Nicki's POV: Today I was late for breakfast. I ran down the stairs and into the Great Hall to quickly grab a toast to eat on my way to the greenhouses. I shoved the whole slice into my mouth and hurried outside. Professor Sprout was talking to some Hufflepuffs outside Greenhouse 7. Breathing heavily, I came to a stop next to them. Professor Sprout smiled at me.
"Good, now that everyone's here, let's begin our lesson. You're probably wondering why I'm not welcoming you into the greenhouse today. We have something very exciting on our plan: The Whomping Willow!"
We all trailed after her to the big tree, that right now shook in the soft breeze of the wind and lost its remaining leaves. Professor Sprout came to a halt and turned towards us.
"By now you all know our Whomping Willow. These trees are quite rare and we're lucky to have one here. This one was planted in 1971 and look at how beautifully big she's grown in those twentysomething years. Whomping Willows grow very fast and are often used to protect things, often properties of important people. They're very irritable."
She continued talking about this specimen for a while until she finally clapped her hands.
"And now, let's go back to the Greenhouse for I have a very exciting surprise for you all."
Before she started walking, she waved to someone up on the hill, walking towards us. I squinted and saw Professor Lupin, who waved back. Then Professor Sprout walked back to the Greenhouses and we all followed her. She unlocked the door to Greenhouse 7 and waved us all inside. The familiar, earthy scent hit me and I breathed in deeply. I loved this smell, it reminded me of my fingers in the soil, of growth and of calm times. We all took our places at the long table in the middle of the greenhouse. There was a pot with a little plant for each of us. I looked up to Professor Sprout who had a happy smile on her face.
"These are little Whomping Willows! I managed to make cuttings of our big Willow and this year, we'll care for them until they're big enough to be shipped all over the world. Even though they're so small you need to be careful with them, they can already hurt you a lot."
She held up a hand and showed us a bandaged finger. She explained to us how to take care of them properly, how to water them and how often to fertilize them.
"You can take your little ones with you. In case you need help, come to my office."
She ended the lesson and we all took our little potted willows with us. I brought mine up into the dormitory and put it in front of the window so it would get enough light. Then I went back down and into the Great Hall for lunch. I sat down with Wood who was already well into his sandwich.
"I booked the Quidditch pitch this evening", he said as soon as I was sitting. "Be there at 6."
I nodded and looked over to the Slytherin table where Flint and Pucey were discussing something over their own sandwiches. Hatchet was not with them. Hm, weird.
Lexie's POV: I was hovering over one of the books when I heard footsteps coming my way. I threw them into my still invisible bag on the floor and hopped to the bed. Seconds later Lupin came in.
"How are you?" He asked, his eyes full of remorse and sorrow.
"A lot better actually. I think I'll go back to my dorm soon."
He tilted his head a little.
"You're sure?"
"Yeah, I'm fine." I gave him an encouraging smile.
Slowly, he walked over and sat down next to me.
"I thought we could use your detention to prepare you for ... you know … the next full moon."
"I don't think that will be necessary," I answered. "I mean it wasn't that deep."
Lupin bit his lip, before saying very softly: "Lexie, that's – that's not how this works. Lycanthrope spreads by contact between saliva and blood."
"Exactly, we don't know for sure if that was really the case. I don't think it was deep enough to contact my blood." I said, folding my arms in front of my chest.
Lupin took a deep breath before answering. "Lexie look, I know how you feel. I've been there. You don't want this to be true, but living in denial won't help you live with this."
"I'm not in denial. I'm solely stating my opinion that the bite probably wasn't deep enough." I answered snippily and before he could say anything, I added: "Anyway, I have an appointment with Professor Snape after dinner and I don't plan on missing it."
I stood up and walked to the door.
"See you in class, Professor Lupin."
"Lexie, wait!"
But I didn't, I was already on my way through the tunnel. Lupin caught up with me about halfway to the castle.
"Lexie, please don't rush into this."
"I said I'm fine, okay? I can walk again, I'm well-rested and I will assist Professor Snape now with your potion."
"You're doing what?"
I stopped. "Professor Snape asked me to assist him with a Wolfsbane potion and regarding last night's events, I figured that it was probably for you."
"It won't be for me," Lupin said lost in thoughts.
"What do you mean?"
"Professor Snape kindly agreed to prepare this potion for me, yes, but we can use it for you. It will make your first transformation so much easier."
"It won't be necessary because I won't transform."
I started walking again and he followed me. I turned around.
"Don't you think it will look suspicious when we walk into the castle together? So if you'd excuse me, I'm going to take a shower now."
I left him standing in front of the castle and made my way to the dorm, where I thankfully did not meet anyone. After a shower and a change into fresh clothes, I walked to the Great Hall for dinner. The tables were packed with students and I tried to quietly hush in at the front of the table and shovel some food down my mouth before heading to Professor Snape's office.
"Miss Hatchet, are you feeling better? I missed you in my class today."
Professor Sprout walked by. I gave her a polite smile.
"Yes, thank you, Ma'am. I will catch up on my missed class, of course."
"Oh please, there's nothing to catch up on. You're already ahead of the class."
She winked at me before walking to the teacher's table. I took a deep breath and shovelled the rest of the food inside and headed out of the Great Hall again. I couldn't bear to see or talk to anyone right now. Thankfully Snape didn't like talking very much either. I carefully watched every step he did and took notes on everything. With his experience and tips, I was sure that my next try would be successful as well. I was so focused on learning how to make the potion, I thankfully forgot about what it was for.