay out of it. Go find your girlfriend and do whatever it is you do. Just leave me alone..." she said the last sentence weakly, feeling defeated.
Daniel stopped in his tracks. Freddie kept on walking. She didn't even look back.
#
Snape didn't speak to her throughout the class period. He didn't so much as look at her. Freddie was miserable at first but as she worked on her Potions assignment she felt calmer.
When the bell rang she tried to linger, tried to muster the courage to ask Snape if her apprenticeship was really over. But she was terrified of getting yelled at again. Eventually she scurried out after her classmates with Snape still ignoring her.
When she got to Art class she ignored Daniel. She didn't go for the paints but instead grabbed a lump of clay and went to a table in the corner. No one sat near her and for a while she just stared at the lump of clay, feeling useless.
This is supposed to be my outlet, she thought to herself. I can let myself feel things here without harming anyone.
She picked up the ball of clay and began to work it with her bare hands. She let herself feel all the emotions she had been trying to process – anger, rage, humiliation. She let her emotions and her magic flow into her hands, into the clay as she worked it.
She closed her eyes as she molded the clay and didn't open her eyes until she felt drained. She looked at the clay figure in front of her and let out a hollow chuckle. It was a girl – that looked suspiciously like Heather – being eaten alive by spiders. It was very detailed. The girl's mouth was open in a silent scream as spiders consumed her, crawling into her mouth and eye sockets.
"Hmm," said Professor Merritt as she passed by her desk but she didn't stop. She continued around the classroom, checking everyone's progress. Freddie shrugged and got out her wand to finish the project. She glazed it and applied intense heat, mimicking the effects of a kiln. When the bell rang she shoved the clay figure in her bag and headed down to lunch.
She sat with her fellow Slytherins and picked at her food. She felt tired. I'm so ready for this day to be over, she thought.
"What's wrong, Freddie?" Maggie asked, sitting down beside her. "You're usually more enthusiastic about lunch."
"I'm fine," she said with a shrug and smiled slightly at her housemate. "Wishing I didn't have to go to Care of Magical Creatures."
"You could fake sick," she suggested.
"Yeah but then I'd have to go to the nurse," she said, making a face.
She was already avoiding going to Madam Pomfrey for her finger, which was still throbbing from the fanged geranium bite.
"Guess it depends on which you think is worse – going to class or going to the nurse," Maggie said.
"Oh crap, Snape is coming over here and he does not look happy," Christine said from across the table.
"When does he ever look happy?" Maggie pointed out, rolling her eyes.
Freddie didn't look up from her plate until Snape was standing right behind her.
"Come with me, Miss Gray," he said, his voice sounding stern.
Freddie looked helplessly at her friends as she got up from the table. Maggie looked sympathetic and handed Freddie her bag. She slung her bag over her shoulder and followed Snape from the Great Hall.
Neither of them spoke as Freddie followed him down into the dungeons to his office. Her heart was pounding as she followed him inside, wondering if he was going to shout at her again.
"You have a mess to clean up, Miss Gray," he said, pointing to the Brewing Room. She peeked inside and saw that the cauldron of Felix Felicis had bubbled over and formed a hardened glob around the cauldron.
"Oh," she said, crestfallen. "I was supposed to come tend to it during lunch, but, since you said my apprenticeship is over, I didn't..."
He looked at her a long moment, his face hard and unreadable.
"I did not say that," he said finally.
"No, you shouted it."
"No, I-" he paused and lowered his voice. "I did not say that your apprenticeship was over, I said that it could be – if you ever use one of our potions on a fellow student again."
"...Really?" Freddie said, feeling hope swell in her chest.
"I've spoken to Professor Dumbledore and he agrees with your statement. He believes it to be a prank that got out of hand. He believes you were telling the truth."
"I would never lie to you!" she said, aghast.
"Promise?" he said with a smirk.
"Yes! Honestly, I don't think I could even if I wanted to," she admitted.
"Clean up your mess, Miss Gray. You will have to start over."
Freddie pulled out her wand to clean up the ruined potion but Snape grabbed her arm.
"What happened to your finger?" he demanded.
Freddie looked down at her hand. Her pinkie finger was swollen and had turned purple.
"Fanged geranium bite," she said, wincing as he examined her finger.
"A juvenile plant?"
"Yes sir."
"Their bites contain more toxins than the mature ones. Go to the Hospital Wing," he ordered. "You can clean up your mess later."
Freddie hesitated. She didn't want to be disobedient but she really didn't want to go to the nurse.
"Oh for heavens sake," Snape snapped. "Sit."
He pointed to the chair in front of his desk. Freddie sat quickly, putting her bag in the chair next to her.
"Foolish girl," he muttered, digging through his desk and pulling out the box from before. He got out a rag and poured something foul-smelling onto it.
"Hold this to the wound," he said, giving her the cloth. "It will draw out the poison."
"Thank you," she said quietly.
"Foolish girl," he repeated, then swept past her into the Brewing Room. She watched him vanish the ruined cauldron and its contents, then he went into the supply closet.
Freddie sat there with the rag pressed to her finger unable to help but smile a little. She'd thought for sure her apprenticeship was over and her life was ruined. But apparently not. She'd screwed up for sure but she wasn't about to make that mistake twice.
"Drink this," Snape said, coming back into the room with a small vial and handing it to her.
"It will remove the remaining traces of the plant's venom from your bloodstream."
"Thank you sir," she said gratefully. She drank the potion and looked wistfully at the Brewing Room. "I wish I could get started on the Felix Felicis again instead of going to Care of Magical Creatures."
"...You need to keep that pressed to your finger for the next 10 minutes. Then you can work on your potion. I will tell Professor Kettleburn you are being treated for a venomous bite and to excuse you from class."
"Really? Thank you! I could hug you!"
"Not if you wish to keep all of your limbs," he said darkly, quickly moving away from her towards the door. "I have a class to teach."
Freddie laughed and Snape scowled at her before leaving the room. Inside she was thinking that she had never loved him more.